KittenMaster
Member
((Oh no, the Kobolds at the beginning of the game!))
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Quest for the Holy Relics: A NeoGAF DnD Play by Post Campaign
- Thread starter ThLunarian
- Start date
Jackben
bitch I'm taking calls.
((The Kobald children were each holding a dormant soul shard of the true Avatar of Vecna within their bodies. Slaying the few guardians at the front door caused them to awaken!))
ThLunarian
Member
((Kobold vengeance incoming. Hold onto your butts!))
DeadPhoenix
Member
((Quintus hopes the moving wall with eyeballs that tries to crush them drops a glove orb so he can get Watts to upgrade is arm of Vecna))
After walking for a while listen to this weird music, Quintus sudden stops and face palms "Crap, I forgot to prepare spells to track that old guy down with! ...Fortunately we don't seem to have a lot of options on which way to go yet, so I guess we are good for now."
After walking for a while listen to this weird music, Quintus sudden stops and face palms "Crap, I forgot to prepare spells to track that old guy down with! ...Fortunately we don't seem to have a lot of options on which way to go yet, so I guess we are good for now."
Jackben
bitch I'm taking calls.
Tarkus moves to the front to walk steadily along the narrow path, eyes out for any sign of danger.
ThLunarian
Member
Jackben
bitch I'm taking calls.
((wtf...Detect evil on this thing right now))
Tarkus begins to become anxious as the scene remains unchanged, his hands clenching and releasing themselves into fists as he walks along. The path appears to lead on without discernible progress, beginning or end. Trap maze? As the group continues onward, he begins to try and track his footsteps but his train of thought is unsteady and he finds himself losing count over and over. More than once he turns to ask the others "How long has been?"
Abandoning the attempt to track the time, his mind is drawn into the music, the churning carousel of sound continuously shattering any other train of thought as it plays its haunting melody on and on and on...
As a figure appears on the horizon Tarkus is pleased to see a change for once and picks up the pace to meet it. However, as the grisly details come into view, Tarkus stops dead in his tracks. She is clearly no human child, and Tarkus is unsure if she ever once was. "Play? You want...play what?"
Tarkus begins to become anxious as the scene remains unchanged, his hands clenching and releasing themselves into fists as he walks along. The path appears to lead on without discernible progress, beginning or end. Trap maze? As the group continues onward, he begins to try and track his footsteps but his train of thought is unsteady and he finds himself losing count over and over. More than once he turns to ask the others "How long has been?"
Abandoning the attempt to track the time, his mind is drawn into the music, the churning carousel of sound continuously shattering any other train of thought as it plays its haunting melody on and on and on...
As a figure appears on the horizon Tarkus is pleased to see a change for once and picks up the pace to meet it. However, as the grisly details come into view, Tarkus stops dead in his tracks. She is clearly no human child, and Tarkus is unsure if she ever once was. "Play? You want...play what?"
ThLunarian
Member
The little girl giggles at Tarkus. She holds her free hand out. "It's a secret," she whispers excitedly.
Suvne catches Tarkus's attention with her gaze. She is shaking her head with a troubled look in her eyes, as though to plead with him not to indulge this little girl.
Suvne catches Tarkus's attention with her gaze. She is shaking her head with a troubled look in her eyes, as though to plead with him not to indulge this little girl.
KittenMaster
Member
((I think ThLunarian is making it much more obvious this time around that we should not trust little girls on our quest.))
Sarm moves quickly to catch up to Tarkus, but once Sarm realizes the features of the little girl are violently damaged and grisly, he holds out an arm in front of Tarkus to try to ease him back a bit. He whispers to Tarkus, "Be careful, she looks almost as if she were undead."
((Actually, would a knowledge check be appropriate to figure out what she might actually be?))
((I have a feeling if I did that, I would end up detecting pretty much this entire planet.))
Sarm moves quickly to catch up to Tarkus, but once Sarm realizes the features of the little girl are violently damaged and grisly, he holds out an arm in front of Tarkus to try to ease him back a bit. He whispers to Tarkus, "Be careful, she looks almost as if she were undead."
((Actually, would a knowledge check be appropriate to figure out what she might actually be?))
Val pulls up short as the tracks of the fel orc they'd been following end abruptly in the middle of the path. Turning in a slow circle, he notes that there aren't any signs of struggle or any other tracks. Like something just swooped down from above and snatched a full grown, fully equipped orc...
Val's eyes can't help but roll upwards to scan the featureless obsidian dome covering the realm. "Mind the skies, everyone..." he says warily.
The unceasing music had led Val to initially believe that they weren't far from some manner of civilization, that surely they would happen upon a wagon trail leading to an inn. But the monochromatic environs seemed unchanged and unending, the music growing neither more or less audible as the group progressed. No surprise then that the appearance of a figure coming in the opposite direction inspired no small feeling of relief in him. "Finally, maybe now we can--"
The words die in his mouth as their visitor becomes more easily discerned. "The fuck!" Val exclaims, drawing his rapier as the ghoulish little child draws near. Keeping the point of his sword between himself and the ghastly being, he struggles to keep his cool, but this place has rattled him.
"No eyes, but she can see us? Quintus, Sarm, this seems more your guys' speed. What the fuck are we looking at here?"
((Nothing gives me the creeps more than hollowed out eye sockets and ocular trauma, god fucking damn it...))
Val's eyes can't help but roll upwards to scan the featureless obsidian dome covering the realm. "Mind the skies, everyone..." he says warily.
The unceasing music had led Val to initially believe that they weren't far from some manner of civilization, that surely they would happen upon a wagon trail leading to an inn. But the monochromatic environs seemed unchanged and unending, the music growing neither more or less audible as the group progressed. No surprise then that the appearance of a figure coming in the opposite direction inspired no small feeling of relief in him. "Finally, maybe now we can--"
The words die in his mouth as their visitor becomes more easily discerned. "The fuck!" Val exclaims, drawing his rapier as the ghoulish little child draws near. Keeping the point of his sword between himself and the ghastly being, he struggles to keep his cool, but this place has rattled him.
"No eyes, but she can see us? Quintus, Sarm, this seems more your guys' speed. What the fuck are we looking at here?"
((Nothing gives me the creeps more than hollowed out eye sockets and ocular trauma, god fucking damn it...))
ThLunarian
Member
The girl puts her hand down and looks at Val with a creepy smile. "I like pointy things..." she says, and walks directly into the tip of his rapier. It seems to penetrate straight through her eye socket and into her head, and he can feel the resistance and hear the sickening slurch. She keeps walking, though, and when she gets to the hilt she suddenly turns incorporeal, walking straight through Val and giving him an involuntary chill; from there she continues on her way, skipping down the path. If you continue to watch her, you see her fade away into the distance.
Sarm and Quintus are pretty sure that this is some kind of spirit - likely evil, but as Sarm suspects and Suvne can confirm, the readings from any Detect Evil attempt are off the charts in all directions.
Sarm and Quintus are pretty sure that this is some kind of spirit - likely evil, but as Sarm suspects and Suvne can confirm, the readings from any Detect Evil attempt are off the charts in all directions.
ThLunarian
Member
With the creepy spirit-girl seemingly no longer a threat, the party has little choice but to move on.
Precious little changes over the next twenty minutes. Same scenery, same maddening music, same empty sky and sense of chilly foreboding in the air.
After a time, something else comes into view, just ahead on the side of the road. Another humanoid figure, this one seems to remain still. A cautious approach reveals it to be a scarecrow, crucified on a wooden stand.
Though almost certainly constructed of straw and cloth, its design is unmistakable. It was clearly modeled off of the crimson Orc that came through the portal before the rest of the party, except that an abnormally long smile is carved across its face.
