DM Corerue's Carrion Crown

Game Master DM Corerue

"Our host likes his luxuries," Eloise says as she trails her fingers along the spines of the volumes gathering dust in the library. "This is true treasure."

What's behind the secret door?

The Magus grins outright when she finds the cane and twirls it around.

"Spiffy! My granddad had one just like this."

Iesha follows the group, exploring and studying everything.

"This is all very nice, I agree, but...where is our host? Where is Andrew? After all, if this Count IS Andrew's 'father', then doesn't at least some of this belong to him? Or, if the absence of our host means something very wrong, then perhaps,all of it belongs to Andrew?"

Sour Heck's eyes keep wandering back to the doors to the foyer. "I didn't want to look too closely...was Mr. Hooks made using human bodies?"

Was he?

I... thought it was more made of sharp and pointy metal? Could be wrong...

Mr. Hooks looks like he was made from more bits and pieces of blades and more commnly, hooks. The small amount of flesh that exists is indistguishable in form, save for it is flesh of an unknown creature(s) and more for decoration on the weirdly built golem. The small bits of flesh appear more decorative then serving any real purpose.

After the through search you still find no leads as to where the count or the rest of the castles occupants. Save for the few magical servants you've encountered, have gone.

You also take note that during the search you heard the goblins scrambling away loudly outside...

Eloise's search of the secret door coming of the kitchen reveals another walkway leading to what appears to be another large are like the one you all were searching now. Though its high walls looked far more foreboding and the iron door that sealed it was draped in shadow making it hard to make out...

"Good money says this leads to the golem-crafting area," Eloise says. "Who wants to go see the Count's laboratory?"

Sunset nods at Eloise' comment and follows the other woman, her sword drawn in preparation for any encounter to come.

The narrow stone bridge on the otherside of the secret door found in the kitchen was without a handrail. It also lies above the roaring river waters as they are drawn over the edge of the falls. Making the trek even more daunting as a fall was certain death. So long as people moved at half speed it was easy to cross...

Eloise leads the way across with Sunset following right behind as she opens the door to workshop. Which surprisingly the iron door topples onto its back the moment she presses on it. Its hinges appearing to have been rusted through. The large workshop beyond is crammed with alchemical equipment, but an explosion of some kind has ripped away the western wall, leaving a large gap in the floor and wall open, now wreathed with scaffolding. An opening in the left hand wall looks as if it led once to a stone bridge, connecting this building with another on the far side of the gorge, but only a slender rope bridge now hangs between the two.

Eloise notices some movement from the other side of the alchemy lab tables before a pair of antennae rise up in response to the intrusion. The creatures that surge out behind the table are a familiar menace. Rust Monsters, an aberration with the nasty inclination to devour anything metal within its vicinity before moving on. Though these ones appear to be looking at you and your items as their newest victims!

Eloise K-Dungeoneering: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27
Sunset Dungeoneering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Enemy Initiative
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13

Please roll Initiative! If Sunset or Eloise beats there ini then the party gets to go first, due to quick response to the sudden strike from the rust monsters!

Combat Map updated! Link above still valid! Eloise and Sunset leading as they posted, Everyone else may change the order in which they are following as they want. Pushing past eachother on this narrow bridge is impossible without an acrobatics check for both characters. Failure leads to a fall.

Initiative 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Yay! We go first! (^_^)

Initiative:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

"Uh oh... " Sunset frowns, even as she slowly puts her large metal sword away. "Um... so.. maybe go back and find something to distract these two with? Maybe they could munch... um... what ever they do on that pointy construct thing?" Sunset suggests. Sunset begins to back up carefully and slowly even as the critters advance.

"Critters ahead!" Sunset calls to those following. "But they don't have any teeth and are more... just trouble than pointy, gnashy..." She tries to warn those following behind about the reason for the revers course.

(What was the Goblin cage made out of again? Hmm, maybe bad idea since we might have to get past the dog-golem again...)

Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

"My weapons aren't metal." Adelram reminds the two ladies in front of him. "And, though I would not have my armor destroyed, I do have strong backup defense. Let me through, I will take them on."

Party is first!

Combat Map updated! Link above still valid!

Pushing past each other on this narrow bridge is impossible without an acrobatics check for both characters. Acrobatics check DC 10

Failure leads to a fall.

Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Sour Heck cranes his neck, trying to see past the adventurers blocking the doorway ahead of him. "Step on forward, please...I can't imagine any monster more dangerous than falling off this bridge. Or can I?" The bard pales. "I just did."

Sour Heck begins an Inspire Courage performance, and raises the Hawthorne Banner. Everyone gets +3 total to attack and damage rolls.

Bringing up the rear, Iesha cranes her head to see the creatures and comments "The Count certainly keeps strange pets."

