"This not what I signed up for, I don't belong down there," grumbles Bécacine. She hesitates a moment longer, seriously considering either walking out of the inn, or waiting here and 'holding the fort' in the hopes that her associates would return this way.
"Wishful thinking," she eventually concludes aloud while finally lowering herself into the sewers.
"This better be worth it," she mutters under her breath, trying to catch up to Gisele without losing her footing in the dank, slippery and foul smelling darkness.
Yvon slowly stumbles past the crumbling architecture, drawing his pistol. He keeps an eye and ear trained down the passages for any sign of conflict between Arnaud and the villain.
ushing at a breakneck speed amidst the muck and darkness you follow your instinct to catch the fleeing magician.
So trying out the chase rules. Roll init. Verite's init is 10. If you have darkvision you have a +2 to all these checks.
Using the base assumption of 30-foot cards, it takes a move action to move through a single card. When a character exits from a card, he must choose one of that card's two obstacles to face as a standard action before moving to the next card. Success means the character moves to the next card, while failure means the character must face the obstacle again on the next round. Instead of exiting a card, a character can choose to take another action not directly related to navigating the chase's course, such as casting a spell or drawing a weapon.
A character who wants to attempt to move three cards during his turn can do so by taking a full-round action. That character must overcome both obstacles on the card he is leaving. In this case, if a character fails either obstacle check by 5 or less, he only moves one card forward and his turn ends. If a character fails either obstacle check by more than 5, he cannot move at all that turn. A character unfortunate enough to fail two obstacle checks in a turn slips and falls taking 1d6 non-lethal damage. A character who falls must spend another full-round action becoming unmired and effectively loses his next turn in the chase.
A character can also choose to make a ranged attack or cast a spell during his turn in a chase. If the action is a full-round action, he can't move at all. Use the number of cards and their established distances to determine ranges as necessary. Verite has 50% concealment unless you are on the same card. A character can only choose to make melee attacks against targets that are on the same card.
If Verite gets to the finish line he's gone.
Start
Card #1
Perception DC 18 Hidden short-cut
Acrobatics DC 10 Crumbled stonemasonry
Card #2
Climb DC 10 Greasy wet Ladder
Acrobatics 15 Skillfull jump to higher platform
Card #3
Escape Artist DC 12 traversable gap in the bars
Swim DC 14 cut across moving water
Card #4
Perception DC 12 Aha I saw you!
Acrobatics DC 16 Charging jump
Card #5
Stealth DC 10 Close in for the kill
Climb 15 Haul up on to the platform cutting him off
Finish Line
The magician is on Card #4
Gisele moves quickly to slide between the bars blocking her path.
Sliding through without breaking stride she dives into the mirky water, swimming hard to reach the other side.
Gisele cuts through the water and in no time is out on the far bank.
She sees the Magician in front of her, and quickly draws and throws a dagger at his retreating back.
Arnaud hesitates as his only options are the bars or the water... not wanting to get his pistols wet, he opts for the bars.
And curses at great length as he can't quite make his way through.
Fed up with trying to clamber through the sewers, Nicholas begins to chant. Hopefully he can stop Verite in his tracks and not have to go through with all this bother.
Nicholas is casting sleep.
(range 110 ft. Will save DC 15)
Gisele moves quickly to slide between the bars blocking her path.
... [/ooc]
dam=
Gisele with nimble grace slides through the narrow opening of the bent grate bars her dagger whips through the air striking the already wounded magician. He gives an inhuman grunt in response.
Gisele Perception DC 15
Nicholas intones the arcane words straining his eyes in the murky dark but he is just able to make out Verite's fleeing form.
Verites Will
The bleeding magician stumbles as if suddenly groggy but with supernatural will shakes off Nicholas's enchantment.
The bleeding magician stumbles as if suddenly groggy but with supernatural will shakes off Nicholas's enchantment.
Yvon tucks his pistol away and attempts the ladder.
Yvon grunts in frustration as his fingers slip their grasp from the wet soiled ladder. The wounded Verite now aware of Gisele intones arcane words in an uncanny, echoing multifarious voice as if a chorus of voices raising their voice in a dark tone. To Gisele it seems as if shadows gather in an inky embrace about the magician. Now it is also apparent to not only Gisele but the others that the magician's very flesh shifts and warps boiling from the inside with the disturbing larval outline of scuttling creatures.
New Round
Gisele
Arnaud
Yvon
VERITE
Bec
Nicholas
Bécacine murmurs some arcane words. An instant later, her palm radiates a bright light, which she uses to illuminate her way... muttering and cursing in the most unladylike fashion with every treacherous step she takes...
Arnaud grimaces, and drops into the water, holding hsi pistol over his head.
It does not work out well. sputtering and cursing, he tries to keep from drowning.
Yvon tries the ladder again.
This time successfully, likely just in time watch Arnaud sink like a stone...
Overcome with an unknown fear, Gisele pauses in her chase of the wizard, frightened by what she thinks she has seen.
Nicholas cursing at Verite's resilience attempts to catch up.
Gisele confronted with the shadowed figure of Verite backs away from the frightful apparition.
Arnaud is pushed to the side by a sudden current and continues to struggle to reach the other side
Yvon clambers up to the top of the platform as Gisele backs away from the sinister magician.
