Veythe did not like the sound of what Kayn shouted, and then Vasha's faint comments about the hedron built to contain more than treasure. With a narrow eyed stare and a glance over to Rezivah, Veythe quickly followed Kayn's instructions. Veythe unlatched the lute Vasha gifted her and readied her fingers upon the strings. Danger, she felt like screaming. If this was what Vielara wanted--if this ended in more death--Veythe didn't want to imagine it. She swallowed heavily.
"Don't...do anything reckless," she told the group. Veythe gnawed on her lip as she cautiously stepped closer to Kayn. "There are only so many spells I can use to help save you."
"Do you feel this?" Kayn addressed the group. The room below seethed with the same nauseous feel that the pit of vampires and nulls had. "We've barely traveled a ten-day from Affa and have encountered this twice. The first time we fled. This time we redeem ourselves. If these alien creatures are so spread across Akoum, nesting in what we thought were ancient stashes of weapons meant to defeat them, we will be fighting them regularly. We need to steel ourselves against them."
"I know some of you blame Vielara for what has happened. You hate her for the situation that you find yourself in. But this," he points down into the pit, "this is just an introduction to the gross evil that plagues Zendikar. We have more questions for Vielara now and can demand the answers when we see her. I have no doubt she knew what she was sending us in to, just as she knew the vampires in the life-bloom were using this evil for their own twisted experiments. We had... we have to see it for ourselves."
Kayn starts to pull rope from Ato's pack. "If we can defeat this thing, purge it from the hedron, we will know it can be beat. If not... we flee, lock the hedron, bury it in the pit of lava below. We cannot let this thing leave when others come to explore." Kayn starts to tie the rope around one of the desiccated hedrons. It acted more as a boulder now and anchored the rope well. He then tossed the other end into the pit. "The feelings of fear, distrust, dissent... I have no doubt they are bred by this thing." He blinks and wipes a bead of sweat from his chitinous forehead. "Are we ready?" He asks.
Vasha glanced down the hole, chills making their way up her spine, as she saw that pinkish-purple light emanating from below. "Kayn," she said softly, crouching next to the hole. "I don't think this is a good idea." She glanced around as everyone was gathering. "When I sent my spirit into the hedron, I saw... the past. I think I saw through the creator's eyes at the moment the hedron was being created. I saw what it was meant to contain. This... horrible alien thing coming down from the sky. I've never seen anything so terrifying before in my life." She looked down the hole again, that fear creeping back into her heart. "If that thing is down there..."
She looked back up at her companions. "What if we can't kill it? If it was put here, that means there was no way to kill it before. Are we so egotistical to think that we could accomplish something they could not back then? Or what if we unknowingly unleash this thing upon Zendikar? We would be responsible for killing so many innocent people, and I'm not comfortable knowing that I would be part of that kind of suffering." Vasha looked at Vesra, tears welling up in her eyes, once again. "I know there could be consequences to going to Vielara virtually empty handed, and I'm going to take responsibility for that. This is my decision, and mine alone. I don't think we should go down there."
Rezivah times her sprint and rushes to beneath the gnarlid's corpse. It's bulk provided the perfect cover for her to slide low on the ground towards the group in the next chamber. There in, she saw broken hedron stones, and a pit.
The pit radiated with dread, their view polluted with a sickeningly pink light emanating from some unknown source. Rezivah thought back. Back to all the aberrations she's seen thus far. Back to the dream. Back to the mountain, back to the faceless entity with a hunger that could devour all of Zendikar and still not be sated. Nothing thus far radiated such an aura. Whether this was another alien being, Rezivah didn't know, but she didn't want to find out. She didn't ever want to find out, and she was glad she wasn't the only one.
She gulped. "I'm behind you, and I will corroborate your efforts thus far, in an attempt to appease Vielara's.. comportment."
“Kayn is right,” Vesra said softly, her words catching in her throat. It hurt to go against her sister’s beliefs, but she had to stand up for herself sometime. “If it gets to be too much, we can always run away. But this evil... it feels like fate.”
The kor glanced over at Kayn, worrying her bottom lip. “We have to also think about the ghosts. I trust them, but they don’t trust us. If we don’t cooperate, they can always kill Kayn.”
Vasha's heart sank as she heard her sister's words. She was sure Vesra would see that this was just too dangerous and want to turn back. Instead, she wanted to go down into the unknown. "Fine," Vasha said, hiding her face. "I'll go first, and make sure everything is okay." Without waiting for anyone to agree or disagree with her, she took the rope in hand, and began making her way down.
