Behind the secret door is a short tunnel. On the north and south sides of the short tunnel are recessed shelves with an assortment of dusty tools for metalworking, glass blowing and jewelry making. One of the shelves also contains a series of vials, most of which contain oils and solvents, but one of which pings to Vildran's magical detection.
On the west end of the short tunnel is another solid door, currently closed. While Autumn doesn't notice anything, San notes a low vibration and a sluggish clicking noise can be heard even through the stone of the door. They must be quite loud on the other side. The door doesn't appear to be locked, so you can just swing it open when you're ready.
Morga heaves her shield up in place and looks for each of her companions to note their readiness before opening the door.
Vildran swipes the magical vial.
I'll check it later.
He nods to Morga to open the door, his staff in hand.
Autumn inwardly sighs as Morga prepares to fling open the door. So much for subtlety. With a resigned nod, she defers to this direct approach and readies her crossbow, gripping it tightly with both hands. “Let’s go kill some sinspawn.”
-
In the southeast corner sits a stone basin holding a broad, sloped bowl with runes carved along the outside rim. Across from the basin in the southwest corner is a wooden cage built into the stone floor. Chalk-drawn runes surround a circle of chalk drawn around the cage. In the northwest corner, an empty bookcase stands against the wall behind a staircase that descends into darkness below.
Two bulky humanoid figures stand on either side of the stairs descending down, obviously guarding the only clear exit from the room. Both have long clawed hands, sinuous tongues that drape down to their waists, and blood red eyes. Their senses are sharp, because they notice the opening of the door before you can get the drop on them. They advance toward your group and each cast a spell.
Morga had been ready with a shield, but she proves unready as envious thoughts flood her mind. She momentarily loses all reason.
|||| INIT ||||
Autumn (Stage 1 Rust Creep)
Morga (fatigued, clumsy 3, stupefied 3, confused 3)
San
Vildran
Blue sinspawn
Green sinspawn
With the creatures just out of range of her most potent spells, Autumn instinctively looses a quarrel at them. Only then does she notice the worryingly glazed look on the dwarf’s face. “Morga!” she snaps. “Hel-lo-o!” The sorceress raises her hand and strikes the cleric with a sharp slap across her face, hoping to knock her out of her confused state.
But there is no response. “Something’s wrong with Morga,” she warns, while backing up to make space for San and get out of his line of sight.
Seeing the trouble up ahead and Morga reacting poorly to some effect, San decides she's the one that needs some protecting this time. Swapping his bow for his defensive dagger, he attempts to slide past her despite her attempts to stop him.
He raises his weapon in a defensive posture he never hoped to use and braces himself for the inevitable attacks.
Vildran antennae stand on end, seeing the condition Morga has come into. He rushes across the room and into the pass (ahead of the door)...
Forgive me...
and smacks her across the face...
Forgive me, but also stand still!
Morga shakes her head, disoriented for a moment. "Wha?" Her eyes are met with San's back, an unusual sight for her. Why is he in front? In a flash, she remembers seeing the sinspawn casting something. Boy, she must've really been out of it! Her cheek still burns from whatever hit her. Was it Vildran? "Uh, thanks." She sways a little where she stands as she casts Bless, then raises her shield. Dang. Those things really pack a whollop.
---
Vildran stays to the back and does his best to try to shake the dwarf out of her confusion, but she proves difficult to rouse. Morga for her part forgets her personal discipline and draws and swings rather wildly with her starknife. Her first swing reaches no one at all, but the second gouges Vildran. Soon after she's done the confusion begins to lift on its own.
The sinspawn however are more than happy to take advantage of his disorder in your ranks. They converge upon San, attacking with claws and long, distended jaws. He fends off their claws, but they still land two brutally powerful bites.
San suddenly finds the room around him growing a sickly yellow hue as sinful thoughts bubble up in his mind. His mind wanders to all the coins that Autumn has been pocketing - she doesn't deserve that many, does she? Surges of intense envy dominate his thoughts, leaving him trembling .
