Sylva joins the melee, flanking with Sir Bat as usual!
"This fiend offers a strong defense to my mental attacks, but perhaps a spell can diminish its executive functioning!"
Zienvus continues focusing on sustaining the defensive wards as he enunciates an encantation while waving his staff around in a bizarre motion.
Neither Batman nor Sylva are able to hit the demon, but Ravenna does well, scoring a critical hit, followed by a normal shot! Zienvus momentarily befuddles the fiend.
The demon manages to maintain enough presence of mind to cast a spell, surrounding itself with mirror images! It then unleashes a burst of spores at the sprites attacking it!
Sir Batman just watches the spores sinking into his bronze-color bat-shaped skin!
That probably not good...
The Champion of Mazludeh's blue eyes swirl following the many demons suddenly in front of him!
He Raises his Shield and Strikes twice!
Sylva barely resists the invasive effects of the poison!
She glances at Sir Bat, and realizes she isn’t going to win this fight just slugging it out.
“Okay you big weird dink, you just earned a taste of my Ice Scream Cone!”
Sylva concentrates—and with the next word from her tiny mouth is a conical blast of ice!
She kicks the creature, too.
“I dislike you.”
Zienvus silently hopes that someone here can help his new golden bat-faced friend. But, for the moment, the fiend has been clumsied by his spell, it's defenses lowered, and "The time to strike is nigh!"
He continues to focus on the defensive wards spinning around them as the sphere of protection conti ues to grow.
He then dictates arcane syllables and points a finger at the fiend, a bolt of magical energy shoots forth!
Ravenna fires wildly as she retreats from the fiend, scoring a direct hit in the process.
Batman misses the demon completely. Sylva and Zienvus destroy two of its mirror images, leaving only one image left. Ravenna takes a guess as she fires wildly, luckily managing to hit the real demon and score a critical hit! The demon reels, frightened and stunned!
Once the demon shakes off the stun, it shrieks and decides to preserve its own existence, teleporting away!
Zienvus blinks as the fiend vanishes from sight. He turns to Ravenna and looks down at her long gun, "Nice shot! And not a moment too soon. Good riddance."
he casts another concerned look at Sir Batman, with vines erupting from his pores, he asks dispassionately, "Is there anything we can do to ease his suffering?"
Standing still like a tree, the grinning bronze-color bat-shaped Sprite giggles.
I am practicing!
The Champion of Mazludeh then begins to Lay on Hands those injured, himself last.
Sylva assures Zienvus, “Sir Bat’s as tough as they—” But before she can finish her sentence, there’s Sir Bat putting teammates first! Only Sylva is barely hurt, and the vines growing out of Sir Bat are disturbing. Zienvus is right to worry! Sylva dodges the healing hands* and pleads to Sir Batman, “Heal yourself first—I’m fine, really!”
She has a healing potion ready just in case, and she has her med kit out. If Sir Bat doesn’t need to be stabilized she treats his wounds.
It’s really weird having to work around these vines. But I can’t tell him that or I’ll hurt his feelings. But I can’t lie to him… that ain’t cool.
“Your new look might impress a cute leshy.”
You take time to tend to your wounds. Once you are one, Sakuachi gestures to the catwalk that the vrock came from. "There are stairs up there, or we can check out what lies further down the tunnel."
Sylva looks up at the catwalk.
“I think that vrock learned his lesson. Nobody turns Sir Batman into a chia pet! But I think we should go see what’s in his room.” She worries there are some poor unfortunate souls trapped as plant-people, and maybe it’s not too late to rescue them…?
(A voice in her head that she tries to ignore whispers the phrase ‘shiny treasure.’)
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Simply smiling suspiciously at Sylva, Sir Batman slaps the Rogue on her...
My bad! You were suggesting?
The bronze-color bat-shaped Sprite looks like he is laughing.
Ready and willing to continue, the Champion of Mazludeh prepares to continue exploring the tunnels....
"Excellent. I'd hate to lose you, sir knight, as soon as I'd met you."
"It troubles me the fiend is still out there, undefeated. If it is any indication of the tests we have before us, we best be prepared. I say let's investigate the source of the corruption before moving onward."
The tiny bronze-color bat-shaped Sprite looks up, up at Zienvus.
No worries, good Wizard! We are like magnets to demons and stuff more scary.
The Sprite then frowns.
Seems like we are at an impasse. Tunnels or stairs. The order could be significantly less than we think. Sylva? Ravenna? Perhaps we do the split the party maneuver?
The Champion of Mazludeh seems excessively excited...
Impasse? “Oh, but I also was thinking upstairs first.”
Sir Batman laughs.
Ok. Upstairs first! Let's go kick some more demon arse!
You climb up the stairs to the stone bridge that connects a balcony-like structure south of the aquifer to the caves and tunnels to the north. The wide tunnel leads to natural cave. The cave looks empty at first, but as soon as you enter, three monstrous beings of living red clay rise up from the ground on all sides of you! The clay beings take the crude likeness of the melded forequarters of a charging warhorse and a rocky knight wielding a rudimentary lance.
