Briarstone Asylum
Some of you moreso than others of you stealthily approach the door. Zek finds it locked...
Search Posts
Briarstone Asylum - Back Out Into the Courtyard Cole's attack connects as the creature mistakenly flies right into it shrieking further in pain! Sterling's attack though does indeed miss. The foe flies straight into the clouds, you can hear its wings flapping for a few more heartbeats and then... silence... On edge you all scramble to place yourselves in better position in case it attacks again or worse yet, returns with friends... but it never returns. You strain to hear something, and you do. Sounds of wolves baying in the distance. The sounds of screams of terror that sound far, far away. The screams when they come quicken your breathing, but you steel yourselves as you are no mere mortals, you know that now. You're here with a purpose! Then it occurs to all of you, Zek ran off!
Zek: In this small place, of which not much has been explored, you run to the only safe place you know, the front entrance. Your brain holds onto enough sense as to not wander into the unknown after all more terror will probably await there and you are fleeing to safety! Once you reach the front though, the fear still grips you and you try and run away.
To find yourself once more running towards the front entrance just like the last time this happened. Then it happens again.. and again.. and again... until you regain your composure.
Cole's blast just misses the creature as Bastian takes a position next to the fiery Half Orc.
Cole's blast just misses the creature as Bastian takes a position next to the fiery Half Orc. Round 2 - Sterling - GO!
Briarstone Asylum - Back Out Into the Courtyard Teo loads and tries to recall what else she may now about this thing and more knowledge floods into her mind, but from where? Teo:
The foe has no face but can see in all directions regardless. It's tail is used to nauseate its foes rendering them unable to act. Finally, its ability to snatch foes and take them into the sky makes it extremely dangerous, it's likely that Cole's fires could be the first time it ever experienced true pain considering how it can snatch victims, render them inert midair and if they resist drop them to their doom. That pain thus caused it to drop him immediately. Zyblina is able to offset the affect of the fear via Divine Favor, but her shaking hands cause the fireshot to miss wide. Kenzo gets off two arrows, one misses, but the other scores a hit! DM ONLY:
HP = 36/42 End of Round 1 - Bastian and Cole - GO!
Briarstone Asylum - Back Out Into the Courtyard
--- Round 1 Shaking from Fear, Sterling manages to cast his Bless spell! The foe swoops down at Cole! DM ONLY:
Claw Attack #1 -
Claw Attack #2 - Grapple - CMB Tickle! Drop Damage Foe HP = 41/42 It grabs him and pulls back into the air! It's tail seems to be trying to stuff itself into the back of Cole's pants... then it shrieks and drops him, its skin smoldering from Cole Burrns elemental heat! Cole:
The foe grapples you and pulls you into the air with a sudden gust, as you are about to try and fire out how the f&+~ to get out of this situation, it slides its tail into you pants and starts tickling your ass! Make a Fortitude save DC 14 to avoid being Nauseated:
Creatures with the nauseated condition experience stomach distress. Nauseated creatures are unable to attack, cast spells, concentrate on spells, or do anything else requiring attention. The only action such a character can take is a single move action per turn. The claw attacks deal you 13 Damage. You also take 12 drop damage. However, with a successful Acrobatics roll DC 13, you avoid the first 6 points of damage and make the next 6 non-lethal The rest of the Party begins to react to the threat: Sergei/Not-Sergei launches a garden stone at the foe, but it misses and sails into the mist filled sky. Zek though, is overcome with the fear of the fiend, and begins to flee! The rest of the Party steels themselves against this fiend from the nightmare realms... Balance of the Party- GO!
-------
Whoops, my mistake, you said Courtyard so I thought you meant the inside Courtyard... You can explore that next! Well, if you all live.
Briarstone Asylum - Back Out Into the Courtyard Sergei heads out into the garden via stealth as does Zek, Teo and Cole, far less so. Kenzo, Sterling, Zyblina, and Bastian hover by the doorway, Kenzo with an eye on the sky. The mists part a bit as more of you enter. From Sergei's vantage point he can see a door at the far end of the garden. The Party suddenly, all at once, discover that the weapons they have had, special as they are, reveal themselves to be even more than they originally had known. Bastian is able to close his light down once he concentrates on it, but before anyone can discuss these newfound revelations, something materializes from the fog. Its shape is unnatural and queer flickers as it approaches from the sky, then suddenly it becomes humanoid in its form. It has wide batlike wings and a prehensile tail but its face... it has no face... the flap of its wings matching the sounds that you have heard previously. It is like a nightmare come to life and evokes the fear you remember feeling as a child mid nightmare!
