Gashelle Smith's page

If the ogre skeleton is still menacing us after Sasha's turn, Gashelle will:

"These m- massive skeletons. I thought these c- creatures m- might have b- been brutish servants here, charged to d-d- defend the place until death, and long b- beyond.

"B- but this creature was entombed in this crypt. These giants m- must have been the masters here."

"If the r- restless dead could sleep, I'd say we woke th- this one up."

OK

The flame cleanses the bed of puffballs and brings down the curtain. 2d4=5 It also reveals the Ogre Skeleton that was hiding in the puffballs.

Gashelle is up.

Gashelle moves to C4 and casts Disrupt Undead again.

She hits, confirming the critical and delivering 4 points of damage (2 pts, doubled).

She puts both hands on the glaive. It may be the wrong weapon for fighting skeletons, but at least it gives her the chance to make an Attack of Opportunity against it when it stands up.

Wellard, Etariel has suggested that Gashelle could turn the glaive around as use the backend of the weapon as a club. I'm not sure that works (how would she hold it? it would still a reach weapon) but I defer to you.

The wavy lines are the dripping curtains of mold?

Gashelle points to the cot with the puffballs, indicating that it's our first priority.

Gashelle concurs.

Gashelle gestures to everyone to enter the room and closes the door.

She's accustomed to communicating with more meaning coming through the non-verbal channels, and she's used to being patient when she tries to get a point across.

"Tristan is slowed by the m- magic of that ring. Avarian, Sasha, you've g- gone deaf. We're not getting wounded, we're g- getting weaker. B- Before we explore any farther, I think we need to remove some of these b-b- burdens."

The skeleton in the closet ... somebody has a really bad sense of humour.

"I c-c- concur. The fungal sk- keletons in the b- barracks room could have animated m- merely as a side effect of some evil m-m- manifesting here, like m- maybe the t- tentacle thing. But this: this was a deliberate t- trap. Someone d- desecrated the remains of these p- people and set them here to g- guard something ... or," Gashelle looks down the hall, "to warn someone."

Shriekers, waterfalls, thunderstones. There can't be anything alive on this level; it would never get any sleep.

Gashelle recasts her spell, this time it strikes the skeleton, for 4 points of damage.

Gashelle casts Disrupt Undead again, missing badly with the ray of positive energy.

"Thank you, Sasha."

Just checking, Wellard. Can someone else remove the ring from Tristan's finger?

"it's c- clear. To the south, then?"

Well, Gashelle hasn't cast Detect Magic yet today. Let's see if it provides any guidance.

Gashelle says nothing for a long moment.

"Th- this is m-m- more than a border c- crossing by the dwarves. I- it would be w-w- well for us to let M-M- Magister Rydell know ab- bout f-f- fiendish f-f-* things, growing on h-his lands."

In case the thing above the door is still active when it's Gashelle's turn

Tristan, I vote we give Avinel one of the vials of Holy Water. And we suspected that the ring of Feather Fall was cursed because we couldn't imagine someone just leaving it lying around. Clearly, the complex's last residents just left magic items lying around, so it's probably fine. Since you're ploughing ahead of the party, why don't you wear the ring?

Gashelle tries to suspend judgement until she gets more facts, but her curiosity overwhelms her better sense. "All the m- mechanisms we've found would have b- been useful for the gnomes: g- guards at the two ends of their m- mine complex, and a self-mobile m- mine car.

"M- maybe we'll find more c- clues up to the north."

Gashelle smiles as she finishes the sentence, "... with a b- bad case of absent-mindedness."

Approaching the far end of the room, Gashelle listens for the noise.

"All r- right. So: magical arrows, b- but no b- bow, in a carrying case, along with some sort of p- potion and something else, maybe p- poison for the arrows. Another m- mystery."

Gashelle takes a good, close look at the skelentons. Can we tell what race the smaller skeletons were? Can we tell what killed them originaly, or is there any sign on them what re-animated them?

"Sasha, th- that was fantastic! N- nice job!"

