Secret of mana IC thread

[kinem]

Ken is hit and hurt but manages to avoid being entangled. He concentrates on trying to bring down the big monster with another Whirling Blade attack.

OOC: Round 2 of Extended Wraithstrike; Swift: Blademage's Edge, full PA
touch attack (1d20+13)[25], damage (2d6+30)[35] + (4d6)[9] fire

[Alhallor]

Larimar's arrows are bouncing off of the rough plants hide but one burrows itself deep in the monster, some licks of flame are even seen spouting out of it's open mouth.

Jahn's spinning blade cut's through the smoke like... Smoke. There doesn't even seem to be any resistance from the monster that attacked the rabite, but instead of not being effected by the attack the smoke monster disappears, this time dispersing for real.

The mass of seeds seem to want to pick up speed and fall down like rain, but Coney's dispelling attempt seems to be succesful. The seeds still rain down upon the party. (Curiosly totally missing Thaum) but nothing further happens.

Ken's sword fly's again against the massive plant beast and cleanly cuts the two legs off. A cut of scream escapes the mouth of the creature while it falls down and quickly it totally dry's up. Seemingly only leaving a mass of dried up plants.

Spoiler: Map

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Dried up.

Spoiler: OOC

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Please describe what you would do in the next 2 rounds.

[WindStruck]

"Eh, I don't trust this at all," Larimar says. He considers throwing alchemist fire at the plant, but remembers his bow is still brimming with magical fire energy.

"Let's burn this thing to ash just to be sure." That shouldn't be too hard considering how dried up it looked....

Spoiler: Kill it with fire!!

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attack1: (1d20+24)[35]
damage1: (1d6+8)[10] + (4d6)[16] fire

attack2: (1d20+24)[34]
damage2: (1d6+8)[13] + (4d6)[11] fire

attack3: (1d20+19)[32]
damage3: (1d6+8)[12] + (4d6)[22] fire

[Ridai]

"I concur," Thaum says to the burning plan. A plant creature has good chances of being Dryad mana related, and the healer is not keen on finding out whether that is the case.

Of course, they could also be soon facing a burning devouring monster in a forest, but honestly, Thaum is willing to consider that as far more unlikely than the more reasonable alternatives.

[kinem]

Ken sighs with relief. "Surely it's over! Although, I have been fooled before ..."

Just as a standard precaution, he does renew his Blademage's Edge.

[Toliudar]

Coney

Managing a faint smile, Coney revs up her magic again.

"Burn it to ash would seem to be my department. Stand back, folks!"

Coney's ears weave in a now-familiar pattern again, and this time the ball of flame is lower covering ALL of the fallen beast.

Spoiler: OOC

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Yet another fireball. Man, she really DOES cast that spell a lot.

(9d6)[40], reflex DC 19 for half if relevant.

[Alhallor]

Larimar's arrows that he fires in the dried up bush make some swish, swish, swish. Sounds while buryying themselves in and then a thunk, thunk, thunk. Resonates through this part of the forest. A small fire has started but it get's incinerated with the fireball that follows after. It burns away all of the dried up plant matter and reveal 3 other plant creatures.

2 of them seem like the plant creatures the Monster spat out. But one is pretty big, while the other seems pretty long and lanky. The last one however seems almost like a mosscovered humanoid.

all of them (besides the lanky one) have been burned but they're moving towards you and attack.

The big plant monster stretches it's vines that seem to be full of teeth? against Coney.

Spoiler: Attack against Coney

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Attack: (1d20+12)[13]
Damage: (1d10+8)[15]
Fortitude save against 16 or take (1d6)[1] Strength damage

The tall lanky monster stretches it's claws to ccratch Jahn it's claws glistening with plant juice.

Spoiler: Attack against Jahn

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Attack: (1d20+14)[16]
Damage: (2d6+6)[13]
Fortitude save against 16 or be sickened.

The other thing Helds back and makes some strange motions accompanied by the snapping of dried Wood and the ground underneath you spouts sharp rocks.

