Strangeness on a Train/The Jetty

Posts : 1428 Join date : 2008-08-22

The Jetty

Rolzup wrote:: OOC: Religion or Arcana check -- same either way -- of 26 to figure out if anything can be salvaged from the binding ritual. If not, well, time to improvise.

Pætros, as is his custom, considered his Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor back at the monastery a complete fool, but he did gleam a few useful things from him. Possession is hard. It usually takes time, or requires a personal connection, or a particularly weak mind. Combat possession is hardest of all. Whatever has hold of Magister Titus won't have him for long.

Which means Titus will be in his right mind soon. Therefore, there's a chance to salvage the ritual. What Titus needs right now is time while he casts out the demon. How to buy him that time is the question. Then again, having a backup plan should Titus's magic collapse might be nice.

The Train

Rolzup wrote:: Stunned into inaction for a moment, he quickly shakes off his surprise and follows Roxy down the aisle.

Vox hears it too as he reaches the door; boots hitting the roof of the train ahead of him. Then another, louder whoosh and shudder from the car behind.

The slow-fading globs of shadow visible in the next car disturb Vox. He's accustomed to the shadows of the Other Side, which are the comfortingly familiar shadows of death. These are different. They're Nothing, like the round god in that run-down Church he just helped put out of business.

OOC: roll init.!

Posts : 799 Join date : 2008-08-21

The Jetty
OOC: Harumph. He knows a binding ritual, but that takes five minutes to cast...and time's at a premium. Plus, she'd need to be helpless throughout. Improvisation it is, then! Is Titus still floating, by the way?

Pætros continues to move forward, keeping his staff leveled at Cybelle. "Harlot! Are thirsty?" Reaching up with his free hand, he gashes it open upon one of the many sharp protrusions that adorn his mitre. He flicks the resulting blood -- thin, yellowish stuff -- into the wind, grinning fiercely. "Come, then! Drink! Take, if can!"

The light limning his form grows a little brighter as he squares his feet and shifts his gip upon his staff.

OOC: Taking the total defense action, to give +2 to all defenses. That gives him AC: 26 Fort: 25 Reflex: 22 Will: 26, as well as the -2 on foe's to-hit rolls. He's a'gonna need it.

The Train
"This has the potential to be very bad, indeed," Vox says to Roxy, edging back a step. "This might be divine vengeance, which is entirely unfair. But then again, taking vengeance is an action, and I think that's proscribed by their doctrine...."

OOC: Initiative 23

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The member 'Rolzup' has done the following action : Dice Roller

'd20' : 13

Posts : 1428 Join date : 2008-08-22

The Jetty

Rolzup wrote:: OOC: Harumph. He knows a binding ritual, but that takes five minutes to cast...and time's at a premium.

OOC: I'm just looking to establish what Pætros knows about binding, in case he wanted to 'take Ttitus's place' in the ritual.

Rolzup wrote:: "Come, then! Drink! Take, if can!"

OOC: Interesting. Roll... Bluff +5 (for the blood).

The Train

OOC: whoever is outside goes on 11.

Vox hears more footfalls on the the roof of the train, but, more importantly, he sees half a dozen passengers trying to flee their car... by running into Roxy. Needless to say the man in the lead comes to a sudden stop before touching her, as people pile into his back.

For a spit second he stands perfectly straight, suspended between what some cultures hold up as their two greatest terrors; oblivion and a big man wearing a dress. Then he gets pushed into the Goliath.

In the next car, on the other side of the dark, Vox sees a the ceiling being kicked in by big jackbooted heels, the metal coming apart like cheap Snake States drywall. Two Dragonborn and a Tiefling, all of them armed, drop in through the hole.

With a heavy half-dead heart Vox notes these fellows seem quite proactive. They proceed to take cover behind some evacuated benches, level long rod-shaped weapons, and being aiming.

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The member 'Mallus' has done the following action : Dice Roller

'd20' : 3

Posts : 799 Join date : 2008-08-21

The Jetty

Mallus wrote:: OOC: I'm just looking to establish what Pætros knows about binding.

OOC: Enough to get himself in deep, deep trouble.... He knows that one ritual (Tenser's Binding), and no more.

