SEeing the threat the crab presents to Tragershen, Corbius takes a step forward to protect him. Simultaneously drawing his rapier as he moves he strikes at the crab.
Something comes out of the huge crab, a bird looking man with a robe on...he dashes up and speaks in common, Oh my, galk! Maybe this is the mate of this one I found in the beach, Erck! You are not cannibals...I guess I shouldn't let it eat you... it says in a meandering and noisy manner
I seems to make some odd gestures towards the Crab...which suddenly sways a little.
You recognize the creature as a Tengu, a bird like humanoid. You know that they vary in their outlook in life as much as humans.
You recognize that it just placed a misfortune hex on the crab...
Battle of the Crab Behemoth Round 2
Aedalis 22a
Tragershen 22b
Nim 21a
Wic 21b
Crab 13
Mihai 10
Anton 9
Corbrius 4a
Tengu 4b
Aedalis raised an eyebrow at the Tengu's presumptuous attitude and answered haughtily-
I very much doubt your assistance will mean the difference between being eaten and not, Tengu, but it is nevertheless appreciated.
Knowing that the vermin would not be affected by his hexes, Aedalis reached deeper into his impressive mental reservoirs and expanded his mind's eye to encompass Corbrius' potential actions as well as that of Anton's- the two warriors blurred in his mind as he raced to focus on the more successful of the many possible outcomes revealed to him- he filtered out and did his best to ignore those that led to their bodies in the sand.
Adjustment to the Initiative for Nim and Wic, see below.
Battle of the Crab Behemoth Round 2
Aedalis 22a
Tragershen 22b
Crab 13
Mihai 10
Anton 9
Nim 8a
Wic 8b
Corbrius 4a
Tengu 4b
Tengus are a race of avian humanoids that resemble
crows or ravens, and often bear much of the same
stigma. Though they frequently choose to live
among other races in densely populated cities,
their society is tight and closed, and
they rarely allow others to see its inner
workings. Tengus often band together
in small groups to create roosts in vacant
warehouses or condemned buildings, and these raucous
gathering places are generally assumed to be thieves’
guilds by outsiders—an assumption that’s correct
roughly half the time.
Like the crows they share physical traits with, tengus
are naturally covetous, especially of shiny or colorful
items, and prone to bouts of good-natured kleptomania
if they don’t carefully keep themselves in check. Vain and
prideful creatures, they are easily persuaded
Knowledge Nature
Tragershen steps to C8 and lets his rapier fly against the crab.
To hit
Damage
Fortunately, after his broad miss, the rapier returns to his hand rather than sailing out to sea.
So... I assume that I know a little more than that. ;)
You have never seen what it did to the crab before...although it does remind you a little of some of the gestures that Aedalis uses sometime...
The Crab lashes out at Wic...
second attack
Through odd circumstances, the crab seems to come close to Wic, but can never really get a good grasp on where the wolf is...just as it almost ready to crush the wolf and large wave hits the crab knocking its attack wide.
Mihai casts an appraising eye towards the new arrival before extending the grace of his patron unto Nim.
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Wicwakan, prone upon the sand, yelps in pain as the crab connects with its second pincer. The wolf jumps to his feet before snapping once again at the crab...
...landing another viscous bite upon the crab.
Nim steals a glance at the Tengu but ignores him to concentrate on the immediate threat of the crab. Hoping to take advantage of the the crab's distraction with Wicewakan, Nim dashes to his right to get into position opposite his wolf. before swinging his new scimitar at the crab's armored carapace...
...the magically sharp steel connecting in a lightly armored spot and opening up another large gash upon the crustacean.
Round 2, Initiative 9
Anton swings and misses the crab completely, except that an alternate reality is brought to the fore: one in which he scores a solid hit, though unable to put much force behind it.
...for damage.
The crab attempts to strike Wic for getting up...
and hits him, it then tries to crush the wolf in its powerful claw.
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The crab seizes Wicewakan as he tries to stand and crushes his body until he goes limp... the sound of bones splintering can be heard as the vice like claw of the giant crab closes tightly upon the helpless canine.
Nim steals a glance at the Tengu but ignores him to concentrate on the immediate threat of the crab. Hoping to take advantage of the the crab's distraction with Wicewakan, Nim dashes to his right before swinging his new scimitar at the crab's armored carapace...
...the magically sharp steel connecting and opening up another large gash upon the crustacean.
The Tengu looks at Nim in an odd twitching way and says what appears to be words of power.
