Ian and Myali arrive to find Fitheach treating with the Lady Paladin Merabelle. They attacked, avoiding Fitheach, believing him to have some form of plan, until he struck Myali, Sending Ian/Null into a rage. Ian struck down the paladin’s guards, who had charged him to block his advance, and headed straight for Fitheach.
Ian proceeded to pound and harry Fitheach, pounding and slashing until Fitheach lay torn and dead on the ground. Meanwhile, Myali and Ishiguro took care of the final guards, leaving Merabelle unprotected. Ian and Ishiguro made short work of the woman, leaving her in much the same state as Fitheach, until a golden light and heavenly noise blinded and deafened the would-be killers for a moment, and when they had Recovered, Merabelle’s god has answered her call, recreating Merabelle as a holy Archon, a symbol of vengeance and eradication of evil.
The Archon bound Ishiguro, and swatted at Ian like he was a useless bug beneath its boot. The Archon drew its blade and fought with Ian, and even with the healing hands of Myali stemming him, Ian began to bloody, to fall. Ian turned and ran, yelling for Myali to do the same. As he looked back over his shoulder, Ian saw the Archon had gone.
He turned to face forward, and was faced with the sight of thee Archon, waiting to meet him with sword drawn. She dealt the lethal blow to Ian, sending him bloody to the ground. Soon after, Myali found herself in much the same position. And so it was that our Hero’s, or villains, as the story has been, died… or so they thought. Myali and Ian woke to a dark feathered figure standing over them. The Raven had come, and claimed to have dealt with the Archon.
He also claimed to have saved them. Ishiguro, or his body, was nowhere in sight. The Raven proposed another job for them, which Ian heartily refused, even on threat of death, which the Raven was happy to carry out. Ian’s healed body tore open, his wound unhealed. Myali, distraught, made a deal with the Raven, that they would accept his offer, if he would bring back Ian, but take Null. The Raven felt it was good business, and accepted, bringing Ian back, and sucking the blackened, horrible, hate-filled thing that was Null away, stripping Ian of a very peace of himself.
The Raven left them there, with orders to find their way to Shear Point in 2 weeks’ time for their next job, and to meet their new accomplices.
Among the reckage of the mansion, you recall what had happened to you during the past few hours.
You first remember that when you were ready, Ishiguro led you back to the caravans to grab weapons and armor. On the way back, you saw Sir Deckard preparing all of the guards for the ball later tonight. He was frantic about making sure everything was in order. After retrieving your weapons, armor, and... violin... you returned to your room to rest for the night. When you got up, you went with Ishiguro to learn how to properly dance. Ishiguro and Fitheach found dance partners, while Moone and Myali danced with each other. Moone and Ishiguro danced wonderfully. Myali had problems, but Moone had danced fine enough to recover. Fitheach shook his tail feather and started rumors about how good Tengus dance.
After the dance sequence, everyone prepared themselves for battle. Ishiguro led them to one of Raven's personal mages who put a Disguise spell on them to make it seem as though they weren't wearing armor or had any weapons. The mage was dressed a lot like Raven, except not nearly as fancy. After a close inspection, it turns out that the mage was actually a woman. After casting the spell on you all, she bowed to Ishiguro and left.
Once in the main ballroom, you see Deep Thought himself. The man is absolutely huge. He was wearing a large blue~ish grey robe, and had long white hair. The look on his face was sad, though no one knew why. At his sides were 4 Golden Dragons. These dragons looked absolutely bored, and would probably fly if given the slightest reason. At Deep Thought's left was Sir Deckard, and at his right was Raven. All around the room were Guards. The room was completely packed with nobles dancing.
When you enter the ballroom, the main dance was about to start. Ishiguro was clearly more comfortable in his armor, even though it didn't look like he was wearing any due to the spell.
