Anumil grinned.
"Sounds like my cup of tea! Shall we?" He asked, readying his crossbow and laying down a bolt.
Corum nods: "No poison works, and cold, acid or electricity is not as effective."
After casting mage armor on himself, he fires a bolt of fire straight at the creature at the prearranged ambush signal.
"Here! I think it be comin' closer!" Sunny warns, even as she steps back from the door and points urgently/earnestly.
When the ambush is triggered, Anumil shot his light crossbow at it.
for piercing damage.
Corum checks door for traps.
If it is clear, he fires his shot as the others attack.
Anumil will open the door to fire.
As the door swings open, you see the degenerate denizen of Leng about fifty feet from you. In a path heading west of the entrance where you are gathered, it ceases gesturing toward the door as Corum and Anumil both fire wide.
Otholear nudges Doyle and the derro toward the northeast corner.
You see that it wears a "clawed gauntlet" on its "natural" arm.. with cords or tubes running up the back of the hand, arm, and shoulder.
You also see a couple short rods with looped ends of metal rope hanging from its hip.
>map<
Sunny turns and scampers over to another window.
Sunny finds the window shut, but it is two hinged panes which are made to swing out like shutters... quick and easy to open.
Sunny quickly pops open the window and slips out, then scampers to t around.
for a possible piercing damage.
Then he dropped his crossbow and moved to (U,18).
Corum racks his brains for any defenses these creatures may have.
He then casts a series of images of him appear.
Arcthyl takes a step toward the door and activates his totem transformation, giving himself scales, (+2 ac)...
Then he moves forward a little bit out the door, enough to put the creature within range of his summons, calling forth a crocodile to attack.
It strikes out at the unnatural creature, not knowing any better
plus grab
If the bite hit and the grab is successful, the croc drops into a death roll with the creature, inflicting::
damage
plus trip attempt:
Arcthyl's summoned crocodile fails to grab the Leng creature, and misses with its tail. The extraplanar humanoid takes a few steps around the conjured minion, and rotates - turning its alien faced shoulder toward it.
Barely perceptible glints of light shoot from the eyes, and into the crocodile.
The crocodile again tries its typical attack sequence.
plus grab
If the bite hit and the grab is successful, the croc drops into a death roll with the creature, inflicting::
plus trip attempt:
Arcthyl sighs as his crocodile seems to flounder a bit and considers summoning another creature.
Sunny slips through the window (Hoping it doesn't take too long to open quiet, like) and scampers to the edge of the building and looks around at what has developed.
Corum gestures, and as the druid begins summoning another creature, Corum gestures and the druid begins to get larger.
Round 2_____
Anumil quickly (and quietly if possible) opened the side window, slipped through it and made his way up to the NE corner of the house (R,19).
He swore quietly as he saw the same thing as Sunny. The creature of Leng was being occupied too far away from the house for a fast blindside attack.
The Leng creature leans in to bite at the crocodile's whipping tail, and drives the claws of its gauntlet into the croc's rear flank. There is a mechanical whirr for a few seconds before it pulls its claws free.
Round 3_____
Anumil sighed.
"Nothing for it but attack, I suppose." He muttered so that only Sunny could hear.
He readied his rapier, crouched, then lunged into a run at the Leng creature. Charge attack to (K,12).
"Please allow me to welcome you to this quaint little town properly!" He said lunging; also using a Panache to double the Precision damage.
for a possible piercing, magic and precision damage.
for a possible extra piercing and magic; also recovers one panache.
The crocodile avoids stumbling about and strikes again despite it's lowered dexterity...
plus grab
If the bite hit and the grab is successful, the croc drops into a death roll with the creature, inflicting::
plus trip attempt:
Arcthyl grumbles as his crocodile flounders about ineffectually.
