Blood Red Sun IC II

[Banjoman42]

Spoiler: Previous Chapters

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Spoiler: Chapter 1: The Old Men and the Sea

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“It is good that we do not have to try to kill the sun or the moon or the stars. It is enough to live on the sea and kill our true brothers.”

Everyone on Suel recognized Sapphire City as a turning point. An entire city, sieged and destroyed with no fanfare and no witnesses by a ghostly force. The continent had looked like it was recovering: the dragonkin rebellion had been vanquished, and the five century long war that had ravaged the western half of the continent had come to an end. But now, the most prosperous city in the world had been destroyed, the dragonkin Creetulmax had rekindled the flames of the rebellion, and the Dark elf empire seemed ready for a revolution of its own.

Only a small handful knew who had destroyed Sapphire City: A shadowy group named the Eye. This handful of people was a small band of adventurers: Quarion, a former Elven soldier, Firnel, an evil cleric of Cenrumaul, Richard, an orphaned human with mystical powers, and Farquaad, a lizardfolk who just barely missed being killed in the invasion himself.

A small group of former nobles and the continent's significant figures struggled to put back together the pieces of the ruined city. A man named Elxa Dal, believed that the re-emerging city's greatest hope lay in rebuilding the old University of Magic. To accomplish this, he hired a small band of mercenaries and adventurers to recover something to once again draw people across the globe to the grand halls of the College.

The job was intended to be simple: the same group who had witnessed the city's destruction would travel across the sea to meet with an agent of Elxa Dal, where mages had located a source of great magical power.

But nothing goes exactly as planned. When the ship had been sailing for 3 weeks, it encountered a strange storm, which put everyone on aboard to sleep. The four awoke on the hot sand of a mysterious island, appearing to be the only four survivors.

The four found a village upon the island, completely void of any people. It was almost has if the entire village had got up and left a few minutes ago. Surrounding the village were strange rocks with odd runes carved onto them. The group came across a child who said that she was from the village, but did not know (or understand) where everyone had gone. The child disappeared in the middle of the night, when no one was looking, and could not be found again.

The group wandered the island in search of her. There, they encountered a horrifying set of creatures: humanoid in form, but with torn grey skin and terrifying scars where their faces should be.

The group struggled to fend of the onslaughts of the abominations, but were saved by a troglodyte. Years of isolation had rendered the Troglodyte’s Dragonkin near incomprehensible to the group, but they gained information nonetheless. The troglodyte said that strange underground monsters had captured the villagers, and indicated that these monsters had a terrible plot in store.

The troglodyte led the group to the monster’s lair underground, where the monster’s had hundreds more of the grey mutilated humanoids working, mining more of the strange rocks with runes carved onto them. In the center of the central cavern, the monsters were building a great stone box, atop it a strange blue gem in the shape of a triangular pyramid.

The monsters saw the adventurers, and gave chase as the group fled back to the surface. During their flight, they were separated from the troglodyte, who disappeared into the caverns. They narrowly escaped the monsters, fleeing into the island’s jungle forests.

The group came across the home of an old mage, who informed them that the grey humanoids, known as the afflicted, were in fact the villagers, and could be transformed back with a certain alchemical process. To do this, the mage explained, he would need a live one to experiment on. The group left to capture on of the afflicted. When they returned, the mage took the afflicted, and sent the group away while he experimented.

When the group returned, the mage had disappeared. He left a note, telling them that he had left behind a contingency in case he failed to transform back the afflicted himself.

Following the lead of the note, the group traveled up the mountain in the center of the island. However, they were ambushed by a group who had teleported to the island in a hunt for Firnel. The knights agreed to aid the adventurers.

Little did they know, as they ascended the mountain, that an alien creature was hunting them. One by one, the alien killed the knights as they were separated from the group, assuming their form and re-joining with them.

At the summit of the mountain, the heroes and the alien (disguised as a knight), found several bombs and a vat of strange liquid, and a plan from the old mage. The bombs would collapse the and flood the cavern with the liquid, which would free the afflicted.

At the base of the mountain, the alien descended upon the adventurers. Under the cover of a Darkness Spell, it attacked Quarion had assumed his form. Luckily, Quarion escaped, losing an arm and falling into a pit. The adventurers, confused, did not challenge the new Quarion's identity, and pressed on.

