Casimir drops his bow and moves to stand besides Varn, drawing his blade along the way. He assumes a battle-stance, ready to strike at anyone moving to attack him.
Malthir continues the attack on the plant creature...
Ricter is, of course, still dressed in his full plate - helm and all. It is his belief that a Hellknight should remain faceless except in the presence of allies and comrades. The librarian appears to be a learned man and will probably realize a Hellknight isn't going to be looking for Galtan revolutionary propaganda for bedtime reading, so Ricter will watch for signs of deception:
Round 14
Seeing the web attacks coming from the northern side of cave, Kip mumbles to nobody in particular, I said what this cave needed was some fire... He steps forward and to the side in an attempt to spot the incoming spiders. Undaunted by the fact he cannot make them out in the gloom, he determines their likely location, remembering the northern passage from his earlier scouting of the cave. At least good enough for his plan. He deftly removes a scroll from his backpack and begins reading the spell inscribed upon the parchment .
A small glowing bead, the color of molten metal, streaks from Kip upon completion of the task to a spot midway between the floor and roof of the cave as close to the gloom as he can manage from his vantage point. It streaks silently to its destination before erupting into an enormous bloom of fire and heat with a low chest rattling thump, momentarily drowning out the shriekers wailing and briefly lighting the northern bit of the cave with a flash of reddish-orange light.
Pass
Pass
The effectiveness of Kip's fireball is difficult to ascertain via sound, but in the brief glimpse of vision the flame provided it appeared he caught several of them in the blast. Much closer, Kalev can see with his darkvision that none of the spiders fell; although several are badly wounded.
** spoiler omitted **
I'm afraid the library is fairly new- I do not believe we possess the texts you seek, my lord. May I be of assistance in any other way?
Kalev swings at the shambling mound, hoping to take it out completely.
Slowed by the webbing entangling him and weakened by the centipedes poison, Kalev's strike lacks it usual strength and like Malthir's sword before it, thuds into the mass of vegetation without significantly harming it.
Maegar attempts to get close enough to the mound to attack it, weaving between Malthir and Kalev and tumbling into position to prevent an attack from the mound on approach. Striking moments after Kalev, the swordlord curses in dissatisfaction as his blade also fails to harm the plant. Malthir then launches his attack, his blade cleaving deeply into one of the shambling mound's limbs and actually harming it.
Acro
Attack (miss)
Fenna Shakes her head at her lost spell, walking quickly to the edge of the large cave while the dog takes the opportunity to bound into the cavern and growl into the darkness.
The nine spiders surge into the room and Casimir cuts down the first singed arachnid to reach him, impaling it before it can leap at him. Two more reach him and attack, attempting to lunge and bite him. Neither of them are able to get through his armour. Two more scutter along near and above Casimir on the wall to his west, while three approach the large-sized melee and the summoned dog via the ceiling. The dog also faces a charge and misses with his own bite, the spider biting the summoned creature on the neck with poisonous fangs. One of the spiders on the wall launches a jet of web at Fenna, just barely entangling the Oracle. The second spider there slings a web at Casimir but completely fails to fire into the melee. Despite Malthir's size, the two webs slung at him fail to get past the invisible barrier Fenna put over him and he continues unentangled. The summoned dog enjoys no such defence and is also entangled.
Miss vs Casimir
Miss vs Casimir
Hit vs Dog
Damage
Fort save DC14 for strength damage, cure 1 save.
VS Fenna
VS Casimir
VS Malthir
VS Malthir
VS Dog
Ordered Initiative-
???- 19
Shambling Mound- 18
Kip- 14
Kalev- 11
Maegar- 10
Malthir- 9
Fenna- 6
Casimir- 5a
Summoned Dog- 5b
Giant Spiders- 5c
Map, Map Features & Notes-
Active Effects-
Feather Step Casimir.
Feather Step Malthir.
Expeditious Retreat Casimir.
Shield of Faith Casimir.
Longstrider Kalev.
Lead Blade Kalev.
Grease Kalev.
Enlarge Malthir.
Enlarge Kalev.
Shield other Kalev/Fenna.
Bless all.
Inspire Courage all.
Keen sword Malthir.
Shield of Faith Malthir.
Shield of Faith Kalev.
Shield of Faith Varn.
Antitoxin Kalev.
Antitoxin Malthir.
Entangled Kalev.
Entangled Fenna.
Entangled Summoned Dog.
