Wrath of the Righteous (Arae)

Game Master Rednal

The all-important gameplay thread!

Dot.

The first thing you notice is the darkness - not even the faintest glimmer of light illuminates this chamber, though that's not to say you can't see color - indeed, there seems to be a lot of red flashing in front of your eyes as your ears ring and your chest heaves - air is hard to come by here. After a few moments, the sound of rocks clattering, coughing, and moans of pain, as well as the choking smell of dust, become apparent as your senses seem to return, but it remains pitch black.

Arae, coughing, rises first to her hands and knees, then to her feet, shaking her head and brushing the rocks off her clothes. "Hello? Who's there?" Remembering herself, she calls a witchlight to her glove, illuminating a small patch of darkness with silvery radiance. She raises her hand to spread the light as much as possible across the chamber, and looks around for the source of the moans. "I'm Arae. Who's there?"

Casting Light.

As you try to focus on the spell, memories come rushing back.

Armasse officially began at noon, with the blessing of the festival by Lord Hulrun himself, ruler of Kenabres. The crowd gathered in Clydwell Plaza quieted as the aged inquisitor took the stage, clad in shining, resplendent armor. He cleared his throat, but just as he was about to speak, a bright light shone from the west, as if the sun were rising from the wrong direction. Hulrun's shadow fell huge and distorted across the cathedral's facade. A moment later, the sound of a thunderous explosion ripped through the air and earth, along with a violent tremor.

To the west, the fortress known as the Kite - the location of Kenabres's wardstone - had vanished. In its place, a brilliant plume of red fire, lightning, and smoke erupted into the heavens.

A moment later, a powerful roar accompanied a welcome sight rising from the crowd - Kenabres's greatest guardian, the ancient silver dragon Terendelev, who had until that moment been attending the opening ceremony disguised as a human. Above, another form appeared, as nightmarish as the dragon was breathtaking. A humanoid shape three times the size of any man, with skin coated in fire and lightning, gripped a flaming sword and whip. The creature's identity was immediately obvious: Khorramzadeh, the Storm King of the Worldwound, had come to Kenabres!

As the ground continued to shake and disgorge demons into the streets, the dragon and the balor lord clashed above. The fight was over in a few harrowing moments, as the balor cut deep into Terendelev's body, swooping down to strike the dragon and arresting her charge. A few more blows, and the titanic duo spiraled downward toward the crowd.

You hadn't wasted any time at all in acting - after bellowing orders to the citizens around and directing them to safety, you charges straight towards the demons attacking the crowd, stabbing out with a pair of daggers as your years of training guided your movements. Several dozen people - at least - had been saved by your actions as the fight went on above.

Yet the sight of the dragon smashing into the facade of the Cathedral of St. Clydwell is one no witness would ever forget. At that moment, a titanic demon erupted from the ground at the far end of the plaza, reducing several buildings to ruins as it smashed into this world. The rift it created shot across the plaza, and this time there was no escape - it opened below your feet, angling away into darkness.

Even as you fell, the dragon noticed your plight. Though she saw death standing over her, she seized this final chance to save a few more souls. After she uttered a few arcane words and stretched out a bleeding talon, you felt her magic take hold of you, slowing your plummet into the darkness as if you were feathers falling into a pit. Yet the fall remained as inexorable, and as you drifted downward into the depths, the last thing you saw was the Storm King standing before the ancient silver dragon, his sword lashing out and cleaving full through her neck. As her severed head fell, the rift above you slammed shut, and the light of the world above was gone.

As you gather yourself and look around more, it's clear that you came much closer to death than you realized - there are dozens of bodies crushed by the stone only a few feet away, and some of them are people you knew, people who had been enjoying the festival with you just an hour ago. Yet you're not alone, either, and three additional citizens of Kenabres seem to have joined you, though they're still looking somewhat shocked and dazed by the turn of events.

She staggers unedr the weight of the recollection. She hadn't seen death and destruction on that scale before. She'd known, in theory, that she was working to stop that sort of thing, but having it shoved in your face like that was something else entirely... She'd have to deal with it later. For now, she had to make sure that there were no more people alive than the three down here, and that they were okay.

She'd have to find out where she were too, and how to get out. While she was at it, she'd need to know what to do once she got out as well...

First things first. She inspected the citizens alongside her in the silvery light, helping up those who needed it. "Are you wounded?"

"Urgh... yes." one of the citizens gasped out. Her leg was pinned under a boulder, and her face was pale and sweating. Judging from the angle of her leg, it was likely broken - and she wasn't the only injured one, either.

"I see. Or rather, I don't." an elf said, and as you looked at his face, you could see a hideous burn going across it. His eyes... well... let's just say you wouldn't be forgetting that sight anytime soon. However, the elf sounded remarkably calm despite his new blindness. "Would anyone be so kind as to describe the situation for me?"