As soon as the dance had stopped, Raven shouted "ENOUGH!" Everyone immediately stopped, and watched Raven intently. Raven started raising in the air, and he put his left hand in the air. A small black orb appeared in his hand, and it started absorbing air and other matter into it. Necklaces, paint from the walls, and silverware started flying into the orb. Deep Thought looked into the black orb sadly, not doing anything to stop Raven. Suddenly, a blue~ish skeleton started to be ripped from Deep Thought, the only thing keeping it in Deep Thought was his hands and his knees. People started to scream in pain, dropping to the floor. Soon, skeletons started appear to come out of everyone. Some people were affected much more severly, including Moone and Ishiguro.
The guards started to flee from their posts, the Dragons flew through holes in the ceiling, obviously created from the vortex that Raven had created. As a few of the guards were fleeing, Ishiguro pulled out one of his Tetsubo and clubbed one of the guards. The ensuing fight had merely distracted some of the guards from attacking Raven. During the fight, Myali fired off one of her arrows at Raven to get him to stop. The arrow flew right into the void, missing Raven completely.
After clearing most of the guards, Sir Deckard had gotten up from his anguish, and decided to take it out on you four. His holy bow did some serious damage, almost knocking out Myali and Fitheach. Ishiguro decided that Deckard had to die. He dropped his Tetsubo and used a technique that has been lost to all but a few: The Iaijutsu Strike. He pulled out a Tetsubo, stronger than his other one, and brought it down on Deckard's head. During the fight, debris from the ceiling started to fall, landing on Myali.
Once Deckard had died, Ishiguro had shouted "We must get out of here!" While everyone was fleeing towards the exit, Myali was crushed under a support beam. Luckily, she wasn't injured too much, but she was trapped. After many futile attempts, Raven appeared and lifted the beam with his potent magic.
"Before I give you your money, you must make sure that Deep Thought does not come back. Inside you killed a Paladin named Deckard," says Raven, "There is another one nearby named Mirabelle. She is a potent healer, and can bring Deep Thought back. She needs to die. Kill her, and I shall reward you with your money. Ishiguro shall accompany you. When you are done, Ishiguro shall lead you to me."
And with that, Raven flies away with his mighty magic. Everyone is not thinking everything clearly, as if they were rushed or new at doing whatever they're doing. When Myali was trapped, Moone would rather have had a bit of her hair than try to get her out of it.
Raven sits ontop of his chair unflinching to what Fitheach has to say. Your Sense Motive cannot tell a single thing about him, for he is covered head to toe except for his hands, which sit in his lap, and he is not moving in the slightest.
"I do not know you, Tengu. Be glad I have graced you with my presence. There will not be a million gold to be split between the three of you, because there will be a million gold each." Raven is unnattached to Fitheach and Myali, but doing this... favor shall grant you his attention. Moone is the only one who has Raven's respect.
"Ishiguro is loyal to whichever side he sees fit. For now, that is my side." Says Raven. Ishiguro nods slowly, as if to reiterate the fact that he will not sway from his neutrality on the subject.
"Show them to their room. Inform them of their duties, and prepare yourself as well." Raven says to Ishiguro.
Ishiguro leads you to a small room with 3 beds in it. "I hope you don't mind, but with so many people we can only afford you 3 to be in these beds tonight. I'll leave the 3 of you to settle for a little bit, then we'll retrieve your gear. Afterwards, we'll discuss the battle strategy. I hope you all are ready for war!"
When Ishiguro says "War" you see a very familiar look. The reason you recognize it is because it is used frequently by our lovely Moone. The gleam in his eye shown, his grin genuin, and his excitement could not be contained. Because of this, he accedentally slams the door.
While you guys are setting yourselves up in your caravan, a man walks up to you all.
The man is wearing a purple Gi with a white scarf that wraps around his neck and leads to his shoulders and runs along his back. His hair color is very odd, mainly because it's purple. It runs in a pony tail over one of his shoulders and is tied with a white piece of string. His eyes appear as though they are looking straight through you.
