War of Shadows (IC)

[sarlon]

the inside of the temple glows from tall windows allowing natural light to enter this amazing building. the main entryway is huge with dozens of doors leading off in different directions, and a tall staircase leads up to the upper levels. in the middle of the main room however is a very dead body, that of the old man who greeted you at the drop off-site. If you didn't know any better, you'd of thought he was asleep. A broken glaive lays in 3 pieces near the body, and multiple stab wounds are piercing the armor, the but final blow must have been the crushed skull.

the entire building is disturbingly quietly, and no movement is seen anywhere in the building.

[DeTess]

"Oh, crap." Elva froze up for a moment as she saw the corpse. Then as no sudden threat materialized, she carefully approached the corpse, while willing a trickle of power into her eyes so she could more closely observe the flow of magic around Albright's body.

Spoiler: OOC

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Cast detect magic, start observing Albright's corpse

[sarlon]

((actually the guy you followed disappeared soon after he walked in the building))

[DeTess]

((noted, editing my post now))

[NotASpiderSwarm]

Raidah seems to relax slightly upon seeing the corpse, finally on more familiar territory. She holds up her hand to stop anyone else from approaching.

"This could be an ambush. I'll back up Elva, you two please keep the escape route clear."

Raidah begins to follow Elva in, staying directly behind her, weapon ready.

As they get closer, she mutters "...huh. Wasn't he carrying a sword earlier?"

[ShadowImmor]

Casmir frowns.

"This does have a not so good smell about it..."

He stops in place, but draws his weapon and shield just in case.

[sarlon]

detect magic results:

the remains of the glaive are glowing with magic but its fading. the wounds contain trace magic but the skull damage is all physical damage.

The entire building fairly pulses with magic itself, the walls, the floor, but there is almost a stream of magic flowing from under the body and pulsing down. The different schools of magic make it nearly impossible to trace any specific school.

(give me some perception checks please)

[NotASpiderSwarm]

Perception: (1d20+8)[11]

[DeTess]

"Hmmm, I wonder..." Elva was relieved to see no clear signs of a necromantic binding on the corpse. Still there was definitely a connection of sorts with something deeper in the building.

Spoiler: perception

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(1d20+10)[17]

[ShadowImmor]

Perception roll1

(1d20+4)[24]

[Imladir]

	Alyndra Aramiar - Elf Wizard (5) - HP 30/30 - AC 14
	“Well...” Alyndra looked at the body for a moment. “That certainly counts as disruptive...” The young elf frowned. “And definitely not something caused by random natural events... Someone might be trying to mess things up, for one reason or another...” She grimaced. “And if something's missing, we're unlikely to notice it...”

[sarlon]

Shadow:

The layout of this temple feels....off. The main area like this in a temple this large would have some sort of area for "reception" normally about where this dead body is located. The temple doesn't feel desecrated or anything (no bad or evil feelings about the place other than an obvious murder). You know an important place that anything of religious value would be located in the primary chapel (easy to find its location with the floor plans you were given).

Everyone:

something feels off about this murder....for the damage (crushed skull and at least a dozen or so stab wounds), there is almost no blood on the floor. in fact the floor is almost sparkling clean aside from minor dust.

Everyone but NotaSpiderswarm:

There are small shards of a weird black....well it's not metal, it's not stone, and it's not glass, but it looks like an oily sheen on whatever material it is made from. These are mostly hidden under the body and a piece an inch or so long protrudes from a nasty wound to his belly.

EVERYONE roll me a balance or reflex check please.


((sorry for the delay guys, work has been insanely busy, back to back calls, and people waiting 40+ minutes to speak with us))

[NotASpiderSwarm]

"Maybe the ghost decided to mop up af...whoa"

Balance: (1d20+11)[29]

[Imladir]

Reflex: (1d20+5)[23]

[DeTess]

reflex: (1d20+5)[16]

[ShadowImmor]

Reflex roll - (Dice gods don't fail me now!) - (1d20+1)[16]

[sarlon]

the ground is suddenly rolling underfoot, an earthquake? right as you start to regain your balance, a STRONG push of wind from somewhere further in the temple pushes Shadow and DeTess completely off their feet, sprawling onto the ground.

Something is definitely wrong...

[DeTess]

"Oof..." Elva only just managed to avoid landing right on top of Albright's copse, and the awkward fall had knocked the wind right out of her.

Once she'd gotten her breath back, her new perspective did reveal a rather interesting sight. "Hey Raidah, could you help me turn over this corpse? There's something stuck in its belly..." She said, as she carefully got back to her feet.

[NotASpiderSwarm]

Raidah steps forward quickly, using her glaive for balance as she puts herself between Elva and the temple, preferably blocking the direction the wind came from.

