Satisfied that the gnome it had tackled showed no signs of rejoining the battle, Palisade turned to scan the battlefield, finding itself in an impasse. The subject was still in large, but their party - most importantly Lady d'Deneith, of course - were already heavily wounded while Lucian showed only minor wounds despite the odds against which he had been fighting. And now with the promise of uncontested withdrawal from the ambassador, Palisade worried the guards might turn on them if they were to seek to detain the obviously formidable ex-agent.
With its weapon held at the ready, Palisade moved carefully closer to the banks of clearly mystical mists that hid both Lady d'Deneith and companion Lucina Mindragus, so that in the eventuality the subject were to move closer it could intercept.
Lucina groaned as she heard the dragon masked woman give orders to abandon the fight. We need more allies... She thinks to herself, as she begins a summoned spell.
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
, fail
, miss
, hit
Vi considered chasing after the vampire, but only for a moment. She was badly injured, and Bronwyn had been shot. If they were going to get that sword back, they needed their own weapons. And more holy water. And magic. And silver. And less blood...
Swaying a bit, Vi made her way over to the injured lady in the dragon mask. "Palisade! We need help here!"
"Palisade! We need help here!"
"Please form an orderly line and wait for diagnosis," Palisade said calmly as it walked over to deal with the most important person's injuries. Priorities, after all, were priorities. It quickly inspected the quarrel wound, noting with relief that bleeding was minimal.
"Diagnosis. Bolt was stopped by muscles before piercing into the heart. Addendum. The strata of layered fat on the chest region will likely to have absorbed a lot of the bolt's momentum.” The ‘forged met Bronwyn’s eye with its level gaze. ”The bolt will have to come off before the wound can be healed. You might experience some discomfort in the process. This one will remove the bolt on count of five. Five. Four. Three…” and out came the bolt, as Palisade employed the tried and true trick to fool the patient not to expect the pain. Thankfully the bolt hadn’t been barbed to prevent removal without surgery. A moment later the ‘forged’s armored palm was laid over the wound and a touch of divine energy stemmed the bleeding and banished most of the pain.
Silversheen: This shimmering paste-like substance can be applied to a weapon as a standard action. It gives the weapon the properties of alchemical silver for 1 hour, replacing the properties of any other special material it might have. One vial coats a single melee weapon or 20 units of ammunition.
Squeak already has a dose of it.
Lucina waved her hand to the fire elemental she had just summoned, telling it stand guard. She considered briefly sending it to pursue, but realized she would be sending the creature by itself into a fight it had no chance of winning. Instead she turned her attention to Vi and Bronwyn. Assuming that Bronwyn would, as always, receive preferential treatment from the warforged, despite Vi's wounds looking more severe, she approached the Changeling. "Raise your arm." She ordered with her usual apathetic tone. Applying pressure to stop the bleeding, she began allowing positive energy to seep into the wound. "It is not much, but it should prevent you bleeding out or getting an infection..."
Lucina; summonning is an action that takes 1 round to cast and you were hit in the middle of casting and your casting was disrupted so no fire elemental unless I'm missing something...
-Posted with Wayfinder
I read that you stepped out of the obscuring mist which is why you saw Lucan leaving and decided to cast. If you remained inside the obscuring mist then no, you did not get hit.
Sure, let's do that but you forfeit the rest of the duration. That is, you can't turn it back on if you still had time remaining.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Bronwyn swooned a bit from pain and exertion. Feeling light-headed, she collapsed into a nearby chair just as Palisade reached her. She didn't even have the energy to balk at his 'fat' comment.
She almost fainted as a new wave of pain surged through her body as Palisade ripped out the embedded bolt. Of course, when Palisade was done making sure the worst of the wound was healed then her concern became her dress. She bemoaned the state of it, "Look what the blood has done to my beautiful dress." She speaks a few words and magically cleans up the blood and other dirt. Thankfully the neckline had been such that the bolt hadn't pierced the fabric and made a hole.
Now that she was no longer in dire straights, Bronwyn gets to her feet. She stamped her foot in frustration. "The sword is in the wind, again."
She moved over to Vi. "Are you okay? Did the sword do anything unnatural to you?"
Vampire/sword connection: ???
There were NO rumors or stories about your uncle being or acting like a vampire. There were stories about his 'evilness' towards late in his career (after he was given the sword).
I still get the 'spinning circle of death'. :(
Vi winced at Lucina's gentle handling, but at least it felt like the main artery wasn't spurting any more. "Thanks," she said, with feeling. To Bronwyn, she said, "I don't know, releasing my spleen onto the floor would have been pretty unnatural. But otherwise, I feel ok. I think."
