A Shadow Over Arvinon IC

[razorback]

...Ina kug ba-bar-ra sab tumu mul nam-tar
Ina ges’u’ges da usu da ussa ana’am kig
Ina dirig ki’kukku gu ana’am kar su ti nig’u’rum.

-Fragment of the prophecy of Ul Tel'Menadian, Seer of the Third Court, in the ancient tongue.



A Brief History of Arvinon

The current year is 1242 of the Fifth Age.
The Fifth Age began at the end of the War From Beyond and the defeat of Those From Beyond. The victory tore the land apart, with the Izvis peninsula sinking in part and creating what are now the Pryayatsu Empire and the Straits of Afin’Dor. The nation of Afin’Dor, who’s rulers brought about the war, ceased to be while leaving island littering the Straits with ruins from their former glory.
Most of the times greatest heroes and villains of the time died in the war along with the northern god Falthur Deedkeeper. This included almost all the users of magic be it those who wielded the very fabric of reality, unlocked the powers of the mind, were friends of nature or followed the will of the Gods. The greatest exception was the Tower of Knowledge in the city-state of Arithanos, which became the greatest concentration of magic users of those who survived the war.
Most of the current kingdoms, especially in the west, were created after The War From Beyond by those left in power or those who seized it. The notable exceptions are the dwarf lands of the Granite Kingdom and the elf lands of Gaermound-i-Alkarinqa'ara, although the former lost a substantial portion of its lands as the world sought to heal itself following the War From Beyond.

[razorback]

Karven only


<How in Hades did I end up here?> Karven thought to himself. A caravan guard.
Working for Teven Lei wasn’t so bad but he wished that the human was a bit more cautious on the paths he chose. They had left Arkas weeks ago, sometimes skirting and sometimes entering the Prang’s Folly, the wastes controlled by Huul Ale’ereos. It was dangerous but it had saved them weeks of travel. Too bad it didn’t save Deng, one of the other guards, who had been carried away by the strange creature one of the other guards called a ‘Dunewinder’, a strange, worm like creature. Arkas was good while they were there. There were plenty of other Halflings to meet, even if they might give him strange looks.
He had made friends amongst some of the guards, too. Maispar, of the race known as Raptoreans, was an odd character. He could be cheery at times… but dark and menacing at others. But, occasionally, when they could find cliffs or other high points, he could be coaxed into flying Karven about, even if he only called it gliding.
And then there was the flame haired man named Oloek. A bit of a grouch, who spent his nights drinking, he felt some kind of camaraderie with the man. He knew what it was to be an outsider amongst your own people. Although, the past couple of days had been rough for him since he ran out of the hooch. Karven had seen him sitting on one wagon’s and didn’t realize he drank so much he got the shakes.
“Caravan guard” he sighed. It could be worse, he supposed. Teven respected his power and it had been useful to drive off a couple of bandit groups. Magic was rare and strange to most. Seeing the sky light up with his power that night was enough to send them packing. Too bad most of the other guards chose to keep their distance, though.

[razorback]

Maispar only


Maispar walked down the street in Arkas, disappointment on his face. He had hoped to find the knowledge needed to put their spirits to rest.
“Arithanos would be your best bet. Either that or Svligi Althith… Lord Elbure or Jussi Huovinen both possess deep knowledge of things lost to others, even the long-lived elves.” The sage had told him.
As he walked out into the market square to get something to eat, he checked his coins. He knew that there was no way he had the funds to make it to either city. As he walked up to a vendor, he paid for the meat pie and thought of what to do next when he overheard the next customer, a bald and thin human male, say to a flame haired man “Yes, I’ll hire you. I need a couple of more guards, at least one more scout, and someone who can cook a decent meal. Itzel can barely make a passable stew. One we reach Salustia and then Arithanos.” Then bald man then began to haggle with the vendor over the price.
Maispar knew his ancestors were providing him is opportunity. “Sir,” he said to the bald man “not to be eavesdropping, but I could not help but overhearing that you are in search of guards and scouts. I have gifts and talents that can help on both fronts.”
From there, it was a matter of a little negotiation with the man, Teven Lei by name. He didn’t let on that he was trying to get to Arithanos or that he was short on coin, but this was an opportunity to gain both. His ancestors sought an end to their restlessness and had provided him the means to accomplish this.

[razorback]

Oloek only



Oloek walked with the bald, unctuous man. Teven Lei, after seeing him deal with the 3 men who thought he was cheating at dice, had asked him to work for him.
“Guards with swords I can find anywhere. But the magic you possess… yes, bandits fear those things.”
At first he didn’t want anything to do with the man. Salustia, really? The place was in the middle of the blasted desert. But, the man had seen him drinking and told him he’d throw in a keg of whatever rot gut he had been drinking… and he thought, <well, could be worse>. And it was.
Damn the heat. The thirst had caused him to consume the keg faster than he expected. Plus, Deng had owed him whatever brandy and whiskey he had after losing at dice… and the blasted idiot goes and gets himself eaten by the giant sandworm creature.
He was feeling surlier than usual. He was also hoping that cheery little Halfling would keep his distance as he sat on the wagon. And he hoped that Itzel made something other than beans, turnips, and boiled cabbage for dinner. Again. Hmmm… maybe Itzel had a stash of cooking wine he could either cajole, dice for or just straight out buy from…

[razorback]

The caravan, consisting of 10 wagons, marched along the desert waste.
As the sun started to sit low in the western sky, Teven looked to Maispar and Rendal, a Catfolk and the other scout, to find them a place to camp for the night.
"6 more days, tops, and we'll be in Salustia. Mark me on it" Teven said to whoever was listening. He had been saying this for three days now and the other guards had begun to mumble that Teven had lost his way in the desert. But, he promised meat for dinner that night and that had caused the grumbling to subside.

As Rendal came back saying that he had found a rocky, defensible spot a couple of miles west, the picked up the pace and made it there a half hour before sundown.

Camp was made and dinner was being cooked as you find yourself off duty, as the night watch takes it's turn.

[VestigeArcanist]

Miaspar knows his talents, and looks for any trees to climb up so that he may see far with his low-light vision. His wings and superior jumping ability should make scaling a tree easy work. There, he keeps a close eye out for any bandits or monsters.

If it is necessary, I will take ten on the climb check. I will use my wings to help me up the tree if that will assist me further.

[TheDon]

Oloek curses this damned desert under his breath, his shaking was definitely worse then usual, driving him nearly mad. And so Oloek rudely barge in the cook's wagon once they stop, quickly closing the door behind him. "Hello Itzel. Do you happen to have a little pick me up I could buy from you?"

[razorback]

As the sun dips below the horizon, the temperature of the hot desert subsides a bit.
Camp is struck near a rocky uprising from the hard pan, like stubby fingers reaching towards the sky. Senior members camp inside or on top of wagons, leery of laying on ground where snakes and other venomous creatures can warm their bodies against.
Hard, oversalted and overcooked meat is served with some wilted greens and some mashed up roots but it's been a week since meat has been served and everyone seems to relish the change.

Miaspar, after his meal, stretches out a bit before looking for a place to perch himself. Unable to find any vegitation larger than some small scrub, he climbs his way to the top of the most stable rocks. He scans the horizon, looking for trouble, whether it is bandits or feral creatures.

As the stars take their place in the sky, winking with cold, distant light, it feels as if they draw the heat from the desert as you begin to see the mist of your breath begin to form.

Karven and Oloek, something of favorites of Teven, as far as he values any men above what they can do for him, are given accommodations on wagons.

Oloek, unable to find anything to drink, grumpily makes his way to his cart, pulling his blanket over himself as the cold wind causes it to whip around his body.
As he sleeps, it is restless as he sees himself on a vast plain. The grasslands extend in all directions. Although he can't see anything taller than some knee high grass, no buildings or trees, he feels claustraphobic. He feels as if he's being watched, that the sky is closing in on him... that he can almost see a face as the stars begin to move... and he wakes up, sweating in the cold wind, looking around. Only the tarps, stirring in the wind, move as he covers himself and tries to go back to sleep.

Karven, finally giving up on trying to make conversation with Oloek, finds Itzel and a few other humans sitting around the fire. Sitting, he tries to to join the conversation but mostly fails in his attempts. He had hoped that being amongst other races taht his magic abilities would be more accepted but he sees that he most are still fearful of magic.

As the embers die down and everyone except those guards that have night duty make their way to their bedrolls, Karven climbs up on the wagon, noticing that the familiar stars have an almost red tinge to them.

[VestigeArcanist]

Miaspar, perched on the rocks, thinks to pull out his weapon, but thinks that it is unnecessary and overly paranoid. Though he grows colder, he doubts his reflexes will be dulled by the tension of his muscles. He brings his wings in to wrap his torso, they will insulate him from the elements and keep his body warm. He keeps a steady watch, as would a bird of prey.

[TheDon]

Oloek clenches his fist, trying to ignore the shakes long enough to get back to sleep. He sighs as sleep seems to elude him and he decides to go take a walk to try and shake the dream off.

[Linguz]

Karven lays down on top of the wagon, looking up at the red stars. His mind lazily ponders what's going on, but he doesn't feel overly... anything by them. No fear, no amazement, nothing. He stays like that for a while, watching the stars and conversing with his fey inside, before closing his eyes and getting some rest, if nothing happens.

[razorback]

The air, cold and biting, blows through the camp. With it comes strange sounds... sounds like the mewling of cats down a long, vacant hall...

Suddenly, the sound of hoofbeats can be heard, charging hard on the sand. Everyone is instantly awake as Teven meets the rider, who you realize is Aulex, one of the night guards responsible for keeping a perimeter around the camp.

"Teven, riders approach. At least a dozen on horses. They look to be Tel'Amrin Suul Aliman!".
With that, Aulex leaps from his horse to the ground at Teven's feet.

No knowledge check~
Tel'Amrin Suul Aliman are the lords of Huul Ale'ereo. Their warlord/king, Ankinhôr Kahzeel, a hobgoblin reported to rule the desert with an iron fist, laying waste to to travelers who enter his domain.
Kn:History or Kn:Local check if you want more information.

"If we are in their lands, we have gone too far west and north, Teven. What do we do?!?" Aulex asks, almost hysterical.


A murmer goes through the assembled guards.
There are a total of 15 members of your party, including the three of you, but most have only fought against bandits and the occasional wild animal but never against an almost equal amount of trained soldiers.

