Formally Known As...

As you make your way through the fortress you are looking for one man. The man formerly known as the ‘Duke’. The man who had detailed plots noted down in his bedroom, pictures of Razen, and the intent to torture the half-orc for his own purposes. In order to finally put an end to this plot against Alexandria - and to free Razen - you seek him out now. The fortress cut into the face of stone is impressive. Already you have had to split your number twice in order to slow down the guards and personal servants of this man.

So that you can face him.

He stands before you now, face stormy with the indignity of you here; now. He wears his fine regalia as if it is armor, and the sneer on his lips matches the displeasure in his gaze. Everything about his posture suggests that he is above you. He’s even standing on an actual dias to make himself taller.

GAME: Astaren casts Mage Armor. Caster Level: 15 DC: 17

Astaren steps into the room and glances around, "Huh, where is this duke? Hey Lackey." calling over to the duke, "Can you tell us where somebody soon to be irrelevant is?" tilting his head and smiling knowingly, "We look for the Duke. Seen him around?"

"HEY! We've been Razen Hell to get here, the least you can do is not stand up..." She gestures toward the dais, "There." Kisaiya pulls her scythe free, sighing softly, "I wish Serra was here to see this. I bet she'd like to see this." A shrug and she looks back to her other companions, a wide smile. "At least there's no cats!" Another quick look around just to make sure.

"I don't understand why softskins give themselves titlessss, Like Duke." Durrankar just sounds confused. "If they haven't earned it, why? Are they trying to make themselvesssss sound important?"

"To think that, all this time I thought you were merely an arrogant, egotistical blowhard," Aya notes as she stands before the 'Duke' once more. "Now all know you are a charlatan as well."

"Hah! Your name is Charlotte as well?!" Kisa starts to snicker, looking toward Aya. "How did you find out his name was Charlotte?"

Sophia glances over towards Kisaiya, "Cats... well, I would think the felines would have better taste." She looks disdainfully at the man on the dias, "So, this can either go easy... or it can go very easy. Entirely up to you." Currently her armor looks more like something a blackguard would wear, but considering where they are, blackened steel seems more fitting than the robes of Althea.

The 'duke' looks 'down' on you imperiously. "/Duke Archellius/." His eyes slide over the group of you and seems to bristle at your lack of respect, but then his eyes settle on Aya. "You at least I would allow to endure, if you would but submit." He grins suddenly, confidant in his arrogance. "Your friends will not leave this complex alive unless I will it so. You can save them a lot of pain Aya." His grin fades. "Some of them at least."

Durrankar says, "This....reminds me of a softskin saying. 'give a man a torch and he'll be warm for an hour, but set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.'"

Aya arches a brow at Archellius. "How terribly generous of you, but the offer lacks substance. I doubt that anyone here came all this way to submit, and who would we submit to? Your forces seem occupied, or incompetent, if they were supposed to keep use out. Some of us -might- offer mercy if -you- were to submit." She glances to Durrankar and smiles. "I'd opt for setting him on fire, myself."

Sophia blinks at the Duke's introduction, then actually... laughs softly. "Arch... hellius? Seriously? Did you think that sounded intimidating or something when you were a child? I'm sure you made that up while crying out 'I'll show them all!' after being sent to your room for misbehaving, no doubt."

Astaren rolls up his sleeves as he steps forward and looks around, "Oh Right! Not leaving, forgot about that, sorry Interior decorator services here for you! Lets see..." glancing around he snaps his fingers and traces a few blue glowing lines in the air. Then with another snap of his fingers a wall of stone appears around the perimeter of the room, walling the walls for any secret entrances and blocking off the entrance they just came in. "How is that? Or is the granite gray not to your like? I can do a nice soft basalt as well."

GAME: Astaren casts Wall of Stone. Caster Level: 15 DC: 20

The man - who's real name is in fact Charles - curses loudly and takes a step backwards. He tugs on a curtain string and there's a little gong that's clearly supposed to summon aid... Though Astaren's spell has clearly locked them all inside the room. At the same time the fake duke pulls a weapon of his own and points it toward you all "I warned you twice and you ignored me." Suddenly two tall well-armed guards appear by magic on either side of him. Their appearance makes him straighten significantly. "You will not be laughing once we've finished torturing a confession out of that half-ourch Razen."

