Dark Reflections [Midnight Mirror] (Inactive)

Game Master mike9322

sense motive on Fane: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

'Alright, Fane, I'm going to let untie you. You say your wife and this Catalina lured victims down here? Where is Catalina now?"

Rupert turns to Lefdam and says, "Lefdam, Speck, I daresay we should keep the potion since these kind people have offered. I'm not sure we'll ever fully understand what was happening down here, but Catalina may be able to shed some light on it. I don't think that we'll be able to pursue her in our current condition, though. I propose that we see these people out of here and return Olya to her father. Next, we can either beg the cleric for healing and the restoration of Speck's sight or, hopefully, find a brewer of potions to deal with the same."

I worry about leaving here without finding Catalina, but I'm not sure that Lefdam and I alone will be able to overpower her.

"What do you think, Lefdam? Speck?"

"That is a good plan Rupert. Do you think Catalina is the person we saw through the window in the store front outside? Also it may be worth while to follow up with the Kayal on Shade Row in case they have access to divine magic from a source less ..."

Speck ponders his words a moment before continuing "... costly. Either way Rogan and myself will need assistance. As for the offered items, I am not able to inspect them myself, but I find it hard to believe that these hard working folk can so easily part with their gear, perhaps it would be better to let them keep what they offered us, minus any healing items. Perhaps they would be willing to consider it an investment in case we need assistance from them in the future."

Fane looks at Rupert, confused. "What do you mean, where's Catalina? Isn't she upstairs? It's the middle of the day; the shop should be open."

A look of relief comes over Delian's face. Zona has better control of his emotions but you can see he also really couldn't afford to part with his gear. "Thank you, sirs. You may of course have the healing potion. I can't speak for Shade Row but the general store in town may have the odd potion or two. For your blindness, though, I am afraid you must go to the temple."

He glances at Rogan's unconscious body. "I'd be happy to help carry him out of here."

"I believe we need to get Rogan and Speck healed before we try to contune out with anything else. You and I will be hard pressed to handle anything by ourselves and we cannot say for certain how long Rogan has left...he is in a bad way and will only get worse without treatment."

Lefdam then stashes the healing items that he found and brings the rest over to Zona and thanks him for the healing potions. He then walks over to Rogans body and throws him over his shoulder.

He looks at the others. "Speck! This way. You may hold onto me and I will guide you to where we need to go." and then heads of the stairs.

What stairs? Are you heading out the cellar door or through the door to the west?

Back the way we came. I want to get Speck and Rogan healed before we continue on. If we get into any other combat right now I think we'll be screwed.

Zona and Delian gather their things, then Zona takes Olya's hand and says, "Come, let's get you home."

You head back towards Lucian's house. Lucian is sitting outside the watch building and stands as you approach. He begins to walk to meet you, but upon seeing the rescued captives, including his daughter, he yells "Anjelica!" and breaks into a run. Lucian runs to Zona, scoops Olya up, and runs back to his house, where his wife Anjelica is just coming outside. They have a tearful, joyous reunion. The party continues walking towards Lucian, and after a few moments, he tears himself away from his family. "Thank you so much. I am in your debt, and I fear I will never be able to repay you. What happened? Where was she?"

The party recounts what they learned in the chandlery. At the mention that Catalina was behind his daughter's abduction, he seems certain that she must be under the same sort of spell that controlled Fane and Oana. "Catalina is a family friend. That explains why Olya went with her without a second thought. I fear what has happened to her, but I dare not go to the chandlery alone after seeing the damage this creature has done to you lot. I will wait for you to get healed up and accompany you back to the chandlery when you are ready."

When you mention the name Irini, Lucian's face darkens. "The baker's wife. It has been rumored for a while that she is cuckolding her husband Mycah, but I know not with whom. It's terrible to say, but he may be better off now."

He takes a long look at Olya, and then back at you. "Again, I wish I had the means to reward you for your help. I have no gold, but ..." He pauses and thinks for a minute. "Yes. I believe the watch has some potions it can spare. Wait here." He disappears inside the watch house briefly, then returns holding two potions. "I hope these will help."

It's a potion of cure light and a potion of cure medium.

"Let me know when you are ready to head back to the chandlery. Farewell." He nods, then gathers his family and enters his home.

Zona looks at Delian. "Head on home, boy." Then he addresses the party: "Is there anything else I can help you with? Do you need directions somewhere or any introductions?"