Spoiler: Spellcraft against 19

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It casts Stone Spikes.

Spoiler: sharp rocks

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you're ground movement is halved when you move in the affected area (in the map). For every square (5feet) you move, you gain 1d8 Damage. If you move and fail a Reflex save against 19 you're movement is halved (yes that can stack with the already halved movement) A succesful healing spell can heal that up.

Spoiler: Updated map

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More Friends!

[Ridai]

"Hm." Not quite what he was expecting, but close enough to the essence of the matter. No movement is no good, however. Swirling a hand, collecting water in a sphere between his fingers, Thaum turns his hand down and splashes it onto the now very sharp ground, intent to wipe away whatever magic that caused this.

Spoiler: Actions

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Standard Cast dispel magic to dispel the sharp stone thingery. Caster level check (1d20+10)[17]

[Toliudar]

Coney

As she had done with the great beast before, Coney holds up her ears in front of her face defensively, invoking the Hemisphere of Not Dying just as the very very creepy teeth-ticles swooped toward her.

"Well, based on past experience, plants burn just fine..."

Trying to ignore the discomfort in her belly as the ground abruptly became extremely pointy, Coney hunkered down and sent a blast of flame to engulf the three beast-lings.

Spoiler: OOC

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Coney uses another Wings of Cover to block the tentacle attack, not knowing that it wouldn't have hit.

Standard action fireball, centred around AA18 so that the three plant-critters are in the blast but Jahn and Ken are not.

Reflex 19 for half, (9d6)[32] fire damage.

[Toliudar]

Spoiler: Coney OOC

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I should be explicit: Coney is casting defensively. Concentration DC 18:

(1d20+14)[24]

[Aegis013]

Jahn shifts as the ground splinters beneath him, successfully avoiding the attack made against him. He unleashes a magical song to inspire his teammates, hoping to rally them against this new threat. The powerful mana of Salamander once again wrapping around the team's weaponry. He continues the tune from earlier:

"Now locked in mortal combat;
Is doom our forlorn fate?
No! We will find our victory.
The Beast shall taste defeat!

Spoiler: Actions

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Swift: Defensively cast Inspirational Boost DC 16 (1d20+15)[26] (without circumstance modifiers applying a penalty, this auto succeeds)
Immediate: activate Badge of Valor, forfeiting next turn's swift
Standard: Dragonfire Inspiration +4d6

Spoiler: Jahn's Status and buffs

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Assuming two rounds elapsed:
76/76 HP, 16 THP, 0/5 Steeley

Dragonfire Inspiration +4d6 - ongoing (countdown will start next round when Jahn is no longer actively singing)
Blink - 2 rounds remaining
Snowflake Wardance - 7 rounds remaining

[kinem]

Ken's sword flares with flame again as Jahn renews the Dragonfire ritual.

"You guys were right to be cautious" he admits.

He casts another Extended Wraithstrike (swift) and another Whirling Blade, catching two of the enemies in the line of attack.

OOC: Full PA; 1st attack w/Edge
Touch attack (1d20+13)[19], damage (2d6+30)[38] + (4d6)[11] fire vs Longshanks
Touch attack (1d20+9)[17], damage (2d6+10)[18] + (4d6)[16] fire vs Moss Man

[kinem]

Edit: That should have been damage (2d6+20)[28] + (4d6)[16] fire vs Moss Boss

[WindStruck]

"Um. Okay."

"YOU GUYS SPEAK A LANGUAGE OR SOMETHING, OR ARE WE GONNA HAVE TO BURN YOU ALL TOO??" he yells from up in his tree.

As an afterthought, he gets a wand from his bag and casts the spell on himself.

Spoiler: ooc

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Comprehend Languages!

Great waste I bet, 10/10.

[Alhallor]

The sharp stones disappear under Thaum's counterspell.

Coney's fireball catches all of the plant monsters except for Longshanks who does some crazy lanky motions and evades the explosion of fire and flames.

Ken's whirling blade too misses the long plant monster but cuts deep and burning into the moss monster.

