'It works for me.'
'We should look to find out what happened to the bodies from the various attacks. A search of the bodies and clothes might tell us something useful.'
Tusk follows Kiptera to the marketplace.
|
When the group leaves the Ossuary church, the rain still hasn't let up. It continues to pour from the sky. The streets are still empty, fear still almost as visible in the streets as the low-lying fog.
Slipper Market is normally a bustling market-- today, two dozen Crows are standing in the market, talking to one another, and the alleyway is empty besides. A small group of Crows are talking to a scrawny, dirty man underneath a makeshift shop tent while several Crows sit on the benches in the market, enduring the pouring rain with their raven-colored cloak hoods up.
But that's not the most important thing in the markets.
One of the buildings, about halfway down the alleys directly beside a cobbler's shop looks as if it was blown open from the inside. Debris lines the street, roiling out of the alleyway where it seems whatever caused such destruction burst from the house itself, ironically leaving the door shut. Massive swathes of what appears to be slime lines the street and covers the debris.
A group of Crows, stumbling, carry a mangled body from the wreckage of the home over to a line of people standing next to a peculiarly bent lamp post-- turned almost 90 degrees from what a normal lamppost might be, and uprooted from the stone street was well. What appears to be a Pharasman priest checks them, shakes his head, and covers him with a white sheet. There are three such shapes, all lined up next to each other in the street besides the bent lamp post.
The guards watching the ropes see the group approaching, and one moves forward to intercept. "Official guard business, move along. Unless... are you the ones Mayor Heggry sent?"
"Oi! It's not that late to mistake us for common folk now aren't 'cha! We are here because we got paid for it by the Mayor" as he extends a hand to the guard "Caelin and this are my companion we are here to take a peek at this area if ya don't mind"
"That's right!" Ragnar nods absentmindedly, busy studying the slime. Then he makes a gesture and his shape is covered in slightly translucent, shimmering scales. .
Tusk nods. 'Aye, we're the Mayor's dogs to be sent into the bear pit. Let us through so we can see what type of beastie we're dealing with. We'll also need to look over the bodies.'
Tusk mutters under his breath preparing himself to search the area. He then starts to look at the bodies, around the building, in the side streets, and through the remains of the building. Snuffling noises like a dog or boar on a hunt can be heard from under his hood. At times he even gets down on all fours looking more like an animal then a man.
|
|
The guard receives Caelin's hand and shakes it, nodding. "Of cours, of course. Come on in-- and mind the smell. It's the slime, you see..."
The guards allow everyone into the Market-- a casual glance at the windows reveals that they are full of the shadows of frightened faces, commoners who live around the market all staring down in wide-eyed terror at what's going on near their homes.
Ragnar:
The slime in the street smells extremely volatile, almost like a putrifying corpse-- and this is the slime that's been rained on for a time. The shattered home's massive opening in its side drips the slime from the opening onto the mess of debris in the alley, the smell of the place almost overwhelming from the street.
Tusk:
The slime's stench almost literally stuns you as the magic of your ancestors takes root. Taking a look over the Market, you are utterly and completely unsure of what kind of creature would be able to leave these kinds of markings-- whatever it would be is outside of your scope of knowledge, though from the slime trails you are almost positive the creature is an aberration of some kind. Your tracking allows you to follow it into the alleyway, where you are almost certain that whatever creature emerged had retreated back into the building it came out of.
...
In the alleyway is where the single-story home's opening is, spreading its clutter outwards into the alley. Within, the home looks absolutely torn apart, its content flung about the room wildly. It seems that the creature retreated into the building, beyond the front room, after emerging, and it seems it has gone alone.
On the other hand, the alleyway itself is blessed by several overhanging roofs which keep the rain out, and as a result, the walls are smeared with blood and gore. Your sift spell reveals a tooth imbedded into the middenstone wall. But, perhaps the strangest thing in the alleyway is a massive marking opposite the ruined home. A spiral shape painted in blood and gore spreads across the wall. The ominous rune is protected by the overhangs and seems almost to be watching whoever looks upon it. It's as if some sick painter used a bleeding body as a paintbrush...
