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Feel free to aid Sookie's believability with a DC 10 Bluff or Perform check. You can surmise that she opted to not reveal anything about your true mission. :) Her tale is actually a summary of a custom adventure I ran for a in-person D&D 3e campaign, many years ago. :)
An excited Lord Duristan loudly claps his hands once. "I KNEW it! You handled yourselves quite well against the boars, I just knew you must be real adventurers. And real adventurers can't resist a magnificent hunt such as this!" "Good luck," Delgros wishes the group with a shrug. He rides back to the lodge. As Delgros departs, the nobleman gets right down to business making recommendations. "Let us setup a central camp here, lay baited traps about the perimeter, and wait for the wolves to come to them." Without waiting for any replies, Lord Duristan snaps his servants to attention. He splits his hirelings into three pairs, instructing them to "Bait the perimeter, and keep watch." The dutiful hirelings walk to the laden cart. From the crates upon it, they pull out several silvered, toothed wolf traps and hunks of raw meat. Two pairs of the servants head out in opposite directions into the woods. The third pair remains behind, clearing a place and setting up a small camp. With a hand gesture from their lord, one of the remaining hirelings sets up a small portable table. The other brings a bottle and several crystal snifters. He hands the bottle to the nobleman and rests the sifters upon the table. Lord Duristan pours each of you a snifter of a rather exquisite Ustalavic brandy. "Now. While we wait, please do tell me of your adventurous exploits!" Lord Duristan listens eagerly and attentively.
Ok great, pushing would help. And good idea regarding a butcher rank. :)
Lord Duristan matches Zelda's excitement for pork. "Indeed! It has been a few moons since I've had roasted pig on a spit. We shall need quite the pole to mount such a beast as this though!" "You may make use of my cart, good sir," he motions to Fulk, and snaps his fingers for his servants to assist. The unenthusiastic servants nonetheless begin to walk over to help Fulk. Before they reach him however, the extraordinarily muscular Fulk manages to begin dragging the massive beast's impossibly heavy carcass on his own towards the cart. "By the gods!" Lord Duristan exclaims. Some of the servants gawk in wide-eyed amazement at what would take several strong humans. Even Delgros nods approvingly at the great feat. All six servants must help to lift the ton of dead weight into the cart however. Sookie steps forward as well to assist. Though the cart sinks and strains under the great weight, it does not collapse. The pack horse whinnies. It does not look happy. At all. ... As the boar is loaded into the cart, Christoph now approaches the stag carcass. Kneeling down, he inspects its wounds carefully for a long moment. Eventually, he announces his findings. "There are tooth marks and tusk slashes here," he points to one of the wounds, then another, "and here. From the boars, I'd say." Lord Duristan's eyes glaze over, the excitement of finding a werewolf beginning to wane... "But here," Christoph continues, pointing to a bunch of bite marks and lacerations on the stag's neck, "These are canine bite marks and lacerations. This is what killed it." Lord Duristan's eyes are rekindled with thoughts. "Werewolf!" he declares. "It must be!" Christoph chimes in, "the canines are large, but it could also be a dire wolf..." "WEREWOLF!" Duristan is entirely convinced now. Excited with the prospect of another kill, Lord Duristan quickly decides, "I shall wait out the night in the woods in the hope of
Delgros chimes in now. "Duristan... your plan is a fool’s errand. You're... serious?" "Entirely! he enthusiastically responds. Delgros sighs and shakes his head. "Look, I did what I promised. I'm heading back to the lodge, before night falls. You want to stay out here all night, you do you." "Very well." Lord Duristan looks annoyed at Delgros, but accepts his wish. He turns his attention to the companions now. Especially Fulk, who looks like someone you want to have around to wrestle with a werewolf or two. "I do hope you will stay with me? I promise you, this shall be a hunt like no other!" Delgros looks around at the companions to see what they want to do before taking off back to the lodge.
Fulk nods his acknowledgement to Lord Duristan, then goes to grab the boar and drag it to whatever passes for transport. Lord Duristan's six servants loaded his wooden crates of equipment onto a horse-drawn cart, and have been following behind the party with them. The dire boar is extremely heavy (it weighs a ton = 2,000 lbs). But lets say the body can be placed in the cart snugly with the crates and that the horse is (barely!) able to handle the added strain.
