GM Haladir's Rise of the Runelords (Inactive)

Game Master Haladir

Cerin grits his teeth, fighting the pain as he staggers back into the brambles. Hopefully Gwyn's spell will take care of them... he thinks as he prays to Gozreh to heal his wounds.

5 ft step south, cast Cure Light Wounds: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Helena stabs at one of the dogs, thankful for the reach of her weapon, but not for the closeness of the brambles as her thrust goes wide. "I hope you know what you're doing, Gwyn," she mutters, mostly to herself.

Longspear: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

Waiting for Kyrian. I'll move ahead later tonight regardless.

Do you want me to go ahead and roll for Gwyn's spell?

"Take it away, Gwyn!" Shalelu steps back behind the other elven woman, dodging the jaws of the undead goblin dog.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

She then takes a shot at the same zomblin dog that tried to bite her.

Ranged attack through soft cover: 1d20 + 8 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 8 + 1 - 4 = 22
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

From a game mechanics perspective, the goblin dog to the east took an AOO at Shalelu as she moved back, but she evaded with a successful Acrobatics check. Gwyn: Use that knowledge as you will!

Kyrian sighs out as the next set of undead come towards them. "Yeah, this isn't going to get any easier..." as he takes aim and fires a few arrows at the oversized zombie rat.

Attack 1: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 5 - 2 = 13
Attack 2: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (6) + 5 - 2 = 9
Damage 1: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Damage 2: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Gwyn's eyes and hair blaze with red flames as she steps up and sends a wave of fire across the group of undead.

Burning Hands (DC 15 for half): 4d4 ⇒ (2, 1, 3, 4) = 10
-1 Arcane reservoir to bump the CL of the spell up one, and no AoO for the zomblin doggie since he wasted it on Shalelu. :D

Round 1 summary:

The zombies press their attack, biting Cerin but Shalelu manages to evade. Cerin drops back and heals himself, and at Gwyn's urging, Shalelu tumbles past the snapping jaws of the zombie. She gets off a shot and the arrow hits its mark, but it doesn't seem to faze the creature at all.

Helena's spear and one of Kyrian's arrows are deflected by the tough undead hide of the zombies. Kyrian's first shot lands squarely in the zombie dog's chest, but it barely reacts to the arrow now protruding from it.

With arcane words, Gwyn summons a cone of magical fire, blasting all three zombies. The rotting flesh of the zombies chars and blackens, with some charred bits breaking off. Yet, all three zombies continue to press the attack.

Round 2

The zombies lurch forward and continue to attack the living. The zombie dog fighting Gwym manages to tear at one of her sleeves, but doesn't get her flesh. The other, however, manages to land a nasty bite on Helena. Helena: take 9 hp damage. Not able to close, the remaining charred undead goblin claws at the air.

From the back of the ranks, Shalelu lets fly another arrow, and this one hits a zombie dog squarely in the eye. It lets out a hoarse shriek and collapses lifelessly.

Everyone else can go!

Attack: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Gwyn tries to end the unlife of the zomblin dog facing her, Cerin, and Helena, but doesn't do much beyond making herself look foolish.

Fluff, meanwhile, is hanging on for dear life.

While Gwyn distracts the dog, Cerin glides through the foliage to get behind it before lashing out with a quick slash with his blazing sword.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 5 + 2 = 25
Damage: 1d4 + 2 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 2 + (1) = 7

Possible Crit? 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 5 + 2 = 10
Extra Damage: 1d4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Cerin neatly decapitates the undead goblin dog, and it crumples to the floor.

One enemy remains! Still waiting for Helena and Kyrian.

Holding her spear in one hand, Helena draws the dagger from her belt and slashes out quickly at the last foe.

Dagger: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21 power attack
damage: 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

Kyrian lines up his next shot and lets loose a few more arrows in rapid succession, hoping to end this quickly.

Attack 1: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (5) + 5 - 2 = 8
Attack 2: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 5 - 2 = 23
Critical: 1d20 + 5 - 2 ⇒ (4) + 5 - 2 = 7
Damage 1: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Damage 2: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Critical: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Helena jabs the remaining zomblin with her spear as Kyrian sinks two arrows into it. The creature hisses disconcertingly, then collapses lifeless to the earthen floor.

Combat over!

With the defeat of the second wave of goblin zombies, the Sandpoint Heroes press further into the thistle maze. Exploring the passage to the south, they find it abandoned, although pretty much all of the goblin druid's personal effects and totems have been removed since yesterday. The passage north leads to a rocky cliff. From within the tunnel, the party can see a rickety-looking rope bridge with wooden planks that spans the chasm between the mainland cliffs and the strangely round boulder that is Thistletop. The bridge sways slightly in the breeze.

