Slowly Hurgah rises to one knee, then to his feet. Deca-Jaws pounds away faster and faster and more furiously until suddenly a new emotion strikes enters the creature’s brain-cluster, one the apex-predator hasn’t experienced in a very long time: fear.
Primordial rage
At the apex one must fall
Stone Dragon smiles
Moonpate almost loses concentration on the growing column of sparking smoke at his feet as he witnesses unfolding before him the most titanic clash of primal fury ever. The shockwave of battle assaults all of his senses and for the briefest of moments threatens to reduce him to a blubbering mass of pathetic flesh. Yet, upon seeing his stoneskin spell hold against such onslaught, he finds anew the strength of courage to see his most potent spell come to fruition. Quickly waving his hand through the column of smoke pouring from his candle, it scatters into a thousand sparks that shoot up and out, arcing over everyone. Faster than thought, the sparks suddenly slam together into a whirling mass of yellow flame sprouting a cobra hooded head with white-hot eyes that light up the growing twilight. The air's temperature suddenly soars, producing a drenching sweat almost immediately.
In Ignan Moonpate yells in joyous awe to the fire elemental: "Spirit of the Ever-Burning Flame, fight for us and claim glory for your clan. Burn this abomination before you into char and ash!"
Moon directs the elemental to attack the rear of Deca-Jaws.
Thanks for that! No need to edit on the map, but just so folks know, Deca-Jaws is actually one square back (to the east/right) [AG, AH, AI - 6, 7, 8].
Karek stumbles forward the remaining distance, trying to rage all over again at everything that's happened. He thrusts his spear forward, hoping to find purchase at the base of the creature's necks - right where Gandel tells him its heart should be.
I guess AG5 will have to do unless there is a more tactical spot to help Karek.
Forgive me if this sounds a bit like backtracking, I am just catching up so we have this in order. You guys getting your turns in is both correct and awesome.
Moonpate almost loses concentration on the growing column of sparking smoke at his feet as he witnesses unfolding before him the most titanic clash of primal fury ever. The shockwave of battle assaults all of his senses and for the briefest of moments threatens to reduce him to a blubbering mass of pathetic flesh. Yet, upon seeing his stoneskin spell hold against such onslaught, he finds anew the strength of courage to see his most potent spell come to fruition. Quickly waving his hand through the column of smoke pouring from his candle, it scatters into a thousand sparks that shoot up and out, arcing over everyone. Faster than thought, the sparks suddenly slam together into a whirling mass of yellow flame sprouting a cobra hooded head with white-hot eyes that light up the growing twilight. The air's temperature suddenly soars, producing a drenching sweat almost immediately.
In Ignan Moonpate yells in joyous awe to the fire elemental: "Spirit of the Ever-Burning Flame, fight for us and claim glory for your clan. Burn this abomination before you into char and ash!"
(hit!)
(applies!)
(fails! – more acurately Hal’s prayer makes it fail. Deca-Jaws is actually on fire.)
(applies!)
The snake-shaped conflagration responds to Moonpate’s command. Coalescing at the hydra’s flank it coils up to a height of eight feet. It then suddenly dives towards Deca-Jaws. When it strikes, it physically enters the hydra, travelling right through the creature’s mid-section exiting on the other side of its body. Once on the other side, it wraps around and pierces the creature a second time burrowing back on the original side like a terrifying flaming worm. When its done there are two thick trails of smoke rising up from the hydra’s twin exit holes. Deca-Jaws has caught fire! Tongues of flame lap at the edges and are charring the creature’s flesh. A sickening smell assaults your nostrils.
*
I guess AG5 will have to do unless there is a more tactical spot to help Karek.
And that's where he is!
Karek stumbles forward the remaining distance, trying to rage all over again at everything that's happened. He thrusts his spear forward, hoping to find purchase at the base of the creature's necks - right where Gandel tells him its heart should be.
The young dwarf-giant’s spear skewers deep into the hydra, crashing through muscle and bone before driving into several feet of flesh. When Karek withdraws his spear the barbs pull out a disgusting chunk of some reptilian organ and the creature’s juices spray all over the dwarf. The hydra’s innate healing instantly goes to work trying to staunch the wound, but the attacks are starting to add up as perforations and lacerations begin to form across the hydra’s body more rapidly than they are disappearing.
The veteran dwarf joins the fray.
Still enhanced with magical speed, grace and raw power, Breach begins to tumble like a monkey, rolling end over end, too fast for any of the hydra’s heads to get a bead on him.
With his target heavily distracted by the flaming snake and the giant barbarians, Breach looks for a weak spot to drive one of the two barb-like daggers that he picked-up during his tour of the city of A’Viss.
