Tabil opens his eyes, looks around confused, then realises what is happening. He stands up and RUNS up the stairs, gasping for some fresh air.
Tabil gets up, gets out, then , gets confused (in the upstairs), and poison damage (and is now at stage 3).
Perla goes over to Shadow, and drags Shadow up the stairs out of the range of the gas.
[color=Green][/color]
➤ Perla │
⠀⠀Shadow │
➤ Krakas │
➤ Avenger of the Green │
➤ Solras Pirhatya │
Mandragora
[color=Red][/color]
➤ Merlin Brokencrown │
➤ Ragathien │
➤ Tabil │
- 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 follows up the stairs and away from anyone that he may accidentally chop into pieces....
So far,
Perla and Shadow, Merlin, and Tabil are out of the gas.
Shadow is unconscious and Dying 2
Tabil is Confused.
Shadow and Tabil are at stage 3 of the Mandragora Venom.
I will wait for Shadow's end of turn and Tabil's confused turn until others tell us what they are doing.
Krakas grabs Ragathien, throwing him over his shoulder like one of the many sheep's or calf's he dealt with back on the farm, and hustles him up the stairs toward Shadow, swinging him around so he can touch Shadow.
Krakas grabs Ragathien, throwing him over his shoulder like one of the many sheep's or calf's he dealt with back on the farm, and hustles him up the stairs toward Shadow, swinging him around so he can touch Shadow.
Ragathien kneels and silently thanks his patron the insight he gave Krakas. Briming with holy light, he lays one hand and then another onto Shadow, quietly praising the four legged warrior for his bravery.
**Cast LoHx2: +24hp for Shadow (-6hp?)
Tabil, pale as he is, sees monsters running up the stairs, and swings with the torch wildly to defend himself.
He swings twice, then collapses to the floor, his mouth foaming.
Tabil swings wildly (but, uneffectively). Tabil passes out from the venom (Stage 3, Dying 2)
Krakas drags Ragathien up the stairs and dumps him next to Shadow.
Ragathien pleas and channels his deity to heal Shadow.
Only Avenger of the Green and Solras Pirhatya are in the room with the bilious gas.
[color=Green][/color]
Perla │
⠀⠀Shadow │
Krakas │
➤ Avenger of the Green │
➤ Solras Pirhatya │
Mandragora
[color=Red][/color]
Merlin Brokencrown │
Ragathien │
Tabil │
- 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 will back out as quickly as possible.
Solras just runs out (3 strides)
Shadow tries to save again against everything
Shadow, now awake from the healing, fails to recover from the Venom.
In its confused state, it will lash out against Ragathien (who is kneeling next to it).
[color=Green][/color]
➤ Perla │
⠀⠀Shadow │
➤ Krakas │
➤ Avenger of the Green │
➤ Solras Pirhatya │
[color=Red][/color]
➤ Merlin Brokencrown │
➤ Ragathien │
➤ Tabil │
- 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)
Ragathien will refocus
Merlin stays ready for opponents that aren't microscopic....
Krakas pulls out a potion of restoration and an antitoxin, administering the antidote to Tabil first, bolstering his resistance to the poison.
Because Tabil is unconscious, you are able to pour the antidote into him (probably holding his nose so that he has to swallow).
If you do the same with the Lesser Antidote, that will change the venom to Stage 2.
Tabil is still Dying 2, though.
[color=Green][/color]
➤ Perla │
Krakas │
➤ Avenger of the Green │
➤ Solras Pirhatya │
⠀⠀Shadow │
[color=Red][/color]
➤ Merlin Brokencrown │
➤ Ragathien │
➤ Tabil │
- 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)
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In that case, I will feed him a fruit of life every ten minutes.
after ten more minutes:
In that case, I will feed him a fruit of life every ten minutes.
[dice=fresh produce, Tabil]2d6+4
[dice=fresh produce, Perla]2d6+4
[dice=fresh produce, Krakas]2d6+4
[dice=fresh produce, Solras]2d6+4
[dice=fresh produce, Shadow]2d6+4
[dice=fresh produce, Merlin]2d6+4
[dice=fresh produce, Ragathien]2d6+4
[dice=fresh produce, Avenger]2d6+4after ten more minutes:
[dice=fresh produce, Tabil]2d6+4
[dice=fresh produce, Perla]2d6+4
[dice=fresh produce, Krakas]2d6+4
[dice=fresh produce, Solras]2d6+4
[dice=fresh produce, Shadow]2d6+4
[dice=fresh produce, Merlin]2d6+4
[dice=fresh produce, Ragathien]2d6+4
[dice=fresh produce, Avenger]2d6+4
and I will LoH every 10 minutes
Avenger of the Green moves over to Tabil, produces Fresh Produce, and, while Merlin is holding Tabil down, Avenger force feeds the Fresh Produce to Tabil.
