Rasina points out to the northwest, while drawing her weapons, including the new rapier she discovered earlier."Everyone, we have company. Not sure what it is but I am sure it is not the welcoming committee. Gurg, any ideas what it is?"
Veren:
Durnast:
Richard has his own horse. You need to cast three mount spells a day for yourself, Alia, and Montegue.
Veren:
Thanks, Bill!
There's no surprise round. Something is very close.
The north-south road run in columns G and H. The east-west road run in rows 7 and 8. The rickety wooden structure of the cages blocks squares C3, E4 and E5, I2, K3, J5, K10 (which is where Veren was being held) K9, M10, I11 and I12, D11 and E11, C9, and D6.
The cloaked thing is on the map, northwest of you. Where are each of you folks?
Initative:
Alia:
Artimus:
Chamomile:
Durnast:
Gurg:
Mikka:
Nadeq:
Swiftpaws:
The something:
Montegue:
Rasina:
Veren:
Starting Order
Durnast: 21
Alia: 18
Mikka: 17
Nadeq: 14, before Gurg
Gurg: 14
The something: 12
Rasina: 10
Swiftpaws: 8
Chamomile: 8
Artimus: 7
Veren: 6
Montegue: 5
(Dismounting a steed is a move action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Right now, only Gurg, Swiftpaws, Nadeq, and Veren are on their feet.)
Hearing Rasina's words and sensing the approach of SOMETHING from the NW himself, Durnast decides it's best to spur his horse back Southward from the Crossroads where he had been taking in the cages, .
"Heads up, everybody!"
Durnast will draw his Gem of Seeing from it's keeping pocket, letting it's refracted light fill his gaze with near-tangible rays , before returning the citrine gem to it's place and sharpening his eyes at the approaching entity.
Alia is in G-H 8-9 on her horse and Swiftpaws in F9
Perception for Alia
and Swiftpaws
Alia first move will be to dismount in H9 and ready an action to fire on the creature whenever it becomes visible and if it acts in a threatening manner.
Attack , damage
+1 to attack and damage if the creature is within 30 feet.
Nadeq reacts by running for the cover of the structure, drawing a wand as he goes.
Stealth
Once there he tap himself once with the wand, wanting his opening shot to hit
Mikka dismounts quickly and brings her hands up to her sides, speaking quickly in the ancient druidic language. Her eyes flash briefly and a warm glow seems to envelop her midsection. The falcon birthmark almost seeems to have a rippling halo around it.
A halo of fire. A fire reflected in the twin blazes that erupt from her hands.
On his turn:
Veren draws his rapier, moving himself protectively 10 ft in front of Mikka and Rasina towards the approaching menace. He drops into a low duelist stance and readies to attack should a hostile foe come within reach. If it appears to avoid him but go for an ally instead (especially his current charges) then he'll attack more recklessly in an attempt to keep them alive.
Montague dismounts, and looks for some partial cover to stop anything charging his position.
Perception
The crossroads demarcate the different regions of the Desolation. To the southwest are the bleached white Ashen Plains. To the northwest, the unpredictable Boiling Lands, with their steam and lava. To the northeast, the rough hardscrabble that surrounds the Chaos Pit for dozens of miles in every direction. To the southwest, the baked territory of the Dead Fields, where thousands upon thousands of bodies lie unshriven.
It's all desert, but vastly different styles of desert.
Btw, Nadeq takes the force beads. How many are there?
Three.
I'm almost certain there are some reference links that I should be aware of. Could someone please post any that come to mind? For example, is there a reference map somewhere to visualize the J3, B14, etc descriptions?
I'm a luddite when it comes to creating maps and posting them where everybody can see. For now, I'm describing locations on a grid where letters demarcate the columns and numbers, the rows, like a spreadsheet.
Rasina dismounts, drawing her weapons as part of her move, and murmers an arcane protective spell.
Durnast: -- directs his magical horse south of one of the support pillars and uses his gem of seeing
Alia: -- dismounts and readies an arrow.
Mikka: -- dismounts (into what location?) and casts produce flame.
Nadeq: -- runs, hides, and casts true strike from his wand
Gurg: -- "Do you smell something sweet?" Gurg holds his actions.
The something: -- A feral roar issues forth from somewhere just on the other side of the pillar at C3. With no more warning than that, something appears there, moving at great velocity, heading straight for () Gurg.
Attack roll: ; confirmation .
