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I just made a huge post! EDIT: Map is updated. Manticores are 50' up, flying above the treetops, and therefore have cover. You can move your character to a better pre-battle position, I just stuck them roughly in the middle. Also the manticores are EVIL and speak Common, Intelligence 7.
As soon as Arbaro puts the berries in his mouth, they explode. He feels the ripe meat of the berry, the crunchy seeds, and springy flesh meld into a pleasing mixture of textures in his mouth. The flavor is juicy and sweet with the perfect texture for a ripe berry, and Arbaro's taste buds are thanking him for the taste. But then the seeds begin to burn. No, not burn, but burrow. The berry's seeds are digging and biting into his cheeks.
Arbaro collapes on the ground, his legs and arms going limp, dropping handfuls of berries onto the ground. As soon as Arbaro's berries release their carnivorous seeds, every other berry in the grove, whether picked or still ripe on the branch, explodes in a spray of red and purple juice. All of you are coated in the berries' carnivorous seeds, as they try to burrow into your flesh.
The berry debris miss the mouths of Brag, Lem, and Thurl, but unlike water, the juice does not slide off a Gruck's back.
Arbaro:
Laying down on your back, eyes wide open to the rustling green leaves dappled with blue sky above, you wonder if this how you will die. Unable to move, the sweet taste of berries in your mouth, and the horrible pain of a dozen tiny seeds drilling into your mouth and tongue. Your vision is unhampered, however, and you see a manticore swoop down from on high, unable to warn the others. In the shouting and confusion of the bursting berries, you do not notice three manticores fly from far above and hover above the treetops. "Berry...
knowledge Arcana DC 15:
While unable to create such a natural hazard, the manticores must have been using these berries as a way to paralyze prey for some easy meals. The three manticores look a bit fat and lazy from not having to hunt. Manticores have claws, bites, and ranged Spike attacks. Initiative:
Round 1, AC 17
You land near a thicket of trees following the a slow stream through the plains. Many of the bushes in the shade of the trees are covered in mulberries and blackberries, ripe and delicious-looking. Knowledge Nature DC 15:
These berries are native to the area, and are in season. knowledge Nature DC 25:
The berries are too swollen and oozing an abnormal light yellow liquid. Perception DC 20: You see the claw prints of manticores in the muddy banks of the stream.
There is no wand shop in town, sadly. The parson informs you of the plains general layout: flat. A few rolling hills. Knowledge Local DC 10:
Riding on a 6-legged pegasus will provide you all the aerial scouting you need. -------------------------- As you mount up and take to the skies, you see the rolling plains and gentle hills of the continent stretch lazily before you. The smell of salt and fish gives way to clean grass and wildflowers, which you can smell even from your great height. Nothing stands out as particularly interesting. A few streams running between the shoulders of hills lined with thin riparian forests. There are thicker groves of trees that might hide something like a cloak within them. You also spot a few outposts or sheds dotting the hills. These are used by travelers or hunters to store food and equipment, and might contain more info about how to continue your search. No place looks profanely disturbed as the other 3 artifacts have been.
Roccavisk and Umbracopy are weary, but nothing they can not handle. The corpses have a suit of masterwork half-plate and a +1 greatsword each. "This is simply another effect of the magics of that wicked Kamalani at work here, nothing more. Eliminate her foul soul from the crypts and this shall cease," the parson says. "I'm not even sure if these bodies were buried here, or are being necromantically summoned from the afterlife..." The postulant, Aethlryth, a minotaur, says, "Gone out to them plains yet?" She crosses her arms and spits out a wad of cud. "If ya ain't, I can guide ya fellas there. At no cost to ya."
Way to fail your Fort save.
It just means he can't be imprisoned.
Lem smashes.
And does just enough to kill it.
I see Gruck has +1 agile half-plate for armor, but forgot to "wear" it on the sheet. This doesn't end up mattering because rogues can only wear light armor, and half-plate is heavy. Here is a list of light armor, but you'll still have to calculate the magic part of it. Chain shirt made of mithral is probably the best.