Morga's confusion clears and the overwhelming befuddlement with it. She's still fatigued.
|||| INIT ||||
Autumn (Stage 1 Rust Creep)
Vildran (5 dmg)
Morga (fatigued)
San (22 dmg, sickened 2, enfeebled 2)
Blue sinspawn (3 dmg)
Green sinspawn
Autumn watches dumbfounded as San plays hero. For some the elf’s sacrifice is noble and brave, but the selfish grifter can only roll her eyes in disbelief. “Don’t you ever do something that stupid,” she mutters to Vildran, before calling out to the archer “You’d help Morga more if you just killed these things!” As if to demonstrate, she steps back for a better vantage point and unleashes one of her stuttering blasts of arcane energy.
Holding in his guts, San sprints past the sinspawn to the other end of the room. Finally losing it, he attempts to expel whatever iscausing the nausea.
Between being slashes by Morga's starknife and being chided by Autumn, Vildran is left speechless for now. No matter, this isn't really the time for the perfect words.
Focusing on his staff, he draws on the bit of energy reserves to recall one of his already-cast spells from today.
A small shower of force shards dance past Morga and slam into the sinspawn.
Her head clearing, Morga desperately wants to heal San, but he's too far away. Instead, she screams her desperation at the sinspawn, casting Haunting Hymn before ducking behind her shield again.
-
-
She smacks claws and jaws away with her weapon, and then interposes her shield to block a second set of jaws from the sinspawn just around the corner. Though she lessens the blow, a barbed tongue bites into her . A final claw slips in under her guard and slices at her abdomen.
Though a cloud of unpleasant envy washes over her mind, this time Morga shakes it off.
|||| INIT ||||
Autumn (Stage 1 Rust Creep)
Vildran (5 dmg)
Morga (10 dmg, fatigued)
San (22 dmg, sickened 2, enfeebled 2)
Blue sinspawn (11 dmg)
Green sinspawn (14 dmg)
San reaches once again, thankful that the sinspawn decided not to chase him. Not satisfied with not contributing, he takes out his old shortbow and fires off an arrow at the enemy in front of Morga.
“These ones are much tougher than Azomi,” Autumn laments as she starts to look worried. What with their surprisingly quick reflexes, slashing at San’s retreat, and hardy constitution, barely noticing Vildran’s and Morga’s spells—to say nothing about whatever weird magic they’re inflicting upon her companions—these monsters are proving to be a dire threat. But without much in the way of options, she simply conjures another spike of fluctuating magic, phasing it through dwarf and elf at the nearest sinspawn.
At least Morga’s back to her old self, and San is showing some sense, she thinks while glaring daggers at the abomination.
Vildran calls upon the Void to harm the life force of the sinspawn in front of him...
He then backs away and joins Autumn.
-
-
Seeing that San is not quite out of the fight, the green sinspawn gnashes its ungainly jaws and strides after him. It ducks toward him, and then clamps its jaws down on his arm, crunching. With a shake it sends him tumbling to the ground. Meanwhile the blue sinspawn, avoiding Autumn's gaze, continues its assault upon Morga. She interposes her shield to block a claw, but a second bite catches her.
|||| INIT ||||
Autumn (Stage 1 Rust Creep)
Vildran (5 dmg)
Morga (10 dmg, fatigued + 10 more damage?) x2
San (26 dmg, sickened 1, enfeebled 2, prone, dying 1)
Blue sinspawn (15 dmg)
Green sinspawn (14 dmg)
Unsure of how else to handle this threat, Morga stabs at the blue sinspawn, which is shaking in its proverbial boots--no doubt Autumn's doing.
She quickly casts a little Heal spell on herself, then ducks behind her shield again. These things can whittle me down faster than I can heal myself!
---------------------------
Bruised, bleeding, and too close to death herself, Morga growls and stabs at the sinspawn before her, trying desperately to whittle it down so she can get to San before he truly expires.
She ducks behind her shield again.
Thank gods it’s gone, Autumn thinks as the other sinspawn completely disappears from sight. True, it’s probably attacking San now, but he’ll probably be fine, and besides, Morga can just heal him afterwards if he’s badly hurt—or so she rationalizes away her momentary pang of guilt. She’s not developing feelings for the elf, is she?
