Notes of the Warkeeper
Chapter 2, Part IV
Written by Mews (Sara)
SO MUCH COMBAT
The party is split three ways! We start off in "initiative" with 2 Actions each, by floor:
We start off Upstairs:
• Victoro
• Guy
• Aine
Victoro: Looks around, four locked rooms to the right; Guards went through the bottom right door; two locked rooms in the middle. Two staircases from this level; Party came up the back one and Guards came up the bottom front.,
Took two attempts but was able to unlock the first door he tries.
Guy: Heads into the unlocked room, there is a low and deep humming sounds like a large machine; a light, a suit of armor possibly for a giant and the eye holes are lit up. There is a table with a workstation setup, he finds a note and takes a wrench.,
Aine: Follows into the room, takes a screwdriver and looks over the machine as well. There are knobs and a lever, currently all screens are Red; dial has R on top, G to left, B to right, Y at bottom.,
Yes! This is the Resident Evil Machine... it is creating an anti-magic field; we get drawing and clues and HANDOUTS!! WAHOOO it's a Puzzle Solving Session, all wrapped up in a FULL COMBAT SESSION??! LET'S GO!
We head Downstairs, it is a "Pop-Up Dungeon!" (there are makeshift cells and an "armory" of sorts, where they locked up our weapons):
• Darwin
• Aer
• Artemi
Darwin: is with the Two Guards! Rolls a 7 on Perception and Performance so.... He on purpose "trips and falls" down the stairs, sees Artemi but the guards don't, and Darwin takes some damage but is able to distract the guards and make a commotion. Now he is prone (?),
Aer: is currently hiding under the stairs, Darwin doesn't even see her, and she is trying to stay there hidden and hold a turn. Gets a 9 on Stealth, makes a little noise, guards yell at a person in the cells instead of knowing where Aer is exactly. She also rolls a 21 on Perception and sees a door as well as the person in the far cell from her.,
Artemi: Uses Meta points to lose exhaustion. The guard closes to him is turned towards Darwin so Artemi takes opportunity to stab him with rapier, HITS a whole bunch also with off-hand dagger. The guard is hurt bad, prone now but not dead.,
Guards: The one Darwin fell on is prone and almost dead; stands up has a short sword, hits Artemi back. The other one is able to grapple Darwin and use him as a shield in front of himself.,
We head Outside to the Courtyard:
• Mews
• Catrina
• The Magistrate (Artemi's brother Adrik)
Mews: 22 Stealth, B/A RAGE!!!, KILL CATRINA? Sneak up behind and try to slit her throat quickly as possible. Hit 2X for 20 damage total.,
Catrina: doesn't have a weapon either... this is a try CLAWS OUT cat fight. Hits back for 14 damage (?),
The Magistrate (Artemi's brother Adrik): currently doesn't have magic backs away. And now outside here in the Courtyard, because of the fire evacuation, a crowd is now forming to watch this CAT FIGHT. Mews hates crowds.,
We head Upstairs:
• Victoro
• Guy
• Aine
Victoro: explores a different room, looks like a bedroom, and finds blueprints and a picture. The blueprints look like a map of the inside of that weird tower he found in the woods out near the mines. Not sure what/who the picture conveyed.,
Guy: is not finding much more out about the tech/weird machine (bad rolls) so goes to look at the suit of armor some more.,
Aine: works on the machine along with Guy and she ends up figuring out the machine! MAGIC IS BACK ON... for casters this sounds so fun. Mews be like "What's Magic?",
We head Downstairs:
• Darwin
• Aer
• Artemi
Darwin: tries to shoot lightning at the guard grappling him and kills him! He takes the keys off him and tosses them to Artemi.,
Aer: comes out of hiding and finds where are weapons are hidden, talks with the jailed person in the cell farthest from the stairs. It is an older Elf woman.,
Artemi: heads upstairs,
We head Outside to the Courtyard:
• Mews
• Catrina
• The Magistrate (Artemi's brother Adrik)
Catrina: hits Mews again for another 2X, 14 damage total again,
Mews: hits back with advantage because of Catrina's reckless behavior, but then Feline Agility runs faster than usual into the house to find her party. This crowd forming, all this stuck-up rich people looking down at Mews right now... rolls NAT 1 on stealth so guards start to clock Mews acting frantic.,
Catrina: could have an opportunity attack on Mews but purposely doesn't take it! Let's Mews go, makes that clear, and yells "Try this again, Mews, and I'll send you to your Mother!" .... Just try it, BITCH.,
We head Upstairs:
• Victoro
• Guy
• Aine
Victoro: Puts on a fancy outfit, finds a gold ring and looks through a set of windows into the Ballroom below him.,
