Thralls of Thrune, Part 1: The Sunless Citadel (Inactive)

Game Master Mike Kimmel

Mike: My action for round 3 was to drag Anton's unconscious body out of melee combat range. I neglected to explicit, so...

Move Action: move 20 ft to D9.
Standard Action: grab Anton & move back 20 ft. That should put me in D5 (where I started) and Anton (still unconscious) in D6.

Round 4 action will be casting cure light wounds, as above.

Mike: My action for round 3 was to drag Anton's unconscious body out of melee combat range. I neglected to explicit, so...

Sorry - I remember reading that you did that and then somehow neglected it when I actually made my post!

Teral, Anton, your actions are needed. Anton, you've been dragged back out of the room and healed. Bellicus, I assume you are still waiting to see what Akshara does, as you have a readied action.

I'm just waiting on Teral since his action comes before Akshara's and maybe he's got a helpful trick up his sleeve. If I should skip him, let me know.

I'm just waiting on Teral since his action comes before Akshara's and maybe he's got a helpful trick up his sleeve. If I should skip him, let me know.

Yes - please continue. We'll assume he is stunned by your abhorrent behavior. :P

Groggy and confused, Anton sees Akshara's mind is ...not where it could be. He tries soothing her as he would an animal. Wild Empathy?: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

That's correct, DM. I'll probably end up swinging for nonlethal damage on my readied strike.

I like the creativity of the wild empathy idea. I may allow that to work (at a penalty, maybe -4) if Akshara thinks it would be cool. If, however, Akshara is not enough of an "animal" for it to work, that is fine.

I'm totally cool with it if you are. Enough to make her kind of "whrr?" for a round and not murderlize anyone. I figure in her confused state she's more like an animal than otherwise. Would his check have been a success in that instance?

"I don't know what you're worried about Bellicus, I'm almost dead! Not only that but I've probably been infected by the skeletons, I'm pretty sure I got the plague from the dire rats and may even have caught something from the walking shrubs yesterday. What do you catch from walking shrubs? Blight? Root Rot? Calistra's c--t, don't let it be root rot!" Elion stagers over to Valeria and clutches at her robe pleading, "Please, can you mix me a tonic or something? I don't want to die of root rot!"

Akshara -- since you're cool with it then let's say wild empathy can be used in this case. I like that interaction between the characters. I don't think it's enough to get you to back down completely, but maybe enough to get you to back down for a round (and hopefully pass your save).

There is a moment of recognition on Akshara's face when Anton makes his plea for her to stop, approaching as he does and treating her like one would a wounded animal; with concern and non-threatening posture, but distantly offered. Her pupils go wide, no longer slitted, and she seems momentarily aware of herself and her surroundings.

The wild tiefling sniffs the air, crouched low as she approaches Anton and sniffs at his offered hand with her ears folded back. Making a soft noise in the back of her throat, Akshara looks confused as to why everyone suddenly looks so concerned.

The beast is tamed again.

Will save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

"Elion," Bellicus says evenly, keeping his focus on the pit-thing before him. "Shut it." He shut away the elf's inane chattering, keeping his eye on the creature that slowly approaches him.

Then he hears Anton shushing and cooing to the beast before him. He relaxes his guard as it pads towards the druid and sit on its haunches before him, rat and fox blood still caked on its hands and mouth. "It seems to listen to you, priest of the wild. Try to find a way to control it." With the problem handled at last, he turns his attention to the elf. "Now, what's this about root rot?"

Elion replies mournfully "Sorry, but I've been bitten by every weird thing we've encountered. I must have caught something hideous by now."

"She saved my life while you stood there pondering your navel. Control yourself, non-knight."

Knowledge (religion) check on whether animated skeletons carry disease: (taking 10): 10+5=15.

"Elion, I'm reasonably sure that you're not in any danger of catching something from those old bones. But most of us are still wounded." Val picks up her lute and plays the "song of healing" again.

Channel positive energy: Everyone heals 1d6 ⇒ 4 hp.

Leynus relaxes as Anton soothes Akshara. "Well, I'm glad that didn't escalate any further. Now we can get back to the comparatively pleasant task of raiding this sunken ruin at the behest of our evil overseers."

