Crash & Burn IC

[Rofltrollcopter]

Joresh surveys the scene in the pit with a dispassionate look on his face. Autumn was screaming and going through a terrible amount pain, but he did not act. Through Hero's senses, he felt the undead spirit begin to possess the shifter. The shifter's body was now occupied by two distinct minds, the telltale sign that she was possessed by a foreign entity. Joresh recognized this pattern, every Inspired that he had the misfortune of running across had a host and a possessing Quori spirit. <We have to help her!> <No. Not yet, this could give us the answers we have been looking for. If the spirit had knowledge of the attack, we need it intact.> He listened to the shifter's ranting. Maybe the spirit was a soldier haunted by memories of the war. The possessed-shifter scanned the audience, until it picked out Meera. It prioritized a soldier? Interesting. Then a half ton of claws, fangs, and literal possessed fury mauled the Lieutenant. She now had a closer resemblance to a butchered cow. Well, that's about as much useful data as we are likely to get. Now its time to put a stop to this.

He shouted. She is possessed by an Undead Spirit. Her mind is still intact. The spirit will likely seek another host once she is incapacitated.

Quick as lighting, he saw several crossbow bolts sink deep into her flesh. He turned to yell at Ethan. Major. Lose the crossbow.

He sent a telepathic message to Ignatius. <Can you exorcise the entity? My skills are worthless agianst the undead.>

Now.. here came the tricky part. He opened up another telepathic link. Not to any of his companions, but the mind possessing Autumn. The spirit was enraged, that much was obvious. Hopefully by appealing to its desire for vengeance he might be able to get some answers from it.

<I am addressing the entity possessing this body. Your host will soon be incapacitated. The people who killed you are not here. I will help you find them. Tell me how did this to you. I am your friend, and I will help you. Unless you work with me, you not repay them for what they did to you.>

OCC:

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Bluff:(1d20+13)[14]

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Ignatius doesn't need to hear Joresh's warning to know what's going on with Autumn; he's dealt with his share of evil spirits before, and he really doesn't like them.

The normally-placid gnome's expression contorts into a snarl, and he strides forward purposefully towards Autumn. His mind is partly in the present and partly a few decades in the past, thinking on the time that a particularly nasty Karrnathi necromancer managed to ambush his squad, kill half of his allies, animate them as ghosts, and try to have them possess the other half of his unit and force them to kill themselves. Ignatius and three others survived, but only just, and he'd had several recurring nightmares about the event for years afterward. I lost Joram, and Irasia, and Oren to a spirit's control; I will not lose another friend. Not today. On the blade of Dol Dorn and the courage of Dol Arrah, I swear it, he vows to himself.

"Restless spirit!" he calls. "None of the Brelish soldiers here deserve your rage, and Autumn deserves it least of all! She is an innocent bystander, not a tool for your vengeance, you do not have permission to inhabit her body, you will not cause any further destruction here, and you will let her GO!" The volume and intensity of his voice rise apace with his steps, and after one last mental Please, Aureon, strengthen my spell, let this work..., he firmly presses his palm against Autumn's back and channels divine power into her, hoping to force the spirit to release her.

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Protection from evil on Autumn, DC 17. Please roll low, please roll low, please roll low....

[3SecondCultist]

"Lieutenant!" One of the soldiers cries out, as Autumn's initial claw attacks literally gutted Meera. She lies on the floor of the museum, a dark carpet of lifeblood around her. The half-elf's eyes are closed, and although she may yet be alive, you get the impression she will not remain that way for long. Almost immediately, most of the guards fall into formation. A few of them already have bows out, and four of them take aim and launch projectiles over your heads at Autumn. Only one of them manages to pierce the shifter's hide, drawing blood.

As the thirty foot tall shifter turns to face you, you can see that her eyes are different: a piercing blue meets your gaze, unnatural and unkind. A second roar seems perched just beneath her throat. Her massive furred claws drip red, and her teeth seem to devour the light from the everbright lanterns on the walls. There is a malice, an intelligence in her bearing that belies the rage on the surface. Something is directing this, an intense force. Even at that moment, two crossbow bolts bury themselves in Autumn's back, and you turn to see Ethan up on the parapet to the second floor, already taking aim for his next volley. The shifter lets out a great bellow, and for just a moment, you see a shape move within Autumn, a translucent specter of hate.