On the far side, on Thistletop itself, you can see a goblin mounted on a goblin dog. Its back is to you. You can't quite make out the words, but it seems to be gesticulating and shouting something toward the walls, as if he's in conversation with a guard stationed atop one of the towers.

Cerin fades into the brush and sneaks up as close to the bridge as he can without revealing himself. He inspects the rickety structure as far as he can see, looking for any sign that the bridge has been sabotaged.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Gwyn gives Helena a hug after the fight, upset that she got hurt, but glad she was okay.

===

Gwyn readies an arrow as she looks to Shalelu.

"Any tips on how to use a bow correctly, teacher," she asks respectfully as she waits for Cerin to return.

Using his uncanny ability to walk through the dense thickets of thorns, Cerin creeps to the edge of the hedge near the bridge. Using his celestial vision to examine the bridge, he spots something troubling: the eastern rope of the bridge is rigged to collapse if there's too much weight on the bridge. He estimates about three big folk like humans or elves would do it: the western rope would collapse, spilling anyone standing on the bridge into the shallow water eighty feet below. He can see that it's possible to properly knot the rope so that it won't collapse from weight, but that would have to be done on the far side of the span.

Oops: In the above description, I meant the eastern rope is the one that will collapse. The western rope seems solid.

"Gwyn, it looks like you took a bit of a beating. Here. This should heal your injuries."

The ranger hands Gwyn a potion vial.

It's a potion of cure light wounds.

Kyrian approaches up to Cerin as the small man eyes the bridge. "Anything we should know about going on here? Not quite sure why you've stopped.."

Perception (to see what Cerin's noticed. Not sure if that's high enough.): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

Gwyn takes the potion, and looks like she's about to protest, until a sharp eyed glare from Shalelu shuts her up and she meekly drink the potion.

Heal: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

After most of her wounds close, or close enough to leave only scratches, she pockets the vial and looks to Helena, before looking back to the Ranger.

"Do you have one for Helena? She's hurt almost as much as I was," she whispers softly to the other elf.

Cerin motions for Kyrian to get back out of sight and makes his way back to the others, popping out of the brambles behind Helena.

"Sorry I haven't tended to you sooner, I wanted to make sure we weren't in any immediate danger!" he says in a loud whisper as he touches her lightly with the healing wand before using it on himself. "The bridge has been rigged to collapse. I don't believe it will break under my weight. I was thinking that I would run across and secure it so everyone could cross, I have a spell that will offer some protection and I can summon an air elemental to attack the goblin on the far side to give me time to repair it. Unless anyone has a better idea?"

Cure Light Wounds on Helena: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Cure Light Wounds on Cerin: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Shalelu nods sagely. She peers through the opening in the maze toward the bridge. As is typical for Thistletop, the morning is gray and misty. "That might work! Tell me more of your plan, especially what magic you'll use to hide your approach? Once your elemental attacks, Kyrian, Gwyn, and I could support you from here with archery until you give us the 'clear' signal. Then we can all cross over and press the assault."

"Too bad the Acadamae left a bad taste in my mouth for Conjuration. I could have used a spell to help out with with Cerin's end of the operation too," Gwyn sighs, obviously annoyed with herself, "I'll do what I can though. I promise not to hit you or your buddy by accident."

"Thank you," Helena sighs after Cerin shares the wand's magic with her. "I should be fine now." She lifts the hem of her robe to inspect the bite in her lower thigh, muttering something about a poultice. "I can't help with your plan much from this side," she admits, "but I can ward you from the goblins' attacks, if that helps."

I can cast either protection from evil or shield of faith to help boost Cerin's AC while he's over.

"By Gozreh's grace, I can summon a cloud of fog to obscure the far end of the bridge, then call forth a mist to hide my approach from this end. The goblins won't be able to see anything to shoot at, and I will cast a spell to render my flesh as hard as tree bark which should serve to protect me should any of them try to close in. Ready?" he asks with a devilish grin, as if he were about to attempt an exciting trick rather than a dangerous plan.

Cast Barkskin on self. Cast Fog Cloud (20' radius) so the edge of it covers the far end of the bridge. Then cast Obscuring Mist (20' radius around himself) which should cover all but about a 10' section in the middle of the bridge. Then run (if he can) to cross the bridge in 1 round, or double-move to cross it in 2 rounds.

Obscuring Mist: 3 min
Fog Cloud: 30 min
Barkskin: 30 min

Shalelu grins every-so-slightly and nods at Cerin's plan. "Nice. I think that just might work! Let's do it!"