”I can, but is now the best time? Whatever set this up knows we’re here, and is probably going to drop on us from the rafters any minute now.”

Raidah looks at Elva and sighs, crouching next to the body, still facing the larger temple.

”Fine, let’s be quick about it.”

She reaches down for the body’s shoulder with one hand and lifts, grimacing as she touches him.

[DeTess]

"If whatever did this comes at us, we're going to have to run either way, might as well have something to show for it." Elva said as she carefully picked up the largest piece of the weird black material, wrapped it in some spare cloth and slipped it into a pouch on her belt, making certain to not touch it with any bare skin as she did so. A cold shiver ran over her spine as she did so, and she was happy about the precautions she'd taken. Whatever this material was, it was not good news. Still, all the more reason to bring a sample back to the city.

"Allright, got it. And thanks, Raidah."

[Imladir]

Alyndra Aramiar - Elf Wizard (5) - HP 30/30 - AC 14

“Well...” Alyndra turned in the direction where the wind had come from, frowning. “Something is definitely wrong. A body with bloodless open wounds, an earthquake, wind indoor...” The young elf shook her head. “At this point, we have two choices... We could leave now. We know something is wrong here, that's definitely something we should report. But... It's a bit light, and we don't have the shadow of an explanation. Which, of course, is something we could only try to learn by remaining and exploring the temple a bit more... maybe to find the source of that wind... but that comes with risks of course.” She looked at the three humans, “What's your opinion on this?”

[DeTess]

"If something had already tried to chew our faces off, I'd be all for leaving and reporting back. As it is, all we've got to report on is Albright's death and a shard of one of the weapons that did it, which is... something... but not much." Elva considered for a moment, looking off thoughtfully in the direction the blast of wind had come from. "I'd say we continue on carefully for a bit. But then again, I've got the option of going invisible and running if we encounter something that we can't take down, and I don't think that's something all of you can do."

[NotASpiderSwarm]

After a ghost, a murder, and what seems like the region breaking down? No way we leave. Maybe later we call the boss, if things go bad, but we only get to move up if we show initiative. She grimaces. Besides, Casmir doesn't earn his pay unless he brings me back from death's door at least twice before we head back.

Satisfied that nothing is going to chew their faces off at that moment, Raidah kneels down to inspect the broken weapon, setting her own glaive down next to it. She makes sure she doesn't touch the body again while she does so.

Perception(what's the deal with this weapon): (1d20+8)[21]

[sarlon]

Something feels.....familiar about this weapon... (the glaive). while it is broken into 3 pieces, its an almost clean break rather than something shattered it (like someone cut it apart with a saw rather than just cracking it apart over their knee). It also feels familiar like you've seen it before but you have no idea where or when because you've never been to this temple before or know who this man is.

[NotASpiderSwarm]

Raidah pulls a sack out of her pack and places the fragments of glaive in it, wrapping them securely before putting them in her pack.

"That said, I feel like this place is odder than we realize. Let's move deeper before something decides to come find us."

[DeTess]

"What, literally as old as this world isn't old enough for you?" Elva said with a smile in response to Raidah's statement. "In all seriousness though, if we're continuing our exploration, shall I take point? I'm not altogether terrible at the whole 'sneaking around' thing."

[Imladir]

	Alyndra Aramiar - Elf Wizard (5) - HP 30/30 - AC 14
	“Alright then, onward it is. Let's be careful though, whoever killed him,” Alyndra indicated Albright's body, “must be way more than we can deal with.” “Older actually,” The young elf added after Elva, “It wasn't built here. Anyway, sure,” She waved forward, “Sneak around. Just don't go too far ahead that we can't help quickly. Or that you can't come back quickly if something comes from behind.”

[DeTess]

"Don't worry, Alyndra. I'll remain within line of sight. She responded to the elf. For a moment, she considered pointing out that once a building is older than the rock it stands on, another century or two won't matter, but then she thought better of it. This wasn't the time for a discussion about that sort of stuff.

Casmir, is there anywhere in particular, we should start?" Elva asked the priest.

[ShadowImmor]

Casmir sits up, having recovered from being knocked off his feet.

"This is very odd... I would probably start in the tavern-y area... most temples have like a bar area where patrons could gather and relax. That would probably be where there would have been the greatest level of activity before whatever happened... happened."

He gets himself and dusts himself off, clearly a bit embarrassed he was so easily knocked from his feet.

[DeTess]

"Alright, we'll start there then." Elva started heading off in the direction indicated by the priest, sticking close to the walls and making sure to remain as quiet as possible.

Spoiler: Stealth/scouting related checks

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hide: (1d20+11)[12]
move silently: (1d20+11)[31]
perception: (1d20+10)[23]