Everyone stumbles, we all fall and fail.  It is inevitable.  Finding another way, crawling forward and getting back up again is what makes you a hero.  –The Warrior; The Nature of Conflict, What do you fight for?

  You all gather in the inns tavern in the early morning hours.  It is just after four o’clock in the morning.  And the inn’s tavern is almost quite.  There is only the occasional snoring of a small band of farmers off to one side of the hall.  Whom have been laid down with clay basins beside them and some old and frayed woollen blankets upon them.
  At these hours there seemed to only be a lone golem about the inn, keeping watch over the building and its guests.  Though tall the golem was very old, its body was a patchwork of wood, stone and iron – most of which was rusted.  Its name was Luum and he spoke with a scratched, hollow voice.  Like that of young man spoken up through a stone well and metallic grates.
  He provided you with stew, bread, cheese and some pears along with very strong tea.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:00, Tue 27 May 2014.

Jubei was already sitting in the hall of the tavern and his expression was as bright and cheerful as a stormy autumn morning. He had no doubt paced up and down a good bit, given the peculiar arrangment of tables and chairs in spots where he had probably turned several times. Either way, now he was sitting at one of the many tables, leaning heavily onto it while he waited for the others to join him finally.

Phelan didn't seem fully aware of where he was, the lack of sleep having affected his orientation as he absently narrowly avoided colliding with some furniture. Lambent's action of waking him up had elicited a somewhat brusque greeting quickly followed by an apology. He felt exhausted; even his usual curiosity at the golem was somewhat muted. He was impressed at the power the simple Isleborn-created automatons had, but simply felt unable to work up the enthusiasm to study it.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:41, Wed 08 Jan 2014.

Those footfalls were liable to wake a bear out of its hibernation given the pressure behind them...as the woodsman would say, or any land dwelling folk; he was still getting used to this whole above liquid world anyways. Nonetheless, his body hadn't complained in this impromptu alarm, and so with little more than a few cracks and pops here, Enkii arises from his slumber and makes off to the inn with nary more than a yawn in his tracks...make no mistake though, he isn't as inattentive as appearances let on. Perhaps a better citation would be that his reaction didn't seem to suffer from the post-snooze malaise.

Thankfully, Xeela was not to get the ridged edge of a trident for breakfast as her familiar face snapped the Musadi back into his soldier-like stance. His apologies were customary, not in the least bit forced, and the extra companion was very much a comfort in this twilight hour. Holding the door open thus, he slithers inwards shortly whence Xeela herself would choose to part through, and takes up residence among his own coils next to Jubei's own bulk, quietly settling in, "'Morning..."

The night was long and sleep was to fleeting for Drex and only after Lambent has woken him did he became aware of the time, place and even who he was.

As usual Drex spent the first part of the morning arranging statutes, candles and trinkets of his gods in different orders and patterns before he joined the rest of the group he belongs to.

As he enters he seem to be in a far better mood than he was on leaving Galdion. "Good morning all hope you had a better nights res than I had." he said looking at Enkii first then looking at each at the table. Drex picks up a piece of cheese and puts it in his back pak, then takes a pear and gulps it down.

Lambent comes wandering in from outside. Anyone that had spared a look out a window would have seen him meditating in the courtyard, threads of psionic energy twisting around him as he focused his innate power and went through his martial exercises. It was a beautiful thing to watch. Small stones and items would hover a little more than an inch above the ground while motes of blue energy, barely visible in the light seemed to dance around him, following the movements of his limbs as he contained the energy inside him.

He regarded the repast with interest but did not eat anything, preferring to sip at the strong tea the golem had made.

Xeela hab been sitting on the edge of a chair for most of the morning, not feeling like talking to any of her not yet so awake team mates. Jubei also didn't seem to be a good choice to talk to and since she didn't have a topic to talk about anyhow she just remaned quitet, exept for when somebody grunted his 'good morning'. Usually then she lifted her right hand and greeted back.
Aside from that she managed to spend the entire morn' nibbling on an apple, slowly but steadily consuming it.

Jubei looked over his companions and let out a snorting grunt before he guzzled down some tea. "It would seem to me that most of us didn't had that good of a night's rest.", he said with a deep rumble and rubbed over his chin. "I would wager that we all had nightmares of some sort?", he continued on and shuffled a little before grabbing himself a whole loaf of bread along with some sizeable portion of stew. Though given his size that was probably closer to a small breakfast for him.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:58, Thu 09 Jan 2014.

"I would seem that way..." Drex takes a swig of water before he stats the obvious that they have to finish up and continue on there journey.

He takes a piece of cheese and puts it between two pieces of bread and eat this new creation of his.

Lambent says nothing as he listens to the conversation. He wouldn't call what he saw a 'nightmare' so much as a vision of sorts, but he would not let it trouble him.

"It is best not to dwell on the musings of the slumbering mind, friends. Let them pass as a duck lets water pass from his back and focus on the task at hand,"

Drex takes the last bite of his creation.
"That is true Lambent, but for sum people it is better to talk about it." Drex looks towards Phelan, "Can you, Phelan, remember anything of you "Dream", if I can call it that?"

"If you mean in regards to last night...?" The question trailed  off into a yawn. "I don't even remember sleeping, let alone any dreams. Kept waking up during the night." He nibbled on a piece of cheese absently.

Jubei listened to the others for the moment as he dipped his bread in the stew before eating that and then furrowed his brows a little. "I have to say I find it... peculiar. First we go investigate about strange dreams, and promptly we all suffer from nightmares... I'd say we should absolutely check out this conduit once we have time for it."

Drex looks at Jubei, "We can stop there, it is on our way to Kyssean and I think it should be close to the main road."

"So no one can remember anything of these nightmares?" Drex asks looking now to the rest of the group.

    Whether reluctant, unwilling or simply not able to recount the night’s visions the adventurers ate their early breakfast in near absolute silence.
  As the moon was falling towards the eastern horizon the party of adventurers departed from the inn and resumed their journey upon the northward bound road.  Not long after leaving the inn they made their way through a spares forest which dotted the low hills about them ran up to the lone mountain to the east and it was quite clear that the forest grew much denser there.

  Clearing the edge of the mountains foothills the paved road splitting off towards the northwest and the northeast, between the two roads stood a tall wooden sign.  Worn by the weather so much that what little paint remained upon the coming letters were little more than white flecks within the wooden engravings.  Even in the coppery moonlight it was easy to see that the sign pointing northwest read Stryne and the sign pointing northeast read Kyssea
  The morning wore on as the moon began to fade in the greying lightening sky as in the early dawning hours the stars too began to fade.  The road to Kyssea turned sharply east at what seemed to be the northernmost edge of the mountain’s forest.

  You all recall from your conversations in the guildhall that the mountain north of Galdion was home to a druidic settlement and that the druids of the Crystal Isles were hostile to strangers when compared to the more neutral attitude their other druidic brethren scattered throughout the world.  They did not abide trespassers and occasionally visited nearby villages and small towns for trade and conversation.

  When the eye of the sun rose over the western horizon the adventurers found themselves beneath thick, dark clouds.  Far more foreboding then was usual for the temperamental weathers of the isles.  What was more peculiar was the stillness here.  The breezes had died and not a single insect or animal call could be heard.  Not even the stirring of the tall grass or the leaves on the nearby trees.

  As the sun rose it vanished behind the clouds overhead casting the party of adventurers into near absolute darkness.  The eerily distant horizon, from which they had come, was barely visible and it was only about a mile behind them.  If they were to proceed they would have to do so with the aid of their own lanterns.


living of their greatest weapon against the living dead.
  Drex and Enkii’s lanterns light your way as you continue upon your journey.  Without the sun it is difficult to tell the passage of time though you soon think you can make out a gathering of lights not far on the horizon.
  Drex you keen ears catch and unusual sound just to the north of your position the movement of some animal clearly on the prowel.  You warn your companions to prepare themselves for whatever it may be.

Congratulations on entering your first battle in this game!  Would you all be so kind as to roll Initiative?  Rules about how combat is handled in this play-by-post game can be found in the house rules section.  Please note that the area outlined by the green dashed lines is the space within which you may place yourselves for the battle.
Terrain features are negligible in this battle and thus have not been drawn in for the sake of simplicity.
Drex and Enkii you are both carrying lanterns which sheds bright light within 10 squares of you.  I will be indicating what areas are dim and dark around you by means of appropriately coloured boxes (again see the house rules).
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:09, Sat 11 Jan 2014.

Phelan began to feel nervous as he recalled information discussed about a hostile druidic settlement in the area. He held his crossbow in an attempt to reassure himself, even as he looked around cautiously.

8 for initiative. Please place Phelan in a central position relative to the party (mostly to coup the benefits most of Magic Weapon). Failing that, he would be located at O15.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:43, Tue 14 Jan 2014.

Jubei had stayed rather alert the moment this odd weather had appeared. His weapons were held at the ready for whatever may come. Though that being said, he never seemed to be not ready as he probably even slept in his armour.

20 for Initiative, boooyah! Being 'the big guy' Jubei would be placed at the front of the group. M-N, 16-17 or whichever spot that would be.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:48, Sun 12 Jan 2014.

Sensing his companions' alertness raised, Lambent slid seamlessly into his battle stance and moved to stand next to Jubei. His usually blue eyes had gone a shade of purple as a hint of red started to enter the usually calm exterior.

18 Initiative. Standing next to Jubei on his left.

Xeela furrowed her brows upon the strange changes in the environment. Seeing how some of the others already took their batteling positions she grabbed for her crossbow.

Initiative 23. Standing back a little, R15

Enkii could readily sense the rise in tension amidst the rest of the group with almost animal intent, not to mention this uncanny darkness had already put him on edge. His trident's near constant display is put thusly to use as he readies it in hand...!!

Initiative 6, Enkii stands at ready behind the rest of the group, being among its two largest; if Jubei is to hold fort from the front, than he finds it fit to watch the rear and maneuver from there!

Sensing the approaching danger Drex put his lantern down and ready his Great-Axe. Kneeling to center himself in the moment, focusing on all his senses.

Initiative 6, Drex is centered and perceptive of all around him, biding his time to take deadly action. N14 Lantern on M14
This message was last edited by the player at 06:05, Tue 14 Jan 2014.

Initiative Order;
1st Xeela
2nd Decrepit Skeletons
3rd Nightmare Wraith
4th Jubei
5th Gravehounds
6th Lambent
7th Skeletal Archers
8th Phelan
9th Enkii
10th Drex

    As the adventurers pause in their journey they turn towards the dark plains to the north, in the direction Drex was facing.  Moments later half a dozen shambling, skeletal corpses intruded into the party’s twin pools of light.
  Each of these skeletal warriors was armed with an ancient, blackened longsword and a sickly green, wooden short bow.  The remains which constituted their bodies appeared to be that of long dead doola tywuar and where dressed in studded leather armour so weathered and worn that it appeared to be just barely keeping together.  Each of these skeletons carries a heavy shield, made of the same sickly green wood as their short bows and strapped to their left arm.
  Barely visible within the dark interiors of their rotted frames writhed with a faint red light, a clear sign of the foul sorceries that had conjured up these undead.
  The skeletons fan out quickly, their bows in their bony hands where already drawn as they fired Enkii and Drex.

  Decrepit Skeleton I moves from I4 to J6, then fires it’s short bow at Enkii.  Miss.
  Decrepit Skeleton II moves from J6 to I7, then fires it’s short bow at Enkii.  Miss.
  Decrepit Skeleton III moves from H7 to H8, then fires it’s short bow at Enkii.  Hit, Enkii takes 5 physical damage.
  Decrepit Skeleton IV moves from G10 to H11, then fires it’s short bow at Drex. Miss.
  Decrepit Skeleton V moves from F12 to G13, then fires it’s short bow at Drex.  Hit, Drex takes 5 physical damage.
  Decrepit Skeleton VI moves from E13 to F16, then fires it’s short bow at Drex.  Hit, Drex takes 5 physical damage.

  An eerie, ghostly presence encroaches upon the adventurers as they glimpse half-formed, shadow beasts at the edge of their vision.  Fear almost seizing their hearts as they each feel some unseen presence about them, readying itself to pounce…
  Each of you, (with the exception of Xeela this round) upon the start of your turn suffers 5 psychic damage and a -2 penalty to all your defences and saving throws until the start of your next turn.


  Following the skeletal warriors are the remains of feral hounds.  Each beast stood over 4 feet tall at its shoulders and appeared to have been stitched together with thick lumps of flesh from various beasts.  They howl and charge at Jubei and Enkii.

  Gravehound I moves from E7 to K13 then charges to M15 and attacks Jubei with Foul Bite.  Miss.
  Gravehound II moves from G4 to M10then charges to O12 and attacks Enkii with Foul Bite.  Miss.

  Far to the back of the lines formed by the skeletal warriors stood two human skeletons, both seemed more intact then the skeletal warriors and wore leather armour which was just as decayed as that of the other skeletons.  A short sword rested on flimsy belts at their sides and each held a large powerful longbow in its hands.  And with speed drew two arrows each and fired one after the other at Drex, Lambent, Phelan and Jubei.

  Skeletal Archer I attacks Lambent and Phelan with Double Shot.  Both attacks Hit, Lambent takes 20 physical damage and Phelan you take 14 physical damage as an arrow strikes each of you.
  Skeletal Archer II attacks Drex and Jubei with Double Shot.  Both attacks Hit, Drex takes 19 physical damage and Jubei you take 21 physical damage as an arrow strikes each of you.

Right, that is it for the monsters actions on the first round, please not that your actions will come in the right spot in the initiative order, so the actions of monsters after your turn or their actions after your turn may cause them to retarget someone else.  However that should be unlikely.  Keep in mind that if any monsters die before their turn then their actions are negated.

I will be the end of round summary tomorrow so you each have until then to make your actions, remember if you do not write a post with your actions you do not act.

Edit; I should note that there was now suprise round as both groups became aware of each other at about the same time.
Supplementary Edit; the darkened area is dim light and finally please, please, PLEASE! note that the initiative order determines when things happen for you all.  The monsters don't just magically act before you all.  They have an order which I wrote out before hand.  Your actions can change the results, all of this is just speculative things that COULD happen, thus why there will be an END OF ROUND SUMMARY which will determine exactly what DID happen.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:51, Mon 13 Jan 2014.

Wincing from the strange energy, Lambent swings his staff with one hand round to the strange wraith that came up behind him, the staff glowing with elemental fire as he tried to slam the creature with it.

18 vs Reflex to hit wraith in 0-16.
Deals 6 fire damage.

Should he hit he twists around on the heels of his feet as the momentum of the attack twirls him around as his free hand glowed with primordial flame that slams into the wraith as well

Desert Wind Flurry of blows deal an extra 6 fire damage to the wraith in 0-16.
Total damage: 12 fire damage

He readies himself for the creature to retaliate before an arrow from behind makes him fall.

-1 HP
This message was last edited by the player at 11:31, Tue 14 Jan 2014.

Happy to have choosen a position this far in the back Xeela lifts her crossbow to fight back against the sudden attackers.

Moving to R11, then fires a Ranged basic Attack at Decrepit Skeleton I with a Sup.Crossbow. Attack roll 16. Damage 9. Also making a Perception check, 36
This message was last edited by the player at 22:44, Mon 13 Jan 2014.

  Xeela, you notice two shadow specter's hiding in the shadows cast by your companions.  Their forms are those of robed humanoids, though their bodies and clothing tapers into rags and nothingness where their would have been knees on any normal humanoid.  Their limbs are black and seemingly skeletal their hands ending in sharp claws and only a roiling mask of flickering, black smoke appears visible beneath their cowls.

  She promptly alerts her companions to their precise location.

Please note that the Nightmare Wraiths have Concealment (a -2 penalty to attack rolls against them) unless you make a DC15 Peception check (with a +4 bonus from Xeela on your check) which will negate their Concealment for you specifically.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:55, Mon 13 Jan 2014.

"Foul abominations! I will crush you!", the hulking Kaetyma roars out, only to look rather bewildered when Xeela pointed out the spectre in his shadow. Swiftly he turns to face the creature, his axe burning with radiant light.

Perception check: 18 (forgot to add the +4 for the Xeela spotting)
Attack Roll with Virtous Strike: 20
Damage Roll with Virtous Strike: 6 radiant

Uses Divine Challenge to mark NW1
-2 attack rolls to any attacks not including Jubei. Will take 8 radiant damage on the first attack not including Jubei.

Phelan grunted as the arrow struck him, swaying slightly at the sudden burst of pain. He shook his head and looked at his allies. Drex was down, Lambent was down. "We are not losing anyone today..." Phelan growled. He reached for one of his infusions and threw it at Lambent, revitalising the Ehuron.

Then, he took note of Xeela's alert, turning around and taking a nervous and careful step backward. He eyed the spirit, then his crossbow. Then  fired, releasing a burst of magical energy around him as he did so.

Minor Action - Healing Infusion: Curative Admixture on Lambent. Heal for Surge+3. Do NOT expend a healing surge.

Minor action - Perception Check: 25

Standard Action: Magic Weapon on NWII (IF NWII is dead THEN target NWI)
Attack roll: 14 vs AC(WHY)
Damage roll on the off chance it hits: 7 (forgot my int mod is 5)
On hit: Adjacent allies get +1 to attack rolls and +3 to damage rolls until the end of my next turn.

... Maybe I should just stick to making Heal checks. Also, if it is capable the Wraith gets an Opportunity Attack against me, remember that I get +2 to AC against it.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:09, Tue 14 Jan 2014.

As the third arrow hits Drex in the right lung, he slumps forward from his kneeling position. The great-axe now loosely ling in his lifeless hands.

Strength of the Wilds: triggers [5temp HP] (racial class feature)

Vital Surge (Racial Power)
Immediate reaction
Trigger: Your hitpoints are reduced to equal or lower then your bloodied value.
Effect: You immediate spend a healing surge and gain regeneration 5 + 1/2 your level until the end of the encounter, you also gain a +2 bonus to all attack and damage rolls you make until the end of your next turn.


Drex takes 5 Psychic Damage

Deep in his unconscious mind something snaps him back to the world around him. In this stat of being he thinks to him self,"I must not die not now... I Must keep..." Drex's fur glows a silver color as the arrows drop on the ground around him.

He stand up. [move action]
He quickly swallows his healing potion Healing 10 [minor action]
Perception check: 37 [non action]
Spying the shadowy Nightmare Wraiths, and the Gravehound next to him. He closes his eyes for a brief second, the holy symbol around his neck begins to glow as he Channels the Aurelian Pantheon's Divinity through him.
A burst of Divine Light radiates out from Drex, toward the closest Nightmare Wraiths [NWII]
If the Attack that Enkii preformed downs the NWII Drex will instead make Abjure Undead target GHI.

Channel Divinity: Abjure Undead
Standard Action   Close burst 5
Target: One undead creature in burst
Attack: Wisdom vs. Will
Hit: 3d10 + Wisdom modifier radiant damage, and you pull the target a number of squares equal to 1 + your Wisdom modifier. The target is also immobilized until the end of your next turn.
Miss: Half damage, and you pull the target 1 square.

Attack roll:7
Damage: 20 (23) [full] 10 (11) [half] Radiant. Target can't be pulled no space. (bonus damage: +3 if Phelan's attack hits.)

Drex health is actually: HP: 27/19 | Surges: 8/6 | Regeneration: 5 
This message was last edited by the player at 06:25, Wed 15 Jan 2014.

This surprise was enough to throw Enkii off his guard if only for a momentary lapse, his hiss however more angered than it was pained as that arrow pierced his scaly bulk! Those meddlesome wraiths appearing and casting such vile visions across his focus did further to incite the mighty serpent's swelling wrath as he forced the butt of his trident on the ground and calmed himself momentarily, making to regain the pieces of his debilitated focus...!

Healing Surges Spent to Activate Second Wind (Surges Remaining 6/7). Enkii's HP is restored by 6 points, bringing him back up to 21 HP total. In addition, the bonus negates the -2 penalty to all defenses until the end of the next turn. Racial Power "Vitality" is activated as well, counting this as a Minor Action.

His composure restored, or at least enough that he can maintain himself, Enkii cautiously raises his trident and shuffled in his coils, proceeding forwards with truly serpentine posture as he closes in slowly towards Nightmare Wraith II.

Move Five Feet towards NW2

He narrows his eyes and lifts his trident...!! Enkii rolled 22 using 1d20+10  for Perception Check against Concealment. Successful!

...and uses Intuitive Strike on Nightmare Wraith II!

Attack: 20 vs Will
1[W] damage. Until the start of your next turn, any ally who attacks the target and has combat advantage against it gains a +2 power bonus to the attack roll.

Enkii rolled 7 using 1d8+2. Attack Successful! 7 DMG! to NWII
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:40, Wed 15 Jan 2014.

End of Round 1

  Xeela; your bolt flies true but glances off one of the shoulder bones of the skeleton.
Your attack missed although it was close.

  Jubei; your Virtous Strikes finds it’s mark and the flash of light tears through the wraith.  Which causes the wraith to shriek in agony as it is burned with divine fire.  After the glow has faded the wraith is clearly injured but half-as-much as you would otherwise have expected it to be.  Yet the nightmarish visions that the wraith had conjured up had vanished.
Drex and Lambent, you are not subject to the wraith’s aura due to Jubei’s attack negating the effect and therefore do not take 5 psychic damage nor do you take a -2 penalty to your defences.  At least for now.
  And your Divine Challenge takes effect upon the other wraith.

  Lambent; your fire blow strikes home though barely a lick of flame scorched the wraith’s ghostly robes.  Your next attack follows the first though leaves no more damage than the first upon the wraith.  Though it is quite clear now that it has taken a fair beating from both your attack’s and Jubei’s.
Just to be clear the wraith hasn’t been bloodied at this point, but it was almost bloodied.

  Phelan; your infusion restores Lambent’s frame enough to prevent the failsafe mechanism within the walkabout from triggering.
Active Perception checks are non-actions.  Please be mindful of this in future.  Carefully searching for something is a different subject.
  Though the bolt from your crossbow just misses the wraith and flies into the darkness beyond it.

  Enkii; your attack finds its mark though your blow only scratches the wraith.  However you have now flanked the creature.
Because the wraith is now flanked, Jubei and Enkii, the two of your have combat advantage against it.  Meaning you have a +2 bonus to your attack rolls against it.
The +2 weapon proficiency applies to attack rolls not the damage rolls of attacks that is what the enhancement bonus from magic items do.  So your attack damage is 5 not 7.

  Drex; restoring a portion of your life and fuelled by righteous indignation you lash out with divine power.  Even though the wraith’s raspy chuckle mocks your attempt to meet out divine justice upon it shrieks as divine fire catches it alight briefly.  Then the fire winks out an the wraith makes a terrible almost deafening noise as it screeches aloud.  Visions of their death pass through each of the nearby adventurers.
Everyone but Xeela please make a saving throw, if you score 9 or less you take 10 points of psychic damage.
  The wraith’s tattered form recovers it’s vitality as it laughs and whispers in voice that carries to each of the adventurers and seems to choke their hearts “There are no gods, only Death!”

Round 2 Begins

Initiative Order;
1st Xeela
2nd Decrepit Skeletons
3rd Nightmare Wraiths
4th Jubei
5th Gravehounds
6th Lambent
7th Skeletal Archers
8th Phelan
9th Enkii
10th Drex

The battlemap has been updated to reflect changes in position for both players and enemies.  F5/Refresh the map for the newest version if you don’t see it on the Game Map page under the appropriate slot in the drop down menu there at the bottom of the page.

