Seeing Posh reach for his alchemists fire, Alia vibrantly remembers what happened when Celyne threw hers.
Weighing the options, she decides that filth is preferable to being burned alive. While she advances, she'll keep her eyes on that Alchemists Fire. If Posh throws it, and the explosion remotely starts like the last one, she would be ready to dive right into the fetid waters next to them, hopefully getting under the surface in time to evade a blast.
That's a bit much for a readied action, considering the concentration (and Perception/Craft (alchemy) check) necessary to ID a particular kind of explosion. I'll give you a +2 circumstance bonus to your save though should it come to that for your caution's sake.
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When the pigeons rise into the air, Numalar recalls how he and Scarlet were swarmed by rats last time. "Spread out! Don't bunch up!"
Numalar edges carefully forwards along the ledge.
"Pigeons don't usually nest underground, do they?"
Numalar sniffs the air, trying to tell if the air will react with fire the same way as last time.
He then produces his strange little symbol and begins muttering under his breath.
"Pigeons don't usually nest underground, do they?"
By Sarah Sloat
FRANKFURT—The glass-enclosed newsstand on platform 102 at Frankfurt Central Station has bird decals on its doors to ward off errant pigeons. That’s nothing unusual, except the newsstand sits three stories underground.
“You expect rats or mice, but pigeons?” said traveler Ingeborg Striebl, watching one of the birds peck at crumbs that missed a trash bin. “How do they get down here? Do they come with the train?”
Europe has millions of pigeons. London’s Trafalgar Square was long carpeted with them. They swarm San Marco’s square in Venice and the steps of Milan’s cathedral. But those sites are all above ground.
The pigeons of Frankfurt’s Central Station navigate underground corridors like commuters on autopilot. They come and go from the deep suburban-rail platforms by flying inches above escalator riders.
“It is striking to see them down here,” said rider Rosario Scolaro, standing near four pigeons strutting around the newsstand. “One doesn’t expect to see them under these dim ceilings.”
Frankfurt Central is hardly the world’s only city station with pigeons. But representatives for New York’s train stations and the London Underground say the birds aren’t too numerous—and don’t make too many feathers fly.
But in Frankfurt, the station’s open structure and easy access to lower levels have turned it into a subterranean aviary.
The rush-hour nature show isn’t exactly a welcome one. In an attempt to minimize the birds presence in the 19th-century landmark, station operator Deutsche Bahn Service has festooned it with nets, wires and spikes. Nothing has worked. A spokeswoman for the service calls pigeons “the plague.”
And so they keep coming, flying in every direction. It’s in their blood. Their dexterity navigating underground tunnels today “links to their heritage living in cliffs,” says Steve Portugal, a zoologist at Royal Holloway, University of London. Pigeons are the descendants of rock doves—seaside birds that live on precipices and in caves.
That helps to explain why, to pigeons, leafy green trees are for the birds. They prefer to nest on ledges, roofs, beams and other flat surfaces.
“The city perfectly mimics rock doves’ environment,” says Dr. Portugal.
Slow and rotund, pigeons struggle to soar. Their shape is adapted to short bursts of flight, often in tight spaces. Physiognomy and heritage mean pigeons, unlike other birds, have no qualms about dim lighting or spelunking.
“They’re happy to go into dark tunnels,” says Dr. Portugal. “They see a hole in a building and think ‘OK I can do this.’ ” A larger, more graceful bird in a similar spot “couldn’t get the oomph behind it to get back out.”
Humans and other objects pose no obstacle. “Sometimes they fly past at a hair’s breadth,” said Ms. Striebl, the traveler, as a pigeon swooped along the platform toward a tunnel.
Pigeons aren’t just nimble. They’re smart, too. Zoologists say they can count, solve simple puzzles and distinguish between colors and individuals.
“Pigeons could learn to tell a Picasso from a Matisse if you trained them enough,” said Luc-Alain Giraldeau, an expert on pigeons and dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Quebec. “Some have learned to wait for automatic doors to open,” he said. “Some have learned to operate automatic doors.”
And while people grumble about “flying rats,” few actually want a pigeon-free city, says Peter Havelka, a zoologist at Karlsruhe’s Natural History Museum. Pigeons are part of the collective unconscious, he contends, inextricably bound up with positive associations.
