And what is his great work? Eliza never told us details about it before we came here.
Are they moving to attack
Alyn grits his teeth waiting for Kraggs read on the situation.
Lolito's eyes open wide "That one, the one in black, his awkward movements it can only mean he is under magical influence!"
The man rushes forward striking at the one in black, trying to knock him down "We do not follow Oontooth's orders!"
Alyn will learn bludgeoner, and he and trick will attack the one Lolito indicated (non-lethal).
The group of soldiers do seem to be moving in an attack formation, and Kragg decides they look decidedly aggressive.
Lolito and Alyn go on the offensive, quickly subduing the one that Lolito called out. the man crumples ot the floor unconscious.
Derym, Lara, Kragg, Soldiers
The Taldan takes another potshot at the soldiers.
Derym begins to trace an arcane pattern with his left hand as he walks forward, keeping his black companion in a guard position in the other hand until he completes his spell and points the blade at the floor beneath the group of newcomers, pushing some of the raw magical energy in his body into the spell.
Kragg moves up casting bless in the party. Hopefully the combination of his buffs and Derym’s grease will give them enough of an advantage that the fight will go smoothly for the party.
Lara gets 2 shots off before the soldiers can react again (sorry missed the readied action. applied it now, both shots hit yellow)
Derym throws a grease spell covering the ground under 2 soldiers
The one in blue falls to the ground
Kragg blesses the party
The soldiers advance
Blue stands up, and the other enemy manages to move across the grease carefully.
the soldiers than can reach attack the party
the party may act
Global Condition: Bless|Derym HP: 45/47 - AC: 22/14/18 Status:
Lara: HP: 47/47 - AC: 17/12/15 Status:
Kragg HP:53/53 - AC: 20/10/20 Status:
Lolito HP: 47/60 - AC: 24/19/21 Status:
Alyn HP 46/58 - AC: 22/11/19 Status:
Trick HP 41/41 - AC 18/11/15 Status:NPCS:
Red soldier HP: ?? | AC:??
yellow soldier HP: -25 | AC:??
Black soldier HP: -54 (nl) | AC:?? | unconscious
Orange soldier HP: ?? | AC:??
Blue soldier HP: ?? | AC:?? | prone
Gray soldier HP: ?? | AC:??
Purple soldier HP: ?? | AC:??
Green soldier HP: ?? | AC:??
"Ouch!" Lolito gets the hit as good as he can, then turns around himself on a spin trying to strike purple with a kick.
Then follows up with more attacks over the same one or anyone adjacent if that one falls.
He opts to deal all of his attacks as non-lethal.
Lara launches another arrow at the one in yellow.
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Finding himself in the middle of the scrum with Lolito on one side and Alyn on the other Kragg works on holding the line against the soldiers. Remembering what Lolito said about at least one of them being possibly possessed Kragg casts a spell that simultaneously aids his comrades while possibly giving the soldiers another chance at throwing off any compulsions.
Pull wand of extend and cast extended circle of protection verses evil. The radius of the spell should get all of the soldiers except green within the spell range.
Derym throws a second grease spell as he moves up to stand behind Alyn, ensuring the spell covers the entire hallway.
Why aren't we killing them?
Because some of them are being magically forced to attack us. That wouldn't be right.
Kragg and Derym cast some spells.
Kragg doesn't see any immediate changes in any of the soldiers from his protection spell.
Red, blue and gray all slip and fall from the grease
Lara shoots another time into yellow
Lolito hits a few times against purple before the soldier falls from the grease, but the man is still able to fight.
Alyn, soldiers, Kragg, Lolito, Lara, Derym
Alyn and Trick will keep focusing on whoever is in front the old monk
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Assuming those put that person down Alyn will attack whoever he can reach next.
Alyn and Trick tear into one of the soldiers (red), killing him. Alyn tries to pivot to the next one in line but struggles to get a good angle in the crowded corridor and misses
the soldiers push back at the party
they are unable to get past the strong defenses of the front line of the party
the green soldier looks strange for a moment, his skin writhing over his frame. in an instant he changes into the featurless image of a faceless stalker. his arms grow and claws form at the ends. the monster reaches past the other soldier and swings at Lolito
the party may act
Global Condition: |Derym HP: 45/47 - AC: 22/14/18 Status:
Lara: HP: 47/47 - AC: 17/12/15 Status:
Kragg HP:53/53 - AC: 20/10/20 Status:
Lolito HP: 36/60 - AC: 24/19/21 Status:
Alyn HP 46/58 - AC: 22/11/19 Status:
Trick HP 41/41 - AC 18/11/15 Status:NPCS:
Red soldier HP: -72 | AC:?? | dead
yellow soldier HP: -39 | AC:??
Black soldier HP: -54 (nl) | AC:?? | unconscious
Orange soldier HP: ?? | AC:??
Blue soldier HP: ?? | AC:?? |
Gray soldier HP: ?? | AC:??
Purple soldier HP: -29 | AC:??
Green soldier HP: ?? | AC:??