  The skeletal warriors draw arrows from the quivers upon their backs and fire another volley at the adventurers.  Though the arrows find their mark, it is only Jubei’s armour which manages to deflect the arrows.
  Decrepit Skeleton I moves from J6 to K6, then fires its short bow at Xeela.  Hit, Xeela take 5 physical damage.
  Decrepit Skeleton II moves from I7 to J7, and then fires its short bow at Xeela.  Hit, Xeela take 5 physical damage.
  Decrepit Skeleton III moves from H8 to H9, and then fires its short bow at Enkii.  Hit, Enkii take 5 physical damage.
  Decrepit Skeleton IV remains at H11, and then fires its short bow at Jubei.  Misses.
  Decrepit Skeleton V remains at G13, and then fires its short bow at Jubei.  Misses.
  Decrepit Skeleton VI remains at F16, and then fires its short bow at Jubei.  Misses.

  The wraiths strike out at adventurers nearby with their terrible claws.
  Nightmare Wraith I moves from R13 to R12, Invoking an Opportunity Attack from Enki.  Then uses it’s Agonizing Touch against Xeela.  Hits, Xeela take 8 physical damage and 5 ongoing psychic damage (save ends).
Edit: Because it ignored Jubei's Divine challenge it takes 8 radiant damage and thus has it's aura negated.
  Nightmare Wraith II remains at O16, then uses its Agonizing Touch against Jubei.  Misses.
Xeela,take 5 psychic damage and suffer a -2 penalty to your defences and saving throws on the start of your turns.

  The hounds renew their attacks yet cannot find purchase upon the adventurers.
  Gravehound I remains at M15 and attacks Jubei with Foul Bite.  Misses.
  Gravehound II moves from O12 to N13 and attacks Drex with Foul Bite.  Misses.

  The skeletal archers, far at the back, and illuminated only by the dim light from the lanterns make another assault upon the part of adventurers with their great and ancient longbows.
  Skeletal Archer I remains at C3 and attacks Enkii with Longbow.  Hit, Enkii take 14 physical damage.
  Skeletal Archer II remains at B5 and attacks Jubei with Longbow.  Hit, Jubei take 8 physical damage.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:15, Wed 15 Jan 2014.

Phelan let out a pained yelp as the yell tore through his ears and the visions tore through his mind.

3. Well that was an awful roll. Phelan takes 5 psychic damage.

STATUS AT START: 4/23 HP, -2 All Defences, -2 Saving Throws

He looked around, eyes targeting on the gravehound that had moved up beside him. Making a quick decision, he carefully moved back to his previous position in the centre of the group.

Move action: Shift O14 > O15.

He was again next to the wraith, and breathed deeply, calling up some reserves of strength to get him through this fight.

Standard Action: Second Wind. Heal for 5. +2 to all defences until start of my next turn, thus negating the effects of the aura.

He then quietly reloaded his crossbow, watching carefully for any further actions against him.

Minor action: Reload

Having reloaded his crossbow, he frowned at the opposition, attempting to recall if he had read anything about them in his research.

Knowledge Check - Undead Creatures (Nightmare Wraiths, Skeletal Archers, Gravehounds, Decrepit Skeletons): 22!

Seeing the danger of the situation, he called upon a burst of energy to fight further, taking aim at one of the wraiths, and firing.

Action Point spent! Regain 2 hit points from Inspiring Presence.

Magic weapon targeting <SEE TARGET PRIORITY> [If NWII is alive, it gets an Opportunity Attack first]
23 vs AC
Damage: 10
On hit: Allies adjacent to me gain +1 to attack and +3 to damage rolls until the end of my next turn.

TARGET PRIORITY
1. NWII
2. NWI
3. SAI

Heal check to enable Lambent to use his Second Wind: 26!

STATUS AT END: 11/23 HP (possibly lower from Opportunity attack), -2 Saving Throws
This message was last edited by the player at 16:05, Wed 15 Jan 2014.

Not even having a chance to rise to his feet, Lambent's mind is torn by the wraith's unholy scream as he collapses on the ground...again.

Saving Throw 6
Used Oversoul to add 1d6...rolled a 1
Total Saving Throw 7
-3 hp

Death Saving Throw 5 (strike one!)
This message was last edited by the player at 11:10, Wed 15 Jan 2014.

Drex's [14 Saving against Physic damage]  mind is centered in the moment, ignoring any Physic distractions.

Drex gains 5Hp at start of his turn (Vital Surge racial)

Drex makes a swift decision moving to engage the Nightmare Wraith [NWII] the Gravehounds lunging after him as he moves. (From N14 to Q14 next to Q16 [move action]) His holy symbol glows once more.

Radiant Vengeance
At-Will ✦ Divine, Implement, Radiant
Standard Action Ranged 10
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d8 + Wisdom modifier radiant damage, and you gain temporary hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Attack roll: 13 (14) vs. Reflex (+1 buff from Phelan if his attack hits)
Damage: 10 (13) Radiant (+3 buff from Phelan if his attack hits)
Drex gains 4 Temp Hp

Fulled with Divine Power Drex summons forth another burst of strength [Spend an Action point] gaining 2 Hp from Inspiring Presence.

Shifting through his allies (halting at  M14) and swinging his Greataxe at the Gravehound [GHI] infront of Lambent.

Angelic Alacrity
Encounter ✦ Divine, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Effect: Before the attack, you shift 1 + your Dexterity modifier of squares. Censure of Pursuit
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Wisdom modifier damage.

Attack roll: 25 (26) vs. AC (+1 buff from Phelan if his attack hits)
Damage roll: 15 (18) (+3 buff from Phelan if his attack hits)

End health: 26/27 if no Opportunity attacks hit & 4 Temp Hp.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

If Jubei attacks the Nightmare Wraith [NWII] and kills it, Drex's attacks will change to:

Angelic Alacrity
Encounter ✦ Divine, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Effect: Before the attack, you shift 1 + your Dexterity modifier of squares. Censure of Pursuit
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Wisdom modifier damage.

Drex moves swiftly with the hounds to slow to take advantage (Ending his shift in L16) He brings down the might of his Greataxe on the Gravehound [GHI]

Attack roll: 25 (26) vs. AC (+1 buff from Phelan if his attack hits)
Damage roll: 15 (18) (+3 buff from Phelan if his attack hits)

Fulled with Divine Power Drex summons forth another burst of strength [Spend an Action point] gaining 2 Hp from Inspiring Presence.

[Minor action] Drex focus his the hatred of the vile undead on the Gravehound next to him.

Oath of Enmity
Encounter (Special) ✦ Divine
Minor Action Close burst 10
Target: One enemy you can see in burst
Effect: When you make a melee attack against the target and the target is the only enemy adjacent to you, you make two attack rolls and use either result. This effect lasts until the end of the encounter or until the target drops to 0 hit points, at which point you regain the use of this power.
If another effect lets you roll twice and use the higher result when making an attack roll, this power has no effect on that attack. If an effect forces you to roll twice and use the lower result when making an attack roll, this power has no effect on that attack either. If an effect lets you reroll an attack roll and you rolled twice because of this power, you reroll both dice.

Attacking with his Greataxe once more.

Overwhelming Strike
At-Will ✦ Divine, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Wisdom modifier damage. You shift 1 square and slide the target 1 square into the space you occupied.


Attack roll results: 7 and 13 chose 13
Attack roll: 13 (14) vs. AC (+1 buff from Phelan if his attack hits)
Damage roll: 16 (19) (+3 buff from Phelan if his attack hits)
If attack hits Drex shifts into K16 and sliding GHI into position L16

End health: 26/27 and 5 Temp Hp
This message was last edited by the player at 18:13, Wed 15 Jan 2014.

Jubei let out another roar as an arrow fired by the archers struck him in the back.

Current HP at this point 5/31
Having denied Jubei's Divine Challenge Nightmare Wraith I takes 8 radiant damage.

Badly injured through the fiendish arrow and stuck in desperate combat, the big Kaetyma grits his teeth and steels his resolve to continue fighting.

Uses standard action and spends a healing surge to trigger Second Wind regaining 11 HP and gaining +2 defense until next turn.
Also uses his action point to regain the standard action, healing 2 HP in the process.
Current HP at this point 18/31

With renewed vigor Jubei uses a Valorous Smite against the wraith.

Valorous Smite
Encounter ✦ Divine, Weapon
Standard Action        Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Charisma vs. AC
Hit: 2 [W|+Charisma modifier damage. Each enemy within
3 squares of you is subject to your divine sanction until
the end of your next turn.

Attack roll: 18 on 1d20 + 7 (3 charisma mod, 2 profiency, 2 flanking)
Damage roll: 12 on 2d10 + 3 (3 charisma mod)
A hit will apply Divine Sanction to both Gravehounds and Nightmare Wraith II, causing 6 radiant damage if they do not include Jubei in their attacks.

After his smite Jubei turns to glare at the Gravehound stalking up behind Phelan, divine power letting it know that there will be consequences if it lashes out.

Minor action for Divine Challenge on Gravehound II.
It will take 8 radiant damage if it does not include Jubei in it's first attack.

Divine Challenge
At-Will ✦ Divine, Radiant
Minor Action           Close burst 5
Target: One creature in burst
Effect: The target is marked, and remains marked until you use this power against another target.
While marked the target takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls for any attack that does not include you as a target.  Also it takes radiant damage equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier ( + Strength modifier due to Mighty Challenge feat) the first time it makes and attack that doesn't include you as a target before the start of your next turn.

What then followed wasn't probably the most graceful move in history, but it would suffice for what it was supposed to do as the big Kaetyma leaned over to reach the prone Ehuron and a brief moment of focusing later enabled the metal to mend itself.

Turns move action into minor action and uses Lay on Hands on Lambent.

Lay on Hands
At-Will (Special) ✦ Divine, Healing
Minor Action         Melee touch
Target: One creature
Effect: You spend a healing surge but regain no hit points. Instead, the target regains hit points as if it had spent a healing surge. You must have at least one healing surgeremaining to use this power.

Healing Surges left: 11 (oh noes D: )
This message was last edited by the player at 10:47, Thu 16 Jan 2014.

The broad doola roars as she is hit by the Wrait's attack, but tries to keep her focus, aiming for the biggest thread on the fiel, the Skeletal archers.

Health now at 21/26
Move action - moving to R9

Having a clear view at the Skeletal archer I now Xeela raises her crossbow, firing an unbalacing shot at him.

Unbalancing Shot
Encounter * Martial, Weapon
Standert Action      Ranged weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Dexternity vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Dexternity modifier damage, and the target is slowed down until the end of turn.

Attack roll: 18 vs AC
Damage roll: 12

Angrily Xeela shouts to Enkii: "Get that darn Wraith off my back if you could, thankyou!"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:47, Wed 15 Jan 2014.

Enkii rolled 5 using 1d20. Saving vs Psychic. Failed!

Whatever actions the Musadi might have been capable of making falter under the merciless assault on both his body and his mind; as another arrow adds to its tally within his chest and his eyes begin to flutter and stutter, his mighty bulk sinks down feebly upon leaning onto the butt of his trident in certain disgrace to his countenance.

As sights and sounds begin to dimmer and blot, he feels an encroaching death's numbness penetrate each of its fingers slowly throughout his body.

Curent HP -7/25

Enkii rolled 9 using 1d20. Death Save. Failed!

Xeela; as you make your movement invoked an opportunity attack from the wraith, which misses.  Your attack finds its mark on the skeletal archer.

Jubei; your strike hits the wraith soundly though the blow does not appear to have been as severe as you might have hoped.  After your challenge to the Gravehound you turn to Lambent and heal his metallic form.

Lambent; you wake again to find yourself on a familiar patch of dirt.

Phelan; as your reload your crossbow you recall a few details about the undead.
Undead:  Are immune to poisons and diseases being only the semblance of live rather than live itself.  They are resistant to necrotic powers and particularly vulnerable to radiant powers.  Most undead have a strong aversions to sunlight or can even be outright destroyed by it.
Nightmare Wraiths: All wraith’s are spiritual remnants created upon the death of a living being as a result of either having a powerful spirit, being killed by another wraith, possessing a strong will or due to the deceased having being under the influence of powerful emotion or magic at the moment of death.
  Nightmare Wraiths are some of the weakest form of wraiths and are believed to have been spawned from those who perished in fear.  Their powers are usually psychic in nature and they call upon the fears of others to cause pain, suffering and to even stun their victims.  They are adept ambushers and their insubstantial nature makes them rather resilient to harm.  When pressed they can even feed upon the nightmares that lurk in the hearts of the living to restore their damaged forms.  They are however particularly vulnerable to radiant energy and are debilitated by it.
  Your burst of arcane power strikes true and infuses the weapons of your surrounding companions.  The nightmare wraith before you attempts to take this opportunity to strike at your and just barely misses your small form by the width of a hair.  Though from what you now know, the insubstantial nature of the wraith means it takes only about half the damage from your attack, thus why it has been shrugging your companions blows.
The Wraith’s auras have been negated until their turn on round 4; you have no penalty to your defences.

Enkii; remains unconscious, his large form coiled up upon the road.

Drex; as you move the other Gravehound tries to bite you but misses.  Though this attack cost’s it dearly as it is struck by the divine powers Jubei had enacted upon the fiends around him dealing terrible blows to it making the hound yelp as parties of its flesh are sundered from its body.
  Thereafter your first attack finds easy purchase on the Nightmare Wraith.  Causing the thing the scream and shudder in agony as it curses at you “The darkness will swallow you!” before you shift and make your second attack upon the Gravehound and tear into it with your axe causing it to yelp and cringe in pain as well.
Congratulations Drex you just bloodied both Gravehounds.

Xeela you are up first.

Seeing how she got surrounded by more of the ungodly enemies, and how the mighty hulky warrior next to her collapsed, the Tywar decided it would be good to have a change of position and swiftly transported her ass to a, in her opinion more safe position.

Moving to M13
Also using the minor action for the Crossbow reload.

Then, readying another bolt in her crossbow she targetted the Skeletal archer I once more with a Deft strike.


Deft Strike
At-Will ✦ Martial, Weapon Standard Action Melee or Ranged weapon Requirement: You must be wielding a crossbow, a light blade, or a sling. Target: One creature Special: You can move 2 squares before the attack. Attack: Dexterity vs. AC Hit: 1[W] + Dexterity modifier damage.

Moving further to M15, then shooting at Skeletal archer I.
Attack roll: 18 Vs. AC
Damage roll: 15

Loudly she cursed at the grup of monsters that appeared, yelling insults and dirty words at the top of her lungs.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:37, Thu 16 Jan 2014.

  Xeela your bolt strikes the skeleton with a resounding crack.  The bolt knocked the skull clean off as with this blow the skeleton sags with a creak from its leather straps and collapses into a heap.  As you deftly move across the grass to cover Lambent and stand beside Jubei.

Decrepit Skeletons
  The skeletal warriors turn as one upon Xeela and fire their bows at her.  There is a swish of arrows flying fast through the air and in a moment Xeela finds three arrows having embedded themselves quire soundly in her chest.
  Decrepit Skeleton I uses it’s Shortbow attack upon Xeela.  Hits, Xeela take 5 physical damage.
  Decrepit Skeleton II uses it’s Shortbow attack upon Xeela.  Misses.
  Decrepit Skeleton III uses it’s Shortbow attack upon Xeela.  Misses.
  Decrepit Skeleton IV uses it’s Shortbow attack upon Xeela.  Hits, Xeela take 5 physical damage.
  Decrepit Skeleton V uses it’s Shortbow attack upon Xeela.  Hits, Xeela take 5 physical damage.
  Decrepit Skeleton VI uses it’s Shortbow attack upon Xeela. Misses.

Nightmare Wraiths
  With Xeela out of immediate reach the wraith that had assaulted her turns to Phelan instead.  While the other wraith reaches out to touch Jubei, although both of the adventurers avoid the wraith’s grasp.  Causing the wraiths to curse at the adventurers in anger.
  Nightmare Wraith I moves to O14 and uses it’s Agonizing Touch attack upon Phelan.  Misses.
  Nightmare Wraith II uses it’s Agonizing Touch attack against Jubei.  Misses.

The battle map has been updated to reflect these movements.
Next up is Jubei!  Followed by the Gravehounds then Lambent.

Jubei was getting rather vexed by the stoic behaviour of the wraith which just seemed to soak up his attacks as if they meant nothing. Again his weapon was coated in radiant light as he struck out at it.

Uses Standard Action to apply Virtous Strike

Virtuous Strike
At-Will ¨ Divine, Radiant, Weapon
Standard Action             Melee weapon
Target:  One creature
Attack: Charisma vs. A C
Hit: 1 [ W | + Charisma modifier radiant damage, and you
Gain a +2 bonus to saving throws until the start of your
next turn.

Attack Roll: 18
Damage Roll: 8 Radiant damage

His teeth again gritted and he let out a fierce snarl as he saw the second Nightmare Wraith approach in the corner of his eyes and stalk up behind Phelan, he wouldn't allow such transgression to go unchallenged!

Uses Minor Action to apply good ol Divine Challenge to Nightmare Wraith I.
8 Radiant damage and all.

Divine Challenge
At-Will ✦ Divine, Radiant
Minor Action           Close burst 5
Target: One creature in burst
Effect: The target is marked, and remains marked until you use this power against another target.
While marked the target takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls for any attack that does not include you as a target.  Also it takes radiant damage equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier ( + Strength modifier due to Mighty Challenge feat) the first time it makes and attack that doesn't include you as a target before the start of your next turn.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:24, Fri 17 Jan 2014.

  Jubei your radiant blade cuts through the wraith.  The undead creature seems stunned.  As you challenge the other wraith before you whisper “No…”
  An eerie green glow covers the wraith as begins to cry “NO!  PLEASE NO!  I can make amends!  PLEASE!  JUST DO NOT SEND ME BACK THERE!” as the ghostly form begins to disintegrate you notice scores of disembodied green hands, as small as that of a child’s, are quickly tearing the wraith’s body apart, until the screaming stops.  And nothing of the wraith remains.

Gravehounds
  The hound between Drex and Jubei draws in a breath then exhales a sickly yellow, noxious gas between them.  The Deseekay could feel his skin tighten and crack as it felt like his hide had become too small for his body.
    Gravehound I attacks Drex and Jubei with Wretched Breath.  Hit on both Drex [Unless, Drex you have a +2 Fort that I am not aware of.] as you both take 10 poison damage.  And 5 ongoing poison damage, save ends, and you have contracted a magical disease.  Please make an Endurance Check at the start of your turn.  As you take a -2 penalty to your attack rolls from this disease.
  Gravehound II attacks Phelan with Foul Bite.  Hit, Phelan take 5 physical damage and 5 ongoing necrotic damage (save ends) and you are knocked prone.
   As the other dog tries to bite Phelan the narayah swiftly evades it.

The battle map has been updated to reflect these changes.
Next up is Lambent!
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:45, Fri 17 Jan 2014.

"I don't think so!" The Narayah evaded the bite in a surprisingly nimble movement, becoming little more than a furr blur as he cuts around the gravehound to appear a distance behind him.

NIMBLE REVERSAL
No Action
Trigger: Attacked by a medium or larger creature in melee
Effect: Evade the attack. Shift up to three squares in the direction of the attack

Shift from O15 to L12

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Lambent does not get up immediately but rather kneels to take a moment to once more centre himself before entering the fray. Feeling a little better he still takes a moment to quaff a potion as the carefully extracts the arrow from his chest. Feeling recovered he raises himself up and readies himself to keep fighting.

Standard Action: Take a Second Wind to regain 6 hp
Minor Action: Drink a potion to regain another 10 hp
Move Action: Get up from prone
HP: 22/24

  Lambent recovers himself.

Skeletal Archer
  The lone skeleton, half-clad in darkness, fires it’s long bow at Drex.  And Drex could feel the arrow just whizzing past his back.
  Skeletal Archer II attacks Drex with it’s Longbow.  Misses.

And now onto Phelan, followed by Enki and Drex.

Phelan looked around for a few moments, checking out the situation. His eyes locked on the other skeletal archer. "Let's see if I can help Xeela out a bit..." He murmured.

The narayah reached into his pockets, pulling out a bundle of barbed wire. He infused it with magical energy, tossed it up, caught it, then threw it at the remainaing Skeletal Archer.

Standard - BSPIKE WIRE
11 vs Fort (Yay. Wasted my encounter power. Seriously, wtf is with this dice roller?)
On hit (which it totally won't): 11 force damage. The skeletal archer takes 3 extra damage from all attacks until the end of my next turn.

He then turned his attention to Enkii. His remaining infusion was thrown at the serpent, filling him with energy.

Minor - HEALING INFUSION: CURATIVE ADMIXTURE
Heal for SURGE+3 health. Do NOT spend a surge.

He decided to finish things off by retreating from the front of the group.

Move - L12 to R12

Enkii is restored to 9 HP! Current Total: 9/25

Taking back to his coils with a stable, albeit cautious, stance; Enkii is not so easily tossed from his will in the battle...and yet...in finding the enemies' numbers still hold much threat (that wraith in particular), the Musadi quietly repositions himself and begins a summary plot of his next movements...

And it all starts with a little trip into his inventory, as he quickly quaffs down a glimmering flask to the dregs of its contents!

( Minor Action ) Enkii used his Potion of Healing! 10 HP Restored! ( Total: 19/25 ) ( Surges Remaining: 5/8 )

The weigh in of his options however seem to favor particular risk on either end; for on the one hand the Hound lay just within reach of his spear...but on the other, the second Nightmare Wraith lie in lock with Xeela, and to make any movements too sudden would doubtlessly result in dire engagement... But what was he mulling for! He was crafted in battle to control the tide through the strength of his team, and the Great Leviathan knew he needed them as much as they required him to get through this!

"Jubei!" his deep voice hissed out in the darkness, "Relinquish not of your fury for these abominations, they mock you only out of FEAR!!"

Enkii uses Inspiring Word on Iron Jubei! Expended as a secondary Minor Action in exchange for the turn's Movement Action.

Target: one ally within this power's range, or the user

Effect: "The target can spend a healing surge and regain an additional 1d6 hit points.
 "Increase the amount of additional hit points regained to 2d6 at 6th level, 3d6 at 11th level, 4d6 at 16th level, 5d6 at 21st level, and 6d6 at 26th level."

While the words pass his lips, Enkii is already tensing his enormous bulk in preparation, his slitted eyes narrowing and narrowing through the darkness as he hisses ferociously unto the Gravehound, driving his Trident forward!

Enkii used Intuitive Strike on Gravehound I (Square O13)

Attack: 20 vs Will
 1[W] damage. Until the start of your next turn, any ally who attacks the target and has combat advantage against it gains a +2 power bonus to the attack roll.

Enkii rolled 5 using 1d8+2. Intuitive Strike. 5 DMG!

Enkii you should roll the 1d6 for the healing you do.  And switch your attack to the wraith because the gravehound is out of reach. Refresh the battlemap and you'll see that things have changed. Finally, Drex, it is your turn.

  Enkii’s trident pierces the ghostly form of the wraith.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:14, Sun 19 Jan 2014.

Endurance roll: 10
Drex takes 5 poison damage
Drex regenerates 5 damage 

"I will destroy you foul best and send you back to the grave from which you came."

Used minor action to activate Oath of Enmity on GHI

Oath of Enmity
Encounter (Special) ✦ Divine
Minor Action Close burst 10
Target: One enemy you can see in burst
Effect: When you make a melee attack against the target
and the target is the only enemy adjacent to you, you
make two attack rolls and use either result. This effect
lasts until the end of the encounter or until the target
drops to 0 hit points, at which point you regain the use of
this power.

