The Crucible of Freya (Inactive)

Game Master Grimmy

Great, your token is up there Jerrid.

So I move Jerrid off the basement map and by magic someone moves him on the donjon map. Very strange. Thanks DMG!

Round 7 Sam and Knotty

Sam and Knotty move quickly to help out the others.

"Yes Kev!" Same moves trying to stay out of sight.

We're missing the action Knotty

Double move Sam (40' total) and Knotty (30'total)

fast stealth: 1d20 + 19 - 5 ⇒ (1) + 19 - 5 = 15

Sam trips over some of Knotty's roots and smiles as he speaks to the stumpy treeling. "Keep up as best you can, I will protect you."

Priest of Orcus

The priest of orcus looks over his shoulder, knowing that if he runs only the battlements atop the keep await him. No escape. He clutches his holy symbol, and steps towards Damien, eyes rolling back in his head as he murmurs an uncouth prayer.

Light that is not light flashes forth from him, rippling out like water when a stone splashes into a pond. It sweeps across Damien, Samduc, Jerrid and Knotty, causticly withering flesh, blistering skin and inundating their bodies with pain. It is the opposite in every way of Leoven's healing light.

It feels wrong. And it hurts.

Channel Negative Energy: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 3) = 15 DC 15 Will save for half damage

The dead are at the door.

Round 8 GO

Round 8

Kevezyat strides purposefully forward, gently easing those of her friends that lay between her and the Priest aside.

Finally, she faces the foul holy man once more, "We meet again, apostate! " she exclaims, Valkyria shooting foward to skewer the devil-worshiper.

Attack, Smite Evil: 1d20 + 8 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 8 + 1 + 4 = 19
Damage: 2d6 + 4 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (2, 2) + 4 + 1 + 4 = 13

Current Status: Barkskin +2 AC, smite Evil on Priest, +4 AC vs him

Round 8

Will: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

The remaining Damiens recoil at the foul energy as the waves hit him with full unnatural force.

Staggering slightly but emboldened by Kevezyat's timely appearance, Damien pulls back and summons his remaining strength for a savage hammer blow.

Lucern Hammer: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 7 + 2 = 22
Damage: 1d12 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 6 + 1 = 15

Round 8 <---- Look I remembered

After calling for her comrades to move up the stairs she is nearly bowled over at their enthusiastic jaunt up the stairs.

That's the spirit! she adds encouragingly. bounding up the steps to follow falling in behind the traffic-jam in the narrow hallway above.

The priest absorbs the force of the hammer on his shield, and brushes Valkyria away with his mace.

AC 22 with Prot from Good

Round 8

Will Save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Round 8

Stymied by the crush at the stairs and beyond, Vhillish moves as far as he can before urging those before him to move up;

"Log-jam whot! Inertia does no-one any good in combat I say! Double time it and press on eh lads and ladies..."

Ready Double Move - if opportunity presents itself

Round 8

Double move uptairs to see what is happening.

Damien's hammer smashes past the priest's defenses. He is on the ropes now. Resigned to sow some carnage before he falls.

Round 8

Jerrid looks for an opening to slip past the enemy but the hall is too congested. The crazed priest holds the line for now.

Round 8 Sam

Sam winces as the evil energy lashes out at him.

Will Save: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 + 2 = 11

Burn an adaptable luck to no avail 13/28hp

"Leo, we need some 'Good Stuff'"

Sam tosses a dagger in a quick economical throw, it tumbles twice before heading toward the priest. Unfortunately Sam's aim is off.

Throw dagger, draw another

thrown dagger: 1d20 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (8) + 8 - 4 = 12

There is no more group healing, you guys better kill the cleric this turn

"Is it possible to ready an attack to disrupt a channel?" he asks grasping at straws. My head says no but...

no, supernatural can't be disrupted

Priest of Orcus

The evil cleric looks at the barred door. The soldier between him and it, wielding the hammer that got past his shield. He looks at the drow warrior bearing down on him with her holy sword, the wounds from which still have him doubled over. Behind her two cunning thieves and a strange gnarled tree creature.

"It is too late. The ritual in the mountains is underway. The shard of corruption is activated. Did you think to hide it? Wherever it is hidden we find it. Whoever guards it we hunt them down. The water here is already fouled. We shall take the shard to the mountain tops. We shall take it to the mouth of the Gaelon River. Your people fear death now. How foolish! Death was a gateway for them before but that gate shall be closed. They will all drink, and having drunk, death will bring them to the feet of my Prince where they belong. I wish you could live to see it come to pass, but you stand in the way of the great work so you must be removed. Prepare for the mercy of Orcus. I give death to you now while the gate to the afterlife is still open! "

He raises his unholy symbol and the necrotic energy flashes through the room again.

Channel: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 6) = 17

Will saves and go!

Round 9

Will save: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20

Fall! - COmmand DC 16

Will Save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

The cleric bends a little but then stands up straight shrugging off Leo's command.

"Your God has no power here fool!"

Round 9

Will: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

Damien is ready for the next blast, twisting sideways and throwing up his arms in front of his face, he avoids the worst of it's foul taint.