May the errrk wings of Bansir protect you against your enemies. Crick
You think he just put a protective Ward on Nim.
You tingle all over but otherwise have no idea what he just did to you.
Battle of the Crab Behemoth Round 3
Aedalis 22a
Tragershen 22b
Crab 13
Mihai 10
Anton 9
Nim 8a
Wic 8b
Corbrius 4a
Tengu 4b
Corbius surprised at the sudden appearance of the bird man takes a step towards him ensuring that he is between the party and the giant crab and putting himself closer should the bird man present a threat.
Turning his attention to the Crab Corbius thrusts his rapier at the beast the sword scittering of it's shell harmlessly.
While at the same time whispering words of power under his breath he then strikes with his rapier which now crackles with electrical energy.
For a moment there is a brief bending of fate as if Corbius can see two parallel events occur at one time. Then suddenly he sees clearly the opening and thrusts his rapier into a gap in the crabs armour. Electricity sears the creature as soon as it the blade tastes flesh.
Caught by surprise, Anton gapes at the horrific sight. Having become accustomed to thinking of Wicewakan as capable and tough, Anton had failed to notice how vulnerable the brave wolf's position had become. "Not again..."
Aedalis was a conservative man by nature, more so as his power had age to temper it. He maintained his concentration on his Fortune ability and sent forth a necromantic ray of grey energy that seemed to mercilessly sap the strength from the vermin's tough body.
Ray of Enfeeblement, surprise surprise.
(RTA, firing into melee)
Strength damage, save DC16 for half.
Corbius surprised at the sudden appearance of the bird man takes a step towards him ensuring that he is between the party and the giant crab and putting himself closer should the bird man present a threat.
Turning his attention to the Crab Corbius thrusts his rapier at the beast the sword scittering of it's shell harmlessly.
While at the same time whispering words of power under his breath he then strikes with his rapier which now crackles with electrical energy. 1d20+2+3+2 1d20+5;1d20+5;1d6+2;2d6
For a moment there is a brief bending of fate as if Corbius can see two parallel events occur at one time. Then suddenly he sees clearly the opening and thrusts his rapier into a gap in the crabs armour. Electricity sears the creature as soon as it the blade tastes flesh.
I think my issue is with the 3 attack rolls. As I understand it, you declare your attack and use of a spell.
You roll your concentration. if you fail you just attack and lose the spell. If you make it you get off your spell as part of the attack.
You decide to use your luck and roll your two attack rolls and take the highest.
What I see above is that Corb rolled an attack roll. Then you rolled 2 more for the fortune. You should just roll two and take the best correct?
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He made 3 attack rolls because of Fortune's interaction with the second attack roll. You roll two and take the best, yes. But it became irrelevant because the second attack roll and its Fortune pre-roll never occurred, because the spell was not defensively cast successfully.
It was all explained in my previous post- he made two separate attacks, one of which he applied Fortune to. Its not one attack with two pre-rolls, its two attacks, one of which Fortune applied to. See my long post for a full breakdown because I think you may have skim read it as I was quite explicit there :).
Tragershen to go then the Crab Behemoth...
Tragershen will let fly with his rapier again.
To hit
Damage
The crab now lashes out at Nim, hoping to claim another meal for it's huge appetite.
The fight now turns deadly as the crab makes short work of the powerful Nim...
Potential Crit:
The crab grabs Nim, squeezes him almost in half and then drops him on the ground turning on Corbrius.
It snaps him up and then squeezing him...Corbrius screams and then falls limp in it's other claw his weapons falling to the beach.
Aedalis felt his ward shatter from the claw's powerful blow on Corbrius and winced as both warriors were brought down.
Stand steady... he murmured to the others.
"Ummm... if I keep it occupied, can you guys get the others out of there? And then I'll, uh... cover our retreat." Having seen what the monster crab can do, Anton looks positively terrified at his own suggestion.
Seeing the destruction wrought by the crab Mihai feels a heavy stone within his belly. Choking back the fear, his hand moves to the lump within his pockets made by the harrow deck. Closing his eyes momentarily he mutters "Not this day..." and a soft hollow thump sounds as a rush of warmth floods outwards from the Cleric.
Round 3, Initiative 9
Feeling a sudden rush of well-being, Anton immediately puts his plan into action. First, he brings his hammer down on the crab's head. Then he takes a deep breath and steps forward, using his polearm like a walking stick and drawing his trident as he goes. "Hey! Over here! Ooga booga!" He waves his fancy spear in the crab's face, while also trying to fend off its claws with his trident.
