Marcus of Torm's page

To be fair that is a possibility.

@Samnell would you mind marking this (and the other) campaign as inactive? Thanks!

Likewise I'm sorry to hear this but I understand, I've been finding it hard to get the tome to post too of late. Thanks for letting us know and god speed!

Marcus's eyes narrow as he stared at the corpse. There was no guarantee that was the end of it, there had been three voices in their mind and more than one source of Evil. Marcus once more let his senses open and peered about to see if the situation had improved.

He's using detect evil once more.

Going to wait until I find out what we're up against :)

Did Marcus manage to connect? Was his attack effective?

Marcus approached the goblin they had surrounded. Holding his sword high in a two handed grip, he let it fall with grim precision like an axe, to deliver Torm's judgement!

Power attack, smite & flank: 1d20 + 9 - 2 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 9 - 2 + 3 + 2 = 25Damage: 2d6 + 7 + 6 + 4 ⇒ (4, 6) + 7 + 6 + 4 = 27

I guess I'll wait for the goblin to act before posting Marcus' action.

Marcus's eyes narrowed as he regarded the goblin. Low and dangerous he replied, "Will you now? Lets see what Lord Torm has to say about that!"

Swift action: SMITE on the goblin 2/2 used.

Steadily Marcus advanced, sword at the ready.

"Ever get a feeling like something just crossed your grave?" Marcus whispered, "Something tells me we'll be needing Torm's aid." At that point he started praying fervently.

Got 3 1st level oracle spells left. Marcus will cast Protection from Evil on himself. Can also cast it on two others - who wants it? First come, first serve.

Marcus rested his hand upon the pommel of his sword and whispered, "With the grace of the gods I hope we can divine the nature of our opponents before it's too late. Forewarned is forearmed they say."

In Marcus's case this is literally true due to his Martial Flexibility.

In hushed tones, Marcus told the others what he had found and suggested, "Perhaps some malevolence is wrapped up in the eyes? There's lingering art but perhaps this is something more a kind to the way?" He glanced at Aldondrick wondering what he thought.

Marcus narrows his eyes and whispers, "Torm 'fend us from evil..." as his eyes notice the dragon. He looked at the stone formation suspiciously, could that have been the fate of the hero, to be turned into stone?

He wondered if there was any slumbering art or evil here, so he whispered a prayer and opened his senses.
Casting Detect Magic and then Detect Evil.

Marcus prayed for Bolkvar, "Lord Torm, we are about to step into the unknown in pursuit of Evil in your name. Please staunch wounds of this honorable Dwarf!"

In a flash of blue radiance the worst of his wounds vanished.
CLW X 3: 3d8 + 12 ⇒ (2, 7, 3) + 12 = 24 4/7 level 1 spells used.

Marcus shrugged, "To be mortal is to know know one day you must die. Perhaps my time is today, or perhaps not." He stepped forwards boldly, "Lets us see what Lord Torm has planned."

Perception if applicable: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13

Hearing Marcus grimaced, "If only we could fortify our minds against it's insidious touch..."

Taking a steadying breath he added mildly, "I suppose we must go on." With that he stepped forwards onto almost certain doom.

Hand on the hilt of his sword, Marcus was right behind Aldondrick, peering into the gloom - hoping to spot any signs of danger.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Sorry to see you go, you'll be missed.

"Sounds like ye did just that. Let’s press on."

Marcus nodded his agreement, it was time to go.

I'm assuming we've buried the dead adventurers. Remind me wasn't there a corridor up here that ended in a door or something we didn't explore?

Looking deeply perturbed Macrus hisses, "Did you hear that? It's in my mind again!"

Upon hearing Aldondrick's warning, Marcus stopped what he was doing to glance around, looking for anything hidden or sneaking about.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

At the same time he opens his senses too see if the taint of evil was present.

I don't mind ABP. I also don't mind virtual WBL as used in some games. I'm ok with normal loot rules too although that is a hassle at times.

"Yes Aldon, it did." replied Marcus, "Although I expect our troubles are far from over."

With a sigh Marcus says, "Let's pull them out and give them a decent burial."

