Stefan casts a spell. The floating spectral hand hovering near our opponent suddenly crackles with black energy. It then attempts to touch the creature.
Reflexively spinning on her heel to protect her face from the fire, Tara lets out a shriek of fear. "Lady of the graves bring strength upon your humble servant and her allies." she cries out, filling the room with healing energy.
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Distracted by her various burns, Sophie's next arrow misses the skin stealer.
Completely dodging the fiery splash, Vivian advances on the enemy and leaves a cut into its midsection with her sword.
Dr. Von Herzog casts another spell into his Spectral Hand and the ghostly appendage touches the skin stealer to steal some life away from it while granting it back to the Doctor.
Tara channels positive energy into the area, healing her undoubtedly grateful companions.
In his cramped space on the walkway, Bert is unable to dodge any of the bomb's splash. Nevertheless he holds his breath and moves behind Vivian to attack the skin stealer with his hammer. The weapon lands a solid hit on the creature's right shoulder.
Holding her breath as well, Amaria fires two arrows at the skinless adversary. Both sink into it's repugnant body and cause extensive injuries to it.
With a disgusting smirk, the skin stealer backs away 5 feet, draws a vial of some potion and drinks it. It then instantly disappears.
The potion appears to be an Invisibility spell.
Initiative (Rounds 2-3)
Tara <= Up
Sophie [7 Damage] <= Up
Stefan [6 Temp HP] <= Up
Skin Stealer?
Amaria [1 Damage] <= Up
Bert [9 Damage] <= Up
Vivian <= Up
Group Effects
Prayer: +1 to att, dam, saves, skill checks. Enemy takes -1 to those.
Still holding a handkerchief over his face, Stefan shouts, "Not so fast, villain!" He rushes forward past his friends, and then casts a spell. His heavy ring glows as he casts, and a blast of magical flames erupts from his outstretched hand.
"An invisibility potion!" Sophie shouts.
She takes aim and looses another arrow where the skin stealer formerly stood.
for
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Vivian follows her target, hoping her agility will serve her well when Stefan unleashes some fire
"Drat!"
Stefan casts detect magic in an attempt to discern the location of the now-invisible skin-stealer.
"Well this doesn't bode well." Pulling out her wand and moving to behind Bert, Tara glances around the catwalk hoping to catch a glance of the skinless foe.
Sophie's arrow hits something with a squish, and something invisible thuds to the catwalk, while the skin stealers morningstar clatters free on the floor.
Doctor Von Herzog quickly locates the approximate location of the skin stealer with Detect Magic, but with the blood spilling on the floor it appears that it is bleeding out.
Looting Grine's belongings, you find a magical potion, 2 flasks of acid, a flask of antitoxin, a bunch of rags, a masterwork handaxe, a masterwork throwing axe, a disguise kit, a unholy symbol of Norgorber, 2 doses of black smear poison, a spell component pouch, and thieves’ tools.
When the skin stealer's gear becomes visible, you find two dark blue potions, one black potion, one light blue potion, one magical wand, a masterwork heavy mace, a bag full of magical dust, an alchemist’s kit, a formula book, a ring of keys, and some poisons (1 dose of black adder venom, 2 doses of blue whinnis, and a dose of deathblade).
It's a Cure Light Wounds potion.
They are two Cure Light Wounds potions.
It's a potion of Spider Climb.
It's a potion of Water Breathing.
It's a wand of Acid Arrow with 21 charges left
The bag holds two uses of Dust of Tracelessness.
Whipping her head to the direction of the noise, Tara lets out a sigh of relief. "Just give me a moment, Bert, I'm going to ensure that this thing will face justice." Moving over to the pile of blood, Tara blindly feels the outline of Grine to ensure his location before casting stabilize on him. "And there we have it. We can bring him to the authorities, after we finish searching this place." Moving back over to Bert, Tara waves her wand on the fighter, healing some of his more aggressive wounds.
Sophie does what she can to identify the various items.
"Let's see what kind of evidence we can find else where. Perhaps there are letters or journals. I can interrogate the dead one as well."