No, thank you, please let us go to the church now, Rogan screamed into the void behind his eyelids.

By rule of two, I need someone else to speak up and say where they want to go next. And let's be honest, Rogan is unconscious so he's half a vote at most.

Show of hands for the temple for some hands on healing? You guys also mentioned possibly checking out Shade Row to see if they have anyone that can help.

"Before we go to Mr. McBadTouch, perhaps we can take a stroll over to Shade Row to see if they have an alternative means of administering divine magic. What do you think Rupert and Lefdam."

That's rude.

"I think it'd be best to go see the actual healer. As...creepy...as he may be An uncontrollable shudder escapes Lefdam "He seemed to have the healers...touch..."

The party bids farewell to Lucian and Zona and begins trudging back to the temple, apprehensive about what it may cost to repair the damage that the lurker in light inflicted upon them. With Rogan slung over Lefdam's shoulder and Speck being led by Rupert, it is slow going. Eventually they arrive at the temple. Its dark edifice is imposing and foreboding. The party enters.

"Ah, my new friends! What a delight to see you again so soon!" Radu is again performing some unspeakable ritual on the altar when you arrive, but he stops immediately to greet you, his ever-present smile beaming. As you enter and he gets a better look at the party's condition, his smile falters ever so slightly. "Oh my, it looks like you've run into a bit of trouble. I trust the fact that you are all at least alive is good news?"

I was going to roleplay both ends of the conversation here to keep things moving, but I'm not sure how much you want to tell this guy about how you ended up in this condition. So I'll let you guys speak.

After putting Rogan down Lefdam points at him and say "Almost dead...er..." and then points at Speck "Blind" he then plops a bag of gold on the altar, say "Please help", turns, and walks as far away from any of what this man is currently doing as he can without actually leaving.

Though they have been here before, Lefdam still cannot stomach this place. He is not sure why, exactly. He has seen worse in some of the past exploits of his crew. Perhaps its the dichotomy of such...evil...and healing in the same place that he just cannot handle. He will do what he must to help his companions...but he doesn't have to like it.

Speck looks off to the side, thinking that he is looking at Radu and says: "Unfortunately we ran into a bit of trouble while rescuing some of your fellow town folk from a deadly situation. In the course of our battle I was blinded and would greatly appreciate my site back if that is within your means. My friend ", and Speck points in a random direction, "Was gravely injured and could use some diving healing. Now here is the thing, he is different in that you will need to heal him with negative energy or else you will do more harm than good. Now we are willing to pay if the price is reasonable."

Speck takes a couple of steps and attempts to sits on what he assumes is a pew, but gravely misjudges his distance, and perhaps what he was trying to sit on and stumbles to the floor, where he decides sit instead and says "I meant to do that."

"Oh. Oh my, well this is a pickle, isn't it? I do not normally prepare cures of blindness because it is a relatively rare affliction. And we certainly do not have any townsfolk that are cured by negative energy. However! It is your lucky day, because I do think I have scrolls for each. Please wait a moment." Radu walks into the room behind the altar, returning several minutes later with a few scrolls. "I know that none of you worship the Midnight Lord and so I am willing to provide these services for a fee of gold. If you cannot pay, however, my Lord will happily accept the traditional payment. To cure the sylph's blindness, 375 gold. For the..." He pauses and tilts his head looking at Rogan. "I must admit, my curiousity about your friend's origins is becoming almost too much to bear. I do hope you will all stop by for a social visit before you leave town. In any case, I have two scrolls that will inflict negative energy on him. The first is only 25 gold but from the looks of it, he needs something a bit more powerful. That will be 150 gold. The pain price for each service will be proportional to its cost in gold. Please let me know how you would like to proceed."

Speck reaches for his coin pouch, bounces it a bit to get a sense of how full it is, then slumps his shoulders a bit as he realizes that he probably doesn't have enough for the scroll he needs. He then throws the pouch towards Radu, or at least he thought he did, but in fact it hit Rogan in the face, and says:

"Take the payment for my friends healing out of that, then I guess I will look at your alternative payment. But no funny business or things are going to get a whole lot messier than either of us wants."

With his piece said, Speck just sits on the floor, his shoulders slumped, with an apparently sour look on his face.

