I was hoping if we use the song to make the count angry he would say something that would make the soldiers believe us when we acuse him of supporting necromancers.
The situation seems clear enough to you. Your ally is worn with the pains of battle and needs the aid of your healing song, arguably one of the most vaunted powers of the bardic arts. You change the tune upon your flute, and weave the spell into being. The song is clear and true, and you're certain that Hadrian is feeling the benefit of your actions.
Hadrian regains 4 HP. (9/23)
In unholy rage, the demon hand surges forward, moving towards Hadrian and the young soldier in a mass of flailing tentacles. The paladin gets his shield up just in time to ward off the punishing blows, but the young soldier who was inspired to stand by his side is not so fortunate. A tentacle bats away his spear a two others encircle around his waits and legs, raising him into the air. Then as they squeeze tightly, forcing the young man into a scream of pain, a fourth tentacle enters through his mouth, jamming down his throat in a sickening manner.
Hadrian is suddenly wrapped up about the waist as well and is likewise lifted, though he is still in possession of his sword and shield. He is now out of range of the hand itself.
Merik and Reina continue to circle, then at once spring at each other. Reina takes a vicious cut, but gives back an equally deep slice, with both warriors looking as though they are in need of healing.
Merik winces and clutches at his side, dabbing his fingers into the rent and glancing at the sticky wetness. He laughs darkly and then flicks his whip ready for another go, when a deep grow sounds from the shadows beside him.
"Mangy mutt!" He curses, knowing what is about to spring out at him. Zan's bulk launches itself at the torturer, who gets his arm up in time to save his throat from being immediately ripped apart. He stumbles backward towards the door to the kitchen area, shouting and stabbing frantically with his free sword arm.
Reina moves to follow but the Count intercepts her, having moved down the stairs and pointed his blade towards her.
"You'll not escape your fate, deepling. I shall end your evil ways and restore life to my beloved!"
"You call my ways evil, human? It is you who consorts with the foul powers of undeath!"
"No choice was given me! But I have the strength to do what must be done!" the count fires back, before launching himself at the elf.
(Party Decision Time!)
What is Elise's next action? (A)
1. Cast another illusion targeting the demon.
2. Cast an illusion targeting the Count.
3. Draw her mace and fight the demon hand.
4. Draw her mace and fight the Count.
5. Appeal to her goddess in the hopes that the divine healing powers are working in spite of the demon's presence.
6. Suggest a more devious plan.
What is Ariel's next action? (B)
1. Continue to sing her healing song on Hadrian.
2. Come out of hiding and attack the demon hand.
3. Use her healing song on the elf.
4. Sing a song to boost the remaining active soldiers' resolve.
5. Try to perform the dragonsong on the Count to make him reveal more about his plans.
6. Suggest a more daring plan.
Hadrian is in valiant paladin mode. He's going to be stabbing at evil.
A6: Assail both the Count and Merik with visions of the terrible horrors you have seen, driving their feeble, mortal minds far and beyond the edge of madness and depravity until they are but hollowed shells crumpled over in a pool of their own foul excrement and bile.
B6: Use your dragonsong to drive the Ash Hound into a wild, bloodied frenzy that he might rend your foes with a terrible and unholy strength then feast on their sundered and ruined corpses leaving naught but bones to pick his teeth with.
A6: Assail both the Count and Merik with visions of the terrible horrors you have seen, driving their feeble, mortal minds far and beyond the edge of madness and depravity until they are but hollowed shells crumpled over in a pool of their own foul excrement and bile.
B6: Use your dragonsong to drive the Ash Hound into a wild, bloodied frenzy that he might rend your foes with a terrible and unholy strength then feast on their sundered and ruined corpses leaving naught but bones to pick his teeth with.
A6: Assail both the Count and Merik with visions of the terrible horrors you have seen, driving their feeble, mortal minds far and beyond the edge of madness and depravity until they are but hollowed shells crumpled over in a pool of their own foul excrement and bile.
B6: Use your dragonsong to drive the Ash Hound into a wild, bloodied frenzy that he might rend your foes with a terrible and unholy strength then feast on their sundered and ruined corpses leaving naught but bones to pick his teeth with.
Okay we're going with the two suggested plans because suggested plans are neat.
But the dice are a fickle mistress. Elise' illusion spirals out of control!
