"Oh LORD! What the hell is wrong with him!" says Landy as she watches Ralf start to convulse.
who the hell did I hire here she thinks to herself as she has no idea what could be the matter with the seemingly dying tortle. Alton, you don't have an idea either. Perhaps it was something he ate?
Meanwhile, Alton puts all of the ingredients in the correct bowls, places the bowls on the altar holes, and after a few moments, the northern wall slowly starts to move and eventually opens which uncovers a stone staircase heading down into darkness.
The steps descend into the earth, and the passageway is coated with ancient spiderwebs and moss. You have to fight the urge to wretch it smells like decaying flesh so bad down here. In the depths, you can see a faintly flickering torchlight on the wall at the bottom of the stairs. You'd assume the stairs are about 40 feet from the top to the bottom.
At the bottom, there is an archway which leads into a large, low ceilinged vault of sorts, with dirt floor and uneven stone pillars. Ancient bones litter the floor, and there are paintings on the walls of humanoids clawing into one another with claws and teeth.
This room has another altar. It's way bigger than the previous one. On top of the altar is a torn up humanoid body, far too mangled to determine even the race, let alone gender.
Another two bodies, even worse than the one on the altar, lie slumped against the wall on the left side of the room. There is also a body in the front of the room, mangled as per usual.
As you all get inside of the room, you hear a faint sobbing coming from behind the altar.
What will you do? Landy obviously wants to go run and see who is behind the altar. "Calador?!"
The tortle starts to stand up after a couple of moments, slowly regaining his strength. He reaches into his shell and pops a pill into his mouth. "Urggh... if pills, I do not take, then suffer, I will. My apologies. Fine now, I am, and continue, we shall." He then walks down the steps, and when he enters the room, he does a quick scan of the area (Perception). "Wait, professor. Again, patience, there must be. Your emotions, I do understand, but caution, we need."He then directs his voice towards the figure behind the altar."Who are you, friend, hmm? Help, we can provide. But, come out, you must do first."
((Also, Ralfaen's seizure was completely roleplay. It's a part of his backstory that he has to take pills every so often to avoid triggering his medical condition. This won't happen in combat, thankfully.))
((Roger that about Ralf's fit! I didn't know if it was a suicide thing, or what!))
((Yup, Landy doesn't have the spell on her anymore. It has expired, you guys were dicking around with the secret door for far too long. LOL! Just kidding. But yes it's expired.))
Ralf and Got-wolf head into the chamber.
Ralf, you see him first. It is a tall male elf, with black hair that reaches his shoulders. His robes seem like they used to be of high quality, but they are completely ruined with stains of blood and dirt. He is protectively clutching a long bone, the size of a femur, and is sobbing. "Ughh... huh... huh? Hello? Who are.. OH! thank you for rescuing me! Wait... La.. Landy.. Landy!? Is that you?!"the elf starts to get up.
"That is Calador's voice, I know it! Ughhh let me through, you hairy beast wolf!" Landy says. She will start to try and run around Got-wolf any second to get to the person.
Map is updated, along with an image of Calador in the NPC tab.
Alton will make sure Landy is restrained before slowly edging towards Calador, a shortsword drawn. “Is everything alright? What happened here?” He asks.
Alton then turns to Landy. “Stay back, please. We can handle this, and things could go south.” He then faces Calador again. “Why are there ghouls that look like the rest of the dig team up there?”
Got-wolf, you are easily able to box Landy out. She is slow. But she does get within line of sight, and can see that the elf on the ground is in fact her friend and dig team member, Calador.
Landy responds to Alton: "But it's Calador!"The she says to Calador"By the god Calador, yes indeed, what did happen down here? Quinn, Skien, Tanlik... they are... were... all.. ghouls! It was awful! And at Havel's Cross... everyone was... dead, no... eaten!"
The elf picks himself up off the ground and responds to Alton and Landy, but not making eye contact with Alton whatsoever:
"Ugh... alas... they are all dead. Landy, we found something."He holds up the bone he was clenching. "We uncovered this room only a few days ago, when you were gone. This bone was laying on the alter in here... we took it, and returned to the temple.... that's when it happened. Everyone started acting... crazy. They started to... change before my eyes. They changed into those wretched ghouls I tell you right before my eyes! I had no choice but to open the secret door and lock myself down here hoping they've either left or killed each other."