As Vasha made her way down after her sister's words, the peculiar bolts Veythe had came into view. She remembered Kayn had attempted to study them, but yielded no results. Rezivah thought about the meaning by the hedrons creation. Most larger ones were almost certainly containers, such as this one. Treasure, riches, glory, monsters.. All within an ancient stone prison. But these were significantly smaller, and purposely placed as a piercing implement. That in of itself portrayed a nature of piercing flesh, but any metal sharp enough can accomplish that. The effort was made to place hedrons.. Perhaps.. Perhaps these hedron weapons were considerably effective at damaging the alien aberrations, or even 'binding' them in a stunning or paralytic effect. Yes, that is the sense Rezivah gathered. She felt her line of thinking was exactly the designed purpose of those bolts.
"Veythe," Rezivah said calmly. "Those bolts. I believe they will prove considerably effective against these creatures. If more or worse specimen are below, I think both you and I should utilize them. Both of us have crossbows. Two armed with powerful weaponry is always better than one."
Kayn slides down the rope behind Vasha and calls out, "Don't forget the driftglobe!"
As Vessie climbs down after him, you hear him exclaim, "Ouch Vessie! That's my headplate." This is followed by a small whimper before he finally reaches the ground floor.
Whatever was down here, Kayn knew they had to see it. If their guild, or those that chose to stay within it, was meant to explore these relics, this would not be the first evil incarnate that they'd encounter. He felt something peculiar as he reached the ground, a psionic entity began to probe his mind. As it goes deeper, Kayn is able to fortify his mind against it, causing the psionic tentacle to recede from his thoughts. Fear us, Kayn thought. We will end you.
Using Ato's rope, Vasha begins her descent down the hole to whatever lies below. She hits the ground, about twenty feet south of her. Kayn and Vesra quickly follow suit, scaling down the rope and landing in a very dark room, only barely illuminated in a pinkish-purple light [Darkness]. Their feet hit the ground with an audible crunch! as they realized just how heavily decayed the floor and walls were: their feet must've sunk a good foot into the ground, cracking through the bleached exoskeleton of the material.
As they land, they find themselves in a small alcove along the wall of a massive room. Not even Kayn's darkvision pierces through to the other side. The driftglobe's light illuminates their surroundings fair enough as they take in everything around them. Their eyes are immediately drawn to the center of the room: four hedrons, situated aloft 10-foot tall columns, slowly spin in the air, pulsating a pinkish-purple light as if in rhythm to some alien heartbeat. The light seems through both cracks and runes, hinting at them either being damaged, eroded, or a combination of both. The pulses are erratic at first, but you recognize some pattern to them as you continue to observe.
Situated between the hedrons lies a figure, dimly illuminated but well enough to make out. A large figure stands on multiple appendages as its tail flashes about. Its limbs seem to erupt from the creature's form, taking on the appearance of claws legs, a massive arm and claw, as well as another arm bifurcated at the elbow where two more arms grow from it, each ending in a sharp claw. Like the other abominations you've fought in this hellish place, it is covered in chitinous protrusions, forming a hard exoskeleton that ends in twisted spikes. Its flesh appears to be no less decayed than the others, as its pastel hues of pinks and purples blend into the pulsating lights emitting from the hedrons.
Kayn, your thought seems to stir something sort of response from it, as the image of three kor warriors laughing plays out in your mind. You see them as if you were there, watching from the bramble in a thick jungle as they chat in a language you don't understand. Their laughter turns to horror as hordes of these creatures swarm from the thick foliage all around them, their claws, tentacles, and teeth rending through flesh and bone as they paint the lush, green forest in the crimson hues of death. You feel a wicked sense of satisfaction as the vision ends.
"Lomilith, Saraph'musa, Endoro... how you fell so easily to these creatures is beyond me." Kayn eyes the 'Eldrazi' before him. It's massive in stature, but not nearly as big as he or the speckormerelf thought it would be. He felt the gross evil even more strongly here, but it felt as though it was coming from behind the creature before them. The hedrons pulsed, giving the goblin the impression that this creature might be trapped behind them. Had the vision of a Hurda being slaughtered were shown... he'd have been impressed. Kayn was confidant even he could take out three Kor if they crossed him.
As a test, he twirled his wand as he stepped forward and blasted the creature with a fire bolt. It connected! (22 to hit, 7 damage)
The creature reacts, as if about to pounce on them. This sets the goblin in motion. "Shviatwalo," he curses, touching the wand to himself and calling forth a managical armor that covers him in a translucent chitin. Advancing towards the beast, he calls out in Mer, "Your titan shall witness your fall!"
