The Invasion of Toril

[Allyzedl]

This intro applies to every adventurer. You all find yourself in the same situation, different boxes though.


You find yourself in a dark area; the only light you see comes from little holes around you. Fully clad in your gear, you then start to move around and find that your body aches when you move. As you move around you notice that you are inside of what seems like a box, which smells of wood. Pushing on all sides of the box looking for a lid, you find that there isn’t one.

[mucco]

Bleerie stretches her back to try and shake off the pain. Looking around, she is confused. How the heck did I end up here? She tries to remember her last memories while she looks out of the air holes. This had the exact appearance of a box to carry animals, or people, with. Strange. Maybe I'm on some kind of vehicle. I want to figure out whether there is someone around before I turn on the light. The gnome tries to "feel" any movement on the floor, trying to understand if her box is on a moving cart or a ship, or similar.

Will be using italics for thoughts.

Spot check to look past the hole, if applicable: [roll0]
Listen check for steps, voices or any sign of life outside of the box: [roll1]

[Archmage1]

Groaning as she gets up, Gale looks around at her surroundings, quickly realizing that she has been captured by forces unknown. This makes her some what... angry, so she quickly decides to escape, and deal with her attackers. After a brief preparation, and some muttering about luck and flight, she attempts to shatter a wall.
"You can NOT hold ME!"
Casts Dark ones Luck(reflex), Fell Flight, and tries to use Baleful Utterance to shatter one of the walls

[Dramiscius]

Upon awakening and noticing that he seems to have been trapped inside some kind of wooden container, the Kobold yells in a high pitched voice "let me out of here this instant!" right before he takes a deep breath and let's out a bellowing roar towards the nearest upper corner of the box in an attempt to break free of his confines.



Using sonic breath at one of the boxes nearest upper corners. Zip would rather not shower any innocents he might not be aware of with acid inadvertently.
[roll0]

[Medic!]

Krgg

The orc rubs his sore muscles as he quickly attempts to orient himself. He spends a few moments listening for movement outside...wherever he's found himself. He offers a prayer to Gruumsh under his breath, This one thanks you for the test he is about to receive, One-eye. Don't go easy on me, and shall pass the favor on to our enemies.

If Krgg heard nothing outside: Krgg begins rapping the knuckle of his gauntlet on the walls, floor, and ceiling in an attempt to identify any weak spots or more hollow-sounding spots to make his escape at, then attempts to kick his way through.

If Krgg heard something outside: The orc strains to discern if the noise he heard was a threat, then shrugs, deciding it doesn't matter much. He slides his falchion clear of its scabard and attempts to force his way out of...wherever he is.

Upon freeing himself from his confinement, Krgg rolls his head from side to side, scanning the area. Someone has a lot of explaining to do. His feral grin reveals a glint on his tusks and his in his eyes, the bloodlust begins to hum in him, the opening melody of the siren song of good clean battle.

Initial Listen check [roll0] and if applicable/wanted, second listen check [roll1] to identify any sounds he heard.

If needed, strength check [roll2] to break open a wall

Or if he's using his falchion to break out, attack roll if needed [roll3] and damage 2d4+2d6+13 and damage to Krgg [roll4] and just in case it's available (I don't know how you prefer to handle maneuvers out of combat) Krgg will use his readied Elder Mountain Hammer to effect the strike against his prison, overcoming any DR/Hardness and adding [roll5] damage to his attack. Whew this post makes me look like that guy that complicates things needlessly :smalleek:

[Ildu]

Serdra

Hands buried in her face, Serdra rubs her eyes vigorously before stretching, finding that she's become trapped. Keeping calm, she first peers through the open holes and attempts to listen for any sound that would indicate where she was.
What the hell happened? Last time I let a , that's for sure. she thinks as she rubs the sore knot on her head. Now, lets see if we can't warp out of this mess... Serdra peers through the holes, searching for a safe location to shadow jaunt.


Spot check: [roll0]
Listen check: [roll1]
Sense Motive (if there's a conversation going on): [roll2]

[Allyzedl]

@Bleerie

Your eyes are a bit blurry as they adjust to the light. You see a brown wall. As you try to listen for anything going on outside of the box, you don't hear any sounds.


@Gale

As you shout out the wooden box you are shatters into pieces. Standing up from the ground, you look around. While it all looks blurry at first, you soon notice that you are in a room that contains dozens of boxes similar to the one you were in, but of all different sizes. On the opposite side of the room there is a door. Other than a few torches on the walls and the door, there are no other distinctive features about the room. You also feel a burning on your chest, on the skin above your heart and on your ribs below that skin.


@Zipxap

You hear someone shouting, but cannot determine where it is coming from or what they are saying. As you shout out the wooden box you are shatters into pieces. Standing up from the ground, you look around. While it all looks blurry at first, you soon notice that you are in a room that contains dozens of boxes similar to the one you were in, but of all different sizes. Also, a few feet to your left stands a human in a mithril full plate, wielding a large shield, and a cloak, and it appears to be a female human. On the opposite side of the room there is a door. Other than a few torches on the walls and the door, there are no other distinctive features about the room. You also feel a burning on your chest, on the skin above your heart and on your ribs below that skin.


@Krgg

You hear a faint shout from somewhere near you but cannot determine what was said. As you swing your falchion at the box the side that you are facing splits down the middle. Standing up out of the box, you look around. While it all looks blurry at first, you soon notice that you are in a room that contains dozens of boxes similar to the one you were in, but of all different sizes. To your left stands two figures, the closest is a nondescript naked kobold, beyond him is a female human donning mithril full plate armor, a heavy shield, with a cloak of her back. On the opposite side of the room there is a door. Other than a few torches on the walls and the door, there are no other distinctive features about the room. You also feel a burning on your chest, on the skin above your heart and on your ribs below that skin.


@Serdra

As you look through the hole you see a brown wall and what appears to be flickering from lit torches. You first hear a faint shout which you can't tell what is being said, then you hear some mumbling also indiscernible, a clash of a sword followed by a voice saying "Someone has a lot of explaining to do."

[Medic!]

Krgg

Krgg ignores the kobold for now, and addresses the human female, Girl, what is this place? Who put us here? And why...does my chest burn...? As he growls the last bit, the orc looks down at his chest and tries to see inside his breastplate to locate the source of the burning.

[Ildu]

Serdra
Gripping onto her weapons, now knowing they are there, Serdra takes a deep breath before she stares at the wall, flickering with torchlight and teleports herself in front of the wall in a cloud of shadow.
"Indeed. Someone has a lot of explaining to do," she announces, brow furrowed.

Move: Manifesting Shadow Stride to teleport in front of the brown wall.

[mucco]

Bleerie scratches her head. She doesn't like the situation. While she takes a crowbar out of her backpack and tries to pry the crate open, her mind makes just as much effort trying to remember what or who led her here, and recollects her last memories.

Move action to take the crowbar out, standard to take 10 on a Strength check to open the crate: total result 10. If this is not enough to open the crate, I will take 20 (total 20) unless I hear any sound or anything interesting happens.

Int check to remember last details: [roll0]

[Archmage1]

Gale
Looking around, Gale sees that she is not alone, and others have broken out of their cages.
At Krgg's question, she looks at him, with fury in her eyes, but that fury swiftly fades as she realizes that he also escaped from a box.
"I don't know how we got here, or even where here is. I woke up in a box, the same as you. I wonder if all of these boxes are occupied? And what happened? It feels almost like someone branded me on my chest. So many questions."
As she says this, Gale moves over to a nearby box and knocks on it, trying to find out if it is occupied.

[Tharione]

The bandaged man yawns and sits up within the confines of a small wooden box.

"Small box.... Vincent has it finally happened?"

He scrambles about excitedly among his possessions for a clean white skull and stares at it uncertainly for a moment.

"No, you are correct, entirely the wrong dimensions for a coffin. and.." he knocks at the wall of it. "Yes.. air on the other side, most troubling."

He searches his person for a particular piece of parchment, being unable to currently recall the whereabouts of his contract.

"So then Vincent, via what means shall we extricate our persons from this box?"

[Medic!]

Krgg
OOC: This'll be my action for next round, didn't mean to skip Dram!


When the human female says the word "branded," Krgg's eye goes wide with fury. As she starts knocking on another box he bellows with rage at an ear-shattering volume, Branded...BRANDED!?!? I'd grow a beard and eat dirt before I'd let someone get away with BRANDING me!

The orc tightens his grip on his falchion and moves to the only visible door, pushing the kobold out of his way. He reaches for the door with one hand, and flings it open with reckless abandon.

[Allyzedl]

@Party (Other than Noru)
In the room now stand 5 humanoid figures:
One seems to be an Orc that is investigating his own chest. Another is a naked kobold, the third is a beautiful female human wearing full plate mail while wielding a shield, the fourth is a female gnome standing in a box that is even more beautiful than the human, the gnome not the box, and the last one is another human female wielding two short bladed weapons.

@Krgg
Looking under your breastplate you don’t see anything that may cause the burning sensation on your chest.

@Serdra
As you teleport out of the box, you realize that the wall you teleported to was actually a ceiling. You take 6 points of damage as you fall 20 ft. to the ground, landing on your back, crushing the box that you were just in. Looking around you see a room that has no special features other than a single door, a few hanging torches that provide some light, and 4 other humanoid figures about the room.

@Bleerie
You open up the box and stand up. As you try to recollect what has happened to you, the last thing that you remember is meeting with a group of people for something relating to the Planar Invasion.

@Gale
Upon knocking on the box you hear someone talking to someone named Vincent. "Small box.... Vincent has it finally happened? No, you are correct, entirely the wrong dimensions for a coffin. And..Yes.. air on the other side, most troubling. So then Vincent, via what means shall we extricate our persons from this box?" Then you hear knocking coming from inside the box.

@Noru
You hear someone knock on the box as you are talking with Vincent.

[Archmage1]

Gale
There is someone in this box. I wonder who they are, and if they know anything interesting
"Whoever you are in the box, I am going to break it."
Gale casts Baleful Utterance at the box
"Do you know how you got here? How any of us got here?"

[mucco]

Bleerie steps toward Gale. She was a gnome, which means she had her talky moments. "Oh, yeah, I remember talking with some people about the Planar Invasion, and I remember that I wanted to do something about that. Then, just blank in my memory. I am Bleerie Bryll, by the way."

OoC
So, I am confused about who is who. My character, Bleerie, is the gnome. I'm pretty sure Krgg is the orc, judging by the name. But I'm lost with everyone else. :S

[Archmage1]

Gale is a human female in plate.

[Tharione]

A humanoid figure of roughly five feet in height stands calmly among the splintering wreckage of the wooden crate. The figure is bound head to toe in immaculate white linen bandages save for a pair of black cloth pants, a pair of silver eyes, and a pair of heavily scarred pointed ears.

In its right hand it holds a polished white humanoid skull (sans lower jaw).

The figure brushes some pulverized wood from its shoulder with its free hand and speaks, in a decidedly masculine voice, "Serendipitous." .

He then turns to regard those present in the room in equal measure before responding to the question asked, plainly and calmly, "Apologies madame, I lack the information you desire."

He holds aloft the skull and addresses it, "Vincent, perchance you understand this predicament better than I?", he pauses, "I see..." he turns to regard Gale once more "Nor does my companion. But alas, strange company is no excuse for ill manners. Introductions are in order. I am Noru of nowhere." He bows ceremoniously, and briefly, retrieving a backpack, quiver, and bow from the ground near his feet and slinging them over one shoulder as he rises.

"Would it so happen that any of you have seen a piece of parchment lying about, rolled, golden embroidery, red lettering?"

[mucco]

There is someone who doesn't mind losing his time with unnecessary words, Bleerie thinks. Her short figure is very unusual: gnomes in full armor are rare. Her armor, in particular, is worn and has more than one dent in it, as does her shield. Still, they seem to be extremely well crafted and a good eye could spot a faint glow on them. The only skin emerging from the bulk of metal is her head. Bleerie is dark-skinned, with short thick black hair. In this dark face, her bright green eyes and her white teeth shine and contrast a lot. Her face, very beautiful for a gnome, is marked by several lines; some of them wrinkles, some of them scars. It's the face of a savage who lived to see more days than normal.

"Mister Noru, nice to meet you too. No parchment in sight. Is it important enough for you to postpone some information gathering? I bet we are in some kind of warehouse, and I want to discover where it is. Where we are. Like, right now."

[Archmage1]

The tall woman in the unscarred silver armor seemed almost unprepared for anything, until you look into her blue eyes. There, you see a well of anger, and determination that has never met its match. Her skin is tan, and her mid-length hair is black, although it looks a bit wild. She seems worried, but about what, you don't know.

Talking to skulls... kinda creepy. Still, I don't think he is a threat, so he can be as crazy as he wants to be. The gnome seems to be rather friendly, but is heavily armored. Who knows.

"Greetings, Bleerie and Noru, I am Gale. I am afraid that I have not seen any parchment lying around, but I am not very observant either. Bleerie, as far as finding out where we are, we should go through the door the orc went for."

[Allyzedl]

@Krgg
Upon entering the room, the structure of it seems quite similar to the one that you just left. You begin to scan the room from left to right. On your left is a door. To your right is another door, next to it is a window. Next to the window is a man, staring out of the window, he seems to notice you presence and turns around to face you. It is a human man wearing a white cloth wrapped around his body, it covers most of his body except for the left side of his torso and shoulder.
The mysterious robed man begins to speak to you in your native Orc language, “You must be Krgg the Anointed. You probably have many questions, please feel free to ask away. I will answer any questions that I think you should know the answer to.”

[mucco]

Bleerie quickly goes for the door Gale talked about. She looks extremely fast for a gnome in full plate, moving just about as quickly as an unencumbered human. She wants to find someone, and she wants to find him or her quickly. As soon as she reaches the orc, she says "Greetings, fellow". All of this while looking around and trying to find any clues about the situation.

Double move while looking around. Taking 10 on any relevant check, for Spot and Listen it makes a 16 result.

[Archmage1]

Seeing Bleerie go for the door, Gale also heads for the door. Oddly enough, it seems like her feet don't even touch the ground.

Well, I might as well break one more box. Cost whomever put us here just that little bit more.

Upon entering the room, Gale looks around, and immediately focuses on the robed man.

"Who put us here!"

[Tharione]

Noru meanders at a calm, walking pace over to the torch nearest this passage all the others seem fascinated with. Uttering an incantation and making some quick gestures as he goes along. He examines the torch with a tilted head.


Extended mage armor cast
[roll0] knowledge: dungeoneering to tell how long ago they were lit if mundane
[roll1] knowledge: arcana to identify the spell involved if they are magical

[mucco]

Those would probably be Survival (for tracks) and Spellcraft (for ongoing magical effects) checks.

[Dramiscius]

Gazing around the room at the figures breaking free from their boxed cages, and watching the chaos and confusion that followed, the kobold couldn't help but wonder what they all were doing here.

*clearing his throat he begins to speak in his somewhat screetchy kobold voice*

Does anyone know what's going on here? Who are all you people, and what's with the damnedable boxes! And who poked me with a hot iron!

[Medic!]

Krgg

Krgg focuses his eye on the man by the window. With one hand he flips his falchion upside-down and jabs the point into the floor. He jabs his thumb into his chest, "Yes, I am Krgg the Annointed."

