Café de Nuit

Lia curses at the events happening up front. "Finnsen, pull yourself together, man!" she shouts, heedless of the wind whipping her words away, or the sprays of live coal falling just inches short of her feet. "Cape! Perfringe!" she shouts, waving her staff sharply to the right.

The giant hand of ice responds. Its fingers, cracked and melted by the engineer's escape, heal over with fresh ice. The hand floats towards the third Boilerman and takes him in a vicelike grip, squeezing the creature like a melon. In this case, it is a rotten melon, indeed... Again, steam rises from the contact between hot metal and ice. Hoarfrost crackles, and metal groans.

(OOC: Standard action: Lia redirects Bigby's Icy Grasp against B3. Attack roll of 19, with combat advantage added in, becomes 21. The third boilerman is duly caught.
Damage roll: 20 cold to B3.
Minor action: Lia continues to sustain Bigby's Icy Grasp.)

"Ah but of course, it was simply fate that intervened then. Still your presence does seem conducive to things exploding..." Nicolas says over his shoulder to Celeste with a good-natured wink. A wink that's cut rather short as a rain of what might as well be brimstone rains down on the poet.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Nicolas shouts frantically brushing burning coals out of his hair and leaping around like a man, well... on fire. Finally having divested himself of the offending articles and smouldering slightly he sends a vicious glance over the gap in the train "I am therefore guessing you are disinclined to accept our proposal? In that case I have no choice but to....oh." It was at that point he spotted the pile of burnt clothing occupying the space Mercator had been standing in a moment before. "Ah a moment gentlemen" he says apologetically turning his attention to the stricken man.

"Now Doctor I'm afraid the prognosis isn't good, but as a course of treatment I would suggest some calamine lotion and perhaps avoidance of further flaming projectiles for a day or two. Now up you get, we have need of your unique talents." Yes it was glib and slightly farcical but a wave of the curved blade in Mercator's direction had the desired effect.

"Now where was I? Ah yes now I really would suggest you hand over the train Monsieur this violence, whilst moderately entertaining is entirely pointless, destiny is on side this eve monsieurs, for..." He pauses dramatically summoning up words in a rousing voice; "fate itself shall bow to my command!"

The effect of these words was less than startling, in fact it looked very much like nothing whatsoever happened, however Nicolas' features betrayed a satisfied smirk as he sidestepped lightly away.


Standard Action:
Unluck 30 vs reflex on Tom Fields (1 re-roll used)
Damage 3 (dice) +2 songlbalde + 5 Cha = 10 necrotic damage
The next time the target makes an attack roll before the end of your next turn, you roll 1d20 and can replace the target's roll with yours. In addition, choose an ally within 5 squares of you. The next time that ally attacks the target before the end of your next turn, you roll 1d20 and can replace the ally's roll with yours.
I nominate Tomas as the ally.
Move Action: Nic sidesteps to AG7
Minor Action: Majestic Word: Mercator can regain surge + 6hp dice + 5hp cha mod (max hitpoints you lucky warlock you)
Free Action: Virtue of Valor: for bumping off B2 Celeste receives a further +3 temporary hp

"We must stop that feline!" Mr. Agale admonished through clenched teeth. The flames continuing to writhe along his form, he called out to Mr. Fields "I say again, submit to our demands or face dire consequences. You are only making this more difficult for yourselves!" Hauling himself onto the edge of the car, Agale dusted his clothing off. Making little progress on the coal stains themselves, it did restore a little dignity.

Standard: Hypnotic Pulse at AB8
Tom: Critical vs Will, 19 psychic damage and dazed (save ends)
B1: Hit vs Will, 13 psychic damage and dazed (save ends)
If there happen to be any other invisible enemies in the burst, they get attacked as well.
Move: Going to AF12 this time
Minor: Send Thoughts at our errant engineer
Focus Mr. Finnsen
You have a job before you
search your feelings
The cat's coins are false
A glamor to deceive you
Do your duty!
He can mentally respond with up to 25 words
Diplomacy 31 if it helps

The cane in Mercator's hand gives a pulse of light as the biolerman explodes, as if in triumph, and a weird light plays briefly over Tom and the nearer of the boilermen. Mercator raises his arms again...but four volleys of embers in quick succession then come from the mechanical men, by happenstance centering more or less directly on the half-elf.

