Bea beams a little at the praise, as she rubs her hands to get them warm. "Freezing magic numbs you a little, that's all" she smiles and looks down the cliffs "Do we use rope?" she hopes, since the fall seems disconcerting.
Karana replies, “I have a rope. But Bea, if you are truly afraid of the height, I can carry you—not as I am now, but as an ape!”
At first the idea of being carried wrinkles Bea's nose a bit, but as an Ape? Seeing that alone would be worth it. So she nods with interest dancing in her violet eyes.
"Ya, good vorrk." Gofran then examines the cliffs, looking for places that they would be able to climb down safely.
Karana does have a rope. She finds a means to secure it before her transformation.
“Please bear in mind that, even if I am a bear, I am still Me. I can comprehend your spoken word, but cannot speak it in my animal form.”
She then begins to chant and dance. Her muscles bulge. Her head stretches. Her limbs become hairy. Her clothing becomes hair! Karana is a big ape!
She gives Bea a toothy big-ape smile! “Ooh?” she asks (or offers?).
Bea's eyes go wide, imagining all the possibilites. "Um... I could climb on your back, so you can use your arms for climbing?" she suggests, and if the ape is amicable, will do so.
Karana stoops down so Bea can hold onto her. She descends the rope when Bea is ready.
Renali claps her hands in delight at Karana's transformation. "Oh, that is amazing! I would still advise the use of a rope, as climbing back up can be very, very challenging for those who d-, I mean - if you don't have a rope."
Plenty of stalagmites nearby offer anchor points for a rope, and Renali helpfully offers to guard it as the rest of the group descends into the hole, their feet slipping on the water-smoothed walls. "Be careful down there, the cultists may still be around!" she whispers as she feeds the rope through her hands with well-practiced movements.
Once on the bottom, Gofran assumes his usual role and scouts ahead of the others.
Beau stays away from the edge of the pit and keeps the lit torch low, not wanting to accidentally spill any light into the well of darkness. Once the okay is given for him and the others who aren't blessed with the ability to see in the dark to move on up, he will do so.
At the bottom of the well, Gofran encounters what seems to be the start of a small series of rooms, their original use rendered a mystery as some ancient catastrophe seems to have melted the walls in places, leaving behind a half-demolished complex. In the few places where the walls are still intact, the delicate carvings indicate that whoever once built these was a skilled artisan. Dar to the southwest, a partially melted stone archway opens into a larger room.
Of more immediate concern, however, are the multitude of voices arguing in a language that Gofran doesn't understand. As Gofran's foot touches the floor, a pebble rolls under it, causing a sound that makes the strangers abruptly stop yelling, and in the sudden silence Gofran can hear one of them sniffing the air loudly in his direction
As quiet descends over the ruined underground rooms, Gofran can hear one set of footsteps approaching, their pace slow and cautious. No light accompanies them, which could mean that whoever is out there can see perfectly well in the dark.
Gofran draws his sword and gestures for Karana and the others, showing that trouble lies ahead. Slowly then, he creeps forward to take a look at the enemies.
Karana moves to attack!
Bea cannot see into the darkness but she can see which way her friend Ape-Kiarana is running, so she reaches down to grab a rock, casts light on it, and then throws it in the general direction she thinks they might be.
Beau strides forward with torch and rapier in hand. Gofran and Karana went in before him, so what choice does he have? The torchlight reveals to him a brutish-looking simian humanoid. He opens his mouth and shouts some expletives at the fellow, and then cuts his rapier through the air to add oompf (and swoosh) to the verbal threat.
Single Action
Auditory Concentrate Emotion Fear Mental
With a sudden shout, a well-timed taunt, or a cutting putdown, you can shake an enemy's resolve. Choose a creature within 30 feet of you who you're aware of. Attempt an Intimidation check against that target's Will DC. If the target does not understand the language you are speaking, or you're not speaking a language, you take a –4 circumstance penalty to the check. Regardless of your result, the target is temporarily immune to your attempts to Demoralize it for 10 minutes.
Critical Success The target becomes frightened 2.
Success The target becomes frightened 1.
