Fatespinner's Darkness Rising

Game Master Fatespinner

Kamau smiled slightly at this, crossing his blades over his chest. "Ah, sacrament-killing. At last, the purpose is found."

When the party expresses their agreement, the vampire beams. "Excellent! I much prefer cooperation to violence."

The vampire's form shimmers briefly and attains a mist-like consistency once more. The cloud, still in humanoid shape, crosses the channel to reform on the party's side of the tunnel. Solace is mere feet from the creature now, clearly noting his bloodshot eyes, porcelain skin, and a scent that recalls memories of both opulence and bloodshed. He addresses the party with a sweeping gesture of his hand.

"My name is Octavian Demescu. I have been lord of these channels for nearly a century now. There are others of my kind in Caliphas, but you need not concern yourself with them for now. What is of concern, however, is those who would do harm to myself and my family."

Octavian goes silent for a moment as if listening to some sound far off in the distance before returning to his speech. "The first concern is a warrior in service to the church of Pharasma by the name of Xander Dray. He is a foreigner who came to Caliphas for the sole purpose of exterminating my kind some twenty years ago. Begrudgingly, I must admit that he is quite capable in his trade and I can tolerate his meddling no longer."

The vampire spits into the channel as a sign of his distaste for the hunter. "The second target is a woman. An old witch who lives beyond the outer walls and peddles her wares to adventurers coming into and out of the city. Her magic is quite potent, and her particular specialties make her a constant thorn in my side. I know that she has retained the service of some otherworldly entities to protect her from us in the past. You would do well not to underestimate her."

Smiling once more, the vampire turns to regard each of the party members in turn. "Bring me incontrovertible evidence of their demise and I shall reward you with the items you desire. Should you also be willing, the hunter is in possession of a vial which contains the blood of an ancient vampire that is of great interest to me. This item is likely stored in the vault of his home somewhere and you may need to get... creative... in order to acquire it. The witch will undoubtedly possess a great many objects of occult interest which you are, of course, free to take once she is disposed of. All that I ask from her is that you acquire her familiar. It is a black cat with a white streak along its side. The animal must be returned to me alive or it is useless. Any questions?"

Albrekt nods once and grunts in agreement;

"Urrhh."

"No questions at the moment, perhaps later though..." Solace has obvious interest in her eyes as she looks at the vampire. Yeah, she is rather fascinated by undead.

Turning to the others she asks: "Shall we take our leave now?"

Albrekt takes a final look upon the mist;

"Ja"

He turns to leave, then taps Kamau on the shoulder, before thumping his breastplate;

"You want? Too Licht für Albrekt..."

"I think we have what we need for now. I assume we can return if we need more information"

"Return? Hmmm... perhaps," the vampire's eyes drift, looking to each of the adventurers in turn.

"Without my pet and my childe, I am somewhat... vulnerable here. However, this one," he indicates Ventar, leveling a long, spidery finger at the holy symbol of Urgathoa hanging from his neck, "shall serve well as a replacement. If he truly wishes to be closer to death, I can provide unparalleled satisfaction."

The creature grins wickedly. "Consider it incentive for results. Perform adequately and he will be returned to you unharmed. Attempt to alert my enemies of my intentions, and he becomes mine forever."

I'm taking a little liberty with the posting order so that the conversation makes more sense.

Kamau watches the vampire simply claim the Urgathoan priest as his own, and can't help a sort of half-smile. Such was the fate of the unwary.

As they made to leave, he looks up when Albrekt gets his attention. He momentarily ponders the offer, looking at how the breastplate only barely covers the warrior's massive frame.

"Yes. I think you're right. I'll take it."

Solace looks over towards Ventar as the vampire claims him as both a replacement and collateral for their mission. While I wouldn't mind being closer to death or the vampire, I don't quite envy Ventar in this...

Solace leaves with the remaining members of the group. "Shall we exit through the Cathedral rather than they way we entered?"

I'll be coffin-bait later.

Ventar seems a bit subdued, consigned to fate as he is. But he shows no outward signs of displeasure or rebellion. He offers up the items recently taken from Milo's body (I know he had the glass dagger... and possibly some wands you might want) and moves to stand with the vampire, his gaze cast down towards the pile of muck where the zombie beast had laired nearby.

Albrekt eyes the fate of the man who bested him and claimed his servitude with a lopsided sneer;

"Urrrh. Albrekt befreien now..."

