Skittle Beck's page

Skittle is up before dawn, having taken the last shift. As he goes up cleaning up the camp and eating, he pushes everyone to get moving. "We should enter the tomb before our friends return, or we may have to wait for them to leave again with nightfall."

"So, what's it going to be?" Skittle asks. "I didn't see any signs of a camp when I took my peek before, and if they're all as scared as this one, they may be staying some distance away. If we go now, we may be able to just walk in under cover of darkness. Since I can see at night better than most of you, and I can make it through the jungle without sound like some great beast, I can lead the way. Or would you rather all sleep the night, and then, when everyone is up & about, try and scare them away? Either is fine with me," the gnome finishes, climbing back into the tree, "so let's just flip a copper and be done with it."

The rider follows the conversation with his eyes. When talk comes up of taking him into the tomb with you, he shakes his head vigorously. A croak comes out of his mouth, but his lips form the words, Not the tomb. Kill me first!

"Well, that's certainly interesting," Skittle says as he drops from his perch. Then, turning to Bedu, he adds, "Barber, you healed him, it's your decision." Turning to Liet, he continues, "I have some tricks that my father taught me that may come in handy. I can make noises and lights and such, if that's what you have in mind. Of course, we can if we string his entrails through the trees it might be more convincing . . . "

"Hmmph," Skittle grumbles from his perch on a low tree branch. "May as well slit his throat and leaving him for the jungle. He's not going to do us any good."

Skittle joins the others as they are making camp, and he immediately saunters over to the rider, now bound, and drops his gear as he walks.

My thoughts instead turn to what we will do with him after we obtain whatever information we can from him. He'll be a liability after that. I'd like to minimize it as much as possible."

Nodding at Liet's words, the gnome draws his kurki and sits down in a straddle over the prisoner's legs. "So, then we kill him," he says with a shrug. "If he helps us, maybe we let him go, with some water and without his horse. Even if he makes it through the jungle, it's not like he's going to be talking very much." Peering in to his mouth, the gnome continues, in a mumble, "'course, we could always cut out the rest of his tongue."

Later on round the campfire Bedu tells the bazaar coffee shop story of the Rani and her faith in religion, and how she started as a humble and just woman. Now look at her each time, each step taking her away from goodness and slowly deciding that faith and power rule together.

"The combination of faith and power is a natural and good thing, when applied appropriately," Liet responds, "What are the god-kings if not our divinely-appointed rulers? By their very title, they are both faith and power with noble dominion over us all. I've dedicated my life to them. And I've never regretted doing so. But I do it because they've always watched over us...protected us...and provided for us."

"The Rani has done none of those things," the priest asserts, "She abuses power...and with it, her people, as well. Thus, any faith she wished others to place in her is misplaced. It only allows her to bring further ruin and cruelty. That's because her power comes from deep-rooted malice and jealousy. It should be opposed. She should be opposed. And as a servant of the goodly god-kings, I will apply myself and their teachings in doing so."

Skittle sits in the low branches of a tree, the better to see anyone approaching. His bow is close at hand, with two arrows stuck in the branch next to him. He doesn't add very much to the conversation, but at this last go around between Bedu & Liet, he scowls. When they are finished, he exclaims, "Bah! Gods & kings & rani! What use do I have for such things? I grew up and lived in the jungles, and have no need for the cities or those that would try to rule them!"

"I believe that's why I'm here," Liet explains, "The god-kings saw fit for me to accompany you, because your cause is just. And because I can guide you in making the appropriate choices before you make any such mistake. It is the will of the god-kings that we succeed. Together we'll assess this tomb and find what we need to oppose the Rani and save Iskandria, returning it to their rule. And all will be better for it."

"But we must enter this tomb with an appropriate mind," Liet advises, "It is holy ground. Would you walk into a god-king's final resting place and avail yourself of his treasures without properly honoring his divine spirit and thanking him for that which he provides? I think not. For to do so would be folly. It would bring the god-king's anger and punishment with certainty. The guardians of his tomb will rise up and smite you. That is the fate of these grave-robbers making camp within sight of a temple and a tomb they neither understand nor respect."

"The only spirits I honor are those of my family, priest, and I'll bow down before no god, king or otherwise. I don't care for him or her or their treasure. I'm simply here for the barber's cooking, and because there is nowhere else for me to go. How long I'll be with you, I don't know, but if your god-kings decide to send me to the next world because I've offended them, then so be it."

