Rise of the Benediction (NotD)

[SoD]

Sirax

''It's not safe to stay here, I also think we should leave immediatly. And I'm sure our firey ally is unharmed, the magic probably didn't cause any harm, only pain. So we may as well grab our things and set off.'' Sirax says, calmly, although a worried look at Qespherix belies his calm feelings.

[Morgan_Scott82]

Flaw looks at Qespherix and then Sirax and then back to Qespherix."The spell he struck you with is called the Clutch of Orcus, I can cast a version of it myself. Though I've never seen it be so effective so quickly. He wasn't able to maintain his grip for long. If you're strong and in good health you should recover. For what its worth I think you'll be fine."

Flaw shoulders his spear and quickly checks his gear.

"I agree we should leave this area" He turns to Elphin "Little hunter, can you search about for any sign. Something sent him here, I for one would like to know where that something lives."

[SoD]

Sirax

''Should recover? What harm can the spell actually do?'' Sirax frowns slightly, as if unsure about something.

[Morgan_Scott82]

"What the spell can do is leave a smoking hole in a man's chest. In this case it likely placed a fair amount of stress on his heart, but like any muscle, given time, it should heal. A day, two at the most." Flaw begins to walk up the shingle away from the waterline, and adds without turning to face his companions "Provided we live that long."

[Jarelk]

Qespherix

As you get near Qespherix, you hear a soft constant growling.

"Shame I didn't end it."

He sighs before he answer Elphin

"No... I am not alright. I'll never be."

"But I am not hampered. I agree with Sirux and Kiruuk, we should leave."

[SoD]

Sirax

Sirax picks up his pick and walks over to where the cloak fell, and prods it. Then he picks up the cloak that the satyr had been wearing, and rolls it up. ''Anything that a mage carries might be magic itself. And even if it's not, we could use it later, either for a firestart, or a disguise.''

Assuming Elphin proceeds to search for tracks, Sirax approaces to help out. ''I don't know what's worse, the dead walking or the live raising them. It pains me to know that there are those alive who willingly join with such creatures. The dead fighting the living, I can understand. The living fighting the living too, but when the living ally with the dead to fight the living...''

Spoiler

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Aid other if Elphin makes a survival check: survival - (1d20+6)[12]

[Lepre_Khan]

Elphin

"Well friend, so long as you're not hampered we should move out."

Elphin then turns towards Flaw, "Large mage, do NOT mock me or my kin for our stature. Gnomes are a hearty people and we deserve the same respect you grant other tallfolk."

Turning away from the warforged, Elphin heads to where the hooded pupil fell and began to search for tracks. When Sirax approaches to aid, he responds bluntly,
"There will always be creatures who act foolishly out of fear. The only thing to do is to send them to their gods and let the gods sort it out."

Spoiler

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Survival (d20+11)[17] +2 if a fey counts as a magical beast.

[SoD]

Sirax

''It's the fact it, well...you know I've never felt comfortable killing the living. The living dead, they're unnatural, but those that raise them are seldom dead themselves. That it should fall to us. We couldn't retake Shello with an entire army all those years ago. Only a few of 'em survived, and now we're back. With what? A tin man, a giant lizard, a paladin, an orc, and a tiger. I guess I'm still used to working without much company. Do you think we'll actually be able to make a difference when an entire army couldn't stop them?'' Sirax sighs, and continues, more to himself than anything else. ''The lust for power, or the fear of the unknown can corrupt even the purest soul. We haven't been here more than a few minutes and we've already been tricked and attacked. I fear that this doesn't bode well for us. Those corpses were fresh, and a lone satyr didn't kill them all, not when we defeated him that easily. Too late to turn back. Too dangerous to stay here, all we can do is go on, on into the unknown, killing those we can't save. And then we kill again. To live a life of killing...but never enough. We strike, they get up, we move, they chase, we hunt, they run. What a life. But I fear I won't be able to stop, even if I could. I've grown too used to it, if you can get used to a life on the run.'' Looking up, he starts following the tracks. ''Ever onwards. What a life.'' And then, finally, he turns and smiles a small smile at the rest: ''Come, friends, adventure awaits,'' he says, with elements of both sarcasm and excitement carefully weighted in his voice, ''Adventure, and glory.'' and finally, he turns, and begins to walk onwards, the pile of corpses burning behind him.