Karana's punch misses the mark, while Bea lights up the space and Beau attempts to intimidate their opponent, who only blinks at him in incomprehension. Kyrie strides forward, shield up in a protective move. [Stride, Stride, Everstand Stance[/ooc]
The charau-ka and boggard minions erupt into action as they notice the intrusion, shouting and shrieking as they pull out their weapons. The charau-kas seem confused by ape-Karana, focusing their ire onto Kyrie instead as they pelt the champion with chunks of fallen masonry that bounce harmlessly off her shield, but the boggards have no such qualms and swarm the druid with morningstars raised. One manages to get a hit in, but the rest of the attacks are swatted aside.
Meanwhile, the one who seems to be their leader roars, sounding strangely triumphant and... relieved? He puts his hands forward, chanting a strange word over and over as a bright ball of fire erupts in the middle of the Breachill Heroes. His left hand seems to be encased in a strange gauntlet that glows with heat, tendrils of smoke rising from the pointed, claw-like finger guards, while in his other hand he holds a hatchet - he uses both to strike at Kyrie. The gauntlet bears down, pummelling past her shield and leaving painful, burning slashes.
Yellow and Red Stride towards Karana, then Strike twice each.
Boss charau-ka uses Shrieking frenzy and is Quickened for 1 turn. Casts Fireball for 2 actions, Strike, Strike.
Beau = ?? from Fireball
Gofran = ?? from Fireball
Karana = -5 HP from the boggard, ?? from Fireball
Kyrie = -28 HP from boss attack, ?? from Fireball
Karana reels in pain as her hairy flesh is roasted!
Karana then ▶️backs off and ▶️dismisses her Wild Shape so she can heal herself and others.
“It is not easy being an ape,” she says meekly.
Being a more sensible size around those that are definitely Not sensibly size pays off when a gush of fire explodes around them, and she is behind Beau. Her feet skill get burned badly.
In response she tries to blast the nearest charau-kas with a blast of cold, since it worked so well on the mushrooms.
Sadly, charau-kas Move where mushrooms do not, so the ray is way off course. There is simply too many Un-sensibly sized people in the way to send torrents of dark energy or disturbing lights, so with a weary sigh she looks at her left arm and remembers the Things between the stars. Cold, dark, slimy thoughts later her arm elongates into a tentacle.
As the fire dissipates and the smoke clears, Beau lies on the ground. He does not move and perhaps more eerily, does not make a sound.
As Gofran is burned, he moves forward to fight the spellcaster.
Karana raises her shield to protect Karana, absorbing some of the scorching flames, but at great cost to herself. She swings her shield at the leader of the cultists, but he bats it aside with his strange gauntlet before felling the champion.
As the charau-ka grins over his victory, showing his long fangs, his minions renew their attacks, although most of them are blocked are evaded. Only one manages to get a lucky hit on Gofran. Just as their leader begins to roar his displeasure at their incompetence, a skittering of little clawed legs echoes across the space as a strange spider, colourful and furred, charges across the ceiling from the direction of the hole, chittering furiously. It launches itself as the large charau-ka, biting his face and throat, its fangs glistening with venom. Taken aback by this new threat, he lashes out with gauntlet and hatchet, wounding it.
Beau = 0 HP, dying 2
Gofran = 25/58 HP
Karana = 18/38 HP
Kyrie = 0 HP, dying 1
Spider = -18 HP
Boss = -22 HP
Karana heals the fallen!
Gofran is spooked by the spider, but seeing it fight besides them, he keeps on attacking the boss.
Bea's slimy tentacle lashes out to strike the leader, infecting the man with stupidity.
Coming to her senses again, Kyrie climbs shakily to her feet, brow furrowing at the state of her companions. "Hold... still," she says through gritted teeth against the pain of her own wounds as she digs out the medical supplies.
Unsure what hit him and what brought him back to the here and now, Beau gets up and observes the ongoing clash. He needs another moment to catch his breath and to collect his thoughts before he can join the others in the hand to hand.
With careful observation during battle, you identify an enemy’s strengths and weaknesses. The GM rolls a secret Perception check for you against the Deception or Stealth DC (whichever is higher) of an enemy of your choice who is not concealed from you, hidden from you, or undetected by you, and who is engaged in combat. The GM might apply a penalty for the distance between you and the enemy. The enemy is then temporarily immune to your Battle Assessment for 1 day.
