[Game Thread] III. The Silver Cornucopia

[Tangler]

Fahd: Current HP 12/12, Spirit Healing 2/6 remaining
AC16, AC12 flat-footed, AC16 touch, Fort/Ref/Will +6/4/5

Lynx: Current HP 21/21
AC 18, (AC12 flat-footed, AC17 touch, AC22 vs OA (Mobility), Fort/Ref/Will +4/8/2-status/defenses-

Fahd nods at Silas's admonition to Dan. "We may all have to wait to quench our thirst. Whatever awaits us inside will have to be dealt with quickly. I wonder, though, whether our enemy will be Trotch. Are Stalkers limited to taking on the appearance of only the last person they killed? Or can they take on the guise of anyone they have killed? I don't know the answer to that question, but I think we should be prepared for the possibility that it will be someone else's face the Stalker is wearing inside."

"Daniel, I am concerned about the reaction of the townspeople to you. You saw Jeb's reaction to your power. The Stalker, too, may have seen you use it, and may use that knowledge to incite the townspeople against you. I suggest that I, and perhaps Silas, go in first, to look for Trotch and to test the temperature of the water, so to speak."

If Dan and Silas agree, Fahd enters the tavern and looks around for Trotch.

[Krimchee]

Silas agrees, nodding his head. "Good advice." Silas follows Fahd into the tavern, eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary, his hand resting "casually" on his sword.

status Silas AC 15 HP 21

[mountainbound]

The red face of Randy the innkeep meets you directly at the door. "Young sirs!" he says, a little breathless. "I thought you'd turn up and was just about to look for you." He sticks his head out of the door, suspiciously looking in both directions. "You too! Come in, come in!" he says to Dan, before slamming the door against the blowing snow. Of course, Dan doesn't need a third invitation to enter the pub.

It isn't quite noon yet, and the place is pretty dead. Two older men are playing chess in a corner booth, and there's a woman wrapped against the chill in a cloak by the fire.

Randy glances about and mutters, "He came through here, not long ago. But before you go chasing him down, there's something you need to know." The innkeep wrings his dishwashing cloth nervously, his eyes dark and his cheeks ruddy. He doesn't seem to want to talk openly with patrons about. From her chair near the fire, the woman turns her head to stare at you.

"Best if perhaps we talk in private." Randy gestures for you to follow him through a door leading behind the bar -- seemingly out of earshot from his guests.

[Tangler]

Fahd: Current HP 12/12, Spirit Healing 2/6 remaining
AC16, AC12 flat-footed, AC16 touch, Fort/Ref/Will +6/4/5

Lynx: Current HP 21/21
AC 18, (AC12 flat-footed, AC17 touch, AC22 vs OA (Mobility), Fort/Ref/Will +4/8/2-status/defenses-

Mindful of his own advice, Fahd is wary of the innkeeper's behavior. The shaman can't think of a good reason the man would already know that something is amiss with Trotch. A bad reason, on the other hand, comes immediately to mind. Fahd gives Silas a look then returns his attention to the innkeep, trying to look for signs in the man's demeanor that might give something away. And what about the injury Silas had dealt to the Stalker? Fahd checks the floor for sign of the Stalker's passing, spots of blood perhaps.

Sense Motive on the Innkeep

Dice Sense Motive:

d20+6

(16)+6

Total = 22

Survival to see signs of Trotch's passing

Dice Survival:

d20+9

(11)+9

Total = 20

-rolls-

[Krimchee]

Silas eyed the blustering innkeeper suspiciously. Actually, he eyed everyone in the place suspiciously, especially the woman. If he could have drawn his blade without attracting undue notice he would have done so. "Where did it go?" Silas hissed intently, trying to keep his voice at a whisper. As the inkeeper directed them to the back room, Silas wondered at the man's motives. Were they about to walk into a trap?

sense motive Sense Motive Dice Roll: 1d20+4 (9)+4 Total = 13

[mountainbound]

Almost as soon as Silas asks his question, Dan follows with one equally pressing, "And what about a drink?"

