Durnast Kal's page

I had considered pre-posting my response if they didn`t go along (along the lines of `readied scorching ray if they attempt to heal the dying smilodon`), but Rasina`s counsel tempers Durnast`s response.
Durnast scowls and walks away from the Reclaimers, towards the Desolation, asking Cam (telepathically) what he can see from high above. (basically, walking away from his conflict with the Orc, letting the situation calm down, but not changing his sentiment)

I think that especially since it`s apparently informing Scranford`s choices of character class, that we should be sure to follow the good practices we`ve discussed during this last battle (accurate battle map, reposting PC/NPC statuses and Init order with every `battle update` from Chris, etc) since a good handle of the battle is really important no matter what class you are playing.

"Uh... We can watch the wounded until you show up with this Elf."
Durnast probably would have wanted to prevent the Human Druid from being woken via Bear´s Endurance, but it looks like that already slipped by. That can stand, but Durnast isn´t about to see the unoonscious Tiger be woken and healed while we wait. The Tiger that is merely wounded can go along with the Druid(s) though.

Durnast waits until the Orc and Beetle (with unconscious human Reclaimer) are gone before speaking.

¨...So it looks like he is beyond even the healing powers that Nadeq now exhibit...
I would feel uncomfortable burying Montague in this area, given these Reclaimers` proclivities.
And I`m not even familiar with Montague`s own beliefs with regard to caring for the dead.
...Perhaps... The best solution is to use the enchanted cloth that Montague himself already experienced, to protect his body until he can be returned to his family or his monastic order.¨

¨He certainly was a brave warrior, throwing himself into battle along with us before any of us probably fully trusted him. Let nobody speak ill of his intentions here, I believe he travelled his path of purity and perfection until the last. To meet one as he amidst this Desolation is truly a sign for hope in our mission here.¨

Durnast will accept the icy touch of Nadeq`s healing: 2x CLW 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (3, 7) + 10 = 20 hp healed. (full HP)

Durnast responds ¨...Are we still fighting tooth and nail to kill each other?
But that sounds like a swell idea, I`ve been feeling un-easy about leaving bodies of these demons behind, given the Undead aura hovering over the entire landscape here, and growing some nice green trees seems a reasonable thing to do. Perhaps from this point, sticking to the basics of composting rather than cultivating ancient slumbering titans might be advisable, though.¨

Durnast`s Perception check: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19
Durnast sees the now awakened Smilodon`s gaze turn in Alia`s direction,
and decides that trying to blind the enraged beast is his best option to help Alia.
5´ Step to F3, drawing a scroll of Glitterdust, and casting it targetting the Smilodon - DC 17 Will Save.

Are you trying to kill us? ;)

It was one of those things where I just noticed some minor bits to start, which I was mentioning as much for people to beware of posting habits to avoid, and then I started noticing more and more stuff... (with more signifigant side-effects). That sort of thing seems appropriate to Durnast´s own curiosity, but I agree, as long as I´m out of character I might as well avoid pointing out why we should really be having a TPK :-)

Waking to find himself prone, severely bruised, and with one boot in a snow drift, Durnast lurches to one foot before standing hesitantly. <Thanks, Cam> he wills as his loyal companion zips away to the jungle behind the Kamadan monster. The situation still looking just about as grim as before he passed out, Durnast decides it is no time to hold back on his most powerful spellcraft. Finding the crystal prism and mineral dust in the pouch where he remembered stashing it, Durnast almost whispers an otherly refrain as he adjusts the prism´s rate of spin from it´s lanyard, focusing the growing cloud of colored lights into a cloud just above the Smilodon immediately threatening Alia.
Rainbow Pattern: Will DC19, 20´ radius effect centered @{C-D,6-7} (20´ in the air - which should avoid affecting Alia or others - see: Spell Areas). If the Smilodon PASSES it´s Save, (as a Free Action) Durnast wills the spell effect to move to {F-G,11-12} (covering the Kamadan but nothing else), and maintains Concentration.

