This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Rosie ducks down and tries to quietly sneak through the trees unseen to B8. She stows her rapier and pulls out her crossbow, taking aim and ready to take a shot should the discussion turn violent.
Stealth: 9 Add Bardic Inspiration if it's a low roll: 3
Kalge answer was fast, too fast. It either meant that he had no doubt on his words, that he spoke the truth of the matter, or that he had the words well enacted. Maybe his suggestion of lethal action had the objective of burning the living files of his former companions. The elf had spoke of zealotry and that made the Blood Hunter think about fiends and dark gods again.
“As much as I like the idea of preemptive attacks.” Radu said to Eduan in a lower tone of voice. “They are potential sources of information. We better attempting diplomacy and, if it fails, non-lethal offensive. Capture, interrogate, dispose.”
He would like to avoid the latter, if at all possible, but if diplomacy failed, they would have mortal enemies. Freeing them would be synonymous to allowing an ambush to happen in the future. One they could have avoided. Disposal would be necessary, he thought as Geraine advanced.
“We found goblin tracks on this direction and came to check if they would be a threat.” Ashford said following the cleric, focusing entirely on avoiding any incoming attack. “Have you guys dealt with them?” He asked looking around, searching for any sign of goblinoids.“We are open to exchanging information regarding this place.”
The one in the golden corpse mask now sits casually, cross-legged on top of the rock.
"So, a lapdog of the gods!" she exclaims upon seeing Geraine's apparel. "Amaunator, right?"
She then notices Radu and turns her gaze to him. "Mister, you stand before an open book!" She gestures to herself, "My information is you for the taking! Yes, we saw goblins a while ago. They were being lead like prisoners by a hunting party of—from the looks of the emblem they all wore—Emerald Enclave agents. They've been quite active in this area, and we have yet to find out why! Now, let's take turns asking questions. My turn now."
She turns back to Geraine. "What has Amaunator ever done for you to deserve your devotion?" Her words are sharp and clearly with mean intent.
Her grey-masked companion remains silent, but turns and starts walking away towards the northern edge of the glade. The water sloshing around him with every step.
Encounter Map:
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"Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer."
How many times had this question been asked since the fall of the Netherese Empire? How many of Amaunator's "faithful" had turned their backs on him for not intervening to prevent Karsus's Folly?. The tone of her voice dripping with sarcasm and blasphemy, her words of false arrogance and impure ignorance. But, her question was one he enjoyed pondering regularly.
"Those who seek favors from the Gods will rarely find themselves satisfied. Amaunator is a figure worthy of devotion not because of what he has done for me. No, not hardly.. I am not so selfish.. Do I thank Amaunator for the light of the Sun every day? Yes. Do I pray, and more-so, thank him for his divine power, every single day? Yes." Geraine's smile grows into one pure and from the heart. "However I am devout to him because of what he stands for, not for what he has done for me. The very ideal of Amaunator demands respect, even from the denizens of the abyss. After all, while twisted and misunderstood by some - all have their laws to be abided by. And when one is tested, and the law is followed, they are respecting the very nature of Amaunator and bask in his light.
Geraine continues to hold his action while sustaining a defensive posture.
He heard of the Emerald Enclave before. Everyone did, Radu was pretty sure. There was no sign of civilization expanding on the chasm. That could only mean the nature worshippers were there to either search for or deal with something threatening the environment. Considering the appearing of an entire new frontier both possibilities made quite a deal of sense.
He had to hold the impulse to put a hand over his face when Geraine started to speak. That’s a way to get us killed because of religion. To Ahford’s ears, the entirety of the answer amounted to plain and simple nothing. The cleric thanked his god for something that was attributed to a different deity in each corner of the world. He respected an idea much more tied to other entities, like Helm, Tyr or even Asmodeus. But the worse of it all was the meaning his words about law in the abyss carried. Certainly, one could call the rule of the strong and even nature itself laws, but in doing so one had to admit that not every law had to so much as attempt to be fair. Legality without morality, thought the Blood Hunter. A way to justify even the greatest atrocities, if he ever saw one.
“Why are you guys interested on what the Enclave is doing? They should be no treat to either of our groups."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
While the others are talking, Rosie makes another attempt to skirt quietly around to the northern side of the lake, where the grey-masked man is heading. She wants to see what it is he is heading towards, while looking for footprints of goblins and these supposed Emerald Enclave agents.
The man in the grey mask continues to trudge towards the trees, seemingly not noticing Rosie as she follows him with her gaze. However, contrary to what Rosie had expected, he did not continue walking in a straight line. Rather, he took a turn to the left and... vanished. She can't hear his heavy footsteps anymore, and no disturbance of the vegetation betrays his location.
The corpse-masked woman cackles on hearing Geraine's response, but then turns back to Radu.
"Ha! We couldn't care less about the Enclave! Of course those tree-huggers don't pose any threat. The only reason they caught my attention is because they lack any semblance of subtlety! Me and my companion here (she gestures to the thin air beside her) were only here to deliver a certain something (don't you try to steal it) to the higher-ups! It's very interesting!" As she speaks, she alternates from tilting her head to the right side and left every time she starts a new sentence. She seems practically giddy with excitement as the subject moves to her "higher-ups".
"Well, that makes it my turn again!" She leaps from the rock, landing on one foot in the water. The ripple from the splash spreads, licking the tips of Geraine's boots as it reaches the edge of the pond. "Now, who should I choose this time for a question?" She asks herself rhetorically. "Oh! I know! I'll choose...." With her finger pointed outwards towards the group, she swirls it around, moving from Geraine, to Radu, to Klage, to Fifi, then back to Geraine. "...YOU! Mister Priest! Surely, if Amaunator cared about you (or any followers), he would use his godly power to its fullest extent to prevent you (and said followers) from coming to harm or suffering? And yet, he holds back. He makes you want and struggle, granting use of only a pinch of divine power! Surely, a god would not be so ignorant, for they themselves for once mortal... correct?"
Area Map
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"Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer."
Geraine leans back to Klage, whispering over his shoulder while keeping his eyes locked on the corpse-masked woman.
"The staff.. I hope the others are ok, the quiet one vanished."