Wow, that was a long absence. Apologies. I'm going to post soon.
Fulk trains his eye on the wounded boar with bow raised. As it turns to head for more cover, Fulk looses his arrow, piercing deeply into the boar's flank. With a final squeal of pain, the boar falls to the ground. The remaining two boars flee for their lives, and are soon out of sight in the dark cold forest. ... Lord Duristan's appreciation for the hunt momentarily distracts him from the stag's carcass. He loudly proclaims, "Good shot, ole boy!" Returning to the stag carcass, he looks around expectantly.
Feel free to pursue or not pursue the boars, as you wish. I posted the "if you don't" post to save time in case you do not pursue. We can always come back to it if you do want to pursue them though.
Lord Duristan wastes no time rushing into the bushes from whence the boars first emerged. As the companions and Delgros make their way over to him, they find Duristan inspecting a bloody, gory carcass. Based on what's left of its intact flesh, fur, and impressive antlers, it must have once been a large, beautiful golden stag - a hunter's prize. The boars must have dragged it into these bushes to feast on it. "You there!" he calls to the others generally, with an aristocratic wave of his hand signaling for them to come. "This beast is quite decimated. Help me find the markings of the werewolf. I must know if we are on the right track." Heal vs DC 22:
You discover two types of wounds on the carcass: the tooth marks and tusk slashes of the boars, and a number of canine-like bites and lacerations that presumably caused the stag’s death. Sense Motive vs DC 15: Duristan seems to be a little over his head. He may have some hunting and survival skills, but you sense he is masking his lack thereof with bravado and an air of overconfidence.
As the boars charge the companions, the companions strike back. Rhia attempts to stab at the boar which nearly trampled her with her ancestral spear, but misses. Scalding hot sands arc forth from Fulk the Red's fingertips, burning an area of ground between the party and the boars. The flickers of flame in the hot sands seem to catch the attention of the boars as their feet sear just a bit as they pass the opposite edge of the area. The boar which missed Zelda regrets targeting her when Zelda's rapier pierces the less thick hide behind its upper foreleg. It squeals in pain as it passes. Where Rhia missed, Sookie does not as she stabs the same boar with her longspear. The boar squeals a little louder in pain than Zelda's. The same boar squeals all the louder as it is pelted with Christph's arrows. Though one deflects off the boar's thick hide, two lodge deeply into its flanks, drawing a small gush of blood.
Two of the boars turn around with wild rage in their eyes. The third, gushing blood and pelted with arrows, limps onward to try and live another day. With a blusterous show of noise and force, the two less wounded boars reconsider their situation, and turn to rejoin their very wounded companion.
GM Stuff: Damage tracker Dire boar 1: -6 Dire boar 2: -9 Dire boar 3: -40
Hey Zelda - It was passing you so yeah, just the one attack.
Before anyone can say another word, three dire boars rush out from the bushes Lord Duristan disturbed. Seven feet tall at the shoulders and ten feet long, these fearsome, ferocious, and great animals must weigh a ton each. And they charge at you full speed... Brave Fulk stood towards the front of the party. That and his great size must have made him a prime target. One dire boar charges right at him with such speed, the half orc could not get out of the way in time. Fulk gets gored and pushed to the side hard into a tree. A sprinkle of snow gently falls from the branches above.
With Fulk pushed out of the way, a second great boar rushes in behind the first. Rhia happens to be in its direct path. Fortunately, her ethereal protectors have quick reflexes, and Rhia is eerily levitated a couple of feet out of the way right in time. A third boar almost catches Delgros in a charge, but the huntsman dodges out of the way just in time.
GM Rolls: Who gets charged?
Roll a d6: result corresponds to one of the 5 PCs or Delgros in alphabetical order: 1 - Christoph 2 - Delgros 3 - Fulk 4 - Rhia 5 - Sookie 6 - Zelda Boar #1 attacks Fulk!
Boar #2 attacks Rhia!
Boar #3 attacks Delgros!
