Eberron: Shadows of the Last War (IC)

[stupnick]

ok, let's just use an AP and finish this guy off...
[roll0]

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: I'm going to alter that use of AP for you, Azreal. Instead of boosting your attack when you don't need to, I'll use it to give you a second attack.}

Azreal slams his club into the ribs of the zombie. Unfortunately, the dead flesh of the dwarf is much less susceptible to the might of the club than the glass shell was, and the zombie absorbs much of the damage.

With a gutteral roar, Azreal swings the club a second time, aiming for the face this time, and with a satisfying SHLUCK!, the skull caves in and the zombie collapses into a lifeless heap.

End Combat

Sheardon takes a moment to catch his breath, and says "Can you do anything about our wounds, Upwelling?"

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

The artificer watched as the last zombie-glass thing is felled. He winced at the noise of shattering glass and stopped dead in his tracks, straining his ears to discern if there was any response coming.


Cant rememebr if we're supposed to roll listen checks, so here's one. If not, the mod is +3.

[roll0]

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Growling somewhat at the now dead-dead zombie things, Arzeal quickly speaks We should move quick, incase they heard us. Picking up anything his companions have dropped Arzeal readies himself to move as soon as someone takes the lead or gives him direction.

[Asmodeus]

Zagrat

You detect no signs that anyone has noticed your battle. You are too far away for anyone from the camp to have heard, and the regular sounds of someone chipping away at the glass somewhere to the south has not ceased. Whoever is making that noise probably didn't hear you over it.

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock

Garrock puts away his crossbow and moves carefully over the glass towards the rest of the group. "We should probably get moving. The longer we stay here, the more likely somebody will find us. It might be an idea to toss those zombies into on of the buildings, too."

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Quickly murmering a brief prayer to Onatar, the master craftsman, Upwelling places a metal hand on Sheardon's shoulder to cease the bleeding, then attempts to assist the others in moving the newly shattered bodies.

Spontaneously convert 'Light' into 'Cure Minor' to heal Sheardon for 1 point. Strength check (if needed) [roll0]

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Yes, I agree, let's clear the bodies away and get a move on. Arzeal assists upwelling in moving the bodies, then prepares to head out.

[Asmodeus]

Sheardon
HP: 4/12

With a nod of thanks to Upwelling, Sheardon limps towards Zagrat. "Which way?"

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Satisfied that there will not be any additional response to their encounter, his curiosity again flares up as he turns towards the ringing sounds of someone digging or whatever in the glass. Pointing in that direction, he responds

"With our other choice being going through these buildings one by one, I say we start with whatever has drawn the attention of other people around here. It would not surprise me to find that whoever those people are, they are here for the same reasons we are."

With that said, he puts his shield away and begins moving in that direction with as much stealth as he can muster.

[roll0]
[roll1]

Moving half speed to not incur further penalties to either roll.

[Asmodeus]

Rose Quarry

Zagrat starts to creep forward, near the edge of a building. He is as quiet as a frieght train and as visible as a bright flashing light.

Sheardon walks up to him and says "Why don't you let me take point? You can hang back with the others, while I scout ahead.

Which way did you want to go again?"

{OOC: Please give me some clearer direction on where you want to go. The sound seems to be coming somewhere south and east.}

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Garrock takes a -100 XP Penalty for not posting Wed/Thur.}

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Zag'Rat jumps a bit as the voice behind him startles him. Nodding to his friend, he points off to the southeast and the noise of the banging and ringing that he's beeing trying to reach since they arrived at this god forsaken, ruinous town.

"I still want to see what all the banging and ringing is. Head towards that."


I had though my intentions of heading towards the sounds of digging were clear enough w/o actually knowing what direction the sounds were coming from.

[Asmodeus]

Sheardon

Sheardon moves a bit farther to the southwest of the group, and listens for a minute... (rolling, got a 19 base)

Sheardon stops in his tracks and waves you forward. "No wonder we couldn't pinpoint the sound's direction before... Its actually coming from 2 different places. One almost directly south, and another from the southwest.

Which way?"

As you listen, you find it hard to make out the distinction yourself but then again, you don't have the benefit of long pointed elven ears.

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Listening to the description given by Sheardon, Arzeal gives his opinion, Well it doesn't matter much, but i vote for the southern one.

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock

Garrock looks in both directions, then shrugs and takes a copper piece out of his pocket. "Heads, my vote is south. Tails, southwest."
[roll0] (1 = heads)

[Asmodeus]

Ruined Church (R4)

Sheardon scouts ahead a bit and the rest of you follow towards the south. When he reconvenes with you, you find that the sounds have led you to one of the more or less intact structures at the center of the village. It appears to be a church, and you can see symbols of the Sovereign Host carved into the stone walls. The roof has fallen in, but the walls appear solid and strong. A graveyard sits behind the church, and the sounds of tools striking glass echo from that direction.

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

His eye searching out the image of Onatar, Upwelling drops to a single knee, and pulls forth his warhammer. Laying his shield out, as if he were crafting it, Upwelling goes to strike it with the hammer, before suddenly remembering where he is, and catching his arm before it strikes the heavy shield.

Regaining his footing, Upwelling goes over towards Za'grat and waits to be instructed as to this latest plan, hoping that the next plan did not call for the capture and discardation of him, as it had been for Za.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Rubbing his gauntleted hand against his metallic chin in a motion he had observed many humans undertaking during deep thought, Zag'Rat contemplated their options.

He whispered his thoughts so the others might share in his thought process

"If they have undead, they likely need bodies to animate, which would mean digging up the cemetery. I dont think I want to have any more dealings with undead, and this church is certainly not likely to be the Cannith outpost we're looking for. Let's go check out the other source of the noise to the southwest."

No longer worrying about trying to be sneaky, the artificer once again removes his shield from his back and straps it to his thick, armor plated arm.

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Seeing that the source of the noise is a church, and agreeing with Zag'Rat Arzeal turns towards the other direction that the noise is coming from.

Even though you don't believe it neccessary to be cautious and quite, we should still take precaustions.

[Asmodeus]

Cannith Refinery (R3)

Across the road from the church is another building, which seems to house the other noise. This large building, constructed of walls of red marble, has the engraved symbol of an anvil and gorgon carved into the keystone above the arched doorway... the symbol of House Cannith. While the outer walls are intact, little else is left of the building. The roof, doors, and upper floors have been reduced to cinders and rubble. Light can be seen glowing from deep inside the building.

{OOC: Spost and Listen, please.}

[Diarmuid]

stupid double post

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Nodding to himself as he recognises the engraved symbol, he points it out to anyone who might not have seen it. Squinting in the darkness, he gives the place a good "once over"

[roll0]
[roll1]

[stupnick]

[roll0]
[roll1]

if you ever want to, in order to keep things going, feel free to roll these for me. if it helps with keeping the story/game moving

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: No Worries. As I have said before, I ask for these things well in advance of when I actually use them.}

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

[roll0]
[roll1]

Glancing around quickly, Upwelling tries to sneak up a bit to peer around at the exact source of the noise, rather then settle for an aproximation.

[roll2]
[roll3]

Glancing around there a touch, he then rolls back over and scurries back to the others.

[roll4]

[Asmodeus]

Upwelling

With no roof, you can see inside the church by the light of the moon. The door was burned away, so you can see through the archway easily. It appears to be devoid of life (and unlife) inside. Rubble from the collapsed ceiling fills the interior. The altar can be seen poking up through the debris, but because of the glass and rubble, details are hard to make out from a distance.

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Lying flat, Upwelling attempts to worm him way closer to the scene to better make it out.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Asmodeus]

Upwelling,
Ruined Church (R4)

As the cleric moves around the side of the building towards the source of the sound, he can see movement in the graveyard. Two more of the undead dwarves are at work inside the wrought iron fence. They toil at chipping away the sheets of glass that cover the red marble gravestones. Four of the graves have already been emptied, and the remains of four dwarves have been piled to one side.

Upwelling's attempt at stealth fails and he clangs noisily against the glass. Both of the zombies look up from their work, directly towards you. They see you. They look right at you. But even so, they do not approach, or attack. Instead, they turn back to their work. Apparently, whatever necromancer set these two to their task didn't give them orders to attack, as the other zombies had.

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Abandoning all attempts at stealth, Upwelling works his way back to the rest of the group with all the haste he can muster on the slippery glass. When he approaches the others he tells them "Two zombie-dwarves have dug out four corpses, and are working at digging out more. If we are to cease this abomination, would it not be wise to cut off thier supply of undead soldery?"

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Garrock takes a -100 XP Penalty}

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock
[roll0]
[roll1]


"Two zombie-dwarves have dug out four corpses, and are working at digging out more. If we are to cease this abomination, would it not be wise to cut off thier supply of undead soldery?"
Garrock takes a minute to respond to this, and speaks slowly and with a certain regret. "I don't agree. We're here to get what we came for and get out. As much as I'd like to do something about these people, getting into a fight with them is not a good idea. The longer we stay here and the more noise we make, the more likely the real soldiers will show up, and then we'll all end up like Za. I think at this point, the best thing we can do is complete our original mission and get out of here as quickly as possible."

Sorry about the lack of posting. I've been extremely occupied reading the shiny new 4e books cover to cover.

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: SInce no one has posted except Garrock, I'm not going to give an XP penalty. I'm guessing that everyone has just been busy with lots of 4e gunk.

However, I am going to award Garrock with an extra Action point, and 50 XP Bonus for his dedication.

Cary on.}

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Glancing around at the others for confirmation, Upwelling brushes the rubble from his form and resettles his shield.

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Arzeal nods in agreeance with Garrock as much as it would be nice to fight more of those, we should at least first find the location of this thing we are looking for.

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock

Garrock, after watching the others stand around doing nothing for a few seconds, grabs Arzeal and steers him towards the door of the Cannith refinery. Once Arzeal enters, Garrock follows behind him.

{OOC: Sorry for the heavy handedness, but nobody is doing anything, and there's no way the squishy wizard is taking point in what will likely be a fight.}

[stupnick]

Arzeal

After Garrock attemps to steer Arzeal towards a building, He realizes that they already found the building there were looking for. He easliy proceeds in first, ready for anything. clearing out the inside for the squishies

[Asmodeus]

Azreal

As you approach, your keen shifter senses can pick up the sounds of a conversation coming from deep inside the building. The voices sound human, though you can't make out details of the words.

And you can hear one other thing... The sound of glass scrapping on glass... the exact same noise that the zombies you fought earlier made when they moved.

