Kael Zephros |
(Can I ask for Chaetris to check for traps along the stairs and door? I put us in approximate marching order for trap searching.)
Kael sighs. "Great, more undead. Well, let's go dispatch them, unless you want to make for friends?" He glances to the necromancer. "Just don't get any ideas about making more friends, ok?"
Chaetris Admeroi |
Chaetris finds the pathway and the door free of traps, though the door is locked.
(ooc)I took five minutes to do so while Cerise talked to Phee.[/ooc]
When Cerise is done with her questions, and everyone has gathered on the landing to enter the observatory, Chaetris kneels down to the lock and pulls her goggles over her eyes. She begins working her makeshift tools at the lock.
Disable Device: 1d20 + 14 + 1d6 ⇒ (9) + 14 + (3) = 26 Free Inspiration
GM Lazyclownfish |
I made the assumption that the two melee characters would stand at the door and open it rather than Chaetris.
As you gather on the landing, Chaetris deftly disables the lock and the doors swing smoothly outward.
Furniture fragments, smashed planks, broken glass, and other detritus cram this large antechamber. At the west end of the room, several upended tables form a crude barricade. Closed doors mark the north and west walls.
The three skeletons kneeling behind the barricade immediately fire off their crossbows! One of the oddly green-tipped bolts penetrates Percival's armor as the skeletons drop the crossbows and pick up freshly loaded ones. One of the other bolts bounces off of Kael's armor as the final one sails out into the night air, missing completely.
Skeletons win initiative! Percival takes 5 damage and must make a DC 11 fort save on his turn or take 1 dex damage from poison. The whole room is difficult terrain. I highlighted the barricade with a blue border. It provides the skeletons with cover. Your turn!
Pythia Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17
Chaetris Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Cerise Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
Percival Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19
Kael Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
Skeleton Initiative: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Crossbow@Percival: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19
Damage@Percival: 1d10 ⇒ 5
Crossbow@Kael: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
Crossbow@Kael: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Percival Fort Save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Cerise Maven |
He glances to the necromancer. "Just don't get any ideas about making more friends, ok?"
Cerise's laughter was light, like bells. "Oh, I'm a ways off from that yet."
As the bolts streaked through the open entryway her brows rose. "Oh dear." She glanced through through at the animated archers. [b]"Phee, be a dear and help us destroy the skeletons shooting at us, please."
Are we in a Surprise round, or do we have full actions available?
Kael Zephros |
Kael grumbles at the disarray of the room, and how long it's going to take him to clear it. "Are all necromancers so messy?" Slowly he picks his way across a broken table, still woefully short of his foes.
Double move at 20' each...
Cerise Maven |
"I beg your pardon?" Cerise huffed. She took great pride in her fastidiousness.
Angrily she strode into the room while the necromantic automatons were bringing up their new crossbows and unleashed a gout of flame in their direction.
Super Burning Hands: 5d4 ⇒ (4, 4, 4, 4, 1) = 17
DC 15 reflex for 1/2. Area is marked (poorly)
Pythia Strange |
Pythia's cooing at cuddling at the owl bear stops suddenly. Her eyes roll up into her head, showing only white. Her eyelids flutter rapidly, and her lips move but no sound can be heard. Suddenly she returns to normal.
"Look out for the skeletons!" she cries, but it's much too late.
With narrowed eyes, Pythia puts baby browl down on the wooden landing.
Staggered from powerless prophecy. Putting Browl down carefully as a standard action.
Chaetris Admeroi |
Bracing against the doorframe Chaetris aims at the closest skeleton and draws back her bow.
Shortbow Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
Shortbow Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6
GM Lazyclownfish |
Ok Botting Percival for the time being. Sorry about the lag in my posting. I'll get things back on track.
Chaetris takes a shot at one of the skeletons, her arrow hitting one of the bones in its rib cage but skipping off of it and through the creature's vacant chest.
Pythia carefully puts down the sleeping owlbear who doesn't stir at all.
Cerise, Kael and Percival push across the room toward the skeletons but the clutter and debris make the going slow.
Before anyone can reach them, the skeletons take another shot with their crossbows, missing all three targets.
