"She's found something or somewhere we might not like. It doesn't seem as if she is in any kind of danger, in which case it may be in our best interest to rest. We don't want to wear out the horses."
"I agree with resting, but our strength has been reduced, If something else happens during our watch, we will be in trouble. Setting watches should be done, but Nadeq can use his rope trick spell for a few hours. Plus, Veren's mount will disappear in the morning as well. Yet the most troubling thing is what we will find when we find Lady Valgara."
She turns to Veren, and looks at him for a moment before saying,"All right, Veren, time for some truth between us. What were you and your companions looking for out here?"
Nadeq breath a sigh of relief when the ghost bid them to continue. His intensions in the desolation not as pure hearted as those of his companion he is reliefed the ghost did not disapprove of his presence.
He turn to Veren and awaits an answer to Rasinas question.
Veren sighs, then speaks: "I can assure you that our goals were not nefarious or unreasonable - I am inclined to believe the apparition had a more personal motive for objection, rather than one of principle."
"A while back me and my companions defeated a vampire, Simrath, and we found his journal, which details his obsession with the crown of angel Azarkites. This, essentially, was the start of our quest."
"I trust each of you has at least a passing familiarity with the Heliad - the epic poem recounting the march of the Army of Light against Tsar, the siege and the fall of Tsar. Not so Zhettiah, the centaur, he had no mere passing familiarity - he is a carrier of words to his people and the words he carries are those of the Heliad."
"He does, however, not just carry the words with him - but he spent much of his time and resources studying and understanding the words. Looking for hints of deeper meaning, passages of text that say more than they seem - and also passages of text that are silent."
"One such caught his eye: Chapter 3 - Ekklesis - details the assembly of the greatest heroes of the Army of Light; and in most cantations of the poem it makes mention of the most holy and puissant Azarkites."
"More to the point, Chapter 9 - Eos - is the morning before the siege is drawn; and essentially is a roll-call of the Army of Light. Here Azarkites is not mentioned - nor in any of the scripture immediately before or after. Azarkites was an angel of some renown; though little is known of him now - except that he carried a magical crown of great radiance and that clerics that follow the light can no longer invoke his aid; so he is most likely well and truly dead."
"Zhettiah conjectured that Azarkites was lost to the Army of Light during their march onto Tsar. Why the passing of an angel of such importance remains nearly unmentioned in the histories and the Heliad presents some mystery; and our quest set out to uncover the secret behind his story and perhaps redeem his name in the annals of time, as well as recover the crown of Azarkites from the Desolation."
After a moment's thought, Veren ventures: "I cannot say whether the ghost objected to us perhaps disturbing the rest of Azarkites - or perhaps that Azarkites fell so deeply to the dark side that the very notion of the angel angers him."
Rasina thinks for a moment and then asks, "So, do you think Zheltiah found where in the Desolation, the crown of Azarkites is located? And that is where Vilgara was headed?"
"I'm not sure about Zhettiah at all - there has been no trace of him. But Vilgara might have stumbled onto something, whether that is with or without the help of the ghost I don't know."
"If the ghost was to be believed i think we will find an answer to our question in the morning. We should rest soon, and prepare well. I have a feeling we will see some hard battle before the day after next"
Are you staying still in the middle of the Desolation at night, or are you moving on?
If staying, is anybody casting and spells before bedtime? Besides 5 hours of rope trick, is anybody placing any other precautions?
"I don't mind what way we do this - I can't wait til dawn; maybe we'll start having answers before the next dusk."
"I don't mind what way we do this - I can't wait til dawn; maybe we'll start having answers before the next dusk."
"I think you forget our mounts, Veren, they need rest as well. I would hate to ride them to exhaustion, then need to flee away from...something we find in these accursed wastes."
"I'll follow your lead then." Veren almost absent-mindedly unstoppers his keg of Linnorm mead and takes a sip.
It begins as a lovely night, but stormclouds look to be rolling in from the north and east. Sometime either tonight or tomorrow morning, there's likely to be a storm.
Mikka
Veren
Nadeq,
perception
He cast dancing light in the area he last saw the movement, making it appear as four glowing spheres spread out so they most effectively light the 10 ft radius they cover.
