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The remaining splice battling Breach also splices as a standard action, each then taking five-foot steps to set the flank. Exiting the patch of oily grease left by Gandel’s magic though is not as simple as it might first appear.
They both though nevertheless succeed and Breach finds himself flanked after all. But it seems a fair fight, Breach plus his axe makes it two versus two.
The splice battling Hurgah splits into two as a standard action, with both the original and newly created splice then taking a five-foot step to set the flank. Both duplicates are injured and shaken. The raging Reaver does not appear overly concerned.
Halstaft bravely continues his powerful chant to Angraad, risking exposure to the twin splicer beasts before him in order to call forth a powerful ally to turn the tide of the battle.
(hit) (applies) The creature leaps at Morgrym, bringing the force of its weight down on the cleric. It rakes its claws and tusks down the front of the dwarf’s muscled chest, snapping and tearing the links of his mithral shirt. Halstadt tries to bite through the pain of the assault, trying to desperately maintain his link to the great mystic fireforge. *I’ve given Hal the advantage of his buckler while he’s spellcasting. I’ll try to figure out later whether that’s correct or not, I think it is, but it doesn’t matter here.
Meanwhile at the "Donkor Pocket". . . With its desperate flight failing, the trapped beast turns to fight! Suddenly it is unclear who is pursuing who as the splice snaps at the young priest, its jaws and tusks flailing away—a moment later Donkor finds himself outnumbered. Where there was one, now there is two.
And finally, The lone injured splice facing off against the deadly combo of Kogan and the Reaver, senses the end is near. It's eyes glaze over as it makes a decision and then suicides itself in an attack. (miss!) (n/a)
No sooner has Hal cut his target off, than he finds himself facing two creatures instead of one -- the dastardly division has occurred yet again! The (injured) creatures wheel around the dwarf's horse, taking advantage of their now superior number.
Just as Breach catches the (uninjured) splice on his horse, the creature divides, presenting him with two targets. Suddenly, he finds himself pinned in between the two snarling beasts!
Moonpate is flying through the air, chasing down an injured splice. He has closed the gap to 120 feet. Donkor below him has closed the distance to 100 feet, riding frantically out of control on his conjured steed. Though unlike Moonpate, Donkor cannot yet actually see the splice which is weaving in and amongst the dunes.
For the briefest of moments, the beast stops running and, using its tusks, it shreds its own bloody form in twain. Now there are two. The first runs straight north. The other runs straight west, presenting two separate targets.
In the meantime. . . The splice to the south of Hurgah attacks. It launches itself forward seeking to drive its tusks into Hurgah's chest. (success) (applies) The creature latches on, bringing all four of its claws to bear as it rends away at the Reaver. At the same time, the splice to the north seizes the moment and duplicates.
Hurgah is too busy fending off the thicket of claws to notice that behind him one splicer beast cagily dashes off to engage in even more duplication-warfare from a safer distance. The other moves into position to stalk the rotund wizard.
Karek holds his ground, not turning his gaze from the unwounded one. He raises his hammer for his next attack.
The beast dashes away, perhaps not fully appreciating how lucky it is to be alive. It scrambles over the dune heading southwest, but then disappears out of sight, with only the trail of fresh blood leaving a clue as to its direction.
To start us off: The splice to the south of Moonpate flees. It appears to be panicked and takes a run action, moving south west. This draws an attack of opportunity from Moonpate, Hurgah and Karek. Let me know who (if anyone) wants to take it. Going once. . .
Initiative for the splicer beast: Ah! Looks like they are finally getting in there!
For the Vanguard: Hammer and claw suddenly explode amongst the pack! Panic spreads as the splices slam into one another as they scramble to get out of the way. (fails!) Looks like everyone gets that extra standard action - it is now the surprise round.
The sand-covered, tri-tusked beasts attack! (hit!) (applies) (hit!) (applies) (hit!) (applies) (miss!) (n/a) The beasts tear into the unarmored barbarian at the rear of the caravan, splashing his blood on the sand, caking their muzzles in red froth. Hurgah finds himself reminiscing about the good old days when he used to have a stoneskin spell in place.
Recognizing the scent of the draconic half-orc as one and the same from the blood patch in the Golden Tent, and knowing that its terrible mistress has commanded it to seek out and slay that prey, the splicer beast attacks with savage abandon.
Behind Enemy Lines: The creature’s eyes follow the horses dashing by in the distance, its head slowly turning. It is though, otherwise still.
Behind Enemy Lines: No sooner did the splicer beast leave the tent, then the scent went cold. Unable to return to Vavonne to admit its defeat after mere seconds, the creature struck out for the desert, hoping to get lucky. There would be many miles to cover. But it had its methods. . .
