With a grand gesture and a series of arcane words bellowed in his dark, gravely language, the cult leader points his staff at each of the casters and their protective ritual circles. As he does so, each circle flares in response with elemental energies and, within the great circle, the two yellow gems pulse with barely contained magic. The beast snarls with fury and renews its efforts to escape the confining circle. You notice with some trepidation that its blows do not trigger the same degree of opacity as before - the barrier seems to have weakened.
In imitation of their leader, the three remaining casters raise their staves and chant in echoing response to his words. As they speak, beams lance from each of their circles and seem to lend strength to the central circle. However, the shells of protective magic about the casters appear to become less substantial as this occurs.
In response to this, the heroes respond simultaneously. Realizing the 30’ climb required to reach the cult leader would leave him a very vulnerable target to attacks, Guan Hao runs to a good position and hurls an axe at the leader. However, the projectile whistles past harmlessly as the cultist ducks from its path. Skoth fires his crossbow at the leader but the bolt deflects off the man’s armor. Wendell, finding a small rock nearby, casts catapult at leader. The tiny stone whistles through the cavern and hits its mark squarely on the side of his head. Running around casters and past the collapsed pillar, Mady positions herself to get a good shot on the cult leader with her bow. Rather than firing, however, she points a finger at the leader a whispers a word. Her eyes briefly flare with faint silvery light. Elaric closes in on the nearest caster, drawing his short sword as he advances, and attempts to break the protective barrier through arcane means, but he seems to struggle in vain. Gong, calling upon his newly granted divine powers, casts sacred flame on leader who appears to momentarily writhe in pain as a faint golden glow surrounds him. With no unprotected cultists left to hit, Balasar runs at the nearest caster and attempts to breach his barrier with sheer physical force. Amazingly, his blade bites through the weakened arcane barrier, causing it to explode in a burst of flames. The flames merely singe Balasar, whose draconic heritage protects him from fire, but the cultist is not so lucky. Not only does Balasar's blade cut deeply into the man with both physical force and divine power, but the fire of the explosion engulfed and ignited the hapless man. As the last energies of the barrier fade, the central barrier about the beast seems to flicker and spark with small holes appearing in its shimmering surface.
Watching all of this with a growing air of rage, the cult leader waves his hands about and chants quickly. Immediately after finishing his spell, he shouts out in a bellow resembling two large boulders grinding against one another. In response, the two remaining protected casters fling up their arms, dispelling not only their barriers, but that of the beast as well! All three casters begin chanting arcane words.
Balasar, Skoth, Elaric, and Mady all rush to attack the focused casters, but only Balasar succeeds in landing a blow. While that caster, still ablaze, falters and fails to save his spell, the other two finish their incantations and step backwards INTO the stone walls, blending seamlessly with the crumbling rock and effectively vanishing from sight.
The barrier about the beast flashes and flickers one final time before collapsing. The beast, clearly injured from the arcane ritual, roars with pain and furious rage before pouncing upon the still sleeping cultist left near the entrance to the chamber.
Despite a clumsy attack, the beast bites the magically slumbering cultist cleanly in half, killing him instantly, before gulping down the remains.
Swinging twice at the enormous beast, Guan Hao's magical glaive carves two wounds into the beast, prompting small spurts of steaming hot blood to arc out. Meanwhile, Skoth steps back several feet, considering the use of his crossbow. However, as he sized up his opponent, a sudden look of comprehension spreads across his face. He raises his hands and casts acid arrow at his foe, piercing the creature's rocky armor with a magical bolt. The beast howls in renewed pain.
Wendell, partially protected by the cover of a pillar, hurls a sling bullet at the cult leader, hitting the man hard enough to dent his armor and eliciting a snarl of frustration that carried across the room. At the opposite pillar, Mady, moving far away from the beast, never lost sight of her primary target - the cult leader. Her eyes still glowing with a silvery light, she let fly a single arrow with incredible precision, striking the cultist in a seam between two pieces of armor. However, even before the arrow hit home, Mady was moving back into the shadows and out of everyone's sight.
