Battle & Breeding

[arivia]

Re: Battle & Breeding

"Oh no! Poor Darla!" gasped the nun, almost distraught. "She must be almost dead, we have to hurry! If she's still in the hermitage, the Mother Superior locked her in there, probably for some penance. She was the only one with the opening phrase! We need to get into her chambers!"

"Oh god, I hope she wasn't taken away! She always had her key on her!"

The nun tried to get up, but quickly swooned, back into bed. The imp rushed over, looking concerned. It appeared that he wanted to say something about the Mother Superior's body on the altar, but thought better of it.

"I... I can't... Please, you have to promise to free her!"

Party Actions (when you're done talking):
---Go to the hospital
---Go to the garden
---Go to the chapel

 

[Zilrax]

Re: Battle & Breeding

"We will hurry. I can help her once we get to her, though it will exhaust me. Rest, we will go."

Faeyna turned, preparing to head to the chapel, hurrying to help the girl. She hoped they weren't too late. To starve was an awful way to die... She'd mourn deeply if she failed to help a fellow student.

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Battle & Breeding

"Twas the plan to help the little one trapped, ungi. Come, let us free her." Karaz declared, leaving unsaid that they'd go to the body on the alter, and collect the key.

(Vote to go to the altar, collect the key from the nun, and use it to free the girl. Unless the key is meant for her chambers. Then to the chambers we go.)

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Battle & Breeding

"No worries on that. Her corpse is still on the altar, way we understand it. We can't get in though, and we're... Pretty badly fucked up right now. Hopefully there won't be anything between us and there, because if there is..." Arkeia left her comments unfinished. They were in no shape to fight anyway right now, and if they were forced into combat it would probably be disastrous. "You wouldn't happen to know how to get into the mother superior's room, would ya?"

(I vote rest, but if that's not an option go to the chapel I think.)

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Battle & Breeding

Alia sighed, preparing to move out as well. "Guess there's no point waiting any further." The mage picked herself up from her sitting place, ready to go. "The sooner we deal with that, the sooner we can wrap this up and get out." She'd follow the rest to the altar, hoping there'd be no complications on the way.

(Go to chapel.)

 

[arivia]

Re: Battle & Breeding

"She's dead? the nun whispered. "I... I suppose... it's better than... being taken..." she stuttered, beginning to sob as the girls left.

The carnage of the courtyard was nothing compared to the devastation in the chapel. Scores of corpses littered the shattered pews, most scorched by the holy fire of the more powerful priestesses of the sun. Thankfully, between the charring and protection from the rain, the stench, while unpleasant, was bearable. A number of alcoves stocked with unobtrusive supply cabinets lined the walls, most of which had been raided, but a few remained untouched. A long yellow carpet stretched from the broken doors across the large, tall, round chamber, ending at a dais at the far end, topped with an altar surrounded by large stained glass windows, most of which had shattered. The altar was crusted with dried blood, and atop it lay the corpse of a strong bodied but elderly nun, her face twisted into a final expression of pain and defiance. There was no mistaking the fatal wound; the thin, black handled dagger was still buried in her breast, piercing her heart.

Room Actions:
---Search the alcoves (autosuccess)
---Search the MOther Superior's corpse (autosuccess)
---MND+Survival DC 13 to search the bodies without being sickened
---MND+Communication DC 15 to commune with and cleanse the defiled altar
---STR+Physical or MND+Subterfuge DC 15 to reveal a secret
---DEX+Subterfuge DC 14 to pick the lock on the alms box
---MND+Knowledge DC 14 to find a bit of magic

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Battle & Breeding

Karaz steps up to the mother superior's body, and moves to remove the dagger from her breast before searching her body. "Looks like ya fought hard, Ungi. You 'ave my respect." Karaz nodded.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Battle & Breeding

Charsheet

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hilariously, so I guess it fits the fluff I had planned.


"Someone... Ought to do something about all this. Last time we left an altar corrupted it... Din't end too well fer us," Arkeia said softly, but not being a religious sort herself didn't make any move to do so herself. She wouldn't have even been sure what she ought to do.

