The Black Shingle Fiasco II: Electric Boogaloo

[Kushina43]

Sarim shivers slightly, repulsed by the blob on the door. "Whatever it is, let's deal with it fast, then the battle begins. If it will even be one."

[Blackhawk748]

Fion turns to look at Rakash "We are here to investigate this house, not rob it blind" turning back to the blob, "I recommend we keep a safe distance, no telling what that thing is, or does"

Spoiler: Knowledge

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Religion: (1d20+9)[18]
[The planes (1d20+9)[18]

[Marlowe]

Avita continues to concentrate on analyzing the thing, but shifts her ground so she's standing to the side of it rather than right in front of that distinctly dubious orifice.

"Sarim. Remember during the battle yesterday when all those hundreds of little fiends appeared out of nowhere? And a portion of the street turned all squishy and organic?"

"That didn't look quite like this. And for that we should be very thankful"

Spoiler: I sincerely doubt her Knowledges will help here but let's try it anyway.

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K/Religion (1d20+6)[9]
k/Arcana (1d20+2)[5]

She frowns. "And Gentlemen, if you might consider checking the other doors? No need for a thorough search just yet, just make sure there's nothing nasty behind them? As a group and one door at a time, if you please."

[Kushina43]

"Aye, I recall. I'd prefer not to, however. What's th' best way o' dealin' with it?"

[Kaptin Keen]

Fion turns to look at Rakash "We are here to investigate this house, not rob it blind" turning back to the blob, "I recommend we keep a safe distance, no telling what that thing is, or does"

Rakash turns to Fion, bafflement on his face. After apparently thinking deeply for a moment - trying to figure out what the big man could mean - he replies: I just ... don't see any way the two are mutually exclusive?!

Spoiler: Question

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Could Rakash jury rigg a quick greek fire from one of the bottles of liquor? One of the cheap ones, obviously.

Don't worry, I'm well aware burning down the house isn't really part of the mission statement.

[YossarianLives]

Avita's scans the house for magical auras, but turns up only one thing - the traces of a conjuration spell binding the blob to the material plane.

You move past the blob, and check the other two doors on the second floor, both made of wood polished to a shine. The left seems to lead to an office, with a large window overlooking the back garden, and a desk piled high with papers and books. The right door opens into some kind of perverted library. There are no windows, leaving it in near pitch blackness, but from what you can see the room is filled to the brim with shelves, an eclectic collection of books spilling off them - from light fiction, to philosophy, to unmarked leather tomes. Every spare inch of wall has been covered with pieces of paper covered in scrawled writing. Some are maps, others strange graphs that don't seem to conform to anything you have ever seen before, or any conventional methods of measurement.

Of course, there's only so much you can see from the doorway. To get a closer look, you will have to step inside.

None of you recognize the blob. In fact, none of you can remember ever hearing about something even vaguely resembling it.

Spoiler: OOC

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Rakash could definitely light the alcohol on fire.

[Kaptin Keen]

Spoiler: OOC

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Verticality is pretty near irrelevant to Rakash. Would it be possible to exit a window in the office, go around to the blob room, and peek inside?

Would that expose poor Rakash to the lurker below?

[Marlowe]

Avita frowns. "Very well. I have no idea what it is, except that it's a summoned or called creature, not a spell effect."

"However, speaking as an irregular soldier rather than a caster, I can see what it's doing. Anyone who messes with it or tries to get through the door is going to get coated in unpleasant purple gunk. Which will probably be poisonous or acidic or corrosive or itchy and in any event will be purple and decidedly unflattering."

Her hand strokes down her cheekbone, and down to her jaw. "Lock and trap in one. Sure it's a bit more obvious than most traps but on the other hand this one can't just be picked by the clever hands of a clever goblin.
So-" she runs a hand lightly over the wall next to her. "-could try breaking through the wall and avoid the door completely. Or, since I have a couple of spells left, I could summon something to try clawing it off for us."

[Kaptin Keen]

clever hands of a clever goblin.

Wait .. she likes me? No one ever likes me! And she's more than half elf, surely. It has to be some sort of trick. Better watch this one ...

[Blackhawk748]

Rakash turns to Fion, bafflement on his face. After apparently thinking deeply for a moment - trying to figure out what the big man could mean - he replies: I just ... don't see any way the two are mutually exclusive?!

"They are, if you are investigating somewhere you dont go walking off with stuff, unless its evidence, and im quite certain that the good silver or any expensive alcohol isnt evidence." Fion turns back to Avita "Well ma'am, going through the wall isn't a problem, but couldn't we try and just shoot the thing from the other end of the hallway and see if it explodes?"

