Sorry to see this one go, but I really appreciate you being upfront about it. Bye everyone, hope to cross paths with you again soon.
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Lhinneth's body plummets into the troubled waters with barely a splash, followed only a couple heartbeats later by Serenna. She swiftly swims her way to the boat where she watches Arven's descent along with his precious payload. "Well, it looks like we did it. Now, let's beat it before Besmara's wrathful gaze falls upon us" she proudly, yet cautiously states once the five of them are once again re-united. "I say we all celebrate tonight. Almost all, that is. I mean, the deck is not going to scrub itself, is it, Serenna?" she playfully teases.
Lhinneth watches silently as Arven takes it upon himself to retrieve the wooden appendage from the Captain's rotting corpse. Not that she doubts her own agility would be a match for the hulking young man's muscular approach – quite the opposite, in fact – but it's the idea of perturbing Besmara's justice that truly unnerves her. So it's with visible relief that she welcomes Arven back, carrying the leg with him but having left the body undisturbed. "For once, Arven and I agree on one thing. You're too young to go for the whole "old sea dog" angle, and this gnarly piece of wood basically screams it, Serenna. You know what? After we've got our hands on the loot, I'll buy you a new one. I was thinking... uhmm... mahogany and nacre perhaps?" With that, she turns around and looks at the waves crashing into the rocks far below them. "Well, that overgrown crab has ruined our little race to the top. Same bet, let's see who's the fastest down?" That said, she takes a long leap and dives into the sea raging some 150 ft. below. [dice=Acrobatics vs DC 30]1d20+14[/dice]
"Have... have you ever met something you didn't try to bed or to eat, Salty?" Lhinneth asks as watches the dead monster being feasted upon by the half-dead half-orc. "No. Nevermind. Rhetorical question. I don't really want to know the answer." With that, she goes back to climbing.
I'm ready too... and happy new year everyone!
Seeing Salty about to became even uglier than he already is, and not looking forward to spending the rest of the voyage in such a company, Lhinneth plummets to his help. __________________________________________________________________
"Last one to the top is on deck scrubbing duty until we reach the treasure! says Lhinneth as she nimbly jumps over the boat's railway and quickly finds a foothold in the rock face. "sorry Arven, try not to fall, alright?"
For the sake of keeping the plot going forward – if no magic user has an ace up his/her sleeve, shall we agree to wait until dark and then get closer to the arch either rowing or swimming and then ponder our options there once we have a clearer view?
Having moved closer to Arven at the man's request, Lhinneth's tinnitus eventually disappears just in time for her to hear the underdressed fighter's crude proposal. Instinctively pulling away from the rhum (and who knows what else)-laced breath, she raises one eyebrow and wrinkles the corner of her mouth in a smirk as she points at the grotesquely bent corpse nearby. "But Arven dearest, I would never dare to stand between you and your favourite..." *************************************************************************
That evening, Lhinneth can be found recounting her aerial exploits to a bunch of captivated sailors, exaggerating and aggrandizing the tale of their fight as every good pirate should. As First Mate Horemheb passes by, she drags him in in her re-enactment, putting up a mock fight for the crew's viewing pleasure while lavishing false praise on her opponent's technique, and even allowing him to score some hits from time to time – for if there was a lesson she had learnt in the House of Stolen Kisses, is that men love some good ego bolstering from time to time. Good thing we were here. Those fools would have all been dragged to Besmara's locket otherwise – and where was Captain Lanteri during the fight anyway?
************************************************************************* With the Magpie Princess dropping anchor by Blackwarn's Gallows, Lhinneth looks uncharacteristically taciturn and even paler than usual; indeed, as the story and purpose of the place is revealed, she looks at the arch with fear in her eyes and is caught instinctively performing a Besmaran apotropaic gesture. "Whatever we do, we better do it quickly, and preferably when no-one's watching – though Her eyes are not so easily fooled. Just... take the leg and go, and hope the Pirate Queen agrees with the good Doctor on that particular issue."
Lhinneth's boots touch the deck only a couple of heartbeats after the siren's corpse, gracefully landing among the sailors despite her splitting headache. She sees Arven's lips moving as the big man's stare once again seems to be fixed on her, though the only thing she hears is a dull, roaring sound which seems to be reverberating from inside her own cranial cavity. She figures it's probably something lecherous. Looks like I'm once again her favourite. Lucky me. she screams to Elo in what she thinks it's a soft, pleading tone.
