The Shattered City: Chapter Three

[The Whistler]

"Tell me what makes this horror acceptable." Tomas is almost pleading at this point, the reasonableness of these people having been a drain on his sanity.

Celeste didn't look cheerful, per se, but her expression was hardly unwelcoming: while she clearly perceived that she was not dealing with the Port-a-Lucine Women's Auxiliary, that didn't mean she couldn't be conciliatory. Celeste was good at being conciliatory.

"What my companion intends to say--oh, pardon me: good evening, Mme. Poincare; Mlle. Morjuet! But to continue: what my companion intends to say, I am sure, is that perhaps some manner of explanation would be well-taken...by all parties, I am sure! After all, one should hardly expect a band of well-meaning fellow-citizens to depart from such a singular scene without cause...and surely, you are secure enough in your own motives to state them without reservation! Come: our previous disagreements aside, I am sure that your ultimate purpose is utterly well-intended!"

If Celeste couldn't exactly see how this was possible, she certainly didn't say so.

26 on Insight; 28 on Diplomacy to calm down and/or encourage cooperation in Poincare & Co.

[NeoTiamat]

Catacombs of Port-a-Lucine, Night of April 21st, 770
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"Funnily enough, I was explaining this earlier, except you preferred to keep attacking my hounds rather than listen then. I thought I was rather painfully clear, but yet you're still here." Anne-Marie said, her voice making clear she had precious little sympathy for your situation. "Want my honest advice? Leave. You're getting more chances to walk away than you deserve."

"You misunderstand our actions, I think, just a little. This has nothing to do with that which lies beyond the mirror. They are... servitors, and sometime allies. They are not gods." Poincare looked up at you, her lips quirking into a strange half-smile, directed mostly at Celeste. "Or rather, I do not think any of us would like the manner of gods that dwell there."

"Something broke on the Eleventh of March. A piece of Dementlieu got carved out with a bloody knife." Anne-Marie said, her eyes cold. "And we're trying to put it back. And it's a grim business. You can't resurrect Death with sunbeams and good wishes."

[DocBeard]

"So you are going to use black magic to try and take over 'death', which is why you are exploiting a plague and unleashing soul eating monsters." Tomas says, calmly, "Okay. That's all I wanted to know."

Somehow, underground, there is an audible CRACK of thunder, as if a storm had just broken! Tomas charges forward, sword pulsing with burning sunlight...

Charging Deputy Dawg. Init roll: 18+3+5=26.

[NeoTiamat]

Catacombs of Port-a-Lucine, Night of April 21st, 770
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"What the hell, Eisenwald!" Thierri blurted out, even as Katja drew her sword with a smile of grim approval.

"As opposed to letting everything in Dementlieu die, yes!" Anne-Marie shouted in palpable frustration. The ghost all but gleamed in the dim light, raising her hands to conjure up some manner of spectral conjuration.

"Anne-Marie, be silent." Dr. Poincare raised the hand with the bone dagger in it. There was no emotion in her voice, only a grim kind of certainty. "They've made their choice. Kill them."

With a low, unpleasant growl, the elemental host began to move. Poincare watched for a moment, then returned to her ritual. Battle was joined.

Roll Initiative. If you roll equal to or above a 17, you may act this turn, before Anne-Marie and the Elementals do. If you roll below a 17, you must wait until after the DMs post and Anne-Marie and the Elementals take their turn.



Rubble: The patches of black (as opposed to the greyish walls) are rubble. It is Difficult Terrain.


PCs

Cyrus Isfahani (C):
64/64
AC 18, F 18, R 17, W 19

Darius Isfahani (D):
66/66
AC 23, F 17, R 19, W 19-2

Mr. Agale (A):
48/48
AC 18, F 16, R 19, W 21

Nicolas Etienne de Castaigne (Nc):
54/61
AC 22, F 18, R 20, W 21-2

Tomas Eisenwald (T): Resist All/1
63/65
AC 24, F 18, R 18, W 20

Prof. Lia Mournswaithe (L):
54/54
AC 20, F 16, R 18, W 17

Kerrian Mauganson (K):
43/58
AC 18, F 19, R 16, W 20

Kerrian's Spirit (Wolfish Outline)
Minion
AC 18, F 19, R 16, W 20

Celeste Viardot (Cv):
55/55
AC 17, F 17, R 18, W 20

Allies

Katharina Zweibach (Green K)
AC 25, F 22, R 21, W 21

Thierri Boucher (Green T)
AC 22, F 20, R 22, W 20

Enemies

Anne-Marie
AC 21, F 20, R 21, W 22

Grave Weird
AC 24, F 22, R 20, W 18

Mirror - W14
Mirror - S12
Mirror - R8
Mirror - L13
Mirror - K8
Mirror - G15
AC 18, F 15, R 15, W 15

Ash Elemental - 1
Ash Elemental - 2
AC 19, F 18, R 17, W 15

Non-Participants

Dr. Nicole Poincare (P):
AC 24, F 18, R 22, W 23

[DocBeard]

"Beating the evil out of soul eating hell hounds is NEVER the wrong plan!" Tomas thunders, building up speed as his divine essence outlines his body for a second. For a brief, wonderful moment, the weakness of the disease is gone, and all Tomas can feel is the power of Loturr surging through his body. Eisenwald kicks up into the air...

