Marcus struggled with the idea of the temple as they approached it. The goddesses shared the sky, so it shouldn't be strange to find a building honoring them both, but it was easy to dismiss worshipers of Cherka as vile as the monsters she summoned. The construction of the twin temple spoke of harmony between the factions. Shaking his head and frowning he tried to get rid of the feeling that this was the most fitting honor to both deities.

Then they met the priestess(es) that oversaw the worship and he couldn't deny it anymore. This was a place he would have dismissed as impossible and pointless a day ago, yet now he wished to see all of it and learn what he could. "High priestess Lenora. May your nights be bright." Marcus bowed to the aspect of silver before considering her counterpart. His whole face grimaced as he forced himself to offer a similar greeting "And may blood flow for you, hight priestess Urella." but the paladin didn't bow or take his eyes off the danger his body protested against.

Gesturing at Eryn, Marcus reiterated the request "And as my companion said, we would appreciate a sanctuary and guidance." his eyes finally left Urella and roamed across the chamber and the depictions of the night "Although we didn't expect... all of this."

19:53, Today: Marcus rolled 7 using 2d6+1.  Discern Realities.
What should I be on a lookout for?

Lenora bowed graciously at Marcus's greeting to her, and Urella smirked satisfactorily at his discomfort when greeting her. They both seemed pleased in their own sort of way.

"So you need our help?" Urella asked.

"With sanctuary and guidance," Lenora added, making sure Urella was clear on that part.

"Right. Right." Urella pulled gently at her bottom lip with a long pointed fingernail. "And how might we do that? Why should we do that?" That last question was most definitely directed at the adventurers. The vampiric face stared intimidatingly at all three of the group's leaders, but her eyes lingered on Ilura much longer. Especially Ilura's cat-like eyes. It was as if Urella was trying to figure something out.

"Come now," Lenora interjected. "We help everyone if we can. At least a little. Whether they be of Lusiny's silver light, or Cherka's bloody glow. Whether they need a special room to conduct a dream-ritual, or they need information on how to track a vorlag. We can help." Her eyes flickered to Eryn's whip for the briefest moment at the mention of a vorlag. "Just let us know what you need, and we will see what we can do."

What do you do?

---

Ilura
What here is not what it appears to be?
Structurally, the temple seems to be a safe place to leave Captain Frost. The high priest Urella is giving you some weird vibes though. It will mostly be a matter of whether or not you want to trust the people of this temple or not.

Marcus
What should I be on a lookout for?
Since they worship both Lusiny and Cherka here, Marcus should definitely be on the lookout for Cherka's influences in their aid. He gets the sense that their aid will be genuine, but not necessarily entirely wholesome.

Ilura met Urella's gaze with confidence.  "I believe your guidance on locating a vorlag was most helpful.  What made you decide that you should help in that case?"

Her question was non-accusatory.  No point making clear that she was on Marcus's side if the red priestess had doubts.

"We didn't ask for much in return," Lenora said. "Just the promise of a map that has a certain amount of significance to us."

Urella seemed annoyed that Lenora had shared even that much, but before she could protest, the vampiric woman's head turned sharply and stared down a hallway to the right. The adventurers could tell she was listening to something. Faint yelling could be heard coming from that direction. "They are awake," Urella stated matter-of-factly. "And the deal has gone sour..."

Urella's head snapped back toward the group and she stared with her piercing red eyes. "Secure our map and we will aid you accordingly." She pointed down the hall the noise had come from. "Third door on the right."

What do you do?

Ilura glanced down the hallway, but her eyes returned to the pair.  "What does 'aid us accordingly' mean?  You'll provide whatever support we ask?"

The time pressure was on her side, so may as well take advantage...

"I think they mean aid us with the... package I am carrying," Eryn said hesitantly. "Whatever that entails."

"What are we dealing with here, exactly? A squabble between clergymen? I will gladly procure a map in return for your aid, if I am told which map it is you need."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:14, Fri 04 Oct 2019.

It sounds like you guys are Parleying, just like Chance. Your leverage being the time-sensitive nature of their request. It seems like Ilura should be the one to make the roll here, but Eryn (and/or Marcus) can decide to roll Aid if she wishes. Feel free to wait and see what Ilura rolls first though.

quote:

17:28, Today: Ilura rolled 7 using 2d6.  Parley w/ temple.

I don't we can get that up to a 10 even if both of us Aid, so I will pass on the attempt unless you think there is something else I might add.

