Asuriel Arktaros |
Asuriel will try to follow Pavanna's instructions as best as the tunnels allow and stay by her side.
Asuriel looks back at Saroune with an "You've GOT to be joking, right?" look on her face. "Take it's flesh? New Sinspawn? What exactly do you mean "making" them? Orrrrrr do I not want to know?"
Ping Ibbleting |
"Why? There are some things that are better of being forgotten."
Ping falls behind ot the back of the group, rubbing her arms to ward off a chill that has nothing to do with the cold.
Hello, where is everybody?
DM-Salsa |
>_< Oh, right, sorry. I'll have that fixed this weekend.
Noro Kas |
Pavanna Alazario |
Hello, where is everybody?
The boards have been really dodgy the last few days — all that bad weather in Paizo’s physical vicinity, I guess. <.< >.>
Which is actually a little concerning, IMO; I’ve read more than enough Shadowrun material to know that Seattle has a rather, er, damp sort of climate even at the best of times, and if weather outages are going to become a thing....“Olivius is right: I’m as curious as anyone, but stopping what’s going on down here takes priority over discerning the who’s, how’s, and why’s behind it,” Pavanna judges crisply, returning to where she left Horatio. “Let’s keep moving. Olivius, there’s a branch in this tunnel that comes back to the right. My team will take that right and try to come back towards yours — if there’s anyone waiting for you beyond that door you were looking at earlier, we’ll catch them in the back while they’re focused on you.”
Saroune Anzoletta |
Saroune bristles at the suggestion they don't take a sample. "How can you be so short-sighted? These are creatures could be over a thousand years old. Perhaps older. They deserve to be studied. We might even find out how they are made and how we can better stop them."
She softens when Pavanna takes charge. "At the very least, let us return to them when we get to the bottom of this. They're dead now. There's no reason to destroy something that could be valuable."
Pavanna Alazario |
OK Pavanna are we looking at the same map? which door? please post an updated map that shows where you guys are?
I’ve moved Pavanna’s team (back) into staging position; the blue arrow is where we’ll be going. The door I mentioned is just below the tip of the red arrow.
Noro Kas |
OK thanks, I don't know whats going on with me lately, I moved myself and Olives to that door (but I don't think we ever even got to that door before combat started.)
Horatio A Aldebrandt |
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Horatio attempts to mediate the dispute, entirely unsure of his reasons. "In all honesty, I think we should find out as much as we can about these creatures. Maybe there's someone back in town who'd be able to perform a dissection, and figure out what makes these things tick, so to speak. If there are more of these, it would be wise to find out how we can most effectively put them down - and, like Saroune said, how they're made." Glancing at Ping, the most vocal opponent of the idea, he adds, "and then we can burn them. Alright?"
As the group takes up the moving positions again, and Pavanna falls in front of him, he briefly rests a hand between her shoulder blades. "Don't beat yourself up too much," he murmurs softly, stooping in an attempt to get closer to her ear, hoping to prevent others from overhearing. "You're doing just fine. Everyone makes mistakes - and I bet you'll learn from this one, mmm?"
Asuriel Arktaros |
Asuriel shivers. "I'm with Ping on this one."
She continues on with the group, ready to fight more of these disgusting things.
DM-Salsa |
After a consensus is reached on what to do with the corpses of the monsters, the party splits up to look at the two possible ways forward. As Pavanna, Horatio, Asuriel, and Saroune move forward, a grinding, rumbling, and very alarming sound comes from above. Pavanna's group barely has time to get out of the way of the collapsing ceiling as it comes crashing down.
Once the dust and the shaking settles, the party finds itself with half of it's members cut off from the other half by a large thick pile of rubble.
Map has been updated.
Olivius_Telraven |
Olivius coughs through the smoke of the cave-in. Where on earth did That come from? One look tells him that it's not going to be a good idea to try and go back. The only way back is forward now.
He curses to himself and says, Well, that happened. We need to press on. There's no way we are digging through that without help. Let's see if we can't meet up with the others further on.
I hope they made it out of the way...
Noro Kas |
well, Horatio's dream come true, trapped in a cave with 3 women.
Noro is caught by surprise at the sudden cave in, she rolls out of the way and avoids getting crushed by rocks.
