Hell's rebels - In Hell's bright shadow [ dnd 5e IC ]

[Continental Op]

Orion
V. Human (Aberrant) Sorcerer 1
AC: 12 | HP: 8/8 | HD: 1d6
Initiative: +2 | P. Perception: 13 | P. Investigation: 10
Spells: 1st: 1/2 | Sorcery Points: 2/2
Active Effects: None
Conditions: None

Orion was already near the opening to cast his spell, so he is ready when he sees Copper get attacked. He does what sounds like the loud, angry hiss that his astute companions may come to associate with his attack spell, and sends a mind sliver at the dire rat that bit Copper. He then backs up 5' from the opening to give someone else room to attack or move down the ladder. "I'm probably better from up here, anyway," he tells the others.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Mind Sliver: DC 13 Int save or (1d6)[1] psychic damage and minus (1d4)[3] on its next save.

[Zalphier]

K'tak
Lizardfolk Barbarian
AC: 15 | Current HP: 14 | Max HP: 14 | Hit Die: 1d12
Initiative: +0 | Pperception: 15
Condition(s):
Active effect(s):

Having returned from her materials gathering and pocketing the tail, K'tak watches around the hole just in time to see Copper descend and the other taking turns casting spells around it. K'tak rushes over but finds the ladder itself still in use and without room to climb down herself just yet, she pulls out a javelin and hurls it at one of the rats. "I will come down next!" she calls out right after before backing off to let others have their shot at the rats.

Spoiler: OOC Actions:

Show

Making an attack at the rat that crit Copper
(1d20+3)[22]
Dmg if it hits: (1d6+1)[2]

[Smilex]

Rexus climbs halfway down the ladder, seeing that Copper is hurt, he decides to yell
Geronimo-o!
and lets go of the ladder falling next to copper...

Spoiler: OOC

Show

THe next thing works partially because I say it works, partially because it's realism and partially because of rule of cool

Once down, he proceeds to cast color spray at ground level to catch the rats while avoiding getting the spell anywhere near Copper's eyes. All the attacking rats and a couple that are still further in the room are affected.

[Zhentarim]

Spoiler: quote

Show

As Copper starts to move down the ladder, Orion's spell takes effect. A vaguely orangey, perfumelike smell mixes with the smell of urine and other waste. The mix becomes siginificantly more bearable though not quite pleasant.

Squeaking noises rise up as Copper nears the floor. Copper catches sight of a rat the size of a small dog.

Four dire rats jump on Copper from behind the boxes as she reaches the floor. They start biting metal and surprisingly one of them manages to find a soft spot with a critical strike doing 8 piercing damage.

Spoiler: Initiative queue

Show

The ladder forms a gap. Only one person can climb down per round. Two others can use ranged attacks through the latch each round.

21 Rats
18 Copper
16 Rexus
15 Orion
14 Andvari
10 Hep
10 K'tak

The rat bites through one of her metal plates somehow, prompting Copper to cast Shield of Faith to give herself greater protection, raising her AC to 22 for the next 10 minutes. On her next turn, she will strike the one of the rats with her mace.

[Smilex]

Copper casts shield of faith.

Rexus descends to the cellar and blinds the rats

Orion causes one of the rats pain and distress

K'tak spears the tail of one of the rats.

Hep inspires Copper

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Darn those damage rolls. Because the latch limits activity, Andvari couldn't shoot at the rats this turn, but if he has another type of activity he wants to achieve this turn, that's still possible. I'm still writing down what the rats do because limited possibility of interaction from Andvari.

The rats fumble around blindly, not able to hit anything. None of the still hiding rats join the fight.

Copper does see that a strange face is at the doorway looking at her. It's the furry face is wider than the other rats, with larger ears and larger eyes. It's got tentacles that cover it's mouth. It's squeaking like a rat and some of the rats not yet fighting seem to be listening to it.

