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Escape the Dark Castle

Wherever you go, there you are...

You wake up once again in your cell.

You have no idea how long you’ve been here, but it feels like forever. And who knows, maybe at this point it is.

You don’t even know how or why you’re in this terrible place.

Maybe this is hell. It certainly feels that way.

You have brief visions that you’ve died. Sometimes very horribly, but yet here you are breathing. The air you’re breathing isn’t great filled with the scent of who knows what, but you’re still breathing.

You glance and find that you’re not alone. Three others are here in the cell with. They’re all a motley bunch looking as dirty and ill kept as you probably look right now. Somehow some of them seem familiar but then you can’t remember much anymore everything is always a blur now.

“Don’t I know you?”

In any case, after a brief moment of talking, someone notices that the cell door is slightly ajar. Your captors forgot to shut it properly.

Wasting no time the four of you leave the cell…

A fighting chance perhaps!

Your group quickly take the contents of the chest as you hear the sounds of guards shouting in the distance.

You’ve found:

1 Liquid Luck: Discard to re-roll your character die and apply that result

Cracked Axe: Two handed weapon which allows you to roll a chapter die with your character die in combat (Two inventory spaces)

Dented Daggers: Once per round in combat whenever you hit, you can attack again. (Two inventory spaces)

1 Partially Rotten Apple: Discard to gain 1 HP

In addition to this loot, your incarceration in this place has resulted in some interesting character trait that may come in useful ONCE per game:

Cook - Callous: After surviving a combat encounter you may draw 3 item cards instead of 1.

Smith - Deranged: You may attack and rest in the same round of combat.

Tailor - Lazy: When you rest you may restore 3 HP instead of 1.

Tanner - Greedy: When you restore HP discarding food, you may restore an additional 2 HP.

Divide up the loot as you all see fit and pick the person to lead the group for the next encounter.

Ostrom very smart, Ostrom smartest of household. Ostrom can talk and count to ten. Very easy for him if he think. He thinkest the best, he thinkest super duper best when Ostrom cooks. 

Ostrom likes chicken. Big axe good for chopping chicken. Ostrom marches up there and picks up axe. Will look for chicken, but Ostrom waits, not too long because chicken flap fast.

Ostrom saunters up to the wall where the big two handed axe is hung. Despite his huge size and pudgy fingers, he manages to lift it with ease, wielding it like a big butcher knife.

Tanner, despite finding Ostrom's existence as a drain to the intelligence of the gene pool morally objectionable, votes he leads the group.

She pockets the partially rotten apple while at it as well, though is doubtful of its nutritional value.

Smith, who chose a profession based on his actual name, saunters up to the chest and tsks at the dented daggers. Doesn't anyone know how to actually take care of their blades?

He supposes they'll do, considering the guards didn't even check the cell door. Perhaps he'll even find a way to repair them somewhere in this castle. He sheathes his blades into his belt and awaits the group's next move, eying their self-appointed leader with trepidation.

Axe Bloody Spray

The group decided that the biggest blackest guy in the group should go first, so the Cook took the lead. He had the biggest weapon anyway, along with a big axe.

The group didn't get far before they met someone of a similar body type also carrying an axe.

"Bro, do you even lift?"

There were no decisions to be made it was an immediate fight!

The Cook and the Executioner slammed their axes into each other, while the Smith managed to get behind him to try to stab him in the back. He succeeded but then received a hefty back kick to the face.

The Tanner and Tailor did their part as well, with the Tailor having to drink her luck potion to avoid a flailing backhand which hit the Tanner instead.

Smith lost 2 HP

Tanner lost 2 HP

Still despite the executioner's desire to add more heads to his collection, he was ultimately no match for the group and succumbed to his wounds, with the Cook appropriate beheading him as his final blow.

The only thing of worth on his body was a relic of some sort.

The Shard of Fury: Once per round of combat, when you roll a double, you may roll again and apply both results.

Decide who gets it (remember that Cook and Smith are at carrying capacity limit) and pick who is going to lead the next encounter.

Ostrom kicks at Ostrom 2.0. Ostrom had chicken, so Ostrom 2.0 must have double chicken.

"Chicken where? I want chicken!"

