Mock gathers up her axe, wiping the blood from it off on her pant leg before going to join the others. She rubs at the back of her neck almost sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that, all," she mumbles. Her axe is slung back over her back, and she moves to stand between the group and the door just in case. When she looks down to see that the dead one was drow, she relaxes her shoulders a bit. "Well, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing..."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
The rest of the hunters are human. Only the one female was a drow.
"What the heck is going on?" she said, climbing on Arora's back as she inspected the other hunters.
Arora didn't really want to interrupt the ceremony again so she quietly replies "I'm really not sure what to think, hun... this one is a drow" she points at the one that Mock completely obliterated "and the rest are just human. I think Zhi may be right to some degree... this drow may have caused the 'insanity' in the rest - but the real question is to what end?"
She stands to her feet and moves over toward Doc and whispers "I think we will need to question them when they come around... we need to know what happened."
She quietly moves over to the lifeless body of the drow and searches her for any information that she may have on her.
Investigation: 7
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
D&D 5E BEYOND: Ada- Sorceress /Isa- Sorceress / Naris - Oathbreaker Paladin CYBERPUNK RED DISCORD: Isa - Solo 5 / Angel- Solo 5 / Faun- Tech 5 / Raja - Nomad 5 PATHFINDER 2e DISCORD: Crystal - Sorceress
After knocking out the hunter, Daewen quickly sheathes her rapiers (hidden under her dark cloak), and chooses to meld back into the shadows in the rear of the cathedral (Stealth: 23). Dang it! she thinks. That attack blew my cover. At least that imbecile Juriendor didn't even seem to notice our crew in action. What's with that dolt anyway?! I'm beginning to think that he's a part of this whole charade...
Daewen will take a long, deep look at Juriendor to see if he appears to be wearing a disguise (Perception: 18).
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Nephvir is near the opening to the cathedral, he makes sure the doors are closed and puts the bar down on the door (if it has one), if there is no locking mechanism he drags a pew over and lodges it to close the entrance to the cathedral. He pulls down any tapestries that have any residual flame, putting out all fires. He sends a message to Daewen, "You wondering about Juriendor? Yeah, me too. Let me speak with him, you observe him."
Nephvir steps up to Juriendor and says "Quickly, I need to know if there are any other entrances to the cathedral that are unguarded. We need to secure the perimeter of this building." Nephvir appraises him and gauges his response, "Does he know anything about this attack that he is not telling?"
Insight : 13
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
"There are two interpretations I see most viable. If I were to make my best assumption, this drow riled up the hunters in order to create a distraction," he suggests, voice hoarse and muted. "Alternatively, the speed with which the disguise was thrown together could indicate the drow wanted to fit in with some hunters to perhaps flee something outside. The latter is assuming the hunters' madness results from some deadly confrontation. Either way indicates more danger to be arriving shortly."
When you spoke, Kasha looked at you with a comically blank stare. Raza couldn't find anything on their persons.
"You are all safe for the time being. Now is the time to tell us what exactly is happening here... Did they do this to you? And if so why?"
"We-" one of them begins.
"I'm really not sure what to think, hun... this one is a drow" she points at the one that Mock completely obliterated "and the rest are just human. I think Zhi may be right to some degree... this drow may have caused the 'insanity' in the rest - but the real question is to what end?"
Kasha twitched in delight. "I love a good mystery!"she whispered into Arora's ear, a little too close. Nothing was found on the Drow's person.
As Daewen looks at Juriendor, he stands confidently in the front, as if something like this has happened before, and, like always, it's taken care of. You suspect no foul play.
"Quickly, I need to know if there are any other entrances to the cathedral that are unguarded. We need to secure the perimeter of this building." Juriendor looks at you with as much patience as he can muster. "The Vigil of Light is a sacred tradition that must, and will, proceed. All of your questions will be answered after the ceremony. Please. Take your seats. Mayor Leonid, please take away the defeated."Juriendor appeared sincere and dedicated as a High Priest would be.