Drex brings his greataxe down onto the Gravehound in front of him.

Standard action, use Overwhelming Strike

At-Will ✦ Divine, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Wisdom modifier damage. You shift 1
square and slide the target 1 square into the space you
occupied.

Oath of Enmity's affect apply's to Gravehound
Attack rolls:15 vs AC
Damage:7
If attack hits Drex shifts to K15 and slide GHI to K16.

Saving throw to stop the ongoing Poison damage: 1

Derx feels the poison coursing through his veins.

Drex's current Hp 20/27

Drex there is a correction to be made about diseases that I had been wrong about.  Diseases only take effect after the encounter in which you are infected.  And should be only have Endurance  only after the encounter.  However we will treat you as having been infected as you did fail to save against the disease, though the effects will not manifest in this encounter.
Of course this does not relate to the poison damage you took from the gravehound’s attack.

  Drex the sensation of your skin tightening almost disappears though you can still feel it just there at the edges of your movements as you bring your axe down upon the gravehound sliding it along the ground with your blow.

And that gents is the end of the 3rd round, now onto the 4th round.  Xeela you are up first.  Battlemap will be updated of course so keep in mind to refresh your versions as the older version will show up otherwise.  Please note that it may be a 10-20 minute after this post as the DM’s PC is giving him shit about copying the map into the GIMP.

The lean Doola roars in pain as her chest got his with arrows. She cursed herself for being as stupid as to run right infront of an entire group of archers. However, the fire of the battle in her was far from being dead, and thus she continued her assault.

Move action: Moving to L13

Minor action: Loading a new bolt.

Standart action: Attacking the Skeletal Archer II with the crossbow.
Attack roll: 15 Vs. AC
Damage roll:10

Yay for yet another tiny post xD

Jumping in to save some time...hoping I can do it...

Judging that the undead beasts around him are well taken care off, Lambent focuses his eyes on the archers that have been harassing the group from a distance. He focuses for a second as a fiery nimbus carries him across the battlefield towards the closest archers, daring any to strike him as he passes.

As part of Blistering Flourish, I move my speed to I-10.
Any opportunity attacks that hit deal 6 fire damage to the attacker.

Reaching his foes, he lashes out with his staff once more, fire blazing along its length as he attacks one of the skeletons, the bashing strike of the staff unleashing a fiery strike against it.

19 vs Reflex of DSIV
Dealing 11 fire damage.
Until the end of my next turn ALL my attacks deal fire damage.

The momentum of the strike still going, Lambent swirls around, gathering the residual fire still in the air into a concentrated flurry of strikes against another archer while the heat of the flames carries him onwards towards his next enemy.

6 fire damage to DSII from Desert Wind Flurry of Blows - if he survives he takes a -2 penalty to attack me
Shift to I9 as part of Desert Wind Flurry of Blows
This message was last edited by the player at 19:20, Mon 20 Jan 2014.

  Xeela, your bolt shatters some ribs of the skeletal archer as it knocks its bow.

Decrepit Skeletons
  Keeping to their formation the skeleton warriors reload their bows and fire again, this time targeting Xeela and Drex.  Though only one arrow from each group strikes their intended target.
  Decrepit Skeleton I moves from L5 to M7 then attacks Xeela with its Shortbow.  Misses.
  Decrepit Skeleton II attacks Xeela with its Shortbow.  Misses.
  Decrepit Skeleton III attacks Xeela with its Shortbow.  Hits, Xeela you take 5 physical damage.
  Decrepit Skeleton IV attacks Drex with its Shortbow.  Hits, Drex you take 5 physical damage.
  Decrepit Skeleton V attacks Drex with its Shortbow.  Misses.
  Decrepit Skeleton VI attacks Drex with its Shortbow.  Misses.

Nightmare Wraith
  Giggling to itself the wraith flies and hovers between Lambent and Enkii, before conjuring up ghostly shadows about itself, which engulfs the adventurers around it.  It laughs hysterically as the shadows melt away the darkness that had flowed about the adventurers not having had the strength to overcome their wills.
  Nightmare Wraith I moves O14 to O15 then attacks Lambent, Jubei and Enkii with Phantom Zone.  Although it misses all three of them.

Jubei you are up next, followed by the Gravehounds and then Lambent.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:29, Mon 20 Jan 2014.

"Damnable thing!", the Kaetyma bellowed as the noxious gas engulfed him, but seemed to have left him no worse for the wear. Given his expression he was obviously quite unpleased by the position of both gravehounds, but the wraith that had moved in was the more pressing concern for him.

Being adjactant to the Nightmare Wraith I maintains the Divine Challenge, making it unnessecary to refresh.

Uses a standard action to use Enfeebling Strike.

Enfeebling Strike
At-Will ¨ Divine, Weapon
Standard Action           Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Charisma vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Charisma modifier damage. If you marked the target, it takes a –2 penalty to attack rolls until the end of your next turn.

Flanking with Enkii +2 attack roll
Attack Roll: 8 (1d20 + 7 way to go xD)
So much about that.

  Jubei’s attack flies well aside of the wraith, its laughter having returned to that of a bubbling giggle.  While the hounds lash out at the adventurers.

Gravehounds
  The hound before Drex tries to bite the offending deseekay but misses in vain.  The other hound facing Xeela and Lambent exhales a foul, sickly yellow vapour which quickly envelopes them and Jubei then disperses effecting only Xeela and Jubei with its noxious toxins.
  Gravehound I attacks Drex with Fould Bite and misses.
  Gravehound II attakcs Xeela, Jubei and Lambent with Wretched Breath.  Only Lambent is not hit by the attack.  Xeela and Jubei, you each take 9 poison damage and 5 ongoing poison damage (save ends).  You both might have contracted a disease, so at the end of the encounter I will ask you to roll Endurance Checks.  For now don’t worry about it.  Just note that you need to roll a check against a disease at the end of the combat, for now.

Now on to Lambent!

  As Lambent flies swiftly past the gravehound before him as it tries to bite at fast moving Ehuron but finds only air and smoke in its jaws.
  Though Lambent’s blow finds its mark it is blocked by the skeleton’s wooden shield, which it had managed to bring to its defence with unnatural speed.  Though, as Lambent’s staff came away from the shield, the wooden shield rapidly rotted away into small chunks of wood that fell to the ground.

How are you attacking DS II?  Don’t you mean DS III?  I assume that is the one you meant because it doesn’t seem like that attack of yours is ranged.

  The other skeleton’s wooden shield block’s and apparently absorbs Lambent’s blows just as the skeleton Lambent had struck at but moments ago had done.  And once again after his attack was finished the wooden shield rotted away.

Skeletal Archer
  The human skeleton, now brightly lit by Drex’s lantern, moves back into the shadows before the mound of bones of its fallen companion.  All the while aiming its longbow at Lambent and loosing an arrow at the ehuron, which misses the whirling monk and flies off into the darkness.
  Skeletal Archer II moves to D3 and attacks Lambent with its Longbow.  Misses.

Right, now for Phelan, Enkii and Drex!  Also the map has been updated.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:33, Mon 20 Jan 2014.

The Narayah carefully sidestepped a little bit to be near Enkii so that he wouldn't draw any attention.

Move: R12 to R14.

He then pulled out a crossbow bolt and loaded it into his crossbow.

Minor: Load Crossbow

He then raised the crossbow, sighting it at the main archer at the back. With a burst of magical energy, he released the bolt directly at the archer.

Standard Action: Magic Weapon at SAII
19 vs AC (finally!)
Hit: 15 damage! (OMG max damage. :P) Adjacent allies (I.E Enkii) get a +1 bonus to attack rolls and a +3 bonus to damage rolls until the end of my next turn.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:29, Mon 20 Jan 2014.

Drex takes 5 poison damage
Drex regenerates 5 damage

The poison seems to make Drex lose focus for a moment but seems otherwise unaffected by the foul toxin.

"WWWAAAAAA!", Drex shouts as he swings his axe at the gravehound in front of him. "Go back to your grave foul beast."

Standard action: Overwhelming Strike
Oath of Enmity is still active (two attack rolls for Drex)

Attack roll: 12 vs AC
Damage:8
If attack hits Drex shifts to J14 and slides GHI to K15
Saving throw against poison: 3

Round 4 End Summary

  Phelan, your attack breaks the skeleton’s spine and causes its body to collapse.

  Drex, your axe flies just shy of the hound’s head.

Round 5 Begins

All players take your turns please.  Your have 48 hours to so from the time of this post otherwise if you do not post your character takes a total defence action.

9 damage from breath attack, 5 ongoing poison

HP remaining 2/31 Fuck :I That's what I get for missing that healing surge.
Being allowed to use that spiffy healing surge however..
18/31!

Jubei stumbled a bit, this time the noxious gas certainly had left it's mark on him. But he wasn't going down without a fight regardless of it and struck out at the wraith before him again.

Standard Action for Virtous Strike on Nightmare Wraith I

Attack Roll: 10
Damage Roll: 6 since I totally hit

Clearly his poor shape was getting to him, he had to change that so he quickly rummaged through his pack to grab the potion of healing and chug it down.


Divine Challenge remains maintained on NWI

Saving throw against poison: 7
This message was last edited by the player at 16:33, Wed 22 Jan 2014.

His eyes blaze briefly as Lambent rolls back between the skeletons and rising from the ground lashes out with staff and foot at the undead around him.

Shift 1 sq to I10 as part of Five Storms (may shift 2 sq before or after attack)
Close burst 1
22 vs Reflex DSIV
16 vs Reflext DSIII
8 fire damage to each

With a twirl he lands on the balls of his feet, his momentum carrying him onwards to the other skeletons armed with bows as he vaults into the air over the one, bringing down his fiery staff on the one skeleton. He lands, knees bent and staff behind him as he looks towards another of the undead and, his eyes burning, unleashes a flurry of fiery bolts towards it!

Spend an Action Point
Move to L7 as Move Action of Blistering Flourish. Opportunity attackers take 6 fire damage.
23 vs Reflex of DSII
Deal 7 fire damage to DSII
Desert Wind Flurry of Blows on DSI deals 6 fire damage to it.

Phelan carefully reloaded his crossbow, eyeing the battlefield. His target had gone down, buying some breathing space. He was first going to go for the gravehounds, but it appeared that Jubei was having trouble with the remaining Wraith. He decided to assist.

Minor: Reload crossbow

He raised the crossbow and sighted it at the Wraith. Then fired, releasing  another burst of magical energy.

Standard Action: Magic Weapon
25 vs AC (take THAT you insufferable undead JERK)
Hit: 15 damage. Enkii gains +1 attack and +3 damage until the end of my next turn.

Enkii. Please attack this time. >> Magic Weapon is only useful if its benefits are used, otherwise I might as well go use Ethereal Chill. Or move adjacent to Jubei instead.

Having released the crossbow bolt, he quickly began reloading another one.

Minor Action: Reload crossbow

It seems that Drex is resisting the effects of the gravehound poison.

Drex takes 5 Poison damage
He regenerates 5 damage

"Hope you guys are handling the foul beast and wraith! I'm going to see if me and my "new friend" want to dance with the other group of skeletons!"

"Come lets dance.", Drex said to the gravehound in front of him as he brings his axe down one more time.

Standard Action: Standard action: Overwhelming Strike
Oath of Enmity is still active (two attack rolls for Drex)

Attack roll: 7 vs AC (e_e)
Damage:16
If attack hits Drex shifts to J14 and slides GHI to K15
Saving throw against poison: 13

(I'm taking control of Xeela for this round)

Xeela is looking beyond beaten up, it seems that she was able to resist most of the poison damage. And she seems unaffected by the poison ruining through her veins.

She leans on her crossbow as she reaches for her potion.

Minor action: drinks healing potion. 15/26 Hp
Second Minor action: reloads crossbow
Standard action: use Deft Strike
Special: You can move 2 squares before the attack. She moves to L13 (opportunity attack from GHII)

Xeela takes aim at the second gravehound.
Attack roll: 11 vs AC
Damage: 13

Saving throw to shack of poison damage:14
This message was last edited by the player at 07:13, Thu 23 Jan 2014.

Not keen to put Phelan's gift to waste, Enkii drew up his focus and felt the telltale hum of a new power brewing within his trident, his glee notably marking his ordinarily furrowed expression as he shifted gaze over to the Wraith and made a sudden lunge towards it with all his strength!

Standard Action: Basic Attack!

Enkii rolled 5 using 1d8+4! 5 DMG!

More or less finding no such reason to abandon Phelan's side either, Enkii stands at ready whether or not his strike would connect, choosing not to budge...however...noticing Jubei's still on the recovery whilst in the heat of it, he lends another empowering encouragement pass from his mouth, filling his companion with vigor with which to further regain his footing!

Okay let's try this again. x3

Enkii uses Inspiring Word on Iron Jubei! Expended as a secondary Minor Action in exchange for the turn's Movement Action.

 Target: one ally within this power's range, or the user

 Effect: "The target can spend a healing surge and regain an additional 1d6 hit points.
  "Increase the amount of additional hit points regained to 2d6 at 6th level, 3d6 at 11th level, 4d6 at 16th level, 5d6 at 21st level, and 6d6 at 26th level."

  Xeela’s crossbow bolt misses the undead dog, striking the ground instead.  And as she moves to around the hound it manages to bite her leg and pull her down to the ground.
Xeela you have been hit by Gravehound II’s opportunity attack and could not complete your movement.  Therefore you only moved one square.  You have also taken 5 physical damage and had been afflicted with 5 ongoing necrotic damage but you saved against it at the end of your turn (I rolled for it).

Decrepit Skeletons
  The skeletons near Lambent, now without their worn wooden shields, drop their bows and pull out their swords.  The one to the north advanced upon the monk and strafed to the side, apparently trying to use the ehuron as cover now that it’s shield was gone.  While the other skeleton attacked the ehuron.
  Decrepit Skeleton III holds its position, draws out its sword and attacks Lambent.  Misses.
  Decrepit Skeleton IV moves from H11 to H8 drawing an attack of opportunity from Lambent.
Lambent please make an attack of opportunity against DS IV. Although turns out it would be redundant considering what happens on your turn anyway.
  Another one of the skeleton shoulders its bow then moves over to aid its counterpart to the south of Lambent.  While two other skeletons train their bows on Lambent and fire though the swift monk easily evades their shots.
  The remaining skeletal warriors fires an arrow at Drex and finds its mark upon the Deseekay.
  Decrepit Skeleton II moves from K7 to J10.
  Decrepit Skeleton I attacks Lambent with its Longbow.  Misses.
  Decrepit Skeleton V attacks Lambent with its Longbow.  Misses.
  Decrepit Skeleton VI attacks Drex with its Longbow.  Hits, Drex take 5 physical damage.

Nightmare Wraith
  The lone wraith suddenly burst outs in a loud cackle as it struck Jubei with its ghostly talon-like hands.
  Nightmare Wraith I attacks Jubei with Agonizing Touch.  Hit, Jubei take 10 damage and 5 ongoing psychic (save ends)
Jubei you have been hit by NW I’s attack and on your turn took 5 psychic damage.  I rolled a save for you but it did not work.  So come the next round you will have to save for it yourself
  Jubei, the poison in your blood and the terrors in your mind cast you into darkness as your fall upon the battlefield.  Unconscious and dying but not dead yet.
Your actions for your turn have been negated. .  You did however make your death saving throw.

Gravehounds
  The hound follows Xeela and tries to bite at her again while she is on the ground but the nimble rogue manages to evade the undead dog’s attack.  Drex as well manages to easily side step hound’s attack.
  Gravehound I moves from N14 to M14 and attacks Xeela with Foul Bite.  Misses.
  Gravehound II attacks Drex with Foul Bite.  Misses.

  Lambent’s blow’s find their marks as the force of them destroys two of the three skeletons about him.  While the third only lost its magical shield and still stands at the ready to attack the monk.
Lambent as DS II has moved into your attack space you may change your action or save the action point for later.

  Phelan’s magical crossbow bolt cuts through the wraith briefly silencing its laughter as the wraith made a sound much like that of a wheeze.

  Enkii your attack finds its mark and your trident tears a part of the wraith away.
Enkii you need to roll a 20-sided dice first to determine if your attack hits (you have a +4 Attack Bonus, it’s on your character sheet under the Basic Attacks section on page 1) then your roll damage.  Just be mindful of this in future.  Please note I rolled your attack for you this time round.

  Drex’s attack flied quite shy of his intended target though he covers his mishap well.

And so ends the 5th round.  I’ll give Lambent a chance to inform me of the fate of his action point or not.  Then the 6th round will begin.

Jubei found himself overwhelmed by the psychic assault and the poison burning in his veins. Even his own constitution couldn't weather such a combined attack.

Reduced to -2/31 HP
Saving Throw against Death: 10
Stabilized to 0/31 HP

Thanks to Enkii's Inspiring Words however, the Kaetyma managed to bring himself back from the bring of death.

Healing Surge for 16
16/31 HP

With a grunt the big dragonbeast realized that he was no laying prone. Which wasn't exactly the best position to be in and he quickly shuffled back to his feet.

Spends a move action to stand up.
Then spends the Standard Action for Virtous Strike.
Attack Roll: 23
Damage Roll: 11

Gains +2 for saving throws until start of next turn. Exactly what I need :D

Saving throw against poison: 13
Saving throw against psionic: 16
Both effects canceled

Somehow the Kaetyma managed to revitalize himself and in a short period of breathing room, he realized that one of his companions was in peril!

Uses Minor Action for Divine Challenge on Gravehound II

Phelan glared at the Wraith that appeared to be surviving everyone's assault. It needed to be gone. Now. He levelled his crossbow at it again and fired, releasing another magical burst around him.

Standard Action: Magic Weapon against NWI!
10 vs AC (I rolled a 1. ._.)
Hit: 11 damage. Adjacent allies get +1 to attack and +3 to damage until the end of my next turn. Except I totally missed.

He quickly reloaded his crossbow, choosing to remain stationary and wary.

Minor action: Reload
This message was last edited by the player at 19:46, Sat 25 Jan 2014.

Lambent turned to gaze at the skeletons arrayed around him and 'smiled' his eyes glowing that bemused shade it goes when he finds something funny. With a cry, he leapt at one of the skeletons - as his foot connected with it's sternum he used the momentum to leap towards another, this time bringing the staff down hard upon it's head before making a back flip to land in front of the third skeleton just as his open palm thrust out toward its head.

Standard Action: Five Storms
26 vs Reflex DSIV
16 vs Reflex DSIII
14 vs Reflex DSII
Hit 7 fire damage to each that was hit.

His body brimming with chi he unleashes it towards the skeleton he attacked last, swiftly forming his brimming chi int a ball of flame that he slams into the undead with his fist!

Desert Wind Flurry of Blows
Deal 6 fire damage to DSII

IF all the skeletons are felled, Lambent moves to D4

Xeela clutches at the new wound in her leg, she curses at the hound.

Minor Action:She reloads her crossbow.
Move action: Xeela shifts to J13

As she sidestep the gravehound she takes aim and fires.

Standard action: use Deft Strike
Attack Roll: 27 vs AC
Damage Roll: 13
Special: You can move 2 squares before the attack. She moves to J13.

Xeela gives a mighty roar, it seems that she has strength enough to act once more.
Xeela uses her Action point regaining 2 Hp from Inspiring Presence.
With a burst of adrenalin she summons new found strength (Spends her second wind gaining 6Hp)

Final Hp 18/26

The bite made by the gravehoud nits itself.
Drex regenerates 5 damage.

"Lets see if you can doge this move dumb creature." Putting all his might in the next swing, Wwwhhaaaaaa!"

Standard Action: Standard action: Overwhelming Strike
Oath of Enmity is still active (two attack rolls for Drex)

Attack roll: Crit vs AC

quote:

High Crit: A high crit weapon deals more damage
when you score a critical hit with it. A critical hit
deals maximum weapon damage and an extra 1[W]
at 1st–10th levels...

Damage:16+7=23
Drex shifts to J14 and slides GHI to K15

Drex narrows his eyes, the rage is building up in him like a volcano about to explode.

This discourse with the wraith between Jubei and he served to only enflame Enkii further along, albeit subtly enough to prevent him from losing face in the battle. Specters such as this always proved problematic considering the most he could do was to spear at protoplasmic shrouds and illusive composure until what threads of physical existence they had were banished from this physical coil; and as it would seem that every strike he takes just isn't putting up to par on the remaining Wraith like he felt it should...no...certainly not like that of Jubei's...

But this wrought an idea within the Musadi's mind, and with a clever smile brewing on his face, he turned his hissing tongue onto that of the hulking Kaetyama with the authoritative chords of a seasoned drillmaster and roared, "Hold nothing back, soldier!! Neither toxin nor illusion is to keep you from putting this darkspawn back to rest, in pieces if need be!!" Perhaps from any other tongue, it might have served to incite Jubei on the culprit who dared mock his power, but strangely enough, any such anger dispersed amongst a sudden swell in confidence and daring bristling throughout every fiber of his sinuous bulk!!

Enkii uses Commander's Strike on "Iron" Jubei!

Effect: "One of your allies can take a free action to make a melee basic attack against the target. The ally gains a bonus to the damage roll equal to your Intelligence modifier."

< As a note, I have worked this out with Jubei himself, we agreed on the move and he has given me the capability to pose his choice attack so as not to render confusion by doublepost or editing his original post. >

Iron Jubei rolled 8 using 1d10+5. Damage Roll: Virtuous Strike against NW1 enabled by Enkii's Commander's Strike.

Iron Jubei rolled 19 using 1d20+7. Attack Roll: Virtuous Strike against NW1 enabled by Enkii's Commander's Strike.<

Total Damage Dealt Over Turn and Free Action: 19 DMG

Not content to clear the area just yet, Enkii stands his ground and assumes stance once more, ending his course for the time being...
This message was last edited by the player at 23:57, Sun 26 Jan 2014.

Round 6 End Summary

  With a loud yelp the rotting corpse of the hound that had pulled Xeela down, collapses and ceases to stir.

Decrepit Skeletons
  With most of the skeletons around Lambent having been obliterated by Lambent’s attacks only one remains to attack the ehuron with its old and battered longsword.
  While the other three skeletons stow their bows and move across the battlefield surrounding Xeela and cutting at her with their swords.
  Decrepit Skeleton I moves to K12 and attacks Xeela with Longsword.  Hits, Xeela take 5 physical damage.
  Decrepit Skeleton II attacks Lambent with Longsword.  Hits, Lambent take 5 physical damage.
  Decrepit Skeleton V moves to I13 and attacks Xeela with Longsword.  Hits, Xeela take 5 physical damage.
  Decrepit Skeleton VI moves to I14 and attacks Xeela with Longsword, with a +2 bonus for flanking with DS I.  Hits, Xeela take 5 physical damage.

Nightmare Wraith
  The evil presence about the wraith returns as the last traces of light are extinguished by the shadowstuff of its form.  It momentarily stops giggling as it flies at Jubei swinging its claws at the paladin.
  Nightmare Wraith I attacks Jubei with Agonizing Touch.  Misses.  Although the wraith’s aura has reactivated.  Thus at the start of your turn Jubei  you take 5 psychic damage on the start of your turn.

  Holy light flashes and burns the wraith as Jubei makes his counterstroke.  Though the wraith is clearly severely wounded it still remains.
Jubei your radiant damage did however manage to negate the wraith’s aura to the benefit of your companions.

Gravehound
  The feral undead growls and tries to bite at Drex’s legs and in doing so draws down the ire of the divine as the flash of radiant light from the heavens, much like a flash of thunder, slays the creature for ignorning Jubei’s challenge.

