GM Bigrin's Giantslayer (Inactive)

Game Master bigrin42

"Settle down, blood-'n-guts. Dragons would have set the whole ship on fire, not snuck up," Molly says.

Even so, the Witch loads and cranks her crossbow, then smoothly gets up. She casts a final glance at the prisoner.
"What is your name?"

"Dragons? Oh no!" Sander breaths, face paling noticeably as he rushes outside to see what Quill is talking about.

Please don't be dragons, please don't be dragons, please don't be dragons. Quill gets things wrong sometimes. Please don't be dragons, please don't be dragons, please don't be dragons.

The woman in the cage simply turns her head and ignores Molly and Storn. As everyone rushes up to the deck, the last of the creatures disappears into the riverbank. None of the party but Quill got a good look at them, though the Captain certainly seemed to get a look and then some.

Bloodtusk leaned heavily on the steering wheel, his face pale and his breathing labored. He fell from the wheel, his sliding body sending it spinning. The boat heeled hard to port, tearing the remaining horse from the starboard bank and sending it splashing into the water. It screamed and thrashed, and Halrex shouted something about cutting it loose. One of the crew leaped to sever the tow line, and another grabbed the wheel, straightening the boat in the river once more.

Captain Bloodtusk lay on his stomach, a large wound torn in his back by whatever creature had tried to snatch him up.

Sander rushes to the stricken man, hoping to keep him from bleeding out if it's not already too late.

Climb: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Quill keeps a lookout for the dragons returning, hoping others will tend to the wounded and dying.

"They went that way!" Quill cries from his watchtower, pointing to where they retreated, as if that would help.

Molly likewise rushes to get to the Captain. (Acrobatics 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27) If she makes it in time, she uses her Healing Hex to stabilize him and keep him alive. (Healing Hex 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7)

Molly manages to stabilize the Captain, who gasped for water. Molly grabbed the waterskin hanging from a peg at the wheelstand, and handed it over. Captain Bloodfang took a deep draught, then sat up, turning his head in vain, trying to get a look at his wounds. Then, he turned back and held the waterskin up to his nose. "What the..."

His words were cut off as his eyes rolled back into his head, and the Captian slumped back onto the deck. The waterskin fell from his limp hand to lie on the deck, its contents pouring out onto the wood.

Quill keeps his eyes open for more trouble.

"I think the prisoner has more animal or dragon allies! You should be watching her!" Quill warns a warning warningly.

"How many were there, Quill?" Sander cries out to the elf. "Are they coming back?!"

"I think the captain needs a proper Cleric!" Molly snaps. "That and maybe anti-toxins! Hop to!"

Quill looks to where the drakes flew away as if to see them again.

How many times did she want to kiss me? Ten? I think it was ten. Ten kisses!

"Ten? No wait...three! THREE!!" Quill confirms, recounting the drakes rather than his toes. "There were three dragons!"

Quill keeps an eye out for them to return.

Storn shoves everyone out of the way as he settles in to look over the Captain, stabbing him with his wand as a precautionary measure before he checks for other illness.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Taking 10 on Heal for 16 to figure out if he's poisoned.

Sander gulps at the impossibility of fighting off three dragons and resigns himself to die. I always knew I was no hero!

After a moment, he tries to comfort himself: At least they only got horses, Quill said, and everyone's safe if Storn and Molly and help the captain, he thinks.

Curses wishing she had seen what had attacked. If it had been dragons surely they would all be dead...but they had to look like them or else Quinn wouldn't be so sure. Looking at the Captain's wounds, she tries to figure out what all she can about them.

1d20 + 0 ⇒ (16) + 0 = 16 Though, she has no training...

Storn mutters angrily as he tends to the captain.

"Cowardly dragons, attack the horses and captain so the barge can't go anywhere, and meanwhile I'm wearing my armour and not a damn sausage. Why don't I get eaten alive by dragons? Some people have all the fun..."

The wound should not have caused the captain to collapse like that, especially not with Molly's healing. Storn was suspicious, and it only took a sniff of the water to prove true. The water smelled faintly of some astringent chemical, and made Storn's nose tickle.

Halrex stomped onto the deck, looking wan and in pain still from the battle with the saboteur below. She fixed her eyes on Bloodtusk and then hurried forward.

"What's this about poison and dragons? Who can tell me what happened here?"

She listened to the hurried explanations and cursed. "I don't blame you specifically, but this job has brought us nothing but trouble! I wish Raag hadn't taken this on. Still, no sense crying over spilled milk, as they say. You, Quill, you say the dragons took Sharg? Where?"

