Ameiko crosses her arms over her chest. "I haven't, I...I don't think I can bear to face him, not so soon."
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Re: Masterwork Transformation, I'm going to go with the full cost of the Masterwork upgrade, per RAW. Traveller's Any-Tool is fine.
Ameiko tries weakly to push Trig away but eventually submits to being looked at. "Really, I'm alright, I've been under Father Zantus' care--and I have my own talents for magic. I'm just...I'm just tired." She's more than just tired, even if her wounds have been healed. She glances away. "I haven't been...haven't wanted to see him, but...I'm told Tsuto tried to kill himself in his cell. I..." She grits her teeth. "The hell did that b@*+& do to him?" -- Selling the treasure is straightforward. The proprieter of the Feathered Serpent, always-odd Vorshalli Voon, looks at the ranseur with interest. "Now where did you find this--actuallly? I don't want to know." That, he buys for 400 gold pieces.
I thought I posted on Saturday. Whoops.
Calin doesn't find much in the room aside from bones of long-dead prisoners, dust, and mold. With all that's been said, you turn back and return to the surface, meeting no resistance on the way back up. Two guards are posted on the side door of the glassworks, while the other doors have all been blocked from both sides. In addition, Ameiko is topside, seeming to have been waiting for you. She looks better than she did before, but still looks exhausted. "Heard you were digging around down in some dungeon under the town. Any luck?"
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With a great blow and a battle cry, Morgrym strikes down one of the Sinspawn, smearing it into the floor. The other is quickly surrounded, and though Lazur misses his attack on it, Calin strikes a blow. The Sinspawn lashes out at Calin, but misses totally, falling to the floor. In the opening, everybody is able to surround the monstrosity and smash it into the floor. After a moment, the bodies begin to decay into ectoplasm, and the room goes quiet.
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Lazur strikes swiftly at one of the Sinspawn and lands a hit, and in the next moment Morgrym follows up with a vicious blow that leaves the Sinspawn on its last legs. The abberation tries to return the attacks but its wounds put it off-balance. The unwounded Sinspawn retaliates at Calin, though it doesn't have much more success than he did at landing a hit.
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The sinspawn take notice of the weapon Calin is holding and screech in anger at the theft, rushing forward to attack. Calin swipes at the first to approach and misses. The sinspawn raises its own (far less ornate but still very dangerous-looking) ranseur and scores a hit that just misses something major; the other sinspawn too goes after Calin but the blade of its weapon slides off his armor.
Morgrym's arrow goes wide, clanging against a wall, and the bowstring snaps against his face, momentarily stunning him. The sinspawn jerk up and turn, and scream at the sight of the intruders. They raise their weapons and prepare to attack.
Trig is able to make out some dusty footprints going this way and that, small humanoid feet (probably from the mutated goblin you fought earlier) and more clawed feet, similar to those of the Sinspawn. Peeking into the northward room, the hall opens into a large chamber that was obviously once a prison, going by the twenty-some cells around the perimeter. Most of the cells have long-dead skeletons still in their shackles. Off to the left, there are two Sinspawn, bickering with each other over a skull stolen from one of the cells. They don't seem to have noticed you yet.
There's a persistent faint aura pretty much everywhere from preservation enchantments, but nothing in particular pops out as magic. The ranseur is real, and with a little tugging comes free of the statue's grip. It's a masterful work of smithing with a wavy pattern in the metal speartip, and the engraving along the length is highly detailed. It is as much a work of art as it is a weapon. That makes it no less effective as a weapon, however.
Edamm and Ponok take off with a nod and little else. Following the path northwards brings you to a round chamber of worked stone. The centerpiece is a red marble statue, depicting a human woman who is at once strikingly beautiful and monstrously enraged. The woman wears flowing robes, and her long hair is held back by an ornate headdress of hooks and blades. In her left hand she holds a large book, the face of which is inscribed with a seven-pointed star. In her right hand is a glittering metal-and-ivory ranseur. Knowledge (History) DC 25:
This statue depicts the Thassilonian Runelord of Wrath, Alaznist, whose signature weapon, as replicated on this statue, was a ranseur. There is a long, straight passage to the east, and a shorter one going to a door to the north.
There's nothing resembling a bucket in the chapel. There's a ceremonial cup at the altar, but it's rather small. You could maybe bail out by hand, but it's worth noting that the water is exceedingly cold, so much so that standing over it you can see your own breath.
