[PbP Gameday XII] A Fistful of Flowers (Inactive)

Game Master Lady Ladile

Popcorn scowls, but can't come up with any better ideas to find the lost leshies so after several minutes she crosses her arms and nods. Once. Begrudgingly.

Like, Diplomacy to Gather Information?

Though none of you have ever ventured this far towards Petalbrook, Reaching Rings thinks for a few moments and recalls that he's heard stories from non-native leshys that sometimes pass through the area. They reported that the people of Petalbrook were welcoming to them, primarily reacting to their presence with benign curiosity or mild amusement. Some of the town's older citizens approached them with an air of respect, apparently recognizing them for the nature spirits that leshys are.
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Yep! Once you head into town you can use a number of skills to try and find more information: Deception (trick the villagers into cooperating), Diplomacy (make friends), Intimidation (cow people into helping you), Performance (entertain folks), and Society (to know how to behave in a human village). Each character will need to make a check.

"Fluff, come here, let me aid you. I'm sorry I couldn't save you from the deer, they appeared out of nowhere!"

Bottlespeaker takes out his healer's tools and sits down to dress Fluff Fang's nibbled arm with healing herbs and a soothing poultice.

Nature check to Treat Wounds: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 9 + 2 = 12

I have Natural Medicine, allowing me to sub in Nature for Medicine.

Hero Point!

Nature check to Treat Wounds: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 9 + 2 = 20
Healing for Fluff Fang: 2d8 ⇒ (8, 2) = 10

---

Once in Petalbrook, Bottlespeaker talks to Twinsprout. "We've practiced this. You know what to do, right?"

Twinsprout salutes, raising one stubby arm to her bulb. "Aye aye, sir! Plan Charm Offensive is in action!"

Bottlespeaker cautiously approaches the nearest inhabitant and says, "Hello, I'm looking for my friends. I think they got lost and they might've wandered over here. My friend over here is very worried she might never see her playmates again."

Twinsprout puts up big puppy eyes and a trembling lip. "Their names are Summer Shade and Willow Shade, and they're leshies, just like me. Have you seen them wandering around, maybe?"

Bottlespeaker Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Fluff Fang thanks Bottlespeaker for the healing.

Then she tries to entertain everyone.

perform: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17

Intimidation: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Popcorn's attempts at bullying the tall-folk into admitting their guilt quickly devolve into wordless yelling and sullen grumbling.

Society: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

Rings tries to emulate the humans they see as best he can from his limited knowledge of the villages.

RIP Summer Shade and Willow Shade. We'll never see them again. :(

Resolved to find your missing friends, you all ready yourselves and step out onto the road and head into Petalbrook. Just as Rings had heard, your arrival really doesn't cause as much of a stir as you might've expected. You get many curious stares and some friendly waves, but no obvious indications of fear or hostility.

That said, you're all used to your forest and interacting with your fellow forest denizens - not so much humans and other such people. Rings tries his best to imitate the way humans walk and talk but his movements come off as rather stiff and awkward, while Popcorn's surly demeanor doesn't seem to do much beyond frighten a few small children into hiding behind their parents. Between this, Bottlespeaker & Twinsprout's attempts to look cute and Fluff Fang showing off some dance moves in the town square, you get a whole lot of people who seem to think you're strange performers rather than taking your queries seriously.

But finally, one old man who'd been sitting on a nearby bench whittling on a piece of wood calls out, "Missing leshys? Beggin' your pardon, little spirits, but you four are the first I've seen here in town in over a year," he replies with a shake of his head. "It's pretty rare we get any visits from forest folk. Why d'you think they might've come this way, if you don't mind my askin'?"

"A big one may have had them in his bag or something."

Fluff Fang then describes the big one we are following.

Ring's dry and crackling voice agrees. "Yes, a big one with red sprouts on the top and bearing green and yellow colors. Do you know him by chance? He was just in the woods earlier. We think he has our friends!"

"Now that sounds like ol' Darius Wick for sure," the old man remarks with a raised eyebrow. "Odd duck, that one. He's got a shop over on the far edge of town. That's likely where you'll find him, it still being daylight and all."

At hearing this, a woman standing at a nearby market stall snorts derisively. "If he's not off preparing for another one of his little parties." For your benefit, she adds, "He seems more interested in hosting parties for his fancy friends from the city than he does being a part of Petalbrook. I don't even know why the man sticks around, honestly!"

