Kurstin’s lunge was just a beat too slow and his electrified disk failed to land – and shock – the magical creature as originally intended.
Meanwhile, having one of the creatures already in front of it, GHOST attempted to attack the creature again, but it’s targeting system failed to account for the creature’s shifting movements and missed wide once again.
One more homunculus appearing next to both Kaisaras & GHOST, the creatures launched at their targets with manic glee. While Kurstin continued to dodge out of the way, he received a mental ping from GHOST that informed him that his creation had been hit!
And elsewhere, while he didn’t hear any more unusual noises from the rest of the arena, he did see the male student burst out of the barriers and make his way up the hill towards the chest! A moment later, two homunculi exited from the same area hot on his tail!
Let me know what you’d like to do this round! (As a note, the homunculi have AC 13 and 1 HP!)
Danse gave his customary smile and wave towards the tavern's general populace, purely out of sheer habit. He casually sidled along Silas and Fargrim as the bartender led the three down; the implications of Fargrim were certainly easy to pick up on. Any whisper or glance thrown Danse's way were shrugged off like water on a roc's back - no amount of suspicion or hostility could prevent Danse from accomplishing anything on his relentless quest to bring justice to the last of Gaedren's men.
Before the bartender left the room, Danse fished out a gold from his bag and called out- "Hey, could you manage some seeds or something?" he smiled, shaking the owl on his shoulder and instructing her to trail behind the bartender, make her way to the main room, and keep her eyes and ears out for any mention of what transpired.
Upon the bartender's exit, Danse whirled around and quickly hoisted Silas into a present chair. He pats the man down and removes any coins or weaponry possibly hidden before binding his wrists and ankles to the chair before looking Silas directly in the eye - Danse cared little for Silas's wellbeing or survival; the only thing he desired was information. "Silas, Silas - making this more difficult, are you?" Danse began with a click of his tongue. Intimidation is an act, in some sort of way - and Danse approached it as usual; a cheery smile over his tattooed features, expression beaming and bright. "Now, tell me - why did you run? What are you hiding? If survival is in your interest, just tell me what you know about Gaedren, Yargin, or anyone else who worked with Gaedren. All of it."
Kurstin curses at his missed opportunity to take out the construct, and curses again when he sees the other student start up the hill. Kurstin quickly tosses a glass globe full of a particularly slick substance of grease and oil, causing a slippery area under the boys feet! (Make a DC13 Dex save or fall prone - and hopefully slide back down the hill!) He then makes his own move towards the hill and up as far as he can get.
He sends the recall code to GHOST, trying to get them together again. It fires once more at the other homunculus and then moves its full speed towards Kurstin's position. (Attack: 8 Damage: 9
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"I don't know you, but my friend here does. You still have a real chance to make it out of here alive if you tell my friend what he wants to know. If not, we will make sure you suffer before you die. I paid the owner of this place a lot of money to make sure that nobody will come looking for you." Intimidation 12
"If your bird leaves any droppings on the bar you're out of here." the woman replied in annoyance before pocketing the coin. Moroza quickly followed out of the room before the door was closed behind her.
Make a Perception check for Moroza...
After roughing Silas up a bit to wake him up (he's been in and out of consciousness as this point), Silas sat up and looked at both of his captors in the eye. "Why did I run?" he began to wheeze out, "I ran because it looked like you were going to cut me down, (cough), and clearly I was right." Pausing to spit what looked like an unhealthy amount of blood onto the floor, he continued. "That bastard isn't paying me enough to die for him, so if you want Yargin, (cough) you can have him. He found me not long after your run in with him and asked me to both hide and smuggle him out of the city. Though I hate his rotten guts like you do, he paid me a lot up front and I'm not exactly swimming in gold pieces over here (coughing fit). Was going to smuggle him out next week during the Games when the city would be distracted and the borders softer than normal. I can tell you where he is and get you close to him (another coughing fit). No tricks. No games (cough). All I ask is if you're going to kill me, make it quick."
Both of you make a medicine check...
Kurstin:
Leaving it's current location, GHOST made a beeline back to it's creator sustaining a few scratches and bringing a "friends" back along with him.
