Legacy of Fire: Howl of the Carrion King [IC]

[lostsole31]

Surprise Round!

Khair barely stepped inside to look around, and Alain just behind him, when three tiny shapes dart in at the one making all the racket!

S20: Something charges Khair. He had his sword away as searching requires his hands to move things, but he puts up his arm to protect his face and something seems to have impacted and hurt itself on the arm of his hauberk.

S10: Something else swoops down to attach itself to Alain's cuirass and drain his blood for 1 CON.

S7: Still a third does the same, but goes low and wraps itself around attaches to Khair's knee. It begins to suck his blood for 1 CON.

Begin Round One ...

R1T22: Onyebuchi moves in and across the room, and then casts a spell. Two bolts of force strike the thing attached to Khair's knee for 9 force, but it is still there.

R1T20: The one that hurt itself on Khair's arm corrects itself and attaches, and drinks up blood for 1 CON.

R1T18: Trevorn pushes past like Onyebuchi did, but stops in front of Khair. It strikes the one attached to his knee with their body spines for 10, causing it to fall off and flop on the ground.

R1T12: Alahazra strikes the one on Alain's chest with her quarterstaff twice for 7 and 4, and it to falls and flops.

R1T11: Wahaj flies in and snaps forcefully at the critter on Khair, striking it for 9 + 6 fire, and it drops.

Combat Ends!

These are determined to be stirges, magical beasts that are like unholy mosquitos the size of housecats. The party puts the monsters out of their flopping misery.

[bcool999]

Khair

”What vicious blood suckers.” Khair comments on their fallen foes, “My thanks for the quick assistance in dispatching those parasites.” Khair nods in thanks to Trevorn, Onyebuchi, and Wahaj.

With the enemies dispatched, Khair resumes quickly searching the room for whatever scraps the Stirges left.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Begin quick search of room now that the Stirges can no longer interrupt.

[lostsole31]

It takes four minutes to do a search here. Strewn about the floor are 21 gp in loose change, a chime, and a fine silver bowl.

The chime detects as magical, but the best Onyebuchi can see is a moderate aura coming from it .... which is stronger than anything Onyebuchi has ever seen, personally.

Alahazra appraises the fine silver bowl at 75 gp.

[bcool999]

Khair

After they gather what they can from the foul smelling chamber, Khair directs the party back out into less contaminated air.

Spoiler: OOC

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Attempt to move back to A4 via the antechamber (A9)

[lostsole31]

Now where to?

[bcool999]

Khair

Khair moves South to the adjacent opening.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move to the next southern doorway connected to A4

[lostsole31]

Though his intention is to head south and relative west to the next opening of the courtyard, there is another opening to another space on the relative east wall only 15' south of where you last were.

The brightly painted walls of this small chapel, probably meant for personal prayer and reflection, stand out as unusually garish for the otherwise reserved architecture notable elsewhere in the monastery. On the walls, numerous rectangular wooden plates traced in gold filigree depict a strapping warrior battling creatures of fire, riding a chariot on the wind, and engaging in other acts of noble heroism. It is the same figure depicted elsewhere in the monastery, but the sheer number of images here suggest that this shrine was especially important to the clerics who honored him as a saint of Sarenrae. Perhaps a quarter of the gold plates have been pried away or hacked apart by long-absent vandals.

Opposite the door, dominating a section of the north (relative east) wall, stands a man-sized statue of the warrior, its face marred by what look like numerous blows from an axe. The statue holds both hands in front of him, bent at the elbow, palms up, as if expecting an offering. Several deep rents from similar axe blows make it clear that someone tried to hack the arms from the statue decades ago, but was unable to do so.

[bcool999]

Khair

Khair enters the shrine of this unknown saint. Curious if it is age or neglect that kept the figure from contemporary religious texts.

Spoiler: OOC

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Enter A12

[lostsole31]

So, nothing immediately jumps out at you that is obvious, but there is a lot of storytelling and filigree in here. It is possible that a deep search ... or even hours of study of the paintings ... could reveal more, but nothing immediate right now.

[bcool999]

Khair

”We should find time to study this room in detail later. After we secure the Monastery.” Khair opines before returning to the hall.

Spoiler: OOC

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Leave A12 for later.

[lostsole31]

The eastern cloister (relative south) walk abuts what must be the outer wall of the monastery itself. The lengthy wall bears a marred sculpture depicting the five figures from the north cloister mural in battle against numerous creatures of evil demeanor. Several of the creatures appear to be composed at least partly of fire, while others are much more difficult to define, being outright monsters of unknown origin or unusual warriors with weapons bonded into their flesh like organic tools. In the background Pale Mountain looms large, and over it two titanic figures lock in a deadly wrestler’s embrace. One has the demoniac visage of a noble efreeti, while the other is a gorgeous woman who could only be a djinni princess. Opposite the sculpted wall, a series of open arches leads out into an open-air courtyard ... the same one as before, that is all but impassable with vegetation at this time.