Re: Nadeq trying to communicate to Durnast about the Orc, Is this something Durnast would be able to hear from Nadeq´s Abyssal Gibberrish by the time my turn rolls around, or not?
If Nadeq DOES tell me about his assessment on my turn, Durnast will basically agree and tell everybody via Message <Lay off the Orc, he doesn´t look like a threat anymore. ...A Kamadan and 2 Smilodons with a taste for Humans, on the other hand...> along with a Message just for Nadeq <What in the Abyss are you doing anyways?>

btw, I like how the map´s looking now...

AARGH! Post eaten!
For a second I thought Rasina could have countered that Ice Storm, but she only Readied against the Female Druid´s spells. DANG!
I DO think I remember that Alia was still getting a +2 Init bonus for terrain, and thus will get to act just before the tigers... I think?
It looks like Montague still isn´t placed, huh? Chris should probably just place him now,
but if he doesn´t post by his turn, whoever wants to should just play his character when Monty´s Init comes up.

Unless this Wand of Mount summons extra-ordinary light horses, 19 points of damage knocks out my Mount (@-4),
meaning Durnast has to make a DC15 check to avoid 1d6 ⇒ 4 falling dmg and being prone: Acrobatics 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
(I think Acrobatics is substitutable for Ride here, if not, subtract 4 from that roll) EDIT: Great, that should work even with my crappy Ride skill!

I´m not sure if Cam should be immune to the Ice Storm effects because he was still inside my Haversack. If not, he still has SR 12.
If he was considered outside my pack/ susceptible to the Ice Storm (and his SR 12 doesn´t cut it) he would be at 6 HP.

Durnast adroitly manages to land on his feet after his mount succombs to the Reclaimers´ supernaturally cold ice storm.
Not blinking an eye, he shrugs off the still blowing snow and frozen ground (not to mention the 19 hp of bruises and frostbite) while escaping from the storm´s area to E4 (I can ignore 5´ of Difficult Terrain). Shaking off the snow and hailstones from his sleeve, he casts some arcane gestures of his own, whose energies swirl amongst his allies, bring speed and grace to their movements.
Haste, 7 round duration: Artimus, Veren, Alia, Mikka, Rasina, Montague, & Durnast himself.

¨We rode all night to help save you guys. Let´s make it worth our while.¨

By the current map (with the row north of Artimus cut off)
Durnast can start mounted in C7-D8 (with Cam in same space)

Durnast will re-generate his Haste spell slot via Pearl of Power,
and if possible, will get Cam to fly into his Haversack, where he casts Invisibility on him.
While Cam is in the Haversack, he grabs a Potion of CSW and a Smokestick.

¨That´s right! Good job all! . . . . . . . ....UGH....¨
Durnast makes a Knowledge:Planes check to assess the new beastie. Besides the usual, is there anything he can put together on the roles these types of demons usually play, and thus a meaning he could glean from the sequence of their appearance, which as you say, seem like they are being sent by an entity or force...? Know:Planes 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (16) + 14 = 30

Yeah, I was looking at the declared actions looking for a Bless Weapon...
I think it´s reasonable that you could have coordinated it with Alia or whoever, but ask Chris.

I´m not sure since there´s no map, but I´m thinking if the monster is 10x10´, zapping both Montague and Rasina to one ¨face¨ would allow 5´ stepping diagonally to opposite sides, setting up a flank for Rasina´s Sneak Attack... Since it looks like Rasina probably made her Save (I HOPE that passes), is she feeling like a ride straight to Hell?

It seems kind of a waste if there are no other passengers, but if Monty still wants to Flurry, he can go via DD. Monty probably has a pretty good Tumble check to avoid any AoOs (and Artimus is taking the first one), but getting in a flurry of Stunning hits could be very worthwhile. *IF* Monty decides not to go via Dimension Door, Durnast will instead try to hamper the demon with a blinding Glitterdust: Will DC 17, Caster Check 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

I didn´t know how close we were to the Oasis...
Durnast will only back up to about 10´ from for now, leaving his mount 10´ahead between him and the demon (so, the mount being approx. 30´ from forest)

I think I got it all now, just to make sure was Alia´s shots at +4 to-hit including the +3 from Diviner´s Gift?