[rax]

"Not a bad idea, Captain", Sarrazin weighs in. "But we do have the option of ignoring it for now as well. It seems clear that whatever it is has been placed there to prevent entry into the room beyond, so either someone's in there and wants to remain undisturbed, or there's something in there worth protecting. Either way, it seems unlikely that we will be ambushed if we take a moment to search the library and office properly. Of course, if someone is in the trapped room right now, that could give them time to finish what they're doing and escape." Sarrazin looks expectantly at Avita, waiting for her to decide on a course of action.

[Marlowe]

Avita looks straight at Fion and makes a firm palm-down gesture with a gaunt white right hand. "Time is creeping. If you can make us a gap in this wall; do it. Sarim, your axe might be useful here as well. As soon as we have a hole I can drop my Summon on the other side."

[Kaptin Keen]

Walls barely register as obstacles to me - if that room has a window, I can enter that way.

That said, he turns his back, rolls his eyes at Fion's words, and walks to the bar cabinet to find A) The most flammable liquid, and B) The most expensive bottles.

Spoiler: Rolls

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Rakash isn't particularly knowledgeable on wines and spirits, but he does have a keen eye for what will sell (without any actual, in-game modifier to show it, tho).
Appraise (Untrained): (1d20+2)[9]
Slight of hand: (1d20+12)[32] To swipe more stuff without needlessly provoking poor Fion, whose moral shackles hinder his progress through the world.

Edit: That's a nat20. Sweet terrible powers of the deep and dark below, let there actually be something in that cabinet worth rolling a 20 over.

[YossarianLives]

As you move forward to make a breach in the wall, the blob suddenly sails off the door with a loud squelching sound and lands in a leap half way up the stairs. Barely a second later, the orifice near its centre contracts, before spewing a gob of glowing green and purple goo directly at Avita. It arcs through the air, hitting her right in the chest and immediately starting to corrode her armour and eat away at the flesh beneath it.

Meanwhile, Rakash is rooting through the alcohol cabinet downstairs. From there, he can get a better look at the dining room. The oval table has places set for two, with napkins, plates, and a wide variety of cutlery. A large oil painting depicting mountains with a lake in the foreground hangs on the wall, and yet another door leads toward the rear of the house. Of course, he's mostly interested in the cabinet: it's packed full of booze, from hard liquor to exotic southern wines to a handful of local brews. Little of it has much value, the vast majority having already been opened. But three things attract the goblin's eye: a dark green bottle filled with a rich burgundy liquid, the label written in elvish, a rectangular bottle whose contents resemble water, and is marked as a 1347 Vintage Whiskey, making it almost century old and a small metal flask, no more than six inches in length. And Rakash' comrades don't even notice him.

Spoiler: OOC

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Avita takes 6 damage, before DR.

Verticality is pretty near irrelevant to Rakash. Would it be possible to exit a window in the office, go around to the blob room, and peek inside?

Would that expose poor Rakash to the lurker below?

Rakash could probably do that, but there's a chance the lurker would see him.

[Marlowe]

Avita's hand flares with a burst of negative energy, black, chill flame with a shimmer of sickly greens and purples. She touches it to her chest, her seared flesh scarring over.

Spoiler: Charnal Touch self-healing for

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(1d8+1)[7] hp

"It moveses; it does? It hears us; it does?" she growls through a death's head grin. "Change of plan, boys. Kill it."

[Kaptin Keen]

Hearing what sounds like combat from above, Rakash shrugs - should have listened to me, my plan was better. With that thought, he proceeds to swipe the four interesting looking bottles, and grab another that has a decently high alcohol percentage. He will cut a piece of the table cloth, wet it, and stuff it in the neck of the bottle.

Hey - you never know when you need to set something on fire, right?

Then, he'll lock the rear door.

Spoiler: OOC

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I'm doing it wrong, right? I should have locked the door first. Damned shinies, so tempting.

[rax]

Sarrazin levels his glaive at the creature and begins moving down the stairs, looking for a weak point to strike it.

"Captain, Sarim, try to get in close and hit it from opposite directions, perhaps that will confuse it! If we three can get solid blows in, we may be able to finish it before it spits again!"

Spoiler: Actions

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Move action: Move down the stairs to within 10 feet of the creature.
Free action: Suggest plan of attack to the others.
Standard action: Ready a standard attack. Activate when either Sarim or Fion have engaged the creature.

Attack roll if readied action activates: (1d20+6)[18]
Additional modifiers to roll if applicable: +2 flanking, +1 higher ground.

Damage roll: (1d10+3)[7]
Additional damage if applicable: +3 if flanking, (1d6)[5] if creature is evil outsider

Roll to confirm possible critical hit: (1d20+6)[25]
Additional modifiers to roll if applicable: +2 flanking, +1 higher ground.

