Eadie-bot swallows her Potion of Em-Biggening as the warsworn blows chunks at her trusty steed.
Quenly deposits the warrior-woman at her desired range.
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Cursed undead, with their immunity to many of his spells. Not for the first time, Lichaam wishes his foundational studies had left time for the study of necromancy.
The others seemed to have this fairly well in hand, though. With the occasional funerary wrappings nearby, the area could take some damage, however... the bodies formerly in the wrappings were probably part of this mass, and most stone doesn't melt very easily, so it probably wouldn't count as desecration...
Lichaam casts a short wall of fire spell, only long enough to stretch from one side of the undead to the other. He directs its heat towards the south (away from the other Pathfinders). He even throws in a pinch of saltpeter for a little extra heat.
After placing the wall, he flies forwards and up some more, getting almost close enough to use some of his short-range spells if necessary.
The group co-ordinate their assault on the monstrous thing.
Quenly engulfs the creature in noxious green gas, which it ignores.
Korin unleashes a flurry of blows at it, several of which smash large chunks out of the thing.
The creature shrugs off Yanndu's attempt to invade its mind.
Lichaam then engulfs it in flames!
Bellowing in frustration the creature shuffles forward and launches a series of blows at the creature that harmed it so badly. Korin takes a single, glancing, blow but feels his vitality being sucked away!
The creature then shrieks as the wall continues to sear its body. The stench is unbelievable.
x2
Turn Order
Party
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Monster
Combat status
Quenly
Korin
Quidditch
Lichaam
Eadie
Yanndu
Warsworn 228 damage, dazzled 1/3
Eadie-bot pulls out her trusty blade, and chops down at the undead horror.
"As my Aunt Alix used to say: They don't like it up 'em!. At least I think that was Aunt Alix."
Between them Eadie and Korin dismantle the creature. It lies there, inert, burning merrily in the Wall of Fire and producing copious clouds of noxious smoke.
Quenly
Korin, 9 damage, 1 negative level
Quidditch, 10 damage
Lichaam
Eadie
Yanndu
Lichaam's dragon flies around at the ceiling, checking the chamber out. He's especially interested in possible survivors and somewhere out of the way to set up the mansion's entrance.
The dwarves waves back to Lichaam, We're fine, it never got near us.
The little dragon scopes out the cave, there are various nooks and crannies where the mansion could be safely set up. It also notices four rough gouges in the wall of the passageway that leads east of the area.
"Nobody else around, but something gouged the wall over here!"
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Quenly flies around the north of the fiery wall and lands near to Korin.
You were struck. Do you need attention? You don't seem to be badly injured, but I know the touch of powerful undead can harm the soul more than the flesh sometimes.
In less than a minute, Quenly resumes his usual elven shape.
What are those marks? An indication of a secret passage, or just the incidental scrapings of the warsworn as it went by?
The group examine the marks on the wall. It seems that something large and heavy was once hung there but what it might have been is impossible to tell.
Waiting for the flames to die down and the stinking pile of charred undead flesh to cool the group are able to sort through the remains. You find three items of interest.
The first is a breastplate made of a dull grey material which you easily identify as an Adamantine Breastplate
The second is a Dwarfbond Hammer
The third is a skull containing a mithral plate covering some old fracture. It is non magical and picking it up it is generally inert. Krali shouts over to you, You have to call her by name!
Addressing the skull as Borsaget provokes an immediate reaction. It spins in place, blue flames light in its eyes and the jaw begins to click rapidly. Help, help, I'm stuck in some horrible undead mass, wait, no, what the f@!~ is going on? Who in the Nine Hells are you lot? You don't look like dwarves. What are you doing down here? How did you bloody well get in? Where am I?
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Lichaam starts out with Dwarven, to hopefully get through to the spirit and calm her down.
"Peace, honored one. The undead is no more."
Then, once he has her attention, he continues in common. "In order: the ossuary was invaded, we are Pathfinders here to stop the invader, we are indeed not dwarves, we're here to help, we made it through the labyrinth they put in your front door, and you're in the ossuary."
"...or you're in your skull, which is in the ossuary. It depends on how you look at it, and what your definition of "you" is. Oh, and there are some locals over there if you need to confirm anything with them." He gestures towards the group of rescued dwaves.
The flaming blue eyes of the skull narrow into tiny pin pricks of light. Oh Baelzebubs hairy balls, I've been rescued by a bloody elf, I will never live this down. She swivels in Lichaam's hands and glares at the rescued dwarves, None of you lot are to whisper a word of this do you hear me! Anyway, what's this about the Ossurary being invaded. Who would dare to desecrate Magrims sacred Ossuary. You had better believe they will get whats coming to them the bastards!
