[DnD 4e PbP] Vale of Buried Shadows, Chapter 2: Signs & Portents (IC)

Kay · July 2010

Pressing the advantage, Atherton turns in place, whipping his sword around his body quickly. A concussive wave of force bursts from the blade, battering the demon in return for wounding the Swordmage.

Spoiler:

Status:

Spoiler:

Up Next: Aidan > Kell > Rakash > Snarl

tzeentchling · July 2010

Nadia stabs at the evistro, but it continues to dodge her attacks.

Spoiler:

Status:

Spoiler:

Up Next: Kell > Rakash > Snarl

Aegis · July 2010

Another missile is loosed from the back, and once again the demon simply shifts to the side sending the (supposedly unerring) energy projectile careening into a nearby tree.

Actions:

Spoiler:

Status:

Spoiler:

Up Next: Rakash > Snarl

Rius · July 2010

Rakash circles around and charges at the creature again but it's stubborn tenacity gives it strength to deflect his killing blow.

Fucking christ, it's the goddamn thing that cannot die!

Move: to C10

Standard: Charge (Marauder's Rush) to E8 vs Evistro AC (16) (1d20+11=15) Miss by one rassin frassin ARGH.

It has 11 hp; someone kill it lol.

Horseshoe · July 2010

Snarl drew a dagger and hurled himself at the beast. He had palmed a dagger in his left hand, and as the hellish creature struggled to hold back his shortsword, a flash of his hand nearly severed the beast's head. Oddly enough, he had intended to stun it with a shot from the dagger's pommel... but sometimes a murderer's instinct simply triumphs over his intentions.

Snarl shook blood from the dagger as his gauntleted hand seemed to soak up the creature's blood.

"Hrm."

Spoiler:

Aegis · July 2010

With the carnage demon finally being dropped unceremoniously to the ground, your group takes a much deserved breather from the excitement that was the harried slaughter of over a dozen infernally summoned creatures. Several pools of brownish...stuff...still bubble and soak the grass around where you walk from the many exploded dretches that once charged down the field towards you. Other than the sounds of your own breathing and moving about, the forest returns to its eerily quiet state prior to your encounter here.

With the demons preferring to attack with their sharpened hands, there is nothing in the way of equipment to be found amongst the dead bodies that laid themselves at your feet. However, the more perceptive amongst you [Perception 18+] will note that the blood oozing out of the two Evistro leaders seem to be pooling into a number of small stones rather than staining the forest floor. A half-dozen smaller globules are beginning to take shape immediately beside the creatures, while a pair of larger ones (perhaps the size of a large apple) rest up against the torsos of the two creatures.

A few moments pass before the trio of human soldiers return from the forest to your right. Two seem to be no worse for wear while the third is holding his side in obvious discomfort but still seeming fit enough to move around, perhaps a flesh wound or bruise. About as dishevelled as yourselves they still carry a rather positive look about them, as if their and your success has livened up their spirits. The leader of the three pauses for a moment though, a confused look passing over his face before addressing you, "Were there not five of you? Did one fall in battle?" True enough, as you glance behind you, Kell seems to be nowhere to be found. Not a trace of a struggle, his body, or belongings can be noted in the scuffle aside from a patch of grass which bear recent foot impressions of where you swore he was standing not a moment ago.

The hill from which the demon band descended upon your group stares down towards you amidst the unmoving forest, a beacon of uncertainty and the unknown of what may be over its crest.

Milestone reached so everyone has +1 AP. Lemme know surges used during this rest (and total spent which you can get a current status of from the last status post to add onto) and final hp.

Horseshoe · July 2010

"An' what have yer to be so proud of, eh? How many of yer little army fell afore we put these to the blade?"

Spoiler:

tzeentchling · July 2010

Aidan notices the odd behavior of the blood of the Evistros. He goes over and pokes a couple with his spear, while trying to remember anything of the lore of demons he's learned.

