Sensing the tide turning in their favor, Jayma moves closer to one of the more wounded looking giants. With a flick of her wrist and a "rock rams ruffian," she magically accelerates another piece of detritus at it, hoping to put them out of their misery.
Which works perfectly well, and another giant collapses.
Lazarus and Marine's turns.
Initiative:
Callistro (AC 30/32, 110/140 HP, Cursebound 3, incendiary aura)
Green Desert Giant (-170 HP, bloodied, Frightened 1, Off-Guard until not Frightened)
Dr. Lazarus (AC 30, 105/105 HP)
Marine (AC 33, 151/162 HP, +1 to AC)
Jayma (AC 28, 107+5/107 HP, shield)
Orange Desert Giant (-80 HP)
Knowing the importance of clearing the battlefield, Dr. Lazarus studies the fleeing giant.
Spotting a golden opportunity, he moves up and hurls his hammer to take him down.
+2 Striking Returning Cold Iron Grabthar's Hammer (w/ Stratagem) +CA, vs Green: 1d20 + 22 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 22 + 1 = 40
Lazarus throws his hammer again.
Lazarus moves back near the others.
"It's just you and me." Marine states as she trots up to Orange. "You really shouldn't have tried to attack us."
As she closes in on the last giant, she stabs at her twice with some Snagging Strikes.
Lazarus's hammer smashes into the giant, and he topples into the open pit.
The final giant snarls at Marine, parrying one of her strikes.
"Even if you do beat me, you will never defeat the Slumbering King!" Marine is not impressed, and is even less impressed by the swordplay. She tries to move further into the shrine and away from the centaur, but Marine does not allow it.
Everything is quiet. Or at least as quiet as it can be, with the howling of the wind.
Status
Callistro (AC 30/32, 110/140 HP, Cursebound 3, incendiary aura)
Dr. Lazarus (AC 30, 105/105 HP)
Marine (AC 33, 151/162 HP)
Jayma (AC 28, 107+5/107 HP)
The cave walls north of a sandy riverbed to the south have been worked into flat surfaces here to create an enormous, cathedral-like space. The ceiling is sixty feet high, and the walls are adorned with countless angry faces, sphinxes, and complicated curls of hieroglyphs. Three slender stone pillars stand in the middle of the room, each decorated with carvings depicting fire, lightning, and rain. Twin stairs lead up to the eastern end of the room, where a curving dais against the wall might have once held religious treasures but now is covered in a heap of furs, weapons, broken timbers, rocks, and the periodic glitter of something metallic. More furs and tattered reed mats lay strewn haphazardly over the floor with many spilling out into the cavern to the southwest. The howling sounds even louder to the east, around the corner and deeper into the cavern.
To the east, a deep shaft rises and falls, leaving a sand-strewn five-foot-wide ledge to the south. Below, the shaft drops away into darkness, while a mere twenty feet above, it pinches to a five-foot-wide crack in the ceiling. From this crack, the howling sound issues. To the east, a wall of hides and wooden beams mostly blocks off a twelve-foot-wide opening into a larger cavern.
If there's anyone on the other side of the barricade, they don't seem to be coming to investigate.
Well, that was exhilarating says Callistro, I wonder how many more giants are hanging around here. Hopefully the sound of the wind means they havent heard us.
He begins to go through a regimen of stretches and dance practice moves, humming quietly to himself.
With the last of the giants going down under Marine's flashing sword, Jayma relaxes slightly, but the adrenaline of the fight still courses through her veins for a while longer. She nods at Callistro's comment. "I agree; that was rather entertaining. Are these great lumbering brutes truly the finest Swirly could muster to his banner? I do hope not; they are not proving to be much of a challenge."
Being unharmed by the encounter, Jayma takes her time searching the bodies of the fallen giants and examining the cathedral-like space for anything of value. She wears a disgusted look on her face as she picks through the heap of furs and other detritus. "Ugh!"
