"Don't worry Eli, I'll guard the door!" As it stands wide open...
He's thinking about it....
And even with the heavy load, he might be able to angle it closed...
Grasker attacks then moves to block the exit.
"Come along Serra, don't give up yet! We'll find a weak spot in this armored oaf. Lift your blade and strike!"
Round 5
Serra Iondri Phaer: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Elyanius Myoch: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (11) + 0 = 11
Grasker: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (10) + 0 = 10
Anevia: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
Cole Zeff: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Beagan Berelcar: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
v: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
"Timon? Vagorg?!?!?You more than earned your punishment, you wretched piece of filth!"
Anevia closes, striking at the half-orc. She comes close, but can't seem to get through his shimmery pink armor of force.
Round: 6, Initiative: 6
HP: 20/22 +15 temp
Weapon Equipped = Long Bow
Cold Iron Arrows = 22/30 (6 misses)
Silver Blunt Arrows = 10/10
Conditions = Bolstered (1 of 19m)
Ranger Focus = 1/1 (+2 attack/damage)
Child of the Crusade = 1/1 (reroll failed save to be demonically possessed or incapacitated)
Silver Dragon Scale = 2/3
Bow Attack Mods: BAB +3, Dex +3, MW Bow +1, (Deadly Aim -1), (Rapid Shot -2)
Bow Damage Mods: (Deadly Aim +2)
Cole looks at the man standing directly before him and shrugs. ”You moved.” he says simply. He then shoots him twice more, drawing an AoO, before stepping toward the corner.
(point blank, aid) (point blank)
(point blank, aid) (point blank)
The man fumbles with his weapon, trying to ready to hit someone so close, but can't seem to do so, having already prepared to strike at targets further out.
Round 6, Init 6-
HP: 25/29
AC: 18 (ff 16, t 13) {16 after charge}
CMD: 13
Init: +3
Fort: +4 | Ref: +2 | Will: +1
Per: +0 | Know nature: +6 | Know planes: +6
Equipped: Shield & Sword
Calistria's Presto-Changeo Trick: 1/1
Dancing Holy Flames: 1/1
Flare Holy Flames: 1/1
Big R's Holy Flameball:1/1
Call upon Big R to protect/rejuvenate mount/protect from evil: 3/3
Call upon Big R to send assistance: 6/6
Scale = 3/3
At will: Read Holy Writing, Detect Blessings, Guide the Faithful, Resist the Enemy, See the Faithful
Xanthos’ full stats
HP: 18/18
AC: 18 ( touch 12, flat-footed 16) (+2 Dex, +6 natural)
{17 due to heavy load}
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +0
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.
{-6 on Dex checks due to heavy load}
Acrobatics +7 (+11 jump), Climb +6, Knowledge Planes +6, Perception +5, Sense Motive +4, Stealth +5
With an annoyed snuffle, Xanthos nudges the door shut. His corpse-laden body stays on the outside, doing his best to keep alert for anyone trying to escape.
Seeing only one foe, Beagan moves to strike the one Anevia is cursing.
"If Anevia says you deserve punishment, you must be bad news!"
Beagan steps up and calls on all the might of his god to strike down the evil doer. His blade sinks so deep, It's visible on the other side. The half orc roars, reaching for the gnome, but it is too late, too much.
He slides off the sword, dead at the feet of the Paladin of Ragathiel.
Serra chuckles, answering his squire.
"Yes, I'm sure Cole will hit something eventually too."
Serra waggles his starknife, looking for the right opening for which to attack....when Beagan comes in to deliver a mighty blow.
Serra huzzahs, cheering wildly at Beagan's strike...exclaiming loudly, making sure Kastor saw that.
"A real smite evil, that was, Kastor! Did you see that, Kastor?! DID YOU!?" Serra looks under the table to see if his squire was paying attention. "The holy hand of the big R guided that strike himself! Kastor, see now the holy hand of justice!"
Serra leaps down to coup de jerk with his starknife, just in case.
Anevia -still breathing heavily- kicks the dead orc in the head.
"You'll never touch her!" She turns on her heel and begins searching the house, looking for her wife.
"Irabeth! IRaBETH!"
Alas, there is no answer, and no immediate sign of her.
Eli pats Beagan on the back. "That was well-placed blade work, master Beagan. You're becoming quite the force to be reckoned with." Eli opens the front door again, and looks around for unwanted attentions from their recent clatter.
