After his watch Xen will wake the Judge. Want me to break into the captains room when he is on watch?
To the group, I have been thinking on the deception and preparation needed to ambush this creature. How about a believable lie to give us a few rounds to prepare?
Zimu stays on deck without Edmin. When the creature arrives she tells her that both of them couldn't be seen hanging around on deck waiting for her or it would arouse the captains suspicion. We are waiting in another room on deck and start prepping our spells as soon as she arrives using message. Edmin waits in this room with us. Zimu keeps her busy for a few rounds with a conversation then offers to get Edmin. We then jump her with Morsum leading the way by grabbing it. It would be helpful if more than one of us could help Morsum to ensure the grab.
I can have Shield of Faith on Morsum and Edmin and bless on the group and guidance on Morsum. We then end this creature and the threat?
It appears as though a city may have once stood near the tower. The forest had mostly re-claimed it though.
I think with the other buffs Morsum just needs to keep her grappled and we can try to finish her quickly.
As Buffs right when the Soothsayer arrives, I will cast Enlarge Person and Shield on Morsum. This should give him a 15' reach with his bite and a size bonus to grapple.
Once he is big, he will attack from the shadows and hopefully trip her allowing Edmin to get a good shot in with the prone bonus.
Better do something about those sailors Judge Xenfal says as he moves to about 20 feet from Zimu and conceals himself behind a crate.
Xen and I will "relieve" the crew watching on deck. This way it is just us up here.
We will then hide. Jax and Dren will be just on the stairs leading down. Cy will be on the stern waiting with Edmin on the main deck.
We will have Cy's Message working and connecting me, Jax and Edmin so that all groups have a contact person with them. I will have already summoned Morsum and he will be hiding as close to the stern as possible.
As soon as I see/hear that the Soothsayer is here, I will cast Enlarge on Morsum, and then shield if possible.
I would think that Bull's Strength, Scorching Ray and Ray of Enfeeblement would be best for Cy. Cast Ray of Enfeeblement first round, Bull's Strength on Edmin round 2 and then Scorching Ray on Round 3 if she is still standing.
If anyone else has better plans let me know. Morsum will be hiding whereever he can get to the stern most quickly to engage the Soothsayer.
Better do something about those sailors Judge Xenfal says as he moves to about 20 feet from Zimu and conceals himself behind a crate.
Zimu is on deck, alone. The rest of us are hiding somewhere we can hide and cast spells without being seen/heard.
Is there a hold or somewhere we can gather and hide? Message will be on Zimu and the judge to let us know when she arrives. When the Soothsayer arrives Zimu says something about not wanting to garner too much attention and possibly get the attention of the captain so she will go and get Edmin. This is a half truth.
She stalls for a few rounds while we cast spells and we come up and try to surprise her and grab her. Maybe Vanish of Morsum as well as the other buffs.
Zimu hits her with RoE and Xen with Touch. Fighters attack, I try to confuse or command or heal if we need it. Zimu readies to disrupt spellcasting when she tries to escape or anything else.
Any counters? This seemed like it had an above average chance of succeeding compared to other thoughts...
Edit: Judge beat me to the post, the only thing that concerns me about being on the deck is if she wins initiative she can just teleport out or maybe escape. At least if we alreayd have some buff's up we might have a better chance? BTW my stealth is close to the best in the party, we do have stealth synergy so I can be out on the deck as well if that is the preference.
Maybe with the synergy it makes sense ot be up there and jump her if we can we just won't have any rounds to buff up.
Just before midnight Dren summons the magical darkness around him. As soon as I see/hear her arrive he will shapechange into a half-orc.
The night is quiet -- except for a distant howling at one point, like wolves but with an odd ululating undertone.
Knowledge Nature might as well start finding out what we will be encountering later
Edit - sounds like wolves
Xen conceals himself as best he can.
When notified of the ripples, the Judge will cast Enlarge Person on Morsum who is hiding as close to the stern as he can get.
The Judge also whispers, via message: Cy, can you put the sailors to sleep? They are probably half asleep anyway.
--> I think you have Sleep that you can cast with your bonded object if you did not memorize it. I would have recommended Sleep if I knew that we would not be able to get rid of them normally. Since I did not recommend it, I think that she will have to use the bonded item to cast.
Stealth(Morsum):
Dren steps deeper into the shadows and changes into a Halfling...
Now that I think about it. Since Cy is the caster, it is probably better to have Edmin on the stern with the lantern. Cy can be nearby where she can cast Invisibility on Morsum at the same time I cast Enlarge Person & Shield. She can then move up and join Edmin once the spells are cast. There should be enough time to cast these within about a minute of the Soothsayer arriving that the Soothsayer should not know what occurred. Remember, she is naive and believes you two are redeemable.
I would also like to be able to put the other sailors asleep, by spell, scroll or bonded item, makes no difference to me which is used. The alternative is to have them call for help from the Captain, except that the last time the captain fought someone, he also took the loot. Yeh, so he did do the killing, but having magic weapons is always nice.
The Soothsayer has made it very clear that the ship is to be sunk/equipment scuttled before we make landfall, so I do not think there is any way to get the Captain and the Soothsayer to fight on land.
Once Morsum is invisible, he will move up to the stern and wait, invisibly, with the others. Once the Soothsayer is on the deck, Morsum, on my command, will attack the Soothsayer and attempt to grapple her. Hopefully this will allow Edmin to get a quick whack or two in with his axe. Xen and Jax, who should be at the bottom of the steps, can quickly move up and join the fray. Dren, myself, and Cy can use our spells for support.
We can attempt to use the skull, but if we can win this without using the skull, all the better as I agree that it would be an optimal weapon/gift for the Captain right before we surprise attack him.
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Are you bringing Grumblejack along, or leaving him below?
You don't /have/ to do anything about them -- that's fine -- "maybe Zimu could cast sleep" is leaving the question hanging.
I DO wish to speak to the Soothsayer further before you all go pounce on her.
xen is as close as he can be with cover, preferably full concealment
I would like the sailors asleep. If the Soothsayer puts them to sleep, she is just as likely to put the rest of us asleep.
Morsum can knock them out, but that gets messy and has the risk of failure.
Once they are asleep, we can always slit their throats and toss them overboard. Will leave less sailors to worry about later.
I think we put them to sleep and blame it on the Soothsayer if the Captain asks.
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You can talk with the Soothsayer, but remember that Enlarge Person and Invisibility and Shield only last 1 minute/level. So, it will have to be a short discussion. I will launch the attack with or without Cy's go ahead when there is a minute remaining on the spells.