iantruesilver

The Church Square A brief awkward moment ensued as Zoya took to the opposite balcony and began to tear down the Iomedaean priestess with some harsh but well-targeted jokes, and even the initially scant disapproving boos and venomous glares from the crowd are eventually turned at least into light chuckles. Bertram's more intellectual jeering seems less positively received, but nonetheless manages to silence some gossipers and mutterings around him. Determined not to be undone, the priestess cuts back in, "Today, I bear a missive from champions of Iomedae’s faith, heralds of the goddess’s will, who know your troubles and would see them end." With that, Allamar gestures to her twin sons, Loran and Lacall, who carry forth a box swaddled in white linen between them and place it on the table in front of the church. Silas Only The lovely half-elf Claudia nuzzles up against your arm once again, leaning in to whisper something potentially devious into your ear. "Whenever you want to put an end to this thing is fine with me."

Combat — Round 1 Initiative Order PCs: ? Enemies: 5 Brucilde Only In one of the dried blood smears, you notice something scribbled. You can barely make out what it says. "… slights… repai…en fold." As much as you try though, you can't imagine that this thing would actually have any actual summoning or ritualistic purpose beyond perhaps some misguided and unfortunate form of torture. As each member of your impromptu rescue party begin to find little signs of perhaps chicanery or at least something not quite right, the situation continues to develop… Gareth Only Faster than you can catch it, one of the children inside the cage snatches the lock through the bars, lifting it from the latch. You barely manage to step back from the wooden gate before he managed to slam the corner of it out at your gut, missing you by a literal hairs width. Daergrim and Nera Only Before your eyes, the section of wall you suspect to be a secret door opens, nearly catching you off guard. Two hooded figures spill out from a previously unseen secret door in the southern section of wall. At the same time, the four children come scampering out of their respective cages, with the girl you had followed saying, "Get'em!" (( Roll initiatives and immediately take Round 1 actions! ))

Black Hill Caves — Glowing Cavern / Strange Machines "Beep, Bip, Boop, Baleewaleeiee..." As Violet once again rehashes the strings of beeps and boops in her merrily oblivious manner, Val fishes one of the with a brown stripe out of her bag and hands it to T'Sarra. "We may as well keep these on our persons." She starts handing the rest of the stack out to the group, a total of five cards being distributed. The only person who doesn't get one for now is the android. "You're just gonna have to stay with me until we can find you one, Violet." With that done, T'Sarra disappears back into the illusory rock wall. T'Sarra Only You time your approach between the zaps, and rush over to the opposite wall to tap your card against the little panel. Almost immediately, a slight whooshing sound indicates the opening of the door, revealing a corridor beyond with the same metallic walls and floors as you've already been somewhat used before.

Abandoned Warehouse "My dad calls me Natali." Comes the response from upstairs. Daergrim and Nera Only The way some of the stones are laid, in addition to the small gaps between some of them betray the fact that there is a hidden door here. Iolana Only With a little difficulty, you determine that whatever had made these smears on the floor, indeed is blood. Gareth Only As you go check the lock on the cage, you suddenly realize that it's not actually even locked. Brucilde and Teza Only You're not sure how you could've missed this, but you just now realized that one of those faint magical auras is coming off of the girl. The others are coming closer. But how? There's nothing but wall toward the south. The faint aura coming off the girl is an illusion, the other auras you can perceive now are a faint conjuration and a faint conjuration. There's something else there? Maybe? But you're not getting a pinpoint on it. "Cres! Who are all these people?" One child whispers with an anxious excitedness. The messenger child looks towards you, then back toward the others in the cage, "It's okay. They're here to help us."

