Jade Regent

Game Master Finkmilkana

Before we leave the courtyard, Gorag quickly looks over the two creatures for something valuable.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Then he takes one of his potions out of his belt and drinks it.

Cure light wounds: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

Gorag finds nothing of value.

The big guys looks at you for a moment, than one answers "Master in Big Hall as usual, probing his big play again."
The other throws is "If ask me, play silly, but don't tell Master, he gets angry. Master looks scary if angry, wings and all"

You also notice that there is a small door in one of the walls seemingly leading into the main building.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Zeema is glad that Aloria stopped to chat, as her immediate reaction would have been to bash the two slowpokes' heads in. She listens attentively.

"Aloria, don't you think we should give the 'master' a visit?"

Sunny moves along beside her friends. Upon the 'chat' with the Ogre-kin she stands and smiles. Putting her sword away as people talk things over.

Sorry for lagging in posting. A certain...game has had me in its thrall for a few days.

Cerana awaits silently for the conversation to end, she didn't much want to talk to Ogres. Likely she'd anger them fairly quickly. She nods at Zeema's question even though it wasn't directed at her.

Master has wings? I do hope it isn't a dragon... maybe a larger corby? I'd sooner want to find out then talk to these creatures about it.

Aloria nods to Zeema, "That might be in order, let us see if we can learn any more of him."

"That might be the best. Especially if you might get in trouble. You seem... like you are aware of more than one might. What can you tell us of the master? The gnome presses.

Diplomacy check of needed to continue to persuade them to continue... 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27

"You know, master creepy and strange, quite mad if ask me, but better don't. Loves stupid, weak crowmen for some reason, maybe because somewhat bird self? Ah, thinking makes head hurt, better want to fight again to make stop." The other one starts to talk. "Want join in fight? Otherwise better leave, so not collide."

Sunny tilts her head quizzically at the large humanoids comments/talking.

"Um...yeah, maybe we should be leavin' an' lookin' more about tha' place?" She suggests quietly.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

"Alright then. We can get out of your way." Aloria says.

"Which way to the Master?" she then asks as she backs away form the Brutes.

"Front doors" With that they start wrestling again.

With that they start wrestling again.

(O_o)

"Ooookay..." Sunny shuffles away from the pair of hot, sweaty, grunting fellows.

Odd creatures, though I guess that is their way of having fun.

Cerana falls in following the rest of the group to the front doors when they're ready.

I'm having a bad feeling with leaving these grunts in our back. But maybe the death of their master will demoralize all inhabitants of this vile place.

You make your way to the front door, which seems to be unlocked.

I guess you want to go in, but how? Open it slowly, break it open with force and charge in or knock (etc.)?

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

Whispering:
Hm, there are some voices in there. They seem to recite crude verses, but I can't understand, what they are saying. If you all are ready, I will try to open the door a little and try to peek in.

1d1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

"Sounds good by me, Gorag."

Sunny nods agreement with Gorag, even ass she turns and covers the rear/courtyard.

I guess that second check is supposed to be stealth.

Inside you see a long hall, faded banners hanging from both sides. Near the entrance you can discern 3 rows of benches while farther away the ground is left free. On the far end and slightly higher sits an old wooden throne. The empty space in the middle currently is occupied by 5 corbies, presenting some crude play for the man that stands in front of the throne. You can't completely see him through that crack but he seems to be a Tian men with deep red skin and a truly giant, protruding nose. He idly plays with a kusarigama while now and then giving orders to the "actors" about how they should play.

Argh, yes, it should have been stealth

Gorag silently withdraws a little from the door and whispers:
[b]There is a long hall behind the door with 3 rows of benches. In the middle is a free area with 5 corbies who seem to perform some kind of theatrical performance. On the far end I saw a throne with some kind of Tian man with deep red skin and a giant, proruding nose.[b]

"So.. he's getting monsters to put on a play? Ew, why in the world would he do that?" Cerana tries to muse at the possibility though none of them come up good, she shivers a little.

"Think that man will be open for conversation? or would he sooner attack us?

He's constantly playing with some kind of sickle on a chain. That isn't really inspriring confidence. I don't think that we should make an direct assault through this door. We have to move through open terrain. We have no moment of surprise when we attack here.
I would propose, that we look for another path to enter the castle. Maybe the small door next to the ogrekin. But I think we shouldn't leave our back to them. Going to them like we want to talk to them and attack them when they arn't expecting it should be the best option.

"Hold on, the... uh... ogrekin might be bad guys but they don't seem like BAD guys, you know? Wait that came out wrong...

What I mean is, they seem perfectly content to beat the snot out of each other. Why interrupt? They're not doing anything wrong.

