Hewligan's Rise of the Runelords: The Skinsaw Murders
- Thread starter hewligan
- Start date
Rhun
First Post
"Lead on then, mighty Jokad," says Danth, drawing Crimson Dawn in preparation for whatever lies ahead. "But be ready. Our foe is no doubt evil, and possibly has arcane or divine magics at its disposal. Whoever dwells within that place may well know that we are coming, despite our swift victory over its ghoulish minions."
Fenris
Adventurer
"Uh, no. Why don't we let me "knock" on the door and see if we can't maintain any surprise we may have. Let's head to the right and see if they left the key under the mat" says Jovik with a wink.
Jokad silently shrugs then nods his head toward the house. "After you," he says with a mock bow.
hewligan
First Post
OOC: Apologies all - I am on some training at the moment for a week and a half with no internet access, and very little free time, so there is the possibility of a few delays (like this one!)
You all move forward towards the ruined outbuilding where you wait. It’s impossible to tell how many floors the outbuilding that stood here once had, for all that remains are the crumbling stones of its foundation. The stones still bear scorches and cracks from the fire that destroyed the building long ago. To the east, a four-foot-wide stone well sits, partially collapsed, in the corner of the ruins.
As you approach the building a few sickly looking ravens are perched atop the foundation stones; they fly clumsily away once approached.
While the rest of you await, Jovik moves forward silently towards the entrances. He stops momentarily at the first set of doors, inspects the lock, moves to the second, does the same, takes a quick look around the windows, and then returns to inform you of what he has found.
The first door (on the right) appears to be the main entrance. The left hand door looks more like a servants entrance. Both are locked, but in both cases, the doors are locked (they can be opened with a DC 30 Open Lock check - make the roll if desired). Numerous windows could provide entrance into the manor as well; the unbroken, grime-encrusted panes of glass in their frames speak not only of the Foxglove family’s wealth in being able to afford such an extravagance, but also of the manor’s notorious reputation—no vandals have dared break them. The windows themselves are curtained from the inside, but it would clearly be a relatively simple matter to break most of them and climb into the room beyond. Clambering up onto an upper story or the roof is also a possibility (although this would require a DC 20 Climb check - there are numerous handholds, but of those, many appear rotten).
OOC: Decisions and rolls from Jovik et. al.
You all move forward towards the ruined outbuilding where you wait. It’s impossible to tell how many floors the outbuilding that stood here once had, for all that remains are the crumbling stones of its foundation. The stones still bear scorches and cracks from the fire that destroyed the building long ago. To the east, a four-foot-wide stone well sits, partially collapsed, in the corner of the ruins.
As you approach the building a few sickly looking ravens are perched atop the foundation stones; they fly clumsily away once approached.
While the rest of you await, Jovik moves forward silently towards the entrances. He stops momentarily at the first set of doors, inspects the lock, moves to the second, does the same, takes a quick look around the windows, and then returns to inform you of what he has found.
The first door (on the right) appears to be the main entrance. The left hand door looks more like a servants entrance. Both are locked, but in both cases, the doors are locked (they can be opened with a DC 30 Open Lock check - make the roll if desired). Numerous windows could provide entrance into the manor as well; the unbroken, grime-encrusted panes of glass in their frames speak not only of the Foxglove family’s wealth in being able to afford such an extravagance, but also of the manor’s notorious reputation—no vandals have dared break them. The windows themselves are curtained from the inside, but it would clearly be a relatively simple matter to break most of them and climb into the room beyond. Clambering up onto an upper story or the roof is also a possibility (although this would require a DC 20 Climb check - there are numerous handholds, but of those, many appear rotten).
OOC: Decisions and rolls from Jovik et. al.
Fenris
Adventurer
Jovik heads over to the main entrance and listens carefully for any signs of movement of detection before carefully working at the lock.
[sblock]
Jovik Listen (1d20+5=7)
Take 20 on the lock, 20+12=32
[/sblock]
[sblock]
Jovik Listen (1d20+5=7)
Take 20 on the lock, 20+12=32
[/sblock]
hewligan
First Post
Entering the Misgivings
Jovik gets to work at the lock on the main entrance. The lock is an expensive one, the sort that only noble families can afford, and although the lock has rusted a little, this just makes it a harder pick. He knows he is in danger of damaging the mechanism if he isn't careful, calm, patient.
He pulls out his tools and gets to work.
