From Shore To Sea (Inactive)

Game Master Baerlie

Iason Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Etrigan Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Iason does not hear the humming, at first, but Etrigan leans close to his master and whispers in his ear, and the Chelish man's eyes focus on the rock, a slight frown beetling his brows as he is diverted from his intrigued study of the floating towers.

"Hnm. Power infuses this entire island, it's true. Though I doubt it's infernal in nature. It seems distinctly un-affiliated with Asmodeus, so far," he says drily, getting off into the sand.

He strides towards the jutting rock, head tilted, but stopping a good distance back. His bodyguard sticks close to his side.

From 60 ft away, Iason will study the jutting rock with detect magic. I assume from the description above that the whole island has a lot of magical fields, but he will concentrate for the three rounds and attempt to discern if any specific magic is on the rock itself. Furthermore, if he can read the graffiti at 60 feet away he will do so (or try and ascertain what language it is in, at the least).

Kn Arcana: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12
Linguistics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

The rock radiates a strong aura of enchantment. Iason finds out that the rock has hypnotic powers. When he gets closer he feels a bit sleepy. At a closer look the rock looks like a fragment of an enourmas altar.

The graffiti is too small to be read from afar.

Clandelve continues to air dry, though it doesn't appear to help his demeanor.

"Nae, th' jellyfish didne hurt me," he responds to Kiyomi.

After listening to the humming for some time, he says "Forward appears tae be th' only way tae go..." and begins advancing up the shore.

Kn History: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

Iason yawns as he stares at the rock, then jerks himself back awake, shaking his head vigorously and backing away.

"That rock is... quite the old altar, as I believe it is dedicated to one of the Azlanti deities, though I couldn't tell you which one. It has a strong hypnotic enchantment on it, however-- I became drowsy, even this far back from it. A pity we've no elves among us.

"Before you approach, Master Hammerhand... might I suggest we tie a rope to your ankle, in case the hated, foul magics make you decide to take a nap in the sand? Alternately, I might send my bodyguard forward. It is no great issue if he sleeps on the job," Iason says with a thin smile.

Etrigan, for his part, seems to be having a grand time listening to Kiyomi's semi-human babble. He spends most of his time grinning at the fox-woman-hybrid, many teeth showing, his eyes glowing like coals in the darkness of his hood.

Knowing that there was ostensibly a large group of wedding guests here in the not-too distant past, Iason scans the sand of the beach for any sign of tracks-- not too close to the water's edge, for surely the tides would have washed them away-- but inland, closer to where the cliffs rise vertically.

Survival, Iason: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

Clandelve hesitates as Iason speaks, appearing wary of the summoner's warning.

"Braw...have yer wee bodyguard go first. It doesnae matter tae me," the dwarf adds sourly.

He steps back and waits for Etrigan to go first.

Iason gestures for his slave to proceed. The hulking figure yawns exaggeratedly at Clandelve, showing all those teeth, then strides forward on the sand towards the old, jutting rock.

(Should it matter) Etrigan's will save: +7, or +11 vs enchantment spells/effects.

If Etrigan reaches the rock without any ill thing occurring, Iason concentrates a moment, his eyes fluttering shut. Standard action to activate Bond Senses, so he can see whatever Etrigan sees Etrigan circles the rock, studying the graffiti.

Iason will try and read the writing now; he speaks Abyssal, Auran, Common, Draconic, Infernal. If the writing is in none of these, he will attempt a Linguistics check:

Linguistics: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

'You can decipher writing in an unfamiliar language or a message written in an incomplete or archaic form. The base DC is 20 for the simplest messages, 25 for standard texts, and 30 or higher for intricate, exotic, or very old writing.' I'm gonna assume based on the description that this is probably up in the "30" tier of things, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Etrigan moves up to the rock, he feels tired but resists falling asleep. Disturbing visions and unsettling memories that never were appear in Etrigan's mind and vanish just as quickly, leaving no effect.

Iason concentrates and sees through Etrigan's eyes. The graffiti are prayers to the unknown Azlanti deity, carved into the stone.

To get up to the city you can either climb upt the cliffs or use the ancient road. Climbing cliffs requires a DC25 Climb check, the broken road only DC15.

Kiyomi assumes her fox form again, knowing that she is much better at climbing when in that form than in humanoid form.

Since Kiyomi's fox form is Tiny, she can use her Dex mod when climbing or swimming (I forgot about that when we had swim checks earlier!)

Eshshah muses outloud "A wedding rock that's secretly an altar to some fish god that puts people to sleep... This village gets better and better, maybe they are all secretly related to gillmen something."

Etrigan looks gleefully at the cliffs at the prospect of a climb-- but Iason shakes his head no. "I doubt we'll do well trying to scale those cliffs..."

