The Ruby Phoenix Tournament begins! The sorcerer Hao Jin has returned to Tian Xia to host her decennial international fighting tournament, and contestants from all over the world have arrived to try their chance at winning a prize from her vault of incredible treasures. Before they can compete in the tournament, however, fighters must first complete a series of qualifying challenges on the uninhabited tropical island of Bonmu, where wild dinosaurs roam amid the ancient ruins of a lost civilization. Can the heroes defend their island stronghold, outlast their many ruthless rivals, and survive the perils of so-called Danger Island? Let the competitors decide!
Tarik makes a powerful hit, knocking the tengu Prone, and dealing solid damage. He also shakes off the side effects of the bright flash in his face. Due to higher level, incapacitation makes that a crit success... Yeah, none of the Toughest are even your level. Not even Tino.
Daraj misses Takatorra due to the dazling colors, but gets a hit on the catfolk.
But Kyoko fires an arrow in and fully deflects Daraj's strike, causing it to do no damage.
Iru then moves in and gets a critical strike on Ji-yook, and a second hit, due to the Flank... it surprises her, as she normally can't be flanked by the things she fights. Since, as mentioned, you are a higher level. Her anti-flank ability does not apply... I am going to take the first D6 on that second force attack, as I think you miss-typed it a bit Iru ;)
His third strike misses horribly.
Ji-Yook is loathe to admit it, but she is well past the half-way mark on her health and also signals her surrender.
Jinyi continues his performance, but lowers his bow, not wanting to bother with Yabin in such close range. Instead, he focuses on the lizardfolk, attempting to read his weaknesses as he did with Ji-Yook. As he finishes studying him, Jinyi's mouth twitches upwards in a wry smirk.
Bon Mot (Diplomacy):1d20 + 21 ⇒ (1) + 21 = 22
The smirk doesn't last long, though, as he tries to shoot out a barbed quip, and stumbles over his words, the quick transition from song to speech tangling his tongue. He looks mortified.
Zhilan sees that Takatorra was now far larger of a threat, jumping back on one leg to attempt to get some much needed safe space to cast, "I apologize sincerely Ji Yook, my magics are too powerful for a friendly spar, I shall help heal us all after such contest," she says before casting a decidedly less lethal spell at the birdman.
First Action: Stride
Second and Third Action: Casting Dispell Magic
AC is +3 and grants reaction attack on unsuccessfulhit against her.
Whelp, there goes yet another terrible roll, enjoy your own reaction. I promise these guys are supposed to be a LITTLE tougher than this. But 3/4ths of their rolls have been less than a 10 on the die. About half have been less than 5 now. Also, WHICH spell are you trying to counteract, since it only targets one? The Enlarge or the Haste? Also, at what spell level are you casting Dispel Magic?
Sorry for delay all. Winter storms killed my internet and power. Had to then catch up on several things after that, and didn't notice the forums ate my post in the chaos. Then the forums went down... and only just now working for me again.
Takatorra is suddenly back to his normal size, and takes a light smacking for it.
Kyoko causes another tree to appear, right next to yabin, before taking a shot at Jinyi with her bow.
Bow, non-lethal:1d20 + 19 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 19 - 2 = 20
But is apparently too surprised by the terrible Bon-Mot and misses horribly.
Yabin takes advantage of the moment, and steps back form Jinyi before casting another spell at him.
DC 27 Will Save:
Critical Success The target is unaffected.
Success The target babbles incoherently and is stunned 1.
Failure The target is confused for 1 minute. It can attempt a new save at the end of each of its turns to end the confusion.
Critical Failure The target is confused for 1 minute, with no save to end early.
Female barbarian 2 | AC 12 | HP 26/26 | Ref +0, Fort +1, Will -1
Zathra moves behind Tarik, then she and her eidolon act together. As she telekinetically hurls a rock at Takatorra, the phantom's neck stretches out to impossible lengths. He pecks at Takatorra's legs!
Iru gets what should have been an incredible hit in, but a tree got in his way on his first strike before falling apart, then his second strike hits. His third one was another incredible hit, but was knocked off course heavily by an arrow from Kyoko. First hit was a crit, but the tree took almost all the damage. Second hit landed true, third hit was also a crit, but a reaction from Kyoko reduced damage by an amount equal to the damage dealt, effectively cutting the crit in half.
Meanwhile Zathra hits Takatorra with a stone, but Tarik misses.
Jinyi Will save, bon mot negative:1d20 + 20 - 2 ⇒ (2) + 20 - 2 = 20Whelp, I don't know his spells, so we'll go with the following
Jinyi will look extremely uncertain for a moment, then turns and shoots an arrow at the closest individual, which is Iru, who is not expecting it and is thus flat-footed to the first attack
shortbow:1d20 + 20 ⇒ (6) + 20 = 26
Jinyi misses, but laughing hysterically he does so again.
shortbow, map:1d20 + 20 - 5 ⇒ (13) + 20 - 5 = 28luckily Flanking requires both individuals to be allies, and you'd stop being flat-footed after teh first attack. so Confused Jinyi misses still.
