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Dina If there were shadow plane issues occurring, Dina knew something that could help with that. She infuses her robes with light, making the area as bright as day as she moves forward into the room. Using my at-will Daylight on my robes then moving up around the pillar to the NW. Piell fucked around with this message at 14:32 on May 16, 2014 |
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May 16, 2014 08:53
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Temple of Mystra, Middle/Inner Temple - Day In the aftermath of the brilliant illumination now filling the temple, several things things both become clear, and at the same time incredibly confusing. Especially for the guards who can see what's going on. "What in blazes is that bright... Aha! There you are, you thie... wait, who the hell are you!?" They seem to be unsure what exactly is going on, and are readying their swords at all of you. The two escorting the petitioners are also pretty confused about all the noise from the inner area, but that only urges them to get you all into the room quickly. With the now exposed shadowy guards, they seem shocked as well, before anger takes its place.   Two guards are revealed, though none of you on the lower map are in a place to see them currently. Initiative: Anciano 29 <---------------- Ishmael 26 Ivan 25 Marcon 20 Barkley 20 Shadow Guards(Group East)[Damage: ??/??, 23/??] 18 Shadow Guards(Group West)[Damage: 21/??, ??/??] 16 Xerxes 15 Guards 8 Dina 7 Quornes: I moved you along with the petitioners since you said you were blending in. If you didn't want to move from your previous spot for whatever reason, let me know and I'll change it.
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May 19, 2014 04:26
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Ishmael "Don't point your swords at me! I'm not even armed! I'm not going to be backed into a corner at sword-point! I paid to be here the same as everyone else." Ishmael will double-move to AD-24.
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May 20, 2014 19:51
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Barkley He found himself a little bit shocked when the daylight spell began to fill the corridors of the temple, and he wasn't entirely sure what surprised him more: that the paladin of Mystra was powerful enough to produce that kind of effect, or that she had the level of training and presence of mind necessary to recognize it as the tactical solution to the threat of shadow-infused creatures in less time than it took to blink an eye. He idly wondered if she wasn't significantly more experienced than she had previously let on, or if there were some other secret powering her divine casting in this case. Either way, he supposed, it would have to be a mystery for a later time. Surveying the area now that it had been thoroughly washed in daylight, he smirked as he saw one of the shadow guards looking rather annoyed in the main hall of the temple, as he had no doubt thought himself rather clever for leaving the secure inner area when the guards began to pour in. That smirk turned to an incredulous frown when he noticed his comrade continuing to play the fool rather than putting a fist through the head of the shadow guard in that general vicinity, although given that the expression was hidden behind his mask and a little over fifty feet away, he doubted anyone would notice. That frown continued to deepen when he realized the rather precarious position he had just been placed in, however. The confusion of the guards that had rushed into the inner area confirmed what he had previously been mostly certain of already, being that they weren't aware of the apparently unadvertised hobbies of the priests of this temple. Luckily, at least some of the contingent of shadow guards had been revealed by Dina's light, but they hadn't done anything overtly hostile as of yet: if he were to be the one to draw first blood now that the guards were watching, their reflexes and instincts would likely cause them to attack him first, and then sort out the mess with the shadow guards. Glancing first to his left, and then to his right, he began to formulate a plan that didn't involve getting simultaneously skewered by six regular men and four dark ones. The pillars on either side of him likely provided cover against any ranged assaults that the missing shadow guards might attempt, and the altar to the west would likely do the same if the one off in the distance were to level his bow at him. Similarly, although not as effective as a pillar, the guardsmen to the north and south of his position would provide soft cover from either of those directions in their current positions, which in aggregate meant that he wasn't in any significant danger from the longbows of the shadow guards even if they did choose to reveal themselves in order to attempt to strike at him. He figured it'd be fifty-fifty odds at best as to whether the four normal guardsmen in range of him were going to charge his position in the next few moments, though, which he suspected would prove to be a bit of a headache. He desperately wanted to goad them into searching for the missing shadow guardsmen, but at the same time, he also knew that doing so would very likely be putting their lives at risk. If they were to engage him, he could control the narrative more readily, and prevent them from suffering any grievous injury, but if he were to try to alert them to the presence of the other guards they might go searching for them, and find themselves skewered in the back when a hidden shadow guard found an opportunity to end someone who just recently found out more about the temple than their pay grade allowed. Which meant, unfortunately, that he needed to goad these four guards into assaulting him in order to take them out of play safely - which he did expertly, leveling his polearm to the four human guardsmen while announcing, "Sorry kids, adult supervision has arrived. Why don't you go back to your room and wait for this to sort itself out?" pre:Power attack: -4/+8
Swift action: Switch to Leaping Dragon stance.
