Under The Eclipse: Updated May 19th!

[Zubkavich]

Here's the stats for Karen's "escort":

Mr. Melt (Tough Hero 3): HP 36; Mas 17; Init +0; Spd 30ft.; Defense 12; touch 12, flat-footed 12; BAB +2; Grap +0; Atk +3 melee (1D4 +3 lethal, martial arts strike), +3 melee (1D6+3, unarmed strike); SV Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +0; AP 6; Rep +1; Str 16, Dex 11, Con 17, Int 11, Wis 9, Cha 10.
Occupation: Criminal (bonus class skills: Disable Device, Knowledge [streetwise])
Skills: Disable Device +4, Drive +8, Intimidate +6, Knowledge [streetwise] +2
Feats: Brawl, Combat Martial Arts, Drive-By Attack, Vehicle Expert
Talents: Damage Reduction 1/-, Remain Conscious
Possessions: portable screwdriver, cell phone, multipurpose tool, pen sized flashlight and personal possessions.
Vehicle: Mid-Sized Sedan class vehicle


Conroy (Strong Hero 1, Fast Hero 1, Dedicated Hero 1): HP 22; Mas 15; Init +2; Spd 30ft.; Defense 17; touch 17, flat-footed 15; BAB +1; Grap +0; Atk +1 melee (1D4 +1 lethal, martial arts strike), +2 ranged (2D6, Beretta 92F); SV Fort +2, Ref +1, Will +1; AP 6; Rep +1; Str 13, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 9.
Occupation: Criminal (bonus class skills: Hide, Knowledge [streetwise])
Skills: Balance +3, Climb +2, Hide +4, Investigative +3, Jump +2, Knowledge [streetwise] +9, Profession +5, Read/Write Italian, Sense Motive +3, Speak Italian, Spot +3, Swim +3, Tumble +5
Feats: Advanced Firearms Proficiency, Combat Martial Arts, Personal Firearms Proficiency, Quick Reload
Talents: Evasion, Extreme Effort, Skill Emphasis- Knowledge [streetwise]
Possessions: Beretta 92F pistol, binoculars, concealed holster, cell phone and personal possessions.


And now stats for Buzzard, the owner of the Pawn Shop:

Buzzard (Charismatic Ordinary 3, Dedicated Ordinary 1): HP 12; Mas 10; Init +1; Spd 30ft.; Defense 13; touch 13, flat-footed 12; BAB +1; Grap +0; SV Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +4; AP 0; Rep +6; Str 8, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 15.
Occupation: Criminal (bonus class skills: Forgery, Knowledge [streetwise])
Skills: Bluff +9, Craft [writing] +3, Diplomacy +10, Forgery +9, Gather Information +11, Knowledge [streetwise] +9, Knowledge [business] +8, Listen +5, Profession +9, Sense Motive +7, Spot +5
Feats: Personal Firearms Proficiency, Renown, Trustworthy, Windfall
Possessions: Owner of “Pawns, Rooks & Drag Queens”, a pawn shop, so he has a multitude of normal items at his disposal.

 

[Zubkavich]

Thank you for the feedback, all of you! I'm grateful that you've read and enjoyed what I've got posted so far. It's a real booster to visit Story Hour and see that people have checked out my campaign storyline.

 

[Broccli_Head]

Well Z.,

You've got another Dedicated Hero..err I mean Fan.

Must be fun to throw all those NPCs at your player. They are very unique!

Looking forward to more of Karen's adventures!

 

[Zubkavich]

Session Three: Follow The Bugs

Waiting for Mr. Melt to take a washroom break, Karen quickly flips the lid of the Snapdragon Box and grabs the note inside before he returns. Getting a chance to read it later, she finds the following written in the same flowing script as before:


Greetings,

I hope this letter finds you well. I am not sure when this will reach you; the sooner, the better. Time may be passing here faster than where you are. No matter.

You should have a book somewhere in your possession. It may seem to be quite an odd tome, but do not be discouraged. The method of translating and securing it makes it hard to disseminate, but it must be done this way.