Joresh confirms your suspicions: whatever is in Autumn's head isn't her, not really. There is something else at the reins. Judging by the way she twitches and cries out, it's not a happy something. As Ignatius steps forward, the thing jerks Autumn's arm around, taking a swipe at the approaching gnome. The claw barely misses the cleric's head, even as he manages to lay a palm on the beast and try to break the spirit's hold.

But his attempts are met with a sound. Something you don't quite believe, until you look at Autumn's face. The spirit is contorting the shifter's face into a smirk, and its chuckles reverberate across the marble. It prepares for another strike.

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n0ble is going to post later, so Mechanix I believe it's your go.

[Mechanix]

She laughs. Exulting in the raw power of her vessel. Flesh like clay in her spectral fingertips. With every passing second more of the shifter's body comes into her grasp, her understanding of its power deepening. She pulls on strings of tendon and sinew, she molds muscle into her own design.

Autumn hunches over, whole body trembling again, and her back seems to explode - fur erupts into feather, great wings unfold from her back, their flapping knocking down a soldier. One more crossbow bolt reaches her chest, and she grins viciously. More. Stripes twist and blur into a pattern, legs arch, with a disgusting sound of slithering a serpentine tail, black-scaled, its tipped barbed with bony spurs, erupts and dances around the now utterly inhuman beast.

"Your spells cannot harm me. Your words cannot sway me. Your petty blows only hurt your own friend. Where was your courage when I needed it? Where were you when I bled to death? Where were you when my son died!"

The eyes scan the room again in a moment that seems to last forever. The lieutenant at her feet is bleeding out. The guards are insignificant. The others - a cold blue gaze sets on Joresh, who spoke to her, who lied to her, who thought words could... and then she looks down, and sees the gnome. So puny. So fragile after his spell failed.

"No," she answers him, simply. "Now I visit upon you a repayment of suffering."

And she strikes, her terrible claw bearing down to squash him into the ground.

Spoiler

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Move action: grow morphic weapon (1d4 tail)
Standard action: a claw attack at Ignatius.
Attack:(1d20+15)[33]
Damage:(1d6+12)[18]

[CandyLaser]

Ignatius's attempt had been clever, but it also clearly hadn't worked. It was the right idea, though; the execution just left something to be desired. Orlov stepped back, putting the nearest guard behind himself and the rampaging shifter, and then pulled another little trinket from his pockets. In this case, it was a bracelet, made of iron and silver, the perfect focus for some protective magic. But first it had to be prepared. Orlov forced himself to ignore the threat of the shifter and concentrated, scratching runes into the bracelet hurriedly with a nail.

Spoiler: Actions

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Hopefully, this isn't out of turn. Using Rapid Infusion to cast Spell Storing Item, imbuing the item with magic circle against evil. That'll cost me 24 xp and requires a DC 29 Use Magic Device check: (1d20+20)[33]. If the roll fails, by 6 or less, I'm going to use an action point: (2d6b1)[2].

[Rofltrollcopter]

Joresh grimaced as he watched his allies attempts to subdue the possessed Shifter without any success. If the Ghost choose to jump between hosts, the situation could get worse very quickly. Still, he felt quite serene all things considered. This was one of the moments he lived for. The ghost was a parasite upon the mortal races, a monster only capable of destruction. He choose this path in the hopes of gathering the Power he needed to exterminate such abominations.

He concentrated, and attempted to displace the shifter forward in time.

Spoiler: OOC:

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Time Hop DC 19.

Spending 6 power points to activate Time Hope. Augment + 2 so it effects large creatures. -1 through one of the daily uses of the torc of power preservation.

The shifter abruptly vanished, leaving no trace of herself. Joresh breathes a sigh of relief, and then turns to address the soldiers in a tone which brooked no argument. Take the Lieutenant and then get the Hell out of here. If anyone outside heard the commotion and decided to come investigate, you keep them out. Tell them Khyber herself has surfaced in these ruins if you have to.

To the party he says. She's not gone, I displaced her forward in time. It could take her a minute to reappear, or a few seconds. We need a plan to incapacitate her when she comes back. I could try to create a cage around the area where she will reappear, but I doubt that it would hold her for long. Anyone who isn't helping with this, Leave. The more people around here, the more victims for the ghost to possess, and I doubt that it will be dumb enough to stay in the same host after the trick I just pulled. Unless you think your will is strong enough to resist its attempts to possess you, get out of here. So help me if one of you is too damn stupid or prideful to admit that and put us all at risk. The next time I need to subdue someone it will be a lot more painful.

