Seeing Ketra’s minor remaining wounds, Garret pulls out his other wand and attempts to activate a Cure Light Wounds for her.
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Resetting his want in the wrist sheath, Garret casts Detect Magic and searches the bodies for loot—especially of the magical kind—as others heal and otherwise prepare to move along.
With the brown dust monster down and the puppets seeming to be causing little issue now, Garret carefully moves into the room until he has line of sight on the yellow dust monster. Drawing a wand from his wrist sheath as he moves, the small sorcerer flicks the magic item and sends 4 magic missiles hurling its way!
Garret, from his location in the hallway, looks for one of the larger dust monsters . If he can see it from where he is, he sends a quintet of magic missiles at it -- if not, he readies his spell for when a foe becomes visible.
Seeing the lack of effect of the directed attacks, Garret switches tactics and drops a fireball on all the enemies but one--using his Selective rod to keep his allies safe (orange circle).
Not sure what to do with the dust creatures, Garret sends a quintet of magic missiles out at the dust creatures--one to each, with an extra at the closest one.
Then he takes a few steps back up the hall out of the way.
Garret follows about 20 feet behind Fero so the daylight makes it easier for him to see the path. He otherwise stays quiet.
Once he gets into the room, Garret moves off to the side to shine his daylight into it. If he hears anything that isn't his allies, he will cast Shield on himself in preparation for a fight...
Smiling, Garret follows suit and passes through the stone door.
Garret looks around, hoping to see something that looks like a “Starstone Pit” someone could heroically stride across.
”The door has a powerful Arcane Lock on it, as well as a glyph that responds to any attempts to damage the door—likely in a decidedly unfriendly way,” says Garret. Thinking for a moment to mentally review his spells, he adds, ”I don’t have the proper spells to try and bypass the Arcane Lock, so we will need to employ another method to proceed.”
As they prepare to go into danger, Garret casts Mage Armor on himself, then casts Daylight on his Broach of Shielding. "I can easily cover the light at need," offers the halfling sorcerer. "Interesting," he adds, going over to the blank fresco while casting Detect Magic. "I take it the process for opening this hidden portal requires a religious ritual of some kind?" he asks their hosts.
”But of course, Fero,” says Garrett. He reaches out and touches the runestone, drawing on its power to bestow Mage Armor as requested (good for 9 hours)..
”The Vanyver can wait—let’s follow the Second Sword to this relic and return to strengthen the ward—that seems the most pressing need,” agrees Garret. He moves to follow Fero into the catacombs.
”Thank you, Fero, your healing skills are indeed quite formidable,” replies Garret, already feeling much better.
A bit self-conscious with all the gazes focused on him, Garret says humbly, "Sarenrae has blessed me with spells of cleansing fire and holy light, though I have no spells for the blessing of weapons, silvered or otherwise. I have a few protective spells, but I count on my capable companions to survive most fights." More subdued, he adds, "I am sorry we were not able to uncover the necrotic bomb plot in time to stop it from devastating the city. My hometown of Roslar's Coffer was similarly decimated, and I hurt for you and all those you have lost." Turning to the others, he suggests, "Shall we share what we have learned, so that we can be best prepared for the next step once we destroy the Vanyver and whatever other monstrosities threat the remainder of the innocents in the city?"
Garret smiles for the first time today as he sees hope building. He filters what he was about to say, not asking about the situation resulting from the necrotic bomb, but instead joining the defenders in momentary celebration of their decisive victory.
Still choking from the acidic mist, Garret looks back at his allies and tries to decide if they can get under cover in time. If so, he concentrates on moving inside (60’). If not, he evokes another Burst of Radiance in front of the oncoming behemoth to try and slow it down, then runs towards safety (spell, then 30’ move).
Garret runs towards the sound of the voice, emerging from the acid cloud choking and gasping. He passes the speaker and tries to get some distance from the fog (full 30’ move if possible) before turning and saying, ”Thanks.” Not wasting time and not sure who else might be in the fog, Garret turns and evokes a Burst of Radiance at the fog’s center, reasoning that any allies caught within would at least not be damaged by the spell.