After a few moments, Juriendor once more holds the Moonshard aloft and with a powerful chanting you don't recognize - sends a massive wave of bright energy throughout the cathedral. This flows back to the Moonshard and forms a glowing blue gateway centered upon the stone. Through the portal several orbs emerge - as soon as they enter the room, all normal light patterns warp and are drawn towards them. The attracted flow forms into a swirling pattern around the spheres, and then coalesces into a single dark floating orb. Judging by the gasps and screams of panic erupting from the crowd, this goes not normally occur during the Vigil of Light ritual. The orb begins to circle around Juriendor, spinning wildly, and then begins to lash out with cold bolts of darkness that send him to the floor! The Moonshard falls to the ground, and then through a crack in the boards to somewhere down below. You can almost feel the frigid, lifeless grasp of some ancient evil slip it's fingers around the artifact as it is dragged out of sight through the cracks.
The High Priest, prone, seems frozen in place as the orb assaults him. "Juriendor! No!" one of the villagers calls as he charges forward, pulling a short, metal candle holder from it's bracket at the end of a pew. He swings the makeshift weapon and seems to hit the orb. The orb is unaffected, but before anyone can step forward it strikes the charging man with a ray that forces him to his knees. Screams erupt from the villagers and, as one, they panic. Suddenly, people are running everywhere, to both sets of stairs and outside into the darkness of the storm.
"Oh, that was unexpected!" Raza says as she is jostled by the crowd. She tries to look around for anything more unusual than what has already happened.
Kasha gasped, seeing what happened to High Priest Juriendor. "Wait a minute. I don't think this is supposed to happen."
Raza, outside, as the congregation begins to panic and flee the cathedral, you can see gray shapes moving at the edge of your vision outside in the heavily falling snow. The first few villagers to leave the cathedral are set upon. Something is attacking them. The shapes are moving slowly. Like, zombies. Wait. They ARE zombies!
Mayor Leonid steps up to quell the chaos, calling out, "Unsheathe your blades, stout fellows, and let us rain ruin upon whatever these fiends are within the grounds of the cathedral!" He hefts his great glowing maul and moves towards the front doors. He turns to us all. "You've shown yourselves capable. Please, save the clergy - most are little more than untested students. I'm off to defend the rest of my village!"He races out into the storm to confront the undead, the congregation grabbing various solid-looking items from around the cathedral while you're left in charge of the situation within the rapidly-emptying building.
THE SITUATION 1. A number of zombies are outside terrorizing the villagers. They need to be dealt with outside and you will not be able to participate in combat inside. You don't know how many there are. 2. Someone needs to gather and save the hysterical clergy, including High Priest Juriendor, who is badly hurt and unconscious. While heroic, this mechanically takes you out of combat for two rounds, and you won't participate in combat until the clergy are safe from harm. Find them a place to hide. (Two rounds.) 3. Juriendor has, by unknown means, summoned a creature you've never seen before. It must be dealt with. Choose among you who will remain inside to defeat whatever it is.
Once you have decided your role for this combat, roll for initiative. (The person/people saving the clergy and Juriendor do not roll, you can act and the beginning of round three.) If you wish to trade places with someone you may do so at the end of a round only.
The creature, for visual reference, is a thick pulsating orb of spiritual energy with an orbiting band ring of bright runes you don't recognize. It's like a basketball sized roiling star without the blinding light, and it's purple in color. You've never seen anything like this before, and you know it can shoot out rays of energy, like it did to the villager.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Nephvir sees the pulsating orb as the most immediate threat and takes position to try to attack it. He pulls out his short bow and nocks an arrow. He takes cover behind a pew, raises up to fire when it is his turn. “Taking on the orb!” he calls out -
"What the?!?!" Arora responds in seeing the orb "That can't be good." As the mayhem starts breaking loose Daewen scoots outside o help the villagers and Neph knocks an arrow while announcing he's staying here to deal with the orb. Arora looks at Kasha "Oh where the heck is the leadership when you need it... go get Doc and the two of you help the clergy, I'll help Neph take care of this... this... ball-o-light." She grabs her bow and knocks an arrow while drawing and pointing at the orb. "I'm in staying in here with Neph." she announces.
