1309 replies and 105 files omitted.
>>169860>>169856Posey slowly approaches the porch of the building, peering into the entrance.
>>169860>>169861Peering into the entrance, posey can see a wooden floor, a kitchen, and the edges of a living room. The boards are creaky and weak, and may break. The door is already broken
>>169862Posey opens the door with her horn.
>>169864I guess I should roll Search
[1d20+1 = (5+1) = 6] >>169864>>169863Posey does
not burst into flames.
Posey can see a kitchen with a cabinet door open, and a drawer open. She can see a couple pots on a stove. Over in the other room, a sofa, a picture in a frame... not a lot of decoration. There are two rooms branching off.
>>169866>Pots on the stove>Sofa>Not a lot of decoration"Not what I expected from a vampire lair... Best look for his coffin, or, whatever he slept in. We'll know this is the place when we find a pouch of his ancestral earth." Posey says, levitating the couch cushions to look beneath, as she slowly walks across the hallway, towards the bedroom.
"Unless... Could this have been the place where he was born?"
>>169867A broken plate on the floor by a table near the front window, a knife on the floor and a rather small stain of what Posey may assume to be blood, but honestly not much.
Posey does find a coin under the couch.
"No." August says. Posey could hear him follow after her into the house. "Let Panolovich was born in his family's noble estates in the Zakatie province of what was then the Severyanan Domain of Equestria. He was very far from home."
>>169866Posey levitates a pot to peek at what remains inside
"A vampire wouldn't be one to cook, although, perhaps he was the feral type that wouldn't alter his lair since the night he moved in. Perhaps some hard memories."
>>169868"Then he should have had his coffin shipped in from overseas. When we find it, we can say for certain we've found his lair."
Posey says, levitating the coin.
"As well as most of his possessions."
She looks up to the group.
"Let's search the remaining rooms. I sense he's been here; either this is where he laired, or it's the home of one of his unfortunate victims, perhaps both."
Posey moves towards the nearest room.
>>169868Posey stamps the floor firmly, listening for any hollows beneath.
Listen check
[1d20+2 = (1+2) = 3] >>169871My luck is begining to turn
>>169869Just the completely decomposed remnants of... something, though clearly there was something in the pots at one time.
>>169870Posey should be aware that as kind of a general rule, the group members do not follow Posey into the building. August is with Posey, but the others, while in easy earshot, are not in direct line of sight.
Looking into the bedroom, Posey can see that there is a broken lamp near the door, disheveled and decayed sheets and a blanket on a moldy mattress stained by a (small) amount of blood.
>>169871The wood breaks, and Posey's hoof falls through, likely several feet.
>>169873"Bucking hel-" Posey shouts as she falls through the floor
Does she fall into a cellar, or just beneath the floorboards.
Posey dusts herself off and examines her surroundings.
If she can still reach the bed, she checks under the mattress, for any objects hidden within it.
>>169874Only her hoof breaks through, not the whole pony, so she can't really tell what she broke into without an examination.
Under the mattress is...
A box, and a few coins.
>>169875Posey levitates the box, and coins as she pulls herself up.
She opens the box.
>>169876A silver heart shaped locket, some cash, and a photograph
>>169877>SilverPosey grimaces slightly, but opens the locket nonetheless to see the image inside, levitating it a good distance from herself, towards August.
She examines the photo.
>>169878>>169877Posey reads August's expression, to see if he recognizes the face.
>>169878Posey opens the locket to see an aged, black and white photograph of a stallion and a mare, looking at each other and nuzzling. The mare has a necklace, and her mane is back. The stallion has a kind of short cut.
The photograph depicts and stallion and a mare, evidently the same two with a similar mane cut and the same necklace, standing next to each other posing with a filly in front and between then
>>169879August takes a moment, and with his own blue-green aura takes the locket, and then (if Posey lets him), the photograph.
"I think that might be... one of the missing."
>>169880Posey lets him take it.
"Perhaps one of his victims then. He likely found them here and made quick work of them, pots still on the stove..." Posey says
"I'm questioning if he laired here at all... Best check the remaining room though, just to be certain."
>>169881The remaining room is a bathroom, with a decayed, simple tub, and a simple sink. The only fact of note is that the door locking mechanism is physically broken.
"He had to have been invited in..."
>>169882"Perhaps he seduced his way in, posing as a weary traveler, or perhaps he just caught one of the residents with his gaze through the window and enthralled them... Or perhaps these ponies were just hospitable and kind enough to invite a stranger in without question..." Posey says, scenarios trailing through her mind as she pauses
"...I don't think this is the place." she says
>>169883"No bodies... It's possible that some escaped, unless they were enthralled and marched to his actual lair. An aristocrat like him probably wouldn't do his own dusting."
