Deus Machina - The Last Grimoire (Inactive)

Game Master Rednal

Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Maybe you're getting used to the environment, maybe the creature was just unlucky... but whatever the reason, all of you can act!

Not sure I want to get used to this. :oP Dunno if this is a surprise round or not, so:

Considering you're all aware of each other, I'd say this is a regular round.

This place is much more exciting than even I'd ever given it credit for, but really. What the hell is that thing? Walter closes his eyes as if in concentration and holds his hand out in front of him, fingers in front of him like he was holding a baseball. A pulsing white light emanates from the book clutched close to his chest, swirling around Walter's neck and right arm, pooling front of his palm before lancing towards the creature.

Magic Missile: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Recharge: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Wooooow...

Aiden grasps his book and launches a ball of energy at creature.

Magic Missile: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Recharge: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Is the room well lit?

Yes, the area is well-lit.

The creature staggered slightly under the force of the blows, but flexed its surprisingly agile body out of the way of Denton's attack... and seeming to have no trouble at all with doing so. It somehow hopped into the air a moment and lashed out with its teeth in retaliation before flying backwards 40 feet down the hall.

Attack (Bite): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

A long tongue came out of its mouth and lightly licked its razor-sharp teeth as the creature settled back onto the ground, well out of melee range. Still, now that it wasn't a blur of movement, the damage to its body was obvious - the monster had clearly been hurt by the magical darts.

Is the creature blocking our way further into the complex?

"Try the magic Denton, it doesn't seem to miss." Aiden says.

I'll call that my turn, not much else to do.

Yes, the creature is blocking your path forward.

Beginning Round 2, I believe?

Denton grabs at the cut on his arm and hisses through his teeth in pain. 4 HP doesn't sound like much but it's over a third of his total, so... pretty intense slash, I'd think.

"Gaiee! Geez!"

Seeing how quickly the... thing shot down the hallway, Denton realizes a physical attack isn't going to work very well.

"Sounds good," he mutters in response to Aiden's comment.

Alright, Mr. Book. Second verse, same as the first. Please?

"Oh, you done bought it now!" he shouts, trying to sound intimidating as he winds up for another "pitch."

SR Check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15
Magic Missile: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
General Recharge (Highest): 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Walter flicks his hand out towards the creature and a brief flash of dark red is accompanied by a spear of light. "Begone foul demon!" Walter yells at whatever it is in front of them and then turns to the others with a wide grin, "I've always wanted to say that."

Attack vs Touch AC: 1d20 ⇒ 1
Damage: 1d3 ⇒ 3
Recharge: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Figures.

As the magical darts struck it, the creature's body seemed to crumple - gas shot out of its interior, filling part of the hallway as it slowly deflated and settled onto the ground, lifeless.

You've successfully defeated the [Unknown Creature]!

The rest of the hallway seems clear enough - though a weaker tremor than many of the earlier ones shakes the library soon after the monster expires. Perhaps more relevantly, though, the Grimoires continue to give off a sense of fear - and it's only getting stronger as the group proceeds forward.

Denton looks over at Walter in reaction to his comment. "But you never thought you'd have a legitimate reason to, right?"

He looks back at the creature as he gingerly touches his injury. "For a balloon, that thing was hellaciously dangerous."

Once again aware of the ball of dread under his arm, he comments, "Erm... is it just my book or are you guys getting a fear vibe too? Because we seem to be moving towards whatever's freaking mine out."

Peering down the hall he mutters, "Which doesn't exactly thrill and inspire me."

"My book seems to feel the same way but we don't have a better option. Let's go. " Aiden says sounding less confident than his words would suggest. He heads forward keeping an eye out for more monsters.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20

"Secure the fear, people. We've got to keep moving and hesitation brings more disaster than it avoids." Walter does his best to mask any trepidation about what lays before them, but he does take a deep breath before moving forward.

Did we just kill a mutated whoopie cushion?

The passage through the rest of the hallway is uneventful - whatever the creatures that have appeared in the building are, there don't seem to be too many of them. However, that's of secondary consideration at the moment, because the room up ahead isn't quite like any of the others. Boxes line the walls of the room, stacked several units high, but the wall directly across the group has been thrown into disarray. It's not difficult to see why.