You must know however, that by accepting this you take on a measure of risk. Keep yourself safe.

Miller


Pulling out a pen, she surreptitiously writes another letter back to Miller and slips it into the box while Melt is busy writing a grocery list:


Are you M. Coralsmythe the author? Did Sedrick tell you about me? Did you help him to read the book? How am I supposed to make sense of random words on a page? What do you mean about “time may be passing here faster”? I seem to get your letters once a day, if that helps you.

What kind of risk? Strange hooded guys with claws trying to kill me type of risk?

Karen


Heading out to get groceries with Mr. Melt, Karen and her escort discuss what the “family” means to them and how they became involved in their criminal lifestyle. Melt seems offended being referred to as just a “leg breaker” and they poke fun at each other’s specialties.

While on their way, they both keep carefully checking their surroundings, wary of another assault. While analyzing the environment around her, Karen picks up on something very subtle and odd, without even knowing why. The ants and other bugs on the sidewalk seem to be moving in a distinct direction. They’re not randomly crawling around, they’re all headed southwards towards “something”. No one else seems to notice, and Karen tries not to become distracted by it while keeping up her conversation with Melt. Her curiosity is definitely piqued, but she’s hesitant to explain it to him.

After picking up groceries and dropping them off at the apartment, Karen bugs Melt to go for another walk. He doesn’t want to push their luck by heading out again, but she complains about being cooped up enough that he finally relents. Unbeknownst to him, Karen takes them on the same route that she noticed the bugs going.

Their walk takes them down to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Karen scopes around the building and can see that the bugs are definitely converging on the museum. Mr. Melt is quite confused with Karen’s behavior, but tries to keep his eyes peeled for anyone who may be following them.

Entering the museum, they notice that there’s a large Egyptian Mythological Art exhibit that’s recently opened. Melt jokes about Egyptian curses, while Karen is intent on seeing what’s gathering the bugs around the building, even if no one else has noticed anything strange.

When Melt goes for a bathroom break, Karen scans the museum’s patrons, looking for anything out of the ordinary. A Japanese tour group is headed through the exhibit and one of the individuals seems to be wearing a strange hat that has a mosquito netting-type material hanging down in front of his face. She tries to get a better look at the man, but doesn’t want it to be obvious that she’s staring. Just as she thinks she might be able to see more, she hears a loud crash come from the men’s washroom. Becoming alarmed, she decides to check it out.

Upon opening the door, she’s confronted with quite the sight. Mr. Melt is struggling with the hooded figure as they batter each other off of the urinals and sinks in the washroom. Melt looks winded though and has a massive welt on his forehead from where he’s been struck. Attacking the hooded figure from behind, Karen brings her leg up in an arching kick. When she strikes him, the man barely budges and her foot feels like it’s hit a brick wall. As it continues to batter Melt, Karen pulls back its hood and finally sees what’s underneath.

A patchwork of flesh and muscle greet her eyes as she stares at the thing in horror. The man is a piecemeal body, with grayish-green skin, stitching and strange seams running all over its body. The thing turns towards her, but doesn’t attack. It first carefully lifts the hood back over its face, then stiffly reaches out to grab her with its clawed hands. Shaking off the blows he’s taken, Melt pounds at the thing, trying to bring it down. It seems like things can’t possibly get any stranger, when someone else enters the washroom.

Karen can see out of the corner of her eye as the Japanese man with the strange hat casually opens the door and stands, momentarily watching the battle play out before him. Then he opens his mouth wide, wide like an anaconda, distending grotesquely into a gaping maw. From inside that hole comes the sound of fluttering wings and a dozen or more black misty birds pour forth, filling the room with chaos. The hooded figure bellows an echoing inhuman roar and tries to escape as the birds surround it, tearing at its flesh and eyes. The figure stumbles towards the nearest wall and smashes at the bricks, desperate to escape the birds’ onslaught. In the midst of the melee, Melt picks up Karen and they rush to the hallway. As the door swings closed behind them, Karen takes a quick glance back and notices that the birds aren’t reflected in the mirror.

