As the disgusting mass of flesh erupts from Karvas, headed straight at Kalamin's center of mass, Lyra speaks a sudden, single syllable in Elvish and jagged beams of silvery-tinged black spike from her dark harmonica, causing Kalamin to jump out of the way and distracting the Seidrach himself.
(Lyra uses her reaction to cast Silvery Barbs, without a spell slot using Fey Touched, 60' range, granting herself advantage on her next d20 roll).
(Start of Lyra's turn: her reaction resets).
Lyra smiles grimly as some of her allies' attacks strike home and the fire from tortle bladesinger's Green Flame Blade sear away at the Seidarch.
"Feeling the burn, Karvas? Got some barbecue tips from your pal Bloody High Maggie. Something about searing the meat to lock in the juices..."
She sidesteps east and northeast, maintaining middle distance so she can rush in if her melee allies need, but still keeping range for her jet black beams.
Movement: E-->E-->NE-->NE Bonus Action: None Action: Lyra sends Eldritch Blast beams at Seidarch Karvas, the first at advantage thanks to Silvery Barbs, both benefitting from her Hexblade's Curse:
Eldritch Blast beam 1 to hit: 25 Eldritch Blast beam 1 damage: 11 (force) Forced Movement (Repelling Blast): none this time
Eldritch Blast beam 2 to hit: 13 Eldritch Blast beam 2 damage: 8 (force) Forced Movement (Repelling Blast): none this time
The shadowy blade cuts through the Priest'sarmor, burning him even as flames dance off the blade to sear the Seidrach's flesh. A moment later a jet black beam of energy slams into his upper torso, nearly knocking him off balance.
And then once more he feels the weight of a powerful command, ordering him to bow. Karvasbellows his frustrations, eyes burning with hatred as he glares up at Ilya. "WHAT. ARE. YOU!?"
Seidrach Karvas falls prone once more beside his Priest, bowing to the angelic Ilyaas she hovers above them.
The Seidrach and the Priestare both prone melee attacks have advantage while ranged attacks have disadvantage.
Leftenant moves forward in measured steps.He aligns with both the priest and Karvas as he stops some 60’ away. It was only a few days ago that he had met the others. But the strength they each wrought, the might they each wielded, their power they all commanded was impressive. He felt a renewed energy, one he had felt in the past…when he served the empire. He felt like he was a member of the team…again. It brought a smirk to his face in-spite of himself.
But he also feared that this wasn’t the last fight they all would have. Even if the rift closed with the Seidrach’s defeat, wouldn’t Maghda and their cult just try again? Seek them out to perform the planar ritual again. Maybe they’d tried before?
“You’ll not reign here, not this time. The old (looks at Kalamin), the new (lifts his head to Glyp), the divine (extends his left arm with bow in hand to Ilya) and the beguiling (extends right arm to Lyra as he draws an arrow) stand against you and your incursion.”
The old soldier brings the arrow to the bow and lets loose in quick succession two more shots.
Bonus Action: none Hunter’s Mark (Damage 1:2) (Damage 2:1) Action: Attack 1: (To Hit: 15/24 Damage: 9) Attack 2: (To Hit: 13/14, Damage: 6) Other: Colossus Slayer if applicable, (Damage: 8). Move: 30’ NE to centerline within the chamber, aligned with exit to the south.
Kalamin doesn't dare turn his back on the Seidrach, but when he hears the retired soldier rebuke the aberration, he smiles. "Well said!" He calls, raising his glaive to the air as it begins to shine with a lunar radiance. Gripping the weapon with both hands he drives it down into the mass of flesh called Karvas twice before ripping it out, spinning the other end around to bash him.
Ilya flies closer, brandishing a rapier to try and stab the prone Seidrach Karvas, but she's too unpracticed with the weapon, thrusting too shortly as she flies over the mass of flesh.
Action: Rapier Attack to hit: 11 Movement: 20ft NE
Lyra's eyes remain shadowy pools, and the ephemeral tendril of darkness undulates from the instrument at her throat to Karvas' temple like the strand from a jellyfish. The bard exults as her companions find their voice and their determination, and the abomination bows to Ilya's ascendant and regal divinity.
Though the Seidarch's question is not for her, she answers simply, without mocking this time, acknowledging and building on her companions' words.
"Catalysts and thralls once, we have become sentinels."
