This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
The arrow sticks firmly into the leader's back, and he falls to all fours, coughing up blood. As the paladins move in for the killing blow, the leader suddenly rolls over, leaping toward the portal and spitting blood into it. It takes the last bit of breath he had, as he collapses to the floor, trying to laugh through his dying coughs. Finally, he lies motionless.
The blood somehow incorporates itself into the swirling energy for a moment, before being sucked down into the portal to who knows where? As you all ponder the question, and move in to finish off the last cultist, the portal erupts open, tearing into the space right above it with arcane energy. Through it come tumbling 4 gnolls, humanoid hyenas wearing bits of cloth and armor, carrying spears and snarling as they climb through into the ancient courtyard.
Effort, you're up. The gnolls will go on initiative 11 in the next round. The portal cultist is still at play at round's end.
"Blast," Effort swears as she sees the first gnoll come out tumbling out of the portal. She takes off running in the opposite direction, trying to put as much distance - and possibly the warm bodies of the group of paladins - between herself and the encroaching gnoll and last remaining cultist. But she skids to a stop once she's backed up a bit and whirls around, teeth bared, her anger fueling the eldritch blast that she fires at the portal cultist.
The blast connects with the cultist, expanding and engulfing him in arcane energy. His body jerks forward, and the portal flickers for a moment, but the cultist steadies himself and begins slowly turning the portal again.
The paladins rush toward the portal, but the gnoll snaps at them and stands in their path. The first swings his battleaxe at the creature: Attack: 15 Damage: 11 It cuts into the side of the gnoll as hair and blood follow the axe's path. The second paladin lunges forward with his javelin: Attack: 17 Damage: 8 The javelin catches a bit of fur and skin and rips it off, but the gnoll's crazed look remains. It looks back at the portal, and then at you all. "The Prince...is hungry."
A loud *BOOM* echoes throughout the room again as the cultist at the portal lets loose with a blast of energy into the portal. It swirls faster and faster: 4
And again peters out. The gnoll lets out what sounds like a half-roar, half-cry, and turns back toward you all. He sniffs at the air, and looks toward Burik, the most injured among you. He lunges forward with his spear at tries to drive it into the dwarf: Attack: 20 Damage: 4
The spear connects with Burik, whose eyes go wide. He falls backward on the ground, grasping at the wound as blood covers his hands. Sam runs over and administers a health potion for 7 HP. "That's the last one I have," Sam exclaims, looking down at Burik.
Burik sits up slowly as the gnoll readies his spear again. He looks around the courtyard, and channeling his own arcane powers, casts Bless on Brask, Effort, and Doldrur. "Time to finish this, friends."
Brask, you're up. And DAMN my cultists rolled like sh*t this fight!
Brask cracks the gnoll across the head. It lets out a brief cry as it crumples to the ground, dead. The portal cultist looks around in a panic, realizing his allies have all fallen. He is frantically churning at the portal, trying to summon something...anything...
Finally, one of his arrows misses the mark, flying over the shoulder of the cultist. He closes his eyes tightly and as he works, ignoring the enemies swarming him.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Effort keeps moving, this time coming a little closer, but still keeping a good distance between herself and the portal in case something else nasty pops out of it. As the unfamiliar holy energy descends around her, she shudders at the sensation, but shrugs it off and focuses on the last remaining cultist.
"Turn your back on me, will you..." she hisses under her breath. Channeling her energy, she focuses another eldritch blast directly at the portal cultist, determined to bring him down.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
The blast somehow disperses as it nears the portal, the dark energy interfering with it as it nears the cultist. The portal seems to be glowing brighter as it churns and churns. One of the paladins rushes forward, putting his axe at his side, and diving for the cultist.
Opposed strength check: Paladin 7 vs. Cultist 20
He tackles the cultist away from the portal and grapples with him on the ground. "You won't be summoning anymore evil today." The second paladin rushes over to help, and sticks his javelin into the cultist. Attack: 10 Damage: 9
The cultist claws on the floor, trying desperately to get back to the portal, but after a moment he slows and finally places his head on the ground. The paladin pulls out his javelin and wipes it off. "For Lathandar." The second paladin nods.
