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  1. - Top - End - #841
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    BlueWizardGirl

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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Chatty

    Chatty listens to the conversation intently, her nose seeming to twitch slightly even in gnome form. She quickly pulls out the map and spreads it in the middle for ease of conversation.

    Words form at her feet and then quickly vanish.

    I agree. Rethmar seems like the best destination. Strike the tent and head east in the morning, then?

    Spoiler: OOC
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    Where is Rethmar? I can't find it on our map.
    "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Kurt Vonnegut

  2. - Top - End - #842
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    HalflingRangerGuy

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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    "Sounds like a good plan, learning more first in Rethmar prevents us from going on a wild goose chase. If does turn out to be not worth our time then we won't have lost any yet at least. Tomorrow I'll go get Uno and Deux back from the stables and the whole circus can travel as one again. It's too late to go collect them now I think."
    Remember: Offence is taken, not given



    Play-by-Post Characters:

    Sir Balduin of Buckwood (OOC | IC)
    High Priest Azrael (OOC | IC)

  3. - Top - End - #843
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    danielxcutter's Avatar

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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    "Well, I suppose there's not a lot we could do to an army, even with skirmishing tactics," said Arendi. "I wonder if we could set traps or anything to slow them down? Or... Hmm. Say, ever seen a granary fire?"
    Cool elan Illithid Slayer by linkele.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Squire Doodad View Post
    I could write a lengthy explanation, but honestly just what danielxcutter said.
    Extended sig here.

  4. - Top - End - #844
    Bugbear in the Playground
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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    With the numbers we're talking, will even an explosion that will level this entire town make a notable difference?
    I doubt it. If we want to take the time, I'll lend my strength to help. But unless we have multiple groups like us consistently hitting the army and trying to keep it off balance, I don't know that we can make a significant difference. And that's assuming they don't have anything powerful enough to repel things we can do. If they have a dozen manticores like we fought at the keep, that's more than enough to protect the entire army.

    Better to worry about getting as many people as possible to the town with the walls. Especially anyone who can help defend said walls.

  5. - Top - End - #845
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    BlueWizardGirl

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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Chatty

    On the assumption that they were sleeping in the tent that night (or at least that some of them should), Chatty nodded and started to head back to the circus. It seemed like a kind of consensus had been reached, and that would have to do for now.

    Back inside the tent, Chatty wasted little time in reverting to what she increasingly thought of as her 'true' form. She stretched out, feeling the fur and longer features settle into place with only a modicum of pain. She left words at the entrance.

    Wake me at midnight. I'll take middle watch.

    Without further comment, she scurried up the centre pole to sleep among the ropes and wires of the big tent.
    "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Kurt Vonnegut

  6. - Top - End - #846
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Planetar

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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Arendi and Keda

    The Shrine of Lathander
    Drellin’s Ferry, Cannath Vale
    Seven bells, Thirteenth of Mirtul,
    1372 DR, Year of Wild Magic


    The night passed without incident, and as a third of the circus began breaking down the great tent, and another third went looking for more suitable attire in the slowly-building heat of the day (as well as Uno and Deux), the last third of the circus ventured across the Green once more, heading up to the small, neat shrine with its manicured garden on the east side of Drellin's Ferry.

    Arendi and Keda arrived just as a morning service was letting out. There were a couple dozen farmers and goodwives slowly filing out of the small hall. Some of them looked appropriately refreshed and ready to meet the day, but there were a handful of worried faces among the crowd, and knots of townsfolk forming just outside the white fence marking the perimeter of the shrine, speaking to one another in hushed tones. Keda caught the words "...evacuate" and "Wiston talking in the Green later today" from a couple of townsfolk. It looked like word was moving fast, even if the official announcements hadn't begun.

    Brother Kandil had a comforting smile on his olive face as he wished the last of the villagers farewell from the service, shaking hands here and gently laying a palm on childrens' heads there. He was robed in proper ceremonial regalia for the faith: yellow-and-white decor with a polished yellow sunrise daubed on the chest, and a gold circlet on his brow. Beyond, the hall space was polished and gleamed with the morning light.

