And Then TWO Skeletons Popped Out! (Inactive)

Game Master Storm Dragon

Sledge is a beefy man, since he succeeded the grapple if you or Zone force feed the potion I'll call this combat over.

Leaving that task to Osric. I believe he has yet to act and Zone already left the potion with him.

Think Jones is up before the vampire spawn. Osric is holding the vial out and open.

Zone is not going to do anything this round other than watch.

Jones quickly grabs the vial out of Osric's hand, and forces the liquid down the spawn's throat.

The spawn fights back, even nicking Jones with his fangs as he tries to avoid swallowing the elixir, but is eventually made to swallow it. He struggles for a few moments more, but eventually calms and slumps to the ground, dropping his weapons.

"W-what? What did you do? I feel like my head is clear again, for the first time in a while."

"Your mortal shell has been turned to darkness, paladin. The Inheritor has not forgotten you, and she has sent me that I might speak with you. I will not lie; you know how this must end, once we have gleaned the knowledge that we seek. But when Iomedae grants me the power - I believe it shall be soon - you will again walk the mortal realm in the light, if you wish. I swear by the Inheritor that, as soon as She grants me the power, I will bring you back. I am Osric, last of the Shining Crusade, and I too have known loss. I was a priest of Aroden, you see.
Can you tell us what vampire turned you and made you their slave? Was it Ravdir? Is he near?"

The man gives Osric a pained expression.

"Then you understand at least some of what I feel. But I am not worthy of redemption. I have shamefully indulged in the new appetites of this impure form. I am not sure there is a return to the light for me, save in the most literal sense."

He stands up straight, face now stoic, and salutes with a fist to his chest.

"I am Sir Halloran Idriss, devoted of the Inheritor, though she has rightfully forsaken me. I swear on what is left of my honor to render whatever aid I am able in your quest."

When you ask who turned him, he confirms your guess.

"Yes. Radvir Giovanni was his name, and he is deeper within these catacombs, along with the sisters. I warn you, they have worked some kind of horrid magic on the elder twin, Aisa. She is a vampire, but no mere spawn of Radvir. Fully fledged in that power and her witchcraft, she may be a more formidable foe than you expected. By the time you arrive, they may have worked the same ritual on Hetna as well. I know not if they are mere vampires, or something fouler with the same form. Be on your guard."

"Atonement may yet be possible, Sir Halloran. Even restoration to life. But for now, revenge.
Come with us and we will destroy Radvir and the witches.
Yes, I may need to use Iomedae's gifts of holy sunlight. I will not hold back to spare you, nor do I think you would wish it. If this is to be your end, it will be in the cause of righteousness, and that will be counted in Pharasma's judgement."
Anyone else have questions for him?

"Isn't there literally a bit o' magic to fix stuff ifn you fall out with your god?"

"My very form is anathema to the concept of goodness, this unnatural life fueled by harming others. No amount of Atonement could or should be accepted, as I cannot swear I will not commit the same sin again. Even now the blood in your veins tempts me with its pulsing. It is better that I expire than harm another innocent."

"Did you have a chance to see how the ritual affected Aisa in terms of combat capabilities? Did she seem stronger? Faster? More adept at spellcasting?"

Idriss shakes his head.

"She is very newly transformed, a few hours at most. I only know from my connection with Radvir that she has changed."

Zone edges closer.

"Are there any more obstacles and creatures we need to face? We don't wanna waste time kicking their asses."

When asked about his absence...

Zone chuckles.

"I am with these guys. Still here. Just hiding from a certain someone further down the combs."

He then fills his empty fly bottle from the cauldron until it is full.

"There are only two other defenses that I know of, a quartet of wooden golems in the exsanguination chamber, and....Konas. Konas is a blood knight, and skilled with paired blades. Be wary of him."

"Radvir has also made mention of several threats he brought from his shop, but they are not anywhere in the catacombs. I assume that means they're in the inner sanctum with him and Aisa."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

Does Osric know anything about Blood Knights? Not that he has that many buff spells left to use, but I guess it is a good idea to know about what we will face.
Knowledge (Religion): 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (6) + 18 = 24

Blood knights are the undead remnants of warriors who have died in a particularly bloody fashion, doomed to walk the earth and fight forever until they meet their final end. Their bodies have dissolved, and only blood remains to fill their armor.

