"That my friend is a scroll of Gaseous form as far as I can remember it is touch based one willing creature is all afraid. Perhaps I can make way across those traps stately I don't way much more than a kobold." He says with a grin.
"Perhaps you can tie a rope to the far column if you can make it across safely? Maybe then we could try to climb across?"
"Great idea--Drakr has done this before. I left my rope back at the log bridge."
"Here take this end of the rope and I'll let it out as you move forward." Drakr takes out his rope and offers an end to Grobnar.
Grobnar crosses safely without his gear, after a first attempt where the floor began to give way. He follows Lorelei's advice, and with Drakr's rope tied and set up, and bags of gear thrown across or pulled by ropes, everyone is safely on the other side.
The corridor continues for another 50' before turning to the right.
Jobo votes for the Drakr and Jobo up front to bring out the baddies and hope the rest of the group continue to be ready to save the day plan.
... And the dice gods smile upon the gnome.
Grobnar sneaks ahead along the corridor and cautiously pokes first an ear, than one eye around the corner.
The carefully constructed and neat, yet functional, stonework of the corridors opens up here into two large adjoining areas, all with an intricately carved, vaulted ceiling. Fifty feet up it soars, with strange beasts and animals that adorn the chiselled relief work which extends down the ceiling and walls to the floor.
Large tapestries add colour to the wall. Some of these depict humans, elves, gnomes, most of the show kobolds.
All the creatures in the stonework stare in the same direction as the kobolds chanting on the floor - at a huge golden idol. Forty feet tall it is, a sitting and chubby half-dragon (half-human maybe?), with a peaceful and calm smile upon its face. It's bald head reflects hundreds of candles set in the stone above its head.
Imploring some divine gift, three kobolds stand before the idol's crossed legs. The centre Kobold, a shaman, wears a long blue cloak trimmed with silver and a bear's skull as an ornamental helm. To the right of this one stands a Kobold in heavy armour with a two-handed sword, to the left one in breastplate with a mace and oversized shield.
Behind these three are four soldiers of Vigil in their polished breastplate. They each hold their pole arm perfectly vertical in their right hand and stand stock still, facing the shaman, back to Grobnar.
Behind these are a group of Kobold fanatics, around twelve of them. They are all chanting very loudly, and swaying, all wearing robes of crimson patterned with three wide stripes of black. Some are standing with their arms raised to the idol. Other kneel on blankets and cushions with their foreheads to the floor between the bags and small piles of things. There is a palpable sense of fervour among this group.
None of these are armoured, nor armed that you can see.
In the wings of the furthest area are two drummers in shiny chain shirts, performing in unison. They are tapping at small hand drums (something like a tambourine) though their intensity and volume is slowly building, and they each have big floor drums in front of them.
There are two arched platforms that serve as bridges between the two areas, spanning a natural fissure in the stone. Grobnar cannot tell how deep the fissure is, or what lies at the bottom, though he can tell the fissure is 15' wide. These bridges are four feet wide (two abreast with comfort for kobolds) and (naturally) do not have hand rails.
The area closer to Grobnar hosts the remaining kobolds, perhaps four dozen in number. Most of these are standing, almost marching on the spot to the rhythm of the drummers, and chanting louder and louder. Some of these are armed and armoured, beating their spear against the floor to the same beat. There are all ages of kobolds amongst this group, mothers with babes, mothers with eggs even, the elderly as well, and all ages between. They are attended by a Kobold in breastplate with an oversized shield.
All the kobolds are involved in the ceremony, and Grobnar feels that he has not been noticed.
Jobo whispers, "Shaman must die."
Lorelei nods. "Always best to take out any caster first. Hopefully most of the females and young will flee when we start attacking."
Jobo whispers, "Right behind you Drakr."
Conner tries to figure out what exactly is going on with the kobolds and statue, especially since the people from Vigil appear to be part of the ceremony.
"The shaman is using minor arcane magic to improve the ceremony. He could have other talents as well."
Looking at the room, the druid whispers to the others.
"The women and children are between us and the shaman, not to mention the Vigil guards. We need a way to handle this that doesn't hurt anyone we don't want to hurt."
Conner holds up his scroll of Summon Nature's Ally IV.
"I can use this to summon a Saytr under my command. I would tell him to use his panpipes to put everyone within 60 feet to sleep. He could also charm them, make them run in fear or simply give them a suggestion to leave us alone long enough to parley. How does that sound?"
Storm Bursts left 6/7
Spells remaining: Orisons DC 14 (Create Water, Detect Magic, Light, Stabilize)
1st-level DC 15 (Entangle, Obscuring Mist*)
2nd-level DC 16 (Flaming Sphere, Heat Metal, Fog Cloud*)
XP 1,200
CN Medium fey
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +18
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +5 natural)
hp 44 (8d6+16)
Fort +4, Ref +8, Will +8
DR 5/cold iron
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee dagger +6 (1d4+2/19–20), horns +1 (1d6+1)
Ranged short bow +6 (1d6/×3)
Special Attacks pipes
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th)
At will—charm person (DC 15), dancing lights, ghost sound (DC 14), sleep (DC 15), suggestion (DC 17)
1/day—fear (DC 18), summon nature's ally III
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 19
Base Atk +4; CMB +6; CMD* 18
Feats Dodge, Mobility, Skill Focus (Perception), Weapon Finesse
Skills Bluff +15, Diplomacy +15, Disguise +9, Intimidate +9, Knowledge (nature) +10, Perception +18, Perform (wind instruments) +19, Stealth +17, Survival +7; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception, +4 Perform, +4 Stealth
Languages Common, Sylvan
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Pipes (Su)
A satyr can focus and empower his magic by playing haunting melodies on his panpipes. When he plays, all creatures within a 60-foot radius must make a DC 18 Will save or be affected by charm person, fear, sleep, or suggestion, depending on what tune the satyr chooses. A creature that successfully saves against any of the pipes' effects cannot be affected by the same set of pipes for 24 hours, but can still be affected by the satyr's other spell-like abilities as normal. The satyr's use of his pipes does not count toward his uses per day of his spell-like abilities, and if separated from them he may continue to use his standard abilities. The pipes themselves are masterwork, and a satyr can craft a replacement with 1 week of labor. The save DC is Charisma-based.
