The mercenary is startled by the result of his attack, and curses disgusted at the nauseating liquid splashed all over him
"Damn you, you filthy freak!You don't even have the decency to die without trouble!"
The disgusting smell from the creature's putrid fluids has him gasping for clean air, something not easy in the confines of the dank and filthy cave. A wave of weakness sweeps over him and he takes a small step back using his greatsword to prop himself as he tries to clear his head.
"Gods, the stench... Worse than a ripe carcass on a hot day..."
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Remembering many a moonless night, maintaining a vigilance against pirates, where so often survivors of whispered attacks spoke of a loud fight drawing eyes only to die silently from the rear, Yuuwa consciously pivots facing the rear, holding her trident parrallel to the cave floor while her shield arm is forward touching Origen's shoulder. She walks slowly towards the battle, eyes sweeping front to back cursing the dim shadowed light, knowing close-quarter fighting can turn into a blood bath. She'll deal with the cleanup when it is her turn. She does not rush.
The sounds of battle are amplified and echo terribly within this cave tunnel and shadows dance menacingly between sudden brightness from Origen's light and engulfing darkness.
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The sounds of battle are amplified and echo terribly within this cave tunnel and shadows dance menacingly between sudden brightness from Origen's light and engulfing darkness.
INIT order:
MonsterB - charges Isandril: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Brynmor - move, attack hit - dmg = 13
Yuuwa - delay??
Origen - is up
MonsterA
Jonagher
Isandril
Aedalis
____________________________________________________
Map note - Brynmor is at R-6, and monsterB is dead.
Origen hears animalistic growling intermingled with Brynmor's curses and the thud of a body hitting the stone floor. "What's happening in there?"
He pushes forward past Aedalis and Jonagher, anxious that his companions are in serious danger.
At the sight--and smell--of the scabrous creature to the south, Origen recoils. What is that thing? Is it even alive?
He readies himself for its attempt to charge, preparing the necessary invocation.
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Origen watches the strange creature warily and brings a spell to his lips. When the thing starts running on all fours towards Brynmor he unleashes the spell engulfing the creature is a rainbow of light.
It disappears from view for the briefest of moments before continuing it's gait towards the warrior, the spell having no effect at all on the thing.
Coming out from under the low ceiling on all fours like a large dog it bites at Brynmor's leg. The warrior moves his foot just in time and avoids the long toothed bite.
Jonagher curses as he steps up short blade in hand. He raises it high above the creature brings it down across the things shoulder blade. When a boil pops he jumps back not wanting the sickening stuff on him.
Effects in Play:
Triple Time - Yuuwa, Isandril and Brymor (+10 to movement) Time remaining: 58 mins.
INIT order:
MonsterB - charges Isandril: hit - dmg = 5
Brynmor - move, attack hit - dmg = 13
Yuuwa - delay??
Origen - move, ready action cast color spray
MonsterA - charges Brynmor:
Jonagher - 5'step, attacks -
DMG -
Fort save -
Isandril - IS UP
Aedalis
________________________________________________
- Areas N-6, O-7, and P-8 are where the low ceiling starts.
- Above now marked by the grey line.
- The yellow arrow indicates the tunnel continues beyond your range of sight.
Combat MAP: HERE
Knowledge (Religion)
Aedalis shifts his feet wherever necessary to send his steel whip lashing against the creature's flesh.
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Yuuwa advances into the cavern, a chaotic dance of battle before her.
With one last confirmation glance behind her, she departs the tunnel and sidles to her right . She warily eyes the combatants and body on the deck, who is fighting us?
Skill checks
The battle scene is still too chaotic, very clausterphobic for to determine who and what is going on. The corpse looks very familiar but identification just manages to elude her conscious thought. The only thing she can be sure of? There are no hidden enemies behind her as she sidles along the cramped cavern walls.
Trident: to hit
BAB +2, MW Trident +1
Damage
Thankful that the creature's claws did not blind him, Isandril blinks to chase as much of that blood as he can from his eyes and steps forward to close with the second foe. Once in range, he attacks by swiping twice in quick succession, one sword aimed at its throat and the other at its chest.
