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Conflicts and Quandaries. Those are buzzing in his brain. His myriad of thoughts boil down to: what should I do?
Do I stand up? If I do, this thing is going to take a swipe at me.
If I don't, it's going to kick me twice more.
Do I flee? But there's more need for other actions. Do I ignore The Mariner?
Do I take steps to heal myself and companions, but help the enemies too?
Oh well, there's rarely ever an easy decision or one without consequences. With that last thought, he makes up his mind.
Sorry Mariner, I have to listen to a higher power and she needs to use me for a greater good.
With that, he speaks a soft prayer.
Desna, Protect those that fight for your honor.
MADU,FEAD,PIDE,BRJA,CAKA.
With his prayer done, he stands up . Mace at the ready, expecting a counter attack from Pink.
The Mariner's sword cuts down one oneirogen and injures another. Luckily for Brother Butterfly that leaves him clear to stand and channel healing energy. It is a mixed result for Cats, as the healing helps both him and the creature he faces. Though it is healed from his first attack he manages to stab it again.
Fearless waits for word from the fight in the mists.
INITIATIVE - Round 4
Mariner (21/40) *Bull's Strength 8 rnds, Aid (+1 hit/fear) 7 rnds, -1 Dex
Butterfly (24/26) *ghoul fever (1 save), -1 Dex, prone
Cats (24/24)
Pinkie (21/27) *Shield of Faith 16 rnds, ghoul fever (1 save)
Fearless (22/22) *mage armor 32 minutes
Oneirogens (pink -5, red -6)
Feeling the wave of Healing flow over him Pinkies nerves settle and he is able to focus on his enemy once more and joins Cats in his assault.
"Had to take the boy out of this one Catman but you and me got this guy."
Fearless decides to stay out of this one as he doesn't want to pass out again. Instead he will stay on the sidelines prepared to toss another thunderstone should the group need it.
The Mariner's sword cuts down one oneirogen and injures another. Luckily for Brother Butterfly that leaves him clear to stand and channel healing energy. It is a mixed result for Cats, as the healing helps both him and the creature he faces. Though it is healed from his first attack he manages to stab it again, then Pinkie shoves a dagger in the side.
Fearless waits for word from the fight in the mists.
The last two oneirogens fight on, oblivious to the numbers against them. The Mariner and Cats take bruises from their unnatural strength.
INITIATIVE - Round 5
Fearless (22/22) *mage armor 32 minutes
Mariner (16/40) *Bull's Strength 7 rnds, Aid (+1 hit/fear) 6 rnds, -1 Dex
Butterfly (24/26) *ghoul fever (1 save), -1 Dex, prone
Cats (18/24)
Pinkie (21/27) *Shield of Faith 15 rnds, ghoul fever (1 save)
Oneirogens (pink -12, red -11)
The Mariner tries to run the woman through.
Round 5
Cats slashes at red again, but notes that his swordwork seems to be having little effect.
to hit;
slashing damage.
AC: 17 (dex + leather)
HP: 24/24
[ dice]1d20+6[/dice] to hit;
[ dice]1d6+2+2d6[/dice] damage.
1 alch fire
Mini Smite: 0/1: Once per day as a swift action, you can add your Charisma bonus to your attack rolls and deal 1 additional point of damage for each class level you have against evil creatures for 1 round. You must have a good alignment to take this trait.
Pinkie slips around the creature hopeing it can't defend from both sides.
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The Brother moves to see what is happening "down south" in the fights. To check on the other fighters.
Luckily, he moves into position so that The Mariner can't be flanked.
Spotting the girl with the yellow eyes and the red mists coming out of her mouth, he sees Cats display how he is waaaay better at the bow than he is at using a sword.
Seeing an opportunity at some good natured ribing.
No need to worry anymore Cats - I have arrived! You are doing a marvelous job of showing us how bad you are with that sword. I think you are better at destroying a saucer of milk than you are with that mist-sticker. Maybe one of Pinkie's family members can give you some lessons.
After a hearty laugh, he does take on a serious tone and repeats his prayer.
MADU,FEAD,PIDE,BRJA,CAKA.
