Naiethua's page

"Fine, we'll leave her," Naiethua says and starts gathering her belongings.

"It wasn't a good answer, but you did answer honestly," Naiethua says. "Since you won't say who hired you, how are you going to kill you? I doubt killing you would be an easy task."

Holding a sickle in her hand, Naiethua stands over the woman. "You live because you may answer a question," she says. "If you fail to answer, you die. When I remove the gag, the only sound you will make is the answer to my question. Any other sound results in your death. Why were you hunting the girl?" Then Naiethua removes the gag.

Intimidate 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10 Sense Motive for any reply 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

"If it were just the three of us," Naiethua looks at Sylthain and Victor. "I'd say wait until she comes to and see what she has to say for herself. But we need to get the cousins to safety. First the slime beast, then the assassin, little Nicaa draws danger like dung draws flies. We should be on our way back to Khiras at dawn. You don't want to be slinging the murderer on your back, so we cure her or kill her. With the creatures in this forest, leaving her alone to recover on her own is killing her slowly. Unless her friends are closer than I'd like."

"It's alright, Saa. She won't hurt you," Naiethua talks to the girl in a calming voice. Then she talks to the adults, "I understand you want to question the woman, but I'd hate to waste curative spells to revive her. We have no way of knowing how close any of her companions are if she has any. If I heal her and we're attacked, I'll have very limited means to heal any of us who are injured. However, I'm willing to heal her if you think it's worth the risk."

"Then you'd best gag her so she doesn't yell for her companions as soon as she comes too. Or she recites whatever spell she used to get past all of us, kill Grawk, and grab the girl. And as for you, Victor, let's see what she did to your arm."

Cure Light Wounds 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Am I the only one who belated realized that someone should have taken a rank of Linguistics when we leveled to understand Saa Speak?

"Why are you bringing that in here?" Naiethua looks at the bound kidnapper with a look of disgust. "We'll never get Saa to relax if we have that woman in the cave with us. Or do you think I'm being too soft on the little one and she needs to avenge Grawk's death with her own hands?"

Naiethua whispers to Nicca and Lyra, "I'll see if we've got more company." She then makes her way to the cave mouth to see if she can notice the source of the child's distress.

Perception 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

"I don't know how she found us," Naiethua tells Lyra. "I thought it was more important to get the little eagle here back to the nest than talk to her kidnapper. Your cousin is a smart, brave girl. She's much more... accomplished than I expected. The woman lives, barely, and Victor is trying to interrogate her. I don't think he'll have any luck unless we tend to her wounds..."

"Speaking of wounds, she got a pretty good shot in on Victor. If you and Sylthain will watch little Saa... I mean Nicaa, I'll see about healing him."

While Victor interrogates the woman, Naiethua talks to Lyra. "You don't have to worry about taking Nicaa from Grawk because he was killed while you slept. His killer was trying to take Nicaa from us. I don't know how she found us, but she knew you were here as well as the little one." Naiethua waits to observe Lyra's reaction to this news before telling her about Nicaa's role in dealing with the assailant.

Thanks, how do you want to handle hit points?

Naiethua returns the daggers to Victor. "I can't make any sense of the writing on these," she says with a shrug. She then gives the assassin a withering glance. "Whatever you are going to do with her, do it quickly. As long as she lives, Lyra and Nicaa are in danger. Come on, little one, let's tell your cousin what happened." Naiethua leads the girl back to the relative safety of the cave.

"Hey, Sylthain," Naiethua says. "See if you can wake up Lyra. Even a spoiled city dweller shouldn't have slept through all the noise we made in the fight."

Taking Saa by the hand, Naiethua walks over to Victor and the bound woman. She asks, "Mind if I look at the daggers?"

If Nai gets a good look at them: Appraise 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

Knowing the girl doesn't understand her words, Naiethua keeps talking gently to Saa while holding her. Meanwhile, she tries to have a "grown up" conversation with Victor and Sylthain. "It's going to be alright, Saa. She will pay for what she did to Grawk. Victor, I don't know what's going on, but I sense that woman and her weapons aren't what they seem. You're a brave little fledgling, aren't you Saa? It may just be my paranoia, but I smell Yuan-Ti behind this."

