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Dante sidles up next to Kien and momentarily charges his blade with even more magical power. He then unleashes his held spell through the black blade.
Active effects: Haste: Stuff Arcane Pool: +1 to black Blade Shield: +4 AC
Dante stands aside so the ever growing Kien can take point. He holds a hand to his blade as he speaks arcane words of power. The length of the blade crackles with electricity waiting to be unleashed.
"No. And it didn't seem like anything would fit down the shoots up top either. But if there is a way in the side then maybe they brought it something beyond sacrifices." Dante grabs a door handle and waits for everyone to be ready before opening.
I'm fine with it. Just confused.
"These things may have odd resistances. I'd suggest being defensive until we figure out their weakness. Or just make Kien big and smash them." That seemed to work just fine on the blood creatures and the statues.
I guess technically it was not agreed either way but I thought there was no point to fighting them beyond experience and I never prioritize that cause it's meta. We can't do anything with the body in there. Knowing it's there is worth more. All we'd be doing is clearing it out for the next team. That's assuming we got everything. More might spawn soon after we leave anyway.
Wait, where are we now? The room with the blood beasts had only the door right? And we aren't going that way. Don't need to fight demon maggots.
"We'll have to leave during the day then," Dante says after hearing about the orcs. "They might not like that we were here." They had entered a temple the orcs were afraid to. That meant the natives would likely praise them or attack them. Dante was betting on the latter. So best to not give them a chance. Dante was close to just calling it here. Information about the demon's remains alone would fetch a high price. But he also didn't want to leave it unfinished.
Dante frowned at the door. Beyond was a dead demon and bunch of overgrown maggots. That meant the demon had certainly been powerful and it's corpse would likely fetch a high price. But they didn't have the connections to make anything from it. No, it's value would be in the information. Dante casts a cantrip and peers at the door with magic sight, checking to see if it was trapped, and looks again with normal sight for something more mundane. Would the doors even open after so long? "I want to know if we can at least open the door. But I don't care to go any further today."
I rolled K:Planes for knowledge of anything we could take from the dead demon or the maggots that might be of value.
Whatever salve Tyrus applied, it did a fantastic job. He felt no pain and almost completely functional again. Which was good cause the magical healing was starting to take it's toll. "I don't think there will be anything worth it in there. Unless the materials from such a creature are worth something."
He's already being treated like he's not there anyway. He was missing the whole last fight. I actually forgot he was supposedly there.
"Peachy," Dante says sourly as his blade slips from his hand. He sits down hard on the floor and groans as the pain catches up with him. He had two awful burns on his face and arm. He uncorked his water flask and doused both in cool water hissing at the stinging sensation. " It think we came the wrong way too. Pretty sure that door leads to the base of the pyramid and the demon maggots."
Nothing. That was the effect he had on the statue. And frustration. That was what he felt. And tired. Very tired. Not even a minute of combat and he was breathing heavy. He waited for the statue to open up, ready strike. It was all he could do.
When prepared, no one beats a spell caster. I feel like melee fighters are better against single targets and mages are better against masses of mooks.
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment/damaging-objects/
Elemental damage is halved apparently, unless the object is weak to that element. 13 lightning is 6 damage. 9 with the blade - hardness. Probably didn't get through. I think I'll switch to acid if Kien doesn't come over and pummel it first.
Dante shifts his gaze from the blood creature being occupied by Luca's minions to the statue. After he felled the first creature and saw it reform, he figured that was the case. Dante avoids the melee and charges the statue. One hand makes some arcane gestures while he mouths the spell. The other thrusts. And then, lightening.
This wasn't working. And it would work less once the enchantment on his blade wore off. In fact, *fzzt*, there is went. No enhanced speed and no elemental damage. Dante knew a loosing battle when he saw one. And he couldn't take his focus off the beast to look back and check the others' progress. Dante moves around behind the Vilstrak and puts a shimmering shield between him and the acid creature. Anymore damage and he wouldn't be able to walk out of here.
No, it's my bad. I've been really absorbed in a story to the exclusion of a lot of things. I really recommend it and hope no one else falls into the same trap. The Wandering Inn.