He quickly summons another crocodile, placing it on the opposite side of the creature from the initial crocodile...
plus grab
If the bite hit and the grab is successful, the croc drops into a death roll with the creature, inflicting::
plus trip attempt:
The Leng creature makes a quick shriek-like sound as Anumil stabs into its chest, and the bestial head sprouting from its shoulder growls. Anumil sees the Leng creature clearly now... it sports a mass of tentacles instead of a mouth, an odd metallic device is affixed to its leather chestpiece... tubes run from it along his "natural" arm to the back of his gauntlet. There they attach to the back of needle-tipped metal cylinders. A tiny bit of some milky substance beads and drips from the tips.
"Language identified.. comprehended. All sentients in this area are to be eliminated."
It moves the few inches needed to avoid the first crocodile's attacks, then glances to Arcthyl as he summons the second.
"Conjurer... nuisance...."
The second crocodile immediately bites into the Leng creature's leg, but does not get a firm hold.
Sunny 'Eeeps' at the creature's words.
"I dun' wan'a be 'Liminated'. I jus' gots here!" Even as she scampers 'out wide', tying to come at the critter from the opposite side of Arcthyl's 'gator. The better to try and flank with.
Corum unloads a series of force bolts.
The creature of Leng step closer toward the house, then bites and claws at Anumil - who is able to weave away from both attacks.
Sunny scampers closer and, being wary of the large critters also attacking, she tries to help Anumil,
"Is this 'un nasty? Does we want's ta' talk ta' it?" She asks Anumil even as she spins, wheels, kicks and punches.
The leftmost crocodile steps into flank with Anumil and attacks the creature, while the other crocodile attacks without benefit of flanking.
flanking croc:
plus grab
If the bite hit and the grab is successful, the croc drops into a death roll with the creature, inflicting::
plus trip attempt:
non-flanking croc:
plus grab
If the bite hit and the grab is successful, the croc drops into a death roll with the creature, inflicting::
plus trip attempt:
Arcthyl watches from the porch for now... (delay)
Round 4_____
Anumil shifted to (L,12) to flank.
"Hah!" He shouted, warming to his work.
He feinted first,
for a possible piercing, magic and precision damage.
for a possible extra piercing and magic damage. Also recovers one panache point.
The creature of Leng is visibly affected by the flurry of attacks... one of the crocodiles latches onto its leg, but does not bring it down.
A high-pitched tone sounds from its chest, and the pod construct immediately sprouts additional mechanical spider legs... moving toward the melee.
As Anumil pulls his rapier free from the creature's chest, it convulses then goes limp. The sound ends, and the pod construct stops moving.
"That was unpleasant."
Sunny spends a moment peering at the fallen... thing. Before skipping over and very carefully, using a long/big stick, checking the other things that moved.
The creature has a belt pouch, and two short iron rods with loops of metallic rope on one end of each.
The construct pod is a metallic and oblong with telescoping "spider legs". Under a hatch is a padded chair with surrounded by shelf-like surfaces with many coin-sized buttons, levers, and a rectangular piece of slightly curved glass affixed facing the chair.
a small metal box (roughly briefcase for a gnome-sized),
3 shiny metal canisters (quart-sized) some word is stamped on them in a language Corum prob'ly knows.
A monotone voice comes from the construct pod.
"Oh! Shiny!" Sunny exclaims even as she wriggles into the space and begins to look at how all the things are arraigned and which ones push, which ones pull, which ones twist and which ones twiddle.
"Uh... I think I be stuck..." She exclaims as she ties herself in knots in her eagerness to investigate.
Corum looks at the creature.
"I wouldn't be messing with that. It could be dangerous."
"Well then. We got THIS... thing down." Anumil said, flicking the ichor off his blade and sheathing it in one smooth motion.
"Is it the only one here?" He said, looking around worriedly.
Otholear rushes from the doorway... Doyle and derro Migthwet in tow. "Protocol? The voice said 'Mortal failure.. you have twenty seconds to cancel protocol."
A moment later, the construct emits the monotone voice again. Otholear translates as it speaks. "Device location acquired."
