DM Lament Configuration's Carrion Hill (Inactive)

Game Master electricjokecascade

Anyhow, I stayed with it all this time. DnD second edition, 3.0, 3.5, and now Pathfinder. That's the only RPG I play. One set of rules is plenty for me. And yes, I'm a fairly old dude. (Not THAT old but closer to old than young) :P

Been doing pbp for about 10 years. Man really? Where does the time go? I'm only in about a half-dozen games or so - one of them is actually dead due to the DM vanishing - but that's plenty for me. There's folks on these boards that are in like 30, 40, 50, or whatever, but I can't do that. I don't have THAT kind of time. That makes me quiver just thinking about it. :P

Also, I'm going to submit a character that I played in a previous Carrion Hill. It was 7 years ago. I enjoyed the heck out of him. So no worries if you'd rather go with someone who hasn't played this one before. Totally understand.

Totally am for RAI. I think that tends to lend itself to the makings of a great story.

And I can only post after 6:30ish or so CST during the week. I can't post during the day due to my job. Well, unless I'm on vacation. Then it's not an issue. :)

Iozef. If you want to check his posts feel free. That way you could see the type of character he is. Now, to be honest, when it comes to combat, he's pretty much utterly useless. :)

Which is weird because at heart I'm a power gamer. But if there's one thing I've learned about playing a pc on these boards it's this: (And I've said this before somewhere back in the day) Is that a character, isn't a character, without character. That's what makes them fun; not how super duper, power gamer, all 18's he is. Just my simple 2 cents. Keep the change. I'd just lose it in the couch. :)

And his mechanics are obviously not updated at all. Let me know if you've no issues in considering him and I can get him cleaned up by the weekend. And when I say 'considered' I mean: "It's okay to submit him even though you've played this one before" considered. I figure there's no since in messing with it if you would rather choose amongst folks who haven't been in this one.

Thanks!

I am also a big fan of the horror and fantasy genre of literature, though I am not as well read as many on these forums. I do have some knowledge of Lovecraft, and having lived my whole life in Massachusetts and Rhode Island it’s hard not to see some of the influence. I’ve read a number of RPG elements relating to Lovecraft (I loved Carrion Crown AP) but I have yet to get to really play in any.

Clearly I am on the East Coast of the US, and I tend to post about once or twice a day during the week. Weekends can be a little less consistent, depending on what is going on. While I still play in live games (I am currently playing in a War for the Crown game, a FFG Star Wars game, and I am running a Crimson Throne game), I have found that playing in PBP means I get to play more than just three or four times per month. As we get older our time just seems to become less plentiful for things like games. Maybe after retirement, I’ll be able to play as much as I would like.

After the birth, the elder looked over the girl and saw the sign that appeared to burn itself into infants’s skin, a mark that appeared to be the encircling wings of an angel upon her wrist with a halo within the circle. The elder proclaimed her Faramari, the Beacon of Glory to lead the Dark Hearted clan from the despair that had plagued them over the ages. She was kissed by the divine it was said and so she was to be shown the ways of communing with the gods.

Over the years it became clear that the “kiss of the divine” was a blessing and a curse of sorts. The source of the divine was from the great tapestry of the heavens, but while the winged circle seemed to favor the sun, and therefore Sarenrae, there also appeared other marks or motes with the winged circle that inspired other connections. The child was mostly a delight, but when angered or stressed the darkness in her often showed and occasionally the heavens rained down on those around her.

As she came of age Faramari began her training in the divine and how to reach out to the gods. To her astonishment, Sarenrae answered her prayers for aid. It wasn’t long before Faramari found that by carrying Sarenrae’s light, her own darkness would be kept at bay. So she focused on bringing that light out more. Sarenrae offered the traditional spells to aid the caravan, but it was the power of the god herself, the connection to life she offered, that Faramari seemed most skilled at calling. Faramari truly was becoming the Beacon of Glory the elder fortuneteller saw her as.

As the year warms again, the Beznama clan caravan winds its way into Ustalav. Faramari finds herself being pulled away from her family. She senses something calling her, something that reaches out to the darkness within her. She calls out to Sarenrae for guidance, and the light seems to push her along the same path. It seems that the light she has become to rely on so much wishes to confront the darkness calling to her. But she feels as if she may not be able to control either in the fight ahead, she can now only hope her light will win in the end.

She will be a bit squishy in combat and will likely avoid actual melee. She cannot wear armor so she has become used to using Use Magic Device for Mage Armor wands. She will mainly focus her spells on buffing and healing the party, though she may have one or two things up her sleeve as well. She will not have much in the way of skills, but some diplomacy and some knowledges will be her primary options there.

Male android unchained monk 5 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 5 19, Pathfinder Unchained 14)

LN Medium humanoid (android)

Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +12
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 18, flat-footed 13 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 monk, +2 Wis)

hp 44 (5d10+10)

Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +3; +2 vs. enchantments, +4 vs. mind-affecting, paralysis, poison, and stun, +2 trait bonus vs divine spells that target only you.

Defensive Abilities constructed, evasion; Immune disease, emotion, exhaustion, fatigue, fear, sleep
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Offense
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Speed 40 ft.

Melee unarmed strike +6/+6 (1d8+1)

Special Attacks flurry of blows (unchained), stunning fist (5/day, DC 14), style strike
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Statistics
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Str 12, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 10

Base Atk +5; CMB +6; CMD 24

Feats Amateur Investigator[ACG], Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Unarmed Strike, Mobility, Panther Style[UC], Stunning Fist

Traits irreverent, reactionary, rivethun adherent

Skills Acrobatics +12 (+16 to jump), Artistry (philosophy) +7, Climb +7, Craft (clockwork) +4, Escape Artist +12, Knowledge (history) +7, Linguistics +4, Lore (Occult) +7, Perception +12, Profession (scribe) +6, Ride +8, Sense Motive +4, Stealth +12, Swim +7; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception, -4 Sense Motive

Languages Aklo, Azlanti, Celestial, Common, Vanaran

SQ emotionless, exceptional senses, fast movement (unchained), helpless, ki pool (5 points magic), ki power (ki metabolism), monk vow (vow of truth[UM]), repairing nanites, style strike (spin kick)

Other Gear 10,500 gp
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Special Abilities
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Amateur Investigator (2/day) Your knowledge is more than plain smarts - it's inspired.