He then straightens his posture once more and responds to the woman. "It seems there is a baffling level of ignorance in your understanding of Amaunator, not to mention history itself. I suppose Belfo the Apostate would prefer to keep it this way though, after all he wants you to struggle for him because he wants to be a God, and he needs you to help him fill his desires. And.. for.. what? To search for trinkets to enable him to think he a God? Oh, but if you do he will grant all of your wishes, make all of your your wildest desires come true, and rescue you from the suffering and tragedy of life." Geraine pauses to take a breath, and continues in a serious tone. "Karsus made a similar mistake, and to his Hopeful I suppose he did indeed deliver them from suffering - and only at the cost of one of the greatest tragedies Faerun has seen. So to answer your question, perhaps.. But the alternative would be quite boring and lacking of sustenance." Geraine tightens his grip on his symbol and lets a grin form in the corner of his mouth."Something tells me that there is a beautiful woman behind that mask, but I can see why Belfo would want you to wear them. I would have a hard time looking you in the face too after filling your heads with such heracies."
Gerain continues to hold his action for the first sign of physical or magical hostility.
To Radu the masked woman’s words sounded like an invitation. Try to steal it, give me reason to kill you. Her intention to have the situation devolve into battle became ever clearer when her companion disappeared from sight and her insisted into questioning a believer either too zealous or too innocent to be dissuaded of his faith. Klage word’s then came to his mind. Their posture reeks of zealotry. The Blood Hunter started to think the elf might have been right.
Geraine’s new answer surprised Ashford not for the aggressivity. The cleric had held his doctrine so high that seemed to pity everyone that failed to share it. No, the true surprising thing was that he seemed to know the meaning behind the masks – something he should have mentioned earlier.
“Honestly, I don’t give a **** about what either of you believe in as long as you don’t go forcing anything down anyone’s throat or picking fights like some brat trying to say that his favorite hero is stronger.” He said once again focusing his senses on avoiding any danger that could appear. “You are both adults, right? So how about starting act as such. You know, following whoever or whatever makes you happy and letting the others do the same? I don’t believe that the guy with shit for manners is saying this but, having respect?”
Notes: Radu holds the Dodge action, the trigger being a fight starting. Also, would him have heard anything about Belfo?
Rosie tries to follow the man's footsteps to where he disappeared, still attempting to move stealthily amongst the jungle insects that seems to scream loudly at every step she takes. She holds her rapier out in front of her in case of some sort of invisible barrier. Her eyes scan the ground for footprints, not only of her quarry, but also the goblins: did they too come this way, through this apparently invisible doorway?
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
As Geraine whispers to Klage, he sees that the elf wears an expression of... boredom? He appears quite relaxed and uninterested in the slowly rising tension.
"Eh, no. (referring to the tall masked figure) He's not going towards the others. Can't have people firing crossbows from hidden locations, after all. He's just after Rosie." He speaks as calmly as though he were correcting a child's arithmetic error.
The woman in the gilded corpse mask takes a step back in response to Geraine's verbal attack. She reaches a shaking hand up to her grotesque mask, clasping it, but then retracts it and begins reaching inside her robes.
"You misunderstand the Promising One, fool! He is selfless in his persuits. All he does is for the good of mortalkind! His vision is a world without want. Want is the root of all evil and suffering. Is it not right to absolve it? If you had gone through the anguish I've experienced, you might—"
Here, she is interrupted by Radu's intervention. Upon Radu finishing his rant, she tosses her head in annoyance.
"I tire of your close-mindedness," she says. "and I think it's time I leave. But first!"
Pulling her hand out of her robe, she holds what appears to be a small silver jewelry box inlaid with red opals. She holds it high above her head.
"What I hold here is a Netherese relic we've retrieved from the ruins beneath our feet. A gift for The Future God. I'm supposed to wait for my superior to show up and claim it, but I think it wouldn't hurt to show you all what it can do!"
She then lowers the arm holding the box, positioning her other hand over it, ready to pull off the lid.
"It's called Old Wounds. I don't know what it does, but I bet it's something nasty. Shall we find out?"
Rosie, scanning the ground for footprints, finds none from the goblins and their escorts. However, as she nears where the grey masked man vanished, she spots what appear to be his footprints on the ground. They appear to lead in the direction she had come from. Following the tracks with her eyes, her gaze brings her to two armored feet.
And those feet have legs attached to them.
And those legs, a body, draped in a drab brown cloak.
And to top it off, a head, hidden by a scarab-shaped mask.
The man looms over Rosie, his dark, empty eyes bearing down on her with tangible force. Then, he pounces.
As the last words leave his mouth, Geraine hears a new noise that distracts him momentarilly.
Tap, tap, tap tap tap..
The tapping of his holy symbol clenched so firmly in his tremoring fist was now clattering against the inside of his shield he was squeezing equally over-tightly. "Am I shaking?"
Then he feels the beating of his heartbeat pounding against the inside of every artery, thumping loudly within his ears. "I, Oh God.. But she.. No. Stop. You lost control Geraine. Calm yourself, this is not the way."
Geraine takes a deep breath as Radu speaks, although Geraine doesn't hear it. Still trying to mentor himself: "OK, this is your mess now. Remember your plan and pay atte tion. You can't reach Rosie from here, and Klage doesn't seem to need any help either.. Bless yourself, Radu, and Fifi and be prepared to.."
At this time the masked woman pulls her hand from her robe and holds the box up high. Instinctively he releases Bless targeting Radu, Fifi, and himself.
Fifi, catching ear of Rosie's attacker, sends a distracting tangle of cutting words at the grey-masked cultist. The tall figure is momentarily shaken by the spell, but ultimately shrugs it off and proceeds advancing towards Rosie, his arms readied for grappling.
Corpse-Mask's Turn
"Oops! Your friend in the bushes over there got a little too nosy for my liking." She says, her hand still hovering over the box lid. "We can't have people hiding in the woods with crossbows aimed at our heads, can we? Don't worry, he's only restraining her out of self defense." Her grip on the box seems to loosen. Her head is turned towards away in Rosie's direction.
Klage's Turn
Like an animal, Klage shoves his way past Radu and Geraine, leaping forward, his hand outstretched in an attempt to grab the box. He leaps surprisingly far for someone of his age, closing the distance between him and the masked woman in only a couple bounds. She waited for him to get close enough. At the last second, she spins to the left, causing Klage to fly through the air, his outstretched hand grasping nothing but air before he falls face first into the shallow water. The lid remains firmly on the box.
