GM Mike's Ironfang Invasion

Game Master mike9322

Kn (geography, F. Terrain bonus): 1d20 + 13 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 13 + 2 = 24

Something about the place tickles at the back of his brain, but he can't quite put a finger on it.

"Rand and I can see in the dark pretty well, up to about twenty yards or so, but I'm guessing neither of you can. And traveling in the dark with a light source might as well be a big beacon saying 'intruders here.' I think we'll probably just have to deal with the fog. What say we set up camp just outside the valley? Might be the last time we get a chance for good rest for a hot minute."

Kn (history): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19

Katia purses her lips at the distant ruins and shrugs. She's a student of many endeavors, including history, but a lot of her history is that of her homeland--Varisia. She knows next to nothing about the Mindspin Mountains. She absently notes she should rectify that if they manage to reach Kraggodan alive. The dwarves doubtless have at least one comprehensive library on the subject of the mountain range they call home--probably several.

"Fine by me," she says sourly. Her thighs are chafed and sore, and she has spent the last twenty minutes trying to get this damned haliphonic ring to socket into the small spider-silk weave frame in the waistline of the robes she's working on for Randall. After learning he is, in fact, a monk, she made sure to snatch up materials for a special robe that should enhance his powers. She's only ever read about ki, but it follows similar theorems on conjuration and transmutation magic, so she thinks she can suss out the necessary details on her own.

She can't do much from saddleback, but she spent most of their stop for lunch working out the blueprint of sorts to make the robe. Unfortunately her fur-lined cloak and gloves are making the task harder than it needs to be. She wonders if they'll be able to make a campfire this close to the valley's entrance.

"How far back would we need to go to keep a campfire from being visible in the valley at night?"

I have not rolled yet for Spellcraft today. She's running on a DC 25, which means that she actually has a chance for failure. I need to roll a 4 or higher on the die. I won't make the roll until we've come to an agreement on whether to stop for the night or not.

Rand shrugs. That's hardly his area of expertise.

"I'd really like to get in there and get started," he says to V's suggestion. "The sooner we're through the valley and into those tunnels, the sooner we get to Kraggodan and warn them of the danger."

Kn (history): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (1) + 16 = 17

Rand is not from here. He's not from anywhere near here. You ask him about Garundi history, he's your guy. Vudra? Thuvia? Rahadoum? Absolutely. This backwater mountain range full of morlocks? Not so much.

He shifts from heel to heel, feeling the nervous energy building in him. Now that they're here, the longer they wait to get started the more anxious he's going to become. Maybe V's right about the light source though.

"Hey lady. You got magic, right? Anything to help you and Freyja see in the dark?"

Katia shakes her head. "I do not know the spell. I should have thought of it while we were still in Longshadow." She sighs. "Nothing for it at the moment; I don't think we can travel stealthily at night. Odd as it sounds, we are going to be harder to detect during the day. On the bright side," she pulls out a scroll and waves it a bit. "I completely forgot I made up a couple of these! As long as we can camp far enough back that the smoke won't be seen, we can safely camp without the fire being seen. And with our rest undisturbed."

I have a few scrolls of secure shelter! It basically conjures a cottage with eight bunks, eight stools, a writing desk, and a small fireplace. There is one window, but both the door and window are protected via arcane lock, and the chimney ends in an iron grate. All three have an alarm spell on them, and there's an unseen servant to see to our needs. Pretty snazzy!

All Katia needs to know is how far back from the valley entrance to cast it so the smoke can't be seen. She's not worried about the fire in the fireplace because we can just angle the shelter so the window faces away from the entrance to the valley.

Freyja thinks for a moment. "If we just go laterally along the mountain, we probably wouldn't need to go further than half a mile, especially if the light of the fire will be contained." (IOW you are in a bit of a bottleneck right now, so instead of going back the way you came, head perpendicular instead and use the natural terrain to block anyone in the Valley who might be watching for intruders.)