"Oh... Landy... I am so relieved to see you." He smiles at her. "Let's get out of here." He is basically ignoring all of the party's presence except for Landy.
"Severe trauma, he has suffered. Landy, listen to you, he only will, so ask him this: Healing, does he need, because provide it, can I." Also... I-I-I-INSIGHT CHECK!!! ((because why not?) Also, "Professor, a little more excavating, can I attempt? Magic that can move and shape the earth, I have."
Ralf, something is up with this elf. He's not being truthful. Something isn't right. His story doesn't make sense. What about Havel's Cross? What about the bodies in this current room? So many holes in his story... and there's the fact that he is still clutching the bone.
Landy ignores Ralf, and says to Calador"Right, yes, let's get out of here and get you someplace safe. All of the ghouls are dead upstairs. We can rest up there, then get you the hell back to Neverwinter for a proper bath and clean-up. Oh, poor Calador..."
Landy then says to Got-wolf"Please stand down, boy. We need to get Calador out of here, now. You too, Ralf. Stand down, please. Let's go."
She starts motioning towards the door, and Calador is about to start to follow her.
Ralfaen will use his Eyes of the Grave feature to detect any undead within 60ft. Afterward, he takes the party (other than Landy) aside for a brief moment and whispers "Not truthful, Calador's story is. Wary, we must be." (If Eyes of the Grave detects any undead, especially from Calador, he will mention this to them.) He then turns to Landy and says "Investigate this room, I must. Go ahead, you can." He gives a nod to the party before looking over the room.
Ralf, in this exact moment, you get no pings from your Eyes of the Grave feature.
Ralf, in this room, you find a bunch of small torture tools on the floor beside the altar. You see a mangled body on the altar along with the 3 other mangled bodies strewn about the room.
Calador and Landy make their way towards the staircase.
Got-wolf, you get the same bad feeling about Calador and his story and this entire thing.
Got-wolf is standing guard over Landy, and won't allow Calador near her, giving a low warning growl in this throat. If that doesn't seem to deter him or register, he'll shift back to his big half-orc form and grapple the guy to keep him from trying anything.
((I'll be AFK for a bit, +5 to Athletics if the roll is needed in the meantime.))
Alton will slowly fade into the shadows while Calador is distracted. Afterwards, he follows Landy at a close distance, having a shortsword drawn if anything goes bad.
Ok, with all of that, things are about to go down. Most of those actions won't be able to happen pre-combat, but I will go over all of that in the next big post to kick off this encounter.
I will get it all going tomorrow morning. In the meantime, can I get an initiative roll from each of you?
When Got-wolf growls, Calador simply ignores the beast, and continues to try and get to Landy and the exit. Seeing this, Got-wolf transforms into Gotur -> and it is at this moment that initiative will start.
Alton, you would've also been able to get back into the shadows, although you are not hidden or anything as Calador would've seen you go back there.
Gotur initiative = 12Ralf: 6Landy: 15Calador: 21
Round 1: Calador, Landy, Gotur, Alton, Ralf
Calador yells out "LANDY! Who have you brought forth to me here?! FOOLISH MORTALS! You will now see the power that I wield!"
He points the large bone that he is holding towards one of the mangled bodies against the west wall. It starts to convulse and then it rises up as a ghoul now stands, snarling and looking at the party in an evil way.
(this new ghoul will make an action next round based on this initiative: 9)
Landy then screams out "CALADOR!!?? What the hell???!!! What have you done!?" she is in shock in the moment, and does not take any further action at this point in time.
(the door had nothing to do with Ralf's fit)
"Oh LORD! What the hell is wrong with him!" says Landy as she watches Ralf start to convulse.
who the hell did I hire here she thinks to herself as she has no idea what could be the matter with the seemingly dying tortle. Alton, you don't have an idea either. Perhaps it was something he ate?