¨Who´s ready to go all out toe to toe?¨ Durnast asks,
following up his question with a casting of Dimension Door via his bond with Cam,
who then touches 2 allies who all promptly vanish and re-appear adjacent to the monster.
(I´m thinking Artimus & Montague, both offensively (Smite/Stunning Fist) and defensively vs. the nasty stuff close-in)
we don´t have a map yet, but if they ´land´ at a corner of the monster´s space, 5´steps from either/both melee-ists might setup a Flank, or not even need a 5´ step to do so. Cam himself would be ¨grabbing on¨ behind one of the passengers (probably Artimus) to hopefully have cover from the beast.

Durnast also whispers to Mikka <I´m not sure, but the creature being ridden by this Demon or whatever may itself be vulnerable to Fire like your Fireball... But it may be a good idea to keep that in reserve if the Demon splits like the Peryton in Camp. Whatever the case... we´re all in this together.>

Durnast directs his horse back from the demon (up to standard move toward the forest) hopefully to where it provides some cover/defensive space blockage for alia or another ally, and then dismounts and 5´ steps to 10´ behind his horse, taking cover from the beast.

Sorry to not be posting as regularly as I´d like to...

Anyways, Alia is right, Durnast would not cast Haste ahead of time before it can be put to use (attacking) - we may have a use for further rounds of it after defeating the Demon. I think we should be able to attack it before Round 4, though... say, Round 3 if not earlier?.
Durnast also urges Artimus (and everybody else with ranged weapon) to take advantage of the bow he´s equipped to attack at range with the benefit of Haste and Smite.
7 targets of Haste = Durnast, Alia, Artimus, Montegue, Rasina, Veren, Mikka (not Nadeq)

Durnast´s roll for Know:Planes 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (18) + 16 = 34
Any more specific type of abilities / vulnerabilities / tactics I might know of?
Mikka is casting Resist Energy (Acid) - Does it use Acid as far as Durnast knows?

Durnast will cast Protection from Evil on... Alia
and possibly Protection from Energy (on others/himself?) before casting Haste.

Instead of using Glitterdust, Durnast would instead use his Diviner´s Gift, giving +3 to-hit (and skills, Saves) to... ALIA! (which may help make a Crit...?)

While we are preparing and the Demon approaches, Cam heads up for a better view of the surroundings: Perception Take 10: 21

BTW, what happened to the Druidess´ ¨Come here farm boy¨ comment (to Artimus)?

Way to go Mikka!

<Looks like this scum has adapted quite well to the neighborhood.
Remember those Force Beads Nadeq, and hit em hard enough they can`t react (Stun), Monty...>

One question for Chris: so could we assess how wide (diameter) the oasis is?
One question for everybody: Who feels up to mapping this? I can`t really do this one.

It looks like Alia is wanting to cast Resist Energy, do we all have an action (surprise round?) or should we roll Initiative at this point?

Durnast is spooked by the Kamidan talk,
so as they approach the Oasis, chugs his vial of anti-toxin (+5 vs. poision, 1 hr) along with casting a Shield spell (70 min) and activating his Gem of True Seeing for at least 5 min. when they get to the Oasis.

"Just don`t endanger the rest of us, your rescuers, by your actions, Veren.¨

I guess Durnast rides his Mount as long as possible with the terrain,
and cringes at the loss of a potential weapon to store Artimus` horse safely.

"I`d like to hear more from these Druids about this weeping Giant-Titan, though it doesn`t seem directly relevant to our mission here, but who knows out here in the Desolation... Mentioning the Hydra we encountered may further impress them beyond the Peryton, perhaps enough that they could share some more information about Tsar itself or what else is going on in this Desolation, like King Kroma, whom it sounds like they would like to see removed as an un-natural power springing from the Desolation.
Veren, I don`t like how you ask strangers to prove themselves immediately after you are generously offered help with the caveat that those others feel you are the one who needs to prove themselves. The others here have come together, even haphazardly, but in recognition of events and importance of our goal here in the Desolation. Trying to save every treasure hunter we run across seems more of a distraction from that goal. I`m sorry.
I think if we return to announce ourselves to the Druids, we may be able to further our mission. If we learn that their actions truly threaten greater evil, we may then be forced to act."

if we`re heading to the oasis, it seems sensitive to the druids sensibilities to not pop out some wand mounts for now... anybody can ride doubled up though...?

