GM Eclipse's Among the Dead (Inactive)

Game Master Agent Eclipse

Uaine lets forth positive energy to alleviate both Armstrong and Hustavan's wounds.

Channel Positive Energy: 1d6 ⇒ 5

"Sounds as if you've done something to offend them. Do they know we are coming?" Her voice starts taking on a dangerous edge, much as she is trying to avoid it.

"Oh...I am fine. Thank you, I do quite well or at least I used to." Hustavan says chuffing up at the healing and care, and waving away the thought of eating or drinking at the moment.

He nods at Uaine's question, "I am sure they are always expecting someone to be coming. Most of us...er them...died after the last mission the Pathfinders had. The remainder hid back down there but not before long..." His eyes dart towards the entrance to the burned out cathedral.

"Most of them are probably dead but watch your feet...and heads...and arms and legs. They all turned on each other at the orders of another even crazier cultist. I ducked out just in time to send for you lot. In fact, I should go with you. I want to make sure this is put behind me." he adds bouncing between bravado and skittishness.

"Their eating each other? What kind of cultist are they?" Gru'Gar says as he unstraps his greatax from his back.

"I hope they didn't resort to that kind of behavior! It is the traps that will lop off your limbs not any bites. That is the way the newcomer wanted it. I am sure your superiors told you about Zyphus cultists but they prefer to make their kills look like accidents. Faulty supports and cave-ins but I got out of there fast so there is no telling what awaits." he adds answering the new speaker.

"Traps," Uaine says derisively. "Cowardly stuff, but still something to watch out for. Such garbage left me the only survivor of my last assignment. Good thing you mentioned having some skill in that department, Benson."

The tiefling turns back to Hustavan, sizing him up as he slowly recovers. "And you're certain we shouldn't just find you a place to hide until we return? I'd appreciate some assurance you can hold your own."

Benson considers Hustavan's plan and tries to discern if he is sincere in betraying those he once called comrades, or if this might be a trap of the sort he described the cult using.

GM: please roll a sense motive for Benson. Sense Motive +6.

Note that while Benson has a level of rogue, he does not have trapfinding as that was replaced by an archetype ability. Looks like Gru'gar will be better at spotting and disabling traps, although Benson will assist where he can if needed.

Benson feels fairly confident that Hustavan truly wants to be rid of the cultist connection, if only to save his own life or reclaim a bit of his position.

"Hold my own? Oh, I am not doing any fighting with these old bones but as a former CONSUL I can make sure things are handled well! Can't have you heading down there...leaving any cultists to come after me later!" he says shaking away they idea of having to hold his own in a fight.

"Traps? So that is why they sent for me to be on this mission. I have some knowledge of the workings of traps.
My name is Gru'Gar by the way, nice to meet you all." Gru'Gar smile a toothy grin.

He is a Trap spotter w/ a +17 to just notice them when I am within 10 ft of them.

Gru'Gar's smile fades as he steps forward with is ax raised.
"Watch yourselves, there is some type of gray ooze over there." he says as he stares at GAB.

"Don't worry, it's one of our allies," Uaine says to Gru'gar before turning back to Hustavan.

"It's much easier to attack than to defend. Any bit of effort we turn towards your safety is less we have to spare for our work. If you insist on coming, can you at least make yourself scarce?"

The ooze wiggles and convulses at the attention.
"Blorp!"

Hustavan nods quickly and points to the entrance.

"That I can do!" he says falling to the back.

If there are no more questions or interactions with our man Hustavan, we can head inside! If Benson and Alaxander have preferences for marching and breaching feel free to adjust the slides.

The group carefully heads down the stairs near Hustavan, into the dimly lit recesses of the temple foundation. At the bottom of the stairs that lead down from the surface is a small room. Two female statues stand in the middle of the room; their arms were broken off and are missing, and their facial features were long ago scraped away.

As they reach the landing below and begin peering around the corner, Gru'gar easily spots a trap mechanism in the threshold to the hallway. It appears to be a magically triggered and arrow slots are placed within the walls, the rogue feels confident he can attempt to disarm it from his position.

New Map up. You know the trap is right in front of you at the bottom of the stairs if you want to disable it or use some other method.

Benson makes it known that he is a second rank type of fighter, although he's willing to take point if there is an advantage to that. One of his tactics is to take a moment to demonstrate his martial skills to try to demoralize those close enough to appreciate the display properly. If successful, this tends to make enemies a bit closer to wanting to scarper and less able to make proper attacks.

In terms of game rules: he uses his Dazzling Display feat, which requires a full round action. It has the potential to demoralize multiple enemies within 30 feet. Benson's Intimidation skill is +10, which is likely good enough to succeed 50% of the time causing enemies to be shaken for one or more rounds. After the first round, he'll use his acrobatics and Daredevil Boots to try to flank enemies so he can add sneak attack damage.

Armstrongs mobility and the presence of traps means he's good for now, but he likes to get right in the thick of things.

”I really hate traps! I have no idea how to disable them but I can definitely try to find them!“

@gm:?Please assume as standard procedure that Sadaf will always look around so please roll perception for him in case there is a trap. He will also continually cast detect magic.

