Wherby sighs deeply and follows.
Beyond the door, a long cavern tapers down to a point far to the east, the ceiling dropping down so low that one must crawl if they wish to reach the easternmost corner. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the cave glisten with sheets of shiny, moist-looking mold.
A strange creature lurks here. It appears as a grayish humanoid torso covered in translucent funeral veils of shadow. Silent and mysterious, it floats about, absent legs to hold it aloft. It turns towards you, and you hear a voice in your minds, whispering and mumbling in a strange language.
Nitihss translates. "The Remnant Insiroul welcomes you. He asks you to remove the Stain that lingers to the east, a Stain that has long tormented and vexed the Remnant with its presence. The Stain is a foul demon of shadows and nightmares. Find it and eliminate it. Not only will he reward you with the glory of service, but he will give you a valuable weapon as well."
"Oh my, that sounds serious!" Tekmin exclaims. "Any times on defeating the stain? How do you even hurt a shadow?"
Wherby sighs. It seems like they're doomed here one way or the other. And if this thing in front of them can't defeat this demonic Stain, that probably means it's very deadly."
Nithiss translates again. "The Remnant says that the Stain is a corruption of the glory of shadow. It is trapped within a prison of stone. Do not touch the stone, or it will stain your own soul. Break the stone, release the demon, and eradicate it."
Wherby can't remember much about shadow demons.
"Well, that certainly sounds bad," Tekmin agrees. "We don't like demons. We might not be heroes, but I bet the town ciybsk would want up to kill the shadow demon, if we could."
Wherby sighs heavily, agreeing with Tekmin. Someone has to do something about the demon, and there's no foolhardy adventurers here. He glances back, in case one is about to rush in. They always seem to show up at opportune times to cause trouble.
"I will show you the way," Nithiss says. She bows before Remnant Insiroul before escorting you back to the chamber where you first encountered her people, then through the south door. The door opens onto a ledge overlooking the vast central shaft of the Pit. The lower reaches are still enshrouded in fog, but about 20 feet to the east, another ledge juts out from the wall, with a door set in the east wall. There doesn't seem to be an easy way to reach it from here, but you could always retrace your steps to the surface and then descend to it via ladders set on that side of the Pit.
"The Stain lies somewhere beyond that door. Good luck," Nithiss says before departing.
Herok looks at the distant door as he tries to recall what he knows about Shadow Demons.
He then says, "If we're going to do this, we'll need to backtrack to get over there - unless someone can fly us."
"What, are we birds now?" Tekmin looks over at the ledge. "I guess we're in for some climbing. I'm going to need new boots at this rate. Oh! Maybe the Stain has magic boots!"
or most demons, possessing a creature requires a ritual, magic item, or condition, but for invidiaks, who lack a body, possession is akin to donning a suit of clothing. Known also as shadow demons, invidiaks are formed from envious mortal souls.
Invidiaks are incorporeal so they resist most damage except for force, ghost touch, spirit, or holy damage. They are weak to cold iron and holy damage.
[b]"Well, if I die here, I want my headstone to say 'I told you so!' " Wherby grumbles.
Meanwhile, wings sprout from Ursividae's back, letting the small ursine ball of spite fly.
After some backtracking, you reach the entrance to the Pit's central shaft that you used to enter the goblin's lair. Ladders there allow you to clamber down to the door below. It opens into a large, L-shaped room is lit by several sputtering lanterns hanging from hooks driven into rough stone walls. The flickering light lends a surreal element to a mural that decorates the entire eastern wall. The mural depicts a sweeping view of a coastline as seen from a rocky plateau. At the center of the plateau is a large pit from which the smoky form of what appears to be a winged, burning horse with a dragon’s tail is rising--the Sandpoint Devil. Dozens of small handprints decorate the walls near the floor, surrounding the image of the pit with what must be dried blood. Large wooden double doors, each painted with images of the same winged creature, stand to the north and south of the room, while a smaller door to the north bears no decoration at all.
The only furnishing in the otherwise empty room is a low wooden platform on the floor in the northern part of the chamber. It is entirely surrounded by low railing and two wooden statues stand atop it—one of the Sandpoint Devil and the other of a man kneeling down before it in a position of worship.
"Huh, how unusual. They were worshiping a cryptid monster down here?" Tekmin pokes around.
"Maybe those really were its footprints?" Wherby says as he carefully approaches the wooden statue to make sure it's not an old Ibyldosian trick where the wooden structure is empty and hiding enemies.
