Encounter 6: Out of the frying pan...

[PhaedrusXY]

@Marlowe
[spoiler]Both seem like an even match. The burly human wearing hides is lawful neutral. The elf in shiny armor is lawful good. You think they approached your group out of sheer desperation to survive. Neither of them looks too happy to be approaching a group composed mostly of undead and demons to ask for help. The elf in particular doesn't even really try to hide his disgust, but he looks like he might succumb to the poison in his veins any second.[/spoiler]

@everyone
[spoiler]Anyone have ranks in Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) or Knowledge (History)? The elf is wearing a tabard over his armor with a coat of arms on it. DC is 15 to identify it.[/spoiler]

[PhaedrusXY]

The man replies with a grin "If I could do that, we'd have already left. Escaping death will still not be trivial once we break out of this stone hive, I fear, though. We would pledge our aid to you in that, if we can but take respite from the wasps with you."

The elf just looks away while his friend speaks, as if he can't bear the sight of your lot.

The burly human begins applying bandages to his elven friend, trying to draw out some of the poison and perhaps slow its progression.

[spoiler]He makes a Heal check to try and help the elf pass his secondary damage saving throws.[/spoiler]

[Kuroimaken]

"Trust me. It'll get much easier for us, at least. Your friend may not bear the sight of us, and I don't blame him for it, but as long as he does not seek to complicate the situation further, he may well take shelter as far as I'm concerned. Though I would be just as grateful to learn your names."

[VennDygrem]

Cade looks over his shoulder as the new arrivals start talking, long enough to get an eyeful of the tabard. He makes a quick mental note of it, then says, "If we can get out of thisss dead magic zone, I have ssssomething that can take care of the poisssson."

 [spoiler]Knowledge: History- 1d20(6)+9=15[/spoiler]

[PhaedrusXY]

The burly human says "I am Keldon Dreamwater, and my stoic friend here is Thelamius Szentaya."

The elf, evidently having grown tired of the banter, says "Enough pointless diplomacy. Let us be out of this prison, before it becomes our tomb." He pulls out a sword with a long, curved blade, but then collapses as the poison in his veins takes its full course.

The human curses, and then grabs the fallen elf with a free hand, and makes ready to drag him once there is a clear path through the stone wall.

[HeadofVecna]

"Sure, bring the fucking flower-eater. Even if you two make trouble, I'm sure the barghest will have a use for you.", Xuuvosic eyes the elf with interest as Siphsis whispers in the fiend's ear.
[spoiler]Siphsis history check(1d20+16=30)[/spoiler]

[PhaedrusXY]

@Xuuvosic
[spoiler]The tabard identifies him as one of the Knights of Myth Drannor... a group of "adventurers" that never actually had anything to do with Myth Drannor... except that they traveled there once, long after its fall... They did have connections to a number of very powerful figures in the "present" of the Realms, though... at least before the Pun-Pun apocalypse. They were best known for uncovering a network of ancient portals connecting many remote regions of the Realms, and also for at one time being the rulers of Shadowdale.

Kheldon is known to be a paladin of Torm, but other than being an "official" member of the knights, is of little renown himself.

(I'm not a stickler for "official" realmslore. So of course this guy's name isn't in any official literature.)[/spoiler]

[VennDygrem]

[spoiler]How much of that did my history check get? I suppose it doesn't matter as long as Xuuvosic shares this info.[/spoiler]

[PhaedrusXY]

[spoiler]How much of that did my history check get? I suppose it doesn't matter as long as Xuuvosic shares this info.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Sorry. Didn't notice that you'd made one. You know a bit about the knights, but not about this guy personally. You wouldn't know about the portal network, but would know that they were associated with Shadowdale, and have strong political ties all over the realms.[/spoiler]

[Bozwevial]

[spoiler]Hide and Move Silently, modified for DMZ (1d20+18=31, 1d20+16=22)[/spoiler]

[PhaedrusXY]

Marlowe vanishes from sight somehow, the vampires hide underneath the ghoulish cloakers, and everyone gets ready to rush through in anticipation of Cade smashing through the wall.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, with the screams of the dying and buzz of the hellish wasps in the distance, the last few inches of stone are smashed away, and bright daylight pierces the chamber... for only a brief second... then another layer of stone immediately forms over the hole, closing it.
[spoiler]
Spellcraft DC 25 to tell that someone just used Wall of Stone as a SLA or spell... [/spoiler]

You did notice that Cade's hand vanished from sight just as it punched through the wall, though, and Cade felt the magic briefly flow back into his ring as it went through the hole.

