Now Balen had basically had enough with this fish. This tomfoolery has got to end now.
'Gross,' He thought to himself as he wrenched his dagger out from the shield. He wanted to take another go at the fish but Yaundara beat him to it, giving him a sarcastic 'thanks' in his head. He said an unapologetic rest in peace to the fish-man before facing the Death Dog.
He took note of each of their names, a bit surprised be being called 'good rogue' as he considered himself more of a door-to-door salesman more than anything, though the bard was not wrong (He still liked the name 'bard-y boy' better for that one). Also the one who called himself the Judge of the Dead unnerved him a little bit. 'Glad he's on my side,' he thought to himself.
"Name's Balen. Balen Knots. It's on my business card. I'll show y'all later."
Balen decided to charge at the beast and jumped up with his dagger in hand, piercing the dog's flesh. But rather than letting go, he stayed with the dagger which he kept as a handhold as he attempted to climb the Death Dog in an attempt to show off.
"WHOAAA-" He yelped, trying to hang on to the side of the beast with legs flailing everywhere.
The battle raged on. The chamber was filled with the sounds of ferocious snarls from the hound as it lunged at its heroes with razor-sharp fangs dripping with foul saliva.
The paladin, with a mighty thrust, drove his spear deep into the kuo-toa cultist's chest, eliciting a pained, dying croak from the vile creature. It crumpled to the ground, its dark ambitions forever thwarted.
Meanwhile, Balen the rogue positioned himself behind the snarling beast, dagger poised for a lethal strike.
In a moment of perfect timing, the rogue struck, delivering a devastating sneak attack. The dagger sank into the death dog's flesh and the creature staggered ... its two heads arching and thrashing wildly in agony before finally collapsing to the ground, defeated.
We are no longer tracking things round-by-round, gang.
Init - Round 6 Summary 19 - [10/10hp] Faen. Vicious Mockery vs DD ->DD fails save! (2hp, and disadv. on next attacK) 16 - [05/12hp] Yaudara. Attack kuo-toa, a hit! (4hp, this brings it to 0hp) 12 - [09+06thp/09hp] Ichep. Help. 12 - [00/18hp] Kuo-Toa Cult Leader. Dead. 12 - [00/39hp] Death Dog. Attack Faen w. disadv, a miss. Attack Yaudara, a hit! (7hp) ... and then it died on Balen's action. ->Yaudara must make a Con save [DC12] or become poisoned 08 - [07/07hp] Balen. Attack DD, a hit! (12hp, this brings the DD to 0hp remaining) 05 - [09+2thp/10hp] Toadstool. [all opponents were down before this action was resolved]
Fresh off his kill, Yaudara turned as the death dog sank its teeth into him, and he felt a sickening sensation spread outward from the wound (Con save 10 = Fail).
As his new-found comrades struck down the vile beast, Yaudara knelt, closed his eyes and prayed to Torm. "Remove this vile infection from me, and enable your champion to spread your judgment on this cursed place."
The warmth spread through him, and all of the poison left him with a shudder. (Using his entire Lay on Hands Pool to rid himself of the poison)
He rose and nodded to his companions. "Good work, all." He tapped his mailed chest with the haft of his yklwa. "Yaudara, of the Order of the Golden Lion." He frowned at the gash left in his arm by the dog's fangs, then let out a long sigh. At least I'm alive.
Faen comes over to the others, stepping over the body of the vile Death Dog and looking at the injured paladin, and asks, "Golden Lion, do you wish for me to heal you? You appear to be still rather hurt from the fight." The fighting, death, and blood are a part of adventuring that he's never become fully accustomed, with pangs of sadness coming over him. He feels for this man who clearly is a rather fine person to putting himself at risk to protect the village.
He reaches to touch the wound on his arm and his eyes start to glow gold. The warm, soft energy corsing from his heart, through his arms and hands, and finally into Yaudara.
OOC - Cure wounds on Yaudara. 1d8 + 3 = 1 + 3 = 4. Oof. Sorry for the low roll =(
"Thank you, my friend. That will help a lot." Yaudara looks around at the bodies. "This isn't how I thought my first day in a new town would go. Should we explore more of this place and see if we can rid it of further darkness?"