If that's our alternative, I'd rather take the full-frontal assault. And hell, maybe the guy just likes weapons. And theatre created by monsters...

Okay maybe that last part was a bit too far-fetched."

"I still can summon a pit or summon some creatures to help us out for a little while if this helps with planning. I'm up for a bait and switch entering the front door. Provided they don't just attack us because we are here. The ghost corby didn't like the look of us after all."

Wait, I know what you mean, but you're wrong. I grow up in a society similar to theirs. They arn't nice guys. They fear us, because we have beaten someone they had feared. If we attack their master and they think that we will loose, they will fall in our back. It's simple. If we have problems in there and they think that we will loose, they will turn against us to show their loyality for their master. They are simple minded. They fear those who are stronger then them. If they see any weakness, they will try to take advantage of it to improve their position in their society.

"We are not going to attack the two brutes. They are dim witted but were kind enough to overlook our presence and have no interest in us." Aloria states in a definitive whisper.

"If we have to find another way in, then we do. We do not necessarily have to attack anything either. We could try to talk to this strange, Tian person. We are here to find out what is happening, not kill aything that moves." she suggests.

Knowledge (Religion) on the sickle on a chain as some sort of religious symbol 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

"Aye. I am up fer not pickin' a fight were none be needed. Alos, we could, y'know, climb back up on-ta walls an' look-see fer a door in from there?" Sunny says.

"When ye're on'a ship an' yer taklin' another ship. T'is all-a-ways best ta' keep hold of tha' higher deck."

A kusarigama is just a, admittedly rare, weapon of Tian origin.

Cerana nods at Sunny "We could do, but I doubt we can get through this whole place without at least one fight. If we don't clear the edges then if we're caught in the centre of the place with all the groups around will come charging into the middle. That will spell our demise. Shall we sort out this group diplomatically or with force then?"

"I don't want to be malicious, but we've already found Corbies to be evil. Someone who commands them has to be even more evil... right? And that's someone we should take out as soon as possible. I vote full-frontal assault."

Sunny nods at both Cerana's and Zeema's words. "Oh aye, I weren't thinkin' of not havin' ta thump sconks or nuffin'." She explains,

"But I were more thinkin' of comin' at tha' problem from a differnt perspective, like."

"You have a point." Aloria agrees. "Some of these creatures are not the friendly sort."

"Let us prepare then and do this." the gnome states. She back away from the door a short distance and then casts longstrider on herself to start.

"Let me know when we are about to go, I will give us Densa's blessing for this undertaking."

Cast longstider on self, duration 3 hours. Once we are ready to go, cast bless on the party (duration 3 minutes/30 rounds)

Ready to aid friends and beat on enemies here.

Cerana nods. "Let's do this then"

Fine, I will admit defeat to the majority. I'm ready.

Gorag drinks an extract of shield. (Shield (AC +4) for 2 Minutes)

Before entering, Zeema once more casts Shillelagh, enhanced with her place magic ability as well as a Longstrider spell. She takes care not to speak the incantation too loudly, so as not to echo off the walls.

Shillelagh will last for 4 minutes while Longstrider will last for 3 hours, boosting Zeema's speed to 30 ft.

You push open the entrance door and start to move towards the end of the hall. While the corbies don't even react at first, the man clearly does.
"Ah, our visitors. You come at the perfect moment, the play goes towards it's grand finale: The fight of the poor cursed birds against the evil hags. And the best part is, you are going to play a part! You may not know the script, no problem. Just improvise!"
While he speaks his voice seems to come from directly in front of you instead of from where he stands.

Hearing the man, the corbies stop their horrible acting and start to slowly move towards you, while their boss just stands there.

Ini:
Cerana
Aloria
Gorag
Suny
Zeema
Corbies


Here is a map of the castle inside.

[corby1, HP 19, AC14]
[corby2, HP 19, AC14]
[corby3, HP 19, AC14]
[corby4, HP 19, AC14]
[corby5, HP 19, AC14]
[corby6, HP 19, AC14]
And if you want to attack him right now:
[Tian man, HP 100, AC 14 ff]

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

She watches and listens to the tian man and then readies herself as the corbies turn on the group.

The gnome turns and touches Gorag, "Desna's luck be with you." She then moves forward just past and just in front of the pillar to the left.

A bit of Luck (Any time the target rolls a d20, he may roll twice and take the more favorable result) on Gorag.
Move forward just in front of the pillar on the left

You should be able to place yourself on the map.

Moving in to help support Zeema's flank. Not drawing sword just yet, awaiting the developments of the party moving into the room.

gorag moves behind one of the pillars to get a little proection from hinm and readies himself to strike at any attacking enemy with his walking staff.

