And Then a Skeleton Popped Out: subSPUF Carrion Crown

Game Master Rynjin

Zin floats to the ground and heals Jones.

CLW: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

When he awakes she looks down at him, "That was embarrassing to watch."

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Well I was still awake at 1 HP (thanks Rynj), but whatever.

"I underestimated him, I admit."

Darius ripped Mathus' heart out and slowly walked towards her, " Everything you know.. Don't skip any details. Why did you ally with this worthless piece of filth when the ascension itself was suspect. "

"Because as far as I knew he had the best claim." she shrugged.

"The Jezeldans have no claim, and gods help us if they ever take power. The Vollensag are in decline, and the Princes' Wolves have no interest."

"I thought he had killed Sain in a fair fight and the Whispering Way had stolen the heart afterwards."

" Unlikely, even him taking down Jones over there was due to inexperience and recklessness rather than a fair fight. Mathus knew he couldnt defeat Sain on a good day. It is the same reason he tried to disobey his victor. He knew he had nothing left of his pathetic life. "

Darius grit his teeth in his wolf-like maw. " What you say is true, The Vollensag are too small, the Mordinacht too weak and now shamed, the Jezeldan's too corrupt.. and so on. Now the balance is undone.. and your fear that the Jezeldans would come to power.. may well happen. "

"Not if you can stop them. They're chasing the Whispering Way to Feldgrau. You could still catch them if you move quickly."

"Give me Mathus' heart and I can restore order here. The Mordrinacht will be in disarray once they hear of this, and I can recall my forces from the forest and begin talks with the Vollensag."

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (7) + 16 = 23

She's legit. Cybrisa has no quarrel with you, and has no desire to change the status quo, especially if it puts her on top of it.

Darius looks at the heart then her, " And what would happen.. if I were to eat this heart instead? A Jezeldan, as you say. What would simply stop me from suggesting you do as you have said? Were you not on the side of the corrupt one not long ago? Does that not also give you some slight of shame? "

"Shame is a pointless emotion."

"And I doubt you want to stick around. True Jezeldans aren't in the habit of dragging around an entourage of humans with them. And now that you're closer, your smell is off."

"I wouldn't rely on this disguise working at more than a first blush against anyone intelligent."

Darius smiled widely, handing the heart over to the woman. His claw still tightly gripping the beating organ. " You would be right, I am no Jezeldan. I am no werewolf at all. But you are wrong about this being a disguise, it is real. I am Darius of House Ral'Algul.. I am a Lycanthrope Hunter. I follow Sarenrae.. and I give you this heart in the hopes that you understand the nature in which this action is based on. I am giving you this to restore order, but not only that change the current structure. For I will return and every one of your kin that might cause trouble I will attribute to you.. and then I will return. "

Darius taking his claw off the heart and licking his hand clean. " We both understand.. yes? "

"Yes yes, of course." Cybrisa takes the heart and eats it in two swift bites.

She smiles at you, blood coating her teeth and lips.

"Changes are indeed in order. The Vollensag have no concept of subtlety."

AND THEN THEY KISSED.. jk

The Wolfin man raised an eyebrow, " The Vollensag are the reason the traitor is dead. They knew what happened and tried to stop it.. maybe something you should think on. Don't disappoint me now. " Darius said in what you would mistake as a flirtatious manner.

" What path did the Jezeldans take to Felgrau? More importantly.. where is the remains of that spirit below? The curse one that spreads Lycanthropy? "

"The Vilkacis? As far as I know nothing is left of its corporeal body. Nobody has found it here, in any case."

"It rarely manifests. That was the other big reason I backed Mathus, it is the forebear of the Mordrinacht, and what originally solidified a werewolf presence here."

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (11) + 16 = 27

" Likely the Whispering way forced it's presence here to placate you. Close to that of Mathus, which is why both were dealt with. I am going to take my leave now. There are more others to hunt. "

Darius grips Mathus' head by the hair and strips him of every item he has before kicking his corpse off the stairs below.

She's telling the truth.

Mathus has on him:

-+1 Mithral Chain Shirt

-+1 Bastard Sword

-Masterwork dagger

-+1 Cloak of Resistance

-4 doses of Silversheen

-Potion of Cure Serious Wounds

Do you want to explore the lower floor now? Your buffs will be gone by the time you get to Feldgrau anyway.

Yeah Lets explore the lower floor.. might find those remains, Darius Mutagen expires in about 5 mins anyway.

Darius comes down showing the head of Mathus to every other Werewolf then encounter on the way down and gives a Howl of success.

" Time to see what this tower has to offer "

Just gonna g in numerical order for ease.

E2: A small iron portcullis used to block entrance to this chamber, but it has been bent to the side, allowing entrance.

Inside is what appears to be a common sleeping chamber. The smell of rot emanates from a corpse in the corner of the room wearing black robes.

Darius covers his nose as it is still blessed/cursed with the ability of scent and examines the body and the room for anything of use.

Detect Evil, Detect Magic then Perception take 10 for 26

Take 10 Perception: 27 + 1d6 + 1 ⇒ 27 + (6) + 1 = 34

No evil, no magic.

Upon searching the corpse you find a ring etched with symbols anyone with Religion can identify as from the Whispering Way, and a satchel filled with large Onyx gems that add up to about 1000 gp.

Finally, the corpse has a map.

Anyone have Kn. Geography?

Nope but I think Jones has the ability to roll it. Anyway next room

Darius huffs, " Odd, why would a Whispering Way member still be here yet no one knew? " Darius inspects the cause of death them moves to the next room. "[/b]

Heal take 10 for 18

Kn. Geography: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

The Whispering Way member was clearly killed by the tooth and claws of a werewolf, probably during their initial assault on the Stairs.

Jones can recognize the coordinates on the map.