[Linguz]

Karven is knocked out of his near-sleeping state by the commotion. He overhears what's going on and jumps down off the wagon. "You shut your trap, gather your weapons, and prepare for a fight if they bring one." He plucked a few strings on his lyre before proceeding to continue playing. "We can either try to be diplomatic or we can try to get the jump on them. What say you, Teven?"

[VestigeArcanist]

Miaspar draws his Falchion, but stays in his place in the hope of catching the hostiles off guard from above.

[TheDon]

Oloek curses the desert once again "From their reputation, I don't think we can afford to be diplomatic. No one rides this hard to talk. I say we open the hostilities. Everyone who's experienced in combat, grab a sword, those who aren't, grab a bow. I'll lay an ectoplasmic sheen, hopefully most of the horses shouldn't make it through standing. Archers, shoot those stuck in the sheen, swordmen, cut down all those who get out... he then turns to Teven "Unless you have a better idea?"

If Teven doesn't come up with a better idea, Oloek will cast Vigor and force screen on himself and ready and action to cast grease in front of the horses. If Oloek doesn't have 3 rounds, he'll just ready an action.

[razorback]

"There's no way we can outrun them. Maybe we can barter with them? That can't think we did it on purpose?!?" Teven says, pulling his hat off and wiping his sweating head, even with the cold wind whipping about.

"The rocks! If we put our backs to the rocks and circle the wagons in front of us, they can't charge us down with their horses! It will give us a chance to use the archers! We might get lucky and take them out before they can get away and find reinforcements. "

Before any of you can do any different, he yells out "Jons! Vince! Terrance! Get those wagons moving! Make a half circle in front of those rocks right there!" He says he the bird-faced man points to an area where the rocks circle into themselves. "Quick before I tie you to the wagons and make you pull them yourselves!"
He then rushes off, yelling to anyone with any kind of bow to ready themselves.

I'll try to have a map up in the morning to give you guys a better idea of the layout.

[Linguz]

"If they're going to try to overrun us with horses, everyone who has a spear, set it up. If we have enough, we can form a line of spears. I'll be helping from above, with my blasts."

[TheDon]

Oloek takes a few seconds to focus himself, before following behind Teven. "So you wish us to hold our fire until you can talk to them?'

Focus Concentration: [roll0]

If Teven says yes he will answer "You're wasting a good oportunity to strike first, I pray to the gods your hopes don't kill us all.
Either way, Oloek will help move the wagons. After that he will hide behind one of them and summon his mindblade and watch for the enemy, once they're closer, he will cast vigor and force screen on himself.

[razorback]

Map

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc253/speedtrip/Mobile%20Uploads/ridersatrockscopy.jpg



You can make out 13 riders in the distance. Blue rectangles in the upper left corner. They have stopped and it looks like two are conversing.
Guards in white are on the (black) wagons with either crossbows or longbows out.
Guards in blue have longspears out, set vs charge.
Guards in green have longswords drawn.
Teven has a light crossbow out and has put has rapier belt on.
Miaspar is on the tallest of the rock fingers, about 25 feet above the ground.
Karven and Oloek are both on the ground behind the cover of the wagons, each about 10 feet away from Teven.


Teven looks at Oloek, thinking on his words.
"Well, they aren't hostile... yet. If they come charging in, then we give'em all we got, boys. Maispar and Rendal, can you make out what they are doing?"

Before either the Raptoran or Catfolk can answer, the horsemen suddenly spur forwards, half look to have horsemen shortbows and the other half look to be drawing scimitars.


Initiatives, please.

Edit: Aw, crap. Still working on the map sizes on the internet.

[TheDon]

Initiative:[roll0]

[Linguz]

Karven climbs back up onto the wagon like a spider, sticking to the sides, and decides to stick around there. He was ranged, so being up here would be the proper place.

Initiative: [roll0]

[VestigeArcanist]

Initiative: [roll0]

[razorback]

Initiative order
Horseman Leader
Blue Guards
Maispar
Karven
Teven
Oloek
Horsement
Green Guards
White Guards


(alpha)G for color guard from map.



From the distance, near the front of the pack, you can see one of the horsemen raise his scimitar up high and shout something in a gutteral language. The other horsemen then raise their voices in response, sounding like some kind of battle cry.
The guards at the openings between the wagons (blue on the map) ready themselves, longspears planted against a charge.
Maispar, you're up.

[VestigeArcanist]

Miaspar, seeing the distance to be covered by the horsemen, readies himself jump and glide above the action once two or more horsemen meet our guards.

[Linguz]

Karven creates a ball of energy in his palm, an eldritch blast, and waits for the horsemen to be in range.

Readied action, attack once a horseman is in range.

Attack: [roll0] Check: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] Crit: [roll3]

[TheDon]

In the interest of not holding up everyone, here is what Oloek does after Teven goes, unless something Teven does conflicts with this.


Oloek quickly runs behind one of the guard, using the wagon as cover. He then waits for the opportune time to lay down an ectoplasmic sheen to make the horses slip and fall.

Player TheDon
AC 13; Current 17
HP 13; Current 18

Effects~
Spell Force Screen gives +4 AC for 10 rds
Spell Vigor gives 5 THP for 9 rds


Move Action ~
Go from GG43 (I think) to EE40

Standard Action ~
Delay action to cast grease until horseman are within range (25ft)

[razorback]

The horsemen, charging with fury, rain down upon the small merchant caravan.
The bowman come first, firing at the exposed bowman on top of the wagons before peeling away.


H1 vs WG1
[roll0]
[roll1]

H2 vs WG1
[roll2]
[roll3]

H3 vs WG1
[roll4]
[roll5]

H4 vs WG2
[roll6]
[roll7]

H5 vs WG2
[roll8]
[roll9]

H6vs WG2
[roll10]
[roll11]

H7vs WG3
[roll12]
[roll13]

H8 vs WG3
[roll14]
[roll15]

H9 vs WG3
[roll16]
[roll17]

H10 vs WG4
[roll18]
[roll19]

H11vs WG4
[rol lv]1d20[/rollv]
[roll20]

H12 vs WG4
[roll21]
[roll22]



Once the mounted bowmen peel off, the scimitar wielders move in.


Go ahead and take your readied actions. I'll mark the map better in the morning but assume the top wagon is #1 and the horsemen will follow that numbering system.

Edit:made changes per Linguz post.

[Linguz]

You accidentally screwed up H11 vs WG4, so here's the roll: [roll0]

Also, all 12 horsemen have bows?

Karven launches a bolt of energy at the last attacker (H12).

Rolled it when I did the readied action.

Karven
AC 16; Current 16
HP 9; Current 9

Standard Action
Attack H12 with Eldritch Blast
15

Confirmation (if necessary)
N/A

Damage
4

[TheDon]

Oloek's eyes flash a deep blue as he covers the ground with an ectoplasmic sheet in front of a horse leading a column.

I'll leave the where to your judgement as I don't see where the horses are. Has to be within 25' of me.

[VestigeArcanist]

Miaspar hops up and glides his way over to caravan two, falchion in hand.

If necessary: Jump check [roll0]

He should still be gliding over the caravan at this time.

[razorback]

New Map
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc253/speedtrip/Mobile%20Uploads/ridersatrocks2copy.jpg

[razorback]

Nothing to see, just couldn't see my last post.

[VestigeArcanist]

Resuming his delayed action, Miaspar yells out. "Riders flanking from behind!" He then mumurs a few words and casts the spell, Bane.

Player X
AC ~13; Current ~ 13
HP ~ 15; Current ~ X

Effects~
Spell: Bane fills your enemies with fear and doubt. Each affected creature takes a -1 penalty on attack rolls and a -1 penalty on saving throws against fear effects.

Lasts for one min. 50 feet radius of position. All enemies in square f16, z16, z26 and f26 must make Will Save DC 14 or be affected by the spell.

[TheDon]

OOC: If I cast grease at u18 so it covers u17-u18-v17-v18, could I have gotten in front of h11 in order to get h11 and h9?

[razorback]

As the horsemen come charging forward, a second group circles around the back.
Maispar yells out his warning to the rest of his comrades. He unleashes an aura of forbidding magic upon the sappers.


Saves vs Bane DC 14
HG1
[roll0]

HG2
[roll1]


HG3
[roll2]


HGS
[roll3]




A moment later, Karven, clinging to one of the wagons, taps into his heritages and unleashes a blast of energy that lights up the night sky with a greenish hue as it hits the hobgoblin directly in the chest an instant after he had fired his shortbow.

And, almost immediately, Oloek's eyes flash a deep blue as he covers the ground with an ectoplasmic sheet in front of some of the horses as they charge towards the spear wielding guards, catching three of the horsement [H9, H11, & H12] by surprise as they were galloping forward.


Balance checks vs DC 10
H9
[roll4]
H11
[roll5]
H12
[roll6]



The guards, with their superior reach from their longspear, set against the charge, attack before the hobgoblins can close the range.


BG1
[roll7]
Conf
[roll8]
Damage
[roll9]

BG2
[roll10]
Conf
[roll11]
Damage
[roll12]

BG3
[roll13]
Conf
[roll14]
Damage
[roll15]

BG4
[roll16]
Conf
[roll17]
Damage
[roll18]

BG5
[roll19]
Conf
[roll20]
Damage
[roll21]



The guards on the wagons, wielding shortbows, unleash their salvo

WG1 vs H1
[roll22]
Conf
[roll23]
Damage
[roll24]

WG2 vs H3
[roll25]
Conf
[roll26]
Damage
[roll27]

WG3 vs H5
[roll28]
Conf
[roll29]
Damage
[roll30]

WG4 vs H7
[roll31]
Conf
[roll32]
Damage
[roll33]




Ack! What an accounting nightmare. Depending on the rolls, I will post up the next set of actions.

[razorback]

H9
[roll0]

H12
[roll1] x2

[razorback]

Bane vs 14

H2
[roll0]
H4
[roll1]
H6
[roll2]
H8
[roll3]
H9
[roll4]
H10
[roll5]
H11
[roll6]
H12
[roll7]

[razorback]

The hobgoblin leader, sitting in the back, looks on his troops in disarray as 3 of his troops fall before they even meet the trespassers. Realizing that magic is wielded by the opposition, he yells out above the din of battle “Glith guruk vazig ulinar! Teng dik valit ari’kul tek!”

H1, H2, and H10 are down and not moving
H9 was unsaddled and is prone at the ground near BG4

If you speak goblin, let me know.

He then moves his horse forward and dismounts.

Horse is at K/15-16 and he is standing at L/16

Teven, seeing that his guards are all still standing and only a couple of the archers are wounded, moves back and yells to the two sword wielding guards “Make sure those round’abouter’s don’t sneak in!”

