The sylph inspects the pills given to him with some wariness. He's never been one to say no to fun, but mixing business and pleasure is a big no-no. "Alright, let us see if we can end this menace once and for all."
Lope wipes the melting ice from his blade, giving it a quick flourish "A fitting end for a creature of ice. Let's hope the challenges ahead aren't quite so... frigid
The Aldori accepts the pill from Triphylla with an arched brow and a wry grin. As he examines the concoction, he quips "Drugs from the good doctor? Or just the ones that almost work? Either way, I'll take my chances. If I start seeing double, though, I'll aim for the one in the middle"
Lope will help with the two wands to lessen the time spent to heal to less than 2 minutes.
With that, he hastens to climb up the stairs at the front line of the group.
Valeria was about to accept the wand and get to work healing everyone but Esinti beat her to it. When Triphylla offered the pills Valeria was a little hesitant but she accepted and took it. "I'm glad we got through that in one piece."
Having observed that Lope's application of cold iron weapon blanch was wasted on the Ice elemental, Triphylla uses another dose on his blade, with his permission.
"Okay, ready."
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Diana takes Triphylla offered pill, and casts an Invisibility spell of her own before they ascend the tower.
"I don't have much more magic to help against the div, but one of the scrolls we found on my grandfather's secret study might help us deal with her."
St. John swallows the offered pill and says "Thanks! We'll head up when everyone is ready." He then heads up the stairs looking out for an ambush.
Triphlla's pills make you feel twitchy, with sudden sweats and heart palpitations. Worse each of you gains a nagging feeling that something, perhaps the universe is conspiring against you and that your skin is weirdly too tight.
Trying your best not to think too much about what you've just taken you head upstairs to a good sized attic room. Inside an overstuffed divan and
ottoman squat near the top of the stone stairs. Several low couches and benches, all cushioned and draped with rugs and tapestries, are scattered around the room. A low desk leans against the west wall, laden with papers and books. However you have no time for any of that for in the middle of the room outfitted for war with a two handed sword on her back is the blue woman. She has a whip in hand which she playfully snaps at a gaunt looking man in a gimp suit who is armed with a dagger.
She welcomes you with a sultry laugh, "What kept you so long? I've been waiting for you!"
Triphylla surmises that the man in the gimp suit is likely the missing merchant. She stays quiet to maintain her invisibility.
She takes another ghast retch flask from her pack and skitters over to the corner of the room.
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St. John smiles at the "woman" and says "I have been waiting for you as well. I got a bit of a cold shoulder downstairs but, I am here now. Shall we dance?"
He then tries flipping himself over the couch and landing next to her.
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As they ascend the stairs, responding the woman with a wry grin "Apologies for the delay; we were just downstairs chilling. I trust you've kept yourself entertained in the meantime?"
Lope turns his attention to the gaunt man, his voice smooth and lyrical as he speaks, a glimmer of his envoy ring enhancing the persuasive melody of his words "Amigo, this tableau is no place for a soul such as yours. See, the stage is set for sharper lines and bolder players. Why not take your bow early and exit gracefully? Let us trade verses with our host without risking you becoming a tragic footnote in this little drama. Trust me, discretion is the better part of valor, and the finest act in any play"
He gestures toward the stairs, his words laced with the subtle magic of the ring's charm person, inviting the man to leave with both wit and grace.
Valeria stayed towards the back of the group, not fully entering the next floor but staying in the stairwell for the moment. It would give the rest a better chance to get into place and her a better spot to support them from.
The cramped quarters pose a tactical challenge, but Esinti knows that with skill and grace, they can overcome these hurdles. For now, he takes the most advantageous position possible while the Div and St. John exchange barbs and past offenses.
Diana takes in the room as they ascend, and her eyes widen as she sees Rhundle Navin, the missing merchant. Figuring he's under her spell, she takes out the wand of protection from evil and moves over to him invisibly, hoping the wand's magic is enough to break him out of the pairaka's hold.
