Paladins [5e] - Game Thread

[Tibbius]

Recruiting thread: Paladin or Blackguard? [5e]


Terror stalks the sun-bright streets of Zaragosa.

Spoiler: Characters

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gryffydd65 - Edgar the Paladin https://ddb.ac/characters/17901925/pFkXR0
Zilant - Félix the Rogue https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2039434

Félix and Edgar had worked and travelled together for more than five months. Aiding the helpless, apprehending wrongdoers, at the service of kings and commoners. Now they had reached the fabulous city Zaragosa, a flower of urbanity amid the ruins of a prior age.

In their first few days in the city they heard the following rumors:

1. A faith healer is daily curing cancer and diabetes in the streets of El Gancho.
2. Children are being abducted from their daily activities.
3. A bold new artist's figurative sculptures soon will be exhibited at the Round Park in La Paz.
4. An often deadly drug is being imported over the Godswall from the Witchlands. The dreamy comas it induces are popular among commoners and nobility alike.
5. The king soon will host a grand party with live music, open bar, and buffets for the first five thousand guests to enter the Caixa.
6. The traditional trade in woolen yarn from the Godswall southward through Zaragosa is being disrupted by a new flow of finished wool cloth northward from the port of Málaga. The cloth is imported from the Witchlands.
7. A smuggling ring conveys abducted children down the Ebro from Zaragosa and then over the ancient roads to Tarragona. In Tarragona unspeakable things are done.
8. At dawn this morning a naked male child was found crucified to the wall of El Catedral overlooking the Ebro. The child was dead and had been mutilated.

Mid-day found them eating grilled flatbread green olives at a small table next to a food cart with a charcoal grill, under the trees of the Plaza del Sitio. The sun was shining, a light breeze was blowing the odors of smoke and fried onions and gazanias. Dozens of people were moving through the flowers and benches along the paved walkways of the Plaza. There was no hint of danger.

[gryffydd65]

Edgar Edgar looked up at his companion Felix. "For such a beautiful day and city, there is much unrest, I have heard many disturbing things, but a naked boy crucified is beyond the law. We must investigate."

[Zilant]

Staring towards the passing crowds, though at no one in particular I finish my lunch.
“Yes, I’ve been thinking about that all morning. Should we head to the Cathedral first?”

[gryffydd65]

Edgar
"Yes, gather what you need, we will have to ask how to get there." Edgar said picking up his backpack holding his supplies and his five javelins. He strapped his sword around his waist and buckled his shield to left arm. The chain mail was form fitting and his tabard flowed over his shoulders emblazoned with his holy symbol.

[Zilant]

Felix

With a nod I gather my belongings and tighten my bow over my shoulder. I pull myself up with the help of my spear, wrapped in the cloth and color of the Abby of Montserrat, and ready myself to follow. “At your leave, Lord.”

[Tibbius]

It's easy to follow the broken black paving of the streets downhill to the river from the Plaza, past the tumbled ruins of glass towers and the modest buildings of brick and stone that have survived the ruins or been raised among them. Trees grow twisted in the twisted steel and shards of glass. Grass grows scraggly through cracks in the paving. Centuries of foot traffic and wagons have limited its progress.

There are many people travelling the streets, and most of them have somehow heard about the crucifixion and where it was - Félix and Edgar see hundreds of citizens during the fifteen minute walk to the Basilica where the child was found. Circling the complex, they come to the edge of a large crowd of civilians who remain beneath the place where it occurred. With his greater height, Félix can see over the heads of the crowd the small bloodstains ten feet off the ground. The body has been removed. There is great speculation in the crowd, and an air of panic. These are rubberneckers gathered to dramatize and aggrandize a tragic event, trying to make personal something that did not directly involve them.

Those nearest Edgar notice his holy symbol and his weapons. They turn to him: "My lord," they cry out, "bring justice! Find and strike down the monsters who did this."

[gryffydd65]

Edgar
"Stand aside, stand aside I say, Justice will be served once my man and I check the area. Anyone who has any knowledge, not speculation may stay, the rest clear the way. Edgar yelled at the crowd as he moved closer to the wall.

