Planar Odyssey [IC]

[ThatDamnPaladin]

Roderick

The lack of surprise that something wanted his help was there alright; something that could easily read his mind was worrisome but- he had to admit to himself that he'd never refused anyone assistance nevermind them being stuck in a place like this. His movement was fast; his stride long- and he? Well, he just grimaced as he forced his way through places small and large without impediment. So, he does return the woman's question in kind, "I am a fool yeah, likely my allies didn't leave me- but they certainly do not act as friends. However," This was said as finally he entered the room of horrors- his gaze hardening now as he looked to each and every dead man, woman, and elf here- "I would like to know the name of my passenger before picking her up- courtesy of course..."

Roderick, despite his size is quite easily maneuverable- and is really rather able to hopscotch his way to the figure. Before pausing, and baring his teeth in a coarse, harsh laugh, "Y'know what? You can tell me once we're out of here."

And then with a grin befitting a raging homicidal mad man- that he wasn't at the moment, he belts out!

"I ACCEPT!"

[Triskavanski]

Mais moves back to the deck of the ship ignoring the attacks he comes under for doing so. As soon as he lands, he spins around on the ground laying down a circle of salt around him. "Nasty little beasties these things be."

Spoiler

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Starting at 3rd level, the scholar has learned that certain mundane materials, plants, or even creatures, properly utilized, can have unusual effects on magical energies. The scholar learns one material imposition from the below list, plus an additional one at 5th level and every two levels thereafter. Unless stated otherwise, activating an imposition is a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity and expends the scholar’s martial focus. A scholar damaged by an attack of opportunity while activating an imposition must make a concentration check adding her class level and Intelligence modifier to a d20 roll (DC 12 + damage dealt) or she fails to activate the ability and the action is wasted. Feats and abilities that normally improve concentration checks, such as the Combat Casting feat, also apply to scholar’s using material impositions. If the imposition grants a save, the DC is equal to 10 + 1/2 the scholar’s class level + her Intelligence bonus.

Impositions with activated abilities can interfere with each other’s energies and effects; if the scholar uses the activated ability of a material imposition while another activated ability is still in effect, the previous effect immediately ends. Impositions which do not require activation do not interfere with other imposition’s effects. Activating a material imposition consumes raw materials, but generally the cost of these materials is insignificant — comparable to the valueless material components of most spells. A scholar can assume she has all materials necessary to use her material impositions unless otherwise noted as long as she has a designated belt pouch or spell component pouch in her possession. Unless otherwise noted, material impositions are extraordinary effects


The scholar carefully lays out an unbroken circle of salt, creating a protective circle around herself and up to 1 adjacent ally per 2 class levels (minimum 1) that lasts for a number of rounds equal to the scholar’s Intelligence bonus (minimum 1). If a protected ally moves outside of the square they occupied when the circle was created, the protective energy is disrupted and the effect immediately ends. While within this circle, the scholar and protected allies gain a circumstance bonus to saving throws against spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural effects equal to the scholar’s Intelligence bonus (minimum 1). Whenever the scholar succeeds on a saving throw against such an effect while protected by the circle, she immediately regains her martial focus if it is currently expended.

In addition, while within the circle, the scholar and affected allies are also protected from bodily contact by summoned creatures and incorporeal undead. This causes the natural weapons and touch attacks of such creatures to fail and the creatures to recoil if such attacks require touching the warded creature. The protection ends if the warded creature takes any hostile action against a blocked creature, and that creature may pass through the barrier (though other creatures are still warded as normal).

[Stelio Kontos]

Sefariel did his best to remain still and silent in his vanished state, listening over the whispers of the damned for anything else that might approach or might provide some clue to this pastiche of horrors.

With a silent impulse of thought, his bat flew toward Mais, scratching at biting at one of the spirits.

Spoiler: OOC

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I'll just sit and listen/watch for anything other than a dozen spirits I can't do much to.

The bat will attempt to smite evil (persists until target is dead or it vanishes) on one of the spirits on Mais.

attack: (edit: messed up roll format, rolled in Discord, got a whopping 9) (bite), damage: (1d8+4)[8], +4 additional if these things are actually evil (LOL me if they're not)

[Darvin]

Aron gleefully twirls his glaive; it radiates a blinding holy light as it carves through three of the apparitions surrounding him. Their tormented forms are reabsorbed into the ambient miasma. The sole remaining wraith reaches out, but its claws score only a glancing blow against Aron. Atticus fares less well, as his ineffectual musket shot only draws the undead closer to renew their attack, their searing touch once again grasping at his flesh.

