Aconite's sniffing about quickly finds the closest of the sources, being a lightly camouflaged bandit. However, that triggers the lot of them to emerge with a yell. One of them, faster then the others, artfully moves though the underbrush to come in on the Shadow Hound, and pierces his arcane protections... Or rather tries, as the shadows around him disguise him just enough from a wicked hit from the mace. Meanwhile, Kalkamedes, while initially delayed by Lebraerio, slowly pulls forward, though still not yet near the fray.
Okay. Lebraerio, I moved you to the closest tree for that. My call along those lines is that, like most rope bindings, Kalkamedes would need to make a Escape Artist check at DC24 (Lebraerio's CMB+20) to escape the ropes, or a DC23 Strength check to break the ropes. However, he can't make either of these checks even with a Nat 20, so effectively he's bound to the tree in question with a 30 foot lead left.
Lebraerio leashes the sleepwalker to a tree, as Nylthe slips forward and trips the closest bandit. Two more of the bandits move forward in an attempt to deal with the shadow hound, only for their attacks to be deflected off of the arcane force protecting him.
As Juis moves closer, Aconite snuffs out the tripped bandit, as 3 of the others move forward to try to deal with the hound. 1 slips back into the woods, whereas, the other 2 move to flank him. In spite of several good swings, Aconite avoids the blows.
Spells 1st 6/6, 2nd 6/6, 3rd 5/5; Staff Minor Arcana 10/10; Extend 3/3; Focused 3/3; Arcane Bond 1/1; Reservoir 6/10
"Aconite, you are a wonder to behold!" Ilathor cheers. "Let's tip the odds evermore in your favor!" With his hands placed just in front of his mouth, he mimics a spider spinning a web with its spinnerets. At the center of the bandits' formation, a huge web begins to spin and ensnare them!
________
Arcane Bond for a Web spell! DC 19 Reflex negates the grappled, but the area is still difficult terrain. It is dismissbale, so I figure once these goons have been Aconited, he'll let the others meet their fate ;)
Ilathor's web easily tangles the 3 bandits that are caught in it's threads. In response, the furthest bandits creep around the web in the thick underbrush, with one of them blending into the brush enough that you lose sight of him. For his part, Kalkamedes moves forward to the end of his lead, and futilely struggles against the rope.
Nylthe's attempt doesn't have the effect that she wish, though she keeps a hold of her whip as Lebraerio moves forward. The Bandit that Aconite injured slips out of the webbing, and maneuvers himself to give the other webbed bandit a flank to work with. The swing, however, glances off of the planes of force that surrounds the shadow Hound.
Botting Aconite
Aconite continues his assault on the the one that he already injured. Once he's down, the shadow hound turns his attention to the enemy next to him, but the 2 attacks on him scrape against armor. Juis's attack also connects, bruising the
The two bandits in the front make valiant efforts, one attacking Aconite(Which is deflected by a plane of force), and the other against Juis(which glances off of his armor). The pair then duck back into the woods, and melt somewhat into the foliage. Likewise, one of the bandits trapped in Ilathor's webbing worms his way free, and also goes back into hiding in the woods.
Yes, 4 of them are hiding in the woods. Give me a Perception check for trying to spot them.
Spells 1st 6/6, 2nd 6/6, 3rd 5/5; Staff Minor Arcana 10/10; Extend 3/3; Focused 3/3; Arcane Bond 1/1; Reservoir 6/10
"They've a certain low cunning, don't they?" Ilathor begrudgingly admits. Pointing his staff at the bandit creeping in the woods, he fires off a wave of force missiles.
________
Magic Missile (Staff) vs Cyan:4d4 + 4 ⇒ (1, 1, 1, 2) + 4 = 9Come ooooon! Perception:1d20 ⇒ 3
Wilen's bomb lights up the sole bandit in the webbing, and stays lit as the webbing around him burns away, letting him collapse to the ground. As if in response, the bandit that stuck into the woods emerges in an attempt to attack Wilen, but swings horribly wide. Likewise, Ilathor's force missiles pepper the other visible bandit on his way to wildly swing( and miss) at Nylthe. Meanwhile, Kalkamedes continues to 'dangle' at the end of his rope, futilely struggling to go further.
For reference, Lebraerio has a rough idea where all three of the hidden bandits are, Aconite is aware of Green and Yellow, and Wilen is aware of just Green.
Nylthe and Juis both clock their attackers, while Lebraerio burns away a further chuck of the webbing as he chars the trees along with the pair of bandits. However, Aconite's swipe is fouled by the heavy brush that his prey is currently in.
In response, the one uninjured one moves into the center of the fray, smacking Nythle with his mace in the process. One of the others takes advantage of his positioning, and scoots forward in the brush to take a swing at Juis, which glances off of his armor. The other one that Lebraerio lit up catches the detective with the sickle he's wielding for a reasonable wound, before retreating further in the woods.
Spells 1st 6/6, 2nd 6/6, 3rd 5/5; Staff Minor Arcana 10/10; Extend 3/3; Focused 3/3; Arcane Bond 1/1; Reservoir 6/10
Striking his staff against the ground, Ilathor's missiles spiral into the air, split away from each other, and strike two of the bandits. "They're like a pack of wolves! Stick together, don't let them surround us!"
________
Magic Missile (Staff) vs Cyan:2d4 + 2 ⇒ (4, 1) + 2 = 7 Magic Missile (Staff) vs Yellow:2d4 + 2 ⇒ (2, 3) + 2 = 7 Here's to hoping that their sheer numbers mean they aren't very sturdy...
