The skum raises a hand, charges it with electricity, then reaches out to touch Vincent.
Vincent doesn't know what the skum was doing but feels a searing agony in his chest,as three green bolts strike home, then the whole world fades into darkness.
You find yourself staring at horrifyingly emaciated Dethan, with his hair gone completely white. The only things showing animation are his eyes - they are filled with a strange light, with no sign of sanity in them, across a ultramarine blue crater lake. Next to him is a coffin, which despite his frail frame, he lifts surprising ease. "I've come so far...finally...the end to my torment is in sight." Behind him is a ruined city with improbably tall structures and angled streets, with the wind whistling through them, creating disturbing harmonics.
"Mina, we'll never be apart again." He declares, as he walks, together, with the coffin, into the centre of the lake.
Leonard shakes her hand, well, he begins, seeing as how I'm now up and about, it'd be real nice if you could return my belongings? I'd like to thank you for keeping them safe for me, but now that I'm awake and obviously in sound enough mental health, I'd like to have my things. Leonard places his hands behind his back with some difficulty. It's not easy for him to show deference, he's used to being in positions of power.
And what's this I hear about Byakhees? I can't recall what they are, though on a normal day I suspect I could. Why aren't they letting you search the fort? Maybe I can go for you? I hope they aren't some mighty things that are out of my capacity to deal with. Maybe I need some allies...
"Oh ok - we're under budgetary constrains here - I mean the donations from other healing services we perform help - but there are so many Brairstone asylum refugees to resettle. If you're fine, I'm all happy to discharge you, so we can use the funds for those who need it more." Trillis answers.
She then leads Leonard to another room which she opens with one of the keys in the keyring. Leonard can see there are many bags and chests piled up in the room. She takes one of the chests out, then puts it next to Leonard, and locks the door. "Everything should be in there."
"About the Byakhee - yes I caught sight of two, shot one down, but the other one ran into Fort Hailcourse. Constable Barawyn Cesyll claimed the place was under lockdown because the mercenaries were deserting and she was trying to keep the situation in control. If you want to, I would appreciate it. Oh - Byakhees decay rapidly when they are slain, so don't bother about evidence. I'll trust your word on it."
"Winter, my fellow priestess who's currently in the Sleepless Agency - said those brave souls that purged the asylum fog also went to Fort Hailcourse to see if they could get permission to search the place." Trillis answers.
'Blast, I need a meat shield' Seamus, still singing reach down and touches Vincent, healing him as best as he can.
The skum raises a hand, charges it with electricity, then reaches out to touch Vincent.
Then the scene fades and you find yourself back in Fort Hailcourse, staring at a skum, from the ground.
Leonard gathers his gear, checking to see what he has. Where's my signet ring? I don't remember this wand...hmm. Any idea how long I was an inmate? Let's see...the last memory I have it was...
Hello, old friend, Angiliath's voice rings out cold in his head, and Leonard smiles, buckling the sword to his belt. We'd better visit the fort right away, I'd like to speak to my saviors. Maybe they can tell me something about myself, they certainly seem related to me having just regained my senses.
And then on to Iris Hill.
Leonardo makes his way to Fort Hailcourse.
The only entrance to the fort is a set of 10-foot-high double door located on the south side of this large stone building. Tarnished brass door knockers carved into the shapes of the perching birds hangs on the door, and the hatch of the spyhole remains shuttered.
The set of 10-foot-high double doors is open and you see the bodies of two dead humans on the floor. There are bite and claw marks on them as well as slash wounds. The skin of the bodies are gray, as if the humans were dead some time before. There are signs of a scruffle, and 4 sets of footprints, and 1 set of claws leading northwest. You hear the sound of combat directly above you.
Sword marks must be from the asylum people, maybe the claw marks are how they died?
Does a Bekleth have claws? Will it raise the dead?
Only one way to find out.
Leonard hurries on, opening the door and looking for stairs to go up.
Overlooking the fort’s courtyard, this spacious room is fitted with bunk beds, small chests, and stools. A rancid smell lingers in the room. There are three dead human bodies, all gray in this room. The tracks, of 4 humans and the claw marks lead north.
The sound of combat seems to be getting further away, however Leonard spots a spiral staircase heading upwards, and heads up it.
