"BLOCK GROFF Tristan" shouts Khoran
Bannog's huge eyes focus in on Grimm with a deep anger. "No grabby, zap!" He moves backwards, gathers energy, and lets fly a flash of electricity toward poor Grimm.
Tristan follows Khorans command and moves to the pink square completely non-threateningly (total defense, standard)
Skills If you have 3 or more ranks in Acrobatics, you gain a +3 dodge bonus to AC when fighting defensively instead of the usual +2, and a +6 dodge bonus to AC when taking the total defense action instead of the usual +4.
Taking advantage of the cover offered by Tristan, Khoran slips away from Groff's Dorn Dergar and tries again...
Grimm will move towards the exit and will become invisible.
Taking advantage of Auleth's apparent clarity of thought, Khoran speaks :"Auleth, you've been affected by a confusion curse. Run, get out of here and away from us before you lose control again." Turning to Tristan, he continues "Tristan, lug Groff out. Leave his Dorn Dergar, I'll bring it."
Bannog flies back and blasts Grimm with lightning, eyeing the Gnome suspiciously when he smolders rather than falling to the ground from the damage.
Tristan and Khoran work together to stop Groff from attacking and put him to sleep with a slumber hex and the dwarf falls to the ground asleep.
Auleth's eyes glaze over again and he looks at the scimitar in his hand questioningly before plunging it into his own body.
Grimm, not wanting to take another lightning bolt attack fades from sight and moves away.
Bannog looks around and in his confusion once again decides that attacking himself is the best action he can take at this time.
Round Three Initiative Order
Auleth - Attacked himself, Under a Spell
Grimm - Cast Invisibility, moved away
Bannog - Attacked himself, Under a spell
Tristan
Khoran
Groff - Unconscious, Prone, Disarmed, Under a Spell
Tristan and Khoran can now act.
4:30 PM on Solstag, the ninth of Eostre, 3517 I.R.
Khoran shakes his head in disgust and says "What a clusterf*ck", and then turns his will on Bannog...
Bannog's eyes flash with anger when the spell is cast upon him. "No! Bad magic!"
Clusterf$+! indeed
Tristan begins dragging Groff out of the building
Khoran doesn't waste breath on swearing, he just hustles his butt out of the complex, confident that electric death is chasing him...
As Tristan begins to drag Groff away from the room Khoran attempts to put Bannog to sleep, but the feisty goblin just glares at the shaman with a new anger showing in his eyes. Khoran then retreats to the doorway.
Auleth shakes his head clear again and looks around, seeming to be in control of himself for the moment.
Round Four Initiative Order
Auleth - Can act normally, Under a Spell
Grimm - Invisible
Bannog - Must attack Khoran, Under a spell
Tristan
Khoran
Groff - Unconscious, Prone, Disarmed, Under a Spell
Auleth and Grimm can now act and Bannog must now attack Khoran.
4:30 PM on Solstag, the ninth of Eostre, 3517 I.R.
Auleth takes Khoran's advice and double-moves out of the building, sheathing his scimitar as he does to avoid hurting himself. He looks for an area to take cover along the outside of the building, where he can see anyone coming. Finding it, he thinks, How can one break a Confusion spell, or do I just have to wait it out?
Dice rolls if needed:
Other than dispelling it or waiting for it to expire on its own Auleth knows of no way to remove a confusion spell.
Knowing that the length of effect will tell how powerful the source of the magic is, Auleth counts: Things started to get weird, then I had a moment of clarity, then stabbed myself, then could run...
The angry goblin's eyes don't leave Khoran as he runs away. "Silly longshanks, can't run from me!" He flies just a little ways to try to get a clearer shot, then the familiar electricity courses through his body before shooting off down the hallway toward the fleeing shaman.
A little smoke rises, but Khoran seems unfazed...
Grimm exits the building.
Round Four Initiative Order
Auleth - Moved, Under a Spell
Grimm - Moved, Invisible
Bannog - Attacked Khoran, Under a spell
Tristan
Khoran
Groff - Unconscious, Prone, Disarmed, Under a Spell
Tristan and Khoran can now act.
4:30 PM on Solstag, the ninth of Eostre, 3517 I.R.
Tristan continues dragging Groff out of the building
Khoran ducks around the corner. He waits, his will gathered to strike if any of the party start acting crazy again...
The non-enchanted members of the party continue to try to get everyone to safe locations and are getting the situation under control to the best of their ability. Unfortunately for them, Auleth is once again overcome by his confusion and decides that Khoran is a threat he needs to deal with.
Auleth runs towards Khoran with his scimitar in hand, and the shaman, seeing him approaching attempts to put him to sleep before he can land an attack.
Round Five Initiative Order
Auleth - Making will save, attacking Khoran, Under a Spell
Grimm - Invisible
Bannog - Under a spell
Tristan
Khoran
Groff - Unconscious, Prone, Disarmed, Under a Spell
Auleth can attempt his save and possibly attack and Grimm can act normally.
4:30 PM on Solstag, the ninth of Eostre, 3517 I.R.
Auleth collapses, suddenly utterly exhausted.
Grimm will disarm Auleth and will then move away to a safe distance.