While Tabil is now Wounded 2, Tabil no longer has the Dying condition.
Shadow is awake (and still prone and confused).
Shadow will strike out piercing damage.
Shadow will strike out piercing damage.
Shadow will strike out piercing damage.
Shadow takes venom damage, and lays there, panting on the ground.
Tabil, now awake, but also prone, grasps his swordcane, and strikes
And strikes again
Then, Tabil , but looks much better.
Tabil still seems pretty sick.
Then, Tabil seems worse again, more venom damage.
Tabil will
Finally, and almost passes out before all vestiges of the venom are out of their system.
At this point, you all take a breather. After 30 minutes, everyone is healed up, and you notice that the 'gas' from the lower room has completely dissipated. If you wish, you can search that room.
The air in this basement is damp and musty-smelling. The walls and floor are packed earth, while dozens of gourds hang from the ceiling beams. A sludge of rotting plant matter covers the floor. Against one wall, a wooden table holds a strange apparatus that looks like a clockwork toy of a snake-bodied, six-armed woman holding a sword in each hand. A formerly tightly corked bottle, lies smashed on the table before the statue.
A wooden chest covered with engraved runes stands under the table, and a sinister image of a star surrounding a goat’s face is painted on the wall above the table.
Tabil spits and heaves a few times before vomiting again. He looks apologetically at others. "My apologies, everybody. My mind was clouded. I believe I may have "defended" myself when you approached." he makes air quotes.
"So..." he leans against the wall. "...any of you fine folk consider yourself a slave of Iomedae? I believe that is what the image was referring to."
Merlin seems reluctant to reentered that cursed chamber...
Krakas, happy that the investigator and Shadow were both saved, polices up his empty potion bottles. "Well, that was a fight and a half, I'm gonna change some of my spells up, just in case,"
Once his preparations are completed, Krakas will join the group to venture back down into the room, "Sadly, I don't know mage hand, maybe when we are back at the Inn I'll ask around and see if I can learn it from someone, should be pretty cheap to learn,"
Krakas, happy that the investigator and Shadow were both saved, polices up his empty potion bottles. "Well, that was a fight and a half, I'm gonna change some of my spells up, just in case,"
Once his preparations are completed, Krakas will join the group to venture back down into the room, "Sadly, I don't know mage hand, maybe when we are back at the Inn I'll ask around and see if I can learn it from someone, should be pretty cheap to learn,"
"I know that I saw the spell performed at the temple before I came here, but that was quite some time ago. I can pray on it when we have a minute."
Now that the room appears safe, the toy Marilith is a cleverly constructed clockwork toy that weight a bulk, and could fetch 25 gold in a marketplace. It still will move its arms when one says "Baphomet"
Some magic still lingers on the image on the wall. Most likely it is a remnant of the spell Embed Message (formerly known as Magic Mouth)
Who wants to investigate the closed, rune-covered chest?
"Well, I don't know what temples you go to, friend." Tabil chuckles as he layers clothes over his freshly healed wounds. "Where I am from, people go to temples to meditate, pray, and give alms."
He walks towards the stairs and slowly descends into the cellar. "Right. Ladies, gentlemen, I will make another attempt to solve this puzzle. Keep your distance, in case there is trouble."
And he does that. Tabil will not stop anyone from joining in, but advises caution.
Is anyone joining Tabil?
"I will come with you. Though I make no guarantees that I can help in anyway. Desna is more a personal belief of mine, she does not give me any of her powers." Perla mentions, but keeps an eye on Shadow, concerned over all these demonic energy has on her long time companion.
"It might be best if we all stick together ..."
Ragathien follows
The runes don't appear to be active, and the chest doesn't appear to be trapped.
When opened there is a note that read:
“We don’t need these anymore, but figured if you survived our surprise, it would be just plain rude to leave behind an empty chest for your troubles!”
Underneath the note are five holy symbols. But, you notice that all of them have some kind of paste on them. Probably some kind of contact poison.
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Krakas eyes the holy symbols, unsure of what deity or creature they symbolize, "Careful, let me see if my magic can clean these off before we touch them,"
Krakas will also eye the paste, to try and determine what it is.
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Krakas carefully removes the paste with a spell, a rag, and some of the plant debris found in the room.
They are five Iomedean silver religious symbols (worth about 2 gp each)
You make your way back to Defender's Heart, and Irabeth is interested in what you found there. After listening, she opens a saddlebag, and brings out a bag of coins. "Here, I'm certainly glad that you found that trap, rather than some other of our folk. You handled yourselves quite well."
The bag of coins contains 100 gp.
The next few days are relatively uneventful. You go on several errands, cleaning up various hot spots in the city.
