"Agreed," Eppie says. Squinting at Erik through her goggles, she asks, "You're the fellow that was chained up in that room, eh? Good, I'm glad Vox IV was able to free you. Now, you are quite correct. As soon as we find any other survivors, our orders are to evacuate immediately. Shall we proceed with our search?"
"Yes, that's me," Erik confirms. "My thanks to Vox IV. And to you!" He gives makes a little bow toward Eppie. Gesturing to Vox IV, he says, "Say! That's a clever bit of work!"
Once the whole group gathers around where the undead creature vanished, Erik looks around at everyone and says, "And thank you, all. If you hadn't come when you did, I'm sure that I would have ended up like the others." He looks around the courtyard grimly, taking in the frozen, twisted bodies in the snow. When Eppie suggests proceeding with the search for survivors, Erik proposes, "Maybe we should start here. If everyone else in the expedition died in this courtyard, then there's no reason to search elsewhere." He gives another dark glance toward the door to the catacombs.
Simon will say, "We should call in our exit and secure the room, this is more than we bargained for."
(OOC: We're all together, but we're currently outside in the courtyard where we fought the Mr. Spikey Longfingers. If we want to hole up in a room to wait for the helicopter, we'd have to find a room that we think we can secure against further attacks. And won't the helicopter pick us up where it dropped you off in the first place, outside the compound somewhere?)
Erik says, "Well, I would like to check whether there's anyone else from the expedition who managed, like me, to survive this long."
If there's time, Erik will go from body to body in the courtyard to see whether he can identify them. If their wounds make them unidentifiable, he'll check the bodies for ID badges or anything else that would identify them. He checks each name off his roster as he identifies the other members of the expedition. There's Erik himself, his colleague who killed himself in Erik's cell, and these bodies in the courtyard. Once he's done with that, is there anyone from the first expedition still not accounted for?
If there's time, Erik will go from body to body in the courtyard to see whether he can identify them. If their wounds make them unidentifiable, he'll check the bodies for ID badges or anything else that would identify them. He checks each name off his roster as he identifies the other members of the expedition. There's Erik himself, his colleague who killed himself in Erik's cell, and these bodies in the courtyard. Once he's done with that, is there anyone from the first expedition still not accounted for?
With your Flash of Genius, you are able to identify all the bodies and mark off everyone from your team... except...lead scientist, Handril Kraggranite. No matter how many times you check and re-check the remains, you cannot find any that could conceivably belong to the dwarven alchemist.
After the grim task of checking all of the mutilated corpses and double-checking just to be sure, Erik heaves a heavy sigh. He walks back into the building to warm up after spending so much time out in the snow. He looks tired and grieved, and he says, "I guess I hoped that some of my colleagues had managed to get away, but it's as I feared. Everyone is there, except our lead scientist, slaughtered by the Dark Lord and his allies. The only one I cannot find among the dead is Handril Kraggranite. He's a dwarf and a brilliant alchemist. Top of his field. He was leading our expedition's science team."
Erik looks out the door and scans the courtyard. Then he shakes his head and says, "His body is not out there." He continues with a hint of optimism in his voice, "Maybe he managed to escape somehow? Or perhaps, like me, they captured him and chained him up somewhere in an attempt to force him to work for the Dark Lord?"
Erik turns his attention to what to do next. He puts the question to the group, "Where do you want to start? If our employer plans to destroy the whole facility, I guess we should sweep the building to see whether we can find Handril before we leave. Or, like Eppie suggested, maybe we should check the basement where that abomination came from first. Before it attacked, didn't it say something about the Dark Lord and his Chosen? That they had already 'gone forth to the corners of Letera.' If that's true, we don't have to worry about running into any of them here. Just any other nasty traps or creatures that they've left behind."
Vox IV helpfully trails behind Erik as he checks and re-checks. It offers to hold his roster for him, but tends to take it from him or set it down at not exactly the most well-calibrated times, though it's clearly trying. Pyx also helpfully trots along, sniffing for other clues, though she wouldn't be familiar with the personal scent of any of the research team. Perhaps if Erik can find anything that had belonged to Handril, Pyx could track him by smell...
