mdt |
The acid hits the flower and just rolls off the side of it, before dripping to the floor. It does nothing to the vines or the flower, but it does sizzle as it drips onto the stone floor.
Alexis Carevin |
"There was, but I believe we will take some days to get there. So I can spend some more of my power on this: Snowball!"
She stretches her hand in the direction of the flower and sends a ball of ice in its direction.
Ranged Touch: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Cold damage: 4d6 ⇒ (5, 1, 4, 6) = 16 Plus fort 17 or be staggered for 1 round.
"Try some arrows!"
Mahb |
Lineera, are you going to tell us about that book?
Mahb grows her hair (using my last use of Hair for the day) and then uses it to search through the room from a relatively safe distance. If necessary, she enters the room to let her hair reach to the furthest corners.
Will Save v DC:20 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
mdt |
The flower explodes as the ice ball hits it. Vulnerability - Cold
With the flower gone, Mahb is able to search the room with her hair. The only thing she finds is the skeleton on the bed. It has ratty clothes that have long since rotted to nearly nothing.
The belt pouch nearly falls apart when she pulls it off, but inside she finds 3 coppers, 2 silvers, and a gold coin. As well as a flint and steel, a handkerchief nobody would ever want to use again, and a wooden stick about 6 inches long. Checking it, she finds it magical. Wand of Divine Favor, 17 charges
Alexis Carevin |
"Well, it was at least worth our time. I'm ready to go seek another portal."
Eva Elsington |
"Oh... we are moving?" Eva asks half out of it from where she's sitting in the floor.
mdt |
I assume you are going back to the witch's hut.
Despite having to drag Eva along the entire way, the party makes it back to the old witch's hut just before dark begins to settle on the swamp.
Kjel, Alexis, please look back through for a full description of the witch's hut
Everyone levels up over night. You may talk and work through what you wish to do and let me know when you are ready to go. I'll re-list information you have found out. Primarily so Alexis & Kjel can get a good catch up, with the assumption that the PP group spills all the beans they have.
1) There were six locations being watched using the divination spells woven into the tower. (A) Perdition's Point (B) The Kobold Cave (C) A mansion overlooking a village (Guessed as the Chateau, but no confirmation) (D) Carion Crown (E) An old Fortress on a cliff (F) Caliphus
2) The cultists are performing some sort of complicated ritual that can only be performed at one of the four soltices, during a full moon. Which means they can only perform the ritual once every 3 months. The ritual requires two children, one each male and female. Or at least, they have taken one male and one female each time so far. The Illmarsh ritual was a success. The Perdition's Point was not. It is one month until the next ritual. There are three groups, at least. The Perdition's Point group, and the Illmarsh group, and a third group referenced in the original letter. The Perdition's Point group was decimated, with only one survivor who escaped. With the first group decimated, the PP group believed that that group's next attempted location (The Chateau) would likely not be hit, but it's possible one of the other groups will hit it instead.
3) The cultists have access to odd amulets showing a sunset which are capable of corrupting people who are exposed to them too long, and these amulets do not detect as magical. Only the taint they spread can be detected, and thus them only indirectly. Anyone wearing one slowly becomes a plant based abberation, often undead, but not always (Tanyasha). Undead ones seem to be less powerful than the ones who fully convert alive. Amulet
4) The cultists have some way to create undead from corpses who are buried, which fits with the name of the creature they are worshiping. The Lord of Things Which Are Buried. Somehow those undead can be called on by any creature working with the cultists who has an amulet. The cursing into undead even works on corpses buried in sanctified ground. Additionally, killing such an undead causes the undead to die in ways that are not normal. They scream in agony for one, and rapidly decay into dust afterwards.
5) The church is in Perdition's Point (Sarenrae) investigating what happened there, and rebuilding the village. Several members of the village were killed, including Alexis Carevin and her husband.
Kjel Svensen |
Too lazy to go through 30 pages of game posts to find the hut description.