Standard action: Ready an action to execute a total defense, if the guards are about to execute an attack on me.
At that time I will also take a 5' step behind the altar if it provides cover.
Combat reflexes: If the guards rush me, I will use my attacks of opportunity to sunder their weapons at 10' range.
Free action: Speaking. (Diplomacy roll of -9.)Waador fucked around with this message at 01:02 on May 22, 2014 |
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May 20, 2014 22:47
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 Marcon bel Tern"I did not join the temple to be locked away when there is a danger to the goddess or her followers!" declares Marcon bombastically (and truthfully) as he puts on his average sized pack and pulls out a bow from the pack. The bow is six feet tall even through it is already strung, perhaps seven and a half unstrung and is composed of some kind of highly polished yellowish ivory colored material. Move action to put on Handy Haversack. Move action to retrieve bow from pack.
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May 21, 2014 00:11
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Anciano Once inside the common room, Anciano immediately moves to his chest and takes out his armor and gloves. He puts them on while the other petitioners and Marcon join him within. As he dons his armor, he silently curses a certain Skulk for causing the very fight this convoluted plan had been enacted to avoid. "Honestly," he thought, "we could have just done this from the start, then we wouldn't need to waste all this time digging out our belongings, and he wouldn't be in such a dangerous predicament." Returning to the current situation, Anciano adds his voice to Marcon's. "I certainly won't just sit around while danger looms. We'll help deal with any threats to our safety in this temple."
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May 21, 2014 14:44
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Ivan Ivan continues to stay in character, and stays back with the other commoners as the other group members speak up.
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May 22, 2014 22:56
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Temple of Mystra, Middle/Inner Temple - Day The guards seem almost relieved to see Ishmael wander back into the main temple. They'd tried to get him to a safe location, and if he wanted to ignore them and go back into an area with cloaking weirdos, he was perfectly welcome to. Besides, who would their superiors believe is something did accidentally happen to him? The deranged robot, or their picked guards? They don't hear Anciano or Marcon's comments though, given they're on the other side of a wall and past a loud talking crowd, giving the two of them free reign to start pulling gear on. Meanwhile, Ishmael's destination gives him a full view of a currently exposed shadowy guard in the middle temple, if only for a moment. The guard, now out of the daylight spell, fades away once again. This time though, Xerxes can feel a new presence lurking where before there was none. In the upper portion, the other shadowy guard shifts back further into the shadows of the alcove to get out of the daylight effect.   Both vanish again. However, Ryuujin can feel a previously unknown presence in AI 24. Initiative: Ishmael 26 Ivan 25 Marcon 20 Barkley 20 Shadow Guards(Group East)[Damage: ??/??, 23/??] 18 Shadow Guards(Group West)[Damage: 21/??, ??/??] 16 Xerxes 15 <---------------- Guards 8 Dina 7
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May 30, 2014 01:18
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 Xerxes of the BreathXerxes continues his, hopefully hidden and silent, progress. Flying around the corner, and trying to stay out of reach of any human sized people. He can't actually see whoever is hiding, but he can sense them. And it does not seem to be one of his allies, and it is all kinds of suspicious. So he opens his mouth, sad that he will be revealing his presence, and unleashes a tremendous blast. Not of fire, or cold, but of a slowing gas. Except he does not breath it out in a line or a cone, instead he creates a not quite solid wall of the gas. The gas seems to ignite somewhat. Whoever is hidden nearby is going to be unhappy. Fly to AJ 22, trying to stay high enough to avoid any AoO as I pass around that corner. Use Slow Breath, Exhaled Barrier, and if possible Entangling Exhalation at AI 22-23 2d6 7 Fire damage, half if Entangling Exhalation is allowed, half damage with a successful DC 17 Reflex Save. Slowed for 2 rounds, or 1 round if make a successful DC 17 Fortitude Save. Wall lasts for 1d4 4 rounds. If Entangling Exhalation is allowed they are Entangled, and take 1d6 fire damage, for 1d4 4 rounds. Anyone entering the wall, or staying in it, would need to make those saves again, and continue taking the 2d6 fire damage. Ryuujin fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Jul 19, 2014 |
