Winter's Bite, Part 2

Log Info

• Title: Winter's Bite, Part 2
• Emitter: Patch
• Characters: Slixvah, Jay, Robert
• Place: Mountains North-West of Alexandria
• Time: Nov 4th, 2022, 5:45 PM
• Previously: While traveling a mountain trail an adventuring party is caught in heavy snow from a freak storm. Having to take refuge in a small enclave of hermits that offer some respite from the chill, something is noticeably wrong with the weather. The winds and snow aren't the only things making noise and trouble, and the night shall be long. As the adventurers relax in an ice-cold pool and make dinner, they are attacked. Yetis and Ghouls, sent by a horned Oni, perhaps in service of the Snow Regent, Lady Sha-Kho, known to kidnap folks every other generation. They fight and prevail, but the night is not over.
• Summary: The party follows after the taken Ursus Dippers, and finds a cave in the mountainside that had opened on the path to some of the open-air pools. There they discover a trap and friend of the Oni, setting off the final battle in a cramped staircase. Desperation, and intrigue? Maybe!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  Appearing  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Faiza        5'0"     120 Lb     Mul'niessa        Female    Ginger Mul'niessa in shiny armour and blue cloak.                  
Slixvah      5'8"     130 Lb     Eaglefolk         Female    A rust red/white Egalrin covered in veils, ribbons, and shawls.
Jay          5'9"     145 Lb     Eaglefolk         Male      A perky male Blue Jay with a discerning eye.
Robert       6'3"     235 Lb     Human             Male      A middle-aged Cerenzan with a friendly, fatherly vibe.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  As the GM  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Patch        4'8"     100 Lb     Dawn Elf          Female    A blond Llyranesi with a port-wine stained face.  
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=

"Sure thing Bob! Tell me what to do." The bluejay flaps over to the artificer, reading with all hands and wings. He knows what to do, but instruction helps. There's a glance or two at his pile of things. He'll get to those in a minute. "So, we're going to follow into the snow, once everyone here is secure?"

As the adventurer's prepare their things and arm themselves. The day has worn long, and the night has been dragged out because the interruption. The need for rest hasn't yet been reached, but the dark and chill seeping in from the broken door remind them that respite, and rest might still be far off.

The secret room proves to have far more than enough accommodations for the Ursus Dippers, Alviss even looking after the party from the steps of its hidden entrance in the dais. "The snow might... lead you astray. In this weather, tracks can quickly vanish. It's why we house our pools indoor, despite the chill needed for ice." he says, sighing. "Behind the barn is a trail, the old pools and caves were down that way. We don't use them anymore, but that's where it looked like that horned bloke went."

Slix finishes tying up the last of her ribbons, her finally pulling free a dagger from her robes. She twirls it betwixt her fingers as she listens to Alviss. "Hrmm... aight. Behind tha barn, that-a-ways?" she inquires, pointing off towards where she saw the building on the way in.

"And yeah Blue. We gon' get thems. I'm readies whenevs. Gots 'bout an hour befo' tha mojos I used poof. Ya'lls ready?"

GAME: Jay rolls perception+4: (5)+15+4: 24
GAME: Jay rolls survival+4: (8)+4+4: 16
GAME: Robert rolls Perception: (4)+11: 15
GAME: Slixvah rolls alertness: aliased to perception+2: (11)+12+2: 25

Tools and gadgets clatter as Bob buckles his second belt in place, shifting it and the hip-pack to rest on the faulds of his re-donned armor. The adamantine plating retakes its stylized draconic scaling as each piece is strapped into place; some variety of sympathetic plasticity from the enchantment protecting the artificer himself. Bob nods at Slixvah's question and offers one last reassuring smile to the ice-dippers.

"Stay hidden and keep safe. We'll be back as we can." Metallic, oversized hands reach up and lower his domed helmet into place. "Muse' grace."

Then he's heading out towards the indicated path, keeping an eye out for the horned creature he'd glanced through the window.

"One benefit of the fresh snow..." Bob muses from inside his private echo chamber, lifting a finger to point at the tracks they've all likely noticed.

Jay is adjusting the titan armour with Bob, which is somewhat like banded mail, but heavier, except when it's activated for the user it's adjusted too. A complexy crafted thing. "A little bit more, then we can go. A couple minutes." His eyes focus on Slixvah's dagger for a moment. "I'd like my shirt, and the cape." Running around in only leggings and a mithril shirt seems a little too adventurous.

Once dressed and once outside, there are tracks clearly heading towards the back pools. Behind the barn, as warned. "They must have come by the mountain trail, that's how they got access. The front gate is still closed."

