This is now a NEW ROUND (Round 8), but since all the PCs are out of the room, unconscious, or dead, I'm going to let initiative relax a little. Just tell me what you want to do, and if initiative order becomes relevant we'll figure it out. Sir Constantine, you need to roll another stabilization check.
"Stop wiggling, woman, or I'll kill you," says Lewis absently. (But his attention is clearly focused on the drama around the robed man.)
"We're all walking out of here," says Nurrah, "and this fellow's coming with us. You've got a head start to the Border. I'd start running if I were you."
"Now, now, girly, let's not be hasty... Sissy?"
The demon does not move. Amuszement, comes the buzzing voice.
"Damn it, Sissy! This isn't funny! He may be a gutless cringing worm, but he's a key deliverable! Areelu Vorlesh wanted two things, and he's --" The dwarf suddenly breaks off.
"Ohhhh... right. What you said before, when you brought the... I get it!" The dwarf turns to where Lance-Corporal Benno is lying on the floor. "Yeah yeah! Amusement!" He swings his glaive in a glittering arc, straight at Benno.
Nurrah screams -- !
-- the razor-sharp edge of the glaive stops half an inch above Benno's throat.
"Don't you hurt him! Don't you dare hurt -- " Nurrah raises a knife to throw.
"Sh, sh. It's all right, girly. You just back away and let Lewis here heal out friend. Then I step away from you boyfriend here. You go your way, we go ours, nobody gets hurt." The dwarf grins. "Like civilized people, yeah?"
There's a moment of silence.
"Boss, bad idea," says Don. "They're a bunch of nadas. You can't trust them."
The dwarf shrugs. "You don't need to trust us. We don't have any reason to hurt your people. Why bother? We just want our guy back."
HP 5/8 Init +1; Per +1 AC 15/11/14 Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +3
Osei is taking advantage of the fact that the Bads (as far as he knows) do not know of his presence. He waits and listens ... and hopes for a party of teleporting reinforcements.
Nurrah and Don step back. Lewis walks over and lays one hand on Robed Guy while murmuring a spell. 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13 Robed Guy sits up. "AAAAH! They're killing me! They're killing me! Somebody help m--"
"Shut up," says the dwarf. "Loser. Lewis, we good?"
"Upsy pupsy, Vidkun." Lewis lifts the whimpering robed man to his feet. "Yup, he can travel."
This is a coup de grace attempt, so autohit and autocrit. Damage is 2d3 + 8 ⇒ (1, 3) + 8 = 12... which, since Benno was stabilized at negatives, is enough to kill him.
Osei is taking advantage of the fact that the Bads (as far as he knows) do not know of his presence. He waits and listens ... and hopes for a party of teleporting reinforcements.
Do you have Knowledge (Local)? If yes, roll a check.
Nice! I believe that leaves you at... -10, -11, something like that? If somebody trips over you, you'll die, yah?
Okay, YET ANOTHER ROUND has passed, if anyone wants to take actions other than lurking and listening.
"Okay, this has been fun," says the dwarf, "but let's clean up. Lewis, you give me another cure, then kill all the mooks but Sad Puppy over there. Sissy, you go upstairs and hunt down the ones that got away."
"Just a moment," says Lewis. He turns to Anycek, who is still stuck to the wall. "Well, sweety, your cute friend ran off, but you're still around. Now, you can end up food for worms like your little friend over there, or you can come along with us. Like the dwarf said, lots of opportunities, and all you have to do is warm my --"
Anycek spits in his face.
Lewis stares at her blankly for a moment. Then, his handsome face contorts with rage, and he lunges with his rapier.
HP 5/8 Init +1; Per +1 AC 15/11/14 Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +3
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
Osei Otieno wrote:
Osei is taking advantage of the fact that the Bads (as far as he knows) do not know of his presence. He waits and listens ... and hopes for a party of teleporting reinforcements.
Do you have Knowledge (Local)? If yes, roll a check.
Only Arcana, History, Planes, and Religion.
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
Sir Constantine Godalming wrote:
[stabilizes]
Nice! I believe that leaves you at... -10, -11, something like that? If somebody trips over you, you'll die, yah?
Okay, YET ANOTHER ROUND has passed, if anyone wants to take actions other than lurking and listening.
Surrender or run. Options, options. Surrendering means we succumb to Crunchy Despair or join Team Evil, yet running means we get chased down and eaten. I'm a little lost here. My stealth isn't that good, but I can run.
Osei breaks out towards Kenabres as fast as he can, occasionally glancing back to note pursuit.
A few rounds later, those of you who are still within range may catch a glimpse of Team Evil suddenly popping out of the back exit, looking much the worse for wear.