Damage tracker
No worries, Zelda. I should be the one apologizing for delayed posts. :) Part of me keeps hoping I'll magically find more time. But I'm coming to resign myself to the fact that I work too much, and my posting rate will remain infrequent until perhaps the day I retire. I'm not young, but it'll certainly be a long while before I can do that. :)
Scanning the ground as well, Christoph nods in agreement. "Three sets of tracks here, actually. The wolf prints, I'd say a dire wolf except the claw marks are unusually elongated..." Before he can finish his assessment, Lord Duristan too eagerly rushes to the trail where the drag marks lead. The companions, Delgros, and the lord's servants more cautiously begin to follow behind. It doesn't take long before the sounds of loud scuffling and
Lord Duristan immediately draws his silver longsword. With either great fear or great bravery on his face, or perhaps both, he deftly dodges to one side of one of the onrushing boars and swings at its flank, grazing it.
GM Rolls: Delgros attacks a dire boar. Damage tracker
Zelda, you have the option of making either a Perception or Survival check. You can choose which. It's just for noticing something, not for tracking anything. Also FYI, you can make Survival checks even when untrained in Pathfinder. So you could make a straight Wisdom check in this case. Though you happen to be much better with Perception.
After a few miles along the lightly snow-covered hunting trail through the tall pines and shrubs, the party comes to a halt. The trail leads to a small clearing, where the trampled ground and snapped brush show signs of a great struggle. The snowy soil is soaked with red blood, and more has splashed upon the tree trunks and leaves. Despite the telltale evidence, Delgros’s jaw drops and his eyes dart wildly with shock at the situation. “It’s gone!” he cries. The huntsman is spurred to organize a frantic search of the immediate area. Lord Duristan is likewise alarmed. Lost for words, he eventually gets off his horse to aid in the search. The servants stand where they are with concern in their eyes.
Perception or Survival vs DC 15:
You spot at least three distinct sets of footprints in the clearing. Frustratingly, most are only partial prints and all are badly trampled. The most striking are large wolf like prints, twice the size of a typical wolf ’s prints. You also notice a swath of crushed scrub and brush, as if something had been dragged off into the wood. A set of tracks follows the drag marks and crushed brush off trail some distance and could be followed.
Knowledge (nature) vs DC 12:
One set of tracks appears to be those of a large deer, probably a stag. Knowledge (nature) vs DC 13:
The large wolf prints seem more like dire wolf tracks to you. Curiously though, the claw marks appear strangely elongated. Knowledge (nature) vs DC 14: The third set of prints appears to belong to a great boar. The boar tracks are the aforementioned set which follows the drag marks and crushed brush and scrub off trail.
How's everyone doing?
A few glances dart at Zelda, but the crowd of nobles is too consumed by gossip about the newcomers amongst themselves to pay attention to her request. Moments before riding off, Delgros the huntsman hands Zelda a silver dagger.
"A WEREWOLF!" Lord Duristan proclaims excitedly. To which Delgros the huntsman more somberly and gruffly adds, "Found a golden stag carcass this mornin'. Few miles west. Ripped apart, savagely. Scared my patrons," he points his thumb over his shoulder back at the lodge, "so I took'em back to safety. Now we're headin' back there." "Werewolf? Maybe," he shrugs.
"Indeed!" Lord Duristan excitedly acknowledges the companions' agreement as he continues to excitedly hurry out the front gates. The rugged huntsman, Delgros, looks like he can handle himself well in the wilderness. He gives the companions a once-over, then nods silently to them before following after Duristan. Making haste behind the pair, the six servants walk two fine horses, saddled and bridled, out the front gates. A couple arm their lord with his finely crafted armaments: a longsword, a composite longbow with quiver, and a light steel shield. Duristan partly unsheathes his sword to check it, revealing a silvery glint to its blade before sheathing it once more. Just outside the gates of the lodge, Lord Duristan and Delgros mount up. With the five companions already mounted and the six servants following on foot with their lord's crates, the party begins to trot in a westerly direction along a minor hunting trail.
Sorry, been very busy. I should be back to post this weekend.
No worries. My turn to apologize for my delay, LOL. I've had a lot on my plate the last week. I'll try to post and move things along either tonight or tomorrow night.
Zelda - Thanks for the heads up. I'll maybe do so this weekend if Rhia also can't post by then. Fulk - In case I don't hear from Rhia or Zelda by the weekend, please let me know OOC here at least, if not in-game, whether you want to go with Duristan on the hunt or not. I don't want to make a decision as GM.
