Caireann o'Shea |
Caireann will use her Entangle spell-like ability on the creatures (Reflex DC 14 to avoid being entangled) without affecting the area where his friends are.
Hrrm |
Hrrm will wait to see if the creatures are entangled, if they are both entangled he will draw out a rock to throw at them; if they are not entangled he will meet them when they are 10 from the edge of the entanglement with his spear (reach weapon).
The Black Blade |
The Black Blade will use a spellcraft check to see if it can avoid the entangle by flying above it, and striking the creatures upon high. If it can't, then it will stand guard near the middle to await any creatures that come out of the entangle and strike them down.
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
Sykk |
Sykk flies to Hrrm and casts Protection from Evil on him.
+2 AC and Saves (plus other effects) if the monsters count as evil.
Because I was silly with my spell choices, I don't have any damaging spells against plants and my natural poison probably won't effect them.
Goldmyr |
[bold]Reflex[/bold]
Enemy 1: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (13) + 0 = 13
Enemy 2: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (14) + 0 = 14
One of the zombie-like humanoids is caught in the vines from the ground while the other one is able to pull itself free from the entanglement. It lashes out with it's arms and tries to batter Hrrm into unconsciousness.
attack: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
It is possible to attack from the air and avoid the entangle spell.
Hrrm |
Hrrm should get an Attack of Opportunity unless it has 10'reach
AoO: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22 better
damage if hits: 1d8 + 16 ⇒ (6) + 16 = 22
If it continues to close to 5', Hrrm will take a 5'step back and attack again
Longspear: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22
damage if hits: 1d8 + 16 ⇒ (5) + 16 = 21
If they both hit, that's 43 damage. I have redeemed myself.
Rabi |
Hrrm's impaled the zombie through the brain before it can reach him, then he kills the other one the same way. From out of the leaves of the plant the zombies were watching crawls a young pixie girl. She is dressed in bright green leaves and pink rose petals.
Thank you for coming back for me, Ariane says.
Caireann o'Shea |
Well, that was easy!
Caireann goes to ask Arianne about her captivity.
"Are you ok? What happened? What did they want? Are there more of those creatures around?"
The Black Blade |
The Black Blade is happy to see that Ariane has returned safe. However, it wonders aloud "Why have the fungus creatures decided to assault this part of the wood?" "It is strange that they would gather in large numbers without any evidence of a directing intelligence. Normally such creatures are in small bands or focused around a master plant, and don't work together." "How did they catch you, Ariane?"
Goldmyr |
"Well, you see there was this really big plant. Not a Yellow Musk, but a Violet Fungus. It attacked as we were using out potion on a part of the blight's borders. It cut me off from the group, and to escape, I had to run into the field of mushrooms. I was almost caught by the zombies, but managed to get out of their sight by hiding in the master plant.
The Black Blade |
"Then our next plan of action should be to rest, regain our group's magical powers to work better against such creatures, and then uproot the plant at the source. How fast the blight spreads will also be of use to create a defensive strategy against the fungal infestation."
Caireann o'Shea |
"I think "stick" has it right, and we need to take care of that big bad fungus! Yes, Herman, quish-quish..."
"Stick" is how Caireann calls the Black Blade. Herman is Hrrm.
So the next day we return to the place, right?
Goldmyr |
If you want.
Not long after you return home, Dion comes back to the village as well. He is greeted by his wife, the Matriarch Nymph Bana. All the creature's under their protection flock around, eager to know what their master has been up to. "Settle down, my children," he says. "There will be time for talk and long stories when the sun is sleeping. Until then, you must only know that I have been beyond our forest home on an errand.
Hrrm |
Hrrm is happy. He remembers this ritual, a sign of a true family. Dion would come back and tell stories, and he would know that this was family. He came in from the neighbouring forest when he heard Dion's hooves on the forest floor and has sat quietly in his corner since, waiting for Dion's story and knowing that he had a story of his own to share.
The Black Blade |
The humming blade of balance floats in an ever ready stance, eager to seek more souls in the defense of nature. Family to it is a means to an end, cutting its way into history with bloody deeds and righteous vengeance. Perhaps Dion had found a foe worth rendering into small cubes. The images of cutting fungi into said cubes awoke a great longing into the blade. Now it would be its own champion, rather then submitting to the desires of a reluctant hero caught between morality and practicality.