  Lambent’s blows take down the remaining skeleton at his side as he moves to remains of the skeletal archers.

  Phelan’s crossbow bolt flies well over the wraith’s cowl and vanishes into the darkness at the edge of their lantern light.

  Enkii mighty call brings Jubei’s blade back up to action as he cuts through the wraith.  The ghostly undead begins to chuckle as it is surrounded in green light.  Laughing manically as it is torn to pieces by tiny ghostly hands.

  Drex, with the gravehound dead you move instead to attack one of the skeletons assaulting Xeela and slay it.  Your blow was powerful enough to cut right through it’s shield.
I had you move to J14 and attack DS IV.
And so ends Round 6, now for Round 7.  Which I believe should be the last round of this encounter, unless the dice are say nay.  Please refresh your battlemaps as it takes a while for the system to update the map unless you do it manually.

Xeela's bulky body is now gushing with blood, it seems that she will collapse if none attends her wounds. Biting her upper lip she shifts to get the hell away from the last two skeletons.

Move action: Shifts to K14
She takes a bolt from her quiver.
Minor action: Reloads crossbow
She focuses her crossbow on the skeleton in front of her and lets her bolt fly in it detection.

Standard action:uses Deft Strike
Attack Roll: 23 vs AC
Damage Roll: 16
Special: You can move 2 squares before the attack. She moves to L16.

"I hope this is over soon, I don't think I can do this for much longer.", she whispers to Jubei as she cringe from the pain.

Hp left 3/26
This message was last edited by the player at 06:09, Tue 28 Jan 2014.

    The crossbow bolt thunked loudly into the skeleton’s wooden shield, which began to fall apart instantly from the shock of the bolt’s impact.

Decrepit Skeletons
  With Xeela’s fighting retreat the skeletons now only have Drex left in their immediate vicinity, so it advances towards him and along with its counterpart vainly try to skewer the avenger.
Decrepit Skeleton I moves to K13 and attacks Drex with Longsword.  Miss.
Decrepit Skeleton IV attacks Drex with Longsword.  Miss.

With the immediate wraith threat removed, Phelan quickly dashed around Enkii to stand between him and Jubei, ignoring the remains of the wraith nearby.

Move: R14 -> 015

He then sighted the crossbow at one of the remaining decrepit skeletons, and loosed with a burst of magical energy.

Standard: Magic Weapon on DSI
27 vs AC
Hit: 9 damage. Adjacent allies gain a +1 to attack rolls and +3 to damage rolls until the end of my next turn.

Immediately after  the release, he reloded his crossbow again.

Minor: Reload Crossbow

Healing energy surges through Drex's body
He regenerates 5 hit points
Drex's gaze falls on the skeletons to his right. "You will feel the wrath of the Aurelian Pantheon."

Minor action: uses Oath of Enmity

Encounter (Special) ✦ Divine
Minor Action Close burst 10
Target: One enemy you can see in burst
Effect: When you make a melee attack against the target
and the target is the only enemy adjacent to you, you
make two attack rolls and use either result. This effect
lasts until the end of the encounter or until the target
drops to 0 hit points, at which point you regain the use of
this power.

He quickly shifts so as to face his opponent, crushing the remains of the inanimate skeleton beneath him.
Move action: shift to I14

As Drex moves he swings his mighty axe, "AAAAAaaaaaaa!"
Standard Action: Standard action: Overwhelming Strike
Oath of Enmity is active on DSV (two attack rolls for Drex)
Attack roll: 23 vs AC
Damage: 14
Drex shifts to J15 and slides DSV to I14

Jubei let out a grunt as the last nightmare wraith disappeared into a flash of light before him. "This took way longer than it had any right to..", he rumbled lowly before giving a sort of grin over to Enkii, then he turned to face the remaining threats, or rather nuisances, still they needed to be taken care of. Especially considering the banged up shape that Xeela was in, which he sadly was unable to remedy at this point.

Move action to L-M 11-12 to Decrepit Skeleton 1.

Finding himself a perfect position to strike the skeleton, he promptly did so in order to smash it to pieces.

Standard action for Virtous Strike once more! So virtous, such striking, wow.

Attack Roll against DS1: 20
Damage Roll against DS1: 6 radiant

Of course that wasn't enough though, there was still a second threat, although these shambling skeletons could hardly be called that anymore.

Divine Challenge on DSV for good measure.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:52, Tue 28 Jan 2014.

    Bearing down on the remaining skeletons with what might they have to spare.  The adventurers shattered the two warriors.  And thereafter a silence descends, as the party takes a few moments to catch their breath.
  While they take a short moment to rest, Drex hears someone approaching rapidly from up the road they had come.  Fearing more attackers he readies his weapon and alerts his companions only to find a small, orange coloured and gelatinous figure runs into the lantern’s light.  Then stops at the sight of the wall of armed adventurers.

Well done guys!  You’ve won your first battle.  You each receive 120 experience points for the encounter.  Also, Willa (formerly Globella) you can now introduce your character to the group.

Willa slipped along quickly, towards the sounds of metal clashing on metal.  It had been some time since 'she' left Galdion, following in the adventurer's footsteps and her little legs felt like they might turn to jelly.  Even more so than normal!  But she could not let them be hurt.

Her many weeks travelling before finding them had been very difficult.  Fun, but difficult.

As it turns out, the roads outside of cities and towns tend to be very empty, and very empty roads mean very empty tummies for very little Willas.  So when she overheard that they were going on a journey, she just had to follow.  Otherwise she might starve outside Galdion's walls, or worse still: have to wait until somebody else left.

Not that Galdion was bad, quite the opposite in fact.  Loads of fun.  For example, she was very pleased with the cute little badge-thing that she had found in the guild-house.  Unfortunately, that 'twitchy' feeling had returned and that could only mean one thing: adventure time!

She knew that if she didn't leave, twitchy would only get worse and worse until she did, so there had been no other option really.

The little globulous creature had kept her distance until now because it had been fun to watch the group from far away.  However it is so impolite to feed off of people without introducing yourself first.  That and they went and got themselves attacked.

As she neared the fight, she heard shouts and screams and smiled gleefully.  It sounded like the group were having fun.  Eventually the noises started to die down and the party came into view just as the last assailant fell.  Realising that the night's entertainment had come to an end, Willa decided that now would be as good a time as any to introduce herself to her new friends.  Pausing for a moment to dust off her robes and armour, she cheerfully approached the group's leader.

Stopping beside the furry tailed one, she grinned, looked at the skeleton corpses curiously and declared: "Bones are weird!"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:05, Wed 29 Jan 2014.

Lambent turned at the strange voice, his eyes glowing a bemused blue as he regarded the newcomer. He had heard of these 'things' but had never actually met one that was more than a primordial glob of barely sentient ooze. This one, in addition to its rather odd colouration, seemed to be practically verbose when compared to others of the same, for lack of a better word, race.

He gave the skeletal remains a small kick as he returned to the group and bowed towards the tiny creature. Though his face showed no smile...or a mouth at all...the glow of his eyes suggested friendliness and acceptance.

"Good evening," he said, his voice telepathically finding a way to it's mind, "Your timing is most auspicious. You seem to have just missed the danger, though some would consider that a bad thing. Tell me...what is a tiny little thing like you doing all alone on the road at night?"

"What abomination could this be." , Drex thinks as the glow approaches, readying his massive axe once more.

As the creature glides into the illumination of his and Enkii's lanterns the grey-white deseeky narrows his ice blue eyes at it. Ready to launch himself at it.
A sudden gust of wind lifts his mane and pale-green ornamental ribbons of his cloak, his golden horns glisten in the lantern light.

"Bones are weird", this can't be a comment by the master of these foul creatures... Drex lowers his axe and kneels to take a better look at the thing next to Phelan.

Drex recognizes the gelatinous critter as a Umbrean... "What is it doing here?", he thinks to himself. He had only on occasions had dealings with it's kind mostly "removals" and "relocations", they were considered vermin in most cities. But that was all in the past, before he joined the Adventurers Guild and had to make a name for himself in some way.

Putting past prejudices to the back of his mind he smiles, not knowing precisely how to act. Putting his hands on his knees. "Hello, and who might you be?", he said in a higher than normal voice tone as if he was speaking to a child.

Looking at Lambent, nodding at the question he is asking the Umbrean having thought the same thing himself.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:17, Thu 30 Jan 2014.

Jubei regarded the little creature with a bit of interest. He never really had seen one of these before, the desert he hailed from was sparse with intelligent life and the climate didn't really allowed fluid based critters like this a long lifespan either. So he was actually a good bit curious about it, but for the moment he said nothing, given how Lambent and Drex had already asked it questions.

Phelan looked up at the creature with surprise. This was new. He struggled to remember what its species was called, frowning slightly as he lowered his crossbow.

Whatever it is, at least it's not hostile. Just a bit odd. The others had already asked the appropriate questions, so he satisfied himself in listening.

Willa blinked at the mouthless one with a little surprise, before realisation set in.  She gave him a warm smile followed by a curt, knowing nod.  She then looked at the rest of the other heroes curiously.

Strange, she thought.  No one was shouting things like: "Vermin!," or "Vampire!", or asking questions like: "What the?" or "What is that, Mommy?" before following up with a "Get outta here!" or being quickly whisked away.

Then she realised that they were waiting for her to say something.  Wow!  Imagine that; waiting for her to say something!  This was a very auspicious occasion indeed.  She needed to be careful, though.  Had to say the right thing.  Couldn't screw it up.

Swinging her arms and rocking on her heels, Willa pondered the perfect answer.

Suddenly snapping back to reality with great enthusiasm, she triumphantly declared, "I'm Willa!" As if that single fact would make everything crystal clear to her adventurous audience.

As she waited for their happy, welcoming replies, Willa saw only doubtful looks.  Realising that she had failed in her momentous task, she looked away sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Um...I, er, like to travel?  And I saw you, um," she looked back up, "leaving the big city and thought that I should, may be, oughta follow?"  Her words were questioning, tentatively seeking some sort of confirmation that the group understood her now.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:28, Thu 30 Jan 2014.

His answers satisfied to some degree the deseeky waits for another party member to ask a question.

He shifts to a more comfortable kneeling posture in front of Willa and Phelan.

"This Umbrean must be incredible good at shadowing them if not even his keen senses could pick up that the party was followed and such skill would make a valued addition to the party." But Drex knows from past experiences that an Umbrean in the party might cause some problems at certain places.

Jubei let out a snort that could well have been a chuckle as well. "Well then Willa. We're going to investigate the nearby township here and as you can see, we've already been attacked without even getting there. Now tell me, can you pull your weight when it comes to combat again?", the big Kaetyma asked and motioned with one hand over the battlefield with the rotten remains of those skeletons and gravehounds about. He then briefly furrowed his brows and looked over it. "This would also certainly explain why none of the couriers managed to get through."

Drex, Jubei and Xeela (Drex please roll for her), please roll an Endurance Check to see if you are affected by the Skinrot infection you had been exposed to.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:38, Fri 31 Jan 2014.

Lambent nods.

"Well that seems as good as reason as any to me. Ask not the ways of the world for the answer may muddle the question," he says sagely. "You are of course welcome to join us on our journey, but like our scaly companion said, there is bound to be danger. If that is not a problem for you then I see no reason why you cannot join us."

He regards the tiny creature with another smile in his eyes, the light turning a soft blue in the darkness of the evening before he turns to look at his companions.

"It would appear we need to take a quick rest. Shall we catch our breath and continue on our way or stop here til morning?"

Willa was momentarily distracted by Iron Jubei.  "I like your feathers," she said dreamily before remembering what had been asked.

"Willa can fight!"  She puffed out her chest and and took up a heroic pose, "but," she sagged, "better from far away.  Also, doesn't weigh much anyway..."

Then her attention was gone again.  This time drawn to the battlefield and the corpses that littered it. "Good stuffs?"

Jubei smirked a bit at the remark regarding his feathers. "Um... thanks.", he said and then looked over the battlefield as well. "I doubt that there is anything worth taking here.", he continued on and then started to scratch some of this exposed scales, which had a bit of an unhealthy looking hue to them and he did seem at least a little discomforted by it.

Endurance check against disease: 3
Yay :I 
This message was last edited by the player at 21:00, Fri 31 Jan 2014.

Phelan looked Jubei over, wearing a somewhat sympathetic expression. He then looked at Lambent. "Perhaps we should set up camp for the night. I want to look over whatever Jubei, Xeela and Drex were exposed to. See if I can do something about it."

Willa, it seemed, would be somewhat whose abilities he could enhance more easily. Like her, he preferred fighting at range.

"Hay don't do that, I... I feel fine, well I think I feel fine." Drex said as the small Narayah start to pick up Drex's arm to have a better look.

"I don't think we should rest just yet.", a moment of silence follows this comment. "Lets first make our way to Kyssean before we rest for the evening, it should be saver in town anyway. This short rest should be fine for now."

Drex looks up at the dark cloud blocking out the sun, the undead that attacked them in its shadow. This can't be natural, or is it just a coincidence. Whatever the reason Drex feels it unwise to stay here for the remainder of the day.

Looking back to Willa, Drex smiles before saying that her abilities shall come in handy in the future and she will be a great addition to the team. Drex refrains himself from mentioning that she might cause friction and possible hostility from some people. He is sure she know this already and it will be rude to point this out.

Drex swiftly stands up and puts his axe away, piking up his lantern ready to make his way to Kyssean as quick as possible.

Endurance check against disease (Xeela): 10
Endurance check against disease (Drex): 21

Jubei and Xeela the both of you are infected, you begin to feel the effects of the disease.  Until you are healed or your condition improves – you make another endurance check at the end of each extended rest to see if you improve or worsen.  Allies with a higher healing skill total then your endurance total may have a better chance than you at improving your condition, however there is every chance, especially if their score is low, that they could make it worse as Heal Checks to treat a disease replace the patient’s Endurance Check.  See page 185 in the PHB I for more details.
You each suffer a -2 disease penalty to attack rolls.

Umbreans:  A kind of ooze-like creature, which have the approximate appearance another sentient being.  Umbreans are believed to be the remnants of an unknown civilization which predates known history.  They appear from gelatinous pools often found underground or within ruins, often referred to as spawning pools.  Their formation is apparently caused by memory or experiences – particularly powerful ones – catalysing with the material that composes a spawning pool and results in a form and consciousness based off the psychic matrix formed from ether.  As a result umbreans have a short life-span, often no more than 20 years.
  Umbrean personalities can vary greatly and are generally unpredictable.  This instability, coupled with their natural psychic abilities have caused them to become ostracized them from other races.  Most of whom view them as little more than vermin or specimens.  It is only the elder races (musadi, narayah and ulh) who do not mistreat the umbreans, generally.

  Phelan it is clear that Drex, Jubei and Xeela had been exposed to some sort of sickness though only Drex seems to have shrugged it off.  Quite possibly thanks to his unusual heritage as a Deseekay.  The disease itself would seem to be Skinrot, a common enough affliction spread by contact with decaying corpses.  It is not fatal but it can cause rashes and hives upon the skin which makes swift movements quite painful.
  Unfortunately, in order to proper treat Jubei and Xeela you would need to look after them while they were resting for several hours.  And as it stands, camping under the cover of darkness from the clouds overhead, on these plains seems to be unwise.  It is quite possible that another roving band of undead would run into the party if they remained where they were for too long.
  And as Drex suggested the village might be saver.  After all, what use do the undead have for light?

"Well you're fine, Drex. But Xeela and Jubei on the other hand..." He trailed off. Drex brought up the idea of moving to town, and he had to agree on that count. "Well it's only Skinrot, so it's not fatal. But it can be unpleasant."

As the Deseekay strode quickly to move to town, Phelan followed as best he could.

"Only skinrot.", the big Kaetyma snorted. "Whoever came up with that name should be dunked in some keg of spirits until he comes up with a better name... or maybe that's exactly what happened." Jubei shook his head and was just about to scratch his scales again, but managed to keep himself from actually doing it, given how that would only worsen the rashes. "Very well, let's go to town and hope that it is indeed safer and not overrun by undead."

Lambent shrugs his acceptance to the party's decision. While the others get ready to move on, he moves to one of the corpses and kneels next to it. He seems to say a short prayer over it before it bursts into flames that quickly burn away to ash that somehow fall into the shape of the rune representing Cinta.

With that done he stands, waiting to continue without much comment.

Willa's gaze follows Drex's skyward.  She cocks her head at the cloud above, curious about what interested the Deseekay.

As she stares at the black folds of the cloud's undulating belly, her golden eyes gleam and, for an instant, she forgets about the rest of the world.  It is just her and the billowing darkness above...

10:10, Today: Willa rolled 25 using 1d20+6. Arcana test on the cloud - detecting magic.

With a couple of blinks and a moment of confusion, Willa wakes from her daydream.  Seeing Phelan and Drex moving away, she hastily follows after.

    Focusing her arcane senses upon the black clouds overhead Willa found them to be the product of magic.  Though exactly what foul sorcery was at work she could not for the moment discern.
[Willa you can attempt another Arcana check for the purposes of Detect Magic, however you will need to wait until you have taken an Extended rest.]

  After a few minutes rest the adventurers continued on towards the not-too-distant lights of the village.  Almost half-a-mile into their journey the party’s lanterns revealed a covered, wooden wagon.  It looked very much like a small house set upon wheels.  It was barely large enough for a human to fit through the front hatch.  The wagon was unattended, with the tacks appearing to have been torn apart – the draught animals possibly having broken free and fleeing.
  A sudden crack made some of the more nervous adventurers jump and was revealed to be a set of casement windows upon the back of the wagon.  The lattice work of the glass windows refracted the light upon it into eerie patterns upon the wagon’s roof.  This exploration revealed another wagon.
  This wagon was much like the first one with only some minor differences in its appearance.  Its front hatch swung slightly to and fro in the near constant breeze.
  The sense of dread the adventurers felt was only heightened when about the second wagon they found dried stains of blood.  Yet there was no sign of any persons, living, dead or undead.

  It would seem that you had come across a wagon train that had been traveling from the village before it was brutally attacked.  Soon, you discovered seven more wagons.  Two of them, in the middle of the train, were very large wagons – clearly designed to transport large goods – and they stood mostly empty.  Their thick woollen canvased roof’s stirring with the wind.
  The dirt road showed many tracks around the wagons and they appeared to be several hours old, at least.  On top of these tracks were scattered small items, some purses and bags, toys, trinkets, jewels, keepsakes, clothing and even food.

  While searching the caravan Drex finds a chest, which had been hidden inside a fold-away bed within one of the wagons at the front.  An axe to the lock later, the deseekay finds its contents to be a full suit of plate made of rough stone plate.  Well hewn with sharp, stark angles to it, it appears to have been made for a very large frame.  It did not take much for the avenger to gather that this had been intended for a kaetyma warrior of some sort.

  A small lockbox, which had slid underneath a wagon wheel, caught Phelan’s attention.  It was not particularly difficult to open the mechanism.  It was a rather simple lock.  The contents however made Phelan winch.  A shrunken, leathery death mask of a doola, caught in an expression of mad fury was tied to a thong.  Clearly this was intended to be worn around the neck.

[I had forgotten to give you this directly after the combat encounter, so I’ll add it here.  The party receives 1 Wealth Token – the money and jewellery you found on the wagon train – 2 Fame Tokens and 1 Fortune Token for your battle earlier.]

Jubei remained a little away from the wagons, mostly in order to stand guard in case any more undead abominations were shambling about, while his companions when about to search through the abadoned carriages. No doubt he'd be pleased to hear that such an exquisite found of armour has been made, given how his current suit of plate was in a bit dinged up shape after the battle from earlier.
"Probably travelling merchants... given that some of these wagons look like houses on wheels. Far too small for my taste though.", he stated rather plainly, seemingly not caring if there was actually someone around to hear him.

"It looks that way...", Drex answers as he hands the armor to Jubei. "I wish we could have be in time to stop this from happening, but maybe some of them maid it to the village."

"You should have Phelan or maybe Willa take a look at that armor, it might be enchanted." Drex motions to the armor and truns on hes heals. He takes another sweep to the area, to make sure they have not mist any thing of importance that is relative to their quest.

As he pasts Phelan he says, "Don't you think one of these wagons would make a great laboratory for your studies will we are on the road?"

12:15, Tue 04 Feb 2014: Drex rolled 30 using 1d20+11 ((19)) Perception check.

[Keep in mind that if you guys don’t reply I will make my best guess upon what you character would do based on what I know of your characters so far.  Except in combat, were unless you define some rote actions you’ll be staying as close as possible to your nearest ally not engage in melee and taking a full defence action.]

    Primeval magic suffused the talisman that Phelan held in the lockbox before him.  It was not to hard for him to intuit its functions.

Badge of the Berserker
Level 2 Neck Slot Item
Enhancement:  Fortitude, Reflex and Will defence receive a +1 enhancement bonus.
Property:  When you charge, your movement made as part of a charge doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks.

  Willa appeared beside Drex and Jubei.  Almost startling them.  And said she would be glad to examine the armour Drex had found.  After appearing to play with it for about a minute the umbrean revealed what she knew of the item.

Stoneborn Armour
Level 3 Plate Armour
Enhancement:  Armour Class receives a +1 enhancement bonus.
Power (Daily):  Minor Action.  Gain temporary hit points equal to 10 + your Constitution modifier.  They last until depleted or until you take an extended rest.

  As Drex made his way to Phelan to speak to him, while keeping an eye out for anything, he felt a shiver down his spine.  Making his fur bristle, it might just have been the unsettling scene or the sudden cold breeze.  But just for a moment the deseekay thought he heard the low, soft moan of someone crying.

"Did you here that Phelan? It sounded like someone crying..." Drex listens again, could he possibly hear where the sound is coming from, maybe a live can be saved this day. The thoughts rushes through his mind, he must focus if he wishes to help this person. He focuses on his keen hearing.

14:24, Today: Drex rolled 29 using 1d20+11. Perception check.

Jubei was smirking rather broadly as he was presented with the armor and then moments later learned that it was indeed an enchanted item. "Why, thank you.", he said with a chuckle as he took it. "Now if you'll excuse me for a moment...", he said while he started to undo the straps of his armour to swap it out for the just received one.

Going to swap the regular Platearmour for the Stoneborn one now. However the armour normal armour is stowed away in the backpack. Have it salvaged for material or sell it or whatever later.

Willa, startled by Drex's sudden question has the idea to listen too.  However, she is already bored of that before even trying and instead starts to dig around in her pack for anything useful.

Unfortunately, her accumulated gubbings amount to little more than keepsakes and all she can find of note is her torch and rod.  Grabbing both, she stuffs everything else back into the bag and stays next to Iron Jubei wondering what to do next...

Enkii continued to scour over what he could of the abandoned caravan, neither for any particular sake of interest over looting its treasures or finding civilians; but given the horrors the party had only just faced; something had set him on considerable more edge since the dawn had began...with that in mind, his sociability seemed to returned to normal levels of gruffness as he slithered to and fro with an inspecting eye. His trident had never once left his side in that regard, but was instead held at ready should anything decide to pop out of these derelict barrens. Humor was not yet beyond him, however, as he eyed up Jubei's upgrade with a plaintive hiss.

"Curious that it fits so well, eh? Mayhaps our fortune is beginning to turn towards the better; be sure that it doesn't burst though when you decide to breathe."