Meanwhile, Alton puts all of the ingredients in the correct bowls, places the bowls on the altar holes, and after a few moments, the northern wall slowly starts to move and eventually opens which uncovers a stone staircase heading down into darkness.
The steps descend into the earth, and the passageway is coated with ancient spiderwebs and moss. You have to fight the urge to wretch it smells like decaying flesh so bad down here. In the depths, you can see a faintly flickering torchlight on the wall at the bottom of the stairs. You'd assume the stairs are about 40 feet from the top to the bottom.
At the bottom, there is an archway which leads into a large, low ceilinged vault of sorts, with dirt floor and uneven stone pillars. Ancient bones litter the floor, and there are paintings on the walls of humanoids clawing into one another with claws and teeth.
This room has another altar. It's way bigger than the previous one. On top of the altar is a torn up humanoid body, far too mangled to determine even the race, let alone gender.
Another two bodies, even worse than the one on the altar, lie slumped against the wall on the left side of the room. There is also a body in the front of the room, mangled as per usual.
As you all get inside of the room, you hear a faint sobbing coming from behind the altar.
What will you do? Landy obviously wants to go run and see who is behind the altar. "Calador?!"
Map is updated with a new tab: UNDERGROUND.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RH42FE256FRxbE6_BJvmxkyP1j4F_LeYTtwYwMdGH7A/edit#gid=1293865679
The tortle starts to stand up after a couple of moments, slowly regaining his strength. He reaches into his shell and pops a pill into his mouth. "Urggh... if pills, I do not take, then suffer, I will. My apologies. Fine now, I am, and continue, we shall." He then walks down the steps, and when he enters the room, he does a quick scan of the area (Perception). "Wait, professor. Again, patience, there must be. Your emotions, I do understand, but caution, we need." He then directs his voice towards the figure behind the altar. "Who are you, friend, hmm? Help, we can provide. But, come out, you must do first."
Perception: 12
The three teachings of Tyre:
Nothing is forbidden.
Nothing is sacred.
Nothing is impossible.
Also I stan Tomoe for life
((Also, Ralfaen's seizure was completely roleplay. It's a part of his backstory that he has to take pills every so often to avoid triggering his medical condition. This won't happen in combat, thankfully.))
((Also, it's been longer than 10 minutes in-game, so would Protection from Evil and Good drop?))
The three teachings of Tyre:
Nothing is forbidden.
Nothing is sacred.
Nothing is impossible.
Also I stan Tomoe for life
((Got-wolf licks Ralf's face as he's having a fit.))
Downstairs, Got-wolf pads forward, keeping an eye on Landy, and won't let her rush past him.
DM: Forged in Chaos, Spiders of the Abyss, The Sundered Way, Champions of the Citadel
Active Characters:
Breldo, Halfling Ranger | Kathryn, Wood Elf Rogue/Ranger | Kroshav, Dragonborn Paladin | T'laren Farsiel, Wood Elf Fighter | Trill, Kenku Bard | Val "Janellae", Mark of Shadow Elf Warlock
((Roger that about Ralf's fit! I didn't know if it was a suicide thing, or what!))
((Yup, Landy doesn't have the spell on her anymore. It has expired, you guys were dicking around with the secret door for far too long. LOL! Just kidding. But yes it's expired.))
Ralf and Got-wolf head into the chamber.
Ralf, you see him first. It is a tall male elf, with black hair that reaches his shoulders. His robes seem like they used to be of high quality, but they are completely ruined with stains of blood and dirt. He is protectively clutching a long bone, the size of a femur, and is sobbing. "Ughh... huh... huh? Hello? Who are.. OH! thank you for rescuing me! Wait... La.. Landy.. Landy!? Is that you?!" the elf starts to get up.
"That is Calador's voice, I know it! Ughhh let me through, you hairy beast wolf!" Landy says. She will start to try and run around Got-wolf any second to get to the person.
Map is updated, along with an image of Calador in the NPC tab.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RH42FE256FRxbE6_BJvmxkyP1j4F_LeYTtwYwMdGH7A/edit#gid=167607424
What will all of you do? I will wait for responses from all PC's before posting again.
Got-wolf will box her out, going so far as to grab a mouthful of her clothes to restrain her if it comes to it.
