The Things that Lie Beyond - IC

[MandibleBones]

Night 1

To say that it is a dark and stormy night would be less than adequate and not entirely accurate. The grizzled thunderheads rolling in off of Mare Periculum certainly cast a shadow over The Inn's Mouth, even in the mid-afternoon, but what truly made this day dark was the spirits of the townsfolk. Three days had this salt-smelling rain beaten down upon them, three days had the fetid wetness turned sand to muck and the river to a rushing torrent. Only a man or woman in grave need of a drink would venture out into this mess. Only a fool would stay out in the storm.

The persons central to our story did not fit the second description, but some of them fit the first. This dark and stormy afternoon found MARALL SU performing for a sparse, disinterested crowd inside Dagon's Favor, a tavern by the coast. That occasionally a storm wave would crash over the levee and splatter impotently against the roof only heightened the juggler's foul mood. It did provide a welcome distraction for the young barmaid, OPHELIA SYRENA, who had heard enough cries of "Wench! Mead!" for anyone's lifetime.

One table not bothering the barmaid, however, was near the door, where three halfings, Y'NNE SNOWMOUSE, CIPACTLI and the merchant Jonn Kederash, sat discussing the plight of the fisher-folk down by the river. Leaning against the wall, attempting to look disinterested in the small folk, the elf sentinel TETHAL RUNNLYNNETH sipped quietly at his drink.

By the bar, where the amicable swashbuckler Gorgeous Brant Morgan tends, a disheveled young man, JAKE RIGBY, drowned his sorrows in alcohol.

Over the constant pounding of rain and the blowing wind, something else cries out in the darkness. A feeble knocking at the inn door; then, it slowly opens, revealing a shivering, bloody man on the doorstep.

"Please!" he cries, softly, urgently. "They're all dead... the terrible angles... my wife... even that damnable snake... taken by the..." he begins to shake uncontrollably, whimpering quietly.

His eyes are burned over, as if by some eldritch acid, and he is covered in grime and something very much like seaweed.

Here begins our tale.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake looks over his shoulder at the... hazy new comer. "Wha... wha d'ell ya been given me, Gorgeous? Now I'm seein' **** ain't there. Did 'e say angles? Jeezz... I need another drink!"

[vollmond]

Tethal Runlynneth

Tethal puts his tea on a table and quickly walks over to the man in the doorway. Putting his arms around the man's shoulders, he gently pulls him into the room, and quickly glances outside before shutting the door. "Sir, what has happened?" he asks as he maneuvers him into a nearby chair.

He should get a +4 to saves vs fear now that Tethal is nearby.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli sips slowly at his drink, looking vaguely uncomfortable. He was sitting on his tail. If he didn't, his illusion looked weird. Why had he even come here again? Oh, yeah, Jonn had convinced him. That must be a merchant's talent, he thought to himself as the door opened.

Cipactli watched in shock as the man staggered in. What was this? As he listened to the man speak, he could hear the desperation in his voice. Something very serious had happened, and he was about to get himself involved.

Cipactli rose and slid over to the man in an instant. "Are you alright? Please calm down, sir. You have to tell us what happened, or we can't help you." He said, trying to calm him down, and at the same time, trying to get a whiff of the slime and seaweed that was covering him.

[MandibleBones]

Gorgeous Morgan, plainly ill-at-ease but with a bartender's stoicism, slides another toward Jake.

As Tethal helps the stranger into a chair, he and Cipactli get a better look at him. Matted down under the seaweed and slime is bright red hair, and the eyes, where they aren't burnt by the acid, shine with madness and grim determination. The man bears an amulet, which shows on it the Midgard serpent - or an ouroborus, a serpent eating its own tale.

"No! No!" He is swatting at something that isn't there. "They... the..." He braces himself against the wall. "Sleeping doom, slew them all, children of the... IA! IA!" His acid-scarred eyelids fly open, scar tissue be damned, and eyes, wild and firey, stare blindly through the wall nearest the ocean.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake looks at the drink, but by now the fact that other people are reacting to the situation has registered in his addled brain. "'Ey Brant, why'd'n't ya say th' crazeee's f' real?" He looks at the drink again, puts it down, and carefully stands up - knocking over the bar stool. He then wobbles unsteadily in the general direction of the new comer, trying to see what's up.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli frowned. The seaweed was out of the bay, he'd seen it before. Out by Jotunn's Reef. It was a pretty good spot, the fish were plentiful, and not too many other fisherman could dip their nets deep enough to get to them. But why would this man be out swimming that far? It made no sense.

But, there was a light. the man had a strong scent, and he could use that. He shook his head and stepped back a half-step. "Who was taken, sir?"

[MandibleBones]

"Brothers... sisters... all of them. All gone. Sig..." his mouth continues moving, but there is no sound. Occasionally, a few syllables will slip out, as if he wants to explain, but his mind is shattered.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake nudges Y'nne. "Wuzzee sayin'? Ah c'n make out wh' 'e's sayin'."

[Ella]

Ophelia watches the man warily, and continues to serve drinks without thinking, her shock registering deeply upon her face. When she finishes the task at hand she looks down only to realise she had nothing left to distract herself from the events unfolding infront of her very eyes. So she sidles up beside Brant and whispers in his ear.

"We should move him, somewhere secluded, and only allow a healer and by the sounds of it the constabulary access. People are staring and its bad for business."

She looks at the man again and continues her whispering to Brant.

"Come on Captain, take charge of your ship"

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli shook his head sadly. The man would have no more to give. He'd have to work with what he had. He reached into his coin pouch and laid a few coins on the countertop. "That takes care of my drinks." he said and slipped outside, looking around and sniffing subtly for a trail.

I'm gonna track him back to the scene. See if there's any other clues there.
Survival:
[roll0]

[vollmond]

Tethal

Tethal straightens and catches Ophelia's eye. "Miss Syrena, please place him in a room and make him comfortable. And summon a healer, if you would." Tethal then turned and followed the strangely purposeful halfling from the building.

[Ella]

Ophelia gives Tethal a frustrated look before yelling out.

"Alright, gentleman its time to move this poor man, give me a hand and we will take him to my room, I rather suspect I will be playing nurse anyway so its not like I will be sleeping."

Ophelia waits til she feels other people grab onto him as well and then slips her head under his shoulder and starts to help moving him up the stairs. She can smell the foulness on him up close and yells out.

"Change of plans gentlemen, we are moving him into my bath tub."

They slowly move him up the stairs, to her room before dumping him in the bath tub. She turns to the men assisting her and consciously attempts to use charm on the closest one.

"Go and fetch as many healers as you can find, I'm going to try to get him cleaned up and comfortable."

[tonberryking]

Snowmouse

The only one seemingly unperturbed by any of this would be the smallest halfling at the small table, who silently watches the events back and forth, from one shambling crazed sod to the next barmaid. Y'nne seems more interested in the single mead she'd nursed since she got here, which was mostly an attempt on her part to weed out any way to salvage her own trapper and fisher's work amongst the townsfolk. Although that ranting feels familiar...

But Jake causes her to spill what's left of her drink with his nudge, soaking part of her tunic and cloak. Great. Now Y'nne smells like the drunkard. She nearly snarls a reply before she realizes that, however faintly, she does recall another mad raving, back in someplace much colder.

She shoves her way past the real drunky and hustles silently after the barmaid and the others. It's not possible. The man was probably in an alchemy lair which was bowled over by a tidal wave. That had to be something like the truth.

She remains in the doorway Ophelia went in, just listening in even though she can't see much of anything.

[Ernir]

Marall keeps his meager performance up, trying to not let his curiosity shine through.

He makes a mental note to find out the rest of that story... as soon as the damn show is over. Any minute now, any minute now enough people will have lost interest to justify stepping down. Can't be soon enough.

[vollmond]

Tethal

Outside, Tethal steps up next to the distracted halfling. "I've seen you around, but we haven't been introduced. I am Tethal Runlynneth, and I believe you are Cipactli? Have you any idea what the gentleman was talking about?"

@DM

Preemptive:
[roll0]

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli pulled the hood of his cloak down in the front, forging forward through the heavy rains. As a voice pierces the storm, hr looks over briefly at the other. "I can't say I do. All I got out of it was something had taken someone, possibly into the water. He was wearing kelp from the reef, though, and there's no way in hel he would be out on the water in this storm. Something brought the kelp with it when it took those people, and since he's obviously no help, I'm going to take a look myself at where it happened." He half-shouted through the wind and rain.

[MandibleBones]

"Alright, you scaberous dogs," says Gorgous Morgan, perhaps a little late. "Help Ophelia take this poor lubber to the tub." He turns to Jonn Kederash, who is gazing at Ophelia in awe as he tries to figure out where to find a healer. "Jonn... Jonn!" He grabs the halfling's chin, and turns him to face him. "Fetch old Runatyr, he's probably closest." Jonn nods, running out into the rain, past Cipactli and Tethal at the door.

Cipactli and Tethal follow the trail down the road toward the levee.

CIPACTLI:
His trail leads straight to the beach, but rather than into the water, it abruptly ends. Cipactli's seen something like this before - where a rabbit would abruptly be taken into the sky by a bird of prey - but usually at the end of the trail, not the beginning. There is something very wrong here.

Back at the tavern, nobody appears to be paying any attention to Marall anymore - this new crisis, like a wagon-wreck, draws the attention of the few patrons still here.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake gets knocked over by Snowmouse, being increasingly unsteady on his feet. "'Ey! Wuzz tha' fer? Wuzzee say?" Sensing that something was amiss, and that it was time to be serious, Jake tries to get up and clear his head.

[Ella]

Ophelia

Looking to Brant, Ophelia says

"Can you get them all back downstairs please, I'm going to try to calm him down he seems so agitated he might hurt himself."

Ophelia waits til the man is in the bath tub before leaning over him, and looking him deep in the eyes unblinking and whispering softly to him.

"you need to calm down, we are going to help you there is a healer on his way. Just look into my eyes, and take a deep breath. If there is anything urgently wrong you can tell me now, and I will make sure someone sees to it. You can trust us, just listen to my voice and look into my eyes, you are in capable hands now.

She sighs softly to herself, this is not the first time her job has lead to her trying to calm people down, but normally there is the smell of alcohol on their breath, it makes sense that sometimes a patron will go a little crazy when they get too deep in their cups. This however made no sense to her, and left her feeling helpless and desparate for the healer to arrive and take over.

[MandibleBones]

Brant shrugs. "Alright, all," he says, heading downstairs. "A round on the house, and we'll toast to the return of this poor lubber's health."

Most of the patrons follow him downstairs.

The fellow in question looks up at Ophelia, reaches a hand up toward her. "Sig...yn?"

[Admiral Squish]

Cipacti follows the trail down to the shore, but stops about halfway down, looking very, very confused, examining the sands around for a clue. "This doesn't make sense..." He muttered as he searched the wet sands.

@ DM:
Search check, I guess, see if any other possible trails join onto this one.
[roll0]
Or maybe survival?
[roll1]

[Ella]

Ophelia

Ophelia reaches for his hand and takes it in hers and softly squeezes it, she then reaches with her other hand to put it on his forhead to feel if he has a temperature.