He points at the human female in the mithral full-plate armor and responds to the man by the window, naturally falling into the Orcish tongue, "She's on the right track. Who's responsible for us being boxed up and brought to this place, where are we, who are you, and for the love of Elven entrails, WHY DOES MY CHEST BURN!?"

[Allyzedl]

@mucco

Upon reaching the room where the Orc and robed human are in, your eye catches a window that looks like a view of an outside area.

@Noru

You get the sense that the torches are magical, by not from the effects of a spell, they seem as if they were just willed into existence.

@Zipxap

You hear voices coming from the other room, upon entering it you seen an ordinary looking human male, cloaked in a white cloth, which lightly drapes over most of his body leaving the left side of his torso and left shoulder uncovered.

@Party

The man cloaked in white takes a step towards Gale. Slowly raising his arm, and pointing at Gale, “you specifically were put here by Mystra,” pointing at the Orc “Krgg by Gruumsh,” then pointing at the Grey Elf holding the skull “Noru by Boccob,” redirecting his point down towards the Gnome “Bleerie by Oghma,” putting his hand down his then stares at the kobold “Zipxap by Bahamut,” then he looks into the other room “Serdra by Lathander.”

“As for where you are, the name of this place doesn’t translate into any language that you lot understand, or ever could. But that’s not important.”

“I go by many names, but you may call me Alexander. As for the burning on your chests, you will get used to it. It is the mark that was given to you when you were brought back.”

Alexander puts his right hand over his heart, a brilliant light begins shining through the man’s hand. As he puts his hand back down to his side there is a deep red shining light coming from his torso, on the area above his heart. The light then begins to take a shape, it is a deep red beautiful phoenix.

“This is my mark, all of you have a mark as well that is activated in the same way.”

[Dramiscius]

Wait, brought back? Back from what, were we dead? How could that be! The last thing I remember was preparing to go into battle, then waking up here.

[Archmage1]

"Brought back? As far as I know, I was not dead. So, brought back from what? Any why would our gods bring us back?"

This is either an amazing lie, or a very powerful being. There muse be a way to tell between them...

Gale attempts to view her brand, by putting her right hand over her heart.
knowledge the planes check on Alexander [roll0] sense motive on Alexander[roll1] activate detect magic

[Tharione]

"Hmm? What do you mean I'm missing important details?" He looks to the skull in his hand. "If you insist."
Noru walks leisurely over to the rest of the group.

[mucco]

Bleerie turns to the window, apparently disregarding Alexander. She wants to see with her eyes where she is. However, she keeps paying close attention to the conversation. Calm down, B. I don't know anything yet. Reason, reason, reason. This might or might not be all an illusion. Alexander might be an ally, a foe, a foe posing as an ally, or an illusion of something. This place is strange too, and how did I get there? I won't believe anything he says unless it makes sense. Uh, for example, he told my correct deity. This means the other deities are correct as well - unless the other people are illusions too, crafted to make the scene more believable. Oh, I would so cast True Seeing but I don't want to give away my suspicions, and I don't want Alexander to know I can use it.

Boccob is good, Mystra is good... the Bahamut and Lathander guys won't be too happy to work with the orc, I bet. Should be fun to watch. Or they are all illusions, which I have to discover now.

Casually, while walking up to the window, Bleerie tries to make physical contact with a couple of the other adventurers, in case she might spot an illusion. They look real to me... maybe they're really strong illusions though. After all, if someone is strong enough to jail me, he might be strong enough to make me believe in an illusion too I bet. Maximum alertness on this one.

She arrives to the window and looks out, trying to find details, clues, natural landmarks, planar features, anything. Let's see, let's see, where are we...

[Medic!]

Krgg

The orc follows the man's finger and looks at the others around him as they are pointed out, noticing most of them for the first time and registering their names. This Alexander seems to have a fair measure of power, and stands without fear in the presence of so many...he must be no threat. The orc sheathes his black blade and squats down on his haunches, a habit he formed during strategy meetings in the group he used to adventure with, and switches back to the Common tongue. It seems we all have a few things in common...our purposes before ending up here, our questions for Alexander...our curiousity at this Mark he's bestowed upon us. There are some holes to be filled in here, sirrah. As he speaks the last part, he also cautiously places his right hand over his chest as the one called Gale is doing to explore this sudden change to himself.

[Allyzedl]

“It seems that you have lost a bit of your memory. That’s to be expected. Did you die? Well….you all were pretty much dead. Gone to your loved ones, to your enemies, and allies. The Gods brought you back after the Second Wave. I do not know the reason why you were specifically picked, but you must have done something that caught their interests."

As Gale puts her right hand over her heart a brilliant light shines beneath it, the light penetrates through her cloths. Moving her hand away the light begins to take shape, however it is not in the shape of a Phoenix but rather that of a hand, which has a hole in the middle of it, in the shape of a seven pointed star.

When Krgg puts his hand over his heart a shining light emits through his breastplate, as it begins to take shape you notice that it looks similar to the hand mark from Gale, however the hole in the middle of the hand is that of an eye.

Gale then begins making hand signs and saying unrecognizable words as she begins to cast a spell, right as she is about to cast the spell Alexander looks at her and says, “Brace yourself.” She is then thrown back against the wall slamming into it by an invisible force.

@Bleerie

Looking out of the window you see creatures, of which you have never seen before, fighting each other. Fire, lightning, arrows, and swords fill your eyes as a large battle ensues. Creatures, large and small at each other’s throats. Some red, some blue, others white. Winged, tailed, horned, and spiked. You cannot hear anything through the window even though a battle is happening on the other side of it.


@Gale

From your extensive knowledge of the planes you can determine that Alexander was born on the same plane as you. Upon trying to sense his motive you find the he is telling you what he believes to be true. You begin making hand signs and saying unrecognizable words as you begin to cast Detect Magic, right as you are about to cast the spell Alexander looks at you and says, “Brace yourself.” You then see everything around you burst with brilliant lights as the force of the auras throws you back, slamming into a wall.

[mucco]

Good lord, this is not the Material Plane. We are far from home. Stuff is happening to the girl there, too. Doesn't seem to be an illusion, definitely. Let's play along anyway. If what he says is true, Oghma might have granted me a true second possibility.

Bleerie's frown is still there as she suddenly turns to Alexander. She quickly walks up to him, looking at him straight in the eyes. No sign of fear, or reverence for the display of power is in her green wild eyes. "That's all nice and convenient, but what's in to you? Who are you, what do you want from us, what reward are we expected to get, if any? I certainly do not like staying here. Even if the show out of the window is interesting."

[Archmage1]

Urgh. Well, that stung a bit.
Gale floats upright, and looks at the others
"Well, it would seem that these brands are the marks of our associated gods. At least, I recognize the sigils. Mystra, the seven pointed star, and Gruumsh, the eye. And from what you are saying, the second wave is another wave of outsiders.
So, what do the gods plan on us doing, and what are you? You have some serious magic."

[Medic!]

Krgg

When the orc sees the symbol projecting from his chest, he reaches out as if to touch it with a look on his face showing an open mix of reverance and pure joy. With a feral grin he begins laughing loudly, a thunder of mirth escaping from his very soul.

Of course! OF COURSE! It's obvious what has happened here. The fight can't be over, or I'd be under the Judging Eye at this very moment...Gruumsh has been pleased by my strength and devotion! I don't see any of my mewling previous allies here.

He turns to face the others in the room with a gleam in his eye, his lower jaw proudly jutted out to display his tusks, as is proper for an orc inspiring his underlings before a great battle.

You all must have distinguished yourselves against the planar horde...you MUST see it, if a one-eyed orc can see it: We are champions called together to smite the invaders! Gruumsh has given me worthy allies, mighty companions! We are united under a common banner, the Hand of the Gods themselves!

The orc's head swivels back to Alexander, looking him straight in the eye. Point the way, Alexander. There are foes to cull.

[Tharione]

"I wonder if this renders my contract paid in full...."

he stands in silence.

"You are correct Vincent, at the very least I have purpose to follow."

Pauses once more.

"Yes, i noticed the irony."

[Allyzedl]

Alexander looks at Bleerie, addressing him, “You have been brought back, consider that a reward by the gods. As for material rewards, I do not know what you will find or receive as your path has not yet been forged. I don’t expect anything from you, I believe that in your own way you lot will do what needs to be done."

Looking over at the Gale, “You are quite the clever one. Yes, common knowledge says that The Second Wave was another wave of invaders, but it was much more than that, as I believe you will soon find out. The gods expect much of you, however they believe that you will come to it of your own accord and will leave you to do so. And about me, I am just a messenger.”

“Noru, your contract has been completed and Vincent is correct, you now have a new purpose in your life.”

“Krgg you put it very well. If you are ready, I suggest using that door.” Alexander then points over at the door behind you (not the one with the window next to it).

[Dramiscius]

Pondering to himself for a moment, the kobold steps forth and chimes in

Well then, so we've been conscripted for some sort of special task? Although one might also wonder what kind of task brings together such... varied allies *as he eyes the orc*.

[Archmage1]

Thinking about that Alexander has said, Gale has a few more questions, and although they are simple, she suspects that there will not be an answer forthcoming for all of them

"Where does that door come out? And how did this invasion begin? My understanding was that it was quite difficult for either side to get large numbers to come through."

[Tharione]

"Well then, I've no more reason to waste time here."

Noru casually walks to the indicated door and endeavors to open it.

[Medic!]

Krgg the Annointed

Krgg chuffs and sheathes his falchion and heads to the door Alexander pointed out. He offers a distracted farewell wave to the Messenger. You heard the man, Hands, let's get back to work.

He waits while Noru opens the door, standing a few paces behind him, eager to see his foe beyond the portal. Off-handedly he glances back at the kobold who was eye-balling him earlier and smirks, You can come along too, Pinky Finger! HA! Krgg is obviously VERY pleased with his rapier-like wit.

[mucco]

Bleerie quickly runs just behind Krgg, without saying a word but paying close attention to what's on the other side. She mutters a few words and waves her hand briefly, attempting to use magic.

OoC
Trying to cast Sign. Let's hope the backfire Gale suffered was just Alex defending himself.

[Dramiscius]

Shrugging as he watches his newfound compatriots heading towards certain doom, the kobold decides to follow suit.

Well, if we're already dead I guess there isn't much more to worry about, let's go smite these foes with the full force of Bahamut!

[Ildu]

Serdra

She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Dead? But how? She rubbed at the burning spot on her chest and followed the group in silence for the most part, before staring at the door. She takes one last look at Alexander as she follows the rest of the group through the door, kukris drawn and at the ready.

[Allyzedl]

“I believe that your questions will be answered in your journeys, it is time to get going.” Alexander directs everyone to the door.
As you walk through the door you find yourselves on a road between several surrounding wooden buildings. You seem to be in a small village. All of a sudden Krgg and Zipxap collapse to the ground. Before your eyes are even able to clearly focus on the world around you, you find daggers and swords at your throats.

You then hear a voice come from an approaching figure, “Who are you? How did you get here? Who sent you? Answer me!” The approaching figure now stands in front of you. It is a dwarf man clad in full plate armor, wielding a greatsword pointed at the party.

[Archmage1]

Looking around at her captors, Gale sighs, as this is clearly not her day.

First, I apparently died and was resurrected, and now I am being threatened. Let us see if this is simply caution, or if it is another attack.

"We were sent by one who called himself Alexander, who claimed we were tools of the gods. Whether or not that is true however, is unknown to me. Why the hostility?"

[Tharione]

Noru raises his hands to indicate surrender.
"It was, indeed, our only practical option. The portal that led here was the only exit we were aware of."

[Medic!]

Krgg

The orc raises his eyebrow at the dwarf. He rises slowly to his feet, not out of caution, but out of pride and dignity. Krgg straightens his back and stands at his full height, chest out proudly, tusks on display as he responds to the hair-ball's challenge.

They both speak true, we are the Hand of the Gods, fallen in defense of the realm from invasion, and returned to the realm by our patron deities to continue the fight. You don't look like planar invaders to me, and I know we don't look like planar invaders to you...so how 'bouts you put that blade away before someone gets hurt too badly to do their duty, warrior?

[Allyzedl]

The man is shaken as you mention the name Alexander, “Alexander you say?” The dwarf sheathes his sword, and then the others around you remove their weapons from your necks. “Well if Alexander sent you, then I guess I can give you the benefit of the doubt, but no funny business! “I see you’re coming to, well come with us, The Will must have some questions about your story.”

Pointing at one of the men with swords, the dwarf yells, “You! Carry the gnome; she must not have been able to withstand whatever means of transportation that got them here. She will probably wake up soon.”

The party is escorted through the quaint village, upon walking through it seems less and less like a normal village, there are many different races occupying the village and most of them seem stronger than the average person. Everyone you pass is giving you terrified stares as you just appeared in the middle of the village.

You are walked through what seems like the entirety of the village until you come upon a large stone building, clearly over 50 ft. tall, towering over the rest of the buildings in the village. The architecture of this building looks nothing like the others around it. It is a majestic thing, with statues and symbols of all the deities that are known. Walking up the stairs at the entrance, the stone double doors begin to open inwards. Then shut behind you as those escorting you leave you in the building, the sound from the stone doors shutting wakes up those in the party that were unconscious.

In front of you torches light up, filling the entire room with light. Revealing a large semi-circular stone table, at which 6 figures sit around. Which is odd as there are 7 chairs, the center chair being unoccupied. A deep voice from the right side of the table addresses the party, a Goliath with grey skin light and dark spots mottled about his skin says, “You lot just appear in the middle of town, out of nowhere and claim that Alexander sent you? I do not believe you, we should just kill you as you are clearly lying and are here to sabotage The Ash.”

Another voice roars out, as you glance over at the source of the roar you see a gold half-dragon sitting near the middle of the table. She begins to speak with a voice that echoes throughout the room, “I apologize for his outburst, Vim Ru,” the Half-Dragon glances at the Goliath, “is quite hostile towards those who wish ill against The Ash. But I get the sense that you are not our enemies.” The Half-Dragon then puts her hand over his chest, revealing a bright red phoenix protruding through his robes. “Do you have marks as well? For your sakes I hope so.”

[Archmage1]

Knowlesge: The Planes: What does the mark of the phoenix mean?[roll0]

Gale is clearly starting to get angry about all that is going on, and her tone is not very friendly.

"Well then. We awake inside boxes, break out, go into another room, meet someone who called himself Alexander, who says that we died, and were brought back, although we have no memories of this. Alexander directs us towards a door, we go through it, and are immediately threatened by your people, and you expect us to explain ourselves as well. What is Going ON! What is this Ash that is so vulnerable? Who are you?"

As she is saying this, however, she reveals the mark of Mystra that she was branded with.

"I would hope that that is proof enough. If not, then we will leave."

[Tharione]

"Last i recall Hello or Good Day was the popular greeting in common tongue, how long have i been gone that those have been replaced with death threats?"

Noru attempts to activate his brand in the manner that he has seen it activated.

"Then again... my memory is notoriously fallible." he adds, mostly to himself.

[Allyzedl]

The Half-Dragon then glances at the others sitting around the table. She then stands up and walks towards the adventurers addressing them,

"I'm sorry for the hostility, we just didn't believe you. We are the Will of The Ash, the phoenix symbolizes the members of The Will. I am Vorel Zara. After seeing you mark I am truly astonished. Alexander mentioned that The Hand of The Ash existed, but none of us have ever seen one before. That is what your marks signify, that you are members of The Hand of The Ash."

