Re: Zilean's Revenge (Part 4)

Broken Logic Mon Dec 30, 2013 5:02 am

I pick up the stiched up cultist robe I discarded before and equip it.

Zarhon Mon Dec 30, 2013 4:37 pm

Approaching the tents, it becomes obvious that a lot of people are within them, and that there is certainly something magical going on about both of them. Two guards appear to be stationed at the entrance flaps of both. One of them, though he/she does not immediately see Rolf, appears to have heard his footsteps, and moves in Rolf's direction, armed with a spear and on guard.

"Skitter says zat zere appears to be somezing slowly coming from ze far souz of ze camp, witout any illumination. Hard to zell what or who yet, but it fills part of a street road. It will take it a few minutes to arrive, at its current pace."

Lyntermas Wed Jan 01, 2014 7:17 pm

Rolf waited until the guard got closer, looking around fearfully to the walls, then "startled" at the sight of the guard.

"Gah, don't scare me like that. Look, does anyone in the nine hells know what's going on? We were working on the east side, until Zilean started shouting about infiltrators. We were going to try telling the "gamblers" to get back to work, but on the way over, some masked guy on a horse bounded past. When we finally got there, everyone's dead, the prisoners are all gone, and the corpse pit is on fire. Have you seen anything? Where is everyone?"

Rolling Persuasion...4 (1d20) + 10 = 14

...Might need an assist roll.

Broken Logic Thu Jan 02, 2014 9:43 am

Assist coming right up: 29 (15+14 diplomacy)

"No joke. These saboteurs ain't natural. I swear one of them was cacklin' and arguing with hisself, all insane like." Jeraylia shuddered violently for effect. "Yea, I tell ya, this place is going to hell. We're being picked off one by one, by who knows what. We need to pull it together, if anyone wants to survive."

Zarhon Thu Jan 02, 2014 6:56 pm

The guard eyes both of you suspiciously. Now that you can see her closely, she appears to be a half-orc, armed with a spear and a 'quiver' of javelins. "Hmmh. Right. Don't just stand around here then, follow.", she grunts, her spear still trained in your direction, backtracking to her previous position at the tent, glancing around on occasion.

Lyntermas Fri Jan 03, 2014 2:51 pm

Rolf started following the half-orc back to the tent. "Zephyrina, tell Zthulan that he can either try getting close to the other tent to set it on fire, or he can investigate whatever's approaching from the south. Keep as stealthy as possible," Rolf said telepathically. As they approached, Rolf prepared to try and figure out what the cultists were doing inside.

Rolling Perception...17 (1d20) + 7 + 3 (Sharp Eyes) = 27 (w/ Magical Attunement)
Rolling Arcana...6 (1d20) + 14 = 20

Zarhon Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:03 pm

As the duo approach the tent, they are literally shoved inside of it by the gruff guards, who then return to their posts, dismissing any further interest in them.

Inside, they both see that there are about fifteen people of various races inside (not counting the guards outside). A few of them are armed and appear to be acting as bouncers. More than a few are soot-covered, likely from firefighting.

Apart from the people, there is one more distinguishing feature in the tent - a fairly large, obviously magical crystal, restrained by a holder designed for it. Rolf can tell that it is meant to provide arcane energy to something, but it's not apparent where, or how. A few of the people appear to be magically channeling into it.

Other features in the tent appear to be minor pieces of furniture (chairs, bags, cots), and a small table, with a basket of what looks like charred meat.

Most of the collected crowd take notice at the new arrivals. "More faces? Alright, let's hear what you have to say. Who the hell are you two?", asks a human with a single empty eye socket.

Azarune Sun Jan 05, 2014 1:50 am

Completely lost in thought on whether to look inside the mirror, Zthulan fails to notice Rolf and Jeraylia leaving without him. Only when Koras begins nipping him does he return to the present. Eyes widening in panic the dismayed dragonborn dashes to the duo. Crap crap crap! Seeing a guard already approaching the two Zthulan keeps himself low and out of sight as Zephyrina relays Rolf's suggestion.

I'll see what I can do about that other tent Rolf... Giving the still biting Koras a gentle pat Zthulan sneaks his way to the tent.

Stealth: 16 + 6 = 22

Zarhon Sun Jan 05, 2014 3:21 am

Distracted with keeping an eye and escort on Rolf and Jeraylia, the orc guard and her companion fail to notice Zthulan sneak near the tent. He can see a lot of people inside from the silhouettes of shadows, cast behind a bright source of light, along with those of Rolf/Jeraylia, as they're led inside. He also sees some immobile silhouettes of what might be furniture and... something.

Lyntermas Sun Jan 05, 2014 6:25 pm

"I'm Tom, this is Selina. We were working on the east side when Zilean came in with his announcement about saboteurs being everywhere. I was going over to the west side to get the "gamblers" to stop messing around with the prisoners and help us find somebody out of place before the boss just decides to fry us for incompetence or something. But as we were heading over there, this masked man on a big black horse practically ran us down before heading on to where we had come from." Rolf shook his head. "How did he even get a horse IN here? Did it jump over the wall?"