With quick thinking, Kurstin created a slippery surface right underneath one of his rival's feet causing him to slip and fall all the way to the bottom of the hill. While the female student was still nowhere to be found, Kurstin could see that the male student was once again surround by the magical homunculi and unable to easily get away!
You're back up! GHOST is about 20ft away from you. There are (3) homunculi trailing it an (3) still in front of you. Kurstin is also still at the bottom of the hill.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Kurstin will position himself to be within 5' of the three target homunculi in front of him and press a small button on the side of his belt buckle. With a small click, the button completes an intricate set of runes carved into the metal buckle and a wave of thunderous force sweeps out from the belt in a 15' cube! (Thunderwave - DC13 Con Save or take 6 thunder damage and be pushed 10' away. A successful save takes only half damage and is not pushed away.) The young artificer then moves up the hill towards the center area!
GHOST emits yet another force beam at one of the constructs trailing after it before moving closer to Kurstin. (Attack: 24 Force Damage: 9)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Moroza threw a withering glare towards the bartender before reluctantly following. Perception - 14.
Danse, meanwhile, held Silas's struggling form by the chin, expression akin to a cat finally capturing an elusive mouse. "Oh, Silas - it eludes me how one of Gaedren's lambs can aid a previous captor from escaping justice. Really, shame on you," he lightheartedly comment with a click of his tongue. "Take me to where Yargin is hiding out. All I desire is to reduce the pile of filth to mere ribbons. If you're low on coin, I suppose I can help - though if I find you tolerating the presence of any of Gaedren's minions, I'm afraid you'll be lumped into the category of guilty by association." Provided Silas didn't die, of course - and, presently, Danse didn't quite care. Medicine: 3
Moroza sent a “So Far, All-Clear” sensation to Dance from the main room. He also received some extraneous positive feelings about the quality of the seeds he was currently nibbling on as well.
Silas shrugged weakly before croaking out “The world’s not always so black and white… (cough) and sometimes, you have to do some ‘distasteful’ things to stay alive. I know you learned that much at least from Gaedren.” He paused to chuckle a bit before falling into another bout of coughing. Wiping away some bloody spittle with the back of his hand, he continued. “I don’t know where he is, he’s moving, but I know where he will be. On the first day of the Games, there’ll be a boat leaving the Old Dock (In Old Korvosa). Yargin and whoever else he bribed with Gaedren’s leftover money will be there.” Sighing for a moment as if a weight had been lifted off of him, he closed and eyes and asked, “So what now. (cough) You going to kill me? Let me go? Bring me to a docto-” he couldn’t finish as another aggressive coughing fit took hold of him...
Kurstin:
With a blast of runic power, the three homunculi in front of him were destroyed leaving nothing behind but a small pile of magical dust. Charging ahead as Ghost quickly followed behind – taking out one of the homunculi following him along the way – Kurstin made it to the top of the hill first to find the magical chest waiting patiently for him on the pedestal…
Please give me an Arcana and an Investigation check please!
Hoghead says to Danse "Look, I already spent 100 gold on this idiot. I'm not paying for no doctor. He's good as dead anyway. I say we carry him out and dump him in an alley somewhere. Then we can either get the rest of the crew and go after Yargin or do it ourselves. I don't know the guy or have a beef with him personally but I've got your back and if he needs killin, I'd be happy to help."
Looking at the chest, Kurstin was able to quickly determine two things. One: Spotting three keyholes (one of which seemed to be transforming in front of his eyes into a sketch of a keyhole), Kurstin was able to quickly determine that it probably required multiple people to open. Two: The chest was alive. He determined this knowledge when he looked down at the chest and a kindly face looked back up at him in return. "Hello," The chest called out Kurstin nonchalantly, as if seeing an old acquaintance. "Can I help you with something?"
Kurstin was a more than a bit surprised when the chest actually talked to him, although it was precisely something the University would pull on their students! "Good day!" he responded happily. It never cost anything or hurt anyone to be polite, after all.
"It appeared that reaching you was the goal of this little exercise - although now it seems I need the other students to complete the challenge. Is this accurate?" The artificer continued studying the creature, and then suddenly followed his last question with, "Are you a mimic? Or a clever illusion?"
"Well aren't you polite! And no, I am no mimic or illusion; just me!" The chest began brightly. "And indeed you are correct. You cannot 'unlock' me as things currently stand. Whenever the proper conditions are met, I will give you your final test!"