As Quill pointed downriver, Halrex sighed. "All right, let's go get her back. If there's any chance of her still being alive, we need to go right now. I have no right to as this of you, but will you come with me to rescue her? Or to avenge her?"

Storn beams a broken-toothed smile.

"Will I?! There's weird flying dragon things. If I don't punch one of them I'll have shamed my ancestors. Come on Sander, buck up. You're small enough you may get eaten whole and can tunnel your way out."

"I don't blame you specifically, but this job has brought us nothing but trouble! I wish Raag hadn't taken this on."

Quill looks sad at this dismissal.

This boat ride hasn't been fun for us either! We don't like anything that is happening either! It's not our fault...might be Storn's though.

"All right, let's go get her back. If there's any chance of her still being alive, we need to go right now. I have no right to as this of you, but will you come with me to rescue her? Or to avenge her?"

"Sure," Quill quickly acquiesces, happy to get off the damn boat of the damned. "I'll go. Not sure I can handle any part of any dragon, save maybe the droppings, but I'll try. Not that I expect that we can do much against dragons like the ones I saw."

Quill gathers his gear, a bit of food, and is ready to go.

Not to slow things down, but Quill never actually said the dragons took Sharg (hence Sander's thought above to try to push Quill into letting us know that so we could react). Another crew member could've mentioned it to Halrex, of course.

"The dragons took someone? Of course, we'll go! We can't just let her be eaten."

Sanders' face takes on its usual pallor as he realizes the horrible mistake his poor -- definitely not heroic! -- instincts have gotten him into.

"Oh Gods, I hope not," he says at Storn's ... Storn-esque encouragement.

"Do you know what kind of dragons they were, Quill?" he asks.

I was playing off Quill's daydreamy reaction to him not seeing the dragons coming in. Yeah, I know it was unclear, but it was a really good daydream, in Quill's defense.

"Do you know what kind of dragons they were, Quill?" he asks.

Quill describes the dragons as best he can.

"Sharg? That was Sharg they took? I thought it was the other she-half-orc, but no matter. We should go rescue her."

"Yeah, let's go," Molly says, shrugging.

Yeah, I figured Quill may have said something off camera, or one of the others did. Gotta keep things moving...even as slow as I am

Letting out a sigh, her mind had been racing over the dragons...and now they had to chase them. Shaking her head, she nods to Molly, "Seems like we are causing a bit of grief, so we should solve as much as we can..."

Sander nods, ready to go as soon as his companions force him to.

Quill coughs and tests out his new magic bow, ready to go.

After somewhat of a delay, as the crew organizes and gets the keelboat to the northern bank, the companions leap from the side to the narrow strip of bank that leads to the area where the drakes had disappeared. Halrex lead the way towards the bend in the cliffside where Quill saw the drakes disappear, after first organizing the crew in potential defense of the boat and seeing that the captain was comfortably settled.

The pungent odor of rotten fish and meat permeates the air near a cave mouth that reaches into the cliffside at the river's edge. The beach outside the cave is littered with the remains of several marine animals, including the bleached skeleton of an immense crocodile. The area is quiet and devoid of the sounds of wildlife. All that can be heard are the screams and cries of Sharg from within the cave.

Here's the map

"Let's move," Molly says, curtly.
The Witch only pauses to cast a spell on herself.

Mage armour up.

"Whew!" Quill exclaims nasally as he tries not to breath through his nose. "It stinks in here like Storn's beard after dinner..."

Sanders nods.

"I think they're killing her! We have to hurry!" he says.

Hurry to our deaths... he thinks.

"Here, Storn," he says, holding out a vial to the big man. "This'll make you bigger when we get in there."

Sander and Quill will follow behind Storn, the latter with his bow and arrow out. He'll say a prayer to what the rest of us assume is his imaginary elf friend who he thinks like to give hugs. I'd say he'd do something else to prepare but I have no idea how much the frilly elf in the sky actually listens to him.

Have we rested since the battle with the stowaway? I don't think we have...

Storn takes the vial gratefully.

"My beard smells great after dinner. A good Kellid knows that sometimes food is hard to come by. A filthy beard is a guaranteed source of precious sustenance in hard times." As if to demonstrate his point, Storn pops some of his beard in his mouth, sucking thoughtlessly as he stomps on ahead.

He listens to the screams for a moment.

"Hrm. Well good thing there's enough of Sharg to go around. Onwards for Gorum!"

