Marigold furrows her brows for a moment as the group tries to figure out a method of attack. After a bit of consideration, she looks up. "It's g-got it's d-drawbacks but I m-might be able to m-make sure they d-don't hear JJ coming, either," she says. "If he allows it, I c-can place a s-silencing spell on him and it'll r-radiate outward from him. Th-they won't be able to h-hear him b-but he won't be able to c-call back to us, either. It's r-risky, but it m-might be worth it...wh-what do you think?"
______
"If you did that, then once JJ's close enough, the Kuo-Toa can't sound an alarm."
"Or cast spells either."
"That's a good idea, Marigold!"
JJ nods.
"Best do that last, or Juraan won't be able to make me invisible. So I go in silent and invisible, and as I do that, Juraan makes one or two of the rest of you invisible as well? Or you just wait for me to appear and then charge in?"
Maxim retrieves his wand and bestows its bulwarking enchantment upon himself
He nods toward the others as he stashes the wand and draws his shortsword rather than his pistol;
"Reckon the Smaug would give the game away a mite..."
"Yeah, any way for me to slip in with the boy, under that cloak of quiet? I'm the dead giveaway, with my metal. If JJ ends up out there all by himself, he'll draw focus fire from several frog folk, is my worry."
"J-just stay within t-twenty feet or s-so," Marigold responds to Kikinnin. "And that sh-should do the t-trick!"
"JJ, Kikinnin has his armor, slightly more protective than what you are wearing. I can give you additional protection for about 6 minutes."
Ryan casts shield of faith on JJ while Juraan vanishes both the ranger and Kikinnin. Marigold ends up casting a silence spell.
Kikinnin and JJ move around the water pool to avoid being detected by the water movement. Once out of the covered section of the room, they attain to observe the full extend of the enormous room.
JJ and Kikinnin reach their intended targets and have their opportunity to react, although they are not sure where each other is exactly placed.
As JJ and Kikinnin finish their preparations, Ryan sets a new bolt case in his Repeating crossbow.
Listening for the sound of battle to begin, Ryan petition Abadar for his favor before moving into the room, this time stepping to the side of the door so others can continue by while he assesses the 'battlefield'.
cast Divine Favor +2 Attack/damage for 1 minute.
Kikinnin speaks to JJ of his intentions. "When we enter, quiet and unseen, we keep our blades pressed against each other's. Go slow, and I'll follow. When your blade loses contact with mine, I'll know you're bringing it bear upon one of the frogs. Alright?"
AC = 22
HP = 74/74
Weapon Equipped = +1 Dwarven Greataxe
Condition(s) = Vanish, under Silence
Kikinnin emerges from invisibility to strike at Blue.
Juraan will move along the wall behind the statue.
He'll then shoot his long bow at one of the Kuo-Toa he can see clearly (Red).
Holding his breath for a moment, JJ counts to three silently, and then plunges his sword into the back of the blue frog-man.
JJ brings down his blade on the kuo-toa but the banded mail deflects the metal without harm.
Kikinnin is swifter and catching the enemy off-guard allows him to open a wide cut on the monster's left arm while it is making its prays.
Despite the lack of sound, the kuo-toa soldiers in the upper level seem to be the first ones to realize about the aggressions downstairs. They ready their crossbows and shot!
Only one of the bolts strikes effectively JJ, just in his left shoulder!
Ryan moves in and casts a spell to improve his combat prowness.
Juraan does not find enough space to pass through the back of the statue base and shots instead at the blue armored kuo-toa. Its banded mail deflects again the shaft despite being flat-footed.
JJ steps forward giving Kikinnin a chance to flank the nearest of the frog-men. Somewhat surprised by the creatures armor, he tries to overwhelm it with volume of blows.
As Kikinnin and JJ launch their surprise attack, Marigold grips her longspear and hustles to catch up and get into the enormous room.
______
Maxim hustles his way into the chamber, sword drawn as he goes. The gun-mage shifts behind a pillar as he takes in the vastness of the chamber;
JJ makes his swords spin, but the armor of the kuo-toa is thick and all the blades are deflected by the metal.
Marigold moves inside the temple while making good grip of his longspear.
Hiding behind one of the pillars Maxim readies his pistol as well.