While the museum security surrounds the washroom area and the police are called in, Karen and Melt slip out an emergency exit, trying their best to stay out of sight.

Catching their breath, Melt and Karen have more questions than answers. What kind of freak is this man they’ve been fighting? How does he know where they’re going? Karen asks Melt about the birds and the Japanese man, but Melt says that he didn’t see anything odd, only that the man stood and watched while they fought. Melt assumes that the hooded figure ran because of “whatever bad drugs trip he’s on” and Karen lets the subject drop, realizing she’d have a hard time convincing him of what she saw.

Trying to calm down back at Karen’s apartment, they both agree that they won’t be taking any more unplanned walks. Conroy phones a few hours later and lets them know that he’s coming to pick them up in the morning so that all three can meet Claudio at the airport. Regina’s funeral is in two days and Claudio wants to take stock of the things that have happened in his absence.

Exhausted, Karen quickly checks the Snapdragon Box before going to bed. Finding another note, she sighs and opens it up:


Greetings,

I hope this letter finds you well. My full name is Miller Smythe. I am from the land of Coral. These letters must traverse time and space, so I don’t know when or where you are receiving them.

I am a sage of sorts who is trying to stop a great evil. It is attempting to leave our land and enter yours. The fact that you can communicate with me bodes well for our efforts. The book finding its way to you so soon is also excellent. I had no idea how it would come into your possession, only that it would do so eventually.

Stay strong,
Miller


Tired and irritated at the lack of answers, Karen scrawls him a hasty note before falling asleep:


Coral? Where’s Coral? Are you in the States? Travel time and space? This is damn weird. Assuming I believe all this, what kind of evil are you talking about? So you did write the book then? I still can’t read it. I just got attacked by a guy with a stitched on face while some Asian guy spit out shadowy cloud birds. If this is your doing, I don’t want anything to do with your damn book!

Karen


That night, Karen has an unexplainable dream. She recalls her encounter with Regina perfectly, but the sounds and voices are totally changed. When Regina’s mouth opens, she’s saying completely different things and advising Karen about the events that have happened in the last few days. Karen can respond, but only when her mouth was open in the original conversation, creating strange and jarring sentences. Regina tells her to stay calm and to ask Claudio to introduce her to an Eskimo man named Onan Aalak. Regina says that Onan can see the supernatural just as Karen sees it, and can help her to understand it better.

Waking up feeling a bit better, she and Melt get themselves cleaned up and presentable to meet up with Claudio. The old mob boss is quite concerned about the “drug crazed killer” after Karen, and promises her that he’ll be rubbed out as soon as they find him. The museum attack made local news, but the only person in custody seems to be the Japanese man. Karen can’t understand how a figure as conspicuous as the stitched-skin man could escape.

Staying at Claudio’s estate for the night, Karen tries to relax a bit and enjoy the spacious surroundings. After an extravagant dinner, Conroy takes her for a quick drive to Buzzard’s to finally pawn the loot from her break-in from a few days before. While there, he also pawns some jewelry and makes her promise not to tell anyone about it. She asks him where he got the jewelry and what the money is for, but all he’ll say is that he’s having “financial difficulties”.

The funeral the next day is a somber affair. Karen notices that there are a lot more people attending then she had anticipated. All sorts of people young and old who had come to the old Italian woman for advice. The wake at Claudio’s afterwards is filled with various members of the mob, many of whom seem to be there more for free food then to remember the woman that they just saw buried. Heading to the patio out back, Karen watches the sunset over the water. As she’s about to head back inside, one of the guests steps out on the patio. It’s the Japanese man from the museum.

“Hello Karen, my name is Setakawa Kasuna. Do you have a few moments to speak with me?”

 

[Zubkavich]

Nether Falcon (Undead)
Semi-solid ghosts of birds that are seemingly made of shadow and smoke, they gather in groups of six or more, swarming their prey with sharp claws and piercing beaks. Although hard to tell for certain because of their shifting forms, their bodies measure just under a foot long with wingspans of 5 feet or less.