When the adventurers arrived at the cavern, they found that the plan had to wait. The monster's own plot was underway and needed to be stopped. When they arrived at the central cavern, they found the monsters gathering inside the stone room they had made under the blue gem. The alien saw an opportunity, for it knew the purpose of the box: teleportation. It ran straight for the box and towards the monsters.

At the same time, an injured Quarion wandered into the central cavern. The group then realized what was happening, and attacked the alien.

But the alien evaded the attack, and the box began its teleportation process. With the cavern beginning to collapse, the group, the monsters, and the alien crammed into the box.

The group then discovered that the monsters had bred a greater version of themselves, and were transporting it to the mainland for conquest.

The alien absorbed the bred tadpole of the monsters, gaining its powers. The box teleported, and they all appeared on a ship. Richard yelled for all to abandon ship, yet the monsters and the alien did not abide. The sailors of the ship and the heroes jumped ship, and richard dropped on of the bombs from the old mage, destroying the monsters, the ship, and the alien. The group rowed to shore on a lifeboat, arriving in the city of Tarbean.

Spoiler: Chapter 2: To Serve Gods

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"The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices - to be found only in the minds of men."

Firnel, Quarion, Richard, and Farquad all appeared in Saltmarsh after weeks of traveling from the the city of Tarbean, where they narrowly escaped arrest. In Saltmarsh, they met up with a dwarf ranger, Toronkov, the agent of Elxa Dal. Toronkov said that he had not finished scouting ahead, as he was not expecting their arrival so early, and so the four settled down for a small time. In accordance with his god's wishes, Firnel stole the bombs found on the Island from Richard, and used them to blow up a nearby church of Ramaratep. Quarion only nearly saved the few people who were in the church at the time. The cleric's high priestess, Lyra Ivessa, exclaimed that she believed that the church of Cenrumaul had been behind a plot against the church of Ramartep, and called the heroes to investigate. A contact to Quarion, whom Quarion was directed to by Emmeth and the Duskblade guild, said that a local noble family was responsible for several murders recently. Upon further investigation, it was revealed that the Lassiter family was in league with a local cult. The group attacked the Lassiters in their home, killing Lucius and Lauren, and trapping their father, Phius, within his own crypt, left to die. The local authorities arrived, arresting the cult leaders that the group indicated, and putting an end to whatever plot the evil clerics had in store.

A paladin named Arbane witnessed the actions of the heroes, and decided that he would join them.

Meanwhile, Turonkov had located the place where he believed the Tome of Clear thought to be. The group swiftly went into the marsh to recover it. After finding it within a strange laboratory within the sunken monastery, the group then set out through the marsh to return to the city, and eventually to return to Elxa Dal and complete their mission.

But nothing went according to plan. The group was captured by a band of warriors who revealed themselves to be the Eye. Taking them captive within their grand underground base, the Eye revealed their plan: to kill the gods. The Eye sent the group to a large room to be used as a prison.
But then, a shadowy figure appeared to the group. He claimed to be the Eye's leader, and said he would release them. He said that he believes that the righteous always emerge victorious, and thus the Eye must be tested. Freeing them from their prison, the group set out to travel to the Eye's headquarters in the northern city of Tingris. Turonkov departed from the group to inform Elxa Dal. Quarion had his arm regenerated, and they set off.

Spoiler: Chapter 3: The Odyssey

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"The will of the everlasting gods is not turned suddenly."

Upon starting their journey, the heroes were ambushed by a group of kobolds. The group forced their surrender after quickly dispatching half of their forces.

At the same time, a group of slaves at the kobold camp took their chance and freed themselves. One kobold slave, named Ratzor, joined our adventurers.

While the group was passing through a small town, they became witnesses to a small scale coup taking place, The adventurers sided with the people and killed the aristocrats. A witch in the town named Alexander had grown tired of his life in the village and joined our adventurers.

The group then arrived in the city of Drobury. Within an Inn, they heard rumours that the city's former king, Scott Silverstart had a bounty on his head, accused of murdering his family. Intrigued by the possibility of being paid or performing a good deed, the group decided to find and interrogate the former king.

The group was directed to the Silverstart family crypt. At the crypt, they found that a man had been locked within the crypt with his legs broken and the crypt beyond him collapsed. Nursing the man back to life, the man said that he had been locked in the crypt by a bounty hunter whom he had been working with: Harold Tiaharan. The man said that Harold had tracked Scott to the Coppersman crypt.

