Demons Galore

The party was finding that the Well of Demons was aptly named. Those who had made it to the relative safety of the high ledge were beset by Babau Demons that had been summoned by the Omox Demons churning the water below. Sandru swung his scimitar and scored a solid hit on the Babau in front of him, but the weapon’s blade simply rang against the thing’s bony exoskeleton. Worse, the acidic slime that coated it hissed and bubbled on the sword’s steel, threatening to weaken the blade beyond use. Deciding he could be of no help against these Abyssal foes, Sandru ducked behind Sawyer, hoping to stay out of the way and let the big boys do their job.

Down below, Sandoval stood alone on the huge sheet of ice created by Nicki’s Freezing Sphere. The Omox Demons in the water knew that something was hitting them from above, but Nicki, Zhustin, and Bella, flying overhead, were all invisible, and that left Sandoval as the only visible target for their wrath. Luckily, one of the Omoxes was under the influence of the bard’s Song of Discord, and it blinked over to attack one of its comrades instead. The demon ignored his friend’s attacks, and blasted Sandoval with a glob of slime before using its Liquid Leap ability to teleport to the opposite side of the ice floe, away from its annoying friend. The third Omox hit Sandoval again with a wall of Telekinetic force, trying to push him off the sheet of ice, but Sandoval resisted, and responded with a Shout that left the Omox injured and deafened. Apparently sonic power was one of the few forms of magical energy these demons weren’t resistant to.

Marie cast a Prayer as she flew over to help Sawyer with the demons confronting him, but her mace chipped the stone floor instead of the demon’s skull. Sawyer didn’t have that problem; Suishen hit with every swing, but the demon remained standing, albeit not very steadily. Between their tough hide that turned all but the most deadly blades, and their myriad magical resistances and immunities, the demons were proving very hard to kill. However, Shinjiro unleashed a ki flurry that sent one of the Babau Demons flying against the cavern wall. The monk’s fists burned from the acid coating their bodies, but he gritted his teeth and kept swinging. One of the Babau’s sunk its fangs into Sawyer’s arm, but Marie and Shinjiro dodged their attacks. Zhustin, flying invisibly over the lake, hammered one of the Omox Demons with a volley of Magic Missiles.

Sandoval was having second thoughts about being alone on the ice with the Omoxes, and was preparing to cast a Dimension Door. But before he could speak the words, he was hit from behind by another Telekinesis, which slammed him across the slippery ice and into the foul water. He surfaced gagging and retching, and was instantly assaulted by one of the Omox demons. It snapped and clawed at him, and only his magical shield prevented it from ripping out his throat. Another appeared beside him, and it too attacked, and their acid burned his flesh. Both demons grabbed him and their bodies began to flow over his face. He fought one off, but the other began to ooze into his mouth and nose. His bard song was cut off as he struggled against the suffocating demon.

Overhead, Nicki saw Sandoval go into the water, and watched horrified as the demon seemed to thrust its arm to the elbow down Sandoval’s throat. He blasted it with a volley of Magic Missiles then immediately followed up with a round of Quickened Magic Missiles. It had already taken considerable damage, but the lake’s poisoned waters seemed to have a rejuvenating effect on the demons, and its wounds were healing with alarming quickness. Bella decided the only way to counteract that was through massive, massive damage. She flew directly over the pair of demons and fired a brace of arrows straight down into its skull. It didn’t make a sound as it released its hold on Sandoval and sank out of sight beneath the oily surface of the water.

As Sandoval gasped for breath, the Omox that was angered by his earlier Song of Discord teleported across the ice and attacked the demon holding the bard. But it still ignored its mate’s attacks, and now its flesh flowed into Sandoval’s mouth, cutting off all air. Once again, the bard was slowly dying, and unable to escape. Zhustin decided it was time to pull out the big guns, and aimed a Disintegrate spell at the Omox smothering the bard, but the demon’s innate spell resistance caused the deadly incantation to fail. Nicki considered casting a Resilient Sphere, but realized the bard and the two demons were so intertwined with one another that there was no way to capture one without the others. Hoping the Omox would be more vulnerable out of its natural element, he flew down, grabbed Sandoval’s arm with one hand and the demon’s arm with the other, and cast Dimension Door. All three of them appeared on the ledge, amidst the battle there.

Up on the ledge, the group was starting to get the Babau infestation under control. Shinjiro was continuing to batter the Babau facing him, although its damage resistance made for slow going.  Sawyer and Marie had teamed up: Sawyer would slash and stab the demons to within an inch of their lives, and then the cleric would finish them off with a bash from behind with her adamantine mace. She had just smashed the skull of the last demon facing them when Nicki appeared with his guest. Sawyer turned and filleted it with Suishen, as Zhustin added a volley of Magic Missiles. Out over the lake, Bella had seen Sandoval and one Omox vanish. With no idea where they’d gone, she targeted the other with her arrows. Still confused, under fire, and with no targets in sight, the demon dived beneath the waves, and didn’t resurface. The one on the ledge was surrounded, badly hurt, and far from the regenerating water; it vanished, and Sandoval once again began gasping for air.