Initiative:
the Foe
Zyblina Sterling Starshadow Kenzo Hagetora Cole Burns Sergei the Haunted Bastian 'Ogre' Zorovich Zek Teofila Agarici Teo ONLY:
You KNOW this creature is an Aberration, a creature of dreams called a Nightgaunt, you're just not sure how or why you know. Round 1-
Honestly, you don't know the time of day. Based on how you all feel probably day time, there is still "light" outside though the light is obscured by the oppressive gloom of the yellow mists. It seems like there are few light sources, perhaps employees at night brought light sources with them in the form of lamps and candles. Evidence of that is seen in the one lamp you did find though that lamp was of itself affected by whatever bizarre time lapse is taking place here...
I have next weekend off from work AND the kids. I will be finalizing the Weapons of Legacy for all of you, from Level 3 all the way through Level 20. Not EVERY level gets an additional ability, but Level 3 will. As these are items that have a DEEP connection to either Ravenloft, Carrion Crown, Strange Aeons, maybe one more Path I'm using but I haven't told you about yet, or Golarion's past itself, over time you will unlock what you REALLY have in your hands!
Briarstone Asylum Sergei is dimly aware of these symbols... he's though, no expert on the topic of nobility. Sergei ONLY Knowledge Nobility DC 15 #1:
This is a House d’Honaire signet ring.
Sergei ONLY Knowledge Nobility DC 15 #2:
This is a House Reniers signet ring.
Briarstone Asylum As Bastian pokes at the bedding with his sword, two signet rings fall out and onto the floor. Seeming harmless enough he picks them up. Each has the symbol of a family crest. Both crests are different, neither is a symbol of a crest that Bastian recognizes.
Briarstone Asylum
Sterling raises his hand and calls upon Pharasma to return to death, this undead foe... Disrupt Undead - Ranged Attack But his aim is awry as the foe is moving so swiftly! Despite being struck hard by the masonry, the creature lunges for Zek and its the last act the body shall take as the Kobold rends the foes flesh to ribbons! It falls silently to its doom.
The body, now dead again, is lit up by Cole. A double tap on the undead never hurts!
As nothing else charges down the hall, the Party moves forward to explore the doors in the hall as Sterling inspects the body. Knowledge Religion DC 15 - Anyone Can Attempt Not Just Sterling:
You believe this undead foe to be a Ghoul. Sterling, Teo, and Sergei inspect the now defeated foe. Kenzo covers the hallway in case anything else pops out. He sees that the hall still extends farther north based on Bastian's light source but darkness looms beyond. Zy explores the first room to the left, Cole the second, Bastian the third, and Zek the fourth. You each open the closed doors and find a bed and a low table that are perhaps all that are required for a patient to quietly convalesce here, but the accommodations hardly look comfortable and each room is slightly different in its contents. "Zyblina's" Room A portion of the tiled ceiling has given way, allowing heavy bricks to fall across the bed and floor. Fortunately, no one seemed to be in the room when the collapse occurred. Of course, there is plenty of misfortune in other parts of this place to go around! "Cole's" Room Three figures lie dead in this room. Two wearing yellow robes lie slumped on the floor, having suffered repeated vicious blows to the face. A third—an old man easily in his eighties and wearing a light cloth dressing gown—has fallen back across the bed. He is dead, but has a satisfied smirk on his face and still grips a sturdy leather boot with blood on its heel. The boot’s partner lies on the floor nearby. Cole surmises that the boots are of excellent quality albeit it one is caked with gore. "Bastian's" Room This room has two beds and no table, a shapeless mess of sheets and pillows piles atop two plain beds. Bold chalk letters high on the opposite wall proclaim this to be “Claude and Sefick’s Room.”
"Zek's" Room Human-shaped carnage covers the bed, remains of a patient trapped here. Unlike other bodies this one appears to have been almost entirely consumed by something!
