Heroes of Lastwall

Game Master Tilnar

The halfling is trying to pretend as if he is calm, cool and collected.

Yeah, right.
He is practically shaking with visible excitement about this newest mystery.

"Wellll,....." Merlan says, far too casually.

"That certainly sounds interesting. And potentially useful. Even if we DON'T find a cave full of dwarves willing to assist us with our dwarvish door-lock problem, we may still find something useful. I mean if nothing else,maybe we can find and use whatever has been keeping the orcs scared enough to keep away from the place!"

"I say we check it out! A quick trip to see what the 'Orc-Death cave' is about, and then back to the hidden entrance to either keep the orcs away, find a way through it ourselves, or both!!"

Merlan grins cheerfully. Obviously, it all makes perfect sense to him,...

After keeping quiet for way too long, Sandy is timidly nodding his ascent. "Aye, if it's a newer mining cave then, it seems like it could be somewhere you'd have an ancient key or knowledge about such a place."

Hamish offers you directions to this "Orc-Death" cave, which seem to correspond to the maps that Fiona copied at Firrine before your departure.

The cave is about a half-day's ride -- in one of the many rocky hillocks dotting the plain as you approach the actual mountains..

And, since someone will probably ask, it's roughly 3 miles away of the Clanhome entrance you found.

"I'll get some more arrows. The name is vague enough that we don't really know what we'll encounter, so stock up on useful tools," suggests Eloen.

"Yes indeed. Let us prepare! I DO so love a good mystery! And what's more mysterious than a new cave?? With a name like 'Orc-Death' no less?!?" Merlan asks his familiar.

Squeaks, curled around the crown of the wizard's hat like an unusually bloated hatband, snorts once and closes his eyes again.

Clearly, caves do not interest the tiny dino as much as it's master.

Costin is ready, having been on the road for a while already. ”We should make haste,” he says. ”It seems our greatest enemy is time. We must unravel this mystery before they do.”

You head out after your conversation with Hamish -- no longer quite early-morning, but certainly far from noon. Once again, the rocky scrub and grasslands seem to stretch out before you -- leaving you only the distant sight of some of the local farms - and a few rocky outcroppings - as landmarks.

Still, with Hamish's directions (and Fiona's map) you feel relatively secure that you're going the right way -- slowly approaching the mountains at an oblique angle, as it were.

About 2 hours into your ride -- just a bit before the halfway point, Squeaky's head perks up and Merlan follows his gaze - noting an impression in the grass about 300 feet away... and a large, unnatural-looking feline creature trying to hide in that impression and seems coiled and ready to leap out at you.

Note, in this regard, "unnatural" means that it is easily a half-ton of cat-like thing, with black and violet striped fur, long sabre-teeth, a wicked set of antlers, a leathery scorpion's tail -- and a strange, softly glowing violet sigil on his face. It also means, (Planes) and not (Nature)

Initiative (Costin): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12
Initiative (Eloen): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20
Initiative (Fiona): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
Initiative (Lysander): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
Initiative (Merlan): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
--Initiative (Squeaky): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
Initiative (Sahar): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Catthing: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Nothing: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

Ok, Merlan and Squeaky will get to go in the surprise round - as does Notkitty.

Surprise Round

Conditions/Bonuses:

Party
Costin -- AC: 12[16]/12/10[14] -- CMD: 14 -- HP: 39/39 Status: Flatfooted
Eloen -- AC: 19/13/16 -- CMD: 18 -- HP: 56/56 Status: Flatfooted
Fiona -- AC: 20/13/17 (+2 v. AoO) -- CMD: 20 -- HP: 60/60 Status: Flatfooted
Lysander -- AC: 18/12/16 -- CMD: 15 -- HP: 34/34 Status: Flatfooted and not levelled to 5
--Kruss -- AC: 22/18/15 -- CMD: 19 (23 v. trip) -- HP: 24/24 -- DR: 1/cold iron Status: Flatfooted and not levelled to 5
--Hakkar -- AC: 16/15/13 -- CMD: 11 -- HP: 13/13 Status: Flatfooted and not levelled to 5
Merlan -- AC: 13[17]/13/11[15] -- CMD: 13 -- HP: 23/23 Status: Flatfooted and not levelled to 5
--Squeaky -- AC: 17/15/14 -- CMD: 10 -- HP: 11/11 Status: Not levelled to 5
Sahar -- AC: 18/13/15 -- CMD: 16 -- HP: 34/34 Status: Flatfooted and not levelled to 5

