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

[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)]

[beatemup]

[Maybe he really should have looked into religious stuff as suggested by Stiles. But for now, he is just going to brute force his way out as usual. He aims for the claw and attack with forceful blow to break it appart. (Sunder 24, dmg 11) ]

[sternshield]

[ since i don't think he has improved sunder, it gets an attack of opportunity, and the claw snaps at him with a 24 atk, doing 9 dmg. its opposed attack is only a 21 however, which means he manages to snap off one of the claws!

the ghoul fighting erky claws at him once more (atk 10), but erky ducks away with a five foot step, and slaps the machine with a cure serious wounds spell that causes the side of it to start sizzling. they seem to be making some progress at least, but it's still kicking, and it uses its other claw to try to grab erky (atk 20, dmg 9), but he actually manages to beat its grapple check??? and avoids being picked up ]

[bluffcheck]

[Hearing the hiss of Erky's spell hitting, Thoster lets out a short shout of triumph, hoping to keep their momentum going. He pulls back for another attack with his weapon (attack 25, damage 9)]

[beatemup]

[Max is so badly bruised, one more attack from that possessed meat-grinder will probably make him hit the dirt. It would be best for him to stay on the defensive and wait for healing, but a half-orc bruiser with limited wisdom only has two modes: "Hit it!" Or "Beat it!". So this time, Let's "Beat it!"

For one last attack, he swings his hammer like it is the last thing he does in his whole life. (Power attack penetration nat 20: 87 damage)]

[sternshield]

[ holy balls. max hits the machine with a deafening clang - and the machine CRACKS down the middle with a blessed tearing noise. thoster better jump off that shit with a jump or tumble check. the remaining ghoul claws at erky again (3 dmg), and this time the paralytic agent freezes him up as well.

there's an unearthly roar from the machine as it trembles to a stop, however, utterly defeated. ]

[bluffcheck]

[Well... Thoster rolled a 2 and he sure has no ranks in either of those skills so... He's not really going to fall super gracefully. It probably hurts when he hits the ground. But they killed the thing, yay!]

[beatemup]

[Woohooooo... he did it! Take that, demon! Mess with him and the last thing you'll taste is his hammer.

Now, there's one monster left and he just stole the spotlight, maybe it would be better to share some credit and let the rest of the team handle it. That's what a good leader would do, right? So, showing that he can be a good leader, he takes defensive stance and wait for his team to do the rest.

Wait!

This is Max we're talking, stealing the spotlight is something he does. He isn't gonna let this chance go. Instead, he energically moves toward the ghoul and hammers it. (Power atk 16, dmg 12)]

[sternshield]

[ thoster takes 2 falling damage as he hits the ground, hard, and he's greeted by the sound of a hammer all but shattering the skull of the ghoul, who literally gets a dent in the side of his head from the massive blow. the ghoul continues to lash out with a claw in an instinctive panic, but let's see how good YOUR aim is after you get your brains half smashed out (atk 8) ]

[bluffcheck]

[Seeing as half the team is paralyzed, Thoster rushes to help Max take out this last ghoul, bringing his Morningstar down to give it another whack (attack 21, damage 11)]

[beatemup]

Graahh! Go back to your fucking hell already! [Max continues his onslaught with the help of Thoster by serving the ghoul another portion of steel batter (power attack 14, dmg 13)]

[sternshield]

[ together, they batter the ghoul into submission, and it finally falls, lifeless and twitching, to the ground. a couple minutes later, erky and liam will regain themselves, as silence falls around them. ] Is-- is that all of them?

[bluffcheck]

I think so. I'll have a look around. [He goes poking around to see if there are any more creepy things lingering (search 19)]

[sternshield]

[ the oppressive air seems to have dissolved, and he discovers no further ghouls here. but no other living beings as well :( ] What about the girl? The one who called us?

[bluffcheck]

Not here, from what I can tell. [He grimaces and flexes his hand around the grip of his weapon.] Best we keep looking, aye?

[sternshield]

Aye, let's hope without any nasty surprises this time. [ search checks one more time! ]

[bluffcheck]

[15 for Thoster]

[ex_boning176]

[Liam only got 12 so maybe his brain is still a lil paralyzed idk...]

[beatemup]

[Max's search check is 16. After a boss fight, checking for loot is a must, of course. Give him his loot!]

[sternshield]

[ well, before they even go looking for the people in question, max finds something hanging on a hook in the same barn they're in - it looks like a standard sledgehammer, except that it has runes carved into its wooden handle. as he approaches it, erky steps up beside him, raising a hand and closing his eyes a moment. ] My, my. It's certainly magic, at least.

[bluffcheck]

[Thoster comes over to have a look as well, peering at the runes (spellcraft 22 to see if he knows anything about the magic in the hammer maybe? either that or bardic knowledge 39 to see if he's heard any stories about a weapon like this)]

[sternshield]

[ thoster has heard of such a thing! this is the demolition hammer, which can be activated once a day on a successful melee attack. doing so means that target must succeed on a DC 20 fort save or take 10d6 dmg. if that's enough to kill them, the target gets disintegrated into a trace of fine dust. ]

[bluffcheck]

You'd do well to keep that close at hand, friend. [Thoster says to Max.] I've heard tales of something with those runes reducing men to dust with a single blow.

[That's all you, buddy! Go for it.]