Désolé, mais je ne vais pas m'amuser avec des circuits eurythmiques vieux de 6000 ans, enfin, pas à moins que je ne décide de devenir hostile à votre égard. La liste des personnes qui connaissent ce genre de choses se résume à Saphee, Sorshen, Zurah, Nocticula, et hmmm....
Parmi eux, Saphee est sans aucun doute celui qui a le plus de chances de survivre. Elle a participé à un "Stabbing contest" public, si vous poignardez suffisamment bien, elle se montrera probablement.
"Je vais donc devoir parler à Saphee, merci"
And she bids her bye.
Aurical was hit hard by the retort from the succubus that she couldn't sense any good from him. She must be lying! He was devout, he always tried to be helpful to those who were good. Even some who weren't. Sure, he expected a return on that, but that didn't make him the same as some of those he was enlisted with.
As the party pieces through the loot he considers what to do. It takes him more than a moment to remember he had a helpful tool for situations like this. As the other men begin digging deeper he unfolds his any-tool into an entrenching shovel and sets to work clearing the debris around them so they could easily continue to shovel. Kobolds were used to working in each other's space, and the men were so large he could scamper about to ensure their digging was successful.
Getting to be near eye level (At least for some.) for once as he rests on the handle of his tool. "Everyone is concerned for this ring..." he mutters, "But I think the cloak is the more vital of items. Arrius, you should take it. It in in our own interest you are as stalwart to afflictions as only a paladin of can be! Then the ring could go to another."
Aurical was hit hard by the retort from the succubus that she couldn't sense any good from him. She must be lying! He was devout, he always tried to be helpful to those who were good. Even some who weren't. Sure, he expected a return on that, but that didn't make him the same as some of those he was enlisted with.
As the party pieces through the loot he considers what to do. It takes him more than a moment to remember he had a helpful tool for situations like this. As the other men begin digging deeper he unfolds his any-tool into an entrenching shovel and sets to work clearing the debris around them so they could easily continue to shovel. Kobolds were used to working in each other's space, and the men were so large he could scamper about to ensure their digging was successful.
[dice=Dexterity]1d20 + 4
Getting to be near eye level (At least for some.) for once as he rests on the handle of his tool. "Everyone is concerned for this ring..." he mutters, "But I think the cloak is the more vital of items. Arrius, you should take it. It in in our own interest you are as stalwart to afflictions as only a paladin of can be! Then the ring could go to another."
"Indeed such a cloak is vital which is why I already have one." Constantine says with a smile and a pat on the kobold's shoulder.
"The ring is important but it is only a tool; it is the heart and soul of the individual where true strength is found."
She chuckles and the pomposity and sneakiness of Arrius angling for the thing he wants. She walks back over to the loot pile and picks up the ring again, Then walks back to Arrius.
"Well done, well done, and they call me evil, but...nothing I do gets even close to manipulations of the religious. The Faithfull will have you give them everything, with honey words and promises, Im sooooooo good, A heavenly Paladin, not touched by greed, and yet I want! so watch me manipulate"
She holds the ring out to him.
"The trick is to look between the honey words. and find true and the truth is Arrius, You already have a great set of armor! AND! a magic clock, So this ring is what you covert. Does not matter others have no armor at all."
She chuckles and looks coldly into his eyes.
"You know you want it Arrius, all you need do is take it, go on take it, give-in-to-your-greed, soooo simple."
She chucks again
"Or will it be more honey words to persuade us to give it to you, so you can hide your greed behind hollow righteousness."
Her cold inhuman eyes watch him intently as she holds the ring out in front of him.
"Go on! just take it! show us all what kind of good you really are."
Her words are slow and she does not waver.
"Great set of armor?"
Constantine looks at his hand-me-down Leather Lamellar armor and adds, "And I thought my family was down on their luck to think this is a 'great set of armor'...or is she joking? I can't tell..."
The ring in her hand is nothing but a small illusion, he has seen past her dark joking.
"Your no fun at all Arrius, one day."
Her dark hummer over, she turns and leaves him, to help dig
The ring in her hand is nothing but a small illusion, he has seen past her dark joking.
"Your no fun at all Arrius, one day."