As the skeletons drop their crossbows, Cerise bathes them in intense flames and when the light clears, all three skeletons lay still on the ground.
Percival Fort Save vs Poison: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
Skeleton Attack@ Cerice: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13
Skeleton Attack@ Kael: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14
Skeleton Attack@ Percival: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
Combat over. Anyone examining the skeletons can make a heal check.
There is one door to go through which is not trapped or locked.
Pythia Strange |
Pythia moves to draw her morningstar, but realizes the battle is over already. With a shrug she bends over and picks little Browl back up again, accidentally showing off her exotic 'work' underwear. Slowly, she picks her way through the debris, managing to stay standing despite being drunk.
Perception to spot interesting junk!: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
When she eventually reaches the skeletons she examines them curiously.
Heal: 1d20 ⇒ 15
I have honestly never had any character ever be that cheesy, half-naked, impractically dressed female character. Until now. OMG. Pythia's such a wreck. I love her.
Chaetris Admeroi |
Chaetris shoulders her bow and picks up her pack. Carefully stepping into the room she makes her way to the barricade. She looks over and examines the heaps of skeletal remains. "Huh? I think I need to consider some options for skeletons if we're going to continue this. They seem particularly unaffected by pokey things."
She begins to rummage around in the debris looking for something serviceable as a club.
Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
Heal: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19
Kael Zephros |
Kael looks at the impressive display of casting prowess that Cerise exhibits. "Remind me to never get on your bad side, ok?" He glances down at the skeletons. "Anything interesting with these, or can we move on?" Once again, Kael is glad for the armor he's wearing.
Ready to move onto the door once the room is cleared
GM Lazyclownfish |
One of the three skeletons appears to be slightly smaller than the other two, as if it died somewhat young.
Finding nothing of real value in the room, you decide to move on. The door opens into a hallway with several doors along it. An inspection of the four northern doors reveals four simple chambers with plain beds, unremarkable wooden dressers and small open footlockers. They don't appear to have been used in quite some time.
To the west, a pair of doors sits closed. The southernmost door seems to be stuck, while the larger door to the north likely enters the observatory proper. You find it unlocked and free of traps.
All is quiet.
Nothing to find in the debris so I moved things forward. You can explore on Roll20. Not too much going on in the next area either. Mostly stopping to see if you want to spend time thoroughly exploring the bedrooms or trying to unstick the southern door. If not, we'll just keep things moving.
Kael Zephros |
"Let's leave the stuck door for now until we find the necromancer. No use in waking the dead." Kael does a cursory examination of each of the rooms before turning on to the larger door and nodding towards it, looking for the party's readiness to barge in.
Cerise Maven |
Cerise gave Kael a narrow-eyed glare, still indignant about his line about Necromancers being messy. With a short 'hmph' she turned her attention to the smoldering dead.
"This one died of the Red Death." she said. "There are three of them. They could be Alistair's family."
She took a closer look to see if she could tell the sex of the skeletons by the shape of their hip bones.
Chaetris Admeroi |
Nodding to Cerise, Chaetris chips in, "Oh, they could be. Unless they've made a lot of skeletons in here they probably are. But there were four empty graves and only three skeletons. We should expect at least one more."
She bends down over the skeletons and picks up a crossbow as well as any bolts she can easily find. "This might be useful."
She pulls a chunk of wood and carefully jams it under the stuck door. "We don't need anything sneaking out behind us."
Disable Device: 1d20 + 14 + 1d6 ⇒ (18) + 14 + (2) = 34
GM Lazyclownfish |
The full sized skeleton with marks indicating the Red Death was female while the other two were male. They definitely could be part of Alastor's family.
The three crossbows are heavy crossbows in serviceable shape, but there don't seem to be any back-up bolts lying around. You are able to recover two of the bolts that were fired a minute ago.
Chaetris deftly jams the stuck door. Now it's definitely not opening without breaking.
I'll update with the next room this afternoon.
Chaetris Admeroi |
The three crossbows are heavy crossbows in serviceable shape,
the skeletons drop the crossbows and pick up freshly loaded ones.
I think there should be six. Not to be greedy or anything. I'm still only picking up one.
