Jominda stares at you blankly for a few moments. Well, that's rather forward. I'm sorry, but I, nor anyone I know would likely pay you for to do anything, most folk around here are hardpressed as it is. Maybe one of those too thieves at the silk purse could use you as more hired muscle to guard their thousands. Outside them I doubt anyone'd be overly willing to take in a complete stranger, much less one already rumored to consort with necromancers and be a spawn of demons. She drums her fingers on the top of the desk she is standing behind as she speaks.
@ the others
You all make your way back to the restlands where you were a mere two hours before, the rains have lightened slightly, but the wind still howls bitterly cold. Once you arrive you search around the northeast corner for about half an hour before finding the Crypt spoken of in the journal. The crypt itself is a freestanding granite mausoleum, the roof of which is decorated with a pair of leering gargoyle statues. A single stone door with a rusty looking lock sits in the mausoleum’s south facade, however most of you easily notice the lock has been tampered with. It seems it had been broken before and then made to appear as if it was still intact. Within, a flight of stone steps leads down into the cold earth to a large crypt lined with empty niches. However no dead are interred here even though you estimate this was one of the earliest sites built within the Restlands. As you enter the lower area it is pitch dark, the only light source coming from the meager amount outside. If you have any source of light however you easily notice the late Professors tracks on the dust covered floor, easily half an inch thick in some areas. You see the tracks run into the far back areas of the crypt towards you can almost make out too be a large Sarcophagus.
Viktor will look down into the crypt below, frowning for a moment before he looks back at the others.
"Dark as death down there. I will not be able to see that. Here, give me a moment."
Within the eaves of the crypt, he takes off his bag and pulls out a torch and some flint and steel. It takes a few strikes before the specially prepared wrappings catch flame. Staring down into the dark, he looks towards the others.
"Would someone carry this? I do not wish to have my sword or shield arm hampered. In case of...unpleasantness." He seemed cautious and wary but his training had reinforced the idea that overconfidence was a slow and insidious killer. He had no desire to walk into Pharasma's bosom quite yet.
With the torch struck, Viktor will lead the way down into the mirky depths below.
Filiana quite openly breathes a sigh of relief when Viktor lights his torch.
I will carry it for you Viktor. I have no sword and shield to concern myself with.
Filiana fumbles around a bit trying to find the best way to hold the torch and cast light past Viktor without setting fire to his cloak and is obviously too distracted by this to notice much else.
With the light gaining purchase, Viktor's eyes adjust to the dark and he makes his way further within the crypt. The lack of dead provides no comfort for the warrior as Gunnar moves with him, the goat silent and carefully watching as well.
"Look, there are tracks." Viktor whispers, a habit from frequenting the resting places of departed souls. He moves with the professor's steps, approaching the door on the left and nodding. "They head further in, the cache must be deeper."
Carefully and quietly, he'd motion for Filiana to bring the torchlight closer before he opened the door and looked deeper within.
Nervous of the darkness that seems to lurk in the corners of the room and press in at the edges of the torchlight, Filiana hesitates at first, but when Victor and Gunnar move in she follows behind them, standing close by one of the pillars on the side of the crypt.
I certainly hope that's what the tracks are.
Can you see anything more now?
Ladruca steps confidently into the crypt. He takes several steps forward until he is standing to the right of Gunnar, drawing his morningstar as he goes.
No sign of life,or unlife yet.Still better to be safe than not.
He takes a moment to look all about him, looking for any clues as well as the tracks that Viktor had mentioned.
He then turns to his companions.
''I can see as well in the dark as I can in torchlight. I will take point if there are no objections, though I would prefer you stay close Viktor, as my bow is still my primary weapon.'' He then turns around to look at Filiana. ''You say you have no weapons, if you would like I can lend you my morningstar? I prefer to fight with my bow.''
He smiles slightly at her and holds the morningstar out, grip first, for her to take if she wants.
He then moves ahead slowly and carefully to make as little noise as possible. He stops at the foot of the stairs looks ahead to what he can see.