This round room in the tower is used for secure observation of the grounds outside via an array of arrow loops. A spiral staircase descends to ground level, while a circling wooden stair climbs upward to a trap door at the top of the tower.The five towers of the fort are all identical
The door is closed,but you can hear the sound of combat beyond it.
*Click*
Tegere. The wand warms in Leonard's left hand, landing on Leonard's pack a second later.
Yesss.
Angiliath flashes as he draws it from his sheath, reveling at being drawn again after so long. Are you ready, old friend?
*Thud*
The trapdoor is opened.
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I am sorry that I failed you again, brother. I could not protect you when you were alive, and I proved to be just as incompetent when it came to preventing the death of your interim host. It looks like Yig will be consuming your soul, after all...
After taking a few moments to gather his thoughts, Howard cautiously heads back inside, trying to take the most direct route back up to the battlements. Once there, he carefully collects the pieces of Claude's body, before viciously hacking apart the corpse of the juju zombie that killed him.
As Howard returns to the Fort, and takes the most direct route up by climbing up the spiral staircase in the tower, he sees the back of a slim human, clad in a mithral chain shirt, with his dark hair tied into a pony tail, preparing to open the door ahead. He holds a wand in one hand and a black scimitar in another. You hear him say, "Tegere.", with the wand glowing blue, then he puts it in his pack.
You also hear the sound of combat beyond the door.
You see a human in smoked spectacles and occultist robes approach you from behind. He seems to be shuddering slightly as if discomforted by something.
Who are you? Leonard asks, turning to face the man. Are you from the asylum? Is that the sound of the Bekleth?
You're a nub =P
Vincent's familiar grabs one of his potions of cure light off his sash and feeds it to him.
Vincent then stands back up and stabs the skum again.
Yellow Sign?
I have no idea what that means, though I keep seeing yellow fog in my dreams. I'm here to catch up with the four who saved Briarstone asylum from the same fog, and to hunt down a Bekleth, which sounds like it's right outside. Leonard keeps his eyes on the man, sword pointed at the ground but ready to come up at a moment's notice.
Give it to me.
The creature bites at Vincent as he stands up.
It sinks its teeth into the thing, and the thing proofs.
Vincent stands up and manages to stab the creature in its calf. It limps a bit, looking badly injured now.
Seeing Vincent not dead and getting back up, it frowns.
It then channels some electric energy into its claw and reaches out to touch Vincent.
Vincent realizes it's the shocking grasp spell, just a second too late as the painful electric charge is delivered into his body and he gives a pained gasp as he passes out.
Dakash seems to have stop bleeding profusely.
You hear someone give a pained gasp and a groan from the room beyond, and the sound of a body hitting the floor.
You hear Vincent give a pained gasp and a groan, then the sound of a body hitting the floor.
Vincent groans, making a 'why me' face just before he gets slapped with electricity and passes out again.
At the sound of a dull thump, Leonard's head snaps over to look at the trapdoor.
Come on, kill something.
Making a snap decision, Leonard throws open the door, his sword bursting into flames as he does. No time for chitchat.
Still singing his song, Seamus fires two arrows at the creature and then steps back.
You see a blue skinned humanoid lying on the floor with a small pool of blood underneath him, his body bearing burns in his chest and with silver splinters on his back and a raven haired man with a frightened expression on his face, with a bow in his hands. Some distance from them is a decapitated small reptile with its snake-like head separated from its a bird-like body that has sword wounds on its chest. There are three gray humans corpses nearby studded leather armor and a longsword, with a bow on their backs.
You see in front of the raven haired human lies the smoking body of a half elf, with scorch marks on his chest, and a stab wound in his abdomen,also with silver shards sticking out of him. Next to him is a hunchbacked, green-skinned humanoid has a wide, frog-like head but a mouth more akin to that of a toothy fish, his claw still having residue sparks, a triumphantly grin on his face.
Seamus's arrows bounce off a green shield.
A short man in dull red clothing bursts onto the rooftop, long hair tied behind his head in a ponytail. He looks fairly young, but there is a dash of grey in his hair, and his eyes carry the weight of a hundred battles. He runs confidently forward, looking past Seamus at the strange creature, at whom he points a flaming scimitar. His left hand is held up at approximately chest height, and is adorned with a black tatoo.
Time for violence.