"Guess we aren't fancy enough to suit him," the old man shrugs. "Doesn't hurt my feelings none. I've got better things to do than worry about him - like sit right here and enjoy the sun."

"Sitting in the sun is very important indeed," Bottlespeaker nods. "Otherwise you'll get hungry and won't get big and strong. See, Twinsprout? That's why you need to sit in the sun for at least one hour a day."

"But sitting still is so boring! And it can't be that healthy, look at that man. He's all dried out and withered!"

Bottlespeaker quickly shoves Twinsprout back in his head and excuses himself from the two humans before Twinsprout can say anything else.

"Eh, that's equal parts time an' the sun I reckon," the old man chuckles good-naturedly as Bottlespeaker hurries away. "You might end up lookin' a little dried out yourself once you've been around as long as I have!"

Eager to both continue the search and to hopefully avoid someone putting their root in their mouth (again), you bid the folks in the market square farewell and head off to your next destination: Darius' shop, a place called Crystals and Candlewax that sits on the southern edge of town. As the shop’s door swings open, a crystalline wind chime rings pleasantly. Far less pleasant is the shop’s overpowering aroma of jasmine flowers, which rises like a curtain across the threshold. Crystals of all shapes and sizes are displayed in fine glass cabinets and hung from the ceiling, while colorful candles adorn shelves that line the walls and floor.

A young man with a mop of curly brown hair stands behind the counter, scribbling something into a small ledger. As you walk in, he looks up at the sound of the door chime. "Hello and welcome to Crystals & Candlewax! How may I...help...you?"

Clearly startled to see the four of you inside the shop, the man seems to have forgotten all sense of courtesy as he stares, a bit slack-jawed. But it only takes a few seconds for his training to kick in and he snaps his mouth closed and clears his throat. "Erm, I'm terribly sorry, that was rude of me. It's just I've never seen a walking plant before. Are you...customers? Can I help you?"

Fluff Fang looks at the others, wondering which of them will be better talking to this human.

Rings stares up at all the crystals adorning the shelves catching the light coming in. "Well, I'll be. That's just down right pretty." He refocuses on the human. "Are you Darius Wick?"

"What kind of shop is this?"

Popcorn has half a mind to start threatening to pop some kneecaps - Glimmer had mentioned that the tall folks had a weakness to popped kneecaps - but waits a moment so nobody could tell her she had charged in without thinking when all she wanted was to get something done!

Fluff Fang makes a polite sign to Popcorn to encourage patience. Let's see if we can solve things by talking.

Popcorn makes a slightly-impatient sign back to Fluff Fang to encourage them to start talking then.

Fluff Fang is a bard after all, and I suspect has some investment into Diplomacy and charisma.

I'm happy to do the talking, but I need someone else to suggest the main talking points. I remember too much from when I GMed this recently.

diplomacy roll to go with whatever the others suggest: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

"Oh! No, I'm Galan and...well, it's sort of in the name of the shop - Crystals and Candlewax. We sell scented candles and decorative crystals. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about our merchandise, if need be. But Darius is busy working on a new batch of jasmine candles down in the basement and isn't to be disturbed under *any* circumstances. It's rather hot and delicate work, you know?"
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I'll respond to Fluff's roll accordingly once I have an idea of what your specific line of questioning/conversation is :)

Ninja'd!

I think I'm the only one who's completely new to this, right?

Bottlespeaker is anxious to get his friends back, but decides to play friendly first. His speech is somewhat distorted by the sounds of Twinsprout gagging inside of his head.

"Excuse me, what kind of shop is this? We're new here and this place looks interesting."

Seeing as this is only the help, Bottlespeaker comes straight to the point. "Has Darius been into the woods recently? Some of our friends are missing, and they're lavender leshies. And your boss just so happens to be making a lot of lavender candles recently, so we're getting kinda worried."

Once Bottlespeaker realises he might be smelling his friends, he starts to get visibly anxious.

Galan looks rather confused but also a bit alarmed as Bottlespeaker gets right to the point of their visit. "Uh, well, he does go out into the woods pretty regularly to collect ingredients for his candles but I don't know all the details. I'm just supposed to mind the store and help customers if they have any questions."