Combat Reflexes (5 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Constructed (Ex) Counts as both humanoids and constructs for effects that target type.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Emotionless (Ex) Androids have problems processing emotions properly, and thus take a –4 penalty on Sense Motive checks.
Evasion (Ex) If succeed on Reflex save for half dam, take none instead.
Exceptional Senses Androids have darkvision to a range of 60 feet and low-light vision. They also gain a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
Fast Movement (Unchained) (+10 ft.) The Monk adds 10 or more feet to his base speed.
Flurry of Blows (Unchained) (Ex) As full-rd action, gain extra attacks with unarmed strike/monk weapons.
Helpless (1/combat) 1/encounter, if ally within 30 ft dies or unconscious you are dazed until end of next turn.
Immunity to Disease You are immune to diseases.
Immunity to Emotion (Ex) You are immune to all emotion effects.
Immunity to Exhausted You are immune to the exhausted condition.
Immunity to Fatigue You are immune to the fatigued condition.
Immunity to Fear (Ex) You are immune to all fear effects.
Immunity to Sleep You are immune to sleep effects.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Ki Metabolism (Su) While 1+ ki, 1/4 food, water, sleep needs, & hold breath longer. As move act, 1 ki to seem dead.
Ki Pool (5/day) (Su) You have a ki pool equal to 1/2 your monk level + your Wisdom modifier.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Mobility +4 to AC vs. AoO provoked by moving out of or through a threatened area.
Panther Style (1/round) Retaliate against opponents that take attacks of opportunity against you
Repairing Nanites (10 hp, 1/day) You are healed the first time each day you've taken more damage than twice your HD.
Spin Kick Kick attack targets flat footed AC, unless foe has uncanny dodge.
Stunning Fist (5/day, DC 14) You can stun an opponent with an unarmed attack.
Style Strike (1/round) (Ex) During flurry of blows, one or more unarmed strikes has an extra effect.
Vow of Truth (+1 ki) The monk is not allowed to deliberately speak any lies, including bluffing, stating half-truths with the intent to deceive, exaggerating, telling white lies, and so on. This applies to all forms of communication. If presented with circumstances where

The first RPG campaigns I played in were AD&D and Cyberpunk 2020. The first campaign I ran was a Fallout pnp ruleset I found online. Since then, I've played and ran D&D 3.5, Pathfinder, CP2020, Savage Worlds, Vampire: the Masquerade (set in CP2020's Night City), and a *lot* of Warhammer 40k rpgs. Various other stuff at intervals.

I've figured out that I *love* long campaigns. I love running them. I love playing in them. Characters get to grow and change. Large story arcs happen.

But shorter games can be fun to run and play too. Experimenting with ideas can be very enjoyable. I've never gotten to play this scenario and I have heard good things. Also, I've seen your characters in games we've been in!

As for posting, I normally can post daily. Weekends get dicier but I usually still manage posts. When I can't post, I usually can manage to say as much.

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Some posts that I'm proud of:

Getting to enjoy character stories from beginning to end

Making skill checks a bit more lively

A character getting some solo heroics whether she wants them or not

Some older examples, to answer a similar question

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And Iocundius himself:

1) I'd like 5+ points that capture the concept and story of the character. More are welcome, but no less than five.

* Iocundius Paulum was a pretty ordinary man. He worked as a Korvosan Guard, had recently married his lover Messoria, and life seemed to be going as planned.

* He has a deep love of the city of Korvosa and takes great pride in serving it. It's the main reason he signed up for the Guard.

* His life came to an abrupt end on the night he stared at his wife's blood-splattered corpse in that rainy alleyway.

* His efforts to find justice failed, leads dissipating, and priorities shifted to newer crimes. His bitterness and anger grew.

* One night, while praying, a presence spoke to him. It named itself "The Emissary" and informed him that he could have power and a real chance of hunting down those responsible for his wife's death, and power to conceal these. But it would come at a heavy price. Doing fell deeds to further the goals of The Emissary and fated to damnation. If he said "yes".

* Despite hesitating momentarily at the cost, Iocundius soon agreed and sealed the pact with The Emissary. He could feel strength and power growing in him soon after. His gaze grew hard and his tongue quick. He could sense much more. He felt now he had that real chance and he would take it, regardless of the cost. Or his quietening conscience. He focused on a greatsword to smash his enemies swiftly and move on with his investigation. And he began to wonder...could he bring his wife back with this power?

2) Two goals that you'd like the character to accomplish in-game.

* Kill everyone responsible for his wife's death, even with tangential roles.

* Find a way to bring back his wife to him. His definition of "bring back" may become increasingly warped over time.

3) Two secrets, one the PC keeps to himself, and one kept from the PC. I'll come up with a third that both the character and player aren't aware of, in hopes of shocking surprises within the storytelling.

* As far as he can tell, he has sold his soul for an opportunity to avenge his wife's death. He keeps his regrets buried deeply.

* The pact is not totally airtight and irrevocable, even now. But even if he realises this, the tragedy is that it will likely be too late for him to change from his darkening path.

4) 3-5 people that are tied to your PC by blood, love, rivalry, honor, etc. I'd like at least one enemy in a set of three or four, with no more than two for a set of five. PLEASE consider the players reference guide for ideas.

* Alina Sergilla (formerly Alina Paulum). Iocundius' sister is the only one of his family he speaks with much as of late. Messoria was her best friend, and she introduced the future couple to each other. She is a generous, warm person and is concerned for Iocundius. Around her, his guard does drop quite a bit and he almost acts like his old self for a while.

* Glorio Arkona. Iocundius inadvertedly made an enemy of Glorio a few years back when he was responsible for breaking up a smuggling operation that was rumoured to have ties to the powerful noble.

* Valtien Volso. Iocundius' best friend and a fellow Korvosan Guard. A practical joker but a good listener. Worried about his friend.

* Field Marshall Cressida Kroft. The leader of the Korvosan Guard is well-disposed towards Iocundius, and has tried to get him out of his apparent gloom since he became a widower.

* Vencarlo Orisini. Sometimes drinking partners. They have energetic debates about many topics.

5) Three key memories that define your character as the person they are at the time of submission.

* His now-deceased father telling him as a young boy his favourite saying, "Serving Korvosa is its own reward".

* Seeing his wife's body in the alleyway.

* Making the decision to damn himself for hope of vengeance, despite a lingering sliver of doubt about whether it is worth it or even effective.

6) Finally, I'd like you to include with your submission a fear or paranoia that causes your character to shiver, cower, or panic. Anything from spiders to unexplained happenstance, but I'm sure you'll all come up with some awful stuff on your own.