Katia nods, and lets Freyja lead the way to an appropriate spot. When they find one, she considers the angles of the nearby rocks, then begins a lengthy ritual. Over several minutes, she walks the dimensions of the cottage, muttering a chanting incantation, and moves one hand in a series of strange, esoteric gestures. As she continues walking, a faint misty line begins to appear on the rocky ground in the shape of a large rectangle. Once the line appears, she moves in concentric rectangular spirals slowly toward the center of the space. As she does, the misty lines in the ground rise into the air as smoky walls that slowly solidify into stone, until finally a large cottage stands before the party.

After a moment, the front door opens and Katia peeks her head out excitedly. "Holy s@%@! It worked! I haven't cast that spell before, so I wasn't like, a hundred percent sure, but--guys! Get in here, check it out!" She moves out of the doorway so the others can enter, closing the door behind them.

Inside, a fire crackles merrily in the fireplace, eight bunk beds line one wall, and a writing desk sits against the other. Eight stools are stacked in a corner, ready for use. A ghostly figure, little more than smoke in the vague shape of a humanoid, bows to the guests.

Katia grins. "Is this frickin' cool or what!!"

She can hardly contain her excitement. She's done some impressive things with magic, but this is one of the grander ones. She has stronger magic yet, but she hasn't really had a chance to unleash it. Nothing they've come across was quite the right target. She supposes they'll get the chance soon enough, but for now, this conjured cottage is pretty awesome. She plops down at the writing desk and grins. "Make yourselves cozy! I'm gonna get started on my project."

Veldanis narrows his eyes at the spectral being. "Uh... is that... alive? Do you have a soul trapped in here as your butler?"

Katia blinks. "What?? No!" She takes a deep breath; he doesn't cast spells, he can't know what it is by looking at it. She tries not to judge him too harshly, though she can't keep all the irritation out of her voice. "It's an unseen servant. They're mindless constructs. As such, don't give them any commands too complicated, yeah? They can only do basic stuff. Cleaning, cooking--not well, so I've heard--polishing armor. They can't mend things, or fight, so don't expect it to defend the place. But don't worry, the exits are covered with alarm spells and magical locks. We're safe as we can be in here."

Rand pokes the smoke-person, and is surprised to find it has substance, albeit spongy. "Whoa. Weird." He glances up at Katia and grins. "Lady, you are full of surprises."

Katia glares at him. "If you want the item I'm making right now--and believe me, you want it--then you'll stop calling me 'lady' and use my damn name." She turns away in a huff and bends down to begin her work.

Spellcraft for today's progress, DC 25: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (10) + 21 = 31

Rand throws his hands up defensively and backs away. "Okay, okay! Sorry, Katia. Meant no disrespect." He does mean it, even if his drawling tone makes it sound disingenuous. He can't help it; years of living with a thieves' guild has made him pick up strange habits. With a hop and a flip, he lands in one of the top bunks, with his arms folded behind his head and his tail draped over the side, flicking languidly back and forth.

Freyja can't help but grin. Now this is camping. She flops down on one of the bunks. "Katia, can the servant keep watch for us? Or do we still need to split it up?"

Please say it can do it, please say it can do it, pleasesayitca...

Trjega makes a beeline for the fireplace, makes some biscuits on the rug in front of it, then lies down and is sleeping four seconds later.

Katia makes a face at the cat poop, but the servant quickly sweeps it up and disposes of it out the window, which then latches back shut by itself. She grins at the ranger before turning her head back down to her work. "Nah, get some sleep. There are spells on the door, window, and chimney. Nobody's getting in here without us knowing. Besides, they'd have to be damn good with a lockpick to get the door or window open regardless, and brute force methods would wake us anyway." She sees now what she was doing wrong with the haliphonic ring; it needed a wax coating before putting it into the spidersilk-weave frame. Wax will help seal the trans-prismatic frequencies in the ring, duh. She shakes her head at how she could have missed that.