He looks where Robert indicates, at the strange marks. "People were dragged in the snow, allegedly." Jay gazes further down the path, "They are obscuring the trail, but they'll be easy to follow, for now. Lots of disturbances."

"We should still move quickly."

The rust red and white egalrin, despite the spell placed upon her before, closes her robes to ward off the wind before stepping out. "Gotcha hon," she coos to Robert, casting a curious glance to Jay before they're all heading out.

And they're off. It's in this situation that one can see the advantage of Slix's coloration. The snow and muddled mountainside blends her in naturally. "I see it," she intones to them, picking up the pace.

Her pocket rustles. Some twittering.

Slixvah stops for a step, nods slowly to herself, then whispers an incantation to herself.

A feather poofs in front of the two gentlemen. Then-

Slix smacks the hilt of her dagger with a flat palm before pointing it skyward. "Ym yees rea pone," she chants, each syllable growing more disconcordant. The outline of a turqoise eye opens on her forehead. Another on a feather. Another on her arm. Leg. Back. Rear of the skull. They float up to make a circle, then she taps Jay on the shoulder.

The eyes zip over to him and trail behind the l-eaglrian like glowing peacock feathers on the wind.

Tegri can see Slix wink at him from behind.

GAME: Slixvah casts Message. Caster Level: 6 DC: 15
GAME: Slixvah casts Countless Eyes. Caster Level: 6 DC: 18
<OOC> Slixvah says, "tegri has all-around vision for 6 hours"

Proving to be capable of exceptionally fine manipulations, the gigantic artifice gauntlets pluck a glowing rock out of pouch and release it over one of Robert's pauldrons. The simple ioun stone begins to cavort, bobbing mildly and rotating a lazy circuit above the man's helm. Warm yellow light spreads out around the small group.

"That's fantastic, miss Slix," the artificer chuckles, clearly impressed. "If you could kepe an eye out for us, IC..?" Bob rests the gauntlet lightly on his shoulder for a moment. "Not too far, please, and we'll be at your side in a heartbeat if you need us."

The pauldrons clank and pistons slide and suck as the Cerenzan rolls his shoulders inside the armor.

"What? Huh? Ha. Ha!" Tegri has all around vision for six hours, and this is the first time in his life. "This is amazing!"

He spins around to look at Slix and laughs, "I can still see you Bob! Wow." Whrrr, whrrrr, snow is going everywhere, he stretches his wings back, "Oh they look wonderful."

The Bluejay is so distracted by what he can see around him and behind, that he almost walks into a tree in front of him. "Oops. Ha. Have to be vigilant. Allegedly."

His head bobs to Bob, "Sure, I'll scout ahead."

GAME: Jay rolls stealth+4: (2)+12+4: 18. 

It isn't hard to follow the path the Oni and its minions had taken, leading behind the barn there is a gap in the rock-wall. It looks as if a small gate had kept this area secure, but it has been lost to time, and disuse. Remains of it scattered on the ground along with some loose rocks.

Behind it lays a small and winding path into the mountains, one that narrows and twists, making it hard for the party to walk more than two by two. It's surprising that there is a lack of blood, as the party found that the foes, they faced were willing to injure and kill. At least the party.

As Jay walks the path ahead of the others, it's clear to him that something has gone wrong. He's the first to see it, a place where the trail is full of rubble, and a new cavern has been exposed jutting out of stone. It seems the terrain has shifted, and the pools are blocked. That's good, because the snow and steps lead into the new hole, cold winds blowing out of it from deep within.

"There's a new cavern," Jay whispers to the wind, and the message spell that will hopefully carry his words to Slix and Bob, "looks exploded from within, you can't miss it. I don't see anyone watching. A cold wind is coming out of it."

He glances around, "Nothing marks this place, nothing visible with all the snow. I'm going in, not far."

Slixvah snorts, her giving a thankful nod for the ioun stone as she pulls out a feather, mutters a light incantation on it and hides it in a pocket for late. "Thanks! Learned it recent!" she grins. "I'm glad ya like it! I learned its best ta not think about what ya see too much, info overload and all that. Stay safe shug, whisper, I got the talky mojo goin'."

Her feathered brows furrow, a glance shot towards Robert. "Aight, we'll keep patch wit'cha Blue," she intones back across the spell. Her beak grinds as her talons plunge into the snow, thumb brushing the edge of the blade...

Robert frowns-- not that Slixvah can observe his expressions through the small, dark eyeslits.

"Discretion and valor, IC," Bob offers in a sotto voce, knowing full-well he's preaching to the choir. Plates clatter quietly as he reaches down and selects a spheroid brass object the size of a small orange from his belt.

