Here's the bones of my guy. It looks like the team needs a heavy front liner so this is a Cleric but melee focused. I just need to buy equipment for him and he's done.
He's a Boccob worshipper so maybe there's backstory with Morrow and is from a family of wizards and arcane spellcasters so maybe that could tie in with Fash's friend Kelviernan.
Vegeir Carlsen:
M LN Human Fighter/Cleric, Level 1/9, Init +0, HP 100/100, Speed 30, AC 22, Touch 13, Flat-footed 19, Fort 2+2+6, Ref 0+1+3, Will 0+1+6, Base Attack Bonus +7/+2 (+10/+5)
Abilities Str 17 (23), Dex 8, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 10
Conditions None
MELEE
RANGED
MISC/SPELL COMBAT BONUSES:
BACKGROUND
From family of wizards and arcane researchers but didn't have the knack for it. Faith in Boccob gave him holy power and combined with his prodigious strength he became a holy warrior.
PERSONALITY
Friendly, outgoing, protective. Not very smart but likes to read, especially about arcane mysteries and inventions.
Doesn't trust/like to ride horses.
APPEARANCE]
Suel heritage. Big blonde guy, average looking but nice
FCB: HP all levels
SKILLS 2/lvl (x4 at lvl 1) = 18+8+human(4+9)
Climb 8 = 2 +6 Str
Concentration 13 = 10 +3 Con
Heal 4 = 1 +3 Wis
Intimidate 4 = 4 +0 Cha
Jump 7 = 1 +6 Str
Kn: Arcana 4 = 5 -1 Int
Kn: Religion 4 = 5 -1 Int
Spellcraft 9 = 10 -1 Int
Swim 7 = 1 +6 Str
TRAITS AND ABILITIES]
Medium size
Mvmt 30
Bonus feat
Bonus skills (4 lvl 1, 1 per lvl)
Speaks Common
FC any
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: All simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, medium, and light) and shields (including tower shields).
Bonus feat
Aura
Spells
Deity: Boccob (Magic, Planning)
Bonus feat (Extend Spell)
Spontaneous Casting
Aligned Spells (LN, TN)
Turn Undead 7/day 3 +0 Cha +4 feat
Deity: Boccob, Domains
Magic
Granted Power: Use scrolls, wands, and other devices with spell completion or spell trigger activation as a wizard of one-half your cleric level (at least 1st level). For the purpose of using a scroll or other magic device, if you are also a wizard, actual wizard levels and these effective wizard levels stack.
Spells:
Magic Aura
Identify
Dispel Magic
Imbue with Spell Ability
Spell Resistance
Antimagic Field
Spell Turning
Protection from Spells
Mage's Disjunction
Planning
Granted power: You gain Extend Spell as a bonus feat.
Spells:
Augury
Clairaudience/Clairvoyance
Deathwatch
Detect Scrying
Discern Location
Heroes' Feast
Scrying, Greater
Status
Time Stop
Idrassa continued to press on with her confusion. "Oh, Tweety's not a couatl," she asserted. "Just a winged serpent. Right, Tweety?" She added. The serpent nodded her head vigorously.
"But I came here because, I...One of your patrons is gone..." She choked again. "Sorry," she offered. "Could I please have some water?"
The bartender stared at Idrassa. "What? How do you know?" He shook his head. "Uh, yeah. Water." He pulled out a glass and moved down the bar to a spigot. "You sure you don't want anything else?" The bartender glanced at Tweety. "On the house, uh, miss."
The patrons' conversation didn't seem to have died down at Idrassa's explanation that her iridescent, rainbow-hued companion was a mere winged serpent and not a legendary celestial being come down from the heavens in the aftermath of the recent tragedy.
Illendur nods, I'm just fine thank you, pausing a moment before considering what precisely to say to a certain lady... who won't take it well. he confides in the armored man.
1d20 ⇒ 13
The bodyguard frowned at Illendur but didn't object to the elf's poor improvisation. "Yeah, well, do it somewhere else. Or at least back up, you're blocking the stairs."
The cultist swordsman grinned manically. "I know nothing about your Count! Maybe he already went under the knife, like you!" He lunged in Broom's direction but Desdemona's shadow had other ideas. Already pinning the man's shadow to the ground, it reached up and grabbed the duelist's shadow by the throat. The man started to choke, then gasp, then his face went red, then purple. His eyes bulged from his head and he dropped his sword shortly before falling to his knees. In a few seconds he was dead.
