No great loss, Senzo, you hit him pretty good and knocked him down.
Zirt - ’Badger’ means the character, not the wolverine. Wolverine will go on your initiative.
Rayne – the vexgits aren’t flat-footed, you just didn’t see them do anything this round. And it doesn’t matter this turn, but they’ve got cover from Sündr right now.
Senzo’s foot lashes out and connects with a twigjack, for that is what Zirt recognizes them to be. The little stick-man crashes to the steps, a small cloud of leaves and splinters erupting as he falls! Rayne’s arrows don’t quite connect with the nimble little gremlin, who clacks and chitters in what can only be a mocking laugh!
The fierce wolverine hits with both claws, scrathing the bark off the other twigjack, which has leaves of a slightly orange hue. Badger moves closer to the vexgits, attempting unsuccessfully to use a wand to protect himself.
Sündr and Truk are up and need to make DC 14 Reflex saves. (Sündr and Truk sounds like a pair of loveable characters in a wannabe Disney animated movie)
Fixed the map, thanks for pointing it out, Badger.
No more 20's for you! Gotta save some for the DM, eh?
Truk puts a massive foot right in the middle of one of the twigjacks and the woody fey shatters like a child's toy boat being crushed under the heel of a dragon!
"Ha!" Sündr cheers, nimbly ducking the majority of the splinters and seemingly unaware of the rest. "This looks like a worthy battle!" She switches quickly to Skald, belting out a battlesong that could make a bored banker's blood boil.
A massive, shining axe is unstrapped from her back and she sidles over to the vexgits.
Shouting out some Raging Song! The details are below. Note that this stacks with Zirt's Inspire Courage +2. GM, note that all who accept have Scent. Current stats: 51/57 hp, AC 16, fast healing 2.
If you accept the Inspired Rage as a FREE ACTION at the BEGINNING of your turn: +2 STR +2 CON (+1 HP/lvl) +2 Will saves -1 AC Cannot use Dex-, Int-, or Cha-based skills (except Acro, Fly, Intimidate, Ride) Cannot use abilities that require patience or concentration Gain Scent ability Gain Reckless Rage (may choose to take additional -2 AC, gain +2 attack) Gain 1d6 Fire damage on all melee attacks for one round (usable once) No fatigue generated afterward, can choose to cycle in and out round by round
Sündr - thanks for pointing out that those accepting your song have the scent ability, I had forgotten you mentioned that. For those who need a refresher on how it might apply here, here are the rules for scent.
As Sündr begins her song, the remaining twigjack makes small sounds of anger and fear as two talking foes and a wolverine loom over it. In desperation, it spray another blast of splinters, then leaps to its feet!
Splinterspray at badgerine, Zirt & Senzo:4d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 4, 6) = 16DC 14 Reflex for half
The twigjack standing up provokes AoO’s from Senzo, Wolverine and Truk. Bye, Jack.
Those still on the raised platform around the dais are suddenly engulfed in a cloud of despair, a smoky grey vapor that smells of ash, old dust and Mondays. It’s hard to tell where the clouds start, but they seem to come from a couple of different directions.
Need DC 14 Fort saves from Senzo, Wolvie, Zirt, Truk and Rayne. Failure means you are full of despair to your very soul and are staggered, sickened and immune to effects that grant a morale bonus for 1d6 ⇒ 2 rounds. If you’ve accepted the raging song, you know which square the dragon is in if you’re within 5’ of it.
Seeing the singing skald approach, two of the vexgits strike skitter close to her and strike painfully with their fierce little hammers, while the third steps into a glowing ring of braided blue light and vanishes, only to step out of the red portal behind Badger! It jumps to the ground and attacks him!
+3 Adamantine Greataxe AoO @ Pink Vexgit:1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 12 + 2 = 18counts as cold iron due to +3 bonus Damage:1d12 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 10 + 2 = 23
Sündr grins and smashes an approaching (pink) vexgit before it can reach her. Continuing her furious ballad and ignoring the pangs of tiny hammers against her knee, she swings another vicious axe-strike against the bugger getting too close.
