Post by TheUdjat on Sept 22, 2009 14:40:19 GMT -5
[Sorry again for the horrible delay everyone. Inspiration and incidence conspired against me, but I am determined to finish this epic. Thank you for bearing with me.]
SEA GREEN
The three entities are quiet as Sean speaks, and though there is no unusual noise to suggest it, the intensity of their attention is palpable, as if they were moving closer, circling the companions. The forest line gives no clue as to how many of the creatures lurk nearby, so well are they hidden.
“These ones are their enemies,” the deep-voiced one says with apparent understanding. “These ones promise to remove the speakers?”
“Remove the speakers!” the harsh voice echoes excitedly. “Make of the speakers ashes and dust, as the people have done!” The companions are again reminded of the desolate, charred clearing they have found themselves in.
The softer voice interrupts. “These ones talk of help and the weapon of fear, but these ones are so few. These ones do not understand the situation. These ones offer false hope.” The voice seems disappointed rather than accusatory, and its words spark a murmur of unrest and unhappiness that whispers through the trees, betraying the existence of far more than three creatures. Were there a breeze blowing, one could mistake the sound for the rustling of trees, but it is far too still for that.
The deep voice commands attention again. “The people will tell the story of how this has come to be. These five can judge that is possible and what is not, and the people will listen.”
Unsteady murmurs of assent pick up around the group, eerily mistakable as a prevalence of frogs croaking through the region. One of the creatures that has no been heard before then speaks up, voice high and reedy, but confident all the same. “The speakers came by boats, as few have ever done, and the people responded as always: fire and fury, arms and arrows, terror and tenacity; the people fought.”
“But the speakers brought others,” the raspy voice continues. “The wild thralls and the cold walkers. The speakers are theirs resisted in violence, until the one called More offered surrender and… tribute.”
The soft voice sighs. “So long it has been since the people saw tribute. But the people have a long memory, and they people miss the old days.”
“The speakers were permitted to give gifts,” the deep voice starts up again. “The people were pleased. But before the speakers left, the one called More had a final gift, but did not know which of the Callers to give it to. More proposed a contest.”
“Betrayal!” hisses the raspy one.
“Betrayal!” echo the others.
“When the last Caller stood, the speakers and the others struck, and the Callers were imprisoned but for the one. The people rose up to fight and destroy these speakers, but the Callers…”
There is a hissing sound, and the soft voice speaks. “The Callers must not be harmed. The speakers threaten the Callers, the fools. The world hangs precarious.”
“The people listen,” the deep voice says.
“Listen,” the others echo.
Deep continues. “There is no choice. The Callers cannot be harmed.”
“But the people are not idle,” adds the raspy one. “When the speakers and the others stray from the Sanctum, the people kill them and unmake them to ash.” The voice seems extremely satisfied with this.
“Only some few,” says the soft voice. “So many more of the thralls and speakers. So many that can be made into cold walkers. How can the people fight them? How can these five?”
The creatures fix their attention on the group, seeming to draw closer, though as of yet still unseen. “How?” they repeat insistently, hopefully.
(Character Status)
Ella – 67/77 HP; DR 3/- (4 blocked), Lifedrinking 12 (Lance)
Sean – 47/47 HP; Hide from Undead
Gro-bug – 79/100 HP, DR 1/-
Henrick – 73/78 HP
Natsumi – 51/52 HP, Freedom of Movement
Antyca – No damage [Absent]
Squeeks – No damage
DARK RED
Gildas-
Dean Fairchild thinks over what Gildas says, paying close attention to his plan.
When Lockheart and the temple are mentioned, the old cleric nods and grunts agreeably. “Yes, I think we could arrange that,” he says, and quiets to listen to the rest.
Fairchild nods as Gildas finishes. “Yes, that could work,” he says. “It would be impossible to act outright against them, but if we goad them into an attack on the temple, the will be a criminal act that the Council can use to banish them. That will surely cause them to lose their support there, if we can catch them in the act! But only… who to trust in the guard? I could go to Henrick with the matter if he were still here, but with him disgraced and missing…” He shakes his head. “I will figure things out. But I do believe this is a workable plan, gentlemen.”
“As for the curator,” he continues. “The man is a colleague, and I must respect his expertise with magic and artifacts, even if I find him personally distasteful. Your story isn’t hard to believe. He will do whatever it takes in the pursuit of knowledge and its preservation, as he sees it, even if he must engage in questionable acts to obtain what he needs. But he is, I believe, a decent man beneath it all. He is just brash and temperamental. He could be an annoyance, but my ranks trumps his if it comes down to it. I will take care of this silly banishment. I would not put it past him to hire thieves, however.”