[Zilant]

Felix
Whilst Edgar dismisses the rabble I slide past the disbanding crowd to move closer to the wall to inspect the bloodstained masonry.

[Tibbius]

When Félix inspects the wall he notices a set of four thick spikes lying on the ground at the base of the wall, directly under the bloodstains; a ten foot wooden ladder laid against the base of the wall; a big smear of blood just above the ladder; and an old vagrant with a long scraggly grey beard and bushy silver hair, who stands nearby looking uncomfortably as if he wants to say something to Félix.

Edgar finds that the throng of several dozen disperses rapidly at his command. Nobody wants to argue with a paladin! All that are left are a pair of young women, their shawls over their heads, who kneel in prayer some distance from the wall but facing directly toward the bloodstains. Their shoulders shake as if they are crying.

[Zilant]

Felix

I turn towards the old man and inquire about his presence.
“The good knight has made clear his request. Have you something to say on this dark affair?”

[gryffydd65]

Edgar
ARMOR
CLASS 18 HP 11/11
Edgar walks over to the two women, he gets on bended knee and with a kind ,soft voice says." Ladies, I do not wish to interrupt your grief, but time is of the essence. I need to know who this young lad was, and what you might know of his friends and family? "

Spoiler: Divine Sense

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detect evil within 60 feet, 2 out 3 uses left.

[Tibbius]

Spoiler: Félix

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The old man is emaciated and dressed in rags. His face and hands are freshly washed. He stammers as he explains: "I sleep near here. Last night I awoke to the sound of a hammer banging metal. I came to find out what was gong on and saw them nailing the boy to the wall. There were three of them. Two steadied the ladder. The third dragged the boy up and nailed him to the wall by the ankles and wrists. He cried out. Then they slit his throat and with his blood they drew a rune. There." He points to the smear of blood above the ladder, which is laid on the ground leaning sideways against the wall. "After they left I rubbed it away." He shows his hands, which are faintly stained with blood. "It seemed to glow and crawl."

Spoiler: Edgar

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"He was my son!" wails one of the two young women. The other woman embraces her tightly. Edgar senses a residue of evil from the direction of the wall. "They took him to be buried in the poor field," says the woman who is not the boy's mother.

[Zilant]

Felix

Producing a quill and parchment with writing on one side I turn the paper over and offer them to the man.
“Perhaps it is too much to ask, but could you reproduce the symbol you saw? It may help us find those responsible.”

Spoiler: OoC

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regardless of the vagrants decision to copy the rune I’d like to Investigate the smeared bloodstain. Should he draw the rune I would like to investigate that as well.

Spoiler: rolls

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Investigate smeared bloodstain:[roll0]
Investigate rune:[roll1]

[Tibbius]

Spoiler: Félix

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The old man's hands shake as he respectfully pushes the paper away. "It was an evil thing," he says. "I do not want to make it."

Spoiler: Edgar

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"Evil men did this," sobs the mother of the deceased. "Find them! Slay them!"

[Zilant]

Felix

Spoiler: OoC

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I suppose my roll didn’t work, sorry. Still trying to figure out this interface.

Edit: I’m having a hard time getting the roller to work right, I think. Would you mind if I rolled in person and posted the result?

I understand, it was a lot to ask on my part. And what of the three men? Did you notice what they looked like? Did you recognize any of them?

[Tibbius]

Spoiler: OoC

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Try this:

[roll=Investigate smeared bloodstain]d20+5[/roll]

Investigate smeared bloodstain - (d20+5)[17]

Felix turns away from the vagrant and peers closely at the masonry wall. Although the stain has been smeared, it is possible to make out darker patches. He discerns the vague shape of a symbol that makes his skin crawl. Although he really can't describe it, he knows he would be able to recognize it if he saw it again.

[Zilant]

Felix

With a shudder I turn and walk over to my holy companion. ”Lord, there was a wicked symbol I could only just make out on the wall. Something of unnatural evil, I’m sure. A distressed vagrant who claims to have seen three men commit this act wiped away the mark. What do you make of that? Try as I might, I cannott recall the symbol from any book or scroll from Montserrat.”