Combat over! There's a set of stairs leading up (where 1 duelist fled) and a closed door leading out of the room.
Both of the dead cultists have:
potion of cure moderate wounds
potion of vanish
+1 chain shirt
mwk dagger
mwk rapier
silver unholy symbol of Hastur
spell component pouch
400 gp worth of jewelry and fine clothing
Declan listened at the door for a few seconds, hearing the muffled sounds of Illendur interacting with the 418 group at the far end of the hallway. After a minute it seemed safe to open the lantern. The louvered hood allowed Declan to control just how much light the continual flame within emitted. Strangely, there was the greasy residue of ash at the bottom of the lantern even though the magical flame gave off no heat and there was no danger of it burning anything. (i.e.- someone burned something small in the lamp)
Ash shifted the curtains a little, just enough to peek outside. Overlooking the High Street, he saw traffic and a row of tightly-packed homes across the busy boulevard in Castle District.
1d20 ⇒ 14
Perception check DC 30, Ash only:
There's a guy loitering across the High Road at the mouth of the alley leading into the middle of the block of townhouses. He could just be an innocent guy but he does seem to keep looking at the entrance of the inn more than he looks at anything else.
Closer to home, though, Ash found a black disk with a symbol etched onto it sitting in plain sight as soon as he moved the curtain. It was a stylized beholder etched onto it- a circle around a big eye and half a dozen lines extending out from the top half of the circle. The group had encountered the symbol before- it was the sigil of House Tarkanan.
Kn:Local DC 20, Jixel, Goggh, or Skylar auto-succeed if it's shown to them:
This is a death mark, left as a threat from the group whose sigil is on the disk.
The duelist, nimble as a dancer, evaded Lachen's powerful strikes. He laughed as he evaded blow after blow. "The end is nigh! For me and for you!"
Hahaha. Love that approach, Lachen. Des, do you want Shadow to put this guy down? He's only got 1hp left. Otherwise Reine will do it before he gets another attack.
"The Nameless King"? Not as such. But it is a portmanteau of "The King in Yellow" and "He Who is Not to be Named" and similar to "The Unspeakable Unnamed Lord," all aliases used by cultists of Hastur. The party has previously encountered a powerful servant of Hastur- the Tatterman- who hunted and slayed the PCs in their dreams in a ruined city under a yellow, alien sky.
I think the group also encountered and identified the Yellow Sign (the symbol of Hastur) in Briarstone Asylum. And Ulver Zandalus was drawing pictures of Carcosa, the alien city associated with Hastur.
Broom's tendril whipped past Reine's shoulder to crack into the swordsman's neck and he screamed in fear even before the purple lightning coursed down it, making him twitch and jump like some terrible marionette. He went down, eyes burned black, smoke spiraling from his head, and the flesh of his face cooked blood red from the electricity.
The last remaining duelist bravely, futilely, continued to try to hold the door. He grinned at the invaders, his face locked into a mad grin. "Let my blood be a sacrifice to the Nameless King!" His foot flinched away from Desdemona's shadow as it stretched toward him but he couldn't avoid it pulling at his shadow's sword arm. The distraction also made him vulnerable to Desdemona's own hungry shadows and he yelled in pain as they took little bites out of his exposed skin.
Reine, her face a mask of terror to anyone who faced her, swiped at him.
Devastating Touch vs Touch AC:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18 Dmg:1d6 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15 Red Will save, DC 18, -4 for Aura:1d20 + 5 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 5 - 4 = 20
Her mere touch was enough to cause pain but he didn't run, perhaps bolstered by his mad invocation of faith. In fact, he reached up to slice his own palm open, splashing blood at Reine and Lachen. "Feel the power of the great beyond!"
1d6 ⇒ 6All PCs, DC 11 Will save or take 6 negative energy damage.
Lachen and Broom are up! A feather would knock this guy over at this point so if you hit feel free to describe how he goes down.
Idrassa feigned confusion and suppression of grief. "No, I mean, what?" she replied. "I mean, she's been with me a long time. Is there some reason she shouldn't be?"
The bartender shook his head. "Uh, no ma'am. I just... never seen a couatl before. I thought maybe it had come down to, uh, to help. No offense meant. What a blessing. I'm not a follower of the Silver Flame myself but I have a friend who is. Salt of the earth. Best folks around."
He glanced at Tweety again, clearly trying not to stare. The rest of the tavern had no such compunctions and people were staring and talking to each other around their tables. Idrassa even saw a couple of people on sending stones, probably talking to a friend about the presence of the celestial being.