Since we were discussing what we know, Durnast would like to make a Knowledge check based on Mikka´s tip re the giant: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (6) + 17 = 23 (w/Cam´s Aid) if History is OK, otherwise subtract 10 (Durnast doesn´t have Know:Nature)

He also doesn´t see the viability, or ultimate value, in maintaining the illusion the party doesn´t know each other, so unless anybody objects, Durnast will drop the pretense and visibly react to the others as recognized companions (though there is a certain sub-group dynamic), unless anybody objects. We just don´t have any concrete plan to follow thru on that is directly apparent how concealing our ID´s is of value.

Step 2: Durnast cues people that he'll be casting message. (Anybody observing can make a Sense Motive roll to understand the message.)

To be clear, there shouldn't be any sort of bluff check for conveying this, as Durnst's standard operating procedure is to re-cast Message before it runs out, thus he can whisper "Give me some cover guys... I need to cast something away from prying eyes".

Yes, I've read most of what has happened to you guys recently, but it would be better to clarify what you can quickly convey... which is probably less than every detail.

Catching on that something is up, Durnast draws his sword as he sees the group approaching, though he doesn't otherwise act aggressive (this seems appropriate for encountering strangers in the Desolation)

Durnast will try to gain cover (including from the oak tree and from above), bunching up against/ 'inside' the circle of everybody else, in order to cast Message... Which he lets Cam pass on, flitting amongst the 'new-comers'. (anybody can communicate secretly with me (2-ways) within 170' by whispering under their breath)
If necessary, untrained Bluff check to conceal casting (first using Diviner's Fortune on myself, and w/ Cam's Aid) 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11 + cover modifiers(?) + Alia/Monty/Artimus' Aid (I inform before I try via Message)?

"It seems a likely place for any traveller to head if it offers a respite from the Desolation... especially so for Mikka, I'd guess. She has seemed to exhibit... fiery powers, so she may well be the source of the blast we saw. This tree may also be her work... or connected to the yonder forest. Still, best to be on guard. Just like the crypt, I think any refuge from the Desolation will already have someone or something claiming it."

How exactly do we want to approach? Cam can fly/scout ahead...?

"I think you're on to something, Cam..."

OK, to check in, I updated Durnast's spell slots for what he prepped. Here's hoping the Diviner knows what he's doing....
(Mage Armor x2 for Durnast & Cam, no Anti-Scrying today)

Since Tarlane looks like he's back, I don't see the harm in dallying a bit so he's on board before we approach the 'oasis'. How far away are we, BTW?
Oh, and if I prepped my spells, what happened when the 24 hours for Mount expired?

OK, Durnast needs 2-4 hours of rest by my count (?), probably more than anybody else by the requirements of his spell prep and 'interruption' adding an hour.
What do we want to do for guard watch? Durnast can use his Pearl of Power to re-gather the energies of Rope Trick to cast for more time than we need...

"You may brag, instead, that you were insolent to your betters. That is a victory that may gain you repute in some circles, but it will come at a cost." And with those words still hanging in the air, a great burst of wind rises up. It rattles all the cages so they become a giant, cacophonous windchime. Salt and sand and bones and dirt rise up and follows the swirls and eddies of the winds. When that dies down the Dweller is gone.

And Durnast's mount is on fire. It;s now coal black, with small red flames leaping over its shoulders and don its haunches. Brighter, orange flames outline its hooves and eyes. It's still nothing more than a horse, conjured from the mount spell, but it now cosmetically resembles a hellhorse.

Whoah.... Does the mount detect as Evil to Artimus?

After departing the cages, Durnast apologizes to the others for having possibly provoked a dangerous opponent, though nothing substantial seems to have come of it besides the horse.

