Into the Wormcrawl Fissue IC

[Zid]

The secret fortress of an Archmage is seldom easy to find, yet you have all found your way thanks to the guidance of Manzorian messenger. A messenger that arrived almost a month ago, asking you to quickly come to the fortress of unknown depths. Manzorian was once one of the worlds most famous Wizards, but then disappeared from sight almost two decades ago. His letter spoke of grave things happening, of threats towards your homeland and race, threats that only you could face. And so you all came.

You stand gathered in a hall deep beneath the earth, a giant domed ceiling overhead, with paintings showing the spark of magic being handed to mortals by the gods. Besides you, it is nearly empty, and it strikes you that you have almost not met anyone since you arrived. Only hunched servants or unseen magical servants that have taken care of your day-to-day buisness. Some of you arrived early, and have had to wait.

From the far end of the great hall, doors open and two men step out. One, a aged human, is dressed in black robes, supporting himself with a staff seemingly made of glass. The other one is younger, perhaps in his late thirties, and dressed in exquisite purple cloth. At his side hangs a scabbard and a sword.

The old man speaks: "Well met, my friends. I am Manzorian the Mage. I have called you from a distance far away, for a grave danger has appeared."

Manzoran sits down and bids you all to sit around a obsidian table. As he speaks, images of people and creatures appear in the polished table. Some distant and far away, others very clear.

"18 years ago, my friend Balakarde, a great Warrior-Wizard, set out to the Wormcrawl fissure in order to kill the dread draco-lich Dragotha. He never returned, and I have kept an eye on Dragotha ever since. Dragotha was once the Demigod Kyuss most trusted general, his herald and second in command. Many centuries ago, a order of druids managed to enclose Kuyss in a monolith of stone, sealing him within forever. Now, Dragotha seems to try to free his master from his stony prison. His armies of undead are marching one more, and as we speak thousands of undead march from the Wormcrawl fissure towards the northen lands, to spread the death and decay that Kuyss needs to break out. He must be stopped!"

The old mage speaks with a voice full of conviction, far younger than his face would suggest. "Kyuss was once the god of Worms and corruption, and his undead creations still abound in the Wormcrawl fissure. I ask that you travel there and meet with Dragotha, and though I am no supporter of violence, I fear that he must be destroyed in order to avert the Age of Worms. I know that his phylactery was destroyed in the battle with the druids a thousand years ago. This is why he is a coward, staying home while most of his army is at march. Though he is in his fortress, many of his undead captains and dragon-generals and joined the army marching south. This is the time to strike. Will you travel to the Wormcrawl fissure and undo Dragotha?"

[Dorizzit]

Sassan sits apart from the rest of the group, in mid-air. Anyone nearby gets fairly hot quickly as superheated air bellows from beneath him. Various stones whirl about his head like a wondrous crown, and he sits with a contented smile on his face, which quickly fades to only a faint turning upwards of his lip as Manzorin speaks. He responds quickly to the wizard's plea. "I will help. It would be a horrific crime to simply stand back and watch the obliteration of thousands when you have the means at your disposal of stopping it." He turns to the rest of the gathered group, unfolding his legs to stand on solid ground once more before he bows to them, a folding of the waist implying that he speaks to equals. "Greetings. I am Sassan the Flame."

[Tar Palantir]

Simon the Fortunate

Simon walks completely at ease, a thin and elaborate rapier at his belt, and garishly vibrant clothes and cloak adorning his slender form. His short black hair curls up above his forehead, and his blue eyes sparkle as if at his own private joke. He listens to the archmage's frantic plea, walking around the table once before casually settling into a chair. He leans back on the chair's back legs, and continues to do so as he answers the wizard, "That's it? All we've got to do is cut through a couple hundred undead, find this Dragura, and clip his wings? Sounds like you've got your robes in a twist over nothing, Master Manzorian. I've killed tougher guys than that clown by accident. Granted, I do most everything by accident, but still." He tosses his hair back out of his eyes, then says, "By the way, I'm Simon. Simon the Fortunate. Luckiest man this side of the afterlife, and probably that side, too. How lucky can you be if you're dead?" His tone clearly shows that this is a man who has never had to work at anything in his life, and who knows it. If you didn't know better, you'd think he was talking about some new gnommish invention, for all of the serious he expresses.

[Adumbration]

Gorantar is seated on one of the chairs. He wears a masterfully vowen robe of what seem to be green birch leaves, along with various adornments; rings, an amulet, braces and a single stone circling over and around his head. His garments are a strange mixture of wealth and practicality - though his robes are luxurious, they are belted with a simply piece of rope, not unlike the one's monks use. His snow white hair is tied behind him as a tail, contrasting against the forestgreen skin, and, for the moment, his eyes are the color of the summer sky.

He leans forward to gaze upon the images, while the mage speaks. His face grows animated, then determined, while the threat is described. Finally he leans heavily back against his chair, sighing deeply, his eyes half-closed. "I see. This is certainly a threat I can not ignore. You may count me in, though my experiences with the undead are limited. But I will do what I can."

He nods towards the others present, respectfully but searchingly. "And I hope that you will do. My name is Gorantor Ludluck."

[Diarmuid]

Gammon Hammerhurl

Seated alongside the table, a dwarf in gleaming armor looks on at the scenes on the table, and listens to the tale of the mage with an obvious sourness. Amidst the tale, a few exclamations of "Bah!" escaped a mouth almost completely hidden by a massively thick beard of silver hairs.

Through the raised visor of his helm, his skin seems to have a strange greenish hue to it. A beautiful hammer of the rare metal adamantine hangs from a well worn loop on his belt, and sturdy steel shield emblazoned with protective runes is strapped to his back.

Shaking his head and thumping his guantletted hand against the table, he proclaims,

"I be Gammon 'Ammer'url, chosen o' Moradin, tha All Father. An evil like tha one ye spoke of cannae be allowed to come back ta this world. If'n we 'ave ta go through a damn dragon, lich ta make certain o' that....then thats just what we'll do. One question I 'ave fer ya though....'ow good was this friend o' yers that went and tried this afore? Didja think 'e 'ad a chance of succeedin' when 'e went fer a go with this Dragora?"

[Frosty]

Anara Shufti

http://www.clydecaldwell.com/jpgs/large_images/elsbeth.jpg

A red-headed woman radiating mature beauty is floating a few feet above the ground, one leg crossed over another with her position suggesting there might be an invisible chair that is bobbing up and down with her. She is wearing what can only be described as a mail-kini (chainmail bikini) and is able to pull it off surprisingly well for a 38 year old. Still, there are few things one can't do when one is an Archmage. A raven hovers near her shoulder.

After giving the each of you a respectful nod, she turns her head to the other Archmage in the room. "Manzorian, it is good to see you again. I received your summons and teleported as soon as I was able. It appears that the world is once more in need of someone to give a big bad evil hing with delusions of grandeur a good ass-whooping." She gives off a grin of confidence. "Or maybe we can just convince it to loosen up, maybe push back his plans for world destruction. I can be very persuasive. Most people are after a taste of my power."

[Zid]

Manzorian seems relived. "I am glad you saw it that way. As for your questions: Balakarde was a Wizard next to my own in power, but again, Dragothas sorcereous powers were almost as powerful as my own wizardy. And he has all the might of dragonkind as well."

The man at Manzorians side nods. "I am Agath, follower of the hidden path and 'friend' of Manzorian. We shall arrange for your journey at next mornings first light. Is there anything you wish for us to help you with before you leave? This might be tha last time you see civilization for a long time."

[Adumbration]

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/1197/killorenshamanrg8.jpg

"I believe it would be most helpful if you could further describe the capabilities of our enemies. Although you would be hard pressed to find anyone more knowledgeable of nature in this corner of the world than I - or any other - I am the first to admit my boundaries when it comes to dragons and undead, let alone them combined. Exactly how powerful is the dracolich? How numerous his allies? In other words, what can we expect? To plan properly for an expedition such as this, we must know all that we can. This is no light matter" - glancing at Simon the Fortunate - "no matter what some believe."

