Ernie starts up his clockwork auto-doc and the blades and various attachments whirl loudly and he rushes forward and swings at one of the boars. As he strikes the beast, the buzzing blades and spinning attachments carve up the beast with surgical precision.
Gregoth likewise steps up to the boar attacking Andagard. The air around him seems to darken, as if the shadows themselves were reaching out to cling to the broken wood wielded by a broken man.
Andagard tries to brace himself with his staff as he sees something in the darkness barrel into him, nearly knocking him to the ground. He swats back at the boar. "Figures some wildlife would come in to feed after."
HP 40/47
AC 21
Focus Points 0/1
Hero Point 1/1
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Ernie moves in and slashes deeply into the boar.
Gregoth rages and smashes into boar #2.
Andagard smashes in the skull of boar #2 with his first blow.
- x Boar 2
- => Ernie
- => Gregoth
- => Andagard
- => Zeldana
- => Knight Night
- Boar #3
- Boar #4
Conditions:
Andagard: 40/47
Ernie: 35/35
Gregoth: 53/53
Knight Night: 39/39
Zeldana: 41/41
Enemy Conditions
Boar 1: -13
Boar 2: -30 [DEAD]
Boar 3:
Knight Night moves in to fight the boar on the right side, recalling his knowledge with Esoteric Lore and swinging his blade for it's weak point!
You scour your experiences and learning to identify something that might repel your foe. You retrieve an object from your esoterica with the appropriate supernatural qualities, then use your implement to stoke the remnants of its power into a blaze. Select a creature you can see and attempt an Esoteric Lore check against a standard DC for its level, as you retrieve the right object from your esoterica and use your implement to empower it. You gain the following effects until you Exploit Vulnerabilities again.
Critical Success You remember the creature's weaknesses, and as you empower your esoterica, you have a flash of insight that grants even more knowledge about the creature. You learn all of the creature's resistances, weaknesses, and immunities, including the amounts of the resistances and weaknesses and any unusual weaknesses or vulnerabilities, such as what spells will pass through a golem's antimagic. You can exploit either the creature's mortal weakness or personal antithesis (see below). Your unarmed and weapon Strikes against the creature also become magical if they weren't already.
Success You recall an important fact about the creature, learning its highest weakness (or one of its highest weaknesses, if it has multiple with the same value) but not its other weaknesses, resistances, or immunities. You can exploit either the creature's mortal weakness or personal antithesis. Your unarmed and weapon Strikes against the creature also become magical if they weren't already.
Failure Failing to recall a salient weakness about the creature, you instead attempt to exploit a more personal vulnerability. You can exploit only the creature's personal antithesis. Your unarmed and weapon Strikes against the creature also become magical if they weren't already.
Critical Failure You couldn't remember the right object to use and become distracted while you rummage through your esoterica. You become flat-footed until the beginning of your next turn.
You can attempt to Exploit Vulnerabilities in one of two ways: either by invoking properties that repel that type of creature, or by attempting a more improvisational, ad-hoc method with your esoterica that can impose a custom weakness on any creature, albeit one that usually isn't as dire as a creature's existing weakness.
Mortal Weakness After identifying a creature's weakness, you use a thematically resonant bit of esoterica to attune your attacks to your discovery. Your unarmed and weapon Strikes activate the highest weakness you discovered with Exploit Vulnerability, even though the damage type your weapon deals doesn't change. This damage affects the target of your Exploit Vulnerability, as well as any other creatures of the exact same type, but not other creatures with the same weakness. For example, when fighting a pack of werewolves you might use silver shavings or crushed moonstone to deal damage that applies their weakness to silver to your attacks against any of the werewolves, but you wouldn't apply this damage to any other monsters with a weakness to silver.
Personal Antithesis You improvise a custom weakness on a creature by forcefully presenting and empowering a piece of esoterica that repels it on an individual level; for instance, against a tyrant, you might procure a broken chain that once held a captive. This causes the target creature, and only the target creature, to gain a weakness against your unarmed and weapon Strikes equal to 2 + half your level.
With one boar down Andagard steps in to help protect the others.
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Both Zeldana and Knight Night agree that they are just boars. Animals, no special abilities except ferocity... though rumor has it they can charge attack.
Andagard lands what should have been a killing blow, but the boar still stands. He then drops it with his second attack.
Knight Night misses his target, but Zeldana hits!
Boar #3 tries to gore Knight Night!
The boar attacks thrice, and only on its third attack does it land a tusk, but it rips out plenty of stuffing!