She lopes north and northwest, entering melee range at the opposite side of Karvas from Glyptemis and Kalamin, the dark tendril seeming to pulse and thicken as it contracts. Jet black beams of dark energy shoot towards the proneSeidarch from point blank range.
Movement: N-->N-->NW-->NW-->NW-->NW, just northeast of Karvas (within 5') Bonus Action: none Action: Lyra attacks Karvas with Eldritch Blast, the disadvantage from close range counteracted by the advantage of targeting a prone enemy within 5'. (In case Karvas is already at 0hp, she will move to the priest and attack them instead, similarly from 5' with disadvantage and advantage canceling).
Eldritch Blast beam 1 to hit: 23 Eldritch Blast beam 1 damage: 10 (force) (with Hexblade's Curse, or if against priest, then 7). Forced Movement (Repelling Blast): none this time
Eldritch Blast beam 2 to hit: 14 Eldritch Blast beam 2 damage: 9 (force) (with Hexblade's Curse, or if against priest, then 6). Forced Movement (Repelling Blast): none this time
Lyra still concentrates on Protection from Evil and Good. She has reaction spells. I believe Glyptemis still has (his second) d6 Bardic Inspiration from her.
Glyptemis stands over Karvas, listening to the others speak so bravely to this monstrosity, and including him in their statements! It almost comes as a surprise, but he halts that thought and realizes that they're right... he's holding his own here with these monsters. The power of his station is answering to him, in spite of his fears and trepidations.
He sheathes his scimitar, and the shadowy blade in his hand surges with a renewed strength before bursting again with a fiery green explosion as he swings it down on Karvas.
Bonus Action: Re-cast Shadow Blade at 3rd level Action: Green Flame Blade, 17 + 6 (BI) for 23 to hit Karvas, 17 psychic damage, 5 fire damage + 9 fire damage to the priest Movement: None
Karvas' world comes crashing down around him as he falls under the combined attacks of your entire party. Kalamin's glaive, burning with a luminous radiance tears away great chunks of his flesh. A point-blank blast of Lyra's dark beams of arcane energy caves in his jaw even as he tries to bellow something. And finally Glyptemis'sword buries into his meaty neck, searing through it with green fire.
But the Siedrach does not die as you were expecting.
Your ears pop as the pressure in the room changes, and the air in seems to rush towards a space next to Karvas. A high-pitched whistling rings in your ear, and you see the space next to the monstrosity begin to tear. A jagged rift. A tear in reality, as you saw within the basement of the Silvermane manor. Its edged fray into nothingness, and within the center of it you again catch glimpses of something otherwordly...Although this time it is not a featureless landscape, but a figure. You feel a tickling in your heads.
You see a pale and gaunt figure, covered in tattered silk and satin robes. A veil covers their face, and a broken dark iron crown rests on their head. At first you think you see gold and silver jewelry wrapped around them - their neck, their wrists, their torso...But then you realize them to be chains.
Karvas turns his head upwards to look, and for the first time, you see fear in his eyes. He tries to say something, but it comes out as jibberish from his ruined mouth. Iron chains like the one wrapped around the figure slither out of the reality tear. They loop around his torn neck, and his body, pulling him back through the rift. The Seidrach releases a sound like a whimper as he's pulled through. His Priest giggles. "Your soul become flesh, my Seidrach." The mass of flesh known as Karvas is pulled through, and the rift snaps shut, releasing a thunderclap and a rush of outward air.
The Priest, battered, bruised, and burned stands on his feet for the first time since the fight began. With a loping gait, he begins to move towards a pedestal on the northeast corner of the platform, laughing away.
(Kalamin, and Glyptemiswill have Opportunity Attacks, I'll resolve the rest of his turn if he lives through that).
Amidst the adrenaline of the fight, Kalamin feels his blood run cold. That thing, King of whatever blasted and alien land it called home was more unsettling than even the Seidrach. After it latches onto and pulls him through, he's left shaken enough that he almost doesn't realize the priest is trying to get away.
His glaive whips out, but likely too slowly to catch the fleeing madman.
The Priestdances out of the way of the pair's attacks as he runs, stopping at the pedestal on the corner of the platform. With a chuckle, he places his hand upon it. "Down, down, down we go!" It pulses with light, traveling along the gold diamond patterns that go around the platform.