"I know, dear heart," Naiethua says softly while still holding onto Saa. "What she did to Grawk hurts, but you're too little for your first kill." Naiethua looks to Victor and Sylthain, "Deal with the assassin quickly. I don't want to hurt Saa to hold her back."

"No, Saa! Not yet," Naiethua says before she remembers the child doesn't speak the Trade Tongue. She then tries the grab the girl before she can complete the spell.

Attack to Grapple 1d20 ⇒ 20

As Naiethua follows the fleeing woman, she hurls another bolt of lightning at her. Lightning Arc Touch Attack 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13 Damage 1d6 ⇒ 3

Seeing Saa's successful spellcasting, Naiethua laughs, "That's pretty good, little one. Looks like you have a thing or two to teach your sleepy headed cousin."

Go dog, go! Attack 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 + 2 = 18 Damage 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Victor, if you're using a rapier, don't forget to confirm your possible crit! Crit range is 18-20.

Naiethua finishes her ritual and a white terrier appears behind the woman. Naiethua ferociously growls a simple command to the little dog, "Get the b*$~@." The dog starts nipping at the woman's heels.

Naiethua then channels a bolt of lightning which arcs towards the woman.

Stat block for a dog.

Dog's Bite Attack 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 + 2 = 16 (Second +2 is flanking bonus.) Damage 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 The dog will be around until the start of my next round, so Syl or Victor can use it as a flanking buddy.

Nai's Lightning Arc Ranged Touch Attack into melee 1d20 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (17) + 2 - 4 = 15 Damage 1d6 ⇒ 1 Nai has two more of those left for today. First Lightning Arc that has a chance of connecting does minimum damage. The gods of war smile on her cause she's good for a laugh.

Nai's casting and her spell won't go off until the start of her next turn.

Initiative 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

Now that the woman says she's noticed Naiethua and Sylthain, and claims to have murdered Grawk, Naiethua stops advancing on her. Naiethua backs into the cave hoping to find deeper shadows to cover her actions. All I need, she thinks. Are a few seconds without being noticed. As unobtrusively as possible, she begins a druidic ritual.

Perception 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

Naiethua wakes up at the sound of voices. She quietly crawls out from her blanket and makes her way towards the woman in the cave entrance.

Stealth 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (16) - 1 = 15

Naiethua takes a moment to check Grawk's trip wire alarm. "We should be safe in here," she says as she lays out her bedroll. "Though you all might want to keep an eye out for sleep walking elves." She then lays down and goes to sleep.

"You tracked that thing for weeks while caring for the little one?" Naiethua smiles at Grawk. That's some impressive hunting. It's a good thing we found each other when we did. Do you think this necklace is the magic you felt, or was it some other magic?"

Noticing everyone staring at her as she talks to the necklace, Naiethua blushes. "We'll have to find a subtler way to communicate," she says. "But I think Diving Light and I have reached an agreement. We'll reunite her with her friends after we take care of little Nicaa. So, you think Grawk will let us share his cave tonight?"

Nodding agreement with Victor's statement, Naiethua says, "I think we'll all have a better appreciation of the situation after a night's rest. But we have another matter to deal with before we rest."

Naiethua looks at the necklace that's still laying on the ground. "I don't think we can risk letting Divining Light fall into the grasp of the first creature to come wandering through the woods. If I can have your assistance for a few minutes more, I think we can take care of it."

The elf walks over to the necklace and gingerly picks it up by the chain. She solemnly addresses the pendant, "Greetings, Divining Light. I am Naiethua of the Silver Oak warband, granddaughter and student of Namahlon the master druid. Know this and know it well: You've controlled my mind and body once, you won't control them again. I know your quest and by accepting you I accept your quest. However, I have another quest that takes priority for now, though I don't think they're incompatible. If you control my actions actions again, my companions will know it and will stop me like they stopped me before. If that happens, I will put you in a sack and bury the sack until such time as we choose to search for your friends. I'm sure you'll agree that cooperation is the best option for both of us." Naiethua puts the necklace around her neck.

"Really?" Naiethua asks. "Then you're prepared to invite Grawk to a place of honor within your house? You and the girl will need him now as much as they'll need you when she comes of age. She doesn't even speak the Trade Tongue!"

Come on guys, feel free to chime in here.

"I didn't say you should leave her, Grawk," Naiethua replies. "You love her and she needs you. I won't try to separate you. Learning about the forest will be a good thing, but she needs to know about her powers and she'll need a human sorceress for that."

