Chapter 2: A Shining Pillar of Deception

The voice is troublesome to the lizardman. He doesn't understand everything that is said, but even what he can't understand through words, he feels as an emotion emanating from this place. The pain of the crying hits him in the gut, welling up an empathy from deep within. He continues to be disoriented and walking on the ceiling isn't helping him regain his composure. As the shiny droplets of blood impact on his scales, he realizes that none of the wounds from the real world are present here. Seeing himself without the scars and damage from the numerous battles induces a smirk on Krytox' ugly face. He takes a few moments to himself to think of what life could have been like had they not come. The faraway look fades from his eyes and he trudges onward down the only path the twosome has.

Stabilize

Random number (1,100) :

8

Alterith looks down the endless tunnel before him, then back the way he had come. Seeing Krytox's resigned walk leads him to believe that there is no real purpose in continuing on into eternity. There are those who need his help, and they need it now. Perhaps he can break free of this strange prison his soul has been banished to. After all, if it can bleed it can be cut through. Raising his axe high overhead he hammers it down into the bleeding earth around him. He raises it again and again bringing it down with all the might of his formidable strength. As the gore of the earth washes over him, it only fuels the strength of his swings. Bloodlust surges forward, but for once, Alterith has the same purpose, and in embracing the rage he actually remains in control. His rhythm takes on a lumberjack tone, rise, fall, rise, fall.

Attack: +bonuses

Random number (1,20) :

3

Damage: +bonuses

Random number (1,10) :

2

Now confident with the style of battle, Rasa begins his onslaught, he unleashes a series of stabs and cuts meant to push his opponent right back onto her toes, and as a result onto the lizard's blade behind her. The faster he can end all of this, the better.

4 + 2 flanking = 6
Not even gonna roll damage.

His hooves found their mark, creating a satisfactory thud from the dwarf. He sees the dwarf stagger, but still standing. Squin is disappointed that the dwarf is still standing, but not all that surprised given the basics of what he has learned about dwarves. Pressing the attack, he kicks out visciously hoping to incapacitate the dwarf before the dwarf can recover.

Attack: 6 + 3 = 9
Damage: 4 + 3 = 7

AoO: 7 + 3 = 10
Damage: 3 + 3 = 6

ooc: Thanks again for your support, guys.

Zadok and Andrew, if you two are willing, let’s use “Auto-Resolve.” This assumes:

• None of the characters will move (i.e. they will exchange blows until a successful hit is made).
  
• Any target will be defeated after one successful hit.
  

Squin and Rasa: Make 5 attack rolls each listing each result. The first of each of these rolls will represent this round. (By the way, are your ACs 20 and 19 as a result of defensive fighting?) Also, is Krytox stabilized at -6, and Alterith at -12?

auto-stabilize for Mystia: 72 (failed; -11 hp)


The pirate captain sneers at Rasa. “Once I finish you off, dark elf, I will turn the annoying reptilian behind me into a purse! … Or a belt. Or shoes. Hopefully more than one pair… my boots are worn… a lady shouldn’t have to travel like this…” She continues feinting in and out against Rasa, jabbing and swinging nimbly, while the lizardman behind her continues to swipe at her with its claws. The dark elf returns just as well.

Meanwhile, the dwarf spits in Sqiun’s direction. “Once I finish you off, you four-legged freak,” he swears, holding his broken rib, “I’ll finish off your pitiful friends! Easy kills,” he adds, as his morningstar swings round and round and Squin retaliates with attacks of his own.

auto-attacks made: Captain, Assistant, Lizardman
auto-stabilize made: Mystia

OOC: stopped fighting defensively last round

"*CLANG* First of all, *CLANG* you won't finish me off. and secondly, *CLANG* you don't have time *CLANG* to make a purse out of him, as *CLANG* Your time left is short, and finally,

*Rasa appears to have lowered his guard to his left side, and the pirate captain takes a swipe at it, only to see her impending doom as Rasa's blade flicks out much more quickly at her throat

"Your time ends now." Rasa says as he takes his swipe. so quick, it'd take a trained eye to see.

Attack 1: nat 20
crit chance 1: 13 + 2 = 15
Damage: 6 (+3 crit)

OCC: I have also stopped fighting defensively starting with the previous round. Thus my full AC is 18.