Eyes nervously bouncing from each of your faces to the door, Randy says, "Yes, yes, come along, I got drink for you if you like. Just not in the common area. Come, I have news you'll want to hear." He waddles behind the bar and leads you out of the great room and into a stuffy kitchen where a huge kettle boils on a fire. The smell of bacon hits you in the face -- the remains of breakfast, but nothing is grilling at the moment.

As Randy thrusts a torch into the fire below the boiling water, he answers Silas: "It? You mean Trotch? He stormed in here with an arrow sticking out o' his chest. He was looking for his pal... er, Ratty. I told him to 'get the hell out of here!' I'll have no business with criminals -- 'cause I know that's really what he is, and so's his buddy too!" With his torch now lit, Randy grabs a bit of rope on the floor and yanks hard. A trapdoor opens with a squeak to a cold cellar, by the looks of it. "Come on," the innkeep says with some urgency. "Trotch stalked off toward his house after I kicked him out." Randy nods toward Fahd. "You'll know where it is, since you been living here a while. A way up the lane a little. But ifn it was yer bow that stabbed him, like I was guessing it was," he whispers to Silas, "then you'll be wanting to be careful. That man's got many friends, and many of them of a rough kind." He bites his lip and then lumbers down a set of steps huwn into the rock.

"Follow me lads, I got something that I think you'll want to see." The innkeep looks nervously up at you from a few steps into the cellar. "Come on, time's short!" he urges.

[Tangler]

Fahd: Current HP 12/12, Spirit Healing 2/6 remaining
AC16, AC12 flat-footed, AC16 touch, Fort/Ref/Will +6/4/5

Lynx: Current HP 21/21
AC 18, (AC12 flat-footed, AC17 touch, AC22 vs OA (Mobility), Fort/Ref/Will +4/8/2-status/defenses-

Fahd wishes Lynx was here to use her nose to tell him whether the innkeep was human. Randy's behavior is erratic, but if Trotch had passed through with an arrow sticking out of his chest that might unnerve anyone. The fact that Randy just mopped the floor, the swipe marks still apparent to Fahd's eyes, is also inconclusive.

"Trotch left out the front door?" Fahd asks, trying to estimate how far behind Trotch they could have been and wondering whether they shouldn't have seen Trotch as they approached the inn. Also, if Trotch did leave from the front door and head up the street, wouldn't the blood trail have continued, rather than ending at the doorway to the inn?

As Fahd looks down at Randy's facing looking back up at them from the stairs leading down to the cellar, Fahd waits for the answer to his question, his hand coming to rest on the leg bone hanging from his waist.

[mountainbound]

Randy takes another step down the stair, his torch flickering, but stops when Fahd asks his question. "He... uh, he left out the back door," the innkeep splutters. "But there's not time for that, no telling if he's hunting you right now! You'll be safe with me. Come on!" he says, waiting in a small room at the bottom of the stairs.

[Krimchee]

Silas looked down at the inn keeper. "Hunting us?" he said arching an eyebrow. He did not trust the man. Silas was not keen to follow the innkeeper into closer quarters where defending themselves would be much more difficult."Out the back door, you say?" He looked to his companions. "I say we follow the trail before it gets cold." He turned to look at Fahd. "If we're going to save these people from this abomination, we'd best get to it before it flaming changes form again." He turned back to the innkeeper. "What you call Trotch is not Trotch, but rather something that only looks and sounds like him. We thank you for your offer of safety sir, but we need to keep on the trail of this beast before someone else lands in its cookpot."

Silas starts to make for the back entrance.

