Sir Malcolm of Riddleport's page

Malcolm looks up at Naelah's greeting. He smiles broadly and beckons her over to where he sits with Slidell and Vesh. "Naelah! I didn't expect to be seeing you again any time soon. Come on, have a seat."

"Yes, Thistletop seems to be the source of our troubles. Its where we're going next, actually."

"Well, as for a backdoor, what if we sailed to Thistletop rather than going by land? We could probably cut down on time, and avoid whatever goblins are between here and there. Plus, I'm guessing that the goblins aren't ready for an assault from the sea. They aren't renowned as sailors."

Mal speaks up "I hate to be the one to suggest this, but Hannah might not be just a midwife. Think about it; Nualia's pregnant. I'm guessing her father isn't happy about it, or at least she knows he won't be happy whe he finds out. She has nowhere to go, and she can't hide being pregnant for long, especially not here. What if the reason that no one knew about her being pregnant, is because she didn't stay pregnant?"

Sir Malcolm of Riddleport wrote:

Mal follows Vesh through the streets of Sandpoint, listening to his tale. "Aye, she knows more than she's telling." he says when Vesh finishes. "The question is, how important is what she knows? Is it just rumors and hearsay or some naughty, yet ultimately unimportant secret, or something else entirely. I wonder if there's anyone else who could tell us anything."

Vesh nods and steers Mal through a tangle of side streets and alleys before emerging on Undercliff way. In the shadow of the cathedral and the cliff it is perched upon is Risa's Place, a local watering hole supposedly popular with the locals because of it's out-of-the-way locale, Vesh explains.

"It's supposed to be run by a local Varisian woman and her sons. I'm in the mood to try her spiced potatoes," he says, "and try the locals for some insight."

Once Vesh enters and orders some of Risa's special potatoes and some hard cider, he puts his ear to the grindstone before continuing his conversation with Mal. Right now, he's just looking for what the talk of the town is. Vesh's Gather Information check (1d20+3=10).

After a while Vesh continues his conversation with Malcolm as discretely as possible at a side table. "Do you ever get the sense that Sandpoint is an under-ripened fruit, almost ready for the picking? Compared to Riddleport, anyway. I wonder what kind of guild runs the black market here. There are Scarzni, to be sure, but I wonder who really runs the place. And I wonder if there is anything we can do to balance the books in our favor, if you get my meaning."

Malcolm looks at Vesh for a moment and then grins "It does seem like a couple smart fellows from Riddleport might be able to do well for themselves here doesn't it?." lenaing forward he continues "It's a good waypoint for smugglers; the tunnels we saw were evidence of that. When I was sailor, the ship I was on quitely delivered some merchandise here a few times. The Scarzni here are petty thugs and extortionists, not brilliant criminals.".

Mal follows Vesh through the streets of Sandpoint, listening to his tale. "Aye, she knows more than she's telling." he says when Vesh finishes. "The question is, how important is what she knows? Is it just rumors and hearsay or some naughty, yet ultimately unimportant secret, or something else entirely. I wonder if there's anyone else who could tell us anything."

Sir Malcolm of Riddleport wrote:

Mal looks up from his breakfast as Vesh comes down the stairs. "How are you this morning? Come on, get some breakfast. Ameiko really is a fine cook."

Vesh smiles. "Good afternoon." he replies, "It's Wealday...still."

Perhaps it's more difficult to quietly leave the Dragon than I thought! He thinks as he pulls up a chair next to the rogue. He plops his pack on a chair next to him. "I've already eaten breakfast this afternoon. Slidell has eaten two."

He accepts another mug of tea from Bethana, happy to have the rogue's company. "I've just left him examining the items that we took from the dungeon last night...or this morning," says Vesh discretely. "I think he'll do just fine without my help."

Vesh takes yet another warm roll and start to chew and speak simultaneously. "What shall we do? Salome was off to pray and rest. Zieke to report to the mayor. Slidell won't be coming down any time soon, and I have no idea where Ehlissa is." Leaning back in his chair, Vesh takes a swig of hot tea.

