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Sanctuary Forum Game #3: Your Greatest Sins

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Vendor-Lazarus

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937
Hrolf takes a look inside the rooms. For her name, for a key, for sheer curiosity.
 

Arnox

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Turn 10

It wasn't long before the werewolf leader too succumbed to the horrible blazing fire that consumed the 4th werewolf. And with that, Jude smacked away the bloodied 2nd werewolf to the ground and Vale's longsword plunged into the back of the 3rd werewolf as well before he ripping it out of him, making the 3rd werewolf topple to the ground as well, leaving no other werewolf left standing. Vale breathed a sigh of relief and began to step away to wipe off his sword and to bandage and fix his wounds, but his ankle was suddenly grabbed by the 2nd werewolf, halting him there. The wolfess stared desperately up at him as she bled out.

"Do... Do NOT set her free... Do NOT let Kara walk upon this earth again... "

And with that, her hand trembled and soon fell away from Valerius' ankle, the wolfess laying lifeless upon the ground, finally dead. The group was silent and breathing heavily. Azazel walked away a little bit from the group and sat down now, his head in his hands as if trying to comfort himself, sometimes murmuring something indistinct. And then the group began to get a very familiar sensation. The sensation that they were being watched.

The 1st werewolf takes further burning damage from the fire engulfing him. The 1st werewolf is now at 0 HP and has died. Jude melee strikes the 2nd werewolf. 2nd werewolf is now at 0 HP and has died. Valerius slices the 3rd werewolf with his longsword. 3rd werewolf is now at 0 HP and has died. Combat is now over.

-​

For the rooms to the sides, they looked like vaults of some kind. Of the six vaults, three on each side, two were open and already emptied, but four of them were closed and locked up. Luckily, since Hrolf knew so much of defense, that translated well into knowledge of how to secure belongings. Opening three of the four vaults revealed piles and piles of treasure and priceless antiques. So nothing too terribly of value to Hrolf really. The last vault though was different. The protection on it was far more advanced and sturdily built in every way and it was just too much for him to get past. Which left him scratching his head. He decided to look through some of the frozen corpses in the room to see if there was anything of interest, but the only thing he really found besides some magical items he had no idea how to use right now was an old diary or two from the soldiers now long since dead. Under orders of their sorceress queen, Kraos (retconned), they were to march with her to the Castle of Iron to carry out a massive assault upon Kara, Kraos' sister. After that, on the day of the assault, there were some very hastily scribbled notes about witnessing Kraos transform in the middle of the battle into a dragoness and tearing apart the Castle piece by piece in order to get to Kara, but beyond that, there was nothing more. Perhaps... Investigating Kara may reveal more.

"... He is way too gentle to run this kingdom and you know it. The signatory tribes are falling apart and he will not step aside... "

Hrolf rolls a 2 with a d2 and remembers how to get the vaults open. Hrolf rolls a 2 with a d4 and doesn't know how to get the last vault open.
 

Battousai

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Valerius doesn't want to move for the moment and tend to his wounds properly before proceeding anywhere else, given that the group was unable to get any information on the whereabouts of the master of the castle he would rather not rush in blindly and wounded.
 

Arnox

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Valerius doesn't want to move for the moment and tend to his wounds properly before proceeding anywhere else, given that the group was unable to get any information on the whereabouts of the master of the castle he would rather not rush in blindly and wounded.
Don't need to worry about that. In the interest of convenience, everyone is fully healed after combat. Go ahead and make your move.
 

Battousai

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Alright, seeing as how everything is fine now, Vale realizes that he still does not have any information on which path to take and assumes taking the stairs to the basement is a dead end. He chooses to move on through the other set of stairs that seem to lead into a tower to investigate. Vale has no real interest if the others choose to follow or not, he simply goes back to his search.
 

Houseman

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Jude speaks to the group: "People, if you were bitten, you'll get lycanthropy unless you cure it. In the interest of full disclosure, I was bitten, and I cured mine. If you didn't, raise your hand so that we can know whether or not we'll need to kill you later".
 

gaijinkaiju

Lord Inquisitor
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Aizen take the opportunity to tend to his wounds, before proceeding to finish looting the corpses. Satisfied with that, he proceeds in the direction of Vale and follows him up the stairs, in part due to his new-found respect for a fellow fighter.
 

