Helmut recognized the star as the Sihedron rune, a Thassilonian sigil symbolizes the seven virtues (or sins) of rule.
You clear the rubble and move through the south door. The north and west walls of this chamber are carved with hundreds of runes, all radiating out from a seven-pointed star with a flickering flame burning at its center. Now and then, a little sputter of sparks showers out of these flames.
A wooden door in the northeast corner of the room has been adorned with a single rune carving that looks vaguely like a horned, fanged face. Helmut recognizes it as the rune of Abraxas, the demon lord of forbidden lore and magic. The runes on the walls are prayers, written in Thassilonian, to this demon lord.
Vyana realizes the sparks are coming from a trap. The magic is faltering but still dangerous.
When Vyana points out the trap, Viviana tries to lead the way to overwhelm the trap with prayers to a good deity. She kneels before the radiating runes, her focus centers on invoking the power of Shelyn.
She closes her eyes and begins her prayer "Oh Glorious Shelyn, whose hand paints the hues of dawn and sculpts the curves of the rivers, hear me from your celestial canvas, where love and beauty reign supreme. This place, marred by shadows and forbidding runes, cries out for your touch. A touch that soothes the deepest wounds and cleanses the darkest blights. Bless this troubled ground with your radiant light, let your colors dispel this gloom, as a painter covers a scarred canvas with a masterpiece of hope and light. Let your harmony resonate in these ancient stones, transforming curse into chorus, where once there was silence of fear, let there now be the music of peace. We stand here as your instruments, let our actions paint your divine will,
As we seek to restore what has been defiled, to mend what has been broken. Guide our hands, our hearts, our souls, as we work to reclaim this place."
"In your name, for your glory, and for the love that heals all."
Viviana opens her eyes, cleary frustrated. "Shelyn's light seems not to penetrate this darkness."
Ser Helmut begins to drool. Not just at the corner(s) of his open mouth, but more like a deluge of dripping that would make TLC stop and stare....
Thassilonian....Thassilonian....Thassilonian....
The goblin stumbles into the chamber to view that the west walls of this chamber are carved with hundreds of runes, all radiating out from a seven-pointed star with a flickering flame burning at its center. Now and then, a little sputter of sparks showers out of these flames.
Cool...
The goblin walks up to a sparking rune, casts Guidance and smears some type of substance that may or not rhyme with
Oops!
Ser Helmut absently waves a hand at Vy, as she begins speaking words.
The Thaumaturge then frowns at his work.
Needs more....
Despite her failure, Viviana is not deterred. Thankfully Helmut's guidance prevented Viviana from making a critical mistake in her prayer. Better yet, he helps her figure out where she went wrong in her prayer.
Viviana gets up and stands tall in the center of the room. She lifts her holy symbol high above her head. With her other hand, she reaches out, palms open, as if physically drawing the divine energy of Shelyn into the space around her. Viviana not only raises her volume, but she users her body this time.
She begins her prayer with a series of deliberate, expressive movements as she gyrates and thrusts her body, channeling her devotion through her movements. She uses her whole body to express her plea, stepping rhythmically from side to side, her steps synchronized with the cadence of her prayer.
In the face of Viviana's devout prayer, the sparking magic sputters and dies. The door should be safe to open now, and beyond it no doubt lies the fire monster...
Viviana stands amidst the now-still runes, face flushed and her chest heaving as she catches her breath. She feels a rush of ... feelings ... mixed with adrenaline, her heart racing not just from the exertion but from the successful quelling of the magical dangers.
"Thank you, Shelyn. For guiding my spirit. And lending your strength." she whispers in bursts, catching her breath.
Ready to proceed now, Viv casts her spell of blessing. Siobhan raises her shield and opens the door. A fire burns within a seven-pointed star carved in the ceiling, casting light that fills the area with a flickering radiance. Two wooden doors sit in the southwest corner of the room, while to the east, a low stone altar made of marble sits before a crack in the wall. The top of the altar holds a silver bowl with a slender-bladed knife balanced atop the bowl’s rim, its point aimed toward the west.
A short, muscular, red-eyed, goat-headed demon stands before the altar. She stands only 3 feet tall and wields a burning sword. Fire licks up from her flaming hooves. She glares at you and shrieks something in the language of the Abyss. When it becomes clear you cannot understand her, though, she sputters and raises her burning sword!
Before you can react, the demon thrusts her free hand forward, launching a fireball that erupts through the room! The flames leave the demon untouched!
Instinctively stepping in front of Viviana, Vy takes the full brunt of the flames, grunting in pain. Rather than weaken her, though, it only appears to strengthen her determination.
"Viv! Stay back!" she hisses out through the pain as she moves up to stab at the demon with her narrow blade.
|
Siobhan gets her shield up and deflects the worst of the fireball although Vyana getting in front of Viv puts her right into the line of what Siobhan can deflect.
Trying to make the demon doesn't get a chance to throw another fireball Siobhan charges forwards and strikes as hard as she can at the diminutive demon.
Eyes wondering purposefully about the outline of yet another Sihedron rune, the Thaumaturge nods.
Originality was not Thass...Thassilonian....Thassilonian....Thassilonian strong suit.
At the alarming (but intriguing) appearance of the flaming horny chick with a flaming poker, Ser Helmut waves.
As the ferocious burning blast of unforgiving fire scorched and cremated the goblin (and friends), his last thoughts were if only they had brought the marshmallows....
Blinking rapidly, the still standing (although definitely crispy) Thaumaturge just stares morosely at the hot chick.
Not cool yo!
Holding his precious Tome (not even a little bit), the Thaumaturge begins to pull out some....
...butter tarts! Shrugging, the Goblin Strides up to the flaming flame of flames, takes a bite of onion and Strikes!
Viviana wanted to step back out of the way of the group, but she noticed how badly the fireball scorched everyone, including Vy, who took the worst of it for Viviana. So before they attack, she quickly bursts out a blast of Shelyn's embrace.
"Oh Shelyn, whose embrace heals all wounds and soothes all sorrows, lend us your grace."
Viv heals the group as Vyana attacks the demon, which parries with her flaming sword. Siobhan delivers a good slice, her blade triggering a burst of boiling blood from the wound. Helmut recognizes the fiend as a brimorak, or arson demon. Knowing such demons are vulnerable to cold iron and good damage, the goblin coats his teeth with holy candy and bites the fiend, eliciting a pained shriek and another spray of boiling blood!
The brimorak slashes at Helmut with her burning blade, then she snorts forth a cloud of thick black smoke that fills the chamber!
Coughing and hacking from the smoke, Vyana falls back, dropping her blade and drawing her bow.
She then draws an arrow and looses it towards the demon. The arrow leaves a trail of magical stars, illuminating the creature's position.
Ser Helmut holds his breath!
The grinning Goblin shrugs.
The sneezing Thaumaturge decides to take out a Scroll and cast it at the Bad Breath Bully!
Ill Omen Will DC 20
Viviana surveys the battlefield. Von is holding up amazingly well, but she expects nothing less. "Hang in there, Von!" she shouts encouragingly.
Viviana does not want to be this close to the fire demon! But ... everyone was quite injured, and they needed her help. There simply wasn't enough time to fall back. She surveys her companions and sees Vy and Helmy are both in bad shape. She takes one of her homemade vials of quick-cure and turns to the goblin "Helmy! This might sting, but it will help!" and she pours it onto Helmut's burn wounds.
Then, turning to Vyana, she casts a spell to offset any future wounds by sharing her life essence with the magus. "With Shelyn as my witness, I share myself with you. Let us face what comes, not as two, but as one!" A warm surge of energy flows from Viviana to Vyana, linking them.
You forge a temporary link between the target’s life essence and your own. The target takes half damage from all effects that deal Hit Point damage, and you take the remainder of the damage. When you take damage through this link, you don’t apply any resistances, weaknesses, or other abilities you have to that damage; you simply take that amount of damage. The spell ends if the target is ever more than 30 feet away from you. If either you or the target is reduced to 0 Hit Points, any damage from this spell is resolved, and then the spell ends.
Helmut is splashed by the demon's boiling blood, but Siobhan's intervention protects him from harm.
Vyana and Siobhan both miss the demon, and it ignores Helmut's spell. It slashes at Helmut twice, but fails to hit the goblin. Angry, it lashes out with a hoof, connecting this time, but Siobhan protects Helmut from most of the harm and weakens the demon as it is assailed by visions of its sins.