Vasha looked at the creature in the middle of the room for only a moment, before she ran to the wall it was standing on. She braced herself against the wall momentarily, before sending both hooks up in an attack. Both missed. This angle was going to be tricky, and if she didn't figure out a better vantage point, combat with this thing would be impossible.
Ato stands looking down into the pit, dread washing over him and making his skin crawl. Still, Kayn was right. Leaving this thing didn't solve anything, and someone else would come along eventually and discover it. He didn't want to contemplate what would happen if it got free of this prison. He gathers his courage, determined to follow the others down and fight, as foolish as that seemed. Grasping the rope, he too makes way down, reaching the bottom just as the others begin their assault on the horrifying creature standing over them.
[Climb down and over to F14, if possible - out of the way of the next climber]
Following behind Vasha and Kayn, Vesra slid down the rope. The minute her feet hit the floor, the small Kor's head began to reel. When she looked up, the scene she was met with was completely different from the one that was actually there. Her sister, a bloody mess, was on her hands and knees near the center of the room. Several bones protruded from her skin as the creature in the center of the room sent another tentacle through Vasha, lifting her up into the air and slamming her to the ground. The monk cried out in agony and pain, screaming Vesra's name. Kayn was also trapped, surrounded and entangled by the calcified stuff decorating the floor and walls. She could feel the dark presence of this perversion of mana all around her, assaulting her head. It was happy, it was enjoying this. Vesra thought she could hear a chuckle, eerily like her father's, as the darkness took pleasure in this torture.
"No!" Vesra screamed, tears streaming down her face as she collapsed into a pile on the floor. "VASHA!" A sob wracked her body.
"Lomilith, Saraph'musa, Endoro... how you fell so easily to these creatures is beyond me," Kayn's voice sounded distant, almost as if it was underwater. The mage's mouth wasn't moving, how was he talking? Suddenly, a firebolt materialized out of nowhere and slammed into the tentacled monster. Her vision flickered, the illusion fading before her eyes. Now she could see the hedron, her friends safe and whole. What was happening?
There was danger, and a fire had helped shake her out of... whatever had been going on in her head. She screamed again, this time hurling the mote of flame that she had been holding in her hand at the creature. "Don't you dare torture her!" Vesra cried out as the fire collided into the monstrosity.
Rezivah, having heard shrieks coming from below, quickly descended partly down the rope. Feeling that this wasn't fast enough, she let go and landed deftly on the dilapidated ground. The whole floor appeared ashy and eaten away. In the chamber was a monstrous aberration. Larger than any they have faced, and looking all the more deadly. Some of the party's members were already in battle with it.
Favoring her spells, Rezivah launches her signature darts of piercing white energy that zoomed through the air and struck the monster without fail. "Yes!" Next, Rezivah will test out the effect of the hedron bolts Veythe had given her.
Not a moment after casting her spell, Rezivah grasps her stomach. There was sensation unlike anything felt inside. Like, something was moving inside her. Rezivah retched, almost paralyzed by this grotesque feeling. Then she heard it. "Myyy... seed-bearer."
Tears flowed from her eyes down her face as she shrieked in horror.
(Land below the pit hole. Magic Missile cast for 12 damage)
As Veythe landed down at the ground she focused on the mess in front of her. What bullshit had Kayn gotten them into now? They really needed to have a talk about impulse control, Veythe figured, because this was getting rediculous. While she wanted to explore the hedron too, partly for Vasha and partly because it was a hedron, even she knew that caution should precede after the entire mess they'd been through! Still, she fingered her new lute from where she'd clasped it into place--she needed to to get down the rope since they were traversing into a pit of all things--when Rezivah spoke.
"Veythe. Those bolts. I believe they will prove considerably effective against these creatures. If more or worse specimen are below, I think both you and I should utilize them. Both of us have crossbows. Two armed with powerful weaponry is always better than one."
Veythe glanced over to Rezivah, and then tugged her case of bolts around to stare at the bolts they unearthed in the hedron. In the safety of getting things done quickly Veythe nodded. She'd cooperate if only to get rid of this thing so that she could properly berate Kayn for being so stupid.
"Take ten," Veythe said sharply. She left her new lute in place and pulled out her own crossbow. She quickly loaded one bolt into place, took aim, and fired. It hit home, although whatever effect it'd provide Veythe didn't see. She hoped it worked.
