Ruins of Azlant: The Lost Outpost [IC]

[5ColouredWalker]

"Take your time with the wing, this is the first place showing a fight before we arrived, I agree we should be thorough here."

While Thickness shows no particular difference to the statue, he's paying more attention to this building than he did the others after entry.

[lostsole31]

The party begins a deep search of the chapel.

The party finds a trail of dried blood leading from the altar to the front entrance. No creature has entered this place in the last few weeks, or possibly a month. A smell of rotting flesh lingers near the altar, but there is nothing obvious, even a large bloodstain, that could suggest the source of this smell.

When the PCs remove the dusty white cloth covering the altar, it becomes evident that it is not a table on four legs but is constructed more like a large box with religious carvings on the front face. A careful examination of the back allows the PCs to locate a secret sliding panel. Opening the panel leads to the discovery of a dead body. The strong smell of a rotting corpse fills the dusty air. It isn't enough for anyone to feel sick, but it is extremely uncomfortable.

And then, a ghostly figure rises from the body and up several feet off the ground!

Begin Round One ...

R1T23: Ambyr sniffs and backs up away from the apparition and closer to Eirina in the corner.

R1T22: Arsenne, what do you do?

[Diavolo]

Arsenne swallows to moisten his suddenly dried throat and says in the most soothing voice he can manage: "We are new colonists just arrived today. It seems that there has been violence done here. We can provide you with a proper burial. Can you give us any clue as to what has occurred?"

[lostsole31]

R1T22: Arsenne swallows to moisten his suddenly dried throat and says in the most soothing voice he can manage: "We are new colonists just arrived today. It seems that there has been violence done here. We can provide you with a proper burial. Can you give us any clue as to what has occurred?"

R1T21: Roran, what do you do?

[rypt]

Eyes wide and mouth agape, Roran waits to see how the spirit responds to Arsenne's words.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Roran will delay.

[lostsole31]

R1T21: Eyes wide and mouth agape, Roran waits to see how the spirit responds to Arsenne's words.

R1T20: The apparation's countenance becomes even more terrifying before it screams horribly and disappears from view.

Everyone, roll a Will save!

R1T18: Kaen, assuming you make your Will save, what do you do?

[digiman619]

Kaen focuses his will into his ring finger, surrounding himself with a bubble of force as he focuses on his defense until he can get a clear line to a target.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Will save: (1d20+5)[11]; +2 if it's an enchantment effect
SA: Activate the *bangle of barriers* veil to make a force field around me (4 hardness, 9 HP)

[5ColouredWalker]

Spoiler: Will Save

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(1d20+2)[6]

Thickness stumbles back with a shout of shock.

[Espeon55]

Eirina's Will Save.

Spoiler: Will Save

Show

Will Save: (1d20+4)[6]

[rypt]

Spoiler: Will save

Show

Roran's Will save: (d20+4)[24]

[Diavolo]

Arsenne's Will Save

Spoiler: Arsenne's will save.

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Will save : (d20+6)[10]
Note character trait: Unswaying Love: +2 trait bonus on saves vs. charm/ compulsion effects.
Note also:
Set Mind: 1/day, FA, when he would fail a save vs. a charm/ compulsion effect that would cause him to act differently than he normally would, he can immediately reroll that save, but must take the results of the second save, even if worse.
If the end result is a 14 or less, he will use his 1/day roll again: (d20+6)[18].

[lostsole31]

R1T18: Kaen completely loses whatever will he was trying to control and bolts out the front.

R1T17-7: Eirina and Thickness follow, scattering outside.

R1T7: Mr. Arvodair is unmoved by the terror. Roran sees him rub his lamp as he backs up to the doorway, and there is an unknown strength that seems to form around him. "Everyone out!"

End Round One, Begin Round 2 ...

R2T23: Ambyr and Arsenne both bolt outside.

R2T21: Roran sees clearly and for the first time the creature that comes out of Mr. Arvodair's lamp. Her skin and face is covered in all sorts of cracks, as if she is made of porcelain, and all of those cracks begin to glow a bright cherry red-orange, and heat shimmer builds on her body.

Mr. Arvodair looks to Roran. "You'll wanna leave."

Roran, you were delaying. What do you do?

[rypt]

For a moment, the horror of the spirit is forgotten as Roran observes the otherwordly beauty of Mr. Arvodair's companion. That moment is fleeting, however. Mr. Arvodair's suggestion, and indeed the glowing skin of the lamp-lady, promise something he would surely rather observe from a distance.

"Y-yes, sir!" He stumbles first over his words and then his feet as he turns to flee the building.

[lostsole31]

R2T20.5: For a moment, the horror of the spirit is forgotten as Roran observes the otherworldly beauty of Mr. Arvodair's companion. That moment is fleeting, however. Mr. Arvodair's suggestion, and indeed the glowing skin of the lamp-lady, promise something he would surely rather observe from a distance.

"Y-yes, sir!" He stumbles first over his words and then his feet as he turns to flee the building.

R2T18: Kaen, the terror that washed over you leaves just as quickly. What do you do? The entrance to the building (if you even head back) is facing east.

[digiman619]

Kaen shakes his head as the fear effect dissipates for him. Summoning his akashic bow again, he makes his way to the doorframe.

Spoiler

Show

MA, to summon my weapon veil, MA to get near (preferably beside) the door. If I'm more than one move action away, I'll work on closing the gap next round.

[lostsole31]

R2T18: Kaen shakes his head as the fear effect dissipates for him. Summoning his akashic bow again, he makes his way to the door frame while Mr. Arvodair lightly gestures him to stay at that point. There is a quiet strength about him that is infectious to Kaen. At the doorway, he now fully sees the creature that seems to come out of Mr. Arvodair's lamp that has been hard to fully spot until now.

