The Past Returns (Inactive)

Game Master sunshadow21

The party gangs up on this strange creature, but is unable to bring it down, and it retaliates by dropping it's ranseur, and attacking the barbarian with teeth and claws; both claws easily hit, dealing a combined 7 points of damage, and the bite also lands, dealing another 7 points of damage, and Mags finds thoughts of wrath starting to overwhelm her mind. At the same time, a wave of fear fills the entire room, forcing everyone to have to fight against running away. Talon and Copper both think they hear something up by the orange pool, but are too busy with the creature in front of them to immediately make anything out.

Everyone needs to make a DC 14 Will save vs fear; if you fail, you are frightened for 1d4 ⇒ 4 rounds; if you succeed, you are merely shaken for 1 round. Mags also needs to make an additional DC 12 Will save to avoid becoming sickened for 1d6 ⇒ 5 minutes from the wrathful thoughts trying to fill her mind.

Everyone remember your +2 to this save from the Bless and Inspire - Mags that means you.

Will /w Inspire and Bless: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

Inspire 3/6

Krojun shakes off the worst of the spell and growls in between breaths of his booming thunderchant.

Where did that come from?

Perception /w shaken: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (16) - 3 = 13

If Krojun spots it, he'll point it out.

Desperate to keep the monster from causing anymore damage, the big Shoanti lashes out with his whip again to pull it down.

Trip /w shaken, inspire, and bless: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Wow, amazing rolls.

You need at least a 30 on your perception to even have a chance to see the quasit, and that's with the optimal position and distance.

Krojun is able to easily knock the creature to the ground this time, causing to howl in anger.

Will Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

"Aaah! Save me!" Almost as soon as he gets there, Copper runs back the other way.

Will Save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9 Rohan also runs back like his little friend, but with a lot less screaming.

Seeing Rohan's will break, Krojun ends his chant with a resounding clap of thunder and sends the residual magic flowing over him.

Saving Finale Will Save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Status: Shaken (1/1 Rounds) | Sickened (5/5 Rounds)

Will vs. Fear: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 5 + 2 = 24 22 if not magic OR sickened applies. 20 if not magic AND sickened applies
Will vs. Bite: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 3 + 2 = 10 That fails.

Magnhildr felt the attacks on her body and mind tear into her like a pack of snarling wolves. She was bloodied and her limbs trembled from the overwhelming anger and the visions of fear that would have sent most running away.

But the warrioress was made of sterner stuff than that. She has shaken, but she stood. Visions of her turning into a monster fueled by the pain of others and hatred so strong it warped her flesh sickened her and churned her stomach. Anger filled her heart, so she gave full lease of it on the creature in front of her.

Attack: 1d20 + 8 + 1 + 1 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 8 + 1 + 1 - 2 - 2 = 13 Counts Bless, Inspire, shaken, and sickened
Damage: 2d6 + 7 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (1, 6) + 7 + 1 - 2 = 13 Counts Inspire and sickened

Though not scared enough to run away thanks to Krojun's magic, Rohan could not help but be afraid as he has a shaky grip on his spear. He'd faced down pirates and sea monsters. But this creature was something else entirely. He felt ashamed of his fear, but now was not the time for that. Mags was being torn to shreds. He swallowed his fear and continued to fight.

Bless, Inspired, Shaken: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

1d8 + 6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 6 + 1 + 1 = 13

A couple things guys:

Saving Finale ends my performance but I pulled creature prone for you.

So Mag's attack should be effectively hitting AC 16 and Rohan's is hitting AC 15.

The creature is dead. Just waiting on Morstralla and Talon to finish off the round.

Neither of them have posted since Thursday. You can probably just NPC them.

Sorry guys, kept trying to get to post but work/family stuff just kept coming. Guess I don;t need to attack here, seeing Mags killed it.

By the time Talon races around the pool, he finds Mags downing it decisively.

Will Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14 = Shaken Thanks for the boost Krojun

Talon's attention turns to that other thing he senses, but where and what is it?

Perception: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 9 + 2 = 17

Morstralla Will Save 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

Morstralla decides to check on the safety of the little dragon as Mags finally takes down the creature in front of her. And all goes silent.