The undead surrounding Mais recoil in horror at the cirle around him, venting their frustrations on Sefariel's summoned dire bat. Their very touch causes it to wither away in a manner far more severe than the minor negative energy burns the rest of the party suffered. They take glee as they drain the last energy from the creature, causing it to dissipate entirely.

Spoiler: Atticus

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The screams of the damned grow louder in your ears. The voices are tangible individuals, begging to be released from their torment. With each successive blow against you, they grow louder, drowning out the sounds of combat around you.

Spoiler: Sefariel, Aron, Mais

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The ease with which these undead destroyed the summoned dire bat seems very unexpected, given their relatively weak attacks. Either there is something giving them greatly enhanced potency against summoned creatures, or there is some effect protecting you from the worst of their attacks.

Spoiler: OOC

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Aron is attacked and takes 1 negative energy damage.

Atticus is attacked four times and hit three times; he takes 12 negative energy damage from three different attacks.

The dire bat takes 11 (!) constitution drain and 7 negative energy damage.

8 of the apparitions remain; 1 is next to Aron, 4 are surrounding Atticus, 2 are nearby Mais and have just destroyed Sefariel's summoned dire bat.

Spoiler: Roderick

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"My name is Viri; there will be plenty of time to get to know each other after we're off this hell ship. I hid my soul in my locket when I was dying to keep from being absorbed by this tumor. Just pick it up, I'll do the rest," as the voice trails off, Roderick notices a glimmer on the floor. There are tattered remains of a humanoid too far gone to be recognizable, but there is indeed something shining among them.

As soon as he steps forward, the walls begin too ooze with a virulent yellow pus that mixes with the drips of blood from the victims. Globules of the disgusting ooze pull themselves free from the walls, their sludgey form having vaguely humanoid features as they clamor clumsily towards Roderick. The cloaked figure at the center of the room remains motionless.

There are five of these creatures; they don't seem particularly fast so Roderick could potentially just run past them. The locket is about 30 feet away from your current position, and there are no significant obstacles between you and it.

[CasualViking]

Aron "Hey, remember that time at the lake when Rosie was wearing that almost see-through shirt and she was waving and smiling in your direction, and you thought she meant you? Remember how everyone laughed?" A sudden memory wells up in the middle of the fight, and Aron's flashing blade only connects once. Spoiler: Actions Show Full attack; If the first attack kills my lone opponent, I am going abort the full attack and take a move action to go over to draw some heat off Atticus. Attack 1: (1d20+19)[20], damage - (1d10+13)[19]+Holy - (2d6)[10], Attack 2: (1d20+19)[35], damage - (1d10+13)[15]+Holy - (2d6)[8], Attack haste: (1d20+19)[20], damage - (1d10+13)[23]+Holy - (2d6)[6] No special abilities to overcome miss chance. EDIT: vow, two nat ones.

[Triskavanski]

Mais takes the moment to recenter himself, as he observes the others. This was going to be hard in itself, as he didn't have anyway that he could think to harm the beasties, but at least the other three were working at the situation. Now if he could just figure out where the forth went to."Like herding cats.. "

[MesiDoomstalker]

Atticus was not enjoying this predicament; there was far too many of these things and he lacked another method of egress for now. He slammed his rifle-butt into one of the nearest things, keeping himself on the defensive as he waited for a better opportunity.

Spoiler

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Fight Defensively (Touch AC 24)
Raging Flux (1d20+5)[17] vs. regular ac
(1d10+3)[8] + (6d6)[20] electric. For every 10 points of damage, the target gets pushed back 5 ft.]
Use Assay Resistance to bypass the first 25 points of Electricity Resistance and also deals an additional 2d6 electric damage (already factored).

[ThatDamnPaladin]

Roderick

"That makes it incredibly hard to be dramatic if I have to go pick you up," the Bloodrager states- easily moving to the locket and picking it up in a rather deft downward reach and turn. And being that he is incredibly fast as is- he is able to avoid more of these horrid abominations as he begins to skedaddle right the hell out. Moving past most everything because- hey; he wasn't about to get into a fight alone in the middle of some horrible cancer ship.

