The Dreaded Thirteen IC

[Jormengand]

You walk slowly towards the meeting place, under the old clock tower. Few people can access the bell at the top; fewer still know its true purpose. Regardless, there is a large meeting hall beneath it, and that is your destination.

You have heard the tales. Twelve children missing, with the thirteenth about to be. You have been sent, you have heard, you have happened to be about - you are here now. And here, your journey begins.

You enter the hall, to be greeted by no fewer than fourteen council members - you remember that Korresburg is ruled by an elected council rather than a set ruler. There are six seats unoccupied - the council is often under-strength - and a council member indicates them. "Sit. We have much to talk about."

Once you are all seated, another council member asks simply "Do you know what's happened here? And do you know about the bell?"

[TiaC]

The shortest member of the group arrayed before them steps forward.
"We heard that some sick bastard's been snatching children and you want him gone. That's fine, we want that scum gone too. Hadn't heard anything about a bell though. Please then, tell us what you know." He growls.
He looks up at them, clearly suppressing furious anger.

[chronoreverse]

"Peace," said Wuji while holding his hands in a gesture of respect, "I am sure that we all came with all possible speed upon request despite only knowing the least details of the travesty that is occurring. Please enlighten us as to the details."

[Falco1029]

Drake enters the area, looking around a little curiously, specifically towards the bell, ignoring everything else for a bit, before heading inside. If they hadn't seemed to be in such a rush, he might have taken a better look at it, but it seems everyone's arriving already. Bit of a pity, that.

Wrapped around his wrist is what likely appears to be a bracelet at first, until one takes a better look and sees the... very unnatural looking snake, with a red and black pattern, burrs along its back, and glowing red eyes. It peeks around similarly curiously but seems a little more attentive than Drake himself.

As he's asked to sit, he gladly does so, looking to the council members as they speak, and to each of the others that decide to do the same before himself.

"I heard something mysterious was taking children away. Seemed an interesting thing to look into," he says, then reminded of something by a slight hiss from the snake, "Ah, yes, and stop of course," he adds. "But no, I don't know what the bell's for offhand."

[Jormengand]

"Okay, Let me explain about the bell."

Yet another member of the council stands up, a half-elven lady with long brown hair. "The bell is magical. Every time it is struck, a host of angels comes to defend the city. We only use it when we have to, partly because we don't want to call on the angels too often, but mostly because it's really hard to do - tons of spellcasters standing around it mumbling, all that sort of thing.

We've had to use it twelve times, and we'd really rather not have to use it again. But it's there if you need it, I suppose."

The woman continues. "As you may know, a child has disappeared on the thirteenth day of each fortnight since the year started, twenty-five weeks and four days ago. Your task is to find out why."

She sits, and a woman at the back stands up, and you realise that she is blindfolded. She seems able to see anyway. "Come with me, young ones." One or two of you are slightly offended, but she does look a lot older than you. "I have something that may be able to help you."

She opens a door at the back of the room, which leads to the church whose bell is in the tower, and walks to the end of the room. "Come in, and close the door. This is only for you to hear."

The rest of the council look expectantly at you. Well, one of them's wearing a hooded cloak, so you can't really see. But the rest of them look expectantly at you.

[Trivino]

Kaj is slightly confused as the women leads them through this back room. He has so many questions, but yet he decides to keep his mouth shut for the time being and simply follow these council members. As everyone continues to file in, Kaj takes a moment to look around the church.

Spot check (although I'm not expecting to see anything):
[roll0]

[Jormengand]

You see nothing of particular interest. The church is a bit worn down, but you can't tell much about it, not even which god it's for.

[Falco1029]

"Summons angels?" he asks curiously, that probably being most of what he took away from all of that. It actually takes him a minute before he realizes they're being lead elsewhere.

Sighing a bit, he stands back up, a quick murmur and movement of his hand the only notification of him casting Detect Magic as he follows inside, for various reasons. Among them being simple curiosity regarding the council and where they're being lead.

[Jormengand]

The bell is too far away to affect. The church is non-magical, as far as you can tell.

[chronoreverse]

Wuji quietly followed the woman while going over the mental image of the council members trying to see if they've any unique identification features or any sign of not being forthcoming.


Spot [roll0]
Sense Motive [roll1]

[TiaC]

Aldan appears mostly pacified and follows her, shadow twisting around him as he moves.

"Wish more towns had a bell like that" he mumbles.

[Jormengand]

Wuji quietly followed the woman while going over the mental image of the council members trying to see if they've any unique identification features or any sign of not being forthcoming.


Spot [roll0]
Sense Motive [roll1]


The council have told you pretty much everything they know. The man with a hood also seems to be wearing a metal mask.

[nersxe]

Aellar

Aellar thumbs his visor up and balances his polearm over his shoulders, one arm looped over each side of the wood. He strides through the door, even these grim circumstances unable to completely erase his customary grin.

[PersonMan]

Kyendrin approaches the town hall with her usual gait, standing tall and swerving slightly as she walks, the massive hammer on her back causing a slight swing to creep into each step as she moves to keep its weight from fully impeding her. The weapon is partially hidden by the faded red cape she wears, but the visible portions are beautifully carved, portraying scenes of smithing and battle, although the smiths and combatants all have bull heads rather than human ones. Over part of the handle rests a thick piece of leather with several notches cut into it. She's not only armed but armored as well, close-fitting light chain covering her torso. It grows loose around her upper arms, but otherwise clings to the thick cloth beneath it, not impeding Kyendrin's movements in the slightest. Her eyes, bright blue and full of guarded curiosity, are on the building and its entrance, paying no more than a glance to the bell.

Kyendrin's brown hair is pulled back, kept from falling in the way of her eyes or obscuring her scars. She bears nine on her face - one across the bridge of her nose, one on each cheekbone and three on each side of her chin. The way she holds her head offers a better look at them than one might otherwise get, and she's clearly proud of the marks. As she enters the hall, she looks around briefly, curious, before making her way to one of the open chairs, shifting the giant hammer on her back so that the head doesn't bump against her seat as she sits.

For the time being, Kyendrin is silent, listening to the other arrivals speak and examining them in turn. One was clad in steel and carried a large blade - obviously a warrior. Good. The next was not only covered by metal, but also carried both shield and sword. Although the amount of steel makes Kyendrin raise her eyebrows - as does the helm the warrior wears - she moves on to the next before long. The next one was unarmored, and carried no obvious weapons. Perhaps that staff...? Or maybe he was a godcaller. Then came the small man - Kyendrin's first instinct is to question who allowed one of his kind into the hall, but she decides to swallow that question. He had surely proven himself worthy if they were allowing him to join them. Then were was the last one. Oh, he was surely a godcaller or forest servant, with that odd snake on his arm.

As the blindfolded woman stands, Kyendrin looks her over quickly, lowering her head slightly in deference as her observation is complete. An elder. Her conclusion is proven as she refers to them all as 'young ones', going off to lead them to a place where they can receive the knowledge that is apparently only for them to hear. How odd. Still, Kyendrin doesn't question the ways of these people, instead silently following them as they leave what seems to be the hall's main chamber.

As she walks, Kyendrin glances briefly over at the man who has opened his helm, still curious about his wearing one, eyes lingering on the newly exposed skin, searching for scars, before she turns back forward.

[Jormengand]

The blindfolded woman took her seat at the front of the church as soon as the door was closed, and addressed the congregated heroes.

"Welcome. You no doubt wonder why you are here. Not here, this city, but here, this church. I will explain.

The young gods know much, but they do not know everything and have limited communication with us. Their powers are kept in check by the old gods, who communicate more often and know far more. However, the old gods are reluctant to give us the full extent of their knowledge. Why, I cannot say. Instead, they send us riddles and poems, which can only be deciphered by their intended recipients. I act as a conduct for these messages, though I do not hear them myself.

Listen to me now, and I will repeat the prophecy..."

She levitates, and glows a funny shade of light blue. Figures.

"Thirteen times death takes its toll,
Thirteen slain to seal one soul,
Thir..."

A sword appears from nowhere, apparently attached to an elven man, who smiles a moment before the oracle explodes, killing both instantly. The entire council, hearing the explosion, charge through the door, various weapons drawn, to find two charred skeletons and a longsword at the front of the room.

"It seems we have more people dying than we'd like. Now you must go - it is the ninth hour. You have but four hours and only minutes more to uncover whatever is happening here."

If you want to know, the elf got the surprise round from Invisibility and the oracle won initiative. She then used the homebrew spell Final Act to kill herself and the elf.

[chronoreverse]

"We need to be cautious here," said Wuji subtly shifting into a ready stance, "Who here has magical detection? Could you check that weapon?"

Wuji paused thoughtfully and closed his eyes.

"We may be short in time, but we will waste even more time if we are not diligent, Wuji turned to the council, "This incident will hamper investigations so we will need to know in as much detail as possible what steps have already been taken. 12 have already been taken, surely you have done much already."

Blindsense is now active

[nersxe]

Aellar

Aellar whips his polearm off his shoulder, leaping into the air a second too late to be of any use. He allows himself to fall to the ground, landing in a crouch just in time to be told to boldly go.

"Hey, wait," he protests, standing and striking the butt of his weapon into the ground, "how are we supposed to find out what's what? I'm the studliest stud to ever stud when it comes to women and fighting, but this brainy stuff isn't for me. It would take some kinda mage-y sort or detective, and most of us don't exactly look the part, yanno."


"We need to be cautious here. Who here has magical detection? Could you check that weapon?"

"Definitely not me," Aellar responds, rolling one of his shoulders. "It's a longsword, if that that helps."

[Trivino]

Kaj watches in awe as the oracle seemingly sacrifices herself, taking the Elven man with her. As he stared down to the charred bodies, he could faintly hear the counsel members coming in. As he looked down at the charred woman, his mind went to Rachel. Her bright, smiling face etched itself into his mind, filling the steel-clad man with emotion. He let out a quiet sigh and brushed aside the emotion. For the moment, this scene before him called for his attention.

"She mentioned that thirteen were slain to seal one soul. Who is that one soul?"