The smoke clears away, removing the demon's concealment.
Vyana feels the warmth of Viv's magic and it helps to distract her from the urge to vomit. Smoothing her breathing, she focuses on her target before sending another spell-laden arrow towards it.
Finally a few seconds where her allies didn't take a tremendous beating. Helmy was hit, but she just patched him up enough to handle that. So she pivots back to Vyana and dumps another quick-cure concoction over Vyana's burns
Turning to face the big, bad fire demon, she says "Okay, your turn, hot stuff! Perform for me!"
Viviana movements are fluid, almost dance-like, embodying the grace of Shelyn. She extends her hands, her fingers splayed and swirls of iridescent light begin to spiral outwards towards the baddie, shimmering with all the colors of a sunset. Elysian Whimsy - Will DC20
You overwhelm the target with an unexpected and unpredictable desire if it fails a Will save. Roll 1d4 to determine the spell's effect.
1 The target feels a powerful urge to dance. For 1 round, it takes a –5-foot status penalty to its Speeds (–10-foot status penalty on a critical failure), capering and prancing as it moves.
2 The target is compelled to loudly sing a song. Its first action on its next turn must be to Perform a song it knows, or to babble pleasingly if it knows no songs. On a critical failure, the target must use all its actions on its next turn to Perform a song.
3 The target is filled with an irresistible urge to support a nearby creature's entertainment career. Its first action on its next turn must be to prepare to Aid a Perform check for the nearest creature it can see and the target can use the next reaction it gains only to Aid the creature it helped. On a critical failure, it must spend all its actions on its next turn preparing to Aid a Perform check.
4 The target is overcome with a desire to give away its wealth. Its first action on its next turn must be to Interact to pull out a non-magical item of value it is carrying (such as a coin, piece of jewelry, or an item made of precious metal), if it doesn't already have one in hand. It then Releases the valuable item. If the target neither holds nor carries an appropriate item, it instead spends its first action loudly apologizing for having nothing to give. On a critical failure, the target must spend any actions remaining on its turn apologizing for not giving more.
Ser Helmut frowns as the boiling blood splashes on his attire!
Dirty Flaming Fire Feret!
The goblin does blush looking at the others.
Angry that she totally ignored his entreat of Ill Omen, the Thaumaturge does his thang!
He takes a bite of onion and Strikes!
.
The Goblin then Casts Shield.
The demon resists Viv's spell. Vyana, Siobhan, and Helmut each score a hit, leaving the fiend badly wounded. It retaliates, slicing Helmut again in a critical hit, though it misses with its follow up attacks.
Her roiling stomach seems to finally be impacting her ability to concentrate as Vyana's next arrow flies wide of the mark.
The situation had grown desperate as Viviana watched Helmy fall to the demon strike. Viviana couldn't keep up with the damage the demon was piling on her friends and she felt like one of the healthiest combatants in this battle, so ...
It's time! They need you! a voice rings in her head.
Viviana grips her glaive tightly, and with a fluid, practiced motion, she sucks ina breath and twirls the glaive with elegance as if blessed by Shelyn herself. "By Shelyn’s grace, beauty shall prevail over darkness!" she shouts loudly as she swings her weapon into the demon.
Siobhan slices the demon, then Viviana’s glaive comes down in a critical arc! The blade bisects the brimorak, both halves of its body flopping to the floor in a pool of boiling blood. Its flaming sword evaporated into smoke as its burning body smolders out.
Lowering her bow, Vyana smiles. "That was amazing, Viv," she says as she slips the weapon over her shoulder. "I don't think ..."
She's interrupted by a noise from her stomach and one hand claps over her mouth. Turning suddenly, she sprays the contents of her stomach into the corner of the room. Wracking coughs follow as the last of the foul smoke is cleared from her lungs. A moment later and the trial has passed. Wiping her mouth and nose with the back of her hand, the half-elf turns to give Viviana another smile. Although this one is a little weaker than before.
"Good job, Viv," she says, her voice a little hoarse. "Let's see what the beast was protecting."
Once the demon drops, Viviana turns to Vyana as she compliments her. She's about ready to care for her vomiting friend when she remembers that Helmy needs her attention. She doesn't waste time with words of caution since he's passed out and immediately dives into life-saving work.