"Get on get on!"
"Aaaaah! I'm hurt!"
"Shut up, you worm! Throw another pit! Do it!"
Flee now.
"My shirt... it's covered with..."
"Cures! All the cures you've got! Do it now!"
"Th... there! Pit!"
"Ugh, this thing smells --"
"Sissy, don't you DARE run! If that wizard pops up, melt his damn brain!"
A few moments later, you see a rare and astonishing sight: a demon, fleeing across the starlit sky. Sissy's wings, unfolded, are a buzzing blur behind her. She's visibly injured -- there's a cut down one side, and it's bleeding some sort of ichor -- but it doesn't seem to slow her down. She passes overhead and towards the Border, and the buzzing fades away.
A few moments after that, you see something even stranger.
The creature is like some sort of gigantic hornet the size of a horse. Its eyes glow with malevolent intelligence, and its stinger is the size of a sword. It flies with a low rough heavy drone, quite unlike the demon's eerie buzz. The dwarf sits behind its massive head. Lewis and the robed man are in a strange sort of saddle behind him.
"Go go go! Lewis, watch out for their wizard!"
"I don't -- Oh, no, there he is--"
"Dive! Dive!"
The huge hornet-thing abruptly turns and drops, falling out of the sky. A moment later, a bright orange spark flies up at an angle from the ground behind and below.
The last you see of the hornet thing, it is trailing a long line of smoke behind it and gradually wobbling downwards in the direction of the Border, to the accompaniment of fading screams and curses.
Irabeth Tirabade, half orc, paladin, leader of the Eagle Watch. She has a welt on her face that you recognize as being from the demon's tongue attack, and her armor is still sizzling slightly. (The robed man dropped her into a pit full of acid just as she was about to smite the demon.)
Sir Robert Macaul of Augustana is a human male of around thirty or so. He has wears blue and white and carries and oddly curved sword. There is something faintly nautical about him. As you come up, he's just finished murmuring a prayer over the bodies of the dead. Now he's bandaging a wound on one arm that is obviously from the dwarf's glaive.
Quednys Orlun wears black and is really too old for this sort of thing. Stooped with age, he wears no armor, but has several wands on his belt. He glowers at the battlefield and the corpses, looking annoyed and outraged.
Your fourth rescuer stands a little apart from the other three. Lord Devon Lambert-Adzel, Third Marquis of Szyx, Special Envoy of the Empire of Cheliax to Kenabres is a human male in his forties. He wears red and black and gold and has the imperial arms of Cheliax embroidered on his silken tunic. Tall and lean, he has black hair with a widow's peak and a neatly trimmed goatee that is just starting to show threads of white. He seems uninjured, but his hands are still smoking slightly, and a faint whiff of sulfur lingers in his vicinity.
Your rescuers are just starting to discuss how to allocate their limited healing resources: heal their own injuries in case they're attacked again, or try to bring one or more of the injured back to consciousness? And if the latter, which? Before they decide, they'll want to get a quick summary from you of what happened... they've learned from hard experience that the survivors of battles with demons can sometimes throw up some nasty surprises.
I assume you'll give them a reasonably complete and accurate picture -- you don't have to spell everything out -- but if you decide you do want to hold something back, or shade the story one way or another, let me know. Otherwise, you can interact with them, ask questions, make suggestions, or just ignore them and fast-forward through this part. Feel free to roll knowledges or other skills as appropriate. (But don't roll at random -- tell me what you're after, even if it's in very general terms. "Knowledge local, do I know anything about these people" is okay.)
HP 5/8 Init +1; Per +1 AC 15/11/14 Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +3
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
I assume you'll give them a reasonably complete and accurate picture -- you don't have to spell everything out -- but if you decide you do want to hold something back, or shade the story one way or another, let me know. Otherwise, you can interact with them, ask questions, make suggestions, or just ignore them and fast-forward through this part. Feel free to roll knowledges or other skills as appropriate. (But don't roll at random -- tell me what you're after, even if it's in very general terms. "Knowledge local, do I know anything about these people" is okay.)
"I believe I speak on behalf of everyone when I express a profound appreciation for your rapid response. Corporal Nurrah ordered me to use the sending immediately upon engagement, and ..." Osei gives a rapid yet detailed report (see below).
Osei omits the fact that the engagement came about against Nurrah's orders, but otherwise spells out every detail he noticed and can remember regarding the enemy team. Names (Vhane, Lewis, Vidkun Lauritz), abilities, and apparent rankings of command. He indicates Drezen as their destination, and mentions that one of the Red Team was infested with a 'mind egg' from the demon, and while he didn't see the recipient - Vhane mentioned it was a surprise for 'Eagle girl', who he assumes is Irabeth.
