Motteditor's Fire over Blackcrag 2 (Inactive)

Game Master motteditor

The strix lead you back to the heads, where you discover a village, a mixture of nests and huts built in and around the monoliths. They motion the toward a nest 50 feet up.

"I can probably ferry us up one by one," Tasha says, "but not all at the same time." The Wizard chants one of her prepared spells and starts doing just that.

Mass Fly is a little out of my league. ^^ Tasha casts her prepared Fly spell and starts ferrying everyone up one by one.

"Eh", the hulking orc grunts. "I can get up on my own."

Take 10 climb for 20.

"Thank you, that is very helpful." Ideyoshi allows himself to be carried up.

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"Same." Davro grunts, clinging to the tree and moving up it's trunk, doraga by his side.

An aged strix woman nods as you climb or fly up to her nest.

"Welcome, strangers. It is not often that we of the People have outsiders come. Why have you arrived here?"

"Salutations, Lady of the Strix," Tasha says. She puts her hands together and bows formally, from the hip. "Please pardon the brusqueness of my speech, but we travel with great haste. On the mainland, the dreaded Ymeri, Elemental Queen of Fire, is threatening to destroy a nation. An Oracle of the Waters has informed us that here, on your island, we might find the Tears of Remorse, the only thing capable of halting Ymeri's wrath. We do not come as invaders or brigands, but seeking help and hope."

The hulking greenskin studies the birdwomen with an appreciative eye. They’re not so bad. Pretty even…

”A lotta people are gunna get hurt if we can’t stop her”, Skaar grunts.

[b]"It is said that in days past, Ysemi also sought to unleash her wrath upon this island; yet she was stopped. Perhaps your legends can tell us more.

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"The legends of our people say that once we were as the birds that fish the sea," she replies, in Common. "Our ancestors drank of the forbidden waters of Arakau, and its touch made us as we are now. Wrathful indeed was the goddess. She cast us from her mountain, forbidding us to ever again drink of the sacred waters within. Yet even in her anger, she loved us still. She gave unto us this village, a home among the great stone heads of strangers long forgotten. Here, she keeps us safe from others who drank of the waters, others she turned her back on. We call those waters the tears of Arakau, the tears wept by the goddess for her lost children. Perhaps they are the tears you seek.

“Arakau weeps her tears within her mountain heart. But to drink, indeed even to touch the tears, brings her wrath, her curse. Only the most sacred vessel, blessed by the goddess herself, can carry the tears in safety. Once we had such a vessel, the earth chalice, a sacred relic of our kind. Our bravest used this chalice to fetch the sacred waters from her heart, that we might pour forth the tears onto the village soil to honor the goddess.

“Alas, the last of our kind to fetch the sacred tears, my own grand-nephew Okanimak, never returned. The earth-demons tore him from the skies and stole the chalice. They hold it now in their lair, the spires of the Demon’s Teeth. Heed me: without the earth chalice, the goddess will surely strike you down if you venture into her heart.”

Hiyalauai, the name she gives for herself, draws a rough map of the island on a piece of cured hide. She marks her village, Mount Arakau, the Demon’s Teeth, and two ruined villages. She suggests you travel west past the nearer ruined village to avoid the volcano, then turn northeast to reach the Demon’s Teeth, a trip of about 12 miles by her path. 2 days through the undergrowth unless you have some way to speed it up

"I can conjure phantom steeds, using the powers we were given," Tasha says. "They're faster than natural horses, though not more manoeuverable. But they should cut down our travel-time."

Having said so, Tasha turns to Hiyalauai. "Evidently, we will need to borrow your artefact. I should like to promise we will return the Chalice to you after we have used it, but I do not know what will happen. Should your sacred Chalice not be available, I shall do my best to find you a suitable replacement."

"If you can recover it, you are welcome to use it," she replies. "It is a bowl of volcanic rock lined with ever-changing crystals."

"Thank you for your knowledge and guidance. We would have made a grievous error had we not spoken to you. These earth demons, do they have any weaknesses? Who is their leader?"

Just in case, Ideyoshi checks these creatures for evil auras Detect Evil, and for any sign that they may be lying or holding back. Sense Motive: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13

Otherwise, he appears ready to go!

You do not detect any evil, Ideyoshi, or any sense she's holding back.

"I do not know of any weaknesses, or their leader. The People avoid them and they do not bother us if we do not intrude on their grounds."

Any other questions? If not, need to know your plans and how you want to proceed. Also, it's now past sundown.

