Final Fantasy: Chaos Crystal [IC]

[Ramsus]

OOC Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?594284-Final-Fantasy-Chaos-Crystal-OOC)

Each of you in some manner or other, be it lucky application, personal connection, or chosen based on certain criteria, were given the opportunity to participate in the first round of testing for the in development first ever fully immersive virtual reality game. A game in the Final Fantasy franchise. After going to the appropriate location and signing NDAs or the like for your region you were lead to a private room containing a very sophisticated piece of furniture that looked like a sci-fi movie cross between a chair, a bed, and an MRI machine.
After having some time to ask questions of your assigned overseer you laid down in it and the machine closed around you and the world turned.... well not dark exactly. A dark background of shifting shades and dark colors that then expanded into a character creation machine. At first you tried to move your arms and hands to interact with it, before you even recognized your limbs were remaining in their relaxed positions your first interaction had been made. Whatever you felt about it, you quickly realized you somehow were controlling this with your thoughts.

You were given setting information before moving on to character creation.


In the world of Crystalia itself, it all started with the Chaos Crystal. From its energies were born the other elemental crystals. From their individual or combined energies came the Eidolons, the first beings, and the world itself. The world, while still to this day fluid in nature, has been shaped by the energies of the crystals and the will of the Eidolons.

In only relatively recent times have civilized mortal races come to be and they are ever at the whims of the choatic nature of their world. Things have taken a turn in recent times with the discovery (or perhaps creation) of Spirit Crystals, which not only limit the chaotic energies inflicted upon a given area but also seem to act as beacons for people of great potential that are unpredictably summoned from other worlds. These heroes, as the people of Crystalia call them, are in their essence connected to the spirit crystals. When they would die they instead eventually return to the crystal, allowing them to take on greater risks than those of this world. However just as without warning as they are summoned, they can vanish too. And most notably, when outside the are of influence of a spirit crystal they are beacons for the chaotic energies of the Chaos Crystal.


You quickly realized it was a good think you could control the interface mentally as the array of customization options was nearly endless and covered all sorts of minutiae to individual finger length, nipple shape, a mind blowing assortment of hair-styles, and pretty much anything else you can think of that was relevant to your chosen race and sex. But that wasn't a problem as you could sort through them or just input what you wanted with just a thought.
Some of you even had special options such as a full scan of your own face and body you could then auto-adjust to fit any race and then modify from there.

When you were done choosing things like Class, Abilities, and Appearance the character creation menu would actually not exit until you filled out at least a short background and a reasonable actual person-like name. When all that was finished, you could finally press ACCEPT to complete to process.

So please give information on your "player" such as name, place of origin, some other basic information, and whatever else you'd like.
Then, do the same for your "character". In this case please include a description of their appearance (a picture is an optional bonus).
Doing that all in character would be preferable. And please end your post with ACCEPT to indicate you're done.
And please add the character info for both "player" and "character" to your character sheet.

[Mai]

My name is Ron McCarthy. I currently love in Springfield missouri, though I was born a small town in Kentucky. I am 29 years old, and i have always been a fan of video games, and games as a whole. When offered the chance to test a final fantasy game, i couldn't residt. I'm told i'm a fairly enlightened person, not that I wholly agree, confidence issues plague me. Perhaps all the more reasons I like more self assured characters. As for why my name is Ron, and I made a female character, well, you can probably figure that one out yourselves. A world where I can be more than myself, and shed my flesh and enter a new world is a dream come true.


My name is Zyrn, a female viera from a dense forest a ways away. I am 53 years old, and I grew up in a hidden village in said forest. I explored the forest for nearly all my life, and grew strong for it. I trained ans became a wood warder, and helped protect others going about their business. I nurtured my curiosity, and was eager to take on new jobs to see more and more of the woods. But after a handful of decades, I began to grow more and more curious about the lands outside of the woods. Finally, I could bear it no longer and left. Exile was the price of curiosity, and I determined that I would pay it.

When you look at me, you may experience some shock if you are unfamiliar with viera. I stand a couple inches above 6 feet, but if you counted my ears, you'd need to add a fair bit more. I have light brown skin, and white-silver hair that flows down. I keep it in a braid or pontytail. Normally you'd see me in well.maintained clothing, but after a group of bandits beat me senseless, my clothing is ragged and my chain shirt is tattered. Gone is my former weapon, and all that remains is a rusty greatsword I found abandoned off the road. But have no fear, for I shall get back on my feet in no time.

Accept

[charlesrwest]

Eli Gunnar was slowing down... And he knew it. A year as one of the top 100 Ragnarok! (tm) players in the world was nothing to laugh at but it wasn't exactly hall of fame material either. At 25 his reaction time was starting to slow and the added experience wasn't enough to make up the difference. His rankings were starting to slip...

Time for a change. Eli used his mild fame to get an invite to a Final Fantasy game that was rumored to be decades ahead of it's time. Final Fantasy games historically hadn't been too twitch heavy. Perhaps being one of the first players might give him an edge as it developed a competitive scene.

Eli blinked at the plethora of options that appeared. It seemed far more customizable than anything he had played professionally. Hmm. It seemed like most races offered similar stat bonuses, but sizes were vastly different. One looked like it had a much smaller hit box, though. The was a dizzying array of class options too. Most seemed to be some sort squishy caster. One seemed to offer a durability buff, that seemed good.

Default for everything else... And done.

It wasn't until Eli tried to interact with other players that he realized that he hadn't enabled non-moogle languages...

[OracleofSilence]

God, it had been years. Not since using VR tech, this was the first time, but since his last serious dive into an MMO. Honestly, Mike didn't know why he had been selected. He had been in good guilds in the past, but never the best. Had placed high in raid rankings, but never at the actual top. When he had tried blogging and community facing stuff, he had gotten hits, but never really made it. Now he was just killing time before his grad program started up, and he got selected. Well. At least it gave him something to do.

So he did the normal. Hit the randomizer until he got something that looked decent. Picked a name he thought he couldn't get once servers opened for the general population... Done.

Stats were in the right places, options seemed fine if he could get a group quickly... Sure.

His toon has pale blue skin, short cut hair, a thin face. the height was odd. Mike was short IRL, but there wasn't really a similar option for Au Ra, so tall and gangly it was. Scales were minimal, and horns were on the small and graceful side. All in all, unexceptional, but he'd probably get a reset for that at some point.

So. Find a group. Get capped. Figure it out from there.

[ACCEPT]

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

- Where are you?
- wtf who is this
- This is Shinkyo...
- We agreed to meet at the bus stop...
- im not coming
- What?
- wtf part dont u get
- I still have the identification you need to get into the beta...
- It's this afternoon...
- They won't let you in without it.
- i told you im not coming
- change it
- I don't think I can actually do that...
- b stfu im on a date
- blocking now
- Wait...
*message blocked*

You are Kimiko Shinkyo and you are now out ¥20000. Dang it. Your mom could have put that towards getting a proper apartment.

- Hi Riku. Is now a good time?
- hi sis!
- yes, it's fine
- The person who was buying the ticket didn't show up...
- Are you absolutely sure you don't want it?
- urgh, I'm sorry
- the worst part is that I DO really want it, I just can't take it
- they don't know how the VR bed thing interacts with all the other stuff they have me on
- Right, of course...
- Sorry...
- don't be! this is obviously a sign!
- A sign...?
- a sign that you were MEANT to play this game
- and to tell me allllllll about it!
- I'm not really qualified...
- I don't even like videogames...
- exactly!
- the designers and testers are all people who love the Final Fantasy series and have played it for probably decades
- they need to know what it looks like to someone who isn't already familiar with the lore and tropes and sub-cultural discourse
- not to mention the mechanics
- you'll be making life better for a new generation of gamers!
- ...
- Kimiko, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. if you don't go...
- I'll never forgive you! (҂⌣̀_⌣́)
- OK, fine.
- ok cool! have fun!
- send screenshots!
- I think they make you sign an NDA...
- send FIGURATIVE screenshots!
- OK, OK, bye!

You have no idea what a, 'figurative screenshot,' entails, but you'll go to the test anyway. You open the packet you were going to hand over to your schoolmate and review the materials on the bus ride.

-

"Huh. You got an, um, a haircut, since this was taken," says the foreign technician as he checks Kimiko's ID.

"Yeah. I donated it to the wig place downtown," she says. No need to let anyone know how much the place paid her for it.

"Hmm. That's, um, good. Um, how is your English?"

"<Pretty good? My dad was an English teacher...>"

"<Oh, nice! That's good. The other beta testers are all in the U.S. and Europe, so you'll probably need it to talk to them. We haven't really implemented the Japanese translation yet, either.>"

"What? <What? I thought Final Fantasy was a Japanese game...>"

"<Is it? I think you're thinking of Dragon Quest.>"

Kimiko doesn't argue. She's pretty sure they're both JRPG series, but she's not the expert her brother is. She vaguely remembers something about the overseas studio taking the reins on this project somewhere in his gaming news rants.

-

Knowing that I'm supposed to be testing things, I open up the character options and explore a little, but after only a few seconds the feeling of mentally groping myself is just too weird. As such, I'm not straying far from the self-insert design that the machine generated: a 5'2" black-haired girl with an aging pixie cut who is also a cat for some reason. The game picked out the species as part of the self-insert feature. I'm not sure whether it's random or whether it's influenced by sex and body type.

Riku said that Red Mage was his favorite class, so I pick that. I pick a bow at the equipment screen because why not. I choose from the recommended skills on a whim. Age 21? Sure.

The game won't let me continue until I fill in a name and background. I don't know anything about Final Fantasy, but there is thankfully a random name button. It takes a weirdly long time...

"! How does it know my father's name?"

I shake my head, and get the dizzy feeling of having another head somewhere that's not moving. It has to be a coincidence. A coincidence that incidentally proves that the game retains a lot of Japanese cultural influence after all. It also fills in a little story blurb about the origins of the name - the D' stands for the Dodo tribe, and Noburu was my father and my family's patriarch. I am now living on the lam after he was killed by an usurper. There are just enough parallels with my real life to make it creepy, but it could just be a standard variant of the lost princess arc that I'm reading too much into.

I don't want to think about it any further, so I just click ACCEPT.

[gryffydd65]

Brian Sears age 54, newly retired medical doctor. Why did I apply for this game, many years of playing dungeons and dragons and now finding I really don't want to play golf with all the other retirees. Why did they pick me, maybe a chance to see if it was something my age would go for, we all know the younger generation is video game junkies.

Three Claw a Galka fighter going with dragoon. I stand around 6'5" and weigh 345. My bear like looks makes me a force to be reckoned with.

I noticed the difference right away, having always been a foot shorter than my peers, although smarter than all but 1% of my graduating class. It felt good to see above most others ar this new height and although walking with nearly twice the weight I was used to took sometime, my mind started to emerge with these new actions as I was able to move, jump and run quicker and stronger than I had ever been in my entire life. I looked at the others, "Grr, who are you? " as I noticed I had started to speak in a foreign sounding tongue, quickly switching in mid sentence to something that could be recognized.

I looked down and saw the flashing word, and reached out tapping the Accept button.

[Ramsus]

After you hit ACCEPT the menus vanish and the background fades from dark shifting colors to bright ones. You lose sense of your body and feel a strange sensation you can best describe as if you were taking a fast moving elevator outside of your body. You regain feeling in your body, but for a moment it feels muted and strange to you.

Then you sense the presence of another mind inside the body with you. After a moment of confusion you feel your mind and this other mind pulled together. How this resolves exactly is different for each of you. Once it has, you first feel the world around you again. Then your other sense fade in as the shifting lights pull away to reveal a world around you. If this is a virtual creation, it is amazingly well done. As far as you can tell, it's as real as the ones you came from.

The first thing you notice is that you need to take a few minutes to regain your sense of balance. Then you notice you're facing and standing fairly close to a six foot tall crystal floating about a foot off the ground and slowly rotating in place clockwise. It is semi-translucent and glows a faint green and emits wisps of similarly colored intangible and heat-less energy.

Then you notice the small rustic village around you. You see a few stores and what looks like an inn and a bit away what you're fairly sure is a farm.

Then you suddenly notice other people around the crystal you could swear weren't there a moment ago.

So it's up to each of you to determine how the melding of your "player" and "character" personalities worked out. Mainly I imagine this is a question of which is most dominant and how much.
The more dominant the "player" personality is, the longer it takes to find your balance in this new (to them) body. Though you can still carefully walk around just fine immediately and at most it'll take you about a half hour to adjust.

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli awoke from a strange dream. He had been a human (of all things!). Like many of his kind, he had been desperate to find his purpose in life and flailed around trying different things to find fulfillment. Nothing brought the satisfaction that he'd been seeking.

Moowgli was happy to awaken. He knew his purpose (napping) and it was as satisfactory as ever. He stretched, enjoying the warmth of the sun bathing his face and the feel of still cold stone under his feet. Perhaps he would indulge his hobby of exploring today. Moowgli did seem to have a bit more energy than usual and... an interest in throwing rocks precisely?. How odd. He smoothed his fur and started the dance of A New Day's Sun. Upon finishing, he took one last look at the crystal and started walking into the town.

Time to see what wonders today would bring!

[Mai]

Ron mentally jolts as he seems to fall downward, feeling nearly weightless, and as though her whole body had fallen asleep. Then, the body was gone. Down, down, dark colors growing and changing. Then suddenly everything was white. Something green came into her vision, and then her mind was aware of another.

How?!?! How was that possible! This was just VR right? How could there be another mind? Ther was just supposed to be her in a virtual body right? Suddenly, she almost felt her sense of self threatened by ther other mind. But, to some degree, he had always suffered from depression, and he lacked the self confidence some others had. Combine this with her slightly submissive, but independent nature, and it wasn't too hard. But there was another ace in the hole for Zyrn. Ron was transgender. And so her dysphoria made her more open to a female body.

As a result, it wasn't too hard for Zyrn mind to take the dominant roll. And her agreeable personality made it still easier. So, after a minute Ron trying to think it through, and not being fully able to due to the call of merging, Zyrn gained a semblance of dominance. Ron was there still, but it was Zyrn whose thoughts took the most surface level of control.

Because of this, it didn't take too long to adjust to being over a half a foot taller and walking on her toes. She would walk in a small circle, slowly adjusting. And as she stretched and walked, she fully took in the crystal, and spoke. "What is this thing?" She muttered to herself, taken aback by it's odities. Final fantasies of the past involved crystals often. Like that ff9 that had some memoriam crystal world at the end… or that giant nethicite crystal in the holy city of ff12. So this made some sense. But seeing it was wild.

Once she took it in, she would look around at the villiage, and then, seemingly from nowhere, others were around the crystal. But after a minute, that part of her where Ron existed, urged her to jump. She had seen they had jumping abilities in character creation. She wanted to see this big jump.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

D'shi's ears and tail twitch uncomfortably. She feels them each in turn to make sure they're real. They seem... new. Wrong, somehow. But that's illogical. She's always had them! Right?

D'shi remembers the vision. A piece of paper, written in some intricate typeset version of the Miqo'te language, being filled out with her own hand. She filled in emergency contact information, remixed versions of her family's names produced by some ineffable dream logic. Shinkyo Rin. Shinkyo Riku. When was the last time she'd seen D'Riku? Eight years ago? Ten?

She tries to remember how she got here. She took the bus, from school, after promising D'Riku she would. She saw herself, and accepted her fate as a hero. Then she died, her last thought being how lucky it was that it was her rather than her brother or her classmate.

...wait, what?

