Megadungeon A (IC) III

[Malimar]

Endeesy

Before they part ways, Gasket gives Kataun a potion of cure moderate wounds, just in case.

Kataun and Smelborp head out of the Adventurer's Guild! Immediately upon leaving the Guild, Smelborp grows three times as nervous as he was before. He's a wreck on the verge of a panic attack and/or heart attack. When a horse tied up outside the Guild suddenly whickers, Smelborp shrieks in alarm and dives behind Kataun.

They wander into a nearby alleyway, which seems a prime location to trigger an ambush.

Sure enough, when they near the fence at the back of the alley, a voice calls out of the darkness, "This doesn't concern you, Man in Red. Leave the thief to us and you can go unharmed." Kataun can vaguely see at least a few dark-cloaked figures in the alley and on the rooftops.

Smelborp cowers.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun gets excited and actively jump up and down. "Oh! Oh! They called me Man in Red! Sounds so, so, official!"

He tries to settle down and clears his throat. "Ahem hem. Dear Defiance Assassins. So, why kill him?" Kataun grabs Smelborp, and grabs his cheek with the right palm under his chin and then squeeze.

"I mean, look at this face. Is this the face you want everyone to know that you let him steal from you? Don't you think people wonder how incompetent you have to be to lose stuff to this man? So, I have a proposal."

-K

[Malimar]

Endeesy

Kataun's words give the assassins pause. They glance at one another. In the end, one of them in the alley says, "We're listening."

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun looks around. "Well, we might not want to talk so out in open. Maybe, we can go somewhere more private? You must have some kind of secret hideout or something."

-K

[Malimar]

Endeesy

The assassins consider. Murdering Kataun and Smelborp in a secret safehouse would be more convenient than murdering them out in the open in an alley right next to the Adventurer's Guild. So they assent, "Bring the thief to the empty Harbls Expeditions warehouse on Halfling Road in the Slime Docks. We'll be watching you." The assassin blocking the way back out of the alley vanishes into the darkness. Kataun can't see if the ones on the rooftops or at the other end of the alley are still there, there are too many irregular shapes to distinguish humanoid forms from chimneys and garbage cans and whatnot.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun bops Smelborp's head a couple of times. "See? Ask and you shall receive!" Taking his arm with the left hand and holding his weapon in right, Kataun drags Smelborp along and heads to the Harbls Expedisions warehouse.

-K

[Malimar]

Endeesy

On their way to the Slime Docks, Kataun and Smelborp pass an ascetic monk meditating in the street, a street cleric preaching the merits of Urmaggr, several rats, a pair of lepers, and a sly mongrelfolk pimp. They are not interrupted by any further assassins.

The Harbls Expeditions warehouse turns out to be a large warehouse afflicted by five years worth of decrepitude and dereliction. Faded paint above the main door reads "HARBLS EXPEDITIONS". This is the place.


Harbls Expeditions Warehouse

Smelborp hesitantly follows behind Kataun as he enters the warehouse through its main door. Inside: an office, long-abandoned, smells like rat poop and dead rats. File cabinets, desk drawers empty, chair broken. A desiccated rat corpse in a garbage can -- found its way into the garbage can and couldn't find its way out. Nobody here.

Passing through the office, Kataun and Smelborp enter the main warehouse space. Broken crates and pallets lie scattered about. The light is dim, sun coming in through cracks in the ceiling and walls.

They venture out into the middle of the warehouse floor. Kataun still doesn't see anybody here.



###############################
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#.....,..........,.,.......,..╪
#.,......,..■.........,.......╪
#■,...........,..............,#
#■.....,...........,..........#
###|###........sK.....,.......#
#....■#■...,..............,..■#
#.....#,........,.....■......,╪
#πΠ...#......,.........,......╪
#.Π...#■,,.......,.........,..#
#....■#.....■,........■,......#
###|###########################

. = dirty floor
# = wall
╪ = closed door
| = open door
, = bits of broken wood (difficult terrain)
■ = empty crate
Π = desk
π = chair

K = Kataun
s = Smelborp

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Mr Red walks right into the middle of the room, wide steps, wide stance, akimbo, and makes a booming voice, "Hello, anyone 'ere! It is I, Man in Red!"

-K

[Malimar]

Harbls Expeditions Warehouse

Kataun gradually (effectively taking 20 on a Spot check) becomes aware of dim shapes in the shadows that might be crates or or debris or might be people.

Out of the shadows in the middle of the warehouse congeal two humanoid figures. They might have teleported or de-invisibled or just walked out of the shadows, it's hard to tell.

The taller one has a pale, drawn face (he's probably either undead or just very ill), a gleaming mithral breastplate, and a buckler and rapier held loosely in his hands. He defers to the other guy.

The other guy, the man who is not tall, has a ruddy yet pale complexion, green eyes, bald head, and when he speaks, fangs are visible. "Look at me, thief." Smelborp makes the mistake of glancing up at the guy. Smelborp's body language changes: he stiffens. The vampire continues: "Come here and give the ioun stone to me."

Smelborp attempts to break free of Kataun's grasp and walk to the vampire.



###############################
#■,......■a...,....■a.....,...#
#...........,..,...........,.■#
#.....,..........,.,.......,..╪
#.,......,..■.........,.......╪
#■,...........,..............,#
#■....a,...........,..M.......#
###|###........sK....B,.......#
#....■#■...,..............,..■#
#.....#,........,.....■......,╪
#πΠ...#......,.........,......╪
#.Π...#■,,.......,.........,..#
#....■#....a■,.......a■,......#
###|###########################

. = dirty floor
# = wall
╪ = closed door
| = open door
, = bits of broken wood (difficult terrain)
■ = empty crate
Π = desk
π = chair

K = Kataun
s = Smelborp
a = Defiance assassin
B = vampire
M = undead dude

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun attempt to stop Smelborp from casually walking to the fangy gentleman, "Wait wait wait wait waaaaaaait a minute."

Grab and hold, if he gets away, tries to trip him with the guisarme

To Hit touch AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork, possible +1/2 FC):[roll0]
Tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll1]

-K

[Malimar]

Harbls Expeditions Warehouse

In the end, Kataun gets Smelborp firmly held. Smelborp continues to squirm and struggle, but he finds himself unable to get free of Kataun's grasp.

The vampire raises an eyebrow as Kataun struggles with Smelborp. "Worry not, you will be given a fair reward for bringing this thief before me."

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

As he wrestles Smelborp, knocks him down and steps on him to make sure he isn't escaping, he catches the mention of reward, "Reward? Oh really? Hey, stay still, Smorpborp. What kind of reward are we talking here?" He is still occupied trying to subdue the said thief.

-K

[Malimar]

Harbls Expeditions Warehouse

Smelborp squirms under Kataun's foot, trying to crawl to the vampire.

The vampire gestures to his companion, who produces a heavy leather vest from a pack and holds it out. The vest is run through with tiny slivers of iron, which gives it a dull sparkle. "If it is material wealth you seek, this brand-new Iron Heart Vest could be yours once you release the thief to me, as a token of my appreciation."

"Or do you desire something else? More work, another task to test your skills and your mettle? Or do you wish to access the grim secrets of the Defiance? Or perhaps... Mr. Red, have you come to me because you seek freedom from the tyranny of the divine, as I do?"

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"He called me Mr Red! He knows me, he really knows me!" excitedly, Kataun bops Smelborp's head with the butt of the guisarme over and over again.

Mr Red, regaining his composure, "Well, I do seek freedom from all sorts of tyranny, regardless of the source. But eh, I think that's more of the state of mind than anything else. But you know, can I, maybe, have him as a reward? I'd like to keep him as my pet." He continues to bop Smelborp's head.

-K

[Malimar]

Harbls Expeditions Warehouse

The vampire appears impatient with Kataun's shenanigans, and mildly disgusted by his tolerance for the divine. "The tyranny of the so-called gods is not only a state of mind. As long as they meddle in mortal affairs, mortals can experience no true freedom. Perhaps you'll come to see in time."

"What possible use could you have for this thief? ...Never mind, I don't actually care. Maybe I'll let you have him once I'm done with him, if he survives."

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun makes a puzzled face on the comment by the vampire, "But didn't you reverse the Inundation? You must be powerful enough to at least influence your own environment and forge your own path?" He scratches his chin quizzically.

"On the issue of this Smellington, I don't like the sound of 'if he survives'. I don't want you torturing him to death or anything. No dying. He doesn't like that. Not sure if he enjoys being tortured. Sometimes they enjoy it. Do you SmellsLikeTeenSpirit?", Mr Red pokes Smelborp's head. "I don't think he likes it. Can we just make him work or something? I will make sure he'll do your bidding."

-K

[Malimar]

Harbls Expeditions Warehouse


"But didn't you reverse the Inundation? You must be powerful enough to at least influence your own environment and forge your own path?"

"Partially, but Quasxthe stands in the way of a full reversal." He sounds slightly angry. Quasxthe is a priority target for the Defiance for this reason!


"On the issue of this Smellington, I don't like the sound of 'if he survives'. I don't want you torturing him to death or anything. No dying. He doesn't like that. Not sure if he enjoys being tortured. Sometimes they enjoy it. Do you SmellsLikeTeenSpirit?", Mr Red pokes Smelborp's head. "I don't think he likes it. Can we just make him work or something? I will make sure he'll do your bidding."

The vampire makes a gesture, and Smelborp (slightly robotically) says "Yes, I enjoy torture. I want to be tortured to death."

The vampire: "There, you see? Of course he will do my bidding. I need him to tell me all the details of how he stole my ioun stone, and then I need to make an example of him so it never happens again. So release him, take your vest, and be on your way."

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"Oh, so the sea is supposed to go down more? How did the Quasxthe interfare then?" Kataun looks very interested in the details, but Smelborp interfares.

"Hey, you don't sound particularly enthused. OK, so here's the thing. I am sure he will tell you exactly how he stole it, and you'll find it rediculously funny that it was just by pure coincidence that he was able to. He is not a smart man. And you'll make fool of yourself, trying to make an example of him. Really. He's that pathetic.", Mr Red pats Smelborp's head. "So I will tell you what. As I said, he'll give the ioun stone back, and tell you exactly what happened. And then, you'll send me and him out to some quest, and I'll make sure he looks impressive. And everyone actually realizes you just didn't get your stuff stolen by bumbling idiot, but a brilliant thief. And we'll send him off to Omorashi or something so people don't actually find out how patheric he is. All about publicity control."

-K

[Malimar]

Harbls Expeditions Warehouse

Kataun's clever words delay his doom! But the vampire waves his hand dismissively, "That sounds like a waste of time. You are testing my patience. But fine: I'll make sure not to kill the thief when I interrogate him, and you'll get him back whole when I'm done." He taps his foot impatiently. Kataun is treading on rotten ice!

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun squints, and stare at Cofniben? for a good 10 seconds and then pats Smelborp on the head, "OK, so I think this is probably the best deal you got. Just be pathetic and tell everything immediately and cry and beg for forgiveness. He'll probably get bored quickly like that." Kataun let go of Smelborp and walks over to the vampires, and put his arm around Cofniben?'s shoulder.

"So, what's our next plan? I mean, we want to complete the reversal of Inundation, yes? I'm guessing you have a plan. I have to tell you, I am not sure if I like your method, but I can tell you have the heart in the right place.", patting Cofniben?'s chest. "...there's heart in there, I think? Anyways, we can be one of those uneasy partners, working towards the common goal. Besides, I'm the village idiot. They let me get away with things you can't do. You are all powerful mage and thing. We can do good things."

-K

[Malimar]

Harbls Expeditions Warehouse

When Kataun allows Smelborp to go, he scrambles to his feet, walks over to the vampire, and hands over the ioun stone, which the vampire immediately puts into orbit around his head.

When Kataun approaches the vampire, his undead companion moves, stepping forward and grabbing Kataun, keeping him from touching the vampire, and intoning, "No touching."

The vampire looks with distaste at Kataun. "Once Quasxthe is destroyed, reversing the Inundation will be easy. I will consider you for future assignments. For now, if you should happen to attack the cults of Quasxthe or Mirk -- or any other god, for that matter -- bring any surviving priests here, and you will be rewarded. Look for this thief at the Adventurer's Guild tomorrow."

Then the vampire casts a spell, reaching out to touch Smelborp and his undead companion, and pulls all three of them into a rift in reality, teleporting away, leaving Kataun (suddenly freed from the undead guy's grapple) alone in the empty warehouse full of assassins.

Kataun gains 1000XP for solving Smelborp's problem more or less successfully!



###############################
#■,......■a...,....■a.....,...#
#...........,..,...........,.■#
#.....,..........,.,.......,..╪
#.,......,..■.........,.......╪
#■,...........,..............,#
#■....a,...........,..........#
###|###.............K.,.......#
#....■#■...,..............,..■#
#.....#,........,.....■......,╪
#πΠ...#......,.........,......╪
#.Π...#■,,.......,.........,..#
#....■#....a■,.......a■,......#
###|###########################

. = dirty floor
# = wall
╪ = closed door
| = open door
, = bits of broken wood (difficult terrain)
■ = empty crate
Π = desk
π = chair

K = Kataun
a = Defiance assassin

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun looks around the bunch of mooks, "I guess this is it then, gentlemen. It's been pleasure." He takes a bow, and he heads back to the Adventurer's Guild to wait for Smelborp.

I won't be around this weekend. Let me know how the rest of group A is doing (I don't read other threads). If they are still middle of the mess, I'll probably have more personal/story focused actions I will have Kataun do (Was kind of assuming I'd do this while we were waiting for the crafting to be done in Endeesey)
-K

[Malimar]

Endeesy

EDIT: The vampire and his companion did leave behind the novice iron heart vest (Tome of Battle pp149-150) for Kataun to keep.

The assassins permit Kataun to leave the Harbls Expeditions Warehouse without further trouble!

On his way back to the Adventurer's Guild, he passes pigeons, merchants, a swaggering warrior, a minor aristocrat leading around a pack of guards like ducklings, a couple of filthy drow (literally filthy, not just metaphorically filthy), and so on!

The group is still in the middle of a mess, yes. If Kataun went after them now, he'd probably arrive several hours after their current encounter (the trip across town to the warehouse took awhile).

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Mr Red sits back in the adventurer's guild, removes Smelborp's ad, and grab a pint of hard cider and sit back and contemplates...

So, thinking of making a quick visit to Noodleton to interact with NPCs there. Do you think it'll be a day trip with Rocinante?
-K

[Malimar]

Endeesy Adventurer's Guild

Noodleton is about some 30 miles away. On Rocinante, it ought to be about a 6 hour trip there and another 6 hours back. He could go out and come back in one day, but it would be deep into nighttime by the time he got back.

(It's about a 60 mile trip around the coast by sea, so passage booked on a sailing ship would take a bit longer than riding Rocinante.)

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"I'm booorrrrreeeed!" Kataun stands up and exclaims. He flips the sheets of Smelborp's ad he just removed, and start scratching and then pins it back onto the board. It reads, "Smellyboop, stay here and wait for Mr Red." He then runs off to hop onto his trusty mount, and rides off to Noodleton.
Better do something than sit around and do nothing!
-K

[Malimar]

Gus

On the way out of the city by the Home Road, Kataun passes not much unusual, other than six riding dogs and four mules parked outside a tavern.


The first five miles of the trip are quiet and uneventful.


Near the turn-off to the Tiv-Beckett Cold Iron Mine, Kataun passes a farmer, his wife, and his daughter, heading towards Endeesy with a cart full of turnips.


Up the hill towards Serpent Pass, it begins to rain lightly! The muddification of the road slows Rocinante's progress slightly.


Near Serpent Pass, they pass a flock of sheep tended by a shepherd, who eyes them suspiciously.


Past Serpent Pass, the going gets a little easier as the rain eases off (it was a south-of-the-mountain thing, apparently) and the slope stops being up and starts being down.


And then, within five miles of his Noodleton destination, the afternoon sun is low in the western sky and several of the moons are showing themselves. Kataun doesn't see the angelic figure approaching with the small orangeish moon Taw at its back until it is very close!

http://55.media.tumblr.com/878f0995bc7005b5a35e7c521f46f905/tumblr_inline_mpff82xWxY1qz4rgp.jpg

A glorious but menacing angel dives towards Kataun! He is a radiant warrior clad in bright full plate, wielding a greatsword that crackles with divine power! On his head is a blackened and dented helm that doesn't match the rest of his armor.

As he flies in towards Kataun, when he realizes Kataun has spotted him, he announces, his voice angry and flanged, "I will crush you with all the fury and all the hate, monster!"



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,a,,,,,,,,,..KK.,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,.KK.,,,,,,,,
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,,,,,,,,,,,,...,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,...,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,....,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,...,,,,,,,,,,

. = road
, = field of crops (difficult terrain)

K = Kataun on Rocinante
a = angelic figure (flying 30' up)

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun puffs his chest up, "Excuse me, Sir. It is YOU who are the monster! Monster, Monster of Fashion Faux Pas! I, Mr Red, Paragon and Chief Deputy of Fashion will arrest you for the fashion failure!" He readies his polearm for the incoming flying person.

OK, so the aim here is to trip the thing during AoO, make it prone somehow, and then if possible, disarm the helmet without grapple-pin, so we can just remove the helmet off the head (note, in the rule, disarming worn object is possible as long as it's NOT SECURELY ATTACHED, then it can only be disarmed if the target is grappled AND pinned). Because Prone Target has -4 to attack rolls, Disarm should be easier on prone target, that's why I want to trip first. But Kataun will try to disarm even if the trip attempt fails.

Swift Action to spend 1 charge on Brute Gaunetlet to add +2 to melee damage and Strength checks (Including Trip, but not Disarm) Use the standard action, to ready disarm. If Kataun can tell helmet is "securedly attached" and cannot be disarmed without pinning the target, Kataun will try to disarm his weapon. If Kataun thinks the helmet can be disarmed without pinning the target, he'll go directly to disarm helmet. Readied Disarm action goes off RIGHT AFTER AoO goes off for moving thorugh Kataun's Threatened squares. AoO itself will be a trip attack, instead of a regular attack, and Kataun will skip the followup-after-successful-trip attack. Trying not to kill this thing here.

If Kataun thinks Helmet is securely attached...then he will use the readied attack to trip, and if he is already tripped, then attempt to grapple...

Readied Attack:
Opposed Attack Rolls (+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork+4 2-handed weapon, possible +1/2 FC):[roll0]

AoO Trip1:
To Hit Touch AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll1]
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat +2 Morale Brute Gaunt:[roll2]

AoO Trip2:
To Hit Touch AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll3]
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat +2 Morale Brute Gaunt:[roll4]

AoO Trip3:
To Hit Touch AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll5]
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat +2 Morale Brute Gaunt:[roll6]

-K

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun makes ready for the approaching flying guy!


The angelic figure charges Kataun, clearly enunciating a stream of profanities!

When he gets within 20', Kataun comes within the range of his Aura of Menace! Menaced by the angelic figure, Kataun takes a -2 penalty on attacks, AC, and saves for 24 hours or until he successfully hits the angelic guy.

Kataun interrupts the charge with a trip of opportunity! Because the angelic figure flies using his wings, he is trippable, so Kataun successfully tangles his weapon in the guy's wings and throws him to the ground! Which... is a successful hit (despite the penalty from the aura), so Kataun is no longer affected by the Aura of Menace.

Then Kataun's readied action goes off, and he tries to whack the dented helmet off the angelic guy's head! Kataun is too far away for the angelic guy to take advantage of the attack of opportunity and disarming an item worn by the target doesn't allow a counterdisarm, so he doesn't get to do anything. The helmet is neither poorly- nor well-secured, it's just regular secured, so Kataun doesn't get the +4 but he can still do it without grappling. Kataun successfully bonks the helmet off the angelic guy! It goes flying off to the north!

So that worked perfectly! However, the removal of the helmet does not appear to affect the angelic guy other than to make him angrier! He snarls and curses at Kataun!

However, the angelic guy has already used his move and standard to move more than his move speed in his attempt to charge, so his turn is over.



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,,,,,,,,,,,a.KK.,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,.KK.,,,,,,,,
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,,,,,,,,,,,,...,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,....,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,...,,,,,,,,,,

. = road
, = field of crops (difficult terrain)
^ = blackened, dented helmet

K = Kataun on Rocinante
a = angelic figure (prone)

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"Huh." He scratches his bold chin, and contemplates a little bit. "Well then, maybe the thing is so ugly that it just simply needs to be destroyed. Let me see." Kataun maneuvers Rocinante to take a step, and hop off the mount, and attempt to crush the helmet with his polearm with overhead power swing.

5' step N with Rocinante, Fast Dismount as a Free action (DC20, if fail, it's a move action) to north of Rocinante, swift action to spend another charge off of Brute Gauntlet for +2 bonus on melee damage and STR check, and standard action to Mountain Hammer the Helmet ignoring hardness attempting to destroy it. First AoO from Kataun when the Flying Person tries to stand up will be to disarm his weapon. Subsequent AoO will be tripping him again to keep him down.

To Hit Regular-Helmet AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork, possible +1/2 FC):[roll0]
Damage +4x1.5 Str, +2 Morale Brute Gauntlets, possible +1/2 FC:[roll1]
Mountain Hammer Bonus Damage: [roll2]

AoO 1:
Opposed Attack (+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist+4 2-handed weapon,+1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll3]

AoO 2:
To Hit Touch AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist+1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll4]
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat+2 Morale Brute Gauntlets:[roll5]

-K

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun shifts Rocinante north, leaps down from his valiant steed's back, and kerpows against the helmet!

Regular helmet AC? Psh, nonsense, the helmet is totally prone. Regardless, Kataun easily hits the helmet, and puts another hefty dent in it! It is, however, not destroyed.

The angelic dude hisses, "You fool, don't you know how powerful that thing is?"


The angelic figure rises to his feet, and Kataun... rolls exactly the same as him in his disarm attempt. Oh, except the angel's weapon is two-handed, so he gains a +4, so he successfully resists being disarmed!

Then he five-foot steps towards Kataun, which provokes because Kataun is in Thicket of Blades, and the angelic guy rolls very poorly on his check to not be tripped, so he falls on his face in the dirt.

The angelic figure still has a move or standard action left, which he uses to stand up again! This time, the angelic guy beats Kataun by 1, and thus barely retains his grip on his weapon!

"Enough of these shenanigans, face me in a proper fight!"



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,,,,,,,,,,,..K.,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,..rr,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,a.rr.,,,,,,,,
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,,,,,,,,,,,,...,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,...,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,....,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,...,,,,,,,,,,

. = road
, = field of crops (difficult terrain)
^ = blackened, dented helmet

K = Kataun
r = Rocinante
a = angelic figure

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"OK, so let's look at this. You are accusing me, fashion genius," he flips the new cloak into the air, "a monster while you bring that helmet in that outfit. Something is not right, dude. I'm sure you got hit one times too many in that little head of yours, from the look of that helmet. So just stay there still and let me deal with this dented helmet." Kataun hooks the guisarme on the wingy-dude's left ankle and tries to flip it up.

Again, standard action to trip, no extra attack from tripping. Just trying to keep him busy while waiting for Mountain Hammer to come back online. Again, trip if he's standing. Disarm if he's prone.

To Hit Touch AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork, possible +1/2 FC):[roll0]
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll1]

AoO in case of tripping1:
To Hit Touch AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll2]
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll3]

AoO in case of tripping2:
To Hit Touch AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll4]
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll5]

AoO in case of Disarming1:
Opposed Attack(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll6]

AoO in case of Disarming2:
Opposed Attack(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll7]

-K

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun tangles his weapon up in the angelic guy's legs! But the guy does a little dance with his feet and avoids being tripped!


