Herrnarrell Leafblade's page

"A Tomb Guardian? Why did you leave the city? And why do arrive with such.. interesting.. companions?"

Herrnarrell is not irritated by much, and even though he knows mentally to expect some derision from the Gold Elves sitting on their high horse - in this case literally - it never fails to get under his skin, and with the others save for Pero immediately seeming willing to bow and scrape before the guard in order to gain entrance, Herrnarrell eventually loses his patience and speaks up in annoyance. "Why do you ask questions to which we've already given answer? Would a diligent Tomb Guardian not report to his immediate superior in the event of such a catastrophic attack? Would he not bring along those of us who survived and who may have additional information to provide? He has named us 'companion' and still you question him in his duties."

Aid Another to Pero: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 5 - 2 = 16 Pride: -2 to diplomacy and sense motive vs. those who threaten, accuse, or challenge you, until they apologize.

"Alright, if we're going to do this, let's be smart about it. Go slow. The Dark Knight was able to raise the dead on our heels and she may have left some of them, or other traps for that matter, in case we returned." Herrnarrell follows Pero into the Inn with his leafblade drawn, its blade dimly glowing with a whitish-blue aura.

Spending 1 point from arcane pool. 5/6 points remaining. Leafblade gains +1/+1 for 1 minute.
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

"I would caution against us spending too great a time here. If the Dark Knight still hunts us... Well, we can see around us now what havoc they had wrought the last time we spent too long in a single location. Can this place survive another attack? Food for thought." Herrnarrell pauses here before muttering to himself, "I wonder if my teapot survived all this madness."

As the last of the tower flakes off and the localized temporal loop collapses, Herrnarrell walks out of the tower. He is holding his head as if to ward off an oncoming headache and he looks around feeling very confused. "What did I miss?"

I'm down but with my schedule as it is now I only have one mostly-guaranteed window to post in so I can only promise 1/day unless work happens to be SUPER slow. How quick is the posting like nowadays? Also, is there anything I should know before jumping back in?

I'll try to read everything to catch up instead of posting for a couple of days, but is there a way you want to work it into the story or have I just been following you guys around on autopilot (think Click during a fast forward) in the interim?

Hey all. I know it has been a couple of months but I just wanted to hop in and apologize for up and abandoning the campaigns I was in. I had a 48-hour notice that I was leaving the country for my job (which wasn't even supposed to be an option but we had an emergency come up in the form of another guy having to come home and I was the only one who COULD leave on short notice) and literally haven't had public internet until now (I returned home on Friday). I'm not in here trying to get my spot back or anything like that, I just wanted to apologize and hope it didn't cause you guys any issues with the campaign.

"Uugghhh. By the gods that hurt." Herrnarrell shakes his head to clear the lingering... fuzziness and turns immediately towards the bed at the loud thud, readying his dagger as well. "Suddenly I consider it a serious oversight that I never learned how to actually detect or see arcane auras."

HP: 4/10

Will: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8 +2 vs Enchantment, +1 vs Charm and Fear. Still not enough to save. Is that supposed to be Wisdom damage that we take or is it a negative modifier to our Will save specifically?
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

As Herrnarrell steps into Commander Raurniel's room, it feels like every bit of anxiety and fear that he has ever felt flows through his mind at once and with a sharp gasp and short breaths he falls to his knees, defeated and drowning in self-loathing.

Herrnarrell stares into the distance at Raurniel's "We've identified the direction of the item that the curse seems to be tied to. Seeing as you are the only one whose memory is unaffected by this magic, I would be willing to bet that the item is personal in nature, and therefore the most obvious location would be in your chambers. Sarrissa has the right idea though. We would need your assistance, and obviously your approval, to properly identify which items would be likely candidates for the focus. It is possible that we will be able to identify it immediately, but with magic of this scale, I'm not sure it is likely."

Herrnarrell listens as the conversation moves on, but the mention of the curse makes him take pause. "Iym, when we first arrived I was looking for signs of an illusion but felt magic on a magnificent scale dealing with life, time, and space simultaneously. It is obvious that it was the magic of the curse, the loop, that I was feeling, I just didn't have enough information to properly identify it. But I've never dealt with magic on this scale before."