    Fortunate, then, that the two adventurers reached him just after the last parishioner, a woman dabbing at her eyes and grasping a child's hand fiercely in hers, strode away. Kandil's face immediately lost its smile, but was promptly recharged, albeit to a professional one (possibly with gritted teeth behind the closed lips) rather than a heartfelt one.
    Kandil cleared his throat. "What do you want here, saers?"

  7. - Top - End - #847
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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    "Brother Kandil, can we talk for a bit? This... isn't actually about the recent issues, and all I need is to ask a couple of questions," said the greywarden hesitantly. Arendi wasn't terribly fond of the priest of Lathandar, but without Iormel's naked avarice to get in the way, he was likely a good enough man to do that much.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Squire Doodad View Post
    I could write a lengthy explanation, but honestly just what danielxcutter said.
    Extended sig here.

  8. - Top - End - #848
    Ettin in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Arendi and Keda

    The Shrine of Lathander
    Drellin’s Ferry, Cannath Vale
    Seven bells, Thirteenth of Mirtul,
    1372 DR, Year of Wild Magic


    Kandil didn't smile, but he didn't reach for a weapon either.

    Instead, he sighed, glanced at the departing villagers, and then ushered Arendi and Keda into the shrine. He gestured to an open pair of woven wool mats, two of many lying on the floor. He sat down cross-legged opposite them, folding out creases in his robes, and looked at them evenly. "Well? What is it?"

  9. - Top - End - #849
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    danielxcutter's Avatar

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    Arendi took out a cloth and opened it, revealing the armband they'd recovered from the undead creature. "Do you know who this belonged to? Someone with this and a bird tattoo was killed in the forest. We put them to rest, but they were saying a name - 'Jarreth Nurr".

    ...We have our disagreements, but you should know that those who follow the Master of the Crystal Spire know about undead, and how to put them to rest. The spirit was long gone... but the body left still remembered a few things, like the killer. They said that Jarreth Nurr cut their throat during a full moon."
    Cool elan Illithid Slayer by linkele.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Squire Doodad View Post
    I could write a lengthy explanation, but honestly just what danielxcutter said.
    Extended sig here.

  10. - Top - End - #850
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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Arendi and Keda

    The Shrine of Lathander
    Drellin’s Ferry, Cannath Vale
    Seven bells, Thirteenth of Mirtul,
    1372 DR, Year of Wild Magic


    The armband brought a widening of the eyes, but Arendi mentioning the phrase that the Bracken Corpse had been repeating made Kandil lean forward with an aghast expression on his face. Any lingering hostility from his expression washed away like a sudden dash of water.
    "Jarrett Nurth." Kandil said. He wasn't meeting the death cleric's eyes as he said it. Indeed it sounded like he almost didn't believe his own words. "Morninglord's mercy." Kandil exhaled, and looked at Arendi again. "You're right, saer, we have our differences, and I've not heard of such undead as you say. But that armband, and the bird tattoo ... those I do know. The poor man you found was a parishioner of mine. His name was Berret Insalithe. A woodsman, axeman. Had a laugh that echoed off walls. He didn't have any family, the bronze band was from his father, and he had a tattoo of his mother's favourite avian. I remember them clearly. Six months ago, he began having a ... relationship, with Jarrett Nurth. She owns and runs the general store here, on the south side of the village. I hadn't seen him for months, I thought he might have perished in the woods, but ... if what you're saying is right--gods!"

    Kandil got to his feet, pacing, a hand going to his mouth. At length he turned to Arendi and Keda. "Berret isn't the only one to have disappeared. Every two months, for the past year, a young man or woman from an outlying farm or cutter's camp has been disappearing. Most they haven't found. One they did find, along the north bank of the Talar, half a mile up. With his throat cut. Avarthel thought it was the work of some lycanthrope, and Sertieren said it was a spellwarped bat's work. But I know the outlying settlements. I walked those paths. I prayed to Lathander for guidance. And all I was told was that one thing was in common to all of them. They all went missing, or were found, on a full moon."

