Unrak spits the blue pest on his blade and steps into line with Augrym and Toth.
Round II
1. Zed, Unrak, Taranis (16/20 hp), Augrym
2. Mites
3. Marc (15/16 hp)
Taranis, buoyed by his brother's skill, steps into the fray:
THREAT
HA!
Toth, however, is much more comfortable in the kerfuffle:
for
for
for
Study and hit.
”I have looked you up and down soon to be dead friend mite, and this does not bode well for you.”
Taranis and his pet find their mite's hide to be strangely stubbord. Toth manages to nick a little blood.
Augrym shows 'em how it is done with an efficient decapitation.
Round II
1. Zed, Unrak, Taranis (16/20 hp), Augrym
2. Mites (purple @ 1 dmg)
3. Marc (15/16 hp)
Zed, wand in hand, shouts at the party, "Move! My arcane might is not for us. I need space to incinerate our foes."
Whilst waiting for an opening the magic-user tries to daze the mite in the middle (Blue).
The mite resists!
The blue grubbers flail and flail with a useless counterattack!
MISS
MISS
MISS
Round II
1. Zed, Unrak, Taranis (16/20 hp), Augrym
2. Mites (purple @ 1 dmg)
3. Marc (15/16 hp)
Round III
1. Zed, Unrak, Taranis (16/20 hp), Augrym
2. Mites (purple @ 1 dmg)
3. Marc (15/16 hp)
Taranis and Toth gang up on the mite before them
The druid awkwardly swings his scimitar:
, but it's clearly not his forte.
He then steps back to open up the area.
Toth tries to savage the mite, unaware of what foils the might and sharpness of his claws:
for
Taranis and his companion flail as ineffectually as the mites!
Round II
1. Zed, Unrak, Taranis (16/20 hp), Augrym
2. Mites (purple @ 1 dmg)
3. Marc (15/16 hp)
Round III
1. Zed, Unrak, Taranis (16/20 hp), Augrym
2. Mites (purple @ 1 dmg)
3. Marc (15/16 hp)
Unrak swings at Orange.
then steps over his corpse, ready to continue reaping!!
- Round the Third
- Current HPs: 12/12
Zed tries to Daze the mite in the middle yet again. "This might sap your might, mite!"
The creature's might seems to melt away, and it stares blankly as Zed's magical energies materialize before its eyes!
Unrak continues his bloody onslaught. Zed, still cursed, finds that the mite is able to resist his magick!
(same result)
Round II
1. Zed, Unrak, Taranis (16/20 hp), Augrym
2. Mites (purple @ 1 dmg)
3. Marc (15/16 hp)
Round III
1. Zed, Unrak, Taranis (16/20 hp), Augrym
2. Mites (purple @ 1 dmg)
3. Marc (15/16 hp)
Attack on the guy in front of me.
”How many mites are in this cursed place?! I feel less like an adventurer and more like an exterminator!”
Marc and Augrym finish off the last of the mites (that you know of). Marc's glaive bifurcates his mite with near-perfect precision, offering exquisite views of each individual lobe of a mite's miniature brain. Zed might consider collecting one or both halves for study.
The walls of this egg-shaped cavern are obscured by thick tangles of long, pallid roots. To the east, the chamber opens into a wide, root-filled chasm.
Three dead kobolds hang limply from their lashings to the roots. A fourth, hanging to the north, bears several wounds but looks at you with a mix of terror and hope. "Ummm.... are you here to rescue me?"
Taranis, as the last one falls hastens to the kobold, "Brother, can you check the fallen for anything of note?"
Taranis cuts down the living kobold gently, before talking, and then with an equally gentle hand, cuts down the dead.
He casts a spell of Enhanced Diplomacy, "Apparently we are here to rescue you. What is your name, and how come by you this weird? I confess, we've been made aware of kobold problems in the area, but you seem to have your own." .
The kobold, after being cut down, sinks to his knobby knees and offers you his thanks. "Grateful, me grateful! Me named Mikmek. Me come with other Sootscales to rescue holy statue from nasty nasty mites!"
He pauses, gathering courage for what he is about to say. "Me must finish mission! Me can offer many treasures if you help!"
Taranis will engage Mikmek long enough to get a feel for the kobold's demeanor"
"We would be willing to help in exchange for treasure, and perhaps a meeting and agreement with your leader. Who leads the Sootscales?"
Unrak grunts agreement with his brother's suggestion, and carefully examines the fallen.
Take 20 on perception for 25
Mikmek is slow to answer Taranis' question, offering half a syllable twice and then suddenly stopping short. Eventually, he answers, "Tartuk, Tartuk, he lead Sootscales." A short pause follows. "Me must get Old Sharptooth! Nasty nasty mites stole Old Sharptooth! Must be here!"
Unrak is exceptionally careful in his search, and finds only the knives that the mites failed to stab you with. The dead kobolds are stripped of all gear and clothing, as is Mikmek.
"Mikmek, from where do you hail? And what road led you to this?" Zed gestures around him to emphasize the ruin Mikmek's life has amounted to.
"Mikmek?"
Mikmek shakes his head to clear his vision of Old Sharptooth and realizes that Zed has asked him a question. "Sootscale Caverns! Sent to mite hollow to take back Old Sharptooth!"
"Mikmek, what pray tell is Old Sharptooth? A weapon of some sort? Perhaps we could aid you in retrieving it... we all seem to be on the same side - slaying mites and all."
Unrak rumbles I think he said it was a statue
"We will help you. Let us sleep and recover our strength. Promise us that you'll stay and be there when we rescue your statue."