To the woman in the blue dragon mask, Vi said, "Are you okay? Why did Lucan attack you?"
With a creaking, grinding noise Squeak folded his blades back into his body.
He quickly turned to the downed guard, looking for any sign of life.
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
Action 1
Vi looked at the woman, who seemed so calm after coming so close to death. "We don't know as much as we should. We're here on behalf of the Brelish Crown, and we're supposed to apprehend him and return the stolen sword. But it's becoming more and more apparent that we're seriously unqualified for the task. How about you? Why are you trying to stop him?"
Action 2
Vi stared at the ambassador, who was clearly hiding something. "You MUST be joking. If we'd all worked together, we could have stopped him. You KNEW we were out to stop him. If you had ordered your guards to concentrate on Lucan, instead of FILLING OUR WIZARD WITH ARROWS, we could have taken him down. You have some reason for acting the way you did, and you had better start explaining yourself! Or would you rather explain to this man's family," she gestured to the dead gnome,"why he died unnecessarily and in vain?"
Action 1:
Bronwyn waited to hear what the blue dragon masked lady had to say for herself before adding anything else. She wanted to tell everyone about the cursed sword so that her uncle's name may be cleared but these people, politicians, had proven to be less than trustworthy.
Action 2:
Bronwyn used her upbringing to help Vi address such an important person as the Ambassador. The wizard curtsied, "Ambassador, with all due respect, a little candor on your part is needed right now so that Lucan can be stopped. Him being a vampire is bad enough but soon the sword he carries will take over and he will no longer be reasoned with. At least now he still listens to his sister. We need information, not secrecy and subterfuge."
Palisade left the talking to the ladies, well aware of its own limitations in that particular field. Instead, it busied itself with healing, using the blessing granted it by the Creator-Goddess to mend companion Vi Olaro's and Lady d'Deneith's wounds.
With these matters dealt with, the 'forged turned its attention to the body of the man apparently bitten to death by the subject, his body drained of blood. That certainly suggested certain things... what was it that seemed to attract vampiric creatures to them?
"I am sorry." Squeak said to the approaching gnomes "It would take significant magic to bring him back." The warforged nodded to the ambassador, stepped back and, wand in hand, started to repair himself. 'I hate arguments. I hope we can all be reasonable.'
Avoiding the organics he stepped over to Palisade "Are you injured?" he asked "Did Eldest Brother sustain damage during you - very impressive - crash tackle?"
"I think what Vi here is trying to say is, your sudden concern for our well being, as touching as that may be..." Lucina began, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "...Is surprising given your total lack of interest in assisting us earlier when Vi here informed you that a dangerous man was here looking for you. When we came to you for help and information...hoping to prevent a violent outcome...But you wanted to play games, didn't you?" She pointed to the dead guard, as her voice grew angry and loud. "Well? Do you still need more fun? Or are you ready to start spilling the information that you obviously know..."
"Are you injured?" he asked "Did Eldest Brother sustain damage during you - very impressive - crash tackle?"
"Negative; the gnome softened the impact considerably. This one was impressed by the individual's... elasticity. As to Elder Brother, worry not, Abbot Squeak," Palisade said, lifting its cook's hat slightly to reveal the twitching wire whiskers. "The High Priest is wise in the ways of the world. No doubt he foresaw the need for a high perch and acted accordingly."
Update tomorrow, too long of work day today and it looks like it will be a repeat for Thursday. :(
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
PS: Google sites is working for me again. If not working, then use the 'direct download' link provided before.
Action 3:
Bronwyn put her hands on her hips. "You seriously think that that is just another magical sword? It couldn't be further from the truth." She sighed sadly, "That sword was gifted to my uncle and made him do terrible things. Just as it was beginning to be recognized as the evil thing that it is, it was stolen by Lucan before it could be properly understood. That sword is evil and is able to affect the actions of whoever wields it."
Lucina let out a disapproving noise, but otherwise let Bronwyn speak to the woman. I guess appealing to her compassion was a waste of time. However, I wonder how her supervisors would feel if they knew she was cashing in favors instead of working in the interests of her country...
Action 1
Vi sighed in frustration. "You people keep saying that. We're only lucky that you're bumbling and lack of help didn't get us killed! Yes, he's good, and yes, the sword makes him better. But even the best fighter in the world can't stand up against what could have been 11 of us!" Taking a deep breath, Vi removed her mask and rearranged her features into the more familiar form of Bronwyn's friend Viara.
Getting her temper under control, she asked Meena, "What did your people tell you about him? Why did they want him brought in? Is this about the sword as well?"