St John's summersault took the blue woman by surprise, which deepened into shock when his blade bit deeply! Screeching obscenities she urged the man in the gimp mask, "Defend me! Don't just stand there!"
Eyes like daggers for St John, the man snorted in indignation and brought his dagger to bare, whipping it this way and that as he cried, "Soraya! I would never allow these braggarts to harm you my love!"
Lope's voice takes on a honeyed tone as he attempts to bind the man to his will. Lope pushes and finds the man's mental defences buckling, far faster than he was expecting only to find the insidious touch of something other already deeply embedded in the mans mind.
<--- FAIL
Putting herself in considerable danger, Diana moves invisibly close enough to touch Rhundle Navin and then she casts her spell...
Environment: Normal.
Buffs and Debuffs:
Triphylla
Lope Shield
Estini
Rhundle Navin
St John
Diana Mage Armor
Valeria One Dex damage
Blue Woman
Triphylla
Lope Shield
Estini
Rhundle Navin
St John
Diana Mage Armor
Valeria One Dex damage
Blue Woman
Damage Log:Round: 0
Blue Woman was hit by St John for 16 (total damage taken 16)Totals:
Blue Woman: 16 damage
COMBAT ORDER:
Triphylla <----- WE ARE HERE
Lope
Estini
Rhundle Navin
St John
Diana
Valeria
Blue Woman
Triphylla, Lope and Estini are up.
Diana's invisibility fades as she touches ghe man with the wand, her hands shaking as she hopes the magic is enough to overcome the pairaka's influence.
Lope dashes into the room, jumping over the divan and slashing on the woman while his blade bursts in flames.
Triphylla watches her comrades close in on the demon and her prey. The ghast retch flask feels heavy in her hand and she weighs whether to throw it, knowing it will harm her friends as well. And although she is confident in her aim it's also possible the flask could slip from her hand or careen somewhere unintended, further harming her friends but leaving the fiend unscathed. But there's no time to really dwell on the tactical situation and it's already in her hand. Her instinct is to let it fly, and she is nothing if not instinctive.
She winds up and tosses the flask at the blue demoness.
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Diana's spell lands and Rhundle looks momentarially confused, demanding "What in tarnation is going on?!"
Triphylla throws another one of her turbocharged stink bombs at the blue woman. To her great consternation it landed in her mouth as she was about to say something with spectacular results as she immediately starts dry heaving!
Poor Lope got splattered badly and too was nearly undone, but somehow he had enough grit to keep his lunch. St John ducked out of the way and was spared the worst of it which hit Rhundle Navin instead who promptly and messily lost his lunch.
<--- FAIL!
<--- PASS BY THE SKIN OF HIS TEETH
<--- PASS
<--- FAIL
Sickened by the Ghast Retch, Lope still manages to land a solid hit which thanks to the alchemical blanche sizzles as it touches the blue woman. Predictably however, any remaining blanche flaked off.
Estini's rope dart flicks out towards the blue woman, but she was still dry heaving and she doubled over unexpectedly causing the dart to miss.
<--- MISS
Environment: Normal.
Buffs and Debuffs:
Triphylla
Lope Shield, Sickened (2 rounds)
Estini
Rhundle Navin Sickened (2 rounds)
St John Sickened (2 rounds)
Diana Mage Armor
Valeria One Dex damage
Blue Woman Sickened (2 rounds)
Triphylla
Lope Shield, Sickened (1 round)
Estini
Rhundle Navin Sickened (1 round)
St John Sickened (1 round)
Diana Mage Armor
Valeria One Dex damage
Blue Woman Sickened (1 round)
Damage Log:Round: 0
Blue Woman was hit by St John for 16 (total damage taken 16)
Blue Woman was hit by Lope for 14 (total damage taken 30)Totals:
Blue Woman: 30 damage
COMBAT ORDER:
Triphylla <----- WE ARE HERE
Lope
Estini
Rhundle Navin
St John
Diana
Valeria
Blue Woman
Triphylla, Lope, Estini, Rhundle Navin, St John, Diana and Valeria are up.