Mallus wrote:: OOC: Interesting. Roll... Bluff +5 (for the blood).

OOC: Gonna use Flash of Insight as a minor action, then, to give himself another +5. Bluff ain't his strong suit. All told, that's a 19.

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The member 'Rolzup' has done the following action : Dice Roller

'd20' : 4

Posts : 1428 Join date : 2008-08-22

The Jetty

Rolzup wrote:: OOC: Enough to get himself in deep, deep trouble.... He knows that one ritual (Tenser's Binding), and no more.

OOC: that's plenty -- again, I'm not worried about rules-legal here, I only want some rough guidelines.

Rolzup wrote:: All told, that's a 19.

OOC: this needs more blood to work!

Also, check the previous page. I posted another reply.

Posts : 799 Join date : 2008-08-21

The Jetty

Mallus wrote:: OOC: this needs more blood to work!

"Axe-man," Pætros snaps, "Am needing your blood. Quick-quick, use axe, cut off finger or something. Must have Cybelle's attention!"

The Train

Vox twists to the side, getting out of the doorway. "Let them through!" he calls to Roxy. "I doubt that they'll hesitate to shoot through them, and I'd hate to see that dress get ruined!"

OOC: Throw a shroud on the closest of the attackers, but take no other actio beyond moving this round. Can we get a picture, so as to scope out the lay of the land?

Posts : 242 Join date : 2009-02-04

"Alright Popey, you aksed for it." Lizzy advances on Pætros, axe glimmering.
"Which finger do you want off? Oh, you want ME to sacrifice a finger?"

Posts : 900 Join date : 2008-08-22

Rolzup wrote:: The Train

Vox twists to the side, getting out of the doorway. "Let them through!" he calls to Roxy. "I doubt that they'll hesitate to shoot through them, and I'd hate to see that dress get ruined!"

OOC: Throw a shroud on the closest of the attackers, but take no other actio beyond moving this round. Can we get a picture, so as to scope out the lay of the land?

"Oh, I'm feeling the love, people, but Roxy needs to get through now!"

Roxy leaps over the heads of the rushing crowd, bouncing from wall to wall with her long powerful limbs, and landing as close to the heart of the danger as she can get.

Athletics check: 38

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The member 'gridley' has done the following action : Dice Roller

'd20' : 16, 18

Posts : 900 Join date : 2008-08-22

Rolzup wrote:

The Jetty

Mallus wrote:: OOC: this needs more blood to work!

"Axe-man," Pætros snaps, "Am needing your blood. Quick-quick, use axe, cut off finger or something. Must have Cybelle's attention!"

"Save your fingers, kids!" says Odanais, motioning with his magical glove to create illusory spurts of blood bursting from the Pontiff's neck.

Bluff check: 20 (but I rolled a 1! Why does this forum hate it when I bluff? Why?)

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The member 'gridley' has done the following action : Dice Roller

'd20' : 1

Posts : 138 Join date : 2008-08-27

Oy, I don't look at the boards for a month, and all of a sudden everyone's playing new characters and hacking off each others' limbs.

I'll read through this thread, then decide what character I'll bring in. GepettoJack Fagin is a real possibility (if only I can figure out what the heck he is - I have versions as a monk, as a bard, and as a hybrid warlock/wizard. All fit his personality.)

I also have a perverse desire to play an ultra-feminine dragonborn frost-sorceress named Beautiful Snowflake. Picture a white-scaled dragonborn in Victorian petticoats with a frilly umbrella, who endulges in girlish flights of fancy about knights in shining armor and damsels in distress.

Posts : 1428 Join date : 2008-08-22

Atlatl Jones wrote:: Oy, I don't look at the boards for a month, and all of a sudden everyone's playing new characters and hacking off each others' limbs

This is surprising?

Atlatl Jones wrote:: Picture a white-scaled dragonborn in Victorian petticoats with a frilly umbrella, who endulges in girlish flights of fancy about knights in shining armor and damsels in distress.

It's future Mrs. Yatagan!

(actually, it should be 'Mrs. Fracas')

Also, I'll pick things up later today. I took a few days off from this madness to read, relax, spend time w/Maryann (and play way too much Dragon Age: Origins!)