Ostrom kicks more. Tailor picked up sparkly thingy. Maybe chicken? Ostrom hobbles to Tailor, grabs maybe-chicken. Ostrom sniffs and licks it, put in mouth.

"Bah."

Ostrom spits it out and throws it back at Tailor.

The one braincell that's still left in Ostrom's skull, chooses for him to lead again.

​​​​

Boned

Continuing to let the Cook go first, the group continued onward hoping that they wouldn't have another encounter like the one they just had again, or at least for a very long time.

Of course this being the Dark Castle, that hope was just wishful thinking.

Well it's a boney undead horror, it's pretty self explanatory.

It's going to be another fight, but your group can either decide to rush it or try to bait it and then strike.

Make your choice.

Ostrom goes into room, looks at bones. Big heap of bones, smell bones. He shakes his head. Points at group, then at bones.

"Chicken bone, not good, not good."

Back to wall, shuffle, shuffle, in the dark, very quietly. Ostrom knows. Now bad time, wait for good time. Then schwinggg.

Ostrom clumsily makes some chopping gestures with his axe to demonstrate the point. 

He votes to try to bait it and then strike. 

​​​​

Tanner is suffering from technical issues and is regrettably unable to see the undead horror. She'll default to Ostrom's judgment, however questionable it is, unless a contrary opinion is put forward.

Okay. Don't worry though, there's no vital information on it. It's just a cool picture and some flavor text.

Considering Smith just got backkicked by the executioner, he still feels a little winded. He agrees that baiting it and then striking it would be the appropriate course of action.

Pile of Bones

Following the Cook's lead of drawing the creature in, the group managed to surround it which allowed for a better advantage rather than simply rushing foolishly into battle with it.

Just like last time the Cook and Smith did the most amount of damage with the Tailor and Tanner getting in hits when they could. The pair of them recieved some minor wounds but nothing major.

Tailor lost 1 HP

Tanner lost 1 HP

Eventually the beast was reduced to a pile of broken bones and no longer a threat. The only thing of value in its stomping grounds was equipment of a less fortunate soul that encountered it in the past.

Rotten Shield: Whenever you would lose HP reduce the amount by one (To the minimum of one)

Decide who's getting it and pick the person to lead the way.

While Smith would like to take the shield, he unfortunately has no room for it. Bah. 
 

Also, since Smith has been doing the major fighting in both rounds, he slides to the ground for some much needed rest (and is NOT using his ability just yet).

Yeah resting is weird in this game, basically you can only rest when combat is going on. So while everyone else is fighting something, you just chill in back and heal up HP until you decide you want to participate in the fight.

I'll keep you in mind for resting though for the next combat encounter.

Ok then. 
 

Smith decides he does not have room for the shield, but plans to hang back during the next combat round. Let the others kill the next thing they run into. He's tired.

Vaugely annoyed at the fact that the Cook has not served as a particularly effective meat shield, Tanner nominates the Tailor to take lead.

To continue the streak of poor descisions, she also consumes the partially rotten apple. Possibly she'll die of plague, but hopefully she'll regain her lost health. In any case, it's an improvement from her current situation.

With a now empty inventory, she claims the rotten shield. 

Were you using your Greedy trait, you'll heal an additional 2 HP which would fully heal you.

Sure, I'll use the trait.

Okay.

Tanner lost the Greedy trait

Ostrom puffs out his chest in pride.

"Monster scared because Ostrom smart"

Ostrom agrees with the Tailor. "Agree" though is a big word since Ostrom's current speech consists of a few grunts and mutterings about chicken bones. Ostrom had put some of the bones in his mouth, but it's too smelly to make any kind of decent soup of it and now he's kinda annoyed by it.

Tremors

Despite some minor protests, the Tailor was shoved up front to lead the group. Wasn't like there much she could do against her former cellmates being an older woman and all.

The Tailor walked as cautiously as she could along the dark passage which soon caused some complaints that she was walking too slow. However, the sounds of something other than disgruntled prisoners could be heard.

They're in the walls!

The group was hit with chunks of flying stone. Only the Smith managed to avoid any major damage.

A fight immediately ensued with the Cook leading the charge as usual, though the Smith hung back to rest a moment from his wounds. The Tailor and Tanner attempted to take up the slack, but were both injured in the process to the point that THEY had to step back from their own injuries.

