When everyone was ready, and we’d rested long enough for Frostmane to recover from the acolyte’s spell and its aftereffects, we gathered by the stairs up, intent on continuing on. These lycanthropes weren’t going to kill themselves, more’s the pity, so we couldn’t slack off. I led the way up the stairs. This was a mistake.

Shadowfiend’s Attack (Melinda): 1d20+15 = 17 (Miss)

No sooner had my head crossed the level of the floor above, when a kukri slashed in front of my face, close enough that I could see the poison smeared upon the blade! Eyes wide in shock, I looked up at another wereserpent. My only consolation was that if any of the others had been in my place, that would probably have hit them.

“CONTACT!”

Initiatives

Melinda

Shadowfiend

Vestele

Frostmane

Maura

Siora

Melinda’s Tumble Check: 1d20+22 = 28 (Success)

Melinda’s Concentration Check: 1d20+15 = 27 (Success)

Melinda’s Attack Roll: 1d20+19 = 34 (Hit)

Damage: 1d4-1 = 1 (Slashing, Silver)

Vitriolic Blow Damage: 7d6 = 23 (Acid)

Knowing that I couldn’t just sit around at the top of the stairs, since it would keep the others from being able to come up to help me, I decided to get clever. Feinting as though I were going to kick off a wall, I instead tucked and rolled forward, slipping between the snakeman’s legs. As I rose to my feet on the other side, I spun, silver dagger in hand, and though the blade itself barely scratched him, the shadowfiend felt every bit of the acidic energy coating the blade.

Shadowfiend’s Attack (Melinda): 1d20+15 = 17 (Miss)

Shadowfiend’s Attack (Melinda): 1d20+10 = 21 (Miss)

Shadowfiend’s BiteAttack (Melinda): 1d20+8 = 16 (Miss)

I definitely had the bastard’s attention, that much was certain. I was forced to duck and weave to evade the slashes of the snakeman’s weapon, to say nothing of his fangs. That seemingly simple task was complicated by the magic on his blade. Even knowing it was there, I was having trouble keeping up with his movements, as afterimages blended together, distracting my eye.

Shadowfiend’s AoO (Vestele): 1d20+15 = 23 (Miss)

Vestele’s CL Check: 1d20+10 = 21 (Success)

Shadowfiend’s Will Save (Heartache): 1d20-1 = 3 (Fail) (Helpless)

Vestele did not hesitate, rushing up the stairs. The shadowfiend whirled to strike at her with his kukri, but it met the solid steel of her shield instead, keeping the poisoned blade from getting to her. The priestess retreated into the corner, and uttered the words of a spell. The next instant, the snakeman staggered, one hand clutching his heart in sudden pain. The priestess called back to the stairs, “Quick, that spell won’t last long!”

Frostmane’s Attack (Shadowfiend): 1d20+15 = 28 (Hit)

Power Attack (5) Bite: 1d8+19 = 24 (Slashing) (DR 10/Silver)

Freezing Bite: 1d6 = 3 (Cold) (Cold Resistance 10)

Frostmane’s Trip Attempt: 1d20+13 = 18

Shadowfiend’s STR check: 1d20+5 = 12 (Fail, Prone)

Frostmane followed closely on Vestele’s heels as he came up the stairs, just in time to see the Shadowfiend stagger. Taking the easy hit, he bit down on the snakeman’s leg, and threw him to the ground. “Good work, Vestele.”

Maura’s CL Check: 1d20+10 = 14 (Fail)

Maura followed Frostmane up the stairs, edging around the prone snakeman. With a simple spell, she unleashed a series of magic missiles at the lycanthrope. Unfortunately, they just splashed off his chest, not doing anything.

Siora’s Attack roll (Shadowfiend): 1d20+6 = 19 (Hit)

Damage: 1d4 = 2 (Piercing, Silver)

Siora came up last of all. With a quick strike, she stabbed the helpless assassin in the back. It didn’t do too much, of course, but for a spellcaster in melee, it was better than anyone ought to expect.

