Wardove's Rumble in the Jungle

Game Master Laithoron

A sigh escapes Alis as she looks toward the looming moutain to the east, it's pinnacle highlighted intermittently by strokes of lightning. She seems grateful for the chance to have laughed, but even the storm hasn't dampened her determination. "We need to keep going. We can pause for a breather after we've at least put the mountain between us and the Tide Stone. Aycenia said it is located where the river flowing off the mountain meets the lagoon..."

As she resumes following the trail, she calls out over her shoulder, By the way, I may look like trouble, cause trouble, or even seek trouble out, but I seldom get into trouble!"

Mal gives Priyya a long look and mutters, "Yeah, that's where the rest of us come in..."

The priestess merely smiles back at him with her eyes before following after, seemingly making of point of tromping in every mud puddle she sees.

Lureene wisely does not reply to the Princess' rejoinder, but she does manage to shoot Sasha an exaggerated wink.

As if...

LK Calendar: Uniens 08, 4210 — Daegsday (day 4)
Time: 4:00et (evening, 10:00pm)
Darkshoal: First Quarter

For another three hours you slog thru the mud, wind, and rain. By about 3 o-clock in the evening, the rain finally begins to abate, yet the dark, towering trees still sway precariously from the gusting winds. Shortly before 4 o-clock, Alis and Mal both call for a halt.

Before you, a 50-foot wide gorge scars the landscape. A rickety-looking rope bridge, with the limb of a blasted tree leaning upon it, spans the swift, rain-swollen river below. Alis points out that a good bit of damage has been dealt to the bridge by the heavy branch, and Priyya (borrowing Mal's eagle eyes) confirms that the rope on the right-hand side have partially snapped from the strain causing the rain-slick boards to sag.

On the opposite side, when Darkshoal is able to slip from behind the clouds, you can see the trail beginning to head up the lower reaches of the mountain to your north.

[ REAVER'S SHIV: Map | Position (026 - Rope Bridge) | Overland Rules ]

"Is it completely unusable? You think it's safe to cross? If so, I'll volunteer to go first." Darvesh tells Alis

"Well, if it can bear up you and your armor then it should be sturdy enough for anyone else, right Mal?"

"Yeah, you've got that right. If it breaks though, that's going to be one hell of a swim..."

"Here goes nothing.." He replies as he slowly and carefully attempts to cross the bridge.

Lureene hefts her wand and scans the night sky for any threats from the Red Mountain Devil, or anything else for that matter while Darvesch crosses the bridge.

Perception 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Just as Lureene watches the skies, Alis watches to ensure the dubious bridge doesn't hurl her cousin into the storm surge below.

For his part, the dwarf keeps his knees bent and sticks to the non-damaged side of the bridge. He makes his way across with a degree of surefootedness that surprises even himself. Although the bridge creaks in protest, it still holds fast and he makes it to the other side without issue.

"Well that's a relief..."

Alis quickly hurries over after Darvesch, the bridge hardly making a squeak as she petite elf crosses over.

"Damaged or not, it was still made for giants..."

Not quite as nonchalant as the tiny dancer, Priyya begins making her way across the bridge noticing with a bit of ire that it is making a great deal more protest than seems reasonable.

Alíta help me, but if Alis is conjuring these sounds–

Suddenly, as she reaches the halfway point, Priyya feels the bridge lurch under her feet and there is deep growl of concern behind her. Instantly the priestess' head snaps about to find Talvyra following faithfully behind her!

"Tal, run for it!"

Priyya's urgency is plain and the great cat trusts her like a sister. The panther lopes forward before breaking into a run, the sound of snapping ropes and shifting branches spurring her onwards. Behind her, Priyya tries to keep up, but it is all she can do to hang on when the right hand support rope gives way sending the fallen tree limb crashing down into the gorge where it vanishes wholly into the whitewater.

Desperately, Priyya tries to hang on but when the remaining rope rebounds from the sudden loss of weight and slams back down again she is unable to maintain a purchase on the slick rope and flung off like a ragdoll that had been pinned to a clothesline snapped taut.

Time seems to slow-down as Priyya plummets towards the river below when you realize that her is still whipping about in the wind as furiously as before. On the opposite bank, you can see Alis pointing at her, the sound of her featherfall spell drowned out by din of snapping branches. You can just barely hear her shout, "EL!!!"

NOOOOO!!

Lureene acts on instinct, sprints towards the cliff and launches herself into the air! Unfurling her wings to slow her fall, she scans the are above for Priyya’s falling form, and not wasting time with niceties, slams into the desert warrior and holds tightly to her body. Once she has a firm grip she utters a magical word and attempts to fly both of them up to the other cliff side.

