[Hourglass of Zihaja D&D 4e] Heroes on a Sea of Swords IC

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Alvah Nasab, Voice of thunder
"Are you guys alright? I gather that you have some backstory with that undead creature from what I understood?"

Amirah, Living Swarm

Amirah's shape shudders as she imposes her will over the insects starting to congregate over the dead. Out of battle, it is easier for her to dominate and overcome the whispers, since she can boost it with some magic. She carefully puts her clothes back on, before joining Alvah in searching the bodies.

"Yes, We are fine. We are difficult to hurt. Only the whispers affected us" says Amirah, her voice quite calm. Scores of dead insects litter the ground were she fought, but clearly she considered them expendable.

Turning to the dead vampire, she adds, "If the vampire was not lying, it seems our last bounty, a Female wasp!pirate that was supposed to be executed, must have escaped. But maybe he was lying. Wasp!pirates do that a lot. However, she was handed over to a hive!city with a male queen. Such an absurd concept. I can believe they did not give a powerful wasp-queen the proper respect."

After a few seconds of quiet contemplation, though, she adds, "I have to say her choice of soldier-bee!second in command is quite poor. This is the second that was killed as he tried to flee. Maybe they are consort-bees. They tend to be rather lazy.". Amirah's thoughts sound almost disappointed at Vertasi.

[Chambers]

Jalil

Jalil frowns as the mist fades away and glares at her forked dagger and then towards the walls and ceiling of the cave as if looking for something to blame for her poor aim. "Damnable caverns." She mutters and shakes her head then walks across the bridge and stands by the wall, peering down the hallway for a moment before turning towards the group. She smiles a bit at Amirah's talk - such a strange and unique creature - and smooths part of her hair down. "If the Pirate Queen of Liars is still alive I think she should be moved to our highest priority, as soon as we finish our business here." She walks to the edge and looks down at the unconscious crossbowman and points to him with her dagger. "What do you plan on doing with him?"

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Jalil took no damage, so she's at full HP (101) with 10/10 surges. She's used one Daily power so far this day, Howling Hurricane and will have 1 Action Point after this milestone.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Jalil

"If the Pirate Queen of Liars is still alive I think she should be moved to our highest priority, as soon as we finish our business here."

Amirah, Living Swarm

"Why? We already got the dull yellow coins for her. They won't take Queen!Captain's pay back because she escaped. If they want to pay us again to capture the wasp!pirate, then we can hunt her again. There are plenty of wasp!pirates in the sea."

There is no sarcasm in Amirah's thoughts - she is truly intrigued by the suggestion that this pirate is somehow special, and her words carry a request for further explanation.

[Dacia Brabant]

Amirah, Living Swarm

"Why? We already got the dull yellow coins for her. They won't take Queen!Captain's pay back because she escaped. If they want to pay us again to capture the wasp!pirate, then we can hunt her again. There are plenty of wasp!pirates in the sea."

Medinah

Medinah cleaned her blade and dusted herself off before replying.

"After we departed Luardo I informed the Captain of my suspicion that all of us will become the primary target of Vertasi's apparent lover, the self-proclaimed King Raven. If she still lives, it is all the more certain that she will desire revenge--it will be necessary to interrogate the survivor for more information on this claim. That their pirates are waiting for us in ambush at this location further confirms this to be true. Lady Farun's analysis is correct: it is essential that we become their hunters again and not their prey."

So saying, she focused her light into the area below to see if there was any apparent way of getting down--or of the rest of the group back up here.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Amirah, Living Swarm

"When we hunted her, she was waiting for us and ambushed us. When we were not hunting her, she still ambushed us. Why go into the effort of looking for her, when she will do the hard work for us? Wasps always come to the honey in the hive. And they always fall to the fighter bees."

Amirah reaches another dead body, and a stream of scarabs rush out to crawl all over it, over and under the clothes, while Amirah concentrates for the subtle clues of magic.

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Scylfing, Alvah just set up a rope to get out from the pit

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

While Amirah concentrated on finding magical items, something she said caused Medinah to reflect on their earlier encounters with these pirates. For a long moment she silently replayed that information mentally, her repeated blinking the only outward signal of her activity. Finally she broke her silence.

