The Dying City: DM Norv's "Curse of the Crimson Throne"

Game Master The Norv

Korriban walks down the stairs behind the others, turning his head every few seconds and keeping his rapier ready, all while whispering out, "D**n, d**n, d**n. F**king darkness, f**king underground, f**king graveyards, f**king dead guys." He quickly adds at the end, "No offense to those who have passed, of course."

When Diamon whispers out what he sees, Korriban curses under his breath. "D**n! That's not good!" When Gadriel offers her idea, Korriban stands ready. "Seems like the only we can do, guys. Otherwise, most of us are going to be blind as rats here. Not to mention things jumping at us in the dark."

Gadriel nods her head, then stoops for a small stone. She holds it up to Abu, who simply pats it causing it to glow like a torch. She quickly tosses the glowing stone into the center of the chamber to shed some light.

Cast light on a stone and toss.

Gadriel's stone lands in the center of the room, flooding it with a warm light. The whole room is now normal light. Unfortunately, this seems to enrage the creatures in the pits--with a shower of bones, they erupt upward, clattering and shaking! Six humanoid skeletons stand in the western pit, while to the east the skeleton of some massive...thing...with claws lurches to its feet, bones cascading off its back as it stands.

ROUND ONE

Initiative:
Diamon, Korriban, Adoros
Enemies
Teodor and Gadriel

Diamon, Korriban, and Adoros are up, in order of posting!

Diamon grimaced some as he watched the spell be cast, switching to his Bec De Corbin, feeling a fight coming on. As the room was bathed in light, he watched bones rattle and jump to life, including a much larger creature on the left. He points it out and tells the group, "I got th' big one. Th' small fries shouldn't give you lot much trouble." With that, he trots towards the center of the room, putting his back against the pillar there so he couldn't be swarmed by the smaller skeleton.

As the smaller skeletons crawl out of the pit, Korriban grits his teeth, ready for action. At the sight of the larger creature, however, his jaw drops. When Diamon heads off to face it, Korriban says, "Yeah. You fight that thing." Korriban stealthily moves forward and hides behind one of the pillars (the upper left pillar on the right side), praying to Calistria that they don't see him (because they don't have eyes).

So using my fast stealth ability to sneak to the spot at normal speed. I will use this to flank or surprise them.

Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23

Round 1
hp 31/31
Effects: none

Move Action: Move toward the smaller skeletons as he draws his morningstar.
Standard Action: Readying an action to attack the first skeleton that steps into range.

Morningstar Attack vs Skeleton: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Morningstar Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11
For the readied action...but booooo.

Adoros scrunches his nose up at the shambling structure of what was once men, "Wonderful. Filthy undead." He draws his morningstar from his hip as he shoulders his musket and moves into place.

The bonepiles lurch forward, moving in a halting, jerky fashion. The huge one heads straight for Diamon, scrambling up to stand awkwardly half in and half out of the shallow pit. It lunges at Diamon with a bony claw, but misses by a mile, its claws clattering against the stone floor.

The humanoid skeletons being to clamber out of the western pit, using the stairs to exit. One tries to stride past Adoros, and though the cavalier fumbles his first swing, he manages to turn the backhand into a powerful blow that crushes the thing's skull, dropping the creature into a pile of bones. (I'm assuming you take the AoO.) The other four hurl themselves at the Chelish man, clutching ancient, broken blades, but his chainmail turns most aside with ease; only one lands a glancing blow, making him grimace. One skeleton, not finding an opening, steps to the south to await its turn.

3 damage for Adoros; Teodor and Gadriel are up, then the rest of the party, in posting order! The skeletons are not aware of Korriban.

Teodor steps forward into the room and brandishes his filthy holy symbol

"UNDEAD THIEVES! YOU WOULD ATTEMPT TO TAKE FROM THE LORD THE DEATH THAT IS ALWAYS HIS? GROETUS SAYS TO THEE 'NO!'"

Channel Positive energy, DC 14: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 1) = 5

Love the Teo rage. :D

As Teodor brandishes his holy symbol, a wave of sickening light washes out from it, filling the room. It passes harmlessly through you, but the skeletons reel as though struck. With a noise like Adoros's musket going off, two of the humanoid skeletons shatter, crumbling into dust. The large skeleton rears back as well, though it appears only damaged, not broken.

Vital stats updated below.