[StoneSeraph]

Hep Rigley
Human Extortionist, Bard
AC: 13 HP: 10/10 HD: 1/1d8 BI: 2/3d6
PPrc: 9 PInv: 13 PIns: 9
Conditions: - Disguise: - (PDec: 15)
Concentration: -

Hep hears K'tak volunteer to descend and smiles. "After you, Lady! Wouldn't dare stand between you and a meal! I'll follow right behind!"

Spoiler: Mechanics / Thought Process

Show

Move: -
Action: hold open the trapdoor
Bonus Action: -
Copper still has Bardic Inspiration (99 rounds remaining)

Rexus jumping down kinda threw me off, but hey, the rats are blind, so that's good. Taking a more conservative approach here since we're dealing with a spatial/action economy chokepoint.

Spoiler: Actor's Repertoire

Show

Voices that Hep can mimic using the Actor feat:
Ally PC's: K'tak, Copper, Andvari, Caelin
Ally NPC's: Rexus Victocora
Enemies: Barzillai Torkrest
Randos: wiry ratfolk urchin, skeevy ratfolk merchant

[Zalphier]

K'tak
Lizardfolk Barbarian
AC: 15 | Current HP: 14 | Max HP: 14 | Hit Die: 1d12
Initiative: +0 | Pperception: 15
Condition(s):
Active effect(s):

When given the chance and encouragement by Hep, K'tak quickly steps up to and descends the ladder towards the floor below. About halfway down, K'tak draws her axe and jumps the last few feet to bring the weighty weapon down on one of the rats.

Spoiler: OOC Actions:

Show

Rolling for the attack: (1d20+3)[9]
Damages if it hits: (1d8+1)[9]
And an athletics check if needed for the jump: (1d20+3)[17]

[CaoimhinTheCape]

Andvari Stoneweller
Mountain Dwarf, Artificer 1
AC: 16 (Scale Mail) | HP: 10/10 | HD: 1/1d8 | Speed: 25
Passive Perception 9 | Initiative: +2 | Stealth: Disadvantage (Scale Mail)
Spell Slots: 1st 2/2
Magical Tinkering: Ring, 5 ft of light (Andvari) : Stone, 6 seconds of audio "Hey, over here!" (Andvari)
*** 10 minutes of Detect Magic ritual ***


Andvari hangs back, unable to do much in the tight quarters. When K'tak climbs down, he moves into place and casts Fire Bolt.

Spoiler: Attack

Show

Firebolt: (1d20+4)[10]
Damage: (1d10)[8] fire

[Zhentarim]

Continuing to concentrate on Shield of Faith, copper moves towards the rat-like figure in the darkness with the tentacles and swings her mace at it:

Spoiler: rolls

Show

To hit:(1d20+5)[24] plus (1d6)[2]
Damage: (1d6+3)[6]

[Continental Op]

Orion
V. Human (Aberrant) Sorcerer 1
AC: 12 | HP: 8/8 | HD: 1d6
Initiative: +2 | P. Perception: 13 | P. Investigation: 10
Spells: 1st: 1/2 | Sorcery Points: 2/2
Active Effects: None
Conditions: None

Orion does the same thing as before. He moves around the trap door to see if he can target a rat. If he can, he sends a mind sliver at it.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

DC 13 Int save or (1d6)[5] psychic damage and minus (1d4)[1] on its next save.

[Smilex]

Copper moves out of the pile of rats and smacks the tentacle-rat thing with her weapon. As a reaction to being hit, the creature's eyes light up for a moment, like flashlights.
She notes that the creature has long-toed, monkeylike paws, suggesting it's responsible for the tracks in the upper floor.
The rats try to gnaw by reaction when Copper is moving out of their range, but her shielf of faith protects her from becoming a rat toy.

Rexus sees Copper stamp off and whines
There's many rats attacking me. I'm in trouble!
And he casts another color spray on the rats.

Orion blows a rat's mind. It dies in suicidal thoughts.

