GM Granta's War for the Crown (Inactive)

Game Master Granta

@Ayalina: Hopefully you're all better now! Instructions for drawing arrows on the map are here. Your spoiler action should just say, "Move Movement."

Maps

Round 3-4
Effects bless, dim light/darkness outside [light] spells, inspire courage +1
Terrain none

Yellow - 10 damage
Blue -
Tiber -
Ayalina -
---Round 4---
Delena -
Pavo - 9 damage
Thalasou - 11 damage

Tiber's shield clangs against the stone ineffectively, again, and the walcofinde dodges his kukri, again--even with the creature's eyes focused on someone else. Ayalina rounds the corner with a song and other helpful words on her lips, then Delena rushes past an opportunistic claw and up to Tiber's side, but only ends up in his way. Pavo's fancy new rapier lands another poke, then he begins retreating slowly. Thalasou joins the rear of the fray, also trying to help Tiber.

When the oracle moves close enough, the undead's eyes instantly turn toward him, and a second creature forms farther along the wall. Both lunge at the divine spellcaster, striking him three times.

Everyone is up.

Continuing her song, Ayalina takes a single step forward and jabs at the visible undead that had attacked poor Thalasou.
--

Tiber rolls his eyes at Pavo's jab and tries to get a single swing in.

Two isn't working, how about one? Just as he is about to get a good bash into the walcofinde's head, Thalasou and Delena rush up to him. The combination of Thalasou's touch and the tense conversation in a language he has never heard, unfortunately, lead to his shield crashing against the stone wall again. Stone fragments and dust shower down to the floor.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?" he shouts in frustration, although whether he is pissed at his allies or his own incompetence is unclear.
________

Thalasou gasps in pain and instinctively steps back away from the wall. He nods his head in Delena's direction and then turns his focus inward. He draws deeply on his innate connection with Alseta and a ring of energy bursts out from him.

Pavo steps back to stab at the first of the walcofindes. "Did we teleport into a necromancer's abode?" he asks glumly as the second creature appears.

"At least a necromancer would have a mind to charm" Delena complains and continues her tries to distract the undead to help Tiber's attacks.

@Ayalina: Pretty sure you meant to "Non 5-ft. step"; moving via a move action would provoke an AoO.

Maps

Round 4-5
Effects bless, inspire courage +1
Terrain dim light/darkness outside [light] spells

Blue - 5 damage
Tiber -
Ayalina -
---Round 5---
Delena -
Pavo - 9 damage
Thalasou - 17 damage

Tiber stares at his shield in frustration, then looks at Pavo hopefully, and then at Ayalina as her rapier hits. Perhaps the problem really is his weapon? Delena still has faith in her companion though, and distracts the walcofinde for Tiber. And then Pavo forces his rapier tip half a foot into the monster's eye, dissolving it back into a normal wall, and denying Tiber the chance to redeem himself. Thalasou backs away and attacks the remaining undead with the power of his faith, but unfortunately, it remains standing and claws out another large chunk of oracle, cutting all the way down to bone.

Everyone is up.

Thalasou nearly collapses with the pain but he manages to stumble away from the creature a few more feet. For a second time he calls on his divine source to send a wave of destructive energy over the fiend in the wall.

"Ah, Thalasou!" Pavo cries out as the wall-bound fiend tears into the man's body. "Heal yourself!"

With the first of the beasts driven away, he cautiously weaves his way toward the remaining fiend. "I'll defend you, Ayalina!" he boasts as he stabs at the second foe.

I better stick to fighting thugs with feet on the street... With a sigh, Tiber travels behind his allies to the other side of Ayalina and tries to smash his shield into the undead. "Is why these things are here important right now?"
________
Those dice Pavo!

"Not if they don't want the crown", Delena quips back to Tiber. She moves a bit closer to the enemy, ready to distract it if it comes near. "Try to keep your blood inside", she says to Thalasou.

Feeling relatively pleased that her rapier had found its target, Ayalina lunges with her weapon again, this time with big strong men on either side of her. She doesn't disrupt her song, but grins cheekily at Pavo instead.

@Thalasou: The enemy died before your initiative, so channel saved.

Maps

Round 5-6
Effects bless, inspire courage +1
Terrain dim light/darkness outside [light] spells

Tiber -
Ayalina -
---Round 6---
Delena -
Pavo - 9 damage
Thalasou - 17 damage

As he rushes to the second enemy, Tiber takes its claw on his shield and traps it against the wall with his entire weight and momentum, finally causing some harm. Ayalina follows with yet another on target rapier strike, and Delena with another failed attempt to participate helpfully in the melee. And then Pavo steals the last of the glory with a perfectly balanced tumbling, charging lunge that fully uses the large muscles in his leg to thrust the rapier's needle point into its enemy at deadly speed.

Everyone is up. No visible enemies.

Thalasou holds a bloody hand to his side in a vain attempt to staunch the bleeding. Closing his eyes, he allows some of his magical energy to flow through his hands to heal his wounds. After the first surge of healing he feels a little better.