"If that's Alia's judgement, I will go by it. Better not to lose the tracks by dark, or ruin them, as she says. If you want though, Alia, I have a scroll... which grants the sharpest night eyes of owls, if you wish to continue tracking without waiting for dawn."

If we're dallying... (?) ...
"So... is the hood reverse psychology, or what? Hide one's identity so that one becomes the mysterious stranger to which every man pins his secretest of hopes? Do the ladies like it? I never can seem to understand that breed..."

"But come, surely you can tell that we're more the adventuring type than your typical burger with eyes on moving a grade up the fancy ball invite list. If one doesn't do it themselves, then there's nothing in it. One doesn't roam deathly wastes just to give it up so you can tell your drinking fellows 'Ah, and thanks to good old Hoody at the Cross-roads, all I cherish is due to him'."

Durnast pauses briefly,
his mind turning inextricably to the mystery of the dagger left him by his deceased master...

"...Yeah, listen to the lady, we don't have time for your kind. Let's ride."

Durnast focuses his arcane senses as soon as he's aware of the figure in the cages they approach.
Take 10 on Spellcraft w/ Cam's Aid: 28 Divination (Caster Level 13), 22 Enchantment & Necromancy (CL 7), 26 everything else (CL 11)

"...I wouldn't know. The last time we passed this spot, we did not see you here. Who are you, and how did you get... where you are?"

"Wha... What? The Fish Seller!? You spoke with him? And didn't wake me!?!?
...This Desolation is a very strange place... Did he tell you more things?
Oh, you already said that he said the others are in imminent danger?
...What else? Anything about Tsar?"

Assuming she relays what he said,
Durnast's Knowledge Check to interpret "And keep the Shalm from taking balm within their hollow grave.":
1d20 ⇒ 1 +14 (planes) = 15, +15 (arcana, history, religion) = 16
EDIT: WOW, that's REALLY bad!
Just don't interrupt my beauty sleep and expect me to prove how I'm a super-genius, OK? :-)
"Well, you probably caught the cant of his rhyme, but you must have missed something because that makes almost no sense..." ;-)

Durnast checks off... 3 more wand charges? And we're ready to ride, Cam flying 30' above me.

Durnast is of course working on his beauty sleep, but I had a rules question about Rope Trick, which has changed in PRPG somewhat (you can't hide the rope). Is it now possible to tie the rope to a moving object (like a horse) and the Rope Trick will follow along in tow?

It just seems like when the Fish Seller says "make haste", that's probably what they mean, so we should probably go there ASAP. Worst case, Durnast didn't really use that many spells today, so he could ride if needed.

Durnast is dreaming that he is berating the others for not informing him of some interesting event...
Don't wake him up, but he will be very jealous he didn't get to encounter this Fish Seller again... :-)

"...Maybe we could make it in that time span, but I don't know if the benefit is worth the trouble of hustling there by night, and it looks like we won't have the benefit of moonlight. I have some scrolls of DarkeVision that might be of aid if we wish to try, but if we camp here, or by the chasm, or the cages, we can get to the mesa before noon tomorrow, anyways." We could shelter the real horses in the Hydra's cave (or maybe then can get into the ropetrick somehow?)

Durnast will take a light x-bow and the bolts, firing a dozen or so to practice his skill,
and will offer the short bow to Artimus, in line with previous discussion of the merits of having a ranged option.
(I'll stash an extra x-bow and excess bolts in my haversack just in case)

Do we find a bow+arrows for Artimus and maybe a x-bow for Durnast as well?
Durnast will ask Montague what he thinks of this if they are available, as he knew the Caravan.

Know:Arcana 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (20) + 15 = 35 Durnast shares his suspicions gleaned from the damaged sword that Gargoyles were involved in the attack, and that such monsters have Acid-laced attacks.

Approaching slowly and silently after his dramatic miss with the Scorching Rays,
Durnast looks around at the massacre's aftermath, looking for tracks of anybody escaping with Cam:
Perception 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12, 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27

"I don't know the folks, and they may well have been bastards, but I think we should give them the same ceremony Gurg received, it just doesn't seem right to let any dead lie around here in this Desolation."

