On consideration, I'm going to drop out as well. Significant work commitments.
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Just checking in. I'm a little distractible but good to carry on. Have fun with the studies, Bhoo.
Operating under the theory that somebody probably ought to, Elia kept an eye on the flying creature while the others poked about the cliff face. If nothing else, it might start to look agitated if somebody was getting close to finding its lair.
"Some friendly contacts would be welcome," Elia said, "I'm just reluctant to put the chase on hold, however briefly, if there's a chance Soran is still alive." Now that she articulated the hope, it seemed a tad naive, given the passage of time and that he'd probably been snatched for food. "Perhaps if a couple of us watch the flier from the clifftop while the others descend and parley?"
Elia continued to harry the closer creature, sending another firework at it. "Let the other one go," she suggested, "We can trace it back to its lair."
With the creatures swooping in and out of reach, Elia decided on a more subtle approach, plucking one of her wands out Elia opted for something a little more subtle, sending a dart of light flying at the closer of the two in an effort to dazzle it.
Her opening spell having failed, Elia took a more defensive approach, conjuring a protective ward around the group.
Deciding that a good offense was called for before somebody was tipped out of the boat, Elia launched a bolt of fire at one of the creatures.
"In the long term, living penned in by our own fears is no way to live at all," Elia observed, "With luck, knowledge and familiarity will make the dangers more manageable as time goes by. It's the intelligent dangers which worry me." Ancient aquatic horrors foremost among them.
Elia perused the plates with interest, copying the number and the design down into her journal. "If they did know the stone was coming, that might explain the haunt on the surface," she pointed out. Knowing something like that was going to strike and being powerless to prevent it was bound to have a dreadful effect on people.
"Or perhaps we could try a less physical approach," Elia suggested, stepping up to the lock. It was, perhaps, still a brute force approach, but a force of a different type.
"I do get the impression the war isn't over," Elia said, "And judging by that message, I'd be wary of getting involved with either side."
"We may want to think about how to deal with any more exploding undead," Elia noted, "If we end up with one or two people keeping them at arms' length from the rest, that will wind up being tough on those people."
Elia needed no further urging to put more distance between herself and the undead, waiting until the others were clear before directing the thundercloud to attack.
Elia managed to throw herself clear of the brunt of the explosion but, being on the fragile side, it was still sufficient to cause her vision to grey out for a moment until the healing energies washed over her. How did you fight an enemy which would explode in your face if you hit it hard enough? Elia started by trying to put as much distance as she could between herself and the remaining undead.
In a war of attrition, the undead seemed to have the edge. Accordingly, Elia did her best to escalate her efforts, stepping back and turning a crackling thundercloud loose on her enemy.
With the undead now close at hand, Elia attempted to zap the nearer one with a spell.
As she often did while sizing up a new enemy, Elia opted for a defensive approach, conjuring a protective ward. If nothing else, her usual fire-themed approach seemed unlikely to be effective.
For all that it had been the merest echo of the fiery doom which had come upon Azlant, the haunt had hurt. But how did one go about smoothing over the effects of an event like that? "North seems as good a direction as any," she said.
"Well, they're Pathfinder glyphs," Elia noted, "So it might have been Gest, or it might have been somebody working from his journal, much like we are."
Trusting the others to deal with person-shaped shadows, or at least warn her if they were going to be a problem, Elia set about examining the glyphs. "Danger, undead," she translated with a certain degree of irony. Not that the confirmation went amiss. "And coordinates pointing to the crystal monument. Which might elevate that to our next destination."
I've just struck out a couple of items. It hadn't occurred to me we could edit the document.
"It seems a good place to start. Though I would be interested to see if we can find out why the Ulfen settlement was abandoned."
Okay, leveling. +5 HP
Skills, 8 ranks:
Spells:
Elia's priority was checking whether Eliza was still alive and, if so, making sure she was securely under lock and key. Whatever had been done to her, Elia's impression was that she was very dangerous, and she doubted the changes would be easily undone.
Elia was still feeling the effects of her near miss, both physically and mentally. That exchange of magics could easily have gone the other way. Nevertheless, she was still able to contribute, sending another flaming sphere to harry and burn the skum.
Between the physical pain and the mental anguish, Elia was definitely in the mood to strike back, once again opting for one of her more destructive spells and lashing out at Eliza with a beam of fire.