"What kind of trouble do you suppose we could get into?"

Mal looks surprised. "Is it now? I only just got up and I guess I lost track of time. It's been a long few days hasn't it?"

He chews thoughtfully for a moment before asking "Does it look like we got anything good from the demon's chapel?"

"I'm sure we'll find something." Mal says with a chuckle. "At the moment, I'm content to eat my breakfast. Like I said, I only woke up a short while ago. Just wanderering the town maybe; since it looks like we'll be here for a while, it might be best for me to get a little more familiar with the place. What about you? Any shennagins you're interested in?"

Mal looks up from his breakfast as Vesh comes down the stairs. "How are you this morning? Come on, get some breakfast. Ameiko really is a fine cook."

Because Mal'd say something; retconning a bit.
Mal shakes his head when Vesh offers to leave "It was just bad luck that it happened to you. Any of us would've fallen under it's sway. Me, Zieke, Ehlissa, Slidell, Salome; any of us. I'd hate to lose a good companion and a friend because of one day's bad luck."

"Of course." Mal says, going to fetch the lantern. Best to let everyone handle their own specialties.
On the way out he smiles at Salome. "You really pulled us through; I think we all owe you one for that."

"She okay? Good; she saved us again." Malcolm says. A grin spreads over his face "We did it! Great work everyone; we took her down!"

Malcolm stabs down at the little witch.
Atk (rapier) 6, Dmg w/Sneak Attack 11; Ark (cold iron dagger) 15, Dmg w/sneak attack 6

Although...I can't help but wonder? Didn't she use the rod to conjure up the shield? If so, how does spell-thievery impact her ability to put up another one with a magic item as opposed to actually casting the spell?

I think she used the wand for the fire burst, not for the Shield effect.

Ref 18
Malcolm ducks under the gout of fire and lunges for the demoness with his blades. "Hold her still!" 'Let's hope I don't stab Zieke by mistake.'
Attack (Cold Iron dagger) 13, Dmg 2; Attack (rapier) 12, Dmg 6

Wouldn't Vesh get Sneak Attack with Slidell's Magic Missile? Or is that possible only with spells that require an attack roll?

"We're baaack!" Malcolm shouts to the surprised Quasit in a slightly sing-song voice, tossing the net at her.
Ranged touch attack 14

Sir Malcolm of Riddleport wrote:

He freezes when he sees the quasit, waiting to move until he's certain she didn't see him. Quite as a mouse, he slowly returns "Demon" he mouths.

Zieke's eyes widen as he recognizes the warning. Then he looks back at the rest of the party and nods vigorously, holding up his hand and indicating he and Mal are going through and they should follow. Then he whispers to Mal that he'll move the door so he can squeeze through.

"Have a net ready...and give me one, too. We'll try and bag her before she can fly away or turn invisible on us."

Mal nods and hands Zieke a net. "Here's to good luck." he whispers, downing a potion and following Zieke, net at the ready.

"As for the door..." he muses, "Maybe see if Mal can sneak up to see what's on the other side. If it's too tight to slip past, we just yank it open and hurry through..."

"I'd be game for that. Before we go in, lets put the nets over the entrances. I'd ahte for the witch to escape, or show up and make a bad fight worse."

Vesh nods, gingerly drops his pack to the floor, and produces a flask of Alchemist’s Fire. “What about one of these?” He asks the others in a hushed voice. “If it is the Wrathspawn, Mal could hurl one of these at it as he sneaks up to the door. Then we could rush the room and dispatch it as it burns.”

"Keep em'." Mal says with a grin. "I've got a few of my own."

"Alright," he nods, "Mal and me to the door. The rest of you ready your weapons. Mal? You look through the gap. If it's something dangerous you give me the sign and together, we'll open the door.

Ehlissa gestures at Mal to have a look, indicating that she will alert to danger.

Malcolm nods and creeps forward to peek through the door.