[spoiler]If you want to make a Reflex save for Cade, he could try to jump through the hole as the new wall forms, and be on the outside afterward. If anyone has any applicable immediate actions, they could also use them, of course, and Cade could use a Swift action in response to the new Wall forming, since it was during his turn.[/spoiler]

In the brief moment that the hole was open, you also saw what looked like a scene straight from the Blood War. Scores of demons were crawling all over a jumbled terrain like ants or flying overhead, and for every demon there were at least 3 corpses on the ground, some demonic, some mortal, and everywhere flames licked the broken and burning buildings of the ancient city of Myth Drannor.

[VennDygrem]

[spoiler]Well, it seems we've got out answer as to what to do. I should, theoretically, be able to hit the wall in order to widen it, without trying to burst through the wall, meaning the trap or caster (whichever is putting the wall up) won't be able to cut us off from it (line of effect and all that), assuming they decided to cover up more than just that small area I punched through. If not, I'll just try to block the area with my body, helping create a person-sized dent in the wall.

Though, I'll have to revert to my normal size to make it large enough for the minions to get through.[/spoiler]

Cade hesitates upon seeing the battlefield. Having spent the majority of his time during the war over Myth Drannor the first time around surrounded by a harem and enjoying a life of opulence in Calimshan, he hadn't know the extent to which the battles unfolded. More stone popped up just beyond his fist, cutting off his view, though he could feel the small twinge of power rush back into his hand while within the dent in the wall. He shook the imagery from his mind, and called back to the others.

"It lookssss like sssomeone or sssome thing is keeping this room ssssealed up. The area I opened up isss outsside the dead magic zone, though, ssso I might be able to widen it sssome more. Hold those wasssps off a little more!"

The monk focuses, reverting to his natural form before carving out a larger space in the wall.

[spoiler]Average damage increases from 20.5 to 23 per attack on the wall, and Cade is in his normal form.

Size: Large
HP: 78/103 54/79 (forgot about the Con reduction)
AC: 25 (7 armor, 2 shield, 5 Wis, 2 NA, -1 Size) (technically, as far as I can tell from RAW the +2 deflection from Magic Clothes should still be gained, but since the name of the armor is "Magic Clothes" I'm going to just assume common sense applies)
Saves: Fort 11, Ref 11, Will 11
Fighting Style: Naked Monkey Touch[/spoiler]

[PhaedrusXY]

There are waves of wasps trying to approach your group, and being turned away by the cloakers' moaning, but you're sure it won't be long before some manage to overcome it.

Cade transforms back into his larger self, and begins hammering at the wall again. The wall seems thinner this time, as it doesn't take as many hits to punch through it. Once again, another wall forms to reseal the hole he's made. However, this time, he steps forward, forcing the new wall to leave a sizable "pocket" which is outside the dead magic zone.

This time through the hole he sees that his activities seem to have drawn some attention. There are several powerful looking demons, including a balor, standing just outside the hole as it opens. The balor's burning eyes meet his own briefly before the hole is resealed.

Raoul thinks he recognizes the balor as General Fruuzberglag, but since he hasn't seen him in about 1000 years, and all balors look the same anyway... it's hard to be sure.

[VennDygrem]

"Seems we have exactly negative-5 seconds to get the hells away from here."

[Bozwevial]

"Agreed. A demon of that rank would be capable of wiping us out if we were in top condition."

[Kuroimaken]

"But he won't. Not if I can talk to him." Raoul notes. "It's a long shot, but I might be able to convince him to let us live. If we're going to take those two out of here, though..." He notes, looking back at the elf and the paladin, "I'm afraid they'll only be allowed to live as our prisoners."

[VennDygrem]

Cade turns his head, looking back at the group. "It's their only option, unless they want to simply die in here with the hellwasps."

Turning back, he says, "We need to act fast, though, since I assume they won't wait for us to make a decision on what to do. We should get everyone we can into the pit before you try to broker our safety, so we can at least teleport out of harm should it come to that."

[Kuroimaken]

"I'll try to buy us as much time as I can, then. The bad part is that there isn't much room to pull this off... So be ready to run like hell at a second's notice."

[Agita]

Ris-Janna frowns silently, looking at the magic-filled pocket in the wall. "We could just... teleport out of here... if we had a key." She turns her head to give the human carrying the animal and elf (though she's not entirely clear on the difference aside from aesthetics) a glare. "I don't suppose... those two are actually useful?"

[Kuroimaken]

"Well, if we let them die, we will never know."