Anjo manages to shake off the draining feeling from the undead's strike. As he does, he realizes the creature before him appears to be a cairn wight - dangerous and intelligent undead whose strikes can literally Drain the life from the living struck by them...and can lead to the re-animation of those they slay.
The final statue advances and strikes out at Franzine on the front line. The champion quickly raises her shield in response but the blow still manages to push through her defenses. Luckily from Zenith a flash of light and stars erupts out at the point of impact, lessening the blow's damage.
for
The statue's fist then opens enough to latch onto the relling Iomedean.
The cairn wight in the midst of this sees the well-armored champion, shield still raised, and decides to instead switch its attention towards the other figure stabbing at it. Slinking around some columns to flank the fetchling it Swings its blade down at Zenith before following it up with a swift claw strike.
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Luckily Zenith is able to easily avoid both swipes even while distracted by the construct also menacing them.
Initiative
Inspired Defense up
Anjo 78/92 HP
Franzine 78/82 HP, grabbed, Guidance'd
A pair of glorious wings erupt from Anjo's back as the ranger takes to the skies.
Quickly loosing two more arrows, only one strikes the wight but the hit leaves it looking quite ragged.
Initiative
Franzine 78/82 HP, grabbed, Guidance'd
"No, no, no, no, no!"
Franzine tries to quickly twist out of the statue's headlock before it brains her with the Noogies of Death.
The champion squirms and is able to break free of the statue’s grip!
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Escaping from the headlock, Franzine glances at Itka who glares at her with a scowl. Franz knows it's a good scowl since she feels invigorated with a bit of divine guidance. She winks at Itka then whacks away on the living statue with her sword.
She then raises her shield (◆) to absorb any incoming blows.
A the Cosmic Caravan's liberating magics fade away, a newly freed Franzine lashes out twice at the statue that bludgeoned her. The first lands on the stone construct with a that echoes around the room. As the champion pulls back her blade for another strike she sees large chunks of sandstone slough off the guardian. As a result, her second cut meet much less resistance as it gouges away at the monolith.
Unheeding of what just happened, the other statue next to Franzine continues to single-mindedly pummel at the Iomedean. But all are easily turned aside by her raised shield.
for
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Initiative
Inspired Defense up
Hammid
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◆) Reload
◆◆) Forbidding Ward @ Zenith vs Orange Wight
Seeing the kayal’s dangerous position, Hammid rolls his fingers into a protective mudra, and blows out from his humming mouth orange “sand” which forms a defensive “dune” between them and the vile undead.
Hammid sends some divine protection Zenith's way.
Meanwhile, the badly-injured wight to the north snarls as its prey has retreated to the air and out of reach. Racing forwards and around several pillars it changes focus and runs up to the witch!
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The sword goes quite wide but its claw almost strikes Itka, before the half-orc takes heed of Manny's encouraging words to narrowly dodge away.
Initiative
Inspired Defense up
Zenith, forbidding ward'd
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The sand forming around Zenith helps them notice they've overextended themself and have been caught in a flank. They nod in thanks as they quickly slice their starknife in the cairn wight's direction and rush back towards the rest of the group. Then the duskwalker confidently throws their starknife towards the undead. Pharasma, guide me they think as they eagerly await to stop sensing the undead's negative energy.
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Zenith's first slash cuts into their targeted wight, but as they retreat and toss off their starknife the precise throw seems to sever multiple key tendons. The wight falls over, still, as Zenith's starknife arcs back to their hand.
One of the statues grinds its head around to look at the kayal as they move. Stomping towards them it swings twice at Zenith but they are able to duck and weave away from both attacks.
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Initiative
Manny, chromatic armor'd (yellow and green)
Itka, Mage Armor'd
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With a wave of his hand, Moonlight pulls the "sand" out of his protective "dune" and shapes it into two lines - one horizontal and one vertical - the former spanning the distance between the Yellow Statue and Anjo, the latter spanning from it's bust level to his now-flying companion's boot level. He closes his eyes, and the sands swirl into his third eye, which glows a bright orange, and begins dead reckoning strenuous mental calculations...
