Curse of the Magic Eater IC

[Captain Awesome]

During your daily ritual in which you invoke the power of your Patron spirit, The Avatar of Vengeance itself appears before you in full form.

"Accuser! A collection of those that you seek my glorious Vengeance are hiding in the mountains east of Aminnor. Their very presence defies me! Seek them out and slaughter every last one of them."



Early one morning, after delivering morning mass, Father Comme seeks you out with a rather joyous look about him," Morning little soldier. I have a surprise for you."

[Hazuki]

Sister Tine

Sister Tine returns Father Comme's smile, though her own is far less overt. "Good morning, Father Comme. It must be quite the surprise, to have you beaming so." She moves to her feet and whistles a little tune to call Riddle over. The white-browed thrush soon flits across the room and perches on the tiefling's shoulder, its head tilted in curiosity.

[Captain Awesome]

Father Comme grins wider as he pulls from behind his back a long thin wooden box carved with strange runes burned into it and all of the fixtures on the box were made of rather fine gold. The old priest holds out the box carefully to you,"I have a quest for you. This box holds a relic sacred to the Spiral Eye. I need you to keep it safe on a caravan headed to the temple in Aminnor."

[Hazuki]

Sister Tine

Sister Tine examines the box for a moment, then nods her head. "I will do this. Are there any more details I should be aware of?"

For the box.

[roll0]

[Captain Awesome]

The smile fades to a much more serious look upon his face," Keep the box hidden when you are outside. The precious metals alone might be enough to draw the eye of thieves. Do not open the box unless you life is at stake. What is inside.... I actually do not know what is inside other than that is is powerful."

((The runes are Supernal. You do not know of any connection the box has to any religion.))

[Hazuki]

Sister Tine

"I will keep it secret and safe. Am I to arrange my transport?" Sister Tine asks. She carefully starts to unwrap some of the spare sashes around her tunic, but doesn't take her eyes off of Father Comme.

[Captain Awesome]

"There is a pilgrimage heading out in the morning. You can go with them or find your own transport. Either way do not reveal your true reason for travel" the old priest said in a quite stern voice.



In the gear you took from the mage's body, you find a strange crystal knife. Inside the knife you can feel the presence of a powerful spirit, but you cannot find a way to free or communicate with it.

In the days since finding the knife, soldiers have begun hunting you. All of them ha e the same fouled spirit of the mage as well as strange brands on their foreheads.

[Hazuki]

Sister Tine

"I understand." If Father Comme gives her the box, Sister Tine takes the time to wrap it up in her sashes until it is covered. "I will make preparations. I would like to request some coin to aid me in my task." She looks up at him, eyes level and voice calm.

[Captain Awesome]

Father Comme holdsout the box and a heafty bag of coins,"Have fun and come back soon. Or at least write."

500gp



The world around you darkens and spins. Immediately you know the transportation magic has not worked right. When the world returns you are in a strange cavern that appears to be made of crystal The air is good and stale.

In the center of this cavern a great sword is stabbed into the ground. The entire weapon is an ethereal white and seems.to call out to you longingly.

[Keegan__D]

When the world returns, Dastrum finds himself on the ground. "Oh, bother.." Dastrum gets up, dusts himself off and moves to the sword to analyze it.
Spellcraft: [roll0]
Knowledge (Arcana): [roll1]

[Hazuki]

Sister Tine

"I will try. Farewell, Father Comme." Sister Tine graciously accepts the gold and then heads to her quarters. She spends some time gathering material from her bedsheets, cutting them, and unwrapping the box. She uses the normal wrappings, along with her colorful sashes, to wrap up her spare scimitar, a bundle of arrows, and the box. This leaves her with three long, thin items that are wrapped in bundles of cloth.

Once this is done, she spends some time in front of the mirror - adjusting her clothing, using her grooming kit to style her hair differently, pulling a hood over her head - in an attempt to make herself seem unremarkable. Less likely to be noticed by the people around her, at least, if anyone were to look for her in particular. She gathers up her traveling gear and sends Riddle out first, through one of the windows, to scout the street outside of the temple for any ne'er-do-wells.

Disguising herself as a nondescript tiefling. Taking 10, for a result of 20. It takes [roll0] x 10 (Result: 10) Minutes.

Riddle takes 10 on Perception, for a result of 15.

