Vissakiel searches his memory, trying to recall anything useful he might know about bugbears, particularly anything that might tell him why he might seize leadership of a kobold tribe.
Vissakiel searches his memory, trying to recall anything useful he might know about bugbears, particularly anything that might tell him why he might seize leadership of a kobold tribe.
Vissakiel gives Khismia a reassuring look, then turns to Diviha and Fiani. He speaks to them in the language of the elves. "I would rather not risk alerting a hoarde of creatures that we are about to invade their territory, but I'm not fond of mindless slaughter, either. It occurs to me that these kobolds might not be all that interested in raiding on their own. If we were to eliminate this bugbear...Skorgatch...then they might choose to leave the area and stop bothering folk. At the very least, the bugbear and his 'smooth skin' companions are most likely to have collected the professor's belongings."
Turning to the kobolds, he speaks to them in Common. "How many other smooth skins are working with Skorgatch?"
As the creatures respond, Vissakiel tries to measure the truth of their words.
"Two smoothskins," the kobolds report. The seem to betoo cared to lie to you.
"Do these smoothskins have names? How do they call themselves? Are these people warriors or do they wield magic?" When the kobolds have answered, he continues questioning.
"And who is in charge? Is Skorgatch their leader or does he work for them?"
"Nobody tell usssss smoothskin'ssss namesss," the kobolds tell you. "they just build things fo rkoboldsssss, like hang gliderssss. We capture them and Skorgatch makessss them work for him."
Vissakiel tries to keep his voice calm as he asks, "So, your tribe has captured these smoothskin slaves? Where did you find them?"
Vissakiel tries to keep his voice calm as he asks, "So, your tribe has captured these smoothskin slaves? Where did you find them?"
"We take them from the road," the kobold says. "We steal from many smoothskinsss along the road."
Vissakiel nods, seeming to understand. He pauses, considering all the kobolds have told him and his companions.
"Well, that was a terrible mistake. Unfortunately, it's not one you'll be allowed to learn from."
Vissakiel nods to Khismia, he dark look in his eyes making his intentions clear.
Khisima draws her blade along the kobold's throat. Red blood spurts as the head falls cleanly from the body. The other kobold predictably runs, but Vis's spell nails him. The kobold falls to the ground but continues to try and crawl away, dragging one useless leg behind it.
Seeing no one else has moved to kill the kobold, Vissakiel takes a firm grip on his staff and crosses the distance to the wounded creature in a few swift strides.
He plants his foot firmly on the kobold's back, pinning it to the ground. Raising the staff above his head, he practically hisses his words in Draconic. "Taking property is one thing. Denying a living creature its freedom and separating a sentient one from his or her family is something else. Your gods may see it differently, of course. I suggest you bring that up with them."
The elf punctuates each of his last five words by striking the kobold hard on the head. He pauses only to check for any signs of life in its body.
Vissakial's blows do indeed finish of the kobold. However, he sees what the kobold was trying to reach. Against the cave wall, tucked in a small niche are four strange device, each looking like one wall of a tent, just as the gnome described. There is also a set of stairs carved into the chasm wall that decend downward into the gap.
Vissakiel takes a moment to wipe the gore from his staff using the kobold's clothing. Then, he moves over to the niche where the strange items have been hidden.
"Interesting. If I am not mistaken, I believe we have found their mode of transport over the crevasse. I wonder if they are capable of carrying heavier passengers?"
Diviha steps closer to inspect the contraptions and looks back over one shapely shoulder at the fighter. "I think we can manage with the stairs but perhaps we could take these things with us? I think I would love to try them out some time in the future, like maybe when our lives didn't depend on them."
The corners of Vissakiel's mouth turn down in a frown. "That does make sense," he says with a slight tone of disappointment. "But these devices do warrant further investigation when we are able."
The elf begins moving toward the stairs, but he stops short after a few paces. He turns his head toward Diviha, then extends his arm out in front of his body. "Mistress," he says with a wink, "I believe you still have the honor of preceding us."
You start decending the stairs. They are obviously ancient and covered with dwarven runes. At the bottom of the stairs you can make out a second set across the gorge, barely visible through the veritable forest of stalagmites.
As the party moves forward, Vissakiel takes a moment to examine the stalagmite forest. Then, he concentrates the magical energies in his body in his eyes, enabling them to see the subtle ebb and flow of magic around him. He scans the room, looking for signs of any arcane devices or traps.
Vissakiel does not notice anything magical in the area. However, his elf ears do detect the sound of footsteps beyond the stalagmites. It's sounds like a skritching sound.
Vissakiel tries to get the others' attention. When they are listening, he speaks as softly as he can. "We are not alone. There is a scratching sound coming from the path ahead of us. It sounds like something moving."