Kimiko clearly isn't dead. The feeling must have been produced by the machine she had so willingly climbed into. A series of sterile white gizmos and sticky electrodes and buzzing computers fill her vision. She recognizes some of them from the hospital, where she had spent so many nights ostensibly visiting D'Riku.

She looks around, thumping her tail as she thinks of the implications...

...so, this is the game world, then?

No. She can't accept it. She knows that she had lived her whole life in this world, and she's been alive much longer than the game could possibly have existed. Yet, her memory isn't perfect. She still doesn't remember how she got here. Was she summoned by the crystal's magic?

She reaches out and touches the floating crystal. It's real. It's right here. But if D'shi's memories aren't false, then that means Kimiko's are... but how does that make sense? Why would the crystal produce such an intricate story and project it into her mind? Kimiko folds back her ears at the notion. Was this a mistake? Did the game generate a sentient being by accident?

What happens to D'shi if the game turns off?

What happens to Kimiko if the crystal's enchantment wears off?

D'shi takes a deep breath, pulls back from the crystal, and turns around to get her bearings. She's been standing around for what feels like five minutes, lost in thought. Between that and the tattered green rags she's wearing, she must look pretty ridiculous.

Who else is here? Other players? That would mean they're probably in the same boat.

"What is this thing?"

"'A beacon for people of great potential,'" quotes the cat to the rabbit. "The Spirit Crystal. I don't know how it works, I just remember a few stories... and some box text..." she sighs, too rattled to hide her existential despondence. Even in this situation, it feels wrong to just come out and ask for help. Everyone would think she'd lost her mind in either one of her possible scenarios.

[OracleofSilence]

Hasi's eyes snap open this body was wrong this mind wasn't his. Alien imperatives and urges flashed through his mind some part of him twisted and turned, attempting to find... what? It didn't matter, since it wasn't there. He sways briefly, seemingly caught of balance, but for what reason? How had he gotten here? What was happening? There were a few clear thoughts though, burning in his head like a beacon: "Find a group." Okay, made sense. "Get capped." What? "Figure things out from there." Weird order, but okay. He started slightly at the sound of his voice, slightly reedier then he had expected for... some reason. Then started again when he noticed he wasn't alone. "Uh sorry. Not quite myself at the moment. Hope that didn't sound too weird."

[gryffydd65]

Brian smiled, well he realized it was his thought smiling inside, but it was Three Claw, his new self, his faster , stronger self that was smiling. He let a great big yell escape "Who hoo look at me." He didn't care about the others, he started running towards the village and jumped as high as he could .

As he approached the village, he calmed down, as he realized he might be seen as a threat. "Hi, Three Claw, me friend." He said to anybody close.

[Ramsus]

While the other try to orient themselves, Moowgli wanders off apparently not feeling a particular need to be oriented. After going a little ways he spies two people running over in his (and everyone else's) direction from the farm.

[Mai]

Zyrn, having became acclimated to this, felt the most odd urge to jump, some part of her suddenly thrilled to try it. The part that seemed to come from another world. And so, Zyrn would wander off slightly. "Hey, does everyone see those people?" Zyrn said, while some other part of her mind said 'Main quest probably', which was all the more confusing to Zyrn. But, Zyrn would finnaly give into the urge, and move as quickly as possible, and throw herself 60 feet into the air. She'd try and land on the sturdiest looking building to watch the people running, before getting off after a minute to go talk.

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli flared his ears at the sight of the runners. He moved through the simple but strong steps of the Dance of Earth's Embrace, expecting the ground beneath him to respond to his simple request and move him to a higher vantage point.

Moowgli then began the Dance of Greeting, pom pom bouncing as he jumped up and down and energetically waved his hands. It appeared new friends were coming to him!

In the back of his mind, something was plotting out cover and firing angles.

[Ramsus]

Zyrn has no trouble jumping up onto the roof of what appears to be the village Inn and back down again.

Moowgli finds that despite the fact that he knows his magic should normally be able to effect the ground, something resists his efforts to change this place. Almost like it's protected by something.

[Mai]

Zyrn would wave her hands at the others around the crystal, then approach the two people running towards them. What was going on? "Do you need something? Uhh... and could you please tell us where we are? I am not sure I fully remember how I got here.

But some part of her sighed mentally. "I fell here, that's how I got here.' Then came a mental sigh at herself. 'Obviously not, people don't fall from the sky.' Zyrn would argue with herself for a moment, visibly frustrated, but seemingly at nothing and no one. "Why are you dancing? And who are you? I'm..." Zyrn paused. "Zyrn."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Uh sorry. Not quite myself at the moment. Hope that didn't sound too weird."

A nearby Miqo'te cat with an arts-and-crafts bow dangling from her backpack catches up with Hasi. "Not quite yourself? I think the same thing may have happened to both of us. Are you..." she tries to figure out a way to say it that would satisfy two conflicting versions of reality. "...a test subject?"


"Do you need something? Uhh... and could you please tell us where we are? I am not sure I fully remember how I got here.

"I fell here, that's how I got here.' 'Obviously not, people don't fall from the sky.' Zyrn would argue with herself for a moment, visibly frustrated, but seemingly at nothing and no one. "Why are you dancing? And who are you? I'm..." Zyrn paused. "Zyrn."

"...she must be one, too."

However Hasi responds, it at least fails to convince the catgirl that he and Zyrn weren't also summoned as crystal-related guinea pigs. She leads him to the warrior bunny and tries to get the group acquainted. "Ms. Zyrn? I believe I know what brought us here."

Liar... We have no idea what's going on...
It doesn't matter! We need to get all of us in one place, and an explanation is what we should all be looking for right now. Let's go...

She casts her eyes around and points out the tavern. There's always a tavern. "Let's gather everyone who appears disoriented and meet up in there, OK?"

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli tilts his head and enunciates slowly and clearly. "Kuuupooo."

Understanding fills the mind of his companions. Moowgli considers himself to be a wanderer, dancer, and warrior. In that order. While he doesn't feel confused, he would love to learn more about his new companions and what brought them here. And a morning refreshment sounds lovely. Though those villagers seem somewhat distressed?

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Once she's stated her intention to meet up, it becomes clear that everyone is more interested in meeting... whoever is running up to meet us. Deshy doesn't want to split away from the only other real people and/or crystal prank victims she might ever meet, so she waits patiently while they do the talking.

[Ramsus]

The two people quickly reach the group. As they approach it's clear that one is a young man in his twenties and the other is a slightly younger girl. Both are human and appear to be relatives.

"Oh thank the Eidolons! Heroes Bethany!" the man says to the girl. Who in turn says, "See I told you Brodie! I knew it! You've come to save our village right?" This last part said full of hope to the group of newcomers.

[Mai]

Zyrn goes concerned and a bit confused, being not entirely sure how they got here. "I at least didn't know it needed saving. I just arrived and barely noted the silence before you ran at us. What does it need saving from? I guess that's probably what you are hear to tell us? Though that idea seems a bit presumptuous i'm not sure why that came into my head."

Zyrn would scratch the back of her head, and behind her own ears for reasons she wasn't fully sure of. She'd always had rabbit ears. No... she hadn't... but she had. Though Zyrn had taken the dominant role, her mind was misbehaving somewhat.

[charlesrwest]

Moogle nods at his new companion's words. "Kupooo."

My child, what troubles you? How can we be of service?

[OracleofSilence]

Hasi nods to the Mi'qote. "Something like that."

As the two villagers approach, his expression seems to flicker. Some part of his brain is attempting to spam through the conversation and then snarling in distaste as it realizes "the cut-scenes aren't skipable." Right. This was important though. "This is news to me as well, but it's no problem. What do you need?"

[Ramsus]

Brodie speak up first saying, "When we were performing the ritual for the Spirit Crystal to protect the town a bunch of monsters kept coming and dragging people off."

Bethany then chimes in, "Since we weren't finished yet it didn't stop the monsters from coming into the town, but we think since they didn't stop us from completing it that means they could hurt everyone else."

"But since they haven't returned yet, I guess the monsters were able to capture them somehow. Maybe they're waiting for the effects of the ritual the fade or something." Brodie cuts in.

Bethany then cuts back in with, "We don't really know though. But if they could have come back on their own they would have by now." she sounds really worried.

"It's only us left." Brodie says. "We didn't get a good look at the monsters, we were closest to Spirit Crystal and it was glowing really bright at the time. But we saw what directions they went."

"They took Darciet Barret, the carpenter to the North-West and Layton Shaw who runs the Inn" Bethany says and points at the "tavern" "to the North-East."

"And Monty Robinson who runs the General Store to the West, Priya Rees who runs the Weapon Store to the East, and Robert Martin who runs the Armor Store to the South-East." Brodie adds.

"And our mom and dad, Michael and Maisy Miller to the South-West. You'll save them won't you?" Bethany finishes and looks close to bursting into tears.

As they finish, you all gain a clear sense of the Quests they have just provided you with, including the rewards for completing them. Though there's no boxes or menus that magically appear. Still, it's a very different way of knowing something than what you're used to.

So yeah, you just gained all the Quests in the World Anvil in case that wasn't clear.

You guys should probably vote in the OOC on which quest to do first.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"They took them in all different directions?" D'Shi says aloud. "That means they have us surrounded... but it also means they don't have a dedicated prison to put them in. Their guard will be spread pretty thin."

The game wants us to rescue them one at a time... I guess that means it's still a game after all... Kimiko doesn't know whether to be relieved or depressed. 'I suspect that you accidentally created a sentient life form from a piece of my psyche and then ripped it away,' is going to look very weird on the beta review sheet.

Deshy masks her mixed feelings by focusing on the quest. "Okay, team! Let's focus on saving one person at a time," she says. "We'll raid the monsters in the East first, before they're ready. Once we rescue Priya, she can give us the weapons we need to save everyone else. Sound good?"

[Mai]

Zyrn listens to all of this, and as Deshy speaks, Zyrn nods. "Our gear is half broken as is. If our armor breaks, we can still be tactically minded, but we can rescue no one barehanded, at least without magic." The part of her that was Ron thought she recalled something about mages needing something too. She wasn'wasn't sure. "So while I would love to rescue your family, we won'won't be able to if we are barehanded. I'm skilled with weapons, but not skilled in dealing with monsters barehanded." Zyrn seemed a bit apologetic, but nodded to Deshy

[Ramsus]

After some short discussion, the rest of the group more or less agrees and you head out.

Exiting the town you find yourselves suddenly traveling through a swamp. It's not too thick with thin gnarled trees and the shallow green-tinted bubbling waters smell only a little bit sulfurous. Still, walking through it does slow you down a bit.

If you guys want to pause to try and gather crafting ingredients or do other things let me know. The obvious things here are trying to get wood or fish.
However, note that if you do pause to do such things it means I'll make a roll to see if random monsters attack once you're done.

This will pretty much be the rule in any areas where you think it's reasonable there's something to be gathered or are not too hostile for you to stop and do questing type crafting actions (like repairs or making certain items marked as able to be crafted while questing).

[Mai]

(I'll wait to say more. But I figured i's give this much.)

Zyrn would seem disgusted at this swamps water, aparently being new to swamps, but at least it wasn't so bad as it could have been. She would offer basic details about herself and chat if asked. She'd give her name, Zyrn, a basic outline of her past, living for years in a thick forest, leaving out of curiousity, the bandits that stole some of her gear. But only if provoked to tell such stories. She'd avoid age, but mention the events of the crystal and the odd feeling of being both 2 and 1, but only if the topic came up.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"So..." Once the group is away from the NPCs, Deshy decides it's time to talk about what they were originally going to talk about. "It's nice to meet all of you! I'm D'Shi Noburu."

She tries not to give away too much, in case everyone else is just an avid role-player or in case D'Shi is really just going insane. Kimiko thinks it's customary to go by an in-game handle, so it's not a lie in either case.

"We all appeared around the Spirit Crystal, right? That means we're all test subjects for the game. It looked like some of us were... pretty disoriented, when we first got here. How is everyone doing now?"

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli tries his earthen footwork again, bringing himself to the same height as his companions and gliding the mound forward to stay dry. He looks briefly puzzled. "Kuupo."

I had a troubling dream, in which I was an unhappy human. Blessed be the awakening, for the dream has passed.

The plight of these villagers does concern me, however. This does not fit the profile of any monster attack I've heard of.

[gryffydd65]

I am doing good, I wish I felt this good in my old body. If you see any vines let me know, I could weave some sleeping mats. You may call me Three Claw, I am a warrior. the big bear creature said as he trodded through the muck, with his spear and shield at the ready.

[Ramsus]

Moowgli finds he can't mold the earth fast enough to keep up with a walking pace.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

An unhappy human... I guess he would rather just be Moowgli now...

It seems wrong, but Deshy's hardly in a place to address it. At least it confirms that everyone is having a similar experience.

"Well, hopefully we won't need to set up camp before we find Priya. My boots are soaked through as it is," she says as she extricates her foot from another mudpuddle and tries to keep her balance on comparatively safe tree roots. "I'm sorry you haven't been feeling well in real life."

D'Shi winces at the thought of her life not being real, but plays it off by brushing an invisible gnat from her face.

[OracleofSilence]

"As well as can be expected." Hasi ducks under a low branch seemingly still a little shocked by his height. "At least this is familiar. Gotta spread the encounters. It helps immerse new players or something. Although... maybe not necessary in this case." He laughs, though not entirely happily. "Or maybe I'm crazy. Who cares right now. Seems like crazy gets us fed here at the moment."

[Mai]

Zyrn listens, a bit concerned. "If all these extra memories are true... what happens when we leave? If this is a game as much as half of me says... then... leaving it could be ripping ourselves apart, nevermin the existential horrifying possibilities. If we get used to this... some part of me says therapy will need to be a major thing later."

Zyrn goes silent, then shakes her head, her ears waving around somewhat as she does so. "I... I can't fully beleive that's even possible. Though I suppose I find myself as curious as ever to see this world that is being talked about."

Zyrn would keep an eye on the time to ensure they had time to look for dry ground before nightfall.

[Ramsus]

As you talk and travel through the swamp.... you get real tired of traveling through a bunch of swamp. It's very dull and smelly and generally unpleasant. And then all of a sudden it's all of those things except dull as you sense the hostile intent of creatures that have just appeared around you.

Combat Map is live.
Deshy and Zyrn are at the top of initiative with no monsters between you so either of you can act first.
The whole map here is difficult terrain unless you swim in the deep water or climb a tree.

[Mai]

This was growing to be concerning. This was not good terrain for a fight, yet this is what they found themselves in anyway, as it became clear that the monsters approaching were in a very hostile and aggressive mood. She would turn to watch all those near her, keeping and eye on them. But this mushroom thing was closest, and moving away would not be too smart, so she would target it first. "I'm guessing we are getting a bit closer than they'd like us to. I'd be sorry, but frankly they started this, and wouldn't understand me anyway." Zyrn says, seemingly to herself due to the softer voice. She says this in Sylvan, seemingly out of habbit.

[roll0]
[roll1]


I used a bonus action to observe all the monsters in range, and an attack action. I rolled damage at the same time because that seemed obvious.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Watch out behind you!"

Not terribly interested in being surrounded, Deshy moves into position to shoot at the lizard clambering around the tree behind her. Her boots make an unpleasant shlorp as she pulls them from the mud and splashes them into the water, but she can move just enough to line up the shot.

Moving up to Q17 and shooting at L2 with Warding Arrow

Bow: [roll0]
Arrow: [roll1]

I think we're supposed have some kind of spell to go with that, right...?