We were hesitant when you mentioned that Alexander sent you, as he has been missing for years and we believed him dead. You all seem to have missed quite a lot. I will fill you in on everything that has happened and what The Ash is.

The Ash was founded by Alexander after The Second Wave. The Second Wave was much more than just another wave of invaders. It was the day that the Hexen arrived. They wiped out nearly 60% of Toril's population in just a few weeks. They came from both planes nearly at the same time, they demolished villages and towns and absorbed the inhabitants, and gained strength in doing so.

But the worst part of the Second Wave was that it sealed this plane from the gods of Toril. The gods could no longer interact with this world to the extent that they used to. Since then, many inhabitants of Toril have lost hope as their gods no longer respond to their prayers or calls.

The Ash is Toril's response to the Second Wave and the planar invasion. We exist in secret in Toril, and in the rumors among those in Toril. We give hope, help, and fight against the planars to reclaim our world. Alexander created The Ash nearly 10 years ago, after receiving messages from the Gods of Toril. He doesn't know why he was chosen, but he seemed to be the only connection that our world still had to the gods.

The only reason that we were hostile to you is because you are currently in The Heart of The Ash, it is our secret base in Toril. There is a barrier hiding it from any who may be looking for it, then you all just appeared in the middle of it. We were afraid that we had been invaded by several planar sympathizers. We mean you no harm, as you have been chosen to be The Hand of The Ash, the fury and might of the gods who will rise again from the ashes."

[Archmage1]

"Interesting. I wonder how the planars managed to sever the gods link? Also, who controls the celestials? I also wonder if the gods still have their awareness of their followers. Still, did you ever learn how the planars managed this invasion? And, finally, what do you expect us to do? We were not given any information at all, and have apparently few to no memories of the recent past."

[Medic!]

Krgg the Annointed

It should be plenty obvious what our part is in this...we fight the invaders! Asking pointless questions will get us nowhere. I, for one, don't care one whit how or why the invasion began. I care about how it ENDS! Ending the invasion depends on our strengths, logistics, and battle-plans and how we best apply them against the invaders' strengths, logistics, and battle-plans.

The orc paces the room, obviously anxious to take some concrete action. He addresses himself to the seated Ash, I am Krgg, Annointed of Gruumsh. I've trained as a warrior all my life and the battlefield is my home. Make good use of me, Will of the Ash, preferably sooner than later.

[Dramiscius]

Smiling a wide toothy grin, the Kobold turns towards Krgg and speaks

Patience Krgg, I get the feeling there will be plenty of battle to be had, perhaps we should get better informed on our enemy by our gracious hosts instead of rushing headlong into battle blindly.

You speak of battle plans, and given our ignorance this should be the first step in drawing up ours.

Zipxap says as he leans against one of the chairs with crossed arms.

[mucco]

Bleerie is quite a bit annoyed, like the rest of her group. She speaks, for the first time. "Riiight, we are the fury and might of the gods who will rise and so on and so on. We get it. But we are new here, and we don't know anything - anything relevant, I should add. I trust you have ideas on how to defeat the Hexen, and I'm sure you know how we fit in. So tell us already, because this whole thing is really starting to get on my nerves."

[Tharione]

"Any intelligence you could provide would be of great use in forming a plan of action. Any plans of action you have would undoubtedly also expedite the process."

[Allyzedl]

A female figure gets up from the right side of the table and walks towards the party. As she gets closer her cat-like features become revealed. She has think black fur covering her body, cat ears, whiskers, a pink nose, as well as glowing yellow eyes.

“I am Nera, we currently do not know how the planars managed to seal Toril away from the gods or who controls them. We do not know how aware the gods are of everything that is going on. There is still a lot that we do not know about the planars, like why and how they came here.

We do not have a plan that will ensure the destruction of the planars yet. However, now that The Hand has started to assemble we can increase our presence in the world and finally step out of the shadows.

The Ash has an extensive information network in Toril thanks to The Mouth,” Nera then turns around and nods at one of the figures still sitting at the table, then turns back at the party.

It seems that the Hexen are each quite different in their abilities, the only thing that they share is their ability to absorb and grow in strength. So far we have some information on 2 different.

The first is an upper planar, it seems to have an affinity for the element of earth and has been seen raising roots from the ground. We believe that it is currently somewhere near The High Forest. But I wouldn’t suggest going there first as the High Forest is a large place and it may be difficult to find the Hexen.

We believe that it may be a good idea to investigate the ruins of Waterdeep, it seems that some planars have set up a small base around the once great city.”

A Human wearing leather gets up from the table and hops over it, approaching the adventurers. He has long flowing blonde hair, a beautiful face, and red eyes, however there is a large scar on his face that seems to be from a clawed animal. He then addresses the party,

“The other Hexen that we know of is held up in a fortress near the Great Glacier, we only have a few reports from brave individuals that were able to get close enough to the fortress to spy on the lower planar fortress. But we do not know anything else on that specific Hexen.”

Then a slender figure from the table jumps up into the air and sprouts out wings as it descends in front of you. The man is tall and skinny, with wings that span out well over 10 ft. and has talons for feet.

He then begins to speak towards the party, “Currently you are in The Heart of The Ash, our main base in Toril. It resides within The Moonshae Isles on the western hemisphere of Toril. The way that most members of The Ash come to The Heart is by ship, entering into the barrier and landing at our harbor. It is also the safest way to leave The Heart.

The Wings of The Ash can safely transport you to Waterdeep by ship. Or we can transport you to somewhere near The Great Glacier in the northern hemisphere of Toril. However, we would have to use teleportation to send you near the Great Glacier and we have not yet perfected our ability to teleport others such long distances. We can promise that you will all land in the same spot, but we are not 100% confident in where exactly it will be, most likely some region near the Great Glacier.”

Vorel then tosses each of you a red crystal, “Here these are the crystals to my Farspeaking Amulet. When I activate my amulet we can communicate freely for a few minutes at a time, as long as we are on the same plane.

It is now up to you on what you want to do next, we have presented two suggestions, but will not force you to follow them. If instead you desire to go to the city of Baldur’s Gate we can also provide transport by ship for you to get there. Baldur’s Gate is currently the largest of the 7 cities in Toril. He also hands you an old map of Toril, we do not have a current map of the world from after the Second Wave as parts of the world haven’t been explored since then, or at least nobody has survived exploring them.

Just let us know what you would like to do from here or if you have any more questions.”


Map:

Link to the map that Vorel gave you and the one we will be using for the campaign. (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/wd_maps/FRposterLarge_72.jpg)

[Tharione]

Noru turns to address his companions.

"My personal preference is for Waterdeep. Harsher climates require a degree of preparation."

[Archmage1]

"Well, we could go to Waterdeep. I was there when the first attacks began, but, even so, it is hard to believe that it was destroyed. However, Waterdeep was powerful because it was in the middle of everything, which makes it a good place to start."

[mucco]

Bleerie smiles. Finally, she saw and heard lots of interesting things. Lots of useful information, I love it. First, it seems we are on the Material. This means I can probably teleport to Silverymoon or to some other location I know. Either this, or I will know these guys are lying. Second, I'm really happy of having this remote communication crystal. I will have it Identified as soon as possible, so I'll check if there are any tracking or scrying apparati in it. After these two checks, I'll be ok with trusting these people.

Bleerie smiles as her voice changes to a much more pleased and relaxed tone. "This is what I wanted to hear. I hear Waterdeep is in ruins - what are the seven cities left standing you mention? Other than that, I recommend we should go to Waterdeep. I am sure that is a place where we can find useful stuff, and probably get some big help and have some nice warm-up battles. Right, Krgg?", she says to the orc.

[Allyzedl]

The winged Raptoran says, “Very well, I am Thil Vain. I am the head of The Wings of The Ash. The Wings provides transportation to members of The Ash. I shall go prepare the ship for the journey to Waterdeep. I will return when the ship is ready, until then please talk amongst yourselves and relax while you have the chance.”

Thil leaves the building heading towards the harbor.

Vorel replies to Bleerie, “The 7 cities are the only remaining cities left standing in Toril, however there are still towns and villages scattered around the world. The largest city being Baldur’s Gate. The other remaining cities are Calimport, Maarlith, Cimbar, Lyrabar, Immilmar, and Suzail.”

[Medic!]

Krgg

The anxious orc turns his eye to Bleerie, as he tucks the red crystal into his belt pouch, Now here's one who speaks with some sense. I don't care where we go as long as we're moving towards removing those scum from Toril. You all may have the right of it in planning...very well, you make your plans and preperations, I shall make my own.

Krgg begins removing his armor, placing each piece with care on the table. When he finishes he removes a flask of oil and a whetstone from his pack and goes about lightly polishing and oiling his armor and honing his blade with his whetstone.

He polishes the armor in an almost angry manner, with furious but tedious movements, applying a very small film of oil to every inch, placing each piece in his pack when it's finished. As he draws his falchion, the black blade seems to drink in a small amount of light around him, and he sets to work on it with the whetstone. An almost supernatural calm overcomes him as he slides the stone lovingly up one side of the blade's edge and down the other.

His voice takes on a completely different tone as he speaks to nobody in particular, resembling a father teaching life's secrets to his oldest son. You have to be careful, you know. Too much attention to a blade with the stone will ruin it. Just enough, with a light touch, hones it into a fine edge. Pay particular attention to removing any rust spots if you were careless enough to not protect it from moisture. The One-eye will never lend his strength to a careless whelp.

After several minutes of this he lightly coats the blade in another light film of oil just as he had his armor, and sheathes it. His tone shifts back to the proud, gruff rumble it previously possessed. Not that Foebane requires any such care, ha! Gruumsh is a god of action; even a prayer to Him requires action if you mean for it to be heard. You have seen my soul, I'd like to see yours. He addresses the last to anyone who remained close enough to watch and hear his ritual.

[Tharione]

Upon being told to wait Noru retrieves a battered tome from his bag and seats himself on the floor. He then sets down the white skull across from himself about a foot away, cracks the tome and begins to read.

He pays little attention to the actions of Krgg or the others until krggs last statement. After which he replies,
"My soul is a blank page hardly written upon. And my devotion, while absolute, remains only to the bearer of its ownership. As my debt was rendered to its original scribes I now am under the employment of the one, at least as far as I am aware, who paid that debt."

He turns a page having not looked away from the book.

"Although my employment generally comes with more precise instructions. With any luck I will correctly interpret my employers desires and fulfill them to satisfaction."

[Archmage1]

"You know, I dislike waiting. Never anything to do. Is there any reason that those cities in particular were spared, or was it just a successful defense?"

[mucco]

Bleerie sits on the ground, leaning against a wall, and keeps talking to the orc. "Heh. Your worship of your weapon reminds me of one of my officers. What a crazy, good fellow, that one. You know, I haven't even wielded a weapon in my life, ever. I'm just bad at handling weapons. How did you get that splendid falchion? Crafted it yourself?"

[Dramiscius]

Gazing around at his companions, Zipxap lets out a light chuckle as he kicks his feet up on the table and leans back.

Well I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to chat on the ride there, however all this excitement's making me a bit sleepy.

[mucco]

"Right. Oh... Excuse me, but I believe I'm late for the Binding."

Bleerie, without moving from her relaxing posture, grabs her bag and brings out a lot of parchment, and a pen to write. She closes her eyes for a few seconds and then reopens them. She starts writing strange symbols on the parchment, while moving her lips incessantly in a silent speech. Her bright green eyes are often fixed on the parchment; but when they move and look at everyone else, they show the state of semi-unconsciousness typical of a trance. It makes Bleerie's face that much scarier.

My character won't answer any questions until she's done, but it should be about a DC 15 Knowledge (religion) check to know this is a ritual prayer to Oghma.

[Medic!]

Krgg

The orc addresses Bleerie without looking up from his weapon,
Everyone should have a basic understanding of weapons, and carry at least a dagger on them. I've seen a lot of situations where there's just no other way to solve your problems than with steel.

You like Foebane, do you? I like her myself. I don't worship her, but I do admire her...I liberated this weapon from a nest of Yuan-ti, with the help of a troupe I used to adventure with in some ruins below the Chultan jungles. Fine blade, she is, fine indeed. If you feel the need to take up practicing the blade, little one, be sure Foebane isn't your first mistress.

[Allyzedl]

Thil opens the doors to the hall and shouts, "The boat is ready if you are."

You are led to a medium sized ship, which has three others already on it. A short goblin says to the party as you board the ship, "Ay, welcome to my humble ship, Cecil." As soon as the party boards the ship it takes off and leaves the harbor.

The ship soon approaches what seems like a white wall that it is on a course to crash into. The goblin says, "No worries maties, tis just the barrier, we'll go right through it." The boat then passes safely through the barrier.

Rolls:

Please roll spot checks and initiative.

And pick your general location on the ship.

http://i45.tinypic.com/5wa336.jpg
(ignore the stairs that lead down, just using the deck)

[Archmage1]

Spot:[roll0] init[roll1] note that Gale has fell flight and dark one's luck active. She will be on the top deck. And Blind

"Thank you for the transportation."
Soon after the ship leaves, Gale seems to almost turn green, and she heads for the rail to be sea-sick. In between bouts of sea sickness, she manages to squeeze out a few words
"I always wondered what sailing would be like. And now I know. Hopefully I will get over this quickly."

[Tharione]

[roll0] initiative, [roll1] spot
Noru stands near the edge of the ship grasping the rigging, with vincent in a lifeboat nearby.


"I know you can't swim Vincent, but unlike you I have arms and legs..."

Noru pauses and looks to the skull.

"Stay there and pout then, I shall be enjoying the panorama."

He returns to gazing at the sea.

[Medic!]

Krgg the Sailor Man

Krgg grabs up his pack with his armor still inside, belts his falchion to his waist, and follows Thil to the ship. Upon boarding the vessel he follows Gale to the railing, and seeing her in obvious distress says, Green's a good color on you! We'll make an orc warrior of you yet!

He then moves to the prow and takes up a position where he can clearly see what lies before them. He'd been aboard a ship like this a time or two in his younger days, but that didn't mean he particularly liked it.

As the ship pulled out to the open sea he let the salt spray wash over his face and breathed in the briney air, reminiscing to himself about adventures past, and his last trip by sea. Ironically enough, it was a trip to Waterdeep that time as well...

He muses to himself aloud, At least there's no halfling this time...

[roll0] and [roll1]
Krgg is on the top deck on the right side of the picture, and is also out of his armor at this point, for AC purposes
EDIT: Spot went about as expected but MAN the force is strong with this one....danger sense activate!

[mucco]

Spot: [roll0]
Initiative: [roll1]

Bleerie sits on the ship, leaning against the main mast and facing forward.

[Allyzedl]

@Bleerie & Zipxap
You notice a figure flying overhead, surrounded with lights. All of a sudden it begins to dive towards the ship and the lights follow it. You ready your weapons and components as if you are preparing to fight.

For passing the spot check:

Take two actions, one after the enemies attacked (due to passed spot check and ready for combat), then another after that (start of normal round).


You hear the sound of a trumpet, it pierces your ears, however you are strong enough to withstand it’s effects. The crew on the other hand are not so lucky, as the 3 goblins on board fall to the floor from the sound. The winged figure playing the trumpet thumps onto the front deck of the ship, standing right in front of Krgg and facing the rest of the people on board.

The flying figure begins to speak, “I can’t believe it, there was a barrier hiding something here the entire time! It seems to protect something from planars and that’s why I have never noticed it. If you came out from here then you must be an enemy. Unfortunately for you all, we must kill you then.”

