Arlen, given his/her years of travel and study, jumps into this debate with great vivacity, back to her old ways of stomping around in her increasingly dirty and ill-fitting explorer's outfit while making big sweeping gestures and waving the big floppy hat around while Rasputin rides along, unenthused. Arlen's gesticulations are particularly awkward looking at the moment as the old librarian isn't used to having hips... and her explorer's outfit doesn't look to pleased about the development either...
"My dear friends, I assure you, the book I saw in the great library of Absalom is by far the most powerful magic item publicly known in the world. It was kept closed at all times because anyone who read from it could control the mind of any person on earth whose name they held in a scrap of parchment in their hand! Few believed in its power but I traced the item's history and verified it!"
She nods confidently"A very well kept secret preserved by the best librarians in the world there in Absalom."
the most powerful item is the right item at the right time. My mother was dying when I was a child and was given a very strong healing potion which saved her life. From that event I became fascinated with potions and elixirs which is why I am an alchemist today. The one potion of healing changed two lives that day.
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"I was once visited by an avatar of Gorum. His greatsword was huge and the weapon of a god must surely be the most powerful around.
However, the most powerful thing I've come across native to this plane is the wooden paddle my father uses to mix his beer. It has been passed down from father to son for a few generations now. The owner consistently brews the best beer around. It will come to me one day. Arlen, maybe I'll look you up when that happens and you can help me figure out how it's enchanted."
Arlen nods at Rai's words. "A fascinating definition of 'most powerful' and certainly a useful one. Pray tell, who gave your family this vital potion?"
After Rai's response, Arlen returns to the topic of arcane power. "Now, if one considers 'most powerful' to imply that which is generally, regardless of circumstances, most potent for achieving one's goals, then it must be either the book of which I speak or Gorum's greatsword. For my part, I find there to be a distinct lack of textual documentation on the supposed powers of this greatsword."
Arlen smiles, greatly enjoying the conversation, and oblivious to whether or not how she expresses her opinions would offend anyone. "Indeed, Sigurd! I would be thrilled to aid you in the investigations of such an item. Do you have any books about it I could peruse?"
Arlen attempts to recall anything she might have read about such a wonderful paddle.
I never heard who gave the potion to my father but that he received it in his work as an envoy for the kingdom is all I know Rai says with a wistful smile.
Arlen seems to believe, based on the story, that the true power is experience passed from one generation to the next rather than any real arcane capacity.
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"I have heard my elders talk of great magic, of evil demonic beasts wielding terrible magics, of heroes harnessing the power of gods to hold them at bay. The shaman of my tribe uses much more trivial magics, though still important ones, to heal people, flocks, and crops. Maybe her staff is then the most powerful object of magic I've seen."
"But to me, it must be the magic that raises the son each morning, or blows rains across the savannah after the earth is parched. Indeed, or the magic that created all this in the beginnings of time. I cannot imagine a magic greater than life itself."
Rai scratches Pgymy behind the ear and gives Diceros a friendly slap on the back saying:. my point exactly. Creation came at the right time and place and blam... here we are.
Night falls, and the party slows drifts off to sleep, after setting proper watches and precautions, of course.
Pharast 29, 4710
Terrain: Plains ; max PC speed: 40 ; days to explore: 1
A cool spring day. No effects
The party heads to the northeast, knowing that Oleg's is just another day away, at least, according to your maps. You find yourself in another wide expansive plain... perfect for farming, wildlife, or a suitable combination of both.
1. Ike
2. Arlen
3. Sigurd
4. Rai
5. Brokk'r
6. Diceros
Riding along, a huge insectoid body stirs out of the grass, right in front of Sigurd's horse. Surprised and panicked, the horse rears up, and Sigurd does what he can to hold on!
Sigurd, give me a ride check DC 10 or take damage and start the battle prone.
It is a huge, hundred legged centipede! Everyone quickly dismounts and prepare to end this wild creature threatening them. But wait! Another moves toward you in the grass. There are two of them!
EVERYONE goes before the centipedes. Lucky dogs.
Arlen looks at the huge, nasty creatures and tries to determine what she knows about them from reading books on such assorted odds and ends.
Arlen stares menacingly at the nearest giant scorpion and begins laughing madly at the huge arthropod, attempting to give it as much difficulty as possible harming her comrades.
To learn 1 piece of information, free action check: Knowledge: nature, DC: 14. (It will be revealed next time GM posts and it will be assumed all players are told.Higher rolls give more information.)
edit: I commend you on your lack of metagaming, Arlen.
Rai tosses a frost bomb at the centipede as it approaches backing up 5 feet as he does.
The giant centipede takes significant damage, but is not slowed down by Rai's frost bomb.
Ike seemed content to roll along with the others, enjoying the air, the smells of the forest, the sights and sounds... SUDDENLY, CENTIPEDES! And they were BIG! This... could be problematic!
But Ike was not one to sit on his laurels (if he had them... or could sit in his current form...), curling up into a large wheel and skidding as he took off for the centipede that Rai hadn't blasted! With Sigurd's war song spurring him to greater heights, he rolled right after the centipede and... splattered into it...
But not without purpose! His shattered veins of slime started to contract and tighten, aiming to hold onto a few dozen of those legs and keep the great creature from attacking his friends!
Diceros and Ike provoke attack of opportunities! Diceros is missed!
Ike, however, soon learns the folly of charging and attempting to grapple a creature... five times his size... by himself... right before they get a chance to attack back.