Mobs running wild in Korvosa. The idea of his beloved city being a playground for a howling mob bothers him deeply. Scenes reminiscent of the scene of his wife's murder are also very hard for him, as unlikely as they are.

7) 3 things that redeem your character. (that way if your chosen i can have a easier time with hooks for motivation, a example being a soft spot for widows, children, trustworthy, Cares for sick, hates nobles that take advantage of "poor" people, etc...)

* Self-sacrificing. Iocundius is uninterested in power for its own sake, seeing it as a means to avenge a crime - and his loss.

* He loves his family, even if he has largely drifted from them.

* He is loyal to the city of Korvosa, even when he serves it indirectly by inflicting violence on criminals and others who oppose him.

Have read the Lovecraft books back in school, and I've been a part of an amazing F2F CoC game a long time ago. Might not be all up on the lore, but I'm absolutely in RPing someone carefully removing the curtain behind which the unthinkable lurks.

The horrors of the lands have left a considerable mark on her, which she strives to hide the best she can under a veneer of gallows humour. Commitment to a cause isn't something she's considered, as it all inevitably heads south, and the road calls to her once more.

At the least, that's what she's been telling herself for the past year. Working with Inquisitor Viktor Baunescu, a man on a suicidal mission to get rid of the horrors of Ustalav one at a time, she's grown a lot more attached to the cause and the people they've helped along the way. Tracking down beasts, shooting down bandits, or even raising a barn for the winter, Lys is starting to feel Ustalav more and more attached to the familiar woods of Ustalav, though she still dreads the idea of calling it home.

Dressed in a mish-mash of a thick blackjacket, thigh-high woodsman's boots and a feathered mercenary's hat, Lys eyed her companion. A salt-and-pepper haired man with a weathered face, Viktor shrugged, mouth pursed with faint distaste at his companion's comments. "It's something." A rare smile graced the man's lips. "You can sleep outside, if you want.", he retorted, taking his gear off the black stallion. A large mechanical crossbow, five bolts surrounding a darkwood core, Lys caught herself staring in envy, her own crossbow suspended still suspended on her smaller black mare. Shaking the thought from her head, she shrugged. The village, fifteen or so miles south of Carrion Hill, was not the best one Lys had visited. A few dilapidated houses, occupied by grim locals surrounding a drying well, and a poor pasture just next to the town. The inhabitants of that pasture, too, were their new roommates. "What, and miss out on having a sheep in my face when I wake up?" Still, the expression of the villager sending them into the barn kept her uneasy.

The inquisitor doffed his wide-rimmed hat, sitting down with a massive libram, the ancient leather bound in gleaming silver. Taking off a silvered spiral and gently laying it on his clothes, he started turning the pages slowly, humming a folk song quietly. Hitching her horse to the post and shoving a large bag of oats in his mouth, Lys plopped down next to Viktor, peeking over his shoulder. "So, what are you thinking? Changeling? Hag? Something... else?" A drawing of a vicious, slobbering, half-wolf-half-man appeared through the pages, and shivers ran down Lys' spine, only for them to quiet down as Viktor continued flicking through the pages. "I don't know, yet." A smile ran across his face. "Let's think on it. Disappearances of non-locals, but we haven't found any remains." Lys shrugged. "Too little to go on. Next?", Lys retorted, leaning back onto a bale of hay, putting a straw in her mouth, before spitting it out in disgust. "Livestock is seemingly untouched, and all accounted for."

"So that rules out ...wolves so far. I'd rule out 'fey shenanigannery' too, but you can never rule out the little turds. Hm." She snapped her fingers. "Put five crowns on 'changeling going through puberty'. Nah, make it ten." Viktor's mouth pursed. "I'd wait for more information before betting. Let's do it tomorrow, after we've asked around." With the ringing of the sheepbell and the rumbling of her stomach, Lys shuffled onto the pile of hay, sleep taking hold.

A loud banging on the barn door woke them up. "Who is it?", the deep voice of the inquisitor raised, as he leapt on his feet. Lys' hands grabbed her crossbow. "It's Verric, sir. We've got something to tell you.", the gravelly, morose voice of the village elder echoed through the door.

Relaxed, the inquisitor opened the door wide, only to glance at more than two dozen people, droning look in their eyes, axes, pitchforks and torches in their hands. "Ge-", the inquisitor shouted, as the elder's knife burrowed itself in his gut. "You won't find the mistress!", he roared, the crowd repeating his words in a hollow voice. Lys leapt to her feet to see the inquisitor's sword find purchase into the man's neck, and wound another. Opening fire with her crossbow, a gaunt, skeletal woman fell on the ground, screeching with a bolt in her neck. The crowd started piling towards the doors. "Run, Elize, run!", the inquisitor's pained cry echoed Lys' instincts, as she grabbed his crossbow, jumping on her horse. The black stallion burst from its hitching post, galloping through the dogpile onto the inquisitor, and she saw her opening, though the fire, blades and bodies.

Galloping on the main street, Lys turned around, aiming to fire a bolt at the crowd, when she saw a figure cloaked in shadows, watching the carnage. Letting loose a bolt without thinking, she gasped as the bolt stuck in the figure's chest without it even reacting. Run, Lys, run., the voice urged once more, and as the crowds turned away from the melee, darting at her, she spurred her horse, galloping out into the woods.

What felt like a lifetime later, patting her exhausted horse's neck, she glanced back at the smoke in the distance. "I'm not running this time, Ustalav.", she whispered through shaking teeth. "I'm just retreating."

A slave turned hero wrestles with a wyrmlord of Tiamat, his decision trades one life for another.

A supernatural hunter talks to a young vampire and tries to calm her bloodlust.

I was very active in the forums months ago as both a GM and a player, but had to take a leave of absence for personal reasons. I'm slowly coming back now, probably limiting myself to a small handful of games (to be able to put up some quality considering my reduced time availability).

Although his young years were happy and uneventful, the noticeable absence of his father - known only by his mother - quickly grew the rumors on the streets of the town, and the features of the youngest of the Vogh only fed to the fire: people would say he had the seed of the demons, the scent of the undead, and only disgrace would follow his family.

He was barely a teenager when the Countess sent him to be tutored by the Sturnidae academics - specifically the doctors and healers - and this contributed to his overall passion for books. The life isolated from his mother and House also gave him a sense of independence, and for some years the rumors of his origin seemed to rest.

