Avery struggles to escape the Mezzoloth's grip unsuccessfully, while Coriana lands a shot on the Cambion. Xanrym successfully opens he secret door to find a 20ft long tunnel, at the end of which is the back of another secret door which he opens and finds himself looking out over Pedestal from high atop the Necromancer's Spike. Down below he can just make out little dots heading toward the entrance. Khessa magically protects herself while Syllen is able to teleport in and attack the Mezzoloth fighting Khessa.
Greataxe against Mezz 1: Attack: 17 Damage: 9 Slashing
Greataxe against Mezz 1: Attack: 19 Damage: 14 Slashing
Greataxe against Mezz 3: Attack: 18 Damage: 9 Slashing
The Cloudkill and Mezzoloth 1 drop, it's form melts into the stone and dissapears like it's companion before. Orinielle sees this and spits at you all, "You've not seen the end of the Vanguard of Sertrous, Iuz will hear of this and know your names! This I promise."
She casts Plane Shift on herself and the remaining Mezzoloth. Unless someone has a way of stopping this, the battle is over.
Xanrym successfully opens he secret door to find a 20ft long tunnel, at the end of which is the back of another secret door which he opens and finds himself looking out over Pedestal from high atop the Necromancer's Spike. Down below he can just make out little dots heading toward the entrance.
Xanrym is thankful that he is always careful when opening doors in a place like this. As he looks down, he imagines what would have happened if he had been fleeing through this tunnel in haste, and it makes him feel both anxious and light-headed at the same time. He glances up to see how close they are to the roof of the Great Grotto, and then he looks out to see which direction he's facing. Can he see the docks and the Sullen Sea? If so, are those to his left? After taking a moment to watch the "dots" down below, trying to confirm that they're the extra House Dusklorn guards that Irennaste sent to guard the Necromancer's Spike, he heads back down the tunnel.
"I think the cloud may be dissipating a bit..." Theldrin calls out to Xanrym. But he's interested in a possible way around to the other side of the battle so adds as he moves into the closet, "What do you see, my friend?"
Xanrym was already gesturing to indicate that this route was no good when he hears Theldrin. He responds, "I hope you're right! Or we may just have to charge through the poisonous cloud. That way is no escape for those of us who cannot fly! Perhaps Maroe could, and that was his emergency escape route? At the end of the hall, there's a secret door in the wall of the Necromancer's Spike itself -- 100 feet above the floor of the Great Grotto! I could see down to the Noble's Bluff area of Pedestal, where House Dusklorn's guards are approaching the entrance to the Spike below."
As he reaches the south end of the tunnel, Xanrym tries to look past Theldrin and Coriana, asking, "Coriana, do you think that you could get through the cloud to Avery and Khessa?"
"Wait! Where did Syllen go?"
It takes Xanrym a moment to catch up on what he missed while he was trying to find an alternate route around the poisonous cloud. He's glad that the cloud is gone, but he's a little embarrassed that he missed the end of the fight with Orinielle and the Mezzoloths. His first priority is to discover whether any of Fadheela's other statues returned to their non-petrified form and whether the deva, Balthial, is still present. He doesn't want to miss an opportunity to talk to an emissary of St. Cuthbert, especially if Iuz, the Fiend of the North himself, will soon know that The Company has interfered with his plans!
(OOC: @drumdigby
Is Balthial sticking around long enough to talk to us? Xanrym was hoping to ask them some questions to clear up some things and to help us figure out what to do next.
But I guess we need to deal with no-longer-petrified drow and duergar. We probably need to square them away first, especially if any of them are looking for a fight. IIRC, there were 5 Drow and 1 Duergar in the hallway, S31, and maybe 4 more statues of "drow warriors" in S35.
How many of the Berserkers survived the Cloudkill? The ones who spent 2 rounds in the AoE could have taken as much as 43 HP of damage from it.
Theldrin takes a moment to see the view Xanrym found, letting out a low whistle as he stands near the edge and looks down at the city of Pedestal sprawling below. He's tempted to cast Fly but dismisses it as a self indulgent whim. Surely the moving dots below are as Xanrym said, the Drow mustering their forces to intercept the Company as they try to exit the Spike, and there's no need for an airborne reconnaissance. With a slightly wistful sigh he pulls his attention back and heads down the passageway to join the others.