Skewered straight into the stone walls of the building by a metal shaft more than twice the thickness of a man's arm is none other than the body of Professor Derleth. There is no doubt whatsoever that she is dead - no movement, no breathing, and no looking up when the group enters the chamber. One of her hands, stiffened by death, is grasping onto the shaft of the tool of her demise while the other is clenched into a tight fist at her side.

To the side of her body, a doorway with a glowing exit sign above it has been left hanging open, and a flickering lightbulb is still managing to feebly illuminate the shaft. Another pair of doors, located on the right, seems to lead into yet another connecting hallway, though a dim glow that can be seen through their windows suggests that the fires in that direction are still burning.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10

"Holy...!"

Denton swallows hard and says under his breath, "This isn't right... I'm so sorry, Professor."

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Jaw set, he cautiously approaches her mutilated form and gently teases a crumpled piece of paper from her balled fist.

After looking up at her lifeless face almost apologetically, he spreads the paper to see if it offers any clues to the ongoing madness.

As Denton touches the paper, a surge of hunger and interest erupts from the Pnakotic Manuscripts, and the book almost shudders in anticipation. The paper itself is covered with an insane scrawl; letters seem to have been written at random in every direction, sized differently, and every character seems to have been written by a different person. Nothing on the page resembles a human language... but it almost seems intelligible, as if there were writing right on the edges of your vision that you just can't focus on.

Denton glances up at the others. "This... it's like the books, that crazy looks-like-it-should-make-sense-but-doesn't-quite writing."

He looks down at the tome tucked under his arm. "What's the matter, girl? Did Timmy fall down the well?"

Yeah, okay, that didn't help the tension. Not a time for humor. Let alone a bad excuse for humor. He tries holding the paper at arm's length to his side, just barely at the edge of his peripheral vision, then moving it closer and farther away.

"It really feels like it should read, same as the book."

1d100 ⇒ 64

He looks toward the crook of his arm again. "The book..."

He pulls it out and lets it fall open in his left hand. Holding the paper over it and feeling foolish he says, "Is that it? You want this? Is it maybe a piece torn from one of your pages?"

He moves the paper towards the book and then lets it fall gently into the valley between the open pages.

As the page touches the rest of the book, the Pnakotic Manuscripts snaps shut, standing upright for a moment before giving off a sense of immense satisfaction. It still seems somewhat afraid, but is a little happier now and slowly opens again. The text on the page hasn't changed at all, but it's somehow become more readable and contains information on protective magic to shield the user from certain forms of harm. Oddly, the page now appears to have always been part of the book, despite clearly having been made of a different material before.

The Pnakotic Manuscripts has learned the 1st level spell [Mage Armor]. Keep in mind that this spell has a special recharge time under the relevant rules - 6 hours. You may want to make a note of special recharge times alongside the spells in your profile to help you keep track of these things.

"WHOA!" Denton yelps as the book slams shut of its own accord. "Dude, watch the fingers, okay? Seven, eight, nine, ten... yeah, alright."

He studies the book when it opens again, turning the page over and back several times.

"Free... key..."

He looks up at Walter. "Sarge, you seem to have a better handle on this than the rest of us. Way more than me, at least. Got ANY idea what the heck's going on? Mr. Book seems... happier now. And dayum but that sounds nuts!"

Thanks GM, already have all the recharge times noted and will update them as things progress.

After taking in the exchange between Denton and his tome, Walter walks up next to Denton, opens his own book, and studies the contents of each. He pauses for only a couple of seconds to do what he does best: think. When he speaks, it's a cross of speaking to Denton and at him. "Bear with me on this, I haven't tried to quantify my thoughts yet, so if something I say doesn't make sense, let me know. To start, I'm assuming that something changed, besides the book's feelings, like you mentioned. You have a better understanding of the contents, or a portion of the text has become easier to understand, or something similar. Am I right? Assuming I am, I can also only assume that it would only apply to you because the books have bonded with us, or to us, as individuals and I didn't notice any changes with mine. I don't believe Aiden did either." Walter glances at Aiden as his name gets mentioned before turning back to the books and continuing to speak, gesturing almost wildly, but in a "containted" area as his intuition continues to tie things together and add more questions to the mix, "Come to think of it, we don't really know if these things are going to act like parasites - detrimental or supportive of us - or if they're more like witch's supposed familiars. When we've got the time I'm going to want to sit down with both of you and figure this out."

