Seeing Tar'jub grappled Belor runs up and tries to cut the tongue off to release him.
Beaufort is taken aback by the sight of the giant frog, but still manages to raise his Musket and taking a shot.
AC 26, Touch 14, Flat-Footed 22 (+6 armor, +3 Dex, +6 natural, +1 Dodge)
hp 197
Fort +15, Ref +8, Will +6
"OH S!$#"
after a moment of pointing at this terrible Froghemoth Praetorius launchs his final Javelin towards the beast
The Javelin sings through the air piercing into the beast, but it is simply a flesh wound
Belor leaps off of the boat and charges at the beast along with Tar'jub, and while Tar'jub is intercepted mid-flight at the creature, he successfully gets to the creature. Unfortunately for him, the water below him burns at his let when he splashes through it, and he can feel some of his strength leaving him.
Beaufort's musket is already loaded, and he fires off a booming shot. Unfortunately, the slug doesn't penetrate the huge creature's rubbery flesh-armor. Praetorius' javelin, on the other hand, is quite successful in damaging the creature.
Already with a hold on Tar'jub, the creature only has to draw its tongue back into its mouth and gulp, and the devil finds itself in a large and warm stomach, though he is crushed by the thing's esophagus and stomach muscles on the way in. Right after it swallows Tar'jub, it unleashes an onslaught on Belor, the only other creature in melee range.
It tries to bite and tongue him, though Belor easily avoids those attacks, as well as two of the tentacle attacks. Even the tentacles that hit him deal very little damage due to his tough vampire resistances, though they do manage to wrap around his body, constricting him.
Initiative:
Belor - 29
Tar'jub - 26
Beaufort - 25
Praetorius - 23
Froghemoth - 21
Sparel - 13
Tris - 6
Belor grimaces at the tentacle wrapped around him. He draws a second dagger (quickdraw)and makes a full attack on it to try to cut himself free.
Tris watches the brief exchange between the imp and the vampire with interest, paying very little attention to the Froghemoth. Can the tiny creature throw it? she wondered. However, as time progressed (and the imp disappeared down the gullet of the creature) the prospect of getting an answer seemed slim. With a quiet sigh she looked around to see what she could do to aid, since the wretched land still denied her magic. Her eyes fixed on Praetorius and his javelins.
"Can I borrow a pair of those ..."
Not bothering to wait for an answer, she quickly nibbed one of the short spears and sent it flying towards the Froghemoth.
HP: 170/170 (230/230)
DR: 5/good or silver; 2/-
AC 19 (17), Touch 17 (15), Flat-footed 15 (13) [0 armor + 4 dex + 2 size + 2 nat. armor + 1 dodge + 0 (-2) rage]
CMD: 38 [ 10 + 15 bab + 11 str + 4 dex - 2 size ]
Melee Kneecapper [+24/+15/+10 (+15 BAB + 6 str + 2 size + 1 BGH - 4 PA on atks after first); 1d8 + 21 (6 str * 1.5 + 8 PA * 1.5 ), 20/x3]
Melee (Secondary) Sting [+15 (+15 BAB + 6 str + 2 size + 1 BGH - 4 PA - 5 sec); 1d4 + 14 (6 str + 8 PA) plus poison, 20/x2]
Melee (Rage) Kneecapper [+27/+18/+13 (+15 BAB + 9 str + 2 size + 1 BGH - 4 PA on atks after first); 1d8 + 25 (9 str * 1.5 + 8 PA * 1.5 ), 20/x3]
Melee (Rage) (Secondary) Sting [+18 (+15 BAB + 9 str + 2 size + 1 BGH - 4 PA - 5 sec); 1d4 + 17 (9 str + 8 PA) plus poison, 20/x2]
As Tar'jub goes down the Froghemoth's gullet, the last thing those outside hear is his maniacal laughter. Sliding down into the creature's stomach, he finds it hard to maneuver his weapon, so he instead begins jabbing at the lining with his tail, attempting to tear a hole large enough for him to exit.