    Kandil suddenly turned and walked over to the rear of the shrine. A polished wooden wardrobe was yanked open with enough force to make the hinges creak. Kandil ripped off his ceremonial robes, revealing a plain smock and hose beneath. He tossed the robes into the cupboard, rummaged within, and hauled out a solid-looking wooden shield and an unremarkable but heavy-looking mace. He last dragged out a set of dusty leather armour and pulled the jerkin on while still talking. "I don't know how much education they've given you in the Pale Lord's seminaries, saer greywarden, but I was taught this much. Slaughter during a full moon, every full moon, is not the work of a madman. It is the bidding of a mad god." He finished pulling the jerkin on and turned to them. "We need to stop it. Now."

    Spoiler: Arendi
    Show
    And Arendi, to his mounting horror, realised there was a god whose followers made a habit of murder during the full moon, as mockery of Selune and all the gods of the natural order.

    Cyric.

  11. - Top - End - #851
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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    "...Ah. I see," said the greywarden, standing up. "I don't expect there's an entire Cyrite cult right under everyone's noses, but I don't suppose you'd mind some help either."

    Arendi looked at the neraph. "Still in? This is stuff from before you joined, but you come from a plane of Chaos, right? Well think that, except only the bad parts, and you'd probably get something close to the kind of people we think might be involved."
    Cool elan Illithid Slayer by linkele.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Squire Doodad View Post
    I could write a lengthy explanation, but honestly just what danielxcutter said.
    Extended sig here.

  12. - Top - End - #852
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    Dexam's Avatar

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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Keda nods, slowly. "I admit that I don't understand all that has occurred here... but that is hardly unusual for me, in This Place." The neraph flashes a somewhat wry grin across his toad-like face. "Very few of my people serve gods, like so many do in This Place. Perhaps we are too few for gods to bother with; and perhaps most of us are more concerned with the survival of our Houses than with giving what little we have to unknown beings. But sometimes the minds of some will be touched by the likes of Ygorl or Ssendam, the Slaad Lords... if they do not leave of their own will, they are quickly exiled by the matriarch, before they can harm the House. Some exiled followers of the Slaad Lords have formed Houses of their own; mostly they are avoided, except during the Spawnings. This Jarrett Nurth is like this? They must face the laws of the Drellin's Ferry Elders? Or is this a matter for god-folk? Either way, I will assist in what you ask."
    Last edited by Dexam; 2022-01-17 at 10:42 AM.

  13. - Top - End - #853
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    danielxcutter's Avatar

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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    "Well, I'm sure Brother Kendil knows the specifics, but frankly I think if we'll be very lucky if we're right and yet manage to take her alive," replied the greywarden. "Speaking of which, how many combat spells has the Morninglord granted you? I've asked my own Lord for as many as I could, but we're adventurers. You're not."
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    Quote Originally Posted by Squire Doodad View Post
    I could write a lengthy explanation, but honestly just what danielxcutter said.
    Extended sig here.

  14. - Top - End - #854
    Ettin in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Arendi and Keda

    The Shrine of Lathander
    Drellin’s Ferry, Cannath Vale
    Seven bells, Thirteenth of Mirtul,
    1372 DR, Year of Wild Magic


    "Lathander may not have girded me for war, saer, but it doesn't matter," said Kandil, tying off the last leather laces on the jerkin. "This pestilence must be eradicated. Now. I have some blessings from the Morninglord available, though..."

    He briefly ran down a description of the boons the god had offered to him at dawn. Arendi recognised each of them.

    Spoiler: Arendi
    Show
    In brief, this is Kandil's loadout:

    First: Cure Light Wounds, Command, Protection from Evil, Sanctuary
    Second: Silence, Remove Paralysis, Shield Other
    Third: Prayer, Searing Light


  15. - Top - End - #855
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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Arendi and Keda

    A Dusty Street near Jarrett's Sundries
    Drellin’s Ferry, Cannath Vale
    Seven bells, Thirteenth of Mirtul,
    1372 DR, Year of Wild Magic


    Whispering the appropriate blessings, the strange little triptych strode out of Lathander's Shrine and down into the village. Drellin's Ferry was coming to life, like some sort of serpent that had almost received the full amount of heat and sunlight it needed to begin its daily battle for survival. Arendi and Keda noted the people moving just a little more quickly, fast-walking from one place to another. They didn't seem to pay the three of them any mind.