Once he's conscious, she smiles and says "Helmy! Welcome back! You missed it. You totally saved us." She helps lift him up off the floor and then goes to check on Vy.
She approaches the magus and gently rubs her hand over Vy's back while pulling out a waterskin. "Here. Rinse and spit."
She takes a moment to let her previous compliment sink in, and she whispers "Thanks for the compliment." She shoots Von and proud, beaming smile, recalling her hard work with the broom. "I learned from the best."
The silver bowl on the altar is worth 5 gp. The knife sitting on top of it is a low-grade cold iron dagger with the rune of Abraxas etched on the blade. Within the bowl are six smooth garnet beads, one worth 2 gp, two worth 5 gp, and three worth 10
gp.
A search of the dagger reveals that its pommel can be detached—a seventh garnet sits inside the dagger’s hollow handle. This garnet is of higher quality and is worth 25 gp.
The other door here leads to an ancient cloak room that once contained raiment sacred to the worship of Abraxas. Most of these robes have long since decayed away, but a green and orange cultist cowl currently emblazoned with the rune of Abraxas remains draped over a peg in the wall.
Eyes wide, following the descending arc of that flaming sword coming slowly closer and closer and closer and closer.....
Black....
Dreaming a little dream of being protected by beautiful Angels. The slow soft vision of being surrounded by three Guardians each shining like hope in a junkyard. The spectral images of a glorious glaive slicing expertly descending....
Warmth....
Light....
Ser Helmut opens his eyes. He smiles
Hellos! Mees da hero? Bees not wat Mees did sees from Da spirits.
The Thaumaturge winks.
|
|
"Well we think you're a hero Helmy!" Siobhan says cheerfully. She's fixed up her own injuries thanks to the Dawnflower's blessing and has settled in to rub Vy's back firmly until she feels better. Her sister gets a wink and a proud smile - that was the very first blow she'd ever taught Viv and perfectly executed at that!
"Well these are nice and all." She says, slipping the stones away into a pouch, "But there's no way this is it. Someone summoned this demon. Can we press on or shall we take Nualia's body back and report to Father? We don't want anyone getting hurt again."
Viviana holds the cowl between two fingers away from her body, clearly not interested in the item. She doesn't mind the colors, but the symbols of the other god bother her. A sudden idea comes to her and with a playful smirk, she throws the cowl over her shoulders and pulls out her skull fear wand.
Hunching over with a old-crone-like voice she screetches, "Fear me, I'm-" but she doesn't finish as the cowl transforms, her devotion to Shelyn manifesting physically. The abrasive colors of green and orange fade away, replaced by the soothing hues of Shelyn’s palette—soft pinks and vibrant golds. The rune of Abraxas transforms, morphing into the delicate and uplifting symbol of a songbird.
She stands ups straighter, letting the wand fall to her side. "Oh. Well that's interesting." She sees it a blessing from her goddess and falls to her knees to pray in thanks.
"Let's keep looking a little longer," Vyana says with a shrug. Her voice is still a little rough and she clears her throat a couple of times. "We don't want to leave something worse down here to sneak up into the town some dark night."
Ser Helmut smiles weakly trying to stand without shaking, falling or pooping himself.
The goblin gives a shaky thumbs up.....
After twirling about a bit in her vibrant new cowl, she takes note that Helmy still isn't ready to move on. She takes a knee beside him as Vy and Siobhan scout the next area.
You make your way to the nearest door, but find it to be locked!
Ser Helmut stands still, as his injuries are taken care of. The normally fidgety goblin doesn't even fart....
Peering intently at the door, the small goblin snaps his fingers!
Dis doors bees locked! Stand back while Mees works Mees magicks! No really. It will probably blow up.
The Thaumaturge casts Guidance before doing his thang!
The frustrated goblin kicks the door!
Goings ta need 10 minutes....
10 minutes later....
The Thaumaturge casts Guidance before doing his thang!
The frustrated goblin kicks the door!
Goings ta need a nutter 10 minutes....
Another 10 minutes later....
The Thaumaturge casts Guidance before doing his thang!
He weeps....
The frustrated goblin kicks the door!
Goings ta need a nutter nutter 10 minutes....
Another nother 10 minutes later....
The Thaumaturge casts Guidance before doing his thang!
