RPG: The End War
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"So... that makes me a prisoner too? Huh."
Bob pauses for a moment, then says, "Let's get working on this cart. We don't want to keep the Earl waiting."
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@Jaloopa said in RPG: The End War:
"what in the name of the nameless gods were those things?" wonders Aeron as he heads to rifle through the corpses. Loot is such an ugly word, but accurate in this case
Since Panapos is standing next to the twisted body of Thad, while everyone else is looking at the monsters and the newcomer, he quickly checks for signs of life, then whether he is/was carrying any valuables before joining the group.
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"there's nothing for you at the Earl's. You'd be best off joining with us, you owe the army nothing any more"
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Nigrim throws a quick, irritating glance at Bob. Before joining the army, he was used to being surrounded by intelligent conversation. It took some time to get used to the lower intelligence of the average recruit in the army, but he was eventually able to do it with some effort. Bob, though, is beyond his efforts, and Nigrim can already see that spending a prolonged amount of time with him is going to be a severe test in patience. He briefly contemplated trying to convince the others to send Bob off to the Earl, but the way most of his compatriots spoke to Bob, he suspected they had a sense of compassion towards him, as opposed to the irritation Nigrim felt, and such a suggestion would not go down well.
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Panapos joins the group standing around one of the dead creatures. He kneels down and examines it carefully, without touching any of the apparently corrosive blood.
@DMBot roll 1d20+5 for arcana
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@HardwareGeek
arcana: 19
(1d20[14] + 5)[19]
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@HardwareGeek Panapos isn't much of a taxonomist, but this thing is obviously weird! It's built basically along the lines of a humanoid being, but it appears to be sexless, and rather than the red blood that all mammalian life seems to share in common, this bleeds noxious, purple, corrosive fluid.
Its corporeal form is clearly animated under wholly unfamiliar principia magicka. Likewise, the large one failed to vanish or dissipate when its summoner died. As bizarre as it may sound, it's worth considering that the attackers may not be of this sphere!
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@HardwareGeek Thad appears to be quite dead, of a broken neck.
He's carrying:
- Standard army-issue chainmail armor.
- Standard army-issue longsword.
- Standard army-issue shield.
- A pouch containing a ration of jerky.
- A waterskin.
- A pouch containing 30 GP, 26 SP, 73 CP, and three common dice.
- A key ring holding 3 keys. Two of them fit the now-useless locks on the chest and the prisoner cart. The third is in a different style, and was probably of personal relevance to him.
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@Mason_Wheeler Panapos had quietly pocketed (or attempted to conceal on somewhere on his person, if whatever garment he is currently wearing doesn't have pockets) the money pouch without mentioning it to the rest of the party.
Resuming the present-time narrative, after examining the dead creature, Panapos walks over to the chest and retrieves his possessions. He examines his spellbook and arcane focus for damage, then puts on his robe.
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@HardwareGeek Make a Sleight of Hand check.
Anyone who's paying attention, feel free to make a Perception check to notice this. (Anybody who's not paying attention, no metagaming.)
The gear appears to be in good shape, despite being banged around a bit. Whatever else one may say of army-issue gear, it's definitely sturdy!
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Jillian considers her armour, then puts it in the bag of holding and changes into her fine clothes instead, also putting on some simple jewelry. Then she puts the bag of holding on her back.
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Panapos searched Thad while he thought everyone was preoccupied with the dead creatures in from of them, so hopefully nobody was paying attention, or at least not close attention, to him.
@DMBot roll 1d20+1 for sleight of hand
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@HardwareGeek
sleight of hand: 11
(1d20[10] + 1)[11]
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Aeron is too busy donning his armour and checking his daggers and sword are still in good condition to spot Panapos' shenanegans
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Ever suspicions, (there's always another secret), Aeron decides to check the chest for false panels or any other hidden parts
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@Jaloopa Make an Investigation check.
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@DMBot roll 1d20r1+2 for investigation
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@Jaloopa
investigation: 18
(1d20r1[16] + 2)[18]
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@Jaloopa After looking the chest over, checking its construction, seeing that the wood seems to be uniformly thick in all places, and knocking on various parts to check for hollowness, there doesn't appear to be any hidden construction to this chest.
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Finding nothing, Aeron moves to the cart and looks through the wreckage for any goodies
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"So Aeron, I see you're interested in helping Bob rebuild the cart? I suppose you're going to help pull it as well since the horse's far gone?"
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@PleegWat "I'm rebuilding nothing. Do I look like a carpenter? We're stuck in the middle of nowhere, probably surrounded by more of these eldritch horrors. Anything in there that might give us an edge is worthwhile. Maybe you should think about wearing your armour rather than those clothes, as fetching as they are"
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"I suppose we can use it as firewood. Probably not here though."
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@Jaloopa The cart is in shambles. Some large sections of its construction are still intact, but one of the axles is shattered, the front seat is split in three pieces, and some of the bars are coming loose. As Jillian mentioned, it's likely not good for much more than firewood.