The first person he sees, he says "Greetings! My namd is Ishiguro, and lord Corbeau would like to see all of your company. If you would retrieve them and follow me, then that would be appreciated."
Upon retrieval, he leads you through the grand hallways and gigantic doorways to a relatively small room. In this house, it's a coat closet of sorts, but to you it is as large as a tavern. The room is adorned with pillows and soft chairs, all of them have a black tint to them. Upon the largest chair in the room is a strangely dressed man.
The man sitting on the chair is wearing a large feathered headress, and all of the feathers are jet black. He is wearing a black bird mask that covers his entire face. The rest of his clothes are loose and feathered as well. At the base of his clothes is a green motif depicting birds flying.
"Good afternoon," says the man with the bird mask, "My name is Lord Francis Corbeau, but you may call me Raven. The lot of you had called my attention a while ago, but it would seem that you have lost many members since I last wrote you. But that does not matter. I fear that it has become dreadfully boring since you last caused a stir. I should have you know what exactly I want to be done tonight so that you shall be ready for it. My plans are quite simple really. I am going to kill the leaders of the Golden Rule, and then I shall take control of it. You have proven faithful to me, and thus I shall have you be the ones to kill Deep Thought. Now, I expect you shall do this unwillingly, so I will have to make you want to kill him. How does this sound... 1,000,000 Gold pieces? Ishiguro will accompany you."
If you have any questions, now is the time to ask.
Your Diplomacy is used for gather info. I'll be nice this time and use your Gather Info number with your Diplomacy modifier, making a total of 23.
With a 23 Gather Info, you know that all the lords of the land are asked to join in this celebration once a year, and that it's a prestigious event. You also know that the host is Deep Thought, and is supposedly very stoic. Finally, you know that Deep Thought is extremely strong, and very wise.
With a 10 Knowledge Nobility, you know that this mansion belongs to Deep Thought, one of the 3 main rulers of the Golden rule, and also the wisest of the three rulers.
What it means to be trained or untrained is that you cannot use the skill for the most part if it is a trained only(Thus you are untrained). Putting a single point into it counts as being trained, though, and it is generally a good idea to put multiple points into a stat. For example, at low levels, 1 point into Disable Device allows you to pick locks, but at higer levels that 1 point won't help nearly as much. If it is a class skill for you, putting a point into the skill will add an additional 3 points onto the skill. Does that answer your question?
"Sir Deckard is one of the High Paladins, the newest one to join. By High Paladin standards, he's pretty green, but by any other standard he's stalwart and powerful. I'd hate to anger him!" says the Guard in a low voice, low enough so that Sir Deckard doesn't hear him, but loud enough for his followers to snicker at his responce.
"I don't think a Tengu will be any problem in the ball. Just make sure that all of you are on your best behaviour. If you'd be so kind as to lead your Caravan inside, we'll have people tell you where to go. Have fun." and with that, the Guard moves on to the next Cadre of nobles.
You can gather information once inside the mansion. Diplomacy rolls can tell you via Gather Information, or Knowledge rolls to see if you knew it already. It should be noted that you can make DC 10 rolls without having points into the knowledge, but if you roll high enough to get better results, I'll only be giving you the DC 10 results.
Viewing the tickets, he is about to say that they work, when suddenly a man with a longbow and white overcoat on his back approaches. His eyes are fierce, focusing on Moone. He puts a hand on the soldier and says "Do not let them in."
"But sir!" says the other one, "They have invitations adressed from Lord Raven!"
"From Raven?! I'm not surprised now." says the man. He glares at Moone, saying "I don't trust you. I don't trust your lord, either. Just know that if anything happens, I'll be coming to you first."
With that, the man leaves and goes back to watching the various caravans that are heading in to the mansion.
"I'm dreadfully sorry, Sir Deckard isn't usually so worried about our parties. I wonder what got into him about you."
"Entrance is not permitted unless you show proper invitations. Go get them and show them to me, or I will be forced to ask you to leave." says the guard.