Once she comes to her senses she realizes the group is split. frantically she tries to dig through. hey, everyone alright? Horatio, Ashuriel, Pav? anyone? she yells at the stone hoping to hear a voice from the other side.
Olivius_Telraven |
Olivius touches Noro's shoulder. It's no use. There's tons of rock blocking us from them. We have to press on and find a different way around.
Saroune Anzoletta |
Saroune stumbles away from the collapse. Covering her mouth with the crook of her elbow to avoid breathing in rock dust, she mutters and incantation. One of the rocks begins to glow with soft light and she takes in her surroundings.
"Everybody alright?"
Pavanna Alazario |
Pavanna picks herself up from the floor, after falling to her hands and knees lunging away from the collapse. Seeing the tunnel firmly sealed behind them, she makes her feelings plain to the cave-in — and whatever or whoever caused it — by giving one of the loose rocks, about the size of Noro’s fist, a stout kick back towards the jumbled blockage, muttering an Infernal obscenity after it. «сука!»
“«B&!#%!»
Feeling a little better, she takes a calming breath and turns back to the others. “I’m fine, Saroune,” she assures the Varisian. “Horatio, Asuriel? «Ты в порядке»?”
“«Are you alright?»”
Once they answer, she sighs and looks back to the door. “Nothing for it now: we’ll have to work our way back to the others through here. Watch our left while I work, please?” she asks her companions.
That said, she spikes her sword into the floor to stand upright, giving her light to work by as she makes a quick, yet thorough, appraisal of the door and its framing. I have no idea if that rock-fall was some kind of boobytrap, but with a demon in the mix, a little caution would be in order.
Methodical, now, Pavanna. Remember: ‘don’t be hasty. Slow is smooth; smooth is fast.’
GM-Salsa: That door’s probably not all that likely to be trapped, but I might as well get used to looking for traps now, since it’s one of the few unique things Pavanna brings to the party. Especially once she actually gets ‘Clever Explorer’ at Archaeologist-2. :rolleyes:
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
... wow. O.O I just hope I don’t regret ‘wasting’ that Nat-20 later on....
Ping Ibbleting |
GM post coming tonight, but for now.
Ping looks at the wall of rubble that has fallen between the two groups with eyes widened in horror. Her body trembles and the first tears can be seen welling up in her eyes.
"Th-they aren't gone, are they?"
Asuriel Arktaros |
Asuriel lays on the floor, out of it. It takes a moment but her hearing and sight come back to her as she shakes her head a few times. She goes to push herself up and stops as she realizes her leg is trapped under a few small pieces of rubble. Luckily it was nothing major and she removes the pieces and pushes to stand, grimacing.
"I'm alright."
She walks to the rocks and asks loudly, "Are you alright over there?!
She listens closely for a response.
Assuming she hears nothing she joins Pavanna at the front, "I suppose we push on?"
Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 14
I forget, do we have light? Not that it matters to me! :)
Horatio A Aldebrandt |
With a groan and a shifting of rubble, Horatio pulls himself to his feet, patting himself down to check all his extremities are still attached. His shirt-sleeve is ripped, his hair is a mess, and his head is pounding, but he's alive and intact, if thoroughly annoyed at the series of events that led him to this point.
"About as fine as I can be given the circumstances," he answers, limping over to where Pavanna is inspecting the door before taking up a lean against the wall. He turns the fey-crafted violin over in his hands, frowning at the thick coat of rock dust on it; he tries to clean it with an equally dirty sleeve before giving up.
Pavanna Alazario |
I forget, do we have light? Not that it matters to me! :)
Yup: a light spell on Pavanna’s sword (which doubles the duration and radius of such spells, thanks to one of her traits). Which is why she stood it up like a torch while she worked on the door. ;)
DM-Salsa |
Well, boys and girls, The GM done goofed. Turns out it's pretty easy to meet up again.
Olivius_Telraven |
Olivius takes point and rounds no more than two corners before running into Pavanna in a room with a worrying statue.
Thank the gods. Is everyone ok?
His eye catches on the fine weapon, but he makes sure everyone's in one piece before examining the Ranseur
Horatio A Aldebrandt |
"Well, she's a cheery one, isn't she?" Horatio mutters dryly, inspecting the statue. "Does she look familiar to anyone?" He raps his knuckles briefly against the red marble, frowning as he studies the woman's face.