Posts : 1078 Join date : 2008-08-21

Mallus wrote:: Also, I'll pick things up later today. I took a few days off from this madness to read, relax, spend time w/Maryann (and play way too much Dragon Age: Origins!)

Considering that we're dealing with two fights, Mike's still got a PC to make, plus we have big divergences in how often people post, should we just wait till Friday to play out the combats?

Posts : 1428 Join date : 2008-08-22

shilsen wrote:: Considering that we're dealing with two fights, Mike's still got a PC to make, plus we have big divergences in how often people post, should we just wait till Friday to play out the combats?

OOC: that's up to you guys. I don't have a preference. Just let me know if you want me to move things forward.

Posts : 900 Join date : 2008-08-22

Are we actually fighting on the Jetty? If so, I missed something. I thought we were mainly watching Titus bottle the vamp and Paetros was sort of helping him.

Posts : 1428 Join date : 2008-08-22

gridley wrote:: Are we actually fighting on the Jetty? If so, I missed something. I thought we were mainly watching Titus bottle the vamp and Paetros was sort of helping him.

OOC: I wouldn't characterize what's happening on the Jetty as fighting, exactly, either. It's helping Titus complete the binding ritual. There might be a fighting-like component to it, but it would be way less complicated than some of the other combats we've done on the board.

Posts : 1078 Join date : 2008-08-21

Mallus wrote:: OOC: I wouldn't characterize what's happening on the Jetty as fighting, exactly, either. It's helping Titus complete the binding ritual. There might be a fighting-like component to it, but it would be way less complicated than some of the other combats we've done on the board.

In that case, maybe we should just focus on wrapping up the Jetty angle on the board and handle the train on Friday.

Posts : 799 Join date : 2008-08-21

Mallus wrote:

gridley wrote:: Are we actually fighting on the Jetty? If so, I missed something. I thought we were mainly watching Titus bottle the vamp and Paetros was sort of helping him.

OOC: I wouldn't characterize what's happening on the Jetty as fighting, exactly, either. It's helping Titus complete the binding ritual. There might be a fighting-like component to it, but it would be way less complicated than some of the other combats we've done on the board.

That sounds good to me.

Posts : 242 Join date : 2009-02-04

shilsen wrote:

Mallus wrote:: OOC: I wouldn't characterize what's happening on the Jetty as fighting, exactly, either. It's helping Titus complete the binding ritual. There might be a fighting-like component to it, but it would be way less complicated than some of the other combats we've done on the board.

In that case, maybe we should just focus on wrapping up the Jetty angle on the board and handle the train on Friday.

That seems reasonable to me too.

Posts : 1428 Join date : 2008-08-22

OOC: so, picking up with...

The Jetty

gridley wrote:: "Save your fingers, kids!" says Odanais, motioning with his magical glove to create illusory spurts of blood bursting from the Pontiff's neck.

Bluff check: 20 (but I rolled a 1! Why does this forum hate it when I bluff? Why?)

Illusory blood spurts from the Porcophant's slender neck, the droplets sailing gracefully into the angry sea. This fools the semi-manifest Cybelle for only a second, before she turn her vaporous gaze away from Pætros and hurls more uprooted coral into spirit traps Titus lined the jetty with.

She does, however, keep glancing back at Pætros and his blood-covered hand.

Meanwhile, Titus continues wrestling with his temporarily inner demon. He points one wand at the nearest Bailiff and sends are arc of fire into him with a curt, mechanical gesture. The Bailiff is wreathed in flame, but keeps his feet. He seems more startled than injured.

However, his two companions take aim on Titus and make ready to shoot.

Posts : 1078 Join date : 2008-08-21

Mallus wrote:: Meanwhile, Titus continues wrestling with his temporarily inner demon. He points one wand at the nearest Bailiff and sends are arc of fire into him with a curt, mechanical gesture. The Bailiff is wreathed in flame, but keeps his feet. He seems more startled than injured.

However, his two companions take aim on Titus and make ready to shoot.

Better and better! Artichoke grins sardonically and raises his shield to a ready position, just in case. "So, what do you suggest we do, illustrious leader?" he asks Odanais.

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