Lope fights trying to find a hole in the div defenses "So, will you confess your implication on the nightmares that assault the city or will we have to find out from your laying body?!"
Valeria quickly made her way up the rest of the stairs and over to a place out of the middle of the fighting and called upon her goddess to place her bane upon their foes.
The halfling can't help but pump her fist for bullseye-ing the blue baddie with the flask, but the fallout is disgusting, and she has instant regrets. But in the heat of battle she advances, taking a dose of Essense of Independence from her pack. She takes a step forward and attempts to force the liquid down the throat of Rhundle. She triggers her barbarian rage to increase her odds of successful assault.
St. John tries to slash the woman more to put an end to her.
As the merchant is too busy vomiting, Diana focuses first on doing what she can to help the fight, before trying to explain to him what's going on. She steps near Estini, and casts her second Greater Invisibility on him, hoping it lets him strike true and end this fight quicker.
She then looks to Rhundle Navin, wincing as she sees Triphylla trying to shove something down his throat.
"Mr. Navin, we believe this creature to be the source of those horrible nightmares plaguing the town, and she seemed to be muddling your mind and forcing you to serve her through magical means. I have placed a protective spell on you that should surpress the effects for a bit. The faster we can bring her down, the quicker you'll be free from her nefarious influence."
After just having lost his lunch, Rhundle Navin was surprised and dismayed when Triphylla stuffs a potion down his throat. He sputtered "Madame! That tastes repulsive, and what am I even doing in this ridiculous leather outfit?!"
Lope's sword strikes true once more, although with the weapon blanch having flaked off its effects where much more modest than last time.
Estini continued to use the rope dagger, which flicking out with surprising force. Having been anointed with holy oil it was now anathema to the blue woman and it flashed with holy radiance as it struck her torso, sinking in deeply!
<--- HIT
St John piled on, finding mixed success. He landed a solid hit with his falcata but the weapon balance had come off so the result of his cut was a shallow gash rather than the bone deep wound it should have been by all rights. His bucker hit solidly too, slamming into her side in a cloud of blanche. She was still dry heaving while getting pummeled which made her movements unpredictable and St John's follow up blows missed.
With a word of power Diana makes Estini's form fade from sight!
Valeria invokes the ire of her patron, but she felt her spell wash off the woman's back as it it was water.
<--- PASS
Sickened and wounded the blue woman rounded on the source of her misery Triphylla! She snarled, "Pipsqueak! KNOW YOUR PLACE!" as she lashed out. Triphylla danced aside, away from one claw but the woman managed to rake her with the other.
<--- MISS
<--- HIT
<--- PASS
Environment: Normal.
Buffs and Debuffs:
Triphylla
Lope Shield, Sickened (2 rounds)
Estini Improved invis (7 rounds)
Rhundle Navin Sickened (2 rounds)
St John Sickened (2 rounds)
Diana Mage Armor
Valeria One Dex damage
Blue Woman Sickened (2 rounds)
Triphylla
Lope Shield, Sickened (1 round)
Estini Improved invis (6 rounds)
Rhundle Navin Sickened (1 round)
St John Sickened (1 round)
Diana Mage Armor
Valeria One Dex damage
Blue Woman Sickened (1 round)
Damage Log:Round: 0
Blue Woman was hit by St John for 16 (total damage taken 16)
Blue Woman was hit by Lope for 14 (total damage taken 30)Round: 1
Blue Woman was hit by Lope for 6 (total damage taken 36)
Blue Woman was hit by Estini for 11 (total damage taken 47)
Blue Woman was hit by St John for 5 (total damage taken 52)
Blue Woman was hit by St John for 6 (total damage taken 58)
Triphylla was hit by Blue woman for 6 (total damage taken 6)Totals:
Blue Woman: 58 damage
Triphylla: 6 damage
COMBAT ORDER:
Triphylla <----- WE ARE HERE
Lope
Estini
Rhundle Navin
St John
Diana
Valeria
Blue Woman
Triphylla, Lope, Estini, Rhundle Navin, St John, Diana and Valeria are up.