[Ramsus]

Deshy's arrow skewers the lizard. Somewhat surprisingly the arrow doesn't break.

One of the spiders moves from its perch on a tree and onto Hisu, biting her. It hurts a bit, but could have been worse.
An octopus takes Zyrn by surprises as it darts forwards, latches a tentacle around her in a not so gentle hug, and begins dragging her into the water. The strange mushroom-man creature moves out of the water and into the shade of the trees behind Zyrn and tries to punch at her, but is as thrown off by the octopi's attack as she was.
Like the spider, a lizard leaps from a tree and onto Moowgli, but the moogle easily fends it off.


Deshy killed Lizard 2.
Since doctor didn't roll for the arrow breakage, I did. It didn't break.

Spider 1 moves from V17 to W16 and bites Hisu. Dealing 1 piercing damage. Hisu passes a Con save and doesn't take poison damage.

Octopus 2 moves from R10 to R14 and grabs Zyrn with a tentacle dealing 1 bludgeoning damage and grappling her (escape DC 10). Then it moves from R14 to R13, dragging Zyrn with it from R15 to R14.

Lizard 1 moves from P14 to R16 and bites at Moowgli, but misses.

Myconid Sprout moves from S14 to R15 and punches at Zyrn, but misses.

[OracleofSilence]

Hasi yelps in surprise as the spider lands on him, swatting at it half instinctively with his whip. "Damn swamp. Damn spiders. Why is there an octopus. No. Wait. There's two of them."

Whip attack. I couldn't find any specific rules that applied to this situation
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Ramsus]

Hasi hits the spider straight on with his whip. And somehow it breaks. The whip, not the spider. How is this possible? Who knows? How is a spider laughing possible? Again, who knows?

Meanwhile the glowing dog sized beetle bites at Three Claw, who easily evades its chomping mandibles.


Giant Fire Beetle bites at Three Claw and misses.

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli gracefully dodges the lizard's bite, takes to the air and spits out a clipped "Kupo!". Fire springs to life around the lizard.
Wanderer, dancer and warrior!



Moowgli moves 5 ft directly up (still in reach, so no AOO) and casts Create Bonfire on the lizard that was formerly in his square.

Dex save DC 13
Damage: [roll0]

[Ramsus]

The lizard tries to claw at Moowgli as it falls off, but that doesn't do anything much, and then it falls into the bonfire and dies.

While that happens a vulture swoops in from far out of right field swamp and pecks at Three Claw.

At the same time a quipper, a vicious fish, smells blood and darts over to Hisu and bites him.


Lizard 1 failed it's save and died.

Vulture 1 moves from AI7 to X15 and Beaks Three Claw for 1 piercing damage.

Quipper 1 moves from Z19 to W16 and Bites Hisu for 1 piercing damage.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw moves to engage vulture, striking with all his new found strength, only to plunge it into the ground and snapping the blade off.see attack in ooc thread natural one

[Ramsus]

A quipper and an octopus try to tag-team Deshy. She evades the tentacles but not the biting teeth.

A brave and foolish spider circles around a tree and tries to leap onto Moowgli... but falls short and falls into the bonfire. There is a very faint pop.

Another vulture joins the frey and viciously pecks Hasi several times.


Quipper 2 moves from T23 to Q17 and bites Deshy for 1 piercing damage.

Octopus 1 moves from M16 to P17 and misses Deshy.

Spider 2 moves from P15 to R16, trying to jump onto Moowgli. Jump fails and it lands in the bonfire. Fails its Dex save and dies.

Vulture 2 moves from AK22 to W17 and Beaks Hasi for 4 piercing damage.

[Mai]

Zyrn misses the mushroom thing, and, after hearing a splash, turns to get caught by some big octopus thing, a creature she had no experience with. What the heck is that thing? Her upper thigh and pelvis flashed with pain as it grabbed her ans began pulling her. She would say something that sounded like a lighthearted almost curse in giant, and adjust the grip of her greatsword. She could struggle to free herself, but it could just grab her again. Best to try and stop this rather than prolong it. And so she would swing her sword at the octopus.


Attack Roll:
[roll0]
Damage Roll:
[roll1]
Critical Roll:
[roll2]



Still using the bonus action to observe, as I have no other bonus action use. Then I took the attack action against the octopus. Being grappled prevents movement.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Ah!"

On instinct, Deshy recoils and splashes back out of the water, shaking the biting fish off of her arm. Thinking perhaps naively that the aquatic animals won't pursue her onto the mud patch, she quickly aims to shoot the myconid off of it.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit?:[roll2]

[Ramsus]

Deshy avoids a tentacle but not the biting fishy jaws as she moves back onto what we'll generously refer to here as "land". She shoots an arrow at the myconid sprout, snapping off one of its arms but not finishing it off before it can sock Moowgli right in the unmentionables from below.

The spider on Hasi bits him again. It wouldn't be a big deal if he wasn't already hurting pretty bad.

Zyrn is surprised as the octopus grabbing her drags her away from the others and under the water.


Deshy provokes AoOs from O1 and Q2.

Octopus 1 misses.

Quipper 2 hits for 1 piercing damage.

Myconid Sprout hit, still alive. Deshy's arrow breaks this time.

Spider 1 bites Hasi for 1 piercing damage. Hasi passes a Con save.

Octopus 2 Dashes from R13 to O9Down3 (15 feet) and drags Zyrn along with it. Zyrn now has to hold her breath. She can do so for four minutes. Please note you now operate by Underwater Combat rules.

Myconid Sprout Punches Moowgli for 3 bludgeoning and 3 poison damage.
Moowgli passes Concentration check for Conjure Bonfire.

[OracleofSilence]

"Oh good. More. Oww." Hasi straightens as best he can, making the correct gestures to evoke the only eidolon he has access to. The suddenly flurry of feathers and talons provides enough cover for him to slip awa from his attackers, though it didn't offer much else.

Action to Evoke Eidolon (Chokobo). Bonus action to Disengage, movement to run away. W16 to R19

Summon Effects: For the next minute, you and up to seven of your allies may Disengage as a bonus action and when an affected creature takes the Dash action, their movement speed for that Dash is 60 feet so long as they are moving away from a hostile creature or no hostile creatures are within sight.
Additionally the overland movement speed of all affected creatures is doubled for the next hour.

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli struggles for altitude, tiny wings pumping even as he stomps his foot and waves his staff.

"Kupoo!"

Rejoice, for the earth welcomes you back!

The fungus creature attacking him finds Moowgli suddenly out of reach as a sink hole opens underneath him. Other denizens of the swamp find vines attempting to draw them down into the earth.


Moowgli uses a bonus action to use mold earth to lower his attacker 5 ft so that he is out of reach. He then moves a further 5 ft up. The bonfire goes out.

Moowgli then casts entangle on V1, S1, Q1, V2 (if possible, angling it diagonally so that it does not get Three Claw). Strength save to avoid, DC 13.

[Ramsus]

The giant fire beetle continues to shine light... and continues biting at Three Claw. This time successfully.

Moowgli's entangling vines capture all the creatures he'd hoped it would.

The vulture still next to Three Claw attempts to bite at him with its beak but is deflected by his shabby armor.

The entangled quipper struggles in vain to free itself.


Giant Fire Beetle bites Three Claw for 3 slashing damage.

Entangle: V1 fails, V2 fails, S1 fails, Q1 fails.

Vulture 1 Beaks at Three Claw and misses.

Quipper 1 fails to break out of entangle.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw stabs at the fire beetle with his broken spear.


[roll]1d4 plus 6, man never had so much troublerolling damage.

[Ramsus]

The giant beetle dies upon Three Claws' spear.

A Quipper left behind by Deshy moves through the newly made water path past the Myconid and to Hasi, biting him.

The octopus that was previously flailing at Deshy follows after her and does so some more.

One of the vultures breaks free of the entangling vines and swoops up into the air above Three Claw.


Quipper 2 moves from Q17 to T18 and Bites Hasi for 1 piercing damage.

Octopus 1 moves from P17 to Q18 and misses Deshy.

Vulture 2 breaks free from Entangle and moves from W17 to W14 up 50 feet.

[Mai]

Zyrn takes a last breath of air, struggling to maintain her ability to fight as the octopus pulls her under. She struggles somewhat, and has to resign herself to a frustrating underwater fight. She swings her greatsword at it desperately as it pulls her under.


[roll0]
[roll1]

[roll2]

Zyrn attacks and observes as normal.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Hey! Quit it!"

As Deshy tries to line up another shot, she's briefly distracted by the octopus' continued antics. Thankfully, Chocobo's power seems to make her boots less sticky; she easily hops away from its grip and splashes into the water on the other side of the mud.

Of course, she can also see what the other octopus is doing with Zyrn. This is not good... but she'll be fine. She's too big for one octupus to handle alone. The mushroom guy is still the biggest threat.

With that, she shoots the myconid, hoping to interrupt it as it winds up its next punch.

Disengage from 18R to 18S as a bonus action

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit?: [roll2]
26+ breaks the arrow: [roll3]
Using Warding arrow: On a hit, if the Myconid moves towards Deshy on its turn, it takes 1d4 radiant damage.

Healing Word: [roll4]

[Ramsus]

Deshy's arrow fells the myconid spout. The loudest part about this is her arrow breaking since the creature was already standing in water.

In the not so distance a spider struggles to break free of vines holding it in place. A truly ironic circumstance.

The octopus trying to drown Zyrn drags her down to the not-so-deeps and continues to crush her....not very well because its a fraction of her size.


Myconid Sprout dies. Arrow breaks.

Spider 1 attempt to break entangle and fails.

Octopus 2 drags Zyrn to the bottom (20 feet deep) of the water and Tentacles. Hitting and dealing 1 bludgeoning damage.

[OracleofSilence]

Hasi's yelps again as the fish nips him, gesturing slightly frantically to complete the appropriate gestures for a fire spell targeting his latest attacker.

Sacred Flame against the quipper in his space. movement seems a bit arbitrary right now.

Reflex Save, DC 13, no benefits from cover.

[Ramsus]

The quipper experiences a brief confusing sensation of burning and expires.

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli takes 3 pebbles from his bag and blows on them. They begin to glow and he chucks one at the nearest vulture. Moowgli sighs in relieve as he is finally able to use the angles his mind has been obsessing over today.


Moowgli uses a bonus action to cast magic stone. He then throws one of the stones at V2 and climbs a further 5 ft in the air.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + (if crit) [roll2]

[Ramsus]

Moowgli's stone knocks the vulture out of the air and it falls down into the water with a splash.

The other vulture continues to try and peck at Three Claw, but just can't get at him.

The remaining quipper remains entangled.


Vulture 2 dies.

Vulture 1 Beaks at Three Claw and misses.

Quipper 1 tries to break out of entangle and fails.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw stabs at the vulture with his bronze spear, readying his shield for the counter attack. [roll0] [roll1] [roll2]

[Ramsus]

Three Claw easily stabs through the entangled vulture.

One the other side of the battlefield an octopus struggles up onto land and struggles to find a purchase for its tentacles on Deshy.


Vulture 1 dies.

Octopus 1 moves from Q18 to R18 and misses Deshy.

[Mai]

Zyrn struggles, still holding her breath as best as she can. But therenisn't any amount of tactics that will free her hear. All that is left for it is to keep swinging at it.


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

Bonus action to observe still.


Zyrn would see red, bloody water, and feel the things grip loosen. She wouls book it up to the surface and onto dry land. (20 feet underwater, so 10 feet after surfacing, from R12 to R10)

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Ah!" Kimiko feels someone back into her and turns to find that it's just the horned human. She assesses his wounds in a way that would probably seem nonsensical in most circumstances. "Hasi, right? I think I have a healing spell..."

As she speculates how one might go about casting a spell, her hand raises itself in what could be a pre-programmed gesture, ingrained muscle memory, or divine inspiration. She just rolls with it; such is the way of the red mage. Most of Hasi's wounds vanish in a flash of Azeyma's light.

While she's doing that, she senses the octopus sneaking up behind her and spins around to parry it. "Really?! OK, fine!"

Now that the monster has made the mistake of climbing up to torso level, she windmills her right arm and brings her gloved fist down on its bulbous head with a weirdly sonorous boom.

Bonus Action: Healing Word on Hasi
Healing: [roll0]

Action: Booming Blade on Octopus O1.
Attack: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit?: [roll3]
- On a hit, if the Octopus moves at all before Deshy's next turn, it takes 1d8 thunder damage.

Move: (no movement)

Status:
HP: 7/9
Arrows: 17/20
L1 Spells: 1/2
Effects: Mage Armor (Durability 1)

[Ramsus]

In the murky underwater, Zyrn chops up an octopus and makes her way back to the surface. Meanwhile the other one gets its lights knocked out by Deshy the Octopus Boxer.

Elsewhere a spider continues to struggle against a most unnatural fate.


Both octopi die.

Spider 1 fails to break out of Entangle.

[OracleofSilence]

"Thanks." Relief plain on his face, Hasi again gestures, summoning fire in an effort to smite the entangled spider.

Sacred Flame targeting S1 in square W16.

Reflex Save, DC 13

Damage: [roll0]

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli casts a stone at the remaining enemy.


Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + (if crit): [roll2]

[Ramsus]

Moowgli hucks a magic stone at a not magical fish and kills it, thus ending the combat.

Some of the bodies vanish while others stay behind or leave something in their place.

You acquire: Feathers (2), Ink (1) (which fills up one of your small mason jars), Octopus (1), Quipper (1), Lizard (1), Copper coins (17)


Chocobo's out of combat effect is still going on for the next hour. So if you choose not to take a short rest/attempt to gather materials you'll get the benefits of that.


Lizard
Tiny Beast
AC 10
Climb speed 20

Myconid Sprout
Small Plant

Distress Spores: When the myconid takes damage, all other myconids within 240 feet of it can sense its pain.

Sun Sickness: While in sunlight, the myconid has disadvantage on ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws. The myconid dies if it spends more than 1 hour in direct sunlight.

Rapport Spores (3/Day): A 10-foot radius of spores extends from the myconid. These spores can go around corners and affect only creatures with an Intelligence of 2 or higher that aren't undead, constructs, or elementals. Affected creatures can communicate telepathically with one another while they are within 30 feet of each other. The effect lasts for 1 hour.

Giant Fire Beetle
Small beast
AC 13
HP 4
Speed 30ft.
blindsight 30 ft.

Illumination: The beetle sheds bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 ft.

Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +1 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d6-1 slashing damage.

Octopus
Small beast
AC 12

Ink Cloud (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest): A 5-foot-radius cloud of ink extends all around the octopus if it is underwater. The area is heavily obscured for 1 minute, although a significant current can disperse the ink. After releasing the ink, the octopus can use the Dash action as a bonus action.

Quipper
Tiny beast
AC 13
Swim 40ft.

Blood Frenzy: The quipper has advantage on melee attack rolls against any creature that doesn't have all its hit points.

Spider
Tiny beast
AC 12

Spider Climb: The spider can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

Web Sense: While in contact with a web, the spider knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.

Web Walker: The spider ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing.

Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 1 piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 9 Constitution saving throw or take 1d4 poison damage.

Vulture
Medium beast
Fly 50ft.

Pack Tactics: The vulture has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the vulture's allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.

[Mai]

Zyrn will approach the others. Sorry about that. I'm not a good underwater fighter." Zyrn would help gather all the materials listed if she was needed. Upon finishing, she'd speak again. "I can't Het hides here, so I can't use any of these creatures. But I am okay with waiting if any of you need to rest. I got lucky and the octopus didn't hurt me much."