"I could scale them, and be not slowed
"While you lot struggled with the road," the bodyguard smirks. Iason rolls his eyes.

"Yes, yes, you're very special," he says shortly. "I suggest we take the road?" he asks of the others. "Failing that, if we really do wish to use the cliff for some god-forsaken reason... Let Etrigan climb, and have him help haul us up every fifty or so feet, using rope. No reason to risk falls."

(Etrigan does have a climb speed, and a climb check that would let him take 10 on the cliff. With a STR of 22, he should also be able to help hoist anyone up the face, or he can just go ahead of us and secure knotted ropes for the group, to take it down to a DC 5. Of course, if we just want to do the road, that works for me too. That said, I'll be AWOL for the weekend, due to a local gaming convention, so, if we come to a consensus that needs Etrigan's help for it, please consider that help given and Baerlie free to GMPC me as needed.)

Eshshah, despite her skill in climbing nods at the road suggestion.

Best to have everybody able to respond to danger

Yes, the road. Lets take the road. Mollok says looking at the cliffs with a worried face.

I was amazed by the speed of mr Estian's transformation, and I am not sure the whole thing was intentional. What ever magic is at work here has quite some power.

"Let's tak' th' road," Clandelve agrees, in no small part because the creepy Etrigan wanted to climb.

Li Shuo shrugs and follows the road, taking each moment as it comes. The demon bothers him not at all.

Etrigan sulks as the group moves for the road. The clawed figure lopes along, occasionally dropping to all four limbs to move like an ape, knuckles dragging over the broken stones of the road, and moving over the rubble as though it were nothing, eagerly taking the lead... though at Iason's command, he does carry a knotted rope, which he lets trail behind him, and stops when ordered, waiting impatiently as his master (or anyone else) uses it to climb over a particularly rough bit of rubble.

(Iason's climb check is only a +2, so on a take 10 he won't make a DC 15. If Etrigan holding a knotted rope for others would lower the DC accordingly, down to the rope's climb DC of 5, I'll do that; if that's not an option, then Etrigan will simply bodily carry his master on his shoulders. Giddyup!

for some reason my post got eaten...

With Etrigan's help and a knotted rope you climb the broken road without any problems.

On the first map slide you see the map of the island, you can investigate on your own, just tell me where you want to go next. B1 is the Wedding Rock, at the bottom left of the map you see the area keys and the name of the area.

Looking at the map it looks like the road leads NW away from the Wedding Cove until it falls into the sea. From the description it sounds like we followed that for a bit at least."

Eshshah peers down the cliff that the road suddenly falls into...

"Well we may some Etrigan's help at some point after-all... I'd rather not do any swimming if we don't have to, but that island to the west looks interesting. My vote would be to follow the cliff to our north back to the east and see if there's an easier way up, or anything else of interest at this end of the island before continuing."

"A boat would prove useful." agrees Li Shuo. "Or someone who can enlighten our understanding."

Iason shades his eyes with his hand, looking down the cliff and the ragged coast line below, and across the gulf of open space to a far cliff, north-west-ward.

Kn Geography: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

"I believe that the curve of this road continues.... way over there," he gestures. "Presumably it was once a unified path, but some great disaster must have swept a stretch of the cliff into the sea. In any case, I agree with Ehshah-- let us move north, to this cliff we can see rising, and seek a decent place to climb it. We are still, it seems, on the lower reaches of this island-- from a higher perspective, we might see more."

(I added some lines to the map to indicate the rough path I think we are taking (assuming I understand our starting position correctly). Move north to the cliff, follow it east until we find a climbable spot, maybe in that ruined building, and then proceed north-ish towards B2, the Archives. If we have to keep going all the way east until we hit that other road, that's fine by me.)

Yes, you followed it a bit, but on the plateau it's easy to walk offroad. Iason is right, the road was washed away or dropped into the sea.

You follow the road for some time and when you see it ends in front of a cliff Iason suggests to find an easy way up to the next level. At the ruins you find rocks which are easy to climb. assuming you take 10 to climb up

Once everybody is up you continue to an ancient ruin. The grand crystal dome atop this structure has collapsed into massive shards that jut from the earth at odd angles, forming an unusually beautiful courtyard within this huge structure. A cracked, tessellated floor and worn stone alcoves highlight an ancient archive. Thin, engraved copper plates float gently in the air, bundled in groups like open books, their tarnished pages no doubt filled with all manner of esoterica.

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28 (with low light vision and scent)
second Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

Kiyomi noses a book from behind some floating detritus, barking for someone with hands to pick it up. She then finds a copper plate and barks at it as well. Go ahead and open the spoilers, guys. :)

Clandelve makes his way over to where Kiyomi is barking and looks around.

"Good job, wee fox! Ye have some guid eyes!"

The dwarf picks up what she has found and, after offering them to anyone who wants to look at them, stows them for later observation.

