Endgame

Sandman takes point next to the Sword shrine, distancing himself as far as possible from either door. "First off, what exploded in there? And if any of you think cowering in this anteroom will protect us from the dragon, you are incredibly naive."

Educated guess more than anything. If Faust hired heroes from Heroica, chances are likely he fled to Eubric - not to mention that Uland is the nearest large island, so it'd make sense the king would go there.

Black fog leaks from the dragon's maw as he speaks. ""This time?" Have we met?"

Considering Lind just spilled some very important information to Mr. Explody Dragon, that ain't gonna work.

The sword was ornate, but not made to be used. As a display piece, it was functionally useless. The blade was unused and from a glance, quite old. ---------------------------------------------------------------- "Heroica... Hmm. Eubric." "Wh-what...? N-no, h-he's l-lying..." "Sorry, Marlow. Green cap here just saved me the trouble of interrogating you. Don't worry, now that I know where your king is cowering, I'll be sending your king your way soon enough." Marlow? One of Faust's advisors? "NO, WAIT-" Vorpalis throws Marlow down, his body colliding with the pews with a resounding thud. The dragon twists its serpentine neck around and spews black fog out from its maw with an incredibly loud roar. Marlow covers his ears and begins to writhe as he begins to hallucinates, but then Vorpalis does the second step of the process. He digs his azure claws into the ground and drags them across the stone floor, producing a fiery blue spark. When the fog surrounding Marlow meets with the spark, it fizzles... Before exploding. Lind shields his face as Marlow is scattered across the Cathedral. Vorpalis draws himself up to full height, towering over Lind. "You look surprised. Any other information you wish to volunteer?" ----------------------------------------------------------- The party hears an ear-piercing roar and a loud explosion. "That roar... was not Lind. We may want to check on him..."

"Yes, we'll find the seller. Just... stay strong in the mean time, okay?"

WBD, I love the idea of Skrall seeing Vorpalis and simply walking out on him.

Lind steps into the Cathedral. A dark behemoth stood in the Cathedral. His amber eyes pierced the shroud of fog surrounding him, the sickness trailing behind him like an ominous aura. He stood tall, his sharpened horns scarping the Cathedral's tall ceilings - or at least they would have, had their not been a dragon-sized breach in the Cathedral's spire. He had not only two claws, but four, ghoulish appendages bursting out of the seams of his tattered wings - one of which held a terrified man. There was no doubt that Vorpalis, the Ancestral Oppressor, stood before them. "HELP!!" "Faust already has sent another group after me, eh? He doesn't give up, that one..."

"Hold your head high, and hold your breath as much as you can." warns Sandman.

"I'm not the religious sort. But you probably guessed that." Lind twists the knob of the door, and, sure enough, he could enter if he wanted to. As he tries the door, thick black fog rolls out from beneath the door... Will he open it and go in?

Lind reads the inscription on the shrine. "There's only a handful of mountains left here, and they practically look like stumps." Sandman notes. "In fact, there are even fissures in the rock that looked like they were created by a blade. I imagine those "sword marks" came first and the story came after..."

About six hours past, the sun drearily rising up above Moone. Few of its rays could pierce the shroud of fog, but at the very least visiblity wasn't so bad. The party passes out of the inn, and walks out of Cenauri, the streets deserted just as the innkeep had suggested. With Sandman's and Jinnipher's guidance, they eventually reach a Cathedral of Ennoc, one of the many holy places scattered around Moone. Not even the fog could stain the pristine ivory walls and columns of the cathedral... yet. The party walks up the stairs, and opens the door, hoping to find Sputnik. They instead find an anteroom, leading into the main church. There was a door into the main room, flanked by angel statues, and a shrine depicting a sword. There was an inscription carved into the bottom of the shrine. What will the party do?

That's how it is now.

I was thinking have the heal and the attack operate on the same roll, to make them doubly screwed if they get a bad roll to balance it. We'd need to come up with an offensive shield roll for clerics, though...

Perhaps let them heal and attack on the same turn? It's pretty radical, but it gives them some of their value back.

"Hate to break t to ya, but I think that only myself and the Half Moon tavern are open anymore... Most people aren't willing to show up for work during times like these, and I don't blame them."

"I'll head up when you do - I'll sleep in 306."

"Any interest in ending our conversation?"