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May 30, 2014 04:30
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Dina The shadow guards attempted to hide from her light. Well, Dina knew what to do about that. Cast at-will Daylight on the floor, move to the alcove to the reveal the shadow guard
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Jun 2, 2014 14:33
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Temple of Mystra, Middle/Inner Temple - Day Making a strafing run across the area he can tell someone is hiding in, Xerxes can't actually tell if anything happened to them, but can at least be pleased that someone is currently standing in the wall he's set up. Meanwhile, in the inner temple area, Dina lights up where she's currently standing, before moving near to one of the shadowy guards trying to stay hidden. Unsurprisingly, he seems quite annoyed about this, though he can't get a fix on her due to invisibility. The guards, on the other hand, seem to be stressed out, though going about the duties they've set for themselves. The two guarding the petitioners finish ushering them into their quarters before closing the door and taking up guard outside it. Those by the upper doors seem hesitant on what to do, given that they've seen one person appear and then vanish in the middle area, followed by a miniature dragon breathing fire into a random area of the temple. Still, they seem to be cautiously advancing in that direction, perhaps also planning on dealing with the crazy person standing near there at the same time. Those who have it the hardest, though, are the two in the inner area. Confronted by not one, but two suddenly appearing people, one of whom was threatening them and the other who immediately vanished again, mysteriously appearing brightly lit areas, and large amounts of shouting from the middle area, they try and deal with both things at once. The leftmost one moves to look into the alcove, while the other cautiously approaches Barkley. "Look, just put your weapon down and surrender."   Initiative: Anciano 29 <---------------- Ishmael 26 Ivan 25 Marcon 20 Barkley 20 Shadow Guards(Group East)[Damage: ??/??, 23/??] 18 Shadow Guards(Group West)[Damage: 21/??, ??/??] 16 Xerxes 15 Guards 8 Dina 7
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Jun 5, 2014 07:42
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Anciano Once finished equipping himself, Anciano turns to Marcon. "Well, neither of us are exactly ideal choices for taking point, but if I were to venture a guess, I'd say you're more suited to it than I. Given that the others have decided to act individually, we're left to our own best judgement." He didn't try to hide the annoyance in his voice, he'd expected as much from Barkley or Xerxes, but to see the paladins rushing ahead with no thought spared towards coordinating the group was a little disappointing. "So, how do you want to handle things from this point onwards?" (Holding action so Marcon can decide how he wants to play this situation. Figure Anciano's not remotely sturdy enough to be taking point in any potential combats.)
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Jun 5, 2014 18:51
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Marcon bel Tern "I'm really not sure what to do with the door closed. I don't want to fight the regular guards, it seems like they aren't in on the evil plot. Can you get through the walls somehow?" responds Marcon as he retrieves his buckler and straps it in place. How did you get your armor on so fast ET? http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/armor.htm#gettingIntoAndOutOfArmor 5 rounds minimum, it looks like to me. Move action: Retrieve buckler from haversack. Move action: Don buckler.
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Jun 5, 2014 23:12
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Anciano (Hey, if you want to sit here another four rounds, that's fine with me, I was leaving the issue open so that, if LordKoth felt like accelerating the Don Armor process for the sake of getting everyone into the action swiftly, he could. I'm fine either way.) Anciano shrugs. "Sorry, I don't have anything like that, even my most subtle abilities at least require me to see my target. That said, I've a sleeping spell prepared, if you'd like to take your chances on that."