...shoving his sword into the Grave Weird's chest! "Hold, monster, and spit up the ghosts you've gorged yourself on!"

(Move: Charge at Grave Weird,
Standard: Use Blade of Light, 30 to hit and 18 radiant damage, plus I have +2 to all defenses against fear or necrotic effects until the end of my next turn.
Minor: Mark Grave Weird with Divine Challenge.)

[Nathan of the FoS]

Darius is, frankly, stunned by the sheer unmitigated gall of the woman. Ex-woman. Ghost.

"You are too stupid to understand that my vile plague-inducing necromancy and multiple murders are for the good of the country!"

Really? That's your line?

If it weren't so outrageously evil it would be amusing. But it's not amusing. Not even slightly. Poincare must die, Anne-Marie must get her quietus, and everything else goes in the dustbin.

All of this takes about a half-second of thought, but in that half-second Tomas has already made his move. Cursing, Darius follows at top speed; he's only about a half-step behind Tomas when the paladin hits the gravehound like a ton of bricks. Darius isn't as heavy, or as heavily armored, and being second on the scene finds it a little hard to find a place to strike.

Charge and use foesnare, roll is 21 vs. AC, so that's a miss. End in S14. I think Tomas' mark is groovier than mine for right now, so I won't mark the gravehound.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Globum vis in manu meu colligo. Globu vis, ad inimicum meum vole. Globum vis inimicum perfringet," Lia chants, swirling her free hand around in front of her while she thrusts her staff into the air. The crystal breaks into its sullen red glow while swirls of bluish, glowing energy collate into a sphere in Lia's hand. The spell ends as Lia hurls the sphere at the Grave Weird. Alas, the spell fizzles and fails, bouncing off the monster's rocky hide.

(OOC: Initiative check: 23. Casting Force Orb, but the attack roll vs. reflex is 18. No good. Lia holds Shield ready to cast as needed.)

[lostboy]

OOC: Running off to a wedding (not mine) so short on time, hence lack of fluff
Initiative 23
Nicholas moves to Z14
throws vicious mockery at graveweird 26 vs Will
Graveweird takes 7 psychic damage and -2 to attack rolls until end of Nicolas next turn

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Poincare!" Lia shouts as her spell goes wide. "Who was it? Who killed Death?! Either you will solve this or we will find some way, so tell us who the real enemy is, if you truly care for this land and its people!"

[Cronax]

With a 13, Mr. Agale fails initiative.
He will however, prep Intellect Fortress against the first attack where it would make a difference.

[Kaitou Kage]

Cyrus found it ironic that he agreed with Tomas. Sort of. He was surrounded by weak, posturing ninnies that wanted to chatter and make friends with obvious criminals. They passively supported the necromancy, the sabotage, the dark rituals, all because they let themselves be swayed by these lawbreakers' pretty words and justifications.

Poincare was a criminal. A dissident. A saboteur. A killer. A terrorist. The Law was simple.

But people in Dementlieu didn't believe in Law. They believed in justifying criminal acts.

"Be ever vigilant. Mytteri is wicked.
It hides in the darkness. It lurks in the shadows. It eschews the Law.
Mytteri is seductive. It whispers in your ear.
It speaks of Law, it talks of Order.
It pretends to be the Iron Way to mislead the weak.
It cloaks itself in steel to lure the guilty.
Be vigilant. Deny Mytteri. Follow the Iron Way and do not stray.
Trust in the Lawgiver and He will protect from the lies of Mytteri.
His Truth will crush Mytteri and punish the guilty."*

And so the dommer was pleasantly surprised when he saw Tomas take the initiative. Perhaps he'd make a note to congratulate the Lamordian later.

* From the Codex of the Spear, vol. III

[yalenusveler]

"Dr.Ponicare, this is madness. A woman of your intelligence should realize all you're doing is slapping a dirty bandage on a wound. Blood loss won't kill the patient, but infection will! Please stop so we can find a better way..." Kerrian nearly pleaded, as his spiritual companion manifested into being, trying to tear at the supernatural substance of the graveweird, but if it was due to illness or the ritual Dr.Ponicare was working, the strike went just a bit wide.

