DM Magister Ludi's Legacy of Fire

Game Master Gordon the Whale

Gripping his axe and moving a bit more cautiously after the arrow, Valik moves forward into the tent. Not trusting the sagging portion he heads for the south wall of the tent and moves forward supporting some of his weight on the southern wall.

"I don't know if the sagging floor can hold more than one of us at a time. I will charge, you guys use bows for now!

Double move to close with pugwumps. Move to q/16 then q/12 then p/11, that should be 40 ft.

The Pugwampi Nest
6 Sarenith, 4711
Mid-afternoon
Round 1

Valik heads to the edge of the balcony along the south wall, preparing to run along the rafter that supports it out towards the pugwampis. They continue to focus their fire on him; their aim must be improving, because all three hit, their tiny arrows smarting as they find flesh. Valik -3 hp; current 5/12

The mercenaries rush in to the tent, arrows and sling stones flying across at the pugwampis. However, despite the relatively close range and ample light emitted from Valik's sunrod, their attacks are ineffectual; only Travis's arrow finds a mark, and it seems to slide off its target without causing any wound.

You only had one standard action in the surprise round, so no double move; 20 ft gets you to Q15. On the plus side, you are set up for an actual charge in round 1 if you want, but I wanted to confirm with you, since you got hit again.

map

Not much point in getting picked apart by arrows. Charge to q/12

Valik grimly charges forward, his axe at the ready, his feet making hollow thudding noises as he charges across the tent, the floor reverberating like a cloth drum.

Charge Attack 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 4 + 2 = 8
Charge Attack 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 4 + 2 = 26
Axe dmg 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

The Pugwampi Nest
6 Sarenith, 4711
Mid-afternoon
Round 2

As Valik runs out along the edge of the wall, the beam beneath it creaks ominously. He reaches the pugwampi and swings at it with his axe, but as he does so, the beam cracks and falls a few inches before it is caught by the tangle of rags and strips of carpet that make up the wall. The wall begins to tear, however, and it is apparent that the structure won't stay suspended for long.

The panicked pugwampis begin to run for the exits, dodging between the feet of the mercenaries standing at the door. AOO for Valik vs Pug4

A somewhat gruffer, but still high pitched voice calls from the second chamber, as two more appear and run for the exit.

Will wait for the result of Valik's AOO to resolve remaining merc actions.

map

Aoo 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
Aoo 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Aoo dmg 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

I HIT!!!!!!!!!

Valik catches the pugwampi in front of him with his axe as it starts to dodge away, felling it instantly. The mercenaries sound like they are continuing to fire at the pugwampis outside the tent; there is at least one hit.

Valik is up.

Valik moves forward and cautiously peers around the corner for whatever called itself the "king", keeping some of the wall between him and the other side.

A quick glance through the doorway reveals another room, similar, but bordered to the south by the slant of the dome. In the northeast corner of the room, on the balcony, a particularly vicious-looking pugwampi with an ugly, rusted crown is wrestling to pull a wooden box from under what appears to be a makeshift throne. Unlike the others, he is armed with a large, relative to his own size, hammer, which glints in the light of the sunrod. As the pugwampi king looks up at Valik and snarls, the rafter gives a jolt and drops a few more inches, and the tent begins to give way; it surely can't hold longer than a few more seconds.

map

I have you using 10' of movement to get to Q10 and taking a peek as a free action. I might as well tell you straight that the rafter and floor are going to collapse at the end of the round. Running back to the balcony in the first room at Q15 is 25', running to the balcony adjacent to the "king" at R15 is 30', so you can go either way.

The tearing and ripping noise gets suddenly louder.

Discretion being the better part of valor, Valik turns and runs back toward the first balcony, the bite of the arrow wounds giving him little twinges as he runs.

At least I know this balcony over here is sound!