Its eyes are NOT artificial. They are very real, though they are no longer glowing, and the pupils are visible.
The eyes follow you as you approach and pass, but no other part of the scarecrow moves an inch.
Precious little changes over the next twenty minutes. Same scenery, same maddening music, same empty sky and sense of chilly foreboding in the air.
After a time, something else comes into view, just ahead on the side of the road. Another humanoid figure, this one seems to remain still. A cautious approach reveals it to be a scarecrow, crucified on a wooden stand.
Though almost certainly constructed of straw and cloth, its design is unmistakable. It was clearly modeled off of the crimson Orc that came through the portal before the rest of the party, except that an abnormally long smile is carved across its face.
Its eyes are NOT artificial. They are very real, though they are no longer glowing, and the pupils are visible.
The eyes follow you as you approach and pass, but no other part of the scarecrow moves an inch.
((aaaaaAAAAAAAAaaagh, you're doing this on purpose now, aren't you? : ( ))
Val stares, mouth slightly agape in horror as the phantasmal little girl marches forward as the blade of his rapier penetrates her socket, and then with the sickening crunch of splintering bone, her brain pan.
Just as the hilt is about to make contact with her bloody face, Val feels his sword freed as the masochistic entity suddenly renders itself insubstantial and passes right through him, leaving overwhelming waves of extreme discomfort in her wake.
"When I was a boy," he says shakily as he returns his blade to its sheath, "the older urchins would play 'games' with those of us who were younger, whether we wanted to or not. 'You're playing even if you're not playing.' Let's be away before whatever that was comes up with a similar notion."
Marching to beat the band and put as much distance as possible between himself and the eyeless girl, Val is torn between the comfort of safety in numbers and a welling urge to break out in a blind run. His internal debate is silenced when they happen upon the effigy of the fel orc.
"Gods, the eyes.."
Val stares, mouth slightly agape in horror as the phantasmal little girl marches forward as the blade of his rapier penetrates her socket, and then with the sickening crunch of splintering bone, her brain pan.
Just as the hilt is about to make contact with her bloody face, Val feels his sword freed as the masochistic entity suddenly renders itself insubstantial and passes right through him, leaving overwhelming waves of extreme discomfort in her wake.
"When I was a boy," he says shakily as he returns his blade to its sheath, "the older urchins would play 'games' with those of us who were younger, whether we wanted to or not. 'You're playing even if you're not playing.' Let's be away before whatever that was comes up with a similar notion."
Marching to beat the band and put as much distance as possible between himself and the eyeless girl, Val is torn between the comfort of safety in numbers and a welling urge to break out in a blind run. His internal debate is silenced when they happen upon the effigy of the fel orc.
"Gods, the eyes.."
Jackben
bitch I'm taking calls.
Hearing Val's story Tarkus nods and speeds up, just to keep pace of course..
Just as the next figure comes into sight, he does a double take, not completely satisfied meeting someone is such a relief anymore.
As he gets close and takes a look at the gruesome effigy, he pulls his weapon with eyes wide. After son moments he calms a bit but still feels his stomach twist into knots. "Think he played game?"
He swallows and attempts to circle as far around the scarecrow as possible. "This world...sick place."
Just as the next figure comes into sight, he does a double take, not completely satisfied meeting someone is such a relief anymore.
As he gets close and takes a look at the gruesome effigy, he pulls his weapon with eyes wide. After son moments he calms a bit but still feels his stomach twist into knots. "Think he played game?"
He swallows and attempts to circle as far around the scarecrow as possible. "This world...sick place."
KittenMaster
Member
Sarm walks over to Val, noticing his tremendous shaking that has come over him, and like the healer he is, asks, "Are you alright? Did she do anything to you?"
While the scarecrow spies on their travels, grinning at their every step, Sarm pulls out Yasir in caution, saying, "I see this figure as a symbol of warning... and trickery."
While the scarecrow spies on their travels, grinning at their every step, Sarm pulls out Yasir in caution, saying, "I see this figure as a symbol of warning... and trickery."
DeadPhoenix
Member
"Trickery? No doubt." says Quintus "I feel like someones just playing a sick game with use. It's only gonna get worse from here on out... but slowly enough to make it that much more mind wrecking."
ThLunarian
Member
((Val, sorry for cutting you off before you had a chance to respond to Sarm, but this post will take me a long time to write and I'm not sure when I'll have another chance today))
You're walking down this path that so far hasn't changed at all, apart from a spooky figure here and there. This music won't stop playing and it's beginning to grate on your nerves. You're jittery. You know there's something deeply wrong with this place, and you're helpless to do anything about it - you're not even making any progress by walking in a straight line.
By the time it's started happening, it's too late. The environment is starting to blur together. Lines and shapes are running into each other, growing darker. You can still see your friends, but somehow, impossibly, they're getting further away.
Or maybe you're the one who's moving. But you're not trying to - it's like you're being pulled away from each other. But why? What's making this happen? You try to run toward them to reunite - they look like they're doing the same - but it's all for naught; you're getting pulled further and further away.
The environment is almost completely faded away now. You're surrounded by blackness. Your feet are still planted on... something..., but all you see is a dark void.
Your friends are dots on the horizon now. Their screams and cries are all but inaudible.
And then they're gone.
It's just you.... and that maddening music.
You stand (or maybe occasionally walk, or run, or collapse onto your knees) in helpless frustration. You might swing your axe; shine the light of your god onto.... nothing... you might try to teleport to safety; you might shout wild promises of riches and gold with your silver tongue toward whoever is doing this to you.
All of it amounts to nothing.
You are alone in the dark.
Then the images start.
You remember some of them from your early childhood - and they're not pleasant. The time you botched that pickpocketing job and got caught. Once when your slave-master whipped you in front of the entire camp for daring to try and sneak an extra helping. The deaths of your parents in the Flan camp - that you blamed yourself for. The time that the bully beat you up in pre-school, and you were helpless to do anything about it because you sucked at magic as a kid.
The images are playing out in front of you like a moving picture, and they continue to show scenes from all through your life - your greatest disappointments, most crushing defeats, most shameful secrets, and most embarrassing memories. They cycle through over and over again, in excruciatingly accurate detail. You can't run from them; they play out in front of you like clockwork....
After some amount of time that might as well be forever, as you open your eyes from your latest bout of tears, you realize that your friends are back - most of them, anyway. Suvne seems to be missing. Your other friends seem every bit as emotionally distraught as you do, and although it might be comforting to see them again, you are dismayed to find that you are still standing in a void of total blackness.
In front of you stand five figures.
You're walking down this path that so far hasn't changed at all, apart from a spooky figure here and there. This music won't stop playing and it's beginning to grate on your nerves. You're jittery. You know there's something deeply wrong with this place, and you're helpless to do anything about it - you're not even making any progress by walking in a straight line.
By the time it's started happening, it's too late. The environment is starting to blur together. Lines and shapes are running into each other, growing darker. You can still see your friends, but somehow, impossibly, they're getting further away.
Or maybe you're the one who's moving. But you're not trying to - it's like you're being pulled away from each other. But why? What's making this happen? You try to run toward them to reunite - they look like they're doing the same - but it's all for naught; you're getting pulled further and further away.
The environment is almost completely faded away now. You're surrounded by blackness. Your feet are still planted on... something..., but all you see is a dark void.
Your friends are dots on the horizon now. Their screams and cries are all but inaudible.
And then they're gone.
It's just you.... and that maddening music.
You stand (or maybe occasionally walk, or run, or collapse onto your knees) in helpless frustration. You might swing your axe; shine the light of your god onto.... nothing... you might try to teleport to safety; you might shout wild promises of riches and gold with your silver tongue toward whoever is doing this to you.