The brutish warrior unbuckles his tarnished breastplate, dropping it to the floor. His sodden undershirt and vest cling to him and this too he rips off, making a crude attempt at cleaning the item for the ranger;

"Need fixiert. Na cleaned..."

The Rovagite's heavy torso is marred and rent with furrowed scars and numerous brand marks.

Solace glances over at Albrekt with a look of both disgust and curiosity on her face as she wonders what all the brands are for. Shaking her head, she makes her way over to Ventar and accepts the items from him that they took off of Milo. "We will see you again when we've completed these tasks."

Kamau watches the warrior's hideous display for a moment, then steps up and takes the breastplate from where it clattered to the floor. He picks it up, looking at Albrekt's marred frame, then shakes his head in slight bafflement. "And what will you do, Albrekt? Will your scars turn aside their blades? You smashed your old armor, and now you're left with nothing."

Albrekt looks down at Kamau, slightly bemused;

"Matters nicht"

The brute shoulders his glaive and lumbers out of the chamber...

"Well, that attitude does explain the scars..." Solace follows the others out of the chamber with a few backwards glances towards the vampire and Ventar.

At Solace's comment the scarred behemoth stops momentarily, his rough voice low and flat;

"Boren in Taldor, reboren in Belkzen..."

Ventar nods to Solace as she tells of the party's intention to return. The vampire remains coolly aloof, seemingly captivated with his newest "acquisition" as he strokes the Urgathoan's head like a cherished pet. It is not long before the group has wandered back to the intersection where they battled the vampire spawn, leaving Ventar and his new master alone in the darkness beyond.

Okay, which way now? Up through the Cathedral? Back the way you came? Something else entirely? You still have a fair bit of time before the tide becomes an issue.

Well, if the vampire has what the pathfinder was looking for, then not much point of roaming around. Voting for up through the Cathedral.

Ditto for the Cathedal

After the party has taken only a few strides away, Kamau sheathes his blades in their strange upside-down straps. He seems to walk with a new purpose, back a little straighter, eyes sharper. After they arrive at the intersection, he looks back at the group. "To the surface, then?"

Solace nods. "To the surface. Preferably through the Cathedral this time. ."

Kamau consults the map again, getting his bearings in the largely featureless sewers, and leads the party to the north of the intersection they first encountered. The passage that leads up to the Maiden's Choir is well-concealed behind a false section of weathered stone perhaps a dozen yards from the intersection.

Sliding the stone away, the passage has clearly seen little use in the decades since it was constructed. It is a narrow, lightless shaft perhaps some 30 feet in height featuring a rusted ladder set into the wall festooned with cobwebs. The bottom rungs are corroded by years of exposure to the salty sea water that routinely flushes the tunnels, but the remainder appears serviceable. At the top of the shaft, only barely visible to those without the benefit of elven heritage, sits a metal hatch with a rusted iron latch on the underside.

It seems the shaft is large enough to accommodate the adventurers in single-file, though the narrower upper parts of the shaft may be something a snug fit for the bulkier Albrekt.

(The climb DC is trivially easy. Assume everyone can get up the ladder without issue if you so desire. I'm more interested in what the ascent order is and if someone is going to go investigate further before other people follow.)

"Let me go up first. I'm used to infiltrating places like this. It would be a poor fate to have a chance at our first target slip away because we blundered up into the middle of a church service."

Kamau lightly bounds up onto the ladder and begins to climb, ignoring the crossbars and gripping the side-poles of the ladder, quickly ascending like a man pulling himself up a wide rope. His gear faintly rustles, but otherwise he makes no sound.

Stealth: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14

Going to carefully open the metal hatch, unless it's locked somehow. If it is, we'll proceed from there. Either way he's going to quietly try it, and if it's open, sneak through, assuming the room it leads into isn't full of scarybads, obviously.

Kamau effortlessly shimmies up the ladder and, upon reaching the top, examines the rusty metal latch.

Rolling Perception for you to speed things along: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28 (+1 trapfinding).

Much to the assassin's surprise, not only was the hatch used recently, perhaps only a few days ago, but it was also locked from the opposite side by a reasonably sophisticated countersink. Furthermore, Kamau's careful inspection reveals small channels that run down the outer edge of the shaft extending down from the hatch. It is likely that the channels serve as conduits for some sort of alchemical reagent triggered to release should the hatch be opened by someone unwary.