[3SecondCultist]

The soldiers, by and large, obey Joresh's request. Two of them carry the lieutenant's supine body out the front doors and back into the rain, the others fanning out to guard the perimeter of the building and maintaining a presence on the fences as they did when you arrived. A few of them look back in... sadness? Regret? Shame? They have obviously recognized that each of you holds power they cannot hope to match, and the hard looks on their faces are likely introspective in nature. A guard that cannot stand guard is nothing at all. But they listen to the psion nonetheless.

Leaving the six of you, to wait for Autumn's return.

[CandyLaser]

Orlov holds up his newly enchanted bracelet. "This will grant the wearer, and all around them, immunity to possession for some time. It won't help trap the spirit, but it will defend us against it."

[bcool999]

Ethan

Seeing Autumn disappear and the guards beat a hasty retreat with their lieutenant in tow, Ethan hurries down to the others and says, "So the plan is to stay in the protective field and drive the spirit from Autumn? What about after that? How do we put this thing down for good?"

[n0ble]

Calandras jogs over to the others as quickly as his fat body will carry him. "What if we were to banish it. Could you do that Ignatius? I'll be the first to admit, I don't think I could resist that thing possessing me. But if it did possess me, all it could really do is shoot my crossbow.Or throw some knives. The point is that I'm not much one for combat. What if I were to offer up my body as a new host to the thing once we get it out of Autumn? I can make myself quite the appetizing target. And whatever that thing is it won't be nearly as... effective, once I'm in it's grip. I should be easy to contain provided the means are magical. Did you find out if the thing can access our memories Joresh? If it can then it would have access to my talents, which would make mundane containment very unlikely." the changeling allows himself a smile at the thought. Besides, It is high time I contributed something this group anyway. "Clearly diplomacy doesn't get a real reaction out of this thing, maybe insulting it enough after it leaves Autumn's body will."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Ignatius drops to his knees as Autumn's blow hits home, clenching his teeth against the pain; he feels stunned, more from the mental anguish of failing again to protect his allies than from the physical force of the blow. He doesn't dare to move until Joresh sends Autumn away, then slowly rises to his feet. Well, it was a long shot, he thinks, holding a hand to his side where he was wounded, but at least Olladra smiled upon one of us this day, Host be praised.

Despite the pain of his wounds, his first thought is for the wounds of another. Before the soldiers can carry the lieutenant too far away, he holds up a hand to them: "Wait a moment. Let me aid her." He hobbles over, closes his eyes, and lays a hand on her forehead; a soft golden glow emanates from her brow for a moment as he channels healing energy into her. "There. She may not wake for a bit, but she should now be safe from the Keeper's grasp."

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Ignatius uses Touch of Healing on the lieutenant for 12 HP healed.

"I...might be able to do that," the gnome answers Calandras, a bit winded from his exertion. "I had not...prepared for fighting the undead today; Aureon forgive my lack of foresight. Given some time to meditate, I could...petition Arawai for the magic needed to extend protection against possession...to all of us, as well as some offensive magic suitable for use against the undead, to...allow us to force the spirit into the open and destroy it. I could not banish it directly, however, until after...my morning meditations"

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OOC Translation: Given 10 minutes, Ignatius can use substitute domain to swap in the Good domain to give him another protection from evil and a magic circle against evil to protect the party, plus a holy smite since his nonmagical sword would be useless against a ghost.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Without missing a heartbeat, Joresh turned back to face the dragonshard. He created another construct. This one was a pattern that he was intimately familiar with. He could create it as easily and quickly as moving one of his own hands. The brute that emerged was far different from the lesser construct he created. Its design was inspired by a literal creature of nightmare, it had a headless torso covered with lidless eyes which sat upon a long, serpentine tail. Two massive arms sprouted from the top of the torso, ending in powerful pincers. It appears to be covered with layers of chitin.

Spoiler: OOC:

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Yeah, I probably should have done this earlier, but I am designating the Level 5 construct with Muscles and Improved Grab as Joresh's personal construct.

This is happening on the same turn as when Joresh manifested TimeHop if possible.

