Mighty Kernuffle, enlarged by the power of his magic collar, strikes out at the enemy!
"ROOOAAARRRGGHHH!!!!"
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Rémy draws The Waxworks from his deck. His mouth fills with the viscous liquid as his adhesive spittle spell comes into effect.
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Nana moves in closer while drawing her weapon as she sends Kern up, but the giant Ape has absolutely no luck at striking the crystal golem. Ras rushes up, but takes a massive fist to the chest as he approaches, and like Torean and Elarian, feels somehow lessened, off somehow, though the blow itself was minimal.
He swings his knightly sword, and while the adamantine weapon should be more affective, it simply doesn't do as much as it should against the enemy he faces.
Remy draws another card and suddenly his physiology begins to transform, almost taking on an appearance similar to Ras.
Suddenly both of the ballistas turn inwards, their red beams focusing on Ras and both let their hellfire blasts fly.
It hits, but Rasamoro is absolutely unscathed.
ROUND 3 (* = Fire Resistance 20)
Torean (-37, cursed) and Elarian (-26, cursed)
ORANGE "Giant" (Haste, -65)
*Nana (), *Kernuffle (), *Rasamoro (-9, cursed), and *Remy ()
Red "Ballista" () and Blue "Ballista" ()
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Torean enters a fervor like that of a barbarian, swinging savagely with the backing of his faith, but only a single blow lands, leaving both he and the others watching speechless. What might have destroyed the thing does not seem to have been as effective as it at first appeared it would, and it yet "lives".
Elarian, however, is able to step in and (barely!!!) finish it off, causing the large construct to simply slump to the ground and stop moving. As it does so, it seems to give off a low grinding sound, metal on metal, indicating that something within the contraption is still attempting to force the thing move.
ROUND 3 (* = Fire Resistance 20)
Torean (-37, cursed) and Elarian (-26, cursed)
*Nana (), *Kernuffle (), *Rasamoro (-9, cursed), and *Remy ()
Red "Ballista" () and Blue "Ballista" ()
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"Charge, Kevin! Forwards, Kernuffle!"
Nana tries to guide the moonbeast with her knees (ride DC5)
The alien creature pounces at the red "ballista"
I've assumed the ballista cannot be sickened if the bite hits.
Nana chops down with her adamantine falchion
adamantine, magic
adamantine, magic
Kevin is flying 5' up, so there is room underneath if anyone else wants to move into those spaces.
adamantine, magic
adamantine, magic
Kernuffle advances towards the death rays, moving past the fallen golem.
"ROOAAARGGGHH!!!"
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Nana rides forward, smashing her mighty falchion into the strange ballista machine, which seems to cut through it with significantly more ease than expected, though Kernuffle seems to have a problem with his, only managing to scratch it's outer shelling. However, from his position and height, Kernuffle can see eight more guards pinned down in the deck below, many of which look wounded. You gather that they had begun to explore when suddenly the decks defenses kicked in, splitting the guards between the Mid, Upper, and Abaft decks.
ROUND 3 (* = Fire Resistance 20)
Torean (-37, cursed) and Elarian (-26, cursed)
*Nana (), *Kernuffle (), *Rasamoro (-9, cursed), and *Remy ()
Red "Ballista" (-16) and Blue "Ballista" (-6)
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Rémy flies to the upper deck and unleashes his adhesive spittle onto the blue ballista.
"That is not a pleasant aftertaste" he spits.
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:P
With an invocation to the Iron Warlord, Ras moves in and smashes one of the "things" to utter junk, causing it to emit a whining hum, with the occasional thud, not unlike the giantish creature. It doesn't take long for the rest of the group, now with only a single target to focus on, to smash the other thing into a pile of refuse and junk, albeit one that might make a curious Gnome exited beyond all belief.
The entire platoon of guards offer a collective sigh of relief, and with the field now cleared of any immediate threats, you can advance to them, (and allow them to flee this place with their lives and souls still intact).
The Guard's ranking officer welcomes you aboard and thanks you for your intervention. He explains that the ship has been quiet ever since they first boarded, and the only access seems to through a sealed door in a compartment below the main deck. He explains that one of his men attempted to break through the door just before the you arrived, which is apparently what activated the ship’s defenses.
The compartment appears empty and sterile except for the crumpled bodies of the two Harbor Guardsmen that lie on the floor—smashed by the crystalline automaton that attacked them so suddenly. The opposite end of the compartment has a single door in the bulkhead, seemingly constructed of a single piece of crystal. Lying beside it is an ornate heavy axe with a head of a lustrous silvery metal.
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Rémy floats down to the ground. "What an interesting portal." he says, taking a closer look at the shimmering pond, "It seems to be somehow linked to the Ethereal Plane. And..." he pauses, extending his senses to the area, "there seems to be a soul trapped within it, powering the portal for all this time, but it is mostly consumed." he shakes his head and draws a card.
He grimaces at the card he drew. "Ill omens."
Turning to examine his companions, "Let us see those wounds. I carry a scroll of remove curse and I prepared break enchantment today."
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Torean dusts himself off. "Think there are more of those golems inside? I might keep the scarab on." He tries to use a healing wand on himself.
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Eladrian grrunts with effort as the heavy thing before him crumples to the ground. he quickly looks up to the foredecks, but sees the situation tightly in hand by the others. He makes nice with the port guards, then joins the captain in front of the portal. During the conversation, he hands a wand off to one of the spell casters. "That thing packed a heck of a punch.. could you help me out please?" he asks, completely oblivious of anything being wrong.. but instead being incredibly distracted by the doorway. "The portal there.. Its calling to me. There's something beyond there that is calling to me, but I don't understand.."