Storn pushes ahead towards the cave.

@Storn - nope. this is turning into the dungeon equivalent of a running fight.

With a bit of a resolved sigh, Mariana follows behind Storn. "I've got your back, big man..." she says as she readies her wands, one in each hand.

Peering around the corner, Halrex and Storn saw a large cave. The captured horse whinnied softly in one corner, its entrails spilled out around it. Nearby, Sharg was leaning up against a wall, both of her legs sitting at odd angles. From her pale face and the way she winced with every breath, it was likely that she had internal injuries as well. Whatever the case, she was in great pain. An exit at the back of the first chamber seemed to lead to another cave beyond.

Here's the map

Molly ghosts past Halrex and Storn, her crossbow ready for battle, and starts to make her way towards Halrex.

Double-move to M 17.

"Wait," Quill cries as Molly rushes forward. "It could be a trap!"

I'd be sad if she dies. She's no Marigold Pottersmoot, but she kisses good. I think. I haven't really kissed anyone else. I'd really like to kiss Marigold some day. I bet she's really a good kisser. Maybe I should ask Sander if Molly's kissing right. All that tongue...

He moves forward, bow ready to launch arrows at any dragons that make an appearance. He makes sure to look up to make sure they're not lurking above them.

Move to N-16

---

Sander gasps as Molly rushes forward.

"Wai--," he starts to cry before Quill interrupts him.

Strange. It's like he's thinking the same thing I was.

He looks around for the dragons, moving forward into the mouth of the cave with a bomb ready. He makes sure to look up to make sure they're not lurking above them. Double move to O-16.

Seeing Molly rush forwards, Storn clanks on behind her, pulling out his wand as he approaches Sharg.

"Where's the dragon-thing?!"

As he walks up, he jabs her with his wand, muttering a prayer to Gorum.

CLW: 2d8 + 2 ⇒ (4, 5) + 2 = 11

Using two charges of the CLW wand on Sharg.

Storn and Halrex ruched past the now-quiet horse to get to Sharn's side. The warpriest touched the crew member with the wand, healing some of her wounds, but not taking the time to straighten bones first. The woman shrieked in pain, then again at something behind Storn. As the others rushed to the mouth of the caves, a pair of forms came rushing out of the second chamber.

Two river drakes launched themselves at Storn and Halrex. One was significantly larger than the other, a more blue than green. This one half-flew, half-ran at Storn and chomped down on the big man's shoulder. Perhaps if he had been facing the creature he could have avoided the bite, but as it was, it crunched into his armor and broke several ribs, in addition to all the soft tissue trauma. The other drake snapped at Halrex, but the coxswain managed to avoid the blow.

"Storn!" Quill yells, as he fires an arrow toward the more green one I think; looks gold to me on the map while rushing forward.

Move to J-16
Quill arrow: 1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 7 + 1 = 22
damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
I have no idea Quill's abilities; I'm using his modifiers from this post. I don't know if he needs a -4 for shooting into melee.

---

Sander hesitates for a second as Quill screams exactly what he was thinking, but then joins his companion in rushing forward, though he fires a bomb toward the scrum instead.

He breathes a sigh of relief as he hits his target, his aim seeming to have found its way back again ... though in all honesty it would have been hard to miss something so big.

Move to K-17
Throw bomb toward the smaller drake at E-15, excluding C-15, C-16 and E-17 from damage
bomb (ranged touch), point blank range, -2 for range: 1d20 + 7 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 7 + 1 - 2 = 19
Damage (fire damage): 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (4, 5) + 3 + 1 = 13
Splash damage: 6 (DC 14 for half)

Oh, and Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16 to figure out exactly what these things are. Resistances, special defenses, special attacks?

Molly aims at the green drake and squeezes off an arrow. The bolt has barely left her weapon before she fits a new arrow in the slot and turns the crank.

Ranged attack 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14 for 1d8 ⇒ 5 damage.

As a note, my AC in my tagline was wrong. Updated to AC 21. Big bastard probably still hit though.

"OWWW! Keep me healed!" yells Storn as the dragon crunches down on his armour. Seeing his companions rally, he quickly realizes that he can smash later and needs to keep himself alive for a little while longer. His wounds heal partially and he adopts a defensive stance, daring the dragon to hit him again.

Fervor: 1d6 ⇒ 3

"Come on you scaley ninny! I've had puppy bites worse than gasp that!"

Full defense. AC is now 25.

