Between a long swing of Khun-Duhn's vicious polearm and a deft slash of Lord Vincent's blade, the mudman they faced together was swiftly cut apart. To the north, three mudmen remained, although the one that had hurled itself at Lord Vincent was surely already re-forming...
Round 3-
Ordered Initiative-
Marcus- 27
Ooze Mephits- 25
Kirilarien- 24
Zanzu- 18
Barak- 18
Mudmen- 15
Durin- 14
Lord Vincent- 13
Khun-Duhn- 9
Arachiel- 6
Active Effects-
Zanzu nauseated for five rounds upon leaving Stinking Cloud.
Marcus nauseated for two rounds upon leaving Stinking Cloud.
Map-
Notes-
Action-
Kirilarien and Barak are up (the latter is in melee).
Round 3
As the cloud dissipates, it reveals a tengu, its beak open wide and its tongue lolling out to the side. Every few seconds his stomach contracts, causing him to bend double in pain. He drops his bag and starts to search through.
"By my beard and ball sack. How many of these bleeding things are there?" Barak exclaims as he pumps another volley at the mud men.
Barak fired indiscriminately at the three targets, once again dodging the muddy fists of his assailant as he did so. While all three bolts hit the three visible mudmen, none of them were destroyed by the magical bolts.
To the south, the mudman that had hurled itself at Lord Vincent re-formed to the direct south of his position, while the three mudmen to the north pressed the attack. Barak was punched in the gut and exposed to the toxic mud that splashed over him as the thing made contact, while the other two mudmen hurled globs at Durin. The Dwarf destroyed one of them and the other mudman threw too wide as he swung his hammer; missing him completely. The skirmish was close to ending, with only light wounds on the group despite their precarious situation as the battle began.
Durin swings again at the mudmen that remain...
Round Three:
Khun-duhn slashes his enchanted horsechopper at the mudman re-forming next to Lord Vincent.
Zanzu searches through his bag between the convulsions, looking for his grappling iron.
With a few final blows, the group slew the last of the mudmen. Durin in particular was panting for breath in exertion from the furious skirmish, while Marcus and Zanzu recovered from nausea. Barak had taken some nasty bruises while Khun-Duhn and Lord Vincent were unscathed.
Khun-duhn flicks his horsechopper to remove the worst of the mud from the blade. "Who's wounded?" he growls as the companions regroup.
Zanzu looks to the floor, "Sorry boys, that cloud really got to me. Lets go up top and take stock, see what else is up there. What were they doing here? I mean, it didn't make much sense, unless they were the outer guard post, in which case we need to be much more careful as we go on from here." The tengu starts to get a grappling hook for his bag and a rope, with his nimble fingers
Let's press on... while I am still large...
Khun-duhn examines his three wounded companions and offers prayers to Muir to mend their damage.
"Let's push on before more of those mudmen form," Khun-duhn growls.
After Khun-duhn's appreciated prayers, and catching his breath, Durin offers to boost Zanzu out of the trench... seeing as how it is only a foot and a half over his head at his current height.
Durin then proceeds to continue slogging along in the trench in the direction of the outpost...
Marcus coughes the last of the gas from his lungs. Aye let's get on quickly, that last mephit may be providing warning ahead. The mudmen seem like some sort of elemental, though summoned or spontaneously generated remains to be seen. I'll send Kiri flying above the trench line to keep an eye on things above. The entrance should be on this level somewhere, a door or gate maybe.
Lord vincent will move to -h 7 and strike at the mudman currently in combat with Durin.
attack:
crit threat:
damage:
+2 in Desert (Favoured Terrain)
The group continued to move forward, but Zanzu and Barak noticed a suspicious looking lump in the mud as they pushed on through the trench. Calling a halt to investigate, they scraped away enough mud to reveal the well-preserved body of a halfling in padded armour- likely an adventurer, judging from both his location, the quality of his shortspear and armour and his gear- 50 feet of silk rope, a waterskin and a set of masterwork thieves tools; the latter items stashed inside his backpack.
Ahead, the mist shifted enough to make out a dugout shelter, further into the trench a short distance ahead.
A sagging wooden roof extends from the top of the trench over a dugout that has been cut in its bank. The overhanging roof covers about half of the trench providing a somewhat dry area for the soldiers of the long ago war. The walls of the dugout have been cut into shelves, most likely sleeping nooks, and the broken remnants of crude camp chairs and tables still rest on the earthen floor. The tattered edges of a wall map still hang listlessly from its iron tacks, and a few shreds of netting once used to hold supplies and equipment still dangle from the walls and rafters overhead. Where the roof extends over the trench, the ground is dry, but beyond its cover the trench floor is its typical morass of muck.
