Roylenna's fire whizzes harmlessly past the ghoul as it charges. Sandros raises the unfamiliar weapon in a fierce blow, but it is much slower than he is used to and the ghoul manages to dodge it, even while charging.
The sound of battle is enough to wake Proteus, Grond and Rana, who have just about time to rise and grab a weapon.
As the light from Roylenna's floating torches fall upon the ghoul's face, you realize that it was once a ratman. Its sharp rodent's teeth sink into Sandros's shoulder, right through the armor for 7 points of damage.
Roylenna, Sandros and the sleepers are up. The ghoul is now at K8.
Roylenna, Sandros and the sleepers are up. The ghoul is now at K8.
Roylenna concentrates, and her fire flares red as it strikes the undead ratman.
Attack: 1d20+5=23-4 (firing into melee)=19
Damage: 1d6+1=2
"Sandros, how badly are you hurt?"
"Aaagh!" shouts Sandros, as his shoulder bursts into pain. "I hate ghouls!" Shifting his grip on the axe, holding it like a staff, he forces it between himself and the undead ratman, shoving the smaller figure back to clear some room for a swing. As the ghoul stumbles backward, Sandros swings the axe over his head in a great circle and brings it down toward the ghoul's head.
As the axe buries itself in the ghoul's shoulder, driving deep into the thing's rotted flesh, Sandros simply lets go of the axe and leaves it there, drawing his rapier and reading himself for another blow.
Proteus steps forward and holds out his holy symbol with conviction. "Vitae," he says, hoping he has something left after the previous events. Fortunately, a burst of healing power emanates from the holy symbol.
Rana wakes quickly as hears the sounds of battle. Rolling up from where he slept he grabs his swords and rushes over to the other side of the statue ."Hey ugly!" Rana yells at the ghoul in the hopes of drawing it away from Sandros,"Come and get me!".
This time Royl's fire strikes true and an awful stench of seared flesh wafts by Sandros as he buries his axe deep in the ghoul's shoulder and leaves it there.
Grond and Rana rise, ready for battle, and Proteus lets loose his healing power, healing Sandros while the monster seems to be slowed down, hissing in pain. It stands firm, though. Not responding to Rana's taunts (possibly because it can't understand them) it keeps clawing and biting at Sandros, scoring two solid hits for 8 points of damage.
Round 3: Roylenna, Sandros, Grond, Rana, Proteus.
Emboldened with her previous success, Roylenna bears down and burns the creature again.
Attack: 1d20+5=22-4 (firing into melee)=18
Damage: 1d6+1=7
Sandros reels, blood streaming from wounds all across his body, keeping his feet only by sheer will. Regardless, he feints once, twice, at the ghoul, but his third thrust is for real. Sandros seems to defy the broken condition of his body as the blade strikes home and sinks deep.
Struck again by Roylenna's purifying fire, this time right in the face, the ghoul topples and falls. As Sandros pokes the lifeless form with disgust he notices that it is carrying a small bottle containing a clear orange liquid.
"I'm... I'm going to go sit down, for a moment."
Sandros slumps to the ground, leaning against the idol.
Roylenna's expression alternates between excitement that her ray was on-target and concern for Sandros' condition.
"Rana, will you be able to accompany me for the duration of the watch so that Sandros can heal up a bit? My nap earlier will sustain me, but it will be better if a warrior is up, also."
Aid Another (Healing): 1d20+4 = 11
Aid Another (Healing): 1d20+4 = 21
EDIT: "Um, maybe someone can drag that stinky thing down the hall so we don't have to smell it all night. I'll light the way."
Roylenna's expression alternates between excitement that her ray was on-target and concern for Sandros' condition.
"Rana, will you be able to accompany me for the duration of the watch so that Sandros can heal up a bit? My nap earlier will sustain me, but it will be better if a warrior is up, also."
Aid Another (Healing): 1d20+4 = 11
Aid Another (Healing): 1d20+4 = 21
EDIT: "Um, maybe someone can drag that stinky thing down the hall so we don't have to smell it all night. I'll light the way."
Grond stretches and yawns after his uninterrupted 8 hours of rest. "So, which way? I vote for the hallway on the left, seems like this dungeon is veering towards the right, so let's start left and work our way in."