"What... are these things?" His voice is a little forced, a clear indication of the elf's pain.
Origen's lips tighten with annoyance. "Let's see how you like this, beautiful."
Taking careful aim to avoid Jonagher, Origen sends a sizzling bolt of acid at the creature.
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Isandril's sword pierces straight down and goes through the creatures black heart as Aedalis's whip cuts a gash across it's spiky back, causing the thing to collapse at Brynmor's feet. In mere moments the chaotic battle and sounds of combat die down so all becomes as quiet as before (it is almost deafening).
"Don't know what you were. But I hope you stay dead." Jonagher says looking for something to clean his blade with.
Know check:
Fluff - by the description of the boils and spikes you realize this is what is known as a ghoul-hound or ghoul-dog. Not the official name to be sure, but it is what most adventurers call them, due to the way they move on all fours.
Rumor has it a ghoul-hound is created when the process for changing someone into a ghoul (via ghoul fever) goes horrible wrong, and the victim degenerates into one of these creatures.
Crunch - has undead traits, speed 50', AC 14, HP 11
Effect in Play - Triple Time: Yuuwa, Isandril and Brymor (+10 to movement) Time remaining: 58 mins.
Brynmor sickened 5 rounds can wait it out (is 30 seconds in game)
Isanddril - 24/29 HP
Someone has been trying to create Ghouls down here- and is failing. Adealis reports cryptically.
The mercenary seems to be feeling better as the time trickles on. Looking at the corpses with disgust, he retrieves his shortsword and approaches the one Isandril killed. Crouching, he drives the point of the shortsword into the base of the creature's skull, exactly where it connects with the spine, and then thrusts and twists with considerable force. A sickening cracking sound echoes in the silent chamber as the spine of the creature snaps. He then proceeds to methodically cut through muscle and sinew and sever the head altogether.
"Ugly bastards... Just making sure they stay dead."
Someone has been trying to create Ghouls down here- and is failing. Adealis reports cryptically.
Still crouching he looks around and back at Aedalis, grunting:
"You sure seem to know a thing or two about these freaks. Care to elaborate? Is that hag trying to get creative?"
He then rises slowly and points to the alcoves and the pile of discarded items in the area with the low ceiling.
"We should take a look at those as well. You never know..."
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"Ghouls?" Yuuwa whispers in horrified wonderment. She takes her time to commit this horror to memory. The postules, the greygreen gauntness and nails/talons. "First, Zombies, skeletons and now Ghouls. Truly the stories of this haunted isle have a basis in truth. She pauses and inspects the other corpse, noting minor differences. "Perhaps I may be more useful closer to front if we encounter more undead? Speaking of which, was anyone injured?"
She leaves the inspection of gear, refuse and detritus to the others as she (using a piece of junk) pokes and moves the ghoul corpses about in a Dr G-like morbid curiousity. She pauses to examine Isandril's face, "Lets clean it up a bit, but can you wait for a healing? I'll probably do a group heal sooner rather than later if there are more of these." She does simple first aid for now.
Someone has been trying to create Ghouls down here- and is failing. Adealis reports cryptically.
"You sure seem to know a thing or two about these freaks. Care to elaborate? Is that hag trying to get creative?"
Origen says, "How exactly did 'someone' fail? Those creatures moved a lot faster than zombies, and they were fouler too. Do they carry diseases?"
He then rises slowly and points to the alcoves and the pile of discarded items in the area with the low ceiling.
"We should take a look at those as well. You never know..."
Origen says, "True." He mutters a brief spell, and he carefully looks over the area for magical emanations.
Origen also takes a close look at the debris. I wonder . . . does any of this look as if it comes from the Jenivere or its missing crew?
"One of them managed to slash me," Isandril answers Yuuwa, the wound across his face plain for all to see. "It does hurt a little but I do not think it is anything serious," he continues as he tries to wipe the blood away. "Still a second opinion and some help to stop the bleeding would be appreciated. Magical healing could wait for later, I suppose, although I would much prefer it if... heh... I avoided having a scar across my face for the rest of my days."