Elia opted to try and get rid of the illusory copies of Eliza, launching a pair of magic missiles at the ones on the left.
Elia directed the sphere to continue burning Rayland, meanwhile preparing for the moment when Eliza must inevitably show herself.
Directing the sphere to continue harassing Rayland, Elia spared a moment to bolster her own protections, casting mage armour on herself.
The brute force approach having failed her, Elia opted to employ her wand again, sending a ball of flame rolling towards Rayland. Of course, given the sphere's abject failure on its last outing, perhaps this wasn't going to improve the situation.
Elia opted to lend a hand against Rayland, striking with one of her more powerful spells. Disarmed or not, she didn't see them shaking off the control, and it was better to bring them down quickly so they could help repel the skum.
Elia hadn't been idle during the week, taking the time to peruse the books they had retrieved from Spindelock, and spending a fair amount of time with the Celadons, trying to establish the locations of any other nearby sites of interest (or at least sites which had been of interest in the days of Azlant), with an eye to figuring out where the aboleth might be holed up. The outbreak of hostilities probably hadn't come as much of a surprise to anyone, and Elia hurried to help, intent on intervening wherever she seemed most needed.
Rather than relying on a verbal description, Elia decided to investigate for herself, trusting that, so long as the same people weren't continually trudging back and forth to observe Eliza and Rayland, she'd probably get away without arousing suspicion this once.
Unfortunately, she returned from her surveillance none the wiser, and said as much before moving the conversation on. "The presence of magical auras is suggestive, but not enough to condemn them, especially since it might be related to their transformation. So what are our options for gathering more evidence?"
"It's difficult to say. There are spells which provide protection against attempts to influence the mind, but breaking an existing hold can be a different proposition, especially if it's well-established."
Elia had been considering their situation. Both enemy and purported ally had an interest in hiding and obscuring their identities, but given the information they knew about aboleths, perhaps another approach might be useful. "Let's put ourselves in the shoes of the ancient aquatic horror for a moment," she suggested, "I think it will want to be nearby so it can keep its eye on us, while fortifying itself and perhaps picking over the ruins of its ancient enemies. I think we should be looking for a sunken settlement or stronghold." As the Celadons were the best source of local information, it was a question she would put to them once they had finished strategising. "Given what happened to the first group, it would be nice to recruit allies for the fight, but I don't know that we've really seen any suitable candidates, and I don't think time is on our side. The minute it thinks we're onto it, it'll start stepping up its efforts."
"I don't know," Elia said in response to Lorelei's suggestion, "I think we've gotten this far without raising any alarms, but if we leave and whoever's in charge notices the dead or missing skum, they could fortify the place and make our lives very difficult when we came back." "I know it's hardly fair to these two to ask them to traverse the island alone or wait while we go off and possibly get ourselves killed, but I think stirring up the hornet's nest and then walking away for a while is asking for trouble - whether for ourselves or for the colony as a whole." The fate of the first wave of colonists was very much on her mind, and it sounded as if whoever was responsible had at least some connection to this place. If at all possible, she'd prefer to try and preempt things before those wheels were set in motion again.
Elia likewise cast a detect magic spell, eyeing the tank thoughtfully. "I wouldn't rule it out," she said, "But it might be better to follow the ramp up before trying that door."
"These will bear further study," Elia said, tucking the books into her pack for the time being.
Leaving the doors alone for the moment, Elia perused the titles of the titles of the books. There was also a certain temptation to see if the clockwork bust could be wound up.
Elia let the sphere continue to do its thing (such as it was), while acting to provide some protection to the others.
Elia quietly directed the ball of fire to creep up behind the skum, aiming to divert its attention at the least, and set it on fire at best. Meanwhile, she closed ranks with the others, ready to provide support.
This seemed like a good opportunity to put the new wand to use so, after moving to get a clear path for the spell to travel, Elia sent a fiery sphere rolling gently towards the skum.
By way of explanation, Elia picked up the stone and set it orbiting about her head, "It sustains you without food or water," she said before recapturing it and letting it rest in her hand. The tools were interesting in their own right as well.
Her first effort having had limited effect, Elia decided on a more forceful approach, charging her hands with electricity before stepping up to the remaining skum and zapping it.
After consideration, not wanting to block anyone's path or risk starting fires, Elia opted to bedevil and distract the skum, sending a firework shooting at the rear one's face.
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