The big Kaetyma could indeed appreciate that bit of humour, given the otherwise so dreary surroundings while he was still busy to get all of those straps attached and the quadruped showcased a rather impressive flexibility when it came to attaching the shinguards to his legs. No doubt acquired in years of training. "It would indeed be a shame if this armour weren't able to withstand something as simple as my breath, even though I am of admittedly unusual physique.", he responded with a chuckle as well.

Phelan looked up, blinking in surprise. "I didn't, but I wasn't paying attention, let me see..." His ears and nose twitched as he focused on his senses, attempting to detect any unusual scents or the crying Drex mentioned earlier.

Perception check (using smell): 28

Regarding the entire scene with his usual calm and unreadable demeanour, Lambent seems almost to be statue. The flickering shades of his eyes are the only clue that he is paying attention at all to what is going on around him.

Willa is no good at seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or feeling small things.  So best not to try.

But is so difficult to do nothing.  It sounds simple: do nothing.  Or, just don't do something.  Doing something requires effort and thought, so doing nothing means trying not to do anything.  But if you try not to do anything, then you are still doing something and so cannot be doing nothing?

Willa furrowed her brow in confusion.  Doing nothing really was too difficult.  Sighing exaggeratedly, she decided to try the one thing that did sometimes help her to find things...

17:06, Today: Willa rolled 7 using 1d20+6. Arcana Check - sensing magic in an area.

...only to be confounded by her own thoughts about nothing coming back to haunt her again.

    Overlaying the small of grass, wet earth, the sea, wood, varnish, dried blood, sick and urine was a smell that had not been there before.  It was the rancid, sweet stench of decay which was so strong for a moment that it almost overpowered the other smells in the area.  Phelan quickly realized that the smell wasn’t natural.  It did not change in strength or consistency as he moved his nose about.  Which told the narayah one very important thing, which was that the smell wasn’t real.

  Drex could hear that the faint crying was coming from one of the last two of the wagons.  Now that he was paying such close attention to it he was almost certain the crying was being made by a child.

  The stoney plate armour fit nicely, the magic imbuing it allowed the suit some ability to adjust its size so that it fit even the unusually bulky frame of the kaetymic paladin without problem.  Jubei wondered about the suit itself as he was not aware that any kaetyma lived within the crystal isles.  The armour itself bore now clan markings or draconic glyphs which was unusual.  As was the style of the design of the suit itself, which reminded him of the great ruins from the long-gone draconic empire that littered his homeland.

  Quietly observing the scene Lambent began to notice flickering, almost dream-like apparitions appearing over the wagons.  Which brought the sudden realization to the invoker’s mind that the wagon train was haunted.  The almost invisible images he was glimpsing were the delusions of life which he had heard of.  Which was a result of the spirit of the recently deceased being unable to accept their own death.
  This meant that there were mostly certainly ghosts about.  From what Lambent could distantly recall about such spiritual entities were that they were to be treated with great care.  As a ghost could be very easily disturbed and a disturbed ghost often became quite violent and could be very deadly to anyone nearby.

Jubei was of course marveling at how it came to pass that such a piece of armour was found here of all places. Sure, there certainly were the ocassional tribes of Kaetyma, but these were far from the more organized, or one might even say civilized, settlements of his homeland. For now he simply regarded it as a mystery that they would eventually be able to solve at some point in the not so distant future.
The he too noticed the rather faint images of those people that had been slaughtered here by the undead and he furrowed his brows, hands quickly reaching for his weapons again, even though those appartions weren't hostile... yet. "What do we do now?", he turned to look at the others.

Enkii was no less disturbed by the presence of all these ghosts than his companions; the ice in his veins a mere side effect of perceiving that they were there...and caution was the mistress to fear. Yes, he feared them because disturbing them could mean further conflict, and further conflict might not possess the fortunes it did in their previous bouts, at it had doubtlessly left each of the party on edge in way. There were fewer options at hand than readily available, and amidst this haunted ruin, the Musadi slowly raised his spear and motioned to each of his companions with a stony furrow in his brow while his chest went still...as if...as if he were under the impression that any such warm breath would attract these entities.

"We keep calm..." he whispered, "And we press forward...slowly, leave anything else we haven't disturbed, any wagons, any cargo...and we get out of here as quickly as possible, do you each understand me...?"

The last thing he, and he presumed anybody else here, wanted was a battle against more of the undead so soon.

Willa raised her torch up higher and gawked at Iron Jubei, who looked like some sort of giant monolithic statue in his stone armour and colourful plumage.

"What do we do now?" He asked with weapons drawn.

Her gaze followed his as he drew his weapons.  A little slow on the up take, it took her a few moments to realise just what it was that they were all witnessing, but when she did her enthusiastic smile faded for the first time that day.  Even the light within her, a reflection of the torch's, seemed to dull.  Responding to Enkii's reply, her voice was quiet, almost melancholy:

"Why not returning to spawning pool?  They need help returning to spawning pool?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:31, Sun 09 Feb 2014.

Hearing the faint crying once more Drex slowly makes his way to the noise, completely oblivious to the presence of the apparitions on this slaughter grounds. A child's live is more important and if he or she is suffering he cannot stand back and do nothing. It will be against both The Warrior and The Mother's teachings.

Hearing Enkii's low rumblings about there course of action and the invisible presences, knew he must be quick before they move on. He new they won't wait for him to find a the source of the crying. Yes it might be dangerous but if it was a living person, he must try.

But yes, if the crying origins came from some ghostly vestige it also deserves to relieved from its agony. "Yes returning them to their spawning pools and I will help them, if that is all I can do for them.", Drex said softly to himself as he creeps closer to the source of the weeping.

Jubei gave a rather confused looked to the small amalgation of barely formed orange ooze. "Return to spawning pool?", he said and then blinked as he realized what was meant. "Ahhh yes... we should put them to rest indeed. This road can hardly be considered save if it's haunted like this. We should... make sure they find rest somehow."
He then rubbed over his chin as he tried to recall any specific burial rites or sanctifications that could help here. Which probably wouldn't be that much, given that he wasn't exactly familiar with the customs of the Crystal Isles.


Aaaaand rolled 18 on the Religion check :I

    Having the followed the sound of crying to the wagon, Drex peered inside and saw the almost-transparent form of a ghostly human child.  A girl by the looks of it, she was wearing a faded green and brown dress that appeared to be made of linen and wool.  She seemed to have noticed Drex in some way as her sobbing stopped and she lifted her head up and looked at the doorway.
  She backed up onto the chair she had been sitting on and pressed up against the wall.  Her face was red from crying but was now contorted not by sadness, but by fear.  The deseekay’s ears bent back, cautious now that he might have disturbed the ghost in some way.
  The ghost child got onto the chair and screamed in that unusual, voice that is not a voice.  Which the avenger knew was only heard inside his mind and those of anyone nearby.  “Mamma!  Keep it away!  Mamma!” and with a fading scream the child vanished.

  Drex realized to his personal dread that he had been witness to a ghost playing out the final moments of her former life.  Trapped within her own private purgatory.


  There was an epicentre of power here; Willa could just sense it as she waddled over to it.  A place where the warlock knew the first person had been killed on this train.  She could even see it happening in her mind.  A young guardsman, keen-eyed with fear had failed to see the deadly arrow which had flown through the darkness and split his head.  Before that moment there had been fear, but hope against arrayed against it.
  Thereafter came only despair and death.

  If anything could be done to cast off the haunting of this wagon train it was well within the power of each of the adventurers to do so.

[To lay engage in the rite to lay the ghosts to rest is a simple skill challenge.]
Primary Skills:  Arcana, Nature, Religion
Primary skills will add either a success or failure to the skill challenge result.
These reflect the skills necessary to engage in a rite to lay ghosts to rest.
Secondary Skills:  History, Insight, Perception
Secondary skills add a 1d6 to the check of another character who used a primary skill.
These reflect skills that support the performance of the rite.
Conditional Rules:  Aid another can’t be used in this challenge.  Skills can be used untrained.

Whilst everyone's attention was directed towards either the bulk of the apparitions, or the direction of the child's telepathic scream, Willa's focus was drawn elsewhere.  Trance-like she rocked slowly toward a particular spot that captivated her so.

Upon reaching the point of interest, she sluggishly looked up.  A young human stood there.  He was so vivid compared to the other echoes to almost be real.  The man stood proud and strong, filled with an overconfidence of youth that reminded Willa all too much of herself.  Barely of age, he had his whole adult life ahead of him...He caught the little oozeling's eye and smiled softly back.  Somehow it did not seem strange to Willa to be greeted so warmly. And, for a moment, all was right with the world.

Then he twisted his torso sharply, frantically looking back towards the caravan, as though reacting to a sound Willa could not hear.  He nodded hastily to some unseen superior and spun back.  His expression was so drastically different now, so full of panic and confusion, Willa wondered if may be she had only imagined his happy countenance earlier.  He readied a weapon and defensively surveyed the darkness.

Willa followed his gaze to the left and saw nothing.  Then she felt, rather than heard, the crack of something a distance behind her.  Spinning around she barely glimpsed the object that shot overhead.  For a moment, jelly turned to stone and Willa dared not look behind her.  An instant after the projectile had sped by, she had heard a soft thud.  It was the first and only sound since the vision began.  Soft, quiet and deafeningly loud...

Fraught with tension, Willa grimaced and slowly turned around.

She yelped and barely had enough time to bury her face behind her arms before a towering shadow came tumbling down.  Shutting her eyes and bracing for impact, Willa waited to be crushed.  However, after a few moments of nothing, Willa dared to to open an eye and peer between her arms..  All she could see above her were the clouds.  Those ominous, imposing clouds. The shadow was no where to be seen.  Exhaling a breath she did not realise she had been holding, Willa lowered her guard.  Torch and rod still held tightly in her grasp.

As her gaze dropped, she saw what was beneath her feet and frantically jumped backwards away from it.  Somehow she had come to stand on top of an all too familiar corpse.  The body of barely a man, with an ugly, black shaft in his neck.

Fighting back tears, Willa swallowed hard. It was then that she felt the terror of the rest of the train.  Their horror pinpointed on this boy.  Their tense breaths held in disbelief before an oncoming storm...

"Here,"  She squeaked as her voice caught in her throat.  "I...if do anything.  Do here."

Swallowing hard, she was now in complete agreement with Iron Jubei: the spirits must be helped!

Willa had no experience in dealing with the dead and was not quite sure what to do.  She racked her mind for a solution and decided that, if she could not help the spirits on, at least she might ease their torment.  Throwing her head back and opening up her mouth, just incredibly wide, with an endless "ahhh" sound, she began to feed.

As she ate, Willa tried to magically filter out the worst elements of the recently dead's lingering psionic energies, for consumption.  However, her best intentions could not make up for a fundamental lack of understanding.

22:53, Today: Willa rolled 7 using 1d20+6. Arcana - Willa's attempt at helping to lay the ghosts to rest.

This message was last edited by the player at 23:04, Mon 10 Feb 2014.

As Phelan realised the false nature of  the scent, coupled with the others reporting illusions of ghosts, he himself was beginning to understand what was happening here. Emotions and memories, trapped on the planet; either they were so strong they couldn't leave, or something was anchoring them here. It wasn't relevant, he needed to help lay them to rest.

As an artificer, Phelan had detailed training in the art of casting rituals. He himself had already mastered some before leaving to the bigger world. While he didn't know a ritual to lay the dead to rest, perhaps he could improvise something to help lay them to rest using arcane energy.

He traced a rectangle in the earth around the wagon, adding some runes here and there alongside the edge of it. Circles were the traditionally accepted one, but multiple shapes could be used. Runes representing release and rest. Completing that, he stood in the middle of it, focusing and releasing arcane energy into the circle  and the wagon, attempting to release the ghosts, the memories, the emotions, from this plane of existence. His eyes glowed as he channeled the energy.

Arcana check: 25!

Jubei might now have been particularly familiar with the customs of the Crystal Isles, but he still knew the more general rites that were appropriate for those that were slain on the field of battle. He had a rather grim expression as he set out to do just that, saying the proper words and sanctifying the ground beneath him.


Religion roll of 20

Realizing what has just happened, Drex feels a sharp cold pain of sorrow stab him in his hart. It was almost too hard to bear for him...

Willa's voice snapped him out of a nightmare or was it a memory, Drex wasn't sure to which the images belonged too.

Seeing the square with runes which Phelan was constructed and Jubei kneeling on the ground doing a strange ritual Drex has never seen before. "The others have started...", he murmurs to himself.

Putting everything down, he starts rummaging through his backpack. Taking out his flint-and-steel, some of the kindle they had leftover from the previous night and some incenses. He proceeds to the epicenter of this paranormal activity.

"Willa will you please make me a little room, if you don't mind." His voice has an unbreakable determination behind it.

He arranges the kindle and sticks his flint-and-steel, a small spark of hope flies towards the depressing middlemost point of this phenomenon. As Drex does this he starts murmuring under his breath to the Aurelian Pantheon to create a connection between him and the Grim.

Religion check: 14

Willa's "ahhhhh" halted at Drex's request.  She looked over at him out of the corner of her eye, mouth still wide open towards the heavens.  Then, closing it by dropping her head forward, she gave the Deesekay a quick double nod and slipped aside.

Out of Drex's way, she looked at the gathered spirits apologetically. "Willa sorry," she whispered sadly.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:45, Tue 11 Feb 2014.

    One umbrean alone is not enough to filter through such trauma as that which suffuses the surrounding area.  And though Willa tries her best she ultimately ‘vomits’ back up the emotions she had tried to consume, back into spiritual milieu.

  Magic, being so closely tied to the spiritual realm resonated with spirits about Phelan.  A pulse of power radiated outwards and expressed itself upon the ghosts.  Some of them shook themselves and seemed to gain some realization of their new reality.  The each bore the look of one who had just woken from a daydream.

  Incanting his draconic prayers shafts of light pierced the darkness overhead.  Not from above the clouds, but rather from the space just above Jubei.  Falling upon the ghosts nearby and drawing them out of the deathly illusions.

  Drex found himself at something of a loss for what to do exactly.  The Aurelians had much to say upon the subject of the treatment of the dead but he could not call to mind any texts which spoke of ceremonies or rites to bring to rest the restless dead.  Though he knew that lost souls were often seen to by the almost mythical Grim one of the more elusive ranks of various rulers and keepers of the underworld.  And tried to recall exactly what he could about summoning their attention.  Although his distress made him stumble through his prayers, which seemed to distress the nearby ghosts.

[Excellent Role-Playing guys!  :D  And that ends the first round of the skill challenge.  On to the second.]

Phelan felt encouraged at the reactions from the ghosts, narrowing his eyes as he channelled more power into the ritual, calling out to those trapped in the square to be freed from their chains to this plane.

He almost stumbled a bit, but was able to retain focus, reigning in the channelling a little to be more precise in severing the chains and waking the ghosts from their illusions.

While before he had remained stationary, he now began making slow gestures to help the arcane energy travel to the ghosts, moving on to a more somatic component of the ritual, the energy tracing odd glowing patterns in the air.

Arcana: 21?

Willa felt bad, she still wanted to help!

She watched curiously as Drex set up his little shrine-thing and then turned her attention to Phelan, who was having much greater success then they were.

That why he the boss, she thought to herself.

Studying his actions, Willa felt may be she could copy him well enough.  Copying others was how she had learnt magic in the first place, after all...


07:03, Today: Willa rolled 11 using 1d20+6. Willa's tentative 2nd Arcana check..

Emulating Phelan was more difficult than she had imagined.  Willa's frowned deepened and tears started to well up in her eyes.  At least this had felt a little more promising.

Could the epicentre simply be to big a task to handle?
This message was last edited by the player at 16:32, Wed 12 Feb 2014.

The spark ignites the dry twigs at the center but only smolders at this moment. The arcane energies from Phelan's ritual starts to interact with the smoke creating strange nightmarish faces.

The light from Jubei's right seems to bring hope to this morbid scene. The fire springs to life in front of Drex as he feeling of hope increases.

The sudden backlash of heavy emotions made the flame spatter and foul green smoke rolled out from the fire. "Sorry" Drex said to Willa as he realized that he interrupted her effort to lay the ghosts to rest.

It was difficult to keep his thoughts in check as past traumas assault his vision, the foul smoke creeping like some demonic carpet across the ground. At this moment Drex stumbles over another salable.

"I can't recall the next step." he thought to himself. "Enkii, I need your insight or your knowledge of history to aid me in the next step! I need to establish a connection with the Grim! Lambent can you connect to the Primordials to fuel this divine fire and banish the darker aspects!"

Religion check: 8

    As Drex’s shouts died down into silence there the haunted visions about the caravan drew in upon themselves and changed.  The brilliance and peace that Phelan and Jubei had summoned faded into darkness.
  A shriek swept through the caravan as a rush of sickly-sweet wind blasted out from the spot where Drex and Willa stood.  The fear and despair which had suffused this space was being drowned out by rage.  It did not take more than a moment for the party to realize that they had failed to bring the ghosts to peace and had instead angered them.
  They would now have to either run for their lives or face a horde of angry ghosts…

[Conditions:  You must choose to either confront the ghosts and defend yourselves long enough to complete the rites needed to lay them to rest OR you may choose flee towards the not-so-distant village of Kyssea.]

Option A:  Lay them to Rest

You attempt to set the ghosts to rest, though you will have to do so while the ghosts are trying to attacking you.
Primary Skills
  Acrobatics or Athletics:  You duck and weave amidst the ghost and make use of one of the following skills on the round thereafter.  This skill check does not count towards success or failure of the challenge.  You only need to succeed with this skill once.
  Arcana or Religion or Nature:  You call upon your knowledge to bring the angry ghosts back to peace and rest.
  Diplomacy or Intimidate:  You try to either reason with the ghosts or force them to face the reality of their own demise.
Secondary Skills
These skills do not count towards success or failure of the skill challenge.
  Bluff:  You make yourself the obvious target for the ghosts, and in so doing spare one of your companions the need of having to avoid them.  However you will have to make an Acrobatics or Athletics skill check every round afterwards.
  Insight or Perception:  Carefully watching over your companions you help them to avoid mistakes.  Add 1d6 to the result of another character’s skill check.
Victory:  The party must make 6 successful checks though each Primary skill can only be used twice successfully.

OR

Option B:  Escape the Ghosts

The party flees from the haunted caravan doing their best to elude any pursuit by any angry ghosts that may follow them.
Skills:  Athletics then Endurance.
  Athletics:  Escaping from the caravan requires that you first get up to a good run.
  Endurance:  Then you need to keep up the pace.
Special Rules:  Success on this challenge is determined when 4 out of the 6 of you succeed a check.  Failure occurs when 3 out the 6 of you fail.
Victory:  The party only needs to succeed at two rounds consecutively to escape.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:01, Thu 13 Feb 2014.

Jubei let out some words in draconic that probably weren't part of the incantations he had been saying before. In fact the tone made it sound more like some pretty heavy cursing. Regardless the big kaetyma seemed to be rather adamant in his desire to carry on, despite the wailing and shrieking of the enraged ghosts. "I will put you to rest, one way or another!", he growled out deeply.

Athletics roll of 14! Woohoo :o

Despite his size, he managed to keep his footing well enough, while the enraged spectres wailed at him.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:20, Thu 13 Feb 2014.

Things had certainly taken a turn for the worse!  Even little Willa, who was not the most observant person at the best of times, could see things getting grave.

She looked accusingly at the cloud above her, then shook her head. "This Willa's fault too.  May be, may be Willa no good?" She sniffed and looked around the camp.  She saw the massive forms of Enkii and Iron Jubei, the lesser (but still giant to her) forms of Lambent, Xeela and Drex and finally Phelan smaller even than her.

Enkii had suggested running away, but Willa had stayed despite him.  May be he had been right after all?  It just felt so wrong to leave, even now when their lives were in danger.  Iron Jubei and Phelan had done well, Phelan especially so, only to have all their hard work undone by her foolishness.  Drex...well, Willa couldn't make any head nor tail of what Drex was doing.  She had no idea how his little campfire was helpful at all, though it was sure to be more useful than her.

She considered her next move.  She was scared to try again: she didn't want to make the ghosts even angrier...or, may be she did?  As she studied the site, she saw the spirits moving insidiously towards her new found friends.

"No!"  She screamed.  "Not right!  They do good.  Willa bad.  Fight Willa!"

However, the spirits showed no intention of changing targets.  With Tears streaming down her face, Willa desperately searched for something nearby to help her get their attention.  One thing came into view...

She ran over to it and with a face full of anguish and disgust, she screamed again: "Willa bad!  Willa nasty!  Willa hurt you!"

She then wrenched and pushed against the object in front of her.  With every movement she made, there came sickening sounds of tearing flesh, grinding bone and splintering wood as she drove the arrow further through the young man's neck.

17:47, Today: Willa rolled 23 using 1d20+9. Bluffing Taunt - Go!

A sudden scream of pain erupted from one of the ghosts near Phelan.  The young boy's spirit, currently bearing down on the party's noble Artificer, could not feel the arrow in his neck any more, but he remembered it.  He spun furiously towards Willa and, it seemed, the little Narayah may be spared for the time being...
This message was last edited by the player at 00:20, Fri 14 Feb 2014.

"This is not good, not good at all", Drex was afraid this might happen. The right has to wait he needs to protect himself.

As a howling vestige swoops towards him he tries to tumble out of its way.

He mumbles,"I need more time to recall that damned right that my teacher taught me. I should have listened and not daydream about adventuring. I can see him now... focus Drex...!"

"The Fire is burning, that is right, I can remember that. What was next...", still mumbling to himself. Still ting with all his agility to avoid the shadowy echo of the fallen.

20:33, Today: Drex rolled 10 using 1d20+3. Acrobatics check.

"What was the blasted next step!" Drex shouted loudly.

[Wow, Willa that was so awesome you triggered a exceptional success effect.]

Until the end of the next round every acrobatics/athletics check is made with a +2 bluff bonus.

[Please note this is not the end of round post, that will come in the morning - my morning - so about 12 hours.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:10, Thu 13 Feb 2014.

IF not allowed to use Willa's bluff

Acrobatics: 3. With a natural 1. Oh god. Even with the bonus that's still a natural 1, and still only 5.

Phelan looked around, eyes wide as some of the spirits began to converge on his location. He tried to recover his ritual from this disastrous change, but had to split his focus to make sure he wasn't hit by the spirits. As they flew towards him, he prepared to do his best to evade them.

Sadly he tripped and the spirits slammed into him, causing the Narayah to let out a shout of pain.

-

ELSE

Phelan eyed the spirits around him nervously as they converged on his position. however their new companion was able to capture the attention of the spooks, he'd have to thank her once this was over. Standing strong, he resumed channeling Arcane energy with a greater urgency.

If allowed a reroll for instead using arcana: 25. Otherwise 13 assuming use of the '1' from the unneeded acrobatics check.B
This message was last edited by the player at 04:14, Fri 14 Feb 2014.

Enkii rolled 23 using 1d20+10. Atheletics Roll.

One might have thought it impossible that a Musadi, let alone any creature in all of creation that was built with such hulkish countenance could have ever managed dodging aggression in his life when he had based his entire military career on providing a barricade between his enemies and his group. Fortunately, the presence of Enkii's serpentine coils proved just enough to lend him the extra burst of motion he needed as he loosed a reactive hiss and shifted his entire bulk away from the wrench of those icy cold fingers!!

"You'll not have me in your grip so easily, spectre!"

Lambent's mind was elsewhere for the time being. The feel of the wind on his face and let his thoughts drift to contemplating the power of air and how it could, with very little effort, bring down the greatest mountains with time. A thought that made him consider for a moment the balance of the universe for if earth was so easily worried by something as insubstantial as air then what chance, really, do brief mortals have in this brief existence?