Round Three VS The Zodaic Low-Rankers: >Skrall VS Scorpio (back): Damage Critical Hit (24x2=28+42=60+4=64x18=Scorpio is beyond dead) >Karie remedies Sandman (back) >Sandman VS Virgo (back): Shield: Deadshot! (Virgo is instakilled) >Flynn VS Aquarius (back): Hit (7+18=25x2=50 damage) >Jinnipher VS Aquarius (back): Critical Hit (5x2=10+2=12x2=24 damage) >Warlen heals Sandman... No heal. Round Four VS The Zodiac Low-Rankers: >Skrall VS Aquarius: Hit Hit (12+42=54+2=56x6=Aquarius is beyond dead) A recoved Sandman blasts Virgo's head off, and Skrall masterfully kills Aquarius, the watery man slumping into an inanimate puddle. The Battle is Victorious! All heroes gain the appropriate amount of EXP. Party Leader, please distribute the loot: Grand Potion x3 Mead Deadly Venom 200 gold Ruby The Party: 81 year old Male Ogre Hunter Level 42.8 *Natural Respite* *Favors Humanoid and Beast enemies* *Immune to Fragile, Blinded, Confused, Weakened* *Special Guard* Power Bonus: +2 WP for bows and crossbows, +2 power Defense: 8 Health: 12/56 Gold: 3242 GP: 3 Equipment: Hunter's Crossbow (WP:12, double WP against beasts, fire, ice, wind, and darkness-elemental), Hunter's Quiver (Bows and Crossbows +2WP, allows Hunters to favor two types of enemies, back wear), Tricorne (SP: 3, head wear), Heavy Armor (SP: 5, wearer is immune to fragile, blind, and confused effects, body wear),Lucky Doubloon (Grants "Special Guard"; accessory), Pugilist's Gloves (+2 Power, Immunity to Weakened) Inventory: Oversized Greatsword (WP:16, double damage on targets that are clearly smaller than the hero, greatsword), Composite Bow (WP:12, ignores SP,light,lightning,water, wood, and earth-elemental; bow), Medal of Glory (Wearer gains 3x experience from battles, accessory), 3x Potion, Phoenix Essence, 3x Phoenix Incense, Fenghuang Incense (After being consumed, automatically revives all party members with full health once when knocked out; cannot revive targets that are already knocked out.), 9 Meads, 5 Nostrums, 3 Remedy, 5 Smelling Salts, 7 Venoms, 2 Deadly Venoms, 9 Smoke Bomb, 2 Dirt Bombs, Fire Bomb, 5 Water Bombs, Spyglass (Reveals if there are spies and eavesdroppers in the vicinity when used; tool), 6 Bone, Blind Fury, Wolfgang Insignia, Black Goo, Grating Stone, 1 Grand Potion, Level-Up Mushroom, 2 Neutralizers, Paper Doll (User is immune to Hexed, accessory), Nostrum Warlen Melimane, Eulalia's Knight (The Chosen Minifigure) *Immune to Darkness, Fire, Ether Reduction* Physical attacks pierce SP! 23 year old male half-elf Mystic Knight Level 17 Power: 28 (17+8+3). Health: 16/31(5+17+1+3+5+7*) SP: 10 (3+3+4) Ether: 33/36 (5+16+4+3+5+1) Gold: 76 Equipment: Sean Cole's Sword-Cannon (Can be used as a longsword or handcannon, WP: 8 - defies SP in sword mode, deals Bleeding 1 in cannon mode), Eagle Shield (SP: 4, prevents ether reduction), Fenarian Robes of the Vampire (SP:3, Max. Ether +4, Immune to Darkness, backwear), Inventory: Weapons: Plasma Shield (SP: 3, absorbs electricty, belongs to Lind), Healing Staff (WP: 5, staff, heals instead of damaging), Artifacts: Lethauros Ring (Health and Ether +5. Suitable for anyone, accessory), Magician's Glove* (+10 spell power) Counterstrike Gloves, Locustoid Grevaes (+4 ether, immune to Earth Class, can be used by any ether user), 7 10-gallon Hats (Grants wearer tourist effect, causing no one to take them seriously), Spellbook: Amethyst, Aquamarine, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, Garnet, Opal, Topaz, Diamond, Scroll of Sleep, Scroll of Frailty, Scroll of Antimagic Must Be RPed: Lightning Ball (25 electric damage to all enemies, bomb), Small Frost Ball (10 ice