Lhinneth gives a cry of pain she'll never hear as her eardrums pop and blood starts trickling out of her pointed ears. However, this only manages to fuel up her rage. Grabbing the closest rope, she deftly swings left and right before coming in full body contact with her foe, almost as if embracing her in a convoluted aerial ballet. However, her fan is plunging deeply in the creature's heart, and with a sickening crunch, the half-elf drags it in a rising trajectory which slits the siren's throat wide open, silencing it forever. "Die, you shrieking b!&%#." __________________________________________________________________
"Yeah, you dumb oaf" Lhinneth says rolling her eyes. "I so wish I could grow bird legs, oh how irresistible I would be then." Besmara's wet buttocks, I really hope it won't come to me and Serenna having to take them down. She grabs a rope and rapidly climbs the 30 ft. separating her from enthralling avian beauty. __________________________________________________________________
The siren's melodious voice captivates Lhinneth's attention as she feels the lust building up in her loins at the sight of the seductive avian beauty. It's only with the greatest of efforts – perhaps bolstered by the tales of sailors lured to their doom by similar creatures – that she barely manages to shake it off; unsurprisingly, she quickly realizes the boys showed no such restrain. "Come back, you sex-starved swine! Do you want to be dragged to your death?" Seeing her words having little impact, she merely sighs and shoots at the creature. "Hey! You want it rough? I can give you rough!" she screams at the top of her lungs. __________________________________________________________________
"Ugh... What's that now?"
"And if I weren't here" Lhinneth quips back "you would be trying to steal said ogre all for yourself." She frowns. "Wait that doesn't really make sense does it?"
Thanks!
The night before the Magpie Princess sets sail, Lhinneth stands on the flight of stairs leading from the main deck to the waist deck, waiting for Iulia. Her back idly leaning on one of the supporting wooden beams where the gap in the deck's floor leads into the stairway, she keeps one slightly bent leg resting on a second beam right opposite the first, barring the Chelish quartermaster the way. "A word please?" she asks. "I understand you've been playing the queen b~+@$ around here, with your cheap cursing, your threats, your bossy attitude, your Chelish manners..." she goes on, not really waiting for an answer. "I'll be blunt. I like not one of those things, and I don't like you. And unlike you, I can back my words with deeds if the need arises... not that it ever should. Don't step on my toes, and we'll get along famously. In the meantime... the Magpie Princess has a new queen b*&#!, I suppose." She flashes a disarming smile before ever so slowly turning aside to let the dark-haired woman pass.
"That they should, Salty. That they should." ****************************************************************** Lhinneth looks Captain Lanteri straight in the eye. "Adventure" she answers without even a hint of hesitation in her voice. "And glory and fame and battles. Oh, and it's not like I'm spitting on the gold either, I guess."
What was that Chinese curse again? "May you live in interesting times"? Seriously, though... Sorry for my lack of posts lately, spent this past week bedridden with the flu; though that doesn't justify not having dropped a few lines about it. Kept postponing until... well... now I guess. Again, sorry. @Serenna: I was thinking about picking Precise Strike as a Teamwork feat for Lhinneth, would that be ok with you too or would you rather we wait a few more levels?
Absolutely, you've had plenty of time the last few days to make as many trips back to Lilywhite as needed. For magic items, its a weekly percentage roll for stuff not on the town's magic items list. If you want that ring or any other magic item whose cost < 1500gp, rolling a d100 higher than 25 means you can get it. The ring is 2000 which is close enough for me. Also, the party just looted one off of Hyrix. Yeah, but Arven called dibs on it first ;) (which, considering Lhinneth had claimed an Amulet of Natural Armour earlier, is only fair). So here we go
Looks like I'm in luck here. I was miscalculating my croc's strength and it was 2 lower than it should be I'm probably missing something, but shouldn't it be 15 (baseline) +1 (STR/DEX bonus kicking in at 3rd level) +4 (4th level advancement to Medium) = 20? Or are you factoring in some kind of permanent Bull's Strength effect?
Nice! Did we find someone willing to buy our stuff, and if so, was Lhinneth able to buy her Ring of Protection? Uhmm... perhaps I might also be able to squeeze in a masterwork darkwood composite shortbow...
Statistics and Class Features:
Feats and Skills:
"Oh that it is – like a baby's. Two things you're not supposed to get too close to, incidentally" Lhinneth retorts as she walks away, resoundingly smacking her own ass to highlight her point. Later, as the celebrations draw to a close, with nothing better to do she slips out of her boots and dives into the cove's clear waters, looking for something they might have missed earlier in the heat of battle.
The following days, by contrast, feel even duller and more monotonous than such preparations usually are. Lhinneth's work can be described as perfunctory at best, if not outright sloppy. Having tasted battle, it's clear that's where her heart really is.
It comes as little surprise, then, that she tries every subtle trick in her book to skip her duties or to make her poor work seem somebody else's fault. The free time this nets her she spends recounting their battle to the rest of the crew, embellishing it where possible and milking it for all its worth.