Radu weighs the pouch in his hand. "Seems a little light, but I'm a reasonable man. If you all commit to coming back for some Goldschläger and a bit of conversation, I'm willing to waive the remainder of the fee. First things first, let's take care of our ... undead? ..." he looks hopefully at all your faces, hoping for a glimpse of recognition "friend here." He reads the scroll in an awful guttural language while holding his other hand to Rogan's cool, clammy forehead. He reaches the end of the incantation and the scroll burns away in his hand as a burst of black energy leaves his other hand and enters Rogan.

Inflict Moderate Wounds: 2d8 + 3 ⇒ (4, 7) + 3 = 14

That done, Radu stands and looks at Speck. "Come." Radu leads Speck to the back room, where he asks Speck to kneel. He picks up a [color=red][CENSORED][/color] and begins to [color=red][CENSORED][/color] Speck's [color=red][CENSORED][/color]. Then he [color=red][CENSORED] [CENSORED] [CENSORED][/color] all over Speck's [color=red][CENSORED][/color]. Speck cries out in pain and disgust, but then he notices a pinprick of light in the center of his vision. Over the next few minutes, his sight gradually returns to him, but he feels terrible.

Speck, you are sickened for 3 hours.

Radu returns to the rest of the party. "Your friend will need a few minutes to recover, but I assure you he is quite whole again. What else can I do for you?"

Lefdam walks up to the altar after Speck is done. "One last thing. I believe I may have contracted Tallowthroat from one of the people down there. I know you have not found a way to cure it yet...but is there anything to be done before it sets in?

The cleric looks at Lefdam with pity. "Oh dear boy, I am sorry. I have seen one or two cases that cleared up on their own, but it is rare. Have you an antiplague tincture? That could help, but it will take a few days for it to leave your system so you may need more than one. Check the general store, though with the disease running rampant, he could very well be sold out."

Antiplagues only last an hour so it's a bit of a silly thing mechanically but if you get your hands on one, I'll let you use it when you need to make your next save.

As the party drags carries Rogan's limp form to the church, his ruined throat occasionally gurgles incomprehensibly. Blood drips down the back of whoever is unfortunate enough to be carrying him.

At the church, when the necromantic energy flows into his body and stitches his flesh together, the gurgle slowly formulates into words:

"Red... I'm... sorry... Red..."

Then he sits bolt upright with a cry, grasping at his throat. After a moment of panic, he calms when he realizes it's whole once again.

"That was... close," he mutters.

After Radu and Speck leave to "extract payment," Rogan looks at Rupert. "You got any of them healing hands? I can make it heal me, for a time. It will be brief, though, so we'd better make it count. I'm still pretty banged up."

Did the math wrong. I'm at 10hp, not 5. I forgot about the two potions I took earlier. If Rupert is willing to spend a lay on hands or two, I'll use my Light and Dark ability to get healed, then we can go back to the chandlery and see if what's-her-name is still there.

Also, hooray for finally being back in the conversation! :D

Lefdam nods to the priest "Thank you." He's a little proud of himself for being able to stand and talk to this man for this long.

"I'd like to stop and buy some of that Antiplague, if we have the funds, and hopefully stop this cursed tallowthroat before a demon leaps from my throat...but I agree with Rogan...we should finish up at the Chandrely, there is a door we did not look into while we were down there, so that might be something to do while we are there as well."

Lefdam rubs his throat a bit. It has not started yet...but just the thought of what could happen is making his throat itch already.

Speck walks back to the group looking a bit battered, but seemingly able to see. As he walks by Radu he says "Thanks for the healing." but does not make eye contact.

"Yes I agree, we should go back and finish what we started, I then recommend we head to Shade Row." Speck starts to walk out of the church but stops and turns back to the rest of his group. "Oh and if any of you mentions a word about what happened here, I will be forced to unleash the El-Boddom curse on you." he winks at the group and then continues to head outside the church, suddenly needing some fresh air.

"Thank you, Radu, you've been a help and a gracious host, as always. Glad to see you upright again, Rogan."

Rupert will wait until they're out of the temple and for Rogan to give him the sign before laying on hands so that he doesn't kill him

Once the group is outside of the temple, Rupert says a short prayer to Sarenrae under his breath and holds Rogan by the shoulders.

lay on hands: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 2) = 3
lay on hands: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 3) = 4

FFS

lay on hands: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 1) = 5
lay on hands: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 2) = 6

If these were physical dice I would burn them and bury the ashes

"I agree with Speck and Lefdam. We should return to the candle shop and finish our investigation there before moving on. Shade Row seems a logical next stop after that."

