The Closed Eye (DM: Halford, Judge: garyh)

[Atriden]

Atreus exchanges glances with Tander and Woe, clearly stating that this doesn't make sense. When Palindrome returns forced by some spell, with a message from his master, the only thing he can muster is a shrug.
Palindrome is truely unpredictable in his childish ways but Atreus doesn't like the fact that Doddoddod has so much power over his apprentice and concludes that something is amiss. Nobody should have so much power over someone's will and for a split second Atreus feels sorry for the insane wizard.
Checking the prisoners are tied up securely one last time, he goes to check if Palindrome is still breathing and well. Atreus quickly learns that he is breathing and is almost repulsed by Palindrome's bad case of really foul breath.

" He seems to be alive "

Atreus now stands and is weighing the option if he should smack Palindrome to get him up or let him rest for awhile. He decides to let him be and enjoy the silence even though he was obviously tempted to finally get a chance to smack him without retaliation.

" Let's give him a moments peace " and he moves over to Arnest and the snake lady

 

[covaithe]

Round 10, continued

Tander slips towards death, but the gravehound's corruption falls away from his wounds. (first failed death save)

Atreus recovers.

Woe tries to stabilize Tander, but fails. He gets a potion ready, just in case.

Palindrome amuses himself with the prisoners. (this is the round where he ties Arnest up, I believe)

Round 11

Tander's condition takes a turn for the worse. His complexion takes on an ashen pallor. (second failed death save)

Atreus tries to help Woe, but his hands are still shaking from his own brush with death. (No time to bash Arnest yet; he's still conscious)

Woe quickly pours the potion down Tander's throat before the cleric can slip away. In his haste, a few drops of the potion spill onto his spear, which has come to rest against a heap of the red powder making up the ritual circle on the ground. There is a bright flash and a whiff of ozone as arcane energy sparks from between the spear, the drops of magical fluid, and the remains of the incomplete ritual. When the spots dancing in front of Woe's eyes clear, his spear has changed. The head now appears to be made of a translucent bluish material, and sparks flicker and arc continuously inside of it. A portion of the red diagram has burned away, leaving gray scorch marks on the floor. (it's now a +1 Myrdroon's shard spear)

End combat.

[sblock=status]

Tander 7/29, 2 failed death saves
Atreus 6/24, one failed death save
Woe 35/40
Palindrome 18/27, one failed death save

Resources used:
* Tander: 8/8 surges, channel divinity, beacon of hope, AP, Cure light wounds, divine glow, healing word x2, second wind
* Atreus: 7/7 surges, healing potion, positioning strike, AP, blinding barrage, second wind
* Palindrome: 7/7 surges, healing potion, Phantom Chasm, AP, grasping shadows, second wind
* Woe: Surge 8/11 surges, crushing surge, AP, steel serpent strike, healing potion
[/sblock]


[sblock=prisoners]I'm having a little trouble sorting out the order of events in which Palindrome and Atreus do things to the NPCs, and who stops who at what point. I think I'm detecting a consensus to leave them bound and unconscious, but otherwise undamaged, yes? If so, we can take it up there. If not, you can always mutilate them again later.[/sblock]

While Palindrome recovers from his abortive grand exit, you have time for a good look around the room. It is largely featureless and utilitarian, but there are a few nooks and crannies of interest.

On the altar are several small piles of ritual components arranged in a circle around the remains of a central larger pile that is nearly gone. The central pile is clearly the same as the powder on the floor. Next to the piles of powder is a dagger with a blade made of some smooth, black metal that exudes a faint charnel reek, like the corpse of the gravehound.

On the northern wall of the room is a bookshelf with a scattering of well-thumbed books on religious topics. At one end is a different sort of book, hand-written with many empty pages. Inside are detailed descriptions of several rituals.

