Avaritia Auri (Ilyrian Faction) [IC 1]

[Lord Of Mantas]

Oliver and Melody

Delicately floating down another hundred feet or so under the influence of the ring, Oliver eventually alighted on a very wet stone floor - and, looking up in front of him, saw those who had spoke with the party. Perched on a large rock overlooking what appeared to be a large underground body of water sat three massive serpents, each about ten feet long, with mottled scales of green and blue and human faces - Naga. Their faces loomed, and they examined him intently.

"We have no need for treasure."

"What we want is peaccce and quiet."

"Thingss in short sssupply nowadays."

"Those drow are not so ssstrong on their own, but their numbersss make them a problem."

"Tensss of them, at least. Unprepared you will sssurely meet an unfortunate end. And that would be a wasste."

"If you seek to challenge them, tessst your might, first."

"There iss a nest of undead lizardfolk and kobolds that has also popped up recently."

"Fail, and if you do not die... Well, we hardly want you kicking the hornetsss nest with no promise of a decent result."

"Take care of them, and we ssshall point you in the right direction, offer a little of what we know."

Looking from up above, Melody, Ennis, and Nibley all watched closely. Nibley scribbled to Melody.

Those are Naga. They want us to clear out some undead lizardfolk.
Apparently to make sure we're not just going to stir up the drow?

[Jade_Tarem]

Melody scrawled her own response.

Or they just want to weaken us before they attack.

She flipped the board again.

But whatever, sounds like a night out. Let's do this.

[Nefarion Xid]

Oliver signed back to Melody, "We'll probably need to rest after fighting zombies anyway. There is a finite amount of ass we can kick. It's a lot, but it is finite. But it is a lot."

This was an approximation of some churchy wisdom. Probably an amalgam of several different phrases that all boiled down to self-care and finding strength in fellowship. There were too many truisms for Oliver's brain to handle and everything had been distilled into one all encompasing sentiment that ass-kicking required naps.

"Very well, ladies. We will destroy these undead abominations gladly. Point us to them."

Detect Evil on the snake ladies.

[Lord Of Mantas]

The Girl With No Name and Boza

At TGWNN's declaration, the humans as a whole shrank back, the blonde woman and the unscarred man looking actively fearful while the scarred man and the black-haired woman looked simply wary, though both of them glanced toward the door.

"H-how can you say such a thing?" the blonde-haired woman stammered out. "Better yet, how could you do such a thing?"

"Get a hold of yourself," said the duel-scarred half-elf, his voice level. "It's hardly as if the guards would make a distinction, if they knew we were here. Treason, bloodied or not, is an invitation for the headsman's axe, and likely as not we'll all be dashed against the Legion eventually. No, a better question would be this." He looked to TGWNN and Boza. "If the two of you really were the ones who slew those guards yesterday, and so keen to brag about it, can we trust you to stay discreet?"

"I've got an even better question that that, actually,"came a voice from behind the door to the back room. The door opened, and the half-orc reappeared, standing behind and to the right of a man in chain armor with the emblem of a Tiger Flower and the letters IPF on the petals emblazoned on the front. To the left of the fighter was a man twirling twin daggers, and looking behind them, TGWNN and Boza spotted the man from the pub cowering further in the back room.

"Mainly: If you did what you say you did, then what does someone who painted the sign of the People's Front for a Free Ilyrland want with the Ilyrian People's Front?"

"I have to say," piped up the half orc, "You've got guts to show your faces here. Or you're off your rocker. Possibly both."

"Wait," said the black-haired woman. "Isn't this the People's Front for a Free Ilyrland?"

"No!" spat the man with the daggers. "They're a bunch of rabid dogs with no appreciation for strategy! We have an appreciation for more subtle tactics."

[Lord Of Mantas]

Oliver and Melody

Spoiler: Oliver

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None of the Naga detect as evil.

The naga momentarily paused as the rest of the party descended, but relaxed as Oliver agreed to assist them, and as Nibley and Ennis each hesitantly nodded their assent as well, deferring to the paladin.

