Post by TheUdjat on Jan 4, 2010 15:30:53 GMT -5
SEA GREEN
Ella and Gro-bug variously communicate their demands to the workers, who look appropriately eager to cooperate and not be eviscerated. Or eaten by ‘snaga’, whatever that is. “The lizardmen are kept downstairs,” one says quickly, pointing to the set of stairs at the back of the room. The others confirm this, none of them deemed to be lying, and they quickly get out of the way of these warriors.
Ella surveys their work briefly, prompting a search for magic from Natsumi. She notes nothing magical here in the produced goods, though some of the tools have been enchanted or warded. Ella does note that the equipment is of extremely high quality, the type which could be enchanted with magic—perhaps elsewhere. [Read: Masterwork]
If not shackled or otherwise demanded to stay put, the workers flee the building when the trio finally descends the stairs. The certainly have no desire to put their lives at risk any longer than is necessary.
Down the stairs, the light dims, turning to the telltale shade of magical luminescence. The basement is one enormous chambers that stretches further then the length of the building, even. On the far side, newly crafted bars stretch across the room, beyond which are several bipedal figures left in the dark. The intervening space is set up much like a ritual room or magical laboratory, complete with tables full of reagents and questionable liquids, dismembered limbs from various sources, and many sharp tools and implements. The center of the chamber is covered with a silvery circle with glyphs scrawled around and inside of it, all of it caked with dried blood. To one side of the room, two enormous tables have what appear to be corpses laid across them, and a third is left bare.
To one side of the room, a humanoid figure busies himself at a table, working on something. He hums as he works, hair a wild mess, wearing the clothes of a common artisan like the workers upstairs. A cat creeps along the ground at his feet and, on spying the three new arrivals, hisses. Stitches crisscross the little creature, its fur a mottled mess of different felines, betraying its unnatural origins.
The hiss alerts the man, who looks up from his work to blink at the group. “Dear me. Things are worse up above than I thought, then. How troubling.” He looks at the cat. “Interruptions are terrible things, aren’t they?”
[Jump into combat or talk?]
(Character Status)
Ella – 77/77 HP; DR 3/- (4 blocked), Lifedrinking 22 (Lance)
Sean – 47/47 HP; Hide from Undead
Gro-bug – 74/100 HP, DR 1/-
Natsumi – 51/52 HP, Freedom of Movement
Henrick – 73/78 HP [Absent]
Antyca – No damage [Absent]
Squeeks – No damage
DARK RED
Gildas, Lenny, Sayo-
[Sayo – Telekinesis can be used after another round of waiting (I rolled ‘2’, and this is the first round).]
The Tertians continue to fight fiercely, despite the deepening gravity of their situation. Gildas strikes at the Deathpseaker near him, slashing tenaciously with his sword—but the man doesn’t drop. Wanderer heeds Gildas’s shouts, drawing back into line with his fellows and trying to aid Lenny—but the Yexuhl barbarian is too injured and fatigued, his hands slick with his own blood. He fumbles with the Skullsplitter and it slides from his grip, tumbling to the ground.
Sayo, the mysterious ghost that has revealed herself to be helping the Tertians and those of St. Cuthbert, suddenly dips down into the ground, looking to move safely around the Deathspeakers and pop back up beside her new comrades. Aurost sees this move and as she sinks into the ground he takes a final swipe at her. The magic blade cuts her ethereal flesh, the first such wound Sayo has sustained. She avoids any further harm and on rising behind Lenny, unleashes a terrifying moan that stirs fear in the hearts of all that can hear it. The hardiest warriors—Aurost and the Tertians themselves—easily rally against it, but many of the Deathspeakers are not so prepared for such horrors. Most of the rank-and-file warriors among them scatter and flee, several cut down by nearby adversaries while others escape. The spellcasters among them prove more resilient to the supernatural, and only two clerics flee the scene—including the one by Gildas. They evade harm for now, but will surely not survive on their own, scattered amongst hostile defenders of the temple.
