Merlin Raises his Shield, Strides to the stairs and laughs at the closest Cultist!
Unfortunately it doesn't seem to come out as Intimidating...
Perla takes aim at the red and tries to finish the fight here
Merlin isn't too intimidating, but Perla manages to put another arrow into one of the guards.
[color=Red][/color]
Perla │
⠀⠀Shadow │
➤ Qafathiel │
Merlin Brokencrown │
Tabil │
Avenger of the Green │
Red tiefling │
Green tiefling │
Solras Pirhatya │
Krakas │
Faxon │
- Stage 1: Sickened 1 and Fatigued
- Quednys Orlun
- Safe house (Topaz Solutions)
- Safe house (Tower of Estrod)
- Blackwing
- Loumis Fine Fittings
- Horgus Gwerm's Mansion
- Anevia's Home
- Defender's Heart
Ragathien whirls around and his eyes flash red; flames much like those that engulfed Faxon lash out at the cultist leading the charge down the stairs
DblDmg on Crit, 2d6 fire adjacent (FIRE RAY @ Green)
Qafathiel manages to light more of the ground on fire.
The green tiefling comes barrelling down the steps and . Perla is shoved five feet back. The guard continues on his way to Faxon.
The red guard comes down and . Qafathiel is shoved five feet back. The red tiefling continues on his way to Faxon.
[color=Red][/color]
Perla │
⠀⠀Shadow │
Qafathiel │
Merlin Brokencrown │
Tabil │
Avenger of the Green │
Red tiefling │
Green tiefling │
➤ Solras Pirhatya │
➤ Krakas │
Faxon │
- Stage 1: Sickened 1 and Fatigued
- Quednys Orlun
- Safe house (Topaz Solutions)
- Safe house (Tower of Estrod)
- Blackwing
- Loumis Fine Fittings
- Horgus Gwerm's Mansion
- Anevia's Home
- Defender's Heart
Shrugging, it worked great the first time Krakas launches another arc of lightning between the two still standing tiefling cultists, "It hurts brothers, to harm you so, its not too late to lay down your arms and surrender,"
Each of the tiefling guards takes a small amount of electric damage from Krakas.
[color=Red][/color]
Perla │
⠀⠀Shadow │
Qafathiel │
Merlin Brokencrown │
Tabil │
Avenger of the Green │
Red tiefling │
Green tiefling │
➤ Solras Pirhatya │
Krakas │
Faxon │
- Stage 1: Sickened 1 and Fatigued
- Quednys Orlun
- Safe house (Topaz Solutions)
- Safe house (Tower of Estrod)
- Blackwing
- Loumis Fine Fittings
- Horgus Gwerm's Mansion
- Anevia's Home
- Defender's Heart
Solras shoots at the Red Tiefling, hoping to take them down quickly... and misses wildly, swearing to herself.
Merlin takes the opportunity to attack the initial Cultist that done passed his position.
The green tiefling guard never even made it to the center of the room. After pushing Perla away, when he made a dash for the center of the room Merlin's sword tore a huge gash in his belly, dropping him right there.
Solras takes a shot, that goes wide into one of the walls.
Faxon dies completely.
The remaining tiefling guard drops his weapon, drops to his knees, puts his hands behind his head, and surrenders. "Without Faxon to guard, I gots nuttin' left. Please don't kill me."
On Faxon, you find nine lesser healing potions. His Explorer's Clothing has a +1 Armor Potency Rune on it. You find a couple of keys.
You hear a tiny voice say [color=Pink]"I'm Free![/color] Then the scorpion in the corner scuttles away and disappears into a crack in the wall.
The door to the south is locked, but one of Faxon's keys opens it. In the southern room is a locked chest, but one of Faxon's keys opens that.
In the chest you find.
- 231 cp
- 76 sp
- 12 gp
- 1 pp
- 5 silver holy symbols of Iomedae (worth 2 gp each)
- a +1 longsword
- 2 +1 scimitars
- Various fine housewares like silverware and table settings worth (45 gp)
- a wand of Runic Weapon
- a currently broken Phylactery of Faithfulness
- A sheaf of papers documenting the cultists' movements around the city. These papers not only indicate that the plan to attack Kenabres was several years in the planning, but, there were a large number of Templars of the Ivory Labyrinth involved. (While it can't help at this point, several of the names on the list include people operating in other cities. The crusaders will pay 200 gp for it as a reward.
- There is a short note in immaculate handwriting.
Krakas surveys the aftermath of the chaotic battle, his tail twitching in thought as he watches the surviving tiefling guard surrender. The wizard’s sharp gaze narrows for a moment before he relaxes, his voice calm but firm.
