Two Siblings IC

[Ace Mace]

The sun has just risen. You have been traveling all night.* First you were running, then walking, but always moving forward. Never before in your life would you have imagined anything of that size could attack your town. Up until yesterday, you weren't even sure dragons were real - just stuff of stories.

You spent some of the night searching for other survivors, but it quickly became obvious you two were the only ones to make it out alive. It was difficult leaving the village - your home for all your life. However, it was clear there was nothing you could do. Watching that - thing - annihilate your town you knew there was nothing you could do. Watching homes explode, people burst into flames, the memories will haunt you forever.

You finally found a dirt road to walk along a little while ago. After following it for about five miles, you come to a fork in the road: left, right, or straight. You're not sure which path to take. The outside world is very new to you, and there could be dangers down each road. Think carefully which path to take!

*Don't worry, you aren't exhausted. For story purposes, it just makes sense you'd want to put as much distance as possible between you and the village. And it'd be unfair to start you off with a negative status because of it.

[Medic!]

Derik

Derik rubs his puffy red eyes as they arrive at the crossroads and plants the butt of his walking stick in the dirt. He takes a moment to speak, waiting for the ever-present lump in his throat to recede. "Well, you're the woodsman, Brother...which way do you think....do you think...." his voice begins to crack and waiver yet again, as it has every time he's spoken on their flight from all they knew. He gives up trying to wait out the tears and spits it out "Which way do you tihnk Mom and Dad would want us to go?"

His fingers absently check the weight of his coin purse. While Berik concerned himself with getting supplies and things they'd need, Derik only bothered to grab his walking stick and Mom's savings she kept tucked away under a floorboard next to the hearth. He'd been wearing a simple pair of breeches and a tunic with several mends and patches visible...patches his mother had spent countless hours sewing into his favorite clothes.

He leaves the obvious question yet unasked...What in the nine hells was that thing and why did it just destroy our home?

[Breitheamh]

For a moment, Berik stays silent, hoping his brother would just go away. Just for a second.

This is what happens when you let people affect you too much. You get hurt. Derik, please don't talk, please. Please, just let me think...no, can't think. Can't let it catch up.

"This way, and don't ask why," he says, pointing to road on the left. ""Like you said, I'm the woodsman. Trust me on this."

He starts to head down the road, not waiting for Derik, just trying to get as far away as possible from everything he ever cared about. Then an unbidden, irresistible tear comes to the corner of his eye, and he turns around, trying to hold back the tears long enough to release the rage, "Mom and Dad are dead! Ok? Dead! They are not coming back! Don't mention them to me again! Ok?"

He turns away from Derik again, his eyes starting to well up even more. Suddenly, he can't see, so he takes a deep breath, but the saline still tingles on his face. He grabs the axe from his belt, not knowing what to hit, what to cut, how to release the pain, and so he just holds it aloft for a moment, trying to find something, but there's nothing. His chest heaves for a moment, and then he drops the axe back through his belt and says without looking at his brother, "Come on."

[Medic!]

Derik follows along, grateful for not having to help make the decision. He plods along in silence side by side with Berik but a few armspans to the side, knowing just how he feels. Unwilling to let Berik have the last word, and knowing how it irks him, he changes the subject, his voice stepping out of his grief like like a worn out pair of boots, "Some day, some how...we're going to pay that thing back in blood."

[Breitheamh]

"Nngh," Berik replies. The grunt is all he can get out. There's nothing else to say. For once, he and his brother can agree on something, wholeheartedly.

He keeps walking, his eyes trained straight ahead, his ears tingling instinctively at each sound, but his mind drowns out any sound, any sight. All he can perceive is the boiling fear and pain in his heart.

[Ace Mace]

You walk down the left path. After about a mile you see a sign that read "Butter Town 2 Miles." You continue down the path, then up in the distance you see something big. At first you think it's merely a wolf, but as you get closer you see it's something far worse. The creature looks like an elongated panther, but with six legs. It's very lean with blueish-black fur. The most bizarre feature of this monster is a pair of tentacles coming out of its back. The creature rushes toward you aiming to attack.

[Medic!]

Derik freezes in place upon encountering the creature, relying on Berik where things like wild *things* are concerned.

He takes a deep breath, falling instinctively into his Mother's training, preparing to defend himself and his brother. An attack begins to form in his mind as he calls upon his gift in preparation for possible danger.

