Bump. Since the site seems more reliable now, let's try to get rolling again.
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Anton looks like a duck struck on the head and leans in closer to Alanna. "Did I not mention the preistess? I just know I did. She totally wanted me. Quite handsome for a woman of her age."
"You wouldn't know what to do with her. Well, he is very old. Maybe he's hard of hearing."
"He...he only hears...when it's hard??"
"No, oaf. He doesn't hear anything unless its very loud, or directed at him. You just didn't pronounce enough."
Anton solemly nods in understanding and approaches The Gnome.
He smiles friendishly and says,
Anton pants heavily and retreats to Alanna. "Whew. There. Do you think that was enough? Or should explain more?"
"Oh, I think that'll be quite enough," Alanna giggles.
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Hickle, the once perfectly fine of hearing, grumbles frastratedly as he attempts to stop his ear drums from bleeding. "Quiet yourself down, would you? All manner of monsters are attracted to loud sounds in these parts. I'm old, not deaf. The preistess put you up to this then now did she? Eh, well... Let's see how it works out then, what? Come along now, theres still the other courtyard to explore."
With that he turns around, snapping his fingers to call Shmick to attention. Both of them start off towards the unexplored yard.
The western side of the estate forms an L-shaped yard mostly given to sand, sun-dried earth, and the ancient husks of dead trees. Stone benches line the walls of the yard, and a large tiled pool sits in the southwest corner, dried and partially filled with sand. A short flight of steps leads between a pair of pillars to a set of stone doors in the west side of the house. At the north end of the yard stands a squat stone building with columns at every corner.
Malavine glanced at the trees. Were zombie trees a thing? It was a waste, in a place with so little wood, to see the things. Still...maybe Zelda could charcoal them later. She headed to the building in the North, since it looked the most likely to hold problems.
As Malavine gets to the tiled pool, she sees movement. A large centipede of some sort rises up from the dry pool and prepares to engage the party.
Malavine raised an eyebrow, but since giant bugs seemed to be a thing around these parts...she drew a starknife and hurled the weapon.
Initiative:
Centipede:
Malavine:
Zelda:
Hickle:
Anton:
Kephry:
Anton and Malavine, then Centipede, then everyone else.
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Anton and Alanna follow the party, one-half of his hands holding one-quarter of hers.
As Malvine senses danger and goes to scout, the two look at each other. "Looks like we're not SoftWater anymore. Time to get dressed, Tootes."
The Eidolon nods. Her two top arms go back, and her two lowers arms cross her body. Each hand comes back holding a fine-edged blade. Anton unshrugs the crossbow and brings it up. He checks the clip, making sure its full. Then the two advance, Alanna leading the way....
*********
As the centipede shows up, Anton sends a bolt it's way1
It arrives first, quickly followed by the Eidolon who twists her curvaceous body, sending the longsword at the creature in a powerful arc!
Quickly, Malavine managed to draw a second Starknife and toss it at the creature. It hadn't exploded yet, but it would...eventually.
Anton and Malavines attacks rip into the creature, causing it catastrophic damage, but not quite enough to kill it.
The creature responds in kind.
Bite (Malavine)
Tail Slap (Eidolon)
Free Trip:
The creature's powerful jaws miss Malavine by a margin. Alana is hit for 3 and (I believe) is now prone.
Rest of the party.
"They really do grow big around here, now don't they? Though I'm still much more fascinated by the sand worm. A truly marvelous creature that was!"
Zelda's attack comes very close to finishing the creature off, but not quite. Hickle and Shmick finish the job. The remains of the centipede crash to the ground and the floor of the pool in a pile of goo.
Sparkling in the guts is a rather large diamond. It seems quite valuable.
Well. That was... oddly efficient, Kephry remarks as she lets go of her weapon before seeing the shiny and pouncing on it. Well this is pretty! Wonder why our beastie ate it...
"Is it actually a diamond? And not some weird centipede pearl thing?" Malavine shrugged. "I dunno much about giant bugs..."
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Alanna pokes the corpse with her sword, making sure that it's dead, before smiling and taking up Malavine's question. "The bree'tak of the Earth plane lay eggs that shine like emeralds, but they don't come to the Material much, and they're considerably...larger."
Anton walks up, changing the clip in his crossbow and looking to salvage his spent bolt, and frowning as he finds one half of it. "Are ye telling stories again? Sometimes I don't know if half what she says is true, or she's just trying to stamp home that I like my girls sexy AND smart! Haha!
Shall we ascend the steps to the door, or go north to the be-columned building?"
Hickle pays the diamond smallnmind, before looking back around the yard. "Hmm hmm... We may as well continue our trend and investigate the outlying structure first and foremost."
Malavine had indicated an interest in the double-doors at the end of the courtyard.
The rectangular stone building in the northwest corner of the estate has columns at each corner carved to resemble men and women with their arms crossed over their chests. A set of stone doors stands in the southern face of the building, carved with bas-relief faces of two men. Hieroglyphs are carved into the doors just beneath the faces.
As Hickle reads the ancient Osirian, it says:
“Crypt of the House of Pentheru - May defilers be cursed by the gods until their day of judgment.”
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At the mention of curses, both Anton and Alanna break into laughter. "Ha! Lliira would sooner become a teetotalling sage in a lonely bibliotheca than curse a happy follower for investigating some dusty bones," Alanna pipes up as she sheathes two swords and tries to open the door.