Somehow caught by surprise and taken back by Kayn's sudden assault—it's almost as if it's offended that no one wants to talk to it—the group takes advantage of the creature's slow [21 on Initiative] reflexes as it adjusts to the incredibly bright light brought on by the driftglobe. Yet even as the group positions themselves to attack, they notice the hedron's pulses shift, taking on a much brighter glow.
The light from the driftglobe reveals the room in its full propensity. What was once concealed by darkness is now brightly illuminated [bright light] as the group sees strange, embryonic birth pods scattered across the room: some are tethered to walls, the ceiling, the floor, etc. There must be at least thirty or so birth pods spread out across the room. Most of them have burst, releasing whatever eldritch horror rested within, but some are still being nurtured.
Having recovered from the sudden increase in light, the creature's reflexes are fast. With a whip of its tail, it lashes out at Vasha who has no chance to react [25 to-hit]. It bashes her into the steps leading up to its platform before wrapping it tail tightly around her [grappled].
At the same time, the four hedrons release a brilliant display of bright pink light, suddenly accompanied by a horrific barrage of psychic energy [8 psychic damage]. Visions of death and destruction fill the group's mind as their senses are assaulted. Some are able to shrug it off quicker than others, but for some, the visions continue as they are shown unutterable, uncalculable things of places the mind has not even contemplated of having tried to perceive. As the light fades, the psychic barrage ends, leaving some of them standing, gasping for air as their minds are wracked with insanity-producing thoughts and visions.
Vesra almost fell to her knees as the psychic onslaught hit her. She felt as if her head was going to explode. The vision she had seen before, her sister impaled on a tentacle, flickered back for a moment. What was real? What was happening? What could she...
She pointed a finger at her sister and cast Healing Spirit before she let out a scream. What was she supposed to do?
She had to save her sister. Protect everyone. Fight the darkness. That was what she always did. She ran up towards one of the hedrons, intending to punch it as soon as she scaled the wall and got in reach. Faint, ethereal music began to surround her.
Kayn concentrates, Sear, we've got a creature to kill! Stay out of sight, but keep him burning! Moments later his albino tattoo'd bat pops into existence. With a quick wave of Kayn's wand, the bat shudders and flies towards the beast, launching a turret of fire in its direction (8 damage DC 13 Dex for half). He then flies out of reach towards the edge of the room (D4 behind the hedron). Kayn reaches his... branch... out.. to climb. Shit. The wild managic of the hedron turned him into a plant. He tries to look down but can't. At least he's in a pot. He can hear the laughter of the speckormerelf in the back of his head. You're all plants too!! He responds to them.
As Vasha prepared herself for another attack, she heard Vesra cry out her name. She spun around, fearful that something had happened to her sister, when suddenly she was hit with great force. Everything went white for a moment, then exploded in pain. "Vesra," she called, weakly. "Run." In her head, she was screaming, when in reality, the words came out barely louder than a whisper. Then, she felt a wave of healing energy, and felt slightly better. Raising a hook, she sank it deeply into the tentacle. Then she formed both hands into fists. Calming herself, she gathered that force that lay deep within herself, and unleashed it, one fist, then the other.
(Healed 8 HP from Healing Spirit, first attack 24 to hit for 8 damage, spent Ki point, Flurry of Blows #1 - 23 to hit for 7 damage, Flurry of Blows #2 - 16 to hit for 5 damage)
Veythe wanted to curse. This is going completely badly! She tried to work up the courage to hum, to bring some sort of music to life, but for the life of her she couldn't quite manage it. Instead, seeing Vasha in such dire straights, she let out a sharp scream.
"You will not die!"
Hey, her magic worked with words and sounds, so perhaps this would do something. Something that needed to be done. For a second Veythe wondered what else she could do, and then realized--Vasha was still stuck there. She could--possibly--yes, reaching down within herself she could feel the call of music. She hummed for a second, and then sang a little softly--
"Brave child, strong child, there is nothing to fear. Protector, guide, you will be right here. Brave child, strong child, there is still more to do. Protector, guide, don't let them take you."
(healing word on Vasha for 6hp; bardic inspiration for Vasha)
Veythe did not like the sound of what Kayn shouted, and then Vasha's faint comments about the hedron built to contain more than treasure. With a narrow eyed stare and a glance over to Rezivah, Veythe quickly followed Kayn's instructions. Veythe unlatched the lute Vasha gifted her and readied her fingers upon the strings. Danger, she felt like screaming. If this was what Vielara wanted--if this ended in more death--Veythe didn't want to imagine it. She swallowed heavily.