Khessa laughs openly, taunting Orinielle: "Hey, Ms. Elite Statue, weren't you supposed to stay and fight me? Did you realize you've bitten off more than you can chew?" She had tried to provoke her even moments before, hoping to persuade her to stay, but the Cambion is clearly too cunning to fall for such traps (or perhaps simply more attached to life than pride) and disappears.
The blonde arcane warrior sighs with relief at the realization that another difficult battle has been won and approaches the Deva, patting him on the shoulder as if he were an old friend: "Well, glad you were on our side, Balthial! You sure fight well!"
"If only you had been in Twardens, years ago, when the drow razed the hamlet to the ground and took all the inhabitants prisoner—including me and my family..." the tall adventuress sighs "many things would have gone differently, I believe. And I wouldn't still be torn apart wondering about the fate of my mother and my two sisters, apparently sold by the drow to strange outsiders—green, blotchy-skinned tall humanoids, somewhat warlike in appearance and dressed in strange black armor. Who knows what they were, where they were taken, and what they're doing to them..." she feels tears threatening to leak from her eyes, but she furtively wipes one away and holds back the others. She won't give up. She has already found her father (although too late) and her brother. She will also find her mother and sisters. She won't rest until she has. She will succeed.
(OOC: @Aaggie - it looks like the Cloudkill had already moved past Avery this round, so he doesn't need to save and won't take damage. Also, remember that Avery has a 1d8 Bardic Inspiration die from Xanrym in case you want to roll it to boost that attempt to break the grapple. Because of Xanrym's Unfailing Inspiration, there's no downside if the roll still fails to break the grapple.)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
With the battle over, Coriana chats up the berzerkers, "Fellas, can you file out into the big room so we can see what's going on in the tight space? Thanks sooo much."
[[Persuasion: 18]]
Out loud to everyone she asks, "How long do these guys stay around for?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards. DM - The Old Keep
With the battle over, Coriana chats up the berzerkers, "Fellas, can you file out into the big room so we can see what's going on in the tight space? Thanks sooo much."
[[Persuasion: 20]]
Out loud to everyone she asks, "How long do these guys stay around for?"
As Orinielle yells at the group, Syllen still standing on the ceiling looks a little confused.
“How can you remember our names when we never gave them to you!?”
After they are gone Syllen will stay on the ceiling will walk above Avery and Khessa. For the next 9 minutes Syllen will keep his murder of crows next to him as Nav was sadly killed during the fight.
“I'm glad you guys managed to hold your own while the doorway was blocked. Though these berserkers are extremely useful it does make things difficult in tight spaces. Does anyone require healing?”
All the berserkers are alive, and the chosen grin as they enter the room with Coriana. Whatever happens behind the door involves a lot of shouting and shifting of furniture.
You look down the hallway and see all the drow and the duergar completely thrown out of whack by their predicament. None seem to be particularly inclined to fight you and are just glad Fadheela is dead.
Balthial bows to Khessa, "You fight well madame, I thank you as well for your assistance and felling the beast Fadheela." He looks behind you to the corpse on the floor. "I know not who you are, or what your business here is, but you have earned a boon from St Cuthbert for your efforts. I must leave this place and rejoin him in Arcadia. But before I do, I will commune with him on your behalf. What three questions do you have for my lord?"
He will cast the Commune for you before departing.
"Thank you for the help. The battle was much easier thanks to you. I know not if my friends have questions for your master but if you are powerful enough to communicate with other plans of existence do you by any chance have a way to remove a curse from someone?"
Balthial nods knowingly, reaches ouit a hand and casts Remove Curse , curing Syllen's Lycanthropy. "Be free from that rottenness, St Cuthbert blesses you!"
(I had completely forgot about that. And as the Deva has Remove Curse as a Bonus Action it makes sense that it can cast that spell along with Commune.)
Theldrin finds himself feeling a bit starstruck in the presence of the Deva. Not sure what to say or question to ask, he lets the others do the talking.
Xanrym congratulates his companions but reminds them that they're not done with the "job" yet. "Fadheela was a murderous assassin, but she was merely an obstacle to our goal. We still must find the Forgotten King's bones!" Now that they're no longer in the middle of a fight, Xanrym considers what Orinielle said: "Vanguard of Sertrous." The name sounds familiar, and he calls to mind what he might have read about "Sertrous" in his study of dark cults after facing the cult of the naga, Explictica Defilus. (Religion: 20, in game log)
When he realizes what Corianais up to, Xanrym hastily gathers the staff and anything he can carry from the "closet" (S36) and leaves S35 to give them some privacy. He joins the others in the adjacent room (S32) with Balthial. He asks Averyto have a few of the berserkers guard the drow and duergar, both to ensure that they don't cause any mischief and to ensure that they don't stumble into some other deadly danger in this place.