Gadriel steps forward, the strange child unfazed by the shambling bodies. She turns towards the large skeleton, and calls out, "We will help Diamon."

Abu stands upon Gadriel's shoulder, his eyes glowing a deep purple. Rumbling growls deeper and louder than a creature of his size should produce come from his tiny mouth, and a brief aura that matches his eyes surrounds one of the skeletons on Adoros.

Moving up and using a Misfortune Hex on one of the skeletons. Next round she'll misfortune the large skeleton then maintain the duration with a cackle. Sadly, couldn't do that this round because of the move.

Though the aura writhes around the skeleton before Adoros like a living thing, the undead monstrosity proceeds as though it were wholly unfazed by it.

Made his saving throw, sadly. :( Korriban, Adoros, and Diamon are up, in posting order!

Diamon watches the clumsy skeleton swing and hit the floor in front of him, seeing his chance to strike. Moving in, he lashed out with his polearm weapon, giving a growl of effort as he throws himself into the attack.

Power Attack. Furious Focus negates -1 to hit.
Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
Damage: 1d12 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Korriban sighs in relief as the skeletons don't come after him. He then uses his stealth to move around the next pillar and get behind them! He makes his attack, lashing his rapier out.

Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14
Attack: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 7 + 2 = 24
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Sneak Attack damage (if applicable): 2d6 ⇒ (6, 3) = 9

So Korriban's going to move around the bottom left pillar. So down three squares, to the left 2 squares, and up 1 square. He'll then attack the skeleton in front of him. Gets a bonus due to flanking. Not sure if sneak attack is added. So I'll throw it in there and we'll just ignore it if it doesn't count.

Round 2
hp 28/31
Effects: none

Standard Action: Attack skeleton to his west.

Morningstar Attack vs Skeleton: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26
Confirm Threat: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22
Morningstar Damage: 1d8 + 3 + 2d8 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 3 + (7, 4) + 6 = 24
Wow...what a wasted series of rolls for a regular skeleton...

Adoros flinches as dirty bone fingers dig into his side as he lashes out with his hard ball of spiky metal right into the skeleton's ribcage.

ROUND 2, PART ONE
Diamon slams the blunt side of his bec de corbin into the skeletal monstrosity's head, leaving a gaping hole--but this doesn't seem to stop the creature! One swiping claw Diamon manages to dodge; but the other rakes into the dwarf's armor, drawing him close so that the creature can gnash at him with its bony beak as well. The claws tighten around Diamon's chest...

Diamon is grappled, and takes 10 points of damage!

On the other side of the room, Korriban dashes around the pillars, and thrusts his rapier through the back of one of the skeletons' skulls. It crumbles to the ground. Adoros swings his morningstar in a wide arc, easily shattering another one's ribcage. The one remaining skeleton shuffles forward, and turns toward Korriban, lashing out with its broken shard of metal and its claw. Korriban ducks beneath the claw, but a hot streak of pain lances through him as the metal shard scratches his ribs.

2 damage for Korriban. And Korriban, you can sneak attack anytime you're flanking.

Teodor and Gadriel are up, then the rest of the party!

"You shall fall!"channel: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 6) = 7

Hm. Good roll!

As another wave of sickening light roils out from Teodor's holy symbol, the skeletons reel and stagger back, exploding into fragments of bone. Diamon staggers forward, released from the huge beast's clutches, and as the dust settles, the ossuary resumes its former, eerie silence. The tunnel to the south yawns wide, and the bones in the wall cavities and the two charnel pits to east and west lie still.

End of combat!

Korriban sighs in relief as the last of the skeletons fall. He looks around the area. "So... should we start our search in this area? Like... in the pits? Or something?"

Normal Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
Perception vs Traps: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

"See, young mister Balros, the undead are nothing to fear. The Lord of Ends will wipe them out."

The Dwarf grunts from the squeezing grab, his hand starting to glow to divine energy. But before he could unleash it on the giant skeleton, it crumbles before his eyes. Landing with a heavy 'thud' on his feet, he takes the extra measure of crushing the creature's skull into shrapnel before turning to the group.

"Bastard was tougher than I thought." He moves to stand near the southern passage and looking down into it before asking the others, "Everyone alright? You lot know your way around a fight, as I suspected. Collect yourselves and let's keep movin'."