Zyrn would look up to get a good grip on what time of day it was.

[Ramsus]

Zyrn judges that it is sometime before noon.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Using her sixth sense for scavenging, Deshy wades over to retrieve her intact arrow from a surprisingly-also-intact lizard corpse. "I'm OK with whatever you all want to do... but, we are on a time limit here. Who knows when the Spirit Crystal will decide to send us back where we came from."

[OracleofSilence]

"Thanks to that spell, I should be able to continue. And it's not like we'll find replacements for broken weapons but standing around. We had best continue. Carefully, of course."

[Mai]

Zyrn nods. "I agree. Let's get going then. The sooner we find the weapon shop people the less we need to worry about insufficient weaponry. Hopefully we can get out of the swamp.at some point, before crocodiles become a problem."

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli slowly comes down to the ground, holding his side. He looks gravely at his companions. "Kuupoo..."

It is unknown what fate would befall our missing villagers if we arrive too late. I fear my resilience has been depleted, but we shall carry on.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Resilience... depleted...?" Deshy's mind has a problem with that that she can't quite put her finger on, probably because English isn't her first language. "I can heal you if you get hurt again, but I only have one casting's worth of energy left. I'm trying to save it for an emergency... Sorry..."

She helps pick up the obvious loot as the group moves on to the next area, then seems to realize something. "Oh! If you need a replacement weapon, you can borrow my gloves. I shouldn't hog them if you're still unarmed."

[Mai]

Zyrn would watch and listen. "Let's hit the road then... err... figuratively. I would prefer to get out of this swamps. I'm not fond of all thus mucky water and mud." Zyrn would say after any weapon exchanges happened. The sooner they could find the people, the sooner weapon breakage would cease to be such a huge problem.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw looks at the others, "Seems like a good idea, I am not sure any of us would do well in water, first one in yell so we can try and get your attacker off first."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Yeah, OK," says Deshy. "I wish we could avoid the swamp entirely, but we can't risk running past the kidnappers."

...did they ever say what kind of monsters we were looking for? I'd ask, but I don't want to look stupid...

"Anyway, it shouldn't be a problem coming back! Once we secure our destination, I can make a map to avoid the dangerous territory in-between."

[Ramsus]

After about an hour or relatively speedy travel and another of not so speedy travel through the swamp the group is almost out of it, in a drier but more heavily wooded area, when they notice they're surrounded by enemies.

Deshy spots an especially creepy monster behind them. Everyone can see at least one detached rotting hand or foot moving around... menacingly? You're not sure how you can tell that, you just can.

One of the crawling claws fittingly crawls around on a tree and flings itself at Hasi, grabbing onto her painfully.

One of the stomping feet splashes its way to being beneath Zyrn, barely visible as its so short its actually under the surface of the water.

The group hears the flapping of small wings from the east.


CC1 moves from T12 to U15 and Claws Hasi for 2 slashing damage.

SF1 Dashes from R18 to V19.

Bt3 Dashes from AO24 to AC23.


As before shallow water and mud are difficult terrain. Dirt is regular. Trees provide cover or block line of sight entirely depending on the angle.

Baboons are small.
The Badger, Bats, Crabs, Crawling Claws, and Stomping Feet are ally Tiny.
The Larva is medium.

https://5e.tools/img/DMG/Larva.png?ver=1.79.18

[Mai]

Zyrn would sigh as the onset of monsters became known. Why would a bunch of animals want to take hostages? This was confusing, and very obvious as well if she listened to her alternate memories. That part of her said they should be lucky they aren't fighting apples, slimes, or bunnies.

Zyrn slashing down at the foot splashing beneath her. If she hit, she would move onto some solid ground.


Attack:
13
Damage:
[roll0]
Crit:
[roll1]

Zyrn attacks SF1, ans moves to V16 if it dies.

[Ramsus]

Zyrn smashing the foot to pieces, sending bits of bone and rotting flesh in a spray that splashes back down into the water, almost getting Deshy wet and gross.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw moves towards the badger 12x on mapand stabs at it.[roll0] [roll1] [roll2] attack, damage and crit

[Ramsus]

Three Claw leaps across the water, landing belly first in the mud as he stabs his spear through the badger, killing it instantly.

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli takes one look at his attackers and performs a short dance (the air's embrace) before shooting up. He then removes a stone from his bag and sends it as a glowing missile toward one of the bats. "KUPOO"

Justice rains from above!


If I can assume that Moowgli could keep some stones hot (so not needing to cast it now):

Bonus action to do gust of wind, which in combination with his wings moves him up 10 ft.
Attack Bt3 with magic stone.
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Ramsus]

Moowgli easily knocks a bat out the sky with a rock.

A baboon swings its way through the branches and leaps from tree to tree to reach three claw and... fails to so much as dent his armor.

A crab and a bat close in on the group.

The upsetting looking larva/man thing slithers its way up next to Deshy.


Bt3 dies.

B1 moves from W4 to X10 and misses Three Claw.

C1 Dashes from AF21 to Y24.

Bt4 Dashes from AM3 to AC14.

L Dashes from S24 to V21.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

By the time Deshy has scrambled out of the water and figured out enough to pick out a target, the maggot man is already on top of her.

Damn it, I was too slow...
Whatever! We still have the gloves, so just fight!

She spins and uppercuts the monster as it rears up to slam her.

Action: Booming Blade
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit?: [roll2]
- On a hit, the maggot takes 1d8 thunder damage if it tries to move at all until Deshy's next turn.

Move: Can't without provoking!
Bonus Action: No relevant actions!

Status:
HP: 7/9
L1 Spells: 1/2
Effects: Mage Armor


She swings slightly too high for the ornament that passes for the monster's face and plunges her glove straight into the larva's mouth. She withdraws her hand on reflex, stumbles backwards and plunges her other hand into the mud as she catches herself.

She gets to her feet just in time to react to an incoming attack, but leaves one glove stuck in the mud and the other in the monster's gullet. Looks like we're not getting them back until the end of the fight.

[Ramsus]

Everything Dashes.


SF3 Dashes from L8 to T9.

Bt1 Dashes from G7 to S15.

B2 Dashes from AM9 to Ad13.

CC2 tries to leap for extra non-difficult terrain movement and fails, doesn't fall prone, and winds up Dashing from AA21 to W21.

Bt2 Dashes from I24 to U20.

SF2 Dashes from AF16 to AA16.

C2 Dashes from AG6 to Y11.

[OracleofSilence]

"Oh please not again." Hasi shakes the hand off himself, conjuring a burst of fire as he does so. "I hate this swamp. No. Scratch that. I hate swamps."

Sacred Flame on Crawling Claw 1. IF THE SPELL KILLS IT. Move to W16.

Targeting reflex DC 13.

Damage [roll0]

[OracleofSilence]

After re-positioning, Hasi summons another burst of fire, this time targeting the undead hand assailing Deshy

Standard action: Sacred Flame Targeting CC2

Reflex 13 to avoid

Damage: [roll0]

No bonus action, no movement at the moment.

[Ramsus]

The first of the undead hand-things bursts into radiant flame and dust, but the second apparently aware of what happened to the first avoids the flames.


CC1 failed its save and died.
CC2 succeeded its save (and lived).

[Mai]

Zyrn wades though the water, struggling against even shallow water. She moves to S16, only 15 feet away, then swings her greatsword at a nearby bat, in hopes of taking the irksome thing out. This was frustrsting. She never wanted to fight in a swamp agaIn, but no doubt that wasn't going to be avoidable.


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

Summary: moved 15 feet west to hit a bat. I'I'll change her location on the map now thay I know we can.
V16 to S16 (for future reference)

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli continues to hail fire upon the enemy below.


Wings/Gust to get to move 10 ft altitude. Target nearest bat if possible. If not, targeting nearby foot.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + (if crit) [roll2]

[Ramsus]

Moowgli again knocks a bat out of the air. In almost but not quite revenge, one of the remaining bats flies up in Moowgli's face and.... fails to do more than be annoying.

The baboon next to Three Claw tries to bite him, but he's having none of that.

A crab scuttles up to Deshy and clamps a pincer right on her foot. It hurts a bit. Which is more than the gross weird thing next to her that tries to bite her with its big gross mouth and misses can say.


Bt2 dies.

B1 misses Three Claw.

C1 moves from Y24 to W21 and Claws Deshy for 1 bludgeoning damage.

Bt4 moves from AC14 to X17 and misses Moowgli.

L misses Deshy.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw readies his spear and shield as the baboon tried to bite him, it misses as Three Claw brings the spear up , attacking the crazed ape.# 23
Details:[1d20+6 (17) # 6
Details:[1d4+4 (2)

[Ramsus]

Three Claw's counterattack fells the ape.


B1 died.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Deshy tumbles to the side, flinging the stupid crab on her boot into the mud. Her ears fold tight against her head, and the hair on her tail stands on end. She can't escape now, nor can she get enough elbow room to shoot anything.

"Mrrrrr..."

Damn it. Damn it!

Tears stream down her face as she tenses up and fights to delay the inevitable. Kimiko is too busy beating herself up to think of a plan, and D'Shi wants to make them work for it, at least.


Bonus Action: None

Action: Dodge

Move: None

Status:
HP: 6/9
L1 Spells: 1/2
Effects: Mage Armor, Dodging

[Ramsus]

Three Claw gets assaulted by small things (an undead foot and a crab) going after his feet.

The bat Zyrn is engaged with moves closer and that's about it. Hasi also gets a visiting undead foot. And a baboon leaps from tree to muddy ground and climbs up a tree to be neat Moowgli.

The undead hand clawing at Deshy can't hit her with all her flailing about.


SF3 moves from T9 to W11 and Stomps Three Claw for 3 bludgeoning damage.

Bt1 moves from S15 to S16 and misses Zyrn.

B2 Dashes from AD13 to Y16 (up 15 feet).

CC2 misses Deshy.

SF2 Dashes from AA16 to W16.

C2 moves from Y11 to W11 and Claws Three Claw for 1 bludgeoning damage.

[Mai]

Zyrn grunts in iritation as her swing misses. She swings her greatsword again, swinging upwards at it, hoping to nail it this time.


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

S16 to U15
Attack action
Bonus to observe

Damn it. Duplicate of a post I posted where preventing negated the rolls now this post needs to not be the same. This better count as not a duplicate.

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli kicks and the ground beneath the tree below shifts, making the tree increasingly unstable. He hurls his last glowing rock at the baboon with a deep "Kupoo!"


What fiendish foe forces this fracus? Baboon on the tree,
Why must this conflict be?



Mold earth to try to knock the tree over. If it works, the attack no longer has disadvantage and he will gain another 5 ft of altitude.

Magic stone attack:
Attack: [roll0] [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] + (if crit) [roll3]

[Ramsus]

Moowgli's attack to uproot the tree fails as it's more deeply rooted than he hoped and the bat knocks his projectile astray.

[1ring42]

William Macintyre felt a combination of excitement and trepidation as he entered the facility. He had been entered into a sort of a lottery after winning a module writing contest for a TTRPG magazine, and the excitement was for the chance to experience a fantasy RPG in virtual reality, however he felt the trepidation because he didn't know too much about final fantasy, having only played multiplayer games growing up.

Now he was sitting still as his pale freckled face with fiery hair and blue eyes was scanned into the machine along with his lean build.

As he built his character, he went with what he knew, following the trope of the scholarly wizard to make his "black mage" which seemed to be more like a damage dealing caster once again sticking with familiar territory, and leaving his scans mapped onto his character, only changing the hairstyle to match that of a medieval friar.

And with his character build he took a deep breath and ACCEPTED

[Ramsus]

After William hits ACCEPT, the menus vanish and the background fades from dark shifting colors to bright ones. You lose sense of your body and feel a strange sensation you can best describe as if you were taking a fast moving elevator outside of your body. You regain feeling in your body, but for a moment it feels muted and strange to you.

Then you sense the presence of another mind inside the body with you. After a moment of confusion you feel your mind and this other mind pulled together. How this resolves exactly is different for each of you. Once it has, you first feel the world around you again. Then your other sense fade in as the shifting lights pull away to reveal a world around you. If this is a virtual creation, it is amazingly well done. As far as you can tell, it's as real as the ones you came from.

The first thing William notices is that his sense of balance is off as he's much taller and beefier than he was before. The next thing he notices is that he's in a swamp. The third thing he notices is that there are other people here and that they're being attacked by animals and undead and whatever the hell that one thing is!

Everyone else sees a new person appear a bit to the east in a momentary person sized twinkling pillar of multicolored light and thinks "Oh good, backup!" and the thought is immediately followed by Hasi vanishing with the same kind of special effect.

So it's you 1ring determine how the melding of your "player" and "character" personalities worked out. Mainly I imagine this is a question of which is most dominant and how much.
The more dominant the "player" personality is, the longer it takes to find your balance in this new (to them) body. Though you can still carefully walk around just fine immediately and at most it'll take you about a half hour to adjust.

In this case your movement speed is halved for the rest of the fight. Compounded with difficult terrain.... you're not going to be moving very far this fight. (Though feel free to round up to the nearest five feet when determining how far you can move.)

[1ring42]

This feels so real... Wait am I not alone here?

Who are you? Why are you in my head?

Wandering Storm took his bearings both externally and internally. As intellect clashed with intellect briefly before accepting a sort of truce, after all they had been dropped into a dangerous situation.
We'll just have to figure this out after we get through this.

It took some doing but William finally spoke, partially to the other entity but partially to the party as a hole, as he felt the right arm taking out a lump of coal. "Well let's see how the physics work around here ja?" He was surprised to hear what sounded like a vaguely nordic accent pass through his lips before Wandering Storm resumed control, gesturing as if he was hurling the lump but instead pointing it at the larva and bellowing out a single word in ignan as the coal briefly glowed blue and shot out a small bolt of lightning.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
Casting firebolt with lightning as the damage type

[Ramsus]

The bolt of lightning crackles at it hits the creepy monster, clearly harming but not killing it. It then tries to bite Deshy, but she dodges it and the pincers of the crab at her feet.

Meanwhile Moowgli slaps a bat away from biting him.


C1 misses Deshy.

Bt4 misses Moowgli.

Larva misses Deshy.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw stabs at the crab with his bronze spear.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

"Well met new one, I am Three Claw. "

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Deshy can't focus on the guy who teleported in and vaporized Hasi right now. If the big monster comes for her next, she'll probably try to run for it.

Like we always do...
It's called surviving, thank you!

Just dodging again. Same status as before.

[Ramsus]

Thee Claws basically explodes a crab so hard the undead foot nearby him is stalled by the shockwave.

The remaining baboon climbs further up to be at Moowgli's level and reaches out and savagely bites Moowgli's neck.

Deshy continues to fend off an undead claw. Zyrn has less luck with one of the feet, which stomps down on one of hers.


C2 dies.

SF3 misses Three Claw.

B2 climbs higher up the tree and crits Moowgli for 6 piercing damage. His armor breaks.

CC2 misses Deshy.

SF2 moves from W16 to U15 and Stomps Zyrn for 2 bludgeoning damage.

[Mai]

Zyrn makes note of the new person, even as this new enemy crawls under her and primes to attack. "You okay? Need any help newbie?" Zyrn asks, swinging her sword at the severed hand thing below her.

Edit: Zyrns weapon gerts suck in the mud after her swing, and in her yank to pull it free, the blade cracks, leaving the weapon useless. "You know, whatever forces controll this stuff, I meant because the mind thing has to still be problematic... I wasn't calling him a noob. No need for that kind of pay back." Zyrn mutters just loud enough to be heard.


