GM Kiora's Wrath of the Righteous

Game Master Kiora Atua

Li'an nodded at Markus, sympathizing with him. It wasn't quite the same, but in some sense she understood. It'd taken all the will she could muster to continue after her father's death, and she imagined being born with such a curse would require that many times over. "It takes great strength to move forward despite you've likely been through," she said respectfully. "I'm certain Terendelev made no mistakes in who he saved," Li'an smiled sincerely at Markus before looking briefly at Aravashnial.

When Anevia and the others began discussing age, Li'an laughed a bit at the pecking order of ages in the room. By human standards, she was old likely enough to be their grandmother, as Anevia was fond of pointing out. Then there was Aravashnial, who was probably old enough to be her own grandfather, which... well she wasn't even sure what he'd qualify as to.

Li'an chose a corner of the temple and set her travelling pack down, taking out a pair of small books, and a few small containers. Sorting through them, she turned around and called to the others. "I've got a couple days worth of rations as well, sunrods for light, and the means to start a fire if we find something to feed it with." Feeling this was as good a place as any to rest, she grabbed one of her sunrods and lit it, putting it in one of the wall sconces near where she'd put down her pack. "Shall we go have a look at the collapsed outer buildings then? Maybe there's something there to start a fire with," she said as she headed out of the temple, leaving her things piled in the corner.

Ary took the time after gathering her thoughts to wash her hands with her waterskin, drying them with her cloak, and cleaning her sword before returning to the room where the others were waiting, only to have Li'an come out as she started to head in. She only caught the back end of the conversations. As a result, she fell into searching with her.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10 Looks like we're good, whether Fen spots it or not!

"So... half-crown for your thoughts? Folks seem to be holding together... but just barely."

False Life wears off (except for Valaria or Markus)

Aravashnial's necromantic magic dissipates. Li'an's injuries, because her wounds were fresh, seal up as the magic disappears. But at the same time the anesthetic effect from the spell disappears, and Ary's, Anevia's, and Aravashnial's wounds sear with pain.

Anevia hisses as she rubs on her leg. Aravashnial remains stoic, but pales noticeably as his bandages turn a bright red as some of the wounds reopen and bleed fresh once again.

Valaria and Ary are grazed, Anevia is wounded, Aravashnial is in critical condition.

More blood pours out of Ary's shoulder wound, and blood begins to ooze from the cut in her cheek. She drops the debris she was holding as the wound in her shoulder flares to life, even as the crab's wounds disappear.

She winced, but doesn't cry out, only gasping, and then promptly curses as the debris lands on her leg, causing her to growl in frustration. For a moment, it looks like she's going to kick it, but then reigns in her miniature tantrum.

Forgot about moving the corpses out, sorry Val :p
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Li'an moves about the buildings, happy to have Ary's help in doing so. "I'm not sure," she said, shaking her head. Speaking quietly, she added, "I hope things will be alright. Aravashnial means well, he's just... very pragmatic, and painfully blunt sometimes. But if we're all busy watching our own backs, we won't stand a chance against the real enemies up top."

She picked through some of the rubble and found what appeared to be a couple fallen braziers and the coal that belonged to them. "This should do," she said, righting one of them and leaning against it. She'd known Ary since she'd joined up and had always felt relatively at ease around her. Hesitantly, she spoke up again, "Ary, do you think Terendelev could have made a mistake? The six of us surviving the fall, six scales on the ground... Yet there still might be a traitor among us?" She truly wanted to believe the words she'd said, to have no doubt in her mind. The revelation had struck her in the passage, and it seemed clear as day at the time, but Aravashnial's words carried significant weight, and they wore down her certainty.

Her questioning was interrupted by the fading of the false life spell, which to her felt like she'd suddenly been unburdened. Though she'd ceased really feeling the throbbing ache of her shoulder, she immediately felt its absence. Ary, however, didn't seem to react that way. Li'an stepped forward quickly just in case she fell. "Are you alright?" she asked, sounding concerned. "Maybe you should go see if Ehren can bandage those wounds. I can gather what's needed and bring it out where we can put it to use."

