With the second set of skeletons dispatched, the heroes consider whether they should follow the tracks of whoever came before across the dark sands, or turn back.
Alpha is hurt enough to be of concern, and the path doesn't seem to end anytime soon.
Aglippa sheathes her greatsword and kicks one of the bones off into the distance, grumbling.
"Ach. Got a feeling we'll be waddling through hordes of these bastards the further we go..."
A studious glance over to Alpha.
"Ye gonna be hanging in there?"
Alpha-47 looks to the others, "We should stop for a minute, let me tend to my leaks before we continue,"
"Ack, the sand is getting everywhere, this is not a sanitary environment for treatment,"
After waiting the requisite 10 minutes, Alpha-47 is still not feeling much better, but gives up the patching for now. The group continues along the track following the footsteps of whoever went before, conscious at some level that they are leaving their own tracks that could easily be followed up on.
The black darkness continues to surround the group, held off only by the divine light cast by the android priest. The stone outcropping that the last group of skeletons came out from behind rises on our left to heights that exceed your ability to see in the dark -- so it must be upwards of 60' high. To your right, just stretches of empty sand as far as you can see.
After about 200' of walking along the path, you climb a slightly sand dune, a mildly higher point than the rest of the sandy terrain, and you spy a good distance off to the right (south?) a light. It's the only light you've seen since entering this sandy area, and it still might be a good way off, but it stands out clearly. The path does not go that way, but continues off to the west as it has since you started following, mostly.
Aglippa squints at the source of light ahead, foot tapping against the path.
"Probably a bad idea to go off the trail, but that's the first sign of *something* we've seen here... Hm."
"I wonder if we should turn back. Not only have we seen no sign of Khonnir Bane, but there is an entire, I don't even know what to call it, underneath Torch. We've encountered hostile after hostile and if we get overrun, who will tell the people above about the danger that they are living on top of? Perhaps we should withdraw, inform the Town Council about all of this, rest, and return at full capacity."
"That may be true, but we also may lose the trail." he replies with a worried look as he peers in the direction of the footprints
Nodding, "That is a good point you make Zaria, if not for the rush to find Khonnir I would agree with you. Ba'hahk raises a valid point, we are already a few days behind the trail, any more and we may lose it. This sand would make it impossible to follow if not for the footprints already,"
Looking off to the light in the distance, "Its the first thing we've seen, maybe we should investigate it, I have 5 regular torches in my backpack, We could stick them in the ground every 60 feet or so, leave them as markers,"
"Leaving torches in the ground seems like a good idea, to me" Karina adds. "I'm all for continuing along the trail."
The party regroups for a few moments after see the light off to the south, considering their options. For now, they decide to stay on the path, but mark every 60' or so with torches, in case something happens to the trail in the vastness of this open space, and they get lost.
You do note, that since you entered this sandy space, there is not even a merest hint of a breeze or any motion that might move the sand around, and looking back, your own footsteps are very clear as far aback as the light goes. But better safe than sorry...
You move along, planting a torch near the rocky massif. As you work your way west, more rocky cliffs appear ahead of you, and just at the foot of them, the path turns sharply to the south. As you plant another torch in the sand, more four-armed skeletons appear ahead of you on either side. This time there are 4 of the undead minions. Yuo can see from here, that one of them (green) has the glowing green eyes you saw for a moment on the last pair. All of them move to attack you...
Skeletons in the Sand - Part 3 - Round 1
21 Aglippa
19 Karina
19 Red Skeleton
18 Alpha-47
17 Ba'hahk
15 Orange Skeleton
9 Zaria
9 Blue Skeleton
3 Yellow Skeleton
Once more, Aglippa isn't going to be charging off ahead in case there's something weird in the sand waiting to grab her by the ankles. Instead, she positions herself and waits, Greatsword raised.
"Something about those eyes on that one."
"Here we go again, maybe I should just keep this object floating for now if it's going to take so many times."
After smacking -- or rather, attempting to smack -- the skeleton with her viol, she then raises her shield.
Skeletons in the Sand - Part 3 - Round 1 - continued
19 Karina
19 Red Skeleton
21 Aglippa
18 Alpha-47
17 Ba'hahk
15 Orange Skeleton
9 Zaria
9 Blue Skeleton
3 Yellow Skeleton
Aglippa readies her weapon, but holds her ground, choosing to stand fast again until the skeletal enemies close ground.
Karina sends her animated weapon at the skeleton with the glowing eyes, but as it closes in, the first bludgeoning strike misses.
Red Skeleton moves up towards the group, ambling with preternatural speed and agility at Alpha-47 who is still quite hurt from the last fight. One strike from its claws hits the android, bringing him very close to succumbing to his wounds.
miss
hit
With the skeleton attacking Alpha, Aglippa moves up past Zaria and Alpha to stop next to her. Her hands glow with an energy as she pats it on his shoulder, using Lay on Hands. She then goes for a swing against the red skeleton with her greatsword.