Irritated by his continual successful attacks, the shambling mound focuses both attacks on Malthir, increasing the ferocity of its attacks at the expense of accuracy. Its first limb slams into Malthir's head, a massive blow that would shatter a lesser mans neck. It attempts to use the momentum to grab onto Malthir and let its symbiotic swarm swarm over him, but once again fails to maintain the hold because of the grease. It swings for Malthir again but the Paladin takes the hit upon his shield, his enlarged arm shook by the very force of the impact.
Critical Threat (and a hit)
Damage to Malthir
CMB to Grab (fail due to Grease)
Unconfirmed Crit
Miss
If a search of the shelves doesn't turn up any works containing overly dangerous ideas, Ricter leaves without further comment and heads back to the keep. He spends several hours on the search, however, scanning the entirity of any volumes that look potentially chaotic.
Most of the other users of the library, if there are any, are unnerved by the silent, armoured hellknight. To one or two with an uncommon amount of spine, however, he looks slightly rediculous.
Round 15
Kip surveys the scene unfolding before him and wishes he could communicate with the rest of the Guardians. With that impossible due to the shrieker's wailing and with so many creatures attacking, he decides to try and slow some of them down. I just wish they were just a bit closer together...
Kip moves up to get within range and with a gesture and a word Kip tries to slow the Shambling Mound and some of the spiders.
Fail
Fail
Fail
Success
Fail
The shambling mound and the majority of the spiders targeted are visibly slowed by the effect
Kalev swings at the shambling mound again, Cleft seeming a blur of motion compared to the sluggish moves of the beast.
Malthir attempts to heal his wounds as a swift action and then try to finish the Shambler. If Kalev finishes it then I will 5ft and attack one or more of the spiders.
Potential crit:
Kalev manages to slash Cleft through the mound, wounding it further. He swings once more and Cleft gets momentarily stuck in the shambler. Baron Varn takes this opportunity to deftly deliver a vertical slash through the plant creature which finally finishes it off. The mass of plants and vegetation collapses, having been hacked mostly apart by sharp blades; and the centipede swarm that was using it as a host surges up from the corpse to attack.
Malthir will continue with his backup choice of actions above, 5 foot to 6,7 -c,-b and use the two attacks lised above to attack two spiders within reach.
Stooping to the east, Malthir cuts down two of the spiders attacking the summoned dog in two clean sweeps of his massive longsword.
** spoiler omitted **
You do indeed note that you are being given a particularily wide berth by the others. The library appears particularily popular and is actually very busy. You continue your search through the books but find little that alarms you. You do feel that the library is lacking a proper section on military tactics and doctrine. You've been idly looking through for about half an hour when a man standing at almost seven feet tall, dressed in hide armour made from some beast your not familiar with, approaches you. He is a little unkempt as though he struggles to sleep and remember to bathe more than once a month. His hair is ebony black and messy upon his head and his brown eyes seem lazy. A greataxe is strapped to his back by means of a weapon sheath. Approaching you, the man sticks out a hand and bellows-
Hail to ye! I'm Kundal; ain't you hot in all that armour? Swordhaven ain't too dangerous you know, not unless your looking for trouble.
Hiden beneath his helm, Ricter's lip curls in distaste. His supernatural sight had been trained on the books of the library on the off chance of a forgotten magical tome hiding on it's shelves. The discordant aura of chaos radiates faintly from Kundal.
"Besides, you're just as over equipped for a day of study"
The barbarian nods slowly.
True enough, true enough. All i'm saying is, you must be hot all day walking in that heavy armour. I understand you'll be heading to the castle later. Perhaps I shall see you there.
Kundal waits for a response from you but if none is forthcoming he leaves, a couple of books tucked under his arm.
Casimir slashes at one of the spiders, then nimbly moves backwards.
Attack rolls:
Ricter has no interest in sharing idle chatter with men like Kundal, especially if he'll be seeing him again in a matter of hours. Having finished his search of the library he leaves, waits until the agreed time and then returns to the castle.
Both Fenna and her summoned ally struggle ineffectively against the webs wrapped around them.
Fenna's escape artist check,
Summoned dog's escape artist check.
Casimir cuts a spiders head off before nimbly retreating. Predictably one of them follows and despite his entangling Kalev finds the time to chop one in half with a single sweep of Cleft. The two spiders on the wall continue crawling towards Fenna and Kip; one of them launching a web at the halfling after descending while the other skitters to the floor and tries to bite Fenna. Kip was not quite quick enough to move and is caught in the webs, while Fenna's armour prevents the spider finding purchase on her flesh. Slowed on the ceiling, the two spiders still there fling webs at Malthir, neither hitting the Paladin.