"Its alright if you can't talk now, the healer will be here soon and you can tell me everything once you are on the mend. I just wish there was something more I could do to help you. This might help, when I was growing up my father would hum this whenever I was upset."

She starts to hum softly under her breath, and strokes the back of his hand with her fingers as she holds it.

[MandibleBones]

Searching the sands, Cipactli finds no other trails. However, he does find, near the place where the trail began, strands of seaweed arranged in a strange, eldritch symbol. Though the wind blows and water washes over them from time to time, the kelp stays locked in place as if held by some otherworldly force.

Back at Dagon's Favor, the invalid begins to breathe more normally, though his eyes remain locked on the ceiling. His head is warm to the touch, but not so warm as to cause delirium.

[vollmond]

Tethal

Tethal accompanies Cipactli down to the water, wrapping his own cloak about himself, and helps in searching the shore, checking for traces of a struggle.

Seeing Cipactli's sudden interest in a clump of kelp, Tethal joins him in searching nearby to find out what strange force is holding the plants in place.


Not sure what all rolls will be needed

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

He'll also spam detect evil in the general area.

[Ella]

Ophelia

Ophelia takes a deep breath before loudly yelling.

"Brant I need an assistant here, send me the first person you see."

She then turns back to the patient, and continues to sooth him with her voice and rubbing his hand. She starts to consider trying something a little risky but he had said that people had been taken, and she needed to get to the bottom of this fast if necessary.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactly frowns as he sees the symbol. There was definitely some force beyond the obvious at work here. He shook his head. "I hate magic..." He mumbles under the roar of the sea and wind, then turning to his erstwhile companion. "The tracks start with this symbol. I think we need to find a caster to sort out where it leads from."

[MandibleBones]

Brant looks askance at Jake, then yells back toward Ophelia. "Didja need 'em to be sober?"

Outside, Cipactli and Tethal can see a short figure, likely Jonn, leading an older gentleman toward Dagon's Favor.

[Ella]

"It doesn't matter if they are barely conscious, or even if they spend the entire time wishing the earth would swallow them whole to get rid of that seedy feeling, just get someone up here."

She caresses his cheek as she hums softly, occasionally singing a few words before continuing to hum.

[MandibleBones]

Downstairs, Brant grins, teeth white like a wolf in the woods. "Marall, Jake, could you go help our Ophelia out?"

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake shakes his head, then claps his hand to his forehead at the resulting headache. Closing his eyes, he tries again to get his act together; he needed to be sober now. It was a lot of alcohol, but it was finally getting to his brain that all of that was real, and not just the drink talking, and that was a very sobering thought.

"Ugh, yeah, Brant, going."

And Jake heads up the stairs, carefully.

Don't I make alcohol sound just wonderful, Ernir?

[MandibleBones]

As Jake enters the room, something inside him roiled at the sight of the maddened man. His consciousness spun around the room before locking clearly on the man in the tub... and Jake was sober with a headache like knives in his eyes.

All the while, a quiet voice in his head was panicking.

Take 1 WIS damage and sober up immediately as the Thing Inside reacts to what it sees through your eyes. As with all ability damage, the WIS will heal with a night's rest.

[tonberryking]

Snowmouse stays where she is, in fact she slides into the room quiet as a shadow to watch the barmaid's administrations after Jake enters. Okay, so the guy isn't violently insane as the crazies she once escaped from, but this is a close one.

"Something's terribly wrong." her voice comes, a light yet raspy tone just above a whisper. "A big storm doesn't drive men mad, even bad ones. If I were you, I'd leave the sack in the tub and get some of those patrons down there to go end whatever stirred up this trouble before it gets worse."

[Ella]

Ophelia

"Just stay quiet and back against the walls, I have asked for you to come for your ears."

Ophelia leans over the man, and starts to hum a little louder, while he eyes refused to meet hers, she moved her head so she was at least directly in his field of vision, she continued to stroke his hand softly.

She attempts to use her fey ability to hypnotise, and starts to work him towards a trance.

"It will all be alright soon, just listen to my voice, listen closely, I want you to just focus on me."

[MandibleBones]

"The halfling is not wrong," says a shaky voice from the hallway. Jonn has returned, and with him, an older healer. Old Runatyr is a former priest of Odin, now a village elder and itinerant healer. He walks over to Ophelia's side, and lays his hand on the man's forehead.

"There is little any of us can do for him, I'm afraid," he says. "His mind has been affected by forces greater than any of us can muster, and if he could not withstand them, we can not heal them." He leans down toward the man's head and whispers something in his ear, and the man quietly begins to sleep. With a muttered spell, the grime cleans itself from the man's clothes and body, concentrating itself in a grimy pile at the foot of the tub.

[Admiral Squish]

"You stay here and keep an eye on the mark. I'm going to go see if there's anyone in the tavern with magical training." He told the taller man, heading back for the bar and heading inside, hopping up on a barstool and leaning over to the bartender. "You know where I could find a guy with some knowledge about magic? We found some weird symbol on the beach." He asked.

[Ella]

Ophelia

Ophelia takes breaks from humming to make her suggestion.

"I want you to think of the last day as a dream, you had a horrible nightmare, and you witnessed something horrible, but there might be people in trouble, so you need to communicate with me, you need to tell me what you are able to recall."

She continues to hum and wait, to see if it she has succeeded.

[MandibleBones]

Brant raises an eyebrow at Cipactli. "Old Runatyr, that old priest, went upstairs a moment ago. He might know something."

Upstairs, Ophelia's words seem to bring some comfort to the sleeping madman, but it feels like its more her voice than any fey influence.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli nodded. "Thanks." he said, hopping down and heading off up the stairs. Seeing the general bustle was all in one room anyways, he poked his head in, looking around. Seeing an old man, he tugges softly on his clothes. "Runatyr? I need your help on the beach, if you're done with this fellow. There's some strange symbol spelled out in kelp, and I need your help to identify it. It's definitely magical." Cipactli explained hurriedly.

[MandibleBones]

Old Runatyr peers down at Cipactli, pauses a moment, and then nods. "Indeed. Take me to it, little ranger," he says. "There's little more I can do here." He nods at Ophelia. "Ms. Syrena, I'd appreciate if we could keep this quiet for now. If you could talk Mr. Morgan into closing early today, it would be a good idea for all involved. You are, of course, welcome to join us."

He nods at Snowmouse as well. "You should come too, little tracker. We may need more eyes on the subject."

[Ella]

Ophelia

Ophelia went over to her room and grabbed the blanket off the bed, and a pillow before heading back towards the bathroom and making the man in the tub comfortable.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but if the healer says its alright to let him rest, I am happy to help find out what happened to this poor man. Just let me quickly grab something and I will meet you downstairs."

She heads back to her room again and slips on her armour and picks up the rapier and tucks it into a scabbard hanging from her waist. She then grabs the cargo hook that Brant had been training her in the use of, and hangs it from her belt.

[Admiral Squish]

He nods, and gestures for the old man to follow as he heads down the stairs and out into the storm, leading the elderly priest to the scene. "I followed his trail to this symbol, but the it ends very suddenly. I think it might be some kind of teleportation effect. If you could tell us what is, maybe even where it leads, that would be a great help." He explained, pointing to the kelp marking and the first footprints, having to shout a little over the waves.

[vollmond]

Tethal

While waiting for the halfling to return, the elf has been continuing to search around, and wracking his brain for any wayward memory of a symbol like that before him.

I was going to roll a knowledge(religion) check, but apparently I didn't put any points into knowledge skills...

[MandibleBones]

Tethal uncovers something... disturbing, to say the least, just as the rest of the party arrives. In the rocks of the levee, a robed body appears to have fallen. It bears a wickedly curved dagger in one hand, and a waterlogged book in the other - and it looks as if it was killed violently.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake is now holding his head in his hands, wincing at every sound. He keeps trying to look up at the man, and then wrenching his gaze away, apparently in some pain.

At Runatyr's invitation to Snowmouse, Jake manages to say, "Hey, I'm a tracker too! I'm coming!" as he follows them.

[Ella]

Ophelia

Ophelia waves to Brant on her way out the door, and stops for a moment to give him a nod making sure he notices her chair shirt and rapier.

Once she is outside the door with the rest of the people heading to investigate she takes to the air flying 10ft off the ground, but slowly so she keeps pace with everyone else, she keeps her eyes peeled looking around as much as possible. She keeps a close watch on the more inebriated tracker.

[tonberryking]

Snowmouse

The shorter of the two trackers at the inn has to resist an urge to shove Jake over again but follows at the heals of the elder healer silently instead. At least the rain will clean off her cloak, she reasons, pulling a wide brimmed hood over her yellow hair.

"Fine but I'm not sticking around to watch you all get killed if this escalates," she murmurs, already unhappy at getting wet. Still... if she bothered to stay unhappy at the weather she wouldn't have made it here. The scout keeps her ears alert, not trusting her eyes in all of this rain. [roll0]

Also, I'm assuming she's part of the freshly arrived party

"I'll examine that..."
Approaching Tethal's vigil, Snowmouse looks down at the corpse, prodding the body and checking it over, hoping that a bad spill killed some overly protective librarian and nothing more sinister. Note that she does this checking with one hand; her off hand suddenly has a thick bladed knife of dark metal out within a few inches of the body, close enough enough to stab the corpse if it gets any fresh ideas about waking up. No she doesn't seem to care if anyone finds this unnerving.

Search check on the body. Should I add dungeoneering or an untrained heal or what to do an 'autopsy' of what killed the person? Search: [roll1] and the other roll: [roll2] add 4 if it's Dungeoneering, 3 if it's heal

[Ernir]

Marall stops his juggling when he is called, and follows Jake to the room, staying back. It soon becoming evident that he doesn't know anything that could help, he keep keeping his distance.

Now that everyone seems to be heading out to investigate... he joins the group, never announcing his presence.

[Ernir]

Marall has his look around the site as well.
Search check: [roll0]

[Ella]

Ophelia

Ophelia uses her Low Light Vision trying her best to keep track of everyone and whats going on. She makes a circling flight pattern around the group on the beach.

She uses her keen eyesight to search the area while circling 10ft off the ground however the stormy weather makes it quite difficult for her to see anything at all.

[roll0]

[MandibleBones]

As Marall examines the area, Snowmouse finds signs of blunt force trauma to the stomache area on the corpse. It appears as if some strong object, perhaps even a person, punched the victim to death. Additionally, around the neck, there is a red abrasion around the neck, as if something were ripped off.

Marall may have found that something. Several yards away from the corpse, and further still from the symbol, lies a battered, salt-encrusted amulet. A strange, many-tentacled thing, like an enormous head, or perhaps a large malevolant squid, glares at Marall from the necklace.

Meanwhile, Old Runatyr is examining the symbol, muttering occasionally in dismay. "No, that can't be right. How could... a cult? Here?"

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake's mostly rubbing his temples and trying to keep it together. He's looking around, but having trouble focusing on any one thing for long.