St. John continues to try and do as much damage to her as he can.
"Pipsqueak!"
The halfling wields her horns, turning on the blue demon and lunging forward, intent on goring her foe.
The arrangement of furniture in the room proves too difficult for her small legs and her attack is poorly judged.
Seeing his attacks not being that much effective, Lope changes tactics and tries to hit at the feet of the woman trying to send her prone to the ground "Quick! Pile on her!"
Seeing Triphylla getting hit by the pairaka's claw, Diana reaches out and touches her, casting her small illusory ward on the halfling woman.
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Enraged Triphylla lunges with her horns but the Blue Woman dances aside.
Lope tries to trip her, but she's surprisingly well centered and he finds himself unable to overpower her by main force. Fortunately this set up huge distraction which St John was able to take full advantage of. He swung his Falcata with all his might and by pure luck the blade bit into a weak spot in her skull, sinking in deeply. She stared at Triphylla in sudden horror as her legs stopped working and a think rivulet of blood welled up from the point where St John's blade was embedded into her skull. Suddenly with a sigh her eyes turned glassy and she fell into a heap in front of you.
Rhundle Navin stares at the corpse with an incredulous look on his face, and he pleads with you, "Could somebody please tell me what the blazes is going on here? How did I get here? Why am I wearing this?!"
valuable, but the eight gold medallions sewn onto the divan’s upholstery are worth 600 gp in total.
St. John pulls his sword out of her and cleans it while he breaths heavily. In way of answer to Navin he says "It looks like the beast here charmed you and dressed you in that thing." He then begins to search her body for any clues or useful items.
Triphylla screws her horns back into her head and takes a breather.
"Well gutted, gentlemen. I suppose now that you've discovered the source of these nightmares you'll be leaving us. But I think I speak for the rest of the group when I say you're welcome to continue on with us. You may have more questions about why we're here, and I think we owe you those answers."
While she's resting off her barbarian rage she feels something lumpy sewn into the upholstery. Turning to look she notices the medallions. "I think our expenses are covered in town. Look at these."
The sylph breathes a sigh of relief when the blue menace finds itself impaled by St. John's sword. The warrior made a right mess of her, but even so, Esinti finds it hard to feel any sympathy for the creature. Growing up, he had heard stories about devils and demons, but he never had the misfortune of encountering one before. Now, Esinti knows he should consider himself fortunate if he never encountered another ever again. "Good job, St. John. I think we all deserve a drink after that"
He wipes the sweat off his forehead and takes a couple of deep breaths in an attempt to calm down his heart. Something tells Esinti it will take more than some simple breathing exercises to manage that.
"How about we discuss that in a more comfortable setting after we all had a bath, a good night's rest, and some sleep?"
Lope wipes his brow with a silk handkerchief "I must admit, our azure antagonist was far better at making an entrance than a graceful exit. Bravo, St. John, for ensuring she won't be troubling the dance floor again"
The Aldori nods appreciatively at Tryphillia's point on the medallions and he checks as well at the equipment of the "woman".
Turning to Navin with a sharp gaze, he continues "As for you, my friend, it seems you've been the unwilling guest star in this little tragedy. A misplaced wardrobe choice..." he cannot avoid a smile "What was the last thing you do remember sir...?"
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"I imagine this might all be a bit overwhelming for you, Mr. Navin. I wish I could give you more concrete answers to your questions, but I can only speculate for the moment. That blue skinned woman my companions so expertly took down was an outsider from one of the evil aligned planes." Diana gives a respectful nod towards Valeria. "My own knowledge of them is not as good as Miss Turanor's, but we believe it to be the cause of the nightmares that have been plaguing the town of late."
