Rise of the Wicked (Inactive)

Game Master DireMerc

I am fluent in Abyssal, I suggest that you do the initial talking though. Demon-sworn like me and Daemons do not neccessarily get along that well, although a servant of the Lady in Shadows like me is probably relatively tolerable from their perspective. Nocticula has a number of Thanaedaemons in her employ and capital city.

There is also still that carnivorous plantlife, and the yet unopened chest the observant Ryzz discovered in the caves, perhaps get some boggards to witness our might against the plants?

well, we do have this new staff.. if the plantlife is not want to move...

He thinks for a moment.
I'd also suggest that hiring underlings out of freetown. It will indeed cost gold, but extra hands are never a bad thing. Of course, a selection process will have to be thorough, and come with a binding contract. Any that fail to pass, will be used in other ways. He gives a mildly sadistic grin as he finishes the last sentence.

That being said, I believe there is a corpse I need to attend to, a most powerful addition to my tools. Would anyone wish to accompany me after our discussion with hex and vex? I'm sure it will be an entertaining ritual.

The deamons regard you curiously as you approach them.

"So you are to be the new masters then? Maybe things won't be so boring in the near future." Speaks on of the creatures as you approach in a deep and gravely voice. "I certainly hope so we haven't killed thing in decades"

They detail their powers at your command.

The terms of their binding are that they are to defend the Shrine at the top of the Keep from intruders at all cost. They can never wander more than 400 feet from it (The shrine is 220 feet above the throne room on the third floor) Meaning they can go pretty much anywhere in the keep but they cannot go in the caves below. If they are slain they will reform after 13 days so long as the plates you carry still have their names on them. If the plates are destroyed or their name on the plate is damaged then they are freed. They will follow any order you give them so long as it doesn't compromise their ability to defend the shrine. They insist that one of them be allowed to remain on the top floor at all times.

They are not allowed to take any action to damage the plates themselves.

They don't know much of anything about the area outside the tower but they know pretty much everything about the keep and the people who were here. You will have to ask more specific questions however.

Killing nothing in a decade? Alexandr looks shocked at the thought of this.
I admire you keeping your sanity in such dreadfull conditions! Pretty certain we can ameliorate this a fair bit.

Can we improve your mighty capabilities further? Do you two utilize equipment? Armor, weaponry, other magic items? If yes, anything in particular you are specialized in? We may as well keep a lookout for such. I do not know Daemonkind well, but I believe your kind is fairly fond of Scythes?

Alexandr chats in accented but correct Abyssal.

"We do not need weapons or armor our hide is tough and or claws rend flesh" is the reply.

They are not proficient with any armor or weapon.

Hexor and Vexor

The next morning seeing the others, Let us leave those carnivorous plants in that corner room for now. They are not a threat to rest of the floor, and if some fool mistakenly walks in, they will enjoy a nice bonus size meal besides the occasional bird flying in.

Enjoy chatting with Hexor and Vexor. You will find us in the vault.

There she discusses the idea with Ajikisshochraos, whom is in a rather more pleasant mood sitting on a pile of coins, that she does flying patrols around the keep. After much debating and Ajikisshochraos agrees to do this task, though R'yzzntyg must join her once she can also fly, besides also demanding to have treasure hoard to rest on, even if it is in the vault. She also will not risk herself to confront any possible threat, though will fly back to fortress immediately to report.

It would be best perhaps to have one person carry a single plate. We should also give them an order to never harm any of us, just in case. Never can be too careful.

Once with them, Vinnick will ask.
What can you tell us of the predecessors of this keep? I'm going to guess that the raid on this keep was about a decade ago? Do you know who led this raid? Do they perform checkups on the keep? Or did they assume that their job was done? Are there any secret passages within the keep itself? Would you know of any place for us to look to find potential cultists that may have fled? Perhaps any names from the past?

The Daemons are not much for conversation and quickly get irritated they do however comply.

They tell you that Vetra-Kali crossed the great void and came to the material place to this place long ago (around 800 years ago, a few years after the original defeat of Tar-Baphon and his sealing inside Gallowspire). In the caves below he found a group of vampires hiding in the dark living like animals and gave them glorious purpose.

Under his glorious leadership, these vampires became the founding members of the sons of darkness and with his guidance, they operated in utmost secrecy at first rallied others to their sides and began enslaving the local monster races and then stealing children from human villages to indoctrinate them into the order from a very young age.

The rise in power of the sons of darkness lasted centuries cumulating with their decision to implement a powerful ritual to block out the sun 26 years ago.

Their darkness spread covering many miles around until finally an elite strike team led by Sir Victor Dalian (You recognize this name he is one of the 5 precentor martials of Last Wall - one of their highest ranking generals) broke through the defenses and defeated the entire leadership of the cult, banished Vetra-Kali himself and sealed him away.

