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Despite the poor application of marksmanship principles, the shots manage to find their mark and the creature slides unmoving to the ground.
You step past its prone figure to the room beyond. This large basement has all but been consumed by a large, water-filled sinkhole, while stone pillars support the dripping, fungus-caked ceiling above. A steeply sloped rubble floor mostly surrounds a dark lake. At the eastern end of the chamber, a single, worked-stone room remains, although its floor and walls are already beginning to crumble away into the sinkhole.
You realise the final Keeper is not here and you make your way back to the central chamber, from which you can venture North towards maniacal laughter, cries of pain, screams, and off-key singing, or to the west where the hall ends in a large pair of massive iron doors.
***
On the off chance you hurried through the double doors and encountered a grisly torture chamber with a stretching rack, an iron maiden, dangling iron cages, a fire pit to the southeast, and three empty cages to the north.
A Derro in a surgical gown was conducting skin grafting experiments on a trio of insane inmates — between each other, and with bits of matter harvested from elsewhere. One of the lunatics had recently expired and as you arrived the Derro was elbow-deep in the middle of a long autopsy.
He shrieked in a shrill voice, then released the restraints on the other two lunatics and they grabbed whatever torture implements were handy and attacked, while the Derro hung back supporting the battle with spells before joining the melee with one of his long, thin knives. All three fought viciously and to the death.
The adjacent room was his bedchamber featuring a filthy mattress lying on the floor and a low wooden chest filled with grisly bone trophies. The bone “trophies” are in fact items harvested from the prisoners and consist primarily of finger bones tied into lengths by sinew and numerous skulls decorated with strange, carved runes. Although eerie, the fetishes are worthless. The door to the south leads to a completely filthy privy.
You walked out sickened and disgusted by what you saw and pushed to the North, more cells with inmates and lunatics were present, but you also came across a more official looking area, the offices are clearly just ahead of you... no doubt this is the realm of the final keeper. As you make you preparations there is an a moment of eerie silence, as though all the inmates pause their screams for a moment – but the moment is quickly piereced by the shrill scream of terror and fear – which cuts short suddenly – the screams resume but these are no longer the screams of the plain mad, they are the screams of the hunted. Something walks the halls above you, and it is headed your way.
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Finally. One enemy down, and it seems that Sorin's none the worse for wear. But, what was this thing? Why was it in the basement of an asylum? What were these "keepers" yammering about? The questions were piling up, but no answers. I've gotta start putting some of this together soon, or I might just go as crazy as these cultists.
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As you enter the first door you find yourself in an office. A single large desk sits in the northern part of this room, a highbacked chair with a deep purple cushion sitting just beyond it.
Finding little of interest or value on a cursory sweep, and with the shrill cries of pain and terror beginning to creep ever closer to your location, adrenaline pushes you onwards as you crack open the far door, revealing the room beyond to be a study – and its occupant.
A large circular table in this study is cluttered with scrolls, books, and an eclectic mix of strange devices that could be surgical instruments, weapons, or writing implements. A human skull bearing horn-like growths along one side and with a malformed jaw sits on one corner of the desk.
A tall, cadaverous man stands relaxed and calm by the table, you make eye contact and he gently drops a scroll that he was perusing, you notice an overly large scalpel in his other hand.
”You’re too late”
Isaac
Kuraishimo
Leastrie
Sorin
ENEMY
R1
Kuraishimo
Isaac
Leastrie
ENEMY
Sorin
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R1
Kuraishimo strides to the corner and unleashes his missiles - striking the surgeon.
Isaac sees Leastrie moving and steps into his spot to unleash both barrels at the surgeon, one round strikes home, the other goes wide.
Leastrie continues forward and stabs the surgeon as he passes.
ENEMY the Surgeon ries to cast something defensively, - but he fails, he now looks quite worried! he backs towards a doorway.