"Exccellent. They can be found thataways." The first naga gestured with her head toward a passageway behind the group.

"They are primarily skeletons from what we've ssseen, and a fair amount of them besides, so take care you do not get sswarmed."

"Now, unlesss you have any further questionsss, we sshall retire for the moment."

[Tychris1]

The Girl kicked her feet up, wagging her magically blooded finger chidingly at the armored brute, and smirked her lips as she spoke ”Ah Figushki,” she started off in the half-orcs tongue before switching back into Ilyrian “You mingy twats s’posed to be so smart yet you don’t even know who’s you inviting to these shits or what we did. I’m moving inside this lil port a whole day afterwards uncaught even with their bloody magic cause broken dead men tell no tales. Snuffed my way here. That discreet ‘nough for ya? We did a job for payment, but then wes start thinking, well there’s a more local tap of rebellion isn’t there? Why not see the other potential employers.”

She furrowed her brow at the sight of the cowering man though “Oi, you ponces better be treatin’ my friend there proper like! S’good drinking mate that he is.”

[Lord Of Mantas]

The Girl With No Name and Boza

The man in the hood relaxed slightly as TGWNN finished her sentence. The other members of the IPF, though still alert, did not make any movements toward TGWNN and Boza. The humans, who had formerly been shrinking back relaxed much in the same manner as the man in the hood.

"Suppose we believe this isn't some sort of bluff," the man in chain said, looking TGWNN and Boza up and down. "What do you want? What's your game? And, who are you two anyway?" He looked toward Boza.

"You've been quiet so far. Got anything to say, brother?"

[Lord Of Mantas]

Oliver and Melody

Immediately, the party set out in the direction indicated by the Naga, weapons at the ready. The tunnel was rougher down here, and everything was slightly damp, and the air felt heavy - whether from actual lack of oxygen content or simply the oppressiveness of the silence and lack of light, the party could not tell.

Around 10 minutes later, the party rounded a bend, and as they advanced forward, Ennis leveled his sword.

"Skeletons."

And there, at the edge of the torchlight, six skeletal reptilian figures looked over and clattered their teeth and claws at the party - two pairs of smaller skeletons on either side of the cavern, and two skeletons that looked to have belonged to some particularly brutish lizardfolk up the middle.

*** Begin Combat ***

Nibley was the first to act, drawing his bow and firing a blunted arrow at one of the lesser skeletons. While it hit, it was not enough to kill the skeleton; it did, however, leave a solid crack in the middle. The lords and two of the lesser skeletons rushed the party, clawing away at those in front, their fury piercing through their armor.

Spoiler: Actions

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Nibley does 5 damage to Skeleton 2.

Skeleton Lord 2 does 13 damage to Oliver.
Skeleton Lord 1 does 15 damage to Ennis.
Skeleton 2 does 11 damage to Nibley.

Spoiler: Initiative Order

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Nibley
Skeleton Lords, Skeletons 2 and 4
Oliver, Ennis, and Alphonse
Skeletons 1 and 3
Melody

[zabbarot]

"That's the problem with you lot. Always here garglin' piss and chit chatting. You wanna free Ilyrland or have a goddamn tea party? Make up your minds. We know what we're about," Boza spoke calmly, but put some bass in his voice. He finished his drink and continued to glare at his 'compatriots'.

[Nefarion Xid]

Oliver said something unkind and unbecoming his station, then smote the big skeleton who had hurt him.

Spoiler: Boop

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Vengeance Oath to turn my last 2 Lay on Hands into a Smite. Then Smite.
(1d20+15)[21] attack
(1d8+16)[22]

if crit threat, use this...
(1d20+15)[18] attack
(1d8+16)[19]

[Nefarion Xid]

Oliver shifts 5 feet forward. Alphonse moves up behind and attacks SL1.