The Pugwampi Nest
6 Sarenith, 4711
Mid-afternoon
Round 3

The knotted rags holding up the rafter give way as Valik is dashing back to the safety of the balcony; he has just barely reached it when the rafter, the tent floor, and the wall between the two chambers of the tent all fall to the floor below in a cloud of foul-smelling dust. The pugwampi king, finding himself next to Valik now that the wall is gone, looks up in surprise from the box he is trying to lift, but quickly regains his composure, dropping the box and lashing out at Valik with his glittering hammer. The blow hits Valik in the knee with surprising force, and he feels his leg start to give way beneath him; it is all he can do to remain standing. Valik -5 hp; current total 0/12 The ugly little king barks and howls in triumph.

The pugwampi next to Asad looks around in fear for a moment before dashing around Asad's legs, back towards Valik and the King. As it runs, it begins its keening howl, and Asad's sword again begins to hum in sympathetic vibration. The big Tian tries to damp the vibration, but the sword shatters into pieces in his hands. Cursing in frustration, he drops the pieces. Seeing Valik injured by the pugwampi leader, he says, "Awful little for a king, arent you?" and charges toward the king, attempting to push him off the balcony. Unluckily, his foot gets tangled in some of the scraps of torn carpet that remain where the wall once stood, and the king avoids Asad's off-balance shove. He is surprised enough that his retaliatory hammer strike is hasty and ill-timed, and fails to connect with the mercenary.

Meanwhile, from outside the tent, the twang of bowstrings continue, and there is the sound of at least one thud on the stone floor below, accompanied by cheers from the other three mercenaries.

map

Valik is up; remember that anything more than a single move action (plus swift or free actions) will cause him to lose consciousness and begin bleeding.

Grimacing and limping, Valik withdraws away from the king, keeping his axe at the ready, but getting Asad between him and the king.

Withdraw action. Move to M/17. Did anybody catch the number on that very small bus?

The Pugwampi Nest
6 Sarenith, 4711
Mid-afternoon
Round 4

Valik moves painfully to the doorway, and sees the mercenaries clustered on the balcony, taking pot shots at the pugwampis as they climb down the knotted rope and run across the floor of the chapel, wailing in panic. Inside the tent, the one remaining pugwampi tumbles around Asad and shoots an arrow at him, but misses. The pugwampi king attacks with his hammer, but it clangs harmlessly against Asad's lamellar armor. The mercenary, with a savage grin on his face, reaches for the tiny monarch with his gauntleted hands, and though the king strikes back furiously, his blows are ineffectual and the mercenary grabs hold of the king. "I've got you now! Haha!"

The king screams a panicked serious of yips, growls and howls.

map

Valik continues to move back away from the tent, bleeding profusely from his leg.

"Dross, there is one more pugwumpi over here, cut him down, and help Asad...I am trying not to bleed out.", Valik calls, his left hand clenched down on a wound on his leg.

Move to S/27 to let Dross pass.

I gotta find a place to patch myself up.

The Pugwampi Nest
6 Sarenith, 4711
Mid-afternoon
Round 5

One of the pugwampis, having escaped down the rope and run into the benches, fires up at Asad through the hole where the floor of the tent once was. The pugwampi inside the tent also shoots an arrow at Asad, but neither of them come close to hitting.

Dullen and Travis keep shooting at the pugwampi climbing down the rope; Travis's arrow misses, and Dullen's, though it hits, seems to cause no serious injury. Dross draws his longsword and rushes into the tent at Valik's direction; he swings at the pugwampi archer, but fails to connect. Asad attempts to muscle the pugwampi king to the floor, but his grip slips, and the king wriggles free, brandishing the hammer once more. Asad needed to roll a natural 1 to fail that check! So of course, that's what happened.

The king laughs.

Not much movement in this round, so I won't post a new map; Valik is in S27 and Dross is in U27

So from my understanding there isn't any way to get above 0 hp without some sort of healing/time. I don't recall having any healing potions either.

Valik props himself up against the curving wall, desperately holding the wound on his leg together to try and keep from bleeding out.

"Dullen, go help Asad, that king-pugwumpi is giving him problems, I will hand arrows to Travis."

Correct, you don't have any round-scale healing ability, and there's not much you can do to affect the combat without a standard action except direct the mercs. On that note, I'd send Travis to help Asad instead of Dullen; Dullen is pretty much a ranged specialist, with only a dagger for melee, and Travis has a big sword.
I don't like to give pointed hints, but it's hard to remember little details in PbP. I'll spoiler it for you in case you don't want to look.