The bartender shook his head and tried another tack. "Did you, uh, need anything then, miss? Can I help you?"
Declan glanced at the closed door and the voices coming from the hallway. He raised a finger to his lips, bidding the others to remain quiet. Being able to see in the dim light, he started to quietly search the room.
Even with the curtains drawn, the dim light filtering in through the window was more than enough for Declan's sharp eyes to see in detail. The room was clean. Very clean. Extremely, suspiciously clean. Someone had wiped down every surface, made sure to remove anything with a possible physical or magical signature, and left the room in pristine condition.
The Watch would have tossed the room and left it for the staff to clean up. Whoever had done this was either extremely paranoid about being tracked or a professional spy. Maybe both.
Let me know if you want to open the lantern or the curtains as part of your searching the room.
"Well, began Idrassa, "There was an incident at the marketplace today. And you should know -- You should -- "[/b]
She broke off, choking back a sob.
"I'm sorry, I just need a minute," she offered. Tweety brushed up comfortingly against her leg.
Going to keep this up, gradually slipping bits of information into the dialogue to keep them interested but never actually finishing or mentioning the guest by name until the others are out.
The bartender nodded, looking sad. "Heard about that, yeah. Did you... lose someone, miss? Someone get hurt?" He glanced at Tweety. "Is, um, that why your... friend is here?"
Mere moments after the others ducked into the room, three men emerged from 418- a man in clean but well used scale mail with an equally well used sword at his hip, another man with a sword but no armor, only clothes suitable for fighting in, and a third man in moderately nicer clothes and no obvious weapons. The armored man made his way down the hallway toward Illendur, giving the lingering House scion a suspicious look while his fellow hung back near the unarmed man.
"You alright, friend?" he said, one hand resting unsubtly on the hilt of his sword.
The upstairs team (sans Illendur) slipped into room 414 (closing the door behind them?). They found a small, tidy inn room with a bed, a dresser, and a mirrored vanity with an empty wash basin on top.
The room was currently dark but there was a hooded lantern attached to the wall next to the vanity, its shutters closed.
Panicked as he might be, the duelist was still wary and nimble and he dodged out of the way of Lachen's hammer as he fled, disappearing up the stairs.
Lachen made up for his missed attack with a massive slam straight into the next swordsman's chest, nearly dropping the man on the spot. He wheezed and cringed away from the hammer, looking ready to run himself.
Broom can go and Des/shadow can start the next round.
Sorry! Forgot I wasn't waiting for a post, it was my turn to go.
Reine swiped at the duelist holding the door, her face set in a terrifying expression.
Devastating Touch vs Touch AC:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29Well OK then Dmg:1d6 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12 Green Will save, DC 18, -4 for Aura:1d20 + 5 - 4 ⇒ (13) + 5 - 4 = 14 Crit confirm?:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29Jesus
She brushed the swordsman's arm and he screamed, recoiling in sudden pain with one dead arm and turning to run after the briefest of looks at the horrifying specter in the doorway.
His fellows looked shocked at the vehemence of their friend's reaction and concentrated on Reine, clearly the more dangerous target.
Dripping Dagger Inn, 4th Floor - All except Idrassa
Yep, I saw your roll, Ash.
1d100 ⇒ 22 1d20 ⇒ 18 1d4 ⇒ 3
Zander found that the Inn's locks were of good quality but his skill was equal to the task. In a matter of seconds the warforged had the room unlocked.
Ash heard nothing through the door but he did hear someone moving around 2 doors down in room 418.
OOC:
Ash predicts someone will come out of room 418 in the next round.
Declan can decide just how close/far he is from 418.
Illendur is the other direction, though, since he's guarding the stairs.
Above the ground floor the building materials changed from stone to wood. A man with a patch of the Twelve Shields sewn onto his right sleeve hustled down the steps, barely giving them a glance as he presumably went to work. The stairs on the first floor all started with 2 and the number stamped on the key was 414, so the group walked up to the fourth floor.
1d100 ⇒ 66
They met no one else on the stairs, and the 4th floor hallway was empty. Room 414 was seven rooms down the hallway, on the left. The door was shut and locked tight.
Just want to see if anyone wants to do anything before Zander starts (successfully) picking the door.
It took a few seconds for people to look over, but as soon as the crowd spotted Tweety the customers started murmuring to each other and telling their friends. Soon every head was turned in Idrassa and Tweety's direction. The bartender looked up and stared. "Uh... what? Um, sure. What?"