Garret just hopes his magic can burn away the deadly fog and perhaps thin the ranks of the undead. With the horde close enough for him to see flecks of gore slinging off their emaciated forms as they approach, Garret steps away to the south to give himself room to work his spell and a clear view of the center of the fog so he can evoke his spell at ground level. A few arcane gestures later, he flings a small pellet into the middle of the fog. It detonates with a low roar, completely enveloping the deadly mist and spilling out over the slavering undead horde!
Garret looks on in renewed shock, taking a precious few moments to process the scene before acting...
”We tried so hard to prevent this,” says Garret, flashing back to his own hometown’s destruction. Going down to one knee, he looks up with eyes burning bright, saying ”Let us save who we can—or at least visit destruction on the monstrosities created by the necrotic bomb.”
Stretching as he awakes, Garret feels regenerated by the admittedly uncomfortable night's sleep. His expression brightens as he sees the way is clear. "Well-done, Watch Knights! While we have no idea what we will find up there, I know you all will do your duty with distinction," he says, attempting to encourage them before they all go topside and see what devastation the bomb has caused.
Summoning his Mage Armor to protect himself, Garret says to the rest of the party, "I'm ready to go when you guys are."
Drained of magical energy more than recent memory recalls, Garret finds a nearby likely sleeping place, arranges his cloak into an ersatz pillow, and falls into a deep, restorative sleep.
Garret says tiredly, ”I haven’t the heart to leave her down here to die, however much she has enabled the cultists. Perhaps if she sees the devastation of their handiwork on the city she will take the opportunity to make some recompense.” ”In any case, I will need to rest while the soldiers dig us out if I am to be of any use topside,” he adds, looking for a place to curl up and sleep.
”Oh, right,” says Garret, ”Though given the bomb detonation above, the authorities are likely quite busy. What are we going to do with her until we can turn her over? I worry the guards may not be quick enough to keep her in captivity very long.”
If someone in the party has access to Cleric Domains, Garret will happily pass over the artifact--he can tell that it would be more helpful for such an individual than himself. Perhaps Benarik may benefit once we establish the proper relationship.
Garret's countenance takes on a more contemplative cast as he lifts the jar and puts it in his magical haversack. Perhaps he misjudged the jug--he should Identify the item at his earliest convenience.
Thinking for a moment, Garret responds, "You have a point, Cleverquill--you do certainly live up to your name...We actually have two matched magic longswords which were, until recently, used by Sealbreaker knights. If you want both of them, though, we will need a promise from you in addition to the necrotic jar..." "I do like the symmetry of granting you the magic swords of the defeated Sealbreakers given the promise I need from you -- if Sealbreakers return here and wish to set up a lair again, I want your word that you will destroy them in honor of our deal," adds Garret, hoping to give the clever creature a request in line with its nature. If the agreement is made, Garret will produce the two +1 longswords from the Sealbreaker Knight and Golem fight, then carefully wrap up the jug and put it in his magic haversack.
Did anyone claim that magic scimitar we found a few rooms back? If not, are we okay trading it for Cleverquill’s “treasure”?
”An explosion of necrotic and radiant energy in the city above is what I am calling a bomb—if it is anything like Roslar’s coffer, we will see horrendous mutations and undead. It also was powerful enough to cause the earthquake that damaged your home,” responds Garret. ”You found this item in the temple?” confirms Garret. ”You are right, it is unlikely to be such a bomb as we experienced today—however, given the murals in that temple, it is very likely to be associated with corruption and undeath—a very dangerous item for you to keep close,” he continues. ”That being said, the undead powers referenced in the temple murals could very well be behind the bombing plot—time means little to such creatures. We seek to defeat the undead monstrosities behind the Seal Breaker attacks, and something tells me this necrotic artifact may be a key to their defeat. Every minion we defeat seems to lead to more powerful foes beholden to undead masters. You are wise, Cleverquill—can you help us?” appeals Garret.