When he came of age he was already skilled on brewing the basic alchemic extracts, although had an incomprehensible difficulty with the ones used for curing. A combination of his studies, his curiosity - and even the nefarious rumors started against his family - took him to better understand he wasn't Human, and with it he confronted his mother. Being fed the secret of his vampiric inheritage, the Dhampir sought the shadows of reclusivity for the upcoming years.

The scholar became obsessed with his personal curse, and years later embarked in a quest to better comprehend undeath. Lending his alchemic talents to bands of adventurers, he pushed himself in a fight against the Whispering Way, and gathered enough books and forbidden necromantic knowledge to once again isolate himself.

Nowadays, the young Earl Andulian Vogh keeps his distance from his mother, and dreads the day he might have to seek and face his father. He serves as a local scholar teaching those who seek knowledge of alchemy and the arcane arts - but in the dark, he slowly falls into paranoia and madness, brewing mixtures in the hopes of reverting his condition. When he drinks his mutagen, he feels a compelling force slowly dominating his thoughts.

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Mechanically, the character is being built towards the Master Chymist prestige class. I realize we won't level - and that the class would just open for me at level 8 - but who knows? If we get to complete the first adventure and get into the second one, at level 9, maybe we will get the chance to see his evolution. For now, the important thing is the "psychological" structure is being formed.

Party-wise he's got more to offer out-of-combat with knowledge and skills. In combat he's just the average alchemist (bombs, mutagen, etc.) with more specific necromantic roots due to his Dhampir inheritance and history (using the ectoplasm master archetype).

https://paizo.com/campaigns/IronperentisSkullAndShackles/gameplay&page= 3#150

https://paizo.com/campaigns/IronperentisSkullAndShackles/gameplay&page= 5#234

And here's another one - the Celebrity Bard Kallyan:

https://paizo.com/campaigns/BloodUnderAbsalom1qrs3/gameplay&page=8#379

With too many characters, it's hard to choose. Anyway, here's from the skinwalker Annurian:

https://paizo.com/campaigns/Kingmaker4t9lw/gameplay#22

If I wanted to have more spells in my spellbook, I could have purchased a scroll and scribed the spell into my spellbook. The cost of that would be as follows:

1st level spell, 25 gp for the scroll and 10 gp for scribing = 35 gp
2nd level spell, 75 gp for the scroll and 30 gp for scribing = 105 gp
3rd level spell, 325 gp for the scroll and 70 gp for scribing = 395 gp

So, my question: is it okay if I add additional spells to my spellbook, as long as I pay for them (as above) out of my starting money?

I am in EST/EDT time zone. I usually post during the morning or late afternoon to evening, though I work at a desk and usually have access to a computer most of the day. One post a day is not a problem for me.

I will be submitting Kolthis Ironjaw, a Dwarf from Caliphas. Sticking to core, he would be a Fighter 2/Cleric of Desna 3, but I've also toyed with simply making him a Warpriest. He is on the frontline, dishing out damage with his array of weapons as the situation calls for, using his Cleric abilities to mainly buff, but healing as an emergency option if needed.

Then one day, they got an assignment to escort a small group of people, mostly scholars, to an area at the eastern end of the Hungry Mountains. It was to some old ruins, they said, looking for historical something-or-others, maybe on behalf of some society. Quite frankly, Kolthis didn't care much about the particulars, as long as he got paid. So the Hammer Hands hammered on and did their job. What none in the group had expected was that the ruins they wanted investigated were both trapped, and filled with others. After a series of traps and encounters, the party ended up being split up. Making his way with only one of his companions and a cleric of Sarenrae of the other group, they made their way through perils and stumbled upon an old codex with strange runes. As Kolthis retrieved the book, there was a horrifying sound, something like a screeching animal but none he had ever heard, and suddenly Kolthis was knocked out cold.

The next thing Kolthis remembered was being woken up by the cleric, robes and hands bloody, pulling desperately to get Kolthis on his feet. Looking around he saw the body of his friend laying not 10 feet from him. Or at least, half of it. The other half was being consumed by some aberration, a horribly transfigured creature in the dark. Seeing this scene, Kolthis screamed for all he was worth - and he continued screaming as he was dragged out of the ruins, clutching to scraps of the book he no longer had, before passing out once more.

He awoke later in a temple. Of what God or Goddess Kolthis does not remember. What he does remember is that less than half of the people who started the journey now remained. Of his friends, only one had survived, and he too, was in shock. On the melancholy trek back to Caliphas, Kolthis had nightmares - of his friend, being eaten by something in the dark. Of his other friends, disappearing before his eyes and him powerless to stop it. Of him, falling endlessly through a labyrinth made of flesh and bone. He was lucky to get any sleep at all. When they arrived, Kolthis held a ceremony for his fallen friends at the temple of Desna, and decided to stay in service to the Goddess of Fortune, the Tender of Dreams, as a member of the church. Perhaps the praying and service would stop the constant nightmares.

And eventually, they did stop. Or at least, slow down considerably enough that he didn't notice them as much. As a member of the church with his skillset, Kolthis was often sent out on a number of errands much like his previous life, acting as part of an escort or chaperone. His longing to travel and explore was not lessened permanently, and the ever traveling worshipers of Desna was an easy fit for him.

Recently however, Kolthis has been experiencing nightmares again. But not like the ones he had before. No. These ones were worse.

He wakes up in cold sweats most nights now, grotesque images and haunted depictions of himself and who knows what, fresh in his mind. He hasn't been sleeping, he hasn't been eating, and what's more is he's been hearing voices. Sometimes in the form of his friends, sometimes his parents. There is a voice he doesn't recognize, however. A soothing voice in his dreams that gets him through the night. It helps so much to have a friend in dealing with these nightmares, and he's convinced it's Desna herself, in some form, looking after him. Just as she did years ago at the ruins. Now in his dreams, they come up again. Over and over and over again, but with them another place. A large, ancient hill. Cobbled white streets. Death, grime, decay, loneliness. All of it, coming again and again. Carrion hill, says the voice. That's where you have to go, if you want it to stop. He does. Gods, it's all Kolthis wants. But everyone else, they won't let him go. It's too dangerous, they say. You don't know what's out there. They don't know what you're going through. They don't want you to be okay. Go, Kolthis. Go, for me. Gripping the remains of his old life with his new, Kolthis sets off now to Carrion Hill, determined to bury the remnants of his nightmares in the with the bodies that lay in the ancient grounds of Carrion Hill.