The druid takes a glance at the woman who has been silently taking in this scene. She asks, "What are your thoughts on this, Lyra? What do you think the child needs?"

"Grawk!" Naiethua shouts at the retreating half-orc. "Please give me a moment to ask a question." She takes a second to make sure she has Grawk's attention then continues in a normal tone, "Will you be able to train Saa when she comes into her powers? Can you teach her what it means to be a sorceress without her hurting you or herself? I don't think my powers are the same as Miss Lyra's, but they're close enough for this talk. If my Grandpa hadn't been there to show me the ways of the druids, I probably would have hurt a lot of people learning to control the winds that course through and around me. Saa needs someone like Lyra to show her the way."

Naiethua looks from Grawk and the child to Lyra. She then whispers to Sylthain and Victor, "The girl will be better off in town with the Highmarks than in the woods, but I don't want to remove her from Grawk by force. We need his agreement with this. He has been the closest thing to a father the small one will remember. We should include Lyra in this conversation, she is the girl's kin after all."

"She's got to be the girl," Naiethua whispers to Victor. "How many Bazareene girls with draconic blood are found orphaned in Sura-Khiri? My question is does her father really want her found? I'm a decent tracker, but we found her in less than a day."

"We need to be careful with the necklace, but we also need to work with it," Naeithua says as she stands up and straightens out her clothes. "The question is: Who will take it? If the legend is true, it has a mind of its own, thus we should be able to reason with it. I hated how confused and helpless I felt when it was controlling me, but now that I know what to expect I may have an advantage. I also doubt that I could stop Sylthain or Victor if they put on the necklace and decide to head south without doing more damage than the couple scrapes and bruises Sylthain left me. What do you all think?"

I know nobody has posted yet but I am giggling at my own mental image of everyone crowding around nai to look closer at the necklace after what she said :D

As she's still waiting for Syl to get off of her.

I ran this campaign IRL and that party even after having 2 of the 4 items never knew their names or purpose... they just blindly followed its direction. XD

Sorry, I couldn't resist the urge to do some over the top RP posting as Nai's response to something messing with her mind.

Also realized today that I'd been misspelling Victor's name for about a week. Guess it's the new Elvish spelling.

"Galaedros's beard," Naiethua exclaims as she takes a better look at the necklace. "I'd heard about this when I was a girl, but never thought I'd see it. If I'm not mistaken, this is Divining Light, a thinking artifact created by the Lawgiver himself to better fight Orcus. How did Grandpa tell the story?" She sits thoughtfully then starts reciting the tale from memory.

Chaniud blessed the adventurers with four intelligent relics that would help them more as they progressed against their foes... They actually helped turn the tide of war... During the war one of the adventurers was killed and their item stolen by an opposing follower. Luckily the rest of the enemies were still pushed back but that item remained lost. After the war, the remaining adventurers separated and went their own ways. Only one item's owner is still known to be around, progeny of the original owner. The rest were lost through time...

The druid relaxes for a moment then continues her story. "This necklace is one of the four items and its name is Divining Light. The legend says that the items would always know the immediate direction of its nearest counterpart. They want to work together as a team against the Demon Prince and his minions. That's why I 'had' to go south. The necklace wanted me to find its friends."

"If a thing like that," Naiethua nods towards the horror which attacked earlier. "Had this artifact and brought it into the light of day, could Orcus be on the march again?"

The deadly serious look that has been on Naiethua's face since she recognized Diving Light suddenly fades. "OK, big guy. Seriously, it's time for you to get off of me," she says giving Sylthain a playful shove. "We have a trinket to talk to."

Once again Nai's post turns into a wall of text.

"Victor, everyone," Naiethua says. "Handle that necklace as little as possible or it may end up handling you. What is that anyways, and why did I feel the need to go south when I was wearing it?"

Appraise 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20

OK, a roll that good has to work, so that's how I'll write this post. Hope you don't mind I'm not waiting for the "official" word, Tare.