Cerin: If you want to try to run across the bridge, you can. Note that the planks making up the bridge aren't very even, and if you trip, there's a chance you might fall over the edge. You also can't use Stealth while running.

I noted on the map where the double doors are, and where the knot needs to be tied to secure the rope bridge from collapsing.

Everyone: Any other plans/actions you want to take before we start this encounter?

Ok, after casting the Barkskin and Fog Cloud, Cerin will cast Obscuring Mist and use his move action to move to the edge of the mist.
Next round, he will double-move to the opposite end of the bridge and (hopefully!) tie the rope on the 3rd round.

Gwyn finds herself grinning along with Cerin. She would have to get some of his magical secrets from him, and hopefully teach Helena how to use that spell that made the caster's skin hard as bark.

Gwyn will wait patiently for the signal to cross with her long-knife (gladius) ready.

Left to her own devices, Helena frets, wringing her hands together. "You'll let me know what's going on?" she asks Gwyn anxiously.

Helena will follow Gwyn when she moves across, since she can't see past 30 feet.

From the cover of the brambles, Cerin calls for a sign of the Wind and the Waves. A moment later, thick mist begins to boil upward from the deck of the rope bridge just off the edge of the gigantic boulder that is Thistletop. The drizzle and mists already present seem to thicken and coalesce, forming a a dense cloud of fog. The fog obscures the view of the bridge and the double doors into the Thistletop stockade.

Cerin the calls a similar blessing, and another cloud of fog spreads out from the bramble patch in which he hides. He then edges through the second cloud of mist. The two clouds don't actually meet, and he quickly moves across the clear air to the second fog bank.

Cerin: I'm assuming you're going to try to be stealthy on this maneuver...

Cerin's Stealth: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

As Cerin makes his way over the bridge, he can hear the goblin on the ground talking in a loud voice with the two goblins in the eastern tower. They don't appear to be alarmed by the sudden appearance of this bank of fog... after all, the place is normally rather misty and foggy.

While the goblins chatter, Cerin examines the ropes holding the bridge together, attempting to figure the best way to undo the trap. The ropes all come together to a piece of thin twine that probably can't take more than a few hundred pounds before it snaps. Unfortunately, there is no obvious way to secure it without snipping one or more of the existing ropes and then tying them more securely together...

Disarming the trap normally requires a DC 15 Disable Device trap. Since this is a bridge, I'll allow a Knowledge (Engineering) attempt instead...

Knowledge (engineering) DC 15: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

After studying the ropes for a few moments, Cering quickly figures out which to cut and how to tie them all back properly. He's hampered slightly by trying to do this as quietly as possible, but manages to do it. The bridge should now support up to a thousand pounds or so.

Cerin's Stealth: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

The goblins continue to chatter away as Cerin finishes disarming the trap.

Okay-- the bridge is secured, and Cerin is on the island. So far, the goblins haven't noticed that anything is going on. Your actions!

Satisfied that his work will hold, Cerin creeps forward to the edge of the cloud and gives the signal by hitting the goblin on the ground with a burst of wind and rain.

5 ft step north, Stormcloud (ranged touch): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13
nonlethal damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 & -2 on attacks for 1 round.

Gwyn helps Helena cross the bridge when she hears the crack of thunder that announced Cerin's attack.

Not trying to be stealthy, since Cerin just let them know something was up. :)

"A-already??" Helena stammers, stumbling across with Gwyn.

Moved myself 40 feet; if you could move with me, Gwyn, that'd be great :P

Cerin creeps through the fog and calls forth a tiny stormcloud. With a small thunderclap that sounds like a firecracker, the stormcloud blasts the riding goblin with wind and rain.

The goblin looks startled, then wheels to look into the fog cloud.

Initiative is: Goblins, Helena, Shalelu, Cerin, Gwyn, Kyrian.

Surprise Round

[/ooc]I am going to assume that all of the PCs were standing in Cerin's obscuring mist on the bridge, waiting for Cerin's signal to rush in. I'm moving your tokens appropriately.[/ooc]

PCs can all act in the surprise round (including Cerin). Remember that the surprise round is a single standard or move/move-equivalent action. You can take a charge action on the surprise round, but you can only move up to your regular move (not double) and attack. (Standard charge action applies: +2 to hit, -2 AC).

Alternatively, you could take the Run action to run across the bridge for double your movement rate. If you want to do that, please make a DC 5 Acrobatics check or trip on the uneven and damp wooden bridge. If you do take the Run action, you're considered flat-footed until your next action. However, tracing line-of-sight seems to show that the bridge is pretty much completely obscured by fog to any of the goblins.