The lock can be picked and the trap can be disarmed from this side of the hatch, if you so wish. Kamau can discern that the sophistication of the lock and the mechanism are at the upper end of his ability to deal with. Since Disable Device does not allow taking 20, I will tell you only that you have a less than 50% chance of success (though you can retry as long as you don't fail by 5 or more... doing so will break the device completely or, in the case of the trap, set it off).

Unseen in the shadows above, Kamau grimaces in mild annoyance for a heartbeat before quickly dropping back down the ladder to the others.

"The door is locked from above, with a trap for the unwary hand. This will not be the easiest ingress, and it is a pointless risk to take. Perhaps we are better served returning through the waterworks and completing our supposed task..." Kamau raises an eyebrow at Albrekt. "And retrieving your coin, should you still care about it."

Solace sighs. "Back through the waterworks it is then. Why can't sewers smell any better?"

The party, sans Ventar, returns to the tidal chamber they had entered through. The water level has risen somewhat since their entrance, but not enough to serve as any kind of impediment to their passage. Continuing up the spiral stone walkway surrounding the chamber, they arrive at the gate where they first entered. On the other side of the gate, the guard Albrekt had bribed turns to notice as the light is brought nearer to the door.

"Ach! Ye made it back! Good on ye, then. Find what ye're lookin' fer..." the guard squints into the shadows where the party stands ready to exit. "Say, waren't there ano'er one of ye? Coulda sworn... meh."

With a shrug, the guard moves to unlock the gate and permit the party's exit. His companion stands off to one side, idly watching the party as they leave.

Kamau wordlessly passes the guards at the front of the group, quickly turning aside as the two watchmen keep their eyes on the rest of the party. He steps into the shadows of the wall, waiting for the possibility of Albrekt... reclaiming his bribe.

What kind of armour do they wear? ;)

Albrekt stops at the guard who accepted his coin, looking at him curiously...

They're wearing scale mail.

The guard raises an eyebrow to the now-unarmored Albrekt, noting the scars covering his torso. "What 'appened down 'ere? An' why do ye smell so bad? Ye didn't go swimmin' in it, did ye?"

Kamau lays hands on his blades, readying to leap in. It seemed Albrekt intended to make good on his threat...

Kamau will stealth-maneuver himself in such a way as to be able to partial-move to flank if Albrekt decides to start crunching things.

Albrekt cracks a ruined smile...

"Ja... swimmng..."

... but his eyes remain hard, his words flat;

" I must Danken... Thank you..."

Stealth for Kamau: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21 Perception for guard: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13

The guard nervously returns the Ulfen's smile. "Well, ah, 'tweren't nothin'. I'm ah... jest glad ye made it back! Heh... most of ye..."

The other guard, who had previously been largely unmotivated by the party's actions, now shifts his grip on the polearm and stands up straighter. He seems fixated on Albrekt, apparently oblivious to Kamau's position just beyond the light of the sconces nearby.

The towering follower of Rovagug maintains his forced smile and lays a paw upon the guards shoulder;

"Nei Nei... Truly danken..."

Invoke Touch of Corruption ability - does not provoke AoO, not sure if I need touch attack roll?:

Touch Attack??:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2 + Cruelty - Shaken DC12

Black flames come forth from the antipaladin's gnarled hand; the ebony fire flickers hungrily across the guards shoulder, seeking entry in the man's armour...

We'll go ahead and call that a surprise round. Let's have some initiative rolls to sort this business out now. Save vs. shaken: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (8) + 0 = 8. Fail.

The antipaladin's hand rests firmly on the guard's shoulder, sending spasms of pain shooting through his body and filling him with terror.

Init for the guards: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17. Since Kamau was waiting in stealth nearby, I'll give him a surprise round action as well, then we'll break down into normal rounds once everyone has rolled init.

Here's the map. I've placed the guards, Albrekt, and Kamau. Other people can place themselves either within the doorway or still in the light grey area (inside the gate). The dark grey is the road, the green area is shrubbery (diff. terrain). Yellow squares are the sconces, broadcasting light in a 20' radius. The black squares are the building and walls themselves.

Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

Cheers GMFatespinner - in future would it be better to announce my intention OOC and allow you to play it out??