At the Top of Initiative(20): The ground beneath you lurches as the the platform the Seidrachand the Priestcame up on begins to move, descending into the ground. It's not a speed descent, but it isn't glacial either.
OoC: The platform has currently dropped 20 feet. It will drop 20 feet at the beginning of every turn until it reaches the bottom of 80 feet
(Hexblade's Curse: as Seidarch Karvas is reduced to 0hp and pulled through the rift, the dark tendril connecting Lyra to Karvas pulses like a living thing. The Seidarch's life force is sucked away into Elwirith's shadowy realm, and Lyra heals 6hp that she does not need in the backwash).
The protective wards around Lyra disappear as she brings her dark harmonica to her lips to play a single beguiling note. There is no mockery in her voice as she addresses the priest without hostility or rancor, her eyes gaping pools of shadow as she gazes at him implacably.
"Your God appears and you move away? Down? No, no, no. This will not do. Instead, immediately move this platform back up to where it just was and take time to preach to us of Sotos' creed. Why you follow Him so devotedly. Surely we can be made to see His message and His glory. Sit down cross-legged, lay down your weapon and explain everything, leaving nothing out. Including why you laugh. What is so funny? We are listening."
Bonus Action: Unsettling Words: the next saving throw the priest makes is reduced by her final Bardic Inspiration die, d6 = 4 Action: Lyra drops concentration on Protection from Evil and Good and casts Suggestion on the priest. DC15 WIS Save, but subtract 4 from roll first. Movement: Inky black gaze locked on the priest, Lyra stays put.
The Priestmeets Lyra's gaze. As she attempts to charmhim into following her suggestion, he doesn't even seem to flinch as the spell washes over him. Still, he does seem like a naturally chatty fellow. He smiles, "Ah ah ah, you misunderstand. The Prince of Gallows is not our god, king of his realm he may be - he is no god. But he makes for quite a jailer."
"You will find Sotos' creed among the grooves and ridges of your own entrails, so by all means...Split yourself open and take a look!" He exclaims, finishing with a giggle.
Noting that Lyra seemed keen on getting answers out of the priest, Ilya floats downwards with the platform. If they were going to try and interrogate him, they needed to capture him without getting hurt...So she would move to disarm him. Her eyes flaring with golden brilliance, she speaks another command. "Drop"
Action: 1st Level Command on the priest. DC 14 WIS. Movement: Down to keep pace with the moving platform.
Kalamin glances between the two women, the gears turning slowly in his head as he picks up what they're going for. To Leftenant and Glyptemis, he calls out: "Careful, we want leave this one alive for now."
"Prince of Gallows...You know, I've spent a lifetime dealing with extraplanar incursions, then you and yours come along and start dropping names and titles I've never even heard of." He darts forward after the priest, turning the glaive in his hands so he whacks the deranged man with the flat of the blade instead of slashing him.
Action Glaive Attack:18 to hit, 13 (non lethal) Glaive Attack:11 to hit, 12(non lethal) Bonus Action Polearm Master Attack: 16 to hit, 6(non lethal)
Leftenant watches as the mad priest saunter towards the controls without molestation from either the paladin nor the wizard. He hears the servant speak and it is with horror that he sees the platform suddenly drop. With a dash, the veteran rushes to the edge and watches as the platform descends. He halts abruptly, arrow knocked and ready to release when he hears the old man speak about capturing the thrall alive. The soldier takes a few steps back from the edge, arrow in hand, bow in the other bracing himself for the leap he is about to make. Separating from his team, their shared experience, this isn’t an option. He can’t simply let it go. And so with a deep huff and a twist of his neck, cracking vertebrae, the veteran rushes towards the drop hoping to not break anything as he leaps onto the platform below trying his best to tuck and roll.
Movement: 30ft towards platform. (I had moved 30 closer to platform diagonally last turn.) Action: Dash (Included 10’ forward, 10’ back, and last 10’ forward before jumping into platform 20’ below.) Ending prone. Standing by for fall damage…
The flat of the polearm's blade cracks across the Priest's face - the grin fades from his face as his eyes roll into the back of his head and he drops to the ground unconscious. From above, LT comes dropping down from above (taking 11 fall damage as he hits the platform). As the platform continues to descend, you find yourselves with some respite: the battle is won.