Standard action: glide off the cliff to Priyya and grapple her.
Swift action, cast Fly Swift on herself.
Acrobatics check 1d20 + 9 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 9 + 10 = 36 wings
Fly check 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
Grapple roll if needed 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17 CMB

Although it has only been a month and a half since Lureene sought to rescue Alis from being crushed beneath a falling chandelier, it might as well have been a lifetime ago. Without hesitation, the succubus launches herself off the cliff, casting her spell as she goes. She contact's the priestess mid-air, her thin arms clasped about the warrior woman's waist.

However, though they are the same height, Priyya's dense, muscular frame and equipment is more than the lightly built wizardess can bear aloft even with her magic. Yet just as it looks like the two will crash headlong into the side of the gorge, Lureene gives a powerful thrust of her wings, straining muscle and sinew and just barely manages to clear the edge of cliff before collapsing on the ground, arms, neck, and shoulders screaming in protest.

Really starting to hate being suspended by ropes...

Straightening headdress and saying a silent prayer for temperance, the Surya-ka-Vahaak pushes herself back to her feet and marches over to where Lureene finally ground to a stop about 10-feet away. With a heavy sigh, she squats next to the succubus and helps her back to her feet.

"There but for an angel... Thank you."

Lureene gasps in pain as her wings spasm briefly, before she is able to control them enough to furl them behind her back. She had not recalled stretching her wings like that before ever since she arrived on Elsemar. Still, her wings felt much more flexible now.

I hope I do not need to do that again for some time!

As Priyya help her to her feet, she smiles at the priestess "No, Priyya...not an angel, but you are welcome."

She looks across the gorge where Mal and Sasha still stand. "How are we going to get them across?"

"I don't know," he shrugs. "How about tying a rope to someone, anchor it to something, and have the tied person, and one of them," pointing to Mal and Sasha, "jump toward each other, grabbing each other when they meet." He mimics the demonstration with his hands. "Well, that's my idea. Anyone have a better one?" He shrugs again and walks off to to lean on the nearest tree, resigning to the fact that his plan is absolutely crazy.

"Well, I suppose I could always fly back across, tie off a line and they could brace using that. Actually I should have asked you to do that first, Darv, I guess I wasn't thinking..."

"What weren't you thinking about, 'Lis?"

"About tying a safety rope across in case something like thi– SASHA?!" Alis looks at the red head wide-eyed and incredulous.

Sasha gets a big grin on her face, holds out her hands and exclaims, "ALIS!"

"What in the Nine Hells?" questioning in great confusion.

Eyes narrowing, Priyya steps to the side and points at the rather large figure presently pulling himself across the lone guy rope by his hands, ankles locked together over it. "Tch... Cocky bastards."

Mal clambers off the end, scowling at the dark waters below when suddenly he feels a small fist slam into his thigh. "Whoa!"

Turning around, he sees Priyya staring up at him with a smouldering look in her eyes. "The hell, Darkmane! You ok?"

Sasha smiles at Darvesch's confusion and points a thumb at herself. "That's right, from carrying evil swords to fishing for ghouls to crossing rivers or tying up fiesty succubuses, I come up with all the good ideas!"

Lureene is surprised to see Sasha and Mal make it over to the other side. I guess they both climbed over while I got over the HARD way! Still, I wonder if there is another way back?

"Soooo, Sash...is there another way across?" She pauses and glances at Sasha muttering under her breath, "It's succubi by the way!"

"Tying up...?" He says as he looks to Lureene. "Just. Nevermind. Forget I asked." He shakes his head. "Let's keep going. We can figure a way back when it becomes necessary. Unless everyone wants to stop now... " He says as he looks around to the others for input.

"No, no, let's keep going." Priyya says, an inscrutable look on her face. "I'm suddenly feeling rather invigorated and could use a good chance to work off some excess energy. There are just some days when it doesn't pay to be an outsider bound to the prime material plane for nebulous reasons. I think today is going to be one of them..."

With that, she proceeds with marching further along the muddy path up the mountain, her flaring aura ghostly in the cool, damp air.

"Hey, wait up!" Darvesh exclaims as he follows beside Priyya.

Lureene follows behind the others, scanning the night sky with her enhanced vision and wonders at Priyya's strange behavior.

What has gotten into her? Hmmm, I wonder....naah. I guess she is just looking forward to facing that Red Devil!