Grond stretches and yawns after his uninterrupted 8 hours of rest.
A few hours later something strange happens. Royl and Rana hear a noise coming from the same hallway as the ghoul. After a short while a squirrel appears. Strangely it stops after just entering the room and sits still, looking at you without curiosity. It looks like there is a note tied to its tail.
Grond stretches and yawns after his uninterrupted 8 hours of rest.
A few hours later something strange happens. Royl and Rana hear a noise coming from the same hallway as the ghoul. After a short while a squirrel appears. Strangely it stops after just entering the room and sits still, looking at you without curiosity. It looks like there is a note tied to its tail.
Roylenna will cast Dancing Lights and send them down the length of the hallway. If she sees nothing in the hallway, she will approach the squirrel slowly. She's guessing that it is tame or trained if it's carrying a note for someone and hopes that it will allow her to remove the note.
Roylenna will cast Dancing Lights and send them down the length of the hallway. If she sees nothing in the hallway, she will approach the squirrel slowly. She's guessing that it is tame or trained if it's carrying a note for someone and hopes that it will allow her to remove the note.
Amazingly, the squirrel lets her remove the note, and then stays. The note says (in Common): "Who are you and why did you bury Burg?"
"Rana, will you be able to accompany me for the duration of the watch so that Sandros can heal up a bit? My nap earlier after the ogre confrontation will sustain me, but it will be better if a warrior is up, also."
"I don't think I could go back to sleep if I wanted too," Rana says as he walks over to decapitate the ghoul. He drags the remains a short distance down the hall before going back and sitting next to Royl.
Looking a little uncomfortable he says,"I'm sorry about the witch thing. Uh...I mean calling you a witch. My people don't have many poeple that can do what you do, at least none that I've heard about. Well none that were allowed to live. When did you know..um..you know that you could do that?"
A few hours later something strange happens. Royl and Rana hear a noise coming from the same hallway as the ghoul. After a short while a squirrel appears. Strangely it stops after just entering the room and sits still, looking at you without curiosity. It looks like there is a note tied to its tail.
As the squirrel enters Rana stands and unsheaths one of his shortswords. Not trusting the diminutive creature he keeps a close eye on the tunnel it came out of as Royl attempts to remove the note from it's tail.
Rana:
Roylenna smiles and puts a tiny hand on the dark man's knee, "No need to apologize, Rana, I took no offense. I am a halfling, after all -- I grew up being called a thief, a cutpurse, a pickpocket, long before I was tall enough to even try. Since discovering my gift, I have had more than one old woman give me the evil eye or try to ward my 'evil aura.' I understand being fright... I mean, concerned about something that you do not understand."
She looks into the fire thoughtfully for a moment before continuing, "In fact, it scared me terribly the first time I saw my green fire... Let me back up. In my family, if you are born of light hair and light eye - the typical Brenoien is dark just as you are - they say you have the 'angel's touch.' If you truly have the 'angel's touch,' you are special, but no one knows just how."
She looks around for a moment. "You are special, and so they expect great things of you. But growing up, I was as ordinary as I could be. I was not smart, I was not strong. All I was was cute - and that is not very special for a little halfling girl. I had begun to doubt the stories when about a year ago, a couple of friends and I were sneak... - umm - well, we were in the woods when we must have startled a boar. It charged and gored Taylyn badly. I was in front and did not see, but I turned around and there was Taylyn laying bleeding between us and the animal." Her voice gets quieter than normal, "I was scared, but I felt this warmth rise through me - it seemed like it went from my toes all the way to the tips of my hair. I felt very calm and I pointed at the beast and yelled, 'Begone!' Taylyn looked at me and his eyes got as big as saucers as green flames shot from my hand and enveloped him." She smiles at the warrior and her voice returns, "Do not say it, I know my aim has hardly improved. The fire frightened all four of us so badly and the boar ran away, but it did not burn Taylyn! I watched it lick over his wounded body, burning brightest where he was bleeding, and when it was done, the wounds he had were closed and almost healed! I tried for the life of me to do it again, but I could not get the flames to come. It was only a moment before I realized where the flames had come from. I told Taylyn and Rela that they could not tell anyone about it, and they agreed. In fact, they almost made it back to the village before they had told three people." She winks, "That is farther than I expected they would make it, actually."