Li'an will set up the Braziers outside the temple (with or without Ary's help depending on what she decides), unless someone points out it's safe to use them inside. (is it? I have no idea :p)

"I'm fine. Just... frustrated. And bleeding. Guess you're right, though. I probably do need to get that doctored up by Rocky." she says turning slightly pink at showing weakness. She didn't leave quite yet, though.

"Avi... I like him because we know where he stands, but he isn't being constructive. Then again... it's hard to not be paranoid when you literally can't see what the next threat is. But that's neither here nor there. I think that it doesn't matter if he's right. If someone here is a traitor, we're already out of luck. That means we have to stick together and ignore the possibility until we can actually do something about it. Until we're topside, we have no way of knowing who is or isn't a bad guy. For all we know, I'm a demon." she shrugs. "So I'm just going to try to worry about the things I can do something about. Trying to get our group to function at their best seems within my scope and reasonable." she frowns. "Speaking of... I may owe Horgus an apology. He's been a lot more useful than I expected he'd be, given his attitude. But he's done an incredibly good job, despite the cowardice." she shrugs.

Ary helps Li'an to set things up, while the others do their work.

If no one loots the bodies, Ary will take a quick look. She'll also search the church for anything of value. Pragmatism!

Perception: 1d20 + 4 - 1 ⇒ (8) + 4 - 1 = 11
Perception: 1d20 + 4 - 1 ⇒ (17) + 4 - 1 = 20

Valaria has been quiet while the others began to clear the area. She drags the bodies outside one by one, following Ary and Li'an as they check around the area for something useful. "Honestly, I don't know if everyone is trustworthy," she interjects. "And I don't know your dragon any more than an average outsider, so her judgment doesn't fill me with any kind of reassurance. But so far, no one has shown any sign of working against us. Even the most suspicious things are likely just slips of the tongue, even Markus's little suggestion earlier. I'm likely more suspicious than anyone else here, considering I'm one-quarter demon, and hopefully I haven't harmed anything. Well, anything we don't want harmed. Stupid giant bugs..."

Perception (Search Bodies): 1d20 + 4 - 1 ⇒ (16) + 4 - 1 = 19

As she halls the less damaged body out, she notices a pouch against its leg and a gold ring around his finger. She slides the ring off and pockets it for later, then opens the pouch and grins. "Huh, I think I found something." She pulls the vials out and examines them. "Anyone know how to identify potions?"

Ehren unpacks in silence, smiling at the discussion over age. He was after all, easily the youngest one present. Just another reason he had to make sure to pull his own weight. He pauses to roll his shoulders around a bit, sighing at the pull of his armor. That he could run around in it at all was a miracle. He thinks back to that rooftop chase... it seemed like a distant dream now. I wonder if that boy made it out all right...

"I am sorry you had to see your god's temple in such a state, Hrut," he says abruptly, finally finding the flint that pairs with his steel. His tone was sympathetic, but still somewhat detached. "Nobody should have to see that."

Li'an listened to Ary and then Valaria give their opinions on the situation. Both had good points, and though neither offered the certainty she'd naively sought, they calmed her worries for the moment. "They're right, Lleuad, we need to just focus on getting out of here."

"Ary, I think you're an absolutely terrible demon. But don't worry, if you start calling me by my name regularly, I'll know something's gone horribly wrong," she said trying to match the teasing tone Ary used so successfully on her regularly.

"And you!" Li'an said in a dead serious tone, turning to face Valaria. "I'll be keeping a close eye on you!" She did her best to present an imposing visage, although she was only able to maintain it for a short while before she gave up with a short bout of laughter. "Of course I'm sure Ary will helpfully point out that I already have been." She looked back towards Ary and chuckled.

Looking at the vials Valaria had found on the dwarven corpse she said, "You should ask Markus if he can identify it. If he can't right now, I can make an attempt after resting." Handing them back, she turned her attention to the fire they were trying to get going. "Ok, lets get some viper cooking," she said as she raised the brazier and filled it with coal. "Someone in there want to bring out a flint and steel so we can get this fire started? Or do I need to go grab mine?" she called into the temple.

