Arulas and Ethan both notice it also.



Several guns light up the night at almost the same time. Nyx shoots one bird. Doc shoots two birds. Arulas shoots a bird. Kalista shoots the tree. The struck birds explode in a grotesque scene. Kalista's laser burns a fist sized hole directly through the tree's trunk and superheated bark explodes from the exit point as if the tree has been struck by lightning.
Kalista just earned that XP bonus for a good but fruitless idea.

Remaining birds: 37.

As Polkitain swoops off the robot, he unleashes a funnel of smoke-like gas on the flying hoard. Thirteen of the birds drop in mid-flight and fall headfirst into the dirt. Only four birds of the original twenty survive the shooting gallery and reach the twins.

Remaining birds: 24 (that's 20 in the tree & four near the entrance hatch of the robot)
The four remaining crows flap at the twin cowboys and try to scratch at them but are unable to do much against their armor. One of the four crows drops onto the old fence and stares at the twins with eyes that begin to glow green. Nyx and Doc, both of you please roll me a Save vs Psychic Attack roll when you declare your next actions.

The Mustang remains on its side on the ground. It kicks wildly at nothing.

Polkitain lands with thud near the Mustang. Right now, it is very clear to the dragon that a malevolent supernatural evil is present. He can feel it in his spines. The dragon's telepathic query is answered with...

Kalista sees her Glittermount stumble and fall onto its knees.

Samuel can be finished donning is armor now as I don't want him to miss out on this entire scene while he changes if there is something you would like for him to try.

Irritated by the flurry of crows diving and cawing at him, Nyx nonetheless took in the watcher with the green eyes and turned his attention fully towards it, loosing a pair of shots at the bird as it balanced on the fence

Doc, like his twin, took aim at the green eyed crow. As quickly as his eyes turned, so did his guns. He fired.

OOC these attacks are assuming a save, post can be edited if need be.
07:39, Today: Doc rolled 9 using 4d6.  dmg if hit.

07:39, Today: Doc rolled 6 using 1d20+4.  two shots for the green eyed crow.


07:38, Today: Doc rolled 9 using 1d20.  save vs psychic attack +2 if it's mind control.

"I sense supernatural evil and I am getting that they feed off fear."

"I don't think the crows need to be killed they may just have been caught up in this. This one though seems to be a focal point."

"We don't wish to take your fear, we don't feed off such things. We can talk so no more crows need to be harmed. Are you willing to stop the attack and talk ?"

Samuel, his armor, and rifle in hand appear approximately 200ft up in the air a little to the side of the Behemoth. This so he wont land on it. During the half a second of slow free-fall he evaluates the situation. On his way to the ground he shoots the crow that the others are facing off against on the pole.

Kalista fired a grenade at the birds on tree/near remains of tree.

Polkitain grew more and more stressed as people kept firing.

His tail flicking back and forth held low.

I made an error, people. I called for rolls to Save vs Psionics. It's actually Saves vs Horror Factor that I needed. The relevant text for this monsters specifically reads, Their victims must already be alarmed if not already scared for this ability to work. They must also stare at their victim's eyes as their prey stares back at the glowing green ones. The victim must make a Save vs Horror Factor of 14 (17 if more than 30 are present) against this ability. The crows may attempt this action twice per melee round. The saves versus psychic attacks and mind control come into play later.

I have consulted character sheets for the appropriate bonuses. I am really trying to avoid invoking initiative rules here because that interferes with natural posting rates. Here is what shakes out next...

Nyx and Doc both take aim at the spooky crow on the fence and feel their concern grow into a sudden surge of adrenaline-feed panic. Both find themselves unable to fight the creature. Their hands shake too much to draw aim. Instead, they very, very much would like to run away.

Around this same time, Samuel appears at the edge of the battlefield. His presence goes unnoticed by all. Since there is a bonus to strike mentioned, I am assuming that this is not really a wild shot but an aimed shot he is making.

Polkitain's queery towards the branch-sitting crow is answered rudely.

Kalista's grenade launcher punts a live round against the trunk of the tree. In a jaw-rattling and ear pounding explosion, the center of the tree and everything within a ten foot blast radius is reduced an instant later to smoke, ash, and tiny pieces of debris. The Mustang takes another five points of damage from shrapnel. The other three horses are sort of knocked sideways but don't look damaged.

