Kirthfinder - Sovalles

Game Master Kirth Gersen

I don't think I'll bother with re-rolling my initiative at this point. Let's just keep moving the game forward.

Upon being healed, Dair warily gets to his feet, brushing himself off. He draws his rapier and holds it at the ready. Unsure when it's Dair's turn.

Turn order: Enemies (22) --> Eshkeval(18.4) --> Kolmac(18.1) --> Dairkul(6) --> Cayden(5) --> Aemur(3).

It's currently your turn, Dairkul.

Did I actually fall unconscious? I assume I did, and thus fell prone, right? If so, I need to spend an action(move?) to get back up, yeah? Just trying to figure out what exactly I can do with my turn. If I'm correct, and need to spend a move to stand, I should be able to still toss a dagger.

Did I actually fall unconscious? I assume I did, and thus fell prone, right? If so, I need to spend an action(move?) to get back up, yeah? Just trying to figure out what exactly I can do with my turn. If I'm correct, and need to spend a move to stand, I should be able to still toss a dagger.

Judging from Kirth's response to Aemur, I think you did indeed "fall" unconscious, and must then spend an action to get back up before attacking. You have a high Sleight of Hand modifier though, so you should be able to quick draw anything you need as a free action without hassle.

Yes, when you fall unconscious, you don't remain standing (unless, of course, you've been polymorphed into a cow). In your case, you took 3+6=9 damage and were indeed briefly unconscious, unless you succeeded at a DC 22 Endurance check (see "ferocity" use of Endurance skill in Chapter 4).

I should note, Aemur, Cayden and Dairkul: all of our turns are after the enemies turns, so barring special circumstances like expecting heals and buffs, feel free to just post what you'll do on your turn, for the sake of expediency.

Seeing that there's apparently only one foe left, the halfling rogue tosses his dagger at it. Already had the daggger in hand before the attack. 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8 However, his head is still reeling from being unconscious moments ago, and his blade goes wide.

Cayden?

Given the reaction last time I rolled random dice for someone, I won't make that mistake again. But to keep things moving, does someone want to bot Cayden for this turn, until he shows up again? I PMed him a few days ago.

Kirth, are you okay with waiting until Monday? It's July 4th weekend here in the states, and Cayden might be away/too busy to reply. If by Mon there's nothing, we can see about taking his action.

Concur.

Well, it's been a few days. I'll assume that Cayden charges forward with his +1 broadsword, swinging wildly! (That said, I'm not sure if there's enough distance for him to charge, so we can add the +2 after the fact if need be).

attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
damage: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

I doubt that even an 11 hits, so let's move on to Aemur, shall we? After that, it's the start of the round anew.

My Acrobatics is terrible, so I don't have much chance of kipping up or evading an AoO for doing so. I'm going to attack from the ground at a -4 penalty. Fortunately I am at 7 HP, and no longer taking penalties for being injured!

Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 171d10 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

Aemur swings wildly about him as he comes to, not yet aware enough to realize that standing up next to the tree-creature is a bad idea. A lucky hit from his glaive shudders down his arm with the impact, clearing some of his confusion away.

EDIT: Just realized I cannot attack adjacent with my glaive, so I would need to use my move action first. I'll Attempt the acrobatics check to move at half speed without provoking AoO... DC is 5 + opponents CMD.

Acrobatics: 1d20 ⇒ 9

The creature, being heavily wounded after the 1-2 combo from the channeled energy and arcane bolt, feebly watches Aemur crawl away, keeping its eyes (of which you now notice it has four) on those still standing up.

Well, it's been a few days. I'll assume that Cayden charges forward with his +1 broadsword, swinging wildly! (That said, I'm not sure if there's enough distance for him to charge, so we can add the +2 after the fact if need be).

[dice=attack]1d20+6
[dice=damage]1d8+5

I doubt that even an 11 hits, so let's move on to Aemur, shall we? After that, it's the start of the round anew.

Swinging wildly would be inaccurate since he's no wild berserker, but thanks for not letting me slay the game. And he would certainly charge in to get a decisive blow in when he can

I doubt that even an 11 hits, so let's move on to Aemur, shall we? After that, it's the start of the round anew.

It's amazing what a -3 to AC from being heavily wounded can do for your opponents. Cayden's blow should have been a clean miss, but in the monster's exhausted state, it's unable to get out of the way of the blow. Its thick, leaf-scale hide seems to rob your blow of half its usual effect, but the remainder is sufficient to send the thing crashing into the leaves at your feet. You notice, with some disgust, that its wound oozes steaming black ichor rather than red blood; as the air gets to it, the fluid begins to smoke.

Seeing the black smoke rising from the ...carcass... of the creature jsut a few feet from himself, Aemur struggles to his feet and quickly moves further away. What was that? What's going on?

His voice is shaky, his confidence nowhere to be seen. The fight - more specifically, the almost instant knockout - had pushed him even harder than the fight with the ghoul had.