Zienvus stays at the rear of the cave, viewing the beings rising up from the clay. "Likely some sort of elemental creatures!" he shouts.
Focusing his mind once more, another globe of glowing abjuring sigils begins to swirls around him and his allies.
He then touches Ravenna and imbues her with Guidance.
Zienvus recognizes these creatures as elementals known as earthen destriers. They are straightforward melee combatants. However, these particular creatures have been infused with the concentrated evil of decades' worth of spilled demon blood. Thus, they share demonic weaknesses to cold iron and good damage.
The elementals attack, scoring several hits despite Zienvus's protective aura!
Sylva grunts as she feels something sharp and narrow penetrate her abdomen!
"I hope you all brought your good-aligned cold iron weapons with you on this day!"
Sir Batman helplessly watches the Plato Horse Dude just beat the snot, blood, vinegar, piss and s!!$ out of the normally pristine elegant Sylva! Sadly shaking his blue eyes back and forth following each individual thumb, bushwhack, pummeled punch that makes its glorious way to the Rogue's now Michigan roads-looking face!
Sylva watch out!
Offering only a shrug and a tear, Sir Batman then Enters his Stance, Raises his Shield and Strides into a Flank with Sylva!
I'm late?
Zienvus continues to focus on his abjurative sphere.
With a snap of his fingers, a bolt of electricity whizzes through the air.
Ravenna snaps a shot off at the destrier attacking her, infusing the bullet with fiery power, all while retreating backwards.
Ravenna critically shoots one of the elementals, while Sylva scores a devastating combo on a second one. Zienvus creates an arc of lightning between the pair, finishing both of them off! They crumble into chunks of red clay!
The remaining foe jabs its lance at Sylva, striking her twice--she dodges away from the final strike, turning what would have been a critical hit into a normal (albeit still painful) strike!
Sir Batman Reacts quickly by calling on Mazludeh to provide proper protection for poor Sylva!
The Bronze-color bat-shaped Sprite then Raises his Shield, Strides into the lone remaining Elemental and Strikes!
Sylva is barely able to stand.
“Yeah… you… uhh… you gravel groin.”
Her taunt lack any sort of enthusiasm. And her attack—
—is hit and miss and hit and pray.
Batman scores a critical hit, then Sylva kicks the elemental twice, causing it to crumble! In the aftermath of the fight, you scavenge through the remains of the creatures and discover a wand of fireball that had been lodged inside one of them.
Sylva drops to her knees. The others can sift through the remains of that thing. She sifts through her med kit, patching her wounds even knowing Sir Bat’s magic will heal her faster than stitches and make her pretty again.
Ugly and alive will do, the Shelynite tells herself.
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Sir Batman grins.
The Champion of Mazludeh then pats poor Sylva on her arm.
You're still the prettiest rogue I know, Sylva.
Zienvus picks up the wand and looks about the group, "It seems to me this will be most effective in my hands."
Sir Batman grins.
The Champion of Mazludeh then pats poor Sylva on her arm.
You're still the prettiest rogue I know, Sylva.
Sylva points a blood-stained finger at Sir Bat. “I’m the only rogue you kn—eep??” She hastily undresses a wound as warmth oozes from her abdomen. But before she can cry out or pass out from the pain, the champion’s touch cures the internal bleeding.
Zienvus picks up the wand and looks about the group, "It seems to me this will be most effective in my hands."
“It’s all yours. Besides, I’m a water-fairy.”
After recovering from the battle, you head north across a bridge to another tunnel. To the east, the pathway is blocked by massive iron doors. Time seems not to have touched the sturdy, watertight, impossibly clean doors. Beads of condensation drip down the doors’ surface. From the other side come muted sounds of thrashing and churning water. These doors are magically sealed.
Sakuachi reaches out to touch the doors and closes her eyes. "We can't get in here yet. We'll need to overcome the gods' challenges first, as Ruun said."
You head north. Two rows of pillars made of overlapping sheets of thick iron grating line this passage. Soggy leaves, weeds, and vines choke the intricate pillars. The sodden mass of vegetation rises up into a monstrous foe!
It surges forward, lashing out at Batman with a tentacle and grabbing a hold of him!
Sylva knows that the smart tactic would be hit-and-run.
But…
“Stop playing squid games, you weird vegetable!”
Sylva hopes to compensate for her weak trash-talk with a strong attack—
—but her tiny limbs do nothing to the wild plant-creature!
"How will we know when we're faced with one of these challenges?" Zienvus asks of Sakuachi as they explore the tunnels. When the plant creature lashes out at Batman, he wonders if he has his answer.
Zienvus ponders the nature of this horrid creature's existence.
He then acts quickly on his assumptions, and cast's a scorching ray at the teethy plant.