The temple is not well ventilated. There are no windows, and the air is musty and stale inside.

Ary just smiled and let Li'an go through the motions of self-deprecation, continuing to unwisely ignore her wounds. She dropped her pack and offered up the snake-laden canvas bag, as she dug out her flint and steel and passed it over as well.

Then she slipped into the building and aided in the cleaning as she pillaged Torag's temple in the kindest way possible.

After a bit of digging, she turns up the warhammer. "Shiny." she says, admiring the condition. "Hey... Shiny." she said, trying to get Hrut's attention. "If you take your helmet off and grace us with your presence, you can have this." she grins.

Once she'd found the potions and bandages, she took it as a sign. "Alright, Alright... I get it." She carried the potions in Ehren's direction. "I'm betting this is a healer's kit... but I wouldn't know. Either way... I need you to do the medical thing again for me, if you don't mind, Rocky." She offered out the box, as if he'd know what to do with it, even as she was reaching across to unbuckle her parade armor.

"Left shoulder, and right cheek are all that hurt, just now."

Added a last minute sentence to that last spoiler for you, Ary. My mistake for forgetting it!

Markus listens to the conversation between Valaria, Li'an and Ary. He smiles grimly - Ary had the privilege to be able to joke about being a demon because nobody would ever suspect it of her. If Markus tried to make such a joke, especially up on the surface where there were soldiers, he'd be brutally punished for it. But I guess that's what comes with the territory.

All the same, Markus raises his hand when the question of identifying items comes up. "I can give it a try. Here, hand over all the items to me."

Spellcraft, huecuva potion 1: 1d20 + 6 - 1 ⇒ (19) + 6 - 1 = 24
Spellcraft, huecuva potion 2: 1d20 + 6 - 1 ⇒ (11) + 6 - 1 = 16
Spellcraft, huecuva ring: 1d20 + 6 - 1 ⇒ (17) + 6 - 1 = 22
Spellcraft, temple potion 1: 1d20 + 6 - 1 ⇒ (6) + 6 - 1 = 11
Spellcraft, temple potion 2: 1d20 + 6 - 1 ⇒ (12) + 6 - 1 = 17

Edited to include. :)

Ary was happy to just shift the goods off to anyone, so passing them to Markus worked for her. Bandages may be magical, too!

"So... Avi. Do you always carry around that wand, or were we just lucky? Is there a story behind it?"

Results:

The two potions off the huecuva are potions of CLW. The ring is mundane. The blue potion from the temple box is also a potion of CLW. The brass potion is of lesser restoration. The bandages are mundane.

Also, technically, anyone can identify a potion through perception but you have to taste test a portion. *mwhaha*

What happens when you taste test a potion?

If it is a potion, nothing, you just comprehend its effects if you make the perception skill check. But if it was a poison all along you have to save against the poison :p

I'm not sure what would happen if you tried to taste something like acid, or unholy water. I'd probably just deal light damage to the PC.

Aravashnial sits, leaned forward, his hands gripping the seat of the bench tightly at his sides.

"I'm afraid I have no interesting stories for it. It was a half-finished commission for a crusader. As you know, I run a small shop close to Northgate. I typically do not like to work with necromancy, but I do need to earn gold, like anyone else. I do not believe in luck, though."

"My good lady Desna would have a thing or two to say about that!" Anevia offers, cheekily.

"Then she is welcome to let me know. I'm all ears," Aravashnial says, neutrally.

"Looks like we've got some curatives. Typical." says Markus. "Somebody else take these. Ary? Ehren? There are three curatives and a restorative potion." Markus clinks their glass together in his hands. "Some windfall, I guess."

Valaria giggles. "Oh, you're both welcome to keep as close an eye on my as you like. Just as long as you don't mind me returning the favor. If Ary turns out of be some kind of succubus in disguise, I want to be the first to know. Purely for safety purposes of course." She can't keep a joking smile off her face as she heads back inside.

"Right, well let's see if gloomy can identify these." She hands the potions over and tosses the ring after them so he can examine them. "Maybe we'll get lucky and the potions will be something useful." She looks around the temple a bit and helps straighten things up, wanting it to be a bit more comfortable if they're going to be resting for a while.