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Feeling a substantial weight melt off his shoulders that he didn't even realize was there, Rasamoro begins to heal himself with his wand. He then continues to help the guards exit the area.
Right before they decide to press forward, Rasamoro will cast an extended Shield of Faith on himself. "Rasamoro ready for more fighting!"
________
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As the spell washes over him, Eladrian can feel just how much the curse weighed upon his soul. With the bright holy light clearing the darkness from him, he feels light as a bird, followed quickly with the cool relief of the golden glow from someone using his wand to heal the deep wound in his side. Tears glittering in his almond shaped eyes, He gasps out his thanks to his companions. Once he returns to his more normal unshakable self, he helps the guardsmen clear their dead from the deck of the ship then meets the rest o the group back at the portal.
"I do not like this. Something within is calling to me, but I don't know why.. can we even get through the door??" Eladrian finds some random object and tosses it carefully through the warded door.
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Torean uses his wand to heal himself of the wounds until he is fully healed. "I know what you mean, Eladrian. It's like if I don't pay attention, I find myself stepping towards it. Do you think this whole ship is like these portals?" The dwarf casts several spells on himself, infusing him with Torag's might.
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The compartment appears empty and sterile except for the crumpled bodies of the two Harbor Guardsmen that lie on the floor—smashed by the crystalline automaton that attacked them so suddenly. The opposite end of the compartment has a single door in the bulkhead, seemingly constructed of a single piece of crystal. Lying beside it is an ornate heavy axe with a head of a lustrous silvery metal.
As you step up within 10ft of it, a strange portal seems appear, and it seems as though only you may see it. Nana steps through it only to find her passage blocked. In her mind's eye, a ghostly figure pushes her back, preventing her from crossing the mystical threshold, but finally she gets the upper hand.
Everyone else simply see's her vanish, and Kernuffle suddenly become very concerned, whatever unholy connection he had had to the priestess suddenly severed, as if she no longer existed. At least in this realm.
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Rasamoro loudly laments as the half-orc disappears. He waits a moment for a response. Lacking such, he quickly overcomes his grief and eyes Kernuffle. "Rasamoro take Kernuffle now. See that Kernuffle like to pray too," he declares while patting the gorilla affectionately.
"What now? Tie rope to Rasamoro and get axe? Rasamoro want axe too. Then give to Kernuffle! Is good plan?" he wonders, turning to his party.
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With no other choice, Rémy steps into the portal, his harrow neither leaving him with a good nor ill feeling about this course of action. Just as he steps in, however, the card he still holds in hand, seems not to be the one he had just drawn. His body begins to vanish, he looks down to see The Hidden Truth, but it is inverted. Not a good sign.
The portal flashes, a ripple of power coursing through it, leaving the others uncertain. That did not happen to Nana as she passed through, perhaps as she was only half human. But what other choice is there. She might still be alive, or perhaps the same thing may happen, but is delayed? Rushing through the portal, you all find some amount of resistance, as if something is physically attempting to force you back, but you eventually make it through.
Just as you get passed the unseen hands, you see Nina, almost as if she where at the far end of a bleak, lightless hallway stepping out into another chamber, though there is no door. Running towards her, you exit as well, as if into a completely new area. For those of you with some talent for the arcane, it is not too dissimilar from relocation magics, where one steps into another plane, briefly, and as they step out, all within the same stride, they exit in a far away place from their original destination. Oddly, Kernuffle does not follow, not until Rasamoro steps into the portal, but as soon as they both exit, the unholy connection between the unholy beast and Nina resynchronizes, and Kernuffle is once again her Animal Companion.
A strangely shaped cabin stretches forward, but its dimensions are difficult to make out due to its alien features. Odd, man-sized cubicles seem to be stacked into the bulkheads themselves throughout the room, but whether sleeping berths, holding cells, or simply shelving is unclear. Their true purpose is further masked by the growths of ghostlike plant life that hang throughout the room. Like thick tendrils of ivy and great curling leaves, these colorless tangles and shoots mat the walls, twist upon the deck, and dangle in curtains from the overhead, eerily shifting in and out of phase as they protrude through solid surfaces and each other alike. It is as if sections of them are wholly present and other parts are mere ghost reflections of the strange plant life. The result is a wraithlike maze of otherworldly growths and tangles.
At the far extremities of its growth, the plant is not wholly in the Material Plane, with sections of it incorporeal even though connected to other sections of the translucent vines that are solid and real. The result is that some of the solid segments seem to hang unsupported in midair or protrude impossibly from a solid surface, while others seem to shift in and out of phase from the rest of the cabin.
A few moments later, something seems to land on Torean's shoulder, startling him as he quickly brushes it off. A card? Another falls from the sky, and suddenly Rémy gently levitates down from the ceiling, unexplicably unharmed.
Towards the left you see a single doorway.
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Eladrian keeps close to Torean as the group forges their way through this messy maze of mystery.. he is completely bewildered, but does not allow the unknowns to unhinge on him. He claps the dwarf on the shoulder, but its hard to tell if the gesture is one of support or needing support himself. "I have no clue my friend, but this is easily the weirdest adventure we have been on. It seems that at least if we are going insane, we will have good company!"