"Well, thanks, Salty... I guess" says Lhinneth after a long rubbing session that at times felt more like shameless groping than anything else. Still, the beneficial effects are undeniable, and as far as the half-elf is concerned, her tusky green companion has earned any side benefits his efforts have brought him. "I'm still young to go for the whole 'scarred pirate' angle. I'd rather my skin stay smooth and pearly for the time being." Elo's wand leaves a distinct and lingering sulphuric sensation crawling under Lhinneth's skin, quite different from the soothing experience magical healing usually entails. "It feels... Chelish." Still, even given how much she despises the White Devils, she's never been one to skip on using her enemies' tools if it directly benefits her, so her thanks to Elo are genuine as she watches her skin regenerate under her very eyes. Now feeling much better, she joins the others in singing and drinking the night away, toasting to their victory and only stopping to slap Valaravans when he tries to administer a second round of treatments – this time not even bothering with pretending he's not simply fondling her. "Funny that, Salty. I don't quite remember telling you it was my ass that got burnt. Maybe because it wasn't."
"Hey. This is the little s+@* that managed to land a couple of cheap shots against me in the pit" Lhinneth says kneeling down to get a better view of the slayed halfling. "How's it going for you in a real no-rules fight? Yeah. Thought as much." Though not quite what she was looking for, it seems she managed to get a revenge of sorts in the end. Her rage-fuelled boasting is short-lived, though. With the adrenaline from the fight slowly but surely receding, the pulsating pain from her own wounds comes back stronger than ever. "I'll second that request" she speaks after Arven. "That f%*!ing bird tried to burn me alive up there. If I hadn't had one of Captain Lanteri's potion at hand, I'd be charred meat by now." She unbuttons her bodice and shirt to reveal her mithril chain shirt beneath – as well as vast burn scars on her arms and shoulders where she instinctively raised them to shield herself against the flaming onslaught.
IME natural attacks rules are a bit like grapple rules – you ask three people about them, you're likely to get three different interpretations of how they work. Note that there are (explicitly marked) exceptions to that rule: Dragons add 1-1/2 times their STR to their bite attack regardless of how many other attacks they possess, something which Eidolons can also get via an evolution (probably what you're referencing Elo?).
Lhinneth's pain soon turns into rage, and rage, as every good Calistrian is taught to do, into lust for retaliation. Frustratingly, she's deprived of her vengeance as, at a moment's notice, her foe is turned into a snack by courtesy of Elo's croc. Still seething with barely repressed anger, she rushes below deck right on Salty's heels, and when she spots a diminutive figure sneaking in the mist, she doesn't hesitate to attack. "Well, well, well. What do we have here... a sneaky, fat bilge rat, it would seem" she taunts as she pinpoints the halfling's location to the rest of the crew.
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The Combat section sheds some light on this (admittedly confusing) matter :) If you possess only one natural attack (such as a bite—two claw attacks do not qualify), you add 1–1/2 times your Strength bonus on damage rolls made with that attack. Having both a primary bite attack and a secondary tail attack is what disqualifies a croc from adding 1-1/2 times its STR to dmg. I concur - natural attacks are terribly convoluted and weird :) Sometimes the best solution to see how a rule works in practice is to look at a bestiary entry and reverse-engineer it. A constrictor snake with 17 STR has only one natural attack listed (bite) with a +4 dmg. modifier (3*1.5=4 rounded down), a 19-STR croc, on the other hand, has both a bite (+4) and a tail (+4/2=2) attack.
If a creature has only one natural attack, it is always made using the creature's full base attack bonus and adds 1-1/2 the creature's Strength bonus on damage rolls. This increase does not apply if the creature has multiple attacks but only takes one.
"It... " Lhinneth screams in aguish as she's literally set aflame. With the scorching pain threatening to overwhelm her, she staggers and almost falls down to one knee before her hand blindly reaches for the corked vial she keeps at her belt.
The pain recedes a bit, yet there are still visible burns over all her body.
Lhinneth's keen elven eyes are staring at the uniform, oily vastness of the surrounding waters when a sudden commotion erupts from within the very bowels of the ship. The hag – it was just a diversion! Her well-trained reflexes, however, immediately kick in. A quick run-up, and her legs propel her in the air, adrenaline pumping in her veins; grabbing the nearest rope, she descends upon the unsuspecting Tengu as the avenging effigy of the Pirate Goddess herself. "You called?" __________________________________________________________________
"Salty and I shall keep an eye out for other assailants" says Lhinneth pacing to and fro along the parapet, the clackering of heels on wood giving her words a peculiarly military cadence. "Everyone else should rest – especially the two of you" she suggests, addressing Elo and Serenna – the former with a dazed expression in her eyes, and the latter walking on unsteady legs, as if barely able to support her own weight.
Lhinneth shrugs. "Whatever dealings they had, they now brought with them in their watery graves. The timing's still suspect, though."
