Scrunching up his own nose, Jadger indicates himself.
If there's a need to communicate with such.......fragrant creatures...I recall that they speak Draconic. A language that i have studied some years back. I could ask them downwind....."
With Selma's and Thirsty's 'Assistance', Jadger 'Speaks' to the Trogs....
Draconic:
"I prefer not to do anything much to you but you see my friends? You offend them terribly. Tell us everything you know about this tower and I do mean everything. I mean you speak to my friend and her pet. Her hungry pet. So Please talk or you can talk to them. Choose quickly. My endurance wears thin."
Jadger gets to work questioning the bound troglodytes.
Draconic:
The first one flinches as he blinks, but quickly softens at the gnome's honeyed words.
"Yesss.. this one serves Tasskar. We travels tunnels, yes and then everything shakes, yes?"
The trog looks to his companion for confirmation.
"We are cut off from tunnels and now in this tower. Tasskar says it is blessing, is to be new fortress for us to take over surface world..."
The trog almost looks apologetic for his megalomaniac leader's machinations.
"One like you comes explore, yes? Tasskar takes as prisoner to sacrifice to dark god. In Tulok's care, he issss..."
He offers little else besides confirmation that Tasskar, their leader is some sort of trog druid and likely lairs at the tower's apex. The leader has an albino crocodile for a companion. Tulok, their "jailer" is just an ordinary trog on the fourth floor. There are five floors in total.
Lastly, he confirms the door on this level that you have not opened is where a shocker lizard "pet" lairs. The lizard is friendly if fed and not approached. He also suggests there is nothing in the room besides lizard droppings.
With the questioning leading some productive answers, I'll defer to you all where you go next.
After speaking to the incredibly helpful creatures, Jdger turns to his companions.
"They say that due to a likely earthquake, their normal hunting grounds beneath, their tunnels or so they say, have being cut off. Their leader however thinks it's a jolly good time to expand their influence. You know the 'take over the world' kind of warlord. He also says they have a prisoner under a care of something or someone named Tulok. Their leader seems to be a shaman of sorts and most likely to be at the top of this tower. Their leader also has a pet crocodile, an albino but whether it stinks I didn't ask. There's 5 floors in total here too. An important fact is that there s a lizard that is 'shockingly' friendly so it's best to just feed it and not approached it behind one of these unopened doors guarding lizard dropppings. Could be valable but I don't know about that." Taking a deep breath at the end of this, the gnome seems to expand and then deflate.
Ok, keeping Brother Marcus in the lead here as the most "tanky" type. You can leave the trogs here for now, if you choose, or they are happy to flee to the plains if allowed.
The central staircase once again appears full of rubble, forcing the Pathfinders back to the ledge and to use their rope to once again ascend to the tower's third level.
As Marcus steps first into the exposed room, he glances around.
The first thing he notices is that there appears to be no doors leading into the tower from this room exposed partially to the open sky.
The second thing he notices is a living, moving fabric seems to cover the ceiling of this half-collapsed chamber, which stretches northwest into darkness. The pungent smell of ammonia rises from the droppings that litter the floor.
Everyone else is on the second floor ledge. At the moment it's just Marcus who has climbed onto the third floor. There's a rope to climb up for those on the second floor ledge (or Marcus to climb back down should he choose).
The grey-colored living fabric seems to take form as hundreds of bats take flight, screeching and flying towards Brother Marcus.
Round 1
18 Veilwar :
17 Bat Swarm :
11 Luna :
8 Selima :
7 Brother Marcus :
2 Jadger :
Now Up: Everyone!
Note the bats are on the ceiling. Feel free to have everyone play as knowing swarm traits - they teach that at the Grand Lodge to all aspiring Pathfinders. :)
Since it works so well, Luna will once again use Black Motes (being careful not to hit Marcus, let me know if this isn't possible, i will subtract from above after I am sure it happens)
Female Human(Keleshite) Sorcerer(Sylvan) 2 HP 13/15 | AC 16, T 12, FF 14 | Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +3(+1 if Thirsty is w/i 30') | Init +2 | Perc +1
Selima did not have much hope for throwing a splash weapon that far, so she simply called out to their halfling leader, "Brother Marcus, perhaps you should descend? If they follow, we will be able to reach them better."
How far are we talking between levels? Range on a flask is 10 feet, any further and you incur range penalties.
Then, she readies to cast colorspray as soon as she is sure she can engulf the swarm.
Bats are mammals and should not be mindless, so she'll try a casting of this to see if it will work.
"We should spread out so they cannot swarm many of us at once."
Reflex DC13 vs Chord:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13 Will DC15 vs readied Color Spray:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13
Once again, the bats seem to sense the oncoming shards and few if any of the hundreds seem to be harried by Veilwar's effort.
As the swarm descends near to the group, Selima's spell triggers and a brilliant flash of color engulfs the bats.
