Carrion Crown: The Haunting of Harrowstone [IC]

[Ason]

"Agreed," Marius says with a nod. At that, he invites Wren to join him in inspecting the door for any dangers and picking any locks it may have. When it seem safe and unlocked, Marius then steps back with a waving gesture to invite Abrax to open it up and lead the way once more.

[lostsole31]

It's a little bit of work, of course, but Abrax just manages to heft open the stuck double doors to the north in the first try.

A hallway is revealed that goes off beyond torchlight. Wren is sharper-eyed than expected. Abrax's celestial heritage, however, is able to help him see the full length of the hall. it is 10' wide and extends 50' to the north, ending at a pair of double doors. On the eastern wall, there are a set of double doors 15' away, and another set of double doors a few feet past that, and a single door near the end. On the western wall, there is a single door 10' away, and then a single door near the end, facing the single eastern door.

What does the party do now?

[Tippnick]

"Let's clear these doors starting with closest.", Zauberei advises.

[SwordChucks]

Hargrimm nods "I'll check it for magical auras before the locksmiths get to work."
He moves to be directly across from the nearest door on the western wall and begins spellcasting. Afterwards he'll move back towards the foyer to give the others room to work.

Spoiler

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Casting Detect Magic, and willing to concentrate for up to two rounds if an aura is located.

[lostsole31]

Hargrimm senses no magical aura beyond the first door to the west.

Wren and Abrax check the door and sense nothing dangerous, then the door. Abrax has trouble muscling the door, so Wren helps him and this time they rip it off its hinges.

Abrax' darkvision notes a long, dark hallway, and what seems to be a separate passage branching off midway to the north.

[Ason]

Marius glances back and forth between the two branching hallways. Heeding Zauberei's earlier suggestion, he suggests in turn, "Let's look down that northern branch to make sure it's clear but focus on pushing west down this side hallway first. That way we can focus on going north after."

[lostsole31]

Soooo .... who is going to advance down the hallway for a scouting look-see, then?

[Tippnick]

Zauberei goes about his morning spell preparations and devotions to Nethys quietly. He will respond will spoken to but ventures nothing. He packs his backpack for exploration and indicates he is ready.

"Abrax and Wren were in the lead at the beginning, let us continue with that.". Zauberei indicates.

Spoiler: backpack

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I thought I had my backpack

[lostsole31]

Abrax and Wren scout ahead 30' to look north along what appears to be a very wide passageway (see Discord).

[Kvard51]

"We've got several doors up here, Abrax calls back to the main group, "Some open, some locked. But it loos pretty clear, otherwise."

[Tippnick]

"Let's clear each room, we'll join you", Zauberei states.

[lostsole31]

The rest of the group catches up with Abrax and Wren.

[Ason]

Marius gulps nervously at the realization that this prison will be harder to navigate than he assumed. In an attempt to be helpful, he suggests, "Right, well, shall we follow the left hand rule until a clear path forward emerges?"

Clarifying, the young doctor adds, "You know, that old trick for solving mazes: if you keep your left hand on the wall and thus only take left turns, eventually you'll see every room in order and find the exit. So in this case, we would finish pushing west and only then try going north, until we finish the place or find clues leading us away down a specific path. Sound agreeable?"

[lostsole31]

Wren nods, as it is as good a plan as any.

Still, does that mean a slavish devotion to that plan, or to check out the two doors right near the party in the passage heading north?

[Tippnick]

"Let's give obvious rooms an inspection, like these on the right. However we can still stick with "Always Going Left" procedure in most instances", Zauberei recommends.

[lostsole31]

So, the party moves into the southernmost portion of that hallway. There is a door to the left. To the right isn't a door but an doorway where a rotted door once stood. I assume you go that one first?

Looking beyond, the door to this room has fallen from its hinges. The rectangular chamber beyond seems to have once been a chapel, but now thick sheets of what appear to be cobwebs drape everything within in gossamer threads.

[SwordChucks]

Hargrimm touches the tangle of holy symbols around his neck. "It seems almost blasphemous to carry this inside, but I'll hope the gods understand. I am tempted to lob a spell through the doorway rather than deal with however many spiders must have made this mess."

He allows the others to take the lead.

[lostsole31]

The unarmored (and not-trained-to-be-unarmored like Abrax) Wren looks to Abrax, gesturing into the chapel.

[Ason]

As the party lurks in the hallway, waiting to enter the chapel, Marius gingerly sets down Paula. As usual, he asks his familiar, "Paula, would you kindly keep watch in that first hallway north? If you see anything scary, hide and let me know, and we'll come get you. That way you'll avoid any trouble we run into and warn us of any trouble coming our way. Is that okay, girl?"

Spoiler: ooc

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Marius is asking Paula to hang out near that original hallway coming north out of S2 and to flee / hide and warn him if she notices anything coming our way.

[lostsole31]

Paula obeys and scampers off.

[Kvard51]

Abrax nods to Wren and walks into the chapel ready for anything.

[lostsole31]

Surprise Round ...