I love making up dumb magical jargon. XD

V glances uncertainly at the witch, then the quasi-invisible man shoveling cat poop, then shrugs. "I hope you're right. Rand, what do you--?" But the monk is already passed out in the bunk, snoring lightly. V chuckles and unbuckles the sheath for his greatsword before swatting Rand's tail aside and slipping into the bunk beneath him. All the same, he slips a dagger under his pillow, in easy reach just in case. He raises his head slightly to consider the other ranger. He heard the stories of her battle with the dragon, and a question looms in his mind. He takes a few moments but finally works up the gumption to ask it. "Hey, Freyja. Can I ask you something? If it's too personal, you don't gotta answer." He chews his lip a moment, then continues. "Killing Ibziriak is a helluva feat. I mean, a dragon! I thought Boneslurper was impressive, but that? That's next-level. Surely that would warrant your induction into the Wardens. Why haven't you?"

"Well, there's been a war on."

As soon as it escapes her mouth, she regrets it. She didn't intend to be so snide. For what seems like the thirtieth time today, she feels her face go beet red. She looks away from V, then back at him, then over at Katia (who thankfully seems to be directing the servant to clean some imagined thing off the ground near Trjega), then down at the floor. "Um. Sorry. I just mean, it just so happened that I was the only one who could hit it while it was flying. And the others were busy keeping its minions away from me. And I had dragon-bane arrows." She stares at a knot in the wood floor. The magic that made this place was pretty thorough! "We, um... we got lucky. The dragon was arrogant and thought it could toy with us. If we fight that battle ten more times, we probably lose all ten." She feels tears welling up in her eyes and blinks them away. "I'm sorry, can we not talk about this right now?" Without waiting for an answer, she lies down on the bed and turns her back, desperately trying not to break down in front of their new companions.

Trjega gets up from her cozy spot, stretches and yawns, walks over to Freyja's bed, gives V a look, then jumps up and curls up in the crook of Freyja's knees.

Veldanis sits up on the bed in alarm, opens his mouth a couple times, then snaps it shut, silently thanking his dark skin for hiding the flush in his cheeks from shame. He never meant to upset her, but now that he thinks about it, of course he upset her. She's been through the Nine Hells and back at this point. And here he is drudging up old wounds to sate his own stupid curiosity.

"I... I'm sorry." He almost says something else to try and ameliorate her, because when he's nervous or upset that's what he does, he just babbles, but then an idle swat to the face from Rand's tail snaps him out of it. He's almost certain the tiefling did it on purpose, but Rand still snores quietly above him.

Shaking his head, he lies back down. Still got a way with people, huh dummy? he thinks. He mentally chastises himself for the duration of the night, until he finally falls asleep.

I lost track of days. This is probably wrong, but we're going with it:

Day 96: Kuthona 22, 4717

The night passes peacefully. You can't help but wonder if it marks the end of the violence-free past couple of weeks. It has been a nice respite.

The morning is cold, but clear. If what Freyja guessed was accurate, however, that clarity will end the moment you enter the Valley.

"Well, there's been a war on."

As she loads her pack and readies for the day ahead, Freyja approaches V. "Hey, good morning. I am sorry I was rude last night. I would like to hear about the Wardens today while we walk if you wouldn't mind." She forces herself to look the big man in the eyes.

Veldanis blinks in mild surprise, pausing mid-buckle on his armor. "What? Naw, it was me that was outta line. You two have been through a lot the last couple months and I disrespected that, digging into stuff that probably still sucks to think about. I'm sorry. But if you wanna hear about the Wardens, I'm happy to talk about 'em! Let's get some breakfast first, I'm starving. Hey, Rand! Throw the bacon on, wouldja?"

Rand, already up and sitting by the ashes of last night's fire, nods and goes about re-stoking it. He pulls a small bundle of wax paper out of one of V's packs, as well as a cooking pan. Then he goes about laying several strips of salted pork out on the pan to cook. The cottage is quickly filled with the mouth-watering aroma of bacon.

"We grabbed this on the way out. No more fancy feasts for a long time, I suspect. Whatever the hunter-types can snag on the way, maybe, but mostly it'll be hardtack, I'm sure. So enjoy it while you can."

Rand doesn't actually join in on the bacon, delicious as it smells. While the others enjoy the meal, he snacks on a few nuts and dried fruits from his pack and spends the rest of the time meditating.