Xanrym is eager to speak to the Balthial. He reiterates Khessa'sthanks to the Deva for helping them defeat Orinielle after the dying Fadheela released all of her petrified victims. He formally introduces "The Company of the Grey Chain" and each of its members (eldritch knight, druid and stargazer, knight, war wizard, and a former pirate captain). He introduces himself as a storyteller and a lover magic and the open road. "I'm a follower of Fharlanghn, but I offer praise and thanks to St. Cuthbert of the Cudgel."
Before Balthial communes with St. Cuthbert, Xanrym has some questions that the Deva may be able to answer on his own:
How did Balthial come to be here, in the Necromancer's Spike? Were they pursuing Orinielle? Fadheela? The Void Necromental? Something else?
If Balthial also came here to thwart the Vanguard of Sertrous from getting the Forgotten King's bones, does he know what the Vanguard of Sertrous hopes to do with the bones?
What can Balthial tell them about Sertrous or the Vanguard of Sertrous? (But maybe Xanrym doesn't need to ask the Deva this question after the strong Religion check above!)
Xanrym informs Balthial that there is a shrine to "the Demon Prince of the Undead" in the level just above them that's guarded by a Void Necromental.
Does Balthial have time / interest in helping The Company defeat the Void Necromental and throw down the shrine to Orcus?
If not, does Balthial know anything about Void Necromentals and whether they have any particularly potent abilities?
Even if Balthial cannot stay to help with the Void Necromental, does he have suggestions about destroying a Orcus Figurine? "We bargained with the Void Necromental, and it told us about Fadheela's lair. But it also gave us the vile figurine, no doubt hoping that we'd find ourselves in a desperate enough situation to use it and corrupt ourselves!"
Separately, Xanrym would ask whether Balthial has ever heard of a demon or some other evil entity called the "Undying King." He explains, "Our Company defeated a cult who worshipped a newly-elevated naga with a slaad's gem in its skull. She proclaimed herself to be the 'The Queen of Darkness, consort of The Undying King'."
If Balthial is in a hurry and can only perform Commune for us, I guess we'd start with this yes/no question unless Xanrym already found the Forgotten King's bones in the stone chest in S36: "Did Fadheela already deliver the Forgotten King's bones to the Vanguard of Sertrous?" Actually, we don't care whether Fadheela "delivered" the bones. We just care where they are now and whether the Vanguard of Sertrous has them: "Does the Vanguard of Sertrous now have the bones of the Forgotten King?"
What we ask after that probably depends on the answer to that question. If the Vanguard already has the bones, we don't need to spend another day searching the Necromancer's Spike for them. What yes/no questions could we ask that would help us find the Vanguard and recover the bones? If the Vanguard does not have the bones, then are any yes/no questions that might help us figure out who does?
(OOC: Maybe Theldrinshould take a look at the papers he found in Fadheela's chamber? That might save us from wasting a question on something that's already answered in the papers.)
Coriana finishes up her "business" with the berzerker and sends him back with the others while she uses the privacy to perform her magical cunning ritual to regain a pact magic slot.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards. DM - The Old Keep
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Avery struggles to escape the Mezzoloth's grip unsuccessfully, while Coriana lands a shot on the Cambion. Xanrym successfully opens he secret door to find a 20ft long tunnel, at the end of which is the back of another secret door which he opens and finds himself looking out over Pedestal from high atop the Necromancer's Spike. Down below he can just make out little dots heading toward the entrance. Khessa magically protects herself while Syllen is able to teleport in and attack the Mezzoloth fighting Khessa.
Greataxe against Mezz 1: Attack: 17 Damage: 9 Slashing
Greataxe against Mezz 1: Attack: 19 Damage: 14 Slashing
Greataxe against Mezz 3: Attack: 18 Damage: 9 Slashing
Concentration check Mezz 3: 15
Concentration check Mezz 3: 5
The Cloudkill and Mezzoloth 1 drop, it's form melts into the stone and dissapears like it's companion before. Orinielle sees this and spits at you all, "You've not seen the end of the Vanguard of Sertrous, Iuz will hear of this and know your names! This I promise."