After hearing the last bit, he says "I can't give you a lot of time, but if you tell them to hurry it up then all will be well."
It was a long journey. Once every 10 miles or so is a guard outpost. All of these guards make you ask yourself "What is so important that requires all these guards?" The farther in the kingdom you go, the more guards you find. Each outpost larger than the last. Each guard wears white and shining armor, incredibaly similar to the armor of the knight that you found in the neather world. The lower tier knights are wearing Chainmail, while the higher ranking ones wear Breast Plates. Once in a while, though, you see a few wearing Full Plate. The sheer number simply boggles the mind. Border Guard after Border Guard, you manage to get to the castle that is listed on your invitation. The castle is absolutely HUGE. Even the doors are gigantic. The entire decor is white and blue, with the emblem of the Golden Rule everywhere. Knowledge Nobility will tell you who owns this mansion. (You can make up to DC 10 Knowledge checks untrained.)
Upon arriving to the entrance of the mansion, 3 guards pull up. One of them wears a Breastplate, the other two wear Chainmail. The one with the breastplate asks "Do you have an invitation?" to the caravan.
The main problem is that we're losing Charlotte and Cudley, and I will be going to school starting in January, so I won't be able to post a whole lot during that month and the next few.
If it's alright with everyone, I think I'll put this in the Inactive state, and I'll PM everyone when next I think I'll be able to contribute fully again.
I would like to thank each and every one of you for playing in my game, for coming up with such good character concepts and portraying them in such good light, and for running through the idea of a Halo campaign with me. I'll keep the thread open for a few more days just so that everyone can see this post.
It's been fun all, and I'll talk to you in Februrary. Until then, stay gold.
Not particularly. Charlotte told me that she'd be able to post about once a week now, and I might be looking into opening up the recruitment section again.
You don't hear anything, because no one has acted yet. Next turn, though, you'll hear a THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP *Mrphl Mrphl Mrphl Mrphl Mrphl!* and then the sound 3 large thumps. Make of it what you will.
You are not, as far as I know, you were still in the gunnery section. What you can do, though, is make a perception check. You may be able to hear the commotion that's going on down at the bridge.
The two Jackals say something into their com-links in their own tongue. Batista hears that they say "As we thought, 3 are hiding in the bridge, while 3 are hiding in the gunner seats. How should we proceed?"
A small yappering voice comes back in the Comm-Link saying "Kill them, all of them!"
At this point the Jackals pull out their weaponry, coming into the fight with an 8 for initiative.
You may attempt a Perception Check to see if you hear combat. DC 15, because the walls are thick and whatnot. This may happen after the 1st Gunshot or Plasma shot.
Cromwell's Turn
Cromwell charges the Jackals, missing one of them with a mighty swing. He then says "We need to get past them, Ignore them if you must!"
After reaching the odd coordinates, Cromwell tells Batista to shut off all power except for emergency systems. He then goes to each of the gunmen and tells them "Keep quiet." any opposition will be met with a "That's an order." before quickly heading back to the bridge with Ram'Dain and Batista.
I'll assume that before the next paragraph and the last one, you guys had taken the time to hide yourselves properly. Roll it at the beginning of your post.
Suddenly, the ship rocks, and a loud scratching noise comes from the hull. The gunmen can tell that this is the same ship that had ambushed them earlier. Then, the sounds of doors opening welcome 2 Jackals. Cromwell motions Batista and Ram'Dain to help him deal with the intruders silently.
Roll for InitiativeCromwell's Initiative:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
Cromwell says "Thanks for your help." to Ram'Dain. He doesn't sound sincere at all.
Much later, after a few hours, Cromwell then tells Batista to go to a different set of co-ordinates. These co-ordinates are extremely unorthidox, and are in the middle of nowhere. After telling Batista where else to go, he starts checking in to each of his team-mates.
"Keep up the good work, Charlotte."
"SPARTAN, that is an old song. Focus on your work."