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Tara uses magic to prevent the skin stealer from dying, then heals most of Bert's wounds with a wand.
Meanwhile, Sophie identifies some of the magical items.
You find a scar on his shoulder matching an alligator bite. You recall that in the city of Morast, the Beast was supposedly bitten by an alligator when he was chased away.
One thing I forgot to mention:Immediately after the skinless creature makes his declaration about finding a replacement for Grine, the dark creeper's body vanishes in a bright light, leaving nothing but the objects he had on his body.
This should have happened before the combat as Stefan was checking the body, but it slipped my mind. I'll just drop it in here for dramatic effect.
Stefan pinpoints the location of the invisible skin stealer and calls out its location. As he starts to open his doctor's black bag, Tara uses her divine magic to stabilize the evil fey creature.
Through his handkerchief, Stefan remarks, "I might suggest that we remove this wretch to an alternate location that is not suffused with noxious vapors... not to mention hostile mongrelfolk!"
Stefan presses his ear to the door in front of him. If he doesn't hear anything, he'll open it.
Sophie looks closely at the body. "Ah! Alligator bite marks!"
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Hearing nothing behind the door next to him, Doctor Von Herzog opens it and enters. This room overlooks the courtyard and has a retractable timber and iron crane to lower goods into wagons below through a sliding wooden door. Presently the room has only a few wooden cases in it. Most fortunately, however, the chemical smell appears to be far less intense allowing everyone to breath easier.
Taking advantage of the better circumstances, Dr. Von Herzog uses his knowledge of spellcraft to identify the rest of the magical items.
Searching the room, the group discovers that most of the crates are empty, but you all do find 12 vials of acid, 12 vials of nushadir, five tanglefoot bags, and three thunderstones, all packed in straw.
Normally stored in the form of small, salty pellets in a dry container, this reagent can be mixed with a flask of water and stored safely. Nushadir neutralizes acid; a vial of pellets or a flask of nushadir-water is enough to render a cubic foot of acid safe to touch in 1 minute, though this is usually too slow to prevent damage from a thrown vial of acid or the contents of a large monster's gullet. Nushadir vapors are slightly irritating to the eyes, nose, and mouth, causing nausea for 1d4 rounds after close exposure (Fortitude DC 10 negates).
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I'll check those double doors..
Vivian takes two minutes to thoroughly check the door next to her for traps or other dangers, but discovers nothing threatening. Since the door is unlocked, she simply opens it and looks inside.
This room appears to be the study of a scholar. A roll-top desk with a leather chair stands against one wall, holding a variety of alchemical equipment and surrounded by hundreds of books piled on every available surface. Also atop the desk stands a large bell jar containing the alchemically preserved head and shoulders of a human man. A narrow cot is crushed into one corner behind a wall of books. A door stands in the north wall. A check of the door reveals it is locked, but one of the keys found on the skin stealer appears to fit the lock. Despite the number of books, the room has been kept almost fastidiously clean.
A quick perusal of the book titles suggests the collection could be worth up to 500gp to the right buyer. The room also contains a full alchemist lab, although that would take some time to take apart and store. You also find three packets of flash powder and five pots of alchemical grease
Sophie screws up her face at the preserved body parts. "So he was a true monster, certainly. I wonder who that was?"
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Tara furrows her brow as she examines the perserved bust. "Well this is just... Disgusting and deeply disturbing." Plucking a book off of the shelf, Tara flips through it. "This may be a victim of these two, or just part of a corpse that they stole. I can ask it, if you would like, but I think that we are on a deadline with how the crowd at the trial looked this morning." Pausing a moment in the book she was flipping through Tara looks to Vivian. "You said that Vorkstag was a Skin Stealer, yes? Do these things literally steal skin, or is it more of a metaphorical name? For example, are they great at impersonation so that it can seem like they steal an appearance or is a better comparison to say that they will flay you and wear your skin?" Suppressing a shudder, Tara glances hopefully at Vivian, hoping for the more pleasant outcome.
