Arloric blinks as the others get his attention.
"Oh, right, sorry."
He crouches and looks for signs that anything has moved through here.
In a low voice to Alexa, Aberus asks, "Can you spare a couple for Anevia? It's a weapon she can use, and she seems to be a good shot."
"I could."
Alexa turns to Anevia. "Do you need more arrows? I can spare some for you."
Arloric notes that the creatures apparently lair here, but the area is mostly dry stone and spatters of blood and creature-guts at this point, so if anyone has come this way there's not really any tracks to find.
Anevia says to Alexa, "If you don't mind. Since I can barely stand up it probably would be best for me to avoid trying to fight up front, after all. Thanks."
Arloric stands back up.
"The only things that have apparently moved through here were those creatures, since they laired here. But after the mess we've just made, it's hard to tell if there ARE any tracks. Dorne, would you like to take point?
"In a minute."
Alexa approaches Anevia and spots her 7 arrows.
Arloric nods and looks at the carvings some more while Alexa does so.
Without uttering a word, Ithilwen silently slips behind Alexa as the two of them resume their scouting duties.
Anevia says, "Thanks. I'll try to make them count."
Alexa nods and moves back to the front of the party.
A small campfire and a well-used bedroll, along with a few utensils and tools, sits near another cave opening in the far wall of this cavern.
A lone dwarf (as far as you can tell at this distance, anyway) huddles by the small campfire, just large enough to give off some light and heat. He seems to be muttering to himself under his breath, but he's too far away to make out what he's saying.
Arloric looks to Alexa and Ithilwen, waiting for a signal from them to advance.
Alexa holds up a hand to call a halt. "Lone dwarf camping ahead. I think... might be a survivor of what happened above."
Uriel looks to the others, suspicion evident in his eyes. "Remember that...thing that was in the Chapel yesterday? We should be wary. Let me take point."
Aberus shuddered. "I am not anxious to be strangled again, so, please. Be my guest."
With a silent nod, Ithilwen gives way to Uriel as the mighty warrior moves to investigate the campfire... and its unlikely occupant.
A dwarf would be well suited to survival underground. says the elf.
Uriel advances to the front - not particularly stealthily.
Anevia leans against the wall a bit back from the vanguard.
As Uriel advances, the dwarf whirls about, squinting at you (which seems odd, given how dark it is).
"You!" he shouts. "They finally sent you! Well you won't kill me this time, oh no, just like the other times, you'll fail like the others! You won't get me and I'll make you pay for it!" He quite literally froths at the mouth, spittle and foam flecking his lips.
Approaching obliquely, Uriel is careful to stay a few feet back from the dwarf, and not to make any sudden moves.
"No one sent us, sir. We're kind of lost down here. Who sent people to kill you? Why would they want to harm you?" the aasimar asks, taking a step backward when he notices that the man is foaming at the mouth. With an act of will, he manages not to reflexively reach for his sword.
The dwarf seems to fly into a rage, jumping up and down and stamping the ground with his feet. "I knew you'd say that! I knew it! That's what they always say! Like you don't know! Pretending that you're not here to kill me!"
With that he reaches for a pouch on his belt that looks suspiciously like a spell component pouch.
Ithilwen and Arloric can react first.
The dwarf is about to cast a spell.
After him the rest of the party can go.
Spellcraft to recognize the spell.
The dwarf must be a wizard; he casts a spell which will protect him as armor on a warrior. the elf tells her copanions. if you can surround him to keep him from unleashing more spells.
"Thanks for the advice, Telerin!" Arloric says as he advances to help Uriel.
His swings at the dwarf but, as he's not used to fighting shorter opponents, the blade whuffs harmlessly over his head.
Effortlessly drawing his ancient blade, Uriel advances and takes a two-handed chop at the dwarven wizard.
"And this is what we get for trying to parley with whatever's dwelling down there... again" Ithilwen mutters under her breath as she fires a bolt at their latest enemy.
