Alessandro remembers his training and he will not strike down a defenseless foe. He kicks away the mongrel’s club and point to the exit with a look on his face that tells the mongrel he will not be given another chance to flee. Alessandro moves over to the unconscious Trok, a little taken aback by the two of the team’s abandonment of their companion. ”Ayaal, can you help Trok regain consciousness?”
Severa doesn't blindly throw a bomb but moves further to look into the hole while not being right up against the hole.
The remaining mongrel is shocked by the paladin’s action, but he nods, says a short guttural phrase in Undercommon and heads out the entrance, not looking back.
Severa sees a rope ladder leading down the hole about 15’. The room that Severa can see is dark but she can see with her DV. No enemies are present.
Round 6
The green eyes of the bird-helmed warrior regard the fleeing mongrelman, then her conscious teammates, then settle on Trok. She visually checks that all the enemies are no longer breathing before she summons the power of Shelyn to quickly heal all her wounded companions. It gives her a chance to consider the lessons of this battle - her allies' choices.
She retrieves the dropped wand to get the battle-cat fully on his feet.
CLW Wand (50): x
Channel Energy (5): x
Bless (1):
Shield (1):
Shield of Faith (1):
Deflection Aura (1):
Stunning Fist (1):
Inspired (1):
Effects:
None = none
Putting a furred hand to his head as he lifts it from the ground, Trok has to state the obvious. "I guess we won? I do NOT recommend taking a club to the head, in case anyone is curious." He looks about at the strange opponents. "Two got away, hunh? Well, the rest of their organization knows we're here, now, then."
He grabs his Earthbreaker before rising to his feet.
Ayaal clucks with amusement, "I'll cross off "how bad can a club to the head be?" from my list then. One down, 463 more questions to go."
Ellaria bows to Ayaal as the healing light washes over her. "I suspect you'll get answers to all 463 and maybe a few more on this crusade."
Alessandro gives Trok a hand up. ”Welcome back to the land of the conscious. The spider chick archer, goes by the name of Wenduag, think she got away. I’m going to look in this room. The warrior checks out the NE door and room.
Ayaal pokes Trok in the ribs (lightly) with the wand to emphasize each phrase while healing him.
"I like your guts..."
"But try to keep them and your brains on the inside of your body."
"The next time you feel like getting surrounded - think twice." With her healing duties done, Ayaal opts to listen at the northern door... after giving the battle-cat one more non-magical poke for good measure.
"I like your guts..."
"Hey!"
"But try to keep them and your brains on the inside of your body."
"You don't."
"The next time you feel like getting surrounded - think twice."
"Have to."
after giving the battle-cat one more non-magical poke for good measure.
"Do it like that! And the next time we've got a melee line protecting a ranged attacker, including spellcasters, don't let the melee guys win by protecting the person behind them. Never let the enemy dictate the rules of the fight. And thank you for the healing."
Severa laughs nervously at Ayaal's interaction with Trok. "How can you two have fun at a time like this?" Her tone indicates that this is a genuine question, not a rebuke.
Severa points out the rope ladder. "Should we pursue Wenduag or some of these other doors?"
The cat looks confused at the question. "You can only have fun when and where you are. Any day, any blade could be your end. Would you rather end smiling, or so, so serious?"
As to the second question . . ..
"She's probably got enough of a lead that anyone that way will be waiting for us. Let them wait longer. They will be less prepared if we don't show up immediately. May even start relaxing again if we take long enough. Want to try the door to our left as we came in?"
Severa smiles and shrugs. "I suppose I should learn to do it your way." Then she nods when Trok suggests the left door.
Alessandro checks the NE room, from which he surmises the lizard came out of, due to the droppings on the floor. Description of the room:
A rack of hooks hangs from the ceiling, cured slabs of meat dangling from them and filling the room with a smoky aroma. A group of barrels appears to hold other preserved foodstuffs. There is nothing of value in this pantry.
The full description for Severa's room with the ladder is:
In the southwestern part of this room, stout stone chairs surround a block of larger stone that serves as a table. The table’s top strewn with bone dice and cracked clay jugs. Stained canvas pillows rest on the chairs. A copper bowl filled with coals hangs from the ceiling, filling the room with warmth and an orange glow. There is a hole in the ground in the southeast corner of the room. A rope ladder hangs down the shaft—the ladder looks rickety, but is quite safe to use.
There's a door to the NE in the ladder room. You open it and reveal:
This narrow 5' wide hallway slopes downward steeply. The walls are stained with foul-smelling streaks of refuse. A mound of rotting garbage lies heaped at the far end of the hallway, some 25' away.
Ayaal considers the options. ”I think the ‘poop chute’ there is a great way to catch a disease or meet some rot grubs. If we have to be thorough and check everywhere, let’s do that last. If we’re lucky, we’ll die before we get to it.” She glances at the northern door. ”I’d suggest we clear this level before going down the ladder. I’d feel better if we try to ensure there aren’t any enemies left behind to flank us. For that reason, I think we should go with that door.”
