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Message: <blockquote data-quote="shilsen" data-source="post: 3977454" data-attributes="member: 198">The Angels move up to the top of the ramp and study the stone door carefully. There is no sign of anything that allows one to open it. “Nothing magical about it either,” says Nameless. “Six, can you check it for traps?”The warforged steps forward and carefully studies the blank stone and then turns quickly to the others. “Multiple voices inside. I think spellcasting. And no traps that I can find.”“I’ll handle this,” says Korm, stepping up to the door, his cloaker-like wings hanging behind him. The Gatekeeper hacks at the door with all his strength, expecting to hew it asunder easily with his meteoric blade. The sword smashes into the dark purple stone and bounces off with a loud ringing, accompanied by orcish cursing as Korm shakes his badly jarred hands. Nameless lifts an eyebrow, pointing at the thin crack that has appeared in the door, only about four inches in length, “It’s as hard as adamantine.”“And opening!” growls Luna, as the door begins to slide upwards smoothly, revealing darkness beyond it.The darkness that the Angels see appears to bulge outwards through the doorway and is impenetrable to their darkvision, whether it be the natural version that Korm possesses, the divinely granted sight of Gareth, the spell-granted form that Nameless and Luna are currently using, or the type that Six’s third eye gives him. Only Nameless’ arcane sight lets him see something, revealing the magical auras in the area. The darkness is magical, as is an invisible barrier just within it. Multiple auras surround two objects, each low down on the floor and a good forty feet within the chamber, though separated by a fair distance.“Careful!” shouts Nameless, his inhuman intellect allowing him to comprehend and interpret all of this data instantly, “It’s a blacklight spell, impossible to see through. And there’s a magical wall in the doorway, probably causing a dispel magic if you hit it.” As he speaks, his hands are already in motion, and he follows with the arcane syllables that drop a greater dispel magic in the area. The blacklight spell instantly disappears (as does the wall of dispel magic, revealing the inside of the ziggurat, lit by a dim purple radiance. The floor within is smooth, made of the same stone as the rest of the ziggurat. Five foot wide channels run through the area, carrying the water brought in by the two streams running up the ramp. Two heads protrude over the edges of these channels, each of them roughly human-like in shape, but with crudely anthropoid features topped with lanky strands of wet hair. Their eyes are invisible, with a thick band of blackness forming a mask over them. Long snakelike necks connect the heads to ophidian bodies, marked with purple and black stripes, whose coils are barely visible as they flow back and forth. Long fangs and forked tongues are visible, as the revealed nagas hurriedly speak the words of various spells. An ebon eyes spell! thinks Nameless, identifying the black masks as the manifestation of a spell allowing the nagas to see through the magical darkness. Almost as an afterthought, he channels arcane energy through his ring of greater counterspelling, snuffing out the first naga’s spell before it can form. Unfortunately, the alienist can block only one spell, and the second naga completes its casting undeterred, and another blacklight envelops the Angels.“Somebody dispel it!” shouts Nameless. “They can see through the darkness!”The painful proof of his words follows a second later as a third, hitherto unseen, naga casts a scintillating sphere, placing it so as to strike all of the Angels. Its effects maximized by the aberration caster, the spell blasts them painfully with electrical energy. Only Six, who had just used his harness to grow to double his normal size, manages to throw himself aside at the last moment. A second later, another wall of dispel magic springs up at an angle in front of the group, as a fourth naga casts its spell.“On it!” growls Luna angrily and dispels the new blacklight, to now reveal four nagas, two more having swum through the channels to join their companions.“Me too!” says Gareth, seeing enemies who he considers easy prey if he can only get close to them. The angelic wings protruding from his back flap as he darts through the doorway, calling to the Silver Flame.Six shouts, “No! Gareth…,” but it is too late. The warforged, as well as Luna and Korm, has heard the sounds of heavy breathing from either side of the doorway, indicating the presence of more enemies within, but there has been no time to warn of it. And now, by the time he can do so, Gareth is already inside.The paladin’s ring of counterspells does its work, negating the magical wall’s attempt to remove his magical protections, and then he is on the nearest of the nagas, the Endless Blade flashing down in a deadly arc. The target desperately tries to sink down into the channel, but its magical protections and the physical barrier of the water do little as the paladin smites it. The naga screams as Gareth cuts it almost in half, thrashing around in agony. A second later, an empowered arc of lightning shoots through its body and that of its two nearest nagas. While the others gasp and hiss at the shock, the already wounded naga sinks dying beneath the water.