"I do, but I can't bring everyone, regardless of how we want to do it," Flo admits before explaining her available options.
However the party chooses to go, she complies, knowing time is clearly of the essence.
________
"Takes the ones that can't make themselves move faster" Colvyn says as he takes a few steps away from the group. He then proceed to cast a spell and five wings made of fire sprout from his back. Without another word, he takes off toward Turtleback Ferry, hoping to get there in time.
Flo stares in disbelief as Colvyn simply takes off on wings of fire. "WE'LL MEET YOU THERE, STAY SAFE!" she calls after him.
"Everyone join hands! We won't have much time to get people out of Turtleback, but some lives are better than none!" She proclaims, extending her hands out to the two friends closest to her.
The area around the party starts to shimmer with white light. "Desna, we are but humble travelers who wish for the safety of others on their path. As wisps of a fading dream, whisk us to Turtleback so we may warn people of the coming flood!" As she completes her prayer, the light's brightness peaks abruptly before fading just as quickly. The group finds themselves just as wet and cold, but in front of the Elder's hall at Turtleback.
________
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"I do, but I can't bring everyone, regardless of how we want to do it," Flo admits before explaining her available options.
Kellek looks up from a book sheltered from the rain beneath the brim of his hat. "Oh, just do it already, Floredana. You are wasting time. Kargas could have hit the bottom of a bell-tower by now."
Kellek doesn't anticipate that getting to site will have much effect given the magnitude of the coming disaster, but if there's one thing the wizard hates, it's wasting time.
Reaching out to put a hand on Floredana's shoulder, and when the teleportation lurch happens he widens his stance to keep from stumbling. Looking around the town--and at the river--he takes a deep breath.
the half-orc bellows at the top of his lungs.
With Flo's aid, you instantly teleport to the square in front of the temple of Erastil Colvyn takes the long way over instead, held aloft by fiery wings.
Upon arriving, you see that the town in dark and grey, rain pouring down in dense waves. Most buildings have their shutters closer, with only slivers of light behind them revealing that there are people inside. Already, the muddy waters of Claybottom Lake are lapping at doorsteps of the lowest lying houses. You throw the doors of the temple open to deliver your urgent warning.
It takes a precious few seconds before Maelin Shreed and the few local hunters huddling inside understand the seriousness of your warning, but once they do Maelin starts calling out orders to the half-dozen to start going around and spreading the message. His face is grim as he rushes out into the storm to do so as well himself. You split up to spread the warning, but the din of the storm leaves your voices unable to reach people in their homes. You end up going from house to house, slamming on doors and shouting into windows. As you go, groups and families here and there duck out of their homes with what belongings they can hold and rush for the eastern side of town.
You manage to get through about half the town this way before the wall of water strikes. In moments, the village of Turtleback Ferry begins to drown.
The surging waters of the Skull River tear through the uneven streets with a terrible fury, sweeping weaker buildings clear off their foundations, collapsing others, and leaving even more in immediate danger of the same. Several buildings creak ominously as boulders and tree trunks start piling up against their sides. Each of you manage to scramble to safety atop the sturdier buildings.
To the north-east, you see most of the townsfolk you warned scrambling to safety, but you know that you didn't manage to get to all of them. Still, between the howling wind and powerful downpour, it is difficult to make out where people still remain in need of saving.
----
Kargas jogs west, beating on doors and trying to make himself heard over the storm for people to get to safety. As the flood surges into view the half-orc's eyes go wide and he kicks open the door. "Flood! Up, up, get upstairs it's on us!" he shouts at anyone he sees in the building--physically throwing them over his shoulder and bounding up the stairs if they aren't quick enough.
Up on the roof, he surveys the flooding grimly, the swaying and creaking building underfoot underscoring the urgency.
|
Hammering on the doors in the pouring rain, Guiness rouses several families before the roar of the oncoming water is too loud. He scrambles up the nearest building and makes it just before the initial surge washes much of the town past him!