I just fixed the Current Map link in my profile's stat block if you want to see where you are.
As the exchange heats up, the small crowd near the gatehouse draws mixed reactions. Some of the onlookers seem curious, while others wear haughty sneers. All whisper to one another, as if anxious to see the outcome of the disagreement. As Zelda and Rhia state their case, at first Belik's eyebrows furrow angrily at the insinuation of not being in charge. Before he has a chance to protest, his brows lift in surprise, then in recognition, on hearing the Van der Geist name. Scratching his chin pensively for a moment, the porter reconsiders. "Ah... Yes, the esteemed Van der Geist family. Of course... My sincerest apologies. I was not expecting a member of your rather minor but reputable family to arrive." Eyeballing the rest of the companions, "Nor with such well-armed servants." Belik grudgingly motions for the guards to allow the companions inside. Moments later, the left portcullis lifts, and the companions can now enter Ascanor Lodge. Once inside, they remain the center of attention for the small crowd of nobles who continue to either stare or sneer at them. Several servants standby, awaiting their lords' orders, largely unconcerned with the arrival of the companions. But in short time, a new interruption breaks the tension. A rough-and-tumble-looking woodsman heads for the gate, followed by a young noble dressed in finely tailored, studded hunting leathers. Despite the commotion about the companions, the two men push through the crowd, oblivious to anyone else’s concerns. Several scruffy-looking hirelings follow behind them, leading a pair of horses and carrying wooden crates marked with heraldic symbols. You catch the young noble in mid-sentence, apparently badgering the woodsman with many questions. "...any howls? Or footprints!" As they shuffle past, the woodsman calls back to the noble, “For the last time Duristan! I’ll take you there, but I ain’t bringin' my dogs!” Duristan, the young noble, continues to excitedly badger the woodsman with more questions. "But did you try tracking the prints around the carcass? And did you measure any of the claw or bite marks on the body?!" Duristan catches sight of the companions now, and stops to size them up. He calls to you all, “YOU there! Fall in with me, I need more able sword-arms for the hunt!”
Knowledge (nobility) vs DC 15:
You identify the coats of arms on the crates as belonging to the noble house of Ariesir, one of Ardeal's wealthiest families. The Ustalavic county of Ardeal lies farther southeast of Ascanor Lodge, bordering the Palatinate of Lozeri where you are now. Rhia and Zelda:
You get the impression that Belik does not like unexpected surprises, as he seemed unnerved by the companions' arrival. You also catch a slight smirk here and there as he perused the paperwork, indicating as Sookie put it that the halfling seemed to take pleasure in using his power to cause you some measure of suffering. You definitely want to keep an eye on him while staying at the lodge. Zelda only: You definitely do not trust Belik. You further sense a plotting, calculating, or scheming quality to the porter. You have no idea what or why, but your unexpected arrival may have unnerved him more particularly because of some possible secret agenda he might have, and unexpected guests might spoil it for him. He could be dangerous.
No worries. :)
Happy Holidays to all who celebrate here.
Sookie and Christoph produce their invitations as well. Belik of Courtaud graciously accepts the invitations from you. "Please, wait patiently here. I'll be just a moment." The porter seats himself at a table between the portcullises. With a pair of spectacles placed upon his nose and lips pursed pensively, he spends the next several minutes perusing the invitations, one by one, in minute detail. A guard retrieves a thick tome and places it on the table beside the porter. Eventually, he begins to flip through the pages to find a particular spot. Finally, he looks up. He approaches the portcullis again to hand your invitations back. "I apologize for any misunderstanding," Belik responds, "but as the porter of Ascanor Lodge, I cannot permit your entrance at this time. You do not have reservations in our books, and despite your claims, I have no evidence to justify allowing strangers into the lodge. From the looks of you, unlike the rest of my guests, you haven’t come here to take a peaceful retreat. I want no trouble, so off with you all, and take whatever troubles you bring somewhere else!" Meanwhile, the well-dressed crowd from the lodge now walks closer to the gatehouse to get a better look at this entertaining exchange.
Hmmm... When you first met the party, I did describe that two "writs" were near you (link), and I soon after described them as blank lodge invitations. I am not seeing if or when anyone noticed or grabbed them. But we can assume you took one and wrote your own name.
