TheOneHawk's Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale

[TheOneHawk]

“Land, Gold, and Title!” Those are the things promised for taming the great swath of wilderness known as the Bloodsworn Vale, but so far, the journey there has been little more than hardship and boredom. As the miles roll past and the Mindspin Mountains draw ever nearer, the company of merchants you travel with has grown steadily more subdued. Some even whisper that the vale is haunted or cursed. After crossing through Icedeep Pass, the wagons pull up short to take in the view. Far in the distance, the ice-capped peaks of the Mindspin range are visible beyond a lush green wilderness. Below spreads a sea of leaves, broken only here and there by fields of blood-red roses. Perhaps twenty miles ahead, a wooden fort breaks through the forest canopy, with a thin wisp of smoke twisting into the air. Suddenly, the promises of “Land, Gold, and Title” don’t seem so far-fetched after all.

You're in a cramped wagon that smells strongly of exotic spices with four others here for the same reason. You've all decided to answer Sir Tolgrith's call for assistance in clearing Bloodsworn Vale of the threats that keep delaying the progress of the planned trade route. The fort is still a fair distance away, however, so you have a little time to kill before your arrival.

[stack]

Dorn Ironhand

The lightly armored man bearing little hair but impressive scars leans off the back of the wagon to stretch, rolling his head and cracking his neck as his thick arms spread. He carries no visible weapons of any significance. "I thought the road was overrun by monsters. Only threat I saw was boredom. I suppose this adventuring gig won't be much different from mercenary work, hurry around, waste time, then sudden violence."

[Bhaakon]

Cato Mercer

A meticulously groomed man of otherwise unremarkable appearance looks up from his book--a black leather-bound tome with a silver locking clasp that he's been pouring over for most of the trip. He flips a red ribbon over the open page and carefully closes the book, engages the clasp, and returns it to his pack.

"Yes, well, I've found that patience and timing are key components to success in most endeavors. Right after careful preparation." He gives a shake of his head so slight that it might be taken as a twitch. "Which makes it all the more regrettable that Sir Tolgrith's call for aid was so vague on the nature of the threat. It can be deduced from the reward proffered that the risk is great, but perhaps not the sort of problem dealt with by mass of numbers alone. He could hardly grant titles to an entire company of sell-swords. Furthermore, if the threat were so specialized as the haunting or curse claimed by the rumors, the offer would have been aimed towards clerics and arcanists."

"That still leaves us with a dizzying array of possibilities." Cato frets. "So I suppose we must take a page from the Pathfinders and be prepared for anything."

Which is, of course, impossible. There's a reason why you don't see many retired Pathfinders. He tells himself, trying to to share his pessimism.

[stack]

"If I had answers to questions like that, I wouldn't be sitting on a wagon eating hardtack. I just take problems and hit them until they go away. Not sure if that counts as prepared for anything, but I'm not dead yet."

[Suichimo]

"As much fun as a scrap would be right now, I would much rather prefer this adventure to start quietly than with us staring in to the maws of the Abyss. The name is Trace, by the way." The young man pulled his hood down revealing an extremely youthful face topped with a head of shaggy black hair and beset by azure eyes.

[thehungrydude]

Xeal surreptitiously hides the business end of the mop behind his ratty cloak as the conversation continued. The hardened countenance of the others in the wagon was giving him the distinct impression that this was not the kind of clean-up that could be solved with a good mopping. Oh wow, real adventurers. Deep breaths, deep breaths now. Got to look like I fit in. Be cooooool. Cool as ice. he thought, having a minor panic attack as he sought for the right words to break his silence.

"Hiiiiiii.. I'm Xeal" he tries with a wave and a stiff smile full of sharp, needle-like teeth. "Experienced adventurers like we do will surely find a way. That's how we've survived this far in this trade of ours, right?"

[stack]

Okay, guess they'll take anyone. Dorn buries a chuckle. "Dorn Ironhand."

[Suichimo]

"Anyone is better than no one, and, besides, who knows what that awkward, scaly exterior is hiding. I'm sure those scars of yours hold some interesting stories. We all have our skeletons.

[Bhaakon]

"Ah, where are my manners? Cato Mercer, at your service." Cato pantomimes a bow as well as he can while seated in the back of the cramped wagon.

[TheOneHawk]

As the wagons roll down the path your view of the fort is cut off by the trees for a time, until eventually the caravan turns a corner and you get your first real look at Fort Thorn. The town is surrounded by a twenty foot high palisade of tree trunks with pointed tips, topped with three watchtowers standing another ten feet above the heights of the walls. Atop each tower you can make out two soldiers with longbows watching your caravan arrive. Once you reach the gate, an older soldier missing his left hand steps out of the gatehouse to check the merchants paperwork before waving at two soldiers atop the gatehouse to open the gates. After the gates are open, you feel a lurch as the wagons start to move once again, bringing you into the town proper, though they barely get through the gates before stopping.

"You lot, you wanted to see Gyrad, er... Sir Tolgrith, right?" Yells the merchant who's been conducting your cart to Fort Thorn. "He's right in that big stone building over yonder. Can't miss it, now get out of my cart so I can get back to work, all right?"

[Suichimo]

"Well, thank you for the ride, Mr. Wagoneer. I need to see this Tolgrith fellow as soon as possible. My coin purse hasn't had any tenants in several days." Trace leaps off the wagon and lands with a heavy thud and a distinct metallic ring, almost sounding like a wail.

I guess I'll be meeting you guys at the home of our benefactor. Trace then proceeds to wander towards the large stone building.

[thehungrydude]

Xeal waits for everyone else to get off the wagon and move away before giving its floor a quick once-over with the mop. The dry mop wouldn't remove everything but it was good enough. Much better, he thought as he surveyed his work. Deftly returning the mop under his cloak, he scampers after the others to the stone building.

[Vhaidara]

Nalin Fiendsoul, the Fallen Mystic

Nalin, cowled in his robe, steps off of the caravan. He bears an intricate staff, and he doesn't seem very talkative.
Nalin.
This is his only concession during the introductions. He makes his way towards the stone building.

[TheOneHawk]

A quick glance around shows that Fort Thorn is comprised of little more than a half dozen buildings. Fort Thorn’s keep is an imposing structure and one of the few stone buildings in the small outpost. Fully two stories tall, the building has only a few windows, most of which are little more than arrow slits. A pair of guards standing in front of the portcullis that protects the main entrance notice your approach. One of them calls out, “Hail newcomers! You must be the adventurers come to answer the lord’s call. You’re the first. Welcome. Come on in, I'll take you to Sir Tolgrith.” He beckons and says a quiet word to his partner before opening the door and walking in. He leads you a short distance down the hallway before opening and gesturing through a door and leaving to inform Sir Tolgrith of your arrival. Inside the small room is little more than a table surrounded by eight chairs upon which there is a map of the vale.

http://paizo.com/image/content/GameMasteryModules/BloodswornValeUnlabeled.jpg

[stack]

"Adventurer, not used to being called that. Odd title, I think. Had plenty of adventures, never considered it professional though." Dorn muses as he crosses to the map to give it a closer look.

[Bhaakon]

Cato extracts himself from the wagon, exercising all of his considerable willpower to not rub his travel-soar hindquarters. Next time, bring a cushion. He scorlds himself as he finally sets his feet on the ground. No. Next time, stay home.

He nods curtly at the rude wagon driver. A ride for some added security was the arrangement, and the man had certainly held up his end of the bargain, but that didn't excuse the abbreviated goodbye. Cato reminds himself that churlish manners would have to be endured this far from civilization, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

The call of the guard breaks Cato from his thoughts, and draws his attention back to the manner at hand. He follows the odd assortment of characters into the keep. At first he makes to correct the man, but Dorn's point is well taken. This was an adventure, of sorts, and as such Cato had indisputably joined the disturbingly pawn-like ranks of adventurers. Desna forfend.

Once inside the waiting room, the map unrolled upon the table immediately draws Cato's attention. He draws out his journal--not the locking clasped tome from earlier, but a simpler book of blank sheets--and begins making a rough copy. He decides to make some small talk as he scribbles.

"While we wait for the no-doubt busy Sir Tolgrith, would you all mind explaining what talents brought you here? It's only fair that I go first, since I asked. I possess no modest skills with my blades, and I can concoct a number of tinctures useful in dangerous situation. But I'd like to think that I'm best at avoiding dangerous situations, either by negotiation or accumulation and careful application of information."

[stack]

Dorn gives an impish grin. "I'm who they call when that stuff fails. Like I said, I hit problems until they stop being problems. What can I say, I'm straightforward, right?"

[Suichimo]

"Not to brag, but I'm a student of the Veiled Moon and Scarlet Throne. I consider myself to be fairly proficient as well, I had great teachers."

[thehungrydude]

Xeal carefully retrieves an ornate white ceramic jug from his haversack, its detailed rendition of migratory birds in black providing a jarring contrast with his ratty clothes. A sweet scent of plums wafts out when the lid of the jug comes off. Xeal takes a long sip and remarks with a straight face, "Back home, I'm the go-to guy for cleaning up messes."

[stack]

"Not to brag, but I'm a student of the Veiled Moon and Scarlet Throne. I consider myself to be fairly proficient as well, I had great teachers."

"Ha, a fellow practitioner! Broken blade and steel serpent myself. Sparred with a veiled moon master once, not likely to forget that! Bugger kept disappearing on me."

[Vhaidara]

Nalin Fiendsoul, the Fallen Mystic

Nalin watches and listens as the men compare their fighting styles. None of them had his training, of course, but that was hardly their fault.

[TheOneHawk]

Suddenly your conversation is interrupted by a door swinging open and a large, rugged looking man walking in. He has bright blue eyes, ginger hair, a large nose and multiple scars speaking to years of experience in combat. He enters smiling and begins a greeting before being halfway through the door. "Greetings friends. I am glad to see that my call did not go unheeded, and Dorn! It's been too long, hopefully if there's any trolls out there you can use that technique again! Welcome to the Bloodsworn Vale! I am Gyrad Tolgrith, the lord of this vale. I have been charged with clearing the way through these lands. I hope you can help me accomplish this.”

He pauses a moment, walking over to the map and pointing at the dotted line through the vale. "The solid line is what we have finished, the dotted line is the planned route. We're on a time limit here, King Arabasti gave me six months to complete this road and we have only 60 days remaining until his emmisary arrives. We could build the road in that amount of time, certainly, but the vale is more dangerous than anticipated. My soldiers, brave as they are, aren't up to the task of fighting some of the monsters out in that wood. That's why I've called you, and not a moment too soon. Two days ago, a crew of workers didn't return at their assigned time so we pulled everyone back in and sent the scouts out to investigate. They were found dead to a man, their corpses filled with dozens of small arrows with all their equipment left behind and their ears cut off and missing. This is no hungry monster, this is an intelligent threat. Find out what happened to these men, find their killers and bring them to justice. We can't risk sending out workers until it's safe so the faster you can do this, the faster the path gets completed. Any questions?"

[Bhaakon]

"Tiny arrows?" Cato muses aloud, wondering how many bar darts or sewing needles it would take to kill a man. Dozens, certainly, perhaps hundred, unless they happened to hit in just the right spots. Or were poisoned.

"Sir Tolgrith, I don't suppose you've turned over the scouts' bodies to the Pharasmin yet? It may be a touch distasteful, but seeing how they were killed could very well be the deciding factor in avoiding their fate."

[stack]

"Ha! You didn't forget my secret 'hold on and punch it' maneuver! Maybe these here will have the good fortune to witness it again." he bellows in greeting before listening more somberly to the report and mission. "Small and clever, eh? Well, we'll get it shaped up. Where abouts where they taken and found?"

[Suichimo]

"And are we walking? I don't mind it that much, but if time is of the essence we certainly need to be quick about bisecting this threat." Trace then lowers his gaze to his feet "A wagon or carriage would be nice, as I've never ridden a horse before..."

[TheOneHawk]

"I'm afraid the fallen were buried by the scouts who found them, the site has been otherwise left as it was. Once the area is made safe I'll have Father Apar go perform a service for them. As far as getting there, the attack happened near the end of the completed trail, about eight miles down the path. We have only a few horses and my men need them, so unless you brought your own mode of transportation I'm afraid you'll have to walk. Unless you have any other questions, I would appreciate haste." Sir Tolgrith sighs and pauses for a moment. "One last thing, the people here don't know what happened yet. I only found out myself this morning. Please use discretion if you're asked about this before I have a chance to address it myself."

[thehungrydude]

Xeal ponders for a moment and tries to recall the boastings and conversations of those more accomplished in the monastery before wondering out loud, "Tiny arrows? Could there be hordes of cannibalistic halflings running about in the forest? Angry fairies? Cherubs gone rogue? Some other mystical tribe living in the vale told of only in legends and lore?"

[Bhaakon]

"All hypotheses to be tested by a visit to the site." Cato responds to Xeal's speculation. Though some are more likely than others.

"For my part, I think we might need to make some final preparations in town before heading out. Nothing too extravagant, just a bit of insurance against...ahem...cannibalistic halflings and the like. I noticed that none of you mentioned healing among your many talents, and while I can brew up enough curing draughts for my own well-being, I fear that I don't have a supply sufficient for everyone."

Nodding to Sir Talgrith. "We will, of course, obfuscate the motives for our purchase."

[Vhaidara]

Nalin Fiendsoul, The Fallen Mystic

I have some gold I can contribute to a wand, if one of you can use it. As far as our opposition, I cannot offer any insight without first seeing some evidence of what actually transpired.

[TheOneHawk]

Sir Tolgrith nods at Cato. "Thank you for that, and thank you all for your assistance in this matter. If at any time you need me, I spend most of my time here, and when I'm elsewhere my soldiers will be able to direct you to me. Good luck and be careful out there." With these final words he exits the room.