Judging by sound alone, you figure there are two humans and one glass-zombie inside, and the glass-zombie is coming nearer.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

His focus and his lack of desire to fight any more of those strange zombies leads the artificer to agree with Garrock as well. He follows into the refinery. Whispering quietly, he urges the others on;

"We will likely need to fight whatever is in there. We should move as deep into the building as possible so the sounds do not carry further. I will lead, they will find it difficult to pierce my skin after this. I will concentrate on any men as my weapon will cause them great harm, if there are more zombies, perhaps Onatar can assist us in dispatching them swftly."

Put away weapon, cast Shield of Faith infusion on self.
Draw weapon and head further into the building.



OOC - Has it been 30 minutes since I cast my Weapon Augmentation, Personal infusion? I had imbued my mace with the Human Bane ability.

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Seeing that they aren't alone and that there are more things inside, Arzeal motions towards his friends and softly whispers to the closest one seems there are 3 more in there, get ready for another fight.

And with that, as it seems everyone is also getting ready for it, Arzeal shifts and rages and charges in there ready for action.

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Inhaling, and constricting air vents during the exhale in imitation of the organics, Upwelling mumers "Not yet have I shown myself worthy in the Great Forgemaster's eyes to do more then turn the undead. In time, I hope to grow in worthyness so that they will crumble to dust at my feet, for the glory of Onatar."

As Arzeal commits himself to battle, Upwelling sends the shimmering motes of light over the party again.

Cast: Bless. Ready shield and hammer.

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Everyone, roll initiative.

Garrock, do any prep within reason with your init roll.

Zagrat, bane has expired.}

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat
HP: 9/9
AC: 23, T: 13, FF: 22
[roll0]


Wow, 30 minutes goes by pretty fast. ~30 seconds of combat and some walking (at 40' per 6 seconds) combined with a few short conversations chews up time pretty good. Oh well.

[stupnick]

Arzeal
HP 18/24
Rage/Shift HP 6/6
AC 15, T 8, F 15
Initiative [roll0]
Rage 1/9
Shift 1/9

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Garrock takes a -100 XP Penalty, for not posting Mon/Tues.}

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock
HP: 9/9
AC: 11
Initiative: [roll0]

Garrock gears himself up for another fight, determined to do something actually useful this time. He remains behind Zag'rat and Arzeal, however.
No prep. Also, non-posting is due to exams currently ongoing. I should have notified you earlier (kicking myself now), but until the end of the week, my posting will be erratic at best.

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

[roll0]

AC: 20 T: 10 FF: 20

HP: 10/10

[Asmodeus]

Surprise Round
Begin

Initiative:
Azreal - 18 - Purple
Upwelling - 13+ - Blue
Zagrat - 13 - Pink
Garrock - 8 - Green


{Map Notes: Zombie that Azreal heard is #1. The source of the other voices hasn't been seen yet.}

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/8018/rosequarryvt8.th.jpg (http://img444.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rosequarryvt8.jpg)

[stupnick]

Arzeal
HP 18/24
Rage/Shift HP 6/6
AC 15, T 8, F 15
Initiative 18
Rage 1/9
Shift 1/9

assuming we still need balance checks, if i assume wrong disregard. [roll0]

if successful
i will charge the zombie and take a massive swing smushing it into paste before it has a chance to react
[roll1]
[roll2]


if failed
i will move action stand up, standard action i will ready to attack him, using the above rolls -2 to hit, when he charges in.

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

AC: 20 F: 20 T: 10
HP: 10/10
Initiative: 13+

[roll0]

Upwelling makes his way over to Arzeal, sliding and stumbling a bit, and pressing a wand to his back, starts his flesh-a-binding. Then muttering about the eccentricities of organics, he grabs a handful of sand from his pouch and hurls it over Arzeal, more then enough to cover all of his wounds, and improve traction slightly.

Using the wand, Arzeal now has 'Lesser Vigor' or Fast Healing 1 for 11 rounds.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat
HP: 9/9
AC: 23, T: 13, FF: 22
Initiative: 13

If there is room to move up next to Arzeal, I will do that, if not I will delay.

If necessary: [roll0]

If Balance check fails, he gets up and moves forward attempting to get into a threatening position on the zombie next to Arzeal to the North, if possible.

If Balance check succeeds, I will move up and attack the zombie.

[roll1]
[roll2]

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock
HP: 9/9
AC: 11
[roll0]

If Balance Successful:
Garrock takes a quick step, so that he can better see the zombie. He readies a spell, careful to judge the distance properly this time, then speaks the verbal component: "Glitaraas la Tero Sub la Mala-Kozo!"
Five foot step South, then casting Grease on the 10 by 10 square the zombie occupies on the map. The balance DC is 14.

If Balance Unsuccessful:
As above but using a move action to get up from prone first.

[Asmodeus]

Surprise Round
Concluded

Azreal charges forward, finding that there is no glass to deal with inside the building, and swings his club so hard, that he shatters the glass coating on the zombie, eliminating its first line of defense in one solid hit! From the other room, you hear humanoid voices saying "What was that?" Your presense is known now.

Upwelling moves up, and readies himself to give Azreal a bit of healing power (Surprise round. Single action.)

Zagrat moves up as well. (Surprise Round. Single Action).

Garrock steps quickly to the side and casts a spell before moving any closer, coating the area around the zombie with grease.

Round 1
Begin

Initiative:

Azreal
Upwelling
Zagrat
Garrock
NPCs. (nat 1 on init)

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/1162/rosequarrysy4.th.jpg (http://img206.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rosequarrysy4.jpg)

[stupnick]

Arzeal
HP 18/24
Rage/Shift HP 6/6
AC 15, T 8, F 15
Initiative 18
Rage 2/9
Shift 2/9

Taking anoher swing at the zombie, now that his protective covering is gone, Arzeal growls slightly at him, and brings his club down again.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling
AC: 20 F: 20 T: 10
HP: 10/10
Initiative: 13+

Upwelling activates the wand, setting a binding of flesh around Arzeal, after scattering sand upon him and the glass at his feet.

Scatter sand.. Move action? Activate wand. Standard action.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat
HP: 9/9
AC: 23, T: 13, FF: 22
Initiative: 13

Hissing to his companions as he brings his heavy mace to bear on the zombies,

"We must end this quickly, before they can sound an alarm. Upwelling, can you make this area more quiet?"

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock
HP: 9/9
AC: 11

Garrock takes out his crossbow, loads it, takes aim, and fires. "Why do I even bother," he mutters, as the bolt misses pathetically.
[roll0] (Includes penalty for shooting into melee.)
[roll1]

[Asmodeus]

Round 1
Concluded

Azreal swings his club, but the head of his weapon gets caught in the claw of the zombie, who shoves it right back at the shifter, with a snarl of contempt.

Upwelling imbues his ally with a spell of healing.

Zagrat brings the morningstar to impact the zombie in the chest, but the undead dwarf just absorbs the blow, unphased by it.

Garrock fires his weapon at the zombie, but his aim is every bit as poor as it ever was.

The zombie retaliates against Azreal, slamming his fist up towards his jaw. Azreal weaves like a professional boxer and the fist whiffs by so close, the thick stink of rotting flesh fills his nose.

From the other room, you can see the flickering of a torch approaching and in the doorway, you see two soldiers, dressed the same as those who you saw earlier in the camp. One is a female, the other is a male, both human.

The man draws his longsword and looks ready to charge and attack. The woman, showing a bit more caution, draws a longsword, and arms a shield, then starts shouting "HELP! INTRUDERS! HELP!"

Round 2
Begin

Initiative
Azreal - Purple
Upwelling - Blue
Zagrat - Pink
Garrock - Green
NPCS - Black

{Map Notes: 1 - Zombie, 2 - Man, 3 - Woman, Green Area - Alo's Grease}
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/6629/rosequarrybx8.th.jpg (http://img72.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rosequarrybx8.jpg)

[stupnick]

Arzeal
HP 18/24
Rage/Shift HP 6/6
AC 15, T 8, F 15
Initiative 18
Rage 3/9
Shift 3/9

Man that grease is upsetting the charge on the chick to shut her up..lol

well since i can't charge her through grease, i will just attack the zombie again

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat
HP: 9/9
AC: 23, T: 13, FF: 22
Initiative: 13

If the Zombie is not down, then I will attack the Zombie.

[roll0]
[roll1]

If the Zombie is down, then I will see if I notice the grease on the floor.

[roll2]

If I realise the grease is there, I will delay.

If I dont notice the grease, I will attempt to move towards the humans and attack.

[roll3]
[roll4]

If I make it over there, then use the attack rolls above.

[Asmodeus]

Round 2
Continued

Azreal slams his club against the zombie, cracking several bones in the creature's body, but still not dropping him, although one more hit like that would certainly do the job.

Zagrat's attack fails to penetrate the zombies defenses.

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock
HP: 9/9
AC: 11

Garrock dismisses his Grease, realizing that it's doing much more harm than good. "Why is that spell always so useless... It's supposed to disrupt the enemies, not us!" he says with frustration.

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Seeing his options limited, Upwelling pulls forth another handful of sand and flings it in the direction of the shouting woman, intoning as he does so "From the Forge's heat, may a ember alight, to burn the tongues of those whom silence break, this night!" Then quickly murmering to himself, he pulls forth a pinch from another of his pouches and rubs it to dust between his fingers, his hand taking on a glow which he gestures towards the woman with as he continues "and if voice continues, may the fires consume you!"

[roll0]

(Bluffing that I'm casting a spell that will immolate her if she continues to shout, actually casting 'Light')

(Edit: changed wording of mock-spell slightly.)

[Seffbasilisk]

[roll0]

(Also note, sense motive is an active skill, and she'd have to choose to roll it, rather then a passive skill such as listen. So is spellcraft. and spellcraft is 'Trained Only.')

[Asmodeus]

Round 2
Concluded

Azreal slams his club against the zombie, cracking several bones in the creature's body, but still not dropping him, although one more hit like that would certainly do the job.

Upwelling attempts to bluff the pair of humans, but they don't seem to take the bait.

Zagrat attacks, but he fails to penetrate the Zombie's defenses.

Garrock, regretting his choice of spell, dismisses the Grease. He also notes that the shouts for help have attracted another pair of Glass Zombies, who are shambling in from the north. They must have been nearby, because the shouts are heavily muffled, coming from inside of a building.

The zombie attacks Azreal and lands his fist square in the gut of the shifter. (5 dmg)

The woman says "Get in there and help the zombie!" to the man before she resumes shouting for help. The man(3) charges towards Zagrat, giving a bit of a lopsided lunge at the end that takes away most of his momentum from the charge. Zagrat can't move out of the way in time, but his heavy plating manages to prevent the blade from doing any damage. The woman moves in slowly, and cautiously, watching how things move with an appraising eye.