...
As for the bodies, two seem to be men in black leathers-- flayleaf dealers, more than likely, by their appearance. One's chest is completely crushed inwards as if he was struck by a massive, circular press. The second has had his back broken-- "We found him hanging on the lightpost," a guard explains, "bent right in two." The third body is that of a Crow, whose body has been twisted around twice at the waist like a dishrag. His chain shirt is broken and twisted around him, and his sword at his hip has also been twisted in the shape of a spring or corkscrew, the blade firmly stuck within the sheathe.
Tusk's glance over the bodies is enough to judge that the two thugs on the left are bleeding and battered, while the Crow on the right has no such markings-- because the Crow on the right has been utterly sapped of all blood within his body.
...
Finally, the Crows offer up a scruffy and dirty looking man named Tarrig, who owns the local cobbler's shop, as their eye witness to the events. He runs his fingernails through his mangy beard and exclaims, "Whate'er it was, it was invisible, ja? Complet'ly sightless, ja. O'er a ghost, ye see the ghost better, you know? An' rite outta Marshan's house, too. 'e is deader than a deader, poor ol' Marshan, you take my word forrit. An' he was always so quiet."
|
Kiptera takes in the scene nonchalantly. And observes the action of Tusk, curious she watches and follows him along, agreeing with his skills and assessments leading into the alley and back out. "Looks like someone put out a lure and got himself a monster." tching to herself"Well, I know we can deal with the source of the madness, hopefully before he brings summons his little friend to play."
She paces the exterior of the house and newly sundered entrance. Her ears perks when she hears of a witness. "Good sir, Tarrig was it? May I ask what was Marshan's profession? Does the man have any local kinfolk?"
When the others have completed their questioning, she'd like to go into the house but stay above ground if possible. If perchance an entrance to the tunnels below exists, she will review the maps and try to correlate and mark it.
|
|
Tarrig thinks for a moment. "None o' us knew what he did, ja. Nothin', really. I thinks he was a retired adven'tra, livin' offa the spoils of his time lootin' cryp's 'n' such... and as for fam'ly, oi, that's a hard'un. I don' think many o' us have spoken ter him much, ja, so we don'now. But he did have vis'ters e'rry now and again, nice men, all quiet 'n' such, wou' come in befer night and leave befer dawn..."
He pauses for a moment, and leans in to talk quietly. "I saw ye' lookin' in the alley. I'd stay awey from that there symb'l, ja. The creature painted it, I'd say. Weren't there this morning and popped up right after I came back from findin' tha' guard, ja... eerie business, that is."
Tusk takes a whiff of the foul order and declares, 'Ugh, definitely a stinker. I think I'm going to call this one Stinky.'
In the Alley way, he looks at the tooth.
Tusk tries to keep his composure but the terrible batterings of the men shows how frighteningly powerful the creature is.
'Stinky, is definitely some sort of aberration. I haven't tracked its like before. A blood drinker too. Usually, that makes me suspect vampire but if this thing is a vampire then it is on a very terrible scale. It has dragon like strength to twist people like this or crush them under foot. The slime it leaves is like corpse cream. Putrefying rot.'
Tusk listen's to the man's description.
'Wonderful. And its invisible too. We've got a winner here. We're going to need something special to tackle Stinky. If we're going to be fighting it in dark caves then I suggest getting several bags of nuts. Nut shells if we can't get whole nuts. If we were guaranteed having light then flour or paint might not be bad. Nuts crack under foot giving you a clue even in the deepest dark where the monster might be.'
'We heard something of a Mohrg incident. Could you tell us what happened?'
'Also, we could use somethings like wax, nut shells, paint and flour.'
Tusk turns to the others; 'What else?'
|
|
"I'd like a source of light, probably a few torches or lantern, but I am good." Kiptera looks at the gaping hole. "I'd like to walk through the house a bit while those supplies are brought to us before we head below. Is that a problem?" Kiptera pauses for answer and regardless of result, motions for the others to enter with her as she readies her weapon. "I want to know why this house or person was targeted."