Eli opens the door to find a heavily burdened Xanthos waiting patiently outside. Aside from the long suffering mount, though, no one else seems to be around.
Serra, even after Beagan's smite, will kick the villain's blade away.
Leaving the body for now, he will join the search of the house for Irabeth (or clues to her whereabouts).
Eli picks up the ranseur, examining it for possible laces or tinctures on the cutting edges.
He waits patiently for the others to examine the home.
"An unwelcome house guest. Beagan, you saved us all. His magical armor seemed impenetrable."
As Serra begins his search, Grasker will Detect Magic on the foe.
Eli picks up the ranseur, checking it out. It is a very nice ranseur, but doesn't seem to be laced with anything. Still, it is *very* nice.
Grasker calls upon Iomedae's blessing to light the way to any magical items upon their foe. There are several auras within the room and upon the fallen orc.
Each of the companions, as well as Xanthos also radiate various magical auras. Serra seems to trail a radiant aura wherever he goes, though it never seems to settle.
Serra follows Anevia as she checks the house. She opens a small, secret niche in the bedroom. Her hand trembles, but she smiles, visibly relaxing as she reads it.
"It's from Irabeth. She's ok. She's OK!" She yells into the other room. She gathers the other things left in the nitch and returns to the front room .
"She says those that are left are gathering at Defender's Heart, and says the passphrase silverstrong will let us in." Her smile falters, as she realizes that you have done what you have said you would do; you have seen her home.
"I mean... Thank you so much for getting me this far. Irabeth left these to help me get to Defender's Heart, but I would prefer that you have them. I am not so fragile as all that. It is not very far. Still, if you would join me, we could all make it that much safer." In her hands,she holds 4 carefully labeled vials; two of invisibility and two of cure moderate wounds.
She looks at Cole and smiles, "After we check on your family, of course."
When the searching is complete, Serra will stow his starknife and look upon the items that were collected. He will hope that he remembers some of his mother's and Ara's teachings.
Spellcraft (mage armor?)
Spellcraft Wand
Spellcraft Ranseur
Spellcraft Potion #1
Spellcraft Potion #2
Serra can't tell about the first aura surrounding the orc in pale pink force armor, but he does detect the wand as a magic missile wand(CL 3, 11 charges), and the first potion as a potion of invisibility. He's unable to identify the second potion, though it does look a lot like the first.
The Ranseur is a ranseur of the gargoyle, CL 5, faint transmutation, 12lbs:
A ranseur of the gargoyle appears to have a head crafted of obsidian, but is in fact as hard and resilient as steel. This weapon functions as a +1 ranseur that grants a +4 bonus on disarm checks rather than the typical +2 bonus a ranseur grants. Up to 5 times per day as a swift action, the wielder of a ranseur of the gargoyle can cause its skin to harden for 1 round, gaining a +2 enhancement bonus to its natural armor score.
"Who was the half orc? He seemed to know you."
Anevia stares grimly at the dead half orc.
"He didn't know me. He knew Irabeth. He was a cultist of Xoveron(know planes/religion) she apprehended while she was working in the River Kingdoms." Her mouth twists as she grabs him up by the feet, intent on hobbling her way out of the house with him.
"She told me he was planning to burn down a whole neighborhood when she caught him. *oof!* In Timon, that means the gladiatorial pits."
Serra turns to listen to Anevia, many questions of his own on his mind.
Know (religion) - Xoveron
Know (local) - Vagorg
"Timon? Where or what is that? And he called you by another name? What was it? Anvil?" Serra asks.
Anevia stops where she is, sighing. It's a moment or more as she debates something, before she reaches out and pulls the door closed, the dead body still at her feet.
"Anven. He called me Anven. I don't use it anymore. I haven't for a good long while. That he knows it, though, is worrisome. I haven't used that name since I was growing up in Nidal." Her answers come slowly.
"At the very least, it means someone is still looking for me, or at least for him, for Anven." Her chin comes up stubbornly, daring them to say anything.
"Now, can one of you help me get him out of here before he stains my floor?"
"An unwelcome house guest. Beagan, you saved us all. His magical armor seemed impenetrable."
"Wow! The Big R' has never blessed my blade like that before!" Are some of Cathyra's blessings really flowing through me? Maybe I can do something other than shielding the innocent.
The Gnome says a prayer of thanks to Ragathiel before cleaning his bloodied sword while chanting a Calistrian ditty.