All of it amounts to nothing.
You are alone in the dark.
Then the images start.
You remember some of them from your early childhood - and they're not pleasant. The time you botched that pickpocketing job and got caught. Once when your slave-master whipped you in front of the entire camp for daring to try and sneak an extra helping. The deaths of your parents in the Flan camp - that you blamed yourself for. The time that the bully beat you up in pre-school, and you were helpless to do anything about it because you sucked at magic as a kid.
The images are playing out in front of you like a moving picture, and they continue to show scenes from all through your life - your greatest disappointments, most crushing defeats, most shameful secrets, and most embarrassing memories. They cycle through over and over again, in excruciatingly accurate detail. You can't run from them; they play out in front of you like clockwork....
After some amount of time that might as well be forever, as you open your eyes from your latest bout of tears, you realize that your friends are back - most of them, anyway. Suvne seems to be missing. Your other friends seem every bit as emotionally distraught as you do, and although it might be comforting to see them again, you are dismayed to find that you are still standing in a void of total blackness.
In front of you stand five figures.
ThLunarian
Member
((I didn't spoiler these posts for the benefit of players and of spectators and because hidden information won't change any decisions your characters make here, but remember that you ONLY are supposed to see what your own character sees.))
Val
You see your brothers and sisters, all standing in a line: Valerie, Valance, Valdemar, Valentino, and Valentine.
"You failed us," the twins say simultaneously, and when you blink, suddenly their bodies are horribly burned and charred beyond recognition - but their eyes still look on you in judgment.
"You left me," says Valerie, and before your eyes, her back snaps back at a right angle, breaking her spine; she falls to the "floor", her legs having been rendered useless, but somehow is able to turn her head to continue staring at you.
"You left us all," Valance chimes in, and suddenly he takes on a soggy, bloated, purple appearance - as though his body has been left floating in the swamp for weeks.
"Now you'll join us again," says Valdemar, and his face disappears from his head as his arms disappear from the rest of his body.
The five of them begin to move forward...
Val
You see your brothers and sisters, all standing in a line: Valerie, Valance, Valdemar, Valentino, and Valentine.
"You failed us," the twins say simultaneously, and when you blink, suddenly their bodies are horribly burned and charred beyond recognition - but their eyes still look on you in judgment.
"You left me," says Valerie, and before your eyes, her back snaps back at a right angle, breaking her spine; she falls to the "floor", her legs having been rendered useless, but somehow is able to turn her head to continue staring at you.
"You left us all," Valance chimes in, and suddenly he takes on a soggy, bloated, purple appearance - as though his body has been left floating in the swamp for weeks.
"Now you'll join us again," says Valdemar, and his face disappears from his head as his arms disappear from the rest of his body.
The five of them begin to move forward...
ThLunarian
Member
Sarm
Before you stand Bones, Ivor, Evaneth, Amriel, and Suvne. They're staring directly at you.
"I needed you," Bones says, and in a flash he turns pale, and disgusting welts and abscesses cover his exposed skin.
"You couldn't save us," says Ivor, and he suddenly turns ethereal, a ghastly darkness overcoming his features.
"The darkness took me, and you couldn't stop it," says Evaneth, and suddenly he becomes a large, hulking, living shadow-beast.
"They came back after you left, and we couldn't stop them without you," says Amriel, and now the feathers are plucked from his wings; from the skin-and-skeleton frame, large bite-marks consistent with the work of demons are clearly visible.
"You've doomed me," Suvne says hauntingly, and now suddenly she is a pale-skinned, fanged vampire, the symbol of Pelor on her armor desecrated. "Now you'll be doomed..."
They begin to advance...
Before you stand Bones, Ivor, Evaneth, Amriel, and Suvne. They're staring directly at you.
"I needed you," Bones says, and in a flash he turns pale, and disgusting welts and abscesses cover his exposed skin.
"You couldn't save us," says Ivor, and he suddenly turns ethereal, a ghastly darkness overcoming his features.
"The darkness took me, and you couldn't stop it," says Evaneth, and suddenly he becomes a large, hulking, living shadow-beast.
"They came back after you left, and we couldn't stop them without you," says Amriel, and now the feathers are plucked from his wings; from the skin-and-skeleton frame, large bite-marks consistent with the work of demons are clearly visible.
"You've doomed me," Suvne says hauntingly, and now suddenly she is a pale-skinned, fanged vampire, the symbol of Pelor on her armor desecrated. "Now you'll be doomed..."
They begin to advance...
ThLunarian
Member
Quintus
You see your parents, your old mentor Ridley, your old blue-haired rival Theon, and the anthropomorphic rhinoceros guard that you encountered in the Watchers' Tower. They look on you with disapproving eyes.
"You could have stopped it," says Ridley, and suddenly his throat is slit as blood dribbles down the front of his body - and yet somehow he remains standing.
"You've killed us all," your parents say together, and in an instant, your father's skull is crushed in by an unseen force; a large pool blood spreads out from under the front of your mother's dress.
"Vecna has claimed everyone you've cared about," says Theon, and his body lights on fire as blood drips from his finger tips.
"And you'll claim the rest," says the rhinoceros, and he becomes the undead, zombified creature that you last saw him as.
The five figures begin to step forward...
You see your parents, your old mentor Ridley, your old blue-haired rival Theon, and the anthropomorphic rhinoceros guard that you encountered in the Watchers' Tower. They look on you with disapproving eyes.
"You could have stopped it," says Ridley, and suddenly his throat is slit as blood dribbles down the front of his body - and yet somehow he remains standing.
"You've killed us all," your parents say together, and in an instant, your father's skull is crushed in by an unseen force; a large pool blood spreads out from under the front of your mother's dress.
"Vecna has claimed everyone you've cared about," says Theon, and his body lights on fire as blood drips from his finger tips.
"And you'll claim the rest," says the rhinoceros, and he becomes the undead, zombified creature that you last saw him as.
The five figures begin to step forward...
ThLunarian
Member
Tarkus
Before you stand Gron (your old brother-in-chains), the unnamed human ranger who you nearly strangled to death before traveling to the mainland, and three children from the Tarley family. Their eyes are piercing and menacing.
"It's only a matter of time," says the human ranger, and his face turns blue and sickeningly purple, as though the life has been choked out of him.
"I knew, and escaped before it was too late," says Gron, and suddenly his entire body is covered in wounds obviously created by getting whipped with chains.
"You think you have your anger under control," says the boy, and his throat is slit without warning - yet he stays standing.
"But you don't want to admit it," says the first girl, and her head is suddenly sliced clear from her body; she catches it with her arm, and the eyes still stare into your soul.
"It wasn't the soldiers who killed us," says the second girl, and suddenly a sword - your sword - is sticking out from her back, "It was YOU!"
The five figures lurch toward you...
Before you stand Gron (your old brother-in-chains), the unnamed human ranger who you nearly strangled to death before traveling to the mainland, and three children from the Tarley family. Their eyes are piercing and menacing.
"It's only a matter of time," says the human ranger, and his face turns blue and sickeningly purple, as though the life has been choked out of him.
"I knew, and escaped before it was too late," says Gron, and suddenly his entire body is covered in wounds obviously created by getting whipped with chains.
"You think you have your anger under control," says the boy, and his throat is slit without warning - yet he stays standing.
"But you don't want to admit it," says the first girl, and her head is suddenly sliced clear from her body; she catches it with her arm, and the eyes still stare into your soul.
"It wasn't the soldiers who killed us," says the second girl, and suddenly a sword - your sword - is sticking out from her back, "It was YOU!"
