3.5e Batman Campaign (2.0)

[MrAbdiel]

"What are you doing!?" The scion cries out as Batgirl's gasp of pain cranks his attention away from the mimic combat and to the doorway betrayal. He doesn't have the information to assume spectral interference yet - though the thought is in his mind, as are questions of Spoiler's general loyalty. Springing from the crates, he rushes toward the doorway, leading with one gauntleted hand defensively, the other hand tucked away in a fold of his gi, discretely smearing oil-black toxin onto the concealed shuriken.

Spoiler: Actions

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If I remember my 3.5 movement and distance correctly, every second diagonal square is 10ft, so Damien should be out of range of the mimic if he's smart. He moves towards Batgirl and Spoiler trying to figure out what the hell is happening, and spends his action applying drow poison to a shuriken.

[Molan]

Spoilers eyes were wide and manic behind her mask. Damien couldn't see anything in her expression other than hate and murder. Strangely, she managed to rasp a reply.

"Le...LEFT me!! Behind! You'll...you'll all stay behind n..now...."

Spoiler: OOC

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It's Barbara's turn.

[JbeJ275]

Gah!! Cries Barbara as she's stabbed through from behind, she staggers a few feet forward from her unexpected assailant then reaches again into the folds of her robe, drawing a scroll of Protection from Evil and reciting it's arcane words to try and expel the spirit from Spoiler.

[Molan]

Spoiler's dagger arm swiped after Oracle as she stumbled backwards, but the dagger ate nothing but air. Oracle was bleeding all over her clothes, but she whipped out a spell scroll, quickly rattled off the finishing words of the spell on the scroll and several runes appeared glowing in the air before gentle blew energy blew out from the scroll, washing over Spoiler's body, and the scroll glowed bright blue before disintegrating.

Spoiler's body jerked and shook, her arms briefly forming strange angles and her torso bending, as the magic washed over her body, she moaned and groaned, and with a sudden *pop!*, the spirit occupying her body was abruptly forced out.

The ghost was transparent but visible, ragged and angry looking, the edges of it's form fading into nothingness, and it didn't appear to have any legs, and it's eyes looked as though they'd been gouged out. It's "face" was a violent rictus of pain and anguish, and it's hands ended in sharp looking claws. Damien and Oracle looked upon it with a feeling of dread and horror, and as Spoiler was released from it's grip, she fell to one knee and started gagging, the magical dagger still gripped in her hand, still dripping with Oracle's viscera.

The ghost shrieked an otherworldly howl.

"L....LEFT ME!! LEFT ....ME...BEHIND!" it twisted and contorted in the air, and made a strange, gutteral, choking noise in it's "throat". "You'll stay b...behind too..."

Spoiler: OOC

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It is extremely difficult not to think of the term "batman wizard" every time Barbara pulls a new trick out of her cowl, lol! Well done.

In case anyone's wondering about the mechanics, Ghost gets to make a will save against the spell but I rolled a 5...so, that's that lol.

It's Kate's turn. Feather, you'll need to make a strength check to remove your halberd from the weapon rack, but you ought to be able to count that as a move action and whack the new monster with a standard action if you can get it out.

[Feathersnow]

Only very stupid enemies attempted to engulf prey covered with spikes. Unfortunately, perhaps, mimics were quite stupid.

Spoiler: ooc

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(1d20+3)[9] base grapple
(1d4+4)[7] free spike damage
Kate will attempt to overpower and pin the mimic

[Molan]

Kate's body spikes sank into the Mimic, and it's blood began to pour out around her. She lunged back against the beast, the two of them wrestling against each other's prodigious, mighty forms. She tried pinning it but it fought back, and their bloody contest continued. In the melee, Azreal was able to swing at the beast as it rolled forward to wrangle with Kate. He very nearly got his own weapon stuck against the beast's slime as he did so, but he pried the blade free successfully, leaving a bloody gash along the side of the "treasure chest".

Spoiler: OOC

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Mimic's grapple prompts an AOO from Azreal as I had to move it into Kate's space. Kate's attempt to pin the mimic fails (this time), but it takes automatic spike damage from her body. (No, they're not *that* bright).

It's now Spoiler's turn, and she's ghost-free!

