[SFS/Bounty] DM Kludde's Super-fun Bounty Castle (Inactive)

Game Master Kludde

Before anyone gets the chance to disturb the syringe, Tolgath notices a particular large pile of venumbrites lying around, in an apparent ambush.

Looks like we need another attempt at disrupting venumbrites. Engineering or mysticism

Have we been told of a research assistant before?

No, but the hospital had plenty of research staff. Nothing too surprising here.

Mysticism + trapsmith's tools: 1d20 + 5 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 5 + 4 = 29

"Everyone hold very still for a moment. We've got more venumbrites," Talgoth warns, as he slings his rifle and pulls some tools from his belt. He murmurs some arcane-sounding gibberish as he gestures at and around the swarm with his tools.

Talgoth manages to divert the venumbrite threat.

Somewhat reluctantly, Talgoth picks up the syringe, and his eyes glaze over for a moment as the vision comes to him. "This is what we need, alright. She used this to inject that golden liquid into the machine." He packs the syringe away carefully as he replaces his tools.

"Excellent! Time to open more doors!" Chance opens the door south of the Round Room and steps in!

Talgoth follows after Chance, curious to see what the worlanisi will discover next.

The door leads to a corridor with patient rooms. At the is Sikooli's personal bedroom, which contains some dusty personal effects and an access key card with photo-id (which reads 'Sikooli')

You can search the patient rooms with a perception check

Chance's Awesome Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 13

Chance looks around.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Eh, whatever, I got my 20 when I really needed it, so can't complain.

Phelp's sometimes adequate perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

Vaidra crowds in after everyone to take a look around.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

Volitare peers in cautiously in case there are more of these .;... venumbrites about.

perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

"Well, that is a nice progress for us. Well done." Jortek tells Talgoth as he claps his back. Following the others to the next room, he begins to scan it as well.
Perception: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (12) + 0 = 12

Vaidra and Volitare manage to find a little cache of medical supplies: a
basic medkit, a medpatch, and a mk 1 serum of healing.

There's a door that leads to the sandy room, and there's some noises that can be heard on the other side.

Talgoth stops near the door at the end, and waits for the others to join him before he opens it. Meanwhile, he listens to see if he can determine anything more about the noises on the other side.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

Chance, blinking in realization that someone else was opening a door, steps through the door that Talgoth opened. She also attempts to perceive things.

Chance's Amazing Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 9

"There's so much sand here!"

Vaidra enters the room next to the door to look through the window.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Unfortunately, she can't seem to find the window at all.

You sure that's sand and not venumbrites? says a rather nervous Volitare.

"I think when you make statements like that, you're supposed to say 'Dun-Dun DUN!' afterwards. It's part of the narrative contract," Chance says.

Dun-dun-dun? they squeak.

Jortek follows them again to the sandy room and does not hesitate to enter despite the "Dun-Dun-Dun" they are supposed to make. "Show yourself!" he exclaims after hearing the squeak, with his weapon ready as he scans the room to see where the source of the sound is coming from.

Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 9

The room seems too large to be quickly scanned by him.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19

Phelps is paying a little more attention in this room.

DUN DUN DUN! The doors opens to the very same room of sand the party saw before, from a distance. There's a rustling in the sand, and trails form as if some creature is swimming underneath the sand surface.

Nanites stream out from Vaidra's fur, forming into a rifle again. She moves up behind her companions.

Phelps moves up by the door to hopefully have a better view into the room.

Is yelling "Sandshark" appropriate for this situation? How does that Jaws theme go again? Something like "duuuunnnn duun… duuunnnnnnnn dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnn dunnnn."

"Volitare, try to talk with whatever's swimming in the sand," Talgoth suggests. "If it's another animal, maybe you can persuade it to leave peacefully. If not..." The half-orc finishes that thought by tracking the trail with his rifle.

Ah ...... okay

(swa)Hello Mister Sandshark. I .... hope you are not planning to be hostile

Chance waits, hoping that Volitaire can soothe the sandshark. She does play with her butterfly-shaped mote while she waits.

Sandy shark, dun dun, dun dun dun, sandy shark, dun dun, dun dun dun

It's another of the dark-energy-tainted squoxes that jumps out from under the sand, initially spooked by the presence of the party, but then soothed by Volitare's presence

Planty shark, dun dun, dun dun dun...

Another squox to evict, it can be carried off the grounds with an Acrobatics or Athletics check, scared off with an Intimidate check, or coaxed away with a Life Science check.

Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

"Hey little one, let's leave this place!"

Chance picks up the squox and prepares to leave.