Durrankar says, "How about you give back the half-oruch? hm? You know...do things peacefully instead of aggressively? I mean....it'll save all of us a world of pain." Durrankar then lets out a puff of smoke. "Or we will kill you until you die from it.""

GAME: Sophia rolls diplomacy: (1)+24: 25 (EPIC FAIL)
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+27: (2)+27: 29
GAME: Astaren rolls diplomacy: (13)+17: 30

Sophia looks at the 'Duke' and the newly appearing guards, not seeming too worried about things just yet as she says, quite reasonably... though she can't help but smirk as she speaks, "Look. How about you just give us Razen back, and then we'll leave. And you can keep breathing, which... to be honest, might be the best offer you get all day. Do you /really/ think you're that valuable to your superiors?" She gives the Duke a knowing look.

Astaren peers over to Sophia, "If what you want is power, starting a war is not really the best way to go. Your painting a target on your back. you may defeat us, but there will be more and more. Is that what you really want? We could look at different channels."

Kisa's head bobs along as she seems to think through the phrase a few times, then finally looks back at Durrankar again, "Durr, how can we kill him till he dies? Don't you just mean we'll kill him for it? I mean... it's all about the same idea."

Kisa squints, and then looks at Sohpia then Astaren, cants her head and then flings her arms up above her head instead, brandishing the scythe about as she starts walking toward the faux-Duke. "Give us Razen now!"

Charles actually seems to consider Astaren's words, his weapon lowering a touch. "You're not wrong." He sighs and shakes his head. "But /he/ wouldn't like that." Suddenly Kisa moves forward and that's the end of diplomacy.

"Kill him, certainly," Aya agrees, eyeing Charles who she feels is anything but in charge, "but not quickly. He'll tell us where Razen is, first. Eventually.”

GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+22: (17)+22: 39
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+22: (20)+22: 42
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+22: (14)+22: 36
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d6+5: (4)+5: 9
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d6+5: (4)+5: 9
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d6+5: (1)+5: 6
GAME: Kisaiya rolls fortitude: (5)+13: 18
GAME: Kisaiya rolls fortitude: (16)+13: 29
GAME: Aftershock rolls 2d4: (6): 6

The guards move forward in unison to protect Charles, both of them attacking Kisaiya and hitting her hard. One of them hitting much harder than the other.

Charles laughs at you, at the blood that's already been spilled. "I think you're all going to die here in a cage of your own making! Lay down your weapons and I will have /mercy/." He glares hatefully at Aya. "Even for you."

GAME: Kisaiya rolls 1d100: (53): 53 GAME: Kisaiya rolls 1d8+3: (1)+3: 4

Kisaiya wobbles a bit in place and then blinks, steps one way, steps the other and squints about. "BLehhh.. NEHEH-GARGLE! HE'S A WITCH!" She gestures at Charles and takes a wide swing with her scythe at the air. The scythe comes around and the haft knocks her in the head. "ACK! HE'S A STRONG WITCH! HE HIT ME IN THE HEAD! Are you related to Sandy?!"

...where the hell did Boshter come from?!

"HELLO," he says loudly as he appears right there near the guards.

"I UNDERSTAND THERE IS SOME SORT OF CHARN PERSON WHO NEEDS TO BE PUNCHED REPEATEDLY?" He looks around for the confirmation.

...what the heck.

GAME: Aya spends ONE point of KI POOL.
GAME: Aya spends ONE point of KI POOL.
GAME: Aya rolls weapon0: (2)+20: 22
GAME: Aya rolls weapon0: (14)+20: 34
GAME: Aya rolls weapon0: (12)+20: 32
GAME: Aya rolls weapon0-5: (20)+20+-5: 35 (THREAT)
GAME: Aya rolls weapon0-10: (6)+20+-10: 16
GAME: Aya rolls weapon0-5: (15)+20+-5: 30
GAME: Aya rolls damage0: aliased to 2D8+5: (14)+5: 19
GAME: Aya rolls damage0: aliased to 2D8+5: (4)+5: 9
GAME: Aya rolls damage0+damage0: aliased to 2D8+5+2D8+5: (10)+5+(5)+5: 25

Aya vanishes from where she stands in a puff of shadow, only to reappear behind Charles, Duke of Lies with the same dissipating wisps. "You talk far too much." She immediately spins into a kick, followed by a backhand, knifehand, elbow, and finally ending with a sweeping kick with her trailing foot. Most connect with Charles, though true to her earlier statement, none are intended to kill.