Also, I realized just now that as a tiny creature, the pugwampi king has 0 reach; he has to move into your square to attack you, which provokes an attack of opportunity. Go ahead and take a retroactive attack against him.

The Pugwampi Nest
6 Sarenith, 4711
Mid-afternoon
Round 6

The pugwampi archer in the tent evidently feels that things are getting a bit too close for comfort; it dodges past Dross onto the rafter that supports one of the remaining sections of wall. Dross swings at it with his longsword, but his powerful two-handed blow does nothing more than trim a few hairs off the tail of the pugwampi as it scampers by. When it reaches safety, it joins the pugwampi on the floor in firing at Asad, but the arrows do not reach their mark. The third pugwampi reaches the bottom of the rope and staggers painfully to join its companion near the aisle.

King Mokknokk swings at Asad with his hammer, bruising the mercenary's leg even through his armor. Asad backs up to the king's throne to try to take advantage of its cover and his longer reach, and grabs for the king again, but to no avail; the king's shiny warhammer batters his grasping hands away. Total 3 damage to Asad; 11/18 hp From across the remains of the tent, Dross charges at the ugly monarch, trying to catch the king from behind, but his longsword clangs harmlessly against the pugwampi's dull metal breastplate.

Outside the tent, Travis puts his bow over his shoulder in disgust as he says, "Thanks, but no thanks. I hate archery. Lemme at that king pugwampi!" He rushes into the tent, drawing his two-handed sword.

Dullen fires another shot at the pugwampi on the floor, but it hits the bench instead. "Bah, shadows! Can you try to get that sunrod into a better position?"

Map

Q-,R-,S-,U-, and V-26, and X- and Y-25 all light up the archer pugwampis on the floor; of those, U- or V-26 or X- or Y-25 also keep the inside of the tent illuminated (with the floor open, it is now dimly illuminated without the sunrod).

Who has the sunrod right now?

Valik does, in his left hand.

"Right then.", Valik levers himself to his feet and limps over to the partition, shedding light equally into both sides of the balcony.

move to T/27

The Pugwampi Nest
6 Sarenith, 4711
Mid-afternoon
Round 7

The whiz and clatter of arrows continues as Dullen and the pugwampi archers all keep up their fire, but no one is injured in the exchange.

The king moves in to hit Asad with his hammer. As he does so, the mercenary attempts to trip the little king; however, despite the seeming ease of knocking such a small creature off its feet, the king thumps Asad solidly on the foot with his hammer, and the mercenary stumbles back; the king moves in and follows up with a bruising blow to the thigh, accompanied by shrill barking laughter. Asad -9 hp; currently 5/18

"Hold him steady!" Dross says, lining up to swing at the king with his longsword. However, despite the king being surrounded by foes and partially immobilized, both Dross and Travis are unable to land blows; thier timing is off, and they are forced to pull their blows in order to avoid hitting each other!

Map

The pugwampis that Dullen is shooting at are actually on the floor below the tent, in squares V21 and V22. In order for Valik's light to hit them, he needs to be adjacent to the edge of the balcony. So far, it doesn't matter much, because he wouldn't have hit them anyway.

Still need a retroactive attack against the king, for back when he attacked you.

If you want Valik to just wait it out, I can run through the rest of the fight and we can get on to something else. I think that with all three on him, the mercs will manage to get the king tied up, and then you can slit his throat or question him or whatever.

Can I retroactively attack, or would that have caused me to bleed out? If so, I will do it, if not, Valik is pretty much useless without some sort of healing, so you might as well speed through the remainder of the fight...I think that the mercs have the upper hand, which is great, because Valik doesn't! Lol.

The attack in question would have happened when you were still at 5 hp, so you wouldn't take any damage for it.

Sweet!

Attack 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Attack 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
dmg 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Finally some good rolls for you... Unfortunately, the king's AC is higher than the others. Still a miss. Oh, well, the mercenaries got him tied up in two more rounds.