Critical Success: The GM chooses two of the following pieces of information about the enemy to tell you: which of the enemy’s weaknesses is highest, which of the enemy’s saving throws has the lowest modifier, one immunity the enemy has, or which of the enemy’s resistances is highest. If the event of a tie, the GM should pick one at random.
Success: The GM chooses one piece of information from the above list to tell you about the enemy.
Critical Failure: The GM gives you false information (the GM makes up the information).
"Bea, you got anything that tests his reflexes? Try doing that!"
Bea is frowning at her tentacle arm, wondering if her magic didn't flow correctly through it since that spell was supposed to make the creature a mindless idiot. "What? Oh, um, yes, I do."
The two boggards continue to wail on Karana, while one of the charau-kas switches target to the spider as the other one keeps throwing chunks of stone at Gofran. The leader chants a brief incantation and he seems to glow briefly with a reddish light before he takes a swipe at the spider, which dodges out of the way at the last moment. Karana is felled by the onslaught.
Beau = 26/44 HP
Gofran = 17/58 HP
Karana = 0/38 HP, dying 1
Kyrie = 3 HP
Spider = -23 HP
Boss = -22 HP
With their enemies forming one united front against them, Beau fails to spot a way to flank the boss simian to set up a vicious assault. He strides forward and chooses to stand side to side with Gofran as his rapier darts forward with the sole intent of taking the boss down.
"Gofran! Can you step to the right?"
The small gnome holds up her hands and opens a small rift to someplace very bright, loosing a storm of shining beams and bolts at the line of creatures in front of her.
Karana fights for survival.
Gofran steps aside once Bea asks him to, but keeps fighting the enemies, deeply worried that it is not going well.
Kyrie goes on one knee to help Karana, then interposes herself between the enemies and her companions. The spider continues to attack the leader with renewed fury, ichor dripping from its wounds, but he parries all the attacks while barring his fangs at it in a snarl before retaliating in kind.
A well-placed rock hits Kyrie in the temple, sending the champion to the ground once more, while the leader's minions continue to unleash blow upon blow on the spider, Karana, and Gofran - although only a few of those find their target.
Beau = 39/44 HP
Gofran = 17/58 HP
Karana = 17/38 HP
Kyrie = 0 HP, dying 1
Spider = -42 HP
Boss = -41 HP, flat-footed
Beau capitalizes on the fact that the simian's defenses have been opened up and he strikes, relying on quick footwork and a supple yet strong wrist to guide his rapier to strike true.
Karana heals Kyrie & Gofran.
Bea rushes around the fighters to try and blast the minions away from beating Kyrie.
Gofran keeps attacking the boss.
Beau's well-placed strikes bring down the large charau-ka, while Bea blasts the two boggards with her magic and Gofran moves to attack the charau-ka that had been throwing rocks at him. Kyrie gets to her feet again, moving to stand over the leader's body defiantly, and the spider switches targets to the closest foe, attacking viciously and felling one of the boggards with two quick bites.
Beau = 39/44 HP
Gofran = 33/58 HP
Karana = 17/38 HP
Kyrie = 0 HP, dying 1
Spider = -50 HP
Boss = dead
Red = dead
Yellow = -11 HP
Purple = -15 HP
Blue = uninjured
Karana calls to her friends, “Careful… this is my last big healing spell!”
Karana draws her bow.
"Come on, we got this!" The words reflect Beau's desire for this to be over already as much as it does the tide of battle. Things do seem to be going their way now!
As Beau rushes one, Bea snaps her tenticle arm at the same one. A long stinger appears at the end trying to poison it.
Spider Venom (poison); Level 1; Maximum Duration 4 rounds. Stage 1 1d4 poison damage and enfeebled 1 (1 round); Stage 2 1d4 poison damage and enfeebled 2 (1 round).
Critical Success The target is unaffected.
Success The target takes 1d4 poison damage.
Failure The target is afflicted with spider venom at stage 1.
Critical Failure The target is afflicted with spider venom at stage 2.
Gofran gives chase to the retreating charau-ka, studying its moves before attacking.