As for how I do play, I like a mixture of roleplaying my character, interacting with other characters and strategic combat. I try to help the party push and move along the adventure, but I do not shy away from interacting with the party and the NPCs in a way that it adds to the show (recent example).

I do love to experience vivid atmospheres and explore the interaction of my characters with them, and for what you say about Carrion Hill and what I have read before applying, it seems this is the kind of adventure with great opportunities for an immersive experience.

I have no problem with 1 post/day and I can often give more than that if the campaign lends itself to it. That said, there are periods of the year where I will have less availability, but I will properly inform you about when and for how long.

DEFENSE
AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed 17 (+7 armor, +4 Cha)
HP 41 (5d8+10+3)
Fort +4 (2 Con, 1 class, 1 item), Ref +6 (4 Cha, 1 class, 1 item), Will +8 (1 Wis, 4 class, 1 item, 2 dual-minded) [+2 vs enchantments]

OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft. (30 ft. without armor)
Melee +1 longspear +7 (1d8+5) 20/x2 piercing, 10’ reach
Ranged sling +2 (1d4+2) 20/x3 50’ bludgeoning
ray +2

STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 9, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 18
Ability increases +2 Cha (racial), +1 Cha (4th)
Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 19
Feats Possessed Hand, Hand’s Autonomy, Hand’s Detachment
Traits
Possessed (magic): You were, or are, possessed in some way by another entity that grants you occasional access to its knowledge. Once per day, you can attempt a Knowledge check of your choice even if you are not trained in that skill and it is not usually possible to use that skill untrained. If you can normally use that skill untrained, you gain a +2 trait bonus on the check.
Reactionary (combat): You were bullied often as a child, but never quite developed an offensive response. Instead, you became adept at anticipating sudden attacks and reacting to danger quickly. You gain a +2 trait bonus on initiative checks.
Skills (5x5 = 25, -3 ACP) Diplomacy +12 (4 Cha, 5 rank, 3 class), Disable Device +1 (-1 Dex, 1 rank, 1 feat), Heal +5 (1 Wis, 1 rank, 3 class), K. arcana +8 (4 Cha, 1 rank, 3 class), K. dungeoneering +8 (4 Cha, 1 rank, 3 class), K. local +8 (4 Cha, 1 rank, 3 class), K. nature +8 (4 Cha, 1 rank, 3 class), K. planes +12 (4 Cha, 5 rank, 3 class), K. religion +12 (4 Cha, 5 rank, 3 class), Sense Motive +5 (1 Wis, 1 rank, 3 class), Spellcraft +6 (1 Int, 2 rank, 3 class), UMD +5 (4 Cha, 1 rank)
Background Skills (2x5 = 10) Appraise (class), Craft (Int, class), K. history +12 (4 Cha, 5 rank, 3 class), K. engineering +8 (4 Cha, 1 rank, 3 class), K. geography +8 (4 Cha, 1 rank, 3 class), K. nobility +8 (4 Cha, 1 rank, 3 class), Profession fisherman +5 (1 Wis, 1 rank, 3 class), Sleight of Hand +0 (-1 Dex, 1 rank)
Languages Common, Elf, Aklo
Favoured class (oracle): HPx3, Half-Elfx2: L1, L1

SPELLS
(CL 5; Concentration +7; includes p. hand -2 penalty)
0 (-, 8 known) create water, detect magic, grasp, guidance, light, read magic, mage hand, ghost sound
1 (7/day, 8 known) identify, cure light wounds, hedging weapons, shadow trap, barded chains, sun metal, protection from evil, remove fear
2 (5/day, 6 known) tongues, cure moderate wounds, resist energy, lesser restoration, levitate, minor image

SPECIAL ABILITIES
+2 to One Ability Score: Half-elf characters get a +2 bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.
Low-Light Vision: Half-elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Elf Blood: Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race.
Elven Immunities: Half-elves are immune to magic sleep effects and get a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against enchantment spells and effects.
Keen Senses: Half-elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
Dual minded: The mixed ancestry of some half-elves makes them resistant to mental attacks. Half-elves with this racial trait gain a +2 bonus on all Will saving throws. This racial trait replaces the adaptability racial trait.
Blended View: Half-drow whose non-drow parent had low-light vision might be blessed with a legacy of versatile senses. Characters with this trait keep their low-light vision but also gain darkvision to a distance of 60 feet. Half-elves can take this trait in place of multitalented.

Mystery: Each oracle draws upon a divine mystery to grant her spells and powers. This mystery also grants additional class skills and other special abilities. This mystery can represent a devotion to one ideal, prayers to deities that support the concept, or a natural calling to champion a cause (in Eldon’s case her Lore mystery happens because all of the knowledge that brings to him the being that has possessed him). Regardless of its source, the mystery manifests in a number of ways as the oracle gains levels. An oracle must pick one mystery upon taking her first level of oracle. Once made, this choice cannot be changed.
Oracle's Curse (Ex): Each oracle is cursed, but this curse comes with a benefit as well as a hindrance. This choice is made at 1st level, and once made, it cannot be changed. The oracle's curse cannot be removed or dispelled without the aid of a deity. An oracle's curse is based on her oracle level plus one for every two levels or Hit Dice other than oracle. Each oracle must choose one curse (shadowbound).
Haunted: Malevolent spirits follow you wherever you go, causing minor mishaps and strange occurrences (such as unexpected breezes, small objects moving on their own, and faint noises). Retrieving any stored item from your gear requires a standard action, unless it would normally take longer. Any item you drop lands 10 feet away from you in a random direction. Add mage hand and ghost sound to your list of spells known. At 5th level, add levitate and minor image to your list of spells known. At 10th level, add telekinesis to your list of spells known. At 15th level, add reverse gravity to your list of spells known.
Revelation: At 1st level, 3rd level, and every four levels thereafter (7th, 11th, and so on), an oracle uncovers a new secret about her mystery that grants her powers and abilities. The oracle must select a revelation from the list of revelations available to her mystery. If a revelation is chosen at a later level, the oracle gains all of the abilities and bonuses granted by that revelation based on her current level. Unless otherwise noted, activating the power of a revelation is a standard action.
Sidestep Secret (Su): Your innate understanding of the universe has granted you preternatural reflexes and the uncanny ability to step out of danger at the very last second. Add your Charisma modifier (instead of your Dexterity modifier) to your Armor Class and all Reflex saving throws. Your armor's maximum Dexterity bonus applies to your Charisma instead of your Dexterity.
Lore Keeper (Ex): Instead of encyclopedic knowledge, you learn most of your information through tales, songs, and poems. You may use your Charisma modifier instead of your Intelligence modifier on all Knowledge checks.
Possessed Hand: You’ve made a peaceful and permanent bargain with a ghost, spirit, or outsider. It possesses your hand, guiding and aiding you in exchange for help in return. Benefit: You attract a ghost, spirit, or outsider with personal motivations to possess your hand. This usually involves some sort of mutually beneficial pact or agreement. Your possessed hand helps you in numerous ways, but its periodic, uncontrolled antics are distracting; you take a permanent –2 penalty on concentration checks once you gain this feat. Any attack you make with a one-handed weapon, light weapon, unarmed strike, or natural attack with your possessed hand gains a +1 insight bonus on the attack roll and damage roll. You also gain a +1 insight bonus on Disable Device and Sleight of Hand checks. Once per day as a swift action, you can retrieve any stowed object you carry on your person, provided the object weighs no more than 5 pounds.
Hand’s Autonomy: Your possessed hand can act independently. Benefit: You reduce the penalties for fighting with two weapons (including fighting with double weapons or when throwing weapons from each hand) by 2, to a minimum penalty of –1. This benefit stacks with the Two-Weapon Fighting feat. When you are unconscious, paralyzed, asleep, or stunned, your possessed hand can still act on your behalf in a limited fashion. The hand uses your statistics when performing any action in this manner. The hand can’t take attacks of opportunity, but can draw attacks of opportunity from actions it takes. The hand can perform the following actions each turn on your initiative count.