The Mariner, Cats, and Pinkie fight on, with Brother Butterfly bolstering their health. Steadily they gain the upper hand in the fight while Fearless stays ready to help when called.
The oneirogens swing their fists, but neither is able to land a blow.
INITIATIVE - Round 6
Fearless (22/22) *mage armor 32 minutes
Mariner (26/40) *Bull's Strength 6 rnds, Aid (+1 hit/fear) 5 rnds, -1 Dex
Butterfly (24/26) *ghoul fever (1 save), -1 Dex, prone
Cats (24/24)
Pinkie (26/27) *Shield of Faith 14 rnds, ghoul fever (1 save)
Oneirogens (pink -16, red -19)
Feeling nigh invincible with supernatural strength and the magical healing, the Mariner swings away at the woman.
Round 7
Cats gets bashed and tries slashes back.
to hit;
slashing damage.
AC: 17 (dex + leather)
HP: 13/24
[ dice]1d20+6[/dice] to hit;
[ dice]1d6+2+2d6[/dice] damage.
1 alch fire
Mini Smite: 0/1: Once per day as a swift action, you can add your Charisma bonus to your attack rolls and deal 1 additional point of damage for each class level you have against evil creatures for 1 round. You must have a good alignment to take this trait.
Fearless sees flashes that look like lightning within the cloud. "Well, damn. I can't just stay here all day."
He stows away his crossbow and stone at his belt and pack. Sighing he looks to the sky. "Don't you be out to get me too big guy." He kisses two of his fingers, thumps them to his chest and raises them to the sky.
With a roar of defiance he rushes headlong into the clouds, drawing his dagger on the way.
"YEA!! Now ya done it Oneiwhatever ya've pissed off the little guy
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"Yeah! What Pinkie's Psychosis said! You DreamSplinters messed with the wrong bunch!"
We are going to purge the world of you and get off this island"
With that, he pivots and used the healing wand on The Mariner.
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"Psychosis I'm not sure I know what that is but I'm sure I think I'm not one."
Fearless charges bravely into the mists, running in on the scene of a bloody fight. The Mariner, Pinkie, and Cats hack, stab, and slash the oneirogens as Brother Butterfly works to heal their wounds. Though he was ready to get bloody too, Fearless finds he as arrived right as the others seize victory and the strange dream-touched creatures fall.
Almost instantly the mists cease pouring from their mouths and the air begins to clear.
<20 = miss
<20 = miss
Cats comes out of the yellow smoke realizing that his wounds are more mental than real.
"Man, the mind does some weird things to your body sometimes. I thought they had cat me good, but, no...looks like I'm mostly fine," Cats checks himself for wounds after coming out of the yellow mists.
He looks around, glad this part of the weirdness is over and cleans the blood off his short sword before stowing it and the alchemist fire. He takes his bow out again and begins to loot around, hoping for some loose change or food.
Perception
"See Little guy I think you scared them to death...."
Pinkies eyes briefly roll back in his head and drops to one knee recovering quickly he shakes his head.
"Man I hate it when that happens. Sorry if he offended anyone"
With the mists clearing the Watchmen get their first real look at the chamber around them. This area was once the Ward of Wicked, but it looks much changed since Pinkie and the Mariner stayed here. Cracked pillars bent at broken angles support a sagging ceiling in an area once split up into a dozen patients’ cells, and a nurse station. Now it looks more like an squatter's den, with dusty pallets slouched against walls and rock piles. While most of the walls look ready to fall apart, the northern wall has done so, creating a massive gap open to the weather beyond. Opposite it, the wall in the best repair is laden with parchment pages covered in stark lines of coal and chalk. Brother Butterfly detects faint magic in many of the pages.
A hall stretches to the west.
The magical pages have writing on the back. They seem to go together, as if removed from a book. It would take hours, but they could be reassembled.
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Hmmm.
BB focused on the wall and the pages.
"Those pages could be useful later. Much later as they are magical and possibly come from a magical book.
But, it'll take a long time to deal with. Let's leave it -and head down the hall."
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Fearless stows the pages into his pack. "If you say so. I don't see it but will take a lot more looking into."
