Can You Hear The People Sing? (Hell's Rebels)

Game Master Paladin of Baha-who?

. No 5ft steps out of the boat, though.

But I wanted to go swimming in the lovely sewer water. ;)

Oops--I guess I wasn't clear enough. Jessi took the first shot, regardless of the range. Now's she's got 2 coins left to use from closer range.

Jessibel's coin twinkles with reflected light as it flies past the moving mushroom and embeds itself into one of the sessile fungi beyond.

The boat continues its slowed motion, bringing the party closer to the fungus. It also approaches, with scrambling, leg-like roots carrying it along to the corner of the ledge on which it has grown. The tendrils holding the glowing crossbow bolt drop it into the sewer channel, the light quickly becoming a dull glow under the surface of the murky swill. The fungus waves its tentacles in the direction of the boat, as if eager to seize its prey.

Surprised no one but Jessibel has tried a knowledge (nature) on this yet...

Kiri takes the opportunity for a shot, leaning around Jessibel and sending a blast of air at the creature. It hits it dead on, crushing some of the latticework of the cap and producing more of the oozing purple liquid.

Domitius forgoes slowing the boat further, pulling out a dagger and studying the fungal creature carefully, looking for weak spots. Move action to draw dagger, standard as move to study.

Leora
Davina
Jessibel
Fungus
Kiri (Initiative changed due to readied action)
Domitius

If I had nature I'd try.

Davina reloads her cross bow and fires it again at the fungus. Her bolt goes wild.

"Anyone have any idea what that thing is? I assume we should be killing it, but I don't know for sure.

Crossbow Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 41d8 ⇒ 7

"I dunno what it is, but I don't want it grabbing us and the prisoners when we come back through here!"

Leora reloads her crossbow and aims it towards the weird plant thing.

light crossbow attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
dmg: 1d8 ⇒ 3

Jessi aims her second coin, trying her best to remain calm.

"BLAM!" she shouts and the second coin shoots at the fungus foe.

coin shot (silver) ranged touch: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 for bludgeoning, piercing, silver damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 (Ranged touch; up to 20 ft.)

Exact same rolls as last round.

Davina's bolt flies past the fungus, while Leora's hits its central stalk, but is deflected by a thick, woody covering. Jessibel's magic coin hits it dead on, however, causing further purple ichor to drip from its wounds.

The boat drifts forward, unfortunately bringing Jessibel into range of the long tendrils. The longest four lash forward, striking at her, but the agile bardess manages to use her buckler to block two of them, takes one on the thick leather breastplate of her armor, and ducks the last one entirely.

"Jessibel!" Domitius exclaims in alarm when he sees her attacked, but breathes in relief when she escapes harm.

Kiri
Domitius
Leora
Davina
Jessibel
Boat (added so it's clear when the boat moves)
Fungus

Taking aim at the...thing attacking them Kiri gathered the air and sent in rushing in the plant thing's direction. The boat rocked at the force of the air's passing as it slammed into the fungus.

air blast w/ pbs and bless: 1d20 + 4 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 4 + 1 + 1 = 151d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 1 = 8

"Present!" Jessi calls back in reply to Dom's shout...though she realizes she may not be so for long if the tendrils of the fungus monster get a hold on her.

"Maybe I can distract it and occupy its attention while you guys kill it?" the girl offers a bit uncertainly.

Kiri's blast further crushes the fungus's cap, resulting in further tentacles lashing the air furiously. It looks pretty damaged now.

Domitius
Leora
Davina
Jessibel
Boat
Fungus
Kiri

'Let's get past it and shoot back toward the thing."

Davina fires again with her crossbow.

Crossbow: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 81d8 ⇒ 7

"Down, damn plant!" With a defiant snarl, Domitius hacks away at the fungus one-handed, the other hand still holding the boat's tiller as he steers it within arm's reach.

A tiller's a boat thing, right? It's been a while... /shrug Modifiers in effect right now are +1 from bless, and the +1 circumstance bonus from GM-said-so.

Falcata attack: 1d20 + 5 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 5 + 1 + 1 = 15
Falcata damage: 1d8 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 6 + 1 = 12

Using Power Attack means Shield of Blades will up my AC to 18 until next turn. I'd try and ID it, but I have no Knowledge (nature), so much for that.