Kolmac approaches the smoking corpse, curiosity briefly overriding caution. He prods at the wound with the blade of his axe, observing how the creature's hide moves. "Something left over from the Days of Darkness if I had to guess. And also the reason the construction site was abandoned, most likely. We should approach carefully, there may be more about." At this point, the smoke rising from the wound reaches his face, and he backs away quickly, coughing violently, "Winds of winter, that's foul."

"Got it, be on our guard and ready for action."
Cayden kept on high alert even as he approached the body. He didn't know much about the days of darknese, but he wanted to know just what they were facing.
"The Baron certainly won't be pleased to hear that walking corpses and evil trees are so close to civilization"

Dairkal's riding dog gets a whiff of the smell and whimpers, fur standing end.

The monster's body continues to smoke, and quickly molders away until nothing is left but some evil-smelling slime.

(Bump)

Aemur takes a few deep breaths from where he is standing, shaken by the close call but feeling better now. With the spectacular healing from Eshkeval and the time to put his head back together, Aemur is ready to continue. He looks around at the group, and suggests they travel a little more defensively. We got ambushed once, but now we know to not only keep an eye what could be behind the tree, but on the tree itself too! Dang trees...

It all happened so quickly, Eshkeval thought. One second, they were walking through the woods and in the next second, two of his compatriots were down, having been struck viciously by a pair of what could only be described as tree beasts.

No! It wasn't supposed to be like this... Eshkeval could hear them screams, he felt a wave of emotions from surprise to terror wash over him. It threatened to engulf him completely in it's icy grip. But as he clutched his hand, he felt the grasp of his holy symbol pen.

No. I reject this. "I REJECT"

A rush of power poured out of him just then, far beyond any parlor trick he had been able to muster at that point. It took every ounce of concentration he had to channel that power through his pen, which he then slashed out with in a full circle around himself.

From that slash, a rainbow colored paint emerged from his pen and enveloped the area around them. His friends were enveloped by it and healed. His enemies were enveloped by it and screamed out in pain, one of them glowing rainbow colors before being transformed into a regular tree. The other, of tougher resolve, managed to hold on to it's physical form, but was greatly weakened by the blast.

As Kolmac and Cayden tried to finish off the remaining beast, Eshkeval fell to the ground, having greatly overtaxed his power. During this brief period of unconsciousness, his spirit left his body. He saw his friends. He saw his town. He saw his continent. He saw his world. He saw his galaxy.

Out in the infinite depths of the universe, he came into contact with an indescribable being.

"..."

"What?" Eshkeval spoke/thought. "I don't understand..."

"..."

Eshkeval woke up.

With the excitement over, you can see the outline of a wooden structure up ahead. It appears the forest is already in the process of reclaiming it.

Looks like the buildings are already falling down... these are some aggressive forests! We should check and see if anything can be found in them before they fall down. Preferably without making them fall down. Aemur is still looking all around and probing ahead with his glaive, not trusting the trees or grasses around the group as he heads for the nearest building.

As you get closer, you notice even more the absence of birdsong. Still, nothing else jumps out at you, and when near enough, you can make out a very heavy padlock on the door and a carefully-lettered sign, almost the size of the door, that reads in both Common and High Elvish:

WARNING!
This place condemned by order of Baron Garstang of Paillard.
Very weak floors! Danger of collapse and injury or death.
Carnivorous plant activity also noted inside.

As is typical for Aviona, no one bothers to repeat the warning in Halfling; the elves assuming that any halfling that can't read Common or High Elvish probably isn't worth worrying about. This is something Dairkal is used to, and may or may not (rightfully) resent; Kolmac finds it strange (as he does many of the customs here).

Still reclaiming his bearings after that last attack, Eshkeval reads the line about the Carnivorous plants, and can't help but to wonder aloud, "Hmm, were those trees from before...trying to eat us?"

Kolmac dubiously mutters, "Those weren't like any plant I've ever seen." Can supplement that comment with my +4 Survival if needed.

Casting his eyes over the structure, he wonders why construction made it this far before the danger became apparent, and what the building was once intended to be. Maybe the answers are inside?

"Well," Eshkeval exclaims, "standing here isn't going to help us. We got this far together, I'm sure we'll be able to handle anything we might see inside. That said, let's stay in formation from now on, to make sure we aren't too taken aback by anything we may meet."

With that, Eshkeval will explain the "+" formation to the group, before gesturing for Cayden to open the door. Once he does so, the entire group will enter.

This might also be a good place to try active perception checks, guys.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

Would you rather Cayden try and break it down, or do you want to see if Dairkal can pick the padlock?

It's probably best to have Dairkul pick the padlock. Take 20 if he needs to. If that fails, then we'll have Cayden try and bust in, and if that should fail, we'll rely on my Ritual Dimension Skip.

Agreed. But if Dairkul cannot pick it, let's break it down.

When he finally got to bring his senses together in the midst of the battle and see his new allies fall... His eyes widened with wonder hearing the scream of the artist and the shock of seeing a man seemingly paint over time itself...
Eshkeval is probably his favorite person now, prodding him a bit on the way to the door with an almost giddy tone, asking how on earth he was able to do that.