Vendor-Lazarus

Arch Disciple
Sanctuary legend
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937
Hrolf takes another stab at figuring out the Sword, the dress with metal pieces on them, and the last vault. Having an inkling that saying her name might cause unwanted action, or removing/touching the sword itself, he wisely refrains from disturbing the cold peace. Speaking of piece-s, he can start to feel the puzzle taking form, though the shape and edges are far from clear. He fleetingly wonders how the battle above has fared.
 

M0nke3

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Lumpy decides to follow Vale, knowing not why he’s even there; he decides it’s best to stick close and forge ahead.
 

Arnox

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Turn 12 (Skipping 1 Turn)

Before the group proceeded any further, Jude brought up something that was news to most people there. Apparently, you could be infected with lycanthropy, but since Jude had already cured his, and nobody else said they were infected, there was nothing further to do except proceed forward. Aizen went over and finally looked over the many bodies on the floor that were pushed to the sides.

On a quick inspection, it seemed someone had already looted them, although there were plenty of gorgeous blue-tinted all-metal swords remaining. The swords had only confirmed what Aizen's look at them from a distance told him. They were spotless. Pristine. Not even dried blood was on them. Unfortunately though, beyond their beauty, balancing, and absurdly good corrosion and dirt resistance, they otherwise seemed like normal longswords that wouldn't do anything more than what Aizen's sword would do. Nevertheless, Aizen took one just to be safe. Can't be too prepared. (If, for whatever reason, you want your character to carry one along anyway, Gaijin, let me know in parentheses in your next post and I'll write it in here after the fact.)

medievaltreasureroomcrystalsfantasy_Ice_Castle_Rooms_of_Memory.png

Everyone decided to follow Vale upstairs since they didn't really have any other indication of where to go. Except for Azazel who, without a single further word to anyone, got up from where he was sitting and walked down to the lower levels, and also Jude, because he thought Azazel was a prophet. And what awaited the group on the upper levels was... Stairs. And more stairs. The upper levels seemed to escape a whole lot of the havoc that was wreaked upon this castle ages ago. One or two frozen corpses here and there. Some pieces of battle equipment here and there. Not much else. And in the rooms of the towers were opulent rooms. Some of them seemed to have been used for storage. Some idle chests of brilliant treasure lay around some the rooms. Others had papers and books scattered around in them on tables and bookshelves.

A quick look revealed that a few of the books laying around were old journals taken from the corpses of the soldiers in the castle. Many of them didn't have much, if any details of the war waged by Kraos on the Castle of Iron as the soldiers who possessed these journals all died that day, and the ones that survived were, of course, simply not here. There were ominous lines at the end of some of the jourmals though that were hastily written on the last pages.

"Kara will not fall."
"Nothing affects her."
"The bitch won't die."
"She has fought with us to the very end."

Perhaps most interestingly, was a war room with a large map of Aria laid out on a table. But there didn't seem to be any markings on it. And at one of the mid-towers of the castle was a medium-sized room with a large bookshelf, a table and chair, an ornate bed, a single chest, now open and empty except for some old female clothes, and a window overlooking the dark snowy mountains below. This room was rather spartan compared to the others. But then there was a male voice directly behind them.

"I knew Kraos, you know... "

Behind them in the doorway was a fit black-haired man in what looked to be his 50s. He had had on a simple black robe but was also wearing an ornate amulet and some jeweled rings. He spoke again.

"I was one of her military officers. After Kara was sealed here, Kraos then entrusted me to look over this castle. To ensure that nobody would break the seal."

He gently leaned on the door frame now, looking very soberly upon them all.

"I know that you killed those who I've asked to look over this castle with me. I guess in the end though... That... Was my fault."

He closed his eyes wearily and rubbed them a bit.

"They were a little too zealous in guarding this place and they struck first. By the time I found out what was going on, the skirmish had already started... Rather than cause more death and pain, I decided not to strike. Not... Yet anyway."

He looked at all of them again now in turn.

"I just need to know one thing and one thing only. Are you all here to release Kara?"

Valerius, Aizen, and Lumpy are now at point T1.

-​

Azazel and Jude hurried off to the lower levels, but as Jude began to go downstairs, he slowly but surely began to know that this was the way to Kara. Further, ancient memories that were not Jude's own of a woman's voice began to echo in his mind.