While the others go hunting, Skittle will draw his bow & move in for a closer look (using pass without trace), gnome sniper style.

Stealth 1d20=19+15=34, Perception 1d20=2+4=6

Skittle stays put, content to let the ones with longer legs race against a horse. Instead, he hunkers down to keep an eye out for anything the others may have missed due to being distracted by the rider.

Perception 1d20=5+4=9

Skittle yells up to Bedu, trying to help him find proper footholds for his descent.

Climb Aid Another 1d20=8+7=15

"maybe you should take off your armour, Skittle?"

Bedu has both hands tightly gripped around a tree at the ravine's edge and he is staring down with gritted teeth.

Then as the gnome climbs down, he begins to offer advice on the good hand holds he can see, where he thinks the climber should rest and other pieces of nonsense.

All the time, Bedu hopes to encourage the gnome, after all it is a long way down...

Aid Another=20

Skittle already took off his armor a post or two back. Not that it matters. Crunch is crunch.

"Alright, priest, let's give it a go," Skittle says as he virtually throws himself over the edge of the cliff with an audible laugh.

Climb 1d20=5+7=12, Aid Another 1d20=4

Uh oh.

"Humph," Skittle mumbles, looking at the dwarf, and more particularly, his belly. "The map says this is where we should descend, and we have enough rope, so let's do it." As he talks, the gruff gnome takes the rope from Liet and starts to knot it about every two feet. "As my father would say, the last thing you want, when on a cliff, is not enough rope."

After a few minutes, he has both ropes tied together and knotted. "Anyone care to check my knots? We always checked each others work," he says, without clear reference to who the 'we' may be. "Let's also tie this off somewhere strong."

He then sets about removing most of his gear and armor, ties it to the end of the rope, and gets ready to lower it down. For a minute or two, he paces along the edge of the cliff, peering down. Stepping back down, he looks up at the hot sun, and cricks his neck to one side with an audible pop. Finally, he looks at the others and says, "Alright, here's how we do it. I'll go down first to make sure the way is clear and there's nothing creeping about. Maybe the priest or the girl after me, so I can help them. Then when we're down, you two," he says, with a nod to Hammurabi and Indo, "can fashion a harness and lower Mr. Barber here down. If anyone has another idea or a suggestion, let's hear it."

After eating, Skittle falls quickly asleep and snores away until his shift on the watch.

Then Bedu laughs, "you know I thought of greasing someone when we fought the tazlwyrm. Wasn't that fortunate Skittle?" he rubs his hands together and grins.

"WHAT? That was you?" yells the gnome with more than a little outrage. "It's disgusting, is what it is! I feel like the inside of a trolls nose! I had that spider well in hand! Ach . . . What?!?" he exclaims as the grease quickly disappears. Looking back up at the dwarf, his facial expression and tone suddenly changed, he says, "Alright then . . . nice trick. Well done, thanks."

Skittle then sets about setting up camp and a cook fire, keeping his bow nearby, with occasional glances up in the trees. Every once in awhile, he can be heard muttering under his breath, "Alright, mother, more carrots," or other such similar statements.

How about some healing before we call it a night?

Skittle continues to struggle against the web, trying to get free.

Escape Artist 1d20=20+3=23, Fort 1d20=19+5=24, Fort 1d20=8+5=13

"Gaah!" Skittle gasps as he tries to squirm his way out of the spider's web.

Initiative 1d20=19+7=26

Escape Artist 1d20=3+10=13

Hmmmm . . . how does BEdu's crisco spell affect Skittle being entangle?

Perception 1d20=5+4=9 (10 if touch or smell)

"Thank you, priest," Skittle says. "I've never had much use for religion, but you're good company." With that, he sets about looking around the camp, and even climbs up in the trees to have a look.

Climb 1d20=12+7=19

"What exactly is a monkey goblin anyway?" Liet wonders aloud, "I've certainly heard you speak of them...with much rage, I might add...but I can't say as I've had cause to study very much about them."

Skittle spits at the dirt in response and mumbles something unintelligible.

Skittle walks along, a little apart from the group, bow in hand as his eyes move from tree to tree, almost to the point of ignoring the trail.

"Careful," he says to no one in particular, "It was just over a year ago that the final four stars spoke to me of a monkey goblin ambush, and me mother tells me there is another one coming."

