Tanselle initially strains to pull herself free of the entangling vines before deciding application of her natural grace would be a more appropriate approach to escape.
Escape Artist:1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 3 - 2 = 12
While he efforts allow her to move gain a little more leeway for her arms and legs to move, the gunslinger remains wrapped up in the vines and so tries again to free herself.
Escape Artist:1d20 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 3 - 2 = 21
Tanselle lets out a sigh of relief, calling upon Abadar to grace her step. Feeling the lawful lord's influence, she deftly steps to the right, hoping to avoid further ensnarement.
Reflex:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
Move: Attempt to escape vines (FAIL).
Standard: Attempt to escape vines (PASS).
Free: Activate Agile Feet.
Free: Take 5-foot step (R).
Tanselle dashes out from cover behind her more armored companions, plugging an alchemical cartridge into her pistol as she goes. She lines up her shot and fires around Grimaldus at the closest of the evil druids.
"Grim, look out!" she calls out as she pulls the trigger.
By now the fighter is old hat at dodging her bullets in traffic.
Tanselle nods in acknowledgement to the new members of the party, the pistol hanging from one hip and golden symbol of Abadar hanging from the other telling them all they need to know about the half-elf.
"At least the vermin had the manners to come to us above ground this time around, eh?" Tanselle says to her familiar companions. "Nice armor, by the way, Tresca. If they're tearing up the prison, we ought to get moving."
Tanselle is a gunslinger-first, cleric-second. Ranged damage with a smidge of healing. And she takes a while to warm up to new people - she, Tresca, Grim, and Odo have history at this point.
With a job well and finally done, Tanselle takes some R&R. She spends her spare time casting bullets and re-purposing spent cartridges into usable ammunition in order to make a little tavern money between missions.
Grim, check out Tanselle's level two build. The dip in cleric granted her some incredible saving throws and access to shield. Plus, she'll have limited healing capacity from here on out.
"The world will not miss such a scourge," Tanselle says, blowing the smoke from the barrel of her pistol. "Let us hope this is truly over now."
Approaching the fallen body to ensure a double-tap isn't necessary, the gunslinger takes a good look around the chamber.
Take 20 on Perception for a 31.
Or is the real trouble just beginning? Can't wait for the next chronicle - next stop for Tanselle is a dip into cleric of Abadar. Nun with a gun, anyone?
If I am no more than 20 feet (4 squares) from a target, I'll be shooting with what amounts to a -8 modifier to attack (-4 to attack for firing into melee and +4 AC for target due to soft cover). If I am more than 20 feet away, I'll have to add another -2 penalty for being outside my range increment. So, ideally I'd move into Grim's spot, though having Odo be alive is probably more important than what damage Tanselle will do.
Remembering from her past experience with the undead that her scimitar will likely be of little use, Tanselle hitches it to her waist and draws her pistol, loading a cartridge into it and cursing her indecision.
"I need to get closer to get a halfway decent shot at these things," she says.
I could use grit to still make touch attacks with my pistol, but it'd be at a -10 penalty (-2 for range increment, -4 for firing into melee, +4 AC for Darlio and skeleton for soft cover). Ideally, I'd be standing where Grim is currently standing.
Wait a minute - that stuff on the sides of the chamber is rubble? I thought they were cages! This changes everything ... I'll post my action when I get confirmation that Tanselle would be able to move to and fire from the side spaces without significant penalty.
"I cannot get a clear shot," Tanselle says, pulling the cartridge from her pistol and holstering the weapon. [b]"Looks like I must do this the old-fashioned way."[b]
The gunslinger moves into the crypt, drawing the masterwork scimitar as she does.
"Locked and loaded, as always, Grim," Tanselle says, stepping close behind the fighter. "Give me but a moment to check the door, though. Who knows what treachery these Groetus vermin could have planted here."
The gunslinger, pistol in hand, crouches beside the door and gives it a good once over for traps.
Tanselle will take 20 for a total of 31 on her Perception check to look for traps.
"Grim, Odo, I assume you'll take the lead as usual," Tanselle states, citing a few dozen fights as reference. "Once you're through the doors, I'll go next and cover you."
The gunslinger plugs a cartridge into her pistol and gives it one last check before glancing Tresca's way.
"That is unless our mad bomber here doesn't want to try and repeat her last, masterful performance," Tanselle says with something as close to a smile as the stoic half-elf could ever muster.
Tresca, you my only friend. Other than my gun. And justice.
"Do not close that just yet," Tanselle says, stepping toward an open sarcophagus. "Look - just there."
She points out a gleaming scimitar.
"Could be of use against whatever else we might come up against in this accursed place," she continues. "I'd gladly wield it, but would prefer one of you magic-types check it out first. Hate to think it was some kind of cruel trick ..."
I'd actually prefer to continue using my pistol - it is kind of central to my class and concept, but I would be willing to step into a melee role if the scimitar has some game-changing magical quality.
Seeing Tresca digging through her vials, Tanselle waits until she tosses her bomb before leaping into action. Once the alchemist unleashes, she dashes by Odo and in front of Tresca, drawing her pistol as she goes. Loading a cartridge, she fires a shot at the half-orc directly in front of her.
Funny you should mention your child's fascination with the snakes - my 6-year-old daughter spent an entire Memorial Day cookout searching for snakes in the field behind my buddy's house. She and half-a-dozen other 5- to 7-year-old kids wielding buckets and butterfly nets stomping around a field looking for some poor snake. Never found any, though that's not really a surprise as loud as they were.
Moving into a new house while at the same time painting all of said new house and managing a 6-year-old and 1-year-old while doing so means I need a weekend from my weekend.