[thehungrydude]

Xeal turns out both his pockets, expecting and finding nothing beyond lint as he looks up at Cato sheepishly. He had been barely living off each odd job he took up on his way here after all. Xeal shakes the elaborate jug to emphasize the amount of liquid inside. "Erm.. Do you think the merchants here will take payments in plum liquor?"

[Bhaakon]

Cato remembers that he has only a handful of coins to contribute himself, just in time to hold back a biting observation on the value of plum brandy. "Yes, well, let's be on our way, then. We can figure out the means of payment on the way. It goes without saying that anyone fronting money for the wand be reimbursed from our reward pool before it is divided, yes? And do not fear, I'm sufficiently familiar with activating such items."

If no one has anything else to add, Cato packs up his journal--now with a hand-drawn copy of the map--and heads to town in search of that wand.

[Suichimo]

"Yeah... unfortunately my pockets are empty as well. I guess the solution for now is don't get hit. How hard can it be?" Trace shrugs his shoulders. I wonder if there are any Wayward members in the area. I should probably check as that would be a tremendous boon."

[TheOneHawk]

Fort Thorn is not a large place, in fact a quick tour reveals a mere eight buildings standing within its walls. As such, finding the only shop in town is a fairly simple matter. An average sized wooden building stands upon the northern wall of the fort with a large sign out front proclaiming it as 'Wilderness Wares'. Stepping inside, you see a fairly robust collection of goods for building and surviving in the woods. Behind the counter is a small, balding man with dark brown skin. He looks up as you enter and offers a curt "Morning."

[stack]

Dorn volunteers the contents of his substantial cone purse. "Always wise to make sure you can get patched up. Glad someone here can do it." He leaves the actual selection and transaction to Cato.

[thehungrydude]

"Morning, 'keep!" Xeal tries his best at a disarming smile. A chance to be useful, he thought. "A fine establishment you have here. Anything in the vale we should be wary of out there? Evil beasties, quicksand, the like?" Xeal asks, offering the shopkeeper a swig of plum liquor as a makeshift peace offering.

[TheOneHawk]

The shopkeeper quickly raises a hand to refuse the proffered jug, casting a disapproving glance over the entire party, particularly Xeal and his ragged clothes. "Plenty in this craphole you should be wary of. Best off just heading back where you came from if you've any sense, which seems unlikely." He suddenly falls into a fit of coughing, halting all speech for a time. Once he has recovered, he looks Xeal straight in the eye and says "Now are you here to buy something or what? This isn't a tavern."

[thehungrydude]

Xeal's frozen smile undoes itself slowly as he quietly retracts to the back of the group, pointing at Cato along the way.

[Bhaakon]

Straight to the point then? Probably not interested in haggling, either.

Cato steps in front of Xeal, forgoing the fake grin he puts on when dealing with merchants and prospective clients, and cuts to the chase. "We're looking for an item useful for healing the many wounds likely to be suffered in this...er...'craphole.' A wand would be preferred, but we're in a something of a hurry, so whatever you have on hand should be acceptable."

[TheOneHawk]

The shopkeeper sucks on his teeth a moment. "Mostly healing stuff is at the Shrine, just so happens I have a wand that got ordered and never picked up though. 800 gold."

[Bhaakon]

Cato's eye twitches as the man mentions the price. Highway robbery. Well then, haggling it is.

"A, I see, so you're stuck with an item that you won't be able to move easily? I wonder how often someone walks into your store with enough coin to even look at this wand. Now I'm not looking to short-change you, here, but I also know that you're going to have your money tied up in that thing for years or months before someone else walks in here with the resources to buy it. It can sit on your shelf until then, gathering nothing but dust, or you can take our money and put it to work immediately producing more wealth. 750 gold, and not a copper more."

Diplomacy! [roll0] plus free inspiration: [roll1]

[TheOneHawk]

"Price ain't set by me, if you have a problem with it talk to the merchant collective that put me here." He pauses to cough a few times before continuing "Tell the truth, this wand won't sit here more than another day if you don't take it. I was planning on sending it back with the caravan when they leave tomorrow. Won't be another of these in town unless you order it specifically, for the aforementioned price of 800 gold."

[Bhaakon]

Grinding his teeth, Cato pours the 750 gold the group had pooled onto the man's counter. "Now I well know that you charged the man who ordered this something up front. You don't strike me as the kind to make that kind of order without certain assurances in hand. No reason to risk such a valuable shipment without a substantial down payment--if not the entire sum. I'm offering you the entire value of the piece on top of what's already in your strongbox. Youn can get paid twice for the same piece."

"But if you would rather turn that down and risk the road, that's your prerogative. Like you said, there's plenty in this place to wary of, and it's oh so much worse beyond the stockade. Who knows what will happen to the caravan between here and...wherever it's going. Tell me, is the caravan insured?"

Another Diplomacy check? [roll0] plus [roll1]

Anyone want to throw in some aid anothers?

[TheOneHawk]

The shopkeeper glares at Cato, then rapidly counts out each individual piece of gold. Pulling a strongbox from beneath the counter he slides the gold into it, locks it and returns it before walking into the back of the store without a word. He returns moments later with a small wand made from a deep red wood in hand, places it on the counter and in an absolute deadpan says "Is there anything else?"

[Suichimo]

"None, other than being pointed towards the things to be wary of. We'll cut down that reputation quickly enough.

I don't think you can help on that front, though."

[Bhaakon]

Cato scoops up the wand with a satisfied smirk, sliding it into a loop on his belt more typically used for vials. "A pleasure doing business with you." He nods at the shopkeeper and turns to leave.

Once outside, he lets out a sigh of relief and returns the extra gold from the pool. "Something tells me that we'll be ranking that man among our greatest opponents no matter what we find beyond the walls. 800 gilded imperials. Preposterous."

[Suichimo]

Trace chuckles "If he is our greatest opponent, I fear we may be overqualified."

[TheOneHawk]

Setting off towards the spot indicated by Sir Tolgrith, you are let out of the gate by the same one handed man that let you in earlier in the day. On your way out he wishes you good luck and warns you to be cautious as you travel through the woods. The location you were asked to investigate is only a few hundred feet off the end of the trail, so for the vast majority of the walk you are on a developed road and able to make good time. The path itself is about 20 feet wide and topped with gravel, cutting a wide swath through the forest choked by thick patches of rose bushes. After a little over two and a half hours, you cross the Petal river upon a recently build bridge and reach the end of the trail where the workers have stopped for now. Off the trail to the south is a small path that leads to the camp.

About 150 feet down the path is a clearing. A few torn tents and a long-cold fire pit are all that remain of the workers’ camp. Although the bodies have been buried in a single large grave off to one side, dried bloodstains clearly mark the spots where they fell.

[Suichimo]

Well, I think the reasonable thing to do would be to start looking for tracks.

[roll0]

[thehungrydude]

Xeal whistles as he takes Trace's suggestion to start poking around the camp, circling around and looking into the tents as he goes. I wonder if anyone left a bedroll, I could use one.

Perception [roll0]
Looking around to see anything interesting. Do I need a separate roll for the tents? Basically looking to see if the events of the attack can be pieced together from whatever is left in the camp.

[stack]

Dorn chuckles at the haggling but is glad of the purchase regardless of the price.

He takes in the scene or the attack, making a quick sweep but also watching Cato to make sure he doesn't get in the way.take 10 for 19, though Cato will blow that away I suspect

[TheOneHawk]

Searching through the camp, you find that most of the worker's equipment was taken back to Fort Thorn, however there is still some stuff of use. There are two torn but servicable tents, two full waterskins, a pair of bone dice and an alchemical silver dagger. However you do not manage to find any evidence of who or what killed the workers. The only apparent tracks medium sized, wearing shoes and only lead up to the main trail and back.

[Vhaidara]

Nalin Fiendsoul, the Fallen Mystic

Nalin lets out a small curse.
Not much in the way of clues here. Suppose that was a bit much to hope for.
He sets to work, taking his time examining around the edges of the camp.

Take 20, if I can

[Bhaakon]

Cato frowns down at the modest pile of sundries they'd collected from the ruined camp. He didn't really want to disturb the grave--especially since he didn't bring a spade to exhume them with--but this random collection of cast-offs wasn't bringing them any closer to figuring out what went on here.

"There must be something," Cato responds to Nalin, and sets about helping him expand the search area.

Also take a 20 on perception if possible. If not: [roll0] plus free inspiration [roll1] Add another +3 if there's a trap to be found

[TheOneHawk]

Taking your time to very carefully search the area around the camp takes a significant amount of time, and the sun starts to lower in the sky before Cato finally finds something they had previously missed. Fallen inside a rose bush near the southern end of the camp is a small arrow, pointed with a wicked rose thorn and fletched with some kind of alchemically treated rose petals. Focusing your search on that area, Nalin soon finds a set of small sized unshod tracks leading south from the campsite.

After finding the tracks, it's about 5:30 PM on day 1.

[stack]

"Rose arrows? I suppose that rules out trolls or orcs then, eh? Let's follow as long as we can before making camp."

[thehungrydude]

"An arrow made of plant clippings.. Why do they hate plants so much? Surely it's easier to pluck a bird. Not a fan of shoes either it seems. Think they'll come back tonight if we wait here?"

[TheOneHawk]

Following the trail through the forest is difficult and slow, the underbrush is thick and the frequent patches of roses obviously trouble you far more than whatever creature made the trail. The trail heads steadily south and you manage to follow it for about 2 miles before the sun sets.

2 miles progress along trail, it's now 9:30 PM on day one and the sun has just set. Sunrise is at 5:30 AM. You can continue at night if you want.

[stack]

Dorn notes the failing light. "What say we make camp for a bit? I can take first watch."

[Bhaakon]

Cato stops, shuffling his weight about in a vain attempt to get the pressure off his fresh blisters. "An excellent suggestion. Little point in stumbling around through the rose bushes in the dark."

He begins unloading the cooking equipment from his pack, then halts with a frown. "A fire is out of the question, I suppose." He says ruefully, and sets about re-packing his utensils.

[Vhaidara]

Nalin Fiendsoul, the Fallen Mystic

Nalin glances at Dorn.
If you can take a short watch while I meditate, I will remain alert for the rest of the night. I've never been able to sleep properly, but my meditations are enough for me to be rested.
He settles down cross legged, his staff resting across his knees.

[thehungrydude]

Xeal tries to fill his growling stomach with nothing but a gallon of plum liquor and is, unsurprisingly, dead to the world a few moments later. He drools a little as he snoozes in a tent he brought along from the campsite.

[TheOneHawk]

With the sun down, the sounds of the woods become louder and seem closer than they were mere minutes ago. Without a fire and with the moon blotted out by the trees, sight soon becomes nearly impossible without darkvision.

With the encroaching blackness, you soon find your eyes near useless. In spite of this handicap, though, your watch passes mostly without incident except for some kind of insect crawling over your foot with about half an hour left in your watch.

The first few hours of your watch go by peacefully and without incident, however a little over three hours into your watch you hear a rustling coming from the south edge of your camp just before a pack of three Owlbears jump into the clearing.

Initiative!
Able to act in surprise round: Owlbears 23, Nalin 19.

Unable to act in surprise round: Trace 18, Xeal 18, Cato 13, Dorn 9

I rolled these in an offsite roller just to have them ready when the fight started.

So the order of initiative is going to be Owlbears, Nalin, Owlbears, entire party, then back and forth until combat is resolved.

All three Owlbears charge the nearest enemy, the one on the far left charges the tent containing Cato, while the other two charge Trace's tent. Being in a tent will give you total cover against the first attack, after which they will be ripped and need to be repaired.

Owlbear 1 bite on Cato:[roll]1d20+10[roll]
Miss chance [roll0] (High is hit)
Damage:[roll1]

Owlbear 2 claw on Trace:[roll]1d20+10[roll]
Miss chance [roll2] (High is hit)
Damage:[roll3]

Owlbear 3 bite on Trace:[roll]1d20+10[roll]
Damage:[roll4]


The first Owlbear into the clearing charges directly for Cato's tent, ripping it open with one claw and screeching as it dives towards Cato with its beak, ripping a chunk out of his leg. Trace ends up worse off than Cato, caught on the ground without his armour with two of the massive beasts bearing down on him. The first shreds the tent with one swipe of its massive claw, the follow through from its blow drawing blood from Trace's unprotected side. The Owlbear latches on with its claws and jumps onto Trace, roaring in his face while grapping with him and pushing him to the ground. The other goes straight for his neck and only Trace's quick reaction to the assault saves him from a crippling blow, instead taking the bite on his collarbone.

[Vhaidara]

Nalin Fiendsoul, the Fallen Mystic

Nalin steps forwards, kicking up his staff.
To arms!
He twirls his staff, unleashing a rapid series of blows upon the beast grappling Trace.

5ft step performed on map.
Flurry of Blows, spending a Ki point (4 attacks, 7/8 points remaining)). First target is whichever owlbear is grappling Trace, will switch targets when it dies or is stunned.

First Attack, add on Stunning Fist. Change targets if successful (5/6 uses remaining). DC 18 Fortitude save. Enemy is at an AC penalty for being in a grapple
Attack: [roll0]
Crit: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage:[roll3]

Second Attack, add on Leg Sweep. Free Trip attempt if the attack lands. Future attacks against a tripped enemy are made at +4 to hit
Attack: [roll4]
Crit: [roll5]
Damage: [roll6]
Crit Damage:[roll7]
CMB: [roll8]]

Third Attack
Attack: [roll9]
Crit: [roll10]
Damage: [roll11]
Crit Damage:[roll12]

Fourth Attack
Attack: [roll13]
Crit: [roll14]
Damage: [roll15]
Crit Damage:[roll16]

[TheOneHawk]

Nalin's series of attacks have quite the effect on the Owlbear grappling Trace, starting with a powerful blow to the side of its head, before sweeping its legs out from under it and pummeling it repeatedly before it can recover. The Owlbear screams with rage at this assault and releases its grip on Trace, standing up to attack Nalin and moving right into one final blow from his staff right atop its head. The Owlbear drops motionless to the ground. Seeing its fellow fall, the remaining Owlbear next to Nalin and Trace lets out a bloodcurdling shriek and launches into a mad assault upon Nalin, with no real effect. Nalin dodges every blow leveled at him with ease.