Spoiler

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(1d20+6)[15] bite
(1d6+6)[8] chomp damage

[Tychris1]

She picked up her glove. A girl with no name placed her mark of murder in the heavy fabric. It felt warm. She nodded to Boza before looking back to the chainmail stranger and sucking her teeth a moment "I'm Option A, 'es Option B. Got it?" She continued to rock herself in the chair "Now I don't give two shits about what I gotta do, but one way or another, I'm gonna get rid of the King." She folded her arms across her chest, seeming almost bored with the man "What we call the bloody thing afterward don't concern me none. Game? Aye mate, this is a big game for me, and the Gods be rolling the dice. I take my chances."

She shrugged "So what's your deal? Yah bar mate painted this out as some madhouse."

[Lord Of Mantas]

Oliver and Melody

Ennis, drawing his rapier, scanned the large skeleton that had just bloodied him and thrust his rapier at its skull; despite the bone's natural resistance to the piercing shape of the weapon, a sizeable chip came off as he struck.

Meanwhile, the remaining two skeletons closed ranks. One struck at Nibley, while the other struck at Oliver; however, each of their attacks deflected off their armor or missed entirely.

Spoiler: Melody is now up.

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Followed by Nibley. Have fun!

[Jade_Tarem]

Melody squinted, then grinned. She'd seen Nibley fight and knew that he would create space before firing. She waited for him to do exactly that and then finished her spell with a snap of her fingers. A single point of violet light appeared and flashed a resplendent (and blinding) silver-purple before imploding, catching most of her enemies in its glare.

Spoiler: OOC

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I assume, true to Turret Tactics gospel, Nibley will five foot adjust back. Melody will ready an action to cast Burst of Radiance when Nibley is no longer in his current spot. If he doesn't move, of course, her turn is wasted. If he does, though, this happens:

Damage: (5d4)[15]

DC 18 Reflex Save to avoid being blinded for (1d4)[1] rounds. If they make the save, they are dazzled for that many rounds instead. They take all the damage regardless of if they make the save or not. Melody is positioning the spell to hit S1, S2, S3 and SL1.

[Lord Of Mantas]

The Girl With No Name and Boza

The members of the IPF turned around and looked at the man in the hood, the half-orc raising an eyebrow. "You've really got to ease up on the flowery s**t during recruiting. You'll give people the wrong idea, one of these days."

The man in the hood straightened up, a slightly offended look crossing his face. "Haven't you ever heard of a little thing called showmanship? Besides, you have to be a little bit mad to do the things we do - or at least have a lower-than-average sense of self-preservation."

The man in chainmail looked back at TGWNN and Boza, and spoke. "Well, if killing the king is your goal, then you're in the right place. At the Ilyrian People's Front, our ultimate goal is to topple the Nobility and Gentry who have sapped the wealth of the common folk for years, and give their ill-gotten gains back to the people. But, unlike the brutes at the People's Front for a Free Ilyrland who'd just as soon charge in swinging a blade as sneak in, we specialize in a more quiet kind of sabotage. We infiltrate the staffs of the nobility, the houses of the over-bloated merchants. With that, we are in the prime position to slip poison in cups, alter key records to send money elsewhere, plant incriminating little ditties. In short, rather than needlessly risking ourselves on the front lines, we direct the natural greed of the nobility to its self-destructive logical conclusion. And then we take the money from the ruins and use it to bolster our cause."

[Lord Of Mantas]

Oliver and Melody

Nibley dodged back just before Melody's spell hit, and, with a burst of light, disintegrated all but one of the remaining skeletons. Raising his bow, Nibley then fired another blunted arrow at it, only for it to dodge at the last second.

The last skeleton standing, lacking any sort of self-preservation instinct, clawed away at Oliver, but its comparatively blunt phalanges were not enough to do any damage.

Finally, dodging around, Ennis thrust his rapier at the skeleton's skull. Finding a weak point, the weapon struck straight through, shattering it in the process and sending it sprawling to the ground.

The cave lay silent again, for the moment.

Spoiler: Combat ends, and you all gain 800 XP.

Show

No loot, though - skeletons don't carry much.

After a moment, Alphonse perked his head and tilted it to the side, as if hearing something. Ennis followed suit, frowning.
"Anyone else hear that? Sounds like cackling, in the distance."Nibley shook his head, but scribbled on the chalkboard to Melody.