Suddenly the tide of battle doesn’t look nearly as dismal. Lenny prepares his circlet to unleash a blast of force on Aurost, steeling himself for the attack—but the Deathspeaker in charge takes his time. The other forces hurry to the fight. The eastern contingent defending the gate begins to slip and fail, most of its defenders dying at the hands of the guards until only two dark clerics remain with mere daggers in their hands; they won’t last long.
But they may not need to. The rest focus their might on the Tertians. One of the remaining fighters scores a solid slash on Wanderer, taking advantage of his unarmed state and cravenly disabling him. The resilient Yexuhl falls, bleeding on the ground, his body finally having taken too much. Another Deathspeaker lands a mace against Lockheart’s helmeted head, sending him reeling, and another tries to hit Lenny, but misses. Finally, Aurost himself strides forward.
“Dying warriors of a dying nation. Feel the wrath of the Master!” He swings the scythe in a powerful arc at Lenny, the curved blade roaring with crackling black energy as Aurost calls on some divine power to strengthen it. In that moment Lenny’s circlet blasts him with a strong burst of force, but it barely makes him grunt. The scythe catches Lenny full in the body, ripping into flesh and bone, a cleaving strike that would kill a lesser man outright. But though Lenny feels his lifeforce slipping, his body hanging on by a mere thread, he fights off the wave of unconsciousness through the sheer tenacity gifted to many a Tertian. He does not fall.
But Aurost seems to assume he will. His second attack hones in on another opponent: Lockheart. With a slight turn and a quick sweep of the blade, the scythe buries itself in Lockheart’s gut. This proves more than the already-injured cleric of St. Cuthbert can take. He gives a muted, choking cry and drops to the blood-soaked ground, unmoving.
Aurost cackles. “One by one, I will have the bone.”
(Not-So-Quick Summary)
(Big map)
(Character Status)
Gildas – 12/69 HP, Bane (-1 on attacks, saves vs. fear)
Lenny – -7/61 HP, DR 3/-, Bane (-1 on attacks, saves vs. fear), disabled
Sayo – 27/39 HP, DR 1/cold iron, +4 Turn Resistance
Wystfalrun – -1/62 HP, Blinded, Stable
Lockheart – Dying
Wanderer – -5/90 HP, DR 2/-, Str effectively 7 (-2), dying
Deathspeaker damage totals:
D @ J11: 17 damage
F formerly @ I10:15 damage, panicked (off the map)
D formerly @ G10: 14 damage, panicked (off the map)
S @ Q13: 9 damage
F formerly @ K10: 16 damage, panicked (off the map)
Aurost: 28 damage. [whisper=TheUdjat]Actually 22 damage[/whisper]
Ella and Gro-bug variously communicate their demands to the workers, who look appropriately eager to cooperate and not be eviscerated. Or eaten by ‘snaga’, whatever that is. “The lizardmen are kept downstairs,” one says quickly, pointing to the set of stairs at the back of the room. The others confirm this, none of them deemed to be lying, and they quickly get out of the way of these warriors.
Ella surveys their work briefly, prompting a search for magic from Natsumi. She notes nothing magical here in the produced goods, though some of the tools have been enchanted or warded. Ella does note that the equipment is of extremely high quality, the type which could be enchanted with magic—perhaps elsewhere. [Read: Masterwork]
If not shackled or otherwise demanded to stay put, the workers flee the building when the trio finally descends the stairs. The certainly have no desire to put their lives at risk any longer than is necessary.
Down the stairs, the light dims, turning to the telltale shade of magical luminescence. The basement is one enormous chambers that stretches further then the length of the building, even. On the far side, newly crafted bars stretch across the room, beyond which are several bipedal figures left in the dark. The intervening space is set up much like a ritual room or magical laboratory, complete with tables full of reagents and questionable liquids, dismembered limbs from various sources, and many sharp tools and implements. The center of the chamber is covered with a silvery circle with glyphs scrawled around and inside of it, all of it caked with dried blood. To one side of the room, two enormous tables have what appear to be corpses laid across them, and a third is left bare.