While Erik is accounting for his missing team, Eppie sits with the others inside out of the snow, wherever she can stay away from the poison cloud. She mutters to herself as she scribbles on her parchment, drawing the courtyard, all of the doorways on it, and the rooms and corriders so far explored, which isn't very many of them. When Erik comes back in to report his findings, she nods. "You've got a very good point," she says, croakily, clearly unused to talking as much as she has just in the past two hours. "Whether haunts tell the truth or not, no one else has come to meet us, and after that explosion and poison cloud, they MUST know that we're here. I've heard of Handril Kragganite. Brilliant man. We must find him, or at least confirm his death."She hops to her feet, stuffing her makeshift map and quill into her backpack.
Both Toa and echo-Toa had begun to look somewhat forlorn at the notion that they were going to have to leave this place after just one fight. Yet at the suggestion that there is someone to find and possibly rescue, they both perk up. Toa tries (and fails) to sound as erudite as the others.
"Yeah, ah... yes! We must find Mr. Hand Rag, ah... or whatever his name is. And.. and there could be other enemies to hunt!" He begins to pick up steam in eager anticipation of more fighting, his island accent getting inadvertently thicker.
"Just because big-claw bony guy says they're gone doesn't mean anything... he could be lying. Or wrong."
During the search that found Erik, the party was able to ascertain that no one else was trapped anywhere in the the fortress. If he is still somewhere on the premises, it's almost certainly going to be in the catacombs...
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Simon would say, "I would like to leave but separating is not a good idea. I am going to call for reinforcements it will take an hour so we will need to be back here in the courtyard to exit by then." Simon will wait for a beat before making the call.
Simon would say, "I would like to leave but separating is not a good idea. I am going to call for reinforcements it will take an hour so we will need to be back here in the courtyard to exit by then." Simon will wait for a beat before making the call.
Erik nods. "That's fair. If we don't finish our search for Handril in an hour, we'll probably be so far underground that we wouldn't even notice an air strike."
Before Simon calls, Erik launches into a pep talk. He starts by thanking everyone, again, for rescuing him. He hopes that he can "pay it forward" by helping to find Handril, who is hopefully still alive. He commends everyone's bravery in facing the undead abomination they fought together. The catacombs may be dark and full of danger, but he's confident that they can face anything if they stick together. He finishes by saying that the group was given a mission to find the previous expedition, but they found calamity instead: the Dark Lord and his Chosen had been released into the world. But that creates an opportunity to be the heroes who rescue Handril: "So, let's go be heroes!"
(Inspiring Leader: spend 10 mins to inspire the group. All of the characters gain 11 Temporary HP.)
The catacombs are a twisting labyrinth of crumbling stone and ancient bones. Navigating them will likely be extremely tricky...
Erik asks, "Can someone make a map so that we can find our way back out?"
(OOC: It looks like Pinion has proficiency with Cartographer's Tools and could presumably make a map as we go. Erik has pens and could tear some paper out of the notebook of his research notes, which are in his bag. Either Eppie or Erik could use Right Tool for the Job to create any other tools Pinion would need to make the map accurate.)
There's enough room to march two abreast, so I'll go ahead and stick with the first formation. Next question, is someone mapping the place out, leaving markers, etc.?
Anyway, I'll go ahead and move us along.
As you continue through the tunnels, only Simon's Passive Perception (19) is high enough to notice the lion-like figure of the Hunter who has begun following the party again... the vicious servant of Lord Tenebris has not struck yet, though. Simon, what do you do?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
As the party marches, Eppie will climb onto Vox IV and ride in her place in line, letting the machine do the walking as she carefully draws lines on her map, Pyx still helpfully wrapped around her shoulders like a warm scarf. Of course an engineer of Eppie's caliber is great at drawing details, straight lines, and proportions. How well that translates into an accurate map of a real space, will remain to be seen.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Adams agrees
D&D since 1984
"Yes, that's me," Erik confirms. "My thanks to Vox IV. And to you!" He gives makes a little bow toward Eppie. Gesturing to Vox IV, he says, "Say! That's a clever bit of work!"
Once the whole group gathers around where the undead creature vanished, Erik looks around at everyone and says, "And thank you, all. If you hadn't come when you did, I'm sure that I would have ended up like the others." He looks around the courtyard grimly, taking in the frozen, twisted bodies in the snow. When Eppie suggests proceeding with the search for survivors, Erik proposes, "Maybe we should start here. If everyone else in the expedition died in this courtyard, then there's no reason to search elsewhere." He gives another dark glance toward the door to the catacombs.