[Jormengand]

Three council members step forwards. The first replies to Wuji. "Korresburg's own forces have been working on this for weeks, but whenever they were near one of the disappearing children the guards died. We didn't find out until people found the bodies or entire patrols were reported missing. The only thing I can suggest is looking at the places they died, or going into the temple of Dras Khylor. But be warned. No-one who entered the temple of Dras Khylor has left alive."

Dras Khylor is an evil god who cannot harm humans.

Dras swore an oath never to harm man, woman or any of their children, thus leaving him free to kill any other races. As a devil, he has kept his word, but his followers often harm humans in his stead.

Dras' cultist followers are known as the Worms of the End. No-one knows what "End" that refers to.

The second council member looks at Aellar. "You can leave the thinking to the others. You are all here because of your separate skills."

The third looks at the skeletons, and the sword. "The sword isn't magical. The oracle has traces of divination magic left on her body, but they're fading. No, not fading. Dispersing..."

[chronoreverse]

Untrained so it's just an Int check for DC10 and below:[roll0]

Crap, I remain ignorant. Will have to ask a party member later


"Does anyone have the ability to track the dispersal?" said Wuji urgently, "Now would be a good time to use it!"

[nersxe]

The second council member looks at Aellar. "You can leave the thinking to the others. You are all here because of your separate skills."

"Sounds good to me," Aellar shrugs, throwing his polearm back over his shoulders. "Weird thing about that elf, though. Who sends a suicide-assassin to some cassandra in the middle of nowhere?"

[Jormengand]

The woman who detected magic shakes her head at Wuji. "Something like that happened before, when the oracle was interrupted. Essentially, bits of prophecy end up flying everywhere, but they come to the right people eventually, if through unorthodox means."

The council member talking to Aellar replies "Possibly the same people who are stealing the children. If they didn't want the prophecy released..."

The woman by the bodies suddenly speaks: "The elf has a faint trace of necromancy on him."

The council falls silent.

[PersonMan]

Kyendrin listens intently as the oracle begins to speak. While this may be different for her companions, for her this is a wonderful time to find out more about the religion of this place. Old gods, young gods...interesting. The word gods itself was a reminder of how different these beings were from the divinities she knew. Then there's a sword in the elder's chest and a blast of flame engulfed her and her attacker. By the time she can even react, both are dead. Blinking, she watches the man with the large weapon fall back into a crouch as the doors to the room open.

The sheer lack of response the council shows - as well as their arriving almost immediately - sets Kyendrin on edge. Did these people not care for their elders? Even more, had these people expected the woman to die? It all seemed too quick, to her; they just walk in and say 'oh, she died, too bad. Go now' when one of their number had just died?

As the man with the polearm begins to speak, Kyendrin can't hold back a chuckle, despite the gravity of the situation.

"That's an odd boast from someone with a helm to make," she says, before turning to the others. As the councilwoman mentions a temple, she considers what she's learned so far about the religions of the land, seeing what comes to mind about this odd named god.

"So this...Dras Khyror thing can't harm humans, but anyone who goes to its temple dies? Well, that sounds interesting in of itself. Why is it you'd recommend going there?" Of course Kyendrin is minorly suspicious. After all, if these people were working against them then they'd want to send them to some sort of death trap. At the same time, if this temple truly was a lead, there'd be no point in not going there...

[roll0]

[Trivino]

Kaj watches as the counsel addresses the other strangers' questions and ignore his own. He marches to the nearest counsel member, grabbing them by the collar.

If needed, Grapple check- [roll0]

"Who is the one soul that she is referring to?!"

[Jormengand]

The council member that Kaj runs at screaming looks around and raises a hand, saying a couple of words that hold Kaj in place.

"First, you're not supposed to tell us anything. Second, we don't know anything. Third, any more stunts like that and you'll be dead before you hit the floor."

She leaves him there, and turns to Kyendrin. "We wouldn't be sending you there if we didn't think the children were there. If you have any better ideas, feel free. Now, if you don't have any more questions to waste our time with then I suggest you all get on with it."

[chronoreverse]

Wuji tries to salvage the situation.

"Thank you for the information you have. We will do our best with what we have been given," he says to the council members.


Wuji then turned to the party.

"We will need to work together in this. Let's quickly outline our abilities as we have little time to waste," said Wuji, "We also cannot afford to make enemies if we want to save that last child so let's be cooperative and try to remain non-confrontational."

Wuji paused to briefly look over the party members and take in their postures.

"I am Wuji, a martial artist from the Monastery of Equilibrium," he started, "My specialty is stealthy investigation. Unfortunately, matters of the arcane and divine are beyond my abilities."

[nersxe]

Aellar


"We will need to work together in this. Let's quickly outline our abilities as we have little time to waste,"
Aellar grins, tapping one gauntleted finger on the wood of his ranseur. "What, haven't you heard of me? Aellar Windrider, slayer of Firroth the red?" He shakes his head. "Don't worry, someone somewhere will have. I'm a sky-knight; I get up in the air and kill everything in the way on my way down. I can breathe like the dragons can, too. Acid, in case you were wondering."

[Trivino]

After a few seconds of being held still, Kaj finally comes to. He shakes his head in disbelief and mutters to himself.

"Damned mages."

As the group begins to regroup, Kaj walks towards the group and offers a brief tidbit about himself.

"I would rather not reveal much about myself. No offense, I just don't trust mages. You may call me Kaj though; my real name will be my own secret. I possess no magical abilities, but I am deadly with a sword. I can also take a hit if need be."

[PersonMan]

Kyerin raises an eyebrow at the armored man's outburst, as well as the result. Clearly, this council wasn't comprised solely of godcallers and minor nobles. To learn that they had mystic weavers among them, though...well, this wasn't a normal council. As the unarmored man steps forwards to ask the group of their abilities, Kyerin appraises him briefly. A martial artist. Something she'd yet found even in this region. They were unheard of where she came, but here they were somewhat more common. Then came the boasting one. Slayer of who? Ah, that wasn't all that important. He seemed to be a warrior, though, and-

Wait. Acid? Wasn't that...? It was! Kyerin takes another look at the man's face, considering it once more. Nothing that seemed to hint at such a great ability, but...perhaps he wasn't always as boastful as he appeared. As the steel-covered man - the one who had just shaken himself free of the councilman's magic - speaks, Kyerin switches her attention to him. Another warrior.

"I am Kyendrin, and I bear nine honor scars," she begins formally. "I bear the gifts of the Divinities of Thunder, Fire and Rain," then, tone turning more friendly and somber expression lightening, she continues. "I admit, my skills are somewhat scattered. I bring thunder or rain, as the wind turns. I'd suggest a bout of combat to test each other, but there's no time for that, so...perhaps we should continue this talk on the way to the temple of Dras Kyghr?"

As she speaks, Kyendrin turns and begins to go, moving slowly until her movement spreads to the others and they begin to leave. Well, hopefully. Otherwise she simply stops at some point, wondering if she's missed some odd local custom.

[chronoreverse]

"It's probably best that we do start moving," said Wuji, "May I inquire of you all what you know of temple of Dras Khylor? I am not familiar with it."

Wuji stepped along while frowning in thought.

"I don't suppose anyone here knows anything of necromancy? Is there anything odd about the assassin?" said Wuji, "In any case, I propose we stop briefly at one of the locations where the guards have died in case there are any clues while we head to the temple."

[nersxe]

Aellar

Aellar moves with them, keeping up easily despite the apparent bulkiness of his armor.

"I don't know much the temple of whoever. Something about killing, s'all I remember." Aellar volunteers helpfully. He stops in his tracks. "Heeeeeeeeeeey. I'm not gonna be real useful doing all this detective work, but I could go look at that bell they're so worried about. If anyone can get up there without using up magic-juice - you only get so much of that a day, amirite? - it's me. And if there's anything nasty, I'll be able to take the hit and get back down without getting hurt."

[chronoreverse]

Wuji smiled.

"We will take you up on your offer if it becomes necessary," said Wuji, "I think the councilmen would prefer if we don't use it though."

[TiaC]

Immediately following the elf's appearance, Aldan's appearance shifts as he looks around for any more attackers. The day-old stubble on his face erupts into a short black coat of fur that covers most of his face and neck. His hands, the only other exposed skin on his body, also grow fur along the backs. His teeth sharpen to a much more predatory arrangement and his eyes narrow to slits. His ears grow much more pointed and begin to swivel independently. His frame becomes slightly leaner and taller.

30' Blindsight active.
Why can't prophesies ever be allowed to be simple? They could just say Gret did it, but they never do. he mutters.


"We will need to work together in this. Let's quickly outline our abilities as we have little time to waste," said Wuji, "We also cannot afford to make enemies if we want to save that last child so let's be cooperative and try to remain non-confrontational."
"I am Aldan Rockridge, and I am able to shapeshift as you can see. I can conceal myself better than the invisible and I am quite deadly with my fists and can strike the weakest points of my opponents. I need no wealth, as I have been blessed for my charity"

Knowledge checks.
Arcana:[roll0]
I'm curious about the council
Local:[roll1]
Nobility:[roll2]
As we walk I keep my eye out for any cats.

[nersxe]

"We will take you up on your offer if it becomes necessary, I think the councilmen would prefer if we don't use it though."

"I'm not real concerned with what they prefer, being honest here," Aellar shrugs. "If it stops all this from happening, then I'll do it, and they can stuff their preferences where the sun don't shine."

[PersonMan]

"Who blesses you?" Kyendrin asks, curiosity clear in her tone. "Is it one of your gods, or something else?" It was an interesting question, to her - what these old, young, or whatever gods did was all so curious.

As Aellar mentions the bell, Kyendrin shrugs. "I'm no weaver of mysteries, but didn't they mention needing spellcasters and chanting and whatnot to ring the bell?" She asks.

"As for going up..." Kyendrin laughs. "Please. Only the lazy weavers would substitute their arts for such a simple work of muscle. The wind would be insulted!"

[TiaC]

"Who blesses you?" Kyendrin asks, curiosity clear in her tone. "Is it one of your gods, or something else?" It was an interesting question, to her - what these old, young, or whatever gods did was all so curious.

