[3.5] Celestial Spheres: Tales of Kadur IC II

[Piggy Knowles]

Old OOC thread | Current OOC thread | IC thread I | Die rolling thread

Morning in the Forest of Giants and Crows

The greenspawn sneak looks up just in time to see Kitty aim her bolt of lightning. Though his movements are slowed, he manages to get his body out of the way of the brunt of the strike, refusing to fall prey to the same fate as his brother.

OOC: Kitty's readied action resolves, but the sneak succeeds on his save. Sasha, I believe you still have actions remaining, since speaking is a free action. Once that concludes, it will be Natsu's turn.

[Piggy Knowles]

All is still and calm as ever. Then suddenly, there is a heavy clanking noise. Your eyes are drawn up to the great hulking statue on the small island. Slowly a crack begins to form across its face, a wide and even crack forming a great mouth on the large and featureless head. This mouth opens wider and wider, becoming a great maw more than a foot wide.

There is a brief moment of stillness, followed by a deep glugging from far beneath the ground. A trickle of water begins to pour out of the great stone jaws, falling on the sloped island and flowing down to the pool itself. Then the trickle becomes a torrent, as hundreds of gallons of water stream out of the mouth with enough force that they pour directly into the pool, raising its level by a couple of inches. After several seconds of this massive torrent, the mouth begins to close once more, and soon the statue is as still as ever save for the drips of water flowing down its formless face.

Spoiler: Those who saw through the illusion

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You can see the sneak move ten feet to the large, flat surface underneath the small "island." It pulls at a large handle, at which point the statue's mouth opens and begins pouring out water as above. Once this is done, it drops prone, hiding in the mud and undergrowth.

OOC: The sneak is now in R1 and lying prone.

OOC: The sneak did something that was hidden by the illusion covering the water (although anyone who was able to see through the illusion could see it happen - check the spoiler above). Then the statue's mouth opened and dumped an extraordinarily large quantity of water into the pond in a very short time.

Siegfried is up next.

[Morcleon]

Natsu stares at the rushing torrents, eyebrow raised. "...ah, what was that...?"

[Amidus Drexel]

Siegfried touches Aleister with a wand, and the incarnate's wounds start to knit back together.

"What is going on? Can any of you spot the lizard-creature?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Taking 10 on UMD for the wand of lesser vigor - Aleister gets fast healing 1 for the next 11 rounds.

[Piggy Knowles]

As the healing magic begins to knit Aleister's wounds, the small pond seems to shiver, then boil, then surge. Though things were perfectly still only an instant ago, suddenly it is a roiling mass of waves. The water seems to move of its own accord, and it rushes in a great mass to the shore closest to the party. A great column of water, ten feet on a side, raises up for an instant. From the column emerges a lone pseudopod, gelatinous and clear as water. The pseudopod of water seems to quest about carefully for an instant before aiming itself at Kitty with a sudden burst of speed. It misjudges the distance, however, and falls short, splashing harmlessly at her feet.

OOC: A 10'x10' column of water rises in K/L 2/3. A watery pseudopod emerges from the column and attempts to attack Kitty, but it misses.

Next up is Aleister! (Also, Natsu can take her delayed action whenever she is ready.)

[Venger]

Aleister begins slowly to piece himself back together, his flesh crawling back over the bits of shadow he's filled himself in with, little crumbs of black flaking off as they're pushed aside.

Many thanks.

He sees the tentacled beast roil up and his nostrils flare. He takes a deep breath and breathes a stream of acid at it.

I'm in no mood

Spoiler

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swift: reallocate essentia:
dissolving spittle: 3
keeneye lenses: 0
vitality belt: 2
lucky dice: 1

touch atk: 18
acid dmg: 16

[Piggy Knowles]

Where the acidic spittle lands on the column of water, it hisses and burns with a strange blue-green flame. The column seems to recoil slightly before twisting and thrashing angrily.

OOC: That will hit. Next up, we roll back over to Sasha, unless Natsu takes her delayed action now.

[Morcleon]

Watching as the spittle causes the pseudopod to flinch, Natsu pulls out one of her acid flasks, hefting it with a grin. She dashes past the prone form of Shass and lobs it over at the water.

Spoiler

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Move to H3.

Touch attack: 7, Damage: 3. Probably didn't hit, but it's Large size and hopefully with a negative Dex mod.

[Piggy Knowles]

The acid flask falls short of hitting the column of water, landing instead on the shore near Kitty's feet. It cracks open on impact, acid and glass spraying the column of water and Kitty alike.

OOC: That will miss and land in K4, where it deals one point of splash damage to both Kitty and the column of water. Next up is Sasha!

[Kymme]

Wow. You don't see that every day. I wonder if it bruises easily. Sasha dashes forward, crossing several yards in a matter of seconds. She tenses herself to dodge any of the creature's strikes as she rushes forward and leans back to kick at the column of water.

Spoiler: OOC

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Move action: Move to J4.

Immediate action: 30 Baffling Defense, but only if the creature attacks her. If it doesn't make an AoO then Sasha won't use the maneuver.