He looks around the room. “If there is nothing else, then I will adjourn our meeting and spread the word to Aurost. Please be careful tonight. If you have any other needs for searching the university, let me know and I will make the proper notifications to give you access. Where do you need to go?”
[What would you like to do before the set-up tonight?]
Lenny-
[Lenny already snuck into the university, if it matters. He can still find a quick place to make up a disguise on the grounds if he wants to.]
With Hallen’s help, Lenny does more investigation around the university, but there still isn’t much to go on to find the bone—the museum was a bust, and the areas other artifacts are stored is inaccessible. There is still the campus graveyard, of course, and any of the other buildings—the dormitories, conservatory, magical labs, sparring grounds, and more. Hallen has no more idea where to go than Lenny does.
While searching, Hallen and Lenny also keep an eye out for those mysterious scholars, but they have long since disappeared, and must be doing business out of the open. It is anyone’s guess where the trio has gotten off to, or what they’ve left to accomplish.
Lenny does, however, note several entirely new Deathspeakers enter the university grounds. These ones are led by a man in a fancy set of armor with the spiked hook emblazoned on it, though he carries no weapons but for a dagger, as anybody entering the ground. Others are with him, several looking tough and battle-ready, and they heads almost immediately towards the Administrative Building, where most of the staff offices are located, moving with brisk, intent steps. There are perhaps a half dozen of them in all, but they don’t appear to notice Lenny.
Lenny also spies a figure catch up to them only a few steps later, speaking with large, excited gestures: the gnomish curator.
Tyrano, Norven-
(Die Rolls)
Despite grievous injuries from the large skeletons, Tyrano continues to hold his ground and fight, embracing the Tertian spirit of resistance. His attacks are sloppier than usual, but prove perfectly sufficient to hit the rather stupid and uncreative skeletons. They are struck soundly by his blows, one of them crumbling to pieces and another soundly smashed, the copper bone blasting pieces of its ribcage onto the street.
Norven hits the zombie with a barrage of vicious kicks and punches, and discovers rapidly that the undead monster is impressive resilient to his attacks. It doesn’t even slow the thing down—though it’d be difficult to make in any slower than it already is. The zombie makes a huge lumbering swipe of its club, powerful and wide, but easy enough for the monk to duck under. This fight could last a while at this rate.
Tyrano’s fight progresses much faster. The two remaining skeletons continue to blindly claw at him, though he is more prepared this time around, deflecting their attacks—except for one, which manages to score a cut across his shoulder. Not significant, but being already injured, the fatigue is beginning to mount.
The scholars look on, and looking to one another, seem to come to some kind of agreement. The two injured Deathspeakers break into an out and out run down the street to get away from the battle, while the last remains in place, watching the battle with dark, glittering eyes, his hands held ready, apparently to bring more magic to bear. His gaze falls hungrily on the copper bone in Tyrano’s hands.
(Combat Actions)
Initiative: Wystfalrun/Norven, Scholars/Undead
[If you can give me your general tactics for the next few rounds, I can try to power through this combat and get to the relevant parts. You can include contingencies like ‘if I get down to 5 HP, I’d like to run, otherwise…’ and so forth.]
(Character Status)
Gildas – 69/69 HP
Lenny – 61/61 HP
Wystfalrun – 21/62 HP, DR 3/-
Norven – 51/71 HP
Lockheart – No damage
Wanderer – 90/90 HP
Scholar 1 – 4 damage
Scholar 2 – 12 damage
Scholar 3 –
Skeleton 1 – 40 damage, destroyed
Skeleton 2 – 21 damage
Skeleton 3 –
Zombie Ogre – 9 damage
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SEA GREEN
The three entities are quiet as Sean speaks, and though there is no unusual noise to suggest it, the intensity of their attention is palpable, as if they were moving closer, circling the companions. The forest line gives no clue as to how many of the creatures lurk nearby, so well are they hidden.
“These ones are their enemies,” the deep-voiced one says with apparent understanding. “These ones promise to remove the speakers?”
“Remove the speakers!” the harsh voice echoes excitedly. “Make of the speakers ashes and dust, as the people have done!” The companions are again reminded of the desolate, charred clearing they have found themselves in.
The softer voice interrupts. “These ones talk of help and the weapon of fear, but these ones are so few. These ones do not understand the situation. These ones offer false hope.” The voice seems disappointed rather than accusatory, and its words spark a murmur of unrest and unhappiness that whispers through the trees, betraying the existence of far more than three creatures. Were there a breeze blowing, one could mistake the sound for the rustling of trees, but it is far too still for that.
The deep voice commands attention again. “The people will tell the story of how this has come to be. These five can judge that is possible and what is not, and the people will listen.”