OOC:Spirit Companion to S13, then defending strike vs the graveweird. Miss with a 15, but all adjacent allies to my spirit companion get a +1 to Fort, Will, Reflex.

[NeoTiamat]

Catacombs of Port-a-Lucine, Night of April 21st, 770
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PC Actions
Tomas hits the Weird for 18+5=23 damage.
Kerrian summons a spirit, otherwise misses.
Cyrus does not make his Initiative check
Darius charges and misses.
Lia Force Orbs, but misses.
Nicolas hits a Weird for 7 damage with a Vicious Mockery. Poor mocked doggy. Moves into Agale's square, so we're moving you slightly.
Agale does not make his Initiative check
Celeste does not make his Initiative check

"Hurrah for Eisenwald. You do not negotiate with criminals." Katja said with a quick grin, cocking her crossbow and firing straight at the Grave Weird, the quarrel shearing off a chunk of it's necrotic flesh altogether. The former soldier looked ahead and saw the utter stoppage there.

"I'm going to try and flank." Katja said, then ducked into one of the side-tunnels. She had not gotten very far, though, before she ran into company. Katja's startled oath could be clearly heard.

Katja decides to try and go around. She shoots the Weird with her crossbow, hits and rolls max damage (13), then ducks into the tunnels.

"Self defense..." Thierri muttered under his breath. An orange glow appeared in his hands, a dove made of fire, that sprung forth to circle around Kerrian's shoulders. Thierri stepped cautiously backwards, approaching Celeste - standing between her and the line of fire, if one looked carefully. "Your peaceful overtures, sincere as they are, have been somewhat undermined by us attacking in the middle of them," he sighed to her. "And belligerence is an ill-suited companion to your temperament. Let us find somewhere safer for you to cheer our comerades on, if you judge their actions to your approval."

Thierri tosses his temp-HP ability onto Kerrian, who gains 9 temp HP. Readies an action to Heal anyone who gets Bloodied within range.

"Poincare!" Lia shouts as her spell goes wide. "Who was it? Who killed Death?! Either you will solve this or we will find some way, so tell us who the real enemy is, if you truly care for this land and its people!"

"How I wish that I knew." Dr. Poincare said, spreading her hands gently. Her voice was soft, but there was a fire in her eyes.

"Dr.Poincare, this is madness. A woman of your intelligence should realize all you're doing is slapping a dirty bandage on a wound. Blood loss won't kill the patient, but infection will! Please stop so we can find a better way..."

Poincare paid no attention to Kerrian. Anne-Marie, however, did.

"You're the ones attacking us. You had your chance to talk. We've given you plenty of chances to talk." Anne-Marie shouted, misaiming a spell in her anger. "Devastate them."

What followed next was rather short, and rather painful. The hound opened it's vast jaws and breathed out. The ash elementals cast their clouds of burning ash. And in the mirror, there flitted a reflection, a long-haired woman who raised her hands and cast an unheard spell... causing icy balefire to burst from the mirrors. All of the mirrors.

Anne-Marie, who thought Boreal Wind was great last battle, throws it at Tomas. Rolls a 5 and is slightly disappointed.

The Grave Weird uses it's Breath Weapon onto Tomas and Darius. Misses Tomas, hits Darius, dealing 27 damage.

Mirror W14 uses a Close Blast against Cyrus and Kerrian. Misses Cyrus, hits Kerrian. Takes 21 damage. There go the temp-HP.
Mirror S12 uses a Close Blast against Tomas and Darius. Hits both, dealing 18-1 and 18 damage respectively.
The other mirrors are out of range of doing anything useful.

Ashen Elemental 1 uses Ashen Cloud on Tomas and Darius. Misses Tomas, hits Darius. Darius takes 5 damage, Ongoing 5 Fire Damage, and is Blinded (Save Ends Both)
Ashen Elemental 2 uses Ash Orb against Tomas. Misses. The Armor of Justice in action. Or something...

The source of Katja's harsh cursing from the tunnel was readily apparent. It was a specter. Not the kind of well-collected, near-beautiful ghost that Anne-Marie was, no. This was a ragged phantom from years past, it's semi-transparent flesh tattered and half-missing. It moaned horribly, an eerie sound if ever there was one, flailing at Katja and draining the very life essence from her.

"We seem to have woken the neighbors." Anne-Marie observed, rather calmly, one might think, except for the fact that she no longer had life essence to drain in any case. "We'll have to do something about that later."

