The Mariner leads off into the courtyard. Like Cats, keeping the trees as cover, as long as the trees didn't come to life and starts eating them too. Taking the left path around the bench, the Mariner checks the door once reached. This is a really stupid idea, the cockaroach at his feet squeaks.
Cats follows along after the team.
Perception
Though a few of the Watchmen grumble about going outside, eventually they file out into the open courtyard.
PERCEPTION
INITIATIVE
Maybe it's because of the recent attack that took the Twin, or Fearless' manic paranoia, but soon after entering the courtyard some of the Watchmen notice a winged shadow slip overhead. Though altered to the danger, most are unable to fully prepare for the thin black creature to drop so quickly to the ground next to Pinkie. With a hissing laugh, it reaches for the young man with long clawed fingers...
It gets its extra jointed fingers around Pinkie's arm, clawed nails digging deep into his flesh, but when it tries to secure its grip Pinkie somehow slips free!
INITIATIVE
Nightgaunt
Fearless (16/16)
The Mariner (26/27) *diseased -2 Dex, -1 Con
Cats (17/17)
Pinkie (8/17)
Brother Butterfly (19/19) *diseased -2 Dex
Round 1, Init 7
"Who could have known this could catten!" Cats cries, moving into position for a clean shot at the flyer.
to hit; (+PBS)
damage.
AC: 17 (dex + leather)
HP:17/17
[ dice]1d20+5+1+2[/dice] to hit; (+bless)
[ dice]1d6+2+1d6[/dice] damage.
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Who could have known this could Cattan?
"Well, I DID know this was going to happen. I told you to expect this. We are here to be avengers. You should listen to me more. I am wise. "
His eyes narrow, focused on the revenge he has waited for. Bringing back those feeling he felt to the surface. That feeling of powerlessness, as The Twins was getting eviscerated.
""
Mariner, hold just a second and Desna will bless you. Pinkie, I will heal you next. "
-Posted with Wayfinder
Cursing Pinkie swings around and stabs at the creature before tumbling away
The horrific creature makes Fearless cringe as a small stone from the courtyard hurtles at the Nightguant.
"I told you this was a bad idea!"
HP 16/16
AC 18
Spells 1st 0/2
Inspiration 2/3
Tactician 1/1
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When the Mariner sees the creature again, this time pouncing on Pinkie, he didn't feel fear for the same unknown reason he wasn't afraid when it carried of the Twin. "That's that muther f&#!er!" then charge at the thing to get clear of Pinkie.
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A loose stone near Fearless lifts from the ground and strikes the creature in the side. Hissing at the injury it is caught unaware from the other side as the Mariner charges in and slashes its side with his polearm. Cats fires an arrow, but it dodges away. Pinkie jabs with his sword, but his blade slides off tough hide. Throwing himself backwards he falls gracefully into a roll that returns him to his feet a safe distance away.
Brother Butterfly calls upon Desna's divine power.
The thin monster lunges for the Mariner..
*Grappled!
..it's claws tear into the old man and pull him into a deadly embrace!
INITIATIVE
Nightgaunt -20 Grappling!
Fearless (16/16)
The Mariner (18/31) Raging! Grappled! *diseased -2 Dex, -1 Con
Cats (17/17)
Pinkie (8/17)
Brother Butterfly (19/19) *diseased -2 Dex
Seeing the only people able to help keep him alive at the moment getting shredded, Fearless draws his crossbow.
"Find some cover! Don't let it get ahold of you!"He points to a few shrubs to duck behind.
HP 16/16
AC 18
Spells 1st 0/2
Inspiration 2/3
Tactician 0/1
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"Bash it while it's stuck grabbing Mariner!! Desna will try to keep him alive during that time."
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Brother Butterfly touches Mariner and then moves to the cover Fearless mentioned (if rope space allows). Pulling out his Mace.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Round 2, Init 7
Cats draws his short sword and moves to engage the creature.
"Pinkie! Where are you going!?" Cats cries, waiting for flank. "Cat back here!"
to hit;
damage.
AC: 17 (dex + leather)
HP:17/17
[ dice]1d20+5+1+2[/dice] to hit; (+bless)
[ dice]1d6+2+1d6[/dice] damage.
The Mariner struggles against the death grip, even uselessly biting at it's leathery skin. "Cut him down! Cut him down!"