He freezes when he sees the quasit, waiting to move until he's certain she didn't see him. Quite as a mouse, he slowly returns "Demon" he mouths.

"I only got three nets. I thought that they would be enough at the time."

"Well...looks okay to me," Zieke comments, "What do you think? Will it hold?"

"Nope, I don't think it'll hold the witch and it definitely won't hold against anything bigger. However, I think it will slow her down a bit, and alert us when she comes."

"Can you check Mal and Ehlissa here?"

"Really, I just feel a little ill. No desire whatsoever to launch myself at anyone else in a homicidal rage."

Zieke glances around at the shrine and the obvious exits from the room. "That was a lot of racket we caused, too," he says, then moves to retrieve his sword and shield, "If the devil's nearby she may already know we're here..."

"Wouldn't surprise me a bit if that was part of her plan."

Can I use the nets to cover the exits from this room (excluding the one we came through)? If so...

"Someone help me with these nets; if we're going to wait here for a bit I'd rather not have the witch sneak in on us. And if she's already in here, I don't want her running and having more time to plan."

"No, I just feel ill. Vesh are you alright?! What happened?"

In a daze Malcolm walks to the statue of the radiant godess and cups his hands in the cool, refreshing water in the basin. He takes a long drink from the waters, shaken from his blissful trance by the burning agony of his gut and his throat.
Coughing up the now foul liquid, he manage to sputter out "What Gozreh's name?! That little demoness made me drink Lamashtu's Milk!"
Will save 9; Fort save 20 My posting will be spotty for the next few days.

Stealth 23; 25; 27

Before entering the caverns, Malcolm hands Slidell his dagger back. "Thanks, I appreciate the loan. I've got my own now and you might be needing this.

...but his expression turns mildly distrustful as he takes in the rest of you.

Malcolm grins at the guard and says "'Scuse me sir; did we take a wrong turn somewhere or is this the way to the Golden City of Greed?"

The thin blue beam of light strikes the figure on the forehead, you have just enough time to realize he is tracing a smiley face when the doorway vanishes from view,...

"It's little things like that that make me feel so heroic and noble." Malcolm comments dryly, drawing his rapier and new dagger. "Zieke, after you."

Sir Malcolm of Riddleport wrote:

How much for the nets and the Cold Iron dagger?

Savah offers you a simple knife with a deep black blade and a wooden hilt for 4 gp. She also has a 'fey-forged' dagger with a darkwood and bone handle and silver-inlayed etchings in the blade for 40 gp. It is masterwork.

Grumbling only slightly about the price, Malcolm takes the beautiful dagger and hands Savah the bag of coins he brought.

Some fishermen offer you various net scraps for a handful of coppers. You manage to pull togther three nets, each as long as you are tall and as wide as your armspan. They can each cover a 5'x5' square or block a man-sized door. Despite their bulk, you are able to wrap the nets up into a bundle that you can tuck under your arm. Larger nets are also available (i.e., large enough to block the arch) but they are heavy and clumsy to carry. (Besides, its not that clear how you would seal a doorway that large.)

"Thanks mates." Mal says, giving a casual salute to his fellow sailors as he walks away. 'Let's see; got my dagger and the nets. Guess I'm ready to go fiend hunting.'. He stops and stares out onto the waters of the bay. He smiles at the scene before him; the docks meeting the water, which glints with the last fading rays of the afternoon sun. His gaze comes to the cliffs where the demoness awaits 'Alright little demon; this time we're ready.'.

"Is there anything I have missed?"

"I don't think so."

Vesh hoists a cup, "To good luck, sharp swords, and sharper wits, then."

"Here here. Let's end this." Malcolm rises and bows slgihtly "And now if you'll excuse me, I'll be off to find some trinkets to make the demon-witch's life even mroe unpleasant."

How much for the nets and the Cold Iron dagger?

Gather Information 5 No potion for me.
I don't recall ever having a CLW, much less two.