Kalev AOO.
Kip entangled by webs, view spoiler above
Miss VS Fenna
Miss VS Malthir
Miss VS Malthir
Ordered Initiative-
Giant Enraged Owlbear- 19
Centipede Swarm- 18
Kip- 14
Kalev- 11
Maegar- 10
Malthir- 9
Fenna- 6
Casimir- 5a
Summoned Dog- 5b
Giant Spiders- 5c
Map, Map Features & Notes-
Active Effects-
Feather Step Casimir.
Feather Step Malthir.
Expeditious Retreat Casimir.
Shield of Faith Casimir.
Longstrider Kalev.
Lead Blade Kalev.
Grease Kalev.
Enlarge Malthir.
Enlarge Kalev.
Shield other Kalev/Fenna.
Bless all.
Inspire Courage all.
Keen sword Malthir.
Shield of Faith Malthir.
Shield of Faith Kalev.
Shield of Faith Varn.
Antitoxin Kalev.
Antitoxin Malthir.
Entangled Kalev.
Entangled Fenna.
Entangled Summoned Dog.
Entangled Kip
With a mighty and bestial roar several tons of Owlbear comes surging out of the darkness to the east. The beast is monstrously large and bellowing in rage and the spiders on the ceiling above cringe in instinctive fear of the massive predator and look ready to flee. Reaching Malthir, the Owlbear's rage is channeled from fifteen feet with a massive backhand. Malthir is battered across the room by the blow, the large sized Paladin flying on a collision course with Casimir...
CMB vs CMD, Grease not applicable
Damage to Malthir
The swarm of centipedes washes over Kalev and Maegar, their weapons useless against the thousand or more centipedes crawling all over them.
Damage to Varn and Kalev
Varn's fort save.
Round 16
Kip struggles against the webbing, trying his best to slip out of its sticky grasp but fails to escape. His eyes dart from the spider approaching him, to the one attacking Fenna. Unable to help her himself, Kip calls out to Casimir, Casimir! Help Fenna! Although the webbing holds him fast, Kip is able to slip a hand into his backpack and remove another wand from within.
Kalev strains his muscles and tries to tear free from the web holding him, but is unable to tear free. Lord Varn, your sword, if you will?
Kalev moves five feet to the north west, to allow Fenna to restore him.
With swift and precise strikes that are elegant even for a Swordlord, Varn cuts Kalev free of the webbing and steps out of the swarm to the south.
Quite a monster hunt this is becoming... he mutters.
Malthir stands after the heavy blow. He takes a quick step back 5' away from the Owlbear (4,5, -c,-d) and channels positive energy over all of the Guardians.
Iomedae's light bless you all!
Screaming at the Owlbear to keep its attention on him, Come on you big feathered chicken, come and get me!
Malthir's massive bulk hits Casimir with a glancing blow before landing.
Seeing it's intended prey burst out of the darkness, the hound doubles it's efforts as it struggles to free itself, but even that proves insufficient. Fenna, though, ceases her attempts to escape the webs and instead reaches out to lay the now glowing tip of her wand against Kalev's arm, releasing the restorative energies into the enlarged warrior.
Casimir heeds Kip's call and rushes to the aid of the gnome oracle.
Casimir rushes across the cave and disembowels the spider threatening Fenna, its guts spilling across the cave tunnel as Casimir withdraws the blade. The two spiders on the ceiling flee northwards on the ceiling in the wake of the massive Owlbear while the one left in the tunnel flees the cave via the tunnel.
Ordered Initiative-
Giant Enraged Owlbear- 19
Centipede Swarm- 18
Kip- 14
Kalev- 11
Maegar- 10
Malthir- 9
Fenna- 6
Casimir- 5a
Summoned Dog- 5b
Giant Spiders- 5c
Map, Map Features & Notes-
Active Effects-
The remaining shrieker has now stopped its wailing.
Feather Step Casimir.
Feather Step Malthir.
Expeditious Retreat Casimir.
Shield of Faith Casimir.
Longstrider Kalev.
Lead Blade Kalev.
Grease Kalev.
Enlarge Malthir.
Enlarge Kalev.
Shield other Kalev/Fenna.
Bless all.
Inspire Courage all.