Once he sees Anevia trying to move the corpse, he hurries to try and assist.
"People are looking for you? It sounds not in a good way, I guess. Anven sounds like a nice name, but so does Anevia. But I liked it when Jurin called me Beagle the Elf, so maybe I'm not the best judge of names."
"I mean... Thank you so much for getting me this far. Irabeth left these to help me get to Defender's Heart, but I would prefer that you have them. I am not so fragile as all that. It is not very far. Still, if you would join me, we could all make it that much safer."
Eli nods with the affirmation that there is a retreat point that sounds much more militaristic. "We should go directly to the Defender's Heart then. If Cole's family is anything like him, they're waiting there for us."
Eli holds onto the Ranseur for now, awkwardly shifting his hammer to find someway of picking between them in a given moment.
"A follower of the demon lord of gargoyles, escaping his pit and drawn to the assault against our ward stone. Strange that he would end up here. We can count ourselves doubly fortunate, that your wife is alive and demons are disorganized."
"People are looking for you? It sounds not in a good way, I guess. Anven sounds like a nice name, but so does Anevia. But I liked it when Jurin called me Beagle the Elf, so maybe I'm not the best judge of names."
"Thank you, Beagan. You're very kind. Still, it would be best if all of you forgot you ever heard it. I left it behind long ago and no one using it is likely to be wishing me well. It's not nearly so nice as Beagle the Elf, Either." Between the two of them, they are able to get the corpse outside, and Beagan's prestidigitation cleaned the floor up nicely.
"Cole? What do you think? You were kind enough to come to my home first. Your house first, or Defender's Heart?"
"Cole? What do you think? You were kind enough to come to my home first. Your house first, or Defender's Heart?"
Serra lays out the magic on the kitchen table and takes a seat. His girth and armor strains the chair, a creak escapes.
His eyes pass over the remnants of the kitchen, looking for any snacks while the party figures out what to do next. His eyes pass over the tiny onions and mushrooms and alight upon the jar of pickled artichoke hearts.
With a permissive nod of askance to Anevia, he opens them and passes them around. He will also take his dagger to the hard cheese, offering slices about.
He takes a breath and a gulp from his waterskin, a short break while he thinks what to do next.
"...and this ranseur is uniquely protective," Serra says after explaining what each item does and offering them around.
Serra looks around, his face serious.
"What shall we do next? We have many options...
I'm just not sure what to do next."
"We have come so far and survived so much adversity together. We have seen how dangerous it is to go off alone, so I hope we will continue on together on a journey to the Defender's Heart?
"That said, isn't Horgus's home just nearby, and Cole's not far out of the way? Let us at least return Horgus to his home and relieve Beagan's stead of his burden."
Grasker watches as Serra makes himself at home and starts sharing out the previous food-stores, including perhaps the last jar of pickled artichokes in all of Kenabres.
"Thank you Anevia for the food, a welcome change our rationed fare. With thanks to the good and neutral gods, and our mortal talent for cooperation, we can enjoy this break as Sir Serra suggests and plan our next step."
Grasker casts Purify Food and Drink after invoking the blessing of good gods. Despite the words of friendship it is easily seen that he does not trust food that might be tampered with by Avenia with her secret past or the now deceased cultist that was connected to it.
"Truly I...I hope you enjoy them." Anevia says her own quiet blessing over the slender piece of cheese and mushroom she eats. She does not weigh in on the subject of where to go next.
"Cole? What do you think? You were kind enough to come to my home first. Your house first, or Defender's Heart?"
Cole moves around the room once the combat is truly through, and gathers up his few misses and gives a few dirty looks. "Nicely struck Beagan. Well done."
"Horgus, he is a burden. I would visit Horgus so we can be rid of him, then my home, then onto the Defender's Heart to see what is really left of our city's defenses. It'll take us in a bit of a spiral, but we won't be backtracking. It isn't far, but with the terrain and other things it will still takes us some time."
He looks to Eli, "My father is crippled and not likely to be foolish enough to drag himself around the city on his own in his current state. We'll have to do it for him, if he still lives."
Cole removes a few arrows from his pack and refreshes his quiver before taking a bit of cheese for himself, nodding his thanks to Anevia.
Anevia hesitates before adding, "I think we should go to Horgus' as well. He had no family, but his servants may need our help." an unspoken but obvious, if the live. hangs in the air.
"My father is crippled and not likely to be foolish enough to drag himself around the city on his own in his current state. We'll have to do it for him, if he still lives."