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

Zyrn will move from U15 to V17 if she kills it.

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli takes a swing at the bat harassing him.

"Kupoow!"


Bonus action to cast shalleighly and then attack with staff.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[1ring42]

Interesting. Let's try something else...
Ya know I like the way you think.

Wandering storm went through the same gestures, however the ignan word spoke was different as a streak of condensation speared out of the coal towards the larva.

Fire bolt made cold through firaga.[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Ramsus]

Moowgli hits the bat like it's a baseball and sends it flying up over the trees. Home run!

The Larva is clearly a bit effected by the cold, but still stands. It tries to bite at Deshy again, just barely missing. The crab harassing Deshy just scuttles about trying to avoid getting stomped on.


Bt4 died.

C1 misses Deshy.

Larva misses Deshy.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw looks in disgust at the stomping foot. He takes aim with his spear.[roll0] [roll1] [roll2]

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

While she's spinning around and swinging her bow in monsters' faces, Deshy catches sight of a bat practically gnawing the moogle's antenna off.

"Moowgli!"

She repeats her quick healing spell before ducking under the big worm's jaws for the fourth time.

Standard Action: Dodge!

Bonus Action: Healing word! Heal Moowgli for [roll0]+4 damage.

Move action: Nope!

[gryffydd65]

from w11 to v14
Three Claw quickly dispatches the stomping foot and moves closer to get into the action.

[Ramsus]

The baboon biting on Moowgli doesn't let go, grinding its teeth into him a bit more even as most of the damage it deal before is healed.

Deshy and Zyrn fend off some detached appendages.


B2 Bites Moowgli for 1 piercing damage.

CC2 misses Deshy.

SF2 misses Zyrn.

[Mai]

Abandoning her greatsword temporarily. She curses in giant, frustrated, and has to resort to punching at the hand thing that's trying to attack her.


Attack:
[roll0]
Damage:
4
Crit:
4

If it dies, she will move from U15 to W16

[1ring42]

"And might as well go vit the classic kill it vit fire."

The black mage spoke neither William nor Wandering Storm sure who actually said it before they went through the same motions once again speaking a different command word in ignan. The coal glowed briefly before shooting a small fiery orb at the larva.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli inclines his head in thanks to Deshy and then tries to see if Baboons can fly as well.


Attacking with staff:

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Ramsus]

Zyrn tries to punch a thing that isn't there. This doesn't work. But she then remembers the thing that is there to attack and she kicks it hard enough to break it apart.

The black mage's fire has about as much effect as his frost did, though the damage is at least notably accumulating. Though at least he's having better luck than the larva and crab attacking Deshy, neither of whom can seem to land a blow upon her.

Moowgli swings right as the baboon realizes a sustained bit is maybe not the best idea and pull back, the staff swishing through the air.


C1 misses Deshy.

L misses Deshy.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

catgirlfreakout.gif

Still dodging! Same status as before.

MAP (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1y_cAtXxjJZrLCiKOWfs2iZcLbHvIutV7NEihb-qN5os/edit#gid=0)

[gryffydd65]

three claw moved from v14 to x15
[roll0] [roll1] [roll2]
Three Claw moves towards another enemy hoping to finish it off.

[Ramsus]

With a mighty leap Three Claw launches himself into the air and impales the baboon on his spear. He pushes it beneath him as he lands and ends it swiftly underneath the muddy (and now bloody) water.

Meanwhile Deshy continues to flair around, making the crawling claw on her incapable of doing anything but hang on for dear unlife.


Three Claw killed B2. And also passed his Acrobatics check to not fall prone for landing a jump in difficult terrain.

CC2 misses Deshy.

[Mai]

Zyrn kicks the dang thing and breaks it, but now there is nothing near her to deal with. So she moves from W16 to W20 to try and help her comrades, but due to the water and mud, she can't quite get close enough to help yet.

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli finally gains the altitude he desired and turns to face the remaining foes.

"Kupo."
Burn.


Moowgli uses wings/gust to gain 10 ft altitude, applies Create Bonfire to W21.

Damage (Dex save to avoid: DC 13): [roll0]

[Ramsus]

Moowgli's fire minorly scorches everything....Crab, Crawling Claw, and Deshy included. None of them die though. Guess mud isn't the best place for fire.

[1ring42]

Seems like the lightning is most effective.
Ja. Shall we continue?
It seems prudent given the location of our allies.

And once again he thrust the coal towards the larva, speaking the first ignan word again.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Ramsus]

A bolt of lightning streaks across the battlefield. A creepy monster lays dead, smoking briefly before it sinks into the murky water.

A crab walks out of the fire, only partially cooked. It snips at Zyrn, but fails to find her still blinded by the flames.


Larva is dead.

C1 moves from W21 to W20 and misses Zyrn.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw moves towards the others hoping to end this battle. x15 to w19

[roll0] [roll1] [roll2]

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"NyAAH!"

D'Shi drops and rolls out of the fire, smothering a burning nightmare hand in the process. She stares through it, hyperventilating, seeing only wavy images of her teammates.

Already rolled an unarmed attack in Discord. Claw's dead! Deshy moves south one square, out of the fire.

[Ramsus]

With the last of the enemies finished the group can collectively take a breath.

You acquire: 3 Bone, 2 Hide, 1 Beast Hair, 1 Crab, 1 Clay, 1 Fiend Blood (which fills up one of your large mason jars).


Stomping Foot
Tiny Undead
Condition Immunities: charmed, exhaustion, poisoned
Senses: blindsight 30 ft. (blind beyond this radius)
Turn Immunity: The foot is immune to effects that turn undead.

Crawling Claw
Tiny Undead
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.
Damage Immunities: poison
Languages: understands Common but can't speak

Claw: Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) bludgeoning or slashing damage (claw's choice).

Bat
Tiny Beast
Speed 5 ft., fly 30 ft.
Senses blindsight 60 ft.

Echolocation: The bat can't use its blindsight while deafened.

Keen Hearing: The bat has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing.

Baboon
Small Beast
Armor Class 12
Hit Points 3
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.

Pack Tactics: The baboon has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the baboon's allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.

Badger
Tiny Beast
Speed 20 ft., burrow 5 ft.
Senses darkvision 30 ft.

Keen Smell: The badger has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

Crab
Tiny Beast
Armor Class 11
Hit Points 2
Speed 20 ft., swim 20 ft.
Skills: Stealth +2
Senses blindsight 30 ft.

Larva
Medium Fiend
Armor Class 9
Hit Points 9
Speed 20 ft.

Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +1 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1 (1d4 - 1) piercing damage.

A person transformed into a fiend by the exhaustion of remaining too long in the plane of Hades.

[Ramsus]

You all get the sense you achieved some kind of accomplishment relating to having learned about beasts and suddenly a pile of items appears before you.

The group completed the "Aww Puppies!" Bestiary Quest.
The rewards are: Ape Hair Padded Armor, Antler Greatsword, Crab Shell Gauntlets, 1 Beast Hair, 1 Bone, 1 Fabric, 1 Feathers, 1 Ration.
Check the World Anvil for details on the items. Someone should claim the ration.
Also seriously, someone needs to put stuff into the group inventory document. And I would really appreciate it if people would put their gear on their character sheet and keep track of durability in a way I can see when I look at character sheets.

[Mai]

Zyrn moves towards the others and helps harvest these strange ingredients. **"Should we rest here? I am fine to continue I suppose, but I got lucky, others might have had to take more at once."** Zyrn moved to recover her broken greatsword, because it was her only real option weapon wise. Better hope it could be repaired than be content punching and kicking.

[1ring42]

The roegadyn frowned hearing that as the 7'3 red head in black robes, worn loosely over rags, approached the group. Well I cant exactly fix it good as new but I can keep it patched enough to be serviceable I tink. Either that or you can borrow my knife. It's not in very good shape though.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"That's great," D'Shi says to the big guy, "but who the hell are you? Your real name. And what did you do with Hasi!"

After a moment of barely being able to explain who Hasi was in the first place, D'Shi accepts that this is just another whim of the Spirit Crystals. "Sorry for accusing you. We can't let our guard down here; you never know when we'll start running into shapeshifters trying to take advantage of our trust."

She turns to Zyrn as she records the inventory of our... victory?... in her makeshift atlas.

"On the one hand, we shouldn't give the enemy any more chance to get away. On the other hand, I think I'm out of my healing spell, so we need to be careful. I'll let you make the call, Zyrn. Also..."

She pulls a massive antler from the pile of seemingly-random junk that appeared upon the crab's defeat.

"This should be a perfect replacement for the sword you lost! A weapon forged and honed in a lifetime of moose combat!"

Gave Zyrn the Antler Greatsword.

[gryffydd65]

[roll0] Three Claw summons up the inner strength of the warrior and a warm feeling floods his body.

[Mai]

Zyrn nods, considering. Well, I prefer people who are hurt make that call. If yoy need rest, redt. It's better to be fresh for our next fight, but letting them get away wouldn't be wise. But if we should fail, we would be worse off. If anyone is badly hurt, let's take a breather." Yen looks over the greatsword, then at those missing weapons. "I am physically strong enough to at least get by without a weapon. If anyone needs it and could use it well, their need is probably greater than mine. Does anyone else know how tomuse such swords?"

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"This deerskin can also work to replace any broken armor, and these crab claws should work for anyone else who lost a weapon," notes D'Shi as she files the items into inventory. "Any takers? If not, I'm taking them; that larva totally ruined my gloves."

[1ring42]

Well I'm still a bit discombobulated from showing up here so suddenly if that means anything. As for the weapons I tink I do well enough wit my magics.

But either vay you can call me Will- er Wandering Storm... or William.

The towering monk shook his head obviously still trying to sort this out since the two personalities had accomplished the goal that had postponed this mental discussion.

But whatever we decide I best give our tools and weapons a little boost immediately before we set of. Heavy duty fixes dont last too long.

[Mai]

"That's much appreciated Will. Tricky to adjust to huh? This duel mind thing. It feels like when it becomes natural our time here will end and then we'll be thrown back, feeling like we are missing half of ourselves..." Zyrn said, seeming a bit confused based on tone of voice. Which was to be expected as half of her refused the idea that the other halves memories could be valid.

Zyrn would move around while the others began resting. She only had a few scratches, not worth much concern. So instead she would spend this time gathering hides from slain monsters, so that she might make something of use later. She did know how to work leather after all.

She'd hold any conversation others offered as she went about trying to peel and flay off hides, and properly preserve them with damaged tools. Zyrn at least, knew what she was doing, even if only here in this world.

(Roll: 12)

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Deshy decides to set up her fishing rod while she's waiting for everyone to rest and collect skins. Her stomach growls as she retrieves it form her invisible inventory. "Hey, does anyone want a piece of the quipper we picked up? It should still be fresh enough to eat."

She sits down next to a tree, sticks the end of her fishing rod in the mud to hold it up, and retrieves the quipper from the shared inventory. She then tries to claw off an edible chunk without eating bone splinters.

Fishing Check! Advantage + Disadvantage for doing it while also resting = [roll0]

[1ring42]

Probably best if I cooked that for you. It could have all kinds of parasites in it. At the very least I could probably smoke it or something.

After his adjustment completed, Wandering storm began moving around the corpses of the slayed and already skinned beasts, studying each before making precise incisions in an attempt to harvest any usable meat from them.
"Ya got to really know how anatomy works to get the most edible meat. After all itd be a shame and a waste otherwise. It's a good thing I'm fairly certain these crabs dont have poison glands because these tools are woefully imprecise. Also the offer fer a patch up job on yer weapons and armor still stands.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli pulls the dirt beneath him into a mound and sits to meditate. As he does, the air, earth and water seem to slowly shift around him, as if he is drawing in some elemental essence.

Finally, he stands.

"Kuppo"

I am restored.

[gryffydd65]

Much like the retired doctor, Three Claw searches for a dry spot and takes a restful nap. He awakes about 1 hour later refreshed. I am ready when you are.

[Ramsus]

Wandering Storm only manage to gather a bit of meat from a baboon and some meat from the Larva, which he is pretty sure will be rather difficult but not impossible to make something edible from.

Zyrn manages to gather some more ingredients from the badger. Hair, hide, and bone.

Deshy just casually fishing while resting catches one fish after the other in a swamp somehow. A largemouth bass, a smallmouth bass, two catfish, and a bluegill.

Your break in the swamp goes by peacefully enough. As you continue your travels you find the swamp transitioning into a woodlands.

Group acquired 1 Primate Meat, 1 Fiend Meat, 1 Beast Hair, 1 Hide, 1 Bone, and 5 Fish.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"'Fairly certain?'" Deshy asks nervously as Storm rips apart the giant worm with his weapon, hunting for some horrifying demon giblet or another. She furtively hides the toasted crab she was fighting earlier rather than risk it.

Apparently, the blood and dirt flooding the water in the battle's aftermath got the fish really excited. Deshy was expecting some carp to be around, but the discarded giblet she half-heartedly used as bait attracted some real meals. She hardly had time to put her rod down. Lucky!

[1ring42]

"Nothing in life is one hundred percent certain,
but I don't remember reading anything about poisonous crabs." he explained, collecting a small vial of swamp water and storing the gathered meat.

****
"If anyone wants I can magically reinforce couple of your weapons." The mage offered as the group set off transitioning into more stable terrain.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw brings his spear over at the offer. "I believe I damaged it when I thrust it into the ground. Any help would be appreciated. "

[1ring42]

Wandering storm took a minute, chanting in ignan as he passed the coal focus over the spear clearing off any green patina and sealing any visible cracks.

casting mending on the spear +1 durability for 1 hour

[Mai]

Zyrn harvests hide, bone, and more from what she can with her damaged tools. She takes the offered greatsword. She's never seen one built like this, but it's fascinating to be sure. "I don't know if that meat will be edible, but I suppose i'm no cook so I will trust to your judgement. What are you thinking about this place? It's a shame you couldn't get on in time for the village start."

[1ring42]

"its very interesting. Though I dont know how viable this will be when it launches."

[Ramsus]

You travel for a while as the swamp transitions fully to forest. As it turns to early evening (still at least an hour or good light left), you crest the top of a small hill and in the distance between the trees at least a few of you are at just the right angle to spot a light, probably a small campfire or the like, in the near distance that you're pretty sure you wouldn't be able to make out if it were farther away or at a brighter time of day.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"There it is!" Deshy tries to keep her voice down through her excitement. It's like we just spotted the light at the end of a long tunnel.

"Some of us have a stealth skill right? Let's sneak into position and surprise them. I'm sick of always starting the battle surrounded."

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw looked at the others, "I don't stealth, but you guys get in position and I will draw them my way, Hopefully we can trap them between the fire pit and me.

[1ring42]

If I get within sixty feet of the camp I can make it easier to hit at least some of them. But it's best if I do so before you get into melee range with them. Afterwards it's more advantageous if I hang back and support with my cantrips.

Wandering storm offered quietly.

[Mai]

Zyrn watches the fire in the distance. "Do we even know if it's nonsters? The ones we have met so far couldn't start a fire. Though I agree we should assume it is as a precaution. But do we approach them tonight or tomorrow? It is getting late and we son't want to be left foundwring around in the dark. Could we make it there in time to not be fighting in the dark if we go?"

Zyrn stretches herself slightly, a bit tired from all of this. But if it was people, they would be unable to defend them all night if they stayed here. What a decision to make.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Making camp here will just give them an opportunity to find us, or to start cooking the villagers over that fire," says Deshy. "I say we strike now, before they're ready. Besides, if the monsters need the fire to see, then most of you have an advantage in the dark, right?"

