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Kraygan's lance lands another solid blow against the ogrekin. Ending it's life as the blunt tip strikes against it's soft neck.
Umlo swings his hammer left and right in quick sweeps. Ah, ok I got ya. It has been awhile!
The ogrekin backs up just out of reach of Umlo's hammer while he manticore claws and bites at the hill giant.
The exhausted manticore barely has the energy to continue on as it feebly swipes about at the air.
Swinging around the roof once again Wren fires an arrow just as the giant raises it's boulder. The arrows splinters apart against the hard stone. Vanderhoff sets his feet in the dirt and swings hard at the remaining ogrekin. His axe blade sink deep into the giant's chest, felling it. Jorgan continues to mend his brother wounds.
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Curse of Melancholy -2 to att; weapon damage; saves; skill checks; ability checks.
Manticore (7/39; cursed)
Wren (Cursed)
Vanderhoff (G)(19/45)
Jorgan (B)(56/57)
Torgan (Y) (32/58; cursed)
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Hill Giants (-43)
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Kraygan (R)(43/56)
Umlo (60/60; cursed)
Torgan sees that the remaining enemy is weakened, but he still has fairly grievous wounds, so he continues to apply healing to himself with his wand. "Oi! Give me one more moment!" he bellows down as his cousins scrap with the hill giant.
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Seeing the last of the ogrekin down Torgan mends his wounds as he prepares for the confrontation with the hill giant.
Looking over the walkway Torgan watches as the hill giant hurls another boulder at Wren.
The boulder bursts through Wren's magical defenses, clipping his side. The impact from the large stone leaves the elf in a semi-dazed state as it knocks the wind from his lungs. Bending down the giant picks up another stone.
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Curse of Melancholy -2 to att; weapon damage; saves; skill checks; ability checks.
Manticore (7/39; cursed)
Wren (19/37; Cursed)
Vanderhoff (G)(19/45)
Jorgan (B)(56/57)
Torgan (Y) (32/58; cursed)
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Hill Giants (-43)
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Kraygan (R)(43/56)
Umlo (60/60; cursed)
Nodding to Umlo , and rushes toward the remaining enemy. He draws up behind the manticore, examining its wounds. "You don't look good, my friend."
Kraygan guides Haggis down the steps to the courtyard. "Back away, beast!" He calls to the manticore. "We kin take this one now."
Torgan hurries down the walkway on the wall towards the stairs. "Oi! I'm comin, Steelkegs!" yells the blonde dwarf to his cousins.
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Round 10, Init 2
Wren takes a blow, grimacing at the reminder of his failure to do better with his last attack. He smiles grimly as the dwarvenmoot show up.
"'Bout time. I've been working him down, but he's both bigger and dumber than you lot, which is pretty impressive," Wren shouts down before shooting again at the giant.
to hit;
damage.
After shooting, Wren flies to hide, worried about the damage from another boulder.
HP: 19/37
AC: 18 (+4 w/mage armor)
Effects: mage armor,heroism
Right: bow
Left:
Acid 3/6 used
[ dice]1d20+8[/dice] to hit;
[ dice]1d8+1[/dice] damage.
Sent via PoseyPost
On my PixelPad
"Thas more like it!" Jorgan follows after his brother.
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Nodding to Umlo , and rushes toward the remaining enemy. He draws up behind the manticore, examining its wounds. "You don't look good, my friend."
The dwarves chaotically swarm down the stair and end up surrounding the giant allowing the manticore to gladly back away to lick it's wounds.
Wren fire's an arrow at the giant but it falls just short of striking it as it protrudes from the dirt next to it's foot.
Umlo looks up in shock. HEY! Watch it bub....
Wren hides in the buildings open interior as the giant whips about, roaring in anger as he no longer sees his allies but stuntyrunts instead.
Turning he heaves the boulder at Kraygan
The boulder smashes into the stairs next to Kraygan, cracking a small section off into the dry dirt floor.
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Curse of Melancholy -2 to att; weapon damage; saves; skill checks; ability checks.
Manticore (7/39; cursed)
Wren (19/37; Cursed)
Vanderhoff (G)(19/45)
Jorgan (B)(56/57)
Torgan (Y) (32/58; cursed)
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Hill Giants (-43)
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Kraygan (R)(43/56)
Umlo (60/60; cursed)
Torgan waits for his mounted cousin to take charge, but quickly follows up with Agrimmosh in both his hands as he tosses the wand to the side.
"DWARVESMOOT! ATTAAAAACK!" he bellows right before Kraygan acts.
