Tyrant's Grasp: The Dead Roads [IC]

[DrK]

Helena mutters a brief ”More trouble!” before hustling to join the others pulling out her bow and concentrating on the her prayers to the inheritor as the bow pulses with silver fire. If she sees a mite she’ll launch an arrow

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move 30ft due east
Enter stance of piercing rays
If she sees a target Silver strike
(1d20+7)[10] or (1d20+7)[23] dam (1d8+2)[9] + (1d6)[6] fire

[lostsole31]

R1T12: Helena mutters a brief, ”More trouble!” before hustling to join the others while pulling out her bow and concentrating on the her prayers to the Inheritor as the bow pulses with silver fire. After only 10' she sees a sliver of a mite deep in the room, but that's enough as her arrow streaks with silvery flame to blast a hole through the center of the mite.

R1T11: Grum, what do you do?

[DrK]

Grum let’s out a triumphant ”Great shot!” as he watches the arrow slam into a mite. With his massive blade held aloft on an offensive style he barrels into the room to close on the nearest mite and chops down with brutal efficiency.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move into room to the closest Mite. Currently with 10ft reach due to titanic swings but will stand adjacent to the mite
Swift: vigilant keepers stance
Standard: risky attack (1d20+8)[28] dam (2d6+10)[14]

[DrK]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Critical roll (1d20)[9]

[lostsole31]

R1T11: Grum let’s out a triumphant ”Great shot!” as he watches the arrow slam into a mite. With his massive blade held aloft on an offensive style he barrels into the room to close on the nearest mite and chops down with brutal efficiency. Pink tried to lash out with a dagger but got completely murdered for its efforts. One nite remains to the west, adjacent to Grum.

R1T8: Camael comes in, and around to ring the bell of a very self-important-looking mite for 15 mod + 1 INT + sickened.

R1T6: As badly brained as he is, instead of returning with suicidal ferocity, the injured mite falls to its knees and speaks in a strange language. It holds up its insect-shell crown to indicate its surrender.

End Round One, Begin Round 2 ...

R2T28: Sal heads into the room, and readies his bow to shoot, but seems to recognize the body language of a surrendering enemy.

R2T19: Gwennid heads into the room, but moves to the far eastern end.

R2T13: Drake moves past Grum, and then lines up his machete to strike.

R2T12: Helena, what do you do?

Grum on deck, Camael in the hole ...

[DrK]

Seeing the tiny feeble creature drop to its knees and seeing her companions efficiently chopping down the others Helena's heart goes out to the pathetic looking creature. She shouts out a near panicked "Hold, don't hit it.. its surrdenering." before advancing some 10ft towards the door and asking the same questions in Taldan and Dwarven. "What manner of beast are you and how did you get here."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move 10ft north towards the entrance into the room.
Standard: "Talk"

[DrK]

Grum happy with the savage chopping down of one of the blue vermin can feel Gorum's song rising and spins around as the last of mites lays before him. Raising his sword he hears Helena shouting and pauses, still hlding the sword up, ready to strike if it should prove false. "Dinnae tempt me scum" he growls in dwarven at it.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Ready to (risky) strike if it attacks an of his allies (1d20+8)[12] dam (2d6+10)[14]

[lostsole31]

Initiative Ends ...

The mite doesn't understand Helena's speech.

Gwennid speaks in Sylvan, but then conveys, "He only knows enough Sylvan to say that he doesn't speak Sylvan."

[DrK]

Helena nods thanks to Gwen and will try greeting the small ugly beast in all the languages she knows ”We mean you no harm we are merely passing through.” she tries to say it at least convey through mime if the blue gremlin like creature can’t understand her.

Grum for his part steps back and sweeps his gaze around the chamber looking for danger and scanning for anything magical with a simple prayer

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Helena will try a linguistics or bluff if needed to try and communicate
Grum scans the room with detect magic

[lostsole31]

The shelves along the walls of this room are crammed with ornamental weapons, tapestries, and trophies. Most have been torn or broken, and several lie smashed on the floor. The room’s only exit is a door to the southwest.

Roslar was an accomplished swordsman and won several tournaments in his youth. This room showcases the awards and accolades he received, including large but mostly valueless items such as plaques, ceremonial (and therefore useless) weapons, tapestries, and urns.