And he tries one more time, because why not.
shortbow, super map:1d20 + 20 - 10 ⇒ (13) + 20 - 10 = 23
A third arrow flits past Iru.
He then tries to break out of the confusion.
Will save to break free:1d20 + 20 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 20 - 2 = 35success
Taktorra Strides up to Daraj, and releases a blazing flurry of strikes at him.
Blade Barrage, non-lethal:1d20 + 22 - 2 ⇒ (1) + 22 - 2 = 21
But his first attack misses badly.
Blade Barrage, non-lethal, map:1d20 + 22 - 2 - 4 ⇒ (11) + 22 - 2 - 4 = 27
His second attack comes up just short.
Blade Barrage, non-lethal, super map:1d20 + 22 - 2 - 8 ⇒ (7) + 22 - 2 - 8 = 19
His continued failures, against all odds, seems to have him extremely flustered and he misses yet again.
He then takes his Hasted action to make one more attempt.
gale baldes, non-lethal, super map:1d20 + 22 - 2 - 8 ⇒ (1) + 22 - 2 - 8 = 13
But he seems even more flustered than before.
Zhilan, seeing the intense melee decides it would be best for her to peel back further, casting a far more minor spell that ward off attacks that would coming towards Daraj. It was much safer as an option and didn't tax her as much as other spells. Hopping back on one foot, she waved her arms and tails around before a shimmer over Daraj's body appeared, Minkian symbols interlaced with a light glow.
She chants something, "Gai wo oyobosa nai 、 gai wo oyobosa nai"
Minkian:
"Do no harm, do no harm to thee"
1st Action Stride
2nd and 3rd is to cast Forbidding Ward on Daraj, granting him with auto heightened what should be +4 to AC, Saving Throws, and Spells against him
I am assuming you are specifying Takatorra as the enemy he gets the bonus on, since Forbidding Ward does require you to specify the enemy too, instead of applying to all enemies. Also, sadly, it does not go up every spell level. It specifically is +1 until 6th spell level, then is +2. Forbidding Ward... It's a good spell in general, but not as good as one would hope.
Kyoko calls out a defensive boon to Yabin, linking them in some fashion,
then takes a shot at Iru.
Shortbow, non-lethal:1d20 + 19 - 2 ⇒ (2) + 19 - 2 = 19
And misses as badly as the Toughest have been doing in general.
Yabin then Steps away from Iru, before making a spell motion at him.
Fortitude save, DC 27:
Critical Success: The target is unaffected.
Success: The target is slowed 1 for 1 round.
Failure: The target is slowed 1 for 1 minute.
Critical Failure: The target is slowed 2 for 1 minute.
Tarik gets a solid hit off on Takatorra, knocking him down, as an arrow goes whizzing past Tarik's face. Then Zathra follows up with a rock to his head. Daraj also gets some solid hits off on Takatorra, hitting the bird while he is down, but he looks ready to continue the fight anyway.
Meanwhile, Iru resists the worst of the spell effects and moves up to Yabin, only managing to get a single very good hit off, as his other punch goes just wide of the Nagaji.
As the dust settles from this scuffle, Yabin elects to surrender, even though his hp is not quite under half. Seeing that over his party has surrendered, and no opponent has yet. Takatorra nods to Kyoko, and they both bow out as well. Accepting that the battle is lost.
Encounter over.
Seeing that the Toughest have fully surrendered, Ingdani steps forward and officially declares your group the victors in this friendly bout. As the Toughests' members gather together, Kyoko will move to the center of the group, and then uses a three-action Heal over everyone.
Heal level 4:4d8 ⇒ (3, 5, 3, 2) = 13
Unsatisfied with the results she does so a second time.
Heal level 4:4d8 ⇒ (4, 6, 8, 6) = 24
Satisfied that takes care of most of your party's injuries, while addressing some of the harm to her own. She then turns to Zathra and sends one more healing pulse directed specifically at her.
Heal, 2 action, level 1:1d8 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
Happy with her work, she then proceeds to start to collect her missing arrows.
That should bring every one of you to full health.
"Thank you for an excellent first bout on this island! Seems everyone will be as tough as we expected. But we'll turn our luck around like we always have, and see you all in the finals!" He then draws out of his bag two runestones and hands them to your party, while saying with a wink, “I’ve heard this island is covered in undead. I’d hate for ghosts to get the better of you before we have a chance to fight again in the tournament... You can head over there to the Stone Market,” he gestures to a set of squat buildings along the docks where several individuals are moving around, "to get those runes set in place in short order. Or get anything else you decide you may need." He smiles again, and then turns to walk over to Ji-Yook, his hand glowing white for a moment as he uses Lay on Hands to help heal some of her wounds. As they generally seem to rest and chat where they are, you suspect they plan to take the time needed for Tino to be able to handle any remaining injuries to his party.