If we (he points to Mal nad himself) can-in any way-get the drop on this demon-b!&%ch and strike from surprise, we each can cause her severe...problems." He looks at Mal with a wink.

Mal grins "Sounds good to me."

"We need to be free of the remaining Wrathspawn." Vesh puts his flask of alchemist's fire on the table. "Let's burn it down and be done so that we can all focus on the demon. Mal, I think you should carry the alchemist's fire and use that as an opening salvo against the demon's minions. That frees me up to use my bow." He hands the flask of alchemist's fire to Mal. "No one step in front of that, by the way, or we'll have another member in need of wrapping." He looks from the flask to Slidell.

"I've got a vial of that stuff already. Acid too. You never know when a little fire will come in handy. I've also got a magic elixir I've been saving for a rainy day; the mage that gave it to me said it would protect me from my enemy's blades. I'm guessing it has a function similair to that of Slidell's spell, so that's one less he has to worry about casting."

"How about that?" he asks.

"Nothing like a little deceit eh? I like it. I've had a some...practice lying so I can be of some use there. If we could tag her like you said, than I could probably catch with a fishing net. Then we just hack at her until she dies I guess."

"A few other things to take into account; I'm going to seek out a potion that'll make it so I can jump higher. That might make it so that I can hit her. Also, I found these armbands on that mutant goblin. Ameiko recognized them; they have some kind of magic that'll allow me to move more quickly for a short amount of time."

Yeah, I wanted to get a net and get a Cold Iron dagger from Savah, if she has one (i'm pretty sure I have the gold for it).

"So, what's our plan?" he asks, "Is everyone still on board for tonight?"

Malcolm, not looking up from the iron bracers in his hand, asks "A plan? What's that? Vesh, what's a plan? Have we ever had one?"

"Is everyone still on board for tonight?"

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Let's get this over with."

"Malcolm, of all of us, I believe you are the one who can best match the djini's speed, agility, and stealth. I can call upon Sarenrae to grant more courage upon you. With no trace of fear, what would you do?"

Mal stares contemplatively into his mug of ale for a moment before responding "Not having to worry about that damned witch making me flee would be nice.

"I know. I've been there myself. I've seen friends - dear friends - injured and worse..." her voice falters for a moment and she breathes deeply. "It takes more than strong ale and a big sword to make a hero, Malcolm. It takes something special to crawl into a dark forgotten hellhole and come back out alive and breathing."

"True, there are many who do it - or would do it - for the fame and money: fortune and glory. But for each who makes their fortune, there are six or eight who die horrible, horrible deaths. For others, like Ehlissa, it's a cause or divine justice or something bigger than themselves. And sometimes they find it, but sometimes even they fail. Perhaps they glorify their gods even in death - I don't know. But for the rest of the world - for those simple folk who are not greedy or fanatical - a hero is someone who does what has to be done because no one else is willing to do it. That takes rare courage indeed - and no small amount of luck."

"Sandpoint may not be your cup of tea. Heavens know it often wasn't mine. But these are good people - most of them, anyway. And not much has gone right for them in the last five years. It's not just the late unpleasantness, but infighting in the Town Council, burned down grain mills, suspicions, rumors - it has worn on them. The people here won't ask for much, but they've needed someone to look up to, someone they could put their trust in. You and the others just happened to be here when the town needed you."

"Sure, the guards would have contained the goblins and damage would be repaired and life would go on. But the fact of the matter is that you were here and you did what you had to do." She smiles wryly.

"I'm just a simple sailor. I never dreamed o or really even wanted to be a hero. Don't get me wrong, for the most part I like this little town and I'll stay. I'm many things, but I'm not the type to abandon my friends. But still, I preferred it when I was just another traveler on his way through town. There's a certain simplicity that comes with that anonyimity."

[QUOTE"JSL"]"Yes, but it is nice of you to take my mind off of them for a spell. Your demon-witch would slit its own wrists if it had to listen to Titus Scarnetti and Mayor Deverin go at each other for six hours straight..."

