The meal went by in a blur. The Hell Knight paid little attention to the horrors of the setting, the veiled threats of his host and the hollow attempts at defiance by the King's Party.
When veiled threats transformed into open hostility, Marius never hesitated. He rose to his feet. Drew his sword and watched his King die.
And with the death of his King.
Came the death of much more.
Illiana had whispered warnings in his ear.
To jump.
To flee and save his life.
But Marius had never listened to Illiana.
Why should he?
He was a Hell Knight.
He had bested a Devil.
He had crushed bandits.
He had carved his mark into the hide of a Linnorm.
While the craven members of his party fled.
Claiming to protect their king.
Protect a dead fool from his own foolishness.
And you'll only suffer his fate as well.
So it was with that thought he paused at the window.
Watching as Janus returned to the last remnants of the King's party trying to save them.
That he finally understood.
Marius was no lord.
He was no baron.
He was a Hell Knight.
He was destined to rule kingdoms with an iron fist.
In perfect order.
Not consumed by petty ambition.
Fear.
Or emotions, like compassion.
No cold-hard order was the only way to achieve peace.
And he had only ever met one individual, who truly wielded legitimate power.
The tools necessary to create order.
To stamp out weakness.
Like love.
Passion.
Mercy.
And she had offered him this power, if he would only serve her.
It seemed so clear now.
As the King's Party Scattered.
The King was dead.
The oath binding Marius to these fools...
Dead as well.
He steps in the path of the fleeing Janus.
Cold Iron Longsword bathed in flames.
Cold, Emotionless eyes bathed in hatred.
"The King is dead. Long live the Queen..."
The blade rises above his head as he moves to cut the rest of the party's retreat off.
"Nyrissa"
To All of You:
]I apologize guys. I have a newborn son at home and a 3 year old and a 7 year old who want more daddy time than I can give them. I want so badly to continue playing with you guys, you're all so creative and fun and energetic, but my motto has always been faith then family then fun. I have turned over Marius to the evil clutches of your more than capable GM Cosario with the only request that Marius's demise be worthy of curses by you all for many years to come. Take care and God Bless, P33J
He unsheathes his sword and prepares to strike as the hag leaps at Arv. When suddenly she is tossed across the room.
"So it is, among those ruled by emotion to strike without thought to allow passion to overrul reason," He nearly cursed, then turned and glared at Nyrissa. "You must know that I will not allow my king to drink tonight, nor any other to sip from what ever is offered from her poisoned hands. And while you are powerful in this realm, your pet Linnorm has my mark carved deep into his side for his hubris as well."
Marius's anger grows as the riddles and pure chaos of this realm overwhelms him.
"Speak plainly woman. Riddles and double-talk are the tools of anarchy, weapons against peace. We shape our own futures, your divinations be damned. Now tell us how to leave this place or I will cut my way out of it."
Despite his best efforts to remain calm, the Hellknight's Ulfen heritage was starting to break through.
At the acknowledgement of Illiana's presence, Marius immediately draws his sword. Turning to King Rupert, he speaks sternly.
"This place is beyond cursed m'lord. Any who would associate with Illiana, have nothing but ill-intent. She feeds on chaos and bloodshed, twists men's minds so that they are not their own," The flame erupting from Marius's blade illuminates the graveness of his face.
"There is a fey woman I once knew. Dangerous and deadly. She was present at the King's dinner. If she is present here, this could very well be a trap and we should not tarry. The name is Illiana, if you can ascertain if she was present, it would be wise for us to make our escape."
"What is it with these endless fetes. Now is not the time for a feast, it's a time for action. And while I believe these elves are being truthful in their claim that they want this eldest character dead. I am weary to share bread with them with a Linnorm camped at the base of the stairs to their castle."
Each round, you concentrate on one target, who must be within range. You know if the target deliberately and knowingly speaks a lie by discerning disturbances in its aura caused by lying. The spell does not reveal the truth, uncover unintentional inaccuracies, or necessarily reveal evasions.
Each round, you may concentrate on a different target.
Once released by the Worm, Marius glares at it and considers attempting to bring the beast down once and for all. But his orders were to fall back, and fall back he would.
So I don't fill the gameplay thread with useless rules crap lol.
First, in my opinion your rule is law so you can ignore the rest.