Elaric, recognizing the beast’s elemental nature and its particular vulnerability to thunder damage, shouted as much to the group before pulling a large diamond from his pouch and casting chromatic orb. The precious stone, now imbued with the arcane essence of thunder, sails into the beast, exploding with a shocking BOOM which shattered chunks of rock armor from the creature's back. Seeing the gleam of malevolent spite in the beast's eye, Elaric rapidly traces a complex symbol in the air. Becoming surrounded by a silvery mist, Elaric's form wavers and then vanishes, only to reappear near Balasar and the flaming cultist with which the barbarian struggles.
Gong, noting the beast’s rock plating as an indication of its elemental nature, files the information away as he casts sacred flame, burning the beast with divinely granted radiance. Nearby, Balasar swings his enchanted greatsword at the burning caster, but the blade merely glances off the man’s armor as the flames engulfing him lick at Balasar’s arms and hands.
Atop his high pillar, the cult leader waves his hand about in another spell which ends in a startling flourish of movement. With nigh impossible speed, the cult leader dashes down his 30’ high pillar like a spider, hits the ground in an upright position, and continues to his wild sprint covering nearly 90’ and reaching the great chamber’s exit in seconds.
Simultaneously, both of the casters who had stepped into solid rock reemerge from the stone at their original points with the hands already waving in synchronized spells. As they finish, two hands made of solid earth spring from the ground, one next to Skoth, the other by Gong. Both heroes are seized in inescapable crashing grips, their bones creaking under the pressure. Neither can move.
With the reappearance of his brother casters, the flaming caster raises a rod of black stone in defiance of Balasar’s attack. Elemental magic suffuses the rod, causing it to vibrate with barely contained power as the cultist swings at Balasar, but the agile barbarian steps out range just in time.
A deafening roar draws everyone’s attention as the beast storms forward, lunging at the nearest cultist. Its cavernous maw gaping wide, the beast snaps twice before catching the cultist in its powerful jaws. Teeth as large and sharp as Balasar’s greatsword impale and restrain the struggling caster, but fail to kill him. As the beast begins to gnash and chew, Skoth’s acid arrow, still lodged in its rocky hide, now bursts in a cloud of caustic green mist, bringing forth yet another earsplitting roar.
Focused on what he considers the greatest threat and the most glorious prey, Guan Hao moves around behind the great beast's hindquarters and attacks again, his first strike digging a deep gash in the monster while the second blow glances off a rocky plate. Meanwhile, Skoth struggles against the large hand rooting him in place and just manages to break free. Rolling away and back up on his feet, the druid lets fly another acid arrow spell at the beast, but the magic streaks past, just missing its target.
On the opposite end of the room, Wendell, who noticed the cult leader's hasty departure, attempts to stop the man with a sleep spell, but the leader, seemingly unaffected by the magic, keeps running right out of the ritual chamber. As Wendell's attention shifts back to the other combatants, he sees his sister, Mady, appear from the shadows right beside the uninjured caster, her short sword singing through the air and just missing the cultist's throat. The startled man dances back a step, failing to notice as both Elaric and the escaped Gong move in to take advantage of Mady's distracting attack. Elaric fires all three beams of a scorching ray spell into the caster's side just as Gong's quarterstaff and spinning kick slam into the man from behind. The cultist, reeling from sensory overload, swings wildly at Mady with his enchanted black staff, but she easily sidesteps his clumsy panicked attack.
Balasar, nimbly dodging the flames springing from his opponent, gives a final rage-fueled swing of his enchanted greatsword and cleanly decapitates the man. The cultist's body crumples in on itself, exploding in a shower of rocks which barely bruise the mighty barbarian.
A low, bone-vibrating snarl emanates from beast. Looking over, the party watches in amazement as the mangled cultist caster forces his way free of the monster's mouth. Bleeding profusely, the man makes a feeble effort to retaliate, but fails to land his blow and nearly drops his enchanted staff in the process. Deprived of its meal, the angry beast lashes out ferociously with both its clawed paws, shredding its victim into a pile of bloody rags. As the cultist dies, he variously detached body parts explode in a cloud of rocky debris, but the beast barley seems to notice. It turns to face Guan Hao, apparently aware of the fighter's contribution to its current state of pain. It's mouth opens and a throaty growl rattles out, blasting hot, blood-scented air into the Goliath's face.
Cursing the cult leader, Wendell turns and fires a sling bullet towards the creature, then moves for cover behind another pillar, angling to get closer to the glowing gemstone set in the floor.