Eli nods grimly. "Yes, that would be foolish. If those vultures demonstrated anything, it's that the weak and infirm are easy marks in these hours. Let's put down Horgus, and pick up Cole's father then, shall we?"
"Anevia, don't take it personally. History has a way of rising up in the most inconvenient times."
Serra packs up the cheese and what is left of the artichoke hearts and readies to leave.
"To Horgus, then."
He follows Cole to Horgus'.
Anevia startles, then smiles gratefully at Ely, "Thank you. I just hope this is the last time it comes up."
The trip to the Gwerm Estate is largely uneventful. A small band of dire rats stalks the group for a bit of it, but head off after easier prey after a good shot from Cole drops their leader in front of them.
The Gwerm estate stands almost completely untouched from the devastation around it. The doors are unlocked, and the building empty. Inside, it is a slightly different story. Drawers are left open, the silver settings inside missing. Frames that once held fine artworks now lean empty at the base of the walls, their contents spirited away. Even the kitchen has been picked over. There is no sign of Horgus' servants or guards, unless one takes the missing valuables as a sign of their departure.
Serra enters Horgus' home with ranseur gripped in his hands. Serra doesn't exactly feel (or look) comfortable holding the blade, but, like his father, he feels he could confidently use the weapon with enough practice.
"Kastor? Did you know that my father used a weapon like this? A mighty bardiche, it was. I strong knights weapon, unlike the guisarme. My father felt the weapon would even out the odds as he fought on his one weak leg...it balanced out his lack of mobility with reach. In time, you'll need to choose your own knight's weapon," Serra says to his squire while looking around Horgus' place.
Perception General
When the place is confirmed clear, Serra will haunch up his underbreaches (they seem looser than before), and examine the safe.
"Can anyone else get this open? If not, my mom's trick, might work."
Grasker doesn't notice the safe in the study and looks in other rooms.
"Sir Beagan, let me help transfer poor Horgus's corpse somewhere. Maybe a heavy study wooden table, where in can lay in repose until the city is safe for family or friends to come bury him."
Considering the body's weight Grasker will look around for a suitable surface for it and the head.
"I'll help Grasker."
Cole helps Grasker move the body, probably into the kitchen or dining room. He helps lay Horgus out, er, comfortably.
Eli watches Serra begin his looting again. "Why are you intent on opening it, Serra? Horgus is dead, what belongings there are within would be left to his family, not you."
Serra steps up to address the safe.
"I dunno, Kastor. I can try. Lemme see here..." Serra says, removing his buckler.
Serra mumbles some arcane words, forcing them out and with unpracticed tongue.
Very low is bad
He's casting Knock.
caster level check to pick lock on safe vs. DC
Serra steps back, wondering if it worked.
Anevia watches as Grasker and Cole lay Horgus out on the beautiful mahogony dining room table. "Surely we can't leave him here? No one will come any time soon. Can we not take him to Defender's Heart? Surely they will know what to do with him."
In the other room, Serra opens the safe in Horgus' office, finding:
2,000 gp worth of coins and gems.
A small stack of deeds and contracts, including one for a controlling interest in the Truestone Quarry.
A small, well cared for, shrine to Abadar.
"Anevia, what if they don't want him there either? Are we to cart him all over the city? No, I say we leave him here - at least for now. If those at the Defender's Heart suggest we bring him to them, we can always return for him - or they can."
- - -
"I think we take these items and bring them with us. We should, by all means, return them to Horgus' kin, but now the safe is open, they'll just be looted if we leave them behind. Hell even if we didn't open the safe chances are someone else would have soon enough."
"Why are you intent on opening it, Serra? Horgus is dead, what belongings there are within would be left to his family, not you."
Serra reaches into the safe to withdraw the contents, quite pleased that his trick worked.
"What's that, Ely? You want to leave this for the cultists to fuel more of their evil? Or did you want to give up the fight against these demons and go track down Horgus' family? I, for one, will use the funds to further the fight against these demons...and make it safe for Horgus' family to return...if he has any. Now, it would be nice if he had a will in here..."
"I am not eager to abandon Horgus, I hope I've shown that. Still we could leave him in his home and look for someone at Defender's Heart. I feel we can respect our fallen comrade and still be careful of our own lives as we travel, with Sir Beagan's formidable battle bunny able to fight & not haul."
Grasker still doesn't know about the office. Big house!