Behind him he can feel the unease of his companions crowded around him on the stairs. He focuses on his work, they can just wait.
Five minutes or so pass. He can hear Jokad huff. He even catches the normally calm Mal shifting nervously. Is it just the brooding ancient house that is making them uneasy.
"Hurry!" he hears Jokad mutter.
Jovik feels the lock click, the final tumbler moving into place. He smiles to himself at the timing, and turns the handle of the door, standing up and pushing the door gently open with a sweeping motion, as if to signal Jokad inside with a flourish. He is about to offer some pithy remark, but as he turns to observe his companions he sees the large, and growing, flock of black birds that one by one drop from the sky to perch atop the ruined outhouse, the side of the well, and on the ground between them and the outhouse.
There must be hundreds. Perhaps even a thousand. One by one the swarm of birds grows, each one that lands seems to land that little bit closer.
"Okay" is all that Jovik offers, his voice quiet. That is all that is needed. The party move inside silently, closing the door behind themselves as they do so. They offer each other concerned looks, as they turn to observe their surroundings.
The sound of the house straining and creaking gives this long, high-ceilinged room an additional sense of age and decay. The place smells damp, the unpleasant tinge of mold lacing the air as surely as it stains the wooden floor, walls, and furniture in pallid patches. A curving flight of stairs to the south winds up to the upper floor, while a pair of large stone fireplaces brood to the north and south. Heavy dark-blue curtains hang over the windows, and the frames above each of the two doors are carved with dancing gargoyles and skeletons.
Trophies hang on the wall to the northeast: a boar, a bear, a firepelt cougar, and a stag, their glassy eyes staring from fur crusted with mold and cobwebs, yet they pale in comparison to the monster on display in the center of the room. Here crouches a twelve-foot-long creature with the body of a lion, a scorpion’s tail fitted with dozens of razor barbs, huge bat-like wings, and a deformed humanoid face.
The stuffed beast’s poorly maintained fur has fallen away in places, allowing the sawdust filling it to sift out into tiny mounds on the platform below.
Kael feels something prickling on his skin. (OOC: failed your spot check). The place feels tight, hot, burning hot. His skin feels almost like it is facing a fire. Then he sees the threadbare statue of the strange monster start to shift, he thinks it is a manticore, if his memory serves him well. Kael freezes for a moment waiting for his friends to recognise the movement.
"LOOK!" he croaks, the shout dying in his throat.
The thing is burning. The heat emanating from it is immense. And then it lunges forward, leaping from its platform, smoke and embers trailing in its wake. Its giant scorpion tail lashes forward at him, the entire thing ablaze.
Kael screams involuntarily, taken by surprise that this thing has suddenly sprung to life. He is vaguely aware of his friends turning slowly to look at him. His eyes are wide in fear, theirs are not.
Smash! The burning tip of the tail lances into his chest. He gasps, falls back, clutching at himself, as flames lick at his wound. He feels his blood spurting out of him. He collapses, looking up at the giant monster, and then ... IT IS GONE.
OOC: Touch attach for 16hp damage
Kael knows he is at the edge of consciousness (1hp left), but it is not the fear, or the pain, that grabs him, it is the confusion. The thing is still standing exactly where it was before, looking as threadbare and mould-ridden as a few moments before. The heat is gone now, and all that is left is the cold pain in his chest.
Nobody else saw a thing, except for the sudden spurt of blood lancing forth from Kael's chest.
OOC: I will post a map later (I just need to create the fog of war effect), but in the meantime could someone (first to respond is fine) roll a listen check. Also, any other rolls (if you want to do anything else) are fine. Kael is obviously very hurt. Please roleplay any healing (and make any rolls), as well as your discussions between one another.
Jovik gets to work at the lock on the main entrance. The lock is an expensive one, the sort that only noble families can afford, and although the lock has rusted a little, this just makes it a harder pick. He knows he is in danger of damaging the mechanism if he isn't careful, calm, patient.
He pulls out his tools and gets to work.
Behind him he can feel the unease of his companions crowded around him on the stairs. He focuses on his work, they can just wait.
Five minutes or so pass. He can hear Jokad huff. He even catches the normally calm Mal shifting nervously. Is it just the brooding ancient house that is making them uneasy.
"Hurry!" he hears Jokad mutter.