"Ah, Cleverquill," says Garret tiredly, "We did not make the earth shake -- indeed we are trapped here for the moment by the explosion above. The Sealbreaker cultists have developed a magical explosive of unimaginable power. We managed to slay them, but not before their explosive detonated in the city above. I shudder to think what is currently happening above our heads." "As to your own predicament, I can offer a few solutions--there is quite a bit of vegatable matter in the temple to the east now that the animate plants are defeated. The corpses of the sealbreakers lie where they fell in the complex to the south--you are welcome to them if that is your wish. You may NOT eat any of us or our companions, or we will have to defeat you," he adds sternly. "You should also consider letting us take that necrotic artifact off your hands. If there is even any chance it will explode like the necrotic bomb in the city above, you are better served having it far away from you--and we may in time find a way to disarm it," he adds.
”I have a feeling we won’t get out of here without encountering that lizard again,” replies Garret, ”I just wish I had some more arcane firepower to throw at it if we need to—I used up most of my more potent spells that last fish to keep us from being plant food.”
"Hmm, the march of the graveknights," says Garret, recounting what he knows of the subject to his friends (feel free to read spoiler). "Yes, the lizard--and his artifact of necrotic power..." says Garret with the reminder, trailing off. "Given what we have learned, could that artifact be a splinter of the Shield, corrupted in preparation for the Seal Breaker bomb?"
Taking a deep breath of relatively clean air, Garret feels drained. He responds, ”You are quite welcome—unfortunately almost all of my magic is now depleted.” Turning to the air elemental, he bows in respect and says, ”And thank you for your assistance—feel free to take your ease until you return to your plane.” Casting Detect Magic, Garret aids Ketra in her search.
Choking on poisonous air, Garret calls out, ”Clear a path for the air elemental” hoping someone will distract the plant creature so the air elemental can enter the Cloudkill and siphon it off. Trying to time it right, the sorcerer calls out to the air elemental, ”Return to me and siphon away this poison with your Whirlwind!” At the moment the air is clear enough for him to see, Garret uses his last third level spell slot to cast Fireball, aiming to burn the enemy spellcaster and the massive plant monster badly enough to render them incapable of continuing the fight.
He may not get a lot of variety of spells, but Garret sure can cast them many times! Somehow avoiding all the retaliation, Garret lobs in another fireball, hoping to burn away the two main foes and perhaps singe some of the grasping fungal growth. "Go distract the enemy spellcaster," Garret commands the air elemental after he casts, hoping it can make itself of further use.
"Perhaps this will loosen its grip," suggests Garret, as he lobs a fireball into the room at the two plant creatures (red circle).
For the remainder of the spell’s duration, Garret directs the elemental to be prepared to waft away any noxious fumes that threaten him or his allies. He also considers, as one of the party’s diplomats, that he might want to learn some kind of language translation spell soon—the plant creature’s words mean nothing to him.
As the noxious cloud billows forth, Garret says, ”Give me a moment.” Using his page of Spell Knowledge, he channels arcane power into a summoning spell. Moments later, a barely perceptible disturbance in the air heralds the arrival of a small air elemental. ”Please go and disperse the noxious fumes,” requests Garret of the new arrival.
Before they engage in combat, Garret will refresh his shield spell. He also offers, ”If all else fails, I could burn the fungi—but that risks fouling the air in this whole chamber.”
For loot, Garret can’t use most of it, but he could trade in his +1 cloak for the +2 cloak of resistance and maybe take a healing potion. Thoughts anyone? Okay for Garret to upgrade?
For loot, Garret can’t use most of it, but he could trade in his +1 cloak for the +2 cloak of resistance and maybe take a healing potion.
Garret is now updated. Level 9 Sorcerer now! - Combat Casting is the feat--should come in useful.
"So this is the 'Y' Quietus served," observed Garret in a small voice, implications of this new information washing over him. Looking to Ketra, he says, "You are right, of course. We need to take the fight to Gildais and recover the shards of the shield before more innocents are corrupted and killed." Garret does what is needed, but spends most of the time resting and gathering his strength.
Yay level 9! Traveling now, but should get to an update by late on Sunday.
Garret casts another spell at the foe, hoping to take him down under a flurry of Magic Missiles!
With just the one for left and no enemies directly threatening him (Thanks Silvia!), Garret casts a spell directly at Yosiduin, trying to rattle his senses with a silent scream!
Staggered, Garret can only take one action this round. He calls on the pure light of Sarenrae, invoking a burst of holy energy on Yosduin and the adjacent green Otyugh even as he tries to evade any retaliation from the Mohrg that just moved adjacent.
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