Lavender Leaf |
Lavender jumps down onto the dome...
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
...and lands hard on her butt!
1d6 ⇒ 6 Non lethal damage
Oww... My tail bone...
Lavender limps over towards Rashid, rubbing her lower back. C-can we get in through here? and immediately looks around to see if there is any thing she could use to conceal the trapdoor from vision such as some light debris or tarp or something, anything to help throw the gnolls off their trail.
Perception1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
There is only one trap door right?
Yousef olan Ahmad |
Yousef watches the group make their jumps and fumbles, frequently checking behind him for gnolls. Then he makes his jump...
Acrobatics 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
...and stumbles upon his landing. He turns his ankle and falls over. A thud is heard as his head bounces off of the surface of the dome. He slowly brings himself to his knees, then stands. He says weakly.
"I'm f*+!ed up. We gotta hide quick!"
Damage 1d6 ⇒ 6
.
Of course.
.
Now at 0 HP (non-lethal 6 and lethal 3) by my calculation.
Rashid al-Gahiji |
Rashid gives the trap-door a critical look, and then yanks it open.
"Quickly, get down into the room below! We need to get out of sight, and hole-up for the night. Whoever comes through last should pull it shut behind them..."
Still carrying Keldar, Rashid carefully leaps down into the room below...
Acrobatics check, if necessary...
1d20 ⇒ 9
ProfPotts |
Flinging themselves from the hilltop the escaping slaves variously slam, stumble, and smack into the hall's impressive domed roof, then proceeding to skitter and tumble down its slope until they sprawl across the flat roof of the building's east wing. All except Bahram - who despite his early protestations of lacking in martial skill was the first to draw blood on any of the gnolls, and now manages to not only land on his feet, but gracefully glide down the dome to hop neatly onto the flat roof, never once losing his balance. Less trusting souls would mayhap wonder whether the man's foppish exterior was, in truth, a cunning ruse to hide a secret swashbuckling nature...
... although looking suave doesn't help him to catch any of his colleagues...
C-can we get in through here?
"I'm f&%&ed up. We gotta hide quick!"
"Quickly, get down into the room below! We need to get out of sight, and hole-up for the night. Whoever comes through last should pull it shut behind them..."
"Comon, let's get off this roof."
The leap seems to have taken the last of Saul's strength, leaving the big man not only unconscious, but also opening up his previous wound.1 point of damage for performing a 'strenuous activity' - even though jumping is a Move action. Yousef looks half dazed by the impact of his landing as well. You count lethal damage down (i.e. it reduces your hit points) but non-lethal (aka 'subdual') damage up: you're staggered when they equalize, and KOd when the non-lethal total exceeds your Hit Points. Yousef is on 6 HP and 6 non-lethal damage (not zero HP) - but yeah, that means he's staggered (at least he doesn't take the point of damage for performing a strenuous action!).
Rashid yanks open the trapdoor in the middle of the east roof (there's one on each wing of the building) and as hastily as possible the four conscious escapees man-handle their two oblivious companions... and themselves... inside. Bahram pulls the trapdoor shut behind them just as the sounds of gnoll-voices can be heard reaching the hill-edge above...
... Beneath the trapdoor there proves to be a set of stone steps leading down into a medium-sized room which, on first inspection, looks like it was once a storeroom of some kind: the broken remains of wooden crates and barrels litter the area, along with the scattered wool and straw which would once have been used as packing materials to preserve whatever valuables were being transported - valuables long ago looted it would seem. A layer of dust and spider webs cover everything, although the dry climate seems to have prevented any significant rot setting in, despite the room's obvious neglect.
The steps run down one wall from the trapdoor. Set into each of the other walls a doorless archway leads into a similar storeroom, with more beyond. The only light filters through the cracks in the aged trapdoor the group entered by, illuminating air thick with dust stirred by their recent entry. Rashid and Yousef can both see as well as always in the dark, and the light from the trapdoor is plenty for Lavender to see by as well. Only Bahram's inferior human sight is significantly hampered by the dim lighting. The building's internal walls and the floor all seem to be of sturdy (and expensive) stone construction - the craftsmanship a testiment to the wealth of those who had the place built before the town was abandoned - although the plain design along with the content of the rooms suggest that this entire floor of this wing of the hall was devoted to storage.