Argh! I mustn't leave the wand behind! Finding his one hand full, Jorgan grimaces as he reaches for his scimitar rather than his axe. He rushes in after his brother and swings!
Hafta admit, this thing is pretty well-balanced....
Van charges south and swings his axe at the giant.
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Round 11, Init 2
Wren snakes back out into combat to finally catch the dwarves slicing the giant to pieces.
"'Bout time. I've been whittling him down," Wren shouts down before shooting again at the giant.
to hit;
damage.
HP: 19/37
AC: 18 (+4 w/mage armor)
Effects: mage armor,heroism
Right: bow
Left:
Acid 3/6 used
[ dice]1d20+8[/dice] to hit;
[ dice]1d8+1[/dice] damage.
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Kraygan kicks Haggis and charges the doomed giant with a battlecry.
"BARAK TRUNAU!!"
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Haggis' feet catch solid ground as he digs large gouges into the dry earth. Setting forth Kraygan lowers his lance and plants it right into the middle of the hill giant's back. As it strikes the hill giant bends backwards at an ungodly angle. Using the distraction Jorgan opens the creature's stomach with his flaming scimitar. The heat from the flames quickly cauterizes the wounds but it doesn't help as it's insides rapidly fall outside it's body, instantly killing him as he falls to the ground in a heap. Vanderhoff moves forward to make sure that the giant is dead and smashes it's head open like a watermelon.
Curse of Melancholy -2 to att; weapon damage; saves; skill checks; ability checks.
Manticore (7/39; cursed)
Wren (19/37; Cursed)
Vanderhoff (G)(19/45)
Jorgan (B)(56/57)
Torgan (Y) (32/58; cursed)
Kraygan (R)(43/56)
Umlo (60/60; cursed)
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"Heal up, I'll keep watch, then I'll come down for a hit or two," Wren yells down to Kraygan.
Wren debates circling the castle and looking for more danger with going down the dwarves for some healing. In the end, he waits for them to heal up while he soars up about 100' to keep an eye out for more danger.
He keeps an eye out for orcs specifically, but wants to know of any danger to dwarves whilst they heal.
Perception
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"On it, Cap'n!" Kraygan salutes Wren and turns to the troops. "Right now, who's wounded? Beast is lookin damned bloody. Brave thing, takin on the giant solo. Jorgan, that yer blood? Nope? Good. Torgan could use more wanding. At least all those cuts 'n scars 'll make it easier to tell you two apart. Vanderhoff, what happened? Did ye fall down some stairs into a knife rack? Umlo... Hmmm. Lookin good."
Tugging on his beard, Kraygan waits for the wand brigade to get to work. Glancing up, he frowns at Wren.
"Waitaminute... Didnae he say he couldna fly again?"
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Hovering over the fort Wren does not notice any more immediate dangers. The vast majority of the orcs within the camps seem to have drowned as they float face down within the rapid waters. They look to have been beaten against the rocky wall face as the unsuspecting tide came in and swept them off of their feet.
Vanderhoff rocks back on his heels and draws a breath as the giant goes down. Looking around for where the whining elf ran off to, Van shakes his head and jogs back to the wall to retrieve his hammer.
After getting his dropped weapon, Van moves back down to the courtyard and starts the long process of healing everyone.
"All right, alright. Just get in line. No need to push..."
As Van taps the wand to Torgan, he frowns and shakes it a couple times then shrugs. "This one is spent." He says, then eyes Kraygan's wounds. "Anyone else got a wand?"
"I 'ave one with a few charges, Van, but it's probably almost empty." Torgan says as he gathers his wand from the dirt near the stairs.
"Oi! Elf! I think yer good t' join us." Torgan bellows up to Wren.
"Let's check out that chapel. I'm tired o' this place." he says with some misery to his voice. The dwarf trundles near the stairs and frees his yak from the room that they were trapped in.
The yak comes and licks Torgan's face and the dwarf smiles a bit before looking grimly at the chapel doors once more.
"I've still got a bit on this one." Jorgan pulls out his wand but saves the more powerful wand for emergencies.
"Hey Umlo! If your deaf, dumb, blind friend survived-if-where would they have gone? Is the chapel the place to go?"
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Umlo looks to Jorgan. I am not sure where she would have gone exactly. She was mostly blind but she did speak of the chapel quite often. He says standing up and claps the largerclumps of dirt from his tattered pants. Oiy! Why even bothers, these are ruined
Looking at the Chapel his eyes grow full of sorrow. It is wortha try at least, though hard to imagine a blind orc making it out of that the way the water came in an all.... Umlo nods at the barricaded door of the Chapel.