The skum growls, "
Arhoswch nes i mi ddysgu gwers i chi, byddwch chi'n saethu ysgubor!"
Wait till I teach you a lesson, you arrow shooting coward!
He fires three bolts that strike Seamus. He then moves to the back of the room.
Leonard recognizes it as a magic missile spell.
The wisps of smoke around Vincent's body seem to die down.
Mae angen fy nghyfarwyddyd fy hun arnaf, Leonard replies, the tattoos on his left hand glowing a pale, frosty blue. He mutters a few arcane words, retreiving a vial of
a powdery white substance from his belt pouch before charging forward. He launches himself into an elongated lunge as soon as he's in reach of the creature, aiming right for its chest. Magic missile won't save you from me.
The skum sees it coming and sidesteps at the last moment.
The creature bites at Vincent as he stands up.
|
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Howard frowns.
"That... is interesting. The four you seek are certainly here. Why do you seek them?"
Howard moves over to Vincent and Dakash, drawing a potion as he does so.
Giving an exasperated sigh when the man goes down again, Howard 5' steps, and feeds the potion to Vincent...
...causing the man to breathe more easily.
"Ow!" His song interrupted, Seamus asks, "Dysgu gwers i mi? Ai hynny i fod yn well coward neu well ergyd?"
Seeing the man dressed in red run past, Seamus turns to help his friends, "Oh hi, Howard, I'm sorry about Claude, is the fellow in red your new friend?"
Seamus reaches to comfort Vincent also.
"Ydy, yn bendant, mae angen gwers arnoch chi. Peidiwch â sefyll rhwng mi a'm ysglyfaeth." The skum growls as he charges his claw with electricity then grabs Leonard with it.
Yes you definitely need a lesson. Do not stand between me and my prey.
Leonard feels a painful electric current surge through him.
Both Leonard, Vincent and Howard realize it is a shocking grasp spell.
Vincent opens his eyes, quickly surveying the situation yet again, and stands up with spear in hand, moving behind Leonard 5ft diagonally to threaten the skum.
Ow, that hurt, Leonard says loudly, almost surprised. He reaches up for the skum's arm with his left hand, aiming to stab it while holding it in place. His sword still burns with a now icy blue fire.
Leonard seems to float backwards slightly, keeping his distance. His left hand still glows faintly blue, and he sinks into a guard position, scimitar held forward and pointed at the skum.
Seeing that Howard was helping Dakash next, Seamus moves into the room, "Who does that frog face think he is telling me he'll teach me? What does he know, he's a... well he's a... ummm... a frog face, yeah he's a frog face." Giving up a better description, Seamus draws and fires an arrow.
And with a mighty swing of his scimitar, Leonard cuts the skum down. As he falls, he gasps, "Dydych chi ddim wedi clywed y olaf o hyn! Bydd Itsqaal-Thoal yn fy ngweld!"
You havent heard the last of this!Itsqaal-Thoal will avenge me!
On his body, the party finds two potions of Cure moderate wounds, a headband of alluring Charisma and 53 gp.
The party also picks up the masterwork trident he dropped earlier and two 1
+1 short swords and an amulet of natural armor from the Soulsilver.
A secret cache under the floor planks is discovered with Perception check, and it holds a pouch with 22 sp, 88 gp, and three freshwater pearls (worth 100 gp each), a bookmark of deception in a book that appears to be a book on Pharasman Hymms, but when the bookmark is removed, is a book on otherworldy creatures of the dreamland worth 75 gp, and a set of keys.
Looting the juju zombies yields 3 masterwork longswords, 3 suits of studded leather armor, 3 masterwork composite longbow and 60 arrows. The party checks all the guard towers but realize they are all the same.
They also find a stairway leading upwards in the main battlements.
Dakash groans as Howard prods him awake and he pushes himself up. "Thanks for saving my life."He thanks Howard.
"But that was nearly the end of me. I rather live my life peacefully and stay alive. Good luck with finding Lowls. I could use some funds to help me set myself up in Thrushmoor."With that, Dakash takes his share of the party loot and leaves.
Leonard removes his still flaming sword from the skum's corpse, blood smoking on the blade. Well, that worked out well.