Meditating is the worst. It's always been the worst. Everyone in the monastery was better at meditating than Rand. He has never been able to quiet his mind the same way others could--his thoughts are always racing a mile a minute. So it's hard, and it takes longer than it should, and that threatens to frustrate him and make the whole damn thing even harder, but he does his best to concentrate on his breathing. In, out. In, out. What do pigs dream about?

Dammit, Randall.

He sighs, stands, and decides it will have to do. If only he could get his brain to stop meandering all the damn time...

Katia glances up at the rangers, hiding her smirk by shoving another piece of bacon in her mouth (but daintily, with the tip of her thumb and forefinger; she doesn't want to get grease all over Mom's Harrow deck). As she studies the cards before her, she mulls over their meaning. Sometimes, though, a Harrowing has no meaning. Or, she supposes, it is more accurate to say it has no inherent meaning. But then again, nothing has inherent meaning, does it? All meaning is prescribed by people. A sword is a sword, until a paladin sees it as the symbol of the Inheritor. A corpse is a corpse, until viewed by the loved ones of the person who once inhabited that particular meat vessel. And the Empty Throne is just the Empty Throne, until it shows up in her Harrowing misaligned and she interprets it to mean the past does not always stay in the past, and it may come back to bite her or her friends soon.

As her hands move effortlessly through the slow, steady process of Harrowing herself, magic seeps into her mind. Her Patron--whoever They are--shows her how to ignite the air to scorch her enemies, show them nightmares so horrific it can stop their hearts, even rip a hole in the very fabric of space to instantly transport herself and her friends back to familiar surroundings. All of it, however, has a... well, not a taint, per se, but... a film. Yes, like an unwashed tub. A thin, transparent film that sullies the magic imperceptibly with a sense of some ancient being seething and fuming quietly in the dark between the stars, waiting to unleash its righteous fury against her foes.

Vengeance. Her magic begins and ends with it, its sole purpose. She begged for it once, and saw what it wrought. She vowed never to use it again in that way--but then the f!~+ing Ironfang came. And the old vengeance burned again.

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. When she opens them again, she sweeps up the deck and places it in the special pouch on her belt formed specifically for the deck, to make it easy to take in and out.

She brushes off her skirts and gathers her things, popping one last piece of bacon into her mouth and savoring the greasy goodness. She's going to miss this; hardtack is the absolute worst. "Ready," she says through a mouthful of meat.

Freyja nods and smiles at V. Once she is fully ready to go, she casts greater magic fang (hour per level, baby!) on Trjega, then waits for Katia to dismiss the shelter.

perception: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (10) + 21 = 31
stealth: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (8) + 17 = 25
survival: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24

Do any RP you want before you reach the Valley, but I'm going to fast-forward to there.

The sun is starting to rise as you set out. You reach the mouth of the Valley after only a few short minutes, and, sure enough, the misty fog is hanging motionless in the air ahead of you. You can almost see a clear line of demarcation between the outside and the inside of the Valley. Katia doesn't detect any magical influence, and Freyja and V are certain that it's a natural phenomenon. Visibility during the daytime is going to be difficult.

If you enter the Valley, go ahead and give me your perception/stealth/survival rolls (just like old times!) and let me know how stealthy you are trying to be (it will affect your travel speed). The terrain is mountainous.

perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7
stealth: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21

Katia was never particularly stealthy, and recalls the dismal failures of the past trying to be sneaky, but gives it the Old College Try anyway.

Katia's going to force the party to move at half speed, sadly. There's no getting around it. It's a -5 penalty to move at full speed and she doesn't have a great bonus.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14
Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
Survival: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

Rand frowns at the slow pace, but knows there's not much to be done about it. Clearly the witch isn't the sneaky type. He flits from fog cloud to fog cloud, practically disappearing entirely at times, but never strays far enough from the party to lose sight of them. As the day goes on and the mist clings closer and closer, he ends up staying closer and closer to the others, until he ceases his attempts to range entirely so as not to lose the group.