Curse of Melancholy -2 to att; weapon damage; saves; skill checks; ability checks.
Manticore (38/39; cursed)
Wren (36/37; Cursed)
Vanderhoff (G)(42/45)
Jorgan (B)(56/57)
Torgan (Y) (56/58; cursed)
Kraygan (R)(43/56)
Umlo (60/60; cursed)
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Wren nods thanks at Vanderhoff, taking to the air again for another quick scout before return to walking on the ground like a chump.
"I hope that she made it. If we are lucky, she found her way here or was here when the chaos started," Wren says, keeping his orc bane arrows ready while waiting for the dwarves to enter the sacred chapel.
Wren, nearly out of all magics, prepares to flee rather than fight something that would scare all the orcs and giants away.
Vanderhoff takes the wand from Torgan and uses it on Kraygan.
As the party makes ready to enter the chapel, Van quickly rifles through the belongings of the giant and ogrekin, salvaging anything of value.
Torgan, leaving his weapons sheathed, begins to clear the debris from the door, hoping to unbarricade it. "Oi! Dwarves, let's go!" he bellows to his brethren.
Umlo looks to Jorgan. I am not sure where she would have gone exactly... He says standing up and claps the largerclumps of dirt from his tattered pants. Oiy! Why even bothers, these are ruined
"Sorry 'bout the priestess." Kraygan grips Umlo's shoulder in a rare moment of empathy. Pulling his hand away he tries to add some levity to the situation by pointing at the other dwarf's filthy pants. "On th' bright side, at least tha's only dirt! Ye shoulda seen what we crawled through to get inta the fort! Har!"
Still chuckling, Kraygan moves to aid Torgan clear the barricade.
"Don't say sorry just yet, Kray. We've haven't found any body and the chapel seems a good place to check. Let's go, dwarves. There's a chapel to deface."
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Grabbing Aggrimosh Torgan begins to break the large oards off of the door for several minutes. Tearing the final board free Torgan grabs ahold of the large oaken double door, with Kraygan's assistance he opens it with a creak.
A large trail of dust falls from the top of the sealed door as light enters the chapel. It does not look as if light has touched this room in a very long time as faded white paint peels from the dust covered walls of this grand vaulted chamber. Several sturdy pews sit in perfect rows facing west, where a simple altar sits upon a marble dais. Opposite the altar, a statue of a stern woman clad in full plate armor, brandishing a longsword and shield, stands vigil against the eastern wall of the room. A tangible sense of calm pervades this abandoned chapel.
Curse of Melancholy -2 to att; weapon damage; saves; skill checks; ability checks.
Manticore (38/39; cursed)
Wren (36/37; Cursed)
Vanderhoff (G)(42/45)
Jorgan (B)(56/57)
Torgan (Y) (56/58; cursed)
Kraygan (R)(56/56)
Umlo (60/60; cursed)
"Unless I'm drinkin 'em, spirits ain't my expertise." Kraygan says, waiting for someone else to take the lead.
Van scowls at Wren and Kraygan, then moves into the chapel. "Perhaps the giants were haunted by a good spirit?" He muses as he begins looking aorund.
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Wren begins to illuminate a small piece of rubble. Grasping it firmly in hand he chucks it around the corner into the Chapel. The stone clatters off of a couple of pews with dull hollow thuds before it comes to rest underneath one of the benches. It's dull light radiates outwards playing shadows off of the walls.
As Vanderhoff boldly enters the room the stones brightness begins to grow little by little as it ends in a blinding flash. Blinking his eyes a couple of times Vanderhoff peers about as he gains his vision back and notices that every candle in every sconce is now brightly lit and illuminated.
Doing a quick search about the room Vanderhoff finds very little but shelves of dust and bugs. Turning back to the group Vanderhoff feels a bone chilling coldness pass across him for a moment. A couple nearby pages of text flutter about in an unseen wind.
"Yeah, probably for the same reason I wouldn't feel right walking into a temple of Rovagug."
Jorgan follows Van in once the dwarf doesn't instantly drop dead. "Strange place. No wonder the giants don't like it." Jorgan tries to grab at the pages and see what's on them.
Torgan, knowing that there must be more to the room, investigates. "Oi! I'll search back 'ere." the dwarf yells as his brother moves to grab the fluttering pages.
The dwarf tries to stay away from the weird lights. "I dun trust th' lights." he mutters as he moves towards the back.
