The Riftwardens
Game Master Nimon

Slowing to a stop around 100 feet short of the gate, Brakkart looks to his companions, "Those robes look familiar... I think I read of a similar pattern being associated with a group worshipping a demon of shadows. I can't recall the name of the cult, or the demon they worship, but the book did mention they operated from the sewers of Absalom."

"Wonderful.. Perhaps it was they who opened the gate in the first place, and died for their efforts. Maybe they were just too close to the gate? Or maybe something came out of the gate and killed them? What do you think? If simple proximity to the gate can kill, how in the nine hells can someone with the right skills close the thing?"

She looks to those who know more about planes and gates for ideas, answers and suggestions on how to proceed in their investigation. Meanwhile she pulls out her notebook and makes a quick sketch of what she sees and takes a few notes about what little she's learned so far.

She mutters softly to herself, "I hope this doesn't mean we have to go into the sewers... " She searches her memory for what she knows of the Absalom sewers and anything about this cult that operates there.

knowledge local 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Meria focuses on the portal from this distance, knowing she'll have to get closer to find out more through magic. She focuses instead on the bodies and surrounding terrain, looking for signs the portal is pulling towards it, or forcing away from it.

"If we get a little closer, we can search for magical auras." If she sees no signs of any forced movement, she'll move with 60' so she can Detect Magic on the portal.

Kimiko stays close to Meria, not trusting being so close to the portal, but not willing to let her companion go so close without at least one friend nearby just in case.

"I'm willing to go as close as you do, but be careful. We don't know what might come out of it." Softly, under her breath, she mutters, "I have a bad feeling about this." She gives Meria a little supportive smile and keeps pace with her nonetheless.

As you approach closer, you hear a moaning from one of the bodies, apparently not completly dead.

"Brakkart, about the sewers... there was an expedition into the sewers about a year ago. They encountered shadow creatures. If this is related to that via this cult perhaps, and shadow creatures come out this portal, they will most likely be stronger at night - We have about five hours before nightfall."

She moves to the form on the ground where the moaning is coming from and turns the person face up unless s/he already is. She bends down close and thinks of a barrage of questions to ask, but isn't sure which is the most important. She looks at Meria and Brakkart and shrugs.

"I'm no healer, so there's nothing I can really do to help. You know more about gates and what might have happened here than I do. Perhaps one of you should ask the questions."

As you turn the body over you see the fire scared face of a Half-Elf male. He is coughing up blood. Give me a heal check to determine cause . Please, the gate has my brother... we were wrong to trrusst The figure struggles to get the words out.

"May the Dawnflower show her mercy to this misguided man," Brakkart offers a prayer in celestial, moving closer to the wounded cultist, "that he might be led back into the light of her glory." Stabilise

Leaning closer as Kimiko looks to him, the priest looks over the man for any signs of wounds, while offering a quiet reassurance, "You were wrong, but we can all make mistakes, what you choose to do next is the important thing now. Tell us, what happened here?"

Heal 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Diplomacy 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

heal check untrained 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

Kimiko hopes Brakkart's spell worked to keep the man from dying... She speaks quietly to him, though in no way is her tone soft. "Go on... you were wrong to trust who? What happened here?"

the burns are from magical fire of some sort, the blood he is spitting up is black, which indicates some internal hemorage of the liver.The stablize stops his bleeding, but he is still very wounded.

The fetchlings, they told us we could save our lady with the secrets of the spire. They told us an old incantation to open it, but they knew it would be trapped. They let us suffer the trap then they entered the spire. Now our lady will die.

"Who is your lady, why will she die and who or what are fetchlings?" Kimiko is full of questions and asks those that seem most important for now, though she still fears for the man's life. Perhaps it would be better to heal him a little or take him back to HQ for questioning, but there might not be time for such detailed interrogation.

While the others tend to the robed men, Meria examines the portal, both magically and mundane, seeing what else she can discover, determining if she can see through.

Knowledge (Planes): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

The gate is a large gate of its kind. It has a neutral alignment and has a strong magical pressence.

The wounded man looks up at Kimiko Please, heal me I will tell you everything

sense motive, is he honest or just seeking a quick heal for no payoff? 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

"I have no power to heal, but perhaps one of my companions can assist you, if you will truly tell us all that led up to this and what happened here."

She looks to Brakkart for assistance with healing him, assuming he was telling the truth about his intentions.