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Jun 6, 2014 10:39
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Barkley Blinking twice in an attempt to bat away his disbelief, Barkley watched as three of the guards wandered off in random directions. They had been given a perfect opportunity to charge him all at once, and hadn't acted upon it: admittedly, it was a trap to begin with, so they probably made a good call, but it didn't seem that they were aware of it. He snapped back to attention as the sole remaining guard in his general area started giving him orders to surrender. Narrowing his eyes and fixing his gaze upon him, he suggested, "Good idea." With that, he sprung off of the altar in a rush towards the guard, maneuvering his polearm into position for an incredibly weighty left-to-right arcing strike. As the pendulum swing began to close upon his target, it would have been very obvious to the guard that the blow was both easily capable of slicing him cleanly in half, and all but guaranteed to expertly bypass any defense he could muster. Barkley had been waiting for it, and only at that precise moment of alarm, when he saw the recognition of the risk of death in the guard's eyes, did he finally and subtly change the angle of his stroke to instead land a ruinous blow to the center of the blade held in the guard's hand, forcing it to the ground with a resounding clang. As it struck the stone floor, the skulk watched as the force of his blow caused it to buckle and shatter into a hundred different pieces, until all the guard was left holding was a rather less-than-threatening looking hilt. Angling his head slightly in order to mimic the body language of the raised eyebrow that was otherwise hidden behind his mask, he continued the conversation with the guard, "Now that the difference in our skill level is clearer, and you've had the good sense to put your weapon down - feel free to surrender. I don't have any interest in hurting you or your fellow guardsmen." Having given his quarter, Barkley then executed a backwards somersault, leaping through the air well out of the range of the now-disarmed guard, and landing nearly thirty feet away in a roll as he ducked behind the pillar and out of sight of the man whose weapon he had just laid to waste. Although he couldn't see around the corner of the wall, by the look on the face of the nearby guard who was staring down the alcove, it seemed likely a shadow guard was in that area. Calling out to him, as well as to Dina who was obviously in the general area, he explained, "There are three more of them up here, by the way." pre:Power attack: -4 / +8
Full-round: Charge to S24, attempting to sunder the guard's weapon.
Sunder (1) - Attack of opportunity triggered but appears to be denied due to reach.
(2) - Attack roll: 32 (opposed roll required).
(3) - Damage: 20 (if successful).
Swift: Sudden leap (Jump 23), moving to T19.
(Leaping Dragon is active, for movement up to 33').Waador fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Jun 7, 2014 |
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Jun 7, 2014 21:43
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Ishmael Ishmael will run to AI-25 and blindly punch at AI-24, hoping to hit the shadow-guy who faded from view. Punch: 1d20+8 25 Damage if I hit: 1d8+1 2
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Jun 8, 2014 06:22
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Temple of Mystra, Middle/Inner Temple - Day With a shouted cry of "Nightshade!" from the shadowy guard trapped by Dina and a regular guard, the temple explodes in movement. In the upper section, the two normal guards quickly find themselves with gaping chest wounds even as two shadowy ones move to engage Dina and Barkley. With Dina snatching up one of the fallen guard's swords, a quick flurry of combat erupts, and swiftly ends. With one dark figure dead and the other unconscious, Dina and Barkley find themselves victorious, though a vicious blow from one of them had left Barkley with a very nasty gash on his side. Even as he recovers from the blow, the two of them quickly stabilize the bleeding guards. In the middle area, even as the regular guards regrouped by the petitioners' quarters, two other shadowy guards appear and engage Xerxes and Ishmael. The miniature dragon's breath makes all the difference, as the fiery exhalations, combined with mystical detriments contained within, soon wear them down. Though it takes longer, and he also finds himself a bit scorched, Ishmael finally lands a blow and drops the second one. Even as this goes on, Anciano and Marcon finish armoring themselves before rushing to the door. Deciding they might as well try the door, they find it unlocked and quickly rush out, only to find the battle just finishing. In the aftermath, the group finds themselves gathered back in the center of the common area, discussing what to do. There's currently one unconscious shadowy guard with handcuffs on, as well as two unconscious regular guards. Four other guards are congregated together nearby, watching them somewhat suspiciously. Current area  So, in the interest in regrouping the party from like three separate places, as well as to not spend the next 10 rounds of combat slowly hunting down invisible guards, I finished this battle in IRC with those party members in the main area. Barkley took a crit for 15, and Ishmael took several hits, including some fire breath, knocking him down to 24 total. You currently have a pack of guards somewhat suspicious of you, but not overtly hostile, as well as 3 unconscious ones, of whom one is both shadowy and shackled. Loot: 4 Longswords, 4 Longbows, 4 suits of Scale Mail, 2 potions easily identifiable as Potions of Cure Light Wounds(you also find empty vials on two of them). Question: How do you want me to do XP? I can do it by the encounter, or invisibly keep track of it, and dispense it when you've reached a leveling point. I have no real preference so what would you prefer? Lord Koth fucked around with this message at 07:56 on Jun 19, 2014 |
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Jun 19, 2014 06:36
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Marcon bel Tern Tut-tutting quietly to himself, Marcon moves to Ishmael's side and begins patching the warforged's damage. Healing Ishmael for 13 hp with Repair Light Damage. (10:57:48 PM) Bouquet: !r d8+5 (10:57:49 PM) Krysmbot: Bouquet, 8+5 = 13 4/5 level 1 infusions remaining
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Jun 19, 2014 07:00
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Dina Dina cast Detect Evil, looking over the shadow guards and the regular guards. As she suspected, the shadow guards were evil, and those regular ones were not. "Greetings, fellow Mystrans!" Dina says as she approaches the guards. "I apologize for the necessity of the ruse, but we did not know how far the rot had spread. I am a paladin of Mystra, and I was sent here to investigate this temple. It seems that a true cleric of Mystra visited this temple a short while ago and found a number of strange goings-on, and was concerned it may be some kind of trick or trap. I myself thought the teachings were strange and possibly heretical, and from what you've seen of these shadowy guards, and the fact they they have attacked you, it seems he was correct. Tell me, who is in charge of this false temple?" Diplomacy result of 30
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Jun 19, 2014 07:14
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Ivan Ivan still refuses to break character, just in case something happens. Internally though he's fuming at his group members and wondering what happened to infiltrating the damm place.