Of course, they need to survive to ‘afterwards’ first. The sorceress hesitates, torn between defending Morga or attacking the sinspawn again. The best way to protect the dwarf would be to just kill the beast, but it seems as hardy as the cythnigot, and her phase bolts have been entirely ineffective. Watching the cleric cast a healing spell upon herself, Autumn wonders if she might mimic such magic herself.
Gazing down at the tattoo upon her arm, she takes a deep breath and refocuses, filling her mind with soothing memories of her mother, and then projecting them into Morga’s mind. To her delight the arcane tattoo softly glows and the dwarf’s injuries seem to lessen. Bolstered by this discovery, she quickly reloads her crossbow with renewed determination—at least one of its bolts was able to pierce flesh.
Vildran sighs dramatically.
You'd think the Boggards would hear our struggle and come to join in... maybe just a bit.
He steps up behind Morga.
Vildran gesticulates and forms a ring of glyphs, that expands to shield his allies.
As if that wasn't enough, he manifests his personal shield of arcane force, formed of shimmering runes.
|||| INIT ||||
Autumn (Stage 1 Rust Creep)
Vildran (5 dmg)
Morga (20 dmg, fatigued, prone, dying 2)
San (26 dmg, sickened 1, enfeebled 2, prone, dying 1)
Blue sinspawn (24 dmg)
Green sinspawn (14 dmg)
San is surprised as the sinspawn rushes back to him from across the room barely giving him time to try to dodge. Throwing up an arm in defense, the creature chomps down causing San to fall from his injuries. A few moments pass as he lies bleeding on the floor.
Thank gods it’s gone, Autumn thinks as the other sinspawn completely disappears from sight. True, it’s probably attacking San now, but he’ll probably be fine, and besides, Morga can just heal him afterwards … and then Morga suddenly collapses in a bloody, unmoving heap.
“No!” she cries, dismayed and alarmed that there is now nothing between her and the sinspawn. Part of her wants run away immediately, but another brighter—or darker—part of her stands her ground. “Fine,” she snarls, “I am so done.” She recalls how the monsters cruelly toyed with her friends’ minds—it’s time to give them a taste of their own medicine.
She glares at the beast, her one eye drooping, almost melting into a black void that curses the aberration with its own envy. Then she raises her empty crossbow, leveling it at the sinspawn with both hands, and channels a shimmering bolt of arcane energy that phases through it and at the beast.
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Everything goes black for an eternal moment. One by one, tiny pinpricks of light appear in the distance: stars? A shadow flits between them, intermittently blocking their light from Morga's eyes. What is it? How far away is it? She strains her eyes to see more clearly, finally noticing a purple glow beginning to grow behind her. The shadow catches and reflects its rays, flashing black and purple scales of an impossibly large butterfly in the distance. Suddenly, the purple light behind her flashes brighter--so brightly she has to squeeze her eyes shut to avoid going blind.
Under Rusthenge, Morga's bloodily rent body takes a shallow, meager breath.
Vildran sighs dramatically.
You'd think the Boggards would hear our struggle and come to join in... maybe just a bit.
Hearing the dwarf's body drop, his anxiety heightens. He looks at Autumn, probably with his face as white as a sheet. He hopes to find some measure of confidence in her expression.
Whatever he finds in it, it's just the two of them now. He slides just behind her to line up with the hallway and point his staff down it...
|||| INIT ||||
Autumn (Stage 1 Rust Creep)
Vildran (5 dmg) x2
Morga (30 dmg, fatigued, prone, unconscious)
San (26 dmg, sickened 1, enfeebled 2, prone, dying 2)
Green sinspawn (14 dmg)
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Autumn stares down at her crossbow, amazed and delighted by the power and accuracy of her most recent phase bolt. “I need to channel through this more often,” she murmurs.
You'd think the Boggards would hear our struggle and come to join in... maybe just a bit.
“I wouldn’t,” she scoffs dismissively. “They’re actually being smart.” She’s not sure if the boggards can actually hear them or not, but she definitely understands placing a higher priority on self-interest than on ‘suspicious sneaky strangers’, even if they are newly made ‘friend-allies’.