"Brakkart, this man seems truly repentant and willing to help us understand what happened here. Can you heal him some so he can speak more freely to us?"

Ander in the other knows his companions are taking care of the wounded one and decides to do the same as Meria. Examining the gate and the surroundings Ander is careful not approach the gate more than 20 feet from it.

Throwing the question at Meria Suppose, if you have any idea where this thing might lead to eh? No idea if we should get through it a bit later when everyone is ready to advance or not

"Very well," Brakkart agrees, kneeling over the badly burnt man and beginning his prayer, "Please, Sarenrae, hear this remorseful soul's plea, and wash away his sins and hurts, both."

Dropping comprehend languages to spontaneously cast cure light wounds 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Thank you The man sits up. He sees his dead companions and crys out No, Vanessa I promised to protect you, I am sorry

After a while he gets a hold of himself. Who are you all anyway? I recognize the Symbol of Sarenrae and I am thankfull for the healing, but the others? and why travleing together? Well to answer your question a bit more fully, my order follows Lady Shadow. She is not a demon as some have called her, but she is from the Shadow plane. Last month she fell ill to an unknown illness. We contacted some Fetchlings we have had dealings with in the past to help us find a cure. They used us to break into this spire and probably loot whats inside. This Gate was a booby trap set by the ancient wizard Nex. It is linked to a Demiplane with all kinds of nastys inside, maybe like a personal prision used for just this purpose.

Kimiko dutifully takes notes while the man speaks, recording all he says in her small journal.

"My name is Kimiko and we are all companions, it is true we travel together. Obviously there is more to learn here. How do you know what lies beyond the gate, that there are 'nasties' inside? Did you and your Order enter the portal? Did anything come out of the portal? Where are the fetchlings now? Are they still within the Spire?"

She looks to the others - especially Meria as she seems to know the most about gates and the creatures who live on other planes. "Meria, what questions would you have for this man about the gate?"

Brakkart's eyes easily betray that he has questions of his own, but for now his remains silent as he kneels beside the man, not wanting to overwhelm him with a barrage of demands from three sides at once.

"Fletchlings are creatures from the Plane of Shadow as well. It makes sense that they may have known of a cure." She turns to the cultist. "What do you know of the portal? You called it a prison, is it two way? What laws does this demiplane follow? The trap, does it reset? How many of the creatures were there?" Meria asks the questions slowly, waiting for a response before continuing on.

A Giant Fire Elemental was the first to come out. It sprayed fire on us and left in a hurry. Then this ogre thing came out and kicked me in the ribs, I fell unconious after that. I do not think anyone entered the gate. The Spire was open for a short while and the Fletchlings went inside. I do not know more about the Gate I am sorry.If I may, I would like to take Vanessa's body with me and go tell the others of my order that we need to find another way to cure our lady.

"Before you do," Brakkart interjects softly, but firmly, "I think I would like to hear a little more about this Lady Shadow of yours. What is it that she teaches you? And what does she ask of you in return?"

"While not all those who dwell outside of the Dawnflowers light embrace darkness in their hearts, and your Lady may be as benevolent as she seems, there are many creatures of Shadow which cannot be trusted; as the Fetchlings who betrayed you have shown."

Our Lady tells us of her people the Shae and of the land of shadow. She came to those of us who lived in poverty in the sewer and showed us ways we could better ourselves. We give thanks to her and with us her power has grown. She has not been well. The Fletchlings said it was due to her being on this plane too long, but I do not know if they told the truth about that or not.

"Perhaps we could meet with your order once we are finished here," The priest suggests, "is there a place we can find you?"

"It may be that the Healing Light of Sarenrae can help overcome this malady."

Knowledge (Planes) 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6: Shae?

You are not familar with the Shae. Man tells you where you can find them in the sewer, but can not guarentee your entry. He vows to tell them of your good deeds though and will vouch for you should you seek them out.

Rising to his feet, Brakkart gives the man a nod, before turning to the other, "So... it seems that at least two creatures have passed through the gate already, I don't suppose anyone has some idea about how to close it?"

"Our mission was to investigate and report back, not to enter or try to close the portal, so if we don't have that knowledge, it's nothing to feel bad about. I'm concerned about the creatures that came through the portal. Someone needs to deal with them quickly if they are roaming in the city. We need to report this quickly I think." Kimiko scowls in consternation. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I am feeling highly inadequate to do much about this situation. I hope reporting on what we've learned will be enough."