"That is correct, Amirah, she did set a trap for us in advance of our pursuit... and I neglected to interrogate her on the matter. Your insight far supercedes my own. Is it possible that we may have been targeted as soon as we accepted that contract?" she wondered aloud. "Ultimately it will be the Captain's decision, but they must not be permitted to have an advantage again."

With that said, she heads over near where the unconscious crossbowman was and tied him up in preparation for the interrogation (or, likely, execution).

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Thanks GW, sorry I missed that.

[Dekkah]

Alvah Nasab, Voice of Thunder
The bard listen to the exchange between his allies. He finaly add,
"So we first find what we came here for then we will see where this storm lead us I guess. But I do agree that I prefer to be the hunter rather than the hunted. My main concern is how did they knew we would be here? Can one on our ship be leaking information? Or does the enemy is seeking this thing as well?"
Looking at the cloak, the bard spend his rest analising its magical propreties. Once he is done, he explain it to the other and add,
"That is quite a nice cloak. Does any of you have use for it? I would not mind taking it if you dont, it offer better protection than my own, and I could use its other abilities."

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Assuming that we can do the short rest... spend 3 surges ... rising my HP to 99/102

Alvah's Status

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HP :...99/102...TEMP HP :...0
Surge Value :...25
Surge left/surge per day :...6/12
Resist : ....6 Ongoing ....
AC:...29...FORT:...28... REF:...25...WILL:...30...
Encounter count for the day: ....2
Languages : ....Common, Aquan, Ignan , Terran
Initiative : ... +8
Passive Perception : ... 23
Passive Insight : ...21
Main Hand : Bard's Songblade Longsword +4
Off Hand : Light Shield
Powers :
Melee Basic Attack (For OAs) (+14, 1D8+3)
Staggering Note
War Song Strike
Action point (1/2)
Second Wind
Majestic Word (0/2)
Healing Rain
Word of Friendship
Vezzuvu's Eruption
Shout of Thriumph
Drums of the wild hunt
Rolling Echo
Earthquake Stike
Moment of Escape
Chrod of Resilience
Illusory Ereasure
Tune of Ice and Wind
Thunder Blade
Menacing Thunder
Doom Echo

Items powers:
Eladrin Ring of passage
Helm of Teleportation
Imposter's Stonemail Armor +3

Consumables :

Effects from Alvah :

Effects on Alvah :

Items Carried/Owned :

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Imposter's Stonemail Armor +3 (E)
Bard's Songblade Longsword +4 (E)
Amulet of Protection +3 (E)
Eladrin's Ring of Passage (E)
Helm of Teleportation (E)
Ritual Book
Backpack
Bedroll
Flint and steel
Beltpouch
Sunrod (2)
Rations (10 days)
50' hempen rope
Waterskin
Dagger

Wealth :

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2 pp
40 gp

[Shadow_Elf]

Illudai Cave Network
The prisoner begins to awaken, his eyes fluttering slightly as he groggily looks about.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Amirah, Living Swarm

Amirah is once again fully covered in her desert clothing. She notices the prisoner coming to, and sends a private thought to the rest of the team alerting them about it. Then she gracefully walks to where the prisoner lies naked and tied up, and stands there, head slightly to one side, her arms crossed and hands in the sleeves. A few cockroaches slither out from under the heavy cloth and crawl up the prisoner's legs. Amirah says nothing, just observes him carefully.

[Reverent-One]

Kihtsah Darimil, Dervish of Adimas

"Good questions, Alvah. Perhaps this one can help answer them." Kihtsah says as he walks back to the group, cleaning his blades before sheathing them. "That would be why I left him alive, dead men tell no tales, and I could see none would be left otherwise." The half-kobold looks around at the wreckage significantly. "Even an unimportant drone may have some shred of useful information."

He takes up position in front of the awakening prisoner as well, leaning over him. "Hello friend. I hope for your sake you can make yourself useful to us."

[Shadow_Elf]

Illudai Cave Network
The crossbowman peers at Kihtsah, and then looks around. He sees the deceased form of Moroque across the pit, and the broken warforged and mangled bodies. The crossbowman spits on the ground, then returns his focus to his interrogator. You are dead men in any case. There is honour to be found in comforting the dead. What would you have me tell you? he says, with a somewhat deranged look of confidence.