Kalamin glances at the pedestal that surely controls the platform, but turns his attention towards the unconscious cultist priest instead. "Just for once, I would like to have some straight answers from someone." He mutters, going for the rope in his pack.
He takes the time to carefully and securely tie up their new prisoner, binding his feet, hands, and gagging him for the time being. While he works, he speaks his mind to the others. "This mystical platform that can move up and down doesn't strike me as something created by the Seidrach within the last month." He recalls what Thalorin Lightbody had referred to this place as in his journal. "I take that to mean this Site-13 is mostly an underground structure. Might be worth looking around, though it bothers me that our friend here was trying to bring us down himself."
The darkness consuming Lyra's eyes dissipates and her irises return to their customary warm brown as if nothing had ever changed.
"In truth, I had every intention of slaying the mad priest, but was attempting to trick him into raising the platform back up while explaining himself to us. Little did I know that his type seems immune to my suggestions, yet evidently not immune to angelic majesty." Lyra gives Ilya a wink and respectful nod.
She turns to respond to Kalamin's query. "It seems that unless one of you (perhaps Glyp?) can discover the magic or artifice behind the pedestal that controls this platform, we are downward bound whether we will it or no. Certainly not my preference, from what we saw of the writhing tentacles that the rise of the platform seemed to cut off, not to mention the priest's own mirthful eagerness for descent."
Lyra does not mention that she and perhaps others have a fleeting window to Misty Step back up to the top while still within thirty feet and line of sight, but that would be abandoning some of her companions, including LT, who had voluntarily jumped down to join them. She helps steady him after his fall.
She taps a finger on her lips. "Interesting that. Our Toto is not a god after all, but certainly still a messiah of sorts, a so-called king bound in chains. Lord of Gallows. With all the necromancy going about, seems like perhaps he rules over Death. Or the Undead."
Lyra plays an incongruous chord on her dark harmonica and murmurs an improvised melody to herself. Here lies the gallows king. His fall was not a a small one. We but built his pedestal, A narrow and a tall one.
Ilya lands at the platform as it descends, her radiance and wings fading as her brief hold on the power runs out. Her cheeks flush with Lyra's comment...So much of her life had been hiding that form, she feels embarrassment when attention is drawn to it.
"I am curious about this place, but we should be cautious if we take a look around."
If anyone does move to the pedestal, she touches them with a glowing mote of guidance to aid their investigation.
"I'm not certain that was Sotos at all...I-I think that was his jailer? He said that the Prince of Gallows was not "our god." And Seidrach Karvas was fearful when he saw him. It seems like the Nalkir, well most of them anyway, were pulled into this other realm. Imprisoned."
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As the disgusting mass of flesh erupts from Karvas, headed straight at Kalamin's center of mass, Lyra speaks a sudden, single syllable in Elvish and jagged beams of silvery-tinged black spike from her dark harmonica, causing Kalamin to jump out of the way and distracting the Seidrach himself.
(Lyra uses her reaction to cast Silvery Barbs, without a spell slot using Fey Touched, 60' range, granting herself advantage on her next d20 roll).
(Start of Lyra's turn: her reaction resets).
Lyra smiles grimly as some of her allies' attacks strike home and the fire from tortle bladesinger's Green Flame Blade sear away at the Seidarch.
"Feeling the burn, Karvas? Got some barbecue tips from your pal Bloody High Maggie. Something about searing the meat to lock in the juices..."
She sidesteps east and northeast, maintaining middle distance so she can rush in if her melee allies need, but still keeping range for her jet black beams.
Movement: E-->E-->NE-->NE
Bonus Action: None
Action: Lyra sends Eldritch Blast beams at Seidarch Karvas, the first at advantage thanks to Silvery Barbs, both benefitting from her Hexblade's Curse:
Eldritch Blast beam 1 to hit: 25
Eldritch Blast beam 1 damage: 11 (force)
Forced Movement (Repelling Blast): none this time
Eldritch Blast beam 2 to hit: 13
Eldritch Blast beam 2 damage: 8 (force)
Forced Movement (Repelling Blast): none this time
Sabetha(Monk2):DungeonMair's Rime/Inge(Barbarian2):Krayveneer's After the Fall/Seri(Cleric1/Sorcerer1):Uhtred's Windward Isles/Barn(Paladin1):Nyx's ToA
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4):Vos' Beyond the Veil/Soren(Druid4):Bartjeebus' Ravenloft/Nivi(Rogue3):Raiketsu's CoS/Lyra(Warlock2/Bard3):BlameItOnWinter's Will of the Ancients
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request/Quyen(Adept1):Constance's Nentir Vale/Toa(Barbarian6/Fighter4):MrWhisker's Dark Lord's Return
Ilya flies closer, eyes still shining as she glowers down at the abomination. "BOW!"