(OOC: We're all together, but we're currently outside in the courtyard where we fought the Mr. Spikey Longfingers. If we want to hole up in a room to wait for the helicopter, we'd have to find a room that we think we can secure against further attacks. And won't the helicopter pick us up where it dropped you off in the first place, outside the compound somewhere?)
Erik says, "Well, I would like to check whether there's anyone else from the expedition who managed, like me, to survive this long."
If there's time, Erik will go from body to body in the courtyard to see whether he can identify them. If their wounds make them unidentifiable, he'll check the bodies for ID badges or anything else that would identify them. He checks each name off his roster as he identifies the other members of the expedition. There's Erik himself, his colleague who killed himself in Erik's cell, and these bodies in the courtyard. Once he's done with that, is there anyone from the first expedition still not accounted for?
In case it's needed: Investigation 22
And use Flash of Genius to boost that to Investigation 19
With your Flash of Genius, you are able to identify all the bodies and mark off everyone from your team... except...
Your lead scientist, Handril Kraggranite:
No matter how many times you check and re-check the remains, you cannot find any that could conceivably belong to the dwarven alchemist.
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
The mind link is still up for communication if anyone wants to say anything.
After the grim task of checking all of the mutilated corpses and double-checking just to be sure, Erik heaves a heavy sigh. He walks back into the building to warm up after spending so much time out in the snow. He looks tired and grieved, and he says, "I guess I hoped that some of my colleagues had managed to get away, but it's as I feared. Everyone is there, except our lead scientist, slaughtered by the Dark Lord and his allies. The only one I cannot find among the dead is Handril Kraggranite. He's a dwarf and a brilliant alchemist. Top of his field. He was leading our expedition's science team."
Erik looks out the door and scans the courtyard. Then he shakes his head and says, "His body is not out there." He continues with a hint of optimism in his voice, "Maybe he managed to escape somehow? Or perhaps, like me, they captured him and chained him up somewhere in an attempt to force him to work for the Dark Lord?"
Erik turns his attention to what to do next. He puts the question to the group, "Where do you want to start? If our employer plans to destroy the whole facility, I guess we should sweep the building to see whether we can find Handril before we leave. Or, like Eppie suggested, maybe we should check the basement where that abomination came from first. Before it attacked, didn't it say something about the Dark Lord and his Chosen? That they had already 'gone forth to the corners of Letera.' If that's true, we don't have to worry about running into any of them here. Just any other nasty traps or creatures that they've left behind."
Vox IV helpfully trails behind Erik as he checks and re-checks. It offers to hold his roster for him, but tends to take it from him or set it down at not exactly the most well-calibrated times, though it's clearly trying. Pyx also helpfully trots along, sniffing for other clues, though she wouldn't be familiar with the personal scent of any of the research team. Perhaps if Erik can find anything that had belonged to Handril, Pyx could track him by smell...
While Erik is accounting for his missing team, Eppie sits with the others inside out of the snow, wherever she can stay away from the poison cloud. She mutters to herself as she scribbles on her parchment, drawing the courtyard, all of the doorways on it, and the rooms and corriders so far explored, which isn't very many of them. When Erik comes back in to report his findings, she nods. "You've got a very good point," she says, croakily, clearly unused to talking as much as she has just in the past two hours. "Whether haunts tell the truth or not, no one else has come to meet us, and after that explosion and poison cloud, they MUST know that we're here. I've heard of Handril Kragganite. Brilliant man. We must find him, or at least confirm his death." She hops to her feet, stuffing her makeshift map and quill into her backpack.
Both Toa and echo-Toa had begun to look somewhat forlorn at the notion that they were going to have to leave this place after just one fight. Yet at the suggestion that there is someone to find and possibly rescue, they both perk up. Toa tries (and fails) to sound as erudite as the others.
"Yeah, ah... yes! We must find Mr. Hand Rag, ah... or whatever his name is. And.. and there could be other enemies to hunt!" He begins to pick up steam in eager anticipation of more fighting, his island accent getting inadvertently thicker.