"Don't...do anything reckless," she told the group. Veythe gnawed on her lip as she cautiously stepped closer to Kayn. "There are only so many spells I can use to help save you."
Dawning - A Homebrew Campaign - DM
Hoard of the Dragon Queen - DM | Recruiting Thread | Campaign ThreadTomb of Annihilation - DM
Dragon Heist of Waterdeep - DM
"Do you feel this?" Kayn addressed the group. The room below seethed with the same nauseous feel that the pit of vampires and nulls had. "We've barely traveled a ten-day from Affa and have encountered this twice. The first time we fled. This time we redeem ourselves. If these alien creatures are so spread across Akoum, nesting in what we thought were ancient stashes of weapons meant to defeat them, we will be fighting them regularly. We need to steel ourselves against them."
"I know some of you blame Vielara for what has happened. You hate her for the situation that you find yourself in. But this," he points down into the pit, "this is just an introduction to the gross evil that plagues Zendikar. We have more questions for Vielara now and can demand the answers when we see her. I have no doubt she knew what she was sending us in to, just as she knew the vampires in the life-bloom were using this evil for their own twisted experiments. We had... we have to see it for ourselves."
Kayn starts to pull rope from Ato's pack. "If we can defeat this thing, purge it from the hedron, we will know it can be beat. If not... we flee, lock the hedron, bury it in the pit of lava below. We cannot let this thing leave when others come to explore." Kayn starts to tie the rope around one of the desiccated hedrons. It acted more as a boulder now and anchored the rope well. He then tossed the other end into the pit. "The feelings of fear, distrust, dissent... I have no doubt they are bred by this thing." He blinks and wipes a bead of sweat from his chitinous forehead. "Are we ready?" He asks.
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Vasha glanced down the hole, chills making their way up her spine, as she saw that pinkish-purple light emanating from below. "Kayn," she said softly, crouching next to the hole. "I don't think this is a good idea." She glanced around as everyone was gathering. "When I sent my spirit into the hedron, I saw... the past. I think I saw through the creator's eyes at the moment the hedron was being created. I saw what it was meant to contain. This... horrible alien thing coming down from the sky. I've never seen anything so terrifying before in my life." She looked down the hole again, that fear creeping back into her heart. "If that thing is down there..."
She looked back up at her companions. "What if we can't kill it? If it was put here, that means there was no way to kill it before. Are we so egotistical to think that we could accomplish something they could not back then? Or what if we unknowingly unleash this thing upon Zendikar? We would be responsible for killing so many innocent people, and I'm not comfortable knowing that I would be part of that kind of suffering." Vasha looked at Vesra, tears welling up in her eyes, once again. "I know there could be consequences to going to Vielara virtually empty handed, and I'm going to take responsibility for that. This is my decision, and mine alone. I don't think we should go down there."
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
Rezivah times her sprint and rushes to beneath the gnarlid's corpse. It's bulk provided the perfect cover for her to slide low on the ground towards the group in the next chamber. There in, she saw broken hedron stones, and a pit.
The pit radiated with dread, their view polluted with a sickeningly pink light emanating from some unknown source. Rezivah thought back. Back to all the aberrations she's seen thus far. Back to the dream. Back to the mountain, back to the faceless entity with a hunger that could devour all of Zendikar and still not be sated. Nothing thus far radiated such an aura. Whether this was another alien being, Rezivah didn't know, but she didn't want to find out. She didn't ever want to find out, and she was glad she wasn't the only one.
She gulped. "I'm behind you, and I will corroborate your efforts thus far, in an attempt to appease Vielara's.. comportment."
“Kayn is right,” Vesra said softly, her words catching in her throat. It hurt to go against her sister’s beliefs, but she had to stand up for herself sometime. “If it gets to be too much, we can always run away. But this evil... it feels like fate.”
The kor glanced over at Kayn, worrying her bottom lip. “We have to also think about the ghosts. I trust them, but they don’t trust us. If we don’t cooperate, they can always kill Kayn.”
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
Vasha's heart sank as she heard her sister's words. She was sure Vesra would see that this was just too dangerous and want to turn back. Instead, she wanted to go down into the unknown. "Fine," Vasha said, hiding her face. "I'll go first, and make sure everything is okay." Without waiting for anyone to agree or disagree with her, she took the rope in hand, and began making her way down.