Durin ducks to peer into the shelter. Seeing nothing of interest to him, he returns his focus upon the trench and the fortress ahead...
After looking at the tools and rope, Zanzu has no option them to confiscate them and give them a good home.
"Now don't you go tramping on, just when we found some good old fashioned shelter. Let's at least see if its safe and dry. It's the closest thing to 'home' we've seen since we came out this way." clucks Zanzu. He looks in the shelter, and enters, peering around, looking for any traps or hidden dangers.
Zanzu searched the dugout area carefully and with great precision while the group waited. In a short time, Zanzu had located the only item of worth left in the ancient shelter- in one of the makeshift shelves, an enterprising soldier of the Army of Light had apparently dug out a hidden compartment into the trench wall. Digging inside, Zanzu produced an extremely well-preserved longsword from the stash.
The master-crafted, double-edged longsword was made of sharp steel with a particularly large hilt. While faded and currently muddy, the hilt was gold-etched and the pommel bore an exquisite engraving- a Elven warrior, mounted upon a griffon; the wind in his hair as his mount flew through the air. In one hand, the Elf bore a longsword and in the other, he clutched a small Harp. The blade itself had fine elven script engraved into along it. The sword clearly saw use in the war; while well-maintained the blade bore marks and scratches from parries and strikes.
Durin grows more and more impatient as Zanzu spends time meticulously searching the shelter. When the triumphant Tengu emerges with the sword in his hand Durin grumbles, That's wonderful but can we get a move on? We will have time enough to muck about looking for lost "treasures" after we have dealt with the majority of the nasties in this area. I will not be this size forever. We should take advantage of it while we can...
As an afterthought he adds, Who knows who, or what, that ooze mephit might have went to warn of our presence!
Rather put out, Zanzu grumbles under his breath, "Well I bet they wouldn't have thanked me if we left searching here and found ourselves surrounded by an enemy attacking our rear, whilst we dealt with whatever lies ahead. I'll have a proper look at the sword when they give me some peace from this relentless forward march." Zanzu quickly follows Durin forward.
The group moved on from the dugout shelter and were approaching the point at which the outpost itself was constructed over the trench itself; making a tunnel of sorts which the group would traverse beneath to reach the door Marcus believed lay on the other side.
As the group approached the tunnel, they noted that the mud was becoming deeper and thicker. It boiled and bubbled around their legs. While disturbing, the mud was not hot or harmful; other than the fact that it greatly impeded movement. The mud reached an impressive height of four feet, leaving most of the group near to waist deep in it. The foul odour of swamp gas permeated the air.
The group was not caught off-guard this time, when four more mud-men formed themselves silently in front and behind them; but stepping out from the mist and shadowed tunnel before them was a strange skeletal undead- tangled entrails clinging to its torso. These entrails snaked through its ribcage, up to its neck and lolled out of its vacant skull, forming a horrific, claw-like tongue that seemed to be fully under its control.
Wordlessly, the attackers in the trench moved to attack...
(Favoured Terrain Desert +2)
Round 1-
Ordered Initiative-
Marcus- 28
Tongued Undead- 21
Khun-Duhn- 21
Arachiel- 21
Kirilarien- 18
Durin- 18
Zanzu- 14
Barak- 7
Lord Vincent (DMPC)- 7
Mudmen- 4
Active Effects-
Map-
Notes-
Action-
Marcus gasped in worry, apparently recognising the Undead before them.
A Mohrg... Beware its vile, paralysing "tongue" and kill it quickly! he advised as he cast out a spell, creating tendrils of insubstantial positive energy that wound through the skeleton's ribcage. These tendrils seemed to try to wrap the foul skeleton and lash it in place, but the Mohrg slipped free just before the tendrils had formed a knot, much to Marcus' chagrin.
Cursing the strong will of the Mohrg and eyeing it moving through the mud with eerie ease, Marcus muttered-
Damnation... This is likely the place it died, assaulting the outpost... The terrain will bend before it...
The Mohrg darted forward through the mud and its vile tongue licked up through the air to caress Durin's face, before he could bring his weapon to bear. The Dwarf immediately felt his limbs tighten up but resisted the onset of paralysis, the rage filling up within him at the disgusting abomination and its foul act.
Darting back, the Mohrg crouched low into the mud as it retreated from Durin and the creature's incredible stealth made it difficult to spot in the mud...
+2 in Desert (Favoured Terrain)
Will PM you.