As Tar'jub goes down the Froghemoth's gullet, the last thing those outside hear is his maniacal laughter. Sliding down into the creature's stomach, he finds it hard to maneuver his weapon, so he instead begins jabbing at the lining with his tail, attempting to tear a hole large enough for him to exit.
The air elemental swoops down and picks up Sparel. The elemental holds Sparel about 50 fee up and away from the Frogemoth.
Sparel fires another arrow at the Frogemoth.
Longbow
Sparel calls for his air elemental, and it, hovering high above, only has enough time to swoop down to his level and hover adjacent to him, prepared to pick him up. He, however, draws his bow and fires an arrow. Unfortunately, though, the arrow doesn't even hit anywhere near the froghemoth.
Tris picks up another javelin and hurls it at the froghemoth, piercing the thing's skin and sending the shaft deep into the froggy flesh.
Belor, realizing that he's caught, tries to free himself by unleashing a flurry of attacks on the froghemoth. Unfortunately for him, only one actually strikes, and deals minimal damage due to the small size of the weapons he carries.
Tar'jub, trapped within the belly of the froghemoth, uses his stinger and pierces a hole in the thing's stomach. Despite the small size of the stinger, he is powerful enough to create a hole large enough for him to escape through.
Initiative:
Belor - 29
Tar'jub - 26
Beaufort - 25
Praetorius - 23
Froghemoth - 21
Sparel - 13
Tris - 6
Beaufort uses his move action to reload and then fires again at the beast using Improved Vital strike and devastating strike.
Praetorius pulls a crossbow from beneath his flowing cape, sighting the beast and letting a bolt fly.
The Bolt flies and penetrates with a strong thud... in a tree behind the Froghemoth.
"Oh God im Rusty"
Praetorius pulls a crossbow from beneath his flowing cape, sighting the beast and letting a bolt fly.
[dice=attack] 1d20 + 11
[dice=damage] 1d8The Bolt flies and penetrates with a strong thud... in a tree behind the Froghemoth.
"Oh God im Rusty"
"Tell me about it." Sparel says sardonically. "I hate anti-magic zones."
"You have no damned idea ..." Tris laughs
"You have no damned idea ..." Tris laughs
"I believe I do." Sparel says with a deadpan tone as he sighs and notches another arrow.
Beaufort's rifle booms again, and this time, accurately. The ball impacts onto the frog-creature, and actually takes off a large chunk of flesh, right around the creature's shoulder.
Praetorius' crossbow bolt, on the other hand, is much less accurate.
Seeing that Tar'jub has escaped from his stomach, the froghemoth roars and releases Belor from its grasp, and turns to face Tar'jub. The froghemoth releases a full onslaught on the little imp.
Initiative:
Belor - 29
Tar'jub - 26
Beaufort - 25
Praetorius - 23
Froghemoth - 21
Sparel - 13
Tris - 6
The elemental carries Sparel a about 40 feet into the air and stops. He holds the elf aloft in it's arms where he can shoot freely.
MW Longbow
"Enough. Kill it already!" The sorceres snarls. Her frustration at her inability to contribute shines trough in the harsh words.
At the beginning of the battle Sparel motioned for the water elemental to stand back out of combat. It's far more valuable as a conveyance than as a combatant.
Sparel's arrow and Tris' yell probably measure up to about the same level of efficacy, and the froghemoth remains unharmed by the pair of them. It is, of course, bleeding from many wounds besides, but they remain unable to harm it.
Initiative:
Belor - 29
Tar'jub - 26
Beaufort - 25
Praetorius - 23
Froghemoth - 21
Sparel - 13
Tris - 6
Belor seeing his own nasty wounds and realizing his own ineffectiveness, tries to get around behind the beast to get a flanking position with Tar'jub. To do this he uses
You're adept at combining optimistic resourcefulness with natural skill. You can attempt a skill check with a class skill in place of a skill that uses the same ability score modifier. For example, you could attempt an Acrobatics check in place of a Stealth check because both skills are based on Dexterity. You take a –5 penalty on this check and can't take 10 or 20 on it. The GM can disallow certain uses of this ability when the skill can't possibly be applied to the task.
to switch acrobatics for sneak giving a +27 (32-5) bonus.
