Samir skids to a halt with the others, his eyes widening at the sight before them. It took no genius to understand that whatever was being attempted here, it was of some foul intent and method. He could feel his jaw tightening, pushing his teeth together almost painfully even as his eyes tried to make sense of the marks so painfully carved into those captives.
The heat in his blood rose up from the depths of his ancestors' famed berserker rages and he could feel the urge to destroy the evil spread out before them in a way that he never had before.
Malachi tumbles from the minecart, trying to catch his breath from their skidding stop, only to lose it again as he takes in the majesty of the hall around him. His eyes move from statue to statue, leading up to the gold and silver throne. “This place is amazing, it must be worth a fortune!” He barely registers Ashley’s history lesson, but the sound of chanting from behind the doors draws his attention, just as he sees Ashley sprints toward the door. “Wait!”he calls out “We don’t know what they are doing back there.” He gives a resigned shake of his head as Ashley and the others continue through the door and he hurries to follow.
Once inside the doors, Malachi takes in the sheer size of the operations, from the prisoners, chanting cultists and the mining rig. Not sure what will disrupt their plans more, he moves to the entrance of the chamber and works to free the closest captive, targeting Cultist 1 with vision of a skeletal hand clutching at it from beyond death. “Can we free the captives?”He calls out to Samir and Vilus “Or will they explode like the others? What do those runes mean?”
The cultist drops the chain in his hand and grabs desperately at the hand digging into his face. A gurgled scream escapes his lips and he collapses to his knees before falling on his face.
One of the chanting cultists buckles slightly at the knees, and another wavers in her words. They do not stop chanting, nor do they lower their arms, but they look over to their fallen comrade, and their enemies approaching from the door. Horror dawns on their faces. The three others have finished positioning the rig, and one of them (8) is holding a trigger to ignite the explosive rounds, but they hesitate when they see the intruders.
One of them casts a panicked glance at the pillar.
Vilus moves forward just into the circular room and squints at the runes on the captives and the chains. "It's like 'conduit' it's the same as those used when I was captured and also around the hydaelym to concentrate power, their magic is being dragged out of them foe use!" Vilus answers Malachi whilst grabbing at the air and bringing forth two swirling masses of eldritch energy, he hurls both motes toward cultist7 in the center, but misses severely on his first throw.
(Move 30ft forward.
Eldritch blast ×2. 7 to hit, 6 force dam. 13 to hit, 2 dam.)
Ashley smiles at Joren as he suddenly appears at her side as she runs up the stairs behind the throne. She's never had friends like these. Ones that stand by her even when she is just going with her gut when she feels it is right. She doesn't have to explain herself to them for their help, though she would if she felt she had the time.
They don't. Its now or never.
She stares at the center of the room, the cultists she is aware of, but not as much. She does see the rig and the three of them attempting to get at the fire. She tosses the tiny flame away like it was a bug in her palm. Pointing her right index finger directly at the mining rig, she starts mumbling the verbal somatic words and as she does, there is a charge in the air.. her hair raises up and is engulfed in flames. As soon as this happens, a bright streak flashes from her finger to the mining rig, blossoming with a low roar into an explosion of flame. This fireball is large enough to encompass the three cultists as well - but at the last second, she pulls it back, not wanting to get the burst into the column too much, just enough to get the 3 cultists.
The flame blooms in midair. The man holding the detonator panics and moves his thumb to the trigger. Then he is no more than a silhouette in a blast of flame. The other two cultists next to him are swallowed up as well. A second later, three smouldering bodies are thrown through the air in different directions. Not one of them stirs.
Then there is a crackle sound. It fizz out. Suddenly the chamber is rocked by a rapid succession of explosions. The damaged surface of the pillar cracks and then explodes outwardaround the mining rig. A gooey green-white fluid floods out through the large hole, piling up on the ground before stiffening and hardening. Inside the open cavity, the red glow is brighter now. There, in the center, balanced on a small platform of black stone and surrounded by waxy walls, sits a brilliant red stone. Swirls of scintillating light scatter out through its facets to illuminated the hollow inside of the pillar.
