Vildran follows his nose to the circle of stones.
Curious...
He stays outside of them while observing them to determine the effect.
"No immediate threats right now. Who knows if that that will last once we start poking around. Might as well try to solve this right now rather than be surprised later." San assists Vildran in his investigation by providing practical knowledge to Vildran's superior book smarts. As they deliberate, they bounce off each other about what magic the stones might contain.
"Looks like they made another bridge to get across and then destroyed it," Autumn reports quietly, pointing at the plank in the chasm. "And they left a welcome party for us." Her finger swivels to indicate the skeleton, then rises vertically to her lips,
warning the others to stay silent. Any thought of rigging a rope across is dashed by the sentry's presence.
She sneaks back away from the edge and gives Morga a questioning look, wondering what she knows about skeletons. Clerics are taught all about life and death and beyond death, aren't they?
Meanwhile, Autumn peers across the gap at the skeleton. It lies slumped against the cliff wall and doesn't stir at your presence.
Vildran steps back to size up the circle.
Yes... that would be a lot of water. What for though? To wash something? To accelerate... rust on metal?
He begins looking around at the nearby walls for some manner of "switch" or trigger.
"Hm." Morga peers at the skeleton with Autumn. "Yeah, hard to say if it'll rise up and make noise if we cross. Presumably its senses only stretch so far, so if we find a crossing farther down we may be able to bypass it."
The prospect of the ledge being flooded out by the circle of stones certainly bothers her. "Do you think we should try to disable it? Would moving the stones work? Or would that trigger the flood?"
San peers over at the skeleton, "Wonder how the poor sod got over there in the first place. Unless it can fly, I don't think it's going to be an issue."
Referring to the stones, "Vildran didn't find a trigger. I wouldn't worry about it unless we need to go that way. I'm more interested in what's causing that glow."
Autumn nods in agreement with San about not disturbing the circle of stones--she isn't the type to speculatively poke things with a stick. "Let's just leave it alone," she concurs, preferring to follow the others to investigate the light in the western passage.
Meanwhile Morga peeks across the chasm at the ledge. It seems like a humanoid skeleton over there, and it doesn't show any signs of being ambulatory - at least not yet. San looks at the ledge as well and notes that while the chasm is steep, it's not totally sheer. An audacious soul that started on opposite side of the chasm could potentially climb part way down and sidle their way to the ledge with the skeleton.
---
Leaving aside the skeleton and circle of stones for now you proceed to the west and toward the dim glow. Everyone except for Vildran is tipped off by a foul acrid smell and clinking of metal on metal that something or someone lies around the first corner, in the dark.
-
|||| INIT ||||
San
Morga
Autumn (Rust creep stg 1)
Blue dero
Red dero
Vildran
San strides forth, new weapon in hand, to confront both derro. Twirling the halberd he harasses the creatures with continual strikes.
Morga rushes in to back up San, stopping short of the gray-skinned duo. She's under the impression that everyone down here is a threat, so wastes no time casting Haunting Hymn on both of them.
Having been warned of the dero by the demon, Autumn is not surprised by their presence. Quickly following Morga, she fires a bolt of magical energy that phases through the outcropping in front of her.
-
-
-
The blue dero fires at point blank range, earning a reactive strike from San that misses them. Their own crossbow bolt whizzes through the air and embeds itself shallowly in San's armor. Blue follows by scampering around to flank the fighter and swing in with its club to no avail. The red dero swings as well while San is distracted, landing one precise blow upon his right kneecap.
|||| INIT ||||
Vildran
San (7 dmg)
Morga
Autumn (Rust creep stg 1)
Blue dero (2 dmg)
Red dero (19 dmg)
Oh! What's the commotion!
Vildran trots just past Autumn to get a look.
Oh wow, you've already done a number on that one!
He aims his staff at it, hoping to take it out.
Maneuvering from being surrounded, San strikes out again at the derro.
As the derro falls, Morga turns to menacingly lock eyes with the remaining foe. Drawing the light hammer, she steps up to deliver a solid thunk to its skull.