Adeptly, Belor manages to slip around the froghemoth.It seems for a moment like it might get him, but then something about its muscles hold it back - it's a bit stiff, maybe.
Belor tries to stab anything vulnerable looking in the back of the creature.
loading another bolt Praetorius lets another loose.
"F#ck it"
HP: 142/170
DR: 5/good or silver; 2/-
AC 19 (17), Touch 17 (15), Flat-footed 15 (13) [0 armor + 4 dex + 2 size + 2 nat. armor + 1 dodge + 0 (-2) rage]
CMD: 38 [ 10 + 15 bab + 11 str + 4 dex - 2 size ]
Melee Kneecapper [+24/+15/+10 (+15 BAB + 6 str + 2 size + 1 BGH - 4 PA on atks after first); 1d8 + 21 (6 str * 1.5 + 8 PA * 1.5 ), 20/x3]
Melee (Secondary) Sting [+15 (+15 BAB + 6 str + 2 size + 1 BGH - 4 PA - 5 sec); 1d4 + 14 (6 str + 8 PA) plus poison, 20/x2]
Melee (Rage) Kneecapper [+27/+18/+13 (+15 BAB + 9 str + 2 size + 1 BGH - 4 PA on atks after first); 1d8 + 25 (9 str * 1.5 + 8 PA * 1.5 ), 20/x3]
Melee (Rage) (Secondary) Sting [+18 (+15 BAB + 9 str + 2 size + 1 BGH - 4 PA - 5 sec); 1d4 + 17 (9 str + 8 PA) plus poison, 20/x2]
Tar'jub finishes exiting the creature's belly and proceeds to thrash it from underneath.
Beaufort sees his shot land on the beast, loads another, and fires it using improved vital strike and devastating strike.
It doesn't take much longer for the remaining combatants to finish off the froghemoth - Tar'jub, even when his strength is not magically amplified, is still ridiculously powerful, and delivers three powerful blows to the creature's underside. IT staggers about, obviously badly hurt, when Beaufort manages to land a shot right in between its eyes. Its face contracts, blood oozing from many injuries, and then it falls to the ground and dies.
Quickly, Belor scurries back to the boat, smoking, where he lays and allows himself to regenerate his health.
Belor lies on the boat for a while quietly before finally speaking in a more desperate tone than usual.
"I thought swamps were stagnant! I am never going into another swamp again!"
"I despise this place."
Sparel says between gritted teeth with deep sincerity.
He then gets in the boat and whistles to the water elemental. Once everyone is onboard he directs the water elemental to continue the journey.
Praetorius after picked up his crossbow and shedding a single tear for his beloved javelins, all of which had been heavily arcane marked and even had been painstakingly engraved upon with a greatsword, stands over Belor.
"Water is always bad... Probably...a shower might be ok, anyway lets get through this blasted land."
Tris observes the smouldering vampire for a while before speaking. With a thin smile she notes "At least we got to see what happens when we put a vampire in water. Always wondered about that one." With a short laugh and thin smile she continues. "Let us try to keep out of it in the future, shall we..."
Seeing that the commotion (and Frogemoth) has died down, Lima once more materializes from whatever hiding spot she found. The halfling takes a quick glance at the dead beast and then once more resumes her position next to the tall sorceres.
Sparel sits in the small boat looking irritated while he directs the water elemental. He also instructs the air elemental to Hide above, keep an eye out for danger, and return if I call him. Same as before.
Seeing the general mood on the ship, Tris waves in Limas direction. With a quick nod the halfling slips away only to return a moment later with a lyre in her hands. The sorceres sits leans back and motions for her to start.