"For Lathander" is it? comments Brask, looking at the recently-killed creatures and cultists. Well, I guess someone got his dinner.
He turns, and raises his voice. Hey, tiefling. And, err, shooter-in-the-shadows. Get over here and meet your rescuers. Don't worry, we mostly kill stupid dog-worshippers. You'll be fine. I'm Brask. And we've also got dwarf-who-gets-stabbed-a-lot, spy-guy, and, errr, Paladins A and B. He turns to the paladins. You guys actually have names or what?
"We do," says the first. "You never saw fit to ask before now. I am Luther. This is Lionel."
The second paladin nods as he puts away his javelin. "We all know how it easy to doubt the power of the gods, but with all this evil about, you will soon become a believer as well. Now, I am more concerned with this tiefling and gnome, and what they were doing in the depths of Lovilra." He cocks his head, studying both the tiefling and the dark-skinned gnome who seemingly came out of nowhere.
Effort straightens and dusts herself off, edging around the paladins. Unconcerned with what the others think of her, she begins to rifle through the corpse of the leader, searching for his magic dagger. "Names have power," she says. "You shouldn't be so quick to give them up that easily. But since you did, I guess it's only fair that I do the same." As she stands up, she inclines her head slightly, tail twitching. "My name is Effort, not that your kind usually bother to ask. I hail from Gorta, and have come all this way on a hunt to find the cultists responsible for the rash of kidnappings across the coast. These fools have been making life for me and mine beyond difficult of late, so I was trying to infiltrate them and attack the source of the rot at its base." She kicks the fallen body of the leader and spits on the corpse. "Good riddance."
Only good cultist is a dead cultist,Brask nods in agreement. I hope your folks get some peace now. So, Sammy, what do you reckon? That one, he points to the cult leader, was the boss, or is there a higher up? Apart from the Doggy Prince himself of course. Yee-no-go, or whatever it was.
"Doubt a human would be the actual head of the cult," Sam looks over at the deep gnome still lingering at the edge of the courtyard. "Rumor has their base of operations is on the unnamed island off the shores of the Carrion Coast, but nobody knows of anyone who has actually been there. We're hoping you can recover some useful information on your journey out that way. And maybe you found yourselves some more traveling partners."
„It can‘t possibly have ended here,“ Effort agrees begrudgingly with Sam. „I was trailing the news of kidnappings, and so far I‘ve seen neither hide nor hair of the victims. Even human sacrifices would leave corpses, so they have to be doing something with their victims... and whatever that something was, wasn‘t here in Lovilra.“ She crosses her arms and sighs wearily. „And so the search must continue.“
He didn't seem to be carrying much, but you do find the dagger on his belt (wouldn't have been that difficult, haha). Burik takes a step back as you slide it out of its sheath, sensing the evil within it. There is a single, large rune carved into the metal. Other than that, it is an ordinary dagger with an elegant, long blade and a well-made leather hilt.
Effort's tail lashes back and forth in agitation as she gingerly holds up the dagger and inspects it. "This is going to need to be identified before anyone can use it," she says. "But this rune printed on the dagger may be our next clue to finding out more about where this cancerous cult has taken root." She looks up to Sam and squints suspiciously. "I regret to say it, but it's beyond my capability to do. Would you know someone who could tell us more about it?"
The arrow sticks firmly into the leader's back, and he falls to all fours, coughing up blood. As the paladins move in for the killing blow, the leader suddenly rolls over, leaping toward the portal and spitting blood into it. It takes the last bit of breath he had, as he collapses to the floor, trying to laugh through his dying coughs. Finally, he lies motionless.
The blood somehow incorporates itself into the swirling energy for a moment, before being sucked down into the portal to who knows where? As you all ponder the question, and move in to finish off the last cultist, the portal erupts open, tearing into the space right above it with arcane energy. Through it come tumbling 4 gnolls, humanoid hyenas wearing bits of cloth and armor, carrying spears and snarling as they climb through into the ancient courtyard.