"We think whatever magical ability granted her power over mortal's dreams may have also allowed her some manner of control over the same targets - we have met with a group earlier in the day that attacked us, as if in a daze. They told us they had been having a hard time sleeping due to those terrible nightmares, and that they didn't remember much of what had happened to them recently. A weird dream about a sheep telling them what to do - and this creature assumed such a form when we first got here. Do you remember anything similar happening to you?"
Diana then looks thoughtfully at the fallen woman, and then looks around the room, hoping to find some clues of how she got here.
"What was the last thing you do remember sir...?"
Rhundle replied "Uhhh. It's all a bit jumbled, like uh, a fever dream you know? There's snatches I remember, Soraya that was her name was reading aloud letters from Earl Yander. Apparently he had a nom du garr, the 'Gray Kingmaker'. I don't recall much else but I bet he's up to no good, I think it's all in those letters on the desk."
"We believe it to be the cause of the nightmares that have been plaguing the town of late."
Rhundle nodded, "Soraya boasted of that many times, she seemed inordinately pleased with it all."
"A weird dream about a sheep telling them what to do - and this creature assumed such a form when we first got here. Do you remember anything similar happening to you?"
"Yeah a white ram, I remember it now. There was something wrong with its eyes, they were so deep." Rhundle shivered at the memory.
"Look I'm really, really[i] you rescued me from that woman, that [i]thing." said Rhundle before turning to St John "I can see she got her hooks into you. Here have this, I think you need it more than me." He hands St John a silver necklace with a blue stone.
"Soraya put more of my stuff somewhere in a box, maybe it was the office? I'm not sure..."
To Esinti he replied, "A bath yes, a thousand times yes. I need to get out of this awful thing and get clean. I don't even know if I can, she used me in ways that... Uhgh, you don't need to know."
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Diana's eyes widen as Rhundle recounts what he can recall.
"Mr. Rhundle, I think the council will need to hear from you - I am sure your word will carry more weight than ours. That Earl Yander was directly involved is troubling, too. Bringing this creature here seems like a deliberate attempt at weakening your city. If this is somehow part of his plan to enthrone Pythareus... Yanmass should not let this stand! Do you think your words and your letters would be enough to sway the council to action?"
"But not before we escort you home and you manage to recover from all this, of course. Here" Diana takes off her Sleeves of Many Garments and hands them to Rhundle. "It's a minor magic item infused with glammer magic, that will let you change your clothes' appearance to whatever you might desire - it should let you hide that outfit until you can change into something more appropriate."
Her gaze then falls on the pairaka's body, and she shivers slightly as she considers the implications of her presence in the city.
As I suspected, this creature was called here, not summoned. Some powerful caster brought her here for this - was it grandfather? If so... Is he... Is he here right now? Does he know that we... That I... am working against his plans?
Esinti reaches into his bag of holding and, after rummaging through it for a couple of seconds, he retrieves a bar of soap. He hands it to Rhundle. "This is a bar of soul soap. Perhaps it will help scrub off the worst of what she did.""
Yes, Esinti knows that it won't undo the memories, but everyone needs hope, and this bar of soap - silly as it might be - could just offer some of that.
Rhundle gratefully accepts Diana and Estini's help and before long he's looking at least somewhat more respectable although the haunted look in his eyes suggests that he may not sleep well tonight.
"I think perhaps we should inform the council of what happened here. They'll want to know about this correspondence." suggested Rhundle.
Lope adjusts his gloves with a practiced ease, nodding toward Rhundle "Your safety and testimony will be crucial in swaying the council, but I believe we should take the opportunity to explore the rest of this building before we leave. If Soraya hid more of your belongings, or left behind any evidence of Earl Yander's schemes, it could prove invaluable. A thorough search might reveal connections we have yet to uncover, and I would rather not leave any advantage in the hands of our enemies. Shall we press on?"
St. John nods to Lope, "That sounds like a good idea. A search of the areas before we leave."
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"The Gray Kingmaker, is what Merkondus calls himself in these parts. At least in private correspondence." Triphylla exams the other works on the desk and finds them to be less titillating than amusing, as if they were written for adolescent human males. "However one gets their jollies is no business of mine."