Perception: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (12) + 20 = 32 (+1 vs surprise/traps)
Stealth: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (18) + 17 = 35
Survival: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Veldanis makes a mental note to give Katia some pointers on skulking at some point. For now, he leads the way next to Freyja and her furry friend.

Perception: 1d20 + 25 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 25 + 2 = 40
Stealth: 1d20 + 21 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 21 + 2 = 29
Survival: 1d20 + 17 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 17 + 2 = 39

The book says the fog functions like fog cloud, but that obscures all vision beyond 5'. That is so debilitating to have as an effect on the entire map and it just doesn't sound fun to me. It also makes some of the encounters in the book make no sense. So, instead, we'll say that the fog is thin enough to make it 20% concealment within 30' and 50% concealment beyond that.

Travel in the Valley is slow, difficult, and frustrating. Fortunately, Veldanis's extensive experience with traveling in the wilderness -- often in worse conditions than this -- means you do not lose your way. It's slow, but at least you can be assured you are heading in the right direction.

The fog also makes things eerily quiet. Still, even Katia does a fairly good job of staying quiet. Good thing, too, because every one of you hears the birds attacking before they are able to surprise you. As one, you look into the sky to your northwest and see two absolutely enormous birds, or rather, the outline of two enormous birds. They are circling and definitely appear to consider you their next meal.

These guys have good perception, but terrible stealth. Every combatant heard every other combatant, so I'm going to skip the surprise round and just get into it. Don't forget concealment!

ROUND 1
Freyja (110/110 hp)
Trjega (76/76 hp, greater magic fang)
Randall (84/84 hp)
Bird #1 (0 damage, flying [25' high])
Katia (72/72 hp)
Bird #2 (0 damage, flying [25' high])
Veldanis (118/118 hp)

Bold may act.

Knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

"Two A-10 Warthogs inbound!"

She somehow doesn't know what these things are, but she knows they mean them harm, so she levels her bow at #1.

manyshot: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (1) + 13 = 14
damage: 1d8 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14
damage: 1d8 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17

longbow: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16
damage: 1d8 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

longbow: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
damage: 1d8 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11

longbow: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12
damage: 1d8 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13

LOL

Knowing that there is nothing Trjega to do here, and still wary from seeing her so near death at Kosseruk's camp, she yells "TRJEGA, RUN!"

HA: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (20) + 22 = 42

Trjega doesn't recognize the command, but she understands the panic in her mistress's voice and doesn't hesitate: she bolts back the way the party came.

200' run speed, so she will run straight off the map. She won't go any further than that, though.

Randall sighs and watches the outlines circle above him. He doesn't have much for ranged weaponry.

What he does have, however, is an uncanny ability to go places he probably shouldn't. "Hey sweetums," he calls to Veldanis. "Catch me."

He crouches, leaps--

--and vanishes.

Suddenly he appears in the air before one of the birds as if a shimmering mirage, and sweeps a leg out in a roundhouse kick.

Dimensional Assault to charge up to 80 feet and do a smack. Since it hasn't acted yet, it's flat-footed so SNEAK ATTACK BAYBEEEE! The 1d6 is electricty damage (from his amulet of mighty fists and the 2d6 is sneak attack.

Unarmed Strike: 1d20 + 17 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 17 + 2 = 20
Dmg: 1d10 + 7 + 1d6 + 2d6 ⇒ (3) + 7 + (1) + (1, 2) = 14 Bludgeoning, Electricity, Precision

He then falls back down to the ground, landing hard on his back and momentarily knocking the wind out of him.

Falling Dmg: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 2, 4) = 9

"You didn't catch me," he wheezes softly.

LOL I made a big deal about the concealment and then immediately forgot about it (not that it mattered with Freyja's terrible rolls). So this reminder is as much for me as you: 20% within 30' and 50% without!

Also, Rand natty 1'd anyway, but flat-footed while flying isn't a thing:

Attacked While Flying: You are not considered flat-footed while flying. If you are flying using wings and you take damage while flying, you must make a DC 10 Fly check to avoid losing 10 feet of altitude. This descent does not provoke an attack of opportunity and does not count against a creature’s movement.