Expanding Psionic Focus
Spending 7 power points (-1 through Torc, -1 through Wild Surge)

Enervation check for Wild Surge: (Please no 1 please no 1): (1d20)[18]

move action:
Concentration check to regain psionic focus (1d20+14)[20]

As soon as his personal construct emerges, Joresh directs the lesser constructs to stand aside as the larger one attempts to lift the dragonshard and carry it out of the ruins.

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If strength check to lift it is necessary:(1d20+11)[21]

Joresh scowls at Calandaras. You want the Ghost to possess you? Have you gone mad? Do you have any idea how dangerous it will be to deal with another possessed ally? If you want to kill yourself that badly, I can think of ways that are much less inconvenient for the rest of us then inviting a malevolent spirit into your head for a joyride. He felt the beginning of another migraine. He sighed Listen, if you want to help, check around the dragonshard while we are setting up. See if there are any other clues that we might have missed.

OOC:

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Some inspiration fueled spot and search checks might be in order. Maybe there is loot somewhere?

Joresh shakes his head. We are losing sight of the objective. Our mission was to uncover how the attacks were carried out, not destroy Ghosts. The amount of resources it could to destroy the destroy the creature may not be worth the effort, especially if it could impede our ability to fight tomorrow. We should take the dragonshard and get out of here. When Autumn returns, we can attack her until she's unconscious. The Ghost wants to kill us, so it probably won't stay inside a host it can't use. The moment the Ghost leaves her, I can teleport myself and anyone I'm touching out of the ruins. My range isn't great, only about 600 feet. But it should be enough to stop it from pursuing us.

He looks at Ignatius.

Of course, that plan depends on whether or not the Ghost is bound to the place of its death. This is not my area of expertise.

[n0ble]

"It will be decidedly less dangerous than having a 16 foot tall mountain of rage directed at us. I can assure you that much. Especially if I don't have my weapons." He almost sneers the part about it being less dangerous having the ghost possess him, but restrains himself. What I'm proposing is to let the spirit inhabit a much less dangerous body than Autumns. But fine. If you want deal with the shifter I might as well go and examine the blast site."

Spoiler: OCC

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Going to go walk over and take a look at the shard listen for anything that might be particular in the area.I'm also going to see if i can figure anything out about the detonation itself via a spell craft check. I will be using inspiration for all three.
Spot (1d20+10+8): (1d20+18)[38]
Listen (1d20+10+8): (1d20+18)[30]
Spellcraft (1d20+4+8): (1d20+12)[29]

I now have 12 inspiration points left.

[3SecondCultist]

Joresh's newborn helper manages to carefully extract the dragonshard, bringing it out of the rubble and closer to the you. In the light, it seems even more alive than it did before, somehow. You can tell that the energy is gone, but its imprint remains there, etched into the crystal: a sizzle of malignant flame.

Once Orlov is finished creating the talisman, the very earth at your feet glows faintly for a moment, the latent protective magic forming a perfect sphere around the artificer. With Ethan's return from the second floor landing, each of you stands safely within the confines of the magic circle, as Orlov explains its purpose. There is still no sign of Autumn, or the spirit for that matter.

It is at that moment that Calandras decides to strike out and re-examine the site from which you recovered the broken dragonshard. His step is light, and he arrives quickly, eyes taking in every single detail and missing nothing. They scour dust, and stone, and broken things. Eventually, you can see them light up as they catch sight of something new. There, near where the Khyber dragonshard is, he notices another piece of what looks like a harness. Upon closer inspection, it is actually revealed to be the ruined remains of a vest, with two other crystal receptacles. By the looks of it to Calandras' understanding, the device was constructed to activate and release the power of all three bound elementals at the same time. This was a careful design, by somebody who definitely knew what they were doing. It speaks to a great deal of careful study of elemental binding, equal to or even surpassing what the Zil gnomes are capable of.

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And 250 xp for rolling a natural 20 on Spot!

[CandyLaser]

"I'm not keen on leaving an angry ghost behind us, nor am I fond of leaving it rampaging through Wroat. It may not be our mission, but we're the ones who are here and capable of dealing with it." As he speaks, he moves toward the point where Autumn will reappear, drawing something out of his haversack as he goes. "When Autumn reappears, the possession will be suppressed. The spirit will likely leave her body then, and we can be prepared for it. In fact, I can even give our shifter friend the ability to hurt the ghost with her claws and fangs. I'm sure she'll relish the opportunity to teach the creature a lesson." He then points to Ethan. "I can do the same for your bow, if you hurry here."