Here Walter pauses for a breath and holds up his hand asking for silence while he gathers his thoughts. "She was holding that scrap. If it beefed up your grimoire in some way, it's possible that she knew more than she was letting on, or that she just didn't get a chance to explain it all. If she was attempting to use whatever was written down in defense of herself, logic would dictate that your book has absorbed whatever ability was written and is now yours to control. Be cautious, we don't know where any of this power comes from or what it will take from us to sustain itself. I've used it more than either of you, I think, but from now on it might be best if we use it all as sparingly as possible. But I'm rambling now. What else might be of interest here?"

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

"We can figure out what the page is later. Let's go while there's still an exit." Aiden starts heading back towards the exit but stops and looks back at the proffesor, "Dammit, I feel bad leaving her there like that. Hey Walter, think we have time to get her out of here."

Denton laughs when Walter urges caution. "Dude, I was the one looking for a stick to hit that snake thing with when you were all jumping into the deep end of the magic pool. Take your own advice," he says with a chuckle. Then his smile fades as he gets serious.

"But... yeah, I guess you're right about how the bond's changed or whatever. I mean, it's like I have a better understanding of what's in the book, what it can... what I can do now."

"Hey, wait a second. You said 'in defense of herself.' Walter, that makes sense! There's a vibe of something new, something protective now. Whatever she was trying to use, yeah, it's like my book absorbed it."

Denton looks down at the tome thoughtfully. "At dinner, she pulled out another book, remember? You suppose that one was hers personally, same as one has... 'attached' itself to each of us?"

"Right, that'd mean she already knew how they work, at least a little," he says quietly.

He returns his gaze to Walter and his voice returns to normal. "Anyway, maybe that's why the writing felt the same. Maybe that piece of paper was torn from her book."

He runs his hand over the cover of his volume. "The parasite thing, though... I think 'symbiote' might be closer. Before, with that snake thing? When I was talking at my book I got... I dunno, an impression, a really strong impression, that this thing wants to help me. And it didn't seem like it was out of fear or for self-preservation. It was kind of alien, not like you'd get from a person, but it felt... sincere."

He looks around, suddenly remembering their situation. "Aiden's right, we should get out of here and back to ground level. Not a lot of room to maneuver or many options down here."

Going back is difficult, and so going forward is about the option... and after circling around most of the entire bottom floor of the library, there's finally a way out. The stairs lead directly up to the main chamber of the library, which has been thrown into disarray by all the violence that the building has experienced. Most of the bookshelves have been knocked over, papers are scattered everywhere, and a few small fires are starting to grow.

Very little of that is as relevant as the thing standing in the middle of the library. Standing nearly ten feet tall, the creature looks like an enormous top half of a human, but one composed more of shadows than any real substance. It's managed to clear the space around it and create an open area, leaving a ring of ruins about ten feet away from its body. Even as the group watches, it slams its gargantuan hands into the ground to shake the library once again - and a few more cracks appear in the craters it's already made. The creature doesn't seem to have noticed you yet, and it calmly continues to strike at the ground, occasionally tossing a number of books into the growing fires at the far end of the hall.

As if they shared one mind, though, the fear within the Grimoires abruptly subsides. Whatever the grimoires were afraid of seems to have vanished, though that doesn't mean there is no danger within the building...

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18

Aiden ducks behind a shelf and gestures with his hand in a downward motion then points in a direction towards the exit that leads along the wall and places a finger on his lips. Aiden moves ahead keeping an eye on the creature, throwing his hand up of he sees it looking towards them.

Stealth: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

Should I roll something to see if the others understand my rudimentary hand signals.

I think that's obvious enough to not need a check. XD

Oh good lord, don't ask Denny to sneak. We're all doomed!

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Denton's jaw drops when his eyes fall on the... thing. Momentary shock delays his customary remarks long enough for Aiden to signal his suggestion. Nodding silently, Denny tries his best to follow quietly.

Stealth: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (15) - 1 = 14

Surprisingly, not horrible!

What the bloody hell is going on around here! And why would the book would calm down now? Freaky!

Clang, clang!