"You are lucky that Kara and I are even considering these talks, now you will surrender unconditionally to the kingdom of Aria or you will be exterminated... "

As they reached the first lower levels, Jude saw more of the past devastation and the large store rooms, and there was an unmistakable powerful humming in the background. but Azazel did not even pause for a little bit, continuing on at exactly the same pace as before and starting down stairs again to the second lower level. And with that, another ancient memory came into his mind.

"Do you think I wanted to kill him? He was like a father to me! He WAS a father to me... "

Azazel and Jude are now at point B1.

-​

Hrolf shook his head and went over to look once more at the sword impaled into the ground that controlled the flow of red magic over Kara's body. This time, he made sure to look for every possible thing he might have overlooked on his first quick inspection. And then, suddenly, the simple answer came to him. The spell was made to keep Kara IN her imprisonment, but it was not made to really keep anyone else OUT. Hrolf imagined that was what the shield wall blocking the entrance to the bottom basement was for, although why it parted for him and nobody else was an absolute mystery to him. He was very damn sure he had never even been here before. Not even in the general vicinity of this castle. As for the magical binding, he would need to yank the sword out of the ground and exert his magical will upon it as well, and then, like a pin holding a door to its frame, the magic would unwind and break. It would be no mean feat to pull the sword out and remove the seal, but he could do it.

"You know I never really wanted to branch out as much as you did. This magic of the very truth of this world though... It intrigues me very greatly..."

This newfound knowledge excited Hrolf immensely. He could finally awaken her! But... Was that really the best idea? He stood up then and looked out upon it all and then upon the still peaceful form of Kara, wondering what he should do. The decision now seemed to be in his hands.

"No, Kara! You can't do this. It is completely unacceptable! He's raised us from the very beginning. We must think of something else... "

Hrolf rolls a 2 with a d2 and finds out how to break the imprisonment. To pull the sword out requires two turns.
 
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Battousai

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Vale replies "I have no interest in setting anyone free, all I came here for is to face the master of this place in a duel to test the limits of my skills. If this so called Kara is the master then I will face her just as I planned from the moment I got here. If you have information regarding her whereabouts then tell me, I have no time to waste."
 

Vendor-Lazarus

Arch Disciple
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937
While Hrolf is excited to have found out how to dispel the bindings of Kara, a piece of this truth is still missing. How to re-activate it in case things go awry. He mulls it over as he wanders over to the last closed vault to attempt to open it. Another piece left unfinished.
 

Arnox

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While Hrolf is excited to have found out how to dispel the bindings of Kara, a piece of this truth is still missing. How to re-activate it in case things go awry. He mulls it over as he wanders over to the last closed vault to attempt to open it. Another piece left unfinished.
(You already know this. The binding that originally was cast upon Kara was an imprisonment spell made possible only by Kraos' VAST reserves of magical power, and it required a sacrifice on her part as well. Such a spell is, at this current time, very out of your league. Maybe someone else may have the power and know-how to do this or maybe Kara has another weakness, or... Maybe nothing. It could very well also be that Kraos was the only person that could legitimately oppose Kara, and now she is gone.)
 

Vendor-Lazarus

Arch Disciple
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(You already know this. The binding that originally was cast upon Kara was an imprisonment spell made possible only by Kraos' VAST reserves of magical power, and it required a sacrifice on her part as well. Such a spell is, at this current time, very out of your league. Maybe someone else may have the power and know-how to do this or maybe Kara has another weakness, or... Maybe nothing. It could very well also be that Kraos was the only person that could legitimately oppose Kara, and now she is gone.)
(Right, I'm surprised I forgot that, I guess I'll just do the last part then.)
 

M0nke3

420 Compliance Agent
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Lumpy shrugs and smoked a bowl.
 

Houseman

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Darn it, GM! You KNOW that Jude always follows Azazel around, because Jude highly respects prophets.

Jude goes after Azazel
 

gaijinkaiju

Lord Inquisitor
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question: does the doorway the man is standing in back on to a staircase?
(also, i will indeed take a sword, you never know when a spare one will come in handy)
 

Arnox

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Darn it, GM! You KNOW that Jude always follows Azazel around, because Jude highly respects prophets.