I've still got a couple of channels left, but it might not be a bad idea to stay in Shade Row for the night and then go to the Manor first thing tomorrow morning

Immediate action to activate Light and Dark. And I agree, that was awful. But on the bright side I'm 2hp from full now. Thanks!

Rogan shudders as the unfamiliar power of positive energy restitches his wounds. After it's over, he swallows back bile from the ungodly itching until it finally fades. "Ugh. I hated the sensation of healing magic when I wasn't... this." He shakes his head. "I agree. Let's get back to the chandlery and finish there. Then we'll speak to the elders of Shade Row. The mansion should wait until tomorrow."

On the way, he stops by the general store (or blacksmith or whatever) and purchases a sap each for himself and Speck.

It's your lucky day, Lefdam. There is one in stock. The last one. Maybe somebody hid it behind some sacks of potatoes, intending to come back when they could afford it, and then died. Take 50gp off your character sheet if you want it.

The party returns to the chandlery. The upper floor remains as quiet and deserted as it seemed a few hours ago. The lower floor is also how you left it. As a reminder, the door to the main shop is unlocked and untrapped. There is a humanoid figure standing in the back of the room; it doesn't seem to have moved an inch since you were here before. In the cellar, there are three identical doors on the southwest wall, and a fourth door on the west wall. You can log in to roll20 if you need a reminder of what it looks like. What's the plan?

We should probably go check out this figure that has been standing like a statue (perhaps covered in wax?) since we first came here...I find it somewhat amusing that we just blew right past her

I have a theory on that, but we'll see if I'm right first.

Rogan stops at Reginald to touch up some makeup from his disguise kit, adding a little color to his otherwise pallid, gray cheeks. He still looks sickly, but no longer quite so... dead.

Once they reach the chandlery, he says to the others, "That figure I saw in the window has me mighty curious. Let's take a look at the first floor before we head back downstairs, yeah? I'm guessing the woman fled as soon as the fighting started, but the sooner we check the area for clues, the better. Anyone opposed?" He glances at the others for input.

It has come to my attention that some of you *ahem* have been reading the Behind the Screen spoiler text. Don't do that! It's behind the screen! Do you peek behind the GM screen in in-person games? Bad! Bad players! While I'm on the subject, you're also not supposed to read spoilers that have DCs unless you roll high enough in your post.

The party decides to investigate the upstairs of the chandlery before heading back to the cellar. As others have said, it is odd that the shop would be deserted in the middle of the day. You open the front door and enter.

Flavor text! This cramped shop smells of wax and incense. Candles of every shape, size, and color line all available surfaces, poking out of crates and perching precariously on overstuffed shelves. There is a closed door to the east.

The room is eerily quiet. Now that you have entered, you can see the figure in the back more clearly. It is in the shape of a man and dressed like a man, but looking closely you can see that it is not a man. It has an odd waxy appearance. In any case, it does not react or approach when you enter.

I've updated roll20 to reveal the shop. Feel free to arrange yourselves around the chandlery door however you like. I couldn't find a good token for the figure in the back, so I just picked one at semi-random. It does not have a rake. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Speck looks around the room surveying the area to determine what he can ascertain.

Survival: 1d20 ⇒ 19

As Speck looks around the ground, he notices several tracks moving throughout the room. "It appears that five ... no wait six people have moved through here recently, one which was a child, which appeared to be barefoot."

Do we recall whether or not Lucian's daughter was barefoot?

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25
As Speck continues to look around his eyes come to the wax figure, and he stops to study it for a minute, then points to it and says "That is not just a statue, it seems to be a construct, so be weary around it. From what I recall magic won't harm it much, with the exception of magical fire."

Speck draws his rapier in preparation of attacking the creature.

Does the golem have any special attacks or abilities?
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

Yes, Olya was barefoot. Now that you've seen the cellar, it's pretty likely these footprints were all the people that Catalina lured to the lurker.

It doesn't have any special attacks, but you rolled so well that I'll just give you everything. It is actually vulnerable to fire and is slowed by any fire attack, but fire attacks also melt the wax and cause it to deal fire damage for 3 rounds. Cold damage actually heals it. You believe it was probably built to help around the shop. It may not be hostile but you can't be sure.

Good perception, but there is nothing else to see here.

The golem does not react when Speck draws his rapier. What do you do next?