Autumn flicks a phase bolt at the remaining dero and follows up with a threatening stare.
Its ambush a failure and its ally already dead, the remaining dero shrieks obscenities in Aklo, swinging twice at Morga. Both blows clank off her armor. Seeing that the fight is doomed, the remaining dero runs between Morga and San and scurries toward the western passage. Its short legs do it no favors and it doesn't get very far. San's reactive strike falls short of hitting it in the back as it goes.
|||| INIT ||||
Vildran
San (7 dmg)
Morga
Autumn (Rust creep stg 1)
Blue dero (18 dmg)
Oh... that's too close! his antennae stand on end in surprise. But he knows what to do.
Bonk
His next bout of flame is wielded in his hands and thrust down upon it...
Immediately after he reflexively holds up his forearm, in front of which manifests a shielding disc of arcane force.
With the battle swinging solidly in their favor, Autumn is unwilling to let the last dero escape, lest it warn others to their presence. Channeling magic through her crossbow, she fires a phase bolt at point blank range. Exchanging a knowing glance with San, she then pokes it with the tip of her crossbow to distract it from his attack.
San chases after the fleeing Derro, intending to cut off its escape path. Reaching a narrow point in the tunnel, he turns back to thrust at the creature.
Vildran scorches the dero up close, and while Autumn distracts it San delivers the finishing blow. It gurgles something indecipherable in Aklo before falling with a thud.
Combat Over! You each gain 60 XP
Your fight was swift, but far from silent with all the spellcasting and the shrieks from the dero. To the west, you hear a sudden scrambling and hushed but agitated voices speaking in Aklo. Everything falls quiet soon after, though its clear your presence has been noted. Your own lights illuminate only far enough to see the tunnel opens up to a larger cavern in that direction. What dim blue light exists that way serves to suggest the outlines of a large space.
As far as the alcove where you found the two dero guards, it's dominated by a flat-topped rock covered in fungus. Two flat boulders sit to either side, functioning as chairs. Two crude cups sit on the table, filled with some kind of foul smelling fermented beverage. You don't spot anything else of note.
Assuming Autumn will check the bodies, Morga takes a stance in the corridor with her shield raised, in case more foes come running. As soon as the group is ready, she advances into the larger space.
Immediately to the right, a narrow tunnel turns back toward the chasm. Second to the right, a wider tunnel opens to another chamber, where the faint blue light has been coming from. From a distance and in the poor light, you can only see several mounds on the ground within. Directly ahead, the widest tunnel continues onward into the dark.
This chamber is empty of hostile creatures, but there are some faint sounds of creaking and shuffling from up ahead somewhere.
With all the activity in the next area, and the strong likelihood that the party's presence is noted, Vildran is too anxious to stop and explore the deros' abode.
He quickly, hopefully quietly follows behind Morga, looking out into the larger space she's arrived at.
With the presumed hostiles not presenting themselves, San takes a small bit of time turning out the pockets of the derro. He isn't surprised to find more of the sleeping poison found on the previous encountered foes. Making note of the lengths of rope they have, San hurries to catch up to Morga and Vildran.
Surveying the room, he notes the large space and nods to the glowing blue light. He whispers to the others, "Think they're in there? And can we lure them into the open space? I can set up by the cage and pepper them with arrows from here. They have their little bows but they shouldn't be able to shoot very far."
Morga nods her agreement. "Do we want to check the opening closest to our right first? It'd be good to know how many we're dealing with."
V: 12
-
|||| INIT ||||
San (7 dmg)
Morga
Elderly dero
???
Vildran
Autumn (Rust creep stg 1)
Worried about that shout bringing more dero, San positions himself where he can cover both passages. Swapping his halberd for his bow, he sets his feet in case anyone tries to close the distance.
Morga charges toward the elderly dero, hammer already swinging for a couple of resounding blows.
Autumn lingered over the dead dero, making sure they've taken everything of value. She gave Morga the rope, in case that proves to be the only way across the chasms, and pocketed all four vials for herself, before hurrying to catch up to Vildran.
