karlprosek |
Is the splinter and column located in the darkened patch?
I updated the map. The coin/niche/splinter/column was blacked out before but is now visible. Link is here and I updated the link on the main tab.
Jaelynn Vance-Saerpheni |
"Any magic in place?"
Jaelynn frowned. Of course I have magic in place. I'm not an idiot, after all - She cut off her thought mid-stream, with the realization that she was being an idiot if she thought Shane was asking her about her own magics. Right.
"I don't know yet. A moment, please."
Detect Magic on the place, please.
karlprosek |
To Jae's surprise, the entire place radiated strong conjuration magic. The entire shaft of the mine fairly vibrated with otherworldly energy, like the stone itself was trying to shift to another plane. But though everything around them, from the water to the stone to the very air, was infused with magic, she could see that the iron spikes driven into the walls held the mine shaft in place like nails driven into reality itself.
Once she was able to adjust to the strange background radiation of conjuration magic, Jae could see that the coin radiated faint transmutation magic. She was certain the holder of the coin would be able to make great leaps and perhaps even perform very limited feats of flight.
1d20 ⇒ 11
Jaelynn Vance-Saerpheni |
"Iron," Jae said, with a frown. She kept her thoughts to herself, however.
"The coin should let one make great leaps, and possibly even limited - very limited feats of flight. I do not detect any immediate danger from merely picking it up. One of us should take it with us. It may be helpful."
KiP/BoE as Know:Arcana/Nature: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21 Checking to see if she can put together why iron would be used. (Pretty sure *I* have an idea...)
Tarvak |
Tarvak gave the coin a cursory glance - it seemed to be too obvious, and in a special place - which smelled like "trap" to him. Years on the street had taught him that if something looked too good or too easy, it probably was. He continued up the stairs to meet up with Aziel at the door. "If it's locked, I can try to unlock it" he offered in a whisper.
Tarvak |
Hate that 1 hour limit! :)
Besides, being in a such a special place might mean the coin was sacred, or served some special purpose, and he wasn't about to mess around with that.
karlprosek |
Jaelynn knew iron as the most earthly of metals. As gold was used to limit teleportation within the material plane, the presence of iron was typically thought to ward against movement between the earthly realm and other planes.
1d20 ⇒ 9
1d20 ⇒ 6
1d20 ⇒ 19
1d20 ⇒ 18
1d20 ⇒ 9
1d20 ⇒ 5
In spite of their focus on the coin, both Jaelynn and Ralf noticed a suspiciously humanoid shaped shadow flowing across the right-hand bridge toward the constables.
Map updated. Please indicate PC locations on the map, using letter/number coordinates.
Shane Sangster |
Shane listened to Jae's description of the magic coin and breathed a little easier. He had worried it was some kind of alarm or trap. Given the age of the area, he suspected it may have once allowed easy access from this area to the surface for sea-based visitors.
He reached out and plucked the coin from its niche and held it for a moment, glancing at those closest. "If anyone else wants it, speak up. I might be able to put it to best use to get to a better position in a fight."
Shane is at H13, assuming Jae was probably standing at I13.
Jaelynn Vance-Saerpheni |
As Shane took up the coin, Jae was about to say something, but instead snapped her head to one side.
"On the bridge! Shadow!" She pointed, and trained her magic-sensing vision on the bridge, trying to locate and identify the figure.
Hoping that the Detect Magic will give her a better idea of what she's looking at. And yeah, put her at I13, next to Shane.
karlprosek |
As was often the case, a lot of things happened all at once. As Shane took up the coin, a cloud-like creature with dark hollows reminiscent of eyes and a mouth flowed down from the ceiling on a howling wind that whipped it into ominous shapes, flying to reach Shane. PM to Shane.
Jaelynn recognized the shadow as more than a mere shadow- it was an undead creature, a baleful spirit imprisoned in the form of a shadow. In spite of the bright light it kept flowing across the bridge toward the three constables near the pillar.
Aziel cleared the top of the last ladder and made the highest platform. As soon as she did, a man screamed at her from the tunnel mouth, his words heavy with a Danoran accent. "You killed all my men, you dirt worshippers! You won't kill me!" The gunshot that followed was deafening in the enclosed space, but he must have been a terrible shot because Aziel didn't even see where the slug went.
1d20 ⇒ 8
1d20 ⇒ 10
1d6 ⇒ 1
The voice came from the other side of a crane leaning out over the platforms. The man was obviously hiding behind it. Something- it looked like a vaguely humanoid mound of dirt- closer to Aziel picked up a barrel and threw it down at her. When it slammed into the platform it burst apart, spraying lantern oil everywhere.