[Diarmuid]

Gammon

The dwarf nods along with the green, nature expert.

"Aye. I be a bit confused on one thing. Ye mention a dragon-lich, and then ye be talkin of a Worm-Crawl fissure."

His inflection on worm is obvious, meaning the slimy things that crawl in the dirt after a good rain.

"Does this lich-dragon thing employ the worms o' the earth, or do ye be meaning ta say Wyrm-Crawl fissure?"

Again, he over enunciates the word wyrm, this time obviously using the common term for dragonkind.

Thinking it over, he shrugs as he continues,

"Course, not that it really be matterin all too much. I'll be 'appy ta smash either in tha face with Moradin's Might."

At that, he pats the expertly crafted adamantine hammer hanging at his side. As he does so, a strange quizzical expression plants itself on his face and he turns to Gorantar,

""Gor….do worms be 'avin faces?"

[Zid]

Agath takes word again. "A dracolich is the result of a dragon using the dread ritual of lichdom. The dragon will retain many of the abilities it had before, such as the breath of dragonkind, and the magic of the dragon will only increase. "

"Many lesser dragons serve Dragotha, such as the great red dragon Brazzemal the Burning, and the fang dragon Xyzanth. Many lesser undead also serve him. Beside from this, we do not know where Dragotha hides in the great fissure. He is magically protected from scrying."

"The mentioning of worms are because of Dragothas Lord, Kyuss. He was the lord of undeath, and spread his corruption through worms, who infested the living and turned them into undead, called the spawn of Kuyss. Lore tells us that you can only protect yourself from them by casting remove disease once they have burrowed into your flesh. Otherwise you will become a spawn of Kuyss."

[Tar Palantir]

Simon

Simon simply winks and grins at the green skinned stick in the mud. He says, in a rambling manner, "Ah, the undead. Nasty, foul creatures. Smell like an otyugh's backside. I'd much rather fight a few of those dragons what still got a bit of flesh on their bones. As for finding the old bonebag, that's the easy part. We just keep knocking off his minions til he's forced to fight us himself. He comes out, we blow big holes in him, and we call it a day. I don't see what you're getting all worked up about, greeny."

[Adumbration]

Gorantar had seen warriors like this Simon before. Rash, bold and lucky, but always sooner or later dead. When the likes of him finally died, often blindly trusting their luck against impossible odds, they were as likely to take many good men with them into their graves, when their good luck finally failed. He made a mental note to maintain distance with him while in combat.

Although... He was here. Why would the mage have called him, if he didn't possess at least some degree of skill or talent? The spirit shaman shrugged away the thoughts. Now was not the time.

"Well, mister wiseguy, what if they decide to come all at once, catching us unawares? For all we know, he could be scrying on us even now, planning to snuff out a threat before it grows too dire? Certainly a dracolich of his power keeps a close eye on his enemies?" Gorantar makes a meaningful nudge towards Manzoran and his companion.

[Tar Palantir]

Simon

Simon sighed. This Gorantor was your typical disciplined warrior, thinking that his years of training raised him above the whims of fate. Like that paladin. No sense of humor, but did she fill out that armor. Shaking himself out of his musings, he said, "Let me tell you a story of one of my adventures from my younger days. I had been hired to take care of a half dragon sorcerer who had been terrorizing the countryside. So I waltz right up to his big, imposing tower, and I trip in a puddle in the road. Poorly maintained. He should've stayed on top of that, as you'll soon agree. Right over my head shoots one vicious lightning bolt, fries a huge tree behind me. Out from the forest come about a dozen treants. They rip down the tower and tear the "tree-killer" limb from limb. I snag his head and a few of the choicer magical items from the rubble, and I return to town a hero. That's a perfect example of the code I live my whole life by. It doesn't matter how skilled you are, fate wins out every time. I wouldn't still be here if that weren't true. Heck, all I know about sword fighting is which end to hold, and I've become one of the most feared swordsmen this side of Menesbra. So you can keep your fancy "training". I'll just blunder in with no plan or preparation, and everything will fall into place." He winks, then finishes, "It always does."

[Zid]

Manzorian nods. "The fortress of unknown depths cannot be scryed or teleported into or from. That is why I sent you messengers. Unless you have spoken to anyone, Dragotha will be unaware of your mission untill you reveal yourselves. But you cannot contact us easily once you have left. You will have to travel back, and lose precious time. No magic communication can reach from or into here."

[Diarmuid]

Gammon

The dwarf snorts loudly at the mention of worms burrowing into their victims.

"Bah! I'd like ta see some worm try an' crawl through this suit o' plate. But undead....well....them're usually best met with a powwrf'l cleric by yer side. I've a bit o' training in tha divine...and I've been known ta send a few skeletons or zombies running from Moradin's grace....but truth be told I usually prefer ta just bash em till they stop squirmin. So...what kinda dragon was this Dragotha, afore 'e went an got 'imself undeaded?"

[Frosty]

Anara Shufti

The archmage takes stock of her new allies, looking at each of them in turn. The human Sassan obviously works some supernatural tricks, but beyond that, there's not much to glean so far. The other human Simon takes after her own heart in a way, but Anara puts her fate in the hands of Olidimmara. It's always nice to have a deity on your side. The Killoren Gorantar seems the most sensible and logical of the bunch...psh...in other words, he's got the biggest stick up where the sun don't shine! Anara will have fun corrupting him or at least loosening him up. Lastly the dwarf Gammon...the one with the *deadly* looking hammer...he seems to be supremely confident in his abilities that he's willing to charge in head-first. Perfect. Anara could use such a good provider of distractions in battle. At least he doesn't look to be the uptight, no-fun type.

Speaking up, she adds, "Depending on how closely we can teleport to this fortress, we might lose a day coming back. But, if time is of the essense, we'll just have to improvise...and I'm *good* at that." Smiling at Simon, she goes, "I do like luck and fate, but how do you know the dice will always roll in your favor? I have the backing of Olidimmara on my side to ensure that fate works with me and not against me."

Anara raises her arms and stretches while still hovering there, showing that she too fills out her "armor."

[Adumbration]

"Training? Training!" Gorantar bursts out in bark-like laughter, ending with a mirthful chuckle, when he hears Simon's assumption. "Boy, I've never been trained in my life, if you discount a year of tutelage at my early years. Nay, trained I may not be, but talent, experience and raw power is what I have in abundance. What I'm talking about is caution, caution and common sense, things that anyone who wishes to live long enough to see his enemies dead should exercise."

Gorantar nods in assent to the dwarf's question, and glances curiously towards the pink-skinned god-smitten lady.

[Tar Palantir]

Simon

Simon laughs along with Gorantor, and says, "Well, if you can provide the skill, and I can provide the luck, we'll be all set, won't we? Life's too short to plan everything out, at least for humans. But plan if you must." He then turns to Anara, who was more than reason enough to stay with the group. He says, "Well I assume Olidimmara is getting a kick out of me, because my luck hasn't failed yet. And I must say, I've traveled far and wide, but I've never laid eyes on so beautiful a lady as you. I can't imagine that you would be single, but I'm hoping my luck hasn't run out yet." He is clearly quite smitten with the seductive archmage, and just as clearly quite accustomed to having others be smitten of him.

[Adumbration]

"Beautiful? Must be human thing..." Gorantar mutters, looking weirdly at Simon. The proportions were all wrong. Her limbs were thick, with nary a muscle in them. And she was fat in certain places, almost bovine. And the color of the skin. Ugh. He had to suppress a shiver. Definitely not his type. In killoren community, she would've been far from beautiful.

[Frosty]

Anara Shufti - Human Archmage

Anara doesn't react to Gorantar's mumbling, if she had heard it at all. She does float down to the ground slowly, and walks over to lucky Simon. Her chainmail loincloth swishes and clinks a bit as she walks, and she offers a hand to Simon. "Charmed. I am great Abjurer Archmage Shufti. You may address me as Anara if you wish. And you do flatter me much. I'm sure there are those that feel my...proportions leave something to be desired. I guess I can see their point. I would have much better balance if my fat were distributed elsewhere..."

