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Elements of Chaos
Sansaárë the Curious wades a bit into the chamber to have a better look around.
Tannakin the Everbrave decides to further expand her horizons by wading into the semi-flooded chamber to have a closer look at those strange orbs.
Nyswyn the Cautious stands in the still water. The pragmatic dwarf glances a bit into the chamber.
Leo the Smiling braves the still waters following Tann into the chamber for a closer look.
A rat made of pure fire that emerges from the fire orb as soon as the heroes enter hiss and burns bright!!! He looks aggressive!!!
Nyswyn watches from the still waters the Firey rat skitter out of the burning orb with certain malice in its eyes!
Seeing the fiery rat emerge from the fire orb, Ness strode forward through the puddle of water.
Then speaking the words of power and gesturing the ancient arcane symbols, Ness cast Ray of Frost and from her fingertip released an icy blast at the fiery rat.
Round 1
Nyswyn--being quick on the frosty draw!--point a finger at the Firey rat, pronouncing Nature's wrath on it! The ray of frost sails a bit high and over the orb.
The cinder rat emits a cloud of smoke around itself. This gives it the concealed condition, making it hard to hit with attacks. Whenever a hero attempts a spell attack roll or Strikes the rat, first ask the player to roll a flat check—a d20 roll with nothing added. If the die comes up with a 5 or higher, the hero can attack normally. If the roll is a 4 or less, the attack misses.
The Firey Rat takes a look at the frosty ray that was aimed in his general direct. He seems not to like it one tiny bit!
The Firey Rat attempts to take a bite out of the Doordash delivery that just promptly showed up!
Whenever the cinder rat hits a hero, that hero catches on fire! This deals persistent damage, a special type of damage that doesn’t happen right away. Instead, that hero takes 1d4 fire damage at the end of their turn (not the rat’s turn). The hero can then attempt a flat check (roll a d20 without adding anything) to see if the fire goes out—if the result is a 15 or higher, the flames are extinguished! If not, they’ll take the damage again at the end of their next turn (rolling 1d4 each time they take this damage), and then roll a new flat check. This happens at the end of every turn until the fire goes out.
There are other actions a hero can use to put out the fire. A hero can spend an action to pat out the flames. If they do, they can roll a flat check right away, before they take the damage, as described above. A hero might also think to go jump in the puddle of water. If they drop to the ground in a square filled with water (gaining the prone condition), the flames go out automatically.
◆The Firey Rat then winks at Nyswyn, as it attempts to get a little bit closer!
It's red rimmed eyes stare up at the druidess, as he attempts to show how big his teeth are!
The Firey Rat does look a bit smug!
Leo Steps back away from the Cinder rat, speaks the magical phrase, and smacks the rat in the rat face with the trusty torch!
"It's a burning rodent! Stab it between its old twitchy sparky smoky eyes, sister!"
◆ One for All to aid:
She then ◆ Moves
and ◆ Stabs
It's not her best series of moves...
Round 1
Sansaárë crunches her face as if thinking of something unpleasant. The rogue recognizes this as a Cinder rat. Dangerous and hostile, full of Firey fervor that....she promptly stabs it in the flaming eye socket!
Tannakin begins offering advice, but before the swashbuckler can finish, her sister is already smiling at her with her shortsword implanted firmly into the Cinder Rat's Firey eye!
The shocked swashbuckler does come on over to harry the Cinder Rat, but she looks a bit off.
The Cinder Rat appears to be a bit uncomfortable, but it is still hissing and firey!
"Stab it..." Tannakin's eyes widen when she sees her sister's blade transfix the cinder rat's skull. "...eye."
She then dives into the water to put out the flames.
Round 1
Sansaárë's aim is true. Smoked the Cinder Rat even in the smoke!
Tannakin decides that being on fire isn't as cool as roasting marshmallows in a fire. She drops prone into the water to put herself out!
The rodent had burned her! Raising her shield to ward off any incoming attacks, Ness began to cast her Ray of Frost spell again.
vs DC 15
Ness was relieved to see that the flames had extinguished and she was no longer on fire.
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Round 2 of The Roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!
Nyswyn (determined not to stop, drop and roll, because who wants to really get wet....) decides that the best method of dealing with a Cinder Rat is to blast it with cold!
The icy ray strikes the burning, burning love right in the kisser! The Cinder Rat most have Weakness to cold, because that icy ray done did it in!
