Sigurd's shield probably saves his life while Vekka suffers from volotile magic causing his perceptions to slow down...
...and the party closes in on this final foe!
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BONES FOR HOUNDS BELOW & NIMBO & ENTOURAGE INTERRUPT
RK "Nimbo" w/ Religion 30
RK Running Heads w/ Religion 16
RK Hound Master w/ Religion DC 24
Unlocked Spoilers: Master @ none, Nimbo @ None, Running Heads @ LINK
Conditions: Stupified
R5
Lan @ ♥️ -35 @ sickened 1
Auntie Wu @ -5 mental plus -15 piercing less shield block?
Sigurd w/ Blessed Blood (1d6 if P/S fiends) @ ♥️ -54 & shield -18 @ Stupified 3 @ Shield Block the 21 piercing?
Kazuki @ Sangpotshi Hero!
Houndmaster (AC 26) @ ♥️ -38
Vekka @ Hero! @ ♥️ -31 @ 1x Pending Save
Nimbo @ ♥️ -54 @ 0 round reset breath weapon
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Sagebane Poison: LINK
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Worried about Sigurd, but figuring it's more effective to end Nimbo before seeing to his wounds, Auntie Wu sends another Slashing Gust at the frog-thing.
Then she uses Lay on Hands on Vekka.
The giant frog's... hair... came to life...?
The Hound Master must have pummeled Sigurd's mind. Certainly this hair must really be a cudgel or something.
At any rate, Sigurd Raises his Shield.
Somehow, it didn't break.
Kazuki sets his sights back to Nimbo and sends a volley of arrows at it, the arrows soaring between Sigurd and Lan...
Kazuki's first arrow hits the "frog" in the left eye.
His second, the right eye.
His third hits the "man" inside it's mouth.
Together, "frog" and "man", the thing collapses onto the floor, joining the flaming guts of already-charred innards, three slain hellhounds, and their master.
With the Heroism spells winding down , the party decides between a patching their wounds or just continue exploring!
Party Status
Lan @ ♥️ -35 @ (Sickened wears off shortly)
Auntie Wu @ ♥️ 60/76 & ⛨ -11
Sigurd @ ♥️ -67 (hehe) & ⛨ 33/64 (Stupified wears off shortly)
Kazuki @ ♥️ full @ Sangpotshi Hero!
Vekka @ Hero! @ ♥️ -31 (Don't worry about the save it was "Slow")
Even with his addled mind, Sigurd sits down to begin repairing his shield. >Quickly.<
Sigurd almost cracks the shield in his haste.
Even as his mind clears, Sigurd is unable to make any real progress.
0-10 min:
to Auntie Wu, Sigurd, Vekka
Auntie Wu Treats Wounds on Sigurd and Lan +21
Lan gets +10 from pearly white spindle
Lan Refocuses
Lan @ ♥️ -4
Auntie Wu @ ♥️ -5 & ⛨ -11
Sigurd @ ♥️ -35 & ⛨ 33/64
Kazuki @ ♥️ -0
Vekka @ Hero! @ ♥️ -20
10-20 min:
to Auntie Wu, Sigurd, Vekka
Auntie Wu Treats Wounds on Sigurd and Vekka +16
Lan gets +10 from pearly white spindle
Lan Refocuses
Lan @ ♥️ -0
Auntie Wu @ ♥️ -0 & ⛨ -11
Sigurd @ ♥️ -10 & ⛨ 33/64
Kazuki @ ♥️ -0
Vekka @ Hero! @ ♥️ -0
Lan tops Sigurd off with a 1st rank heal spell.
---
Lan searches the room.
What is to become of Vekka?
--------------------
--------------------
(Don't worry about the save it was "Slow")
The party takes time to patch their wounds.
There is a corpse chained to the wall in one of the side rooms...
...presumably a zombie, judging by it's decayed flesh and open wounds...
...Lan and Auntie Wu swear they see it stir...
Like. Playing dead...
Like. Playing dead...
Sigurd is thankful for the haling and assistance. But why is he struggling to fix his shield?
Stubbornly, he persists, if he has the chance.
"Ruh roh. That one is playing dead."
Sigurd keeps ticking away.
Lan feels one eye upon him - a little dislocated from it's socket (typical for a zombie) - then it rolls to fixate upon something else vacantly.
Or perhaps he is imagining it.