S15-8: Abrax barely even steps into the room when three completely motionless, small creatures that blended into the rubble close on his position. One of them had charged right down the middle of the room to strike Abrax' right calf with a soft crit for 4. Another just popped up and bites him on the chest for 2. From the two bites, Abrax finds that he is muscles are weakened from what must be some type of poison!

Spoiler: Weakened!

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Weakened: A character weakened by Strength poison suffers a –2 penalty on Strength-based attack rolls, damage rolls, skill checks, and ability checks. Carrying capacity is divided by 3. He is always considered to be carrying at least a medium load.

Begin Round One ...

R1T22: The first one to react as Abrax is completely jacklighted is Marius! What does he do?

[Ason]

Marius winces sympathetically as Abrax takes the bites. Hefting his polearm into a combat position, the doctor attempts to skewer a creature with his weapon.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Swift: adopt stance- Aura of Misfortune (all enemies in 30 ft take -2 on saves)
Move: draw weapon (I know he's carrying it already, but it takes work getting a polearm into fighting position. Otherwise, no action here.)
Standard: Strike the Hourglass maneuver; Attack Roll (1d20+7)[10]; Damage Roll (1d12+1)[10]; on hit, DC 16 Will save vs single move action or standard action during its next turn

Note: I believe the target has soft cover due to Abrax, giving it +4 to AC vs my attacks. Also, while I assumed Marius retrieving his polearm after picking the locked door to the storage area, I realize I never explicitly stated that he grabbed it on the way out. If that means Marius doesn't have his polearm with him, he'll instead curse his forgetfulness, take a 5-foot step northeast, and attempt to draw / use the lopper's masterwork handaxe on the beast instead if cover permits (gaining +1 to the attack roll due to masterwork).

[lostsole31]

R1T22: Marius winces sympathetically as Abrax takes the bites. Hefting his polearm into a combat position, the doctor attempts to skewer a creature with his weapon, but with Abrax in the way his strike goes wide.

R1T16: Wren disappears from view without so much as a word. However, he lets the party know where he is through some whistling so they aren't too thrown.

R1T15: Red (spider) recovers from its charge with a soft crit in the chest for 4, likely cracking a rib, but a poor place to inject more poison.

R1T10: Zauberei, what do you do?

[Tippnick]

Zauberei moves 15 feet NE and concentrates for a brief moment.

Spoiler: Deflection aura

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MA: moves 15 NE
SA: activates domain ability Deflection Aura. +2deflection aura

[lostsole31]

R1T10: Zauberei moves 15 feet NE, definitely bumping up against Wren. Zauberei concentrates for a brief moment, and all of the heroes feel a sort of infrasonic thrumming around their bodies.

R1T9: Green bites Abrax again. Abrax sees the attack coming from a mile away, but realizes as leaden as his limbs feel, it is much harder to react and the bite hits Abrax' left elbow for 3.

R1T8: Abrax, you just got hit with another bite that begins to put more poison into your already poisoned system. Roll a Fort save vs. poison!

Then, tell me what you do with your round, using if/then statements if necessary for whether you are poisoned worse or not.

[Kvard51]

Spoiler: Fort Save

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Fortitude - (1d20+7)[8]

Abrax steels himself against the poison and strikes out at his assailant in a hail of strikes, hoping to end this fight quickly before he is overwhelmed.

Spoiler: Flurry of Blows

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FRA: (1d20+6)[9] for (1d6+2)[8] Bludgeoning Damage and (1d4)[3] Bleed Damage. (1d20+6)[16] for (1d6+2)[8] Bludgeoning Damage and (1d4)[4] Bleed Damage.

[lostsole31]

R1T8: Abrax tries to steel himself against the poison, but it is as if these creatures have a poison designed to lay you low as you feel helpless against it. Now he feels significantly impaired. He strikes out at his assailant in a hail of strikes. He manages to adapt to speed striking instead of raw power in hopes of ending this fight quickly before he is overwhelmed. He's not used to his and his swing is wild, but a short snap kick finds some success that does 6 (+1d4 bleed) to Green.

Spoiler: Impaired

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Impaired: A character impaired by Strength poison experiences rapid muscle atrophy. She takes an additional –2 penalty on the affected Strength-based rolls, and is always considered to be carrying at least a heavy load.

R1T7: Blue bites Abrax for 2.

Abrax roll a Fort save vs. the incoming poison!

R1T6: Hargrimm, within the span of just under 10 seconds, Abrax was bit multiple times by spider-like creatures, and he definitely appears to be affected by poison. What do you do?

Marius on deck, Wren in the hole ...

[Kvard51]

Spoiler: Fortitude, part deaux

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Fort: (1d20+7)[16]

[SwordChucks]

Hargrimm reaches out to Abrax as he casts a spell. "I'll take this off your hands." he says with a grimace as he draws his essence and the poison into himself. Then he steps aside to let the experts handle the creatures.

Spoiler: Combat

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Standard action: Convert Comprehend Languages into a Cure Light Wounds and cast it on Abrax.
Swift Action: Reclaim the essence invested in Abrax and take on his poison.
5ft step southwest.

Cure Light Wounds: (1d8+5)[10]
Fort saves vs poison: (1d20+13)[25]
(1d20+13)[29]