[Tar Palantir]

Simon

Simon delicately lifts her hand and kisses it, then says, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Anara. I look forward to getting to know you better. But, alas, for the moment, business must come before pleasure." He smiles, then lets her hand drop, and turns toward the main group. "So, what kind of plan do you have in mind, Gorantor?"

[Zid]

Manzorian turns towards you. "I am old, and I shall leave you. Tomorrow I will answer any other questions that I can, but you are free to use my library to try to find information."

Agath adds in: "And before he became a dracolich, Dragotha was a red dragon."

OOC: You have one night to make preparations, before I´ll send you off.

[Adumbration]

"It's Gorantar, by the way. The way I see it - feel free to correct me - we have a few options: we can either try to do as you proposed, attempt to lure him out through slaying of his troops, or we can try to go straight for the kill and surprise him. The first option presents some risks - it gives the dracolich time to prepare, and, depending on the numbers of his troops, might take far too long, or even might kill us if we were trapped. The second option is my personal favorite. If we somehow manage take him by surprise in his own lair, unprepared, the war might be over even before it began. In the other hand, this too has it's risks. We might get caught in fights in multiple directions, trapped between enemies, if we were to be prematurely detected. But, then again" glancing at the abjurer "you mentioned that you teleported nearby? Perhaps, if things went bad, you could transport us out of there?"

[Frosty]

Anara Shufti

The abjurer master specialist nods. "Sure, assuming there's no Dimensional Lock or anything similar up at the location we're fighting, I should be able to. Still, given the power of the enemies we face, there may very well be many anti-teleporation wards, master Gorantar. I have a slightly more roundabout idea of luring either him or his army..."

With a gesture and some words, Anara conjures up a spinning image of a phylatery. "If we can somehow spread rumors that there is a master artificer or wizard that can specializes in forging phylateries and tranferring souls to and from them, we may be able to lure our draco-lich out of hiding. He may take a large risk to regain his immortality. Or, he may send his army after it, in which case we have lured his army FAR away, and we rush to confront him. If he plans to bring forth his entire army *and* himself, well, at least we know exactly where he will be and can plan an ambush at that point."

[Adumbration]

"The problem with that plan is time. Can we truly risk the Age of Worms, just waiting for the dracolich take a substantial risk? He might never show up, or worse, first send some other lich to test it! In which case we either would lose the element of surprise or we would have to find a way to actually do it. Or he might post a want-ad to the local adventurer's guild... No, I don't think that would work fast enough. Any other ideas, anyone?"

[Dorizzit]

Sassan speaks up again for the first time in a while. "I agree with Gorantar. While yes, luring him out could work, it's too risky, as he might not take the bait or wait until after the Age has started to get what he wants, he would be very thoroughly prepared, and he would be extremely careful. I've fought dragons that had time to prepare before, and let me tell you it's not pretty." He looks at Simon. "Don't you say a word."

[Tar Palantir]

Simon

Simon throws his hands up in the air in mock surprise. "Who, me?" he says, grinning. "I'm not the kind of person to throw it in your face that your careful planning brought you right back to my original plan. Nope, I would never do something like that." He shakes his head, then says, "The main problem with just waltzing up and attacking him by surprise is that that's clearly what he would expect. Now here's a thought. We make it seem like we're trying to kill of all of his generals, but when there's still a few left, we jump on him. We surprise him by making him think we aren't trying to surprise him."

[Dorizzit]

Sassan looks annoyed. "Actually, I was guessing you'd have some tale about your luck involving no planning whatsoever, since what I was saying was nothing like your original plan. Additionally, how do you even know he has generals? He could just as easily think himself capable of singlehandedly running his army."

[Zid]

The next morning, you all meet Manzorian and Agath again. Agath seems as if he hasn´t slept all night, and his hair is very unkept.

"I have spent the night using powerful magics, looking into the future to see what might befall you. Terrible things I saw, and those I dare not speak about aloud. But I will tell you this: There are not only enemies in the Wormcrawl fissure. You will find a ally, one having the tail of a dragon. The tailbearer might be of good help to you if you find him or her. More than this, I cannot tell you."

Agath leaves without giving you a chance to reply, and Manzorian follows you to the top of the fortress of unknown depths. He carries with him a small painting, showing a deserted landscape. "This is a painting of the fissure. If you concentrate on it when you cast teleport, you will arrive safely at the opening of the fissure. Have you any last questions?"

OOC: If you have any research you wanted to make during the night, tell me now.

[Dorizzit]

Sassan once again floats on his coloumn of of flame. He smiles slightly, a happy look of contentment on his face. When he hears Manzorian, he shakes his head as if coming back to the present and looks around, his gaze finally stopping on Manzorian. "I'm ready when you are."

[Tar Palantir]

Simon

Simon raises his hand, and says, "Just one. Are we getting paid. I don't believe I remembered to ask that yesterday. I'll go either way, I suppose, but it'd be a nice gesture." He looks at the others, then whispers, "I think I deserve something extra for putting up with this Sasso person. No sense of humor." He winks, then clears his throat and fiddles with the elegant hilt of his rapier

[Adumbration]

"I was born ready." Today the killoren hair and eyes are deep, lusterless black. A cruel grin plays at his face every once in a while, revealing slightly sharper tooth than is generally acceptable from civilized races. Even though he stayed up till wee hours of the night reading up on dragons and liches, no signs of fatigue show on his face or demeanor.

"How soon can we expect to encounter the dragon? I can make us invulnerable to it's breath weapon, but it consumes my resources, and only lasts a day."

OOC:
He spent the time on researching on dragons and liches. Let's just say that I get a look at the basic abilities of dragons and liches from their monster manual entries?

[Dorizzit]

Sassan smiles politely at Simon. "My name is Sassan, and I have a fine sense of humor. I just haven't heard anything funny."

[Tar Palantir]

Simon

Simon shrugs his shoulders and answers, "Sorry, I'm not good with names. As for not hearing anything funny, remind me to tell you about Lord Dulroth some day. You'll die of laughter."

[Frosty]

OOC - Anara does some research on liches and undeath unduring the night. She already knows a metric ton about dragons (she has a +33 modifier), but she's kinda weak on the knowledge of undead. Can she take 20 since she spends a few hours? If not... knowledge (religion) [roll0] By the way, does Knowledge (local) help at all in this campaign, or was it a waste of lots of skillpoints?

Anara floats into the room, yawning as she secures her mail-kini top in place. "I spent a wee too much time in the study last night. The creatures of undeath are not my specialty. Now, if this thing was a Red dragon when alive, I can prepare a few spells that'll take some of the sting out of his energy breath. My orbs are fire-based, but I've got equipment that can switch that to sound-vibration based damage. Anyhow, we'll need to gather around me for the teleport.

[Adumbration]

OOC: Right, research. Same as Frosty, but for undeath AND dragons.

Knowledge (religion): [roll0]
Knowledge (arcane): [roll1]

No ranks in either, but hey, we're at a library, right?

[Diarmuid]

Gammon

Gammon would have taken the evening to make sure he's up to snuff on his undead understanding. He's mostly interested in the weaknesses, as he knows some monsters require certain types of materials, or enchantments to truly injure.



If possible, take 20 on knowledge religion in the library, for 30 total.

[Zid]

The result of your studies:

Much to his enjoyment, Gammon finds that Liches are most badly hurt by bludgeoning and magic weapons, both things he has in great supply. As for dragoliches, your combined studies find a ages old book. "Ye olde tavelguide of the northeren lands." Within, a travelling bards mentions a northen hero that claimed to have fought a dragon whose breath was a cloud of worms, worms that burrowed into the skin of his companions and turning them into undead. (You also learn the basic data on the undead type in the MM)

Manzorian seems somewhat offended by Simons suggestion: "I offer you a chance to save the world! If you succeed, I can surely give you gifts worthy of a King. The hoard of Dragotha is a price worthy of any man (or woman)."