Gregor's declaration already causes us trouble. Smiling, Keydas steps forward. "Mistress Fallenbridge, I believe Nostro was asking more about assistance without pay. You see, the professor has asked us in his will to remain here for the next 30 days. It would be a more pleasant stay if the people were to look on us with - well, I don't want to say trust, but at least less suspicion than they do. For myself, I wanted to ask you a few questions. Nothing intrusive, just some general information."
Filiana looks at the weapon that Ladruca is holding out to her for a moment, considering his offer. She licks her lips a little nervously before replying in a very quiet voice.
Thank you Ladruca, but that is much too large for me. I would need to use both hands to swing it I think.
Should I try to use it? It looks so big ... I ... I would have to put down the torch... no ... I can't do that... it's so dark down here... But am I going to need to do something about weapons if I continue with these folks? I can't just follow them around and contribute nothing when there is danger.
When she notices Gregor casting his spell.
What? What was that? What did he just do? It wasn't the same as what the priest did... hmmm ... so, a spell then but it seemed, somehow focused in on himself rather than out on the rest of us. Was he trying to make himself stronger somehow? No that doesn't seem quite right. Was it supposed to protect him? That seems more like it. Could I ask him what he did? Or would that be rude? Perhaps it's not the sort of thing that Necromancers like to talk about. I wonder if I could do something like that? It might be nice to turn this, this whatever it is that I have, to something useful. Now is probably not the best time to start experimenting with it though. Who knows what might happen.
Viktor notices the quiet movements that the rest are attempting and frowns for a moment, looking at his shield and armor. Quiet movements are not the militia veteran's best talents at all but he watches Ladruca and tries to replicate it.
"Do not worry, I'll be at your side." The large man whispers, stepping alongside the dhampir as they make their way down further into the crypt. Gunnar follows along behind his master, moving as quietly as possible.
It is difficult for Viktor to hide his approach, the sound of chainmail scratching over strong and the settling of his equipment. He looks towards Ladruca, who is like a shadow, and a bit of blush comes to his face.
"Sorry." He whispers lower than normal, a sound coming from the goat that you are almost certain sounded like a snicker.
Seeing that Filiana chose not to take his morningstar, Ladruca replaces it at his belt and takes his bow from his back. He nods at Viktor to acknowledge that he heard his words and can't help but scowling a little when he hears Viktor's ''silent'' approach.
Damn! He makes enough noise to wake the dead and considering we are in a crypt..... Still not everyone is built to be quiet.
Trying to show that it doesn't bother him much, Ladruca shrugs his shoulders and flashes a quick grin before turning his gaze forward. He waits for Filiana to bring the torch so his companions won't be fighting blind.
As quietly as she can, Filiana moves along behind the two men.
Odd, I never thought about it before, but these two are quite different in their skills. I would have always assumed that these adventurous types would all be heavy armor and swinging swords. I guess some folks keep pigs and some folks grow radishes.
As you enter the smaller back room, you see the large sarcophagus that the professors tracks lead to. Howevever as most of you reach the small flight of steps you hear a scraping and clicking noise, as if something scurrying across stone, and then as you reach the small entrance to the back room two large centipede creatures bigger than most dogs lunge out of from the side walls, as two more close in from behind. These lengthy, segmented horrors writhe and twist, pulsing its venomous mandibles in search of prey.
Ladruca noticed them coming, however the others did not.
Two of the creatures move towards the group, while others managed to get close enough to strike.
Another scurries up to viktor's side, while another chases down the halfling.
Ladruca and Gregor, please make fortitude saving throws(each round for 6 rounds or until you save), DC 13 or-
each of your rounds following take the following dex damage unless you make the fort save.
(Gunnar goes on your turn)
up is Ladruca, Gregor, Viktor and Gunnar, bugs, Filiana
Damn!!! Where did these things come from!!!
Ladruca winces in pain when the thing latches unto his side but grits his teeth through the pain. He hops backwards out of the creature's immediate range. Standing beside Filiana and Viktor's goat, he draws an arrow, notches his bow and lets it fly pointe blank into the creature's head
Not stopping to make sure he hit, he snatches his morningstar from his belt and holds it out for Filiana.
''Even if you don't know what your doing this is better than your hands I promise!'' He yells before turning his attention to the creature ahead of him.