Once everyone is back up to full strength, Jayma points to the wall of hides and wooden beams. "I suspect that miserable barricade is the only thing preventing us from pressing further into the Choke. How very tiresome." She makes no move towards it. Clearly she does not see it as her job to get them past the obstruction.
"Well, that's that I suppose. Clearly not the hardest fight we've had, but if it wasn't for Callistro and Jayma clearing out so many of them at once and the good Doctor for his medicinal assistance, I might have eventually gone down." Marine remarks as she cleans her sword. She smiles appreciatively at the rest of the party.
Marine stands guard over Callistro until he stops burning to death. She remarks to him, "You know, all this time we've been together and you've never gotten that condition looked at. Have you considered getting, like, some kind of way to resist fire?""
As Jayma not-so-subtly hints at the barricade blocking the party's way while asserting that she's not going to move a finger to get rid of it, Marine says "Yeah, yeah, Princess. I'll get the barricade. You can keep your manicured hands clean and prepare yourself to blast whatever hits me while I do so."
Once everyone in the party is healed up to full, Marine goes up to the barricade and forces it open with her crowbar or tries to pick it with her lockpick.
Each of the giants is equipped similarly to the others, with the notable items being a +1 striking scimitar and a pair of doubling rings each.
Presumably the giant at the bottom of the pit also has the same items. The pit is deep enough that the light from the torch sconces doesn't reach far enough to see the bottom--looks to be about 100 feet. Collecting his magic items doesn't look difficult, but it might be a task better left until the party is on their way out.
The "pins" in the bowling game are made from camel bones, and it looks like they were arranged in some sort of stack rather then stood up in a formation--though it's impossible to tell exactly how the game worked now that they've fallen in a pile.
Each of the eight "balls" is made from a humanoid skull wrapped in metal bands--looks like cold iron, and there may be enough to be valuable.
Among the giants’ mundane items are simple survival objects, such as knives and mostly empty waterskins, but a few curious objects can be found here as well, including an urn depicting a jackal-headed figure that contains ashe. A charm made of volcanic glass remains within the ashes in the urn, along with the bones of a vulture. A camel hide bag contains 212 gp, a large pottery jar filled with dead flies (each the size of a nectarine), and a sumptuously woven keffiyeh depicting a giant eating a live basilisk.
Hidden in the keffiyeh is a slate tablet and a stylus. The tablet depicts some crudely drawn half-scorpion, half-human figures and, looming above them, an oddly stylized figure that’s clearly Swirly. There are 47 scorpion-humanoids depicted on the tablet.
As Marine approaches the barricade, she spots a flash of movement.
There is something on the other side after all. Something just on the other side, waiting and watching...
Marine has no idea what the charm is. She passes over it and goes toward the door.
Noticing that someone is watching and waiting on the other side, she waits for Dr. Lazarus to heal them all up before casting Shield from her Warding Statuette and attempting to breach.
Afteer he finishes his exercises Callistro has a look around the room. Of course, this imagery is of Nethys, although terribly faded. It shows him in his destructive aspect. The sphinx iconography is unusual but not unheard of. Did I ever tell you of the time I played the King of Burning Ants in a play on Nantambu before the Masters of the Magambya. Oh, I really should, it was an amazing performance and even though I didnt have the lead part, it haven been cruelly stolen from me, I was still the star of the show. I got rave reviews, the whole school was talking about ust how electrifying my performance was. Oh, happy day, before all of this adventuring nonsense. Not that I dont appreciate you all of course. What would we do without each other...
He takes the small charm from Marine, What, this old thing, a greater charm of fire resistance of course. Not much use to me, as I am sure I have told you several times Marine, the flames which power my glorious performance are inherently divine in nature and no mere mortal magic can contain them. It might be useful for you to wear and then Jayma and I can blast you if you are in the middle of any enemies with much less worry about you falling over...
At the mention of someone behind the barricade Callistro beams, Oh my, an audience, how fascinating!
Dr. Lazarus grips his hammer as it flies back into his hand after taking out the jolly Green giant. When the last one falls, he takes a cloth and cleans off his trusty hammer.