Samir lifts a hand, gathering power to strike, only to find himself stumbling back as Ashley's ball of flame ignites a series of concussion blasts from the now destroyed mining rig. He blinks, straightening from where he had shielded his face with one arm, eyes locking onto the brilliant stone now revealed. He hesitates, entranced, only to be stirred back into motion as one of the cultists stirs.
With a gesture and a sharp word, the half-orc causes a quartet of brilliant points of light to blossom in the air around hum. With an electric snap of sound, each of the points zips through the air to impact one of the still living cultists, one for each.
Casting Magic Missile at 2nd level, hitting each of the four cultists with one missile for 5 damage each.
Despite himself, Joren stands for a moment, stunned by the sheer strangeness of what he sees in the chamber. The chanting cultists draining magic from their prisoners to use in their ritual, the giant pillar which must contain the Heart of FireAshley has spoken of, the Tensmith mining rig...
The rig!Joren is on the verge of shouting to focus on the cultists deploying the rig when Ashley'sfireball incinerates all three of them, but also detonates the rig itself! Oh no - I am hoping she has not just done the cultists' work for them!
Seeing Malachi's spectral hand drain the life of the closest chanting cultist to the left, Joren focuses on the closest surviving one to the right, trotting forward thirty feet carefully to the edge of the congealed substance on the floor, stopping just short. Moving his echo forward as well, he growls in revulsion and since he cannot reach his foes, he hurls his two hand axes, one after the other at the closer cultist on the right, hoping to interrupt the ritual.
Movement: 30' north (and echo moves 30' north as well, no action required)
Bonus Action: If that does not get within the 20' hand axe range of Cultist2, Joren re-summons his echo 15' north ahead of himself, moves it forward 20' to attack, and then back again 5' to remain within 30' range so as not to disappear at the end of the round.
Action: Joren throws two hand axes at Cultist2 from his echo's position (20' range).
Joren Hand axe attack 1 to hit Cultist2: 10 Joren Hand axe attack 1 damage: 5 slashing
Joren Hand axe attack 2 to hit Cultist2: 13 Joren Hand axe attack 2 damage: 7 slashing
The hand axes fly one after the other toward the cultist's chest. The first one strikes its target, causing her to fall to her knees. She coughs up a gout of blood onto her front, eyes going blank, just as the second axe sinks into her forehead. Her head snaps back and she crumples.
The chain falls limply from her hand, and the captive on the other end has enough presence of mind to scramble backward on all fours, out of the way of the falling corpse.
Sweat is now openly streaking the faces of the remaining three cultists as they struggle to maintain concentration on their spell, but the burden proves too much for the three of the alone. The one on the far right breaks first, stumbling back with bloodshot eyes and a trickle fluid leaking from his ear. One of the others shouts out to his comrades, "We can't holld her back much lllonger. Go, destroy it whilllle it's exposed!"
Click-Click-k-k-k-k-k
Cli-Click-k-k-k-k-k-Click
A chittering, clicking sound emanates from the intact portion of the pillar, where it widens to connect to the ceiling. Not a loud sound, but one so at odds with the other noises of the cavern that it demands attention from nearly everyone in the room. The waxy surface of the pillar is nearly opaque, but not enough so to conceal the shifting of some large shadow within. Something is stirring.
Malachi flinches back from the wave of heat coming off of Ashley’s ball of fire. As the remaining cultists fall, Malachi continues to focus on freeing the captives, targeting one of the remaining cultists with a spike of metal energy and images.
As the cultist falls, Malachi pauses at the signs of something moving in the weakening pillar. “Wait, what are they trying to hold back? What is that thing - and what does it have to do with the heart?” He has a momentary spike of panic, what were the cultists actually trying to achieve here?