[n0ble]

"Huh, how peculiar" Calandras stows the ruins of the vest in his haversack before quickly re-joining the others. I found something else. A vest, designed to hold two more elemental shards and release all three at once. It would account for the stature of the blast. Judging by what remains, whoever made this is good at binding elementals. Very very good. Beren, do you know of anyone capable of such a feat? Any prominent artificers?"

[PairO'Dice Lost]

While the others plan, Ignatius takes a moment to pray to Arawai, and his bleeding wound closes up and mostly fades to a large bruise.

Spoiler

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For his action on round 2, Ignatius sacrifices animalistic power to spontaneously cast cure moderate wounds on himself for (2d8+7)[16] HP healed.

To Joresh's comment, he responds, "Ghosts generally are bound to their place of death, yes, but not very tightly; some can roam quite far from the spot. I agree with Beren that we cannot in good conscience simply leave this spirit to terrorize the people of Wroat." He sighs. "Not that destroying it would necessarily be a permanent solution, in any case--particularly strong-willed ghosts can hold themselves against the pull of Dolurrh when destroyed, and can form another ethereal 'body' for themselves shortly after their apparent second death. We would only be able to remove it long enough to allow specialists to take care of it for good, but that will have to suffice."

Once within the protective circle, Ignatius watches the spot where Autumn will reappear carefully, ready to attack the spirit possessing her as soon as it appears. He replies to Calandras without taking his eyes off that spot: "Beren would know better than I the current state of the arcane art, but I can say that a series of shards to explosively release a group of elementals does not sound like Zilargo work, or at least not like that of any of the artificers I know. Even aside from the technical skill required, showing the world that Zil artificers could rig a 'shard to commit this sort of atrocity would be political suicide; no one would trust a Zilargo-made bound-elemental item again."

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For his action on round 3, Ignatius will ready an action to cast spiritual weapon if the ghost leaves Autumn's body.

[rypt]

Esara

Esara does not understand the origin of this restless spirit. It had invaded Autumn's body after she moved the pillar to uncover the dragonshard, but Esara does not see how the ghost and the shard could be related. If the ghost was the spectral remnant of someone who had died in the museum attack, why had it waited until that moment to possess a mortal host? There was also Meera's mention of her men sharing memories of the War. The ghost could have resided within an exhibited war relic, but that still would not explain why it had chosen Autumn. Esara hopes once they liberate Autumn from the spirit's possession that the shifter can explain why the ghost has yet to find peace in death.

In the moment of the Autumn's departure, Esara rushes forward to join the others.

"Are you alright?" she asks Ignatius. The old gnome was apparently tougher than he looked.

When Joresh suggests that they simply leave the ghost to the Brelish, Esara's reply is firm. "Meera's blood" --which was pooled at their feet-- "is on our hands. We're not going to abandon these people. We're going to make this right."

More shards? It seems her theory had been correct. Calandras's discovery sets the gears turning in Esara's mind and it takes a deliberate effort on her part to grind them to a halt. They had a possessed shifter barbarian to deal with, after all. "The Zil have guarded the secrets of elemental binding for centuries, but that hasn't stopped others from trying to unlock those secrets for themselves. Perhaps someone finally succeeded." It is frightening for Esara to consider that an enterprise she had advanced for the betterment of society might instead be used to destroy it.

[CandyLaser]

Orlov glances at the vest that Calandras found, before it was put away. "I'll have to examine it in detail to say anything. I think this is not the time for that, though. Autumn and the ghost possessing her are our most immediate concern, and they could reappear at any moment." Orlov girds himself for combat. A twist of his wrist causes a short ivory wand to drop into his waiting hand. He speaks some arcane words of power as he runs his fingers along its length, and previously unseen runes start to glow dimly. "I'm ready," he says, staring into the middle distance, looking past the spot where Autumn will reappear.

Spoiler: Actions

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For the record: during the first round, Orlov is moving and activating the stored magic circle, as has already been described. The item he pulled out of his haversack was a capsule of ghostblight oil, which he'll be handing to Autumn or anyone else who can use it. Round 2, he'll be quickdrawing his wand of magic missile from the wand bracer and casting metamagic item on it to make it twinned. Round 3, ready an action to zap the ghost with a bunch of magic missiles.