The construct moves toward the boarding house... the cold alien words continue... Otholear reacts. "Adjusting blast radius!?"
It would appear the village was abandoned "voluntarily"... as opposed to an invasion event.
No visible threats.
"It intends to detonate itself." Mayor Doyle calmly suggests... "Revive the creature... or we all die."
Looking around, Anumil frowned.
"That's odd. There is no one about. Everything has been shuttered and locked, like the town was evacuated voluntarily." He said, musing aloud.
He looked down at the... thing.
"Should we be running now?"
Arcthyl pulls out a wand of cure light wounds... and with reluctance, uses it on the creature. "I don't want to do this, as the creature will probably still be hostile... but perhaps all of you can run and get out of range of whatever this is.... I will stay and delay it's demise long enough for you to run."
Sunny wriggles out of the machine, drops to the ground and thence picks herself up brushing away the dirt as she skips back over to every one else.
"Is gon'a go boom? Tha' weird feller fall down an' it's gon'a go boom?" She asks looking around.
"So, we go lookin' fer a hole.. um.. 'cellar' ta' be takin' shelter in, then?' She begins to look to the houses around them for any such evidence of a cellar to seek refuge in.
"Maybe tha' tavern?" She asks, even as she begins to move towards said building.
The creature of Leng opens its eyes. After another message in its alien tongue comes from the construct, the humanoid creature speaks.. in the same language. The construct "sinks" to the ground as its legs retract.
The creature of Leng then speaks in common Taldane. "You delay my death... " Still gravely injured, it wheezes between phrases. "To save yourself?... The stolen technology?... No.... It will be destroyed. That is my purpose." It looks Arcthyl up and down. "You do not bear the sign... You will not be spared."
Sunny scampers over to something that catches her large, blue eyes. She picks it up while wandering back to her fellows and the odd fellow.
At the denizen's words she frowns, "Here. We din't steal nuffin'." She explains, even as her attention returns to what she's recovered. Removing the paper from the doll's dress she tucks said toy under an arm while unfolding the parchment.
You all experience brief flashes of memory.. at first too fast to really comprehend. You then see longer fragments of time.. your time with Holfstedt Moranni. The room in the inn with the trapped hidden chamber. You then see memories you don't remember experiencing.
You are strapped to the "dream device" Mayor Doyle, Migthwet the derro, and Holfstedt Moranni are there.
Holfstedt Moranni "I'm not so foolish to carry the list on my person, Doyle."
Mayor Doyle "I'm sure you're buyers appreciate your discretion. So you will deal with Leng?"
Moranni "Yes."
Doyle "...and promise to remember us when they grant their reward?"
In the memory, Sunny groggily asks what they're talking about. Corum explains that Doyle and Moranni sold dream machines (technology stolen from Leng) for lots of gold (through a proxy seller), and once Leng came... Doyle and Moranni made a deal saying they knew who had their technology.
Moranni "You're certain they won't remember this."
Doyle "Selective memory wipe is simpler than one might think... as long as Migthwet does not foul up the sequencing - This is upside-down you half-wit!"
Then everything goes black for a moment before your consciousness returns to reality... though you still feel stunned.
The creature of Leng growls "Moranni... Betrayer."
"And you... deceiver... complicit..." It drives its gauntlet into Mayor Doyle - who convulses violently until his eyes fix on nothingness. The creature of Leng drops him, then aims its bestial shoulder toward Migthwet the derro. The alien hound gaze slices several dozen tiny cuts into Doyle's little blue assistant... like a volley of imperceptibly tiny darts.
As you fully recover, the crature of Leng stands before you non-threateningly.
"We the Third Fold do not share a mind. I must return this knowledge to the hive. This is most vital."
Sunny shakes her head as the images/thoughts come to a stop. She blinks,
"So... there in't gon'a be a ka-boom? No earth shatterin' ka-boom?"
"So, what is real and what is a dream? I am losing my grip on reality!!"