Barnaby quickly finishes off Viorian, which seems to free her of the sword’s hold. There are only a pair of giants remaining, and Trace takes out the first with a hefty slash across the kneecaps. At this point, the party wants to finish this fight off as quickly as possible to keep moving towards their goal of stopping Karzoug.
Unfortunately, Fobias sees four lamia priestesses bounding down the adjacent hallway towards them. Instead of focusing fire on the remaining giant, he casts a spell of spike stones. If you’ve ever gotten caltrops in your hooves, you know that these lamia are in for a bad time.
The stones hinder the advance of the lamia to a point of ridiculousness, giving the party plenty of time to eliminate the final giant and prepare for this next wave. Barnaby is feeling the hurt, but he’s able to slice off the hand of the giant to improve his own odds of survival. In a fit of pained rage, the giant can’t connect with Barnaby using his gauntlet-covered hand, and is only able to dispel a few of Fyn’s mirrored images.
By the time the lamia reach the edge of the spiked stone’s area of effect, they’ve taken on substantial damage. Not only that, but those tiny annoying little rocks get wedged up in their hooves, halving their speed. It’s a good day to be a blacksmith.
Krask advances towards the new threat, still hesitant. It has only been a matter of hours since he ‘died’, and he’s still not feeling all that comfortable with the dangers in Karzoug’s domain. He unleashes supporting fire, connecting with giant and lamia alike. Meanwhile, Trace channels energy and gets the party into a more favorable standing health-wise.
Even though Fyn fails with a Prismatic Spray and can’t fully connect with a well-timed Chain Lightning spell, the lamia are easy pickings. Soon, the room falls silent once more. It’s time to assess the situation, gather loot, and press onward.
Viorian and company had plenty of worthwhile loot on their persons, and Trace gets some massive upgrades to his kit. The only point of contention is Chellan (read: Chad), the Sword of Greed. Fyn and Trace get into a minor argument about the morality of using the sword. What if it corrupts Barnaby? Fyn is of the mindset that they must use every tool at their disposal to eliminate Karzoug. On the other hand, Trace is thinking about Sarenrae’s recent communication and thinks using the sword is only going to lead to more bloodshed.
Finally, the party arrives at a conclusion. They remove Barnaby’s armor and tie him up before handing the sword over to him. Instantly, Barnaby feels a connection to this blade. It’s calling to him, his bro, and regaling about how Barnaby and Karzoug would be a great team. He will be a powerful tool to the rising runelord.
All of this talk happens inside Barnaby’s head before the sword pauses, deliberating. It seems to be having a conversation with someone else. Another pause….
GRYFFINDOR!
Just kidding – the sword explodes in his hand.
What will happen to a helpless Barnaby? How many more lackeys does Karzoug have? What’s Chad’s Gym, Tan, Laundry routine like?