If there is nobody there, Sister Tine makes sure to leave the temple as stealthily as possible and head towards the streets of Belard proper. Once there, she casually starts to inquire across the city about the roads she'll be taking. Whether any dangers are brewing, any turmoil that's taking place close to the roads, and any particularly speedy or safe carriages she could take a ride on.

Taking 10 on the Stealth check, for a result of 15.

Taking 10 on Gather Information, for a result of 22. It takes: [roll1] hours.

[Captain Awesome]

As you move closer to examine the strange sword you notice that your hand has already reached out and grabbed the hilt. The moment your hand grabs the sword, blue runes run along the fuller of the blade in letters you have never seen before. In that instant you also feel this sword has replaced your bonded weapon.

Moments after your first contact with the blade there is a loud crack as the cavern splits open letting in sunlight.

((All you can tell for now is that it is an ornate +1 sword that forcibly replaced your bonded item))




Riddle find only the usual crowd at this time of day. A few of the faithful still linger, the random guard passes by, and street urchins wander around looking for pigeons drunk on religious fervor that are willing to aid the poor less fortunate. When you choose to head out no one appears able to spot you moving. Your hunt for information reveals that the only go groups headed were you are going is a large group of pilgrims in the morning or a trader caravan that afternoon. Either group is hiring guards. Either group will accept travelers. The traders will get there much faster, but they tend to be bandit targets on this road and will cost a traveler that is not being paid to guard 400gp.

[Sephir]

Sere thin looked at the spirit , smiling softly as he bowed" As you wish my lord . Your vengeance is mine . As the image of the avatar faded, Dereth moved towards the small village he meditated close by, buying a horse from the stables. After he checked the animal for injuries, he started to saddle it up . It was almostt as black as the night, with a white thunder like mark on its head. The stable master sold it to him, as it was a common supers toon in the area that black horses were jinxed. "No wonder they sold the bad luck horse to a Dhampir. Oh we'll, beggars can't be choosers. Last village they tried to burn me. Well horse, since you bring misfortune to you rider, I'll name you Bad Omen" Dereth Chuckled as he urged the horse to ride towards the mountains, according to his map at least. He tried to study the area for a couple of minutes before he moved on

Buy light horse 50 go
Knowledge Geography, taking 20for a result of 22

[Captain Awesome]

The standard unhappy looks meet you as you leave the town as they always do. Your knowledge of the area and the blessing of your patron aid you. Two days of hard travel will bring you to the caves most likely to house your quarry. Do you wait for the light or day or does your vengeance drive you into the caves when you arrive at dusk?

[Sephir]

Dereth pushes on, as he is sensitive to the light of the day, and his dark idiom under the cover of knight will give him and advantage. With that thought, he urges bad omen Forward

[Captain Awesome]

It takes only a few minutes of surveying to find the signs that at least one vampire is hiding inside. On top of that you see the true reason this particular cave has brought on the wraith of Vengeance. Plastered above the opening to the cave is the symbol of carnage.

[Keegan__D]

Dastrum pulls his new sword from its stony sheath, admiring its details. This language would have to be analyzed later. A local may be able to help. The crack in the cavern wall pulls him out of his gaze, and shows him the way out. "This is all strangely convenient.." he mutters to himself. Nonetheless, he isn't one to sit in a stale cave longer than need be. Dastrum examines the crack to determine if he can fit through, or if adjustments could be made. If the wall is thin enough, and there are no other ways out, Dastrum tries his crowbar.

[Sephir]

Markov uses his innate ability to detect undead while he draws his pistols and approaches inside stealthily. A vampire is a fell foe to face and he needed to be careful

Detect Undead as Dhampir SLA
Stealth roll [roll0]

[Captain Awesome]

With the aid of your crowbar you are able to remove enough of the rubble to squeeze through. Once out you are in a massive cave and in the center is a huge geode that you crawled from. The cave is pitch black despite what looked like sunlight coming into the geode.




Inside the cave is a terrible fetid smell. Old corpses litter the floor past the entrance. Yet something strange catches you eyes. Symbols of Vengeance are all over the opening to the cave and they glow with it's power. You can feel but one undead inside. As you approach close enough to see it, you see the wretched creature back in the corner of the cavern. The vampire looks old and decrepit as if it has been ages since the withered thing has fed. The beast rocks back and forth muttering unintelligible sounds as it wraps it's fingers on a box made of bones.