Boar #1 attacks Zeldana, who hurt it last! Its first gore attack nails Zeldana, but thorws it off balance for its follow up attacks.
- => Ernie
- => Gregoth
- => Andagard
- => Zeldana
- => Knight Night
- Boar #3
- Boar #1
Conditions:
Andagard: 40/47
Ernie: 35/35
Gregoth: 53/53
Knight Night: 19/39
Zeldana: 33/41
Enemy Conditions
Boar 1: -22
Boar 2: -30 [DEAD]
Boar 3:
Andagard sweeps his staff out protecting Knight Night as best as he can.
He slides into place, beating on the boar as he thumps it on the side of the ribs with the end of his staff to try and knock the wind from the beast.
HP 40/47
AC 21
Focus Points 0/1
Hero Point 1/1
Ernie sets his auto-doc to "dissect" and lets the clockwork blade carve a few slices out of pig number one. Then seeing that Knight Night is leaving a grisly trail of cotton all over the cobblestones the doctor leaps into action, rushing towards them to provide aid.
Ernie flips on a switch and the autodoc begins to groan as it lets out smoke and the surgical blade grows red hot. "Don't worry little bear! This will only be uncomfortable for a moment, but then you will feel like a new poppet!"
The autodoc sears the poppet's tears shut; but then it lets out a loud bang and the clockwork gears shutter to a stop.
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Andagard protect Knight Night, and then proceeds to smack #3 a couple of times. Zeldana tries to slash at #1, but misses, so then proceeds to burn the boar. It avoids most of the flames, but you all do smell the lovely aroma of burning hair.
Ernie fails to land a blow on #1 and then cauterizes Knight Night's wounds.
- x Ernie [Healing with Bot]
- => Gregoth
- x Andagard [Boar bashing]
- x Zeldana [burning away]
- => Knight Night
- Boar #3
- Boar #1
Conditions:
Andagard: 40/47
Ernie: 35/35
Gregoth: 53/53
Knight Night: 39/39
Zeldana: 33/41
Enemy Conditions
Boar 1: -25
Boar 3: -16
Gregoth’s arm jerk up and down, pulling the makeshift club gripped in bone-white knuckles into the air and back down towards the frightened animal.
Knight Night being set aflame momentarily was perhaps the closest anyone has ever seen the bear being genuinely afraid before his body is stitched back together and he looks new. Even he wasn't sure how that worked, but he won't be complaining.
He looks at the boar, a determined look now on his face, and he brings his sword in for another round of attacks!
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Gregoth smashes his club into #1. The boar looks to drop, but summons its inner rage and stays standing! Gregoth tries again, but is unable to land the blow.
The Hero Bear hits his boar twice, and it staggers a moment before summoning its porcine passion and stays standing! His third attack misses.
This is unfortunate, as the boars then attempt to return the favor.
First #1 attacks Gregoth. Gregoth is gored twice for tremendous damage!
Then, #3 attacks Knight Night, who is missed three times.
- => Ernie [Healing with Bot]
- => Gregoth
- => Andagard [Boar bashing]
- => Zeldana [burning away]
- => Knight Night
- Boar #3
- Boar #1
Conditions:
Andagard: 40/47
Ernie: 35/35
Gregoth: 23/53
Knight Night: 39/39
Zeldana: 33/41
Enemy Conditions
Boar 1: -29 Wounded 1
Boar 3: -29 Wounded 1
Gregoth doesn’t seem to notice the dark blood trickling down his bad leg, the sting of bug bites re-exposed to moving air, the force of the impact as the boar slams its tusks into him again and again. Pitch-black eyes weep pitch-black tears as he slams his arms down again and again.
Ernie winds up his auto-doc, but the overheated weapon let's out a bunch of smoke, then explodes, sending bits of burning hot sharpnel back in Ernie's face.
Ernie let's out a tired sigh before swinging the broken, smoldering weapon at the remaining pig.
Andagard quickly tries to put the boar out of its misery. "At least we will eat well this evening."
5 damage resistance.
HP 40/47
AC 21
Focus Points 0/1
Hero Point 1/1
"Anyone need me to take a look at their wounds?" Ernie asks before settling down to get his auto-doc back into shape.
Andagard lets Ernie get to work wrapping bandages as he looks around before he too helps clean up the wounds that Ernie isn't able to get to. "There must be something to eat nearby if those boards are hanging around."
Ernie first takes a look at Gregoth's wounds, as he seems to be the most hurt out of the group.
