DM Delmoth's Strange Aeons (Inactive)

Game Master Delmoth

Mara moved up behind the enemy and waited for it to attack Mala. When it reached out with its claw, she swung her backpack at the back of its head.

Aid another (Mala AC), improvised weapon, Bless: 1d20 + 1 - 4 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 - 4 + 1 = 3

I can't move my token because I'm posting from my phone. Mala can flank with her if he steps into Julius' space.

"HELP!!", Mara shouted as loud as she could. "We need help fighting this shapeshifter! If you can hear me, come quickly!

Gotta try something - we're getting into TPK territory here.

Mala bares his teeth as his second ally falls. A vein becomes visible on his head as his bloodcurdling stare falls on the creature. "I WONT DIE HERE! WE WONT DIE HERE! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARDS!" Mala Viciously assaults the creature, aiming for what he thinks of the sensitive parts.

Attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
Damage: 2d6 + 5 ⇒ (6, 2) + 5 = 13

Daddy said I shouldn't use it, but Mommy always said it was a gift. I don't know what it is, but maybe it can help.. Oscar hears the tiny voice of Sara whispering as she kneels down and touches Dervak with a glowing hand.

cure moderate wounds: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (3, 3) + 4 = 10

She looks towards Oscar with a look of fear in her eyes, as if she's afraid he might slap her for using her to gift.

Dervak may act. Will bot for him if needed

Another chance? If Gorum will it...
Dervak stands, steps forward, and attacks the creature.
Falchion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
Finally!
damage: 2d4 + 6 ⇒ (2, 2) + 6 = 10
If he goes negative, he will use Orc Ferocity and Rage... And something horrific will emerge.

Oscar's arrow glances harmlessly off of the creative's leather armor.

The creature screams in pain as the creature it thought was finished comes back and slices into it. "No!" it cries out. "I.. I killed you. I gave you such pain, felt your body come apart in my claws..."

It attacks Dervak with one claw and Mala with another.

Claw to Dervak: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 241d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Claw to Mala: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 131d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Sara, on her turn, takes a five foot step and places another glowing hand on Dervak's back.

cure light wounds: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Once more, Mara's eyes when black, her color drained away, and glowing stardust surrounded the shapeshifter. "The stars do not favor you!", she told the creature.

Using her final daily use of the Stardust spirit ability (supernatural, does not provoke). M1 has -1 to attack rolls and sight-based perception rolls for one round.

I think Dervak would befit from Bless, even though he was unconcious when Mara cast it. Ironically, the only person who has added the bonus so far, Oscar, is the one person she couldn't affect (no line of sight).

"I AM DERVAK THE ABOMINATION! I am not yet granted rest!"
Thanks to Sara's healing, Dervak just barely keeps at bay the horror within that struggles to break free. Another hit from this monster and he may not be able to... He feels the very air around him start to warp, tear, and bleed. He senses unearthly things moving in the corners.
He moves into a flank (over Julius's bleeding form) and attacks.
Falchion, Flank, Bless: 1d20 + 5 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 5 + 2 + 1 = 14
Gore, Flank, Bless: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 2 + 1 = 16
The creature just manages to dodge.

Stabilization check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17 Success!

Julius starts to breathe a bit easier, the bleeding coming to a stop on its own.

bless is a burst, which means it hits everyone applicable in the radius, and goes around corners and through doors/windows, like channel

Mala is elated to see dervak charge through the door and zealously enter the fight once more. Bashing the creatures incoming claw aside he yells. "HA! WE ARE UNDYING! FEAR US CREATURE, FOR YOU HAVE TAKEN YOUR FINAL BREATH! MAY PHRASMA JUDGE YOU TO HELL!" Mala drives the point home by slicing, once again, for the creatures neck.

Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Damage: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (6, 4) + 6 = 16

I feel like the king of useless here! :x

Hey, at least you're conscious!

Mala's envigored attack rips into the creature with a gory spray of blood and viscera, and it falls unconscious!

After such a difficult, strenuous combat, you all feel more confident in your abilities. Level up! Yay!

Once disposed of, the corpses don't contain much of significance. One is wearing studded leather, the other regular leather armor, and there is a heavy crossbow and a longspear on the ground. Each had a pouch with a few coins that equals a total of 40gp.

Once Sara sees that it is safe, she hustles over to Julius to heal him.

cure moderate wounds: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (4, 8) + 4 = 16

She looks tired after, and her eyes start glancing around in a haunted, furtive manner.

"That was amazing Sara!," Mara said with admiration. "We couldn't have defeated them without you!"

Mara went over to Dervak and laid her hand on his shoulder. "Mommy, heal this warrior's wounds!", she said.

