Way of the Wicked - a Tale of the Fall of Talingarde (Inactive)

Game Master Mark Sweetman

Sehndalyn is strictly hetero. Species is negotiable. Gender is not.

So at the moment Mi'Dre is going back out to scout more, and the rest are doing?...?

Ok - the wayward DM'ing soul is now returned to the fold; and since nobody has said any different... everyone except Mi'Dre is essentially sitting about scratching their respective butts while he flies around on his own.

Unable and unwilling to sit as idle as the rest of his knot, Mi'Dre sees fit to fly and returns out into the wilds surrounding the Horn in search of nasty elvses and their masters...

Well, rather than doing *nothing*, how about the rest of us try to do some of those rituals that we discovered?

I believe a shopping trip into town was required first to get the materials for said rituals. We also need to see about getting people to make improvements and repairs to the horn.

Well, if Mi'Dre is spending several days searching the local forest, is there any reason why the rest of us can't go on a shopping trip? I worry about what Cruxcarr might get up to with too much time on his hands ;-)

Aye, a shopping trip is easily done - but I need to know who goes for tracking purposes.
Given that I don't know what Mi'Dre may do over the intervening days or what he may or may not encounter - it's good to understand what the rest of ye are up to.

Well, a Diplomat should probably go; Jethryk is happy to accompany them to help with the heavy lifting, though :-)

So creepy Cruxcarr or hedonistic Shendalyn?

Decisions, decisions ;-)

Actually, I just realised that we don't, at present, have anyone trained in Diplomacy... We may need to rectify that... With Albina's loss, are you happy for one of us to transfer some skill ranks across, or wait until we level up?

Weren't we going to get a replacement for her anyway? With her loss we are quite lacking in the "evil divine casting zealot" category

I'm more inclined to take a referral than open recruitment - so if you know anyone interested, send em my way.

Time to step up - Crux has been way too quiet...

Retconning into above timeline...

As Mi'Dre hunts for elves, Cruxcarr busies his time by harvesting some of the treant's oaken form. The Initiate Bloatmage leers as his rough hands caress the fallen giant's branches and limbs;

"Excellent... A decent sized piece of this brute's lumber will suffice for what I have in mind... However I do so lament that pronounced genitalia is missing on this species..."

Once satisfied he has made the right selection the corpulent wizard returns to The Horn with his prize and sets about crafting the raw materials into a wand imbued with fell magicks...

Cruxcarr will being the process of crafting a Wand of Defoliate (might be useful in undertaking Project: Isengard on the surrounding forest nei?)

Given the opportunity the hemothurge whispers to Mi'Dre that if he captures an elf they could entertain themselves with its tender flesh and soul before perhaps using the soft skin for scrolls and slender bones for a wand (specifically Wand of Interrogate for Mi'Dre)

Am planning to drag one back for questioning if I can :) Which BTW DM, I did post above in case you missed it.

The sun is falling towards the horizon by the time Mi'Dre returns, stalking through the horn and barking for the other knot members to join him. When they arrive in their usual gathering place Mi'dre is in the process of emptying the bag he traditionally carries, out of which tumbles a bound, and--only slightly--bloodied elf. "Found one of the bastards." he says triumphantly. As he goes on he gains a feral grin to match his words. "He seemed to be a sentry. Not a very good one though. I didn't stick around to see what he was guarding, but I figured we could have some fun finding out."

As Mi’Dre unveils his gift, Cruxcarr’s eyes glitter with licentious intent. The corpulent hemothurge keenly approaches the bound elf, his bulk shifting in a rare show of vigour:

”Oh Mi’Dre you truly indulge us with this gift…”

As he hisses his words, Cruxcarr caresses the skin of their captive, its softness clearly meeting with the felmongere's exacting standards as the touch elicits a soft moan of pleasure from the fell wizard;

”Flawlessly exquisite… yessss..."

The mage composes himself, lips whetted in anticipation as he leers at the bound elf before addressing his companions in Infernal;

"Dicendum, quod incipere a quaerendo nigra cor meum ... Mitte lingua primum est? Cute quod ..."

Mi'Dre rolls his eyes at his corpulent brother, simply staring at the door, his foot tapping impatiently. "Where is Jethryk. He won't want to miss out, and his tools should prove useful." Mi'Dre mutters. He was happy to dig in to the task by himself, but he wouldn't want to ruin Cruxcarr's precious parchment...

Jethryk eagerly moves forward.

"Believe me, I think that you will find that a suitable knowledge of anatomy allows for some exquisite forms of torture, which won't result in too much overt damage to Cruxcarr's 'parchment supplies'... Let's take it to the preservation room for some initial prep work."