Ingdani then walks over, her face neutral. "Are there any questions or needs of your group, such as those two runestones? Or are we ready to continue on our way to the temple?" She will calmly wait for your party to decide what to do next.
For those who want to identify the runestones, Crafting or Arcana DC 19:
Female barbarian 2 | AC 12 | HP 26/26 | Ref +0, Fort +1, Will -1
Zathra bows to the members of Tino's Toughest, thanking them for the good match. "We should have those runes affixed to our weapons, then head to the temple."
Zhilan would give a bow to the friendly competitors, "I apologize on behalf of my actions. Bad habits die hard I suppose. I didn't intend to harm you in such a way," she spoke with a defeated manner, as if such an action had broken one of her own personal and unknown laws she had made for herself, "If I may then help you all with my experience."
Diplomacy to say Sorry:1d20 + 20 ⇒ (6) + 20 = 26
Zhilan will also provide healing to all that need it at Expert Level
Moving on from lack of response from jinyi again. Am reaching out to them to make sure they are okay, or if they need time away for a bit.
The members of Tino's Toughest react with varying levels of appreciation to Zhilan's words. With both Tino and Kyoko openly embracing the apology and happily forgiving her. While Yabin and Jiyook seem to do so more grudgingly. Takatorra seems too busy nibbling away on a new bit of candy he has.
Her offer to lend a hand proving healing assistance does seem to warm up Yabin a bit. Jiyook seems a bit more hesitant, as if old memories are warring with her attempts to believe in Zhilan's honesty.
Afterwards, your group heads towards the area Ingdani refers to as the Stone Market, which is made up of several small stone shacks. Looking barely big enough to hold a merchant and some standard wares at each of them. Nevertheless, there is a small crowd here, and the shacks appear to be in high demand.
"Each of these buildings contains someone with connections to multiple merchants outside of the island. Utilizing some of Hao Jin's temporal magics, each merchant can provide wares from any of their connections to any of you, in a moment's notice. In order to expedite potential changes in necessity, each also connects to a demi-plane that was created where time is rapidly accelerated, allowing addition or transfer of runes in a fraction of the usual time... How quickly will depend on how much demand of the crafters' time there is, and any willingness to... increase prioritization, via a 'monetary gift' to the organization."
By the time she is done speaking, one of the stone markets has an opening that you all could slip into, to speak with them. About adding those runes, or purchasing some change in equipment, etc. if you wish.
Zhilan did her best to patch up ties between her and the fellow group of martial artists, but old habits die hard and the kitsune woman still felt she was on the outs with a few of them. As she turned away, tails swishing lightly, she apologized to her group, "My lack of control may have almost lost use vital allies, I apologize for my rude actions," she says before pulling out a well adorned staff to use as a sort of walking stick for the time being.
When they got to the Stone Market, Zhilan seemed unworried then, "I believe I should be fine, what of you all?"
After an extended wait, other contestants eventually decide you've changed your mind and move in to speak to that shop keeper. As such Ingdani moves you onward towards your destination for the evening, the Temple of Irori that sits atop on of the many sizeable hills of Banmu.
Thin stone pillars carved with representations of the Master’s Rebus line
the path on both sides. A small metal brazier rests atop each pillar. The braziers are currently unlit and empty. A simple dirt path leads up to a large pair of wooden doors bearing numerous intricate carvings. Two statues, each of an androgynous human, stand to either side of the doors, though the southern statue has been knocked over and now lies in pieces in the grass. Large webs cover the temple door and the exterior walls to the northwest and southwest. Something massive writhes in the thick webs
that cover the northwest wall.
Map updated. Ignore some of the sketchyness of the western edge. I had to add on to the map myself, as it did not have plans for more than 4, medium or small sized humanoids to come along onto the map.
Ingdani will bow slightly, "Your accommodations contain your first three silver feathers and your Phoenix Necklace... as well as any unfortunate guests that may be staying here... What you do with said 'guests' is entirely up to you. Simply note, you have until morning to have collected your three feathers and the necklace... Or at the least, your necklace and one feather... If you don't have both to show the Enforcers in the morning... Well.. Your stay on Bonmu will be quite a bit shorter than you expected."
"Just do not burn us out of home and board. I could think of many alterations to change the feng shui back to a more suitable nature for us," she laughed, thinking it be prudent that they deal with these skittering beasts quickly and efficiently. She quickly scanned her mind for possible beasts that such a creature could create such a nested home, looking for any potential clues that may indicate what it would be beyond her current thoughts.
Lady Zhilan is fairly certain these webs are made by Ettercaps. Friends of spiders of all sizes. They also are heavily focused on ambush tactics whenever possible.
