Amira channels the power of Adabar and heals the party!
Gannus manages to shake off the effects of the centipede's poison and attacks the beast. Two of his blows hit, doing a little damage.
Glaurung casts a spell, but the super-sized vermin appears to resist the acid.
Two of the elves continue to fire arrows, hitting Glaurung and Samhain.
|
"Well, at least only two are trying to kill us now."
Another slew of arrows at the beast, with a nod of thanks to Amira.
Meanwhile, Buho continues to flutter around the critter, trying to find its head to distract it from the rest of the group.
Small bird, big beasty, must remember to teach Buho how to properly distract...
Samhain lets loose another barrage of arrows, only managing to hit the behemoth the second time.
Hawthorne swings hard at the beastie, his first strike chipping away at the centipede a little more.
The centipede begins lashing it's sinuous body and proceeds to roll over the party again.
|
Glaurung steps over closer to Amira and tries to cast another acidball at the thing.
Cantrips
Acid Splash
Detect Magic
Detect Poison
Disrupt Undead
Message
Ray of Frost
Read Magic
1st level (7/day) - 2 cast
Burning Hands
Enlarge Person
Feather Fall
*Mage Armor
Magic Missile
Ray of Enfeeblement
Shield Companion
2nd level (7/day) - 1 cast
Bull's Strength
False Life
Scorching Ray
*Resist Energy
3rd level (6/day) - 3 cast
Communal Darkvision
Fireball
*Fly
4th level (3/day) - 1 cast
Dragon Breath
*=from bloodline
Amira collapses to the ground, bleeding profusely from the last trample.
Gluarung casts another spell and this time it penetrates, but the wily centipede dodges some of the acid.
Gannus manages to stab the giant bug, once, patiently chipping way.
Two elves fire again, hitting the gnome with an arrow.
Hawthorne swings twice at the pede, but both strikes miss.
Samhain fires more arrows, but only the first barrage hits. The centipede's long body reaches out and bites at the ranger as he fires.
Luckily, the nimble elf evades the opportune attack.
The centipede, looking very, very injured with a myraid of hacked off legs twitching around it, reaches it's head down and bites Gannus. The barbarian feels the wound begin to burn as the creature's poison sets in.
Glaurung feels the poison course through her veins as her body attempts to fight it off.
|
|
Glaurung drops her magical rod, feeling terribly slow. With her last bit of strength she tries to call on a powerful spell, infusing herself with the power of a copper dragon.
Cantrips
Acid Splash
Detect Magic
Detect Poison
Disrupt Undead
Message
Ray of Frost
Read Magic
1st level (7/day) - 2 cast
Burning Hands
Enlarge Person
Feather Fall
*Mage Armor
Magic Missile
Ray of Enfeeblement
Shield Companion
2nd level (7/day) - 1 cast
Bull's Strength
False Life
Scorching Ray
*Resist Energy
3rd level (6/day) - 3 cast
Communal Darkvision
Fireball
*Fly
4th level (3/day) - 2 cast
Dragon Breath
*=from bloodline
Gannus slashes with his good arm and manages to stab the pede twice. With a violent spasm, the creature collapses to the ground, curling up into a stiff coil...
As the party surveys the destruction wrought by the enormous arthropod, the elves quickly climb down from their perch and hail the party. One, a female and the apparent leader approaches Samhain. Our apologies brother elf. We suspected you were demons in disguise. a tired mind plays the best tricks. She says in way of apology. My name is Cecilla, what brings you and your party here?
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Samhain quickly excuses himself and heads to Amira, drawing a wand and employing its magic to heal her wounds.
Turning once again to the leader apparent, he explains. "An easy mistake to make, even for the observant. We come to find a group of soldiers; the Uprooters. We seek all the forces we can to come to our aid. And what, may I ask, brings you out here?"
|
|
Glaurung falls unconscious.
Acid Splash
Detect Magic
Detect Poison
Disrupt Undead
Message
Ray of Frost
Read Magic
1st level (7/day) - 2 cast
Burning Hands
Enlarge Person
Feather Fall
*Mage Armor
Magic Missile
Ray of Enfeeblement
Shield Companion
2nd level (7/day) - 1 cast
Bull's Strength
False Life
Scorching Ray
*Resist Energy
3rd level (6/day) - 3 cast
Communal Darkvision
Fireball
*Fly
4th level (3/day) - 1 cast
Dragon Breath
*=from bloodline
|
Amira staggers to her feet after wanding herself with a stick from her wrist-sheathe. "Ugh, this demon business is already getting on my nerves."
"Now that I'm functioning, if you all have appropriate healing implements, I'll be happy to use them and bill the standard fee to the Decemvirate, as per contract 22357-9..."
She reaches into her robe's sleeves and removes more than enough bandages, salves, and whatnot to Heal [/ooc]skill[/ooc] on everyone, thanks to her Vest of Surgery.