All discussion comes to a screeching halt, however, the moment the second sinspawn charges in to attack. She instinctively takes a step back, remembering what happened when Morga tried to cast a spell in its immediate vicinity, and raises her crossbow ... and notices the dwarf behind her target, lying in a widening pool of blood.
She hesitates, torn. Don’t be stupid. Did you see what the other one did to her? You’d be dead before you could even get close enough to give her a potion. She steadies her crossbow, then shakes her head. But we’ll need her healing. Besides, she’d be a willing target. If I could just mimic her spell …
Her eyes harden with flinty determination. Gazing down at the tattoo upon her arm, she takes a deep breath and refocuses, filling her mind with soothing memories of her mother, and then projecting them into Morga’s mind. It’s risky—she’s never cast such a spell before—but her arcane tattoo softly glows in response, and the dwarf’s injuries seem to lessen. “Morga!” the sorceress cries in a relieved and triumphant voice. “Help us!”
Healing floods Morga's body. Her eyes snap open. There's a sinspawn between her and where Autumn and Vildran stand, white-faced. Her eyes lock with Autumn's; she senses the healing came from her smooth-talking ally. It's substantial, but the sinspawn could cut her down in an instant nonetheless. Her instinct is to be the meat shield between her more fragile allies and the danger, but... The sinspawn would cut her down instantly again; it would be futile.
Suddenly, her wisest course of action is clear in her mind. She nods her gratitude to Autumn, heaves herself to her feet, and dashes toward San. We need his bow, and numbers in our favor!
Yeah! Welcome back Morga! Vildran cheers cautiously while continuing to burn sin spawn. He keeps his staff pointed forward.
The sinspawn steps forward, ominously snaking it's long tongue from side to side as it does. It lunges for Autumn, crushing her in its jaws before she pulls free. A flood of envy surges within her, but she fights it down as she dodges the claw that follows.
|||| INIT ||||
Autumn (18 dmg, Stage 1 Rust Creep)
Vildran (5 dmg)
Morga (20 dmg, fatigued)
San (26 dmg, sickened 1, enfeebled 2, prone, dying 3)
Green sinspawn (19 dmg)
… And that’s why you don’t help others. So much for being a ‘willing target’. Autumn fumes at herself as Morga sprints away with no more than a thanks and a goodbye, sucker. She doesn’t blame the dwarf—after all, that’s what she should be doing. Looking out for number one.
Distracted by these thoughts, she can only gasp when the sinspawn tears flesh and crushes bone with a powerful bite to her shoulder. Pain blurs her mind and stray, envious thoughts cloud her judgment—there’s Vildran, the lucky bastard, right next to the door, able to run away while blocking her own escape. After all the times she’s escaped justice, suddenly there’s nowhere to run.
No. As blood trickles across her tattoo, the only thing she has left from her mother, she wrenches herself free in defiance. If she’s going down, then so is this monstrosity.
She gazes fondly at the tree on her arm, watching it glow softly as a dim orange leaf falls and expands into a protective shield. Then her emerald eyes darken as she raises her crossbow, pointing it directly at the sinspawn’s head, and casts what might be her final phase bolt. Sorry mom.
"Come on San! They need us!" Morga casts Heal to rouse San and herself. She hopes she's not too late for him and that the additional healing will be enough to help her survive more than one attack from the remaining sinspawn.
At this point nothing amongst this carnage gets to Vildran. He doesn't think he's numb to the violence; it will catch up to him later. But now, it's all just happening.
Autumn, stand flat against the wall!
He takes a step back (opening up the passageway east),
and again throws his staff forward. This time, instead of a targeted bolt of flame, a gout of flame sprays from his staff and washes over the sinspawn, unavoidable.
Over to the west, Morga's pulse of healing steals San away from a trip to the Boneyard. His eyes open to the room's ceiling.
