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Larkspring tries to keep from drowning, his instincts temporarily keeping him from heading towards the black thing.
Fir swims towards the oil to try to destroy it before it can bring his master to harm.
Larkspring swims back to the surface and pelts his globe of heat at the accursed ooze.
Fir, seeing his master looking better, swims towards the oil to make sure it never controls his friend again.
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The battle continues on the banks of the Kurka Swamp. The night is full on at this point, the light from the campfire and the floating object are the only light sources for the heroes to fight the wierd monsters they face. The floating spiritual fist slams down again on the oil slick causing the thing to shudder a bit, either from pain or maybe just the uncomfortable pressure from the fist. As Tegid watches his holy fist damage the oil slick he takes a moment to load his crossbow. The floating light unloads another volt of electricity aimmed at the Captain who gets lit up by the energy involved in the attack. He falls flat on the shore hugging himself at the pain he has just recieved. In a loud curse at the monsters who are harming her friends, Sabriel lunges toward the glowing ball with an attack from her rapier, the attack falls short of the mark unfortunately. Still in thrall of the oil slicks hypnotic mental grasp, Triska again tries to shake off the effects of the spell like power the creature has. She also continues to struggle against the half orc on top of her with flailing arms and legs but she is not successful in either. The oil slick makes one more attempt to attack but changes targets as its not able to reach Triska anymore with the beast on top of her in the way. It looks for prey that is actually in the water so its heads for the two splashing around in the water by the boat. By the time it gets to Lark and Fir it gets a face full of hated flames its decision turning into a very bad one as parts of it errupt into flames making the creature shake in a violent manner. While the flames do their damage to the thing, Fir moves up tired of the thing and slaps down one of his big paws stilling the creature except for the flames slowly consuming the oil and drift wood........As the thing dies or what ever happens to monsters like this one the effects of the hypnotic spell wear off of Triska, she stops struggling but wonders why Faruq is laying on top of her............
Having loaded his crossbow and confident that Larkspring and Fir have taken care of the water creature Tegid turns his attention to the dancing ball of light. Not confident that he could shoot at the dancing ball of light and not hit Sabriel Tegid instead moves up and raising his holy symbol intones a prayer of strength on Sabriel.
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Now re-endowed with his full faculties, Larkspring shifts his hands in a few more complex gestures and speaks another incantation, causing a large brown owl with yellow eyes and great tufts on its head to appear behind the glowing light.
Fir, satisfied that he was the one who struck down the oil, swims toward the ship.
Triska rolls Faruq off of her with a curse and stands up. She takes careful aim at the glowing ball of light and looses an arrow in its direction.
Attack (point blank) (1d20+9=20), Damage (1d8+4=11)
Sabreil sees the others defeat the oil slick out of the corner of her eye and is glad when they turn their attention to the glowing ball. She renews her efforts in trying to hit the elusive "thing", but once again misses.
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With the oil slick taken care of the group can focus on the floating bulb of light. Seeing he has no room to attack the light, Tegid decides to help his new friend by giving her some divine help. He closes his eyes and focuses on his symbol of his god calling forth help, the call is heard and Sabriel instantly feels her body swell with power. As this is happening the light blasts an electrical charge into Sabriel chest who is the closes target at the moment(5 hps dam). She tries to return the favor but the damage done to her effects her attack on the thing. An arrow flies in as Sabriel is pulling her sword thrust back readying another attack. Triska's attack is close but misses the mark and continues off into the distance until is splashes into the swamp. Still splashing around in the swamp with Fir, Lark quickly casts a spell for some needed help. A owl appears beside Sabriel and attacks the glowing light with its talons as it wings by but did not have enough speed to get close enough to make a successful attack. As the owl moves into its attack run, Lark and Fir make their way back to the shore and the boat. The captain raise himself off the ground after the last attack, he seems shaken up but with a moment to gather himself he should be ok. Faruq seeing most of the attacks on the glowing light fail get mad, real mad, going into a rage he charges the floating thing with his falchion yelling the who way. He swings and somehow manages to hit the thing, its hard to tell but the thing seems to be changing color to a more reddish hue.
Triska concentrates, breathing deeply, and launches another arrow at the glowing ball. "By Erastil, hit this time!" she hisses as the arrow flies.
Attack (point blank) (1d20+9=22), Damage (1d8+4=12)
Not giving up on her efforts, especially now that everyone else seems to be joining her offensive against the Glowing Ball, Sabriel once again swings and misses with her Rapier.
Attack Glowing Ball with Masterwork Rapier. (1d20+3=7)
Tegid once again calls on the power of his god and reaches out to touch Sabriel providing her with divine guidance.