"Remember, we are looking for evidence here that would implicate someone other than the Beast for the crimes he is accused of committing. The fact that Vorkstag appears to have been a monster may go well toward that conclusion, but we need more proof. Shall we investigate what lies beyond that door?"
I'm afraid the name isn't figurative, Tara. They really skin their prey, they aren't just actor good at impersonation. That's why this one used scalpels.
"Unless we can find a diary or journal in here, we should probably move on..." Sophie says as she rifles through the various collections of books throughout the room.
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Using the key you found on the skin stealer Vorkstag, you open the north door to reveal a tiny room that only holds one object--a large oak cabinet. The interior of the cabinet appears to hold a ghastly collection of nearly 20 flayed skins which hang like empty sacks of flesh. They range from young to old and male to female. Most relevant to your current interests, however, is the grotesque, deformed skin of a 8-foot-tall mongrelman, made up of flesh, fur, and scales and covered with fungal boils and hideous puss-filled eruptions. It looks a lot like blind Karl's description of the Beast.
Vivian looks for any clue that could prove a link between these two criminals and the crimes the Beast is accused of.
After her first check of the cabinet yields nothing new, Vivian takes 2 minutes to thoroughly examine it and finds a false back. Sliding it out reveals 500gp in assorted coins, a silver drinking cup inlaid with obsidian worth 400 gp, and a syringe of six vials of some dark alchemical elixir that has a necromantic aura.
Also inside is a ledger detailing customers who have purchased stolen cadavers and anatomical parts from Vorkstag and Grine. Many of the names are local doctors and scholars, but two names stand out: Doctor Brada of Sanctuary, and Auren Vrood, primarily because it's not a name that any of your recognize.
Sophie clenches her jaw at the sight of all the skins. Truly this one was a monster...
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Tara recoils at the contents of the wardrobe. "That was what I was afraid of!" she shrieks as she does a small jittery dance in place while shaking her arms. As Vivian disappears further into the cabinet, Tara gasps in surprise at the false back. "As gross as it sounds, we need to get this entire cabinet to the courthouse! This would prove that Vorkstag not only framed the beast, but was responsible for other crimes. Those families deserve closure too."
"You're right, Tara."
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We should make sure this place houses no further threat first. But if these ..skins should be sufficient to prove the Beast's innocence to the jury, I don't know how the people of Lepidstat will react. They are so certain the Beast was the real culprit they probably will have an hard time accepting the criminals were among them and not an outsider.
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The group next moves to the center door on the second floor walkway and looks inside. As much an abattoir as a bedchamber, this room contains not only a four-poster bed, but also numerous workbenches and alchemical gear. The walls are lined with shelves and strange-looking objects in jars of liquid. Bits of rags litter the floor, and the air is heavy with the stench of spoiled food mixed with acrid chemicals. A ladder leads to a trapdoor in the ceiling.
The room is packed with curios and medical oddities, with the many jars about the area containing alchemically preserved body parts from a variety of creatures. One bell jar full of liquid has a small gold key at the bottom. Also found inside is a complete alchemist’s lab and four vials of antitoxin. Altogether, you judge the contents of the room would be worth 750 gp to the right collector.
Under the bed you also find a small locked metal strongbox.
After carefully searching the box for any trap , Vivian tries to pick the lock
Vivian finds a trap on the strongbox that appears to be designed to emit some sort of gas.
Take a few steps back. There's some trap on this box, ready to send a poisonous gas probably.
Vivian reaps a bit of her clothes, and makes a mask to hide her nose and mouth, hoping it would help if she fails to disarm the trap
Vivian tries then to disable the trap.
After sending everyone else out of the room, Vivian attempts to disarm the gas trap. She comes close to removing it, but doesn't quite get there.
It takes Vivian a few tries, but eventually she disarms the gas trap on the box without setting it off. A few minutes later, she manages to unlock the box as well.
Inside you find 200 gp, four vials of antitoxin, and a small purple velvet purse containing 4 small, cloudy diamonds worth 1200 gp in total.
Tara follows behind Vivian, following instructions. As Vivian works on the lock-box, Tara pulls out her holy text and begins to read over her scriptures.