Artifacts of Shianna II

[Falcon777]

Cadeyrn's eyes widened as he saw Killian falling to the ground from Aden's blow. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, sound dieing out, Velka dashing forward but taking forever, Ariana's arrow only slowly leaving her bow on a straight line toward Aden. Then Killian hit the ground and time resumed.

"KILLIAN!!!!!!" Cadeyrn screamed out. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU ADEN HAWK! MAGIC MISSILE!"

Spoiler: Mechanics

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magic missile damage: (2d4+2)[5]
possible bypass of sr (1d20+4)[8]

[Samshiir]

Arianna's arrow spiraled through the air at Aden. The commander swing his bone gauntlet to from right to left, connecting with the shaft of the arrow, splintering it into a dozen miniature pieces.

Cadeyrn's missiles blasted away from his stretched palms and struck Aden with so much force that he was knocked backward and had landed on his knees.

A rush of silvery fire burst from Velka into Killian, healing his mundane injuries enough to bring him back to consciousness.

Spoiler: Killian:

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Stand up, you fool! You cannot let yourself fall now! Fight! FIGHT!

The Killian that you remember slaughtering Aden the first time has returned.

Killian Deckard punches the ground, then pushes with all his might to force himself to rise from the ground.

He seems to be speaking to himself faintly, "Stand up, you fool... You cannot let yourself fall now.... Fight... Fight...."

He rests the tip of his sword on the ground for balance, pushes upward on that to stand up the rest of the way. The man looks like living Hell. His normally serious, blue eyes are now absent and intensely red, almost as if the man isn't even in his own head right now.

Spoiler: Killian:

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Now in a full stance with Aden Hawk on his knees before you, you arc your icy bastard sword behind you. You feel its weight in the palms of your hands, ready to strike. The muscles in your arms bulge as they convert the motion of your sword from arcing backward into forward momentum. Reverberations spread throughout your body as your sword hits, and cleaves completely through, Aden's armor. Aden's cold, undead blood splashes against your face, body, and sword.

You feel each of these sensations over and over again as you continually strike Aden's now truly dead corpse. You feel strong. Powerful. Like a conduit of power for a God.

The God's power that is surging through you, however, is not the power of Boldrei. It is dark, twisted, and evil. It feels Good.

Killian kills Aden Hawk with the first blow, but does not stop there. Another half dozen swings cause the man's blood to spray in every direction.

A dark essence emits from Hawk's corpse, ghastly, incorporeal, and completely black. It quickly rises into the sky, high above the forest's trees. There it hovers for a split second, then jets away to the west at the speed ten times faster than the Lightning Rail.

The undead creatures, unlike after Aden's first death, are suddenly enraged. The undead troll, in its sudden fit of rage, stumbles randomly about, searching for a target to crush.

Spoiler: Troll's blind attack:

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(1d20+9)[20]
Damage: (1d6+9)[13]

Target: (1d4)[3]
1= Killian
2= Velka
3= Arianna
4= Cadeyrn

Blind check: (1d2)[2]
1= Hit (If original attack above would hit target)
2= Miss

Alimov: The mass of zombies along the sides of the ship become horribly enraged and are tearing away at the ship's wood even faster now, which only forces Incalasance's concentration on the defense of the ship to be that much more difficult.

The dryad is attempting to give you instructions about the airship as she is magically combating the undead all over her airship. "Alimov- ungh!- You must connect! Your mind to-- The element- Aaagh!" She is cut off because a zombie forced its way through her defenses and cut her with its elongated claws.

With a flap of his wings and a loud hiss, Rossal leaps from your shoulder onto the zombie in attempt to defend Incalasance. A whirlwind of zombie and dragon claws and teeth engage each other as Incalasance melds instantly into the ship with her dryadic powers to escape.

Additional zombies are attempting to enter the room, and are mere moments from succeeding in their task.

The entire party can hear masses of zombies breaking into the entire lower level of the ship. The screams and yells of the undead warriors echo up and down the hallway and stairwell.

[RandomWombat]

Not clear on what to do, Wallel grips the core and focuses on trying to connect to the air elemental. Clearing his mind of all else, he pictures wild winds and storm clouds lifting them up into the sky, scattering the zombies forcefully into the trees and driving them into the ground as the whirlwind surrounds the ship. All he can do is hope it's something the elemental would pick up on.