The Pugwampi Nest
6 Sarenith, 4711
Mid-afternoon
Rounds 8 & 9

The king struggles against his captor, but Dross and Travis sheathe their weapons and join in the grapple, and unluck or no, the king is immobilized and tied up after a few seconds of struggling. All the while, he shouts at the top of his lungs:

The pugwampis continue to fire at the mercenaries, and Dross receives a few pinprick wounds Dross -2 hp; (13/15).

Asad hoists the pugwampi king by the dangling end of the rope, proudly displaying the little creature, while Travis readies his sword to decapitate the screaming chieftain. "Whaddaya say, Valik? Shut this guy up permanently?"

"Looks good guys...that guy should have been on a leash the whole time! Lemme see if they will stop now that we have their king thing."

Diplomacy 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

"My Gnoll is pretty rusty...it may not work, and it may make them crazier. To be honest, we may be forced to simply kill them. They cannot travel far, are destructive and plague whatever environment they are in and don't seem smart enough to be trusted. I would like to ask them to go live with the gnolls and then just give them this monastery after we drive the gnolls out. Like they are just working for us...but they don't seem to be really organized, they don't grow or tend anything, they just steal it."

Valik scratches his beard. "There may be light in all this...I don't think that I see it yet though..."

The remainder of the pugwampis, injured and demoralized, begin to scurry for the exit.

"Ok. He isn't interested guys, and I think he is still trying to hurt us with that screechy thing that they do. Just finish him off, no torture, no abuse, clean and quick please." Valik sighs and rubs his face. "I wish that he would have listened...we could have come to some sort of agreement."

This time, Travis lines up his swing carefully, and his sword neatly decapitates the erstwhile monarch. Asad grimaces as blackish blood sprays over him. The remaining pugwampis scream in panic and run out of the chapel, each scrambling over the others in an attempt to be first. By the sound of it, they continue running until they are well out of the monastery.

Valik shakes his head sadly. "Poor thing was too dumb to know better I think."

"I need some help getting patched up, then we should probably look through the rest of this place for anything dangerous. Then we can get the rest of the folks to come up here and get behind the walls. We might be able to make it even more defensible with a little work."

"Anything dangerous... Hmm," Travis says, wiping his sword clean and sheathing it. "Nah, how about anything valuable?"

"That hammer is small, but it looks pretty nice," says Dross, reaching to pick it up from where the little king dropped it. The hammer shines in the light of the sunrod, apparently immune to the ravages of time that have tarnished everything else in the monastery. The handle is engraved with a complex geometric pattern, and a line of runes circles the head. "Might be able to sell it to a rich gnome back in Katapesh."

Asad sets the king's headless body down with distaste. "Wasn't he messing with something under this chair when the rafter collapsed?" he reaches under the throne and pulls out a wooden box. "Yes, yes, what have we here..."

He is about to open it when Dullen rushes in to the tent and says, "Wait, no!" The mercenaries all look at him, reaching for their weapons in alarm. "I mean, it might be trapped or something, right?"

Asad rolls his eyes. "Valik, sir, can we open the box?" Dross and Travis snicker.

"These things are about as dumb as anything. I don't think that they would take the time to trap anything."

"I think that you can go ahead and open it."

"Asad, since you did the most to kill the king-thing, I think you should take first choice of whatever treasure we find."

"Now that's leadership I can appreciate! Hear that, boys? First pick!" He cracks open the box with anticipation, then opens it the rest of the way with some disappointment. "Well, it's not full of gold and gems, anyway. What is this stuff?" He displays the contents of the box: among a few brightly colored feathers and bits of glass, there is a brass ring with a pattern of feathers around the edge, a small glass vial with a faded label, and a small wooden box bearing the holy symbol of Sarenrae, tied to a leather thong. Asad considers the ring for a moment, before chuckling. "Don't know what I expected from those ugly little things. I think I'll take the hammer, actually. Little buggers broke my nodachi, and I need something to fight with."

"I should probably take the box...I imagine that is something religious. The vial might be a potion of some sort...I bet that Father Z might have an idea as to what it is."

"How about we get down from here, make camp and see about some food."

