Callix thinks, I don't have much that can stop a doll..., and rushes the little thing, swinging her axe as she does.
for
Ashling double moves to get closer to the doll, Sword in hand, the flurry of cold around her.
the doll is knocked to the ground by the icicle wand, then hit by everyone.
Alec moves in, stabbing the prone doll and finishing it off. whatever magic was holding the thing together dissipates and it falls into a collection of bones, gears and toys.
as soon as the doll is dead, the effects of it's sobbing aura and the voice stealing ability are gone, and Letitia is able to speak again.
end of combat
"Well!" Letitia exclaims, testing her voice and glad to have it back. "Good work. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to find Nan's familiar. Perhaps it will know some spells Lazlo does not."
She heads back to Nan's room and starts looking for a small animal, but also keeps her eyes open for any kind of useful treasures as well.
Callix pauses, "Are you sure it wasn't the doll?"
Letitia pauses and thinks, frowning. "I suppose it could be possible, but most witches rely upon living creatures as their familiars. I'd still like to look anyway. Hopefully it won't take but a moment."
Samuel moves over the doll and makes sure the thing is dead. He picks up the eyes and puts them inside a bag or desk where they cannot see anyone "That is better"
The man also searches for valuables before turning to the child once again.
"So Inga, did the witch have any animal that used to be with her? Something like a raven or fox"
Samuel makes sure the doll is dead. he finds that there is a key hidden in with the other junk that made up the creature.
Letitia goes looking for a familiar, but doesn't find anything. Lazlo, however, is much better at finding small animals, especially considering that the target of the day is a mouse. Letitia looks up to find a large white mouse in the talons of her owl. he does nto kill it yet, knowing that his witch would probably like to deal with the thing herself.
putting this here for when you need it. the familiar has access to the following spells
3rd - bestow curse, blink, vampiric touch
2nd - blindness/deafness, false life, hold person, scare
1st - burning hands, command, mage armor, ray of enfeeblement
Samuel and the others search the witch as well, finding a few useful items:
3 potions
magical ring
4 keys
"My great hunter!" Letitia coos in delight as she gives Lazlo a scratch behind his ear feathers just where he likes it. She then addresses the likely terrified mouse within her own familiar's claws. "I will give you this bargain: I will allow you to go free if you provide Lazlo here with the magic you kept for your former master. Refuse, and you will be a simple meal for him."
Letitia speaks briefly with Lazlo in their own shared language while the rest of the party search the area. Then she turns to the group.
"I believe we will be making our final push soon to face the dragon. I plan to leave Lazlo here to work with Nan's familiar, so that I may learn her magic once all this is done. Besides, I'd hate for Lazlo to be caught in the dragon's breath." Lazlo hoots in agreement.
Then she casts detect magic to study the auras of the items looted from Nan.
"What is it about rings that confounds me so..." she mutters to herself when all this is done.
Callix offers, "Let me help you look at that..", and casts a Detect Magic of its own.
Samuel nods as Letitia begins to treat with the witch familiar "That has proven useful in the past... Let me check the few last rooms here while you do that"
The Taldan will open the room to the east and the one to the nortwest and check there.
"After this we will go upstairs, so start thinking about how to prepare for the dragon"
Ashling follows the buddy system and sticks by Samuel watching the doors How indeed... Hitting it in the first place will be challenging unless we can stop it from flying
Callix takes a position next to Samuel, axe in hand. "Ready."
Ashling follows the buddy system and sticks by Samuel watching the doors How indeed... Hitting it in the first place will be challenging unless we can stop it from flying
Letitia allows herself a cruel smile. "If it stays in the air, Samuel will be able to shoot it and we will be safe from its teeth and claws. And it must pause a moment every moment it uses its icy breath, against which we will be warded. So long as we keep Samuel alive, we will prevail."
Letita begins the process of examining the items collected from the witch, but not before gathering with the others in the kitchen. Samuel tries the door and finds it unlocked.
However, Letitia's work is interrupted as a loud racket sounds from behind the group as they examine the door!
the large stove in the corner of the room shakes and groans, suddenly breaking free of the pipes leading into the wall! it lumbers forward, spewing fire from its grating.