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
As Vasha made her way down after her sister's words, the peculiar bolts Veythe had came into view. She remembered Kayn had attempted to study them, but yielded no results. Rezivah thought about the meaning by the hedrons creation. Most larger ones were almost certainly containers, such as this one. Treasure, riches, glory, monsters.. All within an ancient stone prison. But these were significantly smaller, and purposely placed as a piercing implement. That in of itself portrayed a nature of piercing flesh, but any metal sharp enough can accomplish that. The effort was made to place hedrons.. Perhaps.. Perhaps these hedron weapons were considerably effective at damaging the alien aberrations, or even 'binding' them in a stunning or paralytic effect. Yes, that is the sense Rezivah gathered. She felt her line of thinking was exactly the designed purpose of those bolts.
"Veythe," Rezivah said calmly. "Those bolts. I believe they will prove considerably effective against these creatures. If more or worse specimen are below, I think both you and I should utilize them. Both of us have crossbows. Two armed with powerful weaponry is always better than one."
Kayn slides down the rope behind Vasha and calls out, "Don't forget the driftglobe!"
As Vessie climbs down after him, you hear him exclaim, "Ouch Vessie! That's my headplate." This is followed by a small whimper before he finally reaches the ground floor.
Whatever was down here, Kayn knew they had to see it. If their guild, or those that chose to stay within it, was meant to explore these relics, this would not be the first evil incarnate that they'd encounter. He felt something peculiar as he reached the ground, a psionic entity began to probe his mind. As it goes deeper, Kayn is able to fortify his mind against it, causing the psionic tentacle to recede from his thoughts. Fear us, Kayn thought. We will end you.
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Using Ato's rope, Vasha begins her descent down the hole to whatever lies below. She hits the ground, about twenty feet south of her. Kayn and Vesra quickly follow suit, scaling down the rope and landing in a very dark room, only barely illuminated in a pinkish-purple light [Darkness]. Their feet hit the ground with an audible crunch! as they realized just how heavily decayed the floor and walls were: their feet must've sunk a good foot into the ground, cracking through the bleached exoskeleton of the material.
As they land, they find themselves in a small alcove along the wall of a massive room. Not even Kayn's darkvision pierces through to the other side. The driftglobe's light illuminates their surroundings fair enough as they take in everything around them. Their eyes are immediately drawn to the center of the room: four hedrons, situated aloft 10-foot tall columns, slowly spin in the air, pulsating a pinkish-purple light as if in rhythm to some alien heartbeat. The light seems through both cracks and runes, hinting at them either being damaged, eroded, or a combination of both. The pulses are erratic at first, but you recognize some pattern to them as you continue to observe.
Situated between the hedrons lies a figure, dimly illuminated but well enough to make out. A large figure stands on multiple appendages as its tail flashes about. Its limbs seem to erupt from the creature's form, taking on the appearance of claws legs, a massive arm and claw, as well as another arm bifurcated at the elbow where two more arms grow from it, each ending in a sharp claw. Like the other abominations you've fought in this hellish place, it is covered in chitinous protrusions, forming a hard exoskeleton that ends in twisted spikes. Its flesh appears to be no less decayed than the others, as its pastel hues of pinks and purples blend into the pulsating lights emitting from the hedrons.
Kayn, your thought seems to stir something sort of response from it, as the image of three kor warriors laughing plays out in your mind. You see them as if you were there, watching from the bramble in a thick jungle as they chat in a language you don't understand. Their laughter turns to horror as hordes of these creatures swarm from the thick foliage all around them, their claws, tentacles, and teeth rending through flesh and bone as they paint the lush, green forest in the crimson hues of death. You feel a wicked sense of satisfaction as the vision ends.
"Lomilith, Saraph'musa, Endoro... how you fell so easily to these creatures is beyond me." Kayn eyes the 'Eldrazi' before him. It's massive in stature, but not nearly as big as he or the speckormerelf thought it would be. He felt the gross evil even more strongly here, but it felt as though it was coming from behind the creature before them. The hedrons pulsed, giving the goblin the impression that this creature might be trapped behind them. Had the vision of a Hurda being slaughtered were shown... he'd have been impressed. Kayn was confidant even he could take out three Kor if they crossed him.
As a test, he twirled his wand as he stepped forward and blasted the creature with a fire bolt. It connected! (22 to hit, 7 damage)
The creature reacts, as if about to pounce on them. This sets the goblin in motion. "Shviatwalo," he curses, touching the wand to himself and calling forth a managical armor that covers him in a translucent chitin. Advancing towards the beast, he calls out in Mer, "Your titan shall witness your fall!"