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Looking back and forth at the combatants. Brother Butterfly ponders where he can be used best. He stares at his Mace. Knowing he's not the best with it, but he NEEDS to keep the pressure on this THING. Maybe if he occupies it, Cats can get into a better position. Another option, is to see if Desna will heal Mariner and Pinkie as they both were injured --and his last healing attempts were pathetic - leaving them still heavily bleeding.
Trying to rally the rest of The Watchmen BB screams, FOR THE TWINS!
and with that he...........
Pinkie slips in beside the creature looking to take its attention away from his big friend long enough or him to get free."I'm not going anywhere for cats sake but the boy is in time out for the moment."
Fearless calls out tactics as Brother Butterfly heals the injured. The Mariner tries to pull free but the monster is surprisingly strong from its size. Cats moves in and distracts it, giving Pinkie a stab at its flank that sinks Red Destiny halfway to the hilt in its side.
The creature holds onto the Mariner and its tail slithers up his back, the tip poking into his ribs, finding sensitive spots. But rather than injure, the tail seems to be seeking to tickle the gruff old man. A hissing giggle issues from then creature, even more disturbing since it apparently has no mouth or nose from which to breathe. It pulls the Mariner close and spreads its wings wide, beating the air to lift off the ground.
INITIATIVE
Nightgaunt -31 Grappling!
Fearless (16/16)
The Mariner (22/31) Raging! Grappled! *diseased -2 Dex, -1 Con
Cats (17/17)
Pinkie (12/17)
Brother Butterfly (19/19) *diseased -2 Dex
Kast slashes again with his short sword, vastly preferring his bow.
to hit;
damage.
I almost forgot. You need to make a Fort save vs DC 14 or be nauseated by the nightgaunt's tickle.
Nauseated: Creatures with the nauseated condition experience stomach distress. (In this cae, you are tickled so bad you can hardly breathe). Nauseated creatures are unable to attack, cast spells, concentrate on spells, or do anything else requiring attention. The only action such a character can take is a single move action s per turn.
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And with that.......he runs to The Mariner and attempts to grapple HIM! Trying to keep him low to the ground. Knowing his bulk will aid in keeping This nightmare from claiming another friend.
If he's not in range,
And with that......he selectively channels.Looking to Heal the crew so that he can lend The Mariner strength.
[dice=shortsword]1d20+6
[dice=damage]1d6+1d6+2
Cats prepares his next action.
Eerily, the Mariner begins to laugh, long and loud with a disconcerting mixture of coughs and anger.
Round 3, Init 7
Cats puts away his sword as the hideous creature takes to the air.
"Oh, you're not getting away!" Cats cries, shooting some back with his bow.
to hit; (PBS)
damage.
"Ah cattlespot."
AC: 17 (dex + leather)
HP:17/17
[ dice]1d20+5+1+2[/dice] to hit; (+bless)
[ dice]1d6+2+1d6[/dice] damage.
In unison, Cats and Pinkie stab at the nightgaunt as it readies to take flight. Both swords stab deeply and the creature flops forward, unconcious and bleeding blue blood out over the Mariner.
As the Watchmen catch their breath and extricate the Mariner from under the thin monster's corpse, a foul wind smelling of rotten meat begins to stir, picking up speed very quickly as it circles the courtyard.
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Fearless slaps his knee with the palm of his hand. "Ha! Hahaha!" He hunches over laughing. Had his mind finally broken or was it more of a sense of relief?
Fearless pokes at the creature to make sure it truly is dead, before rifling through it's body for anything of use.
"You two did good. I thought we were done for sure. The way it grabs the Twin and took off with him and all."
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Not sure who to pissed at, Cats or Fearless for not wanting to tie together, or Brother for letting him untie the ropes. The Mariner winces at the skewering he took in his ribs, then points at the shed, "Alright, somebody check that out and let's get out of this courtyard." He draws his sword and gives the nightmare a head severing blow. One for the Twin.
"First, let's find out what is in this shed." Fearless hops through the muck and opens the shed door.
If he happens to find the door jammed or locked he uses his Halfling ingenuity and tries to jimmy the door open with stones and scraps of wood lying about.
Cats spends a moment collecting his misses while cursing under his breath.
"We cat have seen that cattlespotting coming, for cat's sake" Cats puts the arrow back in his quiver after he checks the structural integrity.