NOTE: Klage has moved onto I-5*. The Corpse-Mask, having taken the ready action in anticipation of the tackle, has moved to H-5.
Beetle-Mask's Turn
Rosie's masked attacker advances, attempting to tackle Rosie. The hulking brute makes a grab for Rosie's sword-arm. His grip is like a hangman's noose, the sheer strength feeling like it will cut off circulation in her arm.
NOTE: Beetle-Mask has advanced to D-11. Rosie is now grappled
Radu's Turn
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"Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Just as he expected the woman was fast to start hostilities. It had been her true intentions for the start, or so he believed. A warm sensation takes hold of his body as the energy of Geraine’s spell reaches Radu. As Klage moves to steal the box the Blood Hunter is sure there is no turning back. Soon he notices Rosie grappled and Sophia attacking.
“**** off, *****. You have no right to speak of close-mindedness when you start a physical fight because of religion.” He said pulling both his crossbows. “And how about having two aimed at your head?”
Ahsford fire both of his weapons against the woman with the corpse mask, at the same time. Not caring to see if any of the shots hit its mark he moves into cover. Behind the trunk of a tree if there is any he can reach, otherwise into bushes. Anything to make himself harder to target to reach. All the better if by doing that he could provoke the enemies by doing exactly what they tried to avoid and then some more.
At least I don’t have to worry about this side, Radu thought stealing a glance at his companions. Everyone but Geraine was engaged in combat and the cleric had employed magic to strength the Blood Hunter.
Notes: Radu spend his action to make a hand crossbow attack, then using his Crossbow Expert spends his bonus action to attack again with this second hand crossbow (both against the corpse mask). Then he uses his full speed (30ft) to move behind a tree trunk or nonexistent a tree trunk he can get behind of, he dives into the bushes (hopefully getting some degree of cover). Reaction spent with the Ready action (Dodge), making attacks against him, this turn, have disadvantage.
As soon as his Bless fires he is nearly startled by the instaneous reaction, and speed of Klage, regardless of his lack of success. However, even though brief, the warm and beautiful energy from Amaunator reminds him of his tenants.
As he embraces his Holy symbol, advancing to H3, he processes his judgement internally without a spoken word. "Your colleague took position first, and she holds a rapier not a crossbow. But you both knew this. You knew exactly what you were doing to draw us into a conflict, and I would wager looking for any opportunity to prove your trinket's power. Now, you have threatened us, and with this ancient artifact at that. For your conspiracies against the Gods, and your premeditaded actions today I find you guilty."
Geraine casts Guiding Bolt. He quickly follows this with Shillelagh on his club in preparation for his next action.
Rosie tries to twist free of the iron grip the cultist has on her arm. With each passing hour of this long day, she has lost confidence in her own abilities, and is feeling her age keenly. She isn't cut out for this life, and her thoughts begin to shift; get out of here, back to the surface, get home, you can't do this...
ACTION - escape the grapple Acrobatics: 12 (to be contested by athletics from the cultist)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
The woman in the gilded mask is struck thrice. First, Radu's crossbow bolts catch her, one in the shoulder, the other in the thigh. Then, Geraine's golden missile of divine judgement finds its place in her stomach. Any grace she had in her posture had vanished. Already, she had been reduced to a desperate state. It's not hard to see the fear of mortality in her body language.
Rosie, struggling to shake her way out of the other cultist's grip, finds her efforts in vain at least for now. His vice-grip only tightens.
FIFI'S TURN
Fifi rushes to Rosie's rescue, calling upon the magic within her instrument to bolster Rosie's escape attempt.
Notes: Fifi advances to A-9, and uses bardic inspiration, giving Rosie 1 bardic inspiration die (a d6)
CORPSE-MASK'S TURN
Her posture is hunched. Her breathing heavy. Her tangled hair now falls over parts of her mask, She is clearly nearing the end of consciousness, or perhaps her life.
"No..." she mutters, clutching her stomach. "I-I was supposed to be better than this!" she holds up the box. "A shame I couldn't have fought a little longer before needing to depend on you..."
Geraine, being closer to his opponent, can now make out the details of the box clearer. The silver sides of the box are fashioned in the shape of a tangled mass of arms, all contorted in agony. The lid of the box is likewise fashioned into the likeness of a mass of tortured faces. The garnets embedded in the sides are placed strategically across the surfaces to look like drops of blood.
She opens the lid.
The humid air suddenly turns frigid, replacing the condensation with thick fog. The sound of a person exhaling comes forth from the box.
Rosie's attacker, having secured his target, had begun pulling her towards the pool, only to fall on his knees in a fit of coughing. The couching and hacking worsens. His body convulses violently. As he turns to face Rosie, she sees that the eye-holes in his mask are streaming blood, and both blood and mucus ooze from the bottom of the mask. He had released his hold on her, and now reaches in her direction, grasping in vain between coughs. After two attempts at re-grappling her, he then turns to clutching his own throat as he slowly drowns from the buildup of fluids inside his head. Soon, he is unable to even cough, reduced to sickening gargling sounds.
Then, an image appears in Rosie's head.
Potato peelers?
Her mind is pulled into a scene from her memories. Once when she had been peeling potatoes in the kitchen, her arm had slipped and cut herself with the peeler. It was a deeply painful experience, and the sight of humanoid skin sliced into strips like a potato was sickening, to say the least.
Returning to reality, she turns to see that on her sword arm, multiple strips of flesh have begun peeling and curling, as though being peeled by a dozen invisible potato peelers. The pain is excruciating, and in a moment her forearm is slick with blood.
Damage:5 slashing damage, halved from succeeding on the saving throw.
The scars on Radu's back re-opened. He didn't notice at first as he remained in place behind a tree. But then the grossly sticky sensation of blood pressed between his clothes and his skin became all-too much to bear. Then, the invisible claws began raking across his flesh. Teeth sunk their way into the back of his neck, unseen and intangible. No way to fight back. The feeling of being mauled by a beast had remained vivid in Radu's memory over the years, but this was ridiculous. All the claws and all the bites in all the exact same places. A perfect replication of the old wounds.
