Rappan Athuk [Pf]

Game Master Chris Manos

You can feel her attention shift towards Tony. She wafts gently towards him.

Reynaud is in no mood.

If you are Tessai, speak, or else be drawn upon, creature.

"crrooooaaaaak! Teeesssssaai, is that you? Maybe she can't speak!? Please don't attack her!"

"Let's be certain that it is the Tessai we know first. If is truly her, she would not have come back without good reason which she will reveal soon, but if it's not her then we could be in danger."

Just in case, Magnus pulls out 4 bottles of Holy water and begins handing them round.

"If this is a wraith or a shadow, this will be most effective. All throw at once, it should kill it."

The shade turns it's head in an instant, jerky movement, as if tracking a sudden noise, and fixates on a point on the door, just right of Belle's head. She glides rapidly through the cavernous space, and passes straight through the doors, disappearing from sight.

The night is silent once more.

"What was that all about? I'm guessing it was no evil spirit, as it would have felt compelled to attack us, so what was it? What did it want?"

"I don't know but she seemed curious to me. I was afraid at first, but then I just wanted to protect her. She was crazy serious about vows. Perhaps she made some kind of vow her spirit needs to keep. I'm going to go check where she sent trhough the door, just in case there is something there. You can go back to sleep. I'll let you know if anything else happens."

Please do. Who knows what other ghostly figures will be coasting in and out of here.

He says this as he eyes the other bodies in the mausoleum.

Reynaud stands up.

Wait, don't wander off by yourself, Belle.

He grabs his shield and sword and walks alongside her to the door.

The door is made of oak. This side of it has less if a finish, and where the iron bands and handlerings on the outside were protected by a coat of black paint, the inside has corrugated quite a bit. It is otherwise unremarkable.

Now that you're looking though, you can tell that the old skeletons are also shedding their shadows. They're far weaker than Tessai's, though, and blend almost perfectly with the flickers of your lights. They too head out the door, heedless of you and easily avoided. You feel an intense cold as they pass by, following the shade of Tessai.

Reynaud and Belle, please take a DC 10 reflex save or take: 1d3 ⇒ 3 strength damage.

Sigh

Reflex: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

Whew

"Curious. They seem compelled to gather elsewhere. Belle, I would not advise opening that door; even if Tessai is harmless, we do not know what else is out there and we are in no fit state to face whatever is. Let us rest and find out what we can when we are rested. Judging by the status of the other shades, I'd say this happens regularly, probably every night. If nothing else we can come back some other night when we are fully rested."

reflex save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Belle reflexively reaches out in compassion as the shades drift by, only to jerk her hand back just a tad bit too late as she realizes what she is doing.

"Uuuunnhhh. The poor things. They drew something out of me. I feel sooo weak."

strength loss: 1d3 ⇒ 2

Belle now has a 7 strength and is medium encumbered.

"It strikes me that we face a dilemma. Whatever compels them may not do so forever, at which point they may seek out the living and the door is no impediment to them. On the other hand, if we go out there we will have to face whatever is out there, which may include the ghouls, and we are not in a fit state to do so. If we stay we may become wraith fodder, if we leave, we become ghoul chow. So, do we stay or do we go?"

I vote stay. We can risk fighting both the ghouls and the ghosts or only the ghosts.

"We will have no chance if we leave without resting. We must stay at least until morning or we will be ghoul food, unless we make a deal which, as you know, I am adamantly opposed to."

Beyond the moral considerations, striking a deal also sports certain practical difficulties.

The adventurers' means of communicating at this point consists of speaking through the door, which presupposes that the ones listening on the other side of the door are the ones they want to talk to. There's no guarantee of this available to our brave heroes. In fact, certain other parties might happen to be both present and interested in talking to a gathering of trapped mortals.

"I concur. It may well be that these wraiths exist only at the whim of whoever - or whatever - called them and will return without molesting our persons, whereas we know for a fact that the ghouls will hunt us down and dispatch us if they can. Let's rest up and see what the morning brings."

and that's how you argue yourself into a TPK, lol

I think a TPK could come at us no matter what we do! Did you notice how Olaf suggested we may be able make a deal with other parties? Any ideas who that other party might be or how to get in contact?"

Tony just stares in half shock, half attention and way to much tension. This is way to much undead for his criminal mind. He is starting to have a mini panic attack, and he's starting to feel this tomb will be his.

In a shockingly calm voice, "We need to get out of here"

Not against staying, but Tony is not a fan of being cornered like this

In a shockingly calm voice, "We need to get out of here"

"Of course we do, dear. I'm as scared as you are, but we need to think before we act or bad things happen..."

As she says this she shakes the hand she unconscious extended towards the shades.

"...bad things indeed."

"I think the consensus is to stay until the morning. I still have the Holy water, but that won't go far amongst so many shades. I think it will be more dangerous out there at the moment than in here, and we can always run for it if they do come for us."

And so the party turns in for the night. It is mostly uneventful; Agyen observes the sound of rats scuttling about outside, with sniffing and scratching along the walls of your tenuous refuge sometime past midnight, but not much really happens.

Tony has the last watch, getting up before first light, and he's the one to be treated to the sight of the shadow-spirits returning to their bodies. They completely ignore the party, as if driven by an outside force to return to their resting places. The ensemble of shades of course includes Tessai, and the spirit soundlessly enters her body, briefly coating the burnt corpse in oily darkness before fading beneath the skin. Tony is the only one awake to watch, unless he rouses the rest of the heroes.