Your eyes are drawn to Merik and you feel a swell of hatred and malice overcome you. This man has defiled and humiliated you, and you wish nothing more for him to meet an inglorious and painful end. The shadow-dire-wolf thing seems hungry and savage enough, but you decide to use your dragonsong, hoping to bolster its fury and ensure that Merik is torn limb from limb for his wrongdoings.
The spell of dragon rage that you weave around the wolf takes hold, and its eyes flare with eldritch energy. Merik screams as the jaws snap with horrid strength and tear clean through his arm. The man pales and watches as his blood begins to pour out in a gush.
Zan, tosses the ragged and detached forearm to the side, then mercilessly bites and tears away at the other, which is still held up in a defensive position. With both his arms sundered by the wolf's bloody maw, there's nothing left for Merik to do but scream in anguish as the wolf seizes his neck and with a great rip, leaves nothing but a pulpy mess where Merik's throat used to be.
It is at this moment that Elise' illusion channeling finishes, and the priestess knows full well that this spell has gotten out of control. The magic surges forth inexorably, like the coming of a tide, but she will regret letting it loose.
Instantly the entire room is plunged into darkness. The sound of battle dims to a whisper, replaced in prominence by the sound of many voices chanting in unison in a forgotten, blasphemous tongue. From every direction in the darkness, glowing eyes appear, watching you. You feel invisible, clawed hands reaching up to touch you. Their touch feels real, along with the pain of their raking fingers upon your flesh.
You hear Hadrian shout in frustration within the darkness, followed quickly by the heavy clatter of metal on stone. Something rotten with the smell of sulfur and bile passes by you, and you swear you feel the brush of tentacles against your leg.
The air around you becomes intensely cold. The invisible hands continue to paw at you, and though you get up to move, you feel as though you cannot escape them. Terrible, saliva-ribboned maws appear with shining, jagged teeth among the wall of eyes that surrounds you. You scream, as fear grips your heart. How long must this last? Have you been transported to some personal hell?
Until you can spend time to rest and recover from the horrible effects of the spell, you are confused and take -1 penalty to Wisdom (includes perception).
Your perception of space and time is removed, and therefore, when these visions do fade, you're unsure of how much time you have spent curled up in a fetal position on the stone floor of the main hall.
Hadrian and the soldiers lie not far from you, all of them looking ashened faced. Kitty-Elise kneels about a dozen yards away from you, her face shaking and buried in her hands. Of the strange elf, the Count, there is no obvious sign. The demon hand is not here, but a trail of black blood leads obviously to an open side door.
Zan, the wolf, appears to be feasting on the remains of Merik. The fight is over for now, unless you wish to do away with the remaining soldiers.
The youthful soldier that fought up front with Hadrian looks to be dead. His eyes are open, glazed over, and unmoving. The other two older hands are still in shock from their visions brought on by Elise' miscast. You seem to have recovered quicker than they.
What's next?
1. Kill the guards before they can recover.
2. Spare the guards, see if they are willing to tell you what they know.
3. Get Hadrian and Elise and run. Leave this keep and town and try to find someplace safe to recover.
4. Search for signs of where the elf and count went.
You hurry over to the place you last saw the count and the elf. There's no tracks that you can perceive, but the sound of thunder and rain draws your attention to the open door leading to the stone corridor that overlooks the cliff face and leads to the tower.
"He must have taken her down that way," you muse.
Hadrian steps besides the young soldier and passes his hand across the boy's face to close his eyes. Turning to the remaining two soldiers, he points his bloody sword at them both. They remain seated on the ground, still recovering from whatever horrors Elise's spell showed to them.
"Did you know of the necromantic blasphemy in the dungeons?" He asks them pointedly.
The two look at one another and then back at the paladin. At length, one of them speaks up.
"Not for certain, sir. Though we did have our doubts - it was our duty to serve our count. We believe in Count Ivan sir. He's a good man, for a noble."
Hadrian looks non-plussed at that comment. You recall that Hadrian is from a noble family, as are you, though his is far closer to the royal blood. The guardsman hurriedly continues.