"If it is not too much to ask," Tasha says, "might we intrude on your hospitality for the night? Attacking demons in the dark does not seem wise."

Ideyoshi nods his head in agreement, waiting to see if the Strix would be agreeable.

The woman thinks for a moment.

"Yes, you have been respectful. You may spend the night with the People."

She shows you to a place on the ground where you can stay, and the rest of the night passes uneventfully.

Need to know how you want to proceed. You can follow the route suggested by the Strix, go straight, take a third unexpected option...

I vote for using conjured mounts to go along the coast.

Sounds good.

I agree. I dont entirely follow the map, but it does seem like we could avoid a lot of undergrowth without too much of a detour.

1d100 ⇒ 47
1d4 ⇒ 1

Riding conjured mounts, you set out in the morning, going around the less-forested edge of the island, sheer cliffs looming to one side in a deadly looking drop into the ocean.

After a couple hours, you hear a blood-curdling roar that causes the rest of the jungle around you to fall almost instantly silent. The noise sounds as if it came from some ways away -- nothing leaps out to attack you -- but clearly frightened the nearby denizens of the island.

What spell are you using exactly? It's about 16 miles, so not sure how long it's going to take you without that info.

"Well, that sounds jolly," Tasha says after a few minutes. "Reminds me of the master classes in Conjuration at the old alma mater."

Knowledge checks to possibly identify the sound:
Knowledge (arcana) 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (18) + 16 = 34
Knowledge (history) 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (18) + 14 = 32
Knowledge (nature) 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (5) + 12 = 17
Knowledge (planes) 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (18) + 12 = 30
Knowledge (religion) 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 24

"Is it a wild beast, or something more sinister?" Ideyoshi keeps an eye out, and looks about for evil auras.

Detect evil. Perception: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (8) + 0 = 8

I believe she’s using communal mount which summons light horses. They move at speed 50 which means, moving at a hustle, we can cover 16 minutes in ~1.5 hours.

Skaar pities the poor beast laboring underneath his weight but it was a necessary sacrifice in order to stop the oncoming cataclysm. He growls in reply to the massive roar. ”Something big alright.”

OK, sorry for the delay there. Was working and then enjoying the weekend...

Tasha, you're not sure what the creature is, but Ideyoshi doesn't see any signs of evil.

You make good time with the conjured mounts, and soon reach the Demon’s Teeth, a maze of needlelike stone spires. Scattered in niches at the base of the spines stand rough-carved statues resembling the stone heads found elsewhere on the island, only with complete bodies and smaller in scale. The stone statues range from 6 to 18 feet in height, the spires from 50 to 80 feet.

Ideyoshi looks to the highest stone spire, seeking an entrance or a path up.

Are these spires like a gate, or are they standing in the middle of nowhere?

They're more like random spires on the plain, interspersed with the heads. You'd basically be walking between them, but they tend to be only 10 feet or so wide at their base.

"A strange place. Let us see what happens when we step within." Ideyoshi leads the way in between the spires, searching for any evil emanations. Perception: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (7) + 0 = 7

Detect magic & Perception 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

"Agreed," Tasha says. "But regardless what happens, let's not linger any longer than we strictly have to. Barring the Strix, this whole island sets my teeth on edge."

Tasha follows after Ideyoshi, her eyes constantly moving.

Skaar lumbers ahead with his head on a swivel.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

It's not good news when the Wizard has the highest Perception roll... XD

Davro continues on with the group quietly, but his eyes dart around, searching for the magnificent beast they heard earlier. It would surely make a grand trophy.

Not seeing anything of special concern, you set out into the spires.

As you near the center of the Demon's Teeth, suddenly a trio of statues comes alive, and begins advancing. Davro, on edge, has time to react before they're on you.

Davro's up for Round 1/2, then the statues; no map for this one.

How close are they? If they're within charging distance(40) Davro will enrage and charge. If not he will cast Longstrider.

Raging Charging Falchion: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (14) + 16 = 302d4 + 20 ⇒ (3, 2) + 20 = 25

If that makes contact he will spend one Legendary Point from Rageborn to double the damage of the attack.

Then, doraga will enrage and charge the another of the trio.

Doraga Charge: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 221d6 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15

Apologies for the late post, very busy with work.

They're within charging distance.