Once the cleric is done with her ministrations, if any, the elf moves about the room with whoever else is so inclined, looking for clues and items of interest among the piles of things and debris lying around in the small area.
Someone has been trying to create Ghouls down here- and is failing. Adealis reports cryptically."You sure seem to know a thing or two about these freaks. Care to elaborate? Is that hag trying to get creative?"Origen says, "How exactly did 'someone' fail? Those creatures moved a lot faster than zombies, and they were fouler too. Do they carry diseases?"
These ghoul dogs are the result of failed transformations into Ghouls; when the fever is not strong enough when they are killed, for example. Aedalis explains unemotionally. I suspect those boils carry all kinds of disease. I am not an expert on such matters.
I suspect those boils carry all kinds of disease. I am not an expert on such matters.
Origen takes a step away from the nearest pseudo-ghoul carcass. "Better and better. Well, at least we have anti-disease medicine back at camp."
He asks the bard, "Anything else that we should know about them?"
Back at camp . . . wait. Origen rubs his eyes for a moment. Then he says, "Yuuwa, did Torden give you the healing wand before he left?"
You have already drunk from the limited pool of my knowledge regarding them.
You have already drunk from the limited pool of my knowledge regarding them.
Origen looks at the symbols of mortality and loss adorning Aedalis' robes. "Just generally knowledgable about such things? Or is this related to why you have those symbols on your clothes?" He sounds curious.
You sense a hint of caution leavens his curiosity, though he's not hostile to Aedalis.
Aedalis shrugs, answering the question but revealing little. I lived in Geb for a time.
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"Perhaps we'll discover more as we explore these caverns. Do you think one of these ghouls could have eaten one of our crewmates or even be one of our former crewmates?" Done with her examinations, she hefts her shield, faces towards the beckoning darkness of the unexplored tunnel, bracing her trident.
Her eyebrows raise a little, filing away the interaction but there are far more serious issues to deal with. She brings attention to the others scavenging the castoffs and debris.
"Anything of interest in all that junk? I am pretty sure none of these ghouls were not of our crew."
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While Yuuwa stands guard near the east tunnel the men search the cavern for anything valuable or clues to help solve what is going on.
The area is disgusting and just as your about to give up finding anything, a strip of leather armor falls into the light. The group notices something written on it. The words are written in blood and a splinter of bone found near the leather looks to have been used as the pen.
Written on the strip are the last words of Captain Kovack.
I am Captain Alizandru Kovack, betrayer of my crew and destroyer of the good ship Jenivere. Hell would be a welcome escape from what hideous unlife looms before me, but it is no less a punishment than I deserve. That I was enslaved mind and body to a serpentine demon who wore a Varisian’s skin does not pardon me. It is my weakness that led the Jenivere, her crew, and her passengers to their doom. That Ieana has abandoned me here is nothing more than the fate I deserve. I do not beg forgiveness, but I despair that she lives still, and that she seeks something dire on this forsaken isle — she seemed particularly interested in Red Mountain. If you read this and you be a kind soul, seek out what I have become and destroy me, and then seek out Ieana and slay her as well. And to those whose lives I have helped destroy, I can only apologize from this, my dark cradle and darker grave.
The area is disgusting and just as your about to give up finding anything, a strip of leather armor falls into the light. The group notices something written on it. The words are written in blood and a splinter of bone found near the leather looks to have been used as the pen.
"No, Yuuwa, it's all tr . . . hold on." Origen gently picks up the bloody strip from where the companions' efforts have revealed it. "This writing . . . if it's genuine, this was the Captain's."
He reads the pitiful tale to his companions. "So Kovack was more of a victim than we are. At least he came to himself before the end." Sarenrae watch over his spirit.
Musing out loud, Origen says, "'Serpentine demon.' That might explain the bite marks that we found on the cook's body." He tries to think what sort of creature Ieana might be.
"Yuuwa, the captain seems to have some disease or curse that made him change into a monster, probably something like the creatures that we fought. Is there anything we can do to protect ourselves? Other than leaving right now, that is."
"Brynmor, do you know where this 'Red Mountain' might be?"