Samuel, Alec and Letitia react quickly, spinning to face this new threat
bold may act
Alec, Samuel, Letitia, stove, Ashling, Callix
"Foul contraption!" Letitia exclaims when the stove comes to life. She looks it over, wondering what sort of animate object it could be or what weaknesses it may have.
Disliking the thought of using the potent spells she'd been saving for the dragon, Letitia again relies upon her icicle wand.
"We'd best spread out!" she suggests, and takes a step into the hallway to give the others more room to maneuver.
Samuel raises an eyebrow and smiles "Well, I cannot say I like how the strategy of keeping me alive sounds"
When he notices the new enemy in the room "What kind of madness is this now? A stove attacking us too?"
The Taldan obeys Letitia's advise to spread, and after moving to the initial doors he shots at the stove, although unsure of how effective his musket can be with such a metal thing.
But the musket sudden misfires, the bullet getting stuck in the chamber "Damn it!"
you recognize that this stove has been effected by a spell turning it into an Animated Object. because of that it will have a hardness value, and is immune to a lot of effects that would work on living things. this one seems to be resistant to fire, but cold seems to do more damage to it. You also determine that this one could be harmed by positive energy. maybe it is a spirit that is animating it?
Letitia quickly uses her wand again, smashing the stove with an icicle.
though the thing isn't tripped and takes less damage, it seems weak to the cold.
Samuel aims, but instead of the usual booming noise, you hear a clunk and nothing happens.
Alec moves in front of the others and stabs at the thing with his spear, but it clangs against metal and does nothing.
the stove opens it's grating and tries to close it on Alec, like a mouth biting him.
luckily it is not fast enough to grab the nimble man.
the whole party may act
"Cold Will work best against it!" Letitia surmises. "Ashling, activate the Rider's mantle and get close. But fight cautiously, because the metal of its construction will deflect most of your weapon strikes!"
It's a minor cantrip, but her ray of frost was limitless in its use. She blasts it with cold at range.
"Or if it doesn't pursue us, I can slay it from here."
"Cold you say? Well, let me fix this and I will give him cold grit" Samuel quick clears the musket, and instead of loading a new bullet he loads a paper cartridge this time so he can use the more expensive ammunition to load faster and shot immediately.
"Down that head Alec!" the Taldan shots in the upper part of the oven to avoid Alec's cover.
Defensive combat, understood! Alec, back away Ashling steps in, activates the mantle and goes total defense. letting the magic of the Mantle handle damage.
Callix shakes her head, Cold magic, I don't have.., and waits a moment, trying to find a gap to throw one of her mundane axes.
for
Alec stabs at the stove one more time before pulling back slightly at Ashling's command.
he hits it hard, but it doesn't seem very effective...
Letitia hits the thing with some ice, and Ashling causes more ice to form on it from her cloak.
Callix throws an axe, but it clangs off of the stove
Samuel reloads his musket and fires another shot, almost jamming his gun again! but this time the bullet strikes the stove and leaves a small dent.
the stove tries to grab onto Ashling, but it is big and slow and she is quite nimble.
it then tries to slam into her, with no more success.
the whole party may act
Global Condition: none |Party Condition:
Callix HP: 43/43 - AC: 20/14/16 Status:
Letitia: HP: 30/30 - AC: 17/12/15 Status: mage armor
Alec HP: 42/42 - AC: 19/12/17 Status:
Samuel HP: 41/41 - AC: 20/16/14 Status: magic weapon, misfired
Ashling HP: 36/37 - AC: 19/15/15 Status:NPCs:
Stove HP -36 | AC > 17 |
Letitia rolls her eyes as Callix, Samuel and Alec ignore her advice. Unfortunately, it throws off her aim and her next blast of cold is way off.
"It is a hard one" Samuel quickly loads a new bullet "We need an adamantine weapon" and shots once more.
Callix grumbles, giving her frustration voice, "Can't do anything other than bouncing axes off its thick metal hide... except maybe creating water at it until it rusts."