"Yes, yes, we can babysit the body for you, if that's what you need," Urella said with agitation. "So long as you hand us the map in one piece. It should be the only map in that room. There is a warrior about your size, and two small people. Kill any that you need to." Her voice had tones of urgency.

"I would prefer if none of them died, actually," Lenora chimed in. "But yes, time is of the essence. We will provide you with information, lodging, storage. Anything reasonable. But first do us this task." A scream rang out from the direction of the room. Lenora looked worriedly down the hall, as if she were about to rush down there herself to handle the situation. Her fingers even tapped nervously at an ornate dagger at her side, as if she were itching to draw it and run down the hall. Which might be quite a feat at her age.

What do you do?

---

They aid you, as requested. But only if you successfully retrieve their map. It is implied that they will refuse you aid entirely if you fail to bring them this concrete assurance of your commitment.

Ilura turned to each of her companions, then shrugged and raced off toward the indicated door - the shrieking helping to confirm she was heading the right way.  As she ran, she drew her rapier.  Thomas flew on ahead.  [I hope it's something tasty...]

"Try to stab them non-lethally, Ilura," Eryn joked. She had to pause for a few seconds to set down the captain's wrapped body with due respect. Then she drew her own weapon and followed as quickly as she could.

The adventurers rushed down the temple hall that led deeper into the cliff face it was built upon. The hall was dark and the air was damp, but was still surprisingly inviting. They found the door they needed easily enough. It was a big wooden door with a small rope across it to indicate that nobody should enter, but it was not locked. When the adventurers pushed it open, the sight that greeted them was... unexpected.

There was a magical circle on the floor, all smudged and no longer usable. It was surrounded by burnt out candles and miscellaneous ritualistic items. In the circle was an old gnome struggling to unwrap himself from silk bindings. He had a sinister smile on his face until he saw the new arrivals. At that point his expression quickly turned to one of concern.

But the rest of the room was stranger still. To one side a woman wearing foreign fashion clutched at her eyes and screamed as she cowered against a wall. A dark swirling cloud of vile mist swirled about her head. A similar cloud swirled around the head of a halfling that was curled up in a ball at the feet of two stone frogs, roughly each the size of a pony. The stone frogs were animated and stood over the halfling protectively. Those with sharp eyes notice a roll of map-like paper clutched in his hand.

What do you do?

---

The adventurers have come upon a strange scene. How do they react? Does anyone recognize Chance (or Aguri)?

Chance
You can try to resist the nightmares again if you wish. But be warned, further failures will accrue further complications. Regardless, you can still speak even if you can't act.

Ilura barely paused as she took in the chaotic scene.
- Gnome with evil grin.
- Evil clouds attacking the others in the room who were all cowering in corners.
- Holder of map being attacked by evil cloud

Casting detect evil seemed somewhat redundant.  If she was going to stab someone, the target was clear.  The fact her target was mostly bound and helpless was just a bonus...

She charged into the room and planted one of her boots on the gnome's groin and lined up her rapier with his heart.  For good measure, Thomas planted himself on the poor man's brow, claws digging in and grabbing blood as he leaned over to place his sharp beak mere millimeters from the gnome's eyes.

"Cloud magic ends now or I end you..."

quote:

15:05, Today: Ilura rolled 3 using 2d6.  Parley w/ gnome.

Hmm.  Well, *if* I can use Thomas's 'fight metahumans' training in this situation (worth +2) and *if* there are bonuses due to the gnome's circumstances and *if* someone else is able to aid, then we might be able to bump that to a success, but I suspect I'm going to be earning some XP here :>

Through the haze of nightmares surrounding him, Chance is aware of the frog statues standing protectively over him.

"The gnome..." he whimpers. "Eat the gnome! Q-q-quickly!"

"Are you telling the frogs, or us?" Eryn exclaimed, confused, as she barged into the room just after Ilura already got there. Her spear and shield was at the ready, vary of all the odd sights in the room. She was still not really clear on if they should trust the two-headed priestess or not. Two heads. Two faces. Two tongues.

She shook the doubt from her head. Ilura had taken charge this time, and someone clearly needed aid. Motive didn't matter. She prepared herself to leap to the defense of the fallen halfling with the important map, or her own ally.

---

20:34, Today: Eryn rolled 9 using 2d6+1.  Defend the halfling (Chance).
Hold 1.

