Castle Amber: A D&D Adventure

Gizmog · Post by **Gizmog** » Thu Jun 04, 2015 10:22 am

Voulton hacks at the nearest bear, furiously complaining to anyone in earshot "The bears back home don't use strategy! What kind of awful place is this?!"

Spoonweaver · Post by **Spoonweaver** » Thu Jun 04, 2015 11:57 pm

Lynda and Rachelle dived into the bears. Lynda used her magic sword to fly over one of the dire bears as she struck at it, while Rachelle jumps on top and smacked at the lead dire bear. Voulton noticed the bear Rachelle was currently riding seemed more grizzled than the others. He decided he should focus on this bear or Rachelle might be in serious danger. He brought his axe down upon the lead bear. Meanwhile, Rob did his best to strike at the bear facing him while keeping his distance. Blood and fur were tossed into the air as the party struck into the bears.
Then the bears tore into the party. Lynda was the first to get clawed. Two of the bears were facing her. One clawed her across the back while one clawed her stomach. The wounds were deep but not as bad as Rachelle's would be. The bear Rachelle was on top of flipped over and grappled her. His teeth sunk deep into her shoulder and his claws raked across her chest. Rachelle raged even harder as the bear clamped tight onto her. Rob, try as he might, wasn't able to avoid another attack and took a claw to the side. The bears had tore into the party and seemed like they were just getting started.

Rachelle deals 37 dmg
Voulton deals 35 dmg
Lynda deals 11 dmg
Rob deals 5 dmg

Lynda takes 27 dmg
Rachele takes 39 dmg
Rob takes 13 dmg

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 12:20 am

Kalar gags as an insect flies into his mouth as he's sprinting. He's about to start coughing when he remembers he doesn't breathe any more. Still. Yuck.

"Cripes, the others must be having it real easy right about now."

Master K · Post by **Master K** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 12:53 am

Lynda uses the sword to fly straight up in to the air, out of range of the bears.

She will then fly over to a safer spot. She will then take off her amulet, which will hopefully give her some refuge from the bears attacks...she will then take out her bow and fire at the bears.

She will use Manyshot

Feenicks · Post by **Feenicks** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 3:34 am

Rachelle attempts to get out from under the dire bear, seeing as she doesn't have much time to live if she doesn't get herself free.

If she does get herself free... she's running to a safe distance, if only so that she can recover and try and find where their last party member has got himself.

And if she doesn't manage to get out from under the bear... I guess that's curtains for her?

Gizmog · Post by **Gizmog** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 5:58 am

Voulton keeps hacking at the bears!

Spoonweaver · Post by **Spoonweaver** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 7:13 am

Rachelle was strong. When she raged she could perform feats no other elf she had ever heard of could dream of doing. But, this was a bear. Bears were naturally gifted with a massive amount of strength. To top it off, this bear seemed stronger than any bear she had ever seen before. Her rage built up into a flurry and the bear sank it's teeth deeper into her. She pushed with all of her might. She could feel the bear moving, freedom would soon at hand...

Rob rode by and struck the bear again. This time he managed to get far enough away and avoided being hit back. The bear looked to be getting frustrated. Lynda leaped away from the two bears she was facing. A quick yank of her amulet changed her into her less tanglable form. A form she hoped would defeat these bears. She readied her bow after landing safely away from the fray. When she looked back at the bears, she couldn't help but gasp.

The bears attacking Lynda quickly turned to a new target. Rob had galloped far away, and Voulton was behind the lead bear. Rachelle never stopped thrashing as the three bears tore her apart. Voulton watched as pieces of his comrade were scattered. A blind rage filled his half giant heart. He was only partially aware of the strike that killed the lead bear. Voulton's next strike sunk deep into another bear, wounding it harshly. Voulton stood over Rachelle's remains facing down two dire bears.

Voulton deals 41 and 38 dmg
Rob deals 10 dmg

Rachele takes 72 dmg

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 2:37 pm

Rob feels sick to his stomach. Moments ago he had been making up mocking rhymes about these bears, and now they had killed Rachelle. Rob felt personally responsible. His attitude had affected the others, and caused them to underestimate the bears, and rush in recklessly.