Andvari fries one of the rats with a firebolt.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I rolled the advantage roll for Andvari, came out 19 and 17 for K'tak.

K'tak goes down the ladder and cuts a rat in half.

Hep hangs back and stops any shenanigans with the latch.

The tentacle-rat-monkey disengages and runs into the next room while squeaking more ratlike noises. Two of the rats in the cellar move in and attack Rexus and K'tak. Rexus takes a severe bite into his calf. It looks about as bad as the one Copper received.

The rest of the rats in the box piles are hiding and don't seem like they want anything to do with the fight.

Copper sees another tentacle-rat-monkey through the doorway in the next room. It casts sacred flame on her...

Spoiler: OOC

Show

dex save dc 14 or 1 radiant damage

and then the second tentacle-rat-monkey jumps away from her field of vision, deeper into the next room.

Spoiler: initiative queue

Show

18 Copper
16 Rexus
15 Orion
14 Andvari
10 Hep
10 K'tak

next round
21 Rats both with tentacles and not

[StoneSeraph]

Hep Rigley
Human Extortionist, Bard
AC: 13 HP: 10/10 HD: 1/1d8 BI: 2/3d6
PPrc: 9 PInv: 13 PIns: 9
Conditions: - Disguise: - (PDec: 15)
Concentration: -

Next in line to descend, Hep circles around to the ladder and braces both sides to slide down. Once on the floor, he draws his sword and lunges for one of the rats attacking Rexus.

"REXUS! Get behind myself or K'tak!"

Spoiler: Mechanics / Thought Process

Show

Move: down the ladder -> towards one of the non-blinded rats, if any; else towards a blind rat
Action: Attack(Rapier) against a non-blind rat - burning DM Inspiration to attain Advantage on the attack (will burn on character sheet at soonest opportunity); if rat is blind, Advantage anyway
(1d20+4)[16] or (1d20+4)[6] to hit; (1d8+2)[3] piercing damage
Bonus Action: -

Having not seen the other assailants from beyond the door or heard anything about them, I won't move in that direction, but seeing Copper in that direction, I'll probably attempt to swing that way next turn, whether the rats are cleared or not.

Spoiler: Actor's Repertoire

Show

Voices that Hep can mimic using the Actor feat:
Ally PC's: K'tak, Copper, Andvari, Caelin
Ally NPC's: Rexus Victocora
Enemies: Barzillai Torkrest
Randos: wiry ratfolk urchin, skeevy ratfolk merchant

[Continental Op]

Orion
V. Human (Aberrant) Sorcerer 1
AC: 12 | HP: 8/8 | HD: 1d6
Initiative: +2 | P. Perception: 13 | P. Investigation: 10
Spells: 1st: 1/2 | Sorcery Points: 2/2
Active Effects: None
Conditions: None

Orion again tries to spy one of the rats from above, whether blind or not, and sends a mind sliver at it.

If he cannot do that, he focuses his concentration and sends 4 dancing lights down around the space below in separate directions, trying to fully light the space for those below.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

If he can see a rat, he will cast mind sliver. DC 13 Int save or (1d6)[2] psychic damage and minus (1d4)[2] on its next save.

[Zalphier]

K'tak
Lizardfolk Barbarian
AC: 15 | Current HP: 14 | Max HP: 14 | Hit Die: 1d12
Initiative: +0 | Pperception: 15
Condition(s):
Active effect(s):

Reinforcing Hep's words, K'tak steps up and forward to put herself in the way of the rats, but allowing Rexus to retreat. She let's out another vicious hiss before bringing the axe down in a vicious slash. Apparently not satisfied with the one attack though, she follows it up by making a snapping bite at another rat.

Spoiler: OOC actions

Show

K'tak's making one regular attack and then using her hungry jaws for a bonus action attack.
Weapon attack: (1d20+3)[13]
Weapon dmg: (1d8+1)[9]
Bonus action bite: (1d20+3)[22]
Bit dmg: (1d6+1)[3]

Spoiler: If she has Advantage for attack rolls:

Show

Weapon attack: (1d20+3)[14]
Bonus action bite: (1d20+3)[10]

[Zhentarim]

"We have a way more serious threat here in the corner!"