"More healing potions?" She takes a pair of the healing potions from Markus. "Maybe if we can spare a few we should take the chance to treat Anevia and Aravashnial's injuries. They're not going to heal very well on their own and something to alleviate the pain would make traveling easier."

Ary laughs out loud when the Elf says he's all ears. Then realizes it probably wasn't a joke. Then goes silent for a second.

"Restorative, like what?" Ary tilts her head.

"And definitely. I fully endorse healing anyone that needs it."

"A restorative doesn't heal injuries, but rather restores damaged capabilities. Poisons that sap your strength, spells that dull your senses or curses that confuse you, restoratives can help with." Explains Markus, holding up the potion of lesser restoration. "Want to take the remaining two potions, Ary? These bandages and this ring are mundane."

"It would be prudent to give them to our wounded, for immediate relief," Ehren says as he pulls out the bandages, giving them a once over. "We could wait until my magic returns, but my healing abilities pale comparison to a those of a priest. And if there is going to be more fighting, we might need those spells for other purposes," he adds after a moment's hesitation.

Heal: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9 Yeah, that about figures.

Does the kit qualify for the purposes of long term care? Not that it matters with that roll. Unless Ehren fumbles and wrenches her arm off somehow.

Yeah, it does, but LTC takes 8 hours and also a DC 15 check D:

Wait no, I was thinking about treat deadly wounds. Whoops. Only 1 hour, but at DC 20. Aha ha ha. @_@

"So... it can't mend our friends, then?" she says, frowning. Then yelps as Ehren begins to investigate her wounds. "Okay, Okay. Rocky is a bad nickname. Got it."

Nooooo! I finally did it! I finally accidentally posted with the wrong profile! Argh!

I didn't catch it, so I'd never have known if you hadn't mentioned it. ;)

"Sorry," Ehren says quickly, wincing a bit.

For clarity:

Ary takes back the two potions she found from Markus. (CLW + Lesser Restoration).

Valaria takes back two potions of CLW.

Ehren is carrying the bandages.

Will update loot list in a moment or so. If you want to use the potions on the NPCs, Ary or Valaria will have to go offer them :p

"It's alright. You just caught me by surprise, is all." She takes both of the potions, and makes a mental note to get one into Avi, and one into Anevia, once Ehren is finished butchering her wound.

Seeing that everyone is busy dealing with wounds and such, Li'an sneaks inside quickly for a moment to retrieve the flint and steel she had unpacked earlier. Heading back outside, she takes some of the tattered vestments and tucks them inbetween the pieces of coal to help the fire catch. "Well, I hope Torag doesn't mind," she thinks as she begins trying to strike a fire.

Once the fire's lit she steps back into the temple and walks over to retrieve one of the vipers. "The fire's lit out there. Anyone actually good at cooking, or should I just aim for 'edible'?"

Were the snakes already cleaned? If not, one of the survival/nature types will need to do that now.

I was going to give my potions to Anevia and Avi actually.

Valaria walks over to Anevia sitting on the bench and offers her one of the potions. "Here, hopefully this will make moving a little easier. Your leg must be killing you after walking for... actually I have no idea how long we've been down here. You don't realize how much you rely on the sun to tell time until you can't see it any more."

She looks over at Aravashnial and walks over to him, pressing the other potion into his hand. "I doubt this will help your eyes, but it should at least make the pain more bearable. You don't need so suffer any more than you have."

Forgot the +2 from the kit, not that it matters. Unless I'm wrong, by RAW Ehren would be wasting an hour on Ary's wounds without knowing that he has failed until the end. :(

"I could try my hand at it. It should go more smoothly than... well, this," Ehren says as he bandages Ary's wound. If he was going to do a lousy job, he would rather not make his patient suffer. At least I'm not working with a needle and thread... He could only imagine what his mother would think of his handiwork. With the consolation that Ary was not bleeding to death like Markus was, Ehren grimaces and pulls his hands away. "Perhaps I should leave it for the time being... before I do any more damage."

