Velen's page

Velen nods to the guards as he moves into the keep, carefully and quietly working his way into the chapel near the alter, looking around (and up) for any sign of the bell.
Perc: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

Still flustered from his unusual failure at stealthiness, and adjusting to the strange weight of the rapiers, Velen's swings are easily blocked by the cultist.

Attack1: 1d20 ⇒ 4
Damage1: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Attack2: 1d20 ⇒ 3
Damage2: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

Velen quickly and quietly silences each of his companions, in the case of Alrathien, clamping on strong, scarred hand across his mouth, and signals that there is someone around the corner.

He draws his rapiers and attempts to peer quietly around the edge the building, grimacing as his assortment of sheathed weapons clank against the building.

Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

I knew I should've spent more time practicing with all this new equipment. Maybe I should've just stuck with the short swords.

Velen.. or someone claiming to be Velen Rixio, despite looking rather more orcish than the Velen that the party knew before, and substantially better outfitted, grunts.

"Do you expect only cultists to resist our field trip to this bell, or some of their pet freaks also? Should we go after the derros, or report back immediately about the bell?"

After a moment of polishing his dagger, he looks up and narrows his eyes.

"Did any news ever turn up about how Dalirio turned those prisoners undead, or went all ghoulie himself? Some item or artifact? Or still a mystery?"

I have a wand of CLW now, just for future reference.

I'm in for the next stage. Life should hopefully be settling back into something regarding normalcy.

Velen doesn't bother with the fancy wordplay of his companions, instead choosing to dash up to the edge of the grease and lash out with his swords.

MH Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
MH Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6
OH Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15
OH Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Squinting, Velen doesn't quite understand what is going on, beyond some creepy beligerant person that apparently needs to die. He draws his short swords and runs down the hallway, sliding around his companions that got held up dispatching the skeletons.

Velen quietly slips into position behind Grethe, and fires his crossbow at the orc in front of Jeffrey.

Ranged attack, -4 for cover: 1d20 ⇒ 11
Damage if hit: 1d8 ⇒ 6

Velen hears the commotion ahead, draws and loads his crossbow, and then quietly slips into the room and behind the pillar.

Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

Velen lowers his swords and looks around the area.

"Hm. Next time we're above ground I'll have to obtain something that does more significant damage to these... things."

"At least you're saying useful things in the longest way possible, instead of inanities."

Velen dashes over to confront yellow, switching to his short swords en route, and lands a solid, clean hit that comes just short of being a perfect blow.

Attack 1: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Damage 1: 1d6 ⇒ 6
Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Crit Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2

Attack 2: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Damage 2: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Velen sees the skeleton moving in from the east, and calls out in a low voice, Two coming from the front, one coming in right.. anything coming in left?

As he's talking, he pulls out his crossbow, loads it, aims it at Purple, and fires.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 7
Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
Crit Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 3

Velen nods at Kimiya as he cleans his blade on the dead mite's clothes and sheathes them.

"No problem."

He helps Grethe check the room for anything of interest.
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

After searching the main room and hallway, he looks down into the stairwell, looking for anything he might see, but especially traps.
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Add +1 to the perception check for traps

Velen paces forward with his swords out until he comes to the wall, and then using that as a guide, works his way around the outer ring. When he thinks he is in the right place, he lashes out with both weapons directly in front of him (spot to the east/right), hoping to connect.

1d100 ⇒ 97
MH Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
MH Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6
OH Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
OH Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6

MH Sneak Attack: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
OH Sneak Attack: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

I'm guessing sneak attack won't apply here, but figured I'd throw it in, just in case

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
What does that get me, so I can take my whole action?

"Kimiya, where do you think it is, relative to you?"

"Friend mites? Someone want to tell me what's going on? And can anyone see anything in this cursed darkness?"

Velen draws his short swords and carefully feels his away around the far side of the fountain to where he thinks he remembered seeing Kimiya head when they walked in, and hearing sound of a scuffle.

In a lower voice, hoping he's reached his intended destination, he murmers "Kimiya, is that you? Are you alight? What the devil is happening?"

He assumes a ready stance in case someone or something attacks or threatens him.

Perception 1: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7
Perception 2: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Velen stumbles around in the dark, completely unable to see anything of note.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
Disable Device: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Velen walks confidently up to the manor house, having seen the I in the foundation as he approached. Getting even closer, he notices a loose brick, and after a moment's examination for traps, pushes it in, revealing the stone steps leading down. Backing away, he gestures to his companions.

"Gentlemen? Anyone care to take point?"

