Urzok roars as he steps in and tries to slash at her arms. What a NUT! She's enjoying that bag waaaaay too much.
________
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Aggra looks at the screaming half-orc in fear for just long enough for Urzok to get a solid hit on the woman!
The old lady attempts to keep her hold on the choking wizard!
And manages to keep her hold on the now-suffocating human! She then tries to knee the wizard in the back!
She then turns to Urzok and screams.
”You’ve seen what became of the heretics downstairs! You shall feel the wrath of Zandalus!”
Round 3/4
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Urzok (-8)
Jevar (-4) {grabbed; blinded; Suffocating: 3 “rounds” left}
Aggra “Bag Lady” Loomis (-30)
Boodiddly
Shakur
================
"The only wrath we'll be feeling is our own if you kill that wizard!"
And then he'll move up.
”But the folks downstairs are fine...” Boodiddly wonders out loud before he adds another wordless stanza to his hummed song. He then reaches over and tries to help Javer avoid more hostile attention with a bit of magic. ”Don’t try to hit her back, Jevar!” he orders. ”Just focus on getting out of there.”
In his thrashing about the wizard manages to elbow the psychotic senior citizen’s nose, distracting her just long enough for Jevar to wrench himself away from her clutches!
The wizard grabs the grain bag from his head and removes it . He then concentrates as the ball of fire pulses right on top of the old lady!
But she manages to completely dodge out of the way of the pulsing flames.
Round 4
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Urzok (-8)
Jevar (-8)
Aggra “Bag Lady” Loomis (-33)
Boodiddly
Shakur
================
Jevar drops the bag, coughing and catching his breath as his mind keeps a hold on the flaming sphere.
"Finally, someone who listens," Urzok says with relief as he winds up for another mighty swing, while raising his shield in anticipation of retaliation.
________
The elderly woman grunts in pain as Urzok stabs her in the back. She looks at the gnome in front of her and grins a toothless grin as she rushes forward !
The woman leaps over the gnome, turns around, and opens her arms wide to give Boodiddly a bear hug!
The woman grabs the singing gnome in a constricting grip! The woman then winds up to hit the gnome with her knee!
The woman brings her leg back as a faint click is heard. Aggra’s grip on Boodiddly tightens as she wails:
”MY HIP!!!”
Round 4/5
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Urzok (-8)
Jevar (-8)
Aggra “Bag Lady” Loomis (-50)
Boodiddly (-4) {grabbed}
Shakur
================
As Aggra grabs Boodiddly the wizard checks the floor to make sure the bag he dropped is still there... and not about to be put over the gnome's head.
I'm going to burn you off of the gnome like a discardable goiter.
The elderly woman manages to worm her way to the side as the sphere comes near her, but her aching hip does not let her move quickly enough, and some of the flames catch her. Meanwhile, the wizard chucks fire at her, but manages to miss her completely.
Round 4/5
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Urzok (-8)
Jevar (-8)
Aggra “Bag Lady” Loomis (-57)
Boodiddly (-4) {grabbed}
Shakur
================
"Gotcha," Urzok growls grimly as he sinks Red Destiny into her back. As Aggra runs away, he slices at her again before giving chase. Standing between her and the stairs, he winds up for another powerful thrust.
"The Gnome is mine too!" he warns.
________
As the Bag Lady moves over to grab the gnome, Urzok plunges Red Destiny deep in the woman’s shoulder as her eyes glaze over and she falls to the ground!
The amnesiacs search the room but do not find anything of value.
"We ought to keep moving. Everybody, gather round."
Shakur quickly gathers the masses.
"That should suffice. Let's keep moving. Quickly now."
Yeah... keep moving. Jevar repeats, absent-mindedly as he rubs his throat from the recent trauma. As soon as Shakur releases his wave of healing the throbbing, dull pain subsides.
If this is a preview of what's to come, these cultists are getting more and more unpredictable.
He looks over at his ball of flame and snaps his fingers to dismiss it. As soon as Urzok moves to continue on he will follow.
A thick, almost sickening cloud of saffron engulfs this entire room as the unintelligible “chanting” grows deafeningly loud. Barely visible through the smoke, cracked pillars bent at broken angles support a sagging ceiling. While most of the walls look ready to fall apart, the northern wall has done so, creating a massive gap open to the strange weather beyond, where the cloud continually pours out.
