The Underdog reels from the assault, but lashes out once more - twice in rapid succession - with its mighty sword.
"Yeah!" Reginald cheers as the last blow landed by the Underdog tears into the techno-golem. Circuitry rains down upon the crowd.
"Lazy layabouts, eh?" the captain notes between the crowd's cheers and cries of dismay, and prompts Balastar for more information, "Sounds like you have someone particular in mind..."
The shield golem swings into the techo golem and cuts it in two. The two halves slump to either side as the claws still twitch harmlessly on the ground.
The crowd erupts in cheers and boos, winners and losers segregated by their betting tickets.
The dwarf claps the good captain on the back. "Wow! What a mach. Unbelievable. Better collect our winnings before the others." With that they move into a huge queue on the side of the room.
The patrons at the gambling table move back to their various games, as servants under the direction of the mage begin to clean up the mess the golems made.
"Nah, nothing like that. Don't involve myself in petty social squabbles. Loyal to my house and stone, and let everything else fall where it may."
Looking to the side, the Good Captain can see Dalton and a squad of guards ascending the stairs to the second floor, taking two steps at a time.
"Malgrim, guards coming up to the second floor - and fast! Get the hell out of there!" Reginald whispers amidst the uproar.
"Quite the win!" he smiles at his dwarven friend, "We get a little more from the underdog, too! Are golem battles usually that brief?"
As they wait in line, the captain decides a different line of questioning, "So, I'm not from Magnimar - as you may have guessed - tell me about your house while we wait. Is it one of the older ones, or is it new? What business do you conduct... and do you need a sea captain?"
"You think these boys are here to see us?" she whispers, confusion in her voice for a moment. She does her best to remain casual as the guards fan out.
Just then the servant brings over a bag of powdered pesh, acting as if nothing was amiss at all. Aiah's hands twitch at the sight of the drug, her nervous system suddenly creating a craving for it, as if escape from this sudden predicament lay within the mounds of powder.
They must be here for us, who else would it be?
'Aiah's paranoia begins to grow, planting itself firmly in her mind. She quickly snatches up the bag of pesh, holding it in her left hand. Eyes darting around fervently, she brings the bag up to her nose and takes an experimental sniff. The effect is small, reflecting the very small amount she has inhaled, but it is instant. Her eyes dialate, her vision becoming sharper. Her hearing is heightened, and the soft din of conversation suddenly feels like a roar of a crowd. Her heart thumps quickly and powerfully, feeling as though it is resting in her feet, loins, chest and head all simultaneously.
Suddenly the crackle of Arimar's question floods her hearing. Before she can answer, Arimar follows it up with the warning to Malgrim. Her heart rate kicks up another notch.
"Guards blocking all exits in the smoking room, Cat seems to have Gwen's tongue," she finishes, flashing a stern glare at the halfling woman. "I think it is time to go!" she whispers over the message system with a harsh urgency.
"Either you are a coward, or you set us up." Aiah finally regains some composure, sending the accusation to the lounging, silent Gwen. "So find your tongue and explain yourself, or find your own way out of here, if you even need it..." She continues to whisper in harsh tones.
In the swirl of confusion, the disguised Benaiah has a sudden epiphany. She pulls an extract from her clutch and pours the entire contents into the small leather pouch that contains the dry, powdered pesh. In seconds, the powder sucks up all of the moisture, leaving a crumbly, grainy paste. She clutches it tightly as she glances around and waits for the halfling's response.
"Not yet... too suspicious. Looks like it's something on the second floor. Trust in your disguise," the captain relays. He gulps hard. I hope I'm right, but I don't see a better opportunity to leave.
With that thought, the captain eyeballs the room for a good opportunity to leave.
"Oh, come now. Get over yourself," Gwendolyn calls out with annoyance as the message rings in her ear from Arimar, detailing the dangers the hidden Malgrim will be facing at any moment. "You must truly fancy yourself something important."
"If I wanted to set you up, I would never have led you all the way inside, into the middle of the party, and then looked to screw you over. There are a thousand easier way to betray you. But that's the opposite of what I'm trying to do," she spits in reply. "Sadly, you're not that important. What'a more likely, our friend upstairs probably triggered an alarm spell."
"Honestly, for a strapping man that imbibes all manner of chemicals, it only took you seeing drugs to get paranoid," her angered rant passes in a whisper to her now female companion. "Honestly, get a hold of yourself because you are of no help to our friend upstairs while you are throwing a moody..."