After being transported far away in a small boat, you find yourself in the middle of the lake of unknown depths. The guide tells you that the teleportation wards are weak enough here to allow teleportation.

[Zid]

The teleportation spell wears off, and you find yourselves standing beneath a dusky sky. Even though it should be daylight now, the thick clouds block out the sun, giving the area a greyish discoloration. The ground is barren and rocky, dotted in places by thick copses of strange fungi. To the north, you see a the northen wall of the fissure- a steep three hundred foot drop going west to east, dotted by small caves and openings. Eastwards, the ground steeps slightly upwards, while it continues to descend westwards.

Just a few feet before you stands a line of poles, with about twenty to forty feet between each. On some, humanoid corpses are bound, most in skeleton form. Someone has bound small pieces of leather on them, making it seem as though worms are eating the corpses.

[Adumbration]

As the killoren starts to shake out the disorientation brought on by the travel, he suddenly turns his gaze towards east and goes rigid. His eyes move, unseeing. "Hello," he whispers, "what do we have here?" Then the visions fill his mind. "A mist filled gorge," his eyes flickering to another direction, "a great worm... and a man consumed by worms. East. We must go east." He turns towards the others. "I was contacted by a spirit. It showed itself as a caged animal. Perhaps the ally Agath spoke of?"

[Frosty]

Letting go of everyone after the Teleport spell she cast has finished, she looks around. Anara shrugs, saying, "East is as good a direction as any. Let's go cautiously."

She utters a few words of lesser power, and a steed of pure black comes into existence. Its hooves appear to walk on air silently and Anara mounts it quickly. Smiling, she says, "Caution...with style! I can give one other person a ride if you want to see the view from the air."

[Tar Palantir]

Simon

Simon comes out of the spell with a slight twirl that leaves him leaning against a conviently located pillar of stone. He loosens his rapier in its sheath and adjusts his oppulent garb, then says, "East, west, wherever the fun is! And with my luck, we'll run into it wherever we go."

He takes a moment to admire Anara's spellsteed, then says, "Wonderful spell. A personal favorite of my good friend Eldric Shimmergloom, captain of the Menesbran Knights. He chased me for three months after I made off with the more valuable pieces of the king's treasure and the virtue of his more beautiful daughters. Last I saw him, he got himself caught in a gate to Acheron. Poor fool. Should've known better than to run right at me, regradless of what I said about his mother. Ah, well. I'll stay on the ground for now." With that, he draws his rapier and moves a short ways from the rest of the group, so as to have a little space to fight in case of an ambush.

[Diarmuid]

Gammon

The dwarf shakes himself to clear the fogginess from the teleportation.

"Bah, no matter 'ow many times I do that, it always gits me."

Looking around at the bleak scene before them, he spits on the ground in front of a couple of the grisly displays. Removing his shield from his back, he fastens it to his left forearm. Reaching down to his belt, his hand eases into the loop at the end of his warhammer's handle as it has down thousands of times before.

"Me legs may not be as quick as some o' ye, but I'll 'appily walk afore ye and meet whatever threats come to us 'ead on."

Following the strange winged one's words, he heads off towards the east, his eyes searching the surrounding areas for danger. Remembering their end goal, he makes sure not to neglect the skies in his searching.

[Adumbration]

"Thank you, but I think I shall use a mount of my own." The killoren withdraws a special, ornate bottle he prepared last night just before finally going to sleep. A plume of smoke seems to twirl inside. With a smooth motion Gorantar uncorks it, and a vaguely horselike creature, made out of wisps of smoke, forms before him. "This one cannot fly, but I bet it can move at least as fast as yours." The blackhaired killoren swings his legs over it. Despite it's flimsy appearance, it seems to hold his weight.

Ride checks to actually mount it - DC 10. The spell is Bottle of Smoke, SpC pg. 37.

[roll0]
In case that fails:
[roll1]
Third time's the charm - if the previous fail:
[roll2]

[Frosty]

Anara Shufti

Looking around, everyone is either content to hustle on their feet, or have mounts of their own. "Giddiyup, Shadowfax!" she says, half jokingly. The Phantom Steed rises to a good 30 feet above the ground, so she is well withing conversation distance. "I doubt we'll need to go that fast. After all, master Gammon and master Simon most likely won't be able to keep up...and I'm not sure about mister fire pillar, Sassan."

[Dorizzit]

Sassan leaps up, and hovers once more. He breathes deeply before flame shoots out of his hands and feet, rocketing him around in a quick loop before he skates up into and impressive jump, easily clearing thirty feet of distance. "I assure you, madam, I will be more than capable of keeping up!" he calls up, smiling contentedly.

[Tar Palantir]

Simon

Simon laughs happily at the displays of magic and skill. He mockingly scolds, "Now now, no more attempts at upstaging each other. We're a team, remember? Now let's go...do that thing the wizard hired us for!" He manages to look quite impressive and dashing even as he has no clue what they're supposed to do. He can't be expected to fight well, look great, and pay attention to boring old people, can he? Of course not. The boring people could handle that while he handled that delightful little archmage. He looked over at her and winked as he thought of this, before moving up beside the surly dwarf, wondering all the while why all dwarfs are surly.

[Zid]

OOC: I actually messed up the directions here. You are going eastwards, not westwards.

As the troup continues on, the thick dust of the fissure settle in your throats, and you are forced to sip from your water almost continually to wet your tounges. After an hour or so of steady progression withour any sign of life, you see five distant figures in the horizon. Four seem mounted, while one is large and winged. One of the mounted ones glow with a certain light, and emits a small cloud of smoke from his body. They are still far away, but seem to have noticed you as well.

[Diarmuid]

Gammon

Letting his hammer fall to hang by it's leather thing, he raises a gauntleted fist to shade the eyeslits in his helm. Gammon peers into the distance, and notes the four figures, and the the wings of the one especially.

"I kin likely keep the three widdout wings busy fer a bit, and if I really need to, I kin click me 'eels together and fly fer a bit...but tha' only werks a few times a day. When they get close enough, I'll try ta trip up their mounts by startin' a small quake. If one o' ye wants ta try talkin' to em...be sure ta let me know aforehand. Unless they speak common or dwarven, I wont unnerstand a werd they be sayin."

Having said his peace, he shakes a bit to settle his armor properly and takes up his hammer from it's leather cord again and heads of towards the mounted foes, an almost excited gleam in his eyes.

[Frosty]

Anara Shufti

Before she does anything else, the Archmage starts speaking words of insight to give her great awareness of all magical effects within her sight. She weaves her hands in an intricate pattern, and soon her eyes glow blue with arcane divination. She looks at the incoming creatures, trying to gather information., trying to detect any magical auras from their equipment or from their body, if any, and also any active magical effects.


Anara spontaneously loses one of her prepared spells (level 7 Body of War)
to cast Greater Arcane Sight. She can identify any and all magical effects
within her line of sight automatically, and she can also tell the spell level of the most
powerful spell and spell-like ability of the creatures she look at.

Anara also tries to see if she recognies any of those creatures or
know anything about them.

knowledge arcana: [roll0]
knowledge dungeoneering: [roll1]
knowledge The Planes: [roll2]
knowledge Nature: [roll3]
knowledge Religion: [roll4]

[Zid]

As Anara concentrates on her magic, she sees two mounted characters dismount, while the larger one stays on his mount and one slowly starts to ride towards you. The main party is a thousand or more feet away from you.

One of the humanoids casts spells on the other ones. It is too far to see what spell is actually cast, but she sees abjurations starting to go up among the creatures there. The dust clears a little bit, and then she sees the two larger shapes more clearly. She remembers something she saw in a book a long time ago, and wonders if one of the creatures could be a devil, while the other might be some kind of fire elemental. She knows that she will be able to see more when she comes closer, but sees the other shape suddenly cast a strong spell, it´s magical aura shining through the strange dust: "Foresight". As the dust clears, you also see a humanoid bound to the back of a horse in his hands.

