A split-second later, Hal's firebolt fires up the shaft. I totally missed this but it has a range of 30 feet, so it can't actually reach Hrokon above. But if it makes you feel any better it would have just missed in any event. A touch attack though was a very good strat against this particular opponent.
Hmmmm, Hurgah laughs at deadly debilitating poisons then.
A Partial Pact
OK, so now it's initiative.
Hal, you can re-roll. Let's keep it to Team Polymorph for now, but that will change very soon.
You see, for the entire Dune Squad, regardless of where they are, is suddenly aware that Hurgah was just injured.
Because they all felt it.
It just so happens that when the Dune Squad wandered on to the strange white rock, their fates were unknowingly intertwined in a deep and weird mystical way.
In game terms all of the Dune Squad (with one important exception) has now combined all of their hit points into one giant pool.
When anyone is hurt, the pool decreases.
When the pool runs out - you all die.
More accurately: When the pool hits zero, you are all disabled. When it goes into negatives you all get the unconscious and dying conditions. If the pool falls lower than the highest Con score of the Dune Squad, all pact participants die as if their had exceeded their own negative Con score.
The good news, is that's a humungous pool of hit points. It will take an awful lot of doing to deplete it. I haven't calculated the total yet, but Karek and Donkor alone, for example, are donating a lot of Hit points to the collective cause.
Better still, the clerics can heal the pool simply by healing themselves. Hopefully you will be feeling a bit immortal and a cocky enough to make a mistake going forward, because otherwise it will probably take a large army to drop you.
This "Pact" the Dune Squad now enjoys or suffers from depending on your point of view) is not total. It only applies to hit points. It does not include other effects like stunning or ability damage. Such effects remain individual. With one important exception: if for some reason, any individual member actually finds a way to die though, say by suicide or disease, every participant in the pool dies.
The Neversword Factor
As it happens, the Dune Squad pool is even bigger than expected.
One extra person happened to be touching the giant white rock when the partial pact effect activated. His name is Xaven Neversword.
He shares in the pool, with all the benefits and all the draw backs.
This has a lot of ramifications. The most immediate of which is it is a good idea you all decided against murdering him - it would have gone poorly for the pool.
But geeeeeze - hopefully this partial pact thing isn't permanent!
Also,
For reasons you may or may not be able to deduce after a couple more clues drop, there was one poor Dune Squad member left out in the cold:
Bunky is not participating in the partial pact. His meager hit points stand as they are.
Hal's Initiative
"Ach, what the heck did that Orc fire at you Reaver? I felt that one!"
"You break him, none of you leave here alive," the voice answers. "This pyramid becomes your tomb."
Initiative:
. . . On the other hand, if Hurgah had made a coup-de-grace against him, we would likely all have died.
-
Exactly.Though that would have meant a complete TPK arising from a magical effect that, not only did it not provide for a save, the party wasn't even notified they were affected by it. And so they all died because they took a single simple action which under the circumstances was far from unreasonable.
That would be pretty harsh - even for me.
Fortunately, Halstadt's principled position made it unnecessary for me to chew my fingernails over that one.
. . . And now you have me wondering if Hrokon somehow knows more than we do, or if he was just making bluster that happened to be very true.
-
I hadn't considered that. At the risk of lifting the veil, that line was a bizarre coincidence.Hrokon has no idea that, technically, he is in far greater danger than his comrade he's trying to rescue. He doesn't know he's facing "The Pool" which is a pretty scary beast. Xaven, while quite neutralized (at least for the moment) probably stands to live a much longer life, for at least as long as the Pact exists.
Interesting.
"How is this possible!?" exclaims Sooron in wonderment.
"Can you not feel it? We have become one before the Goddess!"
"In life and death we now share!"
Initative for Round 1
.
.
.
More to join in the following round. . . should there be one.
Also,
For reasons you may or may not be able to deduce after a couple more clues drop, there was one poor Dune Squad member left out in the cold:
Bunky is not participating in the partial pact. His meager hit points stand as they are.