"Brother...are we in trouble here?"

In case it's needed/wanted/useful [roll0] to attempt to identify the creature if it's something we'd have heard of.

OOC: A displacer beast? nassssstyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!! I assume it's ok to discuss general battle tactics between the brothers OOC style to simulate being raised together and knowing eachother's abilities a little bit? @Breithe: My only offensive magic would consist of ray of enfeeblement or ray of clumsiness. Think we should fight or flee?

[Breitheamh]

"I don't know what on earth that thing is, but it certainly doesn't look friendly," Berik replies.

Carefully gauging the distances and the speed at which the creature is approaching, he draws his bow and nocks an arrow to the string. He slips into a slight crouch, ready to move quickly in any direction.

IC, Berik doesn't easily back away from a challenge. He'll fight this thing. Knowing he has someone to back him up makes him that much more confident. Tactically, each of us might not actually know how the other fights. I didn't stick around home much, and you didn't go out hunting much, if ever. In any case, I'm a skirmisher. I move quickly to maximize damage output and avoid attacks. I'm also much better at range than in close, but I can hold my own either way. Ray of Enfeeblement v. Ray of Clumsiness, it's really up to you.

OOC, two level 1 characters should not do well against a displacer beast. However, we are gestalt, and have quite a few more hp than normal. At this level, I can only deal 16 dmg/round, and generally, half of that will miss a displacer beast. So, at 8 dmg/round, I can take this thing down solo in 7 rounds, having used 14 arrows. Of course, that's also assuming I don't die first, but there are 2 of us. If we have no more encounters until I can get to a town and replenish my arrows, we'll be fine.

[Breitheamh]

Waiting until the beast is close enough to see clearly, Berik sprints to the side in a flash and fires off two arrows in quick succession.

Activating Travel Devotion, swift action to move 10 ft to my left, rapid shot to fire 2 arrows at the displacer beast
Attack 1 [roll0] dmg [roll1]+[roll2]
Attack 2 [roll3] dmg [roll4]+[roll5]

Miss chances (under 50 hit, above 50 miss)
Attack 1 [roll6]
Attack 2 [roll7]

[Medic!]

Thinking quickly, Derik rushes to Berik's side and waves his hand out before him with a few subtle flicks of his fingers and barks an arcane command, hoping to provide enough of a deterant to the creature to convince it this prey isn't worth the trouble.


Derik will move to the square next to Berik and cast Caltrops (http://dndtools.eu/spells/spell-compendium--86/caltrops--3774/) in the square in front of the displacer beast between it and him.

[Ace Mace]

The strange creature steps over the caltrops to attack you two:

Caltrops attack: [roll0]

It then strikes at Berik with one of its tentacles:

At Berik:
-Attack: [roll1]
-Damage: [roll2]

[Medic!]

Derik springs to his brother's defense, putting all he has into a single powerful kick!

5ft step to within melee range of the creature, if needed, and...let's put all our eggs in one basket here. Activate his one daily use of Soulwarp Strike (Complete Mage ACF) and use a full-round action to use his Decisive Strike (PHB2 ACF)
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4] - Haha nope!
If it hits, creature is Nauseated, DC 15 Fort save to reduce it to sickened (Duration either way is 1 round)

[Ace Mace]

The strange creature attacks both Berik and Derik with its tentacles:

At Berik:
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

At Derik:
Attack: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3]

[Breitheamh]

Berik cringes at the strike, and as he tumbles out of the way of more attacks, he nocks another arrow, pauses for less than a second to fire, and then sprints away again.

Tumble check to avoid AoO [roll0]
Move 15 ft. away from Displacer Beast
Attack [roll1]
Damage [roll2] Skirmish [roll3]
Miss chance (below 50 hits) [roll4]
Move again as swift action using travel devotion 30 feet further in the same direction.

[Medic!]

Relieved to see his brother make it out of harm's way, Derik lashes out furiously at the creature that just bled his twin.


Let's try another Decisive Strike, for funsies

[roll0] - Gonna take a wild guess and assume that a 6 doesn't hit lol
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

[Ace Mace]

The strange monster strikes at Derik.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Medic!]

As blood trickles down his chest, Derik's attempts at disciplined strikes devolve into an emotion-fueled slug-fest.


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

[Breitheamh]

Berik watches as his brother chest is gashed with the mad creature's tentacle, and in fury, he sprints forward, loosing two arrows in rapid succession.