"Yeah. I'm happy just knowing it's not going to fall off... and that you got the bleeding to stop. Though that may have been more about the fact that it was already doing a good job of clotting.

"I'm... about as good at cooking as I am at everything else... which is to say that I can do an incredible job of telling you where you're going wrong." she grins, as she heads outside to help out with the cooking, resecuring her armor as she goes. She starts to trim the snakes up into fleshy steaks. "We could also have crab if anyone's feeling squeamish."

"Could someone let me borrow a dagger?" Ehren asks, already washing his hands off again. No need for cross contamination. If someone complies, he will lend Ary a hand.

I believe we still need that DC 20 check to prep them.
Survival (or Iron Chef Ehren): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

And while he's at it, the DC 16 check for extracting the venom glands.
Survival: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

"Actually, do you think we could save the poison from those? You never know when that kind of thing will come in handy."

I'm just rolling that into the assumed two to three hours you will probably spend searching the temple, making a fire, cooking/dressing/eating and what not. (4 hours if you consecrate the temple.)

potion of CLW -> Anevia: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

potion of CLW -> Aravashnial: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9 Dang.

Anevia smiles gratefully at Valaria. "Aw, thanks. I'm not one to turn down a free drink from a pretty lady." She downs it quickly, and the pain dulls away to almost nothing.

Aravashnial nods. "Diola lle, Valaria." His wounds heal over, and he signs with relief.

Anevia is healthy, Aravashnial is still wounded.

Anevia stands up suddenly, re-energized. "Oh man! Let's check out that fire. I don't trust those guys out there with my food." She hobbles out of the bunker to join the group outside, making sure to speak loudly enough they could hear her. "Especially Ary!"

Horgus follows Ary outside. "Snake. Or giant cave crab for dinner. This has been the worst day," he grumbles.

Aravashnial stays inside, silent.

Outside, Ehren easily dresses the snakes, including extracting their venom.

"Damn, kid" Anevia whistles as she watches Ehren's knife-work. "Do this often? Wait...you are a kid right? Not some 400 year old quarter mermaid, quarter-fairy type deal?"

There are 4 doses of venom that can fit into a single vial, or you can split them up into multiple vials if you wish. 1 dose coats the weapon to deliver poison for your next successful attack. Applying a dose is a standard action.

Whew did I miss a day of posting!
@Markus

"What would it take to restore the power to the holy place?"
-----------------
@ Ehren:
Looking around at the tattered and cold temple,

This is a terrible injustice! I pray I can restore this temple to glory and let its location be known so it will not be forgotten again.

"Thank you for your kind words, if you wouldn't mind would you help me clean this temple? I hate to see it in such condition and it would do my spirits well to stay busy."

Hrut begins straightening out the temple as best as he remembers with what is left.
-----------------
@Ary
With a chuckle Hrut takes off his helmet to show deep bleeding gashes in his face.I think you forgot about me GM

"Sorry not much behind the mask but a tattered face I am afraid. Amazing looking weapon however, I would love to wield such an amazingly crafted weapon! Did you find anything else of use in the temple? It is actually nice to get that helmet off, it has been on for probably over a day."

Taking the warhammer and making a few mighty swings with it, feeling the weight, the balance,

"This is truly a magnificent weapon indeed!"

Dwarven weapons are some of the best and now I can see why the reputation is warranted, truly a beautiful weapon worthy of a worshiper of Torag. This weaponsmith must have worked tirelessly on this for such perfection, the balance is perfect, the sheen has not diminished in all this time, I hope its artisan looks down upon me approvingly.
-----------------
"I also have some rations and water, it seems we are doing well for now in this dreary place, hopefully we can get back to the surface soon. I do not think there is a proper way to cook snake, just heat it and eat it I would say."

Looking over to Ehren,

"Would you mind looking into bandaging my face? One of the huecuva took too much of a liking to my face. "

Hrut would consecrate the temple if possible

Nope, mechanically, Hrut is at full HP, since false life wore off. It's a weird mechanic to translate into roleplay but I did my best with it. Nothing wrong with assuming that he still has the wounds, but you are no longer taking a -1 to various rolls/AC.