“You’ve made the right choice. Stay where we can see you,” Krakas says. Then, he glances at Perla and Merlin. “We’ll need to decide what to do with him, but for now, he’s no threat, let's just make sure he doesn't sneak away behind us,"
He hands the papers to Merlin for his input, then turns to the group. “The crusaders will want to see this. If these names are still out there, we can stop them before they strike again, but it seems our biggest priority is stopping whatever is happening at the Wardstone.”
Tabil raises an eyebrow at the chitinous arachnid, first of all, speaking. Secondly, he briefly ponders the actual presence of the creature and its purpose. He walks to the freshly acquired captors and performs a pat down to make sure they do not pose a threat.
"Will you be a troublemaker, friend?" Tabil asks the man in a half and half reassuring and threatening manner. "Tie them up, take them for a walk later?" he addresses the party.
Merlin sheaths his sword after cleaning it on the dead cultist's cloak, as his steel blue eyes lock onto the other.
You would be more believable if your weapon hit the floor at the same time as your ass.
The Fighter then takes out some rope from his backpack to tie the now sitting Cultist.
Stay. We may have questions.
Reacquainting himself with Dead Faxon's paperwork and such, the Marshal reads the missive, while also frowning at the tied up, seated cultist.
You know any about this?
Merlin summarizes.
Raising an eyebrow as he peruses the papers handed to him by Krakas, Merlin whistles.
Ain't this a....
After squeezing the tied up and seated cultist for all the demon juice, Merlin takes Dead Faxon's key, unlocks the door, enters, searches and comes back out with a new shiny+1 longsword.
We really need to get this information back to base.
Merlin sheaths his sword after cleaning it on the dead cultist's cloak, as his steel blue eyes lock onto the other.
You would be more believable if your weapon hit the floor at the same time as your ass.The Fighter then takes out some rope from his backpack to tie the now sitting Cultist.
Stay. We may have questions.Reacquainting himself with Dead Faxon's paperwork and such, the Marshal reads the missive, while also frowning at the tied up, seated cultist.
You know any about this?Merlin summarizes.
Raising an eyebrow as he peruses the papers handed to him by Krakas, Merlin whistles.
Ain't this a....After squeezing the tied up and seated cultist for all the demon juice, Merlin takes Dead Faxon's key, unlocks the door, enters, searches and comes back out with a new shiny+1 longsword.
We really need to get this information back to base.
"For the record, leaving him here at the mercy of whoever finds him is all we should need. He only asked not to be killed."
The Brazen Minotaur Head is a magic object that, when mounted in a room, makes anyone in the room more skillful. It is a +1 Divine bonus to any skill check.
Once per day, it can be used to cast a Rank 7 Haste, although it takes three actions.
All the guard knows is that he was assigned guard duty. It's better than being out in the city, since demons don't seem to care that you're on their side.
"Can he be redeemed? Maybe we can try that? He doesn't seem... I mean, he can change perhaps?"
"It's possible, but do we know why he joined the demons? That'll affect my answer."
The tiefling guard says, "The demons are the good guys. They promote freedom, creativity, and breaking conventions. They are the liberators from oppressive structures or dogmatic rules. They advocate for a form of existential freedom that resonates with the Holy. The chaotic destruction is a necessary catalyst for change or renewal."
Solras tries her best to find a solution that isn't trying to convert them to Iomedae. Someone actively relying on demons... wouldn't take well to all the rules, the laws, and all the restrictive structures of being a holy crusader... but perhaps converting them to a different planar faction would work.
"Look. Maybe the only form of freedom you've been exposed to is the demons. I'm not going to try to convert you to Iomedae or anything. Have you had conversations with... any of the other chaotic outsiders or their representatives? The demons love exerting their power, their worshippers... they just like subjugating others with war and violence over laws and rules. Their freedom comes at the price of others'. "
“Freedom is a compelling idea,” he begins, his infernal eyes fixed on the guard. “But the freedom demons offer isn’t what it seems. It’s chaos disguised as liberation. They burn everything down, leaving nothing behind. True freedom... it’s about creating something better, not just tearing everything apart.”
He gestures toward Solras. “What she’s saying makes sense. There are other paths—ones that embrace individuality and creativity without leaving destruction in their wake. Have you heard of Desna? Or Cayden Cailean? Gods of travel, dreams, and freedom who don’t demand blood and ruin to make their point. They embody freedom in a way demons never will.”
"Let them be." Tabil murmus from under the minotaur head. "That's a mindset that will not be altered in two minutes. But if they like the demons so much, perhaps we should pull them out into the open to discuss the philosophy with the creatures directly. See how that turns out." he smirks at the captive and waits a few seconds for a reaction. "I bet they would make wonderful pieces of art using bone and sinew as their preferred medium. And then consume it. Or parts of it, at least."
"Anyway," he points at the thing. "this wall mount is interesting. I have a feeling it improves performance of various tasks by anyone standing in a room where it is mounted. Something to think about."
