Melisaria will move diagonally to the southwest allowing a space for Yenli to rettreat to while putting the fighters on the front. From that spot she'll conjure up an Acid Dart and throw it through the doorway at R4 which is not engaged in melee yet.
Does it look like we can close the doors from the inside?
The doors can be swung shut from your side.
Heddroth will close the doors once everyone's inside.
Between Rifiki, Melisaria, and Yenli's attacks, one of the Dire Rats is slain before Zar moves to close the door.
As you run forward Zar, you can see the rabid mouths of oversized rodents eagerly snapping for your flesh. As you begin to slam the door to, the last image of them you have is as they turn as one, looking towards the south door and Meepo, he screams in terror and slams the door shut as well. They begin moving in that direction, as the door closes...
Out of Initiative, what do you do?
He is somewhere in that direction. Or rat chow.
"We cannot let poor Meepo become rat food!" Melisaria shouts. "He followed and helped us, we owe him protetction. Open that door and let's be about saving the poor sot. They are only rats after all. Show some nobility!"
Melisaria scolds the others and moves to get the door back open.
Pride cometh fore the fall right
I agree he should be saved, but don't come crying to me should you fall again Rifiki says as he cracks a smile, At least let me prepare this time for the filthy horde.
With that he stows his dagger in his belt, grabs his sling and loads it ready to fire, then nods at Mel and says, I guess when everyone is ready, lets exterminate some critters
Melisaria looks to the others and waits for them to ready themselves and once prepared, will throw the door open again. Waiting for the frontliners to take the lead through.
"Is anyone injured? We should deal with that before we take on another combat. Melisaria's right, we've got an interest in keeping the kobold alive. They outnumber us, so we fight either on our side of the doorway, where we will surround them as they attack, or at the doorway, where we fight one-on-one."
S'koth fixes the elf with a steely stare. He makes a great show of dusting himself off, then bends down to pick up a faded jewelled eye from one of the skeleton's skulls. He holds it up to his own eye and appears to look through it.
"I'm not ssure we will ssee eye to eye on nobility Melissaria. I had no inkling the kravatchi wassn't in the room. I'm not ssure if you noticed either while your heart'ss blood was sstaining the ground, nor while we battled these horrors from beyond the grave. Your people's bones, might I add, perhaps ignobly. Careful who you sscold, we may be beassts and animalss to you, but we've kept you alive while you sstare down your nose at uss."
S'koth casually tosses the jewel to Rifiki. He places his falchion back in it's scabbard, flexes his claws and licks his teeth.
"When you are all done, I'm ready. Perssonally I don't care to ssacrifice oursselves for the kravatchi. Our tassk is locating the townsfolk. Gaining the dragon is ssecondary, and thuss, to me, is Meepo. Sstill, I'm ssure IF we resscue him, he might just wet himself.... S'koth pauses momentarily.
"As for tacticss, let the vermin come to uss. They aren't the brightesst."
Melisaria stares nails at the lizard man, then opens the door allowing the 5 ft space just in front to be open for a rat to climb in. The other should then take positions on all sides of the killing box.
"I'll deal with that monster later. Right now, we have work to do." she thinks.
Sorry Mel, but if it comes down to me or the Kobold, I am not gonna risk my own flesh. I doubt it would risk itself for me, as he palms the jewel tossed to him.
GM - are we having initiative? S'koth is planning to go all natural attacks on the square the first dire rat enters...
With Melisaria having openes the door, go ahead and roll initiative.
Initiative:
Not sure I'll be first, but am so far. Will go ahead and post a turn.
Her first action will be to throw another Acid Dart at nearest rat target before it gets into melee, then step back into her place in the killing box or behind one of the fighters.
Everyone post a surprise round action, plus your first turn.
Throwing Acid Dart above will be Mel's surprise round action.
1st round action: Cast guidance on Zar, move behind him as the rats turn this way.
Surprise round: sling at rat
Round 1: sling at rat
Surprise Round:
Claw Attack:
Damage:
Claw Attack:
Damage:
Bite Attack:
Damage:
Round 1:
Claw Attack:
Damage:
Claw Attack:
Damage:
Bite Attack:
Damage:
Bump GM?