The members of the cult that survived fled east to the county called Ustalav and the slaves fled into the wilderness or returned to Last wall with the knights.

Taking his leave of the Daemons, Alexandr follows Vinnick.

So Sir Vinnick, the Minotaur or the Boggard? Or perhaps both? On a sidenote, does decapaciation actually limits a corpses usefulness for necromantic matters or is that just a myth? Would you, broadly speaking, prefer bodies to be stabbed, slashed or smashed? My guess is that mostly being in one piece makes it easier?

Alexandr asks Vinnick with genuine curiousity.

While holding both tablets, with all the team present, Stanislav will gives some orders to the daemons. You shall not attack, hinder, harm or work against any of us or those working with us. You shall not hold back useful information you might have regarding our goals of defending this place and bringing for the Darkness again, or regarding any threats or dangers to any of us or this place. You shall accept orders from any of us regarding the defense of this tower even if we do not carry these plates. Do you understand and agree?

The daemon nods "So long as you do not give an order that betrays our true purpose of guarding the Sanctum then we agree."

Vinnick smiles as Stanislav states his commands. Make sure its directly nor indirectly as well. He says as he turns to leave.

At Alexander's question Vinnick rubs his chin.

Hmm... I believe it would work... but I also think it would hinder the creation... either way, I can still use the body. Alongside the 4 sailors I have remaining, and finally having finished my research, I believe am ready to take my next steps in resource management. It would be simple, had I still that Tome now destroyed by those that captured me. But, thankfully I have a decent memory, and have managed to piece it together I believe, at least enough to try my hand... But first.... He stops after arriving at the Minotaur.

He goes about setting 12 small, pure black gemstones in a rough circle around the Minotaur's corpse and, after using a dagger to cut the palm of his hand, he traces an arcane rune on the forehead of the creature before stepping back and lighting a candle that emits a purple-black light. He recites a small chant in Necril, the onyx gems turning to dust and smoke as he does so. This black smoke and dust slowly starts entering the corpse of the Minotaur. Eventually the entirety of it disappears into the creature and vinnick falls silent for several seconds before the creature begins to move, as it does so, the skin and meat slowly slough off, melting away. Eventually, it stands upright with little flesh still attached to it yet continually dripping little drops of blood.

So, I forgot I picked up the undead master feat, so, my effective caster level for animating and controlling undead is 5+4(from feat)+2(from spell specialization) so I can create HD up to 22HD of undead per animate dead spell, and control 44HD worth. I believe. Most of which I'll likely not bring to every combat though. At most I'll have two "minions" the rest will either be "offscreen" or doing other things. Like guarding a keep. In any case, I decided on making the Minotaur a bloody skeleton. This cost me 300gp worth of my 1100gp onyx, for 800gp left atm. I now have 6(minotaur)+4(tiger)+4(sailordeads) under control. Or, 14HD worth.

He turns to alex with a grin.

Now, with the easy one out of the way... if you would like, feel free to follow me, though the next bit will take several hours at a minimum.

He then goes and gathers the remains of the Boggard, along with the remaining undead sailors and beings to take apart and stitch them together into a rather gruesome sight.

I'll be making a Necrocraft , however I haven't entirely decided on what exactly it will be or the abilities it will have. So I'll put that in another post.

After spending time in the vault, they head to the entrance on the second level, where Ajikisshochraos takes off to start her patrol. R'yzzzntyg then sits against the wall by the entrance, taking out her book to read, while she waits for Ajikisshochraos.

Ajikisshochraos starts with a smaller circle, scanning the fortress to see what state the outside of the fortress is, before expanding her circle to view the surroundings.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

oh, if its gonna be a zomble, mind if I cast haste during its creation to make it a fast one? Or at least to remove the staggered condition?

I missed the part about the bloody skeleton but I believe that wouldn't be possible for you. The bloody and burning skeleton variants are created using the animate dead spell, but count as twice their normal number of Hit Dice per casting so a bloody skeleton minotaur would count as 24 HD...Yes you can make a fast zombie minotaur I will adjust the stats.

Yeah, I hadn't realized it was 12 HD, I thought it was 6 (I was looking at the lowest CR Minotaur I found, my bad on that honestly). Oddly enough, with undead master I'd have been able too in 1 more level haha.

Ok So going to assume some of you head out to freetown. The trip to get there takes the better part of a day moving along the river. The trip is uneventful, you notice a few orc patrols that seems to notice you but they leave you alone.

By the time you arrive at freetown the sun has already set and it's getting dark. The town itself is on the other side of the river but you notice there is a raft-ferry setup to take people across.

The ferry is attached to a rope and is pushed along using long poles. There is a small cabin close to were the ferry is moored were a man sits in a chair smoking a pipe.