Herrnarrell disappears into this thoughts for a moment before shrugging to himself. "On the other hand, magic is magic. I should be able to take it apart, identify it, mold it, and disrupt it just like anything else." It's not arrogance in his voice as he says that, it's just a fact of the world - if magic exists, it can be tampered with, if one is willing to risk the consequences. But without the source or the focus of the magic, he knows that what he can actually do is minimal. Instead, he moves around the room, tilting his head side to side, sometimes closing his eyes and sometimes mumbling to himself, looking, listening, and feeling the world around him, hoping to glean any new information, now that he has an idea about what he's looking for.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24 This is a really weird question and I'm not entirely sure how to ask it, so if you need clarification let me know, but with this additional information about the nature of the magic surrounding them, can Herrnarrell identify anything that would help them? For example, and depending on how you want to represent it, are there "strings" of magic, tied to Raurniel but reaching out to the distance which might be an item/person/location to hunt down? Basically, can Herrnarrell identify anything in the magic that would give them a lead?

Time ..is odd. For me, it is as though events play out over the course of three years, but I can only remember pieces, as though the time between the pieces did not happen at all.[/b]

"Let me ask you a question. You never really remember the beginning of a dream do you? You always wind up right in the middle of what's going on."

Sense Motive to discern any lies from Raurniel: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (1) + 0 = 1
Well then. Raurniel's words are apparently gospel.

Seeing that he is alone in his hesitance to potentially alter the course of history, Herrnarrell says nothing as Pero lays out the situation for Raurniel. He is immensely relieved to hear Raurniel speak knowingly about what is to come, meaning that they do not need to guard their words overmuch. "I... am inclined to believe you. Which eases my mind, but now I have questions, as I'm sure do my companions. How long have you been in this instance? How long is it normally before everything... resets? As you are in a position of command, do you have any control over what goes on or does everything play out exactly even if you attempt to alter your command's orders? Probably most importantly, have you ever seen us in any of these loops?"

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Who all is in here with us? Nivian went out to enjoy the festivities. Did anybody else?

Herrnarrell lets out a small sigh at Pero and Sarrissa's comments, resigning himself to the fact that he alone seems to consider the potential ramifications of time travel not worth the risk. At least if things go to Hell, I will still have the "I told you so". His thoughts are interrupted by... something. He subtly shifted under his cloak and grasped the hilt of his blade, readying himself for anything and carefully studying the person in front of him. Study Target "Commander, what do you mean that 'nothing matters'? And what do you know of Starym or Evereska?"

So... you're not responding to my action because you *want* someone to stop me? ... Cool. Stopping.

I don't want to be unnecessarily argumentative OOC, but everyone else could be in the same boat as you and think I'm overreacting. I think he was just waiting for someone else to chime in. We've got a fairly large group and things like this probably shouldn't be decided by one or two out of a group of seven without at least giving some time for responses.

Bluff, to hide the conversation: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (8) + 0 = 8

Herrnarrell pulls Nivian off to the side for a moment, speaking in as much of a whisper as possible, "Even better then. Unless we can determine what kind of magic has brought us here... Look, singularly powerful mages are able to minimally alter the flow of time in a very localized manner. There is no magic that I am aware of which could have brought us thirteen thousand years into the past! So we're left with two possibilities: Either this is an illusion so well crafted that I can't tell the difference between it and reality, or we have actually been brought back here. If that's true, then we need to find out who has the power to do something like that, who would do that, and most importantly: why. Were we brought back to save it? Were we brought back to burn it? Maybe it was just to see what would happen, who knows. If we go through and accidentally change things, will we negate the future as we know it? Will we cause ourselves to not have existed in the first place. Or are we here now because time is currently in a loop and everything we've ever known about Miyeritar and Cormanthyr happens because we are here now. Who in the Nine Hells knows!? The sheer magnitude of what has occurred is staggering. I hope with all my heart that we are not here in the morning."

Knowledge: History for knowledge regarding Miyeritar: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

At this point, Herrnarrell realizes just how loudly he's actually speaking now and curses to himself, hoping that he hasn't been overheard by the Commander. "You have my apologies for getting so agitated, but we need to discuss this as a group before we go telling the world what we know."

Herrnarrell casts a sideways glance at the others, wondering how much to actually say, "It... is a long story, Commander, and more than unbelievable at best. At worst, it could be catastrophic. Nothing immediately concerning, I assure you, but I would like some time to confer with my companions and come to terms myself with what has occurred before I try explaining it. We felt it prudent to at least meet with you tonight, but would you be opposed to us joining in the celebrations tonight and then perhaps we could meet with you after the sun has risen to tell you what we know?"

diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Herrnarrell sighs and follows Nivian and the others up the stairs and into the next room just in time to hear the guard's question.