The guard squints back at Zelda's upheld invitation unimpressed. "And the rest ov you lot?" He looks at the other companions expectantly for their invitations. "Have your papers ready for th' por'er. Wait right there, ee's on 'is way," he explains in a thick Caliphasian accent. The other guard, without removing his beady coal eyes for a moment from the companions, spits at the ground. Two more guards emerge from the guardhouse with the other two behind the portcullises: a dwarf and another human. They stand at the ready, sizing the companions up with stern expressions through the iron bars. A fifth guard as well appears, with the sixth now climbing the slate steps and entering what appears to be the lodge's front pair of iron-shod timber doors some sixty feet from the front gates. Minutes go by as the companions wait for the sixth guard to return with, presumably, "th' por'er..." In the meantime, near the lodge's main entrance sixty feet in, the three well dressed onlookers continue to just stand there, staring back at the the gates, and talk amongst themselves. Several additional figures, one or two well dressed, the rest less well-dressed, approach the three from the front doors in that time as well. They continue to converse amongst themselves while all eyes remain transfixed at the front gates. About five minutes later, the sixth guard emerges from the front doors of the lodge with a shorter figure. The tidy, well dressed halfling gentleman accompanying the guard approaches the left portcullis. "Greetings, travelers. Belik of Courtaud, porter of Ascanor Lodge, at your service." Inspecting the companions up and down, "Might I inquire as to your purpose here this afternoon?"
Perception vs DC 15: You can make out a few words here and there from the distant conversation.
"...unexpected guests?" "...intriguing... ...should be entertaining..." "...servant, fetch me... ...and you, Lord Margrave? ..." "...quite dangerous... ...do orcs bite?!" "...have a brandy..." You also spot a few additional figures in the lodge itself, looking back at the companions through a window.
I bieve you, Zelda. ;) LOL, no worries.
The companions approach the front gates of the lodge. They spot a few armed guards looking back at them through the closed, twin portcullises. They stop their own private conversation. One motions for another to go off and do something, the two remaining guards stand at attention and watch, with growing suspicion, as the companions approach closer. "HALT!" one of the guards commands them. Some twenty feet from the twin gates, the guard then questions the companions, "WHO GOES THERE?!" The guards appear well armed and armored. Probably combat veterans, not to be trifled with. Possibly they are mercenaries, judging by the lack of uniforms and uniformity of their equipment. Through the gates, you can spot a few additional, well-dressed individuals deeper in the compound. Their heads turn and look on with curiosity at the twin gates.
I figured, LOL.
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving (if you celebrated). This is my last week on a challenging client project at my day job. I will have less work stress for the rest of December, hopefully well into January (not sure when the next project will start yet). So while it'll be the holidays, I'll have more time to post here. Depending on everyone else's schedule, I'll shoot for a post per weekend. Hopefully come January, my next project will not keep me away from here as much, so I can continue to keep up that pace. :) As a reminder, please keep your current HP updated in your profile stat block. For example, 53/63 if you have 63 hp total but took 10 damage. This way I can quickly spot where you're at without having to go back and reread my posts, thanks!
The next morning, the weary companions slowly arise. They get a later start than usual, but after breakfast they're back on the trail a couple of hours before noon. After several hours of travel, the companions find a path leading off the trail, up a slightly sloped wooded hill. Scouting ahead, they find the path leads to a larger-than-expected compound. A 10-foot-high, vine-covered stone wall surrounds the entire property. The entrance at the end of the path is a pair of twin wrought iron portcullises, set within large arches inside a small half-timber watch-house, flanked on each side by a low stone tower. Above the wall, you can only make out the second story of what appears to be the main lodge. Far from a simple cabin, what you can make of it seems to rival some of the grandest mansions of Caliphas. Welcome to Ascanor Lodge.