Our characters live in a city. I guess we all thought there would be no nature in said city. It's on the list for next level. Pretty soon I'll get knowledge Investigator and Jesse should be getting knowledge bard soon, right?

You're not in range of the fungus, but if you use a move action to steer the boat towards the ledge, you can use your standard to ready an attack after the boat gets close enough, and perform the attack as stated. That attack will take place after the other characters' actions.

Leora
Davina: shoots and misses
Jessibel (Keep in mind that ranged attacks provoke!)
Boat
Domitius: readied attack happens here
Fungus
Kiri

"You've got this, Jessi!" Leora says encouragingly as she notices her friend's hesitation and gives her a pat on the shoulder. Not that her crossbow was doing much good, and she wasn't so sure about jumping out of the boat to get closer about the thing, not with her armor on.

"Would any of that alchemy-fire-stuff that Davina made work against it?" she asks, checking her pockets to see if she still had the vial that Davina gave her a few days ago.

Casting touch of good on Jessi, +1 sacred bonus on attack rolls, skill checks, ability checks, and saving throws for 1 round.

Bless cast on entire party: +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and on saving throws against fear effects. 17/20 rounds remaining.

Jessi will delay until after Dom steers the boat into melee range.

Dom's steering brings the boat close to the north side of the channel, and once he's close enough, brings his falcata down in a powerful chop, cutting off several smaller tendrils and a large part of the fungus's cap. Purple liquid splatters all over. Jessibel sees an opening and stabs her rapier into the center of the central stalk. The fungus's tendrils shudder, then collapse, and its movement ceases.

Combat over!

If you want to disembark from the boat onto the fungus-covered ledge, you can. Otherwise, the remainder of the trip back to the Wasp Nest is uneventful.

Rexus is waiting to greet you and help you tie up the boat to the dock.

"Well done. Glad to see you made it safely."

If you describe the thing you fought, he will think for a moment, and say that it sounds like a Violet Fungus, a type of animate carnivorous plant that he vaguely remembers reading about, but can't recall much about.

"I've managed to decode another of these documents," Rexus reports. "This one tells us that the Silver Ravens were established in 4606 AR in the wake of the chaos that swept over Cheliax after Aroden’s death to help protect the city of Kintargo from oppression. Friends, I could really use any other linguistic assistance you might be able to provide."

Anyone able to can make another Linguistics check to aid Rexus for this week. Davina can of course use Inspiration for this check.

Davina will crawl out of the boat and look around the ledge just because.

At the Nest

"I'll be happy to help you work on the documents Rexus." As she heads to where the documents are being kept she says, "I'm glad we took care of the plant. Carnivorous isn't the kind of plant you'd want to leave when we need to use that path."

Linguistics: 1d20 + 8 + 1d6 ⇒ (5) + 8 + (4) = 17

Does anyone else have linguistics?

"Friends, I could really use any other linguistic assistance you might be able to provide."

Does anyone else have linguistics?

Dom has a single rank, I might be able to Aid Another. Shall I roll...?

Dom shrugs a bit. "If you need another pair of eyes on that stuff, I could help out."

Worth trying, Davina's roll is not quite enough.

-Posted with Wayfinder

In the Boat: Fungus Alcove

When Davina returns from her exploration of the fungus shelf, Jessibel sings one of her Presto-Cleano cantrips to clean the woman. She insists on cleaning the soles of Davina's boots, saying, "Can't have you tracking carnivorous fungus spores back to the Nest, now can we?"

It's difficult to ascertain if the bard's joking or not because Jessi looks like she's not 100% sure herself.

Didn't sink any ranks into Linguistics for Jessi.

Linguistics: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10

Well, I at least did enough to give Rexus a +2, I guess.

Domitius scans over several pages of both the source and translation documents. "When I was little, my tribe's shaman made me learn Draconic this way, translatin' stuff back and forth between that and Orcish." He notes a spot on one of the source pages. "I think you mighta lost track of your spot in the original right there, missed a line or two, maybe...?"

Kiri found herself uninterested in the fungus ledge but it seemed her apprentice wasn't. She watched carefully for Jessibel to either make it back alive or get eaten by the fungus. As they left the ledge and made their way back to the Nest the young strix found herself impatient but relieved that they were one step closer to rescuing her father. As the evening moved along and help with the translation was requested Kiri rose and went along with them to help. Her intimate knowledge of the strix language was helpful before and likely would be again.