________________________________________________________________
Diplomacy and compassion are always needed, especially when evil seeks to prevail, Itilwen of the Myriad Stars. says the elf as she begins to cast a spell of her own.
Ast fwesa gresa ofsre as she casts Daze at the dwarf DC 13
Arloric moves in to swing at the wizard, and Ithilwen takes a shot and hits before Arloric gets close enough to be in the way. Arloric's sword misses, though.
The dwarf steps back slightly from Arloric so that he can finish his spell uninterrupted. A shimmer of magic flashes over him for a moment and then vanishes, leaving behind an invisible defense. All the while, the dwarf screeches, "HAH! I knew it! I knew you were murderers sent to kill me! Well it WON'T WORK!"
Telerin casts a spell to disorient the dwarf. He seems to throw it off without distraction; not surprising for a trained wizard.
Uriel advances menacingly and swings with his sword, but it deflects off the dwarf's field of magical force.
"By Heaven above and Earth below! We're defending ourselves you madman!" Arloric barks.
Alexa groans in resignation and takes off running. Right. Need to drop him before someone gets hurt.
She carefully maneuvers around the fight to get to the mage's back!
Aberus heard the fight break out in the cavern and rushed in to support his companions.
Diplomacy and compassion are always needed, especially when evil seeks to prevail, Itilwen of the Myriad Stars. says the elf as she begins to cast a spell of her own.
"It's not me who needs persuading" Ithilwen retorts as she closes the distance between her and the dwarf. She promptly bites her tongue, however, and immediately regrets her choice of words. Telerin's monition was meant in good faith, and her instinctive sarcastic reply instantly brought her mind back to darker times.
________________________________________________________________
Arloric takes another swing at the dwarf, his blade powering through the magical defenses.
Arloric's blade penetrates the wizard's magical force and as the dwarf holds up his hands, they are both severed at the elbows. The tip of Arloric's sword also bites through his sternum in the middle of that same blow, causing him to tumble over backward, forearm-less, with a spray of blood fountaining upward before he dies nearly immediately.
A quick search of the camp shows that this filthy dwarf has probably been living down here for a while - since long before the disaster. He has a range of supplies for surviving, including:
• A light crossbow and 10 bolts
• A dagger
• A filthy, stained cloak stitched with small arcane symbols*
• A potion*
• Another potion*
• A scroll*
• Another scroll*
• A ratty bedroll
• A small pack filled with dried meat, preserved fruit, and some moldy cheese (6 days of rations)
• A chipped 6-inch-tall marble statuette of a humanoid throwing a spear
• A spellbook
• 8 pp, 7 gp
* = This item detects as magical.
1st—color spray, detect secret doors, grease, mage armor, magic missile, shocking grasp, silent image
0—acid splash, detect magic, ghost sound, read magic
Alexa winces and turns away as Arloric brutally puts the dwarf down.
She spies the dwarf's spellbook and starts trying to read the symbols therein...
Spellcraft
Seeing the aasimar pick up the spellbook the elf will remark It is not wise for the uniniated to read such books. she says. as she casts read magic.
First spell check for the cloak
Potion 1
Potion 2
Scroll #1
Scroll #2
Alexa snorts. "I'm not ignorant in the ways of magic."
Yet the book is best used with one who has delved deeply into the arcane mysteries in more than a dabbling manner. contests the elf.
Aravashnial says, "I'd help but the lack of sight is a bit of a hindrance." He chuckles slightly at his own gallows humor; perhaps his sense of humor is one of the other "senses" amplified by his blindness?
Horgus says, "Yes! Well done! Not the clean heart-piercing stroke of a master duelist, but satisfactory enough. Shall we carry on? I'd like to see sun again!"
Anevia rolls her eyes at Horgus.
"And how exactly am I supposed to learn magic without someplace to start?" Alexa holds the book to her chest.