Spoiler:

Aegis · July 2010

The stone agglomerations of demon-blood roll much like a pebble or rough ball when poked, solid as a rock and otherwise inert of any immediate reaction to your disturbance of them. These things are fairly reminiscent of bloodstones, apparently rather aptly named gems prized for their use in magical rituals. They have no unique power of their own beyond their use in ritual magics (typically demonic in nature), but this still makes them valuable in the right circles. It is quite a curious sight to see their formation first-hand.

The six smaller bloodstones are each worth 75 gp, while the two larger ones will fetch 150 gp each.

Kay · July 2010

Atherton takes special care to clean his sword completely before sheathing it, while looking around the forest. "Kell?" the young mage calls. "Where did the mage go?" He closes his eyes, and attempts to pick out the threads of residual magic that the wizard must have left, but he finds nothing.

"Can we track him?" Atherton asks Rakash. "Or should we assume that he was somehow snatched in the last moments of battle?" His eyes turn to the slope the demons descended, and his expression turns grim. "Perhaps we should find this Demonologist. And ask him."

Spoiler:

Rius · July 2010

Rakash's keen senses search around the glade for any trace of their fellow mage, starting from the place he'd last seen him.

"Atherton, if he'd walked away somewhere, I could find him. I suspect nefarious ways and means, though, and those I cannot track."

No surges spent, still at 4/7 spent and full HP.

Perception (find tracks) (1d20+12=29)

Aegis · July 2010

Aside from the footprints there are no immediate signs of tracks heading away from the group. However, a closer inspection of where Kell had been standing by Rakash will note larger claw-like impressions flattening sections of underbrush and ground. It is still indeterminate as to which creature they belong to as there were over a dozen figures in the area during the recent fighting, but none of the Dretch or Evistro feet seem to match its dimensions.

Aegis · July 2010

"Enough fell that we were forced back into the camp you found, or I had thought that would be obvious enough. No need to sour this small victory considering the Mage is still not yet caught. " The man says, responding to Snarl inquiry, before gesturing to his men as they move a little ways up the hill, glancing around at the nearby forest as if keeping watch.

Kay · July 2010

Atherton makes his decision. He starts on up the slope, his sword suddenly in hand again. He had another one of those moments when he didn't need to draw it, the blade was just suddenly there, in his hand, and ready for battle.

Lenoir flaps around his master's head, squawking and yelling at the Swordmage, before he finally gives up and settles on his shoulder once more.

"Come on," Atherton says, coldly. "Let us find our friend. Unharmed."

Aegis · July 2010

Behind the leading guards your party ascends the slight hill to its apex, glancing forward into an extension of the Harken Forest as it continues on away to the east. Somewhere in the distance, however, larger shapes are evident in the evening light as it filters through the trees. Several minutes of travelling later and the source for this change in scenery becomes apparent. A clearing seems to rest amidst the forest along your path. While still containing the typical trees so far met within this stretch of woods and having a mostly blanketed-with-foliage ceiling, there is a noticeable diminution to the frequency of the larger vegetation and a very present increase in sunlight reaching the ground as the undergrowth is more vibrant and thick between your feet. Here and there amidst the clearing (and perhaps its reason for existence) are the crumbling remains of stone ruins, reduced to not much more than a handful of wall segments stretching out along the floor and almost mistaken for a part of the woods themselves with the covering of moss and lichen that grace their surface. Apart from the walls, the only other noticeable man-made feature is a stone dais in the middle of a wide semi-circular dip or depression in the ground, approximately in the centre of the clearing itself and contained within the perimeter of the weathered wall fragments.

