Round 5 GM:
So, it is up to you if you want to run Dumah doing the Web gambit, or just let it go as it has been posted. I'm really good with it either way. :)
And yes, Dumah will slam the Flaming Sphere into the nearest blind gnoll, enjoying it slightly more than he should.
Tyronel finds 30 arrows on the four gnolls.
Round 5 GM:** spoiler omitted **
And yes, Dumah will slam the Flaming Sphere into the nearest blind gnoll, enjoying it slightly more than he should.
"The goblin escaped, so I'd imagine reinforcements are on the way. Lazrul, do you have any other hiding areas? This one is about to be heavily compromised!"
Lazrul looks over his two fallen men, but they're dead and Jameena's Channel Energy did not come in time. "No, Sand Stalker, I have no more hiding places. This one was perfect, that tunnel there to the west leads to the Carrion King's level below. If you wish to hand him his head, as I believe one of you mentioned, then that is the way to go. I don't know if you are in any condition right now to do so. I could stay here with my men and hold off the gnolls, that way dividing their forces. But if you wish to just rest, any spot you pick will be dangerous. What do ye plan to do?"
DM
"There is no time to waste! We must end this before the goblin can report back that we still live. We must go west and take the fight to the son of motherless sow. May the gods watch over us and Cayden Cailean's luck guide us." Pulling out his healing wand, Eli motions to all who are injured to come close.
I apologize. I should have been able to do something to stop him from escaping. Rest assured that in my further studies and development, I will be ready with a solution should this circumstance come up again.
"Let me warn you Eli, the goblin is much sturdier than others of his type. I got off four arrows at him and none found their mark. Perhaps Dumah can magick him, because he is a tough little bugger to hit."
The goblin shrugged off my Glitterdust spell that incapacitated many of the hardy gnolls here. I'll consider what else I can do for our next encounter with him, for there is sure to be one...
Edit: On second thought, I may just have the thing for him. Dumah allows himself a momentary devious smile.
Eli touches the wand to Jameena and then himself letting it's healing powers flow.
"Those beasts must have been toying with you Lazrul. They had to have known these tunnels were here for awhile now, but saw no reason to attack in force until we joined you. For that, I apologize that our presence may have led to the deaths of these men. However, they shall be better off in the light of Dawn than stuck in these tunnels."
"Do you have any ideas as to the strength of the forces the king may have in the tunnels? We need to strike hard and decisively, and soon, or he will flood these tunnels with gnolls and worse."
I wish we had surprise on our side, but the Carrion King will be on guard now, probably for some time. If everyone is recovered from their wounds, perhaps it would be best if we charge into the beast's lair.
"I am with you Dumah, lets go. The bard's will run out of ink telling of our deeds this day."
"I might regret this some day, but I agree. Let's go track these bastards down and kill them all."
Yes. We have deaths to avenge...
"Yes, the deaths from today and the deaths from days past. Lazrul, will you and the Brigade come and let the world know that the Carrion King no longer rules this place? It is noble to defend the back, but we are alert for them coming up behind us and we have a better advantage as a larger force. A force to be reckoned with!"
Lazrul snarls at Eli's comments. In a rough tone, he says "I did not say I was defending the back. I am no coward, bard! I simply suggested my men and I distract the Carrion King's men, draw the defenders away, giving your men an opportunity to make a break for his throne room. If you do not believe this to be the most prudent plan, I will join you in a frontal attack, but my men will not participate. I believe, there were 5 Unchosen "created", so 3 remain, most likely near the King. My men would get destroyed in the battle, so they will remain behind. What say ye, which plan will you follow?"
"Lazrul's plan has merit, Eli. If the Carrion King is prepared to meet us, a distraction might serve to even the odds."