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The night grows older as the battle with the floating light continues, it is not detered by the loss of its oil slick distraction. Tegid calls upon his god to help Sabriel providing her with divine guidance in her attacks. The light shoots out another of its energy attacks but this time it goes streaking out into the darkness of the night. As the electrical charge flies past Sabriel, she attempts to pierce the floating light, her attack thou misses. Off to the side Triska unloads a shot from her bow which shoots past the light and off into the swamp. Lark and Fir reach the boat and try to regroup. The captain sits up but pain on his face is visible from the energy charge that hit his body, he looks up though hoping his raging friend will do some more damage to the monster. The half orc's falchion comes down hard at the light slicing through it and the only way anyone can tell it had any effect is the color of the light changed to a bright red. The light retreats a bit trying to get out of range of the mighty half orc....
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The red light has moved back a bit after the damage it took, as it does this Larkspring moves into position to get a swipe at the thing. His friend charges the light taking one of its big claws into the floating light however falls short of the mark at the same time the summoned owl wings down claws extended hoping to rake the thing as it flies by but at the last moment the light seems to turn at its new attacker and launches an attack on the owl. A blast of energy leaves the light and flashes by the owl by a feather. Having had enough of this, fustration at its thought to be easy prey the floating light shoots off into the swamp its light quickly disappearing over the water...
The group looks about in confusion at the sudden ending of battle by the strange swamp creatures. The night is almost over in the jungle and the heat is about to return in full force. The captain orders everyone to rest but be ready for anything and to remain alert. He heads to the boat and goes into the pilot house to recoupe from his wounds, he still smells of burnt hair and flesh. Faruq stands guard for the reminder of the night. At first light the Captain orders everyone aboard except for those who are pulling the boat and pushes off back into the swamp. Time passes slowly as the boat moves through the swamp, it's crew tired from the small amount of sleep and having to pull the boat. Rest will come soon the Captain promises as ahead lies your goal of your side jaunt, Brimstone Falls, a cataract that falls over a 60-foot cliff into a wide lagoon which you pulled the boat into at the edge of Kurka Swamp. The falls are magnificent, composed of dozens of tiny streams and rivulets painting a mosaic of water over the jungle-grown slope. The spray from these myraid cascades keeps a constant rainbow hanging above the waters within the bowl of the cliff basin. The slope of teh cliff is not overly steep, and you can see that a few trails run in switchbacks up its face among the falls. The western portion is steeper and more violent but the eastern portion has a milder slope and spreads the water into a number of smaller rivulets allowing a series of trails to exist. The Captain calls for a halt and points to a cave near the top of the middle of the falls. He simply states as he holds his side where his wound from the light still hurts, The cave should hold some kind of mobile plant form which should have the arcophage we need to continue, Go and retrieve it, Faruq and I will watch over the boat and help anyway we can if needed. At the right of the falls is a small beach where the trails begin their upward climb....
"Nice view," Triska grunts when she sees the falls. "What do you mean by 'mobile plant form'?" she asks the captain. "Is it a plant, or a beast to be killed?"
As the boat approaches, she scans the beach and cliff trails for any signs of danger, and to see if the "easy" trails are in fact the best way to proceed.
Spot (1d20+8=13), Knowledge (nature) (1d20+2=5), Survival (1d20+6=15)
Sabriel spends the rest of the night in a bit of a mood. The normally personable Celadrin is upset after the battle with the glowing ball and spends the time by herself and sleeping.
She wakes up in a much better mood the next morning and spends the day conversing with everyone as they labour (not something sjhe enjoys, but not something she complains about either) to move the ship.
She whistles appreciatively as the falls come into view and nods in agreement at Triska's statement.
"Yes I'm intrigued as well. Do you mean some kind of plant monster?"
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As Lark and Fir make ready to disembark off the boat Triska has a few last questions for the Captain. He answers her, Mobile meaning the arcophage needs a host to get them about the world. The plant probably is somekind of predator that is not tied to the ground for food so it some how is able to move about the world looking for prey. There are a number of plants in this group so I can't say what you will face but you will have to kill it and quickly bring it back to the boat for Hurg to take care of immediatly. As she listens to the Captain speak she looks for the best route up the falls. The narrow and steep trails she can see looks to be tough but doable. Its going to take some climbing and slow going traveling over the slick rocks(Almost wrote slick shoes there, lol, for all of those Goonies fans!) from the spray of the falls and the rocky ground covered in growths of lichen and moss. The boat is pulled up to the beach and tied off by Faruq. The Captain turns to Sabriel at her question and says, Yes you can call them that I would imagine! With a grin on his face he tells the whole group to be careful and good luck...................
While the captain answers the other's questions Tegid will study the falls and ponder on what the captain says.