Effort, you're up. The gnolls will go on initiative 11 in the next round. The portal cultist is still at play at round's end.
DM - Above & Below
"Blast," Effort swears as she sees the first gnoll come out tumbling out of the portal. She takes off running in the opposite direction, trying to put as much distance - and possibly the warm bodies of the group of paladins - between herself and the encroaching gnoll and last remaining cultist. But she skids to a stop once she's backed up a bit and whirls around, teeth bared, her anger fueling the eldritch blast that she fires at the portal cultist.
Attack: 17 Damage: 12
The blast connects with the cultist, expanding and engulfing him in arcane energy. His body jerks forward, and the portal flickers for a moment, but the cultist steadies himself and begins slowly turning the portal again.
The paladins rush toward the portal, but the gnoll snaps at them and stands in their path. The first swings his battleaxe at the creature: Attack: 15 Damage: 11 It cuts into the side of the gnoll as hair and blood follow the axe's path. The second paladin lunges forward with his javelin: Attack: 17 Damage: 8 The javelin catches a bit of fur and skin and rips it off, but the gnoll's crazed look remains. It looks back at the portal, and then at you all. "The Prince...is hungry."
A loud *BOOM* echoes throughout the room again as the cultist at the portal lets loose with a blast of energy into the portal. It swirls faster and faster: 4
And again peters out. The gnoll lets out what sounds like a half-roar, half-cry, and turns back toward you all. He sniffs at the air, and looks toward Burik, the most injured among you. He lunges forward with his spear at tries to drive it into the dwarf: Attack: 20 Damage: 4
DM - Above & Below
Round 3: Gnoll(s) > Sam > Burik > Brask > Doldrur > Effort > Paladins > Portal
The spear connects with Burik, whose eyes go wide. He falls backward on the ground, grasping at the wound as blood covers his hands. Sam runs over and administers a health potion for 7 HP. "That's the last one I have," Sam exclaims, looking down at Burik.
Burik sits up slowly as the gnoll readies his spear again. He looks around the courtyard, and channeling his own arcane powers, casts Bless on Brask, Effort, and Doldrur. "Time to finish this, friends."
Brask, you're up. And DAMN my cultists rolled like sh*t this fight!
DM - Above & Below
Brask stomps towards the gnoll, and takes a swing with his maul:
Attack: 13 Damage: 12 (Bless on attack roll is 2)
Me too. Never eaten dog before.
OOC: Damn, that bless just hits!
Brask cracks the gnoll across the head. It lets out a brief cry as it crumples to the ground, dead. The portal cultist looks around in a panic, realizing his allies have all fallen. He is frantically churning at the portal, trying to summon something...anything...
Doldrur, you're up.
DM - Above & Below
In a cold and calculated manner, Doldrur notches an arrow, aims, and fires in one smooth motion.
"Summon this." He mutters under his breath.
Attack: 11
Damage: 8
Koda Kalashtar Samurai Eberron - The lost Laboratories
Finally, one of his arrows misses the mark, flying over the shoulder of the cultist. He closes his eyes tightly and as he works, ignoring the enemies swarming him.
Effort, you're up.
DM - Above & Below
Effort keeps moving, this time coming a little closer, but still keeping a good distance between herself and the portal in case something else nasty pops out of it. As the unfamiliar holy energy descends around her, she shudders at the sensation, but shrugs it off and focuses on the last remaining cultist.
Bless roll: 3
"Turn your back on me, will you..." she hisses under her breath. Channeling her energy, she focuses another eldritch blast directly at the portal cultist, determined to bring him down.
Attack roll (with bless bonus +3 included): Attack: 24 Damage: 6
The blast somehow disperses as it nears the portal, the dark energy interfering with it as it nears the cultist. The portal seems to be glowing brighter as it churns and churns. One of the paladins rushes forward, putting his axe at his side, and diving for the cultist.