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Lichaam graciously ignores the "elf" comment.
"A dwarven worshipper of Baphomet came here, set up a reflection of that Abyssal labyrinth, and created multiple undead. He then sent the undead and some minotaurs after the locals. That dwarf's name is Thurl."
Okay, maybe not that gracious. It's probably the Clear Ear talking.
"We're not quite clear on what he's doing here. He brought an ally, but they don't seem to have spoken with each other in the last several days, and my scrying hasn't been able to view him."
Borsaget spins round, What, all of you! Surely not, oh for f&$+s sake, why is Magrim testing me like this. Bastard. Oh well, it can't be helped. I'm grateful for the rescue in any event.
She glances over to the wall, Yes, the runeplates used to hang there. You should probably recover them. I would but..., she clicks her jaws, I lack any limbs to do so. So, do you know where this Thurl is hiding?
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Lichaam tries adjusting the flow of magic in his body slightly, to one more standard for dwarves. Normally that was only applicable when dealing with magic items, but he wasn't sure yet how sensitive Borsaget was to that type of thing.
"Not specifically. Priest Durrendar only knows that Thurl and his assistant sealed themselves inside. The dwarves we rescued on our way in were captured before they made it this far, as I understand it." He looks to the dwarves for confirmation before continuing.
Lichaam considers the holes where the runeplates hung. "If he took the runeplates... either he needed to remove their protection from this place, or he's planning to use their power himself. Some powerful necromantic or transformative ritual, perhaps? Hurenarr could also help explain my inability to scry on him personally."
"For the last several days, his assistant has been meditating in a small square room lined with empty cubbyholes. Assuming they are in the same general area, does that narrow things down any?"
Borsaget goes quiet for a moment. Hmm, yeah, that sounds like a chamber in the lower Ossuary past the lava lake. Has anyone told you about the trap? The one that drops intruders into the lava? I can get you down there. Don't drop me in the bloody lava!
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"...or you're in your skull…"
Which is waaay better than being out of it.
Oh Baelzebubs hairy balls, I've been rescued by a bloody elf ...
“Not an elf here. But if abusing me makes you feel better, go for it! If I woke up to find I’d lost all my arms and legs, I’d be grumpy too.”
Eadie feels sorry for the feisty dwarf spirit, but suspects any sympathy would not be taken well. “What about hazards to do with the lava – apart from the obvious ones.”
“Like, could a Lava Elemental or something live in the lake? Gases might also be like, a problem.”
"....and Quidditch,...."
"I believe elemental resistance to the volcanic environment is enough for me, Master Lichaam. There's no need to waste the spell on me."
Borsaget gives a sigh, The lower Ossurary isnt far, you need to head over to the lower caverns, shift the blocking stone and then head down the tunnel. It isnt far. The lower cavern has fallen into disrepair. Theres a bit pit full of lava and an old bridge crossing the cavern. In the middle of the pit is a stone plinth with a statue of Magrim on it which the bridge connects to. The bridge absorbs the heat from the lava and is dangerous to touch. Its also not the most stable of things. There's only a narrow gap around the edge. If you approach the Statue it will shout at you. You can bypass the trap only if you are a dwarf or you look like one. There's some patterned tiles that make it look like you can navigate a safe path but there isnt one. The bridge disconnects and the platform will corkscrew down into the lava dumping everyone into the crap! It's vicious but you lot look like you should be able to work it all out.
Then she spins round to look at Eadie, Abuse! Dearie, if I start getting abusive you will know it as it will blow your hair off. This is just gentle banter with my new pointy eared elf friends.
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“Gotcha! Your diplomacy style reminds me of the Sapphire Sage’s. He’s my deputy faction head and also not-a-dwarf. I bodyguard him occasionally.”
Eadie puts gauntlet fingers to her chin as she reminisces. “His winning lottery ticket once slipped from my hand in the vicinity of a ravenous goat.”
“I watched a passing vicar of Asmodeus noting down some of the phrases he shouted at me.”
“So can anyone disguise us as dwarves long enough to fool a statue?”
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Huh. Amenopheus indulged in gambling? Lichaam hadn't heard that information before.
Lichaam considers for a few moments. "No, I can't. I have something to fool divinations scribed from a previous mission, but nothing prepared. I also don't have mass fly prepared, which would bypass the penalty of the trap... I thought a summon would serve better, given the team's make-up."