To one side of the room, a humanoid figure busies himself at a table, working on something. He hums as he works, hair a wild mess, wearing the clothes of a common artisan like the workers upstairs. A cat creeps along the ground at his feet and, on spying the three new arrivals, hisses. Stitches crisscross the little creature, its fur a mottled mess of different felines, betraying its unnatural origins.
The hiss alerts the man, who looks up from his work to blink at the group. “Dear me. Things are worse up above than I thought, then. How troubling.” He looks at the cat. “Interruptions are terrible things, aren’t they?”
[Jump into combat or talk?]
(Character Status)
Ella – 77/77 HP; DR 3/- (4 blocked), Lifedrinking 22 (Lance)
Sean – 47/47 HP; Hide from Undead
Gro-bug – 74/100 HP, DR 1/-
Natsumi – 51/52 HP, Freedom of Movement
Henrick – 73/78 HP [Absent]
Antyca – No damage [Absent]
Squeeks – No damage
DARK RED
Gildas, Lenny, Sayo-
[Sayo – Telekinesis can be used after another round of waiting (I rolled ‘2’, and this is the first round).]
The Tertians continue to fight fiercely, despite the deepening gravity of their situation. Gildas strikes at the Deathpseaker near him, slashing tenaciously with his sword—but the man doesn’t drop. Wanderer heeds Gildas’s shouts, drawing back into line with his fellows and trying to aid Lenny—but the Yexuhl barbarian is too injured and fatigued, his hands slick with his own blood. He fumbles with the Skullsplitter and it slides from his grip, tumbling to the ground.
Sayo, the mysterious ghost that has revealed herself to be helping the Tertians and those of St. Cuthbert, suddenly dips down into the ground, looking to move safely around the Deathspeakers and pop back up beside her new comrades. Aurost sees this move and as she sinks into the ground he takes a final swipe at her. The magic blade cuts her ethereal flesh, the first such wound Sayo has sustained. She avoids any further harm and on rising behind Lenny, unleashes a terrifying moan that stirs fear in the hearts of all that can hear it. The hardiest warriors—Aurost and the Tertians themselves—easily rally against it, but many of the Deathspeakers are not so prepared for such horrors. Most of the rank-and-file warriors among them scatter and flee, several cut down by nearby adversaries while others escape. The spellcasters among them prove more resilient to the supernatural, and only two clerics flee the scene—including the one by Gildas. They evade harm for now, but will surely not survive on their own, scattered amongst hostile defenders of the temple.
Suddenly the tide of battle doesn’t look nearly as dismal. Lenny prepares his circlet to unleash a blast of force on Aurost, steeling himself for the attack—but the Deathspeaker in charge takes his time. The other forces hurry to the fight. The eastern contingent defending the gate begins to slip and fail, most of its defenders dying at the hands of the guards until only two dark clerics remain with mere daggers in their hands; they won’t last long.
But they may not need to. The rest focus their might on the Tertians. One of the remaining fighters scores a solid slash on Wanderer, taking advantage of his unarmed state and cravenly disabling him. The resilient Yexuhl falls, bleeding on the ground, his body finally having taken too much. Another Deathspeaker lands a mace against Lockheart’s helmeted head, sending him reeling, and another tries to hit Lenny, but misses. Finally, Aurost himself strides forward.
“Dying warriors of a dying nation. Feel the wrath of the Master!” He swings the scythe in a powerful arc at Lenny, the curved blade roaring with crackling black energy as Aurost calls on some divine power to strengthen it. In that moment Lenny’s circlet blasts him with a strong burst of force, but it barely makes him grunt. The scythe catches Lenny full in the body, ripping into flesh and bone, a cleaving strike that would kill a lesser man outright. But though Lenny feels his lifeforce slipping, his body hanging on by a mere thread, he fights off the wave of unconsciousness through the sheer tenacity gifted to many a Tertian. He does not fall.