The blood has two main properties: It slicks the ground in an area around the Blood Knight as Grease, in a 10 ft. radius around the Knight and the blood can be sprayed as a fountain, spraying a 15 ft. cloud of poisonous, slippery blood.

Osric will make a point of flying as much as possible as we approach where this blood knight is, to avoid the blood slicks (he has the worst Reflex save by far). Fortunately, he's got some ranged attacks like Searing Light and Sunbeam.

"We don't need to waste time on these bozos if we can outfox em. They just stalling for them to finish their thing."

Do you have anything that could let the whole party move undetected?

Stealth checks and invisibility potions provided Jones still have slots to make some, maybe? Unless some of us have alternate means than those listed.

I have one more 2nd level slot. I could use that for a single Invisibility...although I was saving it for a Delay Poison so I don't die in twelve hours.

Happy to take input on spell selection in the future, but right now Osric is set up for taking them head-on.

Sledge only does head-on.

So let's do that then. Sorry Zone, we can't bypass the blood knight.
We'll just try to make it a speed run so our 12-minute buffs stay up.

There is little to no danger you won't make it there and out in 12 minutes. Since you're not keen on exploring any side passages, it takes you a whopping two rounds to walk to the room the Blood Knight inhabits.

Four braziers in each corner provide a dim, flickering light to this chamber, barely illuminating more than their immediate area. The desecrated statue of an eagle headed woman, holding aloft a sword, stands at the northern corner (recognized by Osric as the mostly-forgotten-by-others Saint Lymirin, saint of honor and valor). The center of the room is shrouded in darkness, with only Zone, Halloran, and Osric able to make out an armored figure dripping blood continuously beneath him. It looks up as you enter, and raises its sword.

Lighting in this room is a bit weird from what I can tell, since the chamber is so huge. I don't usually bother with lighting but this is an interesting enough case I'm going to make an exception. The four corners are brightly lit for 15 feet around the small braziers, then dimly lit for another 15. That leaves a small 10 ft. square in the center of this chamber completely unlit, which is where the Blood Knight stands. For the majority of this fight (unless you fight backs to the fire), conditions will be Dim Light (meaning anyone without Darkvision attacks as though the Blood Knight has 20% concealment).

Initiative: 5d20 ⇒ (9, 9, 14, 2, 3) = 37

1d20 ⇒ 7

Everybody is up before Konas, Sledge and Jones however cannot see him.

"The darkness cannot protect you, Konas."
Osric uses his Daylight SLA on his shield (1 use of 2/day). 60' radius of bright light, lasts for 2 hours.

Case in point for why I usually never bother to mention lighting. =)

You know darkness is irrelevant to Zone. He has darkvision (on his headline remember) and touchsight up which negates concealment and darkness.

Hence why I said "with only Zone, Halloran, and Osric able to make out an armored figure dripping blood continuously beneath him."

Oh I misread. My bad.

Sledge waits for Osric to shed some light on the situation, then flying punches the blood knight.

1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24
1d10 + 28 ⇒ (8) + 28 = 36

1d20 + 16 ⇒ (18) + 16 = 34
1d10 + 24 ⇒ (1) + 24 = 25

1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15
1d10 + 24 ⇒ (5) + 24 = 29

1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17
1d10 + 24 ⇒ (3) + 24 = 27

GOOD rolls

Not sure if Osric inform the party about bloodknight. Might as well ask IC.

"Dammit, I wished that I hadn't made that poor decision at drinking the potion that early. Gonna live without it. Anything to watch out for from this bloodied corpse? Until the cat's out of the bag, Imma give us some insurance and play safe."