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli holds up his staff in determination. "Kupo!"

I would expect a gathering to center near the fire and ruin their night vision. If we can get close enough undetected, I can ask the either if it would bind their limbs on our behalf.

[Mai]

Zyrn would nod along with this. She had just wanted their thoughts and to be sure. But it seemed that their path was set. It was now time for Stealth and ambush. Hopefully it would not come to ambush. With luck it was just the missing people, and nothing more. "Let us be in our way then, to a sure we arrive before nightfall. It would not do to get lost while sneaking."

[Ramsus]

The group makes their way closer to what very soon is clearly a small campfire. As they approach, they see the woods are thick with trees but thankfully somewhat sparser in shrubbery than what they've been passing through sometimes, though there's still some it's at least not enough to interfere much with ranged attacks. In a few places the shrubbery and grass seem to have died.
As they get even closer they spot the campfire and next to it a few things. A green skinned woman with warts and a wide brimmed pointy black hat, a broom leaned against a tree, and a human woman bound in rope.
They also spot a group of deer and elk to their right and a group of apes to their left. As well as some rabbit like creatures that appear to have horns jutting from their foreheads.

Congrats, you guys passed the group Stealth check and so everyone in the party gets to partake in the surprise round! As their are no enemies in the surprise round, go ahead and act in any order. When you post your action, also include an Initiative roll please.

Edit: In case this needs to be clarified, you are all currently Hidden from all enemies until you move out of cover/take actions that might alert them to your presence.


https://5e.tools/img/bestiary/ToA/Almiraj.jpg?ver=1.83.5

[1ring42]

Maneuvering carefully, Wandering Storm moved towards the group of apes before brandishing his coal and speaking in ignan. <Let the spirit fires light your way>

A silent explosion of blue light appeared in the midst of the apes.

moved to W18 and cast faerie fire on the ape and baboons (DC 13 dex save) and they also take 5 fire damage from fira (assuming the baboons are within 5 feet)

[roll0]

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Bow at the ready, Deshy peers around the thick brush to get a better view of the campfire.

"There's Priya!" She whispers to Moowgli. "We should probably take out that green gnome first Everyone ready?"

Initiative: [roll0]

Going to move up next to Moow at 20Y and shoot at the witch.

Attack: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

Arrow Break? (Low is bad, high is good): [roll3]

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw moves quickly so he can get closer to the witch.

[roll0] initiative. Move twice t20 to v17, then v17 to y15

[Mai]

Zyrn, glimpsing deer in a nearby area, waves towards her teammates, and trying to signal where she would be going. And then she would take a dash action. She was over 60 feet from the witch, with several trees between then so it should be fine. Three law was already infront of her anyway. Zyrn dashes from AC18 to AH17. She tries to soothe the deer and calm them, and with luck, to make them friendly to her.


Init:
[roll0]
Animal Handling:
[roll1]
Animal Handling 2 (If needed):
[roll2]

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli runs forward and lets the dance of the air around him carry him into the sky. He then flaps his wings as he calls fire down upon the witch who has taken the innocent towns people.


Move, gust 5 ft into the air, cast create bonfire on the witch's location.
Bonfire damage (dex save 13): [roll0]

[1ring42]

Wandering storm brandished the coal and spoke again in ignan <The informationof the ages is often overwhelming>

Cast mind sliver on the witch DC 13 INT save
[roll0]

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Deshy fires off another arrow in the interest of rushing down the probable magic-user, then ducks behind the tree where Moowgli was standing for cover.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Moving to 20X from 20Y.

[Ramsus]

The witch takes a second arrow to the chest, but evades the magical attacks. As two dead shrubs apparently come to life and attack Three Claw from behind she casts a spell on him that causes him to fall over in uncontrollable laughter and she runs away behind the trees. As suddenly as Three Claw's involuntary laughter started, it stops.

Two winged monkies fly over with haste, one getting up in Moowgli's face while another shrub (this time a living one) walks right under him and clumsily tries to rake Deshy with its twigy ends.

The big ape Wandering Storm caught in his faerie fire wanders over and throws a rock at him, but it goes wide. However at the same time a horned rabbit zips out of the underbrush and stabs into the back on his left leg.

Meanwhile Zyrn gets totally wrecked by an Elk that smashes through her like she's not even there and keeps going.


BW makes her save against Mind Spike. Arrow hits her.

Aj1 moves from N23 to V19 and Horns Wandering Storm for 4 piercing damage.
Wandering Storm maintains concentration on Faerie Fire.

E moves from AN16 to AI17 and critically hits Zyrn for 17 bludgeoning damage. Rendering her unconscious. Then continues moving from AI17 to AC18.

FM1 Dashes from J13 to V16 (up 20 feet in the air).

TB1 moves from AB11 to X12, breaking stealth after missing Three Claw.

TB2 moves from AC12 to Y12, breaking stealth after Clawing Three Claw for 3 piercing damage.

AS1 moves from X15 to Y19, breaking stealth after missing Deshy.

A moves from M11 to S16 and misses Wandering Storm with a thrown rock.

Zyrn fails 1 Death Saving throw.

FM 2 Dashes from N8 to Y16 (up 10 feet in the air).

BW casts Tasha's Hideous Laughter on Three Claw. Three Claw fails his save and becomes prone and incapacitated. BW then moves from Y10 to V4.

A creature of your choice that you can see within range perceives everything as hilariously funny and falls into fits of laughter if this spell affects it. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or fall prone, becoming incapacitated and unable to stand up for the duration. A creature with an Intelligence score of 4 or less isn't affected.

At the end of each of its turns, and each time it takes damage, the target can make another Wisdom saving throw. The target has advantage on the saving throw if it's triggered by damage. On a success, the spell ends.


At the end of Three Claw's turn he succeeds on his saving throw.

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli takes a swing at the flying monkey facing him. "Kupo!"
Fairwell, foul fiend!


Shillelagh on staff, then attack.
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + (if crit): [roll2]

[Ramsus]

There is a whumph-crack! sound like..... someone hit a somewhat hollow boned monkey with something that at the moment very much resembles a baseball bat and then shockingly a flying monkey falls out of the air with a smaller thump as it hits the ground, very dead.

Deer race to surround Deshy.

Another shrub comes to life, again going right under Moowgli to go attack one of his companions, this time the newly arrived black mage. It strikes true and..... doesn't manage to actually do more than give a few irritating scratches.

Another of the horned rabbits races around the trees and fire to get close to Three Claw while the witch's broom suddenly comes to life and he barely manages to fend off its attacks with his shield despite being on the ground.

However the most alarming thing is when Priya Rees suddenly snaps the rope binding her with a mighty flex. She then grabs one of the longer pieces and stands up, looking a bit unsure what to do.


Moowgli hit and killed FM2

Dr2 Dashes from AM18 to Y21.

Aj2 Dashes from AF3 to Z12.

Dr1 Dashes from AL14 to Z20.

AS2 moves from Z15 to X17, breaking stealth after Raking Wandering Storm for 0 slashing damage.

BA breaks stealth after missing Three Claw. Then it makes a second attack on Three Claw.... missing again.

Dr3 Dashes from AP14 to Z19.

Priya Rees escapes her bindings, stands up, and grabs a piece of rope to use as an improvised whip.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"An ambush?!"

Deshy watches several monsters emerge from stealth. Before she can do anything about it, she finds herself surrounded and Zyrn trampled.

"Damn it! They were still ready for us..." She puts up her crab-claw-clad fists to fend off the deer, leans to the right to see better around the tree and quickly flashes the hand sign for her healing spell. "Zyrn! We need to get out of here!"


Bonus Action: Healing Word on Zyrn
Healing: [roll0]

Action: Dodge!

Move: 20Y-20Y (Staying put to not provoke more attacks)

Status: As well as can be expected
HP: 5/9
L1 Spells: 0/2
Effects: Dodging

[1ring42]

"It would be best to keep our guard up. We need to clear a path so we can retreat."

Wandering storm brought his focus down towards the horned rabbit that had stabbed him, <Fire! Bring about your sores>

Casting inflict wounds on AJ1
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Ramsus]

The horned rabbit's skin quickly boils and pops, dribbling curdling streams of pus as its flesh blackens, splits, and curls away from the bone as the whole creature melts away into a steaming puddle of foul smelling seared rotten blood and vitriol.
Wandering Storm gets the distinct impression that his spell may just have been a bit overkill. A moment later an Elk charges him and he's nearly bowled over by the force of its horns impacting with his arcane protection. He doesn't get to find out if he would have fallen over as from the other side a large ape trundles over and slams both fists into his arcane armor, resulting in him more or less just spinning around in place still somehow standing no worse for wear than he was before.

Moowgli sees another flying monkey take the last one's place and it bites him, barely piercing his new armor. He wonders why the monkeys are going so bananas for him.

Before Three Claw can get up he "ironically" gets clawed twice in the back by the animate dead shrub things.

A shrub doesn't hurt Deshy. Is this news?


Aj1 dies. Yuck.

E moves from AC18 to X18 and misses Wandering Storm

FM1 moves from V16 to X15 and Bites Moowgli for 1 piercing damage.
Moowgli maintains concentration on Create Bonfire.

TB1 Claws Three Claw for 2 piercing damage.

TB2 Claws Three Claw for 2 piercing damage.

AS1 misses Deshy.

A moves from S16 to V17 and misses Wandering Storm.... twice.

[Mai]

Zyrn recalls only that the elk freaked out and charged her. There was the feeling of broken ribs as it slammed into her, and suddenly all was black. She woke up not too long later, incredibly sore and hurt. She would turn towards her allies and stand up, groaning slightly. She's move from AH 17 to AF18, and wasn't able to get further yet. But she would try and calm the elk as best she could from this distance.


Roll 1: 24

[Ramsus]

Zyrn manages to calm the Elk down.

The witch moves to where she has a clear shot at Moowgli and fires a sickly green ray at him, but she stumbles over a root and it goes wide. Seeing she failed to hit her target, she continues moving to hide behind the trees again clearly fearful of being shot with more arrows.


Elk becomes non-hostile.

BW moves from V4 to Z8 and casts Ray of Sickness at Moowgli. It misses. Continues moving to AB8.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw stands up and takes a defensive position. He gathers up his inner warrior spirit. [roll0]

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli swings his staff with a double handed grip and kicks his feet toward the awakened broom.

"Kupo"

I bid thee farewell.


Swings a flying monkey and tries to fly 5 ft higher if possible.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + (if crit): [roll2]

Tries to gust BA into the bonfire at Y10.
Damage: [roll3]

[Ramsus]

Moowgli once again smashes a flying monkey out of the sky. He also manages to push a broom into a fire using the power of his mind the air. It seems none too happy with this as it brushes past Three Claw and Priya Rees who both take sweeping strikes at it as it passes them and flies over to Moowgli. It swings itself at him twice, the first strike lightly brushing his cheek, the second slamming him about as hard or maybe even harder than he hit the monkeys. It doesn't feel as satisfying to be on the receiving end.

A shrub continues to harass Wandering Storm, managing to stick him in a sensitive spot.

Dear Deshy spends her time fending off hoof strikes from irate deer, dear me!

The remaining horned rabbit tries to spike Three Claw with its horn, but instead Priya Rees strikes it with her improvised whip hard enough to snap its neck. Her way around the fire no longer blocked, she makes off towards the south east.


FM1 dies.

BA fails both saves and takes the 6 fire damage.

Dr2 misses Deshy.

Aj2 misses Three Claw.

Dr1 misses Deshy.

AS2 Rakes Wandering Storm for 1 slashing damage.
Wandering Storm maintains concentration on Faerie Fire.

BA moves from Y10 to Y15 (up 10 feet), provoking opportunity attacks from Three Claw and Priya Rees.
Three Claw opportunity attacks BA and hits for 6 piercing damage.
Priya Rees opportunity attacks BA and hits for 2 slashing damage.
Then BA Broomstick's Moowgli twice. The first time missing. The second time hitting for 6 bludgeoning damage.
Moowgli loses concentration on Create Bonfire.

Dr3 misses Deshy.

Priya Rees whips Aj2, killing it. Then moves from Z10 to AD15.

[1ring42]

Raising his focus in a guarded position, Wandering Storm retreated, hoping to make some room for himself.

Action: Disengage and move from W18 to S21

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"All right Zyrn!" Deshy cheers from the local deer convention.

She briefly tries to replicate her teammate's success in handling the elk, but when she offers her hand for a deer to sniff, the other two try to ram her and the sudden movement startles the one she was working with.

"Agh, come on! I guess I should have expected this from these pack hunters..."

Just dodging again; the failed animal handling is just for fun.

[Ramsus]

The elk suddenly finding itself uninterested in the battle wanders a bit away from everything else and just tries not to get hurt.

Two dead shrubs, one living shrub, and an ape find no purchase against their foes. Not surprisingly at all in two cases and very surprisingly in one.


E moves from X18 to AA16 and Dodges.

TB1 misses Three Claw.

TB2 misses Three Claw.

AS1 misses Deshy.

A moves from from V17 to T20 and misses Wandering Storm twice.

[Mai]

Zyrn moves 30 feet forwards towards the deer, getting really frustrated with all this. But the deer needed del with, so hopefully for the final time she would try to stop them. She would do her best to soothe them and calm them. She would try to make them more friendly to her and her group otherwise she would have to start attacking and she'd rather svoid that. She liked deer after all.


AF18 to Z18
Animal Handling:
[roll0]

[Ramsus]

Thanks to her prior efforts, Zyrn manages to convince the elk to aid them.

The witch pops her head back around a tree and tries to make Three Claw laugh again, but apparently the joke falls flat instead of him. She then scampers off after Priya Rees.


Elk is now Friendly and an ally. Will not attack or be attacked by the Deer.

BW moves from AB8 to AA8 and casts Tasha's Hideous Laughter on Three Claw. He succeeds on his saving throw and is unaffected. BW then moves from AA8 to AF10.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw stabs at the threatening shrub on his right.

[roll0]
[roll1] "Take that you shrubby little plant."

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli strikes again and sends a gust of air billowing at one of Three Claw's Attackers.


Attack with staff:
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + (if crit): [roll2]

Tries to gust TB2 (strength save DC 13) into the fire at Z11.
Damage (dex save DC 13): [roll3]

[Ramsus]

Three Claw smashes one of the dead shrubs to bits and pieces and a moment later Moowgli sends the next into the fire where it quickly burns to ash.

Moowgli's strike at the broom it blocked by one of its own and then it smacks him about the head for good measure. He can tell one more hit and he'll be out like a light.

One of the deer finally gets a kick in on Deshy.

Zyrn gets double teamed by a deer and a shrub, but remains standing. If only barely.

Priya Rees, rescuee(?), runs by whipping a deer expertly across the throat causing it to bleed out in moments. Though by that point she's already moved further on.


Three Claw kills TB1.

Moowgli misses BA.

TB2 fails both saves and takes 4 fire damage and dies.

Dr2 Bites Deshy for 2 piercing damage.

Dr1 misses Deshy.

AS2 moves from X17 to Y17 and Rakes Zyrn for 2 slashing damage.

BA makes two Broomstick attacks at Moowgli. One misses. The other hits for 5 damage.

Dr3 Bites Zyrn for 2 piercing damage.

Priya Rees moves from AD15 to AB19 and whips Dr3 for 4 damage, killing it. Then moves from AB19 to AC21.