1. I attacked 1-handed. It's a longsword. With all the buffs up, plus my Smite up, that's the damage I do 1-handed. If I had attacked 2-handed it would have been +4 damage per attack.
Marius is grappled, and isn't going to be able to break the grapple, but he will attack to the end.
If ever a time called for the use of Hero Points it is now. I will use all three Hero points before my attacks giving me a +8 bonus to every attack, wish me luck lol. I take a -2 to my attack rolls due to being grappled, but the Dragon takes a -4 to Dexterity for also grappling, making the attack/ac a wash. I'm officially out of Hero Points! LOL
Hearing King Rupert's shouts over the din of battle, Marius shakes his head. There was no retreat from this battle for him. The Tarn had him in his clutches and the only thing Marius could do is deal as much damage to the beast as possible so that he could draw it's attention to him.
"I am Marius du'Caat! Hellknight of the Order of the Godclaw. You will remember my name beast, for I will carve it in your very hide!"
Venetia, could you have charged? Or did you charge
If you would have charged, you would have gotten a +3 to your attack, putting your attack at 37, hitting the Tarn on the nose. Also you should have gotten a +1 to your attack from Haste as well.
Step 2. Upload your map, clean. Don't have any tokens, monsters anything on it, that isn't a part of the non-movable terrain.
Step 3. Begin to upload tokens, sizing them correctly to fit your grid. Each token you upload will be on a different plane, creating layers for you, and making each individually moveable.
Step 4. Want a fog of war or effect image? Use shape, you can cover the map or areas you want with a shape, and if you want to reveal, you resize the shape or change the fill to transparency.
Step 5. Create a copy of this file and save it separately, in case something stupid happens.
Step 6. Share. Select the file, click on share, chose "Anyone with the link" Then change the permissions to "Can Edit" now any of us that click the map link can edit the map, moving our tokens, adding "area" affects as we want.
Also, I will be at Horse Camp this weekend with my daughter, I will have my iPad, but will not be posting a lot or any long posts. Feel free to GMPC me as you see fit Cosario.
+1 for Charge from Danath
+1 From Inspire from Danath
+2 for Charging
+2 for Smiting Chaos
+7 from BAB
+1 from W.F.
+1 from W.T.
+1 from W.E.
+5 from STR
+4 on Critical Threats via Critical Focus
+6 STR
+3 for wielding 2-handed
+2 for Weapon Specialization
+1 from Danath
+1 from Danath
+1 from Weapon Training
+1 from Enchantment
+2 from Smite
+6 from Power Attack
Weapon is 2d6 from Enlarge Person
65 Cold Iron Smite Damage and 6 Fire damage, if it isn't fire resistant it takes 71 Damage total.
I have no more rerolls for the day.
My AC takes a -2 penalty from the charge a -1 for my size and a -1 from dex but +1 from Natural Armor, but gets a +1 deflection bonus from the smite, for a total of -2 to my AC.
Marius will help kill it, he just isn't going to sacrifice himself in an effort to kill it, when we can delay it and regroup, perhaps gaining an ally or a defense of some sort.
"Heroe's of Restov fall back at full speed with the King. Casters give us some support spells then catch up with the King. The Riders will fight then fall back, fight and fall back until you're safely in the castle. I don't intend to die here, just to provide the King with a lead. Now go."
He then shouts at the beast, flashing his blade in front of him.
"I am a Hellknight of the Order of the Godclaw. Defender of Order. Bringer of Law. I have been trained with the discipline of Devils. Slaying one to attain my rank. You threaten our rightful King, STAND DOWN OR BE PUT DOWN."
Intimidate:1d20 + 19 ⇒ (19) + 19 = 38 Runes are probably without power here, since we're disconnected from the Gods, otherwise +2 to the check. If the creature has an intelligence of over 6, I can intimidate it. DC of my check is HD+WIS Mod+10. If I surpass the check, it is Shaken for 1 round, taking a -2 to saves, AC and Attacks. If I surpass the check by more than 5, then for every multiple of 5 I pass it by, it is Shaken for another round.
"The line will hold," He turns to the rest of the [i]Riders[i], Danath, Arv and Ni'Tir. "Form up our right flank. Don't let us be enveloped, keep the line of retreat clear."
To the witches he shouts: "If they're flying, light them up. If they're on the ground, slow the down."
He looks at the Heroes of Restov.