    Arendi and Keda's suspicions were proven as they strode to the south side of the Green. Word about the impending evacuation was clearly already spreading. And with it, the general store run by Jarrett Nurth had seen an early upswing in business. There were a handful of villagers milling around the front porch of the place, and Arendi spotted movement in the windows, indicating the same number or more were in the store as well.
    "Lathander's mercy," murmured Kandil, nodding at one of the villagers. The man had hairy arms and was carrying a goodly length of rope over one shoulder. "That's Cern Kalgan. He was at the service today." And Arendi was fairly sure some of the faces he'd seen earlier were here now as well.

    Keda was looking over the building itself. A single storey structure, plain wooden panels painted in rough white. The porch provided some shade, but didn't lead to anywhere particularly extensive. From the look of it, the building was perhaps three rooms: the storefront, possibly a storeroom at the back, and one other room. The rear two rooms had the most likely chance of an unobserved window.
    "I didn't think she'd have this many people this early," Kandil was saying. "If we tell these people to get clear it'll surely tip her off. If we go in without doing something someone's surely going to get hurt ... if she is what we think she is," he added, a note of doubt entering his voice.

    Spoiler: OOC
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    Now what?

  16. - Top - End - #856
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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Keda, having asked the priest of Lathander for a description of their target, eyed the building thoughtfully. If there was no back door, a rear window would provide easy enough access.

    "We need a diversion? A way to get people out of the building?" He murmurs a word and reaches into his pack, pulling out a shaped greyish stone about the size of a man's fist. His face contorts into what can only be assumed to be a grin. "Throwing this into the building might help with that?"

  17. - Top - End - #857
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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    "Won't that alert her too? Unless... did you bring any of the other things? Those goblins had a bunch of nasty stuff. That might help."
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    Quote Originally Posted by Squire Doodad View Post
    I could write a lengthy explanation, but honestly just what danielxcutter said.
    Extended sig here.

  18. - Top - End - #858
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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Arendi and Keda

    Jarrett's Sundries
    Drellin’s Ferry, Cannath Vale
    Seven bells, Thirteenth of Mirtul,
    1372 DR, Year of Wild Magic


    Their discussion went on briefly before Keda finally nodded on the agreed way forward. The big toad-man peeled off away from Arendi and Kandil, and a few moments later found himself down the back of the general stor. There were, indeed, two windows, as well as what appeared to be a securely-locked door at the southern end of the wall. The first window, presumably into the northernmost room, was blocked by a heavy set of shades. Less so the second one, which had more filmy-looking excuses for curtains and in which the neraph saw/sensed movement along with shelves of goods; that would have to be this Jarrett Nurth they were talking about ... unless she had some employee, in which case this was going to be awkward. Keda busted the window's cheap, thin glass open and hurled the thunderstone inside in one swift movement; the noise of the glass crashing open was followed a second or two later by the booming detonation of the thunderstone. As Keda leapt back to the cover of a nearby barrel, he heard a shriek from within.

    Arendi took the explosive noise for what it was and waited for a few precious seconds as the people standing around the door scrambled back from the general store and a couple of people came bowling out of the doorway. Then, taking Kandil's last, offered blessing, he shouldered his way through the door and into the main body of the room. There were still four people here. Shock or surprise had frozen them in place, it seemed, and their looks of incredulity didn't change as he stormed in, fully armoured with hand on the hilt of a sword long enough to gut a man from neck to privates with one blow...

    Keda, meanwhile, had cause to worry, because there were noises coming from the broken window. He might not have been around many divine servants, but the flow of impassioned words and strange, warbling, dark syllables within them certainly sounded like spellcasting to him...

    Spoiler: The Chronicler's Map
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    Spoiler: The Chronicler's Marginalia
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    No combat yet, just giving you the picture. danielx, you've got closed doors at G-H16, and F18 if that helps. Dexam, the trapezoidal area indicates what you saw, but doesn't record where anyone in that back room is, obviously, and the neraph is crouched down behind a barrel.

    What now fellas?

    (Take it that Kandil has cast Prayer on Arendi, and any other blessings you've wanted on breach are up.)