Arbaro's arrow punctures the sword wight, its flesh as yielding as a normal, lifeless corpse. Gruck, eager to show his new companions what he is capable of, hooks his dual swords around the waist of the closest wight and rips them apart, splattering the ground with entrails. T wight's thin spine is all that is keeping the wight's torso upright. Round 1 The wights know that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, and focus their attacks on Gruck.
The red wight's greatsword hits the black feathered tengu, sucking some of the rogue's lifeforce back into the wight.
Round 2, AC 21
Three half-decayed corpses rise from the graveyard, each wielding a greatsword wreathed in necromantic energy. They wear rusting armor and carry themselves with a warrior's stance. Initiative:
Round 1, AC 21, HP 60/60
We could try a Zoom session or something. I know there are other programs that utilize dice rolling, however. Zoom does not.
The haughty parson, the old prioress, the dim-witted sexton, and the unmet postulant are all at the temple as you left them. As the pegasus lands they are overjoyed at the arrival of their long-lost steed. But the pegasus' feathers and fur molt off unusually in your hands upon landing. This has not happened since riding her, and the pegasus smells foul. The golden thread you have just procured from the islands shines with a sickly yellow glow from your backpack. And the mirror shield burns hot, scalding the hands of whoever tries to touch it. knowledge Religion DC 17:
The artifacts you recovered are reacting negatively the Evil energy defiling the temple, as well as the Evil False Kamalani spirit that hid the objects in the first place. There is no special way to remove this curse; you only must continue to purge the temple as you planned to do anyway.
But the soil in the nearby cemetery shudders and quakes at your arrival. The artifacts return has awakened more undead... Surprise Round
Catchphrase: "Always looking up."
Having made your introductions, you mount up on Umbracopy and fly back to the mainland, leaving the islands of the Goat, the Lion, and the Dragon behind you. The foggy air is cool and wet, and you see the small town of Chimera Cove whisk by underneath Umbracopy's black wings, peaceful and quiet. The plains behind the town stretch before you, rolling grasses on low hills that head northwards further inland. A small river flows down not far from Chimera Cove headed inland. You recall that an acolyte at the temple you were staying at offered to guide you through the plains, though this was before you gained a flying mount. You are looking for the lion-cloak, but know not how to get started. You see the temple directly beneath you, the river winding away, the many hills, and a few birds flying south for the winter. Umbracopy hovers in place, snorting impatiently.
Gruck, can you post a pdf of your character sheet to the Drive folder? Thanks. Also welcome. While COVID-19 may be getting us down, this CORVID-8 should pick us back up.
Goat island is, aside from the goats, uninhabited. Knowledge Local DC 10:
The town uses the island to raise goats, coming here to slaughter them for festivals and the like. Otherwise the goats are free to roam the small island unhindered by human aid. There is a caved-in hole in a rocky outcropping along a line of rocks (separate from where the goats are) that reeks. You can guess that this was the exit from the tunnel the two chimeras lived in from the stench and the direction of the tunnel. ---------------- If you fly to Lion island, you see the large boulders littering the shoreline are Sea Cats, large but unintelligent magical beasts, similar to walruses but with thinner whiskers and a mouth full of fangs.
You four mount onto Umbracopy, your oversized, six-legged, black pegasus, and fly across the fog-shrouded cove to Goat Island. You hear bleating through the clouds before you can even see the island, and soon the hilly Goat comes into view. Hundreds of goats are scattered across the hillside, all their slant-pupiled eyes turning to stare at you, seagrass hanging from their mouths. As Umbracopy makes a thunderous landing at the rocky shoreline, you see a small boat wrecked onto the rocks, an impromptu lean-to constructed out of the upside-down hull. From out of the boat a tengu with some kind of dual swords steps out upon hearing your landing...