Chaetris Admeroi |
No problem, just an observation. When characters start out as broke as we did, we keep an eye out for any possible payoff. ;)
Chaetris loads a bolt into two of the heavy crossbows and lugs them to the door at the northern end of the hall. Placing one at her feet and aiming the other at the closed door, she whispers to the two men. "Right, it's unlocked and looks to be untrapped. Kael, Percy, who wants to do the honors?"
GM Lazyclownfish |
The site update fixed the color functionality(for me at least). I'm going to try using teal for room descriptions to make it easier to backtrack to if you need to.
The door opens smoothly and quietly.
[color=teal]The revolting stench of rotting flesh roils from the open door. In the room beyond, ten chairs surround an oblong dining table situated parallel to the door. Along the south wall, a wide staircase leads to an upper floor. There is a wooden door below the stairs and two more doors line the north wall. A sagging antique wooden shelf dominates the east wall, looking like it might collapse at any moment.[/color]
[color=teal]Three tall candles on the dining table illuminate a sight of terror. With the exception of the seat at the eastern end, each of the chairs surrounding the table holds an awkwardly seated humanoid figure. The nine bodies are in various stages of decomposition. Some sit with splendid posture, paused as if midway through a sumptuous feast. Others slump treacherously close to the floor. [/color]
[color=teal]Heaping plates of apparently fresh food sit before each of the diners, but the empty place setting features a clean plate and set of utensils. Several bottles of red wine rest upon the table, and each of the corpses sits before a half-finished glass. A fly passes nearby, its there-not-there buzz breaking the eerie silence.[/color]
Cerise Maven |
"They are just Zombies. Ordered to do... this." Cerise said, disgust in her voice. She was fine with the undead being created and used as workers or weapons, but as decorations? Or a surrogate family? That was a perversion. "They need to be destroyed. They may become hostile if we attack them."
GM Lazyclownfish |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Chaetris Admeroi |
Chaetris slowly picks up the spare crossbow. "This is ... ugh." She swallows hard. "This is wrong. Who would do such a thing?" Keeping her crossbow trained on guests at the table, she works her way clockwise along the wall, checking out the doors and the bookshelf.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8 Door 1 (closer to entrance)
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27 Door 2 (closer to bookshelf)
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21 Bookshelf
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18 Door 3 (under stairs)
Pythia Strange |
"Oh!" Pythia exclaims happily. "Here it is!"
She waves around a picture of this scene, but the angles all wrong. It looks like it was drawn from the eyes of someone sitting at the head of the table. And the corpses are speaking.
Pythia leaves her bag and Browl and hurries over to the empty seat at the head of the table. She sits down and smiles.
"There! Perfect!"
Looking around at the corpses, she asks them, "And who might you be?"
GM Lazyclownfish |
When Pythia sits down at the table, all of the zombies spring to life and begin to 'act out' some kind of formal dinner party. However, the undead diners lack the precision necessary to slice their food, and merely go through the motions of eating. The whole thing has the atmosphere of a grotesque pantomime.
Seconds after the feast begins, one of the zombies looks directly at Pythia and somehow comments in an accent tinged with the airs of nobility, "Once again, milord has provided a delicious meal. It is an honor to dine in your august presence."
Thereafter, other diners begin to chime in.
"The Guild of Wizardry was wrong to turn you out," a male elf corpse remarks. "You ought to show them like you showed me."
"I shouldn't have ever doubted you, Filge," the tattered remains of what must once have been a young woman says earnestly. "I always loved you when we were together. Now I will love you forever."
Conversation continues along these sycophantic lines while Pythia sits at the head of the table. They seem to ignore any questions she asks, instead responding as if reciting a script.
GM Lazyclownfish |
The mockery comes to an instant halt as the zombies are burnt to a crisp, some of them literally dissolving into ash.
The table looks rather scorched as well, though the flames stop clear of Pythia and her chair.
The room is earily silent.
Kael Zephros |
Kael grins at Cerise. "You're remarkably inconsistent, you know. First you save undead, then you destroy them. Rather spectacularly, I might add." The half-orcs toothy visage shows with mirth, trying to keep high spirits despite the surroundings.