Then the guy attempts to five-foot step towards Kataun, which provokes because of Kataun's stance! Kataun easily trips him this time!

Then the guy, from the ground, grumbles "Balls to this!" and blinks away in a flash of light and aether! A teleportation, or something! (Apparently a Supernatural ability, not Spell-Like, for some reason, so using it doesn't provoke.)


Kataun gains 1200XP! By my calculations, he levels up!



,,,,,,,,,,,....,,,,,,,,,
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,,,,,,,,,,,,.^..,,,,,,,,
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,,,,,,,,,,,..K.,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,..rr,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,..rr.,,,,,,,,
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,,,,,,,,,,,,...,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,...,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,....,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,...,,,,,,,,,,

. = road
, = field of crops (difficult terrain)
^ = blackened, dented helmet

K = Kataun
r = Rocinante

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

By now, Kataun is rather used to teleporting monsters and he merely shrugs. He glances at the dented helmet, and ponders for a second, and using the tip of the polearm, he carefully lift it up, and toss it into Rocinante's Saddlebag. "Do you feel OK there? Any funny business?" he pats Rocinante's head and looks into the horse's eyes, and hops back onto the mount and back to the way to the Noodleton.

-K

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun puts the helmet in a saddlebag. Rocinante appears unaffected. (The helmet shall be item #164.)

Then Kataun heads north again!

Soon, without any further unpleasantness, he reaches the gates of Noodleton! The guards on duty wave him through.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Mr Red makes the royal entrance, gently waving his hands, "Yes people, I have returned!" and he goes off immediately to Viscount's estate.

-K

[Malimar]

Noodleton

Some of the people of Noodleton whisper to each other and point at Kataun as he passes by. Women giggle behind their hands, men hail Mr. Red.

A drunken wino walks beside Rocinante for a minute, slurring and mumbling something along the lines of "thanks for saving the town, yo". Then he stumbles off into an alley to retch.

All in all, the town of Noodleton approves of Kataun's presence!

When Kataun knocks on the door of the Viscount's estate, there is a delay, then dashing young squire Tristram opens the door. "Oh, hey, Mr. Red! We were just about to have dinner, but we can set you a place! Come on in!"

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun sniffs, "Mmmmm, fish? I am starvin!" He rushes into the dining room with his weapon and costume, makes a brief pose as he walks in, "It's me! I have returned!" and finds a chair and sit with a knife and fork in his hands.

-K

[Malimar]

Viscount Noodleton's Dining Room

The Viscount stands to greet Kataun, "Welcome! Come, sit!"

Somebody produces a chair, which goes in a place of honor at the right hand of the head of the table, between the Viscount and his eldest daughter Margot. Everybody looks pleased to see Kataun! They haven't seen him for awhile, they might have begun to get worried he wouldn't come back to claim his reward.

Soon, food is served! The Viscount is too poor to have much in the way of cooks or servants, so Margot cooked the meal (indeed, fish: let's say mahi mahi) and the younger children serve it, then everybody sits down to eat. The Viscount utters a brief prayer in Aquan to Quasxthe (official state religion of Gus), and then they dig in!

Margot: "So what sort of trouble have you been getting yourself into lately?"

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun starts to shove the food in his mouth and when Margot asks what he's up to, he gets really excited. He leans forward, and in a hushed tone, "So, just today, before I came here, I met Cofniben. Like, in person with all of his Defiance assassin and everything. It was so exciting!" He bops up and down in the chair trying to contain the excitement and failing.

He goes on to explain all of details with Smelborp and the conversation that happened, including the little details like how one of the vampire henchman didn't let Kataun touch the Cofniben, and so on.

-K

[Malimar]

Viscount Noodleton's Dining Room

The members of the Viscount's family exchange slightly alarmed looks. From his reputation, Cofniben is bad news! The younger children are all like "Coool!" Tristram is all like "Why didn't you stake him when you had the chance?" Margot is all like "You need to watch out for yourself, sounds like he was close to killing and drinking you!"

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Patting Tristram on the head and laughing, "Mar Mar is right. He would have simply flicked me like a little bug and killed and ate me! I think he was more annoyed at SmellingSalt to pay too much attention to me."

Kataun finishes his food loudly, and then grab Margot and runs off saying, "OK, I have to go soon, important talk, Mar Mar! Let's go!" and runs off to find the "Endeesey 5" estate.

-K

[Malimar]

Noodleton

The Viscount waves Kataun and Margot away, "Go on, we'll clean up."

Margot willingly allows herself to be dragged to the site of the Endeesy 5's future headquarters, on the outskirts of town! I think Timothy Nordbuckle the door is lying there, and he's all "Hey, you guys! Haven't seen you in like a month! I thought you'd abandoned me again!"

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"Timothy!" Kataun tries to bearhug the door but he can't quite reach around. He picks up the door, and leans over to stand him up. "I will make sure you will be hanging and moving, not lying on the ground."

Kataun quickly surveys the rooms, and make sure there's no one listening, except Margot and Timothy. "OK, so I need your help, Mar Mar. Let me tell you about that NELF character." He starts grinding his teeth again in rage. "Between you and me, he is NOT a nice man. He didn't help us clean the river. In fact, he caused the pollution on the river. We were in the source of the river. OK, let me start from the beginning. We were in Endeesey, and Nelf was running a Slave Market. We burned, I mean, shut down the slave market, but Nelf got away and Ms Blonde was kidnapped. So we tracked them to that cave where the river was. And then we found Ms Blonde, but we run into this thing, giant floatie tentacle thing. And this thing went 'Atatatatatatata!' and started to poke me with all the tentacles." Kataun pokes all over Margot in kung-fu fighting pokes.

"And it was like 'You are already dead.' and I was like thud, face planted onto the floor, and about to die." Kataun falls prone onto the floor, with his tongue sticking out, and arms and legs flapping around. "And then Nelf showed up and Ms Blonde figured out that Nelf and this tentacle thing was in cahoot. They were doing something in the cave at the mouth of the river, and was polluting the river! She begged and convinced Nelf to spare our lives and give all the money to him. And we promised not to interfere with Nalf."

Kataun grabs Margot on her shoulder, "He is a very, very bad man. Also, there's no telling if he keeps the bargain with the cleaning of the river. He could, like, blackmail Noodleton, by simply stop cleaning the water. Also, if you think about it. He's responsible to your mom's death. He is a very, very bad man, and we, the Endeesey Five is not supposed to do anything to him."

"But, eh, nothing about the agreement prohibit from someone who has resources, say, a daughter of Viscount, secretly hire *other* adventurers and send them to the cave to punish the bad man..."

-K

[Malimar]

Noodleton

The door is pleased to be stood up once again! And even more pleased by Kataun's promise that he'll be a proper door once again soon, with people going through him and everything! "Hurray!"

Margot listens carefully to Kataun's tale, breaking a smile when he pokes at her with kung-fu fighting pokes, and nodding periodically. "Well, he already came to collect the money. Who knows what he'll use it for? Maybe starting up another slaver market." Being practical, Margot doesn't object to slavery on idealistic grounds, she objects to it as an ultimately unsustainable economic system. But she does object to it, even though it's perfectly legal, and technically her duty as a member of the nobility is to uphold the law.

"I agree. Unfortunately, we don't have any money of our own to hire adventurers; the money for cleaning the river came from the Crown. I suppose we could offer more land and marriages; only three of us are already spoken for. Perhaps we could simply spread the word that Nalf has acquired a prodigious sum of platinum and let greed do the rest, though there's no guarantee he hasn't already spent it or deposited it in the bank or squirreled it away somewhere nobody will ever find it." :smallannoyed:

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"See, here's where you can help us, by managing this estate. We don't have any time to keep up a property like this. There are other evil oppressors we need to vanquish!" Kataun poses. "You can take care of this, and be paid as a caretaker. Plus, any profit you can generate off of this land, you can use it for the proceed towards whatever you want to do. We will come back here once in a while, into a nicely maintained, maybe partly secret headquarter! Plus, " Kataun wraps his arm around Timothy, "He needs you too!" and pats the middle of the door, as if it's Timothy's chest.

-K

[Malimar]

Noodleton

Margot nods along to this plan. "I could keep your house for you, sure. You'll have to invest a bit of gold to actually build something here, but if you invest the money, I can supervise construction and take care of everything for you." It's just land right now, needs something built on it. "Secret rooms and tunnels and everything." Margot is too practical to get excited about secret rooms, but she knows Kataun likes the idea, so the secret rooms she'll build into the building will be both practical and exciting. "But we won't be doing the whole thing where we murder architects and builders to keep the building's secrets. That's just no way to do business."

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"Perfect! Is this enough?" Kataun opens his purse and shows the coins.
1153pp/9g/9sp/7cp
-K

[Malimar]

Noodleton

Margot's eyes widen in alarm at the huge weight of platinum Kataun is just carrying around. "Well... you've already got the land, so... for a nice big house, maybe 4000gp? Unless you want to get fancy. However much money you want to spend, we can spend. I'd recommend spending less rather than more, but it's your house."

I could have sworn I established somewhere in one of the OOC threads how much of a discount on a house having the land would get you, but I can't find it now, so now I'm arbitrarily saying it's 1000gp off. If you find whatever I said about it earlier, we can use that number instead. I'm not seeing land prices separated out in the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook (other than percentage modifiers for types of land), but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not there.

Margot is citing the standard price for a Grand House, minus the cost of the land. If you want to get fancier with the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook to design the specifics of your grand house in detail, that's fine with me.

Then Margot tilts her head and brings up the Important Thing they haven't discussed yet! "Will you and Lauren will want to marry me and Guy? There are arrangements that need to be made if so; we need to keep looking at suitors if not." She looks a little :smallyuk: about the quality of suitors she's been getting in her life so far; Kataun is probably her best prospect.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun makes confused face. "Marriage? What do you want to do with marriage! You are going to be running a business here, Mar Mar. And potentially a covert warfare against Nelf and his organization. There won't be any time for some none sense." Kataun grabs multiple handful of coins into another small sack for roughly 4000g, plus another handful for just a good measure. "Besides, I can't have a wife. You are going to be like Princess Peach. Or it's possible I'm Guybush and you are Elaine. Either way, got more evil to vanish. So little time! I don't know about Miss Blonde. I'll ask her when I see her tomorrow."
For now, basic Grand House will do. I'll let actual crafters customize...
-K

[Malimar]

Noodleton

Margot, taking the sack of 4000gp plus a bit, is impassive when Kataun rejects the marriage notion. She's not super into the sorts of stories Kataun is into, but she's read some of them to her brothers when they were younger, so she's at least familiar enough with them to make the argument: "Isn't it traditional for the dashing hero to marry the daughter of a lord for whom he's done a great service, though? Or are you holding out for a beautiful princess? There aren't very many of those around, though I suppose the Scorpion Emperor of Omorashi might have some you could court. Oh, or Aleta, Queen of the Merfolk, she might have some daughters that would suit." Luckily, she's not familiar enough with Princess Peach or Elaine Marley to know that their defining feature is they keep getting captured and need rescuing, else she'd probably object to that.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun squints and looks right into Margot's face. Then he grabs both of her cheeks with his fingers, and start pulling them, up and down. "Mar Mar. Do you like me? Yes? Sorry hun but there are some evil dudes. Especially near Noodleton. We need to smite them and protect the city." Mr Red plant a quick smooch right on Margot's lips, and smack her in the ass. "Maybe you'll wait for me then? Well, and assuming I don't die horribly something like immolating in the plane of fire. You could go like 'Noooo, you killed my love, reveeeeeeenge!' and maybe hulk out and smash the evil dudes into smithereens. But in the meanwhile, I trust you to protect the Noodleton citizens. We are a partners!" He stands by Margot, shoulder to shoulder, and points up with his guisarme, nowhere in particular.

"Also, someone needs to put Timothy to work! And I have to go pick up McBorp Smellington back in Endeesey! I'll see you...see you...whenever I'll see you next time!" He runs off to hop on Rocinante, and start galloping back to Endeesey.

-K

[Malimar]

Noodleton

Margot is surprised and slightly alarmed, but not particularly taken aback, by Kataun's kiss and ass-smacking. She recovers her composure quickly enough to say, "Try not to die, though, I don't think I'd be very good at hulking out." She gives Kataun a little wave when he runs off, then gives Timothy Nordbuckle a look, daring him to say anything (for once, he doesn't), then heads off to start working on getting architects and contractors together to build Kataun a house!


Gus

Kataun heads south on the road to Endeesy at a gallop! Which may soon turn to a whatever's-a-bit-slower-than-a-gallop because Rocinante is disinclined to gallop for 30-35 miles.

A few miles south, Rocinante begins to get nervous. Very nervous. His ears go back and he speeds up without being directed to do so.

Then, in the cornfield in the darkness, Kataun sees fourteen reflective eyes, just before something attacks!

This creature resembles a large leopard-like cat with emerald green eyes. From its shoulders sprout six long serpents, blackish-green in color, each about twice the length of a normal human. The serpents’ eyes are reddish-yellow.

http://ericbelisle.com/weblogs/wp-content/gallery/pathfinder-bestiary-3-paizo-publishing/kamadan.jpg

The beast is about to leap over the fence onto Kataun and Rocinante! But, Kataun won initiative (it would have gotten a surprise round, but Rocinante alerted Kataun to its presence).



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,,,,,,,,|.KK|,,,,,,,
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,,,,,,,,|...|,,,ll,,
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, = corn field (difficult terrain)
. = road
| = low fence

K = Kataun on Rocinante
f = leopard-snakes-monster

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun notices the change in Rocinante's bahivor and pulls out the guisarme. "I don't know what they are but they certainly look creepy eyes! Battle formation…I mean run, Rocinante!" Kataun decides to retreat back to get ready for whatever it is.

Move back 100' north (Using Rocinante's move and standard action). In the meanwhile, Kataun will start using Enlarge Person (which will resolve at the beginning of Kataun's next turn)

AoO:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll0]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll1]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll2]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll3]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll4]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll5]

AoO2:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll6]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll7]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll8]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll9]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll10]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll11]

AoO3:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll12]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll13]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll14]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll15]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll16]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll17]

AoO4:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll18]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll19]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll20]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll21]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll22]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll23]

-K

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun directs Rocinante back northwards! And begins using enlarge person! (Using an SLA on a moving mount calls for a Concentration check, but it's an easy one and Kataun succeeds, so he will embiggen next round.)


The snakes-leopard-monster pursues, through the corn, jumping the fence, and prowling towards Kataun on the road!



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, = corn field (difficult terrain)
. = road
| = low fence

K = Kataun on Rocinante
f = leopard-snakes-monster

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Mr Red gets big, and steps off his mount as it's a bit awkward. "It's a…a…OK, whatever it is, looks like it wants to eat me. I don't enjoy that. Mr Red " Kataun stands right in front of Rocinante, and readies his weapon.

Swift Action to activate Ferocity. Move action to dismount. Standard action to ready a Mountain Hammer the monster triggered *after* Kataun performs AoO.

To Hit Regular AC(+6BAB+6STR+1 Masterwork-1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll0]
Damage +9x1.5 Str, possible +1/2 FC:[roll1]
Mountain Hammer Extra Damage:[roll2]
If the damage is 10 or more, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat+4 size large:[roll3]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, gains another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+6STR+1 Masterwork-1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll4]
Damage +9x1.5 Str, possible +1/2 FC:[roll5]

AoO1:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+6STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, -1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll6]
Damage Guisarme +9 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll7]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat+4 Size:[roll8]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+6STR, +1 MW, -1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll9]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll10]

AoO2:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+6STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, -1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll11]
Damage Guisarme +9 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll12]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat+4 Size:[roll13]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+6STR, +1 MW, -1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll14]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll15]

AoO3:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+6STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, -1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll16]
Damage Guisarme +9 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll17]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat+4 Size:[roll18]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+6STR, +1 MW, -1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll19]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll20]

AoO4:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+6STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, -1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll21]
Damage Guisarme +9 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll22]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat+4 Size:[roll23]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+6STR, +1 MW, -1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll24]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll25]

-K

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun grows big! Rocinante neighs in protest, and Kataun dismounts! Then he readies himself for combat, becoming ferocious and readying attacks!


The snakes-leopard-monster moves up to 20' from Kataun... and stops! I think, being big, it is within Kataun's reach... but he readied his attack for after the creature triggers an AoO, and it isn't inclined to trigger an AoO just yet. Instead... it opens its leopard mouth and breathes a cloud of yellowish gas! Rocinante immediately sags to the ground and has a nap! Kataun reels, suddenly sleepy, but he shakes off the sleepiness and returns to full fighting fitness in a moment!



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,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,,
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,,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,

, = corn field (difficult terrain)
. = road
| = low fence

K = Kataun on Rocinante
r = Rocinante (prone, asleep)
f = leopard-snakes-monster

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Mr Red opens his mouth surprised. "You! You! You monster! You killed my horsie!" Kataun summons a small fire elemental behind the monster, and tries to beat the snot out of whatever this freaky looking leopard thing is.

Swift Action to Distracting Ember to gain flanking. Standard action to Mountain Hammer.

To Hit Regular AC(+6BAB+6STR+1 Masterwork -1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll0]
Mountain Hammer extra damage:[roll1]
Damage +9x1.5 Str, possible +1/2 FC:[roll2]
If the damage is 10 or more, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat+4 Size:[roll3]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, gains another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+6STR+1 Masterwork-1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll4]
Damage +9x1.5 Str, possible +1/2 FC:[roll5]

AoO:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+6STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, 1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll6]
Damage Guisarme +9 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll7]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat+4 Size:[roll8]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+6STR +1 MW -1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll9]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll10]

AoO2:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+6STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, 1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll11]
Damage Guisarme +9 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll12]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat+4 Size:[roll13]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+6STR +1 MW -1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll14]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll15]

AoO3:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+6STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, 1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll16]
Damage Guisarme +9 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll17]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat+4 Size:[roll18]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+6STR +1 MW -1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll19]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll20]

AoO4:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+6STR +4 Deft Opportunist, +1 MW, 1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll21]
Damage Guisarme +9 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll22]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat+4 Size:[roll23]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+6STR +1 MW -1 Size, possible +1/2 FC):[roll24]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll25]

-K

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun summons a distracting fire elemental, which distracts the monster long enough for Kataun to wallop it! He hits it, and it roars with pain! Then Kataun sweeps its legs out from under it, tripping it by one point! Then he whacks it again, and it passes out!


Half a minute later, the snakes-leopard-monster bleeds out and dies!


Kataun gains 700XP!

There is no loot on the body, and Kataun doesn't see a nest anywhere nearby. Depending on the monster's territorial range, its next could be miles away.



,,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,|rr.|,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,|.rr.|,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,|.KK|,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,|.KK|,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,|.**.|,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,|**.|,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,|....|,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,|....|,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,|....|,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,|....|,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,|...|,,,,,,,

, = corn field (difficult terrain)
. = road
| = low fence
* = defeated foe

K = Kataun on Rocinante
r = Rocinante (prone, asleep)

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"Noooooo…..!" Kataun bearugs his mount and after a minute, notices the mount is simply taking a nap. "Oh. Hm, this is awkward." He grabs some feed and water from the saddlebag, and tries to wake up the horse.

-K

[Malimar]

Gus

It doesn't take long to rouse Rocinante from slumber. The horse scrambles back to his hooves and happily noshes on the feed and water.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Mr Red takes a few minutes, poking around the strange beast's corpse. After a few minutes, he shrinks back into the regular size. He takes a swig from the waterskin as he shares it with Rocinante and pats the horse.
Searching taking 20 while waiting for the Enlarge to end...wait, I guess inattentive gives penalty to listen and spot, but not search apparently. So that's a roll of 20 on search check
-K

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun searches the beast's corpse! It squirts blood and smells bad on the inside when he cuts it open! Lodged in one of the snakes' esophagi, he finds a single silver coin covered in unpleasant goo!

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

After taking a quick look at the silver coin, and sighs as he shrinks back into regular size. "OK, no time to dawdle. Back to Endeesey!" He hops back onto Rocinante, and start trotting towards the city along the way.

-K

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun continues on his way!

Being late evening, it is pleasantly cool. But he's heard Bad Things about being out at night.


He reaches Serpent Pass and continues down into the south of Gus without further incident. He passes the turnoff to the west that would lead to Tilfurther and the western coast of Gus, and heads southeast!


He passes the turnoff to the Tiv-Beckett Cold Iron Mine uneventfully!


Then Rocinante grows nervous again, so Kataun once again draws his glaive! This time, Kataun himself also sees some of the creatures (or their eyes) before they attack!

He realizes he and Rocinante are surrounded by a pack of dogs! When the dogs realize they've been spotted, they start baying, barking, and howling! Or wolves! White wolves! Big wolves with frost-white fur and glowing blue eyes!

Four of the wolves beat Kataun in the initiative, and bound forward! Despite being flat-footed, Kataun, with his combat reflexes, still whaps each of them as they approach! He hits three of them (one attack is a critical threat, but he does not confirm) and misses the fourth! He hits one, trips it, then wallops it again! He hits another, trips it, and wallops it a second time! He hits a third -- but it dances away from his entangling trippy guisarme and is not tripped!

Only one, which slipped out onto the road behind him, can charge. The other three only approach with double-moves. Luckily for the wolves, the one that charged is one of the two that didn't get tripped. It charges in! It attacks Kataun, smart enough to recognize the rider as the threat rather than the horse! It bites him, and Kataun takes 9 damage!



...,,,,,♣,,,,,o,,,,♣
....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
....,,,,o,,,,,,,,,,,
.....,,,,,,,b,,,,♣,,
,....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,....,,,,,♣,,,c,,,,
o,.....,,,,,,,,o,,,,
,,,,...,,,,,,,,,,,,o
♣,,,....,,,,,,♣,,,,,
,,,,,....,,,,,,,,,♣,
,,,,,,.am.,d,,,,,,,,
,,l,,,,.KK.e,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,.KK.,,,,,,,,,
,,♣,,,,,.....,,,♣f,,
,,,k,o,,,.....,,,,,o
,,,,,,,,,,.....g,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,........
o,,,,,j,♣,,,,h......
,,,,,,,o,i,,,,,.....
,,♣,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,...

, = dirt/grass/small bushes, difficult terrain
. = road
♣ = tree
o = boulder

K = Kataun on Rocinante
a-m = white wolves (d and e are prone)

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Surrounded, Kataun maneuvers Rocinante to step on the prone-wolves. he growls and flashes his weapon to threaten the pack, especially the one immediately in front and and managed to connect. With a long and loud howl, he attempts to strike the one nearby his mount.