Initiative Order
-Melisaria-
-S'Koth-
-Yenli-
-Zar Hedroth-
-Rifiki-
-Dire Rats-
-Meepo-
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Melisaria swings open the door, and the rest of you position yourself in a killing box, a gruesome scene lies before you. Before closing yourselves in this room, Melisaria, Rifiki, and Yenli had killed one of the rats. Now, they seem rat is being ripped to shreds by the others as they ravish its flesh, spraying gore around the room. To the south lies the closed wooden door, with rats barging against it and attempting to claw through the wood. With each rat that leaps against it, the door buckles outward slightly, and to those watching it is obvious Meepo must be standing against the door, straining to keep it closed. His high pitched yelps can be heard, and those who can speak the tongue of Dragons can clearly understand words of fear and anger.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Surprise Round
Melisaria
Catching the Dire Rats off guard, Melisaria calls upon the divine power granted to her by the Goddess, and sends forth a glistening dart of Acid! However, despite their inattention, the dart goes wide, and bites into the wall, leaving a pockmark.
S'Koth
Lunging forward, S'koth clamps down upon a rat right outside the room, easily tearing its shrieking form in twain and tossing the pieces aside as if it was a simple serving of meat.
Yenli
Yenli cast forth her curse upon the foul creatures, and one of the rats outside the doorway that was feasting upon the dead rat squeeks as the magic takes hold.
The Dire Rat seems affected, but Yenli can feel the curse slipping away over time.
Zar
Zar strikes out at the rat closest to the door, but, perhaps still shaken from the undead horrors he so recently battled, his swing misses, cleaving into the dead rat and startling those feeding upon it.
Rifiki
With a quick spin, a flick of the wrist, and a style to match, Rifiki sends a bullet flying through the air, to crack into the skull of a Dire Rat on the other side of the chamber. With a wet, meaty thud, the creatures head burst open, and it twitches and dies as blood and grey matter oozes out.
End of Surprise Round
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Start of Round 1
Melisaria
With a quick prayer, Melisaria brings forth holy Guidance to the warrior Zar, may his aim strike true!
S'koth
Focusing upon the Dire Rat that Yenli cursed, S'koth lashes out with one mighty claw, impaling the thrashing vermin upon it. Raising it upwards, he leans forward and savagely sinks his fangs into it' head, ripping it off and throwing the still quivering corpse to the ground!
Yenli
Seeing the focus of her power so swiftly destroyed, Yenli hisses out a curse at the next rat within reach of her allies, assuring its swift demise as well!
The rat quivers in fear, and the Curse seeps into its bones, slowing it down so it becomes an easier target for death.
Zar
Taking advantage of the confusion amongst his small scuttling foes, Zar brings his blade around and with one clean motion skewers the last remaining rat near the doorway, ending Yenli's curse, as well as the creatures life. Without missing a motion he withdraws the blade from its corpse, crimson blood covering it, and prepares for his next move.
Rifiki
Perhaps putting more style than skill into this shot, Rifiki finds his bullet flying wild, and bounces off the Eastern wall, landing in the bowl of the fountain.
Dire Rats
Three of the dog sized rats turn towards the door, and the fresh meat within, and move up, two lunging for the Lizardfolk, and another attempting to gnaw upon the Hobgoblin.
Both S'koth and Zar find their flesh pierced by sharp, vile fangs as the vermin sink their teeth in deep!
Zar, S'koth, make me Fort Saves, 1 each.
The remaining Dire Rat lunges forward, and with a terrible shrieking cry, bashes the door in! A scaly figure can be seen falling over backwards with a thrashing rat atop it, and sounds of struggle can be heard echoing from the passageway!
End of Round 1 Status
-Melisaria-Full Health
-S'koth-Wounded, 5ft from 3 Dire Rats.
-Yenli-Full Health
-Zar-Wounded, 5ft from 2 Dire Rats.
-Rifiki-Full Health
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Post Round 2 Actions, and S'koth and Zar give me those saves.
Fort save
Feeling the foul teeth pierce his scaly hide, S'koth roars in annoyance and frustration - seeing Meepo go down angers him more than he realised it would. He lashes out at the vile bags of soon-to-be blood and bone...
(I'm confused by what you mean by "5' from" - do you mean adjacent? - I'm assuming if they attacked S'koth and Zar, he can attack them?)
S'koth - Full attack:
Claw on 1st dire rat:
Attack
Damage
Claw on 2nd dire rat:
Attack
Damage
Bite on 3rd dire rat:
Attack
Damage
An involuntary flinch at the rat's bite causes Heddroth's blow to go astray.