  19. - Top - End - #859
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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    "Okay people, move move move!" barked the greywarden, pointing his shield hand at the door and waving his other in the general direction. "Here to help, need you to get out now, shop's going to be still here later but you need to be alive for that!"
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    Quote Originally Posted by Squire Doodad View Post
    I could write a lengthy explanation, but honestly just what danielxcutter said.
    Extended sig here.

  20. - Top - End - #860
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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Hearing Arendi's voice ordering the townsfolk to clear out of the store is all the indication Keda needs that the plan is proceeding. Falchion in hand, Keda dives through the broken window with crash of breaking glass. Rolling to his feet, he quickly looks around to assess the scene.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Jump: (1d20+19)[37]
    Tumble: (1d20+11)[20]
    Spot: (1d20+11)[21]
    Listen: (1d20+9)[12]

    Last edited by Dexam; 2022-01-27 at 04:55 AM.

  21. - Top - End - #861
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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Keda

    The Back Room, Jarrett’s Sundries
    Drellin’s Ferry, Cannath Vale
    Seven bells, Thirteenth of Mirtul,
    1372 DR, Year of Wild Magic


    Keda’s thick hide armour from Home crushed any splinters and shards of glass that might have cut another being as he dived through the broken window, and he broke his fall expertly to land in a half-crouch in the storeroom of Jarrett’s Sundries.

    Smells of leather, grain, and oil bloomed over him. The room was dim and lined with shelves with bottles of preserved pickles and jams. A bridle hung from a hook on the wall, a shovel leaned in a corner, and dust eddied through the shaft of light from the window.

    Up the other end of the storeroom, a woman yanked a longsword free from a sheath affixed to the wall. And adopted a practised-looking fighting stance that suggested she knew how to use it.

    At least, Keda thought it was a woman. Her form was shimmering and stuttering, making it difficult to pinpoint her actual position. There had been certain creatures from Home that could achieve that trick, but the one most native to This Place that he had seen in action was what the Thayans called a Displacer Beast.

    She seemed to broadly fit the description Kandil had given of her … in the sense that her drab clothes matched. More important were the things that didn’t match. The fact her skin had gone pale as the white light between worlds, and her eyes shifted from brown toward burning amber. Her hair’s ends danced as though she were floating, submerged, in a dark sea. And, strangest of all, the unnatural smell/taste/feeling in the air that seemed to be billowing from her like a cloak, reaching, prying at his courage…

    Well, well,” she said, and her voice seemed to be reverberating as much as her form was.



    Aren’t you quite the sight.


    Arendi

    Jarrett’s Sundries
    Drellin’s Ferry, Cannath Vale
    Seven bells, Thirteenth of Mirtul,
    1372 DR, Year of Wild Magic


    Arendi’s words had the desired effect, at least; those still in the store just about fell over themselves running for the door.

    He had already half-forgotten them. Because something else had reached out and grasped his attention like a fist.

    Kelemvor’s presence was always with him, a curiously reassuring feeling in the circumstances. It wasn’t all the time that the presence was obvious. But it was now. Something in Arendi’s mind gave a deep, unpleasant rumble, like Cyzar, Alastor’s leopard, had become rather displeased with something. And a sensation of long hate rippled across the greywarden’s mind. How to term it? A sensation of enmity as between radiant fire and dark water; between sunlight and sunset; and as endless, depthless, as the void between worlds.

    Arendi could feel the source of that sensation: somewhere beyond the doorway at the rear of the store, where muffled words were being said, where some foul circle of darkness was unfolding. It was a divine connection to Cyric, in the same or similar manner to his own connection to Kelemvor. There could be no question now; Jarrett Nurth was some worshipper of Cyric, or at least had some of his powers.


    Spoiler: Tactical Map
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    Spoiler: Tactical Notes
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    Right, so we get down to resolution now. Initiative Rolls turned out the following order:

    Keda and Arendi
    Jarrett Nurth

    Over to you guys. As usual, 48 hours to post actions, if you don’t post, you drop to the initiative count after Jarrett acts and I resolve the round.

  22. - Top - End - #862
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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Meanwhile...