Using Travel Devotion move 15 feet toward the beast as swift action
Using rapid shot fire 2 arrows
Attacks [roll0]
[roll1]
Damage [roll2]+[roll3]
[roll4]+[roll5]
Miss Chances (50 or below hits)
[roll6]
[roll7]

[Ace Mace]

The monster moves within attack distance of Berik and lashes at him with a tentacle.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Breitheamh]

Berik ducks under the wild swipe and rolls out of the way, using his agility to keep out of the creature's range. He comes up on his feet and sends another arrow flying towards the beast. Then, hoping to keep the thing away from his brother, he sprints away, hoping the beast will follow.

Tumble 15 ft. back to avoid AoO [roll0]
Attack displacer beast with one shot [roll1]
Damage [roll2]+[roll3]
Miss Chance (50 or below hits) [roll4]
Then swift action move with travel devotion another 30 ft away from beast.

[Medic!]

Derik becomes steadily and steadily angrier. His foot whips out towards the beast again with increasing precision and force behind it. A slight shimmer in the air follows behind it as his gift begins to seek an outlet for his pent up turmoil.


Not gonna lie, I forgot I could do this with Ascetic Mage...going to expend a 1st level spell slot for a +1 bonus on attack and damage, and do another Decisive Strike.

[roll0] Edit: :smallbiggrin:
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]


In case it decides to follow Berik, an AoO roll
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]
[roll8]
[roll9]

[Ace Mace]

After that last attack this strange beat looks severely damaged. It looks like one more attack could end it. The monster strikes at Derik with a tentacle:

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Medic!]

Derik's gift swells as he spins on his back foot. A flash of arcane energy accompanies his roundhouse kick, refusing to be out-done by his twin.


Second Verse, same as the first
[roll0]
[roll1] So close
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

[Ace Mace]

And with that last attack the bizarre creature falls over dead.

[Breitheamh]

Cautiously stepping forward, an arrow held on his bow, Berik prods the creature's body. When he's satisfied that it is dead, he searches for still usable arrows, and asks, "What was that? Have you ever seen anything like it?"

[Medic!]

Derik gives the corpse a gentle toe-kick, sharing Berik's weariness. "Never seen anything like that before, ever, Brother."

[Ace Mace]

You continue to stand there as the weird creature remains dead and motionless. Butter Town still remains approximately one mile down the path.

[Medic!]

Derik, satisfied the thing is dead and won't be bothering them anymore, and very thankful for his brother's steady bow-hand, gestures towards Butter Town and begins to plod off down the road.

[Breitheamh]

After Berik gathers his arrows, he gives the dead monster one last look of confusion and contempt before jogging to catch up with his brother.

2 hits, those are destroyed
4 misses :smallredface:
under 51 arrows are still usable
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Ace Mace]

Berik and Derik continue down the path towards Butter Town. Shortly, you begin to see buildings off in the distance. They appear small off in the distance and as you get closer, you discover these buildings are not normal at all. They're unusually small - at least for you you. The average structure in this town is between 8-10 feet high. All the citizens in this village also appear quite small. You're quite certain that these are not humans. Most likely gnomes or halflings based on the stories you've heard. Probably not dwarves as you've heard they're hairier and stouter. The townsfolk walk by glancing at you and giving you the occasional wave hello.

[Breitheamh]

Berik looks around, a befuddled expression plastered on his face. He tries not to stare at anything too long, and waves little, awkward "hello's" to those who give them, but the first thing to run through his mind is, There goes my hope of replenishing my arrows. These tiny people probably don't have anything bigger than a toothpick.

[Ace Mace]

A halfling walking by turns to you. He is blonde and looks old. He says "You two should be careful when traveling around these parts. There's danger in these woods."

[Medic!]

Derik squats down to eye level with the tiny man, a look of amusement still playing across his features. "There's no shortage of truth to that statement my dear little friend! We encountered a bit of danger ourselves not so long ago on the road. Sadly the danger sometimes comes to town without going out and looking for it."

Derik offers the halfling two fingers to shake, "My name is Derik, this is my brother Berik. We're looking for help, our village was destroyed by a monstrous beast, we lost everything...our home, our friends, our...our family..."