She turns to the others. "Perhaps we say nothing of this for now. No doubt Mr. Rhundle would like to return home to his family, but there are other leads. We may spook Merkondus too early. The longer he suspects nothing is amiss the greater our advantage when the time comes to publicly expose him."
The trapdoor clearly hasn't been opened in a long time, and the dusty cobweb checked crawl space below contains:
* An elegant silver vase adorned with images of foxes. Appraise DC 14
worth 150 gp
* A carved a chalcedony beetle. Appraise DC 15
worth 250 gp
* A gold drinking stein set with sparkling emeralds. Appraise DC 18
worth 1750 gp
* A slim willow wand with silver inlay. This check is trivial for Diana, it's a wand of cure light wounds with 50 charges.
As they search the rest of the premises: "I found this stuff earlier. The vase and beetle are worth 400, but I can't fathom what this emerald encrusted stein is worth. Anyone else want to give it a look?"
Esinti gives Triphylla an apologetic look and shares his thoughts on the stein. "Expensive ... I guess? It is quite gaudy, so I am sure there is a foolish noble out there willing to spend a small fortune on it. Worst case scenario, it will make an impressive gift?"
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Valeria was glad to see the blue b@*~& fall but looked at everyone in concern. Given they were not pressed for time now she said, "The creature was a div, a corrupted genie that was consigned to Abbadon. This kind is similar to succubi in that she employs seduction and dreams to entice her victims, to tear apart lovers, foment obsessions, and tempt people into her embrace to spread disease. Any of you who touched her need to be checked by someone more knowledgeable of illness that myself to make sure you are clean of any diseases she might have been carrying," she looked at Rhundle specifically and added, "especially you sir."
Valeria looked at the remains of the Pairakas and shuddered at the old memory surfacing again before she looked away. "Getting cleaned up is also very high on the list of things to do as is reporting to the council. I think we should get to it quickly."
"I understand your thinking, Lope, but do know I have spent quite a bit of my magic already. I won't be able to provide as much assistance if we run into something similar to that ice elemental."
"As for exposing the earl..." Diana nods to Triphylla. "I suppose it depends if these letters and Mr. Rhundle's words are enough to sway the council to take action against him. If so, I would think it wiser to bring him down sooner rather than later. The longer he goes free, the more time he has to prepare and further his goals, and I doubt he'd stay unaware for too long. He'll have to suspect what we've done when Mr. Rhundle returns safely to the council at the same time that the nightmares seem to cease, and he stops getting word from the div."
"As you say, Diana, we only have these letters and Mr. Rhundle's testimony, to which he appears to have scant memory. It will be our word against Merkondus'. And we don't know what power he has over the other members of the Council. Is it merely his own gravitas or does he control one or more of them through other means? We have no idea. I believe we are unprepared to expose him now.
Perhaps while the rest of you make accusations I can take the opportunity to investigate his house in town and look for other evidence of malfeasance. You could carry the corpse of the genie into the council chamber and heft it onto the table clutching these letters."
St. John nods as Diana mentions using a lot of her magic "Thank you for letting us know. I still think we should take a look in the rooms. There might be more evidence or things responsible for the goings on here that should be... disassembled."
"Understood. We should not press too much, but with any fortune maybe we dealt with all their gang already" Lope comments as he points the tower to the west "Let's climb up to the next tower and see if we can find more evidence there"
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Much of the lower tower room is crowded with human-size dressmaker’s dummies, each wearing an elaborate gown, shawl, or cloak. The floor near the dummies is cluttered with pairs of nice shoes. The northwest corner contains a set of stone stairs leading up. A narrow door stands in the south wall at the top of a few steep steps.
Upstairs Lope finds three large beds are jammed into the tiny room. Each is covered with silks and furs, as though each bed’s owner were trying to
outdo the others in opulence. Stone stairs lead down from the northwest corner. Other than a few narrow windows near the ceiling, there are no other exits from this room.