A loud sound, like bells ringing, echoed through the massive hall as Aiden slowly moved forward. The creature within the center of the hall whirled around, then extended one of its fingers and pointed towards Aiden. A sound like the screams of a star came out of its mouth, even as magical power shot out of its body and towards the young student. Nevertheless, there seemed to be a certain slowness to the creature's movements, and sparks of light flew up from the ground as its body rotated.

Cast: Unprepared Combatant (target: Aiden). DC Will 13 negates.

Initiative: 1d20 ⇒ 3

Everyone else, roll Initiative! Those who beat the creature's can act.

Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15

When you say everyone else roll initiative, do you mean Aiden shouldn't yet?

Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

That means all of you should roll, including Aiden. ^^

"Let's get out of here."

Aiden sprints towards the exit.

Aiden will take a full round move towards the exit.

Aiden, you need a Will save too, I think? Won't affect this action because your initiative's so high, but...

"Yeah, a hanbo ain't gonna do much against that thing," Denton mutters as he follows Aiden.

Initative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16
"Right behind you!" Walter calls as he moves with the group. If anybody were to pay attention, they'd notice a faint glow start to swirl around him, just enough to be noticed, but not with enough definition to signal him casting a spell. Ready Action: Cast Magic Missile if we're chased. "I'm becoming less and less fond of the creatures we're finding."
And you and I are going to have to take a minute to figure out what's going on. Scared up until we stumbled across that thing. I wonder...

Sorry I've been out of play for a bit. Lot's of moving parts and trying to balance them all isn't working out as well as I'd hoped. I've been getting home and falling asleep almost immediately.

Like much of the rest of the library, the main exits have been blocked by debris... but the creature reacts so slowly that the entire group is able to run around part of the wall before its fist crashes into the area they'd come in from. As Aiden moves past, however, an arm reaches out to grab him and pull him into a hallway. The one doing the tugging was a young woman, looking none too happy with what was going on.

"What are you idiots doing!?" she whispered fiercely, beckoning for the others to get into the hallway as fast as they could. "That thing could have killed you!"

A glare quickly replaces the shock on Denton's face. "No, really?" he says in mock awe. "We kinda figured that out, lady. You know, hence the running?"

"As to what we were doing, we were escaping the freaking monster garden that's sprouting in the basement. As in, more running from murder-death-kill." He looks at Aiden and Walter, then back to the woman, speaking more somberly. "We're the only ones who made it."

Then his face gets hard again and he waggles the makeshift hanbo in her direction. "And who the hell are you," he asks coldly, "and what do you know about all this?"

"Yes. You were trying to escape the giant magical monster, so you ran out right in front of it. Instead of, I don't know, staying back in the hall where it was safe and attacking it from there? Rule number one for staying alive when you see a monster: If you don't know what it is, stay away from it." the girl opened the book she was carrying and focused on the monster, which had turned back to pounding on the ground. "Now hurry up and help me kill this thing; the ward I put up isn't going to stop people from noticing what's happening for much longer." Light began to emanate from the pages of her book, and a magical dart shot out of her finger and towards the gargantuan beast. "Freaking calling me out just for this... I could've been studying right now." she grumbled under her breath.

Cast: Magic Missile
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Recharge: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Denton wanted to take this girl down a few pegs. To explain to her that they were sneaking, not running, until that damn alarm went off. To clue her in that staying in the hall wasn't an option -- let alone "safe" -- because of the fires and destruction and monsters behind them. She was unfairly berating them without understanding the situation.

Only, he doesn't say anything. Because some part of him is insisting she does understand the situation. She has a book, and she knows how to use it. She talks about dealing with monsters like it's an everyday thing.

The ward she put up? Stop people from noticing? What the devil is she talking about?

"Help," he mutters in a daze. "Right." Okay book, time to step up. He goes through the wind-up motion that had worked for him before, and throws a ball of energy at the monstrosity.

