When Fendir woke, he did not itch or hurt like the others did.
What he did not know, however, was that there was a Dragonmark ringed around his right eye. Unlike a normal Dragonmark, however, Fendir's dragonmark glowed slightly with a dark purple.
Dusk awoke with a snarl, rolling over on to all fours and trying to reach behind her to scratch at her skin. She writhed and jerked, sharp nails yanked her shift down to reveal a symbol etched in to the skin across her left shoulder blade, twisted lines flowing across her shoulder and arm then down across her breast. The pattern was asymmetric, strands of twining ribbon limned in softly glowing crimson, with tiny shifting black threads around the edges. The red glyph and wisps of black of shadow struggled against each other, vying for space on Dusk's skin.
She gritted her teeth and poked at the tangled mass, then immediately let loose a cacophany of swear words in multiple languages, whipping her head back and forth, hair dancing across her shoulders.
With a focused exhaled breath she sat cross legged and composed herself. Glancing around she saw she was not alone, the others each exhibited similar signs.
"Bronwyn, it is evidently some magic, either the temple or the pieces we are carrying. No doubt it can be removed don't fear."
With teeth still clenched she leaned over to her kit and swept up her pauldron.
"This better work..."
She settled it on her shoulder and watched as it *snicked* in to place. A measure of stress passed from her face, immediately replaced by a frown as she saw the insignia on the pauldron had changed to match that of the dragonmark underneath, a miniature copy of the unfinished pattern.
"Blood of the Six, what in Khyber's realm have we stumbled upon!?"
She shok her head then stood and moved to the others, pointing at Fendir's eye.
"Well that's gonna prove hard to hide..."
She looked over the Forged as well, before turning to Vi with questioning eyes.
"You too? How do you feel?"
OOC: They are always cast as 1st level spells.
@Vi: I forgot to mention but your dragonmark 'surfaces' a few minutes after you 'change form' even if you try to 'erase' it.
Questions?
Game on!
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Her eyes widened in fear and she dug frantically in her bag for one of her mirrors. She held it up to her neck and promptly burst into tears. "It's changed! It's no longer a true Mark of Sentinel," she wailed. "And they'll all notice because it's bigger!" Her altered dragonmark had spread from her neck downwards to encompass her shoulder. If she had been thinking more clearly, she may have been grateful it had moved to her shoulder rather than her face but she was close to being inconsolable. She buried her face in her hands, "I'm going to be disowned." . To make matters worse, a loud hissing sound emitted from the still glowing dragonmark which caused a new round of sobbing and the wizard began to hyperventilate.
Suddenly Squeak had a moment of empathy. In a moment Bronwyn had been rendered defective to her bloodline, through no fault of her own. He strode forward, putting a cold metal hand on her shoulder.
"They would be fools to do disown you. You have repeatedly proven yourself an asset both through capability and behaviour. Even should they do so, rest assured that I..." Squeak pausedIf Bronwyn was disowned what would that do to his orders, his Purpose? Should he abandon Bronwyn to protect the next in line of his original commander?
A strange feeling - wanting to be able to choose to do anything rushed over him. 'Perhaps it is my defect showing itself. But should that be true... Should my Purpose command me to move on...' he hesitated 'I would disavow my commission and take advantage of the law that makes me free.
[b]"Bronwyn. I am with you. I intend to stay with you even if you are disowned. If you are cast out on the street I will be with you." the 'Forged reached for words "You are the Objective of my heart, not just my orders."
He did his best to smile, battle damage rendering it comically lopsided.
"Besides. You have taken a number of difficult jobs and done well. I see no reason you will not continue to be able to do so if you adventure out of need rather than money."
Palisade stared at the back of its right hand with detached curiosity. The basic form was that of a Dragonmark, and while the 'forged wasn't so well versed in the differences of the various marks to recognize it, its reddish color was unlike any it had seen or had heard about. And that was quite beside the point that no Warforged to its knowledge had ever manifested one.
"Observation. This is most surprising," the 'forged said.
"You too? How do you feel?"
"This one is functioning normally," Palisade replied, deciding to ignore the Mark on its body plating. "The presence of these Dragonmarks is a mystery, though. This one believes no known spell or magic has been able to bestow a Mark on a person. Until now. Although the coloration of these Marks seem unusual."
