Part III: Cellar Doors

Skyler perked up as he too heard something... unnatural...
These moans... appeared to carry such burden. Such sadness... anger... regret... a mix of emotions... and yet... none at all.
Filled with fear... Skyler edged close to the exit in case something jumped out...
Skyler imagined the scenario in his mind... a rabid dog, a zombie, something would pop out of there. Probably taking the man with the bow readied first. That should give him ample time to run.
But to run again? What good would that do? Save his life... but at what cost? The lives of those that saved him to begin with.
Not sure of what good he would be... Skyler decided to stand his ground. No matter what the terror... He would fight, with whatever he had.


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Stealth check
DICE ROLL! GO!!
4+4+1+3 = 12

The member 'Skyler Terska' has done the following action : Diceroller

'SKILL CHECK' : 4, 4, 1, 3

The party froze momentarily in their tracks as they listened to the moans from beyond the door. It was hard to discern what the muffled noises could be, the heavy wooden door distoring the sounds. Perhaps someone was having their way with their maiden.

In any case, no one had reason to suspect intruders in their lair so Garvan was not wholy concerned. He guessed that the room likely held but a few men, unarmed and caught off guard by the luxuries of shelter, food, and safety. Nonetheless, as Midnorton approached the door, he steeled himself for what might lie beyond.


===============


Garvan stands nearby with his weapon at the ready

Fellowship - The 3rd of Septem, 4:21AM

Skyler crept towards the doorway behind Midnorton, the brawny shadow of the fisherman looming over him. In silence, they proceeded towards the southwestern door, where the moans had picked up their tempo into a haunting baritone emanation from beyond the oak door.

The coals from the firepit warmed their backs as they moved into position...

[2/5 sneak checks attempted]

Midnorton quickly threw open the door, and with hearts pounding the fellowship braced themselves. Suddenly, a torrent of shrieks and screams reached their ears from within a darkened chamber, a singular candle casting light out into the common area.

Slowly, Midnorton poked his head in. It was a small room - furnished with four bunkbeds surrounding a shabby browning carpet. In one of them, the shadowy figure of a man lay, arms and legs outstretched and fastened to the bedposts with heavy chains.

The smell of sweat and blood reached their noses, as the body contorted and twisted upon the dirtied mattress, screaming and shouting incoherently.

"GREAT GODS!" he shouted, suddenly gleeful. "OH YES! OH GHAAAAAAA" and his words suddenly slurred into a foreign tongue as his voice rumbled like a chant.

"OH! GLORIOUS! OH! GOLDEN! OH! TOUCH, CARESS! OH! GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHG!"

The man twisted violently, eyes staring vacantly past the fellowship.

"WHAT-A-GLORIOUS-END!"

===============|

OK fellows, you've entered a sort of barracks, apparently. 4 bunks, and under one is a man clad in a few scraps of clothing and tied to the bedframe.

He seems to be in obvious pain, however he doesnt look your direction or acknowledge your entry.

EXP: +50 to Garvan, Midnorton and Skyler.

-LK

Midnorton stared at the madman, the internal clock in his head clicking away…

*CLICK*
*CLICK*
*CLICK*
*DONG!*

Midnorton smiled as the imaginary flash bulb appeared above his head.

“I have an idea. We can use this old man to provide a distraction to the group behind the double iron doors. We let him loose and ’persuade’ him to charge into the main room and cause disorder among them before we storm in and complete the havoc.”

Midnorton moved over to the madman and whispered into his ears with a seductive voice.

“Yes.. Golden touch.” purrs.

“You want more. Ecstasy beyond mortal passion. A touch greater that what you feel now.” purrs again.

“I will tell you where to go to get the touch of pleasure and then release you. Go out of this room and beyond the double iron doors. There the ultimate pleasure awaits you. Others beyond the door might try to stop you, but push pass them. The ultimate pleasure will wait for you.”

Midnorton carefully removed the restraints on the mad man and yells to him to shock him.

“GO AND SEEK THE ULTIMATE PLEASURE!”

Midnorton stepped back and waits for the madman’s action.

===============

SEDUCTION!
Charm [4d6] + Seduction [1d6]
[Roll: 3+6+4+1+2 = 16]

If the madman follows Mid’s seductive instruction, he will follow him at a save distance.

The member 'Midnorton' has done the following action : Diceroller

'SKILL CHECK' : 3, 6, 4, 1, 2

The member 'Artimus' has done the following action : Diceroller

'SKILL CHECK' : 4, 6

Garvan was stunned by the power Midnorton had over this man and his jaw hung loosely as he stared in awe. It was not a bad plan however. Provided the man was insane - Garvan gathered he was - it just might work. Perhaps he mind was mush enough for Midnorton to convince him to set hismelf aflame before screaming into the great hall.