Balen pushed back his hair after he delivered the final blow, his messy curls were covering half his face now. He gave Yaundara a tired thumbs up at the 'good work' comment and grimaced at the sight of the wound of his genasi companion. Yikes. Good thing it wasn't him. Anyone who can take a lickin' and still keep on kickin' was alright in his book. He would at least try to stop looking down upon on him. He didn't have the skills to help, so he let Faen do his thing to help out the poor tank.
The changeling took out his dagger from the dog's side and sneakily carved his name into the walls of the chamber (along with a little anarchist type symbol too). 'Hah!' He mused to himself. 'Screw this stink-hole'.
"Same. This is not at all how I'd expect it to go. I was just thinkin' I'd be selling some goods, but, well, here we are!" He shrugged, not really having an opinion to keep exploring or not.
He ignored Toadstool's cries, but was a bit surprised by the orc's change of voice. He decided to go back towards the dead bodies to collect the things he saw earlier. Swinging the scimitar he found around for fun, he asked. "Anyone know what this potion's for? Just found it 'ere." He would hand it over to next person who would answer.
The calls from Toadstool definitely draw Faen's attentiion a bit after he finishes his spell on Yaudara, though he certainly seems intrigued by whatever potions Balen is holding as well. Given how driven by curiosity and magic Faen is, the half-elf starts to move after Toadstool. Faen is wondering what the druid was looking for in the ritual room, all the while examining the room himself, wondering if he could learn what this was all about.
"What do are you looking for in here, friend?" asks Faen as he's getting closer to the druid.
"I'm not capable of determining such things," Yaudara answers, "but maybe the more magical members of this party can determine what that potion does. Or perhaps someone in town, when we're done here. I'd advise against just taking a sip of it."
Balen nodded then pretended to chug the potion, staring at Yaudara while jokingly making a "glug, glug, glug" noise before putting it away. He thought about helping Toadstool for a while, but decided he didn't care enough and Faen already basically offered to do it anyways.
Rather than just sit there, he decided it would be better to investigate the northern door that was locked earlier. Without telling anyone, he went over to it and with his thieves' tools and attempted to open the door.
((OOC: do I need to roll anything here to open the door? Dexterity check: 8 + 2 = 10 Intelligence: Investigation: 5 +3 = 8 :(
Yaudara raises a hand, about to say something, then notices Balen didn't actually drink the potion. He relaxes, but briefly, as he watches Balen head off to open a door, beyond which may lie untold horrors. Then his gaze shifts to the wilderness orc, who strode off to examine the summoning circle, and then turns back to Faen, while flexing his partially healed arm. "Be ready. Who knows what they'll scare up next."
„Well, that was stressful. Good gods, I'm hungry“, Ichep said in a somewhat relieved tone while eyeing Yaudara‘s wound nervously. ‚Best not to dwell on it‘, he thought as he recollected his dagger from the dog‘s head. „Splendid work indeed“, he agreed.Toadstool caught Icheps attention, he still seemed a bit, well, distressed maybe?„What issue did nature have with this affair? Seemed like simple magic to me. Are you searching for something specific?“ „Has anyone seen any kind of spellbook on this…“ He gestured wildly at the fish person not having the slightest idea what to call him. On second thought it was doubtful he had anything of use - meaning comprehensible to Ichep - with him so Ichep moved over to inspect the summoning circle together with Yaudara. „I wonder if I could learn this ritual. It seems rather useful.“
„We absolutely should explore more. Stay clear of robbing tombs though. It is ill advised.“
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
As the adrenaline subsided, the group took a moment to survey their surroundings in the brightly lit summoning chamber. The air was heavy with the lingering scent of arcane energies, and the remnants of the dark ritual hung in the air like a palpable miasma.
The summoning circle was a mosaic of intricately placed red gems, each one pulsating faintly with residual magical energy. Each gem was about the size of a child's fist and teardrop shaped. [An Intelligence (Religion) [DC10] skill check would be appropriate to learn more.]
Apart from the gems, the heroes also find that the cultists had the following gear:
Leather Armor x4
Scimitar x4
Spear
Shield (no longer possesses the Sticky quality)
Net
A scroll of protection against undead
The previously discovered potion is a glass jar filled with an ointment that smells of aloe. The jar contains 4 applications.
In the previous dimly lit hexagonal chamber, there is a closed stone door.
