cinaed

Session 136: Day 11 of Saedan (3/22)

Diana touches Adrin’s head and changes her breath from poison to fire. The group watches in partial alarm as her scales change from green to red. Audacity asks if she’s all right and Adrin chews at her claw before saying she’s fine, just feels a little hot.

Her tail flicks a little in anticipation of the fight.

Yolov asks about the space, remembering the bottleneck they caused in the vampire house. As they debate the room details, Audacity suggests that he try to buy some time as Mastery.

Az isn’t sure if he was noticed, a lot of the guards were wearing masks and two others were smoke demons without much expression on their faces. He turns back to Solace and asks if he knows what is in the other two tunnels that branch off in this mine.

Solace says people are taken down there and don’t come back. He says all he knows is that beyond the door are more prisoners and then Endurance’s office. The party debates unlocking the cell doors, worrying about Kalia leaving on her own and running into Endurance.

Solace says if they’re worried about that, then they should know that Endurance is already here. He came in not too long ago with a group of guards and new prisoners and took them further into the mine, presumably to the cells or his office.

The party decides that they should deal with this next group of guards before confronting Endurance. They also plan on having Medrash grab some of the holy symbols and get back to Solace.

Then, after Hava casts her Twilight Sanctuary, Galowen summons Glyn, and Yolov casts Mirror Image on himself, they all quietly enter the next room, catching the guards unawares.

Hava studies the guards as she steps forward and casts Eldritch Blast on the furthest demon. Two of the blasts hit. One of the blasts drags at him, slowing him down, as she summons a spectral tentacle that emerges from the ground beside the other demon.

The guard nearest begins to shriek in alarm as this shadowy tentacle appears.

Galowen sends Glyn charging at the closest guard, who is standing next to a cell with a prisoner inside. Glyn tramples him and then throws him with his horns against the bars of the cage, sending him sprawling to the ground. The woman in the cell, wearing formerly rich robes, stands up to stare.

Galowen follows Glyn and begins to attack the prone guard. Both sword strikes hit, the blade glowing as he casts Wrathful Strike and striking fear into the man’s heart.

Diana races around the corner to breathe fire at the next closest guard. The guard manages to dodge some of the damage but is still burned as Adrin follows her sister.

Audacity runs over to join Galowen in attacking the prone guard. The quarterstaff slams down twice. The guard is barely alive, staring up at Audacity before Audacity stomps him in the throat and kills him.

He looks up and sees the human woman in the cell. There’s a vague familiarity to her, and he looks at her Kastvari clothes. He cannot remember her name, but he remembers briefly the last time he saw her and that she is an advisor to the Kastarian queen and occasionally travels with Prince Citrine.

She’s backing away from the puddle of blood, trying not to dirty her dress. He instinctively does a Kastvari bow to her before he runs to join Diana.

Four Yolovs move forward and hold up his staff, sending a huge fireball into the middle of the room. One of the demons that Hava had already damaged immediately looks to be on its last legs.

Az moves forward as well. The party watches as a thorn, crimson-flowered crown appears on a warlock’s head as their eyes go blank and they turn and draw a scimitar of flame before they attack the demon. The demon is torn apart in a burst of flames.

One of the other warlocks yells at the attacking one for killing the demon. Az sends his controlled warlock rushing towards them.

One of the assassins looks at Audacity still wearing Mastery’s face and tells him that he doesn’t know what he’s playing at, but he saw Mastery’s unconscious body being dragged into Endurance’s torture chamber. Audacity just winks at him before the assassin stabs him. Again he feels the attempt of poison.

The other closest one attacks him, stabbing him as well.

The final assassin attempts to attack the tentacle. He stomps fruitlessly.

Hava casts Healing Word on Audacity before she moves forward and casts another Eldritch Blast at one of the warlocks. Two out of three hit and again slow him down.

Galowen sends Glyn charging again, slamming into the nearest warlock. This one stays standing even as Glyn’s antler impales him. Galowen follows behind to attack as well. Both strikes hit, carving into the wounds the antlers left behind. He tries to shove the warlock down with the shield, but the warlock braces himself.

The warlock hisses that he won’t get him down that easily.

Diana attacks one of the assassins who injured Audacity. Both blows land, and she throws in a third stab for good measure. The assassin is bleeding profusely now as Adrin bites the other one, her teeth searing him with flame as he screams.

Audacity goes after the assassin Diana attacked, his quarterstaff a blur as the assassin endures one strike after another as Audacity drives him back into the corner before Audacity slams his foot into the assassin’s throat and snaps his neck.

Audacity turns and drops Mastery’s form and rolls his eyes at the other assassin. The assassin’s face goes white with recognition.

The warlock under Az’s control attacks the closest warlock, all three attacks landing with flame searing along the blade’s edge. The injured warlock looks badly injured and continues to yell at Ricky for attacking him.

Az waggles his finger at the warlock as the warlock attacks the controlled warlock. Two of three attacks hit, dealing a huge amount of damage, before the final warlock attacks Galowen with his flaming scimitar.

The warlock says that at least one of them can hit something.

Yolov casts Wither and Bloom and simultaneously heals Audacity and injures the assassin.

The demon joins in attacking Ricky the warlock while Az maintains his control on the Crown of Madness.