[JoyWonderLove]

=Spoiler’s first real round=

Flung aside by a storm of rage and desperation, fear and regret, clarity finally dawned in Spoiler’s eyes. A wellspring of pure, bright gratitude and weighty guilt warred as Spoiler looked up at the masked Barbara that might well have saved her life, if not more. The tortured shriek behind her right shoulder sent her pulse spiking as the spirit wailed of being abandoned, of wanting others to share her hell. The insipid cold within the rogue was eaten by a rising anger, grip on bloody dagger tightened. But she quickly tapped a small squishy coin pouch on her belt and then her right wrist, blue eyes banking hard to the right of the boy ninja and heiress wizard, where their allies could be heard in the room beyond, fighting in the previously empty place. Buying time. Help them..

“We can free you!” Spoiler declared, even while she drew a smokestick. “Recover your remains, bless your body, bury you fairly!” A billowing black filled the air all around Spoiler and Oracle both.

Spoiler: Combat actions

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HP: 24 max.
AC: 18. +2 Protection from Evil.

1, Move action to draw smokestick. (I assume I’m standing already, not prone or whatever)

2, Standard action to ignite a smokestick. Then Hide (free action).

Hide: (1d20+15)[16]

Spoiler: Why this and no sneak attack instead.

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I literally cannot sneak attack this ghost without a flank, according to Lightbringer Rogue, which means that the Deadly Precision weapon won’t work either. Even with a Blurstrike.

So my choices are either to

a) attack the ghost for 5 damage at absolute best when she has a 50% chance to dodge it anyway, or wait until I have a flank partner to have a shot at real damage. Not great.

b) personally thirty foot run away and help flank and sneak attack the mimic. Which is okay, except the ghost acts before Oracle, and I’m not about to do that when she just saved me. So no.

c) smokescreen to buy time so Damien at least can flank/attack/help remove the mimic so the entire party is free to then tackle this ghost problem together. This is what I’m gambling on, as even Damien can’t hurt the ghost with sudden strike regardless. The smoke also protects/covers Barbara so she can make a judgement call on whether to run into the room or not.

Not great, but this is the way right now.

[Molan]

Spoiler's smokestick broke and a burst of black cloud engulfed the immediate area, covering the ghost, Spoiler, Oracle and Damien all, partially but not completely obscuring everyone.

Inside the room, Azreal lurched his falchion overhead and slammed it down with all of his might on the mimic chest. He ripped out a huge cash of the creature's tissue, but as he recovered from his own strike the falchion got stuck in the creature's goo, leaving him disarmed, temporarily at least.

Outside the ghost released a terrifying moaning sound, and as the three adventurer's looked upon it's horrific visage, and listened to it's terrifying wail, they felt waves of dread cascading over them. As this happened, the mimic clenched it's grip on Kate, continuing to try to break her with it's grip.

Spoiler: OOC

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Okay, it's Damien's turn.

Damien, Spoiler and Oracle all need to make both Will and fortitude saves. Ghosts be scary AF.

Kate, you take 7 damage -- it would be nine but I'm including your DR.

Azreal got a solid chop in and the second mimic is not doing great -- BUT Azreal's been disarmed and will need a strength check to retrieve his weapon.

Good luck!

[MrAbdiel]

Spoiler: Damn! Wrong thread!

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Butts.

You can't destroy me! I'm too beloved!



Will - (1d20+7)[16]
Fort - (1d20+3)[21]

I am gonna HOPE that means Damien is not fried and panicked, so I'll post as if I'm friggen invincible. I'll alter if it turns out Damien wets himself and runs.

The ghost reveals its hideous nature, all distorted features and grotesquery and nightmare; and its mournful howl ripples through the vault with a sound that could peel paint.

And incredibly, bizarrely, the ten year old's gunmetal grey eyes flash with intense fascination.

"You should have stayed dead, spirit!"

With apparent fearlessness, he snaps into motion, handily sliding between Batgirl's feet through the doorway and springing forth into the smoke, ending alongside Spoiler and forming another length in the wall protecting the bleeding and injured Barbara. His hands lash out at the spirit immediately as he slips and weaves, middle and index fingers hooked inside the gauntlets into rigid claws. He is a familiar, if obscured silhouette beside Spoiler in the smoke now; not quite able to get into a flanking position, but up in the incorporeal fray, all the same.

Spoiler: Attacks!