"*Ehm* Just a little something to lift our spirits" Lima chirps and starts to play an old chelaxian ballad. She is obviously a competent musician, but it is once she starts to sing she shows some real talent. The soothing tones rings out carefully at first, then gathers strength and confidence as she works trough the song.
After she is done, she quickly bows and glances around judging the response of the crew. Tris at least looks pleased.
with a somehow sinister look in his eye Praetorius speaks up after Lima's performance.
"That was lovely, would it be possible for me to commission a song for myself? I was thinking something good for when making an entrance."
with a somehow sinister look in his eye Praetorius speaks up after Lima's performance.
"That was lovely, would it be possible for me to commission a song for myself? I was thinking something good for when making an entrance."
"Is your overwhelming majesty not enough that you want theme music as well?" Sparel says in jest, but by his tone he indicates that he's clearly not happy about the situation.
The halfling gives the vampire a quick worried look before averting her gaze down at her feet. One hand clutches the lute while the other slip into a pocket, grasping after something. Feeling more secure, she gathers herself a bit before replying.
"I-I have never written a song before ... But I can try?"
Even more confident now, she glances at Tris whom sighs and nods. With that confirmation, the halfling sat down an immediately started plinking at her instrument - trying to come up with a proper theme or cord to work from.
"All I ask is for you to try your best and remember It's for me
The rest of the over-river journey goes very smoothly and well, all things considered. The water elemental is easily able to push the ship and its inhabitants over the shallow, swampy section of the river that ran the crew aground previously and back into deeper, wetter sections of river. Thereafter the remainder of the journey is quite quick, the small barge growing very near to Alkenstar well before dawn.
Plumes of black smoke rising into the horizon can be seen well before the spires of the city itself can, and once more proximity is gained it becomes very clear that the plumes rise from tall smokestacks all originating from one extremely large building. Alkenstar is an urban center the likes of which none of you have ever seen, likely the rival of Absalom in size and sprawl, though the bulk of the city is encircled by a tall stone wall, dotted (as those with particularly sharp eyes can see) with small holes, through which protrude the barrels of black cannons.
The river widens and becomes much more populated as the small barge draws closer to the city itself as well, many other ships sailing back and forth around a large dock structure. In fact, it seems as if the river widens to the size of a relatively large lake nearest the city.
Once the crew of the ship is within a few hundred feet of the dock, another fact becomes chillingly clear - the city proper of Alkenstar, along with the lake that sits beside it, are atop a very tall cliff. This is evident by the rushing water sounds that are heard from the opposite side of the lake, probably from water plunging down the cliffside to another river below, and by the tall towers that rise from below to meet bridges extending from the walls of the city.
Another bridge of colossal proportions also extends from Alkenstar City, on the opposite side of the lake. Of a size rivaling the Irespan of Magnimar, this bridge connects the city to apparently another urban center across a wide gulf on another cliff.
When the barge draws close enough, a large galley sails towards it, a tall man wearing a military uniform hanging off of the prow of the ship, a spyglass fixed to his eye. When the galley draws near, the man calls out, "Who goes there, traveling from the Wastes in the dead of night?"
Whispered "Captains, do you want to address this person or should I? I'm unsure how they'd take to your **Ahem** Condition. "
looking down toward the floor of the barge Praetorius adresses Sparel under his breath
"Sparel for now your the face, don't get us killed"
Belor uses his ability No one of Consequence to avoid being noticed by the guards and says discreetly,
"Sparel you should handle this."
Whispered "I'm not a diplomat, but I have a pulse so it'll have to do."
Standing from a crouched position where he was "lacing his boot" (aka: talking to the captains).
Looking up to the galley,
"AHOY! I'm glad you've come. We ran into a bit of trouble up river and it delayed us. My apologies if we've broken some sort of curfew. Could you direct us to the port please and if you're so inclined someone we can talk to about doing a fair amount of trade with with the city? "
Diplomacy