Five arrows zip by vaguely near #1. It's not entirely sure the archer was even shooting at it, but it knows that Rand definitely tried kicking it, which is weird because it's literally never been kicked before, especially not so high in the air. In any case, it dives directly down at Randall and tries to snatch him up in a talon. Should be easy, right? He's lying on the ground and it is a gigantic bird of prey that routinely hunts much larger quarry than this. Unfortunately (for the bird), its bulk actually works against it in this case and it has trouble navigating to the ground past the tree that Rand fell under. Its talon swipes in Rand's general area, but the bird abandons the attack and climbs away (we'll say it's back at 25' high).

ROUND 1
Freyja (110/110 hp)
Trjega (76/76 hp, greater magic fang, fled)
Randall (75/84 hp, prone)
Bird #1 (0 damage, flying [25' high])
Katia (72/72 hp)
Bird #2 (0 damage, flying [25' high])
Veldanis (118/118 hp)

Bold may act.

Actually the boards are kind of divided on it but people seem to be leaning toward RAI being the sentence means you're not automatically considered flat-footed while flying. The clarification was likely because you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC when climbing or balancing and they wanted to clarify flying doesn't work that way. Unfortunately, their attempt to clarify only muddied the waters, and RAW makes it sound like all flying creatures get Uncanny Dodge for free. Personally I would rule it as not automatically flat-footed, meaning they can still be caught flat-footed if they have not yet acted or if they are feinted (an unlikely scenario since you normally can't feint at range, but still). But it's up to you how you want to rule that. It's purely academic at this point anyway, since Rand nat 1'ed. :P

Katia watches the tiefling make a complete ass of himself and buries her face in her hands. This is who she lost two companions for?? Gods, the ranger needs to make a better showing or their group is in serious trouble. She concentrates on her body, letting it lift up into the air.

Activating Flight hex as a standard action and flying up 30 feet. She automatically succeeds on the Fly check.

In the interest of keeping things moving, I moved #1 behind Katia in the turn order so each post isn't just a single combatant taking its turn.

Katia is Mary Poppins, y'all.

Unfortunately for Mary Poppins, rising into the air makes her a target. #2 immediately takes advantage, swooping in and grabbing her with a massive talon. The sharp appendage digs into her sides (23 damage) and she suddenly notices that these birds look especially scrawny. She may be their first meal in days.

ROUND 1
Freyja (110/110 hp)
Trjega (76/76 hp, greater magic fang, fled)
Randall (75/84 hp, prone)
Katia (49/72 hp, flying, grappled)
Bird #1 (0 damage, flying [25' high])
Bird #2 (0 damage, flying [30' high], grappled)
Veldanis (118/118 hp)

Bold may act.

OMFG I forgot to buy a bow for Veldanis. I BOUGHT FORTY ARROWS AND NO BOW.

V goes to pull out his bow--and finds it missing. Cursing in every language he knows, he cries, "Rand! What the Hells happeened to my bow??"

With nothing else to do, he draws his greatsword and readies an attack against one of the birds if it comes within range.

F!$* my entire life, I guess.

From his very nice vantage point of Katia getting ripped to shreds by giant hungry birds, Rand raises one finger. "Aha. Um. Funny story."

V glares at him through the fog and growls through gritted teeth, "Somehow I doubt that."

"Soooo I kinda broke your sword."

Returning his eyes to the skies in ready, V snaps, "What are you talking about?? It's fine!"

I feel like that's more than enough to constitute "free action" talking. Rand can pick up the conversation on his turn.

Okay. So. This is really bad. Even with two bows, Katia may not make it (oof, grapples are this party's bane). Veldanis is a ranger and you bought arrows, which shows intent, so give yourself a masterwork composite bow at his strength level. Then retake his turn.

ROUND 1
Freyja (110/110 hp)
Trjega (76/76 hp, greater magic fang, fled)
Randall (75/84 hp, prone)
Katia (49/72 hp, flying, grappled)
Bird #1 (0 damage, flying [25' high])
Bird #2 (0 damage, flying [30' high], grappled)
Veldanis (118/118 hp)

Bold may act.