The problem is he won't be able to hit the drummers that way. And I'm sure they will be able to wake everyone up with a round of playing. And it will take a full-round action to cast the spell from the scroll.
Suggestion, Charm or Fear is possible, but I don't suggest we use Fear. Random people running around will just lead to someone to fall down the pits and die.
Charm could get them to explain everything, and the Satyr could move into better place to sleep them all if needed. Or we could move up as close as possible and then I try to summon the Satyr into k6 to sleep everyone near the idol.
Any suggestions?
" That sounds like a powerful enchantment Conner. We should try ta get close enough so you can summon the satyr in the ideal spot. We need time to work out what we're gonna do with all that rabble. I've not got the heart to kill there women and children but letting them go free will only have them grow up hating our kind."
Jobo whispers, "Great plan Conner, but parley with folks that killed some soldiers is not something I want to do. I want to smash them. If there is space for Jobo to get big, I can smash the shaman from 20 feet away. A rampaging, raging giant tends to send people scurrying."
"Connor, just let me know what you want us to do."
I suppose we could hope for some lucky long range shots against the drummers before they could wake everyone? It's a shame they aren't standing close to each other."
Jobo does want to be enlarged for this battle. Maybe Drakr too.
Conner will add that the suggestion spell probably won't work since he doubts all the kobolds and the satyr share a language. Charm person won't do much either, because you need to talk to people to get the most out of charm. And it will only make the like the creature, not us.
So sleep is our best bet, followed by fear. But there are enough of them that if they scattered, we probably couldn't reach the shaman in back.
Drakr looks at Jobo " Do you think being bigger would make crossing those thin bridges even harder? Lets try to sneak up and get those drummers into this spell to. Then we can run in to finish them all off."
Grobnar reassures you that the bridges are wide enough, at around four foot wide.
Is playing the pipes the same type of action as casting the spell, i.e. full round action or standard? If it's full round, then we won't be able to get him close enough to affect them and not us without it taking more rounds to set up.
Drakr scratches his nose and then tugs on his beard... "Come on then we've got a plan. They never work out the way you want them to any way so let's get in there and make the best of it!" He says impatiently.
Shifting her crossbow to a one-handed grip, Lorelei pulls out Jobo's wand. "Just let me know when to tap you guys with this thing."
Drakr enlarged first while Conner summons the satyr in the back hall. Then Jobo while the Satyr starts the sleep.
Then we rush in after that.
Jobo and Drakr will put wadding in their ears if needed to avoid the song (possibly a torn corner of the winter blanket Grobnar has as a gift from Jobo). Never having seen a satyr or heard pan pipes Jobo is curious to know what they sound like, but does not want a fancy, magic song to distract him from smashing a shaman.
Conner will move to P31, cast the scroll to summon the Satyr into N25, order it to move to N18 and then use its pipes to put everyone to Sleep within range.
He and the others will make sure not to stand within the 60 foot radius of the sleep effect.
Initiative 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
...and so it begins.
Conner: nevermind, a little birdie pointed out your successful roll that you have already made.
Init
|
"I hope you know what your doing." Grobnar says nervously as the battle begins.
He follow behind Conner (P10) and quaffs his potion of cats grace boosting dex to 20. and bursts into a vigilant song.
Init:
Attend the tale of a mighty soul
How bold and bravely he has fought
While standing tall against the foe
His name is Cannon Fodder Lot
An Orcish army he did confront
His fierce countenance held naught at bay
Of the attack he bore the brunt
A thousand arrows pierced him that day
Healed again and begun anew
Holy Avenger he did boast
An evil mage he did pursue
A fireball turned him into toast
How bold, how brave, how true
Oh Cannon Fodder Lot
Though paladin are you
A fighter you are not
Bedecked in armour brightly shining
Shield and halm with dragon's crest
A silken cloak with purple lining
And healing potions strapped to his chest
Once black dragon plagued the land
A dreadful evil to be killed
Lot stepped forth holding sword in hand
His smoking armour's melting still
A troll! He thought he could outwit
Sure a deed which all would laud
A friendly mage helped just a bit
And turned him into a lightening rod
How bold, how brave, how true
Oh Cannon Fodder Lot
Though paladin are you
A fighter you are not
With heartfelt determination
And fighting skills dutifully honed
He fought the beholder with elation
Who promptly turned him into stone
Though his name is Cannon Fodder Lot
And still his fate seems to be set
When he is down and is upsot
You'll hear him shout: "I'm not dead yet!"
Shaman
Breastplate (Shaman)
Breastplate (Bridge)
Heavy
Drummer left
Drummer right
Vigil Soldiers
Crimson Robed Fanatics
Kobolds
Dang! I forgot to add their initiative modifiers. Oh well, I am going to use them as they are as I've begun work on this list already.