[Ace Mace]

The halfling looks at Derik with utter shock. "The tentacle hound destroyed your village?! We new that creature was strong, but we didn't know it was that powerful! Its been stalking our village for weeks picking off villages. Good thing Rhin will be here in a few days!"

[Medic!]

"I'm afraid you're a little mistaken, we killed a tentacle beast on the way here, but our village was destroyed by a giant dragon, right out of the bed-time stories. Who's Rhin, would he be able to help us?"

[Ace Mace]

"You've never heard of Rhin?" The halfling starts, "Why, Rhin is one of the greatest warriors in the land. They say Rhin is stronger than 20 bears and can tear through steal with just their hands.

"But you say you killed the menace?! This is wonderful! Hey everyone: These two might human warriors slayed the lurking in the forest! Hooray!"

Shortly after saying this a crowd of excited halflings gather around you to cheer and celebrate your victory.

[Breitheamh]

Berik's hand instinctively heads to his bow as the little people crowd around them. He tries to relax, knowing that they can't mean him harm, but still, after the insanity of the last two days, he is wary. His eyes give the look of a cornered beast.

[Medic!]

Derik welcomes the happy diversion...it hadn't been very long but it felt like a lifetime since he'd been surrounded by a happy community. He gives a sheepish smile and a modest wave to the tiny people around him. Out of the side of his mouth he tries to privately encourage his brother, "Relax Berik, if their whole village was afraid of that thing you and I killed...I think we're safe here."

[Breitheamh]

"I'm well aware that these people are not dangerous, but still. Relax? Are you serious? After the last two days, you think I'll ever relax again?"

Berik's eyes start heading for the openings, and soon he is wading through the crowd of halflings towards the edge of town. He sits down and begins to wax his bowstring, trying to clear his head.

[Ace Mace]

After a few moments, you see a group of 9 halflings walking towards you parting the surrounding crowd. Eight of them are wearing scale armor and carrying spears and shields. The ninth is dressed in purple robes and jewelry. He has a comb over, mustache, and blonde hair. He speaks:

"Hello. My name is Mayor Tunkin Batters. It is a great honor to meet the warriors that slayed that danger in the woods. Please, come back to my manor where I can more properly welcome you and reward you for your valor. You must be exhausted. Would you care to partake in some food?"

[Breitheamh]

Berik turns at the sound of the small man's voice. "I guess I could go for some food," he says, tears barely dry on his face.

[Medic!]

Derik rises to his feet and gives the Mayor an eager handshake, "That would be delightful! I hope we aren't too large an inconvenience for you, Mister Batters."


OOC: Expect a short joke of some kind at every dialogue, I can't help myself.

[Ace Mace]

The mayor takes you to his home. You duck your head as not to bump into the ceiling. He brings you to his dining hall with a high ceiling. You can stand up right in here though the ceiling is just an inch from you head. He commands his servants to bring you his larges chairs. While still bigger than a normal halfling chair, these chairs are still a little bit awkward to sit in.

The servants bring out a tray of sausages and grapes along with fine wine. The mayor engages you in conversation. "I am most grateful for your valiant work. I - all the citizens of this town - are in your debt. I can assure you a handsome reward from the town treasury. Just in time too: commerce, trade, and travel was way down. I had to declare all citizens start to ration their food supplies. This is just about all the food I have left in mu pantry. I donated most of it to the hungry.

"But please, delight me in your tale of combat. Tell me how you slayed the two tentacle hounds in the forest."

[Breitheamh]

Berik blinks twice. What!? There are two of those things?! he thinks.

"Thank you for the food, Mayor Batters. Do you have any large enough arrows for me to replenish my supply?" he asks as he stands up, minding his head. "We might have some work to do."

His thoughts race. Several possibilities: we killed a mate, we killed a child, or we killed a mother. If it's a mother, we don't have much to worry about until the other one grows up. If it's a mate or a child, we have a lot to worry about. The other one will come for revenge. But maybe it doesn't know, in fact, it probably doesn't. In that case, we go after it. Forest is my territory. Thing wants to play, fine, we'll play. I've been looking for something to hunt anyway.

[Medic!]

Derik sits down and picks at his food. Despite his hunger, the thought that there were so many people going without sours his stomach. "We simply encountered one on the road while fleeing the decimation of our home...it attacked us and my brother's fine archery laid the beast low...but Mayor Batters...we only saw one beast, not two. It looked like a sickly jungle cat with two tentacles. There was no sign of a second."