Davro's sword slams into the first statue, sending cracks spreading through it as Doroga hits another, though his claws have trouble penetrating the tough stone. They try to pummel their attackers with their fists, though only one is able to land a solid blow, on Davro 8 hp; I think it should hit as he has a -2 AC from charging

The third rushes toward Ideyoshi, but the Tien man's armor easily turns aside its fists.

"Feritas melis," Tasha chants, making odd passes in the air with both hands. The edges of the others' weapons suddenly start to gleam bright scarlet and silver, and the warriors can all feel the power infused into their blades...!

Badger's Ferocity is up! All your weapons are keen as long as I maintain concentration. Enjoy. ;) Tasha will be backing up to let you at it.

Any chance the statues detected as evil? Ideyoshi was looking at the time.

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Nope

Ideyoshi strikes at the statue attacking him!

Attack: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (17) + 14 = 31; Damage: 2d10 + 28 ⇒ (4, 8) + 28 = 40
Crit?: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (10) + 14 = 24; Damage: 1d10 + 14 ⇒ (4) + 14 = 18

He will then press his assault against either this statue or another one!
Spending a mythic point for an extra standard action.
Attack: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20; Damage: 2d10 + 28 ⇒ (7, 4) + 28 = 39
If necessary, he spends Legendary Power of his weapon to enhance this attack! Legendary Surge: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Skaar roars and barrels down on the statues like a runaway aurochs. Slamming into the nearest one, he tackles it.

Rushing Tackle: 1d20 + 22 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 22 + 2 = 41
Damage: 2d6 + 13 ⇒ (5, 2) + 13 = 20

If it beats the statue's CMD, he's also grappled.

Ideyoshi's blade pierces the heart of the statue facing him, the thing exploding in a pile of dust with his blow, and he quickly rushes over to the one facing Doraga, again striking a brutal blow that destroys the statue.

Tasha's spell settles over the group as Skaar tackles the remaining of the trio, setting it up for Davro's blow, which shatters the stone form.

Before you can do more than take a breath, though, three more statues suddenly animate. Two close on Doraga and one on Davro, though none of their blows are able to actually hurt the pair.

Round 2

Ideyoshi quickly gauges how many statues are left. In other words, is this an endless tide or is there a reasonable end in sight?

"Is there a source of power feeding these creatures?" Ideyoshi continues to strike at the statutes as they come to life. Attack: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21; Damage: 2d10 + 28 ⇒ (7, 5) + 28 = 40.

His sword replies in turn with a grumble. "Let the mage figure that out. You just keep them busy."

"And indeed I would," Tasha calls to Ideyoshi, "except it will require my concentration! You will lose the benefit of the spell I have cast upon you all, however -- stand ready!"

Maintaining her distance from the fight, Tasha mutters a cantrip and looks about for any magical auras.

Detect magic up! This requires my concentration, so Badger's Ferocity ends, alas...

Round 2a

There is not an endless tide, though more are scattered throughout the area, among the pillars.

Ideyoshi's blade strikes through another statue, but this time doesn't quite shatter it.

Tasha begins looking around, not finding the source right away. It's 60-foot cones, so it'll take a few rounds to look all around.

1d5 ⇒ 4

Davro and Skaar are up

Dusthing himself off briefly, Skaar takes off and slams into the next statue.

Rushing Tackle: 1d20 + 22 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 22 + 2 = 38
Damage: 2d6 + 13 ⇒ (3, 2) + 13 = 18

If it beats the statue's CMD, he's also grappled.

Davro and Doraga will strike at the nearest enemy, flanking with each other if possible.

Falchion: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 152d4 + 20 ⇒ (2, 3) + 20 = 25
Falchion: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 202d4 + 20 ⇒ (2, 1) + 20 = 23

Doraga: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 161d6 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18
Doraga: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 141d4 + 12 ⇒ (4) + 12 = 16
Doraga: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 181d4 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13

All of the above attacks gain +6 to attack +1 to damage if me and Doraga are flanking.

Skaar slams into one of the remaining statues, damaging it even as he keeps his hold; while Davro and Doraga maneuver around the third, laying into it as well.

Despite their damage, they fight back furiously, though only one lands a blow, on Ideyoshi. 6 hp

Ideyoshi strikes back at the one that struck him! Attack: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19; Damage: 2d10 + 28 ⇒ (5, 8) + 28 = 41

Spending more legendary power on his weapon to aid that strike. 1d6 ⇒ 5

"Keep it up, please," Tasha calls. "Still scanning..."

The Wizard does make sure to stay out of the range of melée while she searches the aether for magical auras.