Off to the left, Cato is not faring nearly as well, with the Owlbear next to him tearing at him in a frenzy. The Owlbear manages to embed both his claws into Cato, both cutting painfully into him and putting its massive weight in between him and any kind of movement. While holding him down, the Owlbear pecks repeatedly at Cato's face, causing some painful but mostly superficial cuts.

Owlbear 2 saves vs stun, but gets tripped and the full attack plus AoO for standing up knock it unconscious.

Owlbear 3 Full attacks Nalin. Doesn't land a hit
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]

Owlbear 1 Full attacks Cato. Hits with everything for 20 damage and a free grapple.

[stack]

Dorn wakes quickly at the warning cry, jumping free from his tent as though it was not the first time he has been awakened by a battle.

Seeing Nalin next to one unmoving attacker, he instead goes to assist Cato. move to stand, move to get to the target, swift to activate snapping turtle style

[stack]

Dorn reaches for the owlbear's clawed limb, wrenching it back. "If you care to wrestle, I'm game."swift is instead used to initiate iron coils stance

grapple check [roll0]
constrict damage [roll1]

grapple CMD is 28

[thehungrydude]

Xeal's haversack, which he had been using as a makeshift pillow, begins shaking as the black orb tries to force its way out of the haversack in response to the threat at hand. After considerable effort, the orb pops out through the haversack's opening and hovers slowly out of the tent in an erratic fashion, flaring to life with a dull orange glow like a heated piece of iron. Meanwhile, Xeal stirs briefly in the tent and turns over before continuing to snore.

Move to stand
Move to exit tent
Swift to enter Stance of Piercing Rays

[Suichimo]

After his rather rude awakening, Trace notices that the prick who awakened him falls alongside him only leaving the prick who pecked him. Trace grabs his weapon and lashes out at the still standing owlbear and then winks out of existence.

Initiate Fading Strike:
Attack Roll: 1d20+7-4
Damage Roll: [roll0]
Place my Armiger's Mark as a free action.

Teleport 30' away from the owlbear.

[Suichimo]

New attack roll so as not to mess with the current rolls.

[roll0]

[Bhaakon]

Rudely awakened and shredded like a guard dog's chew toy was no way to start the stay. Not that Cato was in a condition to complain aloud, what with being masticated by an owlbear (do they even have teeth? Remember to check the corpse). He uses the opening provided by Dorn to try and separate himself from the beastly hybrid and rise to his feet.

Grapple check to escape grapple. If successful, move action to stand (owlbear is grappled by Dorn, so no AoO): [roll0]

Use inspiration as well: [roll1]

[Vhaidara]

Nalin Fiendsoul, the Fallen Mystic

Nalin turns to his next foe, unleashing a storm of blows to render it unto the void.

Spend a Ki point

First Attack, add on Stunning Fist (4/6 uses remaining). DC 18 Fortitude save.
Attack: [roll0]
Crit: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage:[roll3]

Second Attack, add on Leg Sweep. Free Trip attempt if the attack lands. Future attacks against a tripped enemy are made at +4 to hit
Attack: [roll4]
Crit: [roll5]
Damage: [roll6]
Crit Damage:[roll7]
CMB: [roll8]

Third Attack
Attack: [roll9]
Crit: [roll10]
Damage: [roll11]
Crit Damage:[roll12]

Fourth Attack
Attack: [roll13]
Crit: [roll14]
Damage: [roll15]
Crit Damage:[roll16]

[TheOneHawk]

While his efforts do not allow Cato to escape, Dorn manages to wrestle the Owlbear into a vulnerable position and gets an arm around its throat, crushing its windpipe violently. While the Owlbear originally doesn't lose its hold on Cato despite his struggles, it is quickly forced to leave him alone to deal with Dorn. Dorn's hold proves to be difficult to surmount, however, impeding and effectively neutralizing the attempted attacks before they can really even begin.

Meanwhile, Trace retreats to get away from the Owlbear that's still very nearly on top of him. He grabs his polearm in an attempt to land a solid blow before teleporting away, but only manages to dislodge a tuft of feathers from the creatures side. He reappears thirty feet north, on his feet and looking much more prepared for a fight. Xeal's orb likewise prepares for combat, removing itself from the haversack and beginning to glow a dangerous looking orange colour.

Nalin, on the other hand, needs no preparation, continuing his assault on the second attacker before the first even hits the ground. Leading off with a punishing blow to the head, he stuns the owlbear and drastically reduces its ability to defend against the oncoming onslaught. With its defenses so nullified, Nalin again sweeps the legs out from under the creature and pummels it repeatedly with his staff.

Owlbear 1 releases Cato full attacks Dorn, though it can't use both claws because of the grapple.

Bite [roll0]
[roll1]
Claw [roll2]
[roll3]
Free grapple attempt [roll4]

Owlbear 2 is unconscious.

Owlbear 3 Fort Save [roll5]

Bite [roll6]
[roll7]
Claw [roll8]
[roll9]
Free grapple attempt [roll10]
Claw [roll11]
[roll12]
Free grapple attempt [roll13]

[Suichimo]

Back on his feet, Trace prepares his counter attack. I really shouldn't be showing off this early... but what the Hell. Feast well, Nightfall! Trace launches forward, toward the Owlbear Dorn has in a hold, exuding an ominous feeling that could only be called malicious.

Initiate Savage Drive as a Full Round Action.
Move to V19.
Attack the Owlbear that Dorn and Cato are engaged with.
Attack: [roll0]
Weapon Damage: [roll1]
Maneuver Damage: [roll2]
Mark the Owlbear with an Armiger's Mark if I damage it.

P.S. My weapon damage is up by 2 this time, because I didn't realize that Discipline Focus' +2 damage only cares about what weapon you're using, not what maneuver you're using.

[Vhaidara]

Nalin Fiendsoul, the Fallen Mystic

Seeing that his foe is still standing, Nalin swipes several quick blows at the creature's head.

Flurry, no ki point, no stun, no need for leg sweep

First Attack
Attack: [roll0]
Crit: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage:[roll3]
CMB: [roll4]

Second Attack
Attack: [roll5]
Crit: [roll6]
Damage: [roll7]
Crit Damage:[roll8]

Third Attack
Attack: [roll9]
Crit: [roll10]
Damage: [roll11]
Crit Damage:[roll12]

[TheOneHawk]

Nalin's continual pummeling finishes off his Owlbear without much difficulty, a couple well placed blows are all it takes to take it down. Meanwhile, Trace runs back into the battle towards the last Owlbear with his glaive-guisarme raised menacingly and an aura of malice trailing him. Leveling it into a terrible blow at the base of its neck, blood spurts out of the severed arteries and the Owlbear falls away from its grapple with Dorn, twisting with pain and rage as blood spatters the area in its death throes.

Combat over, all three Owlbears are down.

[stack]

"Hey, I was going to unscrew its head to make a hat. Its no fun if its already down."

[thehungrydude]

With the immediate crisis dealt with, the orb floats shakily back into the tent and lies inertly beside Xeal, whose snoring goes up a notch.

[TheOneHawk]

Despite the interruption caused by the Owlbear attack, everyone gets back to (or remains) asleep without much difficulty.

You neither hear nor see another disturbance for close to an hour after the battle, though eventually the standard sounds of forest life return. Just before the end of your watch the sun comes up and you're treated to the morning symphony of waking birds.

With the sun up and the birds chirping, visibility notably improves in the campsite. Two tents were torn badly in the battle and will need repairs, and there is blood splattered all over a third. The corpses of the Owlbears have already attracted many small scavengers, though only insects dare get close enough to feast while you remain. During this time, Cato uses the wand on himself and Trace to heal the damage inflicted by the Owlbear.

Once everyone is awake and ready for the day, you continue along the trail. The path gets harder and the rosebushes more common the deeper into the forest you go and the day is half gone before suddenly the dense and wild forest suddenly gives way to reveal an organized plot of land dominated by a pair of concentric rings of rose bushes surrounding a small clearing. A narrow path leads through the rings toward the clearing and some strange stone monoliths. The trail you have been following seems to lead directly towards the clearing in the centre of the roses.

It is 3:30 PM on day 2. If you guys wanted to stop along the trail at any point, let me know, but otherwise here you go.

[Suichimo]

Well, we're definitely not dealing with monsters. I wouldn't even say savages. These guys are organized.

[thehungrydude]

Xeal finishes the last of the greasy owlbear kebab as he walks towards the clearing. "We should definitely go for the slow roast next time. Preferably with more spices. Say, what's with those stones?"

[roll0]
Checking out the monoliths and other possible oddities

[TheOneHawk]

There are five monoliths in total, each standing about 20 feet high with runes carved into them, though you'll need to get closer to attempt to decipher them. Between the two rings of rosebushes the trees are likewise meticulously trimmed.

There's something stretched across the ground at the entrance to the rings, though you can't make it out without getting closer.

I have a map of the area up on the doc.

[Bhaakon]

Cato

The stench of the charred owlbear sticks in Cato's nostrils as they trudge through the woods, a greasy reek that even the omnipresent rose bushes can't conceal. I don't know what's worse. That it's out of season, that he overcooked it terribly, or that he's still eating it hours cold. At least the uses of the wands to heal his wounds had the added benefit of calming his blisters. For a couple hours, at least.

But the minor distractions were quickly dismissed when something interesting finally came along. "A ring of menhirs?" He muses aloud, briefly wondering if he should warn Xael about the inconspicuous obstacle on the path ahead before he blunders into. With a sigh, he decides that living ballista fodder is preferable to dead for the moment, no matter how offensive in habits.

"Watch your step. There's something across the trail there." He moves forward cautiously for a closer look.

[thehungrydude]

Xeal ambles over behind Cato, "Maybe we shouldn't step on what others leave behind on the floor." He spies the rose bushes with squinted eyes, trying to estimate if he could jump over them safely.

If the rose bushes aren't too tall, Xeal will try to jump over them to get to the center without stepping on whatever is stretched across

[TheOneHawk]

Upon closer inspection, Cato discovers the object in the grass is some type of snare, designed to grab and hold anyone stepping upon in. As he kneels to look more closely at it, suddenly several of the rose bushes around him cease to be rose bushes, transforming into small humanoids. Standing just over three feet tall, they have pale, ivory skin, long spindly fingers, and tall pointed ears. Wrapped in what appears to be thorny vines, their hair is blood red as are their eyes. There are two inside the circle and four outside the circle, all armed with bows.

The bushes are 3 feet high and 10 feet long, Jumping the outer ring would be a DC 22 jump. The inner ring is only 5 feet wide so that's only DC 17

Everyone except Nalin notices the Fey transform before they attack and avoid surprise. Initiative order is as follows. Dorn and Trace surprise round, Fey surprise round, Cato and Xeal surprise round/Dorn and Trace full round, Fey, all PC's. I believe Stack is MIA at the moment so once Trace acts I'll bot him for combat until he has returned.

[Suichimo]

Move to T28 and enter the Formless Dance stance as a swift action.

[TheOneHawk]

Dorn glances at Trace heading off to deal with the nearby Fey to the left of the party and runs off in the opposite direction to do the same on the right. However, as they close with their targets both Fey withdraw effortlessly through the rosebushes. The other four take advantage of the surprise and let loose a volley of arrows, each targeting the nearest intruder. Most of the arrows either go wide or deflect off of armour, but one lands solidly in Cato's leg.

Dorn moves to AE28 and enters Steel Coils stance. F2 and F5 both use restricted withdraw to move away from Trace and Dorn. F1 shoots at Trace, F3 and 4 shoot at Cato, F6 shoots at Dorn.

Only hit is 5 damage to Cato.

F1
Attack[roll0]
Damage[roll1]
Fort Save[roll2]

F3
Attack[roll3]
Damage[roll4]
Fort Save[roll5]

F4
Attack[roll6]
Damage[roll7]
Fort Save[roll8]

F6
Attack[roll9]
Damage[roll10]
Fort Save[roll11]

So now Cato and Nalin get a surprise round half turn, while Dorn and Trace get a full round before the Fey go again.

[Bhaakon]

Cato
28W/29V
23 AC
Shield (5 min remaining)

Choking back a very ungentlemanly oath, Cato yanks one of the dozen or so vials kept in an equal number of inconspicuous padded pockets sewn into his outfit and immediately downs the contents with a choking gag. Mental note: procure finer iron shavings. Current supply irritates esophagus.

Standard action to consume Shield extract.

[Suichimo]

"Why must they always run?" Trace mumbles to himself. "Oh well, guess we'll just have to smack them down so that they can't run."

Trace moves to U27 and initiates Fading Strike, teleporting to S24 and attacks F2.

Attack: [roll0]
Crit Confirm: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage: [roll3]
Mark with Armiger's Mark if damaged.

[thehungrydude]

"Gyaaahhh rose bush people!" The orb busts out of Xeal's bag again, quickly adopting an angry shade of red before firing off a fiery beam at one of the fey.