As the healing wave washes over Wicewakan, the wolf's eyes flicker open and it lifts its head a lets out a whimper. Seeing this, Nim commands Wicewakan to break off. Severely wounded, Wic does his best to comply, but only manages to stand upon shaky legs.
Nim, bleeding profusely from his own wounds, curses as he sees his wolf is still vulnerable, and Corbius still firmly held in the crab's claw. Thankful for Anton's efforts, Nim realizes it won't be enough to get everyone clear. Someone is going to die unless we can kill this thing! Nim then swings his scimitar with all his might at the arm of the crab that holds Corbious...
...landing a tremendous blow! Nim lets out a primal yell as his blade cuts deeply!
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Anton lands a solid blow and smashes a hole into the armored shell.
The crabs eyes twitch over to Wic as it gets up...this gives Nim the opening he has been looking for. With a mighty blow he cleaves the Crabs large claw cleanly off its body.
The blow is just too much for the Crab and it flounders to the ground, not knowing it is near death...Corbrius awakens in its claw still in pain lying on the ground.
The Tengu appears genuinely suprised you killed the Crab behemoth so easily...Screk...you handled that well. Hail fellow travelers. I am, Gluck, Pezcock.
Anton leans on his lucerne hammer and sags with relief. "Thank Desna."
He turns to the Tengu and nods. "And thank you, Pezcock, for your help. I take it from your reaction that you didn't mean to summon the crab on purpose."
"I hope you won't think it rude if we attend to practical matters while talking. I wouldn't have chosen that fight, but I'll take what we got by winning it." When he's sure that the crab is dead and no one is dying, Anton begins harvesting the choice meat from the top of the behemoth's legs as with the last big crab, using his armor-piercing hammer to break open its hard carapace.
Greetings, Pezock. You are far from the usual roosts favoured by your kind. I imagine you have quite a story to tell us Aedalis said to the Tengu, once the group was safe and things had settled down. Aedalis sought to stroke the Tengu's ego; an easy thing to do under usual circumstances.
Mihai ignores the arrived tengu at present... much more concerned with the hurt suffered by his companions. Moving to Nim and Wic in turn he focuses his patron's grace to return them to health...
Yes, cluck, I didn't summon it at all in fact. This cove is quite, jite, a breeding ground for their kind in extra-large size. Glad I just found this one dead on the beach.
Come inside my home, okek, I have food I can share.
Pezcock leads you inside the crab, hollowed out and made into a dwelling. The stench is quite bad and various fish bones, skulls, and charms hand from the ceiling.
My little ruse didn't scare you I see. I use it mainly for the cannibals. I don't want to end up as their next meal you see.
I was shipwrecked along with a few others who were not so lucky several seasons ago. I learned to live with the island, ricte, and hide from the dangerous creatures.
The Tengu obviously has on odd tic in his speech...
Nim is relieved when the crab drops thrashing to the sand. He moves immediately to check on Corbius and Wicewakan. He murmurs thanks to Mihai for his healing.
He nods a greeting to the Tengu and accepts his invitation to enter his home. He glances about admiring the Tengu's handiwork. The island does provide for those that know how to receive that which is offered. Have you had many encounters with the cannibals? We are also shipwrecked... though much more recently than you. We are looking for a way off of the island. Care to join us? Or at least exchange information about the island? I suspect you would know quite a bit about this place by now... and we have a few questions.
Yes, errrkk!, I am a bit of a loner to be honest. The last group I was with all got eaten by one beast or another. I am afraid I would be in more danger with you than alone...
I of, pkreet!, course don't mind sharing what I know with you and spending some time talking with some people for a change.
He hands anton a metal pot filled with fresh water, You can boil te crab over the fire, it will taste much better that way.
What do you want to know, rekettt!?
Well at least, if we are successful in finding a way off of the island, I assume you would wish to join us then?
Until then, what, if anything, do you know of the cannibals, the "red mountain devil", a supposed "wood witch" and anything else that you would think is important or helpful?
Well this island is a complex thing, aeeek. My theory is that the old magic on the island, the Azlant magic still affects this place, that is why there are so many things on the island that are odd.
As far as the Cannibals. They have been here quite long. Their camp lies on the southern end of the island, merggg.