You now notice that there are three lanterns floating about 30 ft. above the deck of the ship, and they begin to get brighter and larger just as they shoot beams at the party. The winged figure then swings its trumpet at Krgg. As the trumpet hits Krgg it transforms into a greatsword and strikes him a heavy blow.

The lantern floating above the back deck of the ship shoots at Gale but instead hits the collapsed goblin next to her. The lantern floating above the life boat then shoots at Noru, but it also misses. The last lantern then fire at Bleerie and also misses.




For Reference: The green glowing things are the lanterns. The black and white figures with hats are the collapsed goblins. The figure next to Krgg is the winged planar that attacked him.

The front is the left side of the ship.

First Round (Surprise round):
Krgg takes 14 points of damage

Everyone may take their actions now, no particular order is required just once per round.

Battle layout:
http://i45.tinypic.com/300zims.jpg

[Medic!]

Krgg

Rolls for granted maneuvers, going straight down the list on my sheet: [roll0] [roll1] [roll2] [roll3]

The orc seems to shrug off the blow entirely, though a red line can be seen forming where the greatsword struck him. Krgg briefly considers calling to his armor, but the nearness of the deep waters and the prospect of finally getting to hit something convinces him to hold off. He draws his falchion and spits the harshest verbal riposte he can muster as he holds the black blade up in the sky and brings it down in a black-light arc of raw power and steel.

No, YOU DIE!

I did not think this out very well, I should have done maneuvers granted rolls in OOC I guess? Since I can't add rolls to an edit, I'll put attack and etc in the OOC thread for this action.

Also Krgg is initiating Divine Surge with his attack, and is in the Martial Spirit stance.

[Archmage1]

"Well, being attacked by Solars is new. At least they have bad aim."

Gale acts quickly, and throws a blast of energy at the nearest lantern, before flying out over the deck, where she would have a clear view of the fight.

attack(ranged touch)[roll0] damage[roll1]

[mucco]

Bleerie shouts "Attack! Attack!" She jumps on her feet with an unexpected nimbleness. Quickly, she scans the battlefield. This looked just like the perfect warm-up match. Excellent... the trumpet is clearly the leader. "Krgg! I want the face of Wingy over there to be split in several little pieces, and quickly!"

Bleerie moves near him while speaking words of power. She speaks, and the orc and kobold feel power and rage fill them completely.

Actions
Surprise round: move action to stand up.
Move action: move up to Krgg's deck. If the lantern threatens any square, it is entitled to an AoO.
Standard action: assuming I am within 30 feet of Krgg, cast Righteous Wrath of the Faithful.

Krgg & Zipxap
If you are not immune to mind-affecting, you get one more attack on full attacks (doesn't stack with Haste), +3 morale to attack rolls, +3 morale to damage rolls. Duration: 10 rounds

[Tharione]

[roll0] know the planes on the trumpet
[roll1] know the planes on lanterns

Casts greater invisibility and moves to an unobtrusive spot 5' from adjacent with the nearest lantern.


Noru vanishes from sight after some arcane gestures and words.

[Allyzedl]

Since Dram hasn't posted in 24 hours, from the round that required picking your position on the boat. I am moving onto the next round.


@Noru

For your knowledge planes on the archons, not sure what exactly you are looking for. But you know that archons are always lawful good extraplanars that destroy anything they deem evil. And that they are lantern archons, and the other is a trumpet archon.


The lantern that Gale shot with her eldritch blast falls into the boat after being hit. The remaining two floating lanterns begin to move towards the front of the ship. Then get brighter and larger as they shoot at Krgg hitting him with rays of light. The winged archon then begins to cast defensively. And casts a spell on itself. It then begins to fly into the air, floating around 20 ft. above the top deck of the ship.




Krgg gets an attack of opportunity on the winged archon. Krgg also takes 6 damage from the rays of light hitting him.

The winged archon is actually 20 ft. above his location in the air, the lanterns are 30 ft. above their positions in the air.

Map

http://i48.tinypic.com/212a6wm.jpg

[mucco]

The gnome laughs loudly at the archon. "Hah! One hit and it runs, it runs! Maybe you should go a little softer with these, Krgg, it's not even fun at this rate... Go get 'im, boy!"

Bleerie speaks a couple words again, before touching the orc with her hand.

Standard action: cast Fly on Krgg.
Krgg
You have a fly speed of 60 ft (good maneuverability).
Duration: 10 minutes

[Archmage1]

Seeing the enemies cluster together Gale smiles.

"And now you get to pay the price for attacking us"

Gale extends her hand, and a beam that almost looks like a purple lightning bolt extends out, arching between the enemies clustered on the deck. She them moves to a position above the three archons, clearly intending to block any retreat.

Maximized eldritch chain, targeting the trumpet archon first, then bouncing to the other lantern archons. attacks[roll2] [roll1] [roll0] damage: 42 21 10

[Dramiscius]

Zipxap

Upon the enemies landing, the kobold lets out a gale like force from his mouth in an attempt to impede the attackers.



30ft cone of slow, 2 rounds DC23 fort reduces it to 1 round.

[Tharione]

Moves closer to being under the archons and casts a silent image of himself Next to the trumpet archon missing wildly with a dagger. In a manner so the illusion does not contact the archon


Noru appears in the air near the trumpet archon. and misses wildly with a dagger.

[Medic!]

Krgg

Shrugging off the beams of light, Krgg takes full advantage of the winged creature's lapse in defenses as it flies away, dragging his fearsome blade across its thighs. The orc shouts to his companions It cannot escape with such dangerous information, smash the invader!

When Bleerie touches him, Krgg's eye takes on a cruel sheen, he flies straight up under the winged foe and brings Foebane to bear in a vicious uppercut from below.
You aren't getting away. Greasy stains tell no tales.
As the blade strikes true, Krgg feels his connection to Gruumsh pulse with the joy of battering his fleeing foe. Vigor and energy flow through his body, which begins to mend itself at a startling rate. In a moment, his wounds vanish.

[roll0] [roll1] [roll2] [roll3] [roll4] [roll5] and if it hits, he heals 2 actual HP damage.

For his turn Krgg moves up 15ft (half his speed unarmored) as a move action and initiates Revitalizing Strike, supercharged by Smite. *Note: Please add 1 point to both attack and damage due to Furious Counterstrike going up :smallwink:
[roll6] [roll7] [roll8] [roll9] [roll10] [roll11] and Krgg heals himself for [roll12] +2 actual HP damage (topping off actual HP, so the last 4 points are healed from the delayed damage pool)

[Allyzedl]

Krgg hits the trumpet archon as it flies away. He then flies up to it and hits it again before healing himself.

As Gale shoots at the trumpet archon it is a clean hit and bounces to the lantern archon next to it, but then misses the other lantern. The lantern that was hit drops to the ground.

Zipxap shouts out at the archons, slowing their movements.

The last lantern shoots two rays of light at Bleerie, the first hitting hard, the second missing.

The trumpet archon they shouts out some unrecognizable words. Krgg, Bleerie, Noru and Zipxap feel something begin to affect them as they becomes blinded, and can no longer hear anything.



Bleerie takes 12 points of damage.

Krgg is deafened for 1 round and blinded for 6 rounds.

Bleerie is deafened for 1 round and blinded for 4 rounds.

Zipxap is deafened for 3 rounds and blinded for 6 rounds.

Noru is deafened for 2 rounds and blinded for 2 rounds.

While blinded and deafened you have no awareness of things around you, other than by memory. While blinded AND deafened you can attack and move, but may trip over things or attack an ally if you are near one if you fail the miss chance and the target’s AC. After you are no longer deafened I’ll roll listen checks for you so that you can try to get a sense of where things are.

[Archmage1]

Seeing the Words that the trumpet archon cry disabled most of her group, Gale responds with two blasts.

quickened maximized eldritch chain at the trumpet archon, followed by a maximized eldritch chain also at the trumpet archon. 42 21 damage in both cases. attack(touch)[roll0] chain[roll1] second attack[roll3] chain[roll2] Apparently Gale sucks with chaining things.

[Tharione]

invisible:
Just like old times, Blind and deaf.
Noru abandons concentrating on the figment and attempts to cast shield


[roll0]

[Medic!]

Krgg the Lonely

Krgg's revelry in the fight quickly turns sour as the world flees from his senses. Just before the silence envelops him and his surroundings disappear he sees the gnome who has been empowering his onslaught stuck by a beam from one of the lanterns.

His fury at the loss of his senses robbing him of the joy of battle is stoked even higher knowing that one of those creatures struck a very useful minion, the orc lashes out blindly, trusting his falchion to remember the way into the archon's sweet flesh again.

The orc forces air from his lungs as he strikes, and is still a little shocked when he doesn't hear the growl that usually accompanies such an exhalation.

Krgg makes a full attack against the archon's last known position...ugh wall of dice rolls!
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]

[roll8]
[roll9]
[roll10]
[roll11]
[roll12]
[roll13]
[roll14]
[roll15]

[roll16]
[roll17]
[roll18]
[roll19]
[roll20]
[roll21]
[roll22]
[roll23]

Each successful attack will heal Bleerie for 2hp
Looks like no crit threats, and if either concealment roll misses, the attack misses

[Dramiscius]

Zipxap

Clutching his eyes Zipxap utters a few words vanishing from sight

Using the Walk Unseen invocation to go invisible, duration 24 hrs or until I directly attack something.

[mucco]

Bleerie isn't caught off guard by the blinding spell. "I've seen better, Wingy... try harder!"

She gestures and speaks the words of power, giving her a supernatural sense. Having located the archon this way, she quickly touches her holy symbol before pronouncing a single word - and suddenly a big longsword made of pure force appears out of thin air, trying to slash the enemy.

Standard action: cast Blindsight. Roll for deafness [roll0]

If the spell goes off, Bleerie then DMM-quickens Spiritual Weapon, aimed at the trumpet.
Roll for deafness [roll1]
Attack roll: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3] (the sword overcomes all DR)
Crit (threat 19-20): [roll4]
Damage: [roll5]

If Blindsight fails, Bleerie quickens a Lesser Vigor instead. Use the deafness roll above for it.

[Allyzedl]

Since everyone except Gale is blind and deaf I separated everyone’s actions to limit your PCs awareness.

@Gale

You see both your attacks hit the trumpet archon, but neither of them hitting the lantern. The trumpet archon then falls to the ground. Krgg then swings his sword and yells as he attacks the air in front of him. Unaware of the boat moving, Krgg just floats in the air as the boat keeps moving. He is now around 60 ft. away from the boat floating in the air. You hear someone next to say some indistinguishable words, but you don’t see them. Zipxap appears to be casting a spell, but nothing happens. Bleerie then casts a spell at the lantern and it falls to the ground.


@Krgg

You swing your sword but don’t feel it hit anything.


@Noru

You cast shield and nothing happens to you.


@Zipxap

You cast the walk unseen invocation on yourself and hope for the best.


@Bleerie

Your blindsight succeeds, and you see the trumpet archon on the ground and attack the lantern archon, hitting it and it falls to the ground. Looking above you however, you can no longer see Krgg.


Bleerie and Krgg are no longer deafened after this post. Bleerie can now see out to 30 ft.

[Tharione]

Invisible:
Noru moves 5 feet in a direction that won't take him off the boat, to his knowledge, readies to fire his bow the moment he can see again.

[mucco]

Bleerie smiles, while she steps up to the dying foe. She kneels, and with what little strength she has she punches him on the head. "HA! This is for trying to blind me!"

5-foot step to the archon
Full-round action: coup de grace, with my full plate gauntlet, dealing 1d2-2 damage - minimum 1. It's autocrit for 2 damage, DC 12 Fortitude to avoid dying, if it was not dead already. 1d2+1 damage = 2 because I forgot about the buff so I'm rolling minimum as punishment. Autocrit for 4 damage, DC 14 Fort.

lol

still was funnier without the buff.

[Archmage1]

Seeing both of the Archons fall to the ground, and her allies performing a number of interesting actions, Gale yells, hoping that the others will recover some of their hearing soon

"Fight is Over."

Seeing Krgg failing to follow the boat, Gale moves towards him, yelling
"Krgg, come to me. You are losing the boat. Fight is over"

[Allyzedl]

Not new round

@Krgg
You hear yelling from a distance but cannot determine what is being yelled or where it is coming from.

[Medic!]

Krgg

After even only a few seconds of utter silence, the world seems to assault Krgg's ears when his hearing returns. Still unable to see, he snarls Think you can strike me in the dark do you? We'll see about that!

Like a battlefield general, he barks a single word "Armament!" and in a flash he is armored from head to toe. Feeling more secure and in his element with his armor donned, the orc calls out to his allies in a clarion voice Where's the invader? Don't let him escape!

Standard action to activate Krgg's called armor, with the rest of his turn spent crying like a little girl-orc (translated to waiting for his blindness to wear off, or for some clue to find his allies/foes/what-have-yous)

[Allyzedl]

I’ll start this round by skipping forward a few rounds so that people can see and hear again. This will be the round right after Krgg gets his vision back, about 30 seconds later.


Everyone in the party except Krgg is able to see that the lantern and trumpet archons have been defeated as they lay dead on the deck of the boat. Nobody can see Krgg anywhere on the boat. Looking around the sky they cannot see any figure that may resemble Krgg either. While Gale knows that he is floating somewhere behind the ship, the others in the party didn’t see him not move along with the ship’s speed.

Two of the goblins on the ship stand up, one of them says, “What happened? The last thing I remember was the sound of some kind of horn.”

The goblin on the back deck does not stand up.

Krgg now sees that he is just flying above the ocean, he sees what he believes is the ship, but it is now hundreds of feet away from him.

@Krgg

If you try to fly towards the ship, you find that the ship is moving away faster than you can fly to it.

[Archmage1]

"Captain, we were attacked. Krgg went overboard, but he has a fly spell. Would it be possible to turn back and pick him up before the spell ends?

We were attacked by a 4 planars. A trumpet Archon, and 3 Lantern archons. They were defeated however."

[Medic!]

Krgg Family Robinson

When his sight comes back, Krgg quickly realizes his peril. He begins flying towards what he hopes is the ship he was on, and soon notices that it is still pulling away from him.

HEY! TURN AROUND! YOU LEFT ME BEHIND DUNG-BRAINS! he screams out over the water.

Using two move actions per turn, Krgg will chase the ever-shrinking boat at 40ft per move.

[Allyzedl]

The goblin captain responds to Gale. "Well...It would be possible, but risky. I don't know where this Krgg fellow is. And if we turn around from our set course we will likely get lost as it seems that our navigator is dead."


@Krgg

Despite moving at your fastest speed, you seem to be just a little slower than the boat.

[mucco]

Bleerie coughs loudly to attract attention. "Excuse me, mister. This guy just saved you sorry butt by slicing our enemy thoroughly. I should probably add that we are on a suicide mission since we have to fight beings able to exert power on our gods. And you deem risky that we should turn back and fetch the guy? No sorry, what? You turn this ship around now and we get our friend back. This is not even close to being questionable." By the time the gnome finishes the last sentence, she is not too far from shouting in rage. With a small pause, she regains her composure. "Let the gods guide us afterwards."

[Tharione]

Noru lowers his bow at sight and sound returning to him. He wanders over to the dead trumpet archon and tilts his head.