Looking around, the Doctor quickly comes to the realization that most of the group is not that injured. He muses aloud, "It's hardly worth my valuable time to heal up such minor scrapes ..." Nevertheless, even as he's grumbling, he retrieves his healer's kit, and starts mixing up a poultice for Marine and Callistro.
When Marine mentions we have guests on the other side, Dr. Lazarus considers the situation.
Marine hears a click, and sees a large eye peering through a gap in the slats. She sees something press against the part of the barricade that is merely stretched hide, and realizes that somebody is about to attack through it.
But she reacts quickly, shoving the entire thing aside. There are two giants waiting there, who seem just surprised enough by her speed and strength that the rest of the party is able to get the drop on them, too.
These two seem a bit more formidable, standing about a head taller then the average giant the party has seen so far. They seem to have the same equipment, but neither is holding their scimitars. Instead they are each holding something a different item: A pistol whose barrel is framed with elaborate embellishments that resemble a stylized dragon's maw.
Old, weathered carvings of an angry face cover the walls of this sandy cavern. Three particularly large carvings leer from an alcove to the east, the floor of which has been strewn with mattresses to give it the appearance of a giant’s throne. Elsewhere stand stacks of crates, several barrels, and some drying racks covered in strips of unpleasantly gray pieces of meat. To the northeast, a wide, smooth-walled shaft leads further up, and a wooden platform affixed to six ropes that wind up into the shaft sits on the ground.
All PCs' turns. The barricade is printed on the map, but just ignore it now that Marine has cleared it.
Initiative:
Marine (AC 33, 162+5/162 HP; two actions)
Callistro (AC 30/32, 140/140 HP, cursebound 1)
Dr. Lazarus (AC 30, 105/105 HP)
Jayma (AC 28, 107+5/107 HP)
Blue Honor Guard
Red Honor Guard
As before, the countless angry faces, sphinxes, and complicated curls of hieroglyphs adorning the walls and pillars of the enormous, cathedral-like space are meaningless to Jayma. Instead she does a careful accounting of the valuable they find.
Glancing at the slate tablet, Jayma makes a face indicating her distaste. "Ugh! How dreadful! I don't much like the look of those scorpion creatures. I daresay they must be the Girtablilu Marine mentioned earlier. It would seem that Swirly has enlisted quite a number of them into his service."
She then prepares herself to face whatever is on the other side of the barricade.
Giants with guns? Whatever will Swirly think of next. Surely these lot cant be any more of an issue than the last. I am quite sure you will all perform in your usual exemplary way, especially with my careful and well thought out guidance and my special little helper.
At that, a duplicate of Callistro appears behind the giants, dressed as a Chelaxian swashbuckler wielding a nasty looking long knife.
Did I ever tell you of the time I starred in Abrogail and Armanz? Its a Chelaxian blood opera about the doomed love affair between the infernal empress and her secret tiefling lover. I played the lead of course...
◆ Cast Courageous Anthem
◆◆ Cast Spiritual Guardian. Note it provides flanking and you cannot end your movement in its space.
slashing or spirit
1 damage from curse.
Marine is surprised when she sees the barrel of...something? pointing in her face. She quickly uses the crowbar to pry open the barricade, only to find two gunslinging giants staring her down.
"Gunslingers? Those guys are trouble if they shoot you in the head. Also really, Callistro? Abrogail and Armanz? That's such a cliche tale. Were you the infernal empress or a tiefling? I can't imagine how much body paint it took to make you look like a tiefling..."
Marine steps forward as she banters with Callistro, clearly not taking the fight too seriously.
She drops her Crowbar on the floor before she takes a Snagging Strike at Red. She tries to stomp on Red's feet to put him off-guard.
Jayma rolls her eyes when the creatures behind the barricade turn out to be more desert giants. "They are admittedly a little larger than the others, but still." She's pretty sure the others can take care of business without her, but she decides to send a little gift of her own into the mix.
Jayma slides forward onto the ledge and once close enough, says, "boulder beats bad boy," and flicks her wrist to send another stone careening into a giant.
