The Rings of Destiny

[Vesth]

The hallway is long and lined with dust, though how the dust appeared was a mystery in and of itself; there are no cracks in the seemless walls and floor, the stone preventing external interruptions from taking place. Lining the hallway are several doors, each identical, but she knew where to go.

Pushing open one of the doors - an oddity that the stone door-opening was silent when her breathing and footsteps were not!- she entered, with confidence mixed with trepidation.

As soon as she entered, the door swung shut, and a burst of blue light filled the contours of the door, which dissipated to reveal...nothing. The lines were gone. The door was gone.

She didn't expect that. But she knew, she knew that she might be stuck there. That only if she completes her task, could she be freed. Turning away from the door, she scanned the room. Eight statues, dusty and old (how did the dust get here too?), line the walls, all facing towards the centre, occupied by a huge slab. A tomb.

Stepping forwards, she wiped off the dust on the slab, revealing words, old and ancient, and simply thus: "Read the Book."

She dug out the book from her satchel, and placed it on the slab. The book was red, with a cover showing a gold ring. Above the defining picture, the title stood out.

The Rings of Destiny

And she began Reading Aloud.

---

Chapter One: Exploring, Defining, Accentuating

Mountain climbed, his warforged body easily overcoming the challenges set by the pathetic mound of rock in his path. If he had the new-fangled InforX-3000 installed, right now, it would be displaying temperature (cool), humidity (average), time (10am), and the events of today (2nd Day of Celebrations, regards to Town Adonis (demographic: Mainly human), Proximity: Close.

If he was ever so inclined, that add-on would also have displayed information of the Celebration itself, like this:

Adonis
Every year, a small human town, Adonis, celebrates a festival, lasting one week, commemorating the time where they prevented a powerful cult of Orcus from summoning it into this plane. It is during this festival, where hundreds of races, from the mighty dragonborn to the beautiful elves, gather together, put aside differences, and have a good time (although many are wary of tieflings, and other races with a bad reputation).

Today is a little special, with several spellcasters coming together at 11am to call forth a black dragon and the celebrated heroes to do battle. All illusions, of course, to commerate the time they overcame a black dragon in their task to stop Orcus.

Now, however, he are climbing his namesake, for mention of a cave above, which he knew was close.

Climbing over the last ledge, but his eyes tell him something is wrong. Blood leads in, though if he enters, he would only find five other innocent people.

A Thri-Kreen that is fairly tall, and not particularly heavily built, helping him slip in unnoticed when the need arises, and helps with his athletic ability. Still rather young, he moves about especially quickly for a Thri-Kreen. His exoskeleton is completely gray, unusual for a Thri-Kreen, but not unheard of. He wears dark, hooded cloaks, trying to keep from being seen.

A Elf that is tall, wiry, and very thin. He has beautiful silver hair that hangs to his shoulders, matched by his pale grey eyes. He dresses in what appears to be once-fine elven robes, at least when he isn't begging in the streets or scamming patrons at the local tavern. When he is, however, he's garbed in ratty, tattered, linen shirts. He's underweight and underfed, another factor that helps in his begging. Malus is rather paranoid and skittish, due to a few tragedies in nis past. He's also quite squeamish at the sight of blood. He has an odd quirk, in which he starts to flip a "lucky" coin, often to make decisions, when he's nervous.

A shifter, a Genasi and a half-elf half-hidden in shadow.

The cave is small, and contains nothing, save a path leading further in, and a orb on the floor. How curious.

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan shook his head. He had been in this cave for hours, unknown to the others. He had stayed in hiding, wondering of their motives. One by one, they had come in, and he had watched. He had assumed they would be leaving shortly, to join in the festivities of Adonis. But there they stayed, and no one had yet spoken. Then the Warforged had entered. Now Tar-Kan was angry. Ioun had shown him this cavern to continue his works, and now there were defilers. It was almost too much to bear. He leapt from the shadows, swinging his spiked chain. "All of you, out of here! I have come to praise Ioun here, and you are trespassing on sacred ground! You, Tin Man, turn back whence you came!" He glared at each one in turn, praying to Ioun for the strength to defeat them.

[Ramsus]

Mountain was puzzled. Why would a being who was metallic in color deride another with slanders such as "Tin Man". How insulting. Tin. Really. He calmed himself, knowing that the mortal races were often brash and feeling they needed to prove themselves to each other in their short years. He knew they were wrong of course. It was only to themselves and the world (and perhaps the gods) that they need prove anything to. Then again, perhaps he himself was being hasty in his judgement. The insectoid one had mentioned he was here on religious business.

"If that is your wish. However, you may have worse than those assembled here to worry about." Mountain said, motioning to the blood and then to the strange orb. "As I have already made my way here, I would give assistance if you feel you may require it."

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan raised an eyebrow, or he would have, if he had one, and lowered his weapon. "Perhaps it is best if you tell me why you have come to this place."

[Ramsus]

"I have-" Mountain cut off as he noticed the young Genasi reaching for the orb. Fearing it might be dangerous, he took a few steps and placed a hand on the teenager's shoulder, "Stop, little one." ((How could a towering metal giant surprising you go wrong!? :smallbiggrin:))

[usourselves&we]

As Cheemormechee Thraixhon-und reaches for the orb that has transfixed his mind since he entered this cave he feels a large hand(?) on his shoulder it can only mean one thing. MONSTERS.

Ducking out from under the hand, he dashes across the cave, turning around he pulls out his dagger.

Seeing Mountain and the other people are not monsters, "Hey, I know what you are big ma- Hey what's that!" probably not the best choice of words when pointing a dagger at a Thri-Kreen and asking what his weapon is.

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan was not amused. "Spiked chain. And if you don't want a closer look, I suggest you put your weapon down."

[usourselves&we]

"Why wouldn't I want a closer look!" Clearly not hearing the threat the boy steps slowly forward, dagger firmly in his hand though at his side. "How do you use it in battle? Could you use it to scale a wall with no other tools? Have you ever lost it, or hurt yourse-" ((Somebody was bound to have stopped him around that point if not sooner.))

[Grue Bait]

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! All of you! You're giving me a headache worse than what I had already. I came here for some peace and quiet, and I was doing fine with that big, bondage-loving lug over in the corner." Rubbing his forehead, Malus points his readied crossbow vaguely towards the three as he emerges from the shadows.

[Zjoot]

A red-haired half elf, who had been observing from a corner, decided it was time to intervene. He didn't want things to get messy here.

"Alright, I think we all just need to calm down a bit. It's clear we've got some big personalities here, so let's take it back a notch before someone does something....unsavory.

How about we start with introductions? My name's Ligo."

He held out his hand to no-one in particular.

[Ramsus]

"Agreed. Waving weapons about like that is likely to result in someone getting hurt." said Mountain in a tone that implied "someone" did not include himself. "Greetings Ligo, you may call me Mountain."

[Grue Bait]

"Sure thing, ginger snap. How 'bout you call me 'That guy who'll put an arrow through my eye-socket if I don't stop playing nice, because I'm clearly faking?' 'Cuz that works pretty well for me." He points his crossbow at Ligo. "Now, how much cash you got on you?"

[Zjoot]

"Agreed. Waving weapons about like that is likely to result in someone getting hurt." said Mountain in a tone that implied "someone" did not include himself. "Greetings Ligo, you may call me Mountain."

Ligo eyed the large warforged. "That's appropriate. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Mountain."


"Sure thing, ginger snap. How 'bout you call me 'That guy who'll put an arrow through my eye-socket if I don't stop playing nice, because I'm clearly faking?' 'Cuz that works pretty well for me." He points his crossbow at Ligo. "Now, how much cash you got on you?"

"Sort of a mouthful...do you have any nicknames?" His tone was calm and collected as he spoke, but he was a bit nervous, what with the crossbow aimed towards his face. He rather liked his eyes, and preferred that they be kept arrow free.

[usourselves&we]

"Oh right, weapons are bad and all that, at least that's what people seem to say." Cheemormechee Thraixhon-und puts his dagger away. "Anyway, my name is Cheemormechee Thraixhon-und. It's nice to meet you Ligo, Mountain and Thatguywho'llputanarrowthroughmyeye-socketifIdon'tstopplayingnicebecauseI'mclearlyfaki ng, and uh, what are the other guys names? And um Thatguywho'llputanarrowthroughmyeye-socketifIdon'tstopplayingnicebecauseI'mclearlyfaki ng are you preforming a mugging, cause I've read about those and I don't think your doing it right."

[Matthias2207]

Light footsteps could be heard outside, for those listening, instead of fighting.
"Come here, bunny! No, don't go in there! It's dark!"
A small brown rabbit entered the cave.
((don't have time for more:smallfrown:))

[Grue Bait]

Malus glances from Ligo to Chee. "My name's a mouthful? My god, I need two breaths for the kid here. And yes, you insolent munchkin, this is what the big kids call mugging. Why don't you run home to mommy, and she'll tell you all about it, maybe kiss a boo-boo or two." He makes a "give-it-here" gesture to Ligo. "Seriously now. Cough it up."

[Ramsus]

Hearing something about a bunny, Mountain turned around in time to see one racing its way into the line of fire. He quickly bent down to scoop up the bunny to prevent in coming from any harm. Now armed with a cuddly bunny he turned around to the people he was beginning to feel would quickly get themselves into a lot of trouble.

He looked at the elf for a moment, said nothing and turned to Cheemormechee Thraixhon-und. "Cheemormechee Thraixhon-und, one cannot expect the fullness of life to fit on thin sheets made of the defilement of trees. Variation is often the key to success."

Turning back to Ligo he said, "Mountain will do. I am not over fond of formalities." With a pause for thought he continued, "Do you think the Elf meant to ask us to cease non-hostilities?"

((Edit: Grue, "spider kid"? &we is the Genasi. Penguinator is the Thri-Kreen.))

[Grue Bait]

"What don't you get about 'shut up' and 'cough it up?' Now toss whatever shiny trinkets you got into a pile and leave me alone! That means you, musclehead, and you, Cheeky! You too, Chains!" Malus rests his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it and make them give up their gold.

((Edit: Whoops! Thanks Ramsus.))

[Zjoot]

"Ok, now you're just not thinking straight. I mean, do you really think it's a good idea to threaten a whole cave of people? There really is no reason we can't get along here..."

A final attempt before things start to get ugly...