Mercator collapses as if boneless. In the darkness, he almost seems a discarded porcelain mask, rather disfigured with charcoal scribbles, tossed atop a pile of old clothes.

But when the bard speaks, he rises...not like a man standing up, but like a marionette being drawn upward by head and hands, until he stands on his feet again. For an instant the aching emptiness of his eyes is directed at Nicholas, and Mercator nods slightly. He turns, as if scanning the battlefield, and a point of light darts toward the nearest boilerman. The points of Mercator's eerie crown are re-appearing, one by one, on his brow.

Using my Rod of Corruption to replace my pact boon power when B2 goes under, to put my warlock's curse on Tom and B1.
Move action: Stand up after falling prone.
Standard action: Second wind. Together with Nic's good offices, that's 43 (27 +16) hit points healed, and, of course, the +2 to all defenses, which I kinda need apparently.
Minor action: Sustain Crown of Stars and attack B1. 18 vs. Reflex, which I believe is good enough for government work. 5 (Cha) +2 (Rod? not sure about this) plus 4 (curse) for 11 damage, or 9 if implement bonus doesn't count here.

"Nrrgh..." Tomas struggles but is unable to make the Divine connection needed to continue to punish the automations. Coal rips at his body, but his shield and armor endure. He tries to get over the two cars...

...and gravity promptly reminds him it exists. "Wh-woah!" Tomas barely keeps from falling, sticking Ivorsen in the coal and losing valuable seconds to the mistake. Damn!

Tomas's hand shoots out, sending a refreshing jolt of static electricity into Celeste while shouting out, "Finnsen, move your ass! NOW!" There is something perturnaturally convincing about Tomas's bellow, perhaps because he is highlighted with the light of heaven itself. Speaking of which...

Right, okay. Biggest target. "Everyone get back! And you, old iron work!" Tomas points Ivorsen at Old Tom himself, struggling with the massive miasma of wickedness coming from the monster. There's a crack and what looks like, for a second, a chain of golden lightning connecting the two constructs as Eisenwald calls on his connection to providence! "Your fight is with me, old man, and no other! Face Eisenwald!"

auuuggh sorry guys i lost track of the day. three huge tests in a row'll do that to you.

Now lets get to work;
Minor Action: Lay on Hands on Celeste, I spend a healing surge(activating my Virtuous Recovery and giving me Resist All/3 for the round.) and Celeste can heal her normal healing surge value +4.
Move Action(Turn into Minor Action): Use Divine Mettle to let Finnsen take a +4 saving throw.
Standard Action(Turn into Minor Action): Divine Challenge on Old Tom.
Action Point: SPEND.
Standard Action: Call to Arms on Old Tom: 28 vs Will, assuming it hits I pull him to Af10 and do 14 damage.

Again, Rex was a quiet, unseen ghost in the darkness surrounding himself and Nerit. He darted in, unseen and unheard, and struck the boilerman and then retreated, unseen, into the shadows.

Move Action: Move to AA10.
Standard Action: Gloaming Cut vs. B1; 23 vs. AC hits
Damage: 10 (dagger) + 10 (sneak attack) = 20 damage
Effect: Rex shifts 2 squares to AA12 and makes a Stealth check to become hidden.

Stealth: 27

Also, Rex will use Slippery Mind (+2 to Will) against the first attack where it makes a difference.

"I recognize that laugh! Just..don't know from where" Kerrian said, trying to keep the pain from burns from fogging his mind too much. Calling upon the primal magics of the land was hard enough without second degree burns complicating matters further, after all.

Fortunately Kerrian had the presence of mind to call upon his spirit companion, having it tear into the Boilerman that his companions were so readily assaulting. It wasn't the stoutest strike, but it would have to do for the moment.

A moment's mental contact had his companion moving itself to stand next to Finnsen, growling as if to ward off foes, including those of the feline sort.

OOC:Defending Strike vs B1. 20 to hit vs reflex, for 7 damage. Then minor to dismiss spirit companion, resummoning it to W11, giving Finnsen a +1 to all non AC defenses AND a +1 to AC thanks to Defending strike.