He grabs his crossbow. "We should hurry though. I kind of made a lot of noise during this whole deal with that stone. They are likely to know we are coming."
Once everyone is ready Fearless peeks around the corner.
Cats will take a hit from the wand of CLW and is ready to follow the team down the hall.
CLW
Bow in hand, he takes up the rear guard, pushing any slow halflings ahead of him.
Pinkie gathers up the pages into a neat pile and places them in a bag
"Well lets not leave them here for some miscreant to come and defile"
Once done he draws his sword and prepares to scout ahead agqain once everyones ready.
second perception is for when we start to advance
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Wasting little time, the Watchmen press on deeper into the heart of the Ward of the Wicked with Pinkie in the lead.
Comprising multiple toppled cells, the area looks as though it could collapse at any moment. Thousands of parchment scraps cover the walls, as if in a pitiful attempt to plaster the countless cracks. The flickering of dozens of candles illuminates the artwork’s subject matter: innumerable forlorn, surreal landscapes stretching into bleak infinities. The multitude of visions transforms the room into a threshold of nightmares.
Numerous images repeat: swirling skies, empty cities, towering monoliths, and threatening gures cloaked by mist. They elicit a spark of memory, but the sense of it is fleeting, and impossible to grasp firmly.
In a chamber at the end of the hall, Zandalus waits. Gaunt, with a ponytail of long and exceptionally straight white hair, he sits cross-legged upon a pallet of stained mattresses and pillows like a Keleshite mystic. He wears a layered robe stitched from the shredded remains of multiple patients’ gowns, and carries a steel mace of odd design. His arms and much of his chest are exposed, revealing lines of charcoal and yellow chalk that streak his flesh, the most prominent of which appears to be a yellow flame on his forehead.
When he sees Pinkie in the hall he rises, stiff and awkward, like a puppet on strings. A voice like a tempest wind hissing over broken glass sheers from his split, motionless lips—as though something other than Zandalus himself speaks from inside his body. "Many times have I murdered you in my dreams, yet you survive. How?!"
With his last word a terrible pressure builds in Pinkie's head. Blood drips from his nose and ears and all the voices in his mind cry out in agony.
INITIATIVE
INITIATIVE
Zandalus
Fearless (22/22) *mage armor 31 minutes
Pinkie (27/27) *1 Bleed, Shield of Faith 5 rnds, ghoul fever (1 save)
Cats (24/24)
Mariner (34/40) *-1 Dex
Butterfly (27/26) *ghoul fever (1 save), -1 Dex
"The monoliths and the cities all look to be the same, as if they’re depictions of a single object or place, not just fanciful impressions."
Suddenly Zandalus snaps to and tears into Pinkie's mind. "Whoa! What the hells you doing man?"
Fearless runs forward and grabs ahold of Pinkie to steady him as a rock launches from nearby back at Zandalus from a reaction in the halfling's protective mind.
HP 22/22
AC 18
Spells 1st 2/3
Inspiration 0/3
Tactician 0/1 (Rounds 0/3)
Challenge 1/1
Grabbing the side of his head Pinkie screams in pain and rage in a high pitch almost feminine tone you've never heard come from the boys mouth before charging head long at Zandalus visibly shaking with a rage that almost reminds onlookers of Mariner wading into battle.
"GET OUT OF MY BOYS HEAD"
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His mind racing to properly take in the scene and understand the situation from a tactical standpoint. Yet, there's part of his mind that sees this room as the destructive atmosphere of someone afflicted with a hoarding disease. That faction can only think the word, " GROSS".
He surpresses that part of his mind, as life and death take center stage when blood starts seeping from Pinkie's nose.
Back to tactics: He sure is creepy. He is sitting - prone. No apparent armor. Carrying a mace - so he's probably a cleric. But cleric of who/what? The ancient and mysterious "Yellow". He also has a weird puppet voice.
He's alone - no lackeys for support.
All first appearances are that he's too vulnerable.
There's probably a trap! Be cautious friends. He sits there waiting for us to rush in. Pinkie, grab this wand and speak the command word to heal yourself.