With the aid of a rope and hopefully the others, he drags their bodies out. He then starts digging a pair of graves. Backbreaking work but it had to be done. When the hole was deep enough he lowered them in and offered a prayer, The Silver Coursers set out with a noble goal, to rescue lost children. On the way they fell victim to the evils of this place. It probably seemed to them that they died in vain, a cruel end. Lord Torm for their sacrafice I ask that you forgive their earthly sins and guide their souls in the afterlife so that they may find eternal peace."

If he still has a bead on her...
Just to be sure Marcus shot another arrow into the elf. It paid to be careful.
Longbow Smite, Aldon's buff & favored target: 1d20 + 7 + 3 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 7 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 31Damage: 1d8 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 4 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 16

Otherwise...
"How strange, what just happened?" asked a bemused Marcus. He then whispered a prayer to attune his senses to the Art... He casts detect magic
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

He then has a good look around the water and the area, looking for anything untoward (we know there's at least one human hand in there).
Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

Finally he opens his senses to see if the evil he noticed before has departed...
Detect Evil.

Marcus nocks another arrow, pulls it to his cheek aims and releases. The arrow threads it's way through the combat powered by the force of Lord Torm's judgement!
Longbow Smite, Aldon's buff & favored target, in combat without feat tax: 1d20 + 7 + 3 + 2 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (12) + 7 + 3 + 2 + 1 - 4 = 21Damage: 1d8 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 17

I'm taking the family on holiday to get a bit of Christmas sun. I won't be able to post till tomorrow but I expect to have internet at the villa.

When Marcus's arrow shattered an image, he shrugged inwardly, she'd run out of images before he ran out of arrows. Of course he had to be sure not to hit Barra or Bolkvar. That made the shot harder but by no means impossible. With the bow drawn to his chin he waited a fraction, there a gap! He released and the arrow sped towards, her straight and true.

Longbow: Smite, Aldon's buff & favored target, in combat without feat tax: 1d20 + 7 + 3 + 2 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (18) + 7 + 3 + 2 + 1 - 4 = 27Damage: 1d8 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 14

Ok Marcus will use his bow then.

Two questions: Did Marcus's 'readied actions' count as readied or do they happen in round 1? Also is there a path to Melee her without ending up in the glitter dust? In a way I wish he'd chosen step up here instead, but no need to retcon.

Sternly Marcus told Lady Amkathara, "If you won't explain yourself to me, then I'm afraid you'll have to explain to Lord Torm in person ." actions] As he was speaking, Torm's gift filled the back of Marcus's mind with tactics and strategems for dealing with elven opponents.

D20 roll: 1d20 ⇒ 14

Marcus raises an eyebrow before asking mildly, "A body. How exactly did that get there? Tell me M'lady where they... Disrespectful?"

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16
If it looks like combat is about to break out, Marcus will declare her a Smite target and use Martial Flexibility to gain Favoured Enemy: Elf. That's a swift and a move action.

It's smite time.

Narrowing his eyes, Marcus' voice went low and dangerous as he asked, "I see... You won't mind if we look in the pool will you? We're not going to find any surprises in there are we? No corpses for example."

Perception, anything in there that shouldn't be?: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Folding his arms Marcus gave her a stern look before saying mildly, "The Humans. Tell us about them M'lady."

An interesting choice from master Stonebeam. Marcus was far from sure it was wise, but he didn't have a better plan. He watched the elf and judged her reaction to Bolkvar's suggestion.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Marcus had a horrible sense of foreboding. It seemed as thought the master of this place could whisper into anyone's mind. What on Toril where they up against? He whispered a silent pray that Torm would stand with them and provide the moral fortitude necessary to root out this evil.

Marcus duly turned away from whatever ghastly sight Ariana was exposed to. He took the opportunity to have a good look around the area, but found himself distracted by aware that he shouldn't look at the strange elfwoman.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

Samnell can you remind us where we can go from this area? I remember there's a bit inside a where we found the crystal we didn't explore. Is there anywhere else?