Bronwyn has advantage on checks.
The twelve dragonmarks are predictable, and their powers are generally constructive. But there is another kind of dragonmark, which is dangerous to both the bearer and the people around them. Aberrant marks often appear when people from different dragonmarked families produce a child, and for this reason such unions are forbidden by the Twelve. But aberrant dragonmarks can appear on members of any race, at any age, regardless of bloodline. No two aberrant dragonmarks are exactly alike-even if they grant the same power, they might manifest in different ways.
It usually takes time for a character to learn to control an aberrant mark, and in time, people might be hurt by it. This factor has led to the general superstition that people with aberrant dragonmarks are dangerous.
GM Note: let's have each PC (except Bronwyn) have a feeling what the dragonmark does but has a learning curve in casting the spell (whatever that means to you).
Aberrant marks are feared for another reason, too.
Long ago, aberrant marks were more common and some held great powers. Aberrant leader Halas Tarkanan could devastate cities with powerful earthquakes.
The Lady of the Plague wielded disease and commanded hordes of vermin. The dragonmarked houses united in an inquisition called the War of the Mark.
Some say this was a persecution of innocents, but most feared the aberrants and stood by as the houses hunted them down. Following the War of the Mark, aberrant dragonmarks were few in number and relatively weak.
But since the Mourning, aberrant marks have been appearing in greater numbers.
He strode forward, putting a cold metal hand on her shoulder.
"They would be fools to do disown you. You have repeatedly proven yourself an asset both through capability and behaviour. Even should they do so, rest assured that I..." Squeak paused
Bronwyn reacted instinctively to the comforting, albeit cold, hand on her shoulder by curling up against Squeak's chest as her sobs came out between gasps for air. She felt dizzy and a few times blackness threatened to close off her vision but she fought to stay conscious.
'I would disavow my commission and take advantage of the law that makes me free.
Bronwyn. I am with you. I intend to stay with you even if you are disowned. If you are cast out on the street I will be with you." the 'Forged reached for words "You are the Objective of my heart, not just my orders."
Bronwyn looked up at Squeak as his words managed to cut through the jumble of thoughts in her head. "Really?" Her words came out almost like hiccups. "You...would...do...that...for...me?" The hissing diminished a bit as Bronwyn's breathing normalized somewhat.
His lopsided smile comforted her almost more than his words did. She gave the 'forged a hug, "Thank you."
Once the shock of the change had lessened, the wizard was finally able to focus on the Aberrant Marks and what they meant. "Aberrant dragonmarks can appear on members of any race, at any age, regardless of bloodline. No two aberrant dragonmarks are exactly alike-even if they grant the same power, they might manifest in different ways. Since they aren't predictable like regular dragonmarks, it will take you guys some time to learn how to harness whatever power you now have."
"Shifters don't get Dragonmarks." said Fendir, oblivious to his current situation.
Mei'Vi. Mei'Vi. Mei'Vi.
Vi woke up as she always did, taking a moment to remind herself who she was waking up as. This immediately led to a wash of memories about yesterday, and she took immediate assessment of her body. Her skin still itched and burned a bit, especially the palm of her right hand and forearm, but that was to be expected after the acid shower she'd taken yesterday. Overall, she felt much better.
Stretching luxuriously in the enormous bed, she yawned loudly. About to ask how the others were doing, the words died on her lips as a string of vile curses suddenly joined the jungle sounds that had awoken her.
Leaping out of bed, Mei'Vi ran to Dusk's side. "Are you okay? Then her eyes widened - the tiefling had a strange, glowing red mark etched into her skin. Placing her hand over it, Vi asked, "Khyber below! Is that what I think it i...?"
The words faded from her lips as she realized that the hand she'd placed on Dusk was softly glowing with a similar mark. Blue instead of red, but otherwise almost the same. A twisting, pulsing, glowing mark that encompassed her hand and forearm. "What the....?"
She buried her face in her hands, "I'm going to be disowned." . To make matters worse, a loud hissing sound emitted from the still glowing dragonmark which caused a new round of sobbing and the wizard began to hyperventilate.
Vi moved to her friend's side, rubbing her back. "Hush, it'll be okay. We'll figure it out."
You are the objective of my heart.