B4 next?

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14

Eshshah takes a look at the items after Clandelve and the fox.

"Hmmm, I'll take that crown for now, could come in handy."

b4 sounds good

1st Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18
2nd Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15

Li looks over the recovered items with solemn interest. His command of the written word in the tongues of Avistan is a bit weak, so he listens more than he talks.

Iason looks as excited as he's ever been in the companionship of his team-mates so far, actually smiling and looking eagerly through the copper plates as if he didn't know where to start with all the information at hand. "This is-- some of these are no doubt priceless, the Society will dearly want these records--"

Assuming the plates can be wrested from their floating orbits, he will start gathering as many as he can.

"This island was an observatory and academy," the Chelish man says eagerly, glancing at one of the plates. "Imagine the power of those ancient scholars, that all these centuries later, enough of their strength still keeps the towers floating, and these books-- eh? What? We're moving on already--?"

Iason frowns, but hurriedly stuffs the last of the copper sheets into the handy haversack he carries. "I will certainly look these over at leisure. How extraordinary."

B4 is fine by me

Mollok is also mesmerised by the plates and helps Iason secure them. Lost in his excitment he completly misses the group's movement until they are almost all out of the room.

You pick up everything you think is useful for the Society but when Iason takes the copper sheets to put them in his haversack suddenly three creatures attack from the shelves. The insectile monsters have four legs, a strange propeller-shaped protrusion at the end of their tails, and two long, feathery antennae.

Round 1
Eshshah
Mollok
Etrigan
Li
-----------
Rust Monster red
-----------
Iason
Kiyomi
-----------
Rust Monster green
Rust Monster blue
-----------
Clandelve

And finally there is a map for this encounter, lol.

Know Dungeoneering: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Eshshah quickly reacts and calls upon Desna's favor as she flicks both her kukris out and advances.

Divine Favor.

Normally I assume summoners and eidolon go on the same initiative, but I'm happy to run it this way ;)

Etrigan snarls happily at the sight of creatures he can fight, and doesn't wait for his master's slower command before charging forward, and tearing into the creature with his toothy maw, flames spilling from between his lips.

Etrigan charges towards blue

Power attack, charge, bite: 1d20 + 11 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 11 - 2 + 2 = 27
Damage to blue, additional fire damage: 1d6 + 10 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 10 + (1) = 13

Not sure how much time we spent getting up to the cliff face, but for simplicity's sake, I'll assume Mage Armor is not currently active on Etrigan. His AC, after the charge, is therefore 19

Li's eyes narrow as his hands flick to his quiver and down to his bow in rapid succession.

Li, who has no qualms about filling humanoid enemies with arrows, seems wistful at attacking these strange creatures.

"Ah! What fascinating animals! It is a shame we cannot simply send them away."

Nonetheless, he advances, firing as he goes to support Etrigan.

Shoot the nearest rust monster.

Flurry and Point Blank: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 8 + 1 = 221d8 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 3 + 1 = 7

Flurry and Point Blank: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 8 + 1 = 231d8 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 3 + 1 = 12

One arrow hit AC 22, doing 7 points of damage; the other hit AC 23, doing 12 points of damage.

Looks like just Mollok up...

Eshshah draws her kukris and rushes forward. Etrigan moves up to the rust monster with blue eyes and bites a piece out of the monster's shell. Li shoots two arrows at the same rust monster, hitting twice and dropping the creature.

The rust monster with the red legs steps up to Etrigan and bites.
Bite vs. Etrigan: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Round 1
Eshshah
Etrigan
Li
-----------
Rust Monster red
-----------
Mollok
Iason
Kiyomi
-----------
Rust Monster green
-----------
Clandelve

Ok, will remember the summoner/eidolon thing next time.

Given that Kiyomi's fox form wears nothing but her necklace with the symbol of the open road on it, she has nothing to fear from these creatures. She rushes at the nearest one (green) and attempts to trip it.

trip: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (13) + 15 = 28

Mollok focus his arcane powers to hit the creature.

Magic Missile: 2d4 + 2 ⇒ (1, 2) + 2 = 5

Heh, it was not a complaint. ;)

Knowledge dungeoneering: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

"Ah yes, the classic rust monster," Iason says with a small moue of distaste. "Mistress Eshshah, the creatures eat metal-- your finely-made knives, there, may be only a tempting snack to the creatures-- as well as your chain shirt."

Iason is fairly confident the beasts can be dispatched in short order, and sees little reason to use some of his more powerful spells. He flicks his wrist and drops one of his wands into his palm, takes a few steps, and drenches the ground beneath and behind the creatures in a slick of grease.

Casting grease from a wand on the red squares indicated; reflex save DC 11 or fall prone for both rust monsters.

Eshshah thinks to herself I thought those tentacles looked familiar but I couldn't quite place them...