Ennis hears something. Cackling, maybe.

Spoiler: Oliver

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You briefly hear some sort of noise in the distance, but can't make out what.

Spoiler: Melody

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Being deaf, you, of course, hear nothing.

[Jade_Tarem]

Melody

The oracle noted the message, but didn't have anything to contribute. Auditory clues were entirely out of her wheelhouse. Instead, she spent the next few seconds patching everyone up, reducing deep gouges and gashes to minor scratches. When she was done, she nodded and gave a thumbs up for her status. She wasn't drained just yet.

[Nefarion Xid]

"Damn. I thought those skeletons would be a lot stronger than they were. After the first one hit me, I brought out the godly wrath and sort of disintegrated it. Now I'm all out of wrath." Oliver made a few short cuts with his sword in the air like he were trying to flick life into a dried up ballpoint pen.

"Not ideal, but we can probably wrap up here and then rest. Ennis have a short look ahead. See what were dealing with in the next hundred feet."

[Tychris1]

This made sense. Or at the very least looked like it made sense to the girl as she nodded her mug along and lined her chin up between her thumb and pointer. She squinted a little at “money”. She looked over at Boza. ”Well Option B, me personally I don’t care much bout collecting no money, but if you’s lot are about givin’ the king his rope collar than I’m aboard.” The Girl now recently known as Option A swung her legs off the table and leaned forward against her thighs. “Oh wait, this in’t some freaky sex thing or a cult right? Not that I gots a problem with either I just need’ta know going in.” She cackled, snorting almost immediately as she waved off the question with one hand, and killed her laughter abruptly with a leveled stare to the armored man.

“So what’s the scheme? What’s cooking. You lot like to play dressup and handcodes, you got your mingy minds interested in this political prisoner?

[Lord Of Mantas]

Oliver and Melody

Ennis saluted and then made his way forward around the bend. A couple of minutes later, he returned, a look of alarm rather noticeable on his face.

"I saw a necromancer presiding over some skeletons - four of the bigger ones we just saw, at least, and then two megaraptor skeletons. But the big thing was what the necromancer was. I... I think it was a kobold."

Nibley blinked and then scribbled madly.

Four of the big skeletons.
Two skeletal megaraptors.
And a kobold necromancer.

Spoiler: Oliver

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You recognize this as significant mainly for one reason: The kobolds, the island's native non-human inhabitants, were supposed to have all been wiped out seventy-five years ago.

Spoiler: Melody

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You recognize this as significant mainly for one reason: The kobolds, the island's native non-human inhabitants, were supposed to have all been wiped out seventy-five years ago.<br><br>When the various Tethyrian civilizations discovered Nidus, they found the kobolds, along with some native humans, the original Nidans. The Ilyrians immediately attempted to convert the Nidans to the worship of Iudexus and exterminate the kobolds, who worshipped dragons and were thus considered profane; the Kezrians attempted to enslave both species outright. The natives resisted violently, and, though they were able to resist for a long time thanks to their unparalleled mastery of the jungle, eventually dwindled into almost nothing, thanks to the invaders putting a stranglehold on their supplies and infecting them with various diseases. The last settlement of the Nidans fell around twenty-five years after the arrival of the invaders, who repelled the initial wave with alchemical solutions of various kinds. The second wave, strangely, encountered no resistance, and broke through the wooden palisades - only to find that all the inhabitants had vanished.

[Lord Of Mantas]

The Girl With No Name and Boza

The man in chainmail looked rather flatly at TGWNN. "No, we are most assuredly not a sex cult. This isn't some penny dreadful."

A couple of the human bystanders looked mildly disappointed.

"As for the prisoner they took today..."

"Oh, the one they think is a dr-"

The main in chainmail elbowed the half-orc. "I can neither confirm nor deny we have any operations targeting them, or their nature."

[Jade_Tarem]

Melody

The oracle nodded, setting her massive hat bobbing. She jotted down her own reply.

