"I'll try, but I'm not sure my magic is effective on this thing"
Dingus re-positions himself to try and hit the monstrosity with his burning hands spell, without harming his comrades.
Burning hands (DC15 Reflex for half)
Round 3
Another shot is readied for when the Fish Monger opens its gaping maw.
Ready Action to Shoot. Still active Judgement of Sacred Justice +1 (to hit)
Jim manages to avoid the stray bloated limb flung his way as he dances around the abomination. Once in position, he pokes at the thing, but his focus is on defense. Kaul however, takes advantage of the Jim's diversion to hit a weak spot in the stitching. .
By the time Dibbets begins to gimp up to Jim, both he and Kaul have moved around the stitched up coracle of cadavers leaving the halfling cursing behind
the Groom keeps his focus on the stranger ducking behind the reanimated raft while the Grackle sends his ghostly hand to deliver a shock to the thing. Both Dingus' burst of flames and the electrical touch have no effect on the magical construct.
Taking cover behind one of the statues, the stranger casts a spell and Groom's bolt shatters on stone instead of disrupting the spell. Kaul is suddenly gripped by an icy fear. The horrible coracle continues flailing around smacking Jim with a plank made of rotted fisherman and pounding Kaul mightily with a stinking section of beached whale.
As Jim circles the multi-limbed marauder Dibbets curses "Hold up ye bugger... I'm tryna make it so ye don't end up it's rudder."
Round 4
:
Bruised and battered by the reeking raft's beatdown, Kaul bellows his defiance and swings again with his boarding axe;
”GRHHHHARRRGHHH! That all ye got ye manky basterd!”
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Round 4:
*Assumes that Dibbets catches up with me this round, and that last round's roll applies.
Jim gives Dibbets a quick nod. "Much obliged, mate. Groom, best you keep Kaul in this fight. Dingus, Grackle--try to take down that fish-man!" The wily Taldan continues to focus on defense, sliding north before taking another perfunctory (and futile) stab at his target.
Dingus turns his Vapor Vipers to the fish man.
Vapor Viper x2
"Die! Die! Die!"
Round 4
"I'll do what I can."
the Groom drops the crossbow and calls up a watery blessing. With his hand glowing a green phosphorescence, he steps up behind Kaul and gives him a wet slap.
From closer in he takes a hard look at the Flounder.
Jim continues circling while ducking and batting away the frothy flesh planks that flail at him. Dibbs is hard pressed to follow, but manages to catch up and smack him with indifference after preparing the spell outside the zone of battery. Kaul shakes off the frightful sensation cast upon him by the stranger, but is shaken nonetheless and his offense suffers.
Meanwhile, the Groom creeps around the side switching over to rapier. He pauses to pass on a briny blessing to reinvigorate Kaul. Grackle and Dingus follow at a distance seeking a better angle on the crouching figure by the statues.
the Groom peers between the pair of well shaped pale marble statues that stand unmoving, the graceful long black sculpture now rests at the waters edge and chest is placed before them. The stranger squats near the chest.
Suddenly, like a pouncing spider, the multi-legged mishmash man charges the Groom. Dingus hits him with a pair of missiles, but they fizzle against a force shield. In an instant the seven limbed, fish-headed man is on the Groom stabbing him with an obsidian knife that cleanly slices through his skin leaving a bloody wound. the Groom is left to wonder what mad creature is attacking him.
The pile of malodorous flotsam continues bashing all around. Jim narrowly ducks some deceased sailor's bloated backside flung his way, but Kaul suffers another heavy clout by a waterlogged flank plank
Round 5:
Jim takes a step back the way he came and makes another swipe at the mass of rotting flesh menacing him.
Round 5
Battered like a batch of tempura, Kaul staggers and sways before grumbling an aside;
"Tum... Yer apostle needs ye!"
As he awaits potential coconut flavoured aid, the thug narrows his beady eyes for one last stand;
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:
Jim shifts back to cover Dibbets and pokes at a lolling head that flops past driving his blade deep to minor effect. Kaul's axe fares better and he chops apart several cobbled corpses severing the tie that holds whatever conjured animus inhabits the thing. The pile of corpses collapses with a thudding sound and a horrible stink.
From Kaul's pouch a muffled voice makes a noise. "Eewww! What you eat for supper, oh apostle? I awake now. What you want?"
Round Now:
Seeing the gruesome conveyance fall apart Dibbs gives a satisfied nod "Good work mateys... now less get us some feckin sushi" and begins the arduous stump across to where the Groom and Kaul stand.
Kaul smiles at his and Jimmer's handiwork, before retrieving Tum from his pouch;
"Alright Tum! Can ye tangle up that there fish fella O' Great Nut... he's the cause o' the stink..."
the Groom slides to give his mates room to whack the fish. He gives a mirthless smile as the bloody gash begins to seal. Raising his cutlass he brings it down in a harsh swing..
"Looks like you lost your ride...and your good looks."
Kaul's nut peeks out from his bag, "Tangling work better in the jungle, beach got no vines to grab 'em an' everyone get snag up anyway." Kaul sprouts a hairy coconut hide instead. the Groom sidesteps the odd figure and cuts opens a wound on one of the arms. He notices that the assorted arms and legs don't really match and look stitched on, somewhat like the raft of corpses except that the limbs are still living.