..."21.21320..." he speaks from divine mathematical inspiration, and opening his eyes, he observes the curious bend of the ranger's longbow, clearly not a weapon designed to fight close quarters, "commanding" his "guardian" the following advice:
"Fly back 15 feet"
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"Uhh..." Manny isn't sure what Moonlight shouted or why. Math was never his strong suit.
"Alright, let's do this again." Manny tries to >Inspiring Courage< and tries to make it linger, as everyone's defensive abilities is strong enough.
His shout is brief, but enough to help everyone fight a bit better.
Choosing between his whip and his longsword, he decides to get his sword out and move up to the Yellow Cairn. "Hey hey undead. I'm your friend today." His glowing armor shines green and yellow.
+1 Striking Longsword, Cold Iron, Ghost Touch
Manny changes his tune from defense to aggression as he advances blade in hand just as Itka moves back. The withc seems to take Manny's words to heart as her magically-hurled rock slams hard into the wight. It starts to slump over, but in a final act of spite the undead lashes out at Manny!
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Its claws lace past the bard's defenses even as the wight crumples back into death-death. Franzine calls upon Iomedae's grace in response which cushions almost all of the blow but Manny still feels a tiring energy from the nick.
Right as this is happening, the damaged and broken statue before the champion continues to batter - futilely - against her armor and shield.
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Initiative
Inspire Courage up
Anjo 78/92 HP
Franzine 78/82 HP, shield raised
Need a Fort save
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"Nice shot, Itka!" Manny turns to give a thumbs up. "I know this one gnome with a sling, she'd be proud of ya. She was trying to show me this trick with five pebbles and I-"
The cairn wight has heard enough and bids itself from this mortal realm. But fiiiiirst it tries to stop Manny's babbling.
"Hey! Hands off the armor! Angels are watching!" Manny dusts himself clean of its strike. Then he turns to Franzine. "Thanks for the save. I'll try to set up a flank in a bit. Where was I?"
"I probably shouldn't mention that part... skip ahead to the morning."
"All five pebbles, right between the eyes!"
Manny resists the draining pull of the wound
Meanwhile neither of Franzine's swings are that impressive right now. But with its hard armored shell cracked both connect nonetheless and after the second chop the statue before her collapses into rubble.
Initiative
Inspire Courage up
Anjo 78/92 HP
[spoiler=GM]
With the Hall's invaders rapidly being winnowed down, Anjo notices another potential weak spot of the stautes: Bludgeoning damage might be better able to smash through their hard armor.
His own arrows aren't that, but the dual shot still deeply cracks and damages his target.
In response, that statue then slams right at...Franzine again. While not exactly creative, it does manage to slam its fist into the champion before latching around her.
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Initiative
Inspire Courage up
+10 damage pre-any-Reactions
Hammid
Zenith, forbidding ward'd
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Pulling in the spiraling orange sand with his inhale, an exhale sends the mass of semi-translucent materia circularly around Franzine, shrouding her from the non-cracked statue's stone fists. He then fires his loaded crossbow at the other, more damaged statue, hoping to send it it's final foundational chip.
◆◆) Forbidding Ward @ Franzine vs Red Statue
◆) Strike
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Zenith catches their starknife with ease, elated that one of the undead has fallen. They sense the second undead also fall and the champion of the stars turns to Franzine "May the stars protect you!" they say. Suddenly the stars etched in their armor begin to glow and emit a brief flash of light that surrounds Franzine.
The kayal turns their attention to the statue attacking them and attempts to tumble around the into a flanking position before striking twice with their starknife
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Zenith again sends divine protection to Franzine as she is struck
Hammid sends some more warding Franzine's way before he shoots a bolt straight through its exposed mass. The animated stone is heavily cracked, but still stands.
Zenith tumbles gracefully yet against past and through the other construct. Their first stab chips away a bit at it but the second is a solid blow that sends much of its armor falling off.