SenseMotive for Crows' response
Perception (1Wis+5rank+3classskill+4FE:Human)
Engineering Stability of house/floor
She enters the house cautiously picking her way through the debris. Her flail held in one hand but with confidence that no threat still exists, only clues and an entrance to the tunnels. She is looking at the house effects, extent of damage and stability, signs of recent activity not for hidden monsters. So no stealth checks for her.
"Well I do say I only need the lights if he stinks so much we can find him, I rather have a war dog with me and some light for that matter of we are giving out some needed presents"
Tusk makes sure his gauntlets are snug and he follows Kiptera into the house watching her back.
'I'll watch your back.'
|
|
Some of the Crows nod and begin to shuffle off to search for the requested supplies. Kiptera can tell that many of them are shaken by the events, and as much as they'd like to help, their fear of death is preventing them from even offering their aid in exploring the rest of the home. As the group returns to the alleyway, a small human girl carrying a cloth bag appears out of a window and hands the bag to Tusk. She doesn't say anything except "Flour, for you," but she offers it.
Kiptera: Your initial survey of the stability of the home leads you to believe that if the house is going to collapse, it may not be any time soon. The supports are still at function, but given enough time or any more applications of force, and the home would indeed collapse inward on itself.
Past the haunting symbol across the wall and into the home through the gaping hole in the wall-- since the front door is locked tightly-- leads the group to a living room. The living room is in a complete state of disarray. Doors are smashed open and the room is covered in debris from the shattered wall, which Tusk can note with his enhanced perception, has obviously exploded outward. The furniture is in shambles, and rain leaking in from multiple fresh holes in the roof has done little to wash away the thick layer of sticky black slime that seems to coat every surface—- slime that exudes a horrific stench something like an open grave, burnt decay, the air before a thunderstorm, wet and diseased fur, and worse. Scattered amid the slime and rubble are body parts—too many to be from one victim and all strangely bloodless.
The air in the room is so extremely pungent with the stench of the slime that it would overwhelm any normal person. Neither Kiptera or Tusk are normal people. They are both completely unphased.
To the east in the home is a ruined parlor containing a collapsed fireplace and a number of bookshelves. The holes in the roof are apparent here as well, and rainwater trickles through and down these bookshelves from them. Many of the books are waterlogged and in the process of being destroyed. The front door is here, locked sturdily.
Kiptera: Scanning the titles of the surviving books, you notice that many of them are history books (The Complete History of Carrion Hill, Carrion Hill's Changing Hands: A Timeline of Ownership, etc.) and many of them are astrology books (The Planets and their Orbits, The Universe: Does It Go On Forever?, The Galaxy and Its Relation to the Planes, etc.).
Further to the south is the final room: What appears to have once been a library and bedroom is now in complete disarray. Furniture is splintered, shelves and books smashed and torn, and everything is coated with a thick, stinking layer of tar-like sludge. A door frame lies burst open to the southwest, beyond which a flight of slime-smeared stone steps leads downward into the dark.
Tusk: You can easily tell that whatever tracked the slime disappeared back into this hole.
Kiptera: Based on all of the evidence here, you can tell that the person who lived in this home was human. Besides that, due to the destruction, it's almost impossible to get any other information. On the flip side, you notice that this room is also layered with books, many destroyed, but these books take a slightly more sinister turn. The Colour Out of Space, What Lies Beyond the Darkness, Creatures Without Form or Shape and The Folds of the Dark Tapestry litter the floor.
The opening into the dark stands there, vigilant, inviting, ever waiting.
Tusk nods to the opening, 'Stinky went down there.'
Tusk will work to gather up the books in the side room and the library and put them in bags to latter be taken somewhere dry to be properly restored and dried.
'I don't like the look of these books. We'd best get them somewhere they can be dried and looked over.'
|
|
As Kiptera does her search of the premises and ends at the stairway looking down,"Harumph... Tracking this creature will be the easy part." She looks around and ponders how to best protect herself from this slimecovered blood leech. Blood leech. Hmmm.
"Tusk, I agree with your assesment. But let the Crows take those books back to the War-room. We'll look at them later. Right now, I think we need to look closer for possible weapons or magic paraphanalia within this house, as I don't think the previous occupant will mind and if he has the books, toys can't be far away. And no, I cannot detect magic, just keeping an eye out for high quality stuff."