Initiative
[dice=Aziel, "A" on map]1d20+4[/dice]
[dice=Anthony, "Y" on map]1d20+1[/dice]
[dice=Tarvak 1, "T" on map]1d20+4[/dice]
[dice=Tarvak 2, "T" on map]1d20+4[/dice]
[dice=Jaelynn, "J" on map]1d20+3[/dice]
[dice=Shane, "S" on map]1d20+2[/dice]
[dice=Ralf, "R" on map]]1d20+2[/dice]
Enemy 1, red 1: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
Enemy 2, red 2: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Enemy 3, red 3: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (15) - 1 = 14
Ally 1, blue 1: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
Wow, some really terrible rolls. Hopefully that got those out of the dicebot's system.
Initiative order:
A1 (delays to Shane's turn)
Tarvak/Jaelynn
Ralf
E2 (Voice)
E1 (Shadow)
Anthony
Aziel
E3 (Dirt)
Shane/A1
Map updated, but Google won't give me a sharing link so I put it up on Photobucket here. What's the deal, Google?
Orange highlight is slick with lantern oil. Will require Dex check to move through safely and I'm pretty sure the PCs can guess what happens to that oil next.
Tarvak |
I would assume Tarvak would have practiced his spells, so he would know what he can and cannot do with them. But *I* don't.
So if when creating water (2 gallons, that's FOUR 2-liter drink bottles' worth), he can control the "shape" and "initial direction" of it (NOT controlling its movement once made), OR the floor with the oil slick is sloped down into the center of the cave, he would do this :
Tarvak concentrated, and created some water just over the oil slick. As he created it, he willed it to be a sheet of water, and with a swing of his arms, willed it to be moving from the cave wall towards the center of the cave, flushing the oil off the platform.
If he knows that's not possible with this spell, then he will do this :
Ranged: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25
Assuming that's a hit :
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Jaelynn Vance-Saerpheni |
"We did not kill anyone!" Jaelynn called back, while eying the shadow and considering defenses, "If anyone killed your men it was a rogue noble, who we are here to stop!" It was probably more than she should have said, and had a faint hope of helping - at best - but Jaelynn was more than a little concerned about the shadow coming towards her, Ralf, and Shane.
VM as Diplomacy (Student of Philosophy: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19
In the mean time, she racked her brain for ways to defend against a shadow.
KiP/BoE as Know:Religion: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20 Not sure what the CR is on a shadow, but I'm pretty sure she'd know that undead are immune to mind-affecting effects, and that shadows are incorporeal...right?
"I have no way to attack that thing," she whispered to her two companions, "But my wand can give some measure of defensive protection."
She moved to the other side of Shane, drawing the wand as she went. "Ralf, get away from it!" As she moved, Jaelynn suddenly noticed the cloud-thing floating towards them, and she froze, unsure whether the thing would attack or not.
KiP/BoE as Know:Something (Planes?) to ID cloud-thing: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29
Move to G13, draw wand. I don't remember if you consider wands to be weapons, and drawable for free with a move. If so, She'll tap Shane to give him Mage Armor. If not, that'll wait till next round.
karlprosek |
"We did not kill anyone!" Jaelynn called back, while eying the shadow and considering defenses, "If anyone killed your men it was a rogue noble, who we are here to stop!"
"More Risuri lies!" came the man's response.
Move to G13, draw wand. I don't remember if you consider wands to be weapons, and drawable for free with a move. If so, She'll tap Shane to give him Mage Armor. If not, that'll wait till next round.
20 on the Knowledge check is good enough to know they're incorporeal, yes.
Sure, you can draw a wand for free as part of a move action.
I would assume Tarvak would have practiced his spells, so he would know what he can and cannot do with them. But *I* don't.
So if when creating water (2 gallons, that's FOUR 2-liter drink bottles' worth), he can control the "shape" and "initial direction" of it (NOT controlling its movement once made), OR the floor with the oil slick is sloped down into the center of the cave, he would do this :
Usually I stick with Create Water just creating water with no velocity or shape. If you want to impart velocity to it you'd have to create it at a height and let it fall. I'd also note that there's a barrel's worth of oil- 53 gallons, on average, according to Wikipedia- and if even half of that slopped off the platform or splattered on the walls, that's still around 6 times as much oil as water. I'd say he can clean off maybe 1 square of oil, not the whole platform. Let me know which action you want to take.
Shane Sangster |
As Jaelynn moved to the other side of Shane, he did not move immediately, despite the fast approaching shadow. He was gobsmacked by the sudden surge of activity all around him as he tried to assimilate the strange feelings created by the magic of the coin as well as certain magically communicated information about the threats around him.