[Lepre_Khan]

Elphin

A joyless smile flits across Elphin's face, "You're always thinking of the big picture, cuz. Can we retake Shello with just the few of us? No, certainly not. We're not an invading army, we're a strike force. Armies just feed the undead, each untrained farmer who dies rises again as a thoughtless killing machine with no regard for it's own 'life' or safety."

Scratching his nose, Elphin continues,

"That's their advantage. 'course, their downside is that if you take out the people in power, lots of their armies go with 'em. We're just going for the head of the snake, leave the body to others."

[Jarelk]

Qespherix

(OOC: Okay, how many times do I have to say no one knows I'm a lizard? I'm masked and cloaked. Now, to make it extra clear:

You can't see I'm a Sphoraxune, or even a lizard)

Qespherix listen to the conversation between Elphin and Sirax.

"It sounds to me like you're losing hope. Hope of a future. Understandable. Your kin has been nearly extinct, and you lead a life full of danger and adventure, which, and I speak from experience, can be a terrible burden."

"I have my experiences too. I felt, and sometimes still feel, like I have no place in this world. The humans, gnomes, and others have all rejected me. The elves have been kinder to me, but I cannot feel much at home there."

He suddenly stops in his words, feeling he shared too much. He puts a claw on Sirax' shoulder, which kind of stings.

"Don't worry too much. What we're currently fighting for is the future. If we were to stop, then all hope would be lost."

[SoD]

OOC: We've been on a long boat trip together, however long that took, I just assumed that we (the PC's) would've known by now. Earlier you said that the Satyr couldn't know, but I assumed that we did. My appologies.

Sirax

''Hope. Yeah, I've lost hope. But it's not my hope I fight for. It's not my beleifs I fight for. Which is a good thing. My beleifs aren't very good ones. I beleive that we're here on a suicide mission. I beleive we're all going to be killed, and, possibly raised as undead abominations. I beleive we're here for our 'famous last stand''' Sirax laughs emptily. ''It's hope I fight for, not mine, but other people's. Elphin beleives we can do this. He hopes we can. I fight for his hope. There are those back home who beleive we can do this, I fight to proove them right, and to proove me wrong. I don't beleive we can do this. I've lost hope. But that doesn't mean I'm giving up, oh no. I'm going to give the best I've got until I fall, or until we win. I'm going to fall, but I'm damn well going to take a lot of them with me! It's the stuff of legends, a small band of stalwort adventurers, out to defeat a great evil against impossible odds. The difference...this is reality, and the good guys don't always win.''

[Morgan_Scott82]

Flaw looks to Elphin It wasn't my intention to mock you. It was a statement of fact, you are little and you are a hunter, there wasn't any value judgement implied. I believe wholeheartedly that both your skills and your stature will serve us well in the task at hand."

Listening to Sirax Flaw frowns slightly and places a hand on the gnomes shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry your life has been hard, and I'm sorry to tell you that if you wish to end your life you should find a dagger and be done with it. I very much intend for all of us to survive, amongst mortals the pursuit of survival is second only to the pursuit of power, and where there is a will there is a way." Flaw removes his hand from the gnomes shoulder before continuing.

"However, I fear if we are to survive, and perhaps more significatly if we are to win out, we will have to bring about great changes. You spoke of curruption, of the soul, of good guys and bad guys. These things are illusions that you and everyone else has allowed to limit their strength. It is not your fault my friend. You were born into a world hidebound by millenia of useless tradition and theory. A world that fears the realization of its own destiny, in place of that destiny they've created faiths which purport the supposed "Truth". That truth is weakness, that truth is turning away from power, that truth is unatainable by the mortal self, that truth is the subversion of will, and it is reason we have yet failed to rid ourselves of the dead. I believe that if we are to win out we must embrace a new morality. This new morality must be practical, it must be attainable, and it must be in harmony with our fundamental nature."