"You f%#&ed 'er Serenna. You f%@@ed 'er good!" Lhinneth enthusiastically shouts as she rushes to congratulate her friend. "Wait" she blurts out, as if a sudden thought has just crossed her mind. "That didn't look like a Tengu."
Sheer manpower can also reduce the penalties for size. Increasing the crew of these weapons by 1 or more can reduce the attack roll penalty for creature size: as long as an extra crew member is no smaller than three size categories smaller than the direct-fire weapon, it can reduce the penalty due to the aiming creature's size by 2. For example, a Huge ballista fired by a Medium creature that is part of a crew of two (the creature aiming the ballista and someone to help position it) takes only a –2 penalty on attack rolls.
Taking advantage of the creature's sudden hesitation, Lhinneth tries shooting at it one last time before the darkness engulfs her for good. __________________________________________________________________
"The b&@~@'s fleeing! Shoot everything you've got! Bring her down!"
"Arven, I'll leave this in your care" says Lhinneth moving away from the ballista and towards the misshapen monstrosity up in the air. "Is that all you've got? Staying there and looking ugly?" __________________________________________________________________
I think what happened is that "d6d" was put in place of a parenthesis, making the RNG roll 12d6 which gave somewhere around the expected value of 36, then rolled that amount of d1's (which did nothing, got 36 ones in return) and the rolled 36 d20s and added the result. Trippy.
As the creature seemingly erupts from the surrounding darkness, intent on boarding the ship, Lhinneth can finally make out her true visage. Her bowels turn and her legs almost falter at the sight of this grotesque mockery of the human form, yet she manages to quickly shake it off. Eh. Serenna would probably say I kissed worse. "Valaravan's found a girlfriend. Unfortunately, they split up already, and not on amiable terms" Lhinneth answers Arven's question. "Also, Piranhas. Watch out!"
"Ah yes. The shipwrecked Calistrian priestess gambit. A whole galleon could have sneaked up on them and they would've been none the wiser" Lhinneth wistfully reminisces. She has waken the crew as soon as she's spotted a boat rowing in their direction, before she could even discern its half-naked occupant. Once her elven eyes catch a glimpse of the alluring woman at the helm, however, she's grateful she did so – precisely for the reasons Serenna's expounding. "Comin'" she says, following fast after her friend. She helps her load the heavy ballista and aim it at the boat, but as the glamer fades she's quick to draw her bow and shoot an arrow at the disgusting creature's exposed vitals. "Die b%#!+." __________________________________________________________________
"Yes Madam" Lhinneth salutes Serenna as the peg-legged piratess finishes explaining her plan.
"Behave, Salty" Lhinneth says, an amused expression on her subtly smiling lips. Arms folded, she looks at the burly half-orc askew even as she turns to address the Garundi first-mate. "Even the largest weapons are hardly impressive when wielded by crude fighters. And I have to second Arven's request" she goes on almost seamlessly. "We could surely use that spyglass."
A spark glimmers in Lhinneth's green eyes – this is the closes I've ever been to captaining my own ship. Yet, the more urgent matters they're called to deal with quickly snap her back to reality. "We'll sleep in three shifts, so that at any given time three or even four of us will be awake and alert. To my kin, the moon shines as bright as the sun when it comes to piercing the darkness of the night – and I'm no exception. I'll be manning the crow's nest from dusk to dawn. Anyone keeping me company?"
"In a few days, preparations will be done, and the Magpie Princess will be sailing in the open seas. By that time, the Tengu will either have made his move, or not. Both cases, problem solved" Lhinneth says squinting her eyes as she too looks at the jungle encroaching the shore. "I say let us wait him out here. A lone bird in the jungles of Quent might not be a needle in a haystack, but it's pretty damn close, if you ask me. Besides" she adds, turning to the first mate "leaving the ship in trusted hands is more or less the point of us being summoned here, no? Lilywhite's a small den of sailors and pirates; the former wouldn't be able to swing a cutlass worth s!!!, the latter are more likely to take her for themselves once on board – if not outright sell her to the Tengu. If they aren't already in cahoots with him, that is."
"No cutlasses; I usually prefer something... subtler" says Lhinneth drawing her fan, which opens with a metallic screech.
"That's because you've always been the smarter one, Serenna" Lhinneth groggily replies, already drifting between wakefulness and sleep. "A complicated woman with complicated needs. Sometimes, too complicated for your own good." ************************************************************************* Lhinneth hails the man, her muscles burning as she strains them to their limits to keep pace with Arven's suddenly energetic strokes. Once she's climbed up the line thrown at them, she greets the ebony-skinned sailor formerly scrying on them. "First-mate Horemheb? We're Captain Lanteri's freshest recruits. You've got... uhm... some work for us?"
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