1 Days, 0 Hours, 40 Minutes
Aboard the No. 5 Lamplighter, Late at night on April 23rd, 770
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Player Actions
Agale hits Old Tom for 19 psychic and B1 for 13 psychic, both are Dazed (save ends)
Tomas heals Celeste for 15 and Marks/Pulls Tom for 14 damage.
Rex hits B1 for 20 and stealths at 27.
Lia uses Bigby's Icy Grasp to deal 20+5 cold damage to B3 and Grab him.
Nerit hits B1 for 13 damage and the Unknown Cat for 6.
Nicolas uses Unluck on Old Tom, dealing 10 damage, and doing various finicky reroll stuffs. Also heals Mercator for 27 and gives Celeste 3 temp HP.
Kerrian hits B1 for 7 and then resummons the spirit.
Mercator heals himself for a further 16 and attacks B1 for 11 damage.
Celeste hits B3 for 23+5=28 cold damage and B3 is Immobilized (save ends)



Recharge: Old Tom does not recharge Last Whistle, B1 does not recharge Fortitude of the Machine

Old Tom waives his save versus being pulled over, takes 10 damage, and lands on the coal car next to Tomas.
Finnsen makes his Tomas-granted save versus Daze+Slide

The black cat's fur stood on end as electricity coursed through it. It leaped nearly a foot off the control panel, back arched and paws outstretched. Then with a resounding "OW!" and a sharp popping noise, the cat blinked out of reality.
    
Eric Finnsen clutched his head as he was bombarded with holy words and psychic reverberations. The boatman steadied himself, doing his best not to look at the floor where the silver beads were rolling. He looked shaken, half-consciously trying to give the spirit dog an idle pat, before staggering back to the train controls. Whatever had happened to him, Finnsen seemed still capable of piloting. He pulled the train levers like someone who could have done it in his sleep - which was fortunate, at the moment, as he was still clearly distracted.

Finnsen runs back to the controls and spends a standard action there, so the Part 1: Find the Breath is now at 2/3rds completion.

Lessard uses Shatter vs Fort on B1. Easy hit, 19 damage and B1 is now Vulnerable 5 All till the end of the next turn

The Unknown Cat teleports away, you do not see where.

There was a shout, and the forces of energy and will snagged Old Tom Fields and drew him closer to you, pulling at his metal joints. The Engineer didn't resist, moving with the power, and landing with a loud thump at the edge of the coal-car. The car shuddered and jostled, for Old Tom Fields in his new form was heavy, heavy as the train, heavy as sin. He must have weighed in at half a ton easily enough.

He was not fast, Old Tom Fields. Were it a question of dodging his metal hands with their clockwork gears, you could have avoided him with no troubles. But that wasn't how the Engineer attacked. He was the Engineer, and he was the Engine, and he was the living heart of this dead machine. So he merely moved... and from every one of his joints poured sudden clouds of steam, boiling hot and ready to scald the very flesh from your bones. Eric Finnsen may have commented that it felt like a sauna. To you, however, the bright pain was no such joking matter.

B1 uses Burning Coals vs Reflex on Tomas, Agale, Kerrian, and Celeste. Misses Tomas (3-3=3 fire damage), Misses Agale (3-9=0), Misses Kerrian (3 fire damage), hits Celeste (6+5-5=6 fire damage)
B3 uses Burning Coals vs. Reflex on Lia, Nicolas, and Mercator. Hits Lia (6+5-9=2 fire damage), hits Nicolas (6 fire damage), misses Mercator (3+5=8 fire damage)

B3 uses Fortitude of the Machine. B1 gains +2 to Fort & AC, and +2 temp HP

Tom arrives on the coal-car. First, he uses his Eternal Engine aura to direct a Steam Jet each attack at Nicolas, Mercator, Tomas, and Kerrian. (Each attack is a +13 vs. AC, and damage is a 1d8+3, and a further 10 fire damage) Hits Nicolas (29-2 vs AC for 20 damage), Hits Mercator (28-2 vs AC for 21+5 damage), Misses Tomas (24 vs AC), hits Kerrian (28-2 vs AC for 17 damage).

Then for his actual action, Tom Fields uses Scalding Steam, so three more Steam Jet attacks at Nicolas, Mercator, and Kerrian. Hits Nicolas (29-2 vs. AC for 14 damage), hits Mercator (...Critical for 21+5 damage), hits Kerrian (30-2 vs. AC for 14 damage).