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Damien attacks, but he can do no damage with his mundane gauntlets. But for fun, I'll roll in the OOC. Mainly he's attacking to activate his Expertise so the ghost will have a harder time laying a hand on him. Move to move, action to attack, turn done. Next!

[JbeJ275]

Barbara’s mind is racing in the seconds after her ghostly assumptions were confirmed. Most of what comes out are the choicest swears of a dozen justicar precincts and a great deal of unkind thoughts towards her teammates and the Barbara’s of two weeks ago for purchasing only a single scroll. Then she recalls what little she knows of the undead and limps away from the ghost and into the other room, firing her crossbow at the mimic opposite their uninvited guest from the inquisition as she calls out to him.

"Hey! Tall dark and religious! We have a ghost in the other room can you help at all with that? Undead is church business right?"

Spoiler: Actions

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Crossbow: (1d20+6)[19]
For: (1d8)[1]+ (1d6)[5]

[Molan]

The mimic howls and heaves as Barbara's bolt strikes home. I'ts bleeding badly now, ichor is pouring out all over Kate's armor and spikes, pooling in a lake with it's fellow's near on the floor, covering the still glowing runes.

Spoiler: OOC

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Kate's turn.

[Feathersnow]

Kate continues to try to impale the creature on her quills!!

Spoiler: grapple check

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(1d20+10)[26]

[Molan]

Kate checks the mimic against the ground, pinning it and driving her enlarged spikes into it's body. The mimic choked and gagged, ichor pouring out of it's open "mouth". After a moment of being ground down by Kate's spikes, it eventually spasmed, and died.

Azreal managed to wrench his sword from the second mimic and rushed out of the room, finding the chaos in the foyer. He held up his holy symbol and began praying, and for a moment radiant holy energy poured out from him. The ghost seemed to writhe for a minute but then shook the effect off -- the paladin's attempt had failed.

The specter retaliated by swiping an ethereal, clawed hand at Azreal, but missed.

Spoiler: OOC

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Kate successfully hugs the mimic to death. Spoiler is still panicked, and Azreal's turn effect failed because he's still on auto-pilot and I rolled a nat 1. Good news is he's immune to fear so we don't have to deal with that little wrinkle.

[MrAbdiel]

With Spoiler struck by supernatural compulsion to flee, Damien's eyes track to where the borrowed dagger clatters on the tiles just as Azrael rounds the corner and fills the gap. He can hear Batwoman thrashing against one of the mimic creatures in the other room - but all the scion can do is trust that's under control, and work in tandem with the churchman to his right to deal with this spectral threat. And even though he had been tempted to scold Spoiler for taking it earlier, all of his ability to contribute hinged on that very blade. "Steel your spirit, inquisitor. And keep it occupied!"

He hops back a step, leaving the paladin duelling with the ghost, and slips a thumb into another discreet pocket of his gi. The withdrawn digit is dusted with golden powder, quickly licked up by the scion and contributing a golden flash briefly in his eyes.

Spoiler: Actions!

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5ft Step Backwards behind Azrael. Move action to draw a Potion of Gravestrike. Action to 'drink' it. Next turn, if all goes well, Damien is lined up to scoop the dagger, vanish, and then sudden strike with it... Desperately hoping the ghostly miss-chance doesn't screw it all up!
:D

[JbeJ275]

With few options availible to her, given the surrounding of the ghost by her allies, her lack of single target spells that interact with ethereal undead and the massive knife wound in her back, Barbara forgoes direct combat instead taking a few desperate second to gulp down one of her healing potions, hoping to at least somewhat lessen the chance that one more blow sends her down.

Spoiler: Original Idea

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With few options availible to her, given the surrounding of the ghost by her allies, her lack of single target spells that interact with ethereal undead and the massive knife wound in her back, Barbara forgoes direct combat with the ghost, instead searching this storeroom now that the mimcs have been removed for any magical weapons or other useful equipment to bring to bear against the ghost.

Spoiler: Search

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(1d20+14)[21]

[Feathersnow]

Kate realizes, reluctantly, she has few options to deal with the crisis on the other side of the door. So she takes one of her healing potions.

Spoiler: healz!

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(1d8+2)[8]

[Molan]

Spoiler, still panicking, bolted out of the front door of the vault, falling to her knees just outside on the street, panting, out of breath, but slowly regaining control of her faculties once more.