"I never intended to claim you are a coward friend, there are many tales that detail the victory's of brave men who stood to defend their homelands. Despite the curative magic of my wand, my head still seems a bit shaken and that is what I thought you meant with your words about dividing his forces. I merely meant to suggest that leaving some of our combined force back would weaken our chances in a frontal assault. If you have a plan to attack from a second direction as a distraction that would draw some of the enemy away then I agree it might be worth doing. It is up to you Lazrul, this is your fight, these are your men, and this is your home. How will you proceed?"
"If you can draw some of his forces away, Lasrul, it would be much appreciated. Hopefully that would allow us to punch a hole in his remaining defenses, and together we could crush them all."
I think it would be foolish to ignore one who has proven his animosity to the Carrion King with his own blood, and who has the experience of one who has more time in these parts than any should have to endure.
Lazrul eases his tone after hearing the adventurers talk. "What has kept my men and I alive all this time is not for lack of searching on the gnolls' part. It has been my innate ability to create illusions, be they walls or whatever I wish. For as strong as these gnolls are, they have no willpower and are easily swayed. Thus, for years, we remained hidden. But now, these damn Unchosen, they are immune to illusions or mind-affecting spells. Their stupidity makes them dangerous and we have had to move around, finding new hiding spots, until now. It is time to make a stand and believe that the five of you can deliver on what you promnised, Ghartok's head!" .
He calls the 8 human survivors around him. "Ok, we're going to make a ruckus, try to draw as many soldiers from the level below. With my magic, I will make it look and sound like a much larger force is attacking. The Carrion King will draw his strongest defenders closest to him, knowing him like I do. I will leave the Unchosen for you. If you are successful, word will spread like wildfire, breaking up the tribes and the gnolls positioned outside will disperse. Any aid you can provide my men and I would be appreciated."
Quzman uses the magic of his wand to return Lazrul to health.
After he puts his wand away, Quzman grips Lazrul firmly by the forearm, "If it be in our strength, Ghartok's head will roll before the sun sets again. Good luck, and may the Dawnflower watch over you. You honor these men with your leadership and example." Quzman grips the arm tightly and lets go as he goes off to start his own preparations for the battle to come.
The half-ogre grips the ranger's forearm as well. "Aye, brave warrior, thank you for the healing and may the gods savor our glories tonight. Your hatred for these gnolls matches my own...show them your might!" Lazrul raises his grotesquely huge arm and his men, inspired by the speeches and the testosterone in the air, cheer wildly.
Lazrul points to the west. "Follow that tunnel, it will lead to the lower level. The tunnel is covered up but you should be able to break through it rather easily. Do so when the main forces are away." Lazrul smiles, "Don't worry, you'll know when that is, it will sound like an army has breached this House of the Beast!" Lazrul spits as the last syllables roll off his tongue and he marches north, awaiting his men.
Lazrul, before we part, I can cast a spell on six of your men that will give them protection not unlike light chainmail for about an hour. It won't work in conjunction with mundane armor, but for those without armor it will help. Do you think it would help, and if so, who would you like it applied to?
Lazrul agrees and the former slaves all graciously thank Dumah for his protections. They then confidently grab their bows and scimitars, obviously scavenged off the bodies of dead gnolls and march off with Lazrul.
Eli draws Tempest in one hand and grips a vial of amber liquid in the other. "The gods watch over us all. The time has come... let us take our wrath to the Carrion King and show him he can not mess with Kelmarane, Lazrul's Brigade, or the Sand Stalkers! Life isn't worth living if you don't take some chances. Let's go lay down our cards." He looks at each of his companions until his gaze rests on Lazrul, "Good Luck....friend." Without waiting any longer Eli heads the way Lazrul pointed.
Jameena follows Eli down the corridor.
"No reason to get in a huge hurry, everyone. We will hear when the time is right according to Lazrul. We have to be sure to give them time to start the assault."
Dumah will immediately cast See Invisibility on himself. He'll get out his Wand of Bull Strength and Scroll of True Strike and hold them in his left hand, ready to cast with his right.
Quzman digs through his pack until he finally finds an elusive vial. He hands it to Dumah, "If we are to run into more of these toxic gnolls, it might be best if you took this before hand...just in case my friend."