"Time to prove your loyalty to our King. Protect him with your life. Don't let him out of your sight."
He shifts his grip on his longsword, so that it is in two hands and prepares to challenge the first wave of foes.
By challenge I mean use Dazzling Display. My intimidate skill is +18, feel free to roll it for me when you're ready.
Marius had quietly sat and listened to their new King's noble speech. He sounded almost Andoran in his ideals. This worried Marius. Liberty was a fine idea, but it required law and order to protect it. To give liberty boundaries so that it did not grow into something worse, anarchy.
But this new charter was planting the seeds of that very thing. An anarchic state where the Barons held as much authority as the King would allow for mob rule should one of the Barons become charismatic enough or cunning enough to bend the majority of the council to his idea.
No idea, no matter how noble, could overcome the basic selfish nature of man. Only Order, applied without malice nor mercy could reign in the baser nature of creation.
"Freedom is a noble idea King Rupert, but if unchecked, freedom is the seed from which the thorns of anarchy grows. How do you propose a system of baronies, all with different laws and customs, to work together cohesively as one. Your two restrictions, regardless of how grand an idea they may be, are simply not enough to ensure that a citizen of one Barony is not persecuted by the laws of another Barony they visit. For what if, in the laws of one Barony the price of theft is you pay 3x the price of the good you stole to the aggrieved party and in another Barony it is the hand with with you took the goods? How do we reconcile the various differences that are sure to arise?"
He stood up and looked at the rest.
"This is why I propose that rather than a Barony, I be made the Marshall of this new land and that we come together here and now to implement a set of laws that will be enforced uniformly throughout the kingdom, rather than a piecemeal collection of codes and regulations that vary with the crossing of an imaginary border. Not for my sake or the sake of us, but for our citizens who will then be protected from obscure regulations they may not be familiar with."
So I've decided what to do with my Leadership feat's ability to have followers, I'm going to slowly recruit new members into my Hellknight Order as we establish settlements throughout the Greenbelt.
Marius reads the note and immediately crushes it in his hand. He turns to Hrraggar and mouths the word, Illiana. The dwarf shudders at the name. Still, the Ulfen is polite and thanks the messenger for conveying the note before sending him away.
The pair enter, just as the decrees are set to begin. Marius motions to Hrraggar to take a seat as he handles the pomp and circumstance.
Sense Motive taking 10 will put me at 21.
A grin crosses the face of the Lawbringer. Surtova in one move, outflanked the fools of Restov and their petty machinations and most likely averted a full-fledged civil war. These were rulers that could be useful allies for an Order of Hellknights to establish law and order in a lawless land.
Then he hears the offers of Surtova to his company. An attempt to pull them into their internal power struggle and transform the Knight into a pawn. But du'Caat still had an ace up his sleeve.
He approaches and bows low before the Surtova lord, who had offered him a feoffe. Then turns to the crowd and bows low.
"A generous and undeserved honor m'lord to be offered a place at your right hand in the taming of these lawless lands. And tempting for one as dedicated to the cause of Justice and Order as I." Marius pauses, allowing his compliment to sink in. "As you know, a Hellknight, however, is forbidden from being bound to a King, no matter how wise and just he is. Rather we are bound to the uphold the legitimate rule of law. Enforcing it's tenets on all in the realm great or small."
He smiles and turns back toward the new "King" of the Greenbelt. His right eye twinkles as his smile turns into almost a smirk that seemed to say and now to set the hook.
"And as you are well aware; for you, like your noble cousin, the legitimate Regent of the Dragonscale Throne, are well-educated in the laws and customs of the various realms of Golarion, the offer of a Fiefdom to a fully-vested Hellknight, is a invitation to found a Company within your realm to serve as an independent enforcer of legitimate law, so that your rule is not tainted with corruption by self-serving nobles who fail to ensure that Justice is applied to all."
Marius then once again turns to the crowd.
"So on behalf of the Order of the Godclaw, I accept your offer to establish a company of Hellknights within your new realm and execute the law according to its very letter."
I'm going to roll diplomacy, because I just attempted a pretty bold move and I'm going to need all of my charisma to get him to accept my change of conditions lol. Diplomacy:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20
He then turns, kneels and kisses the ring. Then rising he shouts the creed of the his Hellknight order.
"Righteousness by obedience."
Hrraggar sits in the corner with his face in his palm.