Initiative: 18
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
D&D 5E BEYOND: Ada- Sorceress /Isa- Sorceress / Naris - Oathbreaker Paladin CYBERPUNK RED DISCORD: Isa - Solo 5 / Angel- Solo 5 / Faun- Tech 5 / Raja - Nomad 5 PATHFINDER 2e DISCORD: Crystal - Sorceress
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Realizing what she is seeing outside are zombies, Raza jumps up from searching the drow. "Abominations!" She hisses, pulling her rapier. "Defilers! They shall not stand!" She moves quickly and with determination towards the creatures, her tail lashing back and forth with anger.
Not good... Centurion thought to himself as chaos engulfed the church. This is way bigger than just the Drow... Seeing so many problems to deal with at once, he realized that if as many people were going to survive the night as possible, the squad would have to split up; luckily the rest of the group was on the same wave length and had already begun to do so. Though unsure what was happening outside, he did see that there were still many innocents trapped inside the building that would need protecting; partially from the summoned monster and partially from the can of 'Whoop Ass' the squad inside was about to unleash upon it. "Take care of that thing and get the Moonshard!! I'll get everyone else out of here! And Kasha, go help the others outside!" he cried out before rushing towards the High Priest's body (if possible) and attempting to shield it from harm. They would need him alive if they were going to figure out what in the Hells was happening here afterwards.
Perception or Investigation to find a suitable place to hide the noncombatants: 22 (NAT 20!!)
(OOC: Wasn't sure how much to do since he's out of initiative so I'll stop here for now. Let me know if I need to add more)
Zhi immediately thinks of his own well-being in this situation. Doc was the best person to be near, sure - but the warbling mass of energy summoned piqued his interest. Staying a very far distance away, Zhisshikassa follows Arora and Neph to deal with the...thing? Would someone well-versed in the arcane like Zhi know anything about it?
"Oh where the heck is the leadership when you need it... go get Doc and the two of you help the clergy, I'll help Neph take care of this... this... ball-o-light." "Take care of that thing and get the Moonshard!! I'll get everyone else out of here! And Kasha, go help the others outside!" Kasha startled at the conflict of orders. Arora said one thing, but Doc said another. Someone had to take care of the clergy! "But..! I..! You..! She..!"she stammered, then, "Ok!"and she sprinted outside, nearly tripping over herself.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Undeterred, Zhi reopens his jaw and hisses - another cloud of Yuan-Ti venom puffs in the direction of the Spiritual Archon.
Action - Poison Spray DC 14 Constitution saving throw for half of 4 Poison.
Afterwards, he takes several cautious steps backwards. Some of the party members mocked him for his abundance of caution. They also knew his body wasn't capable of taking much wear and tear. He wasn't built for the front lines.
Mock gathers up her axe, wiping the blood from it off on her pant leg before going to join the others. She rubs at the back of her neck almost sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that, all," she mumbles. Her axe is slung back over her back, and she moves to stand between the group and the door just in case. When she looks down to see that the dead one was drow, she relaxes her shoulders a bit. "Well, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing..."
The rest of the hunters are human. Only the one female was a drow.
"What the heck is going on?" she said, climbing on Arora's back as she inspected the other hunters.
Arora didn't really want to interrupt the ceremony again so she quietly replies "I'm really not sure what to think, hun... this one is a drow" she points at the one that Mock completely obliterated "and the rest are just human. I think Zhi may be right to some degree... this drow may have caused the 'insanity' in the rest - but the real question is to what end?"
She stands to her feet and moves over toward Doc and whispers "I think we will need to question them when they come around... we need to know what happened."
She quietly moves over to the lifeless body of the drow and searches her for any information that she may have on her.