Inside the Vault, Azreal continued to chant and pray, and this time, the effect seemed to work; the ghost abruptly shrieked, bolting away from him and passing through the large stacks of crates and boxes as fast as it could to get away from him. The trouble appeared to be, for a moment, over.

Spoiler: OOC

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Damien's turn.

[MrAbdiel]

Damien growls as the the ghost flees, and takes off after it; running alongside the crates on their front side, scooping up the magic dagger as he breaks into that run. Seething for reasons he doesn't completely understand, he whips a puff of flash powder at his feet mid stride, vanishes from view, and...

Spoiler: Option 1

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OOC: This is the action he'll take if, at the end of his movement, he can see any amount of the ghost that makes a viable target. If not go to option 2.

...and flings the dagger at its incorporeal back!

Spoiler: Rolls!

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Let's see. It's 20 ft away, so that's a range band penalty of 2. It's also a dagger sized for a medium creature, so that's another 2. Damien's invisible, so that's a bonus of 2. And it's a +2 dagger! So it's a net roll of flat versus the ghost's touch AC. If it can see invisibility, this is all pretty moot anyway!

(1d20+10)[22] to hit. If it hits, with the bonus for the dagger's sneak damage, it deals a potential (1d4-2)[1] (minimum 1) plus (5d6)[17] sudden strike damage, after which Grave Strike fades. Naturally, the ghost gets its incorporeality chance to ignore it all! Edit: Oh yeah, and 2 more damage because it's a +2 dagger.

Spoiler: Option 2

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OOC: This is the action he'll take if at the end of his movement he cannot see any amount of the ghost sufficient to make a viable target. If he can, go to option 1.

...and pushing himself further, sprints around to the direct opposite side of the crates and lies in wait, dagger in hand, planning to ambush the ghost when it flees!

Spoiler: Rolls!

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No rolls in this case - it's just moving into a position, invisibly, where he hopes he'll get a chance to make an opportunity attack when it flees past him.

After that's 'resolved' for now and the spectre is out of reach, Damien retrieves the dagger again, wipes any remaining blood and ectoplasm from it, and stows it in his pack.

"I'll find her," he presumes, dashing off out the door after the retreated Spoiler to seek her shellshocked self.

[Molan]

Damien's dagger flies home and, despite the fleeing ghost's incorporeal form, the magic blade lands in it's back, causing a huge rent in it's shivering figure. The ghost screams in agony -- it appears "wounded", as much as it can be under the circumstances.

[JbeJ275]

No longer in quite as much danger as she was, but still I’ll prepared to chase down a ghost Barbara makes an effort to search the room Spoiler had entered previously, hoping to find some clue as to why the ghost had chosen that room in particular to haunt.

Search: (1d20+14)[32]

[Molan]

No longer in quite as much danger as she was, but still I’ll prepared to chase down a ghost Barbara makes an effort to search the room Spoiler had entered previously, hoping to find some clue as to why the ghost had chosen that room in particular to haunt.

Search: [roll0]

It took a while, but eventually Oracle found the large iron boxes that had originally caught Spoiler's eye, and with a fair bit of effort, managed to move them to the side, revealing some of the space behind them. There she found a dessicated corpse, mostly a skeleton, huddled up behind the crates in the fetal position. Further inspect found a few remaining dusty, rusted and broken items on the body -- a coin purse full of 200 cp and 75 sp, a knife, worn and decaying commoner's clothing, a thief's kit, and a small metal key, gripped in one hand, topped with a skull. Several vials are located nearby, which looked like they might have once been potions...but the long-dead body had appeared to have drank them, perhaps out of desperation.

[Feathersnow]

The magically enlarged woman secures her poleaxe and awkwardly, slowly, crawls out of the room.

[JbeJ275]

Barabara winces as she sees the body, while she can't say this thief would her favouriate person around right now, having stabbed her moments ago no one deserves to go out like this, much less be trapped there for years afterwards. Taking the key, but leaving the rest of the items at least for the moment she called out to the others in the vualt.


"Hey!! Ummm... do any of you guys know how to lay a dead body to rest? I think we might need to do that. Or at least get it out of here."

