Nathaniel also stands near the door, weapons drawn, ready to leap through.
Res quickly says a prayer to Gorum and lays a hand first on Urdrin, then on Nathaniel. "May your next blow strike with increased potency."
He remains standing behind Nathaniel, greatsword at the ready.
Urdrin throws wide the door, his weapon ready. Inside is a slightly smaller chamber, one that appears to be a private study. In the corner is a small bed, and a large desk is pushed against the far wall. Shelves of books, papers, and alchemical apparatuses line the walls.
In the center of the room, a woman in a white lab coat drops an empty vial on the floor. In her other hand, she wields an oversized surgical scalpel. Before your eyes, she begins to transform, becoming something other than human. Her limbs become taut and muscled, and her face disfigures into a bestial aspect. Her eyes grow bloodshot and her teeth elongate grotesquely.
"You were fools to come here," she sneers, her voice stony and cold. "When I am through with you, death will be a blessing."
The Surgeon
"I had me doubts about hitting a woman, but now that y'turned yerself into a monster all doubts be gone, ye be a monster inside and out now!"
Initiative
Perception
“She must be the Surgeon!” exclaims Nathaniel, his mildly sexist upbringing having led him to assume that the Surgeon would be a man. “We need her – it – alive.” Although surely something that looks like that can take a few hits ... He glances at the others. “Is she ... a werewolf ...?” Although he doesn’t enjoy the prospect of fighting such a beast, it somehow makes it better in his mind that the awful things they have seen here might have been performed by an actual monster rather than a monstrous human.
Init:
Perception:
Initiative:
Res hears the cold voice call its warning and Urdrin's call to attack. He shouts to the others, "Remember why we came here. We need information, and we must keep that vile creature at least partially alive until we've extracted that information.
Perception: 1d20+7
You notice a few pecularities about her. Her lab coat is concealing something - some sort of lump or hunch on her right shoulder. She also moves with a stiff, limping gate, that seems unrelated to her transformation.
his mildly sexist upbringing having led him to assume that the Surgeon would be a man.
"You don't fool me."
Angalia's tone is arctic.
Erfan's eyes widen at the sight of the monstrous creature, but he steels himself for battle.
The mutated woman quickly consumes another vial. She retches for a moment, as if the fluid is trying to find its way out. To your disgust, she vomits forth a mass of crawling insects, which spreads out across the floor. The foul vermin clamber over one another, wriggling in a vile mass.
"Feast," she instructs them.
Erfan
Eliva
Angalia
Urdrin
Nathaniel
Res
Surgeon
Eliva curls her lips back from her fangs in an unconcious growl. "She uses those potions to transform herself! Try to stop her from drinking them if you can!"
Eliva shoots over Urdrin's head at the tall Surgeon.
Eliva's arrow is deflected by a shield of force the Surgeon has cast about herself.
Erfan
Angalia
Angalia slips behind Urdin and throws a digusted dagger at the Surgeon.
Angalia's dagger strikes true.
Angalia realises that nothing in her experience will help her identify the weaknesses of the insects of the Surgeon and concentrates on doing what she can to hurt their enemy.
"I know we need to talk to her ... it ... whatever ... but I'm going off the notion we can be civil about it. I'm feeling very bad mannered."
Angalia's dagger draws blood.
Erfan
Eliva (posted)
Angalia (posted)
Urdrin
Nathaniel
Res
Surgeon
*Urdrin moves to M9, avoiding the swarm if possible*
Attack
Damage
“Oh dear Erastil, that is disgusting,” mutters Nathaniel, his stomach churning from the horror of it as the Surgeon vomits up a swarm of vermin. “Erfan, do you have something that can deal with that?”
Following Urdrin’s lead, the ranger dashes into the room while the swarm of insects is still milling about, crawling over one another, not yet having spread out in search of their feast. He takes the other direction (clambering up over a table if he needs to, and jumping back down behind the Surgeon) to flank the monstrous woman.
Urdrin leaps into the fray, but his axe misses its mark, deflected by his foe's magical defenses. Nathaniel, however, is able to strike true, wounding his quarry considerably.
Erfan
Res
Surgeon
Eliva
Angalia
Urdrin
Nathaniel
Res moves toward Eliva and says aloud, "Mighty Gorum, bless Eliva with your guidance such that her aim is true against this shameful, cowardly creature." His fingers begin to glow and he lays his hand upon Eliva.
Erfan steps aside to gain a clear vantage through the doorway and, upon spying the teeming swarm, hurls a flask of alchemist's fire at the bugs.