"Yes, yes. As long as he tells us what we want to know..." Mi'Dre mutters, reaching down and hefting the bound figure onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, heading for the room with the minotaur.

Cruxcarr seems to shiver in delight as they discuss the questioning and torture of the elf;

"Indeed Master Devarre, you intimate knowledge of the body is a boon... As for my humble role - well the thigh or back of this exquisite creature should provide ample "material" for my works..."

The wizard smiles afore clapping his hands together excitedly;

"Bonding over a spot of wanton torture! Just what we all need to bring us... closer my Blackheartssss... and I too have certain... magicks that should prove useful in our endeavors!"

The mage then lumbers after Mi'Dre and Jethryk sporting a needle-toothed grin.

The insensate body of the elf is still marked deeply by Mi'Dre's initial slashing claw... depending on how enthusiastic the party is intending to get... it might be prudent to first bolster it's strength.

Questions and at least an Intimidate roll for what is asked?

Just a courtesy post.

Shendalyn walks through arms full of summoning reageants and alcohol. Mostly alcohol. And drugs. In fact there are no reageants.

"Yea gods! Could you at least keep it to the torture chamber! Civilized people live here!"

"Really? I haven't seen any." he observes, not stopping moving as he makes for the so called preservation room.

"Hit him with the wand Crux." Mi'Dre instructs as he dumps him on the floor, leaning up against the impaled minotaur. The devil is definitely not willing to wait until the elf regains consciousness on his own.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Mi'Dre has a fair amount of stuff that should come in handy for this. Noxious Breath to the face x3, pretty much all his inquisitor cantrips I can see being useful, and his knowledge of grappling, etc. Doesn't actually have any torturer abilities from Inquisitor. The threat of repeated castings of infernal healing should be non-neglible too if he worships a celestial or is otherwise a goody two shoes.

Intimidate: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29

As to questions... How many elves are there, approximate level/classes, any other minions they might have, equipment, traps, or any other tricks they might have. Most importantly though, who do they serve, what are they doing here, where is the celestial, where/how are they hiding or where are they likely to go now, how will they react to his disappearance, etc.

Splashed crimson and licking elven blood from his claws Mi'Dre emerges a while later after gently ministrating to the elven captive. The captive is still whole... mostly, but it's spirit has been broken like a snapped shaft of wheat. Racking breaths of air and choking coughs punctuate his report back to the others.

The elf is one of a band of consorts to a being you infer to be a lillend. They are skilled hunters, able to hide their tracks and move swiftly in stealth... well most of them are at least. Devoted utterly to their patron, they arrived in response to the last act of the treant - a call for help sent through leaf and bough.

Their group walks through shadow and rests only briefly, and the loss of one of their own is likely to only make them more cautious... however they will still seek to revenge for the death of the treant.

Five more elves and a lillend in command. They use ambush tactics, and failing another miraculous discovery - will need to be lured from hiding to be able to be struck at.

Damn... ninja'd by the boss :)

Cruxcarr smirks at Mi'Dre's retort, then administers the magicks of his wand; its Infernal Revivification taking affect...

Crux can also Intimidate (Aid Another): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16 if necessary to glean more... Blindness/Deafness; Scroll of Interrogation which we could also bring to bear?

After the torture he graciously thanks the devil, afore turning thoughts to the elf's information.

"A pleasure as always Mi'Dre..."

Cruxcarr will try and discern more on the nature (cough - vulnerabilities) of the lillend:

"A lillend... most interesting..."

Knowledge (Nature): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Though in rather a better mood after practicing his skills, the issues of locating the lillend, and thus capturing the thing still drag his spirit down. "Cursed tree!" he mutters, clenching a bloody fist, before adding after a moment "Though this provides an opportunity... It was more than a desire to rid us of opposition that has driven me these last days. I believe that I may be able to make use of one of the rituals we have discovered to... advance, in the infernal hierarchy. If I am to scale the ladder however, I will need an appropriate sacrifice."

_________________________
I believe lillends are Azatas, and thus outsiders.

Knowledge (planes): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14
*facepalm* guess I used my good roll on the torture :s

So who wants to bother the half elf before he starts getting heavy into the hallucinogens?

Eh, I'll go ahead and roll.

1d20 + 12 ⇒ (4) + 12 = 16 Know Planes.

Crux would have used the relevant Knowledge skill - Planes is +10, rather than +9 for Nature so hoping I get ot interchange the skill for a 30 result :)

Cruxcarr nods sagely with a sycophantic smile;

"Oh and climb you must Mi'Dre... perhaps this lillend the elf spoke of would suffice?"