Guy: thinks about how high the balcony is and how high/bad it would be to jump from it to the Courtyard outside. He goes over to Victoro and Aine and tells them to figure out the machine "I trust you to handle this," as he heads to the basement to find Aer, Artemi and Darwin. As he heads downstairs, he runs into Artemi coming upstairs from basement dungeon.,
Aine: Now that the anti-magic machine is disabled, she looks over the suit of armor. It has a Shuck Mining emblem on it. Aine attempts to take a canister out of the arm (?) of this armor, but it shatters as she does, and she gets a little damaged.,
We head Downstairs:
• Darwin
• Aer
• Artemi
Darwin: goes to the person in the cell and talks with her. She is the owner of this house before Shuck took over and locked her up. There is also a couple shelves of fine wine. They all get interrupted but Jules, the magic bitch from upstairs trying to make Bligh Jay an Amusement Park. Darwin tries to insult/guilt her about being a horrible person and working for a horrible person, "Art can not exist in a space plague with slavery and good art cannot come out of a slaver!" or something like that. Let's the owner of the house out of the cell. Tells Jules that this is a slave town not a prison for criminals and that LarpneyWorld is a fraud. Then, Darwin takes some wine.,
Jules falls in love with Darwin?,
Aer: Successfully casts hold person on Jules and wants to keep her locked up in here, but Darwin tells her to let Jules go and look around the Town, speak with the villages, hear their "side of the story" (they are SLAVES)... Darwin is convinced if Jules sees and hears the truth she could be turned around to good and be a powerful ally. Aer, somewhat frustrated with her party right now, walks off upstairs to find Artemi... after 60ft the spell will drop. But Darwin "counter spells" first, as a sign of good faith.,
Artemi: runs into mews while he is attempting to find his brother, and Mews is heading inside after fight. Aer has also Messaged Mews and Victoro about our weapons being in the basement. Mews warns Artemi there is a crowd out there, but his brother is out there and a rough-looking Catrina LOL flex. Artmei keeps going out to Courtyard, hears and sees the Royal Guard as the King is leaving. Artemi throws his Battle Spiders on the other side of his brother once he spots him and tries to flank with them. Artemi then attacks The Magistrate (Adrik) 2X, 24 damage and screams, "ADRIK!" This seems to do even more damage than expected, Adrik's eyes glow red and he attacks back!,
We head Upstairs:
• Victoro
• Guy
• Aine
Victoro: Explores the room more, finds a gold brooch with a crest on it... it is THE KING'S! It is 20 feet from the balcony to the Ballroom on next level inside the house. Victoro then checks another locked door, unlocks it.,
Guy: heads to the basement, walks past Aer who tells him about weapons; then past Jules and Darwin, then heading to the weapons. He throws up a Divine Sense on the small armory in the basement right now, looking for some kind of holy weapon perhaps. He knows the party's weapons and grabs them, putting them in his Bag of Holding. Guy also finds/takes 7 Holy Symbols and some Holy Water.,
Aine: finds some more papers in front of the suit of armor, as well as some glowing and strange liquid.,
Mews: heading to the basement finds Guy and gets weaponed-up. Turns to head back to the Courtyard to back up Artemi. Come to think of it now, Mews remembers Guy say something as they walk away... something about "don't kill her, Mews, it won't help" but Mews ignores it, with tunnel vision and seeing RED!,
So, this is when things jump around and no longer follow a linear outline like above. Gonna just bullet this (amazing!!) initiative order (that the DMs were able to keep on track, despite all this in-game chaos and a late-arriver at the table!!):
We head to the Courtyard, where everyone seems to be coming together; we go back to original initiative order:
Adrik: blasts his brother, OUR BROTHER Artemi with fire and necrotic damage... (Mews has Sentinel but misses) It is a BIG hit (38 damage total)
Artemi: hits back for 17 damage!
Catrina: grapples Mews
Mews: gets out of the grapple
Aer: runs past Guy to follow Mews into the Courtyard.. she attempts Hold Person on TWO PEOPLE at the same time while also using her crazy dice magic! Is able to hold Adrik but not Catrina
Artemi: hits his brother Adrik while he is being held magically by Aer! Then he has enough strength to DO IT ALL AGAIN (Action Surge) and CRITS!! (for 48 damage total back at him??)