>>169883"It was the latter... I am sure of it..." August asserts. But he makes no argument to support this bare assertion.
>>169884"I don't think anypony escaped here." A pause, and "I doubt he had much to dust."
>>169885"You think this was his lair then?" Posey asks, not quite sure where to go from here
>>169886"No. But I don't believe that this house was purely a target of opportunity. I think it was targeted because his lair would have been impossible to hide from here."
>>169887"Within eyesight then..." Posey walks out to the porch
From the porch, she eyes the collapsed part of the roof and attempts to scale it
"Give me a boost, will you darling?" Posey asks, giving her tail a swish
Rolling Climb
[1d30+6 = (5+6) = 11] >>169888>Rolled 1d30Umm, I'm gonna just reroll
[1d20+6 = (20+6) = 26] >>169889Well, now I feel like I cheated
>>169888>Trips>mare sexuality>>169889>Nat 20>>169890In so many ways>>169888August leans down, lets Posey stand on his back (given the armor, that isn't uncomfortable), then bucks her upwards, allowing her to grab onto the edge of the roof, and pull herself up. The corrugated metal roof feels a little week, but Posey is light enough that it isn't
too dangerous.
>>169891Posey gets to the highest point in the roof, and uses the vantage point to scout the area.
With her low-light vision, she should be able to see in this clearing, with the half moon.
She peers all around the clearing, searching for anything out of place.
>>169892Time for the ultimate test of Posey's luck
Roll >>169893Idk what to roll, but I'm going to take +2 from being high up. Apply any other mods afterwards.
>tfw no Action Points[1d20+2 = (9+2) = 11] >>169894Trees behind her (to the east), trees to her left (to the south), trees to her right (the north), and to the west past the mist covered field, a thinning of trees with a few hill-like formations and what seems to be a barn or a shed next to a lower area, evidently a dried creek bed.
>>169895"West!" Posey calls, from the top of the roof, before she scales down and heads in that direction.
"Careful. We're incredibly close." Posey says, As she continues her paranoia-inducing sword dragging gimmick, walking in a slow, zig-zagged pattern around invisible obstacles.
>>169896Posey can lean over the edge, hang onto the roof, then hop down with August to catch her.
To traverse the field, she may cut directly across the tall grass, follow the dirt road, or perhaps follow the tree line on the right.
>>169898Posey travels as stated above, cutting across the tall grass, sometimes inspecting the tips of weeds, mimicking the interest of a botanist.
>>169899Posey crosses the high grass of the field, with August and the 6 of the team following behind, though with a bit of distance.
Roll Spot
Roll Listen >>169901Posey doesn't notice until she's fairly close. But then, to the right, coming from the edge of the forest, Posey sees glowing red eyes, and the silhouettes of three forms. She can hear grass moved aside, and a very low pitched growling.
Posey can tell that they have the forms of wolves but are
significantly larger. Some indescribable quality - or perhaps it is their unnatural eyes - gives the impression that Posey has not encountered a regular wild animal, simply trying to protect its territory, but something much more...
malevolent >>169902So, you mean like, LARGE larger?
>"Heh, Aunty Lilac's pooches bigger."Posey thinks to herself, a shudder running down her spine as she recalls the memory, as she fiercely stares down the wolves, with equal malevolence in her eyes.
Thinking fast, Posey makes my a biologist and as a move action closes distance with the nearest wolf, to boop it on the snoot.
"Git!" she shouts
The bones one her armor rattle, letting her demoralize as a free action (applying -4 Size Penalty).
[1d20+7 = (1+7) = 8]And she makes a boop attack
[1d20+5 = (9+5) = 14]More importantly though, this activates her Dreadful Wrath, emitting a Frightful Presence, which should force all creatures within 20 ft of her to roll a save or be Shaken for one minute.
>>169903>Nat 1 demoralizeWell, there goes my whole plan. Hope they fail their saving throws, because this might turn into melee soon.
>>169903Like, larger than you'd normally be comfortable fucking with larger.
Evidently, dangling bones in front of hungry dogs does not scare them.
The attack
hitsTechnically, everycreature is either more than 20 feet away, or immune to frightful presence >>169903From behind, cracks of thunder
Bang Bang BANG Bang Tat Tat Tat Tat Tat Bang Bang[1d20+2 = (16+2) = 18][1d20+3 = (4+3) = 7][1d20+4 = (5+4) = 9][1d20+3 = (14+3) = 17][1d20+4 = (6+4) = 10][1d20+7 = (7+7) = 14][1d20+1 = (12+1) = 13][1d20+1 = (18+1) = 19][1d20+1 = (1+1) = 2][1d20+1 = (15+1) = 16][1d20+1 = (16+1) = 17] >>169905The wolf she booped is more than 20 ft away?