@Teodor

Korriban smirks. "Yeah... yeah. Doesn't seem so bad... until we come across something bigger. And scarier. And... I don't know, considering our luck, it'll breathe acid and shoot fire from it's eyes. Hope you got a bigger holy symbol. Nice job turning the boneheads to dust, by the way."

@Diamon
Korriban turns to the dwarf. He raises a brow. "You doubted our fighting prowess? I'm rather offended." He ends with a smirk.

Korriban's scouting reveals no traps or nasty surprises in the chamber, and the bone piles seem to be just that. As he leans out over the eastern charnel pile, however, he notices a declivity in the southern wall of the pit; it looks like a well-concealed tunnel entrance, leading who knows where...

Marked on the map!

Gadriel picks up the glowing stone from the middle of the floor, and with a slight rumble from Abu, the glowing enchantment on it is renewed. Cupping her hands around it, she proceeds after the rest using just enough light to not trip over the dead-again bones.

Adoros picks bone fragments off his clothing as he lets a shudder run down his back. Undead. Ugh. He glances at the rest, "Did I ever tell the rest of you how much I hate necromancers? Let us find this man fast and be done with this place."

Korriban finds the little tunnel. He calls everyone over. "Guys. I think I found something that's going to complicate things. An entrance to a tunnel. Something's been moving around from room to room. We're not alone."

How big is the tunnel

Korriban, stepping gingerly through the bones, investigates the small tunnel in the southeastern wall.

Diamon mutters darkly under his breath when he hears Korriban speak up about a hidden tunnel. He walks over and gives it a once over, commenting, "Hmm, this is a problem, t' be sure. ...Well, we could follow this tunnel, an' maybe get th' jump on th' person usin' it, or we can seal it, an' keep looking for others like it, so his options become more an' more limited as we head deeper."

Korriban scratches his chin in thought. "I say we try to block them off. I really don't want to be caught with something in these small tunnels."

How exactly would you guys like to try blocking these off? There are bones in the pits, but otherwise little that obviously is useful aside from a few pebbles and stones in the cavern.

Why don't we take some large rocks (that are not headstones) from outside and push them in front of the tunnels?

That would be possible, though it would take a significant amount of time to haul enough sizable rocks down and position them (let's call it an hour and a half). Do people want to proceed with this course of action?

(Allow me to solve this dilemma)

Diamon strokes his beard for a moment as he considers the brest way to shut this door. He runs a hand over the stone wall, getting an idea. He sets down his polearm, he draws his Falchion and holds it on a meditative stance, the blade slowly growing a deep green luster. He hefts the sword and slashes at the wall once, twice, then sheathing his sword.

A perfect acute triangle slides out of the wall and hits the floor with a thud. Picking it up, Diamon shoves the stone wedge in the crack of the door and shoved it in place with a swift bootkick, jamming the door shut. "There, tha' should keep it shut. Let's get movin'."

Stonestrike on the wall to carve that neat little wedge. Makes my weapon Adamantine when used.

Korriban thinks before seeing Diamon in a stance. Before he can ask about it, the sword glows green and the dwarf attacks the wall. When Diamon jams the door with the piece he carved, Korriban just stares at him for a few moments before clapping. "Wow... Now, that... was impressive, sir dwarf. Just.. how did you do that?"

After his conversation with Diamon, the rogue moves on, keeping an eye out.

Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22
Normal Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
Perception vs Traps: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

"A trick I learned after takin' up the title of Stonelord. It's called a Stonestrike. Save yer comments on Drawven namin' conventions. It allows me t' make my weapon as hard as Adamantine. Basically lettin' me carve or smash my way through anythin' I please."

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

Huh. Neat solution!

As the party moves into the larger tunnel that someone has dug out from the back of the crypt, they quickly find that it branches: the main tunnel leads straight south, while a side tunnel, narrower in scope, leads off to the right.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

Adoros holds a hand up as he listens for a moment. Pointing to the southern tunnel, he quietly whispers, "Something is moving about down there. The other way has a pair of gibbering creatures talking in a nonsense tongue." He looks to the others, "Do we take the obviously semi-intelligent creatures or the nameless one going bump in the dark?"

As a side note, the creatures having the conversation are speaking Aklo; I skimmed everyone's profiles and it looks like no one has the language, so I didn't bother adding a translation. If I'm wrong about that, let me know!

The Dwarf listens closely to both passageways, weighing their options. He motions to the southern tunnel and mutters, "I'm with Adoros. Rabble ain't worth worryin' about unless in big enough numbers. An' I only hear two voices. Let's go after th' fella pacing around down that way."

