Using magic isn't it. The thing found the box without us using any magic at all. She is dead, yes. But there is no need to say it that harsh. Do we want to find this thing or wait until it finds us or someone else?
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
“Maybe we pool the magic items together. Give it a stronger signal to latch on to. Once it shows itself, we attack.” Eremoz looks around the room for any physical signs of the creature.
Dvark, as you crouch down and look over the body, you notice that despite showing symptoms of the plague that you have experienced and seen popping about in Vortesso, this is not the same illness. It shows itself as the plague, but in reality, it is not.
As you look toward the crowd, you notice that the other steward that is busying herself with calming the other passengers is shaking a little. She is an albino tiefling with jet black straight hair. When she turns back toward the kitchen, you notice that she is staring at Stewardess Harcourt with loss and sorrow. Her eyes are red-rimmed and glassy, but she blinks away and continues serving the passengers. You get the feeling that the two of them are close. Your gaze turns toward the other passenger and you get the sense that the businessmen are hiding more than they have said. You have to do a double take when your gaze comes to Gustav and sees no hint of fear or worry in his eyes and face, only deep curiosity. It seems that Gustav is more than just a simple chef.
"Look, we got nothing, alright," one of the businessman says. "We are businessmen. Apart from some trinkets that have the same effect as lowly cantrips, we have nothing on us. Maybe these acolytes are the cause of it. They look shifty enough for someone holy."
"Is it attracted to arcane or divine magic?" the oldest acolyte says while moving in front of the only female acolyte in the group. "The only people in our group who can do any magic are Sister Fierai and Brother Stavius. Sister Fierai's magic is granted in communion with our Lord, while Brother Stavius' is gifted by our Lord. Will this affect them?"
"Ou-our family can do no magic," the head of the family of three says. "We are simple farmers taking a vacation."
As the group begins to ask questions and inquire more about the possession of magical items, one of the acolytes takes a step back and points out behind the group. He is a middle-aged half-elf man with a strange glow about him. From the way the oldest acolyte is pointing, this is Brother Stavius.
"Spectral zombie behind you," Brother Stavius says shakily. Beside him, the other acolytes begin whispering to calm him down and to talk some sense.
Eremoz, you turn toward the location where the man is pointing and you cannot see anything. Looking at the passengers, you notice that the only one reacting is Brother Stavius and none other. Still, you feel your hair standing up in warning that something is amiss. There is a threat around you, but it is not directed at you and the group or the other passengers. This feels as if the unseen creature is the one that is feeling threatened. Your senses scream that there is fearful prey nearby, unseen and undetected.
Eremoz looks towards the group and the frightened passengers. “Nobody move. Stay calm.” He turns back to the presence in the cart. “Whoever you are, I can tell you’re scared. We don’t want to hurt you and we don’t want you to hurt us. Make yourself known so we can talk and smooth things out.”
Drexon shakes his head slightly, as he listens to the passengers all claim innocence and blame each other.
He turns as Brother Stavius warns them of the spectral zombie, but sees nothing.
Eremoz asks for calm, and so he obliges. Turning back to Brother Stavius, he cuts off the other acolytes. “I believe you. Tell me exactly what you see? Every detail”, he asks.
As he does so, he touches Brother Stavius lightly on the arm, merely brushing against him. He whispers some words of Deep Speech under his breath aiming to help the man focus and spot everything.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"It's... It's walking closer," Brother Stavius says. He tries to step back, but his fellow acolytes hold him in place. "It just phases through you," he points to Eremoz, "and is coming here -- coming for me!"
Drexon, as you lay your hand on Brother Stavius to calm him down, you are engulfed in a vision of desolate land and a burning red sun in the sky. You blink and the vision disappears.
Sister Fierai pulls a bottle from her robe and sprinkles it on Brother Stavius' shoulder. "May the Light of the Lord be with you," she murmurs. Ribbons of light appear from the water droplets and wrap around Brother Stavius' body, dissipating after a while.
"It stops moving," Brother Stavius says as soon as the spell takes effect, sighing in relief. You can still hear a hint of underlying panic and fear in his tone. "It just stops. It's still there, but it just stands still. It's humanoid, about my height. Its skin is completely gone, leaving only a mess of gore, rotted muscles, and skeletons. It's there. How can't any of you see it?!"
"These preachers are crazy, brother," one of the businessmen says to the other, not bothering that everyone can hear him. "I'm getting out of here and back to the cabin."