"Oh, speaking of the Mayor, did you know that she's paying you out of her own pocket," she raises her eyebrow, "Scarnetti blocked the motion to pay you with the town's discretionary funds and the council voted against using the military budget. I abstained; since three of you are my clients it wouldn't have been proper to vote."

Malcolm grimaces "I think I'd take the demon over him any day. He's such a charming fellow. I don't envy you your positon on the council, that's for sure."

As Malcolm rises, the iron armbands he recovered from the mutant goblin tumble out of his pocket and land on the table with a loud clink. Ameiko picks one up and studies it for a few minutes before handing it back.

"It has been a long time since I've seen the work of the Wei-Chuin monastery. My father had a few relics. I think he gave them to my older brothers. The Wei-Chuin monks were experts in the arts of deceptive combat. Look at these symbols."

Ameiko shows you the symbols on the armbands and explains their meaning and use. "By focusing on the river you invoke the spirit of chuán, you become as the river, able to flow around danger."

"Huh, so that's how the bastard moved so fast. So what, I just stare at the river and I can move faster?"

“Thanks. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to being a big damn hero. Kill a few goblins and suddenly people treat you like you're some kind of epic hero." Mal says with a sardonic smile.

"I saw Ehlissa this morning. She was going for a ride in the country - said she needed to regain her focus. She looked beat last night. What happened down there?"

“We almost didn’t come back. Did you know that there’s a set of ancient catacombs beneath the Glassworks? In one of the chambers there’s a shrine to Lamashtu, the Mother of Monsters and its keeper is a little demon-woman with bad intentions toward Sandpoint. No, I’m not joking.” Mal says tiredly, thinking back to the hellish day spent in the catacombs.

“We went down there to scout the tunnels out and we stumbled across an ancient set of tunnels. I’d never seen anything like them, but they sure as hell weren’t made by smugglers.

We started exploring the tunnels and came to a dead end, a mural of an angry woman at the end of a corridor. I don’t remember why we were so sure that it was where the door was but that’s where we looked. Vesh was investigating it when he just collapsed and started clutching his ears, which had blood pouring out of them. He looked like he was trying to scream, but he wasn’t making a sound. When Salome and Ehlissa went to rescue him, they triggered some sort of trap which spat flames out at us.

They managed to rescue him and Salome figured out a way to snap him out of it. I guess there wasn’t any serious harm.

I admit, we were stumped by the mural until Slidell figured out that if he cast the right kind of spell at the mural, it would open up. He’s a clever one; it worked and we went through the portal into a big dark chamber that was tilted like a ship caught in a swell. We headed towards the staircase but a group of the wrathspawn ambushed from amidst the rubble. We managed to dispatch them, but they hurt us.”

Looking rueful he adds “Me especially; I made a mistake and one of them pinned me down away from everyone else. For a while I thought I was a goner but soon enough they finished up the other wrathspawn and came over to finish up the one I was fighting.”

“Anyway, we went up the stairs and found another rubble strew chamber. Salome, at least I think it was Salome, found a little black stone with Lamashtu’s holy symbol etched on it. We kept hearing this sound like taut rope in the wind and then this little ping. Then we saw one of the little black rocks skip out from behind the pile of rubble that blocked the big iron doors on the other side of the chamber. A moment later we heard something trying to scramble over the rubble so we got ready for a fight.”

“Turned out to be six or seven zombies, walking dead, that came in and attacked us. It started to go bad for all of us, and it only got worse when a few of the latched onto Vesh and tried to tear him to pieces. I thought they’d killed him. We killed, or rather destroyed I suppose, the zombies and Vesh wasn’t dead, thank Desna, just very, very badly hurt.”

“We thought it was over, until we heard something else trying to push past the blocked doors. Ehlissa called for a retreat and we fled back to the room with the mural so that we could rest and recover a little and so that Salome could pray for a little more healing from Saranae.”