Action 3
Vi stared at her in amazement. "You're STILL playing at that game? Fine. Do you not know the difference between a magic sword and a cursed one? Do you think he was born a vampire? This isn't some run-of-the-mill magic blade. This is a very old and very deadly cursed item, and its control on him is only going to grow. Now tell us where he bloody is!"
Squeak left the arguing to the organics and - after a respectful head nod to Elder Brother - strategised with Palisade.
"We need to revise our tactics in light of this new information. We need to work out exactly what he is capable of. We also need to determine how to best harm him - even my holy blades barely damaged him. I need a way to silver and enchant them. It may be easier to get built a special purpose weapon we can use on him. Given his speed, possibly crossbow bolts. We should also stock up on holy water and any other items he may have a weakness to. Importantly, we need to decide whether Bronwyn becoming a vampire would constitute a failure of our primary mission."
Action 2:
The wizard curtsied before briefly taking the Ambassador' extended hand, "I am Bronwyn d'Deneith and you've already met Squeak and Palisade. This is Vi and Lucina. We've been commissioned by the Brelish government to recover Lucan and the sword and return them."
Action 3:
Bronwyn kept her answers to the specific questions asked. Since the Ambassador dealt with information like it was currency, the wizard didn't want to give away any more leverage than necessary. "The sword indeed has a name which is Soul Blade. It was given to my uncle by King Kaius III. I know it's cursed because my uncle was executed for things that he would never have done."
Action 4:
Bronwyn stifled a gasp of realization. Viorr had told them that Karrnath had tried to obtain the sword from Breland via diplomatic channels but had failed. It didn't seem like a coincidence that Lucan was on his way to Karrnath. It seems like the sword is either finding its way back to Karrnath or else Lucan has been hired to deliver it.
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Action 1
“We need to revise our tactics in light of this new information. We need to work out exactly what he is capable of. We also need to determine how to best harm him - even my holy blades barely damaged him. I need a way to silver and enchant them. It may be easier to get built a special purpose weapon we can use on him. Given his speed, possibly crossbow bolts. We should also stock up on holy water and any other items he may have a weakness to. Importantly, we need to decide whether Bronwyn becoming a vampire would constitute a failure of our primary mission.”
”Intrigued. A valid option to consider. This one believes a number of Karrnathi would be eager to argue that post-alive people are still people as long as they don’t let their state prevent them from living a fulfilling life,” Palisade answered. ”It might not be what our original mission briefing intended, but this one sees no reason to consider the mission failed in case of that particular eventuality.”
waiting on a couple of more posts before moving this forward...
Don't you people want to ride on a House Lyrandar airship? :)
Questions?
Game on!
"The airship?" Lucina asked bluntly. "When does it leave? Where is it leaving from? ...and how does one get aboard?"
“I provided Lucan with a password that grants free passage on a House Lyrandar airship leaving from Trolanport for Karrnath this evening. With what you said of the sword, maybe the
destination is not of his own choosing…”
Bronwyn's eyes lit up, "Ooohhh, a House Lyrandar airship is how one should always travel. Magebred horses are nice but you don't get saddle sores from the airship. Looks like we're in for another adventure. Provided the Ambassador is kind enough to extend the same favor to us as she did Lucan."
However, the wizard was conflicted about the destination. As much as going home to Karrnath had some appeal, there were aspects of Karrnath that weren't so desirable.
Action 2
Vi rolled her eyes as Bronwyn made her niceties. If they didn't need this woman's information, Vi would have been happy to throw a glass of wine in her face, stomp out, and toilet paper her mansion later.
Action 3
Vi nodded, allowing Bronwyn to answer the questions directed at her. The wizard had a better head for that sort of thing, and Vi wasn't sure she could be civil to the ambassador.
Action 4
"Karrnath? Isn't that where it came from in the first place?" Vi shook her head. "This is ridiculous. We could have stopped this tonight. Can you please, pretty please, with secrets on top, provide us passage on said airship before more people are killed by this madman?"
Lucina mostly remained quiet, knowing that most of the words she would like to say to Ambassador Krell would help to advance their mission. However, eventually she muttered to the others, "I think we have wasted enough time here. We should get our possessions. Perhaps do a quick supply run...and then make haste for the airship..."
Lucina looked over to Meena with a certain degree of suspicion. "...and what is your plan? Will you still be pursuing him?"
Action 2
"Do you have any magical silver weapons hanging around? We could use five of those. Or do you know where we could get some on the way to the docking towers?"
Action 3
Action 2:
“Karrnath? Isn't that where it came from in the first place?”
Bronwyn nodded mutely as she tried to process her tempestuous feelings on the matter.
“While I cannot give you the same benefit I did to Lucan, I can tell you some things to help you try and catch him.”