With his immediate foe dispatched, Balasar quaffs a potion of healing: 8
Balasar then moves to flank the beast with Guan Hao.
[OOC: I forget the turn order, so I'm not sure if this will happen in time to give GH advantage on this attack or not, but the goal is for both of us to have advantage on our attacks.]
Cursing the cult leader, Wendell turns and fires a sling bullet towards the creature, then moves for cover behind another pillar, angling to get closer to the glowing gemstone set in the floor.
To Hit: 23
Damage: 5
I'm going to ask that you move Wendell in roll20. I could see him going to either the north or south pillar, but cover from the beast or the caster will create different placements.
With a grand gesture and a series of arcane words bellowed in his dark, gravely language, the cult leader points his staff at each of the casters and their protective ritual circles. As he does so, each circle flares in response with elemental energies and, within the great circle, the two yellow gems pulse with barely contained magic. The beast snarls with fury and renews its efforts to escape the confining circle. You notice with some trepidation that its blows do not trigger the same degree of opacity as before - the barrier seems to have weakened.
In imitation of their leader, the three remaining casters raise their staves and chant in echoing response to his words. As they speak, beams lance from each of their circles and seem to lend strength to the central circle. However, the shells of protective magic about the casters appear to become less substantial as this occurs.
In response to this, the heroes respond simultaneously. Realizing the 30’ climb required to reach the cult leader would leave him a very vulnerable target to attacks, Guan Hao runs to a good position and hurls an axe at the leader. However, the projectile whistles past harmlessly as the cultist ducks from its path. Skoth fires his crossbow at the leader but the bolt deflects off the man’s armor. Wendell, finding a small rock nearby, casts catapult at leader. The tiny stone whistles through the cavern and hits its mark squarely on the side of his head. Running around casters and past the collapsed pillar, Mady positions herself to get a good shot on the cult leader with her bow. Rather than firing, however, she points a finger at the leader a whispers a word. Her eyes briefly flare with faint silvery light. Elaric closes in on the nearest caster, drawing his short sword as he advances, and attempts to break the protective barrier through arcane means, but he seems to struggle in vain. Gong, calling upon his newly granted divine powers, casts sacred flame on leader who appears to momentarily writhe in pain as a faint golden glow surrounds him. With no unprotected cultists left to hit, Balasar runs at the nearest caster and attempts to breach his barrier with sheer physical force. Amazingly, his blade bites through the weakened arcane barrier, causing it to explode in a burst of flames. The flames merely singe Balasar, whose draconic heritage protects him from fire, but the cultist is not so lucky. Not only does Balasar's blade cut deeply into the man with both physical force and divine power, but the fire of the explosion engulfed and ignited the hapless man. As the last energies of the barrier fade, the central barrier about the beast seems to flicker and spark with small holes appearing in its shimmering surface.
Watching all of this with a growing air of rage, the cult leader waves his hands about and chants quickly. Immediately after finishing his spell, he shouts out in a bellow resembling two large boulders grinding against one another. In response, the two remaining protected casters fling up their arms, dispelling not only their barriers, but that of the beast as well! All three casters begin chanting arcane words.
Balasar, Skoth, Elaric, and Mady all rush to attack the focused casters, but only Balasar succeeds in landing a blow. While that caster, still ablaze, falters and fails to save his spell, the other two finish their incantations and step backwards INTO the stone walls, blending seamlessly with the crumbling rock and effectively vanishing from sight.
The barrier about the beast flashes and flickers one final time before collapsing. The beast, clearly injured from the arcane ritual, roars with pain and furious rage before pouncing upon the still sleeping cultist left near the entrance to the chamber.
Despite a clumsy attack, the beast bites the magically slumbering cultist cleanly in half, killing him instantly, before gulping down the remains.
Swinging twice at the enormous beast, Guan Hao's magical glaive carves two wounds into the beast, prompting small spurts of steaming hot blood to arc out. Meanwhile, Skoth steps back several feet, considering the use of his crossbow. However, as he sized up his opponent, a sudden look of comprehension spreads across his face. He raises his hands and casts acid arrow at his foe, piercing the creature's rocky armor with a magical bolt. The beast howls in renewed pain.