Creeping the rest of the way over to Anton, Akshara crouches by his side and presses her nose up against where he had been injured, smearing blood around but finding no actual wound to lick. One ear wings to the side and she looks up at Anton with a worried expression. Sitting up straighter she looks around at the others, and with one twitch of her ear proclaims, "Whrr?" Before looking back at Anton without the faintest recognition of what just happened, and also appears to be a little winded.

It's beginning to become clear, now, why Akshara may have been locked up in the first place. If the pulverized bones of the skeletons she savaged are any indication.

_____
At the end of that encounter I'll have effectively used only 1 round of rage, as round spent under the effects of confusion don't count towards Akshara's rage limit. For my notes, Akshara has a maximum rage per day of 5 rounds, and will have 4 rounds of rage left. She'll be fatigued for 2 rounds (12 seconds), which should almost be over by now.

"Elion, I'm reasonably sure that you're not in any danger of catching something from those old bones. But most of us are still wounded."

"Then what did Akshara catch?"

Bellicus levels his gaze to Anton. "A momentary lapse in action that will not happen again. I assure you of that. But you saw what your beast did to those skeletons. We all did. If anyone is in need of a watcher, you need not look further than that which sits at your feet." He returns to the skeletons, and begins to examine their equipment. He's astonished to find some arrows that look as new as the day they were made. "Well, now this is fortunate. Could one of you skilled in magic examine these for auras?"

"Hey! Be careful, what if they stand back up again!"

Teral nods. "Simple enough to check." Waving a hand over his eyes, they begin to glow softly golden, and he sweeps the area slowly.

"Where I come from once you take all the meat off someone you can pretty much count on them being dead. How do you know they're really dead now?" Elion toes an empty skull and jumps back quickly, "Aren't we supposed to drive a stake through their heart or bury them at a crossroads or something? And how are we supposed to know if the next skeleton we meet isn't going to stand up and attack cause I'm not a big fan of the 'send the half-elf in and see if he gets bit' method."

Leynus nods. "Yes, next time we'll send Bellicus in first. Although judging by his last performance, he might be too frightened to deal with any such horrors. Nearly quaking in his boots, he was." Leynus gives Bellicus a sideways glance as he says this.

I'm curious - did Bellicus hear Val's prayers? Or was he too busy with Akshara?

I'm running under the assumption that Bellicus was far more concerned by the feral beast in front of him than anything going on behind him. Val's secret will out itself soon enough - no need to do it now.

Bellicus gives Leynus an icy stare, and straightens to his full height. "Very well, master elf," Bellicus says stonily, his voice dripping with condescension. "I will take point with the creature, just to prove to you that I fear nothing beneath in this citadel - not rats, not skeletons, not goblins, and least of all, you."

Having firmly calmed down, Akshara nudges Anton with her nose once, and then stalks over to Valeria and crouches by her side. Folding her ears back she looks up at the bard with a look of uncertainty. Not voicing her concern, however, Akshara instead looks into the alcove where the skeletons had fallen before turning her attention back to Valeria. It seems as though she isn't sure what to do now, or perhaps why everyone is so tense. It's hard to gauge by her wordless stare. Maybe all she needs is a little reassurance.

"Our brave warrior will help you lead the way now, child."

"O.K. I think my panic attack is over... What do you want to do now? Should we camp for a bit and re-group? I think Teral mentioned that he needed some more sleep or study time or something."

"Damn, you could cut the tension in here with a knife, why isn't anyone saying anything? Speaking of knives..." Elion picks up the dagger he dropped earlier.

"So shall we move on or are we stopping to rest?"

"It's not the best place to camp, what with all the dead goblins and dead rats and dead undead. We could climb back up to the surface."

"We have faced vermin and the least of the undead," Bellicus says quickly. "Surely we can explore further before we need call a retreat."

Leynus frowns. "I'd certainly hope you're not afraid of me. I was only out to damage your self-esteem, not your courage. Regardless - the least of the undead nearly ended some of us. We can afford a rest, though vacating this place entirely seems unnecessary."