Also, note that he has Darkvision; he doesn't think much of it, because he doesn't really realize that others have as much difficulty with darkness as they do.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli paces around the obscure symbol, waiting for the elder's wisdom on the subject. This whole thing left him uneasy. as far as he knew, this symbol could lead hundreds of miles away. He was concerned, the man had made it sound like a great many had been taken. But then, something else occured to him. why hadn't they kept the man? If he'd used this symbol to teleport, why let him go at all? They could have followed him and taken him back before he got to civilization no problem. Another troubling thought...

[Ernir]

"Hey." *Clears throat, before his voice breaks from lack of use*
"Look at this, everyone. Isn't it the oddest thing?"

[vollmond]

Tethal

Tethal steps over to take a look at the amulet, though he keeps most of his attention on their surroundings. He rests his hand on the hilt of his sword; it has been many years since he drew his blade in anger, but this night has seen enough disturbing moments to worry him.

"I don't believe I have ever seen anything quite like that."

[MandibleBones]

In the rain and the mess of the levee, Ophelia can't find anything more than she's already seen. As she lands, Runatyr straightens up and looks grimly at the six of you. With a shadow over one eye, holding his walking staff as if it were a spear, he looks more like his patron deity than ever.

"This symbol, the man in the Inn, that corpse over there, they're all connected," he says. "There is an evil festering here, a shadow over the Inn's Mouth, that I did not expect to ever see again," he continues. "I must caution you to trust no one except each other - anyone could be part of this cult, and they are more dangerous than you," and here, he locks eyes with Ophelia for a moment, "currently realize."

He kicks sand over the symbol until it is completely covered. "I'll see what I can do about destroying this thing, but I encourage you to tell no one of its presence here." He sighs.

"What you must understand is that there are Things... Things from which even we - who are protected by the Aesir and Vanir - are not safe. Things from beyond the stars, beyond reality as we know it." He turns his gaze to the corpse. "And like all beings of power, no matter how vile, there are those who would serve these Things..."

[Ella]

"Should we return to the Inn, taking everything with us, if Brant has done as you asked and closed up we have plenty of room to investigate and store the evidence and leaving that poor man alone and asleep upstairs has me worried."

"It is dark and I doubt we will find much more out here tonight."

[MandibleBones]

Runatyr nods his head. "I agree - you should all get indoors." He looks nervously down the nearby streets, then out to the reef in the distance, where strange lights are playing. "I have someone I need to track down tonight, though," he says, moving toward the road to the forest.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli blinked. A cult of some sort was responsible. He flinched as he heard of things from beyond the stars and reality... This sounded very familiar, and he did not like it...

He shook his head and headed over to the corpse, prising the book and dagger from his hands and tucking them into his cloak to prevent further water damage to the tome. "I agree. Let's head back inside and go over what we've found." He said as he started for the tavern once more.

[tonberryking]

Snowmouse

Y'nne, too busy with the corpse to look up, would probably spit as a disgusted gesture if she saw the pendant. Instead, she reasons that the book, likely ruined as it is, would be worth some level of trouble to remain in the deadman's clutches. But first she sets about trying to remove the knife from the other hand first, hoping to pry the blade free and out of reach, before further disarming the body of the book. [roll0] Strength checks [roll1]

[Ella]

Ophelia

"Bring back as much as you can, I want to go check on that poor man, I will meet you inside with warm drinks ready and waiting."

Ophelia looks around the group and takes to the air again flying to the tavern instead of landing and coming through the main door as was her standard practise she instead flew through the second story window and landed quietly as she could.

She walks to the bathroom to check on the man in the tub, walking on her toes to try to keep as silent as possible, and watches him for a minute.

[MandibleBones]

His hands, wet as they are, come easily away from the objects he is holding, although Snowmouse accidentally breaks a few of the corpse's fingers while wrenching the book away.

Brant is just finishing closing when the group returns, and bids them a pleasant afternoon as they enter. He's taken advantage of the situation, and the gear on the table looks like he's about to go fishing. He seems utterly unperturbed by the fact that there's an unconscious madman in his upstairs tub.

That madman, by the by, is still sleeping soundly when Ophelia arrives, as if he's not had an undisturbed night's sleep in years.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake's headache was getting a little better, now that they were inside. The smell of alcohol, strangely enough, did not worsen things; it was much nicer in here than outside. "Ugh. OK. So, someone mind filling me in? There's a crazy upstairs, some seaweed - why is seaweed important? - some seaweed outside, and a dead guy with a book. How'd he get dead?

"And now old Runatyr has some crackpot story about stars and cults? What was that about? Is the old man just senile?

"Brant, I think I could use some coffee or something. Warm, no more alcohol."

[vollmond]

Tethal

Tethal is loathe to leave the dead man out exposed like this, but he places the safety of the living above the dignity of the dead, and keeps his concerns to himself. Somewhat at a loss as to what should be done -- this is far different from his usual peace-keeping work -- he accompanies the group back to the tavern.

[MandibleBones]

Brant heads outside, looking over his shoulder. "If you can talk Ophelia into it, you can have all the coffee you want," he drawls. "I'm goin' fishing." And he heads out into the squall.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactly takes off his cloak as he enters the tavern, trying to wipe off the water than had gotten through. "Well, the seaweed, I think, was some kind of teleporting rune or something. I followed the crazy guy's trail down to it, but then the path just... vanished. Like he'd appeared out of nowhere. Maybe the dead guy was working the symbol from this end, and our crazy took him out? If the corpse was a mage, that would explain the acid burns on our crazy." Cipactli explained.

[Ella]

Ophelia

Ophelia walks downstairs and heads back into the kitchen to start preparing warm drinks for the group. The confusion she feels because of the days events bothers her, but she has always found working comforting, not just her job but any sort of work that she can do mindlessly.

Once the drinks are made she walks back out into the bar and hands out the mugs before taking a seat.

[vollmond]

Tethal

"Given today's events, I am happy to take Runatyr's warning at face value and keep this amongst ourselves.

"Have any of you heard of cult activity here in the past? I have only lived here for three years -- not enough to get a sense for the full history of the place."

[Ernir]

"Have any of you heard of cult activity here in the past? I have only lived here for three years -- not enough to get a sense for the full history of the place."
"It's not just a matter of having lived here, I've been here my entire life, and I have no idea."

Or do I? [roll0]

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
"I've certainly never heard of no cult."

[Admiral Squish]

"From the sound of things, It hardly seems like something that would come up in conversation." Cipactli shrugged.

[Ella]

"The first I heard of a cult was tonight, I do hear things from drunken sailors but I don't think I have ever heard anything like this."

Intelligence check[roll0]

[vollmond]

Tethal

Tethal turns to Snowmouse. "I think it is time to open the book and see just what it was that gentleman gave his life for." He gives a silent prayer to Forseti for the wisdom to understand whatever that may be.

[tonberryking]

Snowmouse doesn't seem so ready to comply, though she does heft the book atop a table with a dull, wet thud.

"Be my guest."

The halfling, assuming the book to be magical, doesn't make a move to open it herself. She looks expectantly at some of the taller folk in the bar expectantly, as if that's their job. "Though if you ask me, whatever WAS in that book's ruined by now; it's got more water in it than our collective cloaks."

[Ernir]

Snowmouse doesn't seem so ready to comply, though she does heft the book atop a table with a dull, wet thud.

"Be my guest."

The halfling, assuming the book to be magical, doesn't make a move to open it herself. She looks expectantly at some of the taller folk in the bar expectantly, as if that's their job. "Though if you ask me, whatever WAS in that book's ruined by now; it's got more water in it than our collective cloaks."
"What, am I the only one who's curious about what it says? It's just a book." says Marall, and picks up the book from the table.

He does check it for signs of being trapped or smeared with poison. If it's important, it's probably valuable, and if it's valuable, people will do the oddest things to protect them. [roll0]

Assuming he finds nothing obviously dangerous, he opens it and tries to read what's in it.

[MandibleBones]

After Marall finds no traps and opens the book, Snowmouse proves to be mostly correc: only a few pages toward the center survived the storm. Two of them, it seems, were hastily tacked into the book - and their survival is no mystery to anyone versed in recognizing magic. Scrolls of magic, you see, are hardier indeed than normal paper.

The third surviving page, however, seems different.

It appears below:
http://www.musal.us/image/document-normalview.jpg

To Jake Rigby's eyes (and the eyes behind it), however, more is seen:
http://www.musal.us/image/document-harrowedview.jpg

[Ernir]

"Bah, only gibberish. Anyone here understand this?"

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
"Nah, I can't even make out the letters behind the stupid glowing crap; why do wizards feel the need to do that stuff, anyway? Looks like it's, uh, bloodstained, though. That's something."

[vollmond]

Tethal

Tethal frowns. "'Stupid glowing crap?' What do you mean by that? This looks like any other page to me."

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
"Uh... the big, bright, glowing letters? Says, uh, 'fing-glue, miglow naff, cuthooloo,' uh... 'really'? I can't pronounce this gibberish."

[Ella]

Ophelia

"Jake if I get you something to write with, will you record what it is you see for me?"

Ophelia feels quite content to watch the other puzzle over the strange writing and horrid book. On the other hand she wasn't going to get too upset over the book when she had spent time with the mysterious strange in the bath, his state and mental vacancy upset her a great deal more.

[vollmond]

Tethal

Tethal turns back to the book and frowns at it, concentrating.

Extra Detect Evil for good measure.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli gave the book a brief glance before shaking his head. There was nothing in there he could read, anyways, so he might as well leave it to the others.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
"What the hell are you talking about, Ophelia? Why don't you just read it from the page?" Jake was confused, scared, and somewhere deep inside he felt that he wasn't scared enough.

[MandibleBones]

Tethal is nearly blinded - the page radiates tremendous evil. One of the scrolls, meanwhile, radiates mild evil.

As the group is examining the book, Snowmouse hears something... slithering and sloshing by the side wall nearest the ocean. Mere seconds later, a wet thump is audible from the roof nearest that wall.

The fetid stench of rotting kelp, dead fish and stranger things begins to waft down from the upstairs windows.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
"What the hell was that?"

Annnnd, bed time for me. Gonna be snowed in tomorrow, so I'll be around, but I'm still exhausted from today's get-up-far-too-early-and-drive-for-far-too-long, so yeah.

Also, was I the only one who thought Snowmouse was scanning Jake rather than the book?

[Ella]

Ophelia

Ophelia drops her coffee cup, it hits the ground and the remaining coffee spills out onto the floor but she barely notices.

"Whatever it is, I am starting to worry. I am going to go upstairs to check on the man in the bath, anyone coming with me?"

Ophelia starts to shake the odd occurances of the night have rattled her and she is getting little rushes of adrenaline from the fear racing through her body.

[Admiral Squish]

The smell overwhelms Cipactli's nostrils. "Ugh!" He retches, covering his nose. He steels himself against the waves of odor. "I'm going up." He said, taking his longbow off his back and nocking an arrow. "It sounds like we have a few uninvited guests."

[tonberryking]

And those unwanted guests are not about to catch Snowmouse off guard...

"Bow's worthless indoors. Get something that can cut our intruder."