I can generally post more than once a day, but, not having a set daily schedule, it's usually inconsistent and often strange time-wise. I usually prefer not to make random filler posts to meet an arbitrary quota, but will participate readily if things are active. No problem at all with being botted if I'm not around when everyone else is on and waiting on me; in fact, I welcome it because my dice roller luck is usually pretty bad ;)

To be honest, I'm usually rather ambivalent about Lovecraft in general, but cosmic horror combined with games is always pretty fun, at least in my limited experience.

Vincenzo stands a slim 5' 8" tall. Dark brown hair shorn short, dark brown eyes in a pale face that show little emotion. When it can be seen at all. He normally wears very practical clothing for work: leather armour and boots, tools for breaking and entering, well-sharpened kukris. After all, He never knows when a client might have need of his services.

The slums and piers of Kintargo saw Vincenzo's brief and brutal childhood. He was the youngest of five, garrulous and mouthy, and was beaten by many adults: drunkard workers, sanctimonious priests, and criminals alike. And especially by his dock labourer parents and older brothers and sisters. He learned to shut his mouth, keep quiet: and when to strike. Wait until attention was elsewhere, sleep overcame them. And then he could steal, beat, or even kill any adult. That talent was noticed by a more practiced shadow and honed into a tool for a criminal guild. Theft, spying, and soon murder became Vincenzo's stock-in-trade.

Three months ago, a job went very well for Vincenzo. Apart from the inevitable and incovenient inquiries. He thought it best that he disappear from Kintargo for a time, and from Cheliax in general. Now, he has heard interesting rumours about a ruin on a hill...

1) I'd like 5+ points that capture the concept and story of the character. More are welcome, but no less than five.

* Vincenzo grew up in an amoral, crime-riddled enviornment and it would have shaped him even without the guild taking notice of him.

* Vincenzo always has a reason for everything he does. He plans as much as he can, and acts efficiently.

* Vincenzo is very much a meritocrat. He sees wasted talent in the poor and uneducated pretty much everywhere he goes.

* Vincenzo is keenly interested in improving his skills. His skills have kept him fed, alive, and in employment.

* Vincenzo weighs up people like he would resources. Useful? Pleasant? Risky?

2) Two goals that you'd like the character to accomplish in-game.

* Earn the trust and respect of his party mates.

* Find a goal in life beyond acquiring resources and skills.

3) Two secrets, one the PC keeps to himself, and one kept from the PC. I'll come up with a third that both the character and player aren't aware of, in hopes of shocking surprises within the storytelling.

* Vincenzo does sometimes compare his amoral attitude towards killing with others' qualms, and not necessarily favourably.

* Vincenzo is secretly remorseful for at least some deaths. Buried very deeply though.

4) Three key memories that define your character as the person they are at the time of submission.

* His first kill, a sailor who sought to beat him.

* His mentor making Vincenzo an offer.

* Making the decision to leave Cheliax behind.

5) Finally, I'd like you to include with your submission a fear or paranoia that causes your character to shiver, cower, or panic. Anything from spiders to unexplained happenstance, but I'm sure you'll all come up with some awful stuff on your own.

The fear he does not know: that he fears judgement for deaths and that it will not be favourable. Not just accusation, but a truly just person damning him.

7) 3 things that redeem your character. (that way if your chosen i can have a easier time with hooks for motivation, a example being a soft spot for widows, children, trustworthy, Cares for sick, hates nobles that take advantage of "poor" people, etc...)

* He always keeps his word, always fulfills a contract.

* He backs up his team when he is working with others. Allies are to be aided.

* He hates incompetent people in unearned positions of power.

Favoured Class: Slayer

FCB each level: Gain +1/6 of a new slayer talent.

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Statistics
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20-point buy, +2 Dex from human, L4: +1 Dex; Item: +2 Dex
Str 13, Dex 21 (19), Con 12, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 8,
Base Atk +5; CMB +6; CMD 21
Feats
L1: Weapon Finesse
L2:(Slayer Talent): Two-Weapon Fighting
L3: Iron Will
L4:
L5: Weapon Focus (Kukri)

--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 20, touch 15, flat-footed 15 (10 +5 Dex +5 Armour)
hp 39 (7 per level)
Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +4, +2 racial vs divine

--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.

Melee

+1 Kurkri (left hand) +11 1d4+2 18–20/x2
Mwk Cold Iron Kukri (right hand) +11 1d4+1 18–20/x2
Mwk Silver Light Hammer +10 1d4+0 x2

Ranged
Cold Iron Chakrams +10 1d8+1 x2 30 ft.

Skills
Class Skills

The executioner slayer’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (local) (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Stealth (Dex), and Swim (Str).

Skill Ranks per Level: 8 (6 + 2 Int)

+2 background skills

Armour Check Penalty: 0

In concealment or full concealment due to darkness or dim light, gain a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate, Perception, and Stealth checks.

