Across the Trackless Sea...

[InsanityJK]

Here we go...


You are currently waiting to see the Amnian Council of Five, for they have summoned you. The fine sculptures and paintings covering the walls accompany the coffered ceiling. Several columns protrude from the floor, supporting the ceiling above. It is truly a marvelous work of architecture, a perfect example of the wealth of the merchant nation of Amn. With its many colonies, it is one of the more powerful regions which lay on the western coast of Toril. A human, rather small for his race calls your names, reading them off a beautifully crafted piece of paper, glances up, and his eyebrows arch in surprise, but he recovers quickly and beckons for you to come in, bowing his head as he does so.

[Agent S7]

Shordon nods politely, not entirely sure of himself. He'd been to great cities before, but this one...this one took the cake. Beautiful architectually, fantastically rich, adorned with so much art! Shordon had read musty old tomes in his pursuit of battle-lore, some of which had told of the nation of Amn's beauty. But truly it had to be seen to believed.

He continues onward into the chamber, nervous out of his mind. What on earth would the Council of Five want with me, of all people? Or of any of us, for that matter! Just a bunch of new friends who met during a barfight and sealed their companionship with an out-of-tune, hoarse drinking song from that Nashkel place, down in the Sword Coast. Hardly sounds heroic to me.

Still, despite Shordon's self doubt, the wiser part of him knows that something is going on. This wiser part can hear the call of adventure like a sailor hears the sweet song of the sea, and reveres it just as much.

By the time he walks into the chamber he has gotten control of his nerves, appearing the handsome, smiling and confident halfling he is on the best of his days.

[Mike_the_Mystic]

Lucien nodded and walked forward. Though he had never been in a big city before, he wasn feeling as excited as his Halfling collegue. He perfered the quiet tone of the country, as well as the monastery. While he walked along with his newfound friends, he remembers the few days before, when they met. They were in a pub, not even knowing eachother's existence, save for Triak and himself, Triak was bargaining a deal with the paladin, and some drunkard said the wrong things to the warlock. Had it not been for Lucien's interferance, Triak would have a nice big shiner, or worse. However when the whole of the group stood up to defend them, Lucien couldn't have felt more Humbled. He was a Tiefling, an outcast amongst the people of this land. He was also a follower of bahamut, a god not worshipped by most of the people. Such ability to help when the helpless were totally alien, that was courage. And Lucien felt that such courage was staggeringly powerful. He happily remembered the rest of them getting drunk that night, while he just sat at the bar, drinking water. He would be their guide to the right road, the moral compass. These were the thoughts he was thinking as he followed.

[greenstave]

Lan

Lan had traveled far in his 98 years of existance, and he intended to travel a great deal more over the centuries. The wanderlust is strong in him, and that curiosity of nature and life does not allow him to remain in one place for too long. He had spent some time in Amn already, specifically in it's forrests. The rumors of a green dragon had brought him, and hold his attention for now. Imagine his surprise when a fight errupts around him over two tieflings. Lan could recognize their heritage instantly, but they did no wrong by what he could say, and were undeserving of the attention they were receiving. Lan quickly drew his bow, and drew the ire of a rather large, bald, and tattood brawler. He will have to watch for him in the future.

For now, he had been summuneby by the Council of Five. As a merchant state, surely the relocation of one elf to their forrests, and one minor bar fight could be no reason for a summons. Lan is curious about this, too. So with his new friends...something Lan has had few of over the years....he goes forward keeping a watchful eye on his companions, and their surroundings.

[Awesomologist]

Rutger Zend

Rutger relaxed as he leaned against a column and waited to be summoned. He was used to long waits before going out to going out into a pit fight. His only fear was that he would need to try and escape if they wanted to send him back to Calimshan. Rutgers closes his eyes and goes over the route to this chamber in his head. Triak would understand, the tiefling had been traveling with Rutger for some time. He wouldn't expect the tiefling to come with him, but he figured Triak wouldn't help any would be captors.

[slurpz]

Triak

The tiefling leans back against a column, seemingly relaxed. His eyes, however, never stop scanning the room. As Triak hears his name called, he follows the human. Never too cautious, Triak summons eldritch flames to his hands as he walks into the unknown.

[InsanityJK]

The human waits patiently as you all walk into the room behind him, but stops Triak and asks him to follow him.

[slurpz]

Triak

Raising an eyebrow, Triak nonetheless follows the human.

[InsanityJK]

@ slurpz: The human seems rather edgy and throws occasional glances at you and leads you to yet another door flanked by guards and he scampers away as the guards charge towards you...

@everyone else: The chamber is awe-inspiring, and in front of you sits 13 men and women of various races, among them humans, halflings and others. The guards flanking the doorway shut the door behind you and stand at attention. One of the Council looks down at you from his raised seat and says, "You five demonstrated fighting skills the other day at the Golden Tankard Inn. And so, after much consideration, we have given you the honor of being hired by us. You will of course be well paid for your work, but you must fulfill just a few requirements." He didn't speak loudly, for he had no need to, his voice rang throughout the room, resonating as it traveled into your ears. It was quite soothing and rather contradicted his appearance. He had a long scar running from his temple to his chin. Its pale white stood out from the rest of his bronze skin. His face was weathered and his black eyes were bottomless pools of experience. He looks at you with those black eyes of his, compelling you to answer, for he was truly a man of great power.

[slurpz]

Triak

Already expecting such a response as most of his interactions with townsfolk have been hostile, Triak throws up one hand to send reddish mists towards the nearest guard, while raising himself. It almost seems like the guard's very soul was quivering under the assault as Triak stares imperiously at him, licking his lips.

