Barega's page

Barega paled as he shook himself free from the vision.
knowledge(geography), I guess to assist Ala'a: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7
knowledge(nature): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28
He spoke in a low voice. "I do not recognize the place. But we may follow the setting sun toward Tyr from here, without meeting the road for the entire trip. There are foothills along the way; perhaps we will find the ravine. I do not think we will see the stone man -- I think it is... a symbol. It is hard to explain, but the stone man's face...to me, he feels like the wind, or the land. Under assault."
He moved as if to stand, then crouched back down somewhat sheepishly. "We should leave at first light."

I think I can put Feather Step on the kanks for 50 minutes, or possibly do it twice for 2x50 minutes, to try to speed up our travel through the sand.

After the initial confrontation was resolved, Barega pulled Ala'a aside and indicated that he was going out to scout and would return after a few hours. He walked a ways off into the desert, furtively glancing behind him a few times. When he was out of sight and sure he was not being followed, he crouched low to the sand and went through his painful transformation once more.

The vulture climbed into the sky, heading to the west. It spent the next few hours circumscribing a large circle around the camp looking for other travelers, the abandoned oasis that the freeman had mentioned, strange migration patterns in the movement of the desert beasts, or anything else of interest. He then returned to the camp to report his findings, taking care to make his final approach low to the ground and to land out of sight of the others.

If he finds the oasis and there are no obvious threats, he'll land to investigate (survival/perception, look at the tracks, examine the water, etc) -- to try to learn what he can about what is going on with the animal behavior.

...

Barega returned as his companions were speaking with the Freemen. He paused his approach when he was just inside earshot and listened to the exchange, with some trepidation. These travelers were foolish, sectarian, niave, emotional, short-sighted -- a dangerous collection of dry tinder. He hoped he would be away with Korgunard before the storm struck and set them ablaze.

When the freemen had wandered off, Barega rejoined his companions and gave his report about the surrounding area.
To Lalali's questionBarega considered. "They will do what they can to survive, as do all creatures. Some will not survive, and then their ineffective paths will end with them. But many paths are adequate. The strong eat the weak, and survive. Or the weak band together for their greater good, and survive. The fast may evade, and survive. The stealthy may hide, or steal the fruits cached by the unwary, and survive. All of these paths and more, they will travel."
He paused. "I am not sure that I understood your question. In any case... these folk are dangerously ignorant -- I think we endanger our task by speaking so freely with them."

1. The halfling watched the wizard for a time before responding, searching for any signs of compulsion or deception. (sense motive vs Elentha: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16) Sensing nothing amiss, he relaxed slightly.
"There was one event. Perhaps. Yesterday morning, as the sun rose, we were assailed by powerful mental images: a dark tower, under assault by nightmare creatures under the bright moon. It was hard to understand. There was urgency, foreboding. We were instructed not to follow the road, which is how you find us here. I am not sure that this message was from Kurgunard, but it... felt like him."
"None of us recognized this tower, and I have not seen anything like it while scouting the surrounding area. Do you know of such a place between here and Tyr?"

just some other stuff to maybe work into the conversation, if it seems appropriate: "What is happening in Urik? How did you make your escape? We caught scent of one hunting party, but that is all we have seen." "How long do you think we have until Kurgunard's spell fades? You should look in on him -- maybe you will see something we have missed."

2.
It is said that you carry the Great One with you, though we do not know what the Great One is.
"Perhaps they refer to our Giant," Barega deadpanned, nodding toward Gbaji. "Who spoke these absurd things to you?"

As far as we have been told, Elentha was instructed to find a group of escaped slaves who fled Urik a few days ago.
"Instructed by whom? I can tell you that we are no slaves."

I just want this mission to end so that we may return to our village.
"What power do they have over you, to make you leave your village?"

The wastes have become strange in recent days. Animals stand still for long periods of time, staring north toward Urik as though waiting for someone or something to come. Other places have been deserted by the animals, leaving the inhabitants of the wastes hungry and more violent than usual. Why are these things happening?
Barega appeared interested by this.
"Forces of great potential have been loosed. The land itself murmurs to itself with the possibilities; it may be that the creatures smell it on the Wind. Whether the possibilities will be bear fruit, I do not know. Which places have been deserted?"

1. Barega looked at his current cloak, and shrugged. "I am warm enough. Perhaps we can barter it in Tyr, as the elf suggests. This is a finely made bow, but to my shame I never developed much skill with such weapons. These fruits are useful, but I think you may make better use of them than I."
He scowled at the knotted strings and scrolls. "Being this close to such abominations makes my skin crawl."

During "morning prayer" Barega wanted to prepare some different spells:
0:4 :15: Light, Mending, Create Water, Purify Food and Drink
1:5+D:16: Obscuring Mist(D), Faerie Fire, Feather Step, Longstrider, Speak with Animals, Cure Light Wounds
2:3+D:17: Fog Cloud(D), Soften Earth and Stone, Barkskin, Eagle Eye
3:2+D:18: Call Lightning(D), Mass Feather Step, Hide Campsite

2. Barega watched quietly as the group approached. They did not move like soldiers, but they were hard-looking folk and surprisingly well armed. But they had first thrown words instead of spears. And it was the will of the earth-spirit of this place that they would find the hidden camp -- this was reassuring. He placed his hands in plain view on his knees and lowered himself to his haunches, in what he hoped was an unthreatening gesture, and decided to let the others speak. He examined the approaching figures, and the surrounding area, looking for any other signs of trouble.
perception, trying to notice anything useful about the group, or if there are other groups approaching: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (6) + 17 = 23

I haven't seen the new rules yet either, but I'm up for whatever. The things you mention sound like reasonable things to try out. In the past, my gaming group has done things that sound similar to "scaling items", I think that is a good idea as it's a little silly for the hero to throw out his storied sword whenever he finds something slightly better (though I guess that Fahfrd does that. Whatever.).

So our destination is Tyr now? Do you think Korgunard will be in safety there?

Barega shrugged. "I do not know. The she-wizard suggested that we make for Tyr with Korgunard, but not what to do once we arrive. And we may overtake the raider, to find answers for this man." His face softened somewhat as he indicated Valsavis.

After the sun had sunk and they ordinarily would have stopped, Barega switched fresh kanks into the wagon's harness and tied the tired beasts back with the others. Then he urged the group to press on for a few more hours, with Ala'a scouting ahead in the dark. After a few hours they came upon a rock that would provide some shelter against the wind, and set up a camp. Barega asked the spirits of the place to help conceal them from predators and hunters, and suggested that they keep the usual watch.

apologies in advance, I can't resist

Barega flinched as Valsavis turned toward him, then considered. "Tyr... It could be. Their trail leads in roughly that direction, and they do not have the dessicated look of desert creatures." He glanced somewhat sheepishly at the elf, then continued. "The fleeing man also heads roughly in that direction. Let us press on as far as we dare tonight -- if we use fresh beasts, we may be able to travel longer into the night and perhaps overtake him."

Barega paused and looked at Lalali, then shrugged.
"When I was little, we found a man. He looked like - like, butchered. The old woman in the village crossed themselves... and whispered crazy things, strange things. Only in the hottest years this happens. And this year, it grows hot. We begin finding our men. We found them sometimes without their skins... and sometimes much, much worse. They called him, the demon who makes trophies of men."

The halfling threw the raiders' water and feed into the wagon, then stiffly climbed up to begin driving the kanks, leaving the corpses to the vultures and to the Wind.

regarding halflings and combs

Oh yeah, I forgot to answer that question -- sorry.
I think it was fine. With somewhat different dice or tactics (e.g. if i were a 5th level wizard, the first thing I would do is make a wand of invisibility; cavalry are devastating on a charge; etc -- the encounter could have been made impossible without changing the NPCs at all), we would have lost some PCs. So that probably means it's hard. It was perhaps straightforward, but that's not bad.
So, I don't know. I thought that was fine.