Spoiler: Actions

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Move 30ft to Locket and Pick up
Proceed to move 40ft to exit because **** fighting alone
End of Turn

[Darvin]

Aron sweeps in with his glaive in a broad arc meant to swipe at three of the phantasms, but his weapon passes eerily through two of them and strikes home at only one. Seeing his opportunity, Atticus completes the pincer, the clap of thunder emanating from his musket as electricity surges through the air and burns away the miasma - and the wraith.

A split second later a second loud crack comes from inside the ship. The moans of the damned turn into panicked shrieks, the wraiths recoil in paralyzed agony. A surge of hot air emanates from the insides of the vessel; you get the sense that something happened inside the vessel.

Spoiler: OOC

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The Wraiths are unable to act this round; you can choose to use this round to get in some free hits, or you can disengage without fear of attack of opportunity. You do not know how long until the wraiths recover from this condition.

Spoiler: Roderick

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Without missing a beat Roderick strides forward. The grasping claws of the sludge-like creatures tear at him [Roderick is hit three times, taking 13 damage], but he ignores the pain and presses past towards the amulet. The corpse has been eaten away by the metallic substance growing over the ship. Roderick tugs at the amulet, finding a momentary resistance before it effortlessly comes loose. What little remains of the corpse immediately collapses and the metallic tendrils recoil, and as their support gives way so too does the heavily damage floor under his feet. Roderick tumbles down with the amulet in hand, a sickeningly hot wave of air passing over him. He strikes hard on a metallic surface, bit it proves fragile and brittle and shatters under his weight. The entire ship screams from this damage.

"What was that?" Viri's voice chimes in Roderick's head, and he can feel her genuine surprise emanating from the locket, before she composes herself, "we need to get out of here. Put me on, I can channel enough energy to complete a Dimension Door spell, all I need is for you to complete the spell. If we're in sync, we should be able to do it,"

Roderick looks around and sees a network of the beating metallic veins throughout the room all leading towards an enormous heart-like organ. Half metal, have flesh, festering and oozing a pus-like sludge that sloshes around on the floor. The remains of shattered crates lie around the room with no signs of their contents. The heart beats violently, and with each pulse Roderick feels a stinging pain across his being. Overhead the sludge-like creatures that clawed at him peer over the hole in the floor, ready to jump down.

Roderick could investigate the room or attack the heart if he so chooses, or he can put on the amulet and accept Viri's aid to cast Dimension Door.

[CasualViking]

Aron "When it is a warm, peaceful day, think about girls. But when evil ghost-monsters are trying to kill you, fight!". Aron gets a hold of his mind, and his whirring blade cleaves through the spectral foes, rending ectoplasm left and right. Spoiler: Actions Show Full attack, No special abilities to overcome miss chance or crit incorporeal foes. *Attack 1: (1d20+19)[36], damage - (1d10+13)[21]+holy - (2d6)[6], *Attack 2: (1d20+19)[20], damage - (1d10+13)[19]+holy - (2d6)[5], *Attack 3: (1d20+14)[32], damage - (1d10+13)[15]+holy - (2d6)[2]

[MesiDoomstalker]

Atticus scrambled away from the swarming, screaming specters, flaring his animus to heal himself as he put some distance between him and the unquiet souls. I feel, we should beat a retreat. There are too many of 'em.

Spoiler: Animus Healing

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(6d6)[21]

[ThatDamnPaladin]

Roderick

When he fell it was not a graceful or kind thing; his weight being several hundred pounds now made sure that as he crashed through the floor that he landed heavily. However; at the last second a clawwed hand lashed out and he righted himself causing a painful; but not as deadly, fall to the floor on his knees. The voice in his head wasn't ignored and he just stared at what he was seeing; backing away slightly as horror dawned on him.

That was a heart.

That was a beating heart.

Bile rose some but, he quashed this as pain rippled through his nerves; each one screaming as the beat pulsed in a rhythm that was alien and strange. However; his head tilted some as he listened- and without an iota of hesitation he put the amulet on. A surge of arcane energy flooded his veins now as he felt his natural inclination toward spellcraft get shunted and shifted to a more purposeful and organized use. And, with hands out and gesturing beginning; he- chooses to complete the spell itself.

"STEP."