"The county was becoming quite prosperous, ever since the Count married his beloved Countess, Christobel, from Pouros in the south. All the people loved her as he did, and it was her sudden sickness that was the cause of our troubles. First herself, then others in the town. The count had her locked up at the top of the tower, and he bade many riders to go to the cities to search for someone to find a cure. D'Graz showed up only a few days later - said he had a solution, if he could get his hands on some book. Ever since he brought his acolytes and thugs along, the countess' life has been on a knife's edge, and people have gone sick, mad, or missing. To be truthful, sir, we were hopeful that your quest to the temple would be the end of all this. But D'Graz ordered us to suddenly keep an eye out on you, and the count, he confirmed the order, so we did as we were told, for love of the Count and his bride."
Hadrian considered this and eventually nodded.
"I give you both my word, if your Count is innocent in the eyes of Jorn, he shall be shown mercy. I'll not ask you to forsake your duty and aid me directly against him, but I ask that you remain here, tend to your wounded and dead, and keep an eye out for the demonic presence that still threatens your lands and people. I will go now to ensure that justice is done. Do you understand?"
The two guards nodded their heads. "Yes sir knight... Sir Hadrian. May Jorn guide your blade."
The paladin continued on towards Elise, who seemed to have at last recovered from her own vision.
"Th-the power..." she mutters. "The touch of godhood is too much sometimes. But I feel the Goddess' presence return as the demon retreats. My priestly powers return to me. I shall beseech her to heal your wounds."
The catgirl priest extends a hand to the heavens and mutters a prayer. Hadrian's body is momentarily covered in moonlight, and some of his deeper wounds knit back into smooth skin.
Harian regains 8 HP. 17/23 HP
The two of them move beside you. Hadrian places a hand on your shoulder.
"Are you all right? I had to find another way around and the demon waylaid me."
"You look hard at the torn apart corpse of Merik and grit your teeth.
"I'll live," you say. "The elf though... she and the count went through there. I think whatever he has planned for her, it isn't good."
"It sounds to me that D'Graz is possibly manipulating the count," Elise offers.
"Agreed, but to what extent is unknown. Count Ivan may have allowed himself to be manipulated, and if so, then it has been at the cost of his own people." Hadrian says gruffly.
"Let's not dally here then," you say, pulling your rapier free of its scabbard. "To the tower."
~~~
No more guards await you in the corridor, nor on the other side of the door at the far end, where the stairwell leading up to the top of the tower begins. The three of you scale the stairs, coming to a lone doorway, which Hadrian finds to be unlocked. You burst into the high tower room to encounter a strange sight and a rotting smell.
The tower is lit by multiple flaming braziers. A crude stone alter has been constructed in the center, and the stone floor is festooned with ritual lines and the bones of various animals. A pulpit stands over the alter, to which Reina is shackled to by her feet and wrists. She struggles fruitlessly against the chains. Beside her, a sweating Count Ivan nurses a fresh cut down his cheek, likely made by one of the elf's discarded knives.
At the pulpit, holding the book of Roze, stands D'Graz. Sitting in an ornate chair next to him is a pale, sickly looking young woman whose body has become almost skeletal in appearance. She seems distracted and her eyes are rolled up towards the back of her head. Her long blonde hair is dirty and tousled, and her fingernails are long and caked with dirt and grime. Her frail body i wrapped about several times with heavy chains and a skull totem has been placed about her neck with a leather band.
At your entrance, the frail girl turns her vacant eyes in your direction and in a quiet voice strains to plea to you:
"H...helllp me... I'm so hungry... so tired and hungry... they... they don't feed me. They keep me locked here..."
The count moves to her side, looking as though he wants to touch her imploringly, but D'Graz barks at him as he draws near.
"No! My count. Not now, not when we are so close. In a matter of minutes, you will have saved your precious countess. Do not hinder the ritual."
The Count's fists clench, when he looks at D'Graz with a mixture of disgust and hatred.
"It had better work.... Do what must be done, sorcerer!" He then turns to the bound countess and his voice changes, becomes caring and doting. "Don't worry my love. We'll soon save you from this disease. The secrets of the book will give you new life. A new body in which to live."
"What is this MADNESS! In the name of Jorn, explain yourselves!" Hadrian demands, his sword out and moving into a ready position to attack.
D'Graz points a ringed finger at the Paladin.
"You will not stop this, white knight! The countess' life depends upon this ritual's completion. By trading the life of a deep elf spy, who's very existence is dedicated to the evils that your order scorns so deeply, I can save the eternal soul of this noble bride. The Book of Roze holds the key to the transfer ence of souls! I will grant the countess the eternal beauty of this fae creature, and condemn an evil thing to a foul death that it so richly deserves."