"I'm coming to the gambling room," Gwendolyn's whisper calls out to the others who are unseen to her. "I need to find away around these guards, then... we find a way up to help our friend upstairs or cause a big enough distraction help get him out..."
"Hang in there, Malgrim," her whispers begin to come to an end. "We're figuring out a way to help you..."
The halfling quickly move she across the room and approaches the guards barring the doors. As she comes to a sliding stop next to the man, the halfling, still holding the violin, pleads her case. "Exscuse me, sir," she begins, her voice thick with apaology and groveling. "I need to enter the smoking room. A companion I entered with is in there, and his health has been a bit poor as of late. I just need to make sure he is alright while you aparrently have this place on some sort of lockdown."
"Will you allow me to pass?" she asks, waiting for permission before attempting to barge past.
Malgrim begins to quickly take the coded ledgers, efficiently stuffing them into a sack, then if time permits, moves to the scrolls (considering them more light weight and portable than the potions and vials.) He continues while available until he's interupted by the alerts from the party.
A whispered Message from Malgrim responds first with a terse, "Malgrim: fine, found ledgers, preparing to extract"
If it sounds like there are guards approaching he moves to the window to see if there are guards still patroling this way or if any are staring up at the window. If guards aren't visible outside, he whispers another response, then quietly opens the window to sneaks a peak outside.
Still stoic, a whispered message filters through stoicly: "Malrim: Finding a way out, possibly the roof."
While shoving the ledgers into his masterwork backpack, Malgrim hears the message come from his friends that guards are approaching. Malgrim begins to panic. Now that he is concentrating, he can clearly hear people approaching quickly However, he can not discern how close they are to the Storage Room.
He moves over to the window and he can see the two guards that were patrolling upon his entrance are now scanning the window that he is peaking out of.
Luckily he remains undetected.
He moves over to the chest with the vials, potions and scrolls. He grabs a handful of scrolls and shoves them in before inspecting the potions.
"Years ago, I was part of a caravan that was delivering a shipment of rare stone form the Stormspear Moutnain. Our caravan was attacked and everyone but me was slaughtered by a roving band of Shoanti. The Mindurian family, wondering where their shipment was, sent out a patrol to find us. Spent the better part of a month hiding in burrows, fending for myself. Can't tell you how happy I was to spy that patrol. Brought me back to Magnimar and asked me to join the family, as a way of paying my family back. Nothing left for me in Kalsgard, so I accepted.
"As for the family proper, Mindurians made their fortune and name with their impressive skills at stonemasonry. Originally hired by the city founders to help design Magnimar's more important buildings, the Mindurians made the transition from hired help to aristocracy. Can't say I fit in at all with the nobles, but they made me foreman of the stonecutting portion of the Quarriers' Guild. That in and of itself holds some rank here. Not much though.
"My family knows how much I love the golem fights, and a secret is hard to keep in Magnimar. Let me come tonight on behalf of the family. Won't see another until it is time for the Golem Battles at Serpent's Run. Coming up soon, we should go together if you want.
"Sadly, don't think there is much use for a ship captain cutting stone. You every transport the stuff?"
While waiting to collect their winnings, the captain continues to chat with Balastar Mindurian. "A good thing they found you," he agrees, "But I'm afraid that most of the ships I sail on are passenger transports. As for the next Golem fights, I think Captain Reginald Romsky will no longer be in Magnimar by then. A shame, I really would have loved to see them with you... especially if that wizard is running the odds!"
The captain is heartened to hear back from his companions, but continues to look for a way out in case they catch on to him and the others.
You know they are here for you... the voice in the magically disguised man's head finally begins to chirp.
Her heart continues to pound, making it difficult to hear anything over the repeated, rhythmic thumping. All at once Benaiah hears the laughter and jeers of people mocking him from his youth. All the adults at the parties, his parents included. Suddenly every conversation in the room feels as though it is a hushed one where the conspirators are gossiping about his awful disguise, his fake voice, his laundry list of shortcomings. Laughter echoes from another group circled around a monstrous Hooka. They are laughing at me. They're all laughing at me! They know I am about to get arrested...
The paranoia, now firmly rooted in 'Aiah's mind, nearly breaks her. She breaks out in a sweat, and can hardly feel her clammy hands.
The halfling maiden says you aren't important enough to betray. Nobody cares about you Benaiah. Nobody thinks you are worth anything. Nobody except me. I am the man they all think you should have been. Give us a little taste again. You are holding it in your hands, go ahead. Everything is going to be juuuust fine. I'll take care of you.