Investigation: 7
D&D 5E BEYOND: Ada - Sorceress / Isa - Sorceress / Naris - Oathbreaker Paladin
CYBERPUNK RED DISCORD: Isa - Solo 5 / Angel - Solo 5 / Faun - Tech 5 / Raja - Nomad 5
PATHFINDER 2e DISCORD: Crystal - Sorceress
After knocking out the hunter, Daewen quickly sheathes her rapiers (hidden under her dark cloak), and chooses to meld back into the shadows in the rear of the cathedral (Stealth: 23). Dang it! she thinks. That attack blew my cover. At least that imbecile Juriendor didn't even seem to notice our crew in action. What's with that dolt anyway?! I'm beginning to think that he's a part of this whole charade...
Daewen will take a long, deep look at Juriendor to see if he appears to be wearing a disguise (Perception: 18).
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Nephvir is near the opening to the cathedral, he makes sure the doors are closed and puts the bar down on the door (if it has one), if there is no locking mechanism he drags a pew over and lodges it to close the entrance to the cathedral. He pulls down any tapestries that have any residual flame, putting out all fires. He sends a message to Daewen, "You wondering about Juriendor? Yeah, me too. Let me speak with him, you observe him."
Nephvir steps up to Juriendor and says "Quickly, I need to know if there are any other entrances to the cathedral that are unguarded. We need to secure the perimeter of this building." Nephvir appraises him and gauges his response, "Does he know anything about this attack that he is not telling?"
Insight : 13
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
"There are two interpretations I see most viable. If I were to make my best assumption, this drow riled up the hunters in order to create a distraction," he suggests, voice hoarse and muted. "Alternatively, the speed with which the disguise was thrown together could indicate the drow wanted to fit in with some hunters to perhaps flee something outside. The latter is assuming the hunters' madness results from some deadly confrontation. Either way indicates more danger to be arriving shortly."
When you spoke, Kasha looked at you with a comically blank stare. Raza couldn't find anything on their persons.
"You are all safe for the time being. Now is the time to tell us what exactly is happening here... Did they do this to you? And if so why?"
"We-" one of them begins.
"I'm really not sure what to think, hun... this one is a drow" she points at the one that Mock completely obliterated "and the rest are just human. I think Zhi may be right to some degree... this drow may have caused the 'insanity' in the rest - but the real question is to what end?"
Kasha twitched in delight. "I love a good mystery!" she whispered into Arora's ear, a little too close. Nothing was found on the Drow's person.
As Daewen looks at Juriendor, he stands confidently in the front, as if something like this has happened before, and, like always, it's taken care of. You suspect no foul play.
"Quickly, I need to know if there are any other entrances to the cathedral that are unguarded. We need to secure the perimeter of this building."
Juriendor looks at you with as much patience as he can muster. "The Vigil of Light is a sacred tradition that must, and will, proceed. All of your questions will be answered after the ceremony. Please. Take your seats. Mayor Leonid, please take away the defeated." Juriendor appeared sincere and dedicated as a High Priest would be.
After a few moments, Juriendor once more holds the Moonshard aloft and with a powerful chanting you don't recognize - sends a massive wave of bright energy throughout the cathedral. This flows back to the Moonshard and forms a glowing blue gateway centered upon the stone. Through the portal several orbs emerge - as soon as they enter the room, all normal light patterns warp and are drawn towards them. The attracted flow forms into a swirling pattern around the spheres, and then coalesces into a single dark floating orb. Judging by the gasps and screams of panic erupting from the crowd, this goes not normally occur during the Vigil of Light ritual. The orb begins to circle around Juriendor, spinning wildly, and then begins to lash out with cold bolts of darkness that send him to the floor! The Moonshard falls to the ground, and then through a crack in the boards to somewhere down below. You can almost feel the frigid, lifeless grasp of some ancient evil slip it's fingers around the artifact as it is dragged out of sight through the cracks.
The High Priest, prone, seems frozen in place as the orb assaults him. "Juriendor! No!" one of the villagers calls as he charges forward, pulling a short, metal candle holder from it's bracket at the end of a pew. He swings the makeshift weapon and seems to hit the orb. The orb is unaffected, but before anyone can step forward it strikes the charging man with a ray that forces him to his knees. Screams erupt from the villagers and, as one, they panic. Suddenly, people are running everywhere, to both sets of stairs and outside into the darkness of the storm.