Opposition
Advanced Kitty Substitute -- AC: ?? -- CMD: ?? -- Damage Taken: 0 Status: Scary-looking
*whistles innocently* -- AC: ?? -- CMD: ?? -- Damage Taken: 0 Status: Nothing to See here

Next Up: Squeaky, Scorpikitty, Merlan, Nobody, New Round Squeaky, Fiona, Eloen, Scorpikitty, Lysander, Merlan, Nobody, Sahar, Costin.

Italics may go.

Go git 'im, Squeaks!

"SQUUUAAAWWWKKK!!!"

The tiny dino perched on Merlan's hat stretches out his neck to full length and honks a dino-honk FAR louder than the annoying lizard's tiny body should be able to produce. His head is pointing straight at the not-kitty thing it spotted in the grass. Showing his master's companions the direction they should be looking in.

The cat's head comes up out of the grass at Squeaky's warning, and lets out a strange sound, somewhere between a growl and a hiss, clearly upset that its ambush has been spoiled.

It pauses for a moment, as if unsure what to do, before starting to move forward -- closing to 250'.

Merlan's up..

Not that it matters because this is a surprise round, but I note that I used nothing's init modifier for catthing, which is actually only +2. Will fix on the tracker for Round 1

Go git 'im, Merlan!

12 hour (well, more like 13) warning, Rags -- I'll post an action for Merlan in the morning based on his current sheet.

Merlan begins to cast a spell. (...with a full round casting time, will finish on his turn in Round 1)

You hear what sounds like a male voice spellcasting, not far from where the cat was, and a 6' mound of dirt rises into something roughly humanoid, before sinking into the earth, making waves as it moves toward you.

(That's just a pretty way to say 'medium earth elemental' appearing, and it using earthglide)

Summary: Surprise Round

Squeaky does his best to alert everyone of the presence of the cat-thing while it's still too far to pounce on you. In response the cat begins moving forward, closing to about 250'. Merlan begins to cast a spell -- and someone else does the same, but he finishes his and a medium earth elemental appears and starts moving toward you as well.

Round 1

Conditions/Bonuses:

Party
Costin -- AC: 12[16]/12/10[14] -- CMD: 14 -- HP: 39/39 Status: Flatfooted
Eloen -- AC: 19/13/16 -- CMD: 18 -- HP: 56/56 Status:
Fiona -- AC: 20/13/17 (+2 v. AoO) -- CMD: 21 -- HP: 60/60 Status:
Lysander -- AC: 18/12/16 -- CMD: 16 -- HP: 40/40 Status:
--Kruss -- AC: 22/18/15 -- CMD: 19 (23 v. trip) -- HP: 24]/24 -- DR: 1/cold iron Status: Maybe not levelled to 5?
--Hakkar -- AC: 16/15/13 -- CMD: 11 -- HP: 13/13 Status:
Maybe not levelled to 5?
Merlan -- AC: 13[17]/13/11[15] -- CMD: 13 -- HP: 23/23 Status: Not levelled to 5
--Squeaky -- AC: 17/15/14 -- CMD: 10 -- HP: 11/11 Status: Maybe not levelled to 5?
Sahar -- AC: 18/13/15 -- CMD: 16 -- HP: 34/34 Status: Flatfooted, Not levelled to 5

Opposition
Advanced Kitty Substitute -- AC: ?? -- CMD: ?? -- Damage Taken: 0 Status: Kinda miffed that he has to close to eat your face
Rocky -- AC: ?? -- CMD: ?? -- Damage Taken: 0 Status: Just happy to be here
*Nothing to see here* -- AC: ?? -- CMD: ?? -- Damage Taken: 0 Status: Bringing in Rocks

Next Up: Squeaky, Fiona, Eloen, Lysander, Merlan, Scorpikitty, Rocky, Nobody, Sahar, Costin.