[Dekkah]

Alvah Nasab, Voice of thunder
The bard keep a decontracted stance and stay calm and non agressive for now.
"Well for starters, why are you gentlemens here exactly?"

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I'll check him out for lies :
Insight :(1D20+11)[25]

[Shadow_Elf]

Prisoner
The Drums of War set sail at the behest of our Queen. We are here to kill you... and so long as the Lord of War walks these caverns, you are not safe!

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

Amidst the pirate's pitiful attempts at bravado even as her friend's insects start crawling over him, Medinah arrived at an epiphany of sorts: if she was to do her duty properly to protect the Captain and crew of The Midnight Mirage from these vermin, she would have to start treating them like vermin. The customs and morals she'd inherited through her relationships with mortals, admirable though they were, had begun to seem increasingly irrelevant though she'd been unwilling or rather unable to comprehend that. Something within her, a spark of the force that animated her or perhaps a conscience, had negated those thoughts, had stayed her hand from silencing Vertasi for good, but looking down at her enemy's pathetic form before her it was easy now to submerge that spark and let naked necessity rule the day.

Medinah calmly bent down to eye level for the prisoner, dismissed her illusion of a mortal woman and, reaching out for his sword arm, nonchalantly put the weight of her body onto it until she heard it snap near the wrist. Though it was not a clean break, she hoped it wouldn't be enough to send him into unconsciousness again.

"You have courage in the presence of certain death, which is admirable in a non-combatant but in one who lives for death courage is irrelevant. The question that is most immediate for you is, what is your pain tolerance?" she asked coldly--there's even less feeling in her monotone than usual, if that's possible. She shifted her weight upward to the elbow, though not quite enough to break it. "I have observed that humanoids have inefficient structural compositions, possessing many bones that break easily under pressure and render their respective limbs unusable, all contained within soft tissue that neither protects nor blocks pain reception... How many of your bones will I be required to break before your will breaks and you tell us all we wish to know--of your Queen, her plans and how she knew so much of us before we had set sail; of your Lord War, his retinue and how he knew to find us here; and of your King Raven, who he is and why he so desires our Captain.

"Or, will broken bones be insufficient? There are other parts of human anatomy that do not contain them..." she threatened, looking him squarely in the eyes.

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She's just warming up... in more ways than one.

Intimidate: (1d20+16)[27]

[Shadow_Elf]

Prisoner
The human cackles at the revelation that Medinah is a warforged. Even breaking his arm does not stop the mad laughter. Now I know why Moroque named you abomination, haha! he replies, clearly in pain but ignoring it because he seemingly finds something very funny. When Lord War realizes you are Soulforged, monster, he shall free you from your prison with greatest haste! He continues to giggle and howls with a mixture of pain and laughter as she moves on to break his elbow. Other Corsairs joke that only the most fanatical sailors sign aboard the Drums of War, for our Captain engenders no loyalty. But power draws loyalty, and the Lord of War is an unstoppable force! he cackles as he looks Medinah directly in the eyes, bobbing up and down slightly beneath her weight. Break all the bones in my body, Soulforged, my spirit will not care! I die for The Cause!

[Dekkah]

Alvah Nasab, Voice of Thunder
The half-Marid never really liked torture as a mean to gain information himself, but he keep a calm facade. He guess the lack of emotion and remorse coming from Medinah probably comes from her nature, so he let her handle physical part of this interrogation. He opt to take a role more fitting to his personnality and tell the man in a matter of fact tone,
"Who says you are gonna die? This Soulforged knows what she is doing mate, you wont die, you'll only suffer. When you'll pass out, I'll patch you up, that is my job after all. This will stop when you tell us everything that we want to know."
Looking at Medinah,
"Seems like this one want to suffer needlessly, we'll see if he beats the last one. I'll put up the wards so no one can hear his painful yells out of this room and some protection to warn us if someone get closer. These rituals will take me a few moments."
The bard start act as if he does prepare the place for a ritual, but this is only for show. His knowledge on rituals should be enough to make it look real, as he inspire this from one of the ritual he already know.