They have a powerful leader, a red headed fool, and an even more powerful old hag, a witch unless I am mistaken, that is even more powerful.
The mountain devil. A crafty beast...his lair is around the Red Mountain. I have seen it from a distance, but luckil it has never fouhnd me in the open. The cannibals seem to worship it, even though it eats one of them from time to time.
The wood witch. I am not sure about that one. Whatever the creature is, it seems to be connected to the island in some way. It's lair lies to the west of the cannibals.
You seem to know a lot about the island already, how did you, hkulkkkk, come by all of this information. It took me months to find out about all of these...
You notice a raven slips out from his cloak and hops up onto one of the skulls looking down on you with more than just animal curiosity.
That is Melk by the way. He would like soe of tha crab when it is done, treeeek!.
He then asks you about yourselves and your journey on the island.
The short cook adds some jungle spices and root vegetables to the simple crab soup to make a less-simple stew, muttering under his breath. "What I wouldn't give for some flour and cream..."
You seem to know a lot about the island already, how did you, hkulkkkk, come by all of this information. It took me months to find out about all of these...
"Oh, a cannibal surrendered to us, and we let it go in exchange for information. I would've just killed it outright, myself." He rolls his eyes. "It's bad enough how many animals on this island mistake me for prey, without some humans doing the same."
You notice a raven slips out from his cloak and hops up onto one of the skulls looking down on you with more than just animal curiosity.
Anton raises his eyebrows at the raven by way of greeting.
He then asks you about yourselves and your journey on the island.
Anton measures his answer against what the Tengu has told them about himself, and what Nim has said so far. "Some of us were shipwrecked a moon ago, others more recently. We have a nice camp, that we successfully defended from cannibals. We've lost a few to beasts -- and have had even more close calls -- but we've definitely been stronger together than alone."
Still stirring the crab stew, Anton considers what might be directly relevant to Pezcock beyond that. "Mmm. What else. Ah yes. The red-headed fool Klorak is dead; and the cannibals think that you are 'probably good eating', but 'fast and smart'." The herbs that he added are relieving the carcass/hovel's stench somewhat, and the relieved halfling gives the stew a taste to check. "MMM! Almost done."
Corbius pulls himself from the claw of the now defeated crab an struggles to his feet only to feel the waves of healing energy wash over him. Looking at Mihai Corbius nods his head in thanks. I seem to be thanking you fro you help yet again Mihai. I hope this does not become a pattern for the future. Maybe I should ask Aedalis to see what the cards tell him about my future health.
Looking towards Aedalis he chuckles and shakes his head. Actually, I probably would not like the answers. He says to no one in particular as he follows the group into the hollowed out crab.
Dusting himself off he follows the newly arrived bird man and listens to his answers to both Nim and Anton's questions.
Once he is sure all will be well Mihai allows himself to follow the Tengu to his shack. He listens to the words and measures them in turn. It would seem that we must pass the cannibals to reach the witch...
Aedalis had heard the conversation between Corbrius and Mihai and interjected with a smile.
Mihai is the master of cards here. He practices an entirely different type of fortune-telling than my own- I manipulate fate for a few fleeting moments, while the Harrow seeks to foretell far further into the future than I could ever manage. My method is more tangible, but I have always enjoyed having a Harrow reading.
Inside the cramped shell, Aedalis sniffed the stew and it seemed to please the middle-aged man. He took a moment to quietly place a hand on Nim's shoulder- and the warrior felt an invisible ward settle around him, which felt benevolent, protective. The tingling was not dissimilar to the feeling Nim had felt when the Tengu gestured at him with his own magic.
Having answered Pezcock, Anton contemplates whether the Tengu's answers raise any new questions. "So... we'd like to meet the 'wood witch'. Make our own assessment. Do you know a way to get to its lair without going through the cannibals? I don't know that we'd take it, but options are nice." Anton tastes the stew again, and nods with satisfaction. It isn't hard to find the bowls and cups in such a small living space, and so he dishes out the unplanned brunch, including some for Melk. "Careful, it's still hot."
Nim nods knowingly and holds out his scimitar as the death of Klorak is related to the bird man. Fear not Anton, if killing cannibals is what you seek, I am sure you will have your chance at some others before we leave this island...
Nim accepts the ward from Aedalis with a nod. He strokes Wicewakan's head as he listens to the others.
When an opportunity arises, Nim asks of the Tengu host, Peczcock, do you know anything of the "grey island" off of the north western tip of the Shiv?