Guy: busts out his Steed in the house and rushes to the Courtyard
Aine: wants to bust the canister! She gets some of the liquid on her, runs to the bathroom to wash it off. Fire Bolts the canister!
EXPLOSION
The fucking house explodes!!
THEN AINE ROLLS A NAT 20 DEX TO GET AWAY!!!
Victoro: is surprisingly OK (sneaky sneak) The suit of armor survives for a moment then explodes into pieces as well! (Rolls a 66) Finds a burning letter, pulls it out and puts out the damage. Reads and pockets the letter... looks out at all the fighting.... "What in TARNATION?!" (Dressed in a fancy suit he found in the house, like he has full fucking coat tails and spat)
Darwin: is now trapped in the basement?! Uses levitate to get rubble off and help him get out. Takes more fine wine... (leaves the old lady to die?)
Adrik: no longer held by Aer's magic!
Catrina: attempts to leave and tells Mews they should leave too. But Mews, just blinded by emotion and RAGE is able to get an attack in and HITS!
Mews: but on their own turn MISSES completely... (Also, Catrina saves previously from a Legendary Action) That bitch always lands on her feet, doesn't she. UGH!
Aer: Third Lvl Mind Spike right at Adrik! Doesn't work as well as she would like, but Aer gets in a little damage.
Artemi: Battle Spiders are on the move, flanking and swinging away Artemi does some more damage to his brother. They are yelling at each other to give up and hinting at the troubling history they share making their faces sharp with pain and anger.
Guy: Tries to cast something on Catrina, she resists. But then attacks and CRITS! Big 26 damage!
Aine: RIDES IN ON A FUCKING DOOR after blowing the house up! (just passes all the saves the DMs throw at her, insane!) Comes into the fight, casts Aid on Mews, Artemi and herself.
Victoro: attempting to loot Adrik while he is down, gets hit with necrotic energy and takes a little damage; but manages to find a key, bronze with a gem, and backs away.
Darwin: (Survival and Acrobatics) is still under a pile of house rubble but is OK, keeps plotting a course through it to safety. He casts Fly on himself and the owner of the house (saves the old lady doesn't leave her!)
Catrina: hits Mews 3 X 7 damage (with Rage)... never said this bitch wasn't tough! My mother wasn't easy to kill, Catrina will die by my hand! Catrina will have my mother's sword through her HEART at the end of this.
Mews: TWO CRITS!! 50 damage and now Catrina is bloody
Aer: Mind Spikes Catrina and she fails... taking a full blast of Aer's mind magic (27 more damage!)
Artemi: asks Mews if he we are killing Catrina or not... Mews yells to the heavens, "YES, KILL HER!" and Artemi hits Catrina multiple times.
Guy: somehow knocks Mews and Catrina out... incapacitated?!!
As Mews falls, they think of all the times this group has requested nonlethal force while Mews is raging... and in the middle of their RAGE, Mews complies. They always listen to the pack, looking to their new hunt to point a path forward to a brighter future..... But not this. Mews looks to Guy as they fall. He has taken away our autonomy, our choice, our freedom. He has NO IDEA what this means to Mews... no IDEA how long this pain has brewed and festered. An eye for an eye. Sometimes when a fly just keeps buzzing and biting, you smush it. Mews has stepped away so many times before... BUT NOT TODAYBAM* lights out on Mews.*
Aine: hears a loud crunching sound in the midst of all this combat. She turns to the house she just leveled, and casts Animate Dead... a zombie comes out from under the rubble and joins the fight!
But then a loud NOISE comes from the woods. This time everyone hears it:
MECH SUIT Mr. Scar Face Shuck: We have to survive a rumbling (Dex checks) or else damage! And all of a sudden... the suit GLOWS BLUE!
Victoro: gets his weapon from Guy's Bag of Holding
Darwin: Comes out of the dilapidated house, finally... holds an action.
MECH SHUCK: Suit starts to vibrate -- Shuck #BLESSES himself, Catrina and Adrik.
Catrina: Gets up, moves away from the Mech Suit and yells @ Mews. Attempts to hit Mews as she is frenzied and reckless... MISSES (Get fucked, bitch!)
Mews: Also fucking misses. (Uses Meta points) Finds more strength to try again... misses hard AGAIN. UGH
Aer: Attempts to cast Blindness on the Mech Suit! Brilliant! It works, and now hopefully Shuck has to open the helmet portion!