Swallowing her anxiety regarding venturing even further underground (and into a crypt no less), Tanselle follows the others down the staircase. With her pistol drawn and ready, she takes a closer look at the statues and door.
"Be prepared for their usual shenanigans," she says.
Tanselle will accompany Ka in bring the prisoners to the surface, using her wayfinder to light the way. Once back with the group, she keep a look out while the others figure out the combination puzzle.
Tanselle aids her companions in freeing the prisoners from their chains and seeing to their wounds. Once they are composed enough to do so, the gunslinger inquires as to the location of their captors.
"Please, think about this," she says. "We're looking for cultists - the people who are most likely responsible for kidnapping you. Any information no matter how insignificant it might seem will aid us in bringing them to justice."
Diplomacy:1d20 ⇒ 1
Though her intent was pure, her forceful tone betrays her frustration with this mission and makes it seem as though she believes the prisoners are complicit in aiding the cultists. Seeing the fear and anger in their eyes, Tanselle places a hand on her forehead and mutters a curse in Kelish.
Tanselle takes a step back from the doorway in order to get a better shot at any threats emerging from it. At the shouts of her companions, she holds back from firing until the mites have passed and the true villain reveals itself.
Free: Take 5-foot step (E).
Standard: Ready attack on first creature to take aggressive action against Tanselle or one of her allies.
Hearing the sounds of probable conflict approaching, Tanselle pulls the cartridge from her pistol and plunges a bullet and powder into the gun instead.
"Ready your weapons," she says. "This does not sound like a welcoming committee!"
Tanselle flips open her wayfinder, activating its light spell, and sticks close behind Grim. Loading a cartridge into her pistol, she holds it ready to fire at the first sign of threat.
"I relished the thought of going back underground," she says.
One did not need magically enhanced hearing to catch the sound of her eyes rolling as she spoke.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed by her miscalculation (or rather lack of calculating at all), Tanselle gives her pistol one last check before setting off with the party to where they suspected they would find the Crypt of Fools.
"Good work, Tresca," she says, stepping in stride with the alchemist. "It's a good thing we have that big brain of yours around to unravel all these puzzles."
Tanselle approaches Grimaldus and takes a close look at the parchment he found. She closes her eyes, thinking over the three documents she's seen thus far and suddenly the pieces fall into place.
"Can I see someone's map of Cassomir?" she says, reaching out for a map.
Laying the map out flat on the ground, she traces the outline of the symbol on the most recently found parchment on a similar shape found on the map of Cassomir.
"That shape - the rectangle with the lines shooting off of it - looks more or less like Pharasma's Pulpit," she says. "Perhaps that is where we will find the Crypt of Fools!"
Intelligence:1d20 ⇒ 17
Then the gunslinger realizes that Maedhros already put two and two together without requiring such thorough examination.
Tanselle, while possessing no great love of the deranged inmate's artwork, tries her best to remember his "vision" and find any possible connections within the ruins of the Abbey. Careful not to get too close to the retaining wall for fear of traps or alarms, the gunslinger trains her keen eye on it and its proximity for any clue of a door such as the one in the painting. Remembering the melee that was taking place in the painter's violent work, she keeps a hand rested safely on the handle of her pistol as she searches.
Tanselle leaves the wand and talks of magically hidden doors to those with a taste for it. That said, she does take a potion for herself for when inevitably became rough again. She keeps her eyes and ears open as the party makes their way to the Abbey, her hand never far from the handle of her pistol.
"I've just about had my fill of these Groteus nut jobs," she grumbles, matching Tresca's gait as they travel.
Keeping a wary eye on the bound woman, Tanselle takes a cursory look through the pile of plans strewn about the floor. She attempts to slip a similar piece of parchment among the files before replacing them on the floor.
Sleight of Hand (untrained):1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Once her shady Qadiran business was conducted, Tanselle returns to the group, grimacing at their captive all the while.
"Perhaps she knows the answer," Tanselle says, lifting the unconscious woman's head by her hair. "She might not be forthcoming about it, though I'm sure we can work it out."
Not fully understanding what kind of answers they seek, the gunslinger leaves the interrogation of the bound woman to a more clever companion.
I assume we would have brought the woman down to where the gnome and the rest of the group is. Otherwise, Tanselle and whoever is willing to help her will do so.
"Sounds like a plan," Tanselle said. "Use caution though. She nearly killed me with her channeling the last time I saw her ... if she is indeed the same woman."
The gunslinger keeps her pistol trained on the unconscious woman as her companion ties the rope around their captive.
While her companions engage in conversation with the gnome, Tanselle joins Ka on the upper floor, hoping to aid him in extracting information from the woman he just stabilized.
"She well enough to tell us why she's here?" she said. "She looks an awful lot like someone we've met ... urm ... fought before. I'm betting she's connected to all this trouble."
Tanselle keeps a hand on her pistol as she approaches in case the woman isn't quite as injured as she seems.
Wincing in pain from the blunt force of the thrown club, Tanselle draws another bullet and load of powder from her pouch and starts loading her pistol.
"I'm alright," she says, grimacing at Ka. "More than I can say for this vermin. Another move and I aim for the head!"
Move: Load pistol.
Standard: Ready attack on half-orc.
If the half-orc does anything other than or in addition to surrending, Tanselle will shoot at him.
Seeing Grim drop the orc with one mighty stroke, Tanselle sheathes her scimitar and dashes past the fighter and around the bend, drawing her pistol as she goes.
Move: Sheathe scimitar.
Standard: Move 30 feet (N, N, N, N, E, E) and draw pistol.