R1
Sorin
R2
Kuraishimo
Isaac
Leastrie
ENEMY
Sorin
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"Oh but it does, oh but you can't, the Stars have aligned! Now it comes!" he looks over his shoulder, half in fear, half in glee.
He steps back through the doorway and he attempts to cast defensively again...
And this time his spell triggers, filling the room with an acrid smoke.
R2
Sorin
R3
Kuraishimo
Isaac
Leastrie
ENEMY
Sorin
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nope, nauseated. going to save my own rerolls, and use Misfortune on one of my allies if it looks like they'll fail the fort save by rolling low. its an immediate action. offer is out there, take it if you need it and i'll count it as my use for that character today. nauseated is limited to move actions, but i think they can still take free actions, so immediate should still be available as well. if not oh well i retract my offer ( gm call )
Sorin is just going to try and tumble past him to stop him from retreating further, to E5, and get out of the gas. if that doesn't bypass his CMD+5 i'll land in the square in front of him and he get an AoO on me.
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Kuraishimo makes his way through the cloud and nails the Surgeon with a blast of cold fury, dropping the man to the ground where his life begins to ebb away. The party rushes past the fallen form and into the corridor and the 'fresh' air it offers.
The screaming and snapping approaches through the building, you suspect it is honing in on your position steadily and quickly.
A cursory search of the body turns up several items:
dagger
pearl of power (1st),
potion of fly,
scroll of binding,
wand of lesser restoration (8 charges)
amulet of natural armor +1,
cloak of resistance +1,
bracers of armor +1,
You steel yourselves for whatever is coming, and know there is only one way for it to get to you...
Prep Map
* This is the main 'hub', the double doors are where the Derro surgeon was working, the small corridors lead to cells.
*You can be placed where you'd like to start if you don't like the current arrangements.
*Enemy expected arrival points are indicated by the red arrows.
* I will move this forward in the next 12 hours.
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has it been more than ten minutes since i cast remove fear?
the magic weapon on his sword should carry over since it hasn't been 5 minutes yet.
i'll take the wand, unless someone else can use it. i wouldn't mind the amulet, but if you want it, feel free Leastrie. , Sorin'll eject the dagger from one of his wrist sheaths, and load the wand into it. then try to prepare, as the sound gets closer ( and sounds only 1 round away ? he'll cast divine favor )
Leastrie, would you like me to temporarily enchant your blade or your bow?
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has it been more than ten minutes since i cast remove fear?
the magic weapon on his sword should carry over since it hasn't been 5 minutes yet.
Both effects should still be in place for this fight.
[ooc] is there somewhere central with some more room that we can move to , maybe a table to flip over dramatically and let the casters/ranged use it for cover ?
This really is the central hub, and one of the only places you aren't pushed into fighting in a phone booth. You can kick over the table etc if you wish.
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GM: I have a scroll of Named Bullet, and I'd like either myself or somebody else to make a knowledge check to know what I should name with it, using any notes or journals we find to help us. What roll would you like?
Also, some housekeeping matters. First, after reviewing my character sheet this week, I realized some mistakes. First, there is no such thing as a Potion of See Invisibility, as that is a personal range spell. As such, I'm swapping it out for a Potion of Glitterdust.
Second, it was pointed out to me by Seraphimpunk that my attack and damage rolls have been incorrectly calculated. Below is a breakdown of where it should be:
BAB is currently at +6/+1. I have a DEX of 19, so I get a +4 to that, bringing me to +10/+5.
I have Rapid Shot, which takes a -2 to all of those attacks, bringing me down to +8/+8/+5.
I have a +1 weapon, which brings me up to +9/+9/+6.
I have Deadly Aim figured into my attack. That's -2 to every hit, with a +4 damage to every hit. This brings my attack rolls to +7/+7/+4, with a 1d8+5 damage.
Point Blank Shot gives me +1 to attack and damage rolls, bringing that up to +8/+8/+5 and 1d8+6 damage. (This assumes I'm within 20 feet, which I usually am.)