Barega caught up just as Ala'a was finishing off the halfling archer. "Aha! I owe you a debt. Two debts. Your flame brought the arcanist down from the air. I am not sure that I could have done it."
He kicked the fallen corpse. "And these... Betrayers of the Green... are the lowest of the low."

He approached the frightened kank and attempted to calm it while the elf went through the villain's posessions. Then he gave the corpse a once-over himself, trying to take advantage of the somewhat rare opportunity to acquire halfling-sized goods.

How many days' worth of provisions are they carrying? Specifically water? I am thinking that if they have, say, 2 empty skins and 3 full skins, then their camp is probably two days' travel. (Or whatever.)
He paid particular attention to the fallen man's water. "Hmm. I would say this is X days' worth of water, for one his size." He looked around, his eyes pinching closed as he squinted against the harsh sunlight. "I would say that their den must be within X."
Can Barega tell which tribe or nation this guy was from?

When they had rejoined the others', Barega seemed to notice for the first time how bad a condition they were all in. He approached Lalali and Valsavis, doing what he could to close their wounds.
CLW on Lalali: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7
CLW on Valsavis: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
...which turned out to be: not a hell of a lot. If we have some downtime and you guys want to sit in the wagon with me, I can try to "treat deadly wounds" per the "heal" skill later on. It takes an hour though.

He then began going over the bodies, taking a few items the others had left behind, and again attempting to estimate how many days' worth of provisions they had expended.
Are the raiders all carrying the same amount of water? Assuming the escapee had the same amount on him, how far does Barega think the he could get, before he runs out of water and dies?

The halfling wrinkled his nose as he came to the fat man's corpse. Cautiously, he went through the man's posessions, looking for anything that might indicate his recent activity or affiliation. (I am not sure what I mean -- maybe something like a lion pendant, a merchant house signet, etc.)

I think we should also take water, valuables, etc. What do they have?

I think that this is the afternoon of a day where I've already used the wild shape, isn't it?
At Ala's suggestion, Barega grunted. "Perhaps tomorrow, I do not think I could manage it again so soon. But I will take a look."
He examined the ground, orienting himself as best he could to the direction from which the raiders had come. tracking the raiders: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (18) + 15 = 33
Then hummed a resonant tune to himself, and closed his eyes for a few minutes. I'll send the Eagle Eye up whatever distance is optimal, in the direction that the riders came from, to look around for a camp, or second group of raiders, or anything like that. If he sees anything please let me know. Otherwise:
"No, I do not see them. Not within a few miles, at least. The cowardly raider still flees carelessly, tiring his mount. I will find them in the morning."

Barega looked around, and cursed as he spotted the vultures. They were fast. There was a certain beauty in it -- the way the brutal environs of the wastes had pushed the creatures who lived there to ever greater heights of efficiency. Life would not be denied, no matter the odds. But, in this case, it was inconvenient.
"The vultures are here already. We should get moving; other, more dangerous scavengers will likely see them circling and follow quickly."

What is involved in tending to the lame kank? Is it like a caltrop wound, where it takes a 10 minute heal check? If so, Barega will do that and "take ten". Or would it take longer? If it takes longer then probably I should not do it. If we rotate it out of pulling the wagon, would it just heal on its own? Or can it not be healed at all? We could just leave it as a distraction.

Assuming it is like a caltrop wound (feel free to remove this):
His eyes settled on the lamed kank. "But give me just a few minutes set this creature right." He approached the creature while snapping his mouth in a series of strange clicks, which seemed to calm it. He then set to removing a splinter of wood from the wagon from the beast's leg, and binding the wound with some coarse cloth torn from one of the raiders' shirts. He then swapped a fresher beast into the wagon's harness.

"That should do it. Let us be on our way."
I guess we can take these spare kanks with us? If we rotate them over the course of the day, can we travel further per day without damaging them?

Barega broke into a wicked grin as Ala'a brought the floating fat-man down, and stifled a bark of laughter as Gbaji ran over to crush the man's skull with a vicious kick. But he maintained his howling chant. After several seconds, he finished and pointed toward the fleeing halfling. Two spinning dust storms erupted from the sand and sped after the villian, leaving a sandy haze in their wake.
Two small air elementals will pursue the fleeing halfling, trying to charge him and sort of get in his way so that he takes AoOs and generally has to think twice about trying to run. I can start them 35' feet toward him, and then they move at 100' -- so I think they could almost charge him, depending on exactly where he is 240' away from. If not this turn, then they should be able to charge him next turn. They only last 5 rounds but maybe they will slow him down long enough to catch.

"Be careful -- sometimes they booby-trap their bodies," Barega called to Gbaji, and then took off at a run after the fleeing halfling.

Here's a question ... does the druid "woodland stride" ability give better movement speed in sand? I thought it was sort of "ignore naturally occuring difficult terrain", but maybe it is only vegetation. On the other hand, vegetation wouldn't be very useful in Athas. On the gripping hand, if it's useful to anybody, it would be forest ridge halflings. And maybe the ability would just be less useful in the desert, and that's one of the reasons the druids are so pissed. ha!

If it looks like I will catch the halfling, Barega will keep chasing him. If he won't catch without longstrider, but would catch with it, then I'll cast that. If he's getting away, then Barega will give up atfer a couple of rounds and come back. If he gets away he might get hunted down tomorrow. ha.

Barega still had eyes only for the fat man. He took a step toward him as he clumsily floated off from his mount, then thought better of it. This man dares to insult the very air in this way -- with the great fury of the storm so recently present, and His strength still lingering? It will be the last time...

"Flee if you must, seed-eaters! It will make no difference!" Barega's maddened shouts trailed off into a howling gale of inhuman noise, as he concentrated on some great spiritual effort.

Begin casting Summon Nature's Ally III (burn the stone shape), for if i could use a hero point on this die roll i would: 1d3 ⇒ 2 small air elemental(s). When they arrive (next round) they will charge the defiler and basically just keep hitting him until they disappear.

Barega's lip twitched at the fear on the fat man's face as Ala'a charged toward him. He advanced slowly, eyes on the defiler instead of the fight going on around him. Barega pointed, and the ball of flame ploughed into the man again, singeing him and his kank. The worried beast strained at its harness.

Then as the small hunter yelled out more strange sounds, the flame began to emit a thick, oily smoke which quickly obscured the area. In fact, the only things that could be easily seen through the smoke were the ball of fire and the kank rider, who was glowing with cold-burning flames of his own.

flaming sphere r3/5 damage:: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 1, 4) = 6

Step to R15.
Try to hit the defiler with the flaming sphere again as a move action.
Cast fog cloud centered on (9.5,e.5), so that it obscures Ala'a, the defiler, the halfling archer. I'm hoping the poor visibility will slow then if they try to run away, in addition to blocking line of sight. The defiler doesn't have concealment because of the faerie fire. Also, not sure, but I think maybe Ala'a can see through fog anyway?

At the sight of the man's spell, Barega lost it. He began shouting in his native tongue. (Lalali-re noted that he was essentially cursing out the fat man and damning the halfling to an afterlife of eternal thirst and starvation for his betrayal of Athas.)

He took a step back to S14 and directed the ball of fire toward the fat man again (flaming sphere r2, reflex 17 negates: 3d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 3) = 6). His arms dropped in angry gestures, and the fat man was outlined with flames that did not burn, but made him very easy to see despite the ambient dust. (Faerie Fire on the defiler...planning to fog cloud him next turn unless anybody has any objections, plus, this way no invisibility.)

Barega did not like the these riders. The large greasy man in the back, in particular, had the look of the glutton who robs the rest of his community to satiate himself -- an unholy perversion in these Red Times.