Rocinante (mounted) 5' step to E. Rocinante Full attack on e (I am hoping he kills him…if he does, the subsequent attack he will perform will go to d, and then if d dies, then m). Kataun dismounts to S S of m. Standard Action-Foe Hammer m (assuming it's alive. If not, a). Swift Action to White Raven Tactics Rocinante (who is now initiative 16). Rocinante goes again, and full attacks, trying to finish off e, and then d, and then m. (This whole sequence of White Raven Tactics will not happen if all e, d, and m are dead by then, and instead of using White Raven Tactics have Rocinante attack, Kataun will use the swift action to activate Amulet of Tears)

To Hit Prone/Regular AC by Rocinante Hoof1(+3BAB+4STR-1Size):[roll0]
Damage +4 STR:[roll1]
To Hit Prone/Regular AC by Rocinante Hoof2(+3BAB+4STR-1Size):[roll2]
Damage +4 STR:[roll3]
To Hit Prone/Regular AC by Rocinante Bite(+3BAB+4STR-1Size-5 secondary attack):[roll4]
Damage +2 half STR:[roll5]

Kataun Foe Hammer (Ignore DR):
To Hit Regular AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork, +2 Furious Counterstrike):[roll6]
Damage +4x1.5 Str, +2 FC:[roll7]
Foe Hammer:[roll8]
If the damage is 10 or more, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll9]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, gains another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork, +2 FC):[roll10]
Damage +4x1.5 Str, +2 FC:[roll11]

Rocinante White Raven Tactics Full attack:
To Hit Prone/Regular AC by Rocinante Hoof1(+3BAB+4STR-1Size):[roll12]
Damage +4 STR:[roll13]
To Hit Prone/Regular AC by Rocinante Hoof2(+3BAB+4STR-1Size):[roll14]
Damage +4 STR:[roll15]
To Hit Prone/Regular AC by Rocinante Bite(+3BAB+4STR-1Size-5 secondary attack):[roll16]
Damage +2 half STR:[roll17]

AoO1:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll18]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll19]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll20]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll21]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll22]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll23]

AoO2:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll24]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll25]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll26]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll27]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll28]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll29]

AoO3:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll30]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll31]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll32]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll33]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll34]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll35]

AoO4:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll36]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll37]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll38]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll39]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll40]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll41]

-K

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun directs Rocinante east! Rocinante rears and hoofs at the wolf, but misses once, then hits once because the wolf is prone, then he bites with his gnashy herbivore-teeth and catches the wolf in his jaws! The wolf is not looking happy, but is not quite dead yet!

Kataun dismounts, then foe-hammers M! M isn't looking very happy now either! He flips M on its back, then whacks at M a second time; the wolf passes out! Then he uses his White Raven Tactics technique on Rocinante!

Rocinante goes again! The horse stomps E's head into the dirt, and the wolf passes out! Then Rocinante targets D! The horse bludgeons D with a hoof, but misses with his bite; wolf D is now barely holding onto consciousness!


Wolf K prowls towards Kataun; Kataun thumps her! She stays standing, and moves up to Kataun, slavering, and moves just quickly enough to bite at him! She bites at his thigh, penetrating his armor; Kataun takes 8 damage!

Wolf C is nervous about the violence done to its compatriots, and holds back, circling around Kataun without getting close to him!

Wolf G moves up to Rocinante, and bites at the horse! It hits him, and Rocinante takes 9 damage!

Wolf J advances! Kataun hits him, but again, does not trip him! The wolf gets close enough to bite at Kataun, but completely misses and snaps at the air instead!

Wolf H charges Rocinante! It bites at Rocinante's legs; Rocinante takes 7 damage!

Wolf I advances on Rocinante! Kataun misses him, but he in turn misses the horse!

Wolf B circles the fight nervously!

Wolf L advances on Kataun, provoking an attack of opportunity, which hits! The wolf resists the tripping, and snaps at Kataun; the wolf hits, and Kataun takes 5 damage!

Wolf F moves up to Rocinante, but is not fast enough to attack!

Wolf A nervously backs away from the fight (which would provoke, but Kataun already used all his AoOs on other wolves this round), then barks and bays bone-quiveringly! Rocinante's eyes roll back in terror, and he is frightened (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/conditionSummary.htm#frightened) of the wolf! However, so surrounded are the two that Rocinante sees no easy way to escape, so Rocinante does not flee, and instead will continue to fight; he will however take a -2 penalty on all attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks due to his fear. (I'll let you know when the frightened effect wears off.)

Wolf D bites at Rocinante, hits the horse, Rocinante takes 4 damage, but then the wolf passes out!



...,,,,,♣,,,,,o,,,,♣
....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
....,,,,o,,,,,,,,,,,
.....,,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,
,....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,....,,,,,♣,,,,,,,,
o,.....,,,c,,,,o,,,,
,,,,.a.,,,,,,,,,,,,o
♣,,,....,,,,,,♣,,,,,
,,,,,....,,,,,,,,,♣,
,,,,,,..*.,*,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,l.rr*,,,,b,,,
,,,,,,,kKrrf,,,,,,,,
,,♣,,,,,jihg.,,,♣,,,
,,,,,o,,,.....,,,,,o
,,,,,,,,,,......,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,........
o,,,,,,,♣,,,,.......
,,,,,,,o,,,,,,,.....
,,♣,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,...

, = dirt/grass/small bushes, difficult terrain
. = road
♣ = tree
o = boulder
* = defeated foe

K = Kataun
r = Rocinante (frightened)
a-c, f-l = white wolves

[Kremti]

Feeling a bit hemmed in, Kataun steps back and flips a finger to summon fire elemental behind the wolf towards the south and decides to thump it.
Kataun 5' step to N. use Crusader's Strike to j, heals Rocinante for 1d6+5 if it hits

Since Rocinante is feared, I'll simply let you decide on the targets.

To Hit Regular AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork, +2 FC + 2 Flanking):[roll0]
Damage +4x1.5 Str, possible +1/2 FC:[roll1]
Healing IL +5:[roll2]
If the damage is 10 or more, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll3]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, gains another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork, +2 FC+2 Flanking):[roll4]
Damage +4x1.5 Str, +2 FC:[roll5]

To Hit Prone/Regular AC by Rocinante Hoof1(+3BAB+4STR-1Size-2 fear):[roll6]
Damage +4 STR:[roll7]
To Hit Prone/Regular AC by Rocinante Hoof1(+3BAB+4STR-1Size-2 fear):[roll8]
Damage +4 STR:[roll9]
To Hit Prone/Regular AC by Rocinante Bite(+3BAB+4STR-1Size-5 secondary attack-2 fear):[roll10]
Damage +2 half STR:[roll11]

AoO1:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll12]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll13]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll14]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll15]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll16]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll17]

AoO2:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll18]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll19]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll20]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll21]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll22]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll23]

AoO3:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll24]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll25]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll26]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll27]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll28]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll29]

AoO4:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll30]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll31]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll32]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll33]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll34]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll35]

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun steps to the north, summons a distracting fire elemental, and thwacks wolf J! Rocinante is healed for 8, and Kataun (just barely) tangles up the wolf's legs, thumping it again!


Rocinante, frightened, flails out almost at random, kicking J with both hooves and biting at I -- all three attacks hit! Wolf J passes out!


Wolf K bites at Kataun, hitting him and tearing his leg open! Kataun takes 6 damage!

Wolf C continues to circle nervously!

Wolf G bites at Rocinante, but the horse's armor protects him!

Wolf H, alarmed by the rate at which his companions are falling, 5' steps back... but Kataun is in Thicket of Blades, and whacks the wolf! He hits, trips the wolf, and thumps it again! The wolf is unable to complete its 5' step! So it gets up, and Kataun thumps it again! It growls and tries to move away, so Kataun hits it with a third attack of opportunity, but does not trip it this time, and it yips away with its tail between its legs!

Wolf I tries to bite Rocinante! And succeeds! The horse is bleeding from several wounds now (not taking Bleed damage or anything, just regular bleeding); Rocinante takes 4 damage!

Wolf B darts in and nips at Rocinante's flank! But Rocinante dodges!

Wolf L tries to run away; Kataun waits a moment for it to get to guisarme distance before taking his attack of opportunity, and then slams his guisarme into its legs! But he does not trip it!

Wolf F tries to bite Rocinante, but the horse's armor protects him!

Wolf A continues to circle 'round the fight, prowling, waiting for the best moment to strike, not wanting to get stuck with a pointed stick.



...,,,,,♣,,,,,o,,,,♣
....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
....,,,,o,,,,,,,,,,,
.....,,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,
,.l..,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,....,,,,,♣,,,,,,,,
o,.....,,,,,,,,o,,,,
,,,,...,,,,,,,,,,,,o
♣,,,....,,,,,,♣,,,,,
,,,,,....,,,,,,,,,♣,
,c,,,,..*.,*,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,.Krrb,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,k.rrf,,,,,,,,
,,♣,,,,,*i.g.,,,♣,,,
,,,,,o,,,.....,,,,,o
,,,,,,a,,,......,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,........
o,,,,,,,♣,,,,.......
,,,,,,,o,,,,,,,...h.
,,♣,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,...

, = dirt/grass/small bushes, difficult terrain
. = road
♣ = tree
o = boulder
* = defeated foe

K = Kataun
r = Rocinante (frightened)
a-c, f-i, k-l = white wolves

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun continues to make a space to maneuver, by stepping back again, and tries to assist Rocinante by whacking at the one that's on the other side.
5' Step to NE, standard action to Mountain Hammer b, and swift action to use 1 charge off of Amulet of Tears to gain +12 Temporary Hit Points

To Hit Regular AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork, +2 FC):[roll0]
Damage +4x1.5 Str, +2 FC:[roll1]
Mountain Hammer Bonus Damage:[roll2]
If the damage is 10 or more, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll3]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, gains another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork+2 FC):[roll4]
Damage +4x1.5 Str, +2 FC:[roll5]

Rocinante (You pick):
To Hit Regular AC by Rocinante Hoof1(+3BAB+4STR-1Size):[roll6]
Damage +4 STR:[roll7]
To Hit Regular AC by Rocinante Hoof2(+3BAB+4STR-1Size):[roll8]
Damage +4 STR:[roll9]
To Hit Regular AC by Rocinante Bite(+3BAB+4STR-1Size-5 secondary attack):[roll10]
Damage +2 half STR:[roll11]

AoO1:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll12]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll13]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll14]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll15]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll16]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll17]

AoO2:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll18]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll19]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll20]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll21]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll22]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll23]

AoO3:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll24]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll25]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll26]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll27]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll28]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll29]

AoO4:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll30]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll31]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll32]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll33]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll34]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll35]

-K

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun takes a step away, activates his Amulet of Tears, and takes a solid whack at wolf B! But his guisarme does not penetrate the wolf's thick hide natural armor!


Rocinante kicks and bites at a couple wolves; one of his hooves connects solidly with wolf G's jaw! It is not quite a critical hit.


Wolf K five foot steps towards Kataun, which provokes because Thicket of Blades, and Kataun whacks at it! But he does not trip the wolf, so the wolf bites at Kataun! And misses!

Wolf C continues to circle in the underbrush!

Wolf G bites at Rocinante! It hits the horse, biting his flank; Rocinante takes 9 damage!

Wolf H flees the battlefield, heading off into the darkness!

Wolf I is smart enough to recognize the real threat, and circles 'round Rocinante (provoking an attack of opportunity -- Rocinante aims a powerful kick that misses) to get at Kataun! This provokes from Kataun, as well, and Kataun critically hits the wolf! Indeed, he decapitates the wolf! Head goes flying away, body skids to a stop!

Wolf B, alarmed, attempts to flee! Kataun strikes it on its way away, but it gets away and flees the battlefield!

Wolf L changes its mind about fleeing and charges Kataun! Kataun successfully whacks it on its way in, but it continues past his guisarme and bites at Kataun! But it misses!

Wolf F bites Rocinante! Rocinante takes 7 damage!

Wolf A, smelling blood, moves up and attempts to savage Rocinante! But it misses!



...,,,,,♣,,,,,o,,,,♣
....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
....,,,,o,,,,,,,,,,,
.....,,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,
,....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,....,,,,,♣,,,,,,,,
o,.....,,,,,,,,o,,,,
,,,,...,,,,,,,,,,,,o
♣,,,....,,,,,,♣,,,,,
,,,,,...l,,,,,,,,,♣,
,,,,,,..*K,*,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,.krr.,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,.*rrf,,,,,,,,
,,♣,,,,,*a.g.,,,♣,,,
,,,,,o,,,.....,,,,,o
,,,,,,,,,,......,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,........
o,,,,c,,♣,,,,.......
,,,,,,,o,,,,,,,.....
,,♣,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,...

, = dirt/grass/small bushes, difficult terrain
. = road
♣ = tree
o = boulder
* = defeated foe

K = Kataun
r = Rocinante (frightened)
a-c, f-g, k-l = white wolves

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun glances at Rocinante and pats his hind-leg. "Hold on just a little bit more, boy. We are making a good progress!" He takes another step, and goes after the one that just bit his mount's side.

5' Step to E, swift action to burn the 3rd charge on Brute Gauntlets to gain +2 Damage and +2 on tripping rolls, and standard action to Foe Hammer f

To Hit Regular AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork, possible +1/2 FC):[roll0]
Damage +4x1.5 Str, +2 Brute Gaunetlts, possible +1/2 FC:[roll1]
Extra Foe Hammer Damage:[roll2]
If the damage is 10 or more, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat+2 Brute Gauntlets:[roll3]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, gains another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork, possible +1/2 FC):[roll4]
Damage +4x1.5 Str, +2 Brute Gauntlets, possible +1/2 FC:[roll5]

To Hit Prone/Regular AC by Rocinante Hoof1(+3BAB+4STR-1Size-2Fear):[roll6]
Damage +4 STR:[roll7]
To Hit Prone/Regular AC by Rocinante Hoof2(+3BAB+4STR-1Size-2Fear):[roll8]
Damage +4 STR:[roll9]
To Hit Prone/Regular AC by Rocinante Bite(+3BAB+4STR-1Size-5 secondary attack-2Fear):[roll10]
Damage +2 half STR:[roll11]

AoO1:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll12]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str +2 Brute Gauntlets, Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll13]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR, +2 Brute Gauntlets, Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll14]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR,+2 Brute Gauntlets,+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll15]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll16]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR, +2 Brute Gauntlets, Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll17]

AoO2:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll18]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str +2 Brute Gauntlets, Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll19]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR, +2 Brute Gauntlets, Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll20]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR,+2 Brute Gauntlets,+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll21]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll22]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR, +2 Brute Gauntlets, Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll23]

AoO3:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll24]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str +2 Brute Gauntlets, Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll25]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR, +2 Brute Gauntlets, Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll26]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR,+2 Brute Gauntlets,+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll27]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll28]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR, +2 Brute Gauntlets, Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll29]

AoO4:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll30]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str +2 Brute Gauntlets, Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll31]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR, +2 Brute Gauntlets, Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll32]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR,+2 Brute Gauntlets,+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll33]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll34]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR, +2 Brute Gauntlets, Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll35]

-K

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun shifts into the underbrush, and strikes wolf F with great vigor! He knocks the wolf off its feet, then whacks it again!


Rocinante attacks at random, flailing out with his hooves and his teeth! But the wolves cannily evade the horse's blows!


Wolf K shifts to attack Kataun -- but is interrupted by Kataun whacking it, because Thicket of Blades! Kataun sweeps the wolf off its feet, and bops it again!

Then wolf K attempts to stand up -- and Kataun makes another successful attack of opportunity against it!

Now injured, wolf K attempts to flee, and Kataun strikes it a third time, putting it unconscious and out of the fight!

Wolf C growls and prowls away from the fight through the underbrush, afraid to engage these dangerous monsters, fleeing the battlefield.

Wolf G bites at Rocinante! It hits, and Rocinante takes 6 damage -- which, if I'm not mistaken, makes Rocinante collapse to the ground, falling unconscious at -5 HP! (*Double-checks damage and healing dealt to Rocinante* Yes, I think this is correct.)

Wolf L five foot steps towards Kataun, provoking -- and Kataun misses! The wolf bites at Kataun, but completely misses him!

Wolf F stands up and shifts towards Kataun (who is out of attacks of opportunity), and bites at him! It hits, and Kataun takes 9 damage!

Wolf A ignores Kataun and begins to eat Rocinante, performing a coup de grâce by ripping the horse's throat out and barking, tail wagging! Rocinante dies! :smallfrown:



...,,,,,♣,,,,,o,,,,♣
....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
....,,,,o,,,,,,,,,,,
.....,,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,
,....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,....,,,,,♣,,,,,,,,
o,.....,,,,,,,,o,,,,
,,,,...,,,,,,,,,,,,o
♣,,,....,,,,,,♣,,,,,
,,,,,....,,,,,,,,,♣,
,,,,,,..*lK*,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,.*rrf,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,.*rr.,,,,,,,,
,,♣,,,,,*a.g.,,,♣,,,
,,,,,o,,,.....,,,,,o
,,,,,,,,,,......,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,........
o,,,,,,,♣,,,,.......
,,,,,,,o,,,,,,,.....
,,♣,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,...

, = dirt/grass/small bushes, difficult terrain
. = road
♣ = tree
o = boulder
* = defeated foe

K = Kataun
r = Rocinante's body
a, f, g, k, l = white wolves

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"NOOOoooooo…….HULK SMASH!" He makes an overhead strike at one of the wolves.

5' Step to NE, swift action to Distracting Ember to gain flanking vs "L" and mountain hammer "L"

To Hit Regular AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork, +2 FC):[roll0]
Damage +4x1.5 Str, +2 FC:[roll1]
Mountain Hammer extra damage:[roll2]
If the damage is 10 or more, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll3]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, gains another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork+2 FC):[roll4]
Damage +4x1.5 Str, +2 FC:[roll5]

AoO1:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll6]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll7]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll8]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll9]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll10]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll11]

AoO2:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll12]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll13]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll14]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll15]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll16]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll17]

AoO3:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll18]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll19]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll20]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll21]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll22]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll23]

AoO4:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll24]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll25]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll26]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll27]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll28]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll29]

-K

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun, filled with grief, moves through the underbrush (can't 5' step through difficult terrain, but wolf L misses its attack of opportunity anyway), summons a brief elemental, and smashes L in the face! The wolf keeps his feet!


Wolf G digs into Rocinante's belly, heedlessly gorging itself on horse!

Wolf L barks and moves through the underbrush towards Kataun! Kataun takes a whack at him, and the wolf goes down!

Wolf F also moves after Kataun! Kataun hits him, but does not trip him, and the wolf attacks Kataun! It hits, and Kataun takes 9 damage!

Wolf A also continues to gorge on Rocinante!



...,,,,,♣,,,,,o,,,,♣
....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
....,,,,o,,,,,,,,,,,
.....,,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,
,....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,....,,,,,♣,,,,,,,,
o,.....,,,,,,,,o,,,,
,,,,...,,,,,,,,,,,,o
♣,,,....,,,,,,♣,,,,,
,,,,,....,,K,,,,,,♣,
,,,,,,..**,f,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,.*rr.,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,.*rr.,,,,,,,,
,,♣,,,,,*a.g.,,,♣,,,
,,,,,o,,,.....,,,,,o
,,,,,,,,,,......,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,........
o,,,,,,,♣,,,,.......
,,,,,,,o,,,,,,,.....
,,♣,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,...

, = dirt/grass/small bushes, difficult terrain
. = road
♣ = tree
o = boulder
* = defeated foe

K = Kataun
r = Rocinante's body
a, f, g, k, l = white wolves

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun kisses on the amulet, and then decides this overgrowth is hindering his style and decides to walk out onto the road and point to the alpha wolf. "You, I am coming for you! After I deal with this one." and he slashes at the one in the overgrowth.

Swift Action to activate the Amulet of Tears to gain 12 Temporary Hit Points, Move Action to NW SSW S drawing one AoO from f, Crusader's Strike at f, healing himself if it hits

To Hit Regular AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork, +2 FC):[roll0]
Damage +4x1.5 Str, +2 FC:[roll1]
Crusader's Strike Heal +5 IL:[roll2]
If the damage is 10 or more, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll3]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, gains another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork, +2 FC):[roll4]
Damage +4x1.5 Str, +2 FC:[roll5]

AoO1:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll6]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll7]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll8]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll9]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll10]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll11]

AoO2:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll12]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll13]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll14]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll15]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll16]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll17]

AoO3:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll18]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll19]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll20]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll21]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll22]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll23]

AoO4:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll24]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll25]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll26]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll27]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll28]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll29]

-K

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun activates his amulet! Then he walks away from wolf F, who tries to bite him as an attack of opportunity -- and succeeds! Kataun takes 8 damage! Then like a meteor his guisarme comes down on wolf F's head and it collapses! Kataun heals himself for 10!


Wolf G now notices the fight still going on, and bounds over Rocinante's body to attack Kataun! But Kataun hits him! But it resists the guisarme tangling up its legs and does not fall prone! It bites at Kataun! It hits him! Kataun takes 8 damage! Kataun is covered in blood now!

Wolf A also bounds up to Kataun! This time, Kataun does not hit! The wolf savages Kataun's leg, and Kataun takes 7 damage!



...,,,,,♣,,,,,o,,,,♣
....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
....,,,,o,,,,,,,,,,,
.....,,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,
,....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,....,,,,,♣,,,,,,,,
o,.....,,,,,,,,o,,,,
,,,,...,,,,,,,,,,,,o
♣,,,....,,,,,,♣,,,,,
,,,,,....,,,,,,,,,♣,
,,,,,,..*K,*,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,.*ag.,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,.*rr.,,,,,,,,
,,♣,,,,,*....,,,♣,,,
,,,,,o,,,.....,,,,,o
,,,,,,,,,,......,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,........
o,,,,,,,♣,,,,.......
,,,,,,,o,,,,,,,.....
,,♣,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,...

, = dirt/grass/small bushes, difficult terrain
. = road
♣ = tree
o = boulder
* = defeated foe

K = Kataun
r = Rocinante's body
a, g = white wolves

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Mr Red looks to the alpha wolf, poses, and then calmly announce, in hush voice. "Hello. My name is Kataun Yriand. You killed my compañero. Prepare to die." and he lunges to whack the snot out of the wolf.

5' step to NW, swift action to burn the 3rd charge on Amulet, Standard action to Foe Hammer a.

To Hit Regular AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork, +2 FC):[roll0]
Damage +4x1.5 Str, +2 FC:[roll1]
Foe Hammer extra damage:[roll2]
If the damage is 10 or more, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll3]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, gains another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork, +2 FC):[roll4]
Damage +4x1.5 Str, +2 FC:[roll5]

AoO1:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll6]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll7]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll8]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll9]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll10]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll11]

AoO2:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll12]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll13]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll14]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll15]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll16]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll17]

AoO3:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll18]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll19]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll20]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll21]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll22]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll23]

AoO4:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll24]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll25]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll26]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll27]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll28]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll29]

-K

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun steps away, activates his amulet again, then Foe Hammers wolf A! He hits it, trips it, hits it again!


Wolf G, growling, steps to Kataun -- who, as an attack of opportunity, hits it, but does not trip it -- and bites at him! It hits and Kataun takes 8 damage!

Wolf A stands up, provoking! Katain hits it, and it collapses, defeated! (At this point, wolf G looks worried.)



...,,,,,♣,,,,,o,,,,♣
....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
....,,,,o,,,,,,,,,,,
.....,,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,
,....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,....,,,,,♣,,,,,,,,
o,.....,,,,,,,,o,,,,
,,,,...,,,,,,,,,,,,o
♣,,,....,,,,,,♣,,,,,
,,,,,...K,,,,,,,,,♣,
,,,,,,..*g,*,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,.**r.,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,.*rr.,,,,,,,,
,,♣,,,,,*....,,,♣,,,
,,,,,o,,,.....,,,,,o
,,,,,,,,,,......,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,........
o,,,,,,,♣,,,,.......
,,,,,,,o,,,,,,,.....
,,♣,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,...