Vilus looks on trying to mask the terror he feels inside at the wriggling insectoid. He moves a further 30ft forwards gathering together his purple warbling energy and shouting out, "Ash get the heart! Protect it, you saw the statues, it has to be you!"
Then he keeps an eye out for whichever cultist begins to move forward to destroy the heart, two eldritch blasts prepared for that particular person.
(Eldritch blasts; 15 to hit, 4 force dam. 17 to hit, 9 force dam, to the next non party member to approach the heart of fire)
Seeing Ashley's face, Vilus would know he didn't need to tell her these things. She didn't care about the insect, she had sights for one thing and one thing only, the heart.
Dashing her heart out, she runs straight towards it and attempts to pluck the heart of flame out of the pillar in front of her.
The cultists all make a mad dash for the Heart as Ashley too sprints forward. One by one, she watches them die on their feet. One just topples over with a glassy look in his eye as if the flame of his mind had been snuffed out by Malachi's spell. The other two get struck down in quick succession the moment they get within Vilus' range.
But the Heart still looks so far away.
The pillar cracks and shudders. A bit of waxy fluid starts to ooze from the fractures in the pillar's surface. 3 of the captives come to their senses and rise shakily to their feet, limping and stumbling toward the exit, but the two at the back of the chamber appear frozen, still dazed.
Samir moves forward, drawing even with Malachi, his gaze glued to the fracturing pillar. Tearing his eyes away, he watches Ashley rushing forward, seeming so far away and so fragile in comparison to the deadly creature stirring even now. The movement of the captives catches his attention, as some of them begin moving towards the entrance. Two others, however, seem frozen still, whether in shock or fear he cannot tell. Though too far away for him to reach physically, he can feel the currents of magic in the air, and his lips move in encouraging words to urge the nearest to flee to safety. The words carry across the distance to whisper in the man's ear, borne on the invisible drift of aether and guided by the half-orc's will. (Casting Message at cap 5 to urge him to get up and move)
Joren wants to sprint forward along with Ashley, across the strange gloazworm goo. Yet he makes no attempt to speak to her or help her. He trusts that somehow, she knows about the Heart of Fire, even though Joren himself does not. She would do what must be done.
Instead, seeing Samir focused on the stunned captive to the left (Cap5), Joren shifts his attention to the right (NE then N) around the pillar towards the other captive (Cap4) who still appears transfixed. Sending his echo 30' further in that direction, he swaps places with it (bonus action, 15' movement spent), then dashes 45' further. (75' movement past where his echo started). He picks up the prisoner (Cap4) in a fireman's carry and begins to run back.
"Having been halfway down a gloazworm's gullet, and that one just a larva, trust me friend, it is not where you are wanting to be," he drawls amiably.
(Unfortunately, his echo disappears at the end of his turn, being more than 30' away from him).
The woman (Cap4) starts to rouse, startled by Joren's sudden handling. But she makes no move to get down from his carry. Probably for the best, as the speed of the others in any indication, being carried will be much faster for her than trying to get out on her own two feet.
Malachi stares at the cracking pillar with a wave of rising panic, thoughts of the remaining captives out of his mind for now. He calls out as Ashley rushes toward the heart and speaks the obvious, even though she is already racing as fast as she can “Ashley, hurry! Something is breaking free. Grab it and let’s go before whatever that is wakes up.” A new concept flashes across his mind, a mix of gestures and harsh sounding words, and he clutches his crystal and reaches out to slow time around the pillar, trying to delay the creature from breaking free and gain time to escape.
"we need to secure our exit too, I don't wanna stick around for this thing!" Vilus calls out to no one in particular as he continues running up, stopping about 30ft away from the pillar he prepares a warbling mass of energy which forms a skeletal hand in the palm of which an eye darts around looking for it's target, Vilus raises his hand and will send off a chill touch the moment the gloazworm queen breaks out.
Samir skids to a halt with the others, his eyes widening at the sight before them. It took no genius to understand that whatever was being attempted here, it was of some foul intent and method. He could feel his jaw tightening, pushing his teeth together almost painfully even as his eyes tried to make sense of the marks so painfully carved into those captives.