Sensing that time is now a danger to his friends, Squin presses on with the attack furiously, a complete turnaround from his earlier tatics. No longer trying to avoid the dwarf's attacks, he is now trying to see if he can get off another successful hit before the dwarf. Nostrils flaring and heavy breathing reflects the anger and determination on the centaur's face. Rearing back, Squin pushes forward with his hind legs and swats furiously with his front legs this time throwing his weight behind these powerful kicks.

Attack 1: 12 + 3 = 15
Damage: 3 + 3 = 6

Attack 2: 19 + 3 = 22
Damage: 1 + 3 = 4

Attack 3: 10 + 3 = 13
Damage: 1 + 3 = 4

Attack 4: 4 + 3 = 7
Damage: 1 + 3 = 4

Attack 5: 8 + 3 = 11
Damage: 3 + 3 = 6

Alterith's spirit launches his own attacks at their adversaries...having no effect.

Attack 1:+6

Random number (1,20) :

2

Attack 2:+6

Random number (1,20) :

16

Attack 3:+6

Random number (1,20) :

15

Attack 4:+6

Random number (1,20) :

15

Attack 5:+6

Random number (1,20) :

16

Krytox, bored of walking down this seemingly endless tunnel, breaks into a sprint. His weapons clank loudly as metal collides with metal, but his spirit hardly tires despite their added weight. The end of the passageway is nowhere in sight, but he keeps up his ridiculous pace hoping to find a way out. Alterith's yelling and hacking can still be heard faintly somewhere far behind.

auto-stabilize: Mystia – 75 (fail)

David, see my PM about the hp issue.


The next set of blows are traded as Mystia hovers just a hair’s breadth from death. Everyone misses, except Rasa. With mortal finality, his blade plunges into the captain’s body. With a gasp of surprise, she looks down at the crimson spread underneath her armored leather garments and pirate’s jacket. The sickly blue-green haze surrounding her fades, and then winks out of existence as the color leaves her eyes. The lizardman looks around with wild eyes, surveying the carnage.

Meanwhile, Squin continues to fight the dwarf, desperation driving his every attack. Then, seeing an opening, the centaur connects his hoof with the dwarf’s sternum. With a sickening crack, the captain’s assistant crumples heavily to the ground.

The battlefield – a marshland shoreline bathed in red - is eerily quiet.

ooc: Andrew, Rasa defeated the captain in this round, and Squin’s killing blow for the dwarf occurs next round. Therefore, you can still declare Rasa action for “next round”, which is when Squin would actually finish off the assistant.

With a quick flick of his wrist, the drow knows his opponent is done before she does. She takes one last final swing at Rasa before she finally realizes her impending doom. Rasa dives over the swing, rolls, and immediately moves over to his comrade. He barely watches as the centaur misses yet another attack on the dwarf, and immediately surveys his options. With his comrade down as well as two other party members was unfortunate indeed. He quickly looks over the two on the ground for any options, and prays the centaur drops the dwarf soon so he didn't have to deal with it.

Spot: 8 + 10 = 18 to see any thing that would help him heal Alterith *hint hint wink wink healing potions*

This is assuming I see the potions on Alterith. Also, if this check should be search instead, my mod is the same for both skill, so it shouldn't matter.

A small smile cracks on Rasa's face as he see's what he is looking for. The grin turns into a sigh of relief when the centaur finally falls the last remaining enemy. Rasa quickly grabs one(?) of the potions on Alterith, open's his mouth, and pours it down his throat. Healing Alterith was his first concern. Helping the rest of the party was up to Alterith once he was back. After all, it was the Halfling that cared for them.