(Cast Mage Armor, move forward 15 feet to C10)
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Vasha looked at the creature in the middle of the room for only a moment, before she ran to the wall it was standing on. She braced herself against the wall momentarily, before sending both hooks up in an attack. Both missed. This angle was going to be tricky, and if she didn't figure out a better vantage point, combat with this thing would be impossible.
(Moved to G9, Attack 1- 16, Attack 2 - 14)
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
Ato stands looking down into the pit, dread washing over him and making his skin crawl. Still, Kayn was right. Leaving this thing didn't solve anything, and someone else would come along eventually and discover it. He didn't want to contemplate what would happen if it got free of this prison. He gathers his courage, determined to follow the others down and fight, as foolish as that seemed. Grasping the rope, he too makes way down, reaching the bottom just as the others begin their assault on the horrifying creature standing over them.
[Climb down and over to F14, if possible - out of the way of the next climber]
Following behind Vasha and Kayn, Vesra slid down the rope. The minute her feet hit the floor, the small Kor's head began to reel. When she looked up, the scene she was met with was completely different from the one that was actually there. Her sister, a bloody mess, was on her hands and knees near the center of the room. Several bones protruded from her skin as the creature in the center of the room sent another tentacle through Vasha, lifting her up into the air and slamming her to the ground. The monk cried out in agony and pain, screaming Vesra's name. Kayn was also trapped, surrounded and entangled by the calcified stuff decorating the floor and walls. She could feel the dark presence of this perversion of mana all around her, assaulting her head. It was happy, it was enjoying this. Vesra thought she could hear a chuckle, eerily like her father's, as the darkness took pleasure in this torture.
"No!" Vesra screamed, tears streaming down her face as she collapsed into a pile on the floor. "VASHA!" A sob wracked her body.
"Lomilith, Saraph'musa, Endoro... how you fell so easily to these creatures is beyond me," Kayn's voice sounded distant, almost as if it was underwater. The mage's mouth wasn't moving, how was he talking? Suddenly, a firebolt materialized out of nowhere and slammed into the tentacled monster. Her vision flickered, the illusion fading before her eyes. Now she could see the hedron, her friends safe and whole. What was happening?
There was danger, and a fire had helped shake her out of... whatever had been going on in her head. She screamed again, this time hurling the mote of flame that she had been holding in her hand at the creature. "Don't you dare torture her!" Vesra cried out as the fire collided into the monstrosity.
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
Rezivah, having heard shrieks coming from below, quickly descended partly down the rope. Feeling that this wasn't fast enough, she let go and landed deftly on the dilapidated ground. The whole floor appeared ashy and eaten away. In the chamber was a monstrous aberration. Larger than any they have faced, and looking all the more deadly. Some of the party's members were already in battle with it.
Favoring her spells, Rezivah launches her signature darts of piercing white energy that zoomed through the air and struck the monster without fail. "Yes!" Next, Rezivah will test out the effect of the hedron bolts Veythe had given her.
Not a moment after casting her spell, Rezivah grasps her stomach. There was sensation unlike anything felt inside. Like, something was moving inside her. Rezivah retched, almost paralyzed by this grotesque feeling. Then she heard it. "Myyy... seed-bearer."
Tears flowed from her eyes down her face as she shrieked in horror.
(Land below the pit hole. Magic Missile cast for 12 damage)
As Veythe landed down at the ground she focused on the mess in front of her. What bullshit had Kayn gotten them into now? They really needed to have a talk about impulse control, Veythe figured, because this was getting rediculous. While she wanted to explore the hedron too, partly for Vasha and partly because it was a hedron, even she knew that caution should precede after the entire mess they'd been through! Still, she fingered her new lute from where she'd clasped it into place--she needed to to get down the rope since they were traversing into a pit of all things--when Rezivah spoke.
"Veythe. Those bolts. I believe they will prove considerably effective against these creatures. If more or worse specimen are below, I think both you and I should utilize them. Both of us have crossbows. Two armed with powerful weaponry is always better than one."
Veythe glanced over to Rezivah, and then tugged her case of bolts around to stare at the bolts they unearthed in the hedron. In the safety of getting things done quickly Veythe nodded. She'd cooperate if only to get rid of this thing so that she could properly berate Kayn for being so stupid.
"Take ten," Veythe said sharply. She left her new lute in place and pulled out her own crossbow. She quickly loaded one bolt into place, took aim, and fired. It hit home, although whatever effect it'd provide Veythe didn't see. She hoped it worked.