Standard Action: Mountain Hammering the thing.
13 to hit, 10 damage that overcomes all DR.

[Piggy Knowles]

The creature extends another pseudopod of water in an effort to lash out at Sasha, but finds itself confused by her maneuvering and is unable to strike at her.

Sasha's kick carries with it the strength of mountains, and the column recoils at its strike.

OOC: Your baffling defense successfully prevented an AoO, and that kick was a successful hit. Kitty is up next!

[Venger]

The creature extends another pseudopod of water in an effort to lash out at Sasha, but finds itself confused by her maneuvering and is unable to strike at her.

Sasha's kick carries with it the strength of mountains, and the column recoils at its strike.

OOC: Your baffling defense successfully prevented an AoO, and that kick was a successful hit. Kitty is up next!

Kitty hops back as the creature lashes out as Sasha. She throws her arms back dramatically and pulls the storm cloud from the water to hover over the ooze, skimming lightly across the pond's surface.

She leaps up into the air and lands, her feet firmly on the ground, making an overblown exploding noise with her mouth.

KPSHHHHHOW!

The lightning strikes the creature and illuminates its translucent interior before fading away.

Spoiler

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Move to K8. Lightning deals 11 electric damage

[Piggy Knowles]

Almost by instinct, the column of water moves away from the lightning, avoid much of its strike. What does hit it lights it up, but seems to do little beyond illuminating it for that quick instant.

Spoiler: If you succeeded on your Will save versus illusion

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The dragon-like man continues moving across the bottom of the pond, crawling low and keeping one eye on the strange column of water following you. He moves south past the island, taking care as he travels.

OOC: He double moves to T5.

OOC: The column of water succeeds on its save, and does not seem particularly bothered by what does hit it. Next up is Siegfried!

[Amidus Drexel]

Siegfried edges forward through the trees, and fires a bolt of eldritch energy at the pillar of water. "What is this, now? Water should not move in such ways..."

Spoiler: OOC

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5ft step to F2, eldritch blast at the... thing

To-hit: 10 (touch)
Damage 10

[Piggy Knowles]

The column of water recoils from the blast like a living thing, seeming to shrink away. Water pours from invisible wounds like blood, and the column twists and thrashes. It lashes out at the closest foe, catching Sasha with a flailing pseudopod. The powerful slam hits her solidly, and the strange watery protuberance seems to engulf her completely, surrounding her on all sides.

The engulfed Sasha attempts to draw a breath but is unable to as she is surrounded by water - except no, the strange substance surrounding her on all sides is not water but some sort of acid. Compared to Aleister's expectorations or Natsu's flasks it is a weak acid, but it has the familiar sour taste of bile, of digestive fluids.

Injured, the flailing column attempts to retreat with its prize, flowing across the small pond and back toward the island from whence it emerged.

OOC: That will hit, and the column of water appears damaged, though it is still moving. It slams Sasha, dealing 13 points of damage and engulfing her. Unable to breathe, and unconscious and therefore unable to hold her breath, Sasha must make a DC 10 Con check on her turn or begin to drown. Each round the DC increases by one.

With Sasha engulfed, the injured creature retreats back toward the island, and is now in O/P 2/3 (map will be updated once I get onto a real computer). Sasha is in danger of dying, both from drowning and from being at -2 HP! Next up is Aleister. Can he save her?

[Venger]

Aleister leaps through the undergrowth and judges the wind once he comes to clear ground by licking his finger and seeing where it blows.

He leans forward as far as he can without stepping onto the sand. He begins to yell to Sasha, but thinks better of it, grunting at her in Gnoll since it is far easier to read the exagerated lip movements involved.

<Miss Terthian, for your own sake, please cover your eyes>

With a grunt of considerable effort, he presses two fingers into the soft, black shadowflesh behind the point of his chin and pulls the insubstantial lower jaw right off, his tongue hanging out. He looses a much larger volley of acid than normal and strikes the ooze with it as far away from Sasha's flailing form as he can.

Once he surveys the damage, he pops his jaw back on and murmurs something incomprehensible to himself.

Spoiler

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Move to I2, dissolving spittle:
touch atk: 17
acid dmg: also 17

[Piggy Knowles]

The spittle flies far over the still pond, landing on the strange column of water. It sizzles and burns as before, reacting oddly with the acidic water. The entire column seems to shudder. Then with a great splash, it appears to lose cohesion entirely, whatever strange force that bound it into some semblance of life apparently dissipating.

Sasha falls into the water as the creature disperses into the pond at large. Once again, she is met with a shock. As with the monster, what initially appeared to be water is anything but. As she falls into it, she feels a slight sting as the caustic liquid touches her raw wounds. Once again she feels the all too familiar burn of acid. It is a weak acid, but with most of her body submerged, the tingling increases to an unpleasant burn.

OOC: That will do it! The creature is vanquished, taken to a whopping -16 with that last attack. It disperses, dropping Sasha into the water. She can make a DC 10 swim check to stay afloat rather than sinking to the bottom.

