Locke of Highdelve's page

"It was an experience for both students and chaperones to be sure," Locke says. "Did they complete all of their lessons?"

He shrugs and waves his hand. "No matter." He then leans in toward J and says at not entirely a whisper and with a nod toward Alec, "You'd best keep an eye on that one."

I'm under the impression that we're still unable to interact with anything with greater than negligible bulk.

"Now we need three of you to hold one focus each and speak the word N A R V E N together three times," Locke painfully scribbles out on the flour spread over the floor. He grimaces as he imagines what sorts of mishaps might ensue.

"There was a lodestone in the Venture Captain's quarters," Locke says. "...not to mention the note written on the margins of the emergency instructions say that's where it is."

"What an eclectic--. Never mind," Locke mutters. "Let's see if we can get the children to collect a shield and a jug of water."

Locke scrunches up his face. "If we've truly been everywhere, we're just going to need to start from scratch. Or get the students to carry an owlbear up the stairs," he says glumly.

"Can anyone sense magic? The foci might be magic," Locke comments.

"Focus usually well crafted trinket. Search rooms," Locke writes to the students.

To his companions, however, he says, "Where have we not been? Some of the rooms downstairs? And if the owlbear is a focus, we may be stuck in this phase forever."

"That went about as well as expected," Locke murmurs mostly to himself. "Let's search the room here. Maybe there's a clue as to where these foci go that will give us a clue to what they are. Or at least their shape."

Locke begins with a visual inspection of the room.

"Managed to scare off a spirit," Locke conveys to the students. "Must be Venture-Captain's room. Need foci."

"Ah--," Locke starts to say something then closes his mouth. He gives the tail a withering glower. "Can you see me through there? You seem to have rather good aim for having your head buried."

He thrusts and slashes at the tail, trying to cut the kobold free.

◆ Demoralize: Intimidate (T), Intimidating Glare: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
◆ Strike: +1 Aldori dueling sword (T): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27
Magic, Piercing, Thief: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
◆ Strike: +1 Aldori dueling sword (T): 1d20 + 9 - 5 ⇒ (7) + 9 - 5 = 11
Magic, Slashing, Thief: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

"Oh bloody--!" Locke says as the multidimensional creature cracks the kitsune's skull. "Pardon me," he says as he steps over his body. "I'm no good at fixing wounds. Spent all my time learning to make them. Gwen, when you get a chance, could you move to your left a little bit?"

He moves suddenly from conversation to violence and slashes at the tail.

◆ Stride
◆ Feint: Deception (E) vs. Will DC: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
◆ Strike: +1 Aldori dueling sword vs. Tail: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25
Magic, Slashing: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
+ Precision?: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Locke draws his blade but says, "Do you suppose it's intelligent and willing to parlay."

"And what in the world is that!?" Locke shouts.

Locke draws in the flour again.

"Open each door one by one."

"So it would seem," Locke answers.

He draws in the flour.

"Need to find Venture-Captain's room."

"We need to find the Venture-Captain's chamber, for one," Locke says a bit curtly, his mood souring as their situation drags on and being limited in his ability to directly affect the events afflicting himself. "And somewhere in this place are the four foci, so, yes, worth our time."

I was thinking 1, but it honestly makes no matter at this point. I have 0 data to make an informed decision. :)

Once they convince the children to pour the flour out so it can be written upon, he concentrates carefully to move the flour with his finger.

"Open northwest door. Please."

"We should ask them to bring flour from the kitchen so we can communicate in the hallway," Locke says.

Locke gives one of the untested doors a go.

Door 4

"Curses! It's random," Locke says with a sigh. "Unless one of these doors actually lets one of us pass, we're going to need the students."

Locke gets out a journal and charcoal pencil to make notes upon. "We may need to get the students to open the doors if this is a consequence of our condition. Gwen! See if you come back the way you came."

Oh, he phased through the door, you're saying.

"Ah. That was fast," Locke comments as Azrael emerges from the other door. "Maybe we should perform a visual inspection from the threshold."

"Dwarven door technique or one at a time?" Locke asks as he follows the duskwalker.

"Well, then let us find the Venture-Captain's room," Locke says. "Then at least we know where to take the foci. Probably upstairs."

"I'd wager a shiny Sail that he was the one in the library using that book to communicate with us," Locke comments to the duskwalker.

"Right. Let's see if we can get them focused on the task of saving us," Locke says, his tone conveying his pessimism. He walks over to the game board and starts to focus on moving the pieces around.

Thievery (T): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

He has a bit of trouble but manages to correctly spell, H E L P.

"Wait! No we need--!" Locke protests with futility since the students cannot hear him. "At least they will all be in one place now. Maybe."

Will Azreal shield block that first hit? Uses your reaction rather than mine.

