Against the Cult of the Reptile God - Group 1 (Inactive)

Game Master Chainmail

I think we lost Strang.

"Well, keep going down the center?"

Only temporarily; work has been mega-overload coming back from vacation. :\

"As good as anything else, far as I'm concerned. It don't matter which way we go, we'll still have to fight everything in here sooner or later... just, hopefully not all at once like the temple. Maybe the pool first. Ramne, do you know anything about any of what's down here?"

"I just think we can be cautious, without staying put in the same place for so long - it gives away our position too easy. I say go down the middle since we have no effective way to explore the pool"

"The middle is fine by me. Let us be swift but not stupid. We don't want to give them to long to regroup, but we don't want to rush headlong into any more ambushes."

Moving through the room with the muddy pool, nothing is found. Careful searching turns up nothing. Leaving the room from the other side you find yourself in a hallway. The right fork turns back to wrap around this room, the left fork leads on into the distance.

Map updated, note left fork leads toward the part of the dungeon you already explored a bit.

Ramne speaks in his faint, slow voice: "I have never been here before. I am worried something may happen to me. Rather than keep my scrolls to myself, I will share some with you younger mages."

Ramne hands two scrolls to Bizzlemont and Elgoron. They are tattered but useable.

Magic missile CL7 and burning hands CL7.

"You can decide who gets what. One is up close and personal and definitely not for me."

Left or right or backtrack?

"I guess for now our task is tunnel crawling boys and girls - thank you Ramne, and lets move out" - Terion pipes in with a good natured smile, and starts moving to the right.

Ama was not happy with the implications of Ramne's statement. Despite the advantage they had gained in finding the place, she did not want this man's end to come here, in a swamp. Despite the risk inherent in the idea, it was something that she could not have kept silent. "Then we should provide you safe passage home." They may be facing a greater evil, but if she could save one person-- Eternal Rose willing-- it was something that she would do.

Elgoron's brow furrows at Ranme's new behavior, but he accepts the gift. "I seem to be entering close combat more than is my preference; the scroll of Burning Hands will likely see use."

You don't suppose he thinks he's about to die, do you? In the middle of all of us? I mean, we're not exactly demolishing these forces, but we ARE winning...

Perhaps he knows something we do not. I am uncertain which possibility I fear more, however: does fear his end here, or is he planning something?

"Ramne? Is everything ok?" Bizzlemont takes the scroll from the man, but barely glances at it. "You have more experience with magic than Elgoron or I. I'm not sure we would have survived that last fight without you."

"I think we should to the left. That will lead back towards the rooms we've already seen. We can see how it connects. Or if it does."

Turning left you find the passage turns north into another water filled passage.

Wading in hip deep water will get you into a room completely filled by a pool.

Many small sightless fish fill the watery room.

It will take some swimming to explore the room. Explore, turn back, or rejoin exploration of 'left half'

Deciding to leave the pool for later. You follow the right path. It leads north to a door. Before the door, and long passageway leads west.

map updated. blind fish pool labeled. door with dotted lines.

Terion approaches the door cautiously, checking it for immediate dangers, and listening.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

Following on from the fish room (and how strange for there to be such a room in such a place), Strang checks the door for traps after Terion investigates for enemies on the other side.

Perception (traps): 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 5 + 1 = 11

"Door's clean," he spoke in a low tone.

The door is a stout wood door with iron frame and hinges on the inside. Strang checks it and it seems to be locked. No traps are detected on the door.

"Alllllll-righty then, and now the lock," he muttered, removing his tools from his pack.

Disable Device (take 20): 20 + 10 = 30

Strang takes his time and begins to open the door.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Strang mutters to himself as he carefully picks the door, his full attention on the mechanism.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
'I guess they're not concerned about getting Ramne back?', she thought to herself, only to be met with ~Assent~ from that presence in the back of her mind. Curiously, as she waited for Strang to start on the lock, she mentally poked at the sense of "other" that was in her head, only to receive a somewhat annoyed ~!!?!~, and a sense of trying to deflect or block the poking. Oddly enough, she could not get a sense of exactly where it was, but then again, she had not been prone towards much deep introspection in her life.