The chimeras hold no value of their own, save as proof that you have slain the threat to the fishing community and fulfilled the job the dragon slayers were paid to do. The cave has quickly filled with water, and Arbaro can still see the ocean pouring in as he wades into the cave. Unfortunately there is only mud and seawater visible. There are still 2 islands left as well, should you wish to investigate the Goat and/or the Lion, though you are certain the main threat (chimeras) has been dealt with.
UPDATE So, gather the four missing relics, return them to their rightful places in the crypt, and then Roccavisk will cast the spell to cure Kamalani's spirit. Doing so will take hours... as wave after wave of hellish enemies assault the Temple of Theseus. Find: Lion-Cloak
Defend the Temple vs. Waves of Enemies You need to check out:
"It's not possible, Lem, it's just not possible!"
"Okay I guess it's technically possible..."
21/85 hp The black chimera howls, hisses, and bleats in pain. With its three heads and two claws, the chimera lashes out at the only creature in range: Lem.
Round 2, AC 19, HP 21/85 Party is up.
Oh. Oops. Yep.
I'm still waiting for someone to get my joke with how I named her.
You stand on the shoreline, the rocky coast rough under your feet. You hear a hollow rush of water, like a drain in a tub being pulled, and see the black and white chimeras rise from the waters just west of your position. They flap their wings out of the whirling vortex, soaked and angry, their eyes glinting like pearls and obsidian. They let out a screech in Draconic and charge at you four, their reptilian bodies cutting through the fog as they near. Draconic:
"Try to drown us, trespassers?! You will pay with death!" Initiative:
Round 1 The chimeras fly toward you, ending their moves with a dual breath weapon attack. The black chimera lets out a jet of black acid, spraying the noxious liquid from its black dragon head and aiming at Thurl and Arbaro. The white chimera moves closer and sprays at all four of you, the white dragon head unleashing a cone of icy cold frost.
Acid
Cold
Party is up. AC 19, HP 85/85. Battle map updated.
The golden thread pulls taught, the tension making the scintillating cord thrum with a heavenly tone, as if a heavenly harp had struck a note. Then the walls came crumbling down, the earth and roots and loose rocks crashing into the tunnel. Behind the thick walls of dirt comes an even louder sound, filling your ears with a deafening thunder as the very ocean itself pours into the cave. You see through the debris the two chimera startle awake and leap into flight, their black and white eyes glinting at you through the rubble before your vision is blocked by the gush of water. Thurl, Arbaro, and Lem see Brag in a flash of silver and gold run past, shouting something, and behind him you see the cavern collapse and fill with muddy, silty saltwater, a wave two fee high boiling toward you. You grab the hands of your friends, stumbling through the crashing waters, rising slowly through the stone cavern to emerge from the wyvern's den into the fresh but cold air of the saltwater breeze off the Dragon's shoreline. Bragoleb holds the golden thread in his hands, the color even more brilliant in the clouded sun's rays.
Brag is able to stealthily walk to the thread and begin untangling it from the flotsam and dirt in the ceiling above. With Thurl's help they are able to unravel 2/3 of the thread... but hit a snag. The Golden Thread is knotted around a clump of debris against the southern wall. The chimeras are still sleeping peacefully, but yanking the cord would likely upset the old driftwood and cordage and wake the chimeras. Cutting it seems unwise (and, since it is magical, impossible). But untangling it slowly will require a more delicate touch.
Knowledge dungeoneering DC 17: If the cord is removed, the walls and ceiling will collapse. It appears to have been threaded through the structural support of the cavern here; there is dirt in this section, not rock like the rest of the cave, something you had not noticed before. Even if you Disable Device the wall will come crashing down, bringing dirt, noise and... the ocean itself.
Knowledge Arcana DC 17:
White means it has a 20' cone Cold breath attack, black is a 40' line Acid breath attack. The chimera rumbles in its sleep, muttering to itself. Draconic:
"Zzz... zzz... meat... hungry... cave always making me sleepy... zzz... I'm so evil... zzz... wonder if the cave is magically slumberous... or something... zzz... zzz.."