Spoiler: Actions

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[Screw_That.OGG]
Putting on Necklace
Allowing the Necklace to use his Arcane Lineage as a Battery
Dimension Dooring the Heck away from this- likely back to the boat if allowed to do so.
[Nope.avi]

[Stelio Kontos]

From somewhere near where Sefariel was a moment ago, a calm voice rang out. "The decision is yours, Atticus, and the rest of you. I surmise that the magical protections are blunting the worst of these creature's blows, and those should last at least a few more minutes. It will only be more difficult to deal with them later. So retreat, or fight, but do so quickly. I would rather not see us advance further without sending these souls to their true rest. I should not like to see our fate were we not adequately prepared."

Spoiler: OOC

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I don't really plan to take any actions save for being ready to jaunt out of the way of an attack should one happen to come my way.

[Triskavanski]

"Gather to me again, and I'll throw down a ward to protect us from the beasties give us a moment to recover."

[Darvin]

Aron uses the momentary opportunity to utterly destroy one of the apparitions and severely damage another. The one he damages instantly snaps out of its reverie and lunges forward. Aron strikes it hard for its impudent advance, but it's not enough to destroy the creature as it lashed out [Aron takes 1 point of negative energy damage]. The others remain howling in agony, and do not move.

Atticus and Sefariel both withdraw near to Mais. A belch of hot air erupts from the stricken vessel, and a wave of foul smoke passes over them. Though disconcerting, it does not seem to cause any immediate harm, and moreover this sudden draft has cleared the visibility inside the ship somewhat. There doesn't appear to be any immediate threat inside, other than the vicious growths of metal that adorn the walls.

Spoiler: Aron only

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As the apparition touches Aron and burns him with its concentrated negative energy, his vision and hearing go blurry for a moment. A concern strikes him; though the attacks of these undead horrors cause only trifling injuries, they seem to be slowly dulling his senses. This time he was able to shake off the effect immediately, but continued exposure is bound to make it worse.

Spoiler: OOC

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Aron hits on all three attacks, destroying one and damaging another adversary. That adversary attacks Aron, provoking an attack of opportunity that also hit, but the damage roll fell short of destroying it. Aron is hit and takes 1 point of negative energy damage.

Spoiler: Roderick

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"Good boy," Viri says in a reassuring manner as Roderick puts on the amulet. Arcane utterances alien to him emanate from his mouth, and Viri's presence washes over him. The creatures from above leap down, but the spell completes in a flash of light, removing Roderick from the hold. His sludge-covered boots touch down on a relatively clean wooden floor.

Taking a moment to reorient himself, he finds that he is not outside but rather in another part of the ship. There is no sign of monsters or infernal influence here, just a dull red magical lightning. It appears to be the private quarters of someone, likely an officer of the ship given its spacious size and a stack of papers on the desk. The room appears dissheveled, as if the last person in here was in a tremendous hurry.

"We should be safe here. The infernal influence hasn't touched this part of the ship. I have a number of personal effects in this room that you should take. That blue book on the desk? That's my spellbook. I don't know if I'll even be able to prepare spells as I am right now, but it's not going to happen at all without that book. Take the black ledger beside it, while you're at it. There's a compartment underneath the desk; it's not locked. I keep a scroll case in there. Also that wooden stick on the floor? Please do take that too," Viri directs Roderick's attention to the various items she mentions.

As he examines the room, he can also see an armoire in the corner of the room, and there are a number of other books other than the blue and black one that Viri mentioned on the desk. The doorway out of the room is closed, but wisps of sickly green fog occasionally waft underneath it. The infernal influence may not have made it into this room, but it's likely not too far off.

[CasualViking]

Aron Aron flinches slightly, but continues to hew through the spectral enemies, determined to lay them to rest. Spoiler: Actions Show Full attack, No special abilities to overcome miss chance or crit incorporeal foes. *Attack 1: (1d20+19)[29], damage - (1d10+13)[20]+holy - (2d6)[11], *Attack 2: (1d20+19)[21], damage - (1d10+13)[22]+holy - (2d6)[3], *Attack 3: (1d20+14)[16], damage - (1d10+13)[18]+holy - (2d6)[6]

[MesiDoomstalker]

Well ladies, I think Aron won't go without a fight. Atticus raised his rifle, belching out a blast of electricity, hoping to help mop up the rest of these spectre's before they recover from whatever caused them a fright.