"Filge... Do we know that name?"
Cerise Maven |
"It would be a mistake to assume that when you do not understand the reasoning behind something that means there is none." Cerise said. "Mindless undead are tools of the living. They exist to perform specific functions. A wise craftsman respects their tools, particularly when they are dangerous. Like any tool, the undead can be badly misused. Stopping that misuse is a large part of the mission of the Church of Wee Jas."
"Think of the undead like explosives. One does not have tea parties with weapons of mass destruction. One does not program deathtraps into empty pronouncements of love."
"Necromancy is an art. There are rules. This is a perversion of that art."
Chaetris Admeroi |
"Ego stroking, lovely." Chaetris smirks as the undead mockery comes to a firey halt. Master Filge isn't a local to my knowledge. And he definitely has an inferiority complex."
Having finished her circuit of the room, she shares her findings with the others. "Nothing's locked, doesn't look like there's any surprises either. Also there's a couple hundred gold worth of silver place settings not the shelves, but I don't know if we should claim it."
Pythia Strange |
Pythia opens her mouth to speak back to the dead, when suddenly Cerise burns up her dinner guests!
"I wasn't quite done that conversation." Pythia remarks. "Still, not unexpected."
Flipping the paper over reveals the same scene, with the zombies all burnt to a crisp.
Pythia gets up from her chair and puts her paper back in her bag, then she picks up Browl and cuddles him happily.
GM Lazyclownfish |
Finding the doors safe, you do a quick exploration of this floor and find a somewhat run-down kitchen and pantry to the south. The contents, not surprisingly, imply a rather boring and bland diet.
The door under the stairs opens into a closet with some extra chairs and some copper candle stands.
The only way left to go is up the stairs. Do you want to do a more thorough exploration of anything on this floor or is it time to head up?
Chaetris Admeroi |
Having given the lower level a rudimentary search, Chaetris moves to the stairs. "Alright, lets see if this Filge is upstairs. Shall we?"
Kael Zephros |
"We can give a more thorough search once we've cleared areas that might contain enemies." Kael nods to the stairs. "No use being surprised while searching if we can avoid it."
GM Lazyclownfish |
[color=teal]The stairs lead to a massive bedchamber that fills an entire floor of the observatory tower. Moonlight filtering in from the tall windows catches motes of dust in the calm air. A fine bed with plump red linen sheets squats upon a dais along the southeast cradle of the tower's arc. A nightstand next to the bed holds a wax-choked candlestick and a black book bound with brown and red leather.[/color]
[color=teal]At the midpoint of the eastern wall a strange form stands rigid atop a short wooden stool, as tall as a halfling and clothed in a fine black suit and tophat. Clean cloth bandages wrap every inch of the sentry's skin. A pair of ash-tinted spectacles rests upon a long skinny nose. The diminutive dandy holds a silver platter as if presenting a meal, and upon the tray rests the freshly preserved severed head of a middle-aged human woman. A platinum piece sits upon her out-stretched, purple tongue.[/color]
[color=teal]A messy desk rests against the opposite wall, piled high with loose papers. An apparatus holding four long tubes filled with colored liquid peeks out from the clutter. Doors on the north and west walls appear to lead to small closets.[/color]
[color=teal]Wide stairs lead above and below. A massive white stone statue of a thin human man with outstretched angelic wings and a beautific look upon his idealized face looms large in the northwest arc of the tower wall. The angel holds a sword in one hand and cradles a harp with the other. The presentation conjures thoughts of mausoleum peaks or the graves of important men. Tall letters etched upon the statue's base spell out a single word: "Filge."[/color]
Chaetris Admeroi |
"Don't touch anything! We don't know what any of this stuff is, let alone what it might do." Without touching anything, Chaetris begins by checking the stone angel. Then she works her way around the room.
Perception (angel): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27 (28 vs. Traps)
Perception (figure in tophat): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15 (16 vs. Traps)
Perception (head on platter): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21 (22 vs. Traps)
Perception (desk): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10 (11 vs. Traps)
Perception (bed): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11 (12 vs. Traps)