Polkitain alone sees something extraordinary happen next. Two translucent raven-like beings emerge fluttering from the smoke. They fly past him and straight into the bodies of two of the surviving crows near the twins.

Remaining crows: 4

Kalista notices that her Glittermount is pushing itself upright again.

Samuel's shot will go off in my next post.

Ethan  was surprised but not afraid exactly of everything that was unfolding outside the Behemoth. The swarm of crows, the dragon belching poison gas and Sam appearing in mid air, falling and firing his weapon. “Not to mention that one crow with the glowing green eyes…” but then that particular crow ceases to exist as Kalista blows up that crow and the tree it was sitting on. “Well that’s one way to solve the problem,” he muses. Then he spots the flesh and blood horse being injured from all the splash damage and the claws of the crows.

His healer’s instincts flare to life and he wills a protective dome of force over the horse, large enough to accommodate it if it makes it to its feet. Then he sprints for the main exit hatch of the Behemoth, not bothering to put on his armor first.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:51, Thu 30 June 2016.

Polkitain seemed to have a dawning look of understanding come over him but only Nyx and Doc could probably read his draconic features.

"I think this situation may be my fault. The crows fear of me drew what possessed them to come here."

When the grenade went off Polkitain winced and fell sideways shaking his head. He blinked and then his eyes opened wider. He looked to be slightly in pain.

"Oh." Polkitain said his eyes tracing something unseen to the others.

"Possessing spirits of some kind, spirit ravens. I think I have a picture of what happened. The crows became afraid of me which drew these spirits to them. Then they wanted to feed off your fears. They might be feeding off your horses fear Sir Arulas. Two of the spirits flew into those crows." He gestured to the newly possessed crows.

"If we leave and do not produce fear they may simply go elsewhere. Otherwise it is spirits we would need to be prepared to face. These crows are not at fault."

Arulas lowers the weapon. "Polk that makes some sense, but they attacked. All they had to do was fly away. Not to mention that they found us after we made camp. Fighting isn't an option in this case. They want the fight. I get it I do. This isn't about killing innocent crows. The spirits are out for blood Polk. We have to stop them." with that he aims carefully at the lead crow with the rifle. When he is sure he has it lined up he shoots. He drops his rifle onto the ground, but off to the side. Then starts to concentrate his hands start glowing brilliant white.

Polk shook his head hard when he saw Sir Arulas speaking in his direction. Not like he was saying no, but more like he was getting his hearing back.

Catching some of Sir Arulas words, Polkitain nodded.

"Alright."

He turned to the crows remaining, "You need to go." He moved to Ethan to protect his unarmored friend.

Nyx blinks hard. He had begun to fall under the effects of this strange attack, but his mental discipline from years of psychic training served him well. He shook off the hypnotic effects. Doc, however, did fall victim to the corvid's mesmerizing stare. He steadied his aim again at plump feathered target --

Samuel's weapon fired before Nyx squeezed his trigger. A laser from the Operator's Wilks 577 struck the still target on the fence. The bird vanished in a flash, leaving behind only some burning features and a cloud of red vapor.

Polkitain alone can see another translucent bird spirit on the fence exactly where the living bird was sitting one second ago.

The entrance hatch on the Behemoth opens, and Ethan emerges from it.

Arlus finds that his target away was taken Samuel's shot. He moves his aim to one of the other remaining crows who are flapping around the twins. BANG! His weapon takes off the head of one more crow.

Remaining live crows: 3

Arlus immediately drops his gun to the dirt and begins the process of psychically forging his favored weapon.

Doc still feels the terror gripping him. He is unable to make any offensive actions. On the other hand, the Mustang has stopped kicking.

The crows which had been scampering around the twins shift their attention. One turns its eyes toward Samuel who just dramatically announced his presence. The other hopped a half circle to face Kalista. I need Saves vs Horror Factor of 14 from both of you before you take any further actions.

08:11, Today: Kalista rolled 12 using 1d20+5.  sv HF.

Kalista is paralyzed for a moment by her fear.

Polkitain interposed himself between Ethan and the crows extending his wings protectively incidentally making himself look bigger.

"My friends your only killing the crows not the spirits possessing them. Can any of you see spirits and entities ?"