    The Old Bridge Inn
    Drellin's Ferry, Cannath Vale
    Seven bells, Thirteenth of Mirtul
    1372 DR, Year of Wild Magic


    "So you're looking for desert gear, then?"
    Kellin Shadowbanks, the owner of the Old Bridge, looked much more certain now he was well into ordering the breakdown and packing of anything valuable in the inn. He'd been pointing and calling at his cousins and second cousins with enthusiastic vigour when Alastor, Aeric, and Vokon came calling. (Chatty was getting the last snooze in before she was due down at Delora Zann's to pick up Uno and Deux, and thereby avoid the task of helping Jim with the pain-in-the-tail job of breaking down the massive tent.)

    They'd already been to a couple of establishments, and had no luck. If this didn't pan out they'd likely have down to the village green, perhaps even the general store Chatty had written about earlier. Arendi and Keda were off on their own errand.
    "Or some other form of garments somewhat more appropriate to the local clime," said Aeric, with all the lack of expression that characterised him in a similar way to lack of breath characterising a corpse.
    Kellin nodded. "Well, I can see why you'd come here. Not exactly a lot of seamstresses in this town, and not a lot likely to take on that sort of work with present events, I suppose."
    "We have experienced some difficulty in this task," said Aeric. He appeared to have consulted some text on the subject that mentioned building rapport when negotiating.
    "Then I'd say Yondalla smiles!" Kellin rubbed his hands together. "Because it so happens I have some access to such robes. Fine stuff. Hate to let it go. But," he smiled, looking at Alastor, "brother, the question is, are you willing to put up something other than gold for it?"

  23. - Top - End - #863
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    danielxcutter's Avatar

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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Arendi snarled. "We were right. Brother Kendil, over here!" He ran towards the counter to vault over it and get to the door behind it.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Arendi has a -2 to Jump normally due to his armor, but thanks to Longstrider that's an extra +8 for a total of a +6. And I'm going to burn that Guidance right now for an extra +1. If that succeeds, move up to (H, 17) and then take another move action to open the door.

    (1d20+7)[15]
    Cool elan Illithid Slayer by linkele.

    Editor/co-writer of Magicae Est Potestas, a crossover between Artemis Fowl and Undertale. Ao3 FanFiction.net DeviantArt
    We also have a TvTropes page!

    Currently playing: Red Hand of Doom(campaign journal) Campaign still going on, but journal discontinued until further notice.

    Quote Originally Posted by Squire Doodad View Post
    I could write a lengthy explanation, but honestly just what danielxcutter said.
    Extended sig here.

  24. - Top - End - #864
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Planetar

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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Keda and Arendi

    Jarrett’s Sundries
    Drellin’s Ferry, Cannath Vale
    Seven bells, Thirteenth of Mirtul,
    1372 DR, Year of Wild Magic


    Keda hesitated for a single, crucial moment.

    It was enough.

    From the far side of the door, Arendi heard the chanting of spellcasting reach its crescendo. The evil in the air was thick enough that Reason could cut it. And, with a rising feeling of dread, as he leapt over the counter and shouldered his way through the door, he felt the doors to his god’s realm open…

    Keda didn’t have a chance to describe it. The woman had uttered some liquid words while he stood there, and then something awful – something that screamed against every instinct, every possibility, was billowing from the shadows. Something with the face of Olmarten, the Thayan master who had enslaved him here … and the body of one of the most powerful Chaos Beasts he had ever seen.

    Fear crashed over him like a tsunami.

    His heart stopped.

    He died, right there, in the shadows and dust of the storeroom.

    Jarrett sniggered as Arendi finally got the door open. Her lips had drawn back in something akin to both rictus and snarl. Raw fear lanced into Arendi’s soul, his skin bursting into a cold sweat inside the helm, his heart skipping a beat, numbness gripping his limbs.
    So!” The voice reverberated with something darker, something that promised to crush his soul. “The Usurper’s little meat puppet. You chose a poor specimen to support your cowardice, puppet. I’ve a piece of carrion for you to collect down here.” And with sudden, surprising speed, Jarrett whirled away into the dimness of the storeroom. Her voice took on a playful tone. “Come dance in the shadow between life and your master’s pitiful realm, puppet.