“Fortunately nothing ambushed while we rested and Salome healed us after a few hours. That’s when Zieke showed up. He’s on with the guard, I think and he’d tracked us down there to help. He was a bit abrasive but he offered to help and we weren’t about to turn down another sword so he came with us when we went back to the chamber where the zombies were.”

“That’s when things really started to turn sour for us. We went in real cautious-like and found that someone had arranged the pieces of the zombies into Lamashtu’s symbol. That’s when we started to get nervous and to find whatever had been trying to get through the door. Well, it found us first. It ambushed us and almost killed Zieke in one hit before it became invisible. Salome healed Zieke and we started looking for the thing before it could strike again. Now we were starting to get a little worried. More than a little, I suppose. We finally found the thing, which was a big goblin that was mutated, by the Milk of Lamashtu we think. Then, out of nowhere a little demon-woman, no bigger than a cat, appeared and snatched Slidell’s familiar before flying through the doors!”

“Slidell’s awfully attached to that bird; he immediately started towards the door and we followed him. We found another set of stairs and then we started climbing them when Slidell almost collapsed. He said that the demon was killing Veran, how he knew is anyone’s guess. He acted like it was causing him physical pain, but you know Slidell, he always had a plan; he said we needed to get him in sight of Veran. We helped him up the stairs and we found an archway. Inside was a huge chamber. I can’t do it justice. It was bigger than the Cathedral and lined with pillars. The whole place was shrouded in darkness except for what little light came from this strange pool in the center of the room. It gave of this eerie, flickering red light. That’s when she spoke.”

“The she-demon started taunting us, and as she did we saw two wrathspawn approaching. We rushed like fools into the chamber, our meager battle plan falling apart almost instantly. Ehlissa’s sword is magical, imbued with Iomede’s light so its holy blade was the only thing that could really hurt the demoness. When we could see her that is; she could fly and spent most of the time invisible.”

“She did something to Vesh and I, she made us flee the wrathspawn we were fighting and run to the other side of the pool. I’d been hit by one of the wrathspawn and its poison was getting to me so between that and the unnatural fear the demoness created; the rest is a blur. Vesh and I fought another wrathspawn, or maybe it was two. Slidell jumped in the pool of unholy orange liquid. I don’t know what Zieke and Ehlissa were doing. Salome, Desna bless her, saved my life. I was almost dead when her goddess’ gift healed me, let me keep fighting.”

“There was no way we could win. Once Slidell rescued Veran, we ran for it. We almost didn’t make it, another few seconds in that accursed place and that little fiend would have killed us. She’s still down there, waiting for us, laughing at us.”

Malcolm lapses into brooding silence for a minute before looking up at Ameiko “I don’t want to go back down there; we’re barely better prepared this time. But that’s what we’re going to do. Because we’re heroes.” He says, sarcastically raising his mug of spiced cider.

“I’m sorry; you asked what happened and I told you that and much more. Don’t get me wrong, I like this town and I’d hate to see something happen to it, but you have to understand; this isn’t what I signed up for. I was happy to play the hero for a while, it was nice to hear my name said with some respect and even a little awe sometimes; but now we’re hunting demons that worship a mad goddess and fighting ancient monsters.” He says, mentally kicking himself She just wanted to know what we found down there. She didn’t want to hear that I’m not cut out to be the hero of Sandpoint..

He smiles a little weakly at her and says “Again, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t trouble you with my problems. You have enough of your own I imagine.” And starts to stand to leave.

Whoah, I guess long windedness is contagious! I hope I didn’t get too carried away there, and I hope it makes as much sense to everyone else as it did to me. The scale of what he’s become involved in is finally catching up to him.

Once Zieke is out of ear-shot Mal grins and says "A lovely, gem of a man. How did we end up with him again?"
He pauses for a moment before adding "He's right though. Much as I hate to admit it, he's right; we need to be better coordinated."
When Slidell takes out his scroll and begins muttering more to himself than anyone else, Malcolm grins 'He'll be fine.' "See you later Slidell." and wanders off to get a real breakfast.
Love the interaction between Slidell and Zieke.