Swift-Piercing Ray stance +1d6 fire
Standard-Dimensional strike (resolve as though flatfooted)

Attack on F4[roll0]
Damage [roll1]
Fire damage [roll2]

[stack]

Dorn skirts the barrier to try to crush one of the fey creatures. "Tricky buggers, lets see how they wrestle."move to AI 27, grapple [roll0]
damage [roll1] nonlethal
swift to start snapping turtle style

[TheOneHawk]

Aside from the one Fey caught and held by Dorn, they all continue with their hit and run tactics, withdrawing if threatened and opening up with a volley of arrows if not. The archer next to Trace, however, doesn't seem to anticipate how far he can reach with his polearm and receives a nasty gash in his side for his error. Looking terrified, the Fey bolts for the centre of the circle and disappears down a hole in the middle of the monoliths. The other Fey continue their volley but all of the arrows are either dodged or ping harmlessly off of armour.

F1 attacks Nalin
Attack 1[roll0]
Attack 2[roll1]
Crit 1[roll2]
Crit 2[roll3]
Damage 1[roll4]
Damage 2[roll5]
Crit damage 1[roll6]
Crit damage 2[roll7]
Fort 1[roll8]
Fort 2[roll9]

F2 does a full action withdraw but will provoke an AoO because of the reach weapon, rolling that for Trace.
Attack[roll10]
Crit[roll11]
Damage[roll12]
Crit damage[roll13]

F3 attacks Cato
Attack 1[roll14]
Attack 2[roll15]
Crit 1[roll16]
Crit 2[roll17]
Damage 1[roll18]
Damage 2[roll19]
Crit damage 1[roll20]
Crit damage 2[roll21]
Fort 1[roll22]
Fort 2[roll23]

F4 attacks Cato
Attack 1[roll24]
Attack 2[roll25]
Crit 1[roll26]
Crit 2[roll27]
Damage 1[roll28]
Damage 2[roll29]
Crit damage 1[roll30]
Crit damage 2[roll31]
Fort 1[roll32]
Fort 2[roll33]

F5 attacks Xeal
Attack 1[roll34]
Attack 2[roll35]
Crit 1[roll36]
Crit 2[roll37]
Damage 1[roll38]
Damage 2[roll39]
Crit damage 1[roll40]
Crit damage 2[roll41]
Fort 1[roll42]
Fort 2[roll43]

F6 attempts to escape the grapple
[roll44]

[thehungrydude]

Xeal ducks out of the way of the incoming arrows and is about to crawl for cover before the idea for a firing stance abruptly enters his mind. The orb seems to act in concert, darting directly into his hands with a loud crackle and unleashing a burst of fiery rays when Xeal thrusts the orb forwards.

Flurry!
Attack 1[roll0]
Damage 1[roll1]
Fire damage 1[roll2]

Attack 2[roll3]
Damage 2[roll4]
Fire damage 2[roll5]

Attack 3[roll6]
Damage 3[roll7]
Fire damage 3[roll8]

If F4 goes down then Xeal starts shooting F5 instead

[stack]

Dorn chokes out the fey, striking him with his free hand as well until he falls unconscious. "Hey, you if you don't want me to tear your buddy's head off, stop shooting at us and talk!"

all damage nonlethal
move for grapple to damage [roll0]
constrict [roll1]
unarmed damage [roll2]

if still conscious, steel flurry strike, three attacks at -2 & +3d6 damage
[roll3]
damage [roll4]+[roll5]

[roll6]
damage [roll7]+[roll8]

[roll9]
damage [roll10]+[roll11]

[Bhaakon]

Cato
28W/29V
23 AC
Shield (5 min remaining)

Seeing that the fey had no interest in Dorn's offer, Cato focuses on the opponent directly in front of him. He closes the distance, leaping over the snare in the pathway and whipping free his rapier and cold iron dagger in the process.

Double move 8 spaces up, auto-succeed DC 5 acrobatics to clear the snare, and drawing weapons as a free action during the move. Swift action to study F4

[Suichimo]

"Well, that's one down. Let's say we... prune, another one." Trace glances over at his next victim and flashes a grin.

Initiate Taunting Laugh against F1.
Demoralization attempt: [roll0]
F1 is shaken and flatfooted if successful.

IF the demoralization attempt fails, initiate Dimensional Strike causing F1 to be flatfooted to me, otherwise attack regularly:

Attack: [roll1]
Crit Confirm: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3]
Crit Damage: [roll4]
Mark with Armiger's Mark if damaged.

If F1 is demoralized and made shaken AND marked, it can not move away from me without a DC18 Will save.

[Vhaidara]

Nalin Fiendsoul, the Fallen Mystic

Nalin, seeing the threat, drops into a low crouch, a feral snarl rising in his throat. He charges forwards, leaping over the snare that Cato had warned them of, driving directly into the fairy before him and swiping viciously with his staff.

Swift Action to spend a Ki Point on High Jump
Initiate Panther on the Hunt and charge F3, jumping over the snare (GM rules that a +34 is enough to maintain the charge with it)
Attack: [roll0]
Crit: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage:[roll3]

[TheOneHawk]

The Fey Dorn is grappling with finally succumbs to the beating being inflicted on him and falls unconscious. Meanwhile, Xeal manages to drop one of the two that Cato and Nalin are charging just before Cato lands a solid blow to the side of the remaining creature's head, prompting it to bolt north. Trace has significantly less success with his mark, chasing it into the rose bushes and missing with his glaive-guisarme, getting nothing more than a rose thorn in one of his armour's joints for his trouble. The only unengaged Fey starts inching towards the inner circle and calls out something in a strange language before firing two arrows at Dorn. As she calls out, the three trees in the centre of the clearing suddenly animate and move to defend the clearing with two of them reaching Cato and Nalin, lashing out at them with their branches. Nalin deftly dodges the attack, but Cato is caught by surprise and is hit hard in the right leg by a root.

F1 withdraws northwest, triggers an AoO due to reach weapon, missing. F3 withdraws north, F4 is killed. F5 shoots at Dorn twice, one lands for 4 damage. F6 falls unconscious. The two trees each attack the nearest enemy once, Nalin dodges but Cato takes 13 damage.

Trace AoO[roll0]
Crit[roll1]
Damage[roll2]
Crit damage [roll3]

F5 vs Dorn.
Attack 1[roll4]
Crit 1[roll5]
Attack 2[roll6]
Crit 2[roll7]
Damage 1[roll8]
Crit 1[roll9]
Damage 2[roll10]
Crit 2[roll11]
Fort 1 [roll12]
Fort 2 [roll13]

T1 attacks Nalin
Attack 1[roll14]
Crit 1[roll15]
Damage 1[roll16]
Crit 1[roll17]

T2 attacks Cato
Attack 1[roll18]
Crit 1[roll19]
Damage 1[roll20]
Crit 1[roll21]

[thehungrydude]

Xeal continues to fire flaming beams wildly across the clearing, his manic expression cast in alternating light and dark like a strobe as the orb flashes with each shot. It's hard to tell if he is even consciously aware of the changes in the situation.

Full attack train has come for treant no. 3!
Attack 1 [roll0]
Damage 1 [roll1]
Fire 1 [roll2]

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

Attack 3 [roll6]
Damage 3 [roll7]
Fire 3 [roll8]

[Suichimo]

"Do we have to do all this running? Seriously? Why can nothing ever stand and... and... what's that noise? Moving trees, well...let's do this the right way then and tear them limb from limb!"

Trace switches from Formless Dance to Savage Stance and initiates Dimensional Strike.

Trace moves to W23.

Attack: [roll0]
Crit Confirm: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Savage Stance Damage: [roll3]
Savage Drive Damage: [roll4]
Crit Damage: [roll5]
Mark with Armiger's Mark if damage goes through.

Ignore the Savage Drive damage.

[Bhaakon]

Cato
28W/16V
23 AC
Shield (5 min remaining)

"Learn your proper place in the world and stay rooted, you blasted shrubbery." Cato hisses at the animated tree as he hacks it at with rapier and dagger.

Knowledge (nature) to ID the tree-things: [roll0] plus [roll1]

Swift action to study T3, then full attack:

Rapier: [roll2]
[roll3]
Crit:[roll4]
[roll5]

Dagger: [roll6]
[roll7]
Crit:[roll8]
[roll9]

[stack]

Dorn holds the helpless fey in front of him to use as a shield as he charges through the roses, almost falling over in surprise when they move from his path.i think he auto-succeeds on checks CS helpless opponents, so grappling to move 1/2 speed twice up and left, 30', trying to close with f5

[Vhaidara]

Nalin Fiendsoul, the Fallen Mystic

As the trees come alive, the bloody fury that had overcome Nalin subsides, and the tranquil man returns to his standard array of blows, aiming first low, then high, hoping to knock the plant off balance with his staff.

Spend a Ki point and full attack

First Attack, add on Leg Sweep. Free Trip attempt if the attack lands. Future attacks against a tripped enemy are made at +4 to hit
Attack: [roll0]
Crit: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage:[roll3]
CMB: [roll4]

Second Attack
Attack: [roll5]
Crit: [roll6]
Damage: [roll7]
Crit Damage:[roll8]

Third Attack
Attack: [roll9]
Crit: [roll10]
Damage: [roll11]
Crit Damage:[roll12]

Fourth Attack
Attack: [roll13]
Crit: [roll14]
Damage: [roll15]
Crit Damage:[roll16]

[TheOneHawk]

The barrage of flaming bolts frow Xeal's orb seems to have a good effect on the tree, with the fire catching and causing extensive damage to the leaves and smaller branches. The more mundane blows from Cato, Nalin and Trace seem to be fairly easily absorbed by the sheer girth and density of their trunks, with Cato's rapier not even breaking through the thick bark.

Taking advantage of the distraction caused by the sudden animation of the trees, the two remaining unengaged Fey fire a volley each at Trace, though only a single arrow makes it through his thick armour. The last Fey carefully avoids Dorn's advance and then bolts for the animated trees, climbing nimbly up into the branches of the middle one just before it charges into Nalin, lashing out with a low hanging branch to hit him hard in the side of the head, though he brushes it off quickly and avoids the attacks from the other tree next to him. Cato, however, is not so lucky. He takes a branch to the stomach that knocks the breath out of him and opens him up to another two hitting him simultaneously from each side causing several broken bones and a lot of internal damage.

At first you think these trees are Treants, but a closer look shows them to be simply trees animated with the 'Animate Objects' spell.

F1 vs Trace
Attack 1[roll0]
Crit 1[roll1]
Attack 2[roll2]
Crit 2[roll3]
Damage 1[roll4]
Crit 1[roll5]
Damage 2[roll6]
Crit 2[roll7]
Fort 1[roll8]
Fort 2[roll9]

F2 vs Trace
Attack 1[roll10]
Crit 1[roll11]
Attack 2[roll12]
Crit 2[roll13]
Damage 1[roll14]
Crit 1[roll15]
Damage 2[roll16]
Crit 2[roll17]
Fort 1[roll18]
Fort 2[roll19]

T1 vs Nalin
Attack 1[roll20]
Crit 1[roll21]
Attack 2[roll22]
Crit 2[roll23]
Attack 3[roll24]
Crit 3[roll25]
Damage 1[roll26]
Crit 1[roll27]
Damage 2[roll28]
Crit 2[roll29]
Damage 3[roll30]
Crit 3[roll31]

T2 vs Nalin
Attack 1[roll32]
Crit 1[roll33]
Damage 1[roll34]
Crit 1[roll35]

T3 vs Cato
Attack 1[roll36]
Crit 1[roll37]
Attack 2[roll38]
Crit 2[roll39]
Attack 3[roll40]
Crit 3[roll41]
Damage 1[roll42]
Crit 1[roll43]
Damage 2[roll44]
Crit 2[roll45]
Damage 3[roll46]
Crit 3[roll47]

As a side point, Armiger's mark is ineffective against the trees because they have no intelligence score.

[thehungrydude]

Xeal's glassy-eyed manic stare continues uninterrupted even as Cato is pummeled by the tree, his hands shaking as more psionic energy is channeled into the orb, which continues firing relentlessly.


Roasting on treant no. 3 continues until it falls, then targeting treant no. 1, followed by no. 2 if they are still up.

Attack 1 [roll0] Crit 1 [roll1]
Damage 1 [roll2] Fire 1 [roll3] Extra crit damage 1 [roll4]


Attack 2 [roll5] Crit 2 [roll6]
Damage 2 [roll7] Fire 2 [roll8] Extra crit damage 2 [roll9]


Attack 3 [roll10] Crit 3 [roll11]
Damage 3 [roll12] Fire 3 [roll13] Extra crit damage 3 [roll14]

[Bhaakon]

Cato
1 WP
23 AC


Those ribs are cracked. Cato wants to say, but it comes out as more of a howl of pain with a liberal splattering of bloody saliva. Hopefully bloody saliva. Expectorating blood mixed with other fluids, or hacking it up from the lungs, would be truly dire signs. He stumbles backwards, covering his hasty retreat with a agonizing flourish of his rapier. No just cracked. Displaced fractures. Bother.

withdraw to Z28, or as close as I can get without stumbling into the trap we found. 1 damage from taking a standard action while wounded.

[Suichimo]

Noticing Cato's predicament, trace moves to intercept the potentially pursuing trees. Hopefully those aren't dogwoods.

Traces moves to Z23 and uses his standard action to refresh Dimensional Strike.

[stack]

Dorn drags his key ahead to the nearest violent tree, dropping the fey to grab at a mobile limb.auto pass to move 15', free to drop the unconscious fey, swift for gambit to get +3 on grapple check vs T3
[roll0]
Constrict [roll1]

[Vhaidara]

Nalin Fiendsoul, the Fallen Mystic

Nalin quickly steps to the side to help cut off pursuit of Cato, swinging rapid blows back and forth between the trees.