Only somewhat back, but will be able to post own actions for the rest of the combat. Nice shooting, Sanders. Thanks for helping.

Quill admires his nice shot that was blessed by the Elf That Hugs The World.

Yeah! Take that drakey!

Sander. I'm not running for president (though ironically I did appropriate a different Jewish Senator's name for Sander)... :p

@Storn - yeah, the attack was a 30, still you. but thanks for updating your stats.

"Storn!" Quill yells, as he fires an arrow toward the more green one (I think; looks gold to me on the map) while rushing forward.

I'm colorblind. i'm just guessing at the colors of the icons here :)

A hail of missile fire enveloped the smaller river drake, tearing large patches of scales from the creature. Sander watches the effects, trying to determine any information about the creatures that could help. he remembers that river drakes spit acid, and are highly resistant to the same.

As Sander is ruminating, Mariana ran forward and used one of her wands to good effect, casting bless on the entire party.

The drakes fought back, the wounded one gouging Halrex badly as the coxswain stabbed ineffectually at it. The larger one snapped at Storn, but the big man blocked the attack, then dodged the tail slap that followed. Taunting the drake, the big man continued to stand strong, even though he could see another one coming.

Molly shifts targets, aiming now at the larger drake that is bedevilling Storn. "Nice and easy, sonny," she coos, just before she squeezes the trigger. As soon as the bolt has left her weapon, she fits a fresh one in the slot and feverishly turns the crank.

Crossbow attack 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 2 + 1 = 10 for 1d8 ⇒ 6 damage.

Bleah. =_= Please remind me, did we have a chance to sleep since catching that archer-lady...? If so, I'd say it's magic time next round. If not, then I'll muddle on through, I guess. :d

Again, no. There was only an hour or so between that encounter and this one. Being as it was in the middle of the day, there has been no chance to recover any hp or magic.

Okay! ^_^

Yeah, yeah, yeah. :) Sorry...and how many times have you called me Quinn?

Don't forget bless, peeps!

Round 2, Init 21

Quill, sensing a LOT of danger, calls to the Elf That Hugs the World for aid, pulling a bit of the divine spark within him. Divine Favor.

He opens up at the dragon that he already hurt using his new bow.

1d20 + 7 - 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 7 - 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 20 to hit; (-rapid,+PBS,+bless,+DF)
1d8 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 2 + 1 + 1 = 6 damage.

1d20 + 7 - 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 7 - 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 27 to hit; (-rapid,+PBS,+bless,+DF)
1d8 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 2 + 1 + 1 = 5 damage.

Round 2

Seeing the group rally, Storn lets out an enormous roar before slamming down with Agrimmosh!

Power Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22 Damage: 1d10 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

I'm going to be away from Wednesday to Sunday, I may sneak a post or two in but bot me with abandon!

Quill, Quinn. I don't really see much difference... Next time, don't so blatantly copy another PC. :p Nice shooting, though. I wish Quinn were that effective...

Sander edges a little closer and throws another bomb, this time targeting the second drake. Move to I-17, target drake at E-14

"How many of them are there?" he cries out in fear.

bomb (ranged touch), point blank range: 1d20 + 7 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 7 + 1 + 1 = 11
Damage (fire damage): 2d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (5, 4) + 3 + 1 = 13
Splash damage: 6 (DC 14 for half)
Miss direction: 1d8 ⇒ 3

Suddenly the thump thump thump of heavy footsteps sounds through the cavern as a shape bounds toward the drakes. You see a disheveled male of indeterminate race. Perhaps a half-orc? He has bristly black hair cropped short and a full beard. His eyes are a deep orange, with small flecks of yellow near the iris. His skin is an ashen green. He has high cheek bones, and a strong jaw with protruding lower canines. His skin is taut against a heavy build. He has a vertical scar across his right side and a gold ring in his nose. He is dressed in travel-worn leather armor. He is tall, with a solid frame and straight posture.

As he runs his features distort. Claws extend, teeth lengthen, and cloven hooves replace his bare feet. In moments it looks like a half-orc made sweet, sweet love to a pig... and this was their baby.

It bellows out a porcine squeal of rage. "REEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" It reaches the nearest drake and lands face-first, trying to sink its teeth into the creature.

Charge to F16 bite: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 241d8 + 6 + 2d6 ⇒ (2) + 6 + (1, 6) = 15 (mutagen, power attack, charge, flanking, sneak attack)

Storn looks at the rampaging pig-beast with wide, childlike eyes.

"That looks delicious."