August 28th, 761, 6:38 AM; Day 164 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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PC Actions:
Lia casts a Maximised Fireball at Cavendish. Deals no damage.
Kuzan Dispels Cavendish's Air Walk.
Otto shoots at Snefru, misses. Throws a Blast Globe at Cavendish, deals 1 Sonic damage, Deafens Cavendish (rolled 2 on the Fortitude save...)
Charles moves to Z33 and uses Inspire Courage
Tomas moves to V34 and heals 5 HP
Sascha moves to Z31 and heals 8 HP
Andre casts a Sound Lance at Badri, deals 37 damage.
Andre's blast of pure sound shot through the waving black mass reaching up from the ground, catching the mob's leader with the full force of its blast. The rippling waves of sound rattled his teeth and cracked his bones, and, it looked as if it tore the very skin from his flesh. An instant later, the man straightened and slowly turned towards Andre. It was immediately evident to all to behold that things were not as they had seemed, for though Andre's spell might have inflicted the terrible wounds that had caused the man's death, sound did not cause flesh to rot.
Harris watched impassively as the lebendtod's disguise was shattered, holding his sword at the ready as he followed Andre's retreat. "Here they come," he said, positioning himself to block the alleyway form the approaching undead. "Stay behind me, Professor."
Dieter took careful aim at Snefru before firing. His bullet flew on target, only to be knocked askew by one of the black tentacles reaching up from the ground. "I"m starting to think we picked up some curses back in that tomb," he muttered disgruntledly.
"Andre!" A hoarse voice called out from between the buildings. Carter ran towards the tiny defensive formation, gripping his rifle in his bloody hands. He managed to duck behind another building before collapsing onto one knee. "Oh, Ezra..." he gasped, sweat beading on his forehead as he clutched his side. "After everything I've been through today, I can't die now..."
The wounds all over his body seemed to close slightly. Carter seemed slightly surprised, but raised his rifle, keeping his eyes open for incoming enemies.
Sarari drew another arrow, carefully aiming toward the man who had so thoughtfully made himself a target. Marchand-Renier drew himself up beside her, listening to the chaotic din of the battlefield.
"The walls!" he suddenly barked out. "Invisible foes climbing up the walls!"
Sarari quickly pivoted on her heel, leaning over the edge of the building with her bow at the ready. A twitch of her ears, and she fired, sending a wave of arrows skimming down the walls. One shot true, sinking into the air and staying still; many more clattered into the ground below, unfulfilled.
Edmund falls back and continues to use Defensive Shield.
Dieter attacks Snefru. Misses.
Sarari uses Clarity of Vision to pinpoint, then shoots Lebendtod 6 at point blank range four times. Hits vs. AC all four times, Invisible/Concealment negates three of them. Deals 7 damage.
Carter heals himself 29 HP with his last Inspiration Point, and moves towards Andre.
"Get behind me!" Sarari commanded, grabbing Marchand-Renier as her blue-fletched arrow climbed back up the wall and returned to her. The professor jerked visibly as she touched him, becoming as stiff as a board. The archer firmly pushed him away from the terrace edge, leaving her back exposed for a single, critical instant. The assassin melted into view as he slashed across Sarari's spine with his knife, undaunted by the mystical blur that concealed her true position. Otto felt the air beside him move; another assassin appeared next to him, swinging its knife just past his nose.
"One more... Get down," Sebastian managed to say, a moment too late. There was a crackling of eldritch light from the roof across the street, which slammed into Kuzan before whizzing past Otto's ear. A woman was standing there, a woman you had last seen plunge a knife into her own skull. She did not seem to be any worse for it.
Khait reveals herself, makes Hide-from-Undead save. Casts Beshadowed Eldritch Chain at Kuzan, hits Kuzan for 23 damage. Chains to Otto, misses Otto due to Blur. DC 20 Fortitude Save from or else you are Blinded for 1 round.
Akiri Assassin/Lebendtod 5 reveals himself, fails Hide-from-Undead save. Attacks Otto, misses with a roll of 2.
Akiri Assassin/Lebendtod 6 reveals himself, fails Hide-from-Undead save. Attacks Sarari, hits for 18 damage.
The Akiri mob seemed to have lost a good deal of righteous fire at the revelation of their leader's true nature. Many near the front came to a direct halt, blocking the ones who stood behind them. Many more began to run backward, shoving others out of the way in their rush to depart. Confusion and panic began to ripple through the mob, as the ones who could not see what had happened were shoved aside by those who were fleeing. A few voices tried to call out and reassure the crowd, but it was too late. The momentum had been reversed, and the crowd began to scatter.
A few members, however, seemed unfazed by the sudden chaos spreading across the field. They calmly took their places beside the grisly zombie, turning as one towards the man who had attacked their leader. With an unspoken command they began to advance, trudging slowly and calmly towards the back alleyway where Andre stood.