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For anyone staying at the Keep let me know what you do during the day.

Cori joins the group traveling to Freetown.

"It will be nice to get out of that dingy fortress for a couple of days," she says, as if discussing going to a festival.

Alexandr obviosly joins the freetown traveling group, to the surprise of most likely no one.

Greetings good Sir He adresses the pipe smoking man.

We seek passage, let us speak about the price.

diplomacy: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (1) + 17 = 18 Lol Nat 1!

The man, a midle-aged half-orc gives you a quick look over as he gets up and says "A silver each, or 5 copper if you help push the raft."

Alex, being a penny pincher and never missing a chance to show off, pays 5 copper for himself and his comrades (Cori and who else?).

Casta goes as well to Freedom town more familiar with the area to help the others. Every now and then picking up a plant and putting it into his bag but he remains quiet and content simply helping guide the party.

Vinnick will remain behind to hold down the fort, and start his crafting period.

"Any interesting news from travelers. I could stand to hear some news from the roads," Cori asks the boatman, conversationally.

Diplomacy, if needed: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

Its too early for Stanislav to take his 3 day dirt nap so he will come along.

Not used to having others do for him, Stanislav will help push the raft.

Do we have a bag of holding or a haversack? we are carrying a lot of weight in gold...

you do not have a bag of holding or the likes yet as far as I know. How much gold did you take with you? You have backpacks so you can still carry quite a bit.

He takes the money and motions for you to get on the raft.
"Not too many travelers lately, word is the Fire-axe tribe is on the warpath and massing in the north. Free-town is under the protection of Ardax white-hair so we should be safe but the Fire-Axe and the white hair hate each other so those who could have fled south just in case."

Sense Motive, truth? Or at least does he believe it?: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20

Cori listens attentively to the mans tale, nodding as he tells it.

He is discussing it like one would discuss the weather, you sense no reason why he would be lying.

Hmmph, probably prudent to sent some tribute to Fire Axe? With an attached note that you are just harmless humans, and will sent tribute to whoever wins?

Alexandr speaks as if discussing different ways of not getting wet if it rains.

As Stanis, Alexandr, Cori and Casta prepare to head off to Freetown, she hands Stanis gold coins to purchase saddle or harness, or even both, if they manage to find those magical items.

Once they have departed, she speaks to Vinnick, Are you interested to see what is in that chest below?

She calls for Ajikisshochraos to join her to investigate the chest. Near the edge she looks at the mud pool to see if she spot any danger, instructing Ajikisshochraos to do the same.

Perception R'yzzntyg: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17
Perception Ajikisshochraos: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

If seems to be safe, then Ajikisshochraos will fly high near the cave roof over to the chest to have a closer look.

"If folks are fleeing, who's left in Freetown? Will the stores be open? The Inns? The taverns? Are we heading to a ghost town?" Cori asks in a tone of concern.

"Don't worry all the businesses are still running, those who live here typically don't have anywhere else to go or are too invested to leave. It's mostly those that were "just visiting" that have fled."

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Some boggard sees R'yzz eyeing the chest and fetch the shaman who warns you (in draconic) that the chest is empty and trapped. Opening it would trigger large rocks to fall from above crushing the one below of forcing them in the boiling mud.

Before heading down to the cave, she sends off a tiny bird with a message to the druidic order, requesting knowledge pertaining to castle Ballentyn.

Hearing someone speaking draconic, both R'yzzntyg and Ajikisshochraos turn to face the voice seeing the shaman speaking. R'yzzntyg waves Ajikisshochraos to fly back over to her, Seems you speak our language. Those that sneak into you home, get to become mudmen, laughing, I need to go back to the fortress and study this ritual, so we can have some nice mud friends for company.

She turns to head to the second level throne room to study the rituals, making notes of what are required for the various rituals.

Nearing sunset, they go outside, where Ajikisshochraos takes to flight to do her scouting of the area immediately around the fortress for any signs of activity.

vinnick would have given them a list of scrolls to look for, I'll get it up in discussion in a bit.

Casta looks up from a plant he seems to be harvesting and squeezing making a vial of essence from it. “What have the Knights been doing? I would imagine they have some contingencies in case the orca decide to get seek blood. It’s not as if it is a new occurrence.”

The barge lands on the other shore after a short while.

"Same as always I reckon, they send out patrols and watch for sign of invasion but they won't lift a finger to help us out here if anything happens." replies the driver.

Freedom Town

The ferry is off the map a little bit further downriver just south of the bottom gate.

As they step off the barge he replies. “It seems they do less for the land than they claim. Their hypocrisy would be humorous if it wasn’t painful.”

As they enter laden with coin he looks to the others and gets about seeing what can be bought here in this frontier town.