Wendell, partially protected by the cover of a pillar, hurls a sling bullet at the cult leader, hitting the man hard enough to dent his armor and eliciting a snarl of frustration that carried across the room. At the opposite pillar, Mady, moving far away from the beast, never lost sight of her primary target - the cult leader. Her eyes still glowing with a silvery light, she let fly a single arrow with incredible precision, striking the cultist in a seam between two pieces of armor. However, even before the arrow hit home, Mady was moving back into the shadows and out of everyone's sight.
Elaric, recognizing the beast’s elemental nature and its particular vulnerability to thunder damage, shouted as much to the group before pulling a large diamond from his pouch and casting chromatic orb. The precious stone, now imbued with the arcane essence of thunder, sails into the beast, exploding with a shocking BOOM which shattered chunks of rock armor from the creature's back. Seeing the gleam of malevolent spite in the beast's eye, Elaric rapidly traces a complex symbol in the air. Becoming surrounded by a silvery mist, Elaric's form wavers and then vanishes, only to reappear near Balasar and the flaming cultist with which the barbarian struggles.
Gong, noting the beast’s rock plating as an indication of its elemental nature, files the information away as he casts sacred flame, burning the beast with divinely granted radiance. Nearby, Balasar swings his enchanted greatsword at the burning caster, but the blade merely glances off the man’s armor as the flames engulfing him lick at Balasar’s arms and hands.
Atop his high pillar, the cult leader waves his hand about in another spell which ends in a startling flourish of movement. With nigh impossible speed, the cult leader dashes down his 30’ high pillar like a spider, hits the ground in an upright position, and continues to his wild sprint covering nearly 90’ and reaching the great chamber’s exit in seconds.
Simultaneously, both of the casters who had stepped into solid rock reemerge from the stone at their original points with the hands already waving in synchronized spells. As they finish, two hands made of solid earth spring from the ground, one next to Skoth, the other by Gong. Both heroes are seized in inescapable crashing grips, their bones creaking under the pressure. Neither can move.
With the reappearance of his brother casters, the flaming caster raises a rod of black stone in defiance of Balasar’s attack. Elemental magic suffuses the rod, causing it to vibrate with barely contained power as the cultist swings at Balasar, but the agile barbarian steps out range just in time.
A deafening roar draws everyone’s attention as the beast storms forward, lunging at the nearest cultist. Its cavernous maw gaping wide, the beast snaps twice before catching the cultist in its powerful jaws. Teeth as large and sharp as Balasar’s greatsword impale and restrain the struggling caster, but fail to kill him. As the beast begins to gnash and chew, Skoth’s acid arrow, still lodged in its rocky hide, now bursts in a cloud of caustic green mist, bringing forth yet another earsplitting roar.
Focused on what he considers the greatest threat and the most glorious prey, Guan Hao moves around behind the great beast's hindquarters and attacks again, his first strike digging a deep gash in the monster while the second blow glances off a rocky plate. Meanwhile, Skoth struggles against the large hand rooting him in place and just manages to break free. Rolling away and back up on his feet, the druid lets fly another acid arrow spell at the beast, but the magic streaks past, just missing its target.
On the opposite end of the room, Wendell, who noticed the cult leader's hasty departure, attempts to stop the man with a sleep spell, but the leader, seemingly unaffected by the magic, keeps running right out of the ritual chamber. As Wendell's attention shifts back to the other combatants, he sees his sister, Mady, appear from the shadows right beside the uninjured caster, her short sword singing through the air and just missing the cultist's throat. The startled man dances back a step, failing to notice as both Elaric and the escaped Gong move in to take advantage of Mady's distracting attack. Elaric fires all three beams of a scorching ray spell into the caster's side just as Gong's quarterstaff and spinning kick slam into the man from behind. The cultist, reeling from sensory overload, swings wildly at Mady with his enchanted black staff, but she easily sidesteps his clumsy panicked attack.
Balasar, nimbly dodging the flames springing from his opponent, gives a final rage-fueled swing of his enchanted greatsword and cleanly decapitates the man. The cultist's body crumples in on itself, exploding in a shower of rocks which barely bruise the mighty barbarian.