The praying kuo-toa step to the side shouting in their language "Nga whakauru! Āwhina! Kawea nga ringa"
"Intruders! Help! Bring hands together"
The left kuo-toas move and join their hands together with the other two. Sparks of electricity jump from one each other and into the statue. A crackling ray of electricity jumps then from the hand of one of them shocking JJ, Kikinnin and Marigold!
The one in the blue armor and the one in the yellow one, equip their shields.
The guards in the top floor shot again against Kikinnin and JJ!
But Kikinnin's heavy armor and JJ's divine protections deflect all the arrows!
JJ tries to jump aside, to avoid the worst of the lightning bolt.
Realising a flurry of attacks is not going to win the day here, JJ steps towards the lightning bolt firing Frog-man, and drives his magical sword into it.
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AC = 22
HP = 49/74
Weapon Equipped = +1 Dwarven Greataxe
Condition(s) = None
Kikinnin doesn't expect an attack from the statue, of all things. It gets his blood boiling all the more, as he seeks to run down one or more of the frog folk, hoping to decrease their numbers quickly. He skirts the edge of the water, not trusting any pond at any depth.
"Gods be begged, they're hard to hit!! With the lightning, and the... hey, you still can't hear me? That's just perfect..."
Marigold yelps as the lightning arcs from JJ to Kikinnin and then to herself, though thankfully she manages to duck the worst of the blast. Realizing that her silence spell was no longer necessary, she dismisses it as she calls upon Sarenrae's power to bolster herself and her nearby companions...and then moves for some cover!
______
Ryan moves to sde and takes aim at the blue frog to the north
Juraan stays where he is and uses one of his (few remaining spells):
« ჯადოსნური სარაკეტო » . .
And targets the Kuo-toa that's been hurt (blue)
As the lightning bolts streaks across the chamber, Maxim grimaces and moves forward
He then halts and brings to bear his own magicks and raises his hand in the fashion of a pistol;
"Bliksem!"
:
Kikinnin slashes with his axe at the kuo-toa in front, but the axe is just deflected twice by the armor.
JJ follows in with more precise attacks, his sword finally stabbing at one of them, opening a wound in the left arm.
Marigold casts a prayer and move into the water.
Ryan needs to adjust his aim in order to not shot Kikinnin, and this adjustment makes him fail his aim at the kuo-toa's head!
Juraan's magic missiles burst the blue kuo-toa who cries in pain!
Maxim returns some of their own medicine to the kuo-toas, a sparkling bolt of lighting born inside his pistol and shocking three of the frog-likes!
Although the electricity seems to deal much less damage than expected to the kuo-toas, the blue one drops into the shallow waters in spasms and loses consciousness.
The orange whip straps his shield into his arm while it moves back
and starts using it to defend himself. Once far into the water it moves a hand and casts a spell.
The green one moves away as well, while drawing a shield, then casts another spell.
The red one retreats from JJ, then casts the same spell on himself as his companions.
Realizing they are out of the silence area, they shout, this time effectively, in their language "Nga whakauru! Āwhina! Kawea nga ringa"
Short after Kikinnin, a new wave of bolts rains from the top!
One of the bolts barely misses the dwarf!
Another bolt hits JJ's head opening a considerable wound!
Not wishing to tempt another round of lightning, Marigold continues to move along through the water, ducking behind the pillars and steps for cover as she goes. Once she feels relatively safe for a moment, she stops and focuses her concentration on ending her silencing spell.
Much better!
______
Wincing in pain, JJ watches in wonder as celestial blue light spills from his wounds, sizzling as it lands in the foul waters below.
Heedless of his own safety, he quickly skirts the edge of the waters, rushing up to attack the green frog-man, and keep as many of them in silence as he can.
However his blades slips off the frogs slimey coating.
"That one", says Juraan as he points to Orange, "is protecting himself with an Entropy shield."
Juraan then mutters curses about the overabundance of architecture and double moves down pas Kikinnin to get a better line of sight on the three remaining Kuo-Toa.
Seeing his apex spell do less than stellar damage, Maxim scowls - the furrows on his brow deepening as Juraan bellows a warning of the Kuo-Tuo's magicks;
"Gods be damned. They're warded and are cutting us apart with their flatbows!"
