starts crawling forward head held low
Aldan whispers, "Do be careful."
"shhhhh"
Idiah watches Priapus cautiously crawl forward. He's so small he doesn't even NEED to crouch to stay hidden! she thinks.
Keeping an eye out for Kael and Brother Seamus, knowing they are just ahead of me, I cautiously move forward.
Scrapping my knees I try to stay deep under the cover of the brush.
Idiah thinks, It's quiet...Too quiet.
Crawling forward Priapus stops suddenly ~ Bear dung ~ So they do go in the woods thinks Priapus
He moves to the left and goes around the stinky mound.
Kael continues his scouting efforts, keeping an eye out for trouble.
Aldan sits in silence, waiting for an opportunity to show his talents.
I continue to chase enlightenment, blissfully unaware of bows nocked around me.
Looks around waiting with tense expectation~
~looks towards the Castle for any signs of life.~
~with the heat building up the sweat poors off his brow~
I think to myself "when was the last time you went to the bathroom, might be here crouched in the woods for awhile. dang the more I think of it the more I need to go. Good thing I didn't get a chance for a large breakfast. Now Im hungry too."
Idiah contemplates carving her initials into a tree with her arrowhead out of boredom, but decides against it.
~grumble~
he speaks quietly to his stomach
"Hush you will get us seen."
Idiah yawns.
"Yawn."
"shhhhh"
Thinks to hisself, "Is this poison Ivy?"
Idiah looks towards where Priapus crawled.
She thinks, Is that poison ivy?
Noticing Priapus, I hope that's not poison ivy.
Kael wonders if anyone noticed that patch of poison ivy back near where he last saw the others...
"Now I am goign to be itchign for a week."
oh worms... I can use those later for fishing
~pockets a worm in a shirt pocket~
I'm assuming that Brother Seamus and Kael are sneaking forward through the cleared terrain in mid-day. Anyone else?
Kael
You and Brother Seamus sneak around the tufts of scrub and boulders as you move towards the castle, built from brilliant white stonework. Perhaps 15 yards from the wall, you notice a natural cave entrance, well hidden from a distance, but clearly well-travelled once you get close enough to look. Do you want to head down the save, scout out more of the surrounding terrain, continue to the wall, or look for a main gate?
The Rest of You
Arien sits down on one of the several small boulders that litter these hills, hidden in the tall grasses. It doesn't hold his weight and shifts under him. Suddenly, a swarm of centipedes --dozens of them, each as long as your forearm and the color of caked blood-- bursts forth. The grasses rustle with them, and they are all over the place, hissing and enraged.
Let's place you folks in a 35' by 35' area, with seven columns (A through G) and seven rows (1 through 7). Arien is just off-center, in D3.
Please place yourselves
Initiative:
Aldan rolls a 16 + 6 = 22.
Valtiro rolls a 15 + 4 = 19.
Arien acts just after Valtiro, rolling a 19.
The swarm rolls a 17.
Merian rolls a 13 + 0 = 13.
Priapus rolls a 7 + 3 = 10.
Idiah rolls a 4 + 3 = 7.
You can post out of initiative order, under a spoiler tag. It makes sense to provide conditional instructions, like
On my turn, my character will move to H9 and attack the bugbear with his tin daggers, if it's still standing. If not, he'll move to the drawbridge and attempt to diagnose hat's keeping it from opening.
The swarm is hidden in and among the grasses . It is unclear at the moment just how far from the boulder the centipedes have moved; at least ten feet, possibly 20.
On my turn, I stay huddled under the bushes and fire my Crossbow
** spoiler omitted **
From what square?
Idiah lets out a small gasp when she sees the centipedes emerge from the ground and surround Arien.
Idiah will move to E3, right besides Arien, to try to defend him from the bugs if she can. She has her bow and arrows out, but she'll drop them as a free action as she moves and then unholster her axe.
Aldan stands in A6 (which i assume would be near the bottom left corner) and targets the swarm with a sleep spell, and hoping to position the effect in a manner that wouldn't hit any ally, which may not be likely. If there's no chance to avoid hitting an ally, he'll try to position the effect to hit someone that looks like they could handle it.