The mental state that she was in must have had some sort of aid for her focus, because somehow, she heard something-- or multiple somethings-- behind the door, and looked outward from her mental exploration to push through the others, going to put her hand on Strang's shoulder to forestall his opening of the lock.

"Someones or somethings are in there", she breathed. "I could hear them moving."

Looking back over his shoulder to glare at whomever had touched him, his eyes widened in comprehension - and consternation - that there were enemies on the other side.

Whether the lock was finished or not, he put his tools away and made ready for the inevitable combat.

Bizzlemont waits for Strang to open the door, but he looks with alarm at Ama. The little gnome begins to say something in response, but he suddenly realizes why she whispers that. He nods to her and readies his spells.

Ama warns you as the door is unlocked that she detects footsteps inside. Nevertheless, the door is ripped open as Strang unlocks the door.

Initiative
Terion1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Strang1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23
Ama1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Bizzlemont1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12
Elgoron1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Mags1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Felgarr1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Enemy11d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Enemy21d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18

Your least favorite smell of stinking reptiles assaults your nose. Inside is completely dark, a well armored man has opened the door in banded mail.
DC13 FORT or sickened--position yourself by door.

Strang<<<<
Mags<<<<
Enemy 2
Rest of Party
Enemy 1

fort save: 1d20 ⇒ 16

That smell...not again!
Focus!

Elgoron covers his face for a moment, better able to withstand the olfactory assault this time, and takes a defensive posture.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

The wave of smell hits Bizzlemont hard and his face grimaces in horror at the stench. The little gnome goes green, and this time it's not due to any spell.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

Letting the odor wash over but not affect him, Strang backpedals at the sight of a heavily-armored man. Drawing his shortsword, he prepares to be attacked.

5' step, draw weapon, and Fight Defensively as a Standard Action

Status hp 19, AC 19, Fight Defensively

Fortitude Save: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Feeling sick to his stomach, Terion roars - "Damned stinker lizards, and their mothers and..." - he continues his tirade, until the retch makes him stop, at least momentarily.

1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

Felgarr growls at the reappearance of the foul reptiles. His dwarven guts are iron, as promised, and he steps to the fore to protect his nauseated allies.

He nods at Strang, seeing him use a wise tactic, and readies to assist.

Move in front of Am a, ready to trip any foe that moves adjacent to Strang.

Ready Trip, CE: 1d20 + 6 - 1 ⇒ (12) + 6 - 1 = 17

Getting a quick look into the room, Strang notices besides the high quality door, the entire room is finished, polished, and smooth. There is high quality furniture in the room too.

Maggie to go

Note to self: Hate troglodytes

Are we losing our players?

I'm still here...

Maggie delays

Strang prepares for action. From the back of the room arcane chanting is heard. A stone is throne at the floor just past Strang.
target square: 1d20 ⇒ 21d8 ⇒ 8
The stone ends short in Strang's square and explodes in a deafening roar.
Each creature within a 10-foot-radius spread (of Strang) must make a DC 15 Fortitude save or be deafened for 1 hour. A deafened creature, in addition to the obvious effects, takes a -4 penalty on initiative and has a 20% chance to miscast and lose any spell with a verbal component that it tries to cast.
spellcraft: 1d20 ⇒ 12

Gogo Strang

Strange has acted and enemy 2, all but strange up

Stumbling through his disgust, Terion steps forward and attacks the nearest creature.

Moving to U27, attacking Trog in V26

Attack: 1d20 + 8 - 1 - 2 ⇒ (18) + 8 - 1 - 2 = 23Damage: 1d6 + 6 - 2 ⇒ (4) + 6 - 2 = 8
Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 8 - 1 - 2 ⇒ (6) + 8 - 1 - 2 = 11 + Damage if crit: 1d6 + 6 - 2 ⇒ (1) + 6 - 2 = 5

Fortitude save DC 15 to avoid being Deafened: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

With a sudden 'boom' that was felt more than heard, Strang's world suddenly turned ominously silent.

Felgar's action taken above. The first roll was Fort. vs Stink. Terion, I think the 'fighter' on the map at U27 was the bad guy who opened the door.