The group encountered Harold within the Coppersman crypt, but he quickly fled. The group found Scott deep within the cavern, holding a man hostage. The king claimed that the hostage was responsible for the deaths in the Silverstart family. Moving too slowly, the group failed to stop Scott from killing the hostage. They then knocked the former king unconscious.

Tensions had been building within the group. Richard, Farquaad, and Arbane believed that the king should die, while Quarion and his companion, Emmeth were adamant that he was innocent. Alexander and Ratzor remained neutral. Farquaad moved to kill the unconscious king, but Quarion stood in his way. Farquaad decided he would strike Quarion instead. Quarion dodged the below, but the fight was already started. While Alexander wanted to remain neutral, but Richard coaxed from him one favour: To use a Warp Stone spell to cover the door and lock everyone in the room until the fight was over.

This quickly proved to be their mistake. Quarion teleported out of the room, and Emmeth put on a gas mask and dropped a sleep gas poison. Arbane, Richard, and Farquad fell asleep. Alexander took down the stone wall he had created and left.
Quarion and Alexander took the king back to the city of Drobury, where the king used his influence to clear his name. He payed the two with a large platinum bar.

Then, there were screams behind them. They saw a body fall out of a tower, and a figure in the tower's window. A local orc named Gros ran up the tower to investigate, while Quarion went to inspect the body.

Grod came to the top of the tower, where he found a man standing by the window, his whole body covered in scars. Grod grabbed the man, but the mad pulled out a dagger, cut of his own arm with a quick swing, and lept out the window.

While Quarion was inspecting the body, another fell out of the sky. The body got up, and Quarion quickly recognized him as Harold. Harold ran, with Quarion giving chase, but Harold disappeared into the swamp.
The body was of a companion of Harold. On it, carved into the flesh were the names of the heroes. Quarion found a note in one pocket of the body: You have three days head start. Harold.

When Farquaad awoke, he decided that he had had enough of the group, and that he would return to his home in Saltmarsh.

The group, now joined by Grod, trekked onwards to the city of Garren, where they would sail upriver to Tingris.

After weeks of travel, the group finally arrived in Garren, where they boarded the ship known as the Innovator. This large warship was able to transport them up the wide Epoh river to Araken.

But fate brought down a cold hand upon the city. As soon as they arrived, an army of the Eye began to lay siege to the city, and the adventurers narrowly escaped aboard the Innovator while the city's walls crumbled the Eye mage's powerful magic.

Chapter 4: The Jungle

“Into this wild-beast tangle these men had been born without their consent, they had taken part in it because they could not help it; that they were in jail was no disgrace to them, for the game had never been fair, the dice were loaded."

The Innovator was running low on supplies. Many had fled to the ship during the siege, and food was being consumed rapidly. The captain made an important decision: the ship would anchor, and three hunting parties would gather supplies within the jungles. The adventurers volunteered as one party, now joined by an elf named Leeth.

Quarion elected to stay at the ship. At night, he stopped his meditation to her screaming. He rushed to the deck to see a ghostly figure flying through the sky, holding a human baby. Parents said that their son was missing. A child had been abducted.

At the same time, a ghostly figure appeared in an illusion to the hunting parties. The figure said that it had stolen the child as a tax for their intrusion, and warned them from trying to take it back. When the illusion disappeared, an arrow was drawn into the dirt where the illusion was standing, pointing deeper into the jungle.

Quarion met up with the rest of the party, and they traveled through the jungle in the direction the arrow pointed.

On the top of a large hill, extending above the canopy, they found an abandoned temple. They went inside in search of possible supplies and the missing child.

Having fought two plant like monsters, they now descend ever deeper into the temple.
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The stairs lead to a long and narrow room, about 30 feet wide and 70 feet long. Stacks of books are scattered about the room. There are several large, lavish chairs, ruined and worn from the years. There is a tan carpet on the floor, but it most likely used to be white. On the far end of the room, there is an iron door in the left corner, and a stone door on the right. In the center of the room lies an old sheet of paper.

Spoiler: Characters

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DistandLetter= Alexander the Human Witch
HerrS= Quarion the High Elf Soulknife
Dambombiest= Grod the Orc Fighter
NotDaniel= Arbane the Human Paladin

[DistantLetter]

After observing the room, I cautiously approach the old piece of paper and pick it up.

[Banjoman42]

After observing the room, I cautiously approach the old piece of paper and pick it up.