Vitriolic Blast lingering damage (Shadowfiend): 2d6 = 9 (Acid)

Melinda’s Vitriolic Coup de Grace damage (Shadowfiend): 14d6 = 52 (Acid) (Dead)

I wasn’t going to let this chance go. I summoned the power once again, and unleashed it directly into the snakeman’s face. The acidic energy literally melted his head. Taking a quick breath, I nodded to Vestele. “Good work with that spell.”

Your party has defeated a Shadowfiend of Malar.

Melinda gains 1463 XP.

Frostmane gains 1463 XP.

Siora gains 1463 XP.

Vestele gains 1463 XP.

Loot:

Stalker’s Blade

Shadow Shuriken x2

Slippers of Spider Climbing

Spellcharm of Charm Immunity

Vile Weapon Ring

2 Vials (Unknown)

1 Vial (Unknown)

Smoke Bomb x5

Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds x3

The loot was the same as we got from the last of these shadowfiends. The quality of the gear said that these fighters were a substantial threat. However, like all the roguish types, they were extremely dangerous if they could get the drop on someone, but they lacked the defenses necessary to truly stand up to our team. That, and we got lucky with a couple of Vestele’s spells, which were able to effectively end the fight in an instant.

That was important to remember. If we fought enemies with the same, or similar, abilities, and didn’t get lucky, then the odds could very quickly shift back the other way.

You have Leveled Up!

You are now Level 13.

78387 / 91000 XP to level 14.

+1 BAB

+1 Fort, +1 Will

HD: 1d8+1 = 7

+1 Bluff, +1 Concentration, +1 Perform (Dance), +1 Sense Motive, +1 Sleight of Hand, +1 Spellcraft, +1 Tumble, +1 Use Magic Device

Warlock Abilities

Fiendish Resilience (Su): Beginning at 8th level, 1/day as free action gain fast healing 1 for 2 minutes (20 rounds).

New Invocation

Chilling Tentacles (5th) – Conjure forth a field of soul-chilling black tentacles that ooze from the ground, grappling victims. This functions as the Black Tentacles spell, except that each creature in the area takes 2d6 points of Cold damage each round, whether they are grappled or not.

Frostchylde Wardancer Abilities

Frozen Fury (Su): At 3rd Level, the Frostchylde Wardancer’s unarmed and melee weapon attacks become infused with supernatural cold, dealing +1d6 cold damage (as the Frost weapon property). She can suppress or activate this effect at will.

Looking over the boons I gained from this new level, I was fairly pleased. These fiendish creatures being resistant to cold sapped a lot of the immediate utility of Frozen Fury, of course, but even if the cold didn’t affect them, we had just seen not long ago how even these augmented werewolves could be hindered by the tentacles. And I would never say no to being able to heal a bit more, though Fiendish Resilience looked better for post-fight recovery, when you’d managed to get a lull, so you could let the magic take its time.

Still, all of these were going to be more useful if we survived our eventual confrontation with the Huntlord, and moved on to whatever the next adventure might be, than they would in the fight itself. We couldn’t rely on luck alone to see us through, and I doubted seriously that the Huntlord would be so kind as to allow us to simply walk up to him and kill him without going through his minions first. We were not strong enough, not yet. And I didn’t care for that one bit.

I took a breath, and then said, “All right, that went about as well as could be expected. And we shouldn’t have any more enemies on this floor to deal with. Now, Maura, you mentioned that there was another cache on this floor?”

The sorceress nodded. “Yes, but I am sure that there will be traps in front of it. We were warned not to go near it.”

I looked to Siora, and she nodded. “I’ll keep an eye out for traps, don’t worry. So far, there have been some nasty ones, but nothing that would take one of us out.”

Frostmane chuffed. “The fireballs still hurt, wench. And they don’t have to take us out themselves. They just have to make us waste resources so we don’t have them to deal with the real threats.”

Siora conceded the point with a nod. “True enough. Fortunately, you and Melinda are good at not getting hurt enough that it hasn’t been an issue so far.”