A massive peal of thunder booms out from the hole in the north wall as it becomes more and more apparently that it isn’t raining—at least not water; chunks of eyeballs fall out of the sky, occasionally landing inside the room with the thick cloud!
Opposite the wall with the massive hole, the wall in the best repair is laden with parchment pages covered in stark lines of coal and chalk. A hall stretches to the west.
Through the cloud of gas, barely visible through the yellow fog, are a trio of beds. Tucked neatly into these beds are Apostles in Orpiment, yellow chalk marks on their foreheads and yellow-stained sheets wrapped around their bodies as clothes. They lie on their backs on the rough ground, their mouths hanging open as a thick stream of the yellow smoke gushes from each of their mouths. None of Zandalus’s oneirogens make any movements whatsoever—not even to blink their wide open eyes that stare at the ceiling—as the amnesiacs enter the room.
Shredded eyeballs... this cult has some odd preferences... I should probably stop being surprised by now.
He looks down at the apostles on the beds and whispers to the others.
Should I drop fire on them before they wake?
The raven hops off his shoulder and darts over to the nearest pile of eyeball-substance.
*Peck* *peck* *chew*
It seems to slide into her beak like any earthworm might.
You know, it's not half bad...
"Wait just a moment - I want to check out those notes on the far wall," Boodiddly answers. "No sense risking them getting burnt just yet." Slowly the gnome edges along the edge of the room towards the far wall.
"Hurry up, Gnome, we need to kill them while they're unaware. No need to turn this into a fair fight," Urzok urges as he adjusts his grip several times on Red Destiny. With the Oneirogens unaware, he takes a moment to wrap his mouth and nose in a few layers of cloth.
________
"Yeah. The chalk is....moving. Check that first. While he's doing that, let's all get in position."
As Boodiddly approaches, he finds various occult writings hidden amidst them, which he begins to utter.
With his final utterance, the pages on the wall cease to flutter.
The gnome wipes his sweaty forehead before turning back to his companions. "Alright, thanks for waiting. Um, do you want to get into position?"
Urzok steps up with his equipment in hand. "Ready," he grunts.
Jevar creeps over the mounds of rubble and puts his back against the near wall to the right of the entrance.
Okay, so I drop my fireball on one of them now?
"Ready. Let's see if these things are undead or worse!" Shakur says as he peeks above his shield.
Bodiddly rejoins his companions and hefts a pebble in one hand. "Maybe we should pick one and focus fire on them one at a time?" he suggests softly.
Urzok slices deep into the oneirogen, cutting straight through the bedsheets and deep into the creature’s now-hollow body!
The oneirogens’ “chanting” suddenly becomes discordant and vile as the smoke billowing from their throats becomes much more translucent. The oneirogens all look directly at the amnesiacs as it becomes clear that their chanting has started to sound more and more like screaming!
Round 1
================
Jevar
Urzok
Boodiddly
Red (-12) {prone}
Blue {prone}
Green {prone}
Shakur
================
"That's the way!" Boodiddly cheers. "Now keep it up!" He gives a hearty twang on his jawharp, then throws in an extra twong for good measure before throwing his rock at Urzok's target.
As promised, Jevar turns to the nearby oneirogen dropping a ball of flame on it.
He then backs up a safe distance nearer to Boodiddly and Urzok.
These smokestacks have to be it... At first these things were fascinating but they've gotten old really fast.
"That's the way, Gnome! More rocks!" Urzoks cheers as the first Oneirogen starts off the conflict with quite the battering. Ready to keep cutting it down to size, he reaches into the fog again and again with Red Destiny's razor edge.
________
Boodiddly manages to hit the oneirogen over the rubble, his jaw harp music echoing over the oneirogens’ “chanting.”
Jevar summons a ball of flame on top of one of the oneirogens and moves away!
The ball lands right on top of the cultist and manages to completely burn through the bed’s sheets and the sheet that covers the man’s body!
Urzok lunges forward at Red, stabbing Red Destiny deep into his chest cavity and causing the smoke to cease spewing from his throat! The half-orc then moves over next to Shakur.
The burned, naked oneirogen stands up from his now completely-burned bed and looks straight toward Urzok, completely uncaring (or maybe unnoticing) his nakedness. The oneirogen continues to scream-chant as it moves up next to the half-orc! As it comes next to the half-humans, they feel an overwhelming sluggishness come into their minds.