Some of the storerooms beyond the one the group entered look to have once had differing contents - smashed and long-since-drained amphorae or fragments of clay jars or earthenware flasks replacing the broken crates and barrels of the first room - but the general state of having been ransacked a long time ago seems universal. The scale of the building from outside would suggest at least another two floors below the one the group find themselves on, so stairs down are bound to be somewhere amongst the various storerooms.
As the escapees take in their surroundings...
Perception check:
Rashid al-Gahiji |
Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12
Hearing the pursuing Gnolls, Rashid gives a muffled curse, tightens his grip on Keldar, and fiercely whispers:
"We need to keep moving!"
He then breaks out into a swift trot towards the closest doorway...
Bahram Zarishu |
Perception 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (13) - 1 = 12
Also hearing the distinct thud of bodys and the muffeld voices. Bahrim wispers hurriedly, "Somone help me navigate this darkness! I can form enough energy to make light, but that would alert the gnolls if they look for us here!"
Holding his hand out in the darkness, a worryed look on his sweating face. "Quickly! Before they find us!" he hisses.
Rashid al-Gahiji |
"Yousef, I know that you are not doing too well yourself at present, but would you be able to carry/drag Saul along? I have my hands full with Keldar and Bahram..."
Lavender Leaf |
Perception1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21
"Yousef, I know that you are not doing too well yourself at present, but would you be able to carry/drag Saul along? I have my hands full with Keldar and Bahram..."
Here let me help... ... As she musters every ounce of strength to help Saul despite the pain in her back, Lavender's face pales as she points a shaken finger towards the ceiling. Would that grant a circumstance bonus to the others?
We need to leave...NOW!My detect magic is active for 1 minute since I cast it, so let me know if anything magical catches my eye or when the spell ends.
Rashid al-Gahiji |
Rashid's face blanches as Lavendar draws his attention to the thing crouching in the corner.
"Great. Just what we needed. Another problem."
He changes direction (if necessary) to go through an archway that does not go close to it.
"Right. Hopefully, if we stay away from it, it will not approach us. Who knows? It might distract the gnolls long enough for us to hide/escape..."
Yousef olan Ahmad |
Perception1d20+1
Rashid al-Gahiji wrote:"Yousef, I know that you are not doing too well yourself at present, but would you be able to carry/drag Saul along? I have my hands full with Keldar and Bahram..."Here let me help... ... As she musters every ounce of strength to help Saul despite the pain in her back, Lavender's face pales as she points a shaken finger towards the ceiling. Would that grant a circumstance bonus to the others?
We need to leave...NOW!
"Thanks babe," Yousef breathes." I don't think I could carry him. But I think I can manage a rear guard."
ProfPotts |
Would that grant a circumstance bonus to the others?
No need - pointing right at the giant spider so that they look that direction is enough for them to all see it... although the poor optically-challenged human only dimly so.
My detect magic is active for 1 minute since I cast it, so let me know if anything magical catches my eye or when the spell ends.
Duration of Detect Magic is 'Concentration, up to 1 minute per level'. Concentrating to maintain a spell is a Standard action per round. I'm doubting that Lavender was doing that whilst running (and jumping) for her life. Even if you get the Permanency version of Detect Magic you still need to Concentrate to actually detect anything - you can't just leave it running and expect to notice random magic when otherwise engaged. But hey, it's a Cantrip - it'll still be there to cast when you need it!
With Rashid guiding Bahram and carrying Keldar, and Lavender and Yousef doing their best to drag Saul's heavily muscled form along with them (thankfully the lack of food and water means he's not as heavy as he might have otherwise been...), the group hustle away from the (seemingly pretty lethargic) giant spider and deeper into the complex of ransacked storerooms.
