DM Bloodgargler's Heroes of the Shiv

Game Master BinkyBo

Syndlara peers down at the wailing pit as Mugambi tosses a glowing rock down among the bugs. "I hope it's not another one of those people made of bugs like we fought when Iolana and I found our scimitars."

Mugambi was hoping to see snake witch at botton. Maybe impaled by some spikes...

"I don't want to face those again as well Syndlara.But now you made me curious!"

Iolana goes back to the pit with Syndlara, gesturing to Truk to wait a moment.

Mugambi's pebble illuminates the pit. The swarm of centipedes wriggles away with the sound of stirring wet noodles...
Two small figures emerge from the depths, and begin to hover up from the bottom.
They look like skeletons of neglected tattered dolls. A dim glow emanates from the eye sockets of their jawless skulls... their ragged dark long hair opens like a curtain as they look up toward you.

Centipedes drop from their dangling feet as they rise... "Eeeeeeeh aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah"

Syndlara's hand goes to the hilt of her blade. Unsheathing it with the hiss of steel on leather, she says with alarm, "Well, I don't think those are worm-people, but they don't look friendly!"

Centipedes drop from their dangling feet as they rise... "Eeeeeeeh aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah"

Wait, are they flying up?

Iolana readies her blade too,and looks the flying dolls trying to remember if she knows something of these creatures.

are they constructs or undeads? in case they are constructs Iolana tries a knowledge check

knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28

Monster's lore checks

K.Nature: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
K.Religion: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

They are levitating out of the pit.

From the corner, Truk'tosh sees another small form coming from the dark hallway. It appears to floating just inches above the ground. The tiny doll propels itself forward with an awkward movement.. pushing off with one foot as if on an invisible scooter.

All three reach into their rib cages, and draw daggers with dark pitted blades.

>map<

enemy initiative: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12
Roll initiative please, and take actions if above 12

Truk clenches his fists as the floating dolls approach. ”Did ya have to wake ‘em up?”

Init: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13

Grabbing two more iron spikes off his belt, Truk hurls them at the approaching doll.

Flurry minus range: 1d20 + 6 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 6 - 2 - 2 = 9
Damage: 1d2 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Flurry minus range: 1d20 + 6 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 6 - 2 - 2 = 14
Damage: 1d2 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Initiative: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6Initiative

…What the lump?!

Iolana shouts to everyone:
"They are constructs. They are Soulbound Dolls. They should contain a gem somewhere inside their skulls which holds a bound soul. This fragment of a remaining personality makes them susceptible to mind-affecting magic.
Their attacks are poisonous. "

init: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19

The girl steps forward and slashes at the doll in front of her.
attack +1 scimitar: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
slash damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Init: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14

#%$@!!!!
Mugambi attacks the same target as Iolana.
Cestus: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
Dmg: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

"Errrrreeee haaaaaaannnuuuuuennnn Riiiiiiiiieeeee haaaaaa"

The voice from the dolls stops as Iolana slashes into the first one.
Mugambi connects as the doll rears back to strike Iolana.
dagger: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13

Truk's first spike clanks against the stone walls, the second cracks solidly against the doll's ribs.
She continues to advance, and bounces up to slash at Truk's face.
You can see the purplish blue gem's dim flickering glow in the seemingly hollow skull through empty eye sockets.
dagger charge: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 3 + 2 = 23
1d2 - 2 ⇒ (2) - 2 = 0
1 point of non-lethal damage
plus poison Fort DC14

The second of the pair coming from the pit stabs at Mugambi's ankles.
Mugambi's pebble no longer provides illumination... there is a brief shadow of centipede legs cast onto the tunnel walls before it is completely covered.
dagger: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Round 1

Iolana-X
Mugambi-X
Truk'tosh-X
Dolls-X
Syndlara
Garborn+
Gatherine

>map<

Fort: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 27

Truk grunts in surprise as the tiny figure attacks him, barely breaking the skin but leaving some kind of poison behind. The hulking orc rears back and tries to pound the little devil with his meaty fists.

Punch: 1d20 + 8 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (9) + 8 - 2 - 2 = 13
Damage: 1d6 + 5 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 5 + 4 = 15
Punch: 1d20 + 8 - 2 - 2 ⇒ (19) + 8 - 2 - 2 = 23
Damage: 1d6 + 5 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 5 + 4 = 13

Those are Truk's actions for next round?

Yeah.