[bcool999]

Ethan

It seemed like the mages had a plan cooked up. Well, as far as Ethan was concerned, he made himself ready to put Autumn down if she was still possessed, and he made sure to stay well within the protective circle. When the Artificer offers to make his bow useful against spirits he says, "I'd appreciate that, but it sounds like even if we 'kill' the damned thing it will still be around to cause mischief. How do we get it to pass on?"

[3SecondCultist]

As all six of you hover in the circle, having largely completed your preparations, several things seem to happen at once. The first thing you notice, oddly, is the near complete cessation of the rain from the impromptu skylight that was once a roof. The droplets seem to have been suspended for a moment, just an instant. And then it returns, exactly as it was before.

With a shimmer of silver light, Autumn reappears quite suddenly. Her appearance is as monstrous as it was when Joresh's power catapulted in time, wings, tail, and all. But the bright blue-grey eyes behind the shifter's face register surprise for the first time. And then, just as suddenly, the light fades and your companion is returned to you. Her appearance is no worse for wear, but the gashes and cuts where Ethan's crossbow bolts and the guard's arrow hit her aren't healing themselves anytime soon. But Autumn's shadow lengthens, as a transparent humanoid figure emerges from it and floats out several feet across the museum. As the spirit slowly slides out of its material host, you see it for the first time. Although spectral and deformed, you can tell that her form is that of a human woman just past her prime. Her hair whips free, although you’re fairly certain the breeze on her face is not air. Her clothes seem fairly common, common enough to believe she was wearing them while she died. A wand is strapped to her belt, and a great cloak flows behind her. But her face… that bony, feral, impossible visage could give birth to nightmares.

"Traitors, all of you! I will - " She is interrupted by numerous force missiles striking her quite unerringly from Orlov's wand. Her ectoplasmic form seems to take some damage, but she remains standing. When she turns to face you, you can feel little bits of your very essence being stripped away, as though your bodies had lost their natural vitality. Then she turns again and lets out a low moan that reverberates across the walls of the museum. A few of you feel the onset of a deep-seated dread, something not rational but born of the grave.

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Okay, so all of your readied actions are happening. Ignatius' spiritual weapon is triggered, as is Orlov's twinned magic missile. I'll let you both roll attacks and damage on them. bcool, if you had a readied action and I finish my post first, you're welcome to write out an attack of some kind and let it resolve simultaneously with this post (it would happen before her actions).

And she's using two of her abilities. The first - horrific appearance - is passive within a 60 ft radius. Everyone needs to make a DC 19 Fortitude save, or take (1d4)[1] Strength, (1d4)[3] Dexterity, and (1d4)[2] Constitution damage. And she's using her moan ability as a standard action. Everyone within 30 ft (that's everybody) needs to make a Will save also at DC 19, or be panicked for (2d4)[5] rounds. Lastly, she's also going to take a 5-ft step up and away from both Autumn and Joresh's astral construct.

[bcool999]

Ethan

SLAM goes Ethan's crossbow as he quickly fired off a shot at the spectral assailant, adding to the barrage of missiles interrupting it's ghostly nonsense. However, unlike his allies missiles which seem to take some of the specter's substance with them as they go, Ethan's bolt flies through without seeming to effect it.

"Traitor? Me? I am a proud officer of Karrnath you spectral wench! I would sooner be burned alive again than betray my country, and I would happily send you to the void to silence! Such! Talk!" his last three words are punctuated with three more bolts launched at the creature.

Spoiler: Attacks

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Rapid Shot attacks
Attack 1: (1d20+17)[31] Damage (2d8+9)[20] Miss chance (hits on 2): (1d2)[1]
Attack 2: (1d20+17)[31] Damage (2d8+9)[16] Miss chance (hits on 2): (1d2)[2]
Attack 3: (1d20+12)[24] Damage (2d8+9)[13] Miss chance (hits on 2): (1d2)[2]

[PairO'Dice Lost]

A brief satisfied smile passes over Ignatius's face as the ghost's declaration is cut off by Orlov's spell. "May Dol Dorn's blade lay you to rest," he declares, miming a slow overhand swing with a sword, and partway through the swing a translucent longsword with a golden hilt and shimmering blue blade fades into existence next to the ghost. The sword completes the swing the gnome began, aiming for the ghost's chest.