Alahazra tells the group that this sculpture depicts the great wars of genie vs. genie that cast the Pale Mountain region into chaos hundreds of years ago.

[lostsole31]

The party continues another 30-40' to the south (relative west) until the cloisters wraps around to the north or a hallway continues to the norther section of the monastery. Alahazra recommends heading north along the cloister to continue looking at the artwork regarding the monastery's devotionals. As before, the south cloister's entrance to the courtyard is choked with overgrown vegetation.

An open arch along the southern wall at the eastern end of the corridor leads off into darkness, while a series of archways lines the north wall, looking in on the monastery’s massively overgrown courtyard. The southern wall bears a bas-relief sculpture in the form of a triptych. In the first scene, a heroic-looking bearded figure takes leave of four similarly attired companions, who rise off into the heavens, leaving him to stand vigil over the large mountain in the background. The next scene depicts the bearded figure in battle with a flaming half-man/ half-snake creature wielding a spear. The fire spirit transfixes the bearded hero with the spear, seemingly striking a killing blow. In the final scene, the hero appears twice—once on the ground with a wound in his back and once standing over this form, looking down upon it sadly.

Comparison of the bas-relief with others in the sequence clearly shows that the bearded figure here is the central figure in all of the carvings, including those found in areas A1a and A1b, and that the entity’s name that if finally found in the artwork .... is Vardishal.

[bcool999]

Khair

”Finally a name to go with the depictions around the Monastery. Vardishal,” Khair tries the name on his tongue, “The man appears to have lived a heroic life an participated in the ancient war of genies alongside his companions. Only to later fall in battle alone later.”

After a moment of silence for the ancient saint, Khair directs the party to complete their circuit around the vegetation choked hallway.

Spoiler: OOC

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Knowledge History with +4 modifier on Vardishal and the ancient Genie War. Or if arcana, religion, or planes are more appropriate than +6 modifier.

Moving to A7 to complete circuit of the vege choked courtyard.

[lostsole31]

Finally, you end the circuit with the West Cloister (A7). The outer wall of the west cloister passage bears a massive carving. The central figure—the heroic man with the pointed beard—preaches to a variety of human clerics from throughout the long history of the monastery. The first image depicts the figure manifesting in a spiritual manner to a small group of pilgrims of Sarenrae. Another shows the figure conversing with a man in religious finery while the monastery itself is being constructed in the background. Thereafter follows a procession of similar poses, each depicting a visit by the bearded man and the leader of each era of the temple. The depictions of these clerics often also bear an identifying inscription, complete with dates that span the last several hundred years. The most recent carving is from thirty years ago, and while ample room remains for additional carvings on the west wall, the last thirty feet or so are completely blank.

Two open arches on opposite ends of the west wall lead out into the ruined nave.

[lostsole31]

With Khair into the sculptures of Vardishal, Alahazra gets the group moving again, out into the ruined nave, to the south (relative west) some 40', and then east (relative south) into the southwestern section of the monastery. 10' down on the north (relative east) as well as 15' down on the south (relative west), there are openings.

"Trevorn, will you be willing to send your phoenix to make a safety check of that first opening?" asks Alahazra.

Trevorn is only to happy to be noticed and moves up with Wahaj, apparently a phoenix to the cloudy-eyed Alahazra. Trevorn moves in and gets to a corner while he sends Wahaj to the door. As soon as Wahaj gets to the doorway, there is an angry little screech from within.

Begin Round One ...

R1T20: Zaihi races in and the loud report is heard, followed by a pained shriek. "Pugwampis!" she calls from within. "Three of them!"

R1T19: Trevorn races in and the same voice shrieks in pain again.

R1T17: Khair, what do you do?

[bcool999]

Khair

Khair summons his flaming scimitar to hand as he moves toward battle. He advances upon the Pugwampis, settling into a combat stance before sending forth a slash.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move Action: Move up to 50ft into the south east section that my allies entered summoning Efreeti’s Brass Scimitar during movement.
If there is a space where Scything Strike has legal enemy targets I move to that space.
If not, I move adjacent to an enemy.

SwA: Enter Scarlet Einhander stance

Standard:
If There are legal targets for Scything Strike Khair will use Scything Strike non-lethally.
If There are no legal Targets for Scything Strike, Normal attack against an enemy.

Attack: (1d20+10)[15] to hit.
Damage: (1d6+6)[9] + (2d8)[5] + (1d6)[6] Fire Non-Lethal.

[lostsole31]

R1T17: Khair summons his flaming scimitar to hand as he moves toward battle. He advances upon the pugwampis, settling into a combat stance before sending forth a slash that - likely due to his desire not to kill them - just misses Red-Green and Red-Blue.