A stench arises from the forest floor the moment you enter within the confines of this set of ruins, their source quickly traced to the littering of animal life about the area. Discarded here and there are the half-eaten and gnawed on carcasses of creatures, some in the middle of the ground, others thrown against a nearby tree, and even a few laying up against the crumbling walls themselves. One of the guards quickly holds up near the dais before ushering over the rest of you to something at its base. Beyond a somewhat large concentration of bits of gore and blood at its base, there are perhaps three humanoid figures resting near the stone construction. Two of them are hardly noticeable as anything resembling a living soul, long since stripped of any identifiable features. The third is much less ambiguous: clad in (rather bent and tattered at this point) bits of plate, the symbol of your fellow travellers is visible beneath a covering of dried bits and blood. Resting beside the corpses are several broken weapons, crushed, twisted, and snapped off, presumably from being used to defend themselves. One exception to this would be beneath the man's corpse itself as an intact longsword seems sheltered from the outside world. The men with you are silent for several moments as they pay their respects to the body.

From the other side of the clearing a rustle is heard, interrupting your reverie. A humanoid shape seems to be camouflaged amongst the trees observing your entry into the ruins.

Lyedyn:

Spoiler:

soxbox can make his IC entrance here. There are also a number of varying skill rolls that might prove useful here depending on what interests a given individual.

soxbox · July 2010

A segment of the tree line seems to shift, as if the trees themselves were beginning to move towards the party, but that apparition lasts only a moment until you see a young elven girl emerge from the woods. She holds a long staff and is draped in layers of bark, but there's something not quite right about her - her skin seems to be covered in dark grain and knots, almost as if portions of her flesh had been carved from wood.

She watches for apprehensively for a moment before recognising the clear grief on the soldier's faces and deciding that they likely formed no part of this bloodbath. "The rabbits eat the grasses, the wolves eat the rabbits and the boar fights the wolf to defend itself. Even men fight each other to better themselves. Your friend did not die for any of these reasons. There is nothing but waste and carnage here, and the woods weep for them and also for you."

"I am named Lyedyn, and these woods were once my people's home... once..." She looks once again across the dismembered bodies, and even more so at the crumbling ruins, her face consumed with sadness.

tzeentchling · July 2010

Spoiler:

Aidan and Nadia both take notice of the newcomer. "Can you feel her connection to the primal spirits?" he whispers.

"Yes - she's really strong! She is an elf though." Nadia replies back.

"True, but let's not judge her just yet."

Kay · July 2010

Several thoughts run through Atherton's head as the elven girl approaches. 'Is this the Tiefling in disguise? Is she the one that took Kell? What is she doing here, alone in the forest? Surely the elves move in groups. Maybe she is not alone. Maybe there are many elves watching us, right now."

"Watch her, Rakash," the Swordmage whispers. "Perhaps she is not what she seems."

Atherton then walks to the edge of the dias, avoiding the corpses, and crouches by the stone depression. Raising his voice, he asks the elven girl, "I am Atherton Kess, Historian and Archaeologist. We are investigating this..." he gestures to the carnage amongst the ruins, "This site. Do you know what has happened here, Lyedyn of the forest? Who is responsible for this?" He then reaches his hand out towards the stone, without touching it, and attempts to divine the nature of any magics performed here recently - and to see if he senses any illusions from Lyedyn.

Arcana: 1d20+9 28

Horseshoe · July 2010

"Hrm."

Snarl pointed at this new figure with his dagger, impatient for a reply to Atherton's inquiry.

"Answer him, Elf, or yer soon be eatin' yer ears."

Aegis · July 2010

The faint aroma of sulphur starts being smelled in the immediate vicinity of the dais as the assemblage meets and talks with their new elven guest.

Atherton:

Spoiler:

Kay · July 2010

"This stone is spell-bound," Atherton announces, suddenly. " We must not interfere with it, lest we trigger the magics laid upon it. As it is warded against tampering, and from the surrounding carnage, we can assume that this is the site of the demon-summoning. " The young mage then offers a wry smile to those around him. "Though we most certainly did not require the services of an arcane student to realise that," he admits.

soxbox · July 2010

Lyedyn looks puzzled as she looks over the site and tries to determine how this violence had come to pass. "I don't know what has happened here - I've been tracing a trail of death through the forest, and it has led me here. Demons... that would explain what I've been sensing... but who would... why?".