Round 3
Begin

Initiative:
Azreal
Upwelling
Zagrat
Garrock
NPCS - (#1,4,5 - Zombie. #2 - Female Human. #3 - Male Human)

{OOC: AoO for Zagrat and Azreal against the human.
You can save your light spell, Upwelling, since they clearly didn't buy the bluff.}

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/719/rosequarrygl8.th.jpg (http://img523.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rosequarrygl8.jpg)

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat
HP: 9/9
AC: 23, T: 13, FF: 22
Initiative: 13

Taking advantage of his foe's recklessness, the artificer swings his mace at the man, glad to have an opponent he feels confident he can damage.


[roll=Damage]1d8+2

[Diarmuid]

damn typo

[roll0]

[stupnick]

Arzeal
HP 18/24
Rage/Shift HP 6/6
AC 15, T 8, F 15
Initiative 18
Rage 3/9
Shift 3/9

opportunity attack
[roll0]
[roll1]

once i find that out, the status of teh human i will take my turn

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock
HP: 9/9
AC: 11

Garrock points his finger at one of the newly arrived zombies, firing off a blue ray. "Lineo ek Kolda!"
Done that, he moves into the building, stopping next to Upwelling. "More zombies coming from the north."
Casting Ray of Frost, then moving behind Upwelling.
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Asmodeus]

Round 3
Continued

Zagrat manages to connect against the warrior, injuring him, but not dropping him. Azreal misses competely.

{OOC: Thats just for your AoOs. go ahead and take your normal actions now.}

[stupnick]

Arzeal
HP 18/24
Rage/Shift HP 6/6
AC 15, T 8, F 15
Initiative 18
Rage 4/9
Shift 4/9

As the human moves forward to attack, Arzeal turns hit attention on him ignoring the zombie.

[roll0]
[roll1]

btw, when the zombie hit me, you didn't say how much i took...

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat
HP: 9/9
AC: 23, T: 13, FF: 22
Initiative: 13

If Arzeal's attack drops the human, then:


Zag'Rat turns to the shifter and barks,

"Arzeal, you deal with the zombies, my mace is having little to no effect, I'll handle the human!

Moving past the zombie to threaten Human #2 and attacking if possible.

[roll0]
[roll1]


If Arzeal's attack does not drop the human, then:



Zag'Rat turns to the shifter and barks,

"Arzeal, you deal with the zombies, my mace is having little to no effect, I'll handle the humans!

Bringing his heavy mace to bear, he once again swings at the man in front of them, barring the way.

[ooce] use rolls from above spoiler]

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

AC: 20
HP: 10/10
Initiative: 13+

Looking around, and mentally calculating their ever-decreasing odds of survival, Upwelling lifts the arm burdened by his spiked shield, and ensuring his holy symbol is uncovered, he gathers his energies as he steps back to maximize the number of undead he might target, and lets loose a pulse of positive energy, hoping to turn the zombies that are swarming towards them.


Turning in order: 1,3,4,5,2. [roll0] [roll1]

The pulse barely leaves his metallic skin before it dissipitates however. Tapping a hand to the warhammer on his belt, Upwelling trades his wand for it, and begins a hymn to Onatar.

"The forge glows hot, but the tool is not of strength needed.
Oh Forgemaster, accept your tool back into the forge,
renew it with the heat of your presence, the power of your majesty,
and forge him anew, with the strength required.
This tool approaches the end of it's capacity, when it breaks,
bind it once more to your eternal forge, and fashion it anew,
so as to guide your light better, to this shoddy world."

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock
HP: 9/9
AC: 11

Garrock takes gets his crossbow out again and takes a shot at the male human. (Unless Arzeal dropped him, in which case he'll shoot the other human.)
[roll0] Includes -4 for shooting into melee/cover as appropriate.
[roll1]

EDIT: OOC: :smallsigh:. This kind of pathetic uselessness is why I like 4e.

[Asmodeus]

Round 3
Continued

Azreal's attack drops the human with frightening efficiency, leaving only the zombie between him and the woman.

Upwelling attempts to repel the undead, but his holy power sputters out.

{OOC: Zagrat, you cannot move through the zombie, who is blocking your path. Please repost an alternate move.}

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat
HP: 9/9
AC: 23, T: 13, FF: 22
Initiative: 13

I misunderstood human #3's movement, not realising he had moved through a friendy square.

Wishing he could get past the zombie to the human behind, Zag'Rat levels his mace at the undead monster in front of him.



Use rolls from previous post.

[Asmodeus]

Round 3
Concluded

Zagrat attacks the Zombie, and lands a solid hit, but sadly, the undead creature doesn't even seem to notice, as it continues its assault on Azreal. This time, the wiley shifter is ready and he nimbly avoids the blow.

Garrock fires his crossbow, but its a wild shot and doesn't even come close to hitting its target.

The other zombies charge forward, attacking Garrock as soon as they get within range. With their enhanced speed, both of them manage to land solid fists of ice against the feeble mage. (5+2=7 dmg)

The woman at the back moves up to the mouth of the hallway, and readies to defend herself when the zombie inevitably goes down.

Round 4
Begin

Initiative:
Azreal
Upwelling
Zagrat
Garrock
NPCs

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/6748/rosequarryaw8.th.jpg (http://img291.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rosequarryaw8.jpg)

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock
HP: 2/9
AC: 11

Garrock backs away from the zombies carefully, making sure to end up with Upwelling between him and the them.

{OOC: Withdraw 10ft west.)

[stupnick]

Arzeal
HP 16/24
Rage/Shift HP 6/6
AC 15, T 8, F 15
Initiative 18
Rage 4/9
Shift 4/9

Attacking the Zombie in front of him
[roll0]
[roll1]

if the zombie dies, i will move to be infront of upwelling to be in thh way of the other zombies.

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Azreal kills his zombie and moves to engage the others.}

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

AC: 20
HP: 10/10
Initiative: 13+

Fortified by his prayer, Upwelling once more strives to send the undead minions scurrying away. Gathering his energies, he sends forth another pulse of positive energy.

[roll0]
[roll1]

This flash is far brighter, and recognizing it as a sign, Upwelling announces "Onatar is with us."

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat
HP: 9/9
AC: 23, T: 13, FF: 22
Initiative: 13

Zag'Rat feels the power erupt from his warforged companion, Onatar's warmth washing over him. Bolstered by the display, he throws himself with new fervor into the fray.



If the zombie in front of me is gone, move to attack the human. If not, delay until Arzeal attacks the zombie. If he drops it, move to attack the human, if not, attack the zombie.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: All of the zombies flee from Upwelling. AoOs for those who are eligible}

[Rigel Cyrosea]

I'm not sure whether my earlier post was out of turn or just at the end of the previous round. If I've already acted already this round, this post can be ignored.

Garrock
HP: 2/9
AC: 11

Garrock loads his crossbow fires at the female human.
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Asmodeus]

Round 4
Concluded

Azreal beats down one of the zombies and moves around to try and take on the others. Unfortunately, before he can, the cleric forces them to flee.

Zagrat closes with the last foe and makes a swing that she easily deflects with her shield. And his bulk spoils Garrock's aim, since the wizard can't risk hitting his friend.

She swings at Zagrat, but his defenses are just as good as hers.

Round 5
Begin

Initiative:
Azreal
Upwelling
Zagrat
Garrock
NPCs

Map Notes: Zombies are fleeing

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3585/rosequarryzp5.th.jpg (http://img145.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rosequarryzp5.jpg)

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Not sure if you are meaning me for the AoO

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

AoO vs #4

[roll0]
[roll1]

As the pulse of energy leaves his body, Upwelling, rejoicing in his God's presence isn't so overwhelmed as to lose track of where he is. As the zombie nearest him aims to run, he lashses out with his Warhammer, aiming to land a solid blow as the abomination flees. Organics, when dead, should stay dead.

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: You both hit, and neither manages to kill anything, so the zombies still flee}

[stupnick]

Arzeal
HP 16/24
Rage/Shift HP 6/6
AC 15, T 8, F 15
Initiative 18
Rage 5/9
Shift 5/9

Seeing the zombies run away, Arzeal turns and charges towards the human.

(since i can't get to him that's all i do. i will move right next to him.)

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat
HP: 9/9
AC: 23, T: 13, FF: 22
Initiative: 13

Zag'Rat looks over his shoulder briefly and sees the shifter moving up to help him and shakes his head,

"Go, finish those things off before they bring the rest of this camp down around us. I will handle this woman."

Hoping to question her later, the artificer aims for the less vulnerable portions of her body with his weapon.


[roll0] (-4 for non lethal taken into account)
[roll1]

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: The zombies are running away from the camp. not towards it.}

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

AC: 20
HP: 10/10
Initiative: 13+

Simply saying "Get them Arzeal. I will keep others as safe as I can." Upwelling moves up, and takes a swing at the woman with his warhammer, while keeping a wary eye out in case the undead return.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: HOlding for Garrock}

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock
HP: 2/9
AC: 11

Garrock takes his last bolt out and loads it. He takes aim and fires another shot at the woman, determined to actually hit something this time. Unfortunately, his determination does not translate into actual ability.
[roll0] (-4 for shooting into melee included.)
[roll1]

{OOC: I was going to action point it, but with a roll like that, it'd be a waste.}

[Asmodeus]

Round 5
Concluded

Azreal rushes forward, getting in range to attack the woman, but Zagrat is in the way, and she blocks further access to the room, creating a choke-point for her own defense. The result is that the shifter can't get close enough.

Upwelling follows behind, but also can't get close enough, so he stops behind Azreal, At the front of the line for punishment is Zagrat, though his swing is easily deflected by the shield the woman carries. The shield sparks with magic as it is struck.

Garrock, realizing the futility of engaging in melee at this point, tries to fire a shot over his friends head, but unfortunately, with that many bodies in the way, his ability to get a clean shot was practically nil, and he wasts his last bolt.

The woman gives a warcry and attacks Zagrat with her longsword. She is obviously a trained warrior, because she knows where to hit to get past his thick skin, and cause some actual damage. (6 slashing dmg)

Round 6
Begin

Initiative:
Azreal
Upwelling
Zagrat
Garrock
NPCs

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/1460/rosequarrysk6.th.jpg (http://img186.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rosequarrysk6.jpg)

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Upwelling calls to Arzeal as Zag'rat takes a hit, "Move you bulky meatpuppet! 'Forged are suffering!" and does his best to position himself so as to not be in Arzeal's way when (IF) he listens and clears a path.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat
HP: 5/9
AC: 23, T: 13, FF: 22
Initiative: 13

Gritting his teeth against the pain of the sword cutting through his armored hide, Zag'Rat hunkers down behind his shield and attempts to push the woman back so his companions can help him bring her down.