Regarding Tristan's offer: "Avinar, you're the person w- with the fewest options wh- when fighting undead. Why don't y- you take the other flask of Holy Water?"

Is the masterwork chain shirt sized for a Large character?

"E- Etariel, what d- do you have th- there?"

Gashelle has a flashback to her old Trainer's words on fighting skeletons..."use a club...it's cheap, efficient and it does more damage to them than most blades"

Drolan was, as always, right. Of course, as Gashelle looks about the room, all she can see is slimes and mosses. "I'm sure there's a club around here somewhere," she mutters helplessly. But, barring that, ...

Gashelle casts Disrupt Undead again, hitting touch AC 22 for 6 points of damage!.

Gashelle is concerned. The critter is clearly undead, but the spell didn't do enough damage, and now it's too close to --

I let loose a wash of fire that catches all of them.

"Ghah! T- too close!"

Was that her outside voice?

"We're g- good."

Okay, this is freaky.

Gashelle isn't sure how well her blade would do against a creature without flesh to cut. She desperately casts Disrupt Undead. She would hit a touch AC of 15. If it's undead, it would take 3 points of damage.

"Wh- who has the H- Holy Water?"

Gashelle is not so devoted to mycology as is the druid. She draws her glaive through the lichens and molds, checking the floors, walls, ceilings (yes, ceilings), and surfaces of every single piece of furniture in the room.

As soon as she runs into her second bump in the floor, she'll quietly cast Detect Magic.

She looks at Tristan, and at the footprints we're leaving in everything. Good luck hiding in this stuff. But at least any fleeing enemy will be easy to track...

The half-elf moves to the south wall of the room. Do we have any idea where the sound is coming from?

After a hurried breakfast Sasha uses his heavenly fire to heal both Tristan and Gashelle back to full strength
thats 2 hp recovered from the nights sleep and Sasha can heal a minimum of two on each of you...just remember that heavenly fire is only usable once per day per good target

Gashelle will politely forbear at this point. She's at 23 out of 25 hp, which is good enough to begin the day.

Gashelle, who was trying to dredge her long-rusty, student's notes on golems, and recall the details of the theory of conjuring earth elementals and binding them into inhabitable flesh, smiles at Etariel's simply summary, and nods.

Gashelle looks down the hallway to the tunnel entrance, and the darkening sky. "Etariel, c- can you heal us any f- further before retiring?"

Gashelle pins the Scarab on her left shoulder. "I consider m- myself to be the s- steward of this item, not it's owner. Let m- me know if anyone else n- needs it."

Gashelle turns towards Etariel. "Dead, I think. I suspect we're encountering the traps laid decades ago. Although I am still very curious about the word we heard shouted three times."

(Wellard, now that Gashelle has brushed up on her Gnomish, does she recognize that word?)

"I have a f- few questions, myself. First, what c- caused the explosion out the side of the mountain? Was it something that was always on this level, or something that r- rode the elevator up? How long has it been here? Is it something we n- need to track down?

"Next, w- who caused the explosion in the workroom down there? How is that related to the attacking c- cart, or the statues? If the explosion was caused b- by a dwarf, was it someone who came from the more polished halls ahead of us?

"And, what's the p- pit in the hallway supposed to do?"

"Whatever set all of those t- traps had magic (the fire traps), was dedicated (the sheer number of traps), and wasn't interested in the magic or valuable items we've found. They could work stone well (the pit trap).

"My guess would be dwarves." She turns to Tristan and shrugs, "Demon-worshipping dwarves, mayhap."

Gashelle has been so deep in thought that she hadn't noticed that her stutter all but disappeared.

She starts to speak again, stops and corrects herself before beginning. "Etariel, wh- what questions are bothering y- you?"

Tristan pulls out the scarab.

"This is a strange piece, other than it being enchanted with a moderate divination I can't make out what it's supposed to do. Perhaps one of you can tell what it is?"

He passes the piece to Gashelle.

"Etariel, S- Sasha, shall we gather 'round and s- see what we can tell about th- this?"