She turns away from the staircase and tasks Caelin, Ragnar and Tusk with a more systemic search of the house as she does the gruesome task of trying to figure out how many and what type of humanoids were present. She mutters to herself, [b] "Salt. Slugs and leeches cant stand salt. They track slime. Would Salt be better than flour?" Continuing the count of body parts,
She is looking for identifying features as well, like rings, armor(if visible), Uniforms or something that would have these people associate with each other. Did it look like a running battle within the house to have scattered body parts throughout the house?
'Looks like it. What there is to look at. It looks like the poor wretches died almost instantly. Less suffering that way. At least that's what people say.'
'It takes a lot of salt to kill a slug. I'd hate to think of how much salt that it'd take to kill something this size. With all the slime this thing produces, I'm not even sure that flour will work. Probably just make gravy or gooey paste.'
'Normally, you try to track invisible stuff by looking for things that were disturbed by the motion. Possibly listen for sound of something getting crushed. This thing coats stuff worse then a sick sea snail. The slime trail should make it easy to track but if it's had time to nest somewhere, all you're going to see is slime and more slime.'
'Ugh, I hate Stinky already and I haven't even seen a picture of it or it's momma.'
Tusk, takes the books out of the house to the Crows. He asks that they be taken back to the war room and a Binder be brought to the room to help care and preserve what is left of the books.
|
|
A Crow outside takes the bags, covering his mouth with his hand. He looks obviously sick being in such close proximity to the slime, but complies. "Oh, gods, the smell of it all..."
It appears that most of the body parts within the home belong to a group of Crows-- numbered, what it appears to be, at three-- who probably those that arrived with Commander Garrus. Garrus himself likely lies lie in chunks with the rest of the unfortunate Crows who had entered the home, save for the single rag-twisted man laying on the pavement outside.
A sweep of the house, checking behind anything on the walls, under rugs, beds, in books shows no overt magical or unusual signs. All of the clothes are worn and frail and gray or black, none showing the usual magical propensity for resisting natural entropy. Additionally, whoever lived here did not so much as own a single weapon besides a small, unimpressive cypress club that leans in the corner, snapped in half.
While the search goes on, a Crow arrives to offer his findings: a handful of dried torches (five in all), a dented green bullseye lantern and a half-full pint of oil, and small bag of collected peanut shells from a local tavern's backyard bin. This, along with the small girl's bag of flour, seems all the support the neighborhood is willing to offer.
Tusk follows behind Kiptera muttering invocations of Detect Magic and Detect Poison. He also has Read Magic if there are any symbols that have been written in the off library room. Tusk will check to see if any summoning circles were drawn in the room having found books and symbols referring to elder gods.
'We shouldn't have much to worry in the way of traps following Stinky. Stinky appears to be big enough and heavy enough that if there were any traps or pits along the trail that it should have activated them.'
'We should be able to move at a good speed despite the darkness. The only thing we might have to worry is anything else attracted to its stench. Of course, anything reasonably smart would run away from it.'
'If you want, I'll go first. I may not look it, but I see well in the darkness. I'll tie a rope to my waist so you have something to guide ya. Also, if'n I do fall into something, I'll expect you to hold on to that rope and pull me back. Just like mountain climbing so nobody gets lost.'
If the others agree, then Tusk will head down first with the rope tied to his waist and trailing 50' of line back to the others. He will keep using his heightened senses along with the orisons of Sift, Detect Magic, and Detect Poison to check his way.
"I'm more worried if soemthing else is more intrested in us rather than this hideous stench" asw he follows Kiptera orders whom I trust "Oi! This is just to henious I might contribute with a biti of my own, if this continues"
|
|
"Hold up Tusk, Lets figure out what our maps say is likely down there. Figure out where the next exit is and head there first."
KGeo and/or
KDungeoneering
Once that is done, she'll let Tusk lead the way.