With nothing better to do, Velen unfolds from where he was sitting, and walks along with his companions. Just for kicks, he takes the 3 pieces of parchment and holds them all together up to the sky so he can say them all superimposed on each other.

I can't visualize what that looks like, but I figure if it's relevant you'll have a picture of it

"What if this is the triangle we were looking for before? What's in the middle of these three places?"

"Oh good, you do catch on. Yes, I believe it does represent the towers at that location. Shall we continue on to the location in the next painting?"

"Anyone bring a sledge hammer? Or maybe use Grethe's head? I think we need to smash it in.. like those derros are doing with the pots."

Velen snickers at Jeffrey and Watkins pushing vainly on the wall, and examines the area, thinking about the painting.

Perception, Take 20: 20 + 5 = 25

"Hey Watkins, why don't you try whistling that tune again, see what happens?"

Sleight of Hand: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

Velen slides the map from Queck out of Jeffery's pocket as he walks by and deftly plucks the scrap out of Watkin's hand. Glancing back and forth for a minute, he states "It's a map fragment, and it refers to this section of the city" and he points on the map to the plaza in the northwest section.

Number 15 on the campaign map.

"Should we check that out, or head to the next location to see if we can find anything else of interest? I suggest we continue gathering information."

"Seems as a place to start as any. Queck, we need a map of the city. Can you provide one?"

"Perhaps we should examine the paintings Jeffrey bought very closely, and compare them to the actual structures to see if anything is different or emphasized... "

Padding up to the party, Velen glances slightly askance at Alrathian and his musings, and then asks Queck [b]"How many more of them were there? Can you take us to your guild hall? Do you have any copies of those ancient city plans? Did those engineers have any special knowledge?"

Huh, it's raining blood and guts. Didn't think I'd see this happen with this bunch of goody goodies. Velen hops lithely out of the clockwork crab, dodging the blood and body parts, and examines the remains to see if there is anything salvageable.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Grinning, Velen deftly whips the claws out and slams them into the half-orc furthest away from Jeffrey.
Crab attack!: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32
Crit confirm if needed: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18
Damage: 2d8 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7

A) Not sure where the 20 ft reach begins, but if I can't reach Red, I'll aim for Orange.
B) Is there a crit modifier on the damage for these things?

Time for some fun, Velen thinks as he hops onto the platform and ducks into the clockwork crab, performing a cursory examination of the mechanics and quickly pulling on the two remaining levers to figure out how they work.

Forgive me, going to catch up a bit all at once

KN: Local1: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
KN: Local2: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
KN: Local3: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Velen quietly pads along behind his companions, calmly watching the fog billow out of the door. The edge of his mouth quirks up, he draws his short swords, and slips into the fog like it's an old lover, vanishing completely. Carefully maneuvering around his companions, he slides up toward the entrance, flanking Jeffery and trying to assess the situation.

Not sure if I need to make a Stealth check, if I enter stealth while in the fog, but going to anyway, just in case?

Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

If another perception check reveals anything inside the building
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

"An artist will be compensated when the service is performed. Tell us what we want to know, and then we will describe the statue for you," Velen growls from shadows near the cell.

I'm pretty sure we're not inside the cell, so we can't just wander in to look at the paintings, unless Garver has a key, right?

Velen nods at Garver with a slightly sour expression on his face, and quietly pads in after the rest of the party.

K:L: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

How was he captured?

Veren sheathes the daggers that appeared in his palms when the door crashed open as smoothly as he pulled them out, resuming his relaxed stance against the wall before most of the group is finished staring at Grethe.

Without expression and almost no inflection, Veren says "So far we've determined that the elf over there", nodding at Alrathien, "does not enjoy the taste of horse piss. Oh, and there are cultists in or around the city kidnapping, murdering, bringing townsfolk back from the dead, and then siccing them on the town. We're supposed to go to the jail and interrogate a captured cultist for information." When he mentions interrogation, Veren's hands unconsciously flex, and then curl into tight, knuckle-cracking fists before relaxing folding across his chest again.

He glances back to VC Themis, "Does that about cover it?"

K:L: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Velen nods to each in turn, giving Alrathien a measured stare during his spiel. Mostly to himself, he mumbles "Yes, you look like the type that is well familiar with the many flavors of horse."

To the room at large, he states: "I'm Velen, here on behalf of the Dark Archive. My superior is very concerned about the manner in which this cult is conducting themselves, and the source of their power. I received a very terse note to head this way, so any background information you have from your previous mission would be appreciated."

He leans back against the wall, crossing his arms and surreptitiously keeping everyone else and all the possible entrances and exits within view.

Good afternoon, companions.

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