The lone rider approches, and you see his steed: a demonic horse, perhaps the result of some wierd magician experiment hundreds of years ago. It has strange scaled skin, and long fangs. The rider is dressed in a black plate armour, adorned with hundreds of eyes. Behind his saddle hangs a banner showing a hand holding a eye: the symbol of Vecna.

He stops a few hundred feet from you: "Ho travellers! I come as an envoy, and should be honoured as such! We are the followers of Darl Quetos, the Hand of the Lich-Lord almighty Vecna. We have no quarrel with you, and wish only safe passage west, in exchange for our safe passage west, and we shall give you the same east. What say you?"

OOC: You have several rounds to cast buffs before the rider arrives, should you wish to.

[Dorizzit]

Sassan looks contemplative, and then begins whispering. "Hm...Normally I wouldn't give passage to followers of the Diety of Secrets...but our mission is more important and time is of the essence. What say you guys?"

[Diarmuid]

Gammon Hammerhurl

The holy warrior snorts loudly at the rider's claims. He looks around to his companions to gauge their takes on the situation and lets them know how he feels. His voice is loud enough for those close to hear, but not so much that the emissary would normally be able to hear him,

"I've ne'er needed ta ask permission from one such as 'im fer safe passage, an' I dont mean ta start. Vecna'd be just the sort ta be in league with this dragon-lich thing and 'is patron. Even if we were ta just pass 'em by...they're likely ta tell anyone 'oo talks to 'em about our passin' and 'oo knows what other evils they'd get up to.... But I'm no fool as ta start a pissin match with a camel neither, so if ye'all dinnae wanna git yer hands dirty, I kin abide by that.....fer now."

While talking, Gammon begins to idly swing the hammer around his wrist by it's leather thong.

[Tar Palantir]

Simon

Simon throws in his two copper pieces on the matter, while simultaneously pondering that he has only ever been offered one, "Perhaps we should first ask them a few questions about the area and our quarry. Surely a servant of the Lord of Secrets has picked up a few himself."

[Adumbration]

"Even though I wished for the element of surprise, perhaps all we can hope now, no matter what we do, is swiftness. I am loathe to let my enemies pass. But, if you wish, we can postpone it, and try deceit. But let us make this decision fast, lest they hear our plans and we lose all our advantage."

[Diarmuid]

Gammon

The dwarf looks up at Simon as he makes his suggestion,

"Lords o' Secrets dinnae get their reputation by spillin tha beans whene'er they're asked aboot somethin. Ye dont se Dumathoin blabbin' about where 'e 'id the Anvil o' the Makers do ye? Now, I'm all fer making these louts tell us what they know...but I was'na plannin' on askin em all nice-like."

Though his plate helmet hides his face, you can hear the smile in his voice as he says the last bit.

[Frosty]

As the dust clears, you also see a humanoid bound to the back of a horse in his hands.

OOC - I am confused as to what is meant by this. Do we see that someone has been taken prisoner? This will determine whether I cast buffs or not as they approach.

Anara Shufti

As the rider approaches, Anara lets her Raven Familiar, Fluffy, out from under her cloak. Fluffy perches herself on Anara's shoulder as Anara directs her phantom steed down to join the others. "If we are to talk, who shall do the talking? Simon?"

[Tar Palantir]

Simon

Simon answers Anara's query, "I would assume so. I'm the most charming and likeable of the group, no offense intended, and I'm quite the diplomat, if I do say so myself. If that's what we decide to do, I could talk a snake right out of his skin, and have him thanking me to boot." His grin is that of one who has never known failure, absolutely radiating confidence and charm.


+36 to Diplomacy and +34 to Bluff. -1 Sense Motive, though. Not my fault it's Wisdom based :smallfrown:. Plus I can use a luck reroll on an abyssmal skill check, so no worries on that front.

[Frosty]

Anara Shufti

The mature archmage nods, adding, "Just be sure to take them seriously. I don't think they're the joking type."


Anara spontaneously loses one of her level 1 prepared spells to cast
Detect Chaos when any of the potentia enemies get within 60 ft so she can
see whether or not they are of the Chaotic alignment.

[Frosty]

Anara Shufti

Looking around to check out her companion's spell effects, she notices one that she forgot to prepare today. Talking to the KIlloren, she says, "Master Ludluck, may I ask you for a blessing upon my familiar, Fluffy? I carelessly forgot to imbue her with the superior version of the Resistance spell. Might you cast it on Fluffy?"

Fluffy the Raven says, "Caw! And you forgot 3 weeks ago in that one battle against the Pit Fiend too. Nearly got me killed you did!"

Anara looks sheepish.

[Diarmuid]

Gammon

Gammon begins to impatiently tighten and loosen his grip on his warhammer waiting for someone to "parlay" with the emissary of Vecna. At the discussion between the mage and her raven, he snorts and mumbles something under his breath, not quite loud enough to be heard.

Listen DC 25

"S'bad enough with tha lucky feller, and prissy wizerd and the rest, now we gotta deal with a chatty bird....feh"

[Adumbration]

"Yes, I might." Casting the spell. "There you go. I've never had to worry about my companion, myself, but I can relate," he says with a faint smile.

Listen check:
[roll0]

[Tar Palantir]

Simon

Simon decides to take charge of the negotiations, and whispers to the others, "Wish me luck," before strolling towards the rider, hands raised. "Greetings, servant of the Maimed Lord! I am Simon the Fortunate, and I would ask you for some information before we depart in peace. What know you of the lands behind you, to whence we travel? I am certain that a disciple of the Lord of Secrets has wisdom far greater than ordinary man, and I beg you to share the meanest scraps of knowledge that you deign to cast down from the table of enlightenment."


Sucking up for Diplomacy!

[roll0]

[Diarmuid]

Gammon

It is a good thing that his helmet does not allow for much viewing of his face, as when Simon begins speaking the dwarf's mouth gapes open and his eyes roll disgustedly. His thoughts are no less flattering,

Moradin, fergive me fer lettin that fop speak for this group. I know no hammer-wielder o' yer faith would e'er speak such flowery nonsense, nor deal so complimentary-like with those sworn ta that sicko, Vecna.

[Frosty]

Anara is still trying to see whether there is someone BOUND and taken prisoner on one of the horses. She needs to know that before she decides whether to cast more spells before the other arrive. And also also uses Detect Chaos to see if any of the potential enemies are of chaotic alignment.

[Zid]

One cloaked person seems to be bound by his hands and led behind one of the horses, the rope tied to a saddle.

The messenger is not chaotic.

He smiles as Simon talks. "See, there is at least one of you who knows how to treat the heralds of your betters, with deference. To you I will say that the lands behind me are filled with the undead of the dragon Dragotha, though many have left to fight in his war. Water is poisonous and any meat you find will be tainted."

He straightens himself in his saddle. "So, Hammer-lover, silver-tounge and you others. Will you agree to my most favorable suggestion? If not, I shall expect safe passage back to my fellows before any hostilities."

[Frosty]

Anara Shufti

Anara pulls Simon back a bit and whispers in his ear, "Try to find out who their prisoner is. There's one figure bound by his hands and led behind a horse. Maybe he is the dragon-trailed one we need."

[Adumbration]

Gorantar starts coughing violently, as Anara pulls Simon back. No use letting the enemy know what they speak of.

[Tar Palantir]

Simon

Simon nods sharply, then returns to the horseman. He says, "Almighty servant of Vecna, we have but a single query remaining before we part ways in peace. I do not mean to pry into your private affairs, but may I inquire as to the identity of the bound man you carry with you? Normally I would not ask, but we are supposed to meet a friend, and he may be the man you have captured. Once again I wish to emphasize that we wish no quarrel with you, and we would like nothing better than to leave with no bloodshed."


Another Diplomacy check if needed. If not, wrong number.