Tegid will then make sure that all of his gear is ready before following Larkspring and Fir to the beach.
Sabriel nods and then concentrates for a moment. A soft glow envelops her hands and feet for a second before fading. She walks over to the rocks and gently place a hand against it, hauling herself up the cliff like a spider.
Seeing no obvious threats on the cliff trails, Triska unlimbers her bow, motioning the others ahead of her so she can cover them if attacked. She follows in the rear, scrambling over rocks, alert for danger.
Climb rolls (1d20+3=7, 1d20+3=17, 1d20+3=4)
Balance rolls (1d20+1=21, 1d20+1=20, 1d20+1=3)
Spot (1d20+8=21)
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The group all steps onto the beach and readies themselves for the climb up the waterfalls. Tegid looks over the terrain and knows its going to be a tough climb with slippery rocks, growing moss and water coming down across many of the stretches they are going to tred. Ha begins to wall and ponders what he knows of mobile plant creatures, most are carnivorous that appear to be heaps of rotting vegitation but are actually intellegent. Sabriel passes a glowing hand over her body giving her ease at climbing up the waterfall. She then begins to climb up the rocks like a spider taking the lead due to her speed at climbing. Triska brings up the rear, she waits for the little one to drop off of Fir's back and follow the others before she starts to make her accent. As the group begins off to the right of the trail up is an statue that is relatively in good shape. It can clearly be seen that it is a hippopotamus. Lark also searches his memory for any information that might help their group. Those mobile plants are hard to see, almost invisible in its natural surroundings and almost totally silent so they are going to have to proceed with caution for here on out. Keeping an eye out from the rear, Triska watches for signs of danger, this takes her focus as she slips a few time on the wet rocks but manages to stay standing. She also halts a few times to help Lark from doing the same. The only one not having problems with the climb is Sabriel who is already at the first switchback. She waits for the others to catch up to her all the while she looks over another statue or maybe an idol she thinks but this one is really worn down with the constant spray of water. It has the look of an ape or monkey she figures. Still scanning Triska has yet to see any dangers or moving plants ahead of her. At the switchback the trail goes either up to other trails or continues on under the falls.....Either way the going is going to be even harder and steeper.....
[ooc]Ok more checks, climb and balance and any others.
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Larkspring thanks Triska for the help. He looks up the hill for any advantages that could be gleaned from the terrain when fighting the plant creatures. Only for a second does he do this, however; before he takes another step he looks down again.
While he looks up the slope, Larkspring slips, and fails to grab anything to catch his fall. "Help, by Sarenrae, help!" (then swears in Gnome, Druidic, Elven, Sylvan and Common.)
Climb check;Balance check (1d20=7, 1d20=15)
Tegid continues to take his time struggling with the slipperiness and wetness of the rocks, although not as bad as Larkspring...
Sabriel continues her easy climb. She looks back down and sees Larkspring in trouble. She looks around for somewhere to tie a rope to.
Still paying more attention to the surroundings than her own feet, Triska continues to slip on the rocks as she scans for danger.
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Larkspring continues to climb up the small rocky trail which is getting steeper and steeper the higher everyone goes. Lark scans the falls looking for hiding places, objects that could be thrown at them or rolled, he decides there are many of each danger and way to many places to hide especially for his small stature. The water coming down from the falls is making everything slippery which does not help Lark as he miss steps, slips and begins to tumble down the slope a bit. Fir hears and spots his friend calling out and tumbling down the falls, he begins to move to help....
Tegid is having similar problems with the climb but at least he is able to hang onto where he is at for the moment. Up ahead Sabriel easy climbs even further ahead. She hears Lark's cry and looks back seeing him fall down the steep slope. She looks about for something to tie off a rope to throw down and help her friends and finds many rocks or the monkey idol that will do the job however she might have another problem as Triska shouts a warning and points up all the while trying to grab at the tumbling Lark her footing being secure for the moment. Looking down at the group are four tall humanoids who look to be a cross of a powerfully built human and a lizard with its clawed hands, crestless crocodilian heads, long tail and toothy jaws. Three look to be warriors but the forth is something else, diffinately the leader of the group. You can hear them begin to argue over the roar of the falls.....
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Larkspring exerts all of his energy to try to grab hold of something, anything, to break his tumble down the rocks. Unfortunately, being faster than his friend and thus farther up, Fir cannot do anything beyond jumping down himself (and even that would probably not be enough to catch up in the vertical race).
Seeing Larkspring fall, Sabriel is torn between keeping an eye on the creatures above and helping. She quickly pulls out her rope and secures it, all the while glancing up. Once it is secured, she calls to the others to be careful and stops to wait for them. She keeps her hands by her sides, but makes sure her Eldritch Power is ready to be called at a moment's notice.