Attempting a bullrush, provoking an AoO. If AoO fails,

[roll0]

I will push her back as far as possible depending on the results of the two Strength checks.

[stupnick]

Arzeal
HP 18/24
Rage/Shift HP 6/6
AC 15, T 8, F 15
Initiative 18
Rage 6/9
Shift 6/9

Arzeal seems to be acting as the warforged behind him asks, and moves back 20 feet. Turning and taking a running charge back towards the group Arzeal takes the air in an attempt to leap over the female and flank her from behind.

DC 20 jump check to jump 20 feet and therefore 5ft in the air in both zagrats and her square. she would get an AoO on me, but that should put me 2 squares behind her.
[roll0] +6 str, +4 speed, +2 race, -2 armor

((**wish me luck**))

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Make a str check, azreal.

Zagrat, give me a str, or a balance check. Your choice.}

[stupnick]

strength check
[roll0]

what's str check for?

[Asmodeus]

strength check
[roll0]

what's str check for?

{OOC: You only got up 5 ft, so you can't get over zagrat's and the woman's head cleanly. You're basically making something of an air-borne bull rush/flying tackle. }

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

[roll0]

[Asmodeus]

Azreal

Azreal makes a running leap to try and clear the bottle-neck situation. He goes barreling over Upwelling, who ducks out of the way. He knocks Zagrat around a bit, but the warforged takes it in stride and keeps his position. The woman, however, is completely taken by surprise and Azreal knocks her off her feet, landing a few feet away from her.

{OOC: Azreal lands 10 ft, in front of Zagrat, and the woman is now prone in the same square as Azreal.

Zagrat, I think your bullrush is moot now, so feel free to post something new.}

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Seeing Arzeal finally clear the way, Upwelling steps up and expending the last of his repairing spells, works to knit his fellow 'forged back to whole.

[roll0]

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat
HP: 9/9
AC: 23, T: 13, FF: 22
Initiative: 13

Shocked at the sudden flurry of activity over his head and in front of him, the artificer stands transfixed for a moment....almost unable to process the writhing mass of body parts in front of him and the events leading up to it.

The sudden influx of magic knitting his armored hide back together wakes him out of his stupor. With an appreciative nod over his shoulder, he steps forward, making room for those behind him to pass, and levels his heavy mace at the woman on the ground.

[roll0] (bonus for opponent being prone not taken into account, couldnt remember if it's an AC penalty or bonus to attacks against, please modify as needed)
[roll1]

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Garrock?}

[Rigel Cyrosea]

{OOC: :smallsigh: I'm awake, I'm awake...}

Garrock
HP: 2/9
AC: 11

Garrock, entirely unable to contribute anything meaningful to the fight, decides to look into the small rooms to the north and south.

{OOC: Spot check, since I'm pretty sure I don't have time to actually search the rooms.
[roll0]}

[Asmodeus]

Round 6
Concluded

Upwelling grants Onatar's blessing upon Zagrat and repairs the damage dealt to him.

Zagrat moves forward and tries to attack, but even on her back, the woman is a warrior and rolls out of the way.

Garrock, hoping to learn more by using his eyes than he could with using his fists, investigatesthe two side rooms. He finds that the northern room is mostly empty, but the southern room holds piles and piles of broken glass. It seems that the zombie which they had originally encountered had been carrying loads of it out of the main chamber and dumping it here to get it out of the way.

The woman tries to get to her feet(AoO from Azreal and Zagrat) and attacks the bat-crap crazy shifter that tackled her, feeling she can get through his defenses much easier than Zagrats. Unfortunately, the knock-down seems to have left her a bit shaken, and she fails to land a solid hit.

Round 7
Begin

Initiative:
Azreal
Upwelling
Zagrat
Garrock
NPCs

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/8454/rosequarrybx9.th.jpg (http://img515.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rosequarrybx9.jpg)

[stupnick]

Arzeal
HP 19/24
Rage/Shift HP 6/6
AC 15, T 8, F 15
Initiative 18
Rage 7/9
Shift 7/9

AoO
[roll0] +2 more for flank
[roll1]

Arzeal takes advantage of the female who is still a little thrown off by what just happened, and strikes at her again

[roll2] +2 more for flank
[roll3]

[stupnick]

action pointing the 2nd attack,
[roll0]

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Initiative: 13+
AC: 20
HP: 10/10

Squeezing past his ally, Upwelling positions himself to be an aid in deactivating the loud and unfriendly woman. Raising his warhammer high in unspoken praise to Onatar, he swings it in a short arc, doing his best to assist, by trying to stave in the woman's head.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

AoO

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Asmodeus]

End Combat

The woman manages to dodge Azreal's attack, but when Zagrat comes at her from behind, she takes a glancing blow. Once she gets to her feet, Azreal makes a vicous attack that drops her right back to the floor. This time, she doesn't get up.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat
HP: 9/9

Standing over the woman, the 'forged watches for a moment making sure she is incapacitated.

Calling over Upwelling, he asks,

"Is she still alive? If possible I wouldnt mind asking her some questions eventually."

Looking up, he gestures towards the man on the ground with his shield while putting away his morningstar,

"Arzeal, grab him and bring him inside, we should get down these stairs before anyone comes looking to see what the commotion was."

Waving his free hand over his shield, Zag'Rat utters a few quick words and a warm glow begins emitting from the protective item. With a nod to the others, he begins heading into the structure and down the stairs.

[stupnick]

Arzeal
(after vigor fades 21/24)

Still with fresh wounds, Arzeal hoists the bodies over his shoulders and carries them down the stairs after Zag'Rat.

Coming down off his rage induced high, he is still panting heavily and still shaking a little in the arms. Drawing out his water skin at the bottom of the stairs where he places the bodies, he takes a cool refreshing drink, and then offers it around to the others.

[Asmodeus]

Cannith Refinery

Azreal hides the bodies of the man and woman, carrying them down the hall (no stairs, just a hall) and dumping them in the main room.

This large 50 foot wide chamber is clearly where the second source of chiseling had been coming from. There are tools here and much of the glass has been chipped away. The floor emerges from the shattered rubble, formed from red marble and decorated with an embossed design.

There are a few enormous blocks of rough red stone. This place was probably where the marble was shaped, polished, and prepared for shipping. Large fireplaces occupy the center of the north, south, and west walls. Each of the three fireplaces is made of a different type of stone; red to the north, white to the south, and black to the west. There are also six statues standing around the room. A pair standing to each side of each fireplace. Each statue is made of the same material as the fireplace it flanks.

The floor of the chamber features a detailed map of central khorvaire, showing the nations of Aundair, Cyre, Karnath, Thrane, and Breland. While cities, topgraphical features, and even majore mines are shown in bas releif on the map, there is no text identifying any of the locations.

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

[roll0]

Attempting to stabalize and get an appraisal of the woman's health, Upwelling holsters his Warhammer and pulls out the wand again, in case it's necessary.

[Asmodeus]

Upwelling

The woman is beyond your aid.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

The artificer walks slowly around the room, looking for anything out of place, his eyes lingering on each statue as his gaze sweeps the room.

[roll0]



Can you describe the statues? Gender, apparell, weaponry if any, direction of eye focus, house/family/organization/religion crests/symbols if any.

[Asmodeus]

Cannith Refinery

As Zagrat takes a closer look at the statues, he notices a few things about them.

First, they are all made of the same material as the fireplaces that they flank. They all face away from the wall they stand next to.

There is a Red Dragon, and a Red Lion. There is a White Wolf and a White Falcon. And there is a Black Knight and a Black Griffon. He finds it hard to determine a gender on any of the statues, and there are no crests plainly visible.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Not seeing anything that stood out as an obvious hiding place for something, and worried about the very real possibility of someone coming to check on the humans they had dispatched, Zag'Rat reached into the pouch at his side and produced a roll of scrolls. Thumbing through them until he had the proper one, he replaced the others and unfurled his selection.

Moving over to Garrock, he offers the scroll. Looking between Garrock and the cleric he asks,

"The scroll will allow you to detect the presence of secret doors or passages. Can one of you check the area for magical auras? I want to avoid another trap like the one we encountered in the sewers. If it's a glyph, I have a scroll that will erase it. Though I hope that will not be necessary, and the Keycharm the lady provided for us will allow us to bypass any such wardings."

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Azreal takes a -100 XP Penalty for not posting.
Upwelling takes a -50 XP Penalty.}

[stupnick]

Arzeal

(Bah, ive been here waiting for something to respond to.. i figure i had a day to post still... that sucks..)

Arzeal stands there watching everyone else do what they are doing, Drinking from his waterskin and attemping to wash this sand off him.

[Asmodeus]

Garrock

Garrock stands there, drooling on himself, or something equivilent, until someone asks him to do otherwise.

[Diarmuid]

I did specifically direct a question at both Garrock and Upwelling, and handed a scroll to Garrock hoping he would y'know...cast the spell on it. While I understand Garrock likely didnt leave you the instructions you asked for on how he wanted his char to act...there's not really any need to take that out on the rest of us by being especially difficult.

[Seffbasilisk]

Sorry for laxness, life's been....chaotic.

Upwelling

"Onatar has not granted me such powers this day. If we are to make camp, I could prepare one at dawn's light, but for now, I have no such orison."

[Asmodeus]

Garrock

Garrock takes the scroll and casts the spell. The scroll crumbles to dust, and drifts across the air on an unfelt current. The dust coats a single stone set in the northwest corner of the room. You can quickly tell that the stone does not have the exact same coloring as the rest of the masonry in the area.

"A secret compartment. Care to check it for traps?"

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Looking up to see what just happened, Arzeal remarks Good Call.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Smiling at the results of the scroll, the artificer inwardly patted himself on the back for preparing the scrolls in his case as diligently as he had.

Nodding a silent "Thank you." to Garrock, he moves cautiously over to stand in front of the marked stone. Reaching within himself, he searches for the inner harmony he has become so used to, the one that lets him align himself with the energies inherent in all things magical. Pushing those senses out, he tries to determine if the stone has been warded with any kind of magic.



Not really sure if the Artificer ability can really be used like this or not, but I'm giving it a whirl anyway in the absence of Garrock. Modifier is +5, you were making these rolls so I wouldnt know the roll result.



That finished, he puts his findings aside for a moment and begins a more mundane observation of the stone and the areas around it, looking for any kind of mechanism, wire, etc and that might be used for a regular trap.