Teven moves to M/25 and has two short swords drawn

A moment later, small glowing object, that looks like a red pearl, streaks over Teven’s head and lands near the spot the merchant had previously occupied.


Karven & Oloek, I need reflex saves nix that, I just realized you two are just both out of range.

BG4
[roll0]


WG2
[roll1]

WG3
[roll2]

Teven
[roll3]



Maispar only

Maispar sees J-K/32 move 10 feet and L-M/32 and fire the red, glowing pearl.
H-I/33 moves M/28-29 and has a shortbow nocked, F-G/31 moves to G/26-27 and dismounts with scimitar drawn, P-Q/31 moves to S/27-28 and has a scimitar drawn.

[razorback]

[roll0]




As the fireball erupts, two of the guards fall and Teven is badly hurt. Two of the wagons catch fire.

Over the clash of steel, you can hear a low, loud rumbling sound as the ground beings to vibrate.


The hobgoblins, either oblivous to the sound or just plain ignoring it, continue their attacks, trying to bring the guards down.


H4 vs BG2 (-1 Bane)
1d20+3
Crit conf
1d20+3
Damage
1d6+3

H3 vs BG2
1d20+3
Crit conf
1d20+3
Damage
1d6

H6 vs BG3 (-1 Bane)
1d20+3
Crit conf
1d20+3
Damage
1d6+3

H5 vs BG3
1d20+3
Crit conf
1d20+3
Damage
1d6

H8 vs BG3 (-1 Bane)
1d20+3
Crit conf
1d20+3
Damage
1d6+3

H7 vs BG3
1d20+3
Crit conf
1d20+3
Damage
1d6


H11 vs BG5
1d20+3
Crit conf
1d20+3
Damage
1d6

H12 vs BG5 (-1 Bane)
1d20+3
Crit conf
1d20+3
Damage
1d6+3



The hobgoblin who fell with his horse attempts to stand and receives an attack from the spear-wielding guard near him for his efforts


BG4 vs H9
1d20+8 (adding prone as a bonus to attack instead of negative to AC)
Crit conf
1d20+4
Damage
1d2+2




With the eruption, 3 of the guards fall, one to the fireball and two immediately afterwards from the assault by the hobgoblins.

WG3, BG2 and WG1 are all down

[Linguz]

Karven, currently on top of the wagon (not hanging on the edge), spots the enemy leader not that far from him. He charges up an eldritch blast and throws it at their leader. Attack: [roll0] Check: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] Crit: [roll3]

[VestigeArcanist]

Miaspar sees the riders closing in. "three riders, North-east, East and South-east between the rock. Cast behind them. I'll take care of the leader!"

Calling on his ancestors for strength, Miaspar gives out a loud shiek, as would a bird of prey. He leaps off his perch and charges the hobgoblin leader from above.


Player X
AC ~13; Current ~ (w/rage & charge) 9
HP ~ 15; Current ~ (w/rage) 18

Maispar Rages

+4 Strength, +4 Consitution

Full-round action: Charge

double-movement to L17
Attack Hobgoblin leader (L16) with masterwork Falchion
[roll0]

Threat range 18-20

Confirmation (if necessary)
[roll1]

Damage
[roll2]

[TheDon]

Oloek wonders what the rumbling is all about, but decides there are more pressing thing for now. At Miaspar's direction, he runs to the nearest hole in the rocks and takes half a second to see what his next action is.

Player TheDon
AC 13; Current 17
HP 13; Current 18

Effects~
Spell Force Screen gives +4 AC for 9 rds
Spell Vigor gives 5 THP for 8 rds


Move Action ~
Move to S28

Standard Action ~
Waiting to know what I see first.

[razorback]

TheDon, go ahead and finish Oloek's action

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc253/speedtrip/Mobile%20Uploads/ridersatrocks3copy.jpg

[TheDon]

Oloek, coming face to face with the mounted attacker lets out a scream of rage, losing his focus and swings his blade of energy at him.

Attack HG3 and expend focus for psionic weapon
attack damage [roll]1d6+1+2d6
confirmation [roll1]
Edit: meh, not going to bother fixing it with a 6 for to hit.

[razorback]

As the night sky quickly dims from the glow of the fireball, Karven sees the apparent leader of the hobgoblins. Taking aim, he fires his blast of green, eldritch power. The blast takes the hobgoblin full in the chest, but he shrugs off even though the pain is evident.
In a one-two assault, Maispar charges the same hobgoblin while yelling out directions to his comrades. His falchion, whistling as is slices the air, connects with the hobgoblin, who lets out a howl.
Oloek, taking Maispars direction, move to flank those trying to sneak in and some up short as he is confronted by a mounted horseman. Reacting quickly, he uses the blade made of pure will but misses as he doesn't have time to properly set up his attack.

One of the spearwielding guards steps up and tries to finish off the mounted horseman in front of him.

BG5 vs H12
Attack
[roll0]
Crit conf
[roll1]
Damage
[roll2]


The guard just two his right tries to accomplish the same thing against the hobgoblin who just stood.


BG4 vs H9
Attack
[roll3]
Crit conf
[roll4]
Damage
[roll5]



The guard to his right, bleeding profusely and two hobgoblins in front of him, steps back and tries to fend off the attackers as best he can.


B4 takes a 5 foot step back and fights defensively.
BG4 vs H8
Attack
[roll6]
Crit conf
[roll7]
Damage
[roll8]



The last of the spearwielding guards, seeing the two raiders he was confronting down, rushes forward and charges one of the mounted archerers.



BG1 vs H3
Attack
[roll9]
Crit conf
[roll10]
Damage
[roll11]


As the first of the gwo guards directed by Teven moves to block off the flankers, he charges forward to confront the mounted hobgoblin, longsword held high as he yells I spit in Maglubiyet eyes, you dogs!" as he attacks.


GG1 vs HG1
Attack
[roll12]
Crit conf
[roll13]
Damage
[roll14]



The other rushes forward and, seeing Oloek attacking, pulls out a dagger and thows.

BG1 vs H3
Attack
[roll15]
Crit conf
[roll16]
Damage
[roll17]




The last of the two human archers, taking aim, fire at their mounted counterparts.


WG2 vs H5
Attack
[roll18]
Crit conf
[roll19]
Damage
[roll20]


WG4 vs H7
Attack
[roll21]
Crit conf
[roll22]
Damage
[roll23]

[razorback]

H9
[roll0]
BG2
[roll1]
WG1
[roll2]

[razorback]

As two more hobgoblins fall to the defenders of the caravan (H12 & H9) and another looks to be standing by a hair (H3).

The leader yells out “Glith guruk vazig vilinar! Teng kik ulit ari’kul tek!Teng v'kik hulit ari’kul tek!” as he lashes out with his scimitar at Maispar


HL vs Maispar
[roll0]
Crit conf
[roll1]
Damage
[roll2]



Teven, seeing the horseman trying to sneak around, rushes him with both and attacks with both short swords.


Teven vs. HG2 #1
[roll3]
Crit conf
[roll4]
Damage
[roll5]
#2
[roll6]
Crit conf
[roll7]
Damage
[roll8]



The hobgoblin magic user points at Teven and a red-orange ray goes streaking from his hand at the merchant.


HGS(bane) vs Teven
[roll9]

[roll10]



A rumbling motion can be felt by all of the combatants as a sound like low pitched birds screech, but hundreds of times louder, can be heard.

One of the mounted bowmen, after nearly being hit by the charging mindblade wielder, eases his frantic horse back as he fires at the apparent human.



HG3 vs Oloek
[roll11]
Crit conf
[roll12]
Damage
[roll13]

Edit: accidentally put GG1 but attack was vs Oloek.


His fellow mounted hobgoblin, cramped from dismounting his horse, attempts to attack Teven



HG2 (bane, -2 circ) vs Teven
[roll14]
Crit conf
[roll15]
Damage
[roll16]


The last of the sneaks, dismounted, slashes forward as he tries to take down the other longsword wielding human.


HG1 vs. GG1
HG2 (bane) vs Teven
[roll17]
Crit conf
[roll18]
Damage
[roll19]



The three mounted archers fire at their human counterparts


H7 vs WG2
[roll20]
Crit conf
[roll21]
Damage
[roll22]

H5 vs WG2
[roll23]
Crit conf
[roll24]
Damage
[roll25]

H11 vs WG4
[roll26]
Crit conf
[roll27]
Damage
[roll28]



While the scimitar-armed raiders attempt to finish off their foes.


H8 (bane)vs WG3
[roll29]
Crit conf
[roll30]
Damage
[roll31]



H6 (bane) vs Maispar
[roll32]
Crit conf
[roll33]
Damage
[roll34]

H5 vs Karven
[roll35]
Crit conf
[roll36]
Damage
[roll37]

H4 (bane)vs BG3
[roll38]
Crit conf
[roll39]
Damage
[roll40]




Dammz... you guys are up.
Initiative order is~
Horseman Leader
Teven
Hobgoblins
Maispar
Karven
Oloek
Guards

[TheDon]

OOC posting in advance to not slow things down

after receiving the hit, Oloek moves 5 foot back and looks at the hobgoblin "I think you need to come off your high horses" and covers the ground under the horse with an ectoplasmic sheen. He then VERY briefly looks at the sky to see if he can find where the sound comes from.
Player TheDon
AC 13; Current 17
HP 13; Current 15

Effects~
Spell Force Screen gives +4 AC for 8 rds
Spell Vigor gives 2 THP for 7 rds


Move Action ~
5ft step back

Standard Action ~
Grease under HG3 Reflex DC 15

[VestigeArcanist]

With the Hobgoblin leader still standing, Miaspar attacks him, in the hope of finishing him off. He them steps over to block the gap between the wagons, daring any horsemen to challenge him.

Player X
AC ~13; Current ~ (w/rage) 10
HP ~ 12; Current ~ (w/rage) 14

Maispar Rages

Stardard action: Attack Hobgoblin leader (L16) with masterwork Falchion
[roll0]

Threat range 18-20

Confirmation (if necessary)
[roll1]

Damage
[roll2]

Take five foot step over to K18 after attack.

[Linguz]

Much like before, Karven launches a blast of green to try to take out the leader. If he fell, he changed his target to pretty much anyone else. Attack: [roll0] Check: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] Crit: [roll3]

[razorback]

The horsemen leader, barking out his orders, has a sneer on his face of contempt for the group of defenders... until the flashing blade of Maispar cuts deep, leaving a gouge in his chest through his studded leather armor. As he opens his mouth and begins to scream, the sky is again lit up in a display of fey might, as Karven's blast catches him full in the face. The scream, turning into a howl, subsides as the hobgoblin staggers on his feet, scorched and bleeding, teetering on the brink of falling.