Sir Batman views the Two rows of pillars made of overlapping sheets of thick iron grating line this passage. Soggy leaves, weeds, and vines choke the intricate pillars. The sodden mass of vegetation rises up into a monstrous foe!
Would you just stop and appreciate the intricate craftsmanship...what the f~@*!
The bronze-color bat-shaped Sprite looks a bit taken back by the intrusive tentacles smacking his bottom and sliding down his leg!
Does no one even bother with dinner anymore!?
Raising his Shield, Entering his Stance the Champion of Mazludeh Strides into the Plant Fungus's space for a Flank with Sylva!
Sylva! It's a bit grabby hands! But I got you!
Zienvus recognizes the creature as a tendriculos. These strange amalgams of plant and fungus with animal tendencies form where the natural world is corrupted by foul magic or frayed planar boundaries. A tendriculos swallows its prey as quickly as possible and lets its paralytic digestive juices finish the meal, while swiftly restoring itself with the nourishment provided by the trapped creature.
The elf knows the creature is weak to fire, so he exploits that weakness with a scorching ray barrage! One of the rays hits, burning the monster.
Unfortunately, both Ravenna and Sylva fail to hit the thing. It bites Batman but fails to grab a hold again. Undeterred, it bashes the champion with a tentacle.
Sylva thinks fire is working. Her punches and kicks certainly aren’t!
“Burn it! Send it to Hell!”
“—ON A COLD DAY!”
She isn’t sure how well her icy breath will work—
But it works better than her… oh, eff that.
—but her fist does the trick (this time)!
Sir Batman thinks about Reacting by Shield Blocking some of the initial strike, but he sees the tentacle coming from below and decides to Shield Block that one!
The Champion of Mazludeh then Raises his Shield, Lay on Hands himself and Strikes at the Vegetable!
Never did like my vegetables.
"Fire seems to do the trick. Quite fortuitous I recently acquired a certain wand."
Zienvus ◆draws his new wand and places a ◆◆fireball neatly behind the tendriculous, right where it won't hurt his fair companions.
Sylva and Batman both score hits, then Ravenna lines up a fulminating shot and fires! The flaming bullet hits the tendriculos center mass with powerful force, and the flames quickly spread to consume the monster! It collapses in a smoldering heap!
Sylva watches the creature burn up. “Are the gods challenging us or them? Because seriously, we keep killing these demon things, and I’m starting to wonder if we’re unwittingly instruments of wrath.”
She takes out her med kit, and starts treating Sir Batman.
She says to Sakuachi, “No offense meant to the gods. I just wonder what these monsters’ deals are. Is it like the gods see a demon that needs to be sent back to hell, so that’s the challenge for us because of timing?
“Or did these demons take down a lot of others like us, and we happened to be the winners?
“Or… or!” She has to stop talking as she stitches a wound, working around other stitching that’s actually been magically healed over. “Or were these demons waiting around like, ‘oh wow, the gods need me to be their challenge guy, I hope I don’t screw this up.’ ’Cause I bombed my first time on stage, and I ended my show with ‘Thanks, I’ll be here all week,’ and I bombed all week.
“They say I ‘died on stage.’” She gestures to the charred remains. “Coulda been worse though.” She then says to the smoldering corpse, “At least you didn’t get booed.”
Sir Batman just smiles at Sylva as she busily cleans up his wounds.
The bronze-color bat-shaped Sprite makes a serious face
Test. Definitely a test. Fun too! Cool that we get to have Salad bar tonight though.
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Zienvus takes a moment to marvel at the prowess of his new companions, "If these be the tribulations we face, I dare say we are up to the task."
He then pokes and prods at the roasting vegetation with his staff, "Sometimes creatures of this girth harbor the undigested equipment of previous, ehem, meals..."
Sylva realizes Zienvus means that it’s possible an unfortunate adventurer was devoured. But rather than dwell on the disturbing imagery, she reminisces—
“Haha, that reminds me, I once opened for a sword swallowing act. I got booed off the stage, so I didn’t get the see the act, but it makes sense that a swallowed sword would still be in the guy. I mean, how would you pass it?”
"Hmmm. Not comfortably," Zienvus retorts.
Once you have healed up, you proceed through the nearest door. This soaring cylindrical chamber appears to be the bottom of a massive, dried-up well. Along the southern wall, a humble, red marble statue stands watch over the empty chamber. The statue resembles a horse-sized ferret with the horns of a ram and large, furry moth wings.
"This is one of the guardians Ruun mentioned," Sakuachi says. "I will need to make a sacrifice, and then we will face a challenge. Prepare yourselves, friends."
The young oracle kneels by the statue and holds forth her spear. "This weapon was passed down to me from my father. I give it up to you now."
An incorporeal spirit suddenly appears, surging to life out of the statue! The winged ferret is surrounded by throngs of smaller animals. At the same time, two spectral, owl-shaped entities appear behind you!
The ferret commands the spectral animals to swarm over you all! The two owls swoop to attack Batman and Sylva.