"Ooo!" pipes up Anton. "Does that mean that I get to d--"
"Do not dance on the graves."
"Awwww."
The crypt’s stone doors are heavy, but open easily enough. Inside, a wide stairway descends 15 feet to darkness below.
"Hrmm..." Hickle muses, rubbing his beard. "If this tomb is anythibg like the last, perhaps we should instead save it for the end of our investigation? And do believe me young lady, curses do not discriminate between or amongst followers."
"Agreed," Malavine replied. "Let's do the house first. Might find some clues before we go tomb raiding."
Moving back past the pool and the dead centipede to the front steps of the mansion. A small flight of steps leads up to a pair of ornate doors in the south wall of the house between another set of columns.
The doors swing open easily enough, revealing brightly colored columns in the four corners of the foyer. Hieroglyphs cover the walls and tiled floors, obscured in places by piles of dust and sand. Open archways lead to the north, east, and west, while a set of stone double doors exit to the south.
Four skeletons, seemingly members of the household’s guard who died and later rose from the dead, stand at attention in this room. They guard this chamber as they did in life, and are prepared to attack any living creatures that enter the room.
Initiative:
Skeletons:
Malavine:
Zelda:
Hickle:
Anton:
Kephry:
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"Details!" spouts Anton. "They say we'll be 'cursed by their gods'. It can hardly be helped if I adhere to a deity that doesn't believe in cursing.
But as for these doors, I would not be surprised if there were a full lance of monsters behind this just waiting to oop here we go."
Anton sends a heavy bolt into the melee as Alanna meets the undead charge!
Hickle snorts, "It only takes you offending one god to truly do yourself in Laddie. Shoulda seen my great grand-pappy! Defiled a relic of Gorrum in a drunken stupor, and the next day he was being carried off by a horde of orcs who solely targeted him." He sighs wistfully, as he aims his crossbow. "Poor 'ol pappy... Mother was never the same after that."
"ᎾᏁᏟᎬ ᎪᎶᎪᎥᏁ, ᏁᎾbᎾᎠᎽ ᏟᎪᏒᎬs." Shmick deadpans, releasing his own bolt at an approaching skeleton.
Alanna hits with one sword but does limited damage.
Shmick hits with a bolt but it bounces off, doing no damage.
Zelda can catch two of the four without hitting Alanna.
- 1 HP damage after save.
- 3 HP damage after save.
The skeletons advance. Two attack Alanna, since she's at hand.
khopesh: MISS
khopesh: MISS
The other two move out the door, one attacking Kephry, the other moving up to Shmick.
khopesh: MISS on Kephry
khopesh: HIT on Shmick
Malavine and Kephry may now act in round 1.
Malavine looked, and threw a Starknife at the one that attacked Schmick, on the general principle that it had actually been effective and therefore needed to die. Again.
Kephry retaliates against the skeleton that struck at her, swinging her weapon in a broad arc before her and hopinh for the best.
He's right though, she shouts after the swing, you don't need to anger very many gods or spirits to be done in!
Okay, that's everyone. Top of round 2.
All skeletons are damaged, but none destroyed yet.
Party actions (except Malavine)
"Get back!" Hickle calls out, giving the construct some minor cover fire that fails to hit anythibg useful. "Tumble yourself away! I'll try to offer you some emergency repairs in just a momment or two."
"As if I hadn't already thought to move away, master." The robot drones, tumbling away and then reloading his bow. "And I remain functional yet. Save it for the right's end."
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"Ha!" Alanna cries triumphantly as the twin blades from the two skeletons CLANG across her arcane armor, leaving her soft, supple skin unblemished. "Look Anton, your actions managed to prevent destruction this time!" she calls out as her two blades LANCE forward!
"Does that make up for that innkeeper's barn?" Anton asks, firing his heavy crossbow at the oncoming undead horde.
"No. No it does not," Alanna answers above the din of battle.
"But we owed them money! It all worked out."
"Not! The point!"
Alanna's longsword clashes against the armor, the shortsword misses entirely. Anton's crossbow bolt hits, doing minimal damage.
Holding on Zelda and Kephry's actions for round 2.
Kephry merely chuckles at the antics of the rest of the party while she swings again at the skeleton. How did she end up with such an odd bunch of people? She is momentarily confused when she doesn't feel her weapon connect, then curses her distractability wyen she turns to see the skeleton moved slightly to the left to avoid her blow.
Two skeletons attack Alanna:
khopesh: MISS
khopesh: HIT
One attacks Kephry
khopesh: MISS
The final one approaches Zelda and takes a swing...
khopesh: HIT
Malavine's action, still Round 2.
"Oh, damn." Malavine couldn't help Zelda directly - the thick, black blood would not go well with her own powers - so blowing up the monster attacking her was the best she could do to help. She hurled another Starknife.
Top of Round 3. Everyone except Malavine. All foes are still up.
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"Ooof. These are tough trees to chop down. Gonna have to step it up," Alanna says, trying to swing a sword in one hand while drawing one of the two swords she had sheathed to open the door.
"But if these were trees, then my arrows wouldn't do much damage!" retorts Anton as his attacks don't do much damage.
"Bolts, dear," Alanna corrects.
"Sorry. Then my arrows wouldn't do much bolts!"
Even in the din of combat Alanna's sigh is audible.