Telvir grits his teeth as he is forced to bow for the spellcaster. He pays surly tribute 3 times. Smoke bows with his nose in his paws.
Aily gives a long low curtsey, one she only gives to a certain blood lord. After two seconds, she stills, radiating FURY. Which she tries to vent by stabbing the creature again.
HP 161/250
AC 37 / 39 in Mountain Stance or 41 if use Mountain Stronghold
Resistance 3 to cold, electricity, fire, piercing, and slashing damage
Fort +26, Ref +24, Will +22 (+1 vs. disease and poison; +2 circumstance bonus to Fortitude DC vs. Grapple and Swallow Whole; +2 circumstance bonus vs. being Shoved or Tripped while in Mountain Stance, +1 vs. fear)
Hero points: 2
Effects:
"Whoa, boss, you really are great!" Humerus says, bowing.
Ghiasi resists some of Caraid's spirit song while the construct is immune to it. The shae avoids Aily's attacks as she swiftly steps away and unleashes a mental assault of endless confusing images.
The construct continues to wail on Aily, though her dodge turns what would have been a critical hit into a normal one.
Telivr finishes paying tribute to the shae and shakes off the remains of the spell, though Smoke is still enthralled.
HP 37/250
AC 37 / 39 in Mountain Stance or 41 if use Mountain Stronghold
Resistance 3 to cold, electricity, fire, piercing, and slashing damage
Fort +26, Ref +24, Will +22 (+1 vs. disease and poison; +2 circumstance bonus to Fortitude DC vs. Grapple and Swallow Whole; +2 circumstance bonus vs. being Shoved or Tripped while in Mountain Stance, +1 vs. fear)
Hero points: 1
Effects: Confused 1/10 rounds
Humerus continues to bow.
Aily goes down in a heap of skirts and blood.
Caraid stops, confused. Someone just hit Aily, but he didn't see who. So he fires off his usual attack spell.
Saved from full undeath by her blood lord, Aily sends her blade dashing into the shade
Aily steps up to Ghiasi to follow her, but the shade reacts by disappearing into the shadows and teleporting behind Humerus. Flustered, the rogue attacks the construct instead, scoring a hit and weakening hit.
Ghiasi reaches out to tap Humerus atop the head as she casts a spell. "Them bones, them bones, gonna dance around!" she laughs as she tries to force Humerus into an uncontrollable dance. She then dashes 30 feet away.
The construct bashes Aily again, but she dodges enough to turn a critical hit into a normal one.
Aily is barely standing, her body battered and bloody, but she keeps stabbing in hopes to end this construct as soon as possible.
Caraid shakes off the fog that clouded his senses and infuses Aily with as much energy as he can.
Healed slightly, Smoke retreats to a corner of the demiplane.
head aching from over-exeresion, Telvir summons a ghost from the wilds of Geb to fight with the incorporeal foe.
for
HP 187/250
AC 37 / 39 in Mountain Stance or 41 if use Mountain Stronghold
Resistance 3 to cold, electricity, fire, piercing, and slashing damage
Fort +26, Ref +24, Will +22 (+1 vs. disease and poison; +2 circumstance bonus to Fortitude DC vs. Grapple and Swallow Whole; +2 circumstance bonus vs. being Shoved or Tripped while in Mountain Stance, +1 vs. fear)
Hero points: 1
Effects: Confused 2/10 rounds
"Whee," Humurus exclaims as he boogies over to Caraid, "look at me, boss! I'm dancing!"
He punches the oracle. "That's for Mithralline, blood boss!"
You are off-guard, you don't treat anyone as your ally (though they might still treat you as theirs), and you can't Delay, Ready, or use reactions.
You use all your actions to Strike or cast offensive cantrips, though the GM can have you use other actions to facilitate attack, such as draw a weapon, move so target is in reach, and so forth. Your targets are determined randomly by the GM. If you have no other viable targets, you target yourself, automatically hitting but not scoring a critical hit. If it's impossible for you to attack or cast spells, you babble incoherently, wasting your actions.
Each time you take damage from an attack or spell, you can attempt a DC 11 flat check to recover from your confusion and end the condition.
Caraid heals Aily moments before a confused skeleton dances up to him and punches him twice. Aily moves to pursue Ghiasi, stabbing her once, then again as Telvir's conjured bhuta bites the shae from behind.
"Ouch! Alright, I've seen enough. Stand down!" Ghiasi commands the construct. She raises her hands in surrender.
"Yes, you are exactly as powerful as I had hoped. You’ll have to forgive this diva’s theatricality. I have no wish to die today, and I believe I know what you are here for. Please, let us talk about my little operation, the source of the shadow ash, and my knowledge of the blood lord behind its production."
Telvir is tempted to let the bhuta feast, but the information the shae offers is intruiging.
"We don't appreciate being meddled with," the spellcaster states, plainly. "And you should do your research before initiating such a reckless confrontation. Still: We are here to investigate the shadow ash. Tell us what you know."
It is possible that anyone in the group might have seen a drawn book where the person get so angry the very air around that is spiking up, like invisible flame.