The sinspawn savagely continues its assault on Autumn, claws flashing. She blocks the first attack with her shield but she has nothing left over when the second comes from the other side. The creature tears into her gut and sends her to the ground . The sinspawn steps toward what it thinks is the last intruder - Vildran!
|||| INIT ||||
Autumn (22 dmg, Stage 1 Rust Creep, prone, dying 1)
Vildran (5 dmg)
Morga (13 dmg, fatigued)
San (19 dmg, sickened 1, enfeebled 2, prone) x2
Green sinspawn (22 dmg)
The wave of healing energy washes over San snatching him from the afterlife. His eyes flutter open and he assesses the situation.
Grabbing his bow and standing, he nods to Morga in thanks. Suddenly he remembers the nausea the sinspawn caused and retches one more time.
"Hurry, San! There's one more left!" Morga cries as she dashes back toward the sinspawn. Once she gets close enough, she sees Autumn's body sprawled on the floor. There isn't enough time to retrieve her starknife or get closer to cast Haunting Hymn! Instead, she quickly casts Stabilize on her ally and shouts: "Hey moron! Come finish me!" She slams her shield with her fist in challenge. "Yaaaaah!"
Following Morga, San rushes into line of sight and fires an arrow at the sinspawn.
One more down. Autumn hits the deck, and he's not sure how "together" she is after that ravaging.
Where are the others?
He hears voices, he thinks Morga's, but he doesn't hold out much hope she'll reach him before the end.
Concentration on his staff, his fingers trace runes onto the shaft before they glow bright orange and a (hopefully) final fire bolt begins to swell before being ejected into the sinspawn.
The sinspawn's dodging seems like a taunt at this point.
Giving his staff a twirl in front of him, he manifests a force shield.
Little good it will do.
Just then an arrow flies through the room and past him.
Maybe the cavalry has arrived...
For Autumn there is nothing but an infinite void, an eternal blackness so absolute it extinguishes all light, all life, all hope. Her colorful tree tattoo fades as a leaf falls. But eventually, through this opaque nothingness, she hears something, something fainter than the tiniest voice, like the pinprick of a conscience. It is more of an urge than a sound, but somewhere, far off in the distance, someone—or something—is calling.
Vildran has nowhere to run, so when he goes to cast a spell, the sinspawn lashes out at him. With a single stroke, it cuts him down. Satisfied that the dangerous spellcasters are done for now, it turns and strides ominously toward Morga. She fends off one swing of its claw, but a second slash sneaks by her defenses. Thankfully, her wounds are healed enough that she stays standing together with San.
|||| INIT ||||
Autumn (22 dmg, Stage 1 Rust Creep, prone, unconscious)
Vildran (18 dmg, prone, dying 2)
Morga (18 dmg, fatigued)
San (19 dmg, sickened 1, enfeebled 2)
Green sinspawn (22 dmg)
And now Vildran's down, too. There isn't time to stabilize him too. She's got to hope that she and San can take it out before it kills both of them, too! She punches the sinspawn once, steps to the side to give San a clearer shot, and punches it again. The shield hangs limply from her arm.
Fresh from its victory over Autumn and Vildran, the sinspawn is unprepared when Morga comes at it with a right hook. The first blow sends it reeling, but its the second that knocks it skidding across the room. It doesn't get back up.
Combat Over! You each gain... 80 XP. You also each get a hero point.
There's no sign of any further enemies approaching - at least not for now. The only obvious exit from the room (the stairs) is utterly silent.
|||| STATUS ||||
Autumn (22 dmg, Stage 1 Rust Creep, prone, unconscious)
Vildran (18 dmg, prone, unconscious)
Morga (18 dmg, fatigued)
San (19 dmg, sickened 1, enfeebled 2)
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Stable, though unconscious, Vildran is haunted by tortured dreams. In them, a great colossal sinspawn wields his staff, and when it thrusts it forward Vildran himself flies out of the end, alight with flame!
Here's hoping he wakes up soon!
San readies more arrows as Morga connects with her punches. Thankfully the creature goes down. Making sure the job is finished, he takes out his dagger and slits the creatures throat. Pushing down the emotions of what he's just done, he moves to walk past Morga to check on Vildran and Autumn. "Good job taking that thing out! Not sure how much longer we would have lasted if you hadn't... Let's get back to relative safety so we can recover." San takes time to carefully carry his unconscious companions away from the carnage.