With the barricade down, Dr. Lazarus follows Marine along the narrow path. "Ahhh. More desert giants? These look different." He continues as if he didn't just state the obvious, "Yes, it's true. My investigative eyes miss nothing."
He studies the nearest enemy for both an attack strategy and general information.
Spotting a gaping hole in its defenses, Dr. Lazarus hurls his hammer twice in succession.
+2 Striking Returning Cold Iron Grabthar's Hammer (w/ Stratagem) +CA, vs Blue: 1d20 + 22 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 22 + 1 = 41
The giant nimbly evades Marine's sword.
He isn't so quick as to avoid Callistro's duplicate.
And Jayma hits him hard in the side of the head.
Lazarus realizes that these trusted guards are clearly stronger-willed then the others. He bashes the poor giant on the side of the face again, bloodying his face. The second throw is good, but not quite as effective, bashing the giant's shoulder.
"Marinelle cleared the barricade in an instant," he cries, "She is so strong!" He tries to push aside Callistro's duplicate, and realizes that getting past him is an easy task--though Marine makes it more difficult. He backs away to give himself some room, though he may also be backing himself into a corner. He fires his pistol, and almost hits. The sound is impressive. It booms like thunder and shakes dust from the ceiling. Such a large gun in such an enclosed space would be expected to be loud, but this seems loud even so. It must be magically enhanced, and could probably be heard through the caves over the howl of the wind.
"Just like my dream!" says the other, also backing away. She looks concerned, but levels her weapon and fires all the same. This one isn't a near miss, in that it is not near at all.
Both giants quickly reload their pistols.
All PCs' turns. The barricade is printed on the map, but just ignore it now that Marine has cleared it.
Initiative:
Marine (AC 33, 162+5/162 HP)
Callistro (AC 30/32, 139/140 HP, cursebound 1)
> Spiritual Guardian (50/50 HP)
Dr. Lazarus (AC 30, 105/105 HP)
Jayma (AC 28, 107+5/107 HP)
Blue Honor Guard (-141 HP, bloodied)
Red Honor Guard
Marine tilts her head to the side to narrowly avoid the bullet heading her way.
"I'm flattered you know my name, but it's Marine. Marinelle's my last name...not that you'll survive long enough to make that mistake again." Marine says menacingly.
Marine gallops next to the bloodied Blue Giant and starts to poke away with two Snagging Strikes.
Well done all says Callistro, just keep following my directions and these giants will be dispatched post haste! He focuses and his duplicate flies over to continue to harry the giants.
◆ Courageous Anthem
◆ Sustain Guardian Spirit
◆ Sustain Guardian Spirit
The spirit will attack Blue if he is still up, otherwise Red. Either way I will move it into flank if there is space.
Doctor Lazarus takes his time considering his options. Calling back to the sorceress, "My dear Jayma, I don't suppose it matters much (as they're nearly dispatched), but this group is stronger-willed than the others."
Spotting an opening, Lazarus moves in behind Marine. Taking advantage of her Aim-Aiding armor, he hurls his hammer twice in a row.
+2 Striking Returning Cold Iron Grabthar's Hammer (w/ Stratagem) +CA: 1d20 + 22 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 22 + 1 = 36
Marine slices into the giant while snagging his clothes to keep him off-guard.
Callistro's duplicate skewers the giant, who collapses and drops his unusual weapon. It reappears next to the other giant and pokes her as well, though the hit isn't nearly as significant.
Studying the second giant, Dr. Lazarus realizes he made an error (or perhaps this one is simply different from the first; yes, that does seem more likely), and that she might be more easily pushed around then he thought. He hits her twice with his hammer.
Jayma's turn. The barricade is printed on the map, but just ignore it now that Marine has cleared it.