I like how right after I decide I want to try posting more, work implements a new schedule for dealing with the health crisis that leaves me with almost no free time. I'll put up a post tomorrow.
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Wayland's examination of the room takes a good ten minutes to complete, but come up with some interesting findings. The quasit had a magic item, the needle-sized dagger grows to fit the hand of a new owner. It is finely enchanted and made of cold iron. The runes on the walls are written in Ancient Thassilonian. Their contents are mainly prayers, with the names of demon lords and evil gods. The larger pool is nonmagical, the water is dirty but mundane. The skulls ring the perimeter, facing outward, but do not seem to have any greater significance in their positioning. It's worth noting that one skull is particularly larger than the others, so much so that it may have belonged to a giant or a similar creature. Where it gets really interesting is in the smaller pool. Both the liquid inside and the basin are extremely magical, possessing a strong Aura of Necromancy that is almost overwhelming to look upon. However, no matter how Wayland wracks his brains, he cannot identify the object. That being said, there are some conclusions he can draw from observing the quasit's use of the pool. While the magical aura remains intense, the physical appearance of the pool is changed from before the quasit used it, the light is somewhat dimmed and the bubbling has decreased. It may be that whatever powers the enchantments on the pool is a limited resource, not unlike certain magical items which use up charges when activated.
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Wayland wrests with the demon, maintaining his grip but unable to pin it. "Ponok, inconjura!" Edamm shouts, and moves in with her companion to flank it. She scores a lucky hit on the demon that sets up Ponok to claw at it, and with a wordless shout, Edamm dives in, cutting open the demon's throat. Black ichor runs on Wayland's hands and across the ground.
Morgrym's axe goes flying past the quasit, missing by a hair, and the point of Trig's spear goes wide. The tiny demon has just enough time to feel relieved--and then a shadow is cast over her, as the Wizard snatches her in both hands.
The quasit flails, squirming around trying to get loose, and Wayland feels a pinch as she bites down on his hand, but can't get enough leverage to do any real harm. "Heathens! Blasphemers! Get thy filthy hands off of--" she screeches in the Thassilonian tongue.
Nothing's wrong, just me getting frustrated at losing players and taking it out on the people who have hung around. If the four of you guys are still interested, I'll keep trying on my end.
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Ponok goes after the jackal, and in a flurry of claws and teeth tears it open, and the summoned creature vanishes. The hall of the cathedral echoes with the sound of Trig's command, and the quasit's flight comes to a stop. It holds in place, hovering a few feet off the ground.
Status: Erylium -20 hp, Halted for 1 round
Calin's elven blood dispels the hex before it can take effect, and he attacks the demon but misses. Ponok, on the other hand, continues his assault, dealing several blows that open wounds on the demon. From the entrance come Wayland's crossbow bolt, which goes wide, and Lazur's shot, which is perfectly on target and gets the tiny demon in the shoulder, and she screeches. Eyes wide with growing panic and body covered in many small wounds, the demon brings her hands together and withdraws inward as she casts another spell defensively. With a shout, she releases the spell, and an energy ripples across the room. Everybody feels a creeping sense of horror. The summoned jackal, which had been going after Ponok, is affected by the spell, as it stiffens in place, every hair on end, but it just manages to not flee.
Regardless of how many of her enemies are affected, the demon takes off from there, making a panicked beeline for the door, flying past everyone. status: Erylium -16 Calin 7/17
Calin, you never posted your action for this round. If Calin and Edamm haven't posted their actions by the time I wake up tomorrow (Saturday) morning I will mod them.
Yeah, I have no good excuses here. I just got caught up in IRL stuff and the month of January slipped by before I even realized it. My apologies, all. Also if the first sinspawn seemed to go down easier than the second that would be because I forgot to include its Rage bonus to Con when determining maximum HP, and by the time I realized my mistake I already said it was dead.