Action: 2nd Level Command DC 14 WIS save on Seidrach Karvas and his Priest.
Movement: Full movement north.
The shadowy blade cuts through the Priest's armor, burning him even as flames dance off the blade to sear the Seidrach's flesh. A moment later a jet black beam of energy slams into his upper torso, nearly knocking him off balance.
And then once more he feels the weight of a powerful command, ordering him to bow. Karvas bellows his frustrations, eyes burning with hatred as he glares up at Ilya. "WHAT. ARE. YOU!?"
Seidrach Karvas falls prone once more beside his Priest, bowing to the angelic Ilya as she hovers above them.
The Seidrach and the Priest are both prone melee attacks have advantage while ranged attacks have disadvantage.
The entire gang, you're up again!
Leftenant moves forward in measured steps. He aligns with both the priest and Karvas as he stops some 60’ away. It was only a few days ago that he had met the others. But the strength they each wrought, the might they each wielded, their power they all commanded was impressive. He felt a renewed energy, one he had felt in the past…when he served the empire. He felt like he was a member of the team…again. It brought a smirk to his face in-spite of himself.
But he also feared that this wasn’t the last fight they all would have. Even if the rift closed with the Seidrach’s defeat, wouldn’t Maghda and their cult just try again? Seek them out to perform the planar ritual again. Maybe they’d tried before?
“You’ll not reign here, not this time. The old (looks at Kalamin), the new (lifts his head to Glyp), the divine (extends his left arm with bow in hand to Ilya) and the beguiling (extends right arm to Lyra as he draws an arrow) stand against you and your incursion.”
The old soldier brings the arrow to the bow and lets loose in quick succession two more shots.
Bonus Action: none
Hunter’s Mark (Damage 1: 2) (Damage 2: 1)
Action: Attack 1: (To Hit: 15/
24Damage: 9)Attack 2: (To Hit: 13/
14, Damage: 6)Other: Colossus Slayer if applicable, (Damage: 8).
Move: 30’ NE to centerline within the chamber, aligned with exit to the south.
Kalamin doesn't dare turn his back on the Seidrach, but when he hears the retired soldier rebuke the aberration, he smiles. "Well said!" He calls, raising his glaive to the air as it begins to shine with a lunar radiance. Gripping the weapon with both hands he drives it down into the mass of flesh called Karvas twice before ripping it out, spinning the other end around to bash him.
Action
Glaive Attack: 17 to hit, 11 damage + 13 radiant damage (2nd level Smite)
Glaive Attack: 22 to hit, 5 damage + 14 radiant damage (2nd level Smite)
Bonus Action
Polearm Master Attack: 19 to hit, 5 damage + 4 radiant damage (1st level Smite)
Ilya flies closer, brandishing a rapier to try and stab the prone Seidrach Karvas, but she's too unpracticed with the weapon, thrusting too shortly as she flies over the mass of flesh.
Action: Rapier Attack to hit: 11
Movement: 20ft NE
Lyra's eyes remain shadowy pools, and the ephemeral tendril of darkness undulates from the instrument at her throat to Karvas' temple like the strand from a jellyfish. The bard exults as her companions find their voice and their determination, and the abomination bows to Ilya's ascendant and regal divinity.
Though the Seidarch's question is not for her, she answers simply, without mocking this time, acknowledging and building on her companions' words.
"Catalysts and thralls once, we have become sentinels."
She lopes north and northwest, entering melee range at the opposite side of Karvas from Glyptemis and Kalamin, the dark tendril seeming to pulse and thicken as it contracts. Jet black beams of dark energy shoot towards the prone Seidarch from point blank range.
Movement: N-->N-->NW-->NW-->NW-->NW, just northeast of Karvas (within 5')
Bonus Action: none
Action: Lyra attacks Karvas with Eldritch Blast, the disadvantage from close range counteracted by the advantage of targeting a prone enemy within 5'. (In case Karvas is already at 0hp, she will move to the priest and attack them instead, similarly from 5' with disadvantage and advantage canceling).