[1ring42]

Wandering Storm brandished the coal focus at the ape and smirked. "Time for you to ride the lightning" he quipped before incanting in Ignan, sending a crackling bolt of electricity from the focus.

Casting firebolt with lightning damage.

[roll1]
[roll2]
[Roll=attack adv]1d20+5

If the ape dies he will move from S21 to U16 if not he'll stay put.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Deshy gets into the rhythm of the weirdly cute deer's calculated leaps and notices monsters being blown around and cooked in their own bonfire. "Wow! That's cool, Moowgli! Can- MYEOW!"

As she tries to be encouraging, one deer kicks her right in the shin while the others start changing targets.

"Priya! Look out-"

Of course, that one gets cut down immediately. It only just now occurs to Deshy that the weapons dealer was probably far from defenseless on her own. "Oh, huh. Nice!"

She catches sight of the witch as it runs through the trees, but not for long enough to try lining up a shot. Meanwhile, Moowgli is getting pounded by the shrub and the broom, and that stupid ape is still menacing Storm.

"Okay! Time to start closing this out!" She claps the crab claw on her right hand and starts pruning the annoying shrub to punish it for turning its back on her. Or at least, she assumes this must be its back if it was attacking Zyrn.


Bonus Action:n/a

Action: Booming Blade with Crab Claw Gauntlets vs. AS1
Attack: [roll0] -2 = 10
Damage: [roll1] -2 = 4
Crit?: [roll2]
- "On a hit, the target suffers the attack's normal effects, and it becomes sheathed in booming energy until the start of your next turn. If the target willingly moves before then, it immediately takes 1d8-2 thunder damage, and the spell ends."

Move: n/a

Status: OK
HP: 7/9
LN Spells: 0
Effects: Booming Blade on AS1 possibly

[Ramsus]

Wandering Storm's taunt gets a clear "No" as the ape knocks the hand that was to fling the bolt of lightning aside and is just flies up into the air. While it's distracted, the Elk Zyrn has made friends with brushes past one of the animate brushes, evading an attack from it, and charges into the back of the ape. It turns around angry and clubs it unconscious with two blows of its fists.

Deshy lands a decent blow on the shrub, but apparently living ones are tougher than dead ones as only a few branches break off and its still animate. The shrub attempts to retaliate, but Deshy fends it off.


E moves from AA16 to U19, provoking an opportunity attack from AS2.
AS2 opportunity attack misses.
E charges and Rams A, hitting for 11 bludgeoning damage.

AS1 misses Deshy.

A Fist attacks E twice. The first attacking hitting for 7 bludgeoning damage. The second hitting for 8 bludgeoning damage. E falls unconscious.

[Mai]

Zyrn grunts slightly as tough bush branches rake down her body, and a nearby deer bites her. "Dang it, stop that! I'm already busted up, why attack us?" Zyrn says, ostly to heraelf. She sidn't expect the deer nor the bush to respond. Any plans for what we want to do here? This is getting bad." Zyrn says to D'Shi, as she swings at AS2 with her greatsword.


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

No movement.

[Ramsus]

Zyrn strikes a good chunk of material off the brush, but it remains intact.

The witch in chasing after Priya notices she has a clear shot at Moowgli and fires a ray of frost... which passes right under him as he bobs around in the air dizzily.


BW moves from AF10 to AG16 and casts Ray of Frost at Moowgli. Which misses.

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli dizzily swings.

"Kupo!"

And this for thee, cursed branch!


Attack with staff:
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + (if crit): [roll2]

Tries to gust BA (strength save DC 13) down so Three Claw can attack him.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw moves to the side of Moowgli and stabs at the little varmin. move to z16 and stab bush. [roll0] [roll1][roll2]

[Ramsus]

Moowgli bests the animated broom in a contest of best stick. In defeat it falls to the ground, never to be used for violence again.

Three Claw stabs into the bush... which normally wouldn't do a whole lot, but it was down to just core branches and some leaves already so he manages to snap it apart anyway.

One deer distracts Deshy while the other manages to bite her of all things! How rude! (And surprisingly painful coming from a prey animal!)

Priya circles around and tries to whip another deer, but she's apparently run out of her astounding luck and the whip gets snagged on a branch for a bit instead of hitting her target.


BA "dies".

AS2 resist the damage of Three Claw's attack... and dies.

Dr2 misses Deshy.

Dr1 Bites Deshy for 2 piercing damage.

Priya Rees moves from AC21 to Y23 and misses Dr2.

[1ring42]

Frowning, Wandering storm brought his coal to bear and cast again.

firebolt with lightning using inspiration for adv
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"It looks like Priya's clear!" Deshy calls back to Zyrn over the aggressive hedge. "We still need to finish off that green jynx! After that, the animals might-"

As she speaks, Kimiko experiences a sensation that's entirely new to her, like sitting on a tack while your spine twists up inside you. D'Shi recognizes the feeling immediately.

"NYAAAH! My tail! Let go! Bad deer!"

Deshy drubs the deer on the nose with her bow and starts casting her attack spell. The deer startles and rears up before letting go, sending Deshy cartwheeling into the shrub behind her just as the spell finishes...

Booming Blade!
Crab Shell Gauntlet: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit Damage? [roll2]
On hit, the shrub gets the booming energy debuff and takes 1d8-2 damage if it moves during its turn.

Move: No
Bonus: No

HP: 5/9
Spells: no
Status: no

[Ramsus]

Wandering Storm shocks the ape. It seems to be unaffected, but as it's about to slam its arms down on the mage, it instead collapses to the ground as it heart had stopped.

Deshy gives a shrub a good trimming and it gives her a good thrashing as they trying to extricate themselves from each other, but as she remains standing, so does it.


Wandering Storm kills A.
Deshy hits a shrub.

E fails a death saving throw.

AS1 Rakes Deshy for 2 slashing damage.

[Mai]

Zyrn watches as the dear Bites Deshy's tail and supreshe'd the brief desire to laugh over the antics that follow. "Moowgli and Three Claw are nearest her if that's what you mean. But i'm too hurt to take on a witch. But I may as well help you untill I pass out again." Zyrn said with a lay sigh. Everything hurt. She was fighting off the effects of pain and many injuries. She was as beat up as was possible without loosing conciousness.

Zyrn swings her antler greatsword at the bush, hoping to take it out. "Sorry bush. I'd let you be but assisting a kidnapper is bad." Zyrn said slowly, tired and in pain. Perhaps too much in pain to think super clearly.


HP: 1
AC: 12
Attack Roll:
[roll0]
Damage:
[roll1]
Crit:
[roll2]

[Ramsus]

The witch comes from out behind the trees and seeing her enemies all closely together with very few of her allies in their midst cast a spell to make them sleep. Three Claw and Wandering Storm are the only ones still awake to hear the loud painful sounding thump as Moowgli falls to the ground, looking a bit more naturally unconscious than the other two.


BW moves from AG16 to AF19 and casts Sleep. Creatures in the area: Deshy, AS1, Zyrn, Three Claw, and Moowgli.
Deshy, AS1, Zyrn, and Moowgli fall asleep.
Moowgli falls and takes 2 bludgeoning damage, being rendered unconscious.
BW then moves from AF19 to AF22.

Moowgli succeeds on a death saving throw.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw tries to wake up Zyrn and to keep an eye on the witch.

[Ramsus]

One of the deer stamps hard down onto Deshy, knocking her out properly and moves over to Priya who had tried to whip it before. A moment later though, Deshy somehow recovers from this blow and awakens, conscious once more. The other deer, tries to attack Three Claw as he wakes Zyrn up, but he parries its blow.


Dr2 Bites Deshy for 6 damage. Deshy is now unconscious. Then moves from Y21 to Y22.

Dr1 moves from Z20 to Z19 and Bites at Three Claw, missing.

Priya Rees Whips Dr2, missing.

Deshy....rolls a nat20 on her Death save and regains 1 hp.

[1ring42]

Wandering Storm adjusts his position and raises the coal. <Fire consume thee> He incants brandishing the coal towards the a deer.

Move from S21 to U23 and cast fire bolt against DR1

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Ramsus]

Unfortunately, Wandering Storm's bolt flies right past where the deer was just before it moved to attack Three Claw.


Fire bolt misses.

E succeeds on a death saving throw.

[Mai]

Zyrn shook her head as she stands, damn witch. They needed to end this before it got out of hand. People were hurt and she was barely concious herself.

"Someone get towards Priya before she gets hurt. I would but this deer and bush have be held back." Zyrn said loudly, regainine balance and swinging her greatsword at Dr1. After the deer passes out, Zyrn moves from Z18 to Z20.


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

AC: 12
HP: 1

[Ramsus]

Zyrn knocks out a deer with a powerful blow and closes on the remaining one. A moment later the witch scrambles from the south back north again, casting a sickening ray at Three Claw which he barely manages to endure, before she takes cover again.


Dr1 KO'd.

BW moves from AF22 to AG18 and casts Ray of Sickness at level 2 at Three Claw. It hits for 8 poison damage. Three Claw fails his Con save and is poisoned until the end of BW's next turn. BW then moves from AG18 to AI18.

Moowgli fails a death saving throw.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw stabs once more at shrub, while fighting the poison raging through his body. [roll0] [roll1]

[Ramsus]

A bit away from everyone else Priya smacks a deer with a whip to fend it off.


Dr2 misses Priya.

Priya whips Dr2 for 2 slashing damage.

[1ring42]

And now to keep the momentum going. After all, "it is the foolish tactician that fails to maintain their grip on victory once it is within their grasp."

Wandering Storm thought to himself as he advanced. He incanted in ignan brandishing the coal to release a bolt of lightning at the deer. After all it would be the easiest available target to hit.

Moving from U23 to Y24 and casting firebolt with lightning damage


[Roll=damage] 1d10-3
[roll1]

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Having been knocked unconscious in two different ways, Kimiko and D'Shi meet each other on a road to hell.

I've failed you, says Kimiko. I made a promise I couldn't keep, just like with everyone else...

I didn't ask for you to help me! D'shi snarls from her makeshift campsite by the roadside. For me, this is normal. I'll deal with it alone like I always do. You're the one with the family and friends to go back to.

No, I... I can't. I shouldn't! Kimiko turns and starts to walk down the road, no longer paying attention to her surroundings. They're better off without me anyway... even if I've fooled them into not thinking so...

So what if they are?! D'shi feels dumb if that's the best encouragement she could come up with, but the kid can no longer hear her over her own absurd mumbling anyway. Angered, D'shi scatters dream caltrops on the road in Kimiko's path. She steps right on them in her bare feet and jumps in surprise, only to fall backwards into more caltrops.

"Whia!" Deshy yelps as she sits up from the prickly bush, which is still thrashing about beneath her. She's brushed and picked through a dozen thorns before she realizes she's back in the real world. Game world. Whatever.

As her teammates converge on the evil plant, she absentmindedly joins them in finishing it off as she gets her bearings.


Bonus Action: None

Action: Booming Blade
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit?: [roll2]
- On hit, 1d8-2 thunder if it moves

Move: None

Status:
HP: 1/9
L1 Spells: 0/2
Effects: Just woke up miraculously!


She spots the moogle on the ground a few meters further. "Is Moowgli okay?" She asks Zyrn next to her. "Is anyone going after the jynx?"

[Ramsus]

Deshy gets up and breaks the shrub the rest of the way apart.


AS1 dies.

E succeeds a death saving throw.

[Mai]

Zyrn hits the dear and soon everything seems to have been felt with except the witch. "All that's left is the witch! After her! Lefts finish this while we can!" Zyrn says, breathing heavily, wincing against the pain of fractured ribs from the elks attack with ever breath. "Let's end this while we can..." Zyrn says, and dashes towards the witch. She she could reach the witch, she'd be too tired to attack. Best take cover for now.


AC: 12
HP: 1
Actions: Dash from Z20 to AI17.

[Ramsus]

The witch grumbles a profanity as Zyrn closes on her then casts a spell and vanishes from sight. Zyrn hears what she thinks is the witch trying to get away from her and swings her sword. She feels the blade encounter resistance and then there is a thump nearby followed by another. A moment later the decapitated body of the witch reappears on the ground.
Enemies all slain or subdued, the group stabilizes their allies.

Looking around, this seems like a fairly safe place to rest now. And it is getting dark and everyone is in pretty poor shape. On the plus side, they gained a good deal of resources, including a witch's spellbook and an animate broom that will clean their house for them.... as soon as they have one of those.

Priya Rees thanks everyone for saving her.


This is a relatively safe place to take a long rest. Chances of a random encounter are low. Additionally each currently conscious person (so everyone except Moowgli) can perform a gathering or not in town crafting action of some kind that makes sense if you take a long rest here. (There are still some slain foes to further harvest for example. And wood, lots of wood.)



1 silver coin, 2 copper coins.

Animate Broom (furnishing).

1 Hide, 1 Rabbit, 2 Wood, 3 Beast Hair, 3 Primate Meat, Venison 2, 5 Bone.

1 Witch's Hat (this doesn't actually do anything and isn't high/low enough quality on its own to change the stats of an outfit, so you don't actually have to write it down but its there if someone wants it).

1 Almiraj Horn Wand

Almiraj Horn Wand
Can function as both a wand and a dagger.
As a Dagger
Damage: 1d4-3 (minimum 1)
Range: 5/10
As a Wand
-1 to hit
-1 to Save DC
-3 damage (minimum 1)
Durability: 1
Wielder gains Almiraj as an option for Find Familiar.



Wandering Storm can add the following spells to his spellbook before the Witch's spellbook vanishes: Ray of Sickness, Sleep, & Tasha's Hideous Laughter.




Almiraj
Small Beast
Speed 50 ft.
Horn: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage.

Ape
Medium Beast
Multiattack: The ape makes two fist attacks.
Fist: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage.
Rock: Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 25/50 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage.

Awakened Shrub
Small Plant
Hit Points 10 (3d6)
False Appearance: While the shrub remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal shrub.

Baboons
Senses passive Perception 11
Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +1 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1 (1d4 - 1) piercing damage.

Barovian Witch
Medium humanoid
Spellcasting: The witch is a 3rd-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 12, +4 to hit with spell attacks). The witch has the following wizard spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): mage hand, prestidigitation, ray of frost
1st level (4 slots): ray of sickness, sleep, Tasha's hideous laughter
2nd level (2 slots): alter self, invisibility

Broom of Animated Attack
Small Construct
Speed 0 ft., fly 50 ft. (hover)
False Appearance: While the broom remains motionless and isn't flying, it is indistinguishable from a normal broom.
Multiattack: The broom makes two melee attacks.
Broomstick: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) bludgeoning damage.

Deer
Medium Beast
Armor Class 13
Hit Points 4 (1d8)
Speed 50 ft.
Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (1d4) piercing damage.

Elk
Large Beast
Speed 50 ft.
Charge: If the elk moves at least 20 ft. straight toward a target and then hits it with a ram attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
Ram: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage.

Flying Monkey
Small Beast
Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft., fly 30 ft.
Familiar: With the DM's permission, the find familiar spell can summon a flying monkey.
Pack Tactics: The flying monkey has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the monkey's allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.

Twig Blight
Small Plant
Damage Vulnerabilities fire
False Appearance: While the blight remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a dead shrub.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw He looks at his companions, and the rest of the treasures. "Well done, that was a very close battle . Let's get plenty of rest now. "

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Agreed," Deshy says, standing over an unconscious Moowgli. "He's pretty beat up, but he should recover. Other than being unconscious, he's not much worse off than the rest of us."

She starts gathering dry sticks. "I'll arrange some of these around the campsite as a cheap alarm system. Meanwhile... I believe someone was giving advice on how to prepare a fish?"

