Rise of the Runelords Table 2 (Closed)

Game Master ElegantlyWasted

Arkon carried Orz down the trapdoor with him...

Arkon has his shield and sword out and holds a hand down to Orz to hold him back while Chrona does her stuff.

Chrona, your words elicit no response. The figure remains hunched and sobbing. As you get slightly closer, you can see that the figure is small, the size of a child.

Lackspell tenses as he sees the size of the figure... A child? Here? Alone? How could this be? Is it a trap? Or a ghost?

Nervously, he scans around the rest of the room, with a long hard stare at the statue, fearful it will come to life.

Chrona's reaction: 1d2 ⇒ 2

Chrona remains calm. She moves a little closer, sword still in hand. One of her light globes now moved towards the corner as well to help catch the creature's attention.

"Hello? Sweet thing, Hello? I don't want to scare you.."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

If it gets to the point that she can nudge it with her sword, she will. A non-attack nudge.

Varak watches as they continue trying to communicate, getting a very bad feeling about this situation. He resists the urge to let out a hiss, his animal instincts flaring as Chrona approaches closer to the child-sized figure. "Careful Chrona..." he urges, his amber colored eyes glued on the figure though.

Chrona, the moment your sword makes contact with it, the figure stops sobbing. It rises from it's crouch, and turns. Where a face should be, there is the hollowed out skull of a bird.

It lets out an unearthly shriek...

Everyone, please make a Will save DC 16. The results will be different depending on what happens, so I will determine what happens after your saves.

Will Save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Knew it, after all those great diplomacy rolls.. Where am I? she screams from the ether of a strange place..

Will Save: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (16) - 1 = 15

Ooh, my worst save and yet not a bad roll - whew

Ren sneaks down the stairs with both sword and dagger drawn. At the bottom immediately moves into the shadows as the remaining group members come down the stairs.

Torches lit here... Something is not right...

Stealth: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

She watches intently around the room as the others approach the figure and statue.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

As Chrona touches the creature and it shreaks Ren jumps slightly
Will: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

Gods above, what is that?

With a low moan, Lackspell sinks to one knee and his crossbow falls from suddenly nerveless hands to lie on the ground beside him. His breath comes in ragged gasps as he stares up at something above him that only he can see.

His voice is raw with pain as he gasps out "My name... my name is.... my ... my ..." he trails off and pants as if in great pain.

Arkon reels back.. Do I need to make a save for the int 2 animal companion?

Will Save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18

Arkon sees his companions mostly affected by the scream

"Get it Orz save our friends"

Handle Animal Attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

Orz moves up to a flanking from Arkon position and attacks

Claw Attack Thing: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 4 + 2 = 141d6 ⇒ 6

Arkon powers up his Scimitar Elemental Strike - Simple Action

Then he moves forward to attack

Arkon Scimitar Attack: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 5 + 2 = 131d6 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Will: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (17) + 4 = 21

I'm assuming the will save was part of a surprise round so idk if we actually can take actions, but even if we can't I'll write up for what I do when my turn comes up and I can.

Varak would recoil back as the screech rang through, finally letting out a snarl as his friends began to experience whatever horror's had been let out of the creature. He could feel the invasion of his mind and the crawl of madness around him from the pits of the abyss, but still he clunched his holy symbol tight, feeling the power of the small dragon statuette. "Foul creature! I shall crush your bones to dust as the Waybringer demands!" he roared, moving behind Chrona, attempting to place his Protection from Evil spell upon her and rescue her mind.

Oh ye of mighty Will - I feel so humbled in the presence of Arkon and Varak ... and am saddened to note that if not for the -1 penalty that my low wisdom imposes on me I would have actually made that save :)

Yep... Will is going to be a problem for a long time. For both of us Lackspell.

Ren crouches down protectivly bending over almost double. Her dagger and sword seem forgotten in her hands as she seems to be covering her head from something...

All three of us...

Chrona jolts as of she was shocked. She drops down to her rump, eyes wide and mouth open in horror.

I only have 2 spells per day guys! xD come on! I'm trying my lizard best here! lol

Well I imagine Praetor will have a decent Wisdom, so that's probably only half the party disabled by a single attack :)

16 is still a rough DC for 1st level. There's a good chance Praetor will fail as well.
Not that I'm complaining... It will make for some good discussions later.