"A Hellknight is never late, Hrraggar." The deep baritone voice of the blonde Ulfen responded to the impatient dwarf. "However, it is time we left."
His thick soled boots clicked on the ground as the 2 meter tall armor clad behemoth walked toward the door. His armor was jet black, but shone like polished obsidian. It, too, was covered in ancient runes of Dwarven design +2 Intimidate/Diplomacy. He moved gracefully in the plate mail, as if he weighed nothing at all, no doubt a result of his regimented Hellknight training.
As they exited a porter approached and beckoned. A carriage pulled up and the dwarf and the Hellknight stepped inside. The ride was quiet, the two old friends never seemed to fill the air with needless conversation about trivial things. They arrived at the dinner, an hour after the invitation said guests would be admitted, but plenty of time before the actual festivities would start.
As they approached, a door man stopped them. The contrast between the 1.2 meter dwarf, the meter and a half human and the 2 meter Ulfen could be seen as comical, if it were not for the fact that the Hellknight was so imposing a figure.
"Ser Marius du'Caat, Hellnight of the God-Claw and my guest, His Holiness, Hrraggar Thunderanvil, Cleric of Torag. We have been expected."
The Greenbelt needs discipline and clearly those of use who have trained our whole lives to be well oiled teams with our horses, and weapons are the ones to deliver it.
Maybe we can call ourselves, the Hell's Archons lol.
But I like the idea of us being a calvary, I might talk to our awesome GM about a potential edit to Marcus in terms of his initial classes if we want to do a Calvary themed team. I could see Marius being an Order of the Cockatrice or even Sword Cavalier for his first 4 levels, a weapon master for his 5th and then Hellknight again.
Marius du'Caat
M LN Human Fighter 5/Hellknight 2, Level 7, Init +5, HP 89/89, DR 0, Speed 30
AC 22, Touch 12, Flat-footed 21, Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +5, Base Attack Bonus 7/2, Action Points 3
Cold Iron/Magic/Fire +1 Flaming Cold Iron Longsword (N/A) +16/+10 (1d8+11 +1d6 Fire, 19-20 x2)
+1 Adaptable Composite Longbow +1 (20) +9/+4 (1d8+4, x3)
Move at Full Speed +1 Hellknight Plate Mail of Speed, Touch AC +1 +1 Ring of Deflection (+10 Armor, +1 Dex, +1 Natural)
Abilities Str 20, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 12
Condition None
GEAR +2 Belt of Giant Strength (2000g), +2 Headband of Alluring Charisma (2000g), Circlet of Persuasion (2250g), Heavy Horse Combat Trained (300g), Pathfinder's Kit (12g), +1 Hellknight Plate Mail (1500g), +1 Flaming Cold Iron Longsword (5150g), Quiver of Arrows (.5), +1 Ring of Deflection (2000g), +2 Cloak of Resistance (200g), Handy Haversack (1000g), Tender 1087.5g
Custom crafting, which I won't do if you don't want me to use it.
Cost for Mithral FullPlate of Speed is Armor +1500 Mithral +9000 Enchantment +1000 + Haste +15000 = 26500
So if you subtract Mithral from the armor and add the difference between normal full plate and Hell night plate, you're left with a final cost of 18000G/2 = 9000g right?
If I'm making a mistake please correct me, I'm trying to become familiar with the crafting rules as I do this.
A light horse can travel up to 28 miles per day with a load up to 525 lbs, my character's total weight with gear is 349.
That said, if I need to tweak that Armor of speed (no complaints or questions if you think I do, I'll just do it :D ), I'll probably modify my gear to include a Heavy Horse.
Under that is my purchase breakdown, my skill breakdown and my list of feats. Hrraggar will come later, but he has both Wondrous Item Creation Feat and Craft Magic Arms and Armor Feat.
Let me know if you have any issues with this. For those who want, you may cut the costs of your weapons and armor in half as well as your wondrous items. Hrraggar is a Crafter by nature.