Cats pads over to the room in the corner to take a look.
Perception
"Yeah, sorry about that, Mariner. We were hacking as best we could. You know how it is...yeah."
"You done good, all of you, saved me you did. Especially that magical sword, Pinkie. We gonna need to find some more if going to survive this island. Let's see what's in the tool shed..." Once Fearless unlatchs the door, the Mariner moves him aside and pushes the door open.
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The winds pick up as the Watchmen make their way to the northern structure in the courtyard and are so severe by the time they get there that Fearless needs help moving the last dozen feet.
Inside is a small room with a bloody rolling table turned on its side near a set of stairs that lead down.
The stairs descend 20 feet along a stone wall, but then stop. The wall itself continues down another 15 feet, but then it falls away, along with any evidence of a worked floor. Even the sides of the subterranean chamber give way, leaving the lowest steps and mortared bricks hanging exposed in a vast, airy expanse.
The space beyond is open darkness, the void of an immense cavern hidden beneath Briarstone Isle.
"Err..um.." the Mariner chuckles slightly and turns back to look at the others, not knowing what to do next, or what he is looking at. "If Zandalus is down here, I think I am alright with not going to look for him.
Kast is quick to agree with Mariner.
"Ayep. Let's barricade and lock this place up good, and see if it's opened from the inside or outside, if cat all," Cats grunts, examining the door. "Mariner, Pinkie? See if you'd can grab some stuff to barricade this door, huh?"
Cats closes the doors and begins to disable the door from opening, even going into the rats/library rooms to get debris and desks to barricade it as well.
Disable Device
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Brother Butterfly stands in awe at the spaciousness of the cavern below. The Void.
Somehow this seems so supernatural - just like all the afflictions and strange entities that have swarmed to this place like a moth to flame.
Supernatural with a capital S and underlined for emphasis. That's the perfect word for this room, for this Asylum, for this Island.
But, now is not the time to check out "open darkness". Maybe later- much later.
At Cat's suggestion to barricade, Brother Butterfly agrees. He even thinks about helping. Then, imagining the weight and bulk of hauling desks makes his muscles quiver just thinking about it. Almost as quickly as "helping with demeaning manual labor" entered his mind, it is gone.
To have an excuse to appear busy, he goes outside to the courtyard. Looking and trying to smell for The Twins body to see if it can be recovered.
Always keeping an eye out for the others. Wary of ambush.
Fearless peers into the darkness. "You're not at all curious?" Something curious inside him stirs as he wants to explore further.
Seeing the others shake and back out of the dark cavern Fearless follows suit and watches as the bigger and stronger folks barricade the door. He finds a small stone and takes a seat on it as he digs out a few rations. Breaking off a small hunk of bread he crunches it around in his mouth. His stomach rumbles as it is reminded of good food from his past.
"So head back north past the river of blood?" He muses. "How far gone in this place is Zandalus?"
"So head back north past the river of blood?" He muses.
"Maybe. But we're really close to this one door over here..." Cats points to the door he thinks they could open with a bit of brawn. [ooc]Green arrow door, it will be quick, then to yellow arrow? [ooc]
"Catiner? Gimme a hand here? We can shoulder through it or destroy the door with your blade, maybe?"
Cats helps Mariner bust down the door or watches his bladework in chopping through it.
Str to Aid
Str to Aid
Str to Aid
Str to Aid
Str to Aid
After barricading the Infinity Door with anything reachable, including the stone benches outside, the Mariner heads back through the library to what is supposed to be the Meeting Room. Feeling brazen that nothing could be worse than the incomprehensible he just saw, he leads off by trying to kick the door down.
The door flies open and slams into the wall of a passage leading from the main hall to the Meeting Room.
A once-handsome wood conference table now sits marred by the collapsed walls and ceiling to the southwest. Between heaps of stone rubble, a closet door stands open along the northern wall. Arranged on a shelf inside is a collection of jars with floating brains, spinal columns, and other anatomical dissections. Below is a sort of nest from lab coats, and propped up in the back are the pale remains of Doctor Chawaar.
Pinkie peeks into the room careful not to pass the threshold "I'm not liking this one bit. Does that look like a nest to anyone else. And you keep your damn mouth shut. Your getting a little to comfortable taking things into your own hands. Don't make me ask Brother B to exercise your butt."
