Cecily pummels two of the opposing crusaders until they are unconscious!
Ahmose peeks out from behind the curtain just enough to giggle as the Alchemist delivers two Fast Bombs!
Hey Little Red Riding hood cultist! Catch!
Hey Yellow pants wearing cultist! Catch!
An alchemist with this discovery can quickly create enough bombs to throw more than one in a single round. The alchemist can prepare and throw additional bombs as a full-round action if his base attack bonus is high enough to grant him additional attacks. This functions just like a full-attack with a ranged weapon. An alchemist must be at least 8th level before selecting this discovery.
Ahmose burns the supposedly cultists to death. The smell of burning hair and flesh permeates the chamber.
"Hey, they might not be bad guys! Don't just kill them!" Thawm shouts.
She decides to disenchant the two that are still standing.
Thawm casts Suppress Charms and Compulsions on the two 'crusaders' that are still standing, suppressing any charms or compulsions affecting them.
Aroden takes a step and continues Inspiring Sword.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Excellent work Ceci- Weren't you listening?"
Tandyn dodges around Nurah to face the false goddess.
"Such blasphemy..." He growls while slashing at the demon.
Nurah's slash wound from the lucky swing of the encorcled crusader closes almost immediately.
Ahmose peeks from behind the curtain.
Wat!? Bad guys!?
After Thawm releases the crusaders from the Iomadae’s spell a dawning look of horror overcomes each of them. ”Dear gods,” one of them whispers, the other drops to their knees, eyes fixed on the flaming corpses nearby.
Tandyn is no longer threatened and rushes the faux goddess, drawing blood from her again.
The succubus’s anger is palpable as her playthings are knocked unconscious, killed, or released from her control. A writhing crackle of malignant energy wreaths the demon’s hand, which she thrusts at Tandyn. Fortunately for him the succubus pays a moment's notice to Nurah’s taunting, foiling her attack.
Nurah lists off the depravities committed by the succubus and mocks her for it.
"Is that even common?" Thawm explains at one of the highlights of Nurah's list of debauchery.
"..maybe death was the merciful option." she adds, considering the few enumerations she understood.
She continues to suppress the Succubus's charms nonetheless.
Dorek scowls, stepping to the side to menace the Impostor Iomedae as he nods in gratitude to Thawm. "It's a m-mercy to help them h-heal, Thawm - no w-warrior should die fighting those they call b-brothers." He glares at where his kobold ally is sitting in the corner of the room. "...Ahmose."
Sighing, he resumes stabbing the succubus. "R-regardless, that's a conversation for l-later - for now? I d-don't know what half those words N-nurah's saying are, but I very much s-suspect they make you a b-bad person, so I really have n-no compunctions about repeatedly s-stabbing you in the back."
With a flash, an illusory copy of Tandyn appears next to the demon, distracting her while Dorek strikes. The rogue, with two sword strokes, cuts down the succubus where she stands, ending the threat and the mind control suffered by the men and women in the chapel.
The two conscious crusaders stare at the fallen succubus as she morphs from common depictions of the Inheritor to a darkly beautiful woman with large batlike wings. They don’t speak, clearly traumatized by the sudden change in their perceptions and the psychological torture they endured.
Nurah looks to Cecily and asks, "Hey boss. You want me to lead these people outside? I'll get them directly to Sosiel, he should know what to do for them."
Ahmose comes racing out from behind the curtain! The kobold is holding a dagger. He plunges it into the succubus' eye!
Got her! Well done everyone. Nobody else will be her sexual play toys today!
He winks at the apparently but who could have known deceived crusaders.
Not judging (except for maybe that bomb thing. Those two were definitely judged)...
He offers a clap on the back, a hearty thumbs up and Ahmose's attention turns to Nurah.
Boss? Huh.
"Excellent suggestiom, Nurah. But maybe someone not shapeshifted should go. Maybe we should walk them out together?" Thawm interjects.
She lets go of the charm suppression spell and begins healing the two Cecily knocked out (and herself).
"Ahmose, we should make sure you are well stocked with holy water. It ignores demonic resistances and it does not kill innocent mortals who fell under their evil magic."
A guilty Alchemist begins to show Aroden his night time activities. He sheepishly pulls out a half dozen Holy Water flasks...
Good thinking...