And he really starts getting into the simulated storm. Undead abominations snap like twigs against the, well, twigs. There is a crack of thunder in Wallel's mind - or is that real? - and he finds himself cackling. Maybe it wasn't the electricity that cracked. A thrill rushes through his body. The taste of cold blood is still in his mouth, and it suddenly feels like he's been doused in ice water. Everything suddenly alive and jumping to action. He laments. Maybe let some in? More prey to be hunted. No; those already inside will suffice. Don't want to be surrounded. Tactically unsound. The core chamber is a good choke point, but only if no more compromise it with additional entrances. There will always be more later. Syree got away. There will be more blood and battle before the end. Focus on the task at hand.

Snapping back to reality, Wallel looks alertly from side to side to examine the results of the attempt.

Spoiler: OOC

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Not sure what to roll. Will make a Concentration check; if it's something else, alter the modifier as necessary.
Applying a Hero Point for +8.

(1d20+10)[30]

If a roll is not necessary, let me know and I'll refund myself that point.

[Ionbound]

Arianna cries out, "NO!" when she sees Killian fall, and begins running towards him, easily hopping out of the way of the troll's blind swing as she runs, trying and failing to tackle him before he brutalizes Hawk, instead stopping and saying, "Killian...Stop. This isn't you."

[AttilaTheGeek]

Droplets of Hawk's blood fly from my blade as I spin towards Ariana. With a crazed, feral glare, I lift my sword and roar. "Aden Hawk is dead, and I killed him! Do you hear me? I won! I killed him!" I hoist my sword into the air to punctuate my proclamation. My expression twists into a sardonic smile for a moment before descending into pure rage. "I almost died, yet here I stand, a killer and a victor. Hawk was a war criminal- how dare you say he didn't deserve this? And how dare you say this isn't my victory? I destroyed him! How dare you say this isn't WHO I AM!"

[Falcon777]

Cadeyrn's anger dissipated when Killian rose again. He then grimaced when Killian continued to strike at the corpse of Aden Hawk.


....


After which he recoiled in horror from Killian's words shouted at Ariana. "She...I...Killian?"

Cadeyrn has no words, he is completely and utterly flabbergasted.

[taurosking]

Velka is a little wierded out by the new psychotic Killian, but the thing on the top of his list right now is keeping everyone alive. To do that he needs to make sure all the zombie threats are eliminated.

Spoiler

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(1d20+6)[7] Damage: (1d8+4)[5] + (2d6)[8] (last round of flaming hammer, wish me luck)

[Samshiir]

The hurricane controlled by Alimov makes short work of the undead horde clawing at the sides of the ship. Zombies are ripped in half, thrown about, and crushed by flying debris by the gale of the storm. Meanwhile, the rest of the party in the center of the ship remain safe in the calm of the eye of the storm.

"Killian! Please stop!" Emerald yells at the verge of tears. "Don't do this!"

The airship slowly begins to lurch upward, throwing dirt and tree roots that has accumulated onto the buried hull over the last several decades. Once the ship is high enough, the air elemental, controlled by Alimov, forces its way under the ship to create an additional lift, increasing the rate at which the airship raises into the air.

The undead troll's eyes flash back to their regular colorless color, and the creature is now very angry.

Spoiler: Undead Troll's attacks

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VS. Ariana: (1d20+9)[27]
Damage: (1d6+9)[13]

VS. Velka: (1d20+9)[22]
Damage: (1d20+9)[27]

[Ionbound]

Arianna looks Killian in the eye and says, "Killian. You are a protector. Not a kille-Urgh!" as the troll's claw slams into her side, lifting her off of her feet for a brief moment as she struggles to draw and fire another magically-infused arrow.

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d20+6)[26]
(1d8+3)[7]

[RandomWombat]

His hands hovering near the control core of the ship, Wallel sets the airship on course to Breland, and the mark on the map that the group had chosen to pursue. Maneuvering to get a better view of the core chamber, he signals the air elemental to pull in leaves from the forest and blow them around the room.

Spoiler: OOC

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Setting course to Breland.

Sending leaves swirling around the room to reveal Syree if she's still on the ship and invisible, in the event she tries to infiltrate the core chamber.

[taurosking]

Velka is badly wounded but he is still more concerned with everyone else than himself.

Spoiler

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5 foot step away from the troll then cast burning hands, doing his best to angle the flames away from the party and the ship (reflex save of 15 for half, of course.) (4d4)[8]

[AttilaTheGeek]

Shocked by their immediate and unified response, I lower my blade and turn away. "You don't understand." I take a deep breath, try and fail to compose myself, and turn around to face the party. "I've fought Aden Hawk before, back in Vurgenslye. I knew then that I had to make sure he never killed, never tortured, never raised any undead ever again. I had to stop him, permanently, and I thought I saved every single person he would have hurt if he had lived by making sure he never got to them. But seeing him come back made me realize that I didn't finish the job. Allowing him to survive was a personal failure, and in doing so, the blood of everyone he's killed since then is on my hands. Now do you see why I have to destroy him completely? Now do you see why I have to BE SURE?