"Just because big-claw bony guy says they're gone doesn't mean anything... he could be lying. Or wrong."
Sabetha(Monk2):DungeonMair's Rime/Inge(Barbarian2):Krayveneer's After the Fall/Seri(Cleric1/Sorcerer1):Uhtred's Windward Isles/Barn(Paladin1):Nyx's ToA
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4):Vos' Beyond the Veil/Soren(Druid4):Bartjeebus' Ravenloft/Nivi(Rogue3):Raiketsu's CoS/Lyra(Warlock2/Bard3):BlameItOnWinter's Will of the Ancients
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request/Quyen(Adept1):Constance's Nentir Vale/Toa(Barbarian6/Fighter4):MrWhisker's Dark Lord's Return
During the search that found Erik, the party was able to ascertain that no one else was trapped anywhere in the the fortress. If he is still somewhere on the premises, it's almost certainly going to be in the catacombs...
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
Simon would say, "I would like to leave but separating is not a good idea. I am going to call for reinforcements it will take an hour so we will need to be back here in the courtyard to exit by then." Simon will wait for a beat before making the call.
Erik nods. "That's fair. If we don't finish our search for Handril in an hour, we'll probably be so far underground that we wouldn't even notice an air strike."
Before Simon calls, Erik launches into a pep talk. He starts by thanking everyone, again, for rescuing him. He hopes that he can "pay it forward" by helping to find Handril, who is hopefully still alive. He commends everyone's bravery in facing the undead abomination they fought together. The catacombs may be dark and full of danger, but he's confident that they can face anything if they stick together. He finishes by saying that the group was given a mission to find the previous expedition, but they found calamity instead: the Dark Lord and his Chosen had been released into the world. But that creates an opportunity to be the heroes who rescue Handril: "So, let's go be heroes!"
(Inspiring Leader: spend 10 mins to inspire the group. All of the characters gain 11 Temporary HP.)
(OOC: It sounds like the party is marching into the darkness of the catacombs...)
The hallway before you, like everything else, is covered in a thin layer of ice. It is dark and claustrophobic. The very air in this place feels evil.
The catacombs are a twisting labyrinth of crumbling stone and ancient bones. Navigating them will likely be extremely tricky...
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
Erik asks, "Can someone make a map so that we can find our way back out?"
(OOC: It looks like Pinion has proficiency with Cartographer's Tools and could presumably make a map as we go. Erik has pens and could tear some paper out of the notebook of his research notes, which are in his bag. Either Eppie or Erik could use Right Tool for the Job to create any other tools Pinion would need to make the map accurate.)
By the way... what is the party's marching order?
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
Toa brings up the rear, ambling along. But his echo is up front with whoever is first in the marching order, always 30' ahead of the island warrior.
Sabetha(Monk2):DungeonMair's Rime/Inge(Barbarian2):Krayveneer's After the Fall/Seri(Cleric1/Sorcerer1):Uhtred's Windward Isles/Barn(Paladin1):Nyx's ToA
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4):Vos' Beyond the Veil/Soren(Druid4):Bartjeebus' Ravenloft/Nivi(Rogue3):Raiketsu's CoS/Lyra(Warlock2/Bard3):BlameItOnWinter's Will of the Ancients
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request/Quyen(Adept1):Constance's Nentir Vale/Toa(Barbarian6/Fighter4):MrWhisker's Dark Lord's Return
Simon will be towards the back, maybe second to last.
From the OOC thread...
If the hallway is wide enough to walk two abreast:
If we have to go single-file
There's enough room to march two abreast, so I'll go ahead and stick with the first formation. Next question, is someone mapping the place out, leaving markers, etc.?
Anyway, I'll go ahead and move us along.
As you continue through the tunnels, only Simon's Passive Perception (19) is high enough to notice the lion-like figure of the Hunter who has begun following the party again... the vicious servant of Lord Tenebris has not struck yet, though. Simon, what do you do?
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
As the party marches, Eppie will climb onto Vox IV and ride in her place in line, letting the machine do the walking as she carefully draws lines on her map, Pyx still helpfully wrapped around her shoulders like a warm scarf. Of course an engineer of Eppie's caliber is great at drawing details, straight lines, and proportions. How well that translates into an accurate map of a real space, will remain to be seen.