+Acrobatics +10 |+5 Dex +2 rank +3 class skill
+Appraise +6 |+2 Int +1 rank +3 class skill
+Bluff +3 |-1 Cha +1 rank +3 class skill
+Climb +6 |+1 Str +2 rank +3 class skill
+Craft +2 |+2 Int
+Diplomacy +3 |-1 Cha +1 rank +3 class skill
+Disable Device* +16 |+5 Dex +5 rank +3 class skill +1 trait +2 mwk tools
+Disguise +3 |-1 Cha +1 rank +3 class skill
+Escape Artist +9 |+5 Dex +1 rank +3 class skill
Fly +5 |+5 Dex
Handle Animal* +3 |-1 Cha +1 rank +3 class skill
+Heal +5 |+1 Wis +1 rank +3 class skill
+Intimidate +7 |-1 Cha +5 rank +3 class skill
Knowledge Arcana* -- |+2 Int
Knowledge Dungeoneering* -- |+2 Int untrained
Knowledge Engineering* -- |+2 Int untrained
Knowledge Geography* -- |+2 Int untrained
Knowledge History* -- |+2 Int untrained
+Knowledge Local* +10 |+2 Int +5 rank +3 class skill
Knowledge Nobility* +4 |+2 Int +2 rank
Knowledge Nature* -- |+2 Int untrained
Knowledge Planes* -- |+2 Int untrained
Knowledge Religion* -- |+2 Int untrained
Linguistics* +3 |+2 Int +1 rank
+Perception +9 |+1 Wis +5 rank +3 class skill
Perform -1 |-1 Cha
+Profession +1 |+1 Wis
Ride +5 |+5 Dex
+Sense Motive +9 |+1 Wis +5 rank +3 class skill
Sleight of Hand* +10 |+5 Dex +5 rank
Spellcraft* -- |+2 Int untrained
+Stealth +13 |+5 Dex +5 rank +3 class skill
Survival +1 |+1 Wis
+Swim +5 |+1 Str +1 rank +3 class skill
Use Magic Device* -- |-1 Cha untrained

Traits
Killer, Trap Finder

Killer
You made your first kill at a very young age and found the task of war or murder to your liking. You either take particular pride in a well-placed blow, or find vile pleasure in twisting the blade to maximize your target’s pain.

Benefit: You deal an amount of additional damage equal to your weapon’s critical hit modifier when you score a successful critical hit with a weapon; this additional damage is added to the final total, and is not multiplied by the critical hit multiple itself. This extra damage is a trait bonus.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits/combat-traits/killer/

Trap Finder
You may not have received any formal training in the roguish arts, but you’ve nonetheless become skilled at spotting and disabling hidden traps.

Benefit(s): You gain a +1 trait bonus on Disable Device checks, and that skill is always a class skill for you. In addition, you can use Disable Device to disarm magic traps, like a rogue.

Languages Common, Elven, Halfling, Infernal

SQ - Racial
Dimdweller (2 RP): Whenever characters with this trait benefit from concealment or full concealment due to darkness or dim light, they gain a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate, Perception, and Stealth checks. Humans can take this trait in place of the skilled trait, also gaining darkvision to a range of 60 feet.

Self-Made Fate: Some humans build nations that deny the importance of gods and divine magic, and those raised to avoid divine influence develop a knack for defying divine magic. They gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against divine spells and spell-like abilities, as well as the spells and spell-like abilities of aeons, psychopomps, and outsiders with an alignment subtype. This racial trait replaces the bonus feat trait.

Bloodstained Hands (Ex)
An executioner must be evil. If he ever becomes nonevil, he loses this archetype and becomes a regular slayer.

Focused Killer (Ex)
At 1st level, an executioner’s studied target bonuses and the DCs of his slayer abilities increase by 1 against humanoid opponents, but decrease by 1 against non-humanoid targets.

This ability alters studied target.

Studied Target (Ex)
[Errata] A slayer can study an opponent he can see as a move action. The slayer then gains a +1 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks attempted against that opponent, and a +1 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against it. The DCs of slayer class abilities against that opponent increase by 1. A slayer can only maintain these bonuses against one opponent at a time; these bonuses remain in effect until either the opponent is dead or the slayer studies a new target.

If a slayer deals sneak attack damage to a target, he can study that target as an immediate action, allowing him to apply his studied target bonuses against that target (including to the normal weapon damage roll).

At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th levels, the bonuses on weapon attack rolls, damage rolls, and skill checks and to slayer DCs against a studied target increase by 1. In addition, at each such interval, the slayer is able to maintain these bonuses against an additional studied target at the same time. The slayer may discard this connection to a studied target as a free action, allowing him to study another target in its place.

At 7th level, a slayer can study an opponent as a move or swift action.

Painful Strike* (Ex)
At 4th level, an executioner automatically gains this talent. Executioners are trained to cause excruciating pain when striking targets, often leaving them reeling in agony or completely incapacitated as they slowly bleed out. A creature that takes sneak attack damage from an executioner must make a successful a Fortitude save (DC = 10 + 1/2 the executioner’s class level + his Intelligence modifier) or become sickened for 1d4 rounds.

This ability alters the slayer talent received at 4th level and replaces swift tracker.

Belt of incredible dexterity +2 4,000
+1 Mithril Chain Shirt 2,100
+1 Kukri 2,008
Mwk Cold Iron Kukri 316
Mwk Silver Light Hammer 321
Cold Iron Chakrams (5) 10

Rogue's Kit 50
Climber's Kit 20
Wrist Sheaths (2) 2
Concealable Thieves’ Tools 190
Thieves’ Tools Extenders 70
Glass Cutter 5
Thieves’ Ring 300

Right now I'm in three other games, two are really solid and have good GMs and players the third was a game that fell apart when the GM dropped, so one of the players stepped up to take over as GM. It's a fun game, but very slow. I am also running a one shot for a couple of players. It's been going well if slower than I'd like.

This is more typical.
Cael chats after a fight with Yeth hounds.

Here's a few others I enjoyed.
Fyrtor trys to convert Turion.

Fyrtor loses a friend in a boss fight.

Cael scores a crit.

Dodge -- I see this as more of a reflexive flinching away from danger. Dodge is never a great feat but it's never a bad feat; he'll need it because he's squish, and also it's thematic.

Iron Will -- As noted, this is represents his will to push forward through the terror.

Spell Focus (Evocation) -- He's blasty.

Spell Specialization (Burning Hands) -- He's very blasty. Fire is good, yes? Fire cleanses. Next level he'll swap this to Fireball.