The dwur keeps his pistol drawn, and moves toward Marigold then moves again to get a better angle on the frogmen
Ryan moves up the stairwell to his left searching for the pestering crossbowmen above them, his own crossbow trained ahead and above.
Double move - up the stairs and moving towards the second? set of stairs
With a fast movement, Marigold dismisses her silence spell.
JJ's wounds fix somehow with celestial light while he follows one of the whips but fails to hit him with his sword.
Juraan moves setting himself at the edge of the balcony cover.
Maxim as well is forced to move to get a better attack angle.
Despite his armor, Ryan's feet demonstrate and incredible nimbleness, as his divine agile feet go upstairs almost unimpeded, reaching the first balcony.
The green kuo-toa attempts to hit JJ, then steps back and straps his shield.
The mace removes a strap of skin from JJ's face.
Red and orange step back while yelling alert shouts in their language
"Nga whakauru! Nga tangata katoa ki te ruma inoi! Arota! Nga whakauru!"
Then draw scrolls and cast them on themselves.
The kuo-toa on the balcony, reload their crossbows, then shot at JJ and Kikinnin.
Two of the bolts bury themselves on Kikinnin's back.
JJ continues to press the "whip", stepping forward and slashing at it with his sword again. He scores at least one more light wound, as blue light continues to spill from the holes made by the crossbows.
Deciding that the time for a measured response is over, Marigold marches up behind the nearest kuo-toa and adopts a defensive position as she tries to conjure her magic...
...but the magic fizzles and sputters out!
"ಬಿಸ್ಕಟ್ಗಳು!" she swears.
"Biscuits!"
Looking at the crossbow, Ryan drops it and seeks Abadar's graces to strengthen him. Then shrugging his shield in place and drawing his mace he heads up the next stairs.
cast bulls strength
JJ fails his first attack, but the second one scores firmly on the Kuo-toa's left shoulder. The frog-like squeaks!
Marigold's spell fizzles as she moves over the kuo-toa!
Ryan's musculature considerably improves as he cast an spell. Then, again using Abadar's Agile feet, he easily climbs up the stairs and sets himself very close to the ranged kuo-toas!
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Normally yes, but I thought I'd try Color Spray as this actually seems like an appropriate time to use it! Alas, maybe next time :)
As the battle rages, Maxim steps through the soggy chamber to provide support to Marigold.
The gun-mage halts, aiming his pistol at one of the nearby Kuo-Tuo and charges the weapon with an essence of his arcane magicks
With a scowl the dwur pulls the trigger:
:
:
AC = 22 (No Shield)
HP = 55/74
Weapon Equipped = +1 Dwarven Greataxe
Condition(s) = None
Kikinnin takes the hit of lightning, then a solid blow from an arrow from above, so sets himself to heal quickly, seeing more pain in his near future.
The black beard marches carefully across the slippery surface, keeping up with JJ. It leaves him open to further crossbow bolts, however.
AC = 22 (No Shield)
HP = 58/74
Weapon Equipped = +1 Dwarven Greataxe
Condition(s) = None
Having navigated the skirt of the water, Kikinnin takes up his axe, and tries to down Green quickly, feeling phantom bolts in his back yet to arrive.
"Alright, this has gone on too long, already. These frogs are far too hearty for my liking. Seven to our Six. Let's down another, and soon." He grips his axe in both hands, and pinwheels the blade towards the armored amphibian, twice.
"Just stay still, you tossers!" Juraan says to the Kuo-Toa.
He moves up to get a better shot with his bow and fires at the one in the middle (orange):
The kuo-toa heavy armor is nothing against Maxim's powder. The shot bursts the frog-like back that shouts in pain!
Kikinnin swings a powerful blow of his axe that breaks the green kuo-toa's right arm! Surprisingly he keeps its stand!
Juraan attempts a shot with his bow, but the arrow lands on one of the columns, interrupted its travel.
The kuo-toa look for retaliation, green swings at the badly damaged JJ with his morningstar.
The blow is terrible and breaks one of the young man's ribs! It then steps back closer to the stairs and straps his shield.
The red kuo-toa also swings his morningstar, this time at close Marigold.
The swing is strong and opens a wound on the halfling's right shoulder. The kuo-toa steps to the side and straps his shield.