Her dark hummer over, she turns and leaves him, to help dig
"It's not just you; many people have commented that I'm no fun. But they were mostly devil-worshippers so I didn't think much of it..."
Eh, funwise as far as Paladins are concerned you are a 7-8 out of 10
He gets a quick mental note from Schröderings Succubus.
Your digging effects yield little result, as Sahala is watching her fingernails, she gets a better idea. She quickly explains his new found option to her "friend" drummer boi, who agrees to be lowered into the well from the topside. His great degree of familarity results in him quickly finding a fake stone leading into a small room, his joy at the discovery is alas interrupt by a cry of pain as he triggers a nasty spike trap. He grabs everything he can see in the hidden room, returning with the following:
1 Wand bless weapon 20 charges
1 Wand magic missle CL 3 15 charges
1 Rod extend metamagic lesser
1 Decanter of endless water
500 gold
1 masterwork drum
Bleeding he is back up, looking with big eyes at the drum.
"Aurical, would you mind healing the lad? Unless someone else wants the drum you may have it Juergen. Just please try not to practice all hours of the night or when Targis has a headache."
Saph takes the 3 quivers of cold iron arrows and slips then into one of her magic pouches. She then goes and gets the headband and skips it og.
"If no one minds"
"Anyone lacking cold iron weapons or arrows should take some. If there's one thing this area has plenty of now is demons."
Yartak examines the wands. "Interesting."
Telling the others what are the wands, he asks if anyone wants to carry any of them.
"Shall we camp here for the evening, or continue onward? I for one could continue, but more importantly how close to empty are the casters running?"
"If things go the same, I guess I can take one more fight. I could always use this wand" he says, holding the Magic Missile wand.
"For me, I need to recharge, my systems are low, I vote rest."
She says
who precisely are you though? I do not believe you have introduced yourself, and while I could read your mind it is somewhat rude to just extract such things. She adresses Sahala
My name is Sahala Love. I am the servant of Our Lady in the Shadows. I believe that she will soon ascend higher than the Mother of Monsters, because Nocticula will reject the evil that is in her from the Abyss. Sahala communicates with the succubus with some defiance and suspicion at the same time. As much as she considers such creatures visually beautiful, the cultists of Nocticula in her orthodox demonic form are dangerous. Such as Sahala for them is an enemy, a heretic, and at the same time a danger...
Yartak examines the wands. "Interesting."
Telling the others what are the wands, he asks if anyone wants to carry any of them.
Constantine's eyes widen at the mention of the Wand of Bless Weapon, "That is a magnificent find! It's a powerful weapon against evil. I can utilize the wand to cast the spell on everyone who needs it."
On the issue or whether to rest or continue on, "I would normally vote for rest but the um 'Lady' Succubus provided insight about the area around the Silken Thread which might be time sensitive. Perhaps we should press on?"
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Be careful in introducing yourself as such to those of my kind. My Loyalty is to Lady Nocticula personally, irregardless of the title she chooses to wear or the aspect she choses to represent. Others will not be quite as open and tolerant. Besides, I dont negatively affect Alitheras interests unless they go out of their way to get in my way. You may even contact me via sending for negotiated aid and assistance, but do not ever attempt to summon me without agreed terms and conditions first.
She pauses
Lady Nocticula relatively frequently send me out in return to "Call planar ally" requests, particularly because of my bodyguard and escort skills and their utility for keeping petitioners alive, but these are her decisions, not mine, and my availability at a specific time is unpredictable. She finishes.
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I do not give my gift easily. And most of my giftees are more of the martial types, often former enemies whose resistance impressed me and to whom I offered terms. They tend to worship either my Lord in Iron or our Lady in Shadows. You need to impress me first. The bug buggerers and Goat-gropers are planning something here, the web of telepathic contacts is abuzz with rumors, steal or destroy their plot regarding Kenabres and then we can arrange something. I will contact you via a sending in this case.
Oh,I have just been told what happened to the Ulkreth, high, nearly divine comedy, the one responsible does not yet worship our Lady in Shadows, but his survial, ideally including a conversion, would be a mark in your favor.
" Well then a brake, Rest a shot while, eat then move in."
Saph then opened up one of her magic handy hava-belt punches. Taking out cooked meat, and mushrooms. A small stove was lit and a pan was placed on it with water. Soon a soup was hot and ready for the others.