Aiming for T1 again, step was just fluff

Spend a Ki point

First Attack, add on Leg Sweep. Free Trip attempt if the attack lands. Future attacks against a tripped enemy are made at +4 to hit
Attack: [roll0]
Crit: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage:[roll3]
CMB: [roll4]

Second Attack
Attack: [roll5]
Crit: [roll6]
Damage: [roll7]
Crit Damage:[roll8]

Third Attack
Attack: [roll9]
Crit: [roll10]
Damage: [roll11]
Crit Damage:[roll12]

Fourth Attack
Attack: [roll13]
Crit: [roll14]
Damage: [roll15]
Crit Damage:[roll16]

[TheOneHawk]

Xeal's flaming assault, while less accurate than before, still manages to burn some more, larger branches from his target just as Dorn arrives. Tossing his Fey prisoner aside, he jumps onto the tree and quickly finds a weak point caused by the fire and overall abuse heaped upon it. Focusing his efforts into that split in the tree, he widens it and then finally with a loud crack splits nearly a third of the tree away from the trunk. This proves to be too much for the magic animating the wood and it falls to the ground, destroyed. Nalin also manages to ground the tree to the far left, taking advantage of its top heavy nature and toppling it with a well placed blow. While it is so grounded he heaps on the punishment and manages to land several powerful blows, though it continues to move. Using two of its larger branches, it shoves itself back upright and directly into another blow of Nalin's staff. It attempts to swing back but only hits the air where Nalin was mere moments ago.

The third tree focuses its attention on Nalin, having much more success than its compatriot, landing two glancing blows but not connecting solidly to the agile monk. Meanwhile, the suddenly ignored Fey continue firing arrows at the party, with the one to the north dashing across the circle to adjust its firing location. However, their attacks are fairly ineffective, failing to land a single solid hit on any of their targets. In particular, the Fey firing from atop its tree mount finds it to be quite a bit more difficult than anticipated and misses its attempts on Dorn wildly.

T1 stands and provokes AoO from Nalin
AoO [roll0]
Crit [roll1]
Damage [roll2]
Crit [roll3]

T1 attacks Nalin
Attack 1 [roll4]
Crit 1[roll5]
Damage 1[roll6]
Crit 1[roll7]

T2 attacks Nalin
Attack 1 [roll8]
Crit 1[roll9]
Damage 1[roll10]
Crit 1[roll11]
Attack 2 [roll12]
Crit 2[roll13]
Damage 2[roll14]
Crit 2[roll15]
Attack 3 [roll16]
Crit 3[roll17]
Damage 3[roll18]
Crit 3[roll19]

F1 attacks Trace
Attack 1 [roll20]
Crit 1[roll21]
Damage 1[roll22]
Crit 1[roll23]
Attack 2 [roll24]
Crit 2[roll25]
Damage 2[roll26]
Crit 2[roll27]
Fort 1[roll28]
Fort 2[roll29]

F5 attacks Dorn
Attack 1 [roll30]
Crit 1[roll31]
Damage 1[roll32]
Crit 1[roll33]
Attack 2 [roll34]
Crit 2[roll35]
Damage 2[roll36]
Crit 2[roll37]
Fort 1[roll38]
Fort 2[roll39]

F3 attacks Dorn
Attack 1 [roll40]
Crit 1[roll41]
Damage 1[roll42]
Crit 1[roll43]
Fort 1[roll44]

[stack]

Dorn closes with the center tree, hazarding its counter attack, to attempt a repeat, limb-rending performance.move as marked on map, swift for gambit, grapple [roll0]
constrict [roll1]

not sure if its allowed, but if so will use an immediate for snapping turtle clutch to grapple if missed on the AOO

for gambit, grapple [roll2]
constrict [roll3]

this would reduce the bonus on the other grapple check by 3

[thehungrydude]

Xeal doesn't seem to notice the bit of drool leaking out from the side of his toothy maw as he stays rooted in his stance, fiery bolts spraying out of the orb in hand like a maniacal fireworks show gone out of control.

Same old full attack on tree no.1, switching to no.2 and finally the elf if needed

Attack 1 [roll0] Crit 1 [roll1]
Damage 1 [roll2] Fire 1 [roll3] Extra crit damage 1 [roll4]


Attack 2 [roll5] Crit 2 [roll6]
Damage 2 [roll7] Fire 2 [roll8] Extra crit damage 2 [roll9]


Attack 3 [roll10] Crit 3 [roll11]
Damage 3 [roll12] Fire 3 [roll13] Extra crit damage 3 [roll14]

[Bhaakon]

Cato

His breath coming in shallow, bloody gurgles, Cato finally grasps the severity of his injuries. It takes all his willpower to avoid breaking into a fit of hacking coughs that would invariably worsen what could only be a punctured lung. Perhaps multiply punctured. Lacerated spleen as well, most likely. What's this blackness dancing on the edges of my vision? He wasn't even sure he could move his arm enough to retrieve the wand without collapsing.

"Wand." He chokes the mewling plea past the blood in his throat before finally extricating the slender item from his pack. He stands there, wobbling on his feet as he gather up his strength to activate the thing. Even moving his hand a few inches had nearly cause the blackness to take him.

Heh, the move action to get retrieve the wand would literally kill Cato. He needs someone to get it and put it in his hand (not necessarily immediately). Heck, activating the wand might kill him, depending on how our GM wants to handle the timing of the healing and the damage from moving while wounded.

move action to retrieve wand

[Suichimo]

Trace slashes at the tree in front of him and then shifts backwards.

Attack 1:[roll0]
Crit 1:[roll1]
Damage 1:[roll2]
Savage Stance Damage 1:[roll3]
Crit Damage 1:[roll4]

Attack 2:[roll5]
Crit 2:[roll6]
Damage 2:[roll7]
Savage Stance Damage 2:[roll8]
Crit Damage 2:[roll9]

5' step to Z24.

[Vhaidara]

Nalin Fiendsoul, the Fallen Mystic

Nalin turns his attention back to his original target, seeking to beat it into splinters with his ancestral staff.

Spend a Ki point

First Attack, add on Leg Sweep. Free Trip attempt if the attack lands. Future attacks against a tripped enemy are made at +4 to hit
Attack: [roll0]
Crit: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage:[roll3]
CMB: [roll4]

Second Attack
Attack: [roll5]
Crit: [roll6]
Damage: [roll7]
Crit Damage:[roll8]

Third Attack
Attack: [roll9]
Crit: [roll10]
Damage: [roll11]
Crit Damage:[roll12]

Fourth Attack
Attack: [roll13]
Crit: [roll14]
Damage: [roll15]
Crit Damage:[roll16]

[TheOneHawk]

Xeal's barrage continues unabated, and this time one of the bolts finds a crack in the tree, piercing deep into its trunk. One inside the fire catches quickly and burns intensely, heating the sap to the point where it expands past what the tree can handle and the entire trunk splits wide open in spectacular fashion.

With only one tree remaining, the rest of the able bodies combatants dogpile it quite effectively, managing to knock it to the ground and with a combination of fire, bludgeons and slashes beat it until it finally ceases all movement. Seeing the situation to be dire, the three remaining Fey bolt for the center of the grove and disappear inside the monoliths.

Combat over, on the field is one unconcious Fey, 1 dead Fey, 3 dead trees. 4 Fey ran away.

[stack]

Dorn takes one limb in the face, laughing and taunting the tree, "Haha! Nice. That the best you can do?" Ready for the second blow, he grabs the offending limb and twists, then keeps twisting and pulling.snapping turtle clutch rolled previously for 17 damage
move to grapple to deal damage [roll0]
constrict [roll1]
unarmed damage [roll2]

standard grapple to deal damage [roll3]
constrict [roll4]
unarmed damage [roll5]
Decided not to worry about DR since using the immediate prevents using the spring loaded wrist sheathes to draw a dagger as a swift.

Dorn brushes bark off his hands. "Little buggers ran off. What do you think of that? Can't take a stand-up fight! Well, at least I squeezed on of them, maybe it can answer a few questions, eh?" He collects the unconscious fey and joins the others in the center of the circle.

[TheOneHawk]

With the heat of battle past and the distance closed, you can now see the monoliths a lot more clearly. Each of them is carved with strange runes that seem to be weeping blood, with shallow crimson pools at the bottom of each. In the middle of the five monoliths is a set of spiral stairs leading into the earth.

Grabbed by Dorn, the previously unconscious Fey wakes up and begins screaming in a language none of you understand.

[Suichimo]

"Anyone know what the little pissant is saying? I doubt we'll get much information out of it if we can't understand it. I've got one thought on the issue, but its accuracy is questionable."

[Bhaakon]

Cato

With a ragged sigh of relief, Cato activates the wand. Then again, and again, running through the charges like water until he's no longer hacking up blood and worse. He takes a long pull from his canteen and sloshes it about his mouth to wash out the coppery flavor of near death before joining the other around the captured fey.

"Speak a civilized langauge, whelp, or things will go badly for you. My patience is beyond the breaking point." He rumbles in Taldane, then repeats himself in the tongue of dragons, Chelaxian, and Infernal.

Well, I'm not going to burn through out wand to heal all the wound points, but I need to get out of the Wounded state to keep from dying if I try to walk. that's going to require 14 charges. Technically it's possible to roll poorly enough that I'll still be short on Vigor, so here it goes:

[roll0]

[TheOneHawk]

The Fey pauses in its yells for a moment, then begins again in what sounds like a similar but definitely different language.

The Fey is now speaking Elven. His anger makes much of what he says difficult to understand, but the general gist is a demand to be released and a large amount of cursing.

[Suichimo]

Trace perks up as he hears the fey talk. "Hey, guys, I can understand it. He wants us to let him go, and I think he said something about our mothers."

[stack]

"If it thinks we are letting it go, then I must have squeezed too hard."

[Bhaakon]

Cato

Still not feeling himself, Cato quickly throws together a pair of healing infusions to take the edge off his fatigue. Given his excessive use of the wand for which he contributed so little money, he dares not continue to burn through its limited reservoir of healing for.

When he's finally collected himself, he turns to trace. "Since you seem to be able to understand its yammering, would you mind communicating the seriousness of its situation? "We've spent a great deal here in time, blood, and magic. I fear that I'll not leave this glade without some recompense from this scrawny blackguard. I'd prefer information, but if I'm forced to retreat from here empty-headed, I will not go empty-handed.""

Then he breaks open his pack and begins removing the cooking implements, setting down his biggest stew pot (not terribly large, considering that it has to travel), and cautiously testing the edge of his cleaver and boning knife with his thumb. Once he's convinced that don't need further honing, he turns towards the fey. "If the thing has no further comment beyond obscene suggestions regarding out maternal parentage, I'll begin the harvesting. You'd be surprised how many fascinating uses have been found for this first worlders. The blood is a key ingredient in lust-inducing tonics. The leather is sought after for inscribing scrolls of enchantment. The gal bladder is useful in healing draughts, of which we'll be needing many. I've even heard that their rendered fat makes an excellent base for enchanted cosmetics. It will have to be dismembered to fit in the pot, of course. Would someone mind fetching some firewood?"



Cato's not actually that great at intimidation, but still. I'll burn an inspiration point for it.

[roll0] plus [roll1]

healing vitality: [roll2]

[Suichimo]

Well, friend, I can certainly let you go, but the only place you'll have to run to is that pot. All of us here are connoseurs of "exotic" meats... and if we don't find anything particularly satisfying, I'm certain if we boil you long enough we can find a "use" for you. Of course, none of this has to happen if you help us out with our reason for coming here. So what will it be, help or soup?"

Intimidate: [roll0]

[TheOneHawk]

The Fey takes a worried glance towards the pot, then looks behind him towards the monoliths, before squeaking out a frantic No soup! No soup! King of Roses will punish your trespassing, best for you if you let me go and just leave all peaceful like. I'm trying to help you, see? Can I go now?" He tries a winning smile but his teeth are black and pointed and the overall effect is far from charming.

[stack]

"I think we need to know a bit about this rose king and my he is attacking the workers, eh? Maybe reason can yet prevail." Boring, but profitable.

[Suichimo]

"No soup, eh? Darn, and here I enjoy breadsticks. However, I'll help myself to a helping of help. What is there to know about this 'King'? As for letting you go, provide enough benefit to us, without screwing us over, and you'll leave in one piece."

[TheOneHawk]

"King of Roses is king of whole valley! You are trespassing in his domain and he is displeased! You shall be punished! Cut and chop!" The Fey struggles violently for a moment, but finds no more success than its previous attempts. It snorts and glares up at Trace. "This is his home. You should apologize, then leave and never come back!"

[Suichimo]

Trust me, there are far scarier things to displease than some would be "King". You still haven't answered why you killed the workers, surely a few walking trees would've scared them away. So what I need from you is some real information on your pathetic "King" and information on the workers. If none is provided, I'll let Hugzilla have his way with you.

[Bhaakon]

Cato

Reluctantly, Cato beings re-packing his cutlery as Trace translate the conversation. He stops when the conversations turns to a suggestion of apology, snorting out a derisive laugh.

"Apologize? I think not. If your 'Rose King' has a legitimate claim on this vale, then he should have sent a diplomat to communicate his grievances to the men in charge of the road crew, not a raiding party to murder a team of simple laborers. His actions were those of a wanton bandit, not a regal sovereign. Perhaps he can still rectify that error by apologizing to us before he reaps the assure destruction that he has sewn, but most certainly not the other way round."

[TheOneHawk]

"King of Roses does not answer to you! You have questions, you request an audience! I can help with that, you know... if you let me go. He once again flashes his black, pointed smile at Trace.

[Suichimo]

"Finally, we're getting somewhere with you. If you take us to your King, we'll absolutely let you go. So, it looks like we have a deal. You take us to your King and, then, we'll let you go." Trace gives a smile back.

[TheOneHawk]

With a wicked grin the Fey nods. "I take you right away. Stairs to his chambers between the giant rocks! We go!"