Still, the damage is considerable to Damien's already compromised organs. Dragging feet cause the veteran and his doubles to stumble as he circles the priest of Orcus. He grates out, "Neither will yours in a minute."

Muscles straining in protest, Damien draws the last from his well of resolve and with a wordless roar, crushes the crazed cultist.

Lucern Hammer - Flank: 1d20 + 7 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 7 + 2 + 2 = 16
Lucern Hammer - Hero Point Reroll: 1d20 + 7 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 7 + 2 + 2 = 27
Damage: 1d12 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 6 + 1 = 14

Edit: Thanks for the reminder about hero points Leo! Really saved our bacon!

You might want to consider spending a hero point on a reroll

The hammer cracks the clerics skull and he collapses unconscious.

Stabilize: 1d20 + 2 - 7 ⇒ (19) + 2 - 7 = 14

End Initiative

Without leadership the undead in the courtyard don't seem to be trying to get through the door. The donjon keep is quiet.

No more earthquakes no more snarling cultist. Vortigerns body still slumps in the stairwell. The priest and the acolyte are both unconscious on the floor.

The sunlight streams in through arrow slits.

Round 9

Will save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Jerrid keels over accepting the embrace of darkness. Lying in the corridor, blood pours from his ear and down his gray skin.

Round 9

will save DC 15: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

The negative energy seems around the corner, partially protecting Janna from the effects but still she feels the pain it causes.

trying to make her way further along, she stops at the fallen body of dark gnomish friend.

No..no...no...no..It isn't supposed to be this way. MEDIC

She tries to help her friend from dying.

heal check: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (3) + 0 = 3

she fumbles around the body trying to bandage him but to no avail, this evil energy stuff is bad. come on, stay with us.[/b]

damn it, why didn't I pay attention in basic first aid? she mutters as she seems to only make things worse.

Round 9

Will Save DC 15: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

The evil cleric's foulness passes over and through Kevezyat, dimming for a moment the light that shone within. Eyes narrowed against the pain and wrongness, the Paladin gives her head a shake and raises Valkyria to strike down the chattering priest....but Damien's blow comes first, felling the man into a heap at Kevezyat's feet.

Breathing hard, sword still held high, she can see that the foul man yet lived, but had been knocked unconsious by Damien's blow.

Letting out a sigh, she lowers her weapon, then looks aside at the Lieutenant, "Well struck...".

Looking back, she sees that Jerrid had been felled by the priest's latest salvo. Kneeling by her dark friend, she places an ebony hand on his brow and quietly prays to Freya...

Lay on Hands, fatigue removed: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 6) = 7

Edit your hp stat people, I don't know who to heal :P

updated header lines

Sam Round 9

Sam had thrown two daggers and was down to his last mundane dagger to go with the magical one he clutched reverently in his right hand. He gasped as the evil surge of energy washed over him again.

Will with luck: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 + 2 = 13

The luck and fortune which followed him in every endeavor was absent as he tried to tap into a tangible bit of fortune he felt was out there.

-4/28 hp

We have a winner

Leoven rushes to Samduc side

Changing communal protection from evil for a cure spell

CMW: 2d8 + 4 ⇒ (4, 8) + 4 = 16

Knotty had followed along, when the evil washed over him the treeling made an eery highpitched keening sound. It sounded like a tea kettle with some extra warbling in it, as one would expect if the boiling tea kettle actually felt the heat of the scalding water through its spout.

Maybe I am not evil. The surge of energy hurts me deeply.

Will Save first channel: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Knotty backs down the hallway, trying to escape the next devastating blast of energy.

I want a dark, cool forest...I want a dark, cool forest...this piece of jewelry better be important

CLW For jerrid: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

One more CLW remaining

After the priest is dead, Knotty creeps up to see what is happening.

As the priest falls, Damien slumps against the wall behind him briefly. The morning is still fresh and your @ss is dragging? Must be getting soft...

Grimacing, he pushes himself back up, nodding to Kevezyat, "Made it just in time...things were getting hairy up here..."

The former lieutenant nods in grim approval as Leovan tends to shorter members of their company. It had been far too close.

"That should be the last for now. Thry, they were going to poison the river...f*cking cults. Prick was only concerned with hiding the damn thing. Sounds like it might not be so easy to destroy. Still, nothing to do but give it a shot."

He moves over to the unconscious cultist, "Maybe this one had something that'll help. Hopefully he had a plan for getting downstairs.", he begins searching the priest, passing a detection for magic over the items he finds, "That vortigern I stepped over at the stairs? Nice work. See what he he had hidden in "Berreli's" bag?"

As combat ends Vhillish doubles forward to support his former commanding officer...

The look of concern as he passes those fallen and fatigued is culpable.

He arrives at Damien, eyes quickly assessing the duelist for wounds and damage;

"Still in the fight sah! Take more than that to drop you eh whot!"

The doughty deputy fishes into his backpack, producing a bottle of liquor and tin cup;

"Medicinal of course sah... For your body and souls libations whot!"

As he does so, the gnome leans in, mustache twitching as he whispers;

"Begging you pardon sah... Ahem... Rather choice language with ladies present and all that..."