Oloek, seeing the mounted hobgoblin above him, steps back and let loose with his hidden power. His eyes flash blue for a moment and the smell of blubber is thick in the air. Below the hobgoblin's horse, a sheen of thick liquid appears, as the horse struggles to find footing.


Reflex save
[roll0]


As his eyes dim, he looks up at the sky...

O-S
[roll1]
O-L
[roll2]


... and, as he feels the ground start to tremble, he looks back towards the caravan.
As he looks at the charred ground, he sees that, where the fireball made contact with the ground, a small, circular depression begins to form. As it starts to grow in size, he can see that it is also getting deeper, as if the ground itself is falling away.
Before he can yell out a warning, the growth rate expands faster than he can believe... and the ground falls away from everyone as you descend into darkness...



Reflex saves from everyone

[TheDon]

Reflex:[roll0]

[Linguz]

Karven tries not to fail.

[roll0]

[VestigeArcanist]

Miaspar hopes that he will not fall in this critical moment of the battle.
[roll0]

[razorback]

As the sand and dirt collapse downwards, you can here the screams of men, hobgoblins, mules, and horses.
As the group of you slide down, you realize that you were standing, albiet with dirt and sand in-between, on a large disc that was concave in the center.

The disc falls about 20 feet and crashes into something solid in the dark, but all vision is obsured.


[roll0] falling damage to all who failed a DC 14 check.
HLG
[roll1]
Teven
[roll2]
HG3
[roll3]
HG2
[roll4]
HG1
[roll5]
HGS
[roll6]
H11
[roll7]
H8
[roll8]
H7
[roll9]
H6
[roll10]
H5
[roll11]
H4
[roll12]
H3
[roll13]
BG5
[roll14]
BG4
[roll15]
BG3
[roll16]
BG1
[roll17]
GG2
[roll18]
GG1
[roll19]
WG4
[roll20]
WG2
[roll21]

[razorback]

[roll0]

Teven
HG3
H7

[Linguz]

Upon hitting the ground, Karven is spread across it, prone. He picks himself up very slowly, obvious pain over his entire body, and slowly moves a hand up to his chest, where it glows slightly and he mumbles some words.

Cure Light Wounds: [roll0]

Once he is more healthy, he gets up to his full height, which isn't all that much, and looks around, but was disappointed when he could see nothing. He sighed and created a baleful blast in his hand, but didn't fire it. It wouldn't be much light, but it should let them see where he is. "Is everyone okay? If anyone needs medical attention, come here."

I expect that the baleful gives less than 5 foot of brightness, but it's your call.

[razorback]

As the dust begins to settle, a small light begins to appear from the hand of Karven. Everyone seems to be in a bad way.
As the dust begins to settle, the human guards stand and rush the remaining hobgoblins.


BG5 vs HGS
[roll0]
Crit Conf
[roll1]
Damage
[roll2]

BG4 vs HGS
[roll3]
Crit Conf
[roll4]
Damage
[roll5]

BG1 vs HG2
[roll6]
Crit Conf
[roll7]
Damage
[roll8]

GG2 vs H11
[roll9]
Crit Conf
[roll10]
Damage
[roll11]

GG1 vs H6
[roll12]
Crit Conf
[roll13]
Damage
[roll14]




He can here human voices in the dark yelling "What happened to Teven?!?" "I saw him fall into the darkness!" "Kill these dogs!"

As you come to your senses, it looks like you landed on what looks to be a giant, stone palm. The finger like stone outcroppings that led you to this spot look to be, in fact, the fingers of a giant stone hand blasted by years of sand.

[razorback]

As the human guards cut down the hobgoblins as they are rising, two beaten and battered hobgoblins stand, one with his scimitar in hand and the other drops it and yells out in a gutteral common "Surrender! Surrender! Me Surrender!"


Maispar, Karven and Oloek are up in that order.

[Linguz]

Speech, free action.

Karven hears and sees what everyone is doing, keeping the fight going, and shouts, "Stop fighting and understand that this is more important!" He continues in a lower voice, "We've fallen into something, and I don't think killing each other is the most important thing right now. If you really want to do that, wait until we get out of this alive. We need to instead work together, for now, since a larger group can fight better, just in case of a real problem."

Diplomacy: [roll0]

[TheDon]

At my turn

Upon falling, Oloek will expend 1 pp to negate 2 damage, taking 7 damage instead of 9

Oloek coughs out the sand from his lung, the fall had knocked the wind out of him and the resulting deep breath filled with sand had caught him by surprise. He had manage to shield himself ever so slightly before hitting the ground, however it did not stop the brunt of it.

He slowly gets up and tries to find his way to the only source of light available."As much as *cough* I hate to *cough*cough* to agree, he's probably right *cough*. They've surrendered, let them live, just take their weapons for now until we can talk it out. I SWEAR, this is the last time I go in a desert."

[razorback]

The guards, hearing your words, keep from charging the two remaining hobgoblins [H6 and H5] but keep their weapons drawn.
Only 5 of the human guards remaind standing [BG5, BG4, BG1, GG2 and GG1]. Two [GG2 & GG1] look like they are about to collapse.
One of the guards takes rope and ties up the two remaining hobgoblins. The one less hurt [H6] struggles a bit at first before giving up.
Once the guard tie up the two, they forage around the broken remains of the wagons. Then, the light of torches can be seen, lighting up the area.
As you look around, you seem to be standing on a large, circular disk, about 60 feet in diameter that is slightly concave. The remains of some of the bodies - human, hobgoblin, horses, and mules - litter the disc.
Nearly 30 feet up, you can see the area where the desert collapsed. From the torch light, you make out that the fingers poking out of the desert where part of a much larger statue, female from some of the facial features that can be seen. It looks like, at one time, the disc you were standing on was being held by the statue and it had collapsed at some point, wedging itself against the walls and then being covered by the ever shifting sands.
One of the guards walks to the edge and yells out "It be near fifty feet down, by my guess. There be boudies down thar, but it no look like they moving. Buildings, too, by de look of things." he says in his strange drawl from the southern part of the continent. As he inches a bit closer, the whole disc shifts slightly. The other guards yell at him to stop moving.

[Linguz]

Karven goes around to each of the two guards that look like they're going to fall and tries to heal them. If he fails twice at doing mundane healing, he instead uses his magic.

Heal1: [roll0]
Heal2: [roll1]
Cure Light Wounds: [roll2]

Heal1: [roll3]
Heal2: [roll4]
Cure Light Wounds: [roll5]

Normal heal the first time, magic heal the second time.

He looks around and calls the guard back towards the center once that is done. "I can climb down safely and don't weigh all that much, so you guys stay here while I check how it is. I'm going to need a torch..." He looks around and waits for someone to give him one.

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar takes a moment to calm himself. He sheathes his falchion, places his hand to his chest and silently prays to his ancestors.


End rage.

Charnel Touch on Self, repeat until fully healed.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

Full health equals 15 HP



Miaspar looks up and speaks. “I shall go with you, Karven. Our travels have taken a turn for the dangerous. We should stick together in pairs until daylight comes.”

Miaspar helps move the wounded until Karven receives his torch.

[TheDon]

Oloek sighs and curses the desert under his breath. "Might as well come along too, I'll be damned if I let you have all the fun. Now, do we have any rope? If one of us falls, the other two can hold him up... or fall along with him" Oloek shrugs.

[Linguz]

Karven shakes his head. "I doubt either of you can climb back up as fast as you can get down, so if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go down myself to check first. If it's clear, I'll throw a baleful up and then you can come down on a rope. If not, then I won't be staying down there for long, if at all. Now, I still need a form of light, or at least for someone to shine one down." He turns to the rest of the group, with the goblins and such. "Since we'll all be heading down eventually, having the two goblins roped like that might be counterproductive. But regardless, it's your choice."

[razorback]

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc253/speedtrip/Mobile%20Uploads/DiscA7-4-12.jpg

Each square is 10 feet.
You guys are on the dark gray disk. The lighter color circles look to be legs of a statue while the purple-ish rectangles look to be the feet of a statue.
The black is a composite of loose, gritty dirty with rock and sand.


Some of the guards are rummaging through the remains of the caravan. After a few moments, one yells out I found some rope. and then another yells out I found some sunrods.

[TheDon]

Oloek then turns toward the other soldiers. "Can you tie a rope to the statue's finger or arm and lets get everyone off this thing before the whole thing comes crashing down." He then turns his attention toward the two hobgoblin and manifests his mind blind. "Now, what to do about you. The easier way to deal with you is clearly to kill you, and judging by your behaviour out there, I'm sure you would do that. However, my friend over there is absolutely right about not knowing what's down here and maybe needing strong bodies to help. But really it all boils down to trust, doesn't it? Do I trust you have our back long enough to get all of us out of here, or do I just throw you down the disk, rope optional? So tell me, can I trust you? And I'm having a REALLY bad day, so cut the crap."

[Linguz]

Karven nods, takes the sunrod, strikes it on, and begins to head down with his ability. Every 10 or so feet, he stops, turns around, and waves the sunrod around while looking at the ground, to see if he sees anything. If he doesn't see anything until he reaches the bottom, he gets to the bottom and throws an eldritch blast up. If he does see something that could be hazardous, he stops.

[razorback]

The two hobgoblins looks at each other and mutter in a gutteral, harsh language. After a few moments, the one who spoke before says "Want live, want live. Trust us!"]
Oloek and Maispar, roll sense motive


Blast of energy lights up the collapsed cavern the group of you stand in at various levels.

Dust, rock, and sand litter the cavern floor. Here and there tile, pottery, statues and other mundane items can be seen in lying about, most damaged. At the extreme edge of Karven's vision he can make out what looks to be buildings, mostly covered by sand and stone where they are visible. Also, looking closely, the base of the statue is mostly intact. Looking up at the disc the rest of the group is on you can see that the disc is precariously perched on three points - the statue and two corners of stone & dirt. It looks like the stone and dirt points are slowly sinking and are nearly reaching a point where they will not be supported underneath.

[TheDon]

Sense Motive: [roll0]

[Linguz]

Karven moves forward cautiously, waving the sunrod in front of him. He approaches the buildings and, if nothing else draws his attention, he looks inside one of them.

