black rock ♔ with my sad bones and my soiled throne

[sternshield]

WHO || Erky, Maxwell, Liam, Thoster
WHAT || The Knights track down a message from a mysterious woman in trouble
WHERE || Black Rock, Utah
WHEN || April 22nd, 2015
HOW || Actionspam

It's after noon when they arrive, a bleak, dreary day, and an ominous blanket of low, gray clouds hangs over the landscape.  A recent rain has left everything damp, giving the scenery an air of decay.  It seems there is no end to the parade of empty fields and derelict farmhouses flanking this stretch of road.   As they drive towards the coordinates of Black Rock, Thoster's phone abruptly rings.

Comments

[sternshield]

[ liam can see, and what he does see, is disturbing as fk. the center of the barn is dominated by a large picnic table that's been put to grisly use. its surface is coated with dried blood and bits of rotten flesh - no doubt the smell that drew him here - and the floor around it has a similar covering. cleavers and saws, smeared in dried gore, lie scattered about. one wall is lined with heavy iron shackles. opposite those, a large farm machine of some sort sits silently in the dark.

thoster hears movement from the various dark corners within. the machine also seems to be very quietly rumbling. ]

[beatemup]

Is this the place? [Max also has darkvision but his sight isn't better than the werewolf (spot 8), so he carefully moves closer to the barn to check it out.]

[ex_boning176]

[Liam's already altered face contorts some, like he's making a silent snarl as he notes the table and everything surrounding it--the shackles in particular, since they were similar to what had been used before to try and keep him from getting anywhere on a full moon. He's not a huge fan of restraints at this point.]

I think this might be where those people we just saw were murdered. It looks like they were cutting them up with saws and stuff.

[sternshield]

What's that machine, then? [ erky asks, following close behind max as they approach the door, peering inside. ]

[ex_boning176]

I can't tell what it is. [/dumb teenager.]

[beatemup]

[Max scans the machine with his eyes and tries to figure what it is or what it does. (wis 13)]

[sternshield]

[ it seems like some sort of large shredder, maybe? that's the best he can tell from where he stands. ] Well, whatever it is, it sounds like someone left it on.

[bluffcheck]

Should we turn it off, then? [He sure doesn't want to, but he will.]

[ex_boning176]

I can get it. [Since he can see in the dark and he is also ... dumb.

Liam walks into the darkness and over to the machine to look for some way to shut it down (spot 24).]

[sternshield]

[ as liam draws closer, the machine abruptly revs louder to life, and starts to glow with a demonic red light that illuminates the barn interior, painting it in hellish shades. a claw extends out from the machine towards him, attempting to grab him (atk 14), but he's too fast for it. he would hear strange whispering echoing through his mind, that would feel almost as if it were coming from the machine, and for a second, he would feel compelled to turn around, to tell his friends there is nothing here and to leave, to protect this place so that it might continue its work-- but he would shake that off quickly enough with his will save, and realize that the force trying to impress itself on him feels wrong, an overwhelming aura of evil emanating from this contraption. ]

[bluffcheck]

[Thoster raises his morningstar as soon as the machine roars to life, swearing under his breath. He's not about to let any of his teammates be grabbed by that weird mechanical monster, though. He swings for the claw with all his might!! (attack nat 20 yesss, damage 16).]

[herebemonsters]

[ thoster smacks into it hard, but finds that the metal is highly resistant to his weapon, and while it does take some damage, the claw doesn't break off. there's a snarl to his left as a ghoul charges out at him (atk 17, which i think misses) ]

[ex_boning176]

[It takes Liam a second to process that little bipolar episode, but even as the suggestion passes he's still left with a heavy feeling of unease and do not want. He doesn't know what it was though, but he's sure it came from that machine somehow.

He pushes his thoughts aside pretty quickly though, once the ghoul comes out of the woodwork with its sights set on Thoster. Liam rushes over so that he can attempt to slice his claws across that thing's face and prevent it from actually hurting his teammate (attack 21, damage 8)]

i posted this a few days ago but it dissapeared again ==;

[beatemup]

What the fuck is that thing? [Now, that's a boss monster. He has been waiting for this but since it is made of metal and normal attack doesn't seem to work well, he attack the ghoul instead. He swings his hammer side to side trying to target the ghoul but maybe he hits something else. (Atk nat 1)]

oh nooo

[sternshield]