Breach has battled similar such creatures in the darklands before and calls upon the no-holds barred philosophy of his people. He selects a front knee joint and drives the barb deep into the creature’s cartilage, ripping it back out once he’s satisfied he has destroyed the joint. Deca-Jaws responds by collapsing forward, stumbling into the sand. Just as it looks like the hydra will fall over though, its monstrous healing factor kicks in. The joint knits itself back together and the creature is stable once again, looking to stomp Breach into the ground.
“Dang! He’s a tough one, this one be – pour it on everyone!” shouts the dwarf, “Don’t give it a chance to heal.”
And that will finish the round save for Halstadt who may well want to come off of delay.
Then we're back to Gandel, and then Hurgah. I'll re-post the order once we know for sure that Hal wants in.
Much to Hal's surprise Hurgah is miraculously not injured, Angradd works in mysterious ways" thinks the Dwarven Priest. None of his allies attack the heads of the creature directly and none are injured so Hal jumps directly into the fray!
"Fall foul monster!" bellows Hal as he brandishes his magical axe.
Greataxe
Axe Damage
Discharge Inflict Serious Wounds
Much to Hal's surprise Hurgah is miraculously not injured, Angradd works in mysterious ways" thinks the Dwarven Priest. None of his allies attack the heads of the creature directly and none are injured so Hal jumps directly into the fray!
"Fall foul monster!" bellows Hal as he brandishes his magical axe.
OK, my first question was given the limited space left, how does Hal think he can get that shot off, let alone without drawing an attack of opportunity. However, Max has answered that for us. There’s a way.
Next, I am missing something in Hal’s math – it’s probably mostly because I don’t recall where that extra +4 damage is coming from. These attacks are gradually getting more and more complex.
Here’s what I got:
To hit:
+5 BAB
+2 Str (once enlarged)
+1 magic axe
-1 Large-size
-1 melee attack while wearing a buckler
-2 penalty for using a weapon of inappropriate size
+2 flank with Karek
+2 from Gandel’s naturalist
+1 prayer
Total = +9
This doesn’t matter though because 9 + 9 = 18 which is still a hit.
Damage
+2 Str (once enlarged)
+1 because it’s 2-handed (+50% Str)
+1 magic axe
+1 prayer
Total = +5
12 + 5 = 17
This doesn’t matter either though as even on my numbers once you add in the solid roll on that inflict serious wounds. . .
----------
Angradd is with the Dune Squad at last. Hal gives himself a smile of satisfaction to see his comrades suddenly working so cohesively. The beast is surrounded on all sides and no longer appears to know which way to turn. It is like a large moose being brought down by a pack of much smaller wolves. Perhaps it is now time for the alpha-wolf to put the moose out of its misery.
At Hal’s signal Breach drops low to all fours, clearing a path. Using his magically-enhanced speed, Morgrym runs forward and vaults off of Breach’s solid back, launching into the air. Both of his hands grip his now-glowing ancestral axe - an axe that has been storing a hidden ward for many months, one gifted from the great hero-god, Angradd himself. As the dwarf sails through the air he triggers the magic carried within it.
As Hal bring down the axe on the hydra’s center-head, the deadly axe instantly duplicates itself nine more times. The shower of axes descends on the hydra, each blade burrowing into a separate head. The axe storm is too much for the behemoth. With a titanic “thud”, it collapses to the ground, unmoving. Second later, Hal lands on top of the beast. The nine blades reunite with the original, leaving the dwarf balancing on top of the creature’s body with his axe.
WOOOO-HOOOO!!!! Gandel cheers triumphantly. "Well fought, gentlemen!!
Awesome! I will calculate the damage when I get home later Beetle.
WOOOO-HOOOO!!!! Gandel cheers triumphantly. "Well fought, gentlemen!!
Moonpate can scarcely believe his eyes at the awesome martial display he just witnessed. He drops to his knees and offers silent thanks to the elements that compose all, but especially to the flames that now joyously feast upon such a great monstrosity as Deca-Jaws.
Sooron also drops to his knees in a prayer of thanks to Pharasma. He commends the soul of his friend Jason to her care, secure in the knowledge that everyone who traveled to the plane of water with him knew that this outcome would befall one of them, and chose the path willingly.
After ensuring that the Hydra is dead (something Hurgah will no doubt have well in hand), Karek drops his spear and heads back into the water to retrieve what is left of Jason's body and bring it gently to shore.
Hurgah grunts in satisfaction at the effective display of pack tactics from the Dune Squad. When the hydra drops in front of him, he reaches into the half-healed wound left by his earlier bite and tears with his razor-sharp claws. For a few moments, he seems to rummage inside the beast for something, then his muscles bulge as he pulls back and tears his prize from the bloody carcase: Deca-Jaws' heart!