"Anyway, we went over to the racetrack to get help, but...it was a slaughter, no survivors. Some of them look like they'd been fried, another had his arm torn clean off. And one of them.." Rolf shuddered. "One of them near the cages...his head and his intestines are two yards away from each other. The prisoners apparently vanished into thin air, and the corpse pit had been set on fire. One of these nuts is a pyromaniac, I'm sure of that."

"After that, we were looking for someone, ANYONE, so that we weren't stuck out in the open for the saboteurs to jump us. Zilean had said that the guys in the north were doing SOMETHING right, so we headed here. Have any of you seen any of them?"

Rolling Persuasion...17 (1d20) + 10 = 27

Zarhon Sun Jan 05, 2014 6:51 pm

Most of the cultists think this through, apparently satisfied with the answer, though obviously worried by the descriptions of carnage. Another, though, pipes up: "East, you say? I'm from east. Don't recall ever seeing you two before. Where in east where you, exactly?"

Broken Logic Mon Jan 06, 2014 1:40 am

"Okay, so we might have skipped out on hard labour a few times. Can't blame us. The city's free for ransack, and these townies have great tastes in hard liquor. Besides, we were keepin' an eye out, for incursions, like we're s'posed to, right, Tom? Saw a fire in the camp and rushed back to find this mess."

Rolling Persuasion: 22 ( 8 + 14persuasion )

Azarune Mon Jan 06, 2014 3:42 am

Briefly watching Rolf and Jeraylia, Zthulan continues to creep towards the other tent.

Stealth: 13 + 6 = 19

Lyntermas Mon Jan 06, 2014 1:28 pm

"...You...probably just didn't notice us?" Rolf muttered unconvincingly.

Rolling Persuasion...Nat 1 + 10 = 11.

Yeah, might need Awesomeness. Or it's just that they believe that we snuck out and not that they "just didn't notice us."

Zarhon Tue Jan 07, 2014 10:10 pm

More eyes of suspicion surround the pair. "Is that so? Well, can't say I blame you. But you see, there is this minor predicament we're in right now. Zilean wants someone responsible for this fiasco, or we're all toast. Literally. And since our mystery saboteurs have yet to show for the priviledge of meeting the boss, I'm sure one would agree you two were rather irresponsible in your duties.", the one-eyed man says with a grin.

Sneaking around to the other tent, Zthulan can see a similar situation as with the one he just passed - bright light within, furniture, two guards outside... It seems like there's only a single other person in this tent, though, and the light source appears to be "blotted" in some part.

Post is assuming you didn't use awesomeness on Rolf's roll. I'll assume you have it available, since I can't find any mention of it being used.

Broken Logic Wed Jan 08, 2014 8:11 am

"Hey, we had our side scoped out. However those arsonists entered the camp, it wasn't from east side of the city." Jeraylia feigns fear and indignity to match her words.

Lyntermas Thu Jan 09, 2014 12:08 pm

Rolf glanced around at the cultists. “Zephryina, tell Jeraylia to get ready to cover her eyes when I say, “Now!” and to use her sword to cut an exit out of the tent when the time comes."

“Oh, I see,” Rolf said. “So, you’re just looking for some scapegoats, aren’t you?”

“Tell Zthulan to set the other tent on fire once he sees a bright flash over at our tent, and ask Skitter if he can set up his portable hole somewhere near our location.”

“I mean, never mind that apart from those guys working on the gem, and the ones guarding them, that you lot are just sitting on your asses while the rest of the camp is going to pieces around you.”

“Also, ask Horizon…or whoever how he’s doing on the east side, if you can. If all else fails, we can run for the manhole cover in the northeast part of camp, or make our own exit, and Skitter can focus on getting him out.”

“Is a little solidarity too much to ask for? Besides, even if you tossed us or some other blokes into the fire, that’s only going to buy you time until the saboteurs mess something else up, and Zilean’s back on all our asses. Or we might not even need to wait for that; the infiltrators will strike while we turn on each other, and the next thing you know, we’ll end up like those corpses outside. I say that we organize a search party, scour this camp and drag these sons of bitches out before Zilean. Zilean gets something to blast, none of us dies, and we won’t have to worry about getting in trouble for anything else. But if we’re going to get this done properly, we’ll have to get up off our asses and start acting NOW!”
Rolf then cast his light spell and boosted its energy so that it would blind the cultists (who had most likely all been looking at the poor soul trying to weasel his way out of trouble.)

Illuminate (Sun Mode) - 1 use remaining:

Once all the cultists were down, Rolf pulled upon his magic reserves to try something a little risky: doing an unprepared spell. Oh, he knew how to cast it (at least, he had gone over the instructions once or twice), but doing an unprepared spell always seemed to take it out of him. However, this seemed like one of those golden opportunities to do so.