[Keegan__D]

Surprised to find no more light, Dastrum creates his own. Though he cannot see his hands, he has performed the movements countless times, and causes his new sword to illuminate his surroundings.

Cast Light

[Sephir]

Derethion did not understand . What was the meaning of this ? Had followers of Vengeance attacked this place and he was the survivor ? It made little sense . Coming out of his hiding , he approached the vampire and aimed his gun at it.Who are you ? What is this place ? He asked menacingly

Intimidate [roll0]

Ready action, Shoot the Dragon pistol if he attacks me

[Captain Awesome]

The sword responds to the light spell and grow in intensity. It is not blinding, but the light radius is nearly double. The cavern is a perfect hemisphere nearly one thousand feet in diameter. It is perfectly smooth and level as if carefully carved. Nothing but dust can be found in this place other than the geode. After a few minutes voices start to echo in the cave.




The creature turns and looks to you with milky but hungry eyes. For a moment clarity returns to the undead. As it speaks it actually coughs up dust,"I will not let a filthy half blood have it!"

The light of intelligence leaves it's eyes once more as a beastial hunger causes it to lunge despite holding the bone box in his left hand.

[Sephir]

You have chosen Death then ! Burn in the flames of vengeance ! Markova Yelled, as his Dragon pistol fired in Reflex to the Vampire attacking, Firing a blast of all consuming Fire. Dragon fire cartridges did it work as it enveloped the vampire.

Suprise Round: Fire dragon pistol as it was readied [roll]2d6+1[roll] Damage . DC 15 reflex halves

Normal round. Initiative [roll0]

[Sephir]

[roll0]Sorry . Also it misfires if a die gets a one 1

[Keegan__D]

Glancing at the direction of the voices, and back at the giant mysterious geode he crawled out of, Dastrum comes up with a plan. He composes himself, and awaits the voices' approach.

[Sephir]

Attack with pistol , using Focused aim ( Add Cha to attack and damage)
[roll0]
[roll1]
Activate burning brand as a swift action
touch attack [roll2]
Damage [roll3]

Then, 5ft away and move 10ft away

[Hazuki]

Sister Tine

Sister Tine considers her options carefully. If anybody were to hunt the box, they'd obviously look for the pilgrims, so they were perhaps the least wise choice. But the merchant route most likely involves bandits, and that means a chance of death. It is lucky, then, that there are fairly easy ways to acquire extra protection. If she can round up a small group of adventuring-types to serve as guards, including herself, then there will at least be a confident defense against the road-harassing rogues.

She heads to the nearest tavern and looks about for any adventurers, or mercenaries, that don't seem too rowdy.

[Twelve.Five]

The half-giant took out the crystal knife and had a long look at it. The soldiers wanted it back. This was strange. They must want it because of the spirit inside it. When she reached out, she could feel it, bound in the clear stone.

I might be able to slip away from the marked men, but... Knowing why they want it would be good. Yes. I'll make one of them tell me.

Having reached a decision, she walked on. Now that she had purpose, she was not simply walking, she was searching. She needed a place to wait for them, where she could fight a number of them and win. She was looking for a place where she could see them coming, but ideally with some cover for arrows. Perhaps rocky crags, or the edge of a forest... She'd see what came along.

Would searching for a good place to fight/lay an ambush be a survival check or perhaps perception?

Survival: [roll0]
Perception: [roll1]

[Captain Awesome]

The ancient vampire snarls as it is bathed in flames. The monster dives out of the way of most of it, but cannot avoid the shot from the pistol. It lunges forward swiping with it's wicked claws.

Take 5 damage.



Your skillful diplomacy coupled with your obvious beauty and demeanor brings in three adventurers willing to come with you. They each seem green but fairly capable and are willing to travel with you all the way for only 150 gp and an equal share of any spoils along the way. The pilgrims will happily accept more guards that wish to volunteer and the merchants are paying 100gp per guard.



Early one morning, as you go out to your forge, a abnormally large snowy owl perches upon your forge. Flames wreathe around the bird and yet it seems to not mind. The strange icy blue eyes stare at you with an odd wisdom before to takes off slowly and begins to fly to the south and out of the city.