Rupert draws his greatsword and walks to the door, but thinks better of opening it without giving Speck a chance to check for traps. If the basement was trapped, it stands to reason that this may be, too.

"Speck, would you care to check this door for traps? I'm glad to be the first through, but I don't have your eye for mechanics."

Where is Catalina? She must be here somewhere.

As they walk around the storefront, Rogan absently removes his hat and scarf from his backpack; his demeanor visibly changes as he moves, sometimes haltingly. His natural slouch turns into a skulk, his steps become more languid, purposeful, and dangerous, reminding one of a feline predator.

A minute later, Rogan is gone...

... and the Crimson Nightshade stands in his place. He draws his pistol and waits near the door while Speck (presumably) checks it out, keeping both his dead, lifeless eyes locked on the golem in case it comes to life.

Upon hearing Rupert request, Speck examines the door for traps and to determine if it is locked.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17 +2 for traps

The door is not locked or trapped.

After getting the okay sign from Speck, Rupert steps to the door an opens it. Sarenrae, protect us.

Surprise! None of you saw this coming.

As soon as you reach for the door knob, the golem opens its eyes and growls. Roll for initiative!

Golem initiative: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (11) - 1 = 10
Lefdam initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
Nightshade initiative: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
Speck initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
Rupert initiative: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19

Speck
Nightshade
Rupert
Golem
Lefdam

Roll20 is updated and ready. Bold may act.

Rupert steps forward to be face-to-face with the Golem. He has no malice in his eyes as he brings the sword down - this is just a tool of the true evil in this place.

power attack greatsword: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
power attack damage: 2d6 + 11 ⇒ (4, 2) + 11 = 17

critical confirmation: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21
critical added damage: 2d6 + 11 ⇒ (1, 4) + 11 = 16

Rupert recalls the last time he fought a construct and tries apply what he learned in that battle to his strike - hitting the construct squarely in the chest.

Flat-footed AC! Also, this is a magical weapon in case this thing has DR/magic.

Drawing a crit card: 1d52 ⇒ 39

>>MOMENTUM<<: Double damage and +2 on all your attack rolls for 1 round.

Rupert didn't kill the golem but his greatsword struck its collarbone (or where its collarbone would be) and cleaved the arm clean off.

Speck
Nightshade
Rupert (+2 to attack for 1 round)
Golem
Lefdam

Bold may act.

Speck moves around the room and attempts to roll to the golems side.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23

and attacks the golem with his rapier.

Attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22
Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Holy assbutts! Nice crit, dude!

The Nightshade takes aim at the massive brute and unleashes the fury of Damocles on it.

Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Deadly Aim (-1/+2). I'm guessing it will get a bit of cover from my homies but nothing to be done about that.

Damocles vs Golem Touch AC: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Dead. There is nothing on the body. I didn't expect this encounter to be too difficult, but damn. Haha.

You open the door and enter the room. A chandler's working clothes lie scattered around this simple room. A mattress lies along the wall, and stacks of ledgers block access to the wardrobe. A trap door is in the northeast corner, presumably leading to the cellar.

Roll20 has been updated to reveal this room, though there isn't too much to see.

The Nightshade steps into the room and scans it for anything meaningful to their investigation.

Since we're indoors, the goggles will be up.

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19

Taking a look around the room, Nightshade finds a locked lockbox underneath the bed. He finds nothing else of note.

After wiping wax off of rapier, Speck follows Nightshade into the room, and looks at the lockbox he points out. He walks to the box, inspects it for traps and then attempts to disable the lock, or trap if there is one.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 7 + 2 = 25
Disable Device: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21

Speck finds no trap on the lockbox and is able to deftly pick the lock. Inside he finds loot!

65gp
29sp
88cp
A white tallow candle

We're house ruling that Lefdam can identify magic items with a high enough spellcraft.

Lefdam spellcraft: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

Lefdam feels like he can *almost* figure out what this candle does. He's sure it's magic, but isn't quite sure in what way.

"This candle will burn if you light the wick on fire. It'll remain that way until an outside force extinguishes the flame."

Lefdam points this out as if no one would know this already. He sees the looks his friends are giving him and then adds.

"But perhaps it does something else...Ill have to think on it." He places the candle amongst his things and decides he wi try again tomorrow.

"Perhaps we should check the cellar again? I believe there are things we may have missed down there."

The Nightshade nods and calls to Speck. [color=red]"Care to take a look and see if it's trapped? You seem to have a kanck."[/color]