Jovik feels the lock click, the final tumbler moving into place. He smiles to himself at the timing, and turns the handle of the door, standing up and pushing the door gently open with a sweeping motion, as if to signal Jokad inside with a flourish. He is about to offer some pithy remark, but as he turns to observe his companions he sees the large, and growing, flock of black birds that one by one drop from the sky to perch atop the ruined outhouse, the side of the well, and on the ground between them and the outhouse.
There must be hundreds. Perhaps even a thousand. One by one the swarm of birds grows, each one that lands seems to land that little bit closer.
"Okay" is all that Jovik offers, his voice quiet. That is all that is needed. The party move inside silently, closing the door behind themselves as they do so. They offer each other concerned looks, as they turn to observe their surroundings.
The sound of the house straining and creaking gives this long, high-ceilinged room an additional sense of age and decay. The place smells damp, the unpleasant tinge of mold lacing the air as surely as it stains the wooden floor, walls, and furniture in pallid patches. A curving flight of stairs to the south winds up to the upper floor, while a pair of large stone fireplaces brood to the north and south. Heavy dark-blue curtains hang over the windows, and the frames above each of the two doors are carved with dancing gargoyles and skeletons.
Trophies hang on the wall to the northeast: a boar, a bear, a firepelt cougar, and a stag, their glassy eyes staring from fur crusted with mold and cobwebs, yet they pale in comparison to the monster on display in the center of the room. Here crouches a twelve-foot-long creature with the body of a lion, a scorpion’s tail fitted with dozens of razor barbs, huge bat-like wings, and a deformed humanoid face.
The stuffed beast’s poorly maintained fur has fallen away in places, allowing the sawdust filling it to sift out into tiny mounds on the platform below.
Kael feels something prickling on his skin. (OOC: failed your spot check). The place feels tight, hot, burning hot. His skin feels almost like it is facing a fire. Then he sees the threadbare statue of the strange monster start to shift, he thinks it is a manticore, if his memory serves him well. Kael freezes for a moment waiting for his friends to recognise the movement.
"LOOK!" he croaks, the shout dying in his throat.
The thing is burning. The heat emanating from it is immense. And then it lunges forward, leaping from its platform, smoke and embers trailing in its wake. Its giant scorpion tail lashes forward at him, the entire thing ablaze.
Kael screams involuntarily, taken by surprise that this thing has suddenly sprung to life. He is vaguely aware of his friends turning slowly to look at him. His eyes are wide in fear, theirs are not.
Smash! The burning tip of the tail lances into his chest. He gasps, falls back, clutching at himself, as flames lick at his wound. He feels his blood spurting out of him. He collapses, looking up at the giant monster, and then ... IT IS GONE.
OOC: Touch attach for 16hp damage
Kael knows he is at the edge of consciousness (1hp left), but it is not the fear, or the pain, that grabs him, it is the confusion. The thing is still standing exactly where it was before, looking as threadbare and mould-ridden as a few moments before. The heat is gone now, and all that is left is the cold pain in his chest.
Nobody else saw a thing, except for the sudden spurt of blood lancing forth from Kael's chest.
OOC: I will post a map later (I just need to create the fog of war effect), but in the meantime could someone (first to respond is fine) roll a listen check. Also, any other rolls (if you want to do anything else) are fine. Kael is obviously very hurt. Please roleplay any healing (and make any rolls), as well as your discussions between one another.
Friadoc
Explorer
Mal rushes to Kael's side, as the sorcerer staggers back violently, the phantom impact shook him that harshly, as he is driven to one knee. Quickly his hand moves up to the very real wound left in his chest, as if he is trying to hold his life's blood inside, his eyes seek out his companions and the confusion is there with the pain.
"Something is very wrong here," says Kael. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
OOC
I didn't make the listen check, as I felt Kael would be a smidge preoccupied.
"Something is very wrong here," says Kael. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
OOC
I didn't make the listen check, as I felt Kael would be a smidge preoccupied.
Fenris
Adventurer
Jovik Listen (1d20+5=20)
Jovik whips out both daggers and stares around in confusion, trying to figure out what happened and how blood appeared on Kael. He knows Danth can heal him, but Jovik keeps his eyes peeled for a trap, sniper or some source of the injury to Kael.
Jovik whips out both daggers and stares around in confusion, trying to figure out what happened and how blood appeared on Kael. He knows Danth can heal him, but Jovik keeps his eyes peeled for a trap, sniper or some source of the injury to Kael.
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