So we still see the Chaos Fields, now closer? Anything else we can discern in the surroundings?

"Should we press on to where this King Kroma resided? Having lost Gurg, and now found the Caravan, the situation has changed somewhat. Perhaps we should return to the rendezvous point... I'm curious about the mausoleum there, it could have information relevant to our quest."

"...Blackened Legs of Tsathogga it must be then...!"
Casting Scorching Ray at the sucker...
1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16 and 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19 Ranged Touch
for 4d6 ⇒ (6, 1, 5, 5) = 17 and 4d6 ⇒ (6, 1, 3, 6) = 16 fire damage.

"Oh... Crispy Fried Legs of Tsathogga..."

"Artimus... You want to take that?
If Artimus wants to Charge (maybe jumping off his horse when he gets close, to avoid endangering it), Artimus can give him his Diviner's Fortune (+3 att, skills, saves, ability checks). If not, I can think of another course of action.

At Alia's discussion of ranged weaponry, Durnast agrees Artimus should really find such a weapon, and even offers that he himself wouldn't mind something like Montague's Crossbow, as on days like yesterday when his spell power ran low.

-------------------------------------------

Durnast sends Cam ahead to scout out the wagon, dropping down to 25' or so, but returning to 40' high.
Durnast casts Detect Magic on Cam before he flutters away, himself remaining mounted some distance back from the caravan.

Perception for Cam: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13, and Durnast: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26

"Artimus? What do you sense here?" (Detect Evil)

Briefly cringing at the thought that could be one of us succumbing to the ghouls instead of the demon hydra,
Durnast nods at Alia, responding "That, I did prepare for these ghoulish abominations...", and spurring his horse on with his knees, his fingers are already tracing magical energies round the spell components already drawn from his belt pouch, whilst intoning arcane mutterings... a brief moment of silence between hoof beats before the crowd of ghouls erupts in fire and ash...
Casting Fireball, 7d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 6, 5, 2, 4, 3) = 28 damage, Reflex DC18 for half, auto-passing the Concentration for a 3rd level spell and Vigorous Movement from his Horse's Double Move. I don't know if that will kill all the ghouls, or interrupt their feeding, but if it does either Alia might want to keep laying down fire on the hydra corpse to make sure it's dead-dead.
"We may want to follow the same tack, keep out of arm's reach of these ghouls who seem to have noticed us."

Given the bonus she's using, is Alia only spurring her horse to take a single Move action?
If Alia does just take a single move, perhaps Artimus would also only move his horse a single move (protecting Alia), and both Artimus, his horse, and Alia's horse Ready an Attack against closing Ghouls?

Cam is available to Aid Another to anybody, or if nothing else,
will fly up 60 above Durnast to watch out for anything un-noticed. (Take10: 21)

OK...I'm not sure where we are at Init, did the Ghouls attack the Hydra already? But if we're shooting again (after moving - 1 move or 2? how far away from the hydra are we after it took it's last move?) Durnast will give Alia the +3 again.

Durnast thinks why not keep shooting it, while the horses continue moving (single/double?)
Maybe after the move we can delay attacking until after the hydra's turn, so as not to distract it from zombies?

...I don't know about jumping the horses here, the chances look about 60/40, and just one of us failing and getting smashed up and isolated on the bottom would be bad news. Running past the undead parallel to the canyon as we have been doing would get us towards where it narrows further and becomes more do-able, so Durnast would be OK with that approach too.
I'm not sure Alia meant to ride INTO the undead and trample them outselves, it seemed she was talking about moving 'by' them and the hydra would be doing any trampling. I'm not up to gambling whether they have AoO's or not, you can catch some nasty stuff from undead.

"Undead... Likely part of Orcus' schemes,
which these Demon-Spawn like in town seem to be party to."
meh... hard to say, but I vote pull away from the chasm for now.