[sblock=loot]Assuming you take at least a short rest -- you'd be crazy not to -- you can identify the dagger as a +1 Deathstalker dagger (AV p.67). The book is a ritual book containing descriptions of Eye of Alarm, Water Walk, and Secret Page. And of course this is the point where you'd identify Woe's spear.[/sblock]

 

[Atriden]

Atreus loots Arnest and The snake lady for any valuables, notes and goes over to the altar to pick up the dagger with much interest.
" I would like to make my claim to this dagger. Any objections? "
He starts to look around the room for hidden rooms, safes, important notes and such.
OOC
Hey covaithe, do you think I have earned enough exp. to level up?
Perception check:24

 

[Dunamin]

Drama

Pretty much simultaneously with Atreus, Woe simply shrugs.

“That was strangely and quite unsettlingly reminiscent of a number of ill-timed nightly escapades of mine.”

“It just starts out with the bimbo causing a fuss, then turns into hysteria, and eventually ends up with complete absence of emotional control. If Pal had put on a wig and started bleeding between his legs, the act would’ve been pretty spot on.”

" Let's give him a moments peace " and he moves over to Arnest and the snake lady

“Let’s give us a moment’s. Anyhow, I guess that’s one less to share the mansion with.”

There is a bright flash and a whiff of ozone as arcane energy sparks from between the spear, the drops of magical fluid, and the remains of the incomplete ritual. When the spots dancing in front of Woe's eyes clear, his spear has changed. The head now appears to be made of a translucent bluish material, and sparks flicker and arc continuously inside of it. A portion of the red diagram has burned away, leaving gray scorch marks on the floor. (it's now a +1 Myrdroon's shard spear)

“What’s this now? What did those pansy-chanters do to my Punani Penetrator?”

Woe walks back to collect his armament, sheathing the dagger and curiously picking up his reformed spear.

Sparks dance infrequently over the spear head, occasionally snaking down the shaft. There’s a slight tingle in Woe’s hand when he wields it and a smile of realization slowly spreads across his face.

The warrior weighs the enchanted weapon in his hand, feeling the improved balance. He takes a set of practice swings and thrusts, hearing a faint hum being emitted in concert.

At this point Woe is grinning ecstatically and the occasional arc of energy springs through the air. With a decisive lunge, he unleashes a stroke of lightning from the tip that knocks several books off the shelf... well outside Woe’s apparent reach.

“Best. Mansion. Ever!”

[sblock=By the Power of Greyskull!]ALRIGHT! Oh happy day!

That is the best piece of loot that could have fallen into Woe’s hand! Joy![/sblock]

 

[KenHood]

Still unconscious...

[sblock=Out of Character]

Reaction 2: unaligned? really?

Uhm...

Shadar-kai?

(Again, my universal argument for why you can do anything and still be unaligned. )

...and is almost repulsed by Palindrome's bad case of really foul breath.

No. He may dress like a bum, but he has very good hygiene. (I mean, c'mon, all he has to do is prestidigitate the bad breath away. It's not like he even has to brush and floss to have perfectly clean teeth.)

Of course, I could keep the bad breath, but later on I'm adding a description of how Palindrome is disgusted by Atreus's weeping cold sores...

Round 10, continued
Palindrome amuses himself with the prisoners. (this is the round where he ties Arnest up, I believe)

I think that happened back in Round 9, so we're up to hog-tying and gagging Arnest.

I'm having a little trouble sorting out the order of events in which Palindrome and Atreus do things to the NPCs, and who stops who at what point. I think I'm detecting a consensus to leave them bound and unconscious, but otherwise undamaged, yes?

Pretty much. Arnest has a broken finger, and probably cracked ribs after the kick. That should be it.

...several small piles of ritual components...

Are these recoverable?

The book is a ritual book containing descriptions of Eye of Alarm, Water Walk, and Secret Page.

Is that the souped-up version of Eye of Alarm?

“Best. Mansion. Ever!”

And you guys say my character is crazy? It's a three-bedroom house with ONE closet and a kitchen. By any definition, it is NOT a mansion.

ONE CLOSET!

How about we compromise? You guys get possession of the HOUSE and my character burns it down. See? Everyone gets what they want.