"Look, I'm really sorry that something happened to your friends, but I can't just let you wander all over the place," he adds, giving the group a sympathetic look. "I'd lose my job! Are you sure that Darius has anything to do with it? He's been working on big batches of jasmine candles lately, not lavender."
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So there's a lot of leeway here for how you might bypass Galan and get into the basement. The usual approaches with Diplomacy or Intimidation are an option, as is being sneaky, deceptive, or distracting. Or perhaps you've got your own creative idea in mind? :)

Rings tries to think of any link between lavender and jasmine, as Galan seems to have a descent point. He glances up to see how much attention Galan is paying to him and how far away the stairs below might be.

Nature +7 or Crafting +6 to see what links between lavender and jasmine there might be. Even if they just combine well.

Rings is definitely better at sneaking, but he could also try to use the rotten fruit sacks as a distraction.

The air around Popcorn starts visibly heating as the leshy taps her foot impatiently. Several candles nearby start to look a little wilted. She looks pointedly from one leshy to another, waiting until either one of them starts talking or her patience runs out - whichever comes first.

As Popcorn's (limited) patience runs out, Galan visibly shrinks back in fear as the small but mighty leshy threatens him with a sound beating if he doesn't let them down into the basement. "B-But I really can't let you d-down there! I swear I haven't seen any other c-creatures that look like you here in the shop or even in town! B-believe me, I'd remember if I had!" he stammers.

Before Popcorn can make good on her threat, Fluff Fang quickly gives a quick shake of their head and speaks. "Oh, why can't we be friends, Galan?" they ask kindly but also a bit plaintively. "You seem like a nice person and all we want to do is find the friends we already have that are missing. You'd look for your friends too, right? And you probably wouldn't want to wait around for ages to talk to someone who might know something, right? We really don't want to cause trouble but we can't just wait around, either. You understand, right?" Fluff Fang finishes, giving Galan a very wide-eyed, innocent stare before winking at Popcorn and the rest of the group.

"Oh geeze no, don't...don't look at me like that..." Galan groans, covering his face, torn between being a decent person and looking out for his own interests. "Yeah, yeah I do understand. I want to help you out, I do, but if I let you down there while he's working it's liable to piss him off something awful...I really need a job...but I don't want to take a beating, either!" He cringes away from Popcorn but you think maybe one more good argument or threat will be enough to get him to crack.
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Popcorn's Intimidate check was a success and the botted Diplomacy from Fluff Fang was also a success (their player has some things going on IRL). You'll need one more success to get into the basement but it doesn't have to be Intimidate or Diplomacy - someone could use Thievery or Stealth to get the basement door open while he's distracted by Popcorn and Fluff, for example.

As Popcorn and Fluff Fang play good copse, bad copse, Rings quietly slinks away. He knows humans and the like can't get enough of the combination of jasmine and lavender scents, so Darius must have taken the leshies to use mix into his candles! He slips over to the basement door and cracks it open.

Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27

While Popcorn and Fluff Fang have Galan distracted, Rings carefully sneaks over to the door that surely leads down to the basement. Finding it locked, they carefully set to work on the lock and manage to pop it open!

Meanwhile, the 'good copse, bad copse' routine finally pays off. Between Fluff Fang's appeal to his better nature and the threat of an imminent beating, Galan seems to realize that this job isn't worth all the trouble he's suddenly having. With the air of someone that's made a decision, he suddenly remarks, rather loudly, "Oh, but look at the time, it's nearly lunch. So I think what I'll do is go and take my lunch break at the tavern down the street...and if I just so happen to overlook some small, easy-to-miss customers when I leave, well, things happen, don't they?"

The young shopkeeper pulls an 'Out to Lunch' sign from underneath the counter and heads for the door. "Not like it'd be the first time," he mutters under his breath. "Not my fault people don't pay attention to where their children are."

Moving to the front door Galan makes a pointed show of putting his sign up in the nearby window and then glances over his shoulder at you. "For what it's worth, I hope you find your friends."

With that, Galan steps out and carefully shuts the shop door behind him, leaving you alone and free to get back to your investigations. Having already been told that Darius is working down in the basement, Rings can now carefully ease the door open and let everyone down a small flight of stairs. A wooden table covered with crystals of various size, including three particularly large ones measuring nearly four feet in diameter, sits against the southern wall of this storeroom. A wooden door is tucked into the wall to the southwest.

Basement

Rings motions to the others to follow him down the stairs. The gruff fungus slowly creeps along the floor towards the door, trying to see if he can hear anything coming from the other side (or anything in the basement at all).

Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

I've put Rings short of the door, but that's where he'll go if nothing else draws his attention along the way.