You can add whatever you feel my helping adds. No linguistics but I do speak strix.

Davina finds some old bones of animals apparently killed and absorbed by the fungus, but nothing worth keeping.

Later, she works hard on the decoding, but the sense of the document she is working on eludes her.

OK, you've got your boat, your forged documents, your safe house, your scrolls and wands. What's your next move?

Back at the Nest, Jessibel and Sabrina are engaged in another of their deep intellectual arguments. "Do not!" Jessi growls while Sabrina counters with "Do so!" After trading those two-word phrases four more times, Jessibel snaps, "That's it! You're not coming with us when we break out Kiri's dad!"

"Am so!" Sabrina retorts before uttering a cruel laugh. "You don't get to decide such things! Mrs. Eradon's the leader here, and she likes me!"

"Whatever!" Jessi nearly shrieks. Then she stomps away from her frenemy to seek out Davina.

"Have you given any more thought to our rescue mission at the salt works?" she asks the older, wiser woman. "I was thinking that when we get there, we should break into two teams--the infiltration team and the stealthy back-up unit. I think the first team should consist of Dom, Leora, and either yourself or me. Kiri would lead the stealth/back-up team with Sabrina, Lucius, and whichever one of us isn't on Team One. Speaking of Lucius--have you seen him around lately? I don't think I've seen him since I mentioned hearing about a bunch of grisly murders in the Devil's Nursery section of town...I think it may be in Redroof. You don't suppose he has friends there and went off on his own, do you?"

"And how will we be getting 15-16 people to the safe house? Half in the boat via the sewers and maybe a stealth team that makes its way through the streets?"

The safe house is only a few blocks away from the salt works. The chances of meeting a dottari patrol while escorting the prisoners there is pretty low, based on what you've determined. Since the guards at the salt works aren't dottari, you don't have to worry about a group of them coming to change shifts or anything.

Davina listens to Jessibel with interest. That's not a bad idea breaking off into two groups one not far behind the other.

"No I haven't seen Lucius in a while. I hope he didn't go off on his own. I was going to let him know that Clenchjaw's needs a bouncer. Domitius doesn't need a job he's my new gardener." she grins.

"Two groups doesn't sound like a bad idea. We're going with the question the prisoner plan to get in and check things out, correct? As far as which one of us is with the front group, you are better at bluffing than I am. I'm more a diplomat than a li..er..fibber. So it would be you, Leora and Domitius in the first group, and Kiri, Lucius and myself in the second along with Sabrina if she decides to join us. I think we're ready. Sneaking through the streets shouldn't be too hard. The house is only a few blocks away from the Saltworks. All we have to do is make it those few blocks undetected."

I'm ready. I tried to get to a light load, but I can't if we're going to be out overnight. I need my alchemy crafting kit to make my extracts at the safe house the next day. I made Long Arm and Comprehend Languages as my two extracts for this day.

As the night of the rescue attempt finally arrives, Jessibel grows quiet, still bothered by all the little things that might go wrong. She and Sabrina cease their bickering long enough to help one another don their red-and-black Thrunesque armor. Figuring that Dom isn't going to forego his beloved falcata for a Queensman's more traditional light mace, Jessi decides to stick with her rapier and buckler while carrying out the ruse.

She practices changing her voice a bit to make it less recognizable and works on sprinkling a few words in Infernal into her speech to seem more 'loyalist.'

"So, what's the plan for the boat once we get across the river?" she asks the others. "Take it into a sewer nearby and hide it, hoping no one will find it? Or do some of us return to it after the breakout and row it under the streets to the safe house?"

"Bring it under the streets to the safe house. Who knows there may be injured that need the ride.", Davina says sounding slightly distracted. She unpacks and repacks the small backpack she will be carrying looking more and more serious. No more playing around with this rebellion. If this works.. even if it doesn't work..we'll have Thrune's attention. She glances at Kiri. I hope her Papa is ok. If he isn't...she isn't known for her self control. Shelyn help us this night.

Before the group leaves from the Wasp's Nest, Leora offers a glass of "liquid courage" to anyone who would like some, along with a short prayer. "Keep us, our families, and our friends safe. And down with Thrune! "

Leora is good to go. I'll be pretty busy tomorrow, so wanted to post even though we are wrapping up a few questions.