, = dirt/grass/small bushes, difficult terrain
. = road
♣ = tree
o = boulder
* = defeated foe

K = Kataun
r = Rocinante's body
g = white wolves

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun frowns and points. "Hey, a monkey!" trying to distract the last wolf.

5' step to W, swift action to Distacting Ember to gain flanking on 'a', Standard action to Crusader's Strike

To Hit Regular AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork, +2 FC +2 Flanking):[roll0]
Damage +4x1.5 Str, +2 FC:[roll1]
Healing IL +5:[roll2]
If the damage is 10 or more, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll3]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, gains another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR+1 Masterwork+2 FC+2 flanking):[roll4]
Damage +4x1.5 Str+2 FC:[roll5]

AoO:
To Hit AC(+6BAB+3STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll6]
Damage Armor Spike +3 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll7]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll8]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +3 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll9]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+6BAB+3STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll10]
Damage Guisarme +4 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll11]

-K

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun steps away, distracts the white wolf! He strikes it, healing himself for 6 and knocking it off its feet, where he thumps it again! The wolf passes out.

Now Kataun is surrounded by dead and faintly whimpering unconscious white wolves, and Rocinante's mangled body.

Kataun gains 4550 XP!

The wolves do not appear to have any loot.



...,,,,,♣,,,,,o,,,,♣
....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
....,,,,o,,,,,,,,,,,
.....,,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,
,....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,....,,,,,♣,,,,,,,,
o,.....,,,,,,,,o,,,,
,,,,...,,,,,,,,,,,,o
♣,,,....,,,,,,♣,,,,,
,,,,,..K.,,,,,,,,,♣,
,,,,,,..**,*,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,.**r.,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,.*rr.,,,,,,,,
,,♣,,,,,*....,,,♣,,,
,,,,,o,,,.....,,,,,o
,,,,,,,,,,......,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,........
o,,,,,,,♣,,,,.......
,,,,,,,o,,,,,,,.....
,,♣,,,,,,,,,,,♣,,...

, = dirt/grass/small bushes, difficult terrain
. = road
♣ = tree
o = boulder
* = defeated foe

K = Kataun
r = Rocinante's body

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun walks over to the body of the fallen mount, and checks his neck and body. He pats Rocinante's head, and grumbles "Mghghgmhsmgmhs!" squeezing out what it feels like a boiling lava out of his gut, out of his mouse, and into the bloody air of post-battle field. He looks around, and sighs, and picks up the saddle back and hoist over his shoulder and start dragging his legs, slowly, towards Endeesey.
Intending to get to Endeesey ASAP here hoping not to get into any more encounter…speed of 40' in light load, making 4 miles/hour.
-K

[Malimar]

Gus

As Kataun marches the last five or so miles to Gus, the clouds come out and obscure the stars and moons and it gets dark and very difficult to see. I don't see any light sources in his possession, aside perhaps from periodically summoning a Distracting Ember to provide light for a second or two. But even unable to see more than 5' away, it's not too difficult to follow the path -- underbrush, trees, boulders, fences, and crops mark the edges of the road, so it's easy enough not to blunder off the road. Still, he has to slow down a bit to keep from tripping over unevennesses in the road.

Soon, it begins to rain, suddenly and torrentially and with scattered thunder/lightning. Kataun is very soon soaked to the bone. Luckily, Kataun does not get struck by lightning in the thunderstorm. But hey, the lightning illuminates the path periodically, making it easier to see!

Between the darkness and the rain, the going is slow, and the rest of the trip takes more like two hours when it should take one.

Still, Kataun makes it to the gate of Endeesy without encountering any more monsters. He can see the wall from a fair distance away because the guards on the wall bear hooded lanterns. But in the rain they don't see him, so he gets right up to the gate without the guards noticing him.

The gate is closed tight and locked, as is customary at night.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"Hello! Hello! Can I get in???" Kataun jump and hop and distracting-ember, trying to get an attention of the guards, hoping to get inside and get some warm bed and food after not so-good voyage back from Noodleton.

-K

[Malimar]

The Gates of Endeesy

The guards on duty shine their lanterns down at Kataun. One yells down, "Who goes there?"

After some conference with one another, the guards eventually decide that Kataun appears to be human, not demon or monster, and open the gate just long enough for Kataun to enter the city.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"THANK YOUUUUUU" Kataun hugs the guards, drenching them with the rain and soggy clothes, and he runs off to Adventuerer's Guild and place to sleep.
So, I think I'll have Kataun sleep to wait til Smelborp next day. How's the A-Alpha going?
-K

[Malimar]

Endeesy

The guards are surprised and alarmed by Kataun's hugging, but they don't write him a ticket or anything. They can see that he's had a bad night.

Kataun goes to the Adventurer's Guild, rents a room for the night, and has a nice long sleep!


The Next Morning

Kataun awakens, a little refreshed! When he returns to the bar area, he finds Smelborp sitting at a booth in the corner, knees drawn up to his chin, twitching. He appears to have had at least as bad a night as Kataun.


Party A-α is still on the same fight as they've been for the past weeks and weeks. But they've beaten one thing and are close to getting away from the other, and they're likely to want to come back to Endeesy and rest for days and days once they escape, so you might be able to meet up again soon.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"Smeagol!" Kataun waves at Smelborp and orders heaping pile of sausages, and shares it with him. "So, do you miss your precious? You are not a zombie or anything, are you?" and looks into Smelborp's eyes to check.
OK, so I think I'll just stick around in the town and not start anything new, maybe go shopping for a new mount or something.
-K

[Malimar]

Endeesy Adventurer's Guild

Smelborp half-heartedly nibbles at an offered sausage. "No, not a zombie. I think." Smelborp has a bit of a thousand-yard stare going on, but he does not appear to be a zombie, nor a vampire or anything.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"OK, Sancho. Here's the deal. You are coming with me and I suppose I have to see to it that you don't die horribly. So we will go and find some mount, and some basic equipment for you. Hopefully, you don't get into reaaaaaal danger. Just a touch of excitement. Got it? So what kind of equipment do you want? Armor? Weapon? Thieve's tools?"
OK, so looks like they are coming back soon? Maybe (If they don't encounter random encounter on the way) it's a good time to stop and wait for them?
-K

[Malimar]

Endeesy Adventurer's Guild

Smelborp looks and sounds unenthusiastic about this proposal. "I think I've had enough excitement for one lifetime." Still, if Kataun grabs him and hauls him away, he doesn't resist very strongly.

Naturally, he'll want leather armor, which is the best armor for a thief because it's made of hide. Also a dagger and masterwork thief's tools. Then he'll be ready to be the wussiest free cohort in all the land!

Indeed, the rest of the party is on their way. Assuming they don't run into an encounter on the road, they should be back shortly.

[Malimar]

Gus

Kataun may buy Smelborp a leather armor (10gp) and a dagger (2gp) and a masterwork thieve's tools (100gp) and a light horse (75gp) -- a total of 187gp.

Then they return to the Adventurer's Guild for lunch.

Soon, in the afternoon, the rest of the party arrives at the Adventurer's Guild, and so we shall return (for a few pages) to thread 2 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?246804-Megadungeon-A-II-(IC)&p=20988010#post20988010)!

[Malimar]

Jade Rice Bowl Tavern, Wang, Omorashi Empire

Rose buys lunch for everyone, and they wait there at the tavern until evening!


Eventually, the bartender comes over and points out a man who just entered -- an Omorashi human dressed in simple dark green and brown clothing, nothing indicating noble heritage, except, on closer examination, a slightly aristocratic bearing. The bartender points him out to the party, "There's the Carp Grandson."

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun parks the elephant at the front of the tavern and joins the group for the lunch. He downs the drink easy, but as he attempt to work on the lunch with the bowl of rice with the chopsticks, he starts to fumble. Obviously he's never used these utensils before. He tries for a little while to use them correctly but soon gives up and starts shoving the steamed rice from the bowl directly into his mouth by grabbing the chopsticks in his fist.

When the bartender notify the team for the arrival of Carp Grandson, Kataun jumps up and makes a large stride towards the table where the Grandson takes his seat. "Excuse us, MR! My name is Mr Red!" and he akimboes again for a brief second, and continues asking the man, "We are looking for someone who can track a dinosaur for us! And the elephant-dealer told us you are just the man for that job!"

-K

[Bayar]

Gasket

Gasket remains lost in thought as she eats a plate of raw fish. When the bartender notifies them about Carp Grandson's arrival, she goes to his table.

"Indeed. We can't let such a ferocious beast roam around chomping on elephants or farmers or whatever it pleases. The zoo here might even apreciate a live specimen, right ?

[RCgothic]

Lauren

Leonora and I hesitate before jumping in, seeing what we can each recall about local customs and forms of address politeness.

knowledge local:
Lauren [roll0]
Leonora [roll]1d20/roll]

[Malimar]

Jade Rice Bowl Tavern

Lauren recalls that bowing is a common custom in the Omorashi Empire, though not bowing is not considered the height of rudeness. This is a melange of several cultures, after all, and bowing is only original to some of those cultures. So Kataun and Gasket could have made a better first impression, but they did not utterly fail.

And it turns out that the Carp Grandson is relatively easygoing and not as stuck-up as his prestigious heritage and reputation would have one suppose, so he looks at Kataun and at Gasket and ponders, stroking his moustache. "I may indeed be the man for this job. I have tracked dinosaurs before, but never captured one. Tell me more about it." It transpires that the Carp Grandson is willing to help!

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"Bartender! Drinks please!" Kataun waves at whoever is serving Carp, and buys drinks for everyone and sits at the table. "So, we went to see the Elephant person, north of Wang. And we were talking and he mentioned the herd was attacked by a T-Rex, and they drove it away but the beast killed an elephant." His arms are flailing all over the places as he explains the epic battle of elephants and a T-Rex.

"I then told him we can take care of this threat to his business! Because we have a secret weapon." Kataun grabs Lauren by the shoulder, and points at her face. "This woman here, knows how to take care of a ferocious beasts like giant dinosaurs and huge snakes. So we started look for it, but eh...we can't find it. Here's where you come in." Mr Red takes two small shot-size cups, pours into both, hands one to Carp and downs the other one himself. "Oh god, it burns!"

-K

[Malimar]

Jade Rice Bowl Tavern

The Carp Grandson asks a few more questions -- about how long ago was the attack? Where did the T. rex go after the battle? -- and concludes, "This will be a most difficult task. I'll do it. For the glory of the hunt. But I cannot guarantee success."

[Bayar]

Gasket

"The only things we did manage to find were a demon, a elemental twister that got really miffed when we ignored it and a handful of undead. But for the glory of the hunt, we will do our best !"

"we should perhaps acquire a map of the region as well, being relatively new on the continent it could be problematic. And we could mark the areas we search in so we don't retrace our steps."

[RCgothic]

Lauren

I bow politely even though it's not absolutely required. Might as well get some practice in!

"We would much appreciate your assistance in this matter. What is your preferred manner of address, sir? My name is Lauren Norovathar, and this is my raven Leonora."

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun stands up in akimbo. "And we are the Seekersformerly known as Endeesey Five-ish" Then he grabs Smelborp, "This is our team mascot. You can call him Smey-Smey."

-K

[Malimar]

Jade Rice Bowl Tavern

I don't think you bought a Pearl of Speech for Smelborp, so he barely understands what's going on. All he knows is he's being manhandled by Kataun.

The Carp Grandson, "I think you are aware that I am the Carp Grandson." This is not a title. Well, it is a title, I suppose, but it is also his name. Koi-Sonja, in the local language. "In a hurry, you may call me Carp." He's a young man, only 21, but still a legendary tracker.

"Allow me to have dinner, and we can set out to hunt your dinosaur in the morning."

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Scratching his chin, "We can go grab the map in the meanwhile then?" Kataun asks Gasket.

-K

[Malimar]

Jade Rice Bowl Tavern

The Carp Grandson: "Oh, yes, a map, I have one you can borrow. I know the lay of these lands better than any map."

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/highseas/images/0/0a/6153761883_31d2471bc9_o.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20131007181729
Pay no attention to the hexes, they're not on the physical map, the map has a scale key instead. (Each hex is 5 miles wide.)

[RCgothic]

Lauren

"Thank you for your assistance in this matter, Koi-sonja", I thank him before turning in for the night. It may be a bit early, but a little spell research never hurt anywizard.

[Bayar]

Gasket

"Agreed. An artisan's work is never done so might as well get back to work." Heading to her room, the engineer infuses her periapt with a more powerful, temporary enchantment, focuses some magical energy into her goggles then starts scribing a scroll she hopes won't ever be needed. As the ink gets put on paper, so does oil, getting absorbed into the scroll.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun finishes the meal along with the rest of the group and head to bed, "Tomorrow morning then!" to Carp. After finding a place for Rocinante/Kokkiri, pat hin on his head, he gets knocked out completely at the convenient inn nearby.

Using Healing Belt 3 charges independently before going back to in to heal Kikkori + Kataun. 1 charge on Kikkori, 2 charges on Kataun.
Kikkori:[roll0]
Kataun:[roll1]
Kataun:[roll2]

-K

[Malimar]

Wang

Gasket puts together the supplies and inks for a scroll of reincarnate... but something goes wrong, and the scroll, infused with ink and oils, spontaneously bursts into flames and is destroyed before completion!

Then the party has themselves a sleep!

And then they meet up once more at the inn! And perhaps have breakfast! But anyway, the Carp Grandson is waiting there, with a fine (albeit smallish) warhorse and a (also smallish) wolf by his side! The wolf sits patiently and wags his tail when petted, should anyone be so inclined.

Carp gestures expansively, "Are we all ready?"

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"Ready, let's go!" Mr Red yells loud with his polearm out and atop Kikkori/Rocinante2 thumping behind the tracker as well as Smelborp sitting in the howdah. (After playing with the wolf a few minutes).

-K

[Bayar]

Gasket

"Fire fire fiRe !" Gasket frantically throws the supplies on the floor and starts stomping on them until they die out. "*huff* *huff* *huff* Oh bulkheads ! So many supplies gone to waste. It's not even like we needed it but it was good to have in case of emergency. This Omorashi air probably threw me off my game, maybe a good night's sleep will fix it."

The next day, Dasket joins the others but she's in a more 'meh' mood.

[Malimar]

Omorashi Empire

And so the group heads north along the coast road to Baan!

An hour or so into the journey, they pass eight giant toads the size of men sitting in tidal pools and croaking! The toads ignore the party, Carp's wolf barks at the toads, the toads ignore the wolf, Carp whistles for his wolf to stop bothering the toads, the wolf returns to walking alongside the party.

And then they get to Baan!


Baan

The party consults Kupao, who leads them to where the tyrannosaur broke down the fence weeks ago (the fence has since been repaired).

Kupao hops down off his horse, inspects the surroundings, and nods, "Yes, this will be most difficult indeed. It went that way." He points, and walks in a generally westerly direction, occasionally pointing out broken tree branches or faded dinosaur tracks that nobody else can see even when they're pointed out, his wolf snuffling around and occasionally barking, aiding the hunt.


Omorashi Empire

Eventually, after several hours of tracking through the jungle, Carp locates a gargantuan crater-like nest of dirt, filled with five eggs the size of watermelons and a variety of large bones! "This is definitely the creature's nest. Tracks all over the place."

Suddenly, from the jungle comes thumping and bursting a theropod dinosaur the size of an elephant! Carp, drawing his bow, yells, "The elephant vendor was wrong, that's not a tyrannosaur, it's an allosaur! Poor man's tyrannosaur!"



,,,,,,,♣,,,,,,,,,,♣,
,♣,,,,,,,,,,,,,,aaa,
,,,,♣,,,,,,,,♣,,aaa,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,aaa♣
,,,,,,,♣,,,♣,,,,,,,,
,,♣,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,♣☼☼☼,,,,,,,♣,,,
,,,,,☼☼☼☼☼♣,,,,,,,,,
♣,,,,☼☼☼☼☼,,,,,,,♣,,
,,,♣,☼☼☼☼☼c,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,☼☼☼♣w,,♣,,,,,
,,,,,,♣,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,♣,,♣,,,,,,,
,♣,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,KKKLL♣,,,♣
,,,,,♣,,hhKKKLL,,,,,
♣,,,,,,,hhKKK♣EE,,,,
,,,,,,,,G♣RR,,EE,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,RR,,,♣,,♣,
,,♣,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

, = ferny underbrush (difficult terrain)
♣ = tree
☼ = nest with eggs

G = Gasket on Mirage
KKK = Kataun and Smelborp on Rocinante2
LL = Lauren on Starswirl
EE = Rialla on her horse
RR = Rose on Sunshine
c = Carp Grandson
w = Carp Grandson's wolf
hh = Carp Grandson's horse
aaa = allosaurus

[Bayar]

Gasket

Wielding the Lightning Lance, the engineer can't help but comment. "So a Tyrannosaur would be bigger ? Now we need to find one of those ! Maybe not now, but I'll add it to the list. Lauren, if you will ?"

Gasket will ready an action to fire the lance if the reptile comes within 30 feet and Lauren doesn't incapacitate it properly.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"Allosaurus!" Mr Red points excitedly and exclaim loudly. "Look look, dinosaur, Smeplorb!" He grabs his sidekick? 's sleeve and shakes him as he points. "OK Miss Blonde, it's your one chance! Don't mess it up!" Navigating the elephant with confidence, the Red costumed man struts out in between the beast and the group to block its way.

Moving NE to intercept, and using full-round action to initiate Enlarge Person Spell-Like.
-K

[Sliver]

Rose

Rose readies herself to fire up in case stupidity fails.

Energy Stun for [roll0] electricity damage, DC 19 reflex halves. If save fails, then DC 19 Will or stunned for a round. 4PP.

[RCgothic]

Lauren

"Well that's disappointing," I complain. "Kataun, cover me."

I move my horse up into range, and a green beam streams from my fingertips.
Ray of Stupidity
Touch [roll0]
INT damage [roll1]

[Malimar]

Omorashi Empire

Lauren pewpews the allosaur with a super-powered bolt of dumb! Arcane Glow: Double damage and target glows like faerie fire for [roll0] rounds. She does 12 int damage, which would have taken down a normal person, the allosaur doesn't stand a chance, and her spell is so powerful the collapsing dinosaur glows with a prismatic light!

The dinosaur is defeated!

Rialla gains 1440XP, Rose gains 1280XP, Gasket gains 1200XP, Lauren gains 1080XP, Kataun gains 720XP!

Loot: 5 allosaurus eggs, and the allosaurus itself.

[RCgothic]

Lauren

For a few moments all I'm able to do is stare at my fingertips in stunned disbelief!

"We should... It... It'll probably be out for quite a while. We should probably still have have kokkiri squash its head though. Unless we want that as a trophy. On second thoughts, yes. Cut its head off Kataun! We can have it mounted in our fortress when we get home, and in the meantime it's proof of our prowess!"

[Bayar]

Gasket

"No wait! We could try and drag it back to civilization alive. That would be impressive, right? Along with four of it's eggs...

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"The wizard did it!" Mr Red raises his arms and go into victory pose. Seconds later, he grows into 12 foot height, and then immediately shrinks back down. He hops out of the howdah and checks the dinosaur out, and taps her head lightly. "Yeah, I agree with Miss Blue. It's even more impressive to bring a live Allosaurus! Let's take it alive with us." and he starts to hoist the egg gently into the howdah.

Easy victory \o/
-K

[Malimar]

Omorashi Empire

Carp nods approvingly, "Most impressive indeed. Would you mind if I took one of those eggs as a reward for leading you to this place?" He isn't sure what he's going to do with an allosaurus egg, but he's sure he'll think of something.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun hands an egg to Carp, "Absolutely! We were completely lost without you. By the way, so you are actually Grandson of the Emperor? Go you call him, like 'Hey じいさん'?" He asks as he hands one of the egg to the Legendary Tracker.

-K

[Bayar]

Gasket


Omorashi Empire

Carp nods approvingly, "Most impressive indeed. Would you mind if I took one of those eggs as a reward for leading you to this place?" He isn't sure what he's going to do with an allosaurus egg, but he's sure he'll think of something.

"I for one don't have a problem with that. We wouldn't have found this place without your help, Carp Grandson. I also suspect our warrior in red was thinking of keeping one egg for the possible allosaur mount in the future, just in case of Rocinante II untimely demise. What do you guys think ?" Gasket turns to the rest of the group. She also translates for Smelborp, the poor fellow must be feeling lost by now.

[Sliver]

Rose

"Yeah, sure, no objections... But do they lay eggs if unfertilized?" Rose asks, wondering about the presence of a single dinosaur. "Is that one even a female?" She adds. "If those are unfertilized, then I'm sure they would be nice soft boiled... If they are fertilized, then..." She looks around, worried. "Only one set of tracks, right?"

[RCgothic]

Lauren

"Certainly you may have an egg, Carp Grandson", I agree whilst I recall what I can about Allosaurus eggs and time to reach full size. Nature [roll0] plus assist Nature [roll1] =11

"I'm confident I can keep the allosaurus sedated indefinitely; a twice daily application of that spell should be sufficient. But how are we going go get it back to civilization? Kokkiri can't carry both it and the howdah, but dragging it would injure it. We're going to have to fashion some sort of sled..."

I start sketching out some plans for a sled fashioned from trees on a loose piece of paper. Architecture / Engineering [roll2] plus assist Architecture / Engineering [roll3] =25

[Bayar]

Gasket

"We could use the floating disk to transport the howdah, it's probably within limits of the spell. Here, let me help with the designs !"


Knowledge (Architecture & Engineering): [roll0]

[Sliver]

Rose

"I could make oil or something like that, to help keep things smooth. Anything that's plant matter, basically... Would last only for 5 hours, but I can just make more." Rose offers. "I could make wheels made of wood, but that would be more of a problem once they are gone..." She says, looking around. She's still worried about the possibility of the allosaurus having a mate nearby.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun akimboes and takes a guard position while more constructive part of the team build a way to transport the unconscious beast.

-K

[Malimar]

Omorashi Empire

The Carp Grandson takes an egg! And by "takes" I mean lays claim to one, puts it with the party's eggs, and will take it once they get back to civilization. "Yes, the Scorpion Emperor is my grandfather."

Smelborp has really been quite sanguine about having no idea what's been going on, but is grateful to have the situation explained to him.

I have no idea, so I'm going to say allosaurs take a couple years to reach full size. (Lauren doesn't particularly know, either, but most things that size take years to grow to full size.) Training an egg is probably not a good investment for a mount for the party. They'll probably sell for like 800gp each, though.

The adult could maybe possibly be trained, but it would take awhile.

Lauren and Gasket put their heads together and design a sort of sled! (Out in the jungle, wheels probably wouldn't work very well, though non-wheels means more work for the elephant. Once they reach the road, wheels would help, but by then they'll be halfway back to Wang.)

The party spends a couple hours assembling the sled! The allosaur's mate, if it has one, does not show up to bother them in this endeavour. It is a good sled, a good design. They enlist Kokkiri and Kataun in shoving the allosaurus onto the sled, then hook him up to it, and then the party can (very slowly) make its way back east out of the jungle!


On the way out, they pass a swampy area infested with giant toads the size of men, which ignore the party.


Five small lurking goblins watch the party from the underbrush, but recognizing that they have an elephant and have defeated an allosaurus, wisely flee deeper into the jungle, going "woob woob woob woob woob woob!" as they run away.


Eventually, the party reaches the road, and turn south!


They pass a small merchant caravan heading north; the merchants marvel at the allosaurus!


They pass a pair of fierce-looking dire horses nomming grass at the edge of the jungle, but the dire horses soon flee into the jungle.


And then the party approaches the gates of Wang Port! The eyes of the guards on duty bug out of their heads when they see the allosaurus.