Sadaf walks to the front of the team.

Gru'Gar gets to work on the trap.
"I will have this disarmed quickly. It looks simple enough."

Disable Device: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (14) + 15 = 29

"If this place is full of traps I will lead the way."

Sadaf casts guidance on Gru'Gar for +1 competence bonus.

If positioning is an issue, GAB! will climb to 5ft up and cling to the walls while engaging in combat.

The ooze jiggles in encouragement for the masterful rogue.

Gru'gar gets to work, meticulously dismantling the trap components. For a moment, it looks as if he will trigger it early but catches himself.

With the trap disabled the group can begin moving in further to get a look down the various hallways.

Feeling safe to approach the statues, Sadaf notices a symbol etched into the base of the western base.

To each side are hallways leading further into the catacombs, to the east appears to be a crypt where bodies are kept. At the mouth of the northern hallway appears to be a rockfall trap and the remains of its victim underneath, rubble and debris cover the floor with two pale, cold feet sticking out from underneath.

The ooze slithers around the walls, making its way over to the feet under the debris. It slithers its way from the walls and the ceiling.

Finally near the feet, the ooze grows a tentacle and gives them a gentle poke, attempting to stir any possible reactions.

If nothing happens.
Satisfied that there is no immediate danger, the ooze starts attempting to lift the junk out of the way.

Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Uaine peers around the corner to check things out. She throws up her hands after a few seconds of looking at the symbol. "Could be Zyphen, Sarenite, I don't know. Neither are in my field of expertise. Is it safe to come over, GAB!?"

Has the rockfall trap been reset?

Benson moves into the cleared trap area as quietly as possible.

He glances at the symbol on the statue base, but doesn't recognize it. He whispers, "I'm afraid I never paid much attention to the street preachers. I only know a little about Cayden Cailean because ..." he taps his drinking mug hooked over he belt and breaks into a grin.

Then he gets serious again and settles into a corner and peers cautiously around down the different hallways.

Dacknar move over to the body still thinking that this could be a trap and checks the body.

The rockfall trap has not been reset from examination.

With Gru'gar checking over the area of the trap one last time, it is clear the trap hasn't been reset. The racks for the rocks hang loosely from the ceiling.

Gab! pokes at the feet but they give no resistance or reaction. Attempting to move the rocks but it definitely seems possible, likely taking only: 2d10 ⇒ (6, 5) = 11 minutes as a group.

"Good thing I got out when I did...still don't know how you fall for traps in your own hideout. Gonna dig the victim out? Well, I will hid-er-keep lookout." Hustavan says peeking around the group.

While peeking down their respective tunnels, Gru'gar spots a dropoff in the tunnels to the north, past the doorway. Most likely another trap or cave-in. In the dim light, he can't be sure just yet.

"Watch your step. Near that doorway is some type of drop off."

And starts to make his way to the door.

GAB! keeps lifting rock after rock, working on getting the body loose.

Uaine gladly joins in the lifting of rubble. If nothing else, it provides a welcome distraction from the group's ward.

"Looks like the best way forward, though," she says after the door is pointed out. "Shall we?"

Benson maintains his spot, ready to fight if something presents itself. He is curious about the stiff under the rocks. Hustavan made a valid point that it would be surprising if a cult that sets traps as a religious act would trigger the trap, meaning the deceased might be an thief or perhaps someone like themselves hoping to get revenge on the cult.

The group is able to finally move enough debris to examine the body and equipment of the victim, who does appear to be one of the cultist. In his pack is a scroll and ring which Sadaf notices giving off magical energy.

As Gru'gar starts to move to the doorway, he hears something large clamoring past the pit. A moment later a large undead wolf squeezes around the corner and snarls from the other side of the pit. It appears the pit is filled with jagged spikes that have been partially corroded by acid but it appears to have been triggered some time ago...allowing the acid to have soaked into the walls and floor.

Gru'Gar slowly moves back and tells the others.
"There's a large undead looking wolf over here. And stay away from the pit. Some type of acid burned the inside."
And he readies his ax.

Benson moves up to see the wolf and quickly readies his bow and fires off an arrow at the unholy beast.

Composite Longbow: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

"Let's see if ordinary weapons can wound this thing."

Benson quickly pulls up his bow to surprise the beast. Having been struck by the arrow, the wolf growls and quickly rushes back down the left hallway. You hear howling echo throughout the crypts.

---

Encounter Round 1: Bold may act.

Alaxander
GAB!
Sadaf
Danduun
Uaine
Benson
Gru'Gar

Hustavan

Red Wolf (-2)

---

Active Conditions:
Knowledge (Religion) to identify.

Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

Uaine can't make heads or tails of her quick glance at the creature. Even as it runs, she stays put. "We aren't beating that thing in a footrace," the tiefling says. "Especially if we want to avoid the ire of the traps and its friends. We'd do better to move at our own pace. But just in case it comes back..."

"I'm warning you now, this is an Abyssal transformation. Temporary and with no side effects afterwards, but it'd still be fair to opt out."