Cats keeps eye in the hallway, waiting for the team to finish inspecting the room.
"Not much there, huh? I guess we cat on over to that bloody door, huh?"
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"And with the full armor of Desna we shall confront evil. Prepared with the mace of Justice to strike against said evil. ""
With that he pulls out his mace, and walks head long into the room. Prepared to strike at the nesting enemy.
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"Hang on there Brother, I agree with Pinkie, that looks like a nest ready to burst with crawlies. Let's take a step back and ready with some explosives. Cat - put an arrow into that thing." the Mariner steps to the fore ready with the polearm.
Ready for trouble, the Watchmen approach the closet. Feeling bold, Brother Butterfly casts a spell and marches right up to the opening with his mace in hand. It's at that point that Pinkie, the Mariner, and Brother Butterfly notice something within the nest.
Barely contained in the thick glass of a large jar beside the body of Doctor Chawaar, a deformed humanoid creature wriggles and begins to climb forth. As it does a second similar creature moves among the jars on the shelf above, hiding behind one jar containing a fleshy hornlike protrusion attached to a malformed brain.
Stealth
PERCEPTION
INITIATIVE
These are a type of undead called pickled punks.
Grotesque curiosities, pickled punks are deformed, often-humanoid fetuses raised by necromancers and stored in jars of embalming fluid. Every pickled punk is different and the level of deformity spans a spectrum between the mildly lopsided to the utterly unfathomable. Though they seem harmless at first—even laughable—pickled punks are hungry creatures that attack without provocation when freed from their jars. Some pickled punks rock and wriggle in their jars in hopes of falling off a shelf or table and shattering their glass prison (such jars typically have hardness 1 and 2 hit points). Once freed, a pickled punk pulls itself across the ground with its malformed limbs in search of sustenance. Unless weaned from its taste for blood or constantly controlled, pickled punks become a danger to their creators.
Some necromancers (especially those on the edge of sanity) and some intelligent undead cultivate a fondness for pickled punks and regard them as their children. They talk to their various jars in cooing tones and are known to even carry around favored specimens on outings and social calls, often granting them names and imagined personalities.
Bludgeoning weapons work best against them.
NOTES: For every 5 you roll above 11 you can select to reveal one of the secret spoilers below.
Irritant (Ex) The water in a pickled punk's jar is highly irritating to all living creatures. A creature damaged by a pickled punk's bite that deals damage to pickled punk with a natural weapon or unarmed attack, or that otherwise comes into contact with a pickled punk or the water in its jar, must succeed at a DC 12 Fortitude save or break out in an itching rash. A creature affected by this rash takes a –2 penalty to Dexterity and Charisma for 24 hours (multiple allergic reactions do not stack). Remove disease or any magical healing removes the rash instantly. This is a disease effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Attach (Ex) When a pickled punk hits with a bite attack, it automatically grapples its foe, though the target is not considered to be grappling the punk. Each round the pickled punk is grappling its foe, it automatically deals bite damage each round.
Opportune (Ex) Though Tiny, a pickled punk can extend its deformed limbs to make attacks of opportunity as if it had a reach of 5 feet. This ability doesn't allow a pickled punk to attack adjacent creatures as if it truly had a reach of 5 feet.
Death Throes (Ex) When a pickled punk is destroyed, it discorporates into a fleshy sludge. Any creatures adjacent to a pickled punk when it is destroyed must succeed at a DC 12 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round.
INITIATIVE - Surprise Round (standard or move action only)
Pinkie (16/17)
Creatures
Mariner (22/27) *diseased -2 Dex, -1 Con
Brother Butterfly (19/19) *diseased -2 Dex
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Cats his head out in the hallway and misses all the early excitement.
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"There is one near the top of the closet hiding behind the jar. The other is in the nest. These things are hideous! "
Brother Butterfly moves in and brings his mace down on the deformed being at the top. Seeming to catch it almost perfectly with a quick and precise strike.
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Fearless nearly leaps out of his skin as the baby Brother Butterflies emerge. He turns to the balding man with his mouth agape. "These are Pickled Punks.." He leans in and whispers. "Shapeshifter? Are you just an adult Pickled Punk?"
Seeing Pinkie pull his blades out Fearless quickly corrects him. "Use a Bludgeoning weapon to kill his children fool. Also don't be near them when they die or you will get sick."