Something terrible has happened.
DC13 Perception: ?!?!?!?
Nephvir examines Juriendor and the orb, takes in the situation and then ducks behind a pew.
Perception : 5
He also looks at the floor, able to pry up any boards, retrieve the Moonshard?
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
"Oh, that was unexpected!" Raza says as she is jostled by the crowd. She tries to look around for anything more unusual than what has already happened.
18
Oy vey, this shit show is becoming worse by the moment. Ahhh, but the stories I’ll be able to tell my Queen!
Daewen silently blends in with the freaking out crowd, still hidden and disguised as a commoner.
Perception: 12
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Kasha gasped, seeing what happened to High Priest Juriendor. "Wait a minute. I don't think this is supposed to happen."
Raza, outside, as the congregation begins to panic and flee the cathedral, you can see gray shapes moving at the edge of your vision outside in the heavily falling snow. The first few villagers to leave the cathedral are set upon. Something is attacking them. The shapes are moving slowly. Like, zombies. Wait. They ARE zombies!
Mayor Leonid steps up to quell the chaos, calling out, "Unsheathe your blades, stout fellows, and let us rain ruin upon whatever these fiends are within the grounds of the cathedral!" He hefts his great glowing maul and moves towards the front doors. He turns to us all. "You've shown yourselves capable. Please, save the clergy - most are little more than untested students. I'm off to defend the rest of my village!" He races out into the storm to confront the undead, the congregation grabbing various solid-looking items from around the cathedral while you're left in charge of the situation within the rapidly-emptying building.
THE SITUATION
1. A number of zombies are outside terrorizing the villagers. They need to be dealt with outside and you will not be able to participate in combat inside. You don't know how many there are.
2. Someone needs to gather and save the hysterical clergy, including High Priest Juriendor, who is badly hurt and unconscious. While heroic, this mechanically takes you out of combat for two rounds, and you won't participate in combat until the clergy are safe from harm. Find them a place to hide. (Two rounds.)
3. Juriendor has, by unknown means, summoned a creature you've never seen before. It must be dealt with. Choose among you who will remain inside to defeat whatever it is.
Once you have decided your role for this combat, roll for initiative. (The person/people saving the clergy and Juriendor do not roll, you can act and the beginning of round three.) If you wish to trade places with someone you may do so at the end of a round only.
The creature, for visual reference, is a thick pulsating orb of spiritual energy with an orbiting band ring of bright runes you don't recognize. It's like a basketball sized roiling star without the blinding light, and it's purple in color. You've never seen anything like this before, and you know it can shoot out rays of energy, like it did to the villager.
Nephvir sees the pulsating orb as the most immediate threat and takes position to try to attack it. He pulls out his short bow and nocks an arrow. He takes cover behind a pew, raises up to fire when it is his turn. “Taking on the orb!” he calls out -
Neph initiative : 10
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Daewen slips out the door and goes zombie hunting.
Initiative: 17
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
"What the?!?!" Arora responds in seeing the orb "That can't be good." As the mayhem starts breaking loose Daewen scoots outside o help the villagers and Neph knocks an arrow while announcing he's staying here to deal with the orb. Arora looks at Kasha "Oh where the heck is the leadership when you need it... go get Doc and the two of you help the clergy, I'll help Neph take care of this... this... ball-o-light." She grabs her bow and knocks an arrow while drawing and pointing at the orb. "I'm in staying in here with Neph." she announces.
Initiative: 18
D&D 5E BEYOND: Ada - Sorceress / Isa - Sorceress / Naris - Oathbreaker Paladin
CYBERPUNK RED DISCORD: Isa - Solo 5 / Angel - Solo 5 / Faun - Tech 5 / Raja - Nomad 5
PATHFINDER 2e DISCORD: Crystal - Sorceress
Realizing what she is seeing outside are zombies, Raza jumps up from searching the drow. "Abominations!" She hisses, pulling her rapier. "Defilers! They shall not stand!" She moves quickly and with determination towards the creatures, her tail lashing back and forth with anger.