    Spoiler: Tactical Map
    Show


    Spoiler: Tactical Notes
    Show
    I swear on a stack of Dragon magazines I did not fudge the failed saves that resulted in this. Phantasmal Killer takes a Will save and a Fort save. Nobody was more surprised than me when Keda Natural 1’d both.

    Oh, you think that made my jaw drop? How about for bonus points, Arendi then immediately Natural 1’d the save against the Dreadful Wrath effect that Jarrett is exuding, which the spell triggers.

    I was so surprised I screencapped the rolls.
    Spoiler
    Show


    The odd modifiers I think missed Bless and Protection from Evil, but they make no difference here.


    This leaves Arendi with the Shaken condition: -2 to attack rolls, saves, skills, ability checks. Untyped penalty.

    Jarrett has some cover in her present position, behind a stack of shelves.
    Spoiler: For Dexam’s eyes only
    Show

    If you want to accept your PC is dead, you can.

    But if you don't believe your character's story is over, you can instead have your character stabilised at -9 hitpoints, i.e. hovering at death's door instead. If so, your character takes a -2 to their CON score, permanently, with all the changes that ripple from that (CON score, not CON modifier). They also take a -2 to Diplomacy and Bluff checks (not CHA, just the skill checks) from here on in. This represents them having very briefly looked through death's door, but having been pulled back for ... some reason. Leaving aside the physical scars which the changes to CON and skill checks would represent, there's also something ... odd about your characters from here on in, something a little disturbing about your characters that people interacting with you can't put their finger on. This might have some implications for Arendi's interactions with you since you're not undead, and Kelemvor is not screaming at his clerics from the Fugue Plane that you need to be put down, but there's this vaguely unsettling sense about you that you're Not Supposed To Be Here. Or indeed other partymembers might have different interactions with you.

    Subsequent deaths ... well. Let's not tempt fate. If that happens, we can talk about it then.

    As said, though, if you do want to let your character die, that is a matter for you. The choice is, quite literally, yours. And I think it's more fun if you don't reply IC or OOC here, but let me know by PM. It may be that it's not known whether your character is alive or dead until someone gets the chance to look over your bodies IC. (Also bear in mind the party does have a Staff of Life that can cast Raise Dead … once.)

    If your character dies, and you want to start working up a new character, that's fine too. We'll work them in together. Your character will start with the same XP and pretty much the same gp levels as Keda had when they departed this mortal world, you're not going to be shafted back to level 1 or something.


    Initiative is now:

    Arendi
    Jarrett Nurth
    Keda

    Over to danielx. As usual, 48 hours to post actions, if you don’t post, you drop to the initiative count after Jarrett acts and I resolve the round.

  25. - Top - End - #865
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    BlueWizardGirl

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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Chatty

    Rising unconscionably late, Chatty joins Jim in striking the tent and getting the the heavy stuff loaded. Wouldn't want Jim getting anything on that precious shirt of his, after all.

    Although the sun was already warm, Chatty enjoyed the simplicity of the warmth and the work. After the terrors of the past week, it was delightful to face a day in which none of them would be facing death.
    "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Kurt Vonnegut

  26. - Top - End - #866
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    danielxcutter's Avatar

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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Terrible images played across the mind's eye of Arendi: bloodthirsty arrows raining down, piercing his heart; dreadful conflagrations of blistering heat, claws and fangs savaging his body with monstrous force.

    And then he saw Keda on the ground, lifeless eyes staring upwards.

    For a second, Arendi's mind was blank, emptied of even the terror that had just grasped him.

    "No."

    Then it was filled with a grey, choking wrath.

    "No."

    He walked slowly towards the end of the warehouse, as slow and sure as a painful death, as were the spoken words to invoke his magic. A spectral blade sprung out of thin air and lunged at the Cyrite with malice, and crimson lifeblood flowed across his own weapon, pointed towards the ground.

    "Never again."

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    I cast Spiritual Weapon right in front of her face.

    Attack: (1d20+8)[13]
    Damage: (1d8+2)[6]

    Swift action Blade of Blood. Move action to L15.
    Cool elan Illithid Slayer by linkele.