Pushing back her cape, the others present find that her earlier knife rests in a leather sheath bound into the sheath of a double edged short sword. With a crescent hilt and clamshell pommel, both sword and knife are obviously part of a twin pair. Y'nne draws said sword and moves rapidly but silently up the stairs, passing the blade from her off hand to her dominant one. If she had to guess where the noise is coming from, she dreads she'll be correct if she picks the room with the tub.

Move silently And hiding around corners: [roll1] Do i need a search to spot anything?

[Ella]

Ophelia

Ophelia draws her rapier and holds the cargo hook with her other hand, and prepares herself for anything.

She towards the stairs a pace behind the halfling, she turns back to the people still sitting around the tables and beckons them with her hand.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli moves along beside Snowmouse, hiding and sneaking, his bow still drawn and ready.

Move Silently: [roll0]
Hide: [roll1]

[vollmond]

Tethal

Tethal starts, surprised at the intensity of the book's aura. "Ah, I am not sure how I missed it before, but this book is amazingly evil. We would do well to be careful in our dealings with it."

Leaving Jake to finish his reproduction of what he sees, Tethal accompanies the rest upstairs, his hand on his sword.

Oops, I thought I had already scanned the book -- this time was just for RP :smallwink: Also, you all didn't think you were going to go look at the thing that went bump in the night without the policeman, did you?

[MandibleBones]

As the group reaches the upstairs, the first thing they notice is the darkness. The oil lamps have gone out, and while the light of the storm in the window at the end of the hall provides just enough light to cast shadows, it is still unnervingly dark.

The second thing that catches our intredpid heroes' eyes is the dark shape, writhing below the broken-in window, a black lump of quivering flesh and twitching psuedopods.

And then it grins, a mouth full of pointed teeth in a wide smile that could swallow a halfling whole. Slowly, inexorably, the teeth in the darkness begin to move down the hall toward the party.

Hall is approximately 60' long and 10' wide.

Initiative:

Ophelia: [roll0]
Snowmouse: [roll1]
Tethal: [roll2]
Marall: [roll3]
Jake: [roll4]
Cipactli: [roll5]
Creature: [roll6]

[Ernir]

Marall takes out his dagger on his way up.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli's eyes widen as they locked onto the formless lump of teeth and tentacle before him, inching silently for him, to take him in that terrible mouth and eat him whole. Something in him told him to run away, but something else told him that thing had to die. He stepped out from his corner spot, just enough to get a clear shot down the long hallway as he pulled back his bowstring and let the arrow fly, drawing a second in a flash and firing that, too towards the dark creature.

5-foot step into the hallway, then doing a full rapidshot on it's logic-defying rear.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[DragoonWraith]

Jake still doesn't get that everyone else can't see the glowy bits, and so isn't about to reproduce something everyone can see plain as day. He still considers the request to write it down absolutely batty.
Jake Rigby
Jake creeps up the stairs with everyone else, whip-dagger and buckler at the ready. When he gets to the landing and they see the creature, he sees it very clearly, and his headache pounds even harder. "What.... the **** is that thing?"

Clutching his head with his bucklered hand, Jake attempts to unfurl the whip to attack the creature, but as he does so he feels an intense wave of nausea, a wave that starts in his gut and goes to his head, and then seems to span the distance between he and the creature.

Dark Will; 2d6=10 damage, half force, half unholy, plus DC 14 Reflex save or the creature is pushed back 5 ft. for every 10 damage dealt (round up) and knocked prone. Provokes a Beast Within save from Jake, DC 13, 1d20+10=22.

Rolls in the OOC thread.

[vollmond]

Tethal

Tethal pulls his sunrod from his belt and bangs it on the floor, shedding some light on the situation. He wants a look at this monstrosity before he attacks it blindly.

Not sure what actions that would have taken. If I still have a move left, I'll pull out my sword, too.

[MandibleBones]

Tethal's sunrod reveals the creature, a tentacled monstrosity covered in leathery flab and unintuitive muscles. Beady eyes, set above the mouth, show a malicious, intelligent glare. Two massive psuedopods wave above its head; like a giant squid's - except instead of suckers, their ends are covered in wicked bony protrusions. It is covered in wet seaweed, algae and river muck, and is almost certainly the cause of the fetid, horrible smell.

[tonberryking]

As the arrows fly, Snowmouse has similar thoughts as Cipactli on how to deal with the thing, only hers are more direct. Dashing from her hiding place and with a fencer's agility the halfling bravely darts in front of the gastropod like thing and picking a very large bulbous eye for a target she deftly stabs at it as soon as both her feet are planted from her landing leap.

[MandibleBones]

The Thing screams in agonized rage as Jake's dark will, Snowmouse's knife and Cipactli's arrows all draw black, oozing ichor that must be what passes for blood.

As Snowmouse darts past, the Thing swings out with a tentacle at her, but the halfling's speed lets her evade. Waiting until the halfling stops, the creature takes two more swings at her, missing once and barely grazing her the second time.

AoO from passing through its reach misses (Attack roll 14); Full attack two tentacles at +4 melee (First attack roll 14, second 16, 1D6=2 damage).

[Ella]

Ophelia looks closely at the terrifying beast, and reaches for her harpoon, only to find her hand empty, and that she had left it in her room.

With that horrible realisation she races towards the beast with her rapier drawn. She lunges at the monster with her rapier drawn and prepares herself to counter it with the escape the blade counter that Brant taught her.

It is only once she has stuck at the beast that she realises that she will not be able to get out of its reach before it could attack her again, and prepares her best to dodge any attacks it might make.


to attack1d20+3
damage[roll0]

[Ernir]

Marall snakes his hand into his bag, produces a handful of marbles, and throws them at the creature's feet.

Sleight of hand to be sneaky about where I'm taking the marbles from: [roll0]
Ranged attack roll to hit the creature's square (AC 5, if I am not mistaken. Range penalties may apply, I'm not sure on the distance): [roll1]

[vollmond]

Tethal

Tethal shuddered imperceptibly; he had never seen a creature so disturbing as this, in all his 170 years. Stepping closer to the monster, he unslung his crossbow, dropped his sunrod on the floor, and let fly with a bolt.


Move: Close to 20' while drawing crossbow
Free: Drop sunrod
Standard: Fire crossbow
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2] (19-20/x2)
[roll3]

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli curses. There were too many people too close to the monster. He ran forward, charging to melee range as he dropped his bow, raking his claws over the creature's hide. To the others, it would seem like a halfling trying to scratch the beast with his fingernails.

Attacking with mah claw!
[roll0]
[roll1]
Depending how those marbles spread, I need to make a balance check:
[roll2]

[MandibleBones]

The creature manages to stay upright despite the marbles, and lashes out at Ophelia as she closes to melee range. The tentacle hits, but her fey-borne skin turns the creature's sharp bone claws away. Her attack is more successful, and her rapier sinks deep into the creature.

Ella, I went ahead and rolled for you. More information on how to roll can be found here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100917).

As Tethal's crossbow bolts slam further into its hide, Cipactli leaps like a snarling ball of halfling fury towards its face, scratching out its eyes and giving the beast a quietus.

It shudders, fleshy and simply wrong, and collapses into a pile of meat. In its third, nigh-vestigal tentacle, it is holding a piece of paper.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake is shaking violently, wracked with an incredible headache and unceasing waves of nausea. As his adrenaline-fueled high wanes with the creature's death, he simply loses control and retches violently, and then falling into a sitting position against the wall.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli wipes his claws off on his trousers, leaving black smears. He grimaces softly in digust. "Ugh." He mutters, giving his hand a curious sniff. "Now the smell is on me..." He mutters grumpily, looking at the pile of flesh and giving it an unceremonious kick, then reaching over and prying the furled paper from it's tentacled grasp. "Looks like this... THING, was a messenger of sorts. Let's just see what it has to say." He said, Opening the paper and taking a look.

[Ernir]

"What. In Loki's name... was that?"

[MandibleBones]

As a halfing grocer might carry a shopping list, so does this aberration seem to be carrying a list of things to do. On that list are a number of names, including the six of yours. Above your names are two more - Skadi Kohlt and Helmut Helmutsson, human female and dwarf male, respectively, and both names Tethal would recognize as part of the city guard.

Next on the list is one more name you all recognize - Gorgeous Brant Morgan.

[vollmond]

Tethal

"Ophelia, do you know Captain Morgan's favorite fishing location? Where he will most likely be right now? I expect he is in grave danger. I should hope my comrades can defend themselves; in any case, they must for the moment. I am loathe to leave them unwarned, but I do not believe we should allow ourselves to become separated." Tethal reloads his crossbow as he says this, and ensures his blade is seated firmly in its sheathe.

[Ella]

Of course, he likes to fish where there is the most dangerous swells, he thinks that it attracts the bigger fish, so we just need to look for the biggest waves breaking and we will find that old fool.

Ophelia heads into her room and grabs her harpoon before returning to the group, then ducks into the bathroom to make sure the stranger is alright before returning to the group in the hall.

"We need to head down by the docks and see if he has taken out a small boat, if he hasn't he will be on the rocks somewhere. So lets get going."

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli nods at that, reaching under the fleshy beast and slitting what felt vaguely like it's throat with a claw. It would do them no good if they saved the captain just to bring him back and have him killed by this... thing. Better to make sure it was dead now than have to fight it once more. He wiped the black blood off his finger once again and walked over, picking up his bow once again. "I would recommend locking that fellow in the bathroom, if possible. We don't know if they'll come after him too while we're out saving the captain." Cipactli said. "It's not the best plan, but it's better than nothing, and we don't have many other options."

[Ernir]

"Wait. We know this... thing comes from the sea, or is at least connected to it. And that is where you want to rush off to, right this instant? Am I the only one who sees a problem!?" Marall says while trying to find his scattered marbles.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli gave him a sidelong look. "Would you rather let the man die? While we managed to handily defeat this creature, there were six of is. A lone man, caught by surprise while unarmed would likely have a very different outcome." He not-so-patiently explained.

[Ella]

Ophelia looks around the group before fixing Marall with a stare. "Get yourselves ready we will have to get going, of course if you don't want to come you can wait here and play nursemaid or nurse a mug of ale and drown in your fears. Come on Marall you know Brant, would you really leave him to face that alone and in the dark?"

And with that she turns and walks down the stairs, hoping but not entirely sure that she has convinced them all to come.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake groggily stands, and shuffles out after Ophelia, saying nothing. He's unsteady and his eyes appear almost glazed over, but he's going.

[tonberryking]

"What about the others on the list?" Snowmouse rasps, sending Ophelia a defiant look as if she doesn't want to be bossed around by a barmaid, though at least she has a logical excuse: "You can save your employer but aren't the guardsmen and their lives worthy? If more of these things come we need soldiers, not drink servers..."

[vollmond]

Tethal

"If we are to remain unseparated, we can only save one at a time. My compatriots are more able and experienced in defending themselves from attack, so we should move quickly to warn Captain Morgan. Unless one of you has a quick method of communicating to them, wherever they may be at this hour, we should move out. The quicker we leave, the quicker we can get to everyone on the list."

Tethal turns and accompanies Ophelia down the stairs, holding his crossbow at the ready.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli hops down the stairs lightly. "We'll have to go see the other two later. Right now, we don't know they're not already dead. Captain Morgan has the best chance of being still alive. The other two will come next. Besides, they're guardsmen, they have a better chance of defending themselves than our old sea-captain friend." He explained as he lightly descended the stairs and grabbed his cape, wrapping it around his small form and forging out into the storm, making a beeline for the docks.

