H130, Day 234, 4 AP (Hadrian)

[Stix]

exile said:

“What was that, cutter?” the aasimar said, casting a glance back over his shoulder towards Burgess. Behind him, whispering in hushed tones and exchanging furtive glares, paced the fiery couple of Lycenia and Clay. Hadrian strained his ears in an effort once more to catch a glimpse into their conflict while waiting on the barmy man’s reply.

On noticing that Hadrian is listening to him, Burgess hunkers down and clamps his mouth shut. He is silent for the next portion of the walk, gradually lagging behind and beginning to talk to himself again when comfortably outside conversational distance.

Lycenia and Clay's voices mingle with much of the ambient noise, but Hadrian can make out a few phrases.

"...fool's errand... ...hit the blinds!" Clay says in frustration. "...just go to a soup kitchen, and --"

"Bar that! We could starve anywhere... ...think there's no way... ...tumble to something big and valuable... ...rest of our days in Elysium!"

exile said:

“There,” Hadrian pointed, indicating the burnt out husk of a building, little more than fractured walls now, which stood over the waste. “Lets climb up and get a better look.”

Pausing for a moment, the aasimar set his spear aside and artfully performed a ritual set of gesticulations and quiet intonations. Although no outward change could be observed, he was seemingly pleased with the results and reached once more for his weapon.

“Lets go.”

Dumb Luck roll
[dice=20][rand=8994227679353741307118693012378757935958118274383579872283115535]

[Stix]

Hadrian climbs the expanse of rubble to take in the vista of wreckage, a Sinker's most beautiful dream. In the centuries since the fiendish battle here, all but stone and scrap metal has decayed away, and a ferrous odor hangs thick in the mist.

Only a field that needs tilling. This place will be a paradise.

(Spot check, please.)

[exile]

Hadrian stood high atop the rubble with an ungloved hand held steady above his eyes. There wasn’t really enough glare to warrant the action, but somehow it felt appropriate. Down below he could hear the vestiges of another heated exchange between the unlikely lovers. Burgess stood sullenly off to one side, staring into the middle distance. The others had clustered together in a tense group, trying rather vainly to appear altogether nonchalant in such forbidding environs.

Casting his blue-eyed gaze about the desolation, Hadrian tried to find an ideal place to start their search in earnest. Some shell of a building perhaps, one which could be salvaged. Or perhaps one of those monolithic blocks Lorrip had mentioned. Failing that, even a clearing where they could set a camp and ferry building supplies to would be a start.


Spot:
[dice=20+3]
So is a dumb-luck of 18 a good thing or a bad thing?
[rand=955009959922280131832486342957912138611674227745605913245541078732]

[Stix]

(A high result on the dumb luck roll generally ends in something that moves you a bit closer to your goal.)

It looks as though a recent shift in the debris has partially unearthed a large block of black, polished granite only a short distance away; one corner of it juts defiantly out of the wreckage, like a drowning man who refuses to succumb to the depths.

[exile]

“Odin be praised,” Hadrian breathed. Arm outstretched in the direction of the questionable find, the aasimar called down to the assembled troupe below. “I think we might have stumbled on some good fortune, cutters. It looks to me like there’s a bloody great block out there. Let’s go take a closer look, hey?”

Scrambling back down the steep path which ranged haphazardly over heaped up debris, Hadrian once more took up the position at point.

“Keep your eyes open and your wits about you, cutters, and follow me.” The Bleaker set out confidently through the rubble, gloved hands holding his spear in a familiar grip and ears perked up.

[Stix]

The ragtag unit falls in behind Hadrian, headed up by Lorrip and his two Celtic thugs. As the block is reached, everyone slowly forms a lopsided circle around it, each man at his own comfortable distance.

"The tanar'ri didn't leave a door or hatch on any of these things," says Lorrip, "so we've probably gotta do what they would an' bash the sodding thing open." He looks to Hadrian to give the order.