The stench of burnt flesh lingers in the cold winter's night air as the remaining companions come to terms with what has happened. Kneeling beside Istivan's cooling body with hands raised over his chest, Sookie's head and shoulders crumble. Somberly looking up at the others, she shakes her head. Tears begin to stream down her face. Though Rhia grieves the loss of her new friends, she feels strangely fortunate that Sookie, at least, has survived the night with her. When Sookie turns to her and asks if she is alright, the couple embraces. Zelda's two best friends have been taken from her. For the first time since their bonding yet harrowing experience in Ravengro, she is alone. Not really alone: she's got new friends here in this accursed forest for sure. But there is a dread in her heart, a fear for Aliseya's and Naught's welfare, she is beside herself. It also is now made crystal clear that the necromancer, Auren Vrood, and Aliseya's hag mother are allies. They both attacked tonight. Was the real agenda for this evening to capture Aliseya? Does the necromancer also want to turn her into a dark, power-craven creature like her mother? The loss of Drogeda tears a hole in Fulk's big heart. His longtime companion from his homeland is now gone, murdered so heinously by some foul necromancer he'd just learned about. And though he'd just met Brias, he felt as though a brother he'd barely known was gone as well. Christoph circles the camp, gripping his raised bow at the shadows. His gaze is the incarnation of Sternhood itself. Darting piercing violet eyes ensure that no square inch of this forsaken forest shall dare surprise him again this evening. It's bad enough that three have died and three more went missing in his company. He'd personally vowed to Magistrate Daramid to protect the three young ladies, and now two are gone. It's as if Severity must now compensate, somehow, for this unforgivable loss. ... Satisfied that the threat is truly gone for now, Christoph collects the body of Istivan, placing him down near the charred bodies of Drogeda and Brias. Christoph circles his piercing gaze around at each of the companions. As he glances at Sookie, Rhia, and Zelda: "Tomorrow, we will reach Ascanor Lodge. We'll learn where the necromancer is. And where he is, we will find Aliseya, Naught, and Sunny. And we will rescue them." As his gaze reaches Fulk, his fists and his jaw clench, as he adds: "And we will make the necromancer pay dearly for all the evil he has wrought." He picks up a shovel from a pack, and starts to dig the cold earth. With help, three shallow graves are dug in half an hour's time. Sookie says a prayer to her god Tsukyo, and offers some kind words about the deceased, before the bodies are then covered. A few crude markers are placed as headstones. With the brief ceremony completed, the companions bed down once again. Sleep is hard to come by for all, though the cold night remains otherwise uneventful. Before bedding down, Sookie notices Fulk's significant wounds. She places a healing hand upon his shoulder and, with her holy symbol in the other hand, Fulk feels an effervescent tingling sensation his wounds partially heal.
One can almost sense deep regret in the hand that attacked Fulk, if such a feeling could occur to an undead disembodied and animated hand, as the half-orc rips into it with his claws and sharp teeth. A finger flies in one direction, a pair of fingers fly in another... and what's left is animated no longer. Yet in one final act of defiance, a burst of pus erupts from the destroyed hand... Zelda's blades strike true twice on the other hand, as pus erupts from its wounds as well. After one of Christoph's arrows pins the creature, it wriggles still... Until Sookie's silvery spear is thrust into the corpse hand, splitting it in two. And the hand remnants animate no more.
If you fail your save...:
You become nauseated for half a minute, and take the following necrotic damage from the burst of sickening pus.
... With the hands and the zombies destroyed, no more threats seem apparent. Only the distant howls of wolves can be heard in the otherwise now silent night. The remaining party members are left beside themselves with their grief, contemplating the tragic losses just witnessed... Istivan's cold body lies motionless on the ground, his chest pierced through by the blade of that masked and dark robed figure uttering those dark words of doom. What remains of Drogeda and Brias are the charred, blackened remains of their corpses, burnt to death in a great fireball cast by that dreadful enchanted zombie. Aliseya and Naught are lost, who can say where to. Though they were both alive when the hag used her magic, their fate remains a worrying mystery. Sunny and her great serpent companion as well vanished with another dark masked and robed figure.
Rhia: As you focus on the magic cast by the hag creature as it disappeared with Naught and Aliseya, and also by the dark robed figure who disappeared after killing Istivan, you get the strong sense of powerful teleportation magic (as the spell teleport). The good news is, your friends Aliseya, Naught, and Sunny were probably not killed by the magic. The bad news: they were possibly taken as far as hundreds of miles away. It's impossible to say how far away. And, wherever they were taken, it's probably not to have a good time...
Sorry about the extra long delay there. Been having a lot going on. I'm going to try picking the pace up. Worst case scenario, I should be back to a better posting rate by mid-December the latest.