In the meantime, that left her with a difficult decision. There were a few alcoves left untouched that she could pick through, but in a place like this they probably wouldn't have much of value. The alms box was a favored target when raiding a place like this, and it would be almost child's play to pick the thing open and take the coin within. For some reason, however, doing so in a place like this felt... Wrong. The mother superior's sacrifice in the face of genuine evil stared her in the face as she walked in, and haunted her back as she walked around the altar to the alm's box.

She knelt in front of it, testing the lock. Simple. Easy. She could have picked something like this with a minimum of effort. But... As she set her picks to work, her heart simply wasn't in it. She let out a frustrated grumble as the lock refused to give, glanced back at the altar, and then back at the lockbox. Reaching a decision, Arkeia withdrew her lockpicks and placed them away, instead opting to lift the entire box and shake it gently. Unless it was empty, she opted to pack the whole thing, and if anyone looked her way she would simply grunt; "It ought to go back to the church, or if not them one of the two leftover."

 

[Zilrax]

Re: Battle & Breeding

Faeyna grimaced at the carnage within, moving up to the altar in question. "I do not like them but they battled hard. Hopefully I can ensure their souls will move into the cycle properly."

She sighs and moves to the altar and sits before it, concentrating best she can as she opened herself to her goddess, trying her best to undo the darkness here.

(

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Fail)

But she couldn't quite overpower the darkness here. "I'm too weak. We shouldn't linger long anyways. There's a girl who's life is on the line."

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Battle & Breeding

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passed.

While Arkeia was busy retrieving the offering box, Karaz was taking care of the dead nun and Faeyna tried to purify the altar, Alia once more found herself drawn to something. There was magic hidden here, she picked up on this almost immediately. A rudimentary search quickly confirmed her suspicion, while a slightly more thorough one allowed her to pinpoint it's location. Whatever it was, the woman wanted to remove it from this place quickly. This once sacred place was defiled now, sending shivers down her spine. And the death of the head nun, regardless of any sins she might have commited in life, was still tragic. The mage wouldn't wish for anyone to go out like this, as a sacrifice.

 

[arivia]

Re: Battle & Breeding

Alia held her breath as she flipped the corpse of the goblin, clearly struck down while fleeing the battle. Whatever magic the little greenskin had stolen was hers now. And what a prize it was: a bracelet of woven leather or sinue, sparkling with iridescent green drake scales; a popular accessory at magical academies. The orcs had no tradition of arcane magic; it could only have been left behind by a dark elf. With any luck, the nuns had killed one then, but then why weren't there any dark elf corpses?

[The bracelet is a Spell Essence for Mage Armor]

Suddenly icy air swirled as Karaz removed the dagger, and thick white mist coiled across the ground, spinning and swirling as it wriggled towards the defiled altar. The ominous tendrils twisted and joined, until they had formed a bust of the cold mist. It was the Mother Superior, with her face as proud and frigid as a lich king. The ghost of the nun stared at Karaz balefully, the looked across to the other girls. "Who are you? How dare you pile your defilement on this already fallen church!" she bellowed, her voice like a knife. She was not attacking yet, but she looked deeply unhappy. The girls would need to tread carefully to avoid a fight.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Battle & Breeding

Alia's face lit up as she took the bracelet and quickly slipped it on. Now this was a nice find, it'd make casting her protective magic much easier on her. Still, the question of it's origins remained. It had to be something made by dark elves, but why was it left behind? There were no elf corpses, though they might have been taken by their retreating allies to cover up their presence. Perhaps the goblin managed to loot the bracelet of off a fallen mage before being picked off. Still, this was not a perfect explanation. There could have been some other reason for the bracelet to be here. Still, she had not enough clues to piece anything better together.

When the undead nun rose from the altar, raised by it's corrupt energies, the mage immediately felt like panicking. Another undead, especially as powerful as that one to fight? No, that was not good. They were not in the shape for another battle so soon. "Wait! Please wait!" Tervin pleaded, rushing to calm the angry mother superior down, hoping she'd be reasonable at least a bit. "We're not here to defile anything! We're adventurers! We've been hired to investigate what happened here and recover any property or relics for the church of Saale." Hopefully the explanation would placate her.