"I think, I may have a way of affecting the spirits."

Polk winced as he heard the crash.



How many spirits can Polkitain see ?

This message was last edited by the player at 15:11, Fri 01 July 2016.

Samuel continues to fall, but reaching the ground his exoskeleton's enhanced strength takes up the force as he hits the ground. He does go down to a kneeling position and has his rifle raised looking for additional targets.

"And if there are no crows they can't take up residence and mind frell us Polk. What is the alternative."

There are currently three live crows in the area. One is now landing on the fence around Nyx and Doc. A second is in the grass near Kalista. A third is in the grass near Samuel. I am not counting the dozen or so crows twitching on the ground under the effects of Polkitain's toxin.

Polkitain can only see the spirits when they are outside of a body. To see a spirit while it is possessing a body, one would need See Aura or at least Sense Presence. He can currently see one spirit still perched on the fence where its body had been blow away. That's a total of four crows in the area, 3 live and 1 visible spirit.

Ethan is looking at the backside of a dragon who has just leap in front of him, all wings spread and fangs on display.

Samuel catches a glimpse of illuminated green in the eyes of the crow that is hopping towards him, but he does not feel the paralyzing fear take hold.

Kalista on the other hand experiences something different. Despite facing down master vampires and other horrors, something about the glow of this crow's eyes is unique. It's fearfulness is potent when it takes hold. She can run or shout, but she cannot attack right now.

Nyx is not currently under any effects, but he does have some splattered crow blood all over him.

The two Arabian horses are still just standing near the creek as if nothing interesting is happening.

I am going to call this the end of a melee round and the beginning of another. This round, Arulas' psi-sword will form. Kalista and Doc will each need to make a saving throw versus psychic attack (standard rules, but there is a -2 penalty to roll while under the initial fear effect).
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:41, Fri 01 July 2016.

Polkitain lets his eyes sweep over the area. Studying the crows.

Doc is still dumbstruck with a feeling of fear.

13:55, Today: Doc rolled 11 using 1d20.  save please.

Nyx's fingers squeezed the triggers of both pistols for a moment, before he eased back the pressure. Out of the corner of his mouth he asked the dragon, "Tell me why I shouldn't end them, Polk?"
This message was last edited by the player at 13:08, Sat 02 July 2016.

"I might be able to effect the spirits and not the crows. I am trying to find out how many spirits there are."

Ethan is surprised by the abrupt appearance of Polk in all his dragon glory. His wings completely block his view of what was left of the tree and the crows but that was alright with Ethan. “The big guy wants to run interference for me, that’s fine,” he thought has he sprinted for the injured mustang.

An instant before his mad dash would slam him into the nearly invisible barricade of his force field, the dome seems to flicker in and out of existence. In the span of two heartbeats, it disappears only to reappear the moment Ethan is past its threshold. He slides to a stop like a runner coming into home plate with the ball hot on his heels. Then he lays his unarmored hands on the horse.

Ethan reaches the horse and begins performing his services as this team's medic. He seems unconcerned about any dangers around him.

Doc begins to see a multitude of crows all around him. His vision fills with feathers and talons closing in on him. Doc has begun to experience the hallucination of being torn apart by an endless number of crows. I will let the player describe the experience and how Doc reacts to it.

Polkitain squints and begins perceiving his surroundings through his third eye. Observing auras, he sees that there are three spirits present. One of them is bodiless and perched on the fence. The second is revealed by the possessed aura of the crow near Kalista. The third spirit is inside of the crow near Samuel. None of the drugged crows nor the live crow who just hopped onto the fence are possessed. These three spirits have very malevolent auras. Polk also notices that Ethan's aura seems particularly strong for a human.

Arulas' psi-sword erupts to life from his hands.

With Sir Arulus' psi-sword flaring in to life, Nyx fires at the nearest crows in his line of sight - a single shot at each of them

As the crows appear, Doc starts shouting, "Too many of 'em!" as his arms flail wildly. Doc is swatting the crows away with his pistols, at least trying. No matter what he does, there always seems to be more. If he swats one, there are three in that ones place. Doc then starts running, stumbling and falling more than once, towards the Behemoth, "Get 'em off me!" he shouts, a cold sweat now breaking out on his forehead.