After wrapping up his injuries, Ernie then sets about fixing the gears on his auto-doc.
The bear has not a lot it can offer for healing, so he waits for his allies to be patched up and then looks to inspect the boars and surrounding area more closely for any traces of notable information.
Andagard motions to the Warland's Yard. "Let's start here then we can head up towards the Manor on the hill."
Gregoth nods, pulling Ernie's bandage tighter around his leg before standing.
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Painted on the side of this stone building near the village’s center is a pile of timber behind a crossed mining pick and shovel. The front door proclaims this to be “Warland’s Yard, purveyor of general goods and supplies.” The inside looks as though it’s been thoroughly looted.
The shop is a basic building with a large retail area, storage room, kitchen, and a private bedroom in the back. Since the whole thing is made from stone (with a straw roof), it’s one of the sturdier buildings in town.
While the inventory has been mostly picked over, a few useful items remain, including 50 feet of rope, a single box of nails, a hammer, four pints of oil, a dozen torches, and 10 feet of simple iron chain. The backroom has a few more items, like enough wood to barricade at least six
doors or windows, a small barrel of flammable tar (which can cover four 5-foot squares and burns for 4 hours), two barrels of fresh water, six large bolts of cloth, and a crate with 50 arrows.
The kitchen has enough food to feed one person for a day, though it’s clear the room has been thoroughly ransacked.
In the bedroom, a chest and wardrobe both stand empty.
Andagard jumps a bit as he notices the cat. He clicks his tongue, holding his hand out for the cat to sniff him. "It's alright. I bet you're hungry." He opens a small tin from his ations and offers it out to the mangy cat. "You want to come with us?"
When Ernie finishes up recalibrating his auto-doc he catches up with the group inside the store.
"Looks like whoever was here assembled enough materials to fortify this building but it doesn't look like they had the time to do it."
Ernie takes the time to make a mental inventory of the supplies here, in case they come in handle later today.
”Does it strike anyone else as odd that a cat would be out here alone in a desolate place? Perhaps it is a familiar.” The Bear guesses, rubbing its chin with its paw.
"You have a point there, little bear knight!"
Ernie coos gently at the cat. "Nice kitty, kitty, kitty..."
”Nice work, you made a little friend.” The bear smiles, then pats the long nose doll he is carrying, careful not to touch the nose.
Although he is disappointed that the cat didn't come to him, Ernie smiles. "Well, at least we found one survivor here. Let's go to the next house and see if we can find more."
"There are a few rooms back here. Let's take a look quick and then head to the Manor." Andagard opens the doors to the west and takes a look around the bedroom.
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Andagard checks out the rest of the house. The kitchen has enough food to feed one person for a day, though it’s clear the room has been thoroughly ransacked.
In the bedroom, a chest and wardrobe both stand empty.
You spot a small coffer atop the latter that Warland forgot when he left. Inside, you find two well marked bottles of moderate alchemist’s fire, one lesser antiplague, and a moderate darkvision elixir.
Gregoth wordlessly follows Andagard through the house.
In the bedroom, his head tilts upward. Arms reach upward, hands grab a small box tucked away atop the wardrobe. Carefully he undoes the latch, carefully opens the lid to reveal four bottles with labels tied around them like little vests.
"Great find Gregoth." Andagard claps the man on the shoulder. On the way to the manor he looks at all of the tunnels. "More of these tunnels. Something or somethings came from below. Hopefully we can be out of here before we havve to find out."
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You make your way to the manor.
A small but stately manor home looks out over the village from the slope of a small hill. The only two-story building in the community, its outer walls on the first floor are made from stone, while the second floor is constructed from lumber and plaster, crowned by a slate roof. The opulence, however, is marred by the barricade around the front door, while the gaping hole of scorched stone and wood in the building’s back corner indicates a recent fire. With its shuttered windows and barricaded door, the manor looks as though it was readied to withstand a siege—but despite these preparations, it didn’t hold.
The barricade on the outside of the building is relatively intact, but it appears that attackers simply climbed over it. The doors to the building have been broken down, and the entrance to the grand hall is covered in blood. Clearly, several people died here. A few discarded shortswords and a steel shield lie next to the mess. Two cloakrooms sit on either side of this entry, both containing a few storm cloaks, along with a single finely crafted mantel bearing the town sigil (a spring atop a hill). The stairs leading up to the second floor are caked with mud.
There are barefoot human footsteps going up the stairs.