1d20 ⇒ 8
The others had to skirt around the walls to get to the stairs but nobody was looking in their direction. Even a gold, crystal encrusted warforged was unremarkable when there was a coatl in the room.
The Emperor shrugs. "Sure, if you don't want to play I can't force you to play. But maybe if you have to come back to ask for a favor later I might not be so friendly to someone who didn't want to even play a little game with us."
Yep, just wanted to show John is still there with you.
Desdemona's hungry shadows took a hunk of wood out of the door frame as they sped toward the duelist blocking the door. He screamed and tried to parry the stream of biting darkness but his blade couldn't do anything against the magical attack.
Reine is up. I'll move us to the next round on Monday.
Lachen's target turned out to not just be good with a blade but as graceful as a dancer. He bent like a reed to avoid the powerful fighter's blow, springing back into fighting position with a smirk on his own lips. "Perhaps zese big leagues of yours are full of slow, dull witted thugs such as yourself, mon amis. You vill have to be quicker zan zat to get past me."
The smirk was immediately wiped off the Galtan duelist's face, though, as Broom hit him with a glob of burning black goo. "Eugh, mon dieu! Zis is ridiculous!"
The nobles at the Silver Wagon (or whatever it's called) were Ustalavs (they had the accent and introduced themselves by principality and city) but these guys are Galtan. Just a minor point of interest.
The Emperor grins. "Oh it's easy! You start over there, the other team starts there." He points at the two red-painted squares on the flat roof to the east. "A pig pops up out into the cages at the ends- you have to grab the other team's pig and throw it in the hole at the corner near where your cage is. No magic, no weapons. First to 5 wins. That's it."
PC team starts in the blue highlighted square, has to grab a pig from the purple highlighted cage, then drop it in the green highlighted pit. NPC team starts in the red highlighted square, grab a pig from the orange highlighted cage, then drop it in the maroon highlighted pit.
Goggh grunted and stood up, taking his used dishes with him. "I should start prepping for lunch. Hope the staff can make it in. I'll be here either way."
With Maxeene pulling them, the trip down the High Road only took a quarter of an hour instead of half an hour. The intelligent horse was an amazing navigator, steering the coach like a fish swimming down a stream. They probably couldn't have gotten there faster if they'd had a Watch escort.
The Dripping Dagger Inn was right on the High Road past Selduth Street, with a porte-cochere right on the busy thoroughfare. Unlike most of its neighbors in Trades Ward the Inn didn't have any flashing illusionary lights or dancing figures or signs encouraging passersby to come in, just a worn wooden plaque with a painted dagger dripping blood that matched the symbol stamped on the key on the gnome's body.
The inn was a flat, four story rectangle, about thirty feet wide by fifty feet long, with a driveway leading around back, constructed of fieldstone at ground level and timber above. A groom greeted the group as they pulled in, taking Maxeene's lead to hold the horse and take it around back to the stables.
When the group opened the door to go in, a voice said "When the raven walks in the day, the well is in danger."
Inside was a comfortably shabby tap room with a long bar the bore the scars of many brawls and furniture that looked easily replaceable. The smell from the kitchen, though, promised better food than the decor hinted at. At the far end of the room, stairs led up to the second floor.
The clientele scattered at the tables around the room was an eclectic group. The only thing they seemed to have in common was that they probably couldn't afford nicer accomodations.
The Emperor makes a face. "I have enough magic." He shakes his head at Twilight. "And money isn't worth much right now. No, what we really need is entertainment." He gestures at the playing field to his right. "I'll play you for him. Win the game and I'll let you talk to someone who might know something about Orsini. Lose the game and you go on your way."
Renaer nodded as he took the note from Illendur. "Hopefully he had to file some reports before he could follow up on your clues. He certainly wouldn't want to walk around the city with a pouch of evidentiary gemstones in his pocket, would he?"
Renaer shook his head. "No, not really. My father had him skulking around watching me and reporting back. Father's up in Thaliost, you know." He made a face, perhaps unconsciously, at the thought of his father. "I expect Dalahkar was going to tell me when we talked."
"If someone wanted to kill him, they were probably watching the port to make sure he couldn't get out of the city." The group's friend and patron frowned. "Damn. Too bad you weren't able to get any more information." Renaer looked back at Illendur. "Wait, you said the detective has the gemstones. Does he have that key you mentioned?"