[Ace Mace]

A look of shock comes over the mayor's face: "What?! You only slayed one?! Please, by all the gods, you must slay the other! You're the only ones who can! Rhin won't be here for another few days, and we simply just can't wait that long! We'll give you whatever you want: armor, potions, weapon! The town's best weapon smith will make you arrows as big as you want! Please! I took you into my home and fed you! The people are desperate! Please, you must slay the other!"

[Medic!]

Derik puts his hands up, patting the air, trying to calm the Mayor, "Of course we will! We may need a night's rest first and some information on smoking the creature out, but fear not, we'll free you from the beast in short order, won't we brother?"

[Ace Mace]

"Tomorrow?" The mayor asks. "With all due respect, could you not do it before sunset? This is a most urgent matter and the people are terrified. If you need healing, we have clerics. We also have potions that could be of aid."

[Medic!]

Derik gives an apologetic shrug, "Well, we could both use a bit of healing to be sure...as far as not waiting for tomorrow, I suppose there's little harm in that. What do you think brother?"

[Breitheamh]

Berik had been surprised by his brother's desire to wait until the next day.

When Derik turned to him, he snorted. "Do you want its head, or its hide?" he asks the mayor. "Or both?"

[Ace Mace]

"I just want it dead. For all I care you can bring it back in a million pieces." The mayor says.

[Medic!]

"Do you suppose we could lay a trap for it? Bait it in and catch it in a net or some such?"

[Ace Mace]

"Well I suppose. What do you think could work as bait?"

[Breitheamh]

"There are several issues with setting a trap for it. For one, we don't know what to use as bait, and I take it by your question that you don't either. Secondly, we don't know how smart it is. If it's just an animal, we can just track it and kill it, and setting a trap is just a waste of time. If it was anywhere near the fight, it would have come for us immediately, so we can guess it doesn't know its mate or cub or mother is dead.

However, I don't think it's just an animal. First of all, it attacked us, without warning. An animal, even a predator, would recognize us as a threat and either run away, or at least give us a growl or something before attacking. This thing just came after us. And the way you describe it terrorizing your town, I can't imagine it is just a stupid, aggressive animal. I don't know what it is though, and I highly doubt it will be dumb enough to fall for a trap. I say, we study the prints left by the one on the road, and then we track it through the forest. It needs to become the prey, for once."

[Medic!]

:smallamused: "Let's do it."

[Ace Mace]

As you sit there, a halfing bursts into the room. "Attention! Attention! Mayor! The strange creature! It's attack the town now! It's in town square attacking people! We need help!"

The mayor turns to you: "QUICK! I have some potions that will heal and help you! We must hurry! Will you act?"

[Medic!]

Derik accepts the offered potion and bolts it down, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he runs out the door. "Looks like we found the right bait! Thank you, Mayor! No aid is too small, much appreciated!"

[Breitheamh]

Berik grabs one of the potions the mayor offers and drinks it on his way out the door, unslinging his bow and nocking an arrow. "Nngh," he grunts in acknowledgement.

[Ace Mace]

One of the mayor's servants returns with a chest of potions and 10 arrows meant for a medium sized creature. The potions you receive are:

-8 cure light wounds
-2 bear's endurance
-1 bull's strength
-4 cat's grace
-1 cure moderate wounds

After handing you the potions, the mayor prompts you to hurry to the monster.

[Medic!]

Derik bursts through the door, eager to dispatch the beast!

[Breitheamh]

Berik quickly stuffs 3 potions of Cure Light Wounds in his pack, after downing one, then chugs a potion of cat's grace and puts another in his backpack, then finally drops one of the potions of bear's endurance in his bag and heads out the door, determination set on his face.

[roll0]

[Ace Mace]

You leave the mayor's home and rush towards where the danger is. You soon find another one of the strange monsters from earlier. The beast is attacking citizens with it's tentacles and teeth. No one appears to be dead, but there is blood littering the ground. The monster is 40 feet away from you.

[Breitheamh]

Berik quickly runs at a diagonal, getting closer to the beast and lining up a clear shot, then looses his arrow, trying to stay out of the creature's attack range. He feels the increased stability in his hands and feet from the potion.

Move 15 feet at a diagonal from the Displacer Beast, so I should be 30 ft away
Attack [roll0] (confirm crit) [roll1]
Damage [roll2] + [roll3] (crit) [roll4]
Miss chance (above 50 misses) [roll5]

[Medic!]