"You're a curious one, aren't ya?" Aldan lifts a foot off the ground so as not to crick his neck and keeps walking. "I am not sure of the source of my blessing. Many priests have told me that it must be their god's work, but while I respect many gods, I do not worship any one above the rest. I am personally rather fond of the theory of a man I fought with some years ago. He said that there are basic forces underlying the universe, such as Good, Law, Life and the Elements. There is an unguided magic in these things. The wind blows, even when no god forces it to. This magic can be tapped, every farmer does so. He believed that I had stumbled upon a way of tapping the power of Good in it's most elemental state."

"Your way of speaking is strange in these lands, where do you hail from?"

[nersxe]

"As for going up... Please. Only the lazy weavers would substitute their arts for such a simple work of muscle. The wind would be insulted!"

Aellar throws his head back and laughs. "A little more than muscle, but close to right as to make no nevermind."


"I am personally rather fond of the theory of a man I fought with some years ago. He said that there are basic forces underlying the universe, such as Good, Law, Life and the Elements. There is an unguided magic in these things. The wind blows, even when no god forces it to. This magic can be tapped, every farmer does so. He believed that I had stumbled upon a way of tapping the power of Good in it's most elemental state."

Serious for a few seconds, Aellar tilts his head. "You know, the Dragons Who Sleep Beneath told me something similar. I was already on the sky-knight path, y'know, but they taught me how to be one with the wind, and how to hold acid inside myself. I dunno about elemental states and purity and all that, but I kinda feel other-worldly sometimes, when I leap." He grins, fierce and a little feral. "Sometimes I wonder if I might touch the skydome, if I can just jump high enough."

[PersonMan]

Kyendrin nods at Aldan's explanation. At his question she smiles, turning her gaze up to the sky briefly, eyes scanning for clouds and resting on them if she finds any. "A place far from here. Our laws forbid me to speak of where it lies in relation to these lands," she explains. "A land of thunder and rain."

As Aellar speaks, she once again listens, but raises an eyebrow as he mentions the skydome. "I doubt you could ever reach such a thing," she replies. "The sky extends into the domains of wind and rain, you would sooner be swimming through clouds than striking a dome," although her words are a retort to the eager knight's, her tone stays friendly. In a way, he reminded her of someone from home. Eager to act, to fight and, of course, to boast of his greatness. If he truly could breathe what these people called acid, then that would only make him more like someone she may have met in the past.


Taking 10 on a Survival check to predict the weather for the next 24 hours. Primary focus is on whether it will rain or storm.

[TiaC]

Aldan acknowledges Aellar's response. "As I have traveled the world, I have consistently been amazed at the wide variety of sources people have for their abilities. I admit to some curiosity about these jumps you've mentioned." Turning to Kyendrin, he replies "You speak fondly of your home, wherever it may be, why then did you leave?"

[nersxe]

"I doubt you could ever reach such a thing. The sky extends into the domains of wind and rain, you would sooner be swimming through clouds than striking a dome,"


"As I have traveled the world, I have consistently been amazed at the wide variety of sources people have for their abilities. I admit to some curiosity about these jumps you've mentioned."

"C'mon, Kyendrin, don't be a spoilsport about it," Aellar grins, pulling his ranseur off of his shoulders. "How can you think I'm so far away from touching the skydome, when I can do this-"

On the word this, Aellar takes off at a run, reversing his grip to dig the point of his ranseur into the ground before leaping into the air.

He jumps far higher than even three men standing upon one another's shoulders, armor glinting in the sun. His whoop of pure joy filters down, and he lands with a solid impact. "Man, what a rush."

[roll0]

[chronoreverse]

Wuji grinned, a bit of competitive nature rising up.

Spotting a thirty foot oak tree by the path, Wuji stepped up to the upper branches in a fluid sweep.

"It does seem," he called out, "that the sky still remains just as far away as before."

Wuji lightly treaded down with the falling leaves.

"Still, I like the idea of reaching further and farther. Perhaps one day even the sky might not be beyond your grasp."

[Jormengand]

Assuming you've left by now, going straight to the temple without checking the crime scenes?
Most of the council don't look like spellcasters. The fact that some are seems to be pure coincidence, save the late oracle.

The Council of Twenty have ruled for several decades, but not once since their conception have they numbered twenty. The council is always under-strength, and Korresburg was at one point ruled by the "Council of One," which lasted for seven days before were instated.

The council are set up by popular vote, and they are routinely checked for evil magically.
The weather will be cloudy, but is unlikely to rain.

[TiaC]

Any results for my knowledge checks? Also, do I see any cats?
Aldan ceases appearing to walk, and just floats along. "If we're done with the posturing and displays of machismo, why don't we try to plan? We are headed to a temple that kills everyone who enters after all. As I see it, three of us are highly mobile, while the other three are more likely to remain in place." He gestures first at Wuji, Aellar, and himself before indicating to other three. "It would then seem that even if our three more solid members were to remain in place, we would have an impressive ability to bring our force to bear."

[chronoreverse]

"No use being all tense before the danger. We can deal with that as it comes as long as we just remain alert," said Wuji, "I'd like to examine one of the crime scenes before we head to the temple though. Not that we won't be able to come back like the others but it may be worth having as many clues as possible before jumping in."

[TiaC]

"I have no objection to that, but do you know where they are?" Said Aldan.

[Falco1029]

The sudden appearance of the assailant during the spouting of prophecy is more than Drake was really ready for, causing him to flinch back a bit in response, ready to cast but immediately finding it useless to do so by the time he is.

"That's most unfortunate..." he murmurs as the rest of the council heads in, looking around a bit.

As Magical detection is asked for, he steps forward, redoing the simple gesture and utterance from earlier. Apparently, one of the council members can do the same, but he's quite capable of, if nothing else, verifying any of their findings.

While doing so, he seems a little amused by the knight being held so easily in place by the council member's magic, a light chuckle escaping him.

"I agree, that is, about working together and all. Brashness never really helps anyone. Need to be careful," he muses, "As for what I can do, well..." he turns from his studying so that he can just sort of, motion, towards an area nearby, where suddenly a small earth elemental is standing. A few moments later, though, it's gone. "I'm a bit of a summoner. Probably better than most. Not bragging, mind you, there's more powerful magic out there, but I'm good at that at least."

When Kaj speaks, he can't help but add, "Are you afraid that if we know what weapon you like clubbing things best with we might steal your soul or something?" grinning a bit to himself at his own sense of humor. The light hiss from his snake almost seems like it's meant to be a laugh in agreement. But you can't expect a familiar to be an unbiased audience, really.

When mentions of weavers not wasting magic on flying, he gives a sneer over towards the storm mage, "Well, your winds can be offended all they want. I can levitate someone up there, but I imagine, as mentioned, it's not something to do until it becomes the last result. Plus, there's likely an alternate way up, unless all of the council can fly," he mentions.

"Whatever the case, we should check out the crime scenes, certainly. If nothing else, maybe we can make a target of ourselves and draw the perpetrator out. But that might be too easy. Though, I suppose, whether that'd be too easy for ourselves or the perpetrators is hard to say," he muses to himself, kind of losing himself in his own thought process as they move.



Detect Magic cast again, even though the council already explained things

Knowledge (Untrained) Check for the temple earlier
[roll0]
Knowledge (Arcana) and Spellcraft for anything Detect magic can't tell me alone
[roll1]
[roll2]

Will cast Detect Magic at the crime scene(s), too. Don't even wait for my post on that :P

[Trivino]

I was hoping to get a look at the crime scene as the others were talking (Taking 20)

Kaj ignores the rest of the group and goes outside alone by his horse and mule. He offers them some feed as he awaits the rest of his comrades. He lets out a quiet sigh as he looks out across the area.

"I just don't understand," Kaj mutters to his horse. "Why would someone come and kill a council member? And... children? Whoever is behind all of this is truly a disgusting person!"

Kaj takes a seat by the horse and mule as he awaits When they are ready to depart, he will simply follow them on his horseback.

[Jormengand]

Your knowledge results are right above that post asking where they are.
The temple is to Kayros, lord of Words.

The elf was undead before the oracle burnt him, hence the necromancy. The explanation for the prophecy given by the council member is largely correct - pieces of the prophecy fly off and arrive elsewhere.

The oracle's spell, Final Act, is excessively powerful. Against most assailants, unnecessary. Being capable of casting such a spell indicates that she could quite easily have killed a common assassin without it.
Finally taking the initiative, you look at the closest crime scene. There are two guards still lying in place, unmoved from where they were. One is skewered on his own spear, dug into the ground by its point. The other lies face-up, with his spear broken beside him. Suddenly, the impaled guard speaks.

"Thirteen hearts beat as one in fear"

As you look at the guard, the other speaks from his prone position.

"Thirteen hands to rip open the tear."

It doesn't rhyme, even though it would look like it if it were written down. The gods aren't that great at poetry, you decide. The bodies lie silent. Their swords are taken, and one of their spears is broken the other wedged so firmly into the guard's own carapace that it is nigh impossible to remove. Of the child, there is no trace whatsoever.

[chronoreverse]

"Alright, since no one seems to be particular against it, let's head to the closest crime scene and spend some limited time checking it," said Wuji.

[nersxe]

"Alright, since no one seems to be particular against it, let's head to the closest crime scene and spend some limited time checking it."

"Sure, why not," Aellar shrugged, knowing he'd be useless unless something violent happened.

[TiaC]

"That seems wise, no need to jump into a dangerous situation." says Aldan. "Weren't there more of us? What happened to the other guy in plate?"

[Trivino]

I took the broken spear for potential evidence.

Kaj, still riding his horse, looks over at the Gnome, slightly confused.

"Damned if I know anything. Anyways, I happened to get a look at one of the crime scenes. It was... strange. I found no child, but there were some impaled guards. One of them even... spoke to me. It was rather strange. The guard said, 'Thirteen hearts beat as one in fear, Thirteen hands to rip open the tear.' I'm not exactly sure, but perhaps that is more of the poem that councilwoman was reciting to us..."

[chronoreverse]

"It seems the council didn't speak in vain when they told us pieces of the divine message will reach those who are the intended recipients," said Wuji while noting down the extra information.

"Kaj, did that guard survive?" Wuji sighed, "I don't suppose he saw anything before being impaled?"

[Trivino]

"He didn't make it."