The bird-headed warrior looks to her comrades for their opinions.
"Works."
"Want me to go first?" Trok heads that way, ready to do exactly as offered.
Ayaal nods. "The honor is yours. Go quiet. I'll be close behind you. If this gets dangerous, let's stick together. If you die, it means I might have to go down that stinking corridor and I really don't want to do that." She gives the cat a smile that is barely visible beneath the visor of her helm.
Alessandro pauses, "I have the same flanking concern. Though we only saw her for a a few seconds, that Wenduag chick seemed like a spiteful and vengeful lass. So she is probably somewhere healing up and marshaling the rest of the mongrel forces and whatever else lurks down here to come exact her vengeance on us. I'd hate to go north and get flanked on both sides. I'd say let's go down the ladder and deal with that immediate threat. That would be my vote."
If no one else agrees with him, Alessandro moves behind Ayaal and Trok.
Severa quirks her mouth a little, thinking. "I'd rather get ambushed from both sides in a hallway than on a ladder. Let's clear this floor first before we go down."
The cat follows the bird into the darkness . . ..
Just as Ayaal is about to open the door, Trok's keen ears pick up the muffled sound of armor scraping against the wall coming from inside the room. He alerts Ayaal to the danger just as her hand is ready to push the door in.
"On 3. 1. 2. 3." As he says 3, Trok throws the door open.
Trok throws the door open and you see three females garbed in chain shirts and wielding glaives waiting for the party!
Round 1:
The female glaive-wielders each grip their unholy symbol and unleash a black miasma of unholy energy that burns the party's skin!
Severa's eyes light up "My dad mentioned seizing opportunities like this..." She fumbles with some ingredients and chucks an improvised incendiary device! But it's hard to aim past Alessandro, past Ayaal, and a bit further than the less-than-aerodynamic device can really manage.
Severa's eyes light up "My dad mentioned seizing opportunities like this..." She fumbles with some ingredients and chucks an improvised incendiary device! But it's hard to aim past Alessandro, past Ayaal, and a bit further than the less-than-aerodynamic device can really manage.
[dice=Bomb attack against touch AC, penalty for being in second range increment]1d20+4-2
[dice=Fire damage]1d6+6
The warrior is caught unaware and he grunts in pain as the blasts of negative energy strike him.
Knowing that the group is going to suffer if they can't get through that choke point, Trok moves to reduce the enemy's options . . ..
Ayaal weathers the waves of negative energy pouring from the clerics. Lucky… That should have been much worse. The math was simple, as the bird-helmed warrior had made the same calculation from the aggressor’s side herself. If they can keep blasting us, we’ll lose. We need to cut their numbers down fast by focusing on each one in turn.
“Strike them down – from most injured to least!” Putting words to action, Ayaal charges forward going glaive-to-glaive, aiming a heart-piercing thrust at the cultist in the middle, wounded by Severa.
CLW Wand (50): xxx
Channel Energy (5): x
Bless (1):
Shield (1):
Shield of Faith (1):
Deflection Aura (1):
Stunning Fist (1):
Inspired (1):
Effects:
Charge = AC -2
Alessandro will move up 10', drawing his javelin, and throwing it at green.
Ayaal rushes in and skewers the wounded Blue cultist, killing her. Trok and Alessandro's ranged attacks take out the Green cultist, with Alessandro's javelin piercing her body.
Round 2: Cultist
The third cultist looks in dismay at the corpses of her friends next to her and realizes that she is outnumbered and out of her league. She drops her well-crafted glaive and her unholy symbol and raises her hands in surrender.
Alessandro steps near the cultist. "We accept your surrender. What cult do you belong to and are you planning harm to Kenabres? Iomedae compels your answer!"
Ayaal wipes her blade clean on the tabard of her dead enemy. While Alessandro questions the prisoner, Ayaal heals the team with the wand then searches the corpses for anything useful. . She keeps an eye on the remaining door as well.
The cultist barely holds in her laughter at Alessandro's pathetic intimidate check. She stays silent.
No dangers are approaching.
Ayaal strips the bodies of useful gear, even the prisoner, with stone-faced efficiency. She glances at the unholy symbols and then tossed them to the far side of the room. Ayaal signals to Severa, "You've got the bag, right? Let's load this gear into it. It will all serve the crusade well."
The cat kicks the unholy symbols into a corner, then he uses his earthbreaker to smash them into the floor repeatedly, stopping now and again, to lean them on top of each other to help distort them faster. After a couple of good whacks, while restacking. he looks over at the one who surrendered.
"You might want to cooperate. There's not enough of us to care for a prisoner as we move deeper into territory where people want to hurt us. Simple rule of war to not take prisoners you can't watch." And he pummels the unholy symbols another couple of shots.
Crouching near the cultist, the cleric re-examines the prisoner’s glaive. ”Fine quality. I’ll put it to good use against the rest of your allies. Thank you.”