+3 Adamantine Greataxe @ Pink Vexgit (or Yellow if Pink is down), Reckless Abandon Power Attack:1d20 + 12 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 12 + 2 + 2 = 36 THREAT Confirm:1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 12 + 2 = 27counts as cold iron due to +3 bonus Critical Damage:2d12 + 32 + 4 ⇒ (8, 6) + 32 + 4 = 50
I think it's probably dead. Current stats: 44/57 hp, AC 14, fast healing 2. GM, these are in the "Rage" spoiler in my statline for reference.
Inspired Rage Continues!:
If you accept the Inspired Rage as a FREE ACTION at the BEGINNING of your turn: +2 STR +2 CON (+1 HP/lvl, +1 on Fort saves) +2 Will saves -1 AC Cannot use Dex-, Int-, or Cha-based skills (except Acro, Fly, Intimidate, Ride) Cannot use abilities that require patience or concentration Gain Scent ability Gain Reckless Abandon (may choose to take additional -2 AC, gain +2 attack) Gain 1d6 Fire damage on all melee attacks for one round (usable once) No fatigue generated afterward, can choose to cycle in and out round by round
"Oh!" exclaims Zirt, her voice full of despair. "I... I think we still need to keep fighting! And... and... and it'll all be okay?" she wails, her words still somehow inspiring. Maintain bardic performance, and go full defense. Wolverine scents the green dragon and attempts to nom it. He accepts the raging song.
Letting Sundr's song fill him with Angradd's spirit, Senzo sniff the prey to the north and unloads with a rapid combination of ball kick, roundhouse elbow and headbutt. Using the ball of his foot to nail the dragon, he uses the waza of the stunning foot.
Kick:1d20 + 13 ⇒ (16) + 13 = 29 for DMG if hit :1d8 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
Elbow:1d20 + 13 ⇒ (5) + 13 = 18 for DMG IF HIT :1d8 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
headbutt :1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27 for DMG if hit :1d8 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8
Senzo miss chance, high is good:1d100 ⇒ 73 Senzo miss chance, high is good:1d100 ⇒ 81 Senzo miss chance, high is good:1d100 ⇒ 36
Truk miss chance, high is good:1d100 ⇒ 51
Senzo, Truk and Wolverine shatter the remaining twigjack as it scrambles to its wee wooden feet! In a blinding combo of feet, elbow and head, Senzo manages to strike the gloom dragon twice, in spite of not being able to see it! Truk, also taking advantage of his newly-improved sense of smell, lands a solid hit on the other depressing dragonkin!
Sündr doesn’t quite hit the advancing vexgit, but she slices its companion clean in half, leaving two segments of twitching, insect-like body on the ground!
Sündr – you seem to have been moved on the map, to up next to Rayne. Since your post didn’t describe any movement and you would have provoked a couple of AoO’s, I just put you back where you were. Let me know if I missed something.
Rayne hits one of the vexgits with an arrow, and it waves its yellow-tipped antennae in pain, but the arrow does not seem to have as much effect as the archer might have hoped. And while Zirt assumes a defensive posture, her wolverine friend’s more aggressive approach manages to badly wound the green gloom dragon!
Badger’s blade flashes faster than the eye can follow, slicing the red-shelled vexgit deeply twice! It manages to just keep its feet and its chittering noises sound a good deal less like mocking laughter, and more like a clock winding down.
Suddenly, out of the air, two beams of fire lance at Senzo! As the smell of burning clears, it seems that both of the gloom dragons have moved off, and can no longer be smelled nearby.
@ GM: I was five-foot stepping to gain an AoO later, apologies for not specifying in my post. I'll five-foot now.
Sündr's thundering song rings throughout the courtyard, telling a tale of steel and blood and flame. Her axe matches the tune -- igniting in fire just before the blade strikes.
Without breaking the rhythm, she takes a moment to sniff the air for dragons. Move action, learn direction if within 30 feet. I'll shout it out if so.
Current stats: AC 14, HP 42/57, fast healing 2.