Wherby doesn't notice anything unusual about the statues. As he reaches out to try to open one of them, though, he finds it to have a strange, adhesive texture. His hand gets stuck fast, and a moment later, a rubbery pseudopod extends from the statue and bashes him!
A wide, fanged mouth opens up in the statue, and the other statue likewise sprouts a grinning maw!
"Master Crick, how many times have you specifically warned me not to touch odd statues!" Tekmin cries out in alarm.
He pulls out his starknife and swings it at the "statue."
for +
for +
HP 61/61
AC 21
Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +13
Hero points: 3
Focus Points: 2/2
Spells prepped (DC 22): 1st: enfeeble [], ill omen [], soothe [x]; 2nd: blood vendetta [], paranoia [x][]; 3rd: invisibility sphere [], slow [][]
Cantrips: daze, detect magic, ignition, guidance (innate), shield, telekinetic projectile
Effects:
"What the?" Wherby says, glaring at the awful thing -- like out of some story of times past before turning his gaze from Tekmin to the awful thing holding onto him and putting the true power of his irritation behind it as he just manages to pull free. He quickly retreats!
Herok turns in startlement as the statue attacks Wherby. Shifting his feet into a stance, he fires an arrow at the statue, then guages that shot to fire another to try and help set up Ximble's attack.
Wherby gives the false statue the evil eye before breaking its grasp and retreating. The rest of you assault it, Tekmin delivering the killing blow with Monarch! The thing groans and collapses into a shapeless mass of quivering flesh!
Shocked by the quick demise of its companion, the other shapechanging aberration sloughs off to the far corner of the room! Its mouth opens as it speaks in Common. "Please, have mercy on me! I'll turn into a statue to celebrate your glory if you just spare my life," it whimpers.
"A statue? Only heroes get those," Tekmin says, dismissively. He lowers his guard, though. "What is through those doors?" The halfling points to the room's exits.
"No one wants to kill you!" Wherby snaps, "even though you just tried to kill me! What the heck are you and what were you doing here?!"
"Your kind calls us mimics," the creature says. ""My companion--whom you have slain, no hard feelings, of course--and I were first befriended by the goblins who previously dwelled down here. We came to an arrangement in which they would provide us with food and amusement in exchange for us protecting the entrance to their temple. When the humans came and drove the goblins out, they made a similar arrangement with us.
"We quite enjoyed being those statues," it goes on to say. "The humans here venerate the Sandpoint Devil, and they would often praise us and give worship in passing.
"The cultists' main living quarters are to the north, while their temple is to the south and west. There's an extra big cultist with a large hook that stands guard beyond the southern doors, so be careful!"
"Well, I don't need to deal with any 'extra large' people. Most humans are large enough," Tekmin muses. "Shall we go through the north door?"
Wherby tries to think if he knows of any fools who worship the Sandpoint Devil.
"Or we go get help from Sandpoint!" he suggests.
Wherby vaguely recalls rumors of an odd man named Munt who visited Sandpoint. Apparently, a few years back, he was going around various towns and cities across Varisia, speaking with the dregs of society trying to convince people to his cause, touting the gospel of the Sandpoint Devil as a 'new god.'
Wherby relays the information but follows Tekmin with resignation if he heads for the door. Someone needs to keep the halfling from dying horribly. Even if it means Wherby will probably die horribly in the process.
Ursividae hisses at the self-proclaimed apprentice in irritation.
"Onward!" Tekmin opens the north door.
Over a dozen doors line the walls of this large chamber, while six large stone pillars support the ten-foot-high ceiling of the main room. Lit lanterns hang from hooks on the pillars, while at the center of the room sit two cooking stations—large cauldrons balanced atop beds of small stones and burned wood. Several rickety-looking chairs sit scattered about the place. A dozen or so bedrolls are stacked in the room’s northwest corner.
There are a total of eight cultists in this room, a mix of human and half-elves in studded leather. They talk quietly as a few cook a stew over the cauldron. Initially caught off-guard by your arrival, they quickly shout in alarm and reach for nearby machetes!
"Get 'em!" Tekmin shouts. He charges up to the closest cultist and slashes at him, then takes a defensive pose.
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"Whelp, we're all going to land in those cooking pots, that's for sure," Wherby grouses.
Ursividae hisses at Tekmin in irritation at having got them into this situation.