Squeak's words brought tears to Vi's eyes. Once again, the inhuman Warforged proved his humanity in a way that nearly broke the changeling's heart.
With a focused exhaled breath she sat cross legged and composed herself. Glancing around she saw she was not alone, the others each exhibited similar signs.
"Bronwyn, it is evidently some magic, either the temple or the pieces we are carrying. No doubt it can be removed don't fear."
With teeth still clenched she leaned over to her kit and swept up her pauldron.
"This better work..."
She settled it on her shoulder and watched as it *snicked* in to place. A measure of stress passed from her face, immediately replaced by a frown as she saw the insignia on the pauldron had changed to match that of the dragonmark underneath, a miniature copy of the unfinished pattern.
"Blood of the Six, what in Khyber's realm have we stumbled upon!?"
Seeing the design on Dusk's weird shoulder-armour change gave Vi the chills. For some reason, that spooked her more than the appearance of the marks in the first place.
Turning her attention to her arm, the changeling focussed on her skin, changing the pigment, erasing the mark, turning it back to the tanned colour skin she'd chosen for Mei'Vi. For a moment the mark seemed to wiggle up her arm, as if escaping the change. Frowning, Vi changed the pigment cells of the entire arm, and was relieved when the mark vanished. "There! That takes care..." The mark had reappeared on the other arm. "Now listen, you!" The changeling concentrated on that arm, and was gratified to see it fade to nothingness. Only to have it reappear on her leg.
What followed was a hilarious game of chase across the changeling's skin. The mark moved up her leg, across her back, down the other leg, across her belly, as she tried to erase it. Her curses became increasingly elaborate, and she tore the remains of her damaged clothes from her body she she followed the migrating mark around, trying to erase it.
Finally, in pure frustration, she turned her skin black...almost pure black, with only the whites of her eyes and teeth showing. "Ha! Suck on that, blue mark!" she crowed.
The moment was ruined by a giggle from Bronwyn, who was pointing at her backside. Twisting around, Vi saw a strange blue glow coming from her rear. "It's on my ass, isn't it. Is my ass glowing?"
"Shifters don't get Dragonmarks." said Fendir, oblivious to his current situation.
Bronwyn was still unnerved by the change to her dragonmark and wasn't able to filter her thoughts as usual before they came spilling out of her mouth. "Try listening before attempting to add to the conversation." Her voice got louder and she slowly enunciated, "I said...'Aberrant dragonmarks can appear on ANY race.' Shifters are a race, are they not?"
The moment was ruined by a giggle from Bronwyn, who was pointing at her backside. Twisting around, Vi saw a strange blue glow coming from her rear. "It's on my ass, isn't it. Is my ass glowing?"
Watching Vi had temporarily distracted Bronwyn enough to calm the internal stream of disheartening thoughts to the point where the hissing completely stopped and a giggle escaped from her as Vi's butt began to glow. She nodded at Vi's seemingly rhetorical question, "Totally." She cocked her head to the side. "In fact, between your ring and your derriere, I think it warrants a nickname. I think we should start calling you Firefly."
OOC: you're talking about the guy who went under for four-five times in the last 24 hours. He probably doesn't feel anything unless it's a deep wound. :)
Or the player just missed that part. :)
I intend to recap later today.
Questions?
Game on!
"Why would I want to hide my eye?" Fendir asked as Vi pointed and made her comment. "My eye works just fine."
At Bronwyn's rebuke, Fendir says "No, I mean that Shifters aren't involved in either Dragons nor their silly prophesy. We have better things to be doing."
This morning he had said more combined than in the entire time he had been with the group.
Fendir's appearance shifts, and he appears to be a carbon copy of As his appearance changes, his Dragonmark disappears.
"Your mirror is not wor...what's wrong with my voice?" he asked, clearly in 's voice.
"What sort of nonsense is this?"
Dusk watched as Vi moved through different shifts of skin in her attempt to dismiss the mark.
"That's quite the range of control you have there, I don't feel it's your abilities to blame not getting rid of the mark, they seem to be... persistent..."
She reached up to scratch under her armor plate but stopped herself.
"Firefly might fit, I was about to say its current location is undignified but perhaps its now all the easier to hide from prying eyes..."
She stared at Vi's behind for a moment and smiled before turning to their barbarian guide
"As B said Fendir, check your facts before you voice your opinion..."