Eldritch Blast beam 1 to hit: 23
Eldritch Blast beam 1 damage: 10 (force) (with Hexblade's Curse, or if against priest, then 7).
Forced Movement (Repelling Blast): none this time
Eldritch Blast beam 2 to hit: 14
Eldritch Blast beam 2 damage: 9 (force) (with Hexblade's Curse, or if against priest, then 6).
Forced Movement (Repelling Blast): none this time
Lyra still concentrates on Protection from Evil and Good. She has reaction spells. I believe Glyptemis still has (his second) d6 Bardic Inspiration from her.
Sabetha(Monk2):DungeonMair's Rime/Inge(Barbarian2):Krayveneer's After the Fall/Seri(Cleric1/Sorcerer1):Uhtred's Windward Isles/Barn(Paladin1):Nyx's ToA
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4):Vos' Beyond the Veil/Soren(Druid4):Bartjeebus' Ravenloft/Nivi(Rogue3):Raiketsu's CoS/Lyra(Warlock2/Bard3):BlameItOnWinter's Will of the Ancients
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request/Quyen(Adept1):Constance's Nentir Vale/Toa(Barbarian6/Fighter4):MrWhisker's Dark Lord's Return
Glyptemis stands over Karvas, listening to the others speak so bravely to this monstrosity, and including him in their statements! It almost comes as a surprise, but he halts that thought and realizes that they're right... he's holding his own here with these monsters. The power of his station is answering to him, in spite of his fears and trepidations.
He sheathes his scimitar, and the shadowy blade in his hand surges with a renewed strength before bursting again with a fiery green explosion as he swings it down on Karvas.
Bonus Action: Re-cast Shadow Blade at 3rd level
Action: Green Flame Blade, 17 + 6 (BI) for 23 to hit Karvas, 17 psychic damage, 5 fire damage + 9 fire damage to the priest
Movement: None
Karvas' world comes crashing down around him as he falls under the combined attacks of your entire party. Kalamin's glaive, burning with a luminous radiance tears away great chunks of his flesh. A point-blank blast of Lyra's dark beams of arcane energy caves in his jaw even as he tries to bellow something. And finally Glyptemis' sword buries into his meaty neck, searing through it with green fire.
But the Siedrach does not die as you were expecting.
Your ears pop as the pressure in the room changes, and the air in seems to rush towards a space next to Karvas. A high-pitched whistling rings in your ear, and you see the space next to the monstrosity begin to tear. A jagged rift. A tear in reality, as you saw within the basement of the Silvermane manor. Its edged fray into nothingness, and within the center of it you again catch glimpses of something otherwordly...Although this time it is not a featureless landscape, but a figure. You feel a tickling in your heads.
You see a pale and gaunt figure, covered in tattered silk and satin robes. A veil covers their face, and a broken dark iron crown rests on their head. At first you think you see gold and silver jewelry wrapped around them - their neck, their wrists, their torso...But then you realize them to be chains.
Karvas turns his head upwards to look, and for the first time, you see fear in his eyes. He tries to say something, but it comes out as jibberish from his ruined mouth. Iron chains like the one wrapped around the figure slither out of the reality tear. They loop around his torn neck, and his body, pulling him back through the rift. The Seidrach releases a sound like a whimper as he's pulled through. His Priest giggles. "Your soul become flesh, my Seidrach." The mass of flesh known as Karvas is pulled through, and the rift snaps shut, releasing a thunderclap and a rush of outward air.
The Priest, battered, bruised, and burned stands on his feet for the first time since the fight began. With a loping gait, he begins to move towards a pedestal on the northeast corner of the platform, laughing away.
(Kalamin, and Glyptemis will have Opportunity Attacks, I'll resolve the rest of his turn if he lives through that).
Amidst the adrenaline of the fight, Kalamin feels his blood run cold. That thing, King of whatever blasted and alien land it called home was more unsettling than even the Seidrach. After it latches onto and pulls him through, he's left shaken enough that he almost doesn't realize the priest is trying to get away.
His glaive whips out, but likely too slowly to catch the fleeing madman.