{{If any of you want to stop him, make an Athletics check against 10.}}
Edit: Well, the tag triggered again out of nowhere, but I think this DC is more appropriate than what I had in mind in the beginning.
{{Karm, the box is about palm-sized, but if you want specifics, it is roughly 5 cm by 5 cm by 5 cm.}}
The businessman, a dwarf with swept-back blond hair and a tidily trimmed beard, body checks Karm and moves toward where the group first came from.
Brother Stavius yells, but it seems that whatever he is planning to warn of is lost when the dwarven businessman screams.
"Get off me!" The dwarf shouts. He reaches toward his pocket and pulls a long needle pocket from his pocket. The needle bursts with green flame and he stabs it in front of it. The flaming needle seems to have struck something, and out of thin air, a rotting humanoid figure appears. It has its hand stretched out and choking the dwarf while sucking the green flame from the needle he is holding. As the flame is smothered, the figure begins to disappear once again. The dwarven businessman is slowly turning pale grey and struggles less and less with each passing moment.
{{We are not going to roll for initiative, but you have 6 seconds to do something before it disappears again.}}
Gustav pulls his knife from his apron and flicks it directly into the creature's head, but the knife sails through as if the creature is not even there. The knife turns to wisps of white smoke when it sinks into the carriage wall and reappears back on his hand. He looks at the knife inquisitively.
"It connects, but it is as if this creature is both there and not there at the same time," Gustav says. He shows the other the knife and you can see an almost translucent trail of purple blood.
{{As a point of reference, we'll separate the carriage into 4 sections. The entrance, where the group came from, the body of Stewardess Harcourt, the kitchen, and the back end. Eremoz, I think is still near the entrance. Dvark is with the body. Karm, Drexon, and Cob are either near the kitchen or at the back end with the rest of the passengers. The dwarven businessman screams when he reached Dvark's position.}}
Drexon is momentarily fazed by the imagery that invades his mind when he touches Brother Stavius, clutching his head with one hand before shaking away the effects. He blinks a couple of times and then focusses on the place the Brother claims the creature is, still nothing.
He watches as the dwarf bundles his way through carriage, before taking out the needle and attacking the now visible creature.
He notes the way Gustaf quickly throws his knife, and the fact that it returns to his hand. Definitely more than he seems.
He then whispers some words of Deep Speech and makes a clawing motion at the creature. A spectral clawed hand appears and reaches for it.
Eremoz turns around towards the business man to tell him to stop. Before he can, he sees the form engaged with the dwarf. Eremoz growls and charges the specter and swing with his maul.
Cob looks from the priests to the businessmen to the here-one-second-gone-the-next apparition. There's so much going on that he can't focus on it all but all he's certain of, there's a hell of a lot more to all this than just some creatures attacking people.
Cob moves through the cabin and the chaos and kneels by the dwarf. He moves one hand to the dwarf's neck, looking like he's checking for a pulse, but it's his other hand that's really in action. Avoiding the tip of the needle, he picks up the needle and syringe and pockets it before it gets broken or disappears.
Karm, flame bursts out from your hand and strikes the creature. It doesn't visibly react, but there are wisps of smoke coming out of its body. You don't know if the magic damages it or not.
Eremoz, you feel a slight resistance as your maul passes through the creature's body. You notice that there is more of that translucent purple blood coating your maul.
Drexon, you grasp the creature with your spectral hand, and the creature reacts for the first time. It turns toward you, its eyes a gaping hole of endless darkness. "Speaker of the Betrayer's tongue... I can see you... Find it... Intercept..." the creature says in Deep Speech as it slowly disappears from everyone's view.
Cob, you feel the pulse of the dwarven businessman, faint and slow. He is alive, but barely. You pull the needle from his arm and the flame disappears. Looking closer, it's not exactly a needle with a syringe as you expect, but a long and thick knitting needle made of silvery metal. {{Make a Sleight of Hand if you are doing it discreetly.}}
Dvark, you try to tackle the creature, and while you are sure that you have it in hand, it disappears from your grasp after a few moments.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Cob, not sure why except that it feels like the right approach, tries to slip the silver metal pointy thing into his pocket.