"Raise shields," the Cerenzan utters in clipped Kulthina as he twists two halves of the mechanical sphere in opposite directions. It glows blue and he sockets it into a pauldron. A semi-transparent hexagonal mesh spreads out from the socket before fading out of view. As the snow continues to fall the larger flakes rest against the blue glow here and there, creating a dancing cascade of light as he moves forward. He makes a point to give Jay time to advance quietly ahead of them. <kulthian>

The cunning Jay reaches a stairway of ice. It is dry, and not slick. It seems the chill is growing from here as the winds come from the lower floors. It's dark, but chanting and some ritual can be heard below. It's eerie, and echoes through the hall. Still magic lingers in the air, enough of it to make hair and feather alike feel discomfort.

It seems descent is the only option.

GAME: Robert casts Shield. Caster Level: 7 DC: 15

"Hurry. I hear chanting. There's a stairway. It's ice. Ice!" He frantically whispers, testing it with his foot. "Not slippery. Still windy."

Jay looks around, still not used to seeing everything with a hint of himself at the middle. This may be how bees see the world. "Feels magical. Going deeper."

GAME: Slixvah casts Light. Caster Level: 6 DC: 15

Slix curses in a quiet chirp under her breath. "Ugh, chanting. Wanna know who chants? People doin' bad mojo. Come on!" she whispers to the two, her picking up the pace and jogging forth. "Ugh, I Don't like that feelin' 'round here."

<OOC> Jay says, "my Fav Terr Mastery underground is +2"
GAME: Jay rolls perception+2: (12)+15+2: 29
GAME: Slixvah rolls alertness: aliased to perception+2: (19)+12+2: 33

"We'll be fine," Bob whispers for both to hear. "Just keep your heads, kids."

The metal gauntlets open and close to check the action and he keeps pursuit.

GAME: Robert rolls perception+2: (1)+11+2: 14 (EPIC FAIL)
GAME: Jay rolls knowledge/dungeoneering: (14)+11: 25

Part of the shadows, a black, white and blue jay who seems nothing more than a broken pattern on the wall, heads further down. His keen eye is on the stairs. "Hey," a furtive chirp comes to his companion's ears, "the steps get less organized, different heights, different widths. Real trip hazards. They're no longer just ice."

There's another chirp of surprise, "There's a snake! Some kind of elemental serpent, allegedly. It's just laying here, sprawled out, at the bottom of the steps." He steps carefully, not moving closer just yet, "it's almost completely blending in. I don't think it tripped on the stairs. I... could try flying over it." Getting snapped out of the air by a snake... would be bad, yet oddly avian. "It... it might be a 'Freezing Flow', a kind of crystaline ooze, and not a snake. Those pretend to be snow, or ice, and can freeze you numb with a touch."

"Rather Nasty."

"Course Robby, we gots it."Slixvah draws near the entrance, grip tightening on the dagger more. "An.. elemental?" she whispers back.

More filled in. Brows furrow. "Crystal ooze..? Hrmm... I ain't got lots for thems. The resist my shin-digs most of tha time. Freeze ya wit' a touch... I'll think of somethin'. Can we slip around it?"

GAME: Robert rolls Knowledge/Nature: (2)+6: 8
GAME: Slixvah rolls knowledge/nature: (9)+9: 18 

"Having it between you and us doesn't help. Was there another path? A way around?" Bob pauses in his advance, doing his best to turn at the trunk and look back the way they came. Then twist and lean to look over and around. "We can catch up and deal with it if needs be..."

"It might already know you're there... even if it doesn't, I won't be able to sneak past anything in my armor." The Cerenzan sets the artifice-suit into motion once more, moving down the stairs to try and catch up with Jay. "Don't try anything until we're closer, IC."

"Okay." The bluejay whispers, leaning against the wall. "I think I could get by it, or over it."

"Can it fly? If we got up high enough we could drop fire things on it. An ice creature should be vulnerable to fire, right?"

Slix, making her way down slowly, murmurs back as she closes in on the bluejay. "Yeah, Robby's right, probs know we here. Uh... I used all my fire mojo already, sorries. Ain't got nothin' else."

"I have plenty," Bob offers. The titan's armor isn't subtle or quiet but it doesn't need to be in this instance. The gauntlets curl into fists and the internals begin making noise and the artificer manipulates some unseen switch.

"Let me know when you can see us. Then you can try and go over-- just be careful about something else coming up from below."

GAME: Jay rolls fly+1: (3)+12+1: 16 (Was actually a 15. No +1)

Well, despite the party gathering close. It does not stir. The ice creature lays dormant still where it rests, even when Jay uses wings to clear it. Luckily the passage is big enough to allow Jay to glide straight. Just one problem. The room below you now almost in view. The chanting has suddenly stopped.