Damage: 18 slashing damage, halved from succeeding on the saving throw.
Geraine suddenly feels his consciousness pulled from the battle.
He is once again serving as an acolyte in Amaunator's temple. No, wait. This looks familiar. Everyone looks like they did several years ago. Ah yes, now he remembers.
The memory of the time he had accidentally burned himself when lighting the incense.
He finds himself pulled back to reality by the stench of burning flesh, and a staggering pain from the hand that clutches his holy symbol. Looking down, he sees that his hand is sizzling, blisters springing forth as though it were being held in the midst of an invisible fire.
Damage:22 fire damage, halved from succeeding on the saving throw.
Klage, having recovered from his fall, finds himself afflicted with a new problem. He screams and falls on his knees, rolling over in the water. As he thrashes in agony, you can see the liquid around him slowly turn red. "NOT AGAIN! NOT AGAIN! MY FACE!" He clutches his face as he curls up in the fetal position in the shallow pool, seemingly trying to scrub out the source of his excruciating pain.
The woman in the corpse mask was not spared from the box's magic, for this was the Box of Old Wounds.
She seems to see the fate that awaits her ahead of time, and immediately casts the box into the water, and runs screaming. "No! No! I can't go like that! Why? Why's it affecting me? I was the one that opened it! I should be imm-" She made it halfway to the edge of the pond (F-3) before she burst into flames. A long, high-pitched scream echoes throughout the jungle as she is rapidly consumed by the fire.
Each of your torments lasts only for a few seconds. Within ten seconds of the box being opened, the two masked figures are both dead. Klage lies shaking in a pool of bloody water. It seems that Fifi had acquired some sort of leg wound. Rosie's sword-hand has experienced what could only be called flaying. Radu looks like he's been mauled by a bear or something. Geraine's hand is now discolored from burns and blisters.
The box is somewhere in the pond, its lid still removed...
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"Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer."
Geraine lowers his club and stares down at his hand for a moment as his memories drift back to into the memory once more. Brother Andar walks to him and speaks clearly "We must all suffer from one of two pains Brother. The pain of discipline or the pain of regret. This will teach you discipline - remember well this day and I hope you are strong enough to not endure the pain of regret one day."
He eyes flash back to reality to see the corpse-masked figure burst into flames, the small box dropping into the muck. Looking about quickly, he sees Radu, Rosie, and Klage suffering from pain of their different types. He quickly rushes to them and hands them each 2 Goodberry that he had cast prior to leaving the cairn - eating 2 of them himself. He pulls Klage from the muck and does what he can to triage further as needed to help stabilize him. Afterwards he walks to the box, picks it up, and closes the lid prior to securing it within some cloth and placing it within his bag.
Once the box is secured, Geraine walks to the smoldering body of the corpse-masked figure. Standing over her, he shortly speaks over her:
"The Gods have spoken. May you find peace, and through death, the warmth of the his light."
Each of the good berries heal for 4 each instead of 1 due to his dedication to the Life Domain (cast in post 186) - thus eating both will heal 8 damage. He will keep the other 2 in his alms box at this time (unless I missed Fifi taking damage, or Klage is in even worse trouble than originally anticipated in which case he will give the last 2 as needed most).
Walking back to the group he states: "The magic of the Netherese was some of the most powerful known, as I have read, particularly those closest to the Mystryl. I feel we are lucky this day, and thank Amaunator for his blessings that helped us. However, I am quite exhausted from this day already. We can continue to chase down our original query if desired, but without some time to recover and pray to Amaunator, I fear I may have limited ability to heal by the power of His light."
Rosie reels back as the cultist releases her, her mind racing, the negative thoughts continuing to compound so much she barely hears Fifi's music. She watches in horror as her skin is flayed, unable to scream. Get away get away get away get away. Gripping her bleeding arm, she stumbles through the trees back to the others, just in time to see the blood pooling on Radu's back and the blisters forming on Geraine's hand. But the cleric has a greater presence of mind than she as he quickly produces his magical berries and she shoves two of them down her throat and watches as the skin reforms on her hands. What remains of the horror in her mind is now a deep feeling of shame. I shouldn't be here, I'm not strong enough, not skilled enough. But all she says, in a voice much steadier than she feels, is "What the hell was that?"
Under cover the vegetation he found that both of his darts had strike true, through not quite on the head of the masked woman. A reality he still had time to remediate, or so he thought until the box was open. First came the familiar sensation of bleeding. I’m not hurt, Radu thought as cloth stick to his drenched back. The box, he realized as pain coursed through his very soul. Fang and claw sank into his flesh and he could not move. His hands started to shake and despite being in a jungle he felt cold. The world became distorted, devoid of color and all he could hear was the sound of his breath. Failing. At each passing second it was harder to breath. Horror held him strong. I need to, he thought tightening his hold on the grip of the crossbows. He could feel his fingers digging into his palms through the leather of the gloves. I need to, the blood hunter clenched his teeth and grunted, almost like a beast.
I can fight now, he roared with the voice of his mind. Ashford’s expression was one of rage and defiance. I. Can. Fight. But he didn’t need to. Everything stopped so suddenly as it had started. He only noticed the fight had ended when Geraine approached with offering two berries.
“Thank you.” He said almost mechanically, still in a daze. Wiping his brow Radu ate the fruits. His eyes darting through the field of battle. The clerics words sounded distant. He couldn’t focus on them, understand them.
It took him a moment to fully return to reality. The wound on his back had closed and thoughts about the danger they were in started to emerge.
“We can examine it later. For now, we need to get out of here.” Radu aporaches the corpse of the woman and retrieves his bolts from her. “They were waiting someone, remember? Unless we want another fight, we better retreat erasing our tracks the best we can.” He then starts investigating her pockets. “Ideally we make sure they don’t have anything dangerous on them and get rid of the bodies.”
Question: Does Radu find anything on the woman's body?
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Rosie ducks down and tries to quietly sneak through the trees unseen to B8. She stows her rapier and pulls out her crossbow, taking aim and ready to take a shot should the discussion turn violent.
Stealth: 9
Add Bardic Inspiration if it's a low roll: 3
Kalge answer was fast, too fast. It either meant that he had no doubt on his words, that he spoke the truth of the matter, or that he had the words well enacted. Maybe his suggestion of lethal action had the objective of burning the living files of his former companions. The elf had spoke of zealotry and that made the Blood Hunter think about fiends and dark gods again.