If you're in italics, you can post your actions. Fiona, Merlan's casting enlarge person, which he'll finish on his turn (for you)

Eloen knows that she needs to find that spellcaster, but she can't waste time fumbling around looking for someone who's invisible and she instead settles for shooting the elemental.

Longbow attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

Swift Action: Turn hands to Claws & using Druid Totem to gain a Bite Attack
Move Kruss & Lysander 10' in front of Merlan, Costin & the casters
Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (17) + 12 = 29

Lysander awaits the charge of the cat-thing whilst trying to figure out it's unnatural heritage, having figured out his sling is a bit useless. He looks to the surrounding area for the summoning creature as Hakkar takes to the skies.

Apologies. See Chat post. :) Doing my best, I swear! :)

Hehee,... Enlarge Person, because Fiona SO loves that spell! Yep. That's a Merlan move! ;P

Fiona?

Sorry!

Fiona grabs a potion from her belt and unstops it, then quickly guzzles the contents. Potion of shield of faith +2.

Merlan finishes his spell, causing Fiona to double in size. Eloen's arrow ricochets off the elemental's rocky body, as it continues to close (rather slowly, still more than 150' away). The strange feline creature, however, is much quicker than the living rock, more than halving the distance (now 90' away).

You hear the same voice - male you think - casting another spell, and the sky darkens somewhat as a crackling cloud, roughly wolf-shaped appears in the sky, and rushes to close, hovering near the cat.

That would be a medium-sized lightning elemental

Next Up: Sahar, Costin, New Round Squeaky, Fiona, Eloen, Lysander, Merlan, Scorpikitty, Rocky, Sparky, Nobody.

If you're in italics, you're up

"We should stay together. The caster must reveal himself in time." Costin readies an action to hurl one of his cards if an enemy comes within range.

Would anyone like to bot/run Sahar in Treppa's absence?

Merlan turns from admiring his handiwork on Fiona's fine armored form.
"Go get'em girl!"

"We should stay together. The caster must reveal himself in time."

"Oh I'LL reveal his @$$,..." Merlan mumbles. The wizard begins patting his pockets. "Now, where did I put that bit of,... Ah, Nope,..."

Waiting for my next turn. Colorful commentary is free time right? ;P

Would anyone like to bot/run Sahar in Treppa's absence?

I feel a little uncomfortable doing so, but I can take a crack at it if necessary.

Yup. Complaining is a free action.

Ok, Eloen, if nobody else leaps up (that feels less uncomfortable) before midnight, go for it.

Sahar sweeps her scimitar from its sheath, rises in her stirrups, and calls, "Have no fear, friends, the power of the Sun is with us." A sudden flash, as of sunlight, sweeps across the party.

Casting bless: +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and saving throws against fear.

She drops back into the saddle rather quickly, eying the approaching waves of earth.

Kn (Planes): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

Summary: Round 1

Merlan enlarges Fiona, while everyone watches - looking for an invisible threat and making ready for the growing number of threats they can see coming, with two elementals now inbound. Sahar calls on the Dawnflower's blessing to aid the party.

Round 2

Conditions/Bonuses: Bless (+1 morale bonus to hit and saves v. fear) (50 rounds)

Party
Costin -- AC: 12[16]/12/10[14] -- CMD: 14 -- HP: 39/39 Status:
Eloen -- AC: 19/13/16 -- CMD: 18 -- HP: 56/56 Status:
Fiona -- AC: 20/13/17 (+2 v. AoO) -- CMD: 21 -- HP: 60/60 Status:
Lysander -- AC: 18/12/16 -- CMD: 16 -- HP: 40/40 Status:
--Kruss -- AC: 22/18/15 -- CMD: 19 (23 v. trip) -- HP: 24]/24 -- DR: 1/cold iron Status: Maybe not levelled to 5?
--Hakkar -- AC: 16/15/13 -- CMD: 11 -- HP: 13/13 Status:
Merlan -- AC: 13[17]/13/11[15] -- CMD: 13 -- HP: 23/23 Status: Not levelled to 5
--Squeaky -- AC: 17/15/14 -- CMD: 10 -- HP: 11/11 Status: Maybe not levelled to 5?
Sahar -- AC: 18/13/15 -- CMD: 16 -- HP: 34/34 Status: Not levelled to 5

