[Turn 5]
Gather news about recent events then wait patiently for Diego and Eldrin to return
You return to your writing desk and shuffle through the notes your informants sent you about today's issues. Three simultaneous uprisings in other city-states, more unrest boiling all over the realm, sudden creation of makeshift temples to Old Gods all over the country... sounds like the Twin Suns are hard at work. You won't be able to destroy them by eliminating the religion itself, it seems; the only other way would be to get to their original shrine, whoever reconstructed it, and break it again to deprive the Twin Suns of their connection to this world. Without the gods to watch over their followers, the belief will starve itself into nothingness.
Just as the sun rises, Diego returns to you by the roof. Alone. Covered in soot and baked -
literally baked - blood. Well, it seems Diego had his deal of adventures tonight...
When you ask him whether he found the Assassin, Diego nods. "
Yes, sir, I found your student. Just in time to prevent the Twin Suns' hit squad from crushing him like a moth. I had to send them on a false lead into Umbrento's mansion - which was on fire, by the way, no doubt thanks to your student - cut individual hitmen off from the group and kill them one by one. Which was long and tedious, but necessary. The hit squad is unbeatable with all four members together, so I couldn't face them in open battle."
Anyway, what's important is this: the hitmen managed to send a word out to the rest of their zealots. Twin Suns were... not happy about my defection. I overheard them giving orders: there's another hit squad heading to your mansion right now. We must get out of here, fetch your pupil at the temple of Anratha, and get the out of town. Grab the essentials and let's go, the hitmen will be here any minute."
Follow Two-face and drain the blood of whatever is screaming, then let him finish before we continue. act non-aggressively towards the Speedster should we cross paths
[3+1 vs. 1] You outrun your insolent servant with ease, and soon arrive to a dead end. You see an unconscious guard near a beheaded body and a vampire whose age you can't seem to determine lying on the ground with a stake in his belly. You don't give the vampire too much thought and, making a mental footnote to remove the stake from the vampire later, sink your teeth into the guardsman's neck.
Two-Face arrives several minutes later, only to see the drained corpse of the guardsman and the very satisfied necromancer sitting next to it, his face covered in blood. As a little vengeance of his own, Two-Face removes the stake, fully expecting that vampire to wake up starving and angry at whoever deprived him of his meal-to-be.
Absolutely.
You proceed further into the tunnels, and soon reach the room where the noises seem to come from. The room's layout suggests that it's been a guard outpost originally, and its current function doesn't seem to differ much. There are two pairs of robed figures here and one muscular man sparring with a hanging bag in the corner, each of the two pairs dueling between themselves with what seems like blunt rapiers made of gold. However, the clangs the weapons cause aren't those of the normal gold colliding: they're sharper, thinner, almost as if they're made by steel. The lone man stops punching a bag and approaches you:
"
New here? Local rule: you want to get in, you fight. No exceptions. Now get your rapier and get on the ring."
You pick up one of the rapiers on the rack. At a closer look, it doesn't resemble gold at all: it's more like the color of a sun, with rare strands of some blue metal woven into something of a net over the blade's surface. You touch the rapier and... holy hell, it burns! Burns worse than a stake through the heart! Even as a vampire, you couldn't help but withdraw your hand the instant you felt it. A slap on your head from your sparring partner catches your attention:
"
Don't touch the Sun-Gold, rookie! It burns hotter than Hell itself. And don't fiddle with the blue strands: if you break them, it will spill all over you. I haven't seen anyone undress fast enough to survive that."
The Old Gods giving their followers comprehensible, mass-produced weaponry? Mortal technology wasn't really the gods' forte - it was more characteristic for demons... strange. Very strange.
You hadn't had time to think about this, though: your sparring partner has grabbed your shoulder and dragged you onto the ring in seconds. [Badassery: 5] It was a tall human wide in the shoulders, who looked very strong but not too agile. He seemed to wield his rapier equally well in both hands, but had been limping slightly on his right leg. The zealot raises his sword, stands still for three seconds, then, with a sharp 'go!', starts the fight.
[4 vs. 3] [Damage: Auto-1] [Roll Against Pain: 5] [Roll Against Breaking Cover: 5] He lands a square blow at your hip. The rapier leaves a singe mark there, you can feel it by the burning feeling it left behind. "
Hurts, doesn't it, rookie? That's how you'll learn- hey, nice try!"
[5 vs. 6] You let the opponent start talking, then lunge forward with a stab to his sword arm. The opponent deflects it with his blade and continues: "
As I said, pain is a good teacher!"