The heat in his blood rose up from the depths of his ancestors' famed berserker rages and he could feel the urge to destroy the evil spread out before them in a way that he never had before.
Malachi tumbles from the minecart, trying to catch his breath from their skidding stop, only to lose it again as he takes in the majesty of the hall around him. His eyes move from statue to statue, leading up to the gold and silver throne. “This place is amazing, it must be worth a fortune!” He barely registers Ashley’s history lesson, but the sound of chanting from behind the doors draws his attention, just as he sees Ashley sprints toward the door. “Wait!” he calls out “We don’t know what they are doing back there.” He gives a resigned shake of his head as Ashley and the others continue through the door and he hurries to follow.
Once inside the doors, Malachi takes in the sheer size of the operations, from the prisoners, chanting cultists and the mining rig. Not sure what will disrupt their plans more, he moves to the entrance of the chamber and works to free the closest captive, targeting Cultist 1 with vision of a skeletal hand clutching at it from beyond death. “Can we free the captives?” He calls out to Samir and Vilus “Or will they explode like the others? What do those runes mean?”
The cultist drops the chain in his hand and grabs desperately at the hand digging into his face. A gurgled scream escapes his lips and he collapses to his knees before falling on his face.
One of the chanting cultists buckles slightly at the knees, and another wavers in her words. They do not stop chanting, nor do they lower their arms, but they look over to their fallen comrade, and their enemies approaching from the door. Horror dawns on their faces. The three others have finished positioning the rig, and one of them (8) is holding a trigger to ignite the explosive rounds, but they hesitate when they see the intruders.
One of them casts a panicked glance at the pillar.
Vilus moves forward just into the circular room and squints at the runes on the captives and the chains. "It's like 'conduit' it's the same as those used when I was captured and also around the hydaelym to concentrate power, their magic is being dragged out of them foe use!" Vilus answers Malachi whilst grabbing at the air and bringing forth two swirling masses of eldritch energy, he hurls both motes toward cultist7 in the center, but misses severely on his first throw.
(Move 30ft forward.
Eldritch blast ×2. 7 to hit, 6 force dam. 13 to hit, 2 dam.)
The cultist clutches at his shoulder where the magic struck him, wincing in pain
Ashley smiles at Joren as he suddenly appears at her side as she runs up the stairs behind the throne. She's never had friends like these. Ones that stand by her even when she is just going with her gut when she feels it is right. She doesn't have to explain herself to them for their help, though she would if she felt she had the time.
They don't. Its now or never.
She stares at the center of the room, the cultists she is aware of, but not as much. She does see the rig and the three of them attempting to get at the fire. She tosses the tiny flame away like it was a bug in her palm. Pointing her right index finger directly at the mining rig, she starts mumbling the verbal somatic words and as she does, there is a charge in the air.. her hair raises up and is engulfed in flames. As soon as this happens, a bright streak flashes from her finger to the mining rig, blossoming with a low roar into an explosion of flame. This fireball is large enough to encompass the three cultists as well - but at the last second, she pulls it back, not wanting to get the burst into the column too much, just enough to get the 3 cultists.
The flame blooms in midair. The man holding the detonator panics and moves his thumb to the trigger. Then he is no more than a silhouette in a blast of flame. The other two cultists next to him are swallowed up as well. A second later, three smouldering bodies are thrown through the air in different directions. Not one of them stirs.
Then there is a crackle sound. It fizz out. Suddenly the chamber is rocked by a rapid succession of explosions. The damaged surface of the pillar cracks and then explodes outwardaround the mining rig. A gooey green-white fluid floods out through the large hole, piling up on the ground before stiffening and hardening. Inside the open cavity, the red glow is brighter now. There, in the center, balanced on a small platform of black stone and surrounded by waxy walls, sits a brilliant red stone. Swirls of scintillating light scatter out through its facets to illuminated the hollow inside of the pillar.