Korriban shakes his head. He whispers, "No. I'd rather take out the two ramblers before moving on. That way we can search the room and make sure they don't sneak up on us from behind."

Hmmmm, dissent! I'll wait to hear a third opinion before moving us on...

"We think the speakers should be first. Abu says the moving bones are harder for Abu to deal with, and the ones speaking are likely at least living, making the speakers easier to handle." Abu seems to nod his head in emphasis as she finishes talking.

Technically don't care, but for the sake of moving forward I'll put her 2 CP in. :D

Great then, gonna move us in that direction!

The party moves down the hallway that heads west, and it quickly opens out into a large chamber. Rank with the stink of mud and sweat, this cavern contains four filthy sleeping pallets of straw and a low table covered with dice and a crude, makeshift clay maze. Two emaciated, pale dwarf-like figures with crazy blue hair stand around the table, looking intently at something in the maze. As you approach, however, the nearest one looks up, hearing you, and its pale eyes widen in the light your party carries.

"Buzg'unchilar!" it shrieks. "Ularni o'ldiringlar!"

They seize weapons--the nearer one grabbing for a hooked club at its belt and the farther grasping a strange-looking crossbow on the table--and leap at you!

Combat Time!

Round One
As the creatures leap for weapons, some of the party react with astonishing speed!

Diamon and Teodor have their actions, in posting order, then the foes move!

Initiative
Diamon, Teodor
Creatures
Adoros, Korriban, Gadriel

Grumbling some but not wanting to spark an argument, Diamon leads the group down the west corridor, leading them to the more chatty individuals down there. As they met eyes, the Dwarf springs to action. Polearm in hand, he quickly closes the gap between himself and the one going for the crossbow, figuring he'd try to pick him off before those bolts could get flying.

Power Attack. Furious Focus negates -1 to hit.
Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
Damage: 1d12 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

Round One (cont'd)
Botting Teo for the moment...Diamon, your lucerne hammer is a reach weapon, so it can't be used against an adjacent opponent. I'm assuming you just moved one square too far, so I've adjusted you appropriately.

Diamon springs forward and lunges at the farther creature, swinging his hammer down in a mighty blow. The creature shrieks in rage and pain, and darts away, putting the table between himself and the dwarf as he lifts the crossbow and launches a quarrel. Diamon ducks, and the bolt shatters against a wall behind him.

Teodor, striding forward, takes a swing at the closer humanoid with his flail, but the creature ducks backs warily away from the dwarf and raises one hand above his head, snarling "Zulmat, bizga kelgan!" and gesturing wildly. Teodor takes a swipe at him with his flail as he does so, and this time the weighted head connects. The creature staggers, and the cloud of darkness that had begun to form in its hand dissipates.

Korriban, Adoros, and Gadriel are up, in posting order! Then Teodor and Diamon again.

Initiative
Diamon, Teodor
Foes
Korriban, Adoros, Gadriel <--

melee touch attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22Teodor smacks the creature with his bare hand. "Enjoy this preview of your existence to be!"Fearful touch

Korriban dashes into the room to close in on the nearest creature. He strikes with his rapier.

Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Round 1
hp 28/31

Move Action: Step toward the purple enemy while drawing his greatsword.
Standard Action: Swing with his greatsword.

Greatsword Attack vs Purple Enemy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
Greatsword Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (2, 3) + 4 = 9

Adoros shakes his head at the disgusting little creatures as he shoulders his gun (as the crack from it firing would alert everything in this horrible burrow for hundreds of feet in every direction) and slips off his greatsword instead. As he draws close to the little creature, he slashes downward at the monster.

Gadriel moves behind Adoros, Abu screeches loudly pointing a tiny digit at the creature.

Evil Eye the creature, -2 to its AC.

The creature in the front shrieks as Teodor lays his hand on it, writhing and staring in all directions...not that that's much different, for it. Korriban thrusts his rapier at the ugly thing, and it writhes away, just barely dodging Adoros's swing. When Abu chitters at it, though, the creature just laughs...though the monkey still glares balefully at it.

Just waiting on Diamon's action, then we're back at the foes! Gadriel's hex won't stick, but it does last for one round, so get 'im while he's vulnerable! :D

The Dwarf will stick to his target, swinging his hammer with vicious precision.

Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
Damage: 1d12 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11