As one of the soldiers changes to a stalker Kragg tries to find which twin he was copying. In theory 1 of the twins was under a compulsion while the other was a stalker. Until he is able to determine who is who though Kragg is forced to use non lethal means on all of them.
Morningstar attack non lethal on yellow for
Lara puts a quite-lethal arrow in the one in yellow…or would have, if it wasn’t sticking out of the floor a few feet in front of her instead.
Derym steps forward as the blade in his hand all but screams Finally!, stepping behind Lolito to strike at the Stalker in front of Kragg.
for
for
the duplicate of the green one is purple.
To make it easier to fight in close quarters Alyn switches to his great sword.
Lolito takes the attack the best he can, and then goes for the purple one in front, then grey.
Kragg and Lara both miss their attacks
Derym swings with his magical sword doing some damage to orange.
Alyn switches weapons and has a rare miss with his attack. tric bites orange doing some damage.
Lolito finishes off the stalker in front of him and lands another blow on the next target.
even with their losses, the soldier (or stalkers) continue to fight, blank expressions on their faces.
your opponents are relentless, but they struggle to get past the defenses of the party
the party may act
Global Condition: |Derym HP: 45/47 - AC: 22/14/18 Status:
Lara: HP: 47/47 - AC: 17/12/15 Status:
Kragg HP:46/53 - AC: 20/10/20 Status:
Lolito HP: 27/60 - AC: 24/19/21 Status:
Alyn HP 46/58 - AC: 22/11/19 Status:
Trick HP 41/41 - AC 18/11/15 Status:NPCS:
Red soldier HP: -72 | AC:?? | dead
yellow soldier HP: -39 | AC:19
Black soldier HP: -54 (nl) | AC:19 | unconscious
Orange soldier HP: -28 | AC:19
Blue soldier HP: ?? | AC:19 |
Gray soldier HP: -11 | AC:19
Purple soldier HP: -51 | AC:19 | dead
Green soldier HP: ?? | AC:19
Lolito blocks one of the big hits thanks to the circle against evil, but another stalker harms him badly.
Starting to look not good the man revolves around his current position "Don't you know the power of Apsu? Then see this!" he spins around and starts to deliver a rain of fists trying to drop grey, then cyan. The first attack sprouts with cold flames around.
Lolito completes his spin with a powerful kick to render the attacker stunned or at least gain a defensive advantage against him.
Alyn and Trick will attack the one in front of them.
-------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kragg was able to turn aside the blow from the stalker/bewitched soldier thanks to the protections that Abadar had bestowed upon him. Thankfully Lolito and Alyn were able to lay the smack down on the enemy as fists, legs, and greatsword were flying all over the place. Compared to them his minor attacks were just an annoyance but at least he could try to contribute where he could. Try to capture purple if possible.
subdual attack orange for
Derym shakes his head as he notes his companion's wounds, Time for a more drastic action...
Oh, I love when you do this..
He quickly casts a spell, shaping the arcane patterns with his left hand while feeling the electricity arcing across him, and his blade, to deliver it.
Cursing after her last botched shot, Lara snaps off another shot at the soldier in yellow. It's about as effective, though at least it doesn't wind up in the ground at her feet as it sails past her intended target.
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The party returns fire with a devastating round of attacks.
It takes all of his attacks (with one miss) but Lolito takes down the gray stalker in front of him.
Alyn finishes off Yellow with one swing, then works with Trick to deal with orange easily.
Derym steps up and adds some shocking magic to his weapon and buries it deep in the cyan soldier. the blade digs deep into a vital spot and electricity fries the enemy from the inside out, killing it instantly.
the stalker swings back at Lolito, but misses
the last stalker is quickly cut down by a combination of Lolito and Alyn, leaving the hallway silent, except for the sound of dripping water coming from up ahead.
what do you do now?
Global Condition: |Derym HP: 45/47 - AC: 22/14/18 Status:
Lara: HP: 47/47 - AC: 17/12/15 Status:
Kragg HP:53/53 - AC: 20/10/20 Status:
Lolito HP: 27/60 - AC: 24/19/21 Status:
Alyn HP 46/58 - AC: 22/11/19 Status:
Trick HP 41/41 - AC 18/11/15 Status:NPCS:
Red soldier HP: -72 | AC:?? | dead
yellow soldier HP: -64 | AC:19 | dead
Black soldier HP: -54 (nl) | AC:19 | unconscious
Orange soldier HP: -69 | AC:19 | dead
Blue soldier HP: -56 | AC:19 | dead
Gray soldier HP: -50 | AC:19 | dead
Purple soldier HP: -51 | AC:19 | dead
Green soldier HP: ?? | AC:19
If there is a chance to save purple Kragg will do so. He hopes that eventually he can determine later if he is under magical compulsion or at the least interrogate the man for information about the complex.
Heal check
He also checks on black to see what his status is along with the other bodies to see if they are still alive. If there are he will stabilize them for information gathering.
Who is all injured that needs healing?
Kragg checks on the injured.