He reaches one hand back and rummages in his pack for a moment, pulling out a fairly battered-looking scroll. "I do have one old scroll of disguise self. With that and flight, I should be able to get to wherever the trap is anchored and try disabling it?"
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Lichaam puts the scroll back in his pack and pulls out a book. Flipping through it one-handed, he nods.
"Correction. I scribed veil several years ago for a classified mission. I still don't have it prepared, though."
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Korin shakes his head at Lichaam's plan "Still too risky. Disguising as the dwarf might deal with the trap, but not the potential ambush. As far as we know, there's only one dwarf on Thurl's side and that's Thurl himself, right? You might have a better chance if you disguise as a demon or minotaur."
Then Korin start digging through his backpack as well. A moment later he comes out with a potion. "Got a spare potion of Fly, that I can give to Eadie. Was planning to use it with Alchemical Allocation ages ago, but the right opportunity never come up till now. I have Air Walk prepped today." After more digging, Korin comes up with another potion, "Hmmmmm.....would Water Walk works for lava?"
"Actually, Eadie why don't you take my Air Walk infusion extract when we head down there? I got 2 Monstrous Physique I and 1 Monstrous Physique II prepped, as well as a MP2 scroll as backup. That gives me....a little more than half an hour worth of flying and fighting, which might be just enough if we do this quick."
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"You should be able to," Lichaam says, "unless there's something unusual about this area. Magma is still hot, though, so you'd need to be protected from that separately."
"If there is an ambush, I would rather not try dealing with the trap until after it's handled. The scroll will last twenty minutes, though, so that's plenty of time to get close afterwards. If someone attacks while I approaching the trap, I can still fly backwards."
"I have an emergency scroll of fly available myself, if someone needs it."
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Don't forget, the bridge is hot too. It would be prudent to protect ourselves from fire again even if flying Quenly cautions.
I could assume the shape of a dwarf for a time, but I have no aptitude for dealing with traps, unless they can be defeated with a Dispel.
Lichaam, at what distance can you potentially identify a magical trap, such as a Symbol? I would be especially concerned about a Symbol of Dispelling.
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"I'm not specifically skilled at detecting traps, but my headband does help significantly. Aram Zey's focus would help draw my attention to traps as well, so..."
He considers the spells both active and planned for a few seconds. "I would likely spot that symbol from a distance of fifty feet. If someone has some Eyes of the Eagle that I could borrow, that would increase it to eighty feet."
Borsaget spins to regard Lichaam. Invisible, hmm, good question. I am not really sure, I don't think it has ever been tested. As for time, its only a few minutes into the lower caverns once you get down there.
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"I'm happy to take whatever assistance with flight y'all think is best, but I do have one potion of fly left."
Hmm ... a dispelling effect would be bad.
Eadie nods in Korin's direction. "There's also the question of heat-driven connection currents while wearing metal armor."
"They won't be pleasant, especially seeing I've used up my allocation of fire resistance spells for today."
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So Borsaget wasn't involved with setting the trap up or maintaining it. No use asking for which spell was used as the trigger mechanism, then.
Lichaam gropes around in his pack for a moment, coming up empty. "My life bubble should prevent you from overheating, but it won't help against temperatures hot enough to burn. Somehow, I never bought any scrolls of resist energy, either."
Granted, a basic scroll against the level of threats they were expected to face wouldn't do a great deal... probably why he'd never bought one. Although the situation with being the trapfinder brings another missing scroll to mind. There was that one spell, aptly named acute senses, that would probably take to enhancement well. The duration is fairly short, which would normally put it out of consideration, but if they already knew roughly where the trap was... Lichaam adds it to his mental list.
As the group continues to discuss their plans for how to deal with the lava lake Borsaget starts giving directions for how to access the Lower Ossuary. Making your way through the caves you see much of the place has been ransacked. Sarcophagi have been smashes open and remnant of bone shards lie scattered about. Bits of rotting flesh and less wholesome material provides signs that sort sort of dark magic has been practiced in this place.
Descending further into the depths you reach and long, curving, ramp which descends into a small amphitheatre. At the centre is a small plinth with a rounded top. It has no hand holds or levers although it is apparent on cursory inspection that it is some sort of cleverly designed trap door. It does not appear to be trapped...
Borsaget cackles, That's the way down my pretty elven heroes...
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"What did Thurl do to this place?" Lichaam asks, checking the area for active magic.
Barring any unfortunate surprises, he then turns his attention to the plinth and its surroundings. Borsaget was obviously testing them with this question; a common-enough pattern when entering sacred spaces. A tactile examination could wait until Eadie or Korin approached as a guard, but scrape marks and wear patterns tell stories all their own.