"I knew two fears that day. The first came when fire burst from my hand to burn my friend. I thought I had suddenly become a monster -- or had been one all along and did not know it. That's not the special I had hoped for. The second came when I realized that my destiny had arrived -- and being a cute little halfling girl would never be enough ever again. I am here because I must learn how to use my gifts properly, and I was not going to learn that in our safe cozy village, angry wild boars notwithstanding."
"I am sorry, Rana, I have talked too much. Again." She grins at that last, "Why are you here, Rana? Are you trying to learn something about yourself, too?"
Have fun!
Amazingly, the squirrel lets her remove the note, and then stays. The note says (in Common): "Who are you and why did you bury Burg?"
"Rana, what do you think? Should we answer and put the note back on the little nutcruncher? We could say that we are the Agents of Orange and that we don't know who Burg is or was."
"Of course, I'm guessing that Burg was the orc, but we did not bury him, so... Have we buried anyone else?"
"Of course, I'm guessing that Burg was the orc, but we did not bury him, so... Have we buried anyone else?"
Grond is able to tell you that in Orc the word for cremation and burial are the same, and could hazard a guess that whoever wrote the note is a native Orc speaker.
"Of course, I'm guessing that Burg was the orc, but we did not bury him, so... Have we buried anyone else?"
Grond is able to tell you that in Orc the word for cremation and burial are the same, and could hazard a guess that whoever wrote the note is a native Orc speaker.
Welcome back! (ooc)
How about this: Kill and eat the squirrel?
How about this: Kill and eat the squirrel?
How about this: roll for initiative! (No, not against the squirrel.)
Grond grits his teeth, and licks his lips and fingers the blade of his falchion. He wipes the sweat from his brow, taps his boot-soles with the edge of his blade, spits on his hands and rubs them together. He hefts the massive falchion to his shoulder and steps up to the plate.
How about this: Kill and eat the squirrel?How about this: roll for initiative! (No, not against the squirrel.)
The squirrel must have looked like an easy meal, for not long after it enters a pack of dire rats poke their ugly faces into the room. As they spot you, they hiss and attack.
Does anyone remember what Grond's hit points are? I remember getting knocked below zero, but I think Proteus healed Grond back up to full before we started our rest?
In any case, Grond charges the nearest one!
To Hit: 8+5=13
Dam: 7+4=11
With a blood-curdling roar (enough to wake Proteus and Sandros if not the dead), Grond charges to K9 and skewers the nearest rat with his falchion. The rats fly into a frenzy and swarm him. He's bitten once for 4 points of damage , while the last rat tries to squeeze past to attack Royl
Proteus, Sandros, Royl, Rana and Grond are up. Additionally, Grond can make an AoO right away.
Proteus stands up and takes position between Sandros and any rats .
Grond winces as the rat teeth dig into his flesh
AS the malicious rat tries to slink past, Grond swings wildly at it.
Sandros stirs, then his eyes open slowly. Seeing the swarming rodents, Sandros stares, as though trying to process what his eyes are telling him. Then he suddenly blinks, shakes his head, and leaps to his feet, digging a flask out of his pack.
The rat deftly dodges Grond's blow and proceeds to take a nibble out of Roylenna . As the rat approaches, the squirrel snaps out of its trance and runs off north with a squeak. Proteus and Sandros rise, Proteus assuming a fighting stance while Sandros fumbles for his healing potion.
That means that Roylenna, Rana and Grond are next.
The rat deftly dodges Grond's blow and proceeds to take a nibble out of Roylenna . As the rat approaches, the squirrel snaps out of its trance and runs off north with a squeak. Proteus and Sandros rise, Proteus assuming a fighting stance while Sandros fumbles for his healing potion.
That means that Roylenna, Rana and Grond are next.
Roylenna will take a 5' step to J5 and fire her ray at the rat that attacked her.
Heavenly Fire attack; damage (1d20+5=23, 1d6+1=4)
Well, Grond is in the mood for dire stew for breakfast, he will continue to whaile on all dire rats in order of nearest to furthest, in a killing frenzy.
Rolls:
To Hit: 14+3=17
Dam: 4+3+4=11
(Wish I had cleave)