Rob casts Mirror Image on himself, and charges with a cloud of illusions. His goal is to distract the bears long enough for Voulton to either flee to safety or take another of them down with his axe-- and he hopes he can do it without getting himself killed.

He will attempt another ride-by attack if it is convenient, but if not, his priority is just to distract-and-evade the bears.

Master K · Post by **Master K** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 4:57 pm

Lynda screams and collapses to the ground in terror. She had not counted on Rachelle dying like this. After withstanding the castle and all its terrors, petrification, a colossus, and a horde of inquisitors, it was bears that would be her death. Rachelle had a few valuables on her, but Lynda wasn't inclined to charge in and get them.

She reached for the sword, but decided against retaliation. It would be foolish to charge back in for revenge, as it would result in senseless death. Lynda gathered her gear, and rummaged through her inventory.

"Nothing, nothing, nothing!" Lynda shouts furiously. "It's all useless! Of all the magic items I have, nothing will kill these hellspawn! Why..."

Lynda puts her hands on her head, and then realizes the one magic item that could possibly save them.

"I can fix this..." She thinks, looking at her hand. "It might be what we need."

Lynda clutches her ring frantically, and tries to invoke it.

"I wish that Voulton, Rob, Stumpy, Kalar and his minions, Rachelle, Myself, and our wagon would be magically transported to the nearby vicinity of the lair of Moriamis right now!"

Spoonweaver · Post by **Spoonweaver** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 10:50 pm

Being too far away from Lynda to here her quiet plea, everyone was quite shocked when they appeared deep in the forest. The shock did not fade quickly as the party looked around. Voulton and Rob were in the middle of battle and weren't able to cool down right away. Where had the dire bears gone? A familiar farm house nearby gave some of the party members a strong clue to their location before Lynda explained everything. As she motioned towards the ring she used during her explanation, Lynda noticed it had crumbled to ash. The party gathered around Rachelle torn up corpse. She was far beyond saving through conventional means.

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 2:11 am

"What in the blazes happened to all of you? Hold on for a minute."

Kalar uses his glove on everyone, healing them back up and making sure they are in top condition. Except for Rachelle, that is.

He looks at Rachelle's corpse, thinking.

"Right, lads. I can't do it today, but tomorrow I will be able to preserve her corpse. That way, we'll be able to transport her more easily. Right now though, we have all been through a lot and, as you can see from my face, I have a great deal of information to share regarding my recent developments. I suggest we set up camp for now."

He looks around, taking in the surroundings.

"If I'm not mistaken, this is near Moriamis' headquarters, is it not? Might not be a good idea to barge into their lair unannounced. If we set up camp nearby, they're sure to discover us. Might be better to let them invite us back in rather than us knocking on their door. What say the rest of you?"

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 2:41 am

As the adrenaline passes, the nausea intensifies. Rob excuses himself to vomit behind a tree.

When he returns, trying to put on a brave face, Rob asks Kalar; "What do you mean by 'preserve', and what good will it do? Is that a funeral rite in the lands you come from?"

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 3:03 am

"If I can get my hands on the materials, I can bring her back from the dead. But I doubt any of you would want to carry around a body that will start to rot and become infested with maggots. I have a spell that I can use that will hold back the ravages of time, preventing her body from decaying. It will keep her fresh until I can find what I need to bring her back, and it will make transporting her easier."

Master K · Post by **Master K** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 3:52 am

Lynda slumps to the ground.

"I never counted on those bears doing that." Lynda says. "Rush in and just, y'know...kill us. I vaguely remember hearing about them...Dire Bears. They were travelling, four of them, towards our destination. I'm no expert, but I do not think bears like that form groups together..."

"I really should change. I'm blood covered, battered, and my dress is near ribbons." Lynda says sullenly. "I have an antiquated dress among my things that I plan to change in to."

Lynda walks over to Rachelle's corpse.

"Forgive me Rachelle for trespassing on your body, but I'm sure you wouldn't object to give up items that could be of use to us still living..."