Detecting the noise the beautiful young teifling hesitates only for a moment before moving as silently as she can towards the noise, hoping to determine what the source is before it becomes a threat to her friends. "Wait here, I'll be back in two shakes of my tail" she whispers to them as she slips off.
Vissakiel has a bemused expression on his face as he watches her depart, hopeful that he will get to see at least one of the two shakes she mentioned.
Diviha spots three large rats wandering through the stalagmite forest. However, they do not appear to have seen her.
Diviha takes a moment to compose herself after seeing the rats before sneaking back to her waiting friends, as she aproaches them she stops and turns her back to them. Then she flicks her tail up across first Vissakeil, then Khismia, carressing their faces. "One shake... and two.". Smiling at the two of them she reports her findings, the flirting look never leaving her angelic face."Rats... big, ugly, ratty rats. Three of them, they seem to be wandering thru the rock thingies here. We could try to go arround them, or we could kill 'em. I hate rats, so you know what my preference is."
Vissakiel smiles playfully, then looks around the room, recalling what he can about giant rats. He is particularly concerned about the possibility that the sighting of three giant rats may indicate the presence of a larger nest. It's also possible they carry diseases.
"If there are only three, then killing them should be fairly easy. Otherwise...." As his voice trails off, the elf looks meaningfully at the stairs and toward the landing where they briefly considered trying out the kobolds' flying contraptions.
The girl seems to think for a moment before, eyes wide with excitment she speaks in a hushed whisper, causing her companions to have to lean close to her to hear, "So if we are to dispatch of those nasty things what say the two of you to a little ambush? I could lure them after me, then when I get a certain spot..... you two jump out and whack. No more rats." She leans back waiting for them to respond her lightless eyes searching their faces, chewing slightly on her bottom lip.
"It's worth trying, I suppose. It goes without saying that I can trust Khismia's blade arm more than an untested flying machine."
The sound from the scurrying rats continues to get louder as the seem to be approaching you.
"Diviha, if you have a plan, I suggest we implement it forthwith." Even as he speaks, part of Vissakiel's consciousness turns to gathering the arcane power within him, preparing to channel the icy, northern climate through his body to use against his enemies.
Diviha seems to react to the elfs words with blinding speed, as she whispers "Wait here and hide.", with that she slinks towards the sound of the rats and prepares to lead them in a round about fashion towards the ambush.
Vissakiel hunkers down behind a stalagmite, hoping it is big enough to hide him. He peers around the stone column, waiting to strike with a ray of frost as soon as the first rat comes within range.
One of the rats lifts it's head and looks straight at Diviha. Clearly it heard some imperceptable sound that she made as she snuck across the floor. The other two also turn towards Vissakiel.
Kishima swings at the rats, but the shock of being spotted throws off her aim. However, the rats fair no better as they barely scuff the boots of or intrepid heroes.
Divina squeels as the rat nip at her, almost leaping to the ceiling of the great chamber, she regains her composure instantly however and brings her greatsword to bear against the vermin.
eg. In this instance you would roll 4d6, so you can roll another 2d6 'cause you might get more than 4 extra. :)
Diviha crushes one rat with her blade and Khismia slashs another in two. Vissikiel doesn't do so well and his spell leaves a patch of ice on the wall. The last rat takes another bite at Khismia but she manages to step back at the last second.
Cursing to himself, Vissakiel unleashes another ray of frost.
Spoiler:Critical Hits: When you make an attack roll and get a natural 20 (the d20 shows 20), you hit regardless of your target's Armor Class, and you have scored a “threat,” meaning the hit might be a critical hit (or “crit”). To find out if it's a critical hit, you immediately make an attempt to “confirm” the critical hit—another attack roll with all the same modifiers as the attack roll you just made. If the confirmation roll also results in a hit against the target's AC, your original hit is a critical hit. (The critical roll just needs to hit to give you a crit, it doesn't need to come up 20 again.) If the confirmation roll is a miss, then your hit is just a regular hit.A critical hit means that you roll your damage more than once, with all your usual bonuses, and add the rolls together. Unless otherwise specified, the threat range for a critical hit on an attack roll is 20, and the multiplier is ×2.
Exception: Precision damage (such as from a rogue's sneak attack class feature) and additional damage dice from special weapon qualities (such as flaming) are not multiplied when you score a critical hit.
Increased Threat Range: Sometimes your threat range is greater than 20. That is, you can score a threat on a lower number. In such cases, a roll of lower than 20 is not an automatic hit. Any attack roll that doesn't result in a hit is not a threat.
Increased Critical Multiplier: Some weapons deal better than double damage on a critical hit (see Equipment).
Spells and Critical Hits: A spell that requires an attack roll can score a critical hit. A spell attack that requires no attack roll cannot score a critical hit. If a spell causes ability damage or drain (see Special Abilities), the damage or drain is doubled on a critical hit.