[roll0]

[Diarmuid]

Using an Action Point on the Search roll, [roll0]

[Asmodeus]

Zagrat

Zagrat can detect a faint trace of magic. But its not coming from the stone, but rather, from whatever is behind it.

He cannot detect any traps.

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Well it would seem this is the place we are looking for, does anyone have any idea's on how we are to get past this?

ARzeal goes over and inspects that area, trying to see if anything moves.

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Upwelling detaches himself from the group for a moment, taking the time to thank the great God Onatar in private, then returning to the group, he looks over them for the wounded, and tries to guage who requires his assistance the most.

[roll0]

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Looking over his shoulder, he says to the others with a wry smile,

"I do not see any traps, but I have come to learn that that does not always mean there are not traps. It might be best if you all stood back a ways while I see about removing the brick and seeing what's behind it. Something there is giving off a magical aura."

Running his hands around the edges of the brick, he sees if he can pry it out, or perhaps slide one of the tools from his set of lockpicks around it to help with leverage.


Not sure what kind of roll, if any, is needed for this.

[roll0] Apply whatever mod you feel is appropriate.

[Asmodeus]

Zagrat

Zagrat finds a small casket concealed within the hidden chamber. Inside of it is the pleasant sum of 50 platinum coins, and a curious vial, which is the source of the magic he detected. It is labeled in common as 'Compound 12'. The ink on the label is very faded.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

The warforged gingerly reaches into the hidden chamber and pulls out the casket. Squatting down, he places it on the ground and eases the lid off. Hopeful expectation, shifts to confusion as he sees the contents.

Looking up to the others, he voices his concern,

"Some platinum coins and this strange vial. Nothing that matches the description of the schema from our letter."

Again, reaching to his side..he fishes out a pouch from within the haversack. Scooping the coins up, he places them in the pouch with the other platinum coins. As he does so, he removes one of the coins they had been given, and holds it up next to one of those taken from the casket, comparing the two.

"We should not tarry in this place much longer, someone is bound to notice the distinct lack of digging. Is there anything else here we should investigate?"

Turning his head to Arzeal, he asks the man,

"Do either of those two have anything of interest on them?"

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Shruging towards Zag'Rat, Arzeal then turns and starts to rummage through there bodies. Looking for anything that would catch his eye or stand out to him.

[Asmodeus]

Azreal

As you rummage through the bodies, you find the following...

On the woman, you find a set of chainmail armor, covered by a tabard marked with a clawed green hand design., a dagger, a masterwork longsword, and the heavy shield she was carrying. The shield is marked with the same design on the front as the tabard, but it has a small crystal shard set in the center. She also has a vial with an amber colored liquid inside, and a pouch with 5 silver and 12 gold pieces.

The male has a matching set of tabard, chainmail, and shield, though this shield doesn't have the same crystal inset, or quality. There is a crossbow with 20 bolts. He also has a pouch with 6 silver, and 7 gold coints, and two sets of identification papers. Finally, there is a flail, of average quality.

Zagrat

The coins you've just discovered are obviously years old. They may have even been here since the day of mourning.

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Upwelling waits for his optical sensors to respond.

(OOC: Give me your damn HP totals people, so I can figure out who needs healin'.)

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Taking all the items from them, Arzeal piles them up and asks for the haversack to place them into. Do you think this is the location we are looking for?

((as i posted in my first out of combat post, i am at 21/24))

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat
Hit Points: 9/9

Shrugging, Zag'Rat hands over the magical bag and offers his thoughts on the current predicament,

"The letter stated we would find the schema in a secret worklab, and that a record of the hidden worklab could be found in the Cannith outpost here in Rose Quarry. Though I find the logic of writing down the location of a hidden worklab to be questionable."

As this line of thinking sets into the warforged's mind, he follows it through various logical paths.

"Perhaps it was not written down somewhere, but instead was left in a hidden message that one would not be able to read if they werent looking for it."

Looking down at the floor again, he makes shooing motions with his hands, his voice is rife with excitement,

"Everyone to the edge of the room, I think our answer may lie in the map on the floor! Whitehearh is supposed to be in Cyre, look in that area!"

Zag'Rat attempts to locate the area of Cyre on the map and look for any specific sites that might be drawn there.

[Asmodeus]

Zag'Rat attempts to locate the area of Cyre on the map and look for any specific sites that might be drawn there.

Zagrat can see several symbols indicating cities, forts, and mines within the boundries of the lost nation of Cyre. One of them must be the location you seek. However, none of them bear any labels.

The only symbol on the map is the Cannith Seal, made from black marlble, and embedded in the map in front of the black fireplace and statues. Unfortunately, the seal is not inside of Cyre, More near the Eldreen Reaches.

Additionally, part of the map is still obscured by the glass that was being cleared away by the soldiers and the zombie. The glass covers the southern-most part of the nation of Cyre.

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Upwelling takes a -50 XP Penalty}

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Not relishing the idea of having to continue the digging that was being done, Zag'Rat instead moves to the black Cannith symbol on the map and lays his metallic hand upon it, keeping one on the map and the other on the black firepace/statues.

If that has no effect, he calls for Arzeal to bring the haversack closer to him and retreives the keycharm from the side pocket. With a silent prayer to Onatar, he touches the keycharm to the black Cannith seal in the glass, once again keeping an eye on the black statues/fireplace as well as the map in the floor.

"Does anyone know anything about House Cannith that might help us solve this riddle?"

[Asmodeus]

Zagrat

You can detect no magic within the seal, the fireplace, or the statues. It appears that this is a more mundane puzzle.

The keycharm, though obviously magical, serves no purpose without an appropriate keyhole, and you see no such opening on or around the black cannith seal.

Garrock

While Zagrat tests the keycharm, Garrock says "There is another seal over here." He points out an identical seal of House Cannith, though it is red in color, and situated in front of the red fireplace. It is partially covered by the glass.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Unsure of what he thought might actually happen when he brought the keycharm out, the artificer is not terribly surprised when nothing of note occurs. Putting the item away and re-donning the haversack, he turns to look in the direction Garrock is, offering

"Someone, see if there is a similar white seal in front of the white fireplace. If there is, why dont we triangulate the point where the three would intersect on the map. Or perhaps we would need to push on all three at the same time."

Zag'Rat maintains his vigil over the black seal, motioning for Garrock to do the same near the red, hoping one of their other companions will move to the third area.

edit - I have no idea what you're talking about, that said white the whole time...

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Moves over to follow the directions given by Zag'rat, while letting him know that he really knows nothing about house Cannith.

[Asmodeus]

Azreal

Azreal, after a few moments of searching, finds another seal, but it is buried under a couple feet of glass.

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Looking around he looks for what ever the others were using to chip away at the glass and begin doing so. if nothing is found he will use the shield off the human male (the one that looks kinda dinky)

[Asmodeus]

There are tools for excavation lying around. After a few minutes of hard labor, Azreal manages to clear away the seal.

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Upwelling, confused, and slightly disoriented, simply keeps watch.

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Picking up the seal he hands it off to Zag'rat

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: The seal is built into the floor using stone. You can't actually pick it up. Sorry if I mis-represented that.
Also, the symbols worn by those two warriors are green. Not white. I've corrected my original post for that.}

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Upwelling wanders over to the two corpses Arzeal uncerimoniously dumped, and pulling the tabards off one of them, wanders back towards the group, looking from the tabard to the map.

[Asmodeus]

Cannith Refinery

Pressing on the seals does nothing. They do not move at all.

The position between the three seals has no symbols. It is a bare spot within the borders of Thrane.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Kneeling on the ground, the 'forged stares at the black symbol on the floor...trying to will an answer to come. As he gets up and triangulates the center point he finds nothing of interest at his feet.

Turning around and around, his gaze sweeps the room,

"We are clearly missing something. Something on this map must show the location of...."

As his voice trails off, his spin stops just as he turns to face the white fireplace flanked by the white statues. As his voice comes back to him, it is full of hope and excitment and his arm lashes out, finger extended towards the fireplace

"Whitehearth!"

Surprised at the volume of his own voice, Zag'Rat flinches as it resounds off the walls a bit. Continuing in a more cautious voice, he hurries over to the white fireplace,

"Hearth is another word for fireplace. This is a white hearth.....Whitehearth!"

Pointing at the glass covering the southern portion of Cyre, Zag'Rat motions for Arzeal to clear it away,

"Clear the rest of the glass from Cyre, perhaps there is something hidden there, I'll check the fireplace to see if something is hidden there as well. It would certainly be a stroke of luck if the schema were hidden here. I was not relishing the idea of traversing the Mournland."

Moving to the fireplace, Zag'Rat begins searching in earnest.

[roll0]



I'm glad I went and looked at map of Eberron and was reminded that Cyre became the Mournland =).

As for searching for more secrets...Detect Secret Doors works much like Detect Magic in that you concentrate on it and get presence of secrets, number and location of secrets, and then the mechanism or trigger for specific secret portals....so Garrock should have been able to search the whole room for such things.


"....secret doors, compartments, caches, and so forth. Only passages, doors, or openings that have been specifically constructed to escape detection are detected by this spell..."

[Asmodeus]

Zagrat

Thought the idea itself is brilliant, it seems that it was too obvious, for despite a very thorough search, you find nothing unusual in the fireplace made of white stone.

{OOC: Getting Warmer....

Though the spell has already completed, and no other secrets were revealed by it.}

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Taking the green tunic, Upwelling finds the place where if the other three are lined up, the green seal should be, and places the tunic there. Watching it for a moment, he takes a step back from it.

[Asmodeus]

Upwelling

Yep... Its a tunic.

It sits there lifelessly.

[Asmodeus]

Cannith Refinery

With the three of you putting in your assistance... (Garrock is about useless for manual labor) you have the nation of Cyre cleared away within a very short time.

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Arzeal helps them clear away what is needed, and takes a look around the room to see if there is anything they missed.

First seeing if the seals move/twist/turn, then seeing if there is any kind of location on the map that would, if not then how about the fireplace.

[Asmodeus]

Arzeal

Arzeal helps them clear away what is needed, and takes a look around the room to see if there is anything they missed.

First seeing if the seals move/twist/turn, then seeing if there is any kind of location on the map that would, if not then how about the fireplace.

{OOC: I am assuming you are taking 10 for search checks, unless you state otherwise.}

Azreal

Azreal finds nothing that moves twists or turns among the seals, on the map, or in the fireplaces.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

The artificer seems singly-focused on the fireplace, the connection was just too strong in his mind to be discarded so easily. Stepping back from the white fireplace, he again reaches into the haversack and retreives a torch. Digging around in a belt pouch, he produces his flint & steel. Striking the two together he aims the sparks at the head of the torch until it begins to burn.