Kiyomi trips one of the monsters while Mollok throws a magic missile at it. Iason trusts his companions abilities and decides to save his powerful spells. Instead he covers the floor under the monsters with a slippery layer. The standing rust monster wobbles, but remains standing.
Reflex red: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
green is already prone

Round 1 & 2
Eshshah
Etrigan
Li
-----------
Rust Monster red
-----------
Mollok
Iason
Kiyomi
-----------
Rust Monster green -5HP prone
-----------
Clandelve

Etrigan gleefully tears into the one that's on the ground, abandoning accuracy for sheer carnage.

Bite, Power attack, vs (prone) green: 1d20 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (15) + 11 - 2 = 24
Claw 1, Power attack, vs (prone) green): 1d20 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 11 - 2 = 16
Claw 2, Power attack, vs (prone) green): 1d20 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (15) + 11 - 2 = 24

Bite damage: 1d6 + 10 + 1d6 ⇒ (5) + 10 + (1) = 16
Claw 1 damage: 1d4 + 10 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 10 + (2) = 14
Claw 2 damage: 1d4 + 10 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + 10 + (6) = 19

(If Bite and Claw 1 both hit and are successful in killing the green rust monster, Etrigan would turn the last attack on red.)

"My insectile friends! You crave sweet steel
"And thought, on us, to find a meal.
"Alas, poor pets! I have no blade
"Or shield, or maille, or aught smith-made
"All I bear is hot, red death
"The kiss of Hell, upon my breath."

While Etrigan recites his creepy poetry really, really good stuff btw, Clandelve circles around carefully.

Loaded with metal from the tip of his dwarven helm to his iron-toed boots, the dwarf looks hesitant to engage what his companions insist will harm his metal items.

double move

Eshshah dances around the outside of combat darting in to slice the red monster, keeping her metal as far away as possible.

Fighting Defensively: 1d20 + 9 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (12) + 9 + 3 - 4 = 20
Damage: 1d4 + 1 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 3 = 6

+3 Dodge Bonus to AC AC 23, T 18

Will use misfortune to force reroll from rust monster if it looks like one might touch metal.

Great couplets as always, Dien!

Li moves with fluid grace, each motion economical and rapid, as if each had been planned long in advance. He sees each individual arrow flying as if he had all the time in the world.

Flurry and Point Blank: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 8 + 1 = 131d8 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 3 + 1 = 11

Flurry and Point Blank: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 8 + 1 = 131d8 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 3 + 1 = 10

Oy. Maybe less calm and more practice, eh?

(Awww, thank you, guys, just glad others enjoy my silly rhymes. :P)

While Clandelve cirles around the monsters, carfully not to attract them with his armor, Etrigan rips one of them into pieces before attacking the other one. Eshshah and Li attack the remaining rust monster, but only Eshshah hits.

The remaining rust monster tries to strike back at 1d2 ⇒ 2 Eshshah, but it misses.
Bite: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

Round 2&3
Eshshah
Etrigan
Li
-----------
Rust Monster red -25HP (misfortune)
-----------
Mollok
Iason
Kiyomi
Clandelve

Kiyomi steps into the grease, Acrobatics: 1d20 + 14 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 14 + 4 = 21, then full-attacks the last rust monster with her paws.

brawler's flurry: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24
damage: 1d3 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
brawler's flurry: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20
damage: 1d3 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Clandelve moves up to assault the creature with his warhammer, but appears to be holding back, worried about his armor and weapons.

+1 Warhammer (adamantine) attack (power attack): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 131d8 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13

Eshshah quickly slices into the beast twice.

Keen Kukri: 1d20 + 9 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 9 + 3 = 21
Damage: 1d4 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 4 = 9

Kukri: 1d20 + 9 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 9 + 3 = 27
Damage: 1d4 + 1 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 4 = 9

Flurry and Point Blank: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 8 + 1 = 191d8 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 1 = 6
Flurry and Point Blank: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 8 + 1 = 101d8 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 1 = 6

I think Li left the bowstring out in the rain.

Iason rolls his eyes briefly at his servitor's verse, and decides, after a moment's hesitation, to simply resume placing copper plates into his haversack.

Etrigan, of course, keeps on keepin' on.

Bite, Power attack: 1d20 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 11 - 2 = 19
Claw 1, Power attack: 1d20 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (1) + 11 - 2 = 10
Claw 2, Power attack: 1d20 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 11 - 2 = 12
Bite damage: 1d6 + 10 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 10 + (3) = 17

Additionally Eshshah will use misfortune to make a rust monster reroll if it looks like it might eat something. (Assuming it lives)

Kiyomi's attack finally dispatches the last rust monster. Further attacks from Clandelve, Eshshah, Li and Etrigan make sure the creatures are dead.

combat over