Linguistics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

"Also, what is the Tower of Song and Mist celebrating? My friend Nivian speaks the truth, we do not know exactly where we are at the moment and could use any additional information."

Herrnarrell immediately stands and unsheathes his leafblade, turning slowly to take in the apparently restored tower. Perception looking for anything to tell us when/where/what we are meant to be seeing: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15 "Okay, I don't think I need to state the obvious, but I'm going to anyway: Everyone be on guard; this is either a great illusion, or some impressive mental manipulation to have caught all of us. And neither would tell us why."

...

"We are all seeing this, correct?"

Spellcraft(?) to identify at least how we're seeing what we're seeing: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

"Do the legends mention a way to kill him?"

Herrnarrell quietly sits near the fire and eats the bare minimum portion that will comfortably sustain him for the rest of the night. "More to the immediate point, do you know who or what he his?"

Survival with snow penalty: 1d20 - 4 ⇒ (4) - 4 = 0

Herrnarrell is more than happy to let Sarrissa take the lead towards the ruins as Herrnarrell quickly discovers why the Forgotten Forest is called so - almost immediately, he is completely lost amongst the snow and trees, every dozen feet looking exactly like the dozen prior.

"If we're going to use the rubble to close us in for the night, make sure only to use loose rubble. Don't want to accidentally pull out a keystone and bring the whole place down on us. In the meantime, I'm going to take a look around and try to find a viable lookout point."

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

Knowledge (Geography): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7
Knowledge (History): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
Knowledge (History): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7

"I am all for finding a place to rest safely, and take stock of what we were able to pull out of the fire with us. It will give us some time to clear our heads and think about our next move. We will have to take into account, of course, that our pursuers may track us not only into the Forest but into any ruins inside. Depending on their competence, it may give us some time, but not much."

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

Herrnarrell will step off to the side of the group in order to keep an eye out on any immediate pursuers or other threats. "Did anybody recognize the knight's armor? Any insignia or standard that might give us an idea of who our foe is? Does anybody have the ability to repel such a mass of undead? Is there anybody we can turn to for help who might be able to answer either of my previous questions?"

"As much as I dislike it, we may need to make a tactical retreat. We still don't know who our foe is or what they want. Which means we have no knowledge of strengths, weaknesses, allies, or enemies. We need information."

Herrnarrell considers the information about the attackers and comes to one conclusion, "Elohir, how good were your companions in a fight? Before we throw our lives away in a doomed attempt at revenge, I want to know if this fight is even remotely winnable."

Round 11

Seeing Nivian heal Elohir, Herrnarrell rushes over and starts attempting to gather information, "You're wounded and I know that you would rather rest at the moment, but I need information before we rush inside and find ourselves dead. What is in there, how many are there? Nivian, I assume you pulled him out, did you see anything that would help us fight back?"

1/10 rounds remaining for +1/+1 Arcane Pool bonus. 5/day bonuses remaining.

Pero Elond - Starym wrote:

All Orcs. All Elves. Let me know when you run your All Demons or All Angels game, I'm IN for that one! :-)

heh. I almost did All Undead (sort of a heavily modified City of Twilight, but with undead). Or, All Tian Xia (rise of the runelords set in Tian Xia) but i couldn't get that to work in my head until after i'd started this game.

Well if you end up starting either (or both) of those even while running this one, I'm in.

Round 10

Herrnarrell takes a small step back to give himself a little bit of room to pick up speed, he dives out the window after his bag and turns his fall into a roll, neatly coming up on his feet with his dagger at the ready.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Move is five foot step back. 2nd move to run and jump through the window and a tumble to soften the landing.
2/10 rounds remaining for +1/+1 Arcane Pool bonus.

Move action to get to the window, another to open it.

From the placement on the maps, I think the orcs came through the window. I was assuming it was still open.

Round 9

Herrnarrell has a reply on his lips before Pero even finishes the question, "Window. The fire started downstairs and has been going for a little while already. No telling if there's even a way out down there." With that, Herrnarrell runs back to his room, telling Pero to go first since he's already got his belongings, sweeping a couple of stray items back into his bag before tossing it out of the window.

Move action to go back to his room. Standard action to grab his backpack from the ground and toss it out the window ahead of himself.

3/10 rounds remaining for +1/+1 Arcane Pool bonus.

Round 8

The smoke beginning to billow and pool around the ceiling above Herrnarrell and the others, the heat rising throughout the building, and the commotion downstairs all lead Herrnarrell to one conclusion: Someone wanted a bunch of people dead tonight. It's just their misfortune that I'm here tonight. But this orc is still standing! Herrnarell huffs in annoyance and lunges once more at the back of the dazed orc's head, aiming specifically for the beast's spinal column.