Spoiler

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Move: Shift 5 feet back
Minor: Curse nearest guard
Standard: Your Delicious Weakness
(2d6+13)[21] psychic damage + (1d6)[2] curse damage. If guard is vulnerable to any damage, change it to that vulnerable type

Doh forgot to roll attack.

[slurpz]

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Of course, I forgot the most important part. The attack roll

(1d20+10)[30]

[slurpz]

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Woohoo! Rolling to confirm crit. (1d20+10)[26]

If a crit, then it does 31 damage. Otherwise it does 23.

[InsanityJK]

Red is you, blue is guards, green and yellow are the rooms and the light blue is a hallway, there is a door between the hallway and the yellow room.

The crit comfirms and the guard is severely bloodied, but is still determined to bring you down.

Guard 1 (bloodied): init: 24

Guard 2: init: 22

The uninjured one yells at you, "Surrender, you law-breaking scum!"

[InsanityJK]

blue squares move to nearest square adjacent to Triak. The wounded one swings at you, yelling wildly, his halberd misses by a foot, but the other human sweeps his own weapon beneath your feet, knocking you prone and doing a full 11 damage.

[slurpz]

Triak

As the guard struck Triak, the tiefling seems to explode in rage.

In a tight spot now, the tiefling throws up his hand to send reddish mists towards the other guard while scampering towards the hallway.

Still on the ground, he holds up both hands and the reddish mists that surrounded the guards suddenly grow multiple mouths that start biting the guards.

Spoiler

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Immediate Interrupt: Infernal Wrath

Minor: Curse the other guard (both guards are cursed now)
Move: Shift east into the hallway
Standard: Cursebite (hits both guards since both are cursed)

on the "healthy" guard: vs. Fort - (1d20+12)[21], (2d8+14)[26] + (2d6)[9] damage
on the wounded guard: vs. Fort - (1d20+12)[15], (2d8+14)[27] + (2d6)[4] damage

By the way, I forgot to mention that I get +2d6 damage on that other confirmed crit because of my pact blade. (2d6)[6] damage from before on that wounded guard

[slurpz]

Triak

Without pausing, the tiefling glares at the other guard. The guard's face turns ashen as Triak's pact blade glows a dark red.

Spoiler

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Spend an action point

Standard: Twilight of the soul

against the "healthy" guard: vs. Will - (1d20+12)[32], (2d6+15)[22] + 10 ongoing damage (-2 on saves against the ongoing damage)

[slurpz]

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Threatened crit: (1d20+12)[29]

If it is a crit, do an additional (2d6)[5] damage.

[slurpz]

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er. Let me reroll the Curse damage on both attacks there.

(1d6)[2]
(1d6)[6]

EDIT: Total damage on the guards so far:

Guard A: 31 (maximized) + 6 (pact blade) + 22 + 2 (curse) = 61
Guard B: 27 + 6 (curse) + 27 (maximized) + 5 (pact blade) = 65

[InsanityJK]

Both guards collapse in front of you, their eyes widened in surprise. You can hear one wheezing, but the other's finger is twitching, proving that they are still alive.

You see the door the guards were guarding open, the heavy gold swinging and then coming to a swift halt before it slams against the wall. You hear footsteps approaching you and soon, you can see a man in red and purple robes approach you, he is wizened and walks with a staff, it is simple and wooden, and it echoes as it pounds against the floor, the eladrin comes to a halt 35 feet away and smiles. He kicks one of the guards and smirks. He drops his staff, letting it clatter against the floor. He claps and says, "Well done Tiefling."

[slurpz]

Triak

The tiefling pushes off from the ground and brushes some dust off. He stares levelly at the old man and says, "If this is your idea of a welcoming party..."

He leaves the statement unfinished as he continues to stare at the man. "So what's with the 'law-breaking scum' business?"

Spoiler

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Insight - (1d20+8)[20]

And uh. The second guard I hit is going to die if he doesn't save. Yay for ongoing damage.

Is Triak a law breaking scum now for attacking guards and (possibly) killing a guard?

[InsanityJK]

Insight: The man is pleasantly surprised, and means no harm, however, you sense that he is experienced, and never leaves an opening for attack.

The old man arches his eyebrows, but quickly recovers. "I'm guessing you're not from around here. Well, it just so happens that using arcane magic without being in the Emerald Cabal is illegal. That was indeed your welcoming party."
Suddenly, you hear one of the guards wheeze and lift his head off the ground, his face turning purple; his eyes open wide and then he collapses back onto the ground, no longer wheezing.
The old man looks down at the guard, nudging his head with his foot, "I despise incompetence. Anyhow, well done; your mastery of the arcane arts is admirable. Our organization is somewhat lacking in members after the last rebel attack, if you would like, I could induct you into our organization after a series of tests. We could guarantee your protection, for these are dangerous times, assassins are everywhere, looking for criminals, looking to collect the bounty.

[slurpz]

Triak

"Arcane?" Triak laughs, absolutely no emotion in it. "Arcane?"

The tiefling summons a ball of eldritch power to his hand and just lets the ball hover there. "This is arcane power? No, poor man, this is simply an embodiment of my spite... and anger... and darknessssss..." As he spat the last three words, the eldritch flames held over his hand swells in power at the beginning of each word. At the drawn out "darkness", the ball seems to lose control and extends into an eldritch blast aimed at the ceiling between Triak and the old man.

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Intimidate - (1d20+15)[30]

I know that technically from the PHB, the warlock's power source is "Arcane", but Triak's definition of Arcane is less of a pact based power, and more of an elemental "wizardy" power.