Fort. Vs Bang: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13

Ack, my bad - have corrected it. If it is ok with GM Tribute, I would shift my action to attack that guy instead.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11
Fort Save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

Bizzlemont recoils and claps his hands over his ears as the sound overwhelms him. When he removes his hands, he can hear nothing. He desperately tries to shout to the others. "What happened! Can you hear me? I can't hear anything!" The little gnome steps back, afraid of what's happened.

Hurriedly, he begins casting a spell, though he can't even hear himself. He points at Terion. "Groeien groter!" he shouts.

Miscast chance, high good: 1d100 ⇒ 43
Cast Enlarge Person on Terion, full round spell.

She would have thought that having been assaulted by the smell before, she would have been used to it, but this time there was something about the smell that turned her stomach to the point where she had to fight down the reflex to try to purge whatever it was that she was smelling from her system. As a result, she was completely unprepared for the loud sound that went off so loud that she felt it more than she heard it. All she could hear was a ringing in her ears, and coupled with the stench, she was in pretty bad shape.

Caught off-guard, she reeled, not so far gone as to collapse, but she certainly felt like it would not be an unwelcome reaction. She felt a sense of ~!?!!~ from the presence in her head, and she could give it the barest amount of acknowledgement before she kept her eyes forward, realizing that they were going to have to end this quickly. There was no doubt that the sound that rendered her deaf also alerted everyone else that was not them, and that put them in a bad position.

Action: Reassess

fort save: 1d20 ⇒ 6

Focusing on fighting the stench leaves Elgoron's other senses woefully undefended; the thunderclap almost seems loud enough to go off inside his head. Clutching the sides of his skull is not enough; every inch of his ears feels the pain of millions of needles of sound. Even the other voice in his head couldn't form coherent thoughts from the pain.

With no way to reach anything in the room, and even LESS chance of his spells functioning properly, Elgoron withdraws to give the front line fighters room to move and his ears time to stop throbbing and bleeding.

Move 5 ft. to T-31

Fortitude vs. Bang: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Sigh...

Who is next?

Maggie will delay again
Terion hits the heavily armed fighter, and he grunts as Terion hurts him significantly. He swings wide in retaliation with a finely made battleaxe and steps back.
1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 111d8 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

Terion is standing in the doorway as a trog with a two handed sword advances.
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 222d6 + 3 ⇒ (4, 2) + 3 = 9

Another attack from beside him with a greataxe, but the closed door provides some cover. The greatsword strike deeply, but the axe is not even close.
1d20 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (2) + 3 - 4 = 11d12 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

The battle rages with neither side wishing to expose themselves by entering the narrow 5 foot portal. The second door has not unbarred from the inside yet, so provides cover to those attacked from behind it.

Maggie and Strang to go round 2

Order
rnd 2
Maggie+strang<<<<up
baddies in back
rest of party
trogs and fighter

Felgarr attempted to trip the trog, but his flail hung up on the door barely failing. cover applied to cmb

Dang!

Round 2

Covering Terion's back and deaf at the same time, Strang was unable to do very much. What he could do, though, was to at least try and help Terion.

Aid Another (melee): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10 Whew, barely! Terion gets +2 to his next Attack roll.

Maggie delays
The magic of slumber hits near the front of the group. Centered on Terion, it also effects the next closest 1felgarr2strang: 1d2 ⇒ 2 which is Strang.

Terion+Strang save vs Will DC14 or sleep

Will Save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

Terion roars in silence, as he feels they are being continuously assailed by magical energies - shrugging it away, and feeling his body grow to enormous proportions, he snickers, and proceeds in smashing the Trog in front of him.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18Damage: 1d8 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

MUAH!

Will DC 14: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

"Zzzzzzz..."

Seeing Strange suddenly collapse, and with Terion grown to giant size, Felgarr backs up and checks on the prone orc. He can find no wounds on the rogue, so he tries calling and shaking him awake. His ears are still ringing, so he cannot hear his own voice. He hopes it's loud enough.

"STRANG, CAN YOU HEAR ME? WAKE UP, ORC. NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE SLEEPING ON THE JOB. STRANG!"