Spoiler: OoC

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Could I try and use my background feature, Researcher, on finding out more about the symbol?

[gryffydd65]

Spoiler: religion and history

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(1d20+1)[16]
[Roll]1d20+1[roll]

Edgar looks at the symbol hoping to remember. The looks of the women etched on his mind.

Spoiler: history

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[roll]1d20+1[/roll]

[gryffydd65]

(1d20+1)[3] history, hoping it works.

[Tibbius]

Edgar's religious training in the permanent diaconate serves him in this instance. The smudged outlines of the evil rune remind him of something he saw in a text on Demonology. His stomach rebels as he realizes that the crucifixion probably was part of a ritual to summon a demon of torment - one that even now may be stalking the noonday streets of Zaragosa.

[gryffydd65]

Edgar "Felix, I am afraid it is worse than we thought, I believe this ritual has been used to summon a demon. We must alert the Order. All who serve must come here as fast as possible. Until that time, it will be up to us to track this evil and destroy it. " Edgar says quietly and quickly as his head darts back and forth trying to see if anyone is acting unusual.

[gryffydd65]

Edgar "Felix, I am afraid it is worse than we thought, I believe this ritual has been used to summon a demon. We must alert the Order. All who serve must come here as fast as possible. Until that time, it will be up to us to track this evil and destroy it. " Edgar says quietly and quickly as his head darts back and forth trying to see if anyone is acting unusual.

Spoiler: perception

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(1d20+1)[19]

[Tibbius]

Edgar immediately notices that the long bearded old vagrant has made a lot of distance from them while Edgar and Félix have engaged in conversation. The two young women continue to kneel and pray and lament. Otherwise a few bystanders remain at a respectful distance.

[gryffydd65]

Edgar "Felix, the man might be part of this, follow him If you can. I will go to the church, pray and get guidance. "

[Zilant]

With a nod I turn and begin following the vagrant. I’ll be careful not to run up to him immediately, but will instead try and trail him from a distance.

[Tibbius]

The stoop-shouldered old man is rapidly hobbling upriver along the cobblestone pathway under the wall of the basilica compound. He's not making any effort to look casual; haste is his obvious purpose. He seems almost to expect that someone will follow him.

[Zilant]

Felix
The speed with which he makes his flight worries me, I’ll make haste and try to catch up to the old man.

[Tibbius]

Spoiler: OoC...running

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I'll make a roll for the old man trying to outdistance Félix. He has a two round head start. Every time Félix wins a roll, he catches up by one round. Every time he fails a roll, he falls another round behind. If the old man gets five turns rounds ahead, he vanishes from view.
d20 plus DEX mod plus STR mod - (d20+2)[13]

[Zilant]

felix
Breaking into a sprint.
[roll0]

Spoiler: OoC

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when I use the roller I end up seeing a value of ‘Roll=0’. Idk if that’s what it’s supposed to look like on my end. Not trying to hold up the game, just not feeling like I’m doing it right

[Tibbius]

felix
Breaking into a sprint.
d20 plus DEX mod plus STR mod rnd 1 - (d20+3)[18]

Spoiler: OoC

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when I use the roller I end up seeing a value of ‘Roll=0’. Idk if that’s what it’s supposed to look like on my end. Not trying to hold up the game, just not feeling like I’m doing it right

Spoiler: OoC

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Try this (copy and paste from the code box)

d20 plus DEX mod plus STR mod rnd 1 - (d20+3)[18]
d20 plus DEX mod plus STR mod rnd 2 - (d20+3)[17]
d20 plus DEX mod plus STR mod rnd 3 - (d20+3)[21]
d20 plus DEX mod plus STR mod rnd 4 - (d20+3)[12]

And here is for the vagrant:
d20 plus DEX mod plus STR mod rnd 2 - (d20+2)[14]
d20 plus DEX mod plus STR mod rnd 3 - (d20+2)[21]
d20 plus DEX mod plus STR mod rnd 4 - (d20+2)[19]