Everybody, Nadeq is yelling something. It sounds like there are ghoul wolves charging.
Nadeq (you are not last watch, sadly, you haven't had time to prepare fresh spells)
"GHOUL WOLVES! THEY ARE BACK"
He make the dancing light form around our camp so everybody can see and prepares a shocking grasp against the first wolf to attack him
Touch attack
Damage
Crit
Touch attack
Damage
Rasina wakes up and draws her weapons, then she will stand up, and cast a cantrip at the ghoul wolf Nadeq touched.
Cast Disrupt Undead, ranged touch , damage .
The wolf-corpses are upon you.
Wolves 1-4:
Wolves 5-8:
Rasina:
Nadeq:
Veren:
Mikka:
For the battle map, again, imagine a grid with letter running across the top, and numbers running to to bottom. (Like a spreadsheet with 5' square cells.) We'll put your camp anywhere you like, within the area with corners at F6, F11, N6 and N11.
Nadeq (on 25): You're still holding your shocking grasp. Are you readying an attack? Activating your armor is a move action.
Rasina (on 23): Stands up (drawing her sword) and casts disrupt undead. Do you wait to see which wolf attacks Nadeq?
Mikka (on 22): You begin prone.
Wolves 1-4 (begin in A4, B7, H2, J1) (on 20):
Nadeq, your hits, but is not a critical.
Wolves 5-8 (begin in G16, M13, P13, S9) (on 18):
Veren (on 13): You begin prone.
Rasina (on 23): Stands up (drawing her sword) and casts disrupt undead. Do you wait to see which wolf attacks Nadeq?
Glaring into the darkness Mikka begins to change, taking the form of an owl. Silently she takes flight heading 60ft up.
Veren rolls out of his sheets into a crouch, still to groggy to charge off and attack things. He draws his rapier and somewhat uncertainly eyes the half light, ready to hit the first thing that snarls at him. Seeing multiple canine shapes flit about he mumbles to himself, "Oh, you again. I'm not drunk enough for this."
Nadeq (on 25): You're still holding your shocking grasp. Are you readying an attack? Activating your armor is a move action.
Nadeq, you can trigger your armor and keep your standard action ready. What square are you beginning in?
Rasina, roger that. What square are you beginning in?
Mikka, you can change into an owl and become airborne before they get to you. What square are you beginning in, and where do you end up?
Veren, you'll be flat-footed against them this round. What square are you beginning in?
and mutters to Rasina: "Madness I tell you, I swear I've killed that one with the crushed jaw three times already."
There are horses we'll need to deal with. Barring any objection, I'll put the three horses at G-H-10-11 (Nadeq's), K-L-6-7 (Mikka's), and M-N-6-7(Rasina's) Their initiative is on 15.
Nadeq (let's put you at G7) (on 25): Readies an attack. Activating your armor is a move action. I'm going to assume you activated it, unless you tell me otherwise.
Rasina (in K9) (on 23): Stands up (drawing her sword) and readies disrupt undead.
Mikka (on 22): transforms into an owl and flies up, to the space above Rasina.
Wolves 1-4 (begin in A4, B7, H2, J1) (on 20):
Wolf 2 moves to F7 and attempts to attack Nadeq.
Nadeq, your attack hits, but is not a critical.
Rasina, your cantrip strikes home, causing it even more pain, but it's still on its feet.
Wolf 2:; (this is not a trip attempt) Nadeq, make a Fortitude save, to avoid being paralyzed. Also, take points of damage.
Wolf 1 moves to F6 and attempts to attack Nadeq.
Wolf 3 moves to H6 and attempts to attack Nadeq. ; critical resolution: ; not a critical! Nadeq, make a second Fortitude save, and take another points of damage.
Wolf 4 moves to K5 and attacks Mikka's horse. . That hits. The horse () stiffens in place, its eyes looking around panicked. It also takes points of damage.
Wolves 5-8 (begin in G16, M13, P13, S9) (on 18):
Wolf 5 moves to G12 and attacks Nadeq's horse. . That misses!
Wolf 6 moves to K10 and attacks Rasina. , which misses her (current) AC of 16.