In quick measure you are able to find for yourself rather defensible position. You are able to find a nook in a tree large enough to easily hide in. Covering the entrance with leaves and branches you are nearly invisible. It takes nearly a hour for them to follow you trail, but in the clearing 50 feet away is a duo of the branded soldiers.



As the voices start to get closer, you can actually hear them now. Despite being in such a strange place in another world they seem to be speaking common that you are use to, though with a different accent.

"I know I heard it! I think the egg cracked! You know that our Lord said that anything that comes out of there is dangerous and must be destroyed!"
A man's voice calls out.

"I know what he said, but you are just hearing things. Nothing is strong enough to open that thing."

[Sephir]

Dereth felt like a bomb went off on his chest as the claws if the vampire sunk into his ribs. Touching the creature, he let out an invocation to the spirit of Vengeance as he burned another brand in its flesh, before backing off, sheathing his pistol as he fired another round of Dragonfire

Burning Brand touch attack [roll0]
Damage [roll1]

Five foot step away from it

Dragonfire shot with focused aim for 1 grit point [roll2] DC15 half

[Captain Awesome]

Despite dodging most of the flames, the burning brand and the shot that did hit was enough to knock the creature down. The box fell from his grasp and despite the fact that most vampires turn to gas when damaged enough, this one burned away in ash and fire when the bone box fell from his boney grasp.

[Twelve.Five]

Hurit observes them as she waits for them to get a bit closer, feeling along the roots and growths in the earth. Once they're close, she begets the spirits to infuse the roots with multiple years of growth, causing vines and bushes to erupt from the earth under the men.

Casting Entangle on them. It's Ref DC 15.

[Sephir]

Detherion let a satisfied grin as he kicked the dust of the vampire, before he channeled with a quck incantation negate energy on his body, healing him . After that, he slowly opened the bone box with the tip of his short sword, curious of what was inside.
[roll0]

[Hazuki]

Sister Tine

Quite pleased with the results of her searching, and after paying them, Sister Tine heads to the merchant caravan with her gaggle of adventurers and attempts to negotiate guard jobs for herself and the adventurers. If they get hired, she attempts to get in the favor of both the merchants and the other guards that are hired, so that she'll have a steadfast group who want her survival when battle inevitably comes.

Taking 10 for 22, on adjusting as many of their Attitudes as possible.

On the road, Sister Tine will have Riddle take watch while she sleeps.

[Dudu]

OOC: internet was down yesterday, sorry.


Early one morning, as you go out to your forge, a abnormally large snowy owl perches upon your forge. Flames wreathe around the bird and yet it seems to not mind. The strange icy blue eyes stare at you with an odd wisdom before to takes off slowly and begins to fly to the south and out of the city.

Even though Frank has seen his share of magical phenomena, the snowy owl is enough to entice his curiosity a big deal.
Know Arcana (just in case) [roll0]

If he can't remember anything harmful or dangerous about the owl, he will follow it, to the south.

[Keegan__D]

"Aw, maaan." Dastrum thinks, "Just my luck."

Illuminated by his new mysterious sword, Dastrum steps out towards the voices. Hands raised, he speaks poorly through his nerves, "Hello. I-There's been a bit of a misunderstanding here. Heh. A spell went wrong, and I just appeared inside that thing. It's not even an egg, actually. It's, uh, it's a rock. No dangerous monster or anything here." Dastrum then removes his foot from his mouth and hopes they're understanding folk.

[Captain Awesome]

The soldiers begin to shout and scream as they believe that the very forest has come alive to attack them. The duo kick and hack with their weapons as they attempt to break free,


[roll0]
[roll1]




As the box mad of bones opens, a wave of black energy bursts out and washes past you without sensation. What is left inside the box is an incredibly intricate black handgun with a strange bat motif. The longer you look at it the longer you gain the feeling of the same resonance you get when preparing your spells with Vengeance.



The large merchant caravan travels for several days. The amount and moral of the guards keeps most of the bandits away. For several days it is more like a roving party. Many of the guards get a bit too into the drink than they should, as do the majority of the merchants. Little skirmishes happen here and there, but the overzealous adventures and guards tend to charge in vast numbers against even a single bandit. All seems completely fine if not perfect until nearly 3 weeks into the trip. In the middle of the great central planes it happens. Heavy and unnatural fog rolls in suddenly in the middle of the night.