-
A strange giggle rises up inside her, distracting her Meanwhile, a dero leans out from behind cover in the second side chamber to fire a hand crossbow at San. The poisoned bolt stabs into his armor without injuring him. After firing the dero takes cover again, calling out something in Aklo. While you may not catch the full meaning, you do hear the word "Zaiox" in the middle.
Following the dero, a vaguely humanoid mass of shambling fungus emerges from the side-chamber and totters into the larger room. With a shake of its whole body it launches two fungal pods at San. Both connect, sending drifting spores into the air around him
San endures the spores and takes no further ill effect.
|||| INIT ||||
Vildran
Autumn (Rust creep stg 1)
San (7 dmg)
Morga
Elderly dero (7 dmg)
Red dero
??? plant creature
Vildran grimaces at the strange plant creature.
There is no sun here... how do you grow.
"Not to trust - surface worlders - their pacts - worth nothing!"
Seizing on this nugget of information, Morga halts her assault. Snapping her shield up, she speaks: "Pact, huh? You do realize that not all surface worlders work together, right? Meitremar is our enemy. Is he yours too?" Her muscles bunch as she waits for his answer, prepared to strike if he remains a threat. Also, she giggles. It's irritating, so she growls too. It sounds rather disturbing.
Autumn arches a surprised eyebrow when she hears something around the corner snarling in the common tongue. But it’s the unexpected appearance of an animated fungus that truly commands her attention. “Eww. What is that thing?”
The sorceress doesn’t bother waiting to find out. The dero might not trust humans, but the feeling is mutual, especially with a dead gnome in a cage and another humanoid roasting on a spit. She channels a phase bolt through her crossbow at the greatest threat—namely, the shambling whatever-it-is—and fixes it with a menacing glare.
To the north, the dero fixes his glowing eyes upon Morga's own and a hypnotic swirl begins to fill them. His eyes make Morga's head spin, but her will is strong enough that nothing even worse happens While Morga is recovering, he also reaches out and casts a spell that tries to dampen her life force.
This time she suffers more seriously, the spell blistering her flesh .
Back in the main room, the dero in the side chamber fires again at San, this time scoring a hit with his crossbow. He follows by once more taking cover behind the corner to protect himself against any return fire.
The fungal creature trundles its way toward Autumn and Vildran. Once close, it convulses and releases a large cloud of spores that engulfs everyone but Morga.
While San stands firm against the spores, resisting any unpleasant effects the thick yellow cloud might have, Autumn and Vildran both find the spores clouding their vision after they get in their eyes.
|||| INIT ||||
Vildran (1 persistent poison, vision restricted)
Autumn (Rust creep stg 1, 1 persistent poison, vision restricted)
San (12 dmg) x2
Morga (6 dmg, dazzled 1 rd)
Elderly dero (7 dmg)
Red dero
??? plant creature
Gah! No, stay back!
His antennae stand on end and reach diagonally sideways as he thrusts is staff at the creature that has now closed in on him and Autumn.
As he places his staff back on the stone ground in front of him, he focuses on the creature...
San observes the plant creature, trying to figure out what the dang thing is. His observations distract him enough that he can't dodge the lobbed spores quickly enough! Snapping back, he fires off two shots from his bow.
With the plant creature producing clouds of... stuff and the derro shooting from cover, San decides to reposition to better engage their current foes. Coughing and wiping away the gunk, he snaps off another two shots at the plant thing.
“So not fetch!” Autumn sputters as she blinks and tries to wipe the toxic spores out of her eyes. Thanks gods she at least didn’t have her mouth open!
With her vision clouded by a fuzzy yellow haze, she instinctively steps back, then freezes with a sudden, horrifying realization: San has completely disappeared from her field of view, and just a single step has blurred the mushroom monster. Running away would leave her unable to see a foe that has proven itself capable of attacking from a distance—she would be completely blind and helpless.