Alpha-47, restored by Aglippa, takes a few steps back to put some distance between he and the rest of the Skeletons. He'll then draw out his light hammer, holding it ready before casting Guidance on Karinna
"There appear to be quite an alarming number of skeletons in this place"
Skeletons in the Sand - Part 3 - Round 1 - continued
19 Karina
21 Aglippa
18 Alpha-47
17 Ba'hahk[/b]
15 Orange Skeleton
9 Zaria
3 Green Skeleton
As the Red Skeleton gets its claws into Alpha-47, Aglippa activates. She moves next to the creature, lays a hand on the android to pass some healing onto him, and then lays the wood on the offending skeleton, smashing it to dust with one fell stroke.
Alpha-47 receives the healing, and the buff to his armor, then draws out his hammer once again, and shares divine guidance with Karina as she uses her weapons to attack the oncoming undead.
Since the undead are a bit away still, Ba'hahk casts his electrical spell on them, arcing the energy between Green and Blue. The blast of electrical force disintegrates Blue, but seems to do little to no damage against Green.
Orange rushes forward, oblivious to the fate of the others, and swings its arms wildly at Zaria. You notice as it gets close, the glowing green eyes shift from the Green Skeleton to the Orange one. Either way, both attacks fail to hit the ranger.
fail
critical fail
miss
miss
"Something may be controlling them. Look at how the glow in the eyes moves from skeleton to skeleton." Zaria says as she once more switches weapons and then swings at the skeleton in front of her.
for and
Skeletons in the Sand - Part 3 - Round 1 - concluded
19 Karina
21 Aglippa
18 Alpha-47
17 Ba'hahk
9 Zaria
3 Green Skeleton
Using her hand-held weapon, Zaria is able to bludgeon the adjacent skeleton, not hitting especially hard, but with her precision, its enough to crumble the undead foe.
The green eyes flip back to the Green Skeleton, which advances and attacks against Ba'hahk. Two swipes of the skeletal claw are turned aside by the orc, who suffers no damage.
End of Round 1
Ba'hahk retaliates in kind. Trying to damage the skeleton
With only one of them still up, Zaria scans for any new enemies.
Alpha-47, hammer in hand will launch it at the skeleton since it worked so well last time.
Looking around, "If you see where my hammer bounced off too, let me know!"
"ENCORE!" Karina shouts as she thwacks the creature once again with the viol, then keeps her shield up.
Might as well join the fun, since everyone else's also smacking on this pinata of a skeleton.
Skeletons in the Sand - Part 3 - Round 2 - concluded
19 Karina
21 Aglippa
18 Alpha-47
17 Ba'hahk
9 Zaria
3 Green Skeleton
Well aimed blows from Aglippa, Karina, and Ba'hahk all strike the remaining skeleton at once, tearing it apart with relative ease. The green light in the eyes flickers once as the battering continues, then disappears entirely.
Squinting into the darkness all around, Zaria does not see any other foes visible. The light to the south seems much closer from here, but still too far to make out any details.
End of Combat
Alpha-47, holding his holy symbol aloft will use a three action heal spell, healing the group as a whole. "This will be tough, but Brigh will guide us through to the end,"
Freshly healed from the divine magic of Brigh, the group continues following the footstep trail in the sand. The darkness continues to surround them with the exception of the bright light glowing to the south.
To your surprise, the path turns south, and soon it seems clear that it is bearing right for the light. Without any further interruption from the four-armed skeletons, you approach the light. As you get closer, you can see it seems to emanate from a tunnel very much like the one you entered this sandy darkness from -- back where the tentacled beast attacked you.
As they start to walk again, Ba'hahk begins to trail behind, lost in thought as he contemplates the happenings so far. Then, in the corner of his eye, something grabs his attention. He looks up to see if anyone else spotted it, but by their distance from him, he surmises that it wasn't so. "Guys?" he semi calls to them as he approaches the object of his curiosity
From the wall of the place, a crack had sprung and strange silvery liquid was leaking onto the floor. Metallic in nature, was as much as he could tell. But the way it made a pool tugged at his curiosity. He reaches out to touch it, without realising it, till it was too late.
As his finger made contact with the liquid, it pulsed and quickly began to move and warp, making all strange shapes. Before long, it elongated, into looked like a very thing diamond shaped shard, more shapes began to spin off from the central part, forming two long ones at the bottom, two smaller ones at the top, and 3 very small ones at the very top, till it finally stopped.
It begins to move, first the 'legs' then the 'arms' and finally the 'head'. Clinking as if metal on metal to create an almost melodic sounds as it 'walks' around him and then does a little jump
"Uhm. Nice to meet you too?" he didn't know why, but for some reason he could tell what the 'creature' was saying to him
Soothe has been prepared. Magic has changed, you've got to command me over minute intervals now, oh "Bard". Karina hears in her head. Karina can tell something's different already.
