Brian healed us up at our cabin. Since no one had any pressing business and Xeelie was not there to do any crafting projects, we decided to go back to the Gauntlight. However, when we exited the front door, we found a basket with a note. It was from Wrin. “The stars tell me you may need this soon. Return it when done.” It was a hand crossbow but it wasn’t magical or remarkable that we could tell. It probably should have gone to Xeelie but she didn’t exist at the moment. So, we gave it to Oakwood since he had the next highest Dex. The only magic bolt we had was the climbing bolt in the party stash so he got that too. We came in at the back entrance and plotted a path back to one of the ways down. We decided to go by way of the mold trap and talk to the mummy. We discussed burning away that mold since Brisco was not there to object. But we were wary of starting a fire in a dungeon. We were reminded that we had made a Nature roll at some point and learned that as long as we didn’t stay in the room more than a minute, we’d be okay. So, we decided to live and let live. We gave the head to mummy from Clarisa’s sleeves. She was asked to make a Deception roll, rolled well but not well enough. This was the wrong head. We asked for a means to identify the right head but he was unhelpful. We were going to kill them all anyway. We went around through the gladiator lounge and down into the surgery room we almost died in last time.
There was an alcove with the spider web that we walked past last time but this time it “looked odd”. TerStegan put his hand through it and found it and the wall behind it was an illusion. Behind it was another teleportation circle matching the one the gladiators had come through a level above. Beyond that were double doors south into a hallway. And then double doors to the south and west. TerStegan failed to pick the lock to the south. DC 30. None of Oakwood's keys worked. The west doors lead to the arena floor and didn’t loop around. Nothing but the Cheery Man was in the arena. We decided to bash the locked doors down. Oakwood rolled a 24 to give TerStegan a plus one and he rolled a 28. But it didn’t open. Multiple rolls failed to achieve a 30 needed. Finally, after ~10 tires he did it. The lock was forced but the door was still substantial. Behind it was an experimental/alchemist lab. There were body parts on the wall and a screaming Morlock head. And Jafaki, the very head we sought. He was another large aberration. Despite all the noise we made, he was working too hard to notice us. This was our opportunity to avoid a combat with 3 players. We closed the door and debated. TerStegan was for fighting. Since we knew it was coming, we could spell up for a change. We decided to go for it.
Bless, Thermal Nimbus and Haste on TerStegan were cast. We opened the door and he was waiting for us, floating 20 feet up. It had a +19 initiative, of course. Brisco showed up just in time but despite the fact that we opened the door, it went first. It cast Phantasmic Killer at TerStegan who saved. And then threw a Bottle of Lightning. That hit for 17 plus 6 splash for Oakwood and Clarisa. Brisco moved up and used his Druid Crown to cast Enlarge on TerStegan. That should solve the flying problem, at least for him. As TerStegan moved in, a Drider dropped from the ceiling and attacked with its glaive. With a readied action. (TerStegan was off guard because he didn’t see him.) He did hit for 12 plus poison. He failed that save for 6 and stupefied 1. TerStegan continued to charge but had to save against a Mind Fog aura as well. He missed that and used a hero point to save. And after all that, he missed. And then missed again. The Drider then got his actual turn. It attacked with a fang and hit for 15 and gave TerStegan another poison. He crit saved against it and was unaffected. It then stepped up into Oakwood’s aura and did a ranged attack. That triggered a reactive strike from TerStegan due to his enlarged reach. He hit for 28. The range attack missed Oakwood. Clarisa was next. She did a Force Barrage on the big thing for 39. Oakwood did hunted prey on the Drider and crit with a 20 for 35.
Jafaki was next at the top of the order. He moved on the ceiling but TerStegan had already reacted. And cast Confusion on TerStegan who missed his will save of 26. This one had a one-minute duration. Sort of. Brisco wanted to move through the Drider, willing to take an opportunity attack, to get to TerStegan. But this is Pathfinder so he had to Tumble Through. He failed that acro roll, used Hafling Luck, and failed again. On his next action, he succeeded. He then did Doctor’s Visit to move around behind TerStegan and did Battle Medicine for 35. Next was confused TerStegan who was commanded with a reaction by Jafaki to attack Brisco. Shimota protested to no avail. “You can’t do that!” At least he got a Will save to fight it off. And failed that. He only hit, for 23. And then hit again for 25. And then hit again for another 16. And then took a hasted confused step back. He then failed against the poison for 3 damage which gave him a flat check against the confusion which he made. The Drider hit TerStegan with a ranged web and immobilized him against the wall. And then tried the same on Oakwood who used his reactive shield to be missed. And then closed the door. Clarisa had no targets so she delayed her action.
