Ale, Fortune and Math

[AlphaLuke]

Spoiler

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Initiative roll:(1d20+2)[20]

[AlphaLuke]

Mathwin sheathes his Wand of Sleep quite calmly as the undead shamble towards him. "You know," he says, speaking to the Zombies in a conversational tone, "you should really be careful when confronting a man in a pointy hat." He reaches into his belt pouch and grabs a small vial of white powder. "Could be dangerous, you know." Mat then flares his power, burning the white powder out of the vial, and points a finger at the closest Zombie. A searing line of fire streaks toward the creature.

Spoiler

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Move action to sheathe Wand of Sleep, both hands now free. As part of the standard action for casting, I pull out the alchemical power component Saltpeter and fire a Scorching Ray at the closest Zombie.
Ranged Touch attack vs Zombie Touch AC: (1d20+3)[7]
Damage if hit: (4d6+1)[17] fire damage
No saving throw

[Leomor]

Mathwin; Varisian Evoker extraordinaire, taunts the Undead creature before him. Aiming his wands at the body of this vile creature, enhanced by his alchemical items, he blows a mighty explosion from his wand towards the creature. Smoke fills his view, and as it fades, he sees the creature, un-phased by his miss, still coming right towards him.

The creature continues to walk straight towards Mathwin, ans he can see the other undead walking closer towards the entrance. The zombie in the ground is very close to digging itself out, and seesm to be struggling to get towards the entrance as well.

[AlphaLuke]

Stepping backward from the shambling corpse Mat curses, "Blast! That'll be a hit when I retell this story, mark me it will." He fires a blast of concussive force at the thing, hoping to get it down and then polish off the one heading for Bill.

Spoiler

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Mat takes a 5ft step back and fires a Force Missile at the Zombie.
Damage: (1d4+1)[5]

[Leomor]

Flinging another missile towards the face of the walking dead in front of him, Mat is lucky enough to take a section of flesh off it's shoulder and rip off it's jaw in the process.

The zombie takes a small step forward, and flings himself towards Mat!

Spoiler: Attack

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Slam attack, (1d20+4)[17]

The zombie in the ground manages to get all but his foot out of the sand, angrily pulling. The other undead creature has gone out of sight.

[Leomor]

Spoiler: Damage

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Slam attack, (1d6+4)[10]

[AlphaLuke]

The zombie's slam passes straight through Mathwin, and the mage's form shifts as his hair blows in the breeze. "I tire of this," Mat says, rematerializing, "Stay Down!" Mat steps further back and draws upon the last reserves of his powers to blast both the zombie in front of him and the one stuck in the ground with bolts of force.

Spoiler

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Mat is not going to take 10 points of damage. He instead casts Windy Escape to gain an immediate action DR10/magic against the attack. Then, taking another 5ft step back, he uses his Arcane Bond to cast Magic Missile one more time. 1 missile against the body in front of him, three at the one coming out of the ground. The extra +1 damage from Intense Spells is going against the one in front of me.
Damage against Zombie in front of me: (1d4+2)[5]
Damage against one in the ground: (3d4+3)[12]

[Leomor]

Mat, frustrated with this zombies, unleashes his Missiles as hard as he can whip them out. The zombie in front of him explodes as the other 3 fly through the hole the first made towards the zombie on the ground.

The zombie in the middle of the room manages to get his foot unstuck from the sand, only to have his entire body flung against the wall, smashed into pancakes.

Mathwin worries, he doesn't hear Bill at all, and no signs of the zombie can be heard.

Spoiler: Note

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We are still in combat.

[AlphaLuke]

Mat sprints toward where he left Bill, drawing his Wand of Airblast as he moves. "Don't be dead, don't be dead, don't be dead . . ."

[Leomor]

Mathwin speeds as fast as his body allows him towards the entrance of the cavern.

Hugging every turn, Mat sprints through the entrance he found. Reaching the room he left Bill, in, his heart drops when he scans to room, and Bill isn't to be found.

Spoiler: Check

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Mathwin is entitled to a perception check.

[AlphaLuke]

Mat does everything in his power to find Bill, searching high and low, listening, even smelling the air.