[JoyWonderLove]

The terror had finally started to fade once Spoiler was outside again, away from that which was an endlessly hateful, cruel, twisted soul. The crickets creaked and chirped their odd start stop serenade to the forest, the subtle hum of an area safe.
Bats squeaked and screeched reliably beneath the spread of diamonds carelessly scattered across the clear night sky like a hustle gone wrong, and an owl hooted from somewhere beyond the oak treeline a good twenty paces off to her right. Life. The simple con artist was surrounded by uncompromising life again, and even as her heart slowed and gasping for comforting air faded, the shuddering started. She would never have let go. Not until I starved. Wanted everyone to stay and suffer. If Barbara didn't free me...

Spoiler endured another round of shakes between taking in mouthfuls of air. whipped away drying tears with the back of her gloves, finding the material coarser than she remembered. Despite the Gothic city beckoning in the distance, she knew she had to go back down. Oracle was still in there. Batwoman as well. Her burning lunges would little allow her to sprint back to their side immediately, nor did she truly care to, but whether either of them wanted her back after that themselves, whether either would ever forgive it, that was all the more reason not to leave them down there. They were the closest thing to a crew she had that wasn't entirely steeped in criminality or desperation, and they had both risked their lives for her in two days near as many times her parents had in her lifetime. She couldn't abandon them. That was exactly what rotted the soul of the same woman that took her hostage, to make it all worse.

The undisguised patter of quiet, small steps came from entirely the wrong direction and Spoiler tensed unbidden. Not from the direction of the forest as some innocent animal, but emerging out of the mouth of the tomb with seven ways in. Spoiler dropped her hand on Estanna's favourite weapon almost noncommittally, as though she still might not defend herself even if the boy were a predator too confident to hide it's approach. She turned her head reluctantly to the gi clad child. Her breathing still came in rough gulps through her mouth, and she suddenly felt a complete novice, running jobs beyond her credibility or understanding.

Why wasn't he affected by that monstorsity? How?

"You won. That's good."

It took a moment for Spoiler to find her voice, and when she did, it was distant, and tired, but held a lucid certainty. There was no question hanging or implication unchecked. Damien was entirely too calm to be the newfound victim of possession, and too filled with the delusion of youthful immortality to avoid danger. That much was obvious. He would be in the crypt below were there still a fight to be found. The spirit was banished, however temporarily. But the little lordling had taken to being her mark poorly before, so what mercy could she expect for allowing complacency to overcome common sense now? For plain cowardice in the face of extreme danger? Few nobles in Gotham were capable of empathy, let alone prone to use it.

Spoiler turned around with all the enthusiasm of facing a hangman. She eyed the entrance behind the child with gloomy longing, then considered the unkind first obstacle in her way. Far too late to whip away all evidence of crying; both for the blind fear of the abyss that had started into her, as the grief of a life ended in a way she wouldn't wish on her own worse enemies. She wanted to ask Damien after Oracle's state, but doubted any answer at it wouldn't be venom filled. That any reply at all wasn't aiming at her neck. She straightened instead, a small deviant act. When she spoke again, she sounded no less tired, but a great deal more stubborn.

"Make your dumb taunts, claim your stuck up quips, but I'm not going away, Damien, and I'm not giving up. Too many families need this to happen. Even if I can't do all this without looking like some incompetent coward, I can still damn sure do it caring every step of the way."

Spoiler

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Whatever the case obviously I re-enter and try to find Oracle/BW again. Let's get this Vault solved.

[MrAbdiel]

Damien stands a few feet away, eying Spoiler as she composes herself. He anticipates the questions that she refuses to ask, and when she doesn't ask them, the child is left overprepared for a scenario that does not manifest, prolonging his silence. But when she castigates him, lashing out like a cornered creature, he processes the resolve and bitterness she is marshalling and his prominent eyebrows crowd together in an expression of dense bewilderment. He squints at her, moving slightly toward her and pausing to second guess the action; but then follows through; stepping swiftly into her zone, and hugging her around the waist.

It's not a particularly warm hug. Honestly, it's not a particularly good hug. In truth, it's barely a hug by conventional definitions. Damien dispenses the hug as a doctor at his wits end dispenses an experimental medicine or, even better, like a travelling scholar tries to ape the dances and sounds of an encountered tribe to attempt to curry favor. It's an anthropologist's hug. It persists for exactly five seconds, before he releases and hops neatly back to a distance of five feet, one dark brow raised high and eyes keen as he measures the outcome of his sociological effort. The gesture offered proves, at least, that he is attempting to connect with her at some level other than the scorn-casting one she had anticipated (and which he had previously showcased). Perhaps that's worth something.