Move back into melee range. Standard attack the orc.

1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 5 + 1 = 24 Critical Threat
1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 5 + 1 = 19 Confirm Critical
1d4 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 1 = 6 Damage
1d4 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 1 = 6 Critical Damage

Watching the orc drop heavily to the floor, Herrnarrell considers briefly searching the orc for items or coin and then realizes with a start that his own bag remains in his room. Damn.

4/10 rounds remaining for +1/+1 Arcane Pool bonus. Also, the dice really wanted this orc dead. Maximum damage!

Round 7

Herrnarrell jumps away from the orc as it powers through the deep wound in its back and decides a different tactic might be necessary to finally bring the beast down. Pulling a small piece of wool lint out of his component pouch, Herrnarrell whispers a single word before blowing the wool at the orcs back, waiting for the spell to take effect.

Move action: Five foot step away from the orc. Standard action: Cast Daze, DC 15 Will vs loss of action for 1 round
5/10 rounds remaining for +1/+1 Arcane Pool bonus.

Round 6

Herrnarrell sees a single orc, badly wounded, stumbling further down the hall towards the stairs and rushes towards it while its back is turned, using his momentum to drive the short blade deep into the monster's back.

Charge Attack: 1d20 + 5 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 5 + 2 + 1 = 23
damage: 1d4 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 1 = 4

6/10 rounds remaining for +1/+1 Arcane Pool bonus.

Round 5

Herrnarrell shakes his head as the orc falls over and mutters to himself as he makes his way out of the room, Damn, dirty orc. Herrnarrell rushes into the room across the hall assuming that where there's one orc, there's many, and spots Iym sprawled out on the bed, beathing shallowly, but breathing. Knowing that he can do nothing immediately for the wounded elf but seeing no orc body, Herrnarrell rushes back out of the room, yelling as loud as his voice will go, "IYM IS WOUNDED BADLY! I NEED A CLERIC!"

Move action to go into Iym's room, second move action to leave Iym's room.
7/10 rounds remaining for +1/+1 Arcane Pool bonus.

While the orc continues to struggle through sheer ferocity, Herrnarrell can see it begin to slow down, begin to get weaker... begin to succumb to its wounds. Herrnarrell takes a short step backwards and attempts to let its wounds do their work without interference, but not letting his guard down.

Move: Five foot step away from the orc. Ready action to attack again if it follows me.

After a moment's thought, with the adrenaline of the battle ebbing away, Herrnarrell decides to phish for information, in Orcish "Orc, before you die, tell me: Who organized this assault? Who stands to profit from my death?"

Oh. That would explain it. I didn't read you asking Nehama if she wanted a redo, so I was just sitting there like... Okay? What's going on?

Everything makes sense now.

I prefer you wait till everything's resolved, just in case things are invalidated when i resolve

Right, but we've got Top of round (aka high initiative), opponent's turn, bottom of round (aka low initiative or readied/delayed actions). After characters at the bottom of the round take their actions, are we waiting on you to say "Top of round. Go."? The reason I ask is because I saw Nehama, Pero, and your roll for Iym, but nothing else. Since those are the three on the bottom of the round for this combat, I wasn't sure if we should have been waiting for anything else from you.

Round 3 (I saw your top of round two resolves and the orc actions, then the three from bottom of round 2. For future reference, are we waiting for anything from you or are we just automatically rolling over into the next round once the opponent's turns are completed?

Not phased at all by the orc's blustering, Herrnarrell paused for a moment, channeling arcane energy into his leafblade, before thrusting with all of his might into a gap in the orc's armor.

Swift - Arcane pool - +1 to chosen weapon for one minute. 5/6 remaining.
1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26 Crit!
1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25 Crit confirmed with a second crit. Because why not?
2d4 + 4 ⇒ (4, 2) + 4 = 10
9/10 rounds remaining for Arcane Pool bonus.

I am confused. The orc's intimidate roll shows a 6 vs DC 11 to intimidate me, but your note says that I am shaken for two rounds. Is that intentional?

herranrrell, you can put yourself where you need in the room.

Dang, I thought I had brought this up already. Roll20 won't let me move my token. Right now I would be right next to the orc.

Round 2 - Initiative 19

Seeing the orc's eyes glaze over, Herrnarrell rushes in, stabbing low into the orc's side hoping to pierce a critical organ...

attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Herrnarrell misses any vital spots, but easily cuts through the orc's tough skin and feels the lifeblood of the orc flow out over his hand. Ugh. Blood takes forever to wash out of these clothes.