“As much as I like the idea of preemptive attacks.” Radu said to Eduan in a lower tone of voice. “They are potential sources of information. We better attempting diplomacy and, if it fails, non-lethal offensive. Capture, interrogate, dispose.”
He would like to avoid the latter, if at all possible, but if diplomacy failed, they would have mortal enemies. Freeing them would be synonymous to allowing an ambush to happen in the future. One they could have avoided. Disposal would be necessary, he thought as Geraine advanced.
“We found goblin tracks on this direction and came to check if they would be a threat.” Ashford said following the cleric, focusing entirely on avoiding any incoming attack. “Have you guys dealt with them?” He asked looking around, searching for any sign of goblinoids. “We are open to exchanging information regarding this place.”
Notes: Radu takes the dodge action.
The one in the golden corpse mask now sits casually, cross-legged on top of the rock.
"So, a lapdog of the gods!" she exclaims upon seeing Geraine's apparel. "Amaunator, right?"
She then notices Radu and turns her gaze to him. "Mister, you stand before an open book!" She gestures to herself, "My information is you for the taking! Yes, we saw goblins a while ago. They were being lead like prisoners by a hunting party of—from the looks of the emblem they all wore—Emerald Enclave agents. They've been quite active in this area, and we have yet to find out why! Now, let's take turns asking questions. My turn now."
She turns back to Geraine. "What has Amaunator ever done for you to deserve your devotion?" Her words are sharp and clearly with mean intent.
Her grey-masked companion remains silent, but turns and starts walking away towards the northern edge of the glade. The water sloshing around him with every step.
Encounter Map:
"Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer."
How many times had this question been asked since the fall of the Netherese Empire? How many of Amaunator's "faithful" had turned their backs on him for not intervening to prevent Karsus's Folly?. The tone of her voice dripping with sarcasm and blasphemy, her words of false arrogance and impure ignorance. But, her question was one he enjoyed pondering regularly.
"Those who seek favors from the Gods will rarely find themselves satisfied. Amaunator is a figure worthy of devotion not because of what he has done for me. No, not hardly.. I am not so selfish.. Do I thank Amaunator for the light of the Sun every day? Yes. Do I pray, and more-so, thank him for his divine power, every single day? Yes." Geraine's smile grows into one pure and from the heart. "However I am devout to him because of what he stands for, not for what he has done for me. The very ideal of Amaunator demands respect, even from the denizens of the abyss. After all, while twisted and misunderstood by some - all have their laws to be abided by. And when one is tested, and the law is followed, they are respecting the very nature of Amaunator and bask in his light.
Geraine continues to hold his action while sustaining a defensive posture.
Horkur Beren in Tending the Garden
Geraine Lucineous in Onward Down
He heard of the Emerald Enclave before. Everyone did, Radu was pretty sure. There was no sign of civilization expanding on the chasm. That could only mean the nature worshippers were there to either search for or deal with something threatening the environment. Considering the appearing of an entire new frontier both possibilities made quite a deal of sense.
He had to hold the impulse to put a hand over his face when Geraine started to speak. That’s a way to get us killed because of religion. To Ahford’s ears, the entirety of the answer amounted to plain and simple nothing. The cleric thanked his god for something that was attributed to a different deity in each corner of the world. He respected an idea much more tied to other entities, like Helm, Tyr or even Asmodeus. But the worse of it all was the meaning his words about law in the abyss carried. Certainly, one could call the rule of the strong and even nature itself laws, but in doing so one had to admit that not every law had to so much as attempt to be fair. Legality without morality, thought the Blood Hunter. A way to justify even the greatest atrocities, if he ever saw one.
“Why are you guys interested on what the Enclave is doing? They should be no treat to either of our groups."
While the others are talking, Rosie makes another attempt to skirt quietly around to the northern side of the lake, where the grey-masked man is heading. She wants to see what it is he is heading towards, while looking for footprints of goblins and these supposed Emerald Enclave agents.
Moving to E11
Stealth: 20
The man in the grey mask continues to trudge towards the trees, seemingly not noticing Rosie as she follows him with her gaze. However, contrary to what Rosie had expected, he did not continue walking in a straight line. Rather, he took a turn to the left and... vanished. She can't hear his heavy footsteps anymore, and no disturbance of the vegetation betrays his location.
The corpse-masked woman cackles on hearing Geraine's response, but then turns back to Radu.
"Ha! We couldn't care less about the Enclave! Of course those tree-huggers don't pose any threat. The only reason they caught my attention is because they lack any semblance of subtlety! Me and my companion here (she gestures to the thin air beside her) were only here to deliver a certain something (don't you try to steal it) to the higher-ups! It's very interesting!" As she speaks, she alternates from tilting her head to the right side and left every time she starts a new sentence. She seems practically giddy with excitement as the subject moves to her "higher-ups".
"Well, that makes it my turn again!" She leaps from the rock, landing on one foot in the water. The ripple from the splash spreads, licking the tips of Geraine's boots as it reaches the edge of the pond. "Now, who should I choose this time for a question?" She asks herself rhetorically. "Oh! I know! I'll choose...." With her finger pointed outwards towards the group, she swirls it around, moving from Geraine, to Radu, to Klage, to Fifi, then back to Geraine. "...YOU! Mister Priest! Surely, if Amaunator cared about you (or any followers), he would use his godly power to its fullest extent to prevent you (and said followers) from coming to harm or suffering? And yet, he holds back. He makes you want and struggle, granting use of only a pinch of divine power! Surely, a god would not be so ignorant, for they themselves for once mortal... correct?"
Area Map
"Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer."
Geraine leans back to Klage, whispering over his shoulder while keeping his eyes locked on the corpse-masked woman.
"The staff.. I hope the others are ok, the quiet one vanished."