One final Detect Magic cast today. She has Spellcraft +10, and is happy to Aid Another with an Appraise check of +3.

Gashelle nods in acceptance.

After dinner, she says, "W- we've seen a lot today, and I'm h- having difficulty making sense of it all. I propose that we each ask o- one question about these areas, and then each in turn suggest a p- possible answer.

Tristan, if you're a- amenable, why don't you ask the first question."

Gashelle looks up. Is the way to the upper room climbable?

Gashelle, on the other hand, is only too happy to pull herself out of the brack. "I suppose if I w- were a w- water spirit, and forced to dwell in s- something like this, I'd go a l- little mad, too."

Rising out of the pool, she carefully inspects herself: any parasites, goo, or other hitch-hikers?

"Okay. Does anybody have any i- idea what those were?"

Seeing Tristan searching the long branch, she adds, "Tristan, th- there was magic under the surface th- that way." She was going to urge caution, but she won't repeat that mistake.

As soon as we're done here, Gashelle is really going to want to head back somewhere and clean off.

Gashelle draws her longsword as she breaks the water's surface, casts Blade of Blood again (taking another 5 hit points' damage), and attacks.

She hits AC 24. She does 6 points of blade damage (If the thing is subject to criticals she would critical against AC 22!, for double damage.) and the spell does another 7 hp damage.

Gashelle looks as if she startled herself. Damshah indeed!

Swift Action Unless Gashelle can immediately tell that these creatures are not living (like she could with the gnome golems), she casts Blade of Blood, taking the 5 points of damage.

Standard Action Gashelle attacks Water Dude 1 with the glaive. (And yes, it would seem that Invisible Castle is down.

Dice Roller at Lilith's DM Tools
Her attack roll is 1d20+5 #3357 1d20 + (+5) = 25 (Natural 20!)
Her damage roll is 1d10+4 #3358 1d10 + (+4) = 9
Plus another 3d6 if Blade of Blood affects them #3359 3d6 + () = 5 (well, that's disappointing)

If these creatures can take a critical hit,
#3361 1d20 + (5) = 18
might allow the glaive to do triple damage.

Move Action Gashelle takes a deep breath and drops under the surface of the brackish water.

Gashelle follows, glaive at the ready. She casts Detect Magic again, scanning dwon both corridors..

You aren't afraid of a little darkmoss are you?

Gashelle takes a moment to adjust her headscarf, then takes a breath and says, "No, mil-* E- E- Etariel. Not a- any more than I f- fear a little b- box or a p- patch of ground. But we d- do not kn- know wh- what hides behind the r- remaining bits of moss c- curtain, and umthir eglos quarthod, amthir lam-rhond ol."

An old Elvish maxim:

She feels foolish, quoting this to the Lady Elessand.

Gashelle smiles at Tristan. "We've b- been careful so far, my f- friend. Let's approach this with c- caution, too."

She addresses the rest of her comments to all four of her companions. "Can anyone b- burn away the moss covering the hole?

"I propose that Tristan tie an end of th- this rope around h- his waist. If he gets all the way to the w- water line without f- finding any more traps, we can discuss our options th- then."

What really puzzles me is the difference in the stonework."

As Gashelle's head emerges from the pit, you see the traces of a satisfied smile.

"This seems to be a good d- demarcation for our first day's work. Do we want to explore that s- side corridor back behind the m- moss before we find a safe place to rest and d- discuss our situation?"

Gashelle takes a deep breath, composes her thoughts, and begins, "Sure d- does, but I want to know wh- what it's doing here.

"Was this a trap th- that was s- set off; if so, b- by whom, and where did they g- go?

"Is it something else, p- pretending to be a p- pit trap, and stil d- deadly?

"Maybe it's j- just designed to k- keep the attacking statues trapped on th- this side, or maybe there's something w- worse on that side.

"Oh. Before I g- go down, might I b- b- borrow the feather token?"

Gashelle have you ever heard that type of wailing before?"