Kiptera picks up the rope and ties it her end into a simple loop. She grips this, walking with the rope so that it does not drag along the ground. Kiptera is not one to rob someone of heroics, she shakes her head and tries to be just as stealthy following Tusk, so she can hear if he encounters trouble.
Stealth
Perception (additional +4 if there is a human element, +2 if stone)
Dungeoneering Just in case...
Kiptera turns to Caelin. "You'll probably need a light, light one of the torches and follow. Keep you eye out for the details of this underworld. Make sure we can make it back, in a rush if we have too. Oh yeah try to be a little stealthy." She snickers with a sly grin at him. And follows Tusk heading below, careful not to slip on the slime covered stairs.
|
|
As the group descends down the stairway into the darkness, the slime on the walls and floor becomes noticeably more dry and therefore easier to deal with. As the stairway twists and turns and doubles back, it eventually reaches a place where the tunnel looks like it may have abruptly ended but was tunneled through. A small amount of debris lies on the floor and several bricks are still affixed to the ceiling of the stairway. Past her, the architecture grows much older and much more dated, predominately brick-lined walls and high stone arches. Soon, the group enters out into a large room.
The room is long and tall, about twenty feet at the highest, and lined with several stone arches. Between each arch, circular alcoves have been cut into the wall, each containing a stone sarcophagus marked with the holy symbol of Aroden. One sarcophagus on the southern wall has toppled over, spilling its long-dead occupant partially out on the brick floor, his body extremely old and worn, almost nothing but a skeleton, rusting armor scraps and the remains of a sword. There are two exits to the room; a northeastern staircase and a southeastern doorway. A dry swath of black sludge nearly ten feet wide runs down the center of the room, connecting the west and northeast stairs. The far end of the hall, once an exit in some other time, seems to have collapsed long ago.
Tusk looks over the room and the entrance way.
'Knock, knock?'
|
|
The brick work was worn away methodically. There are no remains laying on the ground, which infers that someone must have cleared this passageway deliberately and carefully before the creature had arrived.
You are entering from the west side.
The dried sludge is all along the path you have been following.
Since you arrived, a half-hour has gone by.
The room looks maybe two hundred years old. In a way, it resembles a crypt that may have been under a temple-- the Slipper Market at one point may have been home to a temple of Aroden some time ago in the past. These seem to be Arodenite priests, interred normally. Only, disturbed sometime in the last century or so.
The room answers with an echo. "Knock knock? Knock knock? Knock knock?"
|
|
Kiptera and Caelin steadily make their way to the room. Tusk probably hears them with the ease studying his surrounding in relative quiet and expecting them to make an appearance any minute. Plus the slack in the rope, may be some indication as well.
Kiptera enters the room with a quick peak and readied weapon. But then drops her guard. "I heard ya knocking but did not hear a response. Perhaps next time, an "All Clear" would be prudent?"
You can tell she is kidding but still there remains a hint of scolding.
She glances around, taking in her surroundings. "Anything of interest? If not, I'd like to make headway to the next exit, verify it is there and see where the slime trail leads. If we find a third exit, I am excited." She pauses, takes out her map and tries to find this room or its approximate location to mark it if it is a new discovery.
When she is done scribbling, she awaits to see if Tusk wants to continue the lead or needs a relief.
'Yeah, well, I left the band with the drum corp back at the temple. I figure that if there's anything creepy and crawly then I'd rather it come out into the open room area where I just got this broken wall opening to defend. A swirling melee with just three stiff backs ain't something you'd be wanting to find yourself in.'
'Now, any of your pretty maps there show you a temple of Aroden? I figure that we've come into the crypt of some priests of that order. The work's a couple hundred years old by the looks. Though, I'd say, by looking at the West wall, here. It ain't twere Stinky that busted through here. Someone else has been leading the Mole Brigade and dug this out.'
'The disturbed coffin, here. It looks like it belongs to some Arodenite Priests. I'd say again that it occured prior to Stinky coming through here but some time after this section of temple was abandoned.'
'I'll head out to the stairs over there and keep watch if you want to check out that door to the south. This sludge is pretty dry; so, I don't think Stinky is around but it always pays to be careful.'