He took a few steps back behind the half-giant, and then called loudly to the Flame who was the cousin of the Wind. The flame answered, and a man-sized ball of flame burst into being near the villain in the back, singeing him.

flaming sphere damage: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 5) = 13

1. The mangy vulture had been flying for hours, and was growing tired. He was approaching his destination, though -- a few hapless travelers caught out in the sand wastes, their kanks straining to drag a covered wagon through the deep sands. It might have been humorous, if not for the slight darkening of the horizon and the howling in his ears. The wind was picking up.

The creature circled the group once, and then landed near the wagon. Barega wearily emerged from the bundle of feathers.

"I caught no sight of the templar's party. Their tracks headed east, across the road and perhaps toward the mountains. But I did not have time to follow them to be sure."

"I do not like the feel of the wind today. Sometimes, the wind, he has a strange sense of humor. Hopefully it will pass." The small's face man did not look particularly optimistic.

Barega watched the kanks struggle through the sand. "I should have thought of this, it will be slow going through the wastes. When I meditate tomorrow morning, I will see if the spirits of the wastes will help them some -- we may be able to speed our progress."
(I'll take some Feather Steps tomorrow morning for the kanks. They last just 50 minutes each, but I guess it would be better than nothing.)

2.
Barega looked to the horizon. "And here he comes. He will test his faithful at the worst of times."

survival check: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (1) + 15 = 16 .......awesome.

To Lalali-re's question, Barega shrugged. "It is difficult. It is not good, to be out in the wind. Perhaps we can fit into this wagon, tie the flaps down, and use these leathers to try to seal the gaps. But I worry for the animals. I don't know if we could secure a tent around them well enough that it would not just blow away."

Just some brainstorming, maybe Barega would have some idea whether any of these would work.
- is there any exposed stone or rock anywhere around? I can stone shape up some shelter. But, I didn't think there was anything but sand anywhere, from the description. I can use eagle eye to look around for some, if that helps.
- can we put the kanks' heads into the empty barrel or something, so that they don't suffocate?
- i think at least we can put scarves over our noses/mouths, to help keep sand out of there
- would it help to lower the wagon onto the sands or something?
- maybe i could summon something to burrow a hole for us, but it's just 30 seconds worth of burrowing. I don't know how much that would help.
- maybe barega could sit out with the kanks, try to keep them from running away.
- if the wagon takes some damage in the storm, we have a few guys with mending

Valsavis might be recovering from his eye surgery.
I think it would be OK to let it sit a bit if you want.
Sorry about the story time...I think it's a good idea, I am just distracted and couldn't come up with anything. I'm trying to think of something for next time (or the time after).

1.
Barega was relieved when they finally found a steep hill that offered a campsite with some concealment and shelter from the wind. He unhitched the kanks and tied them off to the wagon by a longer length of rope that would allow them to graze, and asked one of the others to look after them for a bit.

He then moved about the site, once again calling on the spirits of the land to help conceal it from their enemies (Hide Campsite). He moved about surveying the result, and was satisfied.

He found, to his surprise, that he was grateful for Ala'a's assistance as he wearily truged back a ways along their trail, gently pushing sand back into the ruts left by the wheels of the cart.

"Thank you again, elf. Wind willing, these will be better covered by sand drifts in a few hours. Perhaps our strange turn of luck will hold until then. I have never seen anything like it, the behavior of those thri-kreen...his presence changed them. This is a holy task we are performing, and it must not fail. We should think about how we can get Korgunard to safty, should we be overmatched again. I think you might have the best chance."

--

Barega was nearly spent, and happy enough to sleep through the first two watches. He rose when Ala'a silently woke him in the dark of early morning, every part of his body aching, but feeling much further from death.

Barega woke Valsavis, and the two sat quietly, watching and listening. Barega faced away from the cooling coals of their fire, passing the time in meditation (i.e. preparing spells), repairing his spears, and speaking quietly with Valsavis.

"Myself and the elf, I understand. But you and the giant, you are brave men, to enter the Lion's den without a ready means of escape."
[...?]

As the sky lightened in the east, Barega again extracted a rather insufficient amount of moisture from the morning air, in an attempt to replenish the water supply in the barrel (a Create Water for the day.).

2. Barega considered himself to have a hardy and resilient mind, but the strength of the vision was overwhelming.

knowledge(geography) to see if he knows anything about this this tower, or its location?: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

"Yes, good," Barega agreed with Ala'a, "we shall travel off the road. I will look ahead."
He looked hard at them, as if thinking something over, and coming to a decision. "It is difficult to speak, when ones mouth is a beak. Is there one of you who will open your mind to me now, and I will see if we can communicate through the Way?"

Somebody correct me if any of this is not right, I haven't used PF psionics before. Barega will Mindlink someone for 1 PP, i guess it lasts 50 minutes. He'll turn into the bird and circle once, then fly west for that time, reporting what he sees (and suggesting a route, etc) through the mindlink. He's looking for the Templar, and any other threats or points of interest (such as a large black tower). After the mindlink expires, I guess he'll fly around some more. If he sees anything that looks serious he will fly back and I guess if there;s still time on the wild shape, initiate a second mindlink (that will leave me out of PP and without psionic focus), report, and fly around more scouting. If he's out of time then he'll just change back and report, and save the 1 PP for later.

Barega watched with bemusement as the human girl crawled around sniffing the area.

He shivered as the flame blew through him, cauterizing the worst of his wounds. He had not worked with a follower of the Flame so extensively before. Different approach, but it was not so bad. He looked up at Ala'a. "Thank you, elf."

Barega moved among the kanks, trying to calm them while the others repacked the wagon. "Yes, let's get moving."
He stiffly climbed back up onto the seat, and began to coax the frightened animals into motion once more.

Barega will again use Pass without trace on Ala'a and the kanks when we are 4-5 hours out from camping (just to up the tracking DC some), look for a reasonable place a ways off the road to set up shop, and then use Hide campsite for the night.

OK, you got me good.

Barega staggered back under the Kreen's advance, his vision a haze of blood and dust, smoke and poison. He barred filed teeth in defiance as the creature closed. And then everything stopped. The creatures were no longer advancing. The air cooled. The pain dulled, and the anger was blunted. It felt like...

Korgunard! He was conscious! and...flying about? Barega instantly felt the spirits of the sands respond to the preserver's presence, and for a moment joy overcame the pain.

But just for a moment. Barega warily circled around the kreen, making his way to the spilled supplies and righting the barrel. He let the ball of flames sputter out as the kreen dispersed, and began rummaging around in his pack for the herbs he needed to treat the poison that still burned in his blood.

At Gbaji's remark, Barega erupted with laughter, "Maybe we'll find some more for you, giant!"

He sat heavily on his haunches, with his back against one of the overturned wagons. He began to treat the poison and bandage his wounds, watching Korgunard thoughtfully.

When he felt that he could stand again, Barega moved about, doing what he could to treat the wounds of the others.

I don't know if events will supercede this, feel free to change it.
heal to treat poison on barega (so, can use that as the next save against the poison): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16
CLW on barega: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
CLW on valsavis: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
anybody else need the lesser restoration? if not I will do it on Baregalesser restoration: 1d4 ⇒ 3
When we have a lot of time (camping or something) I may try the "treat deadly wounds" heal check like last time, at least on Barega and Valsavis. But it takes an hour per guy.

I've got to head out soon to take the kids to grandma's, but I will post tonight or tomorrow morning.

I think Barega could withdraw NE with only one AoO, probably his best bet (it might miss! maybe!). I guess he is the same speed as they are, so maybe it would eventually go to "Evasion and Pursuit", maybe he has a decent chance to get away and hide in the desert (maybe 1 in 3?) and come back later for Korungard.

Usually I wouldn't do that as a PC, though. He can perhaps take out two serious wounds bugs if he stands and delivers (fearless racial trait, after all). Do you guys want to stick it out?