Speaking to Zandalus and also to his Goddess.
So Zandalus or whomever you are - where's the trap you have laid for us? Oh Desna, please reveal his trap.
Seeing Pinkie rush in - BB is left holding the cure wand out with an outstretched hand.
Or listen to the female voices in your head and rush in.
Round 1
Glad to be using his bow rather than his pigsticker, moves up and fires once as he does.
to hit; (-cover)
damage.
"Dangit Pinkie! Cat out of the way!"
AC: 17 (dex + leather)
HP: 24/24
[ dice]1d20+6[/dice] to hit;
[ dice]1d6+2+2d6[/dice] damage.
1 alch fire
Mini Smite: 0/1: Once per day as a swift action, you can add your Charisma bonus to your attack rolls and deal 1 additional point of damage for each class level you have against evil creatures for 1 round. You must have a good alignment to take this trait.
The Mariner was barely pulling out of the malaise of fatigue when he suddenly finds Zandalus before him. He had spent a most of the recovery time throwing up yellow gruel and emptying his stomach. Now he is pissed and hungry; instantly sympathetic to Carl’s junior hunger for little feet. When Pinkie suddenly goes down, the Mariner turns, snarls at Zandalus, and charges.
As Fearless runs forward toward Pinkie a stone lifts from the ground and flies past Zandalus. Pinkie ignores caution and charges the cult leader, leading with Red Destiny, but an unseen force protects the man like armor. Cats moves up and fires an arrow, but he misses as well. Barreling down the hall the Mariner is the only Watchman to land a blow, his longsword slashing into Zandalus' arm. Blood and thick yellow mists pour from the wound.
Suspecting a trap Brother Butterfly practices caution, looking for magical dangers. His spell senses the presence of magic ahead, but he will need more time to determine the source or sources of it.
Zandalus turns his wide-eyed mad gaze upon the Mariner and directs another psychic attack at his mind.
INITIATIVE
Zandalus (-8)
Fearless (22/22) *mage armor 31 minutes
Pinkie (23/27) *1 Bleed, Shield of Faith 4 rnds, ghoul fever (1 save)
Cats (24/24)
Mariner (34/40) *1 Bleed, -1 Dex
Butterfly (27/26) *ghoul fever (1 save), -1 Dex
Round 2
"Cat you, Pinkie!" Cats says cheerfully after Pinkie moves out of the way...
Cats fires once, then moves up closer while drawing his last alchemist fire.
to hit; (-cover)
damage.
AC: 17 (dex + leather)
HP: 24/24
[ dice]1d20+6[/dice] to hit;
[ dice]1d6+2+2d6[/dice] damage.
1 alch fire
Mini Smite: 0/1: Once per day as a swift action, you can add your Charisma bonus to your attack rolls and deal 1 additional point of damage for each class level you have against evil creatures for 1 round. You must have a good alignment to take this trait.
"What is happening?" Fearless looks back as now the Mariner's nose begins to bleed. "He hasn't moved. What is happening to you two?"
The stone whips back as it follows the turning of Fearless's head without him even realizing it.
HP 22/22
AC 18
Spells 1st 2/3
Inspiration 0/3
Tactician 0/1 (Rounds 0/3)
Challenge 1/1
While Zandalus doesn't move much, he does step back and focus his attention. Fearless thinks he might recognize psychic energy at work.
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BB sees magic but also sees his friend injured. As things unfold, he makes a decision.
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Fearless stares at the rock and it orbits back around, flying in to batter Zandalus. Cats fires another arrow that lodges in his leg.
INITIATIVE Continued...
Zandalus (-16)
Fearless (22/22) *mage armor 31 minutes
Pinkie (23/27) *Shield of Faith 4 rnds, ghoul fever (1 save), 1 Bleed
Cats (24/24)
Mariner (34/40) *Align weapon on longsword 19 rnds, -1 Dex, 1 Bleed
Butterfly (27/26) *ghoul fever (1 save), -1 Dex
Pinkie pursues Zandalus relentlessly swinging at him still shaking with rage.
