HP 5/8 Init +1; Per +1 AC 15/11/14 Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +3
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
Osei Otieno wrote:
They were using the wardstone to power these ... toys. What were they *thinking*?
Very good. -- Now, in and of itself this was completely harmless. The Wardstone could power those toys for a million years and never flicker once. It's like running a string of Christmas lights off of Hoover Dam.
But...
Random Thoughts:
I thought it might be the Wardstone powering the things (before everything fell apart), but I decided against it. I didn't believe they would sap a single iota of the "Hoover Dam's" energy for frivolous things because there was/is so much at stake, and possibly allow a vector for attack. Moreover, if the toys were only powered by the stone during the day, does this imply that they did so a) only because they wanted toys active during the day of Armasse celebration or b) there is some sort of solar component of the stone and they wanted to conserve output at night (not that it would make for a huge difference)? Regardless, if all the Wardstones are enchanted in the same way, and Khorramzadeh just destroyed/tainted/absorbed the essence of this one - the demons might now have insight into how to defeat all of them. That's a scary thought. And with the chaotic nature of the Abyss, maybe it's about to start spitting out specific entities created to attack Wardstones?
HP 5/8 Init +1; Per +1 AC 15/11/14 Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +3
Osei refuses to let go of Felice, and does not release the pouch given to him by the Marquis - it could be something to aid in their escape.
"Ahh! Uh ... help?! A little help?" He flails, trying to utilize the centrifugal force of swinging his arm to detach the demonic poppet, but only succeeds in driving the things' claws in deeper. "Argh!"
Ooooooh, a whole 2 more than last time. You spoil me, RNG.
Takka continues to stand numb and not terribly aware of the world going on around him. He just stands, babbles and waves off attempts to spur him to action.
Across the square, suddenly the Marquis is in trouble. A thing like a gigantic centipede has suddenly lunged forward and wrapped itself around him.
Sir Robert has almost reached the platform, where a handful of surviving guards are huddled in a defensive circle around Lord Hulrun and the other dignitaries. He hesitates, turns --
"Go on, you fool!" The Marquis gets an arm free and seizes the centipede around its throat. It suddenly thrashes wildly, as if in pain. But it does not release him.
AC 16 t.12 ff.14, hp -2/9, saves F3 R2 W7, init +2, Per +6, touch of good 7/7, calming touch 6/7, channel 1/3
Balek slaps the Alderman, hard. "Stop panicking! Your job is to lead folk. We have to get to safety, now. You know where any secret passages out are. Where are they?! We will do our duty, but you have to do yours."
Uses his calming touch power on the Alderman, somewhat theatrically. I figure he has a classic example of the shaken condition, which this should remove.
To everyone: "That thing has a piece of the Wardstone, corrupted. Time to run, not time to fight."
The little red demons clinging to the sides and back of the gigantic demon prod and jab at their immense mount. Roaring, the huge thing stumbles forward, then raises its fists again and brings them down with tremendous force.
The earth shatters.
A huge crack opens up in the center of the square, opening up rapidly into a chasm. The earth on either side tilts People, corpses, rubble, tables, non-flying demons... all begin sliding downwards into the depths.
As if in a dream, or in a story where children travel to a mysterious wonderland, you float down the chasm. The air holds you up. You go down, but no faster than a man running down a flight of stairs.
Almost the last thing you see of the upper world is the dragon getting off a second spell. This one attacks, not the demon, but the stone it is holding. Half the stone shatters into dozens or hundreds of glowing green shards. The demon screams in rage.
The next to last thing you see demons swarming over the Marquis, from earth and from the air. He goes down, still struggling, beneath a wave of them.
And stuff is still falling in here with you, in the dark. (Some of that "stuff" is people. You hear screams. Apparently whatever the dragon did there, it didn't get everyone.)
Everybody is going to take 2d6 of damage from being hit by falling rubble. Roll it, and note the damage on your charsheet. This may knock you out... if it does, then it does.
Male Half orc Paladin 1 (redeemer archetype) AC 18 , HP 11/11, Int+1, Percep+1
"Nooooooo!"
Until he hits the ground hard....or the ground hits him....
2d6 ⇒ (3, 5) = 8
For a moment SCG considers what if he is alone down here, he is thankful he can see in the darkness, he makes certain he still has his weapons, and shield then begins searching for others.....
Takka watched in abject horror as he saw Terendelev try to save them, in spite of her clear danger. Reaching out a claw back to her, Takka roared in fear and anger and terror and everything all at once. Things slowed down for him... before they immediately sped up to pick up for lost time. Everything was being destroyed... and there was nothing he could do to help it.
Yelping in pain and discomfort, Takka plodded with a heavy THUD! onto some rubble... or maybe it hit him. He couldn't tell. His senses were all thrown off. Finally, he stopped falling, and he felt the pain surge through his body. He just lay silently, staring into the darkness. He could see, but really, he would've preferred the fall to have killed him. Why bother getting back up? He was tired.
"...yes." he responded weakly to SCG's question. "...but I wish I wasn't."
HP 5/8 Init +1; Per +1 AC 15/11/14 Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +3
Does Osei still have this slimy larval doll on his arm? Does Felice live? What's in the Marquis' pouch?
Osei is about to cast a cantrip for light when it flares into existence from another source. He squints, raising his arm to shield his eyes - and staggers under the pain lancing from his right shoulder. Beneath his torn robes, his shoulder is lacerated and starting to swell.
As his eyes adjust, he scans the room to catch the status of his fellows. Where ... ? Who is here?
A faint little voice is saying "beautiful day for a... Wardstone failure... Wardstone failure... Ward... stone..." Then it trails off into silence. Osei, the doll-thing has dissolved into a mess of sticky nastiness and a black, shriveled gourd. The spell was set to end with the day, at nightfall. Apparently being plunged a few hundred feet underground works too.
