The Secret of Trottelburg IC

[sciencepanda]

Boris lets out another enraged bellow at the dagger that is now embedded in his shoulder, but remains perched on the ceiling.

[CWater]

Seeing that the Boris flees to the ceiling (with her weapon, I presume) Irethírra grabs her shortbow from her back instead and attempts to shoot at the creature. She glances shortly at the injured Meeka, but focuses then at the monster.

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Attack: (1d20+3)[10]
Damage: (1d6)[6]

[Lin Bayaseda]

Telim grimaces at the disturbing sight of the monster scurrying on the ceiling.

We'll squash you like the bug you are!

Stretching to his full height, he reaches out to bring Boris down with his axe.

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(1d20+2)[13], damage (1d8+3)[4]; I took into account the -2 to attack

[Parlity]

Meeka

Lips bared in a snaggly-toothed snarl, Meeka grips her longspear with both hands and jabs at the Boris.

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(1d20+1)[8] damage (1d8+3)[10] her longspear has 10' reach. -2 penalty included.

[MarvinMartian]

Randolf holds his fear at bay and plucks another dagger from his bandoleer. With more confidence than his first throw, he aims at the Boris monster and releases.

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Attack roll: (1d20+6)[11](17)
Damage: (1d3+3)[3](6)

[sciencepanda]

Boris bobs and weaves along the ceiling, narrowly dodging the blows from Irethírra, Telim and Meeka. However, Randolf's thrown knife hits true, striking him directly across the chest.

Boris is on his last legs now, a bleeding mess with two daggers stuck in his chest and Irethírra's weapon still entwined in his armor. With a cry, he drops from the ceiling, lashing his legs out and grazing them against Telim's face.

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Attack: (1d20+5)[9]
Damage (1d3+2)[3]

Fort save to avoid being poisoned. DC 15.

Boris crouches defensively, like a rat in a corner, while his eye-tentacle darts back and forth, sensing from person to person.

[CWater]

Irethírra's face shows no emotion as she draws a new arrow and fires it at the malformed creature.

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Attack: (1d20+3)[6]
Damage: (1d6)[2]

[Lin Bayaseda]

Telim is taken aback for a second by the sudden attack, and only at the last moment is able to regain his balance and parry the monstrous appendage with his shield.

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AC 18, so he doesn't hit

He strikes again with his axe.

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(1d20+4)[17], dmg (1d8+3)[8] <---- oooh, looks like a solid hit

[sciencepanda]

Irethírra's arrow flies straight for Boris's face. However with one quick motion, Boris snatches the arrow out of the air with his remaining good hand.

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Yikes, sorry CWater, you haven't been having the best luck with attack rolls.

Boris's smug grin of satisfaction is cut short, however when Telim follows the arrow's pursuit, lunging forward with his axe and landing a direct hit into Boris's torso.

With his last breath, Boris whispers,

"The Consumption...will continue..."

And with that, he coughs loudly, his moth slowly oozing black sludge. Boris collapses to the ground, his fur hat falling off in the process. His claws twitch rapidly for a split second, and then hang loose. His eye-tentacle dangles lifelessly. He is no more.

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Congrats for winning your first encounter! 500 XP for everyone!

Once again, the room is still, save for the unconscious woman on the bed's slow groans.

[CWater]

Irethírra walks towards the fallen Boris and picks up her ritiik. The weapon is still stuck on the monsters armor, but since she is used to handling the weapon she manages to remove it. If the blade is bloody or has...other contaminants on itself, she looks for something to clean it with.

"...Does anyone of you have any idea what that creature was?" She asks in a stoic voice.

[Lin Bayaseda]

As much as Telim was interested in the inner workings of the Boris, the living came first.

Meeka, you're injured! Do you need healing?

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Assuming Meeka doesn't object, Telim casts Cure Light Wounds (trades in Cause Fear), for (1d8+1)[2] <---

[Parlity]

Meeka

Yes thank you!

Meeka cries out gratefully and tries to hug Telim. She slowly picks up her club and puts it back in her belt and then walks to the fallen Boris and studies it. Her face is blank while she thinks about Irethirra's question.

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Knowledge(nature) (1d20+2)[19] (arcana) (1d20+2)[16] (planes) (1d20+2)[22]

[MarvinMartian]

Randolf

Randolf walks up to the abomination that called itself Boris and retreives his daggers from its corpse. He inspects them carefully for damage and cleans them off on Boris's shirt.

Next Randolf methodically begins searching the body. Turning to the others he barely hides his disgust at touching the body, but says

Should check if we can find any clues on the body that may help our understanding of this situation...Distasteful as that might be...