The only thing that you can recall in all of the tales you have heard is that this seems like the patron spirit of your clan. As you follow the creature out further and further from the town, the world starts to alter. After nearly an hour of following this slowly flying owl, the thing perches in a giant nest before staring at you with knowing eyes.

"What is most important?" echoes around you.



The pair of Muls look at you in shock and fear before staring at the blade. One of the men draws a blunderbuss and the other pulls out a club before charging at you despite looking terrified.

[Hazuki]

Sister Tine

Sister Tine frowns to herself as a sudden fog rolls in around them. She quickly moves to the drivers of the caravans, her dagger drawn in one hand, as well as the guards. "Don't drive on. I suspect an ambush if we move out of the fog, or else arrows pelting us while we're inside. Stay as small as possible, in whatever cover you can find." She urges them in whispers, before turning to her familiar.

"Riddle." She whispers. "Sneak out, look around. Tell me what you see." She urges the bird, who uses the cover of night and the fog to stealthily fly some distance away, to see if the fog ends at any point, and whether anyone is waiting for them.

Riddle takes 10 on Stealth for 24. Takes 10 on Perception for 15. She has Low-Light Vision.

[Twelve.Five]

Hurit steps out of her hiding place. She walks towards the struggling soldiers with her greataxe in her left hand, the shaft leaned casually on her shoulder, her right hand holding a throwing axe loosely down her side.
The crystal dagger is clearly visible in her belt.

"You have been following me. Why?"
The implicit threat is clear, if not in her words, then her voice, and the fact that she can apperently cause plants to do... stuff.

[Sephir]

Detherior smiled as he picked up the handgun. He felt it was intrinsically connected to his patron, or at least to divine power. After all, he was immune to the effects of Negative Energy. After that , he would would search the are and the corpses for anything of Interested, before exiting and mounting Bad Omen, wanting to camp far way from that twisted paces. Before he left, he would deface the Mark of Carnage with his sword .

[Dudu]

The only thing that you can recall in all of the tales you have heard is that this seems like the patron spirit of your clan. As you follow the creature out further and further from the town, the world starts to alter. After nearly an hour of following this slowly flying owl, the thing perches in a giant nest before staring at you with knowing eyes.

"What is most important?" echoes around you.


"Hmmmm", Frank ponders briefly at the question. He is perplexed about the whole situation, but the question is easy to answer for a member of the Filbourne clan, the least "barbarian" of the Branded clans.

"To find joy in your life and bring joy to the life of the others."

[Captain Awesome]

As Riddle rises up, she sends feelings of fear and unease from all around. Whatever is going on is quite unnatural. Within a few moments the sounds of small battle rise up and fall all around you as one after another a guard falls then a few seconds later another one falls. This is a quite organized attack, and at the moment with unknown numbers.



"This was your doing? Your doing? You should have stayed in hiding. Master will consumer you soul for taking the conduit!"

One of the soldiers continues hacking free of the vines, but the other draws a bow and readies to fire it.



You feel the hunger in the gun. It tries hard to draw power from you, but when you force it to bend to your will the hunger reels back like a trained dog as a line of strange white runes burn into the side of the gun's barrel.



Happy laughter echoes from the owl before filling this little realm.

"Interesting answer young one. Interesting indeed. There are whoever times when you must fight to protect that joy. How do you choose to fight?"

[Captain Awesome]

The pair charge at the planar intruder. One lets loose with his blunderbuss the moment he is in range. The other changes in wit his weapon only to get hit as well by the scatter.


[roll0] club
[roll1] club

[roll2] blunderbuss
[roll3] blunderbuss

[Dudu]

Happy laughter echoes from the owl before filling this little realm.

"Interesting answer young one. Interesting indeed. There are whoever times when you must fight to protect that joy. How do you choose to fight?"

"With a hammer on one hand and a shield on the other. With comrades at my sides, With the enemy in front of me, never on my back."

Again, Frank answer promptly, reflecting the way he fought when he was a part of the hunting band. Then he adds.

"...Possibly, with also a skald to register the whole experience."

[Hazuki]

Sister Tine

Sister Tine waits for Riddle to return with news of what's going on, then tucks the Thrush into her robes and keeps her dagger prepared. While she waits for an apparent opening in the enemy forces, she casts a spell that covers her in unseen protection. When fighting starts elsewhere, she makes a stealthy dash out of the cloud towards an area where fighting isn't. Most of all, she trusts in the distraction of combat to keep her safe.