Purple is very close to death but Kragg is able to stabilize him. Now both black and purple are unconscious but stable. there is not much that can be done right now to check if they are being mind-controlled in some way, but that will probably be easier to determine when they are awake again.
the other enemies in the hallway are dead, beyond any chance of reviving.
Lara exhales as the adrenaline of the fight leaves her. “Not a scratch on me.”
These 2 here are still alive. I can heal one of them and try to get information from them. Shouldn't take much from the wand to bring one of them back up awake.
cure light wounds purple
"What a skirmish. Not exactly harmless those stalkers eh" Lolito laughs, at least three bad looking gashes still fresh on his chest and arms.
"They said they cannot eat normal food, isn't it? Their digestive anatomy must not be complete... so we need to check for that, I suggest" the teeth-crooked man does not hesitate to kneel and inspect the unconscious bodies, going into the grizzly task of checking the digestive anatomy. Dark curtain here, no details needed.
While the interrogation is prepared, he will also check for traps and noise the doors to left and right of the corridor.
With Lolito needing healing and they have time as they are not under immediate duress Kragg uses his wand to heal him rather than use Abadar's more powerful blessings.
Lolito smiles as the wounds quickly disappear from his badly injured body. He holds his hand to prevent the last touch though "I feel that is enough my friend. Apsu will look for me on this remote place of the world"
If no trap is found, Lolito will slowly open the eastern door to check what's there.
Lolito rolls up his sleeves and is about to get to some very grizzly work when the skin on several of the bodies ripples and splits revealing the faceless blobby forms under their disguises.
yellow orange and gray turn back into stalkers. green had already transformed during the fight. Black and purple are unconscious and still at least look like humans. the other two are quite dead and very human.
Lolito examines the two closest doors, but hears nothing. the doors don't seem to be trapped.
"So two look human" Lolito looks surprised on the revelation when the others turn to stalkers "Shall we retreat with the two unconscious ones and try to find out so we can do a second later attack with more information?"
The man states his preference "Although we probably do better to profit the surprise factor now and not delay ourselves more"
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Actually itis not all that surprising. With 4 exact pairs of people I would have thought that 4 were originals and the other 4 stalkers. I just wish that I could have more to determine which ones were stalkers. He looks down at the unconscious ones. It probably makes more sense to keep going and return for these later. Hopefully by then we will be able to suppress the compulsion magics upon them. Or at the least keep them bound until the magics wear off.
"Hopefully, there are some left that can be helped. But let's keep moving."
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Lara moves to the first door to the west. “May as well take it one at a time,” she says, and opens the door, an arrow nocked and ready.
Kragg follows behind Lara ready to jump in and provide a defensive position for the others.
The unconscious people are secured, and the group decides that for now they should leave them here and come back for them. Hopefully they will still be here, and hopefully the group can find a way to break the mental control on them.
Lara moves things along by opening the closest door.
Gears, hammers, shears, springs, tongs, and plentiful other tools and components lie scattered on shelves and on the floor of this room. The room’s main features are a large hearth with a darkened metal hood and exhaust duct above it, and an anvil placed in front of it. A single steel gear is lying on the anvil, and right next to the anvil is a stack of metal tablets with cogwheel-shaped indentations of different sizes on them.
the setup looks like it is designed for repairing and casting replacement parts for clockwork machinery.
The forge looks a bit odd to you. it does not look like it runs on coal, but right now you don't see a way for it to make heat to function.
there are a numch of metal pieces scattered around the room. gears, springs, pendulums, etc. they may be worth something if you decided to haul them out.
you also spot a traveler's any-tool and a pair of blue gloves on top of the hearth
know engineering
craft
perception
Kragg looks at the parts on the floor as inspiration dawns on him. This was used for making gear replacement parts. If we ever have issues at the observatory with future missing gears, we could remake them here. However, I don't see a means to heat the metal. we don't have time right now to figure this puzzle out, but I will want to come back here later.
Lolito loots the fallen bodies of anything of value before moving forward.
"Do you think the stalkers know how to use it Kragg?" Lolito sees something of interest and picks up a traveler's any-tool and a pair of blue gloves from the top of the hearth "This seems of interest. You might wish to identify them"
"Also these metal gears might have some sell value"
While the group finishes exploring the forge, Lolito presses forward, looking around the corner of the corridor, and trying to secure the area there.
“Best to come back to that later,” Lara says in agreement with Kragg. She does pause to take a second look around before following after the others.
Kragg detects magic on the room and specifically the gloves when Lolito shows them to him.
spellcraft
You know I might be able to use this magic detection on the fallen soldiers to determine if they are under magical compulsion. It might take a while for each person to fully decipher what is going on but it is an option for later.
Derym nods, "Agreed. Don't want to be weighted down now."
"Wise. We can keep going with the exploration then" Lolito compliments the team and quickly reacts to go forward.
If there is no hazard found in the corridor, he directs his efforts towards the eastern door, opening it and facing whatever lays behind.
Lara moves to a double door that Lolito had moved past. After checking the door for traps, she opens it, ready to draw her sword should something inside be hostile. Best not to leave an unexplored door behind us.