Pigeons were among the first domesticated animals; many instinctively return to their owners. People bred them for food and used their droppings as fertilizer. It’s those droppings, of course, that have soured public opinion—and made some people fearful that the birds will defecate on the fly (they don’t, according to the experts)....
Numalar sniffs the air, trying to tell if the air will react with fire the same way as last time.
The air is not nearly as bad as it is in other places down here.
I'll be Posh-botting (sounds like a Mork and Mindy reference) if we don't hear from him by 6pmish EST.
"Pigeons don't usually nest underground, do they?"** spoiler omitted **...
Poshment remains back as he finds himself near the back of the group, but gets his flask out just in case they come closer.
The birds rise up as one and wheeling in whirlwind of flapping wings moves away from the door enveloping Scarlet.
"Pigeons. Rats with wings!"
AoO from Scarlet: She throws her flask of acid at the birds.
Apparently she's really caught off guard by the pigeons as they peck at her.
She regains her composure and hustles across the platform to solid ground while drawing her warhammer and light hammer.
Her skin turns blood red as she enters bloodrage. Her warhammer bursts into flames as she swings.
Apparently the only thing Scarlet can do is tiptoe under pressure.
Zokon throws his readied flask of acid
Scarlet's throw disappears within the cyclone.
. Zokon adds his flask to the fray
Scarlet's warhammer sings through the air about as effective against the flock as a mace against falling leaves.
Round 1
The bold may act.
_____
Alia
Posh
Numalar
Pigeons -11 hp
Scarlet
Celyne
Zokon
Celyne holds off on any action other than staying out of the way of the flock since she has alchemist fire only and is afraid of using it down here.
Round 2
The bold may act.
_____
Alia
Posh
Numalar
Pigeons -11 hp
Scarlet -1
Celyne
Zokon
Seeing the Pigeons raise to engulf Scarlet, Alia channels power into her blade, and jumps using the nearby wall to redirect her kinetic energy back towards the ledge, to get past Zokon...using the reminder of that same kinetic energy, she whirls around, closer to the pigeons, transforming the motion into a stab into the middle of the flock, trying to get as many as she can...
for => 3 damage
Like an expert billiards player clearing a table, Alia's blow clears the air scattering, the flock and revealing a fearsome-looking Scarlet on the far side.
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"Well that's a relief. After the rats earlier the last thing we need are rabid pigeons. Still, I wonder what brought them down here?" Numalar looks over the area where the pigeons were roosting to see if something had attracted them to the place...
...and sees nothing but a 10' square of pigeon poop.
"Yuck. For such small creatures they make a terrible mess, don't they?"
Scarlet hefts her hammer for another swing as Alia clears the flock.
"Those pigeons don't stand a chance! HAHAHA!"
Scarlet exhausts steam and smoke as her skin turns to normal.
Scarlet hefts her hammer for another swing as Alia clears the flock.
"Those pigeons don't stand a chance! HAHAHA!"
Zokon searches to see if he can find something that held the pigeons here or something they were guarding
"Seems odd pigeons would flock down here, I see nothing for them to eat, even..." She pauses, then shrugs, clearly baffled by the underground bird flock. "Shall we move on then?"
Zokon draws his sword and then attempts to open said door
Scarlet stows her weapons away, then draws her longsword and shortsword.
"We ready?"
The door pushes open with a loud creak. The sunrod's light illuminates a dark chamber whose far wall is stacked with dozens of small wooden cages--all of which look empty aside from one, out of which cat eyes shine back at you. The large alley cat hisses and glowers at you daring you into its territory.
Dirty straw and animal waste and dried blood cover the floor. A whip and and four spiked collars lie on a warped table. A stained curtain covers a hole in the east wall.
Alia will enter the room and approach the kitty, coming into it's territory but keeping a respectful distance when it starts hissing. "Celyne, the poor thing seems very disturbed...I think we need to calm it down if we want to set it free"
Following that, Alia will take a look around in the room, trying to guess it's purpose and looking for further, hidden objects or entrances that may point towards one.
Seeing the whip and the collars, she also turns to the others:"Do you think those where guard pigeons? Could some kind of blight druid be responsibly for the state of the sewers?", then approaches the cloth curtain and takes up position next to it.
"Blight what? Some kind of Druid?" Scarlet shrugs.
Scarlet takes a look around.
Suddenly out of the corners of the room three big feral-looking alley cats rush Alia from the corners of the room hissing and spitting.