[exile]

Hadrian stood in silent contemplation of the great, granite block, leaning against the shaft of his ceremonial spear. Nothing in his arsenal of spells was especially well suited to solving the puzzle now before him.

“Bash it in, eh cutter? he remarked distractedly. Brute force was not a particularly sophisticated use of his abilities, but at the moment it looked like his best option. Taking a step back from the circle he began to speak in arcane syllables. There was an expectant silence as he drew to a conclusion and then, without warning or fanfare, the aasimar began to rapidly grow. In a few short moments, the bleaker that now stood looking down upon the assembled troupe was twice his former height and several factors above his former bulk.

But Hadrian wasn’t finished yet. Abyssal granite was no soft stone, and the aasimar had another card to play.

“All-father,” he intoned. “Lend me your spear.” Even before the final words of Hadrian’s entreaty had left his lips, the air around him begin to warp and waver, bending the light in a most peculiar fashion. The vibrations settled after a moment and manifest into something real. Hovering soundlessly by the aasimar’s side was a brilliant pike that seemed as though it were crafted of oil slicked glass.

“Right, then,” he remarked. “Lets have at it.”

Shifting his grip on the tree trunk sized weapon that rested comfortably in his hands, Hadrian brought his own spear down hard against the cache while ordering the deific force to do the same.

OOC: Casting
Enlarge Person – duration 6 minutes
Spiritual Weapon – duration 6 rounds


Attack with spear:
[dice=20+5]
Damage with spear (if successful):
[dice=6+2] + [dice=6]
Attack with Spiritual Weapon:
[dice=20+6]
Damage with Spiritual Weapon (if successful):
[dice=8+2][rand=7101888458053579041885246092611852777108940380132403796484732114752]

[Stix]

Burgess Will Save
[dice=20-2][rand=03277830987939256442160555855136883178137535316020175234503302122329]

[Stix]

Burgess stands idly by, quaking in terror, staring in shock at the now-enormous Hadrian as the Cabalist puts his all into a forceful jab.

Hadrian's spear stops hard against the granite, and the spiritual spear strikes without leaving much of a mark.

"We should get s'm shovels, or pickaxes, or --"

The block replies by shifting beneath the rubble, rolling slowly out of the debris and beginning to rise into the air....

[exile]

“I think you’d do well to grab whatever’s at hand, if you want a piece of this prize. It doesn’t look like its going to wait for shovels.” As the aasimar calls out, he scrambles up the shifting debris to stand atop the slowly rising block. He was damned if this thing was going to elude him.

Hadrian had barely scratched it with his initial blows. Scanning its pitted surface he looks for some sort of weakness or chink that he could exploit; any fracture at all that he could aim for. Clearing his mind of chaos and confusion, he intons another short spell and thrusts downward at the cracks with all of his might, trusting that his magic will guide his weapon home.

Silently, he prays for the stone to split.

Casting Truestrike. I’m not sure if you’re treating this as a combat with rounds, if that is the case, casting is one standard action and the attack follows on the next round. Consequently there ought to be two attacks with the spiritual weapon in the interim. Unless you say otherwise however, I’m not treating this as a combat so this is one action.

Full Power Attack with spear:
[dice=20+22]
Damage with spear (if successful):
[dice=6+10]
+
[dice=6]
Attack with Spiritual Weapon:
[dice=20+6]
Damage with Spiritual Weapon (if successful):
[dice=8+2][rand=3848327888191573858753498351139347878737524586796941328157865176]

[Stix]

(It would've been a time-sensitive matter, but it's a nonissue since Hadrian's attack succeeded before anything could happen.)

The cube rises from its burial spot and begins to thrum with a low moan, escalating quickly in volume and pitch until it becomes a deafening whine and the cache begins to glow with a sickly green light. Hadrian aims his blow true at a deep groove in the stone...