Init for following rounds: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Surprise round:

To-hit (+2 for flanking, +2 for favored enemy): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (4) + 12 = 16

Damage (+2 for favored enemy): 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Kamau snaps out of the dark, reverse-wielding one of his serrated blades. His swing is an inch too low, raking the neckguard of the man's armor and drawing a welter of blood from his upper back, but missing the decapitating slice he'd been going for. He hadn't expected Albrekt to act quite that soon.

Solace would be at about J8 having exited before Albrekt. I don't know how to put myself on the grid. She would also be a bit surprised by Albrekt, not being very familiar with him yet."

Initiative 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Round 1 action: Evil Eye for -2 AC on G1. Will save DC 15

Taken a bit off guard by Albrekt's sudden violence, Solace will nonetheless turn her attention to his victim, willing him to be easier to hit.

For the sake of keeping things moving, I'll roll Haruk's init for him: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Initative order is as follows:
Solace - 21
Kamau - 19
Guards - 17+
Albrekt - 17
Haruk - 7

The surprise round actions have gone off, I have placed people on the map accordingly, putting Haruk at the rear behind Albrekt.

Guard's save vs. Solace's Evil Eye hex: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (10) + 0 = 10. Fail. Solace still has a move action remaining if she wants to take it.

The guard shudders as the witch's baleful gaze falls upon him.

Kamau is up. We are now in normal rounds, so you can take a full action.

Cheers GMFatespinner - in future would it be better to announce my intention OOC and allow you to play it out??

What you did was fine, no worries.

The guard will now be at -2 AC for 7 rounds.

HELMSMAN, FULL ATTACK!

Main-hand: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28
Offhand: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19

Haruk hangs back in the shadows, letting the others have their fun. He sees no need to take part just now. Holding my action.

Those are both hits. You should probably get in the habit of rolling attack and damage at the same time and let me figure out what gets through in the future. :P I'll roll damage for you on this one, though.

Hit 1: 1d8 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 2 = 7
Hit 2: 1d8 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 + 2 = 12

The assassin quickly lashes out with his twin blades from behind. The first stroke goes low, striking the guard at his Achille's tendon. With a yelp, the guard falls forward to his knees. Before he can scream, Kamau's other wicked serrated blade comes down like a thunderbolt point-first into the soft flesh between clavicles. The blade pierces through almost to the hilt, handily severing most of the vitals in the man's upper body before being torn free in a veritable geyser of blood. The body slumps over, well beyond saving, and begins to empty itself onto the cobblestones.

The first hit put him below 0. The second one brought him well below negative CON. He's toast.

The second guard, seeing the carnage unfolding before him, turns to flee from the bloodbath, screaming warnings to the night.

"Murderers! Help me! They're at the waterworks, please help!"

He double moves towards the opposite side of the street. Map updated. Albrekt is up.

Albrekt smiles at Kamau's handwork, then snapped out of his blood trance by the second guard's shouts, the brute rushes after him baying like a wild animal..., stolen glaive poised for a strike;

"Grrrruuuhhhhuuuuuhhhhh"

Charges to P10 and attack

Charge Attack: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13
Damage: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

The furious Ulfen warrior rushes out into the street, glaive poised to impale the hapless guard. As he nears, he lunges into the strike but his angle is just off, the magical blade skimming a handful of scales off the man's armor but leaving his flesh unscathed.

You would've needed to charge to O11 instead of P10 to make that attack. I've updated accordingly. Haruk has stated an intention to hang back, so I'll put him on delay. Haruk, jump in at any time and let me know. With that said, we're back to Solace.

Important roll which may become relevant soon: 1d6 ⇒ 6

With a sigh, Solace moves up to the edge of her range for her evil eye hex and wills the guard to be easier to hit so that Albrekt can hurry up and finish him off before any more come running to help.

Moving to P8 and casting evil eye, will save dc 15
-2 to ac one round if he succeeds, for 7 rounds if he fails

Will: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (17) + 0 = 17

The same creeping sensation of doom washes over the other guard. He steels himself against it, but still seems momentarily shaken.

Kamau's up. Haruk still on delay, whenever he wants to jump in.

Kamau flicks his wrists, leaving spatters of blood on the ground. Seeing Albrekt shambling after the second terrified man, Kamau decides that the moment is done with, and begins to withdraw.

Stealth: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23

How far away is the guy, and is he still running?