Rings carefully creeps towards the door, motioning for the others to wait near the foot of the stairs until he's certain the coast is clear. As he gets near the door, he can distinctly hear the sounds of someone or something moving around on the other side as well as the *clink* of what sounds like glassware. From what he can see, the door doesn't appear to be locked.

Popcorn shifts restlessly from one foot to the other. She draws her seedpod flail, then begrudgingly puts it away, then slowly moves her hand closer and closer to its hilt as if expecting demonic deer to charge through the door because Reaching Rings is taking foreeeeeeever.

Rings glances back at the others, making a series of complicated hand motions that he's seen humanoid adventurers do. Then he draws both his rapier and shortsword. He nods to Popcorn and then kicks open the door.

After making a series of hand signals to Popcorn, who may or may not understand them, Rings boldly steps up and kicks the door open! The concentrated smell of flowers in this spacious laboratory is somehow even stronger than it was upstairs. Long wooden tables along the south wall are covered with candles. A large, unlit stone fireplace takes up the room’s rounded southwest corner. The north wall features two rounded tables, one holding a cauldron of stew and the other riddled with burn marks and covered in wax. Similar scorch marks and splatters appear on the floor at the center of the room, beneath a massive cauldron of gently bubbling wax. Next to the bubbling cauldron, a towering set of sturdy wooden shelves are laden with a hodgepodge of tools for candle making and alchemy. Two other doors lead out of this room, one along the east wall and a third in the northwest corner.

More importantly however, you're not alone. As the door flies open you see Darius, the red-headed man who matches the description Glimmer gave you earlier. He looks from his workbench, startled to see the leshy rescue squad darkening his door.

"What!? How'd *you* get in here??"

A small vial sits on the table nearby; Darius grabs it up with one hand and then points at Rings. "Well, no matter. Looks like it's mushrooms for the stew tonight! Hammer, Dragonfly - get 'em!"

At Darius' command, two...sentient candles?...leap off of the nearby shelves, ready to rumble!

Round 1

Popcorn
Fluff Fang
Bottlespeaker
Reaching Rings
==============
Darius
Purple Candle
Yellow Candle

Active Conditions:

Environmental Conditions:

Everyone may act!

Basement

"Finally!" Popcorn leaps into action and rushes through the door. "You so much as harmed a petal on their heads and it's gonna be flesh soup tonight!"

Intimidate to Demoralize vs Darius: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Stride x2 [AA] and Demoralize [A].

Popcorn's been waiting alllll day for this! She charges through the door, flail in hand, and bellows a threat at Darius. For the briefest of moments the man seems to hesitate...and then it passes and he shoots a withering look at Popcorn.

"You and what army, pipsqueak? I'd like to see you try!"

Very close, but no cigar on Demoralize.

Fluff Fang-Bot is close behind Popcorn, flitting into the room with their rapier ready. "THIS army," they cry as they lift their voice in song...

~Since the darkness took our minds
They burned our courage, many died
Had to leave it all behind, rebuild our lives
Passing memories remained
It made my soul a burning flame
Haunted dreams of my desire
Reveal my name

Fly across the high seas and mountains
Rise above the golden horizon
Far away beyond the gates of space and time
Through the wastelands forever and on
Still we fight on for our freedom
The cry of the fallen souls bleeding
Forever journey through the lands of ice and snow
Will we face all the fears of the world?
The cry of the brave~

Cry of the Brave - DragonForce

Inspire Courage is now in effect!
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Round 1

Popcorn
Fluff Fang
Bottlespeaker
Reaching Rings
==============
Darius
Purple Candle
Yellow Candle

Active Conditions: Inspire Courage

Environmental Conditions:

Bottlespeaker & Reaching Rings may act!

Basement

"Where are the leshies you took? We won't let them be a part of your vegan experiments!" Rings rushes one of the candles and attacks with both his rapier and shortsword.

Twin feint (IC): 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 10 + 1 = 24
Damage (IC): 1d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 1 = 8

Twin feint (IC): 1d20 + 9 - 4 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 9 - 4 + 1 = 26
Damage (IC): 1d6 + 4 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 1 + (6) = 14

◆ Move
◆◆ Twin Feint vs Yellow

Reaching Rings hustles into the room as well, though he beelines towards the closest of the two candle-things. As he steps up to it, he's hit with a powerful scent of lavender - so powerful it threatens to make him ill!

Rings needs to attempt a DC 15 Fort save.