"She's alright. And the Inquisitor rebuked the spirit, and it fled. It might come back, but they're working on a longer solution in there."

Initially, he had thought to give her back the dagger and (admittedly) pontificate about how she ought to return it. But giving her the weapon she was forced to use to stab a friend seems a little socially clumsy; so he hangs onto it for now. Instead, he turns back toward the vault entrance, and produces his Rod of Ropes. He snaps out the grappling hook, shoots it high to connect to the lip of the roof, and then glances back over his shoulder.

"And my taunts are excellent."

Then he's whizzing away, drawn toward the vault and into the air, detaching and retracting the rope partway to complete an entirely unnecessary somersault in the air and forward roll through the door to rejoin the other scene.

[JoyWonderLove]

=A world above=

Spoiler’s eyebrows furrowed and she froze like a rabbit stuck in a snare when little arms closed about her waist. Too unsure this wasn’t some half-elaborate hustle to tie together the unwanted hug of the morning into the failures of the night, Damien had already leapt back like a baby panther when she realized he was genuine. Her eyes started to well up again, but for sheer gratitude and relief. By the time he had explained that Oracle was still well and the spirit somehow sent fleeing, she had unhooked her mask to showcase a smile, fragile and small but heartfelt.

“Thank you,” she croaked quietly.

Then the boy was off, swinging with a grace and ease only accomplished through training and discipline. After a moment, Spoiler suspiciously started patting herself down to ensure everything was actually in place. All found, she allowed herself another smile, a stronger smile, before reattaching her mask, and trudging back into the final Vault, and down into the chambers.

=Down below=

“Even in the Narrows...there’s a saying. A chest ain’t worth a coffin. It’s pretty common. But whatever horror stories you hear – you never actually think you’ll be the one to have to deal with it. One job or the other.”

Spoiler spoke haltingly, and went no further than the door frame of the leftmost room itself, only too aware the ghost had yet to be truly banished. She only stared over at where the iron boxes were. Whatever had drawn that banshee to this particular room, there were some things that simply didn’t need to be seen by the living. The blonde planned on sleeping sometime this week. Reluctantly she considered Oracle’s gait and trousers, but for her relieve at a lack of limping or further bleeding, the blonde couldn’t bring herself to fully meet the other woman’s eyes. The warning to go slow had been heard but brushed off.

“I didn’t catch her name. But I can tell ya it was a smash and grab gone wrong. They didn’t plan anything. Just saw their mark, and moved. When the vault started to close up, that’s when she found out just how much thief’s honour was worth.”

Finally a self-depreciating, bitter little smile was given to Barbara as she finally met her eyes.

“Guess you could say she’s in good company, huh?”

Spoiler wandered over to the centre of the room, shaking her head glacially, unsure how putting herself on the Thieves Guild most wanted and securing Vaults had become her life. It didn't help stop the drugs trade, or turn around the poverty burdened Narrows. I’m helping families in Gotham, at least. That counts. It means something to them, to Estanna. I don’t know what, anymore, exactly. But something. When even the inquisitor was silent on solutions to the trapped spirit, she guessed she would have to jury-rig one up for her fallen, hostile sister. Sure, just chuck it unto the pile. I can't even get Raam out of the torture joint I helped toss him into. Should have finished it when I had the shot. At least he wouldn't suffer then.

Unhinging the crossbow, Spoiler shook her head again, and found a spot with line of sight on the next door. Doing what she could to find a place to hide, no attempt was made to see what lurked beyond the last door Azrael pointed out. She was done opening doors until she was out of there.

Spoiler: Molan

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Ready whenever to shoot bad guys/relax in the background.

[JbeJ275]

Soon after Spoiler met her eyes, Barbara fliched away before replying. "Yeah, I guess. Look, don't worry about it. I do trust you and everything, but if I hadn't had that scroll or if the spirit had held on.... well it's not usually that direct but you're never the only one who's in danger of being hurt when you take a risk like going off on your own in here. Be more careful okay?"