“Yes!” shouts Korm at his spell’s success, and then his eyes widen in surprise as the hidden enemies now reveal themselves. A huge figure, filling fully half the thirty foot wide doorway, shambles into sight. The brutish, tusked face, with its powerful and hide-armored body, a third arm extending from its chest to match the other two that grow from its shoulders, all identify the creature as an athach. As it emerges, the middle arm swings a large club, smashing into Korm’s side and hurling him sideways. Unluckily, the stone lintel of the doorway clips his shoulder, knocking him off his feet.Gareth’s situation is even more dire than the Gatekeeper’s. In entering, he has seen that there is not one, not two, but three waiting athachs. One charges him, smashing the paladin backwards. But unlike Korm, Gareth stands on the edge of a channel, and the blow knocks him over its edge. With a startled cry, Gareth tumbles into the water, still red from the dead naga’s blood. Chest deep in water, in no position to defend himself, he looks up to see the third athach loom over him, its three clubs hammering down again and again.Idiot! “Luna – summon something! Something big!” shouts Nameless, firing an emerald green ray at the nearest naga. To his disgust, the creature resists the disintegrate, taking only a shallow wound, and a swift volley of magic missiles has no effect either. Nameless hurriedly rises above the doorway, so as not to provide a target. Six, now twelve feet tall and proportionately broad, is thinking precisely the same thing, and he quickly descends some way down the ramp, his slashing chain laying open the chest of the athach in the doorway as a parting gift. Unfortunately for Korm, he is in no position to get out of the way, and before he can regain his feet, he hears the nagas casting more spells. A lance of sonic energy smashes into his head, causing him to see stars. Korm shakes his head, desperately attempting to clear his blurry vision, and looks up, only to see two snowy globes of magical cold shooting at him. Both of them hit and the Gatekeeper drops, blood from his wounds slowly pooling around him.Inside the ziggurat, Gareth sees the third naga turn to him. Its visage twists cruelly in anticipation as it hisses a spell, serpentine body writhing to provide the accompanying gestures, and an empowered orb of force leaps at him. The battered and beaten paladin takes it right in the chest. Without a word, he collapses, sinking below the surface of the bloodstained water. And suddenly, there are only three of the Angels, two of them seriously hurt, facing six enemies. Luna – who has been wanting to rush in – swears and decides to follow Nameless’ order and even the odds. Moving away from the door, so as not to make herself a target, she casts a spell. Deep within her the shifter feels her beast spirit, the embodiment of her feral heritage, lending her its strength, and this allows her to complete the casting in half the time another druid might take. A huge humanoid form of animated rock appears in the doorway, hammering at the athach in front of it. The nagas scream commands in a language none of the Angels speak, and the other athachs move to engage the giant elemental, bashing wildly at it with their clubs. Despite its incredible resilience, the lone creature cannot long withstand their assault, and large cracks spread across its form. But the couple of seconds it buys are crucial. Nameless descends slightly so that he can see past the doorway and casts his own spell. Reality shifts and Kha’tvan’ga, the Horror from beyond, responds to his master’s call. Its mind-bendingly terrifying shape appears over one of the nagas, its tentacles lashing down to rip and tear. The embattled naga screams in a combination of pain, surprise and fear, hurriedly casting a spell to attempt to dispel the creature. Unknown to it, Kha’tvan’ga’s pact with Nameless is resistant to such mundane magic, and the Horror will not depart until the duration of the alienist’s spell ends. Or death comes to it, though it will always reform and can be summoned again later. The dispel washes over it uselessly, as does the blast of sonic energy with which another naga attacks. The third decides that the summoner is a better target and hurls another scintillating sphere, aiming for the area beyond the doorway. It explodes, blasts of electricity forking out