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Search: (1d20+5)[11](16)

We should also be quick about it, as all the bellowing and noise our battle made with the Boris might bring others to investigate...Perhaps someone can keep an eye out on the road outside?

[CWater]

"I will do that" Irethírra answers to Randolfs question. "I have a better night vision than you or...Telim" It takes her a moment to remember the priests name. "And Meeka is injured."

Without saying another word the elf walks out to the road. She leaves the front door slightly ajar and keeps an eye on the surroundings.

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Now, dear forum roller, still dislike me?

Listen: (1d20+2)[12] Spot: (1d20+2)[12]

[Lin Bayaseda]

Telim

The priest squeezes his temples, mumbles a few words, and carefully observes the remains of Boris. He's not just looking at them, but seems like able to gleam something beyond them.

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Cast Detect Magic; if there's magic emanating from Boris, Spellcraft (1d20+4)[11] to identify the school(s) of magic and spell(s) used.

After finishing up with Boris, might as well check if anything else in the house emanates magic.

[sciencepanda]

The house itself does not appear to contain an unusual levels of magic beyond the norm for the region. However, the examination of Boris's body wields bizarre results.

A normal living being contains at least a basic aura of magic contained in their bodies. This base magic naturally stays in their core and does not move unless the being casts magic or dies. Boris's aura however extends from his body, and seems to web out into various directions outside. Even as his inert magic begins to fade following his death, this unusual effect is still easily read by Telim's magic.

While his body shape and general texture of skin is normal for for a human of his age and nationality, that is largely where the similarities end. The various joints on his body seem to be divided into segments, separated by black, chitinous gaps. His torso lacks a navel, and seems to be divided into a series of segmented ridges, which are easily pushed back and forth. Removal of his boots shows that his toes have been totally displaced, being pushed towards the side of the feet where they grow into longer insectile talons.

Most horrifying however, is what is found at the top of his head. At first glance, it looks as if the top of his skull has been cut clean off, but on further examination, the large gaping hole in his cranium appears to be natural. Inside, instead of some form of normal brain tissue, is a flesh colored ribbon like object, wound around three greenish knobs. Looking even closer however is the worse part of all: The spiraled ribbon-like object in his head seems to be made of human skin, and contains occasional human traits--the remnants of a facial structure, distorted in what must be a cry of agony, and the occasional finger or toe sticking outward. An utterly gruesome sight.

Meeka considers. This is clearly some sort of extraplanar entity, She is reminded of stories of invading mind flayers, horribly creatures who insert parasites into the living in order to convert them into more of their own. However, while the general method seems to be similar, this is clearly not the work of an illithid. The mind flayers do not form themselves into mockeries of their host species, and they are at least fully lucid and intelligent during their attacks. This being, she is unsure if it is truly intelligent, or just somehow pretending to be.

[MarvinMartian]

Randolf

Randolf shakes his head in bafflement. Part of him is worried that they are stretching their luck remaining in this location with all of the racket the Boris made while they battled with it, the other part is concerned with the health of his...its...the sick woman in back. He is unsure what has a higher priority...

Making up his mind, Randolf turns to the others...

Um...aah... I think we should be leaving here as quickly as possible. The noise of our battle with the Boris is bound to draw attention. I also am unsure how us getting caught with this thing here is going to help anyone.

With some disgust Randolf nudges the hideous corpse at his feet.

We should head for the house on the outskirts of town as quickly as possible. Perhaps then we can discover something more effective to help these villagers.

[Lin Bayaseda]

Telim

You're right, we must go. Just give me a minute here, please.

Telim examines the sick woman, trying to discern ways to alleviate her condition, and whether medical attention could be of any help to her at all. He wishes he paid more attention during the Brother Bonifacius' First Aid course.

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Heal check (1d20+1)[10]

If this proves futile, he adjusts her pillows and is ready to go.

[sciencepanda]

The woman coughs and sputters, but remains unconscious. Soon however, her arm begins to twitch slightly. Without opening her eyes or getting up, she begins to reach around, as if feeling for something. Soon, her hand grasps the feeding tube. Slowly, she begins to drag it toward her, in the direction of her mouth. This entire process seems to be be painful for her, and it seems to be practically a miracle that she can even move at all.

[Parlity]

Meeka

It's an extraplanar entity. Like a mind flayer and not a mind flayer. They insert parasites in the living to convert them into more of their own.

Before it attacked, it was like it was talking to others. You're right, we should go.


Meeka grabs the woman, butts her head into the woman's side and drags the sick woman on top of her shoulders and backpack as she lifts her up.

"Let's hurry," she sputters, moving slowly to the door.