[chronoreverse]

Wuji gave another sigh.

"We shall get to the bottom of this to make sure the lost lives were not in vain," he said, "Shall we look at one more unexamined scene to make sure there aren't any inconsistencies or do you feel it's time to head to the temple?"

[Trivino]

"So long as we hurry, I think it would be wise to look at one more crime scene. Of course, we must make quick work of it though."

Kaj looked towards the nearest crime scene, ready to lead his horse there.

[Falco1029]

After running the results of his study through his head, and AFTER they're away from the council and on their way tot he crime scene, he remembers to speak up.

"So, something, er, minor. For one, the assassin, they were clearly undead. The necromancy was keeping them, you know, alive, so to speak. Comparitively. In addition, a spell like the oracle used, well, I don't know why she couldn't take out the assassin without it," he muses towards them, rubbing his head a bit, "Just doesn't make much sense is all."

When Kaj heads back, he looks over, listening to the explanation about the guards, "IF you ask me, and I don't much care if you actually did or not, that sounds like a ritual. If they get all thirteen hearts, some sort of portal or summoning is likely taking place," he theorizes.

Whatever the case, he'll then follow after towards the next scene.

As mentioned, Detect Magic will be used there.
Also taking 20 on a Search check (22) if possible.

[chronoreverse]

"You're right," said Wuji, "We will have to be mindful of dark forces and prepare accordingly."

Wuji also starts to head to the second crime scene.

"Let's be sure to check for anything out of order, whether mundane or magical."

[TiaC]

Aldan joins the others, "Do you trust the council? Drake's observations suggest that there is more going on than we know."

[chronoreverse]

Aldan joins the others, "Do you trust the council? Drake's observations suggest that there is more going on than we know."

"I do not believe they're deliberately malicious," mused Wuji, "But you're right that there seems to be more than meets the eye."

"Unfortunately we have little time and the only thing we can do for now is be on guard for what may come. I only fear that rash decisions will be made outside of our control," continued Wuji, "Does anyone have a way to keep an eye on the council?"

[Trivino]

"Well I for one, know little about this council. However, I find it hard to believe that they would be doing this to their own people, no? Regardless, with our current lack of time, we don't have time to sit around and ponder," Kaj offered.

Kaj rode his horse to the next site and looks around the crime scene for any clues or similarities to the previous crime scene.

Take 20 to look around.

[nersxe]

"Trust 'em? Not hardly." Aellar snorted. "I can keep an eye on 'em if no one else can be bothered. I make a helluva racket in this getup, but nobody ever looks up, and once I'm settled, I can just stay still."

[chronoreverse]

"Trust 'em? Not hardly." Aellar snorted. "I can keep an eye on 'em if no one else can be bothered. I make a helluva racket in this getup, but nobody ever looks up, and once I'm settled, I can just stay still."

"I was thinking of something we could leave behind," said Wuji, "We would sorely miss your abilities in this temple if you weren't there."

[TiaC]

"I was thinking of something we could leave behind," said Wuji, "We would sorely miss your abilities in this temple if you weren't there."

"If there were any cats around, I could ask them to keep watch. Wouldn't make them understand Common though."Said Aldan.

[Jormengand]

You head to a scene which is on the way to the temple of Dras Khylor anyway, and the scene is similar to the others, only an entire guard patrol lies slain there. No weapons and no armour are on the scene - the guards' equipment was likely looted by either the perpetrators or just civilians: after all, a good dagger can provide decent food for weeks if sold - and the guards lie inert. None speak, and there is only one trace of the child - a tattered rag. Close examination suggests that it was once part of an approximation to a dress.

A cat meows conspicuously, and its eyes glow with a familiar blue light...

"Thirteen Gods to fall and weep,
Thirteen worms through corpses to creep,
Thirteen eyes to explore the gloom,
Thirteen candles to hold back doom."The cat meows a lot, but you can't really understand it.
The cat appears to have said the same "word" - or at least combination of vague purrs - four times, indicating that it probably said four lines.

The cat looks confused, as though it had no idea what it had just been doing. It then purrs softly and meaninglessly, and starts scratching itself.

[chronoreverse]

"It wasn't just me who noticed this cat glowed blue and then acted strange was it?" asked Wuji?

[nersxe]

"It wasn't just me who noticed this cat glowed blue and then acted strange was it?"

Aellar stared, first at the cat, then at Wuji. "Uh, no, it wasn't just you. What the heck was that?"

[Trivino]

"Demon!" Kaj yells as he draws his weapon (doesn't move towards cat). "Prepare yourselves, comrades!"

[chronoreverse]

"Please hold a moment," said Wuji, "It seems a lot more in-line with the blue oracle glow we saw earlier. Be on your guard but let's not eviscerate the messenger."

[PersonMan]

As the cat purrs at them, Kyendrin raises an eyebrow, raising her face to feel the wind as it begins to glow. Then, as Kaj shouts, she starts, putting one hand on the handle of her greathammer and looking to the sky. Seeing nothing, she frowns, looks back to him and sighs. "Remind me to be well-rested by the time you're on watch," she says.

[TiaC]

Aldan holds up his hand to halt the others "She just said the next lines of the prophecy. In Common it meant: Thirteen Gods to fall and weep, Thirteen worms through corpses to creep, Thirteen eyes to explore the gloom, Thirteen candles to hold back doom. I am developing quite a dislike for this prophecy."
Then, turning to Kaj, he says "Threatening a cat in my presence is exceedingly unwise, I suggest you refrain from doing it again."
He then turns to the cat and meows.
"Greetings, proud one, some evil takes our young. I would see this state of affairs ended. What can you tell me of how this town has changed since two seasons ago? Are there unnatural things here?"
He reaches into a pocket and offers the cat a scrap of jerky.

[chronoreverse]

"I'm afraid I cannot make heads or tails out of this so far," said Wuji, with a nod of thanks towards Aldan, "I suppose we'll have to simply pay attention. I suspect we'll be hearing more of the message. I'm certainly getting rather wary of the number thirteen."

While waiting for Aldan to finish, Wuji picks up the scrap of clothing using a crowbar, packing it into the empty side pocket of his haversack.

[Trivino]

Kaj rolls his eyes as Aldan begins conversing with the cat. It was hard to believe the sight before.

"So now we have a comrade that speaks with cats? As if this couldn't get any more bizarre..." Kaj mutters to himself.

He then looked to the rest of the party, putting his weapon back in its sheath. "Be quick now. We don't have much time to stay around."

[Jormengand]

Aldan holds up his hand to halt the others "She just said the next lines of the prophecy. In Common it meant: Thirteen Gods to fall and weep, Thirteen worms through corpses to creep, Thirteen eyes to explore the gloom, Thirteen candles to hold back doom. I am developing quite a dislike for this prophecy."
Then, turning to Kaj, he says "Threatening a cat in my presence is exceedingly unwise, I suggest you refrain from doing it again."
He then turns to the cat and meows.
"Greetings, proud one, some evil takes our young. I would see this state of affairs ended. What can you tell me of how this town has changed since two seasons ago? Are there unnatural things here?"
He reaches into a pocket and offers the cat a scrap of jerky.

The cat looks at you. "All I know is that a lot of human children went missing. I saw them take one. The people from that temple." The cat points, inasmuch as is possible, in the direction of the temple of Dras Khylor. "They killed the only adults nearby, and dragged the child off. She tried to scream, but made no sound."

[PersonMan]

"One who speaks to cats and one who thinks they're demons. An odd mix, indeed," Kyendrin says, smiling. As the cat continues, she looks to Aldan, expecting him to translate again. It was certainly an odd ability, but then again she'd heard takes of some godscallers who could speak with anything, even the stone and trees. Perhaps he was a similar type?

[TiaC]

Aldan repeats the cat's words (Go ahead and open that spoiler), concluding with "Well then, it would seem we have a credible lead on where to go next."

To Kyendrin he says "At least I look the part." gesturing to his still partially feline form.

[chronoreverse]

"In that case, if nobody else has anything, we best make haste, said Wuji as he turned towards the direction of the temple.

[Trivino]

Kaj made quick work of mounting his horse, his mule not far behind.

"I'm right behind you, Wuji."

[Falco1029]

Spotting no magic there, past perhaps the divinatory traces that appear on the cat (?), he quirks an eyebrow at the feline,a nd at the one that seems to understand said cat.

He also almost laughs at the warrior calling the cat a ademon and readying a weapon, "Thank goodness you're here to protect us from evil tiny felines," he jokes, simply waiting as information is extracted. It's odd, certainly, but there are far more gruesome divinatory spells out there than simply speaking to a cat, so who's he to judge?

"Anyway, seems that it's all just leading us to the temple, so I agree, we should head there as soon as we can," he muses with a slow nod, before moving to follow. Lacking a steed, he just does his best to keep up on foot for now.

[nersxe]

"Prophetic cats and exploding assassins." Aellar chuckles, shaking his head. "This can only get less strange."

[Jormengand]

You reach the temple quickly - though you've used about an hour and a half of your time arguing with the council, showing off to each other and wandering about crime scenes - and are faced with no more obstruction than a closed double-door. The temple doesn't even look at all suspect, and is built in the manner of most of the buildings about it.

The door stands before you obstinately.

[chronoreverse]

"We've not much time left but it would be prudent not to rush," said Wuji, "At least I'm not in a hurry lose my life. Besides, if nobody has ever come out, I don't think it'll take too long for whatever is in there to find us."

Wuji gazed at the door and its surroundings.

"I am not a traps expert but the front door would probably be okay right?"

Wuji looks at the door to see how it's opened (hopefully mundanely pulled open).

Spot:[roll0]
Search:[roll1]

[Jormengand]

The door opens as you might expect one to - it has a handle, but the hinges indicate that it probably opens inwards when pushed. It appears untrapped.

[chronoreverse]

"Well, let's look inside," said Wuji and pushes open the door before peering inside.

[Jormengand]

"Well, let's look inside," said Wuji and pushes open the door before peering inside.

Several priests are in the temple, looking as though they have no clue what you're here for. "Sir, the service is tomorrow," one says boredly, as though he had people often coming in on the wrong days. Observing your armour and armaments, he adds "And if you're more of the investigator teams they're sending in, could you kindly send yourselves out?"