Success-->Critical Success (incapacitation)
Failure-->Success (incapacitation)
The cultist raises his hand as he throws a punch right at Urzok!
Urzok snaps his shield as the oneirogen punches, deflecting some of the creature’s blow!
The other oneirogen likewise rises from his bed and points right at Shakur as it scream-chants. He shambles forward right next to the Pharasmin…
Success-->Critical Success (incapacitation)
…and throws a punch right at Shakur!
The oneirogen manages to sucker-punches straight at the Pharasmin, who tries to deflect with his shield , but the force of the blow manages to knock an entire, fist-sized chunk out of the top of Shakur’s shield! The remainder of the attack knocks Shakur right in the nose, but the Pharasmin uses the newly-made, fist-sized “hook” in his shield to swipe the fist away.
Round 1/2
================
Jevar
Urzok (-6)
Boodiddly {Lingering: Round 1 of 3}
Blue (-22)
Green
Shakur (-17)
================
”Whew, that stuff’s potent!” Boodiddly complains as he fans away wisps of yellow vapor. ”But now’s not the time to rest on our laurels!” With a magic-infused yell, he throws another broken stone at the wounded smokestack.
Boodiddly chucks another rock right at the naked oneirogen and manages to hit him right in the forehead, sending him backwards and slamming onto the floor, smoke no longer spewing from his throat.
Round 1/2
================
Jevar
Urzok (-6)
Boodiddly {Lingering: Round 1 of 3}
Green
Shakur (-17)
================
Huh. I guess this is easier without a crazy choke-lady running about...
Jevar rubs his throat again for just a moment before focusing on the last oneirogen.
Jevar begins a new incantation, rolling his hands in his air as if forming a ball. Instead of the usual bolt of flame, an oozing ball of vine and sludge flies from his gestures, angles around Shakur and speeds towards the oneirogen.
In what is perhaps the first instance of some kind of intellect, the oneirogen watches the ball of flame come closer and steps two feet closer to Shakur, causing the sphere to entirely miss, but the sticky ball of sap impacts with his left side, causing his hand to become stuck at the lower thigh, forcing the cultist into an uncomfortable stance.
Round 1/2
================
Jevar
Urzok (-6)
Boodiddly {Lingering: Round 1 of 3}
Green {-10 to Speed: Round 0 of 2}
Shakur (-17)
================
You're getting good with those rocks, let's keep up the pressure!" Urzok says, clearly ready to gut more of these chimney people. Stepping to the side, he tries to stick the final oneirogen in the chest.
________
Okay, I’m actively going to say no to that. I know that right now shifting the dice values is fairly easy since there’s so few dice being rolled, but I stand by the mindset of “that die roll is exclusive to that check,” meaning that if you rolled something with the intent of using it for that check (in this case, that nat 10 on Urzok’s unneeded Will save), then it’s exclusive to that check, and if the check ended up being unneeded, then the die roll is just ignored. In this case, because Urzok’s Will save wasn’t needed then I’m just going to ignore that specific d20 roll and continue on—in other words, that nat 10 was wasted.
I know I’m being a stickler for this, but I just find it easier in PbP to just keep moving past an unneeded check than to go “okay, there was a 29 here—Wait, was there a wasted save earlier? There was, so I have to shift everything down one and remember that I have to do that...” and so on. It’s just a bad precedent to set, especially in circumstances when MANY die rolls are being rolled at a time (mostly a high-level 1e issue in PbP, but still).
This doesn’t mean you can roll 18 Will Saves “just in case” and you happen to roll a nat 20 on your attack roll later on, because that’s a case where you were just manipulating the coding so that you’d get the best die roll possible. It’s very much a case-by-case basis, but it’s for this same reason why I generally don’t allow players to “save” die rolls in F2F games (that’s more of a gray area, because F2F games don’t have a clear, trackable set of die rolls that were used, so there’s a few more fringe cases where I let players keep a die roll for something, but again, case-by-case basis). Nevertheless, I’ll let Urzok use that Will save for the save against the fog that he has to make later in this post.
TL; DR: No, I’m not letting you shift down your natural d20 results because you anticipated needing to roll something and you ended up not needing it.