** spoiler omitted **From what square?
G5?
Merian turns in shock when she hears Arien's shout, her sword coming up instinctively.
Round One
Aldan casts sleep into the rustling reeds. Idiah, you see a couple of the creatures turn onto their backs and curl into a tight spiral, but it's fewer than half of them. There are literally hundreds of these things, each undulating on dozens of legs,scrambling all over your boots and pant legs.
.
Valtiro is holding his action.
Arien makes a face but struggles to overcome the revulsion he feels. (Perhaps he's gotten used to the feeling of horrid vermin crawling over his skin?) He springs into the air and tumbles to B1. His movement should be obvious to any watchman in the castle looking your direction.
The centipedes roil about, unseen but heard and --by the black gods-- smelled, until Idiah feels them crawling into her boots and clothing, making muffled hissing sounds from inside. Idiah, you may make an attack of opportunity against AC 18 (even though you haven't acted yet this round). The centipedes deal 6 points of damage, and the bites require a Fortitude saving throw, please from Idiah to resist the deadly venom.
Merian moves into the fray. It's harder to tell which is worse, the way the centipedes seem to scurry underfoot so that you can't help stepping on them, or the manner in which they are still moving after you lift your weight off them. Merian invokes the power of Iomedae, which is unusually effective where swarms are concerned. Good work.
On initiative 10, a crossbow bolt fires out from a bush 30 feet ESE of the boulder Arien disturbed, burying deep in the soil.
Idiah, you need to make a second, different Fortitude save to avoid being overcome with nausea. If you avoid the nausea, you can attack.
--+--+--
Round Two
Alden, you're up.
GM: Was I able to see if sleep had any effect? And am I able to determine where the swarm is currently, with a spot or listen check?
Spot and Listen (respectively) (1d20+1=9, 1d20+3=13)
If i see or hear them, in their general direction I will shoot my crossbow:
crossbow (1d20+2=21, 1d8=2)
Otherwise:
I cast shield and move to E7
Alden, the sleep seemed to have some effect. You can certainly hear them. The closest cell with a carpet of centipedes is now D4, but the rustling is growing louder.
You shoot your crossbow into the swarm, with no noticeable effect.
Vaitro continues to hold his action.
Arien calls out to Idiah, "Get out of there, woman! You'll be eaten alive!" He holds his hand out, as if to help her.
The centipedes continue to react in heated fury at their nests being disturbed. Several score are burrowing out of the dry soil in C5, D5, and E5. Merien, they're on you, climbing over your armor, into any beltpouches or backpacks, and around the back of your neck. They continually hiss like cockroaches and flare their carapaces, revealing bright red fringes that smell like rotting meat. Priapus, if you took a 5' step closer to the center of the swarm, you'd be able to bend down and start smushing some of them with your crossbow.
Idiah, it's clear that something is blunting the vermin's bites. Take another 2 points of damage, and you'll need to make yet another Fortitude save.
Merien, take 6 points of damage, and you'll need to make a Fortitude save, as well.
Merien, then Priapus, then Idiah. (Merien and Idiah will need to make Fortitude saves or be nauseated on their turns.)
Fortitude save (against poison) (1d20+4=18)
Fortitude save (against nausea) (1d20+4=9)
The horror of the centipedes crawling across her everywhere is more than Merian can take - a charge of demons is one thing, but this is something else. She screams, flailing wildly, trying to get the vermin off her; almost accidentally, she stumbles half-blind back the way she came .
I finally reemerge from the brush, dashing to the source of screaming. The shockingly aggressive bugs throw me for a second, but I quickly recover. With no time to assess the situation, I burst into action.
I'll run round the swarm where possible and try to find out where that crossbow bolt came from.
A hunk of shrubbery where Priapus is hiding.
Merian, you get clear of the swarm. There's perhaps a half-dozen of the things still crawling through your hair and clothing or still attached (one under your left arm, another to your left calf). But you're safe from the mass of them at this point.
Priapus, you're up.
--+--+--
Kael, you hear some disturbance back where you and Brother Seamus left the rest of the party. A few seconds later, you hear the distant echoes of conversation from don the tunnel, too faint to make out, but distinctly male.