GAME: Sophia rolls Heal: (19)+21: 40
GAME: Sophia casts Prayer. Caster Level: 10 DC: 20

Sophia's armor shifts from blackened iron to gleaming silver-steel, the emblem of Althea emblazoned on the breastplate clear to see as she shouts, "Althea! Aid us in smiting this enemy of life with a very tacky name." She then glances towards Durrankar, "She's been poisoned, do you have something that can help?"

GAME: Durrankar casts Heal. Caster Level: 14 DC: 23

Durrankar actually winces when Kisa smacks her head with the scythe. "We're going to have to keep Kisaiya up." he says as he snaps his fingers and a rod appears in his free hand. "Heal her wounds and maladies." he says simply....and all of Kisa's wounds should be fine.

GAME: Astaren casts Blessing of Fervor. Caster Level: 15 DC: 19
GAME: Astaren casts Invisibility. Caster Level: 15 DC: 18
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+21: (2)+21: 23
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+21: (9)+21: 30
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+17: (2)+17: 19
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+17: (11)+17: 28
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+12: (4)+12: 16
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+12: (1)+12: 13 (EPIC FAIL)

The guards attack Kisaiya again, but this time they do not manage to hit her. Even so the number of blows that they send her direction is staggering and each one looks aimed to kill.

GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+21: (5)+21: 26
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+16: (7)+16: 23
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+11: (12)+11: 23

Charles snarls at Aya. "I wanted you for a wife, but having you dead will be nearly as great a pleasure." There's fire in his eyes and he swings his weapon at her, narrowly missing her several times. He's close enough to hitting though that she feels the passage of each one as it goes by.

GAME: Kisaiya rolls 35: (9)+35: 44
GAME: Kisaiya rolls 31: (4)+31: 35
GAME: Kisaiya rolls 2d4+12: (8)+12: 20

Kisaiya feels much better with that bit of healing. She shakes her head and cants her head with a squint. "HEY!" She whips the scythe back up and squints. She's in a dress by the way, a long one with a cream-colored under-dress. The over dress is deep blue with gold thread running through it to make a myriad of patterns to mimic desert flowers.

"Not cool! Even if you do work for a witch!" She whips the scythe back down using the haft of the scythe, knocking his feet out from under him and with a quick rotation and a twist the scythe's black blade cuts him soon after.

GAME: Boshter rolls 1d20+19: (16)+19: 35
GAME: Boshter rolls 1d20+18: (2)+18: 20
GAME: Boshter rolls 1d20+13: (11)+13: 24
GAME: Boshter rolls 1d20+8: (16)+8: 24
GAME: Boshter rolls 2d6+10: (8)+10: 18

"Oh, hello," says Boshter to one of the guards.

"I am here to punch you in the face!" Which he does, of course, quite soundly. It doesn't knock the fellow out, of course, and the rest of his assault, a series of elaborate punches and kicks, doesn't do much more than dent armor.

"You will get no such pleasure," Aya assures Charles as she takes a step back out of blade's reach before calling the shadows to her, darkening her immediate vicinity, "only fear and pain."

GAME: Aya rolls intimidate+org+dark: aliased to intimidate+4+2: (18)+19+4+2: 43
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+21: (10)+21: 31
GAME: Stjepan rolls 1d20+22+2: (3)+22+2: 27
GAME: Stjepan rolls 4d6+23+1d6: (17)+23+(1): 41

Stjepan arrives in a spray of rock, and the grate of metal as he scrapes through the hole in the stone he's created. Rushing past the backline, he steps quickly to take advantage of the prone guard, throwing a plunging strike at the man that hits with a clang.

GAME: Sophia casts Holy Smite. Caster Level: 10 DC: 21
GAME: Sophia rolls 5d8: (20): 20

Sophia snorts, "Charnese nobility... like you wretches know the meaning of the word, save how to pervert it." Apparently even exiled Myrrish get a bit testy, particularly when they have tacky names as her voice rises in volume, drawing her sword and gesturing with it as she shouts, "IN THE NAME OF ALTHEA, REPENT!" And with that, a wave of azure power flashes through the room, holy energy released in the name of her Goddess.