Derik darts out the door right behind his brother and charges head-first at the beast, eager to spare the tiny, friendly people some pain and suffering. As he closes with the tentacle monster he brings his walking stick to bear with both hands, hoping to strike a decisive blow and end the threat.

Derik will charge at the creature, making his AC 15 until next round.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

EDIT: Halp my damage rolls are backwards! kekeke

[Ace Mace]

You release a birrage of attacks on the creature. It turns to you and speaks: "So, are you the ones that cut down my brother? I'll devour you and everyone in this village!"

It then bites at Derik:

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Medic!]

Derik, shocked that the creature spoke, responds "Your brother attacked my brother. These are good people and we'll stand for no such thing!"
His shock wins the battle between his desire to pay back the halflings' hospitality and the revelation that this is an intelligent, sentient creature with a brother.


Dice gods don't fail me now! Derik uses a full-round action to Decisive Strike the talking, tentacled Gargamel.

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

EDIT: Dice gods be bringin' the hate pretty hard today.

[Breitheamh]

"I knew it!" Berik yells as the creature talks. He keeps moving, letting his years of hunting tell him what to do. "I knew you weren't just some dumb animal!" he shouts, then looses his second arrow. "Still screwed up in the head, though!" he taunts, trying to keep the creature distracted and off balance.

Moving 15 ft around in a circle, staying 30 ft from the displacer beast
Attack [roll0] (crit confirm) [roll1]
Damage [roll2] + [roll3] (crit) [roll4]
Miss chance (over 50 misses) [roll5]

OOOOHHH that was sweet. So close to a crit.

[Ace Mace]

The monster responds to Derik: "What do I care about a bunch of small haflings? They're smaller than me. If I want to eat them, I can eat them as I please!"

It attacks Derik with a tentacle:

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Breitheamh]

"Wow!" Berik exclaims at the beast's comment. He doesn't pause, even though he's shocked by the creature's attitude. He quickly changes direction, running back the way he came for a moment, still staying out of reach, but close enough for accuracy. He looses a third arrow, then taunts the beast again, "Yeah, SERIOUSLY screwed up."

I just realized that I've been forgetting to add the +1 dmg from point blank shot for being within 30 ft. Can we retcon that? It'd mean the displacer beast is down 2 extra hp

Moving another 15 ft back to where I was last turn.
Attack [roll0] (confirm crit) [roll1]
Damage [roll2] + [roll3] (crit) [roll4]
Miss chance (above 50 misses) [roll5]

Well, I knew the luck couldn't hold out forever.

[Medic!]

Derik swings his staff again, letting his gift guide him after batting the air with his last attempt. "I think you'll find this meal comes at a high price, beast."


Derik will burn another 1st level spell slot to empower his Decisive Strike.

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

[Ace Mace]

The monster attacks Derik with a tentacle:

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Breitheamh]

Frustrated by his miss and the creature's insistence on attacking his brother, Berik releases a battle-cry as he sprints to the side again and shoots his next arrow.

Move 20 ft trying to get behind the displacer beast. Now 25 ft. away
Attack [roll0] (confirm crit) [roll1]
Damage [roll2] + [roll3] (crit) [roll4]
Miss chance (above 50 misses) [roll5]

[Medic!]

Derik ducks the tentacle and retaliates with a magic-powered roundhouse swing of his quarterstaff.

Decisive Strike and say goodbye to Derik's last 1st lvl spell slot.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

OOC note, how do you want to do criticals with decisive strike? It's already double damage, so you want to do it like stacking critical multipliers and add the regular damage again (in this case 1d6+7) or double damage (in this case 2d6+14 extra?)

[Ace Mace]

The tentacle monster attacks Derik with another tentacle attack:

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]


do it like stacking critical multipliers and add the regular damage again (in this case 1d6+7)

Do it like that.

[Breitheamh]

"Would you get away from my brother!" Berik shouts angrily as he continues to run and fires off another arrow.

move another 15 ft in the same direction as before
Attack [roll0] (confirm crit) [roll1]
Damage [roll2] + [roll3] (crit) [roll4]
Miss chance (above 50 misses) [roll5]

[Medic!]

Derick attacks again, not stopping the momentum of his swinging staff.