Sleight of Hand: 23
With next to no medical knowledge or training, Cob has been witness to a number of drunken post performance brawls and does what he can to make sure the dwarf is stable and not losing blood.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
{{10}}
Cob, from what you can surmise, he is stable but extremely exhausted as if his very life has been sucked out of him. You look up and notice that Gustav and the other stewards notice what you are doing, but turn their heads away without saying anything.
Drexon is taken aback when it speaks to him in Deep Speech. He hasn’t met anyone before who spoke that language, and in truth wasn’t entirely sure it was a language. They were just sounds that came to mind until now.
He raises en eyebrow as he sees Cob pocket the needle, but doesn’t mention it, he is too busy running things over in his mind.
Intercept had been mentioned over and over. And Eremoz had sensed fear from the thing. At first he had assumed these things wanted the wall to be broken, to let loose the hounds of darkness. But now he wasn’t so sure, it was as if they were trying to stop the chest getting back to Bast Trench. Maybe.
”It seems to have gone”, he says a bit distractedly.
Dvark, the man is stable, but extremely exhausted. It is not something that you can fix currently but has to run its course over a few days of rest. You do notice that his brother is not as caring as a brother should be. He is shaking his head disappointedly. You also notice that while the general passengers are calming down with the disappearance of the creature once again, some of them, notably Gustav, Brother Stavius, and Sister Fierai, are still looking around anxiously.
"I can banish the creature if it comes again," Sister Fierai says. "Unfortunately, I will have to know its name. This spell is more powerful if one knows more about the creature that are to be banished. We have its essence, its blood, and it will help, but a name is powerful and knowing it can amplify the spell."
Using magic isn't it. The thing found the box without us using any magic at all. She is dead, yes. But there is no need to say it that harsh.
Do we want to find this thing or wait until it finds us or someone else?
Olloray Dim - Limbo's Pit
Gunther Korroden - Nightmares in the Mist
“Maybe we pool the magic items together. Give it a stronger signal to latch on to. Once it shows itself, we attack.” Eremoz looks around the room for any physical signs of the creature.
Investigation: 20
Dvark, as you crouch down and look over the body, you notice that despite showing symptoms of the plague that you have experienced and seen popping about in Vortesso, this is not the same illness. It shows itself as the plague, but in reality, it is not.
As you look toward the crowd, you notice that the other steward that is busying herself with calming the other passengers is shaking a little. She is an albino tiefling with jet black straight hair. When she turns back toward the kitchen, you notice that she is staring at Stewardess Harcourt with loss and sorrow. Her eyes are red-rimmed and glassy, but she blinks away and continues serving the passengers. You get the feeling that the two of them are close. Your gaze turns toward the other passenger and you get the sense that the businessmen are hiding more than they have said. You have to do a double take when your gaze comes to Gustav and sees no hint of fear or worry in his eyes and face, only deep curiosity. It seems that Gustav is more than just a simple chef.
"Look, we got nothing, alright," one of the businessman says. "We are businessmen. Apart from some trinkets that have the same effect as lowly cantrips, we have nothing on us. Maybe these acolytes are the cause of it. They look shifty enough for someone holy."
"Is it attracted to arcane or divine magic?" the oldest acolyte says while moving in front of the only female acolyte in the group. "The only people in our group who can do any magic are Sister Fierai and Brother Stavius. Sister Fierai's magic is granted in communion with our Lord, while Brother Stavius' is gifted by our Lord. Will this affect them?"
"Ou-our family can do no magic," the head of the family of three says. "We are simple farmers taking a vacation."
As the group begins to ask questions and inquire more about the possession of magical items, one of the acolytes takes a step back and points out behind the group. He is a middle-aged half-elf man with a strange glow about him. From the way the oldest acolyte is pointing, this is Brother Stavius.
"Spectral zombie behind you," Brother Stavius says shakily. Beside him, the other acolytes begin whispering to calm him down and to talk some sense.
Eremoz, you turn toward the location where the man is pointing and you cannot see anything. Looking at the passengers, you notice that the only one reacting is Brother Stavius and none other. Still, you feel your hair standing up in warning that something is amiss. There is a threat around you, but it is not directed at you and the group or the other passengers. This feels as if the unseen creature is the one that is feeling threatened. Your senses scream that there is fearful prey nearby, unseen and undetected.
Eremoz looks towards the group and the frightened passengers. “Nobody move. Stay calm.” He turns back to the presence in the cart. “Whoever you are, I can tell you’re scared. We don’t want to hurt you and we don’t want you to hurt us. Make yourself known so we can talk and smooth things out.”