"Forward!", Ximble commands his companion. He presses his knees into the goat's flank and then, in unison, they rush forward to meet their foe.
"Oh, come on, Wherby. Just because they worship the Sandpoint Devil doesn't mean they're cannibals." Herok shifted his stance to account for better shooting in close confines, he then fired a pair of arrows at the cultist Tekmin attacked, the second one designed to put the cultist off-balance.
Both Ximble and his goat miss with their attacks. Herok's arrows both narrowly miss as well, whizzing past inches away from their mark. Tekmin fares better, managing to stab the nearest cultist with his starknife.
Four of the cultists move in to attack Tekmin while the other four circle Ximble and his goat.
"Ouch, those are for cutting down weeds!" Tekmin swings out at the enemies that surround him.
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Angered by the pain inflicted on him and his shaggy friend, Ximble retaliates.
HP 61/61
AC 21
Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +13
Hero points: 3
Focus Points: 1/3
Spells prepped (DC 22): 1st: enfeeble [], ill omen [], soothe [x]; 2nd: blood vendetta [], paranoia [x][]; 3rd: invisibility sphere [], slow [][]
Cantrips: daze, detect magic, ignition, guidance (innate), shield, telekinetic projectile
Effects:
Wherby glowers at all the cultists, but particularly one of the ones attacking Tekmin. The boy would probably haunt him even more dead than alive if Whereby somehow made it out of this.
Herok grumbled as his arrows went wide, then tried focusing further on taking down the four around Tekmin, with one of his arrows hopefully helping the halfling before he cast a spell to shield himself.
Wherby sickens one of Tekmin's foes with his evil eye. Both Ximble and his goat each take down a cultist with a brutal critical strike! The goat gores another foe, but Ximble's follow-up attack misses. Herok takes aim and scores a critical hit against one of Tekmin's opponents, and the halfling finishes that cultist off with his own attack.
The five remaining cultists keep shouting and attacking, showing little mind for tactics or strategy. The sickened one manages a single lucky strike against Tekmin, but the rest of their attacks all miss as you dodge and parry!
Well, they'd at least lowered the enemy numbers. Hopefully they could thin them further. Seeing the success Ximble and his goat were having, Herok decided to try and help finish them off so that they could assist Tekmin.
"Ouch, come on!" Tekmin protests as he slashes at the cultists.
for
for
HP 61/61
AC 21
Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +13
Hero points: 3
Focus Points: 1/3
Spells prepped (DC 22): 1st: enfeeble [], ill omen [], soothe [x]; 2nd: blood vendetta [], paranoia [x][]; 3rd: invisibility sphere [], slow [x][]
Cantrips: daze, detect magic, ignition, guidance (innate), shield, telekinetic projectile
Effects:
Wherby concentrates, maintaining the spell on the one cultist, and casting a new spell -- a more powerful one than he's ever cast -- on another. He growls in frustration at all the people trying to kill them.
Two more of the cultists fall to your attacks, with a third becoming badly wounded. Wherby slows one of the other foes significantly. Tekmin and Ximble each take a slash.
Tekmin continues to spar with one of the cultists attacking him.
for
for
HP 61/61
AC 21
Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +13
Hero points: 3
Focus Points: 1/3
Spells prepped (DC 22): 1st: enfeeble [], ill omen [], soothe [x]; 2nd: blood vendetta [], paranoia [x][]; 3rd: invisibility sphere [], slow [x][]
Cantrips: daze, detect magic, ignition, guidance (innate), shield, telekinetic projectile
Effects:
Wherby continues to maintain a spell, and gestures, sending a rock flying toward the most wounded of the cultists. "Pure foolishness!" he grumbles.
Only a single Cultist on Ximble and the goat now, so Herok tried to bring that one Cultist low with a three-arrow barrage.
Wherby takes out the wounded cultist with a projectile, while Tekmin eviscerates his opponent with his starknife. Herok shoots the final foe once, leaving him injured. His bravery shatters and he rushes to try to flee the room. "Master Munt! Master Munt! Take me with you!" he cries out.
"Someone stop him!" Wherby calls out. "If we're going to keep doing this foolishness, we need to at least learn what we're walking into!"
He gives the man an evil eye to reinforce the message.
"Hey, get back here!" Tekmin chases down the fleeing cultist. "Don't move!"
Herok pulled out an arrow covered in a vine motif. Activating it, he uttered a prayer to Erastil to guide his aim, then fired it at the cultist.