Glancing furtively down to the small leather pouch in her left hand, filled with powdered pesh that is now saturated with the invisibility extract, she can no longer resist. 'Aiah nearly knocks over the hooka in front of her laying the pouch out on the floor in front of her.
It's been a while, I hope I can handle this. Or maybe... Maybe I hope I can't... Without any further hesitation, she leans over, plugging one nostril, and snorts the pile of clumpy powder. Before she even finishes breathing in, she disappears from all sight.
With the heightened security, Aiah decides that snorting an extract is the way to go. As she disappears from sight, a few high patrons exclaim, "Woah. That woman just got eaten by the carpet."
One patron is sober enough to understand what is going on. "That woman just went invisible! Watch out." Her protestations are enough for a guard to come over.
"What is going on here?"
"Lady resting there. She snorted something and was just gone."
"Thanks." The guard responds. He moves off to quietly converse with the other guards blocking the door ways out of the Smoking Room.
'Aiah's heart continues to pound, further pushing her paranoia into a frenzy for fear that the thumping will give her away. The guard comes over to inspect and the invisible female form lays frozen, curled into a semi-fetal position, unable to move.
Why can't I get up? Move Move Move!
Suddenly the voice in Benaiah's head chimes in again. Ah ah ah... See, you just can't quite handle it. Now that I've finally had a taste of what you have kept from me for so long, I need a little more. Give me more...
No... Not again... I don't want to go back there... she whimpers in her mind. All resistances have already been defeated though. She has already opened the door, and she knows it. 'Aiah's mind screams in protest as she scrapes her invisible form across the floor towards a haphazardly discarded pile of pesh powder. She cannot resist now, and she knows it. Plugging one side of her nose again, she sucks up what is left on the floor, and within seconds feels energized.
Malgrim... Her suddenly clear mind screams.
"I'm coming Malgrim. I'll give you a distraction so you can get out." The message spell comes to life again.
Need to get upstairs...
"Malgrim, where are you, where are you trying to escape from? Talk to me, what do you need? I am invisible, and I can lead the guards away from you. Only have 5 minutes max..." She whispers, hoping the din of conversation will cover her words.
Behind Gwendolyn the figure of 'Aiah vanishes from sight in a flickering instance, and the halfling turns around to see the place previously occupied by her companion to now be empty. With a scowl on her face, Gwendolyn looks about the room and cannot hide her confusion.
Stepping back to where 'Aiah had been, Gwendolyn sits down and waits.
After a few seconds she hears the chatter coming from 'Aiah, realizing at last her companion is now invisible. With a sigh of exasperation, the halfling realizes she alone and must take matters into her own hands in order to reach the captain.
"Guys, I don't know what exit plan you have for Malgrim, but he doesn't seem to be in too much need of help from his messages. I hope you don't pick a fight we can't win... there are a lot of guards here, and if our cover is blown this might all be for naught. Wait for him to ask for help." comes the Captain's whisper from the betting line.
"Don't panic."
Malgrim's message seems a bit more tense: "North Corridor Hallway, Storage room on the left. Guards approaching up top, guards outside. Could use noise, but don't expose yourself."
Internally berating himself for missing the cavern for the stalagmites, Malgrim locks / disables the door, slowing down possible pursuit and using precious seconds to hopefully give him a fleeting edge.
With a resigned sigh, Malgrim puts trust in the gods and double-fists two potions, drinking one, holding the other.
Noise, I can do noise... She thinks, moving now with purpose.
Just gotta get past those goons. They can't see me. I am invisible. Gotta trust it, gotta go for it...
As Aiah tries to walk past the alert guards to ascend the stairs, he jostles into one of them. He shifts back and a board squeaks giving away his position to one of the guards.
"She's right there." the guard points directly at Aiah.
Naked steel flashes in an arc right towards the invisible Aiah.
The other two guards quickly follow, aiming for where their friend aimed.
'Aiah grins secretly, waiting for the hush of the crowd to acknowledge her voice, if not her presence.
Her screaming is loud and piercing, cutting through any conversation in the room, and likely into the next room. The accusation, combined with 3 guards swinging swords, one of which is now bloodied, cannot be missed by anyone nearby.
Still invisible, 'Aiah's adrenaline allows her to ignore the pain of the wound, and her natural inclination to rip the guard's head off of his shoulders. She backs into the room carefully, trying not to bump into anyone, and moving to a position where she hopes the guards won't be able to locate her invisible form.
