GM Sarah's Carrion Crown (Inactive)

Game Master Sarah Olsen

you can try the arcana check again after the runes are all copied or during another visit to Harrowstone.

I have added a few of the runes next to the map, just for fun :)

During the course of the hour it takes Sisu to copy the repeating rune pattern, the rest of you wander around and take in the eerie scenery. The wind whispers through the barren tree branches and a hawk circles above. After almost 50 minutes Malakos, Rahela and Chellian head up a stone staircase on the west side of the building and find themselves looking at a large balcony.

A large, rectangular block of stone rests on this weather-beaten stone balcony, while ruined wooden benches line the eastern wall under a row of tiny, barred windows above. A stout wooden door sits in the wall near the northern end of the balcony.

Kn: Local: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25 I'm gonna assume this is enough

Examining the balcony, Malakos heads over to the block of stone, "I've heard that this is where they executed prisoners," pointing at the block, "Right here, its pretty ominous,"

Looking back to Rahela and Chellian, "Kind of creepy isn't it, I wonder how many people died here,"

Not being able to tell exactly when the remaining 10 minutes are up, I'll just put this here and GM can move us to join the rest at the appropriate time

After finishing off her notes, Sisu looks up and notices that the others are have moved out of sight to the north. She calls over to Niralzi. "The other three seem to have moved on a bit. We might want to try and stay as a group. Let's head over and join them." Unless there is an objection from Niralzi She puts her journal away and heads around the corner towards the rest.

oh oops i forgot to put that it was a DC 12 :) but you are right the 25 is more than enough :) I also have Sisu and Niralzi trailing behind the group a bit

As soon as Malakos steps up near the execution stone the wind howls, rustling and billowing his cloak, nearly knocking him off his feet, as he gets ahold of himself he is standing face to blade with a ghostly set of skeletal arms wielding a rusty scythe appears. The menace and hatred coming from the spectral weapon creates an almost palpable terror.

1st COMBAT!!

Niralzi you aren't really aware anything has happened yet, but you may take whatever action you wish, you and Sisu were heading over this way it seemed. Now that we are in combat, its good to remind everyone that these squares are 10 foot squares. So up to 4 medium characters can inhabit a single square, and it takes 10 feet of movement to cross one.

Round 1 - Bold may go

Niralzi
Rahela
Chellian
Headsman's Scythe
Malakos
Sisu

Not yet aware of what Malakos is facing, Niralzi will double move toward the staircase where she sees the others.

"Pharasma save us. Is this a foul undead"

Know Religion: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

"I haven't a clue. Looks undeadish"

"Anybody know what that is? Is it undead?"

Quivering in fear, Rahela advances toward the foul thing

Double move up the stairs is about all I can do this round

Terror welled up in her heart for a moment as the sounds from above. Something felt ... unnatural. It was very simular to when the ettercap almost made a meal of her. Mikhael wouldnt be there to save them, but that jerk wouldnt have to be. She grit her teeth and started to hurry up the stars.

Her determination paled for a second at seeing the ghostly arms well armed. She had no clue what it might be, but if it came near her or her new friends she was going to hit it...and hard!

Double move!

Round 1 - Bold may go

Niralzi
Rahela
Chellian
Headsman's Scythe
Malakos
Sisu

The wind continues to howl and the ravens perched along the top of the prison watch menacingly as the Scythe moves up next to Malakos and takes a vicious swing at him.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (1, 4) = 5

I promise i'm not trying to kill you guys lol

Hearing some strange sound from up on the balcony, and Rahela yelling some question about undead, Sisu hurries forward to assist in any way she can.

double move - 60 ft. Not sure if I'm far enough up the stairs to see the scythe, but if I am:

Sisu sees the floating arms wielding the scythe and quickly makes some mental notes.
Knowledge Religion + Free Inspiration: 1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (20) + 7 + (4) = 31

She will immediately yell out any information that she has about this apparition to the group.

"Uhh guys! this thing almost cut me! IN HALF!" Malakos stumbles over his words as he retreats back towards the far northern end of the balcony.

double move away from the scythe.

May I respectfully suggest that you change that to a full withdrawal?

Agreed. double move would give the thing an AoO which might well take you down at this point, whereas a full withdrawal allows the same double move distance with no AoO.

I am okay with you changing it to a full withdraw I don’t want to kill you during the first combat

Sorry guys. brain fart moment, it was supposed to be a full withdraw. thanks GM.

Not a problem at all Malakos :)

Sisu as you get a look at the Scythe you realize that its not necessarily undead, but rather some vengeful spirits animating the object.

Round 2 - Bold may go

Niralzi
Rahela
Chellian
Headsman's Scythe
Malakos 5 damage
Sisu

"Why the heck didn't I load my crossbow before this? I'm an idiot!"

Rahela frantically steps back a little while groping around for her crossbow and then quickly loading it, ready to shoot eventually

Never said I had it out and this is very much her first adventure so that kind of mistake seems TOTALLY in character

"Hang in there Malakos. I'll heal you up in a second"

Hearing the commotion and fear from her friends, Niralzi moves towards the group while pulling out her trusty recorder. She begins to play an easily recognized bright tune of triumph.