Perception Check Dice Roll: 1d20+9 (7)+9 Total = 16

[Tangler]

Fahd: Current HP 12/12, Spirit Healing 2/6 remaining
AC16, AC12 flat-footed, AC16 touch, Fort/Ref/Will +6/4/5

Lynx: Current HP 21/21
AC 18, (AC12 flat-footed, AC17 touch, AC22 vs OA (Mobility), Fort/Ref/Will +4/8/2-status/defenses-

Fahd frowns down at the innkeep. Like Silas he doesn't trust the man and is reluctant to follow him down into the cellar. The same lack of trust convinces him that following the possibly false trail laid out by Randy, in the form of his stammering assertion that Trotch went out the back door, is unwise. Instead he decides on a different course. "Silas, wait! Before we go chasing off on a trail that may not exist, let's try one thing." The shaman walks back out into the common room and approaches the old woman. "Pardon me, madam. A man came in the front door right before us. Can you tell me which way he went?"

Sense Motive on the Woman

Dice Sense Motive:

d20+6

(16)+6

Total = 22

-rolls-

[mountainbound]

In the Kitchen - Silas and Dan Silas steps across the kitchen, eyes on the floor, in the direction of the back door to Barrett's Inn. From below the trapdoor, under the stair a hiss is expelled. Randy takes a step upward, his pasty hand creeping under his tunic, though no one was looking in his direction. Dan's eyes are on the many shelves of crockery, and below them, the many kegs of ale and wine. "What about that wine?" the young wizard muses. Silas just about to push the back door open when Randy spits: "You bloody blind fools. You don't know how big this all is. The bloody cornucopia! You think it belongs here in Archeebald?! Leave Relics to the Master, and know your place!" With that, Randy makes a quick motion and, using the hand not holding the torch, the innkeep flings a sleek knife from his hip -- up the stairs and at his unsuspecting target. Dan gasps, feeling three inches of steel erupt between his ribs and into his lungs. The wizard gags on an uprising of blood in his throat, stumbling back into a counter near the fire, while Randy leaps up the remaining few steps, another small knife in his hand. Combat Notes Dan is wounded by Randy's knife for 6 hp. Dan: 14/20HP, AC 14

In the Common Room - Fahd As Silas moves the check the back door, Fahd returns through the door to the common room, his face shrewd. Without preamble the spiritchaser stalks over to the woman sitting by the fire, wrapped in the cloak. She looks up at him with nothing less than abject loathing as he speaks. "Which way? I'll show you which way," she rises slowly, the cloak sliding from her shoulders to reveal a woman's body, middle aged, with the shaft of a broken arrow poking from below her right breast. "I'll show you which way, meddler!" Then without warning she lunges at Fahd, her hands suddenly aglow. Some foul arcane energy crackles hot in the healer's ears, but Fahd is able to step aside at the last, avoiding her deadly touch. From the corner booth, the two men playing chess exchange dark looks and rise up as well. A long curved dagger appears in the hand of each. Though these are men are quite a bit older than Fahd, they still have an experienced, hard look about them. Combat Notes The Woman, AC 18, Wounded. Her attack misses Fahd. There are two old veterans closing in.

[Tangler]

Fahd: Current HP 12/12, Spirit Healing 2/6 remaining
AC16, AC12 flat-footed, AC16 touch, Fort/Ref/Will +6/4/5

Lynx: Current HP 21/21
AC 18, (AC12 flat-footed, AC17 touch, AC22 vs OA (Mobility), Fort/Ref/Will +4/8/2-status/defenses-

That answers that is the thought that races through Fahd's mind as the old woman reveals herself, the broken arrow clear evidence that it is not only their latest kill whose form they can take. Fahd manages to avoid the woman's, or Trotch's as Fahd assumes the woman to be, attempt to touch him with her glowing hand, but when the two chess players stand and draw knives, Fahd understands that he is in trouble. Rather than attempt to take on the 3 enemies by himself, he moves back into the kitchen, readying his aklys as he moves. "The old woman is Trotch!" he blurts, putting his back to the door, before realizing the other implications of that fact, that Randy concealed Trotch's presence and must be working with him. The scene which greets him in the kitchen, though, especially the knife sticking from Dan's chest, quickly drives the point home.

 

Fahd withdraws to the kitchen, readying his aklys as part of the movement. If he can, he closes the door and puts his back to it (assuming there is an actual door between the rooms).