Opposed strength check: Paladin 7 vs. Cultist 20
He tackles the cultist away from the portal and grapples with him on the ground. "You won't be summoning anymore evil today." The second paladin rushes over to help, and sticks his javelin into the cultist. Attack: 10 Damage: 9
The cultist claws on the floor, trying desperately to get back to the portal, but after a moment he slows and finally places his head on the ground. The paladin pulls out his javelin and wipes it off. "For Lathandar." The second paladin nods.
You're out of combat.
DM - Above & Below
"For Lathander" is it? comments Brask, looking at the recently-killed creatures and cultists. Well, I guess someone got his dinner.
He turns, and raises his voice. Hey, tiefling. And, err, shooter-in-the-shadows. Get over here and meet your rescuers. Don't worry, we mostly kill stupid dog-worshippers. You'll be fine. I'm Brask. And we've also got dwarf-who-gets-stabbed-a-lot, spy-guy, and, errr, Paladins A and B. He turns to the paladins. You guys actually have names or what?
"We do," says the first. "You never saw fit to ask before now. I am Luther. This is Lionel."
The second paladin nods as he puts away his javelin. "We all know how it easy to doubt the power of the gods, but with all this evil about, you will soon become a believer as well. Now, I am more concerned with this tiefling and gnome, and what they were doing in the depths of Lovilra." He cocks his head, studying both the tiefling and the dark-skinned gnome who seemingly came out of nowhere.
DM - Above & Below
Effort straightens and dusts herself off, edging around the paladins. Unconcerned with what the others think of her, she begins to rifle through the corpse of the leader, searching for his magic dagger. "Names have power," she says. "You shouldn't be so quick to give them up that easily. But since you did, I guess it's only fair that I do the same." As she stands up, she inclines her head slightly, tail twitching. "My name is Effort, not that your kind usually bother to ask. I hail from Gorta, and have come all this way on a hunt to find the cultists responsible for the rash of kidnappings across the coast. These fools have been making life for me and mine beyond difficult of late, so I was trying to infiltrate them and attack the source of the rot at its base." She kicks the fallen body of the leader and spits on the corpse. "Good riddance."
Only good cultist is a dead cultist, Brask nods in agreement. I hope your folks get some peace now. So, Sammy, what do you reckon? That one, he points to the cult leader, was the boss, or is there a higher up? Apart from the Doggy Prince himself of course. Yee-no-go, or whatever it was.
"Doubt a human would be the actual head of the cult," Sam looks over at the deep gnome still lingering at the edge of the courtyard. "Rumor has their base of operations is on the unnamed island off the shores of the Carrion Coast, but nobody knows of anyone who has actually been there. We're hoping you can recover some useful information on your journey out that way. And maybe you found yourselves some more traveling partners."
DM - Above & Below
„It can‘t possibly have ended here,“ Effort agrees begrudgingly with Sam. „I was trailing the news of kidnappings, and so far I‘ve seen neither hide nor hair of the victims. Even human sacrifices would leave corpses, so they have to be doing something with their victims... and whatever that something was, wasn‘t here in Lovilra.“ She crosses her arms and sighs wearily. „And so the search must continue.“
Effort, give me an investigation check (for searching the leader's body).
DM - Above & Below
14
He didn't seem to be carrying much, but you do find the dagger on his belt (wouldn't have been that difficult, haha). Burik takes a step back as you slide it out of its sheath, sensing the evil within it. There is a single, large rune carved into the metal. Other than that, it is an ordinary dagger with an elegant, long blade and a well-made leather hilt.
DM - Above & Below
Effort's tail lashes back and forth in agitation as she gingerly holds up the dagger and inspects it. "This is going to need to be identified before anyone can use it," she says. "But this rune printed on the dagger may be our next clue to finding out more about where this cancerous cult has taken root." She looks up to Sam and squints suspiciously. "I regret to say it, but it's beyond my capability to do. Would you know someone who could tell us more about it?"