I guess that like Ala'a, I was a little disappointed that none of the preparations had any effect. I figured they would be able to jump over the wagons, but it would provoke AoOs and limit the number of guys who could attack, they'd be slowed by the difficult terrain and maybe arrive in a couple of waves instead of all at once, plus we'd be flanking from positioning ahead of time, etc.

BUT -- I think that you get a better D&D game when you don't worry about all of the pathfinder mini-wargame rules minutiae, and just handwave a little for expediency and narrative license (like in 2nd edition). So, I am not opposed to that...I actually prefer it...I think the problem is just that it caught us by surprise.

With that said, I could have done better too. I had a couple of rounds to put up some summons, I just thought you guys kill stuff so fast, and I should save some spells for when we were ambushed in the middle of the night. My misjudgment. :)

The kreen were everywhere, the stench of their madness and of their burning bodies. Barega staggered back two of the beasts dug into him with their claws. He uttered a quick prayer to the spirit of the sands of this place.
They are completely surrounded...He strained with effort as he pushed the flames onto another of the screaming kreen, and called down another thunderbolt, desperately trying to thin out the enemy. It had been some time since he had felt this pressed.

He took step back as the elven woman scoured the kreen with her holy flame, and then hurriedly took another as she shouted nonsense at him and the sheet of flame started moving in his direction.

I'll step to S9, and then hit the o10 kreen with the flaming sphere and the Q10 one with a lightning bolt.

Watching the creatures leap foward, Barega felt a tinge of fear. But his people were not known for their cowardice. He hit them again with fire and thunder.
move: flaming sphere attack on one of the most wounded remaining ones (DC17 ref to negate): 3d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 4) = 7
standard: call lightning on one of the most wounded remaining ones (DC18 ref for half): 3d6 ⇒ (1, 3, 4) = 8

As the first of them cleared the wagon, Barega looked at its bulky, succulent legs and began to salivate. He grinned a terrible and insane grin, and his teeth elongated into catlike fangs. If we survive... we will eat well this night!
swift: use the Cloak of Fangs to gain a bite attack (at i think: +6, 1d4+1), so that I can take AoOs and provide a flank if the opportunity presents itself. I think I will 5' step to R9 to try to avoid getting surrounded.

I think that one of you guys should use the sword that gives you a free bull's strength once a day, instead of eating all the pomegranates.

1.
I want to do something like this in terms of spellcasting on the minute of prep time:
round -6: Longstrider
round -5: Call Lightning
round -3 or -2: ready the action for ...
[ooc](when the swarm reaches about 120'): Fog cloud to try to break them up so they don't all hit at once. Basically, I will try to catch the rear 2/3 or so of them in fog cloud, so that they have to slow down. Hopefully the ones in front will keep charging up and they will arrive to fight these guys single-file, like ninjas fighting Bruce Lee one at a time.
round -1: flaming sphere & attack one of them (if splitting them up, then the back group) with it, maybe it will distract them for a bit or make them duck back into the cloud or something.

Barega shuddered as he returned to his normal viewpoint. "They are very close, now."
He began chanting in a strange howling cadence, and climbed halfway up the rear wagon so that he could see the approaching creatures.

As the swarm crested a hill about 40 yards away, Barega suddenly moved his hands up and a great wind blew in among the kreen, kicking up a storm of sand and dust which obscured all but the frontmost creatures. The front row continued to leap ahead, and a few moments later the rear ranks emerged, stumbling, from the cloud. As the first of these stragglers emerged, a great ball of flame flickered into existence and leapt at him.
flaming sphere damage, DC17 Ref to negate: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 2) = 8

2. round 0: move action to attack with the flaming sphere; standard action to call a lightning bolt.
Barega's howling chant ceased, and he pointed at one of the nearby creatures. A bolt of lightning flashed from the sky and slammed into one of the kreen. The ball of fire leapt at another of the creatures, attempting to immolate him.
lightning bolt damage at one of the creatures that is close, DC18 Ref for half: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 4) = 13
flaming sphere damage, DC17 Ref to negate: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 1, 6) = 13
I guess targetting for these will be like: preferably a wounded one, then preferably one that is not one of the melee guys' only target, then whatever.

Barega nodded, convinced by the others' way of thinking. Not much use pushing debris around, he began searching the nearby area for natural hazards or carnivorous plants that they might be able to use to their advantage.

Thanks Valsavis. I'm not very good at this, hoping that you guys will rub off on me after a year or something.
Thanks about the spells! I am just kicking myself over not having taken Natural Spell...that templar party would be having a hard time of it out there in the desert. I think I had it in my 7th level doodle and then I was probably drunk or something when I refigured him out at 5th level. Ah well...gives something to look forward to.

Barega moved about the site of the ambush, examining the ground and collecting a few items.

At Ala'a's question, he pointed to the spot on the ground on the side of the road. "It looks like they moved off to the west, into the desert. I would say yesterday afternoon. They could be quite far from here by now...or not. Let me have a look."

Barega again entered his trance, looking up into the cloudless sky for a few minutes.
Eagle Eye again, to try to see the surrounding area, looking for bad guys, obvious signs of passage, maybe Thri-kreen burrows, or whatever they live in.

Assuming I don't see anything:
"I see no sign of them nearby. We have several hours of light left. It could be that if we move quickly south along the road, we will make it out of their hunting grounds before they grow hungry again, and we will not cross paths with them." He didn't look particularly optimistic.

I'd say we grab whatever looks useful and is quick to take (bags or chests of CP, the water, maybe the food, maybe a couple pieces of pottery to store water in or something, maybe there is some obvious valuable or masterwork item), and move on. Barega can Purify Food and Drink on the salvage after we get moving. Maybe we can make it to some other kind of shelter (Did he see anything promising with the Eagle Eye?) before too long after dark.
When we are within a couple of hours of dark, if nothing comes up, I'll do the Pass without Trace to make it somewhat more difficult to track us, and then we can move off the road a ways (maybe to the east?), I'll do what I can to disrupt the wagon's tracks as it moves off the road, and I can try to hide the campsite again at night. I think we should still post a watch in the hidden campsite.

Have a good holiday, Gbaji!

Bah, I thought you said edible!

So I think from the timing, it is unlikely that this is the caravan whose survivors we met a couple of days ago. But it could be likely to be the same band of thri-kreen. Is that right?

Can Barega tell which direction the kreens left in afterwards?

I'm trying to think of a way to sick them on the templar, but not coming up with anything. (maybe Lalali has some kind of suggestion or compulsion or something. I don't know anything about pathfinder psionics.)

1. Barega yawned and looked around in the pre-dawn light. Happy to notice that they were all still alive, he paused for a moment to offer a silent prayer of gratitude to the spirit of these sands, and then began his morning meditation. He listened to the wind, attempting to discern the pattern it held for him today...

Barega will prepare these spells:
0:4 :15: Light, Mending, Create Water, Purify Food and Drink
1:5+D:16: Obscuring Mist(D), Faerie Fire, Pass Without Trace, Longstrider, 2xCLW
2:3+D:17: Fog Cloud(D), Flaming Sphere, Lesser Restoration, Eagle Eye
3:2+D:18: Call Lightning(D), Stone Shape, Hide Campsite

He then paused to pray over the water skins in the wagon, drawing some of the scarce moisture from the morning air to partially replenish their stores.
Barega's Create Water for the day.

2. Barega described the scene to the group.
"You should see them out there, roaming aimlessly in the glare of the sun, the Ogo clinging to the backs of the giants like juvenile apes looking for milk! I congratulate you on this ruse, elf -- with some luck, perhaps they will die in the wastes."
He paused at that. "Oh, how I would like to make it happen! But I think our task is too important to bear the delay it would entail."
He cursed himself for his incomprehensible feat selection!