"If you want some of that ham with this feel free, but it looks long pork to me."
Plates were filled and a slice of dried bread, on top. She offered out the plates. Then she sat, The assassin android did not need to sleep or eat, well not the organic way. She consumed oils and minerals, from time to time. Now was one such time, she pulled out wax paper block, opened it took a bight of a sticky black brick, She chowed.
"How far to the next fight, do we know?"
Constantine can't help but watch the android 'eat' the black brick. Still he remembers his manners well enough to thank Saph for the soup and bread.
"The ham is quite tasty; I've never had the luxury of being a picky eater. I'm not sure how far away the Silken Thread is; it appears the Temple of Shelyn might be a closer journey."
"Oh" Yartak says, surprised. "I though going to the Silken Thread was time sensitive?"
"Oh" Yartak says, surprised. "I though going to the Silken Thread was time sensitive?"
"I think it is but I don't want to push the casters past their limits. If it's possible for them to heal up the wounded, eat, and then be off to the Silken Thread we should go."
"Then you will need a stimulant"
She starts to make strong Coffee.
Sapphire, thank you. Sahala accepts food with pleasure. Coffee! Oh, yes, it's been a long time since I've had a good coffee in this dump. After the coffee shops of Oppara, it is simply impossible to drink the local dark-colored burda. While waiting for a drink, she adds: I didn't waste a single spell and would be ready to move on right after eating. But I can't speak for the others.
Targis groans. "No more stimulants for me, thank you. I'll brew up another dose of my own special blend, but I must limit myself to no more than 3 in a day. They take a toll on my aging bones."
Targis groans. "No more stimulants for me, thank you. I'll brew up another dose of my own special blend, but I must limit myself to no more than 3 in a day. They take a toll on my aging bones."
"Really? We can't tell you know; with that helm's visor down you don't look a day over 50..."
"Organic aging has always interested me. Evolved Built-in obsolescence, its fascinating. You know I once knew an elf from when they were a baby until they died some 600 years later. They changed over time, like being with more than once person. Very odd."
She mused as she packed her cooking things away.
After finishing this soup and ham, Yartak stands up. "Delicious, thank you." He wipes the dust from his backside and the crumps from his chest. "Shall we go, or?"
"Yes we must hurry to the Silken Thread."
The party moves towards the Silken thread, passing by what was once a plaza. From being in Kenabres earlier, you remember it as a plaza that often served as a market for the less well off areas of the city, dominated by a 10 foot statue of Iomedae, her sword, actually made from real cold Iron, held high.
It was viewed as a point of pride of the lower classes that local smiths or artisans constantly kept the blade sharp and honed.
The plaza is a scene of devastation, large footprins from a clearly demonic creature have trampled and crushed much, much of it now being difficult terrain.
You also see the statue ripped off from its pedestals and lying horizontally covered in some vile ichors. Another load of these vile ichors is several feet from the statue.
You do not perceive any enemies currently.
Coupled with what the Succubus said about an Ulkreth, this is like its doing. THese are titanic monstrosities, used as powerful siege weapons and weigh up to 10 tons, with a height of 40 or more feet. They would be far far beyond your ability to fight.
It is actually demon blood, rather then the s#$$ you would expect them to use for desecration.
You smell the lingering smell of gunpowder in the air.
From the actual damage, it seems the Ulkreth fell at a point. Apparently on the statue.
The Sword of the statue is broken off, her face is clear of the vile ichor. And it seems to be smiling or grinning at you specifically. Iomedae is rarely depicted with a smile or grin. But you do remember a miracle where a Statue of Iomedae started smiling after a particular prodigious feat of valor was performed in its presence.
Some of your memory banks go on. Yes, Ulkreth, extremely powerful but not dextrous, best fought at range, heavily armored, slow reflexes, easily touched. Even primitive gunpowder weapons would be a good idea. Ulkreths can devastate large areas, and it is extremely dangerous to be bunched up when facing them, but guerillia hit and run tactics could be utilized to use their own "rubblelizing" tendencies against them.
You feel that a new page has been written in your book.