Mob runs away.
Badri moves towards Andre & Co.
Rioter 1 moves towards Andre & Co.
Rioter 2 moves towards Andre & Co.
Rioter 3 moves towards Andre & Co.
"As commanded!" The squads nearest Sacha formed up, readying their swords to attack the creature as soon as it became more than sand on the desert wind. The stinging cloud darted toward the ashen knight, then shifted back toward the other target, flying through the air like a plague of locusts. Halfway through the air the sand became solid bone, crashing into Tomas' armor with an earsplitting shriek. The fossilized claws tore at the knight, twisting metal until it could reach flesh, it's huge saber-teeth inches away from Tomas' neck. The smiler roared.
"Fire! Fire!" Lebrecht commanded, sending a crossbow bolt flying towards the smiler at the gate. It ricocheted off without leaving so much as a scratch, but his own ineffectual shot was followed by a hundred others, hitting the skeletal beast with astonishing accuracy. Chips of stone began to flake off under the onslaught, and the smilodon reared back, hissing it's displeasure. The huge beast darted back forward, rampaging through the Falkovnian squads, slaughtering men even as they brought their swords down upon it. Many of the Falkovnian's swords chipped or broke against the iron hide of the smiler, but the repeated blows began to take their toll, knocking a large chunk off of its shoulder blade.
"Cut off the head and the serpent dies," Vedarrak said, narrowing his eyes. With a wave of his hand he sent a pulse of power toward the center of the hellish inferno Lia had created. The Kommandant gripped his hand, bringing it toward himself with a tearing motion - a second later, Cavendish appeared on the compound wall.
Falkovnians attack in melee Schrodinger, deal 28 damage after DR.
Falkovnians shoot crossbows at Schrodinger, deal 26 damage after DR.
Lebrecht shoots Schrodinger, crossbow bolt does not pierce DR.
Vedarrak rides up and casts an Area Dispel at Cavendish, gets out the Mislead-Greater Invisibility.
Schrodinger full attacks the nearest Falkovnians, deals 41 damage.
Chesterton does a mid-air transformation and pounces on Tomas, full attacking with two claw attacks, one of which hits, a bite attack, which hits, and two rake attacks, one of which hits. Total of 21+9+6=36 damage to Tomas.
For a brief moment, the Akiri desert gained a second sun as Lia's fireball illuminated the battlefield. Chips of stone cracked off the wall under the immense heat, while paint smouldered and burned in the fire. For a moment, you caught a glimpse of a silhoetted figure in the conflageration, but then it disappeared in the flames.Rock wrote:Lia roars again, and chants: "Evigile, annulu ignis contemplativis. Ter verba mea fulce. Magistra ignis sum! Ex manu sphaera ignis expandens evolat!" A tiny sphere of flame, ringed in crimson light, shoots out of the dark dome, impacting with a section of the compound's wall. And there, it swells briefly into apocalyptic flame, roaring like a dragon's fury. Akiri: "Behold the pride of Snefru, I spit at it!" Lia roars from within the darkness.
Then the clinging flames burned away, and in the midst of the destruction stood John Lancaster Cavendish, he of the hateful smile and natty clothing. The necromancer showed not a mark on him. His clothing was untouched, his features unburned. Even his hat wasn't knocked askew by the fireball.
Cavendish straightened his cravat, though it didn't seem particularly in need of it, and drew the broken quarterstaff that served the necromancer as a wand. He tapped it once against the ruined wall before him, and raised it before him, aiming it down the path the fireball had taken.
"My turn." Cavendish's voice, though seemingly no louder than a conversational tone, sounded throughout the square. "Plameni Ada!"
From the blood-soaked end of the quarterstaff shot forth a single ray of black-green light, vanishing into the orb of darkness and impacting the ground beneath Lia's feet. It struck, and where it did a massive column of black-green fire erupted and roared to the heaven's. It burned Lia's flesh, and it burned Lia's soul.
Cavendish twirled the quarterstaff like a baton and blew at the end, which smoked slightly from the balefire that had just coursed through it. No sooner had he done that, though, than another explosion engulfed that corner of the wall, this time from a surplus military shell developed in Hazlan. The sound was fitting, a dull explosion that blocked out all other sound for a moment.
When the flames died down a second time, the wall was left much worse for wear. Cavendish, meanwhile, looked about the same, though his hat was askew slightly. The necromancer shook his head, then hit his ear with the heal of his hand a few times, to no avail. There was nothing but silence.
"Of all the days to not prepare a hearing-restoration incantation." Cavendish said dryly, though his voice was a little strange, the pronunciation a touch off. The necromancer looked out across the field, only to see the Akiri mob breaking and running. "And so much for cunning schemes. Oh forget it, just kill them all."