Burgess Will Save
[dice=20-2]
Lorrip Will Save
[dice=20+3]
Aiden Will Save
[dice=20+1]
Sobraugh Will Save
[dice=20][rand=83347290435866864448519378426462075367351357507383010395429388423]

[exile]

“What in the blazes?” Hadrian exclaims, taking a startled step back from the cacophonous stone.

Will save (I’m assuming I need to make one too):
[dice=20+7][rand=034682491607894778287821534372874189539713587307487697827481186864]

[Stix]

(Heh, my mistake, I never finished the second half of this reply! There's no actual fear or sonic effect on the cube -- Hadrian breaks it open before the trap goes off -- but the frightening suddenness and strangeness has a chance to demoralize the weaker-willed. When a tanar'ri invention starts glowing and making loud noises....)

Lorrip backpedals quickly, glancing around to find cover. Burgess stands mutely by, face contorted into a mask of awe and pain. Hadrian doesn't see which of the Celts takes off running first, but as soon as one does, his kinsman follows on his heels.

The enchantment-bearing spear strikes home, splitting open the stone, which erupts with a gout of reeking steam before crashing heavily to the rubble below and sending up an enormous geyser of fragments and dust.

(Now would be the time for a save -- Reflex, DC 13. Failure means getting caught in the cloud and suffering temporary blindness and a coughing fit.)

Reflex Saves
Lorrip
[dice=20+4]
Burgess
[dice=20+1]
Lycenia
[dice=20+1]
Clay
[dice=20+2][rand=496775772778304303305478764742176842075228017559236992926811866034]

[exile]

Hadrian throws up a sleeve protectively over his face as the cloud of dust and shrapnel billows out around him.

Reflex vs. DC 13
[dice=20+6][rand=13164927009091143794111191553351299670104712063488379736227296228]

[Stix]

Hadrian tucks his head behind his sleeve in time to avoid the worst of things, taking an oversized step back as he's scored by a few flying pebbles. Burgess can be heard somewhere nearby, hacking and coughing, wandering blindly as he tries to find his way out.

"Lycenia!" Clay struggles to get a deep breath before pressing on into the dust cloud in an attempt to pull Lycenia to safety.

[exile]

Though clearly distressing for all involved, the rain of shrapnel and billowing clouds were more a nuisance than an actual threat. Hadrian’s unperturbed voice rose above the clamor. “Peace, cutters. I think the worst is over.”

The aasimar waited a moment for the confusion to abate before taking a census of his retinue. “Is everyone alright?” he asked.

(assuming that is the case…)

“Excellent, now shall we see what fruits our endeavors have already garnered?” Closing in on the wreckage he had wrought, Hadrian sifts through the scattered stones.

[Stix]

Apart from being dust-covered and a bit shaken, everyone appears to be fine. Lorrip has a creative string of profanities for the Celts, who are nowhere to be found.

Once everything has settled, a gaping crater remains at the point of impact. At Hadrian's urging, his remaining four followers begin to root through it alongside him.

Lorrip Search
[dice=20+6]
Burgess Search
[dice=20+1]
Lycenia Search
[dice=20+2]
Clay Search
[dice=20+2]

(And one for Hadrian, please.)[rand=471083429067915674850056405681024741748239699177403324940217600317]

[exile]

(There is no mechanical way I can beat Lorrip here, so if his isn't good enough I can't imagine mine will be. If the following isn't sufficient however, I'll happily take 20 on the search)

Hadrian methodically sifts through the detritus...

[dice=20+4][rand=7855713084833402984818347095660402870273206605772314980723440906524]

[Stix]

Please include a Spot check at the following DC:

Sleight of Hand ('cause what else would the tiefling do?)
[dice=20+7][rand=3978243253660635342888648935543564355108055526822671086384489185]

[exile]

(I don't suppose there is a circumstance bonus for having a high index of suspicion eh? )

Spot check against DC 15
[dice=20+3][rand=518348057008546812676413990481095215677584134533369863146472598513]