Catching a glimpse of the trapped townsfolk through the pouring rain, he bellows, ”Floredana, Kellek, can you make me fly?!”
Flo starts where she is and makes a circle around the center group of houses. From her perch atop a house, she catches sight of... something and reflexively traces Desna's wings over her heart. THAT is NOT good!
________
Carrying two rescued children, Kargas is able to fly his way through the wind and the rain, almost leaping from rooftop to rooftop.
Around this time, Colvyn arrives from the north, observing the terrible state of the town ahead of him through the rain and the darkness.
Catching a glimpse of the trapped townsfolk through the pouring rain, he bellows, ”Floredana, Kellek, can you make me fly?!”
Kellek isn't about the whole "running around and climbing-thing". He sticks to the center, and floats up using his fly spell upon himself to get an overview. Oh wait! That's what Guiness meant! Oh well. He should have been more specific.
From his bird's view, Kellek creates an eerie ghost sound as loud as he can before the water hits.
Flo makes her way over to Guiness and casts a Fly spell upon the Dwarf from a scroll. From her own magic, she grants it to herself as well, wings and all!
She does her best to wave Colvyn in. "We've helped who we can at this point. There were huuuuge snakes, or something like that, swimming through the water, totally unaffected by it. They were heading that way," she explains, pointing east. "I say we check them out. The Elders should be able to handle the villagers who've escaped."
________
Kellek nods. Oh goody, 'huge snakes'.
In his levitating lotus position he floats over.
Moments after Flo gets over to Guiness and imbues him with the power of flight, you notice a disturbance off to the north - the huddled crowd of children start moving around rapidly. Those of you with sharp ears hear their screams over the howls of the storm.
You fly closer and see a dreadful scene. An oversized river boa has managed to catch a child that was close to the edge of the roof and has pulled him into the water. From the limp form of the kid, they're likely in very bad shape. The adult in the group has rushed over to try to help the kid back to shore, exposing themselves to the same boa in the process.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the building, the cluster of children have backed away as far as they can from the boa, only to expose themselves to two more oversized river boas in the water on the other side. Those serpents haven't attacked yet, but it's probably only a matter of time that they lunge out and claim their prizes.
----
Upon taking in the scene, you're all ready to jump into action!
|||| INIT ||||
Guiness
Kellek
Flo
Colvyn
Kargas
Nightbelly Boa A (just pulled a child into the water)
Nightbelly Boa B (menacing the remaining children)
Nightbelly Boa C (menacing the remaining children)
Kellek extends a hand and points it down toward the most threatening serpent. "Jarts!"
Colvyn gets to the town just as his spell expires. He try to get a sense of what is going on when he hears Floredana calling him. He nods as he acknowledge what she said. Good, giant snake why not... He cast a spell on his weapon and moves to find a go spot to use his bow. Once there, he looks at the snakes and try to figure out what they are and if they are native to this area.
Kargas' lightning wings snap with a rumble of thunder, propelling the half-orc towards the boa dragging the child into the water!
Flo follows Kargas towards the snake with the wounded child. Stopping around twenty feet away, she keeps the child from bleeding out.
________
Colvyn examines the boas, but isn't able to recall much more than scattered memories about various snakes. He isn't sure exactly what kind they are or what capabilities they might have. The wounded child in the water has its wounds stabilized by Flo's magic, but the floodwaters catch the child and sweep it away from the scene, toward the southeast.
The two remaining boas find their easy meals blocked by Guiness's armored body, so they lunge out of the water at him instead. Each finds their small fangs clashing against his shield, and one takes a crushing blow from Dragonfist.
The adult woman who had been with the children reaches out to try to grab the unconscious child being swept away by the floodwaters, but the kid is already too far away.
|||| INIT ||||
Guiness
Kellek
Flo
Colvyn
Kargas
Nightbelly Boa B (25dmg, menacing the remaining children)
Nightbelly Boa C (menacing the remaining children)
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Guiness says, ”That’s right, children, we will protect you,” as he swings back at the snakes. Foregoing his normal tactics, Guiness focuses on whichever snake is closest to the children, striking hard with his flaming hammer in the midst of the pouring rain.