Yeah it's a hard one alright. Still, I suppose that reflects the level of threat. And the creature may be quite weak over all with just this one big hit in its repertoire. That said, even Praetor looks like he has a 65% chance of failing this save... so it could very easily all be down to Varak and Arkon to save the day. No complaints here either - sometimes we are going to face things that are hard. That's just the adventurer's lot in life. Makes the victory all the sweeter :)

If we were level 2 Praetor would be the safest with his charisma into his saves also xD but we got this!

Will Save: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

Praetor scowls at the screeching demon that has waylaid his friends as he draws his greatsword from its sheath. "I'll break your brittle bird bones for that, demon, and send you back to the foul hells that spawned you."

Level 2 is going to be a massive boost for me: Lay on Hands (5/day i think) and +3 to all saves.

I personally love the scary hard encounters, a little fear and reminder of our mortality makes for a good experience. :)

And I love that it is affecting us all (well those of us that it is affecting at all) in a different and very personal way. The fact that I can see it affecting people without knowing how it is affecting them is very cool.

Even with +5 I still had a 55% fail rate on my check.. dice makes you lucky or not

Without a doubt, this is the LAST time Chrona considers helping a little skeleton bird boy.

Those of you that made your will save can act. The creature proves no match for your prowess and you quickly bring it down.

Those that failed your save, your Wisdom damage is healed.

The room is now empty save for you, and quiet.

Once the three more steady members of the party finish the creature off, Lackspell remains kneeling on the floor with his head bowed. From time to time he runs his hands along his legs and then up his arms as if checking for something and all the while muttering something too quiet for any to hear.

His crossbow lies forgotten by his side and he is oblivious to any actions by the rest of the group to search the room. It will be several minutes before he recovers enough to stand up and focus on the room and the rest of the group.

As Chrona comes back she's breathing and sweating heavily. She crawls onto her hands and knees, clinching her chest with her right hand. "F~*%!! F*#& YOU!! I HATE YOU!!" she screams at the dirty floor until she is in tears and has tired herself out. The majority of her screaming is wordless and purely an expulsion of energy, occasionally accompanied by her fists pounding the floor.

Once Chrona's breathing starts to slow down she'll sit back on her feet, head down so her hair is covering her face, and start chain smoking her cigarettes. After two or three, she'll pull back her hair and stand up, picking up her sword as well.

"I would prefer if we left this room immediately."

Praetor stands over the frail and lifeless body of the bird-headed creature breathing heavily. He does not (and can not) fully understand what's happened to his three friends, but he goes to comfort them.

"Whatever happened, whatever you saw, is behind you now. If any of you wish to speak of what happened you can confide in me. If not, I understand."

Once they have had a couple minutes to gather their senses, he rubs Chrona's back gently, then extends Lackspell his left hand and offers to pull him to his feet. A moment later he realizes he's not seen Ren, and finds her huddled in the corner near the stairs.

"Ren. My dear Ren. Come, gather yourself. Trust me, I understand what it's like to be haunted by the past. If the past is painful then we must focus on what lies ahead." He helps the girl to her feet and tries to offer a smile-

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

-but his mind is lost in his own past. The church is burning again, his arm burnt and blistered. His mother is dying again as he runs tearfully from her room. His brother is laughing as his fellow Dawnguard members scream in fear.

Chrona recoils at Praetor's touch, still feeling residual scars from the illusion. "A..oh.. it's you.. sorry." She straightens herself out and tries to appear fine.

Bluff(Composed): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

But fails, clearly she is uncomfortable and struggling with whether what she saw was real or not.

Ren looks up at Praetor with tears running down her face and her lip bloody where she bit it.
Seeing him standing above her she quickly curled back down into a ball with a quiet whimper.

A few moments later after hearing Praetor's comforting words, she peers around again and some small glimmer of understanding seems to come into her wide eyes as she realizes where she is.

As she looks up she whispers
Is he gone? At least this time he only hit me. He didn't hold me down and....
She shutters as she finishes.

She looks fully up at Praetor just as he holds out his hand to help her up. The involuntary flinching away is clear to anyone one looking. When the expected blow does not fall she wipes her eyes and stands up on her own.

In a quiet voice she says:
we should move, this is a bad place.

When Praetor offers his hand, Lackspell stares at it for a moment as if unsure of what he is seeing. Then he looks up to Praetor with a puzzled expression on his face. Then his eyes seem to snap into focus and he recognizes the Paladin. A look of relief crosses his face and he gratefully takes his hand and stands slowly up.

As Praetor moves on to help the others, Lackspell will remove his hat and run his fingers through his hair before jamming the hat back on his head. He does not raise his gaze to meet the eyes of his companions and he most conspicuously does not look in the direction of the fallen creature. After a short while he bends over and picks up his crossbow.