"Pitiable... "

He places his hand on the forehead of the fallen archon, gets a firm grip, and pulls back his arm, rising as he does so. The flesh of the archon fails to follow his grip, instead Noru pulls free the skull... shortly followed by the spine and remainder of the creatures still connected bones until he has pulled free an entire skeleton, and pulled it to a standing position alongside himself.

"Follow me closely, defend me always."


Using animate dead spell like ability on the trumpet archon

[Archmage1]

"Then slow the ship down you idiot. You would allow us to catch up while not losing your course. I could teleport back, but I would not be able to increase his speed."

very sad. silly 30 foot fly.

[Tharione]

"Running around like chickens with their heads cut off. erm..."

Noru proceeds slowly toward the lifeboat he left Vincent in.

"No offense intended i assure you Vincent."

The bandaged man throws up his hands and mumbles something gesturing toward the prow of the ship.

"Rapid deceleration.. everyone may want to hold on to something. Skeleton, hold me."

In front of the ship a great bank of fog appears.


Norus casts Solid fog (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/solidFog.htm), positioning the fog cloud 20' in front of the ship in the direction it is heading

[Medic!]

Krgg the Exhibitionist

Desperate to put on any extra speed he can muster, the orc begins throwing pieces of his armor into the ocean, starting with the easiest to remove parts first. As his gauntlets splash in the surf, he spews a stream of curses outloud.

GET BACK HERE YOU SPINELESS GOBLIN DOLTS, OR I'LL TURN YOU INTO FISH FOOD!

The orc pumps his legs furiously as he removes his armor, trying to speed his passage.

[roll0] minutes

[Allyzedl]

As Noru creates a cloud of fog it slows down the boat tremendously. Krgg is finally catching up to the boat.

The goblin captain commends Noru, "Great idea."

Everyone is now able to clearly see Krgg as he flying at the boat while taking off his armor. He is very close to the boat now, around 40 ft. away until the boat clears the fog and Krgg enters it, slowing him down to a crawl.


Since Krgg is taking off his armor he can't take double move actions.

[mucco]

"Oh! There he is! I'm going to fetch him."

Bleerie casts a spell and disappears, appearing on Krgg's shoulders, safely holding onto him. She then casts another quick spell and both appear back on the ship.

"There, done!" The gnome smiles wide as she steps off Krgg. "Oh, right, does anyone have open wounds? I can heal you."

I cast Dimension Door twice, to get there and to get back the round afterwards.

[Archmage1]

Seeing the fog cloud coming, Gale lands, so that she does not get lost in the fog.

[Allyzedl]

The goblin captain says, "Well now that that is settled, To Waterdeep!" We've got about a 2 days journey ahead of ourselves. There is plenty of food and water under deck in the cabins. Make yourselves comfortable."



Do anything, say anything that you need to do for those 2 days at sea as it is smooth sailing the rest of the way. And give yourselves 1000 experience for the journey so far, rping, and combat.

[Medic!]

Krgg the Tennis Ball

Once back onto the ship, the orc mutters Armament under his breath, returning his missing armor pieces to his body.

Usefull lil thing ain't ya? You stick close to me, gnome. I like you!

Krgg reaches into his pack, retrieving a leather belt, studded with three diamonds. He swings the belt around by one end, quickly fastening it around his waist, and touches two of the diamond, they glow briefly. He then moves that hand, which looks as though some of the light rubbed off onto it, and ruffles the gnome's hair. You took care of me, I'll take care of you.

The orc then touches the last diamond, and channels the light into his own chest.

Before going to sleep that night, Krgg cleans and oils his armor and falchion, leaving the armor and his pack in his bunk. He spends the next two days in a routine of practicing his swordsmanship on-deck and discussing the next steps of their journey with his companions and reminiscing about the time he himself spent in Waterdeep so long ago.

Bleerie
Krgg uses 2 charges from his Healing Belt to heal Bleerie for [roll0] damage, then uses the last charge to heal himself for [roll1].

[Allyzedl]

Bleerie searches through the pile of boneless flesh that used to be an archon. Feeling his way around Bleerie pulls out 2 scrolls and a rod.

[Archmage1]

Looking over her somewhat battered allies, Gale sees that they are working together, rather than individually, and realizes that this may not be a suicide mission after all.

"Well, that went okish. Nobody died, although we did almost lose Krgg. I wonder if this was a routine patrol, or if they are looking for that bubble. I hope that we can work together better in the next fight though. Perhaps we should discuss what we bring to a fight.

I can teleport short distances, fly, and shoot at enemies, or multiple enemies. I can also detect magic. Bleerie, if you will allow me to look at those scrolls, and the rod, I can probably give an idea of what they do."

[mucco]

"Go ahead and identify them." Bleerie hands over the items to Gale.

"I was thinking... we ran a huge risk now, we can't let that happen again. Those outsiders... they can teleport. All of them can. If one of those had gotten away, the invaders would have known of this place. We must take measures to prevent their escape if we are to keep this mission secret. I will be able to cast a Dimensional Anchor (and I have another... small trick up my sleeve), but everyone else who can should be able to do it as well. We will be fighting a lot of enemies which are resistant to magic, so I will fail eventually."

[Medic!]

Krgg

Gale has a good point. You've all met Foebane, which along with Gruumsh's good-will accounts for the sum-total of my abilities. I was annointed by my tribe as a champion of the One-eye in battle, and he empowers me to smash anything before me as I see fit.

Krgg turns his attention back to Bleerie, I've said it a hundred times if I've said it once. Grease stains tell no tales! HA!

He tucks the diamond studded belt pack into his pack, and listens with full attention to each of his allies as they list their talents.

[Allyzedl]

Upon studying the scrolls Gale discerns that one has a properties of abjuration magic, the other transmutation magic. The rod also has properties of transmutation magic.

Also, you notice that there is a red button at one end of the rod.

[Allyzedl]

With your artificer's monocle you identify one of the scrolls with having the spell of Protection from Arrows with only a single use. The other scroll is a scroll of Make Whole with 3 uses. While the rod is an immovable rod.

[Tharione]

Noting that his compatriots are informing one another of their talents he joins in.

"I solve practical problems, as you have seen. While not adept martially I have rarely found it to be a problem. It should hardly be considered an impediment given current company."

He nods to them.

"Call me if there is another crisis."

Noru goes about searching the enemies for any valuables or information.
After which he asks the captain to inform him one hour before they are slated to arrive. He also orders the skeleton to aid the crew as they direct it to in handling or maintaining the ship, grabs Vincent and two days food/water and sequesters himself in a room for 2 days.

Remainder of the current day:

Wards the door to where he is with a ghoul glyph and casts explosive runes to write two very polite letters about the virtues of surrendering to a superior force and tactical mind. He eats then takes an early 8-hour meditation to make use of the remaining hours of his mage armor and wanders out on deck for an hour around midnight to stare at the sea while preparing his spells.


Second day:

greets dawn by casting Extended mage armor then jogging around the boat, and finally casting a prestidigitation spell to clean the salt and grime from his bandages, returning them to a pristine state. He then eats, has a long discussion with Vincent about sea turtles and returns below deck to bind Malphas for the day (poor/good pact probably unimportant). Summons a dove and sends it to the rigging to watch the sea for him. He writes two more mannerly letters in explosive runes. Fights with Vincent over the pronunciation over a word and sends Vincent to sit in the hall for 10 minutes before retrieving the skull and reconciling. Eats and takes another early meditation. Watches the sea for an hour trying very hard to remember something, concentrating on the slivers of his memory. Prepares spells the next hour.


Arrival Day:

Greets dawn with jog, cleaning, and casting of extended mage armor. When informed of being within an hour of destination binds Malphas, casts phantom steed, summons a raven to his shoulder, and casts false life upon himself. Then orders the skeleton to only follow his orders once more, those being follow him and defend him from those who attack him. He then awaits Landfall atop his phantom steed.



[roll0] Binding check (DC: 15)
[roll1] false life temporary hp

[Archmage1]

With the artificers monocle(MIC 72), detect magic will identify after 3 rounds. the spellcraft checks should have identified any scroll of level 16 or less as well.

"Bleerie, I am afraid that I can't cast any such effects. Krgg, that was some good smashing in that fight."

[mucco]

"Ah well, we'll have to fight smarter. My patron god Oghma blesses me with powerful magic, as you could see. I excel at making martial combatants fight better, but I could find some way to help you spellcasters too.

On those items, I have no use for them. Well I suppose I could keep the rod, in case it is needed. Just don't push the button while we're moving on the ship, it'll crush the wood."

[Archmage1]

"The scrolls that we found are a scroll of protection from arrows, and scroll of make whole with three uses, and an immovable rod. The rod could come in handy at some point, as could the protection from arrows. Noru, are you willing to reveal how you plan to fight?"

[Tharione]

Noru pauses in his casual walk toward the lower decks and turns.

"Mine is a style best demonstrated, not spoken of. perhaps oddly, you'll find killing things is not my strong suit. As I said, solving problems is what I do."

He gestures to the skeletal archon.

"Killing is their job."

He returns to calmly walking away.

[Dramiscius]

Zipxap looks around at his shipmates, slapping himself in the head as he'd forgotten to grant them protection for his voice, he begins going around and granting it to all of them making his rounds on the boat in preparation for future attacks.

OOC


Not sure if this is acceptable, but zip would prefer to begin each day by casting his endure exposure on party members present, although if you want me to specifically state it each day I understand, though the timeline moves a little more quickly then im used to.

[Archmage1]

"Zipxap, What are your capabilities in a fight?"

[Dramiscius]

Clearing his throat he speaks in a shrill voice

I prefer to stay out of direct combat, however I have breath akin to that of a mighty dragon, which I can preform some interesting tricks with. However it's indiscriminate in who it hits, so from now on ill be granting everyone protection from it during my morning regiment, rather then worry about harming my comrades during the heat of battle.

[Allyzedl]

You arrive at the harbor of Waterdeep. Most of which has rotted away. You manage to find a dock that looks sturdy enough. The two goblins wave goodbye to you as you jump off the ship onto the docks. Upon Krgg’s landing on the dock, the overwhelming weight of him and his gear landing on the dock causes him to go straight through the wooden dock into the water. Krgg then begins to feel something nibbling at his ankles as he swims to shore.

Gazing upon Waterdeep the party sees the ruins of a once great city. Buildings are crumbled in pieces; wooden planks are on the ground where merchant carts used to stand. Windows from houses lay shattered on the ground, which has been stained deep red with the blood of those who once lived here. You seem to be in a merchant district.

You hear the clanking of metal coming from behind an old abandoned building.

[mucco]

Bleerie walks to the blacksmith building, and steps in. "Hello? Friends here, don't be afraid!" IT WAS NOT A BLACKSMITH

Bleerie casts a quick spell, before slowly moving toward the building. She pays full attention to it, trying to look through any window or to determine what kind of creature, or creatures, are currently in there. She whispers "Armored people walking, maybe. Be ready for some fighting."

Casting Sign, slowly moving toward the building.

[Dramiscius]

Surveying the scene, the kobold once again vanishes from sight.

Best I remain out of sight

Casts walk unseen and follows Bleerie

[Archmage1]

As Gale looks over the wreckage of Waterdeep, she can't help but to remember her past. To those who look at her, she seems almost lost in thought, lost in her memories.

So much death and destruction here. I can hardly believe that Waterdeep was destroyed by this invasion. Every other time, the city survived... somehow. I remember running through these streets, and now they are just ruins. Just memories in my head. I will find who did this, and they will NOT enjoy that meeting.

After surveying the ruins for several minutes, with tears running down her face, Gale starts heading for the clanking building, floating off of the ground to minimize noise. Once she arrives, she will take a look inside, and activate detect magic, concentrating on it as she surveys the contents.

spot[roll0] listen[roll1] hide[roll2]

[Medic!]

Krgg

When he trudges to shore Krgg checks his feet and ankles for critters or bites.

"That settles it, no more damn boats! You'd think I was of one of the Water-tribes..." he growls as he sits to remove his boots and pour the water out. He wipes his hands down over his face and head, and shakes like a dog, flinging droplets carelessly.

He puts his boots back on and rises to his feet, surveying what's left of the town he spent so much time in.

If needed [roll0]

[Tharione]

Noru trots his mount ahead at a speed to keep up with the remainder of the group.

He speaks softly but aloud, "It might be better to send the expendable magical constructs into places first. If you don't mind my tactical opinion."


He unslings and holds his bow. The raven on his shoulder flies off ahead into the sky at top speed.


The raven flies off to aerially survey the city, Noru can see what it sees.
it is also carrying a letter if possible.

[Allyzedl]

Looking through the windows, Bleerie and Zipxap see the inside of a rundown shop. Gale quickly darts behind broken carts and barrels, hiding behind them as she approaches the building. The only thing she sees is the building, but the sound of clashing metal is now repeating faster than before. Krgg stands in front of the building soaking wet.

Noru’s raven flies high above the building. Behind it there is a battle underway. It looks like someone is fighting with a bunch of giant ants. The fight is the source of the sound as the humanoid’s weapons clash with the weapons of the giant ants. However, the raven cannot clearly discern any more details than that about the humanoid or the giant ants other than that they are fighting, and the humanoid seems to be overwhelmed.

[Tharione]

"It seems the source is not within the building but behind it, Giant ants and some sort of humanoid figure. It would be my guess that, whoever they are, they will not emerge victorious without aid."

Noru seeks to ride the shortest path to get around the structure that he is aware of with both his birds view and his own.

The bird continues onward over the city.


his horse has 180' move speed and ignores terrain penalties from sandy, muddy or swampy terrain.

[mucco]

"Alright Noru, I'm on it." The gnome darts past the building, just as fast as an unencumbered human.

Double move, 60 ft.

[Medic!]

Krgg

When his grumbling about being soaking wet subsides, Krgg hears the sound of a fight. He calls his armor onto himself and follows his companions around to the back fo the building, drawing Foebane as he stalks around the structure.

He bellows a battle-cry as he rounds the corner to announce the death of....something!

Standard to call his armor, then double moving at 20ft/move until he can see the cause of the ruckus. Getting Granteds out of the way here: [roll0] [roll1] [roll2] [roll3]

[Archmage1]

Hearing Noru's identification of the source of the sound, Gale flys up over the building, and comes to the aid of the lone humanoid. She seems to focus for a second, and then a blast of ice streaks towards one of the ants.

Fly up to get a line of sight, eldritch spear(250ft range) hellrime blast(fort dc 18 failure -4 dex, cold damage) [roll0] damage[roll1]
If there is damage reduction, Gale should be able to observe the attack doing less damage than it should.

[Allyzedl]

Noru rids his steed, stopping just in front of the battle. Bleerie follows right behind the steed as it kicks dust from the ground as the steed runs into Bleerie’s face. Krgg shouts something fierce is his native tongue and runs as fast as he can, just barely moving at all, Krgg is able to see the battle from around one of the corners of the building. Gale flies above the building and shoots a blast at the giant ant that is closest to the humanoid figure. Zipxap, now invisible follows behind Noru and his steed, as he sees the battle ensue a Bleerie stops just short of running him over.

@Party
You see 6 Formian fighting against a single Elf. He is unnaturally tall and muscular for an Elf. He has sharp features and after further inspection of those features, he seems to have small bony protrusions. Small scales cover his entire body, with noble golden eyes to suit. He seems to be only wearing a loincloth, but has a faint aura around his body. Fighting against the Formian he is whipping his greatsword around as blinding speeds. He seems to be in some sort of frenzy while he is attacking the Formian.