[roll0]

[Diarmuid]

Gammon

The dwarf chews his lip while the tall ones do their talking. He thinks to himself while waiting for the next response,

If this does go south, I sure dinnae plan on letting 'im get back to 'is friends afore I put the wrath o' Moradin into 'em...

[Zid]

The rider looks down on Simon with a sneer. "And what buisness do you and your friends have here? Tell me that, and I shall gladly tell you who our prisoner is."

OOC: Sorry for abscense, my internet was down, but is up and running again.

[Frosty]

Anara Shufti

"Should we be telling them that? What if they're spies for you know who?" Anara whispers to her allies.

[Tar Palantir]

Simon

Simon whispers to Anara and the rest, "It seems we may just have to crack a few heads. Anyone have any better idea?"

[Diarmuid]

Gammon
Hit Points: 260/260
Armor Class: 37, Touch: 16, Flat-Footed: 36

His patience at its end, the holy warrior decides to take matters into his own hands. Knowing his speech could never be as eloquent as that of Simon, he instead lets his hammer do his talking for him and flings it at the messenger of the foul god Vecna.


[roll0]
Declaring use of Power Strike: if attack hits, target must make Fort save 26 or be Dazed for 1 round.
[roll1] (unsure of range modifiers, warhammer has a 40' range increment, adjust as necessary)
[roll2] (targets Armor bonus is added to damage, damage is Adamantine and Good)
[roll3] (if applicable)
[roll4] (crit auto confirms if target is evil) (unsure of range modifiers, warhammer has a 40' range increment, adjust as necessary)
[roll5] (if crit, target's Armor bonus x2 is also added to damage, damage is Adamantine and Good)


The hammer unerringly flies back to his outstretched hand, ready to be brought to bear again.

[Frosty]

ooc - I'll roll for initiative as well [roll0]

[Adumbration]

OOC: Initiative here... [roll0]

[Tar Palantir]

OOC: Here's my initiative: [roll0]

[Zid]

The hammer flies from Gammons hand, but narrowly misses the messenger of Vecna. He stares at Gammon, his mouth half open, clearly surprised at this underhand attack. "What is this!" he cries.

Initiative order:
Anara 26
Messenger 16
Simon 15
Winged creature 14
Gorantar 13
Humanoid 11
Darl 10
Gammon 8
"Fiery creature" still riding 7

The others are about 400 feet from you, spread out from eash others.

[Frosty]

ooc - can we have a map of some sort? I recommend using this one: http://pages.infinit.net/pdclarke/mmee/index.html

[Zid]

Here it is:

Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s 3 50 f0 rs 0 *s -3 4w fd rs 0 Anara *s -3 4w ft rs 0 *s -3
@2b f2 rs 0 *s -3 34 f3 rs 0 *s -3 30 f3 rs 0 *s -3 2y f0 rs 0
@ *s -3 2y f2 rs 0 *s -3 2z f4 rs 0 *s -3 2z ex rs 0 *s 1 32
@ey rs 0 *s 0 8d dn rs 0 *s 2 b2 ez rs 0 *s 5 d4 ed rs 0 *s -3 2z
@fc rs 0 Gammon *s -3 8d e2 rs 0 Simon *s -3 b3 fe rs 0 *s -3 b0
@fg rs 0 Gorantar *s -3 da ew rs 0 Sassan *s -3 8b 8e rs 0 *s 7
@90 8d rs 0 *s -3 96 8s rs 0 Messenger *s -1 4w 3g rs 0 0 4w 3g
@4w 10 *s -3 aa 5o rs 0 300 feet *s 9 4o 2m rs 0 *s -3 4k 3h rs 0
@Winged creature *s 9 e0 2n rs 0 *s -3 el 37 rs 0 Fiery creature
@riding *s 3 7o b rs 0 *s 5 b3 d rs 0 *s -3 ba z rs 0 Darl *s -3
@7y u rs 0 Humanoid *s 8 ef c rs 0 *s -3 ey t rs 0 Prisoner, now
@surrounded *s -3 ey 19 rs 0 by a pair of skeletons
*END 15xp2h

[Frosty]

Here it is:

Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee[/spoiler]

Actually, don't click there. That is the original site which has been taken down. Use this mirror which is what I posted above: http://pages.infinit.net/pdclarke/mmee/index.html

Anyhow, my actual post is coming soon.

[Frosty]

ooc - familiar has same initiative as me. A few things. Can we get a slightly better sense of who is who? :) I know we see some humanoids far away. And we know one of them is named Darl or something? We know there is a winged creature, but what is the other thing...that "Fiery Creature Riding"? Are you saying there is someone riding a Fiery Creature or dare you saying there is just a big fiery creature there?

Anara Shufti

The scantily-clad archmage shakes her head and says, "Well, I'm sorry it came to this, but we're really not the type to play fair. If you willing to give us your prisoner, I'll be happy to give call off my Balor. Please inform me when you are ready to surrender and then run away in terror."

With Fluffy (in raven form) sitting on Anara's shoulder, Anara wills her steed to fly forward 60 ft (it has a max speed of 240 per round) towards the messenger, ending up close to (not not directly next to) the messenger, leaving room for Fluffy to grow. Waving one of her her hands in a beautiful intricate pattern, she calls forth a Transmutation spell that only the mightiest of mages can muster...Timestop, and she makes sure to include Fluffy in its effects. Her other hand holds a power metamagic rod...one that maximizes the effects of a spell being cast! Anara makes sure to use the rod in order to get the most "time" to prepare.

The world grinds to a halt around them. Even the Phantom Steed is stuck in mid-flight. "Fluffy, go ahead and fly off my shoulder...you'll be too heavy for me soon..." Fluffy knows this routine well, and hops off as Anara concentrates (swift action) upon the energies of her Vest of the Archmagi to recall the spell she had just cast (getting back Timestop).

Over the next apparent 30 seconds of time, Anara casts Shapechange on Fluffy (and again uses her Vest of the Archmagi to regain the spell), Tenser's Transformation, Scintillating Scales, Greater Magic Weapon (on the vorpal sword), and Enlarge Person on her Familiar (stats already updated). Fluffy is now a HUGE Balor standing next to the messenger and wieding a vorpal sword.

Time resumes normally, and Anara wipes her brow from the magical exertion. "Now, let them have a taste of the abyss!" With that, Fluffy (hovering next to the messenger) starts its attack. (Fluffy has true see-ing in Balor form btw. Does she notice anything different?)


Fluffy full-attacks the messenger with the Vorpal Longsword (2-handing it):
atk 1[roll0]
atk 2[roll1]
atk 3[roll2]
atk 4[roll3]

crit and vorpal confirms, if any. Threatens a crit on 19-20. Threatens a beheading on 20 only.
Confirm 1[roll4]
Confirm 2[roll5]
Confirm 3[roll6]
Confirm 4[roll7]

dmg 1[roll8]
dmg 2[roll9]
dmg 3[roll10]
dmg 4[roll11]

[Zid]

As Anara weaves her mighty spell of timestop, she both sees and feel how the humanoid creature far away tries to dispel her magic. Luckily, her ring of counterspells counter the dispel magic cast upon her. Normally, she would not be concerned with others trying to break her magic, but this one is learned in the ways of abjuration. She recognizes the magical weaves of Thiarn Blacktounge, a man she has known and hated since she first learned how to cast a spell. Always she and he competed against each other for the teachers affirmation, trying to outplay the other to prove themselves best. She has not hear dof him for many years, but isn´t surprised that he has turned to the dark secrets of Vecna.

Her Balor familiar inflicts dire wounds on the messenger, but he still stands. Anara sees him smile, with a dread sneer. His full plate armour seems to melt away, and only the breastplate remains. He holds up his hand, casting a spell with a mere gesture. Suddenly, the ground beneath Fluffy is covered in slick oil, making it nearly impossible for the huge balor to stand properly. He doesn´t fall, but sways slightly.