"Let them be." Tabil murmus from under the minotaur head. "That's a mindset that will not be altered in two minutes. But if they like the demons so much, perhaps we should pull them out into the open to discuss the philosophy with the creatures directly. See how that turns out." he smirks at the captive and waits a few seconds for a reaction. "I bet they would make wonderful pieces of art using bone and sinew as their preferred medium. And then consume it. Or parts of it, at least."
"Anyway," he points at the thing. "this wall mount is interesting. I have a feeling it improves performance of various tasks by anyone standing in a room where it is mounted. Something to think about."
"I do not know our odds at safely transporting it, but I would love for the crusade command to have it in their war council meetings."
At this point, you may return to Defender's Heart or continue on to Topaz Solutions. You may, of course do anything else you desire, but, that will, most likely, just have more random encounters thrown your way...
"I think that we have more important things to worry about that carrying big items of loot. And I think the commanders might not want Baphomet looking over their plans, even figuratively." he says, wooden eyes rolling. "I say we secure it and let others retrieve it when they can."
He lowers his voice so as to not be overheard by the prisoner. "Perhaps we let him go and follow to see where he goes?"
Merlin simply ignores the seated and tied up cultist. The Fighter gathers up everything of military value, along with every scratch of paper work (especially the Letter).
Best get back to Base, before something eats us and swallows out nothing worth keeping.
"Eh, we survived out there for days. No need to scuttle back home when we can deal with another issue first."
After a bit of time for healing/identifying and a discussion of where to go next, you start going toward Topaz Solutions.
You're about 20 minutes away from Topaz Solutions, when, while you are crossing a small bridge, from an alleyway in front of you, a robed figure emerges. In the place of hands, multiple tentacles are at the end of each arm.
He moves out of the alley, points to somewhere near the bridge, and a loud sound, like the cracking of a giant whip assaults your ears.
Then, from 20 feet away, the tentacles that pointed, bludgeoning damage.
[color=Red][/color]
Robed Figure
➤ Avenger of the Green │
➤ Qafathiel │
➤ Perla │
⠀⠀➤ Shadow │
➤ Solras Pirhatya │
➤ Tabil │
➤ Krakas │
➤ Merlin Brokencrown │
- Stage 1: Sickened 1 and Fatigued
- Quednys Orlun
- Safe house (Topaz Solutions)
- Blackwing
- Loumis Fine Fittings
- Horgus Gwerm's Mansion
- Anevia's Home
- Defender's Heart
- Tower of Estrod (former safe house)
Avenger rocks from the nasty hit and quickly bandages himself before he loses too much sap.
He then hurls a woody axe against the bad guy.
Both Shadow and Perla are affected by the blast, a few shards of shrapnel cutting them both.
Perla looks at the creature, then hunting prey targets the creature with the strange arms, and shoots at it twice, hoping to help distract the creature from her companions and buy them some time.
Avenger takes some minor sonic damage, manages to throw some duct tape around his vines, and hits the robed figure with some woody elemental force.
Perla takes the full damage from the sonic effect and is deafened for this round, but Shadow is truly unnerved from the damage and is deafened for a minute and stunned. The ringing in her ears seems to affect her aim with the bow, and both of Perla's arrows go wide.
[color=Red][/color]
Robed Figure
Avenger of the Green │
➤ Qafathiel │
Perla │
⠀⠀Shadow │
➤ Solras Pirhatya │
➤ Tabil │
➤ Krakas │
➤ Merlin Brokencrown │
- Stage 1: Sickened 1 and Fatigued
- Quednys Orlun
- Safe house (Topaz Solutions)
- Blackwing
- Loumis Fine Fittings
- Horgus Gwerm's Mansion
- Anevia's Home
- Defender's Heart
- Tower of Estrod (former safe house)
Krakas, caught completely off guard by the sonic blast, holds his ears, opens his spellbook and begins to swirl his hands, struggling but knowing his group needs a chance to breath and hoping this spell provides some much needed cover, spending all his energy to pull forth a billowing mist that surrounds the area.
"This thing seems pretty tough! Avenger are you gonna be okay?"
Here is the wording for the spell: You call forth a cloud of mist. All creatures within the mist become concealed, and all creatures outside the mist become concealed to creatures within it. You can Dismiss the cloud.
If this was a huge mistake, I can dismiss the spell next turn
Krakas is stunned by the sound of the blast the robed figure sent against the party.