"Hadrian! They lie! I am no deep elf! Save me!" Reina implores.
"Enough talk from you!" The count shouts. "I will have my beloved Christobel restored. I don't care about the cost! And I shall not let you meddling interlopers stop this!"
The count moves to bar your way, placing himself between Hadrian and Reina.
"Indeed!" D'Graz adds, lifting a gnarled wand of bone and chanting a dark spell. At his beckoning, the scattered bones littering the floor shudder and then skitter across the stones to bond together into nightmarish skeletons that claw their way toward you.
The countess looks at you imploringly.
"Please... let me free... I feel... I feel I will soon die... if I can't..." the countess appears to swoon, and the skull totem that rests on her breast begins to glow with an eerie green aura.
What does Ariel do?
1. Dragonsong the count to make him attack his allies.
2. Normal aiding song to increase Hadrian's combat ability.
3. Attack the skeletons with your sword.
4. Try to duck past the skeletons to free the elf.
5. Try to duck past the skeletons to attack D'Graz.
6. Try to duck past the skeletons to remove that skeleton totem from the countess.
Damn, this is a tough one. Part of me wants to rush in and grab that totem thing, but a) who knows what might happen if we touch it while it's glowing and b) D'Graz is right next to her. Similarly, part of me wants to go straight for D'Graz, but there are skeletons and the count between us. Attacking the skeletons is probably (mostly) useless, as D'Graz can likely keep summoning them no matter how many times we knock them down. Side note: I really fucking hate necromancers.
Playing a song to boost Hadrian is never a bad idea, but I doubt it is the best idea, either. And, again, there is too much stuff going on to warrant attempting to free the elf, even though another ally could be useful. SO, after careful internal deliberation, I vote 5. If Hadrian can distract the count, we can use our nimble bard/ninja dexterity to bob and weave through the undead mob and aim for the summoner. Our sword is out, so we can use it to parry any attacks. Our focus should be on separating D'Graz from the book and his wand. We might need him alive to undo things.
You decide to rely on your speed to bypass the wall of skeletons that bars the way between yourself and the necromancer. You duck one way, twirl, and attempt to spin in another direction, but the bony hands clutch your already torn dress and hold you fast, causing you to tumble down to your knees with a painful thud!
Critical failure on your dex test! Ariel takes 4 damage! (6/18 HP)
The two nearest skeletons overwhelm you, pushing you down to the floor.
Hadrian confronts the count, their blades flashing and parrying one another in a furious exchange of blows, but Hadrian is the more seasoned fighter, and as his shield catches the Count's strike, the knight plunges his longsword straight into the gut of the noble, whose eyes bulge in shock at the sudden impalement.
As the count slumps down to his knees, Elise holds up her arms in an invocation to her goddess, she chants a prayer of turning, that the summoned undead might be rebuked.
D'Graz waves his wand in her direction and the other two skeletons not engaged with you fling themselves at the catgirl priestess. Before her invocation can complete, she is tackled by the boney foes and pinned violently to the floor as well.
Invocation failure! Skeltons hit for 5 damage! (9/19 HP)
As the count slides off of Hadrian's blade, his eyes turn to his beloved countess, his bloodied arm stretching towards her.
"Christobel... you must... you must bring her back..."
D'Graz stops his chanting of the spell and with a wicked grin, addresses the dying count.
"Ah, Count Ivan... you've fallen before the paladin's might. Such a shame your vaunted sword arm could not save you. With your death, the geas you've had me under is ended. Now I need no longer fulfill the debt, and am free to return to my studies." The necromancer laughs darkly. "Such a simple thing it was to use your wife as leverage! Now she may remain here as a ghoul queen!"
"No! Hnnh... bastard! I'll see you in hell for this!" The count rages weakly as blood trickles out of his mouth.
"I doubt that very much! Your spirit will haunt your dead corpse. You shall serve me in death!"
With a final cough of blood, the life begins to rapidly drain from the counts' eyes.
"Christobel... I've failed you..." are his last words, and he lies still.
Hadrian survey's the situation. D'Graz is now raising his wand again to invoke yet another necromantic spell, but both Ariel and Elise are in immediate danger from the skeletons raking at them. He must decide what to do.
1. Help Ariel escape the skeletons.
2. Help Elise escape the skeletons.
3. Leave both girls to fight on their own and try to engage D'Graz before he can unleash his next spell.