Meanwhile Larimar's spell does seem to have an effect…

Both monsters that are in melee decide to gruesomely pound on Ken, while the moss monster in the back casts another spell enveloping Ken, Coney and Jahn in a hail of ice.

Spoiler: Long plant monster attack against Ken

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Attack 1: (1d20+12)[14]
Damage 1: (1d10+8)[12]
Attack 2: (1d20+12)[28]
Damage 2: (1d10+8)[18]
If hit by any one attack Fortitude save against 16 or take (1d6)[3] Strength Damage. If you get hit a second time ist (1d6)[3] Strength Damage.

Spoiler: Wide plant monster attack against Ken

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Attack 1: (1d20+14)[30]
Damage 1: (2d6+6)[12]
Attack 2: (1d20+14)[27]
Damage 2: (2d6+6)[13]
If hit by any one attack Fortitude save against 16 or be sickened. If you already are sickened make another Fortitude save against 16 or be nauseated for 1 round.

Spoiler: Hailstorm against Ken, Jahn and Coney.

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(3d6)[4] Bludgeoning Damage
(2d6)[10] Cold Damage
In hailstorm range movement is halved. (on the map)

Spoiler: Map

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No Friends!

[Toliudar]

Coney

The fierce little rabite shudders under the pounding hailstones. She's lucky in that her warm fur helps shield her from the worst of the cold, but it still stings like the dickens.

Stepping out of the cold, Coney drew together all of her power for one (hopefully) final burst against these incredibly resilient plant-folk.

Spoiler: OOC

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Coney 5' steps NW so as to get out of the Ice Storm.

Full round action to cast an Empowered Fireball, placed so it hits the three of them but not Jahn.

Reflex DC 19 for half on (9d6)[26] x 1.5 = 39 fire damage

[WindStruck]

"Oh, wow! Uh, Ken? They're actually trying to kill you!"

Spoiler: pew pew pew

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Let's aim at lanky minion first and if/when it dies, mossy guy. Then again, since lanky is the closest to melee attackers, it'll probably get hit by them first. Let's see what happens with our melee friends and fireballs first.

attack1: (1d20+24)[36]
damage1: (1d6+8)[10] + [/roll]4d6[/roll] fire

attack2: (1d20+24)[37]
damage2: (1d6+8)[13] + [/roll]4d6[/roll] fire

attack3: (1d20+19)[38]
damage3: (1d6+8)[12] + [/roll]4d6[/roll] fire

Okay, well, obviously these things were trying to kill them, Larimar realized. "No, I mean, they speak a weird plant language and they really hate elves!"

[Ridai]

One annoyance was removed, yet another (possibly more dangerous one) one replaces it immediately. The withering assault on Ken leaves Thaum having to prioritize, trying to keep Ken alive with a healing drop while trying to disperse the Undine mana making up the hailstorm.

Spoiler: Actions

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Swift close wounds on Ken for (4d4+29)[40] HP

Standard dispel magic the hail. CL check (1d20+10)[11]


Trigger for Thaum's immediate action if this happens outside of his turn If Ken is reduced below 30 HP, close wounds gets cast on him for (4d4+29)[39] HP

Spoiler: Party status, conditions, spells, effects

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Disclaimer: The max HP values below are determined by what is in the "Total" box on the individual sheets -10 because of the concoction, or going by whatever HP values are named in the player's post (the latter taking priority over the former, because I assume the players already substracted -10 because of the Con loss).

Coney 50/53 HP
Individual effects: summoned St. Hooty McOwlface

Jahn 79/79 HP (12 THP)
Individual effects: Steely Resolve 5/5, Snowflake Wardance (untyped bonus), blink

Ken 68/83 HP
Individual effects: heroics (Improved Toughness; +10 max HP), wraithstrike (ends at start of Ken's turn 5)

Larimar 36/44 HP
Individual effects: heroics (Ranged Weapon Mastery (piercing); +2 attack/damage with piercing ranged weapons), mirror image

Thaum 52/52 HP
Individual effects: healing lorecall

Party-wide effects: The Concoction (-2 Con, can see monster), Dragonfire Inspiration (+4d6 fire damage to weapon attacks), mass conviction (+4 morale to saves), recitation (+3 luck to attacks, AC, saves; does not include Thaum)

[Aegis013]

Jahn pulls his sword in close and pushes forward through the mist hailstorm to attack the nearby foe. His sword once more flashes out in an fiery arc, though the arc vanishes just as it would contact the foe starting back up again just past the enemy. The attack whiffing as the protection Blink provides betrays Jahn.