Initiative:
Marine (AC 33, 162+5/162 HP, +1 to AC, +1 circumstance to next attack vs Red)
Callistro (AC 30/32, 139/140 HP, cursebound 1, +1 circumstance to next attack vs Red)
> Spiritual Guardian (50/50 HP)
Dr. Lazarus (AC 30, 105/105 HP)
Jayma (AC 28, 107+5/107 HP, +1 circumstance to next attack vs Red)
Blue Honor Guard (-207 HP, defeated)
Red Honor Guard (-41 HP)
Given the success of her first magically propelled missile, she again moves forward to get into range, then flicks her wrist to send another at the remaining giant.
The giant wheezes as the rock slams hard into her gut.
"It's just," she chokes, "as he said..." She tries to put some distance between her and Marine again--a move that the centaur brutally punishes--before shooting her.
The thundering sound is certainly magical, and the vibrations rock her.. though not as much as the pellets, a few of which also catch the doctor.
She reloads the gun, looking determined.
All PCs' turns.
Initiative:
Marine (AC 33, 143/162 HP, +1 to AC)
Callistro (AC 30/32, 139/140 HP, cursebound 1, +1 circumstance to next attack vs Red)
> Spiritual Guardian (50/50 HP)
Dr. Lazarus (AC 30, 105+3/105 HP)
Jayma (AC 28, 107+5/107 HP)
Blue Honor Guard (-207 HP, defeated)
Red Honor Guard (-153 HP, bloodied)
Dr. Lazarus sighs, "You really need to learn to be more hospitable to your dear guests. Alas, all of this could have been avoided." He looks for an opening ...
...and finding one, Lazarus moves into a flanking position with Callistro's spirit guardian and swings his hammer twice.
+2 Striking Returning Cold Iron Grabthar's Hammer (w/ Stratagem) +CA: 1d20 + 22 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 22 + 1 = 40
Jayma cringes at the boom of the giant's gun going off, but knows it is likely to be its last hurrah before an ignominious end. Not wanting to drag out their opponents's inevitable demise, Jayma flicks her wrist once more and sends one last stone accelerating at the remaining gun-wielding giant before throwing up another sparkly pink force field around herself just to be on the safe side.
"I will commend you on your gunplay. Perhaps I'll use your weapon to blow a new hole into Swirly later."
Marine steps into melee and starts hacking the giant to pieces with some Snagging Strikes.
Callistro continues to inspire his companions with tales of his performances. You know, this cave reminds me of the time I played for the cavern elves of Jinin in the Black Butterfly, one of my finest performances...
Meanwhile, the spiritual Callistro continues to slash away.
◆ Courageous Anthem
◆ Sustain
◆ Sustain
"Guests!??" the giant roars, "We know you came here to mur--"
She's cut off abruptly by the doctor's second hammer blow.
The only way forward here is up, and the lift in the back of this room looks similar to the first one (though it lacks the inviting sign).
These giants carry the same equipment as the others--notably the magical scimitars and rings--though their firearms, in addition to being quite unusual, also seem to a little bit more impressive as magic weapons go. Unfortunately, it looks like they were low on ammunition.
There could be more valuables with the giants' effects.
Searing turns up a few items of value, including 112 gp, three climbing bolts, two doses of spider root poison in a pottery container with an obsidian lid etched with an image of a spider (the jar and lid are worth 125 gp), and a hefty iron box.
Kept within the iron box are presumably several of the desert giants’ treasured possessions, but these objects mostly have little value beyond the giants’ reverence for them. These objects include several dozen fingers hung from a great iron key ring—many bear crudely made rings crafted from fine ore , but one of them is a shadow signet.
A broken maul sits atop a giant set of bagpipes made of exquisitely carved horns and antlers . A leathery bag contains the preserved hair and beard of an ancient leader, a clay and lapis token depicting a rat riding a scarab , and a preserved camel foot thrust into the mouth of a dodo skull with two large garnets for eyes . Stuffed into the camel foot is a bejeweled penny whistle that’s actually a moderate maestro’s instrument.
"Mur? Mur who? Mermaids? Murmurs? Mural? I hate it when the antagonist never finishes their speech."
Marine takes Callistro's advice and Invests the Greater Charm of Fire Resistance before searching the Giant's belongings.
She finds a lot of cool treasures! That she doesn't bother to identify, leaving it up to everyone else to look at.