Persuasion if needed: 6
Drexon shakes his head slightly, as he listens to the passengers all claim innocence and blame each other.
He turns as Brother Stavius warns them of the spectral zombie, but sees nothing.
Eremoz asks for calm, and so he obliges. Turning back to Brother Stavius, he cuts off the other acolytes. “I believe you. Tell me exactly what you see? Every detail”, he asks.
As he does so, he touches Brother Stavius lightly on the arm, merely brushing against him. He whispers some words of Deep Speech under his breath aiming to help the man focus and spot everything.
Karms hand instinctivly moves to his hook. He puts his right hand on it but does not draw it.
Good thing i left the box back in our cart
{{how big is the box even?}}
Olloray Dim - Limbo's Pit
Gunther Korroden - Nightmares in the Mist
"It's... It's walking closer," Brother Stavius says. He tries to step back, but his fellow acolytes hold him in place. "It just phases through you," he points to Eremoz, "and is coming here -- coming for me!"
Drexon, as you lay your hand on Brother Stavius to calm him down, you are engulfed in a vision of desolate land and a burning red sun in the sky. You blink and the vision disappears.
Sister Fierai pulls a bottle from her robe and sprinkles it on Brother Stavius' shoulder. "May the Light of the Lord be with you," she murmurs. Ribbons of light appear from the water droplets and wrap around Brother Stavius' body, dissipating after a while.
"It stops moving," Brother Stavius says as soon as the spell takes effect, sighing in relief. You can still hear a hint of underlying panic and fear in his tone. "It just stops. It's still there, but it just stands still. It's humanoid, about my height. Its skin is completely gone, leaving only a mess of gore, rotted muscles, and skeletons. It's there. How can't any of you see it?!"
"These preachers are crazy, brother," one of the businessmen says to the other, not bothering that everyone can hear him. "I'm getting out of here and back to the cabin."
{{If any of you want to stop him, make an Athletics check against 10.}}
Edit: Well, the tag triggered again out of nowhere, but I think this DC is more appropriate than what I had in mind in the beginning.
{{Karm, the box is about palm-sized, but if you want specifics, it is roughly 5 cm by 5 cm by 5 cm.}}
Karm will actually try to stop him
There was a murder and even though it was presumably a ghost, i actually belive that story, we havent got the killer. You stay!
Athletics: 6
{{I was even thinking, the only real way karm could mess this up is by a nat1, smh}}
Olloray Dim - Limbo's Pit
Gunther Korroden - Nightmares in the Mist
The businessman, a dwarf with swept-back blond hair and a tidily trimmed beard, body checks Karm and moves toward where the group first came from.
Brother Stavius yells, but it seems that whatever he is planning to warn of is lost when the dwarven businessman screams.
"Get off me!" The dwarf shouts. He reaches toward his pocket and pulls a long needle pocket from his pocket. The needle bursts with green flame and he stabs it in front of it. The flaming needle seems to have struck something, and out of thin air, a rotting humanoid figure appears. It has its hand stretched out and choking the dwarf while sucking the green flame from the needle he is holding. As the flame is smothered, the figure begins to disappear once again. The dwarven businessman is slowly turning pale grey and struggles less and less with each passing moment.
{{We are not going to roll for initiative, but you have 6 seconds to do something before it disappears again.}}
Gustav pulls his knife from his apron and flicks it directly into the creature's head, but the knife sails through as if the creature is not even there. The knife turns to wisps of white smoke when it sinks into the carriage wall and reappears back on his hand. He looks at the knife inquisitively.
"It connects, but it is as if this creature is both there and not there at the same time," Gustav says. He shows the other the knife and you can see an almost translucent trail of purple blood.
{{As a point of reference, we'll separate the carriage into 4 sections. The entrance, where the group came from, the body of Stewardess Harcourt, the kitchen, and the back end. Eremoz, I think is still near the entrance. Dvark is with the body. Karm, Drexon, and Cob are either near the kitchen or at the back end with the rest of the passengers. The dwarven businessman screams when he reached Dvark's position.}}
Motherf...
Karm turns towards the creature lifts his hand up and a burst of flame shoots out of it. 15 to hit, 9 fire damage on a hit
Olloray Dim - Limbo's Pit
Gunther Korroden - Nightmares in the Mist
Drexon is momentarily fazed by the imagery that invades his mind when he touches Brother Stavius, clutching his head with one hand before shaking away the effects. He blinks a couple of times and then focusses on the place the Brother claims the creature is, still nothing.