Spoiler

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Energy Hammer
(1d20+14)[25]
(1d12+12)[15] + (12d6)[36] electric; save irrelevant (fort-based)
Assay Resistance; ignore first 25 points of Electricity Resistance, all DR, deal 2d6 extra damage (already factored above)

[ThatDamnPaladin]

Roderick

Being told what to grab and what to get he moved quickly about the room; now- contrary to likely popular belief? He could read. And these titles were odd to say the least. However- that wasn't what he was here to do. Grabbing the spell book first and shunting it away in his backpack before slipping in the ledger. Then it was to the Scroll Case; he wasn't able to get the case out easily; so he ends up pulling the drawer out almost entirely before plucking the case out and standing...

The stick, he grabs that too; and with time to think he looked about, "Is there anything I might want in here, Viri?" This wasn't really much of a question; but he was curious and even popped a detect magic with one of his spell-slots. Which were honestly precious but right now he was... well, uncaring. He was curious as to what exactly was in the room. He was fairly thorough if a bit quick- due to the fact that there was quite honestly a literal hellscape outside.

And so, he took a gander about...

Spoiler: Actions

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Timewarp: Basically for the next 5 turns he is collecting the items; not hurriedly but fast enough.

Turn 1: Spellbook and Ledger > Backpack
Turn 2: Getting Scroll Case > Backpack
Turn 3: Getting the Staff > Backpack
Turn 4: Perception 1d20+10=(19)+10=29 to Search for anything else of value
Turn 5: Perception 1d20+10=(4)+10=14 to Listen for sounds of combat...

[Triskavanski]

"Well do be swift about it," Mais says, throwing out another ring of salt around him and anyone in the small area to keep them protected from the ghosts.

[Stelio Kontos]

"I presume you don't mind if I avail myself of your protections as well" the disembodied voice lilted softly next to Mais. "I shall return to full viability shortly, do not be alarmed by my appearance."

Spoiler: OOC

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I've got nothing for this; just continuing to monitor for signs of a new entrant to the battlefield.

[Darvin]

Aron deftly trisects two quick arcs of his glaive, while Atticus' shot rips through another, leaving only a disintegrating cloud of noxious miasma where it once stood. Only a handful of the apparitions remain. Coming to their senses, they unleash howls of rage and charge. Aron slices at one that attempts to run past him and eliminates it, but the remaining four simply pass by beyond the party's collective reach as they funnel into the remains of the derelict ship, quickly disappearing into its gloomy recesses.

There is a moment of eerie calm outside the ship. The silence is broken only by the beating pulse of a heart. Not a heart in any of your chests, but something coming from inside the vessel. With each thud the metallic veins that line the ship pulsate and your skin tingles.

Spoiler: Sefariel

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Through your empathetic link, you can tell that Sophia is struggling. The aura of of evil is getting stronger, and has reached a critical point at which it is impacting the focus of good-aligned outsider. While the will to press on is there, she is not at her full. [Sophia suffers a -2 penalty on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma-based checks while you remain in the vicinity of the ship]

Sefariel found it strange that he was not affected. As an Aasimar he should be just as vulnerable to such overwhelming evil. Perhaps being a native outsider granted him some measure of protection? The other mortals here seemed to also be unaffected by the rising aura of evil, after all.

Spoiler: Aron and Atticus

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From the smokey miasma of the destroyed wraiths, more translucent spectral shapes take form. They all appear humanoid, gaunt, and forlorn, with heavy manacles around their wrists and legs, and they shuffle with a resigned look on their faces back towards the ship

Spoiler: Mais only

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Out of the corner of your eye you spot a humanoid figure standing on the deck of the ship observing your party. A cowl obscures their face. Having been noticed, the creature seems to sink through the boards of the ship, melding into the structure as if by magic and disappearing from view.

Spoiler: Roderick

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Roderick scans the room with magical detection. The smooth stick in his land lights up immediately, emanating a strong universal magical aura. Whatever it is, a powerful magic is contained within it. A faint aura of abjuration hangs around the door; likely a simple alarm spell to notify Viri of anyone snooping in her personal quarters. But his eyes are drawn to the floor. Though not visible to the naked eye, the lingering aura of some sort of magical circle now reveals itself to him. Though the circle itself has since been erased, whatever ritual it was a part of has scorched a powerful lingering aura into the floor. Roderick may not be a trained wizard, but he does know that even the strongest auras don't last more than a few days.