Okay, gonna roll Iaijutsu, since this is the first round
[1d20+3 = (12+3) = 15]Slam damage
[1d6+7 = (5+7) = 12] >>169910>Wolf immune to fearWell... Fuck...
I'm going to roll Religion as a free action, to identify if these wolves are undead, or influenced by undead
[1d20+9 = (4+9) = 13] >>169910>>169907Posey can hear bullets wiz by, and more than a few splat directly into these possessed wolves. Possey herself is able to break the nasal cavity. of the one in the middle... But it does not fell them.
Surely any forest creature would cut their losses, and run back into the forest, right? Or better, it would die. Right?
Instead, Posey has only pissed them off. The one next to Posey bites at her, while one to the right lunges for August, and one to the left for another soldier.
Attack against Posey:
[1d20+11 = (11+11) = 22]Attacks of opportunity
[1d20+3 = (20+3) = 23][1d20+7 = (16+7) = 23][1d20+11 = (8+11) = 19][1d20+11 = (8+11) = 19] >>169913Ouch
That's enough to hit her.
Do I roll initiative now, or are we just doing this in order?
>>169913[1d20+3 = (16+3) = 19][1d4+1 = (4+1) = 5][1d4+2 = (1+2) = 3][1d8+10 = (6+10) = 16][1d8+10 = (5+10) = 15]>>169915[1d8+10 = (8+10) = 18]>>169916Basically when there is a suprise round, the order just follows after that.
Posey's turn.
>>169917Posey begins fighting defensively, to gain +2 Dodge bonus to AC, and boops the wolf on the nose again, this time with her Charnel touch
[1d20+1 = (13+1) = 14] >>169924What kind of weapon is doing 8d6 damage?
>>169925A 9-millimeter submachine gun
>>169918>>169917The wolf attacking the soldier goes down in a hail of bullets, but the wolves attacking Posey
[1d20+11 = (20+11) = 31]And August
[1d20+11 = (19+11) = 30]Are wounded, but still active
>>169927All the submachine guns I saw dealt 2d6 with burst fire options, but I'm not proficient in them anyway, so idgaf.
>>169927Ow.
>>169929Posey is now at 16 HP.
This means her Fast Healing quality activates.
Don't wolves trip on a hit?
>>169930It is. But when it hits 4 times it's easier to type 8d6
>>169931The crit nat 1'd on a confirmation roll>>169930Our Botanist mare is fortunate to have a strong Paladin BF to heal her with lay-of-hooves, and cure her wounds with his healing magic.
>take a crit wolf bite to the throat/belly/vitals>torn open>No extra damage because undeadI might have to make another disguise check soon...
>>16993021, actually. Forgot DR
She's still down to half health though.
>>169932FUCK
>>169934Posey regains 1 HP, for a total of 22. She stops healing, as her health if above half now.
Posey considers her options, although with the machine gun firing she thinks she can afford to conceal her spellcasting for another round.
So she begins fighting defensively, and touches a hoof to her wound to recover another hit point, putting her at 23.
>>169935She also takes a 5 ft step back, away from the wolf, as a free action with no AoO
>>169935>>169937>>169936Posey moves back from the wolf, to see it snort blood out of its nostrils, and look back to Posey with glowing red eyes, and blood dripping from its frame. Then an explosion of red blood, and another, and another, and another, with its rib cage start to open. It's eyes go dim before it falls over on its side, onto the ground.
To her right, half of the skull of the wolf attacking August is blown off, and it too, falls down.
The horror is over. They've won.
>>169938Hooray
"..... And THAT is what happens when a vampire lairs in an area." Posey says, covering her wounds with her cloak to conceal them as she attempts to heal up over the course of as many rounds as she can manage.
"Who's hurt?"
>>169939Posey suggests the group take some time to catch their breaths
"I have to dissect this wolf's brain, or, what's left of it. I need to check it before the vampiric entropy leaves the body. It'll only take a couple minutes." Posey lies, as she waddles off behind the wolf carcass to heal her own wounds over the course of 20 rounds (2 minutes) with her Charnel Touch.