The assassin closest to Audacity stabs Diana. The sword’s poison burns into Diana, an unfamiliar pain even as the second assassin rushes over to Galowen and attacks him. Both poisoned swords strike him, even as his breastplate blunts the poison.

Hava casts Healing Word on Galowen, healing some of his wounds, before she sends three Eldritch Blasts towards the assassin that just stabbed him. As he pulls back, his sword dripping with Galowen’s blood, all of the blasts hit him. He looks badly injured but still standing.

Galowen sends Glyn to flank the warlock and attack him. Galowen attacks him as well, burying his blade in the warlock’s gut. Then he turns to attack the assassin, knocking him flat and backing away from him.

Diana attacks the assassin who injured her. She takes him down by slitting his throat as Audacity tells her to grab one of the swords and then vaults over the group to attack the prone assassin. Again his quarterstaff slams down on the assassin as well as his foot striking him in the ribs, stunning the assassin.

The warlock under Az’s Crown of Madness spell kills the other warlock while an icy chromatic orb from Yolov slams into the prone assassin. Az keeps up control of the warlock while the assassin lays there stunned.

Hava huffs in frustration and asks Audacity if he’s finishing off the assassin. When Audacity assures her he will, Hava casts another Healing Word on Galowen and then focuses on the demon. Her three Eldritch blasts slam into its back.

Glyn’s hooves come down on the assassin’s head, crushing it, before Galowen moves closer to the demon and the final warlock, staying within Hava’s Twilight Sanctuary as he casts Cure Wounds on himself.

Diana rushes forward and attacks the demon, all three of her sword attacks carving into it and sending it dissolving into a spray of ashes. As the demon falls, Audacity rushes forward towards the door and his father.

Everyone else follows close behind. Galowen presses a hand against Audacity’s shoulder and grants him a Bardic Inspiration. It’s a simple wooden door with a simple staircase of stone and a stone archway.

It smells of blood and old corpses, and the rot of dead things. They step forward, and the first thing everyone notices is the racks of bodies on stone tables, some mutilated beyond recognition. There is fresh blood on the floor as well as long dried blood.

Endurance is standing next to a large, hulking demon made of spines. By the far wall in the room there are six large orbs, glowing, electric blue things zapping and flickering with light. Slumped down at the bottom, where the blue has been turned purple with blood, is Mastery. The others contain Ambition and the three investigators.

There is one empty orb. Even as Audacity steps down, Endurance looks at him and says that he is glad Audacity made the right decision to be with the rest of the family. He raises a hand and the party watches Audacity disappear and reappear in one of the spheres.

Everything looks watery, but he can’t hear anything, as Endurance looks down at the orbs and says that there’s nothing to do but get started then. Endurance crosses his arms and tells the demon to keep them busy.

The demon rushes forward, his claws and tail whipping forward at Galowen. Galowen manages to get his shield up and ward off the attacks.

Endurance looks at the Hooligans, casting Slow, and Diana and Adrin are caught by the spell.

Hava casts Cure Wounds on Galowen, trying to heal as many of his injuries as possible. Then she gets closer to the demon, studying it and trying to gauge its weaknesses. She moves her tentacle closer to the fight.

Galowen strikes at the demon with his sword, the blade flashing with a brilliant radiant glow.

Endurance has his arms behind his back. He tips his head back and the room fills with the sound of screaming, tortured cries people made before they died. Everyone is rocked by the sounds, their heads ringing.

Despite Slow, Diana attempts to cast Summon Fey, conjuring a miniature Diana. She summons it directly in front of Audacity’s orb as Adrin bites the demon. Diana and Adrin both manage to shake off the Slow spell as the Fey attacks the orb.

When it hits the edge of arcane energy, Audacity can see the energy crackle like lightning. He tries to figure out if he can cast spells through the orb, but he suspects that nothing can pass through. He nods at the tiny Diana and starts hitting the orb from within. With his final blow, he manages to shatter the orb.

Endurance’s eyebrow twitches in annoyance. He says that he always knew that Audacity and his sister would be trouble. Their mother was always a slippery little bitch. When he’s finished with those two, he’s going to find her again.

Audacity asks if he misplaced her while Az sends the warlock dashing past Endurance. Endurance glances at him and says turnabout is fair play. He feels an icy burn of magic as Endurance strikes him with a Frostbite cantrip.

Yolov rushes forward, to Galowen’s dismay. He reaches out to cast Shocking Grasp on the demon before he Misty Steps to the furthest orb where Voren is. He’s immediately hit by an Eldritch Blast from Endurance that drags him ten feet closer.

Yolov studies the orbs and realizes that he might be able to dispel them one at a time, but also that lightning damage won’t do anything. Even as he examines the closest orb, Endurance hits him with a Toll the Dead that he manages to shake off.

Endurance looks at everyone and then sighs before he looks back at Audacity. He tells him that it didn’t have to be this way. He will just have to kill all of Audacity’s friends and then Audacity will understand his place and they will be a proper family.

Audacity stares back. “I'm sorry that this is, and has been, your concept of family. But you are, in fact, one of the first people I've met in my life who is wasting the air that the rest of us need to breathe.”

Endurance looks at him for a long moment and then turns to the demon and tells it flatly to kill them all.