[RCgothic]

Lauren

"What do you guys think?" Lauren asks as they approach Wang. "Gift for the Scorpion Emperor?"

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun asks Carp as the wizard poses the question, "So, what do you think? Can we meet him? Would he like something like this?"

-K

[Sliver]

Rose

"How many shrooms does an elephant need to eat to be affected?" Rose asks. "What would it look like?" She muses, looking at Kataun hopefully. I can make over a hundred cubic feet worth of shrooms, you know?"

[Bayar]

Gasket

Would it be polite to gift wrap it ? Or would that be a big no-no since the gift could be interpreted as concealing something dangerous like a hit squad or something ?

[Sliver]

Rose

"Like a dinosaur?" Rose suggests for the something.

[Malimar]

Wang

The Carp Grandson ponders, and eventually decides, "It's true, this dinosaur could be a fitting gift for the royal menagerie, and presenting it there might even earn you a few minutes of the Emperor's time."

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"Great idea Miss Blonde! Now, to the palace! Eh, you might want to lead us again, Mr. Grandson! Probably looks better that way." He dutifully follows the Legendary Tracker with the elephant and sleeping dinosaur in tow.

-K

[RCgothic]

Lauren

As an aside to the Carp Grandson: "How much am I going to have to apologise for Kataun?"

[Bayar]

Gasket

"Then let's not stand around and goooo !"

[King Tius]

Rialla

Rialla looks down at her dusty noble clothing and pouts. "We simply can't meet the Emperor looking like this! We MUST get fancier clothing before our royal appointment. Selling one of the eggs should be more than enough to outfit us."

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"What do you mean 'looking like this'." Kataun proudly stands tall, and frowns in his red outfit, which has seen more than a dozen battles and still carries the mostly unfixed rip from the recent scuffle against Oni. Still, he follows others' and most importantly Carp Grandson's lead on the matter of proper attire for this occasion.

-K

[Bayar]

Rialla

Rialla looks down at her dusty noble clothing and pouts. "We simply can't meet the Emperor looking like this! We MUST get fancier clothing before our royal appointment. Selling one of the eggs should be more than enough to outfit us."

Diane looks at her clothes. "well I did buy some better looking attire and matching accessories, but didn't want to ruin them while traveling or fighting. I'll go get changed and be back to meet you lickety split !" Gasket heads to the inn to change into her omorashian courtier outfit. She'll also leave the breastplate off.

[Malimar]

Wang

The Carp Grandson suggests, "We should bring this allosaur to the royal menagerie -- which is not at the palace -- then I'll go see my grandfather and see if I can arrange a time for you to be presented at court tomorrow. That should give you time to get fine tailored outfits and a bath."

As an aside to Lauren in response to her aside, "Luckily, grandather has some sense of humor, so your jester-like friend may amuse him."

And so the party drags the allosaur through the town to the menagerie, which is filled with all manner of strange and wondrous beasts! The Carp Grandson formally presents the allosaur to the menagerie keeper, who is somewhat concerned about where he's going to put the allosaur, but still joyful to have such a beast in the collection.

Then, to the party, "Meet me at the Jade Rice Bowl tomorrow, we'll get you in to see grandfather."

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

The jester-like man spends some time in the Menagerie, attempts to befriend caretakers and check out all the exotic creatures Omorashi has to offer.

Then as the day winds down, he returns to whichever the Inn they are staying at and gets ready for the next day, and he shows up at the Jade Rice Bowl good half an hour before the place opens, apparently too excited to wait.

Checking out the Royal Menagerie, especially noting if there's a flying mount. If all of ya'll want to RP some stuff during the day, I'll RP that part but otherwise, we can skip to tomorrow to see the Emperor.

Also Malimar, what's the availablity of Alchemical Weapon Capsules in this city? I'm specifically looking for Quicksilver and Ghostblight.
-K

[Bayar]

Gasket

The engineer spends the rest of the day hunting some crafting supplies and trying to make a Pearl of Speech for Smelborp.

Pearl of Speech cost: 600 x3 /8 = 225 gp + 30 xp
UMD Emulate Comprehend Languages DC: 21 [roll0][roll1]
UMD Emulate Tongues DC: 23 [roll2][roll3]
Using them both from the bard spell list.

[King Tius]

Rialla

Rialla timidly asks Kataun if she can tag along to the menagerie. She'll let him do his thing and just follow along in a quiet pleasant mood, scribbling notes about the different creatures she sees.

[RCgothic]

"Is there anything we should know before we meet your grandfather?" I ask the Carp Grandson.

[Malimar]

Wang

The Carp Grandson considers. "Probably you'll want to bow as deeply as possible when you're presented to him. Touch your forehead to the floor if you can, though I know that can be hard for people not practiced at bowing. Don't stand up straight until he speaks. There are all sorts of confusing subtleties of protocol beyond that, but even I'm not a master of them. You'll probably wind up fine as long as you don't outright insult him."

Kataun and Rialla find there are all manner of strange and wondrous creatures on display at the Menagerie! Mostly not very intelligent, so no pegasi or unicorns or giant eagles or giant owls or anything. Griffons, hippogriffs, small dinosaurs, exotic creatures along those lines.

Wang is a fairly big city (not half as big as Endeesy, but still, like, the second-biggest city on the shared continent) and with a thriving trade in alchemy and magic, so all manner of things are available. Kataun can easily find alchemical weapon capsules if he seeks them.

Gasket successfully crafts a Pearl of Speech for Smelborp! He is mildly grateful when she presents it to him, "Oh, nice, now maybe I can understand what's going on."

Also whoever wants to has time to buy extra-fancy Omorashi garments!


The Next Day

The party meets up at the Jade Rice Bowl in the morning! First Kataun, then the others trickle in.

The Carp Grandson (without his wolf present this time) appraises everybody's outfits, and nods. "Good, good. Shall we go? Leave the elephant here." Assuming assent, he leads the party northwest through the city!

The Palace of the Scorpion Emperor sits at the northwesternmost point of the island, 50 feet above the Kawa River. It is a tiered, well-defended castle, crossbows poking out of narrow windows.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Matsumoto_Castle05s5s4592.jpg/800px-Matsumoto_Castle05s5s4592.jpg

Entry to the castle is around a 20'-wide causeway to the west, open to crossbow fire from the castle, and then a pair of portcullises. The Carp Grandson announces their identities up to the walls, and eventually the portcullises slowly lift. Under the portcullises, up some wide stairs to a wide courtyard within the walls.

Up another wide, long stairway, through a pair of heavy doors, through several hallways with scattered guards. The route to the Scorpion Emperor's throne room is not straightforward, for presumably defense-related reasons.

At the end of the last long hallway, the Carp Grandson presents the party to a servant lurking at the door to the throne room. The servant enters before the party, announces the party to all present, and ushers them into the throne room.

Dominating one corner of the room, on a raised dais, sits an ancient, long-moustached Omorashi human, visibly pushing 90 years old, dressed in opulent finery.

The Carp Grandson bows at the waist, skillfully touching his forehead to the purple-carpeted floor, "Grandfather."



#####+##+##
#S-g.....g#
#--.......╪
#g...K....#
#...CL...g#
+..EGR...h#
#.........|
#........g#
+.......###
#g..g..g#
##╪###╪##

# = wall
+ = window
╪ = door
- = throne dais

L = Lauren and Leonora
G = Gasket
R = Rose
E = Rialla
K = Kataun

S = His Imperial Majesty the Scorpion Emperor
C = Carp Grandson
g = Omorashi guard
h = herald servant

[RCgothic]

Lauren

I take the opportunity to freshen up and buy some fancy clothes and jewellery for our audience with the Scorpion Emperor. When shown into his presence I dextrously copy the emperor's grandson; being lean and flexible, copying his pose isn't that difficult.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun makes his best effort to put his best outfit on. Unfortunately, he's only got one and he's proud of the red costume so there's so much he can do with it. As he enters the throne room, he poses for half a second, and quickly remembers Carp's advice, and follows his lead with the bow. He keeps checking sideways, as he keeps his head down, to Carp to see when he's allowed to un-bow, and keeps himself down as long as he could.

I'm going to go ahead and make a purchase of those alchemical capsules.

Also, do we bring our weapons in here? I'm assuming we leave them behind…

Bayer, So, did we get an advance with the pearl? K will pay for Smelborp's pearl if Queen's not paying for it.
-K

[Malimar]

Palace of the Scorpion Emperor

Oh, yes, the Carp Grandson would have advised you to leave your weapons behind. If you didn't, they were collected on your way into the castle and you can retrieve them when you leave.


The Scorpion Emperor isn't petty enough to leave you bowing until you get a crick in your back. He is, however, cognizant enough of the power dynamics a proper ruler enforces that he leaves you bowing almost, but not quite, long enough to become uncomfortable. He is a merciful but firm ruler. "Alright, that's enough of that, stand up."

[Bayar]

Gasket

With the practice one gets by crawling through narrow spaces to perform maintenance on a submarine, Diane touches the floor with her forehead. She will wait for someone else in the party to address the emperor though.

[King Tius]

Rialla

Rialla executes a bow with the practiced ease of someone who has been to finishing school. When she comes out of her bow, she keeps her head bent slightly forward and her eyes on the Emperor's feet, making sure she is showing as much deference as possible.

"Your Majesty, thank you for granting us this audience. We are humbled to be in your presence. My companion and I toured your menagerie yesterday, and you do us a great honor by allowing us to add to your already impressive collection of magnificent creatures. We could not have tracked and caught the beast without your grandson's prowess, so if I may be so bold to say, in a way, Your Majesty caught the dinosaur himself."

She bows graciously again to reinforce the point. While her words might come across as over the top, they are delivered without a hint of irony and with the utmost respect and deference to the throne.

[Malimar]

Palace of the Scorpion Emperor

The Scorpion Emperor listens to Rialla's words, then nods approvingly. "Very good, you're very good at flattery. My grandson could learn a thing or two from you. He's better at flattering wolves and bunnies than flattering his grandfather." The Carp Grandson looks impassive about this criticism.

The Emperor continues, "Did you want something, or did you just want an audience so you could bask in the glorious radiance of the world's greatest and most powerful ruler?" This non-humility: possibly a joke?

[King Tius]

Rialla

Rialla smiles at the Emporer's question. "Basking in your radiance is a reward unto itself, Your Majesty, but my companions and I had hoped to use this audience as a chance to offer our services for any tasks that you might have for us. We hope that capturing this dinosaur is proof enough of our competency, coupled with your grandson's appraisal of our character. Is there any way we may be of use to you, Your Excellence?"

[RCgothic]

Lauren
I nod in agreement with Rialla. It would seem that performing some services for the Emperor is probably the best way to become trusted and get close to him.

[Malimar]

Palace of the Scorpion Emperor

The Scorpion Emperor ponders this offer, stroking his moustache. "Yes, that is how they do things in Gus, is it not? The Vampire-Fiend King cannot control his own realm, so he pays adventurers to do it for him. Of course, here in the heart of true civilization, we have a standing army to accomplish any tasks that need accomplishing."

"Still... Grandson, are your cousins in Nakon still missing?"

The Carp Grandson inclines his head, "Yes, Grandfather. I could not find them, even with the resources of the army at my disposal."

"There you go, adventurers. My Crab Son, the Daimyo of Nakon, has lost his two young daughters, my Emerald and Sapphire Granddaughters, earlier this year. I have more daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters than I can count, but each is as precious to me as a pearl, so this distresses me to no end." He doesn't look all that distressed, but that could just be a great poker face.

The herald interjects, "Seven daughters, thirty-nine granddaughters, eleven great-granddaughters. Plus the wives of your sons and grandsons, of whom you have-"

The Scorpion Emperor interrupts, "Yes thank you you're very helpful please shush." He returns his attention to the party, "Go to Nakon, find my Emerald and Sapphire Granddaughters, and return them to my Crab Son, and you will have all the Scorpion Emperor's gratitude. Which should be enough for you, but I'm sure I can dig up some material rewards for you, too, should you succeed."

[RCgothic]

Palace of the Scorpion Emperor

The Scorpion Emperor ponders this offer, stroking his moustache. "Yes, that is how they do things in Gus, is it not? The Vampire-Fiend King cannot control his own realm, so he pays adventurers to do it for him. Of course, here in the heart of true civilization, we have a standing army to accomplish any tasks that need accomplishing."

"Still... Grandson, are your cousins in Nakon still missing?"

The Carp Grandson inclines his head, "Yes, Grandfather. I could not find them, even with the resources of the army at my disposal."

"There you go, adventurers. My Crab Son, the Daimyo of Nakon, has lost his two young daughters, my Emerald and Sapphire Granddaughters, earlier this year. I have more daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters than I can count, but each is as precious to me as a pearl, so this distresses me to no end." He doesn't look all that distressed, but that could just be a great poker face.

The herald interjects, "Seven daughters, thirty-nine granddaughters, eleven great-granddaughters. Plus the wives of your sons and grandsons, of whom you have-"

The Scorpion Emperor interrupts, "Yes thank you you're very helpful please shush." He returns his attention to the party, "Go to Nakon, find my Emerald and Sapphire Granddaughters, and return them to my Crab Son, and you will have all the Scorpion Emperor's gratitude. Which should be enough for you, but I'm sure I can dig up some material rewards for you, too, should you succeed."

"We shall see it done, your majesty," I agree to the task, bowing deeply.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun's interest is piqued as soon as rescuing of missing princesses are mentioned. "Rescuing damsels in distress! Princesses! Sounds like it's time for the Seekers to spring into action!" He goes back into the akimbo, with his head tall. "Distress no more, your majesty! Let's go!" Mr Red is ready to storm out and get going with the search for the lost princesses, with Carp along slide.

-K

[Malimar]

Palace of the Scorpion Emperor

The Scorpion Emperor nods approvingly, everybody bows again, the Scorpion Emperor waves them off, and they are hustled out of the palace and back onto the streets of Wang.


Wang

Carp informs the party that Nakon is pretty much due west of Wang, so they'll want to take the bridge across the river to the south and take the western fork and just keep heading west on the road through Meuang, Danchi, Yindang, and Derp. (As Leonora flies, it would strictly be more straightforward to cut through the farms and wilderness between Danchi and Derp, because Yindang is about 2 miles southwest of Danchi and 2 miles southeast of Derp, making it a bit out of their way and the hypotenuse would be a straight line between Danchi and Derp -- but the road is so much faster than cutting through farms and wilderness that just following the road is ultimately faster for anyone who can't fly. Plus Rocinante II might mess up the farms tromping through them.)

If asked, Carp agrees to come along, because he has nothing better to do, but he's already failed to find the Emperor's Granddaughters, so he warns the party not to expect him to be much help.

The party can make whatever preparations they need to, and then they depart the city!


Omorashi Empire

As the party heads out of Wang, the temperature climbs as high as 104°F (40°C), so everyone is glad for Rialla's Endure Exposure invocation.


The road follows along the bank of the river Kawa for the first five miles or so. Carp and his wolf occasionally dip into the river, despite Rialla's invocation, because the water, fed by the peak of Mount Yama, is cool and pleasant.

After a few miles, Rialla spots something in the river a ways ahead, standing near the bank (and therefore near the road)! A beautiful, perfectly-proportioned elven lady -- no, not quite an elf? Rialla's not sure -- apparently bathing in the river.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/17/2d/c9/172dc9dcd22987dee41a4c6459d1af15.jpg

Everyone else in the party is oblivious to the lady in the water, who appears oblivious to them as well. However, the road will take them right past the lady, and she'll definitely notice the tromping elephant soon, even over the burbling roar of the river.

[RCgothic]

Lauren

Lauren is happy enough to have Carp come along. As she's willing to discuss with the others in private - having one of the Emperor's grandchildren, however minor, come along can only be a benefit. She's less happy about Smelborp, who doesn't seem to be useful for anything. More capable companions than he have met their end whilst accompanying the party, and she doesn't think this is going to end well for him, whatever Kataun thinks.

She is of course, oblivious to the nymph at this moment. After her close call with the Succubus she'd be extremely suspicious of seductive scantily clad ladies in the middle of nowhere.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun actively claim Carp's service, and insist on him joining on this expedition, and will be following along side. "So, your gramps! He was a character. He wasn't particularly nice to you, was he..." Mr. Red happily trudge along on top of the elephant, with each steps thumping and making mini-tremors, oblivious to any hot lady action.

-K

[Malimar]

Omorashi Empire

Carp is not particularly talkative, but he tolerates Kataun's commentary with a shrug.


Rialla alerts the party to the lady in the water too late.

The lady in the water glances over her shoulder and notices the party (perhaps her attention was attracted by the thumping of the elephant and the clopping of hooves, though the river is a bit louder than them).

She gives out a shriek of rage, which in turn attracts the attention of the oblivious party members.

Lauren and Carp, once they notice the lady, are alarmed, because they recognize her as almost certainly a nymph. (Lauren knows the basics -- the features and traits of the Fey type (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#feyType), plus the fact that nymphs are capable of casting a variety of naturey spells, plus they're so beautiful that looking at them is a bit like looking at the sun.) Carp is all, "Uh-oh, nymph.", and pointedly looks away from her.

The nymph surges to the bank of the river, butt naked, and begins to harangue the party in Sylvan -- which, as it turns out, Lauren speaks. She has a bit of an unfamiliar accent, but Lauren can clearly get the gist that she's accusing the party of intruding on her private bath and of being perverts and defilers.



≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
,,,≈≈n≈≈,,,,,,,≈≈≈≈≈
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,≈
,,.............w,,,,
............KKKc.RR.
............KKKEERR.
............KKKEELL.
....,,,,,,,,...G.LL.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

. = road
, = high grass (difficult terrain)
≈ = Kawa River

KKK = Kataun and Smelborp on elephant
LL = Lauren on Starswirl
G = Gasket on Mirage
RR = Rose on Sunshine
EE = Rialla on horse
c = Carp Grandson
w = Carp Grandson's wolf

n = nymph

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

As the butt naked lady shrieks, Kataun shrieks in return. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhh! Sorry sorry sorry sooooorrrrrryyyyyyyy! But why are you bathing outside naked BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD!" in only language he speaks, which is Common.

-K

[RCgothic]

Lauren

"Everyone avert your eyes!", I tell the party, quickly following my own advice.

<We're sorry!> I call out. <We didn't know you were here and we're just following the road! We didn't mean to disturb you!>

[Malimar]

Omorashi Empire

The nymph, striding nakedly onto the road, raises a finger angrily to rebut Kataun's point. But everyone is so assidious about looking away (except Smelborp, who peers over the wall of the howdah at the nymph and is immediately struck blind by her unearthly beauty -- but he sits down with a satisfied look on his face, as if he's quite content to have that be the last thing he sees, the image seared into his eyes/brain forever), and Kataun and Lauren are so convincing and make such a good point, that she shrugs her pulchritudinous shoulders, walks up to give the elephant a pat on the trunk, then wanders back into the water to finish her bath, letting the party pass without another word.

Rialla gains 720XP, Rose gains 640XP, Gasket gains 600XP, Lauren gains 540XP, Kataun gains 320XP! Rialla immediately levels up to 4!

[RCgothic]

Lauren

[What is it fey and outsiders have against clothes?] I mutter to myself in elvish, with Leonora making a squark of agreement.

[Sliver]

"Well, both are very different from mortals, so it makes sense that they wouldn't share the same values as we do. Shame, or decency, is part of human culture, it's not a law of nature. You notice it more when it comes to fey because their appearance resembles ours, but you don't notice when an animal or an elemental are naked..." Rose notes, glancing at the elephant. She wondered if someone covered it's eyes, or perhaps it's own perceptions of beauty were so different that it was immune to the sight, or if it was too stunned to react to the blinding effects... Or if it was too stupid to notice that it was blind...

[Malimar]

Omorashi Empire

The elephant nonchalantly pulls a tuft of high grass from the side of the road and munches upon it, appearing unaffected by the nymph's blinding beauty. Either the elephant made its save, or the nymph is too different from an elephant for the elephant to find her as beautiful as a humanoid would, or the nymph somehow deliberately didn't target the animals, or something along any of those lines.


The party continues on westward, uphill, towards the town of Meuang!


After another few miles, they pass a cluster of approximately ten humany fey frolicking in the river. They look human or elven, with slender eyes and small mouths, thin eyebrows and very pale or golden complexions. They have no facial or body hair, but the hair on their heads is thick and luxurious. They are clad in light bamboo and chain armors, even in the water. Lauren recognizes these as Spirit Folk, the descendants of humanoids with various spirits of nature. These in particular are River Spirit Folk. During the Inundation, River and Sea Spirit Folk were common on the Plane of Earth, the Plane of Water, and under the sea in merfolk and triton society, and some have moved back to the Omorashi Empire since the Subsidence.

They are not hostile. Some watch the party curiously, some wave to them, and the rest ignore them.

The party passes the Spirit Folk by, and continues on to Meuang.


Meuang

Meuang is a smallish town of 1900 people a couple miles from the river. Almost halfway to their destination, a good spot for a brief lunch stop, perhaps at one of a handful of inns and restaurants.


Omorashi Empire

Then the party continues westnorthwest on the road to Danchi.


A few hours/miles later, Lauren, Rialla, and Carp almost simultaneously raise the attention of the party. There is a massive creature lurking in the underbrush to the north, rivaling the elephant in size. They see its beady eyes. So when the creature raises up to launch itself in a strike against the party, the party is not surprised.

What is it? A snake! Lauren recognizes it as very like the one that ate Arazha just within the entrance of the Don't Drink This River cave, many weeks ago: A dire snake, both venomous viper and constricting boa in one huge snake!



Ψ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ψ
,,,,,,,,,Ψ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,Ψ,,,,,,Ψ,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,sss,,,,Ψ,,,,
,,Ψ,,,,,sssΨ,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,sss,,,,,,,Ψ,
,,,,,Ψ,,,,,,,,Ψ,,,,,
..,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ψ,
......,Ψ,,,,,,,,,,,,
...............w,,,,
............KKKc.RR.
............KKKEERR.
,,,,........KKKEELL.
,Ψ,,,,,,,,,,...G.LL.
,,,,,Ψ,,,Ψ,,,,,,,,..
Ψ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,Ψ,,,,Ψ,,
,,,,,,,Ψ,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,Ψ,,,,,,,,,,,Ψ,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ψ

. = road
, = high grass, light bamboo patches (difficult terrain)
Ψ = thick bamboo patch
≈ = Kawa River

KKK = Kataun and Smelborp on elephant
LL = Lauren on Starswirl
G = Gasket on Mirage
RR = Rose on Sunshine
EE = Rialla on horse
c = Carp Grandson
w = Carp Grandson's wolf

sss = dire snake

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun doesn't engage in the conversation in Elven. He does, however, notice something strange about Smelborp. "Uh…Smitten? Are you OK?" Mr Red soon notices his sidekick doesn't seem to be able to see anything. "Hmm, that's not good. Oh well, maybe it'll go away in a day or two." He shrugs, and continues the trek to Nakon and back to chatting up Carp about his family and Emperor.

-K

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

As the snake rises up and show itself to get ready to strike, Mr Red finally manages to notice it. "It's a snake! It's a snake! You! You!" Kataun grabs the resident wizard by the shoulder. "Do your thing! Do your thing! And please! Hit it! Don't miss it!" He then steps on Smelborp with his right foot and make the blind man cower and take cover. "It's probably your time to be eaten. You look too delicious to beasts. Just pray, Smileyface."