Roll critical damage: [roll]2d10+6[roll]
Additional damage if applicable: +6 if flanking

[Blackhawk748]

Fion turns quickly and advances on the creature, his crossguard alongside his face with his blade extended in front of him. He goes to deliver a massive lunge to the creature, utilizing all of the force of his charge and any assistance gravity can give him.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Battle Leader's Charge attack, take a -2 for Power Attack
(1d20+8)[18]

Damage
[roll[2d6+18[/roll]

[YossarianLives]

The blob starts to contract again, preparing to spray more acid - but Fion and Sarrazin move more quickly. The half-elf strikes first, slicing it nearly in half with his glaive, before Fion comes in for the killing blow, splitting the blob into three pieces of limp goo.

But the blob is not quite defeated. Even as it dies, the same green and purple acid squirts from its opened veins, corroding the wood around it, and barely missing Sarrazin and Fion. When the blob was killed, the stairs begin to sag slightly and a sizable hole is melted in the railing.

[Marlowe]

"Good work" says Avita quietly, looking down in disgust at the corroded patch on her leathers. These things aren't going to last much longer. She turns back toward the door.

"Now if Mister Twitchy would like to take a break from whatever it is he's absolutely not doing that involves skulking off by himself, let's have him up here and taking a look at this door."

[Kaptin Keen]

Rakash, either nose deep in the bar cabinet, or busily locking the back door, looks up guiltily, quickly regains his composure, and replies:

Absolutely, your highness - I shall proceed forthwith to interpose my fragile body between any hidden enemies and the heavily armored but more valuable humans.

Despite the snarky reply, Rakash deftly ascends to the upper flor - avoiding the somewhat sketchy looking stairs entirely - and goes to peek inside.

Spoiler: Rolls

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If all went well, Rakash now has a greek fire. Unlit, but still. He uses up the walls to do just that, then moves stealthily forward to take a peek.

Hide: (1d20+14)[15]
Move silently: (1d20+14)[29]
Spot: (1d20+5)[11]
Listen: (1d20+4)[6]

Really good at the stealth part of scouting. Slightly less convincing on the actual scouting.

[Marlowe]

Avita blinks. "I meant check for further traps and whether it's actually locked."

[Kaptin Keen]

Spoiler: Pfft ... traps!

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Who uses those? Really.

Search: (1d20+2)[5]

Yea. Mostly really good at the stealth part.

[Marlowe]

Avita bites her lip and steps back a little.

[Kaptin Keen]

Thanks for the bloody vote of confidence, mumbles Rakash under his breath, as he sets about something he knows precious little about - lifting carpets and peering suspiciously at floor boards. Where would I place a trap?! he wonders, looking for little holes in the walls that could fire poisoned darts, or buckets of hot, molten lava precariously perched atop door jambs.

[Marlowe]

Avita turns her head away as Rakash searches, but jaw sets and her left hand gently taps the end of her bow against the carpet. Once, twice. Three times.

Then her head snaps back towards the Goblin and she snaps; "Get back."

Her eyes close, her back straightens, her pale hand makes a fist against her chest, and she mutters something guttural under her breath for a few seconds.

Then her eyes come open, her arm strikes forward, and with a harsh; "Seven!" a towering figure of bone and claw appears before the door.

[SUMMON UNDEAD II: Owlbear Skeleton. Stats here ]

"Todesganger, break down the door, enter the room. Engage and silence any opposition within."" she says.

[Kaptin Keen]

At the appearance of a large undead monstrocity, Rakash manages to execute a very convincing, yet silent, scream, and press himself against the nearest wall hard enough to achieve near-invisibility.

He shoots the evil elf lady a withering glance, as if to say 'hey! I had that!'

Which, of course, he clearly didn't.

[Blackhawk748]

Fion casually walks down the hall after the large skeletal murder bear, on the lookout for any sort of trouble

Spoiler: Sopt Listen

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Spot:(1d20)[18]
Listen:(1d20)[16]

[rax]

"Disposables in the first wave. I like it," Sarrazin observes coolly as the undead monstrosity lumbers forward. Bringing his glaive up in a guard position, he moves carefully after Fion and the owlbear once it's broken down the door.

[YossarianLives]

Rakash finds no evidence of traps. The owlbear skeleton appears moments later, and immediately begins to lay into the door with beak and claw, reducing it to splinters in a matter of seconds. Then, the monstrous undead lumbers forward into what you quickly realize is Parker's bedroom. A large bay window overlooks the back garden, an ornate wardrobe dominates one wall, and opposite this is a four-poster bed with silky white sheets that would be large for a human - much less a gnome. Next to this bed is a small cabinet with an empty mug on it.

Near the centre of the room, a small patch of floor is slightly burned... but there is no sign of immediate danger.