KC's Age of Worms

Game Master Kobold Catgirl

Johysis's eyes narrow. "I feel like calamari's on the menu. What did you want to know?"

"You're back to yourself again? No 'master' to protect?" Eben asks, coming forward. He shrugs. "We'd like to know anything you can tell us. His plans, his connections, if you know any of that. We think we know where he's hiding, but if we could confirm that before we go slogging around the sewers, that would be handy."

"He keeps us outside the main lair, so I can't tell you much about Xyrxog himself." The drow sits up, bowing her head. "I'm sorry I tried to kill you earlier. I wasn't myself. I'd be happy to tell you everything I do know as long as you promise to let me go free afterwards."

"'Xyrxog'? Gods, and I thought doppelganger names were convoluted..."

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 30

Eben does his best to suppress a slight smirk at her contrite apology. Alter that to, 'I'm sorry I didn't try to kill you of my own free will', and it might be almost true...still, she's not actually our enemy here, aside from being a member of a race that would be happy killing and enslaving everyone...
"We understand. I don't know that any of us haven't had our minds violated at one time or another," he says, concealing his cynicism with sympathy. "Now that we know you're not going to go running back to him, I don't personally see any reason we can't let you go after. Anyone have any objections?"

Taking 10 on a Bluff check to cover up seeing right through her apology for a 29; Eben is being sincere about releasing her, though.

"As long as she tells us everything."

Rorigo steeples his fingers and watches the proceedings. He refrains from offering his opinion, as he does not feel he has been around long enough to do so yet. They are willing to show mercy. Perhaps they aren't as barbaric as I originally assumed...

Astraden follows the others inside and watches a while before speaking up.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

"What sorta protections were over the areas you saw? Monsters, traps, spells, . . . ?"

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27

Wait, durr, could've just taken 10.

Well, it's better than nothing. May have to dea with it after this is all done, though.

"We are located by the sewers near a local forge, though it will be easier to access through the sewers. The entrance is blocked and marked by a patch of...I'm unsure how to translate it, but it is mold of a bright yellow hue. There are also four shriekers; these will alert the guards ahead.

"Elsaroth is usually guarding the passage beyond. He's a chemist, like you," she gestures to Carina, "and will be up on a ledge. He'll have guards with him.

"The next room will contain my mistress, Myrianaas, and her henchmen. Myrianaas is a priestess of darkness. If you want anyone other than your half-orc to be able to see, you'll bring something to counter her." Johysis smirks. "I know your kind has trouble in the shadows.

"Guarding the way into Xyrxog's domain—this is to say, the part of his domain sanctioned off for his personal use—are monstrosities of Xyrxog's own diseased device." Johysis licks her lips. "He calls them octopins. They can slow you with their gaze, but they move very fast. They're unaffected by electricity and you do not want to get caught in their claws. They're not easy to sneak past."

The drow shimmies her bound wrists, clearly getting uncomfortable. "I have...never entered his private hold. Not on my own feet. I was dragged in there once. We were blinded, and I remember being manacled. Long, slimy arms. I think a few chokers might serve him. And then..." She shivers. "Then I felt his will crush mine like an insect. I heard Elsaroth held out a few seconds more, and Myrianaas fought for...maybe a minute. But we all broke in the end. Your wills will snap like twigs if you face him. That's why I'm not coming along."

She takes a moment before continuing. "As for Xyrxog himself, I don't know much. We rarely see him fight these days. But twenty years ago, when we faced him, he hit us with a...a blast of psionic energy, I guess. It froze our minds like solid stones for almost a minute. All we could do was watch as those few of us who resisted were slain—blasted by lightning, incinerated, or devoured on the spot. He charmed a few of them, like Elsaroth. And just when we were starting to recover, he hit us with another blast. Myrianaas didn't resist this time."

Johysis shrugs. "There were forty of us. The only ones who escaped servitude were the five who died that day—and the many that have died since, I suppose. His need for us shrinks with every passing day."

Astraden listens to the explanation, struggling to keep it all in her memory. "So we need a tribute for this 'naga,' and some way to shield our minds, maybe? Might be worth hitting a library or something for that mold."

"Ah, good, then his lair is pretty much right where we figured it would be..." Eben says, satisfied. "Although I suppose the disadvantage of taking his control off you is that now he's going to know we know where he is... but he'd probably have been on his guard anyway, so that can't be helped..." He blanches a bit when he hears the word, 'chokers'. "Oh. Not again," he moans, massaging his neck. "Guess we'll just have to handle that... The rest of his servants- Myrianaas, Elsaroth, and the other henchmen you mentioned- they're all unwilling too, right? If we hit them with dispelling magic like we did you, do you think it's likely they'd stand down from a fight?"

"If they're rendered free-willed, I'm sure they will be as eager for revenge as I am."

"Interesting. We might be able to turn a large portion of his force against him. Elsaroth and Myriannas sound like especially good candidates. Annoying to fight, but could make good allies if we play our cards right."

Can I use Dungeonerring to try and identify the modl just from that short description?

Carina listens to Johysis' words, resting a hand on the explosive vials at her side.