3. Barega asked the others to avoid stepping into the area for a few minutes. He climbed down from the wagon and began to try to make sense of the confused tracks in the sand.

perception, to see ambushers or concealed clues, or whatebver: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (6) + 17 = 23
survival, to try to figure out something about what happened by looking at the tracks in the caravan area and surrounding area: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (20) + 15 = 35
Looking for any information about what happened. For example: are there corpses; how long ago the fight took place; "some of the creatures participating were Kreen and others were booted humanoids"; "the victors departed to the west, it looks like there were about a half dozen of them"; etc

If it looks like this happened recently (within a couple hours) then I will send up the Eagle Eye to look around.

Gotcha.

I think camping out in the desert is OK. Barega doesn't care, he can always just fly away. :)

How many kanks do we have? I was thinking 2 (though, I don't know why I think that). So I was thinking: pass without trace on Ala'a (who's walking) and the kanks (who are walking), and not necessary on the other guys (who are in the wagon). I guess it would also work if there are 4 kanks, but not if there are 5 or more. Maybe it's worth casting anyway, since the DC depends on the number of creatures leaving tracks, right? Can't hurt.

I was thinking to cast the spell and start trying to hide the tracks once we stop going into the desert, and start going back for the road. To give the impression that we went out into the desert and got lost or disappeared or doubled back, or something.

I'll take Longstrider instead of cloak of shade. That will get me up to 40' move (because of that fast moving alternate racial trait). The wagon is moving at 30'?
So how about: (whenever we do it) I will use pass without trace and longstrider and then drop behind the wagon, trying to cover its tracks. I'll do that for an hour, after which the wagon will have gone 3 miles, and I'll have tried to cover 2 miles' worth of tracks. Then I'll walk normally and catch up after another hour. Or better yet, hustle and catch up after ... 12 minutes (closing that mile at 80-30=50=5mph instead of 40-30=10=1mph, 5 times as fast)?

That way, the trackers would have to circle out at least 2 miles to find the "easy tracks". That should slow them down pretty good, if they miss the "harder tracks" check.

If we're not going to turn back toward the road until tomorrow, I will do this for the last hour or so of our travel this evening instead (since I have the spells?).

...

Oh, I thought of a couple of more things (sorry) --

As the sun dipped nearer to the horizon, Barega handed the reins of the Kanks off to one of his companions. "I need to take a look around. Hold these for a few minutes." He mumbled inhuman sounds to himself and looked up into the darkening sky, staring up into the distance for several minutes. Then he recovered. I don't know what he saw.

A bit before sundown (20 minutes before? when there is still good light) wherever we are, Barega will use the Eagle Eye to take a look around for a few minutes, to see if he can spot any nearby parties (trackers, belgoi, etc) anywhere within range from that vantage point, or anything else of interest. (I have no idea what that range would be but again, can't hurt).

...

As they stopped for the night and began to unburden the kanks and think about lighting a fire against the cold, Barega looked around at the surrounding sands with interest. "Let me see if I can coax these sands into providing us with some concealment for the night", he said, reaching into a belt pouch and removed a few curious items. "I will return in a few minutes."

And then will use the Hide Campsite when we hole up for the night.

Man, that really is some epic BSing!

1. Frowning as the potent poison seemed resistant to his spells, Barega took a moment to focus himself, and then began chanting again, in a stronger voice. One more lesser restoration...

Barega looked suspiciously at the half-giant, but did not sense any guile there. He nodded toward the large rock jutting from the sand, behind which they had parked their wagon.

"The land is wounded, but it lives still. See how this rock refuses to yield to the waste surrounding him? His spirit is very strong, and stubborn; he will hold out for another age yet. He sees the importance of our task, and lends us his aid, shielding us from the road and smiting those... creatures, with sudden thunder."

"I have followed one such as that, but in the Wind rather than the Rock. He has led me far and wide, and shown me much. It is a great joy to be lifted up by him, as the birds are." He stopped, as if that answered the question.

He looked up at Gbaji. "You may be too heavy."

2. Barega, winded from his long flight, panted as he described the Stel caravan and also the Templar's party several hours behind them.
At Ala'a's instruction, he ducked into the wagon and dropped the lid on Korungard's secret compartment, and then covered it with some of the leathers in the wa gon. He stepped out just in time to see the outrider approach and address the group.

3. As Ala'a tore into the Stel outrider and Barega began to see the direction of her gambit, he studied the ground, as if examining it. He bit into his lip, his sharpened teeth drawing blood. When Ala'a indicated her "scout", he looked up at the outrider and barred his teeth in a nasty, wet grin. He mumbled animatedly in the halfling tongue, pointing at the sand. "Our quarry escapes, while this herbivore delays us. Take one of his legs to supplement our stores, and let us be on our way!"

second lesser restoration spell (keeping the fruit in reserve): 1d4 ⇒ 3
bluff check to assist Ala'a: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15

When we're out of sight of the Stel, Barega will open Korgunard's compartment back up and then put Cloak of Shade on the PCs. When we are ready to turn and move back toward the road, he will put Pass Without Trace on... can I put it on the kanks? Plus Ala'a. Whoever's walking. Then Barega will follow and try to disrupt the wagon's tracks as we go back toward the road, for as long as he can without getting too far behind.

1. Barega cursed as the creatures fled into the night. It would be dangerous to leave something like this unfinished. And then he grinned as the rabid human bellowed and gave chase -- quite spirited, that one. He watched closely, trying to catch a glimpse of the creatures in Valsavis' torchlight as the human ranged about.

Barega will wait to see (possibly holding action or readying action, if it doesn't happen this turn) if he can catch a glimpse of the fleeing creatures. If he does, he'll cast Faerie Fire, trying to catch (ideally both of) the creatures in the burst.
Aha! With a yelp of triumph, Barega gestured wildly and spoke a few crytpic syllables, and pointed at the creatures. There was a burst of faint electrical activity, and when it subsided the Belgoi were illuminated by a pale blue glow. The light was dim, but more than enough to make them easy targets in the darkness. The creatures looked at one another with concern and chattered furiously.

After that, Barega will whack them with the remaining 4 lightning bolts as time, range, and line of sight allows, but won't chase more than 30' away from Korungard.)

2. After the immediate threat had passed, Barega swifly moved to examine Ala'a's wound.

Want to do some kind of heal check to see if she is still poisoned and will need to make another save soon. If so, then...
"There is still poison here. Eat this, and let me help." He approached the elf cautiously, not knowing how well this would go over... he handed her an exotic jungle fruit (a lesser restoration fruit), telling her "this will help with the weakness." Ala'a was momentarily wrong-footed by the cannibal's apparent generosity, and in accepting the fruit was caught flat-footed as the halfling suddenly launched in as if to bite her... but by the time she had recovered and was about to fry the little bugger, it was over. He had retreated again, spitting venom sucked from the wound onto the sand.
He then began to clean the wound and apply a foul-smelling salve from his pack. This is a heal check to treat the poison, to give her a +4 on the next save(s)).

As the sky lightened in the east and the winds began to stir, Barega stated that he needed some time to meditate on the days events, and then moved off and sat in the sand for some time, as if in a trance.

Spells for today will be:
0:4 :15: Light, Mending, Create Water, Purify Food and Drink
1:5+D:16: Obscuring Mist(D), Faerie Fire, Pass Without Trace, Cloak of Shade, 2xCLW
2:3+D:17: Fog Cloud(D), 2x Lesser Restoration, Eagle Eye
3:2+D:18: Call Lightning(D), Stone Shape, Hide Campsite

When he returned, he again approached the elf and told her that he could cleanse some of the venom. Chanting softly, he touched her wound again. Instead of the cleansing fire she expected, she felt a crisp, cleansing breeze flow through her, and some of her strength was restored. Lesser restoration. If she's still down a few points and wants it I will also give her the second one. Otherwise I will hang onto it.