He smirks and looks at Delena and Pavo. "Yeah, I know. Keep the blood inside, where it's supposed to be." He notices a big gash on Pavo's arm. "Looks like you need healing too. If you wish, I can call on Alseta to heal all of us."

"What did miss songbird say? They recover quickly? So, time to leave. The dead noble must have come from either of these doors, you try that one", Delena says and points at the other door while herself stepping next to the nearer one. She tries to open it and look what is behind it.

"By all means," the nobleman says after a futile attempt to patch the wound on his shoulder.

He summons a new set of illusory lanterns and moves down to the other door on the west wall. "I hope there are no more and that we can escape this place before they recover."

"Can we fight just some regular people next time? What is this place? I'll take a good, old-fashioned, tavern brawl any day of the week," Tiber complains as he quickly moves to a door to the south and tries to open it. If those things start to recover, we don't have a second to lose!
________

Now that the immediate danger is over, Ayalina ceases her song, grimacing as she stares at the opposite walls where their attackers had appeared. "The last time, it was some sort of scary urban barbarian, remember?"

She moved over to Delena, ready to send her dancing lights into the room when she opened the door. There was no sense in risking Disriana if they were looking into it right away, after all.

You are pretty sure the walcofindes have been destroyed, and they had fast healing, not regeneration.

Delena finds three nobles hiding behind the nearest door, cowering in a small room. One of the two men looks up at her with widened eyes, then quickly stands, brushes dust off his pants, and narrows those eyes. "Lord Wilfen Botoles." He gestures to each of his companions and continues, "It is my pleasure to introduce Lady Gael Urbaen and Sir Gryphus Plastion."

Tiber finds a room similar to the one Delena sees, though unoccupied.

Delena smiles to the nobles. "You seem to have ended in a rather unsuitable situation for people of your status. Please, let us help you out of it. If it is the wall-bound undead you hide from, we defeated two of those, so unless you know of more the area should be safe", she says to them.

She starts introducing herself: "And I am Aur... but stops for a moment, glancing at her companions and changes her identity: "I am Lady Delena Procella, dowager lady Satorus of Tribulation. These are my friends, I'll let them present theirselves". She watches if any of the nobles recognize her name.

"How did you end up in such a place? We know there is a conflict on, but for mystical reasons we are a bit behind on the news. What is the current situation?" she asks them.

Tiber walks slowly up to the room Delena is addressing, rolling his eyes as he peers in. "Tiber," he mutters. Not like they'll remember me anyways.

Putting his back against the hallway wall, he rests his head against it and closes his eyes.

Thalasou beckons Pavo to stand close then calls on Alseta for divine healing. After he is feeling better, he follows Delena to the room she investigates. He steps into the room as Delena introduces herself.

"I'm Thalasou. Other than the undead in the wall out there, we haven't seen anyone else. Who are you hiding from?"

"I am Ayalina!" Ayalina is a bit surprised to actually find people, though she's relieved they're not urban barbarians or undead. It was, if nothing else, a pleasant change of pace. As they await the response, she glances about the room to see if it's anything like the one they'd been in or if there might be anything useful here.

Pavo moves closer at Thalasou's beckoning to receive the divine healing. "Thank you," he says, then notes the nobles. Once the others have spoken, he asks, "More importantly, do you know how to get out of here?"

@Ayalina: You don't see anything useful.

Lord Botoles smiles and bows his head to Delena, "Your offer of assistance is certainly too gracious for us to decline without ourselves appearing rude, and so we accept your service and promise to cherish it as every noble should."

At that point, Urbaen and Plastion come around and begin interacting. "We were at the Exaltation Gala when those foreigners attacked everyone! Then we were here, being attacked by those undead!" Lady Urbaen exclaims.

Sir Plastion answers Pavo's question, "Alas, we seem to be even more at a loss than yourselves. The only information we can add, is that there were some others trapped in here with us when those things attacked Lord Manshum."

"Must not have been the pins, then," Pavo says in a non sequitor.

"Wait here, and we will return for you," he requests of the nobles. "It will be harder to keep you safe if we stumble into something else that tries to kill us while we look for the others."

He moves back to the door to the south and tries to open it.

"So you don't know the way out of here? What kind of person has built this place? Delena again complains about the architecture.

"Let's go find the rest, or what is left of them. Hopefully these are not the kind of undead that causes their victims to rise as undead." she says, and follows Pavo to the next door.

"You said 'trapped'? How did you get in here?"

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter. We just want to figure out how to get out. And find your friends. Pavo is right, you guys should stay here while we search. Or, wait, did the things attacking you come out of these walls?" He gestures to the walls of the room they are in.

As Pavo leaves the Nobles, Tier follows after a few paces. Checking the straps on his shield, he makes some reassuring tugs. "And then if something happens to them, all the bodies will be in one place. That'll also be convenient for us, a win-win!" he mutters under his breath with a small smirk.