"The mold is harmless--it's called Beggar's Gold. It's distinctive, but otherwise not really noteworthy." She replies to Astraden, scratching her head.

She opts to keep quiet about her darkvision, giving the drow a little smirk. More's the pity for her, if she's ignorant of what an undine can do.

"Yeah, some way of protecting our minds from its powers would go a hell of a long way."

How does Carina know that?

I rolled Knowledge (Nature) here.

Yes, I think it's either Dungeoneering or Nature. I think I'd let either apply—the Knowledge skill is actually a bit ambiguous on fungi.

I see. Probably should have put an OOC tag saying it was probably the same kind of mold we saw before, since even if I had remembered a thing from almost a month ago we couldn't be sure if it was yellow mold or what. =)

"So... we can ignore the mold. Maybe we should have some kind of silence ready for the shriekers. Dispelling magic for the mind-controlled drow. Bribe for the naga, if we want to avoid fighting her. Light magic for the drow mistress, in case she hits us before we dispel her. And then something to shield our minds against being... well, flayed. The octopus things and the chokers it sounds like we just have to kill. Might help to have some resistance to electricity, since we know he's not afraid to use that wand. Am I missing anything obvious?"

"Well, now that I've had time to prepare, I can make some extracts to take the edge off of Xyz--Xer--whatever-the-hell-his-name-is lightning bolts." Carina pats one of the flasks at her side. "And if they have access to Invisibility magic like the doppelgangers, then I have extracts to counter that too."

"My protection from evil spell should be able to shield our minds," Rodrigo comments.

"Would dispelling magic help against the mind control as well?" Astraden asks, leaning heavily against the door to one of the stalls.

I see. Probably should have put an OOC tag saying it was probably the same kind of mold we saw before, since even if I had remembered a thing from almost a month ago we couldn't be sure if it was yellow mold or what. =)

I should have, or Carina should have? I haven't said anything so far. Bringing the beggar's gold up myself would have made a link obvious—I generally trust that at least one player will remember whatever fact is pertinent. When that doesn't happen (or when the fact is insanely obscure, like with the Cold Forge), then I give out hints.

From outside the stall, the group hears whistling. "Don't mind me," Tarquinn calls. "Just feeding the horses. Thanks for getting rid of the bodies, by the way."

Rynjin wrote:

I see. Probably should have put an OOC tag saying it was probably the same kind of mold we saw before, since even if I had remembered a thing from almost a month ago we couldn't be sure if it was yellow mold or what. =)

I should have, or Carina should have? I haven't said anything so far. Bringing the beggar's gold up myself would have made a link obvious—I generally trust that at least one player will remember whatever fact is pertinent. When that doesn't happen (or when the fact is insanely obscure, like with the Cold Forge), then I give out hints.

I should amend that to "I probably would've" from "[You] should have". I have a pretty bad memory for detail in these sorts of things (especially since I'm in 13 PbP games and running 4 of those, so a lot of details to keep track of between them) so I tend to lean towards the "My character would remember the connection if I do not" school for stuff that's not supposed to be a riddle.

"Well technically speaking we only got rid of one, the other two are walking around."

I generally do agree with that approach. I don't expect you guys to remember every little thing. Like I said, if nobody had remembered the Beggar's Gold, I might have brought it up. It all depends on how information will be received. Unfortunately, me calling attention to facts OOC can make those facts seem more or less important than they really are, so it's always a bit delicate.

"Well, as long as they don't smell quite so bad."

Astraden stands up in a flash. "Wait, horses? I think I had a horse . . ."

"Yeah, Lynwerd's fine," Eben reassures Astraden. "She's in the stall next to Grifter's, a couple down from here. She's been taken care of while you were out. Although..." He cocks his head to the side, and gives Astraden the once-over. "Maybe you should feed her tonight instead of Tarquin, give her a chance to get used to the 'new you'. She has had some bad experiences with orcs before, and she's kinda skittish to begin with..."

Astraden nods and walks down to where Tarquin's working. "Mind if I help?" she asks, picking up an armful of hay.

"Not at all," the gnome says.

Lynwerd is skittish around Astraden at first, but the hay wins her over. It seems there are enough subtle similarities between the "new Astraden" and the "old Astraden" that she isn't totally put off.

So now what?

Spellcraft checks!

Tanith watches the interrogation from a distance. He knew these drow were dangerous but he trusted in Rynjin's ropework and believed Carina safe for now. "Are all of your people as deadly with those little crossbows as you are?" he finally asks.

I'm worried we're facing an army of gunslingers. If so we'll want to invest in proper protection.

Johysis grins. "There are others. Most of them fight with swords, though. There are about six others trained with the hand crossbow as their primary weapon."

"We should buy some Antitoxin before we go."

Astraden strokes Lynwerd's nose and nods to Tarquin. "Thank you," she grunts.

While the group finishes interrogating Johysis, Astraden takes the diamond dust from Tanith and prays quietly to Olidammara, daubing her temples, neck, and feet in the white powder. "Remove the afflictions of death," she intones. In moments, the pounding in her head seems to abate, and she feels the stress of her earlier dreams sink into the ground. She sits silently outside the stable for another fifteen minutes, preparing a few useful spells.