Cavendish casts Fell Drain Flame Strike at Lia. Deals 30 fire damage, 30 Divine damage, DC 24 Reflex Save for half. Also one negative level.
[I am aware that the Deafening goes into effect before Cavendish's spell would have, but he made his percentile roll, ergo, slight artistic license.]
"With great and profound pleasure," Snefru said, her voice filled with the same cold hatred you had heard before, intensified a thousand-fold. "Oh Slave-Master."
The ghost flew forward, hands outstretched, and as she flew the golden visage that had been so beautiful for the Akiri mob became replaced by the pallid, unnatural appearance of death. The nearest of the Falkovnians took a look at Snefru and drew back, the national horror and hatred of undeath taking toll.
Snefru paused, and lifted one hand, watching as one of the wooden stakes in the middle of the square slowly rose from its moorings. It was a stout length of wood, the tip sharpened and then fire-hardened, a huge and lethal instrument of execution.
"I have a score to settle with you, Knight." Snefru smiled a cold grin, and with a single movement sent the sharpened stake flying like an oversized arrow at Sascha. "And I shall enjoy the settling."
Snefru ditches her disguise and activates Horrific Appearance. Uses Telekinesis to throw a stake at Sascha for 41 damage.
Black Spell - Blacklight: an area of total darkness. The darkness is impenetrable to normal vision and darkvision, but you can see normally within the blacklit area. Creatures outside the spell’s area, even you, cannot see through it.
Purple Spell - Black Tentacles: It's in the SRD. http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/blackTentacles.htm
Green Music - Inspire Courage: +2 morale bonus to saving throws vs. charm and/or fear, to attack rolls, and to damage rolls
Red Aura - Aura of Despair: If you enter the aura, make a DC 24 Will Save or take a -4 penalty to attacks, saves, skills, and ability checks. This is removed if you leave the aura. If you make your save, you cannot be affected by that ghost's aura for the next 24 hours. If you fail yoru save and leave the area, you are no longer affected, but are affected again if you enter the aura. [This is my reading of the rules, but if you can find something that explains how these auras work otherwise, I'm all for it]
Blue Aura - Horrific Appearance: You guys have all gone through this already.
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[Buff Suite: Recitation (+2 Luck to AC, Attack, Saves), Mass Aid (+1 Morale to Attack, +9 Temp HP), Mass Align Weapon (Good), Mass Conviction (+3 Morale to Saves), Mass Bear's Endurance (+4 to Con)]
PCs:
A - Andre Theroux: 79/35 Buff Suite, Amulet of Tears
L - Lia Mournswaithe: 77/46 Buff Suite, Shield, See Invisibility, Greater Mage Armor, Superior Resistance,
T - Tomas Eisenwald: 49/107 Buff Suite, Divine Favor, Eagle's Splendor, Protection from Evil
K - Kuzan: 97/89 Buff Suite, Blur (20% Miss), Hide from Undead (DC 17), Ebon Eyes (See through Darkness), Call Lightning, Fly, Greater Resistance, Protection from Evil
S - Sascha Dzemianovitch: 14/101 Buff Suite, Protection from Evil
C - Charles Martel: 63/63, Blur
O - Otto Schultheiss: 62/62 Bite of the Werewolf, Blur
Expedition NPCs:
D - Dieter Haulfstead: 80/60 HP, Buff Suite,
C - Thomas Carter: 31/59 HP
Mr - Sebastian Marchand-Renier: 33/33 HP
H - Edmund Harris: 146/115 HP, Buff Suite,
Sr - Sarari: 52/70 HP
Falkovnians:
V - Marcos Vedarrak: 21/87 HP, Shield, Greater Resistance, Contingent Energy Resistance (Electricity), Resist Energy (Fire), Greater Mage Armor, Greater Magic Weapon
L - Lebrecht Schiffer: 81/81 HP
N - Niklas: 51/51 HP
Lu - Luther: 51/51 HP
Cavendish and Company
Portrait - Cavendish: -1 HP, Deafened, True Seeing, Armor of Darkness
Big C - Chesterton: Cat-Form
Big S - Schrodinger: Cat-Form, -54 HP
L - Lebendtod 1: -58 HP, DEAD
L - Lebendtod 2: -51 HP, DEAD
L - Lebendtod 3: -56 HP, DEAD
L - Lebendtod 4: -53 HP, DEAD
Osirans and Mob
K - Khait:
Akiri Assassin/Lebendtod 5:
Akiri Assassin/Lebendtod 6: -7 HP
B - Badri: -37 HP
Akiri Rioter 1:
Akiri Rioter 2:
Akiri Rioter 3:
S - Snefru:
]