---

Finally, what is a Myrdroon's spear?[/sblock]

 

[covaithe]

[sblock=Atriden]

Hey covaithe, do you think I have earned enough exp. to level up?

Sorry, I went through and counted it up and you'd be around 750 xp total if I were to make an award now. Hold on, we'll get you there.
[/sblock]

 

[Atriden]

[sblock=OOC]
To Covaithe:
Thanks for checking up on it! Really looking forward to level 2.

To Kenhood:

No. He may dress like a bum, but he has very good hygiene. (I mean, c'mon, all he has to do is prestidigitate the bad breath away. It's not like he even has to brush and floss to have perfectly clean teeth.)
Of course, I could keep the bad breath, but later on I'm adding a description of how Palindrome is disgusted by Atreus's weeping cold sores...

I am sorry to hear that you feel offended. It was just a little joke. It's not like I am saying that he constanly has bad breath, just atm, like we all probably stink of sweat and blood.
Well, I can't see how you can compare cold sores with bad breath. Most people can easily get bad breath but not all can get cold sores.
Anyway, I wont do it again.

And you guys say my character is crazy? It's a three-bedroom house with ONE closet and a kitchen. By any definition, it is NOT a mansion.

ONE CLOSET!

How about we compromise? You guys get possession of the HOUSE and my character burns it down. See? Everyone gets what they want.

Let's wait and see what the two durtledoves have to say before we decide. Then we can decide as a group what we should do with the house.
[/sblock]

 

[KenHood]

[sblock=OOC: To Atriden]Thanks.[/sblock]

 

[KenHood]

"What the *****!" screams Palindrome, coming to consciousness.

He raises his left hand, looks upon it in horror, and squeals. He scrambles backwards trying to get as far away from his hand as possible.

A comical attempt, considering his hand is attached to his body.

He scoots across the floor, smashing against the wall. Then, he pushes himself along the wall, ending in the corner. He huddles in the fetal position, shivering and weeping. "I'll kill him. I'll kill him," he repeats over and over, between sobs.

After a while, he regains a measure of control, rubbing his face with his right hand, while keeping the left away from himself.

He pokes and prods the left hand with his wand, murmuring to himself about potential enchantments and their impossibility. He has a haunted, frantic look.

Still twitching, he looks up and notices that the other members of the party seem to have forgotten him in their zeal to loot the room. He smiles with animal cunning.

He crawls over to Arnest and sticks his finger in the wizard's ear, increasing the temperature to painful levels. As Arnest comes to awareness, Palindrome leans in and whispers, "Looks like my 'friends' are busy elsewhere and can't keep a 'watch' on me at the moment. I bet that I can stick my finger in your little girlfriend's ear and pop a magic missile into her brain before they even notice that I'm over here. I'd prefer to skin her alive, so you can listen to her screams, but I just don't have that much time available. You could always distract me with conversation, if you wish. But I must say that you must speak very interesting things indeed to divert my attention from your true love's murder."

OOC: Intimidate (1d20+4=5) -- And that's another natural '1'. What the hell?​

[sblock=Sigh...]When Arnest screams for help (or whatever he's about to do), Palindrome blows off the foot of the Snake Lady with a magic missile.[/sblock]

 

[Atriden]

"What the *****!"

screams Palindrome, coming to consciousness.

Atreus' search for hidden things is interrupted by Palindromes scream and in a flash turns to see what is happening with is new dagger in his hand. Watching Palindrome comical retreat from his own hand, he decides there is no real threat.
The rogue Is about to return to his objective when he notices Palindromes behaviour and stops for a moment to listen.

He scoots across the floor, smashing against the wall. Then, he pushes himself along the wall, ending in the corner. He huddles in the fetal position, shivering and weeping. "I'll kill him. I'll kill him," he repeats over and over, between sobs.

Feeling slightly sorry for him, he takes the ritual book they found and slides it over to him. " Here " is all he says and continues to search the area.
[sblock= OOC]
Man, you are unlucky Kenhood, too bad that good roleplaying can be foiled by bad roles.

And, Where are thou Nerdytenor?
[/sblock]