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Auntie Wu picks up her damaged shield and stows it. Pity we can't justify spending too much more time... She sighs, then notes the corpse. "Oh yeah, Lan's right. It's faking," she concurs. Disgusting! And yet, two--uh...*former people* have been very helpful lately (and Pick didn't seem evil), so perhaps it would be wise to talk to this one first. She plants herself in front of it, Staff of Healing held nonchalantly in her hands, and calls its bluff. "Hello. We can see you're aware. Let's chat, shall we? What would you like to know?" Its response may give a hint as to whether it's a threat or not.
Zombie slides his "good eye" to fix gaze upon Auntie Wu.
"Well, shit"
Leaving the act behind, he rises “Well, this is new! People who aren’t monsters? Who might you be?” darting his good eye from Auntie Wu to each consecutuve companion, one at a time.
He looks like an outsider, not from the area, or at least, judging by what was left of his marred face...
Suddenly noticing the undead creature in the cell beside him, Kazuki slowly backs away to the other corner.
"Auntie Wu, your shield is..." Sigurd moves up alongside her. "I can repair it if you... what is this?"
Sigurd realizes he's been very self absorbed and hasn't paid attention to anything besides his shield.
"We are. Hmm, it is difficult to fully explain, but we are locals to this area, trying to cleanse the monastery. And who are you? Your face... has seen better days."
Joking, but not entirely, Vekka asks the zombie
So, how many times have you done this?
He's curious to see what meaning it will take from the question.
"You're new" Kalen Bray reacts with genuine surprise to Kazuki.
He turns to Sigurd "Cleanse? Place is filthy for sure..." he glances again at the guts - points to one of the Meokdan "You gunna eat that? Still wriggling... think I might!" he pats his stomach - emaciated with a gash and some kind of loopy organ sticking out "My face isn't so bad" a sense of humor shows through his crooked, mostly missing teeth "Why are you cleaning the place?" genuine curiosity!
Awaiting a moment for additional explanation, he proceeds to eat the still-fresh brains of the fallen Meokdan, and turns to Vekka with his mouth full "I haven't! I've been hungry for a very long time. Thanks for killing these guys!" and returns to his meal.
NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM
Another undead to banish. At least this one isn't violent. More like carrion, crawling toward its next meal.
Still, the act is revolting.
Kazuki shambles zombie-like up to Kalen.
"I...I don't know what happened to me...
Why are you here?" he asks Kalen, feigning confusion.
"Who are you?... Who am I?" he continues to feign confusion.
Joking, but not entirely, Vekka asks the zombie
So, how many times have you done this?
He's curious to see what meaning it will take from the question.
Vekka's tension lessens slightly at the lackadaisical demeanor of the zombie. Even pleasant?
But he knows not to let his guard down fully.
Almost excited to see another zombie, he goes to shake hands with Kazuki "Kalen Bray" and answers questions "Well, it's a funny story..." he goes on to poorly lie, claiming to have been a hunter who took shelter in these ruins during a storm only to be captured by the evil monks who live here "And I need a little help. You guys took these guys out..." chewing on a piece of Meokdan brain "...Think you could take out everyone upstairs? I really gotta get outta here!"
Also, casually "So... I didn't catch your name... how did you die?"
vs DC 15 (Expert in Religion)
"You look like an outsider, not from the area, or at least, judging by your, uh, marred - I mean, magnificent face. Where are you from?"
---
vs 14 < DC <= 18
"My name's Ho Lan."
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This conversation...isn't going as efficiently as Auntie Wu wants. She really, *really* wants to get the info out of this former guy ASAP and send his soul to the Boneyard posthaste. Her hands itch to bathe him in vital energy. Worried that her eagerness to get on with it will undermine the guys' tactics, she waits to see how Kalen Bray responds.
Now that Lan points it out, he does have an odd-sounding name, like Sigurd's.
"I... I'm a hunter, too!" he says as he looks at all the gear he's carrying.
"I came in here to take shelter from a storm also from what I vaguely remember. I think these guys killed me!" he points at his friends.
"Next thing I know, I had a strange feeling like I was dead but I'm moving around. These guys convinced me to join them." Again, he points at his friends.
"I'm from, uh..." he sticks to his lie, explaining that he is from "around here and there" and addresses Ho Lan in the "wrong" way, the way a foreigner would "Man, I can't even rememeber when I died - it was so long ago! - so" he looks at Kazuki "You are fresh dead. Kinda lucky. Ain't you wanna get your revenge though?" he points to Sigurd "He looks dangerous" and back off a couple inches as if his divine font radiated hot "You been outside? Is the whole world dead?"
And.
"So, you gunna kill everyone upstairs, or what? Help me out? I'll sweeten the deal: tell you about some buried treasure if you do"
His offer is honest.