Feeling the struggle behind her Sunset calls,

"Wait! No need to rush. We can all just back up and sort ourselves out on something wider." As she keeps trying to move back towards the previous building.

"Who has a staff or other long wooden pole? Any one see anything like that about? We can keep the critters contained on the bridge if they venture across." She suggests.

"No! Go forward! There is no room back here! You'll kill us all!

"Back is no good. They can run and keep up. Advance and fan out, keep them off-balance and try to maintain distance between us and them."

Eloise quickly sheathes her treasured blade, then moves forward and steps to the side so the others can enter the room.

"Adelram, deal with them as best you can. Iesha, maybe some archery cover...? Sunset, better sheathe that blade. These creatures eat metal, after all. Any spells you have to keep them at bay would be good. Sour Heck... you just be you."

"Oh, sure, stick me with the unpleasant job."

I took the liberty of 5' stepping Eloise on Roll20.

I forgot to... Thanks. ^^;

Sunset gulps as she sheaths her sword and steps forwards, then opposite Eloise to allow others to approach. As she prepares an incantation she mutters,

"Well.. they'll get a bigger shock than they gave us..."

Preparing 'Shocking Grasp'.

"Go for the feelers. Don't let them touch your armour!"

Sunset raises an eyebrow even as she looks down at her robes,

"Um... armor...?" Then steps forwards and tries to (gently?) grab at one of the critter's wavy, fluffy antenna.

CMB:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

Its not just armor, but also weapons, coins, buckles. Any metal you have on you.

Oh.. well.. at least the sword is sheathed. Not sure how much buckles and such Sunset has worked into her gear... Will be an interesting Dm call. :)

Sunset moves in and grabs onto the feelers of the closest of the Rust monster, though as soon as she did so. Much to her distress. She spotted a third one skulking further back, at the cries of the one she had grabbed onto it turns its head her way and scuttles towarsds her rapidly...

Attempt to Break Grapple w/Sunset: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

The one Sunset is holding onto shrieks pitifully as it tries to pull its antennae free but finds only pain waiting when it attempts to tug free...

The third moves rapidly to engage Sunset, since she was closest and climbs onto one of the tables as it moves to attack her. The second one also moves to attack Sunset, leading them to flanking her as they scatter alchemical goods haphazardly off the tables...

Bite Attack +Flanked: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 6 + 2 = 9
Bite Attack +Flanked: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 6 + 2 = 28
Confirm?: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 6 + 2 = 16

2d3 ⇒ (1, 2) = 3

Crit Fail table: 1d20 ⇒ 8

The third one trips and falls, smashing what was once a bottle of alchemist fire and accidentally lights itself on fire... Fire damage to Rust Monster #3: 1d4 ⇒ 4

The second one succeeds in snapping its jaws into Sunset, painfully so...

Party is up! Apologies for wait!

With the way opened, Adelram goes into the lab and attacks the closest rust monster with his lash.

Ectoplasmic Lash +2: 1Hand
to hit: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21 to hurt: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Sunset yipes as the beast shows it actually has teeth! (Yah, 'Duhh' I know.. but they're so... weird and funny looking ^^' ) She lets go of the one she's grabbed a hold of.

Then seeing the other poor (And stupid) critter some how manage to set itself on fire (O_o) she moves to try and help put it out before it can spread the burning to every thing else and destroy the lab, the house and the people inside.

CMB:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21 (To try and put the fire out)

Adelram's Ectoplasmic lash tore into the burning Rust Monsters flesh, making its screams rise as Sunset tried to put out the fires that engulfed it. Though the alchemical liquid proves more durable to being put out by light means.

Eloise, Sour Heck and Iesha(if available) to go)

"This is... unusual for us, isn't it?" Eloise mentions to Sour Heck while she moves to seize and subdue the rust monster attacking Sunset.

Grapple vs. rust monster #2: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

"The part where I'm not getting bitten? Yes, very strange," Sour Heck remarks. "Grappling hook!" he adds.

The bard reaches into the party's Handy Haversack and pulls out the black steel grappling hook that is now on top. "Bought this before we found a magic rope. Thought it was just going to rust slowly in the bottom of our bag, but maybe..." He tosses the grappling hook across the room, to land with a clang and a clatter next to an uninjured rust monster.

Hit unoccupied square with a thrown weapon: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Sour Heck continues his Inspire Courage performance and still holds the group's banner aloft, for +3 to everyone's hit and damage. That means Adelram did 15 damage, not 12. Good job remembering it on your grapple roll, Eloise! :)

Hah! :D Serendipity.
Incidentally, does that mean my grapple is actually 18?