Viri responds to Roderick's question, "unless you have a use for women's clothing, I don't think there's anything else here that will serve you. As Roderick sweeps the room with his gaze, he notices a dresser with clothing left in clumps on the floor. At first glance it appeared like it had been ransacked, but on second look it might be covering something. He knelt down and pushed the clothing aside. One particular scarf felt extremely heavy to the touch, and the moment it was removed he was blasted by a strong magical aura of conjuration and abjuration. It didn't take a wizard to realize that this was a lead-lined scarf intentionally designed to conceal things from magical sight.

Viri's voice chimes up in his head, sounding worried, "those are unstable magical reagents. I didn't have time to dispose of them before I died. We should leave them,"

[sense motive success] Though Roderick get the sense that she's probably being truthful, Viri seems overly-eager to avoid having to explain anything more about this.

[Stelio Kontos]

"Shhh, shh, Sophia, it's all right, we won't be here long" Sefariel spoke soothingly.

"If I could ask that we hasten our departure, it would be appreciated. There appears to be little here, and Sophia is not coping well with the apparently vile aura of whatever it is that has possessed this vessel. Much as it may be of academic interest to study this further, I fear that whatever negative machinations may be at play here would be too much for her to withstand. It seems not to have affected me as it otherwise might, but I suspect that the celestial spark within my soul is not sufficient to interact with the vessel at this time."

[CasualViking]

Aron "I hate to sound like a simple-minded singleton, but... whatever that heart is, I think it really needs to be stabbed. Or something. Anyone with me?". He gestures deeper into the fog with his polearm.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Atticus clamped a hand on Aron's shoulder. I ain't saying this place is right. I ain't saying its a good thang leavin' it be. But this ain't our fight; if we didn't have naw folks on our tails looking fer us dead, I'd be right 'side ya. Let's get out of here, while we still have our skins.

[CasualViking]

Aron "I don't like leaving this unfinished. But I seem to be the only one with any enthusiasm for it. So be it". He turns around. "I will not drag you in there against your will, not by force and not by sense of duty, and I don't think you would let me go alone. Let's get out of here, then."

[Darvin]

Spoiler: Roderick

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Wasting no more time in the quarters, Roderick kicks open the door to make a quick escape. A sickly wave of miasma washes over him, but aside from a foul sensation and smell it causes him no harm. The voice in his head directs him down the empty hallways, until he sees an open hatch and leaps through to arrive on the shattered deck.

The adventurers make the decision to withdraw from the vicinity of the hellish vessel. As they move towards the edge of the cloud of miasma, they spot Roderick clamoring out onto the deck. He's somehow made his way over to a completely separate section of the ship from the one he entered. It is a simple matter of him to rejoin the rest of the group to make their retreat.

As they move through the shell of blackened smog that surrounds the shattered ship, those who look back can see that it appears to be bleeding. A thick red liquid oozes from between the planks of the ships, dripping down its sides and dropping off into the void of the astral. This visage quickly becomes obscured by darkened clouds, and in the opposite direction the silhouette of the Cerulean Gray greets them.

Tanner is quick to greet them, "oy, that storm got mighty pissed a minute ago. Did you manage to find the invisible fire-breathing fiend in there and stick 'em good?" she doesn't need anyone to respond to see the collective reactions, "well, no one's dead or missing limbs, so most of adventurers I've met would call that a success," she says with optimistic snark.

Before anyone else can respond there is a loud and prolonged crunching noise from inside the cloud of evil. It continues for several long and agonizing seconds, as if the stricken vessel inside had gotten into a slow-motion collision with itself. Tanner's eyes widen as she makes a quick rush for the helm of her ship, "I think we should put a little more distance between us and that, don't you?"

[MesiDoomstalker]

Cap'in Tanner, that is a great idea. Everybody get on the boat! Atticus wastes no time hopping back to the skiff, though he instantly whirled around with his musket at the ready. I got our retreat Cap'in, just get us outta here.

[Stelio Kontos]

Sefariel's face brightened visibly at the sight of Roderick. "I feared you had wandered off, sir!" he intoned. "I am grateful to have you back with us, unharmed. We could have used your prowess, I think."