Reaction
Glaive Attack: 11 to hit, 13 damage
Glyptemis
Reaction: Shadow Blade to hit: 11
The Priest dances out of the way of the pair's attacks as he runs, stopping at the pedestal on the corner of the platform. With a chuckle, he places his hand upon it. "Down, down, down we go!" It pulses with light, traveling along the gold diamond patterns that go around the platform.
At the Top of Initiative(20): The ground beneath you lurches as the the platform the Seidrach and the Priest came up on begins to move, descending into the ground. It's not a speed descent, but it isn't glacial either.
OoC: The platform has currently dropped 20 feet. It will drop 20 feet at the beginning of every turn until it reaches the bottom of 80 feet
The party is now up in initiative!
(Hexblade's Curse: as Seidarch Karvas is reduced to 0hp and pulled through the rift, the dark tendril connecting Lyra to Karvas pulses like a living thing. The Seidarch's life force is sucked away into Elwirith's shadowy realm, and Lyra heals 6hp that she does not need in the backwash).
The protective wards around Lyra disappear as she brings her dark harmonica to her lips to play a single beguiling note. There is no mockery in her voice as she addresses the priest without hostility or rancor, her eyes gaping pools of shadow as she gazes at him implacably.
"Your God appears and you move away? Down? No, no, no. This will not do. Instead, immediately move this platform back up to where it just was and take time to preach to us of Sotos' creed. Why you follow Him so devotedly. Surely we can be made to see His message and His glory. Sit down cross-legged, lay down your weapon and explain everything, leaving nothing out. Including why you laugh. What is so funny? We are listening."
Bonus Action: Unsettling Words: the next saving throw the priest makes is reduced by her final Bardic Inspiration die, d6 = 4
Action: Lyra drops concentration on Protection from Evil and Good and casts Suggestion on the priest. DC15 WIS Save, but subtract 4 from roll first.
Movement: Inky black gaze locked on the priest, Lyra stays put.
Sabetha(Monk2):DungeonMair's Rime/Inge(Barbarian2):Krayveneer's After the Fall/Seri(Cleric1/Sorcerer1):Uhtred's Windward Isles/Barn(Paladin1):Nyx's ToA
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4):Vos' Beyond the Veil/Soren(Druid4):Bartjeebus' Ravenloft/Nivi(Rogue3):Raiketsu's CoS/Lyra(Warlock2/Bard3):BlameItOnWinter's Will of the Ancients
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request/Quyen(Adept1):Constance's Nentir Vale/Toa(Barbarian6/Fighter4):MrWhisker's Dark Lord's Return
The Priest meets Lyra's gaze. As she attempts to charm him into following her suggestion, he doesn't even seem to flinch as the spell washes over him. Still, he does seem like a naturally chatty fellow. He smiles, "Ah ah ah, you misunderstand. The Prince of Gallows is not our god, king of his realm he may be - he is no god. But he makes for quite a jailer."
"You will find Sotos' creed among the grooves and ridges of your own entrails, so by all means...Split yourself open and take a look!" He exclaims, finishing with a giggle.
Noting that Lyra seemed keen on getting answers out of the priest, Ilya floats downwards with the platform. If they were going to try and interrogate him, they needed to capture him without getting hurt...So she would move to disarm him. Her eyes flaring with golden brilliance, she speaks another command. "Drop"
Action: 1st Level Command on the priest. DC 14 WIS.
Movement: Down to keep pace with the moving platform.
Kalamin glances between the two women, the gears turning slowly in his head as he picks up what they're going for. To Leftenant and Glyptemis, he calls out: "Careful, we want leave this one alive for now."
"Prince of Gallows...You know, I've spent a lifetime dealing with extraplanar incursions, then you and yours come along and start dropping names and titles I've never even heard of." He darts forward after the priest, turning the glaive in his hands so he whacks the deranged man with the flat of the blade instead of slashing him.
Action
Glaive Attack: 18 to hit, 13 (non lethal)
Glaive Attack: 11 to hit, 12 (non lethal)
Bonus Action
Polearm Master Attack: 16 to hit, 6 (non lethal)
Leftenant watches as the mad priest saunter towards the controls without molestation from either the paladin nor the wizard. He hears the servant speak and it is with horror that he sees the platform suddenly drop. With a dash, the veteran rushes to the edge and watches as the platform descends. He halts abruptly, arrow knocked and ready to release when he hears the old man speak about capturing the thrall alive.
