Enizver misses again firing through two allies around a corner.
Horat misses the imp with his attack but Olivia lands a solid shot while healing Halgrin and Horat.
Halgrin enters rage and attacks the imp twice, recklessly.
and finishes off the small devil!
The chain devil is an incredibly deadly foe with all of his chains in action. He is significantly wounded but can still fight for a while yet. Two of his chains keep Horat and Halgrin grappled, squeezing them with their barbs. The devil then attacks twice with his chains and twice more with the other animated chains, ripping hard into Halgrin and Horat. Horat is knocked unconscious (43 damage to Horat and needs to make death saves) while Halgrin is seriously wounded and barely still stands (14 damage to Halgrin after resistance).
Enizver fires again but can't land a shot on the devil with two of his allies in the way. Horat lashes out at the imp but the tiny devil zips sideways out of the way. Olivia lands a powerful shot that greatly hurts the devil while Wrinil harrasses it with powerful missiles.
The barbarian assaults the imp but can't quite manage to land his strike on the small devil.
The chain devil roars in pain and his animate chains continue their assault while he swings his with wicked effect. Horat is squeezed by the chain holding him (8 dam) and so is Halgrin (7 dam before resistance). Then chains whipping through the air also tear through the two warriors (21 damage to Horat and 21 to Halgrin before resistance).
Horat falls, trying not to despair.
I can save him yet! Plague could not stop him!
Seeing Horat go down, Wrinil reacts quickly with a prayer to Mystra and a hand on Horat.
Swearing as the warrior fell once more, Enizver reloaded and fire once more.
Seeing Wrinil go after Horat, Olivia continues to focus on keeping Halgrin up as she keeps firing her crossbow at the imposter devil.
Enizver misses again while Wrinil heals Horat. Olivia fires a shot that strikes hard into the chain devil, causing it to snarl in anger.
Halgrin can't reach the devil so he recklessly attacks the chain holding him
but he doesn't quite manage to make an impression on the hard metal.
The chains holding Horat squeeze him hard but he manages to remain conscious. Then the devil jerks his head at another animated chain which whips through the air but is deflected by the warrior's armor! Frustrated, the devil sends another chain whistling through the air and this one knocks Horat unconscious again (another con save against scars and death saves again). Then chains squeeze Halgrin while he deflects a chain wielded by the devil but is struck by the devil's other chain.
Horat awakes - and is struck senseless once more!
Muttering about the duplicity of devils, Enizver tried once more.
Hoping that the best way to survive this encounter is to end it quickly, Liv does a quick burst of offensive energy.
Wireline says another prayer to Mystra for healing on Horat.
Enizver misses again while Olivia lands one solid shot but misses the other. Wrinil cures Horat, bringing him back to consciousness.
Unable to move forward, Halgrin tries to break free from the chains so he can close the gap with the chain devil.
He succeeds in freeing himself and steps around the chain devil to keep it from repositioning.
The chain holding Horat squeezes him tightly then the chain devil whips a chain through the air that strikes him very hard, knocking him unconscious (con save against another scar and death saves again). The devil strikes Halgrin with one of his animated chains, restraining him again. That helps him bring a chain in his hand whistling around to strike Halgrin hard!
Moving into a better position to take a shot, Enizver tried to finish off the damned chain wielding demon thing.
Wrinil says yet another prayer to Mystra for healing on Horat.
Growling in frustration, Liv once more shoots at the chain devil and then returns to healing Halgrin, hoping his resistance will keep him up.
Olivia lands another solid shot on the chain devil while Enizver manages to get a clearer shot this time but it just barely grazes the devil, bouncing off his thick, infernal hide.
Horat rises, falls, then rises again.
The warrior tries to escape the chains!
Horat steps forward, readying his glaive for the devil's next strike.
I keep seeing him, but I *know* there's a devil there. DAMNATION!
Superiority Dice: 3/4
Horat breaks free but misses his attack. Halgrin swings his blade at the devil.
He strikes a hard blow, cutting deep into the devil's shoulder! With all of the combined attacks, the devil is finally banished back to its home plane!
Exhausted, Horat stands, warchful for other foes.
He speaks, emotionally drained.
"The damned thing appeared to me as my brother, dead of plague three years. It found a weakness and struck. After that, I require healing or rest, and preferably both."
"Last boyfriend for me," Enizver replied as he slumped. "No onjection to you taking a rest, Horat. You earned it." He looked at the others. "Shall I do the healing this time?"
Wireline walks over to the dead creatures and scribbles notes on a piece of parchment while standing next to each of them.
Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, Liv blinked slowly as part of the devil's life energy flowed into her, and once again Olivia was back just in time to hear Enizver's question. "I can use my healing kit. But anything past that, yes, that might be a good idea. I'm beginning to run low on magical resources. Do you think there's much more of this temple left?" She chewed her lip nervously.
From the layout of the building, you are fairly certain that this is the bottom floor and you have one more chamber to enter.