With a disgusted humph, the sorceress forces herself to stand her ground—better to at least see the fungus beast so she has a chance to react—and curses it with a silent, glowering hex. As arrows fly out of nowhere, confirming the archer’s continued existence, she takes advantage of the distraction and thrusts another phase bolt at the mycelioid monstrosity.
Spots pulsing in her eyes, Morga tries to slam her hammer into the elderly derro's glowing eyes. She wants to take him out so she can get back to help her friends, and there's no way she's about to let him cast spells on anyone else but her.
Growling at her inability to clonk her wily foe into oblivion, Morga snaps up her shield. As if this can block spells, she internally gripes.
Vildran notices as arrows start flying in from just beyond his reduced range of vision. Three arrows land on target, punching holes in fungal caps and embedding in the creature's side. It staggers left and right, clearly in pain. Autumn's phase bolt takes it off its stubby feet and sends it tumbling to rest against the wall.
All while this is going on, Morga contends with the old dero. Dazzled as she is, all her swings go well off target. The dero smiles cruelly at her stumbling before weaving another spell. A blast of sound batters her surroundings as the magic is released.
She bruises under the sonic assault, but endures it relatively well The dero follows by stabbing upward at her with its spear. She turns the spear aside with her shield!
The other dero finds his hiding spot compromised, so he rushes out and over to support the elder. Along the way he draws a club.
|||| INIT ||||
Vildran (1 dmg, 1 persistent poison, vision restricted)
Autumn (1 dmg, Rust creep stg 1)
San (12 dmg)
Morga (10 dmg)
Elderly dero (7 dmg)
Red dero
Vildran softly steps to the middle of the room until he can spy a dero down the Northeast corridor.
Not too close... perfect.
He points his staff at it.
With the leshy down, and its last spores falling away from her eyes, the emboldened sorceress moves forward to help Morga. Standing next to Vildran, she gives his sputtering, malfunctioning staff the sad look one reserves for pathetically obsolete fashion. “You so need a new staff.”
She waits a moment for San to join the pursuit, then channels a magical spike of energy at the dero.
San has a flash of insight, remembering what the interrogation on the island revealed, as he charges after the dero. "Xaiox you slimy shit! Just give up already!" Getting the dero in sight, he fires two arrows.
Finally the spots in Morga's eyes recede, allowing her a clear view of the wily elder derro before her. Realizing she's about to be pinned between him and whoever Xaiox is, she shifts toward the wall a bit before taking a mighty swing at her geezerly momentary nemesis and snaps her shield back up into place.
"You're gonna have to remind me who the slimy shit is later!" She calls back to San. "He obviously didn't make much of an impression."
The elderly dero snarls and casts out a more complex spell. When he releases it, a pall of magical darkness spreads out to fill the tunnel and much of the adjacent space. To those of you without darkvision, it appears an impenetrable wall of black that the light of neither conventional lights nor Vildran's spell can pierce.
Morga sees the younger dero patching his wounds before scurrying in to swing at her in the dark. He seems unaffected by the darkness. The blow is sudden and well placed, but she's able to bring her shield up in time to block it .
|||| INIT ||||
Vildran (2 dmg)
Autumn (1 dmg, Rust creep stg 1)
San (12 dmg)
Morga (10 dmg)
Elderly dero (15 dmg)
Red dero (17 dmg)
Spores blurring her vision are one thing, but this magical wall of midnight is quite another—there’s no way on Golarion that she’s venturing into that. Being blind would make her both vulnerable and useless. Autumn gives the wizard a questioning look. “Do you have any magic that’ll get rid of this, or let us see through it?”
Without any good options, the sorceress carefully moves towards the glowing blue light, to make sure there aren’t any more dero hiding there, then hides behind the curved cavern wall, waiting to ambush any enemies that might come out of the darkness. Thank the gods that dwarves can see in the dark. They really couldn’t have picked a better person to be fighting alone in the magical darkness.
Similar to Autumn, San is not a fan of the inky blackness. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he turns to his hearing to locate the enemy. With a general sense of the derro's location, he fires off two more arrows. Not wanting to be within striking range of the dark wall, he steps away a bit.