Faced with another lift to go up, Marine turns to the others and says "How are we getting up this one? If you want, I can make some alchemical elixirs that allows me to climb up. Then I'll be able to take one of you up on my back. The rest of you though...Will need to fly up yourselves. Unless you all want to take turns getting up!"
Callistro digs through the various items while his aeon stone revives him back to full health. Well, this stuff should nicely help to finance my next performance.
On spotting the ring he [i]oohs and aahs[/i[] over it. Well, this thing is very nice and I have plenty of spells which might benefit from it. How about you Jayma, would you prefer it? One of us should surely use it until we are finished here. I think you have a couple of spells that might benefit.
He peers up the elevator shaft. Not sure we should go separately, could be anything up there. I can get myself up with an air walk and can use it on others if necessary. have to say, I am loving the idea of seeing a centaur climbing!
Jayma takes the time to search the giants and the room in general. She scribbles notes in her ledger to keep track of all the loot before it is stashed away.
When it comes to the Shadow Signet, Jayma looks at it and scrunches her nose in distaste. "Oh, do feel free to keep it for the time being, dearest Callistro. It’s dour appearance is really quite at odds with my more flamboyant sense of style. I daresay you’ll make far better use of it than I ever could!"
She then examines the lift in the back of the room and sighs audibly. "Wouldn’t it have been ever so much simpler to install a sensible staircase, rather than trust one’s neck to these dubious contraptions? Honestly, sometimes I’m quite convinced people go out of their way to complicate their lives unnecessarily."
She considers the situation and once again comes to the same conclusion as before. Climbing the pit was out of the question for her and taking her chances on the lift mechanism was a preposterous idea. Unfortunately, the spells she could use to get her up the shaft were no longer available to her , so her options were severely limited.
Despite her reservations, she puts on a brave face and says, "Thank you ever so much, dear Marine. I find myself regrettably short of anything resembling useful magic at the moment. So yes, I'll quite happily accept your most gracious offer to whisk me upward upon your back." She really wishes now that she'd invested in one of those Snapleaf talismans, but unfortunately she'd her funds hadn't stretched that far.
After the final giant succumbs, Dr. Lazarus cleans off his throwing hammer and looks up the elevator shaft. With his Armbands of Athleticism invested, he confidently says, "I'm keen to attempt a climb."
Unless it's clearly too high, Lazarus will climb. If he missteps along the way, he'll try to heroically grab an edge. If that fails, he'll cast Gentle Landing to arrest his fall. And he'll try again.
When everyone else in the party is ready to go, Marine sits down to get to a height where the small gnome can mount her. "Let's go, Jayma! Get close to my waist and hold on tight!"
Once Jayma mounts her and secures herself, Marine sheaths the Astral Aldori and uses Quick Alchemy to whip up a Moderate Spiderfoot Brew and immediately drinks it.
As the elixir takes effect, thousands of tiny, sticky hairs form on Marine's hands and hooves.
"Keep clinging on tight! This will be bumpy and awkward!" Marine calls back before immediately starting to climb.
Her hooves and hands impossibly stick to the walls, allowing Marine to climb the sheer surface like a mountain goat. With sudden, jerky movements, Marine attempts to Climb the wall with Jayma hanging on for dear life.
She positions herself such that she'll be the first one to the top.
The ropes hanging down for the lift make climbing easy for the doctor, though easier for Marine who simply walks up the wall with alchemical assistance.
As the party ascends, they note that it appears totally dark at the top of the shaft--whoever is up there, if anyone, can clearly see better in the dark then the giants.
They make it about 40 feet up--halfway to the top--when suddenly...
Most of the part hears the sound of something shifting against stone. There's something there, hiding, moving to strike!
But... how could anything be hiding here?
Jayma, Marine, and Dr. Lazarus's turns. Nothing added to the map yet, since there's nothing yet to see.
Initiative:
Jayma
Marine (Climbing)
Dr. Lazarus (Climbing)
???
???