Still, Rings is determined. He slices and dices Yellow with his daggers, quite literally cutting it into many small, waxy pieces!

Even if you totally bombed the Fort save you rolled well enough to hit and crit, so Yellow is no more!
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Round 1

Popcorn
Fluff Fang
Bottlespeaker
Reaching Rings (Pending DC 15 Fort)
==============
Darius
Purple Candle

Active Conditions: Inspire Courage

Environmental Conditions:

Bottlespeaker may act!

Basement

Fort Save (DC15): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Ergh, as I said earlier, had a busy week and then felt bad for not posting so I didn't post, which caused a negative spiral. Glad I didn't hold people up too much.
Also I brainfarted and conflated jasmine with lavender, sorry.

Bottlespeaker runs into the room and looks around for his leshy friends. Unable to find them, but spotting the candle further ahead, he stops and raises his shield in self-defense.

"Where are our friends, Darius," Bottlespeaker threatens. "We'll trash this whole basement looking for them if you don't answer us."

Bottlespeaker isn't really the threatening type, that's more Popcorn's thing, but he is anxious to get his friends back and is lashing out.

Stride twice, raise shield (AC 21).

Though Rings feels a bit nauseated from the stench of the candle, he gets the feeling it could've been a lot worse. Bottlespeaker also rushes in and moves to stand next to Popcorn, raising his shield in anticipation of an attack.

"I don't owe any of you a damn thing," Darius snarls. "Now get outta here before I decide to add some new scents to the candle shop!"

To add a bit of gravitas to this threat Darius drinks down the vial in his hand, causing his features to grow more bestial and his teeth and fingernails to elongate and sharpen to fine points. He then grabs a strange-looking metal contraption from the table next to him and falls back past the cauldron and his one remaining candle-flunky.

And speaking of, Candle-Flunky Purple pulls bits of melty wax from itself and attempts to fling them at Rings but misses pretty badly both times! It then moves next to the cauldron.

Anyone that moves within 5 ft. of Purple will need to make a DC 15 Fort save.
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Round 2

Popcorn
Fluff Fang
Bottlespeaker
Reaching Rings (Sickened 1)
==============
Darius
Purple Candle

Active Conditions: Inspire Courage

Environmental Conditions:

Everyone may act!

Basement

"No, you get outta here!" Popcorn chases after the man, panting from both the exertion and her own growing anger. Bits of flame flicker in both her mouth and the "mouths" of the seedpods at the end of her flail. She raises her arms above her head, then slams them down hard!

Flail, IC vs Darius: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 10 + 1 = 17
Bludgeoning damage, Fire damage, IC: 1d10 + 4 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 4 + 1 = 12

Stride [A], Rage [A], Strike [A].

Popcorn chases after Darius, flying into a rage that the chump still doesn't seem to get that he's in no position to make demands. In an effort to disabuse him of such a notion, she tries to thwack him upside the head with her flail but he just manages to duck out of the way!
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Round 2

Popcorn
Fluff Fang
Bottlespeaker
Reaching Rings (Sickened 1)
==============
Darius
Purple Candle

Active Conditions: Inspire Courage

Environmental Conditions:

Fluff Fang, Bottlespeaker, Reaching Rings may act!

Basement

Rings begins coughing. "Ugh, that is a strong scent! Nothing natural in that Yankee candle!" Despite this he rushes the candle, trying to cut it down too.

Twin Feint (IC, sickened): 1d20 + 10 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (8) + 10 + 1 - 1 = 18
Damage (IC): 1d6 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 4 + 1 = 7

Twin Feint (IC, sickened): 1d20 + 9 + 1 - 1 - 4 ⇒ (6) + 9 + 1 - 1 - 4 = 11
Damage (IC): 1d6 + 4 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 1 + (4) = 10

◆ Move
◆◆ Twin Feint

Knowing that Rings works better when they have a flanking partner, Bottlespeaker runs up and helps them out. Bottlespeaker moves up to the candle-monster and prepares himself for the overwhelming smell.

Fort save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

"Ack! Pfft! Bleh! And I thought upstairs smelled bad!"
Not rolling for Twin, not gonna use her in combat.

Steeling himself, Bottle smacks the candle with his staff.

Staff vs candle: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
Bludgeoning damage: 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

He then raises his shield again to protect himself from whatever the candle might do.
AC 21 again.