GAME: Slixvah rolls fly: (6)+9: 15

"Chanting has stopped." Jay whispers, discretely drawing his rapier. "I hear something, the Oni, it's good, I think. 'Put them in cages'. So they're not dead." Not yet.

"We need to hurry, allegedly."

Slix blinks as Tegri glides over. Her head tilts to the side, noting something or another before filing that away. "Gotcha, comin'!" she whispers back, taking a few steps back and doing a long hop and glide over the figure, it not reacting to the movement. She lands next to Blue, dagger held inverted.

"Shiiii.... aight. Uh, Robby? Hmm..."

Her feathers unfurl, reaching out towards him. They look so flimsy...

But their strength is known.

<<OOC> Robert says, "So, +2 from Hero, +2 from Armor (I can't turn it on without init)."
GAME: Robert rolls Athletics+2+2: (5)+4+2+2: 13
GAME: Slixvah rolls intelligence: (3)+5: 8
<OOC> Patch says, "Robert. High or Low?"
<OOC> Robert says, "I'm walkin' on sunshine. Whoa-oh-oh-oh. High."
GAME: Patch rolls 1d20: (10): 10  
GAME: Robert activates his Titan Armor, gaining: +4 Str
<OOC> Robert is AC25 with the Shield spell, FYI.
<OOC> Slixvah has mage armor up, ac 17! and jay has ward for +2 deflection and +2 resist to saves!
GAME: Patch rolls 2d4+6: (5)+6: 11
GAME: Patch rolls 1d6: (2): 2
(Results of trap left for Robert’s pose)
GAME: Jay rolls weapon2: (5)+8: 13

Jay waits on the other side of the frozen flow, his heart soaring as Slixvah clears it. His hands tightening as he watches Robert. His head starts to shake, no, no, don't step there.

He steps there.

The fight is on! Without hesitation he stabs at the elemental thing. Hesitating might have helped, as the rapier bounces off an iced rock and not the creature.

GAME: Robert spends TWO uses of CHARGE POOL.
GAME: Robert rolls wepaon13+2-2: (11)+wepaon13+2+-2: 11   (We just added the +12 for 23)
GAME: Robert rolls weapon14+2-2: (16)+12+2+-2: 28
GAME: Robert rolls 2d6+7+4+1d6: (5)+7+4+(1): 17
GAME: Robert rolls 2d6+7+4+1d6: (3)+7+4+(5): 19

CLANG *CLANG* *CLANG* "...hup!"

SMASH

After the graceful flight of the two egalrin, Bob's attempt to hustle down the stairs, brace, and jump over the creature is nothing short of a comedic pratfall! The ice-caked stair cracks beneath his weight and absorbs the push-off, making him do little more than a hop even as the armor surges to life. Gold threading glows to life and steam blasts from between plates in his wake. Still, he lands awkwardly on the step and stumbles into the creature-- the ooze more than willing to take advantage and slap out at the armored Cerenzan.

Grunting at the assault, Bob settles back onto his heels and lifts his fists up. The outline of a golden feather at his breast pulses and some of the hurt is soothed from his large frame.

Steam hisses again and the gauntlet's plating turns red-hot. Pauldrons roll forward and the Cerenzan delivers a one-two punch that cracks into the slithering elemental thing. Crystal cracks, ice keens, and steam bursts in all directions after both attacks-- but the ooze still oozes.

Slixvah grimaces and ducks out of the way has steam and hissing explodes beside her, the woman ducking her head out of reflex. "Shoot! Aight, keep on it!" she mentions, taking a few steps towards the stairs.

She looks between the group, the door. The group. The door.

A few things slide into place. "Awh... popsicles," she huffs, taking a few more steps and standing in the middle of the stairs. She holds her dagger up, pommel to the ceiling, as two fingers on her other hand point downwards.

The feathers on her wings flutter with anticpation. "... c'mon you filthy fiend... gotta present fo' ya..."

GAME: Slixvah casts Strangling Hair. Caster Level: 6 DC: 18
GAME: Slixvah rolls witch+intelligence: (8)+6+5: 19

"Atchw em owpre!" Slix suddenly shouts, and all the feathers unspool like rent ribbon spirals towards the top of the stairs. The tangle whiffs.

As Slixvah lashes out at the Oni, his head snaps to one side as her feathers miss. An angry glare is cast, and a hand rises as he invokes some of his magics to increase his size. He grows a full size larger, now blocking the entrance to the room behind him. It's a tight fit, but for now he just fumes. Imagine it? Walking to look at the commotion, and a bird tries to strangle you? Damn pests.