LK Calendar: Uniens 09, 4210 — Lakusday (day 5)
Time: 0:00nf (nightfall, 12:00am)
Darkshoal: First Quarter

Theme: Solitude

For the next hour, you hike uphill skirting around a thick tract of jungle. The trail turns into gravel and bare rock before long, and at regular intervals markers have been erected formed from human bones. Numerous switch-backs keep the grade of the ascent manageable before it finally evens out and curves westward around the mountain.

You proceed carefully knowing that at this point an encounter with the Red Mountain Devil is all but inevitable yet determined to at least spot it before it can spot you. Even still, you can help but feel as though you are being watched and studied from a distance...

With each step, Brightpool sinks ever lower into the Gulf of Dafar. Its final rays of silvery light illuminate the side of the Red Mountain even as the red quarter-moon, Darkshoal approaches its zenith, further intensifying the red cast to the mountain. About halfway around the trail, another path splits off to the right, climbing towards the summit, but you keep to the main trail as it begins to descend back towards the lagoon.

At last, by the last lingering rays of Brightpool, you reach the end of the trail. Below you, a rocky cleft cuts into the cliff presenting an eighty-foot drop into the glowing green waters of the lagoon. Several ledges, each connected by rickety-looking rope bridges, lead down into the cleft to the rocky beach below. What appears to be a large nest of driftwood, grass, shreds of cloth, and perhaps bones seems to be wedged against the easternmost extent of the cleft. Map of this will be posted tomorrow.

Below, four stone monoliths, appearing as jagged stalagmites, protrude from the grass at the edge of a bluff. At the center of the spires, is a pyramid-shaped block of stone.

[ REAVER'S SHIV: Map | Position (027 - The Tide Stone) | Overland Rules ]

OK, the map for this was rather poorly illustrated IMO, so in order to make sense of it just please work with me here...

The pathway you have been walking along clears the edge of the mountain affording you a commanding view of the crevasse and the bluff to the south. While the ground where you currently stand is sloping yet fairly level, as it approaches the cleft it quickly become quite steep until it falls off into sheer cliffs. Between these cliffs are a series of three rope bridges. These work their way up from the beach, crisscrossing between the cliffs until reaching the 80-ft high bluff where the Tide Stone rests.

Alis frowns. "Lureene could probably glide over there, and I could probably make it via a flight spell, but I can't just drop the rest of us in there. It's too far of a jump to clear the slope and get over the cliffs and if we didn't all slip and fall we'd be sitting ducks. We'll have to stick to the path or rappel... which would still leave us wide open."

Looking down, you can see that the path you are on descends thru a more shallow cut in the cliff. It will be difficult footing, but not so severe of a slope as to warrant a climb.

"Well, let's head down..."

You walk for a few hundred feet before something startles Lureene. In her surprise, she sends a rain of stones tumbling down the pathway and Darvesch's armor scrapes against the cliffs as he tries to keep from running into her. Priyya herself stumbles a bit as well, distracted by something above which prompt Talvyra to grumble with discontent.

Yet even as Mal turns about, lip curled in disbelief at the racket everyone is making, he notices that Priyya, Sasha and Alis are all craning their necks looking upward. From above, sand and some loose pebbles skitter down the cliff as if they had just been knocked free by something.

"There was something up there," Alis hisses, "on the east side — a dark shape looking down on us. It withdrew when it knocked those stones free..."

MAP: Y-The Tide Stone, (Round 00)

Lureene slips her wand out of her sheath, and chants a spell of protection on her. She then continues to scan the night sky, looking for a trace of their elusive prey.

Free action, ready wand.
Standard action, cast Mage Armor on herself, duration 6 hours.
Move action, scan for the Red Devil. Perception 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

Priyya nocks an arrow, gaze fixed upon the edges of the cliff above for any signs of movement. She leans closer to Lureene and whispers, with an eager grin, "You wouldn't happen to have any of that to spare would you?"

Nearby, Mal and Sasha also raise their bows, eyes hunting for signs of movement in the red glow of Darkshoal.

"We're packed in like rats in a pipe," Mal growls, "keep moving."

As you continue moving, he mutters something under his breath in an ancient tongue and thumps a fist against his chest. Although it is barely perceptible, his skin seem to take on a thick, leathery quality.

Mal casts barkskin on himself. AC to 24

Even as Alis draws her rapier and waves everyone forward, you can hear a deep husky throat breathing behind you. Gritting your teeth, you turn around only to find nothing there. A deafening roar nearly makes you jump, yet when you cover your ears against it, you realize it is coming from within your own mind!

The roar is cut short by cold, ruthless chuckling. A sense of crushing despair threatens to overwhelm your rear guard. Darvesch seems to shrink in his armor even as Sasha cringes, trying to press herself flat against the side of the gorge as if to disappear into it.