"We've killed your ghouls ...your apostles....your shapeshifters....your your damn haunted thingys ......now STAY THE HELL OUT OF OUR DREAMS!"
The Mariner winces and ignorer the dog whistle in his ears, not even noticing the blood running down his neck. He leaps across the melee and doubles back on the longsword.
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Brother Butterfly focuses on the magic of the room. Still looking for answers and possible traps.
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Pinkie stabs Zandalus again, Red Destiny sinking in deep. When it comes out thick mist billows forth.
The Mariner presses forward, his longsword stopped by invisible armor, and a return blow from Zandalus' mace clanging off his shield.
Brother Butterfly's senses focus more narrowly and auras begin to glow within his sight. He counts over a dozen, but will need more time to narrow down the exact location and strength of each.
Zandalus gives a wordless scream and two darts of glowing force fly from his forehead and smack into Pinkie.
INITIATIVE
Zandalus (-27)
Fearless (22/22) *mage armor 31 minutes
Pinkie (18/27) *Shield of Faith 3 rnds, ghoul fever (1 save), 1 Bleed
Cats (24/24)
Mariner (rage 35/46) *Align weapon on longsword 18 rnds, rage, -1 Dex, 1 Bleed
Butterfly (27/26) *ghoul fever (1 save), -1 Dex, detect magic (rnd 2)
The Mariner presses his sword and shield forward, keeping Zandalus nowhere to back up.
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Knowing he has to abandon his search for information, with just the knowledge of "where" the magical emissions are from , he ceases his magical eyesight.
"I am with you Brothers-in-arms. Keep up the assault and defeat this evil.
The mists are a sign of The Tatterman. Everyone be aware that he may also show up. Use your "Cat" like vision ."
He advances with the wand to use it on a single target next round.
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Round 3
Cats 5' steps up and calls upon his inner need for forgiveness and redemption as he tosses the flask at Zandalus and fires once with his bow.
touch hit;
fire damage.
to hit;
damage.
AC: 17 (dex + leather)
HP: 24/24
[ dice]1d20+6[/dice] to hit;
[ dice]1d6+2+2d6[/dice] damage.
1 alch fire
Mini Smite: 1/1: Once per day as a swift action, you can add your Charisma bonus to your attack rolls and deal 1 additional point of damage for each class level you have against evil creatures for 1 round. You must have a good alignment to take this trait.
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Pinkie watches Mariner run into line next to him ruining any easy chance to flank his opponent and decides to try and tumble past Zandalus for better position,
"Don't worry boy we can teach him some tactics later just focus on the big bad for now"
Fearless in closer and halts just before the stone. "The Tatterman? Where? I don't see anything." He squints at Brother Butterfly as the stone continues to dart around the room.
HP 22/22
AC 18
Spells 1st 2/3
Inspiration 0/3
Tactician 0/1 (Rounds 0/3)
Challenge 1/1
Fearless looks around, part of his mind trying to make sense of things, another sending the rock back into Zandalus, cracking his elbow and causing his hand to angle out at a sickening angle.
Looking for a better opening, Pinkie tries to jump across the rubble, but nearly falls in the process.
Zandalus swings his mace at the opportunity, but Pinkie's reflexes are just too quick. Ducking the mace, he shoves Red Destiny into Zandalus's back. The yellow-clad cultist spits blood collapses to the ground. Thick yellow mists pour from his wounds.
Cats raises his flask, ready to burn away the evil man, but it seems he is already defeated.
The Mariner's rage finally gives out, leaving him gasping for air.
Brother Butterfly channels energy, healing the injured and stemming the flow of blood from Pinkie and the Mariner.
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Pinkies rage finally settles and he starts pacing and mumbling
"When did she show up.....what do you mean who.....I never saw her like that....NO that wasn't me going crazy.....Since when do I refer to myself as my boy...Oh your no help "
then he starts checking Zandalus and the rest of the room
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"Don't let your guard down! Let's Box 4 defense with one searching outside.
The fog and mists are a precursor to The Tatterman. I just KNOW he's around here. These pictures of ruins are his home.
"
With that, he uses a charge of the wand on Mariner and to move Mariner -Cats- him and Fear less back to back.
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