Enizver looked uncertain. "I...would not imagine that there's too much more? I mean, how big does one large, evil, semi-sentient temple need to be?"
He reached out and tapped Halgrin too.
Horat sits, resting against a wall, quietly grateful for the aid.
He thinks, then speaks as he pulls himself up.
"One more chamber. I am reasonably certain that we have reached the bottom floor."
Wrinil touches his quill to his chin for a moment, "I am not sure if you are right, but we will see."
Sighing, Enizver headed over to the door and checked it for traps and oddities before pulling up his sleeve. One trap missed was awkward.
Once he was happy the door was safe, the Gnome cut the back of his arm to bleed on the damnable and likely pre-damned door. He never understood why people would cut there hands and fingers. Didn't they know how many delicate muscles were in those? Cut your handly badly and you wouldn't be able to make a fist, let alone do delicate work on intricate machinery.
Assuming the door was safe to be opened he examined he gestured for his more martially inclined companions to swing inside.
Enizver bleeds on the door and you hear a low, shuddering moan, as if of anticipated pleasure, echo through the building. The door slides open and you see a chamber illuminated by a red glow coming from the walls. Horrible carvings of tortured creatures in grotesque poses line the stone walls. Steps cut at sharp right angles lead upwards into the center of the chamber where some sort of altar stands.
Horat prepares to advance into the room, his eyes open for danger.
Olivia flies up on her broom to get a better look at the altar without actually climbing up the stairs towards it.
Wrinil thinks for a moment and then sticks a hand into one of his belt pouches. He pulls out a cloth and unfolds it into his open hand. Inside the cloth appear to be small mounds of two shiny, powdery substances. With a quick gesture and couple words the powders explode out and disappear.
Horat can't perceive anything extra from this vantage point. Olivia's blood rushes from her head as she accelerates upward and her vision is blurry for a moment. But then she shakes her head and can clearly see a large, stone, basin-like depression set into the center of the altar that appears to have some sort of drain in the bottom. The altar-basin has many infernal markings inscribed in it.
Wrinil casts his spell but doesn't spy anything that he didn't see before.
Horat slowly and carefully continues to advance towards the centre, stopping at the edge of the basin.
Enizver approaches the basin. "I'll give you three guesses what this probably wants," he noted dryly. He studied the basic, trying to work out what made it tick. "Do we have a couple of minutes? I have a spell that will tell me if this is magical, and another that will let me understand the magic that's there, but they'll take some time to perform." Enizver was very uncertain that pouring blood into this thing was the smartest move until they understood it better.
"I imagine blood and perhaps a great deal of it. Take your time, Enizver. I shall stand guard over you."
Horat moves next to the gnome, halberd ready.
"I don't think we're in a hurry." Olivia nods. "If we can't find a way around giving it blood, if we all give a little, I have a spell that can heal all of us. It takes a while to work though."
Enizver nodded, then began to cast Detect Magic. Once he confirmed the basin was (or was note) magical, he'd check the rest of the room. And then he'd begin the ritual to Identify the magic he found. If any.
Enizver confirms the basin is definitely magical, containing some form of necromancy to absorb blood and do... something... with the life energy. It seems quite powerful.
Wrinil takes notes of Enziver's rituals and how they differ from his own, scratching his quill on his parchment only a couple feet from Enziver all the while.
Having spent considerable time staring at the various walls, Horat hopes to see an alternative to feeding this damned temple more of their lifeblood.
"No surprise, necromantic powers. Takes the blood and powers something. I'm guessing nothing good will happen if we feed it more, but that if we're going to save that captain we don't have much choice." Rising, Enizver put is still oozing arm out over the basin, unless someone else really wanted to. Or wanted him to stop. "If this tries to take all my blood please pull me away, I need to keep at least some of it."
Horat remains near Enizver.
"I shall do my best to protect you."
The Untherian stands ready with two hands on his halberd, ready to strike a suddenly appearing foe - or to seize the gnome.
Figuring the basin probably want one creature's worth of blood, and not wanting Enizver to pass out, Olivia pulls out a clean blade and slashes her forearm to help contribute to the pool.
Enizver and Olivia bleed into the basin and the blood disappears quickly down the drain. But nothing happens. You hear a dissatisfied rumbling coming from the walls and foundation of the temple.
Horat, with a stony expression, raises one arm above the basin and cuts his forearm with his halberd.
As she continues to bleed over the basin, Olivia turns to the rest of the group. "Do you think it wants blood from all of us? Or is it simply waiting for one of us to get hurt enough to pass out?"
"We should try blood from us all first. Halgrin, will you contribute?"
Halgrin also bleeds into the basin but it seems like what you are doing is insufficient. Perhaps some of the markings on the basin could be of use...
The markings seem to indicate, indirectly through poetic descriptions of horrible rituals, that an entire, living creature should be placed in the basin.
Wrinil squints at the basin as each of his allies leaks their life blood into it. "Uum. I think there's something written here all."