GAME: Durrankar casts Call Lightning Storm. Caster Level: 14 DC: 21

Durrankar takes a deep breath as he realizes Aya has masked the area of not only herself, but his targets too. "Blast." he then looks to Sophia. "Keep an eye out...." he says as he starts to chant.....and....thunderclouds start to form at the ceiling.

The sound of movement can be heard as somebody walks up and touches Kisaiya, causing her skin to suddenly be covered in granite and stone. Then another chanting of magic can be heard and evil gets repelled, which right now encompases Kisaiya beacause of the nearness.

GAME: Astaren casts Stoneskin. Caster Level: 15 DC: 20
GAME: Astaren casts Magic Circle Against Evil. Caster Level: 15 DC: 18
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+21: (7)+21: 28
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+21: (7)+21: 28
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+21: (4)+21: 25
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+16: (8)+16: 24
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+11: (11)+11: 22

The guards attack, one targeting Kisa, and the other Boshter, but neither are able to land their hits on anything more than armor.

GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+18: (9)+18: 27
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+14: (12)+14: 26
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+8: (18)+8: 26

From the darkness you can hear Charles respond to aya after cursing the pain caused by various sources. "Which angers you more Aya? The knowledge that you'll soon be mine - dead or alive - or that the man you came to rescue is already dead?" His words come with a volley of attacks made blindly from within the darkness Charles has been trapped within.

GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+25: (11)+25: 36
GAME: Kisaiya rolls ScythePA 1: aliased to 24: (14)+24: 38
GAME: Kisaiya rolls ScythePA 1: aliased to 24: (17)+24: 41
GAME: Kisaiya rolls ScythePA 2: aliased to 19: (9)+19: 28
GAME: Kisaiya rolls ScythePA 3: aliased to 14: (13)+14: 27
GAME: Kisaiya rolls ScythePA D: aliased to 2d4+27: (7)+27: 34
GAME: Kisaiya rolls ScythePA D: aliased to 2d4+27: (3)+27: 30
GAME: Kisaiya rolls ScythePA D: aliased to 2d4+27: (5)+27: 32
GAME: Kisaiya rolls ScythePA D: aliased to 2d4+27: (7)+27: 34
GAME: Boshter rolls 1d20+19: (18)+19: 37
GAME: Boshter rolls 1d20+19: (4)+19: 23
GAME: Boshter rolls 1d20+19: (5)+19: 24
GAME: Boshter rolls 1d20+14: (9)+14: 23
GAME: Boshter rolls 1d20+9: (7)+9: 16
GAME: Boshter rolls 2d6+10: (5)+10: 15

Kisaiya jumps back in surprise as the guard swings at her and lets out a shriek! She had not expected him to be so quick. "Hey! No! You stop it with that, that freaking thing hurts!" And with that, Kisaiya finally brings the scythe into action, her blade moves swiftly for the first strike, pulling it short to hook the man's hand and removing it before stepping back again. A push of her hip, a whip of the blade, and it comes careening around to take him higher in the arm, another - this one with the haft - to knock him back.

Kisaiya grabs the scythe by the farthest point on the fact as the man stumbles backward, the entire weapon whipping about in an arc over her head before the blade catches the man in the neck. Her hand quickly slides forward, stopping the rotation from going any farther as the guard crumples to the ground. "I wish Serra could see this... I always wanted Serra to see this." A sigh, wistful.

Oh look!

Boshter is still right at it, still on the same guardsman who is getting battered, battered, battered.

"Dukes are weird people, anyway," he says, "They are all," thwap, clank, crash, "look at me! I am mighty and noble! People have to like me! Nobility. Much insecurity, I am told!" CRACK! More dents in the armor. He is casually conversing with the guard as he does this.