His contemplation is interrupted by the sounds of his companions going on about something and he is about to rebuke them for interrupting his communion when he sees the restless spirits hovering in the air around him. It was all he could do to duck out of the way in time as he tried to remember the prayers that quiet the restless dead...

Lambent rolled 18 using 1d20+4. Athletics.
Guessing that is not enough to make a Religion check...

[Well done so far guys, success all round!]

    Jubei, Drex, Enkii and Lambent; you each manage to move about in such a fashion as to avoid the ghosts.  Though if not for Willa’s stunt, whereby she drew the attention of most of the ghosts, Drex would not have been able to evade them.

  Phelan, taking advantage of Willa’s actions hurries to complete the work he had begun earlier.  He frantically rushed about to lay down more magical symbols to complete the hastily conceived ritual to lay the restless dead to rest.

[Willa – you will now continuously have to make athletics/acrobatics checks to evade the ghosts and keep them off Phelan.  Should you fail twice in a row you will have to make your bluff check again in order to remove the ghosts attention from Phelan –or another ally of your choice at that point.]
[The rest of you may now make the other primary skill checks to complete the skill challenge or either perception or intuition to help one of your allies in making a primary check.]

With Willa providing such a great distraction to the enraged spirits, Jubei had rather little trouble to evade the ghosts that tried to grasp at him in turn. Their screeching sounds were quite an annoyance if anything and the dragonblood responded in kind by yelling furiously at them. For that he used a language that was less heard and more 'felt' by everyone who heard it. The strange words triggered basic emotions that even the spirits couldn't deny, after all they had experienced them at some point in their lives as well.
What he said was basic enough, it was an order really, to cease their hostilities and face the truth of their existance, which was that they were dead as unjust as it might have come and that they had to move on.

Intimidation roll of 23 using 1d20 + 10

Willa wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her sleeve and grinned happily as she realised she had finally been of some use.  Now she just needed to survive to tell the tale!

She quickly dashed off, but didn't run too far.  The spirits could start attacking her friends again if she did that.  No, it would be best to stay close.  Instead she turned and headed into the thick of the spectres, desperately ducking and weaving between them as best she could.

Acrobatics check: 10 with Shadow Walk, 12 if Willa's own bluff bonus applies to her rolls too.

But such actions were just another thing Willa was bad at.  Even using magic to whip up some shadowy clouds barely helped.  In the end it all came down to luck...
This message was last edited by the player at 20:04, Sat 15 Feb 2014.

Enkii seems unable to offer more words than his grin already produced in lieu of Willa's and Phelan's efforts; moreover that whatever cosmic forces at work within the purview of the universe had finally seemed to turn itself (if only slightly) towards the better! But alas, this was only the beginning of the bout, and the musadi only hoped this choice to stand aground would end with their survival...he was very much beginning to develop a distaste for ghosts and spooks of these sorts! With that in mind, Enkii wasn't in mind to leave Jubei by himself while TWO such behemoths stood at ready to put to turn the tables of fear.

As every fibrous cord seemed to tighten about the Musadi's enormous bulk, his mouth drew open with fangs bared and tongue lashing with the rattle of his most fearsome hiss yet; and in that moment it seemed almost as if he had somehow made himself to appear even BIGGER than under ordinary circumstance. All of it directed towards the gathering of ghosts as a command to step down!!

Enkii rolled 12 using 1d20+7. Intimidation. Bah! That's a fail if ever I saw it. >3>

I really need an actual focus...  Phelan thought to himself as he continued the ritual. Without a focus, he didn't   really  have something made for channeling this much magic, and using himself as one was going to be a bit more difficult. Thankfully most rituals had been written to not need a focus, an act that caused many magical merchants no small amount of despair; his improvised ritual hopefully would not need one.

However it was getting harder to manage the energies required, and he found his control over it beginning to get shaky.

Arcana check: 18? Guess I had to roll low sometime...

Recovering himself after the surprise, Lambent narrows his eyes, the lights becoming a dull red glow reminiscent of the fires of the Elemental Chaos. Holding forth his staff he called upon the awesome might of the Primordials, their power older than any in the world. His staff glowed with the light of the elements as his voice shook with the power of the eldest gods.

"Cower before the might of the Primordial Lords restless spirits! Return to your rest and harry this world no longer!"

Lambent rolled 27 using 1d20+8. Religion.

With the command uttered by Lambent the fire at The Center burns brighter, now infused with the energies from the  Elemental Chaos.

The light of the flame illuminated Drex mind, he is doing this all wrong. Drex runs to the elemental fire, lighting his incense sticks. Praying to his gods: "Grant this incense the power to ward of these shadows, AHMAYNE !" Drex tumbels out of the way of one of the ghosts trying to grabs him. Briefly stopping to hand Enkii the incense. Saying: "Use this blessed incense to aid you too banish the ghosts."

Incense sticks only there for story purposes, not actual ritual components.

He ducks and rolls away as another apparition swoops towards him.

08:49, Today: Drex rolled 7 using 1d20+4. Insight .
If this is a success then Enkii gets the bonus.
09:12, Today: Drex rolled 4 using 1d6. Insight bonus.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:57, Mon 17 Feb 2014.

[A few close calls but so good so far.  Enkii your failure was turned into a success by Drex’s Insight bonus.]

    The Carnal words of Jubei voice clearly shook some of the ghosts.  Just as Enkii’s aggressive display caused the ghosts delusions to begin fracturing.

  As Phelan worked his magic he realized what he needed was not so much a material focus as much as the idea of one, the call of the Underworld.  A familiar green light flares and begins to shine from Phelan’s magic as the cold air around the caravan becomes frigid and frost rapidly forms within the surrounding area.

  Even as Lambent’s command began to evaporate the terrifying visage of nearby ghosts, the sound of Willa’s giggling was not far behind as she somersaulted past the primordial priest and away from Drex.  The deseekay was of course engaging in prayers of a sort he was not quite used to.

[Success for both the Arcana and Intimidation skills have been exhausted for the rest of the skill challenge.  And Willa, your bluff bonus from the first round has now expired.]

This message was last edited by the GM at 21:47, Mon 17 Feb 2014.

"Jubei!" Phelan called as he found himself at a stage of the improvised ritual wherein focusing more effort would be unnecessary. They needed to pursue other avenues to help complete it. "Try gentle persuasion?" He was watching the ghosts and  saw how they had reacted earlier. Perhaps now the carrot would work better than the stick?

Perception test to assist Jubei: 12?
If successful: Bonus given to Jubei is equal to: 2

Jubei paused with his shouting for a moment as he heard Phelan call him and then furrowed his brows at the suggestion, almost as if the Kaetyma wasn't able to bring the words gentle and persuasion into a meaningful syntax.
Though that was but a momentary impression and he then turned back to the ghosts before him and changed his tone. This time less threatening, and rather than just confronting them with the truth, he now seemed to promise that their deaths would be avenged and not in vain. That at least some measure of dignity would be restored to them, as long as they would allow it.



Diplomacy roll of 13 using 1d20 + 8. +2 Bonus from Phelan: 15

Willa blinked and turned around.

Back where she came from were the massed forms of the lingering ghosts.  Somehow she had made it through unscathed!  Still, she wasn't done yet.  With a look of childish determination, she took up a runner's starting pose then, after a couple of breaths, threw herself forward into the fray once more...

00:05, Today: Willa rolled 13 using 1d20+2. Willa's ducking and diving.

The fire flared brighter as as strong wind picked up, sending small bits of debris flying in the air around the ghosts. The flames seemed to draw at the spirits towards it, the flames licking at their ethereal forms as it threatened to engulf them lest they heed his command.

"Let not the ire of the Primordial Lords destroy your memories! Begone from this place and return the world hereafter or risk forever being trapped in the Chaos, slaves to my immortal, inhuman masters!"

Lambent rolled 25 using 1d20+8. Religion.

No that Drex has gained control over himself, he can see the ghosts are starting to react positively to the groups efforts.

Its strange it almost feels as if everything is in slow motion. As Drex moves his gaze to each party member he spots one of apparitions behind Willa. "Watch out behind you Willa! One of them to your right!" Drex shouts this as he himself avoids a ghostly touch.

11:41, Today: Drex rolled 15 using 1d20+11. Perception check.
Willa gets a +2 bonus to her check if Drex succeeded.

As his aggressive display seemed to further evoke a bit of secondary consideration within the ghost's collective anger, in combination with his companion's efforts into the endeavor; Enkii's confidence solidified itself gradually as his fearsome visage drew into a sort of stalwart cohesion that seemed to reinforce his naturally commanding presence with words encouraging, subtly goading even, the bedlam within this spirits to disperse into a better existence rather than remain in this world and be caught in a hapless cycle of reliving death over and over again. Simply relying on imposition would only inflame them more...but if they could be made to see reason, then the ritual would HAVE to succeed!

Enkii rolled 22 using 1d20+7. Diplomacy Check. Woohoooo! :D

    It took Willa a few moments to notice she was not being pursued by ghosts any longer as she stopped to look around she also noticed it had suddenly become quiet except for the sounds of her companions committing to their tasks.  However even they soon noticed the ghosts had suddenly gone still.

  The eerie green light from Phelan’s magical symbols, mixed with the softer yellow lights from the lanterns flickered and danced about in those stretched out moments.

  The distorted ghostly, monsters that had hunted the party moments before were just floating stilly in the air.  There edges blowing about lazily in the spectral winds.

  As the spell broke, the hideous forms of the ghosts melted away.  Leaving behind the spirits about which those ghosts had coalesced.  These spirits, the men and women and children – mostly human and doola tywuar, with a few scattered deseekay – looked about themselves as if seeing each other and the world about them as if again for the first time.

  Most of them looked at the adventurers rather sheepishly and tried their best to apologize.  A few others had broken down and where crying as the reality of their current situation sank in.  Several of the spirits thanked the adventurers for freeing them from their nightmarish existence – especially the children and the elderly amongst them.

  One of the spirits introduced himself as Tuccio, he paused as he was about to say the rest of his name then said “I guess that hardly matters now.” his spirit had the appearance of a rugged man near middle-age with dark brown hair cut short around his face with the stubble of a beard upon his face.  His clothing was simple, comfortable and well-tailored.
“I am – eh was – the caravan master.” he said.

[Well done!  You completed the skill challenge and laid the ghosts to rest.  As a result you each receive 250 Experience Points and you have gained 2 Fame and 2 Fortune tokens.]

Willa sniffs.  She wants to cry too.  Its so sad - these people are dead!  They shouldn't be dead!  But she is relieved too - hopefully they will not be hurting any more.

Choking back the tears, she looks across the assembled spirits with mixed and surprisingly complex emotions.  She searches for one figure in particular and after a while manages to find him. She sheepishly approaches the young man and winces under his gaze.  "Willa sorry!"  She announces, bowing down before him as deeply as her little legs will allow.  "Willa no want to hurt, but know not what to do.  Wish had got here sooner, but...hope boy is better now."

She looks up at the young man for a moment with water-filled eyes, then quickly scurries off to cry in a corner out of sight.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:56, Wed 19 Feb 2014.

Lambent's eyes glow receded as the danger passed. The fire died down and the wind returned to the mountain crags from which it came. He regarded the assembled spirits with no hint of emotion then nodded shortly before he wandered back towards the fire. He stirred the embers to let the flames dance higher then, taking some dried leaves from his pouch, scatters them onto the flames. The result is at first a thick dark smoke that quickly clears bringing with it a sweet, calming scent. Bowing the spirits he held up his hands.

"Eternal Masters, turn your gaze to these souls. Light their way with your eternal flame to their final reward, may your blessed winds hurry them to their final rest, may the earth beneath their spirit's feet not hamper their way and may your blessed holy waters cleanse them of all sin on their final journey."

His prayer finished he walks amongst the spirits, placing a benediction upon each so they may find their way to the afterlife without any troubles.

Phelan panted slightly as the ritual came to an end. Channelling so much magic without preparation had exhausted him somewhat. At least he had managed to get assistance later on, or he probably would be more tired than he was now.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly as his breathing returned to a normal rate; walking around and removing evidence of the magic square from it as he did so. There was no need for the ritual any longer, those of Divine paths would be able to encourage the ghosts to the afterlife better than he currently would be able to.

He looked over at the caravan master as he erased the magical symbols of the ritual. "Tuccio... Do you remember what happened here?"

"Its over" Drex thinks to himself as he breathes a sigh of relief. "And yet it might only be the begging." This he thinks as he looks up towards the ominous clouds, covering the land in a sinister shadow.

Drex's attention is drawn to Tuccio as he begins to speak, listening to every word that he utters. Drex reasons that Tuccio will definitely have information regarding the the clouds, the undead and what might have happened to the messangers of the Gravewach.

Drex walks closer to stand next to Phelan, waiting for the ghost to answer Phelan's question.

    The ghost nodded his head and cast his gaze to the ground beside Phelan “Yes, yes I do.  Though all of this-” and Tuccio gestured up at the darkened sky “-began a while before that.  You see this caravan of mine travels all along the coastal roads of Aria.  We stopped here on the 41st and the next night just didn’t end…” the ghost shivered at this recollection.
  “The town was taken over by dead things and shadows.  There was hardly any fighting as far as we could tell.  The invaders killed anyone that resisted so we gave up very quickly.  Most of us were just too afraid to stand up against them.  It seemed like an army had come to Kyssea.”

  While Tuccio spoke small fiery motes appeared in the air before several ghosts who themselves where being outlined by a faint green light.

  “The villagers hoped the Gravewatch would do something about the attackers, though it was not long before we saw the bodies of the watch numbering amongst the walking dead.  We all thought we were going to die there.” the man bit off a laugh and grinned, he look up from the ground at Phelan his eyes full of sadness.
  “After they had rounded everyone up from around the village one of them-“ the man lifted his chin up to point at Lambent “-showed up, tall, so black he shone and gleaming with a light the colour I even now for the life of me can not grasp.” he paused, caught up in memory.
  Tuccio shook himself and continued his story.

  “He said that as long as we remained in the village we would not be harmed.” he looked over towards the caravan and the other ghosts, then over towards the lights of the village “I think that if we had listened to him we would all still be alive right now.” The ghosts’ blurred rather distinctly as he moved to rub a hand over his face.
  “They wanted something with the city of the dead.  We mostly just saw the flashes of light as the city defended itself.  Sometimes I thought I heard screaming coming from there.  I am not exactly sure how long it took them.  Maybe three or four days I would guess.  It was right after we saw them pouring into the place that we thought we could risk getting away.”
  “And you have seen how that turned out for us.” he sighed, though his voice just barely quivered there at the end.

Iron Jubei nodded slowly as he listened to the elaborations of the Ghost and let out a low rumble as he cleared his throat and drummed on his chest. "It would seem that the fights will only get harder, if the Gravewatch fell and joined the undead. Their equipment would be in a much better condition than that these skeletons had.", he said with his voice still a litte hoarse from the shouting in that strange language.
"And that... Ehuron that leads them...", he continued on and looked over to Lambent then. "I assume it's not normal for your kind to raise and lead armies of undead, is it?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:10, Fri 21 Feb 2014.

The news that Tuccio told the group was not good at all. If the Gravewatch still has some members left they will need help to retake the Necropolis from the Mysterious Ehuron figure and his army.

"I don't think it's not normal for anyone to raise, lead armies of undead and kill innocent poeple." Drex reply's to Jubei's question.

Drex now looks at Tuccio. "Do you know if the Gravewatch members are all dead or did they manage to fortify a position in town? We need to speak with them... or do you know why they would want to attack the necropolis. What would be so important for them in there?."

]

    Tuccio lifted his arm up, so that his left hand came up under his chin and stroked at the bottom of his chin and jaw while he thought.  And after a few moments of blurred motion he spoke. “I am not sure.  At first I would have said he might have been interested in the bodies, but if that was true then whole village would have been slaughtered and it would seem that the ehuron went out of his way to keep as many people alive as possible.  So my next best guess would be that he wants something inside one of the tombs.  Or maybe it is something in the catacombs.  I have heard many stories about treasures and rare and powerful relics being hidden away down there for some far future heir.”
  “As for the gravewatch, we had not heard so much as a peep from anyone of them.  If there were some survivors they either fled or went into hiding.  It may be that someone in the village knows.”

  The apparition of Tuccio sighed ”Whatever the case may be you will have to find that out for yourselves.  I am getting the feeling that I will not be able to stay for much longer.  So I will finish my final duty.  On behave of the caravan I would like to award to you anything of value in them you can find or make use of and what you do not plan to use or sell I would ask you to see it sent to the merchant’s guild.  The people there will see that whatever goods are left reach their final destinations and whatever personal property we had makes its way as well.” that now familiar green light outlined the spectral isleborn man.

Necrothaumaturgy:   A Common term describing a division of magic used for interaction and manipulation of death, undeath and chthonic spirits.  Most civilizations are weary of such magic and either outlaw, restrict or carefully monitor practitioners of the field.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:44, Mon 24 Feb 2014.

    With a nod to the adventurers before him Tuccio says “I wish you all safe travels and long and prosperous lives.” a small fiery mote flares up beside the isleborn’s head.  Which of course drew his attention as it led him eastwards, away from the adventurers, the same direction in which the other departed spirits had vanished.
  This left the adventurers alone with the caravan and the oppressive darkness around them which was only kept at bay light from the lanterns carried by Enkii and Drex.

Jubei gave a nod to spirit before he departed while he rubbed with one hand over his chin and looked at his companions. "Well, it would seem that there isn't much left for us to do here. We can hardly send someone to pick these wares up while the undead threat is not dealt with. We should take whatever we can find that would help us in our immediate situation, maybe we can find healing potions or other supplies we could make use of.", the big Kaetyma suggested.

Willa emerged from her hiding spot, wiping the tears from her eyes and - after a moment - grinned happily at the group, ready to move on.

Phelan looked at the wagons curiously, then at Jubei. "Might it be possible for us to use one of the wagons as a means of transporting the majority of the supplies? IF we can  carry a larger amount, that would be a larger amount of resources that can be devoted to improving our own equipment."

Drex observes Willa's return. "Good to see your still with us." He smiles and then turns his attention to Jubei.


"I agree, but we should round everything up, that we will not use. So that when we have taken care of this problem we can inform the merchant’s guild of the remaining wears."

Drex now listens to Phelan. "That is an excellent plan Phelan, we load all to the goods we want in one wagons. And then secure the rest here for future use or for the merchant’s guild. The wagon we took will come in handy for our future travels."

Drex stars to scrutinizing the wagons to find one in the best looking condition.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:27, Wed 26 Feb 2014.

Willa nods cheerfully at Drex, "Willa not leave friends behind!"

Not knowing anything about Wagons, the oozling starts to gather any bits and pieces laying around that might be considered 'supplies,' making a little pile of them.  As she does so Willa notices more and more of the caravan crews' corpses laying around.  Obviously they had always been there but, child-like, she had not wanted to see before.  She still didn't want to see now, but felt better about it knowing the spirits were at peace.  As she did so, she felt strangely cold - like someone had just place a spoon on her shoulder.  Willa looked up at the cloud above her and shuddered, before hurrying over to Phelan.

"Er...excuse Willa, Mr. Phelan, sir.  Willa knows cloud above is magic, but not know what it does.  Willa wonders: may be cloud connected with undeads?" She looks at the nearest corpse. "Should bury, or burn, or" she shivers, sending subtle waves across her body "break?"

She turns back to Phelan and smiles expectantly.  Then, before he has a chance to answer, she runs off.  A few moments later the little jelly return,s awash with the light of her treasured torch that she had somehow managed to drop earlier.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:16, Wed 26 Feb 2014.

Jubei grimaced a bit at the suggestion of taking along one of the wagons and he shook his head as he drudged behind Drex to look for a more suitable one. "Eh, let's find a good one...", he said and examined the wagons, especially in regards to the yoke and traces as those had to be in a somewhat good condition if he were supposed to draw one later. Calling his expression grumpy would have been quite an understatement.

Drex regards Jubei's grumpy mood and realizes what is going on. He smiles while saying the next: "Don't worry, your only going to pull it to town and Enkii should be able to help too. We should be able to get some goat-horses there... hopefully..." This might be too much to hope for in these circumstances.

Drex will search for a wagon in a good condition with Jubei. Then he will help Phelan and Willa to despose of the corpses. He doesn't want more undead running around and it is respectful to give the dead the necessary rights of passage. He will then help to pack all the supplies for them and gather the rest to one save-ish spot. Before making his way to Kyssea with the rest of the group.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:51, Wed 26 Feb 2014.

    Now that the spirits of the dead had departed a few corpses had appeared, though not nearly enough to have accounted for all the spirits that Willa and Phelan had seen.

[You had already searched the caravan previously and had found what you could consider of value, though you may Perception checks again to if there was anything you missed or, if like the dozen or so bodies that had appeared, there could have been something hidden from plain sight by spiritual forces.]

  There were really two types of wagons available in the caravan, the homely caravan’s that also carried some cargo and the two larger wagons which where little more then large carts with canvased canopies.  Though each one had its traces and tacks damaged to such a degree that some repair would be necessary, though fortunately spare parts were readily available.

[What this boils down to is you have a choice of a standard wagon (the large ones are these) which can transport about 1 ton of stuff, the other is a little smaller, and carries about 0.6 tons but also functions as a tent for 4 medium sized creatures.]

"Let's gather the dead together. We can decide what to do with them then. I don't know too much about Isleborn beliefs with regards to the fallen; although I'd prefer burning them." Phelan replied to Willa. He looked around, frowning. "Not nearly enough... Willa. I'm going to look around to see if there are any others. If you could gather the dead around here so we can do any last rites, that would be excellent."

With that, Phelan joined in searching the caravans, searching for things that might have been concealed earlier. Corpses as well as other possibilities.

Perception: 25! Searching for corpses and other things that might have been concealed before.

Willa blinked at Phelan.  Gathering the dead sounded disgusting!  But she wanted to help however possible.  Glowing in the torch's light, she beamed at him in more ways than one.

"Okay, Mr Phelan!"

She bounded off enthusiastically.  Happy to finally be of some use.

Grabbing whichever limb made itself most apparent, Willa dragged each corpse over to the spot pointed out by Phelan, wincing all the way.

"If find any more.  Please tell Willa!"

08:54, Today: Drex rolled 20 using 1d20+11. Perception check.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
I already stated Drex's actions. He will use the 20 Perception for the remainder of the scene. Check OOC chat for my wagon choice.

---

Enkii silently presided over the gathering with his usual stony face; but one could tell somewhere inside, he was quietly mourning over the passing of these travelers far, far too early than ordained, the children most especially. Of course he was not content to laze around either, and had begun carefully hauling up as many bodies as he could manage at a time, without unceremoniously bundling them together or offending the corpses in any such fashion so as to raise the ire of the spirits once more, and slithering over under his burden, gently deposited each one upon Phelan's instruction.

"I don't happen to mind slithering along if you would prefer to travel light?"

    Gathering the bodies you could find was not particularly difficult, and you were quiet certain that you were thorough in this.  With Lambent’s aid you make and light a funerary pyre just off the road and downwind from the caravan.

  Before the bodies were set ablaze you removed what valuables you could and came across two potions which Phelan quickly identified as an Elixir of Aptitude and a Cryptspawn Potion.

  While looking around the caravan for a suitable wagon, you take one near the back of the train which seems to be the most intact and undamaged.  Not to mention that the stink of death was not present inside so it had that at the very least counting in its favour.  As with most of the other traveller’s wagons it was essentially a small hut on four wheels.  It had a stone hearth at its back and two tables which also served as beds along with two fold-away shelves that could serve as bedding surfaces as well.  Other than that it was furnished with a chest, a cupboard, a dresser and two small stools which could easily be assembled and dismantled when not in use.