Decisive Strike!
[roll=Attack]1d20+2[roll] - ok, wiffed the roll attempt, we'll just use the next one?
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Ace Mace]

The tentacle monster looks very beaten. Just one more attack might kill it. It bites at Derik:

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Breitheamh]

Berik, seeing the creature begin to falter, runs straight at it and shoots one more arrow, a vicious snarl on his face.

moving 10 ft straight toward the beast
attack [roll0] (confirm crit) [roll1]
damage [roll2] + [roll3] (crit) [roll4]
miss chance (above 50 misses) [roll5]

[Medic!]

Derik watches as his brother's arrow seems to strike the creature with lethal placement and uses the opportunity to strike true, clubbing the beast with an overhead chop of his quarterstaff.


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

[Ace Mace]

And with that final attack, the weird creature falls over dead. The townsfolk gather around and rejoice in you victory.

[Breitheamh]

Coming down off the adrenaline high, Berik retrieves his arrows and asks Derik, "Are you okay? That thing got you pretty good a few times." He shuffles around in his pack for a second, then brings out a potion of Cure Light Wounds. "Here," he says, handing it to his brother.

Turning to the crowd, he shouts, "Does anyone know what on earth that thing was?! Two of my arrows seemed to go right through it!"

[Medic!]

Glowing with victory, Derik refuses the potion, "I'll be fine, Brother."

He turns to the townspeople and raises his arms with a shout, "Huzzah! We did it! YEAH!"

[Breitheamh]

"Put your hands down and take the stupid potion, idiot! That thing could have killed you, and we don't even know what it was!" Berik shouts at his brother. He pushes his way through the halfling throng back to the mayor's house.

He addresses the mayor, "Mayor Batters, might we stay until this Rhin character arrives? If he or she is the warrior you describe, we might be able to get some answers about what those things were."

[Medic!]

Derik mutters under his breath, "Mehmeh meh-meh meh, take your potion, rah rah rah..." as he follows after Berik. He slips the potion into his pack for safe keeping and the sake of his pride.

[Ace Mace]

Mayor Batters responds to Berik. "Yes, of course! Stay as long as you like! I shall see you receive the best accommodations my town can provide! In honor of your victory, we shall have a huge feast for the entire town tonight! Any services you wish to partake are at your disposal."

[Medic!]

Derik, enjoying watching the halflings celebrate their freedom from the terror of the tentacle beast, eagerly accepts the Mayor's invitation. "We'd be happy to enjoy your town for a bit, Mayor. I'm also eager to meet up with this Rhin.

[Ace Mace]

"Yes, yes, of course," the mayor says. "Of course you can meet Rhin. Great warriors like you would surely like to exchange stories of combat. Now, let's make preparations for the feast!"

With that, the townsfolk begin to scatter off. Citizens start to set up large tables and tents. You soon begin to smell the scent of roasted pork and chicken. You recognize several alien spices on the main dishes that you assume to be halfling cooking ingredients. The two bodies of the monsters you killed at placed in town square on a large pedestal for all to see. A few passersby make comments about if we should cook them, but better not risk consuming some bizarre disease the monster could have.

As the sun sets, the feast begins. Everyone in town is there, and the mayor asks you to sit with him along with the fellow town nobles at his reserved table. The feast consists of pork, chicken, apples, grapes, melons, and a large cake for dessert. They serve halfling wine which is much sweeter that what you're used to. Midway through the feast, the mayor introduces you to the head of the artisan guild Winton Wox. Mr. Wox expresses interest in making a large stone statue commemorating your victory over the two monsters.

[Ace Mace]

The feast and celebration continues to rage on.

[Medic!]

Derik enjoys the party, and makes it a point to sample each dish, relishing the excellent cuisine. The celebration is a welcome distraction from the recent tragedy and he even takes a few opportunities to engage in mock battles with imaginary beasts, puting on a show for the halflings.

[Breitheamh]

Berik eats his food, nods politely to the nobles, laughs at the idea of a statue in his honor, makes easy smalltalk, and generally tries to enjoy himself at least a little. He can't help but chuckle at the sight of Derik performing mock battles for the townsfolk, wondering how he could be related to such a friendly man. Throughout the feast, Berik remains quiet and reserved.

He is not comfortable. He has always been able to rely on his wits; he's clever and quick. But now, he feels that there is something distinctly out of the ordinary in the air. Or maybe it's the company? Whatever it is, he cannot define it, and it bothers him immensely.