Fluff Fang hurries over by the bad human two move actions

Then she swings her weapon at the bad human.
attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21
damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Sick of the stench, Rings and Bottlespeaker gang up on the remaining candle. One of Rings' strikes lops off the top third of Purple's mass and Bottlespeaker follows it up with a powerful blow from his staff that leaves the thing little more than a gooey, waxy mess on the floor and his weapon.

With only the bad human left, Fluff Fang hustles to get in his face and then strikes out with their rapier to open a small wound on his arm!

"Yeowch! You little pipsqueaker!" Darius snarls. He takes a step back and manipulates the contraption in his hands, causing a spray of hot wax to erupt from the business end and splatter all over Popcorn and Fluff Fang!

Popcorn & Fluff Fang need to make a DC 20 Reflex save.

Round 3

Popcorn (Pending DC 20 Reflex)
Fluff Fang (Pending DC 20 Reflex)
Bottlespeaker
Reaching Rings (Sickened 1)
==============
Darius (-6)

Active Conditions:

Environmental Conditions:

Everyone may act!

Basement

Reflex vs DC 20: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22
Fire damage: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 3) = 7 (5 temporary hitpoints from Rage mean only -2 actual hitpoints.)

"You think you can turn us into candles too!? Not if I pulverize you first!"

Flail vs Darius: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13
Bludgeoning damage, Fire damage: 1d10 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 + 4 = 17

Flail vs Darius: 1d20 + 10 - 5 ⇒ (15) + 10 - 5 = 20
Bludgeoning damage, Fire damage: 1d10 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 4 = 12

Flail vs Darius: 1d20 + 10 - 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 - 10 = 9
Bludgeoning damage, Fire damage: 1d10 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 + 4 = 18

Strike x3 [AAA]

While Popcorn tries to simultaneously butcher and bake the candlestick maker, Rings darts around behind him, trying to avoid the massive fireplace(?). They try to skewer Darius with their rapier and shortsword.

Attack (sickened) vs flatfooted: 1d20 + 10 - 1 ⇒ (8) + 10 - 1 = 17
Damage: 1d6 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + 4 + (2) = 9

Attack (sickened) vs flatfooted: 1d20 + 9 - 1 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 9 - 1 - 4 = 5
Damage: 1d6 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 4 + (2) = 8

◆ Move to flank
◆ Strike
◆ Strike

Bottlespeaker jumps back from the spray of hot wax. It looks like it hurts, and staying far away means it's less likely he's gonna get caught in it. Rings and Popcorn seem like they're doing a good job at distracting him at the moment, anyway.

From a safe distance, Bottle shouts, "Hey Darius, how about you cool off for a minute?" He casts a spell and a ball of ice hurls itself at Darius's face.

Ray of Frost: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20
Cold damage, if it hits: 2d4 + 4 ⇒ (2, 3) + 4 = 9

Popcorn is almost completely unfazed by the hot wax and begins swinging her flail at Darius, managing to deliver one solid strike to his chest. Rings is quick to maneuver around to flank with Popcorn and attempts to skewer the candle maker from behind, landing another blow! Bottlespeaker follows this barrage up with a bit of magic, zapping Darius with a chilling ray of frost. The candle maker is looking pretty bloodied at this point!
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Round 3

Popcorn (-2)
Fluff Fang (Pending DC 20 Reflex)
Bottlespeaker
Reaching Rings (Sickened 1)
==============
Darius (-36)

Active Conditions:

Environmental Conditions:

Fluff Fang may act!

Basement

FF Reflex (DC 20): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10
Fire Damage: 5d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 4, 2, 3) = 13

Fluff Fang unfortunately suffers the full blast of the hot wax, which clings to their form and burns something fierce. Still, they're ready to try and put an end to this little song-and-dance. They maneuver around to strike...

FF vs. Darius (Rapier): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26
Damage (P): 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

FF vs. Darius (Rapier): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

...and manage to land one! Darius now looks like a stiff breeze would finish him off. Meanwhile, the hot wax clinging to Fluff Fang continues to burn...

Persistent Fire: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 6) = 9
Flat Check (DC 15): 1d20 ⇒ 20

...and then, thankfully, cools off.

At this point, Darius has had enough. He drops the wax-sprayer, steps out from the flank, and then makes a break for the stairs!
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Round 4

Popcorn (-2)
Fluff Fang (-22)
Bottlespeaker
Reaching Rings (Sickened 1)
==============
Darius (-43)

Active Conditions:

Environmental Conditions:

Everyone may act!

Basement