[Ernir]

"Oh, Hel. FINE, we're going. Let's just try to be careful, I don't want to have to say "I told you there were monsters out here!" to a corpse. :smallmad:"

[Ella]

Ophelia gave everyone a cheeky smile. "You know Snowmouse, you are right, I can't really justify going after Brant first without at least warning the town guards."

Ophelia looks up towards the roof of Inn's Mouth, and continues to smile.
"Of course, once they are warned we can race down to the water and find the silly old fool."

She takes a short run down the side of the building and takes to the air, winging her way around the building rising upwards until she lands on the roof, and yells down "Will this do?" while she lets off glitterdust one of her small range of powers gifted to her from her fey ancestry, letting it off targeting the roof.

The light blinds her, and she starts to beat her wings slowly while walking forwards, her eyes clenched shut against the overwhelming brightness. She reaches the edge of the building completely unaware of it and steps off her wings still beating just fast enough to allow her to descend gracefully rather than plummet to a near certain doom.

As she lands she looks at the group, "It was the best I could do, now can we go?"

[tonberryking]

Showoff.

Snowmouse's expression towards Ophelia could be read in ANY language but she only shrugs in response before pulling her hood back up and taking off with the others to rescue the silly old fool, assuming there's anything left of him to save.

[vollmond]

Tethal

"That should put them on the alert at least; thank you," Tethal says gratefully. Hefting his crossbow, he turns and stalks toward the water with the rest of the party.

[MandibleBones]

The storm has not abated, but the winds aren't too terrible. As our protagonists leave Dagon's Favor, they can see a fishing figure who can only be the bartender sitting, facing away from the inn, on the nearest dock a couple hundred yards away.

As you all head down toward the dock, the hair on the back of your neck stands up, but you can hear no sound, see no shadows. Something, something beyond your reach, is wrong.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli felt his scales standing on end, an unpleasant sensation to say the least. Something was very wrong here... He took off at a run for the beach beside the dock, shedding his cloak and diving into the water. He undulated serpent-like, his tail thrashing the already churning sea to propel him down beneath the surface, peering through the dark water. The number of things previous that remained tied to the sea was staggering, and it was a good bet a new attacker would emerge from the frothing waves.

Hold breath countdown:
68 rounds
Spot check:
[roll0]

[MandibleBones]

The water is so churned up that Cipactli can barely make anything out, but as he leaves the shallows, he does notice one thing conspicious by its absence: there are no fish anywhere near the docks.

[tonberryking]

Snowmouse is clear ill at ease due to all of this; she holds her sword with both hands and looks for someone else to approach the Captian, herself feeling the entire thing dangerous.

"Someone call out to the man so we can get out of here!"

[vollmond]

Tethal

Tethal breaks into a fast trot, keeping his crossbow at the ready. As he approaches the fishing figure, he calls out in his clear voice, "Captain Morgan! Please come back up here for a moment; we need to have a word with you!" Hopefully, he can get Brant's attention without unnecessary noise and commotion...

[Ella]

Ophelia sees Brant, and starts to run towards him, unable to think of anything more than reaching him and giving him a big hug and have him tell her that everything was alright, and then they would go back to the tavern, and clean up the second floor hallway.

And then he would sit in his old chair and smoke his pipe and tell her why this was all alright, and she would bring him mugs of ale.

All the while she ignored the unsettling feeling in her stomach, time enough to worry about that once she had the old fool back inside, in the warmth.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake just shuffles a bit, trying to keep his balance in the face of the most painful headache he's ever experienced, before tonight at any rate. He's only vaguely aware of where they are and why they're there.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli swims down and out, under the disturbances of the waves and out towards the end of the pier, staying near the side of it and keeping his eyes peeled.

67 rounds remaining

[Ernir]

"That one sure can swim, huh?"

[MandibleBones]

As Ophelia runs toward the dock, oblivious to anything but Brant, Marall and Snowmouse notice a shadow falling over the docks. Something, soundless and winged, is swooping down toward the captain. It looks almost human, but subtly off, as if someone sketched a man from memory and forgot everything that makes people human.

Brant, still fishing off the pier, is completely unaware.

[Ernir]

"Uh oh...", Marall mutters, as he conjures forth a shortbow from his bag. A bag which is entirely too small to hold such a bow.

[tonberryking]

"LOOK OUT!!! the tiny scout screams a large, loud warning in panic, but Snowmouse is no simpering fool. She switches from sword to sling and slings off a shot at the thing , hoping she isn't making a stupid mistake either...

[vollmond]

Tethal

A bit startled at the size of Snowmouse's shout, Tethal nonetheless has a steady hand as he adds his bolt to her sling bullet, trying to stop the thing before it can reach Brant. "Morgan! Get back up here and watch your back!"


Crossbow shot:
[roll0]
[roll1]

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Looking up and noticing the shadow, Jake heaves a bit, almost retching again, as another intense wave of nausea hits him - and again extends out towards the creature.

Shadowmental Touch, [roll0] damage, DC 16 or be knocked 5 ft back and prone (out of the sky?). Max range 60 ft; if the shadow's beyond that this does nothing but he's still using it, unwittingly.

And risking provoking the beast: [roll1]

[Ella]

Behind her Ophelia can hear people calling out to Brant, and that spurs her on, pushing her to run as fast as she can, she considers taking to the air but the wind and rain would make it trickier to reach him and the poor visibility was just as likely to cause her problems.

Her heart is racing as she hits the pier, her footsteps pounding against the wet wood. It is only once she is a few paces behind him that she calls out.

"Captain, drop the rod and get away from the water. There is something fishy going on and you had me so worried coming out here in weather like this."

[MandibleBones]

Brant looks up to see Ophelia's stricken face.

"Of course something fishy's going on, girl, I'm fishing! What's gotten into-" And then he, too, sees the thing, and his eyes widen. "Run, girl! All of you, run!" And he begins to move up the dock.

To Ophelia, it all seems to be happening in slow motion, as if everything were a nightmare made real. As Jake doubles over, the thing, too, curls up in midairm momentarily, as if in sympathetic pain - then it shakes it off, diving toward the captain as the rock and arrow bounce off its hide.

A creeping sense of dread falls over the party as it approaches, diving toward Brant Morgan to attempt to grab him. The captain draws an ancient but serviceable rapier to attempt to fend it off, but then it is upon him.


DW: The thing took the damage but made the save. I'll let you know about the beast's reaction to this thing after you get a bit closer. Ernir and tbking, it looks like your attacks hit, but did no damage.

Everyone needs to make a DC16 will save or be stuck in place for three rounds (losing all dex bonus to AC and ability to take actions for those rounds).

Ella, Ophelia needs to make an additional DC16 will save or be forced completely into slow motion, taking a -2 to AC, melee attacks, melee damage and Reflex saves. Additionally, should you fail, you can take only a move action OR a standard action each round until the effect ends some 10 rounds later.

Order of initiative is as follows:
Brant, Thing, Marall, Jake, Cipactli, Tethal, Snowmouse, Ophelia. Brant and the Thing have already gone this round - your attacks were in the surprise round. Current placement: Snowmouse, Marall and Jake, as well as anyone standing with them, are somewhere within 40 feet of Brant and the thing. Ophelia is 10 feet away.

[Ernir]

You hear a *Meep* from Marall, as he freezes up in terror.

[Ella]

Ophelia finds herself unable to move at all, and her low light vision only revealing to her the scene of absolute terror in greater detail. She cannot even blink to shut out the terror she feels momentarily.

A scream catches in her throat, and feels like a burning fire trapped inside her throat.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake Rigby feels terror surge through him, and just as he is about to collapse in fear, a violent wave of nausea surges through him - violence directed not at him, but at the fear itself. Suddenly, the terror leaves him, and he coughs and stumbles at the violence and illness that wracks his body.

[vollmond]

Tethal

Refusing to be cowed by the palpable horror being exuded by the thing, Tethal drops his crossbow and runs to help Brant, drawing his blade as he goes. Reaching them, he draws upon his divine connection to add strength to his blow and swings his sword in a wide arc at the creature.


Smite Evil
[roll0]
[roll1]

[MandibleBones]

Despite Tethal's weapon blazing with holy light, the defender nearly misses the creature. Only the fact that the Thing is distracted by Brant Morgen's struggles allow Tethal's blade to cut a burning swath across the creature's back.

It shudders and wriths, but makes not a sound, turning its face momentarily toward its assailant.

Its face is smooth, like soft, oiled leather, and in horror, everyone behind it realizes it has no features, only two small horns which seem to flow from its head. The rest of its body is the same - a smooth, self-contained form which radiates a wrongness not born of this world.

vollmond, given your position, I gave you a flanking bonus from Brant - it made the difference. Were you charging, and if so, did you factor that in?

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
As Jake feels the terror of the thing pass, he begins to feel uneasy - as if the thing in the sky wasn't the real threat here. He begins to look around.

[roll0]

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli suddenly finds himself unable to move, dead in the water, an unknowable fear in his heart. His eyes darted back and forth helplessly in his head. Then they looked up, and a different kind of fear gripped him as he saw the clouds slowly gyre above him. He felt the grip of fear leave his limbs, and he re-aimed himself upward. He had to warn them! He let the waves move above him, rocketing to the surface in the watery embrace of a particularly high wave. His claws dug into the wood of the dock and clung, pulling himself up. When he saw the... THING attacking Brant, he knew the source of the fear he'd felt before. He drew out his bow and pulled back an arrow in an instant, letting a single green-fletched arrow fly towards the monster, determined to extinguish the life it should never have been given.

Attack!
[roll0]
Damage:
[roll1]

[tonberryking]

Snowmouse doesn't consider herself a brave soul, far from it; she's just a survivor. And she's seen a lot of freaky messes so she holds up better than her impromptu companions....but something keeps her from leaving them on the spot.

She can't bring herself to do that.

Instead she throws herself towards the back on the monstrosity; aiming between the horns would be a good target. With a leap she puts her weight into the thrust of her blade, waiting only until she's about to stab through before yelling a blood curling battle cry.

Charge! [roll0] Add two if this actually counts as a charge. And... I doubt she can skirmish its ass, but if you're allowing it, the damage:[roll1] [roll2]

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
"Ughhh, guys...? Does anyone else see... more of them? They look... hazy... but there's a bunch of em..."

[MandibleBones]

Snowmouse's brave charge strikes the creature full in the place where its face should be, but the damage, which might have cleaved a human in twain, leaves only the barest mark on the Thing. Likewise, Cipactli's arrow, borne with the despearate fury of the storm, strikes only a glancing blow.

Brant has even less luck - unlike our intrepid heroes, he doesn't even hit the creature. Thankfully, the creature itself can't seem to latch onto the bartender either. It beats its wings futilely, tossing its head from side to side as if contemplating an advance in a different direction.