With a very unlady like growl and Niralzi's music drifting into her hearingshe moved torwards the spirit. She reared way back and then thrust hard at the scythe.

power attack: 1d20 + 6 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 6 - 1 + 1 = 24
damage, peircing: 1d10 + 6 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 2 + 1 = 12

"GO AWAY!"

She cried out at it after her thrust.

Chellian as you move and attack the scythe you thought for sure that your attack was much more powerful than it seemed.

Chellian it also looks like you might have forgotten to move up on the map. I know you have reach with your Glaive, I can move you up or you can :)

Map

Round 2 - Bold may go

Niralzi
Rahela
Chellian
Headsman's Scythe 5 damage
Malakos 5 damage
Sisu

Sisu moves closer to the scythe and pulls out her spear.
She calls out to the group "This thing doesn't seem to be undead. It's more of an object animated by spirits, like a construct or a haunt."

Double move:
1st Move action - 30 ft move
2nd Move action - draw weapon

The Scythe moves up next to Chellian and take a wild swing at her. it also takes the AoO from Chellian.

Attack Vs Chellian: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (3, 1) = 4

I'm not sure if Force damage is blocked by hardness but I doubt Malakos would know either way

Malakos throws a hand out, firing a force missile from his finger, it takes the shape of an flying rat before blasting into the Haunted Scythe.

Force Missile: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

The blood from his wound distracts his spell casting ability, lending to a rather weak missile flying out.

"This thing is really tough!"

Round 3 - Bold may go

Niralzi
Rahela
Chellian
Headsman's Scythe 5 damage
Malakos 5 damage
Sisu

The flying bat force missile hit the Scythe and fizzles out right as it touches the rusty blade.

"Wow, that IS tough. Chellian, let me touch your glaive!"

Rahela casts Magic weapon, and then rushes up and touches Chellian's glaive. +1 to hit/Damage, magic.

She began by trying to dodge the scythe and crying out in pain. For a moment she almost didnt hear Rahela's voice through the pounding of her heart and the blood rushing through her body.

"Right then, im going to keep trying to slide about it."

She responded to Rahela waiting just long enough for her to use her magic on her glaive before she continued to rotate about it, once more driving her glaive guisarme hard at the animated object.

power attack,inspired? Magic Weapon: 1d20 + 6 - 1 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 6 - 1 + 1 + 1 = 22
damage,peircing, magic, inspired?: 1d10 + 6 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 6 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 11

9/13 hp

Niralzi continues her inspiring tune while making her way to the obviously injured Malakos.

Cure Light Wounds: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Reaching out to Malakos, "I hope this helps!"

Round 3 - Bold is up!

Niralzi
Rahela
Chellian 4 damage
Headsman's Scythe 9 damage
Malakos
Sisu

The Scythe, still not backing down takes a floating step forward and swings another rusty attack at Chellian. Niralzi's inspiring music floats around the empty courtyard of Harrowstone in the background giving some life to the eerie grounds.

Attack vs Chellian: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (4, 2) = 6

Malakos fumbles around, after his failed force missile he is struggling not to panic, though soothed by the healing magic of Rahela, he pulls out his Spellbook and frantically flips through the pages until he arrives on a spell, shaking as he begins to cast it.

Right before starting, "I only got one thing that might help, Chellian, prepare to get big!"

With that he begins a complex arcane spell, full of hand gestures and a slew of arcane gibberish.

I begin casting Enlarge Person, at the start of my next turn it'll take effect

On the road back home today, can resume regular detailed posting tomorrow

Sisu takes a five foot step to flank the scythe utilizing the reach of her spear to stay out of immediate contact, and takes a quick stab at it.

Attack w/ Spear, inspired, flanking: 1d20 + 3 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 3 + 1 + 2 = 7
Damage, inspired: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 4 + 1 = 12

wow...a 1...

And with a swing of her spear Sisu misses the Scythe as it floats on the wind in the space between Chellian and herself.

Round 4 - Bold is up

Niralzi
Rahela
Chellian 4 damage
Headsman's Scythe 9 damage
Malakos
Sisu

Rahela channels to heal, and then moves behind some allies :-)

channel: 1d6 ⇒ 2

"Go away you stupid thing!

She growled stepping back from its swipe. She tried to time he thrust for right after when Sisu stabbed at it hoping to catch whatever fel spirit was animating the thing off guard.

power attack,inspired,flanking, magic weapon: 1d20 + 6 - 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 6 - 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 24
damage, peircing magic: 1d10 + 6 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 6 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 15

"This construct is starting to become irritating..."

I'm really amused by this. I didn't realize til now we have 1 caster, 2 support, and 2 characters who primarily melee....but both using reach weapons. I've never seen this in all my games. "Everybody stand way back and poke at it!"