[Suichimo]

Ok, Lizardfolk and gentlemen, we've got our way. Let's head out and meet this Rose King for ourselves."

[Bhaakon]

Cato

Slowly, Cato nods his agreement and finishes packing his pot and knives. "Just make sure he doesn't lead us into a pit of spikes or some other devious trap. The fey may be largely devoid of deep introspection, but they make up for it in deviousness." He grumbles, carefully watching where their captive leads.

Perception for traps: [roll0] (includes +3 for trapfinding ability, plus [roll1] free inspiration.

[stack]

"Shouldn't we send an update or message back? Seems this is a fairly important bit of information. Not sure how without walking."

[Suichimo]

Trace ponders for a bit. "Cato? Got any message-y spells in that casting catalogue of yours?"

[Bhaakon]

Cato

"I fear not." Cato answers back, keeping his attention on the trail. "Normally I'd offer a street urchin a silver coin to run a coded message back to my employer, but clearly that approach is more practical in Egorian. Perhaps we should look into a homing pigeon the next time we're in town. That's how rustics usually communicate over distances, is it not?"

[Suichimo]

Trace looks puzzled. "I have no idea. If I need a message passed along, I use my Travelogue. However, we were asked to keep this quiet so I don't think broadcasting a message to my entire order is all that advised. Plus, I don't even know if any of us are in the area."

[stack]

"We don't have a runner and no magic, so let's just make sure we don't die before getting back. This audience should be something worth reporting and we are on a schedule, so let's go."

[TheOneHawk]

Continuing onwards you pass between the bleeding monoliths and walk down the spiral staircase. The natural stone steps lead down more than thirty feet before ending in a small chamber with a low ceiling. An elegant pair of oak double doors stands closed opposite the stairs, with a much plainer door off to the side. The walls are about seven feet high, composed of unworked stone and covered with patches of phosphorescent fungus lighting the room. The double doors to the north are carved with the image of a field of roses being tended by a regal looking Fey bearing a crown upon his brow.

[stack]

"Nice place. Anything we need to know to not get him in an 'off-with-their-heads' mood?"

[TheOneHawk]

The Fey gestures towards the double doors. "That way to feast hall, King's chambers just past there. I think he won't accept audience unless you free me and I go speak to him first. Yes?"

[Suichimo]

"Don't think we're going to let one of our chips get away that easily. If you're really what will let us have an audience with him, he'll give it to us whether your free or just upon the promise of your freedom."

[TheOneHawk]

The sprite shakes his head violently. "You want audience, let me free. You want fight, hold me prisoner. King of Roses will not abide this in his realm!"

[Suichimo]

Trace squats down so that he is eye level with the fey. "Your king has already, seemingly, killed a few hapless workers for entering his kingdom. Why would we believe he would do otherwise for us, who have entered his kingdom with weapons brandished and that has already killed his guards."

[TheOneHawk]

"That's why I'm here! You don't listen! Like I said, Door that way." The Fey points towards the double doors, no longer attemping any struggles and simply pouting that you won't free him.

[stack]

Dorn looks at Cato, "What do you think? Untie him to make this go smoother, or will he just rabbit?"

[Vhaidara]

Nalin Fiendsoul (https://www.heroforge.com/load_config=265116), the Fallen Mystic

Nalin gives the little fey a long, cold look.
Do you give us your word that you will help us to gain an audience with your king, and will not attempt to betray or deceive us in any way? With the understanding that should you choose to violate your oath, we will have no alternative left to us than to end your life?
His one is flat. The tone of a promise, as opposed to an empty threat.

Not really going for an intimidate, since this is a straight up demand. But I'll roll it anyways. And rolling Sense Motive on his response, whatever it may be.
Intimidate: [roll0]
Sense Motive: [roll1]

[TheOneHawk]

Hearing the translation of Nalin's question, the sprite nods its head vigourously. Yes, yes! I promise on the Mother Rose I will not do any betraying or deceiving! Stop standing around, let's go meet the King!"

Moving through the double doors, you enter into a large chamber. Running down the middle of the room is a huge table, flanked on either side by ten toadstool chairs. A banquet of roasted meats, steamed turnips, and hearty breads rests on the table, set upon plates of gold. The feast appears to have been abandoned, likely due to your intrusion. Opposite the main entrance is a dense wall of roses, and you can hear the sounds of laughter and merriment from the other side. The sprite points at the rose wall and says "King's chamber right there! Let me go to speak with him!"

[stack]

"Well, this should prove interesting, one way or another. Go ahead, introduce us."

[TheOneHawk]

As soon as Dorn releases his hold on the Fey, he scarpers off fast as lightning towards the rose wall, quickly disappearing through it as though it weren't even there. As soon as he passes through the wall, you hear the laughter stop and a muffled conversation begin, though they are no longer speaking a language you can understand. After a short time, a Fey who's voice you do not recognize yells out at you in Common. "The King does not grant audience to those who do not bring him gifts! I hear roots are in season this time of year. He also does not receive those who do not have the blessing of his mother. Return with these and the King will consider your request, though your violent intrusion is certainly not appreciated."

[stack]

"Wants to give us the runnaround, eh? Should be bother, or should we make a statement about who has the power around here?"

[Bhaakon]

"Well now, I suppose the answer is 'both'." Cato belatedly replies to Dorn's question.

Roots? Of what sort? Cato asks with a tone somewhere between a sneer and true curiosity. Fey were a strange lot, but certainly they had more than their share of roots out here. "And this 'Mother,' I take it is one and same as 'Mother Rose,' correct? Could you provide directions."

Dorn was almost certainly correct about being given the runaround, but the only way to be sure would to keep the new voice talking.

Sense motive: [roll0] plus [roll1]

[TheOneHawk]

"You may retrieve roots from our garden, though you must ensure that you bring the largest and bitterest roots, no others are fit for the King. The Mother Rose is in her chamber, only those who return with her blessing may enter. No more questions, begone until you return with proper gifts for the King!" The voice from behind the wall sounds very annoyed by your questions, and you can briefly hear the sound of something striding away from you afterwards.

The voice seems honest if irritated as far as Cato can tell.

Also, like a derp I forgot to mention two of the doors in this chamber. My bad. On both the right and left hand wall there's a small door halfway down the room. I'll get a battlemap up of the area you've explored.

[stack]

"I already want to just smack some sense into him, but I guess we can play along. Which door, do you think?"

[Suichimo]

Right is always right. Probably shouldn't go by that as often as I do, but what the hell.

[Bhaakon]

Right is always right? Preposterous.

But it's not like Cato has anything more concrete to go on, so he gives the right-hand door a thorough examination. When he's through, he turns to the others. "Would one of you mind doing the honors? I've had quite enough of leading the charging for one day, thank you." He shuffles to the back of the group, still wincing a little as each step rattles his half-healed rib cage.

Why is mythweavers down every time I want to make a check in this game!:smallmad:

Oh well, perception for traps is probably better left behind the DM screen anwyay.

[TheOneHawk]

Cato gives the door a thorough look over, but doesn't find anything indicating it is any more than a fairly standard door of wood, likely Oak judging from its appearance. As Cato backs off to stand behind the less damaged members of the group, the door is opened revealing what must be the root garden previously mentioned by the Fey. Thick and gnarled roots dangle from the ceiling of this room, some of them reaching down to small puddles on the floor. The rich scent of upturned earth is heavy in this chamber. The south wall of the room has another, similar door and all of you can hear a faint buzzing sound emanating from behind it.

[stack]

"Strange place. Why bother with demanding a gift if it is taken from your own garden? Smells like a trap." Dorn grumbles, heading toward the buzzing sound.

[Bhaakon]

Cato follows the others into the root garden, careful not to muddy his boots to badly in the numerous puddles. Seeing Dorn wander towards the sound of buzzing, he immediately speaks and objection. "Let us see if the regal root can be found here before poking the nearest wasp nest, shall we?" He asks rhetorically, then begins examining the 'garden' for a likely harvest.

"What are these anyway, some sort of tubers? A rhizome? Or do they just eat the roots?" He mumbles to no one in particular, trying to recall anything he'd read about such plants.

Knowledge (nature) to recall something about the roots? [roll0] plus [roll1]
Or, since they're food, perhaps Profession (cook) to pick out a good one: [roll2] plus [roll3]

Edit: hmm, Screwed up the first roll with the spoiler tags somehow

[TheOneHawk]

As Cato inspects the roots, he finds there are several varieties here, none of which he would consider edible. However he does note that they are all commonly eaten by various forest dwelling animals. While all of them are known to have bitter flavours and mildly toxic effects, Cato has little difficulty in discerning which root is likely to be the bitterest of the lot.

[stack]

"Maybe we try the other door, ask his mother what root he likes. Rather not sample them to find the bitterest."

[Bhaakon]

"Yes, a solid plan." Cato concurs, gingerly rising up to his feet after examining the last of the roots. "There's a wide variety of species here, and none of them fit for consumption by civilized folk. Any ill-informed selection is bound to be the wrong one."

Brushing the dirt off his pants, Cate makes his way back into the previous room and to the opposite door, giving it a good looking-over before opening it.

perception! [roll0] plus [roll1]

[Suichimo]

"So now we're looking for Mama Fey? This is probably safer than what I would've done alone, though."

[Bhaakon]

As he's leaving the 'garden', Cato's shuffling feet catch on a particularly treacherous root, nearly sending him sprawling and yanking a goodly portion of plant material out of the muck in the process. "What's this?" He mutters, examine the freshly exposed mass near the end of the root he'd stumbled over. "Hmm, looks like...yes, yes, this might do. I certainly wouldn't feed it to anyone more discriminating than a starving sow, but I can't imagine there's anything in here more bitter than this."

He cuts it loose with his dagger, then stuffs it into his pack as quickly as possible. "Why, the smell alone is enough to rankle my palate."

[TheOneHawk]

Root in hand, you leave the Fey's garden and cross the feast hall once again to get to the opposite door. As you pass the table, it's plain to see that at least half of the vegetables on the table are in fact roots prepared in various ways, set upon the golden plates next to the carved meats which you realize include a plate with several human fingers upon it and several bones stripped of the flesh directly beside.

All the meat on the table is human, though only Cato would recognize it as such aside from the fairly obvious fingers due to Profession: Cook.

Passing the table, you find nothing abnormal about the door, it is again a simple oaken door without any frills. Opening the door you find yourself in a surprisingly bright room. There are several obvious air holes and tunnels designed to allow as much natural light as possible in. There are twelve small, perfectly trimmed and groomed rose bushes growing here, each within a circle of ancient looking runes. On the far side of the room there is a pool of water that shimmers more brightly than it probably should, even considering the higher than normal light levels.

[Bhaakon]

With the severed fingers as a hint, Cato can't help but recognize the remaining cuts of meat as human. It's probably something that bears mentioning in time, but perhaps not until they figure out what's going on here. Everyone was already on edge, and there is a limit to how much stress a mind can take at a time like this. Hopefully no one decides to grab a snack.


Once they're through the door and into the next space, he pauses. "Something odd about this place. Probably shouldn't touch anything until we figure out what those runes are for..."


Not really sure what to role to ID the runes. Linguistics is +4, Spellcraft +13, arcana is +11 [roll0]

[stack]

Dorn looks at Cato, having already come to trust him in such matters. "Anything?"

[Bhaakon]

"Hmm...Yes, I believe these runs are associated with transmutation magics, but anything more specific than that is beyond me." He answers with obvious frustration. "All I can say is that there's a good chance that they're no simple rosebushes."

[stack]

"Well, simple would have been a disappointment. I suppose lighting a fire is right out. Pool looks odd, yeah?"

[Suichimo]

"Um... are those fingers? Well, I'm pretty sure I don't care about being polite in this "king's" realm anymore."

[stack]

"We can always just try the direct approach. I'm not getting near that pool until we know more about it and I don't trust this king to do anything but try to kill us regardless of what we do."

[Suichimo]

"Direct? Direct is good." Trace says as his eyes light up. He then puts his bag on the ground and starts digging around in it and after a little bit pulls out a small ram, the perfect size for two people to beat the crap out of a door with. "This direct enough? It may be roses, but it is still a wall."

[Bhaakon]

"A reasonable backup plan, I think, but let us at least attempt to figure out a way to meet with this 'Mother' that doesn't result in property damage." Cato fishes a ladle out of his cooking kit and makes for the pool of strangely illuminate water. "Perhaps watering the flowers?" He asks rhetorically, and scoops out some water with the utensil. If nothing untoward happens to his ladle, he'll carry it over to the nearest rose bush and pour the water over it.

[TheOneHawk]

As Cato approaches the pool, it quickly becomes obvious why it seems so unnaturally shiny, it has had thousands of silver coins and small trinkets of silver dropped into it. Much of it has tarnished with time, but the top layer is still shiny and new looking, obviously fairly recently added to the pile. Additionally, a door comes into view leading to the north that was previously hidden by an outcropping of stone.

If you still do the ladle and rose thing, nothing in particular happens.

[Bhaakon]

Seeing the silver, Cato immediately stows his ladle. "There's a veritable mint in here." He gestures at the silver-laden pool. "I don't suppose anyone can spare a few silvers for an experiment?"

[stack]

Dorn shrugs and pulls a coin from his purse. He holds it up, looks at Cato for confirmation, then sends it flipping into the pool.

[TheOneHawk]

The coin sails through the air and lands in the pool with a soft -plop- sound before sinking swiftly to the bottom and coming to a rest inside a small silver teacup.

[stack]

"Honestly, not the worst way I've ever squandered a silver."

[Bhaakon]

"Yes, well, care to make a wish?" Cato answers, a bit testy at the failure of his hypothesis. "Perhaps that whatever is on the other side of that door will answer if we knock."

And knock is precisely what Cato does. Three brisk knuckle taps.