The five figures lurch toward you...
KittenMaster
Member
((Not sure what I'm supposed to do, so I'll go nuts.))
Trapped alone in the darkness, Sarm begins to have images of his childhood flash rapidly. Those immature moments which he felt he was not a good enough son which is why his parents passed to another world and left him.. Despite his being taught better in the Temple he lived in, these dark memories won't let him be reminded of that wisdom.
He continues to see struggles he's faced throughout life, before finally he is being shown what will happen if... No, when he fails. The disappointment and disgust in all of those that foolishly believed that he should be trusted with the greatest artifact that was kept so secretly, only for it to be lost in a world that taints its light. He can see himself in Luna's office, not ready to face the toll of his massive mishandling of the relic.
Just as he is about to break down, he notices the rest are back again, their presence is enough to keep his mind distracted from the images being shown.
Before he can ask where Suvne is.. he turns towards the figures staring him down, which include her. He can only breathe heavily as they harshly remind him of things he could have done better, one by one turning into a disgusting figure of darkness that demand to be destroyed by him.
He clutches Yasir in what feels like the only named thing that isn't out to bring him down. He then begins to remember something..
What does Yasir mean, you ask? Well, to be frank I likely was reading the wrong Elvish dictionary, but if I recall I was looking for something that meant something along the lines of 'to guide on a quest.'
Even though he doesn't really know the shopkeeper well except for purchasing the weapon, he wonders if the blacksmith that forged it named it because he believed in the weapon, more than its wielder. Still, this positive thought is empowering.
Deciding that he cannot afford to be convinced of what he is being shown, Sarm shakes his head as the figures approach, and says to them, "I might have disappointed many in my life... But not you... I believe you are false images brought to torment me.. Not the real people worth being afraid of letting down.."
He then casts Dispel Evil, to create an aura to protect himself with.
Sarm's Initiative: 1d20+1=12
Trapped alone in the darkness, Sarm begins to have images of his childhood flash rapidly. Those immature moments which he felt he was not a good enough son which is why his parents passed to another world and left him.. Despite his being taught better in the Temple he lived in, these dark memories won't let him be reminded of that wisdom.
He continues to see struggles he's faced throughout life, before finally he is being shown what will happen if... No, when he fails. The disappointment and disgust in all of those that foolishly believed that he should be trusted with the greatest artifact that was kept so secretly, only for it to be lost in a world that taints its light. He can see himself in Luna's office, not ready to face the toll of his massive mishandling of the relic.
Just as he is about to break down, he notices the rest are back again, their presence is enough to keep his mind distracted from the images being shown.
Before he can ask where Suvne is.. he turns towards the figures staring him down, which include her. He can only breathe heavily as they harshly remind him of things he could have done better, one by one turning into a disgusting figure of darkness that demand to be destroyed by him.
He clutches Yasir in what feels like the only named thing that isn't out to bring him down. He then begins to remember something..
What does Yasir mean, you ask? Well, to be frank I likely was reading the wrong Elvish dictionary, but if I recall I was looking for something that meant something along the lines of 'to guide on a quest.'
Even though he doesn't really know the shopkeeper well except for purchasing the weapon, he wonders if the blacksmith that forged it named it because he believed in the weapon, more than its wielder. Still, this positive thought is empowering.
Deciding that he cannot afford to be convinced of what he is being shown, Sarm shakes his head as the figures approach, and says to them, "I might have disappointed many in my life... But not you... I believe you are false images brought to torment me.. Not the real people worth being afraid of letting down.."
He then casts Dispel Evil, to create an aura to protect himself with.
Sarm's Initiative: 1d20+1=12
ThLunarian
Member
((Basically I'm looking for a reactionary post, either internal or external (or both), as your characters struggle to cope with what they're seeing... and then we will go into initiative, because the figures are about to attack. So Sarm, if you want to edit an Initiative roll into your previous post then go for it. Other than that, what you posted is cool))
Jackben
bitch I'm taking calls.
"Vaaaal! Suvnee! Q! Saarm!" Tarkus continues to shout his companions names as he runs towards them, the fading image of Val's twinkling glasses soon disappearing upon the horizon. As the dark forest closes in around him, a black fog engulfing his world, he slows to a standstill, breathing heavily as his shouts echo back to him before being drowned out by the never-ending song. Surrounded by darkness, his shuts his eyes, preferring the back of his eyelids to the utterly lightless void.
"Find way out. Keep calm. Stay safe. Move ahead. Strong body, sharp mind. Work. Ascend, adapt, arrange. Control. Survive." The words fall out of his mouth and drop like dead leaves into the darkness. He begins to think of things to distract from the melody, but the images that come to him are not what he wants to see.
Orcish eyes surround him in a circle, their stares casting spears that trap him in place. Memories of chains, whips, blood and fire. Figures turn away from him and reject his friendship and hate him. Hate hims so much he develops a hatred of himself and rejects what he sees as things in himself that others hate about him. Smiling, ugly faces cheer at him and he looks down to see his hands covered in blood. The smiling faces lick their lips. They feast upon his soul and leave nothing, save the realisation that he will die alone. No mourners among the leaving, only companions amongst the dead, haunting him. The few friends he has made turning their backs on him forever. Loneliness claiming every fiber of his being.
His despair turns to anger and he finds himself balling his fists and shaking, roaring in rejection of this fate. A red light fills his vision, erupting from his mind and injected like venom into his consciousness. His body starts to move, unbidden, his consciousness a fearful witness, screaming in protest. A blood-red flower blooms in his mine, painful and burning as it surges its way through him. He feels himself swinging, punching, kicking...slicing, chopping, hacking. The ugly and smiling faces return, eager for a new feast.
"Nooo!" Tarkus inner screams suddenly become real and he scratches at his eyes, painfully separating his lids.
He falls to the ground, his eyes misting over. Kneeling, he closes his eyes once more to and concentrates on breathing slowly. A few moments into a minute, a minute into longer flowing into what feels an eternity. Not...me. he thinks. He opens his eyes and his companions have returned. But before he can call to them, standing before them are five figures from his past who call out to him their accusations. He stands to reply to them in a panicked voice.
"No, no...you not understand...why?! Gron, where are you?! Suzy, Harson...Fargus. I fail you...could not save...but never hurt you. How you die?..no, no not me...NOT ME!" His vision begins to blur as he calls out to each, pleadingly. "Nightmare...nightmare!"
"Find way out. Keep calm. Stay safe. Move ahead. Strong body, sharp mind. Work. Ascend, adapt, arrange. Control. Survive." The words fall out of his mouth and drop like dead leaves into the darkness. He begins to think of things to distract from the melody, but the images that come to him are not what he wants to see.
Orcish eyes surround him in a circle, their stares casting spears that trap him in place. Memories of chains, whips, blood and fire. Figures turn away from him and reject his friendship and hate him. Hate hims so much he develops a hatred of himself and rejects what he sees as things in himself that others hate about him. Smiling, ugly faces cheer at him and he looks down to see his hands covered in blood. The smiling faces lick their lips. They feast upon his soul and leave nothing, save the realisation that he will die alone. No mourners among the leaving, only companions amongst the dead, haunting him. The few friends he has made turning their backs on him forever. Loneliness claiming every fiber of his being.
His despair turns to anger and he finds himself balling his fists and shaking, roaring in rejection of this fate. A red light fills his vision, erupting from his mind and injected like venom into his consciousness. His body starts to move, unbidden, his consciousness a fearful witness, screaming in protest. A blood-red flower blooms in his mine, painful and burning as it surges its way through him. He feels himself swinging, punching, kicking...slicing, chopping, hacking. The ugly and smiling faces return, eager for a new feast.