"I wasn't suggesting running away. Just camping away from the rotting corpses. I'm not as battle hardened and callus as the rest of you I guess, delicate sensibilities and all that "

Teral shrugs at all the talk of rest, leaning on his spear and gazing around. He speaks up, although with a somewhat distracted air as he gazes around the chamber with glowing eyes. A bit of a rural accent creeps into his voice as he goes on, perhaps owing to his distraction.

"Me, I've got a bit of magic left. Enough to help out the brave warrior on the front lines, anyway." His words are polite enough, but his tone betrays a certain amount of contempt for Bellicus's haughty attitude.

"I've never been against a bit of extra caution - but I have to say, the longer we take explorin' this place, the less chance the folks we're here to rescue are going to be alive when we get there."

"I have a fair amount of magic and plenty of fight left in me, as well. I think we should press on."

Turning to Akshara, "That was very impressive how you took out those walking bones! But we're your friends." Val gives Bellicus a sideways glance. "Yes, even him. We aren't going to hurt you in a fight. We are a pack now." Val looks to Anton for support on that last point.

Val then seems to notice that her wooden butterfly pendant is still hanging loose, and she slips it back under her blouse.

Glancing to the bones at Valeria's praise, Akshara's ears fold back and she looks momentarily puzzled. Looking back to the Varisian, the feral tiefling seems conflicted. "Don't..." she struggles with finding the right words, looking down at her feet, then across the room before finding Valeria's eyes again.

"Don't remember," Akshara murmurs, her brows furrowing in uncertainty. "Shadows, not-- " the concept of partial amnesia isn't one she has ever had to try and articulate before. "Dream?" One ear flicks out to the side in nervous tick.

"So which way should we go? I think the door to the southwest is probably a stairway, since that's what the bony archers seem to have been guarding"

"That sounds fine to me, Elion."

"Actually I was thinking we should check the other door before we go down."

"Agreed. A wise course of action."

Teral nods. "Sounds smart to me. Let's not leave anything waiting behind us if we don't have to."

I'm at a bit of a loss for anything else to do until Mike is back. Can't really follow the investigative path through the new door and it looks like all the RP has gone in that direction. Hope he returns soon!

Mike said he'd probably be back tomorrow. I think we'll need to pretty much hold here until then.

While the rest of the party debates on the next course of action, Valeria plays a merry tune.

At Val's playing, Leynus stands, grinning slightly, and then, very surprisingly, breaks into a dance.

Perform (dance): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15

At the end of the performance, he sits again, a most sheepish look on his face. "My drumming might not be most suited to such cheeriness, but I thought I might contribute in some way."

I'm here, too! Ready and eager.

Okay, as far as I can tell you intend to take the SW door but you want to check the NW door as well before you go anywhere. So I will simply describe what you see through each door and you can decide. Thanks again for your patience! The wedding and honeymoon were awesome and now we are in the process of moving - thus the further delay.

Through the door to the northwest, a passage wide enough for both Akshara and Bellicus to fight side-by-side extends 40 feet to the west. There is another wooden door at the end of the passage, as well as a wooden door going north about thirty feet down the passage. Across from this door is a stone door leading south, which is carved with a dragon-like fish swimming in an aquatic setting. The stone door appears to be locked, but the two wooden doors do not.

Through the southwest door is a 20-foot wide hall. The masonry walls here are in poor repair. The far end (to the south) is especially bad, as it has completely collapsed, filling the southern section with rubble. The western wall is in much better shape than the other walls, and it holds a stone door with a rearing dragon carved in relief upon it. The door contains a single keyhole, which is situated in the dragon's open mouth.

ICly Akshara has no thoughts on either path, but I'm interested in the chamber beyond the southwest door. What do the rest of you think?

Bellicus glances down both passages as far as the light will allow. "I much prefer the southwestern passage," he says to the group. "There's less of a chance of being overrun or fighting a battle on multiple fronts. If the door's locked, though, we probably have little option but to take the northwesterly route and its branches."

Humming the melody line of Val's song, Teral's eyes trace the emblazoned dragon on the far western wall of the southwest passage. "Doesn't seem too likely that one's gonna open up easy, does it?"

"I can give it a try if you like." Glancing nervously at the crumbling stonework, "You don't think the whole thing is going to collapse, do you?"

waiting for the GM before I make any rolls