The gnome looked up at Ilura, then at the approaching frogs, then back to Ilura again. He had a defeated expression on his face. "Fine. I'll do the nullifying spell. Uglithrilaku moritashi sithrenaru colaka mosh-nir." The gnome's "nullifying spell" was actually the exact same spell he had cast at Chance a few moments earlier. A swirling mist of nightmarish images began to coalesce in front of the ranger's face. Thomas was already beginning to make frightened squawks.

From her defensive stance, Eryn could see that Ilura was being targeted by the gnome's magic. She had only a moment to try and intervene in some way. At the same time, Chance's frogs were moving toward the old gnome, trying to figure out if they should maneuver around the newcomers, or bowl right through them to get to the gnome. Ilura especially was right in their way.

"RIBBIT!" one of them croaked in frustration, letting out a sound that could trigger an avalanche. It looked as if it were about to leap its rocky body into the fray.

What do you do?

---

Ilura
Add your XP. You are being targeted by the same nightmare spell as Chance. You can roll me a Defy Danger with Wis to resist the nightmare effects. However, Eryn has the opportunity to help Defend against the spell too, if she chooses.

On a 10+ you can act normally. On a 6- all you can do is try and flee, sit and shake, or otherwise become ineffective as the nightmares overwhelm you. 7-9, you can act, but take -2 to all your rolls while the nightmares last.

The stone frogs might also hit you on their way to the gnome, but that will depend on how other things go.

Eryn
You see Ilura being targeted by a dark spell. You could use your hold to redirect the attack, or halve its effect. Or you could let Ilura deal with it herself and perform a different action. Up to you.

Chance
Your frogs are heading toward the gnome to do as requested. They are taking your directions quite literally and will attempt to consume the gnome if they get a hold of him. And they will go through whoever is in their way to do so. If you would rather they do something else, you'll need to Defy Danger, probably with Cha. The danger being that they mess up your orders somehow.

Through the nightmarish haze, Chance realized that the new arrivals in the room were there to help him and that he may have put one of them in danger with the order he gave to the frogs. He struggled to fight back the terror that was consuming him and fixed two images in his mind;  constant amid the nightmares that assailed him and threatened to destroy his sanity.

In the first image, he placed the Gnome and the newcomer side by side with one of the frogs sheltering his would-be rescuer as it had sheltered him only moments before. The other frog lashing out at the gnome, its tongue sticking squarely to the gnomes face to prevent him from speaking. In the second image, the frog is holding the gnome in its mouth with its tongue still firmly affixed to the gnomes face.

"Carefully," he whimpers, with his intention held as firmly in mind as he can manage. "Please. Just the gnome... Must... be careful... of the other."


OOC:

Chance won't be terribly disappointed if the gnome doesn't survive. But the loss of a potential ally would be devastating to him.

16:03, Today: Chance rolled 9 using 2d6+1.  Defy danger with Charisma.

quote:

20:32, Today: Ilura rolled 12 using 2d6+3.  Defy danger - wisdom.

The nightmarish images were disturbing, but weren't real.  But it was certainly obvious her message hadn't gotten through.  Time to be clearer.  She shoved her blade through the gnomes elbow, twisted it a bit and then repositioned it over his throat.
"Drop the spells.  The next word you speak I don't recognize, you don't speak ever again."

Not sure if I need to roll a hack & slash for that or not, nor if I need to roll damage.  My intention is to inflict pain/wound but not do any mortal damage, though I suppose if I accidentally sever an artery, I may need to patch him up a bit to keep him alive.

I've also rolled another parley.  Not sure if I get a bonus for stabbing him or not

quote:

20:38, Today: Ilura rolled 6 using 2d6+2.  Hack & slash w/ rapier.

I presume I can't miss, but I could perhaps not meet my intention.

quote:

20:41, Today: Ilura rolled 4 using 1d8.  Damage.

If that's relevant

quote:

20:40, Today: Ilura rolled 6 using 2d6.  Parley - again.

Speaking isn't really my thing. :>  That might be a success if stabbing provides a bonus or if someone wants to aid.

"That's about enough out of him," Eryn said, stepping forwards to make sure the gnome was taken out quickly. She didn't wait to hear his response to Ilura's demand. Instead she flipped her spear around and rapped him over the head with the blunt end of it. "Even a single magic word could be dangerous, trust me on that one."

The warrior shot a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure the frog wouldn't stomp past her or Ilura, and to see if the dark spell around the halfling was still in effect.

---

Ilura seems to have it under control, and mental magic is hard to defend against with weapons. I will spend the hold to deal damage equal to my level instead, and hopefully knock the gnome out before he can cast again.

