The door stubbornly remains locked.
Grigor lets slip a curse as his tools fail to find purchase on the tumbler in the lock.
He shakes out his hands and refocuses on the lock and proceeds to slowly, systematically work the lock.
The mechanism surrenders without a sound.
Grigor replaces his tools, gives the door a check for alarms, traps and such before trying to silently open the door.
[ooc]Perception
The door opens quietly, revealing a small room with a single large desk with a highbacked
chair with a deep purple cushion sitting just beyond it. Beyond the desk is an ornate wooden door carved with intricate figures depicting madmen clawing at emptiness, literally coming out of the wooden panel.
From behind the door, you hear a very faint chanting...
"Well, that doesn't bode well.", Valiard whispers to himself as the group files into the room, the low muttering of chanting oozing menacingly into the room.
"We need to get in there without attracting attention. We should douse the light in here after we get the door unlocked, then see about sneaking in. The Crow seems light on his feet, he can probably sneak up and slit the throat of whomever is chanting in there."
It looks clear of traps. Furthermore, the door isn't locked...
Grigor nods to the others and draws both blades and looks like he is readying himself.
Seeing Grigor's preparation to rush into the room, Valiard backs up into the shadows near the doorway, stilling his thoughts and breathing.
Windle silently strings his bow and nocks an arrow on the string, ready to draw and fire.
Mireza stays in the back with Valiard, making no particular attempt at concealing herself, merely trusting in other people providing nearer and more urgent targets than herself. She makes sure she will have line of sight through the doorway once it is opened. It will only be another desperate man who tries to kill us, she warns the others via her spell, the voice in their ears sounding a little bored.
Iozef waits in a business like manner, his staff in hand. "Do we honestly expect anything less? Of course we don't."
Grigor tucks a sword under his right arm, carefully opens the door slightly and then bursts into the room while recovering his blade so that he is ready to kill at a moments notice.
The door opens to a small study with a large square table, cluttered with scrolls, books, and an eclectic mix of strange devices that could be surgical instruments, weapons, or writing implements. In front of the table stands a gaunt man in his seventies, with thin and shredded long white hair. The man's features are pale and his skin is stained by dark patches. He wears old patched grey clothes under a blood stained leather apron.
With blood shot eyes, he turns his attention slowly to you, finishing an incantation: "You're not the one I was expecting..."
Just then, the ground shakes under your feet, and a thin layer of dust fills the room, falling from the stone ceiling. "Ah yes... It's getting near... Leave now, so that I can overpower it!"
Grigor:
Iozef:
Mireza:
Valiard:
Windle:
Crove:
Grigor takes a 5 foot step and double attacks.
Attack 1
If Confirming
Attack 2
If Confirming
Attack 3
If Confirming
Attack 4
If Confirming
"Crow!" Mireza scolds, her eyes flashing. "He wants what we do: to stop the thing which crushes and mutilates! Will you strike down an ally, no matter how temporary?"
Surprise round:
Windle shakes his head grimly as he advances into the space Grigor just vacated before firing the arrow he'd already nocked. "If it kills him, it will become more powerful. Make your peace with the Gods, Crove."
Not seeing any way that he can participate...heck not seeing a way that he can squeeze unnoticed into the small room Valiard maintains his position.
"Well, the 'thing' is headed this way and we are all stuck in a tiny room. This should be interesting."
Round 1:
The inquisitor says nothing more, but sends a pair of arrows winging towards the Keeper. One goes wide, but the other strikes home.
Surprise Round: The Concerned Citizens of Carrion Hill
Grigor takes a step and attacks. His strike is deflected by a force field around Crove.
"Crow!" Mireza scolds, her eyes flashing. "He wants what we do: to stop the thing which crushes and mutilates! Will you strike down an ally, no matter how temporary?"
Windle shakes his head grimly as he advances into the space Grigor just vacated before firing the arrow he'd already nocked. "If it kills him, it will become more powerful. Make your peace with the Gods, Crove." The arrow misses the head and clatters on the wall behind.
Not seeing any way that he can participate...heck not seeing a way that he can squeeze unnoticed into the small room Valiard maintains his position.
Iozef offers: "Well, the 'thing' is headed this way and we are all stuck in a tiny room. This should be interesting."
Round 1: Windle and Grigor
Grigor slashes with gusto and his last strike finds a hole in the psychiatrist’s defenses, slipping under his armpit and drawing blood.