Spot: [roll0]
Listen: [roll1]
Move Silently: [roll2]
Hide: [roll3]
(Most likely negated by the lit sunrod, but rolling hide anyway.)

[TheDon]

Oloek sighs as he hears the hobgoblin speak in a language he doesn't understand and then slaps the first one that talked hard. He does his best to look not quite as mentally stable as he should be. "What's the last thing I said? What was it? I SAID CUT THE CRAP! What was that? That was crap, pure utter crap. See, now I have no clue if I should trust you, didn't I say it all comes down to trust? Lets see how much scheming you can do when you hit the ground." Oloek then raises his mind blade and points it at the other hobgoblin. "What did he say huh? WHAT DID HE SAY? You're friend's already dead, see if you can save yourself, what did he say?" Oloek makes sure the hobgoblin doesn't have time to think and make up a story.

[razorback]

"He say no want die! We carry or kill but no fight you he said!"

[TheDon]

Oloek stares at him for a second before letting his mind blade vanish into thin air and he starts to untie their ropes "Go help the soldiers with the rope, lets get everyone down before this thing crashes." Oloek brings the ropes that were used to tie the hobgoblin to the soliders and see what he can do to help them.

[razorback]

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc253/speedtrip/Mobile%20Uploads/Disc2copy.jpg

[Linguz]

Karven heads forward, to examin the first building. (E9 to H13).

[razorback]

As Karven moves as stealthily as he can towards the building, he sees at least a dozen pairs eyes reflecting in back at him from the glow of the sunrod he is holding, low to the ground. He can here a click-click-click sound, like small, clawed feet on tile or stone, coming from multiple directions. As he turns to see the eyes, they disappear as he can hear many bodies scampering away from him and the hair on the back his neck rises.

[Linguz]

Karven calls upon his power and casts a spell before calling out, "Hold on! Don't be scared. Can you help us?" He maintains his position and is ready to cast another spell if need be, but he tries to demonstrate a friendly demeanor.

Casting Speak with Animals, 1 minute duration.
Diplomacy: [roll0]

[razorback]

As the two unbound hobgoblins begin to grudglingly help, Itzel the cook (GG1) comes up to Oloek and says in a low voice "I speak a bit of goblin and what they said was true... except he left out 'run at first chance' or something, for what it's worth." As the whole disc begins to tilt towards the opening, Itzel and the other guards shift back towards the statue to keep the weight balanced.

Karven, trying to figure out what is scurrying in the darkness, calls out but is met with nothing but silence. As he looks around, he sees on the ground many tracks. Some looks to be the size of mice or rats... and in a couple of spots it looks like he can see some kind of hooved track.

Roll Kn:Nature

[Linguz]

Karven crouched and examined the tracks, disappointed that they hadn't stayed.

Knowledge (Nature): [roll0]

[TheDon]

Oloek nods at Itzel and thank him for the information, wondering in his head if it's even worth stoping them from running as ressources are now limited. When disc shift Oloek quickly grabs a rope and ties it to some heavy wooden plank. He then throw is over the arm of the statue and lowers the piece of wood until it's at his level again, untying it and tying the rope instead. He quickly pulls the slack from the rope, and once it's taut he puts all his weight on it to make sure it'll hold. He then throws the other down the disk, still holding it and hands it to one of the guard. "I don't think we have much longer, lets hurry, run when you get on the ground so the disc doesn't fall on you."

[razorback]

Karven looks around but can't see what happened to the eyes. The only sound he hears is the men on the disc until he hears a small rippling in the air and turns to look up in time to see Maispar glide gracefully down and land about 10 feet from him.


Oloek and the others begin to climb down, near the back side closest to the statue, where it seems the disc is most stable.

As everyone makes it down, the survivors make their way towards Karven and Maispar with whatever supplier they were able to salvage.

Rendal walks up and points out I think that's Teven's body over there, next to some of the broken wagon. We should try to find anything else we can salvage, I think.

[TheDon]

Oloek nods at Rendal. "Absolutely right, see if you can't find Itzel's wagon in this mess, it should have all the provisions."

And with that, Oloek starts to look through the debris to find provisions for everyone.

[razorback]

As the others begin to salvage what they can, Karven looks at the tracks.
Most look to be mice and rats, some snake tracks that looks to be a cobra... and the tracks of a minotaur, if what he remembers of them is correct.


Itzel asks as is collecting what he can "Do we bury Teven and the other or just leave them like this?"

[Linguz]

Karven picks himself up and goes into the buildings, looking around inside of them for anything of interest.

[TheDon]

"Lets figure out how deep in we are first. Lets insure the survivors will survive first, then, if we can spare the energy and time, we'll bury the dead. I know it's cruel, but we might end up dead ourselves if we waste valuable energy and find out we have no water and die here... Beside, from the look of things, we might actually be in a giant sand tomb, rending the burying quite moot."

Oloek keeps searching for food and water that might be recoverable.

[VestigeArcanist]

Miaspar follows closely behind Kraven, though he is careful to remain out of the light. He keeps a close eye out for movement.

Low-light vision
Spot [roll0]
Hide [roll1]

[razorback]

Currently where everyone is
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc253/speedtrip/Mobile%20Uploads/Disc3.jpg

The look inside the building
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc253/speedtrip/Mobile%20Uploads/building1.jpg

Will post up descriptions in a couple of hours (aka, when I get to work)

[razorback]

Oloek and the others gather the rest of the material. While the others agree that they need to take care of their immediate needs, Itzel and a couple of others do not look happy at not burying Teven and the others.

You guys find -
100 days worth of rations for 1 person
10 waterskins that are full and undamaged (the barrels are all broken)
a locked 30"x30"x20" box(from jingling it around, it sounds like it has coins in it)
400ft hempen rope
630 arrows
249 crossbow bolts
6 longswords
7 longspears
12 daggers
40 sunrods (excluding the ones you are currently using)

Most of the other goods were broking during the fall.




Karven approaches the building, sunrod held before him. As he walks up to the arched entry, he sees that the door has long since rotted away. Peeking in, he sees broken furniture scattered about with broken pottery and other debris littering the area. He can also see what looks like droppings from small rodents littering the area. What looks to be a skeleton, broken apart, seems to be lying towards the middle of the front room, maybe humanoid, but you can't be sure from that distance.

Maispar, creeping along at a distance from the glow of the sunrod, keeps hidden while looking for trouble. As he moves along, he sees tracks criss-crossing the ground.

[Linguz]

Karven enters the building and keeps an eye out for problems. He checks each room and follows up for each other building.

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar follows Kraven at the same pace as before.

[razorback]

As the two explorers enter the building, the look around. The architecture is of an ancient design as is the furniture and accouterments. Anything that may have been of value has either long been taken, destroyed, or fallen to the ravages of time. As they move deeper into the building they begin to smell a musky scent like that of an animal. Not immediately overwhelming, as they move deeper in they can sense that whatever has made a lair here has done so for a long time. In the far back room, bits and pieces of clothing and animal hides are piled on the ground in a makeshift sleeping pad. Hairs like a cow litter the ground but it doesn't look like anyone is there.

[Linguz]

Karven tries to find out how many people live here.

[razorback]

As Karven digs deeper into the mess, he finds the bones of many small creatures along with bones of larger, humanoid creatures that look chewed and gnawed upon. Based on the size of the 'bed', he would guess that there is one large creature how makes this its home.

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar keeps his eyes peeled, and quietly wondersfor what purpose or test did his ancestors lead him to this place. They can be notoriously cryptic at times. Any idea what this place is?

[Linguz]

After seeing the area, Karven replied, "The den of something big. Only one thing, luckily. If we can reason with it, or take it out, then we should be able to set up camp in these buildings and have someplace constant to come back to."

The italics is something said in a lower voice, like a whisper.

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar nods. "Let's go then." Maispar continues searching the area, looking for any sign of this creature.

[Linguz]

Karven nodded and did the same, looking for the creature and where he or she might currently be, or any sign of it that might help.

Spot: [roll0]
Search: [roll1]

[TheDon]

Oloek having now finished with looking through the rubbles comes join the other two people exploring the ruin, trying to make as little noise as possible.

[razorback]

As Karven, Maispar, and Oloek maneuver about the cavern floor, they try to disturb the ground as little as possible.
From the entrance to the building, they can see that the hoofed tracks seem to either begin or end with the building. There is a lot of traffic of said tracks that seems to go towards the northwest (A1) and east (following the line made by I12-I19).
The remaining survivors begin to collect whatever they can salvage and start setting it up in an semi-organized pile (NE L3) along with moving the bodies of those who didn't make it (J1). One of the guards, realizing the sunrods won't last forever, takes the broken pieces of wagon and frayed cloth and begins to fashion torches using the pooled fluid from a cracked barrel (L6).



You can tell the some of the tracks are recent. You can't tell which direction was the last the creature went.
Everyone roll either a Kn:Nature, Survival, or a wisdom check.

[TheDon]

Wisdom: [roll0]

[Linguz]

All are +3 for me...
Survival: [roll0]

[VestigeArcanist]

All are +0 for me...

[roll0]

[razorback]

As the three of you circle around the tracks, Karven and Oloek seem to agree that the newest tracks lead from the building towards the east, maybe in the last day or so.

While this is happening, some kind of dispute is going on between the hobgoblins and the humans, which seems to be becoming more heated by the moment.

[TheDon]

Oloek summons his mind blade before rushing to where the argument is. Before even reaching them he tries to shout loud enough so everyone hears him. "WHAT'S GOING ON OVER THERE... YOU BETTER NOT BE MAKING TROUBLE." Hoping that the hobgoblins are still scared of him now that they're free.

[Linguz]

Karven facepalms at the yelling man. "Yes, let's shout and get the attention of enemies and allies." He walks back to the group, to see what's going on.

[TheDon]

Oloek looks at Kraven as he runs toward the hobgoblins. "Nothing that half a dozen carts crashing from 100 feet didn't already do. After that entrance, lets assume that our presence isn't really a secret."

[Linguz]

"But they might have considered us dead already. Now, not so much."

[TheDon]

"Doubtful, we weren't really being quiet looking through debris for food. I'm fairly confident I've done no harm to our current situation that the carts didn't already do."

[Linguz]

Karven sighs. "Fine, then go off and go crazy."

[razorback]

Assuming Karven and Maispar are still looking at the tracks for now

Oloek rushes forward, intent on finding out what is going on between the rest of the survivors. As he runs up, he can see that the hobgoblins are standing over what looks to be their leader and one in robes. Their common was bad to begin with but, in their agitated state, they have reverted to goblin.