I plan to wait until he is under the influence before bothering him ;)

"That is my hope..." he agreed with a nod. His recollection fails him as he attempts to dredge up any further information on the creautres. Still, the elf's information should be more than enough. "It will know we hunt it now, but perhaps we can still draw it out... Tell me Cruxcarr, do you have something in your repertoire to suit the situation? Perhaps we could begin 'warding' the horn, something that requires a pattern so that the azata can figure it out..." he muses

Not sure what would work... illusions would be the most obvious choice, but I'm open to suggestions. Mi'Dre is willing to be bait, although Shendalyn is almost as tough as him, and drunk/high to boot :p

The corpulent bloatmage wipes some blood from his worn apron as his eyes narrow in scrutiny of Mi'Dre's question;

"Alas I have little magicks in the way of deception or subterfuge... we hemothurges are more... direct... However I do have a necrotic enchantment that withers and destroys plantlife."

Cruxcarr absent-mindedly traces a sigil of Sin with the blood as he ponders the group's options:

"Indeed... Use of such magic on precious foliage would possibly attract the attentions of this azata and the trap sprung?"

You know pretty much everything in the PRD on the lillend.

Lilend Azata stat block.

"That sounds perfect... If it was tied to the treant then it likely considers such things important. We may have to secrete ourselves nearby in order to take advantage of the trap though. It doesn't bother me, but our inebriated companion..."

"Is not inebriated enough to consider that a simple ambush would be enough to ensnare the heart you desire." Shendalyn says coming down the hall with an empty crate. "We're underma-outnumbered for one. For two on top of an angry Lillend you will have however many elves with arrows trained upon you at all times."

Cruxcarr smiles again when Shendalyn offers tactical concern;

"I heartily agree the elves could pose us problems, if not for the fact they were dealing with a tribe of boggard's and their decedent field general... Not to mention all the welcome pets said field general can summon..."

The hemothurge licks his lips in anticipation before continuing;

"The creature's song is its greatest weapon and boon, my necrotic magicks shall stymie its use, allowing us to wreak havoc on the creature and its pathetic allies... yesss?"

Plan as I see it thus far:
1 Blight the treant's corpse and leave it somewhere prominent
2 Lie in wait for response?

"Five. Five elves unless it has somehow obtained reinforcements since our guest was taken. I am not concerned about them, the one I took was lapse, and easily overcome. It will be good experience for the boggards. That or we end up with a few more undead once we source supplies."

"Speaking of which, while I have been hunting the lot of you seem to have been idly enjoying yourselves." he tone is chill, eyes firey. "Why have you not already made such a journey?"

Yeah pretty much VoV :p Have Boggards somewhere prominent, and us hiding away. Mi'Dre will find a spot up in a tree so he can leap down on things and murderdeathkill.

Cruxcarr looks at Mi'Dre in theatrical shock, answering the devil with a saccharine tone to his words;

"My dearest Mi'Dre... arcane scrolls and wands take time to craft, to fashion, to prepare... I have been harvesting raw materials in readiness to manufacture such items... That and the workings of my golem have piqued my interest somewhat..."

"I have a few spells that I can employ. Invisibility, a bit of natural protection, etc."

The corpulent one narrows his eyes in thought;

"Useful enchantments indeed Master Shawn... However as a great convoker of the beyond might you have magicks that could shackle or diminish the Lillend somewhat?"

Right, getting back on track

The group finds a couple of locations that would serve for their purpose:

The entrance to the boggard tunnels - provides oversight from both within the stone and within the forest around. It would also be easiest to convince the boggard to act in a natural manner.

A clearing nearer to where the treant fell - roughly forty feet and circular gap in the trees. The corpse of the tree man could be located in the centre to provide a lure - but there would be more avenues of approach to watch.

"I would vote for the entrance to the complex - it would be less likely to place us at a disadvantage. Trying to ambush a party of guerrilas in the middle of 'their' forest seems like more trouble than it is worth. Perhaps we could make a show of dragging the treat's corpse back to the entrance to the complex, and then doing something special to it, in order to draw their attention there?"

"Makes the trap more obvious too, but if the Lamia is too dumb to realize it's walking into a trap wherever we do it, then it shouldn't be too much of a threat." Mi'Dre mutters "Sure, the more of the frogs who survive, the more we can use later."

"Resource management is important - just because we have a pool of willing minions now does not mean that we should squander them; their number are not infinite. If it comes down to a choice between them and me, I will obviously choose me, but otherwise I would prefer to conserve them."