Looking to the others, he says,

"Be prepared for anything..."

..and then he tosses the torch into the fireplace.

[Asmodeus]

Zagrat

Yep... Its a torch.

It burns normally. There is nothing inside the fireplace to catch and start a bigger fire nor is there any special reaction to the presence of flame.

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Uncertain of how to proceed, Upwelling continues to work clearing off the map, working out tiny spinters of glass.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Zag'Rat stares intently the fire radiating from the tip of the torch, almost mesmerized by the dancing flames. After a couple of minutes, his shoulders slump, and he resignedly walks over to the torch and snuffs it out, replacing it into the magical haversack.

Walking over to the Cyre area of the map, he looks down at where the seal sits in the now-ruined nation, defeat clearly evident in his voice.

"Perhaps my initial hypothesis is correct, and this seal merely denotes where in the Mournland this "Whitehearth" can be found."

The inflection on the regions name is unmistakeable, the artifcer has no desire to step within the boundaries of those mists and potentially meet his wayward brethren within them.

Turning to the others, he asks,

"Does anyone else have any ideas? I'm fresh out."

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Well, I don't believe they would send us here just to send us someplace else. It doesn't make sense. Since nothing in this room moves or turns, it's rather odd that it would be here. Is there anything in the bag that she gave us to help us here?

[Diarmuid]

Zag'rat

The artificer shakes his head at Arzeal. Reaching into the haversack, he withdraws the letter from Lady Elaydren and scans it to refresh his memory,

"Actually....that's exactly what it sounds like her plan was. We are to find a record here containing the locations of all of House Cannith's hidden workshops. Among those locations should be the location of Whitehearth in Cyre. Once we have that location, the letter specifies we should travel to the Mournland and find Whitehearth and the second schema. Once we've secured the schema, we should head back to Rhukaan Draal where she will meet us."

He hands the paper over to Arzeal in the hopes that perhaps the shifter will have some other understanding of the lady's words...as he has no desire to go into the Mournland.

(Letter)
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/2597/haversackmessagevc4.jpg

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock

"A record containing the locations of all their hidden workshops. What if there are three workshops? One in the Eldeen Reaches, marked by this black seal." Garrock walks over and points to the black seal. "One in Karnath, marked by that seal." He points to the red seal. "And one in Cyre, marked by the white seal. I think you were right the first time, Zag'rat, the location of the white seal marks the position of Whitehearth. We need to copy this map so we can find Whitehearth in the Mournland... I'm definitely not looking forward to going in there."

[Asmodeus]

Garrock

It would quickly become apparent that the seals are too large to mark a single location on the map. The scale of the map means each seal covers several dozen square miles.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

The artficer shakes his head slightly while considering the map and the wizard's comments,

"I had considered that, but the area each seal covers is quite a large amount of real estate. The letter makes it sound like we should be getting much clearer direction."

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock

"...Oh. Well, that was my best guess. I was never any good at geography, anyway. Za always took that class for me..." Garrock trails off, obviously still feeling the pain of Za's death.

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

"Is there perhaps some symbol the seals make up?" asks Upwelling.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

The artificer holds his hands up as if surrendering, not really sure how to proceed from here.

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Out of idea's Arzeal, just shrugs, Well, maybe we just search the area where the seal is, in the mornlands, it's a large area, but it's all we have at the moment.

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock

{OOC: Having read hints #1 and #2.}

"Wait, I've got another idea. We know Whitehearth is in the Mournland. And the Mournland used to be Cyre. What if we go through the marked locations in that area and try to figure out what they all are. If there's only one we can't explain, maybe it marks the position of Whitehearth. I think I can probably remember all important sites in Cyre, but I don't have much of an idea which would be where. Does anybody know much about geography in that area?"
[roll0]
To remember all the important sites in Cyre.

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Smirking towards the wizard, considering that i didn't even go to what you guys consider schooling, i don't really know this area at all. if it has to deal with my specialty tho, i am your shifter.

[Asmodeus]

Garrock

You can easily identify the major cities, mountain ranges, rivers, and other important landmarks of Old Cyre. However, much of the training you received in geography... at leasat on the days you were actually there... were focused on the modern day Mournland, instead of the past.

Still, you can pick out the major points, but there are still obviously many marked sites which are not cities, but instead represent cannith workshops, mines, refineries, and other house-specific sites, which were never covered in general university classes.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Stopped before the big reveal

Zag'Rat shakes his head as if to clear away all of the whirling thoughts going on in his brain. Moving back to the doorway of the room, he takes stock of the room and assesses everything that has been scrutinized, looking for oversights.

Pointing to the two other fireplaces, he barks out,

"Let's take a look at those. Arzeal, check the red one, I'll look at the blue one."

As he walks towards his fireplace, another notion comes to him,

"While we're doing that, someone look at those statues more closely. Maybe a mouth, ear, or nose is hiding something....."

Not terribly confident, he moves towards the blue fireplace and begins poking around inside.

[roll0]

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Moving towards the red fireplace Arzeal begins searching around.

[roll0]

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Upwelling begins to go over the statue methodically, check each little crevase in the black Griffin, looking especially for mobile parts or things that seem odd.

(Taking a 20 on the search for a 20.)

[Asmodeus]

Cannith Refinery

Zagrat heads over to the BLACK fireplace, and searches it quickly, but thoroughly. He does a fair job, but finds nothing unusual or hidden there.

Azreal tries to mimic the actions with the Red fireplace, but he is less experienced at finding such things, so its no surprise when he discovers nothing of importance.

Meanwhile, Upwelling advances to the Black Griffon statue. He takes his time, meticulously going over every inch. He takes much longer than the others, but he knows that at least he won't miss anything. He starts from the base pedestal, and works his way all the way to the very top. The statue is solid, and bears no obvious strange markings or runes. The detail in the statue is of average quality, which is unusual for an item of Cannith make. Upwelling checks the creatures eyes, inside of its beak, and around the back of its head. And thats where he finds a hidden inscription.

In plain text, the following words are carved on the back of the Black Griffon.
RedHearth, Red Seal, SE 7

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

"RedHearth, Red Seal, SE 7? Strange." Upwelling says, as he continues to work over the statue. Memorizing the phrase, he goes over to the black Knight statue and starts methodically going over that as well.

[Asmodeus]

Upwelling

The knight bears a similar inscription in the same location.

Kronu Hall, White Seal, N 6

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Reading from the Knight, Upwelling announces "Kronu Hall, White Seal, N 6" Then after pondering a second, asks "Would that be six units north of the white seal is the location of Kronu Hall?"

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Moving over to the statue, Zag'Rat examines the text Upwelling has found,

"That would make sense, but what are the units? Let's hope one of these has the location of whitehearth."

Pulling his pack off his back, the artificer removes a scrollcase, a small vial, and a small roll of leather. Unrolling the leather, he removes an inkpen. Opening the scrollcase, he removed a sheet of paper from within. Spreading the paper out on a flat section of the floor he dips the pen into his vial of ink and begins copying down the text Upwelling has found.

"Check the other statues and let me know what they say."

Another thought occurs to him, and he digs through his pack again and produces another, much larger roll of leather. Unrolling this, various tools are revealed. Selecting a hammer and some kind of pointed object, he slides them across the floor to Arzeal,

"Chip away the text that's carved there after we read each message. That way, it will make it more difficult for anyone to follow us."


I'm figuring something from my armorsmithing tools could work as an improvised chisel of sorts, and I know there would be at least a few different kinds of hammers in there.


He waits patiently, poised to copy the information down and get out of this terrible place.

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Looking at the tools on the ground and then back at Zag'Rat, Arzeal pauses. You want me to just smash the statues and the writing? he asks inqusitively...

[Asmodeus]

As you search the statues, you find the following writings one each of them...

Red Dragon: "Whitehearth, White Seal, NE 9."
Red Lion: "Tallis, Black Seal, E 4."
White Wolf: "Cabblen Hall, Red Seal, SW 15."
White Falcon: "Blackhearth, Black Seal, SE 12."
Black Knight: "Kronu Hall, White Seal, N6."
Black Griffon: "Redhearth, Red Seal, SE 7."

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

After ensuring that Zag'rat has the correct things scribed down, Upwelling memorizes the phrases himself, then taking a rasp from his weaponsmithing tools, he sets to work smoothing the inscriptions off the statues as best he can, trying to make it blend in as best he can.

[roll0]

[Asmodeus]

Upwelling

After ensuring that Zag'rat has the correct things scribed down, Upwelling memorizes the phrases himself, then taking a rasp from his weaponsmithing tools, he sets to work smoothing the inscriptions off the statues as best he can, trying to make it blend in as best he can.

[roll0]

It doesn't take much to just eliminate the text, but when Upwelling goes to work, he leaves the surface smooth and unblemished.

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Seeing that upwelling is detailing the statues, Arzeal puts down the tools and forgets about smashing them up.

Turning towards Zag'Rat, So what are these numbers? If we have this information, I think we should get going. People may come check on them soon.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Zag'Rat squats down in front of the white fireplace with his paper, alternating staring at it and at the map in front of him on the floor. Devising a course of action, he moves about the map touching the various seals and speaking in what sounds like code.


Touch each seal say one of the phrases written on a statue, if nothing...do the same omitting the seal.

IE:
Move to White Seal, touch the seal, and say "Whitehearth, White Seal, NE 9." and then say "Whitehearth, NE 9."

Do this for all text combinations with their corresponding seals.


After doing that, the artificer begins moving to each seal and then moving in specific directions, counting both his steps and the other areas of interest already depicted on the map.


Move to each seal and then take the number of steps in the appropriate direction and see if there is a symbol for a mine, or something there.

IE: Move to the white seal, and take 9 steps to the northeast and stop, checknig for a symbol there.

Then...go to each seal and start moving in the intended direction and begin counting the symbols, likely will have to be somewhat lenient with the direction and making a note of the one specified in the text.

IE: Move to white seal and then count 9 symbols to the "northeast" (ranging from north by northeast to east by northeast) and then make a note of where the 9th symbol is.

[Asmodeus]

Zagrat

As you squat down and speak to the rocks, they listen, but they do not obey. No magic is here, and they do not react to your voice alone. The result is the same for each combination.

Then, Zagrat moves over to the white seal, and moves NorthEast 9 paces. Looking down, he can see a pair of crossed pickaxes, representing a mine, almost directly under his feet.

Repeating this for the other combinations results in him ending his movement on or right next to some sort of symbol on the map.