Malcolm finally emerges from the small room in the catherdral feeling refreshed, if a bit sore from the beating he'd taken. 'I wonder how long I slept? I wonder where everyone is, we were all pretty banged up.'.
Hearing voices, one of which sounds just abrasive enough to belong to Zieke, coming from down the hall, he follows the sound. Arriving at the door in time to catch the end of Zieke's lecture, he sighs. 'Lovely. Just what I wanted to greet me when I woke.'

"In my opinion, the way it played out, if Salome hadn't called upon her goddess, we'd all be cut to ribbons down there...with that devil-witch torturing our souls for all eternity. That's all I'm saying."

"Now there's a cheerful thought." Mal says, standing beside Vesh.

Tired and hurt, Malcolm stumbles out of the tunnels with everyone else. He looks up at the night sky and takes a deep breath. He's gald to be out of the hellish tunnels and away from their demonic inhabitants. He's brought back into the present by the pain from his wounds and takes Saolme's suggestion, slowly walking to the cathedral to seek Father Zantus' aid [i]'After all, he owes me. We saved his Mal will seek healing, some food and drink, and then rest before returning to the catacombs.
Love the interaction between Ehlissa and Zieke BTW.

Happy to be leaving the wretched cathedral, Malcolm runs towards the arch and his companions.
Taking a double move action to the arch, if necessary.

Mal tumbles away from the wrathspawn and picks up his rapier from where it had fallen. Seeing one of the wrathspawn near Slidell, he charges towards it. "Hold on Slidell."

Bluff 15
Malcolm wriggles in the wrathspawns grip, hoping that he can strike it while it's occupied with Vesh. Seeing his opening, he stabs at the creature's gut with all his strength.
Atk 23; Dmg w/Sneak Attack 8

Thanks Dreamer! Mal owes Salome a drink or two.
Close Wounds stabilizes me right? That would put me at 0.
With a growl of pain, Mal begins to slowly pull himself away from the wrathspawn, hoping to avoid notice.
Can I crawl away as the equivalent of a 5ft step?

Snarling with pain and rage, Malcolm steps to the creature's left and lashes out with both blades at the approaching wrathspawn.
If possible, I'm taking a 5ft step to set up a flanking position wih Vesh.
Atk1 7; Dmg 2; Sneak Attack 6 Atk2 11; Dmg 5; Sneak Attack 5
Love Slidell's last post. Nice one Rags.

Fortitude 13

Malcolm feels a wave of naseua overtake him as he comes to a halt next to Vesh but thankfully far away from the Quasit.
Will save to end the shaken effect 8
Feeling sick and paranoid, Mal eyes the approaching wrathspawn warily, ready to counter its attacks.
Going into full defense and assigning my Dodge bonus against the wrathspawn. Against it, my AC is now 22

Fort 13
JSL, you had Zieke make a DC 14 fortitude save and you asked me for a DC 13 fortitude save versus what I presume is the same effect. Which DC is correct?
Using the Heartstone. Heart stone: 9hp healed.
Yay, I'm not unconcious!
Will save vs Cause Fear 7
*Sigh* Short lived was my happiness.

You're right, JSL, that is a critical threat! Thanks for catching that, I don't know why I didn't see that but. The first attack should have been a 25, not a 26 too.
Crit Conf. 26; Dmg 4
What happense when I get a natural 20 on my confirmation roll?

Mal cautiously but swiftly advances towards one of the Wrathspawn. He stops a few feet from the wrathspawn and watches for a few seconds until it gives him an opening. He springs, burying his rapier into the thing.
Atk 26, Dmg (w/sneak attack) 7; Perception 23
Allocating my Dodge bonus vs. the wrathspawn.

Mal stands a few feet behind Slidell, ready to defend him when his negotiations fail. He looks warily around the large chamber. 'Where is the little fiend?'
Perception 15
Initiative 19
May fortune favor the foolish.