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"Why would all the, uh, 'monks' upstairs want to harm you?" Auntie Wu asks, genuinely curious as to why Kalen would be in danger up there. Surely he'd fit in more than her party of living people had, and they weren't necessarily constantly in danger.
But also, she doesn't want Kalen to leave, except for his soul to go to the Boneyard where it belongs.
The party is able to recognize easily that, due to being preserved, Kalen is a Husk Zombie, which explains his memories and intelligence.
They further speculate that his circumstances (strong memory) are rare, but not totally unheard of.
Amidst the debate, they decide whether to easily dispatch him (Sigurd and Auntie Wu?), or to let him leave freely...
Sigurd is glad the rest of the team is doing the talking.
While Shizuru's anathemas do not specifically forbid tolerating the undead,
Sigurd would not allow this zombie to live. Or, unlive. Continue on. He would destroy the body and free his soul to return to the Boneyard.
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28Joking, but not entirely, Vekka asks the zombie
So, how many times have you done this?
He's curious to see what meaning it will take from the question.
Vekka waits on the answer Auntie Wu's last question. It's immediately interesting why this individual is not aligned with the other denizens of the temple. He could be an ally but he could also just be another untrustworthy actor in this miserable place.
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"How would we help you?" Lan wonders.
"Help me get out of here: Kill all the monks upstairs!" and repeats himself "I'll sweeten the deal!"
Kalen Bray doesn't realize that you all have pretty much already done this. He finishes the Meokdan brain, spits out pieces of skull, and belches.
"He does seem quite harmless. I say we let him go. Maybe he'll be able to actually help us later on." he says with a shrug.
"Who knows? If he's been stuck in this time loop/dream thing like us, could he be one of the townsfolk of Willowshore that we don't know?"
That possibility makes Vekka pause.
You know, that does make it seem more rash to dispense with him out of hand.
He turns to address their zombie.
Okay Kalen, if those above asked you to harm us, would you?
Kalen Bray lies.
”No”
A reflex, lying. But then the cunning bastard throws the same question back in Vekka’s face ”Would you harm me if those two told you to?” pointing to Sigurd and Auntie Wu.
”Look. I have been down here for literally forever. And I just want to leave. So can you help me do that? I’m not as strong as you guys, and that monk lady will probably kill you anyway. So, before you die, what does it matter to you?”
Sigurd wonders how long they will tolerate Kalen. He remains silent, as Shizuru compels him to maintain the community above all else. Lost in a dream within a dream within a figment of an illusion. These are the only community he has right now.
If they wanted to destroy Kalen and send his spirit free he would do it in an instant.
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Auntie Wu can't take it anymore. "And if there aren't any already-dead brains to eat, does anyone here think he *wouldn't* kill someone to eat them? *Really*?!" She punctuates her rhetorical question with a Vitality Lash. To any protests from her allies, she retorts: "He's dead! His family mourned him long ago, and they don't want to see him like this!"
Right before Auntie Wu delivers the killing blow, there is a moment where another player could stay her hand...
"Be at peace, Kalen. When we break the cycle you will not have to suffer undeath again. May you be at peace..."
Sigurd's only regret is that Auntie Wu beat him to the punch.
Kazuki doesn't try to hold her back when Aunti Wu blasts the zombie with her spell.
"Well. That takes care of that. I guess we should just move on now."
”I just want to leave. So can you help me do that?”
"Sorry, no. We are not dead - we're still living, and we protect the living over the dead."
Lan will not stop Auntie Wu. As a matter of fact, if she has any qualms about being the sole aggressor, Lan will jump in with Needle Darts or Electric Arc.
Hmph, he certainly didn't try very hard to hide his lie when he answered me. So be it.
If he's not down after that, he draws his katana.
"So, are you gunna hel-"
ZOT
Dust remains where Kalen Bray once stood.
The party takes time to rest before moving on.
Empty shelves and barren platforms that hold unadorned weapon and armor racks, along with open, dust-filled treasure chests, provide hints to the possible treasures once held here. Only one chest near the west wall remains closed. A double door to the south is carved with a spiraling
rune that has been painted red...
Sigurd hefts his shield and prepares to Defend.
He waits for the team to fiddle with the treasure chest. Or not, he assumes every chest is locked at this point.
"I will lead the way once we head downstairs." He takes his place at the front of the line when they are ready to go downstairs.
...the chest is not locked...
"Ah! Auntie Wu! My apologies. Given the... dilemma, I had forgotten."
In about 2 minutes, Sigurd is able to repair her shield.