Now starting to fall apart itself it swings back at the swashbuckler.
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Quite well in fact! Franzine finally has a chance to return the favor as Iomedae's Grace cushions the blow but the statue's fist wraps about the kayal before it swings once more at them.
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Initiative
Anjo 78/92 HP
Franzine 76/82 HP, forbidding ward'd, grabbed
Manny 84/85, chromatic armor'd (yellow and green)
Itka, Mage Armor'd
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Zenith's starknife leeches darkness into the statue's eyes but it appears to have no effect. Watching the darkness pour out of the starknife for the first time catches Zenith off guard and distracts them momentarily. I've carried it all this time... their train of thought is quickly interrupted by a fist smashing into them.
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"Hmp." Itka is mostly satisfied with how this fight is progressing. It seems likely that these statues will crumble into nothingness soon enough that an ally's death isn't probable. Stepping forward so she has line of sight on the greenish animated statue, she conjures more greasy black tentacles to slam a fallen chunk of its own self into it.
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No bludgeoning weapons on hand besides his fists. Manny makes a mental note to correct that, then winces when Zenith takes the hit.
Manny wants to end this quickly, so he >Inspiring Courage< once again.
Is it the acoustics? Why can't he carry his voice?
He moves to flank with Franzine, sword ready. Maybe he can find a weakpoint to crack.
As Franzine breaks loose again, Itka's hurled stone and Manny's strong slash manage to prove too much for the statues. The turned-on-you defenses turn off permanently as both collapse into rubble. You notice in the debris of one of them lies a small red gemstone - slightly cracked itself but still with a faint shimmer about it.
A minute or so after the last statue has crumbled a hidden door is thrust open with great force from the north side of the room. An Osirian man with a well-made turban on his head and a khopesh thick with dark stains in his hand moves through the door into the Hall of Recognition, followed by several other Pathfinders. All seem out of breath and covered in scratches but the turbaned man gives a wide smile in relief as he notices the six of you.
Pathfinders! Thanks the gods you're here! Venture-Captain Balentiir; sorry I'm late but we were dealing with a group of undead nearby in the halls.
The venture-captain glances around the space and takes in the two corpses and heaps of stone now decorating the ground. Ah, I see you've already been dealing with some yourselves. I'm sorry about the wayward statues - I suspect the undead may have acquired some of the activation codes from one of the Pathfinders that fell to them. 'Lemon Rind' would be the codeword to disable them if you come across any more.
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The small red gemstone's glint reflects off of Moonlight's eye - however he refrains from bending over to pick it up personally for now.
Imagining himself perhaps more important to the group individually, our presumptuous elven hero speaks haughtily for the group "Venture-Captain Balentiir, a pleasure once again. As you can see, our just-recent incursion proved mildly dangerous - I and my guardians are eager to render assistance, first pausing only a moment here to regather our energies, before pressing on" he looks towards Anjo already dressing his wounds "Where might you suspect would be a best place to diagnose next? We shall get to the root of the infection in due time"
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"Alright! Good job everyone. I got plenty of healing magic if we need it-" he notices Anjo taking care of himself. And a champion in sight.
Oh well, high fives and handshakes for everyone.
"Oh! Hey Venture-Captain!" Manny snaps around. "Didn't see you there. Then again I can't see much with this armor." The magic and the chartreuse nimbus finally fades away.
"Lemon Rind... nice. I never would have guessed that. What's going on down there? Where are these undead coming from?"
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"Hmp" is all Itka utters as the last of the threats succumbs to oblivion.
The glint of the red gemstone catches her eye. As soon as she's seen that the wounded are being cared for (there are three medics on the team, so it's unlikely that her scrolls of Soothe will be needed), she crouches beside it to cast Read Aura, totally ignoring the Venture-Captain for the moment.
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"That is unnecessary, but thank you." Zenith thanks Anjo. "If you want the stars to heal your wounds in the future, I can be a conduit." they smile softly and then turn to the rest of the party, "same goes for the rest of you."