It reads
We can confirm that the most powerful, by far, demon still in Kenabres left it for Xorverons domain. We are uncertain as to how the remaining resistance made it leave and are conducting additional researhahahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahhahaha
for f*!!ing real? There is no way this worked without several deities subtly or not so subtly intervening, but since when does effing Iomedae have a sense of humor? Up yours Xorveron ahahahahahahhahahahahaha the little gunslinger who could this is too good! What a madlad, keep him alive and ideally convert him if possible.
Xorveron is a demon lord assoicated with destruction, gargoyles and wrecking things, occassionally allied with Deskari, relatively hostile to Nocticula.
Saph, picked up what she could take of the loot slipping things into her Handy Havasock.
"That is a great unkindness Arrius. The Kellid I learned how to make my berserker's brew from had a saying 'The only thing scarier than a young barbarian is an old barbarian.' Age on a warrior is a sign of experiance." Sigrat says this with a slight mocking tone, but it's meant in good jest. He feels closest to Arrius, despite their differences in outlook and upbringing, they have more similarities than the rest of the group.
"Something smells of sulpher. Or cannons."
"Ulkreth, are extremely powerful but not dextrous, best fought at range, heavily armored, slow reflexes, easily touched. Even primitive gunpowder weapons would be a good idea. Ulkreths can devastate large areas, and it is extremely dangerous to be bunched up when facing them, but guerillia hit and run tactics could be utilized to use their own "rubblelizing" tendencies against them."
"Could we fight it? Is it still here? Anything that requires a cannon sounds like it would be outside of our ability to combat."
"That is a great unkindness Arrius. The Kellid I learned how to make my berserker's brew from had a saying 'The only thing scarier than a young barbarian is an old barbarian.' Age on a warrior is a sign of experiance." Sigrat says this with a slight mocking tone, but it's meant in good jest. He feels closest to Arrius, despite their differences in outlook and upbringing, they have more similarities than the rest of the group.
"I see the wisdom in that saying. You certainly have earned the respect of others through your prowess in combat."
Constantine bows slightly to Targis, a smile on his face.But then...
"Something smells of sulpher. Or cannons."
"Cannons? I thought that was you."
Constantine chuckles at his attempt at a joke.
"The ichor is actual demon's blood, not a bowel movement or anything to purposely desecrate the item or area."
He goes on to add, "The sword was broken from the statue and Iomedae's face is smiling. Her statues and representations don't depict her smiling but at the Commandery we learned of a miracle when a great act of valor was performed in a statue's presence, it smiled. Perhaps someone - or something - took the sword from the statue and slew a powerful fiend? It would make sense of Belana's cryptic words that something 'terrified' a powerful demon."
Ulkreth... Titanic-sized monster. Siege weapons of the Abyss. We can't fight it now - just avoid it. Sahala says this thoughtfully, then looks at the book found in the first battle as if it had moved. She takes it out. It seems to be the same hentai with different demons, but... She is carefully reading something there. Perhaps, however, this creature has already left these places. I mean, maybe it's dead. And there's someone curious to talk to. Gunslinger... Sahala closes the book and puts it back in her bag.
"So what do we do? Follow the gunpowder smell?"
Yes. Those who can lead us on this trail - lead.
Constantine kneels by the statue of Iomedae first to clean it off and second to see if it can either be stood back up or perhaps taken away by the group. He seems lost in thought for a moment, his face turning darker shades of red, and he stands to face the group.
Stammering a bit he says, "Uh yes a gunslinger...we need to find him, he's injured from his confrontation with the Ulkreth. He has a broken arm and leg and made his way to the Silken Thread. Um...it seems divine guidance and the hand of Iomedae intervened to provide the gunslinger with a...unique...opportunity to greatly wound the foul demon. I do not think it died so it may return to look for revenge..."
Constantine, still red-faced and now sweating, can't look Saph or Sahala in the eyes while recounting this unlikely tale and he looks like he wished he were anywhere else but here...
Examining the debris and other potential signs, and detecting any magical trace that might still be latent, Yartak tried to determine a good starting point to follow a trail, given they have some basics on what they're looking for.
You find a trail, as well as 10 small round gemstones, worth5 gp each.
You can clearly sense that the person making the trail is heavily wounded.
Due to your expert survival, you also see the shadows of creatures, they arent birds, and you think they are medium sized. They are circling above, as if in a searching pattern.