"It was finnicky before, but I believe I can cast Soothe once now. Mind you, I'm no Cleric of Brigh, but I can still help with the healing. Is... that a metal elemental? It seems friendly enough," Karina says. She knows how familiars and animal companions act. This definitely seems like one. At least this one isn't going to need to pretend to be lifeless for its own safety.
"Weird little creature." Aglippa snorts at the sight. "If it starts acting naughty, we can put it on a forge and see what I can make out of it."
Little bit of humor for the situation, hands on her hips as she scans the area further.
"No road besides ahead, I'm afraid. Turning back now would be like seeing a rich vein and not striking it."
"I still disgaree. The thousands of people in Torch have no idea of what lies right under the town. We do not even know if we are on the right track. Warning town leadership, and then resting overnight and returning would seem to be the most prudent course of action."
Zaria does not expect the group to agree, however, and checks her crossbow and prepares to lead the way deeper.
“A construct, but not one of steel and gears,” Alpha-47 murmured. “Something… adaptive. If it follows commands, then it is functional, not hostile. For now.”
At Aglippa’s comment about forging it into something useful, Alpha-47 turned their head slightly, processing the humor before deciding no response was necessary. Instead, they focused on Zaria’s hesitation.
“Resting is inefficient,” Alpha-47 stated plainly. “We have momentum. If we retreat, time is lost. If danger is ahead, it will remain. The unknown will not change because we wait.”
The metallic creature, which does seem to be an elemental (but could be as alien as this place or the four-armed skeletons) seems to shimmer a for brief second as its sense the group's acceptance, and the direction of Ba'hahk. Strange, but not the strangest thing you've seen today...
As you enter the narrow cavern, you can see a crisp glow of light that shines from the northern wall of this cavern though no obviously discernable source of the light is apparent
At the mention of being used as forging material, the small elemental screeches like metal on metal as it spiked body grows more spikes, before it returns to a more neutral state after it was determined it was simply a jest
"I don't think the little guy liked that. Perhaps refrain from such jokes?" he politely asks Aglippa.
Gentle clinging sounds are heard from the peculiar shaped creature at his side
He chuckles "I think that's him saying thank you"
With that sorted out, he continues to follow the lead
Karina follows as well, keeping a close eye on the elemental as she walks.
Zaria just assumes the little creature is friendly to orcs for whatever reason since it seems drawn to Ba'hahk, and it's not attacking, so she focuses forward.
She will lead the way into the passage they are entering.
The cavern is narrow, and more like a tunnel perhaps. It seems to dead-end inside, but the bright light is emanating from nowhere at that closed end inexplicably.
"There could be a hidden door here." Zaria says to the group.
Ba'hahk nods at the silent request, "On it" as he goes to work inspecting the area, his new companion following him around
Ba'hahk squeezes by Zaria and goes to the end of the narrow cavern looking closely at the reason for the light to emanate from a plain rock wall. He feels the wall, and has he does, he hand seems to slip right through the wall into open space behind.
Karina goes to investigate as well.
Alpha-47 hums in excitement, "Fascinating discovery, pass through rock, an illusion? Khonnir is a spellcaster is he not? Maybe he left this here for some reason,"
Alpha-47, holding his magical orb of light aloft, follows behind the group.
Especially with Ba'hahk's discovery, both Alpha and Karina can now see the back wall of the tunnel seems to be fully illusory. Once they can see past the illusion, they spy a sliding door, much like the ones they say earlier which is slightly damaged, so as to stay partially open. Brilliant white light streams from the partially open door. That light bleeds through the illusion causing the beacon of light that attracted you here.
"Illusory doors and a lot of light, huh. Dunnae think we'd be popping out outside, would we? What time was it outside again..."
Really, she's more mumbling to herself than asking genuine questions she wants answers to, fingers idly gripping the handle of her greatsword; ready to draw when needed.
Aglippa follows along the rest of the group, keeping her eyes peeled.
"We've seen no evidence that he has come this way at all, and when we described him to the humanoids back there, they didn't seem to have recognized him. If this is not local to this strange area, it's likely caused by the group they did tell us about."
Zaria gives her opinion, and then takes the point once more, leading the way further in.
With the illusion in place, you can't see well past it, but Ba'hahk can feel there is empty space beyond, how do you wish to proceed?
"Hm, yes, but this could also be a nonmagical effect, native to this area" Karina points out as she examines it. "We don't know much about the ruins and artifacts all over Numeria, but the ONE thing they have in common with each other is they use NO magic, whatsoever. I'd test it myself if I could produce a field of antimagic."
Noticably, when she's discussing this, the singsong quality of her voice diminishes as she's now speaking in cold facts as she lets the Bard mask slip a little... much to her familiars dismay (not that you can tell when a lute is disgruntled).