Species Traits
Skill Bonus: Nether Falcons gain +6 species bonus on Spot checks at night. As nether creatures, they gain a +4 to Move Silently and Hide checks. At night, their darkened forms are even harder to see, granting them an additional +4 to Hide.
Bonus Feat: Nether Falcons gain the bonus feat Weapon Finesse (claw).
Improved Grab (Ex): As per the ability described on page 9 of the D&D Monster Manual.
Damage Reduction: A nether creature’s shadowy essence is resistant to attacks, giving the creature damage reduction 4/-.
Shadowy Form (Ex): A nether creature’s indistinct and shadowy form makes it difficult to determine where its body actually is. Any melee or ranged attack directed at it has a 20% miss chance.

Nether Falcon: CR2; Tiny Animal; HD 1d8; hp 4; Mas 10; Init +3; Spd 10ft., fly 60ft. (average); Defense 17, touch 15, flat-footed 14 (+2 size, +3 Dex, +2 natural); BAB +0; Grap –10; Atk +5 melee (1d4, claw); Full Atk +5 melee (1d4+1 beak);FS 2.5 ft. by 2.5 ft.; Reach 0ft.; AL none or owner; SV Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +3; AP 0; Rep +0; Str 6, Dex 17, Con -, Int 3, Wis 14, Cha 6.
Skills: Hide+7 (+11 at night), Listen +6, Move Silently+ 7, Spot +6 (+12 at night).
Feats: Weapon Finesse (claw).
Advancement: None.

 

[Broccli_Head]

Another rousing session.

I love mysteries and your story has my curiosity piqued. I wanna know just what Karen wants to know!

Hopefully you won't keep us waiting toooo long.

 

[Zubkavich]

Session Four: Eyes Like Fire

Obviously taken aback by Setakawa’s arrival, Karen tries to maintain her cool while he explains what has brought him to her. He is a Japanese man who has taken on the honorable duty of guarding his ancestors' spirits. The eldritch power that the ancestors wielded in the past still exists and he keeps it safe and in check. He has traveled to New York to seek the source of a great imbalance that the spirits have felt. When he saw the hooded man, he could sense that it was connected to the imbalance and he lashed out at it with the might of his ancestors' magic. Knowing that very few people can see his power at work, he realized that Karen was not just an average girl.

Setakawa tells Karen that he needs her help. The forces that he’s up against are invisible to normal people. Anyone who can see what he sees is a valuable asset. Karen is intrigued, but quite worried as well. She can’t just ditch her mob escort and running off to find whatever evil this man’s talking about doesn’t sound like a very safe option. She promises to contact him in the next day or two. He agrees and quickly leaves.

After the wake winds down, Karen talks with Conroy about the gang information he’s been trying to find. Conroy can’t understand why his street contacts haven’t been able to dig anything up on Karen’s stitch-faced attacker. The only news he's come across is word of a large shipment of the drug called Viperous being brought in to Manhattan some time in the next two nights. The dealer involved is an urban legend of the streets called “Nicholas Click”. According to what Conroy’s heard, Nicholas is a mystery man, with no photographs of him ever being found. He communicates by cel phone via a series of clicking and popping noises; a complex code so that police and FBI can’t tell what’s being communicated to his flunkies.

When Karen mentions Onan Aalak’s name to Claudio, he tells her that Onan is a young financial planner who helps him out with some of his investments. She asks him if she can meet with Onan, and Claudio arranges a lunch for the two of them to discuss her financial future. Karen makes sure that Claudio will be busy with other things so she can ask Onan about Regina and the supernatural. Feeling tired after another busy day, Karen crashes out in one of the guest rooms at Claudio’s estate.