That left only the single Babau fighting Shinjiro. Nicki maneuvered into position to zap it with a Lightning Bolt from his wand, but the electricity flowed through the demon’s body without harming it. Bella’s arrows also flowed through its body, but they left gaping, bloody holes, and it collapsed.

Everyone gathered around Marie for healing, and she focused most of her attention on Sandoval, who’d been near death. After restoring his health, she used her Wand of Restoration to increase the constitution he’d lost when he swallowed the lake water. Although he felt stronger, he was still pale and sweaty, and was starting to run a low fever.

The group took stock of their surroundings. They were in a cavern high above the surface of the lake. A wide passage led south, sloping downwards. Not anxious to return to the watery realm of the Omox demons (not sure if the two missing demons might return, fully healed and with friends), they proceeded carefully down the passage, Marie casting a Light spell to illuminate their way. They passed a side passage that they suspected led back to another ledge they’d seen above the south end of the lake. The passage they were following began to slope steeply down, traversing a series of stair-like drops.

It opened into a sunken cavern where a cloying mist seeped from the moist rocky walls, hiding most of the chamber floor. The mist roiled and churned, as if stirred by unfelt currents of air. Fifty feet overhead, giant stalactites hung from the ceiling, resembling enormous teeth stretching to within ten feet of the ground. Some of their ends had broken off, and now lay scattered amid the rubble at the edges of the mist.

Bella advanced across the room, using her Fog Cutting Goggles to make sure there were no traps hidden beneath the low-lying fog. The rest of the group followed a ways behind, with Marie straying along the northern wall while the others kept to the south.

Suddenly the mists beside Zhustin began to rise up and solidify into a bestial form with hungry, reptilian eyes. It attacked the wizard, biting and clawing him before wrapping its thickly muscled arms around him. Noxious vapors and foul fluids wept and oozed from its body, and as it tightened its grasp, Zhustin was overcome with waves of nausea. He had just enough presence of mind to recognize it as yet another form of demon before he could do nothing except gag and retch.

It was a Hezrou, yet another denizen of the Abyss and two more materialized out of the mist, attacking Marie and Bella. Both of them were able to evade, and Bella, already on high alert, instantly responded with a riposte of her own. The creatures gave off an overwhelming Stench, and while most of the group were able to gag and continue on, Sandru found himself vomiting at the back of the party. Ameiko danced away to avoid having him puke on her shoes, then unfurled the Amatatsu banner to inspire the others.

Sawyer, Shinjiro, and Sandoval all leapt to Zhustin’s aid, surrounding the demon grappling him and pummeling it with their fists, feet, and weapons. Nicki blasted it with a Ray of Exhaustion, and the demon began panting with the exertion of battle. Zhustin managed to wriggle free, but was too sick to even think about casting any spells. Marie bashed her opponent with her adamantine mace, and Bella ignored the one in front of her to hurry over to attack Marie’s enemy from behind. The demon bit and clawed at Marie, but try as it might, it couldn’t grab her, thanks to Desna’s holy aid. Marie activated her Freedom’s Call aura, to prevent any nearby friends from being grabbed by the demons.

The Hezrou that had attacked Bella, now with no enemy in front of it, summoned another Hezrou to the fight. It appeared behind Shinjiro, clawing at the monk’s back. The monk kept his focus on the demon that threatened Zhustin, pummeling it with a flurry of punches and kicks. Sawyer lashed it with Suishen, but like the other demons they’d faced, its tough hide limited the damage from any one blow. Zhustin, still retching, staggered away, but both Hezrous clawed at him with their inhumanly long arms. Sandoval hit the exhausted demon two more times, and it finally collapsed in a bloody heap.

Bella stabbed the Hezrou facing Marie. She was getting better at this, and her blow left the creature weak and crippled. Nonetheless, it bit and clawed at Marie again. Nicki saw one Hezrou all by itself on the far side of the cavern, and an evil grin spread across his face. He fired off a Delayed Blast Fireball – with its timer set to zero. Despite the demon’s resistance to fire, the explosion left it seared and smoking. Liking the effect, Nicki followed up with more of the same, and the smell of burning demon filled the air.

One of the Hezrou’s called forth a cold, cloying miasma of greasy darkness around the group. The Unholy Blight sickened their souls, seemingly in direct proportion to the amount of good they’d done in their lives. Another summoned yet a fifth Hezrou from the Abyss. It appeared behind Sandoval, and raked him with its claws, but was unable to grab him thanks to Marie’s aura.

Sandoval stepped back from the battle, and cast Suffocation on the newly summoned Hezrou. It was strong enough to continue breathing, but was still Staggered by the spell. Bella stabbed the crippled Hezrou yet again, and it crumpled to the floor with a shriek. One of its comrades unleashed a multicolored explosion of leaping, ricocheting energy that hammered the group, hurting those who were lawful the most; his mate fired off another Unholy Blight. Shinjiro attempted to disable a demon with a Stunning Fist, but while he injured it, it continued fighting.

The group had gotten used to facing enemies they could bring down within seconds of a battle’s start, but these demons were a much harder task. How many more of these (or worse) would they have to face to survive the Well of Demons?

No new XP yet – we’ll wait for the battle to finish. Next week I’ll be in San Diego, so we won’t do D&D – it will be games at Joette & Rich’s. In two weeks we’ll resume at Leo’s.