"Expertly done, Dorek. Let's ready another." Tandyn implants the trick again and then quietly takes a moment to pace. He stares up at the statue for quite a while.
He nods and approaches the alchemist. "Ahmose, the succubus is responsible for these two deaths, but you could have helped the rest of us take the crusaders alive. You are an ally. Your god demands benevolence just like mine. Let's work on it. Furthermore, you're in a temple. Foul words and thoughts are disrespectful here. Nurah, your words were a rare and wonderful exception. They were beneficial to the crusade and deeply appreciated, thank you."
The paladin begins the expedited death rites for the two crusaders.
Nurah gives a salute to Thawm and as she helps lead the remaining crusaders to safety.
If Iomadae is pleased or displeased by the events in her chapel, she shows no sign of it.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Cecily fixes Ahmose with an icy stare after the battle, disappointed but not surprised. She tags in at the end of Sir Tandyn's admonishment, "As our army acts to enact our commands, we are responsible for the safety of our people. We will not throw their lives away flippantly."
She faces Nurah and colors a bit, reminded of the list of recited exploits. "You did well, Nurah, and I would be happy to accompany you all back as well. And some of those acts sounded impossible by my understanding, I have questions. We won't be long."
Ahmose only sighs....
While part of the group escorts the crusaders out, Tandyn spends time searching and cleaning the temple. Once everyone reconvenes, he leads them into the false vault.
Aroden will assist in cleaning.
He will also cast Detect Magic and scan the Succubus for any items.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
With a little effort Tandyn manages to locate the sconce that doubles as a lever to open the false vault. Knowing that there was a secret door was immensely helpful.
Two statues stand midway into this room. They each depict an armored woman with her sword raised. Numerous smashed and empty chests sit on the floor. Again the party finds no loot, if Aron is to be believed there is another secret door nearby.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As the door to the false vault swings open, Dorek eagerly enters, searching for the next secret door. "S-so, Aron said there was another h-hidden door in this room, itself o-only accessible through a hidden d-door? Tricky - I l-like it."
The tiefling moves to one of the statues of the armored woman, prodding at where joints would be in the stone arms, trying to twist the blade in the woman's hand, and such. "I d-doubt this door will be m-magic. Unless you really k-know what you're doing, it's v-very easy to identify, which would make this e-entire process with the two r-rooms useless. N-no, it's probably mechanical." He continues his exploration, seeming almost giddy at the thought of finding the way into the next room. "D-dwarf-made, but with Iomedaean s-supervision. Probably something t-thematic - Iomedaeans are a bit s-sentimental that way. What do you think, T-tandyn? Sword pointing d-down, plunging into the heart of e-evil? Face turned towards the m-main entrance, holding vigil over the t-treasures of Drezen? Maybe it's on one of the w-walls..."
Dorek flits over to one of the walls, experimentally tapping the brickwork to try and identify any of the presumably complex mechanisms involved in the vault door. "Of c-course, it really d-depends on whether the craftsman was of the Copperstone or Arunak s-schools of locksmithing. I'm more of a A-arunak man myself, but the Copperstone school is all about s-synchronization on these big projects. I'll have to get a r-read on the machinery - give me a s-second."
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
"D-dwarf-made, but with Iomedaean s-supervision. Probably something t-thematic - Iomedaeans are a bit s-sentimental that way. What do you think, T-tandyn? Sword pointing d-down, plunging into the heart of e-evil? Face turned towards the m-main entrance, holding vigil over the t-treasures of Drezen? Maybe it's on one of the w-walls..."
Tandyn chuckles as he inspects the room. "Well, this isn't just any secret Iomedaean armory... it's for the Sword of Valor. It should be hidden from almost everyone and only accessed if the citadel is about to fall or after it already has. So... I'm not sure where that puts us. It's next to the temple, so maybe moving it was supposed to fall to the head cleric. So there we go... we need to think like a head cleric who was under siege by demons... and every cleric I know would be on the front lines in a heartbeat. Hmmm... let's assume someone was assigned to move it by the head cleric mid-siege, they'd probably be told how to access it rather quickly and then need to activate it just as quickly... it's an emergency after all... Hells, what's the point... can we just break the wall?"
He approaches the wall where the secret door should eventually be and positions himself to strike it. "This could take a while... If you find the mechanism, I'll make it taste like ham."