Jaelynn Vance-Saerpheni |
Sure, you can draw a wand for free as part of a move action.
Usually I stick with Create Water just creating water with no velocity or shape. If you want to impart velocity to it you'd have to create it at a height and let it fall. I'd also note that there's a barrel's worth of oil- 53 gallons, on average, according to Wikipedia- and if even half of that slopped off the platform or splattered on the walls, that's still around 6 times as much oil as water. I'd say he can clean off maybe 1 square of oil, not the whole platform. Let me know which action you want to take.
In that case, Karl, Jae will smack Shane with the wand. Shane has +4 armor bonus to AC, that affects incorporeal attacks.
Once she was realized that the cloud thing wasn't going to attack her immediately, Jaelynn touched Shane with her wand, causing a shimmering field of magical force to snap into being an inch from his skin.
@Tarvak, I'm the king of using Create Water in fun ways (just ask Karl). A favorite is to drop water on the heads of small creatures (like goblins) to give them a penalty to hit, or force Climb checks or Reflex saves on enemies climbing walls or balancing on rooftops, etc. It's up to your GM to adjudicate the effectiveness of such things (many require a ranged touch attack roll, for example - some won't let you do it at all), but it can be an incredibly useful spell, if you get a little creative with where you summon the water. :-)
Aziel Charbonneau |
Jaelynn Vance-Saerpheni wrote:"We did not kill anyone!" Jaelynn called back, while eying the shadow and considering defenses, "If anyone killed your men it was a rogue noble, who we are here to stop!""More Risuri lies!" came the man's response.
"It is no lie! We have come to stop the woman who took over the island," Aziel shouted back in Danoran herself, deciding the advantage of stealth was lost anyway. "Call off your creature, and help us avenge your men!"
Ralf Tergsvor |
At Jaelin's urging, Ralf moved to the far end away from the shadow, but stopped short of stepping onto the ramp. (G13) As he slipped past her he said quietly, "I also am having no way to fight... shadows."
Having taken up a new position, he reached out mentally to toughen up some of his allies. Biofeedback with Spirit of Many to give Jaelynn and Shane DR 2/- for two minutes.
karlprosek |
"It is no lie! We have come to stop the woman who took over the island," Aziel shouted back in Danoran herself, deciding the advantage of stealth was lost anyway. "Call off your creature, and help us avenge your men!"
There was a pause before the voice responded, also in Danoran. "Why are you here with a bunch of Risuris if you're here to help?" The shadow, perhaps responding to the tone of the voice, stopped dead on the bridge.
1d20 ⇒ 15
I'm calling that an Aid Another on Jaelynn's Diplomacy check. Anybody else want to pitch in?
Aziel Charbonneau |
"The one who attacked here, she is a crazy Risuri duchess. Neither Risur nor Danor want trouble from her - none of us wish another war. And none of us have killed your men. You do not need to join us, but do not stand in our way. We must capture her." Aziel enjoyed the way her native language rolled off her tongue after so long speaking chiefly Risuri, but she was aware that if she didn't help convince the man not to attack them, they would have trouble executing the rest of the plan while the top of the platform burned... and that was aside from being attacked by living shadows.
Tarvak |
Not really knowing what to say (but assuming he's heard stories about Unit 11's earlier experiences), Tarvak said, speaking in Risuri "Everything she says is true! Even tho I grew up in Risuri, I mean no harm to you or any other Danoran who wants peace! We are here to stop the crazy woman who has done your people so much harm!"
If the arrow did damage to the "dirt humanoid" he will add "I apologize for shooting your...friend...but you attacked us first!"
If a roll is needed :
Diplomacy: 1d20 ⇒ 13 +4(Living/Streets) +2(level) = 19
karlprosek |
I'm fine with free cross-talk out of initiative order. And for the moment we've suspended initiative.
After a moment, a thin, white haired man stood up and peeked around the arm of the crane. He frowned at Tarvak and Aziel. "You're not Danorans, but you're here to help us." He sounded skeptical but wasn't shooting at anyone.
"How?"
Shane Sangster |
Shane recovers from his surprise and as the others talk, he thinks as if talking to the airborne creature which seems to be his newest friend, "Welcome friend, please keep yourself between that shadow thing and me. Move slowly. We don't want them thinking you're attacking just yet."
He gestures to Jae and Ralf to be ready to move across the bridge. Speaking at a whisper, he says to them, "If it comes to a fight, run back. I'll try to draw the shadow to the other side. I think I can jump down to that platform from here."