Thinking that they see something, Priyya and Mal both fire, but their arrows only strike a boulder jutting from atop the cliff.

Seeing how jittery her friends are, Alis looks about then hops up onto a nearby rock to make herself taller. In a loud, commanding voice, she shouts, "We've survived assassins, a shipwreck, cultists, giants, and the wrath of an awakened GOD! Don't let this backwater devil bother you! Remember, we sent the last devil that toyed with us back to hell... as ashes in a burial urn! We'll scatter this one to the WIND!"

As you listen to the fiery little blonde, you feel a surge of hope well up within you displacing your doubt. Darvesch straightens, the resolve in his heart rekindled, and Sasha cracks a crooked grin, ready to spill some devil blood.

Good Hope: +2 Morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls. (Expires round 72)

Alis nods to Mal and he signals for the rest of you to move forward and out of the gorge. Darvesch moves up but not past, remaining near his elven cousin, eyes alert.

"FIEND!" Alis shouts, "We have come for the wizardess Ieana d'Adora, not you! Withdraw now if you value your continued existence! Refuse and we will show no quarter!"

As the words 'no quarter' resound off the rocky walls of the gorge, the sinister chuckling you have been hearing in your minds fades away. Instead, from somewhere atop the cliffs overhead, you hear a primordial snarl and the sound of exertion. A rain of stone and debris falls around Alis, skittering off of the sacred aura surrounding her before a boulder as big as a pony comes hurtling down!

She leans closer to Lureene and whispers, with an eager grin, "You wouldn't happen to have any of that to spare would you?"

Lureene nods, "Sure, one moment..." Soon the priestess is covered in her own shimmering protective ward. As Alis issues her challenge to the Devil, Lureene slips behind her and touches her as well. "I have a feeling you will be needing this as well..."

Cast Mage Armor on Priyya and Alis.

Gauging its path, Alis hops to the side at the last second even as Darvesch dodges backwards. The heavy slab misses them only inches! With a thunderous BOOM, it slams into the boulder atop which the princess stood. Both stones are pulverized complete raising a cloud of dust and showering the area with splinters of stone that tink off of the dwarf's armor.

"Well," Alis comments with a sardonic grin, "so much for diplomacy..."

"To be honest," Alis shouts, her tone glib, "I was expecting something a bit more impressive. At least that's a sight better than a goat or a baboon."

When a roar of irritation rocks the cleft, she grins. "Very well, we shall oblige in your destruction!"

With a wink to Darvesch, she whispers, "I think I offended its ego!"

Theme: THE BEAST — You Can (Not) Retreat

High above, a large black shape, sinewy and reptilian in form, glides from atop the cliff. It seems to hang in the air for a moment, outstretched wings silhouetted against the baleful red moon above, it's eyes twin pin-points of gleaming hatred. A deafening bray causes the hair on your neck to stand on end and with a powerful rush it dives straight at Alis, intent upon murder!

Its very impacts shakes the cliffs, the rush of its wings ejecting a hail of debris from the gorge with its heavy landing. There is a sharp intake of breath and the the sound of mithril on iron-hard claws as Alis just barely manages to deflect its attacks.

As the dust clears, you see a lizard-like creature towering over the small woman on two powerful, double-jointed legs. It paces before the princess soundlessly, stepping with predatory care. Finely scaled skin stretches tight over its lithe, muscular body, giving the reptilian fiend a lean, starved appearance. Its arms, while thin, ripple with dense musculature reaching before it, long, clawed fingers gripping in anticipation. Between jaws filled with vicious, knife-sized teeth darts a thick, serpentine tongue, and dozens of thick black quills run from the back of its head to the base of its lashing tail. The whole of its dark grey form radiates with wispy crimson flames as if its very blood is a-boil. Behind its back, the devil's vast wings form a veritable curtain of darkness blotting out the path behind it.

Next Up: Lureene, Sasha, Mal, Priyya, Darvesch, Alis; RMD

MAP: Y - The Tide Stone, (Round 04)

Lureene finally sees the fiend and feels a familiar sense of fear knotted in her innards. Such fiends remind her of where she grew up too much for her liking. Knowing the fiend had to have some weaknesses, she studied its form for a few seconds, as she draws her rapier knowing it would be helpful in close combat should it decide to melee.

As an afterthought, she looses a volley of missiles into the fiend. Best to determine now if it is resistant to magic.

