Move the finger out of the way, should the finger refuse to move, try to sever it with my axe.
Name: Robert Grant
Appearance: A stocky, tall man with black hair.
Magic path: Hunter Sculptor
Strength: d10+1
Speed: d6
Endurance: d8
Knowledge: d8
Will: d8
Senses: d4
Ongoing effects: Cut palm (treated), deep gash in the side (treated)
Mana: 3
Materials:
Shrink
Inventory:
War axe d8
Doctor's Bag
Leather armor d6
Bandages
Backpack
Lantern
223 gold
76 silver
Shield
Sword d6
Crossbow d6
20 crossbow bolts
Helmet d4
Leather gloves
Crowbar
Rope
Iron thread
8 lead weights (in storage)
Rifle d8 4/5
28 rifle rounds
2 single shot pistols d6
8 pistol rounds
Harness
200 feet of rope
3 wyrm scales
You give the finger a great deal of shoving and some wacks with the ax but it remains firm. You get another lungful of air and then start tracing the shape of the thing, following it deeper. The finger is attached to a hand, which is attached to an arm. There seems to be a whole goddamn figure or maybe even automaton down here; something of absurd size.
You think that maybe...maybe you could get the finger to move by manipulating the mechanics of the thing but...at the same time an automata of this size would be worth...well you probably wouldn't have to worry about money ever again.
Mark this location, then retrieve the washbasin and climb up out of this ruin - tie the basin with the rope to lift it out: make a sort of basket loop if i can't tie a handle or something. Return with my loot to the city and sell the basin for gold. Then attempt to purchase a kitten for the Shepherdess.
The Ascetic Ghost Shepherd
A thin, wiry guy. Hazel eyes. Black hair. Long fingers.
current status: fine
Stats
6 str
6 spd
10 End
8 Know
10 Will
4 sense
Mana: 12
Materials: Porcelain, Black Flux, Force, Toxin
Inventory:
Inhabited by a Spirit - a little shepherdess girl. Likes dolls. Adventurous. (Current request: cute and furry)
Currently hosting a Scarab ghost in muh brains. (Currently wants a religious relic that has been buried with the dead for some time)
One catamaran sailboat
Ghost Charm
Doctor's Kit
Lantern, Rope, Backpack
(1) rolling horse toy
shiny orb from the ruins on the lake (light blue glow. 1 mana invested.)
haunted obsidian and wood knife (with cold, light metal box)
0 gold
You manage to get back out of this place with relatively little effort. Sure, the climb out of the hole in the ceiling was pretty awkward and difficult for someone of your middling physique but you managed it. They try hard to undersell you on the basin but you search around until you find someone who buys it for 45 gold. You take that cash and use 1 gold to buy the Shepherdess a kitten. She rewards you with 24 mana! When you ask her what she wants next she says she is tired and doesn't want anything for a while.
Report back with findings including what Adam told me. add that I suspect victims are being controlled by mind-effects and used for labor but are being returned once their body nears its limit, as such the kidnappers might not be without morals though its too early to be sure. Propose baiting the kidnappers with a strong-willed channeler that is a young fit male by dressing them in dockworker's clothes and having them wander the slums seemingly alone. Possible backup could trail them at a distance.
Name: Nina Morellis
Appearance: A young, red-haired woman, green eyes, somewhat unkempt. She's had Adam for as long as she could remember, and has a bit of a reputation as a harmless nut. The town guard are okay with Nina though, occasionally getting her help keeping a mage secured by having her drain their mana so they can't cast. Since they don't have a proper magehunter available, having a local civilian channeler they can bring in as needed is a big help. And Nina tries to be on her best behavior with them to keep their relations good. Nina herself works as a healer, living out in the poor part of town, and has an erratic schedule based on the needs of those who want her help. so she has a lot of free time, but also gets woken up in the middle of the night a lot. add in Adam's occasional antics and she doesn't get to have a stable sleep schedule.
Magic Path: Channeler, Invoker.
Materials: Sound
Mana: 3
Strength: D4
Speed: D6
Endurance: D10
Knowledge: D8
Will: D10
Senses: D6
(Locked up) Inventory: Backpack, padded cloak (D4 protection, Light armor), Lantern, doctor's bag, waterskin (air), hammer, 2 silver, air bladder, white robes, aqua vitae.
(current) Inventory: a red gambleson, gray pants, metal bracers, shin guards and a sallet helm (d6 armor). Other than that there is a kite shield (d6), a long sword (d6) and a catch pole, along with 3 small bombs and a pair of manacles.
Inhabited by a spirit which takes the form of a floating disembodied limb that constantly melts and reforms into other body parts. She calls it "Adam."
Cabal: None at this time.
The Magebreakers concur with your idea and similarly agree that a sting might be best. However, they offer a different take on it. They purpose not simply capturing the kidnapper in the act but allowing them to take a planted individual and then tracking them back to whatever hideout they're using. They say they would prefer this method because there may still be victims in bondage and multiple criminals. Capturing just the kidnapper would not necessarily result in the aid of others or the capture of conspirators.