Then the man lashes out with a hidden blade, trying to dodge under the great balors guard and hitting him below his right arm

To hit (Touch AC 20 while balancing)[roll0]
Damage:[roll1]

As his tiny blade hits, the mighty spell of transofrmation that Anara wove is suddenly drained away, as if it never existed. In it´s place, the messenger grows, assuming the form of a large demon with a fiery sword-the very Balor that Fluffy was just seconds before. The raven now stands before a very angry looking Balor. OOC: Fluffy has lost shapechange, but is still under the effect of the rest of his buffs.

Simon, your turn

[Tar Palantir]

This is a test of the emergency combat system. Were this an actual post, it would have some relative substance to it.


Simon will charge at the former messenger, taking 10 on his Tumble checks at a -10 penalty to avoid provoking AoOs, for a 28 on the first, and -2 for each successive check. Once within his reach, he attacks with his rapier. On a critical hit, he deals 2 points of Strength damage.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Frosty]

ooc - Fluffy is FLYING. Grease won't do jack against Fluffy. Touch AC 28. The attack should miss against the touch AC of 28. Balors have a fly speed of good (90 feet) and Anara started the turn in the air. Fluffy never touched the ground.

[Zid]

Yes, my mistake.

Instead the messenger casts Dimension door, and disappers.

Simon, you´ll have to restate your actions.

[Tar Palantir]

Simon

Simon brandishes his rapier, laughing heartily and taunting, "Cowards and brigands! Flee for your lives!" He runs as quickly as he can in the direction of the winged creature for 120 feet, laughing cheerfully all the while.

[Zid]

The large winged creature takes a running start, coming a bit closer to Simon as he does so. Simon sees that he has something in his hands, holding it above his head. He lets go, and Simon sees that it is a giant boulder, coming straight at him! However, his great speed makes the rock miss him, and hit the ground behind him HARD. The large creature looks around, perhaps trying to find another rock. It looks like a Hezrou with wings, and wields a nasty looking spiked club.

OOC: Next battle I´m going to let all bad guys have the same initiative. Try to post both Gorantar and Gammons actions soon.

[Adumbration]

Gorantar

Gorantar, commanding silently his horse of smoke, follows Anara's lead - only it takes it further, plunging 240 feet onwards towards the enemies with break-neck speed. Finally, after judging the distance adequate, he rears his mount and grins wickedly. Starting with a nearly coughing sound, escalating into an inhuman skitter that sends chills into the spine and remind of insects, three tiny centipedes crawl from beneath his sleeve into his palm, over which the green fingers dance a maniac dance. "Try not to get too close to these, will you?"

Then, with a chuckle, he flings the centipedes forth. As the centipedes fly through the air, nearly for 75 feet, they grow into an impossible size, towering over the field. Then, following Gorantars shouted commands, they surge forward, slamming into their enemies.

Brief recount of actions... Use the Bottle of Smoke horse to go forward 240 feet, then casting Giant Vermin on three centipedes out of his spell component pouch. They are as the Colossal Monstrous Centipedes from SRD. Gorantar directs one of them to charge the winged creature on the left, one against the fiery creature riding, and one to move between the 'humanoid' and Darl, trying to threaten both. He also instructs them not to attack any of his allies or the prisoner between the skeletons.

Attack of the first vermin, against the winged creature:
[roll0]
Damage:
[roll1]
Poison:
[roll2], on dexterity. DC of 23.
If threaten:
[roll3]
If confirmed critical:
[roll4]

Attack of the second vermin, against the fiery creature riding.
[roll5]
Damage:
[roll6]
Poison:
[roll7], on dexterity. DC of 23.
If threaten:
[roll8]
If confirmed critical:
[roll9]

If either of them can't reach them with charge, just make them run. I think the enemies should be within the reach of a charge, but wasn't 100% sure.

[Zid]

The attack on the winged beast hits home, but the large beast almost seems to ignore the attack. He abandones his search for a larger rock, and picks up his heavy club roaring at the centipede.

The humanoid, now seen by Gorantar as a hunched, pale man, brandising a staff points it at Gorantar and sneers.

Orb of fire: Touch attack [roll0]
Damage [roll1]
Gorantars fortitude vs DC 19 [roll2]

Darl casts banishment on the nearest centipede. He is a thin, long man, standning proud and with a withered zombie-like left hand. He holds out his hand against the centipede. Stop!, he commands:

casting hold monster. Will save vs dc 23 [roll3]

He sneers and stares at Gorantar. "You shall pay for your insolence!"

[Zid]

The fiery creature holds his sword up high, and proceeds to chop into the centipede standing before him. He is extremly skilled and fast.

attack 1 [roll0]
2[roll1]
3[roll2]
4[roll3]

Damage:
1[roll4]
2[roll5]
3[roll6]
4[roll7]

confirmations:
[roll8](any crits are just double damage)

[Zid]

He cuts the centipede into small pieces with his flaming sword. Gorantar can see him more clearly now, a red skinned humanoid, his skin almost burning. He rides a large black horse with a mane of fire, that breathes smoke from its nostrils.

With a mere glance, a beam of fire strikes out from his hand.

[roll0]
[roll1]

The fiendish horse beneath him charges at Gorantar, trying to kick him with his hooves.[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

Gorantar will take a -2 penalty to attack rolls and saves for three minutes. The damage from the nightmares charge is doubled, but not the fire damage.

Gammon is up to bat.

[Adumbration]

OOC:
Just one thing - did you remember to take the centipede's 20 foot reach into account?

EDIT: Calculated hp damage - Gorantar is on 30 hp.

[Zid]

OOC:
Just one thing - did you remember to take the centipede's 20 foot reach into account?

EDIT: Calculated hp damage - Gorantar is on 30 hp.

I did. =) And I was almost certain that Gorantar would have some kind of fire protection up. I guess it´s a good sign that things are getting tense. And we do have a OOC thread as well. :smallwink:

[Diarmuid]

Gammon

Upset with himself for his pathetic throw, Gammon lets out a loud, "BAH!" when the messenger poofs away. With nothing near to him, stamps his feet and barks out an arcane word, and takes off through the air towards the fray.



Activating Winged Boots, then flying forward 40'

[Frosty]

I've re-drawn it to it's a bit clearer. It should be accurate to what you envision. Tell me if there's anything wrong.

http://pages.infinit.net/pdclarke/mmee/index.html
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s 5 af b rs 0 *s 3 70 c rs 0 *s 9 31 5o rs 0 *s 9 br 8d rs 0 *s
@6 bn 9m rs 0 *s 0 ae bo rs 0 *s 3 7p gz rs 0 *s 1 dn iz rs 0 *s
@-3 60 13 rs 0 Magician *s -3 a4 17 rs 0 Darl *s -3 bn 7p rs 0
@Riding Creature *s -3 c7 9u rs 0 *s -3 ck 9t rs 0 Gorantar *s
@-3 3w 5t rs 0 *s -3 3n 5z rs 0 Winged Brute *s -3 b0 c4 rs 0
@Simon *s -3 6e h6 rs 0 Anara *s -3 8n gi rs 0 Fluffy *s -3 ec ja
@rs 0 *s -3 dz j6 rs 0 Gammon *s -1 50 1p rs 0 73 30 -c 50 -c 50
@1o 30 1o 30 -c *s -1 2o 4c rs 0 73 2o 4c 2o 2c o 2c o 4c 2o 4c *s
@-3 82 3x rs 0 Held Centipede *s -3 3f 99 rs 0 Unheld Centipede *s
@-1 50 8o rs 0 73 30 6o 30 8o 50 8o 50 6o 30 6o *s -1 a1 4p rs 0
@9y6tc -a0 5c a0 5c *s -1 9x 5p rs 0 9y6tc a0 5o -a0 5o *s -1 28
@5m rs 0 1edc 28 5o 28 4k *s -1 27 58 rs 0 1edc 28 50 1s 58 *s -1
@2i 58 rs 0 1edc 20 50 2g 58 *s -1 25 5j rs 0 1edc 28 5o 1s 5g *s
@-1 2i 5j rs 0 1edc 20 5o 2g 5g *s -3 31 aw rs 0 180 ft.
*END zgvpg9

[Frosty]

OOC - Where is Thiarn Blacktounge? Is it Darl or is it someone else? On the map we have someone named Darl and someone named Magician. ANarais going to target Thiarn Blacktounge, so you're going to have to work with me here...I don't want to have to take back my actions because I dunno who is is who.