Ready action. When the snake is within the reach of glaive, Divine Surge the snake

To Hit Regular AC(+8BAB+4STR+1 Masterwork, possible +1/2 FC):[roll0]
Damage +6x1.5 Str, possible +1/2 FC:[roll1]
Divine Surge extra damage:[roll2]
If the damage is 10 or more, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +4 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll3]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, gains another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+8BAB+4STR+1 Masterwork, possible +1/2 FC):[roll4]
Damage +6x1.5 Str, possible +1/2 FC:[roll5]

AoO:
To Hit AC(+8BAB+4STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll6]
Damage Armor Spike +4 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll7]
Damage Glaive +6 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll8]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +4 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll9]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+8BAB+4STR, possible MW, possible +1/2 FC):[roll10]
Damage Glaive +6 x1.5 STR Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll11]

-K

[RCgothic]

Lauren

My blood practically boils at the appearance of the snake! Arazha's death is still raw for me, and I now have a personal vendetta against giant snakes! I mutter murderously as my death glare dares the snake to try something and I wait for a better shot.


Ready of Stupidity
Readied Ranged Touch Attack [roll0]
INT damage: [roll1]

Goes off if the snake presents a decent target.

[Malimar]

Omorashi Empire

Kataun stomps on Smelborp, who cowers!


Lauren readies a spell!


The dire snake slithers towards the party, and when it comes within 40', Lauren blasts it with a ray of stupidity! Unlike with the last dire snake Lauren tried to do this to (and missed twice), the ray lances out and strikes the snake in the brain, and the snake collapses, comatose with dumb!


Rialla and Rose gain 320 XP each, Gasket gains 300 XP, Lauren gains 240 XP, Kataun gains 160 XP!


Somebody coups de grâce the enormous snake -- Carp with his finely-made katana if nobody else does, "No sense leaving this creature alive to menace other travellers in Grandfather's realm." Carp calls for a halt as he carves off slabs of snake-meat and loads up the elephant with it -- as he carves, he gives a lesson, "The muscle is good eating, properly cooked, but the liver and spleen are very poisonous to humanoids." and so on. He also lets his wolf chow down on some choice delectable-to-wolves bits of snake.

Then, leaving the bulk of the snake to be eaten by the wildlife, the party continues on westward!

Carp remains not very talkative, but does answer questions and gives the party a sense of what it's like to be a grandson of the Scorpion Emperor. He's pretty far down the line of succession, so although he is of high caste, he doesn't get any more special treatment than any member of the high caste would. (The caste system in the Omorashi Empire is not strictly enforced anyway, and it's possible for a person of great skill or renown or wealth to buy their way up the caste system with deeds or cash.)


They reach Danchi (pop. 600) within another hour or two, and then it's all downhill for another several hours, with the road zigzagging between towns a bit. The wilderness once again gives way to scattered rice and poppy farms!


Between Yindang (pop. 1100) and Derp (pop. 800), the party passes a squad of Omorashi soldiers, who don't show Carp any great deference, and simply advise the party to be cautious on the roads.


And then around dusk the party reaches the town of Nakon, a walled fishing and small port of 4800 people!

[RCgothic]

Lauren

Despite my antipathy towards the snake I let someone else perform the deed. Blade work is for the desperate. Instead, on the onward trip I ask Carp about our status, as metaphorical outsiders.

[Malimar]

Omorashi Empire

On the trip, Carp expounds upon the party's status as outsiders when prompted. People will be suspicious of them, not to the point of outright hostility, but the Omorashi Empire is somewhat less cosmopolitan and more insular than Gus. As outsiders, they're effectively members of the lowest caste (the Omorashi Empire doesn't have an "untouchable" caste, the lowest caste is basically peasants). The allosaurus got them an in with the Emperor, and if they successfully find the Emperor's granddaughters, that will bump them up a notch or two in the eyes of the nobility. They won't earn an official caste status unless they actually move here and petition the Emperor for one, but whatever they want to accomplish with the Emperor will certainly be made easier by locating his granddaughters.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun, on the other hand, doesn't shut up, despite the slow pace of information coming out of the legendary tracker. "But obviously, the Emperor knows you personally. I mean, he remember you specifically out of all of hundreds of grand children. You must interact with him more than just an average grandkid?"

As the group approaches Nakon, he starts waving at the guards at the gate. "Hello! Hello!" He lets the grandson of the Scorpion Emperor take the lead, "Look! This is Carp Grandson! Honorary Member of The Seekers formerly known as Endeesey X! Snake kebab?" He offers a few sticks of roasted snake meat on the sticks to guards.

-K

[Bayar]

Gasket

"Nice shot ! You're getting better and better at this aiming thing." The engineer harvests the snakes tail tip and a piece of liver, placing them into two empty flasks. "They might come in handy. Would have loved a snake skin cloak or sash or night gown, but let's not waste more time than needed."

She mostly keeps quiet while travelling, content with admiring the omorashian countryside.

Once Kataun offers snake kabobs, Gasket jumps at the opportunity to eat some. "We should get an endless bag of spices or something, never know when something edible attacks us !" :smallbiggrin:

[Malimar]

Omorashi Empire

Carp: "Grandfather has a keener mind than he lets on. He remembers all his grandchildren."


Nakon

The guards, on the other hand, don't recognize the Carp Grandson on sight. They take Kataun's word for it that he is who Kataun says he is, because it doesn't much matter to them. One of the guards takes a snake kebab, "Just like ma used to make!" The guards wave the party into Nakon.


It is becoming dark! You are likely to be eaten by a grue. Street lamps illuminate the well-tended streets. Hardly anybody is about.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Looking impressed, "All of them? Aren't there like 100's of them? I can't remember any of my grandchildren! He's a super genius? Maybe he's one of them 'I pretend like I am kind of dumb, to fool my enemies' type? Unlike me.", Kataun noms more sna-ke-bobs and keeps pestering Carp.

"So, I suppose it's too late in the day to talk to your relatives who had their daughters kidnapped, huh." He starts looking for an inn/pub.

-K

[Malimar]

Nakon

Carp nods, "Unlike you, yes." He also agrees that it is a bit late to seek an audience with the daimyo.


There are a handful of inns on the main street in town, by the docks! The party selects one with pink cherry blossoms on its sign.

The rooms turn out to be reasonably comfortable, so far as inn rooms go. The food is reasonably tasty, so far as inn food goes. The barflies are reasonably sober, so far as barflies go.


The Next Day

The red Wanderer Othag, representing anger and destructiveness, is in the Fist, representing taking by force and envy. It is a good day to murder folks and pillage their loot. A good day for murderhoboing adventuring.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

After groggily waking up, Kataun goes to check Smelborp to see if his condition has improved. After that, he arrange to meet up with Carp and get ready to meet up with the daimyo for the earliest convenience.

-K

[Malimar]

Nakon

Smelborp's condition has not improved; he remains blind! And he's a bit more gloomy about it today than he was yesterday.

The Carp Grandson meets the party over breakfast at the inn, and informs them that he has already been to see the daimyo's seneschal and arranged a meeting with his uncle Daimyo Crab Son for just after breakfast.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Mr Red gets ready for the audience with the daimyo with the familiar red outfit, which is the only outfit he has in any case, and again it is becoming rather tattered. As the group head out, he starts asking Carp and rest of knowledgeable group members who are essentially anyone other than himself, pointing to Smelborp who is sitting inside the howdah, "Uh...so, he doesn't seem to be able to see since yesterday with that naked lady, and hasn't gotten any better. Anyone knows what's wrong with him?" with rather concerned look.

-K

[Malimar]

Nakon

Carp gets together with the party's most expert healers and knowers-of-things, and eventually they issue a considered opinion, diagnosing: "He's blind. Happens when you look at nymphs."

[Malimar]

Nakon

So they finish breakfast, and everybody gets dressed in the finery they bought the other day (except Kataun, who's apparently more of a one-outfit-fits-all-situations type of guy), and they head down to the daimyo's smallish castle overlooking the harbor!

It's much less fuss getting in to see the daimyo than it was getting in to see the Emperor. The daimyo's seneschal escorts the party up to the top of the castle's walls, where a warm breeze blows from the ocean and the daimyo personally oversees some light repair work, leaning out over the empty air to supervise stonemasons hanging down in baskets roped from the top of the wall.

The daimyo turns out to be a pinched, vaguely crab-like in demeanor man, about 45 years old, dressed in workmanlike non-finery, with the only reference to his rank being a light cloak decorated with many embroidered red crabs -- the seneschal is dressed somewhat more nicely than the daimyo. The seneschal announces, "Carp Grandson and company to see you, sir."

The daimyo steps back from the edge of the wall and gazes upon the party with a :smallannoyed: upon his face.

[RCgothic]

Lauren

I bow low to the daimyo, though not as low as I did for the emperor, and attempt to get a read on his mood. I've also been spending a lot of time on our journey thinking about whether there's any magic we might try that might have a chance of finding our missing people.

[Malimar]

IN THE RECENT PAST

While approaching the castle, Carp notified the party that his uncle is not the type who tolerates failure lightly, so Carp would quite possibly be rotting in a dungeon cell for his failure to find his cousins if he weren't a relative. Probably it's best for the people who aren't utter useless failures in the daimyo's eyes to do most of the talking at this meeting.


MEANWHILE, IN THE SLIGHTLY LESS RECENT PAST

On the trip from Wang to Nakon, Carp also gave a brief outline of what he had been able to glean last time he was here: the princesses vanished from their bedroom the other day, probably by dimension door or similar teleportation magic. Signs of a struggle within the room, but no tracks to track.

Lauren's cogitation came up with some spells and powers which might help! If you can narrow it down to within several hundred feet, locate person might do. Find the path wouldn't, unless combined with, say, scrying, which would give you a picture of the targeted princess's immediate surroundings, unless they're in an area protected from scrying by whatever means. Which, if the Emperor's people haven't been able to locate the princesses, they might be. Or the Emperor's people might just be waiting on being able to find the relevant scrolls.


MEANWHILE, IN THE PRESENT

Carp bows to his uncle almost exactly the correct amount. Lauren and the others, perhaps following Carp's example, bow also basically the correct amount.

Lauren and the others guess Daimyo Crab Son is probably just annoyed to be interrupted at important work. His supervision of the repairs is probably not strictly necessary, he could have delegated, but he's a micromanager. And, as expected, Crab glowers at Carp with extra scorn because of the latter's failure. Crab also might be more irritable than usual because of worry over his missing daughters -- or he might just be this level of irritable naturally.

[RCgothic]

Lauren

"My lord Daimyo," I begin. "The Scorpion Emperor has sent us from Wang. My name is Lauren Norovathar, my raven Leonora, and my companions Kataun Yriand, Dianne Karr, Rialla Embershout, Rose, and our manservant Smelborp. The Emperor believes we may be able to assist in the search for your daughters. With your permission, we would like to join the investigation."

[Bayar]

Gasket

In the recent past

"Blindness ? I think I could whip up something to help with that. If this town has the materials required to make a scroll of blindness removal you'll be able to see the world again !"

The present

Gasket bows mimicking Lauren and lets her finish speaking. She studies the workers doing repair work, thinking about anything that might help them in their endeavor or any glaring deficiencies in the workmanship, willing to share the information with the daimyo at a later time (possibly after finding his daughter).

Knowledge (Arhitecture&Engineering): [roll0]

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

IN THE RECENT PAST
Kataun leaves behind Smelborp back in the howdah, "Hey, sounds like Gasket might be able to do something. Or, I'll just find someone who can fix you and pay for it. No worries," and pat his head and hands him a lunch. "Stay here and we'll be back as soon as we talk to Daimyo."

IN THE PRESENT
Mr Red steps up and strike a pose as usual, as the Crab person gives a hint of scorn to our friendly tracker person. "Ah, but never fear! We are called The Seekers, primarily because someone paid for it, but we are probably good at finding things." Then he ponders and very quietly asks Gasket, "Are we good at finding things? Isn't he better at that than us who just wonder around the country side aimlessly?", pointing to Carp. "Anyways! If your nephew has a trouble finding them, whoever took them must really don't want to be found! Luckily for you, we have power of love and friendship! Never fear!"
-K

[Malimar]

IN THE RECENT PAST

Smelborp nods enthusiastically at the idea of getting his blindness fixed!

Then he nods glumly, "Ok, I'll stay here." And so it turns out that their manservant Smelborp doesn't actually come along after all, so Lauren leaves him out of the introductions!


MEANWHILE, IN THE PRESENT

The daimyo arches an eyebrow. His father has sent murderhoboes to help! He doesn't seem to have a high opinion of murderhoboes, but after appraising the party, he... has an even less high opinion.

Still, in the end, "If my father the Scorpion Emperor sent you, then I suppose I might as well let you have a try at it. How do you plan to start your search?"

Gasket inspects the repair work! She soon concludes that the daimyo is not an expert at fortification construction, but he is pretty skilled at squeezing the best results out of underlings regardless of his own lack of proficiency in the subject, and these stonemasons are medium-skilled at their work, so she can tell that the work being done is firmly above-adequate. Still, she spots several deficiencies in their technique, and some minor deficiencies in the underlying architecture of the wall that could be addressed by the current repair work but isn't being addressed.

[RCgothic]

Lauren

I'm sure Lauren is probably intelligent enough to think of a way to help here, but I'm struggling.:smallfrown:

[Malimar]

Nakon

Trace teleport (even if one were to dig up an obscure arcane version (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/t/trace-teleport) that Lauren has read citations about but never actually encountered) only lets you trace recent teleportations (up to a minute ago for the power, an hour ago for the spell), so that's no good. Even if it were a Strong magical effect (which dimension door isn't, but higher-level teleportations are, and she doesn't know which was used), even detect magic wouldn't pick it up -- only deity-level magic leaves traces readable days ago, and if a deity abducted the princesses there are bigger problems. Lauren thinks she could probably research a higher-level spell to trace teleportation up to days ago... but that would take weeks, and would require her to be a much more powerful wizard, and would probably be a spell of at least the sixth or seventh circle, so casting it would also require her to be a much more powerful wizard.

Ultimately, I think Lauren thinks the best bet is probably buying a 700gp scroll of scrying (or having Gasket craft one if she can, though that would take time and there's no telling how much time the princesses have) and a 1,125 gp scroll of teleport and using the former to scry on one of the princesses to get a sense of her location so they can use the latter to deliver themselves to her. There are probably better techniques out there, but I'm not thinking of any. (This is of course an obvious enough solution to one who understands the ways of magic that the question arises, why haven't the Daimyo's people already tried it? To which there are a number of possible answers, including "they can't afford it", "there isn't a Mario's franchise nearby and nobody else stocks spells that powerful", "they tried it but their best arcane spellcaster isn't powerful enough and the scroll exploded in their face", "the princesses are protected from scrying", and so on.)

[RCgothic]

Lauren

"I believe the first place to start is what you have already tried, my lord? Magic? Conventional investigation? In either regard we are well placed to help you - Rose, Dianne and myself all have strong minds."

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Mr Red begins to open his mouth and about to protest the omission of his name among the strong minds he quickly forgets as mention of magic and conventional investigation and starts asking Carp behind everyone while whispering, "So, what did you do? I take it there was no one demanding ransom? And no real enemy who wants to do this?"

-K

[Malimar]

Nakon

The Crab Son peers over the edge of the wall again, sees nothing that needs his immediate attention with the repairs, and turns back to the party. He answers Lauren, "My nephew", he gestures to the Carp Grandson, "tried to find tracks within my daughters' bedroom, and failed. I have let it be known in the city that there is a reward for any information that might lead to their location, but no one with good information has come forward. And my court wu jen attempted to use a scroll of scrying -- at great expense -- to locate them, but he blew up the scroll, so he's currently cooling his heels in a cell."

Carp whispers back to Kataun, "Nobody has come forward yet. The family has plenty of enemies -- uppity aristocrats, Gus nationalists, sahuagin, goblins, demons..."

[Sliver]

Rose

Rose ponders for a bit. "Were there signs of struggle? If it was someone they don't know, they might have tried to throw things, or scream, but if it's someone that they did know and trust, they could have been lured away without making a fuss... Magic complicates it quite a bit, but I still think we should examine the scene. Perhaps when you were looking for tracks, you overlooked other signs."

[Malimar]

Nakon

The Crab Son nods, "There were signs of a struggle, but the signs of struggle did not extend to the door. My nephew and my court wu jen both agreed someone had teleported them out. You are welcome to examine the room." He takes a moment to decide which task requires more direct supervision: the wall repair, or the search for his daughters. In the end, he gestures to his seneschal to take over supervising the wall repair, and leads the party down into the castle to the girls' room himself.


Outside the door to the girls' room, Crab explains, "Only four people have been allowed in since the abduction: me, my captain of the guards, my court wu jen, and my nephew. Everyone has been instructed to minimize tampering with the evidence." So somebody knows the basics about how to run an investigation, at least. He pulls out a key, unlocks the door, and allows the party to view the scene.

Within: Stone floor covered with a thin rug. Two comfortable-looking but small beds, their sheets and blankets all over the place: the girls were probably abducted from their beds. Dressers and wardrobes, probably full of clothes, undisturbed. Chest of toys, undisturbed. Dollhouse on the ground, very disturbed, somebody knocked the roof off in the struggle. Full-length mirror, askew.

A careful search of the room by the party ensues! (Not taking 20, but the party member with the highest Search score got a natural 20, so the party finds just about everything it is possible for them to find within a reasonable time frame -- it would be possible for everybody to use Aid Another on Gasket's Take 20, bumping up the total by up to 10, but such a thorough search would take several hours.)

Lauren and Rose find nothing beyond the obvious.

Rialla and Kataun find one thing: a smallish barefoot human footprint on the mirror. Proably somebody picked up the girls and they were flailing around and one of them kicked the mirror and presumably somebody kicked or tripped over the dollhouse.

Gasket finds three more things:

First, Gasket finds a few fibers of torn cloth scattered about, torn in the roof of the dollhouse and the hinge of the mirror and stuff. Some of the cloth is of Omorashi style silk and consistent with the girls' pyjamas, but a patch of cloth is wool dyed sea-green.

Second, carefully inspecting the pattern of disturbance in the rug in the middle of the room -- which has been disturbed by a few people walking on it, but she still finds the pattern underneath that, like a crop circle of disturbed rug. She points out the pattern, and Lauren easily identifies the pattern as consistent with somebody standing in the middle of the rug and casting dimension door, not teleport or greater teleport or plane shift, any of which would leave subtly but definitely different patterns. So the girls probably aren't on the other side of the world or on another plane. They were probably dimension doored to somewhere within the town, and are likely within at most a couple days mundane travel from here. Though "within a couple days mundane travel" could be pretty much anywhere on the continent or a ways at sea, so that's only a little helpful.

Third, Gasket realizes that though the torn silk pyjama cloth she found is sure the result of struggle, she has a sneaking suspicion that the patch of sea-green cloth she found was cut, not torn -- deliberately planted near the dollhouse roof, not torn off in a struggle.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun asks Carp, "So, they could ran off themselves, right? I mean, it could be like they had some Romeoes and the dad didn't approve and they wanted to run off to elope. You know, like Bob and the youngest." Mr Red also asks Lauren along with Carp. "Do you know of any interest like that?"

-K

[Malimar]

Nakon

Carp looks doubtful at Kataun. "I suppose it's possible, but they're a little young for that, I think. They're, what, six and nine years old? I suppose they might have decided their father is too strict and run away on that account, but where would they have found someone to teleport them out?"

[Bayar]

Gasket

Searching through the whole room, occasionally tilting her head with her arms in odd angles, Diane replies to Kataun: "That was my theory before seeing this room. Maybe they ran away into the night. But upon inspecting this room, it's clear someone abducted them. The perpetrators probably didn't use the door or window to enter the room if they could use teleportation, so the victims were targeted specifically. This patch of sea-green cloth was left here deliberatly as a message. If we can identify an organisation that uses it as a callsign, we can find the girls.

The only thing missing is motive. Why were they targetted in the first place ? Without a ransom demand, there could be some possiblilities like information gathering, revenge, forced marriage, slavery. I don't want to contemplate more sinister reasons though.

Don't worry, lord daimyo, we will find them. Lauren herself was kidnapped by slavers and Kataun did a well enough job of finding and rescuing her. Now, if your court wu-jen attempted to scry, then you have the required focus for such a casting somewhere around. I'll need to search the shops around here for either a scroll of scrying or material components to make one. And details of the girls and some personal belongings. A lock of their hair would also be useful. Right, time is of the essence, I'll be making the necessary purchases. Maybe you could ask around town about the fabric ?"

[Sliver]

Rose

"What if the fabric was left behind as an attempt to frame someone? Maybe it was intended to be found and lead us to the owner, and arrest them, instead of the real perpetrator? It would need to be a very powerful or vain organisation to leave a mark that would lead to them, but a fake trail in an attempt to pit us against another enemy, or simply follow a red herring to waste time... Unfortunately, we don't have enough leads to not follow this one, but that is something that we should consider. In the meanwhile, could you question the citizens in the vicinity, a radius of a mile or so, about the night of the abduction, and if they had seen anyone disappearing or teleporting?" Rose suggests, as she watches Rainbow gently scurry on the floor and walls, examining the scene from his own unique perspective, and vision. It was unlikely that he would find anything, but it was worth a try.

[Malimar]

Nakon

Nobody has a stroke of brilliance about sea-green cloth, not even Carp, Crab, or Rainbow.

Rainbow finds nothing that the rest of the party hasn't already found.

The windows are undisturbed and locked from the inside, and nobody noticed anybody sneaking in through the door, so Gasket's theory about somebody teleported in, abducted the girls, and dimension door'd out has no counterevidence.

The daimyo nods, "A mirror of the necessary quality is in my wu jen's office. I'll have my men interrogate the citizenry if anyone saw anyone stepping out of a dimension door -- that has already been done, but it can't hurt to do it again -- or if anyone knows anything about sea-green cloth. The resources of the castle's library are open to you for research as well." (The Pearl of Speech doesn't specify whether or not it allows you to read the relevant language (it only refers to "speak and understand"), but even if not, Carp can do the searching in the library, not a big deal.) "I believe my wife has locks of the girls' hair."

If nothing else needs to be done here, the party departs!


Somebody -- Carp if nobody else -- heads to the castle's library.

The daimyo issues instructions to his guardsmen.

Gasket heads out to find scrolls!


After a bit of asking around and searching, Gasket finds a Mario's Discount Magic Supply Emporium franchise, which offers an arcane scroll of scrying for 700gp and a divine scroll of remove blindness/deafness for 375gp. And, if she happens to want to pick one up now, an arcane scroll of teleport for 1,125gp or a divine scroll of find the path for 1,650gp.


The daimyo's guardsmen, along with Rialla who sets out into the night to help, have no luck finding anyone who might have seen somebody stepping out of a dimension door on the night of the abduction. Lauren rolled poorly so either she isn't very good at asking the right questions, isn't very lucky, or went to the library to do research with Carp instead.

Kataun and Rose, on the other hand, rolled very well on their Gather Information checks, got lucky at a tavern, and followed a string of "well, I heard Teiycueybiu saying Ruuy Peuy said he saw..." "Yeah, Xhiyxuoy knows Ruuy Peuy, he can tell you where to find him..." "Zoej-Ayquy was with Xhiyxuoy at the bar yesterday..." and so on, never actually tracking down Ruuy Peuy himself but squeezing the whole story out of various people second-hand: a man (human? mongrelfolk? elf? goblin? orc? definitely not Omorashi human) in green robes, carrying two struggling children, stepped out of a flash of light a few hundred feet from the castle, loaded the girls into a rickshaw, and headed east. Nobody took it seriously at the time because Ruuy Peuy was, by his own admission, pretty soused on sake.