Aziel Charbonneau |
It stung when the man told her she was no Danoran, but she could hardly refute the accusation. "By removing the Duchess and her minions from the island, and into the custody of the Risuri. She also tried to sink a ship carrying the Risuri King recently, so she will not be dealt with lightly. We are not here to usurp the rights to the island, only to deal with the mad Duchess."
karlprosek |
The grey haired man shook his head. "No, I mean there are only..." he looked at the other constables and did a quick count "6 of you. There's a whole Risuri army up there. That's why I hid in here. How can you possibly help?" He sounds more skeptical than hostile now, at least, but it was a fair question.
Jaelynn Vance-Saerpheni |
Jaelynn raised an eyebrow. The man was doing an outstanding job of interrogating the group. All it would take now is for one of them to tell him about the invasion force, and he could storm off, shouting about how Risur was invading to take his island, and warn whoever he was truly with. Given his apparent connection to earth and shadow creatures, that could even be the Duchess.
But she doubted it.
"We have assets at our disposal that will remove the Duchess, if we can get to the fort. The sooner, the better. Is there any chance that you could help us to get there? You may stay here if you wish, or come with us to make sure that we do what we say we will."
Ralf Tergsvor |
Probably a good thing you two beat me to a reply. Ralf was going to answer, "We are very good." :op
-Posted with Wayfinder
Shane Sangster |
Shane's eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed at the mention of a Risuri army on the island. Either the island was creating illusions, the Duchess had managed to persuade a different part of the Risuri military to invade, or the man was lying.
"If there were a Risuri army already on the island, why would they send us to sneak in the back door?" Shane called out. This is treachery either on your part or on the part of the one we seek. Let us by to investigate and stay safe down here. But do not stand in our way or we will fight our way past you.
karlprosek |
"I don't know, why would Risuris come to help me when it's a bunch of Risuris who killed my men in the first place? You must be scouts come to steal the coins for your Duchess!" The agitation was back in his voice; it looked like Shane's comment had pushed him back over to hostile. "Kill them!"
The shadow surges forward again and the mound of dirt moves to pick up another barrel, but Tarvak, Jaelynn, and Ralf were already moving before the second word came out of the man's mouth.
Initiative order:
Tarvak/Jaelynn
Ralf
E2 (man)
E1 (Shadow)
Anthony
Aziel
E3 (Dirt)
Shane/A1
Tarvak |
-So I have to ask at this point, did my arrow seem to have any effect (damage) on the mud-man?
-It's too bad I'm first in init because I'm out of time today, but : last I read, the old man "stood up and peeked around the arm of the crane" and you didn't say he had ducked back - does that mean he's a visible target? Would there be any penalties to hit him?
-The answers will determine my attack, which will be posted early tomorrow (*maybe* in 3-4 hours or so, but don't count on it). But I will probably fire an arrow at one or the other (just so others can proceed).
Tarvak |
Sorry, I'm confused again - I said shot the dirt mound above (attack of 25, damage of 6), and you didn't say I couldn't.
If I couldn't fire last round, then I *would have* moved (up the ladder or whatever) to get to a place where I could see what's going on (H3, I guess), so I would be in a place where I could now.
Absolutely no more time for now, please clarify, retcon, or whatever, and I'll deal with it later.
Jaelynn Vance-Saerpheni |
Jaelynn was mentally cursing the fact that she hadn't prepared her usual spell to charm a person. That would have been very useful in this instance.
Except that our briefings said nothing about undead, did they? And you aren't close enough to make it work, anyway. It's of no use wishing things were different. Deal with what you have in front of you. Think!
Realizing that the man was apparently giving orders to the shadow and the dirt, she gritted her teeth, and used a spell sub-optimally. Centering her target on the last place she'd seen the man's face, she muttered arcane words, and let fly the magic.
Cast Sleep, centered as close to the guy as she can. Burn an AR point to boost the Will Save DC to 16. Then hope he has less than 4 HD.
Ralf Tergsvor |
I'll go ahead and queue this up.
Ralf made a sound that might have been a curse and, ignoring Shane's instructions for the moment, stood his ground and once again reached out with his mind.
Ralf isn't positioned correctly on the map. He moved to G13 here.
In that same post he gave Jaelynn and Shane DR 2/- for two minutes. I have no way to judge how much time has passed since then. If that DR has expired, he'll cast it again. If it's still in place, he'll manifest Biofeedback to similarly grant two minutes of DR 2/- to Aziel and himself instead.
karlprosek |
I'll update the map when I get a chance, likely over the weekend. We'll say 5 rounds have passed since Ralf cast his spell. Aziel and Anthony are up, Tarvak can move and shoot or do something else.