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Jun 19, 2014 07:49
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Temple of Mystra, Middle/Inner Temple - Day Quickly put at ease by her pleasant demeanor, as well as the fact that their two compatriots seem to still be alive, the guards approach much less warily this time. "Well, I reckon it's possible they just snuck in at some point, but if you're looking for who's in charge, that would be Lady Arthas, though we haven't met her. Starweaver Fembrys is in charge of this area, and you met him last night. In fact... wait. Is that..., Valeth? By the Hells, what's with his skin?" You notice that they're looking at the guard you've shackled and seem like they know him, and yet are completely confused.
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Jun 19, 2014 08:04
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Barkley After thoroughly savaging the remaining shadow guards back-to-back with Dina in the inner area of the temple, and then rushing to the aid of the fallen human guardsmen to patch up their wounds before the blood loss became fatal, Barkley finally took a moment to assess his own wounds. The shadow guardsmen had been more effective fighters than he had initially anticipated, though he couldn't tell whether it was due to skill or just a few lucky blows. He made a note to bandage his own wounds before kicking down any more doors. He waited for Dina to calm the guards down before approaching the group at large, and their reaction didn't surprise him at all: as he had suspected, the temple was slowly upgrading its guardsmen, first promoting them from outer courtyard duty to inner temple duty, and then taking them deeper into the temple where some kind of transmutation ritual was somehow being conducted. Approaching his fellow party members with arms wide open in apology, he began to explain as succinctly as he could. "I apologize for that little slice of chaos. This should have gone a lot smoother." Jerking a thumb towards the knocked-out shadow guard, he explained, "I have no idea how this temple accomplished the feat, but those guardsmen who attacked us have been partially fused with the essence of the plane of shadow. Such a transformation would very quickly warp their minds, and it would not surprise me at all if every one of them quickly changed from decent human beings to monstrous reflections of their former selves." He shrugged, skirting around the issue of how he was so familiar with their state, continuing, "That transformation, among other things, allows them to hide in plain sight, which is what complicated my original intent of just ignoring everyone on guard duty." He continued, "Mind you, I was prepared for defenses like that. The unexpected surprise is that someone has also trained them in the advanced arts of nondetection. They were quite adept at shielding themselves from uncommon senses, such as scent, or the presence of tremors in the ground. I'd imagine they were even effectively invisible to our otherwise mighty and all-seeing dragon.", he remarked with a nod to Xerxes. Turning to Dina, he clapped her on the back, saying in a congratulatory tone, "As you determined, though, their abilities fail in the range of a daylight spell, as well as the true light of day. If we cast such a spell on our weapons or armor going forward, they will be unable to leverage their main tactical advantage." Glancing at the regular human guardsmen, he indicated, "It would also appear that their instructions were to apply a scorched earth policy if any of the petitioners - or even the regular human guardsmen - were to detect their presence. It's good to see nobody was mortally wounded by that unexpected betrayal." Addressing his party members again, he explained, "All of that adds up to what we were asked to confirm, though: there is zero chance that the people in charge of this temple truly worship Mystra. Arrogantly fusing men with the essence of the plane of shadow is almost certainly not on the approved list of Mystran recreational activities, and leaving standing orders of 'murder loving everybody' if they get spotted doesn't seem likely to be an order from the clergy of the goddess of magic, either." He idly thinks on the subject for a few moments, but leaves the group to draw its own conclusions, "There are any number of faiths - or organizations powerful enough to emulate one - that operate in this region who could be behind it. What strikes me as odd, though, is how incredibly short-sighted this plan was. They were virtually guaranteed to be found out eventually, which suggests that they are operating on a timetable measured in months, rather than years or decades. Whatever is going on here, I can't imagine they