She finally takes note of the threatening half-orc for the first time, immediately taking a step back. "Per-Orch?". She looks over the rest of the party, a look of panic beginning to creep across her face, wondering if perhaps she's just made a huge mistake.

tzeentchling · July 2010

At Atherton's warning, Aidan's senses go into high alert, and he carefully scans the area to see if anyone is watching their conversation, or if the demon summoner is approaching to the scene of the crime.

Perception: 1d20+10 24

Aegis · July 2010

Aidan:

Spoiler:

tzeentchling · July 2010

Noting the oddities and the tracks, Aidan moves around to the other side of the dais. Using his spear, he carefully disturbs the bodies, in case they were in any sort of pattern. If this doesn't provoke a response.... Aidan then attempts to make any sense out of the tracks on the one side, seeing where they might lead. Nature: 1d20+10 23

Aegis · July 2010

Aidan:

Spoiler:

tzeentchling · July 2010

"Humph. That's odd," Aidan remarks. Risking the power of the ward, Aidan reaches in and grabs the undamaged sword. He presents it to the paladins with them, remarking, "I think this one's yours."

To his companions, Aidan says, "I think whatever is doing this is coming from underneath the stone. Atherton or Lyedyn, maybe you can work a counterspell to the ward? Snarl, Rakash, once it's off you two should try to see if you can push it any."

Kay · July 2010

Catching the elf's surprise, Atherton glances between Lyedyn and Snarl, before shaking his head. "Do not worry, Lyedyn of the forest, Snarl may appear uncouth and barbaric... and he is. But is no mindless savage out for indiscriminate violence. He can be trusted."

"But can he?" Atherton then goes on to think. "If the rumours are true, then he is indeed a murderer. But why did he kill? Murdering people in alleys is not quite the same as defeating unprincipled brigands, or laying to rest demons that plague the forest..."

He then turns to Aidan, and nods his head. "Perhaps we can work out a way to counter the ritual," Atherton assents. "Though one could also see through the eyes of one of the fallen, to see exactly what we are dealing with. If, of course, any of these poor wretches did indeed die here. Were any of the men taken alive?" the mage asks the three knights that walk with them. "Or Rakash, can you tell if they were brought here dead, or brought here and then killed? A steep request indeed, though you are a master tracker."

soxbox · July 2010

"I have no small skill in such manners... perhaps I can be of assistance." Lyedyn circles around to the bodies, keeping one eye on Snarl at all times, and begins to make an examination of the bodies.

Nature: 1d20+12 21 - where they killed here?

Aegis · July 2010

The armored man nods as he accepts the sword, attaching it back to his belt before responding to Atherton, "Alive? Mmm...wounded gravely, yes. The ones at the camp were those we could bring back with us, but there were a few who were too far beyond in the larger horde to return to. We had hoped they met a quick end before the demons returned for them." The rest fan out into the ruins in singles, inspecting the site for anything else out of the ordinary and otherwise keeping watch for anything coming back into the ruins from the forest.

Lyedyn:

Spoiler:

soxbox · July 2010

"I think these creatures were killed somewhere else and brought here for some sort of ritual, but it is unlike anything that I've ever seen before." Lyedyn looks quizzically at the bodies. "Perhaps... a message, a calling? Or perhaps an offering? I have little experience with such things." Engrossed in the puzzle, she begins to relax again as her mind is occupied by the task at hand.

Kay · July 2010

Atherton considers what the druid says, and nods his head slowly. "Then there is not much point in seeing through their eyes, as what they could tell us, we already know from our Knight friends, here." The Swordmage then beckons Snarl over, being careful to put himself between the half-orc, and the elven druid. "Snarl, friend. One shall deactivate the magical protections on this dias, but if one's feelings are correct, there is also a more mundane mechanism that only you have the talent to... manipulate, one thinks. Would you do the honours?" Atherton asks, while manipulating the ether to deactivate the protective runes, making the Rogue's attempt to disarm the trap and open the hidden catch that little bit more simple.