[Admiral Squish]

As the creature looks about to retreat and perhaps redouble it's offensive, Cipactli sees an opportunity. He runs forward, putting away the bow and reaching into his pouch to produce a large, folded net. With practiced skill, he draws it out and casts it into the air over the flying thing, a hanging curtain of tangling cords, his hand gripping the knotted rope attached. He would NOT allow this thing to escape. It had to die now, or none of them would live for long.

Okay, that's a move action to get within ten feet of the thing, drawing the net during the move, and tossing it.
Ranged touch to hit: [roll0] If it lands, the thing is entangled.
And an opposed strength check to keep it from moving more than ten feet from me: [roll1]

[MandibleBones]

As the net lands, and the Thing is entangled, its reaction is instantaneous. Losing all focus on Brant, it begins to thrash and twitch uncontrollably. Cipactli's net holds it... for now.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli growls, holding tight to the rope with all the strength of his small frame. "Hurry! Kill it quickly!" He snarls to the rest of the group.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake cannot bear to turn away from the other creatures he sees... he feels compelled to ignore the one bound by Cipactli's net, somehow. But then, just as he tries to fight it, another wave of nausea hits him, causing him to bend double and heave some more - and this wave, like the others, seems to extend from him in the direction of the bound creature. As soon as it is past, he feels bound to watch the sky some more - as if the attack at the creature was a mere swatting of an annoyance that was distracting him from the more important task of watching the sky.

Dark Will again, [roll0], [roll1], DC 16 Reflex save or be knocked prone? Not sure how the push effect works with the net...

[MandibleBones]

The Thing writhes on the ground in obvious agony under Jake's beast's dark will.

[vollmond]

Tethal

Tethal glances back at the convulsing Jake, but puts questions out of his mind to take advantage of the Thing's helplessness. He slams his blade down at the creature before him.


CdG?
if so: [roll0]

if not:
[roll1]
[roll2]

edit: ok, that's just ridiculous
edit2: oh well, if that is a CdG at least there's that save-or-die effect...

[MandibleBones]

Even at this range, when not imbued with holy power, Tethal's blade glances off the creature.

I allowed the Coup de Grace; DR absorbed the damage and the Thing made the DC10 Fort Save (Normally DC10+damage taken, but since it took no damage...)

[Ella]

Ophelia looks out past the fight raging ahead of her, the thing is trapped in a net and twitching while not an expert on unspeakable horrors she feels that it is probably a good sign for everyone involved if its too busy struggling against the net to fight back.

She starts to find it hard to focus on the thing, looking directly at it just increases her fear, so she raises her eyes a little and notices the flickering lights on the water over the reef and feels puzzled.

[tonberryking]

Snowmouse pulls her sword back and simply just plunges the blade down onto the thing once more, trying to widen the wound she'd made prior.

[roll0] [roll1]

[MandibleBones]

Again, she strikes, and again, little damage is done. The Thing struggles to escape the net, in vain, as Brant strikes his rapier down as well. He does manage to score a hit, and it appears his serviceable treasure is magical enough to cause damage, but not enough to kill the beast.

And round cycles. This is the last round of Das Uberfear. As an FYI, I'm going to consider this thing a CR5 instead of a CR4, because apparently they balanced this thing's inability to hit you anybody with a totally inappropriate DR, and it's ticking me off.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake's mind is in tatters now. He's only barely aware of what's going on, his control over his own movements seems like an uphill struggle. Again, he tries to help his comrades with the netted thing, and again he cannot. Again, there is the violent reaction to his attempts to do so - less nausea now, more simple rage. It almost burns as it courses through him, and for a moment a brilliant glare over takes his vision, a flash of white as the fury within him violently lashes out at the monster.

Dark Will: [roll0], [roll1], DC 16 Reflex save (if applicable)

Also, since in theory, he's been staring at the sky this whole time, some Spot checks:
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
(his native bonus is +0; he still has that +2 bonus, right? It was +2, right? Or do I have that remembered wrong?

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli slips the rope into his jaws and clamps down, drawing out his bow once more and firing a shot nearly point-blank into the thing as it struggles and writhes in his net, all the while nervously stealing glances at the sky. "Die faster!" He snarled.

If only Tik'Tok was here. THAT would settle this easy.
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[vollmond]

This is absurd. Something has to give... Tethal resets his grip on his sword, and slashes at the thing's exposed flank.


[roll0]
[roll1]

[MandibleBones]

Ciplactli misses outright, stabbing arrows deep into the dock, but Tethal's hit slashes open the Thing's wing. Though the damage to the creature itself is negligible, it is unlikely to fly again today.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake feels the compulsion to ignore the creature subside. In fact, if anything, he feels compelled to turn towards it. And he feels a distinct burning sensation rising within him. Suddenly, he gasps and chokes as a burning fury funnels through him, his lungs screaming in pain, eyes tearing from the strength of it.

[roll0], [roll1]

[roll2]

[MandibleBones]

As Jake and his beast turn their will once more toward the Thing, it twists in visable agony - this time, though, it seems the combination of Cipactli's net and Jake's tender ministrations have had an... odd effect.

Layers of grey skin slough off the creature, as if they were scales of a fish, leaving catfish-smooth flesh underneath. It's as if, under the dark will and the burning rope, the creature became less than it originally was.

No more damage reduction. Whack away!

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli Grins around the rope in his teeth and quickly send one, then another arrow soaring for the now-vulnerable-flesh of the thing as it wiggled and thrashed in his net.

Not sure it's my turn, but feel free to delay this until it is.

Attack #1 [roll0]
Damage [roll1]
Attack #2 [roll2]
Damage [roll3]

[Ernir]

Marall, after watching the entire scene in stunned horror, wordlessly joins the slaughter.

Stab with a knife:
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Sneak Attack: [roll2]

(Assumes I can get a flank easily enough)

[MandibleBones]

Marall and Cipactli wade in; the tiny ranger's arrow doing better damage this time despite another miss from the second shot. Marall's strike cuts the thing's blank face, cutting it open and revealing a mouth full of all-too-human teeth. The scream that begins to wail from that toothed oriface, however, is nothing human as the Thing writhes in agony. It look seriously wounded, all the more so from the beating it's been taking from Jake's dark will and Tethal's Light-empowered sword.

[Ella]

Ophelia smiles she has finally managed to overcome her fear she grips her harpoon tightly and flies up into the air, until she is 20ft above the netted monster. She tightens her grip on it and tries to line up a decent throw on the monster.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake suddenly cries out and falls to his knees. One hand holding himself up, the other at his temple, he gasps once, and then suddenly stands upright, as if nothing was wrong. A smirk is on his face, and his eyes seem positively shining with glee.

He steps towards the creature, and a voice, no two voices, neither his own, address it. "Darûk, azub-izg lat. Azub-izg latûk! Latu broshan nartul. Za tul-izub!"
27DzY ,CwU=,Bx j1D- ,CwU=,Bx j1DaUÁ j1D`M w6AE5 56E1jU- ,`C 1jU=,BwUÁ
Font used (http://www.sci.fi/~alboin/tcurs100a.zip)

Reaching toward the creature, Jake's eyes briefly flash to black, and the creature is visibly crushed before him.
Dark Will, [roll0], [roll1], DC 16 Reflex save

[roll2]

Oh.

That.

Is more interesting.

I'll be editing a more proper description in in a moment.

DM:
Using bastardized Black Speech (a la Tolkien) there. Translates roughly as "Fool, I will kill you. I will kill you all! You are not welcome here. This place is mine!" I presume that both being abominable horrors from the beyond, the Monster Within and these creatures share some kind of language, and this is it. The Monster's spent 5 ranks on Speak Language; I tried to grab various languages spoken by Aberrations in the books, but I'd like to replace one with whatever this language would be.

[Ernir]

Jake Rigby
"Darûk, azub-izg lat. Azub-izg latûk! Latu broshan nartul. Za tul-izub!"
"What the **** is going on with the kid?"

[MandibleBones]

As Jake unleashes the speech of the damned at the Thing, its body twists into a terrible rictus, as if it were in the final stages of lockjaw. The gash where Marall drew a mouth with his saber lies open in a horrible, silent scream. The Thing is clearly dead.

Tossing Cipactli's net away from the corpse, Jake rushes toward the body, ripping and tearing, his fingers curled into claws. Viscera and foul fluids which are not - can not be - blood splatter to the dock as Rigby tears toward the Thing's otherworldly heart.

Brant stares in horror at the scene, his rapier, only just drawn, clatters to the wooden surface of the pier.

225 xp from the defeat of a CR4 creature, plus and additional 300 xp ad hoc award for putting up with this combat. Ugh.

Total XP gained thus far into the adventure: 750 xp.

[vollmond]

Tethal

Tethal swiftly sheathes his blade, then moves over and tries to pull the boy away from the Thing's body. "It's over! The thing is dead!" Seeing Jake's ferocity, and remembering the strange words and the voice in which they were spoken, Tethal looks at him with new intensity.

Detect Evil, at Jake

[Ella]

Seeing the horror in the nets death struggles Ophelia feels a great deal of relief no one had been seriously injured particularly Brant, the old fool that he was coming down here in weather like this.

She lands next to him, and leans on the harpoon trying to be stoic about the situation, but crumbles and throws her arms around him.

"You might want to pick that rapier back up, something horrible is going on, and I am not just talking about the blood madness that Jake must be feeling."

She feels an involuntary shake of further horror when she looks at the bestial way Jake is tearing into the monster.

[Ernir]

Marall takes several steps away from Jake.

[vollmond]

Tethal starts, surprised by the intensity of the evil aura surrounding Jake. He releases Jake's arm, steps back, and draws his sword back into his hands, holding it at the ready.

"Jake Rigby!" he shouts, trying to get the boy's attention, yet not sure he really wanted to. "What has happened to you?"

[MandibleBones]

The Rigby boy's head, govered with blue and black ichor from the Thing, turns toward Tethal, and his mouth is twisted in a malicious grin. His eyes flicker between their normal color and a demonic red, and as they do, for a moment it seems like his mouth has far too many teeth.

"Jake's not here right now, but if you want to leave a message, I'll be sure to pass it on to him," it says in a chorus of voices, none of which are Jake's. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe it's rude to talk with my mouth full."

With that, the Not-Jake returns to its grisly feast.

[Ernir]

Marall stops 30' away from Jake, takes up his bow, and aims, ready to shoot should he decide to attack anything. He stares in horror.

[vollmond]

"Beast in another's body, who are you and what do you want with the boy? Answer me!" Tethal steps around in front of Jake and roughly pokes him in the chest with the point of his blade.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake's mind was in excruciating pain. It was unlike any headache he'd ever had, that had always been a throbbing in his head, his brain - this was a burning in his mind. And it hurt, it hurt like nothing else. It had literally been torn away from his physical body, separated from all its connections to reality.

All except his senses. He could still see and hear and taste. Oh god, the taste. The nausea was unbearable, he was desperate to gag, to spit it out - but he had no control over those muscles. For all intents and purposes, he did not have those muscles. And the gag reflex is particularly unbearable when one does not actually have a throat...

He heard the words, and understood them - even in his pain. He saw his comrades step away - he saw Marall draw his bow, heard Tethal shout...