Dumah will slide the vial into a convenient pocket of his pouch. Thank you, master Quzman. Hopefully the distraction will draw those gnolls off, but if some remain, I'll be sure to take advantage of it.
Any idea how long we may need to wait for the distraction?
The party marches down the west tunnel and terrain is very uneven and difficult to manage. In many places, it is a tight squeeze and you have to crawl on your belly and suck in your waist to get through. Quzman does notice with his natural sense of direction that you are going deeper underground. After a 10 minute trek, where you are all covered in sweat and grime, you hear gnoll shouts ahead. As you turn the corner, you see the passage ends in a rock wall through which you all hear sounds of armor clanking and moving around on the other side of the corridor. Dumah strains to hear but he does hear different sounding gnoll voices shouting "Be on alert, according to the Blobog, the Sand Stalkers are in the tunnels of the House of the Beast! Our king has promised great rewards to whomever slays any of them. We will drive them out like rats!"
Knowing of Lazrul's use of illusions to hide his people, Eli opens his arcane sight to look at the wall and see if it is real.
Knowing of Lazrul's use of illusions to hide his people, Eli opens his arcane sight to look at the wall and see if it is real.
No magic, this wall is real.
With everyone gathered close, Dumah will quietly say We are supposed to know when the distraction has started. When that happens, we should cast a few spells in preparation for combat and then bust through the wall. I am thinking the ring that I have he says, showing them the ring of the ram, can make short work of this wall.
After about 10 minutes of waiting that seems to last an eternity, suddenly you hear a large boom reverberate through the structure, from the north. Even through the wall, you hear what sounds like a squadron of soldiers and you hear Lazrul's voice rallying his troops to kill the gnolls and the sounds of dozens of soldiers cheering. It sounds something like this: Speech + Sound effects
Through the wall, you hear gnoll screams of anger and you can feel dozens of gnolls rushing to the north, their armors clanking, and they screaming in gnoll, which Dumah translates: "Kill the intruders, for the glory of the King!"
After a few rounds, the sound of rushing gnolls grows fainter, as they move further away.
Eli chugs down his potion and says, "Smash it Dumah, it is time! Sand Stalkers to victory."
When Dumah hears the shout "kill the intruders", he'll start casting. Shield to himself, Bulls Strength to Quzman, Cats Grace to Ty. Then he'll use three charges of the Ring of the Ram to blast open the area of wall.
Strength check
His first action after breaking the wall, Haste for all!
As the group waits for action, Quzman quietly takes his gnoll tooth necklace out and whispers a silent prayer adking the Dawnflower to care for his companions in the coming battle. Slipping it back inside his armor, Quzman draws his weapons and waits patiently for the plan to unfold.
As Dumah prepares to deal with the wall, Ty again grabs his trusty bow and a handful of arrows.
Dumah's ring conjures a powerful ram head that hits the unstable wall and pierces a large hole in it, with a corresponding loud boom! Through the wall and the dust, you see directly in front of you, about 30' ahead, a stone block covered with images of adoration to Rovagug. 20' to the west another stone block holds similar images. Though no gnolls are present, Quzman's point of view allows him to see an Unchosen Gnoll guarding a massive door.
The Unchosen Gnoll snarls back at Quzman and charges him, with a claw raised, but the crumbled wall and debris diverts the attack away!
Jameena ducks and spins, moving in low and fast under the Unchosen's reach. She comes up scimitar flashing like lightning solidified.
Feeling extremely powerful after the various spells placed on him, Ty cannot wait to fire off a volley of arrows at the large gnollish creature.
Attack One
Damage One
and
Attack Two
Damage Two
Attack Three
Damage Three
Haste Attack
Damage Haste
Quzman snarls at the unholy beast in front of him, "So it begins..." He quickly steps forward snapping left and right with his scimitar and dagger feeling the power of the magical aids flowing through his arms.