The water is apparently somewhat caustic. Touching it produces only a mildly unpleasant tingling, but anyone who begins a round with most of their body submersed in it will take 1 point of acid damage at the start of each round.

That will bring things down to Natsu, then back around to Sasha. Only one enemy left - the sneak who is somewhere under the pond!

[Kymme]

Sasha drops, kicking and thrashing, into the water. The living water's attack had taken her by surprise and she had been engulfed without so much as an brash taunt.

Now, though, Sasha is oddly silent as she splashes in the water. Her eyes are locked on the shore and she treads water calmly, seemingly stunned.

[Venger]

Aleister cups his hand over his mouth and shouts to Sasha as she struggles to keep her head above the surface.

All ashore who's coming ashore! You've not got much further to go, Miss Terthian! he shouts, trying to buoy her spirits.

[Morcleon]

Natsu dashes over to the shore, staring out across the water. She holds out a hand to pull Sasha in when she comes closer. "Sasha! Come on, you can do it! I'll pull you out!"

Spoiler

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Natsu moves to K4 and readies an action to pull Sasha ashore.

[Kymme]

Aleister and Natsu's calls snap her out of her stupor. Hold on, guys, I'm coming! She starts swimming to shore, still numb to the pain of the acidic pond.

Spoiler: OOC

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Swimming to L3 as a full-round action.

[Morcleon]

As Sasha approaches, Natsu crouches down and extends her arm. She grabs Sasha's arm and hauls her up, dragging the inundated woman out of the acidic waters.

"Ah, there we go! Are you alright, Sasha...?"

Spoiler

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Triggers readied action.

[The Viscount]

Kitty pouts as the column of water absorbs the lightning strike. She brightens as she sees it fall under Aleister's stream of acid. Turning to search for the lizard man, she jumps into motion when she spots it pressing low against the bottom of the lake. She runs along the bank to position herself closer before sliding to a stop, pointing at the lizard man. After several attempts, she snaps her fingers to an accompanying crack of lightning.

Spoiler

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Move to M9, 11 damage, Ref 15 half.

[Piggy Knowles]

The lightning arcs downward, and instead of pausing at the surface of the pond, it continues on to the fleeing form of the sneak. He attempts to dodge its path but finds himself bogged down by the mud at his feet. His body is wracked with electricity, shaking violently, and then is still.

OOC: The sneak fails its reflex save and takes the full eleven points of damage. That will do it! That sneak is currently at -3 and bleeding at the bottom of a pond of acid. With that, unless folks want to start stabilizing the dying, we can step out of initiative sequence. Well done, all!

[Kymme]

Sasha pulls herself onto shore with Natsu's help. Once safely out of the acidic water she collapses, flopping down on her back. Her clothing is in tatters and faint red splotches cover the bare parts of her arms, neck, and legs. Thin tendrils of smoke waft up from her body where the acid continues to burn.

I'm not doin' so hot, guys. Pond... acid... hurts. Also, Aleister? Sasha glances at him, moving her eyes but keeping her head still. She sighs, then smiles at him. ...thanks.

[Venger]

Aleister removes his oilskin duster and drapes it over Sasha to protect her raw skin from the sun.

It was my pleasure.

[Kymme]

Sasha stands up, draping Aleister's duster around her shoulders.

We're gonna need to get to that island, aren't we? I'll see what I can do.

She pokes her arms out through the sleeves and draws her shapesand hatchet. With a couple seconds of teeth-clenched concentration the axe head transforms into a three pronged grappling hook and the handle extends into a long rope. Sasha holds her new construction up to the light, examining it. Looks alright to me. She glances at the others. Think this'll hold our weight?

Spoiler: OOC

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Shapesanding a grappling hook and 30 ft of rope for us.

[The Viscount]

It prolly will, but I don't think it's long enough to reach the island. Hold on, I think these guys are still moving.

Lightning flashes over the sneak below the water and the living leaper.

OK, now that got 'em.

Kitty pauses for a moment, looking over the carnage of the battlefield as her face falls. She bows her head for several seconds, and can be heard murmuring faint elegiac words. She then looks back up to the party, her face bright again despite her tears.
Focalor says I gotta stop and think about what I did when I kill something, 'cause it makes him sad.

She pauses and looks at the living sneak bleeding out on land.

You guys wanna ask him anything, or should I just get him, too?

[Amidus Drexel]

Siegfried takes the wand and attends to Natsu, Sasha, and Kitty's wounds, then uses another wand to repair himself. He tests the log with his foot, then looks at Sasha. "Perhaps, although I fear I may be too heavy, and I do not wish to fall into the water."

Siegfried turns to Kitty. "It might be prudent to leave the remaining one alive - it could possibly tell us something important."

Spoiler: OOC

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2 charges on Sasha, 1 charge each for Natsu and the Trio.

1 charge on the wand of repair light to heal Siegfried. (9)

[The Viscount]

The cloud that has grown to envelop the battlefield disperses, dispersing into nothing with a faint, distant rumbling.

OK. We prolly wanna do something then, cause he's gonna bleed out soon.