Brag creeps forward and Brag / other decent stealthing PC:
Sees a pair of chimeras sleeping on the floor around the curve of the tunnel. One is white furred like a polar bear, the dragon's scales and mane of the lion a brilliant white. The other is black, the three heads of goat, lion, and dragon dark and hard to make out in the darkness. They are sleeping on a nest of seaweed and beach grasses, the bones of large marine mammals, wyverns, and humanoid littered about their den. Perception DC 15 (if you're stealthing forward): You also see a tangle of netting, cordage, and other ropes caught up in the dangling roots of some seabed plants between you and the sleeping chimeras. One of the ropes glistens and sparkles in gold.
Inside the cave slopes downward, and looks as if curves east along the length of Dragon Island. The smell is unpleasant, similar to the stench of the wyverns above, but somehow furrier. Knowledge Arcana DC 17:
Related to wyverns, slightly, is the chimera, which is probably what this smell is. Reptilian and mammalian, the stench of a chimera's nest is unique. You feel the ground sloping downward before it evens out, and around the bend you hear the sound of two large creatures breathing deeply.
knowledge Dungeoneering DC 20: You are likely far enough east to be underneath the water level itself, but not very deep underneath.
I'm back! And need sleep!
DC 18 History for the rings: The symbol is from an old jeweler company. They weren't exactly nefarious, but they did invest a lot of their money into insuring their wares but not nearly as much into keeping those same wares safe. They've been out of business for decades now.
Brag kills the last wyvern. The cave opens up into the island, its black depths reeking of a sour reptilian stench. The tunnel is a natural cave, carved by the waves and ocean centuries ago, but has since risen above the tide line. You cannot see far inside before the blackness swallows the rock walls. In the debris of the shoreline, Arbaro finds an intact chest marked with a symbol of interlocking rings. Popping it open, you see it belonged to a jeweler, score of carefully laid out rings pinned to velvet fabric. Most are tarnished from the years of saltwater seeping in through condensation or humidity, but a few are untouched by the elements due to their magical nature. Communique rings (x2, or 1 pair)
Round 2, AC 19, 43/73 The wyvern tries to stay up despite the onslaught.
The wyvern full attacks Thurl.
Round 2, AC 19, HP 43/74 Party is up.
Round 1 AC 19, HP 73 The wyverns yell back:
Draconic:
"...What? Trespassers will be eaten! Dragon island is for Dragons only." The two wyverns lift off and fly toward the two of you, attempting to hover above Lem and Thurl.
They attack with their tails.
Round 1, AC 19, HP 73 Party is up.
Around the curve of the shore you march through loose rocks. The beach stones are rounded but still uncomfortable under your new boots. As you reach the western point of the island and turn back east, you see the cliffs are much easier to climb on this side. The cold, misty wind blowing off the ocean hits you stronger in the face. You're chilled and grit your teeth against the strong biting wind. Up the slope of the cliff you see a more of the stony cliff rising to a peak. There are no signs of any humanoid presence on the upper part of the island, but you see more bones and spoor of something large and reptilian. Near the shoreline, however, you see flotsam and jetsam washed up on shore; timber, spars, rotted rope, cracked tackles, and the like. Arbaro Perception:
You see a cave in the rocks, only about 10 feet up from where high tide would be. You also see a fully intact crate in the flotsam. You also spot some wyverns coming out of the cave before they can spot you. While Brag's owl-like quietness, Thurl's acquaintance with the territory of predators, and Arbaro's keen eyes keep all three of them on their toes, Lem hacks through the segrasses unawares and is surprised by two wyverns, reptile-like dragons that claw out of a crevice in the rocks looking angry and territorial. Round Surprise, AC 19, HP 73
The wyverns are 25 feet away and on the ground. Knowledge Arcana DC 16: They have a poison sting (DC 17 Constitution damage), bite and 2 wings. Immune to sleep and paralysis. Intelligence score of 7, speaks Draconic.