When Auleth tries to charge and attack Khoran he is put into a nice gentle sleep allowing Grimm to recover his weapon for now. While this happens outside Bannog looks around and sees almost no one left to interact with, just Tristan dragging Groff through the door. In his confusion, the goblin decided to sneakily once again attack himself!
1 damage
After this, Tristan is able to drag Groff through the doorway, out of sight leaving Bannog on his own while the rest of the party restrains the sleeping Auleth and Groff so they won't hurt anyone when they awake. A short time later, with no more damage done, the spell wears off the the party takes stock of the situation.
The encounter is over and you are now outside the building in the Desolation in the late afternoon.
4:35 PM on Solstag, the ninth of Eostre, 3517 I.R.
Well guys...That could've gone better. But given that we just tangled with a powerful spellcaster in there, it also coulda been WAAYYY worse. I say let's get outta here and leave the spellcaster alone.
Bannog flaps his head violently as he comes back to himself, and quickly joins the others outside. "Bannog mighty wizard, but maybe not most mighty. Leaving tower to other wizard seems better!"
"Agreed; not sure what is in there, but if I used such an enchantment, it might have lasted half as long... I think best to leave whatever it is for another time. To business, it is late afternoon. Let us head back towards the road until the light fails, and then camp."
Before we go, I will spread some healing around...
and I will follow that up with a healing touch on Grimm
7 ranks +3 trained +4 wis + 2 Healing satchel +2 Booze
Edit: 33 HP healed on Grimm
Auleth is less convinced about moving on. On the other hand, anything that powerful must be guarding something worth knowing or having. Either it's some guarding ward left by the Army of Light, or it's profaned that space.
Can we find a way to strengthen ourselves against that sort of magic? If so, another assault would benefit from our knowing what we are facing.
We have no reason to hope the next place we find will be any less well-guarded.
"I've been almost killed messing around with someone not related to our mission. I'm not trying a third time. You're welcome to get yourself killed in there if you like, but without me."
"I'm curious too, Auleth, and you're right with guardians that capable, there is probably something of value in there. Still, we gone in there twice, and had bad luck both times. Let's give our luck some time to change."
I hate to leave something like this behind us. Crossing the Desolation to the actual city must be a journey of some days, so it'd be best to have a safe place to rest.
Auleth looks around at the outside of the building and the surrounding area. Where's the next target, and how far?
Agreeing that somewhere else is the best place to be for now the group heads back towards the road, giving themselves some space between themselves and the building. The trudge through the Ashen Waste is silent and the ever-present dust continues to swirl thick in the air, but nothing in encountered along the way until it starts to get darker. When it gets close to evening you estimate that you're still about an hour away from the road. Would you like to stop and camp for the night or continue until you get to the road?
5:55 PM on Solstag, the ninth of Eostre, 3517 I.R.
"I've been almost killed messing around with someone not related to our mission. "
I tried using arrows on the map but was unable to do so. Lets just do a counter-clockwise searcthat. That should take us through all the places that seem interesting on the Ashen Waste h through the interior of the Ashen Waste and see if we manage to survive section of the map
Khoran spits on the ground and speaks "Nightfall... I figure wandering around the Desolation at night is pretty much a death sentence, so it's time to camp. I can shelter us, but it'll be a cold supper tonight; there ain't no firewood here."
As night falls and the camp (sylvan hideaway) is set Tristan sets about dancing his nightly devotions with the group hopefully watching over him.. And as soon as his devotions are completed he returns to the safety of the hideaway
Bannog watches Tristan dance with a confused look on his face. "We have dance party now? No music? Me could sing goblin fighting song to dance to..."
I've slept in less, and eaten worse. I can keep us in pure water, if that's an issue, though can't help with food. But I agree, best to keep to some kind of shelter.
And after a completely uneventful night the group starts exploring the rest of the Ashen Waste
The group settles in for the night in the Ashen Wastes, making do with a cold dinner and watching Tristan's evening dance under the largely dust-obscured stars. Although Groff and Bannog hear howls coming through the trap door to the shelter at around 4 in the morning which Groff recognizes as the screams of screamers like those who invaded the sylvan hideaway before, this time they don't seem to notice the entrance. In the morning, after another cold meal and standard preparations, the group heads out with a new plan formed.
The day is slightly less hazy than yesterday, though certainly visibility is still bad, and it's getting warmer, though not to the point that heat is the main discomfort anyone feels. Trudging back to the road, following it south for a while, and then back into the Ashen Wastes there are no signs of life at all other than your companions. The tedium of the landscape mixed with the constant fear that something might be lurking just outside your vision, obscured by the dust, combine to make a dull but stressful journey.
Early in the afternoon the lonely winds blowing their powdery dust are all the company you have in this ashen plain. Not even a small hill breaks the monotony around you. This changes as you spy something on the ground ahead. It looks like it may be bodies — recent if the dark stains visible upon them are any indication.
1:40 PM on Ardsdag, the tenth of Eostre, 3517 I.R.
At the start of the day......
At the start of each day Tristan casts Lucky Number on everyone remember your own Number and use at your discretion, Tristan only has five of these spells and one person will not have it cast one them, to be determined randomly each day
Upon seeing what may be bodies.....