With that thought, we began moving forward once again. Passing past the entrance hall, we continued around, moving through the shored-up mine. Soon enough, we got to another intersection. A look to Maura confirmed that the path straight ahead led to the cache, while the path to the right led to the passage down.

Deciding to check the cache before we headed downstairs, we moved forward. As we approached another corner, Maura said, “Careful now. This is where the traps are supposed to start.”

“That’s my cue.” Siora moved in front, and began searching carefully for traps.

Siora’s Search check: 1d20+20 = 27 (Fail)

Damage: 16d6 = 61 (Bludgeoning) (Dying)

Click.

WHAM!

The ground shook as the ceiling slammed down, a ten-foot by ten-foot square smashing the ground in front of me. The ground that Siora had been walking on just a moment before. All four of us stood there, stunned.

Click-click-click.

The massive stone piston began retracting into the ceiling as some mechanism began working to reset the trap. A moment later, we saw a bloody mass upon the ground. Then we heard a scream.

“SIORA!”

Vestele’s Cure Critical Wounds (Siora): 4d8+10 = 28

Vestele shoved past me, diving towards her sister. She placed a hand on the bloody mass that used to be a beguiler. “Oh, Malcanthet, most unholy mistress of lust! Grant me the power to save your faithful servant!”

The light of the spell flared, and we watched with baited breath as Siora’s wounds began to heal, pulling her mangled form back together. She gasped loudly, her eyes going wide. Whatever she was about to say was cut off by Vestele, tears in her eyes, grabbing the beguiler by her ear.

“YOU IDIOT! Don’t you ever scare me like that again! YOU ALMOST DIED!”

Siora coughed once, and had the grace to look sheepishly as Vestele began worrying over her. Her eyes met mine, and I said, “Vestele, it seems that this trap is one that resets itself. Perhaps you should bring Siora back here so you can finish healing her as she recovers, instead of hugging it out waiting for the ceiling to crush you both, and probably killing both of you? And she can take a bit of time to search more carefully for this trap, hmm?”

Vestele jumped at my voice. “Eep!” With a hurried motion, she grabbed Siora by the back of her armor, and bodily dragged her sister back to the group.

Click.

WHAM!

I was paying closer attention this time, so I noticed what happened. As Vestele stepped out of the area that had been crushed, she stepped on a pressure plate. A few seconds later, the ceiling slammed down again, this time not meeting any resistance. Still, even though I was prepared for it, I still found myself jumping a bit at the sight of a massive stone block slamming down in front of us.

Click, click, click.

Vestele’s Cure Moderate Wounds (Siora): 2d8+3 = 11

Vestele’s Cure Moderate Wounds (Siora): 2d8+3 = 6

Vestele’s Cure Moderate Wounds (Siora): 2d8+3 = 14

Vestele whipped out her wand, and cast three spells from it in succession, causing her sister to quickly go from ‘went a couple rounds with a boxer’ to ‘not bad’. She looked about to start over with the yelling, but I decided to intervene. Otherwise, we would be here all day.

“Vestele, let your sister go. We need her to find a way to disarm this trap, remember?”

Vestele frowned, but didn’t say anything. She did, however, let go of Siora and stand up, which was as good as we were going to get, probably. Her sister, on the other hand, nodded her thanks to me, and said, “Well, now that I know where it is, I should have an easier time of finding and disabling it.”

Siora’s Search Check: 1d20+20 = 34 (Success)

Siora’s Disable Device check: 1d20+24 = 38 (Success)

You have defeated a Crushing Piston Trap.

Melinda gains 1050 XP.

Frostmain gains 1463 XP.

Siora gains 1463 XP.

Vestele gains 1463 XP.

Siora checked where the click had come from, and, sure enough, found a pressure plate expertly concealed with the surrounding stone. Taking out her tools, she began working with the mechanism, until she sighed in contentment. “All right. That should do it. Whoever set it up was a lot more skilled than some of those other traps we found.”

I shook my head. “I just hope there’s something worth the trouble back there.”