The group made its way back across the garden, now free of hostile topiaries, to the closest set of doors. The double doors here were more decorative than secure, and the room beyond was furnished with a big table, eight chairs, and a glass-paned cupboard. The room smelled of smoke from the fireplace, and a few dirty dishes, an emptied wine bottle, and used cutlery sat in front of the three nondescript men who were just finishing up their meal.
They all jumped up and drew rapiers immediately upon seeing the interlopers.
"Orsini? Everyone's concerned about that old man." The Emperor shakes his head. "I know someone who might know something about him. What's it worth to you?"
The man by the throne doesn't answer. Maybe he didn't hear Artegall over all the yelling and jumping and gesticulating.
The leader of their escort shrugs. "We got orders ta bring anybody interestin' lookin' ta meet tha Emperor."
Down on the field, one of the teams slips the pig through the slots protecting a hole and the sounds of a ravenous beast tearing through soft flesh is audible even over the cheers of the crowd. The Emperor turns back to his throne, catching sight of the visitors. He grins and waves the group over.
"Tolliver, what have you got for me?"
"Strangers down on Silk Street by the docks, your majesty." Tolliver gestures at Artegall and the others.
The Emperor looks at the group. "Strangers indeed. And what were you doing down by the docks, my friends? There are better places to try to slip across into the city."
That's fine with me. In that case, Bas hears steps to the south and Day hears someone quietly walking around in the entrance hall but doesn't see anybody.
Renaer bumped his fist on the table. "Damn." He looked at Illendur and Idrassa. "You really think somebody took him out with a bomb? My father has enemies but that's a bit drastic, don't you think?" The young nobleman sat down, thinking.
"And I'd hate to think any innocents were hurt because of some stupid machinations Dalahkar was doing on his behalf." Renaer frowned. "Do you know if he was carrying anything? He said he was trying to get something to my father but couldn't deliver it and wanted to give it to me instead." He glanced at the door. "Should I go ask the Watch, do you think?"
The leader of their escort shrugs. "Depends. Most of the time it's just for fun. Ain't a lot to do around here. Sometimes it's because they have to." He glances at the heavily armed group. "Most people wouldn't do something bad enough to get there, though."
He gives Twilight a brief explanation of a game called Blood Pig that somehow involves a live pig being thrown into a hole. There don't seem to be any rules about direct contact, and as they watch there seem to be a couple of fights going on down on the field that aren't related to control of the pig.
Silent as a wraith, Us climbed down the tunnel into the cave below. It seemed to be a natural cave, illuminated by large floor lanterns, extending east to west, slightly sloping down into a pool of water to a raised shelf. The cave was much less interesting than the... things within it.
Nearly impossible to describe, completely inhuman, they were about the height of a man and shaped like an elongated barrel with ridges running from end to end. Something- a head?- rested on top, shaped like a starfish but with eyes at the tips of what would be a starfish's arms. In the middle of the five eye arm-tentacle-appendages were an opening surrounded by smaller tentacles (or perhaps... tubes?).
The barrel things squatted atop five long tentacles and a mass of smaller tendrils. Us was reminded of comb jellies- those transparent, luminescent creatures that lived in water and used tiny tendrils to propel themselves through the water. Unlike comb jellies, though, the body was wrapped in what looked like five sets of leathery wings.
As impossible as it was to predict exactly how these creatures perceived the world, they did not seem to notice Us. In fact, they didn't seem to be doing anything at all. Still as stones, the pair of things were so still they almost seemed dead. Or sleeping.
I'll say Us/Broom don't need a roll to recognize these as Elder Things.
That was great! And I can work with wanting to research dragonmarks! Thanks!
karlprosek wrote:
"Host bless us," said the nobleman. "Damn, and I was supposed to meet someone here. I hope they didn't get caught up in all the police barricades." Renaer looked around the empty (save for the Trollskullers themselves) common room. "Am I the first person to come in today?"
Goggh grunted from his table. "You're the first... visitor today, milord" the minotaur smiled, some of his fangs showing through the smirk as he referenced the nobleman's frequent (and not always fully paid at the end of the night) patronage. "Who were you supposed to meet?"
Renaer shook his head, frowning. "A gnome named Dalakhar. A servant of my father's." His father, the disgraced former head of the Stewards' Council who had been forced into exile after a huge scandal a few years ago when he was deposed in favor of the current head of the Council. He actually wanted to meet with me, really. Sent me a message saying he had something to give me."
The young nobleman and friend of the Manor sighed. "Damn. I never much liked that gnome but I hope he's alright."