"Nooo!" Tarkus inner screams suddenly become real and he scratches at his eyes, painfully separating his lids.
He falls to the ground, his eyes misting over. Kneeling, he closes his eyes once more to and concentrates on breathing slowly. A few moments into a minute, a minute into longer flowing into what feels an eternity. Not...me. he thinks. He opens his eyes and his companions have returned. But before he can call to them, standing before them are five figures from his past who call out to him their accusations. He stands to reply to them in a panicked voice.
"No, no...you not understand...why?! Gron, where are you?! Suzy, Harson...Fargus. I fail you...could not save...but never hurt you. How you die?..no, no not me...NOT ME!" His vision begins to blur as he calls out to each, pleadingly. "Nightmare...nightmare!"
Oddly -and perhaps inappropriately- enough, Val starts laughing at the mutilated manifestations of his adopted siblings. "Oh bravo, bra-fucking-vo," he says, clapping his gloved hands. "Yes, your creepshow antics up until this point have been effective, ludicrously effective, even. You've demonstrated your unparalleled ability to pluck memories from the deepest recesses of the mind. But when it comes to psychoanalysis, you've really screwed the pooch."
Holding his hands at his sides in askance, he continues. "I haven't failed anyone, least of all Valentino, who I happen to know for a fact is responsible for everything going to shit. Or did you not probe deep enough to uncover that? And you use the face of Valerie to accuse me of leaving? Valerie, who refused to rejoin me? Who turned her back on the Val Fierno legacy? Is today Opposite Day?
"I don't know who or what you are, but you've overplayed your hand. I'm afraid I think entirely too highly of myself to be cowed by such recriminations, so if you want to cross swords, dispense with this nonsense and at least do me the courtesy of trying to kill me wearing your own face."
Holding his hands at his sides in askance, he continues. "I haven't failed anyone, least of all Valentino, who I happen to know for a fact is responsible for everything going to shit. Or did you not probe deep enough to uncover that? And you use the face of Valerie to accuse me of leaving? Valerie, who refused to rejoin me? Who turned her back on the Val Fierno legacy? Is today Opposite Day?
"I don't know who or what you are, but you've overplayed your hand. I'm afraid I think entirely too highly of myself to be cowed by such recriminations, so if you want to cross swords, dispense with this nonsense and at least do me the courtesy of trying to kill me wearing your own face."
Jackben
bitch I'm taking calls.
Tarkus quiets down and turns to the others at hearing their strangely leveled and differing responses to the figures. Sarm's proclaimation and words of adherence to the light as well as Val's mocking applause and witted response pull him back, as if breaking the surface of a body of water. "Not...them?" He looks from the group and back to his companions. "No...not what it seem." He pulls the greataxe from his back with assurance this time that it is of his own will.
Code:
Initiative: 1d20+6 → [7,6] = (13)DeadPhoenix
Member
Quintus stands up slowly and wipes his eyes after listening to their little speech.
Init: (1d20+7=25)
He then casts Black Tentacles on them. Black tentacles: (1d20+11+8=20, 1d6+4=9)
Not caring whether he succeeds or fails, Quintus walks around the mass of black tentacles, slowing momentarily to whisper something to the nearest body.
Init: (1d20+7=25)
He then casts Black Tentacles on them. Black tentacles: (1d20+11+8=20, 1d6+4=9)
Not caring whether he succeeds or fails, Quintus walks around the mass of black tentacles, slowing momentarily to whisper something to the nearest body.
"If that is what it will take to save our world, then that is what I'll do."
ThLunarian
Member
((Mechanical stuff out of the way first. Quintus fails his Will Save and is unable to cast the spell on the bad guys. Whenever any of you would perform an attack-like action on any of these guys (basically, anything that would break an Invisibility spell), you need to first perform a Will Save DC 16. If you fail, you do nothing instead and lose that action (but you do not lose the prepared spell). You can try again for each separate attack each round; it's not an all-or-nothing mechanic. This is a Fear effect.
Figure 1 walks 20 feet (half the distance) toward Val and performs a psychic attack on him. Will Save DC 19; if you fail, take 18 psychic damage and if you pass, take 9.
Figure 2 walks 20 feet toward Tarkus and does the same thing. Fail and take 34 damage; pass and take 17.
Figure 3 does the same psychic attack on Quintus, but he doesn't move since Quintus is already close to him. 24 damage on a failure; 12 on a pass.
Figure 4 walks 20 feet toward Sarm and does the same thing. 22 damage on a fail; 11 on a pass.
Figure 5 goes after Sarm as well, doing the same thing. 19 damage on a fail; 9 on a pass.))
Despite the party's best efforts to mentally overcome the hold that these creatures seem to have on them, they can't entirely shake it; clearly there is some kind of magical fear effect in place here, and Quintus learns this the hard way when he "accidentally" flubs his casting of Black Tentacles. Despite this failure, though, he braves an approach toward the ghosts of his past, marching directly toward the zombie-rhinoceros and issuing his chilling declaration.
The rhino responds in kind, not in a whisper at all: "Then you must be stopped." He meets Quintus and clutches him on the wrist, and somehow - impossibly - Quintus feels life force being drained from him, which shouldn't make any sense because he is undead and shouldn't HAVE any life force...
Valentino is unfazed by Val's brazen rebuttal, offering up a retort of his own. "You were their leader," he says, seemingly abandoning the pretense that he actually is Val's youngest, treacherous brother (though he retains the appearance). "If you had been more competent, Valentino would never have thought to go against his own brothers and sisters. You weren't, though, and THIS happened!" Suddenly Val feels a searing, intense heat - almost as though he's being burned alive, just as Valentine and Valentino were...
Gron stares down Tarkus. "You couldn't save the only friend you ever had in this world," he reiterates. "Feel the pain you subjected me to when I tried to escape your presence..." Tarkus feels the crack of a barbed whip tearing into his skin - something he hasn't experienced since he was a youngling in the slave camps...
Bones and Ivor both approach Sarm. "I should've known better than to trust you," the paranoid dwarf spits derisively. "The ironic part is that you were the one person in our group I WASN'T suspicious of. And what happened? I got hurt, and you didn't even bother to try and heal me. You know what it feels like to be knocked out so hard that you fall into a coma? You're about to." Sarm is sent reeling by a massive blow to the head, seemingly from nowhere.
As he struggles to regain his bearings, Bones chimes in.
"Not only did you fail me by letting me succumb to disease, you damned my father to an eternity in Hell! May you suffer as we have!" Sarm feels his skin burning as though giant welts have appeared there, although when he actually looks, there doesn't seem to be anything there...
((Begin Round 1, and sorry about the delay. This was a tricky post to write. Oh and Sarm, your spell worked as you described; I just forgot to mention it in the writeup))
Figure 1 walks 20 feet (half the distance) toward Val and performs a psychic attack on him. Will Save DC 19; if you fail, take 18 psychic damage and if you pass, take 9.
Figure 2 walks 20 feet toward Tarkus and does the same thing. Fail and take 34 damage; pass and take 17.
Figure 3 does the same psychic attack on Quintus, but he doesn't move since Quintus is already close to him. 24 damage on a failure; 12 on a pass.
Figure 4 walks 20 feet toward Sarm and does the same thing. 22 damage on a fail; 11 on a pass.
Figure 5 goes after Sarm as well, doing the same thing. 19 damage on a fail; 9 on a pass.))