And he heard It. Her? Maybe, but he got the sense that It sounded female just to mock everyone that much more. It taunted him. It told him all about what It was doing, what It was going to do, how It was going to kill all of them. How It was going to force him to sit and watch in horror, and how It would never let him get that taste out of his mouth...

[vollmond]

At the beast's lack of response, Tethal makes a decision. He looks around at his companions on the dock (at least the ones not feasting on otherworldly abominations). "We have to get out of here, and we have to bring him along." He sheathes his sword and unhooks a set of manacles from his belt. "Give me a hand!"

He steps up and grabs one of Jake's wrists, pulling the boy/thing away from their downed foe, trying to join his hands behind his back.

[MandibleBones]

As Tethal grabs at Jake, the possessed boy tears one final time at the now-awful corpse of the Thing. With its free hand, the Not-Jake holds the creature's black heart above its head and, squeezing, dribbles its heartsblood into his mouth.

Then, as if the wind itself had left him, Jake Rigby drops to the dock, only Tethal's hold on his arm keeping him from a rather painful faceplant.

DW, you may now have your character back. Expect developments shortly.

[Ella]

Ophelia slowly moves towards Jake, keeping her head up and her shoulders square trying to cover up the little fear she held inside about his recent madness.

"Jake, are you alright?" she calls to him, waiting to see if his eyes showed any recognition at the sound of his name.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake howls in terror and pain, vomiting until he had none left, continued screaming interrupted only by dry heaves. He could not sit still, scratching at himself, clawing at his skin, even hitting his head against the dock once. His screams finally become coherent: "GET IT OUT, GET IT OUT!" over and over.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactly watched in stunned silence as the young boy proceeded to devour the creature they had just defeated, his jaw slack, his features twisted in horror. He puked in sympathy as the lad drank down the beasts lifeblood, the vomit washing away through the gaps in the planks under the torrential rains. When he seemingly came back to normal, he shook his head, violently, forcing himself out of his trance. "We don't have time for this!" He shouted, partly to himself partly to the rest of the group, before turning sharply to the tavern-keeper. "Brant! Does your place have a cellar, or at least a basement?" He demanded, before nervously turning his eyes up to the clouds once more.

[MandibleBones]

Brant, gathering his wits about him, tears his eyes from Jake and picks up his blade, sheathing it before answering. "Are ye daft, lad?" he queries. "This close to the ocean? We'd flood every time it rained. No," he says. "No cellar, no basement."

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli curses, looking off to the side, chewing his lip. Another glance upward strengthens his resolve. "Not like we have a lot of choices right now." He mutters, before speaking up. "Everyone! Those clouds are saying are saying we have MINUTES to go before a tornado touches down and everything goes straight to hell in this town! We need to get to the warehouses next to the Market Hall before then! They should have a room or two strong enough to survive the storm." He explained to everyone on the dock, pointing up at the darkened clouds above them. "Carry the kid if you have to, we do not have time to wait around for him!" He added, gesturing to the screaming teen on the dock.

[vollmond]

"That's it, let's move!" Tethal grabs Jake by the bicep and half-drags him up the dock, keeping his blade out in his free hand. Then, in a lower voice, "Keep yourself together, child. I fear this isn't the end of our woes tonight. Remember, though, that you are among friends."

[MandibleBones]

The storm has indeed kicked up a lot during the combat with the Thing and Jake's incident - indeed, everyone by now sees the rotating cloud mass about the city, twisting in a natural mess. In a way, it's almost calming despite the raging storm - as if nature itself were reacting to the wrongness of tonight's unexpected visitors.

As the group makes it to the nearest warehouse, a great building with solid stone foundations, Cipactli, last to arrive, sees the first wisps of cloud being drawn down with the air. A funnel is beginning to form, not over water, but over land further north.

The warehouse is full of boats in various stages of repair; a room off to the side holds ropes, another, canvas. Across the room, several pits have been cut into the stone floor, long trenches for servicing boats from below. Two of them are empty, and make a decently safe place to ride out the storm - Tethal and Cipactli lead the others, including Brant, there immediately.

The howling winds shake the warehouse, and it's clear something isn't right outside, but aside from a few boats falling off their mountings, there's no damage to the strong structure. Nearly ten minutes later, although it seems like a lifetime, the sound of the terrible storm is replaced by the now-familiar, dreary patter of moderate-to-heavy rain.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake is curled in a fetal position in the trench, shuddering silently, making no sound nor responding to any outside stimuli.

[vollmond]

"That could have been far worse." Tethal refrains from following up on that train of thought, as they don't know yet how the rest of The Inn's Mouth weathered the storm. Turning back to the boy cowering on the floor, Tethal kneels down and places his hand on Jake's back. "Master Rigby -- Jake; can you look at me? The worst of the storm has passed, for us and for you." He looks around the assembled gathering. "Do any of you have some water or a flask on your person? I think some of us could use a drink."

Aura of Courage, for whatever it's worth.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake's shaking gradually diminishes, and eventually he opens his eyes. Looking around, he starts to prop himself up a bit - though obviously weak and he has difficulty. "Uh... thanks, everyone. Uhm, I think, I think I'll be alright...."

[Ella]

Ophelia starts to calm down, in hindsight she felt felt quite foolish for the way she froze up when confronted with both the monster and the horrible change the overcame Jake.

"So Brant, care to tell us just what you thought you were doing venturing out in that horrible storm?"

[MandibleBones]

"I told, you, fishing!" He has the good graces to look mildly ashamed. "I didn't know it would get so bad, though. Hasn't been a storm like this in the Inn's Mouth in years."

[Ernir]

"So there was a before? Did anything like... that happen last time?"

[MandibleBones]

Brant shakes his head. "No, no, was just a bad storm about thirty years back or so. Knocked down a few buildings, killed some folk. Nothing eldritch about it."

[vollmond]

Listening to the conversation with a part of his mind, Tethal cautiously made his way to the warehouse door, cracked it open, and peered out into the street, waiting to find another otherworldly monstrosity waiting to face them.


[roll0]
[roll1]

Knowledges, just on the off-chance I have any idea what these things were, and because I can't remember if we've already rolled knowledge...
[roll2]
[roll3]

[MandibleBones]

The street is empty as Tethel peers out; the now-familiar sound of the pouring rain almost soothing. Lightning occasionally flashes, and, between the fighting and the storm, the evening itself is upon you. Here and there, bits of driftwood, seaweed and rubble lie strewn about, as if tossed by some terrible, windy force - but the buildings themselves seem to have escaped the brunt of it.

Wherever the tornado touched down, it certainly wasn't right here.

Your view of the sea is mostly blocked by the enormous market hall, but the earlier glow from the reef seems to have subsided. Whatever was out there is not blasting its eldritch light toward the sky anymore.

For Tethel:
Tethel's knowledge of the planes tell the defender of the land that the first creature they fought was an Otyugh, a foul abomination from the nightmare realms of the gods. In times long past, servants of the Jotunns would summon the creatures to serve as mystic assassins, since any survivors would likely be driven mad by the creature's tentacular form. There hasn't been a recorded Otyugh summoning in nearly three hundred years.

Of the second beast, there is nothing.

[vollmond]

Tethal closes the door and returns to where his companions are recovering from the storm. "The town seems largely unharmed -- some debris about, but I did not see any buildings damaged." He pauses a moment, then continues. "I did not mention this before because of the urgency of our situation, and also because I did not know how it could be true, but it seems inescapable: the creature we faced at the inn was an Otyugh -- a nightmare assassin. As a child, I heard of them being sent as agents of the Jotunns, but I have never heard of an actual sighting in my lifetime."

[DragoonWraith]

[roll0]

Nevermind then.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli peered out onto the streets, now littered with driftwood, seaweed, and splintered planks. He sighed, then turned back to the rest of the group. "Alright, it doesn't look like the damage is too bad here. For now, I say we all take an hour or two to make sure none of our respective dwellings have collapsed, and meet back at Dagon's Favor to figure out what we do next." He proposed to the team.

[vollmond]

"Homes must be checked, but we would be foolish to go anywhere alone. I suggest we pair off." Tethal turns to the exhausted-looking teenager. "Shall we see how your fortune has held this fine evening?" he asks ironically.

The smirk dies from his face. "If you don't mind the walk, I believe I also have some colleagues to check on..."

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
"Uhm, yeah. Yeah, let's do that."

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli nods. "A good plan. Does anyone happen to live near the river?" He asks, then pauses. "On second thought, I think it would be wiser for me to go alone. My pet isn't very good with guests, and I'd hate anyone to be injured."

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake immediately sets to work helping Tethal and Y'nne, moving quickly, trying to carry as much as he can in a given trip, and generally acting as if repairing the treehouse was a competition he was determined to win, even going so far as to take on too much and being forced to slow down.

[MandibleBones]

With the companions divided up into two groups, the town seems almost more sinister. Still, each person in each group, at some point during the evening, has the same thought: I'm glade I'm not alone in this.

Snowmouse, Jake, Tethal and Cipactli
As the trio finishes basic repairs on Snowmouse's tree and move to investigate Odin's Grove, a wash of unease spreads over them. On the other side of the wreckage, Cipactli and his companion Tik'Tok feel the same heavy malaise weigh them down.

Odin's Grove has been devestated, as if the tornado struck directly here, a pinpoint strike that seems totally out of character for the destructive winds. The once-peaceful place, where Snowmouse and Tethal, at least, had meditated before, was now a nightmare of broken limbs, stripped branches like so many bones. Even the largest of the trees in the grove has been toppled, snapped in half like tinder, leaving a shattered stump in the center of the woody carnage.

On it, a symbol has appeared, almost as if painted, though closer inspection reveals it to have been burnt in with some fell magic. It is the same symbol you saw earlier this eve, created in seaweed near the corpse of a cultist of some foul, unintelligible elder thing.


http://img.musal.us/alazif.jpg

Ophelia, Marall
The flame-haired man is sleeping peacefully, and one look at his face says that he remains untroubled by nightmares. Downstairs, you can hear Brant rummaging around, and above, the rain softens for a moment. In the candlelight, even the scars around this man's eyes look better than they should be. It's a brief moment of peace in an otherwise terrifying night.

[Ella]

Ophelia struggles to suppress a smile over Marall's attitude towards recent events, she grabs a towel and rolls it up into a soft tube and places it beneath the man in the baths head.

"Well then, how about a little bet about just how likely we are to survive? Because I have a pretty good feeling about anyone that stays within the walls of this tavern being in one piece in the morning."

Ophelia leaves the bathroom and heads for the stairs, beckoning Marall to follow her, once she reaches the bottom she calls out.

"So does either of you want something to eat, maybe a warm drink?"

[Ernir]

"On the house, right?" :smallamused:

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli walks into the grove after a while, his clothes still wet from his salvage operation at the huts down by the river. At his heels is a twelve-foot crocodile, plodding along, it's tail lashing side to side. It occasionally snaps at those who wander too close, only to earn a stern word from Cipactli in a language nobody understands. As he walks into the grove, he blinks at the descruction wrought by the twister. As he examines the ruined stump of the tree, he notices the charred symbol emblazoned on the trunk. Exactly like the one on the shore... What could this mean?