GAME: Patch rolls 1d20+6: (5)+6: 11

After the hefty blow Robert dealt it, the crystalline ooze tries to lash and throw itself at the man, but it fails in its flailing.

GAME: Jay rolls bluff: (14)+8: 22

"Bob, I have to help Slix!" Jay caws. Well, he doesn't _have_ to, but he's going to. The egalrin is a mass of loud, squawking feathers as he takes up a position beside the other bird.

"Hey! Hey!" He calls loudly, "I'm fighting you! Leave her alone! Over here!"

GAME: Robert rolls weapon13+2-2: (3)+12+2+-2: 15
GAME: Robert rolls weapon14+2-2: (9)+12+2+-2: 21
GAME: Robert rolls 2d6+7+4: (7)+7+4: 18 

There isn't much movement involved in defending. The artificer isn't a brawler bobbing-and-weaving on the balls of his feet weapon the overlarge assemblage of gears, crystals, wiring, and adamantine. Bob just braces, isntead, and relies on reinforced metals and magic-mimicking artifice to absorb the brunt of the attacks that come in. After weathering the ooze's attempt, he lashes back out.

The first swing is a downward-angled hook that goes hide as the miserable thing presses low to the ground. Both fists clasp together for a haymaker on the return, however, and shatter the creature from the middle. Crystals scatters and a chilled sludge pools out from the ruined form of the dead ooze.

The Cerenzan takes a heavy step down the stairs to reinforce Jay and Slixvah. "Coming from behind you," he warns as he picks up... steam.

GAME: Slixvah rolls concentrate: aliased to witch+intelligence: (15)+6+5: 26 

Slixvah grinds her beak as the Oni grows larger. A glance to Jay, her eyes steeling as the shattering behind her makes an item on her mental checklist get crossed out. "Wait, They casts magics!" she informs Integrity before a growl leaves her throat and a hand shoots out. The tangle of feathers grow more dense, but cant find purchase as she gets to the side of the hall at Robert's behest.

(The +1’s Slixvah and Jay have are from an award they earned in Pt. 1)
GAME: Slixvah rolls reflex+1: (9)+4+1: 14
GAME: Jay rolls reflex+2+1: (3)+8+2+1: 14
GAME: Robert rolls Reflex+2: (10)+8+2: 20
GAME: Patch rolls 8d6: (31): 31

Tired of the resistance he has met, this Oni calls forth a chilling wind and gusting cone of ice! The heavy tongue he speaks in might be recognizable to those who speak Giant, his words finishing as his outstretched hand hands been the conduit to send his spell up the stairs. "Drat... that usually kills them." he says in the common tongue.

"C..c..c.. cold!" Jay shivers as he's hit by the chilling wind. "W... waiting or you Bob."

GAME: Robert rolls weapon13+2: (20)+12+2: 34 (THREAT)
GAME: Robert rolls weapon13+2: (3)+12+2: 17
GAME: Robert rolls 2d6+7: (3)+7: 10

Bob managed to side-step, somehow, and turn so the blast only caught his flank. Ice cakes one leg, the edge of his faulds, a pauldron, and one massive gauntlet. It holds for the briefest moment before the implacable advance of the artificer shatters it away. Steam vents and the angelic golden feather pulses once again. Hissing, burbling droplets are flung from the suit as he draws near the oni and cocks back a plated armor. It crashes forward, catching the extraplanar menace in the center of the chest with a dull thud. The Cerenzan squares up with the spellcaster in an attempt to fill its field of vision.

GAME: Jay rolls weapon2+2: (18)+8+2: 28 (THREAT)
GAME: Jay rolls weapon2+2: (2)+8+2: 12
GAME: Jay rolls damage2+3d6: aliased to 1d6+1+3d6: (1)+1+(12): 14

Shivering, the bluejay who is mostly white and covered in ice, shifts to flank the Oni. Bob has him distracted, it's time for some Arbitration. He lunges! It's a well placed strike, one that would have gone deep if he hadn't been shivering so much. The l-eagal egalrin can also tell it didn't hur at much as it should have. Despite the depth, the Oni showed little reaction to it.

"It's tough. Tough!"

<OOC> Slixvah says, "im going to use misfortune on it. DC 18 will save or all d20 rolls are roll twice and take the lower for 1 round"
GAME: Patch rolls 1d20+10: (2)+10: 12 

The feathers reaching out to attempt to grapple and restrain. And then they're flash frozen. Slixvah screams in pain.

Outstretched feathers shatter from tip to base, clattering to the stairs. The witch clatters down to.

Almost.

She catches herself on a foot, her shivering as she stands upright. More feathers flare out. Five. Ten. Twenty. The ends fading in and out of reality. "OKAY FIFI, I GET IT NOW!"