A difficult question, the gods it seemed had granted them the opportunity to judge her. Problem was they didn't know her crimes or whether they had been counterbalanced by her long incarceration. He considered for a moment before replying, "ᚢᚾᛚᛖᛋᛋ᛫ᚾᛖᚹ᛫ᛁᚾᚠᛟᚱᛗᚨᛏᛁᛟᚾ᛫ᛁᛋ᛫ᚱᛖᚡᛠᛚᛖᛞ᛬ᛁᛗ᛫ᛏᛖᛗᛈᛏᛖᛞ᛫ᛏᛟ᛫ᛚᛠᚡᛖ᛫ᚺᛖᚱ᛫ᚺᛖᚱᛖ᛬᛫ᛁ᛫ᛒᛖᛚᛠᚡᛖ᛫ᛋᚺ ᛖᛋ᛫ᛏᚱᚨᛈᛈᛖᛞ᛫ᚨᚾᛞ᛫ᚦᛖᚱᛖᚠᛟᚱᛖ᛫ᚢᚾᚨᛒᛚᛖ᛫ᛏᛟ᛫ᚺᚢᚱᛏ᛫ᚨᚾᛃᛟᚾᛖ᛬"

Marcus's lips formed a thin line and he regarded her with suspicion before whispering something to Bolkvar, "ᛃᛟᚢ᛫ᚨᚱᛖ᛫ᚱᛁᚷᚺᛏ᛫ᚾᛟᛏ᛫ᛏᛟ᛫ᛏᚱᚢᛋᛏ᛬ᚺᛖᚱ᛫ᛋᛟᚢᛚ᛫ᛁᛋ᛫ᛏᚨᛁᚾᛏᛖᛞ᛬"

I used this site for the unicode runes.

The point of rudeness had already been crossed, and frankly Marcus found Lady Amkathra's behavior to be rather suspicious. So he did the sensible thing and decided to see what Torm thought of the situation.

He opened his senses and look to see if her soul was tainted.

Detect Evil concentrating for three rounds unless something major happens. This isn't PFS (thankfully) and I am trying not to abuse this ability.

Marcus shrugged slightly at Ranek, it was possible he was right, but then again tails where often so muddled even the wisest of sages couldn't divine the truth.

Turning back to Lady Amkathra he asked, "My lady, where would we find this Copperdeath?"

"Copperdeath is the dragon Auvan Wyrmslayer is supposed to have killed, not a dragon he befriended."

Well that's an interesting question. Quoting Samnell: "Copperdeath was the Wyrmslayer's dragon".

That could mean two things, firstly Copperdeath was the dragon the Wyrmslayer fought. But in the stories Hakon and Bolkvar knew Copperdeath died, so I took Samnell's statement to mean it was his steed.

Mind you this is the realms where death is more of an inconvenience than permanent for the truly powerful, so perhaps Copperdeath came back. Bonus points in the new underwear department if Copperdeath now looks like this or this.

Gently Marcus asked, "Copperdeath that's Auvan Wyrmslayer's dragon isn't it? Auvan was reckoned a hero, so it seems strange Copperdeath would be enslaving not people to work in the mines. Really not how I'd expect a hero's dragon to behave."

Sense motive for any reply: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

He can cast 7 level 1 oracle spells per day, so yes.

Assuming there's no retcons, and pretending to act normally.

Sounding somewhat suspicious, Marcus asked "Indeed my lady. We found many troubling things in this place, how is it again that you came to be here? Surely one such as you can't easily be bound by mere art."

GM I guess I should have said but I was kind of expecting to have an opportunity to prepare before actually seeing her. I didn't want to presume we got up the long climb unscathed and there were no random encounters. Anyway I guess that particular door has closed.

Yeah back to the elf.

Marcus nodded, "If it comes to it, I can petition Lord Torm to protect us from evil. I fear that boon will only last a few minutes however."

He then took point and started leading the party towards the long climb up.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
Survival if applicable: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Marcus was ready to go. He nodded his thanks to Oparil and headed out the door.

Marcus nodded, "Orcs are... seemingly irremediable" He sighed inwardly at the waste of all the indiscriminate slaughter caused by Orc hordes over the years.Grinning at Barrah he said, "A bard would be nice but I have a feeling we're just going to have to find things out the hard way. We know there's something mighty odd a-foot, we'll have to see if we can't get to the bottom of it."