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Taking several moments to look around the room the dwarven brothers also turn up little more than religious texts based on Iomedae's teachings.
Out of the corner of Torgan's eye he catches that the flame from the candles seems to leap from one candle to the next as it grows brighter and brighter. The flame seems to add to the next as it grows in size. in the center of the room. The light merges into the shape of a translucent young man in long white robes. The holy symbol of Iomedae embrodiered upon his chest as a golden longsword hangs at his side. The translucent man seems to hang in the air just above Torgan.
The man's mouth opens as his voice seems to trail off and echo slightly. He holds a gloved hand to Torgan. Heeeelp meeee.....
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Wren enters with bow drawn only after the dwarves do, because he's not drunk or crazy. He notes the lights and wonders what will be killing the dwarves next.
He takes aim at the translucent man, sizing it up.
"Help you? Help you how?" Wren blurts out before he can stop himself. "What...do you need?" Wren lowers his bow momentarily.
Know (Religion)
Torgan definitely steps back from the ghostly apparition. "I ain't helpin' no creepy ghost unless you back off!" he yells, drawing out Agrimmosh.
"Should I smash it, Wren? Yer th' self-proclaimed brains o' th' operation..." he yells back to the elf. "But ye didn't even think o' th' Trojan Yak. Brains, my ass..." he says with a dwarf giggle.
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Wren recognizes this apparition as a ghost. Hanging in the air it turns it's head to Wren. My name is Fabian Blix. At least it used to be when I was still mortal.....Free me from these bonds. Free me to pass to the other side. The man's pale cloudy eyes almost seem to be pleading.
My blight is from many years ago. How long, I do not know. When the orcs pushed south against Harchist’s Blockade in 4482 ar, they attacked the line of forts stretching along the border, and Redlake Fort was no exception. At first, Redlake’s garrison held strong against the orc hordes, but as the siege went on, our food supplies quickly dwindled.
Surrounded by orcs and cut off from the rest of the forces manning the Blockade, we had no hope of resupply. The men soon realized that the fort would not hold—they would either die at the hands of the orcs or slowly waste away from starvation. Our castellan, a man named Tamand Varias, was determined that we would not fall under his command, and so he turned to a forbidden practice to feed his troops—cannibalism.
When Varias, first pondered cannibalism he sought my counsel hoping
for assurance that the church would absolve him of wrongdoing on his deathbed. I was shocked by this and could offer him no guarantee. I advised him to surrender the fort to the orcs in exchange for the garrison’s freedom. Varias argued that surrender was tantamount to suicide and vowed to hold the fort at any cost. I told him the cost might be his soul. He says somberly. The castellan went insane with rage and struck me down with his sword.
Resolute to what must be done to feed his troops, Varias locked up the chapel and quietly began murdering those deemed unnecessary for the fort’s defense— primarily the families of the soldiers— I became the first to be fed to the garrison. All I could do was watch in shock and horror. Varias told the men that this newly discovered food supply was being hidden my me within the chapels walls. He said that once I was discovered that I fled like the coward I was, abandoning the garrison to it's fate.
The candles flare once more causing Fabian Blix to flit from one side of the room to the eastern side of the Chapel. His form shimmers in the shadows cascading off of the walls.
He also claimed that for their safety, the soldiers’ families and the fort’s remaining food supply had been barricaded inside the chapel, where Iomedae would watch over and protect them. In reality, of course, the chapel was empty, and the garrison’s family members were being slaughtered in the keep’s basement to provide sustenance to the fort’s soldiers. The garrison’s soldiers praised the castellan for his foresight and continued to fight, believing that surrender to the orcs would doom their loved ones—all the time unaware that their families were already dead, and ignorant to the horror that they had supped on their own flesh and blood.
Keeping the source of the food secret, Varias fed his soldiers the bodies of their own comrades and loved ones. For a time, he was successful; with fresh meat in the garrison’s bellies, morale surged, and the defenders redoubled their efforts against the orcs. Eventually, however, the secret got out, and the garrison turned against the castellan, horrified at what Varias had done, and what he had forced them, albeit unknowingly, to do. In a hastily convened tribunal, the soldiers tried and convicted their commander, entombing him alive behind a stone wall in the fort’s keep. Once more out of food and their morale shattered, the surviving defenders did not last much longer, and the besieging orcs soon overran the fort.
The ghost's gauntlet covered hands point towards Kraygan. Rid this Fort of Tamand Varia's foul influence and cleanse it of his sins from so long ago will finally allow me to know peace at last. Bring his remains here and destroy them upon this altar.