"Let's explore further. We may find out the fate of the other sailors." Origen mutters, "But I think that it was even worse than being eaten by the cannibals."
Aedalis racks his brain for any information on 'Serpentine Demons'.
History-
Local-
Religion-
Dungeoneering-
Planes-
Arcana-
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The groups search done they try and make something out of the captain's last words. But nothing about serpent demons come to them.
"Well if one of these things wasn't the captain." Jonagher says kicking a dead ghoul-dog. "I say we try and find him and maybe there's an answer or two down here." he finishes as he readies himself to leave.
The next tunnel curves south and proves extra tight the length of it.
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DM
"I may know nothing about Serpetine Demons, but Red Mountain does ring a bell. Give me a few minutes to recollect, it should come back to me."
Yuuwa stares into the deepening darkness, looking for any hint of what may lie within, her eyes fall upon the cavern floor. "Do you think the Ghouls travel in packs or were we lucky with only two? I can't make heads or tails of these tracks. I can provide some formidable damage against undead but I personally am loathe to walk blindly into the bowels of the Earth. Gentlemen? After you...
Yuuwa gestures gallantly to the beckening darkness as a chivalrous knight would to his betrothed.
"If your channeling will work against them, perhaps you should be a little closer to the front, Yuuwa. Just in case. And I'll stand ready--or perhaps crawl ready--to cast a protection spell."
Origen looks at the narrow passage. "Well, the sooner that we start, the sooner that we can get out of here."
"I might as well stay in the front," Isandril offers as he moves to take point. Examining the narrow passage at first, he then proceeds to start squeezing through the tight space as soon as the rest are ready to do so as well.
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"Hold up, Pls let me give a little of Gozreh's guidance to everyone."
Yuuwa briefly speaks a few words, invokes Gozreh's name and touches each person before finishing with herself.
"Just trying to even the odds for our survival...
She takes her position in line, grips her scarred wooden shield and hefts her trident in an overhand/shoulder grip.
She mumbles quietly to herself before resuming spelunking, "Red mountain... " "Tomorrow, I'll pray for a bit of light." "All I wanted was a ship and a star to sail her by."
"I might as well stay in the front," Isandril offers as he moves to take point.
"Isandril . . . ah . . . here." Origen fishes through his pack and pulls out a vial. He offers it to the injured elf. "A healing draught that I've been saving. Just in case."
"Hold up, please let me give a little of Gozreh's guidance to everyone."
"Thanks, Yuuwa." Shifting the pack back on his shoulders as he waits, Origen coughs at the persistent stench. "The air down here's quite . . . special. I'd have thought that I'd get used to it by now."
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Information on Red Mountain is more know(local) than know(geography). But with the high roll and the map to help your character believes anything called a mountian on the Shiv is probably located in the southeast region. It is where the higher elevations are.
The group squeezes through quickly and luckily the passage is only about thirty feet long before opening into a strange room. A few shafts of sunlight filter down from above giving better light when added to the ioun torch of Origens.
A dark pool of water lies in the center of this silo-shaped cavern. A five-foot-wide ledge of stone winds down to the pool below, passing several cave entrances along the way.
On the far wall a hideous creature squats as if waiting. It's tattered remains of clothing and demeanor give pause that it was once human but it's long purple tongue, bluish skin, and sharp teeth say that it is now something else. It hisses at Isandril as the elf emerges from the tunnel.
"Intruders!" It croaks in a raspy voice. Standing it looks like it wishes to flee down the tunnel near it.
INIT:
Isandril 23
Origen 19
Yuuwa 1
Aedalis
Brynmor
Jonagher
monster
____________________________________________________
MAP: HERE
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ROUND 1:
-Ceiling is about 50' up. The holes in it are to small to climb through. It just helps water to enter this area.
-Ledge is about 10' high from the pool of dark water.
- Water is of unknown (to the party) depth.
- the whiteish line marks the path that leads down to the water.
INIT order
Isandril - IS UP
Brynmor
Origen
Jonagher
monster
Aedalis
Yuuwa
As soon as he sees the creature, Isandril moves to go on the offensive. Closing the distance between them, the elf stabs at this new foe as soon as he is within range.