Damage: , and Gurg is knocked off his feet. As the object comes to rest, you see that it's a rock, about 4 foot in diameter.
Gurg chooses this time to get to his feet, blood pouring out of a terrible scalp wound, and bellows a matching cry. You may safely assume that the hill giant has entered his rage.
Durnast:
Rasina: -- dismounts (into which square) and casts protection from evil.
Swiftpaws (Alia's wolf companion) and Chamomile (Durnast's pseudodragon familiar) are up
Artimus: , acts on 7
Veren: 6
Montegue: --dismounts, and moves to partial cover. (There's lots of support beams; pick one to hide behind.)
Veren, all signs of intoxication drained from him, whispers "Baccusbreath! What is this?" Veren peers hard at where he suspects the boulder was hurled from . Aside to his new companions: "I owe you guys! I'll try to give you cover, but if we are going to make a plan - let me know what it is fast!"
Swiftpaws will move to D7 and hide behind a post, waiting for an occasion to help the fight if necessary.
Stealth
OK, I made the map which should help everybody
As it feels like light from a thousand worlds streams thru his eyes, Durnast spots the invisible attacker lurching over Gurg - "Gurg! I can see it, it's right next to you, straight West!"
Chamomile just delays until Durnast's next turn.
Panish keeps a tight eye on the fighting scene, making sure to keep a guarded eye on the other side of the street and the roofs - in case Parns secured allies.
Panish suddenly realizes he's shifted realities. Prudently, he slips back into his own before the invisible creature can hurt him.
Alia, so far as you can tell, the rock is simply a rock, no longer traveling at speed. The clear conclusion would be that something invisible threw it.
Artimus's expresion betrays both surprise and determination, then he smiles at Durnast. "Thank you, my friend." The paladin realizes that he's too close to charge, so he attempts a fast dismount (Ride check: ; easy.) and advances on the squares next to Gurg with his undead bane longsword drawn. Pausing but a moment, he reflects on its previous wielder and says a quick prayer. "Can you tell us anything about it?" he calls back to Durnast, a merry edge to his voice.
Advancing as he does , Artimus opens himself up to an attack of opportunity. (Attack: ), which merely scrapes against his armor.
Artimus trusts that the creature is evil and summons up the terrible power of his holy smite as he takes the shot. Attack: : miss chance (1 is a miss, 2 is a hit) ; swings into empty air.)
Veren, you see nothing, but the smell of cinnamon is strongest in that direction.
Round Two
"Durnast, make it visible for us like you did in the Benders' house"
"Thank you, my friend... Can you tell us anything about it?"
"It's about as big as Gurg... Watch out for it's swing!" <grimace>
"These grey things are usually more loyal defenders than aggressive beasts, but who knows in this Desolation...""Durnast, make it visible for us like you did in the Benders' house"
"Hmm... Mikka, can you conjure that faerie flame to reveal hidden opponents?"
Durnast will cast Grease under the creature (Reflex DC 16).
Cam flies 20' above the creature (E-3), pointing at it with his tail for everybody's benefit (E-F/2-3), imploring it via Telepathy:
<Why do you attack us stranger? We are just travellers.>
Playing it safe, Cam uses the Full Defense Action (+4 AC= AC28).
"Already in mind," Mikka replies. She gestures with one hand, the other still filled with flame and a burst of shimmering purple fire appears directly above the greased patch of ground near Gurg spreading over the invisible creature.
Veren limbers up, then before others can fully grasp his next action he sprints towards the grey render slipping deftly between sudden refractions of airand delivers a powerful thrust right into the center of where he suspects the beast to stand. Pirouetting straight out of the thrust his feet barely have time to touch the ground as he shimmies out of reach of the beast.
OK, I updated the map for after Mikka has cast her spell.
The green patch around the creature is Durnast's Grease. Don't criticize ;-).
Alia will probably delay until after Mikka casts the spell she is announcing...?
(she could act before, but would have full miss chance of attacking an invisible target)
LoreKeeper, I think 'calling' your actions that far in advance might be more confusing than it is helpful. In this case even your previous declared action of guarding in front of Mikka and Rasina may better be updated, since your turn didn't come up until after: Gurg was attacked, Durnast called out the creature's location next to Gurg, and Artimus swung (and missed) at the creature - So everybody has a pretty good idea of where it is, even if it is still invisible until Mikka casts Faery Fire.