Despite the party's best efforts to mentally overcome the hold that these creatures seem to have on them, they can't entirely shake it; clearly there is some kind of magical fear effect in place here, and Quintus learns this the hard way when he "accidentally" flubs his casting of Black Tentacles. Despite this failure, though, he braves an approach toward the ghosts of his past, marching directly toward the zombie-rhinoceros and issuing his chilling declaration.
The rhino responds in kind, not in a whisper at all: "Then you must be stopped." He meets Quintus and clutches him on the wrist, and somehow - impossibly - Quintus feels life force being drained from him, which shouldn't make any sense because he is undead and shouldn't HAVE any life force...
Valentino is unfazed by Val's brazen rebuttal, offering up a retort of his own. "You were their leader," he says, seemingly abandoning the pretense that he actually is Val's youngest, treacherous brother (though he retains the appearance). "If you had been more competent, Valentino would never have thought to go against his own brothers and sisters. You weren't, though, and THIS happened!" Suddenly Val feels a searing, intense heat - almost as though he's being burned alive, just as Valentine and Valentino were...
Gron stares down Tarkus. "You couldn't save the only friend you ever had in this world," he reiterates. "Feel the pain you subjected me to when I tried to escape your presence..." Tarkus feels the crack of a barbed whip tearing into his skin - something he hasn't experienced since he was a youngling in the slave camps...
Bones and Ivor both approach Sarm. "I should've known better than to trust you," the paranoid dwarf spits derisively. "The ironic part is that you were the one person in our group I WASN'T suspicious of. And what happened? I got hurt, and you didn't even bother to try and heal me. You know what it feels like to be knocked out so hard that you fall into a coma? You're about to." Sarm is sent reeling by a massive blow to the head, seemingly from nowhere.
As he struggles to regain his bearings, Bones chimes in.
"Not only did you fail me by letting me succumb to disease, you damned my father to an eternity in Hell! May you suffer as we have!" Sarm feels his skin burning as though giant welts have appeared there, although when he actually looks, there doesn't seem to be anything there...
((Begin Round 1, and sorry about the delay. This was a tricky post to write. Oh and Sarm, your spell worked as you described; I just forgot to mention it in the writeup))
Code:
Will save: 1d20+4-2=16Val doubles over in agony as he feels his flesh being immolated. Staring at his hands in front of him, he forces his eyes to remain open, to see and realize that he is not actually being consumed by flames. Oh, the pain is real enough, but with the realization that the damage is illusionary, even that passes in course.
Staring out at the charred countenance of his brother's doppelgänger, Val resumes a standing posture and draws his rapier. "Oh, shut the fuck up," he growls. "I already told you, you have badly misjudged my capacity for guilt and remorse. You're just embarrassing yourself now."
Code:
Will check: 1d20+4-2=11Dodge bonus on Figure 1 in case he decides to melee at some point...))
DeadPhoenix
Member
Quintus steps and tries to cast black tentacles again.
Will: (1d20+10=13)
Unfortunately he is not the badass he seemed to think he was, and decides to just get some more distance between him and these... things.
Will: (1d20+10=13)
Unfortunately he is not the badass he seemed to think he was, and decides to just get some more distance between him and these... things.
KittenMaster
Member
Will Saves: 1d20+15=19, 1d20+15=28
((Can I move somewhere where I won't damage Quintis with Cure Light Wounds Mass?))
((Can I move somewhere where I won't damage Quintis with Cure Light Wounds Mass?))
ThLunarian
Member
((I meant to address that earlier, sorry. You can always just choose not to include Quintus in the area (even if he is in range). Since you can already exclude enemies, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to also exclude him.
Here is the battlemap.
Here is the battlemap.
KittenMaster
Member
((Err, wow, how did Quintis get there?))
ThLunarian
Member
((He said he moved forward to whisper to the bad guys, so I reflected that in the map. Then the other four advanced on the rest of the party))
KittenMaster
Member
((Well, I can't think of any real way to "save" Quintis, so I'll have Sarm move back a bit so that his healing spell is still in range and Quintis can switch places if that becomes necessary.))
Sarm feels pain lined with the demoralizing words spoken to him, but he responds to the images of Ivor and bones with silence, saying to himself in his head that he would only accept such words from the real Ivor and bones.
He steps back a bit, and casts Mass Cure Light Wounds to try to keep himself and the living companions at strength.
Mass CLW: 1d8+11=12
Sarm feels pain lined with the demoralizing words spoken to him, but he responds to the images of Ivor and bones with silence, saying to himself in his head that he would only accept such words from the real Ivor and bones.
He steps back a bit, and casts Mass Cure Light Wounds to try to keep himself and the living companions at strength.
Mass CLW: 1d8+11=12
Jackben
bitch I'm taking calls.
((If you check the links I entered the wrong bits into the damage rolls but they should be correct here. To attack +20 regularly but with - 2 fear & - 8 power attack it's a newbie +10 so for damage it becomes 12 reg + 16 from the power attack to = 28. Dice always hate me when I roll a power attack though :/))
Tarkus nearly buckles over, the long distant sting still hauntingly familiar and striking him to the bone. The barbed whip feels as if it rips into his mind just as much as it does the exposed and soft flesh of his back. He feels as if he is a child all over again, shackled and in chains, throwing ash onto his wounds to save himself from infection...
'But...back not exposed...' he thinks. His mind feels sluggish and dizzy. Taking a deep breath he once again feels as if he has broken the surface of a deep pool of water. 'Dark magicks!' Blinking from his realization he attempts to gather his bearings as the healing light of Sarm's spell warms his body. Looking around to see the rest of his companions under attack, he swallows and prepares to confront his fear.
Just barely able to overcome the apprehension of seeing Gron again for the first time and his cutting personal accusations, Tarkus whispers: "Gron...thank you for friendship. Hope to find you better one day. But...new friends now..." he shakes his head and spits on the ground. "Even you will not stop me from protecting them." Raising his greataxe and with a dangerous gleam in his eye he leaps forward in a savage attack carrying all his strength.
"Tarkus will not fall to phantoms!"
Code:
[URL="1d20+5 → [1,5] = (6)"]Will Save vs Damage DC 19: 1d20+5 → [1,5] = (6)[/URL]'But...back not exposed...' he thinks. His mind feels sluggish and dizzy. Taking a deep breath he once again feels as if he has broken the surface of a deep pool of water. 'Dark magicks!' Blinking from his realization he attempts to gather his bearings as the healing light of Sarm's spell warms his body. Looking around to see the rest of his companions under attack, he swallows and prepares to confront his fear.
Code:
[URL="http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3990830/"]Will Save to Attack DC 16: 1d20+7 → [12,7] = (19) - 2 = 17[/URL]Just barely able to overcome the apprehension of seeing Gron again for the first time and his cutting personal accusations, Tarkus whispers: "Gron...thank you for friendship. Hope to find you better one day. But...new friends now..." he shakes his head and spits on the ground. "Even you will not stop me from protecting them." Raising his greataxe and with a dangerous gleam in his eye he leaps forward in a savage attack carrying all his strength.
"Tarkus will not fall to phantoms!"
Code:
[URL="http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3990835/"]Power Attack 1 vs 'Gron': 1d20+10 → [11,10] = (21)[/URL]
[URL="http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3990836/"]Power Attack 2 vs 'Gron': 1d20+10 → [13,10] = (23)[/URL]
Code:
[URL="http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3990838/"]Damage 1 vs 'Gron': 1d12+28→ [4,28] = (32)[/URL]
[URL="http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3990839/"]Damage 2 vs 'Gron': 1d12+16→ [2,28] = (30)[/URL]ThLunarian
Member
((Everyone now has a +4 on Will saves vs. Fear effects, which will account for all Will saves made during this battle (for reasons explained in the flavor text below).