Itzel walks up to him and says "I can't make it all out, 'cause he's talking to fast, but it sounds like they are mad because Rendal was desecrating the bodies or something."

Looking over at Rendal, Oloek can see that he has what looks to be the beginning of a bruise starting to grow on his face.

[Linguz]

Karven facepalms at the yelling man. "Yes, let's shout and get the attention of enemies and allies." He walks back to the group, to see what's going on.

No, Karven is back at the group.

Karven goes closer to the hobgoblins, hands up to show he wasn't going to be violent. "Now hold on you two, no need to get angry. Calm down and talk in a language most of us can understand and I'm sure we can get to an agreement."

Diplomacy: [roll0]

[TheDon]

Oloek hangs back, letting Karven do the talking. Figuring they can do the good watchmen, bad watchmen routine if it comes down to it.

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar continues to follow the tracks, under the belief that whatever the hobgoblin is saying is most probably a waste of time. Besides, if he goes over there, he is going to send the annoying hobgoblins to their ancestors.

He then thinks for a moment and asks to his companions, Do you think that what ever caused these tracks is vicious and humanoid eating? He doesn't sound scared, but matter-of-fact like, as if he were inquiring the eating habits of a pet goldfish or a Chihuahua.

[razorback]

The more literate of the two hobgoblins steps up to Karven and says "Catman take things of Kvelk! Not right, not right!"
While the goblinoid seems to have calmed down a bit, he is still agitated by Rendal while he keep nervously glancing over at Oloek and his glowing blade.

One of the other guards yells out "Comeon, Rendal, give'm back his mates stuff. We don't need this messing turnin' into a worse dung heap, fool."
It looks like a couple of others agree and seem to be the same group who want to give Teven a burial.

[Linguz]

Karven looks at Rendal and shakes his head. "Didn't I say something about working together? That includes the dead. If we need something and a dead person has it, we might take the stuff, goblin or human." He says the last words looking between the goblins and the humans. "So just give back what you took, so that we can work together. Imagine the goblins as other humans, working with you. Humans that believe that a dead man should be buried with his items."

Diplomacy: [roll0]

[razorback]

Rendal smiles a fanged smile at Karven as he puts down a pouch and what looks to be a wand of some sort.
"Just 'cause the lot of you were favorites of Teven doesn't carry any weight with me. He's dead and as far as can tell, he didn't leave anyone in charge. He also didn't pay us for the last leg, where he got us lost and almost killed." Pointing at the hobgoblins, he continues "These Tel'Amrin Suul Aliman didn't go raiding out of their land. Far as I'm concerned, as soon as we are free and clear, it's everyone for themselves and I do expect my cut from whatever I can scavenge from Teven's stuff."
As he turns and walks off a bit, you can see that Aulex walks over to him and the two converse in low tones.

With that, everyone settles down and the rest of the consumables that can be saved or brought into a make shift camp. Itzel complains about not having his pots and pans as he cooks a bit of the food that will last the least amount of time. The rest of the guard set themselves in a small perimeter and use the broken wagons as cover, half carrying longspears and the other half bows.
The hobgoblins, once they are left alone, look to be saying prayers over their dead.
After a few hours, the whole above you can be seen to begin to show with light, what you're assuming is the false down shining down. You being to realize that the air is still thick with dust from where the ceiling collapsed and that the walls of the cavern are made of a reddish hued sandstone and limestone.

[Linguz]

Karven sighs, he doesn't look to happy with how it ended. Some people just don't know the situations that happen... He leaves the camp, going back to the tracks, and then follows the one that looks more recent, after going to get Oloek and seeing if he wants to come along.

[TheDon]

Oloek nods and says to the more sensible of the mens "Can you try and see if one of the carts is recoverable with a little bit of work? Else I guess everyone will have to do their share of the carrying. I don't fancy carrying that chest though." Oloek points at the chest potentially containing coins. "And judging from this last bit on conversation, leave the chest locked. We'll deal with it one we're all safe." And with that he follows Karven.

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar is still looking after these tracks when his compatriots join him. Not looking up, he makes conversation. "Anything that I want to know about?"

[TheDon]

Oloek rejoins Maispar. "Nothing in the immediate. Probably mutiny down the road." and he shrugs his shoulder. "If we make it that far"

[VestigeArcanist]

"Hm." Maispar absentmindedly muses. He continues following the tracks. Somebody should take charge of the masses, I think.

[TheDon]

Oloek follows behind Maispar "I think the hobgoblins are scared of me and the men with a shred of common sense seem to be happy with either one of us, so that's fine, but I doubt the mutiner will follow orders. They already raised concerns about the fact that in the absence of Teven there is no appointed leaders. I'm thinking we'll have to oppose them as a united front and hope their attitude doesn't become infectious when rations become rarer." Oloek whispers the rest. "And I think the chest might be filled with gold coins, so if THAT gets opened, all bets are off. Bunch of fools are easily blinded by the color of gold."

[razorback]

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc253/speedtrip/Mobile%20Uploads/07-23-12.jpg
The three of you, after dealing with the problems brewing at your makeshift camp, move back towards the dilapidated building. Keeping a wary eye out, you follow the tracks past a couple of more building in worse repair than the first. These two look to have been swallowed by the desert along time ago, with walls crumbling and roofs partially collapsed. As you move you can also see a passage to your right with buildings in about the level damage.
The three of you notice that the path the creature has taken seems become a little harder to see as the sand and detritus on the ground seems to lessen. Here and there you can make out what look to be ancient remnants of a stone roadway.
The path turns left past the second building and a sandstone outcropping and you notice that the length of the strides quickly lessens to what you are guessing may be from a running pace to a walking pace.
Another building appears to be jutting out of the wall on your left and you see another sandstone outcropping on your right.
It is here you pause to figure out your next move.

[TheDon]

Oloek turns to his companions.

"Well, this looks as close as an exit as I can see one, short of crawling back up the bloody hole. Should we go get the others before we go too far? I think they'll want to bury the deads before we move forward."

[Linguz]

Karven shakes his head and points forward, where the darkness doesn't let them see anything (and where the darkness on the map is blurred). "I see no wall in that direction. We could continue onwards, but we should make sure that the humans and goblins aren't going to go to war with each other while we're gone."

[TheDon]

"We have no clue how far this goes. It could be several days before we find an exit, if an exit even exist. How far do you want to go before including the rest? We do have the other alternative of using those old buildings as material to build some kind of ramp out of here. I'm not saying it's a great option, but it sure as hell beats starving to death, lost in a labyrinth of caves."

[Linguz]

"True... but something tells me there won't simply be an exit just like that. I still say we should carry on a bit further before turning back. If we find something of interest, our allies might be too distracted with that to slit each other's throat."

[VestigeArcanist]

I concur with Kraven. It does seem we are on the cusp of something here, and I surely doubt that any more trouble has happened in the two minutes which cannot be aptly resolved.

[TheDon]

"Don't misunderstand me, I'm all for continuing, I just think informing the others of how long we're going to be gone might be prudent, how long is acceptable? an hour?"

[VestigeArcanist]

That sounds fair enough. We can follow these tracks for another 40 minutues, and hoof it back in 20.

[TheDon]

Oloek quickly jogs back to camp to inform the rest of the people about them leaving for an hour. He also informs them about the tracks and the possibility of an exit or at the very least water, since whatever made the tracks is able to live down here. Before he leaves, he tells them "Now would be a good time to start digging holes to bury the dead. I'll come and help as soon as I'm back. Try not to get into trouble." With that, Oloek gives the hobgoblin and the conspirators the evil eye.

Oloek quickly jogs back to the others, ready to leave.

[Linguz]

Karven welcomes back Oloek and waits for one of the other two to begin leading the way, not being a very good tracker himself.

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar continues onwards.

[razorback]

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc253/speedtrip/Mobile%20Uploads/07-25-12copy.jpg



You three continue to move forward, as planned. About 30 back from where you are currently on map, the ground has slowly become rocky and you are no longer certain of which way the tracks go. Based on the direction, it would seem as if the creature moved towards the building as opposed to the side building.

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar speaks. "Lets check out this building here." Maispar leads them around the building once over, and inside front the building, unless something interesting or unexpectant is seen.

[Linguz]

Karven follows the bird as he checks the places out, looking for himself.

Spot: [roll0]
Listen: [roll1]

[TheDon]

Oloek follow behind the rest, looking for himself. He whispers "Should we knock?"

Spot: [roll0]
Listen: [roll1]

[razorback]

Karven and Maispar only


As the three of you search the outside of the building, you can hear something moving about inside. A 'thunk-thunk' sound can be heard as the air becomes thick with a musky, animal smell the closer you get to the building.


Oloek only

The air becomes thick with a musky, animal smell the closer you get to the building. When you guys are at the front of the building, you can see a wide set pair of glowing eyes as this comes into view~
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc253/speedtrip/Mobile%20Uploads/buildingoccupant.jpg

[TheDon]

Oloek moves closer to the others and gives them a sign to follow him a little further away from the building. He then whispers to them "I have no clue what this thing is, but I don't think it's a minotaur." Oloek then describes the creature to them as best as he can.

[razorback]

As the three round the front of the building, Oloek sees a pair of glowing eyes the slowly come into focus. Something like a minotaur... except, instead of hands, there are multiple... tentacles extending out, wriggling. Where the bull face should be, with a snout, instead is a flat face with two stalks that flare out in unison with the horns. He describes this to the other two, noting that this creature is about 5 feet back from the doorway.


Map

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc253/speedtrip/Mobile%20Uploads/07-27-12acopy.jpg


The 'X' is the creature in question and it is a doorway, without doors, he is just behind.

Initiative is
Karven
Maispar
Oloek
Creature

[Linguz]

Karven moves, to O8, and from there should be able to see the creature (right? If not, I'll edit my entire post). "I see it." He puts a hand up and the other one down, palm up and ready to create and launch an eldritch blast if there's any sign of aggression from the creature. "Do you understand me?"

If it looks like it does:"Good, then we can talk this out, right? No need to get to fighting. Can you speak?"

Diplomacy: [roll0]

If not:"I don't think he understands." He tries to get the creature to not attack, to see that they didn't have to fight.

Diplomacy: [roll1] (At a penalty, probably, if at all possible)

Readied Attack:If the minotaur-thing tries to move towards us and looks aggressive, Karven will create and launch an eldritch blast. Until it does, there won't be a ball of energy.

