GreyWolfVT wrote:Throm, Horris, Rob & Bran mutter among themselves then decide to try one of the towers heading to the one in the east to investigate it. They've decided it is best to avoid the charred remains who knows what could happen those things might be undead.
The tower to the east has a wooden door, which is barred from the outside. You could easily lift the bar and open the door, if you decided to do so.
Throm spits in his hands rubs them together and removes the bars on the tower door. Horris, Bran, Rob & Throm all enter the tower with weapons readied.
OOC:
Rob gains +1 Luck for being the first to dare the castle grounds.
What is the +1 is that to the score or a mod for Rob now?
Raven_Crowking wrote:Rob gains +1 Luck for being the first to dare the castle grounds.
What is the +1 is that to the score or a mod for Rob now?
Rob's Luck score is increased by 1.
Characters can spend their Luck to increase die rolls on a 1-to-1 basis. Increases in Luck help to balance this out.
Throm lifts the beam, and within the tower the other beam falls. Opening the door, he sees Bryce, followed by Cedric, heading up the stairs to a closed trap door. Renlo and Foxfire are searching through the debris in the room. Renlo discovers a finger bone that still has a ring on it, silver with a dark onyx stone.
SoBH pbp:
Cathbad the Meek (herbalist Wizard 1): AC 9; 4 hp; S 7, A 7, St 10, P 17, I 13, L 8; Neutral; Club, herbs, 50' rope, 50 cp; -1 to melee attack rolls. Hideous scar.
MrHemlocks wrote:Tuck, Rafo, Balin and Tarpy continue there adventure within the tunnel. See earlier thread
I was trying to keep all the characters roughly within the same time frame. But feel free to give me a "poke" any time you think I have forgotten something!
The tunnel leads into a low, dusty chamber some 50 feet square, its ceiling held aloft by pillars. Square niches cut into the walls hold the moldering bones of the dead – this was clearly a tomb used by the inhabitants of the castle, for hundreds have been buried here. A tunnel enters the room from each of the cardinal points. You are coming in from the west.
SoBH pbp:
Cathbad the Meek (herbalist Wizard 1): AC 9; 4 hp; S 7, A 7, St 10, P 17, I 13, L 8; Neutral; Club, herbs, 50' rope, 50 cp; -1 to melee attack rolls. Hideous scar.
Looking at the massive burial vault gives Tuck, Rafo, Balin and Tarpy the chills. Rafo, looks back at the others. "We got to be careful down here. Watch the ceiling for spiders and the niches, well... for whatever might try and surprise us from within."
Poking his way with the make shift pole, Rafo and the others head northward toward the other tunnel. Along the way they will stop and take a look at the undead that rest within the niches. Taking special notice to anything that might be of worth...either in coinage or as a weapon. All four are on HIGH alert. For they heard stories of undead coming alive and attacking the living....for BRAINS!
drpete wrote:Foxfire will smile at the others as they come in. "It's good to see you! Looks like we've got the same idea!"
Renlo will slip the finger out of the ring, and put the ring on his finger.
Bryce and Cedric continue up the stairs, and try the trapdoor.
Throm, Bran, Horris & Rob look a little surprised to find some of the others already in the tower but take the greeting and invitation and join them in searching through the tower.
Horris"Ah well at least we did manage to catch up to some of the others. How did you fellows get in here?"
MrHemlocks wrote:Looking at the massive burial vault gives Tuck, Rafo, Balin and Tarpy the chills. Rafo, looks back at the others. "We got to be careful down here. Watch the ceiling for spiders and the niches, well... for whatever might try and surprise us from within."
Poking his way with the make shift pole, Rafo and the others head northward toward the other tunnel. Along the way they will stop and take a look at the undead that rest within the niches. Taking special notice to anything that might be of worth...either in coinage or as a weapon. All four are on HIGH alert. For they heard stories of undead coming alive and attacking the living....for BRAINS!
Don't worry about rolling search checks; I will roll those.
Poking around the ancient tomb, you find an assortment of old pieces of jewellery - pins, rings, earrings, etc., 13 pieces in all. In addition, you locate a rusty but serviceable shield and a short sword.
SoBH pbp:
Cathbad the Meek (herbalist Wizard 1): AC 9; 4 hp; S 7, A 7, St 10, P 17, I 13, L 8; Neutral; Club, herbs, 50' rope, 50 cp; -1 to melee attack rolls. Hideous scar.
drpete wrote:Bryce and Cedric continue up the stairs, and try the trapdoor.