"And what if we don't destroy the body? What if someone finds the tiniest bit of Aden Hawk and resurrects him? What if, weeks or months or, Gods forbid, years from now, Hawk and I meet again? What if I find out that, because I didn't take this chance to incinerate every last fragment of Aden Hawk, he returns? From now on, if Hawk isn't truly dead, then it will be because of my failure to end him. If he lives, then all the pain, all the suffering, all the death he will have caused, will be my fault.

"I don't know if I could live with that."

Spoiler

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Killian delays his action to see if Cadeyrn finishes off the troll.

[Falcon777]

Cadeyrn easily noticed the troll attacking the party again. While he frowned a bit at what Killian had to say regarding his justification, he realized that the troll hadn't fell apart after Aden was...finished off.

"Talk later! We gotta take down this thing! Glitterdust!"

Spoiler: Mechanics

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If Cadeyrn is within the troll's attack range then he will take a five foot step away from it and cast glitter dust. If he isn't then he'll stay where he is and cast glitter dust. Also, the dc to resist it is 17 and not 16 since Cadeyrn has spell focus conjuration.

[Samshiir]

Cadeyrn's glitterdust doesn't blind the troll, but it does distract it long enough to allow Ariana's arrow to penetrate the beast's eye. While it throws its head back and roars, Velka quickly moves in to blast a wave of flame to reinforce the pain.

Then, after a few more moments of wailing, the beast slumps over in a terrible, flaming heap.

Emerald yelps and leaps half a foot off the ground and away from the troll as is hits the wooden deck of the ship.


Alimov: Syree is not in the control room, as far as the rapidly blowing leaves can tell.

Spoiler: OOC

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Taking 20 on a Perception check throughout the ship reveals, with a certain level of confidence, that Syree is no longer aboard the Soaring Eagle at all.

The Soaring Eagle shifts to one side as it slowly turns to the left, aligning itself to the direction of Breland- just south of due west. Once properly aligned, the ship picks up an remarkable speed for an object of its size, and the party is now officially on route to the next Artifact.

The Map of Shianna states that the Artifact in Breland is on the Lightning Rail approaching Sharn. The Rail will be in Sharn within a day, and the Soaring Eagle will be there in, given top speed, four days at the earliest.

[Ionbound]

Once the trolls slumps dead, Arianna sighs, clutching the deep wound left in her side, and angrily says to Killian "That logic...Is what Aden uses too. For the greater good? No...It's all about you. And...Even if he needs to die...Which I agree with...Why did you brutalize him?"

[RandomWombat]

Hoping that Syree is truly off licking her wounds, and not lying in wait somewhere, Wallel looks down towards the little dragonling. He nods his head at the walls of the ship, indicating Incalasance, and gives a questioning look. He wonders how injured the dryad is - and how damaged the ship itself is, for that matter. The rest of his focus is placed upon maintaining course, not wanting to confuse the elemental with unnecessary pondering. The buzz is slowly fading as the sounds and sights of battle are left behind.

[AttilaTheGeek]

I wish I could deliver an impassioned and persuasive response, but I just don't have the strength. Like Ariana, I'm too exhausted after the battle. I'm not persuading so much as I am pleading, but I can't conceal the fact that I'm hurt by her words. "All... about me? Ariana, don't you understand? I really am doing all this for the greater good! I really do want to protect the innocent! I really do want to... do the right thing."

Spoiler: For DM only

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I want the rest of this post, which consists of only the character's thoughts, to be hidden from all the other players (yes, players, that means OOC), but only for now. At some point in the future, when a certain important character event or reveal occurs, I will say "okay, go open the secret spoiler(s)", and you'll be able to see Killian's actions in a different light. Samshiir knows which event I'm talking about. However, this retrospective only works if the other players really, honestly, don't read the spoiler.

Spoiler: Samshiir only

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Spoiler: Seriously, don't read

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Spoiler: Really, it'll make the game better

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Spoiler: Are you sure?

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At the same time, I'm wondering if doing the right thing might include apprehending Ariana. She knows Hawk's logic? And she doesn't want me to destroy the body? We've dealt with shapeshifters before... How do I know she's not plotting against us? How do I know she's not on their side?She said she used to be an undead- what if she's under Hawk's control?!