"We're trapped, that's what!" the last snapped. He was a well-fed man, wearing the clothes of a local aristocrat, and his voice edged on hysteria. "At least, we're not getting back up the way we came! We- we need to get out of here, back to the city! ...I didn't even know there were caverns down here..."

"Look, calm down, sir. What's your name? We need to work together if we are to accomplish anything in this mess. First," and here she faced the pinned-down citizen, "We need to get that thing off of you."

Arae looked around for something she could use, a straight piece of wood perhaps, to leverage the boulder off of her leg, and then splint it. Ideally, there'd be another one for a crutch, as well. At least there was cloth enough around for bandages, from the other dead corpses. People. Dead people, all around. But she couldn't dwell on that now.

Perception, to find a good splinter, crutch and straight thing for leverage to shift a heavy boulder: (some proper bandages would be nice too, but you can't have everything. I'll just see whatever is there.)

1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

On the bright side, there was a lot of debris, and it didn't take too long to function a crude (but functional) splint for the injured woman. She wasn't going anywhere quickly, but at least she could go.

"Anevia Tirablade." she managed to gasp out as you finished, holding out one hand. "That's-"

"Horgus Gwerm." the aristocrat said. The elf - Aravashnial - was the last to introduce himself, seeming rather more patient than Horgus was. That... was fairly normal for his kind, really. Finally, with everyone accounted for, you were able to look around.

The ceiling and far walls of this vast cavern recede into darkness. On one side, the wall has collapsed in an enormous mound of rubble - here and there the arms or legs of victims who didn't survive the fall protrude. In the back of the cavern, a disturbing shape looms. Nearly the size of a horse, what appears to be an immense black spider crouches silent and still on the ground.

New map up top!

Arae ripped some cloth apart, and bandaged her up as well she could. She'd had a little training with wounds, but she was far from an experienced nurse. Magic could do the heavy lifting, at least in theory.

Heal: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

"There, Anevia, that should let you stand, at least." She took the offered hand, shaking it.

Looking around in the cave, she noted the looming shape. Whoah. Had it been there the whole time? "Stand back. There's something here." She told her companions, deadly calm. She drew her rapier, and advanced on the thing, "Wrah!" she growled at it as she came nearer, getting out her dagger to throw if neccesary, and shaking the light of her glove at it.

The bandage for Anevia didn't look like it was going to work too well, and she grimaced - but when things were bad, you took what you could get and tended to be grateful.

As you approached the spider, however, two bulges appeared on either side of its body - and a pair of giant maggots suddenly jumped out, turning to face you and flailing their bodies aggressively.

Init (Enemy): 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (17) - 1 = 16
Init (You): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22

They were surprisingly speedy for vermin, but your own instincts were considerably faster, and it wouldn't be challenging to do something before they reacted.

The two vermin are 10 feet away from each other, and 15 feet from you.

She lunged for the lefternmost maggot. Her war cry was somewhat silly in the situation, but it was ingrained in her by now. "En garde!" She called up healing power as she stabbed, and directed it back at her wounded ally.

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9, Damage 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
Healing: Anevia1d6 ⇒ 2

Move action to close in, Swift action to use Encouraging Roar(+2attack & damage to all allies within 30', including herself, until the start of her next turn), standard to use enduring crane strike, attacking the maggot and healing Anevia for 1d6.

It was a very bold battle cry. Regrettably, the attack itself was somewhat less than accurate, and the maggots wiggled in a surprisingly threatening manner (okay, seriously, it was still laughable despite the situation) as they wobbled forward to flank you. Behind you, though, you could hear Horgus' cries of revulsion - he obviously wanted nothing to do with the vermin.

Melee: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
Melee: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16

For all of their insistent flailing, the two creatures didn't seem particularly close to hitting you - especially the first, which was mostly just flailing at empty air.

Join the cursade! Do glorious battle! Save the material plane! Fight maggots!

She couldn't help but grin at the absurdity of the situation.

Spotting an opening, she tucked and rolled to get around to the back of the righthand maggot, and stabbed both her blades at it.

Using my Acrobatic Gambit as a swift action to get my ER and ECS ready again, and tumble around the two creatures. If I beat their CMB on my tumble, any attacks against them until the start of my next turn, including my own on this turn deals 1d6+cha extra damage. After moving, uses Swift Claws to attack with both weapons as a standard action. If I roll enough dice I'll hit, sometimes.

Acrobatics vs maggot cmd: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (12) + 15 = 27
Assuming that's a success
Swift Claws Main Rapier: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11, 1d6 + 5 + 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 + (3) + 5 = 17
Swift Claws Off Dagger: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6, 1d6 + 5 + 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 + (1) + 5 = 15

Maneuvers Expended: Swift Claws
Newly Readied: Enduring Crane Strike, Encouraging Roar
Gambits Used: Acrobatic Gambit

Incidentally, this battle is easy enough that I'd normally just hand-wave it as your victory, but I wanted to give you the chance to test your build on some easy opponents and see if there's anything you want to change. ^^

Your tumble was more than enough to avoid and distract the beasts, and with a quick swipe of one of your claws, you were able to cut one of the maggots clean in half. The other one didn't seem to notice, merely wobbling forward and nipping out at your leg.