Fortunately by this time, the Smith stepped in and he along with the Cook landed the fatal blows against this vile worm creature.

Cook lost 1 HP

Tailor lost 2 HP

Tailor lost Lazy trait

Tanner lost 2 HP

Other than the bloody carcass of the worm, the only thing that was discovered was a potion that had been undigested inside it. Who knows how long it had been in there.

Elixir of Insight: Discard to change any chapter die to show a trait of your choice.

Pick who gets the potion and who is leading the group to the next encounter.

The Smith was annoyed. Once again he had no room for any goodies and had to pick up the slack of some other members. With a shrug, he waited for the others to divvy up the spoils so they could all move along.

In a bid to get rid of... um, encourage some of the members of the party to step up, the Smith nominated the tailor to once again take the lead.

Smith also decided that as he had ONCE AGAIN been on the frontlines, and he was still a bit injured from the fight with the executioner, he was going to rest during the next fight as well to bring himself back up to full health.

Without using his ability.

The Smith points out that he is still resting. Unless there's a rule against doing that twice in a row?

He also reminds the tailor that putting her in front last round was the tanner's idea, and the cook agreed. Smithy didn't do anything the rest haven't.

Fair enough.

The Smith argues that since he and the Cook have been the main ones ending the fights, keeping them alive and healthy as long as possible makes sense for the wellbeing of the entire group if they ever encounter some kind of unspeakable evil, such as a big boss. 
 

The tailor, by contrast, is an old woman who's apparently an effective meat shield  leader.

The Smith awaits the vote of the other two members.

He also points out it is a lot more likely to run into another enemy than a pit, considering there's a bunch of guards that patrol the castle.

Tanner votes that the Tailor lead, if only for the mild comedic value of such.

It would probably be fairer to make the most capable of them lead, but it's survival of the fittest in this place. What use are the old and the crippled here, but for a meat shield?

Ostrom very smart, finds Tanner smart, so Tanner is super smart. When Tanner says; Tailor leads, Tailor leads.

The cook chooses the Tailor to lead.

Armed with the support of his fellow travelers, the Smithy flashes his three remaining teeth at the Tailor and, with a overexaggerated flourish of his arm, gestures for her to take the lead.

Strange Brew

Once again the Tailor was shoved forward by the rest of the group and once again the Tailor had no choice but to comply.

The group eventually walked into an open area very much like a courtyard, but they were obviously still indoors. Oddly a cart was seen approaching in their direction and a man in a robe immediately saw the Tailor first and walked briskly towards her.

"Hey you, try this I just made it and I want to see if it works! HERE!"

The Tailor had an elixir thrust into her face and had a choice to make.

Refuse it

Take a sip

Down the whole thing

Only the Tailor has to make this choice. (The other three are probably snickering at her.)

Weak Stomach

As quickly as the Tailor chugged the elixir, she quickly vomited it all back up barely missing the alchemist's shoes.

"Hmm, must have used too much demon dong. Might have to cut the dung worm slime with ground up ogre toenails too." the alchemist responded and went back to his cart.

Tailor loses 1 HP

After you're done laughing (or in the Tailor's case recovering) pick someone to lead the way.

Smithy, after rolling around on the floor laughing (thankfully missing the vomit) volunteers to go first this time.

Also, can we get a group stat check?

Ostrom points at smith. He no bleed, no wound, no bleed no wound super good. 

Ostrom chooses to put the smith forward, only because he's the only one with full health, plus he's also wielding a two handed weapon.

Team Tertius Current Stats

Cook

11 HP

Cracked Axe (2 Handed)

Callous Trait

Smith

12 HP

Dented Daggers (2 Handed)

Deranged Trait

Tailor

8 HP

Elixir of Insight

The Fury Shard

Tanner

10 HP

Rotten Shield

Bataclysm 2: The Battening!

The Smith took the lead feeling a little bit more confident in the group's chances. All in all things haven't been too bad yet he thought. If they all just managed to keep their wits about them, they might just make it.

While the Smith was lost in this optimistic thought, he failed to notice the danger above.

"Ah yes, you'll do nicely for dinner when the kids come back from school!"