Briarstone Asylum Zek calls out and retreats back into the light! Battle is once again at hand... Initiative:
Zyblina Sterling Starshadow Kenzo Hagetora Cole Burns Sergei the Haunted Bastian 'Ogre' Zorovich Zek Teofila Agarici Foe The Party sees what is clearly an undead foe charging down the hall at Zek, his clothes are similar to that of the first victim discovered, he probably used to be an employee here. Now he is an dangerous obstacle to be overcome. Although, if it's an intelligent undead, perhaps it's worth temporarily incapacitating it to discover what's going on... Round 1 - Hungry Eyes in the Insane Asylum
Zek ONLY: You head up the hallway, hugging the wall to your right hand side, to your left are four doors, all closed, all smell of death as you get closer. You darkvision and undead detection merge as at the break in the hall, a figure emerges from the corner. Whatever it is, it spots you! It's ghastly visage has a blood smeared chin. The eyes, even with your darkvision are haunting, it begins to approach you with a low growl...
From its vantage point perhaps it could not see the light until Cole burned the sheets or perhaps it heard you padding down the hall, either way, it sees you now and approaches... The rest of the group cannot se quite this far but within a few seconds he will come into their range of view!
DM ONLY: Perception DC 15 -
Perception DC 20 - Zek Perception DC 13 -
Briarstone Asylum Sergei hustles the group in and closes the door behind him with a telekinetic nudge. Cole inspects the lantern, its out. In fact, it's freezing cold! There's no way that light still being on would leave a lantern this cold. Knowledge Arcana or Planes:
It's as if the "flame" was just a memory of when it was lit. It's some sort of bizarre time paradox, perhaps. On the prime material plane such an event should not be able to happen without magic, a basic detection shows there is nothing magical about this lamp.
Briarstone Asylum As Bastian grabs the lantern, the flame unfreezes, flickers and dies out... Zek pokes his head through the curtain... Zek: The hall is rather dark. To the left are several doors. Beyond your 60' of darkvision, you see and hear nothing else...
OK finished working with enough energy left to update! Good news is that I have started leaving some gaps in my schedule moving forward so I won't be bombarded with work for the forseeable future! I am taking off this Friday so Thursday night I have penciled into my schedule the updates to your Legacy Weapons!
Briarstone Asylum Kenzo hits one each of the Oozes with an arrow. Cole's flames reach the oozes and light up the disgusting linens from whence they emerged, He almost lit up the curtains as well, but not quite! Zyblina and Teo hold flame and bolt as Kenzo and Cole made short work of the foes who indeed DO explode after death. Luckily, you were all able to move back onto the path in time to avoid the splatter! DM ONLY:
Reflex Save #1 Reflex Save #2
As the battle ends, Sergei finds Zek right behind him but Zek appears to have come through the path and not back through the mists... Zek:
You move forward back through the entry hall and find your friends where you left them though it seems they entered and finished combat in the span of time you were "lost" in the mists... --- The door to the west opens just enough due to the ruble to let one person in and out. Other than the bizarre lantern flickering queerly, there is nothing else of note in this room.
Whew! All caught up on past posts now. That was a big pile to read through. Normally I could have done it much faster, but scanning seems to be a bad idea in this game. I always feel like it's the details that matter, so slow and methodical reading lest I miss something that's important. Yes, it's pretty detail oriented for sure, that's the fun of it. I am essentially rewriting the very fabric of Ravenloft to tie it to Golarion so the details matter :) Friday night I should clear up once more, thanks for all your patience folks, last 5 weeks were crazy!
Zek: You returned back to the front entrance. No you do not see them (you will see on the map when you have a chance to open). You hear nothing at the moment.
Briarstone Asylum Sergei manipulates the tumblers and opens the locked door just as Bastian and Cole arrive to open it. The door opens to a room with pale paint peeling like scabs from the walls of this spacious chamber. A bent desk guards a broad hall stretching away to the north about 20' from the door, on the desk are piles of used and dirty gauze. To the left of the desk on a stool burns a lit hooded lantern. The faint lantern light doesn’t flicker as it should, being static and weirdly paralyzed. Curtained frames shroud the room’s eastern quarter they are 7' tall and there are a few that cut off the rest of this from from view. The curtains are covered in splotches from the other side though you cannot tell the color from this side. You deduce this from the fact that some spots on the panels are more opaque than others. The place smells intensely of rubbing alcohol. The door to the west is the same door that would have opened to the large lobby. What is beyond those curtained frames is not clear... what is clear is that something is lurking in a pile of gauze on the table and it starts heading right for you! Knowledge Dungeoneering or Knowledge Nature or Heal DC 20:
This is a Boilborn ooze, quite disgusting. when destroyed they explode raining acid everywhere and that acid contains communicable diseases! Initiative:
Zyblina Sterling Starshadow Kenzo Hagetora Cole Burns Sergei the Haunted Bastian 'Ogre' Zorovich Teofila Agarici Oozes Round 1 -
DM ONLY:
Zek Perception DC 25 - Zek: You head out and take the right flank of Cole on the path. The Party begins to filter out as well. However, the mists become SO thick that you lose sight of them and can no longer hear them! You remain calm, after all you are a loner and try and retrace your steps... you arrive at the front door once more.