She grabbed a silver plate from the hoard and tossed it over to the shifter.
"That's an ordinary plate, not a magic mirror"
As Fendir looked at himself then turned in to a copy of her, she harrumphed.
"It's a common parlor trick Fendir"
There was a shimmer in the air around Dusk, her hair pulled up to coil around her head and shifted to the hue of a cloth wrap, her features hardened and musculature changed, until standing in front of Fendir-As-Dusk, was a complete copy of Fendir.
"See?"
said Dusk-as-Fendir, in his own deep voice.
She shook her head and the illusion fell from her form, dissipating like ash falling from a fire
"Better knock it off Monocle, there's guild rules you won't like about impersonating a bounty hunter..."
As the group stopped to rest, Dusk nodded at 162
"Very helpful to have a friend that doesn't mind carrying such a heavy load."
She sat down and rubbed her shoulder, grimacing.
"Blasted thing, feels like it's burrowing in to me..."
She removed her shoulder guard to inspect the area again, the dull red glow was still darkened by the surrounding shadowed flesh.
Across the clearing, embedded in a tree, was Dusk's new pauldron. She stared incredulously at her hand.
"What the? I didn't even move..."
She stood and walked the forty or so feet to the tree, attempted to pull it out and failed. Finally she used her shadowblade to carve the piece of tree around it, and retrieved it that way. Frowning, she reversed it and placed it on her other shoulder. It snicked in to place as usual.
"I'm not overly fond of mysteries beyond where my next bounty is hiding, anyone any idea about what's happened here? My own education in such things was sparse..."
*Squeakwp-*
Palisade stared at the colorful large-beaked jungle bird sitting on a branch of a nearby tree burst into flame as a crackling blue arc of lightning hit it with deadly results. And the arc of energy persisted, too, the ‘forged noted with interest, watching the little avian’s body being scorched into charcoal.
Trouble was, Palisade had been aiming at a large fruit hanging from the same branch, two feet to the left of the unfortunate little creature.
’Note. Accuracy leaves something to be desired,’ the ‘forged thought, wondering if practice would improve things. It reasoned it’d have ample time to experiment on that during their trek back to civilization.
That momentary lapse in concentration was enough for Palisade to lose hold of the unfamiliar magic and the electric arc blinked out. The ‘forged’s single eye followed the remains of the bird – now a blackened husk – fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.
Still, this was a new weapon to add to its arsenal, and even though power rarely came without a price, Palisade rather doubted not using this new magic he had been granted for whatever reason would be the answer.
Action 2:
Action 3:
Bronwyn could recognize the occurrence of magic as they made the trip back to Adderport and she could only assume that the Aberrant Dragonmarks were the source. It appeared that Dusk recognized Fendir's new ability. The wizard easily recognized what Palisade's did considering she knew the spell herself.
Bronwyn's mouth gaped open as she witnessed Palisade incinerate a bird. She put her hand on his arm and slowly pushed it downwards so that it pointed at the ground. "Let's just lower that so no one dies. Arcane magic is a bit different than that afforded to you by the creator goddess. So if you want any help or suggestions on how to control it, I can help." She turned to the others and said, "The same goes for all of you."
The wizard was unusually reserved on the journey back to civilization. Some may even go so far as to suggest she was surly, if they were brave enough to say it to her face. It was obvious that the change to her dragonmark was weighing heavily on her mind and soul. She couldn't help but wonder if it would even work the same...or at all.
Eventually, Fendir was forced to come to the realization that he was, indeed, dragonmarked. This left him even more withdrawn than usual. He quietly stalked the jungle, guiding the group back towards civilization.
Any attempt to engage him in conversation got only a grunt or laconic response.
Action 2:
OOC: No, Bronwyn already rolled but the others haven't tried yet. In any case, there are other ways to learn that info and we can RP that out.
Bronwyn's dragonmark looks like the Mark of Sentinel to most people. However, normally dragonmarked people who look at it closely will spot that it's somehow different.
I would like to recap later today but may not get a chance until tomorrow.
Questions?
Game on!
"Firefly?" Vi considered it as she allowed her skin to lighten back to Mei'Vi's tan. "I actually kind of like it." Pulling her spare clothes from her pack, she got dressed, enjoying the feeling of clean clothes against her recently healed skin.
