Menelwen had the idea with the circlet of elemental summoning to send the tower crashing down. But it would cause more destruction and risk the lives of the refugees so the idea was abandoned.
Vega shot a look over to Sasha who was still cozying up to Henry. In elvish, he asked "What about her?"
Henry heard "I want that one." with the point towards Sasha. That earned a glare from the rogue. Sasha however, only had eyes for Henry.
So after gently, turning her down the party starts sneaking over towards the tower once they were sure no one was watching.
On the way they passed what was realized as the church of the keep. Henry snuck in to get a look around at what was going on. There was a woman, cracking a whip with a manic look in her eye wearing blue robes. She was screaming in a language Henry couldn't understand with two armored men on either side of her. There were five unarmed men hard at work in the dais beneath her. Corpses littered the ground as well.
Feeling sick at the sight, Henry snuck back and informed the party. It was decided that they would continue on to the tower to deal with the bug bears, lest the people in the church caused enough commotion to allow the bug bears to get a jump on them.
They manage to get to the tower.
Though Henry had informed them about the existence of the bug bears, nothing could prepare them for the smell. In the process of sneaking up the stairs, Menelwen became overwhelmed with the smell and lost her dinner. Theamen unfortunately slipped in the sick and fell down the stairs.
Eventually they get to the top of the stairs.
Henry went to unlock the door but found it already unlocked. He played it off as though he was a master rogue of unlocking.
He came back, proud.
"Did you perception check it?" Thok asked, having heard breathing on the other side of the door.
"Yes?"
"Go check."
Henry took a step in, looked around and saw nothing. He stepped out. And was told to go back in. This happened several times that it became almost a stealthy pokey. Henry was getting frustrated, not seeing anything to be concerned about.
So since Henry was failing to see the bug bears that he had seen earlier, Vega decided to take a look.Due to his increased ability to shapeshift (being able to turn into creatures that can swim), he was able to turn into a constrictor snake. Using blind sight, he located a bug bear hiding in the closet on the right wall of the room. Nothing else was found.
Turning back, he told the group what he found.
A plan was formed. Vega had a spell that was going to help Thok attack more. Vega cast haste on Thok, allowing him to rush forward. He threw the closet open, getting three attacks on the bug bear within it. Together with Henry, they took it down.
In time for two more bug bears that had been lying in wait to get the drop on the rest of the party.
(Homebrew rule for this campaign that will be relevant momentarily: if you lose more than half your hit points in one hit, you need to role a constitution save. If you fail, you fall unconscious).
One of the bug bears knocked Vega out cold.
Which meant that Haste ended due to it being a concentration spell. And what Vega hadn't told Thok before casting it on him is that you are unable to move or attack for a round when it ends.
"I hate you Vega." Thok's (last) words as the one that had been hiding on top of the closet came down with a swing of a club to his head. "Vega, I'm going to kill you."
Menelwen attempted to take the bug bear that was standing over Vega's body down with magic missiles to his face. It hit and certainly did damage, but like Vega, one solid hit knocked her clear out.
Henry turned, seeing two of his allies down. He shot at the bug bear that was on Thok with his bow and arrow.
Theamen, who had been waiting outside in case shit hit the fan kicked the door down. Three rays of fire streaked through the air. Two hit, blowing off the head of the bug bear that had downed Vega and Menelwen (and was currently standing over her body).
Thok managed to take the one on him down. Vega comes back to consciousness and Theamen gets Menelwen up. Mass cure wounds heals the party up rather nicely thanks to Vega.
Blinking a few times as she comes to, Menelwen sees the headless bug bear body still standing over her. "Did....did you do that?"
"Yes...."
"Thaaank you." she hugged him.
Relieved that this fight was over, the party starts heading back down the way they came. Vega, clearly out of sorts with how he almost killed Thok with Haste, was in a funk. Menelwen booped the druid on the snoot, confusing him momentarily. But it worked.
They headed back to the church. This time, Menelwen and Vega listen at the door as the chanting had reached a fever pitch. They recognized and started speaking at the same time to translate to the group. "Keepers of the Eye, serving Gar Shatterkeel, he serves the eye and you must serve the crushing wave."
With this new knowledge, a plan is formed. The party noticed that there was another door on the other side. Theamen would go around and prevent anyone from escaping while the others crept in. Before he left, he placed a hand on Menelwen's shoulder. A familiar tingle of warmth filled her from Shield of Faith.
They sneak in. The delay of the bug bear fight had seen three of the men drop, a fourth falling as they planned their attack.
Judging the distance accurately, Menelwen opened up with a fireball centered on the guards. It was a blazing inferno that left they nothing but smears of ash on the ground. The priestess was thrown off her feet, allowing Vega to rush in and bind her.
Thok's jaw drop, making a mental note to never piss the wizard off.
Menelwen was just...overjoyed at having used her first fireball. Theamen caught up with the group. Giddy, she went over to him. "Oh my gosh, you should have seen-"
"I was standing by the door to make sure they didn't escape." His gaze dropped to the scorch marks. "They didn't escape."
Taking the items from the priestess, they obtained a whip and a quarterstaff. Menelwen got both, excited to have potential melee weapons.
In Elvish, Theamen told her, "That will not be incorporated." She laughed. What Henry heard was very different.
He heard "That is not to be inserted."
Thok caught Theamen's eye. "Remind me not to piss her off."
"I try not to on a daily basis."
The party tried to question the priestess, but it was clear that she was too far gone to be of any use. Vega's nails grew into claws as he prepared to end her. However, Thok stepped in, giving her a quick death and sent Vega to help the one surviving prisoner.
After finishing their business, they turned their attention to the keep where Grimjaw would be. Leaving the church, they headed into the main part of the keep.
Carefully checking ahead, Henry saw two soldiers much like the men who Menelwen had turned into ash before, a woman in robes, and a portly man sitting at a desk. Grimjaw.
Henry returned to the party, informing them.
And the assault planning began....
~To be continued~
No comments:
Post a Comment