Wait, why would you roll for Ecalir and Darwin there? Shouldn't we be way back in the past of whatever is happening here? Cause at no point have you mentioned us noticing any of those events up till now, far as I know, so I thought it wasn't simultaneous. Does this mean we can also see that singing thing, since we're close to the tower? Does that perhaps resemble the guts Darwin felt before?
Anyway, does it seem likely we can restrain and gather all of the people in this field in a timely manner (assuming we get that rope working)? And what if we just had Ecalir here go around and bonk fools on the head? Guessing either will take too long given the time we have left?
Name: Darwin Zeppeli
Appearance: An old medicine man.
Magic path: alchemist gut-reader
Strength: d4
Speed: d6->d8
Endurance: d6->d8
Knowledge: d10
Will: d8
Senses: d10
Mana: 22 (15 to ecalir)
10 thaum in bottle
Ongoing effects: None
Magical materialsVacuum!
Reanimate
Sharpen
Viscera
Diamond
Rope
Inventory1 sedated bugman
6 mercenaries (currently at edge of cavern)
1 ranged and 1 melee merc, stay with Ecalir and watch his back
3 melee mercs and 1 ranged merc stay with Darwin, 2 of the melee mercs stick close to him at all times and act as bodyguards
dissection knife: d4
Springy metal knive: d6
Springy metal sword: d6
Springy metal halberd: d8
Curved blade: d6
Icepick: d4
gun: d8 [50 rounds left]
9 smokebombs
Thaumic bomb (currently empty)
Ecalir's old armor: d8 (in use)
shield (+1 to protective rolls from armor)
Sealer Suit: d4 (vs magic)
Alchemist’s Gear
39 gold
5 silver
Octopus core
A glass slab with a topographical map of the kingdom carved into it
a bottle of glowing blue sea water, inside protective box with lock
a glass orb with barely visible lotus inside of it, inside staff assembly.
magic coin
Small book
magic compass + map
book on normal plants and animals
book on magical plants and animals/creatures
handbook on making weapons&armor, including a list of known types
a detailed account of the Artifacter war
map of the old world
good quality book&pen
good history book
Paradox snail (inside jar) and things to keep them happy and fed
Doctor's bag
set of ingredients (plants, chemicals and the like) for making poisons or antidotes (23 uses left)
High quality backpack
donkey named Yvonne for carrying
Zomboraptor head
Lantern
several hundred feet of rope
climbing crampons
a grappling hook
iron stakes
net made of rope
several vials with imp fat
20 vials
2x Collapsible rod
10 oil flasks
300 feet of really big, thick, strong rope
100 feet of metal chain
box of metal spikes
pair of binoculars
4 boxes of rags
Medium armor: d6 (not in use)
Honestly, I just forgot to the first time and decided not to retcon it. I'm assuming all this is happening at the same time because...well...it would be very easy to create a time paradox if not. I mean, what if you blow up the tower? Dev and friends would suddenly be fighting something that shouldn't exist. Oh well.
Also yeah, thats in the right place for the "Guts" though...not quite right? There's something more behind that thing up there. Literally and figuratively.
All of them? Probably not. MAYBE on a really good roll. But you can get a fair number. Bonking implies you'd have to carry them though, which would reduce that number. The tied ones will still walk after all.
(They're definately important, but those are not the two people who will murder everyone in melee, Siren. Bit of a whoops there.)
Direct the fire of the autocannon towards the siren with the spyglass and my magic-enhanced vision. Have my two guards keep people clear of myself and the gunner. Open fire, and lets hopefully end this.
Japanese girl with a long black braid and a white and red fitted robe with long gloves. Eyes currently shimmering with energy. Clothing is slightly dull in colour and made of metallic thread. Pointy, somewhat elfish ears. Burnt off eyebrows from spell failure. Missing fingernails on right hand.
Invoking Empath
Str d6
Speed d8
Endurance d10+1
Knowledge d6+1
Will d10+1
Senses d10, temporary. d8 base
Materials: d12 Ape, d12 Grow, d12 Strengthen, d12 Expand, d8 View, d10 Steel, and d10 Speed.
Location: Lunare
Status: Fine. Burn scars on arms. Missing fingernails on right hand. Slightly enhanced hearing.
Temporary Effects: Buff pill. (Will, Awakeness) (Super-eyes, d10 senses, 1hr)
Items:
Carried:
10 mana
33 gold
d8+1 armour: The outfit, naturally, and a shield. Weighs as if it were d6
Shield.
Backpack
Waterskin
Compass
Goggles
Surgical tools
100 feet of rope
Magic Spyglass
Two amulets with week-long d6 endurance-boosting effects. Intended to help heal maltreatment, exhaustion, and restore some health to abused, dying people, to make them more likely to survive.
Jade tablets with d8 View, d10 Steel, and d10 Speed.
Left Behind:
Black metal scrap
Steel scraps
Cable-wrapped metal box of happiness.
Box of painting-golem
Familiar. "Benedict" Cougar/red-tailed hawk, adequate flyer, elephant-sized with 60+ foot wingspan.
Natural weapons d6, d8 with swooooop.