The inquisitor says nothing more, but sends a pair of arrows winging towards the Keeper. One goes wide, but the other strikes home.
Round 1: Crove
Crove seems to keep his head despite the onslaught. He steps away from the Crow’s blade and starts uttering arcane syllables of power, extending a hand from his mouth, a strand of silk appears, rapidly thickening. He grabs it between two fingers and lashes it at the corner of the room, behind you, where it spreads outward, engulfing you all in a thick webbing.
Anyone in the effect's area when the spell is cast must make a Reflex save. If this save succeeds, the creature is inside the web but is otherwise unaffected. If the save fails, the creature gains the grappled condition, but can break free by making a combat maneuver check or Escape Artist check as a standard action against the DC of this spell. The entire area of the web is considered difficult terrain. Anyone moving through the webs must make a combat maneuver check or Escape Artist check as part of their move action, with a DC equal to the spell's DC. Creatures that fail lose their movement and become grappled in the first square of webbing that they enter.
If you have at least 5 feet of web between you and an opponent, it provides cover. If you have at least 20 feet of web between you, it provides total cover.
The strands of a web spell are flammable. A flaming weapon can slash them away as easily as a hand brushes away cobwebs. Any fire can set the webs alight and burn away one 5-foot square in 1 round. All creatures within flaming webs take 2d4 points of fire damage from the flames.
You see? Mireza's voice sounds accusingly in everyone's head. Now he will flee and leave us as offerings to delay the creature. He expends resources against us and we against him that we could have turned together to a common cause, and the beast will crush us all separately when we might have fought it together. "Apothecary," she says aloud, "now I know how my spider's meals feel."
As her familiar climbs out and runs up one of the arcane strands with interest, she tries to pull free with no success.
Grappled creatures cannot move and take a –4 penalty to Dexterity. A grappled creature takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls and combat maneuver checks, except those made to grapple or escape a grapple. In addition, grappled creatures can take no action that requires two hands to perform. A grappled character who attempts to cast a spell or use a spell-like ability must make a concentration check (DC 10 + grappler's CMB + spell level), or lose the spell. Grappled creatures cannot make attacks of opportunity.
A grappled creature cannot use Stealth to hide from the creature grappling it, even if a special ability, such as hide in plain sight, would normally allow it to do so. If a grappled creature becomes invisible, through a spell or other ability, it gains a +2 circumstance bonus on its CMD to avoid being grappled, but receives no other benefit.
Grigor struggles and curses, "If I wanted to be nagged I'd have stayed home!", no doubt confusing his foe.
Windle doesn't say anything internally. "It is not my judgment you face, but hers!"
Filled with the power of his office, the inquisitor tears himself loose from the entangling webs.
Valiard groans inwardly as the webs bind him to the wall, his arms and legs bound to wall and floor, a strand crossing across his mouth. Then remebering the cold caress of the ghoul, the immobility and helplessness before a foe, Valiard forgets that he is hiding and begins to thrash, tearing at the webbing, and moans quietly through the web across his face.
After a few moments of frantic pulling Valiard stops, panting from exertion, he sags against the webs, face red.
Seemingly unaffected by the web and watching everyone else struggle, "Let me see if I can rid ourselves of this mess."
Noticing nothing happening, "Apparently not."
.
Crove has a short burst of laughter, followed by a strong cough: "Turned together? To do what? Share power? Only one can harness the beast and become a god. You'll be perfect to weaken the Spawn before I take control of it... Mmmh... Perhaps too strong still? Yesss... Too strong."
You hear soft chanting as Crove conjures wisps of smoke that rise slowly, filling the area covered by the web. The vapours stop your vision, then you feel your lungs melting...
Nauseated: Creatures with the nauseated condition experience stomach distress. Nauseated creatures are unable to attack, cast spells, concentrate on spells, or do anything else requiring attention. The only action such a character can take is a single move actions per turn.
Noticing that Mireza and Windle are looking mightily ill, "Here, allow me to help you, Mireza. This will suppress your sickness for a while." He sounds as if he's speaking as a concerned parent would to a injured child. Which, for a moment, sounds as if this normally, stoic man before you truly contains some form of emotion. Laying a hand upon her shoulder, Iozef calls upon Pharasma's aid.
Cast Remove Sickness on Mireza.
Burn the damn webs... its too strong