The dagger stabs into the air, and just rends at everything. "WOE, BITCH!"

GAME: Patch rolls 1d20+14: (11)+14: 25
GAME: Patch rolls 1d20+9: (18)+9: 27
<OOC> Robert says, "SAVE ME, SLIXVAR"
<OOC> Slixvah says, "IM SAVIN U BOBBY"
(Misfortune Rolls)
GAME: Patch rolls 1d20+14: (13)+14: 27
GAME: Patch rolls 1d20+9: (16)+9: 25
<OOC> Robert says, "You know what, Patch?"
<OOC> Patch eyes those dice.
<OOC> Robert says, "I don't like your attitude."
<OOC> Slixvah laughs
<OOC> Jay says, "These. Dice."
GAME: Patch rolls 2d6+3: (11)+3: 14
GAME: Patch rolls 2d6+3: (3)+3: 6

The Oni's second hand comes out from behind his cloak, lashing out at Robert in a flurry of blows. "This work is VITAL!" he hisses, the sounds of metal on metal causing the hallway to ring. "You stand in the way of GREATNESS!" his wounds that they managed to score against him noticeably beginning to close. Oh, crap. He has some form of regeneration. (It’s not a sword, it’s a large dagger!)

GAME: Robert rolls weapon13+2-2+2: (8)+12+2+-2+2: 22
GAME: Robert rolls weapon13+2-2+2: (15)+12+2+-2+2: 29
GAME: Robert rolls 2d6+7+4: (6)+7+4: 17
GAME: Robert rolls 2d6+7+4: (9)+7+4: 20

Most of the reinforced dragonscales have broken and fallen away from the adamantine plates. The matte-finish between the brass trim shows through. The wicked blows from the fiend bursting through the semi-transparent hex-grid of the magical reinforcement, too.

The pulse, again. That single feather forged into the breastplate of the titan's armor acts as a divine conduit so long as these arcane technologies continue to power the armor. The oni might be outpacing the healing but it's enough to keep Bob on his feet.

The bellows wheeze, the gears whirr, and the pistons pump as the Cerenzan surges ahead. Another shot straight to the sternum ends in a meaty slap punctuated with a crack. Faulds flap up as the human pivots and swings his hip to send the second shot lower-- into the oni's ribs. Another slap. Another crack.

The creature's calm facade shatters and it coughs up a thin spray of dark blood.

GAME: Jay rolls weapon2+2: (8)+8+2: 18 

"Allegedly Great work! Allegedly Important Work!" Integrity squawks, flapping around, looking for an opening. A flash of silver, a thrust, a glancing blow that does no damage. "Who are you, who do you work for? What's so important!" His question may sting where his steel does not.

<OOC> Slixvah slide over to the other side of the stairwell, climb the stairs a bit and reach poke jay for healing hex for the riskiest move in the west (showing I can heal)
GAME: Slixvah rolls healing hex: aliased to 2d8+witch: (12)+6: 18
<OOC> Patch says, "Nice roll!"

Slixvah clambers and wavers, taking stumbling steps up towards Integrity as slams of metal on metal rattle her skull. Focus... focus...

"Heya Blue, fancy meeting you here..?" she tries to chirp in a joke, but its weak. "Don't worry about me, worry about you..."

White, glowing feathers brush against Integrity, mending wounds that once was. <Auran>

GAME: Patch rolls 1d20+14: (11)+14: 25
GAME: Patch rolls 1d20+9: (4)+9: 13
GAME: Patch rolls 2d6+3: (9)+3: 12

Coughing blood, and favoring one side the Oni presses on. "Just surrender!" the red matter spattering on his lips telling the party otherwise. "What do you want with the damned Danans and Radans anyways?!" depseration filling his voice. His healing isn't enough to offset, still being bad off. Losing, even. His attacks aren't as lively as they once more, missing Robert with one slash, and catching him only lightly with another.

GAME: Robert rolls weapon13+2-2+2: (15)+12+2+-2+2: 29
GAME: Robert rolls weapon13+2-2+2: (10)+12+2+-2+2: 24
GAME: Robert rolls 2d6+7+4+1d6: (3)+7+4+(2): 16
GAME: Robert rolls 2d6+7+4+1d6: (7)+7+4+(2): 20
GAME: Robert spends TWO uses of CHARGE POOL.

The last of the draconic reinforcement has fallen to the ground and crumbled away to nothing. The healing wave courses through the armor. The oni still stands. There's a mild grunt echoed from within the bowl helmet and the whine returns. The smell of the forge fills the frozen stairwell and the adamantine plates turn white-hot once again. The thicker knuckle plating keeps a brilliant red.

