Freya moves around Tao and down the dark passage past Rauno . "Finish them and let's get going," she hisses, preparing her crossbow in case she has to shoot it.
A little disappointed that the remaining hellknight is still there, Sarien throws his readied spear.
.
..
...
Rauno pummels the female armiger with a burst of force, knocking the air out of her, but not much more.
Sarien's spear flies true, clipping the female armiger on the leg and drawing a spray of blood and a pained grunt. She remains standing, however.
The male armiger, who had been reduced to fleeing down the hall, screams You she-DEVIL!! and moves back in the direction of the party, reloading his weapon and firing at Rauno as he does so.
Fortunately for the mage, the projectile flies harmlessly over his head.
The female armiger steels her will, drops her crossbow, draws a longsword, and takes a wild swing at Tao.
Tao easily dodges the obvious swing from the armiger and watches her eyes go wide as she overextends, knowing that her life is probably at an end.
>>Map, Round 4, Sarien's Betrayal<<
Tao swings at the female armiger in front of him
Tao wallops the female armiger severely, slicing her torso nearly in twain with a mighty blow. She is clearly dead.
"Shall we get out of here now?" Sarien hissed.
The male armiger, who had been reduced to fleeing down the hall, screams You she-DEVIL!! and moves back in the direction of the party, reloading his weapon and firing at Rauno as he does so.
Freya's face twists with rage at the armiger's epithet. "The 'she-devil' is your whore of a queen, and I have nothing to do with that b!@#*!" she shouts, raising her crossbow and firing, before backing further down the passageway .
Sarien moves quickly across the hall to the dead Arminger, stoops and picks up his spear.
Intent on her angst, Freya slips and slides briefly into the mire before quickly pulling herself out.
Kael stops moving, and ostensibly, breathing. The final remaining Armiger advances, laughing madly - either at Freya or at the oncoming spectre of death, it is impossible to know for sure.
As the armiger laughs crazily, he winds the winch on his crossbow, again firing at the most prominant target, this time Hardin.
Seeing his shot at the Cleric strike home against near-impossible odds only serves to bolster the Armiger's mad laughter. Hardin gasps audibly as he sees the crossbow bolt protruding from his chest.
Tao moves to get a better position on the remaining enemy
Rauno's Telekinetic blow either does not hit the remaining armiger or does not phase him.
Her teeth gritted in anger, Freya shoves her way past Rauno , points at the armiger again and spits out some arcane syllables.
Sarien looks at the spear, looks at Tao and the insane Armiger, glances at the unmoving Armiger next to him and shrugs. He draws his rapier and attacks the motionless Armiger in front of him.
The armiger's insane laughter falters as he is again befuddled by one of Freya's spells - he stands there, temporarily vegetated.
Tao moves to engage the final enemy
As he stands slack jawed, the armiger's head jerks suddenly to the side, as though he was punched by an unseen force.
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Hardin picks up the fallen sword, edge still grimed with sewage, and runs the Dazed armiger through.
He stands, and pulls the crossbow bolt out of his armor. "We need to move. Which way do the swords run?"
This doesn't keep him from grabbing the crossbow at the Armiger's feet as he turns to stake stock. "I can heal on the way. Anyone else need it?"
Tao reaches for the longspear, "If there are no objections, I might make use of this. I could also use a suit of this chainmail if not body minds taking the time?"
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Hardin straps the crossbow across his back, and grabs and fills a quiver of bolts.
He listens intensely for a moment for any sign of further armigers.
"I'll help you get the set off of this fellow here; I think the one down the hallway will fit me if you're willing to return the favor. Anything we can't use, we should stash someplace where we can send someone back to retrieve it."
He hands the 6 gold to Sarien.
Freya retrieves a bolt from one of the Hellknights to complete her quiver before contemptuously kicking the one who had called her "she-devil" deeper into the muck. "You seem to have fastidious ways, with the foofy scarves and exotic scents" she remarks to Rauno. "More than one of us could use a magical bath if we ever make it out of here." While the others pull armor off their fallen foes, Freya rekindles the light on her ring and moves partway down the passage indicated by the swordpoint, waiting on the rest to continue.
Tao nods to Hardin and begins to assist him with the task at hand. As soon as they are done, he'll catch up to Freya.
Sarien smiles as Hardin hands him the gold and tucks it away. He then grabs his spear and picks up a crossbow and some bolts and follows after the others.
As the party moves up the tunnel following the direction of the last holy symbol, the surrounding masonry begins to change somewhat. The stonework around the group is clearly older, for one thing, but more importantly, the path widens out . The walls, pipes, and other fixtures are covered with a greenish moss or lichen, although the tunnel floor itself is relatively clear of the growth. The group travels in these conditions for some time - roughly 30 minutes or so pass without anything really happening. Several times the group comes to an intersection of one sort or another, and each time the holy symbol is found without much effort. Finally, the group arrives at a three way confluence. The symbol is not readily apparent anywhere.
Rauno, Tao, and Hardin all notice that the moss is growing thick in this room, and they spot the very tip of a chalked sword-point peeking out from behind a large swath of the growth on one of the pipes leading into a side tunnel.
Unfortunately, when the party begins to make their way down this new corridor, nearly everyone (except Sarien, whose mind is clearly elsewhere) immediately notices a small blobby shape skittering away from the light, around a corner. This scuttling thing looks at first glance like a colorful, animate blob of slime, but its thin insectoid legs and eyestalks suggest it is a more advanced creature. Its antennae-like appendages wave about curiously, and its multiple legs carry forth its transparent, hand-sized body at a surprisingly swift scuttle. The ticking sound made by it's small legs quickly disappears around the corner... until the group realizes that really it's faded into a much larger set of ticking, scraping sounds. It sounds like there are literally 50 or so of these things right in your way, directly around the corner.
Tao draws his longspear
"Why don't you take point with your shield? I can back you up with this."
"Not sure what exactly is up there, but if there are a lot of them, we may want to avoid them and push past as quickly as possible?"
"'Safe' house," Freya spits in disgust. "'Just fight your way past the skeletons, Hellknights and swarms of Nethys-knows-what, and you'll be safe as can be.'" She draws her punching dagger and holds it in front of her defensively.
As the group steels themselves for what lies ahead, a swarm of the skittering creatures moves into view at the end of the tunnel. There are roughly 45-50 of the things, all in a mass. It moves slowly, but methodically.
"I'm not going to be much good dealing with this. Anyone? Should we try to lure it back into the room and move past it when there's an opening?"
Sarien eyes the creatures warily, trying to find a vantage point for his blades. He shrugs.
"Tao speaks wisdom to my ears. I wouldn't know where to stab those things. Lead the way, muscles, and I'll follow."