Action 3
Vi watched in amazement as the others seemed to perform one miraculous feat after another. "Wow!" she watched Dusk try to pull the armour piece from the tree. "Was that magic? I didn't even see you move!"
Rolling up her sleeves, she said, "Well, what did this annoying mark give me? Other than a glowing butt?" She pointed her finger at a berry bush and concentrated, but nothing happened. She tried waving it around, and saying some strange words, like Bronwyn did, but it was in vain. "No fair! I don't get any cool powers!" Pouting, she sat down and watched the others experiment.
Sorry people, but I won't be able to update things tonight and tomorrow is not certain because I have another work event.
Thanks for your patience!
Game on!
Action 3
"You are unfortunate." Squeak agreed with Vi. "I am unsure why I myself did not receive such a mark."
He looked across to where his fellow 'Forged was stripping down and reassembling his secondary motivator. "Even Palisade has received one. I am attempting to correlate our experience in an attempt see why i might have been spared."
He paused "An excellent point. It could simply be that the manifestation of my Dragonmark has been delayed." Carefully manually adjusting his 'mouth' into a humorous smile he continued "Indeed it is fortunate that they possess colour. Given my entire housing is inscribed with holy writ it might be quite hard to see otherwise."
On Squeak's back the words rippled slightly and pushed a fragment of inscription deep into the cell containing Squeak's cogitator and Soul housing.
"Indeed. We should talk about 162's future. Can we bring her back with us?"
When Vi opened her mouth to speak, Squeak pushed on, as if replying to something she hadn't said. Looking at the others for a moment, she confirmed that none of them had spoken. "What point? Indeed what?" She turned to 162. "Did you say something?"
tag
"Are we sure you didn't get one?" Mei'Vi asked, concerned. "Put your arms up, turn around. Let's take a look at you."
As the woman and her twins blocked their path, Fendir heard others moving about in the foliage; with a gesture, he indicated their positions.
Knowing how much the others loved to talk, however, Fendir paused the briefest of moments to allow them to talk.
Dusk laughed at the woman, feigning disbelief.
"Are these.. I mean... if this is the best you can afford then fine, but really..."
She gestured at the twins and shook her head sadly
"The last set of dragon's eyes we saw we left rotting in some ruins several miles back. Now look we've had a long walk and it's kind of boring moving through the jungle in this heat, not a lot of time for pleasant distractions"
She winked at Vi and noted Fendir's gesture at the other hidden in the foliage
"Now even with your friends that think they're doing a good job of hiding in the bushes, you are out of your league here pound for pound. Tell you what, if you surrender now we'll let you walk back to Adderport rather than leave you here for the local flora and fauna to take care of."
Se smiled briefly, sharp canines showing
"It'd even give us a chance to drink some water, touch up our rouge, that sort of thing..."
She dropped her pleasant tone
"Or you can feed the trees and ground with your blood and bones, entirely your call..."
She didn't even reach for her shadow blade, just stared dispassionately at the woman.
Squeak groaned as he got to his feet, still partially disassembled. "I heard someone... just. It was very quiet. They asked 'what about 162'." he looked around "Didn't you hear it? Who said it?"
Squeak hesitated, troubled, then burst out "I suggest using a pound for pound reference is a poor measure of comparison. I would estimate that this group weighs at most a ton. Our group weighs in at closer to one and a half. Could I request we use a volumetric comparison instead? 'Cubic foot for cubic foot'?" He sighs "Even then, we have a Siege class Warforged and a Colossus class Warforged... there really needs to be a better mechanism for assessing capability, still..." He brightened "once they're dead I can measure their weight, volume and surface area." He paused "If possible could we capture a few? I have some experiments I would like to perform and subjects would be helpful. Note so long as torso and head survive I am confident I can keep them alive long enough. I will need their tongues and vocal chords intact."
Action 2
Mei'Vi looked around, but didn't see anybody own up to saying anything. "I certainly didn't hear that, big guy. Come on, arms up, let's take a look at you."
She walked around the 'forged, looking carefully for a dragonmark.
Action 4
Vi felt a range of emotions as her friends responded to the new threat. A thrill of excitement at Dusk's wink and deadpan threat. A suppressed groan as Squeak started to derail the threat, then a surge of pleasure as he salvaged it.