Gods! I don't understand... it was him, again... how could he? I was so sure... I was ... the pain was so real... I can't ever let them find me... this room... this place... so dark, why is the light so dim. Is it getting smaller in here? It feels...

In a cracked voice he says "I agree with Ren and Chrona. Let us get out of this foul place."

And with that he turns and leads the way back up the stairs. Those who linger to search will find him when they come up, outside in the fresh air and sunshine, staring silently out to sea.

Varak had since moved from his spot to investigate where the creature had been kneeling, his eyes trailing across the empty room. He glared at every piece of wood and stone, observing and scanning the house with a look that said this houses very existence insulted him. "My friends...we must do more than leave. This house is truly still property of the foul demon lord. This place must be destroyed, your honors restored and this vileness eradicated. This is why lord Apsu led us to this place, so that this scourge could not be allowed to remain," the Warpriest announced, his eyes ablaze with zealous fury against the abyssal nightmares that had plagued his comrades.

Once his friends are back on their feet, though not yet fully themselves after the encounter, Praetor goes to the corpse and looks for anything of value or intrigue.

Dont forget there are two hallways leading off this room.

Ren examines the statue to see if there is anything to see. (Traps, hidden compartments,etc)
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

She uses the time to compose herself.

"I agree Varak. Let's destroy everything down here, cave these tunnels in when we're done, and burn down that pathetic little shack." Chrona looks angry, her knuckles white while they hold onto the longsword.

"Which door does Apsu fancy first?"

Glancing off down one hallway and then the other, the reptilian priest gave it a little though before gesturing down the right path. He led with his illuminated holy symbol, wishing to use its light to find whatever more foulness hid so that it might be destroyed. "Let us take this pathway. Be on your guard though, for I'm sure more surprises lurk beyond in the shadows."

Whoops, sorry -forgot there were other exits ... So I will revise Lackspell's actions slightly.

Halfway out the door, Lackspell hears the others talking and looks across the room to the other exits.

Gods! How did I not notice those? Maybe the demon thing? No, no... you had plenty of time... just not paying enough attention. I am really, really not cut out for this adventuring thing. But, if they're going to push on then you should go with them...

He sighs, and turns back into the room.

But why? Do you really think they need you? Or are you just scared to be left alone on this accursed rock?

Varak, your holy symbol is illuminated and held aloft. The rest of you take some comfort from this...no matter what, this place is not so cursed that the light of Apsu cannot illuminate the shadows.

The hall to the right is fairly long. You can see that it opens to a room at the end, though it's too far away for you to see what's in it. As you're going down the hall, however, you find a closed door on the right.

Ren turns away from the statue with a shudder. Seeing the restore the group down the hall SE moves back into the shadows and watches what happens next.

Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

A puzzled frown creases Lackspell's brow as he notices a gleam. Stopping, he bends down and picks up it up. Holding it up, those near him see he has a blood caked blade in his hand.

"Curious" he says as he looks closer at the blade.

I presume that the blood caking the blade is old and dried.

"I wonder how this got here? Might have been dropped in the fight to capture this Chopper villain I suppose."

Spellcraft to determine if it is magical in nature?

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17

Varak's attention would remain on the door, glancing back towards Lackspell as he mentions the blade. He frowns some, wondering what sinister ritual the item might have been used for, or worse, how many murders it had been used in the name of madness. Turning back, he'd had for the door, his own zealous nature causing him to go and try to open the door without the slightest hesitation, symbol of Apsu at the ready and sharp teeth bared.

Arkon will follow his friends out of that room and accompany them down the hall with Orz in tow

Perception Darkvision: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

As Chrona moves into the hallway, her two globes of Dancing Lights follow with her spread out roughly 60 ft from each other.

"Oh, my. That's a grizzly looking knife. has anyone else found anything?"

Seeing Varak open a door, Chrona will be there with him so he doesn't encounter the room alone.

"By the dragons! What foul collection this is!" Varak growled, angered and horrified by what awaited him. His tail slammed on the ground behind him in his irritation, the priest making his way inside the room now to further inspect the atrocities inside. He searched for some manner of order or clarity of this room, notes or anything to offer some explanation for this disgusting display and collection of mutilation.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Always blind as a bat :c

"The Gods! What a.. ugh.." Chrona covers her mouth and holds back some gagging as her eyes well and blur her vision.

Perception: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 1 = 4

While nothing in the room points to an actually use for the grisly relics, you recall Sherriff Hemlock telling you about how the bodies of Chopper's victims were mutilated...