J15
Init
Nature
@ everyone - The creature looks mantis like, it stand on four legs and it’s arms look like large scythes it also reeks of defiling magic. The mantis’ chitin is an oily black color and is spotted with ulcerous pustules; it also has several open wounds caused by weapons and magic.
Two of the humans are wielding heavy war axes and dressed in hide armor and seem quite skilled at combat. The way they move in combat tells that they have been trained as gladiators not as soldiers.
The third human is dressed in plain desert robes and is acting like Andar, a psion.
@Gorad - It appears that the human in the circle is the victim of an attack and not the source.
@Andar - the mantis is definitely the one defiling the area
Initiative:
Berrakra
Yijural
Death Mantis
Death Mantis
Andar
Th’Kal
Paxs
Carric
Berrakra
Gorad
Yijural
Gerad
Nayurru
Gorad re-roll your init.
Gerad, initiative . G14 for location.
The Mantis lashes out with a powerful scythe like claw and cuts deeply into Nayurru, one of the human gladiators. Nayurru is forced to his knees by the power of the strike.
Initiative:
Death Mantis
Andar
Th’Kal
Paxs
Carric
Berrakra
Gorad
Yijural
Gerad
Nayurru (bloodied)
Andar is up.
Andar buffets the mantis with telekinetic force.
Th'Kal lets out what might be described as a bug-laugh, and goes charging in for the Mantis.
HP: 29/29 (Temp: 0), Surges: 10/10, AP: 1/1
Enc. Used: -
Daily Used: -
Andar mental shove puts another crack in the mantis' carapace. Instead of reacting in pain the mantis broadcasts a telepathic message "Oh joyous day more food to feed my clutch. Come closer don't make it too hard for momma to suck out your juices."
Th'Kal maneuvers and charges to flank the horrid best before burying his axe the mantis' thorax. Th'Kal's blow sprays rank smelling puss from the wound and bloodies the already wounded mantis.
Initiative:
Death Mantis (bloodied)
Andar
Th’Kal
Paxs
Carric
Berrakra
Gorad
Yijural
Gerad
Nayurru (bloodied)
Paxs is up.
Bump for Paxs.
Paxs marks the beast as he engages it in melee. However his attack only glances off doing no damage.
Static sparkles over the mantis but is too weak to damage it.
Berrakra swings his axe in an overhead strike at the mantis.
His axe however is turned aside by the mantis' foreleg and fails to connect.
Initiative:
Death Mantis (bloodied)
Andar
Th’Kal
Paxs
Carric
Berrakra
Gorad
Yijural
Gerad
Nayurru (bloodied)
Gorad is up.
Gorad summons sandswimmer into N4
Sandswimmer attacks the mantis with Protector Strike
vs Will Dmg
Gorad moves to M15
Sandswimmer burrows out of the ground to attack the mantis however it misses the mantis by a good two feet.
The Human psion focus’ his will and stabs at the mantis with his mind,
A new wound erupts on the mantis' back where the psion focused his will.
Gerad is up.
Gerad moves swiftly round the dune, studying the creature. A weak point, there, I think. He tests his theory with an arrow.
Gerad fires his arrow into an open wound on the mantis' back causeing much damage and pain to the aberation.
The wounded gladiator Nayurru does his best to hit the mantis with his axe
Nayurru's wounds prevent him from striking the mantis.
The mantis chitters gleefully, "Food for me, food for my clutch. You fleshling give me so much bounty."
Foul magic spreads out from the mantis as it sucks life from the sparse vegetation and from everyone around it.
Wounds on the mantis begin healing as it sucks the life of others into itself. The wounded Nayurru is unable to withstand the defiling and withers into a dried out husk. Berrakra also suffers greatly from the beast as it's life draining bloodies him.
Initiative:
Death Mantis (bloodied)
Andar
Th’Kal
Paxs
Carric
Berrakra (bloodied)
Gorad
Yijural
Gerad
Andar is up.
Th'Kal shifts his stance and lashes out with his claws and ax.
HP: 29/29 (Temp: 0), Surges: 10/10, AP: 1/1
Enc. Used: Kreen Claws
Daily Used: -
Paxs pulls a sword from his belt and throws a wild swing with the new blade at the Mantis.
This time Andar’s kinesis isn’t strong enough to damage the mantis.
Th’Kal’s claws can’t find any purchase on the mantis’ armored hide but his axe strike hits sending more foul ichor flying about.
Carric’s lighting still has no effect on the mantis.
The last remaining gladiators swings his axe at the beast,
Berrakra shifts to flank with Th'Kal but still fails to hit, no doubt caused by his grievous wounds.