1d20 ⇒ 8
The gray haired man slumps to the ground in response to Jaelynn's spell. The shadow surging across the bridge stops and turns to fly toward him.
Aziel Charbonneau |
I think 3 was the mudman? If it's the shadow, Aziel will drink her potion of mage armor. If not, time to make room for Tarvak:
Aziel, suspecting that the mud-man's next move would be to set the platform alight, bounded across the oil slick and onto the barrels, stabbing at the creature in an effort to drive it back.
rapier + high ground: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 6 + 1 = 27
dmg: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
confirm: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 6 + 1 = 15
dmg: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Ralf Tergsvor |
I'll update the map when I get a chance, likely over the weekend. We'll say 5 rounds have passed since Ralf cast his spell.
Thanks. And apologies for the map confusion, I hadn't looked at it in a while (been busy) and didn't realize it was simply lagging behind.
Tarvak |
Aziel, since Karl doesn't post much over the weekend, I'll just point out that he'd said earlier that crossing the squares with oil "Will require Dex check to move through safely". Don't know if that's one or many, or what the DC is, but you might want to make a few for him to look at later...
Aziel Charbonneau |
Whoops, good point. Thanks, Tarvak. Here's a few for you, Karl:
Dex check 1: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Dex check 2: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Dex check 3: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Dex check 4: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
Dex check 5: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Uh oh... those first few didn't look so good. Maybe I'm about to slide off the platform and back into the water! At least it IS water. :P
karlprosek |
Aziel charged across the slick platform and almost immediately lost her footing on the thick layer of oil. She banged hard on her hip and grabbed desperately for anything to stop her slide and found nothing but more oil-slick wood. A second later there was no more platform left and the tiefling had nothing under her but air.
She fell 30 feet to the unyielding wood of the main platform, getting badly banged up in the process.
Falling damage: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 6) = 12
Tarvak climbed up the ladder in time to see her go over the side. He immediately drew an arrow and fired it into the mound of dirt. The arrow slammed into the creature, presumably hurting it though the animate being of rock and dirt showed no sign of discomfort.
The shadow flew directly toward the sleeping man, disappearing into the shadows cast by the crane.
Updated map is here. Link has been moved from the Campaign tab to the top of the board, so you don't have to change tabs to see the link.
E2 is Sleeping
E3 (earth elemental) has moderate damage
I think I've said this before, but if not: I don't show you NPC HP totals. Instead I give you any status effects and a general idea of their state of health in blocks of 25%. Minor damage is anything from 99% health down to 76% total health, moderate damage is 75% to 51%, major damage is 50% to 26%, severe damage is 25% to 1%. After that an NPC is Down or Dead.
Aziel has 12 hp damage
Anthony/Shane are up
Initiative order:
Tarvak/Jaelynn
Ralf
E2 (man)
E1 (Shadow)
Anthony
Aziel
E3 (Dirt)
Shane/A1
Tarvak |
"Aziel!!!"
Worried about Aziel, but knowing there was nothing he could do for her right now, Tarvak concentrated instead on the enemies in front of him.
Quickly pulling another arrow from his quiver, Tarvak pulled back on the powerful bow and fired another shot at the dirt-man :
Ranged: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20
Assuming that's a hit :
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
And turned his head slightly towards the rest of his comrades and shouted (only loud enough so they could be sure to hear him) "What can hurt that shadow thing?!?"
P.S. added later - I missed that Anthony and Shane were still up on the first read, just saw the new init order and went with it. Insert this where/when appropriate...
Shane Sangster |
As a street performer and docker, Shane had heard of some weird creatures. Now he tried to think of any that involved shadows that move.
Street Performer/Int/Lvl: 1d20 + 1 + 0 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 1 + 0 + 2 = 16
Shane felt the protective spell slip around him and whispered his thanks to Jae before moving quickly along the (east?) bridge and starting up the ladder to the next platform.
Double move puts him at the top of the ladder (assuming that is a ladder) at Q11, unless any of those squares count as difficult terrain.
As he moved, he gave a mental command to his new airborne friend to fly up and harass the adversaries in our way, keeping flames away from the oil, if possible.
If his knowledge result was enough, he'll share what he knows about the shadow and what it takes to hit them. He has enchanted shuriken, which may be our only hope of hitting it, unless someone else has some enchanted weapons or offensive magic.
Jaelynn Vance-Saerpheni |
If Jae knew that Shane was controlling the air thing, she would have a fairly solid idea of how to beat the shadow (I hope), but since she doesn't know... *shrug*