Keen sword Malthir.
Shield of Faith Malthir.
Shield of Faith Kalev.
Shield of Faith Varn.
Antitoxin Kalev.
Antitoxin Malthir.
Entangled Fenna.
Entangled Summoned Dog.
Entangled Kip
The massive Owlbear hoots in rage, not understanding Malthir's words but apparently even the sound of his voice enraging it. Having taken some measure of Malthir's defences, he moves over and lashes out with a massive claw, swinging with even more rage and power.
You notice that the claw the Owlbear swings with appears to be wearing a ring made of some natural material.
Malthir's full plate is torn into like paper by the huge claws, ripping through metal, magical enhancement and flesh alike. The Owlbear attempts to drag Malthir over to him using the clawhold he has in his flesh and full plate for leverage.
Although Malthir is the size of an Ogre, he is easily dragged fifteen feet over to the Owlbear, which begins to grapple him; a titanic behemoth of flesh and muscle wrestling against a smaller titan of iron. Meanwhile, the swarm moves to encompass Fenna, Kalev and Casimir, choosng the targets that are most bunched up together. Hundreds of centipedes swarm over the trio, and dozens upon dozens of tiny bites begin to add up on their flesh.
Round 17
Kip watches with equal relief as Casimir kills the spider attacking Fenna and as the spider menacing him turns and flees. His relief is short lived as he sees the centipedes swarm over his friends and the Owlbear grab onto Malthir. Kip's mind races as he tries to figure out how best to help. He decides to try and help Malthir first, and even the odds a little. He drops his wand of Magic Missle, and moves a little closer to bring himself in range . With a word and a gesture, Kip casts a spell to sap the Owlbears strength, while struggling against the webbing and his own armor. A sickly grey ray springs from Kip outstretched hand and strikes the Owlbear!
Kip fires a ray underneath Kalev's outstretched arm, through the swarm and over Malthir's shoulder- striking the Owlbear in the beak. The negative energy from the spell works to sap the beast's strength, but it manages to resist its effects- somewhat. Its muscles are visibly sapped of some of their strength, just as Malthir shrinks back to normal size.
Success, 4 str damage
Returning to the castle, you are welcomed back by Kesten Garess, who gives you a brief tour of it and shows you the chambers that have been prepared for you in the northern wing of the castle. Officials, clergy and other sub-leaders of the city have begun to arrive in the castle for dinner and servants scurry around you everywhere you go. Kesten makes idle chatter about the city and castle as you are led to a grand dining hall, set before the throne. Kesten invites you to take a seat with the other Statkari so he can introduce you and does so. You meet-
Vaysh Triesente, Baroness of Kardas and a beautiful woman who appears humble despite the throne she commands. You have heard of her as you travelled into Kardas and she is also a Sorceress of note and quite a songbird. She appears to be taking careful measure of you as the dinner progresses, saying little but smiling, watching and listening carefully.
Jhod Kavken, a middle aged, sombre Taldan man who is apparently the high priest of Kardas and a cleric of Erastil. He is polite and straight talking, asking what your plans in Kardas are once introductions have been made.
'Chief' Sootscales, an overweight, dark-skinned kobold who has a deadly reputation despite his rotundness. He serves as the kingdom's 'Royal Assassin', a duty he tells you he has only had to exercise to its full intent on one occassion.
Oleg, a stressed, bald man in charge of the Treasury and the nation's economic well-being. He keeps out of most of the conversations at the table, only talking when he feels he has something of merit to say.
Akiros, Warden of the realm. He has the smooth movements and quick reflexes of a born warrior and seems to be sizing you up for a threat constantly even as you converse with each other. Sat at his side is Kundal, his assistant that you met in the library.
The three topics on the Statkari's lips throughout the dinner are-
1. You are asked to explain and elaborate your intentions in Kardas, as well as answer Sootscales continual questions about the Hellknight organisation, its structure and your place in it.
2. The devastation the giant Owlbear caused and the efforts to help and lead the people through the crisis.
3. Discussing the intentions of Baron Varn, the visitor that came to Kardas just before the Owlbear attack. The Statkari mostly seem to think he means no harm.
"The owlbear is wearing a ring of some sorts. Doesn't seem to be metal. Everyone, close and attack while it is distracted with Malthir - we have to bring it down fast."
Malthir call upon Iomedae's blessing to heal him before proceeding to attack the beast full out hacking and bashing at the beast as it claws him to death!