Garvan let Midnorton whisper sweet nothings to the man and took about searching the barracks. Surely there would be supplies worth taking.

===========


Garvan searches the room

Skyler looked in complete confusion... These guys were out of their mind! Had he completely lost it? Mid's voice was incredibly creepy... but still so... messed up.
Skyler watched with a very confused look... jaw slightly open... and eyes very widely opened...
But... there was some pity for this crazed person...
Whatever he went through it must have been rough. Knowing the feeling of imprisonment, Skyler took pity on him...

Your plan is without flaw, but to do such a thing... How could we sacrifice a human life in an attempt to save our own? He deserves to live just as much as each of us. I beg of you, reconsider. Our lives are not yet in peril and escape with all of us alive is still feasible.

===========================
Skyler is making a motion to spare his life.
Stealth check
DICE ROLLLLL
3+4+5+3 = 15

The member 'Skyler Terska' has done the following action : Diceroller

'SKILL CHECK' : 3, 4, 5, 3

Valaren - The 3rd of Septem, 4:12 AM

The alchemist Valaren sucked air heavily through his mouth, his eyes swimming with stars. His vestments were wet with the potions that had shattered within his cloak, his skin torn by the fragments of glass from the silvered vials.

Above him, three blurred figures stood staring at him, blades drawn and pointed at his throat.

"What have we here-" demanded a deep voice, reaching down and grabbing Valaren under his arm.

Violently, the alchemist could feel his arms being bound by a coarse rope. He could scarcely move, the pain was so excruciating. What had brought him here? Rumours of deviants and occultists - a chance that fate might bring him closer to his goals of alchemical greatness.

It was folly - he had scarcely come into view of the stonewall fortress when he had been set upon unaware, his assailants emerging from off the cartpath and beating him down before he had the opportunity to react.

"There there-" whispered a voice in his ear, his eyesight blurred by the blood that poured from a wound on his forehead. "You'll be more than welcome to feast with us tonight..."




Fellowship - The 3rd of Septem, 4:21AM

Midnorton backed up slowly in the small barracks room, as the Madman rolled from the bed and lowered his feet onto the floor. The nearly beastial human stared at his hands, and in another fit of madness began to scream with joy.

But the voice of the huntsman had caught his attention, and now the man followed closely behind Midnorton as he ushered him into the common room, the warm coals casting a glow across his back as he whispered perverse obfusciation at the madman.

"OH!" he shouted, lumbering after Midnorton like a snake to a charmer.

The fellowship spun impulsively, however, at the sound of a door being kicked open behind them. Suddenly, a group of three men appeared at the doorway leading out to the hall, with one more bound in rope before them. With a brutal push, the captured man was thrown into the common room upon the blood-red rugs, his arms tied tightly and his head cracking brutally upon the floor.

"You've been scuffling around the wrong end of the woods, fella-" began one of the leather-clad men addressing the prisoner, who suddenly locked eyes with Garvan.

"What the-" the three men stared in utter surprise at the fellowship escorting the madman, and in a flash they had drawn their blades.

"Who...what are you DOING HERE?" demanded the shortest one.

It was in that moment that the shrewd alchemist Lesale began to run - the ancient-looking cadaver exposing his teeth as he leapt towards the prisoner, oblivious to the three armed men that had materialized in the doorway.

"BY THE BLACK VIAL!" shouted Lesale in a fervor - "I SHALL HAVE YOUR BODY!"

==========================

Okay guys, so to address the calamity thats happening right now, I'll break this down:

+ Midnorton was coaxing the madman across the common area, when the door burst open to the north.

+ The prisoner tossed in to the common area is Valaren, and there are 3 guardsmen that have emerged behind him. They see the fellowship, and are approximately 30 yards away.

+ Lesale seems to have gone mad, and he is now charging towards Valaren (the prisoner) laying on the ground. He is approximately 15 yards away from Valaren. Valaren, to get up and run I'll need an agility check, and to break your ropes Ill need a might check. Otherwise, your hands are bound.

check the Zone chart on the Combat toolbar (left side of the site) for placement and what's going on, and the Fiends & Foes section for all stats on enemies.

EXP: Artimus, Garvan, Midnorton and Skyler +50 EXP

Midnorton snarled in frustration as the guards appeared, ruining his plan. But still he hope to get some use out of the madman.

“Go forth. They seek to hinder your quest for pleasure.” He pointed to the three guards for the madman to charge.