Tusk heads out for the bottom of the stairs. He keeps to the edge of the wall as he moves along looking for any spots where dust has recently been disturbed possibly by some sort of mechanism or movement other than the trail of Stinky.
|
|
You know that the priests of Aroden worshipped the last Azlanti, who rose Absalom from the ocean, instated the test of the Starstone and then disappeared, claiming he would return one day, only to die somewhere. All clerics of Aroden have been stripped of their powers, and today, extremely few living sects survive.
The room is empty besides the slime and some rubble. The stairs to the north seem to stretch on an extremely long distance into the darkness, past the limits of natural darkvision.
"They might have gotten crazy after losing their god, but check this place in our maps incase we have it if not, just add the darn thing and let us move on"
Tusk waves and slightly tugs on the rope to indicate that the stairs appear to be clear and Kip is free to explore what she wants of the chamber and other exit.
|
|
"I was never one to play and explore when there is a task to be done. I've marked this chamber and our route on the map, I'll write brief description of our findings then we can continue with fishing with Tusk Bait." Kiptera finishes her scribbing, plugs the ink vial, and puts pen away. She rolls up maps(City above and quick church copy below) into scroll case. She grabs the rope and indicates she is ready to follow Tusk. "Please remember, this is a brief exploration. We want to find as many routes to the surface in case of escape or alternate entrances. I'd rather not fight unless it is to our advantage."
She looks around the chamber one last time, and motions Caelin with his torch to follow. She departs the chamber with the rope in her off hand and her flail in the other.
Additional checks as needed;
Perception +2 additional with stone
Stealth
K Eng
K Dun
Seeing Kip is satisfied, Tusk will take the lead up the stairway. He continues to use his detect spells (magic and poison) at regular intervals to check for trouble along with using his keen senses enhanced by magic.
|
|
The stairwell continues down into the darkness for a very long time-- almost five minutes of darkness until the stairwell peters out. The walls go from brick to carved stone to warped, uneven stone as the minutes wear on, the stairs becoming diagonal and uneven at intervals. Dungeoneering reveals that it must be at about a 45 degree angle for almost a thousand feet. Suddenly, it exits out into a large, open room.
In this processional, ancient stone pillars line the room to support the rock ceiling. Thick sheets of pale fungus and mold cake most surfaces. To the south, the hall has collapsed in rubble, but to the north it opens into a vast cavern in which eerie glowing light flickers. A thick, dry smear of black slime and strange circular prints in the mold run from a flight of stairs in the west wall north into this cavern.
To the north, an immense cavern sprawls, its floor an uneven jumble of loose stone and fungus, its ceiling rising like a church cathedral far past the range of light or darkvision. Glowing fungus grows thick on the walls, bathing the cavern in ugly hues of purple and pale blue, barely illuminating it and allowing the shadows to pop out as if they were creatures. Toppled pillars and mounds of rubble dot the western half of the cave, while to the east, a mound of fungus, bones, and rubble rises. At the mound’s apex squats a flat-topped altar stone, with towering barren trees rising on three sides, their leafless branches twisted and groping toward the ceiling above, illuminated in the thick glow of the strange fungus. A glinting trickle of what appears to be sludge runs thickly and slowly from a hollow under the altar stone to gather to the northwest of the hill in a swampy pool. Four cave passages branch off from the cavern, but only the one to the southeast is not being backlit in the pattern of a grill of iron bars.
Whispering, Tusk says, 'Well, this isn't no Halfling Pleasure Boat. Do you want to keep exploring or have you seen enough?'
Tusk has never been a fan of fungus and other such nasty stuff. He takes a moment to reconfigure his Hat of Disguise to a full robe and mask ensemble that just has his eyes exposed. His hands protected by his spiked gauntlets, he tucks in his sleeves.
|
|
Kiptera crouches down, shushing her friends to silence,"Quiet, just listen while I put this on the map. Lets take our time with this. Nothing behind us, no rush." Kiptera doesn't wait for a response, but quietly pulls out her maps and writing, making her notations and looking for a possible exit in the light shed by Caelin's torch. The scritching of her pen on paper seems loud in comparison to the background of the cavern.