In the large square summoning chamber, it is brightly lit due to torches hanging periodically in sconces. There are three exits, the northern door is stone and the other two are iron. To the west, the doorway stands open (this is where the party entered the room). To the north and south, the doors are closed.
In the hexagonal chamber, Balen discovers that the stone door is locked. He spends a few moments investigating it and even attempted to bypass the lock with his thieves' tools ... but the stone door stubbornly refused to give up its secrets.
Toadstool puts his berry pouch on the floor near the summoning circle and says "Friends, I have some food left in my pouch, help yourselves, if you feel weary. I, I need to find out more..."
He sits down by the crystals and starts to fidget them.
These eleven gems were arranged in a very specific sequence ...
It was the symbol of Bhaal, Lord of Murder.
The kuo-toa, the horrible degenerate fish-man had been calling 'Booooal' in his croaking summons, and the cultists had referenced their Dread Lord. Perhaps it was the language barrier, or the kuo-toa's inhuman throat ... but Toadstool believes that the cultist had been calling upon Bhaal during the ritual.
The gems — once pried from their settings — cease their steady heartbeat-like pulsing.
"These gems, these 11 gems are the seed of evil here it seems. The evil grown out of them, so they're not magical anymore, no use for them apart from being beautiful"
Toadstool thinks about saying something more, but his hermit nature keeps him quiet
"Good work dismantling it, Toadstool." Yaudara looks at the party. "Where should we go next? Since the stone door won't open, it seems we have two options."
Yaudara will leave the gear, potion and scroll for the others.
„Oh, I’ll gladly eat anything to postpone more hunger. My last meal must have been days ago.“ Ichep took Toadstool up on the offer and helped himself to the berries and a bit reluctibly to the edible moos in Toadstool’s bag.
„They are not magical anymore? What a shame.“ The mention of them being evil flew over Ichep’s head. He was impressed by the orc’s affinity to sense such things though he strongly doubted his ability to correctly identify them therefore he did not ask for more information. 'What did he say before, something about the infection of his home? Maybe I should strike a conversation up about it sometime' „You seem rather perceptive. What magical craft have you devoted yourself to?“, he asked Toadstool.
„Maybe we can open the stone door some other way? I will lose sleep over it if we don't.“ Ichep was never fond of stone doors blocking his curiosity, a decidedly too often occurrence in his life.
Ichep takes the scroll ready to fight anyone (with words) for it.
((Strength Check 20 + 2 = 22 :) ))
Now Balen had basically had enough with this fish. This tomfoolery has got to end now.
'Gross,' He thought to himself as he wrenched his dagger out from the shield. He wanted to take another go at the fish but Yaundara beat him to it, giving him a sarcastic 'thanks' in his head. He said an unapologetic rest in peace to the fish-man before facing the Death Dog.
He took note of each of their names, a bit surprised be being called 'good rogue' as he considered himself more of a door-to-door salesman more than anything, though the bard was not wrong (He still liked the name 'bard-y boy' better for that one). Also the one who called himself the Judge of the Dead unnerved him a little bit. 'Glad he's on my side,' he thought to himself.
"Name's Balen. Balen Knots. It's on my business card. I'll show y'all later."
MOVE + ACTION
((Dagger: 15 = 4= 19 ,,,, Damage 4 + 2 =6 Strength: Athletics 7 + 4 =11 Dexterity: Acrobatics: 6 +4 =10 Wisdom: Animal handling: 6+4 = 10 yikes ))
Balen decided to charge at the beast and jumped up with his dagger in hand, piercing the dog's flesh. But rather than letting go, he stayed with the dagger which he kept as a handhold as he attempted to climb the Death Dog in an attempt to show off.
"WHOAAA-" He yelped, trying to hang on to the side of the beast with legs flailing everywhere.
Wait, this may have been stupid.
<---- me irl slow reader, even slower writer easily jumpy thanks for being patient
DM: Drakkenheim Mind and Matter + Blood Secrets + What's in the Here and Now;
Player: Dragonlance
Fresh off his kill, Yaudara turned as the death dog sank its teeth into him, and he felt a sickening sensation spread outward from the wound (Con save 10 = Fail).