Rashid al-Gahiji |
Perception 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Knowledge(Local) 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
Knowledge(Nature) 1d20 ⇒ 8
Knowledge(Engineering) 1d20 ⇒ 19
Rashid curses under his breath in response to Bahram's pronouncement.
"I think hiding would be a bad idea for the moment; gnolls have keen senses, rather like dogs - they could probably just track us down...
...of course, if we could find a way to mask our scent, that would be a different matter entirely...
...I suggest we keep moving for the moment. I recommend we make for the side of the building; that's where stairs down to the next level are more likely to be!"
Lavender Leaf |
perception1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20
Lavender prays that the gnolls attract that spider to them...
Guys, keep your eyes open for anything we can use to use to block their path, or jam a door...
ProfPotts |
Following Rashid's lead (literally in Bahram's case...) the group try their best to make towards the outer wall of the structure and, hopefully, stairs to a lower level. As you move away from the dim light of the trapdoor Lavender's vision begins to suffer; even so she's pretty certain they've not seen any doors yet (just open archways between storerooms) and no rubble fragments large enough to be much use in blocking pursuit.
Soon enough you reach a room with no archway in the far wall - most likely the outer wall of the building. From here, if Rashid's theory is correct, you should be able to just move through the rooms to the left or right until you find some stairs...
... Turning left Rashid suddenly stops, then indicates that the group should try the other direction...
... which, after passing through two more storerooms, leads to a room with just two archways (the one you all enter through and one to your right - the outer wall now being on your left) and a set of stairs running down the outer wall to the next floor down. Thin shafts of light can be seen entering the building in the room below, from multiple slit-like openings set high in the outer wall. Once more the light illuminates swirling motes of dust in the air, although the stonework in the room, far from being plain as in the storerooms, is covered with intricate mosaic tiles - now worn, chipped, and missing in places - in attractive and colourful arabesque patterns. It's impossible to see most of the room from your vantage at the top of the stairs. Unfortunately, a second black and red giant spider is waiting in a tangle of webs halfway down the stairs...
Lavender Leaf |
Perception1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Guys I have the ability to make illusionary noises for a few seconds, and I can create light, but Im afraid that if i cast either it will attract the gnolls to us...But if you guys have any ideas let-
Lavender sees the giant spider and web
... Great, now what do we do..?
Is it possible to climb down/jump down the side of the stairs to avoid the spider?
Not sure if it matters anymore...
Nature:1d20 ⇒ 18
Local:1d20 ⇒ 17
Engineering:1d20 ⇒ 18
Bahram Zarishu |
"Sounds like they split up, two groups of two by the sound, and are slowly making theire way toward us!"
Bahram franticly looks around for a place to hide, maybee they could lure the gnolls into the spiders web.
"If we can hide in here and cover our tracks for the last few feet, maybee make it apear so that our tracks disapear by the stairs, and get the spider active. Then maybee it will scare them off!"
Lavender Leaf |
...Get the spider...A-active?!
Despite Lavender's worried tone, she casts prestidigitation so she can be ready.
If only I could cast my more powerful spells then I could get them to slide right into the web...Hey! If we do hide here I can make the illusion of us running further through the building, do you think that would fool the gnolls into the web? It would be nicer still if we could get around the spider first and then set this trap...
ProfPotts |
Is it possible to climb down/jump down the side of the stairs to avoid the spider?
Not sure if it matters anymore...
The stairs are stone with no banisters - from where you are basically a rectangular hole in the floor, parallel to the outside wall, with the stairs from below connecting to the end near you. The spider's sitting in the middle of those stairs, in webs spreading across the stairs, a little up the outside wall, and a little down to the floor below. It might be possible to go a short way down the stairs and jump or lower yourself to the floor below off the side of the stairs without disturbing the spider... although that'd be getting awfully close to the strands of its web. Acrobatics DC 15 to avoid the 1d6 non-lethal damage from jumping down or Climb DC 10 to just lower yourself from the stairs and drop the last bit safely - in either case a Stealth roll as you near those webs...