Round 1:

Seeing that she cannot reach the dolls by the pit, Syndlara launches into an aerial cartwheel toward Truk'tosh, landing with a flourish and a slash next to the doll that the half-orc is fighting.

Move to A24.
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
1d6 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

"Cover light friend...? What d...does that mean?"

"Gorba, smash that one!"

Gorba will move up besides Truk and launch a punch at the foe.

Move to A24
Power Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
Damage: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

"Fleek, help!"

Fleek will move up and past Gorba, trying to nip at the same foe.

Move to A23
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Mugambi's round 2

The tribesman steps back behind Iolana and casts the light spell in his cestus again.
Moves to F24

Syndlara's slash knocks the doll off balance with her quick entrance into the melee. Fleek is able to dart past Syndlara and nip at the construct, but Gorba is forced to check his swinging advance.

>map<

Gatherine has round 1 actions remaining

Gatherine fired at the creepy doll hovering like an oversized moth with Twinbellows,twin cracks of thunder making it bob violently as both shots tore into its macabre body.
1d20 + 7 - 4 ⇒ (20) + 7 - 4 = 23Attk
1d20 ⇒ 3Confirm
1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4Dmg
1d8 ⇒ 4Extra Dmg

Round 2

After Gatherine's shot knocks it off-balance - skidding back on wobbly-ankled feet, Truk's haymaker cracks it skull...
It breaks apart completely upon hitting the ground.
A purplish blue gem skips out from the shattered skull.
The doll lies lifeless.

Iolana
Mugambi-X
Truk'tosh-X
Dolls
Syndlara
Garborn+
Gatherine

>map<

Iolana keeps slashing at her foe:
"These things are though,damn them"
The blade bounces off the doll without causing damage. The girl stays where she is.

attack w/+1 scimitar: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

As the doll drops and the gem clinks across the stone floor, one of the first two scrambles around Iolana and Mugambi to see her fallen ally.
(provokes AoO for Iolana and Mugambi)
"Rieeeeeehaaaaaa uuuuuhdooooo kaaaaaawww rieeeeeeee aaaaahrruuuuuu!"

They both then head for the darkness of the collapsed floor...
fleeing back into the pit.

AoO:
attack w/+1 scimitar: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
slash dam: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

"Big friend...I...I do not l...l...like the sound of this..."

Syndlara wheels on the remaining soulbound dolls, dashing to the edge of the pit as they descend. Peering over the edge, she mutters a cantrip and sets her scimitar-blade alight. Holding it aloft like a torch, she frowns. "I don't like it, either."

Move to G25, cast Light.

"I see no reasons why we should stay here. If they are going to call reiforcements i'ld rather go elsewhere looking for Ieana and the captn."

AoO: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7
Dmg: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Yea,well,all I gotta say to that is...FIRE IN DA HOLE!!

4d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 2, 6) = 18Fireball

Gatherine snatched the final bead from under her chin and flicked it into the pit where the dolls retreated.Then she wisely backpedaled twenty feet,hugging the wall.

Whichever way we need to go, Truk goes that way!

"BOOOOOOM! Hehehe...." Garborn titters a little in appreciation as the back blast from the fireball comes out of the hole.

The sound and tremors of the explosion reverberate through the halls. You hear a stone on stone grinding sound further ahead... similar to the sound of the pit trap, but slower...

You come to a "T" intersection... hallway to the left, and straight ahead ending in another red-tinged bronze door.

"Hey, Truk, why don't you open that door?" Syndlara says, eyeing the hallway to the left.

Truk grunts in understanding and puts a shoulder to the door.

Iolana looks the hallway to the right meanwhile.

Not liked that sound. Whispers the tribesman.

The door grinds against the stone frame as Truk pushes it open.
Beyond the doorway is an octagonal shaped room... roughly 20 by 20 feet. In the center is an oval pool of softly rippling blood which fills the air with a metallic tang. Four round pillars support a ceiling decorated with crisscrossed supports and grooves, while ten two-foot-wide circular holes decorate the walls at chest level.
There is another identical bronze door on the opposite wall.

"B...b...blood m...mag...magic...
Blood magic!"

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Garborn shakes his head in sadness and disgust.

"A p...perversion of nature AND the arcane arts...b...both things I...I rep...represent now."

The varisian blade-wielding-mage girl looks into the newly opened room without entering, after giving Truk a pat on his back.
"Nicely done Truk,now we only need to see if there aren't traps"

I will take perception checks...
>map<

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27