I'm going to assume you're all taking the Run action to cross the bridge, unless you tell me otherwise.

At Cerin's signal, the rest of the adventurers rush over the bridge!

Gwyn: You normally move faster than Helena, but you said you're taking her hand for the crossing, so I'm moving you at her rate.

Kyrian slips while running across the slippery, uneven wooden planks of the bridge, but manages to catch himself. Kyrian is a -2 AC until his next action.

Cerin: You also have an action in the surprise round. State your action and we'll move to Round 1

Note on terrain: The dark green vegetation on the island are small briar patches that are only about 2-3 feet tall. Consider those spaces difficult terrain.

Also: If you're standing at the edge of a fog cloud, you can see out fine, but you have partial concealment (enemies have 20% miss chance).

Wanting to stay under cover until the immediate threat is dealt with and they can get into the structure, Cerin continues hammering at the goblin rider with the storm.

Stormcloud (ranged touch): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
nonlethal damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6 & -2 on attacks for 1 round.

"Yep, let's go," Gwyn urges as she guides Helena along the bridge.

Surprise Round: Move 20' while guiding Helena (Moved her token up as well, I hope that's okay Ronnie, If not, just say so.)

Stumbling and swaying across the bridge, trying not to look down to the blurry waters an indeterminable distance below, Helena hurries across with Gwyn.

That's fine, thanks =)

I think that's really all I'm gonna be able to do honestly is make that run.

Round 1

Buffeted by another blast of wind from the tiny stormcloud, the goblin rider backs his ratlike dog toward the stockade while pulling out a shortbow. It fires at Cerin, and the arrow glances off the druid's armor.

The goblin then shouts, "Bree-yark! Bree-yark! Gooba-nooba nub-yub!"

At the call, the goblin guards on the eastern and western towers fumble for their bows and then let loose a volley of arrows into the fog, but none of them find their mark.

Your turn!

"Droolcock oxhack yourself, runt," the Varisian says to the goblin before him. "You know I don't speak your gibberish. I'm guessing the longshanks are here. I'm on it." He pulls back the bolt and strides out of the goblin steading, blinking in the sunlight as his eyes adjust. He frowns as he sees a cloud of fog squatting at the terminus of the rope bridge.

"Well, well. Magic mist. That's cute. You force me to use my own magic, then! Prosím, nezabíjejte mě! Pomůžu vám zabít tyto skřítků, a jsem ochoten vám pomohou proti jejich vůdce!"

What Orik looks like

Orik: your spoiler tag doesn't work. What is the translation of your Varisian?

The door to the stockade opens from within. Standing in the doorway is a tall human in heavy armor with a large steel shield made to look like an angry face. He points a hand-and-a-half sword at you and threatens you with magic before making some kind of incantation.

"Oh please, this is a real spell, half-wit," Gwyn says with a biting edge of annoyance in her voice as she steps up and holds her hand out, her middle finger pressing hard against her thumb as a flicker of flame appears.

"燒傷，我的敵人," she mutters as she snaps her fingers, unleashing a torrent of flame.

Damage: 3d4 ⇒ (2, 4, 4) = 10

DC 15 Reflex Save for half. Anything flammable in the red area catches.

Alright, it's not as soon as I got home, but it's something. >.>

As the familiar language reaches her ears, Helena gasps, her free hand flying to her mouth. "Gwyn, wait!" she hisses, grabbing at her friend's hand too late to stop the burst of flame. "He says he can help us! Co tím myslíš, pomoz nám? Jak můžeme věřit?" she yells back, squinting at the strange man through the mist.

I'll delay any further action until everyone else has acted.

Weird. I guess I should have double checked that the spoiler tag would work, but that's literally never happened before.

"Oh, f**k my life!", Orik cries as he sees a gout of flame blast out from the fog cloud. He attempts to hide behind the door to avoid some of the fire...

Reflex: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

...and somehow manages to avoid the worst of it. Dammit, I knew this wouldn't work. I'm so dead. They're going to kill me and I'm going to die in this s**tty stockade that smells of goblin spoor and

Co tím myslíš, pomoz nám? Jak můžeme věřit?

Orik's eyes widen in surprise and relief. Thank Lady Luck, one of them speaks Varisian! Orik shouts out from behind the door, "Budete se muset vzít mé slovo, ale nemám touhu zemřít požárů vašeho mága napomáhajících nějaký šílený napůl ďábel fenu. Má návrhy na města, odkud jste přišli, a jsem ochoten pomoci výměnou za mého života!"