Turning from the lofty and theoretical to the immediate and more practical Flaw begins to outline his plan. "Elphin, your comments about the head of the snake are quite apt. You're all aware that when certain powerful undead slay the living that corpse rises up in the image of his murderer. Vampires beget vampires, shadows beget shadows, and so on. What you may not know is that this creation is eternally and supernaturally subject to the will of its creator. As I said the impulse to pursue power is paramount even before survival, in mortals this leads to infighting and derision. The dead, aided by this supernatural assertion of will, are unified under their creators in an unbreakable hierarchy. I believe this to be one of their chief advantages over the fractious races of Tanzen. However if the creator is slain the power of will and the desire for power are immediately returned to his creations. If we break enough links near the top of the chain of command I believe we can fracture the nation of the dead, turn vampire against mummy, Lich against ghoul, and in the confusion allow the armies of Tanzen to liberate Shello."

[Caracol]

Staying here babbling won't save our lives. Our actions and our faith can. So let's move on if we have to, or wait our enemies here if we have. We had a sign before. Gods are laying their blessings over us. Don't waste them.

Koros puts back his sword and start walking, asking Elphin and the others:What would be the best direction to take?

[Jarelk]

Qespherix

Qespherix sighs, disappointed, and turns away.

"If such is your view of things, I fear the battle may already be lost."

He turns to Koros.

"Inland, of course."

[Sucrose]

Kiruuk nods to Qesphirix.

"Agreed. We should move along the tracks that we've found. The satyr couldn't have laid them; he wasn't rotting. We should find and kill whatever undead made those tracks."

At this, he cracks a slight half-grin,

"Or, of course, we could sit around and discuss more philosophy."

[Dustfinger]

Elphin has a very easy time following the tracks. A small army of undead was walking and not trying to hide that. You follow the tracks for 6 hours and it is now dusk. As far as you can look on every side is just sand. There are no defining landmarks except a small puff of smoke from where you just came from. Everyone is starting to get strained from the heat but no one will stop. With the relaxing cool of night, comes the terrors of the dark.

[Caracol]

Spoiler

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(OOC: DM, it's time to stop and camp or we can carry on walking? )

[Lepre_Khan]

Elphin

As the sun slips below the horizon, Elphin stops bending over the tracks and turns back to face his companions.

"They're going to come out soon. We should keep moving through the night, we can rest when the sun comes up. It's too dangerous to stay in one place when they hunt, especially a place such as this with no cover. Either way, rest or no, we should certainly leave this trail. A path traveled by an army is not something I'm eager to be caught on when the army comes 'round."

As he speaks, he slips his crossbow off his back and preps it for combat. When the night comes there are always dead.

Telepathically to Flaw, "Friend, when we do rest we should take watch together. I wish to hear more about your new morality."

Weapon readied, Elphin waits to see what his companions say.

[Sucrose]

Kiruuk nods.

"Which way do you propose we go, then? You know this land, which way has closer cover?"

Spoiler

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It should be noted that Kiruuk, from this point forward, will be holding his sword in his hands, rather than having it sheathed, at all times that he isn't using his hands for something else.

[SoD]

Sirax

''It would indeed be wise to leave the trail. If the rest of you can keep going, then I say we keep going. If not, we rest.''

[Caracol]

Let's rest here. I can take the first watch. Who will stay awake?

[Jarelk]

Qespherix

"No. It's wisest to move through the night. If you can't keep up, at least let us find a more suitable location to set up camp."

[Caracol]

"Moving through the night is safer? thinks Koros. That doesn't sound true. Could the spell that affected him have seed the corruption in him?"

Spoiler

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Sense Motive check: (1d20+8)[9] Whatever is the outcome, I still do what Qespherix said. EDIT: natural 1 for the win!

"Alright then. You seem a better explorer than me. Decide where to camp, I'm following you."

[Lepre_Khan]

Elphin

"Koros, if we camp and we are found we are dead. We can not defeat an army of mindless, tireless automotans. Vampire's and some of the more powerful commanders can only appear at night. If we rest in the day, we rest free of these threats."


Glancing around to see if there is a clear advantage or travelling in any direction, Elphin finally decides and says,
"Come, this way friends."