I suppose introductions are in order, and seeing as how you all know each other, I shall go first. Leonard checks his clothing, making sure that everything is in order, dusting off his vest with his left hand. He seems somewhat like a dainty nobleman, who would eat snails with a tiny silver fork, but scars on his forearms and the smoking sword in his hand tell a different story. Better not use my last name. My name is Leonard Giles, and I was recently an inmate of Briarstone Asylum. I've made a living on the road most of my life, killing monsters and so forth. Leonard gestures with his sword at the corpse of the skum, proof of his competence. Having recently awoken from a long state of catatonia, which I don't understand or remember yet, I thought it would be a good idea to put myself to the test against a monster to see what I'd forgotten in my slumber, he grins at this, obviously rather pleased with himself. Normally I like to research and learn about whatever I'm hunting beforehand, but in this case, it seems I was right to chase after you.
Well, now you know who I am, tell me, what else lurks in this castle? What exactly is a Byakhee? Do you know of this Itsqaal-Thoal? Leonard begins to look over the corpses for loot while you respond. He's not a good listener.
Leonard has picked up his pack from the tower where he first entered, and replaced his wand in a spring loaded sheath on his left forearm. He places his pack in the room where they killed the skum, tossing it casually beside the corpses of the fallen monsters, who he doesn't interact with except to search for valuables.
Leonard looks at the amulet of natural armor. It looks like you and you Leonard points at Seamus and Vincent already have amulets, and they appear to be of the same sort, correct? I suppose that makes this mine, at least until we get back to a place where we can sell it, at which time we can decide on fair divisions of profit. Unless anyone stops him, he picks up the amulet and puts it on his neck.
Leonard expresses no interest in any of the other loot, asking the others where to put it.
Shall I lead the way in our exploration of the other towers? So long as we have time to cast a few spells, I'm quite tough to kill, and don't mind standing in front. He moves to climb the stairs, casting shield if the party hears anything that sounds dangerous.
Vincent feels less heroic and feels the effects of his mutagen fade.
Topping each of the five towers of the fort is a round, open space accessible via a trap door. On top of each tower is a light ballista . The ballista is fixed to a swiveling mount, and a wooden box nearby holds 10 balista sized bolts.
At some point while searching for loot, Leaonard looks at the nearest person to him. Can any of you use magical healing? I did get a little shocked.
'A proper introduction, I like this man already.' As the man waives around his smoking sword, Seamus smiles and lets the other man go first. As he finishes Seamus gives his best smile placing his left hand on his hip he gives a brief bow. "I am Seamus Passeri's of the Karcau Passeri’s." He straightens and begins to extend his hand, then realizes that the man is looting the dead. He looks at Vincent and Howard, "Um we too have seen the interior of the Island."
Shrugging his shoulder as Leonard asks about the different monsters, he begins to gather stuff to put in Howards bag; not saying anything when the new guy requests the amulet. Hearing Leonard offer to take the front Seamus smiles, "That would be fine, according to that frog face I need to practice either my archery or my cowardice, he didn't have a chance to explain which."
Seamus looks to Howard to see if he offers the wand to heal, then leans over, "Me too?"
Vincent spends a few minutes preparing a shield spell in his empty slot after helping to heal the team.
Before they move on he uses alchemical allocation to spit the heroism potion back into the bottle and casts barkskin.
It looks like you're preparing for battle, any idea what we're up against? Leonard wracks his brain, but can't recall what a byakhee is.
Some sort of demon, perhaps? No use trying to burn them, but everything dies to a little lightning.
The party heads up the stairs and sees a door. Vincent checks that it is not locked nor trapped, hearing the sound of footsteps behind it, then Leonard kicks open the door.
Furnished with a double bed two chests of drawers, a small table and a couple of stools, this room also contains a bulky steel safe, its door standing open. A cold fireplace occupies the northeast corner of the chamber. The shutters of the three windows here have been torn apart form their hinges and lie broken on the floor. The smell of briny water is strong in the still air.
The party sees two skum, one in a chainshirt and having a ring of keys at his belt, and the other just unarmed, and somehow looking a little odd.
Howard, Leonard and Vincent recognize the other skum as a doppeldrek in disguise. They are oozes, have 60ft blindsight and fast healing 2.
Vincent moves near the barrels, studying the skum, and calling out a warning about the drek. (10ft north of Leonard) He then stabs the skum with his spear.