He then straightens his posture once more and responds to the woman. "It seems there is a baffling level of ignorance in your understanding of Amaunator, not to mention history itself. I suppose Belfo the Apostate would prefer to keep it this way though, after all he wants you to struggle for him because he wants to be a God, and he needs you to help him fill his desires. And.. for.. what? To search for trinkets to enable him to think he a God? Oh, but if you do he will grant all of your wishes, make all of your your wildest desires come true, and rescue you from the suffering and tragedy of life." Geraine pauses to take a breath, and continues in a serious tone. "Karsus made a similar mistake, and to his Hopeful I suppose he did indeed deliver them from suffering - and only at the cost of one of the greatest tragedies Faerun has seen. So to answer your question, perhaps.. But the alternative would be quite boring and lacking of sustenance." Geraine tightens his grip on his symbol and lets a grin form in the corner of his mouth. "Something tells me that there is a beautiful woman behind that mask, but I can see why Belfo would want you to wear them. I would have a hard time looking you in the face too after filling your heads with such heracies."
Gerain continues to hold his action for the first sign of physical or magical hostility.
Horkur Beren in Tending the Garden
Geraine Lucineous in Onward Down
To Radu the masked woman’s words sounded like an invitation. Try to steal it, give me reason to kill you. Her intention to have the situation devolve into battle became ever clearer when her companion disappeared from sight and her insisted into questioning a believer either too zealous or too innocent to be dissuaded of his faith. Klage word’s then came to his mind. Their posture reeks of zealotry. The Blood Hunter started to think the elf might have been right.
Geraine’s new answer surprised Ashford not for the aggressivity. The cleric had held his doctrine so high that seemed to pity everyone that failed to share it. No, the true surprising thing was that he seemed to know the meaning behind the masks – something he should have mentioned earlier.
“Honestly, I don’t give a **** about what either of you believe in as long as you don’t go forcing anything down anyone’s throat or picking fights like some brat trying to say that his favorite hero is stronger.” He said once again focusing his senses on avoiding any danger that could appear. “You are both adults, right? So how about starting act as such. You know, following whoever or whatever makes you happy and letting the others do the same? I don’t believe that the guy with shit for manners is saying this but, having respect?”
Notes: Radu holds the Dodge action, the trigger being a fight starting. Also, would him have heard anything about Belfo?
Rosie tries to follow the man's footsteps to where he disappeared, still attempting to move stealthily amongst the jungle insects that seems to scream loudly at every step she takes. She holds her rapier out in front of her in case of some sort of invisible barrier. Her eyes scan the ground for footprints, not only of her quarry, but also the goblins: did they too come this way, through this apparently invisible doorway?
Stealth: 17
Survival: 3
As Geraine whispers to Klage, he sees that the elf wears an expression of... boredom? He appears quite relaxed and uninterested in the slowly rising tension.
"Eh, no. (referring to the tall masked figure) He's not going towards the others. Can't have people firing crossbows from hidden locations, after all. He's just after Rosie." He speaks as calmly as though he were correcting a child's arithmetic error.
The woman in the gilded corpse mask takes a step back in response to Geraine's verbal attack. She reaches a shaking hand up to her grotesque mask, clasping it, but then retracts it and begins reaching inside her robes.
"You misunderstand the Promising One, fool! He is selfless in his persuits. All he does is for the good of mortalkind! His vision is a world without want. Want is the root of all evil and suffering. Is it not right to absolve it? If you had gone through the anguish I've experienced, you might—"
Here, she is interrupted by Radu's intervention. Upon Radu finishing his rant, she tosses her head in annoyance.
"I tire of your close-mindedness," she says. "and I think it's time I leave. But first!"
Pulling her hand out of her robe, she holds what appears to be a small silver jewelry box inlaid with red opals. She holds it high above her head.
"What I hold here is a Netherese relic we've retrieved from the ruins beneath our feet. A gift for The Future God. I'm supposed to wait for my superior to show up and claim it, but I think it wouldn't hurt to show you all what it can do!"
She then lowers the arm holding the box, positioning her other hand over it, ready to pull off the lid.
"It's called Old Wounds. I don't know what it does, but I bet it's something nasty. Shall we find out?"
Rosie, scanning the ground for footprints, finds none from the goblins and their escorts. However, as she nears where the grey masked man vanished, she spots what appear to be his footprints on the ground. They appear to lead in the direction she had come from. Following the tracks with her eyes, her gaze brings her to two armored feet.
And those feet have legs attached to them.
And those legs, a body, draped in a drab brown cloak.
And to top it off, a head, hidden by a scarab-shaped mask.
The man looms over Rosie, his dark, empty eyes bearing down on her with tangible force. Then, he pounces.
Initiative:
"Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer."
As the last words leave his mouth, Geraine hears a new noise that distracts him momentarilly.
Tap, tap, tap tap tap..
The tapping of his holy symbol clenched so firmly in his tremoring fist was now clattering against the inside of his shield he was squeezing equally over-tightly. "Am I shaking?"
Then he feels the beating of his heartbeat pounding against the inside of every artery, thumping loudly within his ears. "I, Oh God.. But she.. No. Stop. You lost control Geraine. Calm yourself, this is not the way."
Geraine takes a deep breath as Radu speaks, although Geraine doesn't hear it. Still trying to mentor himself: "OK, this is your mess now. Remember your plan and pay atte tion. You can't reach Rosie from here, and Klage doesn't seem to need any help either.. Bless yourself, Radu, and Fifi and be prepared to.."
At this time the masked woman pulls her hand from her robe and holds the box up high. Instinctively he releases Bless targeting Radu, Fifi, and himself.
Horkur Beren in Tending the Garden
Geraine Lucineous in Onward Down
Fifi's Turn
Fifi, catching ear of Rosie's attacker, sends a distracting tangle of cutting words at the grey-masked cultist. The tall figure is momentarily shaken by the spell, but ultimately shrugs it off and proceeds advancing towards Rosie, his arms readied for grappling.
Corpse-Mask's Turn
"Oops! Your friend in the bushes over there got a little too nosy for my liking." She says, her hand still hovering over the box lid. "We can't have people hiding in the woods with crossbows aimed at our heads, can we? Don't worry, he's only restraining her out of self defense." Her grip on the box seems to loosen. Her head is turned towards away in Rosie's direction.
Klage's Turn
Like an animal, Klage shoves his way past Radu and Geraine, leaping forward, his hand outstretched in an attempt to grab the box. He leaps surprisingly far for someone of his age, closing the distance between him and the masked woman in only a couple bounds. She waited for him to get close enough. At the last second, she spins to the left, causing Klage to fly through the air, his outstretched hand grasping nothing but air before he falls face first into the shallow water. The lid remains firmly on the box.