[usourselves&we]

"Not only that but the way he went about this is all wrong, you need a show of force Thatguywho'llputanarrowthroughmyeye-socketifIdon'tstopplayingnicebecauseI'mclearlyfaki ng. Sure you have a crossbow but what can you do with it? Are you even a good shot?" Cheemormechee Thraixhon-und under stood what Mountain was saying and that this was likely a bad thing to do, but you really have to correct people when they are doing some thing the wrong way.

[Ramsus]

Wondering if "shiny trinkets" was meant to include himself, Mountain simply said, "No."

[Grue Bait]

"...Fine. But only because I feel some sort of misplaced kinship towards twinkle-toes." Malus stashes his weapon. "Besides, I can take it from you while you sleep," he mutters.

"What are you all doing here, anyway? Shouldn't you all be out celebrating or something equally wasteful?"

[Penguinator]

"What are you all doing here, anyway? Shouldn't you all be out celebrating or something equally wasteful?"

Tar-Kan's eye twitched angrily. "I. Am here. To praise. Ioun. God of Knowledge and Skill. Neither of which you seem to possess."

[Matthias2207]

"Erm... Mister? Could you please put my bunny down? He doesn't like to be touched by strangers and I need to get him back to his family. If you don't mind, that is..."

[Grue Bait]

"No skill?!" In a flash, Malus draws his knife, flips it, and throws it past the Thri-kreen's head. He watches as it quivers in the wall behind Tar-Kan. "Trust me, roach, I could've killed you. And if you need more demonstration, I'll take a shot at that fuzzball in the big guy's arms." He strides past Tar-Kan to retrieve his blade.

[Penguinator]

"If you had wished to strike, it would have been easy to sidestep and watch you fumble." The Thri-Kreen shook his head. "I do not much like your tone. I suggest you watch yourself. You have a big head. I suggest you begin to use it. It is unwise to challenge a cavern full of people." He nods towards the rabbit, adding, "And if any harm comes to the little one, then by Ioun's light, I will kill you."

[Ramsus]

Handing over the bunny to the Shifter, "You may call me Mountain. Here is your rabbit. Worry not. It would not have come to harm in my possession. However," at this Mountain addressed the arguing pair, "it is quite natural for fleshlings to hunt rabbits. Being the subject of threats and anger is futile. When you two are done puffing up your chests in an attempt to attract absent mates, inform the rest of us so that we may proceed."

[Penguinator]

"We'll be finished when he gives up a life of crime." The Thri-Kreen shook his head, but lowered his weapon and shifted back towards the shadow. "It will never truly be finished, but for now, it will have to do."

[Grue Bait]

"It's not crime, oh holy one, it's taking from those of you who've got gold pouring outta your ears, and giving it to those of us who don't. 'S not my fault if I happen to be the less fortunate." He pulls his knife from the wall and sheathes it. Malus turns to Mountain. I'm done for now, big guy. The name's Malus. Don't ask for more, 'cuz you don't get more. Are you gonna keep that shiny ball of fun, or can I have it?"

[usourselves&we]

Following the gaze of Malus to the orb and looking upon it as if for the first time Cheemormechee Thraixhon-und says "That 'shiny ball of fun' as you put it Thatguywho'llputanarrowthroughmy-er Malus, Is a magical device that probably shouldn't be in the hands of some lamebrain such as yourself. It was probably recently used in some sort of ritual or something. And, um, what did you mean by 'shouldn't you all be out celebrating'? What's so special about today what would call for celebrating?"

[Penguinator]

And, um, what did you mean by 'shouldn't you all be out celebrating'? What's so special about today what would call for celebrating?"[/COLOR]

Tar-Kan grimaced. "Why, today is 'allow annoying Genasi boys to go another day before you stab them' day. That would be why friend Malus wants you to celebrate. He's only waiting for the morrow."

[Zjoot]

Ligo let out an exasperated sigh. "We really don't need another person flinging insults, do we?" He turned to Chee "So you're not in town for the festival then?"

[usourselves&we]

"I see, Ioun blessed you with a brain today that's why-" quickly turning to Ligo, "What town? Aren't we in the caverns under the temple?" ((Don't know what temple quite yet, if we could glaze over that fact for the moment that would be nice.))

[Grue Bait]

Malus grins. "I like you, spider-man! Wanna help me bind the kid and hunt him down?" he says jokingly. "In all honesty, Cheeky, today's some holiday this sleepy hamlet celebrates. Something to do with cults and dragons. I usually spend the day piss-drunk and wake up a few days later with some lady I've never met. Sometimes she's attractive, sometimes not. Today, however, I found myself outside the cave with a splitting headache, so I came inside for a dark, quiet corner. Don't you ever get outside?"

[Matthias2207]

Handing over the bunny to the Shifter, "You may call me Mountain. Here is your rabbit. Worry not. It would not have come to harm in my possession. However," at this Mountain addressed the arguing pair, "it is quite natural for fleshlings to hunt rabbits. Being the subject of threats and anger is futile. When you two are done puffing up your chests in an attempt to attract absent mates, inform the rest of us so that we may proceed."

"Thanks Mountain, I'm... erm... Stroop...", the boy said with a quiet voice. "Stupid name", he muttered. Stroop softly put the bunny on the ground. "Off you go, little one.", he whispered. Then he noticed the glowing orb. "What's that? Is it... dangerous?"

[Penguinator]

Malus grins. "I like you, spider-man! Wanna help me bind the kid and hunt him down?" he says jokingly.

The Thri-Kreen shakes his head, with the faintest of smiles visible on his face. "You can have him." He extends an arm or two (or three, or four...) to whomever will shake with him. "My name is Tar-Kan, Avenger of Ioun. I believe the rest of you have mentioned a name, and I hate to seem rude." He scratches at the back of his head. "More than I do already, that is."

[Ramsus]

Mountain nodded to Stroop and took Tar-Kan's offered hand (((number 3 cuz why not?)) and, knowing no other way, firmly shook it (and probably the whole appendage).

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan's arm wobbled up and down. Mountain had grabbed one of the weaker ones that wasn't combat-able. Tar-Kan grimaced inwardly, but kept a smile on his face until the warforged ceased shaking. He then quickly withdrew the arm and rubbed it a bit with one of the others.

[Grue Bait]

Noticing Tar-Kan rubbing his arm, Malus pointedly shook one of Tar-Kan's smaller arms. Vigorously. "So, now what?"

[Vesth]

Cheemormechee Thraixhon-und closed his eyes, closing off his senses to feel for magic.

And magic he found.

The orb was brimming with it, but it was a kind he did not know. Alien and unknown, he tried to make sense of it, but the only thing he could tell was that it was similar to protective magic and guiding magic, beckoning to him...calling out to be taken.

He opened his eyes to find that his hand was outstretched, accidentally brushing against the orb.

Oops.

The orb lit up, a blinding light that slienced the ramblings and shenanigans of the people who were there to witness it's activation.

A bright flare that faded as the orb disintergrated.

It turned into a cloud of particles, spreading around the room, glowing brighter while the room dimmed - some off the particles headed for the entrance and replaced empty air with solid rock.

In mere moments, the entrance was sealed. But the task of these mysterious particles were not yet done.

Forming into shapes and figures, it projected a scene of a woman stumbing into the cave, a spectre of white formed by the movement of particles. (Fake) Blood dripped from her side, she shambled through the opening that no longer existed, and deposited an orb on the floor.

Eyes dilated, legs trembling, she addressed empty air - perhaps a plea to the six (+1 rabbit).

"He is coming...flee while you can! I'll distract him, but mere tricks and baubles like this will only slow him down. Follow the light, and look for another of your kind" she spoke, tapping her ring - a simple gold band, with the symbol of a green snake inscribed - while she held the wounded area in a grimmace.

And the particles disbanded, some filling up the room, some heading deeping inwards, and some coalescing into gold rings around one finger from each person. But, different from hers, yours is inscribed with a purple, eight-pointed star.

Though all light fled from the ring, you could feel power emanating from it, giving you the promise of power - if you could tap into it...

(Please check Houserules for more details)

[Penguinator]

(OOC: Grimmace, nobody can spell the word grimace correctly, and it's all your fault! :smalltongue:)

Tar-Kan looked over the ring appearing on the forefinger of his left hand. He looked down at the Genasi. "Well, little one, perhaps you are not so useless after all." He looked over the others. "With such a warning, it is best not to stick around for 'him' to arrive. I suggest we make our way further into the cave. Perhaps Mr. Mountain would lead the way? He certainly seems capable."

[Ramsus]

Mountain nodded and headed forth, wary for dangers or anything unusual.

[Perception] [roll0]

[Grue Bait]

Not wanting to be left behind, Malus jogs up behind Mountain. "Hey, don't leave me!" He matches step with Mountain. "So what's your story, big guy? Why are you here?"

[Vesth]

The cave ends a little distance in, and the party, including Mountain, could not find anything hidden, nor any secret doors. Looks like they were really sealed inside.

The cave ends at two paths - one leading vaguely up, and the other, down.
Particles of light filter through both paths, but it is apparent that you would only be able to pick one; some of the particles are lining the tunnel entrances, turning into solid rock, and within a matter of minutes, both entrances will be sealed shut.

[Penguinator]

"It seems to me that an upward path will lead out, while a downward path will lead only further into the cave."

[Grue Bait]

Malus reaches into his pocket, pulling out an odd coin. "Heads, we go up, tails, down?"

[Ramsus]

Reluctant to talk about much about his past, Mountain only gave a short answer, "I finished my meditations, so I left. I heard about this cave, so I came."

While he wasn't necessarily too interested in the elf, he could be problematic or even dangerous to the others so he felt it would be wisest to find out more about him. "What of yourself?"

((Gah, ninja'd.))

Mountain just watched Malus to see the result of the coin flip (including if he employed any trickery).

[Grue Bait]

"Oh, I didn't like my village, so I came to this town. Got a little tipsy last night, and slept it off here," Malus said, as taciturn as Mountain. He flips his coin."Tails."

[Zjoot]

"Then down we go."

[Penguinator]

"Further in we go." Tar-Kan paused a moment, looking up, then back down. "May Ioun bless the decision."

[Ramsus]

Wondering what the others were waiting for Mountain looked around. "Oh...right." He thought, realizing they were again expecting him to take the lead.

This time he remembered to take out a torch and his miner's helmet. Combining the two for more power he wore the helmet and lit the torch, searching for dangers and the like as he went.