At the eastern gate of the town's wall, it takes some investigation to dig up who was on duty that night, but eventually they find the relevant soldiers, who confirm that a mongrelman in green robes, carting a rickshaw whose contents they did not investigate, left the city headed east on the relevant night.


Carp, and anybody who chooses to join him in the castle library, eventually discovers, among several other references that seem less relevant, references to sea-green robes traditionally worn by the clergy of Quasxthe (http://highseas.wikia.com/wiki/Quasxthe). As the party has already raised the possibility of a frame-job, Carp judiciously reserves his anger for when more information is available.


Hours later, the party reconvenes in the castle, reports their findings, and are led to the daimyo's court wu jen's office, which is meticulously immaculate, everything precisely ordered, in precisely the proper place, books and scrolls and bottles and magical apparatuses precisely ordered on shelves, papers under a paperweight on the desk precisely square to its edges, a mirror suitable for scrying already set up. The only things out of order are a knocked-over chair and a smattering of soot and burned parchment near the mirror.

[Sliver]

Rose

Rose considers the information that they have gathered so far, filing it on the appropriate mental shelves and seeing which books are missing from her collection. "The cloth wasn't left there by accident, and the culprit didn't seem to take precautions to not be seen once they left the castle. Trying to frame the clergy of Quasxthe, maybe?" She looks at the others to fill her in on the basic lore on Quasxthe before continuing. "It could be an attempt to get some negative attention focused on Quasxthe and his clerics... Perhaps Mirk's clergy? Numiel is also a possibility, but such a method is too underhanded I think, and they have that conflict with Inglip at Romus going on. Or perhaps someone wishes you to be in conflict with Gus..." Rose shakes her head, her herding her thoughts.

"Regardless, most likely that the cloak that this cloth belonged to is either destroyed or placed somewhere that they would want us to find..." Turning to the daimyo, Rose continues. "Did your court wu jen attempt to scry on the girls directly? Someone with access to advanced spells like Dimension Door is likely to be familiar with Scrying as well, and would have placed counter measures to prevent us from finding them, and with the only connection to the kidnapper being a piece of cloak that doesn't belong to him, scrying would end up futile... Could be that the scroll exploded not due to some magical mishap, but due to a special scrying prevention spell in place?" Rose asks the magical experts of the party. "Oh, hmm, could it work? You said that there needs to be a connection to the target if you don't know them at all, right? What about the residual patterns left from them using a Dimension Door? If the patterns are so subtle that you would be able to recognize the specific spell, and magical spells differ on a personal level so much that wizards need to pour over scrolls of spells that they already know before they can cast them... Well, I'm just saying, it sounds like these patterns are pretty intimate." Rose looks at Gasket and Lauren with her eyes lit up, hoping that she contributed something to this quest.

[RCgothic]

Lauren

"I've never actually cast Scrying before," I admit, "It is an advanced spell. But I believe I have thoroughly studied all the principles and I believe it is well within the limits of my ability. I believe we should attempt to locate the children first, even if they are shielded from scrying we should eliminate the possibility before moving on. The locks of hair should make it more likely for the spell to be successful," I explain.


Caster level check to activate scroll: DC8 [roll0]
Lauren casts at DC 20 for 4th level spells. The will save is at an additional -5. We have heard of the subjects and have some body parts.

[Malimar]

Nakon

The daimyo describes the explosion of the scroll, and the party's spellcasters are pretty sure it was just a regular not-strong-enough-to-use-this-scroll mishap. The wu jen just done goofed is all.

Not to pee on a clever plan, but the party's spellcasters are reasonably sure that the dimension door pattern is not specific enough to the caster to use as a very effective scrying focus -- it's only barely specific enough to tell what spell was used, and that only because Lauren is so expert at spellcraft. She can't even tell if it was cast as a spell, an innate ability, from a scroll or wand, or what. So what Rose proposes is perhaps possible, but extremely difficult.


When Rose raises the possibility that somebody's trying to frame the clergy of Quasxthe, or Gus, Carp and Crab look at each other. The Carp Grandson says only: "Uncle Mantis's wife."

The Crab Son nods, and explains for the benefit of the party, "My youngest full brother the Mantis Son, his wife was assassinated in their home a few months ago, and pro-Gus slogans were painted on the wall in her blood. We demanded father call the banners and march to war upon Gus, but he refused. We didn't know why... is it that he thought Mantis's wife a false flag operation? Is this the same, someone trying to drive us to war?" He is concerned about this possibility -- not as concerned as he is about the safety of his daughters, but concerned.


Lauren rights the chair in front of the mirror and sets up to cast from the scroll! She chooses the younger girl, as probably slightly easier to scry upon: the Sapphire Granddaughter.

She reads the scroll... successfully, the scroll does not explode, the girl fails her Will save, and an image appears in the mirror!

The image: A soft green glow (not an effect of the spell, which doesn't distort color much; the place must be lit greenly -- yes, on the wall: a glowing green stone). The princess, her pyjamas filthy, chained to a worked stone wall, crying silently. Two walls are visible in the image; engraved in the wall the girl is not chained to is some text in Aquan. Most of the message is off-screen, but Lauren can translate "...THE FAIR". Putting their heads together to analyze the stonework, Lauren and Gasket are pretty sure this style of stonework is a hallmark of merfolk, or maybe tritons. (Merfolk dwelt on this entire continent before it rose above the waves, and their buildings are still scattered around the continent -- some of their buildings have been repurposed for land-dweller use, such as the Coral Palace, dwelling-place of King Terek II of Gus, originally a merfolk country manor.) (For the purpose of teleport, if that's the plan, studying this image counts as "seen casually" -- "studied carefully" requires at least an hour of study, and scrying would only last that long for a 60th-level caster.)

Crab looks very relieved to see his daughter is alive.

[RCgothic]

Lauren

Without turning away from the image, which I am studying carefully for anything that might potentially be useful - the details of the room, the Sapphire Granddaughter's clothes, anything else that could potentially be useful in locating the girl before me - I ask the Carp Grandson an urgent question.

"Carp Grandson, you know this area well; the kidnapper was spotted heading east in a cart and the Sapphire Granddaughter appears to be in an area of merfolk ruins. I could attempt to teleport to the room before us, however these scrolls come at a minimum caster level so I could transport a maximum of two along with me. Fewer if I wished to return, and there is a risk I would fail the second casting. It would be better if we could narrow down the location of any merfolk ruins (I believe Locate Object would work if we got close) and then Dimension Door would be a much more reliable spell for me."

"I also think I should attempt to scry on the other princess before embarking on the rescue."

[Sliver]

Rose

Rose nods to the last notion. "Perhaps they are chained up on opposite walls, and a second might reveal the beginning of that message engraved on the wall. Does Aquan have a distinction between the meanings of 'fair'? By the sentence structure, it sounds like fair here would mean carnival, and not in the justice sense... Though it could be in the sense beauty, too... But what are the chances that the languages share the same homonyms?"

[Malimar]

Nakon

Carp nods, "Knowing when and where they left the city, in a rickshaw, and that their ultimate destination was one of the merfolk ruins in the vicinity, I think I could track them now, yes."

Lauren clarifies that the sense of "...THE FAIR" here is "...THE ATTRACTIVE" or "...THE BEAUTIFUL" or something along those lines, not "...THE CARNIVAL".

Crab (the only person present trained in knowledge(history) and capable of making the >20 DC) actually rolls really well on his roll at this point and points out, "There was a Merfolk queen known as "the Fair" -- Lorelei IV, of the Arielid dynasty, Lorelei the Fair. First century after the Inundation. Buried in a tomb near here. You will go there with a squad of my guards immediately, and prove your worth in combat if it's a trap." No evidence that it's a trap, except that everything is a trap if you're paranoid.

[RCgothic]

Nakon

Carp nods, "Knowing when and where they left the city, in a rickshaw, and that their ultimate destination was one of the merfolk ruins in the vicinity, I think I could track them now, yes."

Lauren clarifies that the sense of "...THE FAIR" here is "...THE ATTRACTIVE" or "...THE BEAUTIFUL" or something along those lines, not "...THE CARNIVAL".

Crab (the only person present trained in knowledge(history) and capable of making the >20 DC) actually rolls really well on his roll at this point and points out, "There was a Merfolk queen known as "the Fair" -- Lorelei IV, of the Arielid dynasty, Lorelei the Fair. First century after the Inundation. Buried in a tomb near here. You will go there with a squad of my guards immediately, and prove your worth in combat if it's a trap." No evidence that it's a trap, except that everything is a trap if you're paranoid.

Lauren

"As you command, my Lord Daimyo," I respond, borrowing the appropriate amount. Leonora also inclines her head.
"We will meet your guards outside as soon as they can be readied."

"Sounds like we're about to earn our name," I whisper an aside to Kataun.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun raises his left eyebrow, "What, they are 6 and 9 and already have boyfriends? And they are mermans? My, they move in quick! I just got one myself!" As usual, Mr Red is utterly confused. "We'll go fetch the girls anyways! To the tomb! Huh, looks like we are always going to tombs." He runs off to Rocinante and gets ready to ride off to the possible trap.

-K

[Malimar]

Nakon

And lo, the party did depart from Nakon Castle, get their stuff together, change out of court clothes and into adventurin' clothes (where applicable), got together with a squad of guards under the command of Crab's Captain of the Guard, and headed east out of the city!


Omorashi Empire

Outside the city, the group passes seven wild camels, of the two-humped variety. The camels, skittish, move off into the hills when approached.


Eventually, the party departs from the road and heads into the sparse jungle. Carp confirms that tracks as recent as a few days old lead off in this direction. A couple of the guards know the rough location of the tomb that is sought, so it doesn't take too long.


Lorelei's Tomb

The entrance to the tomb is a large pair of stone doors set into the hillside. In the worked stone above the doors, in badly-worn Aquan letters, is inscribed the message "WITHIN LIES LORELEI IV ARIELID, CALLED THE FAIR, AND HER HUSBANDS".

Graffitied across the doors in more recent (at least a few years old, but not more than ten) red paint, in Omorashi, "NOT WORTH IT, TURN BACK" and a little stylized doodle of a ghost.
http://i.imgur.com/EIgDeO8.png

The plants and brush in front of the doors are damaged and swept away; the doors (which open outwards, apparently) have been opened and closed again within the past few days.

The captain of the guard eyes the ghost doodle and suggests, "You're the adventurers. We'll wait out here."

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Turning around to the group, "So, let's say we meet a ghost. I am not sure if he'd be friendly, and listen to us. What would I be doing in that case? I think my weapon just go through the amorphous body." Kataun scratches his chin.

-K

[Malimar]

Lorelei's Tomb

Carp, apparently knowing something about incorporeal foes, nods to Kataun's words, "You'll need a magic weapon, or even a Ghost Touch weapon. I would offer you the use of my magical katana, but then I wouldn't be much use."

But let it not be said that the captain of the guard is utterly useless: he offers, "You may borrow my naginata until you reëmerge. It lacks Ghost Touch, but it is magical." The polearm in question is a length of finely-polished wood, inlaid with with Omorashi runes of power and prayers to the Ancestors in jade, with a short sharp folded-steel blade at one end and decorative orange tassels at the other.

A naginata is mechanically identical to a glaive in almost all respects (it turns out a naginata is actually slightly heavier than a glaive, but that matters little), isn't even exotic or anything. This one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xISEnAhfynI) is a +1 glaive (2-handed, martial, reach, magical, +1 attack, 1d10+1 slashing damage, 20/x3 crit, 15 lb weight).

If Kataun accepts the naginata, the captain of the guard is all, "I'm trusting you not to die in there. If there are ghosts and you die, we will have no way to rescue the princesses, or even to recover this naginata."

[Sliver]

Rose

"After our encounter with the earth ghosts I got a bit of practice in and now I should be able to harm them more easily..." Rose notes, while examining the symbol. "Though I suspect this might just be a ruse to deter people from meddling..."

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

He looks a little stunned and stares at the weapon that was handed to him and ponder for three seconds. "But what if the ghost is hungry. I mean, this is a tomb. Or worse, what if we find the captive princesses, and they are STARVING for some lunch. And what if they insist that we, the heroic rescuers join them for the feast before they decide to leave this cursed place? We should be prepared for the disaster in case the Princesses refuse to leave without a proper meal."

-K

[Malimar]

Lorelei's Tomb

The daimyo's guards look at each other, flabbergasted by Kataun. The correct response to Kataun's line of inquiry is of course "mu"*, but none of them have enough training in philosophy to realize this, so the captain eventually offers: "Do you not have rations?"

* Mu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_(negative)): the question is wrong, un-ask the question, the question is gibberish, there is no answer. Which brings to mind my favorite eastern philosophy pun: "Does a cow have the Buddha-nature?" "Mu."

[RCgothic]

Lauren

From behind Kataun's back I give the guard captain a weary smile, and make the flapping mouth hand gesture.

"I'm sure we'll be fine. Kataun, lead the way please," I say.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Slight disappointed look shows up in Kataun's face as he takes the rations. "OK then. This better be beef flavored." He turns around, put the magical glai-nata on his back and start twirling his own glaive and poses. "変身! Red Seeker!" He turns into a dino-man again, and tries to open the door to get into the tomb.
Using the Alter Self SL to change into Lizardfolk
-K

[Malimar]

Lorelei's Tomb

With some effort, the door budges under dino-Kataun's pulling, and beyond is a wide, steep ramp downwards into the hillside. Deep within, a green glow.

For reasons, Rialla stays behind (unless King Tius pops up to say otherwise) to watch the party's back or the guards or something. Smelborp does, too. Carp and his wolf enter with the party. The mounts stay behind unless otherwise noted -- though there's actually room for even the elephant, the non-skeletal ones are reluctant to enter.


Down the ramp about a hundred feet, the passage opens up into a high, vaulted, cathedral-like space, illuminated by glowing green stones (which make it bright enough to see without worrying about illumination conditions) affixed to the walls. Pillars line the space, and at the far end, another wide ramp leads up to an altar flanked by two glowing green boulders.

To the north and south are additional rooms; these rooms, and the middle of the cavernous cathedral-like space, have colossal intricate, faintly glowing circular designs inscribed on the ground. Think three giant pentagrams, except not pentagrams. More circles, fewer angles.

The altar area past the ramp up continues north and south; east of the circular design in the northern room is another wide ramp up; east of the circular design on the southern room is a wide passageway east.

Near one of the closest pillars lies an adult humanoid corpse that looks to be in the vicinity of a few years old.



#########
#...+...#
#.......#
#.......#
#..oOo..###
#.oOOOo.===
#.OOOOO.==
#.oOOOo.=
#..oOo..
#.......#
#.......#
#.......#
##....###
##....####################### .#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
#...........................#...#
#......#..#..#..#..#....====..++#
##.......................====..++#
==...........oOo.........====....#
==..R.......oOOOo........====..ππ#
==.GLK......OOOOO........====..ππ#
==.wc.......oOOOo........====..ππ#
==...........oOo.........====....#
##.....*.................====..++#
#......#..#..#..#..#....====..++#
#...........................#...#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
##....####################### .#
##....###
#.......#
#.......#
#.......#
#..oOo..
#.oOOOo..
#.OOOOO...
#.oOOOo...
#..oOo..#
#.......#
#.......#
#...+...#
#########

# = wall/pillar
. = smooth floor
= = ramp
oOo = circular design inscribed on ground
+ = glowing green rock
π = altar
* = corpse

K = Kataun
L = Lauren
R = Rose
G = Gasket
c = Carp Grandson
w = Carp Grandson's wolf

[Sliver]

Rose

Rose decided to allow Sunshine the Second to stay behind, since he was the most long lived of her three horses, The previous two being Sunshine and Sunshine the First, of course. Sunshine the First wasn't named so due to being the first Sunshine, obviously, but having named her first horse Sunshine, the name was already taken, even if its bearer was dead. Having heard that in other worlds people would add numbers at the end of names to make them unique, Sunshine the First seemed like the most logical conclusion. A week afterwards, Sunshine the Second seemed logical as well. She was afraid that if she would have went through a lot of horses, this world would have seen xSunshinex, but what Sunshine the Second had that Sunshine the First did not, was a head. Rainbow still reminded her of her shame, how she got conned into buying a headless horse...

Rose got red as she was waving Sunshine2 goodbye and started the descent. Down under, she forgets her horse thoughts, as she is busy beholding. Somewhat afraid to move, but behold the sights she does nonetheless. "Are these rocks natural or magical?" She asks in amazement. "How many years have they been here, shining for nobody... I wonder if they were brighter before, or if they never lost their original shine. And these rocks there are huge! Is there a quarry of glowing green rock and they were dragged here?! And what are these on the floor? Ritual circles? Why are they glowing like that? Is it an active spell? Some trap? A glow-in-the-green-light paint? And why's there a body by that pillar? Wouldn't whoever kidnapped the girls at least clear it? It looks indecent. Kataun, can you prod it? See if it wants to prod you back, or if it has something shiny to offer..."

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

By Rose request, the Red Seeker starts to chop and make a fine-crumbly-dusty-mess of the corpse nearby, making sure, just in case it's a troll, it won't come back to life.

-K

[RCgothic]

Lauren

Leonora and I study the circles in case there's anything to be aware of.

[Malimar]

Lorelei's Tomb

Lauren and Leonora inspect one of the circles -- getting close, they can feel the hair and feathers on the backs of their necks standing on end, because these are powerful magic circles. No need even for detect magic to tell that. They begin the process of deciphering the circular runes, which they're vaguely familiar with, as they're a relatively common, albeit a bit archaic, seafolk style of magical rune. It would take a couple minutes (which Lauren turns out not to have, because Kataun) to fully decipher the effects, but she's pretty sure there's some conjuration and/or necromancy going on in the text of the circle, and some transmutation (with some even more obscure stuff that might have something to do with psionics?) that looks like it goes off at a later stage of whatever the circle does, after the conjuration/necromancy is finished going off. Rose and Rainbow and Gasket come to a similar, albeit slightly less sophisticated, analysis.


Meanwhile, Kataun approaches the corpse and beheads it!

He notices the corpse appears to be lying on a shiny heavy steel shield, holding a shiny siangham, and wearing a nickel silver amulet.

Before he can collect the loot or even get a second swing in, however, something happens!

From a bit to the south, tiny ghostly forms seep out of the floor -- a school of ghostly, skeletal fishes, with gnashy teeth, which form into a group floating in the air!


Carp's wolf nopes on out of the vicinity immediately, back up the ramp to the surface; Carp sensibly lets him go.

Carp draws a shiny, runed katana, moves up to the swarm of fishes, and strikes at them! But the fishes move out of the way of his blade and are unharmed!



#########
#...+...#
#.......#
#.......#
#..oOo..###
#.oOOOo.===
#.OOOOO.==
#.oOOOo.=
#..oOo..
#.......#
#.......#
#.......#
##....###
##....####################### .#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
#...........................#...#
#......#..#..#..#..#....====..++#
##.......................====..++#
==...........oOo.........====....#
==.......R..oOOOo........====..ππ#
==........L.OOOOO........====..ππ#
==.......G..oOOOo........====..ππ#
==....K......oOo.........====....#
##..c..*.................====..++#
#...ff.#..#..#..#..#....====..++#
#...ff......................#...#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
##....####################### .#
##....###
#.......#
#.......#
#.......#
#..oOo..
#.oOOOo..
#.OOOOO...
#.oOOOo...
#..oOo..#
#.......#
#.......#
#...+...#
#########

# = wall/pillar
. = smooth floor
= = ramp
oOo = circular design inscribed on ground
+ = glowing green rock
π = altar
* = corpse

K = Kataun
L = Lauren and Leonora
R = Rose and Rainbow
G = Gasket
c = Carp Grandson
f = swarm of ghostly fishes

[Sliver]

Rose

"That's new. Also, eek! Also, my anti-ghost power isn't good on swarms! And did I mention eek?" Rose isn't happy by the ghostly piranha swarm, so she clicks her heels and wishes to return home, but instead a burst of fire rains down the fish.

Energy Stun, Fire, with a single charge from the power link shard, for 6PP. 5ft radius burst within 40ft range, so move as far as possible within that range.

[roll0] fire damage, DC 19 reflex for half damage (if save fails... Well, undead are immune to stun, so I guess it doesn't matter...), and whatever area attacks do to swarms. Hopefully, will bypass the ghostness...

Shame her force armor isn't relevant against swarms. Darn ghost swarms!

20/29PP

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"Aha! I've come prepared...I think?" Red Seeker tosses his adamantine glaive, and pulls out the renter-glai-nata. "Let's see if it actually works. Red Rider Roundhouse Rend!" He holds the far end of the naginata, and makes the largest possible arc overhead to smash the ghosty-fishes.

Drop the glaive as free action, draw the naginata as move action, standard action to strike the swarm with Divine Surge (if need to be, 5' before this whole sequence)

To Hit Regular AC(+8BAB+4STR+1 magic, possible +1/2 FC):[roll0]
Damage +6x1.5 Str, +1 Magic, possible +1/2 FC:[roll1]
Divine Surge Extra Damage:[roll2]
If the damage is 10 or more, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +4 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll3]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, gains another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+8BAB+4STR+1 Magic, possible +1/2 FC):[roll4]
Damage +6x1.5 Str, +1 Magic, possible +1/2 FC:[roll5]

AoO #1:
To Hit AC(+8BAB+4STR +4 Deft Opportunist, possible +1 Magic, possible +1/2 FC):[roll6]
Damage Glaive +6 x1.5 STR +1 Magic Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll7]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +4 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll8]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+8BAB+4STR, possible Magic, possible +1/2 FC):[roll9]
Damage Glaive +6 x1.5 STR +1 Magic Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll10]

-K

[Bayar]

Gasket

Diane goes ahead and purchases the scroll of Remove Blindness from Mario's, then attempting to cast it on Smelborp to cure his blindness. "You owe me one."

At the tomb, Gasket leaves Mirage with the guards, reassuring them she won't bite. Probably.

Seeing the swarm of ghost fish, she sighs. "This is going to suck, isn't it ?" She draws the lightning lance and waves it around towards the apparitions.

UMD roll DC 25: [roll0][roll1][roll2][roll3][roll4][roll5][roll6][roll7][roll8][roll9] Stop if succesful or roll a natural 1. Mishap is impossible.

Lightning Lance UMD DC: 25 [roll10] +2 if it's blind activation
Attack: [roll11]
Damage: [roll12]

[Malimar]

Earlier, Before Setting Out

Gasket successfully used the scroll to remove Smelborp's blindness! "Much as the image of that nymph was a nice thing to have burned into my eyeballs, it's even nicer to be able to see. Thanks." He sarcasms, "Now I can contribute to the success of the team again."


Meanwhile, in the Present, in Lorelei's Tomb

Gasket tries to zapulate the swarm of ghost-fishes! But alas, it fails to function. The UMD check is not to activate blindly -- Gasket already knows pretty much how to make it go in that sense. The UMD check is DC25 to emulate a race -- the lightning lance is supposed to function only in the tentacles of a grell.


Rose moves a bit away from the swarm, and feels a strange resistance to her power, as if the very catacomb itself didn't want her to manifest it. But she powers through, and drops a kerbam right on the ghost swarm! It affects the swarm for great justice! Many ghostly fishes blink out!


Kataun draws the captain's naginata and strikes vigorously! This, too, cleaves through many ghostly fishes, damaging them! The weapon itself does not appear to damage the fishes as much as one would expect, but the great discharge of energy has full effect!


Lauren delays a little bit!


The swarm of ghost fishes is not smart enough to identify the source of the asplosion that wrecked its sauce! It flows to engulf both Carp and Kataun!

But this provokes attacks of opportunity from both of them! Kataun's naginata passes through the swarm harmlessly! The Carp Grandson's katana damages a couple fishes, not destroying the swarm!