Rifiki will curse the rats in undercommon, then load his sling and fire a bullet at the rat going after poor Meepo.
-4 if in melee
Melisaria will attempt to stab one of the rats that was attacking her companions, with her scimitar holy weapon of Eloria.
"Take that you filthy vermin! The Mother will not let you have us for a meal this day." she shouts as her revered blade slices into one of the foul creatures.
Between all the attacks and magic sent against them, two of the three rats facing the party are slain, with the last rat retreating, provoking AOO's from Zar, Melisaria, and S'koth. Outside the room a loud snap and crunching noise can be heard, and then silence from the area where Meepo was last seen. Assuming your AOO's kill the fleeing Rat, you are out of initiative.
What do you do?
Melisaria takes one more feeble attempt at the fleeing rat.
AFter the creature has been slain, she goes to Yenli. "Thanks for the hand with the healing. I owe you my life." She bows low and smiles.
"Let's find out where our little retainer has gone too."
As the Dire Rat begins to scurry away, Melisaria brings her scimitar around in a wide arc, bisecting the creature and ending the threat to the adventurers...for the moment.
As the party moves out of the chamber with the sarcophagi, you can see into the southern room. The last Dire Rat, twitching and thrashing, lies upon the body of Meepo...a few moments later, a spear tip can be clearly seen protruding from the vermin's back, and it is obvious Meepo is alive, though trapped underneath the weight of the creature's corpse. He looks up at the party, and gives a sheepish grin full of teeth. Evidently, he is not entirely useful...
What do you do?
Rifiki will dust himself off, close the sarcophagi...leaving all the possible loot with the corpses, he may be in need of healing down the road. If Meepo is still on the ground, he will help him up with a hand.
Once Meepo is up and safe, Rifiki will check out the door to area 25 for anything behind it
S'koth surveys the carnage before rushing toward the southern room. He smiles.
"Svarkh hess, kravatchi - vu qandrah!"* enthuses S'koth, helping Rifiki with Meepo and dusting the little kobold off.
*
The carved stone sarcophagi each resemble a noble elflike humanoid in ceremonial robes. A shrine carved of obsidian is set in the center of the west wall, on which a single candle yet burns. The shrine is covered in carvings of Dragons, and sitting upon it, in addition to the burning candle, are a flask and a whistle carved out of what appears to be colored, transparent glass.
After seeing that Meepo seems okay, Melisaria goes back into the sarcogphagus room, and asks Eloria to show her the dweomer on any of the items on the shrine.
"I would imagine that candle is magical for it to be burning all this time, not sure about the other items yet."
Rifiki, you do not find any traps, nor do you hear anything behind the door.
Yenli, make me a perception check as you search the room. Of note in the room is the burning candle, the whistle made out of some kind of transparent glass like material, and a potion flask. The burnt out eyes of the undead horrors could perhaps be worth something as well.
S'koth, Meepo bares his teeth in a fierce, warrior expression, obviously eager and thrilled by the praise. The only things of note are the fountain with the mysterious phrase on it, and the items described in the sarcophagus room. Though you have yet to search further north, or the rooms the Dire Rats swarmed out of.
What do you all do?
Melisaria, your magic reveals the presence of magic on the candle, the whistle, and the potion. If you study for three rounds, you find that all 3 items have faint auras. A knowledge Arcana roll for each will reveal schools of magic, and Spellcraft can be used to identify, if you wish to take the time.
"These items are enchanted but I have not the skill to determine their properties. I suggest we take them as they may prove useful later. If anyone else wants to examine, they are welcome to."
IF no one objects, Melisaria, takes the items and puts them in her pack, holding the candle as a light source for now.
Hedrroth spends a minute or two further shattering the skeletons just to make sure they aren't playing dead. I can't think of any other hobgoblin who can claim to have fought and destroyed two undead skeletons. What a boast that will make.
S'koth makes sure to gather up the remaining jewelled eyes from the skeleton's (if Hedroth hasn't already) worthless or not. He offers one to each member of the party (including himself and Meepo) as a keepsake and gives the remaining to Rifiki for "safekeeping" unless anybody particularly wants more.(If Hedroth already took them he asks for one as a keepsake.)
Hedrroth has no intentions of taking any of them as keepsakes. "If at some future point we determine they aren't dangerous and sell them, I'll take my cut, but I want nothing to do with them before then."