Beyond the trapdoor is a large room, as large as 60 feet by 70, which has a vaulted ceiling almost 25 feet high. It is filled with
strange objects and fabulous creatures stuffed and hanging from the ceiling or mounted on the wall. Shelves contain a multitude of scrolls and thick books. Bubbling retorts, alembics, and other alchemical equipment fill several worktables. The smell of sulfur and other strange chemical scents assault your nostrils.
SoBH pbp:
Cathbad the Meek (herbalist Wizard 1): AC 9; 4 hp; S 7, A 7, St 10, P 17, I 13, L 8; Neutral; Club, herbs, 50' rope, 50 cp; -1 to melee attack rolls. Hideous scar.
Bryce calls down to the others "Come have a look! This is amazing!" He then starts looking at the strange objects on the wall to see if he can make any sense of them.
Cedric carefully avoids the bubbling bottles, and goes to the books and scrolls, which he examines, looking for something interesting or useful.
Foxfire points at the crack in the wall. "We came in that way, fROM the clearing you found... It was safe after all. Glad you could join us!" She and Renlo then head up the stairs to have a look around.
Horris, Bran, Rob & Throm follow the others around the tower and search the worktables and under any debris they also take to searching for hidden hiding holes where things might be stored. "We're glad to be back with most of the group again."
Rafo feels the short sword grow warm in his hand as he leads the way northward down the narrow tunnel. After about 30-40 feet, the tunnel collapses into a number of narrow holes and cracks, far too small for even a halfling to squeeze through. That is when you hear the voices from behind:
“Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear up the dwarves, eat up the cobbler, and carry off the halfling!”
Beyond the Trapdoor
This chamber is truly a collection of marvels.
Horris notes the stuffed form of a six-foot-long crocodile, hanging from the ceiling. Its glass eyes appear to follow him.
Cedric discovers a green bottle containing a three-headed imp, who, on noting the corn farmer's attention, begs, "Please sir, please, release me from this prison! I swear I shall be good! Oh the wealth I could give you, if only I was free!"
Bran notices a collection of glass bottles, each containing numerous frogs pickled at various stages of their lives, from egg through tadpole to adult frogs. Each bottle contains specimens all at the same stage of development.
Rob discovers a complete collection of Black Sabbath vinyl albums in worn cardboard jackets, including albums which do not exist in our world, such as Black Sabbath Live at the Courts of Chaos and Shadows of Nyarlathotep. No obvious means to play the recordings exist.
Renlo discovers a glass egg that shows within it a scene of a windblasted red desert. As he watches, a strange group comes into view in the distance - at least one hundred riders, plus wains pulled by strange, large creatures whose soft footpads throw up enormous clouds of dust. The beasts pulling the wagons have two heads each, and two sets of horns on each head, and their thick, plated hides are reddish in hue. The people are dark skinned, and appear human. The bluish animals they ride as though horses are eight-legged and have a distinctly reptilian cast.
Foxfire and Throm both find themselves near an area where various alembics and flasks of bubbling coloured liquids can be found, some over burners and others apparently bubbling though chill to the touch.
Bryce discovers a bone flute on a dusty shelf.
SoBH pbp:
Cathbad the Meek (herbalist Wizard 1): AC 9; 4 hp; S 7, A 7, St 10, P 17, I 13, L 8; Neutral; Club, herbs, 50' rope, 50 cp; -1 to melee attack rolls. Hideous scar.
Rob takes the recordings "This Black Sabbath sounds like an interesting sort." Horris looks a little freaked out at the crocodile thing "I don't like how that thing keeps looking at me." Bran I think this is a strange place "perhaps we should go search the other tower now." Throm walks over to the Imp "What makes you think we can trust you Imp? I should have my friends here just kill you. What do you think Cedric?"
Cedric kneels down to look at the imp. "Where is your master, little one? I see that someone is using this lab... Won't be be mad if we free you?"
Foxfire perks up at that, and looks around for other signs that the lab is in use, ignoring the mysterious alembics. Perhaps there is an open notebook, or writing desk.
Unnerved by the view in the egg, Renlo moves away to see if there is a window to the tower, or a way up, to find a way to see the castle from up here.
Bryce idly picks up the flute, and tries to play music with it.
The imp says: "O my masters! Free me! The one who once dwelt here is dead!"
Looking about, Foxfire discovers a great open book on an ornate wooden lectern. Renlo notes that there are neither windows, nor doors, nor stairs from this area.
