{Modern Setting} The Whispering Cave (Entrance)

[tdsprouse]

“I'll watch teh hallway, can you guys check out that pile of cloth?”

Brad moves to 1127, watching the hallway.

[klakxor]

Sahid moves slowly up to the pile of rags. If this has been here a while, it surely should have turned to dust.

[patransom]

Brad moves up to shine his flashlight up and across the hallway as Sahid goes to investigate the pile of rags. The rags, it turns out, are not rags at all, but rather a moldy old sleeping bag. Underneath the layer of dirt and mold, Sahid can make out a pattern imprinted on the cloth of the sleeping bag: some sort of white cartoon cat with ridiculously large eyes.

[patransom]

OUT OF CHARACTER

Waiting on PC actions...

 

[tdsprouse]

Nothing in the pile of cothes, brad moves down teh hallway untill he finds something interesting.

[klakxor]

“Looks like an old sleeping bag. Possibly from those stories of kids using this cave as a testing ground. Best to move on.”

Sahid moves along with Brad down the hallway

[CGM3]

Expecting Dr. Alexander to follow closely, Eric will step forward, shine his light down the right-hand "offshoot" just to make sure nothing's changed, then follow Brad and Sahid, flashing his light along the walls and ceiling.

[patransom]

OUT OF CHARACTER

With only three active players, I'm going to try validating ASAP after everyone has posted, rather than on a set schedule. Anyone see a problem with that?

 

Eric's flashlight check of the right-hand alcove reveals that nothing has changed, so the Gamma Team continues up the hallway. Only a little way farther reveals another pair of branching passages. Fifteen feet down the east passage, a huge pile of collapsed rubble blocks the way from top to bottom. It looks like it would take weeks to tunnel through the densely packed debris. About thirty feet down the western hall is something interesting: a small marble platform raised about six inches off the floor. A strange, shattered stone apparatus rests upon this platform, its curved ovular frame giving the appearance of a dressing mirror. Only a third of this frame remains. An unusual glyph about the size of a man’s head has been delicately carved into the baseplate of the support platform:

It's fairly clear you have now penetrated deeper into the Whispering Cave than Professor Stanley did, since you'd assume he would have at least taken a picture of the strange apparatus, had he gotten this far.

[klakxor]

Sahid will take his camera out and make sure to get a picture of the whole as well as ask Brad or Eric to move up with him to get a close up of the glyph on the base.

[tdsprouse]

Brad Moves with Sahid to help him get multiple pictures of the Stone Apparatus.

“This is pretty interesting, anyone know what these markings might mean?”

OUT OF CHARACTER

I am definitely Pro validating often

 

[CGM3]

Eric will advance to 1418 and keep his flashlight trained down the main corridor.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Hmm, maybe I should have named this character Daniel Jackson...

 

[patransom]

Sahid and Brad move west to investigate and photograph the shattered stone apparatus. As Sahid snaps his pictures, he observes a few things about the artifact [PM on the way].

Eric moves north, keeping his light trained up the hallway. Dr. Alexander follows and then speaks up, “Lower your light a moment, Mr. Lightner...” When Eric does so, the good doctor says, “Yes, I thought I saw something in the dark. There's a greenish glow up ahead.” Eric can see it now, too: a faint flickering green light some distance to the north.

[tdsprouse]

“Get what we need, Sahid? Make sure you get a lot of angles, front and back.”


When Sahid is finished, Brad will lead him back to the others.

[klakxor]

Sahid takes several photographs of the pedestal and the frame. A couple close ups sround the inside of the frame.

Kneeling down next to the frame, he scoops up a couple shards of stone and moves back to Brad. “There are some remarkable glyphs and runes on that structure. Seemed arcane from the looks of them. Couldn't really tell what they meant, but got some good pictures. Something about travel or transportation and something about air. Also, these strange shards were nearby the frame. I think they could be something as well. Definitely something to keep.”

Sahid holds his hand out to Brad briefly showing him a couple shards of a shiny black substance. He then puts them in is pack and follows Brad to catch up with the others.

[CGM3]

Eric Lightner will try to shine the beam of his flashlight at the green glow, in an attempt to see what is there.

[patransom]

Sahid finds that the shiny black shards feel like stone, but they are slightly cool to the touch.

The source of the flickering green light is far beyond the range of the flashlight's beam; in fact, the light is so faint that shining the flashlight directly at it mostly washes it out, making it difficult to see. But you can tell that its source is some distance to the north, up the corridor.

[tdsprouse]

at teh artifact... “Yeah Sahid, those are pretty interesting. They dont match the stone of the big one?”

Brad gives Eric a look, indicating we should move ahead together slowly.

[patransom]

at teh artifact... “Yeah Sahid, those are pretty interesting. They dont match the stone of the big one?”

OUT OF CHARACTER

If it's not clear from Sahid's description, the shards he found on the floor are shiny and black. They do not match either the base or the "mirror frame" of the big artifact.

 

[CGM3]

Drawing his Glock with his right hand, Eric Lightner nods and slowly advances towards the green glow, casting his flashlight beam over the walls, floor, and ceiling of the passage immediately ahead, ready to halt if anything comes into view.

Could the shards be from something else altogether?" he muses absently.

[tdsprouse]

Brad does the same, Draws his weapon, and proceeds.