Gale shoots an icy blast at Formian 1, hitting it in the back of the head.


Map:

I'm currently looking for a better way to create maps, if anyone has any suggestions please let me know in the OOC thread.

But for now:
http://i46.tinypic.com/25878dg.jpg

[Dramiscius]

Zipxap

Seeing the Formians' he decides an aerial view would be best, incase more happen to come and try to ambush him and his companions.



Using humanoid shape to turn into a Harpy and fly 20 ft up in the air while invisible.

[Zman]

Zaavariel

Surrounded by massive ants, Zaavariel whips his blade around in a frenzy of blinding speed...


Knowledge Planes(Untrained) [roll0] to Identify and distinguish largest threat.

Attacks to be taken against the most prominent threat first. If one dies, resolve next attack against the next most potent threat, etc

Whirling Frenzy 1/4

Attack 1
Power Attack(-2/+4) [roll1]
Damage [roll2]
If Magebane is applicable: +2 to hit +[roll3] to Damage

Attack 2 -Whirling Frenzy
Power Attack(-2/+4) [roll4]
Damage [roll5]
If Magebane is applicable: +2 to hit +[roll6] to Damage

Attack 3
Power Attack(-2/+4) [roll7]
Damage [roll8]
If Magebane is applicable: +2 to hit +[roll9] to Damage

Attack 4-Bite
Power Attack(-2/+4) [roll10]
Damage [roll11]

PS Eyes are Golden, not Green.

[mucco]

Bleerie casts a spell, and everyone is instantly surrounded by a faint blue aura. "Here, this is to be a bit safer. Have fun smashing around!"

Important for everyone
Standard action: cast Mass Shield of Faith. Everyone gets +3 Deflection AC, duration 10 minutes.

Maybe next round
The gnome darts on the side, to get a better angle, shouting: "Avoid the dark!" She then conjures a thick curtain of blackness, which envelops four of the giant ants.

Move action: move six squares up.
Standard action: cast Doomtide, so that it hits the three upper foes as well as the bottom left one. Draw a line between my upper left corner and Zaavariel's upper left one to see the lower bound of the black.

Enemies are entitled to a Will save DC 22 to avoid being Dazed for 1 round. Anyone moving or starting the round in the blackness must roll as well.

SR checks:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

(I found a Cleric illusion! Yay for +1 to DCs for gnome! :smallbiggrin:)

[Archmage1]

Gale

Seeing the rest of the party come into view, Gale decides to try to help the elf by disabling some of his attackers, and launches a blast that is almost totally black.

if in range for eldritch chain, cast it with beshadowed blast(fort dc 18 or blind, applies to all targets), if not, move into range, and then do the same thing. Ranged touch attacks.
primary attack [roll2] damage[roll1]
secondary chain[roll0] damage: half of above
tertiary chain[roll3] damage: half of above

[Tharione]

[roll0] knowledge: the planes on formians
regardless probably enough to recognize they are extraplanar.


"Well they fit the vague definition of my opposition. Skeleton, kill the ants ignore the others."

A 20' radius of pitch darkness surrounds Noru after a brief chant and wave.


Noru casts no light then dismounts his phantom steed
Darkvision can see normally through the darkness non-magical sources cannot illuminate it.
Noru is invisible to darkvision.

[Medic!]

Krgg

The orc brandishes his falchion and wades into battle, preparing to strike the nearest ant-thing. Krgg shouts a taunt to the elf they've stumbled across, Keep those eyes open, elf, see how an Orc handles trivial creatures like this!

Krgg moves up 3 squares and diagonal up/left one, placing him in flanking position with the elf against Ant#2.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[roll2]
[roll3]

[roll4]
[roll5]

[roll6]

EDIT: That's what I'm talkin about :smallbiggrin:

*Note if any AoOs are provoked (and successful), Krgg gains the total damage divided by 5 (up to a bonus of 3) as a bonus on his attack and damage

[Allyzedl]

Zaavariel swings around with his greatsword, missing every single Formian. Zipxap is still nowhere to be seen. Bleerie casts a spell over the party, protecting them. Gale then shoots an Eldritch chain at the closest Formian, hitting it, as it bounces to the next one it misses. Noru creates a field of darkness around himself. The darkness also covers Krgg, Bleerie, and Zipxap, however they can see through it, but can no longer see Noru.

The Formian notice the others around them and a few move away from the elf. Two of the Formian head towards Bleerie and Krgg, striking at Bleerie.

The other four Formian enclose the elf, and continue their assault on him.
Formian 4 and 5 try to hit Bleerie with their stingers. While the first Formian misses Bleerie, the second attack hits Bleerie right in the face with a stinger. Bleerie begins to feel a little lightheaded.

The remaining Formian attack Zaavariel with their stingers as well. Only 1 of the Formian hit Zaavariel with their stinger. Zaavariel begins to feel a little lightheaded.


@Zaavariel
As far as you notice, they all look the same.


Formian have hive mind, so they can’t be flanked unless you are flanking all of them. Everything inside Noru’s black circle has concealment.

Bleerie takes 18 damage from getting hit in the face with a stinger.
Zaavariel takes 9 damage.

Map:
http://i48.tinypic.com/348t54m.jpg

[Archmage1]

Swearing at herself as her chain fails to bounce, Gale tries again.

So, more or less a repeat of the last round, hopefully with better rolls.
once again, dc 18 fort save or blind
primary attack [roll0] damage [roll5]
secondary attack [roll4] damage [roll1]
tertiary attack [roll2] damage [roll3]
... feel kind of like an idiot. 30 dam on first, 15 on second, 7 on third.

[Archmage1]

Got a crit, so confirm, and bonus damage attack [roll0] damage [roll1]
:( so no crit for me

[Medic!]

Krgg

A wave of confidence exudes from Krgg, washing over Bleerie as he slices Foebane out towards the ant-thing. Watch yourself little one, you're too useful to be offering yourself up as bug-food.

Krgg initiates Crusader's Strike against #5

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

[roll6]

May the Dice be with me! Gross

[Zman]

Zaavariel

Zaavariel continues to swing madly barely noticing others coming to his aid... His fury only increasing...


If one dies, resolve next attack against the next most potent threat, etc

Whirling Frenzy 2/4

Attack 1
Power Attack(-4/+8) [roll0]
Damage [roll1]
Mage Bane [roll2] to Damage

Attack 2 -Whirling Frenzy
Power Attack(-4/+8) [roll3]
Damage [roll4]
Mage Bane [roll5] to Damage

Attack 3
Power Attack(-4/+8) [roll6]
Damage [roll7]
Mage Bane [roll8] to Damage

Attack 4-Bite
Power Attack(-4/+8) [roll9]
Damage [roll10]

[Dramiscius]

Surveying the scene, Zipxap breaths forth a caustic green cloud down on the Formian assailants.



Attempting to angle my 30ft cone acid breath to hit 1,2,4,5.

[roll0]

DC 23 reflex for half

[mucco]

"Thanks for the healing buddy, don't worry too much about me though. I'm sturdier than I look!"

Bleerie casts two spells this time, as she is in quite some danger! When she is done, everyone around her feels stronger and more confident.
"Keep hitting me, bugs! Bet you can't drop me anytime soon!"

Nevermind the Concentration checks, I'm 5-stepping down-right to exit threaten range.

Standard action: cast Righteous Wrath of the Faithful. Concentration check DC 20: [roll0]
Swift action: DMM Quicken a Mass Aid. Concentration check DC 18: [roll1]. Temporary HP: [roll2]

Everyone!
Everyone gets +3 morale on attack rolls, +3 morale on damage rolls, +1 morale on saving throws vs. fear, does one extra attack when full attacking (doesn't stack with Haste), and gains 11 temporary HP.

Remember the deflection AC as well, from previous round.

[Tharione]

Noru fires his bow on the nearest formian then steps back five feet. His skeletal archon charges the nearest one to itself.


[roll0] arrow (+2 if noru is imperceptible to them all, being effectively invisible) [roll1] damage

[roll2] claw [roll3] damage

possible critical confirmations:
[roll4] shortbow x3
[roll5] claw x2

[Allyzedl]

Gale shoots a eldritch chain at a formian, hitting it, bouncing, hitting another, bouncing, hitting a third formian. Krgg swings at the formian closest to him, missing it. Zaavariel misses his first attack, but hits the formian with his second, then misses two more times after that. A cone of acid pours down from the sky, hitting four of the formian. As Bleerie begins to cast a spell it fails and backfires as he cannot concentrate on casting it. Noru shoots an arrow at a formian but misses it. His trumpet archon skeleton hits the formian with its claws.

The two formian next to Bleerie attack him again, with everything that they have. Both try to bite and sting Bleerie. The first one misses completely, the second hits Bleerie with its stinger then misses as it tries to bite him.

Two of the formian near Zaavariel turn around towards Gale and throw javelins at her. As the first formian throws two javelins Zaavariel takes the opportunity to attack it. The formian falls to the ground but the javelins are already headed towards Gale. The second formian throws two javelins at Gale as well.

Only the first javelin from the now dead formian hits Gale, piercing her leg.

The remaining two formian unleash their full attacks on Zaavariel. The first one manages to hit Zaavariel with its stinger, the other attacks miss.


Krgg missed due to concealment provided by Noru.
Due to Bleerie’s concentration fail the spell actually harms him and ends his turn, Bleerie takes 4 damage from the backfire.
From the stinger attack Bleerie takes 5 damage and 5 Dex damage as he is now severely affected by the formian’s poison.
Gale takes 7 damage from the javelin.
Zaavariel takes 8 damage from the stinger.

Map:
http://i49.tinypic.com/k9cdoi.jpg

[Archmage1]

"Think you can take me out from there do you? You have another thing coming."

Gale fires off another eldritch chain
(http://eberronunlimited.wikidot.com/invocation:eldritch-chain)
Is the 7 damage before or after the dr? also ac is 22, not 19, courtesy of Bleerie
so, attack the one shooting at Gale as the primary target
beshadowed blast (http://therafimrpg.wikidot.com/beshadowed-blast) dc 18 or blind. Sadly, dc 18 is not much at level 10 :(
primary: attack [roll0] damage [roll1]
secondary: attack [roll2] damage 9
tertiary: attack [roll3] damage 9

[Tharione]

Noru fires twice upon the formians this time before stepping back five feet.
The skeleton claws viciously at its chosen formian!


actually forgot penalty for firing into a melee last round in addition to buffs

[roll0] arrow [roll1]
[roll2] arrow [roll3]

[roll4] claw [roll5]
[roll6] claw [roll7]

Possible critical hits:

[roll8] arrow x3
[roll9] arrow x3

[roll10] claw x2
[roll11] claw x2

[mucco]

"Ow, that hurt, actually... and the poison is annoying. Watch out for the poison, guys!" Bleerie quickly steps a bit back before casting more spells. This time, they should go off well!

So,
5-foot step down-right, to exit enemy melee range.
Standard action: Delay Poison (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/delayPoison.htm) on self.
Swift action: DMM Quicken Mass Aid (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/aid.htm) (SpC).

[Medic!]

Return of the Krgg

Krgg lays into the ant before him with two vicious swings.

Full attack vs #5 (unless it happens to die of course, in which case 5ft step right/up diagonally and go after #4)

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]

[roll8]
[roll9]
[roll10]
[roll11]
[roll12]
[roll13]
[roll14]
[roll15]

Any successful hits will heal Bleerie (THE WOMAN) for 2hp each.

[Zman]

Swing Batter Batter

After felling one of the Formian, Zaavariel steps right into attacking the next...

"Filthy creatures..." Zaavariel let's through his gritted teeth as quickly continues his massive exertion of energy, knowing he has precious little time to keep such a feat up.


Targeting a wounded one first if possible.

Attacks do not include bonuses from Bleerie.
Whirling Frenzy 3/4

Attack 1
Power Attack (-4/+8)[roll0]
Damage [roll1]
MageBane [roll2]

Attack 2-Whirling Frenzy
Power Attack (-4/+8)[roll3]
Damage [roll4]
MageBane [roll5]

Attack 3
Power Attack (-4/+8)[roll6]
Damage [roll7]
MageBane [roll8]

Attack 4-Bite
Power Attack (-4/+8)[roll9]
Damage [roll10]

@DMAC:36(10+5+6+2+2+4+4+3) unless the Bonus from Bleerie doesn't stack. It should of been. This last turn as well, just in case,

[Dramiscius]

Zipxap

Seeing the formians' changing their attention to his companions, he relocates himself flying overhead the large one named Krgg, letting out another breath to blanket them.



Staying at the same height and moving to hover above Krgg and let out a slowing breath 30ft cone DC23 (slowed for one round on a successful save, 2 rounds on fail) should be able to hit most of them.

[Allyzedl]

Gale shoots a eldritch chain at the nearest formian, hitting it, bouncing then hitting the next, bouncing again and hitting a third formian. Blinding two of them. Noru shoots an arrow, missing the formian, but his skeleton hits formian #4, once. Bleerie steps back, casts a spell on herself, then on the party. Krgg swings at formian #5, missing it twice. Zaavariel swings at formian #6 hitting it hard, and it falls to the ground, but then misses the rest of his attacks. A cone of breath pours down as Zipxap attacks the formian #4, #5, and #2.

The formian near Zaavariel attack him. Trying to sting and bite him, all of their attacks miss him. One of the formian takes a 5 ft. step back. Then that formian and the one next to it throw javelins at Zipxap. One of the javelins from formian #5 hits Zipxap, so does one of the javelins from formian #4.






Formian #6 and #2 are blinded until the end of this round.

Zipxap takes 20 damage from the two javelins.

Map:
http://i50.tinypic.com/24o25iu.jpg

[Medic!]

Baleful Utterance

Becoming frustrated with the ants' baffling defense, Krgg shouts Enough! Now DIE you dung-eating trash-crawler!

The orc raises his blade over his head and brings it flashing down in an arc of black trailing light.

Krgg initiates Divine Surge with a Smite rider out of frustration against #5

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]

+46 damage

EDIT: And heal Bleerie for 2hp*

[Tharione]

Noru fires and steps to the side.

The skeleton continues its assault.


[roll0] bow [roll1] damage

[roll2] claw [roll3] damage
[roll4] claw [roll5] damage

[Archmage1]

The Sick Trick
Smiling to herself as her attack successfully blinds some of her targets, Gale continues the fight. Continuing to target the Javelin throwers, as they are the only threat to her, Gale throws another blast, but this one is a sickening shade of green, rather than the almost black of her last attacks.

use Sickening Blast (http://therafimrpg.wikidot.com/sickening-blast) (dc 18)(eldritch chain gives this)(fail means sickened) and Eldritch Chain (http://therafimrpg.wikidot.com/eldritch-chain), targeting a blinded javelin thrower.
primary: [roll2] damage: [roll1]
secondary: [roll0] damage: 1/2 10
tertiary: [roll3] damage: 1/2 10

[mucco]

Content with the situation, Bleerie moves a bit back to be safe - she doesn't want too much poison in her blood. She then casts a simple spell to keep the pressure on her enemies. As soon as she finishes chanting, a large sword appears next to Krgg, and prepares to slash the closest enemy.

"See, Krgg, I have a weapon as well. I use it when fights get easy!"

If moving doesn't provoke AoOs (it shouldn't), move action to go 30 ft to the right. Else, 5-foot step in that direction.
Standard action: cast Spiritual Weapon (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/spiritualWeapon.htm).