She casts Plane Shift on herself and the remaining Mezzoloth. Unless someone has a way of stopping this, the battle is over.
Xanrym is thankful that he is always careful when opening doors in a place like this. As he looks down, he imagines what would have happened if he had been fleeing through this tunnel in haste, and it makes him feel both anxious and light-headed at the same time. He glances up to see how close they are to the roof of the Great Grotto, and then he looks out to see which direction he's facing. Can he see the docks and the Sullen Sea? If so, are those to his left? After taking a moment to watch the "dots" down below, trying to confirm that they're the extra House Dusklorn guards that Irennaste sent to guard the Necromancer's Spike, he heads back down the tunnel.
Xanrym was already gesturing to indicate that this route was no good when he hears Theldrin. He responds, "I hope you're right! Or we may just have to charge through the poisonous cloud. That way is no escape for those of us who cannot fly! Perhaps Maroe could, and that was his emergency escape route? At the end of the hall, there's a secret door in the wall of the Necromancer's Spike itself -- 100 feet above the floor of the Great Grotto! I could see down to the Noble's Bluff area of Pedestal, where House Dusklorn's guards are approaching the entrance to the Spike below."
As he reaches the south end of the tunnel, Xanrym tries to look past Theldrin and Coriana, asking, "Coriana, do you think that you could get through the cloud to Avery and Khessa?"
"Wait! Where did Syllen go?"
It takes Xanrym a moment to catch up on what he missed while he was trying to find an alternate route around the poisonous cloud. He's glad that the cloud is gone, but he's a little embarrassed that he missed the end of the fight with Orinielle and the Mezzoloths. His first priority is to discover whether any of Fadheela's other statues returned to their non-petrified form and whether the deva, Balthial, is still present. He doesn't want to miss an opportunity to talk to an emissary of St. Cuthbert, especially if Iuz, the Fiend of the North himself, will soon know that The Company has interfered with his plans!
(OOC: @drumdigby
)
Theldrin takes a moment to see the view Xanrym found, letting out a low whistle as he stands near the edge and looks down at the city of Pedestal sprawling below. He's tempted to cast Fly but dismisses it as a self indulgent whim. Surely the moving dots below are as Xanrym said, the Drow mustering their forces to intercept the Company as they try to exit the Spike, and there's no need for an airborne reconnaissance. With a slightly wistful sigh he pulls his attention back and heads down the passageway to join the others.
Khessa laughs openly, taunting Orinielle: "Hey, Ms. Elite Statue, weren't you supposed to stay and fight me? Did you realize you've bitten off more than you can chew?" She had tried to provoke her even moments before, hoping to persuade her to stay, but the Cambion is clearly too cunning to fall for such traps (or perhaps simply more attached to life than pride) and disappears.
The blonde arcane warrior sighs with relief at the realization that another difficult battle has been won and approaches the Deva, patting him on the shoulder as if he were an old friend: "Well, glad you were on our side, Balthial! You sure fight well!"
"If only you had been in Twardens, years ago, when the drow razed the hamlet to the ground and took all the inhabitants prisoner—including me and my family..." the tall adventuress sighs "many things would have gone differently, I believe. And I wouldn't still be torn apart wondering about the fate of my mother and my two sisters, apparently sold by the drow to strange outsiders—green, blotchy-skinned tall humanoids, somewhat warlike in appearance and dressed in strange black armor. Who knows what they were, where they were taken, and what they're doing to them..." she feels tears threatening to leak from her eyes, but she furtively wipes one away and holds back the others. She won't give up. She has already found her father (although too late) and her brother. She will also find her mother and sisters. She won't rest until she has. She will succeed.
Reroll on break the grapple 29
How are the berserkers doing?
With the battle over, Coriana chats up the berzerkers, "Fellas, can you file out into the big room so we can see what's going on in the tight space? Thanks sooo much."
[[Persuasion: 18]]
Out loud to everyone she asks, "How long do these guys stay around for?"
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain
Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards.
DM - The Old Keep
One hour or until 0 HP
As Orinielle yells at the group, Syllen still standing on the ceiling looks a little confused.
“How can you remember our names when we never gave them to you!?”