[TheOneHawk]

There is no response to Cato's knocks, the only sound being the muffled conversation and laughter that can still be heard from the King's chambers.

[stack]

"Okay, I wish I could strangle the 'king' and burn this place down." Dorn gestures Cato aside and tries opening the door, giving it a solid shoulder if needed.

[TheOneHawk]

The door opens easily, leading into an obviously well traveled tunnel about four feet wide that winds overall towards the north for a short distance, before emerging into a large, brightly illuminated room. In the centre of the room is the largest rose bush any of you have ever seen, easily twenty feet in height and even more than that across. It appears to be somewhat enshrined within this room. There are a handful of fully matured roses scattered over the plant, with many more not yet having reached maturity. Far more than the roses, however, are the thorns, each nearly a foot long and appearing to be wickedly sharp.

You notice that throughout the bush, there are many places that seem like they should end in a flower, but it has been picked.

[stack]

"You know, these ain't exactly normal people around here. Crazy idea, but you think he calls this big flower his mother? The roses and the locals seems awful connected. Then again, I've been hit in the head a lot in my life."

[Suichimo]

"Well, I believe he did mention Mother Rose. So you could be right." Trace checked out into a quick thought and then snapped back, "Oh, and don't let the brain damage concern you too much.

[Bhaakon]

"An interesting hypothesis, though it does leave one wondering who we're supposed to communicate with a rosebush." Not seeing an obvious alternative, Cato shrugs and turns to address the overgrown shrub directly. "Ahem. Mother Rose, I presume? We have been dispatched by representatives of the King of Roses to seek your blessings for a royal audience."

[TheOneHawk]

Seemingly in reaction to your words, the massive bush begins to slowly shift. The roses retreat deeper inside the bush and the branches twist to bring the thorns to the forefront, creating a shell of blades across the entire outside.

[Bhaakon]

"Oh bloody hells." Cato mutters upon the bush's not-so-subtle rejection. "Maybe it wants a bribe. Water, maybe manure?" He asks no one in particular. Gardening was all the rage among the Egorian elite--or at least employing skilled gardners--but it had been years since he'd bothered to look into the subject.

Still, something about the enormous plant jogged his memory. Maybe a snippet of conversation overheard at a gardenparty, or a passage in a half-forgotten book. "Oh-ho. I know you know. A Queen Rose. The flowers never wilt. Worth, well, a queen's ransom." He remarks, finally recognizing the plant. "It would be a shame if we had to turn around here, nothing to show for our efforts but an armful of blooms. Profitable, of course, but I'd much rather keep my word and complete the mission assigned to us."

Knowledge nature to ID the thing, or provide some insight into what it might like. [roll0] and free inspiration [roll1]

[stack]

"My stupid ideas are brilliant. Ha!" Quieter, "If bribes don't work, there's always torches."

[Suichimo]

"See, I told you not to worry about the brain damage. It builds character. As for this stubborn rose chick, fire is always fun to play around with and I've seen some roses than can stand some VERY instense fire."

[roll0]

[TheOneHawk]

The talk of torches and fire has no noticeable effect upon the queen rose, except perhaps to cause it to slowly twist its branches around the flowers, as if to protect them.

[Bhaakon]

Cato

"The hard way it is, then." Cato sighs. "Does anyone have a tool more appropriate for pruning than my rapier?"

[stack]

"Daggers, silver and cold iron." Dorn shrugs. "Mostly I don't use them."

[Suichimo]

"I don't have a dagger nor do I have anything made of silver or cold iron. I've just got this, Maric waves his glaive around. "If anyone has any silver pieces, we can always pelt her like a cheap whore.

[stack]

"Silver cheap? We know different people."

[Bhaakon]

"Well, then , I suppose daggers will have to do. Maybe it's as allergic to cold iron as the fey are..." Cato pulls out his own short blades and activates the magic in the enchanted garment, transforming his normal kid-leather dueling gloves into a thick pair of iron smith's hand protectors. This prepared, he reaches in and attempts to prune his way to the blooms.

After all this trouble, I'm going to empty that wishing pond on the way out.

[TheOneHawk]

Cato reaches into the bush, carefully dodging through the various thorns that inch towards his arms and quickly severs the nearest rose from the plant. Aside from one narrow miss on his way back that gets deflected by the edge of his hardened gloves, he manages to retrieve the rose without either it or himself sustaining any damage.

[stack]

"Root, flower, let's go walk into a trap then."

[TheOneHawk]

Upon returning to the feast room and approaching the rose wall with your root and flower the wall of roses slowly parts to reveal a towering throne of oak, decorated with twisting rose vines. A majestic figure, clad in the finest silks with a crown of roses upon his brow, sits on the throne. Throughout the room are at least a dozen sprites armed with readied bows and a pair of slightly larger ones with swords in front of the King. As you enter, he looks up with cold contempt. “Leave your offering with the door sprite, now tell me why have you come here and interrupted by feast?”

[Bhaakon]

Cato matches the puffed-up Fey's sneer with one of his own, and makes the slightest hint of a bow before diving into an explanation. "Why, we're here to head off a war, of course. Surely you are aware that your overzealous subjects ambushed and exterminated a team of laborers working on a road through this valley. I assume that they merely acted out of haste before you could be informed and dispatch a diplomatic delegation. Well, rest assured that earlier unpleasantness may be overlooked if we come to a negotiated arrangement."

Or you were just hungry and sent your men to hunt up some human meat, in which case we'll burn your court to the ground.

[TheOneHawk]

The King laughs derisively at Cato's words. "An negotiated arrangement? With you? Boy, the only reason you've been left alive is you brought the offerings and I have decided to be merciful. You, and the fools who came before you, are trespassing in my land and I will not have it. I will not stop killing the worthless scum who come into my land and defile it."

[Suichimo]

"Ha! Mercy is the only reason we're still alive? Mercy isn't what killed your guards above us. There is no mercy that you could give that would protect us and none that you could give that we would accept. We have offered you a way out of this situation, I suggest you take it."

[TheOneHawk]

The king's expression darkens as he turns his gaze towards Trace. "Are you threatening me? That's adorable." His mouth turns up into a sneer as he gestures towards the armed Fey that surround him. "You are in no position to make threats, child. I am not in any kind of 'situation' and I have no need of a way out. This is my home, you came here and killed my people. I should kill you where you stand. Now kneel and thank me for my mercy or I may just do so!"

[Suichimo]

"What's adorable is your face. It's this wonderful blend of man... and woman. Trace chuckles and then returns to a more serious demeanor. "Unfortunately for you, we're going to have to screw it up. Also, if you were capable of killing us, we'd be dead right now. After all, we've commited such grievous offenses to His Majesty, a pathetic, would be "king" who can't even defend his realm or subjects. I think it's high time we tore down his throne and watched it BURN!"

Intimidation: [roll0]

[TheOneHawk]

The Rose King spits and draws his rapier, pointing it at Trace. "You so clearly wish for death, I will gladly give it to you. Guards, kill these intruders. I have no further interest in their antics."

[Suichimo]

"Like I said, a pathetic, would be "king" who can do nothing more than hide behind his lackeys!" Trace shifts his stance to a more fluid state and rushes forward.

Adopt the Formless Dance stance and then charge from Y16 to Y11, provoking no AoO, with Savage Drive against the Fey King.

Attack: [roll0]
Crit Confirm: [roll1]
Weapon Damage: [roll2]
Crit Weapon Damage: [roll3]
Savage Drive Damage: [roll4]

[TheOneHawk]

The king laughs at Trace as he sidesteps the wild swing. "I do not hide behind anyone, child. Their loyalty and obedience are why they stand in front of me. What would your fellows to do help you if you were in need, I wonder?" With a sweep of his hands, the king causes a massive wall of roses to stretch across the chamber, cutting the rest of the party off from Trace.

As he speaks the archers lining the walls fire off a barrage of arrows at Trace, though only two of the arrows actually make it through his thick armour with the rest either whizzing past or bouncing harmlessly off the thick metal. The two Fey in front of the king drop into a combat stance and shift position to flank Trace. The one to his right goes for a simple stab that is turned away by Trace's breastplate, but the other sprite aims instead for his weapon, attempting to disarm Trace before being momentarily frightened into abandoning the attempt when he turns with dark energy lashing out towards towards her.


F1:
Attack 1 [roll0]
Attack 2 [roll1]
Crit 1 [roll2]
Crit 2 [roll3]
Damage 1 [roll4]
Damage 2 [roll5]
Crit damage 1 [roll6]
Crit damage 2 [roll7]
Fort save 1 [roll8]
Fort save 2 [roll9]
F2:
Attack 1 [roll10]
Attack 2 [roll11]
Crit 1 [roll12]
Crit 2 [roll13]
Damage 1 [roll14]
Damage 2 [roll15]
Crit damage 1 [roll16]
Crit damage 2 [roll17]
Fort save 1 [roll18]
Fort save 2 [roll19]
F3:
Attack 1 [roll20]
Attack 2 [roll21]
Crit 1 [roll22]
Crit 2 [roll23]
Damage 1 [roll24]
Damage 2 [roll25]
Crit damage 1 [roll26]
Crit damage 2 [roll27]
Fort save 1 [roll28]
Fort save 2 [roll29]
F4:
Attack 1 [roll30]
Attack 2 [roll31]
Crit 1 [roll32]
Crit 2 [roll33]
Damage 1 [roll34]
Damage 2 [roll35]
Crit damage 1 [roll36]
Crit damage 2 [roll37]
Fort save 1 [roll38]
Fort save 2 [roll39]
F5:
Attack 1 [roll40]
Attack 2 [roll41]
Crit 1 [roll42]
Crit 2 [roll43]
Damage 1 [roll44]
Damage 2 [roll45]
Crit damage 1 [roll46]
Crit damage 2 [roll47]
Fort save 1 [roll48]
Fort save 2 [roll49]
F6:
Attack 1 [roll50]
Attack 2 [roll51]
Crit 1 [roll52]
Crit 2 [roll53]
Damage 1 [roll54]
Damage 2 [roll55]
Crit damage 1 [roll56]
Crit damage 2 [roll57]
Fort save 1 [roll58]
Fort save 2 [roll59]
F7:
Attack 1 [roll60]
Attack 2 [roll61]
Crit 1 [roll62]
Crit 2 [roll63]
Damage 1 [roll64]
Damage 2 [roll65]
Crit damage 1 [roll66]
Crit damage 2 [roll67]
Fort save 1 [roll68]
Fort save 2 [roll69]
F8:
Attack 1 [roll70]
Attack 2 [roll71]
Crit 1 [roll72]
Crit 2 [roll73]
Damage 1 [roll74]
Damage 2 [roll75]
Crit damage 1 [roll76]
Crit damage 2 [roll77]
Fort save 1 [roll78]
Fort save 2 [roll79]
F9:
Attack 1 [roll80]
Attack 2 [roll81]
Crit 1 [roll82]
Crit 2 [roll83]
Damage 1 [roll84]
Damage 2 [roll85]
Crit damage 1 [roll86]
Crit damage 2 [roll87]
Fort save 1 [roll88]
Fort save 2 [roll89]
F10:
Attack 1 [roll90]
Attack 2 [roll91]
Crit 1 [roll92]
Crit 2 [roll93]
Damage 1 [roll94]
Damage 2 [roll95]
Crit damage 1 [roll96]
Crit damage 2 [roll97]
Fort save 1 [roll98]
Fort save 2 [roll99]
F11:
Attack 1 [roll100]
Attack 2 [roll101]
Crit 1 [roll102]
Crit 2 [roll103]
Damage 1 [roll104]
Damage 2 [roll105]
Crit damage 1 [roll106]
Crit damage 2 [roll107]
Fort save 1 [roll108]
Fort save 2 [roll109]
F12:
Attack 1 [roll110]
Attack 2 [roll111]
Crit 1 [roll112]
Crit 2 [roll113]
Damage 1 [roll114]
Damage 2 [roll115]
Crit damage 1 [roll116]
Crit damage 2 [roll117]
Fort save 1 [roll118]
Fort save 2 [roll119]

MF1:
Maneuver [roll120]
Successful disarm and move action to pick up weapon, provokes AoO but Trace has no weapon with which to take it and does not have IUS.

MF2:
Attack [roll121]
Crit [roll122]
Damage [roll123]
Crit damage [roll124]

Trace Knowledge Martial for stance (both in same stance) [roll125] Scarlet Einhander Stance, MF1 maneuver [roll126] Blade of Breaking (disarm)

The wall is a Wall of Thorns (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/w/wall-of-thorns) with a lower DC to move through than normal.

[Suichimo]

"Hahaha, loyalty and obedience? How could anyone afford a man of your stature such valuable commodities? Even now you hide behind your soldiers while claiming the opposite! It's time yo-" Trace proclaims as he disappears from view. Reappearing behind the "king" Trace's speech continues uninterrupted as his glaive comes arcing toward the head fey. "-u realize you can't run and hide any longer!"

Trace initiates Taunting Laugh against the Fey King as a swift action.

Demoralize: [roll0] vs. 10+HD+Wis.

If successful, the King is shaken for 1 round, plus another round for every 5 I beat the DC by and is flatfooted until the end of my next turn.

Teleport to V8 and attack the Fey King.

Attack: [roll1]
Crit Confirm: [roll2]
Damage: [roll]1d10+3[/rollp
Crit Damage: [roll3]


"Hey, guys, the quicker you can get through that wall the better. Along with the "king" there are two students of the Scarlet Throne on here!"

[stack]

Dorn grits his teeth and plunges through the wall, quickly taking stock and grabbing a nearby guard by the throat.

swift for turtle style (already in steel coils stance

move to AA14
grapple [roll0]
[roll1] damage
"Ah, my kind of diplomacy. Kind of you to leave some for us."