He then moved off to examine Korgunard once more. Do we need to try to feed him water somehow or something? I don't know how we would do that without an IV needle, but maybe Barega has some idea.

If there is no craziness on the next day and you wind up "fast forwarding" a few days, and/or in terms of preliminary options for planning: I will change the spells to this for the following day(s). Barega can scout as a bird for 5 hours per day, use the Eagle Eye to briefly scout at some other time, use the Cloak of Shade during the hottest 5 hours of the day, stretch the water with Create Water, and conceal the campsite at night with Pass without Trace and Hide Campsite.
0:4 :15: Light, Mending, Create Water, Purify Food and Drink
1:5+D:16: Obscuring Mist(D), Faerie Fire, Pass Without Trace, Cloak of Shade, 2xCLW
2:3+D:17: Fog Cloud(D), Flaming Sphere, Resist Energy, Eagle Eye
3:2+D:18: Call Lightning(D), Stone Shape, Hide Campsite

Barega watched the fray unfold as he whispered to the air, coaxing it into a state of tension that raised the fine hairs on his arm. He did not know these creatures, but he noted the effect that the creature's claw had had on Ala'a. They seemed quite venomous, perhaps moreso even than the formidable serpents of the jungle.

He looked about for indications of a flanking force behind, but hopefully did not see any. And then his spell was finished, and he felt the elevated energies in the air awaiting his request. He looked back to the fray and chose his target. It's a little tough as they have not gone yet. I'll try to target a wounded enemy that is near to whoever needs the most help. Currently I think it is the wounded one near Ala'a, but it might be different after the PCs actions. A narrow bolt of lightning fell incongruously from the starry sky and grazed one of the creatures.

call lightning (1 of 5): 3d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 5) = 8 -- There is also a dc18 reflex save for half. Maybe this spell is not very good. :)

Can I hear or see them well enough to tell what square they are in (i.e. to target a 5' burst faerie fire over there on them)? And do I have actions left after waking Lalali and casting that spell? I feel like I already took a lot of actions. :)
I also noticed that Gbaji's post accidentally landed in the gameplay thread, in case anybody is wondering where it went.

Barega will wake Lalali and then stay near Korgunard, maybe up on the wagon or something so he's harder to get at. Could conceivably do light if it's like pitch dark, or maybe faerie fire if I get a glimpse of where the bad guys are (it apparently has a very long range).

I'm not sure this was Barega's intent but I like to get as many players involved as soon as possible. This way everyone can start playing.

That's fine. I was just assuming I could only do one per round.

Barega watched the surrounding sands as well as he could in the starlight, and listened to the desert quiet and the faint breeze. He sniffed, but could only smell the low fire. He kept an eye on the possibly-rabid human as he crept around the site, though the old preserver seemed to have largely cured that one's affliction.

These folk were strange, certainly, but not like he had expected. None of them had murdered another yet. They seemed dedicated to the Preserver's cause. They were certainly resourceful, as Korungard had said. Maybe this would work. He hoped it would work...for an age, the keepers and the people had struggled just to delay the death of the world. But not since he was very young, had he really believed anyone might be able to reverse it. And now Korgunard brought this small hope...

He froze. A bell? He felt a faint tugging at his mind, dangerously subtle. He quickly looked around, but did not see anyone. Other than the human, wandering off into the night with a strange gait. Enspelled...

Barega scurried something like: stealth at -5 to move full speed to where Ala'a was sleeping and gently kicked her awake. "Sorcery. Don't follow the bell. Human follows it.", he whispered.

He looked to the sky and began chanting softly. starting to cast Call Lightning, if that kick can be part of the move action.

word problem

I guess that you could divide the number of caravans encountered per day by two, because half of them are going the same direction as you are at approximately the same speed.

1. Klak, klak, klik, klik. Klak, klak, klik, klik. Barega caught himself being lulled into a sort of trance by the repetitive sound and motions of the Kanks. He shook himself awake, and scanned the horizon to keep himself alert. He agreed with the elf -- this was no way to travel. The notion of beasts bred for docility and weakness of spirit sickened him. But it seemed that none of the others had much skill with at directing the animals, so he resigned himself to this novel, if somewhat unpleasant, experience.

He noticed the ragged band of humans in the distance, approaching on foot. He called to Valsavis inside the wagon, and attempted to signal to Ala'a who was ranging about.

"Look there, along the road. Do you see them? They will pass us soon, probably on their way to Urik. Best they do not spread tales of meeting anyone other than the merchant. Such as me. I will go within. You can direct these kanks for a time, just hold the harness like this. Yes, very good."

Barega ducked into the wagon and concealed himself behind a stack of leather sheets. As the other group neared, he strained to listen to the conversation. Listen to these selfish creatures. It is the way of the world, that the weak falter and are consumed by the strong. In this way, the most potent of spirit is distilled into the next generation, and the population is made stronger. To coddle these now would only weaken their whole. It is known. Surely it is known to these folk, who have distorted the mechanism to distill weakness into their captive Kanks. Perversity. It is no wonder that these folk and their lands are so easily enslaved by the defiler-kings...

2. As the sun was sinking into its crimson berth, Barega consulted with Ala'a. "What do you think of that?" He indicated a crag of rock a ways ahead, jutting out of the earth a quarter mile from the road. "I think we can make it there before the night predators are out in force, and it is large enough to shield the wagon from casual observation... I will disrupt our trail through the sand as best I can, and perhaps none will bother us for the night." This is supposed to be like: making a survival check to find a least-unreasonable place to sleep. Barega doesn't leave a trail, and can spend some time (e.g. take 20) to try to conceal the traces of the wagon and the others, before turning in.

"We should also set up some kind of watch through the night. I need some sleep; wake me when it is my shift." Barega returned to the wagon. He dragged Korgunard into the concealed compartment, but left the cover slightly ajar and covered it with a crumpled leather sheet. He then dug himself into the pile of leathers again, and promptly fell asleep.

I want to change my spell list (tomorrow morning) for the trip; does this look OK?
0:4 :15: Light, Mending, Create Water, Purify Food and Drink
1:5+D:16: Obscuring Mist(D), Faerie Fire, Longstrider, Pass Without Trace, Cloak of Shade, CLW
2:3+D:17: Fog Cloud(D), Barkskin, Resist Energy, Eagle Eye
3:2+D:18: Call Lightning(D), Stone Shape, Hide Campsite

Barega landed near the wagon and winced as his bones reknitted themselves into those of a halfling once more. His shoulders ached from the unaccustomed use in sustained flight, but he was in good spirits. It was a sort of profound religious experience, to be carried along by the wind in this way. If I keep this up, I will have large succulent muscles there, like the bird-men of the deep desert...

The others approached him with questions.
"Ah, I am glad you made it out so intact!"

...

"There was some light traffic on the road, but I did not see any obvious threats nearby. Certainly I did not see a pack of Ogo's hunters closing on you."

...

He stretched his shoulders, "unfortunately, it will be several hours before I can do that again. I am exhausted, and only just learning the technique. I will look for the hunters tomorrow."

"I think I can manage these pack animals, but when we pass other travelers it may be better if one of you is driving, and I am out if sight."

What is the spotting distance out here like? I am picturing a big flat plain where you can see an approaching group miles away, and there is time to swap places before they get close. But maybe that is not accurate, and there are crags or hills or big dunes or something?

"We might take turns sleeping inside the wagon today? Then at least some of us will be rested enough to watch tonight."

Do people usually travel during the day and sleep at night? I thought it was the other way around in the desert, but, I don't really know. Barega should know, though.