Not bothering to look to see if he followed his instructions, Midnorton quickly unleashed two arrows with such speed it looked and sounded like he fired only 1 arrow. Both arrows flew true, one glancing off the closest guard’s right shoulder as it drew blood. The second one proved more deadly as it embedded itself into the same guard’s left calf.

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Fired two quick arrows at G1 for 8 damage. He is on his last leg, literally.

Skyler looked at his fellow ex-prisoner at amazement! What had happened with him? Why was he charging that man? Was there any reason? It seemed as though he had gone absolutely crazy.

Skyler shouted:
LESALE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!!???

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Skyler will attempt to charge and push IS CHARGING and WILL push Lesale out of the way.
Skill check for agility
Damage check for might

Agility:4 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 8
Might: 1

The member 'Skyler Terska' has done the following action : Diceroller

#1 'SKILL CHECK' : 4, 2, 1, 1

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#2 'DAMAGE' : 1

Valaren had fallen towards the floor without restraints as the coarse rope disabled him from any attempt to break his fall. The collision between his head and the floor could be seen and heard around the room. Valaren, however, was the only one to feel the effect of it.

For what seemed to last minutes, Valaren felt as if he drifted on the edge of consciousness. With his eyes closed he could hear the commotion around him, making out voices from two seperate sides of the room. The words seemed meaningless, distant even..

His attempt to open his eyes was futile. His vision had been blurred since he had received a beating outside of the fortress. It seemed like the fall had made it worse and Valaren believed to be wounded on his head. He was rather sure he could make out blood on the floor as he attempted opening his eyes once more.

Valaren tried to utter some words, but what was supposed to come out as: "Help." was weakened down to a long, deep moan. Valaren lay down in a pool of desperation, helplessness and perhaps his own blood. He knew that every second he wasted could seal his fate. But his aching body did no longer harbor any strength, and by his estimates he would be hard-pressed to escape from his bounds without his injuries. It would be foolish to try..


Perhaps this was the end...

The member 'Artimus' has done the following action : Diceroller

#1 'SKILL CHECK' : 6, 1

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#2 'SKILL CHECK' : 6, 3

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#3 'DAMAGE' : 6

Fellowship - The 3rd of Septem, 4:22 AM

Midnorton's arrows flew true as the madman coalesced behind Artimus, charging at the cloaked guards that sputtered and swung wildly amongst the barrage of burning coals flung in their faces.

Skyler soared through the air, the nimble young man crashing into Lesale with a purposeful crack - the fragile, ancient bones of the withered prisoner giving way with a pitiful crunching.

Lesale cried out murderously as he skidded across the floor, crashing into the hot coals and scattering them about the room. Shrieks of pain echoed out across the room as smoke began to rise from the old alchemist, and with horror Skyler could see skin reduced to ash and mist in but a moment, the smell of rotting flesh filling their noses in a thick, heavy brine.

Artimus scarcely noticed the cries as he closed to melee with the guardsmen, his sword flashing as he struck out to parry blows.

[Guardsmen, -1D to attack due to Burning coals in the eyes]

Artimus effortlessly spun about, his silvered blade parrying the blows of the guardsmen with ease. With hardened shouts, they pressed forward, but from the left the mad, raving lunatic leapt from the shadows at Midnorton's command.

From the mariner's peripheral, he could see one of the guardsmen go crashing to the floor as the raving lunatic began to beat his head against the ground violently, screaming in jubilation as he did.

===================================

Ok guys,

Artimus was missed by all 3 guardsmen. I've changed the zone chart to reflect the positioning of the fellowship.

The Madman is attacking G1, and has him pinned on the floor.

Lesale is burning on the pyre in the centre of the room, and is now dead. He scattered coals all over the floor as he crashed into the pyre, and so anyone entering Zone2 must make an AGI check vs. an Easy DC of 7, or else take 1D6 fire damage with no DR.

Valaren, you have come to consciousness, and can get to your feet / break your ropes on a might check of 15...which is impossible for you, so I suppose you can think of something creative?

-LK

EXP: +50 to Art, Mid, V, and Skyler

Skyler paused... Looked at his hands.. the dust of the cellmate he had only known for a short time had died by his hands...
Skyler thought to himself...

How could I...? Kill him...? But he had gone crazy! He was going to attack that man! He said he wanted his body... Surely he was evil from the start!

To cope with the sudden death of the old man, Skyler was forced to rationalize with himself... Even still... it was difficult to accept. Skyler looked up at the guards, and then to the man on the ground. He noticed the lack of struggle the prisoner displayed and presumed he must be severely injured. Slowly... Skyler rose up to his feet. Looked at his hands once more. Took out his daggers and looked at them as well.
He took sight of his new targets. Those guards... These men deserved no pity. They were ruthless and evil. Skyler assumed his position, and then... Attacked.