damage, bomb) Consumables: Potion x3, Grand Potion x3, Health Core, Tonic x2, Remedy x3, Mead x2, Smelling Salts x3, Nostrum x2, Banana, Smoke Bomb, Milk x2 (+15 HP and Ether) 5x Hurricane (Grants Hilariously and Luckily Drunk - if wearer makes pun every round, the strength of their attack is doubled.) Viper Scale (worth 40 gold to a certain someone), Phoenix Essence, Phoenix Incense Other Junk: Bedroll, Shovel, Telescope, Magnifying Glass, Pickaxe, Magic Compass, Bones x6, 2 shiny gold rocks (worth 1 gold at most stores, 5 at magic stores). Karie Alderflask-Cour, A True Hero (Kintobor) 24? Year Old Human Female Witch Level 31.75 *Permanently Nimble* *Immune to Sealed* Power Bonus: 0 Health: 48/48 Defense: 2 Ether: 36/36 Gold: 2033 GP: 36 Equipment: Blazing Palm (WP: 14, Fire Elemental whip, successful hits lower the target's level by 1), Catsuit (Wearer becomes nimble and has a 1/3 chance to completely avoid rolls of COUNTER, DAMAGE, and FREE HITS, suitable for women only, body wear), Ethereal Cloak (SP: +2, Max Ether: +4, back wear), Mage's Muffler (Provides immunity to sealed, accessory, suitable for anyone) Inventory: *Weapons: Oculoid Palm (WP: 11, successful hits lower the target's level by 1, whip) Spring Staff(WP: 12, healing someone else through this staff also heals the user by the same amount, water elemental staff), Grumpy's Staff (WP: 10, staff), Sexy(WP: 11, disregards SP, longsword), Heirloom Dagger (WP: 3, dagger), Rusty Dagger (WP: 2, deals the poisoned by 10, breaks after 3 uses) Skull Shield (SP:6; immunity to dark-elemental damage; suitable to Black Knights only; shield.) -Minstrel Weapons: Angelic Trumpet (WP: 5, user is blessed, instrument), Vagrant's Guitar (WP: 5, user is lucky, instrument), Fine-tuned Guitar (WP:15, user is lucky; instrument) *Artefacts: Glittering Dress (The users job traits are replaced by those of a Harlot: Promiscuity, Flee, and Money Maker, suitable for women only), Skull Mask (SP: 1, wearer can pose as undead, headwear), Trickster's Mask of the Elf (changes user's appearance into that of an elf of the same gender, accessory), Snake Eyes Charm (Provides immunity to petrified, accessory, suitable for anyone) Paper Doll (Provides immunity to the Hexed effect, accessory), *Minstrel Artefacts: Encore Plectrum (If the same song is sung for more than one round of combat in a row, the song's ether cost for the consecutive rounds is halved; suitable for minstrels, accessory) *Gems: Ruby (Fire), Sapphire (Wind) *Scrolls: Scroll of Sleep, Scroll of Frailty, Scroll of Blindness, Scroll of Weakening, Scroll of Newtity *Battle Songs: True Loves Serenade (restores 50 health to the rest of the party, costs 10 ether, Battle Song), Murder on the Dancefloor (Has 1/6 chance of instantly knocking out each opponent (unless immune to sudden death) when sung; costs 30 ether per round; Battle Song)*Consumables: Grand Potion x10, Tonic, Grand Tonic x10, Remedy x8, Phoenix Essence x5, Phoenix Incense x2, Nostrum x3, Smelling Salts Pumpkin Bomb (causes poisoned by 1, asleep, blinded, sealed, and confused to all opponents when used), Fire Bomb, Neutralizer x3, Herbal Infusions x3 (Removes Negative Effects and causes Blessed and Transcended effects), Oculoid Miasma, Elixir x2, Tiger Balm, Ether Core, Health Core, Potion x2, 2x Mead, 16 Venoms, 2 Deadly Venoms, Jinxy Juice, Love Potion, 2x Bone *Tools: Magic Compass, Bedroll, Magnifying Glass, Shovel, Pickaxe, Telescope, Decamodifier *Sheep: Baaffy (Pet Sheep; whenever unleashed deals the fast asleep effect to one random opponent once per battle, unlimited use) Quest/Roleplay Items: Masson's Journal Entry #11, Map of