"Let's hold off on smashing this fine dwarf-made construction.
I have confidence that Dorek can figure out the lock.
Breaking walls takes a good deal of time and makes a lot of noise. And it seems so crude. I don't recommend that as our approach."
Aroden will also look for the secret door.
"As to the Sword of Valor, Aron did say that it was kept in a secret vault. And that the Citadel was under nearly constant attack for a decade. But he also said that the Sword of Valor was turned over to the demons, which allowed the demons to teleport into the Citadel.
Irabeth said that Staunton Vhane might have been the one to betray Drezen 75 years ago. That's how Drezen fell. By betrayal. Staunton Vhane just recently battled Irabeth, so he is still around. But that betrayal must have been turning over the Sword of Valor to the demons.
I think our information about the banner, how it works, and what happened to it is fragmentary at best. Still, we can piece together that someone, probably Staunton Vhane, took the banner and turned it over to the demons. I don't think there were clerics moving it mid-siege. I don't think there was any climactic battle that they were aware of. Staunton Vhane turned over the banner and then at some time of their choosing demons could teleport into the Citadel."
"So I'm not sure why the demons would have put it back in the secret vault. But I did see a banner in there."
"You- don't! Don't break a wall in a temple. Even if it isn't Sarenrae's. Maybe if it's an evil temple? Hmm. Anyway, I'm sure Dorek and Ahmose can handle it even if they have to work together." Thawm explains, looking around for places to hang banners in the temple.
She approaches the magnificent banner in the secret vault, and casts Detect Magic.
Tandyn stops mid-swing. "Temple? No, this is the secret room behind the temple. That's completely different, isn't it? Better safe than sorry I suppose. Thank you for pointing that out. Be that as it may, our enemy knows about this secret door. It's a bit odd that it's only seems to keep us out. We should certainly retire it and get some fine dwarf-made renovations. Wait, Nurah, do you already happen to know how to open this door?" Tandyn begins to use prestidigitation to coat the statues with a nice glazed ham flavor.
The small Blue-scaled Kobold watches those searching, peering, prodding, bashing and slashing about the place.
I may have to agree with Thawm on this one, Sir Tandyn. Poor taste, really.
The Alchemist nods in agreement with Aroden's information.
Research is essential to optimal performance and reaching one's goals.
Ahmose then begins to get involved with the second secret chamber game!
Nurah points to a crack in the wall which has separated and you can pull the wall out like a door. She says, ”You already found it.”
Tandyn swung his sword at the wall striking the exact pressure plate needed to open the secret vault, simultaneously opening it and ruining the mechanism. It seems you will need to renovate anyway if you are victorious here.
Secret Vault
A metal rod on which hangs a magnificent banner depicting a sword before a sunburst is raised up in the hands of a statue of an armored woman to the north. Just south of the statue sits a gleaming alabaster altar. Another four statues flank the room, each wearing a real suit of metal armor, while to the south hangs a tattered red and gold tapestry.
"...the violence is abhorrent, certainly Nurah, but I don't understand why anyone would want to do such questionable things with their m-Oh! Hello, did we miss anything? I'm surprised you haven't captured the rest of the fortress yet, Sir Tandyn. Ooh! What fine tapestry!"
Dorek furrows his brow, peering closer at the banner. "You know, Aroden's r-right - it's s-suspicious that the Sword would be h-here if the demons already k-knew about it. There's h-half a dozen ways I can t-think of to trap this t-thing - I mean, p-pressure plates in the altar, counterweights attached to the rod, and that's saying nothing of those s-statues. I'd t-think they'd put the armor on their w-warriors instead of burying it away in this v-vault." The tiefling locksmith tentatively approaches the statue, his crimson eye flicking between the armored statues and the altar in search of any seams or cracks that might indicate a trap waiting to spring.
"Oh! Hello, did we miss anything? I'm surprised you haven't captured the rest of the fortress yet, Sir Tandyn. Ooh! What fine tapestry!"
Tandyn smiles. "Welcome back! You're just in time for the inner vault!"
"You know, Aroden's r-right - it's s-suspicious that the Sword would be h-here if the demons already k-knew about it. There's h-half a dozen ways I can t-think of to trap this t-thing"
"A trap? This did seem a little unguarded... Nurah, do you know of any dangers here?" The paladin begins detecting magic. He then carefully follows Dorek to inspect the suits of armor.