To Tanner, he could only nod in simple and solemn agreement. "Quite so, Captain, though I saw no sign of any invisible force, save perhaps that one might count the wraiths which seem bound to the ship, former crewmen and women I would think, dead and departed but not yet to their rest. I am afraid the vessel is, for lack of a better word, alive, but quite badly wounded. I am afraid it is a focus for a great evil. Were it solely my decision, I would ask that you impart whatever ordinance is aboard this ship to see it properly destroyed, and to set the souls within it to what I would hope to be their final rest. But failing that, yes, let us retreat for some distance. It would be helpful to observe the matter for at least a few moments, albeit from a greater range, to ensure that whatever is going to happen... does. I would not wish an encounter with the insides of that ship upon another."

[Darvin]

"Mmm'kay, let's put a bit of distance between us and the hellboat over there," Tanner returns to the helm of the ship and within a few moments it gently pulls out of its circling orbit and begins to move away from the crackling cloud of evil. The party discusses what they saw and debates whether or how to proceed with their ventures into the ship.

Suddenly, Tanner lets out a whistle, "Oy! Don't mean to alarm you folks, but... uh... we stopped putting distance on the ship back there a few minutes ago. It's following us, and it's picking up speed fast. We're almost at full throttle and we aren't shaking it," true to her world, the Cerulean Gray doesn't appear to be making any distance on the black cloud of miasma. Fortunately, it doesn't appear to be closing the distance either.

The uneasy relief of a several mile head-start is dashed as the stricken ship's bow slowly creeps out of the front of the infernal miasma. Slowly the rest of the ship follows, revealing something utterly grotesque. The wooden frame of the ship is still in ruins and tatters, but has been stitched together by a fleshy substance that drips with something that looks like blood. The veins of metal have coiled along the outside of the ship, pulsating with a furious heartbeat that drives it forward. The decks are populated by a deformed and agonized crew, their bodies barely recognizable as humanoid. The creatures move in a haphazard fashion, but anyone looking through a spyglass can see them loading some sort of cannon.

There is a resounding crack as a fiery ordinance hurtles towards the Cerulean Gray. Tanner veers the ship off to the side, nimbly avoiding the shot. At these distances it seems unlikely that Tanner will allow her ship to be hit, and so long as the Gray isn't slowed down you should be able to shake them eventually. However, there's no telling how long they can keep up pursuit, or if they have any other tricks up their sleeves.

Spoiler: Sefariel

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You catch a large shape hurtling through the expanse of the astral towards the Cerulean Gray. The translucent shape, visible only thanks to Sefariel's See Invisibility spell, is veering into an attack pattern and honing in on the ship. It is clearly draconic in shape, and as it opens its greedy maw in preparation of its strike the unmistakable glow of hellfire emanates from its gut.

Sefariel identifies this creature as a young infernal dragon; he is aware that its breath weapon deals hellfire damage (half unholy damage, half fire damage) and that it is immune to mind-affecting effects in addition to fire and hellfire. It has no elemental weaknesses, and no spell resistance. It is currently 400 ft away from the ship, but approaching rapidly. Some magical effect seems to be increasing its fly speed and allowing it to overtake the Cerulean Gray.

Spoiler: Atticus, Aron, and Mais

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You hear a rhythmic sound, almost like the flapping of enormous wings, in the distance. Your eyes dart to where it's coming from, but you see nothing even as the sound approaches closer. Something invisible is quickly approaching the ship.

Spoiler: OOC

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Sefariel, Atticus, Aron, and Mais can all act on the surprise round since they are aware of the approaching enemy. Anyone who beats its initiative result of 17 can also take their actions for the first round of combat.

The approaching adversary will act on the surprise round, but will only move closer as it has no attacks currently in range of the Cerulean Gray.

[CasualViking]

Aron Aron brings up his weapon in a defensive stance. As he starts to move, so too does his mind. "Invisible. Flying. Big. Alignment and clade, could be anything. Focus on invisible first. Got it - bats can see invisible things, I think. Giant bat it is". His mind goes through the precise, ordered steps to bring the horse-sized bat into existence. And as it pops into being, and flies off to engage the oncoming attacker, he finds that his arms has barely even started moving into position; his thoughts and mental actions having taken no time in the strange medium of the Astral. "I could get used to this", he thinks to himself with a smile. With another thought, his armor crackles as it is covered in a layer of frost.

Swift: Summon an Entropic Dire Bat, which flies off in the direction of the wingbeats and tries to find the creature. Standard: Use the Aegis ability to give my armor the Frosted ability, giving me +4 CMD vs grapples.
initiative - (1d20+1)[14]