Ben, go ahead and roll for your own healing, If you have multiple healing potions, I pick whichever one is most easily accessible. I really hope this brings you to 0 or better :)

auto-stabilize: Mystia – 18 (fail - dead)
auto-cure: Alterith – 4 hp (from Rasa's potion)
auto-heal: Alterith and Krytox (Alterith is now at 4 hp, Krytox is now at 0 hp)
auto-search: Rasa, Squin, Alterith

Rasa rushes over to the fallen halfling to revive him. Mystia slips beyond the Great Divide, and tragically, her soul is lost to the lands beyond the mortal realm. As the dracen pours the healing potion down Alterith’s throat, the parts of the vial being touched turn a dark murky gray, as if complaining against Rasa’s inborn nature. The strange visual anomaly is gone as quickly as it appeared, and the small barbarian’s skin begins to take on a healthier sheen. Krytox still lies off to the west slightly. The blackscale’s body appears to rest a little more comfortably, even as his soul backs away from the Great Divide and returns to the shore along with Alterith’s. They search briefly in the shadowy land, but cannot find the young woman’s. Sadly, their spirits part ways and return to their fleshly bodies, re-inheriting their aches, pains, and grievous wounds suffered this day.

Some time later…

With the survivors of the battle gathered on the shore, Alterith and Krytox revived and conscious, the group looks out into the sea, the early evening wind washing them with speckles of golden sand. Each reflects in his own way, on what has transpired here. Earlier, the group did their best to salvage what remained of the trade ships that had run themselves aground on the shallow reef, and gathered together the cargo that had been taken by the pirates and stockpiled nearby. Almost as an apology to nature, the group cleans up the shore as best they can, stripping the bodies of any possible valuables and piling them together on a quickly-dug ditch off the shore.

The lone lizardman standing with them turns to the group. “You help ussss today. Seylaktos,” he says, pointing at himself. The group notices small ritual scarrings intricately carved into his scaly flesh, dyed various colors. It isn’t flashy or flamboyant, but definitely noticeable now that the din of battle has died down. It is evident from these tattoos and his other trappings, such as beads, that Seylaktos is not just another ordinary lizardman.

Seylaktos gestures over to the gravesite of the Kojars family with a slow wave of the hand, the piles of dirt that the group painfully piled up over the buried family still fresh with small items from the lighthouse – a piece of jewelry, a toy, some books – resting on top.

“Seylaktos eeat man beforrre… but Kojaarss good familyyy. We not hungryy to eat Kojarsss, everr.” The group takes the lizardman’s confession as the reptilian paying his last respects.

“Seylaktos… lose many friendsss here,” he adds, after some time, implying the local tribe. “But theyyy… not my familyy." He points to the sky above, to small but dark continent-shaped land masses floating in the summer clouds. "There, homme. Gaia..." The group notes that there is a small measure of sadness in his raspy voice.

At length, Seylaktos turns to leave, even as the group begins to recognize that indeed, Seylaktos is different in appearance from the other lizardmen, though the slight difference was not discernable during the fight.

"Will fiind wayy to go homme," he says. He pauses for a moment, closing his eyes, seeming to gather strength from within himself. When his eyes reopen, they are glowing with a yellow sheen, and a water vapor-like mist appears around his hands. He steps in front of each of the companions, reaching out with his hand, and touching them on the shoulder or chest. The misty coolness of Seylaktos' nature magic soothes and relaxes each adventurer's body. In front of Rasa, Seylaktos' eyes flicker. "Dark elllf... kill bad captainn. Ssskin darrrk... but hearrt hass light..." Even as a sarcastic retort makes its way up Rasa's throat, the dracen sees that Seylaktos possesses a wisdom beyond his brethren - of course he knows the dark elf didn't necessarily do it out of scruples. That doesn't seem to matter to the reptilian now. In front of Squin, Seylaktos pauses. "Youu... four legss... alsso from Gaia," he says. "Knooww your kinnd. Youu... wisssh forr homme too?" Seylaktos nods, slowly. "You kill... ssshort, big one. Seylaktoss... not eeeat you todayy, four legsss..." The scaly hand on Squin's chest is almost like a handshake of peace. He acknowledges each of them before turning and preparing to head back into the marshland as the early evening sun begins to set.

ooc: Each of you gain fast healing 2 for the next 3 rounds from Seylaktos' ability.

This will be the last opportunity for concluding remarks or actions before we finish Chapter 2.

As Alterith consider's the strange creature before him, he understands the loss of home, though he doesn't share the desire to return there. "We may be able to help you return home at some point...how can we contact you if we do find such a path?"