R1T15: Alahazra comes into the kitchen and to the side to swing at Red-Blue with her staff, but unluckily clips herself in the head, knocking herself senseless (dazed).

R1T14: Onyebuchi comes in, rushing right over pugwampis. He kicks at Red-Blue, but the greasy floor has his leg spin wildly and he just barely catches himself.

R1T13: Alain draws his sword (his shield was readied) as he steps up behind Wahaj to get a sense of what is happening. He begins his litany of exhortations to make everyone feel more invigorated in battle. During that time, he extols his own accomplishments and battle prowess loudly. It is likely these pugwampi no more speak Taldane than the others did, but they DO seem amused at the puffed up human.

R1T12-11: Red-Green moves into Khair's square, and Khair misses it as it also misses him. Red-Brown stabs at Onyebuchi, who had ended up just over the gremlin, but the dude deftly deflects the diminutive dagger.

R1T10: Wahaj flies to the far side of the room and lands. It bites at Red-Brown, hitting for 4 mod + 2 fire.

R1T3: Red-Blue steps into Alahazra's space while she is dazed but fails to stab her.

End Round One, Begin Round 2 ...

R2T20: Zaihi backs up and tries to finger-gun Red-Green, but misses.

R2T19: These little wrist bangles appear on Trevorn, and they touch Alahazra.

R2T17: Khair, you have one underfoot. What do you do?

Alahazra on deck, Onyebuchi in the hole ...

[lostsole31]

R2T17: Khair steps north to be adjacent to as many allies as possible. He shoots a bolt of electricity at Red-Green, but misses.

R2T15: Alahazra is dazed ....

R2T14: Onyebuchi takes advantage of the opening Khair made to then move south to flank. Putting power behind his strike to overcome the fey resistance to harm, he snap kicks Red-Green for 4 mod.

R2T13: Alain jostles in while drawing his sword. It's not an attractive attack, but it still nicks Red-Green 8 mod + disabled.

R2T12-11: Red-Green moves tries to get under Alain's feet, but he kills it. Red-Brown tries to get under Khair's feet, and the paladin's focus on mercy keeps him from striking successfully. It misses him wildly with its dagger.

R2T10: Wahaj strolls up and attacks Red-Brown. The bite misses, but both talons strike for a total of 10 mod + 7 fire, killing it.

R2T3: Red-Blue, the last pugwampi, stabs Alahazra in her foot for not effect, as if it struck stone.

End Round 2, Begin Round 3 ...

R3T20: Zaihi moves into the open gap and then does that weird finger-gun attack with the loud cracking sound. It would have critted were it not for some unfortunate circumstance related to slippery kitchen stuff on the floor, and she misses.

R3T19: Trevorn misses the pugwampi with a spiny hand.

R3T17: Khair, what do you do? The last pugwampi is under a dazed Alahazra's feet.

Alahazra on deck (?), Onyebuchi in the hole ...

[bcool999]

Khair

Calling on Merciful Sarenrae’s healing power, Khair slashes toward the Pugwampi menacing Alahazra channeling healing energy inward should the strike connect.

As he sends his blade toward the Pugwampi, a protective field of holy energy shrouds Alahazra shielding her from harm.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Standard Action: Initiate Enduring Crane Strike on Pugwampi. Electing for Non-Lethal damage.

Attack: (1d20+10)[16] (Divine Fighting Technique negates non lethal attack penalties with Scimitar)
Damage: (1d6+6)[10] + (2d8)[4] + (1d6)[3] Nonlethal Fire Damage.

On hit: target self with the healing.

Free Action: Activate Guardian’s Shield ability on Alahazra 8 THP for 4 Rounds and should she be afflicted with Fatigue, the condition is negated for her at the cost of a round of shield duration.

[lostsole31]

R3T17: Calling on Merciful Sarenrae’s healing power, Khair slashes toward the Pugwampi menacing Alahazra - striking for 12 mod NL + 3 mod NL fire - channeling 4 healing energy inward. As he sends his blade toward the Pugwampi, a protective field of holy energy shrouds Alahazra shielding her from harm.

Onyebuchi backs off, but Alain cleaves the head off the unconscious pugwampi.

Combat Ends!

Alahazra comes out of being dazed immediately after Khair's strike.

Inside the doorless arch you had to enter appears to be a large kitchen complete with walls lined in shelves and cupboards, a huge central table, and an enormous oven against the north wall. Several drawers and cupboard doors stand askew, and the floor here is a jagged field of broken glass, smashed pottery, bits of sharp stone, jagged bones, and discarded cutlery.

[bcool999]

Khair

With a murmured prayer to his goddess thanking her for her protection, Khair dismisses his blade back into akashic energy. Looking at his companions, Khair asks, ”Is everyone uninjured? If so, shall we continue our exploration efforts?”