No, Killian, that's crazy talk. Ariana's your friend! One of your best friends! She's saved your life a dozen times- she just killed that troll! And if not for her support, Killian and Marcus would have torn you to pieces. Where would you be without her? And if you didn't have the kind of good, rational advice she's giving... who would you be without her?

But... Ariana is a great friend. If I can't trust her, who can I trust?

[Ionbound]

Arianna shakes her head and says, "If that's so...Why didn't you stop when he died?"

[taurosking]

Velka cuts in on the conversation:"Not to cut in or anything, but could somebody maybe conjure up some water to put out the smoldering troll here? We are, after all on a giant WOODEN airship"

[Samshiir]

Arianna shakes her head and says, "If that's so...Why didn't you stop when he died?"

Emerald starts slowly, but begins speaking more confidently as she says, "Well...he did...kill Aden once...and that obviously didn't stop him, now did it? ...He was just ensuring the job was done right this time."



Alimov: Rossalucharonelsix has some scratched scales on his back, but is overall generally uninjured.

Incalasance melds back into the elemental core room again. She looks very worn down, but tries to disguise the flinching pain in her movements and her voice. "The airship is badly damaged, but intact. It will take a few weeks to regrow, but it is nothing I cannot manage. If you would like, I could use your assistance as a fellow Druid to heal the ship.

...You did good with the ship and the elemental by the way. I trust you, friend."

[RandomWombat]

The silent elf nods at Incalasance. While he has no restorative spells prepared at the moment, it would be easy enough to ready some in the morning to help restore the dryad and ship. Assuming the rest of his companions above had been successful of course, but the dryad would have warned him if that were not the case. It seemed they had won this battle. And now Wallel was back on a ship, not only as part of the crew but currently piloting it. Piloting an airship no less - if the pirates back home could see him now.

A slight pang in the elf's mouth irritates Wallel for a moment, and he rubs the stub of his tongue against some of his back teeth to get rid of the itch. The distraction gone he looks back over at the dryad and nods upwards to ask how things turned out up on deck. Any casualties or problems?

[AttilaTheGeek]

Emerald starts slowly, but begins speaking more confidently as she says, "Well...he did...kill Aden once...and that obviously didn't stop him, now did it? ...He was just ensuring the job was done right this time."

I'm glad there's another person who isn't afraid to do what has to be done. "Thank you, Emerald. At least someone gets it", I say, glaring at Ariana. Before she responds, I turn around and resume hacking up the body. "Does anyone have any fire?" I call out, to no one in particular. "We need to make sure no piece of Hawk survives."

[Ionbound]

Arianna shakes her head and says, "I don't think there's a point to that, even. Did you see the black streak that shot out of him when you killed him? I'd wager that he has another body waiting somewhere. He's probably already back."

[AttilaTheGeek]

Arianna shakes her head and says, "I don't think there's a point to that, even. Did you see the black streak that shot out of him when you killed him? I'd wager that he has another body waiting somewhere. He's probably already back."

At this point, I'm just exasperated. "Ariana, you're missing the point! Maybe he will come back regardless of what we do now, as much as I want to believe that's not the case. But what if destroying this body could stop him from returning? What if him escaping wasn't enough to revive him completely, or a trap, or a decoy? Isn't it worth doing whatever it takes for even the smallest chance of ending him once and for all?"

[Ionbound]

Arianna shakes her head and says, "Not when you have to turn your soul inside-out to do so. Killian...What happened to you? What happened to the man who almost destroyed himself when he found out we got to Vurgensyle too late to save almost everyone?"

[Falcon777]

Cadeyrn sighed before he stared at the corpse of Aden, thinking and grunting to himself.

"I think...." he began. "I think....that you both are correct. You are correct, Killian, in stating that it is important to ensure that Aden does not return. In that aspect fire would probably help you. However, Ariana has a point as well. You seemed to be attacking his corpse with glee instead of grim determination. Calling yourself a killer may be true in a strict sense...but so long as we are not directly fighting the forces of evil, shouldn't you want to consider a different option than killing? The point I'm making here is that while you may have a perfectly legitimate reason for destroying the corpse, declaring yourself a killer and taking joy in that identity isn't what the Killian that I know and trust would do."

Cadeyrn shook his head in frustration before sighing and moving towards the remaining corpses. "I suppose the least we can do to help out our Dryad friend now would be to dump these corpses overboard, though we probably ought to wait until we are over the sea. Here, Ariana if you could help me drag this troll and the rest of the zombies into a pile near the edge that would be great."