"Sounds like they split up, two groups of two by the sound, and are slowly making theire way toward us!"
Bahram franticly looks around for a place to hide, maybee they could lure the gnolls into the spiders web.
"If we can hide in here and cover our tracks for the last few feet, maybee make it apear so that our tracks disapear by the stairs, and get the spider active. Then maybee it will scare them off!"
Although there's nothing really large enough (just more debris) in this room to hide behind, from what he can hear of their pursuers, Bahram thinks that if the group ducked through the archway to their right, and somehow managed to attract the gnolls, they'd naturally come in the first archway the group just entered by. Tracks (including those from dragging Saul) in the dust (leading to the archway on the right) would be an issue, as would attracting the gnolls without leading them right to you all.
Rashid al-Gahiji |
Rashid eyes the spider critically, then eyes his group.
"I am not sure that we have the capacity to either fight past it, or to lower our entire group down the side of the stairs.
Luring the Gnolls into the spider, somehow, may be our best bet.."
Bahram Zarishu |
"Alright. Let's head through there, Bahrim says pointing to the archway on the right. "If Lavender can imitate the sound of our group down the stairs, I can disturb the web if they don't."
Looking at the tatterd and tired group with an anxious stare. "Anyone have a better idea? he says almost pleadingly, "No? Then lets move!
Bahram Zarishu |
[i]This better work1[i] Bahrim thinks as he gets into postition. Pointing his finger he concentrates on a small rock and hovers it by the ceiling over the stairs, ready to drop it toward the spider if the gnolls fall for theire ruse.
"Ready as I'll ever be." He breaths, not at all hopefull of theire success.
Stealth check if you need it. 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Bahrim will wait for the gnolls to get to the stairs. If they go down he will drop the stone and, hopefully, distub the spider enough to panick the gnolls.
Edit: The dicebot is realy ot to get us!
Lavender Leaf |
Lavender gets into hiding position and starts to spam the sound of them going deeper through the building with Ghost Sound, if there is time and is it is needed she uses her active prestidigitation spell to assist in covering their tracks that lead to the hiding place.
Stealth Check if needed: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
Please let these stupid mongrels fall for this...
ProfPotts |
FFS - nearly finished post and had a bloody power cut! Grrr... Here we go again...
I guess a modifier should be applied. Feel free Professor P. I won't be offended.
Nothing I can do to you could be worse than what the dicebot is doing... ;)
After helping drag the unconscious Keldar and Saul into the next room, Yousef leaves Rashid to tend them and returns to try to help cover their tracks. Unfortunately he soon discovers that it's easier to disturb dust than it is to replace it as, despite his best intentions, his efforts only seem to make it more obvious that someone was recently in the room. Seeing Lavender make the dust swirl and settle with nothing but a casual wave of her hand he decides to leave such things to those with the power to do them, and retreats through the archway to conceal himself.
Hearing the gnolls come ever closer, Lavender and Bahram also back through the archway. Lavender makes sure to re-settle the dust and cobwebs by that exit, hoping that the disturbed floor of the room will make the gnolls think their slaves simply tarried a while before heading down the stairs. Bahram, meanwhile, chants and gesticulates for a few seconds before pointing at a larger than average piece of broken amphora: under his guidance it levitates up and across until it's concealed in the shadows of the ceiling above where the dread giant spider lurks below.
Trap set, Lavender takes a moment to glance at the harried faces of her fellow escapees to make sure they still want to go through with it, but sees reflected there her own resignation that they have little choice but to try the desperate gambit. Taking a deep breath she traces arcane sigils in the air with her slender fingers and utters mystic phrases as quietly as she can as she forms magic into sound: suddenly the room with the stairs is filled with the noise of muffled, unintelligable, whispering, of bodies jostling each other, and of laboured breathing... which moves away and down the stairs with heavy footfalls, then fades as it drifts from earshot...