After they are gone Syllen will stay on the ceiling will walk above Avery and Khessa. For the next 9 minutes Syllen will keep his murder of crows next to him as Nav was sadly killed during the fight.
“I'm glad you guys managed to hold your own while the doorway was blocked. Though these berserkers are extremely useful it does make things difficult in tight spaces. Does anyone require healing?”
All the berserkers are alive, and the chosen grin as they enter the room with Coriana. Whatever happens behind the door involves a lot of shouting and shifting of furniture.
You look down the hallway and see all the drow and the duergar completely thrown out of whack by their predicament. None seem to be particularly inclined to fight you and are just glad Fadheela is dead.
Balthial bows to Khessa, "You fight well madame, I thank you as well for your assistance and felling the beast Fadheela." He looks behind you to the corpse on the floor. "I know not who you are, or what your business here is, but you have earned a boon from St Cuthbert for your efforts. I must leave this place and rejoin him in Arcadia. But before I do, I will commune with him on your behalf. What three questions do you have for my lord?"
He will cast the Commune for you before departing.
He also has the Raise Dead spell if that was something you wanted.
Syllen will walk up to the Deva.
"Thank you for the help. The battle was much easier thanks to you. I know not if my friends have questions for your master but if you are powerful enough to communicate with other plans of existence do you by any chance have a way to remove a curse from someone?"
Balthial nods knowingly, reaches ouit a hand and casts Remove Curse , curing Syllen's Lycanthropy. "Be free from that rottenness, St Cuthbert blesses you!"
(I had completely forgot about that. And as the Deva has Remove Curse as a Bonus Action it makes sense that it can cast that spell along with Commune.)
Theldrin finds himself feeling a bit starstruck in the presence of the Deva. Not sure what to say or question to ask, he lets the others do the talking.
Xanrym congratulates his companions but reminds them that they're not done with the "job" yet. "Fadheela was a murderous assassin, but she was merely an obstacle to our goal. We still must find the Forgotten King's bones!" Now that they're no longer in the middle of a fight, Xanrym considers what Orinielle said: "Vanguard of Sertrous." The name sounds familiar, and he calls to mind what he might have read about "Sertrous" in his study of dark cults after facing the cult of the naga, Explictica Defilus.
(Religion: 20, in game log)
When he realizes what Coriana is up to, Xanrym hastily gathers the staff and anything he can carry from the "closet" (S36) and leaves S35 to give them some privacy. He joins the others in the adjacent room (S32) with Balthial. He asks Avery to have a few of the berserkers guard the drow and duergar, both to ensure that they don't cause any mischief and to ensure that they don't stumble into some other deadly danger in this place.
Xanrym is eager to speak to the Balthial. He reiterates Khessa's thanks to the Deva for helping them defeat Orinielle after the dying Fadheela released all of her petrified victims. He formally introduces "The Company of the Grey Chain" and each of its members (eldritch knight, druid and stargazer, knight, war wizard, and a former pirate captain). He introduces himself as a storyteller and a lover magic and the open road. "I'm a follower of Fharlanghn, but I offer praise and thanks to St. Cuthbert of the Cudgel."
Before Balthial communes with St. Cuthbert, Xanrym has some questions that the Deva may be able to answer on his own:
If Balthial is in a hurry and can only perform Commune for us, I guess we'd start with this yes/no question unless Xanrym already found the Forgotten King's bones in the stone chest in S36:
"Did Fadheela already deliver the Forgotten King's bones to the Vanguard of Sertrous?"Actually, we don't care whether Fadheela "delivered" the bones. We just care where they are now and whether the Vanguard of Sertrous has them:
"Does the Vanguard of Sertrous now have the bones of the Forgotten King?"
What we ask after that probably depends on the answer to that question. If the Vanguard already has the bones, we don't need to spend another day searching the Necromancer's Spike for them. What yes/no questions could we ask that would help us find the Vanguard and recover the bones? If the Vanguard does not have the bones, then are any yes/no questions that might help us figure out who does?
Updated: elaborating my thinking on Commune.
(OOC: Maybe Theldrin should take a look at the papers he found in Fadheela's chamber? That might save us from wasting a question on something that's already answered in the papers.)
Coriana finishes up her "business" with the berzerker and sends him back with the others while she uses the privacy to perform her magical cunning ritual to regain a pact magic slot.
Coriana - Company of the Grey Chain
Wagner - Dragon Heist: Bards.
DM - The Old Keep