Opposition
Advanced Kitty Substitute -- AC: ?? -- CMD: ?? -- Damage Taken: 0 Status: Kinda miffed that he has to close to eat your face
Sparky -- AC: ?? -- CMD: ?? -- Damage Taken: 0 Status: Shocked, really
Rocky -- AC: ?? -- CMD: ?? -- Damage Taken: 0 Status: Coming for a big squishy hug
*Nothing to see here* -- AC: ?? -- CMD: ?? -- Damage Taken: 0 Status: Feeling Pretty Good about himself

Next Up: Squeaky, Fiona, Eloen, Lysander, Merlan, Scorpikitty, Rocky, Sparky, Nobody, Sahar, Costin.

If you're in italics, you're up.

As far as I can tell, the Roll20 map is still the prior orc encounter, so I'm not sure of our current ranges.

Eloen pivots to the cat as she realizes that she can probably just outrun the elementals until they vanish from their summoning spell.

Longbow attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

Not that matters, since she will never hit anything.

Longbow attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11
Longbow attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10
Longbow attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

Looks like I miss every attack for the rest of this fight. Have fun, folks.

[dice=Longbow attack]1d20+9

You get a +1 morale bonus to attack rolls, if you don't have a morale bonus already. That's small comfort after all that d20 hate, but it's something. I'm never complaining about my rolls again.

Kitty's at 150' when you fire, unless you wait - so 1 range increment for a composite longbow. But, yes, rolling more than 4 would be ideal. Hopefully you just burned away all the bad rolls there?

After watching her arrow explode against the thick rocky hide of the elemental, Eloen fires a shot at the much faster cat-thing, which sidesteps without really slowing.

Are we mounted at the moment?

"I don't have much ranged weaponry.. but I can get ahead and cut off his charge." Lysander growls through a heavy mouthful of teeth.

I take it since Know Planes untrained caps out at 10, it'd probably be useless to identify & that Wild Empathy would be useles.

Sandy moves forwards to protect Sahar and Eloen archery, with Kruss at his side. Bonus use Tiger Form & increase Dex by 2

Ready an action to attack, if someone gets close enough

Are we mounted at the moment?

I had assumed so ("... x hours into your ride..."), and Sahar would be riding anyway. Didn't see any dismount actions, but wasn't really looking. Standing up before you squash your horsie?

Merlan grins at the now-enlarged Fiona.
Thank you master Til

"Heeeeyyy,..." Merlan drawls, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"THAT'S no normal beastie. That's an Eidolon! Sir inviso is a SUMMONER! He can conjure critters like I conjure spells! Ima shut him down!"

Yeah, dismounting seems like it might be wise, under the circumstances. Poor horsie-whose-name-I-don't-recall.

Fiona's bigger-than-usual eyes widen slightly at Merlan's statement, and she seems for a moment to consider riding toward the distant magicker... until her horse's indignant prancing reminds her of her newfound ungainliness. She dismounts clumsily, muttering a quiet, "Sorry about that," to the horse.

Ride DC20 to Fast Dismount: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Eying the cat-thing warily, Fiona tries to determine how soon it will arrive... but decides she's better off armed than not, and draws her weapon. Let's go with +1 for 10 rounds — round 1 starts now.

Are we mounted at the moment?

Unless you dismounted, yes.

Ok, the roll20 map should be up and ready to go - it's a large map because of the initial distance, but all the action is in the south-east corner (so you can zoom, you'll just not see the new summons appearing 300' away).

Hooray for map!

Who's up?

Merlan hasn't taken an action other than speaking. Which, to be fair, is pretty Merlan-ish

Good point. Merlan, now would be the perfect time for a baleful polymorph or phantasmal killer!

Good point. Merlan, now would be the perfect time for a baleful polymorph or phantasmal killer!