  With the flickering firelight casting dancing shadows over the scene the adventurers departed towards the lights of the not too distant village.



    Though the lights of Kyssea were few and dim, they were clustered together, and in the starless darkness beneath the black clouds they seemed to have the glow of a dying sun just on the horizon.
  Loose stone walls sprang up on the sides of the road just as the adventuring party could pick out some of the silhouettes of the individual buildings of the village.
  This caused the narayah to recall, out loud, that Kyssea was not only a village that sprang up around the gravewatch garrison but also a mining community with a large quarry and an obsidian mine just to the south of the village.

  As the building of the village begin to loom ahead a rather nerve racked voice calls out from the darkness ahead though just to the north of the road “Who goes there?!” you think you can almost hear a faint rattle and a whimper from the direction of the voice.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:20, Wed 05 Mar 2014.

Drex regards the town with some curiosity. Normally this would be a nice town for Drex to live in, but as he nears it he gets a shiver down his spine. He is anything but at ease after the whole debacle with the walking dead and the bad news that the spirit of  Tuccio gave them.

For some reason Drex thought that the town would be empty and was surprised by the voice. "Uh, we are travelers seeking a place to rest for the night...!" Drex said in the direction of the voice's origins.

Jubei felt a bit indignified, given how he had been put into a harness of sorts to have an easier to pull the wagon behind. The straps of which ended up being quite awfully itching on his already rash plagued hide.
First he looked over to Drex and let out a snort of sorts before he turned to where the voice had spoken from. "We're from the Adventurer's Guild and here to find out what happened to the Gravewatch. Now unless you feel like it's better to be left to your own devices in dealing with the undead, would you be so kind and let us have a place to rest?", the kaetyma said with a slight bit of irritation.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:25, Fri 28 Feb 2014.

Drex notices bluntness from Jubei. He does not take it personally realizing that they all had a tough and Jubei's has taken the worst of it.

Drex takes out his guild-badge as proof, of Jubei's claim. Drex is not in the mood to argue for discreetness with the gaint itchy-skin, grumpy-pulling kaetyma.

Willa, much experienced with getting into towns and cities since starting on her epic adventure of exploration, was a little confused by Drex's and Iron Jubei's approach.  In her travels she had learnt that if you actually spoke back to the gate guard, you wouldn't get in.  As soon as they saw you they would shout at you and tell you to 'get lost'.

To get in you needed to hide and if the guards couldn't find you they would let you enter.  It was sort of a game, sort of a test.  And it was a lot of fun.  With that in mind, she slipped inside the wagon and hid behind some crates, less than covertly snickering to herself.

10:45, Today: Willa rolled 6 using 1d20+2. Willa attempts to hide, despite her giggling.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:47, Fri 28 Feb 2014.

    The is some hushed discussion, or rather the attempt at a hushed discussion, from the watcher and his companion before they emerge from behind a low stone wall that marks the outskirts of the village proper.
  A doola tywuar, stocky though thin from youth and a human who seems even scrawnier then his shorter companion.  Both wear rather common clothing, rather dirty and a little damp over which lay leather jerkins that seems to have been converted into some simple leather armour.  They were equipped with shorts words and crossbows which clearly had seen better times but were well-kept regardless of their great age.
  The human spoke, his was not the voice that had confronted the adventurers though it was rather high-pitched from a mixture of relief and nervousness “Uh…welcome to Kyssea!” he blurted and tried adjusting his leather helmet, which seemed to be in the process of sliding off the back of his head before he spoke again “The captain will want to see you I guess…uh…well…we will take you into town.  We can not really leave out posts…so uh…we will see about getting someone to keep a-I mean escort you to the captain as quickly as possible.”

  Willa, meanwhile, found it rather easy to conceal herself amidst her companions.

  It was quiet clear that these two youths were probably part of some local militia the village had formed sometime during the last few days.  These ‘guardsman’ were far too young and inexperienced to be anything else.
  As they lead the adventurers down the road into the village, it became quite clear that despite most of the buildings showing some signs of life there were many which stood mostly at the outskirts that where little more than shadowy blocks in the gloom.

  The village square was a very large, open field with a few prominent buildings along its perimeter.  A bath house, bakery, inn, and a large store could all be made out clearly.  With a clock tower visible before a large manor which the two boys were taking the adventurers to.
  Around the village square it was easy to see there were some people about, but no one seemed to be out on their own.  Everyone in the village was always beside someone else and it was abundantly clear that the villagers were very frightened yet were trying to go on with their lives despite everything that Tuccio had told the adventurers had happened here.
  The party stopped before the manor house as the doola spoke up his voice having regained some timber though he was still very visibly uneasy.  “This is the home of Lord Agiambra.” the doola looked up at his companion and motioned him on to the large doorway to the manor.  Even Enkii would easily fit through those doors luxurious wooden doors.
  After the application of the door knocker it was quickly answered by a human woman who appeared to be a servant of some kind spoke to the youth before her then at the mention of the adventurers her eyes turned to the adventurers and drew up…and up in the case of Jubei and Enkii – to who she proceeded to promptly faint over.

  What followed was some commotion as other servants rushed to the aid of their fallen comrade looked out the door at what had caused such a reaction and were either left staring or fainted themselves.  After about the fifth servant someone with a bit more sense appeared behind the doorway.  A large woman dressed in worn and somewhat faded black dress which had clearly lead a life before this involving young ladies, ballrooms and possibly the prospects of a refined bosom and frills.  Though now it served a woman who barely fit the definition of the term ‘woman’ and for whom the dress had clearly been expanded by a tailor who had done remarkable well considering the subject.
  She looked the adventurers over with a gaze that would have fitted a feline better than a human.  “Ah!” a voice a that was unnervingly deep and had the sort of power behind it normally associated with the gale of a storm purred from her lips as she smiled at the adventurers.
  Gracefully moving around the fallen figures, who were being tended to by other servants now, she stepped outside.
  “Goodevening to you.” Sweetness dripped from her tone in such concentrations it could have be considered a form of audible poison.  “May I ask, what brings you here to the house of my Lord?”

As the wagon jolted forward and headed into the town, Willa congratulated herself on yet another successful admittance.  She felt sorry for Drex and Iron Jubei who must surely still be outside the settlement's walls, but she would let them in once the wagon stopped moving.

It seemed to take some time.  It would take her a while to get back to the gates at this rate.  Hopefully the streets weren't too confusing or she might not be able to find her way back very easily.  Eventually, the vehicle rumbled to a stop and, after a few moments, Willa slipped out the back.  She looked around to get her bearings and almost gasped in surprise.  Iron Jubei and Drex were already here!  They were gooood.  She had no idea how they managed that.  As the others headed over to the huge doors, she quickly slipped along to catch up with them.

"You good.  Must teach Willa trick."  She said to her impressive friends.  Just then the woman spoke:

“May I ask, what brings you here to the house of my Lord?”

Thrown by the jelly-like appearance of the lady, a dumbfounded Willa pointed to the wagon behind her and said: "It."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:24, Fri 28 Feb 2014.

The Narayah, sighing internally, had followed Willa out of the wagon. He had no idea where she seemed to get so much energy from as she seemed to be  rather cheerful and happy. He just felt tired; and really felt bad for making Jubei drag the wagon around. Perhaps they could get a quick remedy for the Kaetyma's condition here.

He looked around at the villagers, carrying on with their usual lives despite what had been going on. A form of courage in its own right, or perhaps just trying to ignore the issue. Nevertheless...

When they eventually came to the manor, he was mildly amused by the reaction of the servants to Enkii and Jubei.

Phelan felt somewhat on edge with this woman. She seemed so saccharine; perhaps he was paranoid. But he felt suspicious nonetheless. That said, he preferred to let the others do the talking since he was no refined diplomat.

Jubei was visibly glad once they got to that mansion and he could free himself of that awful harness. The straps having left rather visible marks on the exposed parts of his hide, though that was probably mostly due to the developing sickness.
Then the fainting of the servants happened and he too was quite amused by it, in fact it seemed to lighten his mood enough to have a sort of smirk on his long muzzle by the time that matron appeared.
"We are here on behalf of the Gravewatch to investigate the recent... silence coming from your village. We already know that you have a problem with an undead infestation, now your... guards.. have pointed us to come here to meet with your Lord, who hopefully can give us more information and a place to rest up for some time.", he explained though seemingly forgot to actually introduce their group.

Putting the badge away, he follows the two guards into the town of Kyssea. He takes in all of his surroundings. He was tired but alert, he was not going to be caught of guard if this was a trap.

As they make their way to the center of town Drex glances to his left seeing the diseased flesh of Jubei. Thinking: "Iron Jubei's skin does look bad, if it does not improve by itself we will have to do something about it. We need the whole party at full strength for whatever we have to face."

Smiling at Willa's comment. "Will do."

The fiasco at the large wooden doors was but novel distraction to Drex, thinking to himself: "That a kaetyma and a musadi must be a strange and terrifying sight to the people to Kyssea, having survived an undead attack and being trapped in their town. The sight of two individuals part of races known for attacks on the isles was the proverbial worm-infested-cherry on the undead-cake."

See that Jubei is handling the large woman's questions, he stays quite and vigil. This still could be a trap...

18:35, Today: Drex rolled 23 using 1d20+11. Perception check - staying vigilant .
This message was last edited by the player at 16:36, Sat 01 Mar 2014.

Enkii seemed more concerned for the state of the infected, particularly that of Jubei, as they pressed onwards; and it wasn't until this distinct scene at the door of the manor that his attentions had finally turned forwards into a sort of passing confusion over this recurrent oddity. Of course...prompt recollection of the fact that their kinds were, respectively, known for more hostile engagements within these sorts of territories...and one might have thought they'd never seen a musadi out of water genuine amusement as well as slight...err...embarrassment! He kept by as always with spear in hand and tried his best to appear approachable, if at least his trained 'at attention' posture could suffice to present a professional atmosphere. OF words, however, he spoke none for way of letting Jubei do the talking.

    As Willa appeared there were several shrieks from the woman nearby who quickly disappeared into the manor.  Even the woman in black stumbled back onto the stairs trying to regain her composure in the face of a creature she obviously feared and reviled.
  She distracted was she that Jubei had to repeat himself.  Yet before she could speak some from inside the house spoke first.  The speaker of which soon emerged.

  He was a rather timid looking human man nearing his middle years, with a rather plain face upon who’s nose rested a rather large set of pewter rimmed spectacles.  His auburn hair was well kept and rather short though the sides were woven into a simple braid that fell behind his ears a style that was not uncommon amongst Arian nobility.
  The man was dressed in a padded and loose blue tunic edged with light brown lace and darker brown pants.  As he appeared the adventurers could make out the faint sound of music in the air, though only Willa was oblivious to its source, a faintly glowing blue prism-like crystal pendant set upon a bronze chain about his neck.

  As soon as he looked outside he was clearly surprised to see the adventurers upon his doorstep, he took in the scene as he spoke.  “Uh…good evening…travellers?  I am Lord Corso of House Agiambra and Councilmen of Kyssea.  How may I help you?” despite his rather firm bearing a moment ago he seemed somewhat at a loss of how exactly to handle the situation.

  The two guards, meanwhile, had taken the confusion as a sign that they should rather urgently return to their posts as legions of undead now seemed much more preferable to incredible awkwardness of the situation before the Lord Corso’s house and before any possible repercussions such embarrassment might have spread to them.

To Drex perspective Judei is handling the diplomatic encounter with the locals.

"But what is this?" Drex think to himself as the unusual shimmer humanoid shape retreats into the wall of the nearby clock tower. Might this be a a clue that can help them in their investigation? Or could this be an indication that this might be a trap like he suspects... In the past Drex was not always this suspicious or cautious when it came to dealing with people. He was trusting of every one, this was mostly due to his upbringing in the monastery. Where all the clergy and the community of the nearby town were like family to him. He could remember summer afternoons where he and Cornase, one of his good child hood friends would go to Grandma Rustrich's home to help her with house work. As payment for there hard work they would normally get a slice of fruit pie. This soon changed, on the night Drex left the monastery on a divinely inspired quest, as he called it, he was robed by the friendly travel companions he met that day. He was tided up and left with only a cloak to cover his body. Needles to say he was changed forever.

Drex was planing to investigate this clock as soon as he can slip away from the group. But he knows he will need help. "Willa will be able to help." he thinks and looks to her direction.

Drex slips behind the Enkii's grate bulk to obscure his next actions. Whispering to Willa: "In the caravan quick." And he also slips in.

In the caravan he tells Willa of the shimmer humanoid shape and makes his plan known to Willa, they will sneak into the clock tower and find out what is going on there.

He takes out his badge and sends a discreet message to Phelan of his plan. He will be careful and if they are not back in half-n-hour to come and look for them.

Willa listens to Drex with awe.  Mostly because he had chosen to confide in her.  She felt so proud!  Once he had explained the situation Willa spoke so quickly her words were almost quicker than her mouth could handle:

"WillahelphowgetawayneedWillamakedis-trac-tiontellfiborwesneaksoff?"

The little umbrean could barely contain herself and looked like she might burst into dance at any moment.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:02, Sun 02 Mar 2014.

Jubei furrowed his brows for a moment before he nodded, probably getting slightly annoyed by how he kept repeating himself several times already. "My name is Iron Jubei and these are my companions...", he then proceeded to introduce the others... or at least tried to, finding Drex and Willa to be absent, which he didn't mention however. The confusion of his only lasted momentarily however as he then turned back to the noble.
"Since the local garrison of the Gravewatch has failed to report in for several days, we have been sent to investigate. We already had the... pleasure to encounter a welcoming comittee along the road here. It would be most kind of you if you could provide us with a place to rest up and maybe tell us what events occured in the last few days?"

Much like the Musadi, Phelan seemed happy to let Jubei do the talking. He did have a way with words, as demonstrated with the spirits. Both capable of being harsh and being gentle. He had no clue where Willa and Drex were off to, and decided he probably would learn about it later; and that he was not going to like it.

That pendant though, it  looked odd. He focused on it; assuming that due to his smaller stature compared to the enormous Kaetyma and Musadi, and even to Lambent, that he'd likely not be noticed. he frowned at the necklace, attempting to see if there was anything causing that odd sound that he could identify from it.

Arcana - Trying to identify magical properties in the crystal: 26!

Drex puts his guild-badge, that just used to send Phelan the message, away.

Whispering to Willa, "Slow down, I can barely make out a word you are saying. No I need you to come with me. The others are distraction enough. We will make our move as soon as an opening presents itself"

Drex stealthily surveys the outside from inside the caravan, through the tiny windows.

20:11, Today: Drex rolled 27 using 1d20+8. Stealth check.
20:11, Today: Drex rolled 25 using 1d20+11. Perception check.

Willa's jaw dropped at Drex's words.  This was serious business and she needed to behave!  She calmed down a bit, trying her best not to jitter around too much and waited for the Deseekay's signal.

"Hope to not get caught again," she whispered apprehensively to herself...

    “Has it been that long already?” Corso frowned as he spoke to Jubei then turned to the woman in black “Missus Taleena, would you please make ready the lounge for myself and our guests?  I think I may have to speak to them at length.  Also, would you send for Captain Acano?  She would undoubtedly want to see these adventurers as well.”
  The big woman managed something that could have been a bow though all that could really be seen to signify it as such was that her head and shoulders went from being onto of her body to being in front of it briefly, before she walked into the house quickly to fulfil her lord’s wishes.
  Corso then turned back to the large kaetyma and asked “Would you be so kind as to tell me – uh – honourable Iron Jubei, how long – exactly – has it been since the outside world heard from us?”


[Because Drex and Willa are not making a significant departure from the scene I’ll be running their side story concurrently with that of the rest of the party.  Drex and Willa please make your posts as secret to each other and myself to prevent confusion.  There should be a selection for that under “Insert Private Line” labelled Multiple Recipients.]


]
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:19, Wed 05 Mar 2014.

Shhh...its private!
This message was last edited by the player at 10:13, Mon 03 Mar 2014.

There is a slight rock of the caravan and Drex was gone...

Jubei raised a brow at that question as he found it a little peculiar although it probably wasn't too out of place to ask that, given the circumstances. "It has been about... five days, counting the one it took us to get here. Why do you ask?", the kaetyma answered after a moments pause and shifted his weight about from one set of feet to the other.

Insight Roll of 15 to find out if the lord is... pressured to ask something like that.

    Willa left foot caught on the threshold of the wagon's doorway and promptly fell rather loudly down out of the wagon and onto the moist paving stones.

[As the only other adventurer, besides Willa, aware of Drex's plan, Phelan has the chance to cover for Willa's blunder.  To do so he will have to roll a Bluff check.]


[Give it a moment Drex, I'll get to you by the next post.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:17, Wed 05 Mar 2014.

"As such, there had been some concerns about the state of the town." Phelan attempted to draw attention away from the noise of Willa back to the conversation at hand.

Bluff check: 10 Yeah that was going to work.

    "Has it really only been five days?" the lord frowned as he seemed to be thinking something over.  This was at exactly the moment that Willa fell out of the wagon with something resembling a soft, bouncy splat.
  "Oh!" the lord takes a step back, clearly having now noticed Willa on the ground.  "I see you have an umbrean in your company." though Corso did not appear to be disgusted by Willa's presence he was now cautious of the adventurers.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:15, Wed 05 Mar 2014.

The big kaetyma let out a rumble as he turned around with a bit of a confused look as Willa tumbled out of the cart.
"Oh yes, of course. Forgive me for forgetting to mention Willa. You see, she joined us only recently and I haven't yet grown used to her rather diminutive form being... present. I'm sure you can understand.", he said and made a bit of a dismissive gesture before he moved his large bulk again to face Corso... and also happened to 'accidentally' block more of the sight on the cart in the back. He might not be the smartest, but with the seeming 'disappearance' of Drex and Willa's graceful reentry he knew that something was going on.
"I know that you are worried about our presence here... from what we could gather so far travelling is... punished. Now if our arrival will bring repercussions then we will do our best to defend you from them.", he continued on to drag the conversation back into another direction.

Bluff check of 21 to cover for Willa's blunder... and his own?
This message was last edited by the player at 17:09, Wed 05 Mar 2014.

Willa gets herself up off of the ground and does her best to pat the mud off of her clothes.  She looks up at the group and the man with an apologetic and embarrassed look.  Waddling up to them she does a little curtsy to the man.

"'Lo." She smiles at him, then to the others.  "Willa try to catch mouse, but fell out. Also..." She pauses mid sentence and glances to the side, "MOUSE!" She screams and hurtles off around the side of the building.

18:29, Today: Willa rolled 17 using 1d20+9. Willa's bluff check to hopefully get away.

   Corso appears to accept this explanation and relaxes back to his former state of unfamiliar nervousness.  “Ah yes!  I certainly can understand that.” he said then followed Jubei’s statement with “We had been warned by the ehuron-” and at this point he cast a quick glance at Lambent “-not to leave the village and it’s immediate area or enter into any communication with the outside world until the sky lightened again.  I have no idea what effect your presence here will cause.”
  He looked up at the black sky for a moment before he lowered his face again and looked over the band of adventurers just as Willa pulled her stunt of chasing after a mouse.  Succeeding in disappearing behind the manor house.
  “Does she do that often?” he asked and shook his to Jubei’s response.  “If you would not mind, I would like to continue this conversation indoors?” the nobleman made his way to climb the stairs and was shortly followed by the weary adventurers - sans Drex and Willa of course...


This message was last edited by the GM at 15:45, Fri 07 Mar 2014.

A slight breeze blows and you get a glimpse of a shadow, was that Drex? You don't know for sure.

Meanwhile the big kaetyma shuffled about on that pile of cushions that had been provided.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:27, Fri 07 Mar 2014.

Some hurried noises can be heard outside of the building.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:34, Sat 08 Mar 2014.

Phelan was perched on one of the chairs, not really suited to his small size.

[And Congratulations!(tm) on completing your first quest – to INVESTIGATE what happened to Kyssea, you may choose to continue and help the village or turn around and make your way back to Galdion.  That is your decision to make.  Finally you have earned XP!  You each receive 200 Experience Points.]

Events continue within the clock tower.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:02, Sun 09 Mar 2014.

There is a strange tension in the air...

Scratching ensued...

{Drex, your roll should be Insight, not Streetwise, use the roll but apply a different skill modifier.  I’ve already take the liberty of doing the math – your total remains unchanged though.}
{Drex, you may roll Religion in an attempt to recall any details about the Grim’s Reavers.}

The tension seems to have lessened at the clock tower. But you get an eerie feeling like Drex is going to put all your lives in danger...

Phelan's claws gently clacked against the tray of treats as he took one.

Willa's wide, innocent eyes became full of hopeful possibility.

[So it is a majority decision to help out the folks of Kyssea.  Excellent!]



[Drex and Willa, as a result of your actions you have managed to uncover a part of the sinister events taking place within Kyssea, as a result you and your allies have each gain 100 XP.]

The sound of heavy footsteps accompanied the kaetyma...

Next to the big Kaetyma, the clacking of the Narayah's claws on the ground were muffled by the footsteps.

The mystery and betrayal increases. Who could it be...?

Chin stroking commenced...

[Drex, sadly your rolls is not high enough to reveal to you the information you want.  It simply is lore that is kept secret as part of the Compact made between mortals and the Grimm in exchange for allowing the resurrection of the dead.]
[@Not Drex and Willa:  I am sorry to hold you guys up for one more post though I am just trying to have Drex and Willa catch up.  They should within the next post or two so just hold on.]

There was something else too.  Willa wondered when it would be time for sleep.  The cloud made it difficult to tell the time and the day already felt long.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:13, Tue 11 Mar 2014.

It was getting late and the exhaustion is creeping back in to Drex's mind.

  Appearing out of the gloom almost startle their companions with their sudden return.

"We should go somewhere where we can talk." Drex said as he and Willa appearing out of the gloom to his other team members. He has a most somber but tired expression on his face. "Without some one over hearing our conversation." Drex pauses for a moment to focus on his senses, his ears twitches and he takes a few sideways glances. Something is bothering Drex, it seems.

14:27, Today: Drex rolled 21 using 1d20+11. Perception check to spot anyone close enough or hidden to overhear what was said.

"Hiiii!" Willa couldn't resist greeting her friends with a bounce and a grin.  Although, the town was bleak, ravaged and cast into darkness by the cloud above, it seemed positively brighter around them.  And even though it hadn't been long since they separated, there was already so much to talk about! "All okay?  Had fun with Lord?  What house like?  Fat woman friendly?  Tell Willa everything!"

Jubei was frowning a little as the other two showed up again and shook his head a bit. "Where did you run off to?", he growled and then again shook his head and made a dismissive gesture. "Well, you didn't miss much anyway. Corso knew about as much as that... caravan master did. He said we'd need some spirit lantern to get into the Necropolis and we should talk to the guard captain for it.  He will also provide lodging in the Inn for us, so we don't have to worry about paying for it. Right now though... I'd like to visit the alchemist first, to get this treated.", he rumbled as he motioned to some of those annoying rashes.

   A still breeze blows over the companions as they share their stories and discuss their next course of action.

[You guys can make multiple posts to catchup and plan your next move here unless of course you would rather do so inside the inn?  Or would like to proceed to the apothecary instead?]
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:28, Thu 13 Mar 2014.