Goldmyr |
As the sun sets, the golden light scatters through the tree tops, speckling the inhabitants in greens and yellows. As Dion began piling wood for a campfire, his adopted children gathered round. Some rolled sitting logs into place or laid down blankets of leaves for their comfort. Most brought a evening treat or meal to cook over the campfire while the learned satyr talked. Dion himself sat upon a rather large stump with a salad of leaves and berries wet with honey. He ate in silence while the sun was falling in the sky, and refused to discuss his adventure until dusk was well underway.
To fill the void, Arianne recounted how she became lost in the blight upon the forest and the plant-like creatures that cut her off from her friends, she told of how she took refuge inside a dangerous gold flower surrounded by tall, grey-skinned men. After that, she let you fill the camp in on her rescue. The battles were listened to with exceptional curiosity.
Finally, Dion spoke. "It's time I told you of this blight and how it came to infect our forest. Several years before most of you were born, there came to be a druid in our midst. An exile from the human lands, she came here study the ways of nature magic under me. At the time, I didn't see her anger. I thought she was simply an outcast, a misfit who didn't belong with her own people. I thought she sought out a like minded society. She took to nature magic quickly, and unto herself she attracted great vermin, and fungi, and rotted plants. She used them to bring disease and famine to the people she had left, or been driven from her home by, as I later found had really happened.
'I found out about her retribution. And I told her that her actions were a blasphemous misuse of my teachings and that she must atone for her misdeeds if atonement was still possible after what she had unleashed on ones she had known and known well. My words angered her and we clashed. I was not strong enough to stop her and was forced to flee. I had to call upon her human enemies to stop her. People we seldom made contact with had now become our best hope. They brought their finest warriors to bear against the swarms of insects she amassed and the abominable vegetables she brought brought to life. In the end, it took the combined power of myself and three heroes from the humans to end her reign of terror. But, her heart had decayed to far into evil.
'Upon her death, the darkness of her mind seeped into the ground where she fell, filling the region with decay. Her hatred ran deep into the ground. It has become a beacon to predatory vegetation, and so far, I have been unable to draw it out of the earth. Once again, I have been forced to call upon the humans to help us once again. That is where I have been. I gave some of the pixie potion to the mages there. They have agreed to help produce it on a wider scale so that we may be able to force the blight back. Perhaps we may even be able to cleanse the dark druid's gravesite.
Caireann o'Shea |
Caireann listens attentively...
"Father, I am but starting to learn the secrets of nature's essence (Alchemy)... maybe I can help make the potions."
The Black Blade |
Snark mode So we're being attacked by an angry evil vegan. Got it. Snark Mode deactivated.
The Black Blade's sonorous voice intones "We should find the gravesite and eliminate its guardians once we have enough potion to disrupt the druid's legacy. My magic is only at a small stage right now, but my blade should be sharp enough to cut whatever we can find down."
Hrrm |
I'm not entirely sure that sasquatches understand what friends are. He might know the concept, but for Hrrm there is family and there is not-family. Even other Centaurs would be looked at askance, as not-family. That's why sasquatches never conquered the world.
Hrrm |
That could be an interesting idea to role play around. I could build off that if you want to do it.
That's up to you. I realised as I wrote it that it can't be entirely true or else they would never mate outside their family, yet they never learned social units larger than the nuclear family. It's possible that Hrrm is something of an anomaly, having been brought up by Dion, but I still want some Nod to the antisocial behaviour that I assume is instinctive in Sasquatches. I am also aware that it can easily become a stumbling block to, say, accepting new members, so I will pitch it as mild paranoia against any outsiders, possibly excepting women. For some reason Sasquatches have a thing for human women, according to the accounts.
Goldmyr |
It doesn't take long for them to come into view. A squad of 10 humans dressed in basic traveling gear ride into the village astride strong and swift horses. They carry a variety of weapons at their belts, though they aren't heavily armored. They're leader bears a the name Leighton in blue letters on a brown vest with red trim. His hair is long and blonde. He has a warhammer tucked away in his belt. He amiably greets Dion and dismounts, introducing himself to the rest of the village as Commander Leighton of Redvale. The men following him are a small garrison he has brought to purge the blight from the forest.