Bite: 1d20 ⇒ 3

The best it could manage, however, was biting ineffectually on one of your shoes. Nasty, yes. Threatening... not so much.

Thanks! I think it works pretty well so far. She doesn't actually have claws by the by, the Strike is just called Swift Claws. The two-weapon-fighting discipline is called Trashing Dragon, so the names are dragon-themed.

She made a disgusted noise, and did her best to skewer the thing.

Rapier: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17, 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Dagger: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6, 1d4 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

One thing I've learned is that ideas that sound good on paper may not be so good in practice. XD I'm pretty relaxed for retraining while at Level 1 - if there are any adjustments you'd like to make, they can be done any time you rest for 8 hours. Retraining at higher levels is as normal.

Your rapier managed to stab deep into the maggot's size, but it was just barely too shallow of a blow to actually kill the thing, and your dagger came nowhere close to striking it.

"Oh. Great. The only functional warrior here has trouble stabbing an oversized worm. Fantastic! We're all gonna die." Horgus groaned as he watched the progress of the battle. Anevia shot him a dark look - Aravashnial's expression was rather harder to read (but that was less of a surprise, given the damage to his face).

Meanwhile, the maggot was continuing to wiggle menacingly...

Bite: 1d20 ⇒ 15

...and "more accurate" didn't mean much when it was still completely ineffectual. It was kind of like saying an arrow that landed five feet away from the target was more accurate than one landing twenty feet away. It was true, but until you could hit the target, it was basically a meaningless distinction.

"I'm not used to fighting things bigger than me!" She stabbed some more at the thing.

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10, 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13, 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

Your first stab - finally - was enough to slay the maggot... and with that, it looked like the immediate area was safe. Anevia let out a sigh of relief, even as Aravashnial simply - and insistently - asked people to describe what was going on for him. Horgus simply looked sullen - but it was growing increasingly clear that you couldn't say here forever. There were two exits to the room, both to the east - one to the north, and one to the south.

Oh, and as for XP, you'll level up at the suggested points within the story. It's generally easier this way. XD And WotR has a preeeeetty fast advancement track.

"It's a cave. We must be somewhere underneath the plaza. There's two exits from here, both leading east." She described their position to the blind man. "Anevia, you will need both hands to walk, I think. Horgus, you'll have to lead Aravashnial along, like it or not - we don't have a lot of options here."

She considered the two tunnels. They must have been here already before the fighting. "Do any of you know anything about these tunnels?"[/b]

K. History: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

Do I know anything about them, for that matter? If local is a more appropriate skill, well, I don't have ranks in that one.

Sadly, you don't know anything about the tunnels - if the city had known they were here, they probably would have done something to secure them from the demons and make sure nobody could break into the city from below. On the bright side, if there was a BIG threat, someone probably would have noticed - so it's unlikely there's anything here in the caves that you can't handle.

The three of your companions looked at each other - well, Anevia and Horgus did, Aravashnial wasn't seeing anything - then shook their heads.

"Then there's nowhere to go but forward." Aravashnial said firmly, and you could hear the faint echoes of a command tone in his voice. He, at the very least, was clearly used to having some authority. "Let us be off!"

"Indeed. South, I should think. I'll poke my head inside, and see if there's anything there. Wait just a second, and I'll be back." She touched a rock laying around, causing it to flare up in a light like the one on her glove, and then lead off through the southern passage, trying to make as little sound as possible. If it proved to be overly long, well, she could always go back and get the others.

Stealth: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

A stone ledge juts out at a right angle on the south wall of this cavern, fourteen feet off the ground. The leather strap of a backpack hangs from the edge of the ledge, while above, a narrow fissure yawns up into the dark.

There's a cavern? Edit: Oh, saw the map, that makes sense.

Arae looks around, making sure there's nothing in here that might collapse, was valuable, or would jump out and attack them, then contemplated the feasibility of climbing up to get at that backpack. She could probably hop a good 7 feet off the ground if she had time for a few retries, but that still left a good bit of distance to the top. She only had to reach the ledge though, then she could, hopefully, hoist herself up the rest of the distance.

Taking 20 on an acrobatics check. Results in 29, which gives a 7ft high jump - she should be able to grab hold of the ledge from there, and pulling yourself up is then a dc 15 climb check, yeah?

The rocks looked a little on the slippery side - if you were to jump, it would probably be best to be careful, since there was no telling how easy it would be to grab onto the ledge. Grabbing things while in the middle of falling back down was always difficult - climbing up normally might be a safer option.