Dante curses loudly at yet another acidic hit. Today was just not his day. He felt like he was having a lot of those recently. Despite the searing pain from the acid, the dark thought seems to settle on him like a weight, cold and heavy. Yet still he finds some reserve to push his body forward and his blade up at the blood beast before him. Luca's guardians barely even register next to him, the faceless hunks of stone always ready to stand between her and the enemy. He can't help but feel a bit of resentment at that.
Dante was momentarily caught off guard by how week the punch was. Fast like a martial artist but it felt like a child had merely kicked him in the thigh. Then the burning started. Gritting his teeth, Dante stabs two more times in quick succession. His own weapon was about as ineffectual as the punches but carried a similarly painful bite.
Well if they weren't coming to him... Dante's spell takes hold and his blade turns ice blue. As it moves it leaves a cool mist in its wake. With Luca's hasted movement, he practically glides along the floor as he moves in to strike the nearest blood beast.
Dante looked back at the shimmering wall but didn't have time to analyze or reflect on it. The statues were moving. He saw a kind of crimson haze around them and recognized the feature. "Sacrificial Spirits. That red stuff is their blood and it burns like acid. Pretty sure armor isn't going to help. Weak to cold." Dante pauses to groan as he remembers their strength. "Blade and arrow are almost worthless. Fist and mace are fine." And of course he couldn't use either of those well nor did he prepare the very simple cold cantrip he knew. He'd have to sacrifice a higher level spell to do anything. He moves to the end of the hall, just in the room and faces left, waiting for one to approach. Hopefully Kien or fluffy had his back.
It must not have been a trap, Dante thinks as Kien crosses the line without exploding. He takes a careful step across, pauses for a moment, then continues on. Cantrips, he remembered, did not set off the temple's magical vengeance spell so he sends several orbs of light into the gloom.
Dante's defenses didn't last that long so that was not an option. There had to be something they could do to stop that annoying trap in the temple. Hopefully they found a way to turn it off or disrupt it deeper in. Dante makes sure everything is packed up and ready to go before following them out towards the temple.
Dante looks over at Tyrus and slowly remembers he had spells to prepare too. He pulls out his spellbook and starts reading. Despite his reduced focus lately he could always muster enough for this. "So the mansion silver line or the temple?" he asks after an hour of study.
Dante is slow to wake and slow to move. He's fine physically but the constant awareness one needs in such dangerous conditions is draining. Even with the aid of a sentient blade. But it's power was based off his and so it wasn't all that powerful yet.
I'll be honest. I haven't been helping that dilemma much and I've had some difficulty staying focused. Lot's of little things but I think the big one you've already hit on. Tough to make a call on direction with no point of reference. No call to adventure. I mean our current quest is merely a very long side quest to earn enough money to go find a different main quest because the undead city was too hard to do anything about. Way more realistic but this is a fantasy game. I can only handle so much realism.
"I don't think the hell-maggots are going anywhere but I think I'd rather sleep in the barracks than the royal residence. Just in case," Dante says but is not up for arguing. If vetoed he rolls with it like everything else so far.
"There is a way in. And thus a way out. A door to the south," Dante says reeling his blade in.
Despite the ennui he was feeling from constant combat, heightened awareness, and magical healing, Dante panicked and almost jerked his sword back out. "There is a demon in there. Dead. Starved probably. Full of enormous maggots. Altered by feeding on the creature," he says out load. To the blade he mental asks, "Closer look?"
*sigh* This is a terrible idea. Dante fills a canteen and hands it off to Timm though. He didn't see a way out of the pyramid so if they pissed something off it would take a while to get to them. When nothing obvious happens he breathes a sigh of relief. Then Timm speaks and he doesn't feel so relieved. "Probably an undead or something that feeds on them." This whole situation reminded him of the crevice in the cave a while back. An idea pops into his head. The blade becomes aware of that idea and immediately voices its disapproval. "We are doing that again." "Oh come on. We have to know what's down there." "Use the girl's flying things." "She can't communicate with them well and we don't want to expend to much of her power. we might need it in a pinch." "And should you drop me or it attacks you may never recover me. I am a family heirloom. A powerful artifact you are using go fishing." "Timm barely heard it so its probably a long way from the hole, I hate my family, and all you can do is talk." "...mumble mumble." "Didn't hear a no." Dante climbs the pyramid and ties a rope to his weapon. He then lowers the blade into the hole as it mumbles some more. Probably a good thing it was keeping it's thoughts to itself. "Lights please." Dante obliges and casts some Dancing Lights through the hole.