Hey Zelda - You can make two rapier attacks per full round attack as an 8th level rogue. Go ahead and roll a second rapier attack. That's in addition to your two-hand weapon fighting with rapier and short sword, so you can do two rapier attacks (second one at -5) plus a short sword attack. You actually have the stats in your stat block spoiler. :) Though you wrote there "+13, +7" but I think it should be +13 and +8 instead.
To clarify who is left: the 3 PCs are left standing (Fulk, Rhia, and Zelda) along with the NPCs Christoph and Sookie. Ali and Naught disappeared with the green hag. Brias and Drogeda appear to have been burnt to death. Istivan appears to have been slain with a sword through his chest by a robed masked creepy person. And Suny also disappeared a round earlier with another robed masked creepy person. Regarding the disappearances, your characters don't really know exactly what happened. Are they invisible? Are they ethereal? Did they teleport somewhere else? Something else...? Anyone trained in Spellcraft can make a check to possibly identify the spells as they were cast. It's not an easy check, but it's a free action so what the heck. Or if trained in Knowledge (Arcana), you could also make a check to identify their lingering magic auras (if you want to cast detect magic during combat first, though).
Everyone can take their next turn BTW.
With Sookie's prayer, the two "spellgorged" zombies as Christoph called them begin to shudder. What's left of their extremities disintegrates into a black mist as the radiant light from her crescent moon symbol assaults them. However, they both remain standing. Istivan indeed wounds one of the disembodied hands attacking him, though it remains animated. Though Naught's leaping attack is impressive, the hag creature manages to dodge out of her axe's way, just barely. ...
The grim robed hag's expression grows ever more dour with Naught's defiance. "T'NLSQI DLHC!" the hag berates Naught. "H'GZE!" The robed hag suddenly descends towards Aliseya. With clawed hands outstretched, it swiftly grabs her in its clutches, drawing blood as its claws sink into her upper arms' flesh maybe half an inch deep. Canting some dark syllables under its breath as Aliseya cries out in pain, Naught from midair drops swiftly back down onto the hag's back, digging into the hag with her own sharp claws in turn! But the robed hag remains intently focused. And the hag, Aliseya, and Naught all wink out of sight. Speak Aklo:
"Insolent child!" the hag berates Naught.
"Enough!" ... A moment later, as Drogeda lies motionless on the ground and Brias is on his knees beside her, the healer begins to attempt to save his new friend's life. Alas, the two spellgorged zombies close in to flank them and, with one last twitch of their bony jowls, they both erupt in two great explosions! Balls of fire envelop both the two half-orcs and the two zombies. Several seconds later, the flames die down. Four charred bodies now lie on the ground, embers continuing to burn what remains of them. ... Istivan's slight smile at his own joke turns to a slight frown as the hag disappears with Naught and Aliseya, and to a deeper frown as he shields his eyes from the fierce explosions. Looking to nearby Zelda, he's about to say something to her when, suddenly, a curved blade erupts from his chest! A dark figure, clad in black velvet robes and donning a metallic face mask, materializes behind the bard, uttering dark syllables that send a chill up your spines. "BUUBHOSH BRZ'ASH G'MBUUK." Istivan's face reveals shock as he looks down to see the blade. The dark figure withdraws its curved sword, and Istivan drops to his knees... then falls forward to the ground. And the dark figure, satisfied with the dark deeds of this night, vanishes before your eyes. Speak Aklo:
"The Great One shall devour you all." ... The two disembodied hands remain. One moves to attack Fulk, the other Zelda... A crawling disembodied hand leaps at Fulk from a low tree branch. It claws at his thigh, drawing blood, and landing on the ground nearby. The other crawling hand leaps at Zelda from the ground. It claws at her thigh, but misses, landing on the ground nearby. GM Rolls:
"Leave. Her. Alone!" Naught's had just about enough of Ali's evil mother. Always showing up, hurting her friends, and trying to turn her daughter into a hideous creature just like her. With uncharacteristic rage, Naught leaps straight up into the air... disappearing and reappearing instantly 15 feet from the ground. She takes a swipe at the green hag with her large axe.
Be back later to do Naught's turn and then, at long last, the enemies' turn.