Spoiler

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(The crappiest)Perception:(1d20)[6]+Sign of Discovery+Double Take+Glasses

[Leomor]

Mathwin quietly listens for Bill. He approaches the room with quiet but quick footsteps.

Searching the room, Mat looks for any trace of where Bill might have gone. Oddly, there seems to be a foot long bone, with smaller sections of bone scattered among the area.

Mathwin hears a bray. It must be Bill's!

Mathwin looks out in the rain. His mind racing, he walks towards the entrance, and looks out towards the rain. His heart lifts as he see's Bill! The undead seems to either being pulling, or caught in Mathwin's bag. Mathwin stares directly into the eyes of the undead, and as it attempts to pull away from Bill, you see as it raises the black gem Mat obtained earlier towards the sky, and it snarles loudly towards Mathwin!

The udnead attempts to run towards Mathwin, but Bill, unnerved by the situation and the loud shreik, lifts his back hoof off the ground,

[Leomor]

and drives it right through the chest of the creatures! Mathwin stares in amazement, as Bill walks slowly back towards Mat, as he attempts to get the bones around his hoof off.

[AlphaLuke]

Mat stands, soaking wet, and dumbfounded. "Bill, that was . . . amazing! Let's get you back inside!" Mat leads the Mule back into cover and grabs the gem that the skeleton was after. "If they're after this, then I'll keep it, buddy. No need for you to exert yourself too much kicking any more bags of bones." Mat once more wraps the gem in cloth and puts it in his pocket.

Once back in the cover of the cave, mat breathes deep. Almost all my spells are gone. But I don't like the idea of resting while there might still be enemies nearby. . . Mat gives Bill a little more food and makes sure he's situated. Then, casting light and Mage hand to create another stone, Mat grips his wand of Airblast and heads back into the compound.

[Leomor]

The cavern is quiet, and the rain seems to be letting up a little. Mathwin carefully walks through the cave. Peering through every room, weary of every sound, Mat searches the whole cavern. Unable to find anything else that would pose a threat, Mat breathes a sigh of relief. Walking back to Bill, Mat notices a key on the ground, wrapped around one of the lifeless bones from the skeletons.

Mat hears a bird tweeting a tune, and looks towards the ceiling of the cavern. Warm afternoon light begins to shine throughout the cavern, and it suddenly feels much less alarming than before.

[AlphaLuke]

Odd that there would be a key . . . I wonder. Mat continues further into the structure, looking past the previous rooms with their bones and awful stench and instead searching toward where the skeletons came from.

[Leomor]

Looking through the rest of the cavern, making sure he didn't miss anything valuable, Mathwin checks all of the room out again, wand at the ready. Checking every corner, he finds himself in the part of the cave he didn't see. There is a large room, filled with chairs and some broken barrels, and a larger room. From there, a broken door lays broken on the floor. The room has a large map of Absolom, with sea currents and what seems to be nautical symbols, of which Mat doesn't seem to have any use for.

Mat then carefully wiggles back through the room the was caved in, and see's the chest that he opened with his magic. Checking the broken lock, it seems like the key would have gone to this chest.

Mathwin stops in his tracks, hearing something he has heard for a few hours.

Silence.

With the exception of small drippings of water, the rain seems to have stopped.

[Leomor]

Mathwin takes a minute to breath in the calm air. There has already been so much in this trip so far, he knows this trip will be a great story. He can't wait to tell the beautiful ladies of Absolom, and thrill them with his heroics.

[AlphaLuke]

Mat breathes deeply, having always enjoyed the smell of the air after a good storm. Patting his trusty Mule, Mat looks at the horizon. I wonder how much time till nightfall? I want to get a few miles away from this place before I set camp, for sure, and I can't do much good until I rest and re-prepare my spells. Mathwin dons his hat, sets his belongings on Bill, and heads away from the cave. Mat has his wand in hand, just in case, but hopes to find a nice spot to camp and rest soon.

[Leomor]

Mathwin breathes the deep seas air, and walks alongside Bill back towards the road. No one seems to be walking the road, and Mat enjoys the silence even more.

Mat is able to make it a couple of miles when the road becomes a little too dark to continue on. He is able to find a suitable section, just off the road, to make a camp. Feeding Bill and himself, Mat settles in for a calm evening.