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

"We have found the coordinates? If so, we should depart." says Upwelling, gesturing to the corpses.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

After finding himself almost directly on top of one of the symbols, the artifcer again fishes out a piece of paper and his pen and ink. Calling Garrock over, he asks the scholar to help him identify a few of the areas near the one in question so he can make some notes that will enable them to find it again later. He repeats this process for each of the six locations identified by the statues.

Once his task is completed, he agrees that it would be best if the group left before their luck runs out and someone comes looking for the diggers.

"Arzeal, would you lead us out of here?"

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Nodding towards Zag'Rat, Arzeal takes the lead and heads back towards the cart, trying to avoid where he knows the others were

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Holding for Garrock, to make sure he is ready to depart as well.}

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock

Garrock watches as Zag'rat and upwelling discover the writing on the statues. "How come I didn't think of that?" he says, sighing in mock disappointment. "Good job, Zag'rat. You'd make a good inquisitive*."
Garrock comes over to try and identify the areas when Zag'rat asks him, even though his knowledge of Geography is limited.
"Remember, this may not be right. I know what the historical sites of this area are, but I'm not too sure exactly where they fit in."
[roll0]


*OOC: Not sure if this is the right word, and I don't have an ECS handy to check. I'm referring to the people who investigate crimes in Sharn.

[Asmodeus]

Rose Quarry

Garrock and Zagrat make notes on each location, and when they feel confident that they can locate the locations again, the group departs.

Azreal leads the way as they leave the building, hoping to get back to Failin and the land cart. Unfortunately, the life of an adventurer is never easy...

The battle inside the building has attracted attention, though the walls were thick enough to avoid arousing the camp where you lost Za. Instead, you are confronted by a single individual.

A tall, emaciated man, wearing a beautiful hooded robe of black silk, slides out of the shadows. He has deathly white skin, and a thick scar runs from the corner of one cleaming red eye back past a pointed ear. He smiles, flashing sharp fangs. "What have we here?" he hisses, measuring you with a casual glance of his crimson gaze.

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Looking the man up and down, Arzeal scoffs at him.

Nothing, just leaving. He says as he triest to walk past the man.

[Asmodeus]

Rose Quarry

With an evil grin, the figure says "You may find that difficult..."

A thick fog begins to billow from the figures robes, and in just a moment, he is completely lost from sight. Not even an outline of his shape remains within the cloud that is rapidly spreading towards you. From the murky fog, the voice of the figure calls out "To me, my warriors, while I feast on the intruder's blood!"

Without the protective walls of the building, the camp is sure to have heard the cry. You can hear the excited movement of soldiers, preparing for battle.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

While confident he doesnt have any blood for this strange person to feed on, the artificer does not doubt for a second that this seemingly crazy individual would try to drain the various lubricants and coolants that run through his body keeping all of his parts working properly, in some painful manner in an effort to satiate his inhuman hunger.

Reaching into the haversack, he retrieves the paper with the information and thrusts it towards their resident arcanist.

"Garrock, take this and fly away. This must not fall into their hands."

Zag'Rat waits to see if his friends plan on making a stand or fleeing. He offers,

"If we retreat back into the building, we would be able to bottleneck them and avoid being surrounded."

[stupnick]

Arzeal

With a look of shock and suprise Arzeal stands there looking at the now gone figure. Hearing the words that Zag'Rat mentioned Arzeal speaks up rather quickly, Don't you remember how many swarmed Za, if that many are coming after us, we can't survive, even if we bottleneck them. Is there a back exit out of here or another way to run?

[Asmodeus]

Azreal

Looking around, you have a clear path to the north, away from the camp and back to your friends in waiting. To the south is the camp. To the West is the building you just exited, and to the East is the cloud... thing.

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Nodding his head to the north he looks at the rest to see if they understand what he is trying to hint.

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock

Garrock takes the proffered paper and nods. "I'll see you soon. Don't try to fight them."
He then concentrates for instant, closing his eyes. As he reopens them, large feathered wings spread out from his back, and he immediately takes off, heading north as fast as he can.
Using Immediate Magic to gain a fly speed of 30ft and taking a run action to fly in a straight line north. I can fly for three rounds using all my Immediate Magic for the day. It's an immediate action, so there shouldn't be any delay between uses that would interfere with staying in the air.

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Map Notes:

Garrock is shown in his location after flying. The rest of you haven't moved yet.

#1 is the last location you saw your antagonizer at before losing sight. He may or may not actually be there. You are about to be engulfed in a misty foggy cloud that is also not shown, but centered on where you saw him last.

The other mob is just a rough representation of where the folks from the camp are in relation to you. That is not actual numbers or size of the mob.

I'm operating under the assumption that you are about to flee, and not engage in combat. If that is not correct, let me know, and we'll roll initiative.}

http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/613/rosequarryjg4.th.jpg (http://img360.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rosequarryjg4.jpg)

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Readied to flee, Upwelling waits for the others to start moving before he takes off as fast as he can after them (speed of 20ft. heavy armor.)

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Seeing the wizard safely off, Zag'Rat nods along with Arzeal and begins heading North, away from the mob that will be soon be looking to destroy him and his friends.

"Arzeal, you are faster than Upwelling and I, make for Failin and make sure he gets that cart ready to move!"

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Seeing all his friends take off running, Arzeal is the last to leave, bringing up the read. As Zag'Rat yells to him, he nods once again. Will do, What direction was he in again?? Wait I think I remember. OK, don't fall to far behind.

With that, Arzeal takes off running full blast towards the wagon, when he get's close he begins to yell for Failin.

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Given everyon's last post, I can estimate fairly well what you plan on doing, so I'll speed this up a bit. If there are objections to the actions I have you take, let me know.}

Garrock reaches the landcart first, and quickly summarizes the situation for Failin and Sheardon. Failin immediately begins getting ready to go. Sheardon, gets onto the cart, but keeps his bow out with arrow knocked. Azreal is the first to appear, and he reaches the coach just as the two warforged appear in the distance. The camp's soldiers are hot on their heals, but with them wearing heavy armor as well, they are just as slow. Sheardon aims high and fires off a long shot at the lead runner, pelting him with an arrow and slowing down the pursuit. He fires one shot after another, providing cover for his friends to catch up and reach the cart.

As soon as they are aboard, Failin starts the cart moving. He heads straight for the mist of the Mournland. Looking back, you can see that the soldiers are unwilling to follow you there, and they break off the pursuit. You enter the dead gray mists of the mournland, and within seconds, lose all sight of the tragic town.

After about 5 minutes, you emerge back to the north of the town. The odd thing is you didn't even have any idea you had turned around. Inside the mists, you lost all sense of direction.

You can see the reflection of light from the camp's fire just barely from this distance. Failin stops the cart. "Lost them. No one enters the Mournland.

Next stop, Rhuukan Draal." He gets ready to depart. You all have a few moments to discuss and plan if you so desire.

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Azreal and Garrock take a -100 XP Penalty...
Zagrat and Upwelling take a -50 XP Penalty...

I gave Zagrat a half-penalty because he posted to the OOC thread, but not the IC thread.

Edit: Upwelling posted he would be spotty on posting. no xp penalty for him.}

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Zag'Rat stares at their driver for a minute before addressing Garrock,

"Garrock, based on the location of the ivory fireplace and our current location, would it be better for us to head directly there, or will a return trip to Rhukaan Draal benefit us?"

It's obvious he's trying to keep the group's intended destination a secret from Failin for now.


Unfortunately I dont have any knowledge skills that would be appropriate to help us here

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock

"How should I know? I keep telling you, I know history, not geography!" Garrock sighs and rubs his temples. "Let me think about it for a second. Rhukaan Draal is west, our destination is north-east, right? So we'd be going the wrong way. On the other hand, the Mournland is directly in our way going North-East. So maybe we can go back, then go around the Mournland to the south and up the other side?"
Was the marker for Whitehearth closer to the west or east edge of the Mournland? I'm assuming East here, since the direction was 9 NE, but I'd like to clear this up before moving on.

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Arzeal huffs in the corner, while the others discuss geography.



my posting may be sparatic. i have a dog i have had to take to the vet 3 times now. she is on quite a few things of pills as well. so with taking care of her i may not be able to post "as scheduled" but will try to post when i can

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Confused, Upwelling queries "Why did they let us go? Did thier detachment not include calvary?"

[Asmodeus]

Failin

After attaching the last banner, Failin says, "Ok, everyone, the cart is all set. You ready to head out now?"

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

The warforged artificer stops and considers his memory of the map in the room of secrets.

"Actually, I think it might be best if we parted ways at this point Mr Failin. It would seem that our path from here is going to lead us to the east and north, into the Mournland. While I think we would greatly benefit from the luxury of your cart, I dont know if the promise of more coin would be sufficient for you to be willing to take on such a risk."

While he isnt terribly confident the man is going to take him up on his offer, Zag'Rat is curious how their driver will react to the promise of more coin.

[roll0]

[Asmodeus]

Failin

"Depends. Whats the destination?"

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Not the type of person who deals with geography or diplomacy, Arzeal just relaxes and tries to take a nap while they figure things out.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Zag'Rat's eyebrows scrunch together as he tries to decide how best to answer Failin without giving too much away. While he would very much like to have the cart available to the group for it's speed, he has become quite paranoid about spies since this quest began,

"We are headed to the northeast, into the mists....into what used to be Old Cyre. We are looking for an old House Cannith location."

[Asmodeus]

Failin

"The Mournland? Dangerous. Very dangerous. Have you been there before? Do you even know what you are getting in to?

I can take you. Yes. Won't be cheap."

{OOC: Your warforged has eyebrows? They can scrunch? hehe

Also, if you are concerned, you can makea sense motive check against Failin.}

[Diarmuid]

Zag'rat

[roll0]

The armored, metallic protrusions above Zag'Rat's orbital sockets come together as he scrutinizes Failin's intentions,

"We have indeed been in the Mournland before, but I cannot say we know exactly what to expect within its confines...but then again I would wager that no one knows everything that lurks within the mists. I would be willing to offer you a lump sum to continue to act as our guide, or we could negotiate a daily rate for your continued services. Of course, we must keep in mind that we have already accounted for our return to Rhukaan Draal from Rose Quarry, and that leg of our journey should not accumulate any additional charges."

Digging into the haversack once more, Zag'Rat removes a pouch that jingles as he hefts it, opening the drawstring, he picks through the coins for a while and begins strategically removing a few platinum coins from the pouch.