"My... my leg! I can't move it!" < -- that's Felice.
"What's going on? Where am I? Someone do something!" < -- That's Alderman Gwerm.
"H-hello? Is someone there? Hello?" < -- Not immediately clear who that is.
(Haruka's spell is giving light, but not a lot, and there's rubble and wreckage everywhere, and the echoes make it hard to locate stuff by sound. So, someone needs to look around a bit if you' re going to see what's what.)
HP 5/8 Init +1; Per +1 AC 15/11/14 Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +3
In a normal tone, Osei says, "This is Osei. Who else is here? Please sound off, and if you are hurt, stay where you are - those of us who are still mobile can come to you."
Osei whispers under his breath, and winces as he rapidly draws runes in the air in front of him which - surprisingly - remain hanging in the air as his fingers trace them out, like glowing, violet after images. The four runes then increase in brightness to white light and expand outward around the wizard and fly upwards to illuminate the area.
Osei casts Dancing Lights, producing four runes/globes which stay at cardinal directions of a 10' diameter circle, in a flat plane. He raises them overhead to about 10-15' (or to the cavern ceiling) so that the illumination is maximized in a 50' diameter normal light area, and 20' dim light radius beyond that.
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
A faint little voice is saying "beautiful day for a... Wardstone failure... Wardstone failure... Ward... stone..." Then it trails off into silence. Osei, the doll-thing has dissolved into a mess of sticky nastiness and a black, shriveled gourd. The spell was set to end with the day, at nightfall. Apparently being plunged a few hundred feet underground works too.
Osei would also like to find the remains of the ... thing ... and retain them for later study.
Takka feels only a tiny bit better when Balek's power sweeps over him. He pulled himself free of some rocks, looking around in the darkness before trying to shield himself from Haruka's light, and then even more from Osei's glowing symbols.
Still frowning and feeling numb, in spite of the pain, Takka lowered himself down and sat on a large rock. He wrapped his arms around his knees and just huddled there, trying to rock himself back to sanity. "...I tried... I tried to stop it... I... tried to tell them... nobody would listen... why can't I..? ...why show me that vision..? ...I can't do anything... why show me..? ...why can't I do it..? ...why can't I do it..?"
female Human Inquisitor (Iconoclast)(Preacher)hp 3/8|AC 15|perc 8|init 1|Agile feet 7/7
"Haruka here, bruised but otherwise fine"
Haruka starts searching for Laurine, using a circular search patern(right handed) checking every found body for sights of life, speaking a small prayer for the dead and making sure the demons are dead, using an bow to put an arrow int each head.
HP 5/8 Init +1; Per +1 AC 15/11/14 Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +3
Osei puts the Marquis' pouch into his robe, and starts a search for his comrades within the area the light touches, following their voices. It can wait. He commands the conjured globes to stay absolutely motionless - for now - as he goes about recovering his belongings and looking for survivors.
Will renew the Dancing Lights every minute until further notice.
"...I tried... I tried to stop it... I... tried to tell them... nobody would listen... why can't I..? ...why show me that vision..? ...I can't do anything... why show me..? ...why can't I do it..? ...why can't I do it..?"
"Mister... kobold." Felice's voice is tight with pain. You look up in surprise. She's only a few yards away, lying on the ground. Her posture is strange and uncomfortable looking. After a moment you realize that her leg is pinned under a chunk of rubble.
SCG notes the lights as they appear. He helps Takka to his feet...
"Come my friend I hear voices in the darkness we must aid them."
Okay, you two are near each other.
As you move towards Felice, you hear someone scramble towards you. A moment later, Alderman Gwerm staggers out of the darkness. His clothes are torn and he looks rather wild-eyed.
"What! You! Where... where are we? Who is responsible for this?"
HP 5/8 Init +1; Per +1 AC 15/11/14 Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +3
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
Osei Otieno wrote:
Osei would also like to find the remains of the ... thing ... and retain them for later study.
There's not much left of it, and the little that remains is pretty nasty. But you can if you really want to.
Eh, nevermind. Will leave well enough alone - bit creepy anyway. Will focus on maintaining Dancing Lights while searching for teammates and others, as mentioned above.
Something rears up out of the darkness behind Felice.
It's big -- over eight feet tall -- but emaciated-looking, leathery crimson hide barely covering a skeletal frame. Its posture is slouched; its arms are long and apelike. Its eyes are small and piglike and full of confused hatred. It doesn't have wings, and has obviously taken a lot of damage from the fall. It drools, and a mixture of purplish blood and slaver runs down its receding chin.
It doesn't seem aware of any of you yet, but in a moment it will be.
It's 15' behind Felice, and 30' from Takka and Sir Constantine. Everyone else is random 3d6 x 5' away (roll it). Note that the rubble is difficult terrain, making it impossible to run or charge.
female Human Inquisitor (Iconoclast)(Preacher)hp 3/8|AC 15|perc 8|init 1|Agile feet 7/7
Haruka stops her searching, focussrs on the newest threat and tries to remember anything usefull about creatures matching the demons description.
knowledge(planes):1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
The miko readys her bow and takes aim, ready to shoot, should the demon notice anyone.
Osei attempts to clear his head after the events of the last hour or so, and draws upon his studies to identify the creature.
[dice=Knowledge (Planes)]1d20+9
Osei only:
At a guess, it's a half-fiend: demons are fecund, and can and will breed with pretty much anything. This looks like one of the slinking red ambush demons crossed with... something.
It'll have lesser versions of the demonic powers and immunities. OTOH, it'll be meaner, stronger and tougher than whatever the other parent was. And it's a Large size humanoid, which is not at all encouraging. If it wasn't massively damaged, y'all would be toast. You may be toast anyway.