The other whip kuo-toa starts shouting at Kikinnin while he sets foot into the stairs. The movement clearly does not scare Kikinnin, that sees the kuo-toa as fleeing.
A couple of bolts rain over JJ and Kikinnin from the eastern third floor balcony.
The first bolt bangs on the dwarven armor without effect, while the second one is deflected in the last moment by a divine magic!
The other two kuo-toas turn towards Ryan "Nga kaiwhai! Kia maka atu ia i te taupee!"
With their crossbows still at hand they move over the cleric and join forces in an attempt to throw him off the balcony!
The combined effort forces Ryan against the edge of the balcony, pressed to the rail. He can see from there the dangerous 60' fall while the Kuo-toa keep pressing him!
Maxim grimaces as his shot rings out and slams home;
Well if that ain't announced our presence, nothin' will!
The gun-mage reloads his pistol with a alchemical flare cartridge , then aims at one of the Kuo-Tuo (Green) and charges the weapon with an essence of his arcane magicks
With a hard smile the dwur bellows a warning to Marigold in dwurven as he pulls the trigger:
"Vend dine øjne lidt frøken!"
Avert your eyes Little Miss!
:
:
AC = 22
HP = 58/74
Weapon Equipped = +1 Dwarven Greataxe
Condition(s) = None
Sensing the floor frogs readying their next wave of plans, shrugs off the attempt to bellow words of toad tongue, and presses his attack on Green. He gives him an admiring look, for having withstood his last swing. It doesn't deter him, however. He wonders, just before his windup, if the creature can withstand another.
Ryan pushes back at the two Kuo-toa, swinging his mace at the dark green one, in an effort to make some room.
<sigh, slow BAB progression>
JJ steps up, continuing to press the attack against the closest of the creatures.
"Gahh.. I'm never eating frog legs again."
His impatience getting the best of him, the lad tries another flurry of attacks, hoping the Kro-Toan can't defend against them all.
The blue light that has been spilling from his wounds starts to dry up as yet another major blow thuds into him.
"When'd you eat 'em in the first place? These frog folk don't seem like they'd just be sitting around, waiting to be gigged." Kikinnin swats at a bolt sticking in his shoulder. "Seem to want to do their own gigging, from the looks of it."
Juraan moves slightly and fires his bow at the Kuo-Toa fighting Margold (red):
Despite the stinging pain in her arm from the creature's attack, Marigold narrows her eyes and steps in front of the creature once more as she attempts to channel her magic...
...and finally has success as a riot of color explodes from her fingertips!
_______
Maxim's flare shot explodes in the orange Kuo-toa with all its glory.
The kuo-toa looks around confused as if he could not see.
The flare extends 20' and washes also part of the party!
Both Maxim and Marigold are unable to cover themselves in time from the intense light of the cartridge and result temporarily dazzled!
Kikinnin brings a furious swing on the kuo-toa in front who collapses to the floor finally overwhelmed!
Ryan fights for his life in the top of the balconies, but he is unable to properly overcome the kuo-toan defenses.
JJ jumps over the kuo-toa but his feline attacks are unable to overcome the combination of armor, shield and magic defending the Whip. The young boy is healed by celestial light.
Juraan's arrow is easily deflected by the kuo-toa armor.
Marigold boldly creates a spring of color strings from her hands that take all the kuo-toa in front!
The kuo-toa in front seems to look at the colors but ignore them, while the blinded kuo-toa does not seem to realize about the beautiful colors Marigold has just created for him!
The red kuo-toa crushes his morningstar on Marigolds hands as they end the color strings in a clear sign of disgust. Then steps back closer to his companion that rubs his eyes in desperation, blinded and unable to do anything of profit.
The kuo-toa seem trying to join their hands again like when they made the lighting bolt.
More bolts rain from the eastern side of the balconies.
Kikinnin's armor deflects one, while JJ dodges skillfully the other.
Meanwhile in the topmost balcony the kuo-toa join forces to push down Ryan.
Despite his attempts to grab himself to the rail of the balcony, one of the kuo-toa's grabs the cleric by the throat, while the other pushes him back again.
The cleric attempts desperately to hold himself to something solid, but he is unable and crashes against the floor of the praying chamber, prone and full of bruises.