He feels a burning sensation begin coursing through his veins where he was bit.
Poison most likely
He grits his teeth against the pain and tries to keep the poison from overtaking him.
The poison doesn't seem to be having an effect so he takes a moment to run through his studies and see if he recognizes the creatures.
''Damn I knew I should have studied more than the undead!!'' He curses to himself.
Viktor will be heading down the stairs when the unmistakable sounds of something scurrying catches his attention. A scowl appears there as the monstrously sized centipedes crawl out in search of prey.
"Watch yourselves!" The man shouts, lifting up his shield in time to deflect the mandibles that drip with some kind of poison.
Shoving it off of him, he draws the longsword out and strikes not at the beast that attacked him but the one near Ladruca to try to get the inquisitor the space he needs. The blade sings through the air, aiming to cut it in half.
The centipede beside Filiana seems ready to bite into the woman when there is a battle cry from no human mouth. Gunnar charges up the staircase and lowers his head, the horns seeming to shine in the torchlight, before he tries to crush it against the ground.
She looks you up and down with a slight frown before sighing. Very well, I'll answer some questions, on one condition, I want you to go to the restlands and pick some of the moss growing along the gravestones and old crypts there. It's proven quite useful for some of my mixtures. I'll repay the favor by answering any questions you wish. And, for what little it would be worth, I'll try to talk you up around the townsfolk... Not that I'm someone they view with utmost trust.
Ladruca, you recall hearing something about these instectoids, giant centipedes, they often make dark and damp dens their lair. Traveling most often in packs, their bite holds a dangerous poison that slows the movements of their foes slowly paralyzing them.
Gregor retaliates against the offending bug, squashing it thoroughly with his shovel.
Viktor's blade slices one of the bugs surrounding him in half, while Gunnar makes quite a nuisance of himself, drawing the attention of the bug and a hissing noise from it.
Two of the bugs attempt to latch on to Viktor, he manages to knock one away with his blade, however the other manages to nick him in the side.
Fort save, DC 13 vik, 1/round or take the following on each consecutive round-
Up- Filiana, then Ladruca, Viktor, Gregor, then Bugs
Filiana looks horrified at the enormous bug next to her, seemingly almost paralyzed by her fear ... When Ladruca thrusts the morningstar at her and yells at her to take it she does so almost reflexively. As she turns back to the centipede she sees it attacking Gunnar. With a cry more of revulsion than aggression, she awkwardly swings the weapon above her head and brings it down at the creature.
Despite the awkwardness of the weapon, she manages to bring it down on top of the centipede with a sickening crunch.
Taking a step back, to stand between Gunnar and Filiana. Ladruca notches another arrow and fires at the centipede 10 feet ahead of him.
The Arrow flies forward sinking between two plates on its neck.
Viktor tries to hold off the beasts that swarm towards them, a grim look of satisfaction as the steel cuts through the carapace and the vermin splits in twain.
The other two move around him, mandibles clicking hungrily before they lash out towards him. With a spinning flourish, the first is battered off but the other actually uses his shield to bite just underneath the armpit and gain a cry of pain from the warrior.
"Damn beasts!" Viktor shouts as the pain slowly grows into a numbing ache. A tiredness crawls over his muscles as he tries to power through the poison.
The dullness seems to fade though and his speed returns as an arrow flies from behind and seems to strike the beast beside him. Viktor's attention turns to the centipede around the corner that his allies cannot easily see and he throws his strength into the attack to see it dead.
The centipede tries to move out of the way but moves into the cunning fighter's blade's path. He skewers it through the head, the body still twitching as it falls off of his longsword. Viktor manuevers around the remaining bug as Gunnar lets out another mighty cry and charges down the stairs with his head lowered and those wicked horns ready for blood.
The centipede, if it is still alive after the arrow shot, wisely dodges out of the goat's rampaging attack.
Keydas nods. "Very well, I believe we can accommodate that request. One question before we do so, and it pertains directly to this task. Would we be better suited asking Father Grimburrow for permission first, or simply going and harvesting the moss?"