We can cast create water? I figured that was a special case spell. Maybe I will take one of those tomorrow, if it's not discouraged.
BTW Barega will use "purify food and drink" to keep those lion steaks nice and fresh. :)

Barega climbed up onto the wagon. "Let's see about some food." He rummaged around in his pack and took out some of the lion meat and some salt, and began preparing a meal.

Fabian, do you have the "official" character sheets posted up somewhere? Specifically I can't remember if I took a "cook's kit", which probably has stuff in it for jerkifying meat, etc. But I think in general it would be useful. Apologies if it's somewhere obvious and I just didn't see it.

Barega took advantage of the brief respite to examine Korgunard in more detail. He shook his head. "I have never seen its like. But I think, at least, he is not getting worse."

He proposed that he would sneak out of the city in the guise of a bird, and then meet them along the road once they were an hour or two outside of the city.
Then he proceeded to curl up in the corner and grab a half hour's sleep.

The quiet of night is first broken by the the chirping of awakening insects, then the pre-dawn chorus of birds who hope to make breakfast of the revelry of the insects, and by finally the bustle of men, oblivious to all the rest. As the birds were beginning their song, Barega awoke and looked about.

"Good luck to you. I will watch, and aid you if I can." Barega will offer to carry some of the more incriminating items, if you want -- the lion's collar maybe. I was thinking the cloak too, but it sounds like Ala'a has another idea for that.

He raised his arms, and seemed to shrink slightly in the faint pre-dawn light. His arms became the wings of a bird, and then he was a small, ugly vulture. He rose awkwardly into the air, and was gone into the night.

Barega will try to use the cover of the birds' busy time in the morning to fly out of the city. He will attempt to stay within a couple miles of the city, nearish to other birds, and try to stay up out of bowshot. He'll watch the south road for the others' caravan, and scout around it for signs of pursuit or trouble.
He can stay as a bird for 5 hours, I guess. He'll rejoin them when they're a ways out of town and it looks safe, or when he's starting to run out of time, or when there is some threat approaching that he wants to warn them of.

Barega passed the bundle of salvaged fruits around, and the others took a few items.

1.
a) I think that the "It was clear that several sets of footprints had disturbed the dust that had settled in this tunnel but it was difficult to tell which was what" indicates that you rolled survival for everyone and they didn't pass it? If not then Barega will take a look and see if he can figure it out.

b) Did we hear the templar party twice -- i.e., coming and going down the hallway, as in they hit the wall and went back the way they came? Or only once, as in, they went through and then exited at the other end somehow?

c) We did see the elf-wizard's prints before, right? So at least for part of his escape, he was not concealing them.

d) Barega will examine the wall at the end of the tunnel to see if maybe he thinks it's a Wall of Stone or similar kind of newly conjured wall, or if it is an ordinary/contemporary part of the tunnel complex.

Barega frowned at the tunnel's sudden end, and spent a few moments examining the wall and the nearby floor. Maybe one of the arcanists conjured this wall to seal the passage?
When Valsavis started checking the ceiling, Barega grinned at the man's cleverness and nodded to himself.

2.

What do you know about this elf anyway? Can he be trusted? How did the templars know where we were?

Barega nodded at Gbaji's questions. He had gotten this sense as well. Placing trust in arcanists was a dangerous game to play.

Barega, I don't suppose you could change yourself into a lizard or something? It might be easier to explain.

Barega nodded. "Yes, I think, better to be merchants than slaves. I can leave separately and meet you a couple of hours down the road, perhaps."

Barega paused after Ala'a finished off the last hunter, listening. After a few moments he shrugged and gave the corpses a quick once-over, pocketing a few items, and then headed back toward the others. As he spoke, be drew a small obsidian blade from his belt and idly began to slice into the lion's midsection.

"Very tired. Would love to sleep for a while before attempting an escape, but I don't know. Soon, they will notice that the hunters did not return."
He swept an arm about at the enormous beast's corpse, and the gore that was spattered all around the hallway, directly below the safe room. "And this is hard to conceal. Gives away the location of secret room."

He quickly extracted a chunk of tenderloin, wrapped it in a few leaves from his pack, stowed it, and resumed his work. "I think we should leave soon, before they think to expect the Ogo to return. But, likely templar at both exits. What to do, what to do?" He stowed a few cuts of short loin in a similar fashion.

"Very bad situation."

He paused to lick some of the gore off his fingers and point into the bloody hole he had dug into the corpse, before beginning to extract another steak. "This part -- very tasty. Anyone else hungry?"

Barega took a quick look at at the gash in his leg by the arrow. The wound looked superficial, but the Ogo were likely to poison their arrows...well, time to worry about that later!

Barega raised an eyebrow at the gruesome display that the angry human had made of the lion. The man seemed to enjoy bathing in the beast's blood -- not as squeamish as most of the rest of his kind. This human had some potential as a hunter! Perhaps over-energetic, not as efficient as he could be, but he had seen that in some of the younger hunters that he had trained as well...

He cursed as the cowardly Ogo fled down the hall. Can't let them get away and raise the alarm... Barega chased them down the hall, hurling another spear in an attempt to bring one of them down.
move 40' down the hall drawing a spear, then throw the spear at a halfling at a range of 20'
thrown spear at one of the halflings: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
damage if it hits: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Barega's eyes widened as the lion leapt up through the illusory floor, inches away from him, and dug into the elf woman's leg.

if the lion is still up
He jabbed at the beast with one of his spears. The disparity between the enormous hunting cat and the small spear was almost comical, but did not faze the halfling, and indeed the chipped flint of the spear bit deep. The beast howled in rage and pain.
spear to hit: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
spear damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

if the lion is already down, and no other PCs have jumped down yet, or if he is reasonably confident (e.g. from a perception check) that he can tell what square a bad guy is in, and won't risk hitting a good guy)
He nodded in approval at the beast's swift death, and then hurled the spear through the illusory floor at the square 5' toward the ceremony room from the opening, I guess there is probably a 50% miss chance from shooting through the floor. I guess the roll is as above but +2 because it's ranged instead of melee (1 for dex and 1 for halfling thrown weapon), and then flattened himself against the wall, trying to stay out of the way of the others.

if PCs have already jumped down, and he doesn't know which squares are good guys and which are bad guys
He nodded in approval at the beast's swift death and PC x's bold leap down into the Ogo scouts' murderous grasp. Holding his spear in his right hand, he grabbed the ledge of the floor in his left, and swung down to join the fray. He stumbled as he landed, and his spear thrust at one of the scouts missed its mark.

This is the only online game I have. I don't know how you guys would keep up with five!

2.
Barega held his breath as he heard the searching group pass through the tunnel below. At least four, he thought, They will further confuse our trail.... He slowly let his breath out, as the group moved out of earshot down the hallway.

After ten minutes passed with no further developments, Barega rummaged around in his pack for a bit, and pulled out a small leather satchel. He shuffled a bit closer to Gbaji and whispered, "let me see that spear wound." He began to clean it with a bit of water from his skin and some herbs from his kit, and then sewed it shut with some gut. Over the next few hours, he worked his way through the others, tending the wounds as best he could (this is the "treat deadly wounds" use of the heal skill, to give 5hp back. The way I'm reading this, I think I can take 10 and use one use from the healer's dose to get a 10+10+2-2=20 and succeed, so that way I still have some doses left for next time. Does that sound right? Anyway, he'll work through the PCs in order of damage -- maybe Gbaji, Lalali, Barega, Valsavis, Ala'a -- that would be 5 hours, so maybe we don't get that far before (3).).

During this time, he also examined Korgunard to try to determine the status of his condition, but he gained little insight. He shrugged. Whatever afflicted the preserver, it was no natural ailment. Heal check to try to diagnose Korgunard, but I am guessing it's not going to work. Maybe also detect magic and spellcraft to see if I can tell anything about what kind of magical effects are on him.

