ROA: Part 2. Among the Ashes of a New World.

[ArchAngel]

GM/Winthrop

Spoiler:

((I think for 3.5, I am limited to DC10 knowledge.
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/knowledge.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[fathom123]

Kratimos/Winthrop

Spoiler:

((According to the rules, you can take an untrained knowledge check regardless if you are a bard. It's simply an Intelligence check. I, however, think of the knowledge skill as a collection of memories that lurk in your head. Arch, you rolled a four for knowledge (the planes) but a 19 on knowledge (dungeoneering). This would mean that as Kratimos was walking through the crowd he remembers some of the races and creatures from a conversation he had so long ago with a friend who was an adventurer who described what it was that he had seen. The lower roll, tells me that as he was walking, nothing regarding the planes came to mind. With that said, if it was something particularly challenging, for example you were about to teach a class on astrophysics, your DC would be around 30 or so since you would have to be trained to be able to teach such a complicated subject and would be impossible (even on a natural 20) to be able to wing it. According to the rules, an untrained knowledge check will only grant you general knowledge so your results will vary between someone who rolls a 19 untrained and a 19 trained, if that makes sense.))

Kratimos

Spoiler:

Knowledge (Dungeoneering), 19: As Kratimos is walking through the crowd, he is taken aback by the various creatures who simply blend in with the society of the Hestic. At one point, Kratimos sees what he would recall to be a denizen of the underworld. A creature known for eating the brains of it's victims, having tentacles coming from it's face. On occasion, he can see the coal black skin of the dark elves, mortal enemies of the surface world, yet here they seem to be conversing and trading as if it were nothing to those around them.

Knowledge (Local), 16: Kratimos doesn't know anything about this place locally, except that the Hestic live here and according to Volstaid, this is where their people live after leaving their home plane. This, based on what Volstaid told them at the campfire.

Winthrop

Spoiler:

Knowledge (History), 20: As Winthrop walks through the crowd, he notices a few things seem out of place. Some dwarves walk by wearing armor that stands out. Dark cold iron inlaid with purple and gold. You can recall from a history book that dates this armor back to the first dwarven crusade, hundreds of years ago. You realize that the possibility that these long lived creatures may be wearing the armor passed down from their grandfathers, only to discover that, from the same book, this civilization vanished with no trace left behind save the historical texts. As the legend goes, a planar portal opened up near the dwarven hold of Khedzal'rhodal. Evil creatures, abominations, flowed through the portal attacking and destroying all who would dare oppose them. The king of the dwarves, Rhodal Justicehammer, lead his entire people on a crusade into the portal itself in hopes of destroying these creatures at their source. Success must have been found, for one week later the portal sealed and the creatures were seen no more. These dwarves should not exist.

You can also tell by some of the garb of the vendors that they are wearing something that has never before been seen. Possibly a different culture, possibly displaced in time.

Knowledge (Local), 15: Winthrop doesn't know anything about this place locally, except that the Hestic live here and according to Volstaid, this is where their people live after leaving their home plane. This, based on what Volstaid told them at the campfire.

[fathom123]

Crimson

Spoiler:

Crimson centers her attention on the voices inside the dilapidated mansion. She hears a loud booming voice which must be her mark. Anger lines his words,

"You have the freshest bodies that could be found now give me my money."

Age and evil flows in response to Crimson's bounty,

"You will have your money and more brute. Have no fear of this for my creatures march on the city tonight. In the carnage you can take as much as you like. This will be your payment."

"I want nothing to do with your revolution old man, give me what is mine and I will be gone." The voice booms in reply.

"Oh, I think it's too late for you to get cold feet now," Venom dripping in every word.

Crimson hears a struggle and the sound of a massive surge of energy, the crack of lightning piercing the air. The boom rattles the walls. A few frames fall off the wall and Crimson grabs her ears. Then...silence.

[ArchAngel]

GM/Winthrop

Spoiler:

((That makes sense to me.))

The assortment of beings living congruously together has puzzled Kratimos, and he's not sure he's excited at jumble or nervous about some of the more dangerous elements.

"This is quite the city, Volstaid," Kratimos turned to the Hestic ranger. "How do these ancient enemies get along so peacefully?"