GAME: Aya spends TWO points of KI POOL.
GAME: Aya rolls weapon0: (8)+20: 28
GAME: Aya rolls weapon0: (3)+20: 23
GAME: Aya rolls weapon0: (17)+20: 37
GAME: Aya rolls weapon0: (17)+20: 37
GAME: Aya rolls weapon0: (20)+20: 40 (THREAT)
GAME: Aya rolls weapon0: (14)+20: 34
GAME: Aya rolls weapon0-5: (15)+20+-5: 30
GAME: Aya rolls weapon0-10: (6)+20+-10: 16
GAME: Aya rolls weapon0: (7)+20: 27
GAME: Aya rolls weapon0: (13)+20: 33
GAME: Aya rolls damage0+dark+fear: aliased to 2D8+5+2+2: (10)+5+2+2: 19
GAME: Aya rolls damage0+dark+fear: aliased to 2D8+5+2+2: (7)+5+2+2: 16
GAME: Aya rolls damage0+dark+fear: aliased to 2D8+5+2+2: (11)+5+2+2: 20
GAME: Aya rolls damage0+dark+fear: aliased to 2D8+5+2+2: (7)+5+2+2: 16
GAME: Aya rolls damage0+dark+fear: aliased to 2D8+5+2+2: (11)+5+2+2: 20
GAME: Aya rolls damage0+dark+fear: aliased to 2D8+5+2+2: (10)+5+2+2: 19
GAME: Stjepan rolls heal: (15)+1: 16

"I. Will. Never. Be. Yours. You. Overblown. Bag. Of. Wind!" Aya's words come from the dim, each punctuated by a strike of fist, foot, and possibly head. She then appears next to one of the guards, and the darkness moves with her. The Duke is revealed to be merrily laying on the ground, possibly in a pool of his own drool. Not blood; Aya choose not to break any critical bones nor rupture organs.

GAME: Stjepan rolls 1d20+22: (17)+22: 39
GAME: Stjepan rolls 1d20+17-3: (15)+17+-3: 29
GAME: Stjepan rolls 1d20+12-3: (9)+12+-3: 18
GAME: Stjepan rolls 2d6+23+1d6: (9)+23+(6): 38
GAME: Stjepan rolls 2d6+23+1d6: (8)+23+(3): 34
GAME: Sophia casts Hold Person. Caster Level: 10 DC: 19
GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+10: (12)+10: 22

Sophia lowers her blade, the celestial runes etched on the longsword glowing with azure light as she looks sternly at the remaining guard, saying with divine authority, "STOP." However, it appears the guard doesn't seem to respect Althea's Authoritah!

GAME: Aftershock rolls 1d20+16: (14)+16: 30
GAME: Durrankar rolls 5d6: (21): 21

Durrankar finishes chanting and looks to the last enemy standing. He then snaps his fingers and the snap becomes a crack of lightning, hitting the remaining enemy.

Astaren sighs as he moves over to the dead guard and kneels down, "YOu know." looking up to the living guard, "We were never hear to kill you, only right some wrongs and stop a war from the Duke's machinations. If you throw down your weapons, we will not kill you." picking up the dead guards weapon he tosses it aside. Then looks to the dead guard and breaths onto him, life flowing back into the dead man. Then over to Aya, "If Razen is dead, I can fix that if we can find the body. Do you what you need to get answers.' Then glances to the living guard with a meaningful look, "Will you live, or will you die here today? If you truly wish to protect Charn, is another war the right path?"

The last guard looks at his companion so recently dead companion, then to Charles and drops his weapon. "I just work here. /He's/ not worth dying for!"

Stjepan cleans his blade, and sheaths it, then contents himself with looking threatening in general.

"I feel very rusty," muses Boshter, shaking his knuckles and rubbing them against each other.

"I should have hugged you instead! That would have gone much better," he adds to the guard.

Charles will insist that Razen is dead, and tout himself as a genius for coming up with the plan to frame Alexandria for bringing down an innocent Charn ship. In fact he lies very smoothly, but after listening to his words for a while his guards will reveal that while they don't know the fate of Razen... they /do/ know that someone else is behind Charles. This effectively shuts Charles up, and he refuses to comment further.

So you're forced to go searching for Razen. It takes far longer than anyone is comfortable with. Particularly considering the fate which you are told he has been dealt. You'll find him though. Alive. He's a lot the worse for the wear. But he's alive. You've rescued him, and with the fake duke in tow you've got everything you came here for!

-End-