Knowledge (history?): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23
Pavanna Alazario |
Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16
Oh, come on, RNG! Pavanna’s one of the resident Thassilon-nerds, I built her with the specific goal of being ‘Exposition Girl’ at moments just like this, and Horatio out-dices her by half on her specialist subject!? Do me a favour! :head-desk: :head-desk: :head-desk:
Grrr. [sigh] Call it an aid-another roll or something? <.< >.>
“No fresh injuries, other than to our pride and our sartorial splendour,” Pavanna says ruefully to Olivius, brushing some of the dust from Horatio’s sleeve.
When the Korvosan remarks on the statue, Pavanna cocks her head and frowns. “I... feel like I should know Madam Pleasantry there from somewhere, but I can’t place her at the moment. I could probably pick her out of the right reference-book, but I don’t have it on me,” she admits, embarrassed and frustrated by the admission. Grrr: right on the tip of my tongue, too! “I do believe that yonder seven-pointed star was a pervasive motif in Thassilonian works, though — especially ones relating to their arcane theory. Saroune, your thoughts?”
DM-Salsa |
The complex remains quite save the voices of the party, until a long low moan echos from some distant place in the complex.
Olivius_Telraven |
Olivius looks in the direction of the noise and makes up his mind. He steps up to the weapon and attempts to remove it from its place.
DM-Salsa |
After some effort, the ranseur comes free. Now that Olivius has it in his hands, he can see that it is a beatiful and well crafted weapon.
Masterwork Ranseur. Enjoy.
Thirzin Bronzebeard |
"Ya alright, little one?"
Thirzin checks to make sure that his hood buddy is still safe and secure. He looks around and tries to examine the bit of cave-in to see if it was purposefully caused or just a weakness in the area.
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27
"This is a weird, weird place..." the dwarf muses out loud.
Olivius_Telraven |
Olivius spins the fine blade around a few times and does a few simple cuts. Its triple blade is reminiscent of a trident, but the side blades are shorter and curved, allowing for efficient disarming. This is a fine blade. Not exactly my style, but I think I can make this work.
Horatio A Aldebrandt |
At the third rap of knuckles on marble, barely registering the brush of Pavanna's hand on his sleeve, Horatio freezes, staring at the contored, violent expression on the statue's face. The scraping as Olivius draws the ranseur free seems to drag him back; he shakes his head, turning to look at the tiefling. "Pavanna. You mentioned the creatures we fought before were... Wrathspawn, right? Because I seem to recall Alaznist looked a lot like this. Wasn't she the Runelord of Wrath?"
Asuriel Arktaros |
Asuriel looks at the statue and back to the others. "It appears everyone is well versed in Runelords of Wrath. Can anyone explain to me what she was and why is she underneath of Sandpoint?"
Saroune Anzoletta |
Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14
Knowledge (History): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19
Way to look like an expert, Saroune. :P
Saroune gives the statue a long, admiring look. She turns to Asuriel. "The Runelords were wizards of immense power, each holding power over one of the facets of Thassilonian sin magic. As you can probably surmise," she gestures to the statue's twisted expression, "Alaznist was the embodiment of Wrath, a similar practice to modern evocation."
As she speaks, a smile slowly grows on her lips. "A Thassilonian ruin beneath Sandpoint, untouched for aeons. I don't mean to be hyperbolic, but this could be a historic discovery."
DM-Salsa |
Okay, where to next? Everyone's in the Statue room, correct?
Olivius_Telraven |
Olivius advanced slowly down the right caves until it widens into a chapel of sorts. (Area B) it reminded him of home a little bit, actually, and he isn't nearly as on guard as a normal Varisian probably would be as he looks the area over.
Take 10 on perception for 12
DM-Salsa |
All Olivius hears is the deathly stillness of being deep underground. He finds nothing of not, besides the altar and the water in its basin.
Asuriel Arktaros |
Asuriel watches Saroune's interest in the subject with curiosity. She obviously is quite happy with whatever this discovery means.
"Ah, uhm, that's terrific. I think?"
Not quite completely understanding the significance she decides to move on.
Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 9
Asuriel joins Olivius as he heads down the eastern corridor. She looks at the altar curiously and tries to identify any significance of it. She approaches it carefully and examines it from a distance.