"Right..." Kurstin says, then looks about the testing area. He sends GHOST to the further student - maybe the girl - with new orders to assist her in reaching the chest. He also loads a healing program in in case the girl was injured (if needed, GHOST will transmit Kurstin's Cure Wounds spell...) GHOST hums and beeps in recognition of the new task, then floats quickly towards her location, blasting any small homunculi in the way.
As GHOST moves off, Kurstin looks down to the other student he caused to slip down and calls out to him, "Sorry about that, mate - I thought this was a race! Looks like we all need to be here to open the next part of the test! Do you need any help to get up here?"
GHOST slowly floated down the hill in the direction of the third student, it's directive clear in assisting her in any way possible to return to it's creator. Blasting a few nosy homunculi out of the way, the magical creation was able to find the girl on the ground, a bit dazed but otherwise alright. Releasing a spray to numb any ailments and jolt her senses, GHOST waited patiently for the girl to come to before beeping in a manner that loosely translated as "follow me" and slowly floating back in Kurstin's direction.
Meanwhile, the other student he was competing with gingerly rose to his feet as he rubbed his head in pain. "Is that so? In that case, can you help me get rid of these things then..." he replied back before pointing towards the small group of six homunculi standing before him. Though they continued to block his path forward, they did not seem as aggressive as they once were, as if reaching the summit had made them more docile...
Just give me a quick write up on how you work with/ save the last student and then we'll wrap up the challenge!
(Mobile. Sorry on the delay - been extremely busy!)
In response to Silas, Danse let out a mirthful chuckle. “You also have to do some pretty distasteful things to have me remove the burden of your head from your shoulders,” Danse replied. He paused. “But, you know - I killed Gadsden; I won’t hesitate to kill another of his. Here’s the deal; you provided me the information you wanted to about Yargin, right? That’s fine with me. That’s all I wanted to know. If you’re struggling with coin, I’ll give you enough to get by for some time - if you don’t die before I call a doctor, that is. You can do all the shady business you want after - I don’t judge, but Yargin - and all of Gaedren’s men - are off limits, you hear?” Only then did Danse notice how much of a bad state Silas was in. Well, that was unfortunate.
Danse turned and raised a brow at Fargrim’s words, distorting the tattoos inked across his face in the process. “You spent that coin, and I thank you for that. He’s an ******* who wanted to help Yargin escape.” Danse paused again - his lips press together. “But, you know, he was one of what I was - Gaedren’s Lambs, and something about leaving him in a dumpster, covered in scars, would make me more like Gaedren than anything else. It’s exactly what Gaedren did to me. Quite literally.” Danse whistled, commanding his rather selfish owl to rise and sweep around the vicinity in search of a clinic or anyone else possibly skilled in medicine. He would need to ask the bartender for some of those seeds.
To Danse: "Suit yourself. We'll find him a doctor then. I'm learning to be less cold but it doesn't come easy. I would have tied up this loose end if I was by myself. Maybe you're right to help him. We may need him again for something. People remember when you save their lives."
Fargrim twirls his hammer in his hand. "Sooo... How do you want to handle Yargin? You want to get the band back together or handle it ourselves?"
Kurstin moves warily down the hill towards the other student, holding a small metal disk in his hand to apply an electrical shock to any constructs that get too close to him (Shocking Grasp). "Sorry about the anti-adhesive gel I tossed at you earlier...I thought this was an individual competition! Come on - there's a surprise waiting for us at the top - he's quite friendly! The other girl should be joining us soon - then we'll see what the final challenge is." With a helping hand for the boy and a shocking one for adversaries, the two make their way up the hill to the chest waiting for them.
When the girl arrives, Kurstin will wave her up and smile, calling out, "Come on - apparently all three of us need to be here to get the final challenge. I'm Kurstin, by the way."
GHOST greeted Kurstin with what he thought sounded like a triumphant hum as he led the other student back up the hill and returned to his side. Appearing a bit harried, she looked from the chest, to Kurstin and back said, "Why couldn't this have been a written test..."
"Congratulations on making it this far!" The chest began as brightly as ever as the three students came into view. "Your final challenge is quite short: answer one simple riddle. 'When used it can open doors, but it is not a key. It takes not just one, but more than thee. What is the greatest magic of all?'"