The Heart of Flame.
Samir lifts a hand, gathering power to strike, only to find himself stumbling back as Ashley's ball of flame ignites a series of concussion blasts from the now destroyed mining rig. He blinks, straightening from where he had shielded his face with one arm, eyes locking onto the brilliant stone now revealed. He hesitates, entranced, only to be stirred back into motion as one of the cultists stirs.
With a gesture and a sharp word, the half-orc causes a quartet of brilliant points of light to blossom in the air around hum. With an electric snap of sound, each of the points zips through the air to impact one of the still living cultists, one for each.
Casting Magic Missile at 2nd level, hitting each of the four cultists with one missile for 5 damage each.
Despite himself, Joren stands for a moment, stunned by the sheer strangeness of what he sees in the chamber. The chanting cultists draining magic from their prisoners to use in their ritual, the giant pillar which must contain the Heart of Fire Ashley has spoken of, the Tensmith mining rig...
The rig! Joren is on the verge of shouting to focus on the cultists deploying the rig when Ashley's fireball incinerates all three of them, but also detonates the rig itself! Oh no - I am hoping she has not just done the cultists' work for them!
Seeing Malachi's spectral hand drain the life of the closest chanting cultist to the left, Joren focuses on the closest surviving one to the right, trotting forward thirty feet carefully to the edge of the congealed substance on the floor, stopping just short. Moving his echo forward as well, he growls in revulsion and since he cannot reach his foes, he hurls his two hand axes, one after the other at the closer cultist on the right, hoping to interrupt the ritual.
Movement: 30' north (and echo moves 30' north as well, no action required)
Bonus Action: If that does not get within the 20' hand axe range of Cultist2, Joren re-summons his echo 15' north ahead of himself, moves it forward 20' to attack, and then back again 5' to remain within 30' range so as not to disappear at the end of the round.
Action: Joren throws two hand axes at Cultist2 from his echo's position (20' range).
Joren Hand axe attack 1 to hit Cultist2: 10
Joren Hand axe attack 1 damage: 5 slashing
Joren Hand axe attack 2 to hit Cultist2: 13
Joren Hand axe attack 2 damage: 7 slashing
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
The hand axes fly one after the other toward the cultist's chest. The first one strikes its target, causing her to fall to her knees. She coughs up a gout of blood onto her front, eyes going blank, just as the second axe sinks into her forehead. Her head snaps back and she crumples.
The chain falls limply from her hand, and the captive on the other end has enough presence of mind to scramble backward on all fours, out of the way of the falling corpse.
Sweat is now openly streaking the faces of the remaining three cultists as they struggle to maintain concentration on their spell, but the burden proves too much for the three of the alone. The one on the far right breaks first, stumbling back with bloodshot eyes and a trickle fluid leaking from his ear. One of the others shouts out to his comrades, "We can't holld her back much lllonger. Go, destroy it whilllle it's exposed!"
Click-Click-k-k-k-k-k
Cli-Click-k-k-k-k-k-Click
A chittering, clicking sound emanates from the intact portion of the pillar, where it widens to connect to the ceiling. Not a loud sound, but one so at odds with the other noises of the cavern that it demands attention from nearly everyone in the room. The waxy surface of the pillar is nearly opaque, but not enough so to conceal the shifting of some large shadow within. Something is stirring.
Malachi flinches back from the wave of heat coming off of Ashley’s ball of fire. As the remaining cultists fall, Malachi continues to focus on freeing the captives, targeting one of the remaining cultists with a spike of metal energy and images.
As the cultist falls, Malachi pauses at the signs of something moving in the weakening pillar. “Wait, what are they trying to hold back? What is that thing - and what does it have to do with the heart?” He has a momentary spike of panic, what were the cultists actually trying to achieve here?
Vilus looks on trying to mask the terror he feels inside at the wriggling insectoid. He moves a further 30ft forwards gathering together his purple warbling energy and shouting out, "Ash get the heart! Protect it, you saw the statues, it has to be you!"