He doesn't seem to be hiding anything. He seems more angry than worried that you're going to find something out.

[chronoreverse]

"Curiouser and curiouser," muttered Wuji. He remains outside the doors.

"I do not wish to be rude but if you've seen and spoken to earlier investigation teams, did they just leave immediately?" ask Wuji as he starts to form a plan to investigate the temple surreptitiously. Wuji also listens carefully for any unusual sounds in the background.

[PersonMan]

Kyendrin raises an eyebrow.

"This isn't the place no one has returned alive from?" She asks, clearly disappointed.

[Trivino]

Kaj follows Wuji into the temple and brushes past the monk. He glares at the priests and lets out a frustrated growl.

"We don't have time for games, so cut the innocent act. Everyone is pointing us here, and we need answers... now!"

Intimidate:
[roll0]

[Jormengand]

"Oh, the patrol teams never make it back to the council. Either someone's killing them on the way back, or they're so embarrassed that they've failed they run away. But people walk in and out of that door every day."

[chronoreverse]

"What about children?" queried Wuji further, "Were any of those groups accompanied by children?"

[Jormengand]

(Sorry, missed Kaj's post.)

"H-hey! What's your game? I don't know anything, damn it!"

[Trivino]

"So why is the council sending us here?" Kaj growled.

[Jormengand]

"Because the council are idiots, and think that missing human guard patrols have got to have something to do with a god who swore not to harm humans. Now get out."

[chronoreverse]

"Something is definitely strange here," said Wuji, "Why don't we pull back a moment?"


Wuji stepped behind the door out of sight from the priests.

"Leave the door opened"

Wuji quickly sweeps the temple exterior to see how large it is and whether there would be other possible entrances like windows or sidedoors on the visible sides.


Spot[roll0]
Search[roll1]

[Trivino]

Kaj glares at the priest from behind his helmet and follows Wuji outside. He quickly throws his hands in the air from frustration and lets out an aggravated groan.

"What are we supposed to do? Are they being honest with us, or simply toying with us?"

[Jormengand]

You look around the room - the only room of the temple. You notice that the floor is scratched in many places, but looks almost dug up near the left side of the altar.

[chronoreverse]

"I can't sense deception from them but it troubles me that they didn't seem to have seen the missing children," said Wuji.

"Aldan told us the cat said it saw the children taken into this temple and I cannot imagine it would lie to us either. Perhaps some sort of infernal magic is at play here. The priests may simply be ignorant of what's going on."

Wuji paused.

"This Dras Khylor, could someone tell aside in summary what sort of god he is?"

[nersxe]

"Could also be some kind of crazy magic, messing with their minds." Aellar comments thoughtfully. "I knew a minstrel once who could cut holes in memories."

[Trivino]

Kaj looks at the group, "Did anyone notice anything strange in the temple? I didn't get a look..."

[chronoreverse]

Kaj looks at the group, "Did anyone notice anything strange in the temple? I didn't get a look..."

"I only noticed the flooring near the left of the altar may have been dug up," said Wuji.

[Trivino]

Kaj stood quietly, deep in thought. "Do you think there's something there? If that's the only lead we have anymore, it may be worth checking out..."

[TiaC]

"I could take a look around without risk of being seen. Perhaps they would reveal more if they thought themselves unobserved." Aldan offers

I still have Blindsight running, and moved around enough in the temple to cover it all. Also, Sense Motive [roll0]

[Jormengand]

They're still telling the truth.

[chronoreverse]

"Aldan, you can conceal yourself well, correct? I am able to vanish from sight." ask Wuji, "If we could trouble the rest of the party to distract the priests, perhaps we could both enter stealthily to examine the dug up flooring?"

[TiaC]

"It sounds like a plan." agreed Aldan. "There is no need to worry about me being seen." His form melts and shrinks, leaving a tiny kitten. The kitten floats up to eye level and asks "Shall we put this plan into effect?"

[chronoreverse]

"I'm ready as soon as a distraction is made," affirmed Wuji.

[Trivino]

"No problem," Kaj says as he bursts back into the temple.

"So tell me a bit about this temple! What god do you serve?"

[chronoreverse]

"Action," whispered Wuji, trusting Kaj and the party will keep the attention of the priests as far from the altar as possible.

With a breath, Wuji vanishes from sight and quietly makes his way towards the left of the altar.


Expend 1 daily ki use to turn Invisible
Move Silently:[roll0]

[TiaC]

"Let's go." Aldan fades into the shadows that surround him.
I use Cloak of Deception to move to the disturbed area and hide. I'm currently mouse-sized so I assume I can find concealment. Hide:[roll0]
Move Silently:[roll1]

[Jormengand]

One of the priests raises a hand and speaks a sentence that you don't understand, and a violent shockwave hits the area around Kaj - which also unfortunately contains Wuji.

Both take a Fortitude save of DC 19 or be knocked prone and take 1d4 nonlethal damage.

[chronoreverse]

Wuji grits his teeth and tries to weather the shockwave.

These guys are definitely not quite what they present themselves as, he thought.


Fortitude:[roll0]

[Falco1029]

As they approach the temple, Drake takes the time to use his Wand of Mage Armor to cast a quick spell on himself, expecting the worst

He seems uncertain, himself, as to whether these people inside the temple are telling the truth, but the others seem to think it's likely not them.

While they formulate a plan to get a closer look at the altars inside, he simply casts Detect magic, once again, with a few gestures and words,a nd takes time to look inside the place. After seeing what they manage to do to Kaj, he steps back a bit, figuring he'll spot something on them, but he's more concerned about if they have external magic cast on them than if they're capable of it themselves. Similarly, he studies everything within to see if they have auras that don't match up with a nonviolent god.

Overall, he doesn't seem to care much at his compatriot(s) being blasted back a bit. Or maybe he's too focused on what he's doing to dedicate brainspace to caring.

Meanwhile, his familiar slips off his wrist with an empathic command, and looks for a place along the outside of the building it can slip in to look for secret areas a human might have trouble getting into.



Thank goodness for the cantrip rule we're using, huh? Detect Magic cast, and he also now has Mage Armor on, 1 charge used.
In case it's needed, Spellcraft and Arcana rolls if there's anything to recognize. If not, ignore them
[roll0]


As for the snake
Spot
[roll1]
Search
[roll2]

[Falco1029]

Trying the Arcana roll again, sorry for the typo
[roll0]

[Jormengand]

The side altar is not so much dug up as broken apart by having something heavy repeatedly dragged across it. The broken bit of ground seems about the same area as the altar itself.

[chronoreverse]

Clearing the explosion and realizing the nature of the rubble, Wuji decided that given the suspiciously hostile nature of the priests and the simple lack of time remaining they will simply have to try to move the altar since it appears the altar may be concealing something underneath.

Wuji whispers to Aldan, "Are you able to assist me in moving this altar? We have little time so I think we'll just have to accept the consequences even if the priests notice us. We'll help out our party immediately afterward."

Wuji begins to push the altar towards the rubble side.

[nersxe]

Aellar takes his ranseur off his shoulder when he sees the shockwave hit his people. "Excuse me? You wanna not ever do that again?"

[PersonMan]

Kyendrin's smile disappears as the priest blasts the knight. In a flash, she rushes forwards and her hands grip a massive greathammer - without her to conceal it, the full size of the head becomes clear. Easily thrice the size of her head, it's made of dark metal with odd humanoids carved into its surface. Stepping up next to Aellar, she lifts one gauntlet-covered hand from her hammer, ready to extend her arm and tap the man at a moment's notice. A chant of battle readiness is on her tongue, ready to be spoken if combat begins.

If combat starts (i.e. we roll initiative), Kyendrin casts Nerveskitter on Aellor, giving him a +5 bonus to initiative.

[Trivino]

Fort Save:
[roll0]

As Kaj falls to the ground, he lets out a painful grunt. He looks up at the priest and growls.

"What the hell was that for? Do you treat all your visitors this way?" Kaj asked as he rose back to his feet.

[Jormengand]

As the altar is moved aside, two of the five priests turn, and look in horror. "What..." The priest who conjured the shockwave looks down the secret passage that was revealed. "WHAAAAAAAT?"

"All right, you win. Looks like our 'Brothers' were hiding something after all. Are we ready to... urk!"

The other three priests are on their feet, and the two who were apparently unaware of the secret passage - the only ones who spoke to you - stand as undead creatures. There's only one way this is gonna go...

Kaj starts prone from the failed save, and takes [roll0] damage. Other than that?

Initiative:
Priest 1: 23
Priest 2: 13
Priest 3: 15
Zombie 1: 17
Zombie 2: 16

{table=head]\|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10
A|||a|a|a|w|||||
B|||a|a|a|l|||||
C||f|||||||||
D|||||||||||
E|||1||2||||||
F|||3||||z||||
G|||Z||||||||
H|||||||||||
I|||||||||||
J||||||e|||||
K|||y|d|k||||||[/table]

altar
Priest 1
Priest 2
Priest 3
Zombie 1
zombie 2
wuji
Aldan
Kyendrin
Aellar
kaj
drake and his familiar

Roll initiative!

[chronoreverse]

"Moles amongst the priests, treacherous swine!" roared Wuji as he readies himself.

Initiative:1d20+2
DAMNIT, I'll do the roll in the OOC thread.

[nersxe]

Aellar growls even as a rush of fierce joy flows through him in preparation for battle.

[roll0]
That's... supposed to be a d20. Doesn't much matter, rolled a 1.

[Jormengand]

The first priest attempts to nauseate the whole party. DC 19 fortitude negates or be nauseated for one round. Then, he swiftly (see what I did there?) causes himself and the other two priests to be able to fly, before soaring 60 feet into the air.

Everyone except Wuji goes next. Sorry, Wuji.

[nersxe]

Aellar's stomach riots in response to whatever was just done to him, but he manages to take a step forward, then two.

Moving to H5 in preparation to kill the crap out of either zombie if they get any funny ideas about moving.

[TiaC]

Before the priests revealed themselves, Aldan had helped Wuji push the altar aside, proving surprisingly effective at doing so.

Still feeling ill, Aldan soars over the priests' heads before dropping down to land at one's feet.