"Drat. This hailstorm has thrown off my rhythm."

Spoiler: Actions

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Move: move forward, can't 5ft step with movement halved
Standard: Divine Surge against the target:

(1d5)[1] misses automatically on a 1 due to Blink - auto miss
(1d20+24)[37] to hit
(1d8+3)[6] + (2d6)[10] + (8d8)[32] + (4d6)[24] fire
(1d6)[6] reciprocal

Jahn would've had all maneuvers granted this round (gained Foehammer first of the rounds between enemies, gained 4/6 second round between enemies, 5/6 round used on refreshing DFI, 6/6 this round.
Next round:
(1d6)[3] - Battle Leader's Charge
(1d5)[1] - Mountain Hammer
(1d4)[4] - Divine Surge
(1d3)[2] - Tactical Strike

Spoiler: Jahn status and buffs

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76/76 HP, 11 THP, 5/5 Steeley Resolve
DFI +4d6 - 5 more rounds
Blink - 1 round remaining
Snowflake Wardance - 6 rounds remaining

[kinem]

Ken is badly bashed by two of the plant-monsters, but resists the weakness and sickness that the attacks threaten to impose on him, and is soon mostly restored by Thaum's magic.

[B]"Thanks Thaum. Let's try this again!"

He casts another Whirling Blade targeting the remaining monsters. Seeing that the tall monster is agile, he's a bit more cautious in his throw.

OOC: Swift: activate Edge. -4/+8 PA, 2nd round of Wraithstrike. Use 3rd level slot for WB as out of 2nds.

Touch attack (1d20+16)[25], damage (2d6+24)[31] + (4d6)[7] fire vs Longshanks
Touch attack (1d20+12)[16], damage (2d6+14)[20] + (4d6)[18] fire vs Moss Boss

[Alhallor]

Thaum wasn't able to stop the hailstorm but it seemed it only lasted for a very short time anyway, it actually stops shortly after his attempt.

Ken's caution seems to pay off, because he is hitting the swift monster as well as the mossy one, though it's not enough to finish off both.

But Larimar's arrows quickly strife in, finishing off both the lanky thing and the other, burning them down.

The clearing feels eerily silent having seen so much magic and might for a short amount of time and then nothing anymore.

The rests of the big monster having all been burned to cinders, and the three creatures that emerged from it seem to slowly desolves into vines, moss, bark and some teeth. No magic or otherwise life seems to come off of these.

With Coney's detecting spell still being active there is some magic to be gathered from your foes.

[WindStruck]

Larimar peers down at the burnt wreckage of plant matter, arms and fingers ready and twitching to go for another round of fiery death, but it seemed all was still and quiet for now.

Eventually he climbs down from the tree to more closely inspect the monsters' remains. In fact, having a hint of magical talent himself, he also casts Detect Magic, looking around but mostly focusing on the suspicious things that were animated mere moments before...

Spoiler: rolls

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search: (1d20+5)[20]
knowledge arcana: (1d20+3)[22]
knowledge nature: (1d20+6)[12]

[Toliudar]

Coney

Coney rolls forward gingerly, half-expecting the remains of the three plant-men to sprout roots and grow into a killer tree of some kind.

"Well. That was extraordinary. I'm never going to look at forests the same way. Speaking of which: Ken, you're from around here. Have you ever seen anything like that. Those. Whatever. Before?"

Slowly, she begins to hop forward, pointing out a few lingering auras and suggesting to Thaum that he might want to take a closer look.