Jude goes after Azazel
(Oh shit. o_o Don't worry though. Easily fixed. You're now instead with Azazel at B1. Go ahead and read the last turn for the new entry.)

question: does the doorway the man is standing in back on to a staircase?
(also, i will indeed take a sword, you never know when a spare one will come in handy)
(It does, but I wouldn't recommend bum-rushing him to knock him down the stairs. lol)

8bittheaterblackmagewizards.jpg
 

gaijinkaiju

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Aizen considers kicking the man down the stairs before deciding to hold off on stretching his leg muscles for now, and instead simply nods in agreement with Vale.
 

Arnox

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Turn 13

The man in front of the group was silent for a moment as he regarded Vale.

"What is your definition of 'master of this place'? Is it merely the current owner of this real estate? If so, that would be me. If you are talking about power though... I'm not even going to try to pretend that I am on the level that Kara inhabits. She is one of the old gods along with Kraos. Back during a time when destruction and raw energies were being flung around and manipulated by a multitude of races walking this planet. The two sisters came together to unite the human race and tear through the masses of disorder."

He smiled then.

"I know you must be rather impatient now, but you probably shouldn't be so eager to fling yourself into every wall that presents itself. For now though, I will agree to give you and others in this room what you all want, but in return, you will all leave here and you will also help me against any other intruders you have brought that will try to unbind the one that Kraos fought so hard to bring down. Those are my conditions. Take them or leave them."

-​

Azazel and Jude proceeded down the second flight of stairs, but midway through, they seemed to be abruptly halted by an invisible wall.

"What??" Azazel said, his eyes widening. Then he quickly turned around. But then it became evident that Azazel was not turning around to talk to Jude, but rather to confront the fit but middle-aged man that was now behind them and speaking to them.

"Turn back now or be destroyed, intruders. I will not say it again."

Azazel looked upon the mysterious man with a cold hate in his eyes.

"Tool of Kraos, step aside or you will be moved."

Then, the mysterious man's eyes widened a little.

"Kara... ?"

Azazel and Jude are now at point S3. The rest of the way to B2 has been temporarily blocked.

-​

With the mystery of the unbinding solved, Hrolf proceeded to the last vault again to see if further study and inspection could get it open. At this time, although part of him wanted to release Kara, it also very much bothered him that, once the imprisonment was undone, he currently had no way whatsoever to stop the practical goddess or even put her back within her imprisonment. Perhaps the final vault might have something... But if it did, it now didn't matter, because once more, Hrolf failed to find a way to open it. Hrolf cursed and looked away from that damned vault with folded arms as he started moodily at the still form of Kara.

"Father, do not let it come to this. Step down now. Aria is beginning to fall apart... "

Hrolf rolls a 2 with a d4 and fails a final check to open the last vault.
 

Vendor-Lazarus

Arch Disciple
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Out of options, yet still needing to get to the bottom of this predicament, there was only one action left for Hrolf. Since it seems he could pass through the strange shield unaffected, he prepared to remove the sword and make a swift strategic retreat with it, to the base of the stairs going up towards where he came from. Surely the battle above was done, one way or another. The group left likely weakened and not eager for another conflict. If she was peaceful, all the better. If not, he could try to get help from the survivors, or make her occupied enough for him to get away.
 

Arnox

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(Ok, guys... I effed up. I just found out today that the random number generator that I was using for this game... Wasn't actually generating random numbers! >_> The problem has now been fixed and, to make absolutely sure, tested repeatedly by me. Now, as to all the past rolls, I've decided to just go with them and chalk it up to a magical twist of fate in the game. From here on out though, you have been warned. The rolls will now actually be random.)
 

Battousai

Brother Sharp
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Vale, considers the man's words but he decides that ultimately it is inconsequential to him. He came here to challenge an actual foe and to not get into the dealings of these so called "gods" as the man describes, what the other individuals who got here with him choose to do is none of his business. If they end up releasing something powerful that proves to be the match he has been waiting for then all the better.

"No deal old man, I will keep searching for what I came for on my own then. If you try to stop me however I will do what I must, you have been warned."
 

Arnox

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Turn 14

The mysterious man smiled at Vale but then frowned as he looked away a little like he was distracted by something else in the room. He then looked up again.