The Church Square Cimri did a brief double take at Signy after the other girl suggested a desire to get be choked by the sheriff. An expression of mixed judging and disgust ensued immediately afterward, "You are one sick individual, you know that?" "When you're done here, meet me back at the office." Rhona Staelish says curtly to Bertram, their conversation cut short by the beginning of the priestess' speech. As the sheriff moves to take a position to observe the crowd, you can't help but think that the question she was asking was somehow leading. But what was she getting at? "We have all known hardships in our lives — needless sorrows, injustice, even cruelty. Indeed, such is the struggle of all who live." The priestess orates to her audience from atop the balcony, taking her time to set the tone and establish common ground, "But many among us have known more than our share. Many among us have shouldered burdens laid upon you not by the Inheritor, but by those who would curse her name and taunt her faithful."

Black Hill Caves — Glowing Cavern / Strange Machines T'Sarra Only As you enter through the illusory rock wall, you feel an immediate sense of unease, the room tingles with a static charge, the air smells slightly charred. There's a couple of spots on the wall and strange machinery that are blackened, the metal having taken on significant discolouration. But otherwise the room looks relatively similar to the one you came out of when you first entered the cavern leading into the desert landscape. On the far side there is another door, closed, along with a small panel on the wall like all of the other doors you've seen lately. The room itself is lit by bright panels in its ceiling. T'Sarra disappears through the illusory rock wall, and re-emerges shortly after.

Valeria's senses suddenly jumped at the sight of those ghouls. And just as quickly her shoulders slumped once more, groaning quietly, "Ugnh… do we have to?" Knowing what the answer will likely be, she stowed her skillet away and reached for her knife once again. Statistics Block [b][url=https://test.myth-weavers.com/sheets/?id=2736624][color="DarkOrange"]Valeria Claudianus[/color][/url][/b] [i]Human Fighter [Free Hand Fighter] 1 CG[/i] [b]Init[/b] +1; [b]Senses[/b] Perception +2 [hr][/hr][highlight]Defense[/highlight] [hr][/hr][b]AC[/b] 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (Armour +4, Dex +1) [b]HP[/b] 9 / 13 [b]Fort[/b] +4, [b]Ref[/b] +1, [b]Will[/b] +1 [hr][/hr][highlight]Offense[/highlight] [hr][/hr][b]Speed[/b] 30 ft. [b]Melee[/b] Short sword +5 (1d6+4; 19-20/×2) Iron Skillet +8 (1d6+4; ×2) Skewer +8 (1d6+4; ×2) Cutting Knife +8 (1d6+4; ×2) Torch +7 (1d4+4 plus 1 fire; ×2) [b]Ranged[/b] Skewer +5 (1d6+4; ×2) Cutting Knife +5 (1d6+4; ×2) [b]Special Attacks[/b] None [hr][/hr][highlight]Statistics[/highlight] [hr][/hr][b]Str[/b] 18, [b]Dex[/b] 12, [b]Con[/b] 15, [b]Int[/b] 13, [b]Wis[/b] 12, [b]Cha[/b] 7 [b]BAB[/b] +1; [b]CMB[/b] +5; [b]CMD[/b] 16 [b]Traits[/b] Rough and ready, Surprise weapon, World traveler [b]Feats[/b] Combat expertise, Catch off-guard, Shikigami style [b]Skills[/b] Craft (Alchemy) +5, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +5, Knowledge (Local) +6, Perception +2, Profession (Cook) +5, Survival +5 [b]Languages[/b] Common, Draconic [b]SQ[/b] None [hr][/hr][b]Conditions[/b] None Human Fighter [Free Hand Fighter] 1 CG Init +1; Senses Perception +2 Defense AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (Armour +4, Dex +1) HP 9 / 13 Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +1 Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee Short sword +5 (1d6+4; 19-20/×2) Iron Skillet +8 (1d6+4; ×2) Skewer +8 (1d6+4; ×2) Cutting Knife +8 (1d6+4; ×2) Torch +7 (1d4+4 plus 1 fire; ×2) Ranged Skewer +5 (1d6+4; ×2) Cutting Knife +5 (1d6+4; ×2) Special Attacks None Statistics Str 18, Dex 12, Con 15, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 7 BAB +1; CMB +5; CMD 16 Traits Rough and ready, Surprise weapon, World traveler Feats Combat expertise, Catch off-guard, Shikigami style Skills Craft (Alchemy) +5, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +5, Knowledge (Local) +6, Perception +2, Profession (Cook) +5, Survival +5 Languages Common, Draconic SQ None Conditions None Actions Sheathe iron skillet; draw cutting knife