Spell Resistance: [roll0]
Attack roll: [roll1]; damage: [roll2]
Crit confirm (19-20/x2): [roll3]; damage: [roll4]
The weapon bypasses DR.

[Zman]

Zaavariel

Glad that the direct pressure has lessened, Zaavariel expends the last of his energy...


Targeting a wounded one first if possible. Since attacks are done in order, if my first kills an opponent, I'll take my 5' step and continue my attacks against the next closest.

Attacks do not include bonuses from Bleerie.
Whirling Frenzy 4/4

Attack 1
Power Attack (-4/+8)[roll0]
Damage [roll1]
MageBane [roll2]

Attack 2-Whirling Frenzy
Power Attack (-4/+8)[roll3]
Damage [roll4]
MageBane [roll5]

Attack 3
Power Attack (-4/+8)[roll6]
Damage [roll7]
MageBane [roll8]

Attack 4-Bite
Power Attack (-4/+8)[roll9]
Damage [roll10]

[Dramiscius]

Zipxap

Recoiling from being struck by the javalins he lets out a retaliatory breath into the enemy ranks.



[roll0] (Acid) DC23

[Allyzedl]

Krgg lets out a shout then attacks the formian near him. Frustrated, Krgg puts everything he has into the attack. Hitting the formian for as hard as he can. Noru fires another arrow at the formian near him, missing it again. The trumpet archon skeleton strikes the formian twice. Gale shoots a sickening blast at the formian. Hitting it, sickening it, then bouncing two more times and hitting two others, however the others resist the sickening effects. Bleerie runs away from the combat then casts a spell creating a longsword to fight for her. The longsword then attacks the closest formian, but misses. Zaavariel with the last of his might hits the formian next to him, striking him twice. Knocking it to the ground, unconscious. Zipxap breathes another cone of acid onto the formian. Knocking formian #5 to the ground.

The two standing formian attack the closest targets, one full attack at Zaavariel, the other throws two javelins at Zipxap. The attacks miss Zaavariel and the javelins miss Zipxap.



Map:

http://i48.tinypic.com/1zo9v1k.jpg

[Archmage1]

Seeing the Formians dropping like ants, Gale fires another blast of energy at the survivors, smiling as she does, before moving in a bit closer to the fight.

beshadowed (http://therafimrpg.wikidot.com/beshadowed-blast) dc 18 eldritch chain (http://therafimrpg.wikidot.com/eldritch-chain) at a surviving formian
primary attack[roll2] damage [roll1]
secondary attack[roll0] damage 13

[Zman]

Zaavariel fights on, his effort almost empty as his strength is expended...


Full attack on remaining Formian

Again, without buffs.

Attack 1
Attack[roll0]
Damage [roll1]
MageBane[roll2]

Attack 2
Attack[roll3]
Damage [roll4]
MageBane[roll5]

Attack 3-Bite
Attack[roll6]
Damage [roll7]

Also, being Fatigued my AC drops by 3, -1 from Dex, -2 from losing Whirling Frenzy.

[Tharione]

Noru decides to waste no further arrows and instead casts a spell.
The skeletal archon continues following its orders and continues to rip and tear.


casts (extended) shield on himself

[roll0] claw [roll1]
[roll2] claw [roll3]

[Medic!]

Krgg

Seeing the ants begin to fall, Krgg quickly scans the battlefield. Seeing that his allies have the near Formian well in-hand, and noticing the stranger-who-fought-well's obvious exaustion, the orc makes his choice.

With the black after-light still trailing behind his blade like an after-image, Krgg purposefully strides towards the Formian threatening the strange elf. With a feral grin full of malice he points his blade towards the sky and calls down the wrath of Gruumsh on his foe.

Move action to #2, and initiate yet another Divine Surge, since that seems to be working well!

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]

*If #4 lands an AoO on Krgg, he is currently at 4/15 on delayed damage pool. If he does take damage, his pool total divided by 5 should be tacked on as a bonus to attack and damage. (EDIT: C'mon AoO daddy needs an attack boost!)

[mucco]

Bleerie relaxes. The battle is won. She moves behind an ally to deny the last remaining formian a last-stand charge toward her, and lets the force sword to the work for her. "Good job, guys, good job. Let's clean this up."

Double move to a safe, while not too far away, position.

The sword full attacks.
Attack 1: [roll0], damage: [roll1]
Crit confirm (19-20/x2): [roll2], damage: [roll3]
Attack 2: [roll4], damage: [roll5]
Crit confirm (19-20/x2): [roll6], damage: [roll7]

[Allyzedl]

Gale moves in closer to the formian and shoots a blast at one of the remaining formian, hitting the first, blinding it, then hitting the second. Zaavariel, seemingly fatigued, attacks the nearest formian before he runs out of energy, hitting it twice. Zaavariel then tries to bite it as hard as he can but ends up missing and breaks one of his front teeth as his teeth smash into in each other, leaving Zaavariel with a gap in his smile. But the formian drops to the ground after Zaavariel’s assault.

Noru casts a spell on himself then orders his trumpet archon skeleton pet to attack the remaining formian, hitting it twice with its claw attacks. Seeing the formian near the elf on the ground, Krgg decides that he is going to land the last blow to the final formian. Krgg takes a step forward and swings his blade with honor attempting to slay the formian, however Krgg’s swing misses. Bleerie runs and hides behind Krgg, afraid of the remaining formian, then her spirit weapon attacks it twice, missing both times. Zipxap breathes a cone of acid over the remaining formian, killing it.

All the formian are now on the ground, not moving.

You hear a voice from a top the building north of you, “I say, nice work with the formian.” A cloaked figure then jumps down from the building landing next to the top formian. You then see the formian’s head roll off as the man’s cloak moves a little. “That one wasn’t completely dead, must be careful with these guys, the like to heal themselves over time.”

The man puts his hood down, revealing a human with scars covering his entire face. He addresses the party, confidently. “I am Bailey, and who might you be?”




I changed Krgg’s target, because that formian drops before his turn.

[mucco]

Oh, great. More people. Don't know if he can't be trusted. He is asking who we are, yet he gives us only the name and not the trade. Shifty appearance, that's for sure. I should also keep an eye on the guy we just rescued - he owes us much and we appear to be on the same side, but still.

The gnome steps forward, while casting a quick spell to heal her wounds. She stops in front of the human and emits a single word: "Bleerie." Her tone and posture clearly imply she doesn't want to give up more information than what was offered to them - she is looking at the newcomer, giving the sensation that she expects him to say something more.

Standard action: Lesser Vigor (SpC) on myself.

[Allyzedl]

The darkness around Noru begins to fade away.

[Tharione]

"Skeleton, follow closely and protect me." Norus voice says from the darkness. He casts detect magic and concentrates his gaze over the stranger before climbing back aboard his phantom steed.

[Archmage1]

Well, that fight went fairly well. Pity about that javelin strike, though. Bleerie took a few hits, but she can probably handle healing. I wonder why this fellow did not intervene in the fight?

Flying down to the rest of the group, Gale lands, and wincing from the pain, pulls the javelin out of her leg. She then tries walking a bit, and just starts flying again. She also casts a quick spell, before responding to Bailey's Challenge

"I am Gale. What brings you here?"

Gale also casts detect magic, and concentrates on it

[Zman]

Who are these people?? Where did they come from? I'm almost too tired to care...Damned tooth, at least it'll regrow.


He says only his name, "Zaavariel."

Zaarariel remains slumped, using his sword to hold his weight. A moment later his thoughts clear as he fights to remain conscious. Muttering in Draconic he opens his eyes and looks at each person in turn.


Casts detect magic and looks at each person in turn.

[Allyzedl]

Bailey replies, "Well nothing brings me here. I live here. I am one of the survivors of Waterdeep. There are quite a few of us. I appreciate you dealing with those ants, we've recently had a formian infestation in the merchant district. They make it more difficult for some of the others to gather supplies on the surface.

You certainly are an odd looking bunch. But these days, I guess that's typical.

Waterdeep is not a very popular destination these days, so why have you all come here?"



Detect magic:

Everyone seems to have various auras about differing parts of their bodies.

[mucco]

Bleerie replies, still dead serious. "Looking for planars. Well, more of them. We hunt them, and we know they have a base here. In fact, we would like to know everything you can tell us about them - we might just be able to help you out with... disinfestation." She waves at the corpses. "But first, tell us: how many of you are here, still alive? How is life here? We are likely to spend some time in the city."

While talking, Bleerie starts rummaging around the corpses, to look for interesting clues, some writings maybe, and whatnot.

I loot the bodies (TM).

[Allyzedl]

"That is a pretty big claim for such a cute little gnome. My loyalty lies first with my people. However, giving you information on the planars can't really hurt. From what I've seen there are at least a few dozen upper planars that have taken over the city.

A few years after the Second Wave, a lot of the planars moved on and out of Waterdeep as it was no longer worth staying. But a few stayed behind, trying to set up their own kingdom here.

Life here takes some getting used to. My first warning would be to stay off the streets. The merchant district seems to be filled with mostly formian, but be very careful around the old royal district as that is where the majority of the planars reside.

There are a few merchants in the old temple district if you know where to look. The planars let them live and trade because they provide them with valuable gear.

How many of us? People living in Waterdeep, while I don't know exactly of the top of my head I'd say a few hundred. But we all live in the tunnels under the city. Most of the people can't defend themselves from the planars on the surface. So a few of us come to the surface to scavenge for food and supplies. Which is when I ran across you guys."

[Archmage1]

Trust
Considering his response briefly, Gale decided to trust this fellow, if only because he was from Waterdeep, same as her.
"What became of Undermountain? It seems as though that is where you are currently staying."

Continue to concentrate on the detect magic

[Allyzedl]

Bleerie finds a worn doeskin pouch that holds a few unremarkable pebbles and a strip of canvas, folded into a small triangle, that bears a single black sigil on one side.

[Tharione]

Noru remains silent in the darkness, atop his steed, watching the supposed survivor.

Meanwhile the raven continues its flight over the city, surveying.

[Allyzedl]

Bailey asserts, "We sealed off most of the entrances to the Undermountain. So that the planars can't get into it. It has become a bit safer since we now occupy the tunnels. The rest of the entrances are hidden in the city."

[Archmage1]

"So, what happened to all the traps? Most who entered it died rather quickly."

continues concentrating on the detect magic. Also, knowledge planes on the dead ant things[roll0]

[Allyzedl]

"I disarmed all of the traps in the area that we currently occupy."

[Allyzedl]

@Gale Knowlege the planes on the formian


These formian are from the shadow plane.

[Archmage1]

"That is quite remarkable. You could have made a fortune doing that before the invasion. At least, until Halaster remembered you. So, what else do you know about these formians?"

so, realizing that they are from the shadow plane, Gale tries to recall what she remembers about the shadow plane, and it's denizens

[roll0] Not a critical failure. Should provide contradictory evidence.

[Allyzedl]

"They seem to have some kind of truce with the uppers for now, they don't bother each other. A few months ago they just showed up, and since then have taken other the merchant district. I haven't been able to find their queen to kill her."

@Gale Knowledge Planes on the Shadow Plane

The Plane of Shadow is a dimly lit dimension that is both conterminous to and coexistent with the Material Plane. It overlaps the Material Plane much as the Ethereal Plane does, so a planar traveler can use the Plane of Shadow to cover great distances quickly. The Plane of Shadow is a world of black and white; color itself has been bleached from the environment. It otherwise appears similar to the Material Plane. Despite the lack of light sources, various plants, animals, and humanoids call the Plane of Shadow home. The Plane of Shadow is magically morphic, and parts continually flow onto other planes. As a result, creating a precise map of the plane is next to impossible, despite the presence of landmarks.

As for it's denizens, most creatures from the plane are similar to this one.

[Archmage1]

Huh. If these formians are from the shadow plane, they have not been there in a while. They could be blinded, and it seemed to make a difference, and they were not black and white.

"Do you have any idea where the queen is? Just a general location."

[mucco]

Whoops, thought Gale was done. Bleerie will say the following once Gale has ended her questions, I don't want to disrupt the talk.

The man had managed to belittle Bleerie on his first sentence. Well, she was used to it. "This is all useful information, thank you. Do you think you know a safe place where we could rest and eat, and possibly get to know more of you survivors?"

A plan was starting to form in Bleerie's head, on how to liberate the city.

[Allyzedl]

Bailey points to his left. "That general direction. I don't know much more than that about them."

[Allyzedl]

Leaning over to look at Bleerie, "Well you can stay at my place if you would like. It's not very pretty, but it will keep you safe for the night."

[Archmage1]

"Bleerie, we seem to be in fairly good condition still. Well, except for the elf, anyway. We should take out these formians before resting, or at least, thin their numbers a bit."

[Allyzedl]

Bailey interrupts Gale's conversation, "Actually it is going to get dark soon, I suggest that you take shelter for the night. The formian seem to be more active at night. It would be safer to wait til morning to reduce their numbers, I may even join you for a bit, if I have the time."

[mucco]

"It wouldn't be such a bad idea, as some of my best spells have been expended."

She then turns to the others. "Is anyone badly hurt? Zaavariel, is that it? If you're going to join us in this fighting, I can patch you up as well."

[Tharione]

"My daily resources are hardly expended. Resting now would be an inefficient use of my time, a tax on my reputation, and an affront to my employer."

Noru states this in a calm monotonous manner.

[Archmage1]

"I have minor injuries, but I could fix them if needed. As far as power goes, I could do this all week. Besides, if the formians are more active at night, that means we can take out more of them."

[mucco]

"Right, how you prefer. Just give me a minute, I need to heal the damage the poison did to me. That venom is nasty."

Bleerie starts casting a few spells to eliminate the toxins. Afterwards, she takes a look at the folded canvas she found on the formian.

Casting some Lesser Restorations (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/restorationLesser.htm). I will keep casting until all my damage is gone. Rolls below:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

I expended my Resist Energy and Silence slots to cast two times.

[Allyzedl]

Bailey gives the group a choice, "I must soon go back to the tunnels, if you decide to stay and fight more formian you will have to find your own shelter tonight. If you do decide that, I wish you luck."

[mucco]

Bleerie almost jumps at the thought of losing their only contact. "No, no, we will definitely come then Bailey. Listen, guys, there are plenty of battles ahead. There is no reason to rush. As I learned in many years of battle, surprise is the key element in warfare. If we camp outside, the enemy will have the surprise. If we only fight when we are prepared, we will win. Let us rest and plan, trust me."

The gnome pauses briefly, looking at the sunset on the sea. "In the immortal words of my master, <He who strikes first, strikes last.>"

[Tharione]

"It seems to me we have already lost the element of surprise. Every formian in fifty miles is likely aware of what happened here."

he leaves a neatly folded letter on one of the corpses.

[Archmage1]

"So, an interesting question: Does anyone have a means of creating a secure resting place? If someone does, we can probably kill ants, whereas if no-one does, we should probably rest"
Gale says the last words almost grudgingly, hoping that someone would have a means of shelter.

[mucco]

"Exactly. They will be scanning the area thoroughly tonight. If we're out, we're dead."

[Zman]

"I need food and rest, I've not eaten in nigh on a week.".

Zaavariel only brings himself to his feet as they begin to leave. His demeanor is clear that he does not want aid and will turn it down if offers.


"You have my thanks."

[Tharione]

"I disagree that the situation is so black and white. I'm fairly certain that I could survive Formians out here easily. Just as well, heading somewhere else does not guarantee safety, especially if one leaves tracks."