The flute plays beautifully for Bryce. In fact, once it starts, he knows that it will not stop without a blood sacrifice on his part (equal to 1 point of Spellburn), and will otherwise follow him around. Playing. Forever.
SoBH pbp:
Cathbad the Meek (herbalist Wizard 1): AC 9; 4 hp; S 7, A 7, St 10, P 17, I 13, L 8; Neutral; Club, herbs, 50' rope, 50 cp; -1 to melee attack rolls. Hideous scar.
Throm considers the Imps words and tries to weigh if he should support freeing the thing or not. "Your old master is dead you say? Hmm perhaps freeing you wouldn't be as bad. I care not for being made rich I care more for trying to locate this maiden for the Prince and knowing you won't harm or attack any of us after being freed." Horris being freaked out by the odd stuffed crocodile thing walks over to the scene by the Imp. "I'm not so sure freeing the thing is wise. I've heard these things are masters of trickery." Rob looks to see what the others are doing cares not for the Imp and sees his friends have the situation under control and continues looking around perhaps for something to carry the strange Black Sabbath things in. Bran being a simple farmer finds nothing of interest and just awaits leaving to go look in the other tower. "I'm ready to search the next tower once you are all set here fellas."
Tuck, Rafo, Balin and Tarpy freeze in their tracks when hearing those words. Rafo, with sword and shield in hand, stars at those small holes and yells out to the rest of the group. "Everyone back out and be careful! I will guard the rear while we leave this tunnel." Heading back the way they came with Tarpy in front and Rafo the rear, the scared party leaves the tunnel. Rafo, takes a look at the small holes before the party leaves. Not getting any closer than a few feet of them in case something flies out toward him.
Though scared the party continues to keep an eye out for traps and hidden doors.
Disturbed by the music, Bryce pulls the flute free and puts it back on the shelf, giving up a bit of his soul (burn a point of stamina.. Is that how to say that?)
Foxfire attempts to read from the book, probably unwisely...
Cedric shakes his head. "Tell me who is using this lab, imp. If not the one who dwelt here, then who has used it since his death? I don't want to cross your master..."
Renlo heads back to the trapdoor, and attempts to go back down the stairs. "Maybe another tower... This is wonderful stuff, but maybe too dangerous..."
Let me deal with the tunnels, in an attempt to catch us all up to the same point in time.
Rafo's short sword is now quite warm in his hand, although it is not uncomfortably so. Six dark creatures roll into view from the south - they are each about half the size of a halfling, and as they uncurl they seem like some strange combination of black fish and humanoid.
“Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear up the dwarves, eat up the cobbler, and carry off the halfling!”
In the narrow corridor, even these things will probably be prevented from all attacking at once, but two can certainly reach Tuck, who was at the back of the marching order.
The narrow tunnel makes it difficult to pass each other (it is only about 5' wide), but Balin can certainly attempt an attack, as can others if they are willing to risk using whatever ranged weapons they might possess in melee.
Initiative and actions, please.
SoBH pbp:
Cathbad the Meek (herbalist Wizard 1): AC 9; 4 hp; S 7, A 7, St 10, P 17, I 13, L 8; Neutral; Club, herbs, 50' rope, 50 cp; -1 to melee attack rolls. Hideous scar.
Seeing that there is no way to escape without a fight Tuck and Balin attack with their melee weapons while Tarpy tosses a rock over the small, stout frame of Balin. Rafo, prepares to light a burning flask of oil just in case things go really wrong.
Tuck to Hit: 1+1=2
Balin to Hit: 18+1=19, Damage 1d4+1=4
Tarpy to Hit with Rock: 11, Damage 1d4=1 (He will attack the same creature, if standing, that Balin struck)
Balin brings one down, and then the five remaining creatures are upon you. They roll up, come at you like wheels, and then attempt to bite the poor halfling. Only two can reach him, but one will hit (unless his AC is higher than 12), for 3 points of damage.
The three that cannot attack snicker and call “Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear up the dwarves, eat up the cobbler, and carry off the halfling!”
SoBH pbp:
Cathbad the Meek (herbalist Wizard 1): AC 9; 4 hp; S 7, A 7, St 10, P 17, I 13, L 8; Neutral; Club, herbs, 50' rope, 50 cp; -1 to melee attack rolls. Hideous scar.
Balin, Tarpy and Rafo see Tuck fall and that angers them... a lot! Balin attacks at the critter that took out poor Tuck while Tarpy swings away with his sharpened awl. Rafo, will toss the burning oil at the three cheering creatures hoping to set them on fire.