All of the interesting deities exclusively help those who help themselfs friend Alexandr says as he moves of the barge.

He promptly begins to avail himself of the local rumor mill, being everybit the adventuring merc he is.

diplomacy to gather information, in particular about open issues and the needs of local leadership: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (5) + 17 = 22

"Looks like a small place," Cori says. "I doubt we'll get lost in it. Shall we meet up in two hours at the local tavern or drinking hall?"

@alexander when asking about problems for the local leadership the two subjects that come up are the fire axes massing in the north and the Cleft Head tribe who recently relocated to the hills to the west of the town. Apparently, the Cleft Head tribe has aligned themselves with the Empty Hand tribe and has been given control over this region. The problem is that the tribute the Cleft Head are demanding is much larger than the previous amount and the councilors (The only three surviving members of the Sharpes Gang who founded the town) are not sure how they are going to raise enough gold to satisfy them. There is talk that people might need to be offered up as slaves to make up the difference.

I mistakenly called it the white hair tribe before but that is actually the name of a singular chieftain that is a member of the Empty Hand tribe.

How interesting! Alexandr thinks, a plan forming in his head.
Cleft heads demanding increased tributes may imply weakness rather then strength, presumably the look to recoup losses?
Does Alexandr, based on the time he spent with Fireaxe/the orcs know more details?

Long term, Freedom town will either be under our or under Fireaxes rule, is Fireaxe pragmatic enough to tolerate them?
Another question based on Alexandrs experiences with the Orcs

I do not think it to be an unreasonable request to ask for "authority" over Freedom town from fireaxe after he won the initial battle, given that the land currently belongs to White hairs allies of the cleft head.

Plots are rapidly forming in Alexandrs head.

Cori makes her way through the streets of Freedomtown, looking at what passes for shops, taverns and inns in the small village.

Cori makes her way through the streets of Freedomtown, looking at what passes for shops, taverns and inns in the small village.

Specifically, she looks for shops that specialize in magic items and objects of power.

R'yzzntyg and Ajikisshochraos continue to patrol around the fortress, while waiting for the others to return, and for information regarding the castle to arrive from the druid order. Making notes on the fauna and flora of the area, while finding clues of the tribe with the trent.

The central area of the town seems to have a Bazaar of sorts set up with various miscellaneous goods being sold. There is a weapon's shop (Slicers and Dicers), an alchemist shop (Bottle solutions), a general goods store (Kemler's Goods and supplies), a butcher shop (The good Cut), and a trap shop (The dirty Trap).

It will take several days before R'yzzntyg hears back from the druids. The treant doesn't appear to come this close to the fortress R'yzztyg sees no sign of it. R'yzzntyg does make some headway however in learning to summon mudmen and mud elementals from the magic pool below by studying the murals on the second level.

Alexandr makes polite and discrete inquiries on how to arrange an informal meeting with the towns leadership.

Diplomacy to gather information: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (4) + 17 = 21

Dont worry, I do not intend to start any duels my friends He reassures his allies. In a quite moment out of earshot.

Dear Lady Coriandrinne, Sir Stanislav, your presence at a possible informal parley with the towns leadership would be most welcome. I intend to find out how much they owe the orcs currently not beholden to fire axe, to ease their eventual vasallisation to either ourselfs or fireaxe, I am a half orc myself, but the presence of you two would go a long way to make vasallizsation to fire axe, or to us, seem far more attractive compared to
the possible alternatives.
It would like be quite benefical if I were to be in a more assistant position, while either of you makes the main diplomatic effort, as they would find the news of non orcs working for fireaxe in high positions to be incredibly welcome.

Alex plans to find out how much the town has to pay the orcs hostile to fire axe. This would be useful information, and the town may way be wiling to part with it, although they would likely low ball what they owe, we could probably finangle this into better shop access, after all, the town needs people to buy things now :) .

(Alexandr: is this being asked before or after we split up?

Before, presumeable we also set up a meeting point, probably at the tavern. I imagine that all of our respective info gatherin/shopping things take 2-3 hours.
Alex would presumably figure out how to get a "deniable" appointment with the towns leadership at a convenient time for everyone in the away team, likely at early night, assuming his roll suffices for that, 21 is a reasonable number, but not a great one.

How about allied with Fireaxe and not working for him? Stanislav asks. When lying I find it best to stay as close to the truth as possible. Also I am afraid I am more forceful than diplomatic. I suspect that despite your potential racial disadvantage you are still the bettre negotiator by far. So lets go out and explore and meet up in a couple hours.

When the group splits up Stanislav will fo with Cori. But his focus will be getting a feel for who might pay best for the gold the party wants to sell. He will show a goblet or candlestick here and there and gauge interest, promising to return to any buyers he considers serious.