As his new-found comrades struck down the vile beast, Yaudara knelt, closed his eyes and prayed to Torm. "Remove this vile infection from me, and enable your champion to spread your judgment on this cursed place."
The warmth spread through him, and all of the poison left him with a shudder. (Using his entire Lay on Hands Pool to rid himself of the poison)
He rose and nodded to his companions. "Good work, all." He tapped his mailed chest with the haft of his yklwa. "Yaudara, of the Order of the Golden Lion." He frowned at the gash left in his arm by the dog's fangs, then let out a long sigh. At least I'm alive.
Toadstool drops all his spells, pants heavily and goes more clearly than usually: "Nature will thank you all for cleansing it from this impurity"
Looks around, goes into the summoning chamber and starts frantically looking around.
Investigation with inspiration. 9+2=11 + 5 = 16
"Where is it, where, where is it?'
OOC - Cure wounds on Yaudara. 1d8 + 3 = 1 + 3 = 4. Oof. Sorry for the low roll =(
"Thank you, my friend. That will help a lot." Yaudara looks around at the bodies. "This isn't how I thought my first day in a new town would go. Should we explore more of this place and see if we can rid it of further darkness?"
Balen pushed back his hair after he delivered the final blow, his messy curls were covering half his face now. He gave Yaundara a tired thumbs up at the 'good work' comment and grimaced at the sight of the wound of his genasi companion. Yikes. Good thing it wasn't him. Anyone who can take a lickin' and still keep on kickin' was alright in his book. He would at least try to stop looking down upon on him. He didn't have the skills to help, so he let Faen do his thing to help out the poor tank.
The changeling took out his dagger from the dog's side and sneakily carved his name into the walls of the chamber (along with a little anarchist type symbol too). 'Hah!' He mused to himself. 'Screw this stink-hole'.
"Same. This is not at all how I'd expect it to go. I was just thinkin' I'd be selling some goods, but, well, here we are!" He shrugged, not really having an opinion to keep exploring or not.
He ignored Toadstool's cries, but was a bit surprised by the orc's change of voice. He decided to go back towards the dead bodies to collect the things he saw earlier. Swinging the scimitar he found around for fun, he asked. "Anyone know what this potion's for? Just found it 'ere." He would hand it over to next person who would answer.
<---- me irl slow reader, even slower writer easily jumpy thanks for being patient
DM: Drakkenheim Mind and Matter + Blood Secrets + What's in the Here and Now;
Player: Dragonlance
The calls from Toadstool definitely draw Faen's attentiion a bit after he finishes his spell on Yaudara, though he certainly seems intrigued by whatever potions Balen is holding as well. Given how driven by curiosity and magic Faen is, the half-elf starts to move after Toadstool. Faen is wondering what the druid was looking for in the ritual room, all the while examining the room himself, wondering if he could learn what this was all about.
"What do are you looking for in here, friend?" asks Faen as he's getting closer to the druid.
OOC - Investigation check. Role 1 + 3 = 4. Critical failure.
"I'm not capable of determining such things," Yaudara answers, "but maybe the more magical members of this party can determine what that potion does. Or perhaps someone in town, when we're done here. I'd advise against just taking a sip of it."
Balen nodded then pretended to chug the potion, staring at Yaudara while jokingly making a "glug, glug, glug" noise before putting it away. He thought about helping Toadstool for a while, but decided he didn't care enough and Faen already basically offered to do it anyways.
Rather than just sit there, he decided it would be better to investigate the northern door that was locked earlier. Without telling anyone, he went over to it and with his thieves' tools and attempted to open the door.
((OOC: do I need to roll anything here to open the door? Dexterity check: 8 + 2 = 10 Intelligence: Investigation: 5 +3 = 8 :(
edit: forgot the proficiency bonus ))
<---- me irl slow reader, even slower writer easily jumpy thanks for being patient
DM: Drakkenheim Mind and Matter + Blood Secrets + What's in the Here and Now;
Player: Dragonlance
Yaudara raises a hand, about to say something, then notices Balen didn't actually drink the potion. He relaxes, but briefly, as he watches Balen head off to open a door, beyond which may lie untold horrors. Then his gaze shifts to the wilderness orc, who strode off to examine the summoning circle, and then turns back to Faen, while flexing his partially healed arm. "Be ready. Who knows what they'll scare up next."