"Well, you may not have to search for much longer it looks like."

And then, as if on cue, there was a sudden massive CRACK that shuddered through the entire Castle like lightning striking just nearby or a huge glacier tearing itself in half. The mysterious man shook his head then and soon created a portal to the basement and stepped through it.

The mysterious man portals to point S3 bordering on B2. The portal is still open. Vale, Aizen, and Lumpy can use it if they wish to.

-​

[~10 Seconds Earlier]

"Kara... ?"

Azazel merely smiled a little before speaking.

"Do you have something to say to me, tool?"

The man looked grimly at them both.

"Whatever you're planning, Kara, it's not going to work."

Azazel then began to open his mouth to issue a retort but was then suddenly interrupted. *KRACK* The very foundation of the Castle seemed to shake as everyone on the stairs almost fell to the ground. Then... Azazel straightened himself slowly and smiled once more.

"Nevermind, tool... I think we'll be meeting face to face here rather soon~"

After that, Azazel stopped smiling and began to look very weary, now leaning slightly upon the wall for support. The mysterious man seemed to disappear now and immediately after, a portal opened with the same man stepping onto the stairs. But the man did not stop there. In a burst of incredible speed, he seemed to tear apart the shield wall and sprinted straight for Hrolf with a red and white ball of light forming in his hands.

The Mysterious Man has ported himself to point S3 bordering on B2 with Jude and Azazel and runs to point B2.

-​

[~10 Seconds Earlier]

Hrolf walked over to the sword with the sapphire pommel embedded into the ground and, after giving it a contemplative stare, nodded as if making up his mind and grabbed the sword by the hilt, now beginning to pull it out of the ground while exerting all of his force of will upon it. As he did this, the flow of red magic began to quicken more and more. Suddenly, there was a massive CRACK as the spell began to come apart. The sword was beginning to loosen more and more. Hrolf couldn't tell if it was just him or not, but in his strain, he thought he saw shadows of movement from Kara as if she was slowly waking up from a dream.

And then, just as suddenly as the massive cracking sound that was emitted by the slowly breaking spell, Hrolf was hit by a beam of red light blasting him away from the sword and making him slam against the wall that Kara was magically chained to, wounding him deeply in the process.

"I WILL NOT LET YOU DO THIS," screamed the mysterious man, "I HAVE GUARDED THIS CASTLE TOO LONG FOR SOME NOBODY TO COME IN AND DESTROY IT ALL!"

With Hrolf blasted away from the sword, it began to sink into the ground again and the flow of red magic, while it was speeding up before, began to slow back down to normal again, though it seems, there now wasn't as much red magic flowing in and out anymore.

magewarlockwizardredspellsummond&d.jpg


Kraos' General
HP: 60​

Passive: Send
The general may, as a free action, teleport himself or anything inside the Castle to any other place within the castle. Does not include the binding sword, Kara, or any items worn or held by the players. Players may also be teleported, but if they are aware of this possibly happening, the general must roll a 4 with a d4 in order to teleport one player.
Passive: Survival
If any dice roll/coin flip falls unfavorably, the general can choose to reroll/reflip it. This ability can only be used 2 times.

Active: Strength
The general delivers a super powered strike worth 8 damage.
Active: Heat Beam
The general casts a fiery beam that sears anything that comes into contact with it for 10 damage, though the general must magically recover for one turn if used like this. If prepared for a turn, the beam does 15 damage to a single target with no cooldown.
Active: Runic Trap
At the start of every combat turn, every player must roll a d4. If one of them rolls a 1, their character accidentally activates the runic trap which explodes and does 15 points of damage. Once activated, the trap is used up.
Active: Mass Telekinesis
The general will choose 3 targets and flip a coin for each. If heads, they are stunned for 1 turn, have their passives disabled for 1 turn, and take 5 damage.


The general rolls a 2 with a d2 and manages to speedily hit Hrolf with a Heat Beam. Hrolf takes 10 damage. Hrolf now has 10 HP left. General must rest for a turn. Everyone (except Kara who is still comatose) is now in combat and must choose who they're going to fight if they step through the portal. Everyone will take their turn now since the general has already taken his turn, but once Turn 15 is underway, the general will go first for the rest of combat.
 
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