Move action, draw rapier.
Study creature for weaknesses. Knowledge (Planes) 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 11 + 2 = 26 good hope
Standard action: activate wand of MM, charges 20/50
3d4 + 3 ⇒ (4, 3, 2) + 3 = 12
Caster Level check 1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 5 + 2 = 19 good hope

As far as Lureene can tell what stands before them is a unique being. It certainly shares many of the same qualities as a fiend, although it appears to lack the intelligence and discipline of a true devil like Lucia. One thing is certain though, it is at least as powerful as the erinyes was, and she in fact remembers Priyya confirming as much during its attack two nights prior.

As they streak towards it, the missiles from Lureene's wand seem to skip across the surface of its skin before impacting much like a smooth stone thrown along the surface of a lake. So it had spell resistance, but it could be penetrated. That was good at least. The real question would be exactly what sort of damage reduction it possessed and which elements it was vulnerable to. If it was a devil though, that should indicate complete immunity to fire but not electricity...

Next Up: Sasha, Mal, Priyya, Darvesch, Alis; RMD, Lureene

Darvesch quickly searches his memory of the years of classes devoted to the knowledge of various creatures of evil. At least the basic knowledge of what kind of beast this was would help him cut it down faster.

He'll pass on any knowledge he learns to the whole group.

Jason: Nice rolls! :D BTW, don't forget the +2 Morale bonus from the Good Hope spell that Alis cast at the start of the battle.

Assuming it actually is a devil and not a demon (a distinction he realizes many uneducated laymen get wrong), Darvesch realizes that fire would most likely be useless against it. However, it appears to be some sort of a mixed breed, most likely a half-fiend of some sort (although what the other half is, he's got no clue).

Assuming it is a half-fiend, it should possess the same ability to smite an enemy that Priyya uses, although targeting the holy instead of the wicked. Spell-like area-of-effect abilities are also a good possibility.

It is also likely to have some measure of damage reduction meaning that singular powerful attacks with magical weapons will have more chance of hurting it that more numerous, weaker attacks. Likewise poison is unlikely to have any effect at all and there's a good chance that spells that affect a target directly may be resisted outright — at least Lureene's wand of missiles proves that its resistance to spells isn't perfect though.

Listening to its grunts and observing its almost animalistic mannerisms, Darvesch now suspects there is a very good chance that the Red Mountain Devil isn't actually intelligent enough to be bargained with, although it certainly understands displays of power and exhibits a strong territorial streak.

NOTE: Heading to bed for the night. If you can have an action ready by mid-morning that would be awesome so that I can narrate all the NPCs during the day. BTW, Alis and Jason shall be having words over his apparent disdain for elves (which is matched only by JJ's apparent disdain for dwarves). :P

"Be careful, everyone! Fire and poison are useless. Hit it hard, not quick. And it might resist magic outright." Darvesch informs the group. "The only good fiend is a dead fiend!" Darvesch exclaims as he draws his weapon and calls on the power of Kahn to aide him in battle. divine favour, activate destruction judgement. Then, he imbues his axe to be an anathema to fiends, and steps toward the creature and unleashes righteous fury. bane: outsider[evil]

Attack 1 1d20 + 13 - 2 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 13 - 2 + 2 + 2 = 22 power attack, divine favour, bane
Damage 1d10 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 2d6 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 8 + 4 + 2 + (1, 4) + 2 + 3 = 33 PA, DF, Bane, Judgement:Destruction

Attack 2 1d20 + 8 - 2 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 8 - 2 + 2 + 2 = 11 power attack, divine favour, bane
Damage 1d10 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 2d6 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 8 + 4 + 2 + (6, 2) + 2 + 3 = 28 PA, DF, Bane, Judgement:Destruction

As he calls out battle orders, Darvesch interposes himself between Alis and the devil and leads in with a powerful attack hoping to get the fell monster's attention. The tactic seems to work because when he reverses to perform a backswing, the creature shifts is weight at the last moment causing Darvesch to nearly spin himself around.

Although that draws his ire, he notes with satisfaction that his axe left a smoking mark on the devil's hide...

Priyya gave Lureene a nod of thanks for the protection and cast one on her in return. "A little something to keep that out of your head."
Priyya cast Protection from Evil on Lureene. Expires round 62.

Just before the Red Mountain Devil finally showed itself, she also called upon Alíta to bolster Mal's defenses, knowing full well that once engaged he thinks only of offense.
Priyya cast Shield of Faith on Mal. Expires round 63.

We can't bring our numbers to bear in this gorge. At least not in melee...

The Surya-ka-Vahaak takes a step to the side to give Mal a clear lane of attack, and raises her bow. "Alíta Shieldbearer, use me as your weapon!"

In response, Priyya's aura flares brilliantly and she looses a blazing shaft of light aimed at the devil's black heart, a second streaking right after it. Both impact with flawless precision, her foe rewarding her with a rasping grunt.