Spoiler: Action

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(Mat is free to do anything during the night, or continue on into the morning)

[AlphaLuke]

Mat sets up camp and gets some food and drink in his belly. He makes sure Bill is well tended and smokes a little of his pipeweed while watching the stars by the firelight. After that, he heads to bed, more exhausted than he's felt in a long while.

Waking with the sun, Mat spares no time before he cracks open his spellbook and begins reading. He prepares many of the same spells as yesterday, but this time makes sure to prepare Detect Magic. "I need to know about that gem."

Mat examines all his taking from yesterday and begins figuring things out, eyes glowing a steady amber while he searches using magic.

Spoiler

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I need to know some numbers and figures around the things I looted.
5 bottles of liquid with no labels: Spellcraft (1d20+10)[21]
a handful of gold: how much?
a few gems: how many? Appraise (1d20+8)[14]
2 candles: magic? Spellcraft (1d20+10)[14]
spyglass: magic? Spellcraft (1d20+10)[29]
a curved sword - hilt has a green wrapping and a leaf emblem on the edge: Magic? Spellcraft (1d20+10)[22]
Victor's Glasses: Magic? (1d20+10)[16]
Undead Gem thingy too

[AlphaLuke]

Spoiler

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Undead Gem:
Spellcraft (1d20+10)[30]
Appraise (1d20+8)[24]

[Leomor]

Mathwin closes his book the second he feels the aura of magic fill him. He immediately looks at the items he has gathered over the past few days, hoping for something interesting.

Looking at the bottles, he isn't able to tell their all exact compounds, but 3 of them smell very much like normal oil, and the other 2 have a slight white auras swirling around inside. From the aura, he believes they are most likely curing potions. (Cure light wounds)

Glinting in his eyes, Mathwin has collected 8 gold, and 30 gold in gems.

The candles both have small green auras emitting from the wicks. He doesn't know to what effect, but certainly somewhat magical.

The spyglass seems to be normal, but broken. The glass inside that magnifies seems to have shifted and no longer works properly. It may able to be fixed, but Mathwin doesn't know how.

The curved sword emits a deep red aura. It is definitely mastercraft, and Mathwin's evoker training certainly helps detect the spell inside. When struck upon an enemy, they will receive a shock of lightning throughout their body. Useful for pirates, no doubt! Much care went into this sword, as a magical sword among a normal pirate would be a treasure indeed! (+1 shock Scimitar)

Victor's glasses have a white swirl around them , but only specifically around the lenses. Since the magnification helps Mathwin see better, he assumes that they adjust to his eyes and help him see better. (Lenses of sight, +2 perception, head item)

Mathwin carefully yet excitedly looks towards the gem, and to no surprise, black tentacles of an aura surround the gem. He tries to peer inside the gem, but can barely see it clearly from the aura. Mathwin takes a good amount of time examining it. After staring into the apex, Mathwin feels the energy swirling around it. While holding in a cloth, he turns off his detect magic spell to get a clearer view. The beauty of the gem is true, Mathwin knows he could sell this for hundreds of GP to the right seller. He flicks his detect magic back on, and notices something strange. When he used his spell, something emitted in an area of effect around him. Mathwin is alarmed, and looks around, ready for something to happen. After a few minutes, Mathwin feels safe enough to try it again, but nothing happens. Mathwin attempts to feel the spell out of the area. He closes his eyes and feels what magic has been cast in the area. He dances the magicians dance and takes in the whole area. Inside, he calls out for answers. His eyes flip open as he hears the spell inside him.

Spoiler: Gemstone

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"Animate Dead."

Mathwin spends more time to understand, but isn't familiar enough with Necromancy to determine anything else. His knowledge of the spells tell him that this item must have been augmented of enhanced somehow, but without an expert, or more powerful spell, Mathwin sits and tries to draw conclusions from the item.

The morning glow opens the day with a clear beautiful sky, ready for adventures, answers and maybe even more questions.