3.
Barega suddenly paused his ministrations, and brought a finger to his lips. He nodded his head down toward the floor. Then the others could hear it too, faint voices, drawing closer...

He heard the words, and the voices. Of course, the Ogo scouts. This worried him -- they were very good trackers. At least three. And...a lion? Barega could smell the stink of these outlanders, and the lion would probably have a sharper nose.
There will be blood.

He tapped his finger against his lips again, in answer to Valsavis' question, and then readied one of his spears... Maybe they will continue past, distracted as they are by their foolish yammering.

"Barega, can you summon another creature of some kind to fumble around down here and confuse these tracks? I'll be right back."

Barega bobbed his head enthusiastically. "Oh, yes, very clever, very good..." Be began to make his strange serpentine whistling sound again, sniffing the air and cocking his head. As his whistling neared its crescendo, he ducked his head through the illusory floor.

Below in the tunnel, the wind blew in a dust devil, stirring a small cloud of dirt 20' past the secret room. A small, frilled reptile stepped from the cloud, hissing loudly and expanding its frill in alarm, and then immediately charged down the hallway toward the "ceremony room", leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.

Barega will burn "speak with animals" to cast a SNA I for a Gorak. He'll try to detect if bad guys are approaching the room from below (e.g. by scent or hearing) during the round he is casting the spell. If they are detected, I guess he will abort the spell. Otherwise, he'll stick his head down through the illusion and create a Gorak 20' past the illusory ceiling room (i.e. in the other direction from the ceremony room), then it will immediately straight-line run toward the ceremony room. Hopefully between the running and it dragging its body along the floor, it will obscure some of our tracks...when they come to the end of the obscured region, they'll have passed us by 20' and will only see the one elf wizard's tracks.

edit: oops, Gorak is on the summon monster I, but not the SNA I. Is that on purpose? If so, make it a dire rat instead. Sorry!

1.(after valsavis' comments)

"Tyr? It is a big place. Also not serene. Well, problem for later on..."

2.

Barega looked in dismay at the tracks. "No, no. Walk in elf prints, like this!" He demonstrated hopping from existing print to existing print. Then he looked incredulously at one of Gbaji's feet. "Uhh..."

He backed up a bit and scuffed out some of the party's tracks, attempting to make it look like the one elf had run up this way. Hopefully the pursurers wouldn't have a woodsman with them, or would move through quickly enough that they wouldn't give it too close a look...

Barega will "move at half speed to try to cover the trail", I guess. Not sure how much good it will do! That will teach me to "optimize" pass-without-trace out of my spell list...

...

Barega looked up at the illusory ceiling, four feet above his head. "Hmm..."
Then Gbaji lowered his enormous arm back down, and Barega grabbed his thumb and wrist to be hauled up. "Yes, thank you."

-----

Sorry, for some reason I was refreshing "page=9" instead of "page=last" and missed all of the other posts, so I thought I wasn't holding anything up.

About the game... I don't know. I find the two-rounds-at-a-time thing a little disorienting too, but I am more than willing to believe it's just that I haven't figured it out yet and will eventually get it.

There's a tradeoff between rate of progress and granularity, I don't have enough experience with it to tell where the best point on the scale is. I could imagine that if we were doing one action per 2 days, the game would move too slowly and peter out after a while or something.

I don't know. I don't think my input is informed enough to matter, I'll go along with whatever. Maybe in 3 months I will have an opinion. :)

If we want to take Jaggo with us and that's not like a plot point, I can stabilize him. (?)

Barega turned to Eliantha, "He lives. We need to get out of danger, then we can examine him." He nodded as Gbaji picked up the old preserver's unconcious form. He looked at the other downed preservers. "I do not think that death provides a sure escape from the likes of Hamanu, but I fear carrying them may slow us."

He stepped out of the mist and surveyed the carnage. "Good warriors," he said, perhaps mildly surprised. He directed the Kluzd down the south hallway to interfere with the Templar's reinforcements.

"These may have something useful -- get going, I will catch up." He began quickly going over the corposes of Hamanu's soldiers, looking for useful items (healing potions, etc... will use detect magic). Ala'a is fast too, maybe she wants to help?.

Barega then ran down the second tunnel to catch up. As they made their way down the tunnel, Barega approached Lalali and then (hesitantly) Valsavis, closing some of their worst wounds with a touch of his hands. (cure light on lalali, pearl of power, cure light on valsavis (it's what i've got, sorry)).

if the bad guys are getting close while he's going over the corpses, let me know -- I figure Barega has a decent chance to distract them and get away.

CLW on Lalali: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
CLW on Valsavis: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Round 3...

The serpentine chanting from the the mist finally stopped. A great frilled snake-like creature burst up through the dirt floor in the corner near the entranceway corridor N-M,8-9. It's forked tongue tasted the air briefly, and then it moved with surprising speed toward Hamanu's templar I guess to K-L,8,9. It darted in and attempted to bite onto the cloaked man's leg, but he stepped aside with contemptous ease, and the beast missed its mark.
Kluzd charge vs the templar's AC 18: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Barega finished his chanting, and heard the Kluzd emerge. He silently willed it to find and crush Hamanu's man to death.

He panted heavily from the pain of the wicked gash the halfling's axe had left, and took a moment to collect himself, listening. He heard the sound of combat, and of many large corpses hitting the floor. He heard the elf-girl shouting something unintelligible, a mass of sizzling and craclking noises -- but at least it meant she was still alive. From nearby in the mist, he heard Eliantha call out, "Someone help Korgunard!"

Barega recalled that Korgunard had fallen around on the other side of this fountain. He made his way there, moving quickly through the mist (to D5, i think blind-fight lets you avoid the half-speed penalty). He saw the strange man lying, apparenty unconcious. He knelt, and laid his hand on Korgunard's chest. He felt some life there still. He concentrated briefly and uttered a few words, and felt new wind inflate the old man's chest.
cure light wounds on Korgunard: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
I think I am close enough to Eliantha that she can see this happening.

Round 4...

Do you want to just run the Kluzd for me? I want it to grapple the templar, either by initiating a grapple or by charging, hitting with its bite, and grabbing. I am looking at the "Terrors of Athas" thing, but grapple is significantly different between 3rd ed and pathfinder, I don't really know what the details will be there -- if you can run it that would be great.

Barega turned to Eliantha, "Is there another way out of here? Beyond the curtain?"
As he spoke, he fetched a healing fruit from his pack and began feeding it to Korgunard's slowly stirring form, while applying pressure to his axe-wound with his other hand.

I am thinking that if there is another way out, we can head there while we leave the snake thing and maybe a fog cloud, or maybe I can obstruct / partially-cave-in the narrow tunnel with soften earth and stone, and we can run away while the reinforcements are trying to get through that.

my 'good problem' again

I think combat makes people post faster. I can almost hear the old ToEE video game combat music. (You know, the one that kind of sounds like the "Daily Double".)

Barega, given how I interpret the soften earth and stone, please let me know if this is your preferred course of action for round 1.

OK, so, in other words, it won't really slow them down much? Then I guess how about: Round 1, cast obscuring mist. I think it's 20' radius and so it won't (so far) obscure any of the bad guys, good guys can hide in it if they want to. And I think it should provide some protection to Korgunard.

Barega, still addled from the effects of the 'ceremony', stared in shock at Korgunard and then at the approaching half-giants. With agonizing slowness, he realized what was happening and began to react...

He gestured and made a whistling noise, and a wind from nowhere began to pick up. The wind blew a thick vapor out of the fountain and toward the halfling, enveloping him. Soon he and the area around him were lost to sight. From somewhere within the cloud, the whistling changed to a strange serpentine chanting...

Can´t click on the map somehow.

I think if you sort of wiggle your mouse on it, there's a transparent black bar that appears at the top, with among other things a magnifying glass... if you hit the magnifying glass there's a slider, you can zoom it in using that.