Dawning - A Homebrew Campaign - DM
Hoard of the Dragon Queen - DM | Recruiting Thread | Campaign ThreadTomb of Annihilation - DM
Dragon Heist of Waterdeep - DM
Somehow caught by surprise and taken back by Kayn's sudden assault—it's almost as if it's offended that no one wants to talk to it—the group takes advantage of the creature's slow [21 on Initiative] reflexes as it adjusts to the incredibly bright light brought on by the driftglobe. Yet even as the group positions themselves to attack, they notice the hedron's pulses shift, taking on a much brighter glow.
The light from the driftglobe reveals the room in its full propensity. What was once concealed by darkness is now brightly illuminated [bright light] as the group sees strange, embryonic birth pods scattered across the room: some are tethered to walls, the ceiling, the floor, etc. There must be at least thirty or so birth pods spread out across the room. Most of them have burst, releasing whatever eldritch horror rested within, but some are still being nurtured.
Having recovered from the sudden increase in light, the creature's reflexes are fast. With a whip of its tail, it lashes out at Vasha who has no chance to react [25 to-hit]. It bashes her into the steps leading up to its platform before wrapping it tail tightly around her [grappled].
At the same time, the four hedrons release a brilliant display of bright pink light, suddenly accompanied by a horrific barrage of psychic energy [8 psychic damage]. Visions of death and destruction fill the group's mind as their senses are assaulted. Some are able to shrug it off quicker than others, but for some, the visions continue as they are shown unutterable, uncalculable things of places the mind has not even contemplated of having tried to perceive. As the light fades, the psychic barrage ends, leaving some of them standing, gasping for air as their minds are wracked with insanity-producing thoughts and visions.
Status Tracker:
Map:
Vesra almost fell to her knees as the psychic onslaught hit her. She felt as if her head was going to explode. The vision she had seen before, her sister impaled on a tentacle, flickered back for a moment. What was real? What was happening? What could she...
She pointed a finger at her sister and cast Healing Spirit before she let out a scream. What was she supposed to do?
She had to save her sister. Protect everyone. Fight the darkness. That was what she always did. She ran up towards one of the hedrons, intending to punch it as soon as she scaled the wall and got in reach. Faint, ethereal music began to surround her.
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
Kayn concentrates, Sear, we've got a creature to kill! Stay out of sight, but keep him burning! Moments later his albino tattoo'd bat pops into existence. With a quick wave of Kayn's wand, the bat shudders and flies towards the beast, launching a turret of fire in its direction (8 damage DC 13 Dex for half). He then flies out of reach towards the edge of the room (D4 behind the hedron). Kayn reaches his... branch... out.. to climb. Shit. The wild managic of the hedron turned him into a plant. He tries to look down but can't. At least he's in a pot. He can hear the laughter of the speckormerelf in the back of his head. You're all plants too!! He responds to them.
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As Vasha prepared herself for another attack, she heard Vesra cry out her name. She spun around, fearful that something had happened to her sister, when suddenly she was hit with great force. Everything went white for a moment, then exploded in pain. "Vesra," she called, weakly. "Run." In her head, she was screaming, when in reality, the words came out barely louder than a whisper. Then, she felt a wave of healing energy, and felt slightly better. Raising a hook, she sank it deeply into the tentacle. Then she formed both hands into fists. Calming herself, she gathered that force that lay deep within herself, and unleashed it, one fist, then the other.
(Healed 8 HP from Healing Spirit, first attack 24 to hit for 8 damage, spent Ki point, Flurry of Blows #1 - 23 to hit for 7 damage, Flurry of Blows #2 - 16 to hit for 5 damage)
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
Veythe wanted to curse. This is going completely badly! She tried to work up the courage to hum, to bring some sort of music to life, but for the life of her she couldn't quite manage it. Instead, seeing Vasha in such dire straights, she let out a sharp scream.
"You will not die!"
Hey, her magic worked with words and sounds, so perhaps this would do something. Something that needed to be done. For a second Veythe wondered what else she could do, and then realized--Vasha was still stuck there. She could--possibly--yes, reaching down within herself she could feel the call of music. She hummed for a second, and then sang a little softly--
"Brave child, strong child, there is nothing to fear. Protector, guide, you will be right here. Brave child, strong child, there is still more to do. Protector, guide, don't let them take you."
(healing word on Vasha for 6hp; bardic inspiration for Vasha)
Dawning - A Homebrew Campaign - DM
Hoard of the Dragon Queen - DM | Recruiting Thread | Campaign ThreadTomb of Annihilation - DM
Dragon Heist of Waterdeep - DM