"Also... We kinda want to save that novice locked up outside of the convent. She's been there for a long time and is probably dying by now. We need the password to open the doors, though, since they're protected by potent magic." Alia added, bringing up the group's current problem. "We've been told you knew the password, and figured it might have been stored somewhere in your quarters, but we don't have the key... We mean no disrespect, we really do. We're just trying to save a life and bring all that might still be recovered back into the hands of the church, where it belongs." The mage bowed her head with respect. "We're sorry for disturbing you."

 

[arivia]

Re: Battle & Breeding

"Adventurers? Hah!" the stern ghost sneered, "Little better than thieves and whores, or worse! You have no place here! Free the child, then leave. And take her with you; I would have sent here away anyway. She doesn't have the temperament to do real good." she finished, staring the girls down.

(she's letting you take the key, but the idol you came to retrieve is probably hidden somewhere in the chapel...)

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Battle & Breeding

When the mother superior appeared, Karaz pocketed the knife before folding her arms in thought. She had already taken many wounds. She had to imagine fighting another super spiritual being would be perhaps too much. Plus, she didn't have any immediate beef with this woman. So, Karaz pondered, before perhaps trying to speak to the woman. Maybe honesty would do well here. "We're mostly here to find out what happened, ungi." she declared. "Believe you me, if I was here just to rob you, I wouldn't have removed what lay buried in your chest and attempt to put your body into a proper burial. Once we save that girl trapped outside, that'll be two nuns we've saved so far. I'm not sure how much proof you need that this is a mission of honesty." she shrugged, shaking her head. "That being said, we were told to learn what we can about a certain statue, an idol, that you possessed. We weren't told of the significance, but apparently what our employer wanted to know most is if it fell into the hands of the enemy. We're getting paid for information and rescue, not robbery." She lied a little, but only just a little. It'd help that she would be willing to change her objectives if it made this woman more compliant.

"How did they breach through your defenses? Another church down the way wants to know, in case they ever get attacked like you. And what is this idol they're so worried about?"

 

[arivia]

Re: Battle & Breeding

"Scum of a traitor defiled our protective barrier. I can only pray my order makes her end slow and painful." the old nun said with unrestrained hatred. "And it should be my own order that retrieves the reliquary of Saint Lissia, not a group of ragtag ruffians, and certainly not a lizard-bitch!" she spat. "But," she said, softening somewhat at Karaz's explanation, "In the situation, it's safety is more important than adherence to doctrine... Fine, bring me one of the nuns you've rescued, and I will reveal it's location. You would never be able to bypass it's defenses without one of our order anyway. I hope for your sake you have a better sister than the whelp in the hermitage though; clumsy, useless thing that she is! Take the key to my quarters that remains on my body; the passphrase is bookmarked in my copy of 'The Illumination. I would ask you to return the book to a temple of Saale. They will know what to do with it."

Party Actions (unless you want to talk some more):
---To the Mother Superior's Quarters
---To fetch the pregnant nun
---Somewhere else

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Battle & Breeding

Charsheet

While she wasn't one to show fear easily, there were a handful of preprogrammed responses that sailors had to sightings of ghosts and phantoms. A naturally superstitious lot given the perilous nature of their profession, ghosts were seen as ill omens on ship, and the way one responded to them basically fell into one of a handful of categories. One was to try and be rid of them, a popular option in theory but often harder in practice. Arkeia discounted that notion right away while edging away from the ghostly mother superior.

The second was to try and reason with it, to appease it so that it would go away without levering a curse upon the hapless person who had been confronted with it. Karaz seemed to be trying that, which was all well and good, and led nicely into the third option that Arkeia was currently employing. Which was to simply not be noticed, to be as invisible to it as possible, and as she nudged around the room she would do just that, face frozen into a mask of fear as she did her very best to avoid the ghost's attention.

(Arkeia is unwilling to talk to ghosty-nun, or to speak much at all until well away. I, uhhh, think bringing the pregnant nun here might be a bad idea though. Or even mentioning her, for that matter. Going to her chambers to get the key to free the other nun might be best plan.)

 

[Mamono Assault Force]

Re: Battle & Breeding

(Yes, pregnant nun is the traitor. Going to say that they have a secured path for the nuns to run away on, and they can only bring the shitty nun.)

"Oh, we need the nuns we saved? Well, krut." Karaz cursed. "The nuns we saved, we told em to get out back to the temple we hail from. We didn't want to protect a bunch of people while tryin' to protect ourselves against zombie nuns and goblins." she grunted. "So, sorry to say, but the worthless nun you 'ave locked up will have to do. I doubt we could convince the nuns who're runnin' away to come back anyhow." Karaz announced.