He follows up with even more attacks, first whipping his thick cold iron helmet at one of the snakes, then smashing another with the edge of his shield!
Colvyn calls upon Erastil's blessing to increase his combat prowess. He then aims at the wounded boa and send some arrows flying.
Guiness' first strike sends the already injured boa flying, its head and jaws completely crushed. Although he misses the second boa for the most part, he manages to clip it with his shield. Colyn follows up by sinking two arrows into the boa, almost finishing it off!
|||| INIT ||||
Guiness
Kellek
Flo
Colvyn
Kargas
Nightbelly Boa C (38dmg, menacing the remaining children)
"Oh oh oh!" Flo chirps as the kid slips fully into the drink and is whisked away. She beelines it for the kid and tries to take their arm before they get too far away.
-------
While Flo heroically swoops in to lift the drowning child out of the raging floodwaters, Kargas flies over and swings his falchion through the neck of the final boa. It twitches once before disappearing under the waters.
Combat Over!
Reunited with the child that fell overboard, the older woman starts crying in between offering repeated thank yous to your group. Meanwhile, the children are looking up at your flying forms in awe, for a moment forgetting that they're in the middle of a raging storm. Then another gust of icy rain hits the entire group and several of the kids lose their footing. Others grab them and they manage to hold together without anyone falling off the roof... but it seems only a matter of time that either the waters rise too far or someone slips and falls.
Landing in the spot the dwarf had just occupied, Kargas scoops up two more of the kids...then a third, just to show off. He zooms along behind Guiness to get the whole lot to safety.
Flo, not willing to test her strength with such burly beefcakes around, settles for one passenger at a time.
________
Kellek ponders the scene.
One by one (or three by three), you ferry the children and the matron who had been guarding them to high ground. It's as you're returning for the last four that you notice a dense haze rolling in from the west along with another, even higher rush of water. You get the last kids to safety and return in time to hear this wave crash into the western edge of edge of the town.
A deep rumble resounds as the wave sweeps in, loud enough to be heard over the storm and powerful enough that you can feel it run through your bodies. You can see massive chunks of wood and masonry flowing along with the floodwaters, which have now risen so high as to obscure smaller dwellings entirely... if those dwellings even still stand.
Suddenly, among the tide of debris, you spot a deep green blotch that stands out against the greys and browns. The blotch grows in size until it peels off from the surface and extends up into the air - a deep, iridescent green tentacle replete with suckers and topped with a vibrant red ember. From a distance, it takes a moment to accurately judge the tentacle's size. At least as big as an ogre, on its own. A second such tentacle rises up, then a third and fourth. Before long, the town is full of them.
The rains twist and turn, angling in toward the wall of mist to the west, then out toward the east. In, then out. In, then out. In, then...
... an enormous reptilian head breaks through the wall of mist atop a serpentine neck, it's burning eyes cutting through the fog and rain. It towers over even the town's largest buildings. A deep rumble rises from its open jaws and its tentacles turn toward the town's church to Erastil.
"How... What..." Colvyn looks down at his arrows and back at the creature. "Can we even hurt something that big?"
As Colvyn speaks, a tentacle rises up and thrusts forward, smashing through the door of the front door of the church like a child smashing through a sandcastle. As it does, the other tentacles start crushing what few houses remain. At this rate, the entirety of the town will be reduced to rubble, along with anyone who might still be stuck inside any of the remaining buildings.
It seems like it also might only be a matter of time before it turns upon the survivors huddling behind and within the eastern side of town.
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"I don't care how big it is, I will not stand idly by as it crushes a house of worship," says Brother Guiness, saying a quick prayer to Erastil this time as he flies down to alight on the steps to the temple.