[Krimchee]

Silas had just been about to open his mouth to comment on the lack of tracks out back when all hell broke loose. He saw Dan take the knife and stumble, his mind numbly registering the blossom of red forming at Dan's side. Surpise and panic bloomed inside Silas. Silas drew his blade with a curse. He was about to jump down into the cellar when Fahd's voice shattered his thoughts, causing him to look toward's the door. Silas knew exactly which woman he was talking about.

Silas looked from the cellar to the dining room. They were being out manuvered and he knew it bloody well could turn into a flaming bloodbath if they didn't even the odds somehow. With his blade in hand, Silas tries franticly to close the trap door, and if not lock it, then put something heavy on it to slow down the inkeeper. He knew he had to get over to help Fahd soon. Fahd was probably Dan's only real chance of surviving such a serious wound.

rolls Perception Dice Roll: 1d20+9 (7)+9 Total = 16 Dexterity Dice Roll: 1d20 4

status Status AC 15 HP 21

[mountainbound]

Backpedaling quickly, Fahd avoids any contact with the bleeding, naked form of the woman. The older men are closing quick, but it's only a few steps to the door, and then the shaman is through, quickly propping himself against it in the kitchen. Bang! One of the men throws him weight against it. Bang! Fahd feels another heavy blow behind him, but continues to hold the door. As words of warning leave his lips, he watches the scene unfold in the kitchen.

Seeing the innkeep emerging from the cellar from the trapdoor, Silas makes a wild dash forward, rapier in hand. It's only a few bounds to the opening in the floor, and the opened lift-door is facing him... all it would take would be a quick kick to close it and shove Randy underground. But a funny thing happens as Silas makes his dash. His blade suddenly becomes heavy and, drooping just an inch low of its own accord, nicks the edge of a bowl of raw potatoes. The earthen bowl falls to the floor with a crash -- interrupting Silas's run and spilling several dozen freshly washed potatoes all over the kitchen.

Randy leaps up the last two steps, sneering at the bungled maneuver With Fahd using all his energy to hold the door, the innkeep's next target is wide open. He flings his knife straight for the shaman, and Fahd, rooted as he is, is unable to escape the blade. It enters his belly like a lance, hot red blood pouring forth. In the light of the single window in the kitchen, Fahd spies the flapping of dark wings outside, as though a bird was trying to get a better view of the battle.

Leaning over the counter, Dan grinds his teeth and pulls Randy's knife from his chest. Then, in a tone seldom heard, he points at his enemy, snarling a word. Just as Randy turns to face Silas, a curious expression appears on the innkeeper's face. He opens his mouth and furrows his brow, as though he just forgot what he was about to do.

Combat Notes Enemy Status Randy: AC 15, Undamaged. Dazed next round. Character Status Fahd: 5hp Damage. If you want to keep holding the door, roll a STR check, DC 17.

[Tangler]

Fahd: Current HP 12/12, Spirit Healing 2/6 remaining
AC16, AC12 flat-footed, AC16 touch, Fort/Ref/Will +6/4/5

Lynx: Current HP 21/21
AC 18, (AC12 flat-footed, AC17 touch, AC22 vs OA (Mobility), Fort/Ref/Will +4/8/2-status/defenses-

The Grackle?

Fahd tears his attention away from the flapping wings outside the window and attempts to focus on his next move. He is not a strong man, and is certain he can't continue to hold the door against the bodies throwing themselves against it from the other side. Randy's sudden inattention provides an opportunity. Ignoring the pain in his belly, Fahd moves past the innkeep to the other side of the kitchen then turns, ready to fling his aklys at whoever, whatever, comes through the door. He hopes that the sudden lack of resistance at the door will also throw them off balance.

Fahd moves away from the door and readies an attack.

Dice Ranged attack with aklys with Deadly Aim:

d20+4

(17)+4

Total = 21

Dice Damage:

d6+2

(5)+2

Total = 7

-actions/roll-