SR Check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
Magic Missile: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
General Recharge (Highest): 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Walter took the newcomer's berating with a scowl and replied, not realizing that he was echoing Denton's thoughts on the matter, "Staying in the hallway would have been nice, aside from the rest of the monsters that we were attempting to leave behind, and a fire to boot. We were dragged into this mess, Professor Darleth was killed in the initial earthquake or explosion or whatever it was, and we weren't told much of anything before these things started showing up. You'll have to forgive us if we're not thinking clearly!" Walter was practically yelling as he finished but not in anger; it was mostly the adrenaline from combat bringing out his aggressiveness and frustration. Still, he did as the woman asked and attempted to vent his frustration even further on the beast in front of them be channeling the energy swirling around him towards the monster.

Magic Missile: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Recharge: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

As the spell left his hands, Walter muttered to himself, "At least in Afghanistan, we knew what was happening when things went to hell."

The girl sighed heavily. "Look, I'm sure you had... circumstances... that made perfect sense to you." That seemed to be about the limit of what she could give as a peace offering. "But you could have at least checked for magical auras before running out! That alarm could've been anything!" she rubbed her temples for a few moments. "And the Professor's dead on top of all of this? At least I'm not going to have to take responsibility for that one..." She glanced around the corner and back towards the monster, noting the places where the missiles had torn right through its body, before pulling back again. "Okay, short version? Magic's real." Which all of them had probably figured out by this point, so she moved on. "Or, at least, something that vaguely resembles archetypal notions of magical power exists; we think it has something to do with the observer effect and the way that information propagates through space. Please tell me you're with me so far."

"I follow... somewhat. I don't really have the presense of mind for it, right now. I understand enough for now." Aiden says sounding a bit irritated.

Aiden pops out of the door and launches a bolt at the creature.

Magic Missile
Damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Recharge: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

"Well I'm sorry lady, but this stuff's a little new to us, okay? We don't know all the standard operating procedures yet. Just because we have the book doesn't mean we understand enough to go by it, alright? Geez, perspective much?"

When she starts into her actual explanation, Denton's irritation is replaced by interest. "Okay, basically with you, though something along the lines of Maxwell's Demon seems a more likely mechanism."

Recharge: 3 turns left

"That might be in there somewhere, but it's proven remarkably difficult to study." the girl said, nodding calmly. In the main hall, the creature struck the floor again, shaking the foundations of the building. "It would be bad enough if it was just energy, because there's some sort of reverse observer effect that keeps kicking in as well - not observing something anymore also seems to have an effect, and we can't even tell how much we're able to remember of what we're doing. However, we sometimes get creatures like that." she tilted her head towards the hall.

"That one's a sort of bleed-off; did you notice how stupid it is? It can't even figure out how to attack us when we're hiding here. That happens a lot when they form accidentally in the wake of powerful magic, and they seem to get smarter and more dangerous when more attention is paid to their formation. That's why summoning magic is forbidden; you could easily call up something way stronger and smarter than you're prepared to handle." she glanced down at the book she was holding, a bit unhappy with how long it was taking to recharge her energy. "The really important thing is that magic never happens without a will guiding it."

"Wait, you're saying that thing," he says, tipping his head towards their adversary, "is just a side effect?" He lets loose a low whistle.

"But if powerful magic's flying and it takes someone to make magic happen, then... who's doing this?" He looks over his shoulder nervously, as if expecting to see a Big Bad sneaking up behind him.

"This rabbit hole is bit deeper than professors made it seem." Aiden says ducking back into the room.

Aiden doesn't really have any plans until he recharges, so he'll pass for 3 turns.

Weird, I could have sworn I posted again a couple of days ago. Guess I'll try and remember what I wrote.

"So what you're saying is that shit's going to happen if we're watching it, shit's going to happen if we're NOT watching it, you have no idea how to measure the effects until after they're observed, but someone or something is causing everything that's happening. Seems simple to me: we kill Schrodinger."

Recharge: 2 rounds left

"Yeah, that would be nice, wouldn't it?" the girl mused in response to Walter's words. She nodded to Denton a moment later. "Let me know if you figure it out, because I have no idea." her power continued to recharge, and she flipped through a few of the pages in her book. "Welcome to physics, where s#$% happens when it shouldn't. There's a dorm on the south side of campus; Halpin Chalmers Memorial Hall. Once we're done here, go straight there. I'll have somebody know to let you use the guest rooms, and yes, it should be safe there in case anything else happens tonight. Any questions?"

Denton snorts. "More than you can imagine. But how about the one I asked before: Who the heck are you? And how do you know so much?"