Spoiler

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Spiritual weapon vs. the ghost: (1d20+12)[15] for (1d8+2)[5] force damage.

Fort save vs. Horrific Appearance: (1d20+10)[12]
Will save vs. Frightful Moan: (1d20+17)[21]

EDIT: Seriously? A 3, a 3, a 2, and a 4? I think Olladra likes the ghost better than Ignatius at the moment.

The gnome's arm falters as his swing concludes, the ghost's draining of his life force sending pain shooting through his body for a few long instants. He closes his eyes and prays to Dol Arrah for strength until the moment passes.

[Rofltrollcopter]

Joresh waited patiently with his eyes closed for Autumn to reappear. When she did, he waited for the spirit to leave her body. He sent her a quick telepathic message. <Hang on!>. He sends another telepathic message to the Ghost, his mental voice filled with scorn. <You died the same way you lived; a pathetic waste of everyone's time. Fall in Dishonor.>

OOC:

Spoiler

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Will save was resolved in roll20, Joresh needed to spend an action point but he passed.

[3SecondCultist]

Despite the initial difficulties, with your combined efforts you manage to put down the ghost. Her face goes from enraged, and slowly drifts towards terrified as her body is ripped apart by your various attacks. Ethan's bolt tears a hole in her thigh, Ignatius' spiritual longsword cleaves a gash into her chest, and finally Orlov's missiles punch holes in the rest of her. What's left is a lingering impression: doubt, regret, sorrow. You can feel the pain of the living woman as she relives her death once more. A spectral hand reaches out, and is deterred at the edge of the protective circle. "Please... find Jason... my son..." And then she is gone, drifting away on a current of fresh air brought by rain. You can feel the effects of her emotions wash away, even as Calandras had begun to panic. But the influence is gone, and with it any hold on your minds. As you start to move, however, you still feel the debilitating effects her ghastly appearance had on your bodies. It seems as though she still has some power here. The dragonshard and the remains of the vest are yours, and as you look inside the ectoplasmic remains, you see the outlines of two more items: a cloak, tattered and slightly burned but still flashy, and the same wand that the ghost was carrying.

From the doors, you hear a commotion, as several of the guards re-enter the museum, lead by a much-healthier looking Lieutenant Meera. "We watched from outside. Is the ghost gone, then?" She looks warily at Autumn, as though still slightly unsure of the shifter's intentions. A few of her men begin to whisper amongst themselves, and you hear the word 'chimera'. None of them have drawn their weapons, but most of them still seem on edge.

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So, in anticipation of you casting identify or rolling high enough on Spellcraft etc, the items she dropped are a cloak of charisma +2, and a wand of cat's grace.

[n0ble]

Calandras rubs a heavy hand over his face, trying to banish the last vestiges of fear from his mind. "Godsdam I hate undead. And yes, it is." he says a bit more angrily than intended, jabbing a pudgy finger at the pile of ectoplasm. The anger is immediately replaced by a crushing sense of inadequacy, given his performance when the ghost attacked it is hardly surprising. Instead he concentrates on breathing properly, feeling some of his confidence return in place of the anger and shame he feels. As he looks to the guards, he feels a pang of sympathy, They're just like I was. Afraid. Shaking his head to expunge the last remnants of fear from his mind, he looks at Ignatius nodding in the direction of Autumn. He doesn't wait for the priest, instead striding as best he can over to the shifter's hullking form. "M'lady, are you alright? You gave us all quite the fright for a moment back there"

[rypt]

Esara

Fear seizes Esara's mind at the sound of the spirit's moan, an unbridled terror that strips her of all but a singular instinct: run. She barely manages a few full strides towards the center of the ruin before the combined martial and magical might of her allies dispatches the ghost and frees her of its unnatural influence. Suddenly aware of a tightness in her chest and a weakness in her arms and legs -- a result of their spectral foe's life-draining presence -- she grimaces as she slowly makes her way back to join the others.