Dom raises a glass to Leora's toast/prayer. "Liberty and justice for all, and any who say otherwise can taste our steel!" He takes a long swig of the whiskey, and grimaces a bit as the liquid goes down. Wow, that must be an acquired taste. The half-orc checks his blades, and yet again notes the improved mobility the lighter armor is allowing him. It's nice, just wish I didn't feel almost naked in comparison to my mail...

GM, I'll note the change to my AC and check penalties on my sheet for the duration of my time dressed in the lighter armor.

Is the plan to take the rowboat into the sewers on the Argo Isle side of the city and get it as close to the safe house as possible, then?

Is the plan to take the rowboat into the sewers on the Argo Isle side of the city and get it as close to the safe house as possible, then?

I believe the plan is to take the rowboat to the Argo Isles sewers near the salt works and then, after the breakout, for half the heroes/escapees to take the boat through the Argo Isle sewers to the safe house (or close to it). The other half will go to the safe house on foot.

I believe the plan is to take the rowboat to the Argo Isles sewers near the salt works and then, after the breakout, for half the heroes/escapees to take the boat through the Argo Isle sewers to the safe house (or close to it). The other half will go to the safe house on foot.

That's my understanding of it, too.

With the plans in place and the divisions made Kiri was anxious to get on the move, she wanted to get her papa back...now. Still, she restrained her impatience, "Two groups is a good idea, smaller groups mean attracting less attention." As it was mentioned sending Jessi separate from her Kiri was a bit uneasy, her apprentice wasn't known for thinking things through very well and needed watching. Still, the fact that Domitus was with her was relief enough she supposed. She looked at the half-orc and stated simply, "Keep my apprentice out of trouble Domitus, even if you have to tie her up and gag her to do it." She passed on the alcohol being passed around preferring to keep a clear head for the work to come.

Davina drinks the toast. "To a successful mission, and a black eye on Thrune. May all our gods help us today."

I'm going to take a few days off posting. Sorry for this but I am swamped at work and need to catch up. I'll be back this weekend.

Moonday, 8 Calistril, 4716 AR

Finally, the night of the new moon arrives, and the Silver Ravens set off through the sewers. Davina, Domitius, Jessibel, Kiri, Leora, and Sabrina are ready. Laria and Rexus wish them luck. Lucius has been scarce lately, so they do not wait for him to show up when he is not there at the appointed hour.

The trip through the sewers of the Villegre district is uneventful, as is the careful journey around the bluff on which Castle Kintargo stands. When they reach the sewer entrance at the Old Kintargo Harbor, though, the way is blocked by large piles of debris that allow water to flow but prevent the boat from continuing. Domitius begins poking at the matted sticks, leaves, and garbage, trying to dislodge it enough to pass. Suddenly his oar breaks through a large mass and a swarm of rats pours out of the nest he disturbed, landing in the boat and beginning to scratch and nip at him and Davina.

Init order:
Jessibel
Davina
Sabrina
Rat Swarm
Kiri
Leora
Domitius

Map is updated. I expect to be reusing this map for all sewer encounters. Davina can act fully, as she has not yet taken damage from the swarm, and is therefore not subject to distraction.

"Rats. I hate rats." She pulls out an Alchemist's fire and flings it at the far edge of the rat swarm.

Throw Alchemist Fire Into Melee: 1d20 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (16) + 3 - 4 = 151d6 ⇒ 3

I hit Dom and myself. Hopefully the boat doesn't catch on fire. Maybe this was a bad idea. Edit:I put a white box in the square I through the fire into.

Alchemist's fire doesn't describe setting anything on fire except what you hit with a direct attack, so I'll say unless you aimed it at the boat and hit it, it wouldn't set it on fire.

Many of the rats catch on fire as Davina expertly tosses a bottle into the thickest mass of them. Though she, Dom, and the boat are singed by it, the rats clearly take the most damage, as several charred rat corpses fall to the bottom of the boat or overboard, and other rats, their fur on fire, scramble about in a panic.

As a reminder about the swarm rules, rats are tiny creatures, and swarms made up of tiny creatures can still take damage from weapons. Blunt weapons do normal damage, and piercing and slashing weapons do half. They are not subject to critical hits or flanking, and cannot be targeted with spells or effects that target a single creature. I will rule that Kiri's blasts can damage the swarm because they function like a ranged bludgeoning weapon.