Your opponent strikes again. [2 vs. 4] His mighty hit lands in air instead of your shoulder and launches him forward. You see an opportunity for a counter-attack in his wide open sword side.
[6 vs. 5] [Damage: Auto-1] [Roll Against Pain: 3] Your next strike lands at the man's back, rapier covering a lot of skin for a few moments. You can smell burnt flesh. The man jumps away with a yelp, and can't help but frown: "
Strange. Novices like you don't usually so much as touch me in their first match. Well, seems you're a fast learner, then! You in for another round?"
You get a feeling that training with these rapiers does, indeed, work better than usual combat training, and that combined with your enhanced reflexes would mean you'll get tangible benefits with each session. However, should your opponent land a hit on your face, everyone will see the burn mark healing, which won't be good for your efforts to infiltrate the base or, indeed, survive.
Fear of Fire: +1 to defense against hot weapons.Wounds Healed
Continue to be in a coma, but see if I can feel the presence of the undead around me.
[1] Before you can contact the undead minds, someone removes the stake. [Roll against Terror: 5] You study the creature's face for a second, then shrug and get up. Where there's undead acting clever, there's always a necromancer giving the orders. And... yes, you find a vampire engorged on the guardsman's blood lying on the floor nearby.
Wait a minute, engorged? You were
entitled to kill the bastard who staked you, and this vampire dared eat your rightful prey? Maybe it was all for the best, and maybe you won't be able to beat the vampire and his undead all at once, but it still seems a bit disrespectful on his side. [2-2] You make a verbal snap at the Necromancer, but he only frowns a little and doesn't stoop down to answering you.
You were starving, and you
needed to eat something - something mortal, not any of the vampires or the undead. [Smell Mortals: 3+2] You find a scent of humans coming from the tunnels outside. There's a much stronger smell coming from the wall of the room you were in, [Deduction: 4-2] but you failed to imagine how there could be anything behind that solid-looking wall.
Eldrin Faenir - Assassin
Eldrin held the Elf with a firm grip, noting her struggling and strength -desperate, but still in control of your own will. Was this how he firstly felt upon being turned? Nevertheless, he continued holding her, careful to not let any mistake slip out while casting the occasional glance behind him at the burning mansion and it's gardens. He had to keep to his code.
Diplomacy and Reasoning, Ho!
"Listen to me now and listen good, Elf." He adjusted his grip for comfort on his victim's side, but enough to show he meant the threat of death if she did anything rash. "I may not be the man who I once was, but I still hold my freedom and dignity as much as you do yours. But this curse is not mine to bear, for even I do not know how this curse spreads." He knew that was true, other than the power of the Spin Doctor. "You have my word that I will not kill you, but only if you comply and escape along with me. I am an Assassin, I do not break my oath. Pick up your bow, and let us leave. Your Warrior Spirit is not broken, and I will not be the one to break it."
He couldn't help but feel a bit proud of the Guard, despite the carnage around her, she still held her own Liberty high in the face of death -or re-death, as the situation would be.
"I was once a man, but I am free to travel my own path, even in this state. And no matter what you do, I swear to any God out there that I do not claim control over you but before anything else, could you tell me your name, Madam?"
Main Goal: Escape with the Guard!
[Persuasion: 6 vs. 3; Success] [Bluff: 6] The elf hears you out. She's still suspicious about you, but at least she doesn't try to kill you anymore. "
You are lying. Nobody would disarm themselves just to break their opponent's heart - there's something about the blood, is there, vampire? But... somehow, I believe you truly had no ulterior motive in converting me. My name is Amala Sungleam the Bringer of Silence, and many a human has fallen to my arrows in the days of the Crusades. As for my experience... suffice it to say that you would do well not to mention my full name near a cultist of the Old Gods."
To pay you back for this so-called 'curse', I shall accompany you, but on my terms. Try to force something on me, and your life's end will be abrupt and unforeseen."
Got a Follower: Amala Sungleam.[Diego: 3] As you and Amala head for the Temple of Anratha, you hear several voices shouting and something smashing through wood on the other side of a mansion. You decide not to investigate the occurence further, and break into a run.
[Luck: 5] At the temple of Anratha, you find out that not only do the priests pay you the promised gold, but you are also offered to become Anratha's champion for a certain mission, namely destroying the shrine of the Old Gods going by the name of Twin Suns.
Any vampire being a deity's follower is a very, very rare occurence. Being a deity's champion would be a position of great - maybe even greatest - honor amongst vampires, reminding other dwellers of the night that you've managed to do what none of them could. One must also mention that deities help out their champions in rough spots: getting unexpected support when facing impossible odds isn't something an atheist can readily rely on.