Getting identify x5. So, 30 items I can try to prepare, I think? I'll post Spellcrafts in the morning, or in an hour or so if I get done with homework quickly. Feel free to assume Astraden follows everyone back inside when it's time to get food and identify stuff.

Forgot to note, she's also preparing detect magic to double-check for curses on items already identified, and read magic to check the spellbooks.

"Thank you, you've been very helpful," Eben says to Johyis. He draws his dagger, kneels beside the drow woman, and then quickly and mercifully draws the blade across her throat. "Sorry, can't take the chance that you'd go running back to your master," he says, his eyes devoid of emotion, as her lifesblood spurts out in a river. cuts her bonds. "So, we're taking you at your word on this. Don't make us regret that. There's still a good chance we can free at least some of your friends." He turns around and looks at the rest of the group. "Anyone with any last questions before she goes off into the night?"

Taking that as a "no", I'll try to sort out Astraden's list when I get home. Most of it's already been identified.

Satisfied that their interrogation has yielded a great deal of useful information, Carina leaves the stables and returns to her room. She digs out her gunsmithing kit and pistol, setting them down on the desk.

"Now, let's see if I can do anything to make you better." She picks up her pistol and looks at it.

The hammer needs to be replaced, and the barrel should be cleaned. Also, I should make sure the trigger guard is properly fixed in place... the trigger could stand to be repaired as well.

She starts working and doesn't come down until someone fetches her for dinner.

Spending 300 gp of my share of the loot to upgrade my pistol to a masterwork.

After finishing her preparations, Astraden follows Carina inside and pulls out a bench. "Tanith, you wanna bring down all the stuff you guys picked up? I've got quite a few spells of identification now."

Tanith watches Carina work for a while but the intense precision and tiny mechanical parts are too much like reading. He quickly grows bored.

He goes out to the common room to see new-Astraden magically studying the party's remaining treasures recovered from the doppleganger's lair. "Glad to see you're feeling better."

"Yeah. Headache's still there but it's a lot duller now. Hopefully I'll dream easier tonight," Astraden tells Tanith.

Over supper, Astraden explains the worth of each item, as best she can judge, and identifies the magic properties of the items Rodrigo and Carina hadn't yet identified. She also shows Carina the spells in Filge's spellbook and the spellbook of that guy named "Valdarak."

"By the way, whose rapier was this? Weird that it had an Olidammaran symbol on it," she says, pointing to the hilt.

Carina takes a look at the spells Astraden points out, her eyes lingering on the one labeled Tenser's Brawl.

"Heh... that one's right up Tanith's alley." She giggles.

"By the way, whose rapier was this? Weird that it had an Olidammaran symbol on it."

The undine's smile turns upside-down.

"That belonged to one of the doppelgangers. I think it was the one who impersonated your godfather..." She looks down at her steak, her appetite withering away.

Unfortunately Tanith can't cast it, which disappointed me when I looked at it. Then I perked up when I realized you could hand him an Extract of it, which increases your tag team aspect, which is neat.

Farrukh looks up from a liberally spiced bowl of stew.

"Yeah. Bad business, that. Those doppelgangers are the first enemy we've faced that I've really hated. At least the monsters are just doing what they do, and the Ebon Aspect was more big picture."

"Those a%**+&*s really know how to hit people where it hurts, snatching friends and family like that."

"Sorry about your godfather, Astraden."

Rodrigo rents a room at the inn, and retires for the night, wanting some privacy to absorb thoughts about his new gang. He dismisses Sombra and takes off his armor, before sitting crosslegged on the bed and meditating.

Tanith frowns at the dark turn the dinner chat had taken.

"I guess that'd make it yours", he says with a nod at the enchanted blade resting near Astraden. "That's how these sorts of things work right?" The big man sops up some of the spicy stew with his crust of buttered bread and takes a bite. "We never got to meet him but your godfather was a real brave man if he knew what those bastards were capable of and he was tangling with them alone. I can't think of a better way to honor that than taking up his sword and finishing the job."

Noting Carina's lost appetite, Tanith pokes the undine's arm. "You've been working on that gun-thing all day. You've got to eat Red."

Carina flinches a little when Tanith pokes her arm. "Huh? Oh... yeah."

She starts taking bites of her steak.

Eben tucks into his wine-glazed duck breast with relish. "Mmpf. Too bad Elexan didn't have a magic bow of his own. His sword would be a nice trophy, but I don't use one enough to bother. Better to just sell it." He reaches over and tears off a piece of crusty bread. "Speaking as someone else that got replaced by them, I should count myself lucky they didn't kill me too. Might have been timing, I was only a prisoner for a day and him they must have had for a week or so... it kind of looks like they took him after you and I met with him but before you and Cuetz met with him."

Astraden drops the weapon in shock. "What? He died?" Her hands ball into fists. "He died days ago? And you couldn't tell me before now?"

Tanith is silent for a while as he works through the realization that they hadn’t actually told her until now. ”I’m sorry Astraden. A lot’s happened the last few days and it’s been hard keeping track. It looks like the dopplegangers and their mindflayer boss killed him when he got too close to exposing them.”