"Get those things out of your ears now, Marine, and get back to work."
The darkness of space eats away at the gunners as all they do is watch the stars fly by their port holes. As it turns out, the Grace flies as fast as Cromwell said it would. Within half of a day, Paradise is in view once more. At this point, Cromwell asks Ram'Dain to meet him in the bridge.
"I'm going to have you take a look at these readings real quick, Doctor Ram'Dain."
Ram'Dain, give me a Knowledge Arcana roll.
What the assist does is it lowers the DC of the Ride that you have to make. It makes what would normally be a 20 become a 10, or a 25 become a 15 instead.
I was informed that the person I asked to join will not be joining. So, we'll get on with it.
"Right now. Everyone, man your stations. Grave and Cudley, go to the bridge. Grant, man the above turrets. Spartans 213 and 312, man the side turrets. Ram'Dain, go wait in the livin quarters until you are needed. Take off whenever you are ready. I have the coordinates already programed into the Assisting Pilot Program." says Cromwell.
Thankyou, tomorrow Berenzen/Brendon Traynor will not be participating in the campaign anymore due to lack of involvement. I've asked someone else if they want to join, and he said yes. So, tomorrow we'll have Mar'Gonee's replacement come in and have the new guy come in. I'll let them know privately how to introduce themselves.
Thank you for staying with me through the little hiatus, we'll continue sometime tomorrow.
Alright guys, give me 2 days to see if Berenzen and Vonzara still want to play, I'll PM him and such, and if we're missing a member afterwards I'll ask someone I know if they're willing to join. Until then, in character banter will suffice to keep this thread alive. I like the idea of this campaign, I just need some active players is all. Thankyou for your time.
"The Grace is a fully capable piece of equipment. It flies faster and longer than most ships it's size. It can reach Paradise just under a day, if we decide to run at full speed, that is. The Grace also has 5 fully functional Gauss cannons, over ten thousand rounds for them, and a stealth system that rivals the Elite's invisibility shield. It also has shielding to seige against a Frigate." Cromwell states simply.
Immediately, Cromwell snatches Ram'Dain's PDA and deletes the photo. He hands it back afterwards and says "This is classified. You're lucky you are a civilian and not a soldier. Don't do that again."
"I had heard of Grave's... hijinks. Fortunately, this ship has three settings, unlike your last ship. The first is Manual, the second is Auto Pilot, and the third is Manualplus, which is best described as a little help while piloting. We'll let Grave deal with the flying, but we'll keep it to Manualplus." Cromwell says answering Charlotte's question.
The ship is large, but a totally different vessel than the Gorgon. This ship has a more sleek look to it, and has the word Grace printed on the side. Cromwell is already at the loading dock waiting for everyone to return, and he is already wearing his full Gungnir armor. The order you return is the order in which you post. If you have any questions for Cromwell that does not have anything to do with the mission, ask him now.
Would you guys please at least post in the discussion section that you are ready to move on? Like Ram'Dain said, I have everything ready, I just need to know if you are ready to get going."
Yeah, I'm just finishing up on the last details on the next part, waiting on you guys to finish telling me what you all are doing, and fleshing out Paradise.
A few days have passed since the initial sting on the Pirates, and after Batista’s parol has ended and everyone is done with their hangovers. Over the intercom comes the voice of a woman saying “May Spartan 213, Spartan 312, Lieutenant Edward Cudley, Scientist Ram’Dain, Ranger Mar’Gonee, and Corporal Brendan Traynor please report mission briefing in Sector IV: Command station.”
Upon reaching the hub, you see Batista, Col Hanson, and a Spartan wearing a full Gungnir suit leaning over a table with a map on it. Once the group enters, Col Hanson turns around and says “Good to see you, soldiers. We have obtained information from the Jackal that you captured recently. Apparently, all of their flag ships have a very strong connection to each other. There are 3 flag ships. These ships are well guarded, and are most likely Frigates or larger. Unfortunately, the flag ships are also connected to 7 smaller ships each. One of the ships that attacked you just so happens to be one of the 7 ships connected to flag ships. This is where you come in. The lot of you and the Sargent come in. Men, this is Sargent Cromwell. He’s a veteran of many missions dealing with the pirates, and a close combat specialist. Sargent, I’ll leave the rest to you.”