"How is she doing?" the half-elf quietly asks of those standing the farthest from Autumn.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Ignatius feels a great weight lift from him when the ghost is destroyed. He empathizes with her rage to an extent and is sad that she had to relive, so to speak, the pain of her death, but he does not regret his actions: she was dangerous, her mind warped and twisted, and could not have been allowed to remain free. He does make a mental note, however, to find this "Jason" when he has the time to inform him of his mother's passing. Speaking of her passing, he crouches down to examine the ghost's effects. The cloak looks like it might be magical and the wand obviously is, but he does not have the power to identify any magic they may possess right now, so he retrieves them to be identified later.

Looking between the Brelish soldiers and Autumn, he decides that the latter might need her space and going to talk to her with Calandras could be overwhelming at the moment, and that the soldiers' distrust is the more pressing matter. He walks over to them, an open smile on his face and his hands raised in a pacifying gesture. "There is no need to be concerned," he tells them gently, "the danger is past. Our companion was possessed by a lingering spirit of one of the victims here, which caused her to attack the lieutenant. She is not at all the sort to attack innocents such as yourselves--" Or at least, I hope not; Autumn, please don't make a liar of me "--and the same murderous feelings could easily have come over any of you, had you been the spirit's target. I sincerely hope you do not look less favorably upon her for her actions while under the spirit's control, and that you do not hold her attack on Lieutenant Meera against her."

Turning to address Meera directly, he continues, "On that note, how are you feeling, Lieutenant? If you still have any wounds that have not yet been treated, I can heal those now."

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Ignatius used up his identify slot for the day on spiritual weapon and doesn't want to spend his 3rd or 4th level domain slots on that, so no IDing the items yet. He heals the lieutenant as much as possible with Touch of Healing, and depending on how much HP she has left to be healed he'll take care of the rest of it with his spells.

[bcool999]

Ethan

Heaving a sigh of relief now that the danger had apparently passed, he nods to Meera and says, "Glad to see you back on your feet."

He slings his weapon back over his shoulder, albeit tiredly, and addresses Joresh mentally, <Not sure if there is much else to be found under the rubble... Think we should report what we found to the king? He might be able to get some research done on similar devices and find a source.>

To the group at large, Ethan tries to raise their morale after the harrowing experience, "Hahaha what a brawl that was! Never had to worry about an enemy jumping into my skin before, usually it was their weapons that tried doing that! Who's up for a little food and drink eh? My treat! Though if you want to head over to the temple for some healing prayers first I wouldn't be opposed. I feel just about as arthritic as a no-toothed geezer." Ethan says boisterously as he moves over to Calandras and throws an arm over his shoulder saying, "I know you're coming Cal, someone has to drag me to bed after I have drank too much, and Autumn as well to show there are no hard feelings about shooting her and all that!"

[Rofltrollcopter]

Joresh shook his head when he heard the spirits last words. Not our problem. he muttered. He felt the tension release from his shoulders. Despite the initial confusion, the group had performed well. There was no other way to describe this moment then victory. He walked over to Beren. That was some quick thinking with the magic circle. For someone who just claimed to be an alchemist, you more then proved you worth. He surveyed Autumn. I could feel her mind when she was possessed by the ghost. She should be able to come to in a moment. He had a dozen questions for Autumn right now, but she was in no state to answer them.

He concentrated for a moment, and created two thick blankets. He nestled one of them under Autumn's head as well as he was able, and used the other one to cover the dragonshard to keep it from the prying eyes of the soldiers.

In response to Ethan's prompt, he addressed the whole group via telepathy. <The King asked us to inform him if we found anything, and I say this more then qualifies. Once Autumn recovers, I suggest we take it somewhere quiet and have our experts give it a thorough look over. Then we can hand it over to the Citadel and let them deal with it.

Oh, and Major, I hate to spoil your fun but we should aim to wrap up and hit the road as soon as possible. We have about 3 days of travel time ahead of us. We should try catch a night train to Valthirond, if at all possible.>

He smiled.

<If its any consolation, I can create enough booze to put a Dragon under and I will have literally nothing better to do with my time.>

He went over to join Ignatius who was talking to Meera. There is a very high risk that the Ghost could reform itself over the next few days. I strongly recommend you get in contact with one of the temples and arrange for an exorcism as soon as possible. You should inform the Commander about this and make sure nobody else goes on the site in the meantime.

Joresh adopted a more authoritative tone.
We need access to a facility where we can have some privacy. Preferably one that is warded agianst divination, but we will take whatever we can get.


OOC:

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1 pp spent
Can I use craft (poison) as a substitute for craft (alcohol) for fluff purposes?