The pouch actually contains nothing but platinum coins, but Failin doesnt need to know that. =)



Concentrating on his math, he makes his offer,

"We would be willing to part with another 50 gold each as a lump sum for your services in finding the Cannith settlement, or if you would prefer...a fee of 25 gold per day. If lump, I would happily give you half the cost now, and the rest when we reach Rhukaan Draal, much like our other arrangement. If daily, you would receive 15 gold per day, with the remaining balance being paid upon our return to Rhukaan Draal. What say you?"

[roll1]
[roll2] (not sure if this would be of use here or not, including just in case)

[Asmodeus]

Failin

Failin's actions so far have given you no indication that he has ulterior motives. He seems to be purely motivated by personal gain.

"So basically, you have no idea what you are getting into."

Shaking his head, he reaches under his seat and pulls out an old battered copy of the Korranberg Chronicle. Shoving it towards you he says "Here. Read this."

While you read it over, he speaks a bit more. "I need to know where we are going before I accept any price. And I'll insist on payment up front. If you die in whatever hellhole you are going to, I still intend to get paid for my services."

The Article:
http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/8031/mournlandarticlebw0.th.jpg (http://img524.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mournlandarticlebw0.jpg)

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

The artificer once again laments the loss of the changeling. This had been her area of expertise. Arzeal wasnt the most social of beings, and Upwelling's zealous piety put many fleshlings on edge, leaving just Zag'Rat and Garrock...and it seemed that the wizard had taken Za's capture and assumed death harder than the rest.

He mused to himself,

I wonder if there had been more between them than a simple arrangement of skipping classes?

Shaking away the distractions, he takes the paper and breifly glances at it before handing it back to Failing,

"You were already kind enough to share that bit of documentum with us already."

Hoping that the man's greed would be strong enough to keep him loyal, Zag'rat reveals a bit more than he is comfortable sharing in an effort to keep their mission moving,

"We truly do not know where are going. We have a rough idea of where our goal is. In Rose Quarry there was a room with a map on it. We used the map to locate a Cannith workshop that holds an item of value to our employer. There was a seal approximately (insert seal location here), and our target is to the northeast..."

[roll0] (Estimate distance based on "steps" and approximate scale of the map)

"...miles away. Your expertise in this area would be greatly valued, and we have coin to pay. While I understand your desire to see yourself paid fully, paying you fully up front offers us no guarantees. A generous portion of the money up front shows our good faith, and the remainder acts as incentive for you to guide us well and avoid as many...dangers as possible. Upwelling and myself will endeavor to meet as many of those dangers as possible head-on, as we will still be able to repair our bodily damage, whereas the properties of the mists prevent flesh from knitting."

[roll1]

Talk of tactics, gives the Artificer another idea,

"Arzeal will be best served attacking with his bow, and perhaps Garrock can prepare mostly spells to repair myself and Upwelling."

Looking to Failin, Zag'Rat realises the man has not actually agreed to guide them,

"So...what do you say Mr Failin?"

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Sorry, I forgot I had shown that to you already.}

Failin

Failin takes out a map of the land. He starts plotting points and location. Clearly, his knowledge of Geography is extensive. "Puts you at the foot of a run of mountains, just to the east of here. I can have you there in about 3... 4 hours."

He ponders for a moment, doing some mental calculations. "The deal was 60 Galifars each, 40 up front. I'll take you into the mournland and back to Rhukaan Draal for another 40 each. It would be more, but I'm taking off for the price your dead friend already paid.

Full Price, up front, or forget it.

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Taking the clipping, Upwelling reads it through, chiming in only with "I also can prepare spells of repair, but I would prefer if we waited until the organics were at optimal strength before entering the mists."

[Asmodeus]

Sheardon

"Why don't you use your magics to mend the wounds, and then pray for more while we travel? Your spells to heal us won't work once we enter the mists."

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

"My divine healings for the day have been expended, but I can pray for them anew in the predawn light."

Does Vigor work?

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: If its conjuration(healing) then no.}

Sheardon

Sheardon simply points to the horizon, where the sky is brightening from the rising of the sun.

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Trying to take a nap and rest up before they get into something else like that. He does stir a little bit as the other are talking, You want me to what now? I don't even own one of those things, to elfy.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Squinting as he looks between Shaerdon and Arzeal, Zag'Rat covers up his mistake,

"Well, I figured you could use my crossbow. It's decidedly....un-elfy, and quite pedestrian. And the bag has a goodly number of bolts within it...I'd hate for them to go to waste. I understand you prefer to meet your foes headlong, but without that ability to mend your flesh we need to avoid damage to you and the others with flesh as much as possible. I agree it might be best if we found a nice place to hunker down and regain our strength before beginning any sort of venture into the mists. Would that be acceptable, Mr Failin?"

[Asmodeus]

Failin

Failin just nods and starts the cart moving off away from the town of Rose Quarry, but not entering the mists yet. Once they are a good distance away, he'll bring it to a stop, letting anyone who wants to rest do so.

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Garrock

Garrock listens to Falin and Zag'rat bargain. When Falin says he can get them there in a few hours, Garrock's eyes widen.
"Well, I certainly misjudged that distance..."


Garrock...and it seemed that the wizard had taken Za's capture and assumed death harder than the rest.
Garrock is an Athiest. Since he believes in no afterlife, the death of a friend is particularly hard for him to deal with.

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Time for XP!!! Everyone gets a 625 XP Bonus.

Would've been even more, except you kind of botched the deal with the camp.

Rose Quarry:
0 - failed to avoid the camp
200 - zombies
225 - refinnery
200 - figuring the map and getting out alive}

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

The artficer gets down from the cart and moves to a clear area on the ground. Reaching into the bag, he distributes rations to those in the group who require them, and then begins his power cycle allowing himself to fill the power reserves he uses to fuel his infusions.


Resting for 8 hours.

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

*Ding*

Upwelling gathers himself together, and preparing for the Mournlands, he attempts to gain a clarity of mind. Once again, while the others rest, he does his best to care for thier weaponry. After picking over weapons, and cleaning them as best he could, he attempts a meditative pose, trying to recall perfectly how the map was aligned, and running over and over in his head the phrases from the back of the statues, as well as the units they've matched to them. At dawn's first kiss, he mimes the smithing, in a mock strike upon his shield with his warhammer, and begins his ritual of binding a spark from Onatar's forge further into himself, so that he may touch the divine, even if it is bound to mortal means.

[roll0]
Preparing one more orison, and one more first level spell.

[Seffbasilisk]

(OOC: Forgot to roll HP. [roll0] )

[stupnick]

Arzeal

As the others are making themselves comfortable, Arzeal just stays sleeping in the wagon.

[Asmodeus]

Outside the Mists

Sheardon stands guard with the other warforged while Failin, Azreal and Garrock sleep, having gotten his meditation in while you all were mucking about in Rose Quarry. At one point, he goes and hunts up a bit of food.

There have been stories of unnatural things venturing out of the mists to harrass those who brave the borders of the mournlands. Fortunately, no such thing occurs on this day.(lucky bastards with that roll)

Eventually though, enough time passes that everyone gets a good rest. Sheardon has some food ready for those who wants it. It is slightly past noon by now. Failin prepares the cart, and lets you know that he's ready when you all are.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

Before cycling his power down, the artificer reaches into the nearly empty reserves he still has prepared and uses his powers to derive the type of magic that is housed within "Compound 12".



Had 1 infusion left for the day, casting Identify on the vial retrieved from the map room.



Once enough time has passed for his power reserves to reach their maximum capacity again, he finds their archer friend preparing some food for the other organics. Reaching into the magical pouch, Zag'Rat removes some additional supplies to compliment the meal.

Gathering the rest of his things, he sets his equipment in its rightful place and takes his spot on the cart, ready to head into the mists. He sets a pouch on the bench near the driver's seat that clinks with the tell-tale sound of coins mixing together.



Pouch contains 160 pieces of gold from our haversack. Bringing our party treasure total down to 115pp, 327gp, 5sp.

[Asmodeus]

Zagrat

It appears to be an oil-based compound, that is extremely slippery.

{OOC: Salve of Slipperiness.}

[stupnick]

Arzeal

When Arzeal wakes up in the morning he heads away from the camp slightly and spends some time practicing his shots.

Coming back for breakfast, the shifters stomach growls loudly. I'm rather hungry, and everything smells so good.

How long are we going to be driving today?


my dog goes back in on thursday for her next appointment and round of shots. hopefully by this weekend she will be decent where she doesn't need alot of attention. i do apologize, but expect regular postings again coming soon.

for those who are wondering. she has a ruptured vertabre in her neck, stage 2 arthritis in both of her back hips. she basically can't walk atm and is in quite alot of pain most of the time. she's only 1.5 years old too...

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

Upwelling, noticing that most of the organics have recovered from their daily period of unconsciousness completes his prayer with the symbolic hammerstrike on his shield. While the others bustle around, he works on fixing dents in his shield too small to really be noticed.

[Asmodeus]

Failin

Failin indicates again that he is ready, and just waiting for payment and someone to tell him to move out. He tells Azreal that the trip will only be a few hours long.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

At the mention of payment, the artificer points to the pouch he laid down,

"Your asking price is there, Mr Failin."

Zag'Rat looks to the wizard, knowing his preparations can take some time.

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Ok, lets get back into this game, shall we folks? I already gave you XP, so on with the action.}

Into the Mournland

The wall of roiling mist rises ahead of you, appearing solid and ephemeral at the same time. Passing into the cloying mist is like entering an alien plane of existence. Light barely reflects through the shifting layers of vapor. Sounds become muffled and distant, even when produced nearby. The place has a narrow, ominous feel to it, and a feeling of isolation and growing dread builds within you as you travel deeper into the mists...

{OOC: Spot and Listen checks, please.}

[Seffbasilisk]

Upwelling

As they head into the cloying mists, Upwelling tries to keep a sharp eye out, ready for potential trouble.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[stupnick]

Arzeal

Heading into and towards the mist, a chill runs up Arzeals spine, as he realizes things in the mist almost never come out and survive. Keeping a close eye on what's going on, and his companions, Thankful that he has others that he can use to protect him, but not watching to show that outwards he seems rather confident.

[Diarmuid]

Zag'Rat

His shield stowed on his back, and his morningstar hanging from his belt, Zag'Rat holds a loaded crossbow and stares intently out into the mists as if expecting hoardes of rogue warforged to come charging at the group at any moment.

He had felt unease in using his powers against the other warforged who had attacked them, but justified that to himself by thinking they had made a conscious choice to follow this Lord of Blades. The warforged in this area he was less sure of. Were they simply malfunctioning? How different were they really from him?

All this rattled around in his brain, but he stilled tried to remain vigilant in his watch.

[roll0]
[roll1]