Watching the false lighthouse burn to the ground brings some satisfaction to the halfling. The next step of course is to find a way to relight the beacon atop the true lighthouse. Someone will have to stay to keep a fire burning until town officials or mariners can be brought to rebuild and maintain a true light. That is not the barbarian's problem, however. He has fulfilled the contract, and helping the lizard to find a way home seems more important to him than creating a safe haven for commerce.

The spirit-Krytox continues his sprint down the tunnel. For no reason, he suddenly knows he is near the end and finds that little extra reserve of energy to increase his speed for the final bit. A blinding light erupts from up ahead causing him to stop abruptly and shield his eyes from the white flash. When he reopens his eyes he can feel the pain of the attack, but finds himself in a different location. Instead of running through the tunnel, he is looking up at the blue sky with hints of orange and pink coming from the setting sun. The pain he feels is not from the white light, but rather from the battle his body had fought on the physical plane. The pain surprises him and he has a small coughing fit, spitting up some blood once he gets it back under control. The blackscale finds the strength to rise into a sitting position and survey the damage from the fight. Finding that there appear to be no more pirates within his area of vision, a small grin sneaks into the corners of his mouth. They did it... he thinks to himself. Slowly and gingerly he gets up and makes his way to where he can see Squin and Rasa attending to the others in the party.

He finds a comfortable pace, trying not to worsen his injuries. When he gets close enough he realizes Alterith, while fallen, is conscious and seemingly coherent. As he looks over to see Mystia fallen, the look on the centaur's face tells him all he needs to know. He speeds into a trot, not caring about the pain, until he gets to her side. Squin looks up without saying a word, then continues his careful watch over his companion. A feeling of anger and helplessness builds up inside the lizardman. Underlost curses fly from his mouth as he turns from her lifeless body. His emotions take control of him as he finds the nearest pirate body. Blinded by the pain and loss he grabs his club with the intent to release it on the only thing that might deserve it. The rise and fall of his club over and over against the helpless pirate body causes the others to cringe.

In the midst of one of his swings, he feels a set of hands stop him. Coming back to his senses he realizes that it is the centaur. "Honor, not anger," Squin says succinctly to Krytox. It was enough to bring him back from the dark place he had gone, and all there was left to do was weep. The great club falls from his hands and tears from his face. One of the only people in the world he knew and trusted since his escape had been taken from him. He knew the cost of battle, but it was never easy losing a friend.

***

After the group had cleaned the area and Seylaktos had told his story, Krytox still felt like a mindless drone. The loss still hurt, and probably would for some time to come. The danger for them had passed, but they still would have to get back to the town and alert the officials. Their contract had all but been fulfilled. The nagging issue was Seylaktos. He had a similar situation to Krytox and from the sounds of it, Alterith could relate as well. "How did you come to be here, Seylaktos? By choice or by force? We may all be trying to get home..." Krytox says to him in Draconian.

Rasa looks out to sea. The pitiful weakness showed by his party at the death of Mystia was absurd. Life comes, and life goes, there is no stopping it. She shouldn't have put herself in harms way, then she would be alive to this day. What a fool.

Then a thought pops into his head...... what if it was Alterith who was gone? Would he not be sad then? He quickly brushes the thought from his mind, and almost cringes. He wasn't becoming softer was he? Damn hafling must be rubbing off on him. Well, he thinks, if it is at least for the sake of not having to deal with the group crying and being miserable over something that is destined to happen to all of them at some point, he might as well try to keep them alive.... As long as it does not interfere with his own self preservation. Who knows....... while the centaur and the annoying lizard may be a pain in the ass now, they could prove to be vital allies along the road. Maybe he would give them a chance? Only time would tell. And speaking of vital allies, Alterith would become a very good ally indeed if he would just stop doing things so foolishly, like rushing in blades blazing every time. oh well, no use trying to talk sense into a wild boar....... Rasa grins at the thought. Well, enough dwelling on what might come. Opportunity only presents itself to those who are skilled enough to grasp it.

Rasa turns away from the cool breeze of the ocean, and begins to check the area and everything involved for valuables. Might as well make this somewhat worthwhile.......

Search: 11 + 10 = 21

As soon as the dwarf drops, Squin rushes over to Mystia and pulls out a potion. Putting the vial to her mouth, he realizes that its too late, her wounds had stopped spilling blood. There was no more to life in her body to lose, it was all gone.