Abandoned Warehouse "You got it." The woman didn't seem to be fond of using too many words. Still, she got her point across. Turning to face the door, she stood guard there quietly as suggested. One after another you climb down the ladder into the dim, somewhat dank basement of the small warehouse. Below, there's some more crates and barrels, but these look to bear indication of recent use, if only as improvised seats and low tables, judging from some empty tankards and a couple of candles scattered nearby, the latter long since burnt out. Moving to indicate a couple of cages, the child calls out to you, "Here! Here!" The sound of her approach rouses the caged children, one of them regarding her as he grips the bars from inside, "Cres!" Daergrim and Nera Only Something on the southern wall of this basement chamber looks off… As though some of the stone along a small length of the wall has some suspicious gaps or something…

The Pyre — Burial Chamber A continuous carving of mourners runs along the walls here, leading to a single torch flickering with a pale golden fire above a large stone coffin on the south side of the room. Four pillars support the chamber, two on each side. A single form rests beside the coffin, that of a comely woman in tattered clothing. She appears to be asleep or unconscious.

The Pyre — Circular Chamber Looking at the door and surrounding stone wall, Neskas does not see anything that might be out of place.

Abandoned Warehouse As the majority of you move into the warehouse, the child moves around behind a few stacked crates and down what looks to be a sturdy ladder. Looking below, you see the same wood plank floor and stone walls on the floor down, the place looks to be unlit.

The Church Square "Good idea." Cimri said to Zoya's suggestion. Just as she turned to find a new spot to observe the crowd, she was caught by Signy and her new pet mutt, already giving her a lip full. She was happy enough to forget about her aunt until the brawler brought her back up again, and the resulting frown told Signy enough before the rogue even spoke. "For all your yapping, I didn't see you trying to choke her out from behind." "So, been here all morning have we?" Rhona Staelish comes up to Bertram at the edge of the church square, keeping her attention partially on the crowd. Her tone of voice is the usual everyday cautious suspicion. Just then, there's a bit of increased commotion in the crowd, which is quickly replaced by a collective hush. Appearing on one of the church’s balconies is Tileavia Allamar, Fifth Sword Knight of Iomedae, dressed in the yellow-trimmed white cassock of her faith, who addresses the crowd in a clear, strong voice. "Friends and neighbors, I have wondrous tidings to share!"

Black Hill Caves — Glowing Tunnel Vri Only Search as you might, the surrounding area seems to be devoid of much else. This looks like the only cavern or tunnel nearby. Besides, the tracks in the sand clearly lead here, which means that if they were indeed left by Khonnir's expedition, then this would be the way they had come.

Abandoned Warehouse "They're downstairs. Hurry!" With that, the child moved inside, leaving the door hanging ajar behind her. Within, you see some stacked crates and barrels, cobwebbed from an unknown period of neglect. The faint smell of whiskey wafts from the air within.

The Church Square Zoya Only You realize, probably too late, that the sheriff had been asking some very pointed, leading questions to her niece. The raised an eyebrow ever so slightly at first to her niece's patronizing maieutics, but then turned for just a moment to address Silas' rhetoric. "Patriotism and blind idolatry are very different things, young man." "Anyway, I have to keep any eye on things around here. You all stay out of trouble, you hear?" She says, her eyes straying only briefly to scan the crowd once more before returning to Cimri as she seeks confirmation to her instructions. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever." Cimri rolls her eyes once more as she turns away from her aunt. (( Last chance to do anything you haven't done and still want to. ))