Marius du'Caat
M LN Human Fighter 5/Hellknight 2, Level 7, Init +5, HP 89/89, DR 0, Speed 30
AC 22, Touch 12, Flat-footed 21, Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +4, Base Attack Bonus 7/2, Action Points 3
Cold Iron/Magic +1 Cold Iron Longsword (N/A) +16/+10 (1d8+11, 19-20 x2)
Flaming/Magic +1 Flaming Longsword (N/A) +16/+10 (1d8+11, 19-20 x2)
+1 Adaptable Composite Longbow +1 (20) +9/+4 (1d8+4, x3)
Move at Full Speed +1 Hellknight Plate Mail of Speed, Touch AC +1 +1 Ring of Deflection (+10 Armor, +1 Dex, +1 Natural)
Abilities Str 20, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 12
Condition None
My description, back story and crunch/partial is in my character profile,
I post 2-3 times per day so long as work isn't insane. I've got a new baby coming in 4-5 weeks, number 3, so I'll be posting more often because I'll be off work.
I work as an advertising writer, so I can post at my desk all day and look like I'm doing work haha.
Saleron, Janus and Dylos,
Imagine this, an Orcale, a Hellknight, a Cavalier and a Paladin walk into the bar, the Horse ducks.
But I think we've got some cool connections with nobility/duty, plus I'm digging the life oracle cohort and how that would play in with my Forgemaster Cohort, who's tagging along with this Hellknight, because he sees opportunity to have a monopoly on the weapons market in this new nation lol.
Lawful Good/Lawful Neutral Characters with a goal to bring peace and justice to the Stolen Lands, sounds like we'd have a good reason to work together :D
A mild roar spilled from the bar as group of six, armed men opened the door. There was violence in their eyes as they scanned the room for their prey. The thinnest, if that word could be used to describe any of these hulks, pointed in the direction of a table of five barmaids and one well-groomed man.
The thugs approached the table, their hands sliding into their cavernous cloaks, reassuring them that their daggers and short swords were still there. The largest of the group, a gnarly, one-eyed fellow growled as he approached from behind the solitary male.
“We’re looking for Tomas du’Caat, do you know him?”
His tone made it clear that this was less a question and more an accusation.
“Do I know Tomas Serge Raul du’Caat?” The man replied without even bothering to look behind him. There was mirth in his voice as he spoke.
“What can I tell you of Tomas du’Caat that the bards have not already sung?” The man replied winking at the women, but still with his back to his interrogator. “No doubt you’ve heard how he won the Black Sovereign’s Tourney at age 15. And how he unseated Ser Vitor Longspear for besmirching du’Caat’s honor with the claim that Ser Tomas deflowered Longspear’s daughter—despite the fact that daisy had been plucked long before Ser Tomas visited that garden.”
The maids giggled, as the speaking man smirked. His voice grew louder while he proclaimed his exploits, even as the bar grew quieter.
“You’ve most likely heard the bawdy ballad of the Tomcat’s Call from some poet who’d had a few too many pints. Recalling how Ser Tomas saved himself from a Warlock’s curse by seducing the caster’s daughter—even though he had been transformed into a frog,” He flicked his tongue at the comely lass who with loose bodice leaned too far over to her his tail. Then shrugging, he rose from his table.
As he finally turned to face the men who had no doubt been paid to take revenge for the seduction of some merchant’s young pretty wife or daughter, his expression changed. Gone was the disarming smirk, the sparkling eyes that were subtly seducing his drinking companions; now replaced by a steely gaze and iron eyes betraying his intended violence.
“Perhaps you’ve never been told how he rode down a pack of bandits who’d stolen his favorite horse, on a borrowed donkey and slaughtered the lot of them or the tale of when he castrated a Ulfen raider with nothing but a wooden sword for the crime of interrupting him while he charmed a tavern owner’s daughter.”
Now the men, who just moments ago had murder in their eyes—seemed a little shorter and a little smaller. While the well-groomed noble, seemed more dangerous by the moment.
“No, I’m sure you didn’t come to hear tales of his prowess in battle nor his conquests in the boudoir. I’m guessing you insignificant gut worms who just crawled out from a steaming pile of their mother’s dung are wanting to know what Ser Tomas looks like, so you can be sure that you’ll keep your daggers sheathed in his present and your pinheads firmly attached to your sloping shoulders.” Ser Tomas snarled with his hand resting lightly on the gilded hilt of his scimitar.
All but the largest of the thugs had slunk backwards, inching toward the door as Ser Tomas threatened them. When the last remaining thug finally realized he was alone, he spoke with a stuttering mumble.
“N-n-no m-m-m-lord, we j….ust w-w-wanted to w-w-warn him ssssome fool p-p-put a price on his head.”