Willa looked at Iron Jubei with surprise and concern.  "Something wrong?  Iron Jubei sick?"  She shuffled forward and put a podgy hand on his leg as she strained to see the infected scales he was referring to. "That not good!  Why not get rest...or" She jumped and looked at Drex a little startled by her own revelation, "May be Druid can heals?  Also," she turned back "who Corso?"

Having been keeping particularly close to the Kaetyama throughout their trek, an apparent concern for the condition of the infection ailing Jubei marked his otherwise passive expression. Even he was not immune to the general gloom that pervaded the party as they made their way along towards a more proper facilities for lodging and, probably, it was precisely adhering to that collective silence that he once more kept his tongue from any greater opinion of the situation...or, if nothing else than a simple, "Don't scratch at them, you'll make the infection worse" for Jubei, and as rough or blunt as this advice might have seemed, the Kaetyama could see the Musadi looking rather sympathetic to his plight...

"Corso is the Lord of this location." Phelan explained for Willa. "He also directed us to the Alchemist for something that will help treat Jubei's condition."

He chuckled softly. "The condition isn't really bad, but it can be very annoying to suffer. Can't really blame Jubei for wanting to get it treated as soon as possible."

Willa looks at Phelan and sighs with relief.  "That good.  Willa not want friends sick.  But.." She looks about suspiciously, leans forward and whispers, "...Mr. Phelan think it okay to trust Corso and Alchemist?  Weider tell Willa and Drex there are conspirators in village.  So Willa not know who good or bad."

Straightening up she looks around, paying particular attention to the people walking around in pairs.  "Willa thinks Kyssea seems like a friendly village.  Everyone here has a friend.  But is not so much.  Some people have secrets.  Not nice secrets, but bad, sneaky secrets that hurt others."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:03, Thu 13 Mar 2014.

"I will explain that later Jubei."

"Willa is right..." Drex coments "...about that. But we should be able to trust Vito." "...the Alchemist." Drex says to the rest of the group. "And if he can help you we should go see him right now. And hurry..." The last bit seemed a bit strange. What is Drex suspicious about? The Druid was another concern for Drex, but hopefully she was a well protected area.

Drex knows sleep will have to wait for now, there are more pressing matters to pursue.

"I just hope my suspicions prof false, but if they do not then Vito's life is in grave danger." He was one of two living individuals that they might trust to tell them the truth about what has happened in this town. "We must not make any detour and go straight there, but we should keep our speed not to attacked any more attention that we already have on us."

Drex will keep his eyes peeled and ears cupped to make sure no new people starts to shadow them.

Jubei blinked a little at what he heard and then nodded slowly in response. "I see... that would make sense. I'm not sure if we can trust Corso proper. He did seem rather afraid... and he mentioned that someone tried to assassinate him when he went to meet with the Gravewatch captain in their keep, but apparently no further attempts on his life have been made past then. Slightly suspicious I'd say. Now however, let us hurry to meet this Vito then.", the dragonblood rumbled and shifted a little around as he started to trudge towards the alchemist's shop again.

I wonder what happened with these two... Phelan mused to himself. Evidently Willa and Drex had found out a lot of information from their sneaking around. His ears twitched and turned while he sniffed at the air, trying to help ensure no-one would ambush them. He throttled the urge to run after Drex's unusual statement.

Willa thinks for a moment, then nods.  "Oooh Vito.  He apothecary.  Hmm...apothecary and alchemist same?" She shrugs. "Okay.  Vito probably good," she starts bouncing off, happy to be travelling with everyone again. "'cause of vision."  She adds.

A moment later she pauses again. "But Vito also sick.  It okay for Iron Jubei to see sick man?" She wonders out loud to herself then starts walking at a slower, more pensive pace, considering the answer.

    Making their way across the square the adventurers realized they were to some extent the centre of attention as they had many onlookers from various places within sight of them.  As the companions crossed halfway across the square they could now clearly see the inn – which was a rather wide set of buildings loosely built into one another – and the village’s goods shop just beside it.

  The apothecary was a small building to the east of the inn, with only a small sign post in front of it to mark it as anything but a modest house set upon stone foundations, wood and plaster covered walls with a roof of dark stone tiles – much like the other common homes of Kyssea.
  Standing on the landing just outside the shop, the adventures could make out some candle light from a doorway at the back of the store, which they could see through a glass window set into the front door.
  As they knocked upon the door a little man emerged from the backroom a few moments later.  Not only short for being a doola tywuar but rather thin as well.  Rather unusual for the rather broad and heavy set draconians.
  There was some movement behind the door as he opened some looks and swung the door inside.  In the lantern’s light it was very clear that this doola was old, probably very near to his third century of life - a rare accomplishment for most societies.

  Despite his age the doola tywuar still had a very colourful bronze hide with patches of darker brown and highlights of almost golden amber.  He wore a rough brown woollens and linen spun pants and a tunic, over which hung a leather apron.  Both were stained by greases, grimes and smears over various colours and various earthy, oily and vegetative smells hung about him.  He also wore very large and thick gloves made of some grey hide and despite his apparent age there was a spark of sorts in his rheumy brown eyes.  “Good-” he paused for a split second as if actually considering the time before continuing with “-well evening seems most appropriate.” and then seemed to remember himself “Oh yes uh, please, please come in.” he stepped back as he rummaged around the pouches of his leather apron for a pair of glasses which he put upon his face.  The arc of the glasses going over his snout.
  “You are probably for some of the ointments for that rash that has been going about what with all those corpses walking around.” he pauses for a moment as he pulled out a wand and looked over at the nearest of the adventurers “Or do you have those nasty black boils?” he asked as incanted a short spell which sent small flames flying from the want tip to the various candles scattered across the store.

Jubei let out a light chuckle as he seemed to be fairly amused at that greeting and then gave a light nod. "Rashes it is. Thankfully none of those... black boils.", he said and made a hand motion to show one of his afflicted areas. "You no doubt can imagine how annoying these are, with the scales constantly rubbing over them.", he rumbled on for a bit of small talk before they would inevitably go back to the more gloomy atmosphere that permeated the town so far.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:15, Sat 15 Mar 2014.

Drex goes the the nearest window and closes the looks out of if before returning to his companions.

He still on edge. "We must be quick, but I hope... But I hope I'm just paranoid...", he says to everyone with in earshot, not looking at anyone when he does so.

As Vito finishes with his conversation with Jubei and goes to fetch the ointment, Drex asks if he can show him the back door. "I believe your Live might be in grave danger and I want to make sure your back door is secure..."

He does this as stealthily as he can all the wile keeping his eyes and ears peeled.

19:45, Today: Drex rolled 15 using 1d20+11. Perception check.
19:46, Today: Drex rolled 27 using 1d20+8. Stealth check.

"'Hi!" Willa says happily and skips on past the alchemist and into his shop, without waiting for a reply.  Willa had discovered that such was the best way to deal with shop-keeps.  If you waited for them to respond, they would often suddenly remember that it was closing time, or lunch time, or some other time not meant for business. It was a wonder any shops made any sales at all.

"I Willa!  Vito be friends with Willa?" She chirped, without looking back.  Instead, she quickly began moving between all the sundry inside, picking up one item after another, quickly examining them and casting them aside before moving onto the next.

"But first Vito help Iron Jubei.  He very sick and it not good for him to be sick 'cause he Willa's friend long time."

18:07, Today: Willa rolled 25 using 1d20+6. Arcana Check - Exploring Vito's home for anything interesting.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:09, Sat 15 Mar 2014.

Phelan followed Vito. "Could I take a look at that ointment? I'd like to keep it in mind in the future for stuff like this Skinrot; I can only do slower treatments." He wanted to keep an eye on Vito just to be sure nothing bad was going to happen; and he really was curious about the ointment.

    The alchemist greeted each of the adventurers in turn and chuckled at Willa’s desire to be friends and explained that they had only just met so they could only really be considered acquaintances.  He was a little disturbed by Drex’s concern and asked if the companions were in some kind of trouble.  Though he does show the deseekay the backdoor to his establishment.
  While he is willing to share with Phelan some knowledge about medicines that can help cure conditions like Skinrot the alchemist would not share the recipe for his ointment, considering it a trade secret that he would one day pass down to his apprentice.
  “With all the undead around here there has been a great demand for medicines to treat the disease they carry around and my supplies have been rapidly decreasing.  If we do not get some merchants coming through here before the end of the season I fear we will not survive the winter.” the alchemist said with a sigh.
  He provides Jubei with a small wooden box containing the ointment, a rather pleasant smelling green goo.  He advises that kaetyma on its use though he seems reluctant to approach the dracotaur.
  As for the payment your explain that the Lord Corso would cover the expense, the alchemist apothecary seems to have no trouble accepting this with little more then a nod.
  As Drex returns from the back Vito says “I can defend myself well enough, I received some training in combat alchemy at the university.  Yet I must ask who do you think is after me?”

[Jubei you’ve received a Curative Ointment against Skinrot, it will give you a +5 bonus to your Endurance check or the Heal check made by someone else to heal you.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:29, Sun 16 Mar 2014.

Willa drops a quaint little pot that she had been inspecting back into its space on a shelf she was stood by and was already making her way back to Vito before the thing had stopped rattling in place.  Her eyes were fixated on one particular part of the Alchemist.  Wreathed in some powerful magical 'glove' for lack of a better description, the sheer energy encasing the lower part of his limb felt incredible.  It was a wonder that she hadn't noticed before and, it appeared, neither had anyone else.

At Vito's side her gaze and head follows the swaying of his arm hypnotically.  Cautiously, she takes out her rod and raises it up towards the alchemist's limb. Biting down on her tongue, fully focused on this strange and unexpected find, she tries to poke at the doola tywuar's hand with her implement.  Even though somewhere in the back of her mind she knows it is wrong to do so, like the child whose giggles gave her life, Willa simply can't resist the temptation to try.

15:46, Today: Willa rolled 13 using 1d20+2. A sneaky poke - Stealth check.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:54, Sun 16 Mar 2014.

Drex returns from the back of the building. "I can believe that, some of the stuff at the back does look quite hazardous."

Drex rejoins Phelan, Jubei and Enkii. "Okay the best way to handle this to tell you what Willa and I found out, when we disappeared." Drex puts his arm around Phelan and  drags him closer. Drex was about to do the same with Jubei but decides it would be best not to touch him until his condition has improved. He sees Willa with her rod about to poke Vito. "Willa come stand over here I'm going to need your help recalling everything that happened with the Reaverd. Drex doesn't want his team to get in trouble with Vito. He could be a valued ally and they might have to rely on him in the future.

Drex starts the his recollection of the events that transpired earlier:  "As we were approaching Lord Corso estate I saw an electric-blue figure entering the clock-tower. I decided to follow thinking that this might be someone plying a trap for us. I was mistaken and Willa and I discovered a Reaverd. He told us that you, Vito, had a vision and tried to warn the village before the attack. The auger who is now missing, the poisoning of the Gravewatch, the druid who could also possibly help us figure out what is happening here, the ehuron necromagus and the people that are going missing in town."

"He mentions that if we wish to enter the Necropolis that we will need a thing called a Spirit Lantern that we will find at the Gravewatch. But the resson, other than the ointment for Jubei is to find out what you know and what the vision was about."

Drex pauses for a moment to catch his breath, "And because we are asking questions, the betrayers might think you are a loos end and eliminate you before you give away to much information, they think you might have, to us."

"Is there anything you can add Willa?" He says this as he breaks her fascination ones more from the glove on Vito hand.

Jubei took the little box that Vito gave him with a nod. "Thank you.", he rumbled on, before stowing it away for the moment. His brows were furrowed a little as he looked at the diminutive doola again, picking up on some subtle cue that he seemed to be in discomfort. "Is something wrong?", he asked, but then the attention was drawn away by Drex and his recollection of the things that happened to him, leaving the dracotaur to listen to that for the time being.

Insight Roll for what's wrong with Vito: 26

Willa stops just shy of touching Vito's hand with her rod and looks about shiftily, before quickly, but disappointedly, stowing it away.

"More to add?  Hmm..." She struggles to think.  "Oh, right!"  She springs up.  "Weider say Vito sick!"  She declares uncomfortably loudly and points at the alchemist.  "Weider say is 'SOME SUPERNATURAL ILL UNLIKE ANY I HAVE SEEN BEFORE'." She says trying to mimic her interpretation of the reaver's unearthly voice, felt more than heard. "May be to do with big magic around hand?  Feels to Willa like hand has eyes."  For a moment her gaze is drawn longingly back to Vito's arm.

"What else?  Weider undead and does contract work for Grim.  Also necropolis has defences, though Willa not know what.  That important?"  Willa looks questioningly at Drex, then starts shifting back towards the alchemist.


17:06, Today: Willa rolled 22 using 1d20+9. Bluff check - mimic Weider's voice.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:13, Mon 17 Mar 2014.

    Willa’s reproduction of Weider’s voice is similar in spirit but she can’t quite reproduce it’s exact eldritch nature.  All the while Vito sighs rather loudly and slumps down into a chair that lay against the wall behind the counter of the storefront.

  “So you have met with the local legend it seems.” the old man said softly as he looked over to the adventurers.  “You are very fortunate that I took some precautions to ward my shop after it was ransacked a few nights ago.”  Vito gestured around his shop as he said “As for my hand that is rather personal but suffice it to say that it is a blight I was cursed well over 20 years ago now, on Appirga, during the disastrous expedition by the then newly re-established council of grand alchemists.”

  “I had been just a young apprentice then.  It is no danger to anyone unless the bindings are broken though I have noticed it does not like being in the presence of the pious and so causes me no small amount of pain.” Vito finished for a moment as he licked his lips and suddenly continued as if remembering himself.
  “The Reaver knows more about what is going on then I do I am sad to say however, if it is true that the Gravewatch was poisoned then it would have had to have been something complex and natural as the chapter here was composed of humans, doola tywuar and deseekay and they all perished.  Though there is still the mystery about what happened to the golems that served in the watch.”
 “The premonition I had is a rare thing, more a nightmare really, the blight enjoys tormenting me in almost any way it can yet it does not lie nor does it sense the world in the same way as you or I.  It is very much alive and malevolent.  If it was not for the spells and alchemy that keeps it contained it would kill anyone it could find.”

  Vito finished by explaining that if the adventurers wanted to find the undeads accomplishes in the village they would have to search around the town and particularly in the Gravewatch keep itself.

Willa's eyes light up at the mention of a 'curse.'  Ever since making her pact with an Old God, she had taken a keen interest in such things.  And this particular curse, that has some power of portent, would obviously be of interest to anyone connected to the Oracle.

"Willa look?" She asked Vito hopefully, looking at his hand with an even greater zeal than before.

Whilst waiting for his reply, she strained to remember anything of a similar nature that she may have heard of in her previous 'studies'.

21:31, Today: Willa rolled 21 using 1d20+6. Arcane check - sentient, prophetic curses.

Drex only nodded as Vito spoke. Vito seems definitively able to handle himself without their help. He was satisfied by Vito's comments and now look to the rest of the group to their next action.

Jubei listened rather intently to what was being said and grimaced a little at the mention that the 'pious causes discomfort'. "Interesting... a murderous hand... but that doesn't quite tell us what the... contents of this nightmare were then. Also, what about this druid I kept hearing about? Maybe that one knows something about the poison that was used? It might be worth checking, if only to make sure that we have a potential remedy, should the necromagus try to use it to poison the entire village in retaliation.", he said and was just about to rub over his chin, but instead shuffled his large bulk around a little to get into a more comfortable position.

Phelan had his head tilted to the side, attempting to use his magical prowess to detect the curse Willa had discovered earlier. Perhaps being able to see it might help identify what it was and might provide them with more information.

"Perhaps we should see this druid then for more information, then begin exploring this town and Gravewatch more cautiously. It seems that we're going to have to gather the rest of the information ourselves."

Arcana check to detect and identify curse on Vito's hand: 21.

"Yes I agree with that plane of action, but she is located outside for town and we will have to be prepped for the marauding undead. So lets first stock up on some potions." Drex looks at Vito as he said this. "And then get some rest, we al need a good nights rest especially you Jubei." Drex looks at a patch of flaking scales. "Then first thing tom-o--r---r----ow...go to the auger's place." Drex looks outside the window. "How do we know what the time is?. And Vito could you give us some directions?"

  According Vito the blight that was affecting him he received on the island of Apirgga – the capitol of the Old Kingdom.  Legend holds that island was put under a terrible curse by the mindflayer lich Phazion as a counter to the power that the Apirggans used to slay him.
  The legends disagree on a few the details but other elements are shared amongst them.  These common elements are that curse consumes the living and binds their spirits to the island of Apirgga to be subjected to eternal torment by a maleficent spirit called the Nemesis.


    At the mention of the local druid Vito makes a dismissive noise and says “Oh yes go see that midnight hag if you like, if there was anyone in this village I would not trust it would be her.”  he frowns at the party in his store before getting to business as he explains that he doesn’t have much in the way of potions anymore he only has a few Healing Potions (lvl 5), Potions of Resistance (lvl 4), a Potion of Clarity (lvl 5) and an Elixir of Aptitude (lvl 5).
[All these potions can be found in either the Players Handbook I or the Adventurer’s Vault I.  You could spend the wealth you have gained to acquire these potions OR you could try to use the sponsorship of Lord Corso to get a few of them.  Though keep in mind that that it may affect your relationship with his lordship in some way.]

  After the bartering with Vito he gives the adventurers some directions around the village, providing something of a crude map for the adventurers.  [Which can be seen here http://i64.photobucket.com/alb...24px_zps1a655e33.jpg]
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:25, Thu 20 Mar 2014.

Drex thinks for a moment, looking intently at the potions up for offer. "Well, we need three Healing Potions and two Potions of Resistance Necrotic and a Potion of Resistance Psychic. We have faces a group of the undead recently as you know, and As members of the Adventurers Guild of Area it is our duty to help all citizens. But we will need all the help we can get sorting out the Kayssa's problem." (6 Fame Tokens)

"Vito, I know you are running low on potions but because we are purchase such a large quantity at ones would you give it to us at a special discount?" (4 Fortune tokens)

Drex retrieves several gold coins from Phelan and hand's it to Vito to complete the purchase. (2 Wealth Tokens)

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
OOC: That will be 12 Tokens in total which would be the equivalent value for the potions according to you rules for Tokens. If we made a mistak will you correct it for us.

Summery:3 Health Potions
               2 Potions of Resistance Necrotic
               1 Potions of Resistance Psychic

---

This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 16:34, Fri 21 Mar 2014.

    Vito is more than happy to sell the adventurers what they require and provide them with a little extra given what they have been through and the service they are providing to his community.

  Thereafter he bids the adventurers farewell and they make their way over to the large set of buildings next door which is named The Mountain’s Face upon a signpost standing beside a few broad, stone steps which lead up to a long porch that stretches the front of the one building and a large doorway into the inn itself.
  The door leads into a tavern, though the air is warm with the heat of a roaring fire coming from the far-side, the mood is subdued with the few people about clearly spending their time here to escape their worries or drown them in company or drink.  As the adventurers enter their presence is notice by only a few of those seated at the tables and the bar though the barkeep waves at them as they wander over to the burly human man.  Who seems almost entirely hairless, only his eyebrows suggest that he may once have had some form of brown hair upon his body.
  As the adventurers make their way to him he shouts over the din “Welcome travellers!  I’m Trent, keeper of this lean-to.  What brings you to this arsecrack against the sea?”  during his speech a doola tywuar, who was rocking side to side on his chair chortled at Trent and said in a slurred tone “Doncha mean husswife to?” which caused two other men, both humans, who also sat at the bar to burst out laughing.
  Trent took this in good spirits and retorted “Aye and you’d know all about that, eh Haul?” the doola tywuar growled a little but chuckled as he said “Da wife does naught gif me rest!” this was met by more laughter from others at the bar and Trent himself as the doola tywuar apparently named Haul was batted on the back by one of the men next to him.

[It is up to you all to distribute the potions amongst yourselves.  Now that my internet is back up again I’ll complete the Google document for equipment so you guys can make duplicate character sheets over there.]

Willa joyfully skitters into the tavern.  She quickly sets about darting from one table to the next, looking curiously at each of the villagers in turn.  She studies their faces, their clothes and their mannerisms.  She nosily stretches to see what they are eating, drinking and, where applicable, talking about.  Although the inn seems a little empty at the moment, there is enough to interest her for quite some time.  When the patrons laugh, so does she.  Joining in with giggles of her own during 'Haul's' and 'Trent's' conversation.  At the end, as she is on her way to another part of the bar, she passes by Drex and tugs on his leg.  "Willa not understand men's jokes." She says with a little shrug.  "But is fun to laugh!"

After quite some time, the little ooze returns to the party.  Her expression is sweetly guilty, like a puppy that has been caught doing something that it knows it shouldn't have, but could not help regardless.  The day has been long and there is something she needs from it.  It is a growing want.  A natural and irresistible desire, but not one without...issue.  Of all the places she has been today, this one is easily the best to get it.  Sheepishly Looking about, side to side, she utters an apology under her breath to her friends and then slowly but sinisterly opens her mouth.  Her head back, a translucent jelly-like tongue lolls out of her mouth and soft, but insistant "Ahhhhhh" hums up from the depths of her throat.  Willa is hungry...

09:59, Today: Willa rolled 26 using 1d20+9. Streetwise check - almost unintentionally gathering local information as she explores the tavern.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:05, Sat 22 Mar 2014.

"I don't ether Willa." Drex reply's to Willa's comment.

He approaches the bar where Trent was standing. Nodding politely to Haul he turns and looks at Trent. "We have come here on official Guild business and it seems that we will be staying longer than we thought... Where is my manners I am Drasden Braskaal Anoer, Sword of the Aurelian Pantheon,and Adventurers Guild Representatives of the Arian Kingdom. Please to make your acquaintances, these are my compantions," gesturing to each of his party members as he says their name, "Phelan Drixos, Iron Jubei, Enkii and Willa."

Quickly and loudly Drex adds before any one can give a reaction of discuss, "Willa is a member of this party and thus under the patronage of your Lord Corsa and part of a official recognized Adventurers Guild group of the Arian Kingdom and will be treated as shuts."

Looking back to Trent drex says the following."My party and I will need lodgings and supplies for the foreseeable future, Lord Corso is our patron and will take care of out tab."

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Supplies: Food rations, water and refilling out adventurer gear like lamp oil and sunrods.

---

[That is a remarkably impressive Streetwise check Willa!]

    The innkeeper nods as Drex introduces himself and his companions and says that he is honoured to have not only costumers but two holy men in his fine establishment as well!  To which there is a chuckle from the bar.  He provides rooms for the adventurers, one for Enkii and Jubei and one for Drex, Phelan and Willa.
  Trent also promises to have some rations set aside for them and refilled waterskins, he also secretly adds a wineskin to the batch as a “Thankyou from me to you!”

[Now are you guys going to set some guards, wards or what?  For your extended rest.  And tell me what you guys want to do during it.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:04, Mon 24 Mar 2014.

Jubei was a little suspicious about the amount of hospitality and joviality they were faced with, given the circumstances. But that of course could just as well be the talk of men who are clinging desperately to what little normalcy they currently can have in their life. Nonetheless he decided to keep an eye out for things out of the ordinary here.

Rolled 22 on insight check for... abnormal behaviour.

Either way once they were lead to their rooms, Jubei approached Phelan with a sort of embarassed look on his face and handed him the ointment he had received from Vito earlier. "Uhh... I hate to admit to this, but could you help me with this? I can hardly... reach all the spots.", he rumbled with his face contorted to a grimace as he looked back at his tauric body.

Gives the curative ointment against skinrot to Phelan.