Round One:
Khun-duhn hefts his enchanted horsechopper as he slogs through the mud behind Durin to stand protectively near Marcus. Once in position, he offers a prayer to Muir to grant Her favor to his companions while at the same time cursing their enemies.
Durin goes berserk in response to the licking and pounds at each of the two mudmen in front of him...
Zanzu moves slowly through the mud, hoping to get behind the undead creature.
Durin utterly destroyed both mudmen in front of the group with two massive swings of his hammer.
Zanzu disappeared from sight, blending in with the mud quite effortlessly as he began to move forward...
With no visible target in front of him, Barak awkwardly turned in the mud and let loose three bolts, destroying one of the mudmen with two bolts to the thing's chest and one to its vaguely head-like area.
With an inspiring cry exalting the group's battle prowess, Lord Vincent weaved a powerful spell, infusing it with the passion and emotion that only a bard could truly muster. While inspired by Lord Vincent's cries, Zanzu could not be targeted by the spell as Vincent had lost sight of him.
The final mudman seemed to understand its existence was about to become forfeit, and hurled itself at Marcus. Like Arachiel before him, Marcus found himself splattered with mud which solidified around his upper body and head. The wizard began to suffocate and could not open his mouth to use verbal spell components...
Round 2-
Ordered Initiative-
Tongued Undead- 21
Khun-Duhn- 21
Arachiel- 21
Kirilarien- 18
Durin- 18
Zanzu- 14
Barak (DMPC)- 7
Lord Vincent (DMPC)- 7
Arachiel- Readied Action never triggered (unfortunately can't 5 foot in the mud).
Marcus- On delay.
Active Effects-
Inspire Courage- +2 competence bonus to attack and damage (everyone). Good Hope- +2 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls (everyone but Zanzu). Prayer- +1 luck bonus to attack rolls, damage, skill checks and saving throws.
Map-
Notes-
Action-
With his mouth suddenly unable to form the words of his magical trick, Marcus could not shift himself to the top of the trench as he had planned. Managing to resist the poison somewhat, he realised he could do little without his allies freeing him, and waited for an opportune moment to act, using his many years of study and iron discipline to not panic.
Zanzu squawked from somewhere in the mud as the Mohrg revealed itself, crouching low in the mud and swinging its skeletal arm through the mud as though it posed no barrier to it. Zanzu dodged the Mohrg's powerful fist with a quick duck the first time, but was struck in the face with the back-swing. The group could not pinpoint Zanzu in the mud but understood he was to its left judging from the Mohrg's attack. The blow was carefully struck, the undead appearing intelligent enough to use defensive tactics. The Undead was now fully visible but would be a difficult target crouched so deep in the mud...
|
With the undead monstrosity visible, Arachiel calls forth Muir's divine wrath as he slogs his way toward the skeletal creature, and takes a heavy swing at Zanzu's assailant.
(power attack, prayer, inspire courage, good hope, smite evil, flank)
(fire, power attack, prayer, inspire courage, good hope, smite evil)
With the fury and zeal of his warrior-goddess coursing through him, Arachiel's heavy blade hissed as it arced through the mud, the flames taking on a golden tinge as the blade cut into the bones of the foul creature before him. The singular sword strike did a great deal of damage, Arachiel's formidable prowess bolstered by a myriad of magic both arcane and divine.
Round Two:
Khun-duhn does what he can to free Marcus from the suffocating muck. With an apologetic grimace, the battle oracle snaps his wolfish jaws (as carefully as he can!) at the dried mud covering the wizard's face.
I'm back and getting back into things.
Fine with things the way they are (happy not to move away from help) but just wanted to point out that shift is supernatural so don't think it needs verbal command or concentration.
Does need sight though, not sure if suffocating mud removes that.
Marcus seems to be concentrating on keeping very still as Khun-duhn bites at the encased mud. Thankfully the wizard seems unhurt due to his magically enhanced fortitude.
With the oracle aiding her master, Kiri activates her wand and holds the charge, unfortunately unable to see the tengu.
vs 20
Khun-Duhn snarled as his teeth tore at both the solidified mud on Marcus and Marcus himself, managing to free the conjurer despite tearing through the majority of his necromantic spell.
Its "as Dimension Door" which has a verbal component, does being Su override that? I know it doesn't provoke due to being Su.
Edit: Read up on it, it doesn't have verbal component. Fair enough.
In addition, it ends your turn using it (still incredibly useful but do it as your last action in a turn).
Your now freed of the Engulf so take your action on any instance.
Yup totally agree despite implying a different order above. Will make sure its always last. Thanks.
Durin brings his hammer down twice upon the undead as it reveals its position...