were playing the long game: they're up to something relatively imminent, I'm certain of it. I suspect it would be wise to find out what that something is." Looking to Anciano, he then suggested, "On the bright side, I've got a present for you. There's a secret compartment located in the back of the altar in the inner temple. I could likely just rip it open with brute force, but that might risk damaging whatever is hidden inside. It might provide some kind of clue as to who their true patron is, or perhaps illuminate their real motivations a little more clearly, at least. Do you think you can open it up? I'll show you where the access point seems to be." Finally, sparing a glance at Dina as well as Ishmael, he inquired, "Incidentally, do we happen to have any source of healing readily available? Happy to compensate you, as I've been impaled three times in the past thirty seconds or so." pre:HP: 35 / 68 Waador fucked around with this message at 14:14 on Jun 19, 2014 |
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Jun 19, 2014 08:51
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Xerxes of the Breath Xerxes continues to pretend to be nothing more than a pet or familiar, flying about and occasionally landing on someone's shoulder. In doing so he makes certain to land on each of his teammates shoulder at one point or another, placing his protection upon them as he appears to nuzzle their hair, or wooden head, giving them a resistance to harsh conditions, but more importantly immunity to his breath weapon for twenty four hours. To keep it from being too obvious he lands on the shoulders of a few of the guards as well. Hey who knows maybe they will give him a scrap of meat or something. Ryuujin fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Jul 19, 2014 |
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Jun 20, 2014 05:46
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Marcon bel Tern The worst of Ishmael's injuries patched up, Marcon moves on to Barkley. "If you're going to pull stunts like that often, you really ought to get one of these of your own," the craftsman murmurs, gesturing at his belt and placing a hand briefly on the warrior's shoulder. Using one Healing Belt charge on Barkley to heal 10 HP. 2/3 Healing Belt charges remaining.
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Jun 20, 2014 07:14
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Barkley He nods appreciatively while simultaneously rubbing his shoulder as the flesh knits itself back together, responding, "You may be right. I don't suppose you know a local supplier?" He shrugs, admitting, "Normally if things get dire I just slip away and wait to heal naturally. It's not particularly quick, but it's efficient. Not the best plan when the lives of others hang in the balance, though." Staring at the remaining signs of the wound, he ponders aloud, "I hope I don't get lockjaw again." pre:Full-round action to use adaptive style.
Maneuvers readied: Iron Heart Surge / Sudden Leap
Emerald Razor / Steel Wind
Then, use Iron Heart Surge to purge tetanus, just in case.
HP: 45 / 68Waador fucked around with this message at 07:45 on Jun 20, 2014 |
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Jun 20, 2014 07:42
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Anciano Anciano cocks an eyebrow, "A sneak who can't pick locks? And I thought I'd seen everything. Well, let me take a look at it." Kneeling to where Barkley indicates, he begins by ensuring no traps are around the hidden compartment. He checks using a few techniques he'd learned from a cat burglar in Waterdeep, apparently hidden compartments near church altars are common enough that there are entire books on the subject, but Anciano's meager knowledge may prove useful. (24 on a Search check, I'm using Cunning Knowledge to boost Search in this instance.)
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Jun 26, 2014 09:59
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Barkley As they head over to the altar, he shrugs while admitting quietly to Anciano, "I'm really more a break-and-enter kind of sneak, rather than a lockpicks-and-tweezers guy. If it involves cutting open an adamantine cage, that's my niche." As they walk, he takes the time to return Anciano's equipment, thanking him for the use, "Nice hook, by the way. May have to get one of those for myself." pre:Returning Anciano's enchanted grappling hook, corner-peering spyglass, and the other gear provided. Waador fucked around with this message at 23:09 on Jun 26, 2014 |
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Jun 26, 2014 21:04
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Temple of Mystra, /Inner Temple - Day Anciano does not see any traps on the compartment.