For looking or listening for movement, Taking 20 if possible
Perception +2 additional with stone
Keeping her own self silent, Taking 20 if possible
Stealth
To ascertain where they are and next nearest exit and make proper notes.
K Geo
K Eng
K Dun
Kiptera completes her scribing, puts everything away. Hooks her flail upon her belt and pulls out her bow and notches an arrow. She unties the rope to Tusk and secures it, then whispers back to Tusk, "And what exactly happens on a halfling pleasure boat?"
|
|
The scritching on the map stops, the map is placed away. The scritching hasn't stopped, echoing through the cave, back to the group from somewhere. On the edge of Kiptera and Tusk's darkvision, something moves-- what was once just a pile of rubble on the top of the altar is suddenly a mutilated body. It's only a split second of dread until the realization comes: Something just put that there while we weren't looking. Before that jump of adrenaline can set in or words can be spoken, creatures burst and around the corners, rushing towards the group, screaming and growling in the darkness. Completely naked humanoids with gnarled, deformed features and glowing red eyes, they break into almost animalistic runs on all fours, howling at the party. One screams, "Flesh! Let us taste it!"
One is clutching a human's ringed hand in his sharp-mawed mouth and an enormous iron-bound book in his hands-- he seems to be wielding it as a weapon.
Initiative:
Creatures:
left:
center:
right:
Kiptera:
Tusk:
Caelin:
EDIT:
"Well this is what I was lucking for some decent action" as he start to ready his weapon.
'I'll take altar boy in the centre.'
Tusk intones a few quick words to his ancestors as he focuses his attention on the creature near the altar. Tusk can feel his ancestor's Wrath against such an abomination.
|
|
"Well this is what I was looking for some decent action" as he starts to ready his weapon.
'I'll take altar boy in the centre.'
Tusk intones a few quick words to his ancestors as he focuses his attention on the creature near the altar. He seems empowered by his words.
It scrambles over the altar and towards the group, shrieking. As he moves forward he reels back with the book, preparing to attack with it.
One of the monsters whips around the wall, turning and ducking behind the pillars.
Kiptera listens to the scritching to the far left, takes aim with her bow and the notched "Searing" arrow flies into the darkness.
"I hate these beasts with a passion."
Kiptera fires-- her arrow slams directly into the creature on the left's forehead, and its body is yanked out of the air mid-jump as it scrambles over the rubble. He falls to the ground, twitching.
"Recommend we back into the corridor to fight only one at a time."
It makes a rattling noise and is thusly dead.
Kiptera and Tusk can identify the creatures-- feral ghouls, obviously. Their touch paralyzes with the fear of death, and their bite can raise you as a ghoul if you succumb to the disease in its mouth.
Tusk is holding action till one of the ghouls moves close enough for him to do a 5' step and unleash a full round attack with punches from his fists.
Tusk is holding action till one of the ghouls moves close enough for him to do a 5' step and unleash a full round attack with punches from his fists.
'Take this message to your dark master. Tusk says, 'Found ya!'
"My Axe thirst for blood friends" as he moves closer to the nearest ghoul, and give Kiptera some protection so she won't be charged.
|
|
"My Axe thirst for blood friends" as he moves closer to the nearest ghoul, and give Kiptera some protection so she won't be charged.
Readies himself...
Scrambling on all fours, it rushes Kiptera-- and Caelin, stepping in the way, is attacked. With the book in its hands, it resorts to biting-- it leaps forward with its toothy mouth agape.
Its jaw runs noisily along the edges of Caelin's field plate, viscous slime permeating it.
It charges Tusk, but Tusk steps in the way. With an awesome blow, the ghoul flips through the air and lands on his stomach in the dirt, his head crooked on his neck. The creature is exceedingly dead; there is no need for a second blow.
Kiptera nocks an arrow, and fires it at the ghoul, just feet from her; the ghoul dodges, just barely evading the arrow.
After stepping forward, Tusk and Kiptera, with their darkvision, can see that in the pool of sludge is a man's body, wrapped and drowned in an elaborate black robe.
'Time to check if your kidney's are functioning.'
'Looks like someone is pissing blood.'