Turning their attention to the Venture Captain, "Do you need us to help with the undead in the nearby halls I presume? Zenith asks but assumes the answer is yes and eagerly continues, "Do you know where they are coming from, and who is behind the attacks?"
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"Great job, indeed, everyone! I, too, need to heal up a bit."
"That's a very interesting stone. Could it be an aeon stone?"
She wonders. She uses Lay on Hands to heal herself up.
She then takes 10 minutes to refocus and pray that her and her new friends do just as well together on this mission as they did in their first battle.
The gem radiates strong magic, but of the universal school strangely enough. The Venture-Captain notices you examining it and smiles. Ah yes - that's an animus gem. Those stones are used in the creation of certain constructs. By the state of it that must have been one of the Lodge's older defenders; quite possibly that's why the thing was so easily able to fall under the undead's control. He gives a nod to you. Keep it if you'd like. Even in that state it could be of interest to some people. I know an old associate of the Society's would probably be very intrigued. I wonder where Amenopheus is now, haven't heard form the man in...
Balentiir drifts off a bit in thought before a pained cough from one of the other weary Pathfinder agents brings his focus back around. Question for another day. Yes: we do need your help. The vaults beneath the Sandswept Hall are under constant attack from below. he says to you with renewed urgency. Have been for weeks now but its reaching the point where the incursions are non-stop and all of the Lodge's usual forces are stretched thin. Dangerously thin. I fear we're now at the point where any further push could be the one that lets the undead break through to the surface/
To prevail, we can’t remain on the defensive! That’s where you come in. As some of our most experienced and capable agents around, I need you six to serve as a small, elite strike team. Your actions today may finally alter the course of this fight. The man looks around the hall and, spotting an unoccupied dais, walks over to it and spreads a piece of parchment atop it. He continues talking while sketching a crude map onto the paper.
If we're going to break this siege I have two urgent assignments for you first.
Near the Old Gate Chamber, here, Balentiir points at his drawing there's a group of Pathfinders has been holding off a horde of mindless undead. They bought us time to secure more vulnerable spot but now the agetns are stuck behind the undead lines and we need to get them back to our main positions. There's too many undead choking the area there to confront directly - we need to divert the horde away from Pathfinders' position and get them out. Doing so will require both skill and cunning.
And here, he stabs at a different section of the map undead are spilling into upper levels of the vault through a breach within a collapsed cell block. That breach has to be sealed, though we’ve had reports that malevolent spirits linger there.
Balentiir looks up and gazes upon each of you in turn. I defer to your expertise in determining which assignment to complete first. But know this: until we know where these undead are coming from, I expect the completion of each task to grow more difficult with each passing minute. Once you’ve completed an objective, report back to me. I’ll remain here in the hall to direct our forces and brief you on your next tasks. Hopefully with each task's success we'll be able to send scouts deeper into the vaults to learn where the attacks originate. Once we can find the source, you can help with a final push to end the siege.
Understood? Which of the assignments shall I brief for you first?
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"We gotta help those agents behind the lines. Sounds like we need to distract the horde long enough for them to fall back." Manny doesn't hesitate in his response. His carefree smile is replaced with grim determination.
"I was lost for almost a year before my captors were beaten and I was free. If it weren't for Shylye's encouraging words..." he shakes his head. "Let's help them out now."
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Anjo shakes his head in the negative.
"We need to seal the breach first. Balentir has just told us the second task will be more difficult than the first. If there are spirits at the breach, then we should attack them before they grow in number. I have no ghost touched weapons, so my effectiveness will be reduced. Better to deal with them immediately."
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To Franzine's question, our proud hero casts a condescending looks towards the orc...