Actually I just looked and realized his strength is 20. I'm not quite *that* generous. Give him a composite longbow at +3 strength. :)

Veldanis grasps again in desperation, only to find the bow actually is there, it's just on the opposite side of his pack from his usual spot.

He hears the monk call "made you look" in a sing-song voice. V makes a mental note to murder the stupid tiefling in his sleep before drawing his bow and firing off at the bird holding Katia.

Longbow vs Birb 2: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33
P Dmg: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

UGH SO CLOSE to a crit!

V knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (1) + 13 = 14

LOL I was going to roll that for you since the spoiler was many posts ago, but somehow neither Freyja nor V know what these GIANT BIRDS are.

V's arrow clips the tip of #2's wing. It draws blood but it's clear that it's going to take a lot more to bring it down and save Katia. The bird wavers a little but maintains its height (these things do not have a very good fly skill but it's only DC10 to avoid dropping 10' when attacked).

ROUND 2
Freyja (110/110 hp)
Trjega (76/76 hp, greater magic fang, fled)
Randall (75/84 hp, prone)
Katia (49/72 hp, flying, grappled)
Bird #1 (0 damage, flying [25' high])
Bird #2 (4 damage, flying [30' high], grappled)
Veldanis (118/118 hp)

Bold may act.

This is bad. This is really bad. She is thankful that V found his bow but she is not sure if even the two of them together can take the bird down fast enough. Reluctantly, she aims for center mass instead of shooting for vital spots like she normally does. Maybe she can knock it down if she hits it with enough arrows.

manyshot: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (6) + 16 = 22
damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

longbow: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (5) + 16 = 21
damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

longbow: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12
damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

longbow: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

JESUS.

Katia sighs. She knew she should've memorized dimension door today.

She places a hand on the bird's beak and murmurs, "Sleep."

Desna's everloving t~$%, this had better work...

Slumber hex. DC 21 Will save or fall asleep for 6 rounds. Any damage will awaken it. If it's asleep, it can't maintain the grapple, meaning I get free--for now. It's going to wake back up but I'm hoping that it's on the ground long enough for V or Rand to murder it.

If this doesn't work, Katia's in deep s~~%.

Rand scrambles to his feet and dashes across the rocky ground to get back into the fray.

IF the bird failed its Will save, it's conscious and prone on the ground (since it would take 2d6 falling damage, immediately waking it up), which should put Rand in melee with it. That probably means it gets an AoO but Imma be rea with you, Rand grappled is 100000x better than Katia grappled.

Freyja manages to hit with her first three arrows, but the last two sail wide. The bird has several arrows sticking out of it now, but it doesn't even waver in flight. And a bad situation gets worse as Katia's command falls on deaf ears.

Instead of falling asleep, #2's talons grip Katia tighter as it turns skyward to presumably take Katia somewhere it can eat her in peace. Katia makes an almost certainly fruitless attempt to get away.

free escape chance: 1d20 + 5 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 5 + 4 = 16

With Katia secure in its talons, #2 flies away 80' to the northwest. #1 seems to consider trying for another meal, but instead turns and flies alongside #2.

Okay, so we're going off map here, but we'll stay in init order and TotM it.

ROUND 2
Freyja (110/110 hp)
Trjega (76/76 hp, greater magic fang, fled)
Randall (75/84 hp, prone)
Katia (49/72 hp, flying, grappled)
Bird #1 (0 damage, flying [25' high])
Bird #2 (31 damage, flying [30' high], grappled)
Veldanis (118/118 hp)

Bold may act.

V sends two arrows at #2 in a desperate attempt to save Katia.

Bow vs 2: 1d20 + 14 - 2 ⇒ (10) + 14 - 2 = 22
Dmg: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8 Piercing

Bow vs 2: 1d20 + 9 - 2 ⇒ (6) + 9 - 2 = 13
Dmg: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 Piercing