Basically, anybody acting AFTER the Render probably shouldn't have declared their ACTIONS until after the Render acted, only their starting position. If you want to change your first round action, just remember where you were starting from. Rasina and Swiftpaws' actions could also possibly be updated based on what happened already.
Other than that, I think we need Montague's actions (remember the Render is Invisible until Mikka's turn, though you can delay of course) and then Alia would be up next (having delayed for Mikka, or shooting blind before her).
Alia delays just after Mikka and fire a full volley into the beast.
1st Attack with deadly aim, point blank shot manyshot and rapid shot
, damage + damage
2nd Attack with deadly aim, point blank shot and rapid shot , damage
3rd Attack with deadly aim, point blank shot , damage
LoreKeeper, I think 'calling' your actions that far in advance might be more confusing than it is helpful. In this case even your previous declared action of guarding in front of Mikka and Rasina may better be updated, since your turn didn't come up until after: Gurg was attacked, Durnast called out the creature's location next to Gurg, and Artimus swung (and missed) at the creature - So everybody has a pretty good idea of where it is, even if it is still invisible until Mikka casts Faery Fire.
Nadeq jumps out of hiding and fire an arrow towards the beast
Attack with true strike and point blank shot
Damage with point blank
Sneak attack
Attempting to stay hidden after the shot
From d20pfsrd:
Sniping: If you've already successfully used Stealth at least 10 feet from your target, you can make one ranged attack and then immediately use Stealth again. You take a –20 penalty on your Stealth check to maintain your obscured location.
I don't know if Nadeq follow this rule since he don't actually need to stay hidden, but could just hide again as long as he stays near shadow. If that is the case, ignore the -20 for a result of 29
Durnast: -- with is other hand draws out a pad of butter and casts grease under the creature.
Durnast, you're looking at the entity through your gem, so you can see:
Chamomile -- Telepathically, the pseudodragon gets the impression that the creature is no more capable of conversation than an enraged mother grizzly bear.
Mikka: --
The air over the grease spell lights up with the glowing silhouette of a hulking, neckless form. Even hunched over, this creature is as tall as Gurg, and it's much more massive. It has two long arms with oversized hands and claws.
Alia: -- You recognize the shape as a Gray Render, but the descriptions you've heard place them smaller than this creature.
All four arrows strike home, lodging in its shoulder and neck muscles, doing 51 points of damage. The creature's misshapen head looks looks in your direction, and it bellows again.
Nadeq: -- You step out from the shadows, hit for 16, and attempt to blend back into hiding.
The creature: -- opens its enormous maw, which seems to take up most of its head, and attempts to bite () Gurg, (; hits, for points of damage, which looks like it hurt. The attack initiates a grapple attempt: , which matches Gurg's CMD when he's raging. The bite rends the giant's flesh, doing more points of damage. Gurg looks to be in bad shape.
The creature releases its hold and takes several steps back. (Acrobatics check: ; Reflex save: ; it doesn't move, but neither does it fall down. )
Gurg: -- attacks, of course. , with critical confirmation: (, . Three strikes with his spiked club, doing points of damage.
The beast falls and fades into view. It is, again, enormous, and jet black.
Rasina: -- All is still.
Montague readies himself for a charge into the combat, but seeing the beast fall to Gurg's massive blow, relaxes, and eyes Gurg warily, hoping in his rage that he doesn't turn his fury on the party. If so he is ready to spring into action, and remove this curse from the party once and for all.
Rasina, seeing Montague react thus, pauses for a few seconds, and then calls out to Gurg, "Are you all right, Gurg/ Would you like me to help you with your wounds? I have a potion which will help you out."
Nadeq too is ready to react if the Giant doesn't calm down, but decide to give him the benefit of the doubt when he hear Rasina using her diplomatic skills
Gurg turns towards Rasina, his great weapon clattering to the ground. "Pokkello bobb ka-karello, yah. Pokke-karello bobb."
And with that, he slips out of his rage, and dies.
Rasina watches the giant collapse to the ground, and solemnly walks over to Gurg's still warm corpse lying next to the grey render. She closes his eyes, which are now fixed open in death, and murmers, "Thank you, Gurg for your service. May you find peace and your soul's contentment in your afterlife now."
Mikka looks at Gurg's unmoving body with a mixture of relief, respect and sadness. Walking over to him she speaks quietly.
"You shall not have the dishonor of being raised in this place to shuffle soulless. You died as a warrior and should rest as such. May you always find joy n Boube's mountain fortess"
Using the spell she had prepared for combat, she ignite's the giant's corpse, granting him the honorof a burial by fire.