DM: Forged in Chaos, Spiders of the Abyss, The Sundered Way, Champions of the Citadel
Active Characters:
Breldo, Halfling Ranger | Kathryn, Wood Elf Rogue/Ranger | Kroshav, Dragonborn Paladin | T'laren Farsiel, Wood Elf Fighter | Trill, Kenku Bard | Val "Janellae", Mark of Shadow Elf Warlock
Alton will make sure Landy is restrained before slowly edging towards Calador, a shortsword drawn. “Is everything alright? What happened here?” He asks.
Alton then turns to Landy. “Stay back, please. We can handle this, and things could go south.” He then faces Calador again. “Why are there ghouls that look like the rest of the dig team up there?”
Alton Thorngage- (Klein’s One Shot String Adventure)
Holden Stonefist-(A Tale of Mercenaries)
Fenrick Wolfsbane- (Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden)
DMing-Ctleath13’s Lost Mines of Phandelver and Ctleath13’s Out of the Abyss
(Ralf, you can totally retro-speak!)
Got-wolf, you are easily able to box Landy out. She is slow. But she does get within line of sight, and can see that the elf on the ground is in fact her friend and dig team member, Calador.
Landy responds to Alton: "But it's Calador!" The she says to Calador "By the god Calador, yes indeed, what did happen down here? Quinn, Skien, Tanlik... they are... were... all.. ghouls! It was awful! And at Havel's Cross... everyone was... dead, no... eaten!"
The elf picks himself up off the ground and responds to Alton and Landy, but not making eye contact with Alton whatsoever:
"Ugh... alas... they are all dead. Landy, we found something." He holds up the bone he was clenching. "We uncovered this room only a few days ago, when you were gone. This bone was laying on the alter in here... we took it, and returned to the temple.... that's when it happened. Everyone started acting... crazy. They started to... change before my eyes. They changed into those wretched ghouls I tell you right before my eyes! I had no choice but to open the secret door and lock myself down here hoping they've either left or killed each other."
"Oh... Landy... I am so relieved to see you." He smiles at her. "Let's get out of here." He is basically ignoring all of the party's presence except for Landy.
"Severe trauma, he has suffered. Landy, listen to you, he only will, so ask him this: Healing, does he need, because provide it, can I." Also... I-I-I-INSIGHT CHECK!!! ((because why not?) Also, "Professor, a little more excavating, can I attempt? Magic that can move and shape the earth, I have."
Insight: 22
The three teachings of Tyre:
Nothing is forbidden.
Nothing is sacred.
Nothing is impossible.
Also I stan Tomoe for life
Ralf, something is up with this elf. He's not being truthful. Something isn't right. His story doesn't make sense. What about Havel's Cross? What about the bodies in this current room? So many holes in his story... and there's the fact that he is still clutching the bone.
Landy ignores Ralf, and says to Calador "Right, yes, let's get out of here and get you someplace safe. All of the ghouls are dead upstairs. We can rest up there, then get you the hell back to Neverwinter for a proper bath and clean-up. Oh, poor Calador..."
Landy then says to Got-wolf "Please stand down, boy. We need to get Calador out of here, now. You too, Ralf. Stand down, please. Let's go."
She starts motioning towards the door, and Calador is about to start to follow her.
Got-wolf is still wary...
Insight if not warned by Ralf: 19
DM: Forged in Chaos, Spiders of the Abyss, The Sundered Way, Champions of the Citadel
Active Characters:
Breldo, Halfling Ranger | Kathryn, Wood Elf Rogue/Ranger | Kroshav, Dragonborn Paladin | T'laren Farsiel, Wood Elf Fighter | Trill, Kenku Bard | Val "Janellae", Mark of Shadow Elf Warlock
Ralfaen will use his Eyes of the Grave feature to detect any undead within 60ft. Afterward, he takes the party (other than Landy) aside for a brief moment and whispers "Not truthful, Calador's story is. Wary, we must be." (If Eyes of the Grave detects any undead, especially from Calador, he will mention this to them.) He then turns to Landy and says "Investigate this room, I must. Go ahead, you can." He gives a nod to the party before looking over the room.