[Perception][roll0]

[Matthias2207]

"D-d-down...? Can't we just stay here? There may be monsters there!" Stroop reluctantly followed the others, staying in the back.

[Grue Bait]

"Sorry, no." Malus gives Stroop a shove and follows him down the tunnel, checking to make sure nothing nasty waits around a corner.

[Perception] [roll0]

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan looks around suspiciously, melting into the shadows.

[Perception](1d20+9)[roll0]

[usourselves&we]

Cheemormechee Thraixhon-und remained silent ((isn't that a wonder)) entranced by the magic that had filled the air and indeed still fills the air. He wanted to feel this strange magic once more, grabbing hold of someones, any ones, empty hand and closing his eyes he focused on his new ring.

[Arcana][roll0]

[Zjoot]

Ligo went further into the cave with the rest of the party. He was also more intrigued by his newly acquired magical artifact than his surroundings. He studied the ring closely. [arcana][roll0]

[Vesth]

You choose the downward path, the wall sealing behind you. There's no going back now.

Ramsus, Grue Bait and Penguinator
The walls appear to be completely natural. You do not find any traps. No one seems to have traversed this area for quite some time. Unless you need more information about the type of rock and soil.....?

Usourselves&we and The Grimmace
You close your eyes, and the image of a purple eight-pointed star reveals itself to you. You cannot see it, but you feel hundreds, even thousands of linkages from the star to individuals. Nearby, the symbol of a green snake floats, with a similar number of linkages. You can sense more symbols, but no matter how hard you try, you cannot see them.

The smotes of light guide you, leading you past mulitple passages disappearing into the darkness. After what seems like an eternity, you find yourselves at a closed door. The door is made of weathered stone, and judging by the cracks on it's surface, it's at least hundreds of years old. Inlaid into the surface of the the door are dimly glowing runes.

[Ramsus]

Mountain stands aside for those with more arcane and trap disabling expertise.

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan nods, eyeing the door. "One of you with knowledge of the arcane, look into this door and tell us what you see."

(What does one use for trap disabling?)

[Zjoot]

Ligo steps towards the door. "Can't say I've ever seen runes quite like this, but I guess I can have a look, see if anything pops out... [arcana]1d20+7

[Zjoot]

((Oops, messed up the die roll. let's try that again...[arcana][roll0]

[Vesth]

The Grimmace
The runes are in a formation which you recognise as a warding spell, meant to keep outsiders from opening the door.
Normally, such a spell would require a password or an elaborate ritual to force the door open, but the spell has dimished throughout the ages, and a simple push on the door would break the spell.

The runes also seems to suggest that it was cast by a someone called Marassa.

A History check may be used to find out more about Marassa.

[Zjoot]

((Okay, rolling for history, then I'll reveal my info to the party.))

[history][roll0]

[Vesth]

The Grimmace
Marassa was a necromancer, quite well known in Adonis for trying to raise skeletons from the local cemetary.
After a debilitating disease took hold of him, he disappeared, but it was rumoured that he constructed a tomb for himself somewhere, though no one ever found it.

[Zjoot]

"Hmm, ok, it looks like the runes won't be a problem. Just a stale warding spell cast by a necromancer. Sort of a local legend, it's actually a neat story. He wanted to defile the corpses in the graveyard for his sinister experiments. Disease took hold of him eventually, but not before he made himself a tomb deep within the mountains...or at least that's what the legends say. So, we don't have to worry about these runes, but undead may be an issue...

[Grue Bait]

"Eh, I've got nothing to lose." Malus walks over to the door and gives it a strong shove.

[Vesth]

The runes on the door flare up and the door resists your push for a brief moment before giving way, opening up into a room, made of weathered stone like the door, though with nary a crack on it's surface.

There seems to be another door, made of wood this time, and seem to have none of the fancy runes.

Map!
http://i.imgur.com/Gk7SP.png

I apologise, but I can't seem to remember The Grimmace's character name....

[Grue Bait]

Immediately suspicious, Malus looks around the room.

[Perception] [roll0]

[Vesth]

Grue Bait
Your eyes, extremely sharp, scan the room, but you find nothing out of the ordinary. You are very sure that the door is neither locked nor booby-trapped, but your ears pick up a sound from the room beyond. It lasted for a second, barely exaudible, but it was there- a clacking sound, like bone on stone.

[Grue Bait]

"Uh, guys? No booby traps, but I heard something through that door. Kind of a... clacking sound. Your gonna want a weapon, I don't think most necromancers raise things for card game company." As he says this, Malus readies his crossbow and loads a bolt.

[usourselves&we]

"Well there was this one guy I heard of, but" Seeing Malus readying his weapon "Uh, nevermind." Chee prepares his dagger and rod.

[Ramsus]

"The undead are a foul blight upon the natural world. It appears my choice to venture forth into the world once more was the right one."

Mountain prepared his weapon and shield and waited for the others to do the same before he walked over and kicked open the door. ((Because seriously, what are the chances we were going to have someone successfully sneak into a room full of skeletons and such that involved opening a really old door? Also, totally in character since nobody has yet to tell him not to do stuff like that.))

[Vesth]

Kicking open the door dimly reveals a room. Torchlight reveals skeleton bones everywhere, and in the centre of the room is a broken orb, the pieces of glass gathering dust on the stone floor. The rest of the room is shrouded in darkness.

Stroop and Malus
With your dim-light vision, you can see two skeletons in the darkness, their heads turning to you as you approach...

Initiative!
This is absolutely horrible. For you, I mean. :smalleek:

Mountain (+1): 11
Stroopwafel (+3): 5
Tar-Kan (+4): 8
Malus Cutpurse (+5): 9
Cheemormechee Thraixhon-und (+0): 18
Ligo (+1): 4

In order:
Monsters
Chee
Monsters
Mountain
Monsters
Malus Cutpurse
Tar-Kan
Monsters
Stroopwafel
Monsters
Ligo

A skeleton, dusty and almost brittle, bursts in from the left, his rusty blade slicing into metal.

The clacking of bones in the darkness soons follows, but no other skeletons present themselves...

Mountain takes 4 damage from the attack.

Malus and Stroop
You can see another two skeletons approach. The two brittle ones are at -A,24 and C,34, while the two less brittle ones are at -A,25 and C,25


Map:
http://i.imgur.com/0hNEV.png

Religion check for skeletal information on skeletons :smalltongue:

It is Chee's turn!

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan shakes his head. "Ioun would not approve of the undead. They must be dealt with."

[Grue Bait]

Malus grins. "Forget Ioun, this is gonna be fun!" he says as he takes aim.

[usourselves&we]

"Skeleton! Yeah, let's kill it again!"

Cheemormechee Thraixhon-und runs forward (to B13) aims the rod and. . .

[Attack] [roll0]

[Damage?] [roll1]

[Vesth]

The burst of lightning struck the skeleton head on, and it promptly bursts into bone dust, the frail brittle bones unable to take the force of the attack. A good thing, but it seems his weapons and armor has suffered the same fate...

A arrow fires out of the darkness, though it bounced off Mountain.

Another clatter of bones on stone, and a skeleton comes out of the darkness.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/M9O5W.png

It is Mountain's turn!

[usourselves&we]

Right, for got a lot of stuff then.
Static Shock
Target: Decrepit Skeleton at A16
Lightning Damage
Intelligence vs. Reflex
The next attack the target makes before the end of your next turn takes a penalty to the damage roll equal your Constitution modifier.
Con-mod: +3
((was anything else forgotten that needs to be added here?))

[Ramsus]

Mountain examines the situation and decides to close the doors, attempting to hold them shut until he hears at least two creatures directly on the other side.

"This is a good position to hold for now. Get ready." ((What I mean by this is, people move closer to the doorway so that when it opens hopefully our melee people will be in melee range and our ranged people won't have to move past our front line melee guys to get at the archers.))

[Vesth]

Mountain closes the door shut. But the the clatter of bones echo against the floor, making it close to impossible to tell if they are coming any closer.

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan takes up a position next to Mountain (assuming I can). "These abominations are evil in the eye of Ioun. Allow me to deal with them." He bows his head in prayer, asking Ioun what knowledge can be supplied of the foe.

[Religion] [roll0]

[Vesth]

You sense seven to eight skeletons on the other side of the door. Most seems to have lost interest when you left, but two seems to be closing in rapidly.....

A thud shakes the door, followed by a long ripping sound of splintering wood, though there is yet no blemish on your side.

[Matthias2207]

All the fighting and yelling left Stroop dazed for a moment, but now he finally regained control of his senses. He quickly moves behind Mountain and prepares one of the few rituals he knows.
Move to A14

[Ramsus]

((Maybe Ligo moves or maybe he doesn't before Mountain does this.))

Mountain....opens the door. Again.

[Vesth]

Mountain opens the door.....Ahhhh! Two skeletons! Where did they come from?!

(People with low-light vision can see more skeletons turning their heads as the door opens.)

Map
http://i.imgur.com/muO0F.png

Mountain still has a standard and a move action!

[Ramsus]

Mountain takes a step forward (Shift to A16) and swings his Alhulak at the Skeleton before him. (Strength of Stone: To Hit: [roll0] Damage: [roll1] .)

[Vesth]

Mountain's weapon swings forth...but slides off the skeleton's shield.
His torch now reveals two skeletons hiding in the darkness (the ones at -A,24 and B,24)

Mountain has +3 temp hp

Another skeleton approaches. How exciting!

Map
http://i.imgur.com/GD5js.png

It is Malus and Tar-Kan's turn
It doesn't matter which of the two goes first.

[Ramsus]

Tar-Kan moves (to B16), stepping between Stroop and the kid, and lashes out against both the skeletons with his lower arms (Thri-Kreen Claw: Attack vs DS3: [roll0] Damage: [roll1] . Attack vs Skeleton: [roll2] Damage: [roll3] .)

[Grue Bait]

Malus takes his spot behind Mountain(A15), takes aim at a skeleton(D21), and fires.
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Ramsus]

((Well, I'm pretty sure that hit didn't kill that skeleton. So...I'll just continue with Tar-Kan's turn.))

As the bolt whizzes past Tar-Kan he also focuses on the same target with his divine powers. (Does this provoke an AOO from Skeleton, Vesth? If so Mountain uses will interrupt it with a melee basic attack (because of Battle Awareness) ) (Channel Divinity: Abjure Undead on Skeleton 1: Attack: [roll0] Damage (Radiant): [roll1]. And then it's pulled to B17 (assuming the attack hits and it's still alive). )

[Vesth]

Tar-Kan's claws slash out, wiping out one skeleton, and injuring the other for 10 damage.

Malus moves....and he sees more skeletons. He raises his crossbow, and the resulting shot pierces bone for 11 damage.

Not to be outdone, Tar-Kan unleases a blast of divine energy, but even as the blast damages the skeleton for 22 damage (pushing the monster), one of the other skeletons tries to strike at Tar-Kan. Mountain makes use of this opportunity and...

Good news. Skeleton misses.

Bad news. Mountain also misses.

Mountain has +3 temp hp. And -4 real hp.
One of them skeletons is dead. Woot!
Skeleton takes 10 damage.
Skeleton 1 takes 33 damage. It is bloodied. Or what skeletons would call bloodied. And it is stunned.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/hXs2e.png

It is Stroop's turn!

[Matthias2207]

Stroop casts Chill Wind just behind the skeletons.
Chill Wind on A18
[roll0]
[roll1]
At-Will ✦ Cold, Implement, Primal
Standard Action Area burst 1 within 10 squares
Target: Each creature in burst
Attack: Wisdom vs. Fortitude
Hit: 1d6 cold damage, and you slide the target 1 square.
... Hope that's all...?

[Matthias2207]

The wind just continues blowing...
Target: Skeleton 1
[roll0]
[roll1] (Yes, it's a cruel world...)
If hit slide to B18.

[Vesth]

Stoop can't missed the first skeleton, but the second one, being stunned, took the full force of the blow (1 damage). Which wasn't much anyway.

One of the weaker-looking skeletons fire a bolt at Mountain, hitting him for 3 damage

Dude. You forgot to add the +2 from combat advantage (skeleton 1 is stunned)

Mountain has no temp hp. And -4 real hp.
Skeleton took 10 damage.
Skeleton 1 took 34 damage. It is bloodied. Or what skeletons would call bloodied. And it is stunned. (until the end of Tar-Kan's next turn)

Map
http://i.imgur.com/fZdrY.png

It is now Ligo's turn

Monsters
Chee
Monsters
Mountain
Monsters
Malus Cutpurse
Tar-Kan
Stroopwafel
Monsters
Ligo

[Penguinator]

"Face the light of Ioun, you monsters."

[Zjoot]

Lido had read stories of battles, and even told them, but he'd never actually been up against a real foe, and as such he was stunned for a bit while his allies jumped into action. But then he shook it off and joined the fray, he moved into position and started working his magic on the skeletons, mocking them for all he was worth. "Huh, I don't know why we're even fighting these miserable bits of bone. I mean really, you call yourselves monsters? I can see right through you. Besides, you can't be that great. You've already died once, shouldn't be that hard to do it again. I bet if we just waited another five minutes you'd all just shamble into walls and fall apart. Or maybe a stiff breeze'll blow through and that'll kill you, you useless paperweights. I can't believe that guy is so famous if all he could raise were a few little specks of bone dust."

Vicious mockery against skeleton 1:
[Attack][roll0]
[Damage][roll1]

[Zjoot]

((Don't want to edit for fear of messing up the dice roll, but I forgot to mention that I move north one tile. Also, it's worth noting that after about an hour of MLP, I seem to be reading all dialogue in the voice of one of the characters. That last post=Rainbow Dash))

[Vesth]

The skeleton seems to recoil under Ligo's stinging words, though whether it be due to the content of the words itelf or the flying spittle of disgust is unclear. Nevertheless, the skeleton took 10 damage, and -2 penalty to attack rolls until the end of Ligo's next turn.

Two of the skeletons rush forward, their bones clattering against the floor as they move.

Mountain has no temp hp. And -4 real hp.
Skeleton took 10 damage.
Skeleton 1 took 44 damage. It is bloodied. Or what skeletons would call bloodied. And it is stunned. (until the end of Tar-Kan's next turn). It has a -2penalty to attack rolls until the end of Ligo's next turn.

http://i.imgur.com/3AMG8.png[

It is Chee's turn.

[usourselves&we]

"Yeah, more things to zap!" Jumping forward (Shift to B14) Chee aims for the nearest skeleton (Skeleton on A17) and fires.

Static Shock:
attack, intelligence vs. reflex: [roll0]
damage, lightning: [roll1]

[Vesth]

The electric charge surged through the skeleton, dealing 13 damage.

In retaliation, it swings it's blade - oh wait, Chee's too far away. Nevermind, it tries to hack at Mountain, failing miserably, while another skeleton also failed miserably, his arrow flying past Tar-Kan.

Mountain has no temp hp. And -4 real hp.
Skeleton took 23 damage.
Skeleton 1 took 44 damage. It is bloodied. Or what skeletons would call bloodied. And it is stunned. (until the end of Tar-Kan's next turn). It has a -2penalty to attack rolls until the end of Ligo's next turn.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/WIrAg.png

...Imgur is acting up again. See this (http://imm.io/sxYV) for the map with coordinates.

It is Mountain's turn!

[Ramsus]

Mountain, having turned aside the skeleton's blade with his battered and age-worn targe (of slightly larger size than average), brought down his Alhulak with an overhand swing.

(Strength of Stone
Attack (Skeleton): [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] )

((If it doesn't die (assuming I even hit it) Mountain will use Nature's Wrath. If it does die he'll hold the rest of his action to use Nature's Wrath when two or more enemies are adjacent, assuming I can actually do that. If not he'll just end his turn.))

[Vesth]

The skeleton takes the full force of 5 damage. It looks quite weak now! The wrath of nature also strikes (only) the skeleton.

....and skeleton 1 tries to move, but it realizes it's actually stunned. Oops.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/Hzzjv.png

It is Malus, Tar-kan, and Stroop's turn
Order doesn't matter.

[Matthias2207]

With his view still blocked by the hulking figure of Mountain, Stroop blindly summons a freezing blast of cold air somewhere between the skeletons. patiently waits until he moves aside...:smalltongue:

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan glares at the skeleton before him, before unleashing a divine strike.

Attack [roll0] (Wis vs. Reflex)
Damage [roll1]

He then steps back to allow the Shifter access to the enemies.

Radiant Vengeance
At-Will: Divine, Implement, Radiant
Standard Action Ranged 10
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d8 + Wisdom modifier radiant damage, and you gain
temporary hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier.

[Matthias2207]

Stroop quickly takes the place of Tar-Kan and blasts at the skeletons before him with razor sharp thorns.
Move to B16
Close blast 5 is a square of 5x5 adjacent the square I'm standing on?
Skeleton:

[roll1]
Skeleton 1:
[roll=Attack]1d20+4
1d6+4
Skeleton 2:
1d20+4
1d6+4
Skeleton 3:
1d20+4
1d6+4
Decrepit Skeleton 1:
1d20+4
1d6+4
Decrepit Skeleton 2:
1d20+4
1d6+4

If hit: -4 to defense

Encounter. Implement, Primal
Standard Action Close blast 5
Target: Each creature in blast Attack: Wisdom vs. Fortitude
Hit: 1d6 +Wisdom modifier damage, and the target takes a -2 penalty to all defenses until the end of your next turn.
Primal Predator: The penalty to all defenses equals 1 + your Dexterity modifier.

[Matthias2207]

Rolls didn't work, try again in new post.
Skeleton 1:
[roll0]
[roll1]
Skeleton 2:
[roll2]
[roll3]
Skeleton 3:
[roll4]
[roll5]
Decrepit Skeleton 1:
[roll6]
[roll7]
Decrepit Skeleton 2:
[roll8]
[roll9]

[Grue Bait]

"Hey! Bonehead! Malus slyly distracts the skeleton at B19 as he lets loose another bolt.

(Sly Flourish-B19)
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Vesth]

Bolts of holy energy, followed by thorns and an arrows flies into the foray.

...and it seems only only one of the skeleton has a thorn in it for their troubles.

(Well, that and buffs and de-buffs)

In return, an arrow flies out of the darkness, cutting deep into Stroop's arm. And apperently severing a tendon.

Mountain has no temp hp. And -4 real hp.
Penguinator has 4 temp hp.
Stroop has -3 hp. And is weakened (save ends).

Skeleton took 23 damage. -4 to all defences until the end of Stroop's next turn.
Skeleton 2 took 9 damage. -4 to all defences until the end of Stroop's next turn.
Skeleton 1 took 44 damage. It is bloodied. Or what skeletons would call bloodied. It has a -2penalty to attack rolls until the end of Ligo's next turn. -4 to all defences until the end of Stroop's next turn.
Skeleton 3, DS1 and DS2: -4 to all defences until the end of Stroop's next turn.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/oecxM.png

It is Ligo's Turn.

[Zjoot]

Ligo lets loose another round of insults at the nearest skeleton.

Vicious mockery at skeleton 1

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Vesth]

Wherelse the last barrage of insults were potent, this set were downright deadly, and the skeleton falls apart under the expletive-laced mockery.

Another skeleton shambles up and cuts Stroop for 3 damage.

Mountain has no temp hp. And -4 real hp.
Penguinator has 4 temp hp.
Stroop has -6 hp.

Skeleton took 23 damage. -4 to all defences until the end of Stroop's next turn.
Skeleton 2 took 9 damage. -4 to all defences until the end of Stroop's next turn.
Skeleton 3, DS1 and DS2: -4 to all defences until the end of Stroop's next turn.

Map:
http://i.imgur.com/dsCK3.png

It is Chee's turn.

[usourselves&we]

Chee looks a tinny bit crazed and zaps the Skeleton(at A17) once more.

Static Shock:
attack, intelligence vs. reflex: [roll0]
damage, lightning: [roll1]
The next attack the target makes before the end of chee's next turn takes a penalty to the damage roll equal his Constitution modifier. (witch is 3)

[Vesth]

As the bolt of electric discharge flashes harmlessly pass, one of the skeleton fires a bolt, while another swings his blade.

The bolt misses, but the sword cuts into Mountain's metal body, dealing 5 damage.

Mountain has no temp hp. And -9 real hp. Skeleton has marked him. Or it.
Penguinator has 4 temp hp.
Stroop has -6 hp.

Skeleton took 23 damage. -4 to all defences until the end of Stroop's next turn.
Skeleton 2 took 9 damage. -4 to all defences until the end of Stroop's next turn.
Skeleton 3, DS1 and DS2: -4 to all defences until the end of Stroop's next turn.

Map didn't change. No one moved.

It is Mountain's, Malus's, Tar-Kan's and Stroop's turn!

[Ramsus]

Mountain is sick of Skeleton's face and tells him so by trying to remove it.

(Strength of Stone
Attack (Skeleton): [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] )

(If Skeleton dies he'll shift forward one space and mark. If not he'll not shift forward and still mark.)

[Grue Bait]

Malus pulls the trigger yet again, aiming for an empty eye socket.

(Sly Flourish against skeleton at B20)
Attack: 1d20+7
Damage: 1d6+7

[Grue Bait]

(can't get rolls to work)
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Ramsus]

Tar-Kan lashes out, past Mountain, at the skeleton in front of him.

(Overwhelming Strike
Attack (Skeleton): [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Matthias2207]

Stroop takes the form of a ferocious deer (Wild Shape, minor action) and summons a swarm of small birds (Swarming Locusts, but locusts are not my style).

Skeleton:
[roll0]
[roll1]
Skeleton 2:
[roll2]
[roll3]
Skeleton 3:
[roll4]
[roll5]

[Vesth]

Mountain, Tar-Kan and Matthias unleash a fury that wastes the skeleton, while Malus completely missed his target. Ouch.

One of the skeletons fire an arrow, grazing Mountain's metallic shoulder for 3 damage

Mountain has no temp hp. And -12 real hp.
Penguinator has 4 temp hp.
Stroop has -6 hp.

Skeleton is dead
Skeleton 2 took 15 damage.
Skeleton 3, DS1 and DS2: Nothing

Map
http://i.imgur.com/uQgdI.png

It is Ligo's turn

[Matthias2207]

"Ligo!" The bard was sleeping peacefully in the back of the room, while the others desperately fought of the undead enemies. "Ligo! Ligo, wake up!" Stroop was at least a little panicked now. "No time to sleep! Come on, we need you Ligo!" But the elf took no notice of the little druid next to him, nor of the small brown rabbit tugging at his clothes.

[Grue Bait]

After the shortest-longest bout of narcolepsy Ligo's ever had, he comes to. "Hubahwah?" Realizing that he has a skeleton to mock, he snaps to attention.

"Oy, bonehead! You half-formed lump of deformity, you chicken-legged, hollow-eyed fool! Whatever black sorcerer conjured sobs nightly at what he's created! He's as ashamed of you in death as your parents were of you in life! You are an empty-headed, pig-eared buffoon! A half-bred mongrel, club-footed and weak! You are a broken tool, a dull knife, rotting meat that's stricken with maggots! And worst of all, you are a mistake, one that my companions will soon rectify!"

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Grue Bait]

Oh yeah, that's against skeleton two, by the way.

[Vesth]

The skeleton stares blankly at Ligo, jawbone agape. How dare he insult it! In a brief burst of anger, it moved forward, and stabbed Mountain for 5 damage. The other skeleton tried attacking Stroop, but to little avail.

Mountain has no temp hp. And -17 real hp.
Penguinator has 4 temp hp.
Stroop has -6 hp.

Skeleton 2 took 15 damage.
Skeleton 3, DS1 and DS2: Nothing

Map
http://i.imgur.com/VfZ3g.png

It is Chee's turn

[usourselves&we]

"Uh oh, metal-guy doesn't look too good." Chee mutters to himself, digging through his backpack and then pouch with his free hand (forgetful little bugger) "Mean really, how thin or rusted his hide gotta be to have him fall to these rotters, they don't even got skin! Wait there it is." Chee pulls a vial of gray/golden liquid from his pouch and chucks it at Mountain, a half second later a bolt of lightning is trying to find it way to the skeleton that hit Mountain.

Curative Admixture: on Mountain

Static Shock: Skeleton 2
Attack: [roll0]
damage, lightning: [roll1]

[Vesth]

The bolt of lightning smashes into the skeleton, dealing 11 damage as bones fracture of scatter under the sheer force.

The healing infusion lights up upon contact with the busted metal, and this light distracts one of the skeletons, whose arrow missed as a result.



Mountain has no temp hp. And -17 real hp.
Penguinator has 4 temp hp.
Stroop has -6 hp.

Skeleton 2 took 26 damage. It is bloodied.
Skeleton 3, DS1 and DS2: Nothing

Map
http://i.imgur.com/VfZ3g.png

It is Mountain's, Malus's, Tar Kan's and Stroop's turn

[Matthias2207]

The birds swooped up for a moment, then rained down on the skeletons again.

Skeleton 2:
[roll0]
[roll1]

Skeleton 3:
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Ramsus]

((Since I have no idea when I'll lose internet access for about a week I'll just go now. If nobody hears from me after this will someone pass along my wish to Lex I hope she doesn't start her game too long before Tuesday?))

Mountain gives a nod to Chee in thanks for the healing and whirls on the Skeleton in front of him and preparing to strike at either of those nearby if they provide the opportunity.

(Strength of Stone: AC vs Skeleton 2
[roll0]
[roll1]

Nature's Wrath on both Skeletons)

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan shakes his head. "They keep coming? Senseless."

Attack:[roll0]
Damage:[roll1]

[Grue Bait]

Malus waves at Decrepit Skeleton 1 before sending a bolt toward it.

Sly Flourish against Decrepit Skeleton 1
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Vesth]

A bird pecks at a metaphorical eye of one of the skeletons, while the other shoos them away with his blade. (Skeleton 2 takes 5 damage) (Swarming locusts birds: skeleton 2 and 3 grant combat advantage until the end of Stroop's next turn)

Mountain misses, but his strike ensures he has the attention of the two skeletons. (Gain +3 temp. hp, and marked Skeleton 2 and 3).

Both Tar-Kan and Malus miss badly.

One of the decrepit skeletons fire another arrow, cutting Stroop for 3 damage.

Mountain has 3 hp. And -9 real hp.
Penguinator has 4 temp hp.
Stroop has -9 hp.

Skeleton 2 took 31 damage. It is bloodied.
Skeleton 3, DS1 and DS2: Nothing

Skeleton 2 and 3: granting combat advantage until Stroop's next turn, marked by Mountain.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/VfZ3g.png

It is Ligo's turn

[Grue Bait]

"You bloated, complacent fiend! Your father was a drunk and your mother obese!"

(Vicious Mockery- Skeleton 2)
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Vesth]

Before Ligo can even insult them properly, the two skeletons jump into action, and while the blade of one skids across the metal hide of Mountain, the other scores a gash in his arm. (7 damage)

Mountain has 0 temp hp. And -10 real hp.
Penguinator has 4 temp hp.
Stroop has -9 hp.

Skeleton 2 took 31 damage. It is bloodied.
Skeleton 3, DS1 and DS2: Nothing

Skeleton 2 and 3: granting combat advantage until Stroop's next turn, marked by Mountain.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/VfZ3g.png

It is Chee's turn

[usourselves&we]

Chee takes another shot at the same skeleton as before.

Static Shock: Skeleton 2
Attack: [roll0]
damage, lightning: [roll1]

[Vesth]

As the attack strikes the skeleton deeply for 13 damage, the skeleton nearly crumbling under the pressure, the sparks of energy in the darkness reveal an incoming arrow that pierces Mountain's metal hide for 3 damage.

Mountain has 0 temp hp. And -13 real hp.
Penguinator has 4 temp hp.
Stroop has -9 hp.

Skeleton 2 took 44 damage. It is bloodied.
Skeleton 3, DS1 and DS2: Nothing

Skeleton 2 and 3: granting combat advantage until Stroop's next turn, marked by Mountain.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/VfZ3g.png

It is Mountain's Malus's Tar Kan's and Stroop's turn

[Ramsus]

Mountain takes another swing at the badly damaged Skeleton.

(Strength of Stone: AC vs Skeleton 2

[roll0]
[roll1]

Nature's Wrath on both Skeletons)

(Edit: Ok, what am I doing wrong here with the dice rolling?)

[Grue Bait]

Malus flips off the skeleton as he shoots it

"Sly" Flourish- Decrepit Skeleton 2
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan shakes his head, and swings his chain.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Matthias2207]

And again, the birds dive down on the undead.

Skeleton 2:
[roll0]
[roll1]

Skeleton 3:
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Vesth]

The skeleton sidesteps Malus's attack...just to crumble under the sheer force of Mountain's strike, that shaved through bone and armor alike.

The birds distract the other skeleton, pecking it's skull, just to have Tar-kan smashing it with a faceful of chain.

One of the other skeletons move in and cuts Mountain for 4 damage

Mountain has 0 temp hp. And -14 real hp.
Penguinator has 4 temp hp.
Stroop has -9 hp.

Skeleton 2 is dead.
Skeleton 3: -13hp.

DS2: Nothing

DS1 and Skeleton 3: granting combat advantage until Stroop's next turn, marked by Mountain.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/UL17q.png

It is Ligo's turn

[Grue Bait]

"All right, listen up you brainless bloody rotters. Your boss? That sorcerer guy? Yeah, he doesn't care about you. You could just stop working, and he wouldn't care. It makes no difference to him. You're in dead-end jobs, buddies, and you have no future. Not that that's a problem, because really, you won't live long enough to matter."

Vicious Mockery- Decrepit Skeleton 2
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Vesth]

The skeleton looks at Ligo blankly, raising one arm as if to say something...
and then it crumbles into dust, the ancient magic holding it together finally gone. Perhaps, perhaps, in that one moment between undeath and death yet again, there might be a spark of consiousness. Is it guilt? Is it ridicule? Or maybe you're just thinking too much. Insulting skeletons does that.

Meanwhile, the other skeleton that doesn't care for theratics scores a deep gash in yet another of Mountain's increasing wounds. (7 damage)


Mountain has 0 temp hp. And -21 real hp.
Penguinator has 4 temp hp.
Stroop has -9 hp.

Skeleton 3: -13hp.

DS1 and Skeleton 3: granting combat advantage until Stroop's next turn, marked by Mountain.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/jYVtr.png

It is Chee's, Mountain's, Malus's, Tar Kan's and Stroop's turn

[Ramsus]

Mountain swings his alhulak to the side at the skeleton in front of Tar Kan.

(((Strength of Stone: AC vs Skeleton 3

[roll0]
[roll1]

Nature's Wrath on both Skeletons)

[Grue Bait]

Sly Flourish- Decrepit Skeleton 1
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan watches the skeleton crumble, swinging again at the one before him.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Matthias2207]

The birds never tire, it seems.