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Isandril makes a double move to get to the creature (following the ledge around. Will use that roll as a failed AoO when it is the monsters turn.
Note a PC may jump down from S-13 to R-13. It is a DC 15 Acrobatics check- and you end up prone in square R-13.
Origen moves forward at the monster's cries of alarm, getting a good look at the once-human monster. The creature's obvious intelligence is as disturbing as its blue skin and its disgustingly long tongue.
A true ghoul? Whatever it is, it doesn't look alive.
"Aedalis, what sort of creature is this?"
Looking down from the ledge the big human seems to ponder his options, as the undead creature seems ready to flee:
"That's just what we needed... Not so fast you damned freak!" he grunts, as he draws his crossbow and aims at the monster, letting a bolt loose.
Recognizing that the creature is out of range, Origen says, "Brynmor, a protection spell." He mutters a few words, then touches the fighter, whose forehead glows with a spikey rune for a moment. The rune fades away slowly like a drop of ink dissolving in a pool of water.
Then Origen scrabbles forward along the ledge, moving past the first passage in the wall, to make room for his companions to enter. He quickly looks into the passage as he goes by.
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Isandril winds his way down the ledge that leads to the water and comes up near the creature. Suddenly a crossbow bolt lodges into the things side as Brynmor takes aim.
"Ughhh..." the creature moans from the attack. It hisses as it swipes at Isandril before fleeing down the dark tunnel near it.
Origen steps up casting a spell of protection and then heads partly down the ledge. Jonagher catches up to the man and looks down the same tunnel. "Did you see that too?" he asks watching the tunnel for trouble. "Some sort of room down there. Looked like worked stone."
Spells in Effect:
Triple Time: Isandril, Brynmor, and Yuuwa 57 mins
Pro Evil(Brynmor): 3 mins
Round 1:
Isandril(24/29) - double move (50'), AoO as monster flees - miss
Brynmor - move, load weapon, attack - hit, dmg=7
Origen - cast pro. evil, moves
Jonagher - double move (40')
monster(06/13) - attack, , then turns and runs(draws AoO)
Aedalis - IS UP
Yuuwa -
Thanks to some tech help I figured out how to pull maps from the pdfs so will be using them from here on out. Add to that my purchase of the Pathfinder Paper-minis for this AP we should have some great combats.
There are two maps below - The combat map. And the Overall or Explored areas map to help with references. Can't keep them together as they would be huge. See overall map for what Origen and Jonagher saw.
The numbers on the tunnels of the combat map are to keep me from getting confused as to where you wish to go.
Even though the monster has fled we are still in combat mode.
________________________________________
MAPS:
Overall Map
Combat Map
"Did you see that too?" he asks watching the tunnel for trouble. "Some sort of room down there. Looked like worked stone."
Origen responds, "A buried ruin?" But then he remembers the number of entrances, any of which could hold more threats. "Jonagher, it'll have to wait. If we don't stop that thing quickly, it'll warn everything down here."
Aedalis begins to beat a steady, resounding song on his drums, his pale hand glowing softly with white light as he infuses his magic into his playing. He whispers resolutely- The dead are not to be feared- it is they who should fear us, for when we destroy them they shall not rise again.
His performance started, Aedalis moves to pursue the creature.
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After Yuuwa posts up an action for round 1 - I will need everyone to add in a Perception roll with every "action post". It seems you have woken up this dungeon after all.
<insert evil DM laugh>
I think in PbP, it becomes much quicker and far more streamlined for the DM to roll groupp erception checks when necessary. When you need a check from all of us, I say you just roll it and share the info gained in spoilers. Otherwise it adds to the slow pace of PbP by waiting for individuals just to make a roll and await feedback when the DM can see their modifiers anyway.
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Yuuwa enters the cavern, hunkers down at the entrance/exit with shield and trident facing the ghoul. She only observes the aggressive actions of the others but maintains a defensive posture listening (and glancing) for movement from the tunnel they just exited.
She maintains her silence and spends her time trying to be alert.