[AlphaLuke]

Mat re-wraps the gem carefully and secures it in one of his inner coat pockets. "No use trying to use or sell this thing until I know fully what it does." The sword, he wraps and sets in Bill's saddlebags. "Can't use it anyway, but I might be able to sell it and buy something useful." Stowing the oil, magic candles, gems, gold, and spyglass, Mat sets the two curing potions on his belt with the others. He rolls back his bedroll and tent, stamps out his fire and stows the rest of his gear. Making sure Bill is fed and ready for travel, he dons his new Lenses of Sight and his pointy hat and makes back on the road toward the nests of the Hippogriffs.

Mat saunters down the road, but keeps his crossbow out and locked back. "No use using up my spells again unless I have to, old buddy," Mat says to Bill while walking. "Just keep your ears up like last time and we'll both watch out for each other." Mat's eyes glow under his glasses as he keeps a careful eye on the road.

Spoiler

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Perception (Lenses of Sight+Sign of Discovery): (1d20+4)[21]
Double Take if low: (1d20+4)[22]

[Leomor]

Mathwin and Bill walk along the path, making up for lost time yesterday, hoping to make it to their destination. The road seems pretty empty this day, probably because Mat is getting further away from the city, so his traveling is rather uneventful, just the way Mat likes it.

Towards the middle of the afternoon, Mathwin starts to see the Mountain base. Looking at his Map, he can tell he is close to the area where the Hippogriffs live.

[AlphaLuke]

Mat pulls slightly off the road and finds some kind of shaded overhang or tree where he can tie Bill out of the sun. "Now you wait here, boy. I don't want you getting into any trouble while I'm gone." Mat ties his feedbag to the tree and makes sure that the mule has plenty of water. Then, consulting and re-rolling his map, he begins to prepare.

Mat unfurls and begins to read one of his scrolls of Mage Armor, a glowing, transparent amber set of plate forming around his body. "That'll last me three hours. Good to keep on if I can." Mat leaves most his camping gear with Bill but makes sure to bring the bags that he had specially padded for this job.

Patting Bill once more, he heads up the mountain towards the Hippogriffs.

[Leomor]

Mat moves towards the mountain, referring to the map, and looking for any tracks. Knowing little about the beast, he attempts to use his senses, hoping to hear something that will lead him in the right direction.

Mat's whole body shakes in surprise when he hears a scream coming from the north. Mathwin can assume from the low-toned scream it is a man, and sounds to be in pain.

[AlphaLuke]

Startled by the scream, Mat tries his best not to reveal his position in his reaction. He advances North, towards the screams and a steady pace, but doesn't rush or crash through the foliage. As he moves, he draws his Willow Wand of Sleep our of his vest and steels himself.

[Leomor]

The screams continue and the sounds are broken through by a loud shriek. It certainly comes from a larger animal. The base of the mountain has trees spread out enough for Mathwin to gain a little coverage from sight, but he moves quicker to see what is happening.

Come up on a break of the trees, Mat hears grunting and more shrieks. Mathwin moves close enough to see 2 men fighting a large winged beast. The creature is large, with a proud chest of feathers and even prouder wingspan. It's beak already covered in blood, eyes sharply defending and attacking, this creature is giving the men a lot of trouble.

A tall slim man dressed in green attempts to fire arrows at the beasts wings, the other man lays on the ground with a bloodied arm, fighting off the Hippogriff with a spear. They are struggling in their battle.

The archer manages to get an arrow into one of its wings, and the beast turns its focus onto the archer. The man on the ground manages to get up and hobble towards the mountain. Slowly, the man hops towards a small alcove , about 50 feet from the battleground.

[AlphaLuke]

Mat decides that the Hippogriff looks a little bit tough to take on alone. Perhaps these men would be helpful allies in completing his job. "Although . . ." he thinks, "they might also be rivals, intent on the very same prize as I am. If I took them out now . . ." Mat only entertains that line of thinking for a moment. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend . . . for now." He was planning on fighting Hippogriffs anyway, he might as well start here with a slightly weakened one. If the men do turn on him, he can always take them out in their weakened state.

Mat stands from hiding and flares his arcane power, firing bolts of amber energy at the injured Hippogriff.

Spoiler

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Mat casts Magic Missile at the Hippogriff.
Damage: (4d4+5)[14]