Inspired Rage Continues!:
If you accept the Inspired Rage as a FREE ACTION at the BEGINNING of your turn: +2 STR +2 CON (+1 HP/lvl, +1 on Fort saves) +2 Will saves -1 AC Cannot use Dex-, Int-, or Cha-based skills (except Acro, Fly, Intimidate, Ride) Cannot use abilities that require patience or concentration Gain Scent ability Gain Reckless Abandon (may choose to take additional -2 AC, gain +2 attack) Gain 1d6 Fire damage on all melee attacks for one round (usable once) No fatigue generated afterward, can choose to cycle in and out round by round
Senzo dodges one, but not both rays of fire. He grunts from the hit, but doesn't wince. Instead he focuses his attention squarely on getting to Sundr. (Double move)
Senzo moves nimbly across the platform around the fountain, hoping to join the fight against the vexgit gremlins. Alas, Sündr’s mighty axe-blow lays low the last of them!
Scanning the battlefield with her song-enhanced senses, the singing skald seeks the sneaky dragonling. Though she can’t say exactly where the gloomy beast is, she can tell which direction she’ll find him in.
I’ve marked the general direction of the gloom dragon, it’s within 30’ and between the two orange lines I’ve drawn on the map.
And why, oh why, is no one travelling through the portals? Senzo could have covered all that ground in a single move! Or tried to, at least…
Female Gnome Bard 7 [ HP 49/49 (14 NL) | AC 21 Tch 13 FF 20 | Fort +4* Ref +7* Will +6* | CMD 15 | Init +3 Perc +12 | Effects: none | Benedict 49/69* (0 NL) ]
Zirt continues to sing, while urging her wolverine companion to go find his prey. The wolverine needs no second encouragement; it takes one deep whiff before heading across the square toward the smell. Move to locate direction, move to... move. Zirt keeps singing and defending herself.
Once again, twin beams of fire lance out of the air, this time at Sündr! The first one burns, but she’s quick and catches on, and the second narrowly misses! A sound of flapping wings retreating suggests that the gloom dragons may have sniffed defeat in the air and moved on to darken the days of other mortals.
The invisible dragons have flown off. It would be quite a trick to find them, given their greater invisibility, flight and access to dimension-hopping portals, so I’m going to call this fight.
As the heroes look about, reassuring themselves that their odd little foes have been defeated, Lady Ogden rushes into the square, crying out, ”Pathfinders! You are needed for more than my experiment! A group of gremlins was seen entering the tower on the far side! I’ve no idea what they could want their, but Nithra often works with gremlins and corrupted fey, I’d wager he’s behind this – and all he wants is destruction! He must be stopped! Can you help?”
Senzo eyes the group for a second taking in the wounds and heavy breathing. "I can get patched up later. If you lot are good then I suggest we make haste."
Actually, my raging Reckless Abandon Touch AC is 8, so the second one hits too. I'm pretty badly injured.
HP 9/51
Burnt and bleeding, Sündr nevertheless is eager to press the fight. "More of them? My axe was only just getting whet! Let us ascend the tower on the far side."
Any help with the healing would be appreciated, if only to speed it up across multiple wands. If not:
CLW:8d8 + 8 ⇒ (5, 2, 8, 2, 4, 5, 6, 5) + 8 = 45
She takes a moment to cast mirror image(1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 images, plus her) and heroism if there is time.
Not sure if anyone else needs to do any healing – if you do, just be sure to post about it before the next combat gets going.
With their wounds healed, the Pathfinders head to the eastern side of the tower, where the door is. Arriving, they find the wooden door is somehow sealed shut. There are windows on the ground floor, but they appear to be extremely well made and likely to be difficult to open.
Glancing up for some other means of entrance, Badger notices that a window on the second floor seems to have been forced open – but it is twenty feet above the ground.
Str check to open door, or some other creative approach. Disable Device on a ground floor window. Or a Climb check.
Badger tries to scramble up the stone face of the tower, but the very fine seams between the stones provide very little purchase and he doesn’t make any progress. After a few moments, however, Rayne manages to pop a window open and peer inside.