Round 1
The Bold May Act!
_________________
__ Zokon
__ Big (small-sized) feral street cats (x3)
__ Numalar
__ Scarlet
__ Posh
__ Celyne
__ Alia
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"Blight Druid? Maybe... I can't say I know a lot about Druids. But there is life everywhere, so why not here? Most of the cages are empty, so possibly the occupants have been trained and released. Such a druid would also not like the ratcatcher's guild very much either, so I suppose the idea fits."
Numalar looks around the room with distaste. "Rather filthy, but then, if you live in a sewer your standards aren't going to be very high."
"Hmmm... there seems to be an exit behind this curtain. Why don't all of you get into position and I'll pull it aside?" Numalar moves to the south of the curtain and gets ready to pull on it.
Zokon moves upto blue and does the stabbity dance with it
The cat recoils before Zokon's blade hissing. As Zokon pulls the sword back the Tabby launches itself at his leg trying to find purchase with its razor sharp claws and teeth.
________________________
The fat, mean-looking, green-eyed Chelaxian Shorthair from behind the curtain tries the same stunt on the still-unaware Alia.
________________________
A shabby white-brown Hwanggot Cat appraises the situation for but a moment before deciding to pounce upon-
-Alia!
Round 1
The Bold May Act!
_________________
__ Zokon (-3 hp)
__ Big (small-sized) feral street cats (x3)
__ Numalar
__ Scarlet
__ Posh
__ Celyne
__ Alia (-7 hp)
Alia shifts up and away from the cats: "Calm down, we wanted to free your friend!"...They are still animals...they follow their instinct or do someone elses bidding...they should not have to die for this..., and unleashes her Color Spray(DC 13 Will) on 2 of the cats.
Round 1
The Bold May Act!
_________________
__ Zokon (-3 hp)
__ Big (small-sized) feral street cats (x3)
__ Numalar
__ Scarlet
__ Posh
__ Celyne
__ Alia (-7 hp)
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Numalar's eyes narrow when he sees the COUS's (cats of unusual size) attacking his friends. With a flash of color Alia stuns the southern two, so Numalar stares at Blue for a moment, and suddenly a flash of light appears before blue's eyes.
"Down, you stupid cat! Rats, pigeons, now cats... Selbina's Tears! What's next? Degenerate dogs? Crazed chipmunks?"
"Cats eat rats. They also eat pidgeons." Scarlet muses to herself as she sees the caged kitten.
She moves up to the Blue collared kitten and tries to knock it out with the flat of her blade.
The cat looks at Numalar the way cats do when they seem unimpressed.
Celyne moves into the room
Round 1
The Bold May Act!
_________________
__ Zokon (-3 hp)
__ Big (small-sized) feral street cats (x3)
__ Numalar
__ Scarlet
__ Celyne
__ Alia (-7 hp)
__ Dire Rat
__ Posh
As Celyne enters the room a giant halfling-sized rat scampers from beneath the table and toward the door.
Celyne strikes out with her quarterstaff, more in surprise than actual intent to combat..
Posh moves up and begins to chant out inspiring jokes about a mighty group of heroes who were often mistaken for a travelling circus by the Elf who leads them with his wild hair and style.
"Ooo, a big rat. You don't mind if I squish 'em, do ya?" She winks at Alia.
Both Celyne and Numalar lash out at the big rat but miss. It skitters past Posh and out into the sewer.
Round 2
The Bold May Act!
_________________
__ Zokon (-3 hp)
__ Big (small-sized) feral street cats (x3)
__ Numalar
__ Scarlet
__ Celyne
__ Alia (-7 hp)
__ Dire Rat (scampering)
__ Posh
Zokon uses studied target on blue and then attacks
The blue tabby jumps back in time to avoid the blow and then launches itself for the the slayer's face.
Meanwhile the other two crouch and hiss still blind and stunned.
Round 2
The Bold May Act!
_________________
__ Zokon (-3 hp)
__ Big (small-sized) feral street cats (x3)
__ Numalar
__ Scarlet
__ Celyne
__ Alia (-7 hp)
__ Dire Rat (scampering)
__ Posh
"Aye Scarlet, get that Rat! We got this!"
Alia steps forward to one of the unconscious cats, and knocks it out.
=> Green-eyes Chelaxian