Yes. Yes it would. I'll,..... get back to you on that. In a another half dozen levels or so,... ;P

Apologies, I lost a day or 2, and I guess I missed my cue! ;P

Merlan hands a bag to Squeaks, and gives the reptile a firm order to 'wait for it,...'

The pint-sized prestidigitator then dabs a bit of ointment onto his eyes, and mutters a magic phrase. His eyes briefly flash with a bright blue light before fading back to normal.

"NOW. Where are you you sunnuva,...?!?"

Cast See invisible. dooing a looky-loo.
Per:(w/ familiar bonus) 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20

Meh. The dice hate us all equally I suppose. At least I can SEE him, IF I can spot him! ;P

Merlan looks over where he thought he heard the spellcasting, and sees a shimmering form standing -- the grayish tone of the flesh makes it seem like it's probably an orc or half-orc.

Dude's been casting spells, so he's not really able to hide at the moment.

The large cat-creature stops racing straight toward you, starting to circle the group rather than rushing headlong into the large warrior-woman. The lightning elemental shows no such restraint, however, and charges Fiona (who gets an AoO as it gets inside her reach).

Slam (Charge) v. Fiona: 1d20 + 8 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 8 + 3 = 23 for 1d6 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12 Plus Electricity: 1d4 ⇒ 4

The earth elemental continues to move forward, nowhere near as quickly as his crackling companion.

No new elemental appears, but Merlan sees the figure move closer.

Conditions/Bonuses:

Party
Costin -- AC: 12[16]/12/10[14] -- CMD: 14 -- HP: 39/39 Status:
Eloen -- AC: 19/13/16 -- CMD: 18 -- HP: 56/56 Status:
Fiona -- AC: 20/13/17 (+2 v. AoO) -- CMD: 21 -- HP: 44/60 Status:
Lysander -- AC: 18/12/16 -- CMD: 16 -- HP: 40/40 Status:
--Kruss -- AC: 22/18/15 -- CMD: 19 (23 v. trip) -- HP: 24]/24 -- DR: 1/cold iron Status: Maybe not levelled to 5?
--Hakkar -- AC: 16/15/13 -- CMD: 11 -- HP: 13/13 Status:Maybe not levelled to 5?
Merlan -- AC: 13[17]/13/11[15] -- CMD: 13 -- HP: 23/23 Status: Not levelled to 5
--Squeaky -- AC: 17/15/14 -- CMD: 10 -- HP: 11/11 Status: Maybe not levelled to 5?
Sahar -- AC: 18/13/15 -- CMD: 16 -- HP: 34/34 Status: Not levelled to 5 (at least, not here)

Opposition
Advanced Kitty Substitute -- AC: ?? -- CMD: ?? -- Damage Taken: 0 Status: Gonna eat the casters
Sparky -- AC: ?? -- CMD: ?? -- Damage Taken: 0 Status: Crackling with excitement
Rocky -- AC: ?? -- CMD: ?? -- Damage Taken: 0 Status: Slow and Steady wins the race
*Merlan's Imaginary Friend* -- AC: ?? -- CMD: ?? -- Damage Taken: 0 Status: Bringing in Rocks

Next Up: Sahar, Costin, New Round, Squeaky, Fiona, Eloen, Lysander, Merlan, Scorpikitty, Rocky, Sparky, Nobody.

Would you kindly stop rolling so high, DM? Thanks ahead of time.

AoO (scabbard): 1d20 + 9 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 9 + 1 = 22
Damage (size strength, scabbard): 1d10 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 6 + 1 = 11

HP: 44/60

It was a 12.

Fiona manages to strike the elemental as it charges her.

Sahar -- AC: 18/13/15 -- CMD: 16 -- HP: 34/34 Status: Not levelled to 5 (at least, not here) Fixed! New stuff in statblocks.

Bless is up for 4 minutes (from last turn.) +1 morale bonus to attack rolls and saves vs fear.

Sahar murmurs a prayer for herself and kicks her horse into motion, filling the gap between the cat-thing and the little wizard's coterie.

Divine favor up for 10 rounds for Sahar only. AC 19, MW Scimitar +12, 1d6+5. Scimitar has MW bonus only and is not a magic weapon yet.