Still, having no other course, she throws another axe, hoping to keep its attention away from Letitia, since her magic, at least, will do something.
for
Ashling holds her stance and total defense, letting the cloak do it's work
Alec moves to the back of the room, seeing his attacks not being very effective.
Samuel seems to have figured out what was wrong with his gun and hits the stove, leaving a good-sized hole in it.
Ashling does a small amount of damage, and letitia misses
the stove once more attacks Ashling
it lands one hit, but is looking pretty banged up at this point
the whole party may act
Global Condition: none |Party Condition:
Callix HP: 43/43 - AC: 20/14/16 Status:
Letitia: HP: 30/30 - AC: 17/12/15 Status: mage armor
Alec HP: 42/42 - AC: 19/12/17 Status:
Samuel HP: 41/41 - AC: 20/16/14 Status: magic weapon,
Ashling HP: 22/37 - AC: 19/15/15 Status:NPCs:
Stove HP -46 | AC > 17 |
Letitia involuntarily winces when she sees Ashling struck. She switches back to her wand, hoping that the cold generated from the spell will be more effective.
"Ha! That would make for an epic children tale! The Ulfen brave soldier that rusted down the witches oven with water and great resolve!" Samuel smiles at Callix comment and reloading his musket takes aim to put another bullet exactly at the same place of the one before.
Repeating her defensive actions, Ashling continues to use the cloak Fighting a stove, this is ridiculous!
the stove was already pretty banged up before this round, and between the bullet from Samuel and another ice spear, it cracks with a sound not unlike Samuel's musket and falls apart, whatever magic was animating it dissipates.
end of combat
now that the fight is over, the group has more time to assess the area. the kitchen is fairly mundane other than the killer stove and has an array of foodstuffs and a magical cauldron.
Samuel looks into the room that was opened just vefore the fight and sees a small pantry. crates and barrels fill the storeroom, and a rack hangs on the eastern wall dangling with kitchen utensils and equipment. a shelf holds an array of small glass containers. shallow laundry basins stained a rusty brown sit in the southeast corner. a faint sickly-sweet odor hangs in the air.
glancing up, Samuel notices several empty meat hooks hanging from the ceiling above the washbasins.
Letitia has a few minutes now to look over the items taken from the elderly witch. she identifies:
potion of cure moderate wounds
potion of fly
potion of invisibility
ring of protection +1
Letitia breathes a sigh of relief when the animated stove finally shatters. She gives Samuel and his rifle a glance. "Your weapon never fails to impress. Let's hope it remains true against the dragon."
She goes back to studying the items. She holds up the ring. "A ring of protection," she says. "Useful, albeit weak, defense. Someone should wear it, but remember it ultimately didn't save Old Nan."
She also points out the potions. "Useful concoctions. The invisibility potion perhaps not so much against the dragon because their senses are legendary, but for a future foe. The flight potion may help in getting close if the dragon takes to the air, but I still think the best tactic would be to let Samuel's weapon do its work."
Perhaps you should take it, after what happened with that doll thing, some extra defense might be warranted
"Count on it" Samuel raises up the musket and blows the cannon holding afterwards a cocky smile "What about that magical cauldron? Does it give you a clue of what the witch was doing here with the dragon?"
"Just hand the flying potion to Callix, she will be your best bed if the dragon takes me with its breath..." comments the Taldan without regret.
"If we are all set, we should continue to go upstairs" the man points to the stairs going up the group used to reach this level.
Samuel reminds her of the magical cauldron in the kitchen, though she decides she probably shouldn't voice her suspicions about what was being cooked here by the old witch considering her collection of children downstairs. Still, she casts detect magic and takes a look at what sort of auras the object contains.
Callix says, "It'd be nice if we had a way to stop it from taking to the air - both to help us face it, and to prevent it from fleeing, should we have the Drunken Hero's own luck and actually be near to winning."
Perhaps... and im going out on a limb here. maybe we can negotiate with it? Dragons are vain, powerful... perhaps we can get it to turn?
