Unrak and Marc cannot connect!
Round X
1. Fey (40 damage, 2 bleed, -1 atk)
2. Zed, Unrak (62/65 hp), Augrym (23/50 hp), Marc (35/38 hp, diseased), Taranis
"Toth! Follow that blood trail! Attack!" Taranis then jumps into the air, taking the form of a falcon and flying out of the castle.
”This thing is FAST!! I will give chase but will need some divine aid.”
Augrym casts Expeditious Retreat and begins his pursuit.
Two Huntsmen begin to give chase.
Round X
1. Fey (40 damage, 2 bleed, -1 atk)
2. Zed, Unrak (62/65 hp), Augrym (23/50 hp), Marc (35/38 hp, diseased), Taranis
Unrak lets his rage dissipate, seeing how fast this mofo is.
dammit.
He sags to the ground, panting harshly.
Unrak pants heavily, watching his brother wing away.
Round X
1. Fey (40 damage, 2 bleed, -1 atk)
2. Zed, Unrak (62/65 hp), Augrym (23/50 hp), Marc (35/38 hp, diseased), Taranis
Zed readies another Magic Missile in the event that he sees the Fey again. But he is relatively confident that the creature will bleed out with his friends giving chase.
Marc suddenly takes this opportunity to inspect his navel for lint, doing nothing of import. The enemy speeds east, but Zed's spell is quicker.
After a moment of labored breathing, you take stock of the courtyard. A graceful tower rises out of the keep’s central courtyard, now overgrown with bushes, undergrowth, and several sizable trees. Like the outer walls, the tower is draped with vines and creepers, and several small plants have taken up residence on ledges and in cracks along its sides.
Taranis reverts to his human form to collect any treasure from the creature. "May your time in the First World be as frustrating as your time with us."
Upon returning he looks at the others, "We've got much to explore. Let's start in the tower he kept using."
Taranis retrieves a stylized, needle-shaped +1 shortsword from the creature, as well as two doses of blue whinnis poison.
The wooden door to the northeast tower, made from roughly-cut timber planks and obviously of newer construction than the rest of the keep, was thrown open during the fight. The 40-foot-tall tower is missing its roof, but interwoven, leafy vines and the forest canopy above provide a ceiling of sorts, shading the interior and allowing only dim illumination within. Inside, the rubble and undergrowth have been cleared away to create a cozy living space, decorated with small crude wooden furniture, and bloody scalps nailed to the walls.
Taranis returns with the short sword held out, "I'll not use this, but it's a shame if one of you does not." The vials of poison he puts in his bandoleer, but points out anyone can use them as he cares not about the morality of poison. After all, it's more natural than worked steel.
The Druid of the Third Circle gives the tower a more thorough look.
And well that he does! Some twenty feet above the floor, he spots an urn nestled in among the vines. An easy climb brings it down.
Inside the urn is a mix of precious metals and gemstones:
- 119 gold crowns
- 131 silvers
- 27 coppers
- A dozen varied gemstones worth 1,800 gold crowns in total
After dispersing to the Huntsmen with strong backs, Taranis motions clockwise to the southeastern tower. He steps back as Augrym reaches out with his powers for signs of moral intent...
The southeast tower is open to the sky, its door, roof, and interior levels having fallen away long ago. You find nothing but rat poop here.
The party continues their circuit, pushing through the wreckage to the southwest tower.
The upper reaches of the southwestern tower have completely collapsed, filling the entire interior with debris and rubble. It will take a while to search thoroughly.
The Huntsmen elect to take their time and search the rubble thoroughly.
DV60
and LLV Scent
LLV, +3 well-lit visual if Aurora nearby
After a half hour of searching the wreckage, you uncover a remarkably well preserved mithral statuette of an elven woman wearing archaic robes framed in an archway of woven mithral branches.
"Zed, what do you think of this?"
"Fitting here. Perhaps she will give approval for our undertakings. I predict this place will not stay ruined much longer. This also might be the kind of thing Lily was talking about"
The Baron points to the northwest, "I suggest we handle the final tower here before exploring the center."
The northwest tower stretches high into the sky, its upper reaches hidden in the forest’s canopy. Vines choke the tower’s exterior, festooned with bleached humanoid skulls, and nearly obscure the dark arrow slits. At ground level, a closed wooden door hides behind a cloak of hanging vines. The door appears to be of original construction and is beautifully carved, though the design is obscured by thick moss.
Do the skulls in the vines look like they were placed there, or that the vines themselves are to blame for the dead?
"Augrym, do you sense anything beyond the door?"
The skulls look placed, and recent.
Gazing intently at the blocked ingress, Augrym does not sense anything beyond the door.
My silver is on that fey creature putting the skulls there. He kept the scalps near him, put the skulls here.
Unrak hefts his sword in one hand, reaching for the door with the other, looking back to make sure everyone is ready.
Unrak tries to open the door... and finds that it does not budge.
”I will be checking out the door.”
Augrym walks up and casts Detect Magic on the door. If there’s nothing magical, he goes to search for traps and see what is obstructing the door.
Assuming no traps. Augrym proceeds to attempt a Disable Device to bypass the door. He casts guidance first.
Now, assuming this fails, he’ll try his other “key.” Augrym takes out his crowbar and attempts brute strength.
[ooc]Hopefully one of these options work but I doubt the strength check would.
Augrym detects no magic and finds no traps. The trouble is not that the door is locked, however, so there is nothing to pick. The half-orc takes a shoulder to it and the wood groans, but does not break.
It takes Augrym a few tries and some help, but he eventually gets the crowbar at the right angle to open the door.