Round 4 - Bold is up

Niralzi
Rahela
Chellian 2 damage
Headsman's Scythe 17 damage
Malakos
Sisu

With a great thrust of her glaive Chellian was able to cause some good damage to the rusty scythe. The scythe though still has some fight left in it and with a small step forward and swings an attack at Chellian again and it swings wildly and misses her.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Damage: 2d4 ⇒ (3, 4) = 7

I am pretty happy with how well our party is balanced and all the reach attacks are fun too :)

As he finishes his incantation, looking tired already from the magical effort, Chellian rapidly grows in size until she has doubled, looming over the scythe.

Heaving, bending over to catch his breath, kind of pointing vaguely towards Chellian ”That one, phew, really takes a lot outta ya,”

Other than that, I can’t do much to help at this point I realize I have like a whole turn worth of actions left to me but no real actions worth taking

As the scythe floats towards Chellian, Sisu takes a step forward to get back into poking range.

Attack, inspired, flanking: 1d20 + 3 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 3 + 1 + 2 = 21
Damage, inspired: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 1 = 6

Last round, a 1 on attack, good damage. This time a great attack...1 on damage lol
The hardness on this thing must be insane. Surprising to see it this early in an AP

Round 5 - Bold is up

Niralzi
Rahela
Chellian 2 damage
Headsman's Scythe 17 damage
Malakos
Sisu

Malakos' spell goes off just in time and Chellian is large. I have increased your size on the map :)
Taking a step forward Sisu's longspear hits the scythe but nothings seems to happen.

well who said being here is early in the campaign...? :)

Rahela looks on, aghast, knowing that she has nothing left to contribute.

"I KNEW that the life of an adventurer wasn't for me"

Even in hindsight, its not obvious we did anything silly coming here :-). So, yeah, this is one heck of a tough "first combat encounter" :-(

It probably has some kind of leash where if we just said oh crap and went back down the stairs it would leave us alone, or we were intended to find it when we came out that door upstairs at lvl 2 or something. We're actually doing fine it's just a looong combat so I'm not too worried. Just means after it's finally down we should probably head back, rest, research, maybe check out that cache of aid, then come back another day.

Since Chellian felt kinda out of place doing research, this gives her character a chance to really feel good as she's pretty much taking it down single-handedly. Side thought...it's not undead but it is being controlled by angry spirits. It might be weak to channeled energy or CLW spells.

Inspired by Chellian's great size, Niralzi drops her recorder (gently) and pulls out her rapier while moving into the fray.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

She gracefully somersaults to stand beside Sisu, across from . Brandishing her rapier, "I may not do much damage, but I can surely distract the enemy!"

Aid Another:Chellian, flanking: 1d20 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 2 = 7

despite her flourishment, Niralzi's Aid Another is unsuccessful :(

She almost chuckled as she ducked under the swipe of the scythe. Then the magic took effect and she she suddenly found herself looking down slightly at the scythe. This had to be what Malakos meant by getting big. She was going to snap that stupid thing in half!

power attack, flanking,magic weapon, enlarged: 1d20 + 6 - 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 6 - 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 25

damage: 2d8 + 7 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (4, 8) + 7 + 2 + 1 = 22

5 foot stepping back if able, if not eating the AoO i suppose.

With a grand flourish Chellian is able to break the scythe in two. The ghostly arms that were attached to it disappear into the wind.

Looking around you see a stout wooden door sitting in the wall near the northern end of the balcony, which looks to lead into the prison itself.

YAY first combat is done! and I didnt kill any of you! ;) at this point what would you guys like to do. time of the day is probably mid to late afternoon. You can either go back into town and go back to Kendra's or to one of the taverns or you can continue and search around Harrowstone. I have updated the town map to give small descriptions of the places in town

"Well done Chellian! Should we explore a bit more? I'm certainly intrigued after this encounter. Unless of course you need a break Chellian, or perhaps to get smaller?" Niralzi says with a wink.

"I am willing to continue. Hopefully inside we will find things less hostile, or at least more apt to be speared if necessary. Should we go in this door here, or head back to the main entrance?"

"VERY well done Chellian. You are definitely a great and powerful warrior.

I think that we should explore a little more and go in this door. In the stories, monsters are always guarding SOMETHING"

"Chellian that was great! Thank you for taking care of it. I agree that we should keep going, however maybe we should use more caution? We are all together now but still."

He dusts off his robe and pulls out a new stick of cinnamon. "Soo someone else is going first this time right?"

Sisu quietly pats Chellian on the shoulder and gives her a grin, then checks the door for possible traps.
Perception + Inspiration: 1d20 + 5 + 1d6 ⇒ (5) + 5 + (5) = 15
Disable Device: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21 If she finds one.

Almost didn't have room on the map to do that. Don't forget to let your friendly neighborhood trap finder look at doors :D

The large wooden door is locked and even after Sisu's attempt to pick the lock it still wont budge.

You can break the door with a Break DC of 25 or open it with a Disable Device of 30

you can try the disable device again if you want :)

No thanks. Even if I take 20 on it I'll only have a 29.
"Looks like this way isn't going to happen. Let's go back around and try the front door."

strength check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19

I should know but my mind is blanking can I take 20 on strength checks? Seems a waste to well waste being big.

Blushing under everyone's praise she gave the door a few good solid kicks and shoulder slams seeing if she could burst it down while she was still magically massive.