"I'm not too inclined to see that," Dante says, trying to peer down one of the holes into the pyramid. Since it was used for sacrifices it wasn't too hard to picture what flowed down it. He imagined a room full of blood and heads. Not a pretty picture.
"He has a point," Dante says, agreeing with Tyrus. Then again, this looked like alter for live sacrifices. Blood. Heads. Did the stone men even have blood? Probably wouldn't work if they tried. "Let's sacrifice one to that trap in the manor. This was the last place to visit here right?"
Dante sighed but said nothing to contradict Tyrus. Sure. Might as well search the barracks too. "Right. Where's the door again?"
"Well beyond the trapped corridor, we've searched the place. I think we can take a breather here. Doesn't seem to be a way around it so I think we should just go for it tomorrow. Send a stone man through and either fight or run from what ever is summoned," Dante suggest.
Dante sighs and walks forward to within a few feet of the silver line. They really needed to find that whip. He squats down and scans the line with magically altered vision. Maybe the magic was gone or disrupted after so long. Or wouldn't be life threatening.
..."that might have been dangerous if we came up that way. Guess that was for the best."
Dante hands the dagger back to Kien and gives the room another once over. Not seeing anything else worth investigating, sighs and heads out. The south passage seemed an appropriate passage to take now.
"Let's secure the place first," Dante suggests. Another puzzle over here as well. Dante wondered if they should also be taking notes on what they discovered that wasn't immediately worth value. Like the possible history of this place. An execution had happened here and from what Luca said there was some kind of attack and some hidden information. Once they cleared this place out, Dante decided he should prepare a spell to read the Makon script. It might shed some light in this place.
Dante looks curiously over Luca's shoulder at the seam. Once she pointed it out, it was easily noticeable to the naked eye. And it looked wide enough for a blade. He wondered. "Don't even think about it." "I wasn't-" "I am in here too. I can see it." "...okay fine." To the others, "Anyone have a small, sturdy knife? Might be able to wedge it open."
"We should mark it on the map then," Dante says looking at the view as well. It did make him feel a little better. "But we best make sure it is safe first." Tearing his gaze away from the scenery, he walks back down the corridor and tries the one on the right. He sends a few orbs of light scurrying ahead in case there were any nasty surprises waiting for them.
"Well yes," Dante says about them being the original inhabitants. That seemed obvious. "This also looks like an execution and not a trap. And like Kien said, we should check the whole hose." Guessing that the north was heavily damaged since light was pouring in, he heads that direction first.
"We can cast in here," Dante says peering beyond the walls and at the ancient magic beneath. "Best place to rest but I agree with Luca. This was a home at one point probably a bedroom or two. This looks like it would have been a bath house," he says looking at the lowered floor. The water had probably long since evaporated. Figuring right was right in this case he follows the tentacled guardian as it heads for the staircase.
Dante rolls his eyes at Tyrus' overexcitedness. They didn't know the spell, it's components, its cost. It could have required a human sacrifice for all they knew. Or been prohibitively expensive considering this was a rich person's mansion. But he doesn't say anything, instead turning towards the right.
Should we test a first level spell first? See if this place has the same defense?"
"No traps," Dante says. He moves the curtain aside and takes a step inside. "Not sure our patron cares about that kind of stuff. But it could benefit us," he says noncommittally.
"Hmm?" Dante looks up from the plant that had caught his attention and slowly focuses on the curtain. He walks up to the entrance and stands to one side, drawing his blade. "Probably not but one of those things might be inside." He uses his blade to draw the curtain aside slowly and peers inside.
Sorry about the absence. This week has been awful busy. RL and work.
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