A low, bone-vibrating snarl emanates from beast. Looking over, the party watches in amazement as the mangled cultist caster forces his way free of the monster's mouth. Bleeding profusely, the man makes a feeble effort to retaliate, but fails to land his blow and nearly drops his enchanted staff in the process. Deprived of its meal, the angry beast lashes out ferociously with both its clawed paws, shredding its victim into a pile of bloody rags. As the cultist dies, he variously detached body parts explode in a cloud of rocky debris, but the beast barley seems to notice. It turns to face Guan Hao, apparently aware of the fighter's contribution to its current state of pain. It's mouth opens and a throaty growl rattles out, blasting hot, blood-scented air into the Goliath's face.
Letting the beast's blood mist wash over him, Guan Hao bellows, "Taste my steel, you bastard spawn of a damned toad!" The Goliath lashes out at the beast's toothy maw with his glaive, attempting to sever its bloated, black tongue. While his first strike misses, his second hits the creature across the brow with a resounding crack! Having been subjected to the unknown effects of the cult's ritual and attacks both physical and magical from multiple foes, this last blow proves too much for the beast. Dropping to the ground, it lets loose one final rumbling growl before attempting unsuccessfully to stagger upright. With an eye to aiding his companion, Skoth takes aim with his crossbow, firing a bolt at the beast but missing as the creature drops to the ground from Guan Hao's strike. The druid moves to cover as he reloads for another shot. At the same instant, Wendell, having cursed the cult leader's escape, turns and fires a sling bullet towards the creature. The tiny projectile hits home in almost precisely the same spot Guan Hao hit. The already cracked brow plate of the beast forehead shatters open and the beast ceases to struggle, falling limply back to the ground, its crushed brain spilling out to cover its face. Though the beast is dead, Wendell considers the presence of the final cult caster and moves for cover behind another pillar, angling to get closer to the glowing gemstone set in the floor.
Even with the sounds of combat and death behind her, Mady appears focused solely on her opponent, the final cult caster. She waves her short sword about in a brief display of bade skill before settling into a defensive stance and beckoning to her foe, a tauntingly sardonic smile evident on her face. Noting the nature of the continued distraction provided by Mady, Elaric takes full advantage of the tableau to cast firebolt at the cultist. His aim true, the Elf's projectile streaks between two parts of the cultist's armor, burning the man painfully. Even before the magic strikes, Gong is there, swinging at the lone remaining cultist with his quarterstaff. While the enemy manages to duck the staff, Gong’s knee catches the man squarely in the ribs with bone-cracking force.
Dizzy with pain and attacks from multiple directions, the caster hefts his rod, imbuing it with dire energies and swings with all of his might at the clearest target - the taunting visage of Mady Rolfe. With a roar of frustration, the cultist brings his rod crashing down on Mady's head... and straight through her, the enhanced magic of his weapon dispersing into the floor, cracking the ground all about him. Looking up in abject confusion, the wide-eyed cultist watches as a smiling Mady, seemingly unharmed, waggles her fingers at him in a playful 'goodbye' gesture. Suddenly, an arrow bursts from the man's throat and he collapses to the ground, gargling as blood pours from the wound. The image of Mady blows him a kiss before winking out of existence and the real Mady steps from the shadows on the wall behind the dying man. Bow in hand and another arrow knocked, she draws the string taught, aiming at her downed foe. Noting the stares of her nearby companions, she shrugs, "What? Did you think Wendell the only magic user in our family?" Turning her attention back to the fallen caster, she adds, "Might be kindest just to end this one - he hasn't got long as it is. Shall I do the honors or did anyone feel like trying to talk with him first?"
Looking about, the chamber is now cleared of foes, save for the nearly dead caster. What does the party wish to do?
Seeing that Mady and Guan Hao have things in hand, Elaric strides off at a brisk pace, his attention focused on the ground and his path circuitous, following around the edge of the carved circles which once held the beast. In response to Guan Hao's pronouncement, the Elf calls out as he walks, "Don't forget, his fellow casters exploded on death. If you want to kill him, let Mady do it from a distance."
Guan Hao gives the fallen beast a swift kick, then strides over to the wounded caster and crouches down by his side, hefting his weapon meaningfully.
"We should ask this worm where his master crawled off to. Can't have vermin like that on the loose!"