Hearing Christoph's insights, Istivan frowns at the two large disembodied hands that have taken a liking to him. He nonetheless slices twice at the hands, slicing one of them. As the Speaker had predicted, a burst of puss jets from the hand's wound, though Istivan easily dodges it. "I usually appreciate when I'm lent a hand, but this is ridiculous."
Zelda shish kebab's her zombie's head with her rapier, then slices its head off with her offhand sword. The head stops moving, and the body drops to the ground. Fulk smashes and rips his zombie to shreds, leaving a pile of broken bones and desiccated pulp on the ground. The two zombies trying to choke or bite Rhia and Sookie's necks are suddenly battered and blasted apart by Rhia's ethereal ancestral warriors. The specters from her past make both zombies' reanimation a thing of the past as well. Christoph's zombie's brains are splattered by the impact of his first arrow, causing it to fall to the ground motionless. His next two arrows indeed pierce the skulls of the two spellcasting zombies. Unfortunately, they both remain standing.
Hey everyone. Sorry for the extra long absence. I'll update the game either Saturday or Sunday for sure. Hope everyone's doing well.
Actually, that was true in D&D 3/3.5e, but Pathfinder did away with that rule. Undead are indeed subject to sneak attack damage.
Everyone can finally take their turns now, LOL.
Just when Istivan thought he'd evaded them, the two large disembodied hands rain down on him, their speed belying their apparent means of locomotion. But the agile half-elf swiftly dodges them both. As Sunny mounts her serpentine companion, a levitating shadowy figure materializes from behind her. Donning an eerie metallic mask and black velvet robes, the shadowy figure places a hand upon her shoulder and another hand upon Chauncy's side before either can react. "BUUBHOSH BRZ'ASH G'MBUUK," it eerily whispers. And Sunny, her large snake Chauncy, and the dark masked figure all fade and disappear. The zombie on Fulk grumbles as it slams the half-orc again before he can react, slashing his cheek and drawing blood. Drogeda, kneeling weakly after the foul cloud of death assaulted her, is beset again by a sickly blackish-green fume jet forth from the very old zombie upon her. Her body enveloped by the dark fume, she convulses to the ground, motionless. A foul, blackish green fog then begins to rise from her body... Brias, also looking weak and barely able to stand, is also beset by a foul blackish-green fume from the very old zombie before him. Grimacing and using his inner reserves of strength, he manages to resist the sickness that overcame Drogeda. But when the sickly fumes from nearby Drogeda's body reach his nostrils, he vomits some of his dinner and becomes sickened. The zombies kneeling over prone Sookie and Rhia both attack each again. Again, the decrepit figure over Sookie is blocked by an unseen metallic barrier, judging by the noise. And again, the ethereal presence of Rhia's ancestors blocks the creature from clawing her face, too. Christoph dodges another slam from the zombie on him with a somersault. When he stands, he grimly scans the scene and readies his bow in hand, reaching for arrows. Zelda easily dodges the zombie's slashing claws and swing wide over her head as she draws her weapons. The old crone looks disappointed at Aliseya's apparent defiance. Lifting her hands and rising five feet higher into the air, the creature mutters more dark syllables, she suddenly reaches one of her greenish clawed hands forth, close-fisted. Slowly, she opens her palm whilst chanting some dark verse in the disheartening tongue. "NXI Y'ZMAR! FND LTAM!" Tensing her whole body, Aliseya tries with all her will to resist the dark power of the levitating crone creature. Growling with force and anger, her eyes both begin to glow a deep, blood red... When this happens, every single zombie pauses and turns its head to glance in the direction of Aliseya and the levitating crone. "Y'B'TOK!" Ali screams back, flexing every muscle in her body, and her one eye returns to its normal hazel hue. The zombies turn back to what they were doing.
GM Rolls: Giant crawling hands both attack Istivan: Cultist casts a spell on Sunny and her companion. It first must succeed on touch attacks to both, then they must each make will saves.
Zombie attacks Fulk.
Zombie attacks Sookie.
Zombie attacks Rhia.
Spellgorged Zombie's Ghoul Touch vs Drogeda.
Drogeda's Fort save.
Spellgorged Zombie's Ghoul Touch vs Brias.
Brias's Fort save vs ghoul touch and vs the stench.
Zombie attacks Christoph.
Zombie attacks Zelda.
Hag casts a spell on Ali.
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