Investigation: 14
The three teachings of Tyre:
Nothing is forbidden.
Nothing is sacred.
Nothing is impossible.
Also I stan Tomoe for life
Ralf, in this exact moment, you get no pings from your Eyes of the Grave feature.
Ralf, in this room, you find a bunch of small torture tools on the floor beside the altar. You see a mangled body on the altar along with the 3 other mangled bodies strewn about the room.
Calador and Landy make their way towards the staircase.
Got-wolf, you get the same bad feeling about Calador and his story and this entire thing.
Map is updated.
Is anyone else doing anything in this moment?
Got-wolf is standing guard over Landy, and won't allow Calador near her, giving a low warning growl in this throat. If that doesn't seem to deter him or register, he'll shift back to his big half-orc form and grapple the guy to keep him from trying anything.
((I'll be AFK for a bit, +5 to Athletics if the roll is needed in the meantime.))
DM: Forged in Chaos, Spiders of the Abyss, The Sundered Way, Champions of the Citadel
Active Characters:
Breldo, Halfling Ranger | Kathryn, Wood Elf Rogue/Ranger | Kroshav, Dragonborn Paladin | T'laren Farsiel, Wood Elf Fighter | Trill, Kenku Bard | Val "Janellae", Mark of Shadow Elf Warlock
Alton will slowly fade into the shadows while Calador is distracted. Afterwards, he follows Landy at a close distance, having a shortsword drawn if anything goes bad.
Stealth: 19
Alton Thorngage- (Klein’s One Shot String Adventure)
Holden Stonefist-(A Tale of Mercenaries)
Fenrick Wolfsbane- (Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden)
DMing-Ctleath13’s Lost Mines of Phandelver and Ctleath13’s Out of the Abyss
Ralfaen will ready Color Spray on Calador if he makes any moves to harm the party.
The three teachings of Tyre:
Nothing is forbidden.
Nothing is sacred.
Nothing is impossible.
Also I stan Tomoe for life
Ok, with all of that, things are about to go down. Most of those actions won't be able to happen pre-combat, but I will go over all of that in the next big post to kick off this encounter.
I will get it all going tomorrow morning. In the meantime, can I get an initiative roll from each of you?
Initiative: 8
Alton Thorngage- (Klein’s One Shot String Adventure)
Holden Stonefist-(A Tale of Mercenaries)
Fenrick Wolfsbane- (Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden)
DMing-Ctleath13’s Lost Mines of Phandelver and Ctleath13’s Out of the Abyss
When Got-wolf growls, Calador simply ignores the beast, and continues to try and get to Landy and the exit. Seeing this, Got-wolf transforms into Gotur -> and it is at this moment that initiative will start.
Alton, you would've also been able to get back into the shadows, although you are not hidden or anything as Calador would've seen you go back there.
Gotur initiative = 12 Ralf: 6 Landy: 15 Calador: 21
Round 1: Calador, Landy, Gotur, Alton, Ralf
Calador yells out "LANDY! Who have you brought forth to me here?! FOOLISH MORTALS! You will now see the power that I wield!"
He points the large bone that he is holding towards one of the mangled bodies against the west wall. It starts to convulse and then it rises up as a ghoul now stands, snarling and looking at the party in an evil way.
(this new ghoul will make an action next round based on this initiative: 9)
Landy then screams out "CALADOR!!?? What the hell???!!! What have you done!?" she is in shock in the moment, and does not take any further action at this point in time.
Gotur is up!
Map is updated.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RH42FE256FRxbE6_BJvmxkyP1j4F_LeYTtwYwMdGH7A/edit#gid=1293865679
"Professor! Get up the stairs, we'll deal with him!"
Quarterstaff Attack: 11 Damage: 7
DM: Forged in Chaos, Spiders of the Abyss, The Sundered Way, Champions of the Citadel
Active Characters:
Breldo, Halfling Ranger | Kathryn, Wood Elf Rogue/Ranger | Kroshav, Dragonborn Paladin | T'laren Farsiel, Wood Elf Fighter | Trill, Kenku Bard | Val "Janellae", Mark of Shadow Elf Warlock