Varisian Tattoo (Evocation) -- Did I mention blasty? +1 ECL on all evocation spells. I think he picked this up at the Academae in Korvosa, back in the day. Lonely pudgy colonial kid, not a lot of friends. It's no wonder he spent a lot of time in the Restricted Stacks of the library...

Magical Lineage -- Fireball. Won't become relevant until 7th level.

Havoc of the Society (+1 damage on every spell that does damage) -- If you allow this; in the original splatbook it was for sorcerors who were members of the PFS. If not, then Gifted Adept, which is +1 ECL on a single spell. Yup you guessed it: Fireball.

He's blasty, because he's terrified. If he had been more blasty, maybe he could have stopped the bad thing from happening. If he can become more blasty, maybe he can stop more bad things from happening! Burn! Burn! Kill it with fire!

I said the drawback was Haunted (-2 on saves against spells with the Evil descriptor). Upon consideration, Spooked might fit even better: "Whenever you perceive a fey, outsider, or undead from within 60 feet, you become shaken for 1d4 rounds unless you succeed at a Will save with a DC equal to 15 + the creature’s Charisma modifier." He'll have a decent Will save but even so he'll get shaken around half the time. N.B., I think it might make sense to add "aberration" to that list? I have no problem with it.

Lesser Rod of Metamagic [Intensified Spell]. So 3X / day he can use a 1st level slot to throw a Burning Hands for 8d4. This sounds great, but of course Burning Hands has a range of just 10 feet.

Pearl of Power (1st level). Because the Spell Sage archetype is always starved for slots!

One of a half-dozen children of a working-class family in Rozenport, Maritine had always been the black sheep of her family. Too bright to take superstition at face value and too inquisitive for her own good made for a poor combination in the insular nation, it didn't take long for her parents to send the insufferable child to live with extended family in Thrushmoor - something they did not intend her to return from.

Life in Thrushmoor was intentionally difficult. Essentially a slave and made to work in awful squalid conditions by her cousins to wear down her spirit and to distract from what should have been her ultimate fate, it was perhaps grim luck that she caught wind of what her family was preparing - a cult sacrifice. Young Maritine was a lot of things, but she was not a fighter in any capacity not did she have a way out of Thrushmoor outside of being sacrificed to the nameless horror that tainted the village. She would have to act drastically.

Her chance came the day before she was to be killed. In the pre-dawn gloom, using a smuggled fish-cleaner knife, Maritine broke out of her room, killed three of her cousins as they slept and set the room to burn as a distraction as she fled to the fishing docks, stowing away on a fisherman's vessel as the fire provided cover. By the time anyone was aware that she was missing she had managed to bribe her way back to Rozenport. To her family.

Her return was an ill omen to her parents, and while she would not admit it, Thrushmoor and what she had done there had changed her. Terrified of what their prodigal child could do but unwilling to admit their own guilt in what they did, her parents did nothing as Maritine took what she could carry and a moderate amount of gold and left for Lepidstadt.

Maritine had a singular goal upon arriving in Lepidstadt - be admitted into the university. She had little to work with save her tenacity and a grim determination to prove herself to the faculty or die in the attempt. Long hours of work, some light trespassing and even an arrest could not dissuade her from her goal, to the point that even facing death again - this time on her terms, in the university's famed dueling halls - was the closest she came to faltering in her conviction.

Before she could throw her life away foolishly, cooler heads prevailed and welcomed the headstrong Maritine to the university on a conditional basis. Not one to rest on her laurels and knowing that she would have to prove herself more than just a charity case she threw herself into her studies, as much to learn all she could as to avoid other students, many of whom either pitied her or loathed her. Neither mattered, only what she could learn mattered.

It was in her second year the shadow that clung to her past returned in a mission to accompany a senior investigator to Thrushmoor - strange things had been sighted inside a burnt out house, and the university wanted to investigate. With her dueling scar still fresh on her face and the investigation now an integral part of her study, Maritine would have to face her past one way or another.

Given how long it had been when she was last there and how different she must have looked, it was perhaps the smallest of good fortunes that she was not recognized when she and her superior came to Thrushmoor - it seemed the fire had done more than she intended, and perhaps she had been mistaken for one of the dead. The investigation itself was straightforward, and the house thoroughly inspected from top to bottom. The bodies had long been removed and any proof of activity was difficult to separate from the detritus already in the ruins. With no other course of action available, the two investigators would wait until they could interrupt the activity happening at the house in person.

They did not have to wait long.

Late on the second night, when no moon hung in the sky and the darkness was almost tangibly cloying, black robed figures could be seen moving about the burnt ruins. Approaching cautiously, Maritine and her senior observed four robed figures performing a ritual in the room where Maritine had killed her cousins years earlier and giving her a bad feeling. As the ritual approached its height one figure disrobed and Maritine had to bite down on her fist to not make a noise - one of the three she had murdered years ago was somehow alive and unharmed save for a large ugly gash on their neck. Turning away from the ritual to calm herself was a saving grace as the two investigators has almost been ambushed by a fifth figure and acting impulsively Maritine lunged forward and struck the figure down, their screams giving them away to the others.

When pressed, Maritine confesses that the ambush was a blur. It was hard enough to see, and then strange magics and horrid screaming made her knowledge of what happened unreliable at best - as she tells it. The actual truth is far clearer and far more bitter - the robed figures, although terrible fighters, had tapped into strange vile magics and managed to rush the ritual they were attempting, succeeding even as they failed, and with an unholy scream her murdered cousins' soul tore itself from its useless body, stealing the life essence from the remaining cultists and possessing the senior investigator. Only once the vile geist had access to her seniors memories did it truly recognize Maritine and with disbelieving glee taunted her as it puppeted its unwilling host, forcing the two to fight to the death. Caught in a monstrous situation, Maritine steeled herself to once again do what was necessary, and let her possessed classmate get in a solid strike to leave her vulnerable to a fatal riposte. Knowing she would not have long as her classmate started dying she quickly smashed open a vial of holy water and doused the escaping geist, banishing it back to the ethereal realm - but not before it could taunt her about what she had done.

Burying her trauma long enough to slip out of Thushmoor under the cover of darkness - for a second time - Maritine returned to the university with little explanation of what had happened and equally little evidence, save for a mostly burned journal with a partial map of Carrion Hill within it. When she recovers enough from the ordeal she once again gathers as much equipment as she is able and leaves a note to her professors, explaining little except that whatever was happening at Carrion Hill, she would go alone as to not endanger others and would risk expulsion to do so.