Zoldier's Curse of the Crimson Throne
Kurstin:
Meanwhile, having one of the creatures already in front of it, GHOST attempted to attack the creature again, but it’s targeting system failed to account for the creature’s shifting movements and missed wide once again.
One more homunculus appearing next to both Kaisaras & GHOST, the creatures launched at their targets with manic glee. While Kurstin continued to dodge out of the way, he received a mental ping from GHOST that informed him that his creation had been hit!
And elsewhere, while he didn’t hear any more unusual noises from the rest of the arena, he did see the male student burst out of the barriers and make his way up the hill towards the chest! A moment later, two homunculi exited from the same area hot on his tail!
Super secret DM rolls:
Zoldier’s Curse of the Crimson Throne: DM/ Redii || Zoldier's Strange Aeon's: DM
(Whoops - I thought I posted earlier.)
Danse gave his customary smile and wave towards the tavern's general populace, purely out of sheer habit. He casually sidled along Silas and Fargrim as the bartender led the three down; the implications of Fargrim were certainly easy to pick up on. Any whisper or glance thrown Danse's way were shrugged off like water on a roc's back - no amount of suspicion or hostility could prevent Danse from accomplishing anything on his relentless quest to bring justice to the last of Gaedren's men.
Before the bartender left the room, Danse fished out a gold from his bag and called out- "Hey, could you manage some seeds or something?" he smiled, shaking the owl on his shoulder and instructing her to trail behind the bartender, make her way to the main room, and keep her eyes and ears out for any mention of what transpired.
Upon the bartender's exit, Danse whirled around and quickly hoisted Silas into a present chair. He pats the man down and removes any coins or weaponry possibly hidden before binding his wrists and ankles to the chair before looking Silas directly in the eye - Danse cared little for Silas's wellbeing or survival; the only thing he desired was information. "Silas, Silas - making this more difficult, are you?" Danse began with a click of his tongue. Intimidation is an act, in some sort of way - and Danse approached it as usual; a cheery smile over his tattooed features, expression beaming and bright. "Now, tell me - why did you run? What are you hiding? If survival is in your interest, just tell me what you know about Gaedren, Yargin, or anyone else who worked with Gaedren. All of it."
Kurstin curses at his missed opportunity to take out the construct, and curses again when he sees the other student start up the hill. Kurstin quickly tosses a glass globe full of a particularly slick substance of grease and oil, causing a slippery area under the boys feet! (Make a DC13 Dex save or fall prone - and hopefully slide back down the hill!) He then makes his own move towards the hill and up as far as he can get.
He sends the recall code to GHOST, trying to get them together again. It fires once more at the other homunculus and then moves its full speed towards Kurstin's position. (Attack: 8 Damage: 9
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
"I don't know you, but my friend here does. You still have a real chance to make it out of here alive if you tell my friend what he wants to know. If not, we will make sure you suffer before you die. I paid the owner of this place a lot of money to make sure that nobody will come looking for you." Intimidation 12
Zoldier's Curse of the Crimson Throne
Danse and Fargrim:
Kurstin:
With quick thinking, Kurstin created a slippery surface right underneath one of his rival's feet causing him to slip and fall all the way to the bottom of the hill. While the female student was still nowhere to be found, Kurstin could see that the male student was once again surround by the magical homunculi and unable to easily get away!
Super Secret DM Rolls:
Zoldier’s Curse of the Crimson Throne: DM/ Redii || Zoldier's Strange Aeon's: DM
Medicine 6
Kurstin will position himself to be within 5' of the three target homunculi in front of him and press a small button on the side of his belt buckle. With a small click, the button completes an intricate set of runes carved into the metal buckle and a wave of thunderous force sweeps out from the belt in a 15' cube! (Thunderwave - DC13 Con Save or take 6 thunder damage and be pushed 10' away. A successful save takes only half damage and is not pushed away.) The young artificer then moves up the hill towards the center area!
GHOST emits yet another force beam at one of the constructs trailing after it before moving closer to Kurstin. (Attack: 24 Force Damage: 9)
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Moroza threw a withering glare towards the bartender before reluctantly following. Perception - 14.