Well Malgrim, it wasn't what I had in mind originally, but if these damn knuckleheads want to start attacking the guests, I might as well use that to start a riot. Here comes your diversion... The conniving alchemist thinks.
"Guys... what's going on...?" comes Captain Reginald Romsky's nervous voice as he tries to ascertain the status of his companions.
As Balastar and the Captain collect their winnings, Reginald screws up his face in thought. Something seems wrong about this. It is an unusual thought, one that never plagued him before when taking a sucker's money. He counts out his initial outlay, and hands Balastar all the profits.
"I don't really need the cash," he explains, "And it was more for good fun anyway. Hey, I don't suppose you think I should have a talk to the wizard running the fight, do you? I wouldn't mind letting him know that he should modify his odds in future. Or do you think he would just take poorly to the news and start throwing accusations around?"
'Aiah grinds her teeth in frustration at the stupid people in the room. Seriously? What the hell? Three guards start attacking thin air and NOBODY reacts? One of them is flinging blood all over the place right now as they attack, and nothing?
'Aiah retreats as far away from the bloodthirsty murder-hobo guards as she can and whispers back through the message spell.
The time between Arimar's question and 'Aiah's response is uncomfortably long. Finally, her voice floats over the ether into each of their ears. "I used one of my invisibility extracts. Three of these f&$%#er guards apparently think that is a capital offense, because they all tried to &#^%ing kill me. One of them got lucky and cut me. I'm back in the corner of the smoking room, still invisible. I screamed while the three dumb brutes were swinging their swords in thin air, hoping to start a panic which might be the distraction that Malgrim needs, but the idiots in this room are too #&$%ing high to care that the guards in this house just tried to murder a guest. This whole thing is a cluster, hopefully Malgrim is still doing ok. I'm going to have to find another way to create a distraction."
'Aiah studies the motions of the guards and the people in the room from her vantage point in the corner. Sliding most of her extracts from their secured location, she pops a few corks and guzzles them down while she waits to see what else will happen, and tries to come up with another plan.
The guards scan the room, hoping to spot the disembodied voice that is causing so much havoc. While they remain vigilant, they do not vacate their positions enough to give Aiah an opening to ascend the staircase. The guards around the other exits mimic their actions.
With the door (hopefully) a stronger barrier to his innevitable guard intervention, Malgrim returns to the two potions he grabbed, and drinks one blindly hoping it might help him somehow in this predicament. Invisibility, Gaseous Form, Heroism... No Cures...
In a more realistic moment of inspiration and self-preservation, Malgrim moves to the un-ciphered ledgers that came from the unlocked chest eying them for a moment, then, procuring them to near the window I wonder how valuable the house's documented business ventures are... maybe the guards might at least hesitate to try and keep them from blowing away...
Malgrim's voice comes through, increasingly nervous. "Still guards, but I'm about to try and make my escape. Keep yourselves safe and extract when possible."
Watching with concern as the guards seem to chop and swing at pure air, the halfling cringes as the yells of 'Aiah fill the smoky room. She then hears the whispers of her companion, now injured and hiding somewhere close by but just out of sight, she turns back and forth, trying to figure out which corner 'Aiah is hiding in.
Allowing her resolution to grow and form, the plucky halfling wills away the fear long enough to gain her concentration. She waits and scans the room, patiently biding her time until there is a loud enough din filling the chamber and no eyes are obviously upon her.
From some deep inner reserve, Gwendolyn is able to call up the growing, twisting magics and force the spell into existence without so much as making a sound. The effort almost takes the strength from her knees, and she nearly collapses suddenly in that moment, though she remains for a few moments swaying wearily. Then as inconspicuously as possible directs the forming magic toward a stationed guard.
Malgrim grabs a potion from the chest. Popping the stopper, he downs it in one gulp. He feels like if there was a torch in here, he wouldn't be hurt by its heat.
Malgrim can hear people outside the door trying to open the door. Then someone speaks, "Open the door. No one needs to get hurt. We just want to talk to you." Malgrim quickly downs a second potion. He can feel his outer garments harden into a armor like substance.
The door bulges in and the lock begins to splinter.
Malgrim can hear the people outside shouting and trying to break down the door. He moves to the window and opens it up. The guards below can see him and they fire bolts from their crossbows.
Both bolts shatter on the wall. The guards step into the straps of their crossbows. Cranking the string back, they try to reload as quickly as possible. Malgrim uses the calm before the storm to throws the chest to the ground below.