The first is a little town called Ravengro, though nobody else here has even heard of it. The second is Lepidstadt, and the third is here (or, roughly so).

The last is roughly 130 miles to the east, and Jones can deduce that this must be Feldrgrau. It will take you approximately 6 days on foot, or 4 on horseback if you go there.

The next room also appears to be a dormitory.

Clearly visible to everyone is a number of loose stones in the wall, indicating some sort of secret passage may be there.

4d20 ⇒ (15, 9, 8, 4) = 36

Darius claps a hand to Jones' chest before walking in. There is a magical trap keyed to go off if anyone steps through the archway into the actual room.

Darius loos at the trap and then Jones, " You almost tripped that one.. is it possible for you to disarm it? "

If so Darius will guide the party 20ft or so away to watch Jones work

Bah, I would've seen it too.

Jones begins meticulously disarming the trap.

Taking 20 since we aren't worried about our buffs anymore. 32.

I dont know if you can take 20 on a trap. As there is a penalty for failure. And yeah your perception was 29, probably did.

In that case, Take 10 + insp.: 22 + 1d6 + 1 ⇒ 22 + (2) + 1 = 25

Yeah, you can't take 20 to disable a trap because, well, this. Jones, you failed by 5.

Actually, I just realized Darius would not have been able to locate the trap anyway (You can ONLY locate it if you have Trapfinding, and Jones failed his check), so same outcome either way.

A massive burst of soundless force rips through the area, engulfing EVERYONE.

Everyone gimme a Fort save. The burst was a 60 ft. radius.

Fort Sledge: 1d20 ⇒ 16

Sledge shakes it off.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18

Trapfinding doesnt allow you to locate traps it allows you to disable them.. still DC 30 thats crazy

Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

And now we wait.. did I fail? Most things like this are DC 20 or so.

Usually yes, but in this PARTICULAR case, only someone with Trapfinding can even notice the trap (Its a Symbol of Pain).

Darius is wracked with incredible pain, body contorting and joints swelling agonizingly.

Take a -4 penalty to Attack Rolls, Skill Checks, and Ability checks (this includes Initiative) for until you leave the area of this spell and an hour afterwards.

That doesnt make any sense... Unless it specifically says that because Trapfinding doesnt do anything with Perception Checks

" F!&# ME! ARGGGGH! "

Darius writhes in pain, " Check the area! They have damned well trapped the place it must have something in it.. check the wall "

Darius Searches regardless.

My bad. It was worded weirdly in the "Note" section of Symbol of Death.

Are you pulling apart the bricks?

"That trap was surprisingly well-hidden, and I doubt it will be the only one. Allow me a few moments to augment my ability to detect them."

Jones drinks Alchemical Allocation, then his Elixir of Vision, and then searches the room.

Take 10: 37 + 1d6 + 1 ⇒ 37 + (3) + 1 = 41

I should probably do that before every "search the room" sequence from now on.

Already in pain, might as well

There are no further traps.

You move the stones to find...Estovion Lozarov!

He stares at you with mad eyes and a bite mark is clearly visible on his left arm.

Init: 5d20 ⇒ (7, 6, 4, 4, 14) = 35

1d20 ⇒ 10

Zin's up first. Burn baby burn!

Edit: Well, assuming she passes the Fort save. DC 19, or Estovion goes first.

Fort Save (Additional +2 if Evil effect) : 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14

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Estovion goes first

Estovion snarls, whether in anger or as an outward expression of his beast transformation is unclear.

He waves his hands and a cloud of noxious gas appears in the air, obscuring all vision.

Everyone give me a Fort save DC 22 on your turn or take 1d4 ⇒ 4 Con damage.

One did you update the map for his turn or also include him? Two how close was he to us?

Fort Save: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17

Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Jones, who foolishly believed he was done with combat for the day and didn't bother healing, falls unconscious.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Darius coughs using his scent to find the man, The pain was unbearable " I HAVE GROWN TIRED OF YOU! ZIN' BURN HIM MAKE SURE THERE IS NOTHING LEFT! I DON'T CARE ANYMORE! "

Updated map. It basically fills the whole room plus the square just outside the door.

Fireball

Fireball DC20: 10d6 ⇒ (5, 1, 4, 2, 2, 5, 4, 5, 4, 2) = 34

Burning: 1d4 ⇒ 2

Fort: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22

Ref: 1d20 ⇒ 6

The mad screechings of a burning Estovion Lozarov comes from the darkness!

Sledge picks up Jones in a Firefighter's carry and hoofs it out of the cloud.

Duristan moves over to harass Estovion.

Darius, it's your go, but make a Will save first (DC 15).

Will Save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

Darius is in such a frenzied anger he feels his muscles tense, he snaps at the air, he grows much more frustrated. More annoyed and fierce than he normally is, bestial; he began to see red. No.. No.. this was not right! Was the concoction too strong or was the combination of the pain wracking his body as well as the sight of Estovion setting something off?

Everything seemed.. the same. He shook his head, maybe it was the spell. As Darius stepped out of the mist he coughed and growled at Estovion. What stepped out was not a pitch black wolfin creature.. it was more Akin to a Crimson furred Darius.. the features somehow more Feral than before.

" End of the line Estovion! "

The blood inside his Reservoir shiny to illuminate his form as the weakness of the cloud disappeared.

Estovion's turn

Cast Defensively: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (8) + 19 = 27

Estovion successfully concentrates, then shoves a lightning bolt into Darius' chest.

DC 19 Ref LB: 9d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 4, 4, 4, 5, 3, 3, 4) = 30

Fireball DC20: 10d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 6, 1, 4, 2, 2, 1, 3, 2) = 26

Positioned behind Estovian to keep Darius safe.

Burning: 1d4 ⇒ 2

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