"What do we check out tomorrow? I like the looks of the mansion. I've heard kobolds are bad news with all their traps, and I don't know that we want to screw around with a fortress. "
Lineera Vonnarc |
"Yeah, the kobold cave was no fun at all... I got an arrow in the kidney and spears in the... all of my torso with a trap I sprung. I'm damn lucky I had the companions I did when I went into that place or there's no way I'd have survived." Lineera replies to Kjel's comment. "If it comes down to it, we'll go of course, but I'd still suggest we go to that mansion. Things are done here at any rate, whether they succeeded or failed I can't tell, but I don't much care at this point. The rendezvous was at a Chateau, so I'd say that's where we should go to put an end to this... I only wish I was better at my craft to do such things..." Lineera sinks into silence for a moment before mentioning. "But I found out some things about the spellbook we found. It's not much anything I can use, I can recognize arcane spells, but I don't know enough to use them. But it's a necromancer's arcane spellbook, may sell for a good amount at least. Someone's bound to find it useful." Lineera doesn't take terribly long to fall asleep once back at the witch's hut, she almost died twice today, such things were tiring.
Eva Elsington |
Which did Lineera check to see if anything we retrieved from the tower was tainted?
Lineera Vonnarc |
I think it's pretty much a passive thing, Lineera is not actively looking for taint over every object at any rate.
Mahb |
I assume you are going back to thewitch'sMahb's hut.
Fixed that for ya. ;)
Just to be thorough, Mahb gets rid of the rotten rushes that comprise the rotting bed and searches through it to make sure the old witch left nothing hidden there. When Lineera talks about the spellbook, Mahb gives her a stare. "I might be able to put some of that magic to use... or at least learn from it."
MDT, what's your position on Mahb being able to 'learn' wizard spells that appear on her list of witchy spells?
mdt |
Mahb would need to use a scroll to do so, and feed it to Pyewacket. That's in the book. Now, you could trade the spellbook to someone for scrolls, almost certainly. But you'd need the scrolls. You can read the book, of course, and see what's in it (see the spoiler to Lineera). I'll assume she warns you of the poison trap.
Mahb |
Ah, my bad, for not re-reading all of the Witch's Familiar section. Thanks. Given that info we may as well destroy the book... unless someone can make a reasonable argument for why good characters would sell a clearly vile book bound with poisoned human flesh. :) Mahb is neutral but I'm having a hard time justifying that.
Alexis Carevin |
"I'm ready to move when you are. I also want to take a look at that book, to see if there's any information on the rituals and on the dead unburying process. Have you studied it already?"
Well, that's my argument, know thy enemy.
Eva Elsington |
"Yeah, *yawn* I had to help get Lineera out of it. Everyone else was too big." Eva had made herself comfy, yawning every now and then as she rubbed her face. She seems to be barely keeping her eyes open, but she's fighting sleeping so far, to answer what questions she can.
=== At some point in the delving of information ===
Eva pulled out the translated letter offering to let both Kjel and Alexis see it. "Eli translated it for us. He said it was in coded halfling."
You will not be surprised to find out that Kinalla, the stupid slut, has screwed up. She got her boy, but then got her pawn killed in an aborted attempt on the girl. The locals have raised the guard and she's going to have to relocate and perform her portion of the ritual at the winter solstice, during the new moon. She's moving to the backup location as I write this.
You need to be aware though, we've heard rumors that a mercenary group from Magnimar was snooping around Vaultin looking for us. It appears they ran low on funds, and had to return to Magnimar. In a completely unrelated bit of good news, Teagan seems to have come into a large score recently, and she's spreading the love around with more equipment for any corpses you get a rise out of. Haha!
Looking forward to seeing you after the first trio of rituals are done.
As always, your sister, Knaria
Lineera Vonnarc |
"Well, if that's what you think Mahb." Lineera doesn't discuss the magical tome much further. "Well I'm going to go to sleep now."
mdt |
Next Morning, Everyone is level 4! Yay!
"CAAAAAAAWWWWWW!!!!! CAAAAAAAWWWWWW!!!!! Maggie want a silver! CAAAAAWWWWW!!!!! Maggie want a silver!" Thunk Thunk Thunk The skeletal raven pecks Lineera in the back of the head to wake her up. "CAAAAAAWWWWWW!!!! Morning lazy bones! Maggie want a silver! CAAAAAAWWWWW!!!!"