Urzok screams in the face of the oneirogen, but the creature continues to stare blankly at the half-orc, completely unaffected by his demoralizing words. Urzok lunges forward and stabs the cultist in the chest.
The Pharasmin moves away from the oneirogen and pelts the beast with one of his daggers.
But the fog surrounding the oneirogen covers its form, causing the dagger to wiz past Urzok and become embedded in the column right behind him.
The oneirogen steps forward to Urzok, hand stuck fast to his thigh, and as he moves up the half-orc feels sluggishness in his head.
Will Save vs Green: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18
The oneirogen then awkwardly throws two punches at the half-orc!
The cultist continues to stare blankly at the half-orc, his gaping maw spewing both smoke and scream.
Round 2/3
================
Jevar
Urzok (-17)
Boodiddly {Lingering: Round 2 of 3}
Green (-8) {-10 to Speed: Round 1 of 2}
Shakur (-17)
================
Hmm, okay. This one is hanging on tightly. There's always one...
He outstretches a hand and guides the fireball.
He looks down at his raven. Here, take this over to it.
He begins a different incantation that causes his hands to crackle with electrical energy. He holds out his hands and Oreb hops into them like a delightful bath, splashing around and absorbing the energy.
He urges her on. Go!
The little raven speeds from the bath of lightning towards the oneirogen.
"Always the one," Urzok says, echoing Jevar's sentiment. With a sigh, he lifts his shield and winds up another mighty swing. Can never lower this thing for some fun...
"Time to clear the air, do us a favor and die now!"
________
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The oneirogen gets caught in the sphere of flame as the little sparking bird makes a b-line for the cultist. As she approaches, though, a drowsiness comes over her.
failure-->success (incapacitation)
The raven tries to make contact with the oneirogen, but fails to do so with the ball of fire in the way.
Urzok chops at the oneirogen and sends Red Destiny deep into the creature’s chest, feeling little resistance. Rather than blood, the wound gushes a yellow mist forth, only to start to cede in intensity before the remaining oneirogen falls and the mist ceases to burst forth from inside.
Also, the oneirogens actually had two auras: the first was a 10’ aura of yellow mist that gave everything inside the concealed condition. The second was a 5’-radius aura of transparent mist that could cause those who entered it to fall asleep. That’s why I didn’t roll Urzok’s Will save immediately upon him entering the mist, because he didn’t enter the 5’ aura, only the 10’ one.
As the final creature falls, the oneirogens’ screaming ceases, but the room does not fall silent. Chanting echoes throughout the area, but this chanting is different from the oneirogens’ incoherent drone prior to the amnesiacs’ attack—this chanting is from a single voice and is filled with clear words; words in a language that the amnesiacs do not understand, but words nonetheless.
”Goka fahf agl Iiahe vulgtmor l' Uh'eog ph'nglui Turor, llll mgepgoka h' nyth'drn, Ahnnn Fhtagn.”
The chanting seems to come from all around, bouncing off of the walls of the oneirogens’ den, but careful listening reveals that the chanting is clearing coming from the hallway heading west. The hallway itself, however, is filled with an all-too-familiar sickly yellow fog—the fog in the hallway is the thickest and densest that the amnesiacs have seen inside the building of Briarstone Asylum, but without the oneirogens to feed more fog, the thick mist visibly starts to disperse, eventually falling out of the open hole in the northern wall. Depending on how long the hallway is, it could take several minutes for the fog to disperse enough to be navigable.
"Should we just go for it? Run through and hope for the best? I'm not sure we have time to wait..."
Boodiddly shakes his head. "They're not meaningless words - it's similar to Gnomish," he explains. "Or Sylvan. But that's just the prefixes and structure. The words themselves... don't come from either language." He sighs heavily. "But we don't want to get lost in there, Shakur. Or... worse." He shudders, his memory of running through strange streets filled with yellow mist making itself uncomfortably present at the forefront of his mind.
"That fog looks like it'll be there a bit longer. Let's quickly patch this up. Anybody able to fix my shield while I patch up Urzok?"
Wand of heal for self, then.
Yes, I think taking a moment is in order. Whatever lies beyond that mist isn't going anywhere...
The wizard walks over the Shakur, pulling out his repair kit.
Here, let me see that shield. I think I can patch it up...