Erfan's Alchemist's Fire singes the swarm as well as the gnome himself, while Res extends the blessings of Gorum upon Eliva.
The Surgeon steps back against the wall and tries to distract Nathaniel with a fake jab, looking for an opening for her precision blade.
Nathaniel is distracted by her movement, and leaves himself open to her attack. With the skill of one well versed in anatomy, she strikes at a vital area with her scalpel, viciously wounding the ranger.
To the heroes' dismay, her wounds appear to close slightly, as if healing of their own accord.
The swarm of spiders moves toward Urdrin, trying to envelop the stout dwarf.
Eliva
Angalia
Urdrin
Nathaniel
Erfan
Res
Surgeon
With the Improved Feint feat, you can feint as a move action instead, enabling you to feint and attack in the same round. A drawback is that Improved Feint has a prerequisite of Combat Expertise, meaning it costs 2 feats.
That feat strategy could be worthwhile for Angalia, but for now her best bet is probably to try to get a flank, or work on some stealth/invisibility for the surprise. (If you decide you want to rework any feats when you level, that would be fine. I'm okay with a little swapping as people get to know their characters.)
*Urdrin curses as the bugs crawl over and bite him*
“Arrrghhh!” Nathaniel half screams, half growls through gritted teeth. With no free hand to staunch the bleeding, his chainshirt soon becomes stained with blood. “I’m not going to be able to hold her,” he gasps.
Eliva moves just through the door to get a good shot, and lets loose with her bow.
Eliva's arrow again passes wide of the mark.
Meanwhile, Urdrin's dwarven constitution easily shrugs off the poisonous bites of the spiders.
Angalia
Urdrin
*Urdrin moves to J9 with concern etched on his face, after seeing Nathaniel gravely injured*
"I be coming lad, but this monster has some sorcery about her that be repelling me axe"
Attack
Damage
As Nath takes a devastating blow, Angalia's face hardens. She moves into the room, picking her way around the bugs and stares at the Surgeon.
"Look carefully. We are going to be the last thing you see."
Nobody has ever heard her sound like this before. Her dagger glints in the air as she aims for the Surgeon's throat and bounces off the creature.
Urdrin and Angalia continue to find the Surgeon difficult to wound.
Nathaniel
Erfan
Res
Surgeon
Eliva
Angalia
Urdrin
With the vermin now crawling over their newest companion, Erfan quickly conjures up his magical energies to direct a spell at the Surgeon.
“I’ll be back,” promises Nathaniel, backing away from the Surgeon, then dashing back through the room, skirting the swarming insects.
Nathaniel makes a strategic retreat, attempting to treat his wounds.
Meanwhile, Erfan hurls an enchantment at the Surgeon, only to find it has no effect.
Res
Surgeon
Eliva
Angalia
Urdrin
Nathaniel
Erfan
Res sees the badly injured Nathaniel rush back into the room, but knows that Angalia is still injured from the last fight. He quickly moves into the room with the surgeon turning left as he enters the door. Trying to place himself where he can do the most good, Res calls out to Gorum. "Powerful Gorum, send us your mightiest healing power for my injured comrades as we battle this cowardly abomination!" The holy symbol Res holds up glows and then flashes with a wave of healing energy for his allies.
Res extends his healing energy to the PC's.
The swarm of spiders moves toward the door, spreading towards Res and Eliva.
The maniacal glare of the Surgeon rests on Urdrin. "You will be such a fascinating subject," she says spitefully. She successfully baffles the sturdy dwarf with a fake lunge, but her true jab misses the mark. She looks angrier than ever.
Eliva
Angalia
Urdrin
Nathaniel
Erfan
Res
Surgeon
Res feels hundreds of bites as the spider swarm engulfs him. This is not the first time he has been bitten by spiders and he is able to overcome their toxin and resist its effects.
Nathaniel feels Res’s healing energy wash over him, partially soothing his wounds, but watches in dismay as the biting insects swarm over his companions and block the doorway. “Damn it,” he mutters, then to Erfan and Res. “Try to move out of the doorway, I’ll see if I can jump over them.”
Angalia raises a hand in thanks to Res and Gorum but never takes her eyes of her target.
"Urdin, Eliva, help me surround her."
Eliva
Eliva moves away from the swarm and lets loose another arrow at the Surgeon. , . Her arrow, unfortunately, misses its mark.
Urdrin
(Angalia - readied)
Nathaniel
Erfan
Res
Surgeon
Eliva
*Urdrin swings as hard as he can trying to breach the womans magical shield*
Attack:
Damage: