IC Keep on the Borderlands (5e) Dragonlance

[clash]

"Stay close" Aria says to the group as she attempts to scout ahead. Given what they say yesterday it would be best to take no chances. She pursues the path to where they find the bodies yesterday moving as quietly as possible and staying on the lookout for any signs of danger.

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d20+5)[22] for stealth
(1d20+3)[19] for perception

[Gorgon_Heap]

You were here just yesterday so finding the site is a matter of walking ten minutes. There is no sign of immediate danger, nobody around, no traps, once you are again in view of bodies. What do you do?

[JNAProductions]

"It makes sense. We'll keep each other safe," she says in response to Royse's instructions.

After that, Heart stays near Aria. The smell of the bodies still threatens to make her gag, but she pushes through, and looks at them-have they been disturbed? Are animals eating them, as one would expect, or is there some malign force keeping them at bay?

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d20+5)[8] Nature Check
(1d20+3)[19] Survival Check

If any other checks are needed, lemme know.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Dargoth Vale approach - Mile six forest massacre site


Heart is repulsed by what she sees, but she notes there's no longer much smell. She moves about the entire area carefully, and though there are traces of blood and occasional piles of entrails, she counts only four bodies, and they are hanging in the open air, draped across thick branches. The blood has long drained from them and they are dryer, at least on the outside, than she might expect. She climbs up trees with her claws for a closer look, and she’s unnerved by the sight of massive claw marks that are remarkably similar to her own in the trunks.

It occurs to her that hanging the bodies that way is a common act of jaguars of her forest and lions of the jungles to the south and east. Big cats much less civilized than her own people. She finds additional tracks on the ground that confirm this. But none of the prints tell the same story – they start and stop from tree to tree and the ground haphazardly, like the beast was leaping fifty feet at a time. The boot prints in the mud and presence of crossbow bolts all around tells her the young men been fall over themselves and shooting in all directions.

As for cause of death, well, they were either disemboweled or their necks were ripped open. Big. Very bigly. But she knows nothing of anatomy or life processes. They sure didn’t do it to each other.

[JNAProductions]

"Okay... I think I'm piecing together some of the details," she tells her friends. "There's some kind of creature-a big cat, most likely-but faster, stronger, bigger than any normal jaguar or anything like that. It attacked these people, and took them out. It looks like whatever killed them can jump... Really well. We're talking 50' leaps."

[herastor]

Royse Mide, Paladin of Vengeance "Fifty feet?" If Royse sounded incredulous it was because he was. A jump like that, from tree to ground to tree seemed completely out of the ordinary for any natural creature he'd ever heard of. Nothing that size anyway. Unfortunately there were plenty of unnatural creatures he'd never heard of. Another idea started to form. One which he didn't like any better.

"Is it possible that this thing can fly?"

[JNAProductions]

"The landing doesn't look like a flying one... But we shouldn't rule it out," Heart says. "I've a bow-do the rest of you have ranged weapons?"

[RossN]

Zara

"I have a crossbow," Zara stated, double checking said wespon. "As to our mystery beast perhaps a cat like monster like a manticore? I've never seen one but I hear they are fearful beasts."

[clash]

"I prefer hand to hand combat, but I've got throwing darts that have never served be wrong" Aria was excited at the new challenge. It was a beast. Any dread she had at the thought of killing people was long forgotten. "Can you track it?" she asked heart.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Dargoth Vale approach - Mile six forest massacre site

Aria hears a branch creak mightily, independent of the light breeze, and she turns toward the noise, though it must be hundreds of feet away. It’s followed by noticeable change in the leaves, like something moving through the upper branches in leaps.

All animal sounds stop as a coughing, chilling hiss mocks the life all around you, echoing through the forest and setting your skin to prickle. Royse feels Caution’s reaction as a mere tingle in his palm, as if confirming that yes, something terrible is nearby. A creak and shush and thumping landing with another creak. It’s closer, and you are all now totally aware of a malevolent presence, even if Aria’s ready wariness gave you early warning.

“What is it?” says a dreadful voice from somewhere off and above, throaty and deep and whining all at once. “What you do? What you little things do with my meats? Be more meats, are you?” Creak-thump. “You little things bring so many meals now, you do. So much meat, I’ll hang you with the rest. I’ll live like a dragon, I will. Hehehehe. With meat canned for keeping.” Creak-thump.

Aria, already looking in the correct direction, sees it first, a huge shape in the canopy, red-orange eyes flashing in a beam of sunlight. She calls out and you all spring into action - though facing danger together is strange and new and you don’t know how your companions will react - as the white gleam of malicious fangs appear in a grin and thrash-snap cracks across the glade and it leaps, sailing on great wings to another perch, laughing the whole way. Something moves with a blur and Royse grunts from a sudden impact in his armor; bits of broken something – a pointed stick? Some sort of short spear? lay snapped at his feet…



Initiative order
Heart
Aria
Royse
Monster
Zara

This was not a surprise round. You are all in motion, the creature has made its action, moving and attacking Royse for 5 piercing damage on its turn. The monster is about a hundred feet away, using the shadows of the tree canopy and trees themselves to remain somewhat concealed, but you may attack or act normally.

[clash]

Aria runs towards the creature, grabbing a dart from it's slot on her belly and letting it for smoothly in the same motion. She keeps her eyes fixed on the beast to giraffe it's reaction to her attack.

Spoiler: OOC

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Aria will attempt to get within 30 ft of the creature so it's in range of her darts. She has 40ft movement speed. If she can't she'll tai an action to throw it when it performs a fly by.
(1d20+5)[13] to hit and (1d4+3)[6] damage.

[JNAProductions]

Heart grabs her necklace and fog begins to billow out from out, quickly filling the area her and her friends are in with thick white gas. In the fog, she moves near the edge of it, quietly treading so as to obscure her location.

Spoiler: OOC

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Action, Fog Cloud from my charm. Centered in the middle of the clearing.
BA, Hide check from Cunning Action. (1d20+7)[22]

[herastor]

Royse Mide, Paladin of Vengeance Royse wished he could've been happier about his guess at the thing's wings. He would've been happier if he'd been wrong. There was no joy in dealing with a creature like this, especially one as slippery as this. He was not the one built for this type of fight at all. So, the problem became making this a battle that played to more of his strengths.

He smashed away the darts still protruding from his chest with his shield arm and stepped into the fog that Aria had provided. He wasn't hiding though. He was hoping that his instincts and his timing would play out as he intended.

"A dragon?" he laughed from the mists, "You're nothing like a dragon. You boast from shadows, but I see the fear in you. You're afraid as you laud your power. Too afraid to do as the powerful and exert your strength. Mewling cub is more like it."

Having said his piece, Royse waited. Patience was a virtue and if his gambit paid off he might be well rewarded.

Spoiler: OOC

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HP: 23/28

Not sure if Royse's goading would be considered an intimidation roll or a deception. Either way, here's a roll and the correct modifier can be added after.

(1d20)[13]

15 for deception and 19 for intimidate

Otherwise, if this thing takes the bait and comes within melee to Royse then he'll make an attack using divine smite. If it's close enough to see, then he'll also use hunter's mark as a bonus action.

Attack (1d20+5)[25] Crit!
Slashing Damage (1d8+5)[7] 13 slashing damge
Smite Radiant Damage (2d8)[13] 24 radiant damage

Whole lot of ifs here, but with slasher that would mean that it has disadvantage on all attack rolls until Royse's next turn. Extra damage in the OOC thread.

[RossN]

Zara

Zara laughs when she hears the creature boast it is like a dragon - then nearly cheers at Royse's response. By the Dark Queen yes! She had ridden real dragons, what was she afraid of?

The ex-knight moved forward, crossbow gripped as she attempted to close the range that she might let loose a bolt with a reasonable chance of hitting!

Spoiler: OOC:

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Zara is going to move to within eighty feet of the monster and then fire her light crossbow.

(1d20+5)[22] to hit, (1d8+3)[4] to damage.

[Gorgon_Heap]

You are all technically at Disadvantage because of Heart’s fog.

Heart’s necklace emits a thick cloud of fog that rolls from her position and rises from the earth in mere moments.
Aria dashes behind some trees and then aims her small blade at the shadow gliding overhead, but is surprised when the fog arises. Her blade passes through leaves. Her attack misses Disadvantage or no
Royse calls the monster out, chiding and insulting its ego. With an angry growl it drops through the canopy into the sudden fog and slings a tail-spine, which rattles of Royse’s heavy armor, causing him a mere bruise. But the noise it makes is enough for Caution to sweep accurately, slicing its wing and thick hide. It yowls again and leaps away, a rushing whirl of white it its wake and it lifts off again, smarting from its mistake. Royse would have missed with Disadvantage, but with a Nat 20 I will split the difference and say you hit at normal. Royse made an AoO when the monster left his reach but he missed at Disadvantage. Royse may take Inspiration.
Zara runs toward the voice and fires her crossbow at the monster and scores, though she cannot tell how badly it’s hurt. The action wasn’t clear if Zara intended to move beyond the fog, but I rolled for Disadvantage and she hit in either case.
I re-rolled for the monster's attack at Disadvantage and it still hit.

ROUND 2 STARTS
State your actions knowing there is a 40-foot diameter section of thick fog, small enough for you to leave or re-enter as you like. The monster is currently flapping, rising out of the cloud about 10 feet up, snarling and looking for softer targets...

[clash]

Aria runs up to the creature rising out of the clouds attempting to intercept it's movements. She draws her way fan and leaps into the air slashing at it from the side. With her other hand she forms a palm and slams it against the creature trying to throw it off guard while bringing her knee up for a third blow.

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d20)[16] + 5 acrobatics or -1 athletics
(1d20+5)[8] to attack with the fan (1d6+3)[9] damage
Then flurry of blows for
(1d20+5)[6] to attack for (1d4+3)[6] damage
And (1d20+5)[23] to attack for (1d4+3)[4] damage
Both of those require a DC 13 dexterity check if they hit or the creature falls prone
Roll below included in case it's still at disadvantage. I assumed the creature was already out of the good enough to see it but I'm not sure.
(1d20+5)[8]
(1d20+5)[19]
(1d20+5)[8]

[JNAProductions]

Heart maneuvers through the fog, switching from daggers to her bow as she moves till she can get the drop on the beast. Then, springing from the cloud, she pops an arrow at their foe.

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d20+5)[24]
(1d20+5)[16] Advantage, if it didn't beat my Stealth check in the cloud.
(1d6+3)[5] Piercing damage
(2d6)[8] SA damage, either from having an ally nearby or my advantage.

[herastor]

Royse Mide, Paladin of Vengeance It worked! Alone in those mists with nothing to keep him company other than the sounds of his companions struggling, Royse waited. His heart pounded with anticipation. And then it was there. The spike threatened to take his breath, but he powered through and cut.

In the tradition of mysticism, your feelings and memories mattered. As his sword swung upwards at the shape he could barely see, Royse was transported across time and space to another, very different conflict. A horse rearing over him as its rider prepared to jab again with his spear. thoughts of the strength he used to possess flooded him and connected with the divine within.

The blow was thunderous, or would have been if not for the cloying vapors. But it did send the creature on the retreat. Not a dragon in any sense it would seem. As soon as it lifted off, Royse was running for clear land. Breaching the barrier he looked up at where the creature should be and found it ten feet above Heart's obstruction.

"I see you," he breathed, his words becoming power that sharpened his sight and tension.

Caution fell to the ground. The javelin was in his hand automatically, just as he'd practiced thousands of times before. Aiming and throwing became one motion as he hurtled his own spike right back at it.

Spoiler: OOC

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HP: 23/28

OK, Royse will use his movement to get out from the middle of the mists. Since it's within 90 feet and above the obstruction he'll use his second spell slot to cast hunter's mark as a bonus action. From there he'll grab a javelin and throw it at the beast using the inspiration he just earned.

Javelin Attack (1d20+5)[16]
Advantage (1d20+5)[16] Dang, exactly the same rolls.
Piercing Damage (1d6+3)[6]
Hunter's Mark Damage (1d6)[3] 9 total damage.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Monster's action

Flies 30 feet up (elevation 40 feet) and 20 feet to a branch and gets cover behind a trunk. Looses tail spike at Heart for 10 damage.

Summary after Zara's actions ...

[RossN]

Zara

Zara fought the urge to rub her eyes in the sudden fog - it wouldn't help and it would waste time!

She reloaded her crossbow and moved, trying to break through the tendrils of mist to take a clean shot at the monster.

Spoiler: OOC

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If Zara can't get through the fog in time she'll shoot from within the murk.

Attack: (1d20+5)[19] or (1d20+5)[9]
Damage: (1d8+3)[4]

[Gorgon_Heap]

ROUND 2


Heart pads softly from the and cranes her head, finding the beat and striking true.
Aria leaps but misjudges the distance, unable to tell just how high the monster ascended. Her initial attacks miss, but she licks out as she falls, her heel striking the beast in its thick ribs.
Royse's javelin stabs the monster in the flank, penetrating its hide and muscle but deflecting off its thick hip bone.
Zara, now at least thirty feet from fog, also lets fly a bolt, cutting the monster even as it puts a big tree trunk between itself and its enemies.

It yowls loudly in pain and anger. "Awful little stinging things! You spoil my hunting ground, but I'll make fresh meat of you and hang you with the rotten ones." You can feel its hateful gaze but cannot fathom its animalistic thoughts ...


ROUND 3 BEGINS ...

[JNAProductions]

Breathing deeply, Heart lets herself focus. Ignore the bodies. Ignore the sounds of your friends. Ignore everything but your bow and the target...

She lets loose a single shot, aiming to strike true.

Spoiler: OOC

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Steady Aim Bonus Action.

Then, shoot that beast!

(1d20+5)[19]
(1d20+5)[21] Advantage
(1d6+3)[9] Piercing
(2d6)[11] Sneak Attack

[Gorgon_Heap]

Dargoth Vale approach - Mile six forest massacre site


The monster leers around the trunk, staring balefully at Heart - the softest target and already hurt, and it's clear in its eyes and tensing muscles it intends to have at the friendly catgirl in all its fury ... but her bolt plunges into its open mouth and protrudes from the back of its neck. It gags and coughs blood into the air, clawing at its own mouth and neck, eyes wild.

Panicked, it loses its balance and tumbles from the branch, thudding with a bone-crushing thud forty feet below. It twitches and gurgles, wheezes ... and fades.

Spoiler: Welp ...

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that was preposterously easy. CR 3 my butt. Maybe I shouldn't have allowed that intimidate to goad it into attacking, because damn, that very first strike by Royse was a knockout even without the crit. Well, manticores are prideful and not that bright, and this one had gotten a little full of itself with all the easy kills walking right to its hunting ground. Well, congrats, y'all, a horrible monster defeated. You each receive 175 xp.

[JNAProductions]

The fog continues to billow. Heart keeps her bow trained on the body, her hands starting to shake a little bit. "I... I..." she says.

She knows that that beast was responsible for killing the bodies around her. She knows that it's for the better of the settlement and all the people that it's dead. She knows this... But she just killed something that was clearly intelligent. Did it have siblings? Parents? Children, perhaps?

"I'm going to keep the fog up-just in case something else attacks," she says. Her voice is quivering.

[herastor]

Royse Mide, Paladin of Vengeance The next javelin was slipping into Royse's hand when the beast came crashing down. He felt the releif wash over him. Slipping the javelin back into its carrier he bent down and retrieved Caution from the ground. Using his cloak, he cleaned the blood and dirt off the blade before stowing it as well.

He was on his way to dislodge his other javelin when his eyes rested on Heart's shaking form. He abandoned that task and instead put a placating hand on her shoulder.

"You did very well. Creating that fog saved us a great deal of trouble. You should be proud. Was... Was this the first time you've killed something?"

Spoiler: OOC

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HP: 23/28

I know I don't have to tell you, but monster CRs really don't reflect their potency. A similar CR creature would've been a basilisk. That would have killed us all in short order. Contrary to it's looks, a manticore is pure offense. It wants to soften up a lot of targets and the blitz the most wounded or softest target with a bunch of physical hits. If that fog hadn't been up it could have easily blitzed Royse down to nothing and returned to the trees to snipe and then rush. With 5 feet of reach Royse couldn't have even touched it before it's launch off again. The fog saved us all that time, he just got a lucky hit in.

Still though, we had to spend resources there and that's what a fight is mechanically intended to do.

[JNAProductions]

"No," Heart says. "I've hunted before. But... It spoke. He spoke. She? I don't know. Did they have a name? Did they have a family? Did we... Did we do the right thing?"

She melts into Royse, dropping her bow and crying freely now. "What we did doesn't feel good. I've never had to really fight someone intelligent before-I mean, I've had encounters with bullies and people like that, people who wouldn't listen to anything without a good fight, but they... they didn't die. I didn't kill them. Did we have any other choices? Did... Did... Did..." she stutters out, before just bawling more.

[clash]

Aria was getting planning get next move when the creature came down. It was staying to dawn on her how inadequate she really was with ranged weapons. As assassin always picked their battles here she didn't have that luxury. She was drawn back to the present by Hearts laments and they struck a chord with her. She it was true she hadn't dealt the final blow but she might have. She had dealt with it by thinking of it as a monster but she couldn't think like that anymore. It has been an enemy yes, evil? Definitely, but how was this any different than home?

Aria suddenly ran towards the creature fallen form. It might not be dead yet. She was going to spare it. When she reached out she was convinced she could save it. She had to stop the bleeding.

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d20+3)[22] medicine check

[RossN]

Zara

Zara had smiled in triumph as the manticore died, but that smile quickly vanished from her face as she registered how distraught two of her comrades were. Fighting back the urge to say something sharp she met Royse's eyes and raised her eyebrows before moving after Aria. Reaching the other woman, she stopped still hardly able to believe what she was seeing.

"By all the gods tell me you are not going to help that thing? Remember it attacked us with deadly force and without warning!"

[clash]

Aria looked up at Zara with her eyes still holding back tears. She had bested many opponents on combat even used to enjoy it but only in practice. This was a... Person they had killed.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" she asked, half pleaded, for an answer.

Sure it was a bully, but she had dealt with plenty of those at the stronghold. She thought of the people that had been slain. The gruesome scene but it somehow merged with the scene in front of her. "How can this be right?" she challenged.

[herastor]

Royse Mide, Paladin of Vengeance Royse made no move to stop Aria. It wasn't because he sympathized with her outlook on this. Far from it. He knew that there was no getting up from a finishing blow like that, not without the holy arts that none of them likely possessed. "Heart, Aria, look at the bodies in the trees, hung there like trophies and meat," Royse's voice was even and tempered, one of a teacher rather than a opponent, "None of them wanted to die either. Where their deaths correct and just? We'll never know, but we do know this thing's reasons for killing were shallow at best. Pride, hunger. It killed indiscriminately and willfully."

"Imagine Loffler or Haverna in their place. That you care is a sign of character, however, what we did was necessary. It was too close to the keep and too powerful to be left to its own devices. Give your tears to the Goddess of Regret and strive for better outcomes, but never shrink away from doing what is necessary."

With that he finally retrieved his remaining weapon, his gaze focused on one of the manticore's most defining features, its tail. How best to remove it?

"We'll need proof of our efforts and something to help inform the guild about this danger. We should also make sure that this area is clear of any more of them and try to find its den. Before we leave for the keep again we can bury these bodies to give their souls rest."

Spoiler: OOC

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HP: 23/28