"I'm sorry, Father!" Skittle yells at the sky as he strips off his armor, "but being in the city has made me soft! The heat is too much!"

Survival 1d20=10+4=14, Survival 1d20=4+4=8, Fort 1d20=7+5-4=8, Fort 1d20=3+5-4=4

Skittle wakes up, refreshed both from sleep and from being back in the jungle. He adds his bow to the pile of stuff he retrieved from the trees.

"So, are we ready?" he asks of the others.

"Why don't you fetch them all down and I'll have a look at them in a moment...after I'm done talking with Lotus here," Liet quietly responds, "Perhaps I can discern something about their previous owners. While studying at the monastery, the monks made sure we got an education on the history of Iskandria, the legends and myths of our ancestry, as well as the noble lineage of the god-kings themselves."

"Okay," Skittle says with a nod as he grabs some rope and climbs back up the tree.

climb (1d20=10+7=17)

Once in the tree, he bundles up everything but the rations, and lowers it back down to the ground before descending again.

Skittle climbs down out of the tree with a bow slung over his shoulder. "I don't think there are anymore of those things up there, but I did find a couple of its meals. They don't look so good. HA! But they did have some stuff - an interesting ring and some coins," he adds as he tosses them on the ground, "and a bunch of weapons," he says as he points back up the tree. "A couple of crossbows, some shorts swords and one of those wavy scorpion type blades, and oh yeah, some leather scale armor, if anyone's interested."

With that, he looks around at the others for a few seconds, and then unslings the bow and starts pulling on the string.

Skittle grimaces from the smell, but tries to get a little closer to the bodies for a better look.

Climb (1d20=6+7=13)
Climb again (1d20=10+7=17)

Skittle:

** spoiler omitted **

And I noticed in the last combat: Skittle is a Small creature, so your weapon damage should be Small too, i.e., short sword 1d4 and kukri 1d3, and so on.

Skittle checks over the bodies and the area for anything interesting, while also looking for any signs of the creatures family or friends.

Oops, my bad for not catching that. Changes have been made.

Skittle wipes off his kukri and looks around at the others before shrugging and climbing back in his bedroll just a few feet from the body of the tatzlewyrm. However, after a moment of two, he opens his eyes and looks the carcass over, and then gets to his feet again. He gives Bedu a nod and then draws his kukri, puts the blade between his teeth, and climbs up into the tree for a look around.

Climb, Look, Smell (1d20=2+7=9, 1d20=10+4=14, 1d20=9+6=15)
Skittle has a +2 on perception for smell & touch

That lorekeeper ability is very cool, Neil, and I like what your doing with Liet. For a moment there, I caught a little Bishop from "Aliens." Clerics have always been the class I least wanted to play, but all the domain stuff gives them some nice flavor and abilities. I'm really going to have to sit down and give the final PF rules a solid read through when they come out.

With a growl & a sneer, Skittle draws his kukri and renews his attack, both blades flashing.

Attack 1d20=4+2=6, Damage 1d6=6+1=7,
Attack 1d20=12+2=14, Damage 1d4=4+1=5

know (arc) (1d20=16+1=17)

"Dazzle Wyrm!" Skittle yells as he draws his short sword and lunges at the beast.

Attack 1d20=7+4=11, Damage 1d6=4+1=5

After quietly listening to the others before they settle down for the night, and then an uneventful watch with Lotus, Skittle chooses to stay on the ground, rather than sleeping in the trees as is his habit.

Pulled from his dreams of family and happier times, Skittle jumps awake almost instantly at the sound of the attack. However, he expects to see monkey-goblins, and his mind stalls as he tries to comprehend what is happening.

Perception, Wisdom (1d20=20, 1d20=4)

initiative (1d20=6+7=13)

Okay, so where is everybody? Did the Cerulean Sisterhood get you all?

"GAAAAHHHHHHHH," skittle screams as he draws his short sword, turns from Bedu and starts hacking apart a wooden crate that is lying in the alley with some other refuse. All the while, he mutters to himself rather loudly, and although it's largely unintelligible, the others can make out the words monkey, goblin, jungle, and family scattered throughout. After a few minutes, when the crate is reduced to splinters, the gnome collapses amid the mess. He drops his sword and punches the ground a couple of times before he finely stops. After a few seconds, he picks up his sword, stands, and resheathes it, looks at the others and says, with a shrug, "Okay, let's go."