R2T17-7: Eirina and Thickness keep hustling away.

R2T4: Mr. Arvodair says, "We back out. Close the door, and rendezvous with the others while I tell you what we're up against. Don't push combat. It's pointless."

He steps out by Kaen, and seems to ready to close the door, looking both in and out.

End Round 2, Begin Round 3 ...

R3T23: Ambyr keeps moving away.

R3T22: Arsenne, you are no longer scared witless. What do you do?

[Diavolo]

Arsenne looks left, toward the door, then right toward his teammates who are running away, then left again as he shouts "Let's try to not get too separated and.... Oh, who's that running off by themselves up there? I'll try to recollect our our errant runners before they land in more trouble!"

And he takes off at run to in the Northwest direction.

Spoiler: Actions specified.

Show

SA : Pause and assess the situation.
MA : Take off running NW direction to try to catch up with Eirina.

[lostsole31]

R3T22: Arsenne looks left, toward the door, then right toward his teammates who are running away, then left again as he shouts "Let's try to not get too separated and.... Oh, who's that running off by themselves up there? I'll try to recollect our our errant runners before they land in more trouble!"

And he takes off towards the west-northwest.

R3T21: The strange woman floats back outside.

R3T20.5: Roran, what do you do?

[rypt]

Roran gestures with one hand toward Eirina and a strip of rune-marked cloth flies from his wrist to form the opening of a portal 30 feet away in the direction of the fleeing half-elf. A matching strip slides from his other arm to form a similar opening at his side. "Eirina!" He calls out. "We'll be safer as a group! Step through the portal when you're able!"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Standard action: Utilizing his runecloth of doorways, open one portal as close to Eirina as the range of the veil will permit, and open the other in the adjacent square to the east of Roran.

[lostsole31]

R3T20.5: Roran gestures with one hand toward Eirina and a strip of rune-marked cloth flies from his wrist to form the opening of a portal 30 feet away in the direction of the fleeing half-elf. A matching strip slides from his other arm to form a similar opening at his side. "Eirina!" He calls out. "We'll be safer as a group! Step through the portal when you're able!"

R3T20: A chair flies out as Mr. Arvodair ducks below it.

R3T18: Kaen, what do you do?

Eirina on deck, Thickness in the hole ...

[lostsole31]

R3T18: Kaen delays ...

Eirina and thickness continue to run, Eirina complete avoids the freaky portal which she figures would only take her closer to the thing that frightened her.

Mr. Arvodair shuts the door and shoos others away from the door.

Initiative Ends!

Finally, Ambyr, Eirina, Thickness, and everyone will regather together. The strange, almost luminescent woman that a few saw is no longer there.

"The spirit inside be a poltergeist," says Mr. Arvodair. "It is only visible to scare, but otherwise nothing we can see or fight at this time."

[digiman619]

Kaen nodded. "In other words, we will eventually need to get someone with enough divine or occult power to deal with it, but it's relatively safe in the mean time." He then turns to the bosun's mate. "Forgive me if this seems rude, but how did you know what that was? And while I'm asking questions, who or what was that strange woman you summoned earlier?"

[Espeon55]

Eirina still recovering from her experience with the spirit pets Ambyr to both comfort herself as well as her cat. "I agree I do believe we deserve some answers."

[lostsole31]

"How do you all know the things you know?" Mr. Arvodair answers. "That's rhetorical, because I care not. What I care about, and should ye, is what you know, not how you know it. As for Aissah, she is a spirit bound to me. More than that be your curiosity, which I care not a whit about."

[5ColouredWalker]

"I agree. I doubt we we all wish to bear our hearts, for time even if they're clean. Consecration and banishment can wait. I think this is the last place in the main settlement unless we want to be more thorough over the places we've already gone. Or investigate the row of houses. While that could be of interest, I would rather follow one of the sets of tracks. Probably the dragged barrel."

When Thickness starts his voice retains a hint of shake, which he's calmed by the time he's finished. However he doesn't speak as firmly as when this trip started.

[digiman619]

Kaen felt the burgeoning respect he felt for the sailor evaporate into further disdain. It was probably for the best Thickness had spoken up when he did, as it let him metaphorically bite his tongue for a moment as he regained his composure. "We should probably investigate the houses to be thorough, though the tracks do seem like our best lead."

[Diavolo]

Arsenne looks a bit worried as he glances at the various members of the party and notes the unfriendly exchange. He says, in a tone meant to inspire some levity: "O.K., so, um.... who had 'disembodied spirit' on their list of probable encounters for today? Anyway, I agree with all of you that this does not seem to be an immediate threat as long we don't re-enter. We can therefore deal with it later on. I'll meditate a bit on what I have learned over the years about exorcisms and such. It's all theoretical of course, I have no personal experience in the matter. Yet."

He looks at again at the trail leading out the South end of the village, looks at Thikha'Ness and adds: "While I do think we should eventually explore all those houses South of this enclave, I think the trail itself is our next most pressing clue. Since we do not know how long that avenue will take, we should probably get to it next. I would also like to mention that I would love to eliminate that swarm that was in the first building before night falls. Without the protective barrier that sunlight provides, that swarm could leave the pantry and then swarm us wherever me might make camp."

[Espeon55]

Eirina glares at Arvodair before contemplating their next move whilst still petting Ambyr. Thickness had made a good point about the tracks but Arsenne also made a good point about the insect swarm. With a deep breath Eirina makes her opinion heard. "As much as I dislike it, I Agree with Arsenne. I believe we should deal with that insect swarm before nightfall."

[Diavolo]

Arsenne nods and says : "Believe me I'm not looking forward to it either. Let's just say I'm eager to have it done so we don't have to worry about it anymore."

[5ColouredWalker]

Thickness blinks slowly.

"Reasonable. Anyone against?"