The party, sans Copper and Morstralla (sorry, but the dice didn't like you much today) is up, and we are still in combat rounds, despite the lack of enemy attacks this round.

Krojun looks around for signs of whatever is casting spells but draws his wand of healing and touches it to one of Mags's many wounds.

"Keep an eyes out. There's something else in here..."

Cure Light Wounds: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Sorry should have mentioned this when I took the Superstitious power.

Will DC 11: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

Mags snarls at the Shoanti and steps over the body of the fallen demon.

"SHOW YOURSELF COWARD! COME DIE ON MY BLADE!"

Ouch, I hope Mags is planning on taking Raging Vitality.

Krojun steps back as the raging woman denies the healing magic.

Hmm, I hadn't thought about it. I couldn't find a power that fit her personality, other than superstitious. I was planning on getting the elemental powers, but that may change now. Also plan on taking toughness, so she should be about as tough as Krojun at level 3. She is, after all, supposed to be the groups beat-stick.

You're going to want Raging Vitality. With Superstitious it's not really efficient for us to try healing you in combat. You're going to want Raging Vitality so Mags doesn't instantly die when she goes down and drops out of rage around level 7.

And that is a very good point.

Are we waiting on people? Rohan and/or Talon?

Also, if the flying creature cast Fear wouldn't that break its invisibility?

"Is it gone?" Copper yells from back down the hallway.

"Yes, but there's something else here."

Waiting unless I get another perception try

"I swear I thought I heard something but there is nothing here, can somewone helpe me look?"

She did become visible briefly, but her location was such that none of you could immediately see her, and you weren't really expecting anything like what you got hit with, so she was able to try to use plain stealth to hide, and her base stealth modifier is +21; your rolls weren't that good so she as able to turn back invisible on her next turn. All you know is that whatever did the fear was somewhere up on the higher level near the orange bubbling pool when it happened.

Another round goes by with nothing happening. Whatever you are facing is apparently either cowardly, patient, or both.

The party is up; if you are moving around, say so, it will affect the quasit's actions.

Krojun continues waiting.

We can probably just skip to the next round. None of us can get a perception check high enough and this is going to be another round of everyone standing around delaying.

People could move around and try to track down the noise; I won't presume that everyone has paralysis just because they don't have a ready target.

Okay, someone get some healing pots ready.

Magnhildr moves up the stairs, looking like a wolf on the hunt.

"I could spin a tale for you. A tale where you cower and quake from the smallest of mice!"

She circles around to the back of the pool and taunts the unseen assailant in a sing-song voice that was completely at odds with the maddened smile on her face.

Intimidate: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11 She's goading whoever is flitting around in here. Not the smartest move. I'm expecting her to be hurtin' after this.

Perception/Stealth typically includes sound as well. I think that's why everyone assumes there's nothing we can do right now. Are you ruling we can track this thing by sound?

Krojun follows after Mags and listens for the source of the earlier spellcasting.

Perception: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (20) - 1 = 19

If he somehow hears it and it's within range, he'll snap at it with his whip.

I have +9 to perception, that's what I was getting after about someone aiding me in my search, its a long shot but still possible.

Talon continues to carefully explore the room, trying to get a sense of what it is he thought he heard.

Will wait to see if anyone aids.

Good point. You can try to notice her moving around. A better tactic would be to act in a way that forces her to reveal herself. It occurs to both Krojun and Rohan after a moment's thought that the creature emerged from the pool, which, as stated earlier, lost a fair amount of it's bubbliness and activity right after the creature appeared.

Krojun is able to detect something moving somewhere up here near the ceiling, but is unable to pinpoint it enough to try to attack it.

If Krojun has enough movement left he'll make his way over to the pool and peer in.

The pool is about 3 feet deep, and the chill in the air increases as you approach the pool, which is a bit odd becuase of the flame and heat like bubbling and color of it.

Krojun, go ahead and give me a knowledge (arcana) and a knowledge (history) roll. If Rohan comes up to look, he can attempt them as well.

Krojun studies the pool.

Arcana: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
History: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

Rohan will follow Krojun to the pool and also tries to study it.

