Kazamir conjures a light on the end of his cane.
"Zed, could you conduct the first search of the graves? A servant of the Lady might see what others might miss, there - and would, I think, give no offense to that LAdy in pursuit of his duty among them.
Vermundr, could you search the Western Shore? The tracks there might have left their tale the longest. "
Vala, Constantin, Hazel - could one of you conjure a light for Vermindr?
I will have a look at this nest. Hazel, could you accompany me, in case this is caiman's nest. I do not fancy my chances against a hungry reptile alone...
Constantin, could you see what you can learn from the area around the trees?
Vala, would you ask Pyth to circle over the island - and the nearby swamp, to see what we might miss from the ground? IF you'd care to walk with Hazel and I in the meantime, I would appreciate it.
Shall we meet by the graves in a quarter hour to discuss or findings?
"
Zed nods. "I shall take the graves. Stay safe."
Zed carefully examines the rows of graves, each marked with their own fetishes.
Six graves in the boneyard appear to have been tampered with, sagging into the ground as though they had collapsed from below, and leaving wide depressions in the muddy earth. These six graves appear to be empty, but the others are undisturbed.
They tunneled underneath to steal the bodies. Zed frowns. Another seemingly-unrelated matter that ends up to be a personal matter for the church.
Vermundr joins Zed in studying the graves.
"That's strange. They didn't say anything about digging up the bodies after the Beast was seen coming this way."
Constantin follows Kaz's directions and starts investigating the copse of trees after he conjures a small ball of lights.
Vala calls up a handful of flighty, bobbing lights to drift in and out amongst the group as they move throughout the island. "It's not much, I'm afraid, but it's better than nothing."
As the group pauses to survey the gravesites, she ponders aloud, "Why would these be sagging but otherwise undisturbed? Was nothing actually buried in these graves?"
The group begins to spread out as they move further inland, with Zed, Vala and Vermundr checking the graves whilst the others head north toward the mass of trees.
There are intermittent pools of water here and there and a few scrub trees but mostly there is just boggy ground and fetishes.
Suddenly the group hears the cracking of several branches and the flap of a set of large wings. Even with the various sources of light you cannot see what produced such a noise.
A few tense moments pass before a deep roar like a lion splits the night sky.
Several razor sharp spikes lance through the air, straight at the trio investigating the graves, plunging into their bodies like javelins!
Hit
Miss
Miss
Hit
One of the spikes lances through Zed's foot, practically impaling it to the ground with excruciating pain whilst another whizzes past Vala, slicing along her ribs and another two thud dangerously close to Vermundr.
Kazamir bites of a bitter oath as he sprints toward the graves.
"I heard that!" says Constantin to Hazel as she shouts in response to the roar. He quickly drops what he's doing and rushes to accompany her back to the rest of the group.
"Get some light up there!" Zed groans out.
A double move should put him at m20, unless there are terrain considerations.
Vermundr's eyes widen in surprise at the thick bony spikes that appear in the ground adjacent him. The big northerner speaks a word in his native tongue and a shimmering plane of force appears over his head.
Zelda buzzes erratically, watching for signs of the threat.
Vala sends her bobbing orbs of light spiraling up into the air toward the direction of the roar. Should the creature be revealed, she follows up with some more potent magics, conjuring a glittering cloud of golden motes to choke the air around their assailant.
HP: 21/27
Negative Energy Resist 5
AC: 14 (10 T / 14 FF)
CMD: 13
F/R/W: +4/+1/+8 (+2 vs death effects, energy drain, negative energy, & necromancy)
Monstrous Insight used: 0/7
Wand of CLW: 14/50 remaining
Healing Hex targets:
Current Wandering Spirit: Life
Prepared spells
Orisons (4) | DC 14: dancing lights, disrupt undead, identify, read magic
Level 1 spells (3+1+1*) | DC 15: cure light wounds [ ], know the enemy* [ ], magic missile [ ] [ ], produce flame (CL3) [ ]
Level 2 spells (2+1+1*) | DC 16: glitterdust [X], scorching ray [ ], spiritual weapon [ ], tongues [ ]
Ongoing Effects
glitterdust (1/4 rounds): reveals invisible things in area for duration of spell + possibly blinds (Will Save DC 16 to prevent/end blindness)
Vala's balls of light spiral up into the night sky. For a moment they don't reveal anything but then all of a sudden a monster is revealed in their bright radiance.
This creature has a vaguely humanoid head, the body of a lion, and the wings of a dragon. Its tail ends in long, sharp spikes.
It roars once again before the blanket of glittering light settles over it.
Success
The creature now revealed but otherwise seemingly unharmed by the spell, it once again launches a volley of spikes toward the gathered heroes.
Miss
Hit
Hit
Miss
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This creature is a Manticore. Manticores are fierce predators that patrol a wide area in search of fresh meat. A typical manticore is about 10 feet long and weighs about 1,000 pounds. Some have more human-like heads, usually with beards. Males and females look much alike.