I will Aid Ilura's Parley if my violent presence is enough to be considered helpful.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:28, Thu 17 Oct 2019.

Mr. Wazowitz, the old gnome, screamed in pain as Ilura's blade pierced his elbow. He gave the ranger a cruel sneer and was about to reply to her when the blunt end of Eryn's weapon connected with his skull. The old man's eyes rolled back in his head and he lost consciousness. The nightmarish clouds began to dissipate immediately.

A split second later one of the stone frogs shot out a long pebbly tongue and it connected with Mr. Wazowitz's face. The frog pulled the gnome backward by the face into its gaping maw. There it held him in its mouth with his legs sticking out. The second frog, now without a target, gently grabbed Mr. Wazowitz's protruding foot in its mouth and stood satisfactorily next to the other frog, proud to be "helping."

Chance, no longer plagued by horrifying images, was able to begin piecing back his sanity. Aguri was doing the same over in the corner, but seemed to be having a harder time of it. She would probably need some time to recover before she got back to adventuring.

What do you do?

---

The gnome is wounded, unconscious, and ensnared within the mouth of a stone frog.

Chance
The frogs caught the old gnome, but are also preventing him from being interrogated. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Eryn
I forgot to tell you to go ahead and roll for Aid, so for the sake of saving some time I went ahead and added a +1 to Ilura's roll without an Aid roll, bringing it to 7. You were able to knock the gnome unconscious though.

Ilura
No need for Hack and Slash. He was helpless. I added +1 to your Parley from Eryn's Aid, bringing it up to 7. He can't really Parley anymore though, since he is unconscious.

Marcus
The situation was brought under control almost before you even got in the door.

Ilura wiped the blood off the end of her rapier on the small portion of the gnome's body that was still exposed.

Then she moved up to the halfling and spoke quietly, "It might be best if the priestesses didn't know that the fight was over quite yet.  So lets make noise as we talk."

She bent down and picked up a paint jar of some sort that had been used to make the magical circle and threw it at the wall, letting out a yell of anger

"They want the map - what is it?"

Chance remained frozen when the nightmarish visions stopped assailing him. His hands were clutching a piece of paper and covering his eyes, and he didn't dare to peek out from behind them until he heard a woman's voice close to his ear asking about the map.

She looks like she is alive, he thought as he peeked through his fingers at her. At least that's a good sign.

Still, caution was warranted, and since he hadn't yet taken a look at the map he was able to answer quietly, and truthfully, "I don't know. The gnome wanted it, too, though."

He took a moment to look at his rescuers. Even someone who had only been dead for an hour or two before they were raised had tell-tale signs. They stank for one thing. Their eyeballs began to yellow and dry out almost immediately, and their skin took on a faint bluish tinge. No one in the room showed any sign of being dead. He wouldn't give them the map, but he decided he could trust them enough to have a look at it.

"OW!" he screamed, kicking over a chair. "Why don't we have a look?" He says quietly to his rescuers, then turns to the frog that is about to have gnome's legs for dinner and says, "Dinner is going to have to wait, I'm afraid, he whispered to the frog. "Would you be kind enough to guard the door for us?"

At least this way if they try to grab it and run they'll have to get past him to get away.

Chance walked over to the gnomes desk, it was a little low for the humans, maybe, but was at just the right height for him. With a sweep of his arm and a low (for a halfling) growl, he knocked everything from the desk onto the floor and spread the map out on the desk to examine it.

---

OOC:

Let's see what Chance knows about whatever, or where ever this is a map of.

18:25, Today: Chance rolled 9 using 2d6 with rolls of 3,6.  Spout Lore.

He'd be receptive to putting their heads together to figure this one out.

Eryn extended a strong arm to help the halfling to his feet, but retracted it again when it became clear he could stand on his own. "These are your frogs, I take it. Curious way of defending yourself. Are you hurt?" she asked Chance.

While asking she fished out a cloth rag from her pack and moved to carefully gag the unconscious gnome. It wouldn't do to have him wake up and cast any more curses at them - whether magical or mundane.

---

I'm expending 1 use of Adventuring Gear to obtain a good, solid cloth rag.

Ilura sheathed her blade and drew her bow, then loosed an arrow through the door between the two statues into the stone wall across the hall. Then she leaned forward over the map.  She'd travelled a lot of the land.  Maybe she'd recognize something.
On phone so can't easily paste.  However, rolled a 10 which should push Chance to a 10.  Looks like I recognize something  :)