Since the deputy is ok, I guess the last CLW is for janna
CLW: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

He knew he was about to fall, we can't discard he was lying to us in some way

Jerrid rasps a thanks to the drow and accepts the attentions of Leoven with a grimace and a nod. His dulled red eyes start to recover as he watches everyone go through the motions of letting the tension bleed away.

"I'll be downstairs."

With that the gnome trudges down the stairs.

Bloody heroic Hammerhead, punjab stick up an orc! Can this day get any worse? Right books, books, books.

Round 10 Sam

Sam continues to stay down. His daggers fall from his hands.

I healed samduc for 16 hp

DM, so there is no other intelligent enemy around? cultists? ogres or orcs? or only mindless undeads remain?

The horde of undead in the corridor are bumping into the double doors, following their last order to come this way. They don't seem to be even trying to bash the door down. Just bump. Bump. Bump.

Only undeads that you know of. Skeleton archers on the roof, skeleton zombies in the courtyard. In the under crypt there are the caryatid columns and the crypt thing guarding the door. You have not checked the other room in the under-crypt, with the pillars. There is nothing attacking you at the moment though.

Damien winces as he takes the offered cup, "Not all that much more actually..."

He considers a somewhat off-color response to the good Deputy's comment on language but as the first sip of whisky touches his tongue he decides to let the arbalester have this one. He merely nods, "As you say Sergeant, apologies.", before downing the remaining liquor in one gulp, "Ah. You're a good man Vhil. The very finest."

As the unconscious cultist twitches, Damien glances over his shoulder, "Leo, could use a hand over here. Might be a waste if this one bleeds out. Not that I'd be broken up about it..."

So what did the two cultists and our friend Vortigern have on them?

Theoretically the orge should still be somewhere around the watchtower, no?

The cultists carry only their weapons and armor and holy symbols. A mace and a morningstar, A chain shirt and a suit of chain mail. They have no special keys or clues to the crypt. Maybe they knew a way of commanding the crypt keeper, but it seems like they were as stymied as everyone else by Eralion's door.

Vortigern has several burned up scrolls stolen from Feriblan, his master.

Some examination with the skill of spellcraft will reveal deep slumber, charm monster, alter self and permanency among the used up scrolls.. A scroll with disguise self is in the unused scroll tube, as well as a scroll with two instances of acid arrow, and another with protection from arrows.

On his finger is the ring that protected him from the alchemist fire. Ring of Fire Resistance.

The ogre is on top of the watchtower but he's very dead. Sam slit his throat in his sleep. Barelli had used a sleep spell after the charm wore off so the ogre couldn't turn on the bandits again.

No sign of the crucible. It is a good sized bowl, too big to conceal on ones person.

Vhillish stows the bottle and cup with a stoic smile;

"Just doing my duty lieutenant-sah! Old habits and all that whot-whot!"

The gnome prods the corpse of Vortigern with a point of a crossbow bolt;

"Should we not burn his corpse? Perhaps Master Leoven can bless the proceedings... These types have a habit of rising anew whot! Like that Lich that wiped out the Unlucky 13th at The Battle of Blackwater Barrow eh sah? Fearful business..."

If Jerrid remembers to bring the amulet to open the door, or if Sam follows him with it:

Down in the crypt level Jerrid finds the caryatid columns standing guard. The southern passage to the yet unexplored area catches his attention for a moment but ahead of him are the books. Eralion's resting place is a library and a laboratory in one. It doesn't look like a proper tomb. His body lies there, amidst books and vials. The unfinished Caryatid Columns occupy their alcove. It is as if Eralion expected to get up off the dais and return to his work.

Yet he is wrapped in gauze. Prepared for an eternity of unlife. A broken vessel lies on the floor beside the dais, a highly ornamental thing. It appears it fell from his hand when he drank from it. The stories must have been partly true. He bargained with Orcus for Lichdom but he did not get his wish. He lies as unmoving as the crypt thing barring the door to the chamber beyond.

The faint smell of smoldering scrolls and book pages lingers in the stale air. All is quiet.

With cold eyes Leovens stares with disgust the body of the treacherous wizard

How can a follower of the righteous one falls so deep?, it's better if we make sure this body never return as an undead abomination.

Leoven then tell Jerrid about those book the gnome found, the young priest want to take a look at them.

In the meantime,

Sam, Janna, do you think the caryatid columns will attack the crypt thing if the undead approaches them?

Damien stops in his tracks, straightening from his fruitless search of the cultist, he regards the young priest in a new light, "Now you're talking sense son. I'd hate to see what form of shambling horror this one would come back as."

He looks around, "Not much at hand. Kev, you've oil yeah? Into the fireplace in the other room and burn them both like kindling? Cleansed by flame seems fitting, no?"

Moving down the hall he approaches Janna, "Are you in agreement?", he gestures to the corpse of Vortigern, "Should be your decision the way I see it."

So just to make sure, none of the cultist's belongings are magical? Damien checked.

Seems fitting Janna should have Vortigern's ring I think. At least for the time being. It's a minor ring of energy resist, 10 points, yes?"

Oh! Sorry, the priests morningstar is magic. +1 unholy.

Correct on the ring. fire resistance 10.