He takes 7 Radiant damage from Divine Challenge.






Saves: B1 and B3 both fail their saves, but Old Tom is no longer dazed.

Victory Conditions:
Part 1: Find the Breath
--Get Finnsen to the controls (squares W7 or W8) and see to it that he stays there for three rounds. They do not need to happen all in one chunk, however.
--Help speed the train by shoveling coal into the engine (stand at squares V/W 9/10/11/12 and make a DC 15 Athletics check.) Each success grants a cumulative +1 to rolls to catch the Breath in Part 2.
Part 2: Catch the Breath
--????

Lose Conditions:
--Die. (This is obvious)
--Let Finnsen die. (He's the only one who knows how to actually pilot this thing).
--Let Old Tom die. (Bad things happen to a Domain when a Darklord gets killed. Best case scenario, you find yourself in an utterly unmagical train coming to a slow halt while the Breath runs off. Worst case scenario... I hear Necropolis is lovely this time of year.



Miscellaneous Mechanics

Deep Shroud The space Nerit occupies and each square around her are Heavily Obscured.

Coal: The coal (columns 7-12, rows AF-down) is difficult terrain. Also, any fire attacks directed at a target standing on the coal deal +5 fire damage.

The Engine Cabin: The train cabin (columns 7-12, rows V-AB) is enclosed from the top and sides. Those are walls. It is open from the bottom, and you may enter freely through that area, and shoot freely from the coal-car to the engine cabin, or vice versa.

Crossing the Gap: You may either jump directly across the gap (rows AD-AE) which is an Athletics DC 30, or DC 15 with at least 2 squares of a running start, bear in mind that the terrain is difficult and so you need a speed of 7 in order to make it, or you may shimmy across the connector (Column 10), which is an Acrobatics DC 20 check.

Falling off the Train: If you fall off the train, either by failing the above Athletics or Acrobatics checks, or by being pushed, pulled, or slid, you take damage and are slammed into the top row of the coal car (row AF) by the speed of the train.

PCs

Tomas Eisenwald (T): +2 damage, Virtuous Recovery
59/71
AC 26, F 19, R 19, W 22; Resist All/3

Prof. Lia Mournswaithe (L):
52/54
AC 21, F 17, R 19, W 18

Celeste Viardot (Cv):
23/61; Bloodied
AC 19, F 19, R 21, W 23

Kerrian Mauganson (K):
1/64; Bloodied
AC 19, F 21, R 18, W 22

Kerrian's Spirit (Wolfish Outline):
Special
AC 19, F 21, R 18, W 22

Mercator Melanchthon (M): Second Wind
-17/65; DYING! (again)
AC 20+2, F 21+2, R 20+2, W 23+2

Rex Alistair Prescott (R): (Stealth 28)
59/59
AC 23, F 17, R 23, W 19

Mr. Agale (A):
45/52
AC 20, F 17, R 21, W 23

Nerit Doherty (N):
53/58
AC 18, F 15, R 18, W 22

Nicolas Etienne de Castaigne (Nc):
-3/67; DYING!
AC 23, F 20, R 22, W 24

Friends

Remy Lessard (Blue R): Invisible
AC 23, F 21 R 22, W 21

Eric Finnsen (Blue F): Dazed and Slide 4 (save ends)
AC 25, F 19 R 23, W 25

Foes

Tom Fields, the Engineer (T) Marked (Tomas)
-77 HP
AC 25, F 25 R 21 W 22; All Push, Pull, or Slide effects reduced by 2

The First Boiler-Man (B1): Cannot take Move Actions (save ends), Prone, Vulnerable 5 (all), Dazed (save ends)
-131+2 HP; Bloodied
AC 19+2, F 20+2 R 18, W 19

The Second Boiler-Man (B2):
DEAD

The Third Boiler-Man (B3): Grabbed, Immobilized (Save Ends)
-87 HP; Bloodied
AC 19, F 20 R 18, W 19

Who knows?

The Black Cat:
-6 HP
AC ??, F ??, R ??, W ??

Pitch and fire explode around Tomas, steam screaming to loosen his flesh's grip on his bones! Desperately parrying with his shield, Tomas notices the main steam vent aiming at Mercator...