Anara Shufti

Seeing her friend in trouble, the archmage orders her loyal Balor into the fray! "Quickly, we must neutralize the enemy artillery before they can blast our foolish Killoren into smithereens!" With that, she nudges her loyal Phantom Steed to fly on ahead with FULL speed! (Phantom Steed will use a double move instead of a single to get close to the enemy casters) Fluffy follows, using the RUN option to move at 4x its normal rate (90 ft) so that he is 10 ft away from the magician that is not Thiarn Blacktounge. Fluffy has 15ft reach, so the magician can't just 5-ft step away. It must cast defensively.

Riding so that she is within range to fire her...specially modified spell at Thiarn Blacktounge, Anara rests secure in the fact that she can counterspell immediately any attempts from Thiarn Blacktounge to disrupt her casting (she'll just counter with something better than Greater Dispel).

Sitting on her steed in the air, weaving her hands in intricate patterns, she launches a bead of pure anti-magic at the enemy abjurer, knowing that she'll render the enemy impotent when he is trapped in an Anti-Magic Field for the next 22 minutes.


Anara casts anti-magic field as a ranged touch attack on Thiarn Blacktounge after she rides her Phantom Steed to within close range. Lemme know if anyone tries to counterspell that, so I can use an immediate action to stop it. Also, tell me if I miss. I can activate an item to re-roll once a day. To-hit: [roll0]

I am assuming that Thiarn Blacktounge is Flying somehow. If he is, he now falls to the ground and takes damage. Anara and Fluffy are flying high enough (at least 20ft in the air) to that the 10ft AMF won't affect them.

Fluffy uses up all of her actions this round to get in the face of another caster, staying about 10 ft away from the caster so the caster can't 5-ft step out of range.

If anyone attack Anara with anything requiring an Attack Roll after she finishes her turn, Anara will spend an immediate action in response to put up Greater Mirror Image. (you get an immediate action back at the end of your turn)

[Frosty]

So, I'm thinking it's like this after her actions, assuming "Magician" is Blacktounge.

Drop this text at http://pages.infinit.net/pdclarke/mmee/index.html
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s 5 af b rs 0 *s 3 70 c rs 0 *s 9 31 5o rs 0 *s 9 br 8d rs 0 *s
@6 bn 9m rs 0 *s 0 ae bo rs 0 *s 3 70 2b rs 0 *s 1 dn iz rs 0 *s
@-3 60 13 rs 0 Magician *s -3 a4 17 rs 0 Darl *s -3 bn 7p rs 0
@Riding Creature *s -3 c7 9u rs 0 *s -3 ck 9t rs 0 Gorantar *s
@-3 3w 5t rs 0 *s -3 3n 5z rs 0 Winged Brute *s -3 b0 c4 rs 0
@Simon *s -3 5m 36 rs 0 Anara *s -3 ak 2i rs 0 Fluffy *s -3 ec ja
@rs 0 *s -3 dz j6 rs 0 Gammon *s -1 50 1o rs 0 73 30 -b 50 -b 50
@1p 30 1p 30 -b *s -1 2o 4c rs 0 73 2o 4c 2o 2c o 2c o 4c 2o 4c *s
@-3 82 3x rs 0 Held Centipede *s -3 3f 99 rs 0 Unheld Centipede *s
@-1 71 -5b rs 0 73 30 6o 30 8o 50 8o 50 6o 30 6o *s -1 a0 50 rs 0
@9y6tc -9z 51 a1 51 *s -1 9y 5o rs 0 9y6tc 9z 5p -a1 5p *s -1 28
@5n rs 0 1edc 28 5n 28 4j *s -1 27 58 rs 0 1edc 28 50 1s 58 *s -1
@2h 58 rs 0 1edc 21 50 2h 58 *s -1 26 5l rs 0 1edc 27 5m 1r 5e *s
@-1 2h 5l rs 0 1edc 21 5m 2h 5e *s -3 31 aw rs 0 180 ft.
*END -1hnrfp

[Zid]

Thiarns eyes widen as he sees what Anara has cast upon him. Behind the small black eyes, Anara senses fear.

OOC: Anara May roll a spot check, and it is Simons turn.

[Frosty]

spot check - [roll0]

[Zid]

spot check - [roll0]

Anara notice the messenger sneaking up to the shackled prisoner, and then turning invisible.

[Frosty]

Anara Shufti

With her Greater Arcane Sight, Anara is able to pin-point (and probably Target) the messenger thanks to magical auras being instantly visible and identified. She gives a shout to her allies, "The messenger's going for the prisoner! Stop him! He just turned invisible."

[Tar Palantir]

Simon

Simon counters, "And what do you want me to do about it?" He runs toward Gorantar at top speed, shouting, "Grab a potion out of my pack if you need one, else get to safety!"


Simon runs 120 ft. towards Gorantar. Should've brought a horse.

[Zid]

The hulking brute of a demon slams his club a few times into the colossal centipede facing him, cracking a few chitinous plates open and spilling out masses of green goo on the ground. The centipede still stands, and chitters out an unnerving sound as it goes into attack pose.

OOC: Gorantar. Oh, and Gammon, you could state your action right now, so turns will go a bit faster.

[Adumbration]

Gorantar takes a five-foot step back, concentrates... And plummets to the sky. There he casts another spell, and the wounds vanish in a bright light issuing from his hands.

My computer is malfunctioning, and I'm writing this from the library. I'll try to check in every couple of days. Don't know for sure how long until it's fixed.

Anyway, swift action to cast Updraft, which takes him 200 feet up into the air, and then cast Heal on himself. I have limited time right now, so if someone could take care of the centipede's actions, and roll if I need a concentration check to cast defencively?

Sorry about this. The problem with the computer is with the fan, so it could be that I can fix it fast, or I'll have to get a new one.

EDIT: AAAND I'm back. Turns out my big brother fixed it while I was at school

[Diarmuid]

Gammon

Finding himself in a similar position to the dandy rogue, the dwarf flies as fast as he can towards the combat.

Fly 120' as a Run action.

[Zid]

Gorantar flies up into the air, safe from harm and the fiery beat below him. His healing spell invigorates his wounds, closing them. The black burns fade and retake their healthy green tone again.

Blacktounge, seeing as he has no magic power what so ever, runs towards the magically enhanced centipede closest to him, shrinking it to a tiny size and then stomping on it with his one boot.

Darl casts implosion, targeting Fluffy (DC 28 fort or die) (he succeeds)

The Efreeti fires a bolt of flame at Gorantar [roll0]
[roll1]

He then directs the Nightmare he is riding to charge simon

[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

And the Noble Efreeti cuts into Simon
[roll5][roll6]
[roll7][roll8]
[roll9][roll10]
[roll11][roll12]

[roll13][roll14]
[roll15][roll16]
[roll17][roll18]
[roll19][roll20]

[Tar Palantir]

As the first attack from the Efreet slashes into Simon, the soot from the nightmare causes him to sneeze, sending him falling to the ground, beneath the genie's second blow.


Spend 2 luck rerolls to force him to reroll the second attack as an immediate action.

[Zid]

As the first attack from the Efreet slashes into Simon, the soot from the nightmare causes him to sneeze, sending him falling to the ground, beneath the genie's second blow.


Spend 2 luck rerolls to force him to reroll the second attack as an immediate action.


The Efreet only did one attack. If you wish, you may force him to reroll the first attack, if your feats allow you.

[Tar Palantir]

OOC: Eh, I could, but I won't bother. He can hardly miss anyway.

[Frosty]

ooc: waiting for new map.

[Frosty]

ooc: Hello? Zid you there?