[OOC: I'll wait a bit for other players to chime in before commencing any RPing with the cultist, but I'll definitely respond to this by tomorrow night (or sooner if everyone weighs in beforehand).]
Wendell nods, and moves over to the caster. Taking a moment, he conjures a spread cloak next to the fallen adversary.
"Move him onto this. We don't want him getting out the same way his friends did. While you're talking to him, I'd like to get a closer look at these gems."
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Focused on what he considers the greatest threat and the most glorious prey, Guan Hao moves around behind the great beast's hindquarters and attacks again, his first strike digging a deep gash in the monster while the second blow glances off a rocky plate. Meanwhile, Skoth struggles against the large hand rooting him in place and just manages to break free. Rolling away and back up on his feet, the druid lets fly another acid arrow spell at the beast, but the magic streaks past, just missing its target.
On the opposite end of the room, Wendell, who noticed the cult leader's hasty departure, attempts to stop the man with a sleep spell, but the leader, seemingly unaffected by the magic, keeps running right out of the ritual chamber. As Wendell's attention shifts back to the other combatants, he sees his sister, Mady, appear from the shadows right beside the uninjured caster, her short sword singing through the air and just missing the cultist's throat. The startled man dances back a step, failing to notice as both Elaric and the escaped Gong move in to take advantage of Mady's distracting attack. Elaric fires all three beams of a scorching ray spell into the caster's side just as Gong's quarterstaff and spinning kick slam into the man from behind. The cultist, reeling from sensory overload, swings wildly at Mady with his enchanted black staff, but she easily sidesteps his clumsy panicked attack.
Balasar, nimbly dodging the flames springing from his opponent, gives a final rage-fueled swing of his enchanted greatsword and cleanly decapitates the man. The cultist's body crumples in on itself, exploding in a shower of rocks which barely bruise the mighty barbarian.
A low, bone-vibrating snarl emanates from beast. Looking over, the party watches in amazement as the mangled cultist caster forces his way free of the monster's mouth. Bleeding profusely, the man makes a feeble effort to retaliate, but fails to land his blow and nearly drops his enchanted staff in the process. Deprived of its meal, the angry beast lashes out ferociously with both its clawed paws, shredding its victim into a pile of bloody rags. As the cultist dies, he variously detached body parts explode in a cloud of rocky debris, but the beast barley seems to notice. It turns to face Guan Hao, apparently aware of the fighter's contribution to its current state of pain. It's mouth opens and a throaty growl rattles out, blasting hot, blood-scented air into the Goliath's face.
Players may now act
"Taste my steel, you bastard spawn of a damned toad!"
Guan Hao lashes out at the open mouth with his glaive, attempting to sever the beast's tongue.
Attack: 21 Damage: 13
Bonus Attack: 23 Damage: 9
[Advantage to re-try that first strike, given GH has been presented with a large, soft target?]
Rerolled damage for second attack: 9
Cursing the cult leader, Wendell turns and fires a sling bullet towards the creature, then moves for cover behind another pillar, angling to get closer to the glowing gemstone set in the floor.
To Hit: 23
Damage: 5
With his immediate foe dispatched, Balasar quaffs a potion of healing: 5
Balasar then moves to flank the beast with Guan Hao.
[OOC: I forget the turn order, so I'm not sure if this will happen in time to give GH advantage on this attack or not, but the goal is for both of us to have advantage on our attacks.]
Skoth resorts back to his crossbow and shoots at the beast. He now also looks to move into cover.
Attack: 5
Damage: 6
I'm going to ask that you move Wendell in roll20. I could see him going to either the north or south pillar, but cover from the beast or the caster will create different placements.
Elaric casts firebolt at the caster!
Attack: 18
Damage: 5
If the remaining caster is in range (40ft movement speed), then Gong will move in for melee attacks. If not, he'll go for the creature.
+1 Quarterstaff attack: 21
Staff damage: 5
Bonus unarmed strike: 24
Unarmed strike damage: 5
Let me know if Gong is in a position to flank so that I can re-roll attacks if necessary.
The caster is directly in front of Gong (see Roll20 for visuals) and being flanked.
Second attack rolls due to advantage
+1 Quarterstaff: 8
Bonus Unarmed Strike: 21
Mady readies her strike against the caster!
Attack: 23
Damage: 14
Sneak attack bonus: 18
Caster swings his enchanted rod at Mady!
