Quinn delays. If no enemies show up, he'll wait out the invisibility and then rejoin the group, picking at the scratch that was his ankheg wound.
Nothing happens on the GM's turn this round, or the subsequent round, or any other unless you instigate something, so we're off initiative.
What do you do?
Duglan says, "Well, we killed tha thing. Ya think it would sum treasure back in his lair? Or are we gon' go back and finish the job?"
"Let's go in, carefully." Harris suggests, as he retrieves a small grey stone from his pack and tosses it into the air above his head, whereupon it begins to revolve, emitting light like a torch.
EDIT: Actually, f**k it. No, you can't hear anything. It sounds like dirt.
You see Gromtheb's dagger lift up off the ground and dissapear. Shortly thereafter, you all hear a clearly audible whisper in Gromtheb's voice, "Could someone grab my bow? I'm going to scout out the tunnel."
"
Detail: Sense a burrowing creature underneath you: DC 25
Also, for future reference, who else has darkvision/lowlight vision?
"Could someone grab my bow? I'm going to scout out the tunnel. Ser Harris, mind giving me a message and moving to the entrance? I'm over here."
You see a rock moving around wildly above Gromtheb's bow.
In the meantime, what do the rest of you do while Gromtheb explores.
Quinn slowly, quietly makes his way into the tunnel, assuming the party goes as well. He tries to remain in the middle of the pack.
Duglan will wait for some kind of signal for the party to come forward, then he will walk at the front of the pack, attempting to be quiet, but not realistically expecting to do so.
Stealth:
Perception:
Here's the new map. The northwestern path extended as far as you could see, and the southern path splits, down one path you can see sunlight peeping in from one of the holes made. The northeastern path dead-ended at a chamber. You've still got plenty of invisibility left, so where/what next?
Quinn, how long do you wait for a signal before you head in? And Duglan, is Quinn's heading in a sufficient signal for you to follow?
Quinn heading in will be sufficient enough.
He'll motion people to go in and start walking. No signal. Once people start to follow him he'll let Dulgan go in front and follow the meat head.
Harris casts Message.
"Don't go too far, Gromtheb. The spell cannot transmit at long range. We'll follow at a distance. We're counting on you to keep us apprised of what you see."
"We will follow him in from a distance," Harris commands. "Stay close, and move quietly. Mind the flanks and the rear."
With that, Harris follows Quinn into the caves, ioun torch lighting his way.
Velinari, seeing this conflagration of events, decides that he will take up the rear and follow the party into the cave, albeit silently, quietly taking up the rear.
Yeah, that. Curse my inability to tell those apart.
"Got it. We're moving northwest, and then south. Let's go," he says.
Duglan grunts affirmatively. Noting the cramped quarters of the cave, he sheaths his fauchard and draws his greatsword. He walks alongside Harris, who seems to know where the group is going. Again, he attempts to be quiet despite the clanking of his armor.
Stealth:
Velinari seems to merge into the shadows, blending with the surroundings.
Stealth:
"The passageways here are collapsed" you suddenly hear the voice of Gromtheb say in the passageway ahead. "Let's look to the south. Those bugs have got to be around here somewhere. I'm headed to the south-east tunnel." You feel something brush by you.
Harris tells the group "We need to go south. Let us know what you see, Gromtheb." He then approaches the south passageway.
Harris has his Ioun Torch going - it emits light like a torch. I don't think there are any other light sources being used at the moment.
There's the dancing lights up by the cave entrance, and there's light coming in through that, but no, no other light but the ioun torch.
Gromtheb, you find another dead end.
As the rest of the party continues south, suddenly, in the dim edges of the area illuminated by Ser Harris' torch, they see a large ankheg (and a small one) charging at them from around the corner. The large one hisses with fury!
Initiative for all y'all:
Gromtheb:
Ser Harris:
Velinari:
Duglan:
Quinn:
GM:
Gromtheb is first, and does nothing, since nothing's happened yet to alert him. Ser Harris is after GM. Quinn, Duglan, and Velinari, please take your actions!
5 foot step to M17
Full round power attack on large ankheg with greatsword:
Attack 1:
Damage 1:
Attack 2:
Damage 2:
To confirm threat for Attack 1:
Extra damage if confirmed:
Velinari jumps into action, pulling out his dagger.
As a swift action, Velinari shoots a quickfrost capsule onto his blade and using spring attack, he moves to 17,M (diagonal so uses 4 squares, but does not provoke AOO because of spring attack)
and strikes out with his blade at the creature:
Atk:
Dmg: (D6 is cold dmg)
and after effecting his blow, leaps back to 17,L (counts as 2 squares because of earlier diagonal, again no AOO because of spring attack)
"While swift, Velinari does not seem so effective against these ants, yes."
Quinn smiles. "There they are. Gromtheb, where are you? You're missing out on the fun." His gloves shine a bright light, and flickering, pulsing bits of force jump out of them, as if they are attacking the darkness.
Quinn casts Magic Missile.
Duglan hits with his first attack but not his second, and does not confirm his critical, nevertheless, he severely wounds the larger ankheg.
Velinari misses with his attack. Also, you cannot attack from M17 because Duglan is already there. However, you can move to M16 and then back to L17.
Despite its wounds, the larger ankheg stands its ground and bites at Duglan, but catches only armor.
The other ankheg, seeing its path blocked heads straight north and disappears into the shadows.
Attack
Damage
B Grab
PrePerception1
PrePerception2
Initiative is:
Ser Harris
Gromtheb
Quinn
Duglan
Velinari
GM
Velinari uses his turn to attempt to restealth, moving to 16,L to 17,L
and gets a stealth of:
With the sudden emergence of the Ankheg weighing on Ser Harris's mind, he chooses to assault it directly. He bellows a strange word and points at the larger Ankheg - the one Duglan carved up. The faint suggestion of six transparent blades tears through the air toward the creature.
If the beast is still alive, Quinn will attempt to finish it off with another Magic Missile. Otherwise he'll remain perfectly still and quiet, trying to avoid being eaten by another surprise attack.