    Editor/co-writer of Magicae Est Potestas, a crossover between Artemis Fowl and Undertale. Ao3 FanFiction.net DeviantArt
    We also have a TvTropes page!

    Currently playing: Red Hand of Doom(campaign journal) Campaign still going on, but journal discontinued until further notice.

    Quote Originally Posted by Squire Doodad View Post
    I could write a lengthy explanation, but honestly just what danielxcutter said.
    Extended sig here.

  27. - Top - End - #867
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Planetar

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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Keda and Arendi

    Jarrett’s Sundries
    Drellin’s Ferry, Cannath Vale
    Seven bells, Thirteenth of Mirtul,
    1372 DR, Year of Wild Magic


    Jarrett snarled more in annoyance than pain as the Spiritual Weapon whirled into existence and sliced in at her shoulder, blood and – surprisingly – sparks flying. But she smiled, horribly, as Arendi strode toward her.
    You’ve some resistance to my master’s gifts, eh? Very well, Usurper’s Puppet. Let us see whose master taught us better swordplay!
    She stepped into the main body of the room and whirled at Arendi with horrifying speed and skill. Arendi sensed rather than saw Kandil come stumbling to the doorway, heard the Lathanderite cleric’s quiet curse. The far end of the storeroom was cut with light from the window and the dimness of the shadows. In this dimness, armoured cleric and spell-clad cleric whirled and spun, sparks flying from Reason and Jarrett’s longsword like stars birthing and dying in moments.

    One of Jarrett’s strikes took out a fair chunk of a shelf from the force of the blow, but she recovered and snapped a piercing strike in which cut clean at the joint of Arendi’s right hip, below the breastplate, and the weapon drove deep and painful.
    ”First blood to me, puppet!” she shrieked.

    Spoiler: Tactical Map
    Show


    Spoiler: Tactical Notes
    Show
    Jarrett full attacks. One strike misses. The other scores a critical. After factoring in DR from Arendi’s Iron Ward Diamond, it does 20 points of damage. I’m assuming, though, that the damage is going straight to the delayed damage pool and so 5 points of damage is delayed to end of next round?

    Initiative Order
    Arendi
    Jarrett
    Kandil

    As usual. 48 hours to post up.

  28. - Top - End - #868
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    danielxcutter's Avatar

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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Arendi yelled in pain. "Shut -" he directed his spell at her neck and swung his blade in a cleaving arc down onto her head "- up."

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Spiritual Weapon attack roll: (1d20+8)[25]
    Damage roll: (1d8+2)[8]

    Mountain Hammer, and also I spent 5 points on my Blade of Blood last round. I forgot to mention it, but assume I always do that unless specified otherwise.

    I have Furious Counterattack +1, Prayer, and Bless. Power Attack for 1.

    Attack roll: (1d20+11)[31]
    Damage roll: (1d10+8)[14]
    Blade of Blood + Mountain Hammer bonus damage: (5d6)[17]
    Cool elan Illithid Slayer by linkele.

    Editor/co-writer of Magicae Est Potestas, a crossover between Artemis Fowl and Undertale. Ao3 FanFiction.net DeviantArt
    We also have a TvTropes page!

    Currently playing: Red Hand of Doom(campaign journal) Campaign still going on, but journal discontinued until further notice.

    Quote Originally Posted by Squire Doodad View Post
    I could write a lengthy explanation, but honestly just what danielxcutter said.
    Extended sig here.

  29. - Top - End - #869
    Bugbear in the Playground
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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    Vokon grimaces, but then shrugs.

    The fact that you're not coming right out and saying whatever it is gives me some pause, because there is no way I'll agree to something I don't know. However, I'm willing to listen. Speak plainly, and we'll see if we can come to some accord.

  30. - Top - End - #870
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    HalflingRangerGuy

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    Default Re: The Red Hand of Doom (3.5)

    I must admit, I am intrigued by the idea of saving some coin, but it would be foolish of me to agree to unstated terms. And from the three of us, I’m not the fool. If you have a suggestion my good man, then please, do state it
    Remember: Offence is taken, not given



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