Rius · July 2010

Rakash watches the newcome walk about the glade with a small sense of wonder. He'd never actually met a druid, despite all his life's time spent growing up in and among elven communities. Her skin is even as that of a tree... her connection to the spirits must be incredibly strong.

Shaking his head a little to clear his reverie, he watches as the conversation moves on between his friends. Atherton mentions something about possible traps on the dais; Rakash takes a moment to circle the stone slowly, looking for any obvious triggers.

Perception (Find Traps) (1d20+12=22)

Aegis · July 2010

Rakash:

Spoiler:

Rius · July 2010

Rakash points out the dislodged stone to Atherton and Snarl.

"There's a stone here, possibly some sort of potential mechanism. I wouldn't recommend trying to trigger it until that warding is dissolved, though."

Horseshoe · July 2010

"Th' hell's warding?"

Kay · July 2010

"A magical effect placed on a trap to enhance the difficulty in disarming it, or form the basis of the trap entirely," Atherton tells Snarl, his eyes half-lidded to aid his concentration. "Now, if you would be so kind to put your mechanical skills to use, one does believe that the pertinent triggers in this trap are here and here," the young mage says, indicating several areas on the dias. "You may need to touch a set of glyphs in sequence, or to find areas where there are no discernable points of mechanical articulation, at which point you should consult myself for further information. However," Atherton reaches up to mop some beads of sweat from his brow, "One would greatly appreciate some alacrity with this endeavour while the warding is surpressed, if you would."

Atherton's knowledge of the arcane allows Snarl a +2 bonus on his Thievery check to disarm the magical trap.

Horseshoe · July 2010

"Ugh. Wha's wrong with simple traps... poison needles t'yer face, or cuttin' off limbs. The old-fashion, like maimin' yer and settin loose hungry dogs..."

Magical traps. What bollocks. Snarl poked around with his thieves tools until he heard a sound that seemed to be distinctly not a trap being disarmed.

"Tha's probably no good at all, that is."

Spoiler:

Aegis · July 2010

As Snarl steps back to warn the party there is a distinct faint sound of thunder on the horizon, as if heralding the approach of a thunderstorm. Lightning begins to arc quite visibly to all across the face of the dais, in larger and larger bands of electricity. But not a moment later and these arcs are starting to violently shoot out, one striking a nearby tree causing it to explode into splinters, another slamming into the depression's incline sending up a plume of dirt. The guards who had vacated the immediate area of the dais hurridly rush to get behind the ruined walls for cover. A low humming starts reverberating in your ears, getting louder and louder until a bright flash of light accompanies an invisible kick in the gut and tingling sensation as the ward on the dais explodes.

Glyph of Warding - Close Burst 3 (Order of hits will be the order that the party is listed in the OP of the OOC thread)
1d20+7=
21, Hit! vs Reflex
24, Hit! vs Reflex
14, Miss! vs Reflex
20, Hit! vs Reflex
27, Critical Hit! vs Reflex

Snarl, Aidan, Atherton takes 3d6+4=15 lightning damage while Lyedyn takes 22 lightning damage. Everyone (except Rakash) is dazed (save ends). We can assume that the daze will wear off in a few minutes.

Horseshoe · July 2010

Snarl is not only upset at his inability to defuse the trap, but also surprised at its bizarre nature and effects.

"Bleedin' Gruumsh! I ehnt feel my... AAAAAAGH."

Snarl suddenly howled in pain as the tingling numbness in -- well, in whatever part of his body had been numb -- suddenly returned.

"Ooof, scratch that... I kin feel it now. Worse'n poison needles in th' face, that is."

Penny Arcade

[DnD 4e PbP] Vale of Buried Shadows, Chapter 2: Signs & Portents (IC)

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