Manticores eat any meat, even carrion, though they prefer human flesh and rarely pass up an opportunity for such a delicacy. They are smart and social enough to bargain with or bully evil humanoids into alliances or offering tribute, and more powerful creatures may hire or bribe them to guard or patrol a place or area. They like lairs in high places, such as hilltops and caves in cliffs.
Obviously it can fly and can whip it's tail to release a volley (of up to 24 spikes in a day) from nearly 200 feet away. It has no special defences or abilities but is even more fierce in melee with it's claws and bite than at range.
They are quite weak willed as a species (as demonstrated by the save against Vala's spell - just got lucky)
"A manticore! Evil, human-eating brutes! It will have a lot more spikes to throw! COnstanin, Vala - it typically does not have trong willpower!"
If I can fit that all into a free action...
Lacking a way to attack the beast at range save his long knife, Vermundr darts to take cover behind a dying tree. On the way he wrenches a bony spike from the meat of his thickly muscled shoulder.
Zed hisses as he gets nicked by another spike. "My ranged capabilities against non-undead enemies is extremely limited."
"Tell that to this one, Kazamir! It shrugged off my spell easily!" Calling upon Petros to aid them once more, Vala conjures her old friend's sword cane into the air up beside the manticore. As soon as the shimmering weapon appears, it lunges for the beast but only barely clips one of its leathery wings.
HP: 21/27
Negative Energy Resist 5
AC: 14 (10 T / 14 FF)
CMD: 13
F/R/W: +4/+1/+8 (+2 vs death effects, energy drain, negative energy, & necromancy)
Monstrous Insight used: 0/7
Wand of CLW: 14/50 remaining
Healing Hex targets:
Current Wandering Spirit: Life
Prepared spells
Orisons (4) | DC 14: dancing lights, disrupt undead, identify, read magic
Level 1 spells (3+1+1*) | DC 15: cure light wounds [ ], know the enemy* [ ], magic missile [ ] [ ], produce flame (CL3) [ ]
Level 2 spells (2+1+1*) | DC 16: glitterdust [X], scorching ray [ ], spiritual weapon [X], tongues [ ]
Ongoing Effects
glitterdust (2/4 rounds): reveals invisible things in area for duration of spell + possibly blinds (Will Save DC 16 to prevent/end blindness)
spiritual weapon (1/4 rounds): +7 to hit, 1d8+1 damage
Constantin shouts, "I think we found our Beast!" He rushes toward the tree (head 6 squares to J28) and then falls prone in an attempt to make a smaller target. Then he concentrates momentarily and holds a bit of mental power.
(Will save DC 15 for half)
The beast swoops down closer to the group. As it does so Constantin throws a javelin of mental force, invisible to everyone but he. As their minds connect the creature reels in pain.
Fail
Nonetheless, it whips it's tail a third time.
Miss
Hit
Miss
Miss
Though this time only one finds it's mark.
Zed sighs and takes out his crossbow. It's something that he grabbed almost as an afterthought; he liked to be up close and personal with his enemies.
Vermundr pulls one of the bony spikes from the sodden earth and hurls it like a misshapen javelin at the airborne menace.
Kaz stumbles to a halt, turns to face the beast with a look of concentration on his face. A pair of barely-visible motes, originating somewhere around his head, hurl themselves at the creatures. Then the investigator turns and continues fleeing for the tree.
Move to K31.
3 first level spells remaining.
Hazel takes a hasty, snapped shot with her bow before ducking behind cover. It sails true and lands with a thump in the thing's shoulder.
Kazamir follows this up with a pair of precise motes of force that slam home unerringly.
Hit
The Manticore suddenly lurches down toward Hazel, seeing it's prey slightly stranded from it's pack mates. It snaps at her with it's deadly jaws and gets a good strip of flesh from her upraised arm.
Vala directs Petros' ghostly blade to continue harrying their foe as she peppers it with further magics of her own.
Petros' sword continues to strike as Vala sends another pair of glimmering darts whizzing through the air.
HP: 21/27
Negative Energy Resist 5
AC: 14 (10 T / 14 FF)
CMD: 13
F/R/W: +4/+1/+8 (+2 vs death effects, energy drain, negative energy, & necromancy)
Monstrous Insight used: 0/7
Wand of CLW: 14/50 remaining
Healing Hex targets:
Current Wandering Spirit: Life
Prepared spells
Orisons (4) | DC 14: dancing lights, disrupt undead, identify, read magic
Level 1 spells (3+1+1*) | DC 15: cure light wounds [ ], know the enemy* [ ], magic missile [X] [X], produce flame (CL3) [ ]
Level 2 spells (2+1+1*) | DC 16: glitterdust [X], scorching ray [ ], spiritual weapon [X], tongues [ ]
Ongoing Effects
glitterdust (4/4 rounds): reveals invisible things in area for duration of spell + possibly blinds (Will Save DC 16 to prevent/end blindness)
spiritual weapon (3/4 rounds): +7 to hit, 1d8+1 damage
Vermundr moves towards the beast and mutters a focusing charm.
Kazamir also sends another pair of magic missiles into the beast's flanks.
Constantin crawls slightly closer to the beast and likewise launches a pair of bolts of etheric force into it.