Gashelle raises one eyebrow as she leans forward and squints into the darkness. "Y- Years ago, I h- heard the cry of a t- tormented undead shriek as she drifted through a cursed forest. And I've heard a c- couple of bird that make that kind of c- call." Still looking down the hallway, she straightens up.

"So, hideous spectre or r- red-breasted bird. One of the t- two."

Gashelle turns towards ... ah, Tristan or Sasha, not wanting to interrupt a tender moment of terror. She takes the rope from her belt and offers it. "Before we leave, m- might s- someone be willing to help me d- down the pit?"

Keeping the Detect Magic effect up, Gashelle turns her attention towards the pit and the tunnel beyond.

Tristan can report our findings. But I'm sorely glad that the statue didn't get a chance to use that wand.

Incidentally, can Gashelle tell what kind of thing is next to her in the western hallway?

And she'll recast Detect Magic as she's looking about the room.

Gashelle reacts faster than any of her comrades, moves to E8 and aatacks with her glaive before the clockwork can get its bearings.

She would hit AC 23 for 10 points of damage.

There must be some way to deactivate these things! Well, other than the way we're going about it....

Gashelle tries to speak the gutteral word the party heard (post 193) when we arrived on this level. (Wellard, I'll leave the relevant rolls -- to remember and to actually speak the word under stress -- to you.)

Incidentally, can Gashelle tell what kind of thing is next to her in the western hallway?

Gashelle is uninjured and still has most of her magic. She's up for continuing.

"There sh- should be bones."

Explosions that leave workbenches don't obliterate bone.

The best option: some animal came by and scavenged the remains. It's not like they could have gotten up and left by themselves.

There are

glass shards and shredded papers spread all over the room. A small overturned cot and a tipped over wardrobe are the only other furnishings.

Are the cot, and the clothes in the wardrobe, gnome-sized?

Gashelle stays out in the hallway, making way for Etariel and Sasha to pass into the room if they like, but keeping guard for anything that might come back up the hallway. "I wonder h- how this all connects w- with the rest of the place. Was this one of th- those fire traps that we avoided?"

"A moment, good b- b- bard."

Gashelle casts Detect Magic and looks down both tunnels: straight ahead and to the right.

She also listens to see what can be heard.

Gashelle looks around the room for a couple of seconds, awash in the chaos.

Who set up that cart? Did they set up the cart a deliberate attack, or did it go berserk over the years? And why prepare only one of them, when they could have set all four racing after us? Was that the only danger here?

"Tristan? The hole up th- there." She gestures with the glaive, thrusting the blade a couple inches into the moss. "Is it s- safe?"

Gashelle complies. "Ma'am?"

Gashelle clasps her elven comrade-in-arms on the shoulder. She almost manages a straight face as she says "Tristan, m- make sure you r- record Avinar's heroic fl- flanking."

By the way, Wellard, I'd like to extend my compliments. You've established a good sense of pacing here, keeping us moving along but not rushing the action.

If I'm counting correctly, we've got a running total of 890 XP for most of us, 990 for Tristan, yes?

"Another t- trap, do we think? Or a s- servant gone m- mad?"

Gashelle drops to one knee and thrusts her glaive at whatever clockworks might be under the carriage as the cart carooms away, hitting Armor Class 17 (or AC 19 if Avinar's providing flanking) for 11 points of damage.

So, back when I was just developing my saddle skills, I had a choice between learning the glaive and the ranseur. My coach, Armsman Drolan, explained that the ranseur was a better weapon for tripping foes, but I'd said that it's unchivalrous to trip a foeman's horse, and I couldn't imagine an unmounted situation where I'd want to trip a foe.

And now I look at this animated little cart of terror, and I see how everyone's attacks bounce off, and it occurs to me how it might be handy to tip it on its side. With a ranseur.

Drolan, now I understand your rueful smile that day. Well, let's let the glaive serve its purpose.

Gashelle moves up to D2 and attacks, aiming for one of its axles.

She would hit (1d20 + 5 =) AC 18, for (1d10 + 4 =) 12 points of damage.