[Bhaakon]

Cato reaches for a vial from his belt. He stares at it for a long second, trying to decide if what it promised was worse than trying to fight through a bramble of dagger-sized thorns. It's a close argument, but a short one. He pops loose the stopper and downs the wretch, chunky brew with a single gagging gulp.

And immediately begins retching. At first they come up in ones and twos, the hairy little eight-legged horrors, but soon enough it's a stream of them. Spiders pouring out of Cato's gaping maw by the scores, hundreds. All the while Cato stares daggers at the offending king of Fey court. "You're going to pay for this indignity, you pompous blowhard. And you as well, Trace. You had to provoke him beyond reason.

Standard action to cast Vomit Swarm (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/v/vomit-swarm) into V/W-14/15

[Vhaidara]

Nalin Fiendsoul, the Fallen Mystic

Nalin looks at the thorns, and shakes his head.
Nope.

[TheOneHawk]

As Trace teleports behind the King, he momentarily looks lost before glancing behind him and seeing Trace's weapon speeding towards him just in time to dodge out of the way. Hey, that's a nice trick. Shame you don't know how to aim, though! Here, let me demonstrate. He lunges at Trace with his rapier but despite his bravado, his blade is easily turned away by the thick armour. He is quickly joined by the other two Fey who gang up on Trace, with one wrenching the polearm from his grasp and the other picking it up from the ground before Trace can.

The king calls something out that you don't understand and the rest of the sprites turn their attention towards Dorn, peppering him with arrows as he emerges from the wall, though only two of them seem to make any real impact on the man.


F1
Attack 1 [roll0]
Attack 2 [roll1]
Crit 1 [roll2]
Crit 2 [roll3]
Damage 1 [roll4]
Damage 2 [roll5]
Crit Damage 1 [roll6]
Crit Damage 2 [roll7]
Fort Save 1 [roll8]
Fort Save 2 [roll9]

F2
Attack 1 [roll10]
Attack 2 [roll11]
Crit 1 [roll12]
Crit 2 [roll13]
Damage 1 [roll14]
Damage 2 [roll15]
Crit Damage 1 [roll16]
Crit Damage 2 [roll17]
Fort Save 1 [roll18]
Fort Save 2 [roll19]

F3
Attack 1 [roll20]
Attack 2 [roll21]
Crit 1 [roll22]
Crit 2 [roll23]
Damage 1 [roll24]
Damage 2 [roll25]
Crit Damage 1 [roll26]
Crit Damage 2 [roll27]
Fort Save 1 [roll28]
Fort Save 2 [roll29]

F4
Attack 1 [roll30]
Attack 2 [roll31]
Crit 1 [roll32]
Crit 2 [roll33]
Damage 1 [roll34]
Damage 2 [roll35]
Crit Damage 1 [roll36]
Crit Damage 2 [roll37]
Fort Save 1 [roll38]
Fort Save 2 [roll39]

F5
Attack 1 [roll40]
Attack 2 [roll41]
Crit 1 [roll42]
Crit 2 [roll43]
Damage 1 [roll44]
Damage 2 [roll45]
Crit Damage 1 [roll46]
Crit Damage 2 [roll47]
Fort Save 1 [roll48]
Fort Save 2 [roll49]

F6
Attack 1 [roll50]
Attack 2 [roll51]
Crit 1 [roll52]
Crit 2 [roll53]
Damage 1 [roll54]
Damage 2 [roll55]
Crit Damage 1 [roll56]
Crit Damage 2 [roll57]
Fort Save 1 [roll58]
Fort Save 2 [roll59]

F7
Attack 1 [roll60]
Attack 2 [roll61]
Crit 1 [roll62]
Crit 2 [roll63]
Damage 1 [roll64]
Damage 2 [roll65]
Crit Damage 1 [roll66]
Crit Damage 2 [roll67]
Fort Save 1 [roll68]
Fort Save 2 [roll69]

F8
Attack 1 [roll70]
Attack 2 [roll71]
Crit 1 [roll72]
Crit 2 [roll73]
Damage 1 [roll74]
Damage 2 [roll75]
Crit Damage 1 [roll76]
Crit Damage 2 [roll77]
Fort Save 1 [roll78]
Fort Save 2 [roll79]

F9
Attack 1 [roll80]
Attack 2 [roll81]
Crit 1 [roll82]
Crit 2 [roll83]
Damage 1 [roll84]
Damage 2 [roll85]
Crit Damage 1 [roll86]
Crit Damage 2 [roll87]
Fort Save 1 [roll88]
Fort Save 2 [roll89]

F10
Attack 1 [roll90]
Attack 2 [roll91]
Crit 1 [roll92]
Crit 2 [roll93]
Damage 1 [roll94]
Damage 2 [roll95]
Crit Damage 1 [roll96]
Crit Damage 2 [roll97]
Fort Save 1 [roll98]
Fort Save 2 [roll99]

F11
Attack 1 [roll100]
Attack 2 [roll101]
Crit 1 [roll102]
Crit 2 [roll103]
Damage 1 [roll104]
Damage 2 [roll105]
Crit Damage 1 [roll106]
Crit Damage 2 [roll107]
Fort Save 1 [roll108]
Fort Save 2 [roll109]

F12
Attack 1 [roll110]
Attack 2 [roll111]
Crit 1 [roll112]
Crit 2 [roll113]
Damage 1 [roll114]
Damage 2 [roll115]
Crit Damage 1 [roll116]
Crit Damage 2 [roll117]
Fort Save 1 [roll118]
Fort Save 2 [roll119]

King
Attack [roll120]
Crit [roll121]
Damage [roll122]
Crit damage [roll123]

MF1 Moves to pick up weapon if MF2 is successful in Disarm. If not, attacks.
Attack [roll124]
Crit [roll125]
Damage [roll126]
Crit damage [roll127]


MF2 Maneuver [roll128]

[stack]

Dorn charges toward the the only melee guard he can reach, ignoring the pathetic arrows. He aims to get the fey into a proper choke hold.move to X10, swift for grappler gambit, standard to grapple MF2

[roll0]
constrict [roll1]

assuming he doesn't have to worry about AOOs since enemies are wielding bows.

grapple check if missed in melee [roll2]
constrict [roll3]

[Bhaakon]

Cato

Despite the continued gagging, Cato does his best to concentrate on controlling the arachnids. They roll forward, a chitinous tide enveloping the nearest of the fey.


Spiders move 5' NW, should be covering F1 and F2.

Damage F1: [roll0]
Damage F2: [roll1]

Plus poison and distraction. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/vermin/spider/spider-swarm)

[Suichimo]

"Damn it all, give that back!" Trace yells at the fey who stole his weapon. Not feeling confident in his own ability to disarm opponents, at least not in the traditional way, he reconciles with himself and comes away with a new focus. "Fine, if it has to be this way, how about just you and me, King. Mano y mano, hand to hand. Just a straight up, no bull****, asskicking for each side. What say you?"

Diplomacy: [roll0]

[TheOneHawk]

The Rose King burst out laughing at Trace's challenge, shrugging off his punches without so much as flinching. "You wish me to fight you, as an equal? What need have I of that? Really, the fact you consider yourself worthy of such a fight is amusing and slightly insulting." Rather than stabbing again at Trace and attemping to penetrate his thick armour, he conjures a sickly green vapour in his off-hand and touches it to the young man, but as he reaches where he thought Trace was, his image melts away revealing him just out of the king's reach.

Meanwhile, Dorn manages to grapple and get a solid choke hold on his target, who desperately swings her sword at him, barely missing his neck. The other sprite passes off Trace's weapon to a nearby Fey who takes off running through the wall, almost running into Cato as he exits the wall. Another Fey that got caught in Cato's swarm joins him, fleeing the torrent of spiders through the wall, looking slightly green from the effects of the spider swarm.

After passing off Trace's weapon, the sprite that disarmed Trace draws his sword and focuses on hitting Trace in a vital organ with a mighty stab that goes wide while the remaining Fey continue their barrage at Dorn, though only one arrow makes any real impact.



King Touch attack [roll0]
Trace miss chance (low roll is miss) [roll1]
Trace fortitude save [roll2]

MF1
Attack [roll3]
Crit [roll4]
Damage [roll5]
Crit damage [roll6]
Trace miss chance [roll7]

MF2
Attack [roll8]
Crit [roll9]
Damage [roll10]
Crit damage [roll11]

If miss, Dorn Snapping Turtle will hit for 12 damage.

Fey saves vs poison and distraction

F1 vs poison [roll12]
vs distraction [roll13]

F2 vs poison [roll14]
vs distraction [roll15]

Archers
F2
Attack 1[roll16]
Crit 1[roll17]
Attack 2[roll18]
Crit 2[roll19]
Damage 1[roll20]
Crit damage 1[roll21]
Damage 2[roll22]
Crit damage 2[roll23]
Fort Save 1[roll24]
Fort Save 2[roll25]
F3
Attack 1[roll26]
Crit 1[roll27]
Attack 2[roll28]
Crit 2[roll29]
Damage 1[roll30]
Crit damage 1[roll31]
Damage 2[roll32]
Crit damage 2[roll33]
Fort Save 1[roll34]
Fort Save 2[roll35]
F4
Attack 1[roll36]
Crit 1[roll37]
Attack 2[roll38]
Crit 2[roll39]
Damage 1[roll40]
Crit damage 1[roll41]
Damage 2[roll42]
Crit damage 2[roll43]
Fort Save 1[roll44]
Fort Save 2[roll45]
F6
Attack 1[roll46]
Crit 1[roll47]
Attack 2[roll48]
Crit 2[roll49]
Damage 1[roll50]
Crit damage 1[roll51]
Damage 2[roll52]
Crit damage 2[roll53]
Fort Save 1[roll54]
Fort Save 2[roll55]
F7
Attack 1[roll56]
Crit 1[roll57]
Attack 2[roll58]
Crit 2[roll59]
Damage 1[roll60]
Crit damage 1[roll61]
Damage 2[roll62]
Crit damage 2[roll63]
Fort Save 1[roll64]
Fort Save 2[roll65]
F8
Attack 1[roll66]
Crit 1[roll67]
Attack 2[roll68]
Crit 2[roll69]
Damage 1[roll70]
Crit damage 1[roll71]
Damage 2[roll72]
Crit damage 2[roll73]
Fort Save 1[roll74]
Fort Save 2[roll75]
F9
Attack 1[roll76]
Crit 1[roll77]
Attack 2[roll78]
Crit 2[roll79]
Damage 1[roll80]
Crit damage 1[roll81]
Damage 2[roll82]
Crit damage 2[roll83]
Fort Save 1[roll84]
Fort Save 2[roll85]
F10
Attack 1[roll86]
Crit 1[roll87]
Attack 2[roll88]
Crit 2[roll89]
Damage 1[roll90]
Crit damage 1[roll91]
Damage 2[roll92]
Crit damage 2[roll93]
Fort Save 1[roll94]
Fort Save 2[roll95]
F11
Attack 1[roll96]
Crit 1[roll97]
Attack 2[roll98]
Crit 2[roll99]
Damage 1[roll100]
Crit damage 1[roll101]
Damage 2[roll102]
Crit damage 2[roll103]
Fort Save 1[roll104]
Fort Save 2[roll105]
F12
Attack 1[roll106]
Crit 1[roll107]
Attack 2[roll108]
Crit 2[roll109]
Damage 1[roll110]
Crit damage 1[roll111]
Damage 2[roll112]
Crit damage 2[roll113]
Fort Save 1[roll114]
Fort Save 2[roll115]

[stack]

Dorn grunts as an arrow grazes his thigh, but he holds tight, crushing his foe with one hand while pummeling the other.move to grapple to damage [roll0]
damage [roll1]
constrict [roll2]

steel flurry strike [roll3]
damage [roll4]+[roll5]

steel flurry strike [roll6]
damage [roll7]+[roll8]

steel flurry strike [roll9]
damage [roll10]+[roll11]

5' and direct attack at MF1 if needed

[stack]

Dorns punch lands so hard he loses his grip on his foe.crit confirm

[roll0]
damage [roll1]

strike damage not multiplied on a crit

grapple auto-fails on a 1, but the 20 helps me feel better

snapping turtle while I'm rolling [roll2]
damage [roll3]

[Vhaidara]

Nalin Fiendsoul, the Fallen Mystic

Seeing the little fey running out of the wall, Nalin quickly sweeps his staff under the creature's legs before attempting to pummel it into submission.

Flurry, Style Strike on first hit, no Ki point

First Attack, add on Leg Sweep. Free Trip attempt if the attack lands. Future attacks against a tripped enemy are made at +4 to hit
Attack: [roll0]
Crit: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage:[roll3]
CMB: [roll4]

Second Attack
Attack: [roll5]
Crit: [roll6]
Damage: [roll7]
Crit Damage:[roll8]

Third Attack
Attack: [roll9]
Crit: [roll10]
Damage: [roll11]
Crit Damage:[roll12]

[TheOneHawk]

Rocks fall, Nalin dies.

[Bhaakon]

Cato nods and turns away as the rocks crush Nalin to a bloody pulp. He fishes a notebook and charcoal stick from his pack and checks off a name.

"Most satisfactory. This one was easier than I could have hoped." He mutters to himself--an annoying habit, but one he had yet to break himself of. "It would be preferable to do the deed myself, but I suppose the outcome is what's important. At the very least I can finally get myself out of these damnable wilds and into a proper city. I fear I will require a week in the sulfur baths to rid myself of this wretched grime."

As he shuts the little ledger, an observant third part might note the remaining names on the list. Nalin Fiendsoul, Nalin Oniborn, Nalin of the Blackened Soul, Nalin Snakehand...

"Snap to, Dorn. My bag won't carry itself!"

[stack]

Dorn reachs over and breaks Cato's neck with one hand.