MECH SUIT TURNS RED
Artemi: tried to hit Catrina but she dodges and weaves through and takes no damage. As Mews watches, can't help but get caught up in being impressed by their old Hunt. Catrina is the darkness within, the bad, the worst of us... but damned if The Hunt of The Gleaming Desert doesn't know how to raise/train a WARRIOR.
Guy: starts to challenge/goad the Mech Suit Shuck but the magic fails... hits Catrina instead for some damage.
THOUGH WE WEREN'T GOING AFTER CATRINA, GUY! TELLING MEWS TO STOP... FORCING MEWS TO STOP... and you continue to fight MEWS' rival. The mother killer. The enemy of Mews' life, Mews' past. You hold Mews back... then you take MEWS' REVENGE IN YOUR HANDS?
Aine: holds her turn until the Mech Suit isn't glowing red... thinking about casting some corrosive magic at the suit
Victoro: "I would like to shoot him [Shuck] in the FACE!" he yells.... But the shot ricochets off the Mech Suit and hits Adrik instead (who is currently making Death Saves)
Owen: Climbs out of the rubble, popping out of nowhere and surprising the party! (He was late to the table) All confused about what's going on... " Well, when in doubt!..." and makes MEWS BIG!
Darwin: Dissonant Whispers on Catrina works! Psychic damage and she runs off the battle map away from Darwin as far as possible!
Adrik: death save
MECH SHUCK: Send out a thunderous ripple effect (Con saves for the party) all failed are stunned... which is most of us.
BIG MEWS: ...is stunned... (hmmm Mews would have advantage to some of these saves if they weren't INCAPACITATED.... BY A TEAM MEMBER... GUY!!
Aer: Mind Spike at Mech Shuck, fails automatically... this RED aura the suit has seems to deflect magic? Aer then moves toward some big rocks.
Artemi: wants to climb the Mech Suit and STAB SHUCK in the face. NAT 20!!! HUZZAH! stab stab stab...
It lets out a Shocking Grasp at Artemi that knocks him off.. also
MECH SUIT TURNS YELLOW
Guy: attacks the Mech Suit... it is ineffective, and 14 pts of damage comes back at Guy!
Aine: corrosion spell is ineffective too! And the YELLOW aura seems to counter her attack, 11 pts of damage back at her! Aine then plans something out with a horde of magic bracelets (from the enslaved villagers) she previously stashed near the anti-magic field boundary prior to the party beginning.
Victoro: misses a regular crossbow attack... he seems to go through the aura but passes right through and misses its target completely.
MECH SUIT TURNS BLUE AGAIN
Owen: Looks at Darwin, "I have a dumb idea!" Mews becomes normal sized again... and Owen casts REDUCE on SHUCK!!
small mech shuck: the Mech Suit is now shrunk to large, and Shuck is now a small person. (Less damage)
MECH SUIT TURNS RED AGAIN
The Mech charges up again, plows right through Aine's zombie, Battle Spiders and heads towards Owen! They all take a small amount of damage but aren't prone.
Darwin: Flying, goes right up to Shuck's face and casts Polymorph, "Last time it was an accident... this time it's on purpose, you slaver FUCK!" And Shuck is changed into a HUGE Mammoth... squishing him inside his own Mech Suit. The ground is covered in 707 juice. Once the Mech Suit is broken the spell does enough damage and drops leaving Shuck a bloodied person on the ground. Darwin turns to Guy, "So, do you have a problem with killing SLAVERS, Guy?!" casts Bardic Inspo
(Implying he should get the job done and not ruin a chance like he did Mews')
Adrik: Starts melting into ooze!! (Loses the death saves that the DM was rolling behind the screen)
Mews: No longer stunned, looks at their weapon on the ground and goes to pick it up
Aer: casts Mind Spike at Shuck, does 19 psychic damage, Shuck is very bloodied.
Artemi: Swings away at Shuck and hits BIG TIME!
Guy: on his steed moves towards Shuck. The steed's magic is interrupted by the 707 all over the ground, so the steed disappears as they get there.... but just in time, Guy jumps off and swings... stabs and KILLS SHUCK!
Out of initiative
Darwin: looks around where Adrik's body was, now only ooze, but Darwin finds spiders in Adrik's clothes.
Artemi: finds a watch... it is his family's watch. Then, he sees his echo standing in front of him slowly putting a hand out to him...
Mews: seeing their party is safe, DASHES TO CATCH UP TO CATRINA I WILL kill her, today.