Magic Talent:

He conjured up an ethereal battering ram which, appropriately, had a metal cap shaped like a ram’s head. With all his might, he launched it at the large crystal.

Spectral Battering Ram:

Zarhon Thu Jan 09, 2014 3:34 pm

The flash blinds everyone within the tent, causing them all to grip their eyes and spew colorful language. "Blazing hell, my eyes!"
"My pretty eyes!"
"Traitors!"
"The saboteurs are here!"
"Kill them!"
"KILL BOTH OF THEM!"

The battering ram strikes true at the crystal, smashing it out of its holder, cracking it roughly in half, and tearing a big hole in the tent's backside with the fragments. Energy fluctuates from it in a shower of sparks, after which its light ceases, the damage being too great to continue its magical function. The tent remains illuminated by candles and a floating magical light.

The commotion, sounds of crushed glass, and subsequent cursing and screaming attracts the attention of the two armed guards, who had their eyes and attention turned to the outdoors. Seeing only the new arrivals standing relatively calm, they reach a conclusion, and arm themselves, pulling javelins and aiming.

Zephyria responds telepathically: "Monsiuer, ze Skitter says to give him a few minutes to climb down. And your ozer friend is being very rude."
"AND BUSY, AS WELL."

Zthulan needs to make an athletics check to do stuff immediately - right now, he's too far, over at the other tent. You all have less than 5 seconds leeway before being attacked (dodging rolls), and after that the others recover.

Azarune Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:52 pm

Mentally acknowledging Rolf's request Zthulan kneels down to wait for the signal... Only to be given it a second later. "Don't waste any time there do you?

Athletics: 12 + 7 = 19

Broken Logic Thu Jan 09, 2014 11:49 pm

Important questions regarding my next move in OOC.
Perception to see how the tent is held up: 19 (10 + 9perception )

Jeraylia hearing Zephira's message, waits for the signal, and throws her arms over her eyes at the last moment. When the light fades, she has her sword out, but sheaths it in favor of her unstrung bow when the spectral battering ram goes through the tent cloth. Using the bow like a quarter staff, she knocks people over to increase the mayhem, all while escorting Rolf out of there.

Athletics to knock peeps over: (Oh shiz) nat 20 (20 + 8athletics).
Can I knock someone into one of the pillars holding up the tent (if that's how it's set up)?

Lyntermas Fri Jan 10, 2014 2:20 am

Zarhon wrote: The battering ram strikes true at the crystal, smashing it out of its holder, cracking it roughly in half, and tearing a big hole in the tent's backside with the fragments.

"...Met the objective AND created an exit. That's convenient." Rolf smirked.

Zarhon wrote:The commotion, sounds of crushed glass, and subsequent cursing and screaming attracts the attention of the two armed guards, who had their eyes and attention turned to the outdoors. Seeing only the new arrivals standing relatively calm, they reach a conclusion, and arm themselves, pulling javelins and aiming.

Rolf's smirk faded. "...Gotta run, see you later!" Rolf quickly tried to make his way to the large hole in the back while dodging any javelins the guards behind him may be tossing.

Rolling Acrobatics...6 (1d20) + 6 = 12. Meh.

OOC: Jeraylia, don't forget to add the +3 'motivation' bonus to athletics/acrobatics vs Zilean's/cultist's efforts (granted, it's a nat 20, but every bit helps).
Zthulan, don't forget to set the tent you're close to on fire before coming over to us.

edit: Of course, if the backup goes out as well, that means that both shields are down, which means Zilean might come out to see what's going on, so...either/or.

Zarhon Fri Jan 10, 2014 11:54 am

Despite being partially dug into the ground and fairly thick, one of the wooden stakes holding up a part of the tent breaks from the impact of a cultist, causing the cloth that acted as a roof to cover and entangle most of the populace inside the tent. This includes most of the cultists that just recovered, but unfortunately, Rolf and Jeraylia as well. The javelin-armed guards, luckily, appear to have lost sight of the pair in the confusion.

Zthulan arrives just as the tent falls in on itself. A lot of people appear to be trapped under its cloth, all of them acting like a cat stuffed into a bag.

Acrobatics check or something similar to untangle/re-orient yourself, you two. Zthulan can do stuff.

Broken Logic Fri Jan 10, 2014 12:53 pm

I'm hoping there was a bit of extra time as the cloth fell.
Acrobatics: 13 ( 2 + 8 + 3)
Meh as well.

Can we assist each other?

Azarune Fri Jan 10, 2014 2:41 pm

After lighting the tent Rolf requested to on fire with a puff of flame Zthulan heads over to the others. Seeing the surrounding chaos, he scans among the wreckage. In which general section of the destroyed tent are you both in?

Perception for looking for the two: 18 + 10 = 28

Broken Logic Fri Jan 10, 2014 5:07 pm

"Near the back; we made it close to our makeshift exit before the souffle collapsed. I'm a tad further than Rolf, but only marginally."

Right, so, Zthulan, pull me out, I'll grab onto Rolf, and we'll conga line this out of here.

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