[taurosking]

"I can make a very small flame, but I don't really think we should burn things on the wooden airship." Velka replies to Killian's previous question. He starts to help drag the previously undead, now very dead, corpses towards the rail of the ship "We shouldn't throw these overboard until we can guarantee that we aren't going to hit someone below. I'm sure the last thing farmer Jim wants is some random corpse falling from the sky and crushing his dairy barn." Velka is neutral on Killian's wonton defilement of the corpse of Aden Hawke. He saw what the man did to all those people, and he doesn't want the killer to come back for a third time. Velka is to the point of exhaustion, between using all his spells for the day, massive wounds from the fighting, and the cleaning up of the aftermath he is thoroughly ready for a nice long rest.

[Samshiir]

The rest of that day goes by silently as the Soaring Eagle sails west to Breland. Once over the Cyre River, the group discards the undead corpses over the side of the ship with ease. Except for the troll, which takes most of the group to do so.

Spoiler: Loot

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The only gear worth investigating were from Aden Hawk and Marcus Deneith:
-2 Bone Longswords
-1 Banded Mail
-1 Bone Fullplate that is still spliced into Aden's body
-137GP, 42SP between Aden and Marcus

-Bone quality equipment is usually weaker than standard equipment, but Marcus and Aden's weapons and armor are reinforced with the same Karrnathi magic that make their undead troops stronger. Instead, their gear has 50% increased hardness.
-The whip that Marcus used must have been a spell from him, because there is no sign of it on his corpse.

Incalasance spends most of the first night melded directly into the ship, healing her wounds. She summons several Goodberries for the group to eat, but otherwise will not acknowledge anyone from the group.
-Except for Alimov. If he wishes to speak to her, she is very willing to do so, as long as he is alone.

Spoiler: Goodberries

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(2d4)[5] Goodberries are summoned. Each berry eaten heals 1 HP to the person that eats it.

Shalon, the Soaring Eagle's giant guardian eagle, sets a vigilant airborne watch around the ship as it travels. About an hour after nightfall arrives, however, she decides to land in her nest at the nose of the ship and sleep. The ship is quick and quiet enough to hopefully mitigate any unwanted attention during night.

It doesn't take Cadeyrn long to realize that Emerald is actively avoiding him. Whenever he comes remotely near her, she ceases whatever she is doing or stops talking to whomever she is talking to and leaves immediately. Perhaps she is still upset over the doppleganger incident.

Otherwise, Emerald spends a great while exploring the airship and trying to decide which room on the second level she wants to claim. It isn't that she is indecisive, it's that she is focusing her mind away from recent events, just as she did after the destruction of Perlexia and the assassination attempt on her in Vedykar. Once she finally does pick a room (the front-most room on the right side of the hall), she sleeps well into the following day.

Rossalucharonelsix, on the other hand, is in remarkably high spirits. His wounds from the previous battle, despite being very minute, have healed themselves within a few short hours. The dragonling manages to smuggle an apple out of someone's backpack, but he doesn't eat the apple. Instead he sets it on the edge of the ship's railing and knocks it off with his tail. He audibly counts to ten, then dives after the apple in a blur that disapears into the night. The dragonling keeps himself entertained playing 'fetch' for hours.

[Falcon777]

After seeing Emerald quietly avoid him, Cadeyrn grew a little disheartened and stopped trying to make amends. Instead he spent his time on the top deck, meditating and enjoying the wind blowing through his hair. They watched as the land and water passed by underneath them,

"I feel like we are finally getting a little bit of peace, Joshua. It probably won't last long, but it's nice, isn't it?" Joshua barked in reply, setting himself on Cadeyrn's shoulders and giving the sorcerer a quick lick on his cheek.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Cadeyrn divvied up the gold and silver between the six of them and placed the leftover five gold into the group money sack. Since there was already 2 gold in the group pile, everyone gets 24 gold and 7 silver.

Also, I'll get Cadeyrn's reflections up as soon as I can, it's just a bit late for that atm, especially since I'll need to go back and reread this last chapter.

[RandomWombat]

Accepting a single goodberry to stave off hunger, Wallel first makes certain the ship's elemental isn't going to crash without his guidance. After that he goes onto the deck above to help dispose of the bodies. The air among the others is tense, and he isn't certain why. If there's been some new conflict within the group it will need to be dealt with. Wallel looks around for Killian. Upon locating the paladin, the silent elf holds up the linked D'Sivis Parchment, indicating Killian to take out his own so they can 'speak'.

"Everyone is on edge. What happened while I was below?"