Heading downtown for lunch the next day, she finally meets Onan. Although his Eskimo ancestry is apparent, he’s obviously a well off modern man, complete with suit and tie. Karen struggles to break the ice in talking about the bizarre things that have happened to her, not wanting to come as some sort of wacko. She tries to explain how she met Regina and was instructed to meet with him. He seems intrigued, if also a bit confused. When he drops hints about spirits and other things, Karen takes a risk and tells him everything she’s seen; the stitched-faced man, the nebulous birds, the letters and the strange book. Onan’s obviously blown away by all the information and struggles to make sense of it all. He decides to come clean with her; although he's a financial planner and businessman, he still carries on shaman traditions from his family, performing rituals and communicating with totems of the spirit realm. He’s felt a horrible sense of dread over the last few weeks and the worst tides of it seem to coincide with the events that have happened to Karen over the last couple of days. Speaking in hushed tones, he tells her that some kind of new force seems set to do battle with the traditional spirits. He has no idea what it is, but is afraid of the war that may be coming.

At that moment, Setakawa barges into the restaurant. His hands are bloody and he seems quite frantic. Trying to calm him down and keep the rest of the restaurant from becoming alarmed, Karen coaxes him for an explanation and tells him that Onan is as attuned to the situation as any of them. Setakawa tells her that one of his birds has found a source of great evil outside of New York. It’s heading towards the city and should be there some time that night. He needs her to come with him to investigate it. Karen asks Onan to come along as well. The young businessman doesn't know how to reply and is obviously quite afraid; he’s used to dealing with benign spirits, not physical evils. Karen needs a way to lose her mob escort, and feels that Onan may provide that “out”, along with adding support to their mission. When he asks her what kind of "out" she means, she smirks and says:

“We’ll just convince my bodyguard that over our lunch here I’ve become quite smitten with you and that we’ve got a hot dinner date set for tonight.”

Onan’s embarrassed beyond belief, but is unable to worm his way out of the situation. With the plan set, they agree to meet with Setakawa that night and scout out what is arriving in New York.

When Conroy takes Karen home, she pretends to swoon over her meeting with Onan and plays up her lust for him. Conroy’s equal parts disgusted and worried. He has no intention of leaving her unprotected and she doesn’t want an escort to ruin her “private time” with her dinner date. After arguing back and forth about it, Conroy grudgingly agrees to give her a bit of time alone. She’s got two hours with Onan for dinner, and not a minute more before Conroy comes to pick her up. Dropping her off, he parks his car and waits in the driveway. With the clock ticking, she runs inside, gathers Onan and Setakawa and they head off out the back door to find Setakawa’s bird and the source of the spiritual distress.

Setakawa’s innate connection to his bird leads them to an empty parking garage in the eastern end of Manhattan. Sneaking around the cement supports in the dark, they come across a strange gathering. Several men armed with machineguns are guarding a van full of boxes. As they watch, a shiny Porsche arrives driven by a man unlike anything they’ve ever seen.

Standing about 6 feet tall, the man has gray skin and flickering reddish hair. He speaks with a hissing, almost steam-like hush to his voice, and slight puffs of smoke roll off his tongue as he punctuates his sentences. The clicks of sparks and fire seem to fill any silence in his speech. His eyes dart back and forth, hot and piercing. The other men seem quite afraid of him, giving him wide berth as he berates them for their lack of focus and slow delivery. As the men load the boxes into the Porsche, the fiery man brags:

“If Lord Hizerath want an army, I’ll make sure he gets one. Every vagrant on the streets will serve our cause once more arrives from the portals, make no mistake about that. Nealcatus will take care of everything.”

With that, Nicholas Click drives off into the night, leaving the parking garage in tense silence. After Karen picks the lock to the staff entrance, the trio sneak out of the parking garage and head out onto the street. Just as they’re about to head back to Onan’s and meet up with Conroy, Karen notices something very, very wrong. Conroy’s car is sitting across the street from the parking garage. Even worse, he’s not in it...

 

[Broccli_Head]

Bad Mr Z. leaving cliffhangers like that!

can't wait until the next one!

 

[fenzer]

Great Stuff Jim! I am on the edge of my seat. Please post soon.

 

[Zarthon]

Cool story, Keep it up