NOTE: Klage has moved onto I-5*. The Corpse-Mask, having taken the ready action in anticipation of the tackle, has moved to H-5.
Beetle-Mask's Turn
Rosie's masked attacker advances, attempting to tackle Rosie. The hulking brute makes a grab for Rosie's sword-arm. His grip is like a hangman's noose, the sheer strength feeling like it will cut off circulation in her arm.
NOTE: Beetle-Mask has advanced to D-11. Rosie is now grappled
Radu's Turn
"Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer."
Just as he expected the woman was fast to start hostilities. It had been her true intentions for the start, or so he believed. A warm sensation takes hold of his body as the energy of Geraine’s spell reaches Radu. As Klage moves to steal the box the Blood Hunter is sure there is no turning back. Soon he notices Rosie grappled and Sophia attacking.
“**** off, *****. You have no right to speak of close-mindedness when you start a physical fight because of religion.” He said pulling both his crossbows. “And how about having two aimed at your head?”
Ahsford fire both of his weapons against the woman with the corpse mask, at the same time. Not caring to see if any of the shots hit its mark he moves into cover. Behind the trunk of a tree if there is any he can reach, otherwise into bushes. Anything to make himself harder to target to reach. All the better if by doing that he could provoke the enemies by doing exactly what they tried to avoid and then some more.
At least I don’t have to worry about this side, Radu thought stealing a glance at his companions. Everyone but Geraine was engaged in combat and the cleric had employed magic to strength the Blood Hunter.
Notes: Radu spend his action to make a hand crossbow attack, then using his Crossbow Expert spends his bonus action to attack again with this second hand crossbow (both against the corpse mask). Then he uses his full speed (30ft) to move behind a tree trunk or nonexistent a tree trunk he can get behind of, he dives into the bushes (hopefully getting some degree of cover). Reaction spent with the Ready action (Dodge), making attacks against him, this turn, have disadvantage.
Attack 1: 10 + 3 (bless)
Potential Damage: 7
Attack 2: 18 + 3 (bless)
Potential Damage: 6
As soon as his Bless fires he is nearly startled by the instaneous reaction, and speed of Klage, regardless of his lack of success. However, even though brief, the warm and beautiful energy from Amaunator reminds him of his tenants.
As he embraces his Holy symbol, advancing to H3, he processes his judgement internally without a spoken word. "Your colleague took position first, and she holds a rapier not a crossbow. But you both knew this. You knew exactly what you were doing to draw us into a conflict, and I would wager looking for any opportunity to prove your trinket's power. Now, you have threatened us, and with this ancient artifact at that. For your conspiracies against the Gods, and your premeditaded actions today I find you guilty."
Geraine casts Guiding Bolt. He quickly follows this with Shillelagh on his club in preparation for his next action.
Guiding Bolt Attack: 15. Damage: 13 radiant
Horkur Beren in Tending the Garden
Geraine Lucineous in Onward Down
Rosie tries to twist free of the iron grip the cultist has on her arm. With each passing hour of this long day, she has lost confidence in her own abilities, and is feeling her age keenly. She isn't cut out for this life, and her thoughts begin to shift; get out of here, back to the surface, get home, you can't do this...
ACTION - escape the grapple Acrobatics: 12 (to be contested by athletics from the cultist)
The woman in the gilded mask is struck thrice. First, Radu's crossbow bolts catch her, one in the shoulder, the other in the thigh. Then, Geraine's golden missile of divine judgement finds its place in her stomach. Any grace she had in her posture had vanished. Already, she had been reduced to a desperate state. It's not hard to see the fear of mortality in her body language.
Rosie, struggling to shake her way out of the other cultist's grip, finds her efforts in vain at least for now. His vice-grip only tightens.
FIFI'S TURN
Fifi rushes to Rosie's rescue, calling upon the magic within her instrument to bolster Rosie's escape attempt.
Notes: Fifi advances to A-9, and uses bardic inspiration, giving Rosie 1 bardic inspiration die (a d6)
CORPSE-MASK'S TURN
Her posture is hunched. Her breathing heavy. Her tangled hair now falls over parts of her mask, She is clearly nearing the end of consciousness, or perhaps her life.
"No..." she mutters, clutching her stomach. "I-I was supposed to be better than this!" she holds up the box. "A shame I couldn't have fought a little longer before needing to depend on you..."
Geraine, being closer to his opponent, can now make out the details of the box clearer. The silver sides of the box are fashioned in the shape of a tangled mass of arms, all contorted in agony. The lid of the box is likewise fashioned into the likeness of a mass of tortured faces. The garnets embedded in the sides are placed strategically across the surfaces to look like drops of blood.
She opens the lid.
The humid air suddenly turns frigid, replacing the condensation with thick fog. The sound of a person exhaling comes forth from the box.
Rosie's attacker, having secured his target, had begun pulling her towards the pool, only to fall on his knees in a fit of coughing. The couching and hacking worsens. His body convulses violently. As he turns to face Rosie, she sees that the eye-holes in his mask are streaming blood, and both blood and mucus ooze from the bottom of the mask. He had released his hold on her, and now reaches in her direction, grasping in vain between coughs. After two attempts at re-grappling her, he then turns to clutching his own throat as he slowly drowns from the buildup of fluids inside his head. Soon, he is unable to even cough, reduced to sickening gargling sounds.
Then, an image appears in Rosie's head.
Potato peelers?
Her mind is pulled into a scene from her memories. Once when she had been peeling potatoes in the kitchen, her arm had slipped and cut herself with the peeler. It was a deeply painful experience, and the sight of humanoid skin sliced into strips like a potato was sickening, to say the least.
Returning to reality, she turns to see that on her sword arm, multiple strips of flesh have begun peeling and curling, as though being peeled by a dozen invisible potato peelers. The pain is excruciating, and in a moment her forearm is slick with blood.
Damage: 5 slashing damage, halved from succeeding on the saving throw.