Taking 10 for 15. Casting Mage Armor first.

[Keegan__D]

"This is a misunderstanding!" Dastrum calls out, honestly a bit startled that they just went straight to the killing portion of their encounter. Nonetheless, he defends himself and throws his pocket sand (color spray).
Dastrum picks up the club, and notices the ground has lost much of its wonderful cavely luster. "Huh." He ignores this for now. Once they regain consciousness, Dastrum explains the situation to them, "Okay, you two. You're gonna be fine, but right now, you're at my mercy. I don't wish to harm you, but if you're gonna come at me again, I won't hesitate to use lethal measures."Dastrum moves to the cover of the geode and shouts back, "Look, pal! I don't want to have to hurt you. I'm here on a peaceful mission, but I'll put you down too if you keep coming."Dastrum deftly hops out of the assailant's range, and back through the crack in the geode. "Look, pal! I don't want to have to hurt you. I'm here on a peaceful mission, but I'll put you down too if you keep coming."

Activating Sudden Leap
Jump: [roll0]
Tumble to avoid AoO: [roll1]

Color spray duration (assuming <2 HD): Unconscious, blinded, stunned [roll2] rounds, blinded and stunned [roll3] round(s), then stunned for 1 round.

Also, you neglected to provide a +2 bonus to the club-wielder's charge. Or did he just move and attack?

[Captain Awesome]

Once more the Owl's laughter filled this strange place. The huge bird flow down from it's roost to land before you. It now stands much taller than even a horse, but you can feel no hostility from it. The Owl then bows to you and says.

"You are indeed quite strange Heir of Filbourne. Strike me with your hammer. It is time for you to grasp your destiny."



You manage to sneak your way quite handily out of the cloud of death and find a place to hide and watch if you so see fit. As you watch you see the caravan start to move on yet the cloud follows it. Piles of twisted bodies litter the ground as the caravan attempts to drive forward past the carnage that is consuming it. This attack is obviously far to violent and coordinated for any standard bandit attack.



The two fall unconscious as the spray of colors overtake them. The two lay still for a few rounds before groggily shaking awake. The guy with the club awakens first and responds, though weakly.

"As soon as I can see you again, you will die. There is nothing you can do that our master will not do worse."

[Hazuki]

Sister Tine

Sister Tine didn't bother to stick around to watch the carnage. She headed as far away from it as she could, staying ducked and sneaking across the horizon until neither the fog nor the scene could be seen for a good mile or two. Then, with the aid of her map, she started to make her way through the plains towards the next town. She could survive on a mostly-empty stomach for a short time, and she could go hunting if that became a necessity.

[Sephir]

Derethion feels a presence inside the sword, trying to take control of his. He quickly sheathes it, withstanding the assault at his best. After he sheathed it, he tried t see if the runes that appeared meant anything he could know.

[roll0]

[Keegan__D]

Dastrum sighs, truly not wishing to resort to such measures, but it seems these two are insistent on his death. "As you wish." To emphasize that Dastrum isn't bluffing, he slides his sword into the gut of the less talkative one, making sure to take it slow, so his comrade can hear. As he ties up the other, he begins his questioning, "Where did this geode come from?"

Coupe De Grace: [roll0]
Intimidate: [roll1] plus any..situational modifiers.
I don't know what the Use Rope equivalent is in Pathfinder, but I'll roll for that in the next post if you don't want to.

[Dudu]

Once more the Owl's laughter filled this strange place. The huge bird flow down from it's roost to land before you. It now stands much taller than even a horse, but you can feel no hostility from it. The Owl then bows to you and says.

"You are indeed quite strange Heir of Filbourne. Strike me with your hammer. It is time for you to grasp your destiny."



"Odd request, but I'm too deep in the nonsense area to deny this."

atk[roll0] dmg[roll1]

[Twelve.Five]

"Tell me of this 'master', and why he wants this knife back so badly, and one of you may live."

She draws an axe, and tosses it at the guy trying to aim a bow at her. He should be a pretty easy target.

To hit, throwing axe:[roll0]
Damage:[roll1]Confirm:[roll2]
Bonus damage:[roll3]