Travis, leaning over Asad to look into the box, says, "I'll take this then," as he quickly grabs up the ring. "Now, look at that, fits like a charm,"[b] he says, holding up his coarse, dirty hand to admire the ring.

Dross sets his jaw and says, [b]"Well I'll hold on to the 'potion' for now then. Hmm, got some writing on it. Kinda smudged... C... U... R... That's all I can make out." His eyes narrow and he says, "Do you think that means 'Cure' or 'Curse?'"

Travis, still standing in the doorway, sets his jaw, but says nothing.

Asad shuts the wooden box and tosses it on the balcony floor. "I'm with blondie, let's get out of here. It stinks!" The mercenaries file out and make their way down the rope ladder and out of the chapel into the sunlight of the nave. Though their battle seems to have worn on for hours, in fact, the sun has hardly moved, and most of the afternoon is still ahead of them.

Do you want to set up camp here? Try to find Dashki and head back to the Sultan's Claw?

"I don't feel like wandering all over the place looking for Dashki. I think we should set up camp here for the night. We can keep a small fire tonight and look to see if the light can be seen from outside. Besides, I certainly like a bit of hot food, I think we deserve it."

Valik will search the rest of the temple, then work with the guys to set up camp.
Perception Check
1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

Dross says, "Travis, you go with Valik. I'll supervise here." Travis shrugs and gathers up his gear.

I'm just going to assume you search all the rooms more or less methodically until you come to something.

The two warriors walk through the area around the courtyard again, to make sure no pugwampis remain. Out of the heat of battle, and in the warm, unflickering light cast by the sunrod, they have more time to look over the carvings on the walls. It appears they were once painted with lifelike colors, but time has chipped most of the paint away, revealing the pale sandstone beneath. Some parts have also been broken, as if intentionally defaced.

The north wall depicts five bearded, larger-than-life humans riding the wind, with triumph carved upon their faces. One of them appears to match the statues in the alcoves of the nave, which Asad claims looks like Valik. Though some of their arms and hands are missing, each is clearly meant to wield a distinctive weapon. One of the five warriors holds a large axe, while another holds a fragment of what must once have been a regal staff. In the distance, Pale Mountain ominously looms over the quintet. An inscription above them reads, "Templars of the Five Winds." It appears that each of the templars once had its name inscribed near its image, but the words have been scratched out as if by axe blows. East of the wall decoration, two open arches lead into small rooms off the north wall.

The eastern wall, which the group had previously looked at, bears a marred sculpture depicting the same five figures from the north mural in battle against numerous creatures of evil demeanor. Several of the creatures appear to be composed at least partly of fire, while others are much more difficult to define, being outright monsters of unknown origin or unusual warriors with weapons bonded into their flesh like organic tools. In the background Pale Mountain looms large, and over it two titanic figures lock in a deadly wrestler's embrace: a horned man with a demonic visage, crowned with fire, and a gorgeous veiled woman, her lower body wreathed in swirls of cloud and wind.

An open arch along the southern wall at the eastern end of the corridor leads off into darkness. The southern wall bears a bas-relief sculpture in the form of a triptych. In the first scene, Valik's supposed look-alike takes leave of his four similarly attired companions, who rise off into the heavens, leaving him to stand vigil over Pale Mountain in the background. The next scene depicts the bearded figure in battle with a flaming half man, half snake creature wielding a spear. The fire spirit transfixes the bearded hero with the spear, seemingly striking a killing blow. In the final scene, the hero appears twice - once on the ground with a wound in his back and once standing over this form, looking down upon it sadly. A caption above the entire work, in ornate lettering, reads "Saint Vardishal of Uwaga, Guardian of the Mountain, Blessed in the Light of Sarenrae."

On the west wall, the heroic man with the pointed beard - presumably Saint Vardishal - preaches to a variety of human clerics from throughout the long history of the monastery. The first image depicts the figure manifesting in a spiritual manner to a small group of pilgrims of Sarenrae. Another shows the figure conversing with a man in religious finery while the monastery itself is being constructed in the background. Thereafter follows a procession of similar poses, each depicting a visit by the bearded man and the leader of each era of the temple. The depictions of these clerics often also bear an identifying inscription, complete with dates that span the last several hundred years. The most recent carving is from thirty years ago, and while ample room remains for additional carvings on the west wall, the last thirty feet or so are completely blank.