Magic detection will note that the mite has a pouch with a few faint auras in it, as well as below.

The wealth that the mites seemed to have collected thus far includes 5 pounds of silver, ivory, and gold leaf worth ~130 gp.

The mites missed a high-quality leather bandolier (20 gp value) rolled around four vials with faint conjuration auras that Sal will easily ID as (4) potions of cure moderate wounds.

Meanwhile, the mite chief knows none of the party's languages, and the party doesn't know what he's saying, either.

[DrK]

Grum scoops up the gold and tosses the bandolier to Sal. "''Ere lad. Ye be keeping this safe fer us." As he finishes the looting he backs slowly towards the door pointing the sword at mite, smirking at the strange little mite's crown. "Ye be still. Stay" he barks as he heads to the archway back into the main room.

Helena looks at th creature sadly and also does a waving motion, motioning to the far (NE) corner of the room. "Stay there, don't follow" she adds, looking at Gwen, "Can you try speaking to it again[?"B][/B] she asks their plant-like friend. In the main room she glances back at the room with the sad looking mite king. "This whole place seems like such a grand edifice to Roslar. Yet I feel its almost too much, it doesn't seem very humble" she adds the last sadly.

Grum shakes his head, "If the man be iron he be smelting himself tae' steel" he adds sarcastically. Before nodding to the opening in the NW corner of the room and stomping that way.

[lostsole31]

Sal puts the bandolier on for now.

"No, why?" asks Gwennid before Helena walks out the door.

[DrK]

Helena looks at Gwen, ”It seemed to understand you a little. Can you tell it to stay please.” she asks with a smile

Grum, with a dwarven patience looks at them. ”Leave it be. We need be getting out of ‘ere.”

[lostsole31]

Gwennid simply leaves the room with everyone else, and closes the door. "I think you meant the other mites. They spoke Sylvan, but that one didn't."

Leaving the mite chieftain mercifully behind a closed door, the party follows a grumpy Grum to the next door.

[DrK]

Helena pauses as she follow Grum, looking back with a momentary look of sadness. "That poor creature. What will it do all alone in here.." she wonders aloud as she clutches her bow and follows the others.

Grum shakes his head, "Dinnae turn into a wee softie now lass. It be a vermin, too stupid to have long thoughts. Better we killed it, but you seemed a wee bit squeamish. Now get ready." he adds the las as he sends the motes of light into the chamber and follows through the door.

[lostsole31]

Murals around this room depict several weapons, including many different rapiers and several lances. Each weapon depicted has a plaque next to it. A door stands in the south wall, and stairs occupy an alcove to the west. There is an animated creature in here that looks like a robed skeleton made of an exotic metal. It appears to have suffered recent damage. It stares at Grum in a similar level of blank shock. It has a short sword in one of its metal bony hands.

Begin Round One ...

R1T28: Again and again, it no longer seems lucky, but actually creepy .... as Sal seems to respond to something he can't see and there's no sign of anything having happened. He hustles past Grum into the room beyond to see what there is. "Listen! I know what you are. You're a celedon, right? But a weird bony one and not like an ideal human. Everything here has been trying to kill us. Will you?"

R1T23: Hearing Sal's entreaty, though not knowing what he faces, Gwennid passes Grum to stand next to Sal for some backup, but doesn't bring forth their light-spear.

R1T22: Helena, what do you do?

[DrK]

Helena looks through the doorway, her bow in hand, an arrow nocked. At Sal's words he freezes, "Good day. I am Helena Varvatos. What should we call you?"" she asks in a calm confident tone, although the bow remains ready in her hand.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Walk to a position ~15ft from the creature

[lostsole31]

R1T22: Helena freezes at Sal's words, but then moves through the doorway, her bow in hand, an arrow nocked. Stopping a safe distance from the creature she asks in a calm, confident tone, "Good day. I am Helena Varvatos. What should we call you?"" Her bow remains ready in her hand.

R1T18: Camael delays, not wanting to have too many people on hand in what seems like a diplomatic attempt.

R1T14: Grum, what do you do?

[DrK]

The burly dwarf holds, his sword in hand he watches and waits. He moves into an aggressive posture but does nothing else. "Shout if it be causing trouble."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Swift: Move into Vigliant Defender stance

Nothing else this round

[lostsole31]

R1T14: The burly dwarf holds his sword in hand, watching and waiting. He moves into an aggressive posture but does nothing else. "Shout if it be causing trouble."