The first jab slams the kidnapper in the sternum for the third time, collapsing the bone structure and leaving four thick, parallel scorchmarks behind. The cross that follows ignites the charred flesh and smothers the life from the oni. It falls over backwards with a brackish trail of smoke describing an arc in the chilly air.

"Thanks Slix." Integrity says, her healing bolstering the bird. He's even more flappy now. His rapier is raised, ready for another poke when Dadventurer comes to the rescue.

It's soothing, encouraging, reaffirming to see Robert's titan armour smashing the Oni to pieces. After all his negative experiences with Artifice recently, seeing a good friend put it to a good use invigorates the soul.

"Yes! Yes!"

Slixvah's features harden as she sees the outsider, the fiend... getting frantic? Were they... about to win? To overcome? How far have the come to do things like this?

Such inspiration is inflated as Robert gives to more heavy jabs with machinery from a near-lost age. She pumps a fist. "Yesh! Tha's what we like ta see, Robby!" she cheers.

The exertion makes her wobble on her feet, wanting to sit down but she steps up the stairs a few paces. "That's... that's all of 'em, me thinks? Unless they was... talkin' ta mo'?" she pants, a hand starting to a glow a familiar white hue.

"He was giving orders, so there's someone to give orders to, andour a llies are in cages." Jay says, still shivering and knocking shards of ice out of his feathers. "Surprise is lost, we should head down!"

<OOC> Robert says, "I'll take the hex, Slix!"
GAME: Slixvah rolls healing hex: aliased to 2d8+witch: (6)+6: 12

The noises from the powered armor wind down. Steam escapes from behind him in a slow roll and not violent expulsions. Bob stands above the oni for a moment to make sure it won't rise. He nudges it with a foot.

After that brief inspection, he reaches into a pouch. He holds out a strange, metallic cylinder with a cog-anchored plunger and waves the two egalrin closer. "Not yet." There's a click and the dome pops up, he pushes the helmet back behind him. "You're a mess, IC."

GAME: Robert rolls 3d8+3: (11)+3: 14
GAME: Robert rolls 3d8+3: (7)+3: 10
GAME: Robert used a Wand of Cure Light Wounds.
GAME: Robert used a Wand of Cure Light Wounds.
GAME: Robert used a Wand of Cure Light Wounds.
GAME: Robert used a Wand of Cure Light Wounds.
GAME: Robert used a Wand of Cure Light Wounds.
GAME: Robert used a Wand of Cure Light Wounds.
GAME: Slixvah rolls 1d8+5: (7)+5: 12
GAME: Slixvah casts Cure Light Wounds. Caster Level: 6 DC: 16

Slixvah steps forth towards the dadventurer, sighing in relief as she puts a hand on his armor. Tendrils help fix what lays underneath before she shifts and places it on her chest. "Xfi ad oboobo," she hums to herself, shaking off the chilling bite from earlier. Further aid gets her to stand up straighter as a hand wafts over Rober.

"Gift for you!"

To Jay. "Tfig rof ouy!"

GAME: Slixvah casts S1: Shield of Faith. Caster Level: 6 DC: 16
<OOC> Slixvah says, "shield of faith on jay, +2 deflection to ac for 6 min, hex ward on robert, +2 deflection to ac, +2 resist on saves until failure, then it pops"

The principle is quite similar to the ministrations of the divine (and profane) servants of the god. It's just a little more mechanical in nature. Bob rests the end of the cylinder against Slixvah and then Jay, cranking the clockwork plunger three times, each. The central chamber of the device glows golden and soothing energies course out through the device into their bodies to heal some of the damage done.

Once folks no longer look like they're fit to fall over, Bob pockets the contraption and turns, following the others into the room at the bottom of the stairs.

The party did it! They won! It came at a cost, and that cost was their own health and sweat. Luckily? No tears. Just healing required. The room at the bottom of the stairs is all that is in their way from saving the kidnapped Ursus Dippers, but as the party peers through the doorway behind the dead, only three sit in the cages in the room beyond. Two are still missing, and the chamber is empty of other inhabitants. Just the remains of a well maintained magic circle on the floor, and a few pillows where the suspected subjects were once sitting. It seems in the chaos, the other creatures retreated.

It is only reaffirmed once the mixed lot of weather extremists is freed. They go on jabbering about how the Oni knew rituals to make storms, and teleport others to another place. While the major threat and some of his minions have been slain, it also seems this was not top of the food-chain for these foes. At least the immediate threats and dangers have been circumvented.

The prisoners are freed, "Should we take them back to the others before we press on? To make sure they get through the snow." Jay is careful to avoid the magic circle as he opens the cages.

"Nem... oh Slix, tell me what you see?"