Holding the massive, still pulsing heart in both hands, Hurgah bares his magic fangs and bites down, tearing at the tough sinew and muscle until the organ is nothing more than a large pulp of blood and tissue.
With the hydra's blood covering most of his body, he leans back his head and roars in triumph before casually tossing the remains to the fire elemental. Then the fire in his eyes dim a bit, and he exhales heavily.
"Thank you, friend Moonpate, for you spell of protection. This was a good fight. Even a beast such as this could not hope to live long against our combined might. Our fallen companion can rest now, his death has been avenged."
Hurgah follows Karek down to the water, and wades out into the oasis to wash off the blood while Karek retrieves the body. When he is done, he calls back to the shore.
"Now that we have slain the beast, it would be foolish to leave it's treasure behind. Can anyone go down and get it?"
Donkor finishes his prayer of thanks, and upon seeing Hurgah about his grisly task, averts his eyes and begins to head toward the water before the crazy beast finishes his question. Not seeing the giant warrior about his work will be almost as much of a reward as the treasure awaiting in the deeps.
With the sun set, the desert continues to grow dark. The slowly burning hydra though illuminates the beach acting as an eerie bonfire of char. The Potentate’s elemental gradually fuses with the flames and every now and then you can see a snake-like creature gleefully writhing in an out of the conflagration. The fire is casting strange shadows up and down the beach.
The various members of the Dune Squad each appear to react to the victorious battle in their own way.
Hurgah eats the hydra’s still-regenerating heart,
Moonpate gives thanks in prayer,
Donkor does as well but then looks to escape the carnage by diving for treasure,
And Karek looks to retrieve the fallen. The dwarf dives into the water, through the unending fog clinging to the bank, and recovers Belleson’s lifeless body. It looks wrong somehow, the miniaturized corpse cradled in Kogan’s oversized arms.
Shattershield joins Karek and helps him set the body down in the beach. Breach closes the dead sorcerer's eyes and folds his arms over his chest. You can tell the elder dwarf has had to do this many times before.
“You human’s have a particular custom for the dead?” the dwarf asks. “If he were my clansmen and I couldn’t bring his body home, I’d dig a hole further up the beach and bury him. He was as brave as he was skinny, this one was.”
Donkor finishes his prayer of thanks, and upon seeing Hurgah about his grisly task, averts his eyes and begins to head toward the water before the crazy beast finishes his question. Not seeing the giant warrior about his work will be almost as much of a reward as the treasure awaiting in the deeps.
As he prays, Donkor feels a familiar sensation of destiny unfolding as Pharasma's divination comes to fruition. Although he takes no pride in it, the universe is unfolding as it should.
----------
Shattershield joins Karek and helps him set the body down in the beach. Breach closes the dead sorcerer's eyes and folds his arms over his chest. You can tell the elder dwarf has had to do this many times before.
“You human’s have a particular custom for the dead?” the dwarf asks. “If he were my clansmen and I couldn’t bring his body home, I’d dig a hole further up the beach and bury him. He was as brave as he was skinny, this one was.”
Moonpate switches from kneeling in the sand to plopping butt, mentally and emotionally exhausted from this whole ordeal. Upon seeing the retrieved body of Belleson, Moon ponders about his own fate and hopes that he will at least end as bravely.
"Gandel, our departed comrade was a Pathfinder like you, no? Do you know how best to honor his sacrifice and treat his belongings? Did he have kin you were aware of?"
And I suppose we should relocate as soon as possible. While we sit in a natural depression that offers some concealment, who knows what this gruesome bonfire might attract. We should at least make our way to the other side of the oasis, covering our tracks as best as possible. Hurgah and I raced here on magic steeds, but there is no doubt that we were spotted by those cursed monks and that foul splitting beast. We must find as defensible a place to rest as possible."
Definitely up for the dive to avoid watching Hurgah's repast, as long as I think I have enough water breathing left to make it, and I can carry everything up at current size.
My condolences Dennis. : (
Definitely up for the dive to avoid watching Hurgah's repast, as long as I think I have enough water breathing left to make it, and I can carry everything up at current size.
.
----------
Sooron disappears from view as swims below the fog field and down into the black waters below. A few minutes later he resurfaces by the firelight of the burning hydra, dripping wet once more.
When Donkor resurfaces, you think you notices one of the stars in the night sky suddenly sparkle into view. That’s what happens after sunset, you suppose, but it seemed really distinctive. A moment later it happens again, a second star twinkles into view, joining the first. Then a third, a fourth. . . seven in total. They seem to be the first stars of the evening. Not much longer the desert sky is filled with great bands of stars – not unlike the previous night. You haven’t seen a cloud in the sky for days.