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Morgrym lifts his axe and with a great bellow brings it down on the sinspawn, the blade going most of the way through its body. He yanks his axe out and the sinspawn starts dissolving. The jackal is briefly thrown but recovers and runs after Ponok, though it barely nips at his heels. Lazur fires an arrow at the tiny demon and hits her in the leg. She shrieks and loses concentration, the magic she had gathered fizzling out. The demon curses and looks up as she realizes there is a very strong half-elf and a panther big enough to have her for a snack flanking her, and she looks panicked. The demon jolts back and points a finger at Calin and speaks in the Abyssal tongue. It isn't a spell that she uses, there is no flash of light or anything to show what's happening, and yet Calin feels a sudden fatigue, his eyelids feel heavy, the world dulls...
status: Calin 7/17
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The sinspawn comes under the combined assault of the party, and by the end of it, still has the strength to remain standing. It lunges at Calin again, consumed by battle-rage, and bites him again. [Ooc]Calin takes 6 damage The tiny demon raises her arms and chants prayers to Lamashtu as she begins to cast another spell.
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Lazur calmly nocks an arrow and shoots despite everything in the way and the arrow strikes home in the sinspawn's shoulder. Ponok lashes out as one sinspawn stands, taking a big bite out of it, and then whirls on the one still prone on the ground. His bite misses, but his claws tear into its flesh, setting up Morgrym, who misses, then Calin, who does not, and his sword cleaves into the aberration's neck, killing it. Calin rounds the sinspawn and just dodges its attack as he does so. The quasit shrieks in alarm as her invisibility is rendered powerless, and casts another spell. A violet ray bursts from her hand and strikes Calin, and he feels the strength leaking out of his body.
The summoned jackal moves to flank Calin with the remaining sinspawn and both attack, and the sinspawn bites Calin in the arm with its distorted maw.
Status:
Calin 13/17, str penalty (3 rounds)
Not only did that sinspawn charge, not only was it prone, not only was Calin flanking it with Ponok, but it is also currently Raging, giving it a total AC last round of 4. I can say with all honestly I have never seen somebody hit with a natural 2 on the d20. The summoned jackal is technically statted as a wolf, but jackals are the sacred animal of Lamashtu and is pretty close anyways. Not that that's important to you guys but I just felt like sharing.
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Lazur's shot goes wide. Edamm commands Ponok, and Ponok slips in past the defenses of the creatures; goes after the rear sinspawn, clamps down on its leg, and drags it to the ground. In the following moment, Wayland's bolas snap around the legs of the other sinspawn and sends it to the ground. Calin's wide overhead stroke is amateurish and unpracticed, and yet, off-balance from its charge, thrown to the ground, distracted by Ponok, and suffering tunnel vision as a result of its battle-rage, the blade is buried in the Sinspawn's back, and it shrieks in pain. Morgrym follows up with a blow from his axe that hits home. The sinspawn that has been surrounded flails in Calin's direction but can't land a hit. The sinspawn on Ponok's other side scrambles to its feet, steps back, and jabs at Ponok with its ranseur but misses. Meanwhile... Up on the altar, the quasit appears as she finishes an incantation, and in a burst of magic, a vicious-looking jackal appears in the middle of the room, snarling and snorting, waiting for somebody to try and get past it. As soon as the quasit appears, Edamm acts, reading from the scroll, throwing out a hand, and the scroll burns up as a flame traces the quasit, marking it clearly.
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The door slams open and the Sinspawn whip around and shriek at the sight of you. Frothing at the mouth they charge straight at the defenders. One goes low and claws at Tristan, but Tristan nimbly dodges. Morgrym tries to attack the monster as it rushes in but just misses. The other goes high, jabbing at the Morgrym with its ranseur, but he parries the blow.
Your retreat from the dungeon is underscored by the sounds of something wailing on the sealed door, which only begins to fade as you head back up the tunnel towards the Glassworks. It's not hard to sell the masterwork handaxe, and the Feathered Serpent is the place for magic items. The gnomish proprieter immediately tries to ply you with trinkets and baubles and seems a bit put out when Wayland knows exactly what he is looking for. Nevertheless, the scrolls requested contain common spells, and he is able to produce them with a little rummaging beneath the counter. The whole trip, from and back again, takes a little over an hour. You encounter no resistance as you make your way back through the catacombs towards the cathedral. It's quiet. The door Morgrym spiked shut has been broken open once again by a determined assault, and though the doors have been propped up again, there's still a hole big enough to look into the room. There are now not one but two sinspawn in the chamber. Neither are armored quite like the aberration that was in the entryway, but they do both have sharp ranseurs. On the other hand, the tiny demon is nowhere in sight.
Duly noted. I do apologize, I went home to see my family for Thanksgiving and didn't have my computer. I will post properly either when I get back tonight or tomorrow morning. Lucky for you guys the demon is agoraphobic and won't leave the dungeon (and I'm not even joking a little), and those scrolls are common enough to be in stock so it shouldn't be more than an hour to get them and get back.