After the fight with the rat, the heroes can investigate the other two orbs. Both are intact and appear to be relatively stable. If anyone casts detect magic in this chamber, they sense the presence of magic.
The air orb is filled with a swirling cloud. If anyone touches it, a rush of wind fills the room, carrying a voice like a whisper. It says, “Call upon the wind to gain my blessing and soar through the sky.” This gives the heroes a special ability they can each use once within the next 24 hours. By spending 1 action to call upon the wind, that hero can fly for their next action, moving up to 40 feet. They have to end the movement on solid ground—if they don’t, they fall and take bludgeoning damage equal to half the distance they fell.
If the heroes touch the earth orb, they hear grinding and grumbling, like boulders falling down a hill. In this cacophony, they hear another voice that says, “Call upon the earth to gain its strength.” The heroes gain a second ability they can each use once within the next 24 hours. If a hero spends an action to call upon the earth, all their melee Strikes deal 2 extra damage from a sudden surge of strength. This bonus lasts until the start of the hero’s next turn.
The orb’s magical effects happen only once. If the players come back here again, the orbs are silent and don’t offer any benefits.
Having fully explored this chamber the Heroes do not see another way out, except the way they come.
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Even injured from the flames as she was, Tann suffered deeper burns, so together with Verdi, Ness set about calling upon the nature spirits to aid her in transforming three of the berries into healing succour.
Ness then taking a handful of fresh mud from the pouch around her waist began casting her healing cantrip (healing plaster) on Tann and herself to deal with the remaining weeping burn wounds (a cool, plastering agent to help with the healing of burns).
In between, Ness took time to refocus and restore her nature magic.
Ness felt the relief of healthy flesh and was happy to see all of Tann's burns turn from an angry red to her usual skin pallor. Then she *tsked*. "I've only one blueberry left for my healing. If the injuries continue as they have, I'll need more, that's for sure."
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"Thank you berry much, Ness! Now me and my wounds aren't weeping any more."
Tan agrees with Leo: "Let's take these orbs if we can!"
Ness shook her head at the bad puns and smiled, glad the wild half-elf was back to her usual form.
"If you mean to take them, first check if they'll cause you harm like the fire one. I just told you I'm low on berries for healing folk. I wasn't mucking about."
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Seeing Leo gave no reason not to touch the orbs other than they were magical, Ness shrugged and sloshed through the water at her feet and moved toward the "earth" orb - feeling a greater affiliation to it than air.
Let's hope this doesn't kill me, she mused inwardly, feeling Verdi rustle inside her coat pocket.
Ness reached out and carefully touched the earth orb on its pedestal before her. Suddenly the sound of grinding and grumbling, like boulders rolling down a hill filled her ears. "Boulders' rolling!" she called out a warning. Ness' eyes darted around the chamber to see if it was indeed falling down around them. It wasn't. Then she heard the ancient voice and she repeated the words aloud, "The orb said, 'Call upon the earth to gain its strength'."
"Does someone want to touch the air orb to see what it has to say for itself?" Ness looked to her companions, especially Airi who stood before said orb.
Tannakin decides to see if the wind blessing is strong enough for two, pawing at the orb after her roguish companion... regardless of how that turns out, she says:
"Right! Let's go!"
afterwards, heading up the creek.
As each of our heroes decide to touch an Orb, each feels and hears the words.
Having been granted those gifts, our heroes decide to continue exploring the other path across the flowing water....
There is an overpowering stench in this chamber, like rotten fish mixed with oily sweat. The warm, humid air only adds to the foul atmosphere. Unlike the previous chambers, this one appears to be a natural cavern, dotted with limestone stalactites and stalagmites, making it hard to see where the room ends.
There are strange gruff voices coming from below the immediate cliff in front of the Heroes. Seated at a rickety table on rickety crates are 3 reptilian creatures playing cards and arguing!
The reptilian creatures in the center of the room are xulgaths, reptilian humanoids who dwell underground in large family groups called clutches, fighting others for territory and resources. They’re known for their aggressive nature and their horrid stench—which they’re immune to.
These three creatures are bickering with each other over a piece of meat and haven’t noticed the heroes. Ask the players to roll for initiative while you roll Perception for the creature's initiative.