The paper has some water damage, but you can make out some of the writing on the top and bottom.

Spoiler: Old Writing

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...p=docslist_api

[DistantLetter]

After I read the writing on the paper, I relay the information back to my peers.

After I do so, I pick up a book at random, and read its contents.

[Banjoman42]

After I read the writing on the paper, I relay the information back to my peers.

After I do so, I pick up a book at random, and read its contents.

A lot of the books are water damaged, and you end up picking up the first book that you can actually read.

Spoiler: The Floating Lands

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This book describes a geographical theory that each major landmass floats on top of a sea of molten lava, rejecting the notion that the earth is hollow. This is offered as an explanation to why the land masses seem to fit together like puzzle pieces. It supports its hypothesis with geographical science that you can’t really understand, but at least seems legitimate. It also asserts that in hundreds of centuries, the continents will be arranged in new shapes, but the same basic land masses will remain.

[Dabombiest]

I think we should go right because right is right and in order to do the right thing we should go right

[DistantLetter]

I think we should go right because right is right and in order to do the right thing we should go right

Despite the... odd... logic, it doesn't matter to me what door we go down, so I'll agree with Grod's decision.

[Dabombiest]

I open the door and look for traps
[Search]21[/search]

[HerrS]

Typical Orc.. smash then search...

I will see if the iron door is trapped.

I search the iron door for traps.

Spoiler

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Search Result: 36

[Banjoman42]

I open the door and look for traps
[Search]21[/search]

When the orc touches the stone door, there is a great SNAP! Like a stick being broken in a cavern.

Spoiler: Grod

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The door delivers an electric shock when you touch it, dealing 22 Lightning damage. You were unable to open it before you recoiled.

Typical Orc.. smash then search...

I will see if the iron door is trapped.

I search the iron door for traps.

Spoiler

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Search Result: 36

Spoiler: Quarion

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The metal door does not seem to be trapped.

[HerrS]

I sigh

Who could have guessed that?

I use my psychic ledgerdomain to disarm the door from 30 ft away.

Spoiler: Disable Device

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33

[Banjoman42]

Blue and yellow runes on the stone door's handle begin to glow brightly. They begin to hiss, like steam in a teapot. The hiss gets louder and louder, until it is nearly deafening. Then, a loud pop rings through the room, and the runes on the door's handle disappear.

Spoiler: Quarion

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You can sense that the trap has been disarmed.

[HerrS]

I trot over to the door and check if the door is locked.

[Banjoman42]

I trot over to the door and check if the door is locked.

The stone door isn't locked, though turning the handle does produce an unpleasant screech, like two pieces of metal grinding together.

[HerrS]

Before opening I listen for any noises coming from the other side.

Spoiler: Perception

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46

[DistantLetter]

After seeing Grod get zapped by the door, I decide to venture on the side of caution and follow Quarion if he decides to open the door.

[Banjoman42]

Before opening I listen for any noises coming from the other side.

Spoiler: Perception

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46

Spoiler: Quarion

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You can here the crackling of fires, and an echo of something you can't identify, muddled by its reflection off the stone walls of the hall.

[Banjoman42]

Emmeth puts here ear up to the metal door on the right. After listening for a few moments, a frightened look appears on her face. "Someone's coming!" She draws a dagger and steps next to the door, putting her back to the wall in an attempt to hide.

[Dabombiest]

I reply to Emmeths warning by pulling out my scimitar


Lets do this

I charge through the door screaming Chaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggeeeee

[HerrS]

In a mixture of confusion, frustration, and disappointment I bring my palm to my face upon witnessing the orc's actions.

I cautiously move towards the side of the door opposite of Emmeth, making an attempt to hide as well, and unsheath my alconza.

Spoiler: Hide

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30

[Banjoman42]

I reply to Emmeth's warning by pulling out my scimitar


Lets do this

I charge through the door screaming Chaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggeeeee

How far into the hallway are you going to go?

Spoiler: Map 1

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http://imgur.com/BYHHLUc Q=Quarion, E=Emmeth, Ar=Arbane, Al=Alexander, G=Grod, Orange Line=Stone door, Grey Line=Metal Door. Everyone needs to post where they are in the room using the map.

Spoiler: Initiatve

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Alexander=19 (Higher Dex than Arbane)
Arbane=19
Enemy=16
Quarion=9
Grod=7

[NotDaniel]

Dammit, Grogg charged in. I'll lecture him later, for now we must fight!