I must get free. Free to keep moving. No, free of this urge. I don't want to go south, really. But I have to. No, I don't. Yes, south. Naiethua struggles vainly to free herself from the mental compulsion. She tries to wiggle free of her irrational desire with logic, but the compulsion grabs her arguments and drags her back to the need to head south. Every time she thinks she can force her way free by sheer will power, the compulsion pushes her will down. Her mental struggles are mirrored in her body's futile efforts to get free of Sylthain's hold. Must prevent whatever's doing this from learning how I can... Lightning, that's it I'll fry the filthy human. No, in the name of Eanius, no!

Then Victor grabs the necklace and rips it from Naiethua's throat and the elf goes limp under Sylthain. She takes a few deep breaths then says, "Thanks, friends. I never realized what a tricky trap my own mind could be. Not sure I could have gotten out without you." She sits quietly for a few moments before adding, "But I'm fine now. So Sylthain, you might want to get off of me before we give Miss Lyra the wrong impression."

This is what I was relying on for trying to break the grapple.

If you are grappled, you can attempt to break the grapple as a standard action by making a combat maneuver check (DC equal to your opponent's CMD; this does not provoke an attack of opportunity) or Escape Artist check (with a DC equal to your opponent's CMD). If you succeed, you break the grapple and can act normally.

For reasons I can't explain yet, going south is Nai's only desire, at least until she makes a Will check... (Missed DC11 with +4 on her roll, she really has become the druid that can't hit anything.) So she just wanted to break the grapple and keep moving.

Once again, I try to give Viktor and Thaddeus a chance to act before trying the will check again.

Will Check 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Naiethua struggles to break free of Sylthain's grasp to continue her journey south.
CMB 1d20 ⇒ 6 vs. Sylthain's CMD

Is anyone else taking actions... appraise rolls on the necklace are still up for attempts, if nobody else posts by tonight Nai you can make another will check, DC11 to act on your own again.

I'm not sure what everyone's time zones are. Since Viktor's last post was at 4:00am my time, I'll hold off until tomorrow morning for my next post.

Naiethua drops to her knees and clutches the necklace. "South, why south?" She asks with a bewildered look in her eyes. "Why do I want to go south? I, I, I just got home. Why go back? But my friends are there and they're safe. But I have no friends there. South is home and safety. No this is home, Sura-Khiri the Forest Home. But South, the direction of Hazuk. I want to go there, the place I thought I'd never go back to. That is where I want to go."

The elf looks at the others in the clearing: Grawk and the child, Thaddeus, Sylthain and Lyra, and finally Viktor.

Well, it's been fun playing this character. ^^

Naiethua puts on the necklace.

"You're right of course, Lyra. This necklace is magical. The essence feels like it may provide some kind of protection," Naiethua says as she puts the necklace in her hand.

"Magical, huh?" Naiethua says with a grin. "Why don't I ever check these things before I start messing with stuff?" She then concentrates on the necklace. Casting Detect Magic.

Did I accidentally channel Steve McQueen in The Blob? And no, Knowledge(Religion) for me. :(

Naiethua shows the necklace to her companions, "Does anyone know what this means?"

Perception Take 10 + 8 = 18

"I'm glad the small one isn't hurt," Naiethua says as she sheathes her sickles. "It's a good thing you've been here to keep her from harm, Grawk."

The elf grabs a stick and start prodding the ectoplasm, trying to get at some glittering object she noticed under the creature. If she remembers the stories right, the ectoplasm will fade away before too long, but Naiethua's never been a patient woman.

Don't know if I'm able to attack in this round or not, but if I can.

Scimitar Attack: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (12) - 2 = 10 Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Scimitar Attack: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (16) - 2 = 14 Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1

A child screaming in terror as her parent fights for his life. Just like... Put the past aside and deal with the here and now. Naiethua shoots another blast of lightning towards the creature.

Lightning Arc 1d20 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (2) + 2 - 4 = 0 Damage 1d6 ⇒ 3

Woo, hoo! Next round, going to Plan B.

"Thanks, Grawk," Naiethua says. "The bow may not be much use, but..." The elf's hair stands on end and she extends her right hand towards the abomination. A bolt of lightning flies from her fingers towards the thing.

Lightning Arc Ranged Touch Attack 1d20 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (12) + 2 - 4 = 10 (-4 for firing into melee.) Damage 1d6 ⇒ 4

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

Good thing I didn't let Grawk talk me into dropping my bow, Naiethua thinks as she aims the weapon at the bushes.

And Initiative if it's needed: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9