Cecilla nods at Samhain's question. We are those Uprooters. Demons harried our mission the entire time, successfully cutting us off from our few safe hiding places before attacking almost two days ago. In the ensuing skirmishes, three of our Uprooters died, and the demons captured Lanverel, our leader, and four others before the rest of us got away. We made our way back to Mount Armiya in the hope of regrouping and then returning to save our commander; however, upon reaching the hill, we found trail signs left by other elves reporting that further forays into Tanglebriar were forbidden. She shakes her head, obviously worn out from past couple days.
As the party is healing themselves, Hawthorne notices a band around the centipede, that turns out to be a belt, which Amira identifies as a Belt of Physical Perfection. Upon seeing the belt, Cecilla identifies it as Lanverel's belt.
The Uprooters briefly confer and report that using it to taunt them matches the style of Fihralaz, a hezrou demon that only recently carved out a lair for itself nearly a day’s journey into Tanglebriar. As they explain, Fihralaz not only enjoys sending other creature to do his dirty work but also delights in sending trophies of his victims back to their loved ones as a calling card. The elves know how to reach the hezrou’s territory, and can draw out a rough map complete with several important landmarks (such as the lost settlement of Kethalia, which the elves identify as a relatively safe place to rest), but they caution that even with good directions Tanglebriar is a difficult place to navigate.
The Uprooters are conflicted about wanting to aid in Lanverel’s rescue and honoring the commands of General Tenasi. As the party volunteers to search for Lanverel, the Uprooters give their thanks and offer the party the use of Lanverel's belt and give you 6 antitoxins, 3 potions of cure moderate wounds, 5 potions of lesser restoration, and 20 cold iron arrows.
Amira easily convinces Cecilla to come along with your party to aid in guiding you through the Tanglebriar.
|
|
As he talks, Samhain uses his wand on himself as well, planning on offering it to the Uprooters as well if they are in need. However after a few charges it stops working, its magic depleted.
"I am sorry to hear about the rest of your team. However fortune has not turned from us entirely. We must hold out hope that Lanverel is still alive. Lead on," he says, deferring to Cecilla, though he will offer his tracking skills to aid at any point.
As Amira comes by, Samhain gladly accepts the patching up on his remaining wounds.
Before heading out, Samhain checks for his lost arrows.
He comes back with 2 arrows, shaking his head.
|
|
Amira notices that Glaurung's spring-loaded wrist sheath contains a healing wand.
She is able to use the wand to bring Glaurung to full health.
Acid Splash
Detect Magic
Detect Poison
Disrupt Undead
Message
Ray of Frost
Read Magic
1st level (7/day) - 2 cast
Burning Hands
Enlarge Person
Feather Fall
*Mage Armor
Magic Missile
Ray of Enfeeblement
Shield Companion
2nd level (7/day) - 2 cast
Bull's Strength
False Life
Scorching Ray
*Resist Energy
3rd level (6/day) - 3 cast
Communal Darkvision
Fireball
*Fly
4th level (3/day) - 1 cast
Dragon Breath
*=from bloodline
Fully recovered, Glaurung will cast false life on herself.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"So," Glaurung says, "you're going to stay here and we'll go in and rescue your leader Lanverel and the four others from this demon Fihralaz?"
She ponders for a moment. "As long as there aren't any more centipedes on the way, I think we can manage."
Cecilla examines the party with a discerning eye. Are you ready to move on? Do you think you can handle the journey? The Tanglebriar is aptly named not only because the dense plant growth hinders movement but also because much of that growth secretes dangerous poisons or is covered in horrifyingly cruel thorns. Due to the undergrowth, travel is greatly hindered, taking longer, but the longer time spent in the Tanglebriar increase the chance of succumbing to the ever present poisons on the flora.
The trek through Tanglebriar weaves between trees drawn into moaning visages whose cracked bark sweats black sap. Tortured howls punctuate the constant buzzing of blood red flies, and at times the ground itself seems to spasm as if alive. Approximately a mile from Mount Armiya, a twisting briar patch of arm-thick vines with thorns like armor spikes impedes further travel south, leaving only narrow gaps that a creature might step through. Cecilla turns back toward the party from her point position. From here on out, it gets very difficult to traverse. There are three options...one, go straight through. It's hazardous, but the most direct way. Two, travel around which is much longer, or three, if you have some means of flight, you could fly over, but you then risk being seen by a potential enemy.
Cecilla pulls out a map and shows it to the party. The dense but potentially navigable briar patch is one of the features marked on the elves’ map, which notes that it is possible to negotiate one’s way through the half mile of thorns to the other side. By the illustration, the party can judge that the briars seem to stretch for 1-1/2 miles to both the east and west. Based on the map, you reckon that it is a half mile through the briars or three miles around.