[Zhentarim]

Copper swings her mace at the creature once more.

Spoiler: rolls

Show

damage(1d6+3)[9]
to hit (1d20+5)[18]
dex save (1d20-1)[18] (this makes me regret taking DEX as my dump)
Use Inspiration Die on Dex Save (1d6)[2] (Is it too late to take inspiration back? lol)

[CaoimhinTheCape]

Andvari Stoneweller
Mountain Dwarf, Artificer 1
AC: 16 (Scale Mail) | HP: 10/10 | HD: 1/1d8 | Speed: 25
Passive Perception 9 | Initiative: +2 | Stealth: Disadvantage (Scale Mail)
Spell Slots: 1st 2/2
Magical Tinkering: Ring, 5 ft of light (Andvari) : Stone, 6 seconds of audio "Hey, over here!" (Andvari)
*** 10 minutes of Detect Magic ritual ***



"Do you need any healing down there?" Andvari calls out, particularly to Rexus. He throws another Fire Bolt down, preferring to hit any of the rats with tentacles.

Spoiler: Attack

Show

Attack: (1d20+4)[18]
Advantage: (1d20+4)[6]
Damage: (1d10)[5] fire damage

[Smilex]

Copper chases the tentacle rat into the next room...
She comes to a substantially larger hall where dirty salt and sawdust coat the floor. The room is otherwise dark, except for a moment, the eyes of at least five tentaclemonkeys shine through the darkness like flashlights. The masonry of the room has been chewed and clawed away, revealing narrow, winding animal tunnels beyond. Steel rails are mounted in the ceiling with a few lonely iron hooks dangling from them.

None of the creatures that are visible are near enough to go strike and when Copper moves into the room, the creatures stop their lights. Now it's dark. And the creatures are talking to each other in a voice that sound rapid and shrill and nothing like the crude squeaking they emitted a moment ago. The door behind Copper closes leaving her completely in the dark.

Rexus casts a third color spray...
I'm out of spells here... Should I cast acid splashes now?

Orion casts another mind sliver hurting one of the rats.

Andvari casts a fire bolt finishing the rat that Orion hurt with his first mind sliver.

Hep strikes one of the rats, hurting it quite a bit, but these rats are the size of small dogs. It doesn't quite die yet.

K'tak destroys one rat with her weapon and bites to death the rat that Hep hurt with his blade...

The last rat in melee range hears the death cries of its friends and tries to run away...

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Attacks of opportunity for K'tak and Hep. With advantage.

Meanwhile in the darkness in the next room...
A sound like discordant pipe music rises... it sounds incoherent, hypnotic, like a scratching in the hippocampus trying to create thoughts that should not be...

Then there's a thump, as something falls on the floor to the south of Copper's position.

Spoiler: Initiative queue

Show

18 Copper
16 Rexus
15 Orion
14 Andvari
10 Hep
10 K'tak

next round
21 Rats, with or without tentacles
19 The Pipething

[StoneSeraph]

Hep Rigley
Human Extortionist, Bard
AC: 13 HP: 10/10 HD: 1/1d8 BI: 2/3d6
PPrc: 9 PInv: 13 PIns: 9
Conditions: - Disguise: - (PDec: 15)
Concentration: -

After lunging forward with his sword against a fleeing rat, Hep courses ahead towards another rat blinded by the color spray. "Yes, Rexus, I'd say acid is most appropriate now! Lady!," he shouts over the shrieking rodents, "where did Copper just go?!"