Figure 1 does another psychic attack vs Val. Will Save DC 19; 34 psychic damage full, 17 half.
Figure 2 is gone.
Figure 3 does a psychic attack on Quintus. Will Save DC 19. 25 full, 12 half.
Figure 4 does a psychic attack on Sarm. DC 19; 21 full, 10 half.
Figure 5 also attacks Sarm. DC 19; 24 full, 12 half))
As Tarkus's axe slices into the image of Gron, it cries out in pain and for a split second reveals its true form: a featureless, gray mass of flesh, that just as quickly dissolves into the blackness of the void.
Immediately, the entire party hears a distant, but familiar, voice. Is it in the distance, or is it in their heads? It's hard to tell, but it is unmistakably Suvne.
"Lord Sarm... Val, Quintus, Tarkus! Please, wake up!" it echoes, and suddenly the party feels the strength of their resolve against these creatures bolster.
The remaining figures don't seem to acknowledge the loss of one of their own. Val blinks, and in the space of that blink, Valentino's charred visage is replaced by that of a waterlogged Valance, whose piercing stare is no less penetrating than the real thing. "I'm afraid, dear brother, that your inability to strike these images of your siblings betrays your true feelings. You may be able to fool most with that silver tongue of yours, but I know you better than that. Your callous disregard for the well being of others - your own family paramount among them - has been your undoing all your life. Perhaps now you will know what it feels like to be abandoned, drowning in a crocodile-and-specter-infested swamp while your own brother, none the worse for wear, goes gallavanting around the globe looking for mystical treasures."
Suddenly Val gets the horrifying sensation of drowning. He begins to cough up dirty water as it runs up from his lungs and out of his mouth...
Quintus's opponent morphs before his eyes into the form of Ridley. "You are an arrogant, unfeeling cad," he says bluntly. "Saving the world is only a pretense for you. You only seek to increase your own power. Look at what you've become, Quintus, and look at what's happened to those you care about because of it! I was stabbed in the back while you sat on your laurels and did NOTHING to protect me! You were fully aware that the Arm of Vecna had a presence in Emerald Bay, and yet you left me to my own devices... and look what happened!"
Quintus feels a sharp, exaggerated stabbing pain in his back.
Before Sarm's eyes, Bones and Ivor transform into Amriel and a vampiric Suvne. "Of course you'd ignore the pleas of your former comrades," says Amriel angrily. "You very nearly ignored the cries of agony from the poor prisoners in the Demons' Torture Chamber. If it weren't for your faithful companion, you would have LEFT them there to be tortured in perpetuity!"
Vampire Suvne chimes in, "And now that you've stranded us here in this gods-forsaken land of fear and sorrow, we've all been doomed to the whims of vampires..."
Sarm feels a force as though some savage beast is biting deeply into his flesh, as though he were being torn apart....
As Tarkus pauses to look around the battlefield, he notes that the figures currently engaged in battle with his friends are curiously formless and blurry. That does not mean that they're any harder to hit, though.
((Begin Round 2))
Figure 1 does another psychic attack vs Val. Will Save DC 19; 34 psychic damage full, 17 half.
Figure 2 is gone.
Figure 3 does a psychic attack on Quintus. Will Save DC 19. 25 full, 12 half.
Figure 4 does a psychic attack on Sarm. DC 19; 21 full, 10 half.
Figure 5 also attacks Sarm. DC 19; 24 full, 12 half))
As Tarkus's axe slices into the image of Gron, it cries out in pain and for a split second reveals its true form: a featureless, gray mass of flesh, that just as quickly dissolves into the blackness of the void.
Immediately, the entire party hears a distant, but familiar, voice. Is it in the distance, or is it in their heads? It's hard to tell, but it is unmistakably Suvne.
"Lord Sarm... Val, Quintus, Tarkus! Please, wake up!" it echoes, and suddenly the party feels the strength of their resolve against these creatures bolster.
The remaining figures don't seem to acknowledge the loss of one of their own. Val blinks, and in the space of that blink, Valentino's charred visage is replaced by that of a waterlogged Valance, whose piercing stare is no less penetrating than the real thing. "I'm afraid, dear brother, that your inability to strike these images of your siblings betrays your true feelings. You may be able to fool most with that silver tongue of yours, but I know you better than that. Your callous disregard for the well being of others - your own family paramount among them - has been your undoing all your life. Perhaps now you will know what it feels like to be abandoned, drowning in a crocodile-and-specter-infested swamp while your own brother, none the worse for wear, goes gallavanting around the globe looking for mystical treasures."
Suddenly Val gets the horrifying sensation of drowning. He begins to cough up dirty water as it runs up from his lungs and out of his mouth...
Quintus's opponent morphs before his eyes into the form of Ridley. "You are an arrogant, unfeeling cad," he says bluntly. "Saving the world is only a pretense for you. You only seek to increase your own power. Look at what you've become, Quintus, and look at what's happened to those you care about because of it! I was stabbed in the back while you sat on your laurels and did NOTHING to protect me! You were fully aware that the Arm of Vecna had a presence in Emerald Bay, and yet you left me to my own devices... and look what happened!"
Quintus feels a sharp, exaggerated stabbing pain in his back.
Before Sarm's eyes, Bones and Ivor transform into Amriel and a vampiric Suvne. "Of course you'd ignore the pleas of your former comrades," says Amriel angrily. "You very nearly ignored the cries of agony from the poor prisoners in the Demons' Torture Chamber. If it weren't for your faithful companion, you would have LEFT them there to be tortured in perpetuity!"
Vampire Suvne chimes in, "And now that you've stranded us here in this gods-forsaken land of fear and sorrow, we've all been doomed to the whims of vampires..."
Sarm feels a force as though some savage beast is biting deeply into his flesh, as though he were being torn apart....
As Tarkus pauses to look around the battlefield, he notes that the figures currently engaged in battle with his friends are curiously formless and blurry. That does not mean that they're any harder to hit, though.
((Begin Round 2))
Code:
Will save: 1d20+8=16No sooner has the pain of flames consuming his flesh passed than Val is beset by the horrifying sensation of his lungs filling with the anoxic muck of the swamp at Northport. Reeling, he falls to his knees and digs his fingers into the substrate as though he were clawing towards the surface of the water from below, heaving lungfuls of fluid on himself.
Once again he stands in defiance of these beings' attempts to bring him low. "Well now you just have me confused. Are you the same pissant who just acknowledged this is all bullshit not a moment ago, or did we all just trade dance partners? As I recall, Valance abandoned us in the swamp, necessitating that we hitch a ride on a reanimated suite of luggage to reach civilization."
Holding his rapier at the ready, Val adopts an offensive stance and grins. "Your research staff is truly abysmal. Either that, or I am blessed by truly impenetrable self deception. Who's to say?"
Code:
Will check: 1d20+8=27
Code:
Attack: 1d20+18-2=21
Damage: 1d6+12=16With speed belying his shaky stance, Val closes the distance between him and his dearly departed "brother" and aims right in the center of the massive man's broad chest.
KittenMaster
Member
((I'm pretty sure I auto-win my will saves now since 15 + 4 = 19))
His shoulder curls in anguish at the feel of biting and ripping, and is brought to a kneel, but he is still alive. He looks to the two figures judging his character, but his stare is still stern and silent. His healing is becoming limited, and Quintis is too difficult to get to. He may have to fight to make things more flexible for him.
With that, he doesn't like this new look for Suvne, so he raises up his palm slowly. In an instantaneous flash, a blast of light beams towards the vampire's face.