R1T10: Drake doesn't add to the noise, but does go into the room and takes an aggressive posture with his machete.

R1T5: An androgynous voice issues from the robed skeleton. "I would have fought you as is my duty, but I am wounded and cannot defeat you all. I surrender," they say as they drop their short sword. "Besides, strangely, you seem to know something of me."

Initiative Ends!

[DrK]

Helena relaxes and lowers her bow. "I accept your surrender" she says with a wry grin, "Can you please tell us where we are and how a creature such as you came to be in here? We mean you no harm, we are merely trying to leave" she adds the last with a nervous smile as she look around the others

Spoiler: OOC

Show

She'll attempt diplomacy

As Helena speaks Grum enters the room and paces around looking at the weapons. "Weapons. Nice ones eh" he looks around to see if any are useful, still keeping an eye on the odd metallic skeleton as he does so.

[lostsole31]

"How did you even get in here? Can't you leave the way you came?" asks the figure.

[DrK]

Helena looks at figure and gesture towards the archway back to the main chamber. ”None of us know where ‘here’ is. We awoke in the coffins on the lower floor. We don’t know where this tomb is or where the exit is. We fought disgusting ostovites and little mites on our travels and I think found one of your kin slain by the ostovites.”

She pauses at the last “I’m sorry if you were close. We just seek to escape this tomb. We have assumed it’s a tomb for Roslar as he seems to be on all the walls.” she a points to the weapons and murals ”But as to where in Golarion it is we are lost. Could you help us leave?”

[lostsole31]

"I am stationed here by psychopomp decree. I am Number Three," they say. "I believe a great hero is buried in the tomb, along with his retainers and assistants, though I only know Roslar's story from the statues and carvings around the tomb. I can describe the tomb's layout to you, if you'd like. Alas, I do not know what a Goh-lahr-ee-on is."

[DrK]

Grum grunts an amused "Number 3 eh... How many numbers are there in this tomb? We dinnae want to bump into more of your kind". But shushes as Helena waves him to silence and goes back to studying the weapons on the walls.

Helena turns back to the Celedon. "Thank you number 3. How many others of you are stationed in this tomb? And, I guess, would you able to show us the way out. Then we shall not be trespassing in your sacred space and we'll make our way home from there? Please tell and show more of the tomb. "

[lostsole31]

"I will tell you the layout of the tomb, and you will find your way out," says Number Three. "There is much filth in this tomb, and that is what I must clean. I do not know how many are stationed at this tomb, but if one of my superiors comes to check on my progress, I will tell them about your kind treatment of me and what happened to my kinsman."

[DrK]

Helena nods, "My thanks. The layout of the tomb would be very valuable to us. We have also removed much of the taint. All of the ostovites downstairs we found downstairs we destroyed, we saw every room so its likely they are all slain. Similar so far we've explored much of this level and slain many mites and roaches. We can do our best to remove the taint on our way out. " she pauses looking at the others and then continuing, "At least to me, Roslar was a hero of the Shining Crusade so a hero that I hold dear to my heart and my faith. I would be honoured to remove the taint."

Grum snorts, "I dinnae care for Roslar, but them ostovites were evil and the mites are vermin. Gorum loves the thrill of battle so I be happy to kick anything else oot this tomb"

[lostsole31]

"You go up these stairs here to a small room. The door to the south opens up into a massive chamber," recounts Number Three. "Largest room in the tomb, it's the Grand Hall. There is a door to the south across from the door you enter from that leads to the font, but you will need to go well to the east and exit out that door. There is a large retaining wall going north-south, so you won't initially be able to see that door. But just going around that wall to the north or south will bring you to the entry."

[DrK]

As it’s speaks of the way out Grum interrupts at the end ponying south at the last chamber on this level they had not explored. ”Ay, what lies in the room through there?” he asks gesturing with a plate mailed hand to the room through the chamber due south (the room to the SW off the main chamber).

He does grunt a thanks though for the directions to escape.

[lostsole31]

"In that room," says Number Three, "is a crystal with an angry face that scowls at us. It seems really upset with me when I clean that room."