Lynda searches through Rachelle's stuff carefully. Rachelle still has some basic gear and some art objects. What catches Lynda's eye is the silver potion. The potion is identical to the one Kalar obsessed over, and he's now silver. Silver is something that has shown up countless times, so it must be dreadfully important. However, Lynda would really rather not have Kalar get his hands on it...Kalar has been good up to this point, but she remembers Baalzebub's avatar and how Alexander died when he was informed about him...

Lynda takes some rope, one art piece from Rachelle, and swipes the silver potion into her Handy Haversack.

"Rachelle has items, but nothing that particularly catches the eye. I took one of her art pieces. At least no matter what happens to her, we'll still have something to take with us to remember her by."

Lynda then stands.

"And Kalar." Lynda says "Would you rather wait until we enter the lair, or take a moment now to brief us on your radical new appearance? Heavens knows how Moriamis will react if you walk in looking like...that."

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 4:20 am

Kalar nods.

"An excellent suggestion. As for my appearance."

Kalar removes his glove and shows his silvery hand while gesturing at his face.

"I have discovered what this silvery fluid is. But first, let me tell you what I learned. However, in case you have doubts, which is completely understandable..."

Kalar holds forth his holy symbol and focuses on it before releasing the energy into the area.

"There, I have cast a spell that makes it impossible to lie in the vicinity. If you doubt me, attempt a lie and you will see that it is true. I am affected by this as well, and I cannot lie to you. However, you already know that I do not lie, but I hope this will reassure you."

"Now, before we go onto the subject of the silvery fluid, bit of background is warranted. We normally live on the material plane, but as far as I know, there are other planes that exist as well. Our Lynda here can, I believe, access the ethereal plane, allowing her to phase through things the way she does. Of course, I am sure you all know of the hells and heavens, those are planes as well.

"I spoke with my deity when I used the silver potion on myself, and learned where Averoigne is. It is on its own little plane, rather near the Nine Hells."

Kalar pauses for effect, and puts his glove back on before continuing.

"Because it is so close to the Nine Hells, it is used as a meeting ground, and occasionally, a war zone for the nine Archdukes of the Nine Hells and other deities, gods, and goddesses in the vicinity."

"This," Kalar says while gesturing towards the silvery fluid on his face, "Is the substance out of which the fabric of reality here is made of. Those anointed by this are susceptible to control and influence by any deity in the area, which is what I believe happened to that cleric Helena mentioned. However, by the grace of my deity's power, I am immune to the influence of other deities, so you need not worry my suddenly being taken over by one of the Archdukes of the Nine Hells.

"In the interests of full honesty, I must say that when I spoke to my deity, I was offered a place in his army along with prestige and position in exchange for my body being used as an avatar for one of his generals. This would have completely removed me from my body, effectively turning this body into a different person.

"Now, as you know, I am a man of my word and I do not lie, so you will know it is true when I say that I turned down the offer in order to fulfill my oath to all of you. My rejection of the offer was met with understanding and without any malice, instead I was given a boon¸ as you can see with my appearance.

"My deity also told me about the curse. Tied to the curse is a very powerful high general of the Archduke Baalzebul. That general is currently trapped by the curse, and held in stasis, unable to do anything.

"Another Archduke, Levistus, has ensured that the curse will nigh impossible to break. Should the curse be broken though, Baalzebul's general will be freed to, obviously, kill us. More dire than that though, is that he will also be free to wreak havoc back on the material plane. Our homes.

"My deity has given me leave to attempt to kill the high general, but as it currently stands, he feels it is not in my power to do so, and reluctantly, I must agree with him regarding that. However, it will not always be so, and I suggest we gather what power we can, collect the items, and strengthen ourselves. That way, when we do attempt to break the curse, we will be able to destroy the general. We'll be able to get back home, and we won't inadvertently release death and destruction on the material plane."

Kalar pauses for a while, and then says:

"As for being undead, yes, I am no longer among the living. However, I retain all of my mental faculties, and I have no intention of betraying any of you. I am still Kalar Kess, and my word is still iron."