B4 and i will be following behind Davis as he charges in

[Dabombiest]

I'm going to go to b12 but if someone is within running distance I'm going to get next to them and attack

[DistantLetter]

I'll be readied in d4 with my hands drawn. I'll ready a daze spell.

[Banjoman42]

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Searching ever further into the dungeon, the group found a small sheet of paper next to a corpse

Spoiler: Last Words

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...3dV9hjPQgKLGV0

and a map of the dungeon

Spoiler: Map

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https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1...3JTXzM3QTkzQlk

. Ignoring the warning but curious towards the evil supposedly lurking in the dungeon, our heroes pressed onwards. After meeting a strange man in a flooded room of the temple, Leeth and Quarion decided to secretly investigate the man's "home" within the dungeon, where they found a vast pool of blood and determined that the man was in fact a Satyr, and concluded that he had been transformed into a vampire. The adventurers confronted the Satyr, and are now battling him, his beastly lion-like topiary guardians, and a pack of summoned wolves.

Spoiler: Initiative Order and Map

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Grod (GR): 22
Leeth (LE, Prone): 19
Glaistig (Gl): 14
Alexander (Al): 4 (Higher Dex than Arbane)
Arbane (Ar): 4
https://drive.google.com/folderview?...jA&usp=sharing
It is now Alexander’s turn.

Arbane charged forwards, light glowing from his hand, as he attempted to touch the Satyr. When he did, the satyr’s wounds disappeared. Quarion then realized that the Satyr was actually the vampire-like Glaistig, which was in fact not undead. Grod climbed up the cliff as well, now knee deep in the pool of blood. Quarion grabbed the baby from a chest, then fled to the surface. Leeth attempted to move away from the Topiary Guardian, but was tripped. The Glaistig shouts:
“The child is MINE! I will end you all!”
A hiss spits from the Glaistig, and now a cloud of red surrounds him in 5 ft in all directions [+1 level of Nausea for Grod, Glaistig has 50% concealment from focused strikes this round]. He then appears above the cloud, flying once again roughly 30 ft above the cliff and 20 ft from the ceiling.
The Lion leaps toward Leeth, ready to attack. Suddenly, it collapses into a hapless pile of leaves and branches, no longer animate. The other disappears entirely.

Spoiler: Monster Statistics

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Glaistig AC: 32 (+3 vs. Arbane), 20% Concealment miss chance
Wolves AC: 18, +2 vs Grod/Shade 4

[DistantLetter]

I decide to cast Shade V, however, make them level three so I can gain the ability to cast multiple of them so they can deal with the wolves as we take on Glastig.

Spoiler: Roll for amount of shades

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6 shades

Shade 1: k7
Shade 2: k6
Shade 3: l6
Shade 4: q9
Shade 5: q8
Shade 6: p8

Hopefully if I come in from both sides I can contain them for a while as we handle the boss.

[Banjoman42]

6 Humans appear, scattered about the battle field.
The one attacks the wolf next to Arbane's horse, hitting twice an killing the wolf, its body disappearing with the sound of a gust of wind.

Two more move to the wolf next to Leeth. They each strike once, killing the it.

Another strikes a wolf on the ledge twice. The wolf falls lifeless.

Another lops the head of a wolf on the ledge, leaving only two.

The last human swings twice at the last wolf on the ledge, hitting it only once and not killing it.

Spoiler: Initiative Order and Map

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Grod (GR): 22
Leeth (LE, Prone): 19
Glaistig (Gl): 14
Alexander (Al): 4 (Higher Dex than Arbane)
Arbane (Ar): 4 https://drive.google.com/folderview?...jA&usp=sharing

It is now Arbane's turn.

[NotDaniel]

I call my mount to me and take a full round action to remount.

[Banjoman42]

The wolf bites at the horse as it lifts into the air, but misses. The horse flies into the red mist, and Arbane gets on.

Spoiler: Initiative Order and Map

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Grod (GR): 22
Leeth (LE, Prone): 19
Glaistig (Gl): 14
Alexander (Al): 4 (Higher Dex than Arbane)
Arbane (Ar): 4 https://drive.google.com/folderview?...jA&usp=sharing

[Dabombiest]

Im gonna jump down (p4) and run behind the little puppy(p6) and make an attack against it with my hammer.

Spoiler

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Attack=26, Damage=30.