to strike Nameless and the elemental in the doorway. The alienist restrains a scream, barely hanging on to consciousness* and almost falling from the air. Six, having evaded the blast again, shouts angrily, “Nameless! You idiot! Get out of the doorway!” “Get to me!” shouts Luna. Six nods and his chain leaps out – to wrap around Nameless’ leg with incredible precision, not a single barb touching his skin. He flicks his wrist, now enlarged to the size of a burly man’s arm, and the surprised alienist is hurled sideways towards Luna. Even that is too much for Nameless’ wavering consciousness and his vision blurs and begins to darken, before he feels the unforgettable sensation of a giant bear’s tongue slapping wetly against his face, and healing energy flow into him. Though it is not much, Luna being unable to quicken one of her more powerful spells, it is enough to bring the alienist back to functionality.Six looks into the ziggurat, knowing that his companions cannot do so from where they are, and calls a warning. “We just lost the elemental!”“Not for long,” grits Nameless, casting quickly, as does Luna. The result, for the nagas and athachs, is a very rude surprise. Having disposed of the elemental, they are turning their attention to the Horror, when three more elementals, one huge and two large, block the doorway.A barrage of magical orbs and spheres, all of them maximized for optimal damage, and the pounding of the athachs’ clubs smashes through elemental after elemental, but it buys the Angels a moment’s breathing space, since at least they are not being targeted. Nameless and Luna summon as they have never summoned before**, pouring more allies into the ziggurat. On the opposite side, the nagas and athachs fight back with grim determination, absorbing the wounds the elementals inflict, dispelling a few and destroying others as they emerge.The issue remains in doubt for only seconds, but it seems like hours, both sides pushing themselves to the limit. Nameless draws upon reserves he didn’t know he had, pouring arcane energy into his spells and through his magical items. His ring, though devoid of energy, weakly flashes into life as sheer desperation and an incredible will combine to fuel it, interrupting a maximized scintillating sphere which would have ended the battle for Luna and him, if not Six. The already wounded alienist feels his remaining life energy fading quickly, as he utilizes it to fuel magical feats that should be impossible, recasting spells he has expended, calling forth more powerful creatures than he should be able to now***. As he staggers back and forth in mid-air, Luna pauses again and again in her own casting to channel healing energy into him, barely keeping him conscious. Six buys them more time, dodging and weaving on the ramp, chain constantly slashing into the athachs.Slowly, the sheer persistence of Nameless and Six and the healing power of Luna, make the difference. The summoned creatures begin to overtax the aberrations’ abilities to cope, and the athachs fall one by one, leaving the nagas facing multiple elementals, gigantic beetles and a badly wounded but still present Kha’tvan’ga. In desperation, the nagas focus on those outside, leaving themselves open to attacks in order to be able to reach the Angels with their spells, and inflict substantial wounds. Luna, impatiently moving forward to be able to summon her elementals inside the ziggurat, takes a magical barrage, only surviving because her beast spirit channels a previously prepared healing spell into her as the nagas’ spells hit, so that her wounds result in unconsciousness, not death****. Six, despite his caution and the cover from the ramp, suffers significant wounds too. But the result is now certain, and after just over a minute of bloody battle, the Angels stand victorious, looking into a ziggurat absolutely awash with gore. Luna wipes blood off her face and rises from studying Korm’s supine form. “That was close!”* He was down to 0 hp. If he had dropped, the fight would have been a TPK, since Korm and Gareth were below -10 and Luna can’t summon enough alone to be able to keep the enemy at bay. ** Between them they summoned close to 20 creatures over the course of the fight.*** Nameless burned through a bunch of swashbuckling cards to allow another counterspell and to recast spells he already had, taking Con damage to do so, with only a couple of quickened spells from Luna keeping him up.**** That was very close. The players had run out of swashbuckling cards so the damage would have actually killed Luna, when I remembered that one of her beast spirit abilities is to hold one spell in reserve and cast it as a swift action when needed. She had earlier put a Cure Moderate in there and that was enough to keep her in negatives rather than past -10. I really am a sugar daddy.</blockquote>

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