Technically, it is possible for the splicer beasts to start climbing out of the 30 foot pit. But with their penalty for blindness condition they cannot succeed on the roll. So the remaining splicer beasts will end the round by taking their saves against the glitter dust. 1. (success) 2. (fails!) 3. (fails!)
A second splicer beast leaps away from the chasm of sand as its pack brothers fall inside. It breaks away from the melee, circles around and attacks the savage dwarf who appears to be off-balance as he swings with his massive hammer. OOC: There's no attack of opportunity there - he's not based. There's no actual flank on Karek though, his superior flanking buddy has fallen into a pit (and was blind anyway). (fails) (n/a)
Pressed by both giant Hurgah and giant Scorpion King, an injured splcier beast pulls back onto its powerful fore legs and springs at the giant scorpion, looking to tear open its shell with its tusks. (A threat! First time!) (no crit! Sigh.) (applies) The spliced beast leaps upon the scorpion and shreds open a chunk of its carapace, looking to sink its jaws into the guts below. OOC: Scorpion King's hit points are reduced from 37 to 31.
OOC: We be up next!
Still looking for that party name? I think you should go with "We suck dog turdies and can't take the desert heat". Too long?
To the south. . . Four frustrated splicer beasts continue to tear at their outer layers in a violent frenzy. Their forms seem to meld into a single pack of blood and gore, but the disgusting mess is definitely expanding. When you look again, you see that Breach Shattershield is now charging towards eight splicer beasts. OOC: The good news is that all eight are blinded from Jason's glitterdust. The bad news is they are about to attempt new saves. 1. (fails!) 2. (saves) 3. (fails!) 4. (fails!) 5. (fails!) 6. (fails!) 7. (fails!) 8. (saves!) Eight (sorta) blind splice, see how they replicate...
Surrounded on all sides, and trapped between a giant waterfall sphere and some kind of monstrous scorpion king, the last splicer beast to the west decides to suicide itself in a final blaze of animalistic fury. First the creature rolls to the side and regains its footing. OOC: Stands as a move action - draws attack of opportunity from the giant scorpion and from Gandel. (AC one place worse from slow) (success!) Possible damage from pincer:[/ooc] (applies!) (splicer beast grappled!) (applies!) As soon as it rolls over, it rolls into the waiting pincer claw of the scorpion king. With a lightening quick motion that belies its great size, the scorpion scissors the splicer beast in half.
Finally! We're up! [insert generic OOC trash talk]
And to the far west, the splicer beast that has been strangely staying out of combat? It seems to suddenly change its mind. Now that the fearsome half-orc appears to be ignoring him and is focussed on killing its pack mates with his back turned, it suddenly charges forward! Hurgah, however, has not forgotten the beast at all. He suddenly spins ready to use the creature’s momentum against him.
Blinky bravely snaps at the retreating splicer beast as though its departure had something to do with him. However, the creature’s partner swiftly exacts its revenge! (hit!) (argh!) The foul beast sinks its tusks into the hapless pharaoh dog and lifts it off the ground like it was but a pup. With its muscled neck it swings its head side to side, back and forth like a whip, each time exerting more and more g-force on the spine of pharaoh dog.
And to the west. . . Having seen a glimpse of the vast beyond of the great bone yard of Pharasma, one splicer beast decides to run for safer pastures.
At the same time, to the south, in the glittering globe of light, two splicer beasts find themselves unable to determine which way their prey (Thalia) has escaped to. In frustration, they sit back on their haunches and tear at their own flesh. When the light show subsides, there are four beasts instead. . . OOC: I believe this is the first time you have seen an injured beast replicate. When they do, the new ones appear to have the identical injuries as the originals – in this case the burn scars from Thalia’s burning hands spell. Also, like the original pair, the new pair is blinded. That means a quartet of saves are required as they complete their turn: 1. (fails!) 2. (fails!) 3. (fails!) 4. (fails!) OOC: Wow! I think they're even replicating die rolls. Isn't there a song for this? Four blind splice, see how they replicate...
Meanwhile, its pack partner continues to harass Halstadt. The dwarf is trying to transition from his spell to a proper combat posture and the beast is determined to maintain its advantage. (Miss!) (n/a) Still affected by Jason’s magic, the creature is simply too slow. Hal regains his two-handed grip on his axe and uses its double-head as a bladed shield against the assault.