"I rely on you all to get us through the jungle. Quickly what do we need to buy? food? drink? trinkets for the monkey goblins? . . . ."

At the mere mention of monkey goblins, Skittle becomes enraged, spitting and standing up to his full, modest, height, the gnome sputters and yells, "Trinkets?!? Trinket?!? The only trinket I have for any of those savage little beasts is cold steel!"

"We are all outlaws. I intend to take this amulet and the map and find some way to clear my name of wrongdoing. It will mean leaving the city and entering the jungle but that may be a good thing for now."

Skittle perks up under Bedu's healing touch, and then his eyes light up and he smiles when he hears mention of the jungle. "Sounds about right to me. I've had enough of this city and it's catacombs anyway. Besides, it's been too long since I carved up some monkey goblins."

"I know, Father!" Skittle yells at the sky.

If our beloved, generous, pond-crossing, convention-going DM would care to use Skittle's last throw against the hobogobo, that would be perfectly fine with me. If not, eh, no big deal. I'm sure he won't last long.

Bedu calls upon the last genie princess's harem to heal Indo's wounds as the last Legionnaire turns and faces the warrior, hitting Indo with a glancing blow from his flail. (7 pts of dmg)

"You may think you have won today," the Cerulean Sister calls out to you from the rear of the alley. "But I can assure you, this is not over. The amulet will be mine. You cannot defy the Rani or the Cerulean Sisterhood for long. You cannot deny Demise, and that is just what I will be - YOUR demise."
"Tanish, come!"

Tanish salutes with his rapier and sketches a bow in your direction, then hops off the roof and runs down the alley. Demise's voice addresses the remaining Crimson Legionnaire: "Bring me the amulet if you survive. Your death will be your penalty for failure."

Okay, as much as I hate it, scratch Skittle's last throw.

"Damn," Skittle says as he collapses back to the ground. Looking over at the others, he adds, "Indo! Do you need me to come over their and save your skin? Split 'em in half already!"

Skittle searches the ground around him, picks up his sword & kukri, stands back up, and throws the smaller blade at the center of Tanish's chest, all while mumbling under his breath.

Attack 1d20=17+5-4 (improvising thrown weapon) =18, Damage 1d6=4+1=5

Skittle crumples with barely a whimper as Tanish's blade runs him through, but thanks to the help of Liet, he regains consciousness. The angry gnome (ooh, good bar name!) comes to, only to find Tanish has moved out of his reach. With some effort, he drops his kukri and draws a dagger, and then throws at it the man.

Attack 1d20=17+5=22, Damage 1d4=4+1=5

I don't know how high up Tanish is, but if Skittle can reach him, he'll attack.

"Enough!" Skittle yells, and with a growl, he slices his blades at Tanish's lower legs.

Attack 1d20=20+2=22, Damage 1d6=6+1=7
Attack 1d20=1+2=3, Damage 1d4=3+1=4

Confirm Crit:
1d20=15+2=17, 1d6=2+1=3

Oooo, does that hit? Ten points of damage, again, from the little man with the crazy hair! Or is this where you tell me Tanish is out of reach?

"Gaaaaahhhhh . . . die already!" Skittle yells as he hacks away at the zombie trying to maul Bedu.

Attack 1d20=20+2=22, Damage 1d6=3+1=4,
Attack 1d20=15+2=17, Damage 1d4=2+1=3

Crit (Attack 1d20=8+2=10, Damage 1d6=2+1=3)

Skittle moves off the roof, next to Liet, and attacks the zombie.

So Skittle can take the above action next round, but you'll need to make an Acrobatics roll to get past the zombie without provoking an AoO. On the plus side, you'll get to go before the zombies and Legionnaires!

acrobatics (1d20=2+7=9)

Skittle Beck wrote:

Crap, I thought I finished my move another square down the alley, out of reach of the zombie, and that I would have gotten my attack in before the hobgobs, no? And a critical? Damn. I've been trying to play Skittle a little reckless, but ouch, I didn't mean for him to get clobbered that bad.

That's one of the reasons I put grid numbers on this map. :) If you want to end up in a particular square, give me the grid coordinates (and make sure you have the movement to get there!). In Skittle's case, it took a move action to climb on the "roof", then move to the end next to the hobs.

Ah, I wasn't thinking of the climb as a separate move action. My bad.

Skittle, badly wounded and bleeding profusely, reverses direction and drops back down off the northside of the 'roof' and will use his attack against the zombie.