Wolf 7 moves to L10 and attacks Rasina. . They're snarling and snapping at you, in some hideous mockery of wolves, but they can't get through your nimble defenses.
Wolf 8 moves to O7 and attacks Rasina's horse. Close, but no chance.
The horses who haven't been paralyzed attack.
Nadeq's horse: , ; nope.
Rasina's horse: , ; nope.
Veren (J9)(on 13): You begin prone. Do you want to roll to your feet and attack the wolf right next to you, or stab at it from the ground?
fortitude
fortitude
Nadeqs face freeze in a horrible scream
The cold air moving over Veren's cheeks as the wolf snarls make him more cautious. He stabs right at its skull while still prone on the floor. Then stands up.
Veren, you hit! The animated corpse doesn't bleed, but you know you've deliverd a good blow to it.
You stand, which gives the same wolf an opening to attack you. , which misses!
Mikka (in the air, over K9)(on 22):
Wolves 1-4 (F6, F7, H6, K5) (on 20):
Nadeq (G7, paralyzed, with three wolves on him)(20)
Rasina (K9, with two wolves on her)(20)
Wolves 5-8 ( G12, K10, L10, O7) (on 18):
The horses(on 15)
Veren (J9)(on 13):
Grabbing Nadeq's paralyzed form would be a standard action which provokes an attack of opportunity. So, you could make a single attack on the wolf in K10 and then move away to H8 (provoking an AoO from that wolf, if it's still animate) during your turn in round 2. At the end of round 3, you could grab Nadeq (provoking AoOs from at least three of the monsters) and carry him back with you.
By that time, the paralysis might have worn off.
"Veren, I'll help Nadeq, just take care of the wolves!"
Circling the areea in owll form Mikka casts call lightning.
Mikka, you understand that you're the only one acting before the wolves, correct?
Mikka, you understand that you're the only one acting before the wolves, correct?
Fair enough.
Mikka (circling in the air, over K9)(on 22): Casts call lightning. In Round Three, the first lightning bolt will be available.
Wolves 1-4 (F6, F7, H6, K5) (on 20):
The wolf in F6 attempts to trip the paralyzed Nadeq: ; the halfling has an effective Dexterity score of 0, and the attack hits. Nadeq is prone.
The wolves in F7 and H6 savagely tear into the halfling. Each automatically hits and does a critical amount of damage.
The wolf in K5 trips Mikka's horse, ready to kill it next round.
Rasina (K9, with two wolves on her)(20) -- You're up.
Wolves 5-8 ( G12, K10, L10, O7) (on 18):
The horses (on 15)
Veren (J9)(on 13)
Rasina sees the wolves yearing into her friend, and her mind goes blank for a split second, This was my fault! but she cannot grieve for now, she instead slips into a defensive posture , trying to keep herself from suffering the same fate.
The second batch of wolves.
The wolf at G12 attacks Nadeq's horse , and misses.
The wolf at K10 takes a 5' step to J10 and attacks Rasina , and misses.
The wolf at L10 moves to L8 (provoking an attack of opportunity from Rasina) and attacks Rasina with flanking , and misses.
The wolf at O7 attacks Rasina's mount , and does points of damage. The horse pulls against its reins, trying to break free. (Saving throw to avoid paralysis: )
The horses attack:
Nadeq's mount: ,
Rasina's horse: ,
Well, that was an entire round of lack-lustre rolls.
Veren, you're up.
Veren slays the first ghoul wolf, and then injures the other. Excellent!
Mikka, we're up to you. Are you using call lightning? (If so, you've already rolled damage.)
Veren slays the first ghoul wolf, and then injures the other. Excellent!
Mikka, we're up to you. Are you using call lightning? (If so, you've already rolled damage.)
Mikka, that's the way I read it, yes. Your first bolt fires during your turn in Round 3, and you don't need to do anything else. From here on in, you can use a standard action to call more lightning down.
As the bolt of lightning slams down mikka wheels around fogusing on the largest cluster of wolves within a 20ft radius. A faint glow appears in the black night as she summons the power of fire, unleashin a streaking ball of burning hot energy that erupts into a burts of flame in the midsts of her enemies.