[klakxor]

Sahid moves forward behind Eric and Brad, not pulling out his weapon yet. “Do you think it is some type of flourescent moss perhaps?”

[patransom]

The team moves further up the corridor and the searching flashlights soon reveal a large chamber. The far walls remain beyond the range of the flashlights, as does the source of the green glow. To the west, just at the edge of Brad's light, three short stairs lead to what appears to be a wide marble dais, but most of the structure is obscured by darkness. The whole place smells of animal spoor and wet fur.

The sibilant, almost human whispers present in the passage become a chorus in this massive chamber, eerily echoing off the walls.

Over the sound of the whispers, everyone suddenly hears the quiet patter of animal paws. Instinctively, Brad and Eric turn their weapons and their lights in the direction of the sound. Immediately, you see three wolves creeping toward you from the northeast! Two of the mangy curs (w2 and w3) look as if they haven’t eaten in days. A third wolf (W1) is a little larger than the others and does not look hungry in the least. A straight line of scar tissue bisects its face from forehead to muzzle. The wolves blink their red eyes as the flashlights turn in their direction and then begin to snarl!

OUT OF CHARACTER

COMBAT ROUND 1 Initiative Order Eric Lightner Brad Laskin Tividius Alexander Sahid Khan --> Next validation HUNGRY WOLVES Feel free to use Invisible Castle for your rolls. Saves me the trouble of rolling for you...

 

[tdsprouse]

“WHOA! They look hungry... EAT SOME LEAD!!”



Brad targets W3

Shooting Wolf 3 in the snout (1d20+4=11, 2d6=4)

[CGM3]

“Get the big one!” Eric Lightner exclaims as he opens fire on Wolf #1.

OUT OF CHARACTER

+5 to hit with his Glock 17, threaten a critical on a natural 20, 2d6 damage, Defense is 15 (16 vs melee attacks). I should be registered at Invisible Castle by next validation.

 

[klakxor]

Sahid back up while the others fire at the wolves, realizing the damger he quickly puts his camera away and draws his gun as well.

[patransom]

COMBAT ROUND 1

The sudden appearance of the snarling wolves appears to have shaken Brad and Eric a bit, as both fire their Glocks wildly and miss.

Dr. Alexander, on the other hand, retains his calm, drawing a shiny Colt as he steps up next to Eric. His shot hits W1 in the shoulder, narrowly missing the head. The big wolf yelps, but doesn't fall or flee.

Sahid backs up, putting away his camera and drawing his TEC-9.

Wolf 1 comes forward and clamps its jaws down on Eric's ankle [7 hp]. The wolf then hauls backwards, pulling Eric's leg from under him and causing him to trip and fall to the ground!

The other two wolves see this as an opportunity. They pounce upon the fallen Eric and bite him [Two more bites for 12 more hp total]. Eric looks very bad off, bleeding from multiple bites.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Initiative Order Eric Lightner - 19 hp damage, prone Brad Laskin Tividius Alexander Sahid Khan --> Next validation HUNGRY WOLVES

 

[tdsprouse]

Brad steps to 1212, and double taps Wolf 1

Double Tap W1 (1d20+3=10, 3d6=9)


“Damnit!”

[CGM3]

Despite his wounds,

OUT OF CHARACTER

reduced to 1 hit point,

 

Eric Lightner gets to his feet,

OUT OF CHARACTER

move action, provokes no attack of opportunity,

 

dropping his gun to defensively attack Wolf #1 with a martial strike

OUT OF CHARACTER

which does not provoke the AoO that shooting the beast would

 

boosted with an Action Point.

OUT OF CHARACTER

1d20+0+1d6 (+4 attack bonus neutralized by -4 penalty for defensive fighting, +1d6 for Action Point) to hit, 1d4+3 to damage (+2 for Strength, +1 for melee smash talent), Defense is 15 base + 1 for defensive martial arts in melee + 2 for fighting defensively = 18: MA defensive strike (expending Action Point to boost attack roll) (1d20+0+1d6 = 19 + 5 = 24, 1d4+3 = 2 + 3 = 5) [quote]"Oh, what a short story my biography will be." - one of the Beagle Boys [/quote]

 

[patransom]

Despite his wounds,

OUT OF CHARACTER

reduced to 1 hit point,

 

Eric Lightner gets to his feet,

OUT OF CHARACTER

move action, provokes no attack of opportunity,

 

OUT OF CHARACTER

Standing up from prone provokes AoO's, according to the MSRD. Am I missing something special about Eric? Would you like to change his action? With the rolls you had, fighting from prone might be successful...

 

[CGM3]

OUT OF CHARACTER

Standing up from prone provokes AoO's, according to the MSRD. Am I missing something special about Eric? Would you like to change his action? With the rolls you had, fighting from prone might be successful...

 

OUT OF CHARACTER

Hmm, according to my copy of d20 Modern, consulting Table 5-2 Actions in Combat on page 135, next to the move action "Stand up from prone, sitting, or kneeling", there is a "No" in the Attack of Opportunity column. If that got changed and they forgot to tell me, then, yes, Eric will stay prone and flail away... with the -4 to Defense for being prone... any chance these wolves could all suffer catastrophic cardiac infarctions this round? Pretty please with sugar on it?