Inside she was somewhat trown by what had just happened, on one hand obviouly Spoiler hadn't been the one to do that. But when the being that did wore her face and struck with her hand it wasn't gonna be easy to forget. It was also not a slight concern that she'd been overwhelmed so quietly in the short time they were seperated, she'd presumed Kate and Spoiler could be trusted to have her back mostly from what she'd divined of their thoughts but it was clear that might not be enough divinations on its own.

With that in mind, and with the primitive divinations of the paladin in need of further confiration she approached the door the others had crowded around.

"I'm just going to check on these rooms again, to give us some idea what they're facing. Maybe more if they happen to be intelligent.

Barbara wove the spell of Detect Thoughts once again, but was careful to take a long moment with the cone cast over Damien and Spoiler first, just to make sure the ghost had not possesed either of them as they re-entered, and being prudent enough to check for other trecherous intentions while she did so. Then she swung the same magic over the rest of the unopened rooms.

[JbeJ275]

Once she’s taken in the results of her casting she’ll also move over to the body. She seems unsettled by the whole idea, but little was ever done without trying something, and if the gloat returned… we’ll that didn’t bear thinking about.

Thus she emptied out one of the larger chests, and placed the body inside before taking said body outside m, in a remote spot where it’s unlikely to be disturbed before they can take care of it properly. Hoping to calm the spirits’ fears of being trapped she recites a short blessing over it.

“May you be trapped never again, but receive the mercy of Ayailla, and be free evermore to send your spirit into the sky above and the light beyond.”

This rather short and direct blessing done, Barabar cracks the container lid just a crack to let and spirits within out, then returns to the group.

[Molan]

Barbara cast her spell and calmly began scanning the vault as information began to pour in. As she did so, Azreal recast his Detect Evil prayer, and the two began assessing their surroundings.

Spoiler: Detect Thoughts

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The first round revealed the presence of thoughts behind the door.

The second revealed how intelligent each creature was; Spoiler was whip-smart (16), but she found three average/sub average intellects behind the door -- 9, 10 and 10. One figure, however, at the very edge of the spell's range, was vastly smarter than all of them (20).

Finally, thoughts began to flow in.

Oracle was disappointed to find no returns from Damien. She couldn't be tell if he was uniquely warded against her spell or if his mind was considerably more powerful than she'd expected. Either way, the young "Wayne" remained a mystery.

Spoiler however was an open book. Her mind was devastated, even shattered, and wracked with trauma. Getting caught out by the Ghost had been scary enough, but getting possessed had been an actual nightmare, and Spoiler was still obsessing over the horrific sequence of events, the feeling of having her body hijacked by a spirit that malevolent and twisted. Worse still, she was wracked with guilt, fear, shame, and self recrimination.

She'd been too cocky after the ladies' successful battle at the Docks the night before, and she'd been extremely pleased with the work that she'd done out on the streets in the interim. She'd begun to expect that the Vaults mission was going to be a cakewalk, and her overconfidence cost her. She felt mortified and sick over having stabbed Barbara in the back, and hated herself for running away near the end of the encounter. She was genuinely warming up to their crew, though. Save Azreal, her opinion of Barbara, Kate and even Damien was currently very high.

Behind the door, things seemed more ominous. It was clear that the three regular intellects and the smarter one were not friends. The smart one was feeling chagrinned at being caught, urgent about escaping and concerned that his mission to help his friend might fail.

The three regular minds were all wondering if and when their boss would order them to kill the smart one, and their greed was intense; they were constantly musing about what other kinds of powerful valuables they could clear out of the vault.

[JbeJ275]

As information began flowing in from the spell barbara pursed her lips in focus and deliberation. Then she began to speak.

"OK, it's intelligent beings behind that door and criminals too, likely humanoids but hard to know for certain. I don't know how or when they got in but they're holding someone there. Probably a wizard from the guild, maybe the one who left a way in here open but not the one who got the others in... or at least not honestly. He got caught there. The others seem like basic thugs but they're working for a boss who's on site as well... or at least he's actively communicating with them.

Everyone get in position." She continued, edging her way around the door to face it openly. "We can breach it now and I'll blind everyone I can on the otherside, or we can try and sneak a little nearer to be in the best position to spring an ambush, right now they're about sixty feet away so if you can't cover it before they get their heads up ... on the other hand while I'm not getting anyone on guard duty they could well be facing the door, or have others on guard duty further out. Spoiler, what's your read on this?"