[color=Red][/color]
Robed Figure
Avenger of the Green │
➤ Qafathiel │
Perla │
⠀⠀Shadow │
➤ Solras Pirhatya │
➤ Tabil │
➤ Krakas │
➤ Merlin Brokencrown │
- Stage 1: Sickened 1 and Fatigued
- Quednys Orlun
- Safe house (Topaz Solutions)
- Blackwing
- Loumis Fine Fittings
- Horgus Gwerm's Mansion
- Anevia's Home
- Defender's Heart
- Tower of Estrod (former safe house)
Qafathiel: Fort DC 22 or 11 sonic
Qafa reaches out to Avenger as he applies bandages to himself, just making sure that the leshy can recover a little more ... at the same time withdrawing a sling bullet to send shards at the team's latest attacker
+12hp; +2 status bonus to AC (1 round)
Krakas, suffering from some Deja vu where he fought a similar creature but things went differently for him, tries to identify the creature and sends a small force dart zipping at it.
Krakas projects a small amount of force damage into the robed figure.
They have a weakness to Holy damage.
[color=Red][/color]
Venedaemon
Avenger of the Green │
➤ Qafathiel │
Perla │
⠀⠀Shadow │
➤ Solras Pirhatya │
➤ Tabil │
Krakas │
➤ Merlin Brokencrown │
- Stage 1: Sickened 1 and Fatigued
- Quednys Orlun
- Safe house (Topaz Solutions)
- Blackwing
- Loumis Fine Fittings
- Horgus Gwerm's Mansion
- Anevia's Home
- Defender's Heart
- Tower of Estrod (former safe house)
Merlin screams but he doesn't hear his own screaming. It's a bit disconcerting....
The Fighter (who may be bleeding a bit behind the ears) Raises his Shield, Strides behind the Tentacle Tyrant and Strikes!
Anyone want to Flank? Possibly get him a bit Off-Guard?
Tabil grabs his head as the sonic boom leaves him with ringing ears. He looks around to examine the effects on others before looking at the creature. "No shot..." he mutters and pulls out his healer's tools to help Krakas and Shadow.
Merlin covers his ears, , raises his shield and confronts the Daemon.
Tabil takes some damage, and slaps some bandages on Krakas and Shadow.
[color=Red][/color]
Venedaemon
Avenger of the Green │
➤ Qafathiel │
Perla │
⠀⠀Shadow │
➤ Solras Pirhatya │
Tabil │
Krakas │
Merlin Brokencrown │
- Stage 1: Sickened 1 and Fatigued
- Quednys Orlun
- Safe house (Topaz Solutions)
- Blackwing
- Loumis Fine Fittings
- Horgus Gwerm's Mansion
- Anevia's Home
- Defender's Heart
- Tower of Estrod (former safe house)
[dice=FORT] 1d20 +7 Qafathiel: Fort DC 22 or 11 sonic
Qafa reaches out to Avenger as he applies bandages to himself, just making sure that the leshy can recover a little more ... at the same time withdrawing a sling bullet to send shards at the team's latest attacker
[dice=LoH*] +12 +12hp; +2 status bonus to AC (1 round)
[dice=Shards of Ragathiel**] 1d20 +7; 4d4
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Qafathiel took some minor sonic damage, and healed Avenger of the Green some. Unfortunately, Qafathiel's shards don't damage the Daemon.
[color=Red][/color]
Venedaemon
Avenger of the Green │
Qafathiel │
Perla │
⠀⠀Shadow │
➤ Solras Pirhatya │
Tabil │
Krakas │
Merlin Brokencrown │
- Stage 1: Sickened 1 and Fatigued
- Quednys Orlun
- Safe house (Topaz Solutions)
- Blackwing
- Loumis Fine Fittings
- Horgus Gwerm's Mansion
- Anevia's Home
- Defender's Heart
- Tower of Estrod (former safe house)
Solras responds to the sonic damage by just firing at the thing, hoping to get this over with quickly and drowning out any sound with her own. "OI! What the Abaddon is a Daemon doing here? Isn't the worldwound connected to the Abyss? Venedaemon, death by magic, not my usual daemon fair at all, cultists back home go the other way around. It's a daemon, so throw anything holy you have at it. I'd hazard a guess magic's a bad idea too."
Solras jams the butt of each of his hands onto his sensitive ears and avoids most of the damage from the sound burst.
Solras will let you know that Venedaemons are unholy, and thus have a weakness to Holy damage, but, realizes that it has a minor resistance to magic, and, is immune to Death effects.
Solras fires once, striking somewhere in the robes of the daemon.
The fiend begins casting a spell at Merlin, and Merlin strikes the daemon in the arm.
Then the daemon's tentacles will
Venedaemon
➤ Avenger of the Green │
➤ Qafathiel │
➤ Perla │
⠀⠀➤ Shadow │
➤ Solras Pirhatya │
➤ Tabil │
➤ Krakas │
➤ Merlin Brokencrown │
- Stage 1: Sickened 1 and Fatigued
- Quednys Orlun
- Safe house (Topaz Solutions)
- Blackwing
- Loumis Fine Fittings
- Horgus Gwerm's Mansion
- Anevia's Home
- Defender's Heart
- Tower of Estrod (former safe house)