The chest lands with a loud thunk. Spider web cracks appear and one side is bulging, but it appears to have survived the fall.
Once again the sounds come from behind the door, "Only getting worse or you. Surrender now before this comes to violence."
The door still holds, but not for long.
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"Hey Burt. Check out this weird slip whacked out of her mind. Is she trying to swat a fly or something."
"Shut it. If Dalton hears you insult a guest he'll string you up by your balls."
"What Dalton doesn't know, won't hurt him, so keep your trap shut."
With that, the halfling Gwen finished casting her spell on the cantankerous Burt.
"Woah. She does look pretty amazing though. I am going to go talk to her."
"Idiot" the other guards intone at the same time.
"As for Corrous Kaddren, up to you. Never spoke to him personally."
"I'm afraid that Captain Reginald Romsky will no longer be in Magnimar as of tomorrow," the captain says, weirdly switching to the third person while affecting a more formal tone and bowing deeply. He looks up and winks at the dwarf, "But if he should return, he will be making one of his first stops the Quarrier's Guild. It has been a pleasure to meet you."
With a smile and a tilt of his head, the Captain moves on to the wizard's table. "Hello, Corrous Kaddren, isn't it?" he begins while the wizard counts coin, no doubt trying to figure out if he's made money on the fight yet, "They call me Captain Reginald Romsky. I am at your service.... and I was wondering if you'd like some advice on your setting betting odds. I didn't personally profit from it, but there's an exploit that exists in the odds you've set. Perhaps you are used to setting odds where more than one golem is in the ring, but..." assuming the wizard doesn't stop him, the captain explains the betting issue as he explained it to Balastar earlier.
The halfling looks up with a mischievous grin at the guard now under her spell. She takes a moment to continue playing the violin, the notes rising from the instrument increasing in pep and tempo. "Excuse me, sir," she says over the sound of the violin, having now stepped beside the guard affected by her concealed spell. "I don't mean to cause any trouble, but I was wondering if you would help me... please."
"My friend... my captain... is in the next room, and had some health trouble when we first arrived. Could you help bring him from the gambling room into here? I know it's probably... slightly..." she smiles sheepishly. "... against the rules. But you'd still be able to keep an eye on him here, and he wouldn't really be going anywhere, would he?"
"Plus, I'd really appreciate it..."
The very good captain makes his way over to Corrous Kaddren, of the prestigious Kaddren family of arcane users. The man's longer than fashionable black hair, a bit unkept with a slight sheen indicating a lack of attention to detail in his personal grooming, frames his pasty white face. His well made clothes look rumpled and wrinkled, while his spectacles continually slide down his nose. He constantly goes through the one-two motion of pushing his glasses back up his nose, then running his hand through his tangled locks.
"Huh?" is the less than satisfactory response the good captain gets back from the man. "Odds were off you say. I don't care about odds. That golem, the shield golem, something was wrong with its trajectory when it swung its greatsword. Off by 3 maybe 4 degrees. Did you notice it? I am sure everybody did. Completely unacceptable." he throws the ledger he was writing in down to the floor. The captain notices that it is filled with illustration and equations, some writing in undecipherable language that he guesses must be arcane in nature.
"Who are you again? What do you want? I really need to get these two back to the lab and totally rework those ball and socket joints."
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One guard puts up a hand. "What are you doing, Burt? Supposed to stay here and guard the door. Dalton's orders."
"Dalton can go suck an egg. Lady needs her friend. He's got some health problems. Not going to be responsible for any nobleman dying on my watch. Got kids to feed. You want to explain to some stuck up noble that you sat here with your thumb up your ass, feel free. Just stay here and I will be right back" comes Burts passionate speech.
"Thank you, so much. Burt, you are a wonderful friend and a huge help," she thanks the man profusely. "Plus, if you are able to bring him here, we'd still be in your sight. So nothing to worry about...'"
Still smiling, Gwendolyn looks upon the man. "And please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you out on your watch."
Another Message: "Doesn't seem to have helped. Exiting the party, one way or another. Meet you back. Don't wait up."
For lack of better options, Malgrim steels his nerves and pushes himself out the window, trying to present a low profile and climb up to the roof. With a burst of adrenaline, he swings up, twirling his body in an attempt to meld into the shadows that surround the roof of the villa, his uncanny ability of melding the stone to make hand holds allowing him to rocket up.
"You don't want help with the odds? Very well then," the captain bows and makes to leave before adding, "You know, that swing didn't seem too far off. It was a crucial blow at a crucial time. Unless, of course, you had requested that golem to lose... which would be very unsportsmanly of you.