Arcana: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

From what you can tell of the 3 foot deep pool, it seems to store energy, though what kind of energy or how it gathers it is unclear, and that energy can apparently be used in several ways, though the only one you can determine with any certainty is the creation of these strange creatures, the precise process of which also remains unclear without further study. You don't get a chance to study it any further, however, as a dire rat suddenly appears beside the pool and moves to finish off the barbarian; fortunately for the barbarian, the rat misses when it reaches out to bite her. By this time, Copper and Morstralla are both well out of sight of the cathedral, and are just now coming back to their normal senses.

Can Krojun continue studying the pool or would it take more time than is practical for in-combat to learn how to use it?

"Help Magnhildr", the big Shoanti urges Rohan while trying to make further sense of the magical pool.

You think that any further study is going to take a fair bit of time, and would definitely not qualify as a combat activity.

In an effort to gather the attention of whatever entity was tormenting them, Krojun begins smashing the skulls forming a ring around the pool.

Status: Sickened (3/5 Rounds)
When her next turn starts, she'll be fatigued for 10 rounds.

Round 7:
Attack: 1d20 + 8 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 8 + 1 - 2 = 19
Damage: 2d6 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (6, 6) + 7 - 2 = 17

Magnhildr spins and rips her sword through the rat, splattering its guts and lifeblood across the stairs and walls.

"Are rats the best you have to bring down a daughter of Whitescale? Perhaps my tale should have you cowering from a mote of dust."

The strain from her injuries starts to line her face, but the savage smile stays, as does the fire in her eyes.

Seeing as the rat is no longer a threat, Rohan draws a javelin and prepares to throw it should another creature appear.

Bless: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18

Arcane Strike: 1d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 1 = 11

Talon also runs up to the pool, swords drawn, back to the wall, and again tries to see if he can detect the thing. He also readies himself for anything that might emerge from the pool.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17

Stralla positions herself in the entry way to the room keeping her crossbow trained on the empty spaces waiting for an opportunity to staple the menace to a wall.

She also watches the party for any sign of serious injury to heal them if needed.

So long as you leave the orange pool alone, nothing further happens during the remaining time it takes for Copper and Morstralla to return. If you go near the orange pool, a tiny female quasit will throw a tiny dagger at you while screaming is a shrill voice from the ceiling of the cathedral before turning invisible again, but otherwise she keeps her distance and refrains from acting.

It's now round 11, and the scaredy cats have just returned. The only reason to continue combat is if you really want to continue your investigations of the orange pool right now; otherwise, the quasit will actively avoid engagement.

Since the quasit does not seem like it wants to fight, Rohan calls out to it. "Who are you and why are you here?" He calls out as he sees his little friend run back into the room.

While Rohan converses with the tiny creature, Krojun continues studying the pool.

How much time are we talking about to get a better sense of how it works? Minutes? Hours? Weeks?

To figure out how to summon forth the creature, you think probably a few hours at most (depends on your arcana rolls for precise time); for the other functions, you would need to find something that would give a clue to start from before you could even seriously try to figure it out. You do figure it's probably from the same time period as the statue.

The quasit seems uninterested in talking as long as either Rohan or Krojun are up on the upper platform, choosing instead to annoy them with her returning dagger and screaming obscenities at them to keep them away from the orange pool.

Rohan will step away from the pool then before trying to talk to the creature. He stows his weapons as if to further show that there was no need for violence. "Alright, alright. I'm away from the pool and I'm not armed. Why is it important to you?"

"It got dimmer when it summoned that creature", Krojun says pointing to the smashed corpse. "But we cannot leave knowing whatever this is could be used to summon more."

Krojun will ignore the quasit's threats and continue studying the pool.

Arcana: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

Krojun is mainly trying to figure out how to disable/destroy it. Could it be caved in?

If the quasit is throwing a dagger it's breaking invisibility for at least a round each time. People could hit it with ranged attacks during that time.

"Didn't plan on it. Just need to know its intentions. It might even be able to help us in some way."

Krojun will shrug and move back towards the entrance to the room.

"I hope you know what you're doing..."

He retrieves the wand again and taps the wounded Magnhlidr a few times.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

"So what's this about? Who are you and what is this place?" the big Shoanti bellows.