Briarstone Asylum Sergei and Zek head back into the most southeast room they have found thus far. The door was locked but not trapped, Sergei fumbles the tumblers unlocking the door which swings open, Zek holds inside and peers out... Zek sees rustic flagstones that create a path through a bed of wilted flowers and shrubs, the foliage shriveled as if drowned by the surrounding sea of dense yellow fog. Though the unnatural mist muffles every motion, a sound like the flapping of giant wings splits through the fog bank, causing it to swirl as if seeking escape... The sound of flapping wings catch Zek's attention right away. But perhaps most perturbing is the fact that the path itself staves off the mist. A path to a far door, but is it a safe path?
Briarstone Asylum As time ticks by, still nothing form outside attacks Bastian. Perhaps above the Asylum the mist is so thick that whatever is over the Courtyard simply cannot hear or find its way over here.
Briarstone Asylum Kenzo heads into yet another crime scene and searches the dead. Bastian heads in as well to begin pulling the bodies out as Kenzo looks them over. The bodies all appear to have died from blunt force trauma or from being stabbed or a combination of the two. These bodies are the oddest of all based on the clothing they wear. One was clearly an employee, wearing a uniform of sorts, one was clearly an inmate wearing a different uniform but is identifiable as something an inmate would wear, the other four are all dressed in "normal" clothing. The style of dress is not one that any of you are familiar with. The clothing is a bit more coarse in material and a bit less cheerful in color patterns. The stitching is all by hand rather than "mass produced" as much of the clothing purchased in Ustalav is unless you pay a specific tailor good money. Two of the four look a bit better to do than the other two do. Perhaps these four were visitors caught here at the wrong time? The well to do couple has coinage struck with the mark of a Hawk Nosed Wizard one one side and an arcane symbol on the other. Knowledge Religion DC 20 - Sterling ONLY:
Sterling, that arcane mark bears a tangential relationship to the symbology of the Whispering Way...
Sergei ONLY:
The Wizard minted coin is the coinage of Darkon. The other coin you do not recognize. The other coin, is struck on one side with a Noble Family crest that none of you recognize and on the other side an apple. The barricade was not moved, it remained in place, it seems that when the wall collapsed behind them, the very barricade being used to stop attacks from the door sealed their fate preventing them from fleeing whatever broke through behind. --- The group covers Bastian as he drags the bodies out once more for storage and decapitation. So far, the story of what took place here is making little sense but whatever happened, racked up quite the body count. Zek retreats back within and then back outside to ascertain if he can hear that same noise out front, he cannot... perhaps whatever hovers over that courtyard is overseeing only that Courtyard, but of course that is pure speculation.
Briarstone Asylum Cole's Slaughterhouse Cole opens the door to a partially collapsed storeroom opening into the adjacent western room. The scene is one of further slaughter. Barricaded against the far door are a long desk, several chairs, a sideboard, and numerous once-stately landscape paintings barricade the door of this somber conference room. A toppled wall opposite the barrier
------ Zek in the Courtyard High asylum walls hedge in this spacious courtyard garden. Only thin breaths of sickly fog seep in from overheard, though beyond it’s just as thick as ever. Misty wisps slip between leafless trees and simple benches, giving the impression of silent beasts prowling through the garden. DM ONLY:
Zek Zek:
You hear above wings flapping, but the sound is just at the edge of your hearing, with the mist overhead, it's hard to tell, what direction it is in. -------
Map updated. I still have the Legacy Weapons on my radar folks, just cannot find the time to get to it...