Vaidra lets out the breath she was holding as the nanites stream back into her fur. "Once we push this thing out the door, do we have everything else we might need for the machine and the...er...convincing the ghost to stop ghosting?"

"I sure hope so," Talgoth replies to Vaidra. "We should head back to the machine once Chance is done evicting this one."

Volitare goes with Chance to help with the squox.

Athletics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Jortek gets close to the squox and shoves it with his feet out of them room. "How many of your kind are here, tell me?" he asks the squox, not expecting any reply though.

Volitare glares a bit at Jortek's treatment of the squox but passes on the question.

One... two... many... many many! the squox provides as very definite indefinite answer. By that count this one should be the last one, and the little creature is successfully evicted by chance.

It also looks like you have all the equipment you need to activate the machine...

Once the last squox is outside, Talgoth leads the way back to the operating theater and the machine. He remains wary, however, and carries his rifle at the ready.

"Now...we just have to figure out how to make this thing work so we can get rid of the venumbrites for good, right?" he asks the group. "And then...help Sikooli find peace."

"Sounds great!" Chance peers at the notebook. "Um, who knows how to do that? Do we just ask Ajanu and Sikooli?"

Are there skills that we will need to roll?

Ajanu is still waiting in the operating theatre, where the giant venumbrite-sucking machine is ready to be activated.

Needs an Engineering, Medicine, or Life Science check

Talgoth has none of those skills, but his hireling will attempt to assist someone who does.

Engineering, aid: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

And he whiffs!

Phelps will take a shot,

This looks like it needs an engineer.

Engineering check: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

Phelps injects the gold liquid into the giant machine, and with the help of the research rat (tm), causes it to spin up. Ajanu looks on as the machine gathers the blackish nanite powder, first the operation theatre, then the wider hospital through the ventilation shafts.

Sikooli looks on, and while she seems satisfied with the machine working, she remain firmly locked in this realm.

To help her journey from this realm to the next, you can put her mind at rest with the mementos you found (the family picture and the tea set). I need a diplomacy or mysticism check

Mysticism: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8
Bah, going to use my reroll on that.
Mysticism, +1 nova: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 5 + 1 = 8
Oh, wow, that's just miserable.

Talgoth attempts to remind Sikooli that she had a good life, but his own traumatic past makes his effort sound thoroughly unconvincing. He soon lapses into awkward, frustrated silence.

hem hem (link)

Chance brings out the tea set and the photos and starts pouring tea. "Sikooli, let's have that tea party that we promised." Chance places a cup in front of the spirit, and passes shallow cups to the others. "You made a beautiful hospital. You saved your son's life, and now he can do other things, even if he was changed. Because that is what life is all about, change, right?"

Chance looks at the photos, showing the ghost the pictures of the garden and the little squoxes. "But now it the time for another journey - the journey of your soul. I'm a Desnan, and I'm on the first big journey of my life. My people call it a jaunt, where you travel for a while and then come back as a grown up. Your next journey is like that. You will find your place, and discover new things."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

Chance's butterfly mote alights on her palm, and then Chance smiles at Sikooli. "It's time to spread your wings. It's time to fly!"

I thought you couldn't reroll a check more than once? Anyway, Chance seems to have it well in hand!

Sikooli calms down considerably when Chance utters her words. She sits down to drink the tea, and with each sip becomes a bit more transparent, a bit more detached from the realm of the living. With the last sip, she puts the cup on the table, then disappears completely. A disembodied voice leaves nothing more but a grateful whisper.

Poshkettle tea can calm even the most haunted soul.

Ajanu looks on and remains silent for a moment, then finally says All my mother wanted was to help people, no matter the cost to herself. Now, she can finally rest. Thank you

----

(fade-out)

---

(still image of the laboratory)

TeleWright succesfully refurbished the hospital, and managed turn it into a very effective research laboratory

(still image of Ajanu, seen from the back)

Ajanu started a new life elsewhere on Castrovel

(still image of nearby village)

Local rumours of the hospital being haunted have abated, although there have been sightings of small, furry creatures.

----

Mission success!

Chance hugs everyone. "It was an honor working with all of you! May our journeys bring us together again!"

The worlanisi's effusive farewell earns a rare visible smile from Talgoth, and the half-orc's attempt to return the hug is notably less awkward and perfunctory than last time. "It was good to work with you again, Chance. I hope we'll see each other again."

His partings with the others are much more reserved, though he does take a moment to kneel down and offer a hand to Volitare. "Well done again, little one. Take care of yourself."

Chronicles (link) are ready! Let me know if everything is ok...