More of the 'neighbors' appeared from the tunnels, dismal wraiths, the residue of the lost of Dementlieu. With the wrath of the dead, they attacked the living.

Frightful Wraith #3 goes to attack Katja. Criticals, dealing 12 damage and Katja is Weakened (Save Ends).
Frightful Wraith #2 goes to attack Cyrus. Misses. He is like a mobile bad luck field, nothing will roll above a 5 when dealing with Cyrus.
Frightful Wraith #1 charges into the center group, hitting Agale exactly. Then Intellect Fortress activates, and turns that into a miss.



Rubble: The patches of black (as opposed to the greyish walls) are rubble. It is Difficult Terrain.

PCs

Cyrus Isfahani (C):
64/64
AC 18, F 18, R 17, W 19

Darius Isfahani (D): Blinded & Ongoing 5 Fire (Save Ends Both)
16/66 -- Bloodied
AC 23, F 17, R 19, W 19-2

Mr. Agale (A):
48/48
AC 18, F 16, R 19, W 21

Nicolas Etienne de Castaigne (Nc):
54/61
AC 22, F 18, R 20, W 21-2

Tomas Eisenwald (T): Resist All/1
46/65
AC 25, F 18, R 18, W 20

Prof. Lia Mournswaithe (L):
54/54
AC 20, F 16, R 18, W 17

Kerrian Mauganson (K):
31/58
AC 18, F 19, R 16, W 20

Kerrian's Spirit (Wolfish Outline)
Quasi-Minion
AC 18, F 19, R 16, W 20

Celeste Viardot (Cv):
55/55
AC 17, F 17, R 18, W 20

Allies

Katharina Zweibach (Green K) Weakened (Save Ends).
-12 HP,
AC 25, F 22, R 21, W 21

Thierri Boucher (Green T)
AC 22, F 20, R 22, W 20

Enemies

Anne-Marie Recharging Boreal Wind.
AC 21, F 20, R 21, W 22 - Insubstantial

Grave Weird, -2 to Attacks
-43 HP
AC 24, F 22, R 20, W 18

Mirror - W14
Mirror - S12
Mirror - R8
Mirror - L13
Mirror - K8
Mirror - G15
AC 18, F 15, R 15, W 15

Ash Elemental - 1
Ash Elemental - 2
AC 19, F 18, R 17, W 15

Frightful Wraith - 1
Frightful Wraith - 2
Frightful Wraith - 3
AC 20, F 17, R 21, W 18 - Insubstantial

Non-Participants

Dr. Nicole Poincare (P):
AC 24, F 18, R 22, W 23

[Nathan of the FoS]

Darius, having missed his first cut, knows what's coming next; he is trying to duck out of the way as the Weird lowers its head and exhales, its miasma breath ripping at eyes and lungs when suddenly the air is full of ash and fire and glass.

He didn't realize that the attractions including exploding mirrors and spell-flinging minor acolytes.

Not that it would have changed what he did, but still. It would have been nice to have a little more warning that he would be half-dead with various shocks to the system. Wiping the blood and ash from his guys with one sleeve, he gasps, "Tyr forskr," and feels a measure of strength flow into him as he gets his eyes clear and the flames licking along his sleeve die down.

Er...no Frost Backlash. It is still the same day. I'll take my Second Wind and use Healing Word, which together give me 38 hit points back. Save roll is 14, hooray!

[Cronax]

Nothing for it at this point Mr. Agale considers. He jogs up the corridor past the wraith before ducking into a side tunnel for cover. "Madam, you should heed the Doctor's proscription for discretion. And as for you, heel!" The eerie power courses through the Borcan's eyes and voice as he chastises Anne-Marie and the hound before addressing Poincare.

"Doctor, Your forces are scattered and depleted. My compatriots have you outnumbered and out armed. Did you honestly believe your actions would escape notice or justice? The only thing you will achieve is Anne-Marie's unfortunate state of existence. I realize you are left with little choice, however, this lunacy will end with you Doctor."

Move: Going to T15 (Provoking from Wraith 1, but the Intellect Fortress is still up until his turn ends)
Standard: Augment 2 Betrayal on the Hound
19 vs will hits. I slide it north so its center is at M13, it then makes a melee basic attack against Ash 1 with a +4 bonus to attack and damage rolls. It is then dazed until the end of Agale's next turn.
Action Point: Ravening Thought vs A1 (has cover from weird) 22 vs will hits for 15 psychic damage and ongoing 5 psychic damage (save ends)
Secondary vs Anne (has cover from weird) 16 vs will misses
Secondary vs Grave Weird 22 vs will hits for 12 psychic damage and ongoing 5 psychic damage (save ends)