Bronwyn looked aghast at Neya, "Why not? Someone as connected as you should surely be able to secure us passage on the same airship. You should be doing more than just 'trying' to help us catch him."
Action 3:
The wizard was aware that they needed additional supplies but was also concerned that in doing so, they would miss the airship. Bronwyn smiled sweetly at the Ambassador, "In the interest of time, I'm sure that the Ambassador will provide us with whatever supplies she can. She does want us to catch Lucan, after all. And if word got out that she knew about the threat Lucan posed and didn't do absolutely everything in her power to stop him, well, it would prove to be a social black eye. Isn't that right, Ambassador?"
"Agreed." Squeak affirmed "Though I would prefer that she had had a chance to manufacture children first."
"Given we are damaged, have used up our resources, know that we are incorrectly equipped and have lost the element of surprise, I posit that we should not chase him, and instead concentrate on damaging the air ship and/or tower in such a way as to render it unusable."
"Given we are damaged, have used up our resources, know that we are incorrectly equipped and have lost the element of surprise, I posit that we should not chase him, and instead concentrate on damaging the air ship and/or tower in such a way as to render it unusable."
"This one will have to advice against that, unit Squeak. House Lyrandar is quite protective of its assets, and adding them to our opponents would not help our cause," Palisade said, shaking its head. "However, the concern of improper preparation is valid. Perhaps we could requisition some Silversheen to modify our existing weapons to better battle a high-class undead our subject seems to have become?"
Action 1
"Yes, so you've mentioned. It's almost as if you don't want us hanging around." Honestly, Vi was beginning to understand Lucina's view of the humanity a little better. "Can you at least tell us how long the journey is?"
Action2
"I think we'll have to make do with what we have for now. Perhaps we can pick up more when we land. But I think for now we have to hustle."
Action 3
Fortunately, their hotel was between the ambassador's house and the towers. They made a quick stop to pick up the rest of their weapons and belongings. Vi quickly stripped out of her slashed and bloodied finery, and changed back into her travelling garb. She also dug a cure potion out of her bag and downed it - she couldn't continue chasing Lucan if her wounds were opening every times she bent over.
As they left the hotel again, Vi said, "Okay, what's the quickest way to get there? Walk? Boat?"
Action 1:
Bronwyn took the book from the Ambassador with her thanks but let someone else take the sword. It's not like she'd know what to do with it - all she knew was to aim the pointy-end away from herself. "I knew there was a way you'd be able to help us. Even if it was a little late." She clutches the book tightly, "I'm looking forward to a little light reading on the airship. Thank you, Ambassador."
Action 2:
Bronwyn agreed with Palisade, "Sorry Squeak but I don't think we have the time or the know-how to damage the airship and we don't want to anger House Lyrandar. Our best bet is to get ourselves on to that airship and then come up with a plan. Karrnath should have whatever we may need that we don't have time to get before leaving."
Action 3:
Bronwyn chose not to change yet. She figured she could do so once aboard the airship. She grabbed the rest of her things and spilled out into the street along with the others. She looked at the docking tower in dismay because she had a feeling they'd need to run and she hated running. She only ever ran if her life was in danger because privileged ladies didn't run. She was beginning to regret not changing. She didn't like the idea of sweating in her nice dress.
"Okay, what's the quickest way to get there? Walk? Boat?"
The wizard sighed dispiritedly, "I'd say neither. Squeak and Palisade won't do well in a boat and we don't have time to just walk. We'll probably need to run."
"Given we are damaged, have used up our resources, know that we are incorrectly equipped and have lost the element of surprise, I posit that we should not chase him, and instead concentrate on damaging the air ship and/or tower in such a way as to render it unusable.""This one will have to advice against that, unit Squeak. House Lyrandar is quite protective of its assets, and adding them to our opponents would not help our cause," Palisade said, shaking its head. "However, the concern of improper preparation is valid. Perhaps we could requisition some Silversheen to modify our existing weapons to better battle a high-class undead our subject seems to have become?"
"I have some silversheen - I was planning on using it to highlight scales the next time we had poached salmon. I only have enough for a single dose, however." Squeak responded.
Lucina also reached for the book, but retracted her hand in awkward disappointment as Bronwyn accepted it and clutched tightly. Looking a bit sulky, she muttered, "We should get moving. We have an airship to catch...."
Glancing over her party, she saw the girls were still injured, especially Vi. Turning to her, she said, "Since we are rushing, perhaps into danger let me diminish your wounds as much as I can." Pulling out the pearl she had bought, she focused on the curing magic she had invoked earlier.
"So? Is there a faster way for us than to take the magebred horses?" Lucina asked the others.