Whoops! I guess it does. I thought you rolled a six and added nine, but you rolled nine and added six. :) Your total should be 18, yeah.

The burning rust monster struggles to break away, though its failure only led to it succumbing to its injuries and to the flames moments later...

1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

The other two break away, attracte by the grappling hook that Sour Heck had thrown to the side. leaving themselves open to retalitory strikes from Sunset...

AoO for Sunset. Will update map.

Party is up!

Adelram moves into position to attack another rust monster.

1 Hand Ectoplasmic Lash +2: 2Hand, power attack, bardsong
to hit: 1d20 + 9 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 9 + 3 = 23 to hurt: 1d8 + 8 + 6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 8 + 6 + 3 = 20

Eloise shakes her head. "Such a waste..."

The Magus unslings her heavy crossbow, loads it and starts to turn the crank.

AoO:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

Dam Roll:1d10 ⇒ 7

Between Adelram and Sunset's attacks causes another Rust monster to drop. The last one looks between the group attacking them and the fallen grappling hook before dashing for the hole in the wall. It presses past Adelram leading it to be open to strikes from the man...

Adelram AoO - If you do at least 20dmg it will not slip past you...

After Adelrams action (whether brought down or not) Combat over.Apologies for wait.

Adelram strikes out at the passing rust monster.

1 Hand Ectoplasmic Lash +2: 2Hand, power attack, bardsong
to hit: 1d20 + 9 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 9 + 3 = 14 to hurt: 1d8 + 8 + 6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 8 + 6 + 3 = 23

The last rust monster collapses, skidding to a stop at the edge of the whole in the massive brick and mortar wall of the ruined alchemy room...

The fire continues to burn low, engulfing the fallen rust monster as the rest of the room was now quiet. Save for the sound of the thundering falls echo below this towering structure.

Sunset continues to try and put the fires completely out. Though she does now take some time to look around the room.

Perception:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

Aside from what the group saw earlier the only real addition to be found was from Sunsets particularly keen observation skills.

Her diligence turns up a rod of flame extinguishing under the debris, which unfortunately was of little use when the lab suffered from whatever caused the destroyed section of the wall...

Aside from that a thorough search of the room reveals that everything in the alchmeny equipment has been invaded with rust. Rendering it effectively useless until properly cleaned and, even then, many parts would need replaced. There was little else from the fallen rust monster to indicate anything more of value in this room. The precarious rope bridge was the only means, without difficulty, of entering the next section of this abandoned place.

Questions? Not much I can add here unless you want me to press on. Which I can do in the next 24 hrs if no activity occurs.

Nope, am good. (^_^)

We've pretty much thoroughly explored this room, no? Nothing else to see here? Nothing else to do... Happy to be moving along peoples.... =^^=

Adelram considered the rope bridge for a moment. He dismissed the single ectoplasmic lash then manifested a pair of smaller lashes. "If we're done here." He then makes his way out onto the bridge using both his lashes to help hold on the ropes of the bridge.

"I am starting to think Andrew may have killed one person after all," Eloise says. "Or someone of equal power... Yes. Let's move on."

At work.

My post got 'et. :( Will try again when have more time.

So marching order then! :) Whose leading the bridge crossing and who is in the rear, yadda yadda. :)

So am I! I'm glad we found someone to take over from DM Corvus. ^^

Yay! I, too, am pleased to hear it! Thanks, Storycrafter!

Yes indeed. Thanks, Storycrafter.

What they said--thank you for picking this up, and I hope this works out well for all of us.

And thank you to Corvus, for seeing us through Harrowstone in fine form (even through a couple of major shifts in party composition).

OK, I think I've caught up on the threads and Corvus has passed me along some notes. Work presses on into this evening so I'll be posting first thing tomorrow (I'm US/Central).

I'll be following when i can and what not, because i feel so awful about bailing on this group after so long.

Seems like you in good hands, so I'm taking some consolation in that.

My home network is being bothersome, so my posting frequency will be down, but I WILL remain in play! ;)

I will be on vacation with limited internet access until Monday. bot me where necessary.

Have fun!

Sorry about not posting yesterday. Dealing with some sort of infection.

Also as a heads up, I learned I'll be back in Italy on 11/02 through 11/08, so my posting times may be a little off. I'll have wifi at the hotel, though, so I should be able to keep up.

Get better soon, and enjoy the trip. BTW, DM Corvus is a tough act to follow, but you're doing a good job so far. Thanks again for picking this up!

A zpak and I'm on the mend, thanks.

Sorry for the delay. Long and exhausting travel this weekend to Milan, Italy. I'm finally in the hotel and ready to post. Have to step out for a few minutes for a dinner with my colleagues and will post a little later tonight before bed.