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I assume this is bluff since I dont really intend to waste hours of torture and there is many lies in my speach (but it doesnt really matter as I have +17 on the 3 social skills -bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate)
(1D20+17)[30]
This is my own attemp to break his will, or you can use this as help to Medinah's (no sure which one you see more fitting)

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

Medinah's eyes narrowed at the vermin's naming of her as a Soulforged. She felt that spark stirring within her again, but this time it, too, was angry.

"As suspected, the method was insufficient," she stated as she stood back up. She glanced and nodded over to Alvah and then, returning her attention to the pirate, began what would be a series of kicks to his sternum intending to knock the wind--and the laughter--right out of him. Then, lifting him up by his throat, she shoved him up against a wall with one hand while the metallic digits of her other hand were poised a fraction of an inch from his eyes.

"I understand that some humanoids believe the eyes are windows to the soul. What do you know of Soulforged, and why should your Lord War wish to 'free me from my prison?' Or must I first shatter the windows to your soul, assuming such creatures as yourself are in possession of one?"

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Intimidate again, if necessary: (1d20+16)[35]

[Shadow_Elf]

Prisoner
The human grins, though blood drips unsettlingly from his mouth at the gesture. He cannot muster the air to breathe properly, or laugh, as Medinah intended. Everyone aboard the Drums of War has... to learn Admajai Law. That is the law that Lord War keeps. And Soulforged, like you... they're a violation of some Necromancy regulations concerning soul entrapment... hehe... that lifeless chassis of yours? You may not know it, but...

As Medinah continues to choke the life from him, Amirah observes an arachnid that does not belong to the swarm crawling up the man's arm. She tries to seize control of it, but receives intense mental backlash, and she has to give up on the attempt to keep the whispers at bay again. Unhindered by the living swarm, the scorpion stings your prisoner, and he howls in pain like nothing Medinah has done to him so far, and the pain of yelling from his fractured ribs intensifies the effect and he passes out. The scorpion falls off and lands on the cave floor.

Amirah or Nature 24:

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That scorpion is not of a species that belongs in this environment. It's construction seems more like something that ought to live in a desert.

Amirah or Nature 28:

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The scorpion is a deadly variety; your prisoner has moments to live.

Amirah Only:

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No, child... do not interfere... this one... MUST DIE...

Roll a saving throw; if you fail, you're too busy keeping the swarm in check to communicate the results of these spoilers to the party for several moments (which is longer than the prisoner has to live if you can't tell them).

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Going to stick to one check/scene unless I ask for another one. That check will determine how well your RP gets information out of him, etc. Once someone's made a check with a certain skill, you shouldn't ever need to make a new one unless I ask.

[Dekkah]

Alvah Nasab, Voice of Thunder
The bard takea quick look at the man as he yell out louder than normal, but return to his false work thinking that it was spurred by Medinah's torture.

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Rolled poorly on my checks.. lol.

[Reverent-One]

[B]Kihtsah Darimil, Dervish of Adimas[/B

"Blast! Poisoned by the scorpion. He'll be dead soon." Kihtsah sweeps away the scorpion's corspe, just to be safe.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Amirah, Living Swarm

Amirah's swarm trembles as she once again struggles with the whispers pervaiding the minds of the insects in the cave. "The whispers want this drone!pirate dead. I don't like the whispers," she manages to broadcast, amongst blurred images of dark places, damp rocks and endless voices.

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

Medinah dropped the prisoner rather unceremoniously as soon as he howled out in pain from a wound she didn't inflict. Glancing down at the scorpion, she whorled around to confront Amirah, but between her friend's renewed complaint about "the whispers" and Kihtsah's remark about the creature's fatal poison she looked down at his body in as close to an approximation of bewilderment as was possible for her.

"Rahman, do you possess an antidote for poison of this nature, or perhaps a sedative that could temporarily ameliorate his condition?" she asked, not at all concerned for the pirate but for the potential loss of information.

[Shadow_Elf]

Rahman
The alchemist breaks into his kit. Nothing specific, but I can maybe slow it down. Will a few moments do? He starts rummaging through the kit and draws out some components. I don't have a finished antidote, but these are the active ingredients. It won't cure him, but he'll wake up once more before the toxin shuts down his brain.