The soldier takes a few steps back from the edge, arrow in hand, bow in the other bracing himself for the leap he is about to make. Separating from his team, their shared experience, this isn’t an option. He can’t simply let it go. And so with a deep huff and a twist of his neck, cracking vertebrae, the veteran rushes towards the drop hoping to not break anything as he leaps onto the platform below trying his best to tuck and roll.
Movement: 30ft towards platform. (I had moved 30 closer to platform diagonally last turn.)
Action: Dash (Included 10’ forward, 10’ back, and last 10’ forward before jumping into platform 20’ below.) Ending prone.
Standing by for fall damage…
The flat of the polearm's blade cracks across the Priest's face - the grin fades from his face as his eyes roll into the back of his head and he drops to the ground unconscious. From above, LT comes dropping down from above (taking 11 fall damage as he hits the platform). As the platform continues to descend, you find yourselves with some respite: the battle is won.
OoC: Out of initiative!
Kalamin glances at the pedestal that surely controls the platform, but turns his attention towards the unconscious cultist priest instead. "Just for once, I would like to have some straight answers from someone." He mutters, going for the rope in his pack.
He takes the time to carefully and securely tie up their new prisoner, binding his feet, hands, and gagging him for the time being. While he works, he speaks his mind to the others. "This mystical platform that can move up and down doesn't strike me as something created by the Seidrach within the last month." He recalls what Thalorin Lightbody had referred to this place as in his journal. "I take that to mean this Site-13 is mostly an underground structure. Might be worth looking around, though it bothers me that our friend here was trying to bring us down himself."
"What do you all think?"
The darkness consuming Lyra's eyes dissipates and her irises return to their customary warm brown as if nothing had ever changed.
"In truth, I had every intention of slaying the mad priest, but was attempting to trick him into raising the platform back up while explaining himself to us. Little did I know that his type seems immune to my suggestions, yet evidently not immune to angelic majesty." Lyra gives Ilya a wink and respectful nod.
She turns to respond to Kalamin's query. "It seems that unless one of you (perhaps Glyp?) can discover the magic or artifice behind the pedestal that controls this platform, we are downward bound whether we will it or no. Certainly not my preference, from what we saw of the writhing tentacles that the rise of the platform seemed to cut off, not to mention the priest's own mirthful eagerness for descent."
Lyra does not mention that she and perhaps others have a fleeting window to Misty Step back up to the top while still within thirty feet and line of sight, but that would be abandoning some of her companions, including LT, who had voluntarily jumped down to join them. She helps steady him after his fall.
She taps a finger on her lips. "Interesting that. Our Toto is not a god after all, but certainly still a messiah of sorts, a so-called king bound in chains. Lord of Gallows. With all the necromancy going about, seems like perhaps he rules over Death. Or the Undead."
Lyra plays an incongruous chord on her dark harmonica and murmurs an improvised melody to herself.
Here lies the gallows king.
His fall was not a a small one.
We but built his pedestal,
A narrow and a tall one.
Sabetha(Monk2):DungeonMair's Rime/Inge(Barbarian2):Krayveneer's After the Fall/Seri(Cleric1/Sorcerer1):Uhtred's Windward Isles/Barn(Paladin1):Nyx's ToA
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4):Vos' Beyond the Veil/Soren(Druid4):Bartjeebus' Ravenloft/Nivi(Rogue3):Raiketsu's CoS/Lyra(Warlock2/Bard3):BlameItOnWinter's Will of the Ancients
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request/Quyen(Adept1):Constance's Nentir Vale/Toa(Barbarian6/Fighter4):MrWhisker's Dark Lord's Return
Ilya lands at the platform as it descends, her radiance and wings fading as her brief hold on the power runs out. Her cheeks flush with Lyra's comment...So much of her life had been hiding that form, she feels embarrassment when attention is drawn to it.
"I am curious about this place, but we should be cautious if we take a look around."
If anyone does move to the pedestal, she touches them with a glowing mote of guidance to aid their investigation.
"I'm not certain that was Sotos at all...I-I think that was his jailer? He said that the Prince of Gallows was not "our god." And Seidrach Karvas was fearful when he saw him. It seems like the Nalkir, well most of them anyway, were pulled into this other realm. Imprisoned."