DG complained that he had abandoned 6 plans, waiting for his turn to act. Oakwood took a 5-foot step, opened the door, wished he had two actions to aid Brisco or TerStegan and missed with a one action attack. But with the door open, Clarisa reentered the initiative order and fired a barrage at the Drider. That did 13, putting it near death. Jafaki cast confusion back on TerStegan who failed the save. And then used a “quick consumption” ability to take a potion with his last action. Elixer of Life. Shimota protested to no avail. “You can’t do that!” Brisco charged the beasts while doing a Doctor’s Visit on himself. That got him away from the confused but stuck TerStegan. He critted his Medicine roll for 34 points back. And cast Tempest Surge on the Drider. But he missed a confusion save from the aura first. He used a hero point to save. The Drider crit saved for no damage. Bummer. However, on its turn, it was killed by the fire aura. TerStegan failed to resist Jafaki’s order. He threw his hand axe at Brisco and did 14 and then another 16. And then used his hasted action and missed. And then crit failed against the poison again but for only 2 points. But missed the flat check this time. Oakwood wanted to target Jafaki and TerStegan with a Flying Flame but had to move under Jafaki to reach them both. (After much discussion and trigonometry about the distance.) He saved for half of 6 and TerStegan took it all. Hardly worth the discussion time. However, TerStegan got another flat check and snapped out of the confusion. Clarisa moved into the room and did a level one barrage. Saving against the confusion first retroactively. She did 10. At least that moved it to injured.
Jafaki went next. He made some sort of concerned plea in a language no one understood. He cast confusion on Clarisa but she saved. Her mind is tougher than the fighter. And then he tossed a lightning flask at Brisco and missed. But the splash damage still went but only for 2 points. Brisco moved back towards TerStegan and away from the monster. And did a Doctor’s Visit on TerStegan to treat his Stupefied. He made his roll so reduced it by 1 level to level 1. That at least helped his confusion save. He wanted to throw his trident but the fact that it was still flying put it at an extra range increment so he gave Clarisa Guidance instead. TerStegan missed his athletics roll to get free from the web. He made the second roll and charged Jafaki. But it was out of his reach so he threw his axe instead. And did 10 points. Oakwood missed the confusion aura save and then saved with a hero point. He shot straight up and missed. And then raise his shield. Clarisa fired her last full Barrage at it and did 36.
It went again. It drank a potion, making him concealed in mist. He moved down and took 5 points of fire aura damage. And missed TerStegan with his rapier. That was infused with high level poison. Brisco cast Tempest Surge on it. He had to beat the flat check, 3 instead of 5 because he’s a halfling. It saved for half and took 12. And then gave TerStegan guidance. TerStegan was now in range of it. He dropped his hand axe, gripped his big axe and started attacking. He made the flat check and hit for 16. And took him out.
Oakwood did a round of Dash of Herbs while we sort through the loot. They had a bunch of stuff. Oakwood took the keys. He tried to disconnect the screaming head and failed. That unleashed a ball of green energy that flew around the bodies and flew off to parts unknown. We rolled great on the identifications despite Xeelie’s absence. But half way through, Brian just gave us the rest. There was a lot of bulk and he wanted to distribute it. But DG pointed out that if we split it up, we’d have to unsplit it to sell it eventually. We decided to take anything useful, leave the rest in the stash and assume it sold in order to speed up the bookkeeping. It still took some time. The rapier was a +1 striking. Brian stripped the striking part and gave that to TerStegan and left the rest in the stash for selling. The composite longbow was +1 but it was sold. There was another crafter’s eye piece that Oakwood took. Two doses of antiplague potions. A wand of peaceful rest which we sold. Divine spell that stops bodies from becoming undead. A wand of force barrage, rank 1 that we forced Clarisa to take. Wyvern poison. Elixir of Life. Mist Form. The big item was an Expanded Alchemist’s Lab. +1 to crafting rolls. I don’t know if it stacks with the eye piece. We assumed it was sleeved or will be hauled on our next trip home. All totaled was almost 400 gold including stuff we already had in the stash. It was distributed and we stopped there.