...before casting his neutral vote "Balentiir - I and my guardians are prepared to handle either mission, and I shall let them decide for themselves which to be briefed upon first..." from behind his mask, an arrogant smile broadens elven lips, as Moonlight delegates the "lesser" decisions unto who, in his mind, he considers his "subordinates", capable, if barely, of handling as much responsibility, before continuing "...but for whichever is chosen, I am most interested in being briefed upon what others appropriated lodge defenses - such as our Sandswept Guardians assailants - it may be expected that we should encounter"
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The constructs are all we've seen so far. the venture-captain responds to Moonlight. Most are animated figures such as these. The Sandswept Hall also had two golems made of clay once, but one was sent elsewhere when the prison levels were repurposed and the other was damaged in an incident last year and is being repaired elsewhere in the city right now. I have had my agents try to put up glyphs to trigger blasts of positive enrgy about as well, but you should be unharmed by those.
To Manny and Franzine: Based on reports, a sizeable horde of undead has backed a contingent of Pathfinders defending a surface tunnel into a corner. The agents are holding their ground for now, but they can’t do so indefinitely, says Balentiir. My aides and I have devised a plan to relieve them.
The agents’ current position lies a short distance from the Old Gate Chamber, which once served as the final line of defense for the brig beyond. Mobs of mindless zombies, I am told, stand between the two. To relieve the besieged Pathfinders, approach the zombies from their flank and draw a substantial number of them toward you. Lure them through the Old Gate Chamber and into holding area beyond. Once they enter through the gate, shut the zombies behind it where they can pose no further threat.
The agents have been holding their position for days. Check for signs of wounds or infection and promptly provide any necessary treatment.
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As for the breach, Balentiir turns to Anjo Our combined defenses are only as strong as their weakest point. And I believe that point to be one of our former cell blocks. As this lodge once served as a prison, the vaults of the Sothis Lodge still contain several sections that have held various prisoners over the years.
About a year ago, a portion of the ceiling and walls of one of the cell blocks partially collapsed. With all the destruction and heavy debris, the cell block was no longer functional. It was abandoned, if not forgotten.
Balentiir pauses in thought, his face momentarily shadowed by a look of regret. I believe the collapse left an opening the undead are using to reach the upper levels. I need you to get in there and close that breach to ease the pressure on our forces.
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"Anjo, if you need a Ghost Touch weapon, you can borrow my longsword." He taps the sheath on his left hip. "Just bring it back in one piece. One person I met tried to pawn it off. Luckily the shopkeeper was a good friend of mine."
Both missions were important, but helping the Pathfinders was more immediate. He just hopes they can survive while they waste time debating...
If you're recovering the other Pathifnders... Balentiir stands tall and moves through the Hall to a spot in the southwest of the room. Feeling about for a bit, he then clicks a carefully-concealed switch and a secret door swings open. This tunnel should bring you down to where the beseiged agents have been making their stand. Remember: you'll need to draw them off into the old gate chamber and then seal them in before they can start turning back. A long drawn-out fight will only leave you pinned down down there too.
May the gods guide you.
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Through the door you can move through a dark and tight stone tunnel that slopes slowly downwards. The air is cool, dry, and quiet.
Quiet for a while at least. After about ten minutes you start to hear noises off in the distance ahead. The sounds are quiet at first - a faint dragging sounds, a quiet shuffling noise, a muted shout - but as you continue walking the noises get quite a bit louder.
Eventually the tunnel ends in a shut door, beyond which is a cacophony of sound. Cracking the doorway open ever so slightly, you can look out and see a mob of shambling dull-eyed corpses. Many, many mobs: dozens if not hundreds of what appear to be zombies are moving about through many connected chambers. Way off in the distance you spy a few still-living figures barricaded away, occasionally fighting back a set of undead that has noticed them and throws themselves against the defenses. But the path to those Pathfinders is right now blocked by an overwhelming number of undead invaders.
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Moonlight whispers a low hum, and bringing his arms to prayer position above his chest, invokes a sandy dust devil to envelop his body, swirling once, twice... and then he is Gone!
◆◆) Invisibility (10 minutes)
Looking ahead, he observes where the “center” of the hoard is located, then moves his gaze across the Old Gate Chamber into where the venture captain described the “holding area” might be.
In a low voice, he whispers to his guardians ”Ready to draw them through”