Otherwise, he kept his wits about him, suspicious in general about this place, and even more wary after finding the flora was attempting to eat him.

Before he attempts to pick the lock, Dair questions his companions "Are we absolutely sure we want to break into a place deemed both off limits and unsafe by the Baron of this town?" After two near death experiences, he wasn't so keen on courting a possible third.

Aemur looks around warily, then speaks his own mind. We've seen evidence of foul beings and threats to the peaceful folk around here; children are already missing. I am sure.

"Well, we've come this far. Turning back now would be...unfortunate. Besides, I'm pretty sure we have the blessing of the Baron anyway, so I'm sure things should be alright, right?"

I guess the other alternative is to give up on the game and become potatoes farmers until the plot inevitably catches up to us. But that sounds like it might take even longer.

Given the replies, am I safe in assuming Dair is Taking 20 to pick the lock?

Grumbling slightly, Dairkal walks up to the door, and checks it over for traps before attempting to pick the lock. Taking 20 on Disable Device to notice a trap, and then to open the lock.

Dairkul's Disable Device is a +7, I believe, making his total check a 27. Let us know if we need to roll for aid another.

Finding nothing amiss or unexpected, Dairkal assesses the lock. It's heavy and sturdy, and hard to pick, but it's almost identical to one he'd practiced on before. His record time was 2 minutes. This one takes more like 20, but it clicks open.

As the lock clicks open, Aemur looks around the group. Everyone ready? Then lets see what's hidden inside...

Aemur or Cayden should probably go first... Despite recent evidence to the contrary, Aemur is still the second-tankiest in mechanical terms.

The group heads inside.

As per our marching orders, Cayden is first. Followed by Kolmac, who is flanked on both sides by me and Dairkul. Aemur brings up the rear.

The group files inside; it's dark past the entryway.

I'm assuming someone lit a torch/lantern or cast a light spell BEFORE you went in -- please let me know which, and who's holding it. Otherwise, as the old Zork game used to say, "It is dark here. You are likely to be eaten by a grue."

Inside, the floors seem perfectly sturdy, as does the ceiling. There is no evidence of carnivorous plant life, or even any plants. There's nothing else of note until Aemur walks in; the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Old planar sense is acting up again, he thinks. But that's at the back of his mind; the front part is all about his skill as a tracker, and about how little dust is on the floor.

According to character sheets, it seems Kolmac was smart enough to take the Light spell. Being in the middle and having no need to hold anything with 2 hands, he's also the perfect person to make use of such lighting abilities.

Also, Aemur, looks like you've got some checks to roll. I really hope that we aren't fighting any incoporeals right now, even if I can deal damage to them with Channel Energy. Healing ability damage and stuff isn't easy at this level.

Aemur notices the lack of dust, and his first thought is the preceding party members shuffled it up; but if that were the case, there would be more dust in the air, not less, and the party had not yet made it very far. Combined with the hairs prickling on his neck, Aemur is sure something is up. Folks... this isn't what it appears to be. Something is out of place... maybe even out of Plane.

Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
Planar Sense: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Aemur fails to discern any tracks, and can't put his finger on the eerie sense he's getting. But he sees that, despite the rough appearance of the exterior, the interior finish of the building is solidly-constructed, with the boards carefully fitted together so there are no gaps. Running his hand along a wall indicates how smooth the wood was sanded, then lacquered. His ears pick up a kind of faint "thump" as you walk. Someone with ranks in Craft (construction) could probably learn more...

Other than that, the place seems empty.

Hearing Aemur's concerns about an otherworldly prescence, Eshkeval thinks back to earlier in the day, where he felt a surge of cosmic power flow through him. Maybe if he concentrated, and tried to replicate that feeling of cosmic awareness, he could get some sort of idea for what Aemur was talking about? Afterall, it couldn't hurt to try.

Planar Sense: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

Kolmac will cast light on his axe before the group enters.

Following Aemur's warning, he'll cast his eyes about the room. Unfortunately, planar anomalies were not covered in his training...

Perception 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
Survival 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

Oh well, worth a shot. Any indication of what kind of building it is? Any additional rooms, stairs, etc.?

Eshkeval reaches out his senses, straining to feel thebeyond that his best moments of artistry make him feel. He almost wonders if he senses it, then the moment collapses into reality, leaving him standing, with his companions, in an otherwise empty building.

Kolmac sees no evidence of another room, or stairs, or whatever. Quick mental math indicates to him that there are no other interior spaces horizontally adjacent to the one he's in.

Untrained Craft (construction): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 No further clues.

-----

Something about the sound the floor makes when you walk on it is bothering Dairkal.

A thought comes to Kolmac, and he goes still, suddenly very aware of where his feet are. "Hang on. The sign said dangerous plants and weak floors...no sign of any plants, so it may just be a deterrent, but...the only floor is the one we're standing on." He casts his eyes downward. "Could there be another level below us?"