With each smash, new cracks develop on the door. On the fourth attempt, the ancient wood splinters and breaks as Augrym shoulders his way into the tower.
At that moment, several things happen. The vines above the door shudder and flex, whipping a vine into Marc's face.
MISS
He is just quick enough to duck. To his right, an elfin creature with green-tinged skin and sharp teeth leaps from an arrow slit above and lands with claws ready.
+2 if Surprise
The vines lash out again at Marc, opening a red gash on neck but not quite managing to hang on.
HIT plus FAIL
Meanwhile, however, the grasses and vines inside the tower and out snake their tendrils around the heroes' ankles, entangling them to the ground!
SUCCESS
The green-skinned fey, untroubled by the plants, rakes Marc with two claws. The first scrapes armor, the second draws dark red blood.
MISS
HIT plus Fort save vs poison
Round I
1. Fey, Vines (NOTE: vines are on the outside of the tower, above the door, which you can reach but can also pass underneath)
2. REFLEX SAVES FROM EVERYBODY, Unrak (62/65 hp), Augrym (23/50 hp), Taranis, Zed, Marc (5/38 hp, diseased, Fort vs poison)
Unrak deftly dodges the creepers. His sword, already in hand, flies up to try to sever the thickest of the vines above the door.
Taranis finds himself immediately stuck fast as the flora betrays him.
"Cover me! Toth, Flank!" Taranis grabs a scroll from his bandoleer and immediately reads the words upon it, burning it from them.
Toth harries the foe, closing over the vines and lunging with a bite:
THREAT
for
Unrak's swing is too clumsy to be of use. Toth elicits a pained snarl from the fey while Taranis busies himself with a spell. Toth's teeth sink less deep than might be expected.
Round I
1. Fey @ 3 dmg, Vines
2. Unrak (62/65 hp), Augrym (Ref save, 23/50 hp), Taranis, Zed (Ref save), Marc (Ref save, Fort save, 5/38 hp, diseased)
- Round the First
- Current HPs: 33/33
Zed makes use of his trusty wand of Magic Missile to target this fey...
Zed scores an easy hit from his wand
Round I
1. Fey @ 11 dmg, Vines
2. Unrak (62/65 hp), Augrym (Ref save, 23/50 hp), Taranis, Zed (Ref save), Marc (Ref save, Fort save, 5/38 hp, diseased)
plus...
- Fortitude: +2
- Reflex: +4
- Will: +6 / +8 Vs. Enchantments
Augrym sees his huntsmen friends more injured than he’s comfortable with and thinks a swift end to this fight is needed. He studies the vine in front of him (move action) and adds Bane to his weapon.
”Great huntsman Marc! Please excuse yourself for healing. You have fought valiantly and Erastil will assure our victory while tending to your wounds.”
Augrym and Marc both manage to break free of the tendrils; the latter must also grit his teeth against the fey's poison.
The pair gang up on the vines overhead, slicing through the great green morass.
The vine lashes out again at Marc, more feebly this time but still enough to knock the priest down. Luckily, the vine goes limp immediately after -- and the grasses at your feet release their grip.
HIT
The fey steps north and turns its attention to Toth, lacerating the tiger with poisoned claws.
HIT plus FORT vs poison
HIT plus FORT vs poison
Round II
1. Fey @ 11 dmg, Vines @ 31 dmg
2. Unrak (62/65 hp), Augrym (23/50 hp), Taranis (Toth 34/40 hp, 2 Fort saves), Zed, Marc (-8/38 hp, diseased, unconscious, prone, dying, stabilize check)
- Round the Second
- Current HPs: Max
Zed warms to the task of shooting Fey with arcane bolts of power!
Augrym steps to the right, and heals his fellow huntsman.
”Brother Marc, please crawl away and heal yourself. Otherwise, you will not survive this day.“
"SALT!" As the fight turns quickly, Taranis's spell completes. A small air elemental appears next to the vines and immediately starts battering them!
THREAT
for
Taranis then drops the paper as the scroll burns up, takes out a wand and also touches it to Marc
Toth does his best to fight off the poison. It doesn't stop the cat from going to town on the fey
MISS
Augrym and Taranis tend to their fallen friend, while Zed energetically waves his wand. Toth ignores the poison and brings tooth and claw to bear. Unfortunately, the fey's thick hide means that the claw marks are but scratches; the summoned elemental's smashing punch is deadened, too.
Round II
1. Fey @ 27 dmg, Vines @ 31 dmg
2. Unrak (62/65 hp), Augrym (23/50 hp), Taranis (Toth 34/40 hp), Zed, Marc (6/38 hp, diseased, prone)
Unrak, now no longer needing to worry about the vines, steps up into a flank with the elemental. He steals a glance at Toth, letting the image of the wounded cat feed is outrage into a haze of red. With a huge, violent shout, his sword comes down...
Raging. Use Destined Strike
Unrak's swing is vicious and slices deep into the fey's scarred skin. The creature snarls in reply.
Round II
1. Fey @ 42 dmg, Vines @ 31 dmg
2. Unrak (62/65 hp), Augrym (23/50 hp), Taranis (Toth 34/40 hp), Zed, Marc (6/38 hp, diseased, prone)
The injured fey turns and climbs the wall with astonishing speed, passing directly over the air elemental in its haste to withdraw. It slips through an arrow slit some 20 feet above you and back into the tower.
Round III
1. Fey @ 42 dmg, Vines @ 31 dmg
2. Unrak (62/65 hp), Augrym (23/50 hp), Taranis (Toth 34/40 hp), Zed, Marc (9/38 hp, diseased)