Letitia passes the potion of fly to Callix. "Keeping it from flying would be nice in a sense, but then that means we'll have to face its claws and fangs. As for it fleeing?" She thinks for a moment while rubbing her neck. "Failure in the North is not quickly forgiven. I do not expect the dragon to run from us. If it does, it will suffer for its failure."
She turns to Ashling. "Feel free to suggest it turn against Nazheena and Queen Elvanna. But don't be surprised if its answer is 'no.'"
If no one stakes a bigger claim to the ring, she slips it on her finger. Once the cauldron is identified, Letitia is ready to head upstairs.
"If we are lucky, we will find the dragon sleeping and we will just negotiate like that with him" Samuel does a sign on his own neck pointing out a wide horizontal cut with the finger.
"Ok with picking up the cauldron on our way back"
Callix shakes her head, "Not that I imagine we're likely to get into its lair unnoticed, but I imagine that we'll need any advantage we can get - including surprise."
In that case we plan... Our objective is to keep it down. If we're lucky it will be on the ground, unlucky its flying... we need a stealth approach and a lot of luck...maybe some chains Ashling sighs,
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Letitia frowns while giving Ashling's ideas some thought. "I don't recall us having any chains. Those meat hooks could be useful, but not without something strong to anchor them. I suggest this:
"Ashling, you arrive in the guise of the Black Rider. Say something haughty and boastful; don't just ask Logrivich to switch sides, demand it."
She looks at everyone. "The dragon's answer will likely come in the form of his cold breath. We'll be warded against it -- be sure to drink your potions before we venture to the top. From there, our best bet will be to swarm him with attacks. Ashling, Alec and Callix will want to rush at him with their weapons while Samuel and I attack him from a short distance away. I believe if I can get close enough, I can hex Logrivich and reduce his armor against your attacks, or weaken his own attacks against you.
"If he refuses to take flight, expect his teeth and claws to be deadly. But if he stays on the ground I will use Radosek's cauldron to summon more allies. If he takes to the air, it will fall to Samuel to shoot him down." She gives Ashling another pointed look. "That's why goading him into staying and fighting will be of utmost importance."
She points to Ashling's injuries. "And you should be healing that before we go further."
Letitia examines the cauldron while plans are made. It appears to be a Cauldron of Brewing. not useful in combat, but could perhaps be useful later.
Letitia (and likely some of the others) begin to piece together the grim picture of what has been happening in this tower at the hands of the old witch and the dragon.
The group discusses options on how to deal with a dragon. Though none of them have ever fought a dragon before, they come up with a solid plan. Now all that remains is to go upstairs and face the creature!
Callix suggests, "Don't suppose we can summon a few flying allies to help out?"
Letitia nods to Callix. "I could. But I believe I will wait to see what the dragon does before deciding which allies to bring in."
[ooc]at work, respond later, but Yay! [/occ]
"A solid plan Letitia. I like it" Samuel makes the musket lean over his shoulder.
With the resistance potion in the other hand, the Taldan makes up the stairs and attempts to have a glimpse forward before Ashling advances herself in the form of the Black Rider.
Samuel leads the way up the steps
when Samuel reaches the next floor, he sees one more flight of steps leading up to a platform with a ladder leading to a small trapdoor in the ceiling just above it.
A single door is in the eastern wall
The area is otherwise barren except for a column of clockwork gears that rises through the ceiling above it. An icy draft wafts from above, and the ticking and ratcheting of the giant clock drowns out any other sound.
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Letitia runs her hand along the rim of the cauldron of brewing, trying not to think about how its former owner used it. If her exile and meeting her new companions had not happened, would the actions of Zivia bother her as they do now? A shiver runs up and down her spine as she considers the indifference of the Jadwiga to such acts. Would she even recognize her sisters, even though they share the same face?
She forces those thoughts aside and encases her heart in ice. She had no time for such introspection. She had a dragon to fight.
==============
Letitia sticks her fingers in her ears to ward off the sounds of the clockwork. This gives me hope that the dragon is as yet unaware of our approach, she thinks, but doesn't deign to voice it. Instead, she waves a hand to get the others' attention and points at the door on the eastern wall.