Hey, it happens. Glad you're back. ^^

You named the beast Andrew and that is completely adorable.

^^

I agree. Andrew was a most excellent choice! Well played!

Thank you. ^^ Have I made a reference without realizing it?

And apologies on yet another delay. Apparently, the more you pay for a hotel, the more expensive the add-on internet is. That, and jet-lag caught me this time.

You can always tell the hotels that cater to business travelers, because they figure you're already on an expense account.

I know it’s the gambler’s fallacy, but I can’t help but feel like getting a bunch of good rolls now means I’m going to be rolling a lot of 1s and 2s in battle later.

GM Storyteller, the issue hasn’t come up, but I’d like to ask what Gallant Inspiration looks like when Sour Heck casts it. For example, if he uses it to boost a failed Diplomacy or Bluff check, is it going to look completely suspicious to the NPCs and ruin the social attempt anyway?

To my mind, it's akin to seeking a "witness" in an inspirational Christian service. A confirming "Amen" might be an equivalent in contemporary situations. That's my take, anyway.

Since it's an immediate action, and in situations where you want to absolutely mask it, why not make a bluff check? It's a standard action, true, but if you're trying to be discrete about it, it's the only thing I can think of where you absolutely don't want others to notice.

Without any sort of bluffing associated, I think it'd depend on the circumstance. I think in social situations where it might be perceived as awkward, it won't ruin the target's action (i.e. that would still succeed), but it may color future attitudes towards you. Especially if the target's action is an aggressive one. In your specific query regarding diplomacy or bluff, I'm kind of hard pressed to see how it might come across as aggressive or harmful. Using my weak "witness" analogy above, I think it would just come across as though you were positively supplementing someone else's oration or speech.

"We come in peace, I swear!" (bluff)
"Pharasma's will be done!" (immediate casting)

As for rolls, I never, ever trust a computer to be truly random without a a genuine entropy source. And I sincerely doubt there's one here. I've heard that, in the end, it all averages out. Or so I've heard.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! ^^
May your holiday season be joyous and peaceful.

Same to you -- have a safe and Merry Christmas.

And weeee're back!

OK, my apologies for that delay. I had taken a whole week off thinking I'd get a lot of house work done and catch up on a zillion things. The week flew between cleaning house for Christmas and being in my brother's wedding this weekend. I need a week to recover now.

At any rate, Happy New Years to you all. May your celebrations be many, festive, and safe. May you also roll 20's all night.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! ^^

Still just over 6.5 hours away for me.

4.5 hours for me. Anyone doing any crazy celebration?

Not I; the last eight or ten days have been frantic enough, and the weather here is bad enough, that my wife and I are staying home and doing not much. We finally got to watch _Pacific Rim_, though, which was kind of a crazy movie. Predictable; hideous science; but very, very well executed.

Hello all! Sorry for my absence. Mandatory shutdown at work and I barely looked at my computer for a week. Hope everyone had a great holiday-time!

Sorry to post so little over the holidays! I hope everyone else had fun too.

Given MY recent (lack of) posting history, I'm in no position to complain. ;)

Well, that holiday can just pass into forgetful land. Other than my brother's wedding, all me and my family have to show for it is a really nasty cold. So hard to listen to my one year old so tired and sick he can't sleep.

It was a good Christmas for the kids, though. And the aforementioned wedding has increased the extended family so there's that.

Here's to a happy new years for you all.

And to you, also. :)

Graveside humour. Gotta love it. Anyone got a spare skull so I can do Shakespeare's speech to Yorick? ;)

I hope the vivisectionist's victim isn't from Tian, because I hear those people get really upset about losing face.

XD

I just hope Jogn Travolta didn't make his way into Ustulav somehow.
Face/Off was a rotten movie. :p

Eh. If he does it's no skin off my nose.

Everyone still alive? ^^;

Last I checked, yes.

Ok, in spite of the dental work. And it's not done. I need a root canal!

Those suck. I know from experience. >_< Stay strong, Iesha!

Ain't that pretty at all, as Warren sang.

When I had one a few years ago, it was far less unpleasant than the abscess that triggered it.

One of my root canals required a repeat treatment, years later...

Root canal does not sound like fun. Knock on wood, no cavities in my life, and no major teeth problems that I know of.

I'll pray for you, if that matters to you.

And yes, still here. Sorry about the delay. Family matters and some computer issues dealt with and I'm back.

Sorry, my friends. Was in Portland the last few days for the Comic Con. I'm back now. :)

Welcome back.

i am heartened to see this merry band of miscreants still plucking away at this.

which is to say, hey, glad y'all are still rolling along.

Hey, Corvus! How's it going?

Can't speak for the rest, but I'm still here and enjoying! :)