I have a -4 to each hit since I am firing both barrels of my pistol, giving me a +4/+4/+1.
Pistol Training gives me DEX to damage, so that damage goes up to 1d8+10.
If you see any errors, please let me know. I should really audit my characters when I level them up, rather than just changing the stats that I think have changed...
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If Leasrie wants enlarge person, Kuraishimo will cast it on him, otherwise he will cast it on himself.
He will cast grease on J3-K4 (DC 17) and set his bear traps in L3/L4
Finally he will hold the charge on a rime frigid touch.
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Sorin turns over the table.
Isaac - given Sorins earlier roll and likely logical deductions you can name the type as aberration for your bullet. Noted on the housekeeping.
Kuraishimo - Noted on the held spell. Note your enlarge wont stick to you as your current character is an Outsider, not a Humanoid :( Fine on Leastrie though.
Waiting on Leastrie and then we can shuffle onwards :)
Above you, something fierce moves through the halls, shaking the walls and floor with each mighty step...
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Alright, I'll activate my Scroll of Named Bullet, picking Aberration. I'll go ahead and reload my guns, pointing them at the ceiling.
There's only one thing worse than a giant tentacle monster crashing through the ceiling, and that's waiting for a giant tentacle monster to crash through the ceiling.
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Isaac
Kuraishimo
Leastrie
Sorin
ENEMY
The roof shakes, the walls shake, and half the world appears to explode out of the stairwell in a shower of dust and debris – or bricks and mortar. For all the devastation you don’t see a cause, the world seemingly exploding on its own.
Just as your minds race to work out what is going on, there is a decided shimmer, as though reality is breaking down and tearing something into the view of this world from the sanity preserving invisibility it wore as a cloak – the creature is headed your way – you see it, it sees you, and you reel as it closes in for the attack.
R1
ENEMY – Acted.
Sorin
Leastrie
Isaac
Kuraishimo
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Leastrie, the enlarge person also makes you feel more lively. (+1 on Reflex saving throws)
Kuraishimo will wait for Issac to take a shot and then move up (to M4 if Sorin doesn't want it, or M5 if he does)
and ready to touch the creature with his rime frigid touch when it gets within 10 feet.
+ Staggered for 1 round and entangled for 2.
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It's even uglier than I had imagined. The stench, the teeth, it all remined me of my ex-wife a little too much. A shudder ran down my spine.
On my initiative, 5-foot step to bring me in range. Activate Ranger's Focus, giving me a +2 to hit and damage against this creature, then full attack:
Shot 1
(Automatically a crit threat. If it hits, use the reroll to confirm below.)
(Increased due to Named Bullet.)
Shot 2:
Shot 3:
If Shot 1, bullet 1 was a hit, then here is my roll to confirm and additional damage. If confirmed, add this damage to Shot 1, damage 1.
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Isaacs shot - Named Bullet.
SR
Will Save
Seeing nowhere to step through to, Isaac joins the party in waiting til he can see the whites of the creatures eyes before thr group simultaneously opens a barrage on the advancing creature.
The roar of the pistol, the crackle of magic unleashing, the ring of steel and the crunching of flesh and bone fill the corridor leave a ringing in your ears as the group fights for survival.
The party preparations pay off, the shots and blades causing huge damage leaving the creature staggered and bewildered, and seizing the opportunity you all race in and pull the creature down, like ants marauding on an unattended lunch.
Moments later only silence fills the hall... well you'd believe it was silent, if you could hear anything other than the infernal tinnitus ringing in your ears from all the percussive blasts. You all feel elated at the victory, but then one by one you hear it a sickening sigh that seems to shudder up from the very earth itself, as if something even deeper under Carrion Hill were mourning the spawn’s death. As the sigh reverberates, it is taken up by an even greater noise from the skies above Carrion Hill as wheeling storms of crows descend back to the city’s rooftops, cawing and shrieking and cackling in a cacophony that lasts for hours.
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