Attack: [roll2] (Touch)
Check: [roll3] (Touch)
Damage: [roll4]
Crit: [roll5]

[TheDon]

Oloek sighs, wishing he'd given him a little time to get ready and casts force screen on himself.

If he has time, he will also cast vigor and ready an action to cast grease if he shows hostility.

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar is ready for a fight to break out.

If this creature acts aggressively towards the party, Maispar is ready to cast Ray of Enfeeblement.

[razorback]

The creature walks out and doesn't respond to what any of you are saying.
It steps outside the door way, it's nose in the air as you can hear it sniffing for a few seconds. The creature seems to focus its attention on Karven and Oleok, seeming to complete disregard Maispar.


1 Karven 2 Oloek
[roll0]



After a moment, a bit of saliva can be seen dripping from the creatures mouth. With that the creature lets out a roar and lowers it's head, beginning to charge Oloek.

Readied actions go.
This is the creature in question
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc253/speedtrip/Mobile%20Uploads/buildingoccupant.jpg

[TheDon]

Oloek eye's flashes blue once again, the ground in front of him becoming covered with a slick substance.

If the creature falls, Oloek will say "Olé!"

[Linguz]

Karven will launch an attack at the creature.

[razorback]

Balance check
[roll0]

The creature is in J/K-9/10 (large) prone.


The creature, head down, rushes towards the flame-haired humanoid's eye flash and a sheen covers the ground in front of the beast. The beast, unable to see the ground change, slips on the substance and sprawls face down in front of the 3 wanderers.


Linguz, what kind of attack is Karven doing?

[VestigeArcanist]

Readied action
Ray of Enfeeblement

Ranged Touch Attack: [roll0]
Strength Damage: [roll1]

Subject's score cannot drop below 1. If he is charging, he receives -2 to his AC, IIRC.

[razorback]

The creature, sprawled out in front of the three of you, begins to rise, as it screeches and mewls that reverberates through the cavern, either the sounds of a beast or some unknown language.


Seeing as I positioned you guys, I'm allowing a 5 foot step if you want to take attacks of opportunity as the creature rises.

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar steps over and reaches out to hit the creature.


Attack [roll0] (crits 18-20 x2)
Crit Confirmation [roll1]
Damage [roll2]

[Linguz]

Karven takes a five foot step away from the creature.

Eldritch Blasts can't be used to do an AoO, so he can't.

[TheDon]

Oloek steps forward and swings his blade made of pure will


Attack : [roll0]
Confirmation : [roll1]
Damage : [roll2]

[razorback]

As the creature begins to rise, Karven steps back from the creatures writhing mass of appendeges where it's hands should be.
Maispar, blade whistling through the air, strikes the beast squarely as a big chunk of flesh goes flying, seeming to have a life of it's own as it hits the grounds and continues to move.
Oloek, in turn, strikes at the creature and feels his blade strike deep.

The creature, once standing, lashes out at Karven, it's limbs seeming to elongate as it strikes


Strike on (Even Oloek, odd Karven = Strike on Karven [roll0])

[roll1]

[roll2]

[Linguz]

Karven, again, goes backwards, staggering on his way backwards from the tentacles.

He conjures another ball of energy in his hand and throws it at the beast.

Current Health: 2/7
AC: 16

Attack: [roll0] - Comment: I'm hoping this beast lacks a dex bonus.
Check: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar calls on the last of his magic reserves and casts a spell before advancing right onto the creature.

Spellcraft DC 11
Doom: Will Save DC 14
Save or be shaken for 1 minute (–2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks)

[TheDon]

Oloek quickly attack the creature again
Attack : [roll0]
Confirmation : [roll1]
Damage : [roll2]

[razorback]

Will save DC14
[roll0]

[razorback]

The creature mewls and screeches, loud enough to make your ears hurt, as blast catches it in the chest, searing its hair.
As Oloek lashes out, his blow goes wide as the creature lurches to its feet.
As Maispar calls upon the power of his ancestors, the beast manages to shrug off the enchantment.

The creature seems to sniff the air for a moment before it lashes out at Oloek with its tentacles.


Balance
[roll0]
Attack
[roll1]
Damage
[roll2]





The creature, hauling its tentacled arm back, throws a wild haymaker the Oloek easily evades but sends the creature sprawling once more on the ground.

[Linguz]

Karven threw another bolt at the fallen creature, and then retreated another ten feet back.

Current Health: 2/7
AC: 16

Attack: [roll0]
Check: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar raises his Falchion and strikes the creature as hard as he can.

Attack [roll0] (opponent recieves -4 AC to melee attacks)
Crit confirmation [roll1]
Damage [roll2]

[TheDon]

Oloek quickly thrust his sword, hoping to strike an opening while it's distabilized.

Attack: [roll0]
Confirmation: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

[VestigeArcanist]

As the creature rises, Maispar takes another swipe.


Attack [roll0] (crits on 18-20, x2)
Crit confirmation [roll1]
Damage [roll2]

[TheDon]

Oloek quickly takes advantage of the creature getting up to strike it

Attack: [roll0]
Confirmation : [roll1]
Damage : [roll2]

[razorback]

As the creature begins to rise, Maispars blade slices a wicked arc, leaving a gash in the beast from left shoulder to it's right hip, causing the beast to cry out in pain.
A heartbeat later, Oloek lunges forward with his will made manifest, and the glowing blade sinks into the creatures abdomen and the creature cries out again.

The creature steps back, trying to evade the blows


Balance check
[roll0]




And succeeds in withthdrawing, moving of the slime and running down the cavern with a trail of bubbling, red-green blood dripping behind it. It continues to howl and mewl as it runs.

Roll intelligence or Kn:nature all 3 of you.

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar knows that it is greatly weaken, and it is time to end this wretched creature's life. Maispar charges.


Attack: [roll0] (Crit 18-20)
Crit Confirmation: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

[Linguz]

Karven loads up another blast of energy and gets it to accelerate towards the creature.

Attack: [roll0]
Check: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] x2 if crit

[TheDon]

Oloek stops attacking and lets the creature run. "Don't kill it! Not now! It's no threat anymore and we can track it with it's blood. It knows the hideouts and resources of the area, it'll probably retreat close to a source of water!"

[razorback]

Karven and Oloek only

You both get the impression that, somewhere between the cries of pain, that the creatures mewling and hooting is some form of communication you don't understand, possibly a language.


As the creature tries to run away, Maispar rushes the beast but slips a bit the last moment on the ichorous blood, causing the blade to go wide.
A moment later Karven takes aim and the eldritch blast lights up the cavern with its green blast, giving the cavern a sinister appearance, as the blast strikes the creature in the center of its back which nearly causes the creature to topple as it continues on.
As the green flare is dying down Oloek pleads with his new companions to hold off slaying the creature.

[Linguz]

"Normally, I would agree with you, but it seems to be calling for friends. Are you sure you want us to let it go?"

[TheDon]

"Hmmm, a good point. However, we can hopefully argue it was a simple misunderstanding and we were just defending ourselves..."

[Linguz]

"Because the first listened so well?"

[VestigeArcanist]

This is no time for talking. Let us follow it.
Maispar continues after the creature, deciding that if there is an infestation of these things nearby, it is better to find out sooner rather than later. Maispar strongly "encourages" the monster to keep running, by charging at him and punching him in the back.

Attack: [roll0]
Crit Confirmation: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] (non-lethal)


Yell out if you see anything pop up nearby. I'll take care of this thing.

[Linguz]

Karven shook his head and pelted the beast with a blast of energy. "You want to fight more of them?!"

Attack: [roll0]
Check: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

[TheDon]

Oloek sighs and shrugs, taking off after the creature himself. "Majority rules I guess."

[razorback]

As the three companions converse on how to deal with the creature, Maispar punches at the creature but misses the fleeing beast.
Karven's blast hits the creature, narrowly missing Maispar in the process.

As the creature runs towards the direction the three wanderers came from, light can be seen streaming from the corner ahead along with shouts and shadows as you can hear your fellow traveler's yell out "YOU GUYS ALRIGHT? WHAT WAS THAT SOUND?"
The creature, hearing the voices and seeing the lights, disappears around the corner of the side tunnel.

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc253/speedtrip/Mobile%20Uploads/Disc08-13-12copy.jpg

Edit:just realized the picture shows the last spot you saw the creature but it was obvious that it kept moving.

[TheDon]

Oloek yells out "THE NEIGHBOURS!" and takes off at a dead run around the corner, trying not to lose it.

[Linguz]

Karven saw that it was going to get away at this rate and wished he had prepared Remove Fear. Since he hadn't, and letting it go was not something he was about to do, he moved to a clear line of sight and fired a ball of energy at it.

Attack: [roll0]
Check: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

[VestigeArcanist]

Having the prey escape would be the worse possible outcome, but Maispar is confident that he can keep up.


Charging
Attack: [roll0]
Crit Confirmation: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] (non-lethal)

[razorback]

Some needs to feed the forum so it will stop eating my posts

The creature continues to run knowing that it cannot overcome the superior numbers it is confronted with.
Oloek, yelling to his companions, continues to give chase.
Karven fires off a blast that narrowly misses both the creature and Maispar. Unfortunately for the creature, Maispars punch lands in what he assumes is the kidneys and the creature buckles, falling to its knees. It tries to rise and gets to one foot before collapsing.

Part of the remaining survivors come around the corner, armed with spears and torches. As the come on the fallen beast, questions about what this thing is as no one there has ever seen or heard of one before...

[Linguz]

Karven stopped chasing the creature, as it had fallen.

[TheDon]

Oloek stops by the creature. "So, what now? Tie it up? It's clearly intelligent." Oloek slowly studies the ground, looking around to see if there are tracks on the ground to where the creature was running toward. Something to see if it was heading there frequently or if there are more of them.

Spot take 20 : 25

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar grabs the fallen creature by its leg and drags it into the open. He drags it to the center of the mutinous caravan company. He seizes the helpless creature by the top of his head and shouts so they all can hear.

Bad stuff has happened and Tevan is gone. A lot of you are thinking of how you can steal what does not belong to you, how you can loot our cargo and run. This is not acceptable. As the foremost warrior here, I will head up the expedition from here on out, and I will see to it that we all get through this safe with our fair pay in the end.

Maispar lifts the upper body of the creature enough so it is sitting up. He grabs the unconscious creature by the center of its skull, and squeezes.

Charnel touch:

Charnel touch emits negative energy, the antithesis to life. Maispar is going to continually emit the energy through his arm, so along with the squeezing, Maispar will crash creature's skull in his hand.