Will vs. DC 18: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

"Ow!" Locke cries out as the wyrm slaps him. "Ya! I feel like I just woke up after drinking all night."

He tries to feint with his blade. "Now look here, worm, I say--what was I going to say?" He completely befuddles the wyrm and compounds it with truly wild swings.

◆ Feint: Deception (E), Stupefied 1: 1d20 + 8 - 1 ⇒ (20) + 8 - 1 = 27
◆ +1 Aldori dueling sword: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10 vs. flat-footed
◆ +1 Aldori dueling sword: 1d20 + 9 - 5 ⇒ (1) + 9 - 5 = 5 vs. flat-footed

Shouldn't yellow be at -17?

While 9 more damage on Yellow might not take it out, did want to make sure you noted that I split my attacks.

Locke darts out from behind one of the practice dummies. "You've got this, Gwen," he says as he leaves the half-fey's side.

He cuts at the (blue) vibrant-colored wyrm that attacked her before turning to and bringing a slice to bear against the (yellow) one that failed to notice him.

◆ Stride
◆ Strike vs. Blue: +1 Aldori dueling sword: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
Slashing, Thief: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
◆ Strike vs. Yellow: +1 Aldori dueling sword, Surprise Attack: 1d20 + 9 - 5 ⇒ (17) + 9 - 5 = 21 vs. Flat-footed & Frightened 1
Slashing, Thief: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 + Sneak Attack: 1d6 ⇒ 4

↺ You're Next: Defeats an enemy
Intimidation: Demoralize vs. Red: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

"Oh, for the love of gold," Locke groans. "Best to just hurry and satisfy them."

He draws his dagger rather than his sword and demonstrates a simple feint.

Feint: Deception (T): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

...perhaps too hurriedly.

Thievery (T): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

"Help us. Stay together. Find focuses. Bring to Venture-Captain's room", he signs over and over until they understand.

Thievery (T): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Locke signs the word "Yes" and tries to make it appear clearly in the mirror.

Thievery (T): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Locke grits his teeth and concentrates on moving the game tiles to arrange into the word, "V I M ?"

"Maybe it's our missing professor reaching out. Let's find the Venture-Captain's chambers. There might be a clue in there as to some detail about these foci. Size or shape. Or instructions, if we could ever be so lucky," Locke says.

"Hmm. Yes. If I only had ten minutes to spare to affix that to my sword," Locke comments wryly.

Locke watches the flipping of the book for a good bit longer than the others. "Actually, whoever's communicating with us wants us to bring each focus (whatever they are) to Armeline’s chamber (wherever that is) in order to restore reality!" Locke taps his finger on his chin. "I really hope that our shenanigans have not affected all of reality, and this person is referencing our respective relative realities. Anyhow, bringing these foci to Armeline's chamber will activate the failsafe and restore reality."

Any negative effect/saves? His next 2 actions pending...

Wasn't that the grease effect?

Locke slips around the table as the fight breaks out and surprises the gremlin next to the chair with a swift thrust of his blade. "I swear that boy will need to be strung up by his toes for a week to get the lesson on cooperation," he grumbles.

◆ Interact (draw sword)
◆ Stride
◆ Strike vs. Blue: +1 Aldori dueling sword, Surprise Attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16 vs. flat-footed target
Where'd those 19s and 20s go?
Magic, Piercing, Sneak Attack: 1d8 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + 4 + (1) = 8

"Ah! Gwendolin!" Locke says. "Do you think you and the others could get the other students to come shame Alec into not pursuing his poorly thought through plan. Unless he's responsible for our situation and is working for the Consortium or someone else..."

Locke takes a second to imagine running his sword through the stubborn youth to get his attention. It is momentarily cathartic. He sighs. "Did it get quiet because they solved the problem or because they're all unconscious?"

Locke grows frustrated and walks over to Alec. He tries to make his lock picks scatter on the ground and rearrange into the word, HELP.

◆ Stride
◆◆ Communicate: Thievery (T): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

Locke rolls his eyes at the boy's stubbornness. When he hears the kettle whistle, he moves over to the torch and tries to signal... something... to Alec.

◆ Stride
◆◆ Communicate: Thievery (T): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

”Someone owes me a Sphinx!” Locke says. ”I confess, it would not have hurt my feelings if I had been wrong.”

Locke moves over to the door and concentrates on making the alarm bell ring.

Thievery (T): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

"Good thing you have a bond," Locke says, suppressing a smirk of amusement despite their unusual circumstances. "But I believe Alec is as charming a liar as me. So I'll follow him as well."

I believe there are only two groups of students at the monent: Alec and the other four.

”I don’t trust that boy,” Locke says. ”His attitude doesn’t match the professor’s description or the face he put forward when we met. Some of us will need to keep an eye on him. He might be the source of our predicament. And I’ll bet you a tarnished Sphinx that he’s headed for the restricted books.”