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Do I (well, the beast, anyway) recognize the mark as anything?
[roll0] (trained, despite the +0) boo hiss

Anything special about this spot?
[roll1]

[Ella]

Ophelia grins at Marall.

"I'm pretty sure anything drunk tonight counts as medicinal. Why don't you take a seat at the bar and let me know what you are after."

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
"They prayed to Odin here.... This was his place. He's too important for the general temple, so he had his very own grove..." Jake says aloud, his voice clearly betraying his quiet confusion - why why why?

[Ernir]

Ophelia grins at Marall.

"I'm pretty sure anything drunk tonight counts as medicinal. Why don't you take a seat at the bar and let me know what you are after."

"What I'm after?"

"Well, living through the next day is near the top of the list..." Marall says, the last words more into the drink than towards Ophelia.

[vollmond]

Tethal's knowledge rolls
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Ella]

"So you don't have a dream, some secret ambition, a driving force within?"

Ophelia takes a sip from half a mug of ale, and sits down next to Marall.

"See, I am thinking about the future, because we will survive, everyone will survive. At least now that they are on their guard against horrors."

[Ernir]

"So you don't have a dream, some secret ambition, a driving force within?"

Ophelia takes a sip from half a mug of ale, and sits down next to Marall.

"See, I am thinking about the future, because we will survive, everyone will survive. At least now that they are on their guard against horrors."

"Not really, no. Why would I? I've gotten by just fine without it so far!"

"Why do you care, anyway?" :smallannoyed:

[vollmond]

Jake Rigby
"They prayed to Odin here.... This was his place. He's too important for the general temple, so he had his very own grove..." Jake says aloud, his voice clearly betraying his quiet confusion - why why why?

Tethal blinks when he sees Cipactli's companion. Pushing it from his mind, he turns back to the mark on the tree. "First we are attacked by the nightmare assassins; then the storm marks Odin's Grove with this symbol of madness from beyond. I fear The Inn's Mouth is destined for an unpleasant future." Tethal moves off, looking around the rest of the grove for any other clues to what is happening.

[Ella]

"The future is the reason to keep fighting now, and I want to know what it is that will keep you fighting against anything horrible as what we have already encountered. So what is yours?"

Ophelia offers Marall a top up on his drink.

"You see at least to me, the important thing is caring at times like this, I know I am not entirely human, but from my perspective its their greatest strength, the reason they have managed to survive and thrive against the terrible things that seem to exist everywhere if you look hard enough.

"So what is it that you care about Marall?"

[vollmond]

After not finding much of anything, Tethal turns back to the others. "I don't think we're going to find anything else here. I need to check on the other guards who were on that list, and then we can regroup. Do any of you feel up to accompanying me?"

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
"Uh... yeah, sure, I'll go with. You sure there's nothing left here?" Jake is wandering around the clearing, looking around but not really studying anything. Things just seem... everything is... wrong, somehow.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli nods. "I'll come too." He replies simply, casting a parting glance over the shattered grove. They could come back later, and time was critical to warn the guards.

[MandibleBones]

After a circuitous trip to Dagon's Favor to pick up Marall Su and Ophelia, the six companions make their way to the Tower of the Watch to investigate the other names on the list.

Both were supposed to be on duty tonight, and should be at the watch tower, but when the companions get there, the building seems curiously vacant. The door is locked tight, but our intrepid guardsman has the key.

Beyond the door, where the rain can't get to wash it away, is a muddy track across the floor, as if left by a heavy creature covered in seawater, muck and seaweed.

Strangely, a moment's examination by Cipactli leads the child of the Poison Dusk to believe whatever made this track was leaving, not entering, the watchtower. The trail of filth comes from a room further back, where Tethal knows stairs down to a storage cellar lie.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli observes the tracks for a brief moment, his heart sinking. "What made these tracks was leaving. It was likely already finished with what it was doing... If our encounters earlier were any indication of what has occurred here, I would suggest those with weaker stomachs stay here. What we find will not be pretty." He cautioned the group, drawing his bow as he peered into the darkness, drawing in a deep breath.

[Ella]

Ophelia follows Cipactli's lead and draws her hook and rapier, preparing herself for anything that might happen. She takes a step forwards.

"I'm coming."

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake flinched at the mention of weak stomachs... but then suddenly felt perfectly fine. He thought, unbidden, about what he'd likely see, and the thought caused him no trouble; he felt callous about it. "I will as well."

[vollmond]

Tethal bows his head and closes his eyes in premature sorrow, already knowing what they would see. "Then let us see what transpired." And, Forseti, let there be some clue to help us end this madness. His hand on the hilt of his sheathed blade, he steps down the hall towards the stairs.

[MandibleBones]

In the back room itself, as Cipactli's senses warned him, is the corpse of the dwarven guard Helmut Helmutsson. Like the floor, Helmutsson is covered in filth and tentacle marks. The trail continues to lead down the stairs, where a small celler holds supplies and weapons. Behind the stairs, a shield lies on top of some crates with the guard's arrow suppply.

The trail leads to what Tethal swears has always been a wall, but it looks as if it was actually a hidden doorway. It is blown outwards into the room, and the trail continues into the darkness beyond.

[Ernir]

Marall, having kept quiet since leaving the Dagon's Favor, speaks up.

"Wait a bit. I'm not walking into whatever surprise the one who made this mess left behind."

Searching for traps: [roll0]

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
"Well, we know where it came from, anyway. Shall we?"

[vollmond]

Tethal peers into the darkness, then turns back. "Wait. Only Helmut is here. We should check the tower for Skadi Kohlt; perhaps she escaped this aberration alive." He turns and makes for the stairs.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli briefly examines the shield and arrow crates before moving to examine the hole. He draws in another deep breath, his features sinking still deeper. "More death this way." He muttered, frowning. "Death and filth and darkness."

[Ella]

"I will check the tower, if someone wants to take the stairs and watch my back for me."

She starts to fly upwards, and calls down to Tethal.

"If she is up here, I will find her."

[vollmond]

Tethal bows his head for a moment, then sets himself and follows Ophelia up the stairs, prepared for whatever he may find.

[MandibleBones]

The tower is silent and, at least compared to the ground, peaceful. At the top is a room which looks out on the storm; glowing windows of quiet force keeping out the elements. In the center of the room is a statue of a tall man holding a horn - Tethal identifies him as Heimdall, the Watchman.

Thankfully, there appear to be no bodies here.

[Ella]

Ophelia flies across to stand beside Tethal. "Is there someone up here regularly? I had always imagined we had a constant watch but I guess it seems like there isn't the numbers for it."

She heads back down the stairs to rejoin the group, inwardly breathing deep sighs of relief. There was a chance of a survivor so far, and thats what she needed to hear that her willingness to ignore the guards to go after Brant and poor attempt to warn them with lights hadn't lead to multiple deaths.

[MandibleBones]

As the pair heads back down, the cellar remains: the boxes, the shield, the barrels, the hole in the wall, the darkness, the flickering torches on the walls.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
"Well, so are we going in or not? Not much else for us to do, don't you think?"

[Ernir]

"Let's go in before old age kills me."

"Oh, after you."

[vollmond]

"Once more into the breach," murmers Tethal as he steps into the darkness.

Is there a torch or two in the tower we might take along? I would assume Tethal's single sunrod is either out or nearing so at this point.

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli hefts the shield off the crate, setting it to the ground with as loud clang, the symbol now facing the group as he climbs atop the crate and pries a torch free of it's setting.

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
[roll0] (trained)
Would that symbol be something you'd expect to see on a guard's shield?

Drr. I really should just take-10 on Knowledge checks. I hate them so.

[MandibleBones]

As the company passes through the breach, they find themselves in a large stone room. It feels like a temple, and that suspicion is confirmed by a statue at the far end. In the flickering light of the torches Cipactli and others brought, as well as Tethal's dying sunrod, the details come out.

A wiry man with a flowing beard and a single eye, a mighty hunter, stands on the neck of a man who seems to be part fish. In his arms, he holds a spear, pointing at the fishman's eye. The plaque bears the inscription "NODENS," though it looks more like Odin All-Father.

The left wall is blown out, and in the darkness beyond, there is splashing and movement.

The slime trail continues here, and into the darkness... though in the middle of the floor is a body, facedown, broken and reaching out toward the statue - the guard, Skadi.

[Ernir]

"Ooooookay. That's just nasty."

"Now, I know one of you is sure to want to be a hero, so I don't suppose there's any chance of us not trying to end the thing that killed him... but can someone please remind me what it is that we are getting out of this?"

[Ella]

Ophelia presses herself up against the right wall slowly edges herself along it, keeping the greatest possible distance between herself and the opening. "I just want to see, if there is anything to see through there."

spot[roll0]

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli shakes his head as he keeps his eyes fastened to the hole in the wall, speaking sideways to his temporary companion. "Look at this logically. These two were on the same list as us, a shopping list of targets. We managed to foil the other two attempts and slay the agents responsible. But, this killer remains. Who's to say it doesn't have it's own list, and will head after us once it is recovered? However, it just fought two skilled guardsman. It's likely wounded, or at least tired. This is our greatest chance to pursue and eliminate it. Or would you rather be surprised in your bedroom, unprepared, alone, and unarmed, when this thing is in it's peak condition?"

[Ella]

Ophelia prepares her harpoon, and pushes herself back against the wall looking at the group. She stage whispers "Almost entirely correct friend halfling, but I see two more in the next room. I would strongly suggest preparing yourselves."

She races towards the next room and through the doorway harpoon held up and ready to throw as soon as she manages to target one of the horrid things.

[vollmond]

Tethal looks grimly to the hole, and quickly jogs over to join Ophelia in battle with the creatures, smoothly drawing steel as he moved.


[roll0]

Not sure the exact layout here -- if possible, Tethal will attack, as well.

[roll1] (+2 more if he can charge)
[roll2] (+ anything more if Hand of God says I'm allowed to do a more proper amount damage :smallwink:) (edit: ooo max damage! not so bad)

[vollmond]

If I had to guess, I'd say these baddies are immune to crits. Just in case I'm wrong:

[roll0] (+2 more if he can charge)
[roll1] edit: ...

[Admiral Squish]

Cipactli notches an arrow and urges Tik'Tok forward in draconic, striding forward himself and letting the green-fletched shot fly. The crocodile rushes ahead with a throaty hiss, it's jaws wide.

Tik'Tok will take a double move ahead, or a charge if possible, and Cipactli takes a single move and a single shot.

Cipactli:
Initiative: [roll0]
Attack: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

Tik'Tok:
Initiative: [roll3]
Attack: [roll4]
Damage:[roll5]
Grapple: [roll6]

[DragoonWraith]

Jake Rigby
Jake can see quite clearly in the gloom, though it's oddly in black and white. Ophelia's straining against the dark confuses him momentarily, but then he ignores her and concentrates on the beasts in the cave.

He feels oddly unconcerned... and he feels his body... prepare. Toughen itself, resist their claws.

[roll=Know Planes]1d20[/url] (trained, despite +0)
On the Otyughs, anything useful that the Monster wants to share at this point...

And using Toughened Skin for +2 Natural Armor.
[roll0]

K, so -1 to Will saves for me. Entertaining.