A slight grunt and the shifting of armor is all that it takes to rouse Herrnarrell from his reverie, and almost before he even registers the movement, Herrnarrell has rolled out of his bed, grabbing his sword from its resting place, and unsheathed the weapon by the time his feat have hit the floor. This quick succession of movements allows Herrnarrell mere seconds to find and focus on his opponent What in the Nine Hells is an orc doing in here!? Knowing that orcs are generally dull creatures, Herrnarrell casts Daze in the hopes of buying the time required to take the initiative in this fight.

Move to stand and draw his Leafblade, standard to cast Daze - DC 15 will to negate or dazzled for one round (can take no actions).

Sooo what's everybody waiting on?

"Hmmm..." Herrnarrell considered carefully. "I don't have any with me - I generally used the library of my mother's Order when I lived in Waterdeep, but we can always ask Myrrin if he knows of a decent one nearby. Actually, I may close down my forge a bit early tomorrow and check it out myself. I haven't left myself much time most days to actually relax, I've barely even made a dent in the book that I did bring with me, but now that I'm actually thinking about it, I'm starting to miss the silence of a library." When it becomes safe to politely do so with the talk of meeting together the next night or if he's being ignored by that group, Herrnarrell excuses himself from the table for a moment to speak to Myrrin about the location of a library before returning to his seat.

No trained knowledge (local), so I didn't roll for it.

"I do not mean to invite myself, but if the invitation is open to all of us, I am here every night once I finish the day's work at my forge."

Had this written for the past two hours but apparently never posted it before I got sucked back into work. Oops.

"Though I have no wish to have a noble death, we would be great heroes, our names never forgotten, if we manage to take the city back."

Herrnarrell watches Nehema as she takes her leave, and turns to the remaining group at the table, being sure to include the Gold Elves at the next table as well, "Nehama was right: heroes we would be if we managed to accomplish the impossible. The world - or at least the City - would be ours for the taking, having earned at least that possibility. Who then among us would be fit to rule? Would any of us be worthy, or would we fall to the same trappings of greed and power which consumed the City in the first place? Would we be able to look inside of ourselves, view our flaws and vices with honesty, and turn away from the crown or the Council if there is any doubt about our worthiness? And let us say that we do turn away. Would we leave the City open for the taking or would we then pledge ourselves to its defense, even from those who might want to rule rather than raze?

"I would be interested in attempting to restore the City for no other purpose than for the stories that we would then be able to tell. But the crown? The responsibility of becoming or of choosing a new ruler? It would not be for me."

He's going to lose his s%#$ when he learns your real name. :)

Dunno if it's going to be used, (though I assume he was chosen for a reason) but one half of Herrnarrell's purpose is to discover whether his family is one of the minor Starym lines. Could be interesting since it seems all of the Moon Elves in the Starym family have been cowards, cheats, and murderers.

Also, I'll make a post in the morning when I get my first break at work. I should have been in bed an hour ago.

Pero's tale draws Herrnarrell's attention away from whatever conversations might still be going on around him and he listens enraptured, still facing up with his eyes closed and his hands behind his head. As the story finishes, Herrnarrell looks over at Pero in appreciation, "A fine tale. A bit morbid in its moral, but captivating nonetheless. Are you a storyteller by trade or merely by opportunity?"

Herrnarrell chuckles at Sarrissa's question, "Hehe, oh there are always plans to retake the city. I don't doubt that there are hundreds, even thousands of elves who have dreams of it happening - dreams of being the one to make it happen. There are dozens of stories written about teams and armies of the goodly races working together to destroy the invaders and reclaim the City of Song. So far though, I don't know of any real effort."

Herrnarrell's eyes follow Nivian as she moves back onto the stage and he takes a seat as she begins her newest piece. He closes his eyes and tilts his head back, just imagining what Myth Drannor might have looked like at the height of its existence. Herrnarrell gestures towards Nivian as she sings, and adds to Nehama's description, "If you want to know what Myth Drannor was, all you have to do is listen. Some of our elders might be able to give you a more accurate account of what the city was like, and I can easily recommend some historical accounts of the city if you're the reading type, but Nivian seems to capture its soul."

As the song is drawing to a close, Herrnarrel continues, "Of course, the soul and the dream of what might have been are all that is left. The entire place is overrun with drow and other evil entities. It would take an army to even stand a chance of reclaiming it as it was."