The frustrated goblin kicks the door!
Goings ta need a nutter nutter nutter 10 minutes....
Another nother nother 10 minutes later....
The Thaumaturge casts Guidance before doing his thang!
Bees all in da waiting.
One minute and a set of broken picks later, Helmut gets the lock open. Thick layers of ash cover mostly empty weapon racks in this room, although an old sword and a small stack of arrows sit on a shelf in the southeast corner. A single seven-pointed star is carved in the ceiling. At its center flickers a strange blue fire that periodically trails what appear to be snowflakes that melt away to nothingness before they reach the floor. What appears to be a scorch mark radiates from under the door to the south, as if a great explosion sometime long ago burst in the room beyond.
As soon as anyone enters the room, the Sihedron’s blue flame flashes brightly and for a split second, everyone in the room feels the temperature drop alarmingly. The fire then sputters, only to fizzle out forever, plunging the room into darkness.
The lone remaining sword is a +1 cold iron scimitar, while six of the arrows are beacon shots. A seventh arrow that looks identical to the others unless it is cleaned of the thick layers of dust is a single storm arrow. Finally, two striking runes sit, covered with dust, on the floor in the northwest corner.
Ser Helmut patiently puts away his picks in their proper places, proudly patting them.
Mees ken fix dem. No worries.
The Thaumaturge takes a toe step into the interesting chamber, watches the ceiling go all blue fire for a second, shivers and smiles as his eyes start finding all the treasures!
Looks! Gifts! Dat Fatman in da red ain't nutt'n now! Bees never answering mess letters.
The Thaumaturge will begin excitedly cataloging the stuffs!
Vyana grunts in annoyance as darkness claims the room. A moment later and a spark of yellow magical light appears above Siobhan's head to follow the woman.
Once the items of value in the room have been gathered, she gestures towards the door with the scorch marks under it. "That way next?" she questions.
The walls, floor, and ceiling of this long, pitch-dark hall are blasted black with soot, and a fine layer of ash covers the floor. Scattered here and there are heaps of ash from which a few fragments of bone protrude. The tunnel heads further to the west into darkness.
Searching the room, Helmut and Viv discover two secret doors in the east wall. One is caked with soot and somewhat tough to locate, but the secret other is more obvious, as there is a door-shaped ashen patch on the wall.
"Was this the result of that demon?" Vyana questions, shaking her head at the devastation. "We should check what's behind the secret doors before moving farther westward." She stops up to the more obvious door.
Viviana nods in agreement, "Yes, but carefully. It seems quite ominous."
Busily stuffing arrows, runes, and a nice scimitar into a sack, the goblin rushes over to Vyana's side.
Looking at the soot covering everything, the goblin begins putting on some house footies over his boots.
Glaring at the soot caked secret door, Ser Helmut frowns.
Who bees da cleaner about?
Mees betchas dat a powerful ancient blast of magical fire tore through here ages ago.
As soon as you touch the ashen patch that was a door, it crumbles! This room’s walls, floor, and ceiling are caked with a thick layer of dark soot and ash. A five-foot-wide, two-foot-tall slab of red stone stands in the middle of the room, its top etched with the image of a seven-pointed star. Surrounding it stand five more slabs of red stone. These red pylons and the central stone are curiously devoid of any ash or soot, and occasionally seem to shimmer with faint fiery energy.
As soon as you enter the room, though, three burning undead guardians rise up from separate piles of ash and bones to attack! They wail in agony as they stumble towards you!
Ser Helmut groans.
He takes a bite of a juicy peach and Strikes!
The Goblin then Casts Shield.
The Thaumaturge seems to be sweating a lot!
|
|
Since Helmy hasn't lost his sticky fingers and makes the cold iron scimitar disappear before Von can try it she sticks with her trusty silver one and this proves to a rather good thing when the undead appear.
She starts sweating almost the moment she gets close, keeping her shield high as her training has always taught her.
Helmut recognizes the undead as combusted, still burning even in death, they're consumed by everlasting anguish that drives them to reckless violence. They are weak to cold and water.
Both Helmut and Siobhan move up to attack the nearest combusted. It reels from their blows before retaliating against Helmut.
The second undead moves to attack Siobhan.
The final one stops 15 feet away from the pair and unleashes an agonized scream!