GM

Spoiler:

((Whoa, did I just see a mind flayer? Sweet))

[ccgr]

Spoiler:

Horrified at what she just heard Crimson makes some assumptions

1. She cannot just walk in that room, she is no match for a mage or a brute
2. There is only one exit and her best bet is to stab the remaining person as they leave, unsuspecting.
3. Both men are evil and best to stab first and frisk for clues later, no need to ask questions or take risks

Crimson readies herself by the door and poisons her blade (rubs poison from one of her darts onto it) to make doubly sure that this person is going down no matter how small the scratch

silence

[dice]0[/dice]

hide
[dice]1[/dice]

dagger attack
[dice]2[/dice]

[fathom123]

Crimson

Spoiler:

Crimson folds into the shadows, readied for the mage. After some time she hears something brushing against the floor, a body being dragged to it's final resting place. A thud sounds on the other side of the door and then the knob turns. Her heart accelerates and the fear that it could be heard crosses her mind. She shakes it off as the door creaks open. Adrenalin fuels her every moment as her senses are fine tuned and time seems to slow in her mind. The door opens wide as the unknown foe turns to reach for the body.

"There.." The familiar voice of the mage fills the air. "Put the body there in the corner."

Crimson holds steady, nerves on the edge of a pin as a skeletal creature drags the charred body of the brute into the room. In her heightened state, the smell of charred flesh catches her off guard but she holds back her need to wretch. The creature drops the body next to the door opposite of Crimson.

"Return to your position and wait for my command." With that, the skeleton straightens it's form and walks out of the room. The mage enters and stands over the body to gloat, alone. Crimson tightens her grip on her blade. The man, staring down and the body through a drawn cowl, whispering to himself with the occasional chuckle; unaware that death visits him in the visage of a beautiful rogue.

The knife cuts quick. Crimson is knocked against the wall by a wave of powerful force. Quickly she sits up as the man turns to her. He reaches behind him where the knife intended to find itself buried and drain him of his life force. Beneath the shadows of the hood crimson can make out a cruel smile.

"Oh my beauty, you've made a terrible mistake." He raises his hand and a black smoke flows from his fingers forming a a larger hand made from some evil force. The hand strikes forward and lashes around Crimson's neck, lifting her to her feet. She begins to choke and grasps for her neck to try to pry the ghostly fingers from her.

"You will be mine in your death...oh what a beautiful servant you shall be for me." The light begins to fade form her eyes and darkness starts to creep in. Then, the grip loosens and air begins to flow into her lungs once more. She falls to her knees and coughs trying to regain a level of composure realizing the level of danger she is in.

Her hazel eyes fix upon her enemy only to see him stumbling backward holding one hand behind him. He brings the hand about, the tips of his fingers coated in the smallest amount of blood. The dagger met it's mark, even just a scratch.

The mage crumples to the floor as the poison seizes his nervous system. His life fades away.

((Crimson takes 10 damage))

[fathom123]

Kratimos/Winthrop

Spoiler:

((I will wait until Sstavix replies to move the story along. I do want to add that since Winthrop is a bard, all of his knowledge checks, though untrained, will be treated as trained. This will be the advantage of the bard. Also, Bardic Knowledge is like rolling all of the knowledge rolls a second time since it's more like an amalgamation of stories, knowledge, and wisdom gleaned from his travels.))

[Sstavix]

Kratimos / GM

Spoiler:

Trip's eyes are drawn to the dwarves and the intriguing armor they wear. "Interesting..." he mutters. "So is this place some sort of a nexus for people out of time, as well as place? I wonder if I'll have the chance to talk to some of these others and get some more stories together...."

He glances at Volstaid. "So where are we headed? And when?"

[ccgr]

Spoiler:

Thankful that she is alive and that the mage is not, Crimson breathes a sigh of relief. She didn't get off scot free though as she is weakened quite a bit from the ordeal. The skeleton is going to have to go down from a distance and a healing kit is on her list of things she can find in this wretched mansion. Without skipping a beat, Crimson silently huddles over the mage to see what she can find on his corpse.

Silence
[dice]0[/dice]

Search
[dice]1[/dice]

[fathom123]

Kratimos/Winthrop

Spoiler:

Volstaid turns to Kratimos first, "Ancient enemies? Most in the Hestic market are travelers of the planes. The Hestic are known as the servants of the ferryman therefore we are sought out where ever our population chooses to gather. Most see us as a neutral unbiased society. We accept all who travel to the Hestic market so long as they are enemies of the necromantic arts. The practice and use of the dark magic is forbidden and punishable by death."