I forgot that sunday is Jessibel's day when she doesn't have internet access.

Jessibel starts singing, giving everyone a boost to their morale and competence.

Sabrina can't see a way to get at the rats, so she just hangs back for now.

Davina and Domitius are set upon by the rats, getting scratched and bitten. 1 damage to Davina, 2 damage to Dom. Both must make a DC 12 Fortitude save against distraction, or be nauseated.

Init order:
Kiri
Leora
Domitius
Jessibel
Davina
Sabrina
Rat Swarm

These rats were far too close for comfort as far as Kiri was concerned. She was just glad she had enough space to send a blast of air into them because she knew that once they were on top of her that she wouldn't be able to focus enough to bring the winds to bear. She pulled the winds together grabbing as much as she could manage and then sent the mass of air into the rats like a sledge hammer. She was then surprised that even more air came slamming in than expected, she couldn't understand why it had happened but she certainly wasn't going to complain any as the effects were devastating.

Air Blast w/ pbs: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 4 + 1 = 251d6 + 1 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 3 + 1 = 9

Air Blast w/ pbs confir?: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 4 + 1 = 201d6 + 1 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 3 = 8

"Eugh! Gross! " Leora exclaims as she gets a close up view of the rats crawling all over Davina and Dom and biting them, since they were sitting in front of her in the boat.

"Davina, take heart! Nothing so small as rats will stop us! " Leora says, laying an encouraging hand on Davina's shoulder and trying not to touch any of the rats.

Casting touch of good on Davina, +1 sacred bonus on attack rolls, skill checks, ability checks, and saving throws for 1 round

A swarm doesn't threaten so no concentration check needed.

Jessi keeps her inspirational song going and readies an attack should the swarm of rats surge within range of her rapier.

Fort Save w/ Touch of Good: 1d20 + 0 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 0 + 1 = 19

Davina manages to avoid getting distracted. "Filthy creatures. Get away." she yells as she pulls out her sap and starts swinging.

Sap Swing with touch of good: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 1 = 81d6 ⇒ 4

Kiri's blast is extremely effective: the concentrated burst of air picks up dozens of rats and tosses them out of the boat, where they hit walls with muffled thuds or land in the water with murky splashes. The other Ravens are able to dispatch or drive away the remaining rats with ease.

"Ugh, how horrible!" Sabrina says as she wipes rat blood off her rapier. "Are you two alright?" she asks Davina and Domitius.

Careful prodding with oars releases the blockage and the team is able to continue their movement under the streets to their target.

Glad that little random encounter didn't take too much time. How are you going to approach the Salt Works? I've switched the map to that location now.

How are you going to approach the Salt Works?

I'll suggest that after leaving the boat just inside a sewer tunnel, we hook around some nearby buildings and approach the salt works from the east (in case there's some sort of lookout, it'll appear that we entered through the salt gate, hopefully keeping the boat a secret).

Then Jessi, Dom, and Leora approach to pull their 'Queensmen come to interview the strix prisoner' scam. The others can hide nearby (maybe around the corner or behind the little 'nub' in the side of the building).

Before approaching, Jessi will use prestidigitation to color her hair red and cover over the orange in her magic boots. She'll also trace a pale line over her left eye to (hopefully) give the appearance of an old scar. If anyone else needs some presdisguisetation from Jessi, just let me know.

Lastly, I'll suggest that Leora channel positive energy to heal up at least some of the damage caused by the rat swarm so we'll be at or near full power when we try the rescue.

"Is everybody alright? Dom, Davina, did any of the rats bite you? They carry all sorts of nasty diseases running through these gross sewers. Cayden Cailen, mend our wounds! " Leora channels energy to heal the group.

channel positive: 1d6 ⇒ 1

As Jessibel prepares herself for the visit to the Salt Works, Leora asks "Can you please make my shield black and red again, to match this Thrune armor I'm wearing? Could you use that spell to change the color of my hair too? "

Leora should be good to go, but was wanting to see the result of Dom's fort save to see if he needed more healing. Tonight I will adjust Leora's stats since she is wearing the Thrune armor.

"Ooh--good idea about coloring our shields!" Jessi says to Leora. She then uses her magic to color the borders of their shields black and the interior sections red. After asking her drinking buddy what color hair she'd like, she turns to Dom and giggles. "Want me to put some highlights in your hair?"