[DM note: party members could have scrounged around to grab pieces of wreckage as improvised weapons, which would have been faster than searching through the chest.]
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Clothing and equipment in order, Panapos now turns to the newcomer and extends a hand in greeting.
"Thank you for your help. My name is Panapos Namfoodle Gerbo Warryn of clan Scheppen; some call me Luckyhelm or Oneshoe."
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The newcomer says "I'm Ruven Mellik, just call me Ruven. What we just killed were Demons of Chaos. Yes, the same demons that you've all heard about — in nursery songs, and your mother's threats, and when the local bard has run out of good ideas for terror tales. Apparently, they're not just stories. They're back, from whatever wretched hole they were driven into."
He pokes one of the bodies with a boot. "Some idiot magic-maker decided that summoning these things was a good idea. He's either a violent idiot getting himself killed in some revenge plot, or a violent idiot who's trying to take advantage of a sudden full-scale war after all this peace we've had."
After exchanging some greetings and reading that letter, Ruven snorts. "I see your lieutenant is just as cack-brained as mine was, back in the day. Well, we have bigger problems than your commanders now."
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@PotatoEngineer "Demons of Chaos? You're kidding, right? Are you trying to tell me those children's tales are real?" Panapos snorts dismissively.
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@HardwareGeek "Well," replied Jillian, "they certainly don't look like any ordinary beast to me. Did you see how that blood acted?"
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@PleegWat "Ordinary beasts? No. But demons?" he asks incredulously.
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[CBA to roleplay this part but Bob uses Second Wind.]
@dmbot roll 1d10+2 for heal
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@Gąska
heal: 3
(1d10[1] + 2)[3]
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"Well, I certainly don't have any other suggestions on what they could be," Jillian responds weakly.
"Does anyone wish to examine the corpses further? Otherwise, I believe everyone has fetched their gear from the chest. I would like to set up a camp and at least have a proper meal, but I don't think I'd want to do it right here. Friend Ruven, are you familiar with the area? Do you know of a decent campsite nearby?"
@Mason_Wheeler what time of day is it anyway?
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@PleegWat Around noon, or a bit after.
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Bob walks over to the equipment chest to see what's left in there. He finds two hand axes. "Oooh, I like these!" He picks them up.
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@PleegWat "If you just want a campsite, I believe you passed a wide spot in the road fifteen minutes ago. But you'd be welcome at my home, the monastery of Stonehaven. Travelers are always welcome there."
Ruven starts assembling a litter from broken cart components and some rope he brought along, to drag one of the demon corpses.
"And they're going to want to see this. They might not believe us otherwise. I might not believe us otherwise, and I'm on a mission from God!"
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@PotatoEngineer "Well, that works for me," Jillian votes for the monastery. "Perhaps dear Bob can also get some medical care there, he looks somewhat battered."
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Bob walks over to Thad's corpse. "Dibs!", he says, picking up the sword and the shield, then proceeds to untuck the chain mail from the dead body.
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"'Dear Bob!" Panapos snorts derisively under his breath. Then silently, "He's certainly not dear to me. Al-ilsen!"
Loudly enough to be heard, he addresses the paladin, "Ruven, what makes you think these are demons?"
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@HardwareGeek
"Panopos, two things me think they're demons:- Have you ever seen or heard of anything like these, anywhere else?
- Oton, Lord of Harvests, told me that someone seeking power had drawn demons to this world, and that I would meet the demons this morning, on this very road. I'm rather inclined to believe him."
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@PotatoEngineer "You make good points. No, I've never heard of anything like these, outside of those children's stories, and the word of a god is not easily dismissed. I'll tentatively accept your hypothesis, at least until further evidence conflicts with it."
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Bob approaches Jillian from behind. "Mind if I put it in here?" He asks, holding Thod's stuff in his stretched arms.
( @PleegWat )
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@Gąska "Sure, go ahead," Jillian answers. She unslings the bag and holds it open. "Any jewelry on him?"
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@PleegWat "This sword is quite shiny!" Bob comments, unceremoniously releasing his grasp and letting the items fall into the bag.
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@Gąska Bob gets +10 bonus EXP for making me laugh.
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"well, I'm happy to travel to your monastery and rest up. We seem to have taken everything of value here and our military careers are probably over, so we need to decide what to do next"
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Ruven finally notices that everyone has been in a fight with a pile of demons and a cart, and wanders around shaking hands and clapping folks on shoulders, letting the power of his god work through him.
(Jillian, Aeron, Nilgrim, and Panapos each gain 1HP. Bob gains 4HP, as I vaguely recall he got hit a bit harder than everyone else.)
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Does anyone have anything further to do in-character before concluding this scene?
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@Mason_Wheeler I can't think of anything. I'm happy to fade to black, then fade up at the gate to the monastery, or whatever you have in mind.
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@Mason_Wheeler I'm good.
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Jillian slings the Bag of Holding back on her back. "Well, let's get going then."