Initiative:
Death Mantis (bloodied)
Andar
Th’Kal
Paxs
Carric
Berrakra (bloodied)
Gorad
Yijural
Gerad
Gorad is up.
Gorad moves to M10 and uses healing spirit on Berrakra
Sandswimmer lashes out at the mantis with protecting strike.
vs Will
dmg
As Gorad heals Berrakra Sandswimmer bites down on one of the mantis's legs and violently shakes it back and forth.
Yijural sends mind daggers at the mantis,
The mental daggers barely hit but cause the beast to recoil slightly.
Gerad is up.
"A tough creature, it seems." Gerad muses on the strange beasts he's seen in the area, while sending more arrows in it's direction.
[ooc]Skirmishing Stance; Until the stance ends, if you end the turn 4 squares from where you started it, you gain +2 to AC and Reflex and your next attack does an additional 1d8 damage
Hunter's Quarry on the mantis.
Move to L10
Twin Strike, vs AC, damage
vs AC, damage
If either attack hits, Hunter's Quarry damage
AC: 17+2=19 Fort: 15 Reflex: 16+2=18 Will: 12
HP: 24 Surges: 7 Surge Value: 6
Gerad stumbles on a stone as he moves sending both his arrows into the silty dirt.
The mantis in an incredible feet of acrobatics leaps half a dozen yards away from those surrounding it. The mantis attacks Yijural as it lands beside the shocked psion.
The leg wound given by Sandswimmer causes the mantis to stumble on landing missing the psion.
Initiative:
Death Mantis (bloodied)
Andar
Th’Kal
Paxs
Carric
Berrakra (bloodied)
Gorad
Yijural
Gerad
Andar is up.
As the mantis tries to lead away Sandswimmer reacts swiftly..
vs Ref
On hit 5 dmg and Berrakra is still injured gains 8 hps
Thunder crashes out of Paxs' blade damaging the mantis as it jumps away but Sandswimmer's parting bite at the jumping mantis barley misses.
The mantis is too quick for Andar and avoids the mental shove.
Th'kal is up.
Th'Kal circles the battle before finding his openning and charging back into the melee.
Th'Kal charges the mantis however the mantis deflects the clumsy attack and counter attacks slashing at Th'Kal with both sythe like forelimbs.
Only one of the claws catches Th'kal cutting deep into his chitin hide.
Paxs is up.
HP: 22/29 ( -or- 29/29 if Paxs uses his shielding power), Surges: 10/10, AP: 1/1
Enc. Used: Kreen Claws
Daily Used: -
Paxs cracks the mantis’ armor with his blade and for the first time the mantis is showing signs of weakness.
Carric finally is able to get his magic to work on the mantis and uses it to great effect by blowing the foul beasts head clean off.
Upon seeing Carric fell the creature Berrakra screams out “Nooo…Don’t kill it!”. The warning comes too late as the mantis’ body swells rapidly and explodes sending eggs and chitin shards everywhere damaging all in the blast radius.
As the mantis' eggs thrown out by the explosion hits someone the impact site withers and turns black as the eggs feed off there life force. Each egg then promptly hatches releasing a small mantis no bigger than a mans thumb. the young mantis' quickly fly off in all directions out of harms reach.
Only Berrakra and Gorad avoid being pelted by the mantis eggs. Unfortunately Paxs is hit the worst taking massive damage as the young mantis feed off him. Yijural who was gravely wounded is unable to survive the feeding frenzy and dies with a scream and a whimper.
Out of combat, the group gets 200xp each.
Sandswimmer shutters and dissolves under the egg barrage, and Gorad winces from the pain. Gorad quickly summons him back from the spirit world adjacent to Paxs Gorad uses healing spirit on Paxs.
Gorad 27/28 hps
"What was that thing?"
"An unusually large insect, possibly a hive queen, though I do not know the species." Gerad moves back towards the group.
Berrakra speaks up, "That was a Death Mantis, an evil creature born from the darkest defiling magics. It was created centuries ago by a long dead sorcerer-king to swarm his enemies like locusts and devour their crops, flocks and soldiers too. Whenever one was killed dozens of it's young erupt from the corpse to continue on the path destruction. Each young grows fast and are capable of spawning even more of it's kind when it dies."
"It would seem like a good idea to hunt down the others, then. Without destroying them, I suppose, though I do not know how practical that is. Perhaps younger ones are less dangerous." Gerad looks hopefully at Berrakra.
"Agreed, maybe if we encase them in clay jars and let them starve therefore not having the lifeforce to pass on to their young."