Squin lets out an angry yell. He is angry. Angry at the dwarf for putting in that killing blow while they fought. Angry at himself for being unable to stop the dwarf soon enough to help Mystia. Angry at the pirates for the destruction they've wrecked. Even angry at the elf for not helping Mystia when he had the chance to. Stomping back to the dwarf's body, he stomps on the lifeless dwarf a few more times. Adventuring is never easy. You'll gain lots, you'll lose lots. As long as you gain more that you lose you are doing well. Squin pauses as his mentor's voice floats through his head. Looking around, he realizes that the lizardfolks have lost a lot more than he's lost. Still, that knowledge doesn't dent the grief he feels. Squin stares hard at the elf, but then his mentor's voice speaks up again in his head. You need to understand the other side, what the other side is feeling or thinking. This will allow you to either be fair to others, or gain an advantage depending on the situation. Zoning out, Squin starts to think about what might be going through the elf's head. While we may be "friends" we're definitely not that close yet and the halfling is definitely a friend, if not a close friend. Perhaps he was more worried about the halfling. Perhaps he did not notice the Mystia's situation. Perhaps he was unable to identify the seriousness of Mystia's injuries. Perhaps he was too late to save Mystia anyways. With that sobering though, Squin's angry at the elf dissapates.

Making his way back to where Mystia has fallen, Squin starts to ponder if there was anything he could have done better given the situation and circumstance to save Mystia. He realizes that he needs to forgive himself before he can start down the path of recovery. However, forgiveness is difficult to come by at this time. Looking up he sees Krytox get back up and walk over towards him. Suddenly, and obviously, the lizardman has spotted Mystia's lifeless body and understood that she is gone. He watches as the lizardman seeks out a pirate body and pounds away. At first the centaur just watches as Krytox releases his anger. Soon it becomes apparent that Krytox may not stop any time soon. Slowly the centaur walks over to the lizardman and puts his hands on the lizardman's shoulders. At first Krytox doesn't respond, and so Squin feels an urge to speak up. However nothing comes to mind. Out of the blue, he hears himself say "Honor, not angry". Immediately he recognizes that as anther one of his mentor's sayings. While that phrase seems to have an effect on the Krytox, Squin wonders if that phrase was meant more for himself. His mind deep in thought, Squin sort of wanders around helping whoever do whatever, almost like a robot.

Later that day as Seylaktos speaks to them, Seylaktos' questions triggers thoughts of home and family. "I do miss home and want to go back. Right now I want to visit world, but ... " Squin trails off as he looks around. "Good luck on your journey. Are you going home now?" Squin breaks the silence after a few moments.

By now, the wooden pirate structure is reduced from a tall flaming structure to a large pile of charred black planks and smoldering wood. The last of the sparks and ash fly gently through the warm air, settling down onto the grassy, sandy ground without further issue.

The group’s questions toward Seylaktos cause him to pause for a moment. He shakes his head. “Not… going home nnooww. Ssstay herre.” He gestures to the shore around them and the marshland farther inland. When next he opens his mouth, those who understand Draconic, the ancient language of the dragons, understand it as a derivative language. While they are not fluent, they understand it enough. “I shall go one day. Not now. Do work here. Learn. Grow. Stay for now.”

As the sun begins to set, the group salvages from the wreckage many things still usable (discarding the rest).

The town of Somi-Seawell receives them joyfully. Plans are made to properly mourn the loss of the Kojars family. Commander Sean treats the group to a good dinner, and the local innkeeper is more than happy to grant the group a free tenday in town for some rest and relaxation (and, for many of the group members, training). The passing of Mystia means a different kind of mourning for the group as compared to the town, and the companions set about to do so in their own way.

ooc: Three things:

1. Check the Treasure thread for spoils, and divvy it amongst yourselves. List in your profiles whatever you end up with.
   
2. As you leave the marshland to head back to Seawell, PM me any final actions you take on the shore (I remember reading about re-lighting the lighthouse, and maybe looking for more loot on bodies, etc.).
   
3. In the same PM (if applicable) as previous, list things you did that you think warrant bonus XP (for this chapter). I’ll address them on an item-by-item basis.
   

Diplomacy Check: 12 + 2 = 14