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
(Nobody has done anything with Sleek's body. It's just a slurk. Presumably a clean-up crew will dispose of it at some point.)
On this, if it occurs before Takka is healed/awake, Osei politely interjects and request that the kobold be conscious and able to have a say in Sleek's disposal.
" ... after all, it was his faithful mount. And a member of Blue Team."
Questions to whomever:
"What's the chance that every safehouse is now compromised? I assume some of Vhane's crew were formerly with Kenabres? Did any of you know them?"
"What was that demon? It's certainly not one seen often, according the accounts I've researched. I seem to recall something from my reading, particularly the delivery of an egg via proboscis, but ... the details eluded me during the rush of engagement."
Osei omits the fact that the engagement came about against Nurrah's orders,
Irabeth frowns at that point, and the Marquis arches an eyebrow. But neither interrupts you.
Quote:
Names (Vhane, Lewis, Vidkun Lauritz),
"Vhane." The paladin frowns, then looks at old Quednys.
"As I said. The very same. I told you so." Quednys purses his lips. "And Vidkun -- one of our own, corrupted! This taint arises again. It must be purged, purged with fire."
There's an uncomfortable silence for a moment. Then the Marquis turns to you and nods encouragingly. "This is all extremely interesting. Pray continue."
one of the Red Team was infested with a 'mind egg' from the demon, and while he didn't see the recipient - Vhane mentioned it was a surprise for 'Eagle girl', who he assumes is Irabeth.
Irabeth looks stricken. She turns towards Sergeant Kir -- and then, with a visible effort, turns back to hear the rest of your story. (The paladin either has no Bluff whatsoever -- basically, WYSIWYG, world's worst poker player -- or it's so high that she seems completely transparent.)
"A Moth Woman," murmurs the Marquis. "I've read of such things..."
"I've lost friends to them!" snaps old Quednys. "Abominations! They infect the innocent, and warp the minds of their victims into madness. The boy is a danger now! He must not be allowed to infect others. He must be --"
"Purged with fire, Master Quednys, yes yes. Now, if our brave Crusader here may be allowed to continue..."
On this, if it occurs before Takka is healed/awake, Osei politely interjects and request that the kobold be conscious and able to have a say in Sleek's disposal.
" ... after all, it was his faithful mount. And a member of Blue Team."
"A... kobold Crusader?" Sir Robert shakes his head. "Just when you think the Worldwound can't surprise you any more..."
"We have kobolds in the Empire," says the Marquis thoughtfully. "Despite their small size, they are fierce and cunning. Most are slaves, but the Empress in her wisdom has decreed that those demonstrating particular diligence or viciousness may be allowed to earn their freedom. They make fine slave overseers, and excellent torturers."
The paladin's lips go very thin at this last comment, but she makes no response.
HP 5/8 Init +1; Per +1 AC 15/11/14 Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +3
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
"Purged with fire, Master Quednys, yes yes. Now, if our brave Crusader here may be allowed to continue..."
"I'm afraid I am no brave crusader, merely a lucky one. I did not engage the enemy directly, but attempted to gather all the intelligence I could. The true Brave are those who gave their lives or are wounded."
Osei has the grace to look ashamed, and does not meet the eyes of any around him.
"... and lastly: Vhane let slip that Vidkun was requested (along with one other "deliverable") by Areelu Vorlesh. Osei adds this last bit and then decides to be silent, lest the rescue team have questions or others wish to speak.
"What's the chance that every safehouse is now compromised?
"All too high." The paladin and Sir Robert exchange glances. "We'll have to set up new ones..."
"And a dozen of our safe points fall without a sword being drawn. Treachery is the demon's greatest friend." Quednys shakes his head.
Quote:
I assume some of Vhane's crew were formerly with Kenabres? Did any of you know them?"
"Yes." The paladin does not seem inclined to say anything further.
Quote:
Knowledge (History) about Areelu Vorlesh?
Whoa, Areelu Vorlesh? The witch who was at least partially responsible for opening the Worldwound? They say she's still alive somewhere in there... but not human, any more.
Note that this may be a good time to read the Player's Guide, if you haven't already.
female Human Inquisitor (Iconoclast)(Preacher)hp 3/8|AC 15|perc 8|init 1|Agile feet 7/7
Haruka kneels beside Kyami body, speaking with a clear voice despite the tears in her eyes "I can cast two simple healing spells, distribute them as you see fit"
HP 5/8 Init +1; Per +1 AC 15/11/14 Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +3
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
Note that this may be a good time to read the Player's Guide, if you haven't already.