Decrepit Skeleton 1:
[roll0]
[roll1]

Skeleton 3:
[roll2]
[roll3]

[usourselves&we]

Lightning for Skeleton3

Static Shock:
Attack:
damage, lightning: [roll]1d8++5

[Ramsus]

Hmmm, &we screwed up the damage roll and I am too impatient to PM him, wait for him to see it and do it right, and then wait more for Vesth to see it and update so...I'm just going to roll for him. Not that it matters who does that actual rolling since it's the forum rolling not us.

[roll0]

[Vesth]

Amidst the flurry of blows and birds, wayward strikes of blade and electricity struck one the skeletons deeply. However, the unmolested skeleton took the opportunity, and ducking under Malus's attack, it slipped inside Mountain's guard, where the pummel of its blade cracked against metal jaw (4 damage)

Mountain has 0 temp hp. And -25 real hp.
Penguinator has 4 temp hp.
Stroop has -9 hp.

Skeleton 3: -38hp. It is bloodied.

DS1 and Skeleton 3: granting combat advantage until Stroop's next turn, marked by Mountain.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/jYVtr.png

It is Ligo's turn

[Grue Bait]

Sah-wing batta batta, swing! Oh, right, sorry, no muscles. Heh, stupid, weak, lil bugger. It's almost cute how much you suck.

Vicious Mockery- Decrepit Skeleton
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Vesth]

Ligo's attack, the sheer magically infused words, somehow manages break the skeleton, and it crumples under pressure. The last skeleton continues where its ally started, and deepens Mountain's already deep wound (7 damage)

Mountain has 0 temp hp. And -32 real hp.
Penguinator has 4 temp hp.
Stroop has -9 hp.

Skeleton 3: -38hp. It is bloodied.

Skeleton 3: granting combat advantage until Stroop's next turn, marked by Mountain.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/4KnRv.png

It is EVERYONE'S turn

[Ramsus]

Mountain takes another swing at the skeleton before him.

(((Strength of Stone: AC vs Skeleton 3

(1d20+7)
(1d8+4)

Nature's Wrath on the Skeleton.)

((If my rolls don't work again, someone else just do the rolls for me.))

[Grue Bait]

Ramsus's Stuff
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

"Down to one!"

Sly Flourish
Attack: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3]

"You're worthless, rotter!"
Vicious Mockery
Attack: [roll4]
Damage: [roll5]

[Vesth]

The combined attacks finally felled the final skeleton, destroying the last undead in the room

*Combat Over!*
Each player gets 117 exp

As you explore the rest of the room, you notice that quite a few bones ardorn the area, and the southeast corner of the room is black with soot and dust, with a complete skeleton dressed in tattered robes lying there, surrounded by burned bones and a backpack untouched by anything but time.

The centre of the room is filled by what seems to be a broken orb, with shards of it littering around the area.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/JB0zP.png

[Grue Bait]

"Dibs on the goodies in the sack," Malus says as he enters the room. "Oh, geez, that looks bad. How does everything around the guy get blazed but he and his bag stay untouched? Pretty sketchy, if you ask me."

[Matthias2207]

"W-We shouldn't disturb the dead any more. Can't we just leave? I r-really don't like it here. I miss the sun..." Stroop starts to sob a little.

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan shakes his head. He points at the shattered orb, making no sound.

[Grue Bait]

"Hey, Stroop? You'll be fine, I promise. Nothing down here will hurt you while I'm around. See Mountain and Tar-kan? See how big and strong they are? They won't let anyone hurt you either." Ligo approaches the shattered orb. "Anyone know what this is? Or how it got this way?"

[usourselves&we]

((if time could be turned back a bit to give a fake an answer.))


"Dibs on the goodies in the sack," Malus says as he enters the room. "Oh, geez, that looks bad. How does everything around the guy get blazed but he and his bag stay untouched? Pretty sketchy, if you ask me."

"Ooh! I know, the dead guy is magic and had fire breath, or at least tha-"



"W-We shouldn't disturb the dead any more. Can't we just leave? I r-really don't like it here. I miss the sun..." Stroop starts to sob a little.

*rolls eyes*


"Hey, Stroop? You'll be fine, I promise. Nothing down here will hurt you while I'm around. See Mountain and Tar-kan? See how big and strong they are? They won't let anyone hurt you either." Ligo approaches the shattered orb. "Anyone know what this is? Or how it got this way?"

"Can't you feel the place and work it out for yourself, or does being only half-elf make you twice as lazy?"

[Arcana] [roll0]

[Ramsus]

Mountain silently places a reassuring hand on Stroop's shoulder then turns to Maulus and says, "Be wary."

[usourselves&we]

Having picked up a shard of the broken orb then tossing it "Meh, boring. But this lock over here is where all the crazy magic is at!" Chee makes his way over to the door to the east adding "Anyone have a couple shinny keys? Think they would be shinny anyway, or maybe they would be bone keys considering the location, well they could be normal but. . ." more rambling that we don't have time to type out fully.

[Grue Bait]

"Yeah, yeah, kid, I'll pick it in a minute. I'm gonna check the goody bag over here"

Perception- Backpack
[roll0]

[Grue Bait]

Malus opens the bag

[Vesth]

Malus moves forward, and gently opens the bag.

The moment the bag is opened, a stream of magic bursts forth, which molds into the form of the face of a gaunt old man, with a dirty, dingly beard, and wearing dark blue robes.

"Ack, let's hope that rats don't activate my spell, ehh? Wouldn't want to spend so much energy just to have it wasted. Assuming the person viewing this spell is intelligent, I have a request for you.

Oh god. I better not be talking to a blasted rat. Or to someone that doesn't speak common. I really should have thought this through...

Ok, time here is short. My shield can only last an hour at most, and the old man has things to say.

Let's start at the beginning.

Marassa was quite the ambitious mage in his time. Always going around and testing the limits of magic! There was this funny accident where he tried combining Bigby's..well nevermind. It'll take a day and a night to tell that story. Anyway, he had a special taste for summoning undead, and he terrorised quite a few villages with it. But adventurers and irritated townsfolk or disgrunted paladins weren't his downfall. It was a disease, Nighthold Fever, that told hold of him and made him weak. After fighting it for several weeks, he disappeared.

And we have cause to believe that he has researched quite a bit on that disease, but he perished before he was able to complete it. And it's quite valuable, so we were tasked to retrieve the notes of the disease from him, defences or not, but it was a lot more difficult than we imagined...

For one, his crypt is a lot bigger than it's supposed to be! I suspect it's because most of his rooms are connected to other dimensions, but that is not the main problem.

The main problem is the darn monsters! They're surprisingly weak, but each monster we kill, it revives. Each trap we disable, it comes back. The monsters do not tire, but we do. Eventually, everyone was wiped out. Except, of course, yours truly.

I managed to do some research and I have come to the conclusion that an orb is responsible for this. It practically radiates dark magic! By my calculations, with the last of my spells, I should be able to destroy the orb, and it will destroy all linkages to the other dimensions, and prevent any monsters or traps from recurring. But I'll be dead.

So, if possible, please try to retrieve the notes. There's a scroll in this bag that will teleport you back to the surface. Give it to the priests of the temple. Thank you..." the sound echoes away as the face vanishes.

The bag contains said scroll, along with a magical falchion and a potion of healing.

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan stared for a moment, before slipping the blade from the bag. "Any objections to my taking this blade?"

[Ramsus]

Mountain shakes his head no and says, "I would request the potion."

[Grue Bait]

"How did that sword even fit...? Anyway, I'll take the scroll, and hold onto the bag. Where to, boss?"

[usourselves&we]

"Hold on there tightrope." Chee moves to stare down Malus, which is particularly hard considering the size difference of about two feet. "Do you even know how to use that scroll you have in your hands? No, don't answer that. Don't even think of trying to answer that. I know your type, you go into places take the stuff that sparkles when no light is around and you sell it to the town fool for less then it's worth, but more then you think it is. But I'll tell you, I know what the glowing stuff is worth and I know better then you what the other stuff is worth too, so I'll be setting the selling price of the useless things we gather here, wait never mind all that, just give me the scroll before you damage it or open a vortex to the void."

[Grue Bait]

Rage flashes across Malus's face. "You. Know. Nothing of "my kind," Shortstack. You want the goods? You open the trap-ridden box. You grow the cajones to check out the suspicious backpack in the burn scar. Until then, you can go mix your tonics and gypsy drinks in the corner. No, really, back off."

[Ramsus]

Mountain shakes his head at the typical "civilized" behavior. "Do either of you actually know what the scroll is?"

[usourselves&we]

Turning slightly from the confrontation "Sure I do, the floating head said it was a teleport spell. If big old pointy-ears gave it to me I'd be able to tell you more about it." Turning back Chee holds his hand out. "Let me see it."

*mutter* "Anyways you called dibs on looking, not my fault for respecting the code."

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan slips back into the shadows, slicing the air with his new toy. He looks it over, nodding at how it felt in his hand. (And his hand... and his hand... and...) There would be appropriate times for argument, perhaps. When those times came, he may even join in. This was not one of those times.

[Grue Bait]

"Not so! I called the stuff inside the bag. I've got no use for the sword and drink, and by giving them away, I live longer. Now about the scroll... Erm, lessee, it's, ah, teleportation, and so it'll ah, get you from here to there. Really fast."

[Ramsus]

"Do you know how to use it Malus? Magic is dangerous to meddle with. Especially the stronger it is." (said the magically created lifeform.)

[Grue Bait]

"Uhhhh..."

Arcana Check: [roll0]

[Grue Bait]

"Uh, yeah, totally." He examines the scroll, turning it over in his hands. "It'll take us, uhh, up. Yeah, up, to the surface. I'll use it when we're done here, no problem."

[Penguinator]

As Tar-Kan swung the sword in the darkness, it began to emit a blue glow. "That's new..."

Arcana: [roll0]

[Matthias2207]

"Uh, yeah, totally." He examines the scroll, turning it over in his hands. "It'll take us, uhh, up. Yeah, up, to the surface. I'll use it when we're done here, no problem."

"Ummm... Isn't that exactly what the man in the bag said? I really think it's better if you gave it to Chee."

[Grue Bait]

"Well, there's no fun in that, is there? Anyway let's get moving. I can smell the money in this place."

[usourselves&we]

Looking a bit annoyed, Chee backs down from the fight. "You're right, there are much better things for me to get my hands on here. . . But, where do we start?"