Readying to cast Bone Fists on Armstrong, Danduun, GAB! and myself should the wolf or anyone else come back down the passage.

"Agreed," Benson says when Uaine recommends not giving pursuit. "Still, we may as well advance in the direction it went. It may have fled down a cul-de-sac where we could attack it on our terms."

Delay action: The group is not going to pursue the wolf, Benson will advance slowly to look at the pit and try to judge if jumping it would be feasible, assuming no other traps are detected in the hall to the north ([dice=Perception]1d20 + 4[dice]). If others decide to pursue, he will try to jump the pit, once someone else has done so ([dice=Acrobatics]1d20 + 7[dice]). GM: Copy and paste the dicebot text and add the slash before the last tag.

Staring after the undead wolf, Gru'Gar moves forward scratching his head.
"That was odd. I have fought many undead zombies things before. Never had a zombie ran away calling for help. Could have the wolf be just dressed up as undead?"
Gru'Gar tries to spot any sign of blood from it's wound.
Perception: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (6) + 15 = 21

Sadaf also is wondering what’s going on.

”So let us just continue and see what happens! You lead on and I follow to see if there is any trap in front of us! And I will detect for any magic!“

GAB! begins using its suction to climb across the pit, clinging to the walls.
Perception to see if anything could be a makeshift bridge: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

The group begins to cross the pit and discern why the zombie was acting so oddly. A quick examination makes the group feel safe that there are no more traps in the hallway past the pit.

Benson sees no issue with jumping across the 10 foot pit with a small head start and follows as GAB! climbs across. DC10 Acrobatics

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

On the other side neither can spot anything of use to make a bridge. Sadaf and Gru'gar don't spot any blood trail but there are stains of acid trailing away, it is possible it once fell into the trap. There is also the faint growling and sound of it banging into walls as it heads further in to the catacombs.

---

Encounter Round 2: Bold may act.

Alaxander
GAB!
Sadaf
Danduun
Uaine
Benson
Gru'Gar

Hustavan

Red Wolf (-2)

---

Active Conditions:
Knowledge (Religion) to identify.

Uaine heads closer. Still, she has little hope of making the jump without a running start and magical assistance both, so she proffers the latter to GAB! instead. "Keep an eye out for that wolf! Or whatever you use instead of those."

Blessing of the Faithful gives GAB! a +2 sacred bonus to AC until my next turn. Not much, but I need to put as many bonuses as I can into this jump next turn.

Armstong takes a running start and leaps across the pit.
acrobatics: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25
He then inspects the ground in the hallway before proceeding farther.
perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25

Sadaf orders Daduun to jump and gives him a guidance spell.

acrobatics: 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 12 + 1 = 15

"Grrrr ... " the dinosaur makes strange sound.

Sadaf also tries to jump with a guidance spell!

acrobatics: 1d20 - 1 + 1 ⇒ (10) - 1 + 1 = 10

Once the other side is clear Gru'Gar makes the jump.
acrobatics: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23

And the takes his spot as in front to keep an eye out for traps.

Benson lands on the other side and keeps moving, whispering with some excitement, "The chase is on!"

He dashes to the end of the hall and stops in a defensive stance, ready to attack anything that might attack him.

Move action to move, standard action to fight defensively if anything is within reach before his next round.

When Benson rounds enters the hallway he can see the undead wolf pushing his way through the crypts.

You can turn down that hallway towards it instead if you like, as you would have easily spotted it.

GAB! proceeds to follow up close to his allies, and then grows a tentacle spiked club that it holds over it's head.
Move, grow weapon with Bludgeoning Damage.

Benson will keep the wolf in sight but delay closing this round. "This way!" he says and points with his now drawn sword.

Gru' Gar moves around the corner and up to the undead creature. He strikes at it with his +1 Cold iron Greataxe.

Cold iron Greataxe: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Damage, Slash: 1d12 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

"Not going to have you stalk this party, little puppy."

Not sure if the wolf is surprised for sneak attack.

Sorry, started a new job and didn't realize how much it was going to keep me away from my computer. Working in a residential mental health facility now.

The wolf was aware of the group, just trying to get around the pit which it didn't want to cross.

The wolf struggles to avoid the blow in the tight quarters and howls in pain, bashing against the walls to face the half-orc.

As the group begins to close on the creature, Hustavan watches from a distance.

"Make sure that thing can't get to me!" he calls out.

---

The undead wolf throws slams its head around to bludgeon the source of its pain, slamming into Gru'gar with a bone-cracking thud.

Slam: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22
Damage: 1d8 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19

---

Encounter Round 3: Bold may act.

Alaxander
GAB!
Sadaf
Danduun
Uaine
Benson
Gru'Gar (-19)

Hustavan

Red Wolf (-11)

---

Active Conditions:
Knowledge (Religion) to identify.

Sadaf moves forward and casts guidance on Benson.

Uaine is glad to notice the side passage before having to make a difficult jump. She runs over, bringing down both fists against the wolf's back while it is busy.

Unarmed Strike: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 5 + 2 = 20
Damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5 plus Touch of Chaos, disadvantage for the round