Assuming Donkor is sharing the spoils:
My condolences Dennis. : (
Second that. Take care and we'll be here on your return.
"Gandel, our departed comrade was a Pathfinder like you, no? Do you know how best to honor his sacrifice and treat his belongings? Did he have kin you were aware of?"
"I don't know about any family, but I believe he was a close friend of Venture Captain Krenshar. I expect the Venture Captain would appreciate it if we could return his body for a proper funeral," Gandel responds to Moonpate's question.
"As to his belongings, I suggest we make use of anything that could aid us in our endeavor. We can always return them to the Venture Captain when we return to the Kothi."
Take care Dennis, please also accept my condolences.
Donkor will make no effort to conceal any of the items. He'll do a quick detect magic on them to see if there's anything interesting there.
He won't examine the items closely yet, assuming Hurgah is done munching, red sacks and all, he will try to attend to the problems of their fallen companion, "I agree that it would be best to return him to the venture captain, but I'm not sure if it's possible at the moment. We were pressed for time when we began, and we have even less to spare now."
Do I or any of us know what deities he was partial to, from our time journeying together and chatting? If it was ever mentioned in game, I don't know how to find it.
Donkor will make no effort to conceal any of the items. He'll do a quick detect magic on them to see if there's anything interesting there.
Of the items listed below,
only the ones in the second bullet below radiates magic:It's quite a strong aura at that. It has sort of a flashing flare feel to it.
He won't examine the items closely yet, assuming Hurgah is done munching, red sacks and all, he will try to attend to the problems of their fallen companion, "I agree that it would be best to return him to the venture captain, but I'm not sure if it's possible at the moment. We were pressed for time when we began, and we have even less to spare now."
Do I or any of us know what deities he was partial to, from our time journeying together and chatting? If it was ever mentioned in game, I don't know how to find it.
No, if Belleson did ascribe to a specific diety, he never mentioned it. He never struck Donkor as particularly pious, though Sooron never got a chance to know him that well.
Hmm, I don't really see an alternative to doing a service out here. There's no way we can get him back to his family in our time frame. Perhaps build a cairn over him and just do a simple service, and then we can retrieve him later?
"Could we... I don't know... maybe wrap him up and put him in his handy haversack?" Gandel asks.
Just sitting around hoping to Perceive I know not what: 1d20+4P.S. While they're waiting, would Mooonpate the Potentate and Hurgah the Reaver please roll Perception checks? (No particular reason, outside of the fact that something might be happening.)
----------
Heh - I don't know if anyone remembers this post from a few pages back, but while we've got some down time and the Dune Squad coordinates with what they want to do next, I think this is good opportunity for a cut scene.
(Here's one I wrote weeks ago. . .)
Sceptre readied his wand rifle for the kill. All told, it had been rather easy.
Fleeing from the dig site, Hoffenburrow and the Reaver were in far too much of a hurry to even bother hiding their tracks. Heavily encumbered with a sack of stolen loot, their horses’ prints fell deep in the sand. With almost no wind to speak of, the tracks were almost impossible to miss. Moreover, the fools chose the only source of water miles around as their camp. Sceptre liked to think he would have caught up to them there even if he had lost them. Better still, once Sceptre’s quarry arrived they appeared unusually obsessed with the pool, rather than the dangers behind them.
Something wasn’t right though and it kept niggling at Sceptre. His years of experience warned him something was off, but thus far, he couldn’t put his finger on it. There were no animal tracks for example – nothing. And no birds. This oasis should have a flock of birds – every oasis has birds. Even the horses he had tracked to this place had disappeared. Sceptre’s efforts to detect magic though revealed nothing – save for confirmation that the bag of stolen goods was probably going to turn out to be a worthy prize. No matter, Sceptre ultimately decided. He would kill his quarry and then be quickly away from this place.
The plan of attack did not need to complex. He would wait until near-darkness fell. The wizard Hoffenburrow would be blinded and reliant on the half-orc for eyes. The half-orc appeared to lack a missile weapon and the beach afforded them very little cover. Yet there should still be just enough light for the monks to quietly close in. If his targets lit a fire they would be blinder still. If he was true to form, Sceptre would paralyze the half-orc with the first shot. His new minions would at least distract Hoffenburrow long enough for him to turn his wand rifle on the wizard and finish him as well.