Danse, meanwhile, held Silas's struggling form by the chin, expression akin to a cat finally capturing an elusive mouse. "Oh, Silas - it eludes me how one of Gaedren's lambs can aid a previous captor from escaping justice. Really, shame on you," he lightheartedly comment with a click of his tongue. "Take me to where Yargin is hiding out. All I desire is to reduce the pile of filth to mere ribbons. If you're low on coin, I suppose I can help - though if I find you tolerating the presence of any of Gaedren's minions, I'm afraid you'll be lumped into the category of guilty by association." Provided Silas didn't die, of course - and, presently, Danse didn't quite care. Medicine: 3
Zoldier's Curse of the Crimson Throne
(Mobile)
Danse and Fargrim:
Moroza sent a “So Far, All-Clear” sensation to Dance from the main room. He also received some extraneous positive feelings about the quality of the seeds he was currently nibbling on as well.
Silas shrugged weakly before croaking out “The world’s not always so black and white… (cough) and sometimes, you have to do some ‘distasteful’ things to stay alive. I know you learned that much at least from Gaedren.” He paused to chuckle a bit before falling into another bout of coughing. Wiping away some bloody spittle with the back of his hand, he continued. “I don’t know where he is, he’s moving, but I know where he will be. On the first day of the Games, there’ll be a boat leaving the Old Dock (In Old Korvosa). Yargin and whoever else he bribed with Gaedren’s leftover money will be there.” Sighing for a moment as if a weight had been lifted off of him, he closed and eyes and asked, “So what now. (cough) You going to kill me? Let me go? Bring me to a docto-” he couldn’t finish as another aggressive coughing fit took hold of him...
Kurstin:
With a blast of runic power, the three homunculi in front of him were destroyed leaving nothing behind but a small pile of magical dust. Charging ahead as Ghost quickly followed behind – taking out one of the homunculi following him along the way – Kurstin made it to the top of the hill first to find the magical chest waiting patiently for him on the pedestal…
Please give me an Arcana and an Investigation check please!
Super Secret DM Rolls:
Zoldier’s Curse of the Crimson Throne: DM/ Redii || Zoldier's Strange Aeon's: DM
Hoghead says to Danse "Look, I already spent 100 gold on this idiot. I'm not paying for no doctor. He's good as dead anyway. I say we carry him out and dump him in an alley somewhere. Then we can either get the rest of the crew and go after Yargin or do it ourselves. I don't know the guy or have a beef with him personally but I've got your back and if he needs killin, I'd be happy to help."
Arcana: 18 Investigation: 6 (will write up actions/reactions tomorrow based on results and DM's response. But you gotta love double 19 rolls!! =)
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Zoldier's Curse of the Crimson Throne
Kurstin:
Looking at the chest, Kurstin was able to quickly determine two things. One: Spotting three keyholes (one of which seemed to be transforming in front of his eyes into a sketch of a keyhole), Kurstin was able to quickly determine that it probably required multiple people to open. Two: The chest was alive. He determined this knowledge when he looked down at the chest and a kindly face looked back up at him in return. "Hello," The chest called out Kurstin nonchalantly, as if seeing an old acquaintance. "Can I help you with something?"
Zoldier’s Curse of the Crimson Throne: DM/ Redii || Zoldier's Strange Aeon's: DM
Kurstin was a more than a bit surprised when the chest actually talked to him, although it was precisely something the University would pull on their students! "Good day!" he responded happily. It never cost anything or hurt anyone to be polite, after all.
"It appeared that reaching you was the goal of this little exercise - although now it seems I need the other students to complete the challenge. Is this accurate?" The artificer continued studying the creature, and then suddenly followed his last question with, "Are you a mimic? Or a clever illusion?"
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Zoldier's Curse of the Crimson Throne
Kurstin:
"Well aren't you polite! And no, I am no mimic or illusion; just me!" The chest began brightly. "And indeed you are correct. You cannot 'unlock' me as things currently stand. Whenever the proper conditions are met, I will give you your final test!"