Verite turns wrapping his cloak about him. He lowers the brim of his hat shadowing his face as he makes a hideous inhuman laugh of many voices. He looks to flee..
Arnaud, cursing in far more languages than he has ever let on to knowing, drags himself from the water. His face soured, he screams after Verite:
"When I'm done with you, it will take them years to find enough of you to bury, you son of a..." from there, the language gets increasingly colorful and horrifying.
... As the inhuman magician turns to depart into the shadows still laughing with a hollow chuckle, his triumph is cut bloodily short. Yvon's pistol shot detonates with reverberating force in the sewer tunnels. Verite's black cape is bedecked with a crimson hue as he falls down into a thrashing heap.
Perception DC 12
"Are you alright, sweetie?" asks Bécacine with apparently genuine concern once she catches up with the shaken Gisele. She tries to gently grab the woman by the wrist, and then hears the gun shot ringing out ahead.
"Let's hope that was one of our boys taking the shot," she whispers, "and that it was enough to bring down our quarry. Come with me."
With arcane light still shining in one palm, she attempts to lead Gisele to the spot where Yvon gunned down Verite. "Nice shot," she says with a purr. "You really do know how to handle your gun," she adds, winking at the man with her long dark lashes.
She then notices the sopping wet Arnaud. "Couldn't wait to get back to your room before having a bath? You'll never have any luck with the ladies swimming in this filth, no matter how much you pay," she remarks flatly before turning her attention to Verite.
"Is he dead?" she asks, still a short distance away and seeking to confirm her assumption with the men who likely are looking over the body. "His voice seemed rather... odd... What is he? Find anything of value, or interest, on him?"
Gisele follows Becacine as she moves forward. The fear that she felt only moments before seems to drift away, like mist on a morning field. By the time they are to the fallen body, she is pretty much back in control of herself.
As she looks over the remains of the dead wizard, she notices an odd movement in the mans robes. "Careful...I think there might be something still alive in those robes."
Arnaud, still fuming, finally reaches Verite's body.
He levels his pistol at the writing lump and kicks it viciously.
"Are you dead, swine? I so genuinely hope that you are not." he snarls.
Last, to arrive Nicholas walks up to the corpse.
"Nice shot, Yvon, I was worried he was going to get away. Hopefully we can get out of this muck soon, I fear this suit is ruined."
Perception:
Seeing movement, Nicholas quickly chants his mage hand spell, intending to grab whatever it is from a safe distance.
Standing in the circular tunnel the group gathers around the crumpled heap of the fallen magician. You see the robes shift as... something, seems to begin emerging. Warily you step back muscles coiled and ready.
A piercing and bestial shriek is loosed as the black robes part revealing a gruesome sight: Verite's head has been split open down the middle towards his abdomen. A pinkish writhing tenatacle lined with sharp-looking barbs flails wildly as it seems to be pulling itself from the unfortunate host with a sickening sound of tearing flesh and splintering bone. Disturbingly, amidst the barbs you espy small black bead-like shapes that seem to turn about like eyes gazing in every which direction. Your senses reel in horror at this loathsome and wholly alien being. It moves with with surprising speed to strike like a whip-
Bec
Nicholas
Yvon
Arnaud
Gisele
Tentacle
Arnaud
Yvon
Gisele
Bec
Tentacle
Nicholas
Knowledge (arcana) DC 18
You are not familiar with exactly what alien horror you are confronted with but you have heard tales of distant Bluetspur where monstrosities such as these are crafted by a sinister race known as illithid rumoured to live underground and have endured for countless aeons. They are masters of mind, of poisons and alchemy.
[/spoiler]
DC 22
You are aware of vague references of such creatures said to crafted by these illithid for a variety of purposes such as espionage and infiltration. Most such creatures while not powerful adversaries are often equipped with deadly poisons and powers of illusion or mind-trickery.
Bécacine turns a whiter shade of pale as she witnesses the tentacled monster ripping its way out of Verite's corpse. She shines her arcane light on the abomination, shudders in horror as black tears stream from her eyes, and begins backing away slowly, trembling...
"What... what is that... thing?" she asks in a feint, quivering voice.
Mutters, I think I chose the wrong spell...
Knowledge (arcana)
Be careful, I've heard rumors of these beasts. It may be poisonous and it can trick your senses, perhaps even invade your mind.
Yvon tucks his expended pistol away, drawing his sword. He moves to interpose his bulk between the Thing and the women, appreciative of Becacine's compliments.
Gisele draws her rapier, and readies herself to get into flanking position to best take advantage of striking the creature.
Arnaud, shocked by the grisly horror pauses for an instant backing away but quickly his training takes hold and staring down the barrel the muzzle flashes as he fires. He gives a silent prayer of thanks he kept his pistol and shot out of the water.
The tentacles moves with astonishing agility to dodge the shot.
"Gods' blood, what horror is this?" Arnaud backs away from the bars and reloads.
The tentacle lashes out at Gisele but is clumsy.
Fort DC 14 Strength damage
Nicholas with arcane will dismisses the mage hand creating a forceful blunt attack. It strikes the sinuos creature with pummeling force.
He takes a five foot step away from the loathsome horror.
Arnaud levels his pistol and fire at the hidous thing, smiling as the shot connects.
"Back to whatever infernal pit spawned you, wretch/"
Arnaud draws his scimitar.