Noru goes about restocking his quiver.

"My only real fear is that the formians' cooperation with the upper planars occupying the city goes so far as informing them about intruders. Planars will have divination magic and teleportation in surplus."

He replaces his bag upon his back.

"Which is why extra dimensional shelter would probably be preferable to a hole in the ground if it is available."

he looks to bailey. "No offense intended."

[Dramiscius]

Indeed, let's join our new found companion and find out more about the survivors. Perhaps they'll have more information on what we seek as well.

[Archmage1]

Well, it seems the general opinion is to rest. How sad.

[Tharione]

Noru blinks profusely at the 'newfound companion' comment.

"Information gathering would be a worthwhile enough endeavor, far more so than the death of a few nameless Formians."

[mucco]

Bleerie addresses the newcomer, the elf Zaavariel, as they start following Bailey. "So, tell me, why do you turn down aid? It is... peculiar."

[Zman]

Turning to address Bleerie, "Woe to he who is in a need and has little choice, but to accept the aid of a stranger. If we are mutually threatened, I will give and expect aid, but you have no reason to aid me now, it is I who are in your debt."

[Allyzedl]

The sun begins to set over Waterdeep harbor as Bailey leads the party in between multiple rows of ruined homes and shops. He finally stops when you reach an area that has crumbled buildings that seem like they used to be several stories high. He then points out a particular archway in a building; it seems like a space where a door was once occupying. On the ground is a dusty old sign, the only letters that can be deciphered from say Yawn. He signals for you to follow him into the building.

He walks straight to the back of the building and opens a door that leads to a courtyard behind a few enclosed buildings. In the middle of the courtyard is a well. The well seems like it has new rope hanging on it, and looks like it has had some repairs done to it. This entrance is the closest one in town. I doubt we could reach the others safely right now.

It’s about a 100 ft. drop to the bottom, so be careful when you are going down. I’ll stay up here and take care of any problems that might arise now that the sun has set. Then I’ll follow you down and show you around. Any objections or questions?

[Allyzedl]

@Noru


From your raven you see crumbled buildings, homes, and churches. The city of Waterdeep is clearly in ruins. It looks like a large number of formian are headed in your direction. They must have somehow been tracking the party. Ahead are upper planars flying around the royal district, you see one of them point their finger at the bird as their finger begins to glow, you lose contact with the bird.

[Archmage1]

So this is what became of the Yawning Portal, and its Well. The ones responsible for this destruction have much to answer for.

Wordlessly, Gale flys down the Well. If any of you see her face, you can tell she is sorrowful, although about what, you don't know.

[Tharione]

Another raven appears on Norus shoulder and flies to the nearest roost nearby where it can see both the entrance and the pit. He then jumps in with his skeletal minion, casting feather fall on them both before reaching the bottom.

[Zman]

Watching the others enter the well, Zaavariel follows through mundane means, sliding down the well and bracing againsts it's sides.


Take 10 for a 20, DC should be 10 lower since I can brace against each sides plus a little lower for descending, not climbing.

[Medic!]

Krgg, the Late Poster

Throughout the conversation between the party and Bailey, Krgg stood off to the side, swinging his sword around in a testing manner and making curious faces. As his expression changed from bewilderment to anger, and back to confusion again, he continued to do what appeared to be mock sword-fighting with an unseen enemy. He'd slash slowly at the air, furrow his brow in puzzlement, then an over-exagerated lunge, and his face would crinkle up in displeasure.

When the party begins to leave the area, he looks up, startled, and realizes he's being left behind!

He chases after the group wordlessly, rounding the corner behind a building to see the elf they rescued start down the well.

Krgg takes a few moments to talk to Bailey, having not paid attention to a word he said previously. As he catches up on the high-lights of the situation the orc strips his armor off, and stuff it in his pack. [roll0]

When the two finish talking, the orc guffaws at the group's decision to rest, Bah...Night time is the time of hunters. That's why orcs see in the dark.

He non-chalantly tosses his pack down the well, and quickly thinks to shout a warning down to clear the way. Deciding that the elf didn't have such a bad idea, he tries to brace his feet on either side of the well and hold on to the rope to walk his way down. [roll1]As he enters the well he mutters, Stupid ants...my technique was perfect....must've been some sorcery at work...stupid ants...

[mucco]

Wow, this looks exactly like a trap! Ah well, I'm confident I can get out of it.

Bleerie casts a quick orison on herself before going down the rope.

Guidance (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/guidance.htm) on myself for a +1 on the climb check. Taking 10 for a total of 9.

[Allyzedl]

Under the Well

The bottom of the well opens to a tunnel, around 20 feet wide. The group moves into the dark tunnel to allow everyone room to come down the well. As soon as everyone is down the well you see Bailey land and tumble into the tunnel with ease.

Bailey pulls out a lit torch from his cloak, lighting up the tunnel. He then squeezes through the party and leads them several minutes down the tunnel, until it opens up to a large cavern.

The cavern is fairly well lit from torches mounted on the walls of buildings. The inside of the cavern looks like it is home to a small village. There are people walking around in rags and tattered clothing, it doesn’t seem like the have many luxuries in this Undermountain village.

A large humanoid figure approaches you, as it clanks from it’s heavy plate armor. A deep feminine voice yells at Bailey, “What are you doing bringing strangers into Mountaindeep?”

He responds to the figure, “I will take full responsibility for their actions Cassandra.”

In a sarcastic tone Cassandra replies, “Always looking out for others, the noble Bailey.” She then points toward the party, “I’ve got my eyes on you.”

Bailey then motions to the group, “Come on, this way.”

He leads you to a two story building, the first two story building that you have seen in the village. “This is my place, you can stay in the meeting hall.” He opens up the door to a large room that seems to take up the entire first floor. At the far end is a large table with a dozen chairs sitting at it. To your left is a spiral staircase, which Bailey runs up and returns back down with bedrolls. He lays them around the open space in the room.

Bailey welcomes the group to his home and asks, “Can I get you anything before I turn in for the night?”

[mucco]

"If you can spare it, I'd be glad to have a map of the city, possibly with some 'hot' spots marked. Otherwise, I'm good."

Bleerie turns to the others: "If you don't mind, I'll take the first watch. I can probably half of the night. Zaavariel, would you mind doing the second half? You're an elf, you don't need much rest."

[Archmage1]

As they walk through undermountain, Gale is on the lookout for traps, but she does not see any.

"Well, you could answer a few questions? Like who destroyed Waterdeep? When I left, it was still standing. Or what happened to Halaster? Either way, thank you for your hospitality."

Before he can respond, Gale uses the Artificers Monocle to identify the Red crystal that she was given by the order of the ash. However, she is clearly paying attention to Bailey as well.

[Zman]

Answering Bleerie in a much more polite tone, "I only need a few hours rest and a little sustenance, and I can take the final three watches. As minor repayment for today's aid."


He will cast Mage armor before bed, and every 5 hours there after renewing its protection. I have 8 1st level castings per day leaving me 4(minus an hour) to use at later times for shield or if my Mage armor gets dispelled.

[mucco]

"Ah, let's just split the night evenly. I have no big need for sleep either." Bleerie says with a smile.

Ring of Sustenance gogo :smallbiggrin:

Ooh, are you Duskblade with whirlpouncer dip Zman? Very nice build, if it's that.

Ready to move on here.

[Tharione]

"I would prefer to learn everything i can from the people here before any resting."

nods

"Vincent also suggests a greatsword would be helpful if theres one to be found here."

[Dramiscius]

Wide eye'd and weary from the travel and excitement, Zipxap yawns and speaks.

Well, I'm all for learning whatever we can, I personally think it can wait *yawn* till the morning. Where can we turn in for the night?

[Allyzedl]

"You can use these bedrolls to sleep in," Bailey then glances at the folded cloth in Bleerie's hand, "Or you can use that if you prefer. In the meantime please rest, a few of you look quite exhausted. I'll answer all your questions in the morning." Bailey then goes over to the table, makes some gestures and conjures some food and drinks for the party.

"Please help yourself." Bailey says as he goes back upstairs to turn in for the night.

[Dramiscius]

Forum lag double post

[Tharione]

Noru summons and leaves a dove with the rest of the party and goes off to examine the shantytown and gather information on the situation here, who's in charge, city districts etc.


old bird disappears
new bird watches over the rest of the party.
[roll0] hours gathering info
[roll1] gather information

[Archmage1]

"Thank you for the offer, but I have my own bedroll. Thank you for the food. I could also stand watch for a time, although that seems to be unnecessary. We will continue our tasks in the morning."

With that, Gale eats, and then goes to sleep in her bedroll.

[Medic!]

Krgg the Mighty (Tired)

A tiny knot of suspicion eats at Krgg's gut as he descends into the well. The tension in him only grows when he sees something enter the well above him. At the bottom he scoops up his pack and places a hand on the hilt of his weapon, but he relaxes when he sees that it's Bailey and that no treachery has befallen his group in this vulnerable position.

Still a bit leary, and a bit brooding over their last battle, he keeps silent until they reach Bailey's home.

The orc sits at a table and begins laying out pieces of his armor, oiling them as he does every night. This time he seems disturbed as he polishes the plates of steel.

We should be hunting our enemies instead of lounging about like scouts on furlough. Especially now that this elf is with us. He's a good addition to the band...at least he has the sense to carry a weapon, and seems to know how to use it somewhat. The statement comes with a hint of a growl and more than hint of disdain...the words forced out between bites of the meal Bailey laid out.

When he finishes oiling his armor and moves to his whetstone and oil ritual with his black blade, he falls into a contemplative silence. Several minutes later, he runs his thumb down the sharp edge, drawing a line of blood, and begins laughing from deep down in his belly.

Now I understand! the tension pours out of him and he takes another large bite of his meal. I forgot something important about Foebane. This explains everything. Crafty double-edged sword, she is. I'm surprised I had to ask her what happened.

[Zman]

"Ah, let's just split the night evenly. I have no big need for sleep either." Bleerie says with a smile.

Ring of Sustenance gogo :smallbiggrin:

Ooh, are you Duskblade with whirlpouncer dip Zman? Very nice build, if it's that.

Ready to move on here.

"Fair enough.". Zaavariel finds a quiet comer to spend a few hours meditating deeply. After a couple of hours he will join the watch. While joining Bleerie on watch, "Bleerie is it? How long has this.....group been working together?".

He cleans his sword thoroughly, removing any of the Ant residue which was left after their battle. He also rubs his mighty Shortbow with oil and makes ready his meager equipment.

After hearing the comment by Krgg, "Do you rally feel safe in such armor? I find it .... Too restrictive...." a look of displeasure at the thought.

[Medic!]

Krgg

Heh, it's mostly for show. Nobody takes an orc seriously in a loin-cloth and it makes for too-short of fights. Make no mistake, Elf, I'm just as dangerous without it as I am in it...you can ask Noru's pet about that. (He seems to spit the words in italics).

[Zman]

"I've only heard women don't take an Orc seriously in a loincloth...some small problem about shortcomings.... Or something like that...". The elf holds a stern face for a few moments before cracking a wide smile.

[mucco]

Bleerie answers the elf. "Eh, just a couple days. Our path is still fully ahead of us - what a great tale it will be, if we win. I am so going to write a long story detailing every event if we manage to kill these pests."

She feels quite at home with the two warriors. "You know, you remind me of my army. I had several big strong people in it, like you. Fun times." Her gaze is distant, and her tone is sad. "By the way, are you talking about his armor? Have you seen mine?" she says, showing her bulky full plate. "It's so heavy! But I'm not nearly as nimble as you are, so metal is a good way to avoid pointy sticks and pointy teeth."

About the elf's last comment: "Actually, I have seen my share of naked elves and orcs and I can assure you that it is... totally not true."

[Medic!]

"I've only heard women don't take an Orc seriously in a loincloth...some small problem about shortcomings.... Or something like that...". The elf holds a stern face for a few moments before cracking a wide smile.

The only reason a woman wouldn't take an orc in a loin-cloth seriously is because his sword is still sheathed! Krgg returns the elf's smile...this one reminded him of an elf he used to adventure with...he just might be alright!

Turning his gaze to Bleerie, Krgg addresses Zaavariel again, This little one's got some fire in her. Warrior's armor, warrior's attitude. Even has a sword to call on!

[Tharione]

The dove watching over the group shivers and turns about to watch the entrance.

[Archmage1]

Gale's voice drifts over from her bedroll
"Come now, Krgg, no woman would take an orc or an elf in a loincloth seriously. What would be the point? And Bleerie, with the right support, you can still be nimble while wearing fancy armor. Of course, with the right support, no male would dare to attack you in it."

[Medic!]

Krgg

In a calm, systematic manner, the orc places his whetstone and weapon on the table he's seated at, and without a change in expression at all, rises and faces Gale. With a look of deadly seriousness on his face, he quickly spins on his heels and moons her! BAH HA HA HA HA! Laughing heartily, he slips his trousers back up and returns to his chair, picks up his tools, and returns to his work.

[Archmage1]

Rolling her eyes, Gale uses silence as her counter.

[Zman]

The only reason a woman wouldn't take an orc in a loin-cloth seriously is because his sword is still sheathed! Krgg returns the elf's smile...this one reminded him of an elf he used to adventure with...he just might be alright!

Turning his gaze to Bleerie, Krgg addresses Zaavariel again, This little one's got some fire in her. Warrior's armor, warrior's attitude. Even has a sword to call on!

"I had heard that Orc men can't always have their swords at the ready." Zaavariel pushes the jovial Orc a bit further.

[Medic!]

Krgg the Lady's Man

If you're devoted to the One-eye, your spear never fails! Perhaps you heard that from elven women, desiring a strong orc after being let down by those skinny little elf-blades...they should take a lesson from the dwarven females and cover their ugly faces with beards!

[Zman]

Zaavariel, The Biggest Elf Youre Likely To Meet

With a hearty laugh, Zaavariel smacks Krgg on the back in a gesture if comaraderie.

Str Check[roll0]

[Archmage1]

"Hang on. Krgg, why are all of the half-orcs that I have ever heard of half human? And as to dwarven females, are there such a thing? I have never seen a pregnant dwarf."

[Medic!]

Krgg the Average Orc who is still Bigger than the Biggest Elf!

As to the half-orcs, that much is obvious, elven women are too ugly to mate with. And as for dwarven women, their beards hide their swollen bellies!

Seeing the playful challenge of strength from the elf for what it is and respecting Zaavariel's strength of arm, the orc returns his back-slap as he comments on elven women.

You know, elf, you remind me of an elf I used to travel with, an archer named Sillestros...always a good strong arm to have around. Saving you might not have been a mistake after all!

[roll0]

[Zman]

"Too Ugly, ha! Orc seed just doesn't have the energy or longevity for the job. An elven woman can only bear a child after proper satisfaction.". Zaavariel takes a respectful look towards Krgg.

[Medic!]

Krgg

The orc, thouroghly enjoying the chance to bandy words with a true warrior for a change, shoots Zaavariel a sly grin, Orc bedding doesn't involve basket-weaving or bird-watching to satisfy our women...our women are happy that we're men instead of prancing Fey!

[Archmage1]

"I will give you both a hint: if you are focusing on something else, you are doing it wrong. Just saying."

[Zman]

"No, Orc bedding involves rolling in the mud!" Zaavariel pushes up his nose in an imitation if a pig and snorts. "Hahaha!" but can't help but bursting out in a laugh.