Triska tries to interpose herself between the tumbling gnome and a fall to certain death, while at the same time keeping an eye on the creatures above.
Climb (1d20+3=11), Balance (1d20+1=20)
Triska draws her bow, keeping it trained on the creature above and covering her companions as they climb Sabriel's rope.
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Triska tries to interpose herself between the tumbling gnome and a fall to certain death, while at the same time keeping an eye on the creatures above.
Climb (1d20+3=11), Balance (1d20+1=20)
Triska draws her bow, keeping it trained on the creature above and covering her companions as they climb Sabriel's rope.
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The armoured gnome slips down the slope all the while desparately trying to grab a hold of something to stop him, anything is mind races. His panic is not enough to overcome his link with Fir who he informs not to risk himself. Luckly Lark does not go far as Triska who is bringing up the rear of the party is able to balance herself on the slope, puts a leg out for Lark to grab as he goes by who fails to do so at his speed so she gives him a quick shove with her toe changing his direction and ends up against a large rock just below her with a loud thud. As soon as she sees he's safe she draws her bow and watches above. As all of this is going on Sabriel ties off the rope she was working with to a stable large boulder, then glances up to see the lizard folk disappear out of site, Triska notices this too. After a few seconds they spot the creatures again only lower, coming closer to their positions it would seem. They still have the advantage of higher ground but they don't relize who they are up against, their mistake!
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Larkspring stands up, and thanks Triska for aiding him.
"Thank you, Triska," he says as he rubs his side where she kicked him.
Seeing that she saved his master, Fir goes on his hind legs and sniffs Triska in the face.
Larkspring looks up to the reptilian humanoids. He calls up, "Hail!".
To his comrades below, Larkspring says "I think we might be at some sort of religious place. Try not to offend them."
Triska waits warily to see if the reptiles respond to Larkspring. If they make any hostile moves, she fires an arrow .
Hey Guys and Gals,
I hate to do this but I have to drop out of the game. Unfortunately, due to my current crazy work schedule and having to job hunt at the same time (stupid corporate politics) I don't have much free time. I was hoping that I would have at least some time to play but with summer coming I know things are just going to get crazier so I wanted to just let everyone know. Sorry!
Aaron Whitley (Tegid Darnin)
P.S. I'll also post this in the discussion thread.
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Triska stands above her fallen comrade as he gathers himself and shouts up to the lizard men who stop and were watching it seems with amusement at the plight of the little creature who bounced down the falls. The shout back but it is lost in the noise from the falls and the few faint sounds that could be heard you don't recognize. Tegid moves as slow as he can foward trying to get closer to Sabriel in case she needs help. Triska remains ready, her bow primed for action if this turns hostile. The lizard men stop and wait for a response from those below them........Fir licks Triska's face in thanks for helping Larkspring while Sabriel holds her position........
Sabriel keeps an eye on the Lizard folk coming down the trail towards her. She doesn't continue any further without the others, but she doesn't back away just yet, not sure of their intentions.
She calls back down the cliff. "C'mon Larkspring. This is no time for sitting around resting." She laughs, appearing non-threatening towrds the Lizardfolk. "Just use the rope and you'll be fine."
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Sabriel keeps an eye on the Lizard folk coming down the trail towards her. She doesn't continue any further without the others, but she doesn't back away just yet, not sure of their intentions.
She calls back down the cliff. "C'mon Larkspring. This is no time for sitting around resting." She laughs, appearing non-threatening towrds the Lizardfolk. "Just use the rope and you'll be fine."
"Oh, thanks."
Larkspring sighs, then stands up and begins climbing up the path, one hand on the rope.|
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As Lark, Fir and Triska continue up the small trail leading up the falls, if one could call it that with all of the obstacles impeading the trek, and Sabriel waiting further up with rope secured allowing the rest to climb up much easier, the lizard folk watch. They look like they are debating, the leader who has the look like he is a shamen of sort tries to calm the others from attacking. Shaking javelins in your directions they continue for a few moments at this until a shout from further up the falls halts their chatter. Speeding out of the cave are two natives, they rush down the trail for a few steps before spying the lizardfolk all the while glancing back behind them frequently. From behind them a mound of plant matter emerges from the cave at a slow even pace. The two natives look all around for a route to escape but are hard pressed to find one. The lizardfolk give a shout and begin attacking everything that is not one of them. Two throw their weapons down upon the climbers while the rest move towards the natives except for the shamen who seems to be chanting something with eyes closed.
As Ban!utu comes crashing out of the cave, he has a strange look on his face when he notices the crowd below him, no time for that now. He turns and fires his longbow at the mound of vegetation following them.