[spoiler=GM and Keydas]
"Keydas is correct. I will work without pay. I will retrieve the moss. You have my word." Nice work Keydas, once one sees our reliability, the others will soon see the error of their ways.
"Keydas is correct. I will work without pay. I will retrieve the moss. You have my word." Nice work Keydas, once one sees our reliability, the others will soon see the error of their ways.
With all the bugs dead, you manage to reach the large sarcophagus that the professor's tracks lead to. Inside you find a wide assortment of items.
@keydas and nostro
very well, here's a sample, fill up this box, and I'll answer your questions as a payment.
With all the creatures dead, Viktor looks among the crypt and then his comrades.
"Everyone alright?" He asks, taking a cloth out and cleaning his blade of the ichor from the centipedes. He makes his way over to the crypt, looking inside at the items that are there.
He scratches at the wound on his side, wincing just a little bit before frowning. "We were fortunate. I think those things were poisoned. Anyone feeling woozy still? It made my limbs feel dead."
Ladruca steps beside Viktor and regards the crypt full of items.
''Unfortunately I have neglected several aspects of my training in favor of others so I don't think I will be much help in identifying them. I can however tell you if any are magical or not.''
Now the only question that remains to be seen is whether we should show these to Father Grimbrow or not? It would hurt our reputation with the town if we lie about them and are discovered, but I fear he will not want us to use them at all.
Ladruca waves his arms about and mutters under his breath for a few seconds. When he is done his eyes have a slight purple tint. He examines each item in turn to see if there is magic in them.
When he is done he steps closer to Filiana and holds his hand out for his weapon.
''Told you it was better than your hands'' He says with a smirk.
He turns to regard the rest of the group at large ''Was anyone seriously hurt? I have some small bit of healing magic that i could cast if that is the case. And Viktor if you are no longer feeling the effects of the poison you should be fine. It slowly paralyzes you but once your body is able to fight it off it abates.''
Viktor lift his shield arm, showing the cut where the mandibles made contact.
"It is a minor thing but it hurts like hell. A day or so of good rest should clear it up. If you could spare it though, I would appreciate it."
"As you command." He says as he takes the box and leaves the house. Should be a simple enough task. I hope the others are faring well. While they make their way to the Restlands, Nostro begins to act a little awkward. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence he says, "Keydas. Thank you for your help. I could not have done it myself."
You find in the sarcophagus a plethora of useful items. It held a dozen silver arrows, four sun rods, six flasks of holy water, 10 +1 arrows, five +1 ghost touch arrows, two +1 undead bane arrows, five potions of cure light wounds, two potions of lesser restoration, a scroll of detect undead, two scrolls of hide from undead, a scroll of protection from evil, and a thin darkwood case decorated with an image of a scarab with a single eye glaring from its back. Within the case is a spirit board with a brass spirit planchette, and four iron and glass vials containing tiny, churning clouds of vapor. The vials sit in velvet-lined indentations to the left of the spirit board and planchette. You also estimate the darkwood box to be worth anywhere from 30-50g.
The six vials are all valuable magic items called haunt siphons
Nostro and Keydas, as you make your way once more back to the Restlands, you notice it is beginning to darken as the rains die down a little more.
Make me two survival or perception checks to find the moss, survival will have lower DCs.
Ladruca's eyes open in wonderment when he sees the small arsenal of arrows. He spends a moment running his fingers up and down the shafts, over the points and through the feathers. He picks up the quivers of arrows, placing them over his back while taking one of his quiver of normal arrows and placing it into his bag.
''I am going to assume that no one will object if I lay claim to the arrows? I make no claim over anything else but it seems obvious that I will end up with the archery gear.'' The last is said with a confident smirk.
He then picks up one of the iron and glass vials to examine it.
Hmm this seems familiar, I think Otto showed me something like this once.
''So, I guess this means we must take all of this back to our smiling 'ally'?'' He says sarcastically and a little reluctantly as he turns back to his companions.
We have little time. I will be fine in the night, but humans are not as well equipped. Keydas. We should make haste. We have little time. Doing his best to gather what they need, Nostro fearlessly tromps through the mud and grime to get at the moss.