Init: 17
Not good... Centurion thought to himself as chaos engulfed the church. This is way bigger than just the Drow... Seeing so many problems to deal with at once, he realized that if as many people were going to survive the night as possible, the squad would have to split up; luckily the rest of the group was on the same wave length and had already begun to do so. Though unsure what was happening outside, he did see that there were still many innocents trapped inside the building that would need protecting; partially from the summoned monster and partially from the can of 'Whoop Ass' the squad inside was about to unleash upon it. "Take care of that thing and get the Moonshard!! I'll get everyone else out of here! And Kasha, go help the others outside!" he cried out before rushing towards the High Priest's body (if possible) and attempting to shield it from harm. They would need him alive if they were going to figure out what in the Hells was happening here afterwards.
(OOC: Wasn't sure how much to do since he's out of initiative so I'll stop here for now. Let me know if I need to add more)
Zoldier’s Curse of the Crimson Throne: DM/ Redii || Zoldier's Strange Aeon's: DM
Zhi immediately thinks of his own well-being in this situation. Doc was the best person to be near, sure - but the warbling mass of energy summoned piqued his interest. Staying a very far distance away, Zhisshikassa follows Arora and Neph to deal with the...thing? Would someone well-versed in the arcane like Zhi know anything about it?
Init! 21
"Oh where the heck is the leadership when you need it... go get Doc and the two of you help the clergy, I'll help Neph take care of this... this... ball-o-light."
"Take care of that thing and get the Moonshard!! I'll get everyone else out of here! And Kasha, go help the others outside!"
Kasha startled at the conflict of orders. Arora said one thing, but Doc said another. Someone had to take care of the clergy! "But..! I..! You..! She..!" she stammered, then, "Ok!" and she sprinted outside, nearly tripping over herself.
Kasha: 13
ZHIOMBIES!
Zhi21, Daewen19, Raza17
SPIRITUAL ARCHON
Zhi21, Neph19 Arora18
Archon: 11
Zombie1: 6
Zombie2: 1
Zombie3: 3
Zombie4: 0
Zombie5: 2
CLERGY AND JURIENDOR
Doc
MOMENTUM: 3, CHAOS: 2
ROUND ONE
ZHIOMBIES
Zhi21, Daewen19, Raza17, Kasha13, Zombie1(6)(AC8/HP22), Zombie3(3)(AC8/HP22), Zombie5(2)(AC8/HP22), Zombie2(1)(AC8/HP22), Zombie4(0)(AC8/HP22)
SPIRITUAL ARCHON
Zhi21, Neph19 Arora18, Archon11(AC14/HP76)
CLERGY AND JURIENDOR
Doc
Undeterred, Zhi reopens his jaw and hisses - another cloud of Yuan-Ti venom puffs in the direction of the Spiritual Archon.
Action - Poison Spray
DC 14 Constitution saving throw for half of 4 Poison.
Afterwards, he takes several cautious steps backwards. Some of the party members mocked him for his abundance of caution. They also knew his body wasn't capable of taking much wear and tear. He wasn't built for the front lines.
MOMENTUM: 3, CHAOS: 2
ROUND ONE
ZHIOMBIES
Zhi21, Daewen19, Raza17, Kasha13, Zombie1(6)(AC8/HP22), Zombie3(3)(AC8/HP22), Zombie5(2)(AC8/HP22), Zombie2(1)(AC8/HP22), Zombie4(0)(AC8/HP22)
Kasha grows long claws again and quotes more Wolverine. "Berzerker barrage, bub!!" and she slashes at Zombie1!
GRRR Attack: 25 Damage: 9
"Whoop!" she barked, not used to fighting in the snow.
SPIRITUAL ARCHON
Zhi21, Neph19 Arora18, Archon11(AC14/HP71)
Here's the save: 14 - The archon takes the full damage!
CLERGY AND JURIENDOR
Doc