"We should check the Spire itself, see if a way in still exists." Meria will examine the Spire itself, both magically and mundane, attempting to see if she can discern how the fletchlings managed to get into the Spire.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 13

Also using Detect Magic

You do not see a way in the spire, it does radiate magic, but its a strange flux and difficult to get any precise reading on its aura.

You believe you have accomplished what was asked of you. Does anyone want to do anything else before reporting back?

"You're right, of course." Brakkart nods to Kimiko, after saying a few prayers over the bodies surrounding the gate, "we need to get news of this to someone better able to deal with the issue as soon as we can."

Meria looks at the gate for a moment, wondering if they should risk it, before deciding it's best to follow the others for now. "Yes, let us go quickly. They may change their minds after our news."

I want to give everyone a chance to post, but I also want to keep up a decent pace. So I will assume no one else has anything they would like to try and keep going assuming you are making your way back to the Warden Grounds in Absolam.

As you are making your way back to give your report, you see a home in the valley between absolam and the Spire of Nex burning. You believe you see a large figure moving about the area. You are about 400' away.

Roll initative and post an action.

initiative: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Kimiko looks at the others a moment and then speaks and heads forward toward the burning house and the moving figure.

"This might have been started by one of the creatures that came through the gate... we have an obligation to try to stop it, or at the very least investigate and save who we can."

Meria unfurls her whip, then prepares to follow Kimiko down.

Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

Seeing that something is going on and maybe related to this recent incident Ander speeds up and prepares his light crossbow to be ready

Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

"Possibly the fire elemental that was mentioned," the priest comments, drawing his curved black scimitar and starting down the side of the valley, "even if we're not able to defeat the creature, we may be able to get the occupants of the house to safety."

Knowledge (planes): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13

Ander- 22(weapon ready,Moving ahead)
?-13
Meria-12{whip ready, following Kimiko)
Kimiko-9+(moving ahead)
Brakkart-9-(weapon ready moving ahead)-This fire could be caused by an elemental Where you trying for some other information? It is hard to tell details from this distance.

As you arrive at this small house you see a small dwarf trying to fend off a medium fire elemental with a pitchfork. Damm you, wered you come from beast. He says bitterly, as he is slowly loosing his home to flames.

Post actions, they will go in order listed. I will roll attack for elemental on the dwarf for this initative.

1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

The dwarf deftly dodges the elemental's attack

Kimiko pulls out her crossbow while moving forward trying to get into firing position before her companions close with the beast.

Please let me know if/when I can actually take a shot, since we started so far away from the creature

You can take a shot, you are now within 100' I forgot to mention that

to hit: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

I'm assuming that missed, but just in case, damage is: 1d8 ⇒ 4

Once she's fired her crossbow, she pulls out her kama and moves forward to close with the fire creature.

Round 1

Without a weapon able to strike from this distance, Meria advances on the creature while others attack at a distance. As she does, she attempts to recall what she can remember about such creatures.

Double move 60' up.

Knowledge (Planes): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

Kimiko misses with her crossbow

Being a bit faster than others Ander moves forward and sends out an attack from his arrow although unsure what could a measly arrow do against an elemental.

Attack 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16 Damage1d10 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Trying to remember everything he could about these elementals and being wary of it Ander stays a bit further from it, not risking his life although his comrades were charging forward. He was not so confident at so close range

Kn:Planes 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13

Where you trying for some other information? It is hard to tell details from this distance.

Just a pre-emptive roll for when we got closer.

Brakkart hurries along towards the fiery scene, following closely behind Meria.

Ander's arrow just misses the elemental.

Ander- 22shot and missed
Elemental-13 melee with dwarf
Meria-12 advancing on elemental
Kimiko-9 Advancing on elemental with Kama
Brakkart-9- behind meria advaning

We are back at the top as everyone has posted for the first round.

So that means Ander again.

here is for the elemental on the dwarf

1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

once again the dwarf is too quick for the fiery fiend

Kimiko moves up as close as 10 feet range to the elemental.

I'm not sure of distance here and if she can get close enough to attack or not, but I'll include a roll to hit and damage just in case. IF she's not close enough to move and attack, she'll just double move.

to hit: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17

damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4