Cure Light Wounds (Dervak): 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

She examined the studded leather armor, and the spear. "I think I can use these,"she said. "They seem somehow familiar to me." She cleaned the armor and put it on.

Julius wakes up with a gasp. "Oh, man...how...Sara? How'd you do that?" He looks down, noticing that his wounds have closed. "Huh. Nice save, kid. I owe you one..."he ruffles Sara's hair with a smile. "You alright?"

Before she can answer, his eyes widen. "Oh! I'm remembering things...think that doppelganger knocked something loose...I've got these equations and recipes in my head. Remembering stuff from Professor Lorrimor's...wait no, he died, and then we got...Root? Yeah, Professor Root...I've got stuff from her lectures-guys, I think I was like a student or something? Anyone got some paper? Or hand me a book, or something-I've gotta get these written down."

First level of Investigator! Do I just like...automatically get my formulae book? It's never especially clear how multiclassing into prepared spellcasters work. We're doing average HP from now on, right?

I think you can assume that you have gathered rudimentary materials to copy formulae onto. Once you have the opportunity you can get a proper book for a pittance and copy them over, and yes avg. HP

Sara blushes at the attention, wincing when her hair gets ruffled. Her eyes dart around from time to time, as if something is spooking her, but she doesn't say anything

The Dark Whisper is unusually angry, rather than trying to be persuasive.
You FOOL! I alone can save you. You refuse me, trusting in these weak mortals and hoping for a miracle. Your luck will not last.
Not this time, demon.
Dervak's chest heaves.
"Mala, Mara, Sara, Oscar, Julius. Thank you. You have saved me more than you know.
I must rest."

Sensing Sara's discomfort, Mara went over to her. "What's wrong, honey?", she asked. "The bad things can't hurt you now."

When Mara gets close to Sara, there is a moment where she can almost hear whispers; the sound is more like a memory, barely perceptible, difficult to distinguish.

Sara looks up with large scared eyes. "When is use it, the whispers start, and stuff moves around. It scares me like it scared papa."

"It natural to be scared of things we don't understand, Sara," Mara said. "When we learn more, we start to understand, and then we don't have to be scared. Your powers are a gift that can be used to help people. That's a good thing, Sara. It's good to be able to help people."

"It seems psychic in nature." Oscar observes, kneeling down next to Sara with a smile. "Something I'm rather practiced in. Little girl, while I may remember not my past, I know plenty of things to help you learn to cope with your abilities, not fear them."

Standing, he looks at the carnage and shakes his head. "Barely made it out of this one. Anyone against me grabbing that crossbow? I can use it when I run out of arrows, and it will punch harder."

She doesn't reply, and looks really uncomfortable at the attention.

"Let's go and find a place for Sara to rest," Mara said to the others. "Shall we go to the other survivors?"

Julius nods. "Yeah, I think this area's pretty well cleaned out. You, Sara and Oscar should maybe stay behind us though-we'll vouch for you with the guards."

He hauls himself to his feet and puts his new formulae book in his backpack. "Man, I'm exhausted. Think they've got room for us to sleep there? You'd think being on the brink of death would be an adrenaline rush, but I just want to sleep now."

Dervak will walk up front with Julius.
"Do we need to bring the heads?"

Mala hacks at the neck of one of the creatures in reply to dervak "Might as well."

Mara did her best to distract and comfort Sara while Dervak and Mala attended to their grisly task. Afterwards she said, "Why don't you go on ahead with your trophies? We'll follow at a distance so Sara doesn't have to see them up close."

"I agree. Let's do this, guys. Make sure those guards can see the heads as we approach, okay?"

Julius strides in the middle of Mala and Dervak, making sure to add a little bit of swagger in his step as he returns to the guard post to drop off the heads. "So...think we can hang out with you guys now?"

"We have been to the brink of death and back. We need to rest before we do more fighting on your behalf. If you have a secure shelter, we would rest there."

Sara seems greatful for Mara's offer to walk with her. She reaches up to grab her hand but, oddly, misses it two or three times. She stamps her foot in frustration before finally snatching Mara's hand in a death grip.

When Julius and Dervak come in visible range of the barricade, they might be surprised to find four armed crossbows pointed at them, and trembling slightly in what might be fear. The stout guard curses when the pair get close enough and shouts at his men,"Stand down, stand down you twitchy fools." They slowly lower their weapons.

"Hey I'm sorry about that. We heard a lot of commotion out there, even a shout for help. We were just getting ready to send out a few men..."

"We had a great deal of trouble with a few of the things back there. But we handled it. Barely." Oscar replies, gesturing to the decapitated trophies. "Here. Some heads."