Spoiler: Mechanics / Thought Process

Show

Reaction: (1d20+4)[7] or (1d20+4)[14] to hit; (1d8+2)[3] piercing damage
Move: towards a blind rat
Action: Attack(Rapier) against a blind rat
(1d20+4)[12] or (1d20+4)[10] to hit; (1d8+2)[5] piercing damage
Bonus Action: -

Well, the door shutting is bad news bears. Hopefully we're not picking up pieces by the time we get in there.

Spoiler: Actor's Repertoire

Show

Voices that Hep can mimic using the Actor feat:
Ally PC's: K'tak, Copper, Andvari, Caelin
Ally NPC's: Rexus Victocora
Enemies: Barzillai Torkrest
Randos: wiry ratfolk urchin, skeevy ratfolk merchant

[Zalphier]

K'tak
Lizardfolk Barbarian
AC: 15 | Current HP: 14 | Max HP: 14 | Hit Die: 1d12
Initiative: +0 | Pperception: 15
Condition(s):
Active effect(s):

Fresh blood still coating her maw, K'tak spies the fleeing rat and joins Hep in taking a swing at it with her axe. "Through the door where the lights just were," she replied to Hep's question with a point before turning towards the rats that still lingered outside of immediate combat, watching them for any sudden attacks or charges.

[Smilex]

Rexus casts acid splash on the rat that K'tak and Hep hurt while it was running away. The rat is finished from the numerous minor wounds. Rexus also moves to the door and simply opens it.
Hey, Copper, you alive there?

[Zhentarim]

Spoiler: Smilex

Show

Copper chases the tentacle rat into the next room...
She comes to a substantially larger hall where dirty salt and sawdust coat the floor. The room is otherwise dark, except for a moment, the eyes of at least five tentaclemonkeys shine through the darkness like flashlights. The masonry of the room has been chewed and clawed away, revealing narrow, winding animal tunnels beyond. Steel rails are mounted in the ceiling with a few lonely iron hooks dangling from them.

None of the creatures that are visible are near enough to go strike and when Copper moves into the room, the creatures stop their lights. Now it's dark. And the creatures are talking to each other in a voice that sound rapid and shrill and nothing like the crude squeaking they emitted a moment ago. The door behind Copper closes leaving her completely in the dark.

Rexus casts a third color spray...
I'm out of spells here... Should I cast acid splashes now?

Orion casts another mind sliver hurting one of the rats.

Andvari casts a fire bolt finishing the rat that Orion hurt with his first mind sliver.

Hep strikes one of the rats, hurting it quite a bit, but these rats are the size of small dogs. It doesn't quite die yet.

K'tak destroys one rat with her weapon and bites to death the rat that Hep hurt with his blade...

The last rat in melee range hears the death cries of its friends and tries to run away...

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Attacks of opportunity for K'tak and Hep. With advantage.

Meanwhile in the darkness in the next room...
A sound like discordant pipe music rises... it sounds incoherent, hypnotic, like a scratching in the hippocampus trying to create thoughts that should not be...

Then there's a thump, as something falls on the floor to the south of Copper's position.

Spoiler: Initiative queue

Show

18 Copper
16 Rexus
15 Orion
14 Andvari
10 Hep
10 K'tak

next round
21 Rats, with or without tentacles
19 The Pipething

Copper puts up her mace, and while continuing to focus on her Shield of Faith spell, she touches her now-free hand to the chain mail armor she has bolted onto her person, and her armor now glows as bright as a torch. She casted the Light cantrip on her own armor.

[Smilex]

Copper notices that to the south of where she is, one of the dead dogs from upstairs lies crumpled on the ground.
While she's examining the situation in the new light...

Another one of the dead dogs drops even further south. One of the numerous holes in the walls and ceiling is just above the spot where the dog fell.

The pipe music seems to come from that same direction...

None of the tentaclemonkeys are in sight. Almost certainly they're in the walls...

[Zhentarim]

Copper readies Toll the Dead to attack any hostile creature, and then presses on to find the source of the music.

[Smilex]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

We're out of initiative order again.

The pipe music fades away.