Aldan moves to share priest 3's square in F3, where he threatens adjacent squares. Since Aldan is only moving this round his speed doubles allowing him to reach F3 by using Sudden leap(Since he is moving, the leap takes him at least the 17.5 feet he needs to go). His tumble mod is high enough to evade 2 AoOs even while hurrying without rolling, the most direct route only provokes 2. Once there, he will use priest 3 for cover and hide [roll0]
Edit: missed that they were flying.

[Falco1029]

Drake moves off to the corner, trying to brace himself against the wall a bit.

Similarly, the familiar moves off to hide away from the fight.


Drake to K10, Familiar to A1

[PersonMan]

Kyendrin frowns, keeping pace with Aellar, but unable to do more as the priest's magic hits her. Just wonderful...

[Trivino]

Kaj feels his stomach twist inside of him. He slowly crawls outside and finds his horse very close to him.

Crawl 5ft to off the map and outside.

[chronoreverse]

Oh, it doesn't require an action so when the nausea spell thing was casted I tried to determine if I recognized the spell:


Spellcraft:[roll0]

lol, so much for that. I hope I get some good attack rolls tomorrow.

[Jormengand]

Initiative:
Priest 1
Everyone except Wuji
Zombies
Wuji
Other priests


The zombies spark wildly, and look with utter disgust at their creators. Which can only be a good thing.

Zombie 1 turns around to attack priest 3, and zombie 2 makes a move (because it doesn't actually seem to be threatened, and I'm assuming that you don't want to attack it anyway) towards priest 2 before doing the same. Zombie 1 misses, and zombie 2's attack is not very effective.

{table=head]\|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10
A|f||a|a|a|w|||||
B|||a|a|a||||||
C|||||||||||
D|||||||||||
E|||1||2||||||
F|||3l||||z||||
G|||Z||||||||
H|||y||e||||||
I|||||||||||
J|||||||||||
K|||||||||||d[/table]

altar
Priest 1
Priest 2
Priest 3
Zombie 1
zombie 2
wuji
Aldan
Kyendrin
Aellar
kaj
drake and his familiar

Wuji! Take thy turn!

[TiaC]

I'm about to go to sleep, if the priests provoke an AoO I'm taking it.
To hit:[roll0] +2 against Priest 3.
Damage:1+26+[roll1]cold+[roll2]+8 Sneak attack if I qualify.
I can flank from within an enemy's square, and am hidden from priest 1, so I think I qualify for Sneak attack against both.

[chronoreverse]

Alright. I'm still invisible at the moment.

I'll take all the help I can get! thought Wuji when he, in astonishment, saw the zombies attack the priests and called out, "Don't attack the zombies!"

Wuji quickly springs into D5 before he:


Attempts a trip on Priest#2 (no AoO because of Improved Trip)
Melee Touch Attack:[roll0]


Wuji reappears after this action (I still have the second half of my Spring Attack move remaining whether I fail or succeed).

[Jormengand]

You grab the priest's hovering legs and drag him to the ground.

[chronoreverse]

In that case, as part of the Improved Trip, I get in an attack:


Wuji attempts a Stunning Fist attack followed up by a Snap Kick
Stunning Fist Attack:[roll0]
Will deal with the results if I hit this attack.

Whether or not the stunning fist hit lands, the Snap Kick comes out:
Snap Kick Attack:[roll1]

[Jormengand]

You hit twice.

[chronoreverse]

"Be still!" grunts Wuji as he sends a stunning surge into the priest:


Stunning Fist DC is Fort:18
Stunning Fist Damage:[roll0]

Snap Kick Damage:[roll1]


After landing the hits, Wuji springs into E4.

[Jormengand]

The priest falls unconscious and starts bleeding out.

The other priest flies into the air, and Wuji gets to attack him as he flies up.

Initiative:
Priest 1
Everyone except Wuji
Zombies
Wuji
Other priests

{table=head]\|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10
A|f||a|a|a||||||
B|||a|a|a||||||
C|||||||||||
D|||||||||||
E|||1|w|2||||||
F|||3l||||||||
G|||Z||||||||
H|||y||e||||||
I|||||||||||
J|||||||||||
K|||||||||||d[/table]

altar
Priest 1
Priest 2
Priest 3
Zombie 1
zombie 2
wuji
Aldan
Kyendrin
Aellar
kaj
drake and his familiar

Wuji! Take thy attack of opportunity!

[chronoreverse]

Wuji reacts quickly to the other priest's motion, attempting to intercept before he can get away:


I spend one more Stunning Fist to sheathe my arms with Cold energy for 1 round before attacking Priest#3 and applying a Snap Kick for a good measure.

Attack:[roll0]

Snap Kick Attack:[roll]1d20+13[roll]
GAH, let me roll that in the OOC

[Jormengand]

Again, you hit twice.

[chronoreverse]

Wuji slams the priest before folding him in half with a snap kick.


Attack Damage:[roll0]
Cold Damage:[roll1]

Snap Kick Damage:[roll2]
Cold Damage:[roll3]

Oops, add 2 to both damage rolls. I forgot to add them.

[Jormengand]

The priest scowls and heals himself when he is airborne. The first priest goes round again, and red spirals whirl from the party and the zombies.

Zombie 1:
[roll0]
Zombie 2:
[roll1]
Aellar:
[roll2]
Kaj:
[roll3]
Wuji:
[roll4]
Kyendrin:
[roll5]
Aldan:
[roll6]
Drake:
[roll7]
Familiar:
[roll8]

Then, a tendril of blue energy whirls about the priests, including the dying priest who wakes back up.

[PersonMan]

Kyendrin grimaces as the dark energy cuts into her, shifting her hammer again. This time she calls on the blessings of the wind, forming the holy signs of falling leaves and whipping branches, whispering the words of the divine wind. Then she repeats the words, this time with more strength in her voice. The wind's power flowing through her, Kyendrin once again lays a hand on Aellar.

"The thunder rides on the wind, the storm calls for your action," Kyendrin says.

Cast Heroism on Aellar.

[TiaC]

Aldan shoots into the air "Foul necromancers!"

Charge attack on Priest 1.
[roll0]
1+26+[roll1]cold

[Falco1029]

Still reeling from the aftereffects of the nausea, Drake lets out a pained cry as the energy hits him, gritting his teeth. He then looks forward, forcing out words of draconic as a few complex gestures are made, like he's creating a summoning circle in thin air and then gesturing outward.

As the spell finishes, a winged woman, seemingly comprised entirely of metal, and wielding two large swords appears in the air, wings flapping as she charges right towards the airborne priest, it inherently being the closest one, so no real command is needed. One of the swords is leveled, and a fierce attack cuts through the air.

Drake

Spellcraft for whatever just hit him
[roll0]

Avenger

Arcadian Avenger is from Monster Manual V and it mentions lawful neutral characters can summon it. With our alignment loosening, that means I'm close enough. Due to Augment Summoning it has +4 STR and +4 CON
HP is 76 after the bonus CON
Appeared 45 feet towards Priest 1, and then closed the rest of the way with its fly speed to make an attack.
Important info: HP as noted, AC 19, F11 R8 W7 saves. Attack bonuses visible below, heh.

Attack roll being negated by their 'elude chance' ability; they can take 10 on their attacks three times per day. The AC is less than 24 based on attacks I've seen so far, right? Because 24 is the attack result for the sword

Damage if they hit. Ignore if not. Weapons are 'lawful', 'good', and 'magic' for purposes of damage resistance, if they have any.
[roll1]
[roll2]

EDIT: I'll let you pick which of those damages applies, but I only got one attack, though at a +14 instead of +10.

[Trivino]

Kaj's stomach seemed to have pass whatever made him sick earlier and pushes himself to his feet. He then mounts his horse, and storms back into the church on horseback, As he rides his horse back in to F4. He then challenges the priests...

"Stop holding back, imbeciles! Give me your worst!"

Kaj then prepares to shield Wuji should the priests try to attack him.

Move action- Get up
2nd move- get on horse
Horse move action- rides into the church
Swift action- Test of Mettle (DC 19)
Immediate action- Shield Ally on Wuji

[nersxe]

Aellar's smile widens as he feels everything sharpen in the wake of Kyendrin's spell. He leaps toward the flying priest, bringing his weapon into play at the apex of his jump.

[roll0] : Jump check
[roll1] : to hit with ranseur
[roll2] : damage
[roll3] : critical confirmation if necessary

EDIT: His jump results in him getting 26' up, and with reach that means if the priest is within 36', he's within Aellar's reach. (And really, what kind of temple has ceilings that high?)

[Jormengand]

The priest roils backwards as you strike him again - though how are you jumping so high?Yeah, the temple probably isn't that high. You whack the first priest, who is a bit miffed.The avenger hits, almost killing the priest.

Initiative:
Priest 1
The whole party.
Priest 3

The zombie finishes off the third priest, but can't do much else. The magic animating it unravels with his death.

{table=head]\|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10
A|f||a|a|a||||||
B|||a|a|a||||||
C|||||||||||
D|||||||||||
E|||1|w|||||||
F|||3l|k|h||||||
G||||h|h||||||
H|||y||e||||||
I|||||||||||
J|||||||||||
K|||||||||||d[/table]

altar
Priest 1
Priest 3
wuji
Aldan
Kyendrin
Aellar
kaj and his horse
drake and his familiar

Wuji acts next.

[TiaC]

The priest roils backwards as you strike him again - though how are you jumping so high?

I have flight, so I stay next to them, threatening both priests. How high is the temple actually?

[Jormengand]

I have flight, so I stay next to them, threatening both priests. How high is the temple actually?

Uh, let's say about 35 feet - it's like a big church, so what you would expect to be about 2-3 floors tall is a single floor.

[chronoreverse]

While quickly healing himself, Wuji estimates the height of the two priests is within his reach and does a spiraling air walk up around them, ending up just above them in E2.

"DOWN YOU GO!" shouts Wuji as he slams Priest#1 while the air walk effect fades:


Spend 1 ki to make a targeted dispel effect (whether the strike itself hits or not):
Targeted Dispel:[roll0] (I'll roll more dispel checks for each ongoing enchantment on Priest#1)

Spend another Stunning Fist attempt:
Unarmed Strike Attack:[roll1]
Snap Kick Attack:[roll2]

Wuji has used up 24 points of his 32 point healing pool for the encounter.