Rummaging around in her pocket, she pulled out one of the teeth she'd extracted from the "unruly children". "I've got a Dragon Tooth, if you want to buy that. Didn't take any eyes, though."
Action 2:
Bronwyn moved over to Squeak and Vi, "I'll help look."
The wizard sighed and pointed at Squeak's ankle. "It's right there. But it's super small. These dragonmarks are weird. I'm not sure I like it."
Action 4:
Bronwyn gave the woman a look of pity. "We can't give you something we don't have.
And I'm fairly certain whatever it is does not belong to the Emerald Claw either and so you have no claim on it. You must not be liked by whoever sent you here. We've encountered the Emerald Claw on numerous occasions and they have always failed in their mission. So someone has set you up for failure." She paused and then asked somewhat rhetorically, "And when did the Emerald Claw become a knighthood?"
OOC: Yes, you may assume you met the lizardfolk and returned their spear.
No, you don't know what she's talking about. You heard nothing of a 'Dragon's Eye'. Sur'kil asked you to find the crown, the amulet, and the scepter.
I'll give Palisade soe time but intend to move this along tomorrow.
Questions?
Game on!
He paused "If possible could we capture a few? I have some experiments I would like to perform and subjects would be helpful. Note so long as torso and head survive I am confident I can keep them alive long enough. I will need their tongues and vocal chords intact."
”Agreement. We are still to perfect the spider kill device for Lady d’Deneith. And while living subjects would be ideal, this one believes even a perished unit would have some value – we could use it to make sure the device won’t slice off the wearer’s lips while performing the spider execution action.”
"Really?" Squeak said, pleased "That is excellent news. I was worried I had missed standardisation. I wonder what it does?"
He paused "If possible could we capture a few? I have some experiments I would like to perform and subjects would be helpful. Note so long as torso and head survive I am confident I can keep them alive long enough. I will need their tongues and vocal chords intact."”Agreement. We are still to perfect the spider kill device for Lady d’Deneith. And while living subjects would be ideal, this one believes even a perished unit would have some value – we could use it to make sure the device won’t slice off the wearer’s lips while performing the spider execution action.”
Squeak looked at Palisade, then turned back to the Emerald Clawites "Oh. I was thinking..." 'Lip slicing? I was thinking I could use them to test the amount of chilli to add to my Spicy Ganache in order to mask the chitin flavour. I mean, I suppose Bronwyn's safety is the more important...' Inspiration struck 'Oh! Palisade is bluffing them! He really is very good with humans.' "Uh, of course. Yes. The spider execution unit. Exactly."
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
Bronwyn
, hit
, hit
Dusk
Fendir
, hit
Palisade
Squeak
Vi
, hit
Yes, I liked that.
I also liked Dusk's intimidation speech as well.
Both Dusk and Squeak, take inspiration.
Questions?
Game on!
The woods were suddenly alive with archers, and Vi had an arrow slice across her calf to prove it. She considered retaliating in kind, but decided that it would probably be more efficient to take out the leader. Studying the woman, she tried to gain some insight about her movements that would allow the rogue to strike where it would hurt the most.
Grateful that her hands were in much better shape than they'd been against the mummy, Vi nocked, drew and released in one smooth motion. The arrow flew straight between the two bodyguards, lodging in the woman's abdomen. Curling in on herself with a grunt, the woman looked satisfyingly less sure of herself. Vi wasn't sure if she'd hit her spleen as she'd intended, but if she didn't this time, she'd try again with her next arrow.
As the woman commanded her subordinates to attack, Fendir snarled. That snarl rose to a growl as the arrow grazed him. That growl turned into a roar as the beast within took over and he sprinted towards the leader moving to the left through the jungle momentarily to escape her two bodyguard's reach.
He then stabbed at her twice with his blade.
As crossbow bolts came hurtling towards the wizard, she reacted with protective magics. As much as she trusted Palisade and Squeak with her well-being, she had to do what she could to protect herself.
"Declaration. If you want to fight, fight something bigger than yourselves," Palisade said calmly, irritated though it felt itself as the enemies' bolts hit Lady d'Deneith while its armor defeated the attakc. "Helpfully. If bigger enemies prove too difficult for you to locate, this one is happy to chop off your legs to provide you with larger pool of suitable opponents to choose from."