He turns to Winthrop, "I am taking you all to my home and as far as 'when' we are traveling there, we should arrive in a few moments if that's what you mean?"

With that said, the Hestic turns and walks through the hustle and bustle surrounding the smaller pillars. He leads the party to what would appear to be the edge of the cavern. There, carved into the stone is a massive fortress. Guards line the walls and are stationed opposite each other next to the door. As Volstaid approaches, the guards snap to attention. The doors open and the party walks in.

[ArchAngel]

GM/Winthrop

Spoiler:

Kratimos is impressed by the monumental fortress, but the deeper they go into the cavern, the more anxious he becomes.
"Volstaid, I am grateful for your hospitality, Kratimos asks impatiently, "But after many years, I finally have a job. A quest. Meaning. I need to find my... friends. I wish I could stay, but I need to make my way to the Undercity if I hope to find the--" Kratimos pauses.
"This isn't the, uh, the Undercity, is it?"

[ArcticFox]

GM

Spoiler:

Guy steels himself and lunges forward, swinging his flaming mace...

[dice]0[/dice]

EDIT: *BAM* Nat 20

IIRC a mace does 1d6 damage, so base damage would be [dice]1[/dice]

Dunno if you double that for a natural 20 or not...

[fathom123]

Crimson

Spoiler:

She rifles through the meager belongings of the mage. She finds a wicked looking wand made of a black wooden substance. Skulls and runes adorn the rod. She finds a small book that glows a feint black aura. The book appears to be sealed and the lock has no place for a key. The final item she finds is a common looking stopwatch. Inlaid into the surface is a white colored gem or metal rune.

((You can add these items to your inventory))

She stands to her feet and peers down the hall where the skeleton exited. Shadows hang heavy and it's hard for her to make out what is too far beyond. From what she can hear beyond, there is a lot of commotion and movement.

[fathom123]

Guy

Spoiler:

((It will double the damage))

Guy runs forward with the mace in hand. He jumps into the air and activates his armor teleporting just above the charging warrior. No stranger to bloodshed he swings his mace caving in the head of the rider then activates the armor and appears behind the lizard.

Rhel reaches out his clawed hand and clenches his fist. A weight of force comes down upon the lizard and the creatures skull crushes beneath the armor.

Both foes lying in a pool of their own blood.

The crowd roars in delight cheering for more as chants of "SAINT SAINT SAINT SAINT" echo all around the pair.

The Necromantic King stands before the people and with a hand, silences the thousands. The skull about his neck glowing with dark energies.

"You fight well gladiators and I commend you for your skill in the arena. I've promised my dignitaries a show so please do not disappoint. For tonight the entertainment will not end until one of you falls by the sword."

The crowd roars in delight at the news and the king claps his hands twice and sits down. The arena begins to shake and the center of the arena opens. A platform begins to rise from the trap door, and a massive scaled creature lies. It raises it's head and spouts a train of fire into the air. It's head a gaping maw filled with razor sharp teeth.

Behind the creature, three doors open and out walks three seasoned looking individuals.

From the door on the left, a powerful warrior girded in fur lined armor. A heavy horned helmet rests on his head who's shadows hide the scarred face of the skillful foe.

From the center door, a thin man enters the ring. His muscles are toned and he wears only a simple tunic with pants cut short just below the knees. His feet are bare and headband is wrapped tightly over his eyes as though he were a blind man.

To the far right, a woman in light robes holding a staff. Her hair is long and dark, features are fare even beautiful. On each finger rests a ring and she glows of a light aura.

"Begin."

[fathom123]

Kratimos/Winthrop

Spoiler:

The three enter into a massive hall following closely behind Volstaid. Kratimos get's the ranger's attention asks his question but as he does, he notices that on each side of the hall there are mirrors. Each mirror is manned by an individual staring intently. Every so often there are images that flash. A picture of a person, an undead abomination, a gala ball, a blonde woman slightly bruised who's features seem similar....

Crimson? Her face freezes in the mirror for a moment. She's walking down a dark hall...

"My Liege" The individual in front of the mirror turns to Volstaid. His red eyes focus on her and walks to her side.

"The cloud above the mansion has lifted, the mage is fallen. It appears that some rogue is responsible. We can now see into the lab and the surrounding area."