[ liam claws at the ghoul, which hisses in pain. max plants his foot in something slippery on the barn floor - probably some kind of viscera/blood/guts, tbh, and falls on his ass, prone. he can make a strength check (DC 10) to keep a hold of his weapon at least. three more ghouls burst from the shadows, one attacking each of them already in the fray (atk 6 @ thoster, atk 19 @ liam (2 dmg if it hits, and he has to make a fort save), atk 10 @ max). erky swings his light mace at the one attacking max (atk 24, dmg 7).

the machine tries to grab thoster again (atk 21, dmg 10). pretty sure that hits, in which case, it makes a grapple attack to hold onto him (grapple 18). another rail extends out from the machine, this time towards liam, but it also crit fails! and accidentally snaps at the ghoul attacking him lmao. it takes a giant chunk of skin out of the thing too (dmg 9). ]

[bluffcheck]

[Well, now Thoster is fucking trapped, so... he's going to try to get out of this hold. Rolled a 4 but action point says 18. Not sure if it's a str check? If so 21. Opposed grapple would be 27? I'm always bad at this so just tell me what to add to the 18 and I will give you a number lol.]

[herebemonsters]

[ thoster manages to tear away from the claw by forcing its jaw apart enough to get free.

ghoul2 turns to liam, since he just took a nasty chunk out of him, snapping his jaws at him (atk 11) and clawing at him twice (16 and 8). nothing hits :( ]

[ex_boning176]

[Liam's AC is 20 in Teen Wolf form, otherwise that first attack would have hit him. He's pretty effing agile. Maybe because he's so small. No fancy jumping off of walls here though. He blindly tears at the attacking ghoul with his claws (attack 25 and 25 ... that was weird, damage: 6 and 12).]

[beatemup]

[As Max falls to the ground, his hammer slips from his hand and falls with him (str 9). He immediately reaches for it and tries to get back on his feet, ignoring any opening he might make doing so.]

[herebemonsters]

[ liam's attacks neatly and finally disable ghoul2 forever. ghoul4 gets an attack of opportunity, but his claws just whiff over max's head as he ducks for the weapon (atk 11).

since thoster is fucking around with the machine of doom, the ghoul that had been harrying him turns to liam instead, so that even though he downed one, he's now... flanked by another two, joy. (atk 21 and 22, dmg 10 and 9 wow so much penetration, he's getting sliced up over here). he also has to make two fort saves .__. if he's, you know. alive.

the one that just tried to swing at max turns to erky (atk 18, dmg 3) and he passes his fort save woo and then beats on the ghoul in return (atk 23, dmg 5), which destroys the ghoul with a thunderous blow filling erky with renewed vigor.

the machine's claws snap again, this time at erky and max (atk 20, dmg 9) and he must make an opposed grapple check vs a 27. its attempt at grabbing erky crit fails again, and it once more grabs at one of the ghouls on liam, doing 12 dmg to it, that... actually like grips it so hard that it bursts. which leaves only one ghoul! ]

[bluffcheck]

[Well... shit. Thoster is pretty sure he can't just beat this machine to death. Of if he can, it will take forever. So he's going to attempt to climb on top of it?? And maybe find an off switch? Or a weak point? Who knows... Maybe this involves a climb check? If so, 20 total. I have no idea what I'm doing...]

[ex_boning176]

[In the meantime, Liam just sort of drops to the ground, paralyzed.]

[beatemup]

Gah! [Max tries to force his way out of the initial claw attack but that stupid machine is way more powerful than a normal humanoid half-orc. (opposed grapple 9)] What the fuck is this thing!? Destroy the brain or cut the power source! [He yells, trying to be useful. He tries again to release himself from the machine's hand and with all his might. (extreme effort opposed grapple 18, action point: 28)]

[sternshield]

[ he manages to climb up on top of it, but finds that it is not only NOT ACTUALLY PLUGGED INTO ANYTHING but staring down into it he sees the insides glow with a hideous red fire that make him feel like he's staring right into the mouth of hell. he can make a knowledge (religion) check to try to figure out what's going on. the remaining ghoul turns on erky (and gets a nat 20, dmg 6, passed fort) and he just barely misses with his mace in return (atk 13).

max manages to pull the levers off from him with an extreme effort of strength. the machine turns its attention to thoster on top of it, snapping at him with one of the claws (atk 20, dmg 6) and attempting to grab him with the other with the obvious attempt of throwing him into the grinding gears within, but he ducks it (atk 11) ]

[bluffcheck]

[Thoster's check was high enough for him to know some stuff!]

It's possessed by a demon! Erky, we may need you more than you know, friend!

[But while he's up here, he'll try to smash the thing from up here (attack nat 20!! Damage 18)]