Umbracopy snorts at Brag's words. She gallops back and forth on the sand, trying to work up speed to lift off, as if to show that this is the only place she's willing to land.
Also I haven't been able to find a good small island map, so we will be using our imagination again.
Umbracopy sets her landing down on the least rocky shore of the Dragon, her six legs clattering against the stones as she slows herself down. Unlike a bird, she cannot perch and lift off standing still, but must work up to (or work down from) a good speed before taking off. The rocky cliffs of the Dragon rise above you about 100 feet.
Knowledge Geography DC 12:
There is probably an easier way up if you walk around to the far side of the island. Survival DC 18:
You see signs of large, flying creatures that inhabit this island: spoor of a carnivore mixed with weathered bones in the rocks below the cliffs. smell Perception DC 19 (no fog penalty): You catch the scent of something foul and rotting wafting from the far side of the cliff.
I'm real bad at allocating treasure. How's your Wealth by Level? While I won't ask if you want more magic items (because the answer is always yes), is your Wishlist on the Campaign Tracker up to date?
The town of Chimera Cove quickly shrinks beneath your eyes as you fly into the air, the people and buildings looking like homes for halflings, then pixies, then spiders before Umbracopy soars out over the coastline and toward the three islands. From your height, as the wind blows from inland, you can see the plains stretching inland, long coastline east and west along Andoran's shores, and before you three stubs of rock that must be the three islands sticking out of Chimera Cove. As you near your approach, however, the wind stops blowing and the billowing fog settles back in, obscuring your vision again. The three islands are devoid of vegetation, save for a scraggly brush and seagrass clinging to what soil there is on the rocky islands. You hear no seabirds calling, the waves are quiet beneath you, and even the wind in your ears is muffled by the fog. Knowledge Nature DC 12:
While the fog might be the culprit, the likelier reason is something predatory has scared the petrals and cormorants of these islands off/eaten them all. The Dragon is the largest of the three islands, with tall crags and sheer cliffs. The Dragon is only around a third of a mile long. To the east (your left) is the Lion, the flattest of the three islands; the far eastern end is dominated by a boulder shaped like a lion's mane, and you can see several smaller boulders on the rocky shoreline. Smallest is the Goat, set slightly further away from the other two, with thick but short tufts of seagrass sticking out along the wavy silhouette of the island. You hear a faint bleating through the wind coming from the western Goat.
Mounting Umbracopy is easy, with the six-legged pegasus's help. You feel as if the earth itself is rolling beneath you as she spreads her wings and rises out of the pit. She does not fly far, however, before setting down in an empty grass field and turning her head back at you, mane whipping in the wind, as if to ask, "Where to?"
You have the three islands and the open plains left to check out.
Umbracopy nuzzles Lem approvingly, nipping him (a little hard) on the shoulder. Her mouth is big enough to almost fit all of Lem. She shakes her wings out and turns in a circle in the pit before kneeling on her front four legs, the knees on one side sticking out at waist level.
Well, put it on your calendars, except that we don't know what date, ha ha. Also Extra Ki Power feat seems fine to me. (sorry, forgot about that question.)
Note: dwarves carry rocks in their packs as thrown weapons or food, whichever need is greater.
The pegasus is wary of you. It looks down at you from its great height with a cautious eye. But as you loosen her bonds and feed her, she nods her head in acceptance. With a few strong beatings of her wings, she blows the tent cover away and shakes her black feathers out in the sunlight. With a flick of her mane, she motions to a leather contraption on the back of a wooden frame. [spoiler=Handle Animal or Know Local DC 14]It is a huge-sized howdah, often used to carry passengers on the backs of an elephant. This one has been fitted to a pegasus.[spoiler] Umbracopy eats the apple and spits out the core. You think you see her shrug her shoulders as if to say the apple was acceptable, but there are better fruits out there. |