[Jormengand]

The priest laughs as Wuji tries to bring him down, and the third priest waits for the first to float out of the way, before bringing everyone in flight, save the priests themselves, to the floor, hard. He then swiftly silences everyone opposing him.

If you were flying, take fall damage. In any case, will DC 19 negates being silenced.

The other priest floats into a corner, then takes out a throwing knife in his hand, and starts to glow with an unnerving light as he casts another spell...

Initiative:
Priest 1
The whole party.
Priest 3

{table=head]\|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10
A|f||a|a|a||||||
B|||a|a|a||||||
C|||||||||3||
D||||1|||||||
E||w|||||||||
F|||l|k|h||||||
G||||h|h||||||
H|||y||e||||||
I|||||||||||
J|||||||||||
K|||||||||||d[/table]

altar
Priest 1
Priest 3
wuji
Aldan
Kyendrin
Aellar
kaj and his horse
drake and his familiar

[chronoreverse]

Wuji lands hard but takes no damage as the height was only 40 feet (Monk Slow Fall).


Will:[roll0]

So does Priest#1 only have one enchantment on him? I thought I get a separate dispel attempt for each enchantment.


He shakes off the effect of Silence with a glare.

[Jormengand]

Will:[roll0]

So does Priest#1 only have one enchantment on him? I thought I get a separate dispel attempt for each enchantment.


Oh, you hit the priest, it's just the dispel didn't work. He only has one enchantment, but the cleric buffed himself silly.

[chronoreverse]

Wuji quickly assesses the situation:


Stun Fortitude DC:18
(did the priest avoid the stun again?)
Attack Damage:[roll0]
Snap Kick Damage:[roll1]

[Jormengand]

(did the priest avoid the stun again?)

That's right. The priest is minorly injured, still healing from befo...

Oh, you might want to roll to dispel that, come to think of it. :smallredface:

[chronoreverse]

Dispelling the healing effect (whatever it is):

Targeted Dispel:[roll0]

*sigh, no joy.

[nersxe]

The silence has the intended effect on Aellar, for all that it's useless against his abilities. He watches his allies fall, uncaring after his first glance to make sure they're all still breathing. You can't take the sky from me, he thinks to himself.

He darts around the horse and stabs at the priest with his spear, grinning.

Move action to get to F6.
Attack roll: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Critical confirmation: [roll2]

[Falco1029]

A silence spell. It has to be a silence spell. Opening his mouth, he tries to push it away, but unfortunately doesn't have any luck.

Still, they don't call him a summoner because he stops being able to call upon other beings due to a simple little thing like Silence.

Simply concentrating for a moment, he moves forward until he's underneath priest 1, then motions as a Small Air Elemental is summoned too, right beneath that priest.

Meanwhile, the Avenger circles back around, cutting into the priest again as the air elemental takes a moment to realize where it is before it slams into the priest, or at least tries to.



Reserve feat 'Summon Elemental' used, which is not affected by silence. Also not affected by Augment Summoning, on the flipside, as it's not a spell.

Small Elemental has 9hp, AC17, -1 to attack/damage it in flight, as is linked here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/elemental.htm) since it's srd.




I just realized fly mechanics are kind of weird. In any case, I don't think I can actually full attack, just charge again, which it has enough speed for. So no turn was wasted

Once again, using an immediate action to take 10 on the attack, resulting in a 26. Can do that 1 more time.

Damage
[roll0]



Air elemental slams. It has perfect maneuverability so can move as a person in air so it attacks normally.

Attack
[roll1]
Damage if it hits.
[roll2]

[PersonMan]

Kyendrin, noting that their windspeaker seems rather injured, heads over to him, chanting a rain-tune. Arriving at where he stands, she again raises one hand from her hammer, feeling the power of the rain fill her. "May the rain ever fall on the world, and grant new life to the stone," she says, divine energy flowing from her hand as she places it on Drake.

Move: Go to Drake (Egad, he went off the map!)
Standard: Cast Cure Moderate, converting Align Weapon.
[roll0] healed.

[TiaC]

Aldan ignores the priest's attempts to take him out of the sky and silence him. He swoops over to the first priest and delivers a fast one-two combination to some nasty pressure points. If I get an AoO against priest 3: [roll0] 1+24+[roll1]cold.

Then Aldan moves to D4 and enters the priest's space, Cat Form means that he does not provoke for this and can flank from within an enemy's space. He then uses Wolf Fang Strike to make two attacks on priest 1.
Attack 1:
[roll2]
1+24+[roll3]cold + [roll4]+8 sneak attack
Attack 2:
[roll5]
1+24+[roll6]cold + [roll7]+8 sneak attack

[Jormengand]

Finally, the worldspeaker falls out of the sky, dead.

[Jormengand]

The cleric scowls, and swoops down through the small hole that the altar was covering. You hear shouts, but with the massive echoing it's impossible for you to hear them.

The sorcerer's corpse croaks weakly, as his eyes shine with a blue light:

"Thirteen beasts to guard the gates."

The worldspeaker informs you of "Thirteen wards against the fates."

The zombies add "Thirteen trees to line the groves,
Thirteen arrows to slay the doves."

They fall silent. Of course, further examination reveals them to be dead. Under the altar, a ladder leads downwards, but it goes directly into a room rather than having a thin shaft.

[chronoreverse]

"The riddles never cease," said Wuji while peering down the altar.

"Do we have a way of bringing a message about what has happened to the council? We have little time and need to pursue."

[TiaC]

"How long will that elemental stick around, Drake?" asks Aldan. "Air elementals are quite fast and can speak, it could carry a message in a few minutes."

[Jormengand]

As you ponder this, the door of the temple closes, and the inside of the walls takes on an unnatural sheen. There's probably no way that you're getting out.

[nersxe]

Aellar grimaces. "If someone can take down the magic, I could cut through the doors, but... I dunno, maybe we should just check around here before we do all that. Could be there's a switch to turn it off, or a back entrance."

[TiaC]

Aldan sighs "That would be a no on the elemental then." Then, to Aellar, "The way I see it, we may be stuck in here, but none of these child-snatching bastards will get out this way either. We just need to make sure they don't take another way out."

[chronoreverse]

"We better restore ourselves to maximum combat effectiveness," said Wuji, "I doubt this trap will stop at simply stopping the door."

[PersonMan]

Kyendrin takes a look over her companions and approaches Aldan, examining his wounds briefly as she changes her grip on her hammer, so the head rests on the ground. "Before we continue, I will empty the clouds. I warn you, all injury I heal outside of the field of battle will scar. Do wish for me to regenerate your strength?" she explains, closing her eyes and breathing deeply if Aldan consents.

"Wind and storm, bring renewal. With swords in the wind, the warriors do battle - replenish their strength and let them feel your glory," Kyendrin says, voice steady as she speaks the words and forms the divine symbols. Putting a hand on Aldan as she opens her eyes, she channels the divine energy into the man's body, who feels a sensation like rain falling on his bare skin as it goes to work and mends his wounds. "The thunder calls to you, you answer with hammer and fist, your wounds close and you feel the will to fight strengthen," Kyendrin continues, her hand coming down on the same spot and sending a more direct pulse of energy through Aldan. For a brief moment, the sensation of wind and rain hits him, as if he's standing barechested in a howling thunderstorm, but it fades quickly, leaving only the feeling of closed wounds in its wake.

Casting Lesser Vigor on Aldan for 15 over 15 rounds, then Cure Light Wounds.

[roll0]

[chronoreverse]

Meanwhile, Wuji continues to peer down the ladder.

"I do not have the training to detect traps," he said, "Does any of you have such skills?"

[PersonMan]

"Yes," Kyendrin begins. "If the wind whistles from- wait, you don't mean that kind of trap, do you? Forget that, then," she says, looking sheepish.

"Does anyone else require the rain's grace? I can't tell if that's your blood or that of our fallen enemies," she explains, gesturing to those she hasn't yet looked at.

[nersxe]

Aellar shrugs, "I'm not worried about scars. Got enough of 'em. If you've got a little energy to spare, I could use a hit. Not a big one, though."

[PersonMan]

Kyendrin grins at Aellar's request. "A shame they're all where you can't see them," she says, hefting her greathammer and walking over to where the dragoon stands.

"Roar through the clouds and sing your song of clashing steel, herald the coming of the great rains and witness the crimson oaths bled by those who raise their arms in battle," Kyendrin chants, one finger swiping over the scar across her nose as she speaks, voice filling the entire room. Setting her hand on Aellar's shoulder, she lets the built up power flow into him. He receives the same feeling of rain and wind on his skin as Aldan, but this time there's a brief hint of the smell of rain in the air for a moment after the divine energy hits him.

Cure Moderate Wounds: [roll0]

[TiaC]

Aldan says "Scars are far from new for me, fur hides them very well".

After being healed, "Thank you greatly, that was just what I needed."
"I generally do not worry too much about traps, it's not like I'm going to set off a pressure trigger."

[nersxe]

"Mm, smells like a storm," Aellar comments under his breath, then looks up at Kyendrin, giving her a wink. "You know, if you wanna find out where those scars are, there'll be time when this is all over."

[Falco1029]

"Not long enough," he responds as they mention getting a message back, once his voice returns, only to have the temple begin to seal itself around them.

Furrowing his brow, and before anyone actually asks about traps, he looks to his summons, "Go down the ladder, see if anything explodes," he says, not too worried about 'sacrificing' summons to traps. It's not like they die permanently if they die here, after all. At least, he's pretty sure. Either way, the elemental and Avenger will do so for the little bit of time they have left

Either way, they're here for another 20 seconds or so, hopefully long enough to see if either the Avenger or Elemental will set anything off down there WITHOUT any of them needing to step on things.

Ideally, any traps they set off will be localized. After all, it'd be silly for them to setup their temple to kill them up here if someone went down below.

EDIT: Meanwhile, Drake's familiar finds its way back to Drake himself, curling around his wrist once again and hiding under a sleeve.