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Jun 26, 2014 23:19
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Anciano Anciano readied his lockpick, pausing only to caution Barkley. "You may wish to stand back. I did not find any traps, but best to be careful nonetheless." Anciano had picked up more than tips on trapfinding from his thief friend, he'd also borrowed some manuals on lock design, and this particular lock was familiar to him as a result. (Got a 33 on Open Lock, using Cunning Knowledge for that, too. And if the contents would warrant a Knowledge Arcana or Religion roll, here's a 26 for that, also using Cunning Knowledge, but if it's stuff that doesn't require that, disregard. Just thought I'd save some time and roll it now.)
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Jun 28, 2014 01:06
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Temple of Mystra, Inner Temple - Day With a deft twist of his lockpick, Anciano opens the reasonably complicated lock. Wincing in anticipation a possible missed trap, he instead finds the little door simply swing down, revealing a velvet-lined compartment. Reaching inside, he finds a surprisingly heavy sphere. Pulling it out, he sets it on top of the altar to get a better look at it in the light. A crystal sphere about the size of a grapefruit, it is pitch dark in the center, but Anciano can see tiny lights, like stars, twinkling around the periphery of the darkness. Realizing he's likely holding a magical item of some sort, a quick retrieval of Marcon and a casting of detect magic later leaves the party with an unidentifiable magic ball, that seems to be radiating a moderate aura of magic, school unknown. Still not sure entirely what it is, Anciano gives it a bit of thought. Though his knowledge is hardly complete, and huge amounts of it is likely centuries out of date regardless, he's certainly never heard of a sacred object of Mystra that looks like this one. If it is one, it's likely not one belonging to the mainstream portion of the church, but instead some subsect. Detect Magic identified it as magical, but looking at it with the monocle doesn't reveal anything else. CL check to figure out the school was failed, though if Marcon has any non-obvious bonuses, I may have missed them.
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Jun 28, 2014 06:30
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Ishmael "This is the most poorly-run temple I have ever come across. I need my tools." Ishmael is going to retrieve one of the spare longbows, any arrows he can find, and his gear and then stare disapprovingly at the guards until he gets some answers. He won't ask questions, though. They know what they did.
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Jun 29, 2014 07:37
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Marcon bel Tern "A very interesting find. I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to do, and that's an interesting piece of evidence itself. I think we'll need to explore further for additional clues. Perhaps the guards could escort the other novices to town while we investigate?"
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Jun 30, 2014 22:13
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Barkley He began to lean against the nearby pillar while Anciano did his work, after the behest of the man to move out of the splash zone of any traps he may have failed to spot. When the rogue-like removed the grapefruit-sized gemstone from the altar he found himself raising an eyebrow, inquiring, "a black diamond, perhaps?" Shrugging and kicking off from the pillar, he admitted, "Not exactly the most incriminating thing in the world, I suppose, although an enchanted item that can't be identified is about as suspicious as humanly possible." With a glance to the transformed shadow-guardsmen, he then added, "or as suspicious as inhumanly possible, as the case may be." When Marcon suggested that the guards escort the novices back to town, he cautioned the group, "Let's remember that there are another dozen or so guards outside, plus at least one cleric of this temple. Marching the entirety of the worship group back to town might rouse their suspicions and trigger a skirmish with them that could end up with innocents in the line of fire, whether those innocents are petitioners or guards. Plus, these shadow guards have shown a complete willingness to murder their human counterparts, so it's not hard to imagine the cleric outside doing the same to the worshipers if given half the chance." Pondering on the issue, he suggested, "Perhaps someone could disguise themselves as that leader-priest, and summon the outside priest in here? A thorough interrogation might reveal something interesting at minimal risk. Thoughts?" He added, belatedly, while wandering over towards the closed doorway near the altar that leads to the stairwell he saw earlier, "Although, there's also the likelihood that the residents downstairs will come up here eventually. And I doubt we want to be caught unprepared for that." Waador fucked around with this message at 06:19 on Jul 2, 2014 |
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Jul 1, 2014 01:15
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Anciano (Here's a Knowledge: Religion roll for Shar to see if Anciano knows that Shar hates Mystra. The advantage of your people only recognizing six gods is that it's easy to pick one to suspect in these situations.) Anciano strokes his chin. "You know, this is merely an educated guess, but it could be we've stumbled upon the machinations of Shar. The things we've seen here thus far would certainly be explained handily if this were a Sharite cult. It wouldn't surprise me, Shar has been Mystra's enemy since time immemorial, and it would explain why so much of the doctrine here refers to the darkness between the stars, which I would much more readily associate with Shar than Mystra, though I'm no theologian. What I am is a sanctioned acolyte of the Church of Mystra, and I believe that there has been more than enough evidence found here to declare this church heretical in the most extreme sense. Given how dangerous the inner temple's guards appear to be, I would recommend we take the evidence and leave, returning with Seeker Dranik and his reinforcements. Though, we might be able to rouse the Purple Dragons if we want this cult eliminated sooner. What do you think, Dina?" Anciano defers to the paladin's judgement, both for her higher standing in the church, and the fact that any strategy he came up with would rely, at least in part, on her force of arms.