"Not so fast!" Tomas bellows, swinging Ivorsen at the air! There's a flash of fire and light, and all of a sudden Tomas is standing where Mercator once was, taking the lion's share of the steam!

"Kerrian! Get Celeste and pull back, we need to keep these..." Tomas sees Nicolas fall and grabs the man by his shirt collar, sending what might feel a bit like a defibrillator machine if Nicolas had that frame of reference through his friend's chest! "...machines busy, and that means staying on your feet!"

"And you, Tom." Tomas steps forward, blood and ichor dripping down his face as a few of the steam burns rupture. Tomas swipes Ivorsen at the engineer with a crack of holy light! "Your fight is with ME!"

Unfortunately, all that gets chastised by Tomas's sacred challenge is the coal.

Free Interrupt: Sword of Radiant Fire to switch places with Mercator and take that critical for him. I believe that does 23 damage to me after calculating my resist.
Minor Action: Lay on Hands on Nicolas, I spend a healing surge(Renewing my VR) and Nick gets the HP back as well as 4 bonus hp. Also I remain engaged with the target so my Divine Challenge still applies.
Move Action(Minor): Inspiring Word. Kerrian can spend a healing surge+6 hp.
Standard Action: Blade of Light on Old Tom. I roll a 3. And then I take nick's reroll and roll a 2. sigh.

Mercator topples backward as the steam is about to envelope him under Tomas' surge into the place he stood in, almost seeming to roll himself into a ball. A moment later, a faint gleam of light reflecting (or emitted) from his ghost-like face reveals him to have arrived at a different point, farther back in the coal-car, without crossing the intervening space.

Pointing at Old Tom Fields, he opens his mouth and sings a single word...a word no human voice could possibly utter, as if a bell had been given the power of speech. Beyond Tom, a fiercely glowing mote punches through the armor of the nearer boiler-man.

A big thank you to Tomas for saving the day there.

Move action: Mercator uses Ethereal Step to retreat to AI10, which gives a +2 bonus to all defenses AND activates his Shadow Walk, giving him concealment until the end of his next turn (-2 to attacks against him).

Standard action: Dreadful Word against Old Tom, attack 31 vs. Will. Damage 11 (roll) +7 (bonuses)=18 psychic, and Old Tom takes a -3 penalty to Will until the end of Mercator's next turn.

Minor action: Sustain Crown of Stars, attack B1. Attack 32. I got a crit on a power that rolls no dice for damage. But hey, at least I get to roll crit dice. Damage is 5 (base) plus 2 (rod bonus) plus 6 (curse damage, maxed) plus 11 (crit damage, rolled) + 5 (vulnerable to all) for a total of 29 radiant damage.

In a slight revision of my prior post, Rod of Corruption's special ability transfers the curse to all opponents within 5 squares of the deceased opponent, not within 5 squares of me. So Tom, B1 and B3 have all been marked. This doesn't change anything in prior posts, as I have not yet targeted B3.

Its funny how fate works, one minute Mercator is facing fiery doom again, then Tomas steps in the way to take the valiant course, but then for some reason a vicious crosswind appears causing all that steam to billow harmlessly away.

Despite giving the appearance of being cooked at about 200 for 40 mins Nicolas manages to regain his feet at Tomas' insistence. "Ow!" was all the poet managed by way of a response.

He briefly contemplated alighting at the next station, minding the gap, finding the nearest bar and getting roaring drunk, but when you are on a speeding ghost train such choices are not always yours to make. Instead he opts to vent his rage on something that might actually die. Pulling a pirouette he thrusts the sword across the gap at the third boilerman "Enough, death comes for you mon ami, consider yourself marked!"

Again nothing much seemed to happen, and there was far less of a smirk this time on Nicolas face.


As stated in OOC: Unluck rerolling that crit on Tomas to a miss
Free Action: Virtue of Valor granting Mercator +3 temp hp
Minor: Inspire competence Acrobatics on everyone except Rex and Finnsen, you all get +2 on your next attempt at that skill, should make the connector shimmy more doable
Standard: Stirring Shout on B3
misses with 13 vs will however anyone hitting senor B3 until end of the encoutner regains 5 hp (have fun kids)