However, you have a feeling that there's no going back: once you've accepted the mission, you'll have to do it as Anratha tells you to do, meaning you won't have much freedom in where to go and who to kill until after you've completed your mission.
Do you accept the offer?
Lost: Gem of AnrathaGained: Pouch(200 gold coins inside)
I claim the Speedster! For the sake of consistency I will retain the character name.
Though his undying body had long abandoned perspiration, either an inconsequential side effect of the turning or possibly a testament to his peak physical condition, Xil instinctively wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. As a creature of the night, he had nearly forgotten the sensation of fear; hairs stood on end, a deep prodding in the pit of his stomach, warning him of impending danger.
It was all coming back to him. He could almost hear his own racing heart, a sound now foreign to him. The prodding in his stomach freezing him in place quickly became a prodding meant to push him into action.
Realizing that this terrifying monster proved no threat to a fellow undead, Xil rushed ahead with a foolhardy confidence, intending to use his unnatural agility to quickly deplete the life of the origin of the scream and deprive the pile of necrotic flesh of its next meal. With complete disregard for the possibility of a trap or unseen dangers awaiting, Xil convinced himself that in the event of a confrontation with the living he could easily dispatch the corpse and appear a hero to the townsfolk, perhaps raking in another 100 gold pieces.
[vs. Two-Face: 1+2 vs. 1][vs. Necromancer: 1+2 vs. 3+1] You don't run fast enough, and as a result, you only outrun the undead horror - barely. By the time you arrive at the scene with the staked vampire, the guardsman is drained of his blood already, and you don't have much more to do about that.
[Secret Passage: 2] You notice something off with the wall of the chamber, though: it's almost as if there's light coming out of fractures between the bricks, and there's a strong smell of humans coming from it. You try to push bricks and twist torches at random, but it seems this secret door doesn't work that way. You could always try and smash through it, of course...
Player: Flintus
Name: Samuel Bel
HP: 20/20
Status: Starving(3 turns left)
Abilities:Eternal Leader: +1 to all leadership rolls.
Dominate Will: can put mortals under your control.
Inventory:Punctured Noble's Dress
Advisor's Wig
Heavy Pouch of BlingPlayer: antlion12
Name: Augustine Volkar
HP: 20/20
Status: Full(1 turn left)
Abilities:Spin Doctor: +1 to persuasion and changing people's opinions. Can persuade other people even when under attack.
Inventory:Bank Account: 1200 gold.
PouchHandkerchief
Expensive Clothing
Map of Twin Suns' TempleDaggerRapierHenchman:Diego. 30/30 HP, wielding two Shortswords(two hits, Strength-based -2 to hit, 1d6 damage) and wearing a Plated Leather Armor(-2 to received damage). +2 to Strength. Cannot disobey you.
Player: IronyOwl
Name: Kal
HP: 20/20 HP
Status: Hungry(6 turns left)
Abilities:Regenerator: restores 2 HP every turn. Restores full HP in Adrenaline Rush and when feeding.
Instinctive Deflection: +2 to defense against hot weapons.
Inventory:Torn and Bloodstained Performer's Suit
Well-Fitted Black Robe2 changes of Normal Clothing
Heavy ShortswordPouchStake-Arrow(coated with Survivalist's Blood)Sun-Gold Training RapierPlayer: agentorangesoda
Name: Xil Valcenti
HP: 20/20
Status: Full(1 turn left)
Abilities:Blinding Speed: gets +2 to hit and to all actions relying on speed.
Inventory:QuarterstaffAdventurer's Leather ArmorPouchPlayer: empfan
Name: Antora Darklance
HP: 20/20
Status: Full(6 turns left)
Abilities:Necromancer: Can raise dead.
Inventory:A Bottle of Dwarven Wine
CrossbowSecrets of Life and Death: The Book(authored by Antora Darklance)
Undead Servant:Two-Face. +1 to Damage, +1 to Strength. Wields: Mace and Shield(+0 to hit, 1d6 damage, +1 to defense, negates armor)
Player: Tiruin
Name: Eldrin Faenir
HP: 20/20
Status: Full(1 turn left)
Abilities:Sneaky: +1 to stealth, stealing and lockpicking
Assassin: Stealth attacks always hit.
Inventory:Dual DaggersDwarven Crossbow2 Poison VialsFirestarting Kit3 Pouches(235 gold total)
An Unhealthy Covering of Assassin's Blood
Author
Topic: Roll to Stop the Suns: A Vampire RTD (Read 19087 times)