Wanted to write up something fancy, but too many meetings today. ;;

Ayalina pauses beside Thalasou, curious to hear their response. She'd assumed the enemies the nobles spoke of were the enemies they'd dispatched, but it was possible she was wrong and there were, in fact, more enemies about.

Pavo finds the next room slightly larger and empty, but otherwise similar in design and neglect.

"It did, yes," Sir Plastion answers Thalasou, "Though we only ever saw one of the beasts."

"I've been thinking," Pavo says as he moves his dancing lights down the hall. "Oppara was built upon the old city, creating a sort of subterranean city--or necropolis. Some of the senators actually use those old chambers for secret activities. I wonder if this is where we are."

Tiber follows Pavo and his light source to the next door. "Creepy s#*# lives in a necropolis, everyone knows that. Would explain those things in the wall, at least. I wonder whose little hideyhole this was..."

Looking over his shoulder, he calls back. "Y'all coming or have the nobles already bought your loyalty?"

"Perhaps some places, but here, with those things attacking anything walking in the corridor? Hardly, though if you had means to get past them they'd be quite effective guards", Delena adds to Pavo's thought.

She follows Tiber and Pavo to the next door. "Bought? Do you really think I have enough loyalty for someone to pay for it?" she says to Tiber with pretended surprise and brushes against him slightly.

Nothing to update, keep taking actions.

Satisfied with the answer, Ayalina pulls up her skirts a bit and trots to catch up with Tiber, Pavo, and Delena. "Just getting some answers," she says cheerfully. "What've you found so far?"

Pavo continues on to the door in the central area. "I would be curious, too, if not slightly concerned that I will end up just like those things in a few days," he comments to Tiber's musings.

He tries to open the door.

Tiber can't help but smirk, even chuckle a little, at Delena's response. "Nothing of note," he says back to Ayalina, with a mix of annoyance and relief. "Become one? As if we didn't already have enough motivation to get out of here..."

As Pavo tries the next door, he stands ready to take point if needed.

Thalasou seems torn. He wants to stay with the nobles and offer whatever protection he can but he also doesn't want to be separated from the rest of the group.

"Stay right here." He says to the huddled people. "We'll be back in a second." He races out of the room and down the hallway to catch up with the others just before Pavo opens the door.

"We need to hurry. Those guys said that the dead things came out of the wall in the room they were in too."

"They'd be dead if they attacked from those walls. I think they are just confused of fear", Delena answers Thalasou and gives a disdainful glance at the room the nobles are in.

"So, what fun is behind door number three?" she says as she watches Pavo opening the door.

Pavo opens the door to a common room. The long table is covered in green felt, with silver trays dotting its surface, each hosting a set of crystal glassware and a tall decanter of wine. A single wooden box rests in the table's center.

Appraise to value the crystal glassware.

Peering into the room, Ayalina raises an eyebrow. "Well, isn't this fancy? Think they were getting ready for a dinner party?"
--

Delena takes a quick look at the room. "Very sophisticated. La viande de noblesse, with a glass of sang bleu, what a better way of spending the evening", she comments adding some Galt terms in with a very stereotypical faked accent.

"We still have to find the dessert, next door maybe?" she says and walks nearer the next door.

Pavo steps over to the table to lift the lid on the box.

"Likely ready to entertain at a moment's notice," he says.

Tiber sheathes his kukri, leaving him with just his shield. Lifting some of the glassware and decanter of wine into the air, be begins inspecting it from a variety of different angles and distances. "Probably worth a good amount of money, eh? Doesn't seem like anyone's been here for a while..." Adding the glassware to his backpack, a silver tray if it fits, he then sips from the decanter and walks back out into the hallway.

Thalasou looks amazed at the elegant setting and then his eyes are drawn to the box. "What's in there?" He tries to feel magic coming from it.

If Pavo expected to find a deck of cards and poker chips, he is pleasantly surprised. Thalasou seems to be just as pleasantly not surprised. The box contains six scrolls.

"I am not sure what these have to do with cards," he says, handing off the box with its scrolls to Thalasou. He follows Delena into the hallway.

On second thought... Pulling the crystal out of his backpack, and taking another sip of wine, he instead collects the trays. "Can't risk shards cutting into my back, eh?" he comments awkwardly before starting to return to the hallway again, but the poker chips catch his eye.

"Look at that! Any of y'all play? Now isn't the time, but since they are clearly getting excessive use here, what do you say we liberate them and get a game going after this all blows over? It'd be fun, we'd have a few drinks, the singers could sing, what a time!" he suggests.

Thalasou accepts the box of scrolls and immediately starts trying to figure out what they are. He barely looks up as Tiber suggest playing a game. "Uh huh," he says and then goes back to focusing on the scrolls.

He finishes examining them. "Hey guys. There are some nice scrolls here. I can't cast the one that gives invisibility but there are some healing ones here."