The kobold seems simultaneously pained and grateful at the idea of sleep. "Promise! Promise! Must get Old Sharptooth to Sootscale Caverns!"
Taranis takes out the statuette, "Mikmek, is this it?"
"OLD SHARPTOOTH!" Mikmek shouts, leaping for it with palpable excitement. "Must bring back to Sootscale tribe!"
"Hang on my friend. You are close to victory, but this is where things are most dangerous. Do you not place your scariest traps closest to home? We must travel in the morning to guarantee your safety."
Taranis looks up towards the exit, "And where are your brethren?"
Mikmek quivers, clearly fighting the urge to run home immediately, but obeys. He points at the dead kobolds recently cut free from the walls. "Sootscales."
At the mouth of the hole (outside).
’I am finding our new friend Mikmek to be quite adorable. I hope that the Sootscales are of equal adorableness..”
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Zed was staring into the campfire absently, enjoying the crackle and dance of the flames. With a start, he realozed felt something he hadn't felt in quite some time... an awareness of his magical power surging through his chest with a renewed vigor. He could feel the black curtain that the demigod had thrown over him to smother his powers lift, if only a bit.
The elf's almond-shaped eyes widened slightly, the pupils dialating with the familiar blended rush of adrenaline and magic. He glanced down at his hand and manipulated a tiny spark of magic, trying to test the new limits of his power, testing the leash as it were.
The wizard sought the primordial source of the humble campfire's orange flames; he sought to access the fiery plane of existence he knew such flames were drawn from. With a slowly widening grin he realized he could feel the intangible membrane separating him from the Elemental Plane of Fire as he pressed against it.
Glancing down at his worn leather backpack, laying just inside the circle of fire light on the tamped down grass beside the old log he sat upon. Zed withdrew the old spellbook and started scrawling the spidery language of magic across the blank pages in the middle of the tome. Oddly appropriate he was capturing this particular spell by fire light, he thought.
Ooc-
plus 1 for favored class = 8
Zed's level up stuff is here, on the bottom half of the page. I'll clean out the old level 2 stuff hopefully later today.
Also, I'm pretty psyched about this page of summons ready to copy/paste. Other wizzerds can steal it if they'd like.
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Level up complete.
HPs: +8
New Spells: Web, Summon Monster 2
Skills: Know: Arcana, Know: Geography, Know: Local, Know: Planes, Linguistics, Perception, Profession: Wizardry, Spellcraft
Feat: Summon Good Monster
New Language: Terran
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While Zed is studying his spellbook, Unrak is unusually quiet. He steps away from the fire, contemplating the starry night in silence. He steps farther into the darkness, and kneels in the mossy ground. Toth, sitting at Taranis' feet, looks up at his master's brother, and walks over to the meditating Bloodrager and sits at his side. Unrak, not looking up, buries his hand into the cat's fur, feeling his spirit communing with the natural world even more deeply.
After a time, he slowly stands, and pats Toth on the head, which is a silent signal for the faithful beast back to the fire and Taranis. Unrak reaches down and picks up a couple of plants near where he was meditating, then returns to the fire and seats himself. He pulls out a mortar & pestle, and grinds up some of the leaves, adding in a pinch of dirt. He pours in some water, making a paste. He then brings out a knife, and draws it across his left forearm, letting some of his lifeblood drip into the concoction.
The big man goes over to Zed, offering the bowl to him. Zed, take a sip. This will bond you as my ally, making it easier for me to resist your spells. He waits patiently until Zed takes a taste of the bowl's contents. He does the same for Marc. Warpriest...bond with me so I can resist your spells, if I must.
He walks to Taranis, but does not offer him the bowl. You and I already share blood, my brother. We are bonded, you don't need this.
As usual, Augrym stands watch throughout the night. He reports no disturbances, although Mikmek half-stood up about a dozen times before thinking better of running off with the statue. The cloudless, starlit sky seems particularly clear and... large. You reflect on the depth of the wilderness that you have tumbled over these last weeks, and how far you are from home.
It feels good.
The sun crests the horizon warm and bright in the spring air. Mikmek is bouncing up and down, eager to return to his tribe. "We go! We go!"
Ready
Ready.
"Mikmek. Tell me of your tribe. What do you value? What do you dispise? Do you think your tribe could find themselves allies to men?"
Taranis and Toth take the journey as a welcome respite from the mite cave.
or at least not enemies...
Mikmek is glad to be heading home, and therefore glad to talk. He scratches his scaly head for a moment. "Sootscale tribe like Old Sharptooth. Old Sharptooth will fix curse. Sootscales also like fish. Tasty fish. Sootscale tribe hate nasty mites! Nasty mites steal Old Sharptooth from tribe and poke me with sharp sticks!"
"Mikmek not know what 'allies' is."
The Sootscale Caverns turn out to only be a short distance away, although you continue to pass corporal evidence of skirmishes between mites and kobolds as you travel southeast. Mikmek reacts with a sad growl at each grey kobold body, and jubilant triumph at each dead mite.
Ahead, an outcropping of large boulders emerges from the weathered face of a nearby hillock. A narrow opening in the rock leads into darkness below. A fallen sign leans against the side of the cave entrance, still bearing the much-faded words of 'Oaktop Silver Mine,' and a cage made of branches and sticks sits on the other side. Inside the cage is a single mite, eyes squinted shut against the late morning sun.
"Allies are what humans call it when entire clans are friends. Mikmek, what's the with the mite in a cage?"