Valaren's eyes opened slowly.The pain in his head was subsiding but remained evident. This was his first chance to look around the room and witness the chaos developing around him. Unfortunately it also became evident that his positioning was less than fortunate. The fight had been taken to his guards and with the rope around his hands, escape would be impossible. Crawling would've been an option if not for the hot coals that were scattered all around the room.

"..If not for the hot coals.....Of course!"

Valaren looked around the room for the nearest piece of hot coal. It appeared a reasonably-sized chunk had fallen right in front of one of the guards. This would mean he had to choose between two evils. His options were to either lay still and become victim to a fight he had no business being in, or attempt to crawl towards the coal and be within striking distance of the guards.

It had to be the latter.

He mustered up his strength to crawl towards the guard. He attempted a leopard crawl, holding most of his body on the floor for rapid movement and low silhouette. As he attempted this, he looked up towards the guards. They appeared to be disoriented by the coals that had been thrown towards them. Even if that were the case, he would still have to remain as quiet as possible. He was still nothing more than a walking target.

As he reached the coal his sights were set on nothing but that. He ignored the guards and the fighting around him to focus solely on attempting to break free. He manoeuvred himself into a position where he could safely push the rope against the hot coal. As soon as he did, he heard the sizzling sound of the rope burning. But would it be enough? All he could do now is blow softly on the coal itself to hasten the process. This might very well be his last chance to get out of this situation.

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I am going to roll Stealth to see if I can sneak towards the guards unnoticed. Please let me know if I made a mistake here..

Stealth - 1D
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LK'S NOTES: INDEED, IT WOULD BE 4D6+1 (ADD YOUR ATTRIB BEFORE ROLLING FOR SKILL) - IVE ROLLED MYSELF, CHEERS!

The member 'Valaren' has done the following action : Diceroller

'SKILL CHECK' : 1

Skyler swung at the disoriented guard three times. Each with his right dagger. Even if he was in a disarry he was still able to parry two of Skyler's attacks.
The last one landed, a cut. It wasn't very deep, but it was a wound none-the-less. Skyler realized he was in danger of a counterattack and prepare himself for battle. He assumed what he thought was a "battle-like" position. Knees slightly bent, swaying back and forth.

It had been a while since Skyler had been in a true battle. Usually it was against an animal or a mere fist-fight. But it was rare for Skyler to have to fight for his life. Holding his daggers inverted as he normally would, he waited.
========================
Skyler waits for guard's turn to attack. In a defensive position.

With the madman pinning his previous target, Midnorton moved his aim to the next target to die and unleashed three arrows this time.

The first arrow grazed the guard’s forehead and made him stumbled a little just as the second arrow found itself in the guard’s right shoulder and finally the last arrow also found its way through the guard’s armor to embed itself into the guard’s rib.

Midnorton then spoke to his companions, “Don’t let them give an effective counterattack or flee. Take them down.”

==================

Attacked G2 with three arrows doing a total of 9 damage.

"With pleazure mon ami“

Artimus retorted, hearing Midnorton’s call for the finality of these men.

Artimus' blade pen would scrawl their obituaries in their, all-too mortal flesh.



“it zeemz you’ve taken the wrong door today gentlemen, you’ll zuffer only for a moment.”



The mariner’s blade shot out through the smoke rising from the red-er and red-er carpet. The heated embers cut their way through the fibrous crimson floor covering. So too did Artimus’ keen edge burn through the sanguine flesh of his opponents, the flicking of his wrist freed vitrol and sinew from its corporeal prison spraying out onto the ground as the life drained from the guard’s eyes.

His mark fell to his knees and slumped forward, pushing the last air from the departed man's lungs

"HnnnnnnnnnnnnnnntrrrrrrhhhggG"

The sound was haunting.

Artimus did not delay, pressing his attack with a forte as he adjusted his stance, a Balestra it was called, a footwork preparation, consisting of a jump forward, which he quickly followed with a lunge. a bold stirke that found it's mark, fitting the tip of his foil through a small gap in the gaurd's leathers. He saw the panic in the man's eyes as he felt the bite.

Expecting the attack that would surely follow Artimus positioned his blade to preform a counter-Parry a motion that conducts the blade a circle to end up in the same position in which it started while trapping the attacker in an off-footed position


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#1 'ATTACK' : 5, 5, 1, 3 HIT @ G2

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#2 'ATTACK' : 5, 5, 4, 2 HIT @ G3

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#3 'DAMAGE' : 2, 4, 3, 5, 5 = 19-13dr =6dmg

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#4 'DAMAGE' : 6, 2, 2, 6, 2 18-13dr=5dmg