Then the ghost-fishes nibble at the two warriors, sapping their strength! Kataun and Carp both take 3 strength damage! I have already rolled a save for the beginning of Kataun's turn against the swarm's Distraction; beginning at the start of his next turn, Kataun is nauseated for 1 round!


The Carp Grandson, dismayed, succeeds at his save, then makes an attack! He does not declare "サファイア悪夢ブレード" or anything as Kataun might in his place, but Kataun recognizes the moment of concentration before his strike as the Sapphire Nightmare Blade maneuver anyway. He concentrates successfully, and... natural 1s his attack. Whiff!

Then, grumbling, he shakes the swarm off him and moves away out of it.



#########
#...+...#
#.......#
#.......#
#..oOo..###
#.oOOOo.===
#.OOOOO.==
#.oOOOo.=
#..oOo..
#.......#
#.......#
#.......#
##....###
##....####################### .#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
#...........................#...#
#....R.#..#..#..#..#....====..++#
##.......................====..++#
==c..........oOo.........====....#
==..........oOOOo........====..ππ#
==........L.OOOOO........====..ππ#
==.......G..oOOOo........====..ππ#
==....K......oOo.........====....#
##..fff*.................====..++#
#......#..#..#..#..#....====..++#
#...........................#...#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
##....####################### .#
##....###
#.......#
#.......#
#.......#
#..oOo..
#.oOOOo..
#.OOOOO...
#.oOOOo...
#..oOo..#
#.......#
#.......#
#...+...#
#########

# = wall/pillar
. = smooth floor
= = ramp
oOo = circular design inscribed on ground
+ = glowing green rock
π = altar
* = corpse

K = Kataun and the swarm of ghostly fishes
L = Lauren and Leonora
R = Rose and Rainbow
G = Gasket
c = Carp Grandson
f = swarm of ghostly fishes

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"Eh, um, excuse me. I need to visit the boy's room." Kataun stumbles slowly towards south. "It is a stocastic process. In this particular case, 2-dimentional. BLAAAAAAAAARRGGGGHHH. My breakfast!" He manages to lean against the southwest corner pillar of this large area.
ONLY MOVE ACTION :( Move S SE
-K

[Sliver]

Rose

Rose hops in place a bit. "I helped!" She then focuses on another assplosion, placing her stinky burst in a way that doesn't also catch Kataun. She kinda knows that asplosion doesn't mean that, but she won't be stopped!

[roll0] fire damage, DC 19 ref halves. 16/29PP and both power link shards have 2 charges remaining.

[RCgothic]

Lauren

"Well on the plus side, I can prepare a spell that will heal that tomorrow..." I say, backing away with Leonora. "On the minus... I'm not exactly prepared for incorporeal undead today..."

[Bayar]

Gasket

"Ironic, isn't it ? We were talking about getting something that would help fight incorporeal foes a while back. So, banish these and hope there aren't more like them ?" Diane waves around the lightning lance with a flourish, hoping to zap the swarm.

UMD DC: 25 [roll0]
Attack: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

[Malimar]

Lorelei's Tomb

Lauren backs away!


Gasket activates the lightning lance and emits a k-zapp of electricity at the swarm! This uses a charge! And the fishes deflect or dodge her attack; she fails to hit their touch AC!


Rose tries to manifest energy stun again... and fails to conjure up the energy to break through the vicinity's mysterious resistance to her power! She loses the spent PP to no effect. She doesn't know for sure without detecting psionics or magic, but she has a suspicion that the area doesn't like fire, and impedes it.


Kataun stumbles out of the swarm!


The swarm of ghostly fishes goes after the nearest target, which remains Kataun! It swarms all over him, nipping at him terribly! Kataun takes 1 strength damage! He makes his Fortitude save this time (by a lot) and, beginning at the start of his next turn, is no longer nauseated!


Carp moves back up to the swarm, and deploys Shadow Blade Technique, weaving his katana in an elaborate pattern, creating an illusory double that glows with white energy; both weapons strike at the ghosts! But both weapons miss!



#########
#...+...#
#.......#
#.......#
#..oOo..###
#.oOOOo.===
#.OOOOO.==
#.oOOOo.=
#..oOo..
#.......#
#.......#
#.......#
##....###
##....####################### .#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
#...........................#...#
#....R.#..#.L#..#..#....====..++#
##.......................====..++#
==...........oOo.........====....#
==..........oOOOo........====..ππ#
==..........OOOOO........====..ππ#
==.......G..oOOOo........====..ππ#
==...........oOo.........====....#
##...c.*.................====..++#
#....fK#..#..#..#..#....====..++#
#....ff.....................#...#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
##....####################### .#
##....###
#.......#
#.......#
#.......#
#..oOo..
#.oOOOo..
#.OOOOO...
#.oOOOo...
#..oOo..#
#.......#
#.......#
#...+...#
#########

# = wall/pillar
. = smooth floor
= = ramp
oOo = circular design inscribed on ground
+ = glowing green rock
π = altar
* = corpse

K = Kataun and the swarm of ghostly fishes
L = Lauren and Leonora
R = Rose and Rainbow
G = Gasket
c = Carp Grandson
f = swarm of ghostly fishes

[Sliver]

Rose

Rose frowns and tries an alternative approach. "Zap?" She asks the mysterious forces, conjuring Electricity Stun.

[roll0] DC 21 halves, electricity damage. Also +2 to manifester level to bypass power resistance, if it's relevant. 12PP left.

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Dino-Kataun stumbles and staggers around a bit, steadies himself and gingerly walk out of the swarm. "I don't feel good. And the breakfast..." His grips are a little less tight, and the motion of the naginata is slightly less sharp as he attempt to hammer the ghosty-thing. "OK, let's not drag this on for too long. I won't be able to hold much more of the breakfast, or weapon if the fishy things nibbles at me too much. Blue Seeker, go!" Red Seeker makes a sickly pose and points to Gasket.

Move action to N N, standard action to Mountain Hammer, Swift Action to White Raven Tactics to have Gasket's Initiative moved down below Kataun for extra full round.

To Hit Regular AC(+8BAB+2STR+1 Magic, possible +1/2 FC):[roll0]
Damage +3x1.5 Str,+1 Magic, possible +1/2 FC:[roll1]
Mountain Hammer Extra Damage:[roll2]
If the damage is 10 or more, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +2 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll3]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, gains another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+8BAB+2STR+1 Magic, possible +1/2 FC):[roll4]
Damage +3x1.5 Str, +1 Magic, possible +1/2 FC:[roll5]

AoO1:
To Hit AC(+8BAB+2STR +4 Deft Opportunist, Possible +1 Magic, possible +1/2 FC):[roll6]
Damage Armor Spike +2 Str Possibly +1 or 2 FC:[roll7]
Damage Glaive +3 x1.5 STR +1 Magic Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll8]
If the damage is 10 or more and the target is standing, Knock-Down kicks in tripping attempt on the target:
Trip +2 STR+4 Improved Trip Feat:[roll9]
If the trip is successful, Improved Trip kicks in, another attack:
To Hit Proned AC(+8BAB+2STR, possible magic +1, possible +1/2 FC):[roll10]
Damage Glaive +3 x1.5 STR, +1 Magic, Possibly +1 or 2 FC: [roll11]

-K

[Bayar]

Gasket

Right! I'll do my best!Diane attempts to zap the school of fishes twice.



Umd [roll0]
Attack [roll1]
Damage [roll2]

[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

[Malimar]

Lorelei's Tomb

It's been a couple hours short of 48 hours, but I'm presuming that if Lauren didn't have anything effective prepared last round, she probably doesn't have anything effective prepared this round either.


Gasket successfully activates the lightning lance, using a charge, but the swarm of fishes avoids it! (High touch AC!)


Rose manifests zappy instead of burny! This time, the environment doesn't resist her power at all. (The +2 manifester level would probably have applied if electricity were impeded, but it isn't.) She drops a zappyball on the swarm, which dodges some of it, but takes half again as much damage anyway... the swarm of fishes discorporates and vanishes, having been reduced to precisely 0 hp!


Carp sheathes his blade and nods approvingly about Rose's work.


Rose gains 400XP, Gasket gains 375XP, Lauren gains 300XP, Kataun gains 200XP! Rose levels up to 5!


Without further being bothered by ghosts, the party loots the corpse:
item #101 shiny large steel shield
item #102 shiny siangham
item #103 nickel silver amulet


Rose inspects the green glowing stones and answers her own earlier question: it's probably a naturally-occurring supernatural effect (which, yes, contradiction in terms), not the result of a spell or alchemy or anything like that. Some rocks just glow.



#########
#...+...#
#.......#
#.......#
#..oOo..###
#.oOOOo.===
#.OOOOO.==
#.oOOOo.=
#..oOo..
#.......#
#.......#
#.......#
##....###
##....####################### .#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
#...........................#...#
#....R.#..#.L#..#..#....====..++#
##.......................====..++#
==...........oOo.........====....#
==..........oOOOo........====..ππ#
==..........OOOOO........====..ππ#
==.......G..oOOOo........====..ππ#
==...........oOo.........====....#
##...c.*.................====..++#
#.....K#..#..#..#..#....====..++#
#...........................#...#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
##....####################### .#
##....###
#.......#
#.......#
#.......#
#..oOo..
#.oOOOo..
#.OOOOO...
#.oOOOo...
#..oOo..#
#.......#
#.......#
#...+...#
#########

# = wall/pillar
. = smooth floor
= = ramp
oOo = circular design inscribed on ground
+ = glowing green rock
π = altar
* = corpse

K = Kataun and the swarm of ghostly fishes
L = Lauren and Leonora
R = Rose and Rainbow
G = Gasket
c = Carp Grandson
f = swarm of ghostly fishes

[Bayar]

Gasket

"Finally ! Some decent looking loot !" Pulling down her googles so they hang around the neck, she peruses the items with the aid of the monocle.

Artificer Knowledge DC: 15

Shield: [roll0]
Siangham: [roll1]
Amulet: [roll2]

Taking off the monocle in frustration, Gasket sighs. "Here, Lauren, you try looking at these things. Maybe you'll have better luck divining their purpose. Then, in Dinlun: "I hate this grizzfarbing continent messing up my skills."

[Malimar]

Lorelei's Tomb

While all three items are clearly magical (judging by their shiny-new condition and lack of rust or dust), Gasket doesn't divine the exact nature of the enchantments on the shield or the weapon. She does, however, identify #103 the nickel silver amulet as being a simple charm that provides its wearer with straight-up acid resistance 5.

[Sliver]

Rose

"I helped!" Rose declares again, with quite a bit of excitement. "I've been feeling like a burden lately, not being of use to you... But I helped! I'm not useless! Right?"

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

The Red-clad dino-man wonders around slightly, walking to south where the fish thingies appear out of the floor, checks around the corner to southeast, and inspect the spot where the fish came out. He looks slightly paler still. As Rose exclaims about her performance, he replies "Oh yes indeed! I think we a clear division of labor here. Any dinosaur? It's Miss Blonde's job. Making belts? Miss Blue's job. Ghost-Busting? It's your job."
Just want to reveal the map section to the east of circular pattern to the south…
-K

[Malimar]

Lorelei's Tomb

Kataun noodles around! He doesn't see anything special about the area where the ghostly fishes emerged. He avoids stepping on the magic circle. To the east of the circle to the south:

A wide passageway with eight 10'x10' niches, each containing a sarcophagus! (The sarcophagi are a little smaller than 10'x5', but we're dealing in 5' increments here.)

At the far end of the passageway, a wide ramp leads up to another area! From here, one can see a much larger and grander (10'x20') sarcophagus up above the ramp. Above the grand sarcophagus is engraved some words in Aquan.

If Kataun invites Lauren to come look see and translate the Aquan, it translates to: "HERE LIES LORELEI IV ARIELID, CALLED THE FAIR".



#########
#...+...#
#.......#
#.......#
#..oOo..###
#.oOOOo.===
#.OOOOO.==
#.oOOOo.=
#..oOo..
#.......#
#.......#
#.......#
##....###
##....####################### .#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
#...........................#...#
#......#..#..#..#..#....====..++#
##.......................====..++#
==...........oOo.........====....#
==..........oOOOo........====..ππ#
==..........OOOOO........====..ππ#
==..........oOOOo........====..ππ#
==....R.G....oOo.........====....#
##...c.*.................====..++#
#......#..#..#..#..#....====..++#
#...........................#...#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
##....####################### .#
##....### ..#
#.......############# ..
#.......#[]#[]#[]#[]# ..#
#.......#..#..#..#..### ....#
#..oOo.L...+..+..+..===.....#
#.oOOOo.K...........===.[[]]#
#.OOOOO.............===.[[]]#
#.oOOOo....+..+..+..===.....#
#..oOo..#..#..#..#..### ....#
#.......#[]#[]#[]#[]# ..#
#.......############# #
#...+...#
#########

# = wall/pillar
. = smooth floor
= = ramp
oOo = circular design inscribed on ground
+ = glowing green rock
π = altar
[] / [[]] = sarcophagus
* = corpse

K = Kataun and the swarm of ghostly fishes
L = Lauren and Leonora
R = Rose and Rainbow
G = Gasket
c = Carp Grandson
f = swarm of ghostly fishes

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

Kataun carefully trots back to the middle area with the rest of the group. "This is the fourth one? So there are at least three others? Are any of the other called fair? That was the word we saw in the thingie when we did the mirror thing to find the princess, right? 'fair'? The princess wasn't there. Let's check the north side." He goes around corner to the north to check.

Same thing, but to the north to reveal the other side…
-K

[Malimar]

Lorelei's Tomb

Kataun noodles around to the north, again avoiding the circle!

There's a ramp up immediately, then another passageway lined with regular-sized sarcophagi!

At the far end is another pair of extra-large sarcophagi, and more text in Aquan inscribed on the wall above them! This text translates to "HERE LIE THE HUSBANDS OF LORELEI IV".



#########
#...+...#
#.......# ############# #
#.......# #[]#[]#[]#[]# ..#
#..oOo..###..#..#..#..# [[]]#
#.oOOOo.===..+..+..+....[[]]#
#.OOOOO.K==.................#
#.oOOOo.L==.................#
#..oOo..===..+..+..+....[[]]#
#.......###..#..#..#..# [[]]#
#.......# #[]#[]#[]#[]# ..#
#.......# ############# ..
##....### ..#
##....####################### .#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
#...........................#...#
#......#..#..#..#..#....====..++#
##.......................====..++#
==...........oOo.........====....#
==..........oOOOo........====..ππ#
==..........OOOOO........====..ππ#
==..........oOOOo........====..ππ#
==....R.G....oOo.........====....#
##...c.*.................====..++#
#......#..#..#..#..#....====..++#
#...........................#...#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
##....####################### .#
##....### ..#
#.......############# ..
#.......#[]#[]#[]#[]# ..#
#.......#..#..#..#..### ....#
#..oOo.....+..+..+..===.....#
#.oOOOo.............===.[[]]#
#.OOOOO.............===.[[]]#
#.oOOOo....+..+..+..===.....#
#..oOo..#..#..#..#..### ....#
#.......#[]#[]#[]#[]# ..#
#.......############# #
#...+...#
#########

# = wall/pillar
. = smooth floor
= = ramp
oOo = circular design inscribed on ground
+ = glowing green rock
π = altar
[] / [[]] = sarcophagus
* = corpse

K = Kataun and the swarm of ghostly fishes
L = Lauren and Leonora
R = Rose and Rainbow
G = Gasket
c = Carp Grandson
f = swarm of ghostly fishes

[Bayar]

Gasket


Rose

"I helped!" Rose declares again, with quite a bit of excitement. "I've been feeling like a burden lately, not being of use to you... But I helped! I'm not useless! Right?"

"Of course you're not useless ! You are the group's psionic expert afterall."

"Since this is a rescue mission, I don't think we can afford to rest up and refresh. I say, let's try to brute force this tomb and find the girls then leg it. I can make Kataun's naginata effective against incorporeal foes, maybe even his leather armor. And he can borrow this old ring of mine that might help dodge attacks."

Ring of Protection +2 works against incorporeal, right ?

Gasket can infuse Ghost touch into the Naginata that should last for 50 minutes. (using Lesser Weapon Augmentation and 20 gp) ; And Ghost touch into the Leather Armor for the same amount of time (using Armor Enhancement and 50 gp)

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"OK, husbands huh. At least the vision of the princess had the word 'fair' somewhere visible, right? I suppose we should start with middle and then the queen side?" He goes back to the middle where everyone is congregating.

"So maybe those ghost fishies were some kind of trap. I mean, let's face it. This is a tomb and there's always trap. Snakes. Boulders. And I suppose this area might have been underwater, because, you know, merfolk and sundering and all. I guess we are not going to swim around. But let me check if the floors are doing something funky." Kataun put the adamantine glaive away, and start tapping the floor with the weapon all over the area of the corpse, and then towards the altar in the back through the circle thingie.
So, whack the floor underneath the corpse where 3 of them are standing around, and then slowly, using the 10' pole (and by that I mean borrowed naginata), keeping in front of Kataun, towards that circle thing...and if nothing happens, keeps slowly walking towards the altar in the back.
-K

[Malimar]

Lorelei's Tomb

Assuming Kataun assents, Gasket infuses ghost touch into the naginata and Kataun's armor! Now his weapon is 100% effective against incorporeal creatures and his armor is effective against the touch attacks of incorporeal creatures!

Kataun detects nothing unusual in the worked stone floor with his pole(arm). Nothing happens when he pokes the floor where the swarm appeared, and nothing happens when he pokes the circle.

Then he walks through the circle thingie! :smallamused: Carp, figuring Kataun knows what he's doing, joins him in stepping on the circle.

When Kataun and Carp set foot on the magic ritual circle of doom, it glows a vivid purple, and a creature manifests -- conjured from afar or necromancied into being -- to the east! This creature appears as a roiling bank or cloud of pale mist, with dozens of silently screaming humanoid faces discernible in the milky vapor!

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/xph_gallery/33545.jpg

Rose recognizes this as a caller in darkness, an incorporeal creature composed of dozens of minds who died together in terror! It seeks to draw others into its fear-wracked, hellish existence. It has a variety of mental psionic powers, and can absorb the minds and essences of people slain by its touch attack or who are helpless, paralyzed, or sleeping!


The caller in darkness beats the party in initiative and goes first! It floats a bit towards Kataun and Carp, there is a deep hum like many deep-pitched voices, and it deploys mind thrust against Kataun! Kataun takes 43 damage as he is wracked with psychic torment!



#########
#...+...#
#.......# ############# #
#.......# #[]#[]#[]#[]# ..#
#..oOo..###..#..#..#..# [[]]#
#.oOOOo.===..+..+..+....[[]]#
#.OOOOO.===.................#
#.oOOOo.===.................#
#..oOo..===..+..+..+....[[]]#
#.......###..#..#..#..# [[]]#
#.......# #[]#[]#[]#[]# ..#
#.......# ############# ..
##....### ..#
##....####################### .#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
#...........................#...#
#......#..#..#..#..#....====..++#
##.......................====..++#
==......L....oOo.........====....#
==..........oOOOo.gg.....====..ππ#
==......R...KOOOO.gg.....====..ππ#
==..........cOOOo........====..ππ#
==......G....oOo.........====....#
##.....*.................====..++#
#......#..#..#..#..#....====..++#
#...........................#...#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
##....####################### .#
##....### ..#
#.......############# ..
#.......#[]#[]#[]#[]# ..#
#.......#..#..#..#..### ....#
#..oOo.....+..+..+..===.....#
#.oOOOo.............===.[[]]#
#.OOOOO.............===.[[]]#
#.oOOOo....+..+..+..===.....#
#..oOo..#..#..#..#..### ....#
#.......#[]#[]#[]#[]# ..#
#.......############# #
#...+...#
#########

# = wall/pillar
. = smooth floor
= = ramp
oOo = circular design inscribed on ground
+ = glowing green rock
π = altar
[] / [[]] = sarcophagus
* = corpse

K = Kataun and the swarm of ghostly fishes
L = Lauren and Leonora
R = Rose and Rainbow
G = Gasket
c = Carp Grandson
gg = caller in darkness

[Sliver]

Rose

"This is really bad! This thing is psionic and really dangerous. I don't have a lot of energy left in me, either. I think that we should retreat." Rose says, really worried about Kataun after that attack. With her sure-fire anti ghost abilities dealing only little damage, and her more powerful attacks not hitting for certain, Rose didn't have much confidence in her own ability to handle this encounter. Against a psionic and intelligent foe, she doubted that it will be delayed by her astral construct, which can't hurt it at all...

[Kremti]

Kataun Yriand

"Uh, are we retreating? Then start running?" Kataun hesitates.
Delaying until at least another person votes on it...
-K

[Bayar]

Gasket

"The psionic expert says to run, so run. Definitely run." Gasket decides to leg it out of the tomb.

[Malimar]

Lorelei's Tomb

There seems to be some consensus, at least of the quorum of Rose, Gasket, Carp nods and throws his vote in for running away if the experts think it's a good plan, so I guess Kataun goes with the majority, so unless Lauren is inclined to stay, that's a plan to flee! Rose knows that they should be safe(ish) if they can get out into the sunlight, the caller in darkness doesn't like the sun.


Lauren flees and starts heading up the steep ramp! Carp, Kataun, Gasket, and Rose do the same! (Kataun first activates one charge of his Amulet of Tears.)


The caller in darkness flows swiftly after the party! Then there is a somewhat different bass-pitched hum, and dozens of different voices call out from the creature, "Come back and fight, you can beat us!" Kataun is bamboozled by the psionic suggestion, compelled to believe that he can beat the cloud of screams regardless of what Rose says, and therefore to fight it, on his own if necessary! (He may have spent his Zealous Surge, but it fails.) Carp and Gasket fall under the creature's sway for a fraction of a second, but they both shake off its lies successfully.



#########
#...+...#
#.......# ############# #
#.......# #[]#[]#[]#[]# ..#
#..oOo..###..#..#..#..# [[]]#
#.oOOOo.===..+..+..+....[[]]#
#.OOOOO.===.................#
#.oOOOo.===.................#
#..oOo..===..+..+..+....[[]]#
#.......###..#..#..#..# [[]]#
#.......# #[]#[]#[]#[]# ..#
#.......# ############# ..
##....### ..#
##....####################### .#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
#...........................#...#
#......#..#..#..#..#....====..++#
###############.......................====..++#
#===========L==...........oOo.........====....#
|===========R==....gg....oOOOo........====..ππ#
#===========K==....gg....OOOOO........====..ππ#
╪=============c..........oOOOo........====..π π#
#=============G...........oOo.........====....#
###############.....*.................====..++#
#......#..#..#..#..#....====..++#
#...........................#...#
#........+..+..+..+..+......# ..#
##....####################### .#
##....### ..#
#.......############# ..
#.......#[]#[]#[]#[]# ..#
#.......#..#..#..#..### ....#
#..oOo.....+..+..+..===.....#
#.oOOOo.............===.[[]]#
#.OOOOO.............===.[[]]#
#.oOOOo....+..+..+..===.....#
#..oOo..#..#..#..#..### ....#
#.......#[]#[]#[]#[]# ..#
#.......############# #
#...+...#
#########

# = wall/pillar
. = smooth floor
= = ramp (steep enough to be difficult terrain going up, regular terrain going down)
oOo = circular design inscribed on ground
+ = glowing green rock
π = altar
[] / [[]] = sarcophagus
╪ / | = closed/open door to surface
* = corpse

K = Kataun and the swarm of ghostly fishes
L = Lauren and Leonora
R = Rose and Rainbow
G = Gasket
c = Carp Grandson
gg = caller in darkness