-Posted with Wayfinder

Mara had a feeling that Sara had a few more secrets that she hadn't yet revealed, but decided to bide her time rather than pressing the girl with more questions. After the others had finished presenting their trophies to the guards, she led Sara forward. "My name is Mara, and this is Sara," she said to the guards. "She's tired, and needs a place to rest."

"Woah!" one of the guards shouts in surprise, and a couple of crossbows whip up menacingly. The stout guard curses again, putting a hand on the arm of one of the jumpy guard's and forces him to lower his weapon. "Hold yer fire, damn you! Hold. Yer. Fire!" After everyone calms down, he turns to address the newcomer. "I'm gonna give these here heroic strangers the benefit of the doubt and trust that ya' aren't going to turn into a crazed monster at the first chance. Oh, and you found a child? How in the bells did you manage to survive out there, little one?"

"I ran and hid," she says proudly, and the guard chuckles. "Smart. And lucky. Well come on, I'll take you lot to Winter." Woth that they make space through the makeshift barricade and turn to walk down the hall with the expectation you will follow.

"She's very resourceful," Mara said approvingly. She and Sara followed the guards. As she walked, she tried to get a sense of the attitudes of the guards and others here.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24

Oscar will follow, tilting his head at the name mentioned. "Winter? Is she in charge?"] he asks.

"I think she is, they mentioned her earlier too. If she's not in charge, then she's close to the top." Julius follows the guards, still not entirely letting his guard down.

Mala relax a little as they head into the guards base, though after noticing a limp he taps Oscar on the shoulder and points to his wounds. "If anything goes wrong I'd like to be in shape to help take it out."

Dervak follows.
Although he is not good at seeing through disguises, he has developed faster reflexes after being caught off-guard for the last time. (Uncanny Dodge! Not so much for keeping the +1 Dex as for avoiding Sneak Attack.)

"Where is this Winter?" Dervak growls.

"I imagine someone's gone to find her," Mara said to Dervak. "If she's the leader, she must be very busy right now."

While they waited, she noticed that Mala was limping. "Let me have a look at that," she said. "I thing I might be able to help." She concentrated and touched his wounds.

Healing Hex (Mala): 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Let me know if I have to wait until after a full rest to use my lvl 2 ability.

"Many thanks milady." Mala groans, as many of his wounds close. "Should keep me from dying in a single blow should it come to that."

"Hopefully Winter can give us more information about what's happened," Mara said. "Does anyone know anything about her?"

Mala shruggs "Nope. But if she's the leader she's gata know what's going on here, at least more so than everyone else."

"That's where you're wrong friends." Says a dark haired woman as she steps through a set of double doors at the crook of the hallway. "Because I haven't the faintest god's damned clue whats going on." She runs her hand through her hair and sighs. "But seeing as how you've pretty much cleared out that side of the building, She gestures to the three heads held by the group. maybe you can help us with a few other things?" She waves for you to follow her as she retreats back through the double doors, waiting to hear any questions from inside. "Oh, and leave the heads outside... We have kids in here."

"Did you hear that Sara?", Mara asked. "There are other children here for you to play with!" Holding Sara's hand, she followed the other woman through the the doorway.

Oscar shrugs and follows Winter in. "Well it was worth a shot." he admits.

She seems normal. Not obviously insane or cursed by...things... But some curses you can't see.
"We will help if we can. Tell us what is wrong."
Dervak drops a head on the ground before proceeding in.
Wait, did that just move? No, it's dead. I think.

Julius shrugs back at Oscar, clearly disappointed that the woman doesn't know anything more. "So you're the famous Winter, then?"

As you head through the double doors you notice a lightly guarded set of curtains a ways down the hall. You don't get long to look however, as the guards that let you through the barricade rush you into the room and close the door. The room is clearly a chapel of some kind, as is made clear by the shrines to a variety of gods set up along the back wall. Set up in front of the shrines are various occupied beds, mostly makeshift with a few actual beds peppered within. The sheets are filthy though and the smell is a little overpowering, these folks have clearly been here for a while without any access to cleaning facilities. There are about 16 survivors in the room, most of them are either young, old or injured.

As the door closes and you begin taking in the scenery, the woman you assume to be Winter pivots and looks at you all. "Famous? No. I'd be famous if I cut down every last creature down that hall and brought the survivors here their heads... So your the famous warrior's, eh? A small smile creeps across winters face at her own joke. "Anyways. Big guy, without a shadow of a doubt I have something for you to do." She gestures Dervak towards a pile of furniture about twice his height. "Break it down into firewood, all the able bodied are busy guarding so we've been having a bit of a shortage. The rest of you aren't as clearly applicable though, What can you do for us that we can't do ourselves?"