First, a very, very crispy splicer beast pinned between Karek and Breach continues its relentless assault against Breach. It suddenly rears up on its hind legs and uses the full weight of its muscled body to force the dwarf's spiked shield out of position. Then, seizing on the brief opening, it suddenly launches forward attempting to drive its tusks into Breach's face. (hit!) (applies) Breach moves at the last instant, using his shoulder guard to block what might have otherwise been a fatal blow. He then uses the shaft of his axe to force the sinewy creature off of him and create some space to wield his weapons. As he does so, he sees that the creature has managed to rake one of its tusks through a joint in his breastplate and a blast of blood flows from the sudden wound.
OOC: Alright! The good guys finally get a turn! What? Not the good guys? I thought we was the "underdogs". Get it? Ah, never mind.
OOC: I actually screwed this up. These two are not slowed and haven't taken their move actions. (I think I treated them as acting in a surprise round out of habit) After replicating, the beasts also move 40 feet closer to breach and Karek (10 feet away). The one that didn't replicate has enough move to charge Breach. (miss!)
The racing beast flies at Breach but the powerful dwarf absorbs the charge with his shield and and shoves it aside - giving a poke with the his deadly shield spikes for its trouble.
Lastly to the northeast, there are two further splicer beasts. The first, just recently created, begins loping towards Breach and Karek, a guttural growl escaping its lips as it closes. The second, continues to tear at its own flesh, using its tusk to rip open a fresh hole in its flank. A few moments later, the creature has somehow managed to shred itself into two identical fully-formed selves.
Whew! That's it for the splicer beasts this round.
Thalia roasts a pair of splicer beasts, but the creatures survive. They answer her challenge by leaping at her, seeking to gore her legs and drag her from Scimitar's back. (hit!)
(hit!)
The tusks find flesh. A wave of searing pain rushes through Xian'an.
It's the weirdest thing, a single beast continues to challenge the now giant Hurgah to the west. It doesn't venture any closer though, instead pacing back and forth snarling and snapping with its tusks.
Meanwhile, to the east, two splicer beast are continuing to bear down on Halstadt Morgrym. However, just before they can spring their trap, they are struck by Jason's spell. The beasts too slow down drastically, and lose their momentum as their assault is ruined.
There is one beast which has managed to avoid both Moonpate's orb and Jason's spell. Without skipping a beat it leaps through the air flying towards Moonpate, suddenly screaming like a jungle cat. The muscles on the creature are truly powerful. (fails!)
The beast flies past Moonpate, clearing the camel, landing on the other side. However, his razored tusk is deflected by the magic of Moonpate's invisible enchanted armor. Undeterred, the creature quickly looks to leap again.
A splicer beast is trapped in a massive orb of churning water. (not bad!) (fails!) The beast remains trapped. It thrashes with all four of its limbs, but is simply tossed upside down in the whirling waters.
Gandel braces for impact as the two massive wolf-like beasts begin their final leap upon him. At the last moment Jason's spell catches them just as they are about to pounce. Now moving as though fighting against unnatural gravity, it's all the creatures can do close. For a moment, Gandel breathes a sign of relief, but then he realizes their huge snapping jaws still seem to be functioning. Each of their tusks is almost the size of his arm.
To the far west, a single creature remains to threaten the rear of the camel train, where Hurgah is. It snarls and barks at the half-orc as it dances forward and back, but it hasn’t come any closer. It remains 50 feet away.
To the northwest, two creatures rush in – one has zeroed in on Moonpate, while the other looks to be going for Blinky (or possibly Gandel). On the opposite side, to the southwest, a pair of creatures are mirroring the movements of their pack brothers to the north in order to trap Moonpate and Gandel in a pincer-like maneuver. They are closing fast!
Meanwhile, the second creature that is approaching the dwarves from the southeast pauses. It’s form begins to shudder as the creature bends halfway around and begins to shred at its skin with its tusks. A “split”-second later (poor pun intended), where once was one, there are now two.
There are two creatures to the northeast bearing down on the dwarven trio. The first suddenly stops while its partner continues to race forward. The one that stops begins to shake and sudddenly claws at its own body. As Donkor previously attempted to describe, the creature somehow manages to tear itself asunder and a moment later, where there was once one beast there is now two, the copy as every bit as aggressive as the original.
The beast to the northwest which continued to run, closes the distance towards the dwarves. It appears to settle upon Hal as its target, looking to take advantage of the fact that in the confusion the dwarf has not yet seen it. Gathering speed, it runs closer, looking to tear him from his saddle. At the same time, an identical beast slips in from the other side, the southeast. The two creatures have coordinated their attacks with the precision of natural pack hunters.
<------ GM was too lazy to find me a better avatar. I've got three tusks coming up from the bottom of my mouth! I'm far tougher looking than this. Also, I don't speak a language, let alone English. I mean c'mon. |