Callistro (Air Walk)
Dr. Lazarus is making the climb just fine. Until he hears something lurking nearby. "My dear colleagues, I believe we have company."
He activates the darkvision feature on his Obsidian Goggles and focuses on the sound to see what's there.
He then brings up a magical Shield.
At the sound of something shifting against stone nearby, Jayma looks about wildly from her perch on Marine's back. "Something is near. I feel it! But it hides, cloaked in magic of some sort. Probably invisibility or a clever illusion."
She passes a hand over her eyes and says "show shrouded stalkers."
The doctor realizes there's something fishy about the cave wall--and then, upon convincing himself that parts of it aren't real, he finds that he can see through them! Level with the party are two small alcoves or caves in the otherwise straigh-ish walls of the lift shaft. And in each of those two alcoves waits one of the scorpion-folk the part has heard about, large humanoids with upper bodies similar to humans but lower bodies like scorpions.
Jayma is also able to pierce the illusion.
Jayma and Marine's turns.
Initiative:
Jayma (2 actions)
Marine (Climbing)
Dr. Lazarus (Climbing, shield)
???
???
Callistro (Air Walk, Cursebound 1)
"Ehh? An illusion you say, let me see..." Marine tries to disbelieve the illusion.
After spending a while staring at the wall, she finds it to be nothing but empty space with a Gilbratu behind it. She is about to charge through the wall when suddenly Jayma, riding on her back, kicks her a bit while jostling around.
"Oi! Stay still, darn it!" Marine shouts back at Jayma and adjusts her stance to move Jayma's feet off her spine. In doing so, she misses her opportunity to reach the Gilbratu.
When Thurston mentions that the walls around them are illusions, Jayma attempts to pierce through the magical veil and finds that she too can see their enemies. "Aha! There they are. Those must be some of the Girtablilu we were warned about."
Not seeing an easy way to relieve Marine of her weight, Jayma instead says "stone swiftly strikes scorpion," and flicks her wrist to accelerate a nearby stone into the nearest enemy.
If Callistro had any doubts that the others had correctly identified an illusion, they probably disappear as Jayma sends a piece of stone through the rock wall to audibly connect with something a split-second too late.
They certainly do as a large stinger like that of a scorpion lashes back out through the visibly-solid surface, striking Marine's shoulder.
Those who've penetrated the illusion can see the girtablilu on the other side holds a steal shield and a flaming temple sword--though while her entire body is larger then a human's her human-sized arms mean the sword isn't doing her much good at the moment. "They're climbing the shaft!" she calls up into the darkness, "I can't reach--raise the lift!"
The ropes tighten, and the elevator below begins to climb... but it's not very fast.
A second girtablilu leans over the edge, emerging partially through the illusion and allowing Callistro to see her easily enough. "The pretty one is levitating!" Her own stinger snaps at him, and finds its mark.
Given that the guardians are having trouble reaching already, just continuing to climb may avoid them--but they do also have bows and quivers slung over their shoulders.
All PCs' turns.
Initiative:
Jayma (AC 28, 107+5/107 HP)
Marine (AC 33/34, 149/162 HP, Climbing, Mounted, DC 28 Fort vs poison)
Dr. Lazarus (AC 30/31, 105+5/105 HP, Climbing, shield)
Blue Girtablilu Guardian (AC 28-37, Shield Raised, -22 HP)
Red Girtablilu Guardian (AC 28-37, Shield Raised)
Callistro (AC 30/32, 119/140 HP, Air Walk, Cursebound 1, DC 28 Fort vs poison)
Callistro watches Marine climbing the wall with her alchemically altered limbs. Well, I am getting exhausted just watching that he mutters before casting an air walk spell and rising up behind her.
As the stinger jabs out at him from behind the wall he shrieks. What the hell! That is unacceptable!
With that he drops down out of reach of horrible tail stings, and begins to encourage his companions. You really should deal with these things quickly, they certainly lack your intrinsic sense of style and panache. And you most certainly should stop them from stinging me! That one nearly got venom on the brand new silk shirt! Vile, lurid green does not match my natural skin tones!