The 'forged touched the holy symbol engraved on its shield and murmured a quick blessing, conjuring a spectral smith's hammer into being behind the assumed enemy leader and turned its attention away from the magical weapon even as it smacked the woman painfully on her left shoulder. For there were many other foes to challenge, and provisional companion Fendir was already on his way to engage the trio on the road. Thus the 'forged priest decided to head south, interposing itself between the archers and Bronwyn in the hopes of attracting attacks from the archers while closing on the enemy undead.
OOC: Shield is cast as a 'reaction', which is even better IMO. Since shield gives you +5 to AC, it will block the second arrow.
Everyone should really learn what they can do as a reaction and what they can do as a bonus action. Some spells can be cast as a bonus action thus allowing someone to cast two spells in the same round.
I know everyone was ready to attack (including you guys) but the 'archers' were really ready to attack (as in, sighting down their crossbows) so I let them attack in a surprise round and then rolled initiative for everyone else.
Questions?
Game on!
Squeak moved to the other side of Bronwyn, acting as a living bulwark. With his left hand he raised his crossbow and fired a bolt of fire at the oncoming undead. With his right he squirted Bronwyn with a mist of atomised healing potion.
Squeak moved to the other side of Bronwyn, acting as a living bulwark. He raised his crossbow and fired a bolt of fire at the oncoming undead. "Don't worry Fendir, I'm... Oh, you're fine."
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
, hit
, hit
, hit
, hit
, hit
, hit but blocked
, hit
, hit
, hit critical
, hit critical
As the group began firing on the leader, Fendir decided to switch up his targets and put down her bodyguards.
"Undead incoming. Vi: please execute the leader. Companion Dusk, the undead are surprisingly robust. I require assistance." Squeak relayed, repeating his actions. this time, however, it was Vi he targeted with his healing mist.
Inside he exulted 'I moved to stand between Bronwyn and the charging undead! I have taken arrows meant for her! Perhaps my defect was a momentary glitch!'
"Thank you for the tactical assessment Squeak, happy to assist"
Dusk drew her blade as she spoke a word of dark magic so black that the noise of the area was momentarily stilled, a ripple through the air the only note of its passing as it swirled around her blade as she pointed it at the jungle, then fanned outwards towards the group of Emerald Claw minions facing Squeak.
With a howl of shrieking, freezing wind, the jungle in front of Squeak was ripped asunder and plunged into darkness, completely engulfing the foes he was facing. Soft whispers and moans of pain were all that escaped the blackness.
"Do not advance inside the darkness Squeak..."
Dusk brought up her shield gauntlet in front of her as she moved around Bronwyn to stand next to Vi, giving her some cover to shoot from behind of.
Palisade squared off with the Karrnathi undead who had come to meet it, both warriors evenly matched in resolve. The two traded blows, hammering each other's shields and blocking weapons before Palisade found an opening. The 'forged took a quick half-step forward, slamming its shield into the undead's face to block its vision momentarily while its mace swung with deadly accuracy to strike the creature's leading foot's knee with a resounding cracking sound.
Vi cried out as the arrow lodged firmly in her hamstring. She had to take her weight off her left leg as she continued to study and fire at the leader.
As Dusk put herself in between Vi and further incoming arrows, Vi nodded gratefully to the tiefling. "Now who's being the idiot?" she asked fondly.
There! A weakness - the woman was moving slightly back and forth between the two bodyguards, using a steady, swaying rhythm. All Vi had to do was account for the movement, and hope Fendir didn't move, adjust for the slight wind....she breathed and released, and the arrow flew true.
It struck the woman in the chest, definitely piercing a lung, and her heart if Vi was lucky. The woman staggered, dropped to one knee, (and fell, her heart pierced/OR/ but managed to pull herself upright again)."YES!" she crowed, stepping forward, then nearly falling as the arrow in her leg sent a jolt of pain through her body.
Bronwyn looked surprised momentarily knowing that her magic had shielded her from one of the attacks and yet she could sense that she still had access to more of that protective magic. "That's new," she murmured, before she began the incantation for one of her favourite spells. The wizard sent a fireball hurtling towards the priestess and her two body guards while making sure to shape a protective bubble around Fendir.