In the larger room, at the northwest part of the room there's a pile of soft fabrics. It looks spectacularly dirty.

At the southeastern part of the room there's now a series of two dog corpses making a line between the door Copper entered through and the room's southeastern corner where a large metal grating blocks the path to a stairway leading down. The grating looks rusty, much weaker than the one in the upper floor.

In the rat-room the remaining rats are hiding scared within the piles of boxes. These individuals seem to lack the aggressiveness of the others that attacked the group. K'tak and Hep have no difficulty killing a couple more of them since they're not giving a fight anymore but you feel sure some more are hiding in the piles.

Rexus asks
Does any of you know how to mend the cat-golem? I think she's hurt.

For the while, it's remarkably quiet.

[Continental Op]

Orion
V. Human (Aberrant) Sorcerer 1
AC: 12 | HP: 8/8 | HD: 1d6
Initiative: +2 | P. Perception: 13 | P. Investigation: 10
Spells: 1st: 1/2 | Sorcery Points: 2/2
Active Effects: None
Conditions: None

Hearing that Copper is hurt, Orion steps aside from the ladder and gestures to Andvari. "After you, master crafter." Orion then scans the walls and floor, again trying to find anything he can telepathically connect with.

[StoneSeraph]

Hep Rigley
Human Extortionist, Bard
AC: 13 HP: 10/10 HD: 1/1d8 BI: 2/3d6
PPrc: 9 PInv: 13 PIns: 9
Conditions: - Disguise: - (PDec: 15)
Concentration: -

With a flick of his blade, Hep does his best to get most of the rat blood off of his sword as the onslaught dies down. He moves towards the door to the next chamber to rejoin with Copper. "I'm no healer, but Rexus is right, you are hurt," he says to Copper. "We should wait for the others to come down here before pressing on."

Spoiler: Actor's Repertoire

Show

Voices that Hep can mimic using the Actor feat:
Ally PC's: K'tak, Copper, Andvari, Caelin
Ally NPC's: Rexus Victocora
Enemies: Barzillai Torkrest
Randos: wiry ratfolk urchin, skeevy ratfolk merchant

[Zalphier]

K'tak
Lizardfolk Barbarian
AC: 15 | Current HP: 14 | Max HP: 14 | Hit Die: 1d12
Initiative: +0 | Pperception: 15
Condition(s):
Active effect(s):

With the rats hiding away and Hep cleaning his blade, K'tak followed along into the new room and regarded Copper for a moment before looking about the rest of the room. Spying the line of dog corpses and following them to the stairs and grate, K'tak looked back over her shoulder. "Your prey fled down this way? Or does it try to lead you there?" She asked while closing the distance between herself and rusty barrier. She would test it for a moment before trying to break it open.

[Zhentarim]

Spoiler: quote

Show

Spoiler: OOC

Show

We're out of initiative order again.

The pipe music fades away.

In the larger room, at the northwest part of the room there's a pile of soft fabrics. It looks spectacularly dirty.

At the southeastern part of the room there's now a series of two dog corpses making a line between the door Copper entered through and the room's southeastern corner where a large metal grating blocks the path to a stairway leading down. The grating looks rusty, much weaker than the one in the upper floor.

In the rat-room the remaining rats are hiding scared within the piles of boxes. These individuals seem to lack the aggressiveness of the others that attacked the group. K'tak and Hep have no difficulty killing a couple more of them since they're not giving a fight anymore but you feel sure some more are hiding in the piles.

Rexus asks
Does any of you know how to mend the cat-golem? I think she's hurt.

For the while, it's remarkably quiet.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I thought I was alone?

Copper makes her way to the group once more.

"There are devil priests here, not from this plane. As for healing, I can use regular healing magic on myself, which is odd, given how I am now constructed. Perhaps it is because I was once living, long ago."

[Zhentarim]

Copper casts "Cure Light Wounds" on herself, while continuing to focus on her defensive spell:

(1d8+2)[10]