[Mai]

Zyrn sighs as her blade connects with the witch, and is surprised. She'd just reflexively swung, but it had connected just the same. Once the witch was down she'd take a minute to relax herself, before going to harvest hides and such. "I'll go harvest hides and such. Is it Rations tonight or does anyone care to look for edible greens and such?" Zyrn says, moving about, skinning their prey.


Leatherworking tools at disadvantage.
[roll0]
[roll1]

[1ring42]

"Ya but without herbs and such it'll probably just be as good as rations, I mean safer than trying to eat it raw but with the right herbs, spices and vegetables it could be something wondrous.

Though if you want the fish for dinner I could probably smoke it."

Wandering storm replied, looking over the witch's spell book and carefully removing some pages before mending them into his own book.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw moves closer to the group, "Come on let's get some sleep, we have a lot to do and we need to be recharged. I will help gather wood once I am rested."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Oh, I can find some herbs!" Deshy says to WS, seemingly upbeat at the promise of tasty food. "Just tell me what you need!"

Survival! Unless you need tools to identify herbs or edible plants, which I guess is conceivable?

[roll0]

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

While she's still setting up the campsite, Deshy eventually figures out - be it from her own non-starting efforts or from WS's advice - that gathering herbs for cooking isn't really a matter of just finding them lying around.

"Fine, I guess we can stick with rations for now," she says, irrationally irritated. "I just hate sitting around doing nothing while everyone else is working... I want to help, but all I'm good for is fishing and woodworking..."

...and mapmaking, but there's no point in making a map that leads out here.
We could still map out what the terrain looks like in this area, right? For future reference?
Not unless there's a resource or landmark. Everything else will just change next time we come out here.

When she's done confusing herself, Deshy roots through her stuff and produces a rock vaguely shaped like an axe head. "Well, since we can't use the empty inn, we should probably get to work on some kind of shelter for us back in town. I'll start gathering some wood, since our inventory can hold it without needing a cart or anything."

As boring as it is to be spelling all of that out at this point, neither part of Deshy can bring themselves to let it go without comment.

Woodworking tools, Roll 2:

[roll0]

[gryffydd65]

After the long rest, Three Claw got up and started to gather dead wood branches.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw [roll0] Three Claw tries to use his weavers skill to find appropriate material or just pick up fire wood.

[1ring42]

Wandering storm nodded and began to do his best to harvest the meat from the dead deer.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Ramsus]

His tools not being particularly useful for gathering the things around here, Moowgli just looks around for some plants that seem safe and potentially useful.

Everyone at various times does some gathering. Deshy cuts down a small tree. Three Claw mainly just winds up helping out the others.

Everyone sleeps ok for having to sleep completely exposed, except for Zyrn who sleeps very well in her tent, and Wandering Storm who manages to accomplish something only barely qulifiable as sleep.


Moowgli rolled a 14 total Survival check.

Moowgli find 4 units worth of Blackberries and 3 of Herbs (Common). (I'm seriously not even going to bother noting different kinds of regular herbs.)

Zyrn gathers 7 Hides and 1 Beast Hairs.

Deshy gathers 12 Wood.

Three Claw gathers 1 Wood, 2 Beast Hairs, 1 Herbs (Common), and 2 Blackberries.

Wandering Storm gathers 5 Venison and 3 Primate Meat.

Total: 6 Blackberries, 4 Herbs, 7 Hides, 3 Beast Hair, 13 Wood, 5 Venison, & 3 Primate Meat.



Deshy: 66. Regains 1 Hit Die. Heals 5 hp.
Moowgli: 61. Regains 1 Hit Die. Heals 10 hp.
Zyrn: 104. Regains 1 Hit Die. Heals 12 hp.
Three Claw: 56. Regains 1 Hit Die. Heals 12 hp.
Wandering Storm: 3. Gains 1 level of Exhaustion. Regains 1 Hit Die. Regains 5 hp.

If anyone wants to immediately spend any hit dice, they can.

[Mai]

Zyrn would stretch, and if no one ibjected, would take first watch. Sure she was the second most beat up with only a thin string tying her to conciousness, but she'd heal better if she didn't need to sleep in shifts. If anyone opposed she'd sigh and take middle watch. Others needed rest too after all. After she skinned her various monsters and such, she'd take her watch or else sleep depending on if anyone had objected to her taking first watch.

[Ramsus]

Eventually you break camp from your first night in this strange new world. It was a bit more uncomfortable than any of you (either parts) were used to, but the amount of insect bites isn't too bad and nobody seems to have caught a cold at least.

You travel back through the forest towards town and back to the swamps. Except where the swamps were before is now just a lightly wooded area. You travel through the woods for several hours. The sound of animals isn't at all uncommon, but suddenly you detect a note of hostility to the sounds.

Looking around you see the area before you is pretty much cleared of everything except for a large amount and variety of rats. And a bat that's maybe a bit confused about how it got included in this rat pack.


The Rats, Bat, Cranium Rats, & Zombie Rats are all Tiny.
The Giant Rat is Small.
Skeletal Rats & Swarm of Rats are both Medium.

Cranium Rats
https://5e.tools/img/bestiary/VGM/Cranium%20Rat.jpg?v=1.88.7

[1ring42]

Wandering Storm advanced to get a good angle on the nearest zombified rat, drawing the horn. <lightning send this back to the grave> he incanted as he brandished the wand in the rats direction, electricity sparking from the horn.

casting firebolt (lightning damage) with the almiraz horn wand against zr2 after moving from y1 to z4
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Ramsus]

The zombie rat sparks a bit, takes a step, and then falls over dead (again?).


ZR2 fails its Con save and thus dies.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw called to the others. "We need to start fighting as a group, things are only going to get tougher. Let's pick an enemy and move towards it, let's make them come to us for a change. "

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Deshy nods, ready to go thanks to her allies' healing efforts. Both sides of her are pretty well used to suboptimal sleeping conditions, not that either of them are particularly happy about it.

"OK! Let's go for..."

She scans the rats to pick out a high-priority target, but does a double take for one barely visible around the corner of a tree. Was that a glowing, exposed brain?

"Did that one have... well, anyway, let's go for that zombie one first!"



Move: W2 to R3

Action: Cast Warding Arrow
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit?: [roll2]
- On a hit, the target suffers the attack's normal effects, and it becomes sheathed in shimmering energy until the start of your next turn. If the target willingly moves closer to you before then, it immediately takes 1d4 radiant damage, and the spell ends.
Arrow Breakage: [roll3] (/75%)


Bonus Action: None for now

Status:
HP: 9/9
Temp HP: 0
Init: +5
AC: 17
Saves:
Str: +0
Dex: +5
Con: +4
Int: +1
Wis: +4
Cha: +4
Spells:
L1: 2/2
Hit Dice: 1/1
Concentration: (none)
Conditions: Mage Armor (Durability: 1)
Arrows: 15

[Ramsus]

Deshy's arrow pierces through the body of the zombie rat, basically taking out its entire torso. And yet somehow it remains standing.

One of the rats with the glowing exposed brain charges at Wandering Storm and he receives a telepathic message "Eat you! Eat you! Eat you!" from it.

Two other rats race towards the party.


ZR1 succeeds on Con save. Is still alive. Undead rather.

CR2 dashes from AN16 to AB7.

R5 dashes from N23 to S15.

R1 dashes form AO7 to AG4.

[Mai]

Zyrn nods at this, and will follow wandering storm, figuring the mage was probably a bit squishier than her. "Sounds good. Given how spread out they are, perhaps we divide into 2 groups but try to stay not too far from the other group?"
Zyrn runs towards one of the rats with an exposed brain, and moves to swing downward towards it's head with her greatsword.


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

Actions: Zyrn moves fromW2 to AA-6, and attacks CR2

[gryffydd65]

three claw moves from y2 to aa7
[roll0] [roll1] [roll2] Three Claw moves up an attacks the little varmit.

[Ramsus]

Zyrn chops her antler sword down at the brainy rat, which dodges to the side, only to get skewered by Three Claw's spear.

Two more of the glowing brain rats rush at Zyrn and Three Claw respectively and they too get a mental note of "Eat you! Eat you! Eat you!"
Three Claw perhaps has more pressing matters as a swarm of skeletal rats clatters over to him and he has to swat them away to avoid getting clawed and bitten.

The largest (most delicious?) rat Deshy has ever seen makes its way over to her. How convenient? The zombie rat, too stupid to grasp it will die if it moves closer to Deshy does both of those things. How convenient Part 2?

The confused bat and another rat also move closer.


CR2 dies.

B dashes from G22 to S10.

CR1 dashes from AK10 to AA6.

GR dashes from J14 to Q2.

ZR1 tries to move and immediately dies.

SR moves from AC12 to AA7 and misses Three Claw.

CR3 dashes from AK19 to AA8.

R4 dashes from AH22 to AB14.

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli runs next to Wanderering Storm. "Kopu!"
Don't you know you never split the party!?

Moowgli dances in places, ending with rising hands even as he sweeps his foot across the air.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6y4XYxhA-o

Moowgli casts bonfire at A8 (CR3) and uses a bonus action to try to move SR into A8 using gust.

Bonfire damage (dex save: DC 13): [roll0]
Gust str save DC 13

[Ramsus]

The fire immediately consumes the rat. While the entire group of skeletal rats gets thrown in too, they don't seem to suffer too heavily.

Rats swarm in from all over. One right up to Wandering Storm, another to Deshy.


CR3 died. SR failed both saves.

R2 dashes from AG9 to Z4.

R3 dashes from M9 to R3. (What an odd coincidence.)

SW dashes from W24 to Y12.

ZR3 dashes from R19 to Z11.

[1ring42]

Wandering Storm's mind racked through the magics he knew, with Will vetoing every option, as the rat charged at him. This wand seems fairly sharp. he brought it down to try and stab the rodent.

attacking R2
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Uh, guys?"

It looks like the team settled on drawing the battle closer to the place where they started. Deshy sighs, puts away her bow, and settles back into her recurring role as a distraction. She feels weird punching a baby rat in front of its mother, though.


Bonus Action: No

Action: Booming Blade (Crabshell Gauntlets) vs. R3
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit?: [roll2]
- On a hit, the target suffers the attack's normal effects, and it becomes sheathed in booming energy until the start of your next turn. If the target willingly moves before then, it immediately takes 1d8 thunder damage, and the spell ends.

Move: Put away bow

HP: 9/9
Temp HP: 0
Init: +5
AC: 17
Saves:
Str: +0
Dex: +5
Con: +4
Int: +1
Wis: +4
Cha: +4
Spells:
L1: 2/2
Hit Dice: 1/1
Concentration: (none)
Conditions: Mage Armor (Durability: 1)
Arrows: 15

[Ramsus]

Wanding Storm and Deshy both get up close and personal with some rats that don't live to kiss and tell.

Another rat makes its way closer to Deshy. And another goes to show Moowgli that he too is deserving of rat love.


R2 & 3 die.

R5 dashes from S15 to Q7.

R1 dashes from AG4 to Z3.

[Mai]

"Well to be fair only D'Shi seems to have split. The rest of us seem fairly clustered. Zyrn says, swinging down at the rat. Zyrn grunts as she misses, and doesn't move, determined to at least try and protect the group from this size, even if she can't manage to hit the broad side of a -rat-.


Attack:
2+3=5, Miss.

Zyrn stays where she is for this round, but uses her bo us action to observe.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw holds his shield low as he attempts to stab the skeleton rat.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Ramsus]

Thee Claw's spear strike lands, but does more to delay the swarm of smoking hot skeletal rats from clawing into him than really managing to harm it.

Zyrn gets bitten by one of the glowing brain rats as another regular rat joins it at her feet.

The giant rat lunges at Deshy, and missing it winds up a bit closer to where the rest of the party stands.

The lone bat comes up to the now alone Wandering Storm. Maybe it just wants a friend?


Three Claw hits SR but it resists the damage.

B dashes from S10 to Z4.

CR1 Bites Zyrn for 1 piercing damage.

GR misses Deshy and moves from Q2 to S2.

SR moves from AA8 to AA7 and misses Three Claw.

R4 dashes from AB14 to AA6.

[charlesrwest]

Moowgli swings his staff at the Rat accosting him and attempts to throw the skeletal rats into the blaze again.


Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Bonfire damage (dex save: DC 13): [roll2]
Gust str save DC 13

[Ramsus]

Moowgli bops a rat to death and again throws a pile of bone rats into a fire where they roast some more. However, as soon as the skeletal swarm is blown off of Three Claw, a swarm of live rats takes its place. As he's busy fending them off, the last remaining zombie rat comes up and bites him.


R1 dies. SR fails both saves (again).

SW moves from Y12 to AA7 and misses Three Claw.

ZR3 moves from Z11 to AA7 and Bites Three Claw for 1 piercing damage.

[Mai]

Zyrn, getting bitten and exaserbated, swings her antler greatsword in a wild arch, and towards the brain rat thing. (CR1) "Dang it just die!" Zyrn says with a flustered grunt.


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

Zyrn observes, and attacks. She'll not move as she still has an extra one on her.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Where do you think you're going? It's way too crowded for you over there. Your weird babies can take care of themselves."

Deshy enforces this with her magic strike. She's still kind of getting the hang of it, but if she casts the spell like this and punches the rat there, it will probably keep it from running off and flanking someone?

"Hey, is everyone okay over there?! Let me know if you need healing!"


Bonus Action: None yet

Action: Booming Blade vs. Giant Rat
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit?: [roll2]
- On a hit, does 1d8-3 thunder damage if the giant rat moves away.

Move: Nah

HP: 9/9
Temp HP: 0
Init: +5
AC: 17
Saves:
Str: +0
Dex: +5
Con: +4
Int: +1
Wis: +4
Cha: +4
Spells:
L1: 2/2
Hit Dice: 1/1
Concentration: (none)
Conditions: Mage Armor (Durability: 1)
Arrows: 15

[Ramsus]

Zyrn and Deshy both hit their respective rats. Deshy's doesn't die though, as it's quite a bit larger and tougher. Another rat joins its "mommy" (apparently) in attacking Deshy, but to no effect.


CR1 dies. GR was hit.

R5 moves from Q7 to R3 and misses Deshy.

[gryffydd65]

Three Claw again stabs at the swarm of skeletal rats. I am fine so far, just wish these would die again.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Mai]

**"Yeah, so far these are a pain butt they aren't too scary. Doyou need help? You are the only one who split away from the rest of us."** Zyrn asks, before swinging the anterior greatsword down upon the next rat (R4), hoping to take it out too. She wasn't too good at fighting such small creatures. As one of the antler prongs in the sword impales the rat, Zyrn turns to see a swarm and more bearing down on There Claw and resolves to help him fend it off.


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

Actions: Bonus to observe, attack action to hit R4. No movement.

[1ring42]

The small one likes pushing things into the fire. Perhaps we could aid in that endeavor.

He pointed the wand at the rat swarm and incanted. <know your worth in the cosmos>

Casting mind sliver on rat swarm DC 14 intelligence save
[roll0]

As the bat approached low Wandering storm brought the wand up to try and stab it.

attackthe bat with his dagger.
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Ramsus]

A rat and a bat die. A skeletal swarm of fats without brains somehow get a migraine and takes it out on a bunny girl. A giant rat fails to bite a bipedal cat.


R4 dies.
SR fails it's save against Mind Sliver.
B dies.

GR misses Deshy.

SR moves from AA8 to AA6 and Bites Zyrn for 4 piercing damage.