„Well, that was stressful. Good gods, I'm hungry“, Ichep said in a somewhat relieved tone while eyeing Yaudara‘s wound nervously. ‚Best not to dwell on it‘, he thought as he recollected his dagger from the dog‘s head. „Splendid work indeed“, he agreed. Toadstool caught Icheps attention, he still seemed a bit, well, distressed maybe? „What issue did nature have with this affair? Seemed like simple magic to me. Are you searching for something specific?“
„Has anyone seen any kind of spellbook on this…“ He gestured wildly at the fish person not having the slightest idea what to call him. On second thought it was doubtful he had anything of use - meaning comprehensible to Ichep - with him so Ichep moved over to inspect the summoning circle together with Yaudara. „I wonder if I could learn this ritual. It seems rather useful.“
„We absolutely should explore more. Stay clear of robbing tombs though. It is ill advised.“
Toadstool keeps frantically searching.
"Where is the seed of this filth? These kind of things have infected my home and I need to know more, I must know more"
Toadstool gathers himself a bit "Hungry? I have some blackberries and edible moss"
As the adrenaline subsided, the group took a moment to survey their surroundings in the brightly lit summoning chamber. The air was heavy with the lingering scent of arcane energies, and the remnants of the dark ritual hung in the air like a palpable miasma.
The summoning circle was a mosaic of intricately placed red gems, each one pulsating faintly with residual magical energy. Each gem was about the size of a child's fist and teardrop shaped. [An Intelligence (Religion) [DC10] skill check would be appropriate to learn more.]
Apart from the gems, the heroes also find that the cultists had the following gear:
The previously discovered potion is a glass jar filled with an ointment that smells of aloe. The jar contains 4 applications.
In the previous dimly lit hexagonal chamber, there is a closed stone door.
In the large square summoning chamber, it is brightly lit due to torches hanging periodically in sconces. There are three exits, the northern door is stone and the other two are iron. To the west, the doorway stands open (this is where the party entered the room). To the north and south, the doors are closed.
In the hexagonal chamber, Balen discovers that the stone door is locked. He spends a few moments investigating it and even attempted to bypass the lock with his thieves' tools ... but the stone door stubbornly refused to give up its secrets.
Toadstool puts his berry pouch on the floor near the summoning circle and says "Friends, I have some food left in my pouch, help yourselves, if you feel weary. I, I need to find out more..."
He sits down by the crystals and starts to fidget them.
Religion check 18+4=22
These eleven gems were arranged in a very specific sequence ...
It was the symbol of Bhaal, Lord of Murder.
The kuo-toa, the horrible degenerate fish-man had been calling 'Booooal' in his croaking summons, and the cultists had referenced their Dread Lord. Perhaps it was the language barrier, or the kuo-toa's inhuman throat ... but Toadstool believes that the cultist had been calling upon Bhaal during the ritual.
The gems — once pried from their settings — cease their steady heartbeat-like pulsing.
Eleven rubies, 25gp each.
"These gems, these 11 gems are the seed of evil here it seems. The evil grown out of them, so they're not magical anymore, no use for them apart from being beautiful"
Toadstool thinks about saying something more, but his hermit nature keeps him quiet
"Good work dismantling it, Toadstool." Yaudara looks at the party. "Where should we go next? Since the stone door won't open, it seems we have two options."
Yaudara will leave the gear, potion and scroll for the others.
„Oh, I’ll gladly eat anything to postpone more hunger. My last meal must have been days ago.“ Ichep took Toadstool up on the offer and helped himself to the berries and a bit reluctibly to the edible moos in Toadstool’s bag.
„They are not magical anymore? What a shame.“ The mention of them being evil flew over Ichep’s head. He was impressed by the orc’s affinity to sense such things though he strongly doubted his ability to correctly identify them therefore he did not ask for more information. 'What did he say before, something about the infection of his home? Maybe I should strike a conversation up about it sometime' „You seem rather perceptive. What magical craft have you devoted yourself to?“, he asked Toadstool.
„Maybe we can open the stone door some other way? I will lose sleep over it if we don't.“ Ichep was never fond of stone doors blocking his curiosity, a decidedly too often occurrence in his life.
Ichep takes the scroll ready to fight anyone (with words) for it.