I think they have 6 and 2 turns left, respectively. They're just going to go and take every path around there, poke about for that amount of time and see if anything pops at them to the extent they have to listen.

The avenger will climb down the ladder because I said so. So it can test the ladder itself too.

[PersonMan]

Kyendrin's eyebrows briefly shoot up as Aellar mentions his scars again. Well, that was a bold move! After a moment, she smiles again. It was an appealing offer, but...

"Well, I'm afraid there's a bit of an issue there. You see, to be considered a man you need an honor-scar, which must be on your face," she explains, putting one armored finger on the scar across her nose. "Until then, it would be look but not touch,"

Turning to lift her hammer, Kyendrin looks at Aellar again and smiles. "But if you would accept it, I would be willing to perform the Thunder's Rite on you. It's an honor to give a warrior their first honor scar, whether they be foreigner or inlander," she explains. "Consider it. It isn't a decision to be made lightly,"

With that, Kyendrin lifts her hammer up onto her shoulder and goes over to rejoin the group around the tunnel going down, watching as Drake's summoned creatures check the room below.

"That is rather convenient, being able to send them down there. How much of a connection do you have to them?" She asks.

[Falco1029]

"Enough to know if my spell fizzles away because they exploded, essentially," he says, scratching the back of his neck.

[Trivino]

Kaj, surprisingly quiet after the battle, steps forward from his corner and sighs.

"It does us no good just sitting around talking about traps. There are lives at stake! I'll just go down first. Just give me a yell if the doors open up!"

Kaj lumbers over to the ladder and begins climbing down.

[Jormengand]

The avenger slumps to the floor, dead, and Kaj notices an angry cleric - albeit no longer an airborne one - standing on the ground with throwing knives in hand. The cleric then rushes away, knowing he no longer has the element of surprise, and goes down a corridor. There are no doors, and that seems to be one of two ways out at opposite sides of the room.

[chronoreverse]

Wuji follows Kaj down the ladder for 10 feet before dropping the remaining 40 feet.

[PersonMan]

Kyendrin goes down the ladder as well, letting herself drop the last few feet and taking a look around.

[nersxe]

Aellar, hardly concerned about a little thing like a fall, peers down the ladder to make sure he won't be landing on anyone, then hops down the shaft.

"So, what's an honor scar mean?" He asks Kyendrin, idly cleaning the point of his ranseur with a bit of spare cloth. "I know it makes you a man where you're from, but is it gonna get people all ticked at me from other lands? Y'know, if they think I'm one of your kinsmen."

He automatically makes the Jump DC for negating the first 10' of a fall, and soft fall takes care of the rest.

[PersonMan]

"Well, a man or a woman," Kyendrin corrects Aellar as he mentions the scars marking one as a man. "An honor scar marks you as having fought in a true battle. I doubt you'll find more than a few people who even know what it means here, though. I've traveled far to come here, and our enemies do not come this far from their lands," she explains.

"Besides, even if they had a quarrel with my people, anyone who saw you would know you aren't one - you fight with a helm," she adds.

[nersxe]

"You guys not use much heavy armor, or is it just the helm thing?" Aellar asks curiously, tilting his head. "I know the bear-sarks from the far north basically tear off all their clothes when they get ticked, but you don't really look like one of them."

[PersonMan]

"Armor, yes, but no helms. That way you display your honor-scars," Kyendrin replies, nodding. "It also bared your eyes to the rain and thunder,"

[Falco1029]

Frowning as he feels the spell fizzles, he moves over as Kaj and a couple of the others head down, thinking to himself a moment before deciding to follow. So long as he's not first, it should be fine.

He seems almost ignorant of the little side conversations going on, and starts to urge people onward, "Come on now, he's getting away, and I imagine allowing him to do so will be bad for our health in the end."

[TiaC]

Aldan drops down to land on Wuji's shoulder, "You don't mind if I catch a lift, do you?" He asks as he looks at him. "You are the fastest of us, and it seems like a good way to get to the action."

As the priest runs away, he thrusts a paw forward and shouts "After him!"

[chronoreverse]

"I definitely feel more confident with a second," said Wuji.

Wuji looks down the way the priest had fled and dashes after him (60' speed), "Let's see if we can subdue this one."

While running, Wuji pulls out a piece of chalk and lightly taps the walls as they skim past.

[Trivino]

Kaj runs off after the priest the instant the two see each other, completely throwing caution to the wind...

[PersonMan]

Kyendrin, coming down into the room to see the others already rushing off, follows them, barely able to contain her laughter, a wide grin on her face.

[Jormengand]

You do not see the cleric. The corridor splits off into four, and is quite badly lit. You cannot see down any of the doors.

You see that all three corridors lead to doors.

You hear people moving about to your left.

[chronoreverse]

"I hear sounds to the left!" calls out Wuji as he comes up to the left corridor. In the darkness, he starts to depend on his hearing.

Blindsense 30' active.

Did Wuji hear a door close earlier?

Listen:[roll0]

[nersxe]

Aellar catches up to them, not winded, but hardly as fast as the majority of the party. "Phew. I wasn't made for all this high-speed chase stuff."

[Jormengand]

Did Wuji hear a door close earlier?

No. Nothing interesting happens as you approach the door.

[Falco1029]

Drake whispers a few words of Draconic as they move through the darkened area, casting Low Light Vision so that he can see a little better, then lighting his Everburning Torch and holding it in his off hand.

That puts him a little bit behind the others, but it's just as well, since he wouldn't have known which way to go. That all being done, he starts to rush forward.

"Well, then let's go left," he responds to Wuji's comment as he catches up.

[chronoreverse]

Wuji tries to open the door, "Don't stand too close everyone."

[Jormengand]

The door opens into a room containing nothing but a small crocodile in a cage, who looks quite bewildered and is stamping its feet. You have no insight into what the hell a crocodile is doing here.

[nersxe]

Aellar stares for a few seconds, taken aback. "Anyone know what the hell a crocodile is doing in here?"

[PersonMan]

Kyendrin shrugs. "Religion," is all she says. "Although...this could be an image made by a weaver of magic winds. Does anyone have magic that could detect such deception?"

[TiaC]

"Let me see..." says Aldan.

Let's see if it shows up to blindsight. If it isn't solid then it won't

[Jormengand]

"Let me see..." says Aldan.

Let's see if it shows up to blindsight. If it isn't solid then it won't

The crocodile stubbornly remains visible.

[PersonMan]

"Are we sure this is the door the priest went through? If not, we should just go check the others. We don't have time to play with weird scaly wyrm-things," Kyendrin says, turning to leave.

[Falco1029]

"If he's invisible, it's probably beyond my means to detect, but let me see if there's signs of anything else in here," he says to the group

While Aldan uses blindsight, Drake uses Detect Magic once again, both focusing on the crocodile and the surrounding area, to check for any signs of obscuring magic.

In addition, he takes a moment to focus, summoning a Small Earth Elemental with a bit of residual energy.

"Burrow through the wall, that way, and come back if you see anything humanoid in the next room over" he says, pointing the earth elemental to the wall in the direction of where the next room likely was. It's quicker then them doubling back, as an earth elemental can basically swim through most solid materials.

He doesn't speak terran, but he figures a grunt or two if the thing gets back will get the point across.

[Jormengand]

As you walk towards the crocodile to detect its magic, the floor gives way. Take a reflex save DC 15

[Falco1029]

[roll0]
If this fails, will i have time to cast 'Levitate', given I have eschew materials and just need the V/S? If so, uh, I'll do that.

[Jormengand]

(You only have time to cast spells if you can cast them as an immediate action or the fall is more than 500 feet. Since it's not, and I assume you can't, you can't cast any spells.)

You slam into a room 40 feet below, with a very sadistic looking cleric and two of his friends looking at you with a glint in their eyes. Roll initiative.

[Falco1029]

Inits.
[roll0]

[PersonMan]

As the floor collapses, Kyendrin immediately rushes forwards, coming to the edge of the hole and looking down. Seeing the situation, she turns to the others. "It's a long fall, and there are more enemies below," she says. She wants to go and aid him, but is loathe to simply jump down there and injure herself before the fight truly begins.

"Does anyone have a way to help me get down there without injury?" Kyendrin asks, looking back down and readying her greathammer.

Initiative: [roll0] Assuming Kyendrin counts as in combat.

[Jormengand]

Assuming Kyendrin counts as in combat.

Everyone is in combat. Once you're actually down there, I may make a combat map.

[chronoreverse]

"Try this but you may want to use range if you can!" shouted Wuji as he drops a grappling hook and rope for Kyendrin before dashing down to land past Drake between him and the priests.


Air Walk forward onto the solid ground in front of Drake (I hope). I have an immediate action if there's a falling type trap beyond that.

Initiative:[roll0]

[PersonMan]

"Well that's convenient," Kyendrin says, attaching the grappling hook to something sturdy and making sure the rope is secure before climbing down.

Not sure what kind of actions these would be.

[Jormengand]

"Well that's convenient," Kyendrin says, attaching the grappling hook to something sturdy and making sure the rope is secure before climbing down.

Not sure what kind of actions these would be.

Standard and move by my reckoning.

[TiaC]

jumping down to land past Aldan between him and the priests.
Do you mean Drake? Aldan is still on your shoulder.

Initiative:[roll0]
My actions are going to depend on whether or not Wuji and I go before the priests and how far away they are.
Hmm, hoping for a better roll.

[nersxe]

Aellar grins. "C'mon, let's go!"

He grabs Kyendrin and jumps down the hole.

initiative:[roll0]

[Trivino]

Quietly following up to this point, Kaj slowly makes his way down, ready to fight anything in his way...

Init [roll0]

[Jormengand]

Kyendrin climbs down the rope, and ends up next to Drake. Wuji leaps in front of him, and Aldan leaps over and attacks the cleric.

Could you roll the attack/damage for the full attack before I do anything else?

[TiaC]

A hissing ball of fury, Aldan leaps into the cleric's face.
First, roll the sudden leap, a result of 30 will put me in his square. [roll0]
Then, attacks.
Unarmed strikes.
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

Damage.
27+[roll4]Cold
27+[roll5]Cold
27+[roll6]Cold

Bite.
[roll7]
15+[roll8]Cold