"All of you," Ehlissa whispers tensely, "Be careful. Something's here. It was at the top of the staircase."

"Lovely." Mal mutters, nervously fingering the heartstone he now wears around his neck.

Veran." He finally manages to wheeze out, barely audible.

"It's killing Veran."

A single tear tracks down through the dust on Slidell's face. But the look on his face is a mixture of pain and fury. He closes his eyes, and with a groan half of effort and half anguish, forces himself back up and away from the wall. He staggers towards the Iron railing as fast as he can manage.

"I'll kill it." He can barely be heard muttering as he grabs the iron railing of the staircase for support. "It can kill me, and suck the marrow from my bones. I'll rise and kill it with my bare hands!" He snarls as his feet betray him by trying to go anywhere but up the staircase.

Mal's face hardens in anger at seeing what the demon is doing to his friend. "You won't fight alone." he says grimly, trying to help Slidell up the stairs and keep his guard up at the same time.

"Why would anyone choose such a fate?" she asks no one in particular.

"I'm guessing they didn't really choose to become zombies. Ugly back there didn't seem like the type to ask nicely first. No, I'm guessing they were smugglers who stumbled across this place."

Vesh says, "It's not dangerous to touch, and quite valuable."

I'm assuming Vesh gave me the short version of what it does.

"Mal," Says Vesh, moving up behind him, "be careful with that. It's a heartstone--Varisian. It offers the wearer protection, but not without a price."

"A heartstone eh? It does feel like it's beating with my heart. Strange." he says, gently nudging the stone with his toe "What exactly does it do?" he asks.

Mal looks into the room and is about to suggest moving on when he spots the pair of boots. He tromps through the detrius towards them and, after a moment's examination, says "Hey, these boots belonged to a member of the Korvosan Navy, and probably to someone of moderately high rank. See that little seal imprinted above the heel? I recognize it. I wonder how he got all the way down here? It's awfully far from home. They've been here for a while too, by the looks of them."
Now curious he carefully pokes at the pile of junk with the boots.
Search 13 Fortitude 11 *Sigh*

"...Or if you wish, you can borrow this." He adds as he pulls a Cold Iron Dagger from its sheath.

"As long as you won't be needing it..." Mal says, taking the dagger and giving it a few experimental swings "Thanks, you'll get it back as soon as we kill the little bugger in there."

He starts to join the others in crossing the room, but stops cold after about two steps.

"Of course." He says, his voice echoing oddly in the chamber. "Quasit."

"Bless you."

He looks at the others. "The creature was a Quasit. I'm sure of it. Well.... reasonably sure. They are among the lowest of demons and often serve powerful evil mortals. I have even heard that some of the high magi in Cheliax use Quasits as familiars. I can't imagine why, though that would explain a few things. They are not good for much in a stand-up fight, but they can turn invisible and assume the form of small animals, so they are very hard to pin down. Also, like all demons, they are vulnerable only to weapons forged of cold iron or imbued with divine power."

"Little demons? There was this old guy I shipped out with once; mad as hatter but he could spin a good yarn. He told us about something like that once, except he called it an imp."

"So, now you know what to hit it with. And that's the hard part, because when I say 'can turn invisible', of course I mean 'can turn invisible at will. So if you see it, hit it, because in a few seconds you won't. What we need is some way to catch it or limit it's movement. I don't have a spell for such an effect, but perhaps a net,... or if you can get a grip on it, we could end this pretty quick." He shrugs.

"So my weapons won't be much good against it then? This gets better and better."

"Hmmm..." Zieke ponders, "If I can get close to it, I might be able to pin it. Maybe we could use your rope? Anyone any good with a lasso? Vesh or Malcolm could snag it with the rope and haul it down so I can wrestle it into submission. From there, maybe one of you can work some magic to tame it?"

"I'm handy with a rope. Lassoing something not so much but we could probably work something out. On the taming it front, I think a good old-fashioned club might do some good." grinning he adds "Don't worry, we'll beat the Hell out of it!"