Yes, his new minions. The two Azmodean monks were proving even more useful than he thought. They appeared quite accustomed to taking orders and, once they figured out that Sceptre’s goals were at least similar to their own, they fell in line rather quickly. True, there was the small matter of them both needing Hurgah and Hoffenburrow’s heads for their rather separate employers, but when the time finally came to resolve that dispute, Sceptre was confident he could simply dispose of the monks.
Sceptre had spent the last half hour obtaining the perfect perch on the high ground. The Reaver had looked at his position over a dozen times now and failed to spot him – he suspected his invisibility spell was probably overkill. Although Sceptre had performed this sniper ambush so many times that it should have been tedious, there was always something thrilling about bagging a larger prey. The way his employer spoke of the Reaver made Sceptre confident this man-beast might just be worth his time. Then again, he might be just another piece of Belkzen trash. Time to find out. He aimed his wandrifle and readied the shot.
3. . . 2. . . 1. . .
Suddenly something surfaced from the center of the oasis – something big – was that a flying shark!?
Sceptre signaled the monks to stand down as he watched. What the hell was this?
A few moments later reinforcements began surfacing from the bottom of the pool. Huge bearded barbarian men, each the size of a troll. They seemed to be carrying little goblin-men on their backs – shamans by the looks of it, wands and scrolls. Within moments, there was a small platoon gathering on the beach. Again, they were all preoccupied with the pool. Sceptre hit the switch on his wand rifle, cycling into a different wand, one more suited for rapid fire and multiple targets. Their backs were turned. Sceptre could probably drop at least half of them before they reacted – but then what?
Then it got weirder still as the coincidences ran out of control.
Sceptre got a better look at one of the midget shaman. It was unmistakable, he was wearing the holy symbol of Pharasma. Sceptre was sure had seen that exact symbol before – on that very man, but at full size. It was Donkor Sooron, the water cleric Sceptre tangled with during the raid on the pyramid of the Four Pharaohs of Ascension only a few months back. How did he possibly get here? And what was he doing with Hoffenburrow and the Reaver? Sooron would need to be killed as well and Sceptre would have to be careful in the execution. The cleric was dangerously unpredictable.
This was officially one unforeseen variable too many. Sceptre withdrew his wand rifle, signaled the monks and activated his exit stratagem. His window of opportunity had just closed.
. . . And I suppose we should relocate as soon as possible. While we sit in a natural depression that offers some concealment, who knows what this gruesome bonfire might attract. We should at least make our way to the other side of the oasis, covering our tracks as best as possible. Hurgah and I raced here on magic steeds, but there is no doubt that we were spotted by those cursed monks and that foul splitting beast. We must find as defensible a place to rest as possible."[/b]
1. So will the Dune Squad encamp for the night? Where? Any watch shifts?
2. Then what? Where to?
3. If there's a resolution to what's happening with Belleson's remains, let me know.
4. Anything else?
1. I vote for camping, we have lots of spells to refresh. And we can spend the night swapping stories with Moonpate and Hurgah so that IC our guys have some idea of what's been happening to each other for the last few days. It will also give us an opportunity to study much more thoroughly the magic stuff we fished out of the oasis, make some knowledge checks, and see what might be what.
2. Does any of us have the ability to send a message to the venture captain to tell him what's been going on, and perhaps get further instructions? I think we need to press on back to the dig site tomorrow, but I have no plan of action after that. It's going to be a lot harder this time than last time, and last time didn't go too well.
3. I like the haversack idea, if it's feasible.
4. Has my decanter grown noticeably since I started to notice it regenerating? If so, can I gauge how long it might take for it to finish replenishing itself?
"Could we... I don't know... maybe wrap him up and put him in his handy haversack?" Gandel asks.
The cleric was dangerously unpredictable.
After a minute or so of retrieving Jason's body and recovering from the battle, Karek busies himself arranging the party's belongings and getting ready to move and set up camp. He is preparing to move away from the water's edge, and will start to listen to Moonpate's advice, searching for some concealment where we can bed down. The party definitely needs rest before moving hard back to the Exemplar's encampment, where our sabotage efforts will have to use a lot more stealth and a lot more strength. He is silent throughout.
The only contribution Karek makes to the discussion is when he finds Gandel. Do ye know iv Belleson or de Badvinders had wishes or blans for resurrecjin?
Shhhhhhhh! Nobody asked you. : )
I agree with this - could work in theory but we'd need an R-rated wood chipper scene or something. I doubt the Emmy's worth it. If you guys are really serious about this, how about a gentle repose before a burial? That way if someone goes back for him later, he might still be there.*
*No promises.
Sure, I could grab a gentle repose for the guy if we're camping here for the night. Sounds like a plan.
I agree with this - could work in theory but we'd need an R-rated wood chipper scene or something...