Eyes widening as he notices what Cam's squawking about, Durnast tightens his grip on the horse's reins anticipating to turn it aside. As they pull closer before turning aside, Cam uses his Telepathy to query: <What are you doing? Get out the way of this thing...>
Know:Local to discern their species: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
Sense Motive to suss their intentions: (me/Cam) 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22 / 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14
I'll wait for response from Cam's telepathy before deciding exactly what to do, though I'm thinking to turn away and draw the monster away from them, continuing our double move/ Alia full attack.

Would everybody please make a Perception check? DC 20.

Perception (me/Cam): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19/ 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27 "Hey, Boss!"

I can roll every Knowledge check from now on, but I can't actually find any limitation that says you can't Take 10 on them in general (like you can't with UMD). Only thing I can find is the 'when endangered or distracted' rule (in this case, it seems like Durnast would have made these associations before combat started, based on Cam's report, though I didn't report the explicit check until Llaelian's request). Anyway, like I said, I don't have a problem rolling them from now.

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As horse hooves thunder and the foul beast behind them looms, Durnast asks Montague and Artimus via Message: <If we need to meet it in melee combat, which of you could better use a casting of Invisibility? That could help getting past those heads in order to actually strike it.>
I actually have a scroll of improved invis, but it'd be nice to save :-).
I'm thinking casting it on Artimus is the best bet, but I wanted to share in character also.
I also don't HAVE to cast Invis, Artimus' AC goes up alot when Smiting, after all.
Monty might even be able to Tumble in to Flank with Artimus, for Stunning Fist + Smite action.
But Monty continuing plinking along with Alia's attacks seems best for now.
Oh, I didn't mention it yet but I don't see much point in trying to kill it's heads, we should just try to drop it and if it has reneration (as opposed to fast healing) ANY fire damage that gets thru resistance at that point would stop the regen, killing it.

...So Alia is still ahead of the creature's Init along with the rest of us?
I guess we'll continue spurring the horses forward, this time as a double move, and Durnast again gives Alia the +3 to attack if she's Full Attacking.

So our horses are taking a single Move Action, which doesn't penalize attacks, right?
Otherwise the Hydra now acts before Alia next round and is within 30'

Durnast caution Alia not to lag so much as to let the monster get that close again.
Any slight advantage gained by firing at short range (PBS) is countered by the danger.

Durnast wouldn't do the Diviner's Fortune until when Alia can Full Attack.

I guess we'll just avoid the crater and keep the thing in sight... Maybe we want to continue at a not-super-fast pace, popping off single shots keeping it riled up but not 'showing all our guns' yet, while pulling it further from the crevasse...? Otherwise, if Alia wants to Full Attack now, maybe we just need a single move from the horses this round if it's not going to catch up soon anyways, thus dropping the attack penalties...?

Sure, Taking 10 I get 25 Know: Arcana (26 Know: Planes for Hellish influences w/ Cam's Aid),
if Chris wants to summarize any bits or say if I can discern any special sub-breeds, etc...

We might as well have the Horses "Run" for at least x4 if not x5 movement, instead of just x2 this round (we're not shooting). Next round (when you Full Attack) maybe drop to Double Move for lesser penalties. Maybe Monty can take a pot-shot this round any-ways, keep it riled up...

I say we spur the horses to run away from it, but you and monty can attack it while we're doing so - you full attacking/ monty plinking with x-bow (nobody else has real ranged weapons). Durnast can help with Diviner's Fortune, and if it catches up to where it can attack next round Durnast can pop an Invisibility on Artimus/Monty in order to avoid it's AoO while getting into melee with it.... (Flanking + Fighting Defensive + Smiting / Stunning Fist ?)

Ok... If we don't hear any different from Montague by next time Chris checks in, I guess we're headed around this geyser to find a route around the chasm, or at least where it's narrow enoughto jump. I would stay well away from the chasm while we're doing this to avoid being spotted by the creature.

<Hmmm... Could be a Hydra possessed by Demons like that creature in The Camp...
Durnast is OK with going around, though we could just take it and not worry about our back... Monty?

How deep did the crevasse look, or to the depth the monster is at?
Does it look possible to ascend/descend anyways besides flying or full-on rock climbing?
(If we go to where the crevasse is smaller, it could be easier for the creature to just run up to us, vs. having to Climb...?)