But Aurost seems to assume he will. His second attack hones in on another opponent: Lockheart. With a slight turn and a quick sweep of the blade, the scythe buries itself in Lockheart’s gut. This proves more than the already-injured cleric of St. Cuthbert can take. He gives a muted, choking cry and drops to the blood-soaked ground, unmoving.
Aurost cackles. “One by one, I will have the bone.”
(Not-So-Quick Summary)
- Gildas moves to G11 and makes a full attack on Cleric @ G10: 23, 12; one hit. 2d6+7 damage: 12 damage.
- Wanderer drops back by Lockheart and takes a couple of swings at a fighter harassing Lenny: He manages to fumble his weapon (two sequential natural 1’s).
- Lenny technically acts next, but as his post is predicated on taking place after Sayo’s actions, he will briefly delay.
- Sayo moves beneath the ground to L9. I see nothing in the rules that allows her to avoid an AoO for moving out of her square (even if it is to go down into the earth), though her subsequent moves will obviously be ‘covered’. Aurost is the only one capable of hitting her, however. His attack: 32, hit. 50% miss chance: 73, hits. 12 damage (after DR 1/Cold Iron). She gets to L9 and resurfaces to unleash her Frightful Moan. This hits… pretty much everything (it misses one Fighter and catches one Guard, but otherwise cleanly catches all the Deathspeakers). A bunch of will saves vs. DC 19 follow. 7 Fighters fail, 2 Clerics fail, the single Guard fails; all others pass. They will flee on their turn.
- Guessing a little at Lenny’s conditionals, but readying to attack Aurost seems like the closest to the situation since the two fighters around him have fled (and it’s likely to do the most damage). He will 5’ north to M9 when those fleeing move and ready an action to hit Aurost when he acts with the Circlet of Minor Blasting. [Ready]
- We’ll start with the fleeing Deathspeakers. Two fighters are cut down by the guards on trying to escape. One fighter and a cleric escape south, provoking no attacks. One Cleric tries to escape from Gildas, provoking an attack (@ +12): 16, miss. He escapes unscathed (more than he already is). Another fighter flees, provoking from Wanderer, who is sadly unarmed. He escapes. Another Fighter provokes from Lenny in trying to escape: 26, hit. I believe he also gets Sneak Attack, as the fighter loses his dex for running. 25 damage. He manages to stagger away. Last fighter to flee only provokes from Lockheart (unless somebody has combat reflexes and I missed it): 6 damage.
- The rest of the Deathspeakers struggle to recover. Sorcerers get out of the way and fling some spells at the Guards, eliminating two. The fighter beside them charges north to engage Lenny: enormous miss. One cleric moves to engage the unarmed Wanderer: 15, miss. One of the Fighters follows up on him: 23, hit. 9 damage after DR, knocking him to -5 and dying. Last Cleric goes after Lockheart: Nat. 20 (does not confirm). Lockheart takes 12 damage.
- Aurost advances, targeting Lenny. As he acts, Lenny’s attack goes off: 14 damage. Aurost’s first attack is a Smite Good: 22, hit. 31 damage after DR 3/-. Lenny plummets to -7, but does not drop due to Diehard. His second attack goes for Lockheart: Nat. 20, does not confirm. 22 damage. Lockheart drops.
- Guards finally begin to overpower the Deathspeakers. Two more fighters fall, one of the sorcerers is burnt to a crisp, and they kill the last undead in their ranks. Now they start to scale the fence.
(Big map)
(Character Status)
Gildas – 12/69 HP, Bane (-1 on attacks, saves vs. fear)
Lenny – -7/61 HP, DR 3/-, Bane (-1 on attacks, saves vs. fear), disabled
Sayo – 27/39 HP, DR 1/cold iron, +4 Turn Resistance
Wystfalrun – -1/62 HP, Blinded, Stable
Lockheart – Dying
Wanderer – -5/90 HP, DR 2/-, Str effectively 7 (-2), dying
Deathspeaker damage totals:
D @ J11: 17 damage
S @ Q13: 9 damage
Aurost: 28 damage. [whisper=TheUdjat]Actually 22 damage[/whisper]