Veren stands baffled. "That. Was incredible." He solemnly walks to the fire and retrieves the keg of Linnorm mead from his pack and pours a mug full. Then, in small turns, he sips from the mug and pours some of the mead into the fire to have the liquor follow Gurg into whatever afterlife awaits him.
At the collapse of first the Grey Render, Durnast lets out a sigh of relief, then a yell of anguish as Gurg succumbs to his wounds.
Durnast keeps his own counsel while Mikka and others attend to Gurg's cremation, occasionally sending a jaded glance Rasina's way. Finally, as the flames start to die down, he says "I think death was written across Gurg's face no matter our actions, but his sacrifice in aid of our party should not be forgotten."
Meanwhile, Cam stealthily ascends to the highest part of the structure, looking out for anything coming their way:
"Clearly that beast wasn't even capable of words, much less Spellcraft to become Invisible. Meaning somebody, or something, sent it to kill us... or test us. And they must be aware of our location somehow."
"But who are you, Veren? Apparently you're lucky, to have us happen upon you in the middle of the desolation, cages like this. What brought you to this Desolation in the first place?"
Rasina spends a few moments grieving for the bestial giant who truly did sacrifice himself for the party.
After the funeral pyre has died dowm, she comes over to where Durnast and Veren are standing. "Durnast, do you think it is the King...Kroma...who sent this render to destroy us? Or perhaps the the Usurer arranged this attack?" She then turns to Veren looking at him directly, and asks, "So, Veren, I would like to know more about you as well. To whom do you claim allegiance?"
If Chamomile sees anything, I'll let you know.
Are you burning Gurg's mightly spiked warclub and decanter of endless water, too?
Are you burning Gurg's mightly spiked warclub and decanter of endless water, too?
Wouldn't we lose D&D if we did that? ;-)
Seriously, is the warclub wieldable by one of us as a greatclub?Otherwise, I'd say they both go in the Bag of Holding that Alia is carrying...?
Wouldn't we lose D&D if we did that? ;-)
Seriously, is the warclub wieldable by one of us as a greatclub?
Otherwise, I'd say they both go in the Bag of Holding that Alia is carrying...?
Veren smiles, in part due to the effects of his part of the funeral - and in part riding the aftermath of the adrenalin rush. "I follow my father in all my actions - one day I'll walk with him."
"Me and some friends were scouting the desolation for treasure and adventure. We got separated a few days ago, during the big storm. When it all cleared I basically found myself in the cage."
Something seems to strike Veren odd about his own words - until the liquor loosens its grip on his reasoning ability: "Vilgara, Gorbit, Farren, Zhettiah! Have you met any of them? They must still be out there somewhere! An Elven princess? A centaur? They hard to miss...? Anyone?"
Rasina looks at Veren for a moment, not replying, before she silently unhooks her scabbard for the rapeir she discovered the previous day. she holds it out for Veren to examine.
In a quiet voice, she says, "I am sorry, Veren. We found this rapier on a body of a human male dressed in leathers yesterday. He was accompanied by a dwarf who was wearing chain armor. They...had not been dead for very long. We...also found tracks leading away from them, but we did not follow them, because we were pursuing the tracks of Gurg. This Farren was the Lady Valgara's bodyguard?"
Nadeq just stare wide eyed as the giant colapse, unsure how he should react and feel about it. No matter how little he trusted Gurg he realize they just lost a powerfull ally.
"That.. That was unreal.." is all he can say after watching the battle of the two giant creatues.
"What do we do now? Did anyone besides Gurg know the way to the ambush spot? Or do we turn around and track Verens companions?"
Veren's face drops, all blood drained from it - he reaches out for the rapier Rasina holds and violently pulls it from the scabbard and then scans its lines and markings over and over. Muttering to himself, "Farren is undefeatable, his motions swift his form flawless. This isn't his rapier. It cannot be. It doesn't look a thing like it. Look at this scratch, I'm sure I've not seen it before. Farren is too good to be brought down. This guard is surely half a thumb shorter than it should be. Farren can stab the wings of a fly in full flight - there is no way he'd fall in battle. This blade is too clear, too bright. Too much like Farren's. We were supposed to go together. WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GO TOGETHER!"
Veren slumps to his knees. Thick tears streaming down his face as he wails; oblivious to the world.