Unsteady murmurs of assent pick up around the group, eerily mistakable as a prevalence of frogs croaking through the region. One of the creatures that has no been heard before then speaks up, voice high and reedy, but confident all the same. “The speakers came by boats, as few have ever done, and the people responded as always: fire and fury, arms and arrows, terror and tenacity; the people fought.”
“But the speakers brought others,” the raspy voice continues. “The wild thralls and the cold walkers. The speakers are theirs resisted in violence, until the one called More offered surrender and… tribute.”
The soft voice sighs. “So long it has been since the people saw tribute. But the people have a long memory, and they people miss the old days.”
“The speakers were permitted to give gifts,” the deep voice starts up again. “The people were pleased. But before the speakers left, the one called More had a final gift, but did not know which of the Callers to give it to. More proposed a contest.”
“Betrayal!” hisses the raspy one.
“Betrayal!” echo the others.
“When the last Caller stood, the speakers and the others struck, and the Callers were imprisoned but for the one. The people rose up to fight and destroy these speakers, but the Callers…”
There is a hissing sound, and the soft voice speaks. “The Callers must not be harmed. The speakers threaten the Callers, the fools. The world hangs precarious.”
“The people listen,” the deep voice says.
“Listen,” the others echo.
Deep continues. “There is no choice. The Callers cannot be harmed.”
“But the people are not idle,” adds the raspy one. “When the speakers and the others stray from the Sanctum, the people kill them and unmake them to ash.” The voice seems extremely satisfied with this.
“Only some few,” says the soft voice. “So many more of the thralls and speakers. So many that can be made into cold walkers. How can the people fight them? How can these five?”
The creatures fix their attention on the group, seeming to draw closer, though as of yet still unseen. “How?” they repeat insistently, hopefully.
(Character Status)
Ella – 67/77 HP; DR 3/- (4 blocked), Lifedrinking 12 (Lance)
Sean – 47/47 HP; Hide from Undead
Gro-bug – 79/100 HP, DR 1/-
Henrick – 73/78 HP
Natsumi – 51/52 HP, Freedom of Movement
Antyca – No damage [Absent]
Squeeks – No damage
DARK RED
Gildas-
Dean Fairchild thinks over what Gildas says, paying close attention to his plan.
When Lockheart and the temple are mentioned, the old cleric nods and grunts agreeably. “Yes, I think we could arrange that,” he says, and quiets to listen to the rest.
Fairchild nods as Gildas finishes. “Yes, that could work,” he says. “It would be impossible to act outright against them, but if we goad them into an attack on the temple, the will be a criminal act that the Council can use to banish them. That will surely cause them to lose their support there, if we can catch them in the act! But only… who to trust in the guard? I could go to Henrick with the matter if he were still here, but with him disgraced and missing…” He shakes his head. “I will figure things out. But I do believe this is a workable plan, gentlemen.”
“As for the curator,” he continues. “The man is a colleague, and I must respect his expertise with magic and artifacts, even if I find him personally distasteful. Your story isn’t hard to believe. He will do whatever it takes in the pursuit of knowledge and its preservation, as he sees it, even if he must engage in questionable acts to obtain what he needs. But he is, I believe, a decent man beneath it all. He is just brash and temperamental. He could be an annoyance, but my ranks trumps his if it comes down to it. I will take care of this silly banishment. I would not put it past him to hire thieves, however.”
He looks around the room. “If there is nothing else, then I will adjourn our meeting and spread the word to Aurost. Please be careful tonight. If you have any other needs for searching the university, let me know and I will make the proper notifications to give you access. Where do you need to go?”
[What would you like to do before the set-up tonight?]
Lenny-
[Lenny already snuck into the university, if it matters. He can still find a quick place to make up a disguise on the grounds if he wants to.]
With Hallen’s help, Lenny does more investigation around the university, but there still isn’t much to go on to find the bone—the museum was a bust, and the areas other artifacts are stored is inaccessible. There is still the campus graveyard, of course, and any of the other buildings—the dormitories, conservatory, magical labs, sparring grounds, and more. Hallen has no more idea where to go than Lenny does.
While searching, Hallen and Lenny also keep an eye out for those mysterious scholars, but they have long since disappeared, and must be doing business out of the open. It is anyone’s guess where the trio has gotten off to, or what they’ve left to accomplish.
Lenny does, however, note several entirely new Deathspeakers enter the university grounds. These ones are led by a man in a fancy set of armor with the spiked hook emblazoned on it, though he carries no weapons but for a dagger, as anybody entering the ground. Others are with him, several looking tough and battle-ready, and they heads almost immediately towards the Administrative Building, where most of the staff offices are located, moving with brisk, intent steps. There are perhaps a half dozen of them in all, but they don’t appear to notice Lenny.