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"Where? Where would we find Tamand Varia's influence...the skull?" Wren asks, his mind racing with questions. "Blix? You're Blix? I..." Wren fumbles into his 'sack. "I found your...ring? This is yours, yes?"
"How can we cleanse this place of his taint?" Wren asks aloud even as he thinks about it.
Know (Religion)
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As the ghost appears, Van's hand grips his hammer a bit tighter, but then he nearly drops it when the ghost names himself Blix. A small strangled sound escapes his lips. "Blix?" He croaks, recognizing the name. Calrianne...? Her brother? Father?....
Van's face begins taking an ashen pall as he listens to the ghost's story. When the man starts describing the cannibalism, Van puts a clenched fist to his mouth as he tries to quell the bile rising in his throat. Muffled retching sounds escape from behind the fist as he struggles to control himself.
When Wren mentions a ring, Van jerks his head and turns to Wren. "Ring? What ring!? When did you find a ring?!"
Jorgan shrugs nonchalantly at the ghost. "Sure, we can do that for you." Don't see what the whole big fuss was about though. Meat is meat after all. Shouldn'ta slaughtered the families but if there were people dying anyways, what's the harm in cooking 'em up?
Jorgan continues pondering the dilemma to himself for a while as Wren and Van fight. He then has a revelation and blurts out, "Hey Van, what's Blix the name of that girl you were hittin' on?" As soon as the words leave his mouth he knows it probably wasn't the most tactful thing to ask but doesn't bother to apologize.
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Horrified by his plan, I was wracked with guilt but could not stop it in this form. I found myself bound to this Chapel, unable to warn the garrison of the fate of their loved ones...... I was able to appear before my own family members in their dreams, telling them of my murder at the Castellan's hands. I urged them to flee the fort as soon as possible.
The candles once again begin to flare and grow in brightness as Fabian Blix's grief rises.
My wife decided to confront Varia's, only to wind up in his stewpot. My twin sons were able to escape he Castellan's murderous wrath. They were able to squeeze through the latrine, unfortunately, during their flight one of my boys fell and broke his neck within the cesspool.
Fabian floats over to Wren and inspects the ring. That is the ring he wore upon his finger. Our family crest is upon it. His brother (Calrianne Blix's great grandfather) fared a bit better and was able to escape. To what fate I do not know.
The ghostly apparition ponders Wren's question.
Perhaps this taint can be destroyed by bringing Varia's remains here and destroying them, for it is he who has caused all of this.
Kraygan stands at the door, holding his breath in anticipation of the ghost turning on them. He nods enthusiastically at Torgan's initial plan to destroy the undead spirit, but has no idea how to go about it. At Wren's mention of the ring, Jorgan's of the Blix family, and Vanderhoff's scandalous reaction, he starts to understand. Sort of...
"There 'r a lot of bodies around here. How're supposed to know we found the right one?" Digging in his pack, he pulls out the skull and holds it up. "This skull here's got a nasty presence. Ye recognize it?"
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As Kraygan pulls the skull from his pack the ghost vanishes. Looking about the room Kraygan frantically turns about looking for where the ghost had gone.
Turning back around he finds Fabian hanging over his shoulder, mere inches away. Yes, that is his skull. I can feel the evil pouring from it. Can you not? The ghost cringes and seems to recoil away.
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Torgan strides forward with Agrimmosh at the ready, happy to smash something. "Don't worry, Vandy's great-great-grandfather-in-law. I shall destroy th; wretch's skull with a single blow!" he says proudly as he grabs the skull from Kraygan and puts it on the altar, bringing his hammer high.
With a cry, he brings it down on the cursed object. "FER FUTURE HALF-DWARVES!"
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Wren begins to backpedal as Torgan raises Aggrimosh high into the air above the altar to Iomadae. The hammer strikes the cursed skull. The skull cracks all about and shatters into with a cacophonous blast of dust. As Torgan's hammer hits it causesa massive blast of energy to rip throughout the chamber. Torgan is flung back into the pews sending large cloud of dust to rise into the air. Wren and Umlo follow suit as they are ripped to the floor like a rag doll being thrown. The rest of the group seems ultimately un-phased as they feel little more that a light breeze blow throughout the Chapel. Looking round the group realizes that Wren, Torgan and Umlo do not seem to be getting up.
Fabian glances about at the destroyed skull. His ghostly face seems to fall in despair. Something is not right..... It is not over. There must be more of him out there still.
The dwarves begin to hear the yaks baying frantically outside of the Chapel.