Then he keeps an eye out for whichever cultist begins to move forward to destroy the heart, two eldritch blasts prepared for that particular person.
(Eldritch blasts; 15 to hit, 4 force dam. 17 to hit, 9 force dam, to the next non party member to approach the heart of fire)
Seeing Ashley's face, Vilus would know he didn't need to tell her these things. She didn't care about the insect, she had sights for one thing and one thing only, the heart.
Dashing her heart out, she runs straight towards it and attempts to pluck the heart of flame out of the pillar in front of her.
The cultists all make a mad dash for the Heart as Ashley too sprints forward. One by one, she watches them die on their feet. One just topples over with a glassy look in his eye as if the flame of his mind had been snuffed out by Malachi's spell. The other two get struck down in quick succession the moment they get within Vilus' range.
But the Heart still looks so far away.
The pillar cracks and shudders. A bit of waxy fluid starts to ooze from the fractures in the pillar's surface. 3 of the captives come to their senses and rise shakily to their feet, limping and stumbling toward the exit, but the two at the back of the chamber appear frozen, still dazed.
Samir moves forward, drawing even with Malachi, his gaze glued to the fracturing pillar. Tearing his eyes away, he watches Ashley rushing forward, seeming so far away and so fragile in comparison to the deadly creature stirring even now. The movement of the captives catches his attention, as some of them begin moving towards the entrance. Two others, however, seem frozen still, whether in shock or fear he cannot tell. Though too far away for him to reach physically, he can feel the currents of magic in the air, and his lips move in encouraging words to urge the nearest to flee to safety. The words carry across the distance to whisper in the man's ear, borne on the invisible drift of aether and guided by the half-orc's will. (Casting Message at cap 5 to urge him to get up and move)
The words shock the man into motion. Like the others, he starts to rise to his feet, suddenly desperate to get away from the imminent danger
Joren wants to sprint forward along with Ashley, across the strange gloazworm goo. Yet he makes no attempt to speak to her or help her. He trusts that somehow, she knows about the Heart of Fire, even though Joren himself does not. She would do what must be done.
Instead, seeing Samir focused on the stunned captive to the left (Cap5), Joren shifts his attention to the right (NE then N) around the pillar towards the other captive (Cap4) who still appears transfixed. Sending his echo 30' further in that direction, he swaps places with it (bonus action, 15' movement spent), then dashes 45' further. (75' movement past where his echo started). He picks up the prisoner (Cap4) in a fireman's carry and begins to run back.
"Having been halfway down a gloazworm's gullet, and that one just a larva, trust me friend, it is not where you are wanting to be," he drawls amiably.
(Unfortunately, his echo disappears at the end of his turn, being more than 30' away from him).
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
The woman (Cap4) starts to rouse, startled by Joren's sudden handling. But she makes no move to get down from his carry. Probably for the best, as the speed of the others in any indication, being carried will be much faster for her than trying to get out on her own two feet.
Malachi stares at the cracking pillar with a wave of rising panic, thoughts of the remaining captives out of his mind for now. He calls out as Ashley rushes toward the heart and speaks the obvious, even though she is already racing as fast as she can “Ashley, hurry! Something is breaking free. Grab it and let’s go before whatever that is wakes up.” A new concept flashes across his mind, a mix of gestures and harsh sounding words, and he clutches his crystal and reaches out to slow time around the pillar, trying to delay the creature from breaking free and gain time to escape.
"we need to secure our exit too, I don't wanna stick around for this thing!" Vilus calls out to no one in particular as he continues running up, stopping about 30ft away from the pillar he prepares a warbling mass of energy which forms a skeletal hand in the palm of which an eye darts around looking for it's target, Vilus raises his hand and will send off a chill touch the moment the gloazworm queen breaks out.
(Chill touch ready, Nat 20, 26 to hit, 19 necrotic damage)