While our beautiful Sansaárë seems a bit preoccupied with fixing her hair (she does pull out a brush), Tannakin, Nyswyn and Leo perceive the creatures below and act before them!
Generally she was good with smells having explored many a stinky place, yet this horrid smell overpowered her senses and her stomach roiled and she almost bent over from the overwhelming feeling of sickness.
Putting a finger inside her mouth, Ness began to retch violently , trying to expel the foulness from her body. She didn't care if she vomited in front of the others.
Once she emptied her stomach, Ness felt better and more like herself, which she was grateful for. When she could look down over the cliffs at the reptilian creatures, she paused to consider what they were.
Looking to her companions she advised in low voice, "They're Xulgaths. They live underground in clutches, fighting for territory and resources. They're aggressive and have a horrid stench; which they're immune to. How do you wish to act?"
She raised her shield in order to better protect herself and waited to hear what Tann wished to do with them.
Tannakin muffles her mouth with her hand and tries to swallow back her gorge, then whispers "Oh wow... They reek. That'll make this easier. I propose acting recklessly and cool."
It's a plan that is best put into motion, alas.
She ◆ Moves to the edge of the cliff and ◆ Leaps over the card game, twisting midair to land gracefully just beyond the Xulgaths, flourishing her sword... and wiping her mouth a bit, smiling weakly through the nausea.
◆
Bon Mot again because if I have to look it up, you probably do too
"YOU STINK!" she yells at the closet Xulgath.
"You stink, but I think you'll be interested in my colleague's flanks. Airi? Airi, when you're done with your hair, we have customers."
Tan tries really hard to stick the landing despite a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. A very literal one.
Hot Jumping Jacks! Round 1
Let it be said that a bit of a cough, some phlegm and just a gallon, or so of vomit has never halted our two wildling elves!
Nyswyn, Tannakin and Sansaárë feel that the air in this chamber definitely does not agree with them!
Nyswyn every bit determined to push through (by sticking a finger down her throat), does indeed recognize these reptilian creatures as Xulgaths. The druidess probably even knows their names!
She then raises her shield from any projectiles that may shoot up from the mess down there.
Tannakin heaves! The 1/2 elf then smiles as she tumbles down and over the closest Xulgath.
The quick quip seems to have garnered a bit of reproach from said Xulgath, because it's mean red eyes focus on the swashbucker!
Leo watches all the spontaneously thrown vomit being chaotically projectiled about, looks at Ambrose and shrugs.
Approaching the edge of said chaos bravely (Ambrose mostly), Leo stares hard at the offending Xulgath!
The Xulgath blinks back sudden memories of a painful egghood.
Round 1
Sansaárë decides that her sister can't have all the shananagins!
She lands into a Flank with Tannakin (while her left eye winks at Leo) and fakes out the Bon Motted, Evil Eyed and now Over Extended Xulgath!
The rogue than does what any rogue would do in this tasty situation. Hair brush! No? Oh, she stabby stab stabs the bewildered Xulgath!
All 3 Xulgaths look a bit startled and perplexed (one of them is holding a pair of Aces!). After the dazzling display of recklessness, all 3 spring into action by ◆standing up and ◆grabbing weapons off the table (one is still holding his pair of Aces!)
First to swing it's club at Sansaárë is the bewildered Xulgath!
The next Xulgath #2 ◆Steps closer to the nicely hair brushed rogue.
The #3 Xulgath (number 3 really because he is horrible at partnered gin rummy so is almost always the last taken) takes a nice friendly club swing at Tannakin!
The #3 Xulgath seems to be vying for a promotion!
Tannakin blinks the stars out of her eyes. "I think my skull just joined the club..."
She tries to put down the already wounded xulgath if she can reach it... if not, she goes for the closest flanked one. If she has to ◆ step, she will.
She calls out encouragement to her companions:
"Serve them (in the) ribs, as usual, Airi!"
If she didn't step earlier, she sends further heartening advice to Leo.
"Requesting your deadliest fairy magic to this fella's face, Leo!"
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Round 2
Tannakin's eyes water and blur a bit from the head banging! But the swashbuckler still confidently stabs the Xulgath with her rapier!
The fancy smack-talking swashbuckler then gives Sansaárë some useful advice.
Sansaárë listens carefully to her sister's advice by stabbing the smelly Xulgath in the eye!
[ooc[Hit![/ooc]
That particular #1 Xulgath has now been demoted to dead!