Sneak attack under PF rules works against anything with a discernible anatomy. So, most undead are fair game, oozes and gel cubes, and ethereal undead such as ghosts, etc., are not. At least, that's my understanding.

Round 3 (continued):

Bedu moves forward and lays a healing hand on Indo. As Skittle runs towards them, two of the Crimson Legionnaires fire their crossbows at the gnome. The first one misses, but the second bolt slams into Skittle's neck, followed by a gout of blood. (Critical, 7 pts of dmg) The third Legionnaire steps back and fires his crossbow as well, but the close proximity throws off his aim and he misses. He drops his crossbow and draws a flail.

One of the zombies turns to face Skittle, clubbing the gnome from behind. (4 pts of damage) The second zombie swings wildly at Indo and misses.

Lotus, you're up! Updated map

Crap, I thought I finished my move another square down the alley, out of reach of the zombie, and that I would have gotten my attack in before the hobgobs, no? And a critical? Damn. I've been trying to play Skittle a little reckless, but ouch, I didn't mean for him to get clobbered that bad.

Skittle lets out what sounds like a growl, and quickly tries to move around the skeleton Indo struck down and toward the wall to get at the hobgoblin archers, while avoiding the reach of the nearest zombie.

(Acrobatics1d20=16+7=23, Climb 1d20=1+7=8)

Skittle attempts to dive past the wolf skeleton in front of him, but he is unable to get past and comes up short. Both skeletons and the wolf attempt to attack him while his defenses are down, but all are fortunately unsuccessful. (Acrobatics roll wasn't enough to get past the wolf, so Skittle is unable to move past Indo.)

[ooc] Crap. Can I at least keep my combat rolls? I'd hate to waste a confirmed crit with max damage.

Skittle Beck wrote:

In a mad burst of activity, Skittle breaks off combat with the skeletons before him, and dives behind Indo. Without breaking his stride, he heads around him and along the alley wall towards the archer on the right. As he comes around the barrels, he lets his momentum carry him into his target, both blades slicing.

Skittle will need a double move to make it to the Crimson Legionnaire in B10, so he won't be able to attack this round. Also, squares A7, A8, B7, and B8 are a raised roofed area (like a storm cellar entrance), requiring a Climb roll to get over. If you want to change your action, let me know, otherwise Skittle will end his turn in A9, unless you want to move straight through the wolf skeleton's space (requiring another Acrobatics check). If that check is successful, Skittle will be in C9 and can attack the archer.

Damn, I was thinking I had 30' move, and forgot about the little gnome legs, so I'll go with option B, through the wolf's square. I also forgot that with a full move, I don't get a full attack, so assuming I get through okay, I guess I get only the sword damage of 14, right?

Acrobatics 1d20=3+7=10

In a mad burst of activity, Skittle breaks off combat with the skeletons before him, and dives behind Indo. Without breaking his stride, he heads around him and along the alley wall towards the archer on the right. As he comes around the barrels, he lets his momentum carry him into his target, both blades slicing.

Acrobatics 1d20+7=10
Attack 1d20+2=22, Damage 1d6+1=7
Attack 1d20+2=20, Damage 1d4+1=2

Confirm crits:

Attack 1d20+2=17, Damage 1d6+1=7,
Attack 1d20+2=6, 1d4+1=3

16 points of damage! 'cuz that's how I roll. Virtually, anyway.

Thanks, everyone, for the warm wishes. We're all home, and Mom, baby girl, and proud big sister are doing great.

"Why not, Skittle?"

After looking dumbly at the normally long winded dwarf for a moment, Skittle replies, "Why not? Why is the question! I've had enough of his stinking derro hole! I know I'm not a treasure hunter or a tomb raider, but do you all really want to go back there again, just to see what it is we might not have found on two trips already!"

What have we here? exclaims the big tribal man as he taps at the bottom of the crate. He obsessively pries the false bottom out of one container, then another. When he has finished, he sits back in disbelief.

To be sure, these could come in handy, but then did we bring the wrong crates back?

Skittle steps away from his spot near the front window of the shop to see what Indo has found. He takes one of the crates and starts flipping in around. "Hah, that is clever . . ," he starts, before suddenly looking up. "Ach, c'mon. By the hells, I do hope you're not planning on going back there again? If you are, you can count me out."

"Bah! Sell it all," Skittle chimes in. "I've no use for any of it."