Also, untrained Heal check for autopsy, to see if Posey notices anything odd about this possessed wolf
[1d20+2 = (18+2) = 20]
>>169941I guess I should roll bluff for this
[1d20+10 = (1+10) = 11] >>169939Posey can see that there are two casualties
One is one of the soldiers. This is not quite any random soldier, but one who Posey could discern from conversation is named "flaring lamp." In his late twenties or maybe early 30s, a unicorn with an indigo coat and a black mane, he carried a military bolt action rifle with a bayonet fixed - a bayonet that he logged right through the wolf's eyeball. As one of two to receive military grade weapons, he's clearly a higher ranking member. Flaring Lamp had previously given Posey death glares, was taken off into private by August and whispered to at the Tavern, and stared straight through at Posey when she attempted to charm him. He was by the leader's side all night, he did not drink, and he clearly is not pleased by August banging Posey based off of his reactions. His jack had been torn through severely, and he does not remain standing.
Then the second is August himself. His steel breast plate has been bent, his helmet is damaged, and he is severely injured himself.
>>169941>>169943"It's a wolf. And it died of lead poisoning." The leader says, before turning his attention to August
>>169939Posey is severely injured, and her injuries are visible. She will likely need more than her dress to hide it.
>>169942The wolf seems to be actually slowly starving to death. It's dehydrated. And it seems to have incessantly scratched at its fur on its legs until the fur comes out. Its muscles were becoming atrophied. There is no visible sign of fungal, mite, or other parasitic infection anywhere on its body.
>>169946>Wolf descriptionYep. This thing was enthralled alright. It neglected itself and mindlessly guarded the territory.
>She will likely need more than her dress to hide it.Posey hides behind the wolf while she heals herself, using it as cover as she touches her hoof to her wounds.
>>169947I guess I'll roll Hide, to conceal Posey's healing process behind the wolf.
She did fail that bluff check though...
[1d20+9 = (17+9) = 26] >>169944Is Flaring Lamp actually dead? Are the others tending to him?
>>169948>>169947The other ponies do not seem to buy that an autopsy is really warranted, or that these wolves had anything to do with "vampiric entropy."
>>169949Flaring Lamp is alive, and the other ponies do ask Posey if she is hurt, but seem a bit more focused on August and flaring Lamp.
August gives Posey an odd stare, and then limps towards Flaring Lamp.
>>169948The wolf is just large enough for Posey to crouch behind, combined with the tall grass.
>>169950Posey heals her wounds over the course of two minutes.
She cuts off one of the wolves' heads for good measure.
Posey says she's okay, and that the wolf only "knicked" her.
To cover this up, Posey only heals herself up to 37 HP (5 less than her maximum), leaving a gash visible.
I guess this requires another Bluff check
[1d20+10 = (8+10) = 18] >>169951Posey takes the large sword and cuts the head off of the wolf with its skull still intact, as a disease-researcher would do when examining a rabid dog.
How long does it take for them to patch up Lamp?
>>169950>>169953>>169952August gives Posey a look telling her that he has chosen to heal himself and Lamp over her, and he knows that she knows it.
Posey is basically left alone as she patches up herself, as they take just as long for Lamp and August. Lamp is heavily bandaged, and August has replaced his broken guard helmet with a steel changeling drone style helmet.
>>169955Posey wraps the wolf's head in a sheet of cloth and returns to the group, with a silent nod.
"... Not much further now." she says eventually, as Lamp gets to his feet, her tone flat, as her head tilts towards the west
>>169956One of the soldiers remarks
"Could anyone have heard that? Would the military know?"
Another
"Why would wolves attack us?"
August has a foreleg over Lamp's shoulder. August has scars visibly heeled by magic. He's clearly in pain, but he stands stoically, and looks towards Posey.
Posey is damned near at her destination. In front of her, a barn, or something like it. To the side of that, a mound. And beyond that, a dried riverbed.
>>169957"Where there are vampires, there are wolves... Enthralled and driven to madness. I wrote a paper on it..."
Her tone turns grim though
"Although, it's not normal for them to stick around after the vampire is slain..."
Posey slowly walks towards the barn.
>>169958August says under his breath
"No. It isn't." and has a serious expression. He takes his shot gun, turns it upside down, and inserts one, two, three shells, and cocks it with a loud "click clack." He moves side by side with Posey.
Posey is not attacked by any creature as she moves towards the barn.
>>169959Posey walks into the barn.
>>169960Opening the door of the unlocked barn Posey sees...
Piles of rubbish
A big bin of what is now rubbish.
A pair of stalls.
A few implements like leather harnesses and a scythe hanging
A pony-pulled plow on the side.
>>169962Posey finds a skeleton in each stall. It looks like two ewes, though it's hard to tell
>>169963Posey checks beneath the pile of rubbish, looking for any trapdoors.
>>169964It’s decomposed plant matter, basically soil at this point. There does not seem to be any trapdoor beneath it. Note that there is a loft in the barn, and a rather large covered cart pushed towards the back of the barn between the stalls.