Ike is dealt 13 damage from a bite, and 3 damage from a poison, for 16 total. Poison begins to ravage his internal oozy system, and his grapple fails. (Ike is reduced to 7 HP)
Brokk'r can yet go.
Arlen sees Ike's predicament and calls out to her allies. "I think we would be best served by running from these foes. What do we have to gain by fighting them? And look how BIG they are!! They've shrugged off everything we've thrown at them so far!"
She keeps her seat on Mortimer, ready to get out of here quickly, while turning to her half-elven friend. "Diceros! Can you slow them down with vines as we ride away?"
"Bah!" Brokk'r objects. "Where's yer sense of adventure, elf!"
He charges straight ahead into the nearest centipede, ramming it with the full weight of body behind his shield.
ROUND 1 SUMMARY
Diceros, Brokk'r, and Rai together deal serious damage to the first centipede. Together, they nearly kill it...
Ike rushes the other centipede and does his best to grapple it, but the one hundred legs issue means there is always another limb... he can't get them all.
Arlen's spell indeed has no effect. It appears the creatures are mindless beasts, acting on instinct alone, and have no central nervous system to influence.
Sigurd belts out his favorite hymns after some impressive riding.
The centipedes writhe about! The northern one goes to bite Diceros, biting down on him hard!
Diceros succumbs to the huge hit! 15+3 poison damage is enough to knock him down and dying.
Ike is alone and friendless. He is also bit, and bit hard. The teeth pierce through his. 25+3 poison damage is enough to make Ike go down and dying.
EVERYONE GO!
Assuming Pygmy is fighting along to Sigurds beat, he hits it (barely!), and kills it (barely!). Well done baby rhino!
Arlen activates her ring while cackling and throws fortune on Sigurd, hoping to help him break down the awful creature's shell. She calls out
"Hang on, Diceros! I'll aid you and Ike as soon as we're not being eaten anymore!"
Sigurd charges the creature, drawing attention away from Ike... but suffers a nasty bite in the process. Sigurd, too, suffers from the nasty poison. A hearty soul, though, Sigurd does not go down.
3 damage for poison.
Sigurd has 1 HP left, but he drew the AoO so Brokk'r is safe to close.
"Ike!" Brokk'r shouts rushing to his amorphous friend's aid, but careful not to leave himself too open.
An old hermit, drawn to the sound of battle, arrives at the scene just in time to see Sigurd get mauled. "Abadar's coins! No! No! No! Yous gots to kill them from a distance, youngins. You there, old lady, don't get closer! Stay away!"
The old hermit pulls out a vial and some chemicals, quickly mixes them together, and throws. An alchemist- just like Rai.
The bomb lands solidly on the centipede's backside- well away from Sigurd.
Rai should still go, and Ike needs to make a DC 11 Constitution check to stabilize.
Ike feels his body split. Badly. It was an admittedly surreal feeling, given he was so used to shaping and reshaping his body. But apparently, if enough of him was separated, he just... stopped. Had he the time, he might contemplate a possible full body intelligence that weakens the more of him is lost, with his intellect and consciousness being directly correlated to how much of him is in contact with each other.
As it stands, all he can properly do is slosh into a pair of big gray puddles and try to pull himself together... literally.
Rai turns and uses a precise bomb and chucks it at the second centipede with a frost bomb.
ROUND 2 SUMMARY
The centipedes take two party members down in two bites, but all is not lost. Pygmy kills the first, and Brokk'r, Rai, and the newcomer do significant damage.
Ike successfully stabilizes; Diceros drops another HP and needs to make a Constitution check of DC12.
The centipede is damaged, but not hindered by Rai's bomb.
It bites down on Brokk'r! It barely manages to get through his armor, but it does, dealing 12 damage. Brokk'r is able to fight back the poison.
ROUND 3- everyone go!
Arlen screams out "Get it back, my dwarven friend! HAHAHA!"
Arlen relaxes somewhat. "Oh they look ok. I'll help them out when we finish with this one, or whenever is convenient. Just some scratches. NOBODY WORRY!!"
Pygmy slams into the centipede again! It looks like it is ready to fall!
Brokk'r roars and slams his shield into the centipede one more time, following it up with his fist for good measure.
Sigurd does his best, but his nerve is shaken, and another swing misses.
Brokk'r knows... if this blow doesn't do it, either he or Sigurd is going to die. A true dwarf guardian, he would prefer it to be him over a companion, but better yet... would be neither.
With a powerful shield bash, and a punch, Brokk'r ends the threat!
"Huh. Impressive punch, dwarf, taking out a giant centipede. Still, you alls... barely kicking. Ok, ok, go on, heal yourself. I'll be here to talk if you don't die."
Rai is prepared to throw another bomb but it is killed so Rai will search the area hoping for a lair near by.
Arlen continues cackling to help out any who have been poisoned and need to save soon, having gone through this herself recently. "HEE HEE HEE! Don't worry, dearies! I'll keep up my laughter to inspire your hearts and bolster your courage! HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Dearies"? thinks Arlen. It seems my transformation to female is slowly starting to affect my speech patterns... Fascinating!
She moves over to Diceros and lays her bony old claws on his wound.
She then moves over to Ike and does likewise, maintaining her cackle and adding fortune to any others who look a little green in the face.
"How are we all doing, my gingersnaps? I'm afraid I can't heal any more today but I think Diceros might have some of those delightful little berries lying around somewhere."