Ahmose's blue eyes peer suspiciously at the inner secret vault.
Are we looking for a sword or a banner?
"A banner, Ahmose. The Sword of Valor is a magical banner carried by Iomedae during the Shining Crusade."
The confused kobold points at the metal rod on which hangs a magnificent banner depicting a sword before a sunburst is raised up in the hands of a statue of an armored woman to the north.
Does it look like that?
Tandyn detects magic!
Suprise!
<------------------
Sensing a danger but unable to see it, Aroden casts See Invisibility (3 encounters).
If anybody is grabbed as foreseen, Aroden will cast Liberating Command as an immediate action (CL 9 due to Yuelral's Blessing, so a +18 competence bonus to the roll).
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
In a moment that seems to stretch out forever, the altar and the banner begin to undulate and each grows glistening wet tentacles and improbably wide maws open, filled with thick teeth.
The banner-mimic swings its tentacle at Tandyn’s head and glances off his helmet, fortunately only his helmet is ripped off violently as it sticks fast to the tentacle.
Aroden’s vision comes to pass as the altar-mimic slams into the unawares rogue, and Dorek is grasped violently in the shapechanger’s bone-crushing grip. Dorek quickly finds out that the glistening is not water but some sort of glue, which Aroden’s magic cannot counter.
Round 1
<------------------
<------------------
<------------------
<------------------
<------------------
<------------------
"Fiendish mimics! We must slay them before Dorek is crushed."
Aroden casts Haste. He can get nearly everyone, but cannot affect both Dorek and Cecily (they are 35' apart) so he picks Cecily, hoping that it is the right decision.
"Fiendish furnishings!" Tandyn exclaims as the banner steals his helmet. "Let go of Dorek!" He draws Radiance, focuses on the altar, and slashes to free his friend.
He steps back.
The speedy Alchemist begins grabbing, pouring, mixing, dancing and singing, as he begins a Bomb factory!
The small Blue-scaled Kobold seems pleased.
Dorek glances down in surprise as the fiendish tentacle slams into him, nearly knocking him off his feet. "W-well that's new. I could use some h-help here, if you..." The rogue is interrupted as Ahmose's bombs slam into the creature in front of him, singeing him badly, though his fiendish blood mitigates the worst of it. "N-not that kind of help!" Shaking his head, he draws his blades and begins hacking at the tentacle around his waist. "Azilash's e-eyes, with friends like t-these..."
Cecily bursts through the sticky smoke cloud engulfing Dorek and the mimic, yelling "Let go of him, beast! In the name of Iomedae!"
Then she grabs the mimic and attempts to wrestle it off of the tiefling.
"Dorek!" Thawm calls out before conjuring a ball of healing fire that rolls into him.
Radiance flashes brightly but some shoddy footwork from Tandyn ensures that his slash misses. Tandyn looks like a fool who has no business wielding such a powerful weapon.
Ahmose throws bomb after bomb at the mimic holding Dorek, scorching it, and in a twist of fate gluing the mimic to the floor. Its companion nearby seems completely unaffected.
Dorek hacks at the mimic, deftly trying to avoid the worst of the adhesive coating on the tentacle, but with his arms constrained as they are his sword sticks fast after the second slash. He still manages to hold onto his second weapon but its strike was too weak to harm the mimic.
Cecily advances and grabs ahold of the offending mimic fast, making a tangle of mimic and tiefling.
Nurah saunters up behind Tandyn and asks with a bottle of some brownish liquid in hand, says, ”You’d think the Caydenite would have alcohol on hand.” She tosses the liquid at Dorek and it shatters on his head. But the liquid quickly dissolves its adhesive coating, freeing Dorek and giving him a headache. His sword clatters to the floor, freed as well.
The mimic that was was adhered to Dorek, hesitates, unable to close on Tandyn, at least it doesn’t squeeze the life from the rogue.
Round 2
<------------------
<------------------
<------------------
<------------------
<------------------
<------------------
Some of Dorek's bruises fade as they reappear on Thawm.
She lobs acid at the closer mimic before rolling the Flaming Sphere into Dorek again, watching the spilt alcohol with some curiosity. The healing fire seems to mend the rest of his injuries.