The scars on Radu's back re-opened. He didn't notice at first as he remained in place behind a tree. But then the grossly sticky sensation of blood pressed between his clothes and his skin became all-too much to bear. Then, the invisible claws began raking across his flesh. Teeth sunk their way into the back of his neck, unseen and intangible. No way to fight back. The feeling of being mauled by a beast had remained vivid in Radu's memory over the years, but this was ridiculous. All the claws and all the bites in all the exact same places. A perfect replication of the old wounds.
Damage: 18 slashing damage, halved from succeeding on the saving throw.
Geraine suddenly feels his consciousness pulled from the battle.
He is once again serving as an acolyte in Amaunator's temple. No, wait. This looks familiar. Everyone looks like they did several years ago. Ah yes, now he remembers.
The memory of the time he had accidentally burned himself when lighting the incense.
He finds himself pulled back to reality by the stench of burning flesh, and a staggering pain from the hand that clutches his holy symbol. Looking down, he sees that his hand is sizzling, blisters springing forth as though it were being held in the midst of an invisible fire.
Damage: 22 fire damage, halved from succeeding on the saving throw.
Klage, having recovered from his fall, finds himself afflicted with a new problem. He screams and falls on his knees, rolling over in the water. As he thrashes in agony, you can see the liquid around him slowly turn red. "NOT AGAIN! NOT AGAIN! MY FACE!" He clutches his face as he curls up in the fetal position in the shallow pool, seemingly trying to scrub out the source of his excruciating pain.
The woman in the corpse mask was not spared from the box's magic, for this was the Box of Old Wounds.
She seems to see the fate that awaits her ahead of time, and immediately casts the box into the water, and runs screaming. "No! No! I can't go like that! Why? Why's it affecting me? I was the one that opened it! I should be imm-" She made it halfway to the edge of the pond (F-3) before she burst into flames. A long, high-pitched scream echoes throughout the jungle as she is rapidly consumed by the fire.
Each of your torments lasts only for a few seconds. Within ten seconds of the box being opened, the two masked figures are both dead. Klage lies shaking in a pool of bloody water. It seems that Fifi had acquired some sort of leg wound. Rosie's sword-hand has experienced what could only be called flaying. Radu looks like he's been mauled by a bear or something. Geraine's hand is now discolored from burns and blisters.
The box is somewhere in the pond, its lid still removed...
"Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer."
Geraine lowers his club and stares down at his hand for a moment as his memories drift back to into the memory once more. Brother Andar walks to him and speaks clearly "We must all suffer from one of two pains Brother. The pain of discipline or the pain of regret. This will teach you discipline - remember well this day and I hope you are strong enough to not endure the pain of regret one day."
He eyes flash back to reality to see the corpse-masked figure burst into flames, the small box dropping into the muck. Looking about quickly, he sees Radu, Rosie, and Klage suffering from pain of their different types. He quickly rushes to them and hands them each 2 Goodberry that he had cast prior to leaving the cairn - eating 2 of them himself. He pulls Klage from the muck and does what he can to triage further as needed to help stabilize him. Afterwards he walks to the box, picks it up, and closes the lid prior to securing it within some cloth and placing it within his bag.
Once the box is secured, Geraine walks to the smoldering body of the corpse-masked figure. Standing over her, he shortly speaks over her:
"The Gods have spoken. May you find peace, and through death, the warmth of the his light."
Each of the good berries heal for 4 each instead of 1 due to his dedication to the Life Domain (cast in post 186) - thus eating both will heal 8 damage. He will keep the other 2 in his alms box at this time (unless I missed Fifi taking damage, or Klage is in even worse trouble than originally anticipated in which case he will give the last 2 as needed most).
Walking back to the group he states: "The magic of the Netherese was some of the most powerful known, as I have read, particularly those closest to the Mystryl. I feel we are lucky this day, and thank Amaunator for his blessings that helped us. However, I am quite exhausted from this day already. We can continue to chase down our original query if desired, but without some time to recover and pray to Amaunator, I fear I may have limited ability to heal by the power of His light."
Horkur Beren in Tending the Garden
Geraine Lucineous in Onward Down
Rosie reels back as the cultist releases her, her mind racing, the negative thoughts continuing to compound so much she barely hears Fifi's music. She watches in horror as her skin is flayed, unable to scream. Get away get away get away get away. Gripping her bleeding arm, she stumbles through the trees back to the others, just in time to see the blood pooling on Radu's back and the blisters forming on Geraine's hand. But the cleric has a greater presence of mind than she as he quickly produces his magical berries and she shoves two of them down her throat and watches as the skin reforms on her hands. What remains of the horror in her mind is now a deep feeling of shame. I shouldn't be here, I'm not strong enough, not skilled enough. But all she says, in a voice much steadier than she feels, is "What the hell was that?"
Under cover the vegetation he found that both of his darts had strike true, through not quite on the head of the masked woman. A reality he still had time to remediate, or so he thought until the box was open. First came the familiar sensation of bleeding. I’m not hurt, Radu thought as cloth stick to his drenched back. The box, he realized as pain coursed through his very soul. Fang and claw sank into his flesh and he could not move. His hands started to shake and despite being in a jungle he felt cold. The world became distorted, devoid of color and all he could hear was the sound of his breath. Failing. At each passing second it was harder to breath. Horror held him strong. I need to, he thought tightening his hold on the grip of the crossbows. He could feel his fingers digging into his palms through the leather of the gloves. I need to, the blood hunter clenched his teeth and grunted, almost like a beast.
I can fight now, he roared with the voice of his mind. Ashford’s expression was one of rage and defiance. I. Can. Fight. But he didn’t need to. Everything stopped so suddenly as it had started. He only noticed the fight had ended when Geraine approached with offering two berries.
“Thank you.” He said almost mechanically, still in a daze. Wiping his brow Radu ate the fruits. His eyes darting through the field of battle. The clerics words sounded distant. He couldn’t focus on them, understand them.
It took him a moment to fully return to reality. The wound on his back had closed and thoughts about the danger they were in started to emerge.
“We can examine it later. For now, we need to get out of here.” Radu aporaches the corpse of the woman and retrieves his bolts from her. “They were waiting someone, remember? Unless we want another fight, we better retreat erasing our tracks the best we can.” He then starts investigating her pockets. “Ideally we make sure they don’t have anything dangerous on them and get rid of the bodies.”
Question: Does Radu find anything on the woman's body?