Wilen's bomb barely misses the bandit he tosses it at, crashing to the ground. However, Ilathor's force missiles drop the two bandits that he targets. In response, one of the remaining bandits takes a pasting shot at Juis, smacking him with the mace in hand, before disengaging from the oracle.
Between Lebraerio and Aconite's not-so-tender beatings, the bandit falls to the ground in a bloody pile. With Nylthe tripping one of the last 2 bandits, the last bandit looks at the mess and cries out, "Sod this!" before running off through the underbrush. The other bandit looks panicked, like he wants to bugger off as well. "We had a bad night, okay?!?" he blubbers, "And thought when we heard you we had an easy mark... Dear Gods, were we wrong!!"
Male Halfling Alchemist 6 | HP 39/39 | AC 21, t 14, ff 18 | CMB 2, CMD 15 | F+7 R+9 W+3; +4 vs. poison, +2 vs. fear | Speed 20' | Init+3 | Perc+11 | Extracts: 2nd-barkskin, cure moderate wounds (2), invisibility; 1st-cure light wounds, shield, targeted bomb admixture (3) | Bomb: 12/12 | Mutagen: brewed | Active conditions: none
DEX mutagen:
Init+5 | Perc+10 | AC 23, t 14, ff 20 | R+11, W+2 | CMD 17
Wilen yells after the bandits. Tell your friends! Team Blue Moose is not to be messed with! Hmm... that sounds like a good name for my next brew back home... inspired by the tales of adventure.
Wilen will not pursue, and prepares for the team to lead Kalkamedes on.
The last bandit looks at Wilen and Ilathor's actions with a terrified look on his face, before scrambling up and goes to run off. If Juis wishes to make an AoO, he can. And at that, the night is silent again, save the sounds of the struggling sleepwalker.
Assuming you return to letting Kalkamedes travelling forward...
Kalkamedes meanders northward for several hours before veering to the northeast. (Hour/level spells will fade in this time.) The light of the sinking moon washes the sub-alpine valley ahead in silvery light. A squat, stone bunker crafted of dark rock sits nestled among the low trees, its domed roof barely peeking out from above the leafy canopy. As a cloud passes over the moon, the entire structure seems to fade from view, leaving a momentary void before the moon’s light again illuminates it. Only a single entryway mars the smooth, windowless facade of the lone building. And Kalkamedes wanders directly for that entrance.
A ten-foot wide stone archway, its keystone inscribed with a seven-pointed star wreathed in ancient markings, offers ingress into an unlit corridor built of cut stone blocks. Weathered script snakes its way up and down each side of the entrance, with the detritus and muddy paw prints of some animal made repeatedly down this hall. Kalkamedes walks right past the entrance and into the hallway ahead of him.
Linguistics, DC 20:
After a couple moments of study, the Thassilonian writing can be deciphered as Enter the Black Edifice, locus of the Thrallkeepers, servants of the Runelord of Sloth.
Spells 1st 6/6, 2nd 6/6, 3rd 5/5; Staff Minor Arcana 10/10; Extend 3/3; Focused 3/3; Arcane Bond 1/1; Reservoir 6/10
"It's a shame we're here as babysitters," Ilathor says with a shrug. "Bet there's plenty of things with substantial historical significance to unearth here."
"Quite right, Mr. Proudbrew, who let him go?" he asks, looking around with faux disappointment as he saunters down the hallway.
Speeding ahead of Kalkamedes, Wilen finds no traps at all in the hallway. After moving down this 100-foot hallway, it leads to a set of steep stairs that descend into a room, whose only other entrance is sealed by a massive set of iron double doors that block passage to the east and rest upon a dais of glistening black stone. To the west stands a statue of an elderly, robed man carved from the same dark stone, and in his hand, he brandishes a slender golden wand that points toward the door. Ancient script winds around the statue’s round base, and dried leaves, dirt, and small animal bones are scattered about the room.
Linguistics, DC 20:
"Those that would dare believe they are strong enough to oppose us shall learn that their strength is their weakness and our weaknesses are our very strengths."
Kalkamedes, for his part, turns and walks up onto the dais, and begins futilely pushing on the door. It's rather obvious that he doesn't have the strength to push these heavy doors open.
Female Half-Elf Unchained Summoner 5 | HP 33/33 | AC 15, T 11, FF 14 CMD 16 | Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +4 | Init +3 | Perc -1 | Sense Motive -1 | Summon Monsters 4/7 | Spells: Level 1 5/5, Level 2 1/3
Nylthe gives the script a cursory glance, but leaves it to more learned companions. In the meantime she examined the statue, seeing if she could detect magic that might cling to it.
Spells 1st 6/6, 2nd 6/6, 3rd 5/5; Staff Minor Arcana 10/10; Extend 3/3; Focused 3/3; Arcane Bond 1/1; Reservoir 6/10
Approaching the statue, Ilathor recites the text for the others, "Those that would dare believe they are strong enough to oppose us shall learn that their strength is their weakness and our weaknesses are our very strengths."
He lets the phrase hang in the air for a moment.
"Sounds like a warning to me... While our sleepy burden is busy tiring himself out, perhaps we should ponder what it means?" he suggests.
________
Linguistics, DC 20:1d20 + 15 ⇒ (14) + 15 = 29 If brute strength doesn't open the door forward, I have a feeling that it has something to do with the Runelord of Sloth.
While the statue and the text is not magical, the wand (which is easily removable) is. With a couple moments of study, Ilathor is able to ascertain that it's a wand of Ray of Enfeeblement.
To Wilen, the door doesn't look trapped or anything beyond being incredibly heavy. However, stepping onto the black stone dais, Wilen actually feels.... stronger then normal.