Is Bunky in Karek's pack at the moment?
Is Bunky in Karek's pack at the moment?
-
Yes, he's warm and snug.
"How is this possible!?" exclaims Sooron in wonderment.
"Can you not feel it? We have become one before the Goddess!"
"In life and death we now share!"
Breach looks to the healer with a raised eyebrow. "What are ya carryin' on about, Sooron? What in the blazes do ya mean by, 'In life and death we now share'?"
Initative for Round 1
.
.
.
More to join in the following round. . . should there be one.
"Let's get away from this shaft and force the brute to come after us!
Will go on delay.
Suddenly from the top of the shaft there is a horrible cry! The sound changes to a scream as someone is flung down the shaft. Whomever it is, they smash against the side of the tube like a bouncing ball and their cry is cut eerily short. A half-moment later, the corpse tumbles out the bottom of the shaft in the ceiling above you. The battered bag of corpse-flesh drops right in front of Hurgah with a disgusting crumple.
Although it is hard to make out now, based on his garb, the victim appears to have been one of Khymrasa’s Osiriani slaves.
Also, for anyone on Team Polymorph who can succeed on a DC 14 Heal check
Although, the dead slave clearly died from his fall, you can also see the tell-tale marks of pincer wounds. This looks to have been the savage work of Suekahn.
Rhokon withdraws from the lip of the shaft above. Hey may have dropped his hand crossbow. He seems to have drawn his over-sized shield in front of him before disappearing from view.
“Do it now! Do it now!”
Breach looks to the healer with a raised eyebrow. "What are ya carryin' on about, Sooron? What in the blazes do ya mean by, 'In life and death we now share'?"
-
"This!"Sooron draws out a dagger. He runs it across his bare forearm, spilling his blood to the ground.
"Looks like the brute found someone else to keep him occupied. I agree with your suggestion, Potentate. Let's rejoin the others and see if we can figure out why we suddenly feel each others wounds."
"Blast! What in Torag's name?!" He grabs his arm and looks at it, noticing nothing. "This place is bad. This place is real bad. We need ta be findin' our way outta here, and we need ta be doin' it NOW. We need ta regroup and move out. The longer we plan on stayin' here, the worse it's gonna get. The only thing I'm needin' ta know now is: How the blazes do we get outta here?" He looks around, wondering which way is the right way.
. . . The only thing I'm needin' ta know now is: How the blazes do we get outta here?" He looks around, wondering which way is the right way.
-
Yes, with no apparent way to get back to the upper level - the song tube appears to have been a one way trip - Breach would be experiencing a sense of confinement.How does one get the heck out of Ahn'Sehlota?
-----
Heal Check
Hal's eyes go wide as he sees the truth of the man's agonizing fall. reverberates through Hals mind.
"Dammit! The halfling is right, we must defeat this fiend together before he reaches his ultimate goal. Half-Orc! Jump down the shaft and get away from that Fiend! I will heal your wounds and you can face him with us at your back!"
Hal trails behind the others to see if the Half-Orc follows his advice.
-
Yes - I now see that my post on this has disappeared (or perhaps I failed to hit the right button again - not a lot of sleep on my end). I was wondering why it had been overlooked. I'll re-do it.
Gandel and Karek approach the northern arch. But to Gandel’s disappointment the pictograms that adorn the arch, are not iconographic – that is to say, they do not match any known symbols that Gandel is aware of, or any of those found inside his collection.
The professor, of course, is quite an expert in this field, so if he is at a loss, that’s saying something.
However, his disappointment turns to delight when he realizes that what he is instead looking at is quite possibly just a straight up illustration. It doesn’t mean anything linguistically because it might just be a true picture.
On the arch is a depiction of four well adorned Osiriani aristocrats, three men, one female. They are standing inside what looks to be a large ring. Each has their empty hands pointing skyward, while their gaze is likewise drawn upwards.
He also makes one other observation. The bottom of the picture suggests it wraps around from the front of the arch – on the side you cannot see. You might be looking at the tail-end of something that begins on the other side.