Quarterstaff: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21 Damage: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12

Zeema moves herself next to Gorag, though in the center of the hallway, taking the total defense action.

This increases Zeema's AC by 4 to a total of 26.

Sorry for late reply for some reason this wasn't updating me with new posts.

Cerana opens up a pit trying to catch a few of the corby into a trap.

Using create pit to try and get 3-4 of the corbies, I don't want to get all of them as I want some to still advance on us just not all of them at once.

20 foot deep pit opens up (falling damage as normal), 10x10 in size. DC 18 relex saving throw for all those I can get this turn. Anything ending it's turn near it must make DC 16 or fall in. To climb out of the pit is a DC 25 climb check.

Under three of the birdmen a pit opens, letting them fall in. Yet it doesn't stop them for long as they simply climb back out.

fall damage2: 1d6 ⇒ 2
fall damage3: 1d6 ⇒ 6
fall damage6: 1d6 ⇒ 1

The man just stand there and keeps throwing his voice, making it sound as if it came from the corbies and acting as if he speaks their parts "The hags, the hags, kill the hags", "They stole our wings, they stole our pride, now they die!".
While it seems kinda silly, you actually feel bolstered by his performance.

Inspire Courage: +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls to both, you and the corbies.

The other corbies ignore the performance and start to attack, two of them able to reach Zeema and one even manages to sink his talons into her flesh. The last corbie does try to attack Gorag, only the get a quarterstaff into his head.

Zeema suffers 7 Damage

[corby1, HP 6, AC17]
[corby2, HP 17, AC17]
[corby3, HP 13, AC17]
[corby4, HP 19, AC17]
[corby5, HP 19, AC15]
[corby6, HP 18, AC17]
[Tian man, HP 100, AC 19]

Sunny steps up to Zeema's side and swings at the Corby in retaliation.

Att:1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 5 + 1 = 26

Confirm:1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 5 + 1 = 20

Dam:1d10 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Dam:1d10 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Gorag lets his quarterstaff drop to the ground and sttacks the 2 corbies in front of him.

Bite at Corbie #1: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21 Damage: 1d4 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10
Talon at Corbie #5: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19 Damage: 1d4 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10
Talon at Corbie #5: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24 Damage: 1d4 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

Cerana takes up her crossbow and fires on one of the corbies that is not engaged with anyone.

Yay I actually delayed something for once. I'm away until Wednesday so Teller can you bot me for the rest of combat please?

attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
damage: 1d8 ⇒ 2

Waiting one more day for Zeema and Aloria, then I'm going to pupeteer them.

Zeema steps back from the onslaught of claws and calls once more upon her ability to change size. She then aims her Quarterstaff at Corby #4.

Shillelagh Quarterstaff: 1d20 + 9 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (19) + 9 + 1 - 1 = 28
Large Shillelagh Quarterstaff Damage: 3d6 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (3, 2, 6) + 12 + 1 = 24

Like most of her foes, the Corby falls dead at the first blow, crushed by the giant magical quarterstaff.

Sorry for the delay. I've been meaning to post, but I keep getting distracted by Downton Abbey every time I open a browser window. It's a problem

Aloria moves behind Zeema and touches her lightly, "The Lady's blessings heal you."

Cast Cure Light Wounds: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7 on Zeema

Apologies, I had not realized another round had passed.

Reminder to All: Bless (morale on attack rolls) and Inspire Courage (+1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls) stack

As Zeemas staff cracks the corbies skull "Hey, be careful, you are not supposed to kill them all, I still need them."
The two corbies in front of Gorag stagger back, only their exceptional ferocity keeping them standing.
The other three look somewhat demoralized but then then man starts to swing his weapon in a cycle over his head, making a buzzing sound.
"The power of the hags seemed unbroken, but then a mighty screech was heard and out of the sky came the king of birds, to save his subjects."
As he speaks the buzzing reaches a crescendo and a giant Hornet winks into existence in front of Sunny and starts attacking, but misses.

Then suddenly the white corby from outside becomes visible next Aloria and sinks one of his talons into her.
"And what is that? Can it be? The lost son returns at last, to aid his family."

Finding new courage the remaining corbies now also charge.

11 Damage for Aloria, 8 Damage for Gorag, 11 Damage for Zeema.
Next round and please remember that the Inspire Courage also affects you, so +1 to attack and damage.

[corby1, HP -5, AC17]
[corby2, HP 17, AC15]
[corby3, HP 13, AC15]
[corby5, HP -1, AC17]
[corby6, HP 18, AC15]
[Giant Hornet, HP 45, AC 15]
[Ghost Corby, HP 19, AC 17]
[Tian man, HP 100, AC 19]