... moments later two of the escaped slaves' gnoll masters burst into the room at an uncautious hustle. One grins and nudges his companion as he leaps for the stairs, spear at the ready, but the second pauses to glance at the disturbed floor... with a twitch of his ears he suddenly looks up at the archway where the escapees retreated... his eyes narrow... the ex-slaves hold their collective breaths, grips tightening on stolen weapons...
... Then Bahram release his cantrip's hold on the broken amphora: it drops, and he's rewarded with a satisfying smashing noise... a more satisfying venonous hissing... and a supremely satisfying sound of a gnoll screaming! Suspicions forgotten, the second gnoll bounds down the stairs: there's sounds of hissing, gnoll profanities (needing no translation from Yousef)... and finally a high-pitched squealing noise...
... seconds tick by... the escapees feel their hearts thumping in their chests, their moisture-starved mouths going, if possible, even dryer...
... Finally the gnolls emerge: one (looks like the second one) helping support the other, who's clutching a paw to a nasty-looking gash across his side. The wounded gnoll looks like he's about to vomit, and his companion helps him out of the room as quickly as possible. You hear the gnolls shouting to their colleagues elsewhere in the hall:
The sounds of the gnolls trail off... the escapees wait... and wait... but it seems like they're really gone!
Yousef olan Ahmad |
"They're giving up. We should be able to rest for a while." Yousef takes a long swallow of water from his skin, then holds it out for someone else to use. Then he looks at Rashid. "I hear you can make more of this. We gotta eat though. There's got to be rats around here somewhere."
Perception to listen are see signs of any rats 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
Lavender Leaf |
Good Job everybody!
"We gotta eat though. There's got to be rats around here somewhere."
...(sigh) Well, at least I can make whatever we find taste better...
Lavender looks down the stairs to see the fate of the spider and if the web is still blocking their path.
They might be giving up, for now, but it is probably not a good idea to stay here. Do you guys think we should go while they cant trace us? Maybe find a less spider infested and more defensible place?
Rashid al-Gahiji |
Rashid breathes a sigh of relief when he realises that the Gnolls have gone, and begins to relax for the first time in many days.
"Of course Yousef, I can create all the water that we need, and then some, through the bounty of Sarenrae. Let me know when the waterskin is empty, and I can re-fill it."
Taking the time to properly go over Keldar and Saul's wounds, he has a close look at their brands, before giving a startled curse.
"The mark of the Rough Beast? I feel even more defiled now!" He pauses for a moment, before continuing with a look of confusion on his face: "However, I think that this is rather unusual - I thought Gnolls generally worshiped the 'Mother of Monsters'?"
In response to Lavender:
"Well, from what Yousef said, it seems that they probably think we are dead; if so, they are unlikely to come looking for us any more - I doubt they would care about a few rotting corpses stinking-out an abandoned building.
I actually think we should stay here - if the spiders generally stay in their webs, they may actually provide us with a decent defense, discouraging the Gnolls from further investigations.
However, if the spider on the stairwell is gone (and from the sounds of it, the Gnolls killed it), we should probably go down to the next level and find a more defensible room - who knows? there might even be something of value in the spider's web!
Once we rest, I will be able to return Saul and Keldar to consciousness, and then I think we can explore this building further, with the aim of salvaging what we can, and then making a break for it at night."
In response to Yousef:
"If you can find it, I would not be adverse to eating rat; I have had to survive on worse over the years - the spider might also be able to provide some nutrition, if its corpse is accessible."
Whilst Lavender investigates the fate of the spider, Rashid will busy himself doing what he can to ease the suffering of his companions...
Depending on how long it is until dawn, which is when I prepare my spells, I will do what I can to provide 'long term care' to the party (take 10 Heal = 17, which beats the DC of 15), letting them all recover 2hp overnight rather than 1hp)
Rashid al-Gahiji |
Rashid gives a thin smile.
"As long as you avoid the poison glands, it should be fine. I should be able to extract those without too much trouble."
Using the Heal skill