The courtyard and its surrounding walkway seem to be all quiet, so the two men investigate the doorways to the north. The left doorway leads into a small, empty vestibule, dark except for the bright light from Valik's sunrod. Religious carvings of Sarenrae cover the walls. Through another open archway to the north, they see an austere octagonal chamber with a tall roof and an aerie of leering gargoyles perched atop each point where a wall meets another wall. An unholy stench of rotting meat, dried blood, and animal excrement hangs heavy in the air, no doubt from the fine crust of gore, animal carcasses, matted leaves, and guano covering the floor of the northern room. Valik makes out a faint rustling sound near the ceiling, and the two hastily back away into the courtyard walk.

"What do you think it was?" Travis asks, "Bats or something? Want me to go in and check? I'm not afraid of some stupid bats." He hefts his greatsword and spits on the ground, but his face looks a little more wary than his bravado shows.

"Could be spiders...or rats? We don't need to deal with it right now. I need to take a rest, and get patched up, we can post a watch and take care of it in the morning." Valik says as he walks back to the camp for the night.

After settling down with the other mercenaries, Valik starts to do some first aid on his leg.

Heal 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

Do you plan on doing anything with the dead pugwampi king's body/head?

Valik would as soon bury it/burn it. Its pretty gross, and a paladin wouldn't countenance putting skulls on spears for the sake of warning anyone. He will search it for treasure though, if that hasn't been done yet.

The dead pugwampi king has no valuables other than his tiny breastplate and longbow. These are serviceable, but of no great quality, and are too small to be effectively worn by anyone larger than a halfling or gnome child. The "crown" is made of brass and tin, and is all but worthless. If you want to save any of that, just say so.

The mercenaries set up a camp in the nave, sheltered from view in Kelmarane by the bulk of the domed chapel. The afternoon wears on, getting increasingly hot, but there are no events of note. Between them, they manage to make an unappetizing but filling meal of jerky, rice, and lentils. As they are eating, Dashki saunters into camp.

"Well, well, ain't this cheery now. Having a little campout, are we?" By now, Dashki's sneering tones are all to familiar to all the mercenaries. He sniffs the pot of food a little and wrinkles his nose. "Think I'll be heading back to the Sultan's Claw, myself. That goatwife may be a simpering busybody who doesn't know when to shut up, but she can cook, anyway. I was going to take you too, but it seems you're making yourself quite at home here. Pugwampi hunting must agree with you."

"We need to stick around Dashki, and make sure that this place is properly fortified. There is also somehting crawling around in one of the back rooms that we need to take care of come morning. I would say that you should head back and tell them to start coming this way though. We should be ready by the time that they get here."

"I'll be sure to pass that along. Enjoy your... dinner." Dashki disappears into the twilight. You notice the pugwampi from before still dangling from his staff.

The mercenaries settle down to sleep for the night, keeping the fire going for light and a guard posted. Guarding is harrowing, as the sounds of small animals moving through the brush in the hills, and some similar rustlings in the monastery, have the mercenaries constantly on edge. However, nothing comes into view in the firelight.

At midnight, all the mercenaries are awakened by a powerful echoing howl which tears through the night, as if from a great distance, from the northwest, in the direction of Pale Mountain. It must be the same sound Valik and Dullen heard two nights before, but now they have moved closer to the source. It wavers in the darkness for longer than seems possible. The mercenaries all shiver involuntarily. When the howl finally dies away, there are a few seconds of silence, before a second howl answers, this one much closer, coming from the village of Kelmarane to the north. The second howl is powerful, but neither as unnaturally long or loud as the first.

The rest of the night passes uneventfully, and the mercenaries wake up at first light. Valik feels well enough to be up and around, but still quite weak. +2 hp As they are breaking their fast, Dashki arrives.