The interior looks much like the tower of earlier in the day, yet also very unlike it. Arcs of purple energy ripple from between the Clock Tower’s gears and the now luminescent white stones that make up the fey circle, and blue and red portals shimmer on the floor. The pungent scent of ozone and fresh rain fills the room, and from above, the screeching sounds of metal twisting and wood breaking echo down, revealing the twisted activities of the vexgits above. Occasional gears, scraps of splintered wood and other debris rain down from higher up in the tower.
From their earlier visit, the Pathfinders know that a flight of stairs on the far side of the room, beyond the central gear structure, leads to the upper floors.
The spot on the map marked with a white A is the stairs leading up. As we go up the tower, you’ll see more such letters – they show where a set of stairs starts on one floor and ends on the next.
Senzo will defer to Rayne, but otherwise begins to creep up around the floor, eventually making his way to the stairs, Stealth:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18
He keeps his eyes peeled for danger and interesting things alike as well Perception:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32
Female Gnome Bard 7 [ HP 49/49 (14 NL) | AC 21 Tch 13 FF 20 | Fort +4* Ref +7* Will +6* | CMD 15 | Init +3 Perc +12 | Effects: none | Benedict 49/69* (0 NL) ]
Zirt leans down and whispers in her wolverine friend's ear. Those with acute hearing can make out snuffles, sniffs, and grunts. "Whrf. Snffl-lfl snrf, grnt grnt snfgrnt. Snfffffffffflrf."Daily speak with animals.
Wolverine:
"Hey, could you climb up there and peek through that window and let me know what you see and smell? I'd be ever so grateful, and I'll even buy you a treat afterward. Would you like that? I bet you would... remember those warm spiced pecan pies that Mrs. Sniggerdy makes? I'll find something like that to buy you."
The wolverine replies to Zirt's sounds with an eager, yellow-toothed grin and a sound somewhere between a giggle and a choke, then turns and begins to make its way up the side of the tower.
On reaching the opened window on the second floor, the beast extends its head away from its stocky shoulders, sniffing and looking inside the tower, then turns and emits a string of grunts, wheezes and the occasional cluck.
Wolverine:
"No people, no creatures here, just flat dead trees that people write on. Noisy up high with smashings. See little legs and arms of smashers up high, breaking metal thing."
Note to all: because things might begin happening once you're inside, please don't take more than a single move action worth of movement in getting into the tower.
Female Gnome Bard 7 [ HP 49/49 (14 NL) | AC 21 Tch 13 FF 20 | Fort +4* Ref +7* Will +6* | CMD 15 | Init +3 Perc +12 | Effects: none | Benedict 49/69* (0 NL) ]
"Oh dear, snrff better hurry!" exclaims Zirt, forgetting in her rush to speak fully in Common. "There's no one on the second floor, but the bad grntlsnfflrffl are destroying something up above! Probably the clock, and then we won't know what time it is, and that would be very very bad! Come on!" With a final impatient gesture, the gnome hops bravely through the window. Her wolverine companion follows, snuffling along valiantly as he wonders where his pie is.
Hey gang – if you post that you’re moving, please move your token on the map. If you’re on a phone or other device that makes it hard to move, just say so and someone else can move you to whatever position you describe. I’ve moved everyone inside for now.
As the party clambers through the window and looks around, they can’t help but notice that a giant burlap sack, of a dull brown color with dark red stripes running down it, seems to come to life! It rises off a stack of broken boxes and opens its massive maw while rumbling towards the party!
From somewhere in the room you hear a high, startled voice – that sounds much like Cerotius – cry out, ”Oh dear! Whatever is that?”
Knowledge (arcana), DC 17:
The sack is an animated object, likely stirred to life by some surge of energy from the First World. Being made of cloth, it will not be affected much by bludgeoning weapons, and it looks like the huge mouth of the sack could easily grab hold of any who stray too close.
Sündr – since everyone else just got a move action, I’d prefer you choose to move or start your song before combat starts. You can do the other action as part of your first round actions, okay?
