Dorn's Deep

Immediately Alalla's supernatural sense is assaulted by an overpowering evil coming from whatever object lies upon that altar. Its sheer hatred and disgust for life can only mean one thing: it is some sort of undead creature.

The gathered people show no signs of being anything beyond human, but there almost seems to be some sort of cloud about them, something emanating from the thing on the altar.

Round 1 Player Phase!

Zenithral and Vincent focus their efforts on the spirit floating high above. Arrows and eldritch magic pepper the thing, piercing the stained cloth and causing the form beneath it to shudder.

On the ground, the battle is on in force, as one of the priests calls down a pillar of fire and light upon the party's back rank. Ug rolls out of the worst of it, but Zenithral is caught in the middle, flames biting his skin as radiance sears his soul (Ug takes 12 fire and radiant damage, and Zen takes 10 fire damage and 7 radiant damage - resisting the radiant).

Alalla plows forward through the Ilmatari cultists to reach the altar. They whack at her with simple clubs and knives, but her armor repels most of the blows. She steps up onto the raised portion alongside Perdiem and strikes out at the statue in his hands. Just as her sword is about to land, however, the carved image catches her attention. That face...

Meanwhile, the Ilmatari press forward as a wave upon the party (the weakling acolytes deal pretty pitiful damage to the party: Al takes 9, Erevain takes 6, Reo takes 4, Vince takes 3). Most of them are simple clergy with little or no combat training, but there are a handful of men and women who move with purpose, strength, and grace. Bearing no weapons at all, they circle widely around the party and each pick a target. Hands and feet striking as hard as longswords, they lay into the companions with powerful strikes.

Well-trained in this sort of unarmed combat, Vincent easily turns aside the jabbing fists of his opponent. Ras fares less well, however. His fine dragon scale armor absorbs the weight of a kick, but the adept before him spins suddenly in the air, her other foot lashing out to catch Ras in the side of the head with force enough to stun the small druid (Ras takes 8 bludgeoning and is stunned for the next round).

Reòthad's nimble foe slides across the stones to deliver a painful kick to the dwarf's knee (Reo takes 17 bludgeoning damage), but Reòthadh proves his sturdiness as he refuses to buckle. A ray of frost leaves the sorcerer's hand to flash out at the spirit above, but it seems to have no effect on the spectral creature.

Ug's unarmed opponent has even less success. A rapid flurry of punches lands on the goliath's muscled side, but even without his rage Ug can hardly feel them.

Zenithral blinks away the aftermath of the flamestrike spell to find one of the adepts attempting to wrestle away his bow. The half-elf keeps a firm grip on the weapon, however, and even manages to get off a parting shot at the spirit, glowing arrow passing through the cloth and undead form to pierce a stalactite nearby. The ensuing explosion showers the combatants below with rocks, and when the dust clears the only sign of the spirit is the tattered, stained cloth that flutters to the ground.

Brother Perdiem shrieks in rage and hefts the statuette with both hands, swinging it sidelong at Alalla. She feels her strength leave her suddenly as she recognizes whose likeness the idol bears. Her memory flashes back to her trip across the planes to the bank of the River Styx, and the awesome being she met there. Only her warrior instincts kicking in at the last moment allow Alalla to doge back from Zariel's stone face. Are the statue's hands bound by the red cord, or breaking free of it?

Perdiem's eyes bulge as he grips the statue. "When your world is turned upside-down, when your understanding of the universe is stolen from you, all you have left is faith. From my faith, all I can hold onto is law. It is the law that we obey. It is ALL we can offer!" Perdiem brings the statue around for another swing, and Alalla finds her footing precarious as she takes another step back, reaching the edge of the raised platform. Brother Perdiem pauses in his assault to look out at the battleground and makes eye contact with Ug. "No! N-" His cry is cut off as his body freezes in place, held fast by Ug's chilling gaze, with the statue held out before him (Perdiem is paralyzed!).

Nearby, the other priest finishes his chant and several members of the party find their minds assaulted by magic meant to steal away their free will. They each manage to fight it off, except for Alalla. Even as she moves to strike at the vulnerable statue, she freezes in place just as surely as Brother Perdiem before her (Al is also paralyzed).

Head still ringing, Ras shows remarkable fortitude as he finishes his own spell, conjuring forth a swirling globe of water that covers both of the spellcasting priests. As the globe rises off the floor and into the air, Ras feels clarity slip from him. Maintaining his concentration on the spell for long will likely be impossible (Normally being stunned makes it so you can't concentrate on spells, but we usually play that concentration spells get at least 1 round of effect. Basically the watery sphere spell will end after this coming round, rather than right now).

As Erevain casts his spell to remove evil influences from Brother Gus, the bearded Ilmatari once more blinks in confusion. Erevain pulls the man to one side, hoping to keep him out of harm's way.

Round 2 Player Phase!!