On the third day, when you come back in, Irabeth approaches you with a grim, worried expression. She explains that your arrival at Defender’s Heart couldn’t have been more timely, and asks you to come meet with a
man named Quednys Orlun.
Quednys Orlun is an aged and angular human with an eagle’s talon tattoo on his cheek. Founder and head librarian of Blackwing, Quednys was at the Cathedral when the attack began, and was instrumental in saving several citizens from certain death.
He suffered a nearly fatal wound in doing so, but survived after he was brought to Defender’s Heart and healed. Since then, Quednys has helped keep order in the inn. He believes that Blackwing was completely destroyed, and is haunted by this fact.
Irabeth continues, "As horrific as recent events have been, we’ve come to realize that they are, in fact, merely a prelude. The razing of the Kite, the destruction of our wardstone, Terendelev’s murder, and the assault on the city were nothing more than opening gambits. The Worldwound is on the march in a more concentrated assault than we’ve seen since the fall of Drezen. It’s fair to say the Lord of the Locust Host is finally making his move. The end of this hundred-year-war is upon us, and it falls to us to ensure victory.
“While the Templars of the Ivory Labyrinth were scattered, those who serve the Lord of the Locust Host himself remain concentrated in Old Kenabres. What we’ve heard from within the barricade they’ve erected is ominous. The cultists are waiting for something, and based on our own information and what you’ve managed to recover so far, it sounds like the vile witch Areelu Vorlesh will soon be coming to Kenabres. And it appears that we’ve determined what she intends to do.
“When the wardstone was destroyed by the Storm King, it exploded and destroyed the Kite. The network along the border failed, but did not fade completely. I believe this is because a significant portion of our wardstone still exists, and that the cultists have taken it to the old garrison in Old Kenabres. From what we’ve learned, they’re hoping to engineer a way to somehow reverse the field generated by the wardstones — essentially, to use our own greatest defense as a devastating weapon.
“The attack on Kenabres had a predictable result: causing the crusade to gather at the border to defend it. Some wonder why the demons haven’t attacked in stronger numbers. I believe that Areelu was counting on us massing along the border, and that if she can corrupt the wardstone field, she can strike a devastating blow against us all. In effect, we’ve lined up for the slaughter.
“Vorlesh is surely seeking some object of great Abyssal power, likely the Nahyndrian crystal mentioned in the missive you recovered, and with it she intends to turn the source of our hope into an unimaginable nightmare. We cannot hope to evacuate everyone from the border — I doubt they would give up the defensive line even if they knew what the enemy planned. But we can still stop this from happening — we just need to have someone infiltrate the Gray Garrison, locate the wardstone fragment, and destroy it.
"I don't expect you will be able to achieve your goal on the first try. I would suggest you plan for multiple attacks on the Gray Garrison. I and my fellow crusaders will time our own strikes with each of your attacks. While it is likely the cultists will certainly shore up their defenses between forays, multiple strikes should wear them down. As long as you can destroy the wardstone fragment before Vorlesh’s arrival, it will all be worth the risk.
"Quednys has the perfect tool for finishing off the wardstone’s destruction — a rod of cancellation he salvaged. With this item, you should be able to drain the last vestige of power from the fragment; in so doing, it will completely sever the wardstone’s remaining connection to the field. Doing so will rob Vorlesh of a crucial chink in the wardstone field’s armor and prevent her from using it against the crusaders unless the demons can manage to destroy another wardstone — Something I don’t think is possible in the short term, for the Kenabres stone has suffered numerous attacks over the past several years that made this final destruction possible. Almost, as if the demons have been planning for this day from the start.”
Merlin seems excited to be ordered to a real military mission. The Fighter is seen peering over maps, supply lists and other military valued structures.
Taking back the Grey Garrison would be a mighty blow to that filth!
"The truest terror of this day is that you just used the words demon & planning almost side by side. No one should be able to say that."
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Krakas listens intently, arms crossed, his tail flicking thoughtfully as Irabeth lays out the grim reality before them. His gaze lingers on Quednys Orlun, noting the deep lines of exhaustion on the librarian’s face and the weight of loss in his eyes.
“So, let me get this straight,” he says, his voice even but laced with concern. “The demons spent years chipping away at Kenabres’ wardstone, and now they want to use its remains to wipe out the crusaders in one fell swoop. And our job is to infiltrate the Gray Garrison, fight through who-knows-how-many cultists and demons, and destroy what’s left of the wardstone before Areelu Vorlesh gets here to twist it into a weapon.” He exhales through his nose. “Seems simple enough.”
Despite the dry tone, there’s no mistaking the determination in his crimson eyes. He looks at the rod of cancellation Quednys holds, the artifact that could make or break their mission.