The Smith's arm was hit during the creature's surprise attack. Fortunately the creature had not been able to just lift off with him and was quickly pulled down by the group.

Even at this disadvantage the bat beast fought viciously as it realized it had misjudged its prey. The Cook and the Tanner suffer a few wounds of their own before it was at last brought down.

Smith lost 2 HP

Cook lost 2 HP

Tanner lost 1 HP

In the creature's dying breath however, it made one last sudden attack.

Everyone pick one character trait. (Might, Cunning or Wisdom)

Might.

Also I want to rest during the next combat round. 

Might, it's what Tanner has the least of.

Smith has more HP than every other person on the team. It should be Tailor who has the chance to rest.

Yeah, I agree, since the Tailor is the one with 8 HP, she deserves to rest. The cook is also down on 9HP.

So my suggestion is to have the smith lead this time around.

*This is what Ostrom would say if he was a little bit wiser, but he decided to drink a Might potion instead, because Ostrom stronk

Yeah yeah I'll go ahead 

One Tailor One Arm

The creature's last attack was directed towards the Tailor who was unable to avoid its nails sinking into her flesh before it finally relented and died of its wounds.

Even normal bats are known to carry diseases and in the case of big bat abominations like this one, it carried something much worse. The Tailor could feel her arm go completely numb before withering in front of her horrified eyes.

The Tailor is CURSED!

Crippling Injury: You can now only carry one item at a time and never carry two handed items at all. This cannot be removed.

The Tailor is going to have to discard one of her items or give it to someone who can carry another one.

Pick who leads next.

Ostrom is just staring off into the distance, drooling slightly and stomach rumbling. Could his stomach hold up two of these bats? That were the true mysteries of life besides catching chickens and eating chickens.

​​​​​Upon being prompted to make a decision, he shoves the smith forward before returning to stare at the bat.

chicken feed. Chicken. Big chicken feet. Chicken. Chicken. 

@MrAce321 need to know what item you're dropping or giving to someone.

Free Your Mind

The Smith took the lead ready for the next challenge. Despite the Tailor losing her arm, the rest of the group was in fairly good shape, so he was confident that they might just make it out of here. Of course the main problem was finding the damn exit in the first place.

The other problem were all the things trying to kill them.

"Ooooooooo. Ooooooooo. This is really boring. Oooooooo."

These cursed spirits didn't notice the group at first as they were preoccupied with their usual routine. Though they were in the way of the group's path and the Smith was uncertain how to proceed.

Having a bit better grasp on the situation, the Tanner suggested that they try to clear their minds of any strong thoughts as it might cause the spirits to think they're just other lost souls. How she came to this conclusion nobody really challenged her on, or at least the Smith and the Cook didn't since she seemed smart to them. The Tailor might have said something but with only one arm, she wasn't in much condition to challenge the Tanner's idea.

So the group cleared their minds and walked with the spirits, and all seemed to go well until it didn't.

Now it is unknown why the Cook began thinking of a yellow penguin at this particular time, especially since he'd never even seen one before, but yet once the image of a yellow penguin got in his head (which was usually blissfully empty) it dominated his thoughts to a degree that caused the spirits to suddenly stop moving.

Wasn't long before they all turned and attacked.

While this battle might have seemed hopeless given how surrounded and outnumbered they were, it turned out to be quite easy. The Tailor downed her insight elixir to gain a bit of an advantage in combat, while the other three pulled their weight as well. Though the Cook was shouting about being attacked by yellow penguins the entire time, which nobody understood but after it was all said and done the group was victorious.

Tailor lost Elixir of Insight

The only thing of note that was found was a piece of stale bread laying in the passage for whatever reason.

Loaf of Stale Bread: Discard to restore 1 HP

Pick who takes it (or more likely eats it) and decide who leads next.

Yellow penguin big, super big, very super bigly. Ostrom likes big bird and big fish. Penguin is fish and bird. Thriple like. Should pray to big fish bird.

During his very enlightening spiritual journey though the corridor of cursed spirits, Ostrom found a new perspective on life. The smith wasn't a regular old smith, but the big yellow penguin, the chosen one to lead mankind to more chickens.

He started dancing around the smith which looked more like stomping and flopping his arms around. 

Apparently Ostrom has chosen the smith to lead the group again. 