Once everyone catches their breath from the fighting, Khair will move to investigate the ruined kitchen with a quick search.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Quick Search the room after any necessary post combat healing is preformed. Though I don’t think anyone got hurt this time.

[lostsole31]

One person that has carried forward a bit more of an injury is Onyebuchi, and Alahazra intones strange words that sound like a sirocco blowing across the land, but in her spell she fully heals the man.

It only takes a little under two minutes for a quick search here. Pugwampi equipment (tiny shortbows and shortswords) are completely non-saleable, and there is nothing else of interest in the kitchen.

What now?

[bcool999]

Khair

Finding nothing of note in the kitchen, Khair will lead the way into the room across the hallway.

Spoiler: OOC

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Moving to explore the room that I believe I can see across the hall.

[lostsole31]

Moving to the opening across the hall ... Three long wooden tables and dozens of chairs that once lined this mess hall are in shambles, mostly rotted away with the passage of years. Light shines through several large holes in the ceiling, illuminating a closed door on the east wall.

Though he is in the mess hall here, looking around he notes a door to the south, but when he pans around to see outside of the room .... across the hall to the south and in a different room, he thinks he sees movement.

[bcool999]

Khair

”Enemies across the hall!” Khair warns as he advances on the movement he saw.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move towards Green and Orange on map. Possible begin combat.

[lostsole31]

Surprise Round ...

”Enemies across the ...!” Khair warns as he advances on the movement he saw, surprising everyone and everything. With his marid's sandals he makes it across the hall and right up to a hairy, stout primate of small size with opposable thumbs, a colorful face, and bright red buttocks.

Begin Round One ...

R1T29: Alahazra comes in at surprising speed and stomps on Green's foot for 9 + disabled.

R1T22: Trevorn moves forward and stops behind Khair, but orders Wahaj in to attack something to the northeast Blue.

R1T21: Meanwhile Blue springs off the bed and tries to bite Khair.

R1T20: Wahaj flies in just above Khair and nips Blue for 8 + 1 fire + disabled after Blue misses it. Wahaj continues to the northeast part of the room.

R1T14: Zaihi scurries in and south while out of instinct Green snaps at her, finds the exertion was too much for its wounds, and falls to the ground.

R1T13: Khair, what do you do?

[lostsole31]

R1T13: Khair delivers Blue a merciful and quick death with his flaming weapon before heading south to the foot of the southernmost bed to engage the last two monkeys.

R1T11: Alain hustles in through the door with sword and shield.

R1T9: Onyebuchi hustles in as well, passing Alain and jumping up onto a bed.

R1T4-3: Both of the remaining big-toothed, colorful, angry monkeys attack Khair. When Red attacks, Khair does a brilliant fake back that causes that one to miss, but Brown does a valiant effort from high ground, its bite almost penetrating the mail of his shirt.

End Round One, Begin Round 2 ...

R2T29: Alahazra spins her staff quickly to strike Brown for 5 and then again for 7, and it falls to the bed unmoving.

R2T22: Trevorn offers, "They are baboons, if anyone is curious. Powerful bites for their size. They are too territorial to subdue and send away without coming back with more."

He directs Wahaj to attack the last one.

R2T20: Wahaj charges Red with a power-bite, but the baboon flings poo at its face. Wahaj stops short, nauseated by being covered in the filth!

R2T14: Zaihi does that loud finger-guns attack that hits Red for 8 force!

R2T13: Khair, one baboon left (Red, you can't see the token itself well on the sheets of the bed on the map). What do you do?

Alain on deck, Onyebuchi in the hole ...

[bcool999]

Khair

Not trusting his footing up on the tangled remains of the bed, Khair gathers planar energy and releases it with a roar to bolster himself and his allies’ morale.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

SwA: Encouraging Roar

Standard Action: Planar Detonation on Red (This drops Scarlet Einhander) using Fire damage.

RTA on Red: (1d20+8)[27] (Potentially: +2 from Encouraging Roar, -4 from firing into melee)
Damage: (2d6)[8] (+2 from encouraging roar) Fire Damage.

[lostsole31]

R2T13: Not trusting his footing up on the tangled remains of the bed - likely because pugwampis have made him a little gun shy when it comes to bad luck - Khair gathers planar energy and releases it with a roar to bolster himself and his allies’ morale. The gout of flame hits the baboon in the neck for 10 fire, dropping it.

The baboons are put out of their misery.

Combat Ends!

[bcool999]

Khair

Dismissing his weapon, Khair takes stock for a moment before roughly cleaning up the battlefield by placing the baboons corpses together on the floor.

”There will be lots of cleaning necessary to restore this place.” Khair says wistfully before looking around the room, “Anything of note in here?”

Spoiler: OOC

Show

After piling the corpses together for later disposal, Khair will do a quick once over of the Baboon’s abode.
Prrception Mod: 8