Knowledge Religion: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Thirzin Bronzebeard |
Religion Aid: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
The dwarf also joins in the looking at the altar, attempting to search for significance as well.
"It makes me a bit uncom'trble too...but we'll get through it."
Pavanna Alazario |
At the third rap of knuckles on marble, barely registering the brush of Pavanna's hand on his sleeve, Horatio freezes, staring at the contored, violent expression on the statue's face. The scraping as Olivius draws the ranseur free seems to drag him back; he shakes his head, turning to look at the tiefling. "Pavanna. You mentioned the creatures we fought before were... Wrathspawn, right? Because I seem to recall Alaznist looked a lot like this. Wasn't she the Runelord of Wrath?"
Saroune gives the statue a long, admiring look. She turns to Asuriel. "The Runelords were wizards of immense power, each holding power over one of the facets of Thassilonian sin magic. As you can probably surmise," she gestures to the statue's twisted expression, "Alaznist was the embodiment of Wrath, a similar practice to modern evocation."
“Thank you both,” Pavanna says, sighing in relief at finally having the name to mind. “That would’ve spent the whole day bothering me, like a seed in my teeth. I suppose that’s the difference between natives of Varisia, who’ve lived amongst their history, and people who’ve mostly read about that history, like me.”
As she speaks, a smile slowly grows on her lips. "A Thassilonian ruin beneath Sandpoint, untouched for aeons. I don't mean to be hyperbolic, but this could be a historic discovery."
Asuriel watches Saroune's interest in the subject with curiosity. She obviously is quite happy with whatever this discovery means.
"Ah, uhm, that's terrific. I think?"
Not quite completely understanding the significance she decides to move on.
“Asuriel, sages and scholars have been arguing over theories about Thassilon for centuries. A find like this could give them, us, actual knowledge about that long-gone empire, settle academic blood-feuds that date back decades, completely revolutionise entire fields of study!” The tiefling’s face lights up as she speaks, getting lost in an almost full-blown geek-out. “To finally know what Varisia is descended from, to know where it came from, why it took its current shape? ‘What we were informs all we are and all we become’ — whether we follow our past’s example or renounce it, it affects us either way.”
She calms down a little, glancing about, then cocks her head at the aasimar. “Look at it this way, Asuriel: we may be the first people to set foot in this complex in millennia. All right, I’ll admit we have more pressing concerns, but even so, the discovery, the wonder of that fact... doesn’t it send even a little thrill up your spine?”
Gotta go (back) to work. More on the actual current situation when I get back. :-S
Pavanna Alazario |
And now on to current events, rather than Varisian history.
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
Knowledge (Religion): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21
As Asuriel and Olivius take the right-hand tunnel, Pavanna catches the gazes of the others and nods after them. We should all stay together. Splitting up was almost a fatal mistake!
Joining him in the seeming shrine, Pavanna touches Olivius’ arm lightly. “Remind me to chide you later?” she says gently. “I agree the ranseur is splendid, but it could have been the bait in a trap. I think you scared me out of a year’s growth with that stunt, and I can’t spare much more.” She ends with a mildly reproving look, then a smile to go with the joke, hoping to take any real sting from the words. Gentle reminders might be best right now. We’re all a little edgy, between the nightmares and the cave-in.
That said, she goes back to considering the altar and its font of ‘holy(?) water’, racking her mind to try to identify which god or fiend it might be dedicated to. It looks like an original part of the complex, so it probably goes back to the original Thassilonian tenants....
Kind’a waiting on the results of those checks, GM-Salsa. ;)
Asuriel Arktaros |
Before moving into the corridor Asuriel nods politely to Pavanna once not wanting to upset her on a topic she clearly has interest in.
While racking her brain for information on the altar she turns to Saroune, Pavanna and Horatio and asks, "So this Alaz-whatever, does she have her own priests? To what deity did she align herself?"
DM-Salsa |
Sorry, I gotta sleep at some point. :D
Lamashtu.
The water in the basin is likely unholy water, though given how long it must have sat here without drying up, it's likely something much, much worse.
Olivius_Telraven |
Olivius has the good grace to look a little ashamed at Pavanna's scolding, but his excitement at finding such a fine weapon down here far outstrips his concern for any traps it might have hidden.
If I forget to remind you later, will you remember to remind me to remind you? he plays.