Wayland: I open the door. Me: There's a tiny demon inside, she screams that she wants you dead, activates a weird item, and turns invisible. Wayland: ...I close the door. I was howling.
The wooden door opens out of the chamber. Calin moves quickly to hold the door and Morgrym is able to spike it shut. The door is wooden but reinforced with iron strips, so it's quite strong. You can hear the tiny demon shrieking indignantly, and a few moments later, there's a shriek from another source, a deeper screech coming from a significantly larger source. Something slams against the door, and the noises suggest that it's trying to hack at the door, but the doors hold for the moment.
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The door swings open. This huge room looks like nothing more than an immense underground cathedral. Stone doors stand to either side of the main entrance, but beyond this, the walls are carved with strange, spiky runes. In the center of the room is a large pool, with a ring of polished human skulls balanced on stone spikes arranged in a circle around the deeper midsection. At the far end of the room, a pair of stone steps lead up to a pulpit on which sits a second pool, this one triangular and filled with churning, bubbling water that looks almost like translucent lava. Yet while wisps of what looks like heat and steam rise from the strange orange liquid, the room itself is deathly cold. Before the pool hovers a tiny creature, demonic-looking, with tiny horns and thin batlike wings. At the sound of the door opening, the creature whirls around and she shrieks in anger. "Trespassers! Heretics! You would dare impede on the Mother's sanctum? You'll die for your impudence!" The creature draws her dagger (itself no more than a needle) and draws the blade across her wrist, allowing a few drops of blood to drip into the bubbling pool. The pool flares with light and furiously boils over. The creature snarls at you and then, in a blink, vanishes from sight.
Knowledge Planes DC 14: That creature is a quasit, the bottom of the demonic totem pole. Generally quasits wind up on this plane after being summoned to serve as an evil spellcaster's familiar, and stick around after the spellcaster's death. Quasits are tiny and physically frail, but have personal spellcasting, and are vulnerable to cold iron and good-aligned attacks.
Trig listens closely, and the words form themselves in her mind. The speaker seems reverent, as though in prayer. "...hear Your word and obey! For You are the darkness which crawls, for You know the truth they would deny, for it is from Your womb that the end of all shall be born! Mother of Demons, Mother of Beasts..." Know Religion 12: 'Mother of Beasts' is an epithet used for the evil goddess and demon Lord Lamashtu, who is the progenitor and patron for many of the monstrous races in the world.
The goblin's gear includes a silver dagger, a masterwork handaxe, and a longsword with a magical aura. Wayland examines the altar and can say with a great deal of confidence that it is a shrine to Lamashtu. The basin on top of the altar is filled with filthy-looking water. The water emits a magical aura of Necromancy. Edamm doesn't find any traps on the door, and it is not locked. Through the door, her sharp ears pick up on the sound of a somewhat high-pitched voice talking to themself, but can't quite make out the words, and she also hears what sounds like the bubbling and hissing of water boiling.
Lazur jabs the goblin in the throat, not very deep--but deep enough. Calin sweeps around and takes the goblin off its feet, and Morgrym turns the corner just in time to see the goblin go still; and from there, Ponok leaps onto the creature and bites its throat out. The chamber goes quiet.
Status: Lazur 16/19
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Edamm strikes the goblin expertly, and Ponok sets on it, biting and clawing and trying to pull it to the ground. Lazur and Calin both take swings at the goblin and just barely miss. The goblin shrieks, loud and shrill, and as it scrambles back from Ponok some of the bleeding wounds spontaneously stem. It turns on Edamm, and its shrieking is cut off with a choke, and a belch. Its throat bulges, and once more it sprays a stream of acidic bile. The bloody humors catch both Edamm and Trig behind her, and neither can quite get out of the way. The acid burns, and with the direct hit she took Edamm is left momentarily retching.
Status:
Lazur 16/19
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Lazur strikes the goblin clean, but it ignores the pain and steps out of the hate pile. It takes a deep breath, and it makes a weird noise, a gurgling in its stomach, its throat bulges, and it opens its mouth and spews a stream of blood at Lazur; he manages to dodge the worst of it, but where the foul-smelling dirty blood touches him, it burns like acid.