Oh, I have. Just seeing what Osei might know about her. And that he knows enough to absolutely be fearful that she's involved with the team that just fled.
The Marquis strolls over to where the wounded are propped up. He squats on his haunches beside Takka. "A kobold, sure enough. Well..." He removes a small container from a pouch and unscrews the top.
"What's that?" says the paladin sharply.
"A healing salve," replies the Marquis calmly. "It will do him no harm, body or soul, this I swear. But it should bring him back to consciousness. If you've an objection to me healing him, though...?"
There's another one of those uncomfortable silences, and then the Marquis gently rubs a little of the salve on Takka's forehead.
The Marquis is telling the truth, as far as it goes. ("The truth, as far as it goes" is actually a Chelaxian proverb and motto.) It's a salve of Infernal Healing, made with devil's blood. It won't do you any harm -- but it will give you interesting dreams for a day or two, and may have minor effects on your behavior. Roleplay these or not, as you see fit. In game terms, it'll give you Fast Healing 1 for 10 rounds.
Haruka kneels beside Kyami body, speaking with a clear voice despite the tears in her eyes "I can cast two simple healing spells, distribute them as you see fit"
Sir Robert approaches you. "A relief team should be along within the hour -- the Tower should be scrying us right now -- but until then, we should get all hands on deck in case something comes over the Border at us. Take the least wounded first, I supposed, but have Lady Irabeth check 'em first."
"Yes." Irabeth turns towards the gravely wounded, raises one hand, and seems to concentrate for a moment. Then her eyes go wide, and her face falls. She takes a step backwards.
"Leave..." Her voice trembles just a little. She pauses and seems to muster herself. When she speaks again, she is calm. "Best leave Sergeant Kir alone for the moment. In fact, I think we should bind him... gently, but carefully. Dress his wounds, but apply no magic. If he wakes, do not... do not speak with him." The half-orc's voice is deep and rough, but gentle. Her face is sad, but resolute. "As to the others, it is as Sir Robert says. Heal the least injured first, so that they may walk, and fight if need be."
When Takka awakes, the Marquis will begin speaking to him gently in a strange, hissing, glottal tongue.
Draconic:
"Welcome back to the living, brave warrior. I'm afraid there have been losses, but take comfort in knowing that the forces of Law are victorious.
"I am Lord Devon Lambert-Adzel, Third Marquis of Szyx, Special Envoy of the Empire of Cheliax to Kenabres. In the name of the Empire, I greet you. I have magically hastened your recovery, because -- you will excuse me -- you intrigue me. Few indeed of your folk have joined the Crusade! But I am not surprised. We of Cheliax know and value the qualities of the Children of the First Egg.
"When you are entirely recovered, I hope you will do me the honor of being my guest. The Empress' servants march ever in order, by column and file. And yet there is always room in the formation for one more brave and honorable spirit."
Takka groans as he finds his mind returning to him. Eyes flickering open, Takka scrunched his face up to make out the Marquis' features, blinking as he spoke to him in his native tongue. Sitting upright, Takka flung off his wooden helmet and grabbed hold of the Marquis' clothes, trying to pull himself up.
Draconic:
Wait! Before I do anything, I must find my slurk! Please, he is my mount! Don't harm him! Sleek! Where is he!?
Staggering to his feet, Takka winced as he remembered his malformed legs, but even with the limp from his injuries and the hobble from his condition, he stumbled about calling out for his slurk. "Sleek! SLEEK! Come here, poliwog! Pyap pyap! ...PYAP PYAP!"
Sorry, I just realized that we weren't outside where I thought we were. Just adding a tad more...
Takka stood numb as he saw Sleek's body laying quietly on the ground. Hobbling silently over, Takka fell to his knees and rubbed Sleek's forearm, as if vainly trying to wake him up. "Sleek...? Sleek... come on, polliwog... it's... it's Takka... Takka... Sleek... pyap pyap... pyap..."
The kobold's head fell forward, as his body shook as if he was sobbing... but no tears came. He couldn't cry. No kobold could. They lacked the tears ducts for it. Takka simply wheezed and shook, clearly trying to produce some tears, in a vain attempt to mourn his mount's passing.
"Why... it should've... I was the one... I was... supposed to protect the weak... to protect you... why... why can't I...? ...oh Sleek, forgive me... it should be... I should be..." Takka's body shook a few more times, still trying so hard to weep for his slurk. Finally, though, his head flew back and his jowls opened up to reveal his fangs, a feral roar bellowing from his little body and echoing around the chamber, making it sound a bit louder and more draconic than it actually was.
Dammit, I wanted to play a misguided knight, not the kobold version of Old Yeller! Pardon me while I go dry up my eyes.