Come morning, Belle pulls out the wand of healing and asks "Who wants to go second? We should have enough charges to heal everyone."

Her reason for stating second becomes obvious as she smacks the wand a few time on herself...

UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26
amount healed: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

...which puts her at max.

"I'll go next"

Better to let Tony use it, he has a better chance of success with +8 UMD

Belle hands the wand over to Magnus at his recomendation. I'm removing the item from my equipment list. It has 23 charges at the time she hands it over.

Well Tony, it's up to you. I am 19hp down; I don't need them all back but most of them would be appreciated.

Well Tony, it's up to you. I am 19hp down; I don't need them all back but most of them would be appreciated.

Ooops. Right, I meant Tony gets the wand.

I'm definitely in need of some healing as well.

I'm 36 HP down, which makes a lot of problems for a bodyguard build.

I'm only 6 hp down. I can spend 1 spell a day to cast a cure spell of the same level, and I might be able to maybe do something using the heal skill.

How many rolls do I need to make?

Tony takes the wand and it over seeing what kind of wand God this wand is before making a little silent prayer for it. He starts with himself.

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

Alright, whose next?

"Me, please"

I'm only 6 hp down. I can spend 1 spell a day to cast a cure spell of the same level, and I might be able to maybe do something using the heal skill.

Don't use up spell slots except in an emergency. If you had any left at the end of the day, then yes use 1 as a cure spell, but otherwise save them for other things.

I agree. Use the wand first.

Tony looks at Magnus at flicks his wrist a bit.

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27

1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Hmmm...needs more wrist twirl

Tony fiddles with the wand a bit, thinking about how he's past the point of terror and is already tired with how his life is full of undead things. This is normal now, I guess

He thinks, he has it now. Turning back to Magnus.

UMD: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

"Ehh, you look fine now. Ok, Bruiser you next...by the way who are you guys?", He asks as he goes about fixing Reynaud up.

UMD: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

"Stupid thing," Tony smacks it a bit.

UMD: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

UMD: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Does healing crit?

UMD: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

UMD: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

UMD: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

"So, how's the grave robbing been?", Tony says trying to make a joke, but already thinking poorly of it as soon as it leaves his mouth.

UMD: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

UMD: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Tony turns to the full plated psychic.

UMD: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

That everybody?

9 Charges left

We're skipping to morning, it seems. Good enough.

A new dawn, a new day. Perhaps the party has reconsidered the prospect of braving the dungeon, having been beat back before they even made the entrance proper. Perhaps today will mark their first delve. Time will tell. Either way, the sun is up, and our heroes are readying themselves to face the day.

"Tony, since you seem to know about these things, see if the ghouls have left any traps for us."

that's impossible without going outside. Are you going outside?

Are we going outside? We ought to establish a plan first.

According to the UMD description, if you roll a nat 1 you are done for the day. So Tony only managed to get one lousy healing out of it before he was finished for the next 24 hours. Belle takes over after that.

UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

What luck! Belle also manages one lousy healing before it fizzles for her. It up to Magnus now.

This happens because you are LOOTING Tessai's cold, dead body!! A PLAGUE on both your houses!

I could decompose your corpse if you like, Tessai.
Know. Religion to see if Agyen has heard of something like last night.
Know. Religion: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12 Meh.

healing from Belle: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
I make it 13 charges left

In exasperation, Magnus takes the wand from Belle,

"Look, this is how you do it
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
"There you go"
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
"Ooops!"
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
"Nearly got it."
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
"Got it."
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
"Dang it!"
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
"Told you."
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
UMD: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
"Aargh! I've lost it!
OK, I got 3 heals out of it and there are 2 charges left
healing: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
healing: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
healing: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
They will all go on Reynaud

I'm afraid you rolled nat 1 on your second attempt so you, too, only managed to squeak one casting out of the wand.

Again, once you roll a nat one you man not try again for 24 hours.

From the UMD skill description:

Action: None. The Use Magic Device check is made as part of the action (if any) required to activate the magic item.

Try Again: Yes, but if you ever roll a natural 1 while attempting to activate an item and you fail, then you can't try to activate that item again for 24 hours.

So, between the three of us we managed a total of 3 CLWs. This is not good and very bad luck. Where's a priest of Desna when you need one!

Agyen does not know of the shadows.

Tony heals himself for 9, then Belle heals Magnus for 5. Then Magnus heals Reynaud for 3hp. That's the end of people who can use the wand.

"Well that went a lot less well than expected. I think it's time to use one of my own spells."

Belle will spend an Arcane reservoir and cast CMW on Reynauld using up a second level spell.

CMW: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (2, 6) + 4 = 12

"I think I should cast a couple of cure light wounds too. I can always use the wand of summon monsters in combat. Who needs healing the most still?"

I'm afraid you rolled nat 1 on your second attempt so you, too, only managed to squeak one casting out of the wand.

You're right, I missed that. Drat. Sorry Reynaud. I will edit my HP

So, I am still down 14hp. I could do with some healing

"Magnus, you look a little pale. Let me give you a little help"

CLW: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Now THAT's what I'M talking 'bout. Doin' the jive at home here.