Brendenton, Spider Coin (worth 1 gp), Forest Journal, Blue Syndicate Outfit, Kayla's Mask, Ulric's Letter Flynn Flisperer, Lind Whisperer, The Grey Foxer *Encouraged at half health* *Free hits have a 1/6 chance to be redirected to a random opponent* 21-year-old elf male Human of the Munchkin tribe Class: Assassin Level: 19.5 Defense: 3 Health: 16/31 (7+19+5) Gold: 157 Glory Points: 14 Equipment: Ethereal Deck (Playing Cards) (WP:7, throwing weapon), Invader's Armour (SP: 3, wearer is encouraged when their current health is at half or below the wearer's maximum level), Cloak of Deception (Free hits against the wearer have a 1/6 chance to be redirected to a random opponent; Backwear, suitable for anyone), Medal of Valor (This pendant is awarded by the Bonapartes to those who show their heroism in the battle against piracy. The wearer gains double experience in battle. Accessory) Inventory: Plasma Shield (SP: 3, user absorbs electric attacks), Trickster's Mask of the Human (suitable for anyone, changes users appearance into a human of the same gender, accessory), Mugger's Mask (Protects from loss of gold from gold stealing enemies, headwear.), Darker Ethereal Deck (Playing Cards) (WP:7, throwing weapon), Potion x2 • Bedroll, Shovel •Mead, x3 Potions, Remedy, Bone, Barnacle Broth (+20 HP and Ether) • Newspaper with Picture of Lupine (Quest/role-playing item), Alfendi's Cape, Alfendi Lupine's Blank Calling Cards Decamon Deck: Tweetybird (Flying 1), Mud Frog (Rock 2) Loaned Out Gear: Akrone Fez (Artifact; SP: 1, Max. Health: +1, Headwear, suitable for anyone) ~ Loaned out to Jinnipher Buchaire Loaned Gear: Phoenix Incense x1 ~ Loaned by Skrall Jinnipher Buchaire (JimBee) 76-year-old female Moon Elven Knight Level 3 Power Bonus: 3 Health: 15/15 Defense: 6 Gold: 20 Equipment: Brine Blade (Greatsword, WP: 5, deals Poison 5), Plasma Shield (SP: 3, absorbs electricty, belongs to Lind), Anniversary Medal (SP+3, Power+3, Ether+3, Health+3, immune to Fire, accessory, belongs to Lind). Inventory: 2x Potion, Bedroll, Phoenix Incense, Full-Moon Shield (SP: 2), Mead, Crescent Sword (WP:3; longsword) Sandman, Level 30.5 Sniper *Immune to Sleep/Deep Sleep* *Confused! 3 rounds remaining* HP: 19/45 SP: 4 Gold: 300 Lethality: 1/6 Equipment: Somnamblast (WP: 13, 1/6 chance of inflicting Sleep on succesful hits, handcannon), Sandblasted Helmet (SP: 2, immune to sleep/deep sleep), Sandblasted Robes (SP: 2) Inventory: Grand Potion x3, Sleep Bomb, Old Guitar (WP: 0), Phoenix Incense -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The elderly innkeep comes out from behind the counter, still shaken. "Well, fellas... You saved me, and I can't thank you enough for that. Those are trying times, heroes, trying times... Here, tell you what. You go up to the third floor and enjoy a free stay, long as you like. Rooms 301 to 306 are open, I think, you can have those. Meanwhile, I'll clean up this mess..." "And come morning, we'll head to the Cathedral to find Sputnik. Yes?"

"Not sure about you, but a clean conscience for me."

"Your life, and whatever state comes after, is not something I'll be taking lightly if I'm the one handling it. Nor should you take it lightly." I say, sternly. I relax a bit, and speak in a softer tone. "How long do you think you have left?"

Hey, there could be some of that PM witchcraft I've heard about. Zepher and I are using it to figure out the most theatrical way of killing off every character in the heroicaverse, for example, being the big mean QMs we are.

Kinto, is Diane supposed to be Diana from 104?

QM Note: Are you referring to Virgo for Sandman's target? Because she's a woman.