Aily is like that, standing next to Humerous with a fury so bright the world might burn to ash any second. Her voice is flat death when she says to the large skeleton "You Hit Him"
Caraid places a hand on Aily's shoulder, infusing her with more healing energy but doesn't say anything. This is something for her to deal with, besides he's feeling a little less vital than usual - too much of himself is leaking outwards from the rents in his body. So after his brief magic he steps backwards, letting Telvir and Aily conduct their own 'negotiations'.
Although her bone-white mask hides any facial expression, the shae’s shoulders visibly relax as she adopts a cautious yet comfortable posture. “Thank you for your mercy. The full story is a long one, which I’m happy to tell, but I expect you’d rather I just get to the point. It is this: I was approached recently by Chancellor Kemnebi, who offered me a fortune to use my former network of business associates to transfer a great deal of some substance—shadow ash, he called it—without being noticed. Given the new life I’ve built for myself here, however, I declined. Rather predictably, he moved to threats, but he must have realized I was too insulated by my social contacts. So he did the next best thing and kidnapped my younger brother Ghiono. Although my brother isn’t the sharpest, he’s still dear to me, and I acquiesced. I have been meeting with a tomb giant courier at various places throughout the city on a regular basis to pick up this ash and have it transported where I’m told. In exchange, I give him illegal positive-energy items that I acquire from my contacts who would prefer to remain nameless.
“So there, you see, is my rather ordinary story. It’s not how I’d write it were I creating a play, but I suppose we can’t all be inspired to create something new when the old is so popular.” The shae pauses for a moment before continuing. “I don’t suppose you’d be interested in meeting with this tomb giant and learning where the shadow ash is coming from, would you? I’m sure I can make a deal of some kind.”
"Yes, of course. Though if he is a simple currier, we'll be quite disappointed," Telvir nods at the revelation. "Do you have any particularly damning evidence about the Chancellor?"
Ghiasi shakes her head. "I do not. The Chancellor seems to have some larger scheme in mind, but he certainly has not taken me into his confidence. The shadow ash is apparently a key part of it; he’s been desperate to find it for some time. Now that he can get it in large quantities, he can proceed with whatever his ultimate plan is."
"When is your next rendezvous with the giant scheduled? We could use time to prepare," Telvir asks.
"The next meeting is scheduled to take place in two days. I'll receive the location in a message delivered by a zombie courier roughly two hours before the meeting. I will provide the location to you so long as you promise to keep quiet about what I've been forced to do."
Aily watches her former minion while the others talk, gathering in her mind all the ways to make him suffer. But then she turns away, ignoring him completely.
Humerus would blink at Aily in continued confusion if he had eyelids (or eyeballs, for that matter).
"Blood boss, you usually like when I hit people? And I didn't mean to him him. That was the shadow ashhole's fault," he concludes, pointing at the shae. "She kind of made me."
"Fault is unimportant." Aily responds without looking, seething, and planning on her own, while waiting.
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Humerus scratches his skull. "What is important, then, blood boss?"
Caraid nods sharply and then turns on his heel, unwilling to waste any more time on this issue, or on Ghiasi.
Before you leave, Ghiasi gives you her shadow's heart to keep in hopes her brother will recognize it. She also gives you a bag of holding (type IV) that she uses to exchange for the bag from Graelar at each meeting. The bag contains two runestones with greater vitalizing runes on them and four vials of greater bottled sunlight.
You have two days to rest, shop, and prepare for the meeting with Graelar.
Aily finally turns to look at her minion. Her red eyes hold his sockets, and answers with a single cold dead word.
"Consequences"
"Oh yeah, for Ghiasi. But I think we just let her go. So maybe for Chancellor Kemnebi, right?"
Two days later, Ghiasi contacts you to let you know that the mindless zombie courier arrived as expected. In its mouth was a folded piece of paper with a crude map showing an alleyway behind one of the many grain warehouses on the southern side of the city.
"Let's ambush the ash giant," Telvir suggests. "Humerus, grab and hold please, and Aily, let's leave him a bit of blood. I hope that he will have some answers for us."
"Simple and direct." Caraid agrees. "Telvir, you should cover the exit. With your summoning you will be able to prevent any escape. I will reinforce our combatants."
"Grab and hold who, blood boss?" Humerus says, confused by the plan.
"The giant we are meeting," Telivr clarifies, with a sigh. "We'll point him out to you."
You make your way to the meeting site. The alleys here are muddy and slippery. A steady drizzle falls from the sky, and the wind howls around buildings. Stone granaries tower over the neighborhood.
You find a good place to lie in wait. About an hour before the appointed meeting time, the tomb giant Graelar arrives. He looks around warily, scouting things out to make sure nobody is waiting for him in ambush...
He gets within 60 feet when he suddenly stops short. His eyes widen slightly...
"There, Humerus. Grab." Telvir instructs the skeletal wrestler.
He shares a brief vision of the future with the team, then attacks with a piece of debris from the street.
or for
The maid slips within shadow, and out behind the tomb giant. Her new blade, thin and delicate, but sucking in the little light in the alley way. Her entire body seethes with her pent up anger and her desire to unleash it on someone whose destruction will need lead to more work for her.