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

The warforged nodded her head at the master alchemist.

"That will suffice," was all she said before turning to her new shipmates. "Alvah, Lady Farun, you are both eloquent speakers. Please attempt to convince the prisoner that continued applications of Master Shamis's admixture will overcome the poison--in exchange for further information."

[Chambers]

Jalil

As Medinah began breaking bones of the captured man Jalil sheathed her dagger and held her hands together under the loose folds of her sleeves. She stood to the side, not trying to intervene nor assist and her face was calm and passive, yet there were thunderstorms dancing in her eyes.

She glances up at Medinah when the warforged turns to her. "The prisoner is currently unconscious..." She says and nods towards the crossbowman sprawled on the floor. "...and I have no desire to engage in torture." She speaks slowly, each word carefully measured and spoken. "Do as your conscience tells you, machine."

[Shadow_Elf]

Rahman
After a minute or so of Rahman's ministrations, the prisoner awakens again with a painful moan. He is clearly in a great deal of pain; if he hadn't been tortured within an inch of his life prior to the sting, he would have died very painfully rather than fall unconscious first.

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

Medinah blinked several times, which longtime crewmembers might recognize as her processing new information--in this case, that Jalil could be so obtuse. Finding no cooperation from her, and with no response from Alvah she turned back to the prisoner, who was just now coming out of his pain-induced coma.

"Poisoning you was not my intent, but that is irrelevant now. We awakened you to offer you a choice: live out your final moments in agony, or finish your answer and have your suffering ended."

[Shadow_Elf]

Prisoner
The man grimaces from the pain, but looks the warforged in the eyes nonetheless. Souls cannot... aaaargh... be created or destroyed... So says Lord War... to create a Soulforged like you... a soul must be stolen... an innocent killed... Lord War will grant you release... monster... The man is clearly in excruciating pain. Having finished his original answer, he looks to the Hunters around him for a merciful killing stroke.

[Dacia Brabant]

Medinah

What the pirate said gave Medinah pause--not because she didin't already know about that, she was indeed aware at least of the theory behind her creator's work on soul transference so long ago. What she didn't know was that he'd succeeded, to the point where even vermin like this knew of it.

"The spark of life that animates me is a subject of my ongoing curiosity, but of one aspect I am certain is that it is fundamentally alien to this world," she replied, not as if to brag but again coldly stated as a matter of fact. She was going to leave it there and let another hunter grant him mercy, but that spark again stirred within her and she ignore it, so she drew her sword and poised it at his neck.

"You seek mercy. What mercies would you show our female crewmember should your Lord War somehow triumph and take her captive?" she asked pointedly, though continued to face the prisoner. "You have none to give, but I shall grant what you lack."

So saying, she lofted her sword, intending to decapitate him, but seeing Amirah begin to swarm all around them and hearing her mind, she paused.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Prisoner
The man grimaces from the pain, but looks the warforged in the eyes nonetheless. Souls cannot... aaaargh... be created or destroyed... So says Lord War... to create a Soulforged like you... a soul must be stolen... an innocent killed... Lord War will grant you release... monster... The man is clearly in excruciating pain. Having finished his original answer, he looks to the Hunters around him for a merciful killing stroke.

Amirah, Living Swarm

"The Lord War is wrong."

Amirah's thoughts are a little stronger than they have been. Her swarm has divided in two, one part maintaining the shape that is Amirah, the other swarming all around the group, and brutally attacking any insects getting close. Normally, the swarm would dominate those minds, but They are out of patience, and any and all external insects are now simply killed on sight.

"We are not like any other soul. We know. We have read the minds and souls of the many creatures that live in this world and We have never found one like ours." There is a certainty to this words as strong as steel, tinged with loneliness and sadness. "We were not intended. We were not stolen. We grew in the vessel meant for someone else's soul. And you have believed the Lord War's lie, and fought for that lie, and now you will die because you believed that lie. Your life was wasted, drone!pirate. And the world will be better for it. If you want me to help you die, tell Us how you find us, and the most painless of Our poisons will stop your heart.". A single centipede slips from the swarm and moves onto the body, then stops.