The xeph flies out from behind the party (30 ft apart), lobs a dagger at it with glowing energy (swift action windstrike) in turn breaking invisibility and flies back to his original spot (Shot on the run; can be used with fury of a single blade)

1d20 + 31 ⇒ (15) + 31 = 46 (Should be 48; forgot about +2 from invisible)
1d20 + 31 ⇒ (1) + 31 = 32 (Should be 34; forgot about +2 from invisible)
1d20 + 26 ⇒ (5) + 26 = 31 (Should be 33; forgot about +2 from invisible)
1d20 + 21 ⇒ (6) + 21 = 27 (Should be 29; forgot about +2 from invisible)

1d6 + 18 ⇒ (3) + 18 = 21

extra damage via movement: 5d6 ⇒ (3, 4, 5, 5, 4) = 21

It will need Ref DC 17 or be dazed. And if two attacks hit, 2x damage and if three, 5x damage.

crit confirm: 1d20 + 31 ⇒ (12) + 31 = 43

extra damage: 1d6 + 18 ⇒ (5) + 18 = 23

Osric will use Divine Interference if Konas gets a 17 or better one one of his primary attacks. He'll sacrifice Hold Person to make Konas reroll at a -2.

Jones wonders if he knows any additional facts about blood knights, particularly their defenses.

Kn. Religion: 1d20 + 23 + 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 23 + (2) + 3 = 36

If not, he'll give Konas a good stabbing.

Attack+insp and Sickening Offensive: 1d20 + 16 + 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 16 + (2) + 3 = 40
Damage+insp: 3d6 + 16 + 10 ⇒ (6, 5, 1) + 16 + 10 = 38

Osric will share the basics of what he knows (recalling that he only has a few seconds to speak).
"Slippery blood on the ground and a sickening aura!"
Also: crit threat, Jones! And I believe Bless Weapon is in effect so it auto-confirms!

Jones additionally recalls that Blood Knights are resistant to non-Bludgeoning weapons and can rapidly heal from any wound.

And yes, that is a crit Jones. Please roll your crit damage;
A lot of that is not multiplied on a crit (your Inspiration, Undead Bane 2d6, and Studied Combat damage at least) but I'm not sure how much else.

Also, yes, the ground is slippery. Jones and Sledge need to make a DC 20 Reflex save or fall, and the area is considered difficult terrain. You both DO still have just enough movement to get there though, and thankfully for Sledge he is able to charge through the difficult terrain.

"And blunt weapons are most effective!" Jones adds.

Before attacking, Jones changes his stance to strike with the pommel of his rapier.

Weapon Versatility switch to bludgeoning damage.

Reflex: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (5) + 20 = 25

Crit damage: 1d6 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

Sledge is flying rn.

Konas falls under the onslaught of blows.

Zone, in the future remember to roll your d6s as far as the extra attack damage. It wouldn't have made a difference here, but it can be a difference of up to 30 damage. Just roll another 4d6 at the end of your posts.

Not sure by what you meant by that. Did I miss another 4d6 from something?

What I mean is instead of rolling 1d6+18 and then saying "That x5", roll the other variable damage boosters (the 1d6) 4 more times, similar to how you would with a theoretical x5 critical hit.

I think his ability literally does 3x or 5x damage.

So does a critical hit, but nobody runs it that way, and I see no reason this should be different.

I had a feeling that you might be referring to his main ability. Alright then. Let's move on.

"Let's take what we can find and pick up the pace. Don't want to risk our guest vamping out soon and dealing with hags with disgustingly long teeth."

Zone flies to the downed Konas, searching him for loot with caution before he resumes shadowing the party from 30 ft behind.

Stealth (Take 10) - 41

"He'll stay dead?"

"The witches may have some way of reviving him, but I think he is defeated for now. When we have finished our task here I will take measures to lay all of the remains to permanent rest."

Konas does have a bit of magical gear on him, though nothing of immediate use.

Gear:

-+2 Bastard Sword
-+1 Bastard Sword (sheathed, you're not sure if it was a backup weapon or he intended to wield both)
-+1 Full Plate (caked with blood to the point of unusability without a thorough washing; The blood remains poisonous)
-+2 Cloak of Resistance
-+1 Ring of Protection
-Brooch of Shielding

Konas left behind no body as such, Blood Knights are composed entirely of blood inside a suit of armor.

Although witches don't have Magic Missile, Osric will still take the Brooch of Shielding.
"Sir Halloran, do we need to pass through the exsanguination room to get to Radvir and the witches?"
@Sledge, did you ever level up to 12?