Pyewacket begins cawing in response to the bone brain cawing, resulting in the entire building sounding like a flock of ravens angry with someone.
Up and at them, it sounds like everyone is going to the Chateau, via Perdition's Point then?
Eva Elsington |
Sure! Let's check in at home :) Freak people out that we have Alexis with us.
Eva opens an eye giving Maggie a look. "If you ask nicely you might get a silver. I'm not sure that counts as asking nicely."
Eva Elsington |
"Maggie is demanding."
Eva Elsington |
Eva reaches in a pouch, gives Maggie a look. "If you get a silver, you'll stop trying to peck a hole in Lineera's head?"
Eva Elsington |
"I'll take that as a yes..." Eva pulls out a silver for Maggie and tosses it over.
Lineera Vonnarc |
Lineera rolls about on the ground annoyed, her hair messily coiling about her. "Why do you even want a coin?"
mdt |
Maggie hops down and takes the silver piece in one talon'd foot. She eyes it this way and that way, before her beak strikes out and bites a chunk out of it. The metal flashes as it's snapped off clean and sharp. Then she takes another bite, then another, and another. Finally, she finishes the coin off. "CAAWWWWWW! Maggie hungry! CAAAAWWWWWWW!"
Eva Elsington |
"So you eat silver Maggie?"
Alexis Carevin |
Alexis is the same as the previous morning. Her eyes are still swollen and dark, as if she didn't get much sleep. "That's what I call a weird bird... Why are you carrying it around anyway?"
Riley "Lucky" McCormick |
Riley gets up and gets his things together. He slings his pack over his shoulder and joins the others. "Very strange bird indeed! Are we ready? I lead the way."
mdt |
"CAAAAWWWWW!!! Sometimes Maggie want Silver. Sometimes Maggie want Gold. Sometimes Maggie want Platinum. And sometimes Maggie want to fly away! Fly fly fly away, into the bright morn! Fly fly away, away from a world torn! CAAAAAWWWWWWW!!!!" The bird sings and dances as it hops up on Lineera's shoulder.
Waiting on Lineera
Lineera Vonnarc |
Sitting up and brushing her hair aside Lineera watches as Maggie chomps away on the coin. "She is an odd one, that's for sure, honestly I was dragging her along simply to try to get an idea of what she was good for. I mean, someone buried this thing in the basement of a powerful tower of necromancy behind a locked and trapped door with nothing else in it of value. I thought 'surely this can't just be an amusing toy otherwise it'd be kept out." Lineera postulates groggily as she continues trying to wake herself. "I think I'm beginning to get an idea though, Maggie's functionality is limited, but seems to focus around the defense of its owner, primarily that of a spellcaster. Reason she didn't really help much yesterday was probably because no one had 'fed' it in quite some time. It was out of power as it were."
mdt |
"CCCAAAAAWWWWWW!!!!! Maggie beat ape with axe! CAAAAWWWWWW!!!!"
One last question, is anyone going to stop in Illmarsh, or are you going to bypass the dour little town? Stopping in Illmarsh will expose everyone to the locals and questions. There's no boat to Perdition's Point, so you'll have to go overland anyway. It takes about a two and a half weeks to get to Perdition's Point from Illmarsh over land at your current speed.
Eva Elsington |
Good question, I'm fine avoiding it. Not like we were welcome.
"So, home we go?"
Alexis Carevin |
"We should stop by the city to tell them about this place. We should also include what happened to the kids. If you were their mother you would want to know they are dead and resting, instead of nurturing a thread of hope for the rest of your life, preventing you from moving on."
"Maybe we could request some cart to carry us faster to Perdition's Point, or we could buy horses. I mean, we are running against time here."
Eva Elsington |
"Though, they believe the children to be dead. They found bodies in the swamp. They got mad at us if we even suggested they were still alive."
Alexis Carevin |
"Do they know about this place?"
"Cause if they don't we could at least warn them, so perhaps if the ritual occurs again they can do something about it."