His feet fully on the sturdy stone of the temple steps, just inches above the lapping water, Guiness brings Dragonfist down hard on the tentacle that would dare to desecrate its holy sanctuary!
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"I don't care how big it is, I will not stand idly by as it crushes a house of worship," says Brother Guiness, saying a quick prayer to Erastil this time as he flies down to alight on the steps to the temple.
"Well, statistically speaking someone was going to say that. Shall we away?
Flo shouts in response, pointing her wand at the thing's nearest tentacle.
________
With a snap of his lightning wings Kargas propels himself towards the next-nearest of the tentacles, suppressing a shudder as the eyestalk at the tip turns to stare at him. "Stop looking at me!" the half-orc yells at it, trying to sever the limb with his falcion.
Looking at the group charging forward, Colvyn shrugs as he increases his fighting abilities with divine magic. "Okay, so we are doing this..."
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Flo shouts in response, pointing her wand at the thing's nearest tentacle.
"I think I just said that."
With Flo dithering and the others being the others, Kellek performs an eye roll that looks like it could inflict 3d6 points of damage per eye rolled.
Rather than waiting for the inevitable Kellek floats down to the town's soggy, huddled masses, and resorts to ghost sound to get everyone's attention quickly, via a very loud thunder clap.
Seeming to stand still yet simultaneous stalking back and forth in the air 10-feet above them, his cloak, and big floppy hat flapping in the rain, Kellek glowers menacingly, and shouts down at them.
"WE HAVE TO MOVE AWAY FROM TOWN QUICKLY! MY COMPANIONS ARE DOING SOMETHING RATHER FOOLISH (EVEN FOR THEM) AND I MAY NEED A FEW OF YOU TO SURVIVE AND ACCOMPANY ME UPON THE ADVENTURE PATH I HAVE CHOSEN TO TAKE. I HAVE BEEN TOLD YOU NEED AT LEAST FOUR FOR THIS SORT OF THING. EVERYONE MOVE, OR I MIGHT HAVE TO CONSIDER YOU A 'FIFTH OX' ON OUR FOUR-OX WAIN, AND THE FIFTH OX IS ALWAYS ROASTED AND EATEN."
Kellek's voice lowers "And trust me when I say I can roast and eat you.
---
---
Flo casts some kind of magic while Kellek takes the opportunity to back away. The flying figure approaching the townsfolk gets almost entirely ignored until the sudden thunder crack draws their eyes and ears. Although he's usually not a particularly intimidating fellow, his menacing display is just enough to get the vast majority of people fleeing to the east. A few however stay back, and from the sounds of their plaintive shouts, they still have friends or family trapped within the town.
Kargas rushes in, landing a rage-empowered blow against the next-nearest of the tentacles. The angle of his blow lets it cut into the rubbery flesh... but not to quite as much effect as he would have expected. Colvyn's arrows glance off the same tentacle without any effect.
The beast turns its attention upon the small creatures attacking its tentacles. The tentacles engaged by Guiness and Kargas fall upon the two warriors, bludgeoning them both and then wrapping around them. The massive tentacles start to squeeze.
|||| INIT ||||
Guiness (30 dmg, grappled)
Kellek
Flo
Colvyn
Kargas (25 dmg, grappled)
The Terror of Storval Deep (11 dmg vs pale pink)
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Guiness roots his feet into the hard stone beneath him, trying to resist the pull of the immensely strong tentacle. He attacks in a frenzy with his hammer, shield, and helm, trying to batter it into submission.
Free Action: Defensive Stance: +2 AC, +2 Will Save, +4 Strength and Constitution (HP=130)
Full Attack:
"As a haven for travelers along the river, none shall seek to destroy this town unchallenged!" Flo asserts, the strength of the Divine filling the hearts, minds, and limbs of her companions.
Following the frontline, she alights on a rooftop behind Kargas but still with clear sight of Guiness. That can't be a good squeeze! With a deep breath, she raises her ringed hand and it's companion on Kargas' hand glows.
________