HP 265/265
AC 38 / 40 in Mountain Stance or 42 if use Mountain Stronghold
Resistance 3 to cold, electricity, fire, piercing, and slashing damage
Fort +27, Ref +25, Will +23 (+1 vs. disease and poison; +2 circumstance bonus to Fortitude DC vs. Grapple and Swallow Whole; +2 circumstance bonus vs. being Shoved or Tripped while in Mountain Stance, +1 vs. fear)
Hero points: 2
Effects:
"You got it, blood boss!" Humerus replies and charges forward quick as a necrophidius. He easily grabs the giant in a tight hold, slamming his bony fist into the big creature's head. (But gently, so as to only cause a concussion, not kill him!)
[ ooc] Mountain Stronghold (free), ◈◈ Stride x2, ◈ Flurry to Grapple and Strike[/ooc]
Before he even knows what's happening, you pounce on Graelar! Telvir's projectile slices open his chest, Aily appears behind him and buries her blade in his back, and Humerus yanks him into a full nelson and delivers a punishing punch to the skull!
Dazed and bloodied, the giant cries out, "Argh! Enough, I surrender! I surrender! I'll give you anything you want!"
"We want it all, boss! Er ... what've you got?"
"Information." Caraid says coolly, strolling along the alley now that the (very brief) shouting and fighting has died down. "Tell us everything you know about the organisation you are working for. We wish to know where the shadow ash comes from, where it is being taken and for what purpose. We want to know why your employers are stockpiling positive energy items. In short, we want to know everything."
His manner is calm, but underneath it lies more than a hint of steel. Conveniently there is also enchanted steel available, courtesy of his favourite maid. Just in case reinforcement is needed.
Aily stands behind her blood lord, cleaning the blood of the giant off her blade with slow long swipes, as she looks up at the giant. A single glance that brims with the knowledge that his answers will decide how much pain he will be in after.
Graelar eagerly spills all he knows in exchange for his life. He tells you that he recently made the mistake of taking a job that involved stealing some papers from Chancellor Kemnebi. When the vampire caught him, he was impressed by the giant's skill. Rather than drain his mind on the spot, Kemnebi offered him a job as courier. Graelar meets with Ghiasi once per week at a different location each time. He brings a bag of holding containing refined shadow ash, which he exchanges with Ghiasi’s bag full of positive-energy scrolls and items.
The shadow ash is created in a place called the Agorron. The Agorron has long been a source of mystery and rumor for Yled’s citizens, although few have bothered to do much work to learn about it. Most in Yled know the basics: it’s a maze-like series of interconnected tunnels that runs beneath the city’s sewer system and has something to do with powering Yled’s significant defenses. Most residents assume the details of the Agorron are a military secret, and it’s unwise to poke into Yled’s military secrets. Those who know more about the Agorron understand it connects to a drained aquifer miles below the Mortuarium, where several powerful creatures are held in stasis, their energies used to fuel the operation of the city’s magical Bonewall as well as the city’s negative energy cannons and other, lesser-known defenses.
Graelar tells you that Kemnebi has constructed a new entrance to the Agorron in the Government District, several blocks from the Panopticon in a relatively empty area. Visitors travel down a long, twisting set of stairs for 200 feet before arriving at a large steel door, which typically remains unlocked. He describes the general layout of the upper level, the only level he's had access to, and is guarded by numerous tomb giants lead by a seer named Sorvinaesen. The actual shadow ash production takes place on the complex's lower levels, but he has never been there himself.
"Hmm. How to get there without fighting our way through a series of tedious ash giants," Telvir muses. "Thoughts, Aily?"
"Maybe we bring Graelar, blood boss, and he can tell them we're not so bad and to let us through?"
"Many" Aily responds with crisp simplicity, before letting out a small sigh to explain a few.
"While the blood lord's servants are trained to evade notice, the blood lord's themselves rely on being seen. Spells could hide your presence, while I could become a servant, everything needs cleaned." her red eyes look to the cowering Graelar for conformation. "Success there still means we have a force of giants behind us as we confront whatever is front of us."
"Intimidation is probably our best possibility of circumventing the problem. Use the reputation you have fostered as blood lords that cannot be stopped, bring the prisoner as Humerus suggests and give them the option of leaving without dying or see what their fate would be if they don't."
Once you are ready, you head down into the secret entrance to the Agorron, escorting Graelar as your prisoner. You travel down a long, twisting set of stairs in utter darkness for 200 feet before arriving at a large steel door, which is unlocked.
This large room has steel doors to the east and west. The design is both recent and utilitarian, though it’s clear whoever constructed it took their work seriously. To the east an iron portcullis protects a steel door. There are two levers, one in the north wall and one in the south wall. Huge weapon racks stand against the eastern wall, including well-oiled scythes and an assortment of other weapons. The air here is uncomfortably cold.
Four tomb giants stand guard here. They raise their scythes when they see you and your prisoner. "Stop right there! What is the meaning of this?" one giant demands.
Humerus pokes Graelar. "Answer him, boss," he whispers ... in his completely normal tone of voice.