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Jul 2, 2014 23:57
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Marcon bel Tern "I'd wager the authorities might like more evidence than one mysterious item and a few possibly shadow-tainted guards," says Marcon to Anciano. "I had forgotten about the priest outside, Barkley. I can't come up with any better plan than luring him in here. We'll need to do that regardless of whether we leave immediately or investigate further."
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Jul 3, 2014 06:40
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Dina Dina rejoins the conversation, having been concentrating on equipping her armor. "I believe you may be right, Anciano, that followers of Shar may be behind this. Nevertheless, I think it would be best if we had certain information to present rather than guesses. That said, before we attempt to lure in the priest outside it may be best to awaken the shadow guard that I knocked unconscious and question him."
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Jul 3, 2014 09:30
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Barkley He suggests, "unless we have some form of enchantment to compel them to tell the truth, I doubt we'll get much out of them. There's also the likelihood that whoever is downstairs heard the shouting and other drums of war that went on up here. The more time we give them to prepare, the worse off we'll be, if that's the case. It's critical that we do something about the cleric and the others out front in order to protect our flank for when we bust open that door and head downstairs, but how do we want to go about doing that? Subterfuge seems wisest, but brute strength would work too."
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Jul 6, 2014 05:55
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Temple of Mystra, Middle Temple - Day Deciding to at least get an idea of the situation outside, since they've surely heard at least some noise, Barkley lifts the bar and cracks one of the door, and peers outside. And promptly pulls it back as several arrows embed themselves where it used to be. In that brief look he notices that the outer gates seem to be closed, there's multiple guards up on the walls with bows out along with that mage you saw before, and there seems to be no priest in sight. As he's rapidly closing the door again, he hears a shouted call of "Keep them inside if you can! Hold them here while Shan brings the guard!" Taking a look at the others, and recalling the fact that, if he is getting the guards, all they currently have to present is some dead bodies, a decision is quickly made to look for more, as well as try and figure out where all the previous petitioners have gone. At first trying what he'd seen Starweaver Fembrys do, no one is terribly surprised when the inner door does not open. Taking the time to break it down instead, you quickly find yourselves looking at a stairway descending into the earth, and leave the guards above to take care of the other petitioners, as well as your prisoner. Quickly reaching a landing, from which continue on two parallel staircases heading further down, the group proceeds left. Passing a statue roughly carved of some dark stone in the shape of a female, you continue down, noting that something in the room below seems to be emitting a silvery, whitish light. Reaching the end of the stairwell, you come across a rubble-filled room. From where you currently stand, the room seems to be filled with broken statuary, burned paper, and shattered pottery. In the middle of it, there's a statue of a woman, and that seems to be what's emitting the light. You also note five other doors leading out of this room.  I mentioned this in passing, but petitioners who attend the ritual do not exit through the main doors. Guards don't know where they exit. The statue seems to be emitting light of about the same brightness of a lantern, and especially lighting up the spaces next to it.
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Jul 12, 2014 05:23
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Marcon bel Tern "Hmmm, some kind of destructive ritual? Or maybe they just heard us coming and destroyed the supplies on the way out." I rescued everyone's characters from the archived thread so you can put your sheet in your first post for LordKoth who has no archives.
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Jul 12, 2014 07:13
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 10:05 |
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Barkley He whispers to Dina, "I'd recommend filling every square inch of this area with daylight."
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Jul 12, 2014 07:24
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