Attack: 18
Damage: 5 and 27
Letting the beast's blood mist wash over him, Guan Hao bellows, "Taste my steel, you bastard spawn of a damned toad!" The Goliath lashes out at the beast's toothy maw with his glaive, attempting to sever its bloated, black tongue. While his first strike misses, his second hits the creature across the brow with a resounding crack! Having been subjected to the unknown effects of the cult's ritual and attacks both physical and magical from multiple foes, this last blow proves too much for the beast. Dropping to the ground, it lets loose one final rumbling growl before attempting unsuccessfully to stagger upright. With an eye to aiding his companion, Skoth takes aim with his crossbow, firing a bolt at the beast but missing as the creature drops to the ground from Guan Hao's strike. The druid moves to cover as he reloads for another shot. At the same instant, Wendell, having cursed the cult leader's escape, turns and fires a sling bullet towards the creature. The tiny projectile hits home in almost precisely the same spot Guan Hao hit. The already cracked brow plate of the beast forehead shatters open and the beast ceases to struggle, falling limply back to the ground, its crushed brain spilling out to cover its face. Though the beast is dead, Wendell considers the presence of the final cult caster and moves for cover behind another pillar, angling to get closer to the glowing gemstone set in the floor.
Even with the sounds of combat and death behind her, Mady appears focused solely on her opponent, the final cult caster. She waves her short sword about in a brief display of bade skill before settling into a defensive stance and beckoning to her foe, a tauntingly sardonic smile evident on her face. Noting the nature of the continued distraction provided by Mady, Elaric takes full advantage of the tableau to cast firebolt at the cultist. His aim true, the Elf's projectile streaks between two parts of the cultist's armor, burning the man painfully. Even before the magic strikes, Gong is there, swinging at the lone remaining cultist with his quarterstaff. While the enemy manages to duck the staff, Gong’s knee catches the man squarely in the ribs with bone-cracking force.
Dizzy with pain and attacks from multiple directions, the caster hefts his rod, imbuing it with dire energies and swings with all of his might at the clearest target - the taunting visage of Mady Rolfe. With a roar of frustration, the cultist brings his rod crashing down on Mady's head... and straight through her, the enhanced magic of his weapon dispersing into the floor, cracking the ground all about him. Looking up in abject confusion, the wide-eyed cultist watches as a smiling Mady, seemingly unharmed, waggles her fingers at him in a playful 'goodbye' gesture. Suddenly, an arrow bursts from the man's throat and he collapses to the ground, gargling as blood pours from the wound. The image of Mady blows him a kiss before winking out of existence and the real Mady steps from the shadows on the wall behind the dying man. Bow in hand and another arrow knocked, she draws the string taught, aiming at her downed foe. Noting the stares of her nearby companions, she shrugs, "What? Did you think Wendell the only magic user in our family?" Turning her attention back to the fallen caster, she adds, "Might be kindest just to end this one - he hasn't got long as it is. Shall I do the honors or did anyone feel like trying to talk with him first?"
Looking about, the chamber is now cleared of foes, save for the nearly dead caster. What does the party wish to do?
Guan Hao gives the fallen beast a swift kick, then strides over to the wounded caster and crouches down by his side, hefting his weapon meaningfully.
"We should ask this worm where his master crawled off to. Can't have vermin like that on the loose!"
Seeing that Mady and Guan Hao have things in hand, Elaric strides off at a brisk pace, his attention focused on the ground and his path circuitous, following around the edge of the carved circles which once held the beast. In response to Guan Hao's pronouncement, the Elf calls out as he walks, "Don't forget, his fellow casters exploded on death. If you want to kill him, let Mady do it from a distance."
Investigation: 7
[OOC: I'll wait a bit for other players to chime in before commencing any RPing with the cultist, but I'll definitely respond to this by tomorrow night (or sooner if everyone weighs in beforehand).]
[OOC: EVERYONE please keep in mind that I will continue to hold to the PC turn order as both the cultist and cult leader may still pose threats.]
Wendell nods, and moves over to the caster. Taking a moment, he conjures a spread cloak next to the fallen adversary.
"Move him onto this. We don't want him getting out the same way his friends did. While you're talking to him, I'd like to get a closer look at these gems."