"In any case, all I wanted was to make sure you could make money and your odds couldn't be exploited. You clearly have no interest in making money, so I'll leave you to your tinkering." Besides, I just heard something from Malgrim.
"Good news, Malgrim," comes the captain's voice when he finds a little privacy, "I'd say we all need to leave, as soon as the situation allows. I hope you and Aiah haven't done anything too compromising, Gwen."
"Captain Reginald Romsky. It has been brought to my attention by a [i[very good friend of mine[/i], lovely lass, about yeah high." he holds his hand outstretched about waist high. "She mentioned that you have some health issues or some such. Regardless, I am to bring you to her. If you would follow me please." the man turns to head back to the Smoking Room, looking over his shoulder to see if you follow.
Exiting the window, Malgrim scrambles up the wall just as the guards have their crossbows reloaded. They scan the roof looking for him.
One guard sees him and shouts, "He is on the roof." before firing off a bolt.
Once again the bolt crashes harmlessly into the wall.
As Malgrim scrambles out the window, the sounds of the door cashing once again can be heard. But amazingly it still remains closed.
With a brief reprieve, Malgrim quickly surveys his surroundings, attempting to find a path that might conceivably get him out of his current predicament. A fleeting thought of "At least I'm not on a ship" surfaces before he makes his movement.
Wait... Fire. FIRE! Fire in a crowded room!
The invisible form of the disguised alchemist carefully moves over to one of the the areas where a Hooka lies un-used. Pillows are scattered haphazardly around the intricate device.
The thought that 'Aiah needed to make sure no innocents would get hurt while pulling off her stunt is not lost on the alchemist, who only a few months ago killed a man in a cell in order for Arimar to create a zombie to provide means to escape.
This is probably going to go horribly wrong, and this is REALLY going to hurt... Malgrim, here goes nothing...
Standing over top of the hooka in order to make sure that her bomb never becomes visible, 'Aiah grits her teeth, closes her eyes, and slams a bomb down on top of the device.
A violent explosion rocks the room and a small black mushroom cloud sprouts from the spot where a hooka once lay ready for smoking. Pillows scattered all around the location catch fire from the embers and conflagration that sprays the immediate surroundings.
"Ah, I am indeed her ill friend," Captain Reginald Romsky confirms for the fellow, "She is most kind to think of me, but I've not had an episode since the gambling started, unless you count being oddly compelled to dance as an 'episode'. Still, I'd best come with you and reassure the lass that I'm alright."
"By the Dawnflower's bright petals!" exclaims the captain as the flames burst out in the other side of the room. He quickly scans he place to find Aiah and Gwendolyn.
"Any idea who did that?" Captain Reginald whispers as a message to his companions amidst the chaos of the explosion, "And where is everyone?"
Characters exposed to burning oil, bonfires, and non-instantaneous magic fires might find their clothes, hair, or equipment on fire. Spells with an instantaneous duration don't normally set a character on fire, since the heat and flame from these come and go in a flash.
From nowhere a small fire erupts under an unattended hooka. Characters exposed to burning oil, bonfires, and non-instantaneous magic fires might find their clothes, hair, or equipment on fire. Spells with an instantaneous duration don't normally set a character on fire, since the heat and flame from these come and go in a flash.
Dousing a fire requires a large amount of water or other non-flammable material, such as dirt, to be deposited on the burning area. One effective strategy for extinguishing a fire quickly is to surround the burning area with nonflammable material. PCs doing this must make a ranged touch attack against an AC of 10 to deliver their payload to the intended square. The following indicates how many 5-foot squares of fire a number of the listed containers can extinguish with successful delivery.
Waterskin: Twenty waterskins full of water extinguish one square.
Bucket: Four buckets full of non-flammable material extinguish one square.
Gallon Container: Twelve gallon containers of nonflammable material extinguish one square.
Cauldron: One cauldron of non-flammable material extinguishes one square.
Portable Hole: A portable hole filled with non-flammable material extinguishes a 12-square-by-12-square area.
Bag of Holding: A bag of holding, type I filled with nonflammable material extinguishes a 3-square-by-3-square area, type II extinguishes a 5-square-by-5-square area, type III extinguishes a 7-square-by-7-square area, and type IV extinguishes a 10-square-by-10-square area.
Four servants detach themselves from their task of holding drugs to run over with pails of dirt.
The fire quickly snuffs out.