Briarstone Asylum The Party Sans Sterling As the Party moves to the east, Teo and Zy shift in that direction to cover the backs of the Party as well as to ensure they are not too far behind. After all, if this cloying mist finds its way inside, the chance to get separated permanently is quite real. Sergei's powers open the door... beyond is a Courtyard. Some of the yellow mist appears to be covering the ground, but it's not fully obscuring your visibility. As Cole and others bring their lights to bear, past the rubble to the east appears to be an open hallway... Cole also realizes that there's a door right next to him to the north, Zek may have missed that in the dark. Finally, Kenzo sees that across some further rubble, is another door due east. This location would be a nightmare to secure... --- Sterling - Visitor's Room
The color of the robes matches exactly the color of the Yellow Book that the Party found in van Richten's chest. The same book that Bastian felt... odd attempting to read. The pictures that the book depicted were... odd, the creatures that appeared within were unnatural and unsettling. Sterling determines that these bodies have been dead for four days. The on on the floor seem to have been battered to death by blunt force, the one still over the hearth, was battered, but being thrown onto the antlers finished the job.
I'll move you!
I'M ALIVE!!!! I'M ALIVE!!!!
Briarstone Asylum Sergei inspects the door closest to where Zek was, the Kobold moves farther into the darkness... Sergei finds the door is not trapped or locked, he turns the handle and the door swings inwards. As though it had been plucked from the halls of some warm, country estate, this room is filled with inviting furnishings, a hearth ready for a fire, artwork populated by picnicking families, and a mansion-shaped cage with colorful taxidermic birds inside. Large windows might have once looked out over colorful flowerbeds, but now show only yellow mist. One battered corpse lies beaten to death on the ground in the middle of the room, a second battered corpse is impaled on the antlers of a stuffed elk head hung above the hearth. Both wear stained yellow robes and tattered yellow veils cover their faces... --- Zek:
As you get close to the two northern doors, you can hear a distant howling, not a wolf though, in fact you're not sure exactly what is making the sound. ---
--- Bastian outside meanwhile sees and hears nothing, well he sees plenty of sickly yellow mist but naught else, all is still out there, especially the corpse he just dragged out.
I just noticed that there are two Sterlings on the map, and zero Sergeis Map updated and that's been corrected, oops! Legacy stuff still not done but I'm hopeful that I can get to that this week. Last few weeks have been good for the wallet but bad for gaming... This week is a bit slower so I'm hoping to keep up pace a bit better, but before I update again, I will have those Legacy Items up and running...
Briarstone Asylum - Front Door Cole and Zy illuminate the room. With the darkness fled, you immediately discover on the far side of the desk a corpse, dried blood pooled beneath. Heal Check DC 15:
You surmise based on the rigidity and decomposition of the body that it died approximately six days/nights ago. IF you Pass the Heal Check - Wisdom Check DC 12:
That is the same night that Doctor van Richten was murdered by the Cultists... As the body does not immediately move to attack, you are able to inspect the rest of the room now that it has been lit up. White tile, spiderwebbed with cracks, lines the walls of this cathedral-like hall. A prominent, due north of the oval desk are staunch double doors, while hard benches and portraits of somber doctors line the walls. Regal stairs ascend toward a second floor, but rubble has crushed the upper flights, blocking passage. Lofty windows, gridded by bars, reveal yellow mist seething just beyond. To the west of Zyblina is yet another door.
You can all barely see Zek to the east as he hovers at the edge of darkness peering farther into this room... Zek:
This area has some debris, looks like from a partial ceiling collapse. Right next to where you are in the darkness to the south is a door. Through the rubble is a door leading east. To the north past the rubble there appear to be two more doors.
That map is extremely ominous. Thank you!
Briarstone Asylum - Front Door Bastian knocks on the front door, which is slightly ajar. The sound echoes oddly off of the mists behind you all. There is no response from within. Bastian can "see" that it is pitch black within. His Darkvision allows him a advantage over his mostly human companions though it is limited by the fact that the door is only slightly ajar. The white tile floor within is riddled with spiderweb cracks. In the center of the room is an oval desk of some sort. The far reaches of the room are beyond the scope of is Darkvision....
Bastian's voice is powerful and hopeful in this place of gloom. Though it is very likely that the mists have prevented the sound from traveling far or sounding as good as it could in a tavern!
Kenzo focuses on the mists, so far, he has seen and heard nothing moving or making any sounds within. He does feel unnerved, but then, who wouldn't under what appear to be very bizarre circumstances.
|