She watches Trok’s demonstration silently then speaks confidentially to the prisoner. ”You’re right, of course, the emerald warrior there has rules and ethics. But the battle-cat? Yeah, not so much… And – if we’re being honest – killing you isn’t really breaking any rules. You killed and robbed crusaders. The penalty for that is death… If and how are left to our discretion. So, unless you like the idea of him turning your bones to paste starting with your ankles and working his way up… you should consider that proving helpful could let you live to fight another day. Whereas, silence will yield a face-to-face meeting with your god after your spectacular failure in his or her service just now. I wouldn't want to face my Goddess after that. But maybe your god is more merciful.”
Elliaria seems ready to step in and help, but stops at the force of Ayaal's words.
Crouching near the cultist, the cleric re-examines the prisoner’s glaive. ”Fine quality. I’ll put it to good use against the rest of your allies. Thank you.”
She watches Trok’s demonstration silently then speaks confidentially to the prisoner. ”You’re right, of course, the emerald warrior there has rules and ethics. But the battle-cat? Yeah, not so much… And – if we’re being honest – killing you isn’t really breaking any rules. You killed and robbed crusaders. The penalty for that is death… If and how are left to our discretion. So, unless you like the idea of him turning your bones to paste starting with your ankles and working his way up… you should consider that proving helpful could let you live to fight another day. Whereas, silence will yield a face-to-face meeting with your god after your spectacular failure in his or her service just now. I wouldn't want to face my Goddess after that. But maybe your god is more merciful.”
[dice=Intimidate AA to Trok]1d20+2
[dice=(Reroll) Intimidate AA to Trok]1d20+2
The cultist ignores Alesandro for now and focuses her eyes on Ayaal and on Trok. Her lower lip trembling as she pictures the cat-aasimar bashing her legs with his earthbreaker, she looks away at Ayaal, "Wh-a-a-at do you want to know? Anything, please, but don't let that one near me." She seems very receptive to your questions now.
"Wise decision. So long as you cooperate, the cat and mallet will come nowhere near you. Let's start simple... Please draw us a map of this level. Also, where is the equipment stolen from the crusader caravan and why was it stolen? And where does the hole in the other room lead?"
Curious to know about her cult, Alessandro approaches the imprisoned woman, "What unholy deity do you pray to?"
The cat keeps his back to the prisoner, trying to hide the entertained grin growing on his face. But he keeps bashing the unholy symbols, working to make them as unrecognizable as possible under the conditions.
"Wise decision. So long as you cooperate, the cat and mallet will come nowhere near you. Let's start simple... Please draw us a map of this level. Also, where is the equipment stolen from the crusader caravan and why was it stolen? And where does the hole in the other room lead?"
[dice=Sense Motive]1d20+4
The cultist hesitates but then draws a very rough map. She points to the north, "There's a secret door in that alcove that heads to the a ladder leading to the upper floor. That's where the stolen equipment was taken. Why was it taken? To allow us to infiltrate the crusaders and sow discord in their ranks of course." She hesitates, realizing she's a little too proud of that fact, which might get her killed. "Up the stairs, to the east there's a tunnel that leads to the maze and from there, you can reach Kenabres."
The cultist pauses a little, "Through the eastern door leads to a pit where we use a bucket to get fresh water from an underground lake. I've never been down there."
"The lower level is the meeting hall, the kitchen, and the quarters of our glorious leader, Hosilla and her guards. That's it, that's all I know."
Ayaal tends to believe she is not holding anything back.
The cultist looks down at the floor dejected, but when she hears the paladin's question, she proudly looks up, "We are the Templars of the Ivory Labyrinth! Praise Baphomet!" She looks back down at the floor.
As you hear the cultist's words, it clicks in your head that Trok has been smashing symbols in the form of brass medallions with a bull's head motif.
Her helm doesn’t reveal much of her facial expressions but Ayaal’s body language and voice show no signs of anger at the cultist’s glee with their evil machinations or any offense at her praise for Baphomet.
”Thank you. I just have a few more questions. Roughly, how many of your people are in this ‘base’? And what can you tell us about Hosilla? Also, is there a trick to navigating through the maze? Does the path lead into Kenabres? If so, where does it emerge in the city?”
The cultist ponder the question, appearing to have issues with basic math. "Three guards watch over Hosilla, plus Wenduag, and Uziel, her tiefling bodyguard. He freaks me out, he's odd that one. North, lemme see, only the 4 guards guarding the entrance. About Hosilla, she's a hunter, striking down the enemies of the faith. She is ruthless with her glaive. I've seen it glow...she's blessed by the Lord of Minotaurs himself."
The cultist stops, as if remembering something. "Oh yeah, the maze is simple enough if you follow the path, but it is guarded by 2 disgusting looking demons that Hosilla placed there. As for the path upward, it leads to an old abandoned sewer tunnel that comes out near the SE entrance to the city. So what shall my fate be?"