[Grue Bait]

"Well you said east was magic-locked, right? How's north and south look, Chee?"

[usourselves&we]

Chee looks at the lock once more, shuts his eyes, takes a deep breath and swallows a fly. while coughing a stray thought (probably made from the cursing of a tiny insect's last breath) as to the way of how to open the door pops up.

After a puzzled look holds his face for a time Cheemormechee can no longer hold the disgust. "NO! No no no no no. Why do people have to be so . . . unclean-ly with their magic protection! I don't even know where that lock has been, who has been by it, whose touched it. . . A DOG could have licked it for the love of. . . do you even know. . . and the smell of them when it rains! Horrid! And rain in general are you kidding me! I'd rather it be winter! Oh . . . but then, then you would have other problems. don't get me started on food in winter." With his rant Chee moves to go down the south path, unless someone stops him.

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan makes a move to follow Chee, hoping to keep him out of trouble.

[Vesth]

The south doorway reveals a library crammed with books, many worn and decayed with the damp air that had seeped into the place. In the centre of the room is a desk with a chair, and runes surrounding it dimly lights up as you enter this place.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/AxaLt.png#.UHjYNMXMjF8

[Ramsus]

Mountain walks straight to the table he sees ahead of him, thinking perhaps he will find something informative.

[usourselves&we]

Chee lazily walks down the path in front of him, hoping looking at old things will make him forget about the horrid ideas from before. He turns left at the first time acceptable and stops to look at the contents of the shelves. "So, uh, anybody see any treasure, er, I mean anything key-like."

[Vesth]

The desk is a well-worn slab of wood, carved expertly and polished smoothly a long time ago. The desk itself is empty, though the runes brighten as you approach, as if acting as a source of light for any aspiring reader.

As Mountain stands next to the desk, the light illuminates the back wall, oddly cracked and decayed for one made of stone.

[Ramsus]

Mountain walks over to the wall, examines it briefly to find the weakest point, and tries to punch through it.

((Perception: 7+8=15. Strength: Rofl.... Nat 20! + 4 = 24.))

[Grue Bait]

Malus walks down his aisle, watching for anything unusual.

Perception: [roll0]

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan slips into the shadows, looking up at the ceiling just in case. Being an insectoid, he was used to things being up in the ceiling.

Perception: [roll0]

[Vesth]

Mountain punches the wall, and it cracks under pressure, the lines of fault expanding across the fake wall before the whole thing crumbles to dusk, revealing another room.

The room smells musky with stale air, and from what can be seen, a pool of some sort of translucent green liquid occupies its centre, with wooden coffins lining up the sides of the walls.

Tar-Kan
The ceiling is made of stone, strong and sturdy. You doubt it'll break anytime soon. The stone isn't damp either, which means that there is no source of water directly above it. You notice that there are a few books wedged between some of the bookcases and the ceilings, which Malus probably not noticed.

Malus
You spy a few books that are still in rather good condition.

Amongst the few you see,

•Nighthold Fever, A Research Journal
•Interdimensional Nexus
•The Art of the Undead
•A History of Adonis
•The End of Time, A Prophecy
•The Eye of Inzagar
•Necrotic Regeants for the Powerful

Map
http://i.imgur.com/U8GkX.png#.UHwgNsXMjF8

[Ramsus]

Mountain calls out in a loud clear voice, "I have found something." and then steps into the room to get a better look.

((Perception: [roll0]))

[usourselves&we]

"Big deal, you can destroy walls. Anyways, there's thousands of cool (possibly old) books here, why move on before looking for any useful ones?"

Chee starts to look for some that radiate energy and/or have important titles.

arcana: [roll0]
perception: [roll1]

if needed for title interpretation:
history: [roll2]
arcana: [roll3]
religion: [roll4]

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan continues to slip around in the shadows, checking for enemies every which way.

Perception: [roll0]

[Grue Bait]

Malus grabs all of the aforementioned books, bringing them to Chee. He starts to read the research journal.

"Chee, check these- Holy... Wow. Lookit 'chu, muscles, bustin' down walls." He pats Mountain on the bicep as he squeezes into the room. "Good job, buddy. Remind me not to make you angry."

Perception: [roll0]

[Ramsus]

"Do not make me angry." Mountain obligingly reminds Malus.

[Grue Bait]

Malus blinks. "Uh, right. Good job. Now what do my elf eyes see...? he mutters.

[Vesth]

Mountain walks off into the gloom while the rest bickers or just....wander around.

Mountain
In the pool, you notice some sort of glowing key, the glow of which is muted by the translucent liquid.

Chee
You sense no magic...in this room anyway (other than the light-runes). You can sense magic in the room that Mountain had opened up though.

Tar-Kan
You don't find anything of value. Were you expecting something? :smalltongue:

Grue Bait
Nighthold Fever has always been a debilitating diseases that has taken the lives of so many...of farmers, wizards, architects and so forth. For such a disease, it is also extremely versatile, able to transfer easily between races, though it seems to prefer to affect humans more easily; in Skynark, where all my research is based, among the 631 patients I have seen, 340 are humans.

This disease is a cruel one indeed, the effects of which will be discussed in a later chapter. But the result is death, more often than not, and while a few recover naturally, no cure has been found.

This book is not a cure. I have failed in all attempts in producing one, and I have tried hard for many a year. I am publishing this in hopes that some would have the knowledge and capability to do what I cannot. I know Adonis has a few aspiring alchemists, which are brillant of wit and mind.
(This part is smudged and damaged from water).

As such, I wish you, the reader, luck.

>Continue reading? Y/N

[Ramsus]

Mountain tries to determine if the liquid is dangerous.
[hr]
Nature: [roll0]

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan takes one of the books off the shelf. He doesn't much care which.

[Grue Bait]

Malus glances up for a second, noticing Mountain peering at the liquid.
"Hey Chee, do me a favor? Drink this."

Continue Reading: Y

[usourselves&we]

Moving over to the books that Malus likely let fall to the floor. "I'm not going to think of drinking anything from that room unless I have reason to believe it will give me everlasting life."

Putting the other books into his bag Chee skims through "The End of Time, A Prophecy" looking for anything interesting (a description of the big bad, the origin of the prophecy, the place everything might go down, stuff like that).

[Vesth]

Mountain
You don't find anything particularly dangerous with the liquid. It has no smell, and looks like greenish water.

Tar-Kan
The book you find is titled "Beyond the Sea"
However, it is so damaged that whatever words you find cannot be considered coherent.

Grue Bait
Nighthold fever and its effects.

All people infected with Nighthold experience nausea, which has been described as "a wanton need of wanting the retch, while the world spins in circles", as mentioned by one of my more...open patients.

Most of the time, this nausea is mild, and it leaves its victims depressed, stressed and irritated, it has no adverse effects on its own, at least during the day. In more serious cases, especially those who have survived prolonged periods of this disease without recovering, patients cannot move more than a couple of steps without collapsing or vomitting all over the place.

Some experience a high fever (especially prevalent in humans), others experience coughing and sneezing, and the most serious of them experience peeling of the skin, or even pox on the flesh.

However, this disease takes its name for what happens at night. When the sun has set, around 90 per cent of all patients experience their symptons a lot worse than it was during the day. Many patients spend most of the night in a state of agony, with constant retching, writhing, biting, and other unsettling side effects. When the sun has come to rise again, these symptons subside.

It has to be noted that as the disease progresses, there is an increasing chance of having this...nightly effect as described above. Many patients don't experience it every night, but most nights nevertheless.

Continue Reading? Y/N

Chee
As you skim through the book, you realize it's talking about how the world would end, and that it is heralded by the coming of the Dragon in Disguise, and the place of its birth into the world will be where the rot begins. Those who wield a portion of the energy of the great wizards will resist, but will not be enough, and when the world falls apart, these wielders might be able to save other worlds, but are not destined to save this one.

[Grue Bait]

"Uh, guys? Be careful what you touch and drink and eat and stuff. Some person was testing something called nighthold fever. I dunno how it's caught, but try not to get it. If you get it, I'll probably get it, and I don't want to feel like I'm rotting from the inside-out."

Continue.

[Ramsus]

Mountain looks at Malus and then back at the water. Then he looks back into the book room and calls out, "Chee, could you examine this green water? There is a key in it that I am sure we will need and I do not wish to unnecessarily expose you all to contaminates."

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan reaches for a few of the books caught between the ceiling and the shelves.

[Matthias2207]

"Green water?"
[roll0]

[usourselves&we]

Mountain looks at Malus and then back at the water. Then he looks back into the book room and calls out, "Chee, could you examine this green water? There is a key in it that I am sure we will need and I do not wish to unnecessarily expose you all to contaminates."
Chee motions to put the book into his bag. "Uh . . . sure I guess I coul-"


"Green water?"
"Hey, he would probably have a better time with it than me, so I'm going to look at another book." Chee pulls a random book from before out of his bag and flips through it looking for a page that looks cool, or a chapter that has a cool sounding title.

[Vesth]

Grue Bait
No one knows where the disease originates from...which makes it all the more harder to devise a cure.

Tests have been done with willing volunteers to see how Nighthold Fever, with varying results. When there are infected patients in the vicinity, it is a lot more likely to contract the disease. However, sharing of drinking water, food, utensils, magical communes and other activities which utilize the same materials seem to bear no relation to the rate of infection.

However, there was an incident in a small town that a victim commmited suicide in the village well. Almost everyone who drank from that well contracted Nighthold Fever. It is unclear if the body of the deseased or some internal bodily fluid causes this to occur.

Curiously enough, the victim does not need to know that night is coming to experience the nightly effects. I have conducted a test in a room with no windows, darkened magically to simulate perpetual night-time...and only when the sky outside darkens, did the nightly effects come.

Rumors say a lot of where this disease is from, but none of them can be verified. Some say that it was a curse by some necromancer or demon, others say it is a test of the gods, and several believe it is some derivation of a werewolf infection, abeit a milder one.

Continue? Y/N

Tar-Kan
The books are firmly wedged between the floor and the ceiling...and are a little out of reach.

(Either find something to climb up, or if you scale the bookcases, make an Athletics check.

After which, to retrieve a book, make a strength check and a perception check)

Stroop
You can tell that the water is not poisoned, and has no disease - any disease would died a long time ago. The green color is likely due to some pigment, or other mostly harmless material.