Cromwell turns to the team. ”Listen to me carefully. We will infiltrate the ship that targeted you earlier this week. After an intense brainstorming, we have concluded that a well-placed virus will completely remove the threat of these pirates from this sector. Now, you may be wondering why this is all important. The simple fact is that we’re going to send a team of specialists down on the planet to investigate. We’re afraid that the pirates would interfere with the supply ships. Take out the pirates, no more problems. Does this make sense to all of you? Good. We’ll be setting off tomorrow at 09:00. Be there 3 hours in advance. Sir, do you have anything you want to add?” Cromwell then turns to the Colonel.
The Colonel nods, then says ”I cannot begin to express how important it is for you to return alive. That is all. You are dismissed.”
Tell me what you plan on doing to prepare for the infiltration, and then tell me when you are ready to move on. If you wish to see the stats for Cromwell, then I'll post them in the Discussion.
Well, since you are not a brute, Batista, and are not nearly as hardy as one, then we'll assume that you are so drunk that you will be out of the RP for a while. While you are drunk, you accedentally trash 3 chairs, 1 table, 2 weight holders, and you get in a few fights. You'll be taking 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7 damage due to damage sustained in the fights, and the drink also drains 1d6 ⇒ 1 Constitution because of the Hangover you shall experience. You will also be working off the damage that you made for 1d4 ⇒ 2 days. Congradulations. We'll continue with the story when you get off of probation. That sure is a heavy drink, and you can get more after the next mission.
I'm going to say a drinking contest are scaling fortitude saves starting at 15 and increasing by 3 points each drink. Roll 5 times and if you can't make the DC then you get drunk. This will be fun :)
"Ah, Batista, I have something special just for you. Got it imported from Harvest. You know how much partying they do on that planet? More than meets the eye, thats for sure."
The barkeep reaches under the counter and pulls out a Mimosa, a whiskey, an Appletini, and this absolutely murky looking drink. He hands each of the drinks to the right customer, and the murky drink to Batista.
"That right there can knock a Brute out with just one sip."
Alright, I'm creating some NPCs and enemies, and I'm wondering if it's alright if I don't exactly follow the rules mentioned in character creation? I mean adding in a Monk for a CC specialist, or an Alchemist enemy who is a grenedier. I don't think that you'll find many problems, seeing as most likely they won't be too strong, but if you don't like the principal, then let me know.
"Geneva convention says we can't make him suffer. Personally, I think we should just lock the little thing into a small room with no lights and see if he's willing to talk in a few days." says the Colonel.
I don't think you guys realize this is the time for you to talk to each other. I know its hard to do, but learn about the other characters. You'll be fighting with them again. :)
Of course. Think of the Harbinger of Justice like the local town that you guys will be staying at for the first few levels. They have everything that you need.
RP Time is starting now, and if you really want to type out a full military report then by all means. I'll give you guys a few days for RP time, when you're done, or when the Colonel has something important to say, I'll let you know.
Don't you look at me like that! I'll take off my belt!
While heading back, the cabin filled with the chatter of a certain Jackal irritates its cabin mates. After a long day of cruising in the Pelican, the team finally reaches the Harbinger.
"Welcome back, team. I see you have a... guest. We'll let the professionals interrogate him. Go get some rest. I expect a report by morning, Spartan 213." says the Colonel.
1) Your mother 2) Boredom 3) Its a ship, it doesn't give birth. You human's sure are stupid.
Give me a Sense Motive to see if the information he is telling you is correct. When you plan to leave, give me 4 more Ride rolls, or tell me if you plan on using the ship's AI functions to head back to the ship.