Do Gandel and Karek dare to venture across the threshold of the arch? Beyond appears to be a corridor heading north which also eventually reaches a flight of stairs heading upwards.
Hal trails behind the others to see if the Half-Orc follows his advice.
Interesting!
How far back does Team Polymorph want to withdraw? The best you could do would be sixty feet, but that might look like a hasty dash back as opposed to the cautious pull-back being described.
I've got Hal and Moonpate side-by-side with an enlarged Hurgah taking the rear.
"Dammit! The halfling is right, we must defeat this fiend together before he reaches his ultimate goal. Half-Orc! Jump down the shaft and get away from that Fiend! I will heal your wounds and you can face him with us at your back!"
-
"MMMmmph!! MMMPH!!"
Hurgah pulls out Xavens gag.
What? he growls.
Upon feeling the force of Hurgah's hit and Donkor's unnecessary showboat stabbing, and the exhilerating feeling of having more hit points than ever before Xerissa says "Wild!"
Hurgah pulls out Xavens gag.
What? he growls.
-
Suddenly sheepish in the face of terrifying beast man, the halfling answers defensively:"I was just agreeing with Beards over there," he says motioning to Halstadt with a turn of his head. "He's a wise man!"
"What's going on?" the Scarab asks as she fights to make sense of everything happening at once. "Are we under attack? Who is shooting at Hurgah?"
"Hal!" she calls ahead, "Watch your back - There's something hidden on the floor sliding your way."
". . . Half-Orc! Jump down the shaft and get away from that Fiend! I will heal your wounds and you can face him with us at your back!"
-
"Just because our fates seem to have become linked somehow, don't think I won't find a way to make your life miserable. So watch it..." Hurgah tells the bound halfling in a matter of fact tone. He does not replace the gag.
"Don't I know it!"
"But I can't stab you in the back," he adds. "Your back, is my back!"
"So why don't you put me to work for you. Let me go save my pal before he gets his head chopped off. I take out the demon you guys can't handle. Everybody wins."
I should get the below cleared up though, as we'll need to know the answer to this before the start of the next round.
(I appreciate a map would have helped)
How far back does Team Polymorph want to withdraw? The best you could do would be sixty feet, but that might look like a hasty dash back as opposed to the cautious pull-back being described.I've got Hal and Moonpate side-by-side with an enlarged Hurgah taking the rear.
OK, so by my calculations the Dune Squad Partial Pact has
Minus 17 points from recent hits, for a current total of:
I'll try to use this avatar to keep track of the running total for us.
*I still have to double-check the Mithral Scarab, so I could be off by a bit. But for now we're close enough.
OK, so by my calculations the Dune Squad Partial Pact has
Minus 17 points from recent hits, for a current total of:
-
-
Thanks - I'll take that as a pull-back of 30 feet.
But Wait, there's more. . .
The wheels turn in the evoker assassin's mind as he ignores the commotion above him. "No, not again. No way you get away this time Hoffenburrow!"
As the Dune Squad pulls back, A forked bolt of lightning rips from the shaft and blasts towards them. The bolt electrifies the walls and floor of the room, lighting everything -and everyone- completely up. For a brief moment you can actually see the glowing internal skeletons of Team Polymorph, like a hideous X-ray.
when the Dune Squad looks to see where the bolt comes from they see a familiar face, a grim faced sniper pointing a wand rifle at them. He's floating at the bottom of the shaft.
And that ends the round. . .
"Arrr--rrgh!"
"By the Gods Sceptre!"
"What the hell are you doing!?" the halfling demands as he spits out the blood from nearly biting his tongue in half.
I under-calculated both Xaven and Lydia's hit points. I always forget the favored class hit points. So after an adjustment and subtracting Xaven's damage. . .
Devil or no devil, no-one gets to shoot Hurgah the Reaver full of electricity twice and live to brag about it.
Furious, Hurgah dumps Xaven on the floor and rushes back to the firefly relief, intent on taking the bug elevator up the tube.