GAME: Slixvah rolls alertness: aliased to perception+2: (10)+12+2: 24
GAME: Slixvah rolls spellcraft: (18)+14: 32
GAME: Slixvah rolls knowledge/arcana: (18)+14: 32
GAME: Jay rolls perception+2: (10)+15+2: 27

Bob has his hip-pack! In his hip-pack are dadventurer essentials like rolls, cheese, water, and some jellied toast. The perfect things to reinvigorate freshly-rescued monks! He also has a spare coat and woolen blanket looped into a bundle at the small of his back but these ice-enthusiasts would likely turn up their noses at such an offer. While Jay and Slixvah inspect the circle, he makes sure everyone has all their fingers and toes, and ensures no one is bleeding or otherwise wounded.

The big Cerenzan in the technological armor is a calming presence and goes out of his way to congratulate the victims on being brave and making it through the ordeal, promising to get them home soon.

Slixvah heads in with the others, dagger at the ready to tear the a fabric of the Tapestry. But instead, she finds people in cages, a magic circle on the floor, and abandoned posts. They must have lost their nerve when their leader fell.

Once the freed weather friends give their spiel and are tended to, she tilts her head to the side and ambles over towards the circle, curious about it. "Not the top of the food-chain?" she echoes, fingers dancing through the air. "I don' like tha' sound of that."

"Yeah, probably go back wit' 'em and report this to tha guild. Ya'll are good, but I'm close ta spent. I can keep goin', but thing's will get... dicey." A glance to Jay, then a snort. "Well, if I was Momo, I'd say..."

Her eyes flash gold, darting about. A hand wafts over her face to briefly take on the visage of their mul'neissian friend(?). "Teleportation circle, but they are amateurs and wiped away the rest of the rest of the runes so it is ruined. Though..."

She drops the illusion. "... sorta like an access way? Temporary. Fast. There... might be mo' of these, maybe in the mountain?"

A sigh escapes her. "... damn. This might be some big news ta bring back..."

"If the Snow Regent only appears once every fifty years, is this it? The only day to resolve this." Jay wonders, "They couldn't kidnap an entire valley in one night, right?"

"Should we search the caverns, looking for more circles? I could sneak, come back if I find something bad. I'm as useful as I ever am still."

"We need to get these three back before we press on," Bob suggests, standing back up and flipping his hip-pack closed after distributing whatever balms the rescued requested. "If there's more going on the others we left behind might not be safe, either.

"We can get back to this when we're not risking losing more people to whatever this is."

Robert's tending of the wounds does win a lot of favor. In time he would learn these three are known as Lana, Parg, and Lato. They're humans and were taken when they were performing daily duties. The group clings close to the adventurers, and at the talk of the Snow Regent has them gossiping amongst themselves before coming to a decision. Lato speaking up to the party. "No... the legend says she takes all winter." he echoes. "Alviss knows more, but the tales always end with storms, abductions, and sacrifice." a wince at the last words.

"Okay. Okay! So we have time, Allegedly." Jay says, "Here, take the blanket, Slix and I will stay close, and we can travel quickly back to your monastery. We'll ask Alviss what else he knows."

"Bob has the right idea. Lets do that."

Slixvah bobs her head with that line of of logic. "Yeah, let's head back and figure out what we do and what we kno'."

All seems in order for now, most of the monks and radicals saved, but the mourning of the lost still sets a slightly somber tone. Alviss tells the party what he knows, and that isn't much more than they already deducted. The tales aren't for sure in their depiction, but he remembers being a child and hearing the stories fresh. Back then the Winter Regent was some sort of undead with 'smarts'. His words. They made a deal with some other beasties, and they abducted and took upon her behalf. What the abductees were used for, or what was done to them is unknown. No one returned, but after a few occurrences they finally just stopped. That's why it is more a legend, as so little was known, and it was thought over.

The rest of the monks have began setting about repairing the temple, but they assure the party that once the doors can be bolted shut and secured... they will be heading back to the city. "I'm sorry it's not much help, but I was a wee chunk of dwarf when these tales were popular and believed." Alviss says, seeing the party off. "I don't know if these Oni are connected to such stuff, but... I wish you luck. If you can, please find our friends."

Tense Moments!
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 |     Name      |  CHP (T) |  HP  |
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 | Jay...........|    8     |  42  |
 | Robert........|   28     |  45  |
 | Slixvah.......|    2     |  25  |
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

========================Initiative Order==========================

---Init--Name------------AOO-Notes--------------------------------------------
    25   Jay              1   
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    21   Robert           1  Titan Armor (3 rnds active)                  
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    14   Slixvah          1  
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    12   Oni              1  
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    1    Freezing Flow    1  
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