Peering upwards he sees through the illusion. Oh, they are weird man scorpion centaur type things. No relation I assume Marine?
, pass
◆ Courageous Anthem
◆ Stride downwards 15'
◆
After spotting the illusion, Dr. Lazarus smiles, "There's no hiding from The Doctor's keen eyesight." He stops climbing and studies the injured scorpion for a weakness and an opening.
Seeing an opening, he draws his throwing hammer and hurls it.
+2 Striking Returning Cold Iron Grabthar's Hammer (w/ Stratagem) +CA, vs Blue: 1d20 + 22 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 22 + 1 = 42
He then brings up a magical Shield.
As the girtablilu lashes out at them, Jayma's eyes widen and she cringes slightly as the stringer passes her by and bites into Marine. Though relieved not to have been the target of the attack, she is nevertheless concerned for the health of the only thing keeping her from a 40' fall. "Oh my! I do hope that didn’t smart too terribly!" Unfortunately, Jayma isn't equipped to remove the damage or lessen the effects of the poison.
She considers her options and decides not to waste any of her big spells until these creatures prove to be more dangerous than they currently appear. She says, "assault arachnid anew" and flicks her wrist once more to send another rock at their assailant before snapping her fingers and bringing up a glittery magical force field around herself.
"No! Why would I be related to a scorpion? Also, thank you for your concern Jayma, but I've had worse." Marine braces herself to do something stupid. With the hairs on her hands and hooves, she grabs onto the ceiling and starts walking along the ceiling and walls, trying to get behind the Gilbratu.
"Hang on tight, Jayma!"
The doctor knows that the Girtablilu's pincers are quite dangerous--they're very good at grabbing and squeezing with them. While they can run fast, that doesn't imply they have good reaction times.
He also lands quite a solid hit with his hammer.
The girtablilu blocks Jayma's magically hurled stone with her shield, which is smashed through and falls away in two pieces. "That was definitely a good idea," she says with a wince as she shakes her injured and bleeding arm.
Marine crawls up and over one of them along the walls.
"Ugh! I thought she was supposed to be like a horse, she's like some kind of insect! She does have the right number of limbs... I'll take that!" After swiping at Marine with her sword, she snaps her pincers at Jayma. The gnome initially avoids the assault, which is enough to avoid being grabbed at least.
The other one lets her sword fall as she unstraps her shield as quickly as she can. She draws her bow and firers an arrow at the doctor, clinging to the cavern wall; it doesn't hit and she curses.
All PCs' turns.
Initiative:
Jayma (AC 28, 107+5/107 HP, shield, 27 damage pending Shield Block)
Marine (AC 33/34, 149/162 HP, Climbing, Mounted)
Dr. Lazarus (AC 30/31, 105+5/105 HP, Climbing, shield)
Blue Girtablilu Guardian (AC 28-31, shield destroyed, -105 HP, bloodied)
Red Girtablilu Guardian (AC 28-31, Shield Raised)
Callistro (AC 30/32, 118/140 HP, Air Walk, Cursebound 1, 15 feet down)
Callistro continues to exhort his companions, Stop messing around and finish him Marine!
He then conjures a small cloud of pieces of metal and sends them streaming at Blue.
◆ Courageous Anthem
◆◆ Needle Darts
Jayma hangs on for dear life as Marine goes climbing up walls and across ceilings. "Oh my goodness! Is this entirely necessary, Marine?"
No sooner does Marine land next to the girtablilu that Jayma gets swatted at by the creature's pincers. She ducks the first blow, but not the second. "Oh dear me!" As the strike hits home, Jayma activates her force field to absorb the worst of the blow and avoid being grabbed by it.
She then hops off Marine to unburden her friend and backs herself up against the wall of the alcove hoping to use Marine to avoid being targeted further by the girtablilu.
The pain of her new bruise focuses her mind and she begins to get angry. "How dare you lay your han... um pincers, on me you wretched cad. You'll pay for your insolence." A flick of her wrist sends yet another stone flying at her now unshielded opponent.