Hell, if only the traitor wasn't an issue. But, maybe things can work out anyhow. "Aye, we'll return any trinkets we find to the other temple. They assumed this place mostly robbed after the attack, though they told us to secure anything that looks important and bring it back lest some actual scavenger makes off with it and charges the church all of it's wealth for it's return."

"Come on, ungi! Let us go to the chambers, find that book, and the passphrase so we can save the little girl stuck in that building 'afor she dies."

After leaving, leading the way to the mother superior's room, Karaz grinned. Where others saw trash, she saw treasure. Whoever this girl is, she'll make for a fine minion.

 

[Zilrax]

Re: Battle & Breeding

Faeyna grimaced mentally. Another Lost, one of the worst kind too. One with enough will to maintain it's soul on this plain through sheer emotion. Just one short jump from Defiled in many ways. Sending one such as this to the beyond would be far too much for one such as herself.

Given the sheer hatred directed her way, she considered it prudent to keep her mouth shut and stay quiet. Let those she considered at least barely worth something to talk. She hoped they kept the traitor quiet. Looks like they had similar plans.

She followed the others out. The poor acolyte. Hopefully she'd be able to help them. The girl likely was in poor shape and had little desire to linger long most likely. Such barbaric people she had fallen in with. And they called her people uncivilized monsters. Hmph. Well, hopefully she found her own way. Faeyna was mostly hoping this all would pay off enough for her to get into all the dancing classes she wanted. This was such an awful experience overall.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Battle & Breeding

Alia sighed as she retreated, letting Karaz handle the irate ghost. For all her seemingly simple personality and ill temper, the dwarf was quite clever. Still, the group was in a bind. Unless she dead nun agreed to pass the idol to the novice, they'd likely have to figure out a way to remove her from the picture. Otherwise, they might not recover the statue. Truth be told, the mage actually felt she wouldn't mind banishing the dead woman, she was getting on her nerves quite spectacularly. Seriously, this was why she didn't buy into religion. Bunch of ignorant dipshits and nutcases.

Still, Tervin was able to find some amusing irony in the fact that the so-called traitor might be closer to Saale than the venomous mother superior now. She went with the rest of the group, going towards the head nun quarters, speaking up only after they were out of earshot. "Well, that was a fine mess." She muttered. "What are we going to do with her? Not sure how I like the thought of having an undead nun running around the place. Gods only know what she might get up to."

(Head to mother superior quarters.)

 

[arivia]

Re: Battle & Breeding

The Mother Superior's chambers were not as expected. Rather than expanding on the slightly softer and more luxurious chambers the senior nuns enjoyed, the Mother Superior chose an even harsher and less comfortable lifestyle. What appeared to be at least a comfortable bed went totally unused, replaced with a pile of straw and a wool blanket lying nearby. Similarly, the armchair and wide deck were left to gather dust, the Mother Superior instead favoring a milking stool and lapboard. The large, polished wood bookshelf remained in use however, covered in finely illuminated and exotic tomes. The Mother Superior's personal holy book stood out, however; a cheap and tattered copy among the valuable volumes.

But then there were the trophies, an entire wall full of the horrible staring things. Snarling beast and black horned demons, painted orcs and scarred beastmen, a mighty drake and even, to Faeyna's great displeasure, lizardfolk. Glass-eyed and ever-watchful, they stared down the girls, guarding the room like gargoyles as the girls turned to their tasks.

Room Actions:
(I'll assume someone can get the book no matter what tasks are picked. Also reminder that Grifbo is back, and can give +3 to a task of Karaz's choice)
---MND+Knowledge DC 14 to pick out the most valuable books. Bonus at DC 18.
---STR+Physical DC 15 to break into the magically locked wardrobe
---MND+Subterfuge DC 16 to find a hidden switch
---DEX+Subterfuge DC 13 to pick the lock on the jewelry box on the desk.
---MND+Survival DC 14 to take the remnant power from the trophies
---STR+Survival DC 14 to pry the valuable trophies from the wall

Party Actions:
---Go back for the nun
---Search thoroughly
---Rest