Spoiler

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The goal is too stay roughly parallel to the tracks in the best possible terrain. Out of site of the tracks though, or at least nearly. Here's a slew of rolls, I'll let you figure out which ones I'll need.

(d20+11)[15] Spot
(d20+13)[22] Listen
[roll]d20+7[/roll] Nature
(d20+11)[24] Survival

Also...SoD...who was that telepathic thought to? I had spoken just to Flaw.

[Dustfinger]

Elphin see's a large set of dunes off in the distance and decides that is the best place. You travel about a mile to where the dunes are. Once on top of one of the dunes you see where you think the trail was. You begin to travel towards where you assume the trail is heading. After traveling for a few more hours everyone a yawn is passed through the group. You are starting to slow down from the fatigue of walking for about 10 hours throughout the day. As you are about to fall asleep you all hear something to your left but it is too dark to make it out. As it gets closer you see it, a large hulking figure barreling towards you full speed. It is bleeding profusely from every oraface. It groans as it draws closer.

Spoiler

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Initiative Rolls

Sirax (1d20+3)[22]
Enemy 19
Elphin (1d20+4)[11]
Flaw (1d20)[6]
Qespherix (1d20)[9]
Kiruuk (1d20)[10]
Koros (1d20+3)[4]


Sucrose and Jarelk, I can't access either of your character sheets. If you could check if somethigns wrong then put the link in the spoiler of your next post i would be very thankful.

[SoD]

Sirax

Already worn out by fatigue, Sirax acts without thinking: he holds his hand out, gives a small wave and finally points with the four fingers on his hand, small glowing orbs fire, one from each finger, as Sirax speaks a simple word of magic: ''Taikuusohjus!''

Spoiler

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Magic Missile: 4 missiles,
missile 1 - (1d4+5)[8]
missile 2 - (1d4+1)[4]
missile 3 - (1d4+1)[5]
missile 4 - (1d4+1)[4]

[Dustfinger]

The missles slow down the zombie, but it looks like he doesn't notice that there are small holes in his chest. As the beast comes towards Sirax it digs it's vile claws into him then scoops him up into his hand. You see the blood run from Sirax as this hulking zombie tries to squeeze the life out of him.

Spoiler

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Sirax takes 38 damage and is now grappled. So you can cast spells but you need a concentration check of 20+spell level and have to do a grapple check every round. Don't forget your -4 for being small.

Remember, post in whatever order and i will sort it out. But only post once until everyone has posted.

[Lepre_Khan]

Elphin

Seeing his cousin trapped, Elphin begins to instinctively seek the bear's destruction and immediately fires two bolts, trusting in his skill to not hit Sirax.LET HIM GO!

Spoiler

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(d20+15)[20]
(d20+10)[15]

Damage
(3d6+5)[17]
(3d6+5)[12]

[Sucrose]

Kiruuk

His sword already drawn, Kiruuk twists it ever so slightly in his hands. As he raises it up into a familiar stance, it seems for a brief moment that the sun is once again burning over the dunes. His body and blade cloaked in flame, Kiruuk charges the brute, putting all his strength into killing it before it can harm his ally any further.

Spoiler

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Activating Punishing Stance, then performing a Searing Charge.
Attack roll - (1d20+19)[35]
Weapon Damage roll - (3d6+13)[31]
Extra Fire Damage - (5d6)[13]
If the zombie attacks him back, he'll be using Wall of Blades.

[Morgan_Scott82]

Flaw

With less granduer and gesticulation than Sirax Flaw will execute a quick and subtle pointing of his fingers at the beast and a series of whispered sylables and let fly his own spell. Four orbs of pure force leap from his outstretched hand and whiz through the air deftly darting around Sirax to target his assailant.

Spoiler

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Flaw casts Empowered Magic Missle.
Damage:
Missle 1: [roll]1d4+2d6+1[/roll]*1.5=
Missile 2: [roll]1d4+2d6+1[/roll]*1.5=
Missile 3: [roll]1d4+2d6+1[/roll]*1.5=
Missile 4: [roll]1d4+2d6+1[/roll]*1.5=
huh those dice rolls didn't work. I'll try again in another post.