[spoiler=DM and Nostro]
"We will accomplish this shortly, Mistress Fallenbridge." Keydas leaves the shop with Nostro, hood up against the rain.
"It is no problem. Mistress Fallenbridge has piqued my curiosity in some things, and I suspect an herbalist like herself could prove helpful during our time here." Keydas and Nostro make their way to the cemetery to begin looking for the moss.
"Very well, Nostro. I don't have much experience at harvesting moss and the like, but I shall endeavor to help as best I can."
|
Gregor eyes over the collection. He picks up one of the vials.
"These might be of great use to us. They can help nullify spectral energies in a haunted area."
He then points to the brass planchette.
"While this is used to commune with spirits. But it is dangerous to the weak of mind."
He then taps his chin as he thinks.
"Now the question is how do we handle this? What if Father Grimburrow confiscates all of it? The vials and the planchette will serve us quite well in Harrowstone."
Ladruca perks up when Gregor voices his concerns about Father Grimburrow.
''That was exactly my fear. did any of you notice the way he hesitated when he talked about 'lending' us the items we find in here.?
I think we have a choice, we can either show him everything and hope he will allow us to use them or that we can convince him. Or we can lie about some of the items. He has already shown a willingness to just casts on us and I have no idea of his power. I think we should show him all and hope for the best.''
Ladruca grits his teeth when he says this, as though he finds the idea of doing as the old priest says is unpleasant.
''In either case I think we should go track down our missing companions, unless any of you have other pressing business or want to explore the town?''
|
|
Gregor nods his head in agreement. "What you say is true Ladruca. It would be better to be open about this. Perhaps focus our efforts on the more important aspects of the collection."
He then begins to point out certain items. "In my opinion the most important parts of this collection will be the Haunt Siphons and the Brass Planchette. The others while do not seem as important for our success in Harrowstone."
He ponders for a moment. "I think after we leave i shall head back to continue studying the tomes we found."
Viktor looks over the items that are within the crypt, the supply of arrows with magical enchantment and other tools to help put the spirits to rest. It is a fine list of weapons and items to combat the horrors that may remain within the prison's walls.
The warrior has remained relatively quiet after identifying what remains within the crypt, his dark eyes rising to listen to what the other two begin to speak about. A frown spreads upon his face, his eyes returning to the useful cache of items below.
"I...I too worry that he'll let greed keep the importance of these items from our hands. Yet we have already made our intentions clear, to do otherwise would hurt the little trust we have within the town." Opening his backpack, he prepares the gather the supplies to bring to Father Grimburrow. "If we bring back evidence of the hauntings within Harrowstone, we may be able to convince to give us more or all of what remains here in the cache. We should get going nonetheless, before the torch goes out."
Kicking a ruined centipede out of the way, he emerges out into the dying light of the church grounds once more. His eyes stare up into the sky, smiling at the rain begins to die down.
Traveling towards the church itself, he catches sight of Keydas and Nostros moving throughout the churchyard looking for something. "Strange. I wonder what it is that they're doing." He pays them no mind, a quick nod before making it to the church proper.
"Father Grimburrow! We have those supplies."
Filiana looks at the cache of equipment in puzzlement, not really understanding what it is she is seeing.
Arrows? And some bottles? What is all of this?
Then she sees Gregor apparently casting a spell and watching him closely, she has something of a revelation.
Oh? Oh! I see... I see what he did there! That was supposed to reveal the presence of magic to him. Did it work? What does he see? Wait, could I do that? That didn't seem all that difficult.
Quietly, she starts muttering some strange words. At first it sounds like she is trying to copy Gregor's words, but very soon it changes to something similar but different. When she finishes, her eyes glow momentarily with a pale white light and then return to normal. But the way she sees the world does not. Suddenly, she sees the glow of magic on all the enchanted items and two overlapping glows on Gregor. She gasps in amazement and turns around, seeing the difference between things and people that have magic on them and those that do not.
For a moment she has a wide smile on her face at the wonder of what she is suddenly seeing. But then a troubling thought occurs to her and her smile turns in to a frown...
Does this ... does this mean I am a necromancer too then?