Lenny also spies a figure catch up to them only a few steps later, speaking with large, excited gestures: the gnomish curator.
Tyrano, Norven-
(Die Rolls)
[Ryngo- the trouble with the dice is that the random numbers are generated in a specific order, and if you go back and insert new die rolls, it uses the random value generated for the die that used to be in place. So, for instance, if you’ve rolled:
D20: 6
D20: 14
D20: 20
And then add in a d10, it could become:
D20: 6
D20: 14
D10: 10
D20: 5
Completely ruining the crit. I hope that clears things up.
I’ll use your stated values this time around, but in the future it’s probably best to just roll attack, damage, attack, damage, etc. I’ll determine if it hits or not and just ignore damage values that don’t matter.
I’m also having some trouble figuring out Tyrano’s damage totals. What’s the damage on his various weapons? I have his bastard sword at something like 1d10+4 (1d10+8 with the bone), while the bone in his offhand should be more like 1d6+3 (1/2 Str), but you’ve got 1d6+11 listed. What am I missing?]
D20: 6
D20: 14
D20: 20
And then add in a d10, it could become:
D20: 6
D20: 14
D10: 10
D20: 5
Completely ruining the crit. I hope that clears things up.
I’ll use your stated values this time around, but in the future it’s probably best to just roll attack, damage, attack, damage, etc. I’ll determine if it hits or not and just ignore damage values that don’t matter.
I’m also having some trouble figuring out Tyrano’s damage totals. What’s the damage on his various weapons? I have his bastard sword at something like 1d10+4 (1d10+8 with the bone), while the bone in his offhand should be more like 1d6+3 (1/2 Str), but you’ve got 1d6+11 listed. What am I missing?]
Despite grievous injuries from the large skeletons, Tyrano continues to hold his ground and fight, embracing the Tertian spirit of resistance. His attacks are sloppier than usual, but prove perfectly sufficient to hit the rather stupid and uncreative skeletons. They are struck soundly by his blows, one of them crumbling to pieces and another soundly smashed, the copper bone blasting pieces of its ribcage onto the street.
Norven hits the zombie with a barrage of vicious kicks and punches, and discovers rapidly that the undead monster is impressive resilient to his attacks. It doesn’t even slow the thing down—though it’d be difficult to make in any slower than it already is. The zombie makes a huge lumbering swipe of its club, powerful and wide, but easy enough for the monk to duck under. This fight could last a while at this rate.
Tyrano’s fight progresses much faster. The two remaining skeletons continue to blindly claw at him, though he is more prepared this time around, deflecting their attacks—except for one, which manages to score a cut across his shoulder. Not significant, but being already injured, the fatigue is beginning to mount.
The scholars look on, and looking to one another, seem to come to some kind of agreement. The two injured Deathspeakers break into an out and out run down the street to get away from the battle, while the last remains in place, watching the battle with dark, glittering eyes, his hands held ready, apparently to bring more magic to bear. His gaze falls hungrily on the copper bone in Tyrano’s hands.
(Combat Actions)
- Tyrano holds his ground, Red-style. Attacks: 16, 15, 30, 13, 4; 4 hits (they’re very easy targets). Two attacks from Enix @ 1d10+8: 17, 11; these become 12 and 6 after DR. Two hits from the bone @ 1d6+3 (1/2 of 24 Str): 6 (as rolled) and 9, 15 total (no DR). 12 damage kills Skeleton 1, the rest is applied to Skeleton 2.
- Norven attacks the Zombie Ogre with a flurry of blows: 16, 22, 20; all hit. 9, 10, and 3 damage, reduced to 4, 5, and 0 through DR. Ogre takes 9 total damage.
- The two injured Deathspeakers make a run for it, easily fleeing out of range. One remains, holding his action (Delay).
- Zombie Ogre attacks Norven. Vs. AC 25: 23, miss.
- Skeletons 2 and 3 attack Tyrano. Vs. AC 19: 8, 22, 8, 9; one hit. 7 damage; 4 after DR.
- Team Red’s Initiative.
Initiative: Wystfalrun/Norven, Scholars/Undead
[If you can give me your general tactics for the next few rounds, I can try to power through this combat and get to the relevant parts. You can include contingencies like ‘if I get down to 5 HP, I’d like to run, otherwise…’ and so forth.]
(Character Status)
Gildas – 69/69 HP
Lenny – 61/61 HP
Wystfalrun – 21/62 HP, DR 3/-
Norven – 51/71 HP
Lockheart – No damage
Wanderer – 90/90 HP
Scholar 1 – 4 damage
Scholar 2 – 12 damage
Scholar 3 –
Skeleton 2 – 21 damage
Skeleton 3 –
Zombie Ogre – 9 damage
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