He watches as the dwarf bundles his way through carriage, before taking out the needle and attacking the now visible creature.
He notes the way Gustaf quickly throws his knife, and the fact that it returns to his hand. Definitely more than he seems.
He then whispers some words of Deep Speech and makes a clawing motion at the creature. A spectral clawed hand appears and reaches for it.
Action: Chill Touch - To Hit: 9+6=15, Damage: 8
Eremoz turns around towards the business man to tell him to stop. Before he can, he sees the form engaged with the dwarf. Eremoz growls and charges the specter and swing with his maul.
Attack: 4+6=10 Damage: 11
Cob looks from the priests to the businessmen to the here-one-second-gone-the-next apparition. There's so much going on that he can't focus on it all but all he's certain of, there's a hell of a lot more to all this than just some creatures attacking people.
Cob moves through the cabin and the chaos and kneels by the dwarf. He moves one hand to the dwarf's neck, looking like he's checking for a pulse, but it's his other hand that's really in action. Avoiding the tip of the needle, he picks up the needle and syringe and pockets it before it gets broken or disappears.
Dvark reacts mostly on instinct and attempts to tackle the zombie spirit.
Athletics:21
Karm, flame bursts out from your hand and strikes the creature. It doesn't visibly react, but there are wisps of smoke coming out of its body. You don't know if the magic damages it or not.
Eremoz, you feel a slight resistance as your maul passes through the creature's body. You notice that there is more of that translucent purple blood coating your maul.
Drexon, you grasp the creature with your spectral hand, and the creature reacts for the first time. It turns toward you, its eyes a gaping hole of endless darkness. "Speaker of the Betrayer's tongue... I can see you... Find it... Intercept..." the creature says in Deep Speech as it slowly disappears from everyone's view.
Cob, you feel the pulse of the dwarven businessman, faint and slow. He is alive, but barely. You pull the needle from his arm and the flame disappears. Looking closer, it's not exactly a needle with a syringe as you expect, but a long and thick knitting needle made of silvery metal. {{Make a Sleight of Hand if you are doing it discreetly.}}
Dvark, you try to tackle the creature, and while you are sure that you have it in hand, it disappears from your grasp after a few moments.
Cob, not sure why except that it feels like the right approach, tries to slip the silver metal pointy thing into his pocket.
Sleight of Hand: 23
With next to no medical knowledge or training, Cob has been witness to a number of drunken post performance brawls and does what he can to make sure the dwarf is stable and not losing blood.
Medicine: 10
{{10}}
Cob, from what you can surmise, he is stable but extremely exhausted as if his very life has been sucked out of him. You look up and notice that Gustav and the other stewards notice what you are doing, but turn their heads away without saying anything.
As the zombie disappears from his grasp Dvark straightens to his full height scans the room.
Insight: 11
then kneels down and casts [Tooltip Not Found] on the dwarf if he isn't already stable.
Drexon is taken aback when it speaks to him in Deep Speech. He hasn’t met anyone before who spoke that language, and in truth wasn’t entirely sure it was a language. They were just sounds that came to mind until now.
He raises en eyebrow as he sees Cob pocket the needle, but doesn’t mention it, he is too busy running things over in his mind.
Intercept had been mentioned over and over. And Eremoz had sensed fear from the thing. At first he had assumed these things wanted the wall to be broken, to let loose the hounds of darkness. But now he wasn’t so sure, it was as if they were trying to stop the chest getting back to Bast Trench. Maybe.
”It seems to have gone”, he says a bit distractedly.
Dvark, the man is stable, but extremely exhausted. It is not something that you can fix currently but has to run its course over a few days of rest. You do notice that his brother is not as caring as a brother should be. He is shaking his head disappointedly. You also notice that while the general passengers are calming down with the disappearance of the creature once again, some of them, notably Gustav, Brother Stavius, and Sister Fierai, are still looking around anxiously.
"I can banish the creature if it comes again," Sister Fierai says. "Unfortunately, I will have to know its name. This spell is more powerful if one knows more about the creature that are to be banished. We have its essence, its blood, and it will help, but a name is powerful and knowing it can amplify the spell."
{{All of you can make an Arcana or Investigation again if you want.}}