As you leave the crypt, you all spot Nostro and Keydas rummaging around the restlands, likewise, Keydas also sees the group leaving a rather ancient looking crypt. At this point it is getting pretty dark, and you may want to have a light. As you make your way back, you cross paths with Nostro and Keydas, it seems they have been collecting moss for some reason. If you wish to aid them it would likely quickly finish up the cause.
After helping with the strange task, you begin to make your way back, however, after a few minutes you begin to reach the southern gate before hearing an unearthly screech, one that chills you to the bone. Those with a light source or darkvision see a figure claw its way up from a tombstone, it's flesh all but gone from its body it lets out another grinding screech, as it enters the light you can see within each of its eye sockets a ghostly pale blue flame. You hear other similiar screeches off in the night around you, and to your left what seems to be a corpse shambles towards you, its bottom jaw hanging limply and one of its eyes hanging by its cheek. The wind picks up a bit and you can almost swear you hear a faint, sinister, laughing on it.
Ladruca, Filiana, Nostro, spooky somthing, Gergor, skeletons, Keydas, Viktor, zombles.
The creatures you see before you are mostly skeletons and zombies, the former are weak against blunt force trauma, while the latter are resistant to anything but slashing damage. You know zombies are fairly durable, but also slow while skeletons are much quicker.
You have also heard the unearthly howls before. You know that somewhere in the dark beyond your vision lurks at least one ghoul, creatures of horror they are exceptionally more deadly than their lesser kin. Their bites carries a disease of plague and death, and their putrid claws and fangs carry a potent poison that paralyzes any they cut, making them easy prey to feast on alive. Ghouls have no true weakness, but are just as resilient as other undead, they even have proven to be resistant against positive energy channeled by the goodly clerics.
Ladruca takes a moment to try and identify the undead in front of him
Alas he remembers only basic details. To the best of his knowledge these are skeletons and zombies but he is not sure of any other details.
Pulling his bow from his back he notches an arrow and makes a quick prayer to Pharasma.
In the name of Pharasma, fill this vessel with your light and keep it alive for the fight!
He feels a warmth spread through his body as he finishes the thought and feels his wounds start to heal.
He Takes aim at the fleshy monster, he believes is a zombie, that stands 10 feet away and lets his arrow fly.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
When he sees the rest of the group, he gives them all a simple wave before continuing his search. As darkness creeps forth, he strikes no light.
As the creatures screech, Nostro grips the hilt of his sword as his face fills with anger. The scum of the night dare to challenge us. Let us take them back to the earth! "Viktor. I trust you and Gunnar can defend our front for a moment." He says as he makes his way to the threat at their rear. He marches quickly towards it, drawing his sword and delivering a swift, practiced, horizontal slash. "Corruption has soaked the soil, sapping all good life from these groves - let us burn out this evil."
He shouts as the creature receives a vicious slash to it's chest.
Ladruca's arrow strikes true, however it seems to do little to the zombie as it makes its way towards the group, however Nostro valiantly strides over and slices its head from its shoulders before urging the party on.
Filiana is walking quietly in the midst of the group having handed Ladruca's morningstar back to him but still carrying the torch. She appears deep in thought and doesn't really participate in any conversation until the undead start appearing around the group.
By the gods! Undead! Could this be something I did? Using that power?? No, no it can't be... listen to that ... there's something out there causing this.
Thinking back to seeing Gregor cast defensive magic earlier and remembering how she managed to copy his Detect Magic spell, she decides to try to do that again.
Trying as best she could to picture what Gregor did and to mimic what she supposed to be the intent of the spell, she casts again. For a very brief moment there is a flicker of pale white light in her eyes and then a tiny pale shimmer all around her, so faint as to be almost imperceptible except to those very close to her.
Keydas will have seen the night growing dark and taken out and lit a torch. Upon seeing the others, he waves and says, "Have you had luck in finding the items?"
Keydas feels a chill at the sight of the rising dead. The professor may have been onto something. He attempts to recognize the creatures from his studies.
|
|
Gregor moves forward to intercept the zombie closest to him. He plants his feet and grips his shovel as he begins to utter an incantation.
As he finishes his spell a burst of white light lances forth from his outstretched hand towards the zombie.