Searing Light Ranged Touch Attack & Damage: 1d20+1=18, 5d8=27
His shoulder curls in anguish at the feel of biting and ripping, and is brought to a kneel, but he is still alive. He looks to the two figures judging his character, but his stare is still stern and silent. His healing is becoming limited, and Quintis is too difficult to get to. He may have to fight to make things more flexible for him.
With that, he doesn't like this new look for Suvne, so he raises up his palm slowly. In an instantaneous flash, a blast of light beams towards the vampire's face.
Searing Light Ranged Touch Attack & Damage: 1d20+1=18, 5d8=27
DeadPhoenix
Member
((just realized i forgot to roll a save for the damage from before... opps.))
Will Saves: (1d20+10=15, 1d20+10=25)
((down to 24 hp... thanks in part to the fast healing))
Will: (1d20+10+4=25)
Quintus steps away again and casts Greater Mirror Image, as he is worried he won't be able to take another one of those attacks. This time he is successful and 3d4=9(-1 because max is 8) copies of Quintus appear.
Will Saves: (1d20+10=15, 1d20+10=25)
((down to 24 hp... thanks in part to the fast healing))
Will: (1d20+10+4=25)
Quintus steps away again and casts Greater Mirror Image, as he is worried he won't be able to take another one of those attacks. This time he is successful and 3d4=9(-1 because max is 8) copies of Quintus appear.
Jackben
bitch I'm taking calls.
Code:
[URL="http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3992285/"]Will Save to Attack DC17: 1d20+11 → [6,11] = (17)[/URL]
Tarkus turns upon the nearest shadow, the one who moments before was the human ranger of his past. Although he can no longer make out the blurred figure before him, the choking coughs and frantic counterattack Val mounts against it are enough for him to attack with a sweeping strike.
Code:
[URL="http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3992287/"]Attack Roll: 1d20+21 → [11,21] = (32)[/URL]
[URL="http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3992291/"]Damage: 1d12+12 → [8,12] = (20)[/URL]ThLunarian
Member
((That's a glorious gif.
Figure 1 is dead.
Figure 2 is dead.
Figure 3 attempts to psychically attack Quintus but hits one of his images instead (randomly assigned the real Quintus to #3 on a d9 and rolled a 2). The image goes poof.
Figure 4 is dead.
Figure 5 psychically attacks Sarm (roll the Will Save please, since there's always the chance you'll roll a 1, which auto-fails any saving throw). DC 19; 27 full damage, 13 half.))
Val and Tarkus double-team "Valance", who groans and gurgles as the life seeps out of him. The piercing stare stays plastered to Val all the way until the disguise fades away, leaving only a lump of gray, featureless flesh for a moment, until it disintegrates into nothing.
The vampire-doppelganger of Suvne suffers a similar fate, as a scathing beam of light energy vaporizes it into oblivion.
The figure which had just taken on the appearance of Amriel now morphs into the dark, hulking beast that Sarm somehow recognizes as Evaneth. "Casting your own protege to the darkness," it says with a growling voice. "Perhaps it was fortunate that I left the party when I had a chance." For the first time, this creature actually seems to attack Sarm directly, sending a torrent of pure dark energy straight at him; he can feel it attempting to extinguish the light within...
Up ahead, the figure formerly known as Ridley now transforms into Theon - complete with the unhinged, maniacal disposition that Quintus last saw on him during the assault on Alydar. Appearing to abandon the tactic of shaming his quarry, he simply attempts to blast Quintus with raw, unfiltered magical energy...
...Only to be foiled, as suddenly there are a total of nine Quintuses standing in front of him. Unable to tell which is which, he blasts randomly, extinguishing one of the mirror images but leaving Quintus (along with the other seven copies) unharmed.
((Round 3, fight!))
Figure 1 is dead.
Figure 2 is dead.
Figure 3 attempts to psychically attack Quintus but hits one of his images instead (randomly assigned the real Quintus to #3 on a d9 and rolled a 2). The image goes poof.
Figure 4 is dead.
Figure 5 psychically attacks Sarm (roll the Will Save please, since there's always the chance you'll roll a 1, which auto-fails any saving throw). DC 19; 27 full damage, 13 half.))
Val and Tarkus double-team "Valance", who groans and gurgles as the life seeps out of him. The piercing stare stays plastered to Val all the way until the disguise fades away, leaving only a lump of gray, featureless flesh for a moment, until it disintegrates into nothing.
The vampire-doppelganger of Suvne suffers a similar fate, as a scathing beam of light energy vaporizes it into oblivion.
The figure which had just taken on the appearance of Amriel now morphs into the dark, hulking beast that Sarm somehow recognizes as Evaneth. "Casting your own protege to the darkness," it says with a growling voice. "Perhaps it was fortunate that I left the party when I had a chance." For the first time, this creature actually seems to attack Sarm directly, sending a torrent of pure dark energy straight at him; he can feel it attempting to extinguish the light within...
Up ahead, the figure formerly known as Ridley now transforms into Theon - complete with the unhinged, maniacal disposition that Quintus last saw on him during the assault on Alydar. Appearing to abandon the tactic of shaming his quarry, he simply attempts to blast Quintus with raw, unfiltered magical energy...
...Only to be foiled, as suddenly there are a total of nine Quintuses standing in front of him. Unable to tell which is which, he blasts randomly, extinguishing one of the mirror images but leaving Quintus (along with the other seven copies) unharmed.
((Round 3, fight!))
KittenMaster
Member
Rolls for both the defending Will Save and Sarm's upcoming attack: 1d20+15+4=33, 1d20+15+4=22
Sarm braces himself as he is challenged with dark energy blasting into him profusely, staggering his stance and making him feel increasingly empty inside.. He nearly falls back down again, but catches himself drunkenly due to his cling to consciousness.
((So I already rolled my will for attacking but before I decide which attack to use, did "Evaneth" walk in front of Sarm for the attack or were they projectiles?))
Sarm braces himself as he is challenged with dark energy blasting into him profusely, staggering his stance and making him feel increasingly empty inside.. He nearly falls back down again, but catches himself drunkenly due to his cling to consciousness.
((So I already rolled my will for attacking but before I decide which attack to use, did "Evaneth" walk in front of Sarm for the attack or were they projectiles?))
ThLunarian
Member
((It looked like a projectile, but mechanically-speaking it's just a ranged psychic attack, the same as all the rest. He is not adjacent to you; he's about as far away as you want him to be, since you moved away last turn))
KittenMaster
Member
Sarm looks up to the hulking beast that Evaneth has become, while barely able to stand at this point. He runs his gauntlet across his nose, glancing at the metal to notice it smeared with blood.
He finally says something to the dark figures tormenting him, and specifically to the one claiming to be Evaneth, "For you, I have a confession to make..." He then holds up his palm, "My god did not fully trust you."
Searing Light Attack Roll & Damage: 1d20+1=20, 5d8=14
He finally says something to the dark figures tormenting him, and specifically to the one claiming to be Evaneth, "For you, I have a confession to make..." He then holds up his palm, "My god did not fully trust you."
Searing Light Attack Roll & Damage: 1d20+1=20, 5d8=14
ThLunarian
Member
((Sorry, I forgot to address that. Val just sees the weird blurriness that I described for Tarkus earlier. The same goes for everyone who looks at a figure that's not currently engaged with them. These things are growing weaker now that they're getting culled))
KittenMaster
Member
((What's the status of the one I just blasted? Is it still a target the others need to consider or did it die?))
ThLunarian
Member
((These things have low HP, but not THAT low. The one that looks like Evaneth to you is still up
...and since this is on a new page, the one that Sarm just blasted is still alive, as is the one fighting Quintus))
...and since this is on a new page, the one that Sarm just blasted is still alive, as is the one fighting Quintus))