If anyone has a problem, now is the time to speak up!

[TheDon]

Oloek raises an eyebrow "Very well, Oh mighty leader, what do you propose we do next? We have limited amount of food and water, and no idea if there's an exit anywhere. Feel like killing some more people to make the rations last?" Oloek says sarcastically, annoyed at the pointless death.

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar drops the deceased creature and walks back over to Oloek and Kraven. He speaks lowly. "Now we don't have to worry about a mutiny." Maispar looks back at the caravan survivors and back at his comrades, looking a little heartfallen. "Pity that thing had to die as an example, but it was good as dead anyways." Miaspar starts to look serious again. "What is our next move? Is our priority to check out these caves, or to make camp for the night?

[TheDon]

"I'm torn, on one hand, making camp means leaving ourselves exposed for roughly eight hours without knowing what else is in the caverns. On the other hand, I'm pretty much tapped out and could certainly use the rest." Oloek shifts from foot to foot, thinking. "Hmm, if we setup camp now, we could use the time to try and get some push carts going with some of the wood. Try and get this party mobile. Up to you."

[razorback]

Rendal, longspear in hand, prods the creature.
"What in the 9 hells is that? Looks a bit like a minotaur... but a lot not like it?"
After listening to the party, he buts in "Why do you guys want to check out this place? We need to get out of here. I don't want to be food for one of these things or worse!"
As the torch light flickers back and forth, drawing shadows across his face, it is evident that Rendal is terrified, sweating a bit in the coolness of the cave.

[TheDon]

Oloek turns to Rendal and rolls his eyes "Oh good! you've found an exit? I do realize it's not ideal, but without an exit we need to explore the place. As for resting, if more of these come, I'd rather not be fighting them and sleep at the same time. We're clearly going to be down here for a while, it's not like we have a choice, we just have to keep it together and work together."

[razorback]

Flustered, Rendal blurts out "Can't one of you... magic us out of here?"
Realizing how foolish he sounds, he sputters into silence.
Some of the other guard poke the beast with their longspears, unwilling to move any closer.

[TheDon]

Oloek turns to Maispar "So, esteemed leader, what is your decision? Shall we setup a defensive position for the night?"

[Linguz]

"Screw leadership, vote. I vote to stay the night. I'm almost out of spells and I'm sure we're all tired. If we do or don't camp, either way, we'll be here in the morning, or not. If you don't want to stay here, there's a dead end with a building down that way, we can stay there."

If they do end up staying here or at the building... Karven asks around for any large container to fill and, if given it, he fills it up with the most he can, up to 2 gallons of water. Then he asks for any torn items that need repairing and mends a single one that he considered most important (something that's needed to survive). He asks if they have any food around and, if not, takes about a cubic foot of the dead creature's flesh, skinned and all that, and casts purify food/drink on it to make it edible, then splits up the food among the survivors. He casts a spell on himself, healing his wounds, and then sets up his bedroll.

Cure Light Wounds: [roll0]

[VestigeArcanist]

Hmm... It does not look like we have much choice whether to stay here or not. I will be asking for two or three men to volunteer as night watchmen. I myself am going to check the immediate vicinity of this cave, to ensure that no creatures are lurching just out of our sight.

Maispar pauses, and looks over to the building. I believe the building is the most defensible position. We should check out the immediate surroundings and the inside, but it should be safe.

[razorback]

The others stand, grumbling to each other, but none of them step forward to offer any sort of leadership position. Even Rendal sits back and waits, the air thick with fear from the creature dead before them.

[TheDon]

Oloek nods and helps with exploring the building

If nothing eventful happen, Oloek will use his last PP on Repletion and refuse any food or water to preserve rations. He will then meditate for the next 4 hours and then take it easy for the 4 hours after, but kinda keep watch.

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar is going into the cave. He'll explore the first 60 feet and see if there is anything of interest.

[razorback]

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc253/speedtrip/Mobile%20Uploads/Underground08-23-12.jpg

Description to follow when I get to work... woke up late this morning.

[razorback]

Spot checks, please. Maispar give me two, please.

As the group comes together, they decide to take refuge in the building.
While dusty and without servicable furniture, the structure itself seems to be solid. The soldiers and hobgoblins bring in the supplies, keeping their distance from the creature. They then go about cleaning some of the refuse to make the building a bit more defensible.

Karven, getting the material he requests, goes through his ritual of healing himself and then readying himself for a nights sleep.

Oleak helps to clear the building, finding nothing of significance: usable items, tracks, clues.

Maispar walks down the cave, until he comes to a fork and, looking to see how far he can see, decides to turn around with the comfort that, at least they have an immediate section cleared for the time being.

[Linguz]

By the way, any XP from the fight?

After doing all that and before sleeping, he asks if anyone needs healing (including the two PCs, even if they're not around him). He waits to basically give everyone the chance to get healed before going to sleep. The first person who came to him got healed for [roll0].

Then he went to sleep, planning to wake up around the morning and pray for his spells from Yondalla.

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar is heading back to the building, lest he runs into anything. He is goign to climb on top of the building, and sleep on the roof, as he is used to sleeping by the cliffs back home.

[razorback]

Karven and Oloek only


As the group retreats towards the building where they met the creature, the two of you see that two of the hobgoblins are looking at the dead creature and, while they have fear on their face they also show something of a sense of... familiarity...


Maispar only

As you travel down the cavern, you notice that sections of it seem to be natural, as if cut from rock, but at the intersection, you can tell that the section to your right has been been worked from the stone by tools of some kind.
Looking at the map, it would be the winding passage on the left, not the one that ends on the right.

[TheDon]

Oloek stops his walk back to the building and instead, heads toward the hobgoblins. He stands next to them and waits for a few seconds before speaking. "Talk, what do you know."

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar will go down the tunnel to his left a little ways.

[razorback]

Oloek and Karven

The hobgoblins shake their head and say something in goblin that you don't understand.
Itzel comes over and they talk for a few moments, after which Itzel points to the creature.
"He called it a Pare'yakkvitixx or something. It sounds goblin but I've never heard of it before. Says they are bad news and usually come in groups, been popping up over the desert for a few years. Says his brothers were killed by some. Says its all he knows but he seems afraid of going near it."

[razorback]

Maispar only



Maispar continues to follow the path for another 60 feet that, while a bit windy, seems mostly straight, until it makes a hard turn toward his right, at which point he stops.
The passageway is the same as before, natural cavern that has been worked and enlarged by tools. You don't see any fresh tracks on the ground.

[TheDon]

Oloek nods at the information. "Wonder if they nest here, or if it became trapped here like us... I don't know which one I'd prefer. A nest of them would probably be deadly, but if it's trapped here like us, then that means it hasn't found a way out yet in the whole time it was down here..."

Have we rested yet? If not, Oloek will rest now.

[VestigeArcanist]

Maispar suspects that there is more to this tunnel than he is currently prepared for. He is going to head back out to the building to rest for the night. He will be sleeping on the roof of said building.

[razorback]

The 'night' passes and everything is quiet.
As guard duty is passed around, nothing is heard except what sounds like the scratching of small animals passing in the night, rodents and such.
As the three of you and the others that are sleeping at the same time, the smell of something cooking wafts through the air. Itzel, it looks like, has woken before you three and has fixed up the fireplace in the building enough to beginning boiling what looks to be some kind of stew, which sets your stomachs grumbling.
Outside, you notice that one of the hobgoblins is on duty with a longspear and some of the other guards have set up a small blockade at the front of the door.

At this point I am assuming everyone, PC and NPC, has rested enough to level up and regain all their hit points.


Itzel hand each of you a bowl with a spoon and says "Well, for better or worse by somes standards, it would seem that leadership has fallen on you three, even if some don't like it" he says with a nod to Rendal and his group. "What's the plan now?"

[TheDon]

Oloek turns down the food "I can take care of my own sustenance, it'll be one less ration to worry about. We have to move, no point staying here. By tomorrow there'll be no water left. I think we need to all travel light and travel at the same time if we are to survive.

My suggestion is, drop everything unnecessary, like the chest. Split rations evenly among everyone. If we find water, awesome, we come back for it. We can build a sled or something and drag it over the sand. Until then we need to think about our survival.

As for the actual travel, I think we should scout roughly fifteen minutes ahead with the hobgoblins, with everyone else following behind. Make contact every couple of hours or so." Oloek turns to the other two, looking for their opinions.

[VestigeArcanist]

"There is one thing of note." The cave over there Maispar points. "Is not entirely natural. It has been artifically widened, it appears. There is a possibility that there are inhabitatents in that cave, or perhaps a spring or water source. I recommend that it is explored it to determine if it indeed has a water source. And of course these remaining buildings should be searched in case any supplies are to be found."

[razorback]

Itzel looks at Oloek, puzzlement on his face. He turns to walk away and Oloek can here him mumble "He should have said that before he drank all my cooking wine..."

Aulex comes up and says 'Yer plan has merit, 'specially since them hobs can see in the dark, as I'm understanding. Hour seems a bit long, 'specially if there be more of those things running 'bout." as he points to the dead creature.

Terrance, he cocked sideways, looks at Maispar "Widened? Don't think those beast would have been keen on using tools, having no hands and all."

[TheDon]

Oloek shouts back at Itzel "Wine isn't for cooking! Boils the alcohol away!". He then sighs, reminded that there will be no alcohol for a long time and his shakes are there to stay.

Oloek turns to Terrance. "He was intelligent, I wouldn't discount them on the base of him having tentacles instead of hands... but lets keep our minds open to other possibilities too."

[razorback]

"Are you saying they used tools or someone else did it? Or, something else?"

As Oloek and Terrance discuss this, some of the other guards being to linger about, listening to the discussion. The looks on their faces vary from nodding agreement to outright fear.

[VestigeArcanist]

"I am heading into the cavern as a quick survey of our area. If there is anyone who knows how to track, please step forward. Another volunteer would be desirable, though I expect no trouble which we'd be unable to handle."

[TheDon]

"I'm just saying, just because he didn't use tools, don't assume anything, you know what they say about assumptions, they kill people." Oloek then gets up, ready to follow Maispar.

[razorback]

There is some commotion coming from the group, and some bickering can be heard if not the actual dialogue.

Finally, a very reluctant Rendal comes up to the front.

"You could have just asked, didn't have to put me on the spot, boys." obvious not to be happy with you three.
"Which way, then?"

[VestigeArcanist]

Follow me. Maispar heads into the cave.

[TheDon]

Oloek nods and follows behind Maispar, keeping a sharp eye.