Dibbs shuffles over to the action as the sorcerers unleash magical energy on the motley man. the Grackle's sparking spectral hand swoops down to deliver a powerful jolt. Dingus covers the sand in a slick, but the many-legged man holds his ground.
Fishhead grunts in disgust as the Groom's wound dries up and he turns his fury on Kaul before stepping back between the statues. Kaul's scarred and hairy hide turn two of the black glass blades, but two find their target.
Round 6:
Seeing Kaul fall, Dibbs rolls his eyes before giving the scarred lummox a kick to knock some indifference back into him "Oi Kaul, nae sleepin on the job like... up an' snot 'im!"
Round 6:
Eying the statues warily, Jim advances around the malodorous mass and tries to pare down the multilimbed menace's variety of vitreous threats.
Round 6
As the blades sink home, Kaul momentarily stumbles before bloody minded belligerence keeps him conscious… This is further augmented by Dibb’s planting a slap o’ healing upon him.
Renewed the thug eyes the stitched up fish man with bad intentions… Ignoring the slippery sands underfoot Kaul barrels towards his foe, axe chopping downwards;
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Round 6
With the worst of his wound sealed, the Groom concentrates on gutting the Fish.
Frustrated by his failing magic, Dingus simply curses and raises up the nearest heavy object he can find, waiting for a bad guy to walk under it to drop on him.
"Hey Dibs". "If you get board, blow this big rock over the top of something we don't like".
Jim dances along the tide and with a slap of his blade knocks an obsidian dagger from the stranger's hand. Kaul steps across the slick sand and swings down, but the three-legged man pivots and the axe digs into the sand. the Groom is next and his cutlass is deflected by an invisible force.
The Grackle proves more effective as the spectral hand suddenly crackles with electricity and flies at the man delivering a lethal jolt. The man staggers back and casts another spell at Kaul. A dead dolphin from the raft floats up at Dingus' behest to threaten anyone that is foolish enough to walk under it.
Round 7:
Jim takes a short step into the surf and stabs at the last active foe, but his aim is thrown off by a random wave.
"Listen you. We are going to rip those arms and legs off you and use them to beat you unconscious. When you wake up, if you thought it was painful sewing those arms and legs on, wait till Kaul gets a rusty dagger in those stumps and pokes around. You are the most vile piece of flotsam that we have ever seen...and that is saying something.....Your scent reminds me of a whale's stomach after its been beached for a month....<etc>. How about we put you on a spit and roast you?"
Round 7
:
The muffled voice from the fish head laughs morosely, "I could use a beefy orc arm or two for my collection! Powered by dark magic, the threat has the intended effect. Kaul has heard enough having already last a pair of beloved arms (Bess and Mara) and beats a swift retreat. Jim steps down the littoral zone to circle the chest and is caught off guard by a low roller that throws his stab.
the Groom is game though and begins a tirade that leaves the stranger speechless and literally smoking. A moment later, three legs fold and the strange creature collapses.
Calling out to Dingus "Hey Dingus, ken ye get rid o' the slippery stuff ye laid down?" gesturing at the grease spell. "Someone cut the fecker's throat afore he wakes up."
Dibbs then slugs across the sand to the chest that lies near to the two statues and licks his salty lips "D'ya think the stoney's will take offence iffin we try an grab it?"
Dingus shrugs and drops the dolphin before dispelling the grease. the Grackle sidles over staring at the figure, slits his throat, and then pulls the fish mask off the dead man. "Goz mask, just as I thought. This'll be my share."
"There's a man under all that extra baggage? I wasn't too sure; I suppose that mask kept him from noticing the stench, hey?"
the Grackle clucks, "The Motley Man. I heard him mentioned a time or two. He's said to be a go-between for some powerful offshore sorcerer."
The tengu moves well clear of the chest and statues watching you with dark inscrutable eyes.
Regarding the statues with a jaundiced eye, Dibbs tries to figure out exactly how much autonomy they are capable of...
Sense Motive:
...eyes still affixed to the chest and the Motley Man. With the tip of ol' faithful Dibbs pokes around to see if the corpse holds any other valuables... as well as gathering up the blades it bore.
Sighing Dibbs remembers "Figure Kauly'll find his own way back eh?"
As he sprints to continue to put distance between himself and the crew’s terrifying foe, Kaul is suddenly struck with how, with each lumbering step, his panic eases…
Hur... Maybees he's dead... maybee's they all are...
By the time he recovers, the thug creeps back to the edge of the trees, near enough to observe the crew standing over his tormentor’s prone body, far enough away lest he rise again…
Dibbets finds the statues even less scrutable than the blackbird, he also only locates three obsidian blades. the Grackle keeps moving away into the shadows of the treeline, "Right you are about your friend. It's too dark for him to be out in the jungle by himself. I'll help take a look."
Jim mutters an aside to Dibbets, "That bird knows something we don't. And I'm a mite concerned about what these statues are going to do when we pick up the chest; if they can move and carry, they can hit."
Jim glances warily at the parrot headed statues and interestingly enough finds they are armed as gladiators with a stone trident and axe among their carved equipment.
"I have an idea. Hey! Grackle! Get back here a minute, I want to borrow that mask of yours. Don't worry, I won't spit in it or anything."