Zoldier’s Curse of the Crimson Throne: DM/ Redii || Zoldier's Strange Aeon's: DM
"Right..." Kurstin says, then looks about the testing area. He sends GHOST to the further student - maybe the girl - with new orders to assist her in reaching the chest. He also loads a healing program in in case the girl was injured (if needed, GHOST will transmit Kurstin's Cure Wounds spell...) GHOST hums and beeps in recognition of the new task, then floats quickly towards her location, blasting any small homunculi in the way.
As GHOST moves off, Kurstin looks down to the other student he caused to slip down and calls out to him, "Sorry about that, mate - I thought this was a race! Looks like we all need to be here to open the next part of the test! Do you need any help to get up here?"
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Zoldier's Curse of the Crimson Throne
Kurstin:
(For expediencies sake)
GHOST slowly floated down the hill in the direction of the third student, it's directive clear in assisting her in any way possible to return to it's creator. Blasting a few nosy homunculi out of the way, the magical creation was able to find the girl on the ground, a bit dazed but otherwise alright. Releasing a spray to numb any ailments and jolt her senses, GHOST waited patiently for the girl to come to before beeping in a manner that loosely translated as "follow me" and slowly floating back in Kurstin's direction.
Meanwhile, the other student he was competing with gingerly rose to his feet as he rubbed his head in pain. "Is that so? In that case, can you help me get rid of these things then..." he replied back before pointing towards the small group of six homunculi standing before him. Though they continued to block his path forward, they did not seem as aggressive as they once were, as if reaching the summit had made them more docile...
Zoldier’s Curse of the Crimson Throne: DM/ Redii || Zoldier's Strange Aeon's: DM
(Mobile. Sorry on the delay - been extremely busy!)
In response to Silas, Danse let out a mirthful chuckle. “You also have to do some pretty distasteful things to have me remove the burden of your head from your shoulders,” Danse replied. He paused. “But, you know - I killed Gadsden; I won’t hesitate to kill another of his. Here’s the deal; you provided me the information you wanted to about Yargin, right? That’s fine with me. That’s all I wanted to know. If you’re struggling with coin, I’ll give you enough to get by for some time - if you don’t die before I call a doctor, that is. You can do all the shady business you want after - I don’t judge, but Yargin - and all of Gaedren’s men - are off limits, you hear?” Only then did Danse notice how much of a bad state Silas was in. Well, that was unfortunate.
Danse turned and raised a brow at Fargrim’s words, distorting the tattoos inked across his face in the process. “You spent that coin, and I thank you for that. He’s an ******* who wanted to help Yargin escape.” Danse paused again - his lips press together. “But, you know, he was one of what I was - Gaedren’s Lambs, and something about leaving him in a dumpster, covered in scars, would make me more like Gaedren than anything else. It’s exactly what Gaedren did to me. Quite literally.” Danse whistled, commanding his rather selfish owl to rise and sweep around the vicinity in search of a clinic or anyone else possibly skilled in medicine. He would need to ask the bartender for some of those seeds.
To Danse: "Suit yourself. We'll find him a doctor then. I'm learning to be less cold but it doesn't come easy. I would have tied up this loose end if I was by myself. Maybe you're right to help him. We may need him again for something. People remember when you save their lives."
Fargrim twirls his hammer in his hand. "Sooo... How do you want to handle Yargin? You want to get the band back together or handle it ourselves?"
Kurstin moves warily down the hill towards the other student, holding a small metal disk in his hand to apply an electrical shock to any constructs that get too close to him (Shocking Grasp). "Sorry about the anti-adhesive gel I tossed at you earlier...I thought this was an individual competition! Come on - there's a surprise waiting for us at the top - he's quite friendly! The other girl should be joining us soon - then we'll see what the final challenge is." With a helping hand for the boy and a shocking one for adversaries, the two make their way up the hill to the chest waiting for them.
When the girl arrives, Kurstin will wave her up and smile, calling out, "Come on - apparently all three of us need to be here to get the final challenge. I'm Kurstin, by the way."
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
Zoldier's Curse of the Crimson Throne
Kurstin:
"Congratulations on making it this far!" The chest began as brightly as ever as the three students came into view. "Your final challenge is quite short: answer one simple riddle. 'When used it can open doors, but it is not a key. It takes not just one, but more than thee. What is the greatest magic of all?'"
Zoldier’s Curse of the Crimson Throne: DM/ Redii || Zoldier's Strange Aeon's: DM