[Aegis013]

Jahn wracks his brain trying to come up with any stories that might be related to the foes they just battled.

(1d20+6)[12] Bardic Knowledge

[Ridai]

"Very well fought. However, are we certain these creatures do not yet hide ever smaller versions of themselves within their remains?" Thaum is not quite ready to trust what they are seeing, but it eventually appears the monsters are indeed quite partial to staying down.

First things first, though, healing the remaining wounds of his companions. Only then does he examine what they find among the remains. "As far as I can determine, these teeth can be consumed much like candy, if one possesses a signicantly potent bite, and will further augment it to cause greater harm and occasionally venom. Naturally, it also makes the user more resistant to poisonous substances, and I would imagine the fiercer bite should make easier to have opponents reconsider their current life choices before it comes to a confrontation."

Looking at the rest: "Vines, attuned to the inherent mana patterns of the throat area of elves, and only them. Greater mental clarity, as well as imbuing one's choice of weaponry with an oath to slay a particular type of foe. Additionally, mosses imbued with healing mana. Always useful, though I cannot vouch for taste or texture."

Rising to a standing position again, Thaum looks to the others. "We should go and see whether Rina has recovered yet." And since the great threat has been defeated, travel on ethereal horseback is once again in the cards.

[kinem]

Ken says "I have never seen or heard of such things before. But ... I am getting a strange feeling about the moss man. If I had to guess ... they had some connection with the elves. Perhaps he used to be an elf. Or, while their actions against the elves were completely unjustified, perhaps they viewed it as some kind of revenge."

[Aegis013]

"I'm reminded of some stories of an old reclusive woodsman who lived in a hut with a face. They say it was like he became part of the woods itself, though I don't know why there would be a grudge against elves. Be on the lookout for a hut or house, I think it'd likely be disguised well within the foliage given the owner. If we find something like that, it may have a key to unraveling the mysteries at play here."

[Toliudar]

Coney

While Thaum was busy discerning the powers of the leftover bits of the plant-beast, Coney hops back to where it had been...asleep? Taking root? She'd never been much of a farmer. She'd only thought of plants as food. The prospect of one reversing that process, as the beast had done with Jahn, was something of a novelty for her. She's checking for anything of note - magic sigils, voodoo dolls of Rina, a whole load of hatchling beasts.

Assuming all is clear, Coney retracts her aura of darkness and hops on back to the others.

"I completely agree! Back to Rina with all speed."

Spoiler: OOC

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If we're more than about an hour's walk back to the elves, Coney will cast Ethereal Mounts to get us there faster.

[WindStruck]

"Yeah.. not really seeing anything else around here, be it magical or mundane. I guess this thing is done and dusted," Larimar says.

"I guess we could head back, if y'all want to pull an all-nighter."

[Alhallor]

With the ethereal horses summoned, the way back is fast and swift.

The starlit sky and the moonless night does nothing to impede your magical darkvision and most of you can see what is already a usual sight for Ken. The nightlife of the elven isle is more sparse than the daylife but nonetheless it's full of insects, night active birds, some small lizards and there are also some nightblooming flowers. Definitely not as bountiful and colorful as the forest of eternal night, but it seems life never seems to cease.

Now you have given it another opportunity to prosper.

You arrive at the elven outpost. The barrier of plant-matter is still there but you can bypass it in the usual way by grabbing unto Ken.

Inside it seems something has stirred the elves up a bit. There is more activity outside the big building and you hear several things.

It's over I can feel it!

The queen will be glad when she returns.

Hopefully she will have taken care of the blighters.

Spoiler: Ken, blighters

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That is a fraction of the elves who takes a more aggressive stance on using nature. They live on the other side of the elven isle and the relation with them always is a bit strenous.

Darkleaf catches you in the slight chaos and weaves you over. She woke up! She's fine!

Given you follow her you can find Rina, still looking a bit sleepy but her gaze is clear when she mets yours.

I... Thank you.

The reunion so to speak is heartfelt for the more reclusive Rina. Though she will stay behind to clear anything out the weird monster may have handed down.