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Meeka can lift the woman if the woman is less than 170 lbs.

[sciencepanda]

The sickly woman does not make any sort of struggle as she is carried out into the cold night air. By this point, it is far past midnight, and the moon is hidden behind the clouds. The group continues down the road in the direction the domovoi had pointed them in.

After twenty-so minutes of walking, you come to the towns wall. The red brick is hard to make out and feels cool to the touch. This section of the town is much more sparsely populated than the rest, and consists mostly of small shacks, with the occasional piece of debris littering on the grass. The road forks in two, with one way pointing to the left where the domovoi had directed in, and the right path going further into town.

[MarvinMartian]

Randolf

As quietly as he can, Randolf whispers to his campanions -

I guess we take the left-hand fork...

[sciencepanda]

After much walking, you finally come to the house that the domovoi spoke of. Upon your first glance of it, it is easy to understand why he described it as "strange". The building is large and dome-shaped, with a ridged opening at the top, where a large tubelike mechanism extends outward. The dome is surrounded on all sides by multiple windows of varying size, shape and color. It also features multiple chimneys, all of which bellow out multicolored smoke. Numerous large metal tubes extend out of the sides of the house and into the ground.

The grounds outside of the house are well maintained, but minimal. The grass seems to have been recently cut, and their is a small doorless shack to the side, which seems to contain a variety of strange gears, mechanisms and whosamacallits.

The door to the house is slightly ajar. The inside of the house seems to be lit, and there is a faint clanging noise coming from inside as well.

[Parlity]

Meeka

She gently lays the sick woman down on the grass.

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listen (1d20+1)[7]

[sciencepanda]

From inside the house, Meeka can here a series of clicks and clangs. Every so often, she can hear a faint voice, saying things such as,

"Ok! Now pull zat level zere!"

[CWater]

Irethírra eyes the extraordinary house.

An inventor or something similiar? Hmh, one never knows what they might come up next. Strange folk they are, no wonder the domovoi considered him weird.

"Well? Shall we go inside? There is little point in standing out here."

[MarvinMartian]

Agreed!

Randolf walks up to the crack formed by the slightly a-jar door. Briefly he looks back at the others, then turns and knocks soundly on the door. Peering inside he calls out,

Uum..sorry...um...Excuse me! Is someone home...

[sciencepanda]

The inside of the house is larger than one would expect from viewing it from the outside, but this extra space seems to be a necessity, as it is absolutely cluttered. Fabulous devices, each more magnificent and bizarre than the last fill the room. Test tubes filled with iridescent liquid bubble steam, and jars containing the preserved remains of odd creatures can also be viewed.

In the far corner of the room, standing by a large rectangular window is a tall male figure. Upon closer inspection, the figure is actually a tall man, seemingly made of interlocking metal plates. The metal man stands facing a birdcage on the windowsill. Gingerly, he inserts his index finger in between the bars of the cage. The bird inside, a small sparrow of some sort, chirps for a moment, and then hops upon the metal man's finger.

You are distracted from this odd sight when you discover the source of the clanging noise heard from outside. To your right is another male figure. This one is short and thin, and hunched over some odd silver box-shaped device, the act of which obscures his face. He wears an oil-stained labcoat which must have been white at some point, and his balding head contains several odd threads of long grey hair, which shoot off in odd directions. This man tinkers with the device further, then says;

"AHA! Ze mechanism is almost complete!"

Without looking up, he holds out his hand his hand out in Telim's direction.

"01-X, fetch the crescent wrench, will you? Haha! I may have zis done just in time for scones!"

[Lin Bayaseda]

Telim

Good evening, sir. We're sorry to disturb you, and even more sorry we didn't bring a crescent wrench. We do, however, have news of most grave importance, if you're willing to listen.

[sciencepanda]

The man glances up in Telim's direction for a second, and then does a double take. You can see now that he wears thick glasses, and one of his eyes is missing, replaced by one made of glass.

"Wait, you are not 01-X, are you. Just give me a moment, give me a moment."

The man walks over to a pile of tools and begins violently sorting through them. Eventually he fishes out his wrench and returns to work on his mechanism. After a few seconds of adjusting, he seems satisfied. He presses a button on the machine's side, and a large jet of steam issues out. He begins to cackle maniacally.

"AHAHAHAHA! At last! My greatest creation is complete!"

The scientist reaches into a small flap on the side of the machine and pulls out a small vial filled with dark brown liquid. He downs the fluid in one gulp.

"Ah!" he shouts, "Perfect expresso! My favorite!"

He finally turns to face the group.

Now. My name iz Professor Friedrick Eisenhardt. Just what can I help you folks with?