Smithy looks at Ostram in confusion by his... interpretive dance, but shrugs and decides to go ahead one more time. After this though, he was volunteering the Tailor to start going forward.

Things were funnier then.

"special prayer for special fish bird!"

Incense and Almonds

The Smith continued to lead as had been the norm for awhile, though he considered to there might be a new line up soon if they were going to be encountering anymore malevolent spirits.

The group walked the dark passages until a smell hit them. It wasn't one of decay however, almost had a pleasant smell and it was getting stronger.

Nothing like the sickly scent of flowers mixed with cyanide

The group realized they needed to get through this area quickly before they succumbed to the poisonous fumes.

The Tanner and Tailor both managed to run through with no problems. Perhaps years of having to deal with various dangerous perfumes sold by snake oil salesmen prepared them better for this.

The Smith had some issues, but quickly managed to recover.

The Cook, however had the hardest time. One would think maybe his time in kitchens would have helped somehow with dangerous odors, but no. He very nearly collapses several times before dragging himself out of the harm's way of the poisonous air.

Smith lost 1 HP

Cook lost 3 HP

Pick who leads next.

The cook gets knocked out and falls asleep. He'll rest in the next turn.

Well, the Tailor can lead next as decided previously.

Tanner will prod Tailor with her rusted shield until Tailor is persuaded to lead and/or contracts tetanus.

The Smith wonders if cutting off the tailor's other arm will motivate her to keep moving without complaint.

A Rock and a Hard Place

The Tailor sighed, resigned to her fate of once again leading the group. The group passed through a more cavern like area with rocky outcrops sticking out of the ground everywhere.

The initial concern was that danger would be lurking behind one of these outcrops. Turned out though that it was one of the outcrops themselves that was the danger.

"SURPRISE NIGGA!"

It's going to be a fight no matter what, though can chose if you're just going to rush the walking rock or fight a bit more defensively.

Make your choice.

This time, Smithy thinks aggression might be the better plan. After all, they are at a disadvantage regardless of what they do, fighting a giant rock monster on its' home turf and all. It might be a good idea to try and finish the fight quickly.

Tanner, who does not possess a single weapon nor is likely to roll might, is rather hesitant about direct combat. She'd rather fight defensively.

The cook nods off, but generally agrees to fight defensively

@MrAce321

@Darius_Conwright

@TypewriterCat

You guys are up

Rubble

While the Smith's approach of going in pants on head retarded was something that normally the Cook would have went along with, he decided to follow the Tanner's approach of fighting more defensively and drawing the rock creature in.

At first this tactic didn't seem like it was working very well since most of the group was still hit by the creature's massive stone fists. However, the Tanner seemed to fight better while everyone else was taking the blows and managed to chip away at the stone.

Eventually the rock monster lost structual integrity and fell apart.

Cook lost 2 HP

Smith lost 2 HP

Tailor lost 2 HP

The group also found another rotten piece fruit just laying around.

Partially Rotten Apple: Discard to restore 1 HP

Decide who's eating it and pick who leads next.

Ostrom picks tailor. Tailor picked apple. So tailor is good at picking path. Path picking like apple picking. 

Meanwhile he's gnawing at some rocks scattered in the room

The Smith agrees that the Tailor should go first.

Dark Castle's Punch Out!

The Tailor didn't even know why she bothered at this point. Once again she lead the group.

The passage they walked down seemed to get narrower, almost to the point where they were forced to walk single file with no easy way of getting around each other.

While this wouldn't be ideal in most circumstances, it really didn't bode well for the Tailor who now had someone hostile in front of her.

 "I AM BE DANGEROUS NOW, I'M STRONG YOU'RE NOT!"

The Tailor feeling like she had little in the way of options, swung on the man with her one good arm surprisingly hitting him across the face. However, a skilled fighter like this man was hardly moved and responded with jab to her stomach, completely knocking the wind out of her and causing her to fall into the group.

Tailor lost 1 HP

Now then, you have the option of letting the Tailor continue to fight, or someone else can step in to take her place. Up to you if you want to do this now or later depending on how much of a beating she's taken or if you'll just step in when she's dead.

Anyway make a choice how you want to set this up and the combat will continue. (Also nobody can rest during this fight)