Totally grey area on color spray with swarms, but I'm going for it and that they'd be effected. Odd though as bats are essentially able to function blindly and I always imagined color spray was based on seeing the color... but it's magic.
The bats, dozens at a time, flop to the ground screeching in agony.
The creature is blinded and stunned for 1d4 rounds, then stunned for 1 round.
Duration:1d4 ⇒ 4
The bats are stunned 5 rounds.
Round 1
18 Veilwar : Begins perform
17 Bat Swarm : Swarm onto Marcus, doing 2 damage
11 Luna : Black motes
8 Selima : Readies color spray
7 Brother Marcus : Back down to 2nd floor
2 Jadger : Alchemist fire misses
Round 2
18 Veilwar : Chord of shards misses
17+ Selima : (ready triggers) Color spray on swarm
17 Bat Swarm : Out??
Out of combat... assuming you use these 5 rounds to do some AoE damage with automatic hits, or you flee ahead of the swarm before they recover.
If the lone alchemist fire is the only implement that can do AOE damage in the party, then you may lack the firepower to kill off a swarm with 13hp. You'd need to do 8 damage then get the 50% kicker for 4 more damage to kill a swarm.
The swarm is stunned for 5rds.
You have a few options: (1) Speed up to the next level before the swarm recovers and not worry about expending resoures or (2) If you do have AOE to use, employ it all now by rolling damage while the swarm cannot react.
I'm fine hand-waving option (1) if you go that route.
Selima pulls a flask of Alchemist's Fire and smashes it into the prone swarm of bats.
Rolled damage, including the second round of burn damage. I think that should take care of them.
As Jadger and Selima hurl their alchemical explosives into the stunned bats, the smell of burnt bat quickly fills your nostrils.
And moving us right along...
Taking their time, the Pathfinders ascend back to the third floot roost and after a quick search, identify a cleverly hidden sliding panel that seems to be a secret door that would lead into the tower's third level.
Two stone altars, one black and one white, sit at either end of this large chamber, which takes up two wings of the tower on this level. The crumbling remains of wooden benches sag in front of each altar beneath rotting ceiling tapestries. Carved symbols and writings snake along the walls.
The burnt corpses of two troglodytes lie on the floor in the center of the room.
Know Religion DC10:
This room is a temple dedicated to Nethys, the god of magic, in both of his aspects: protection and destruction. The writings on the walls are quotes from Nethys’s holy book.
The sound of cracking bones quickly draws your attention as two humanoid skeletons, wreathed in auras of eternal flame move to attack - their jaws open in soundless screams as they raise their weapons and attack.
Female Human(Keleshite) Sorcerer(Sylvan) 2 HP 13/15 | AC 16, T 12, FF 14 | Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +3(+1 if Thirsty is w/i 30') | Init +2 | Perc +1
Suspecting that Thirsty would not wish to approach such unnatural foes, she bade him to Guard herself and Luna and drew an acid flask, but she did not throw it. Instead, she used it as a focus and cast an acid splash at the other flaming skeleton.
Luna's snowball literally obliterates the first of the skeletons.
Selima's acidic ray carves away some bones while Marcus leaps at the lone remaining skeleton, bringing his sword down and shattering the undead aberration. However, the halfling is caught in a fiery explosion that accompanies the skeleton's death.
Luna doesn't say anything, but she's expecting for something nasty to happen when she sees Jadger grabbing the scrolls off the altars (proper respect or not!)
If nothing happens, she looks slightly disappointed as she follows the rest of the group.
First of all, I noticed I made a mistake last combat! :( At level 1 my snowball range is 25 feet (25ft + 5 ft/2 levels) not 30 feet so I will be sure to remember that for the future.
Luna moves to 25 feet from a troglodyte and throws a snowball!
Fortitude:1d20 ⇒ 14
Ranged Touch:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
Snowball Damage (DC 15 Fortitude to avoid being staggered for one round):1d6 ⇒ 6
Fort DC15 vs snowball:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10 Will DC14 vs puppets:1d20 ⇒ 20 Trog vs Marcus:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21 for 1d6 ⇒ 5 Trog vs Eagle:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20 for 1d4 ⇒ 2 Trog vs Veilwar:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5 for 1d6 ⇒ 3
Veilwar's eagle and Luna's snowball knock some sense into one of the trogs as they discard their javelins and swing at their enemies with clubs or claws (5 to Marcus, 2 to eagle).
Round 1
19 Marcus : Advances, misses
6 Jadger : Total defense
5 Veilwar : Shadow eagle does 3 damage
4+ Luna : Snowball for 6
4 Trog #1 : Attacks Marcus for 5
4 Trog #2 (-9, staggered): Attacks eagle for 2
4 Trog #3 : Attacks Veilwar, misses
3 Selima :
Round 2
19 Marcus :
6 Jadger :
5 Veilwar :
4+ Luna :