The gnoll expert starts talking without preamble. "Almah says they will pack up, but await word from me before moving this way. When you're all done playing with the little pugs, just come outside the west doors. I'll be able to see you from the hills, and I'll come down." He pauses for a moment, as if considering whether to continue. "And... the priest sent these for you." He tosses a small pouch to Valik and turns back into the hills without waiting for a reply.

Upon opening the pouch, Valik finds four vials, neatly labeled in a spidery hand: Healing Extract.

Valik greets the dawn with his normal exercises, quietly praying as he moves through block and parry with his hand axe and dagger. Every so often he winces as he places weight on his leg, and he slows his movements to reduce the strain.

What was that last night? That howl? Isn't Rovagug an evil god of some sort? I wonder if that dream was important, or if I am just strained and making things up? Ah, Lady, I pray that your wisdom burns through me and lights my path. I do not want to misstep in the darkness.

Dashki's arrival and news hearten Valik, but the pouch of vials puts a large grin on his face, splitting his blonde beard.

"Dashki, you are a good man!" he shouts at the scout's retreating figure.

"Well the good Father has decided to send along something nice! I am going to take one of these right now. The rest of you look like you got mostly scratched up by the critters, but if you get seriously hurt, it looks like we have something to patch us back up now!"

Valik tosses back one of the vials, grimacing at the sweet and bitter taste.

"I feel better already! What do you say to cleaning out the last few rooms? Asad and I think we might have found a nest of a few more of the things...or something. After we take care of that, we can work on patching up the walls, the best we can to make the place a bit safer. Also set up a livestock area where they can put the goats."

"Asad, why don't you and Dullen start working on the walls and pen? The rest of the guys and I will deal with whatever critters were in that room."

"Do we have any more sunrods, or are we stuck with torches?"

Valik regains 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10 hp. The dice gods are smiling. Full hp. For reference, Asad is also at less than half hp. (7/18)

Dross pulls out another sunrod. "This is the last one."

Valik Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
Dross Perception: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (10) + 0 = 10
Travis Perception: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (18) - 1 = 17
??? Stealth: 1d20 + 16 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 16 - 4 = 13

As the party moves to the entrance to the room, Valik and Travis see three small red creatures clinging to the ceiling; before they can do more than shout a brief warning, the creatures take flight on batlike wings.

The Infested Chapter House
7 Sarenith, 4711
Early morning
Surprise round

The creatures are about the size of a large bird, though they seem to be a strange combination of bat and insect. Only Travis is able to bring his weapon to bear before they swoop down to land on the three men. He swings his massive two-handed sword and neatly slices the one headed for him in two, and turns to swing against the one flying towards Valik, but misses it. The other two creatures sink long, barbed probosces into Valik and Dross, and begin sucking greedily; their bulbous bodies expand visibly as blood flows into them. Valik and Dross, -1 Con.

Dross know (arcana) 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (16) - 1 = 15
Travis know (arcana) 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (17) + 0 = 17

Travis speaks up, "Bah, I know these things! Stirge!" (Reveals spoiler above)

Valik is up. Map not really necessary for this one. You can attack the stirge attached to you with a light or one-handed weapon, or you can try to pull it off with a grapple check.

Valik staggers as the creature plunges its proboscis into his leg. "I have seen big mosquitoes, but this is insane!", he says as he batters at the creature with his axe and shield, trying to pry the creature off.

axe attack 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
dmg 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

are there any penalties for the creature being on me?

"I can't get an angle on this thing! I might have to hit the one on you Dross, and you and Travis can attack the one on me...not that I like the idea of being battered by your greatsword...

The rules say that when it is attached, it is "effectively grappling" its target. Technically that would mean you cannot move, take -4 to dex, and -2 to attack rolls. But I think that's silly; the thing weighs one pound, of course you can still move. Both your hands are still free. No penalties.

The Infested Chapterhouse
7 Sarenith, 4711
Early morning
Round 1

"Hold real still then," says Travis, screwing up his face as he draws his sword back. He swings at the stirge on Valik's leg...

...and cuts it neatly off, the creature falling to the floor, where it is quickly surrounded by an appallingly large pool of blood.

The remaining stirge continues to suck blood from Dross. -1 Con; currently 9/11

Valik is up.