Status:
Lazur 16/19 hp
The mutant goblin is taken fully off-guard by the attack, and Edamm's arrow hits home and sticks in its shoulder. It hisses angrily, and yanks the arrow out. Ponok skirts around and takes up a position on the goblin's flank. Init:
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The tunnel widens here into what appears to have once been a small shrine, for to the northeast, steps lead up to a platform of gray stone. Sitting atop the platform is an ancient altar, little more than a jagged block of black marble which overflows with filthy-looking water. When the lit stone is tossed into the room, there's a shuffling and snarling, and a creature steps into the light. It looks like a goblin, but it has been horribly mutated, overgrown and warped, a third arm sprouting from its left shoulder, and it carries several vicious-looking weapons, and it is covered in old blood. It drools constantly. The mutant goblin prods the glowing stone curiously. Despite Edamm's stumble, it doesn't seem to notice the intrusion.
Edamm and Ponok follow the passage down. It goes for about 30 feet before coming to the remains of a wall, which has long since been torn down, leading into a small chamber; unlike the rough irregular tunnels you have gone through thus far, this is well-worked stone. It would seem that this is not a cave, but in fact a ruin of some kind. The original purpose of this room is unclear, but large mounds of rubble lie strewn on its floor. To the north is a gate, beyond which is a five foot wide hall that turns blindly to the west. Following this hall brings Edamm and Ponok to an intersection. One shorter path goes north, which widens into another chamber, and to the east is a longer path, but it turns sharply and you can't quite tell where it leads.
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The Sinspawn howls and thrashes from where it fell. It twists unnaturally and scores a hit against Ponok, putting a deep cut in the cat's side, though its snapping jaws close only on air. From there, the Sinspawn doesn't have a chance, as the combined attackers quickly put it down. The Sinspawn goes still but doesn't so much dissolve as it implodes into a pile of ectoplasm, which then evaporates away.
Despite his clumsy throw, the arc of Wayland's weapon is perfect, wrapping around the Sinspawn's weirdly bent legs and as it moves to dodge Lazur's attack, it falls to the ground in a tangle of limbs. It rasps in fury but can't move out of the way of Lazur's blades, which bite deep.
I think it's perfectly reasonable that a battle-trained companion would continue to attack. Take care of the threat, redirect its attention, get payback, what have you.
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Ponok is quick and lithe, and just barely manages to slip between the Sinspawn's legs and come out the other side. Calin's cautious strike misses, as do Lazur's strikes, but Edamm hits hard, putting her sword through its shoulder. It howls at her, and with a great swing stabs her with the blade already wetted with blood. It then lunges at her and bites down, sinking its teeth into her shoulder and ripping through her flesh. The Sinspawn's grip on her is the only thing keeping Edamm standing, and when it rips itself away, she collapses to the ground.
Status: Edamm: -4/15 hp, bleeding out
Waiting on Lazur to make his round 2 action
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Knowledge Arcana or Dungeoneering 17 OR Wayland:
This creature was a very uncommon type of aberration. Formed from ectoplasm, imprinted with the emotions of captured souls, and raised to serve as hideous shock troops for the wizard-kings who ruled Varisia long, long ago, when it was still called Thassilon. This is a Sinspawn. Very rarely, explorers and researchers delving into Thassilonian ruins will encounter such a creature. They always attack anything that moves, ruthlessly fighting to the death. They commit violence for the sake of violence. The exact means of their conjuration is unknown in the present day. The Sinspawn howls in a red-eyed fury that renders it frothing at the mouth and charges at Calin. It drives the tip of its spear through the gaps of his armor, it's partly skill but more than anything brute strength that pushes it through and into his flesh.
May as well get straight into it. @Edamm: Sorry I didn't notice this earlier, but as a reminder you do still get to level up.
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Calin leads the way, weapons raised, ready for the first sign of trouble. You needn't wait long. As you step in front of a side passage, a vile screech rips through the still air. Turning to face the source of the screech, Wayland, Trig, and Edamm recognize the source--in a manner of speaking. In the middle of an otherwise-empty chamber there stands a human-shaped creature with skin stretched tight over a distorted skeleton, talons, a bifurcated mouth and red eyes, damn near identical to the monster you found in the Sandpoint Outskirts just a couple of days ago. However, there is one notable difference: this one looks far more ready for a fight, carrying a wicked-looking polearm and adorned in chain armor. The abberation screeches and raises its weapon.
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