Oh neat. He's probably pretty mad about that time we genocided his whole culture. So what's the plan?

[Nefarion Xid]

Oliver scowled and signed something to the effect of, "These things happen", and went to take his position at what he judged was a suitable choke point. He wasn't obligated to be diplomatic with necromancers, no matter how disgruntled they may be. He flung his everburning torch ahead, hoping the flickering light would draw enough attention for the skeletons to investigate in waves.

[Tychris1]

She shrugged "Don't sell me a dog, we're all in it to win it yeah? But fine, keep your flaps to yaself, s'just that the Duke planned to cancel his whole soiree on account of this, and I was so looking forward to testing my ballroom swag..." She sighed in a mocking whistful tone "Clearly whatever's a foot has them buzzin' harder than bees in the spring and where there's bees there's honey. Got to get while the gettings good, yeah?"

[Lord Of Mantas]

Oliver and Melody

The everburning torch ricocheted off the walls, sending a clattering sound into the depths. For a few moments, silence reigned.

Then, far away, the beat of bone against stone began to ring out, and after about a minute or so, a pale face appeared around the corner - the face of a skeletal megaraptor.

​Begin Combat

Spoiler: Oliver wins initiative, which is laid out as follows...

Show

- Oliver
- Skeletal Megaraptor 2
- Lizardfolk Skeletons 1 + 2
- Alphonse and Nibley
- Necromancer, Megaraptor 1, and Skeleton 3
- Melody and Ennis
- Skeleton 4

[Nefarion Xid]

Oliver and Alphonse will ready an action to attack the first monster to come within melee range and will fight defensively.

Spoiler: Attacks

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(1d20+4)[22] power attack + defensive fighting
(1d8+8)[13]

(1d20+4)[19] if crit threat, use this
(1d8+8)[13]

(1d20+3)[6] Alphonse beak
(1d6+6)[7]

[Lord Of Mantas]

The Girl With No Name and Boza

"Some would say discretion is the better part of valor. We didn't get this far blinding rushing in - it's a lot harder to keep a larger group on the down low than a small group if you go kicking the hornet's nest."

The hooded man sidled up to the main in chainmail, whispering briefly in his ear.

Spoiler: TGWNN

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"Ease up a bit. Think about what's she's said."

The main in mail thought for a bit, then straightened himself up.

"That said... Given what you've done, some would say that anyone who can evade the Legion for this long afterward is someone whose talents shouldn't be passed over so easily." He eyed the pair. "So... Where are we going from here?"

[Tychris1]

"Well... you have people on the inside? Or at least around the hole? Keep an eye on things, shift about, and maybe cause a ruckus nearby. Nothing too flashy but enough to get eyes and hands turning, so that way I can do what I do best, and get in and get out with what we need." She shrugged

[Lord Of Mantas]

Oliver and Melody

One of the skeletal megaraptors charged forward, swiping a powerful claw at Oliver - however, in the process, it opened itself up to attack from the paladin, who landed a solid blow (Alphonse, on the other hand, ended up being less successful).

Spoiler: Actions

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Fun Fact: The skeletonizing process removes pounce from a creature.

Attack: (1d20+9)[18]
Damage: (2d6+6)[17]

It's companion followed close behind, snapping eagerly at the air.

Nibley having been instructed to save his arrows for the appearance of the necromancer, did not fire. None of the other monsters appeared around the bend.

"Must be hoping these two will soften us up..." Nibley muttered.

Spoiler: It is now Melody and Ennis' turn!

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Have fun!

[Jade_Tarem]

Melody

The oracle gave a tilt of her head to Nibley, her body language suggesting that he would perhaps like to move to a position where he could see and fire down the hallway instead of being blocked by the bend. Melody herself stepped south, gesturing until the now-recognizable finger snap that heralded her burst spell.

Spoiler: OOC

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Burst of Radiance, hitting both Megaraptors. They will need to make a DC 18 Reflex Save or be blinded for (1d4)[1] rounds. Regardless of the save, they each take (5d4)[16] untyped magical damage.