No skill check to consecrate the temple, that was done by realizing it was possible in the first place. But I'd like you to at least write me a description of how you go about it ;)

The day is mine Trebek!

"O'ro parenno," Valaria replies to the wizard with a slight nod of her head, though she knows he can't see it. She spins in place as Anevia suddenly jumps to her feet. "Desna's T*ts, slow down! You'll hurt yourself again if you try to push it too much." She hurries after Anevia, both to keep and eye on her and to get a look at the food being cooked.

She gives a low whistle as Ehren easily prepares the snakes. "Wow, you must go hunting a lot. I guess you have that 'nature' kind of feel about you." She looks at the drained venom glands and grins. "Anyone else want some of this venom? We've got a couple of extra vials now that we've used a few potions."

Earlier
Ehren nods in response to Hrut's simple request. "Gladly. It is only right. And I dare say, it would not hurt to curry the gods' favor in a time like this."

Now

Knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

"No, I am only human," Ehren muses with a grin, as he sets aside the serpents' undesirable organs, leaving only bones and walls of thick muscle. He seems considerably more talkative now that he isn't in the middle of botching a medical procedure. "My people are not terribly picky eaters... so I've had the opportunity to prepare quite a few animals people might not typically consider eating." As he says this he carefully sets down the venom glands. "For good reasons, I'm sure. I cannot say for sure what this venom does, but it's here for any who might make use of it."

With most of the work done, he looks to Hrut's wound, hesitating briefly before replying. "Of course."

I think that'd be mostly fluff, so I suppose I can skip another atrocious Heal roll? :P

Yes evidently I am fine we will say I misspoke, I am never sure when temp HP come off first or last, oh well better to be healed then needing it.

It is also possible that Hrut misunderstood how the magic worked. Apparently it allows you to take temporary injuries that then disappear when the spell does, which means that Hrut's face may actually have been cut, and he just didn't notice when the slashes vanished.

Li'an let Ehren take over the duties and was, like the others, amazed by his skill at preparing the snakes and extracting the glands. "That's definitely a talent you have," she said as she watched. She was absolutely ready for a bite to eat and a chance to rest at this point.

"I can take some of that venom as well. It might come in handy at some point, Val." Split the doses 2 and 2?

Since most of the others were out at the moment, she thought she'd bring up resting for the night. "We'll need to set up a watch at some point if we're going to rest here. I can take one of the watches." Li'an figured it was best to get the details out of the way now before the group started getting tired after eating.

Valaria nods and pulls out one of the empty vials, pouring half of the poison into the second container. "Sounds good to me." She offers one of the vials to Li'an. "Never know when you'll need that little edge to win a fight."

She sits back, relaxing for the first time since the festival itself. "I wonder how long we've been down here. It can't have been as long as it feels." She looks up. "I can take a watch too. Should be easy if we sleep inside. The watch can just sit near the door. One advantage of having only one entrance."

Anevia attempts to be useful, and as Ehren finishes cooking the meat, she passes it out to everyone present. The meat actually wasn't terrible - though it was bland, and lean, with texture more akin to fish.

Actually googled "what does snake taste like" haha.

"Ugh. This is horrible." Horgus groans, picking at his food. "I can't live like this."

Anevia has no problems with it, though, and voraciously digs in.

Valaria takes her portion and eats happily. "It's better than some of the things I've eaten on the road," she comments. Horgus momentarily makes her bristle again, but she bites back a sharp retort. "At least we have food. What's better, bad food or no food?" she asks instead.

"It's true, this might be the last fresh food we see for a while. The majority of things we've run into are definitely less appealing than the snake, so I'll enjoy it while we can," she added, reiterating Val's point for Horgus's benefit.

"Better to get the point across now. the sooner he accepts things are going to be rough, the easier he'll be to deal with if things get worse," she thought, looking the man over before returning to her food.

Markus eats quietly, trying to pick his food into smaller sections to be chewed and swallowed more manageably. "Based off of Aravashnial's spell durations, it's likely that we've been down here for about eight hours." says Markus, in between bites. "The longer we're here, the more will have changed up above."