Buffed with buff pill, d8 Strengthen Ape mind bouncer.
Steel Helmet. 1d4 armour?
Str D12
Spd D8
End D12
Kno D4
Will D8
Sen D6
[Fanciful]
Notes: Improving physical stats with strengthen, d4->d6 is d6, d6->d8 is d12, d8->d10 is d20 or more.
Mental stats are possible, but harder or more complicated.
[4+1v8][1+1 (on a goddamn d20)] [5v3]
The autocannon fires a burst of shells, following your commands of where to aim. The balcony where the siren is basically detonates as the rounds strike it, powderizing it and immediately obscuring everything behind a wall of dust. The song does stop, cut off abruptly, but the shadowy orbs keep coming. A barrier, much like the original one that protected the allied forces in their first moments of battle, flares into existence in front of the orbs and the two strain against each other. But after a few moments the shield distorts and then pops like a soap bubble. You dive for cover as the orbs silently impact all around you. They do not explode or throw flames or anything of the kind. They simply seem to delete spherical sections of earth - or whatever else- when they land. You, luckily, happen not to be in their path.
[1+1v6]
The others are not so lucky. The orbs land in silence and disappear in silence, but screams quickly fill the air. The field and the men on it have been perforated with enormous holes. Many died instantly, others are left with great cookie cutter wounds. Legs, arms, hands, feet, slices of torso, all were vanished instantly and left nothing but cleanly severed stumps. The fighting force has been reduced by half, if not more. Those remaining are starting to turn, to flee, morale broken by the sudden devastating blow. Some drag injured, others are running alone.
While I'm terribly tempted to simply not post Ekrov's sheet, thus forcing him to autoroll 1, I'd like to have him shake off this mind control. Roll to resist!
...Failing that, stab people with the steel stilleto, I guess.
Name: Ekrov Trenian Vyachilad
Description: A noble's son, Ekrov is a boy on the cusp of adulthood, and barely looks it. His hands are soft, his appearance taken care of, and his bones slightly visible under his unmarred skin. He's scrawny, clearly having never done manual labor in his life, and somewhat short--though it's hard to tell whether that's due to age or genetics. His eyes are wide and constantly look around in absentminded wonderment; he's clearly out of his element in this, and gives off a tourist-y impression. He wears a clearly high-quality outfit, but to his credit it looks unusually practical for a noble, subdued brown in color and light aside from thin pieces of light leather in strategic locations, clearly intended more as protection than a fashion statement. He carries a small backpack, and wears a light cloak that's had an absurd number of little pockets clumsily sewn into it.
Magic Path: Alchemist Sculptor
Mana: 6
Magic Words: "Animate"
Stats:
Strength: d4
Speed: d6
Endurance: d4
Knowledge: d12
Will: d6 (Buffed to d8)
Senses: d12
Ongoing Effects: None...?
Current Sculpture Materials:
1. Human skull
2. 10 lbs of pure iron
3. a piece of complex machinery; clockwork or similar.
4. a bottle of water collected directly from the a cloud.
5. The blood of someone who has fought off a possession with their own will
Inventory:
Backpack
Lightly armored traveling outfit (enchanted to d6, from d4)
Wooden shield (+1 to armor rolls, most of the time)
Steel stilleto (d4 melee)
Ornamental spring pistol (d6 ranged) [6/6] (30 spare shots)
Alchemist gear
24 gold, 8 silver (Saeko owes him 400 gold)
Paints, a dish, sands, glitter, water, general scrying supplies.
Pencil + Paper.
Expensive medical supplies.
Sketches of:
Gyrotourbillon's workings
Benedict the Griffon
Can I still think when my body is being controlled? If so, attempt to resist, if not, follow my programming and head towards the nearest target
Name: Eve
Appearance: 4 ft tall female human with long hear that constantly changes color. She always wears a long sleeve shirt and jeans. She has slightly tan skin and green eyes. most of her right arm is made of aluminum, from her hand to her forearm.
Magic path: Servant Sculptor
Mana: 0
Strength: d4
Speed: d8
Endurance: d6
Knowledge: d10
Will: d8
Senses: d8
Ongoing effects: None
Items needed for current Sculpture
1. A smooth river rock: Acquired
2. A block of Ice: Not Acquired
3. About a half liter of mercury: Not Acquired May be found at Bromcresol
4. Silver Wire: Acquired
Spirit: None
Spirit Task: None
Inventory: Doctor's bag, Thick fur shirt D4, Thick fur leggings d4, ghost charm, Smooth river rock, 100 ft of string, a pry-bar, a spool of silver wire, 50 gold
Materials: lightsilver
[8v3][2v2]
Ekrov clearly avoids the attack intentionally, the mind control broken the instant the singing stops. Eve avoids it as well, though far more unintentionally as she stumbles over backwards and finds herself sitting at the edge of a crater, dazed.
Across the field, the brain washed civilians come to their senses somewhat. The effect has been on them longer, so they don't snap back as easily as Ekrov and Eve, instead they sort of lurch into a half waking state, like drunks or sleep walkers. They stand in a daze, staring uncomprehendingly at the world around them.