Chee
The Eye of Inzagar has a picture of an eye being pierced by a spear that is hanging from the dead hands of a satyr, the spear of which is dangling above a huge mouth connected to a white round body...which looks suspiciously like an eye as well.

Below is the inscription: "An Eye for an Eye"

[usourselves&we]

"Hungry eyes?" With a smirk Chee turns to a random page and steps into the room with the pool. "So what's the deal in here again?"

[Grue Bait]

Malus closes the book. "All right, don't drink the water. Anywhere. Seriously, this stuff is nasty." He puts the book in his bag. "Just grab the key and let's go."

[Matthias2207]

"It's not dangerous, just green. Strange... I'll get the key for you." Stroop jumps in the water and starts to swim towards the key.
1d20+7

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan climbs up the side of the bookcase, then looks at what books are available.

Athletics: [roll0]
Perception: [roll1]

[Vesth]

Stroop dives down to the bottom of the pool, but the moment his fingers brush against the key, it responds, emitting a flash of bright light.

All the coffin lids crack and break, and from within, skeletons lurch out to battle you.

Stroop
Try as you might, you can't seem to break through the surface of the water. It's as if there is some membrane on the water that prevents you from escaping. The water moves, all right. It pushes up when you push against it, but its like pushing a rubber ball; it gets harder to push and it refuses to break.

Tar-Kan
You scale the bookshelf easily, making sure to balance your weight, so as not to make the whole thing topple. The books are leatherbound, and of high quality paper. It seems to have somewhat survived the passage of time, and on one of the thick book spines, you see the symbol of a green snake. Surprisingly, some of the books have a little bit of sand on them, which seem to quiver slightly.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/EXFEe.png#.UIXxscXMjF8

Combat begins!
Initiative:
1.All members of the party
2.Monsters

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan snatches a book from the shelf, then leaps down and snatches out his new toy.

Strength: [roll0]
Athletics: [roll1]

[Vesth]

As Tar-Kan leaps nimbly away from the bookshelf, sand starts pouring out from a small hole in the ceiling. Small enough to be hidden by a book or too, and large enough to let sand through, it flows down, gathering together into a sentinent creature.

The lesser sand spirit looks like a huge glob of sand, but upon the side facing you, three dents form; two for the eyes, and the biggest one for the mouth.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/nMxWY.png#.UIYO0MXMjF8

It is everyone's BUT Tar-Kan's turn.

[usourselves&we]

"Uh, guys. We've got a few problems in here."

[Ramsus]

"Nothing the three of us cannot handle." replies Mountain. Before he's even finished replying his eyes glow with a cold blue light and hoarfrost forms on his metallic skin. He charges forward over the pool over water as flakes of snow trail him and the water beneath his feet freezed solid as he runs over it, quickly melting as he passes. He slides the last few feet stopping before the western archer and the warrior, swinging his alhulak, rimed with frost, through both of them.


((Ok yeah, I took some liberties with the narration here. What he did, mechanically speaking, is Run around the pool to AH24 (I think) because the water is probably hindering terrain. And used Form of Winter’s Herald and then the attack it gives.

If this is a surprise round for us (not sure why it would be but, hey, I won't look a gift horse in the mouth) we get +2 to our attacks (that I've not calculated in since I doubt this actually is a surprise round.

Form of Winter’s Herald Attack vs Skeletal Archer: [roll0] vs AC
Damage: [roll1] cold damage and immobilized (save ends).

Form of Winter’s Herald Attack vs Skeletal Warrior: [roll2] vs AC
Damage: [roll3] cold damage and immobilized (save ends).

On a miss: Half damage, and the target is immobilized until the end of your next turn.

So people don't have to go through the trouble of looking at my sheet here's what Form of Winter's Herald does aside from that attack:
You assume the guardian form of winter’s herald until the end of the encounter. While you are in this form, you gain a +1 bonus to AC and resist 5 cold. In addition, each square within 2 squares of you, wherever you move, is difficult terrain for your enemies.))

[Ramsus]

((Actually before Ligo's turn...I'm gonna use an Action Point with Mountain and attack again because I can and slamming those Archer's down asap is a good idea.))

Mountain, spins around on the ice that's already formed on the floor all around him and using his momentum takes another swing at the archer.

((Strength of Stone vs Skeletal Archer: [roll0] vs AC
Damage: [roll1] ))

[Ramsus]

Ligo hears the commotion and comes around the corner to be confronted with a large sand elemental. He spots Tar-Kan and Malus nearby and smirks. He points his sword at the elemental and it (the sword) glows white and a lance of energy fires forth from it as he lets out a loud shout of, "First blood!" Not knowing that technically Mountain had struck the first blow of the combat, of course none of the things they were fighting had blood at all anyway.

((Ligo moved to S32, I think, and used Stirring Shout.

Stirring Shout: Attack LSE [roll0] vs Will.
Damage: [roll1] psychic damage.
Effect: Until the end of the encounter, whenever an ally hits the target, that ally regains hit points equal to your Charisma modifier. ))

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan shook his head. "You are not the only ones facing trouble." He then turned his attention to the elemental before him. "By the light of Ioun, you will fall."

[Grue Bait]

"Oh, jeez, what did you do?"

Sly Flourish- Sand... Thing
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

((if I can't see the elemental, I'll shoot ds3))

[usourselves&we]

Having seen the change in the water Chee takes a tentative step onto it (AC26). Taking out the same items from the last fight (Rod and dagger) Chee asks Stoop "I know you might be drowning, but would you be able to help from down there?"

[Vesth]

29 turns until Stroop starts drowning

Mountain plows through the two creatures, striking them both with his alhulak (7 and 9 damage), but his follow-through barely misses the skeleton archer. As he strikes the skeleton warrior, is glows slightly, as does the pool of water.

Ligo fires a shout at the sand monster, who, despite its lumbering bulk, dodges easily enough, though an arrow pierces its hide soon after, though it barely seemed affected (8 damage)...

The skeleton archer dodges another blow from Mountain as he readies its bow, shooting Mountain for 9 damage, while the other skeleton stabs Mountain for 10 damage.

The other skeleton archer fires an arrow that zips past Chee's face, but otherwise do no damage, while the other skeletons, surprisingly, advance cautiously.

Meanwhile, the sand spirit forms a fist of sand that smashes into the ground that Tar-Kan was a second ago, as he nimbly dodged.

SA: 7 damage, immobilized (save ends), save passed (Rolled a 20)
SW: 9 damage, immobilized (save ends), save failed (Rolled a 1, wtf)
LSS: 8 damage, until the end of the encounter, whenever an ally hits it, that ally regains hit points equal to Ligo's Charisma modifier.
Mountain: 19 damage, marked until the end of SW's next turn.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/py2ZH.png#.UIyOxsXMjF8

It is everyone's turn

[Ramsus]

Mountain takes a step away from the Skeletal Warrior and attacks the Skeletal Archer.

((Minor Action: Nature’s Wrath to Mark both SA and SW

Shift to AH23

Strength of Stone: Attack: [roll0] vs AC
Damage: [roll1]

&we, Mountain could use some healing as he's down to 14 HP.))

[Grue Bait]

"I am never going to the beach again. Ever. Looky here, clodhopper!

Sly Flourish- Elemental
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Matthias2207]

Ligo:
Move to W30
Vicious Mockery on LSS

[roll=Damage (Psychic)]1d6+4
At-Will ✦ Arcane, Charm, Implement, Psychic
Standard Action Ranged 10
Target: One creature
Attack: Charisma vs. Will
Hit: 1d6 + Charisma modifier psychic damage, and the
target takes a –2 penalty to attack rolls until the end of
your next turn.
Level 21: 2d6 + Charisma modifier damage.

[usourselves&we]

Having had an arrow fly by his face Chee sees the full depth of what he has gotten in to, or at the very least he knows that he could die here. With that thought he decides that he should keep the big guy alive so that he might protect him.

taking a few steps (AE26) Chee throws a golden vile at Mountain and a bolt of lighting at skeletal archer(1).

Curative Admixture: Mountain

Static Shock: SA1
Attack: [roll0]
Damage [roll1]
At-Will • Arcane, Implement, Lightning
Standard Action Melee or Ranged 5
Target: One creature
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d8 + Intelligence modifier lightning damage. The next attack the target makes before the end of your next turn takes a penalty to the damage roll equal your Constitution modifier.

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan steps back, (S26) shaking his head. "Ioun would not send a challenge we cannot handle." He sheathed his Falchion with one arm, and drew his Spiked Chain with the other. He whirled it, light surrounding it as he swung it towards the creature.

Attack (Wisdom vs. Reflex): [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Radiant Vengeance:
At-Will: Divine, Implement, Radiant
Standard Action Ranged 10
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d8 + Wisdom modifier radiant damage, and you gain
temporary hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier.

[Vesth]

28 turns until Stroop starts drowning

Mountain steps deftly to his right, ignoring the immobilized warrior, his blade cleaving bone of the other (10 damage). It raises its bow for a shot, but he knocked it back with the flat of his blade (5 damage).

But his opportunistic strike left an opening, that the other archer took advantage of, and dodging a blast of electricty by Chee, the arrow struck his torso (6 damage).

A bottle thrown at Mountain heals him of 8 hp.
I think. Chee's wis mod is 0, and I can't remember if Ramsus made a point for this to be changed to a con mod.

Strangely enough, the other skeletons don't move, and stay eerily still...until they start to glow with a blue light, and suddenly, the skeleton warrior swaps places with one of the other skeletons, looking less damaged then before. It charges towards Chee, slicing him for 3 damage.


Meanwhile, the sand monster shrugs off Ligo's attack, just to face an arrow and a spike chain, dealing 6 damage and 12 damage respectively.

It tries to hit Tar-Kan, but again, it misses.


SA: 22 damage, bloodied.
SW: 3 damage.
DS4 is immobilized (save ends), save passed.
LSS: 26 damage, until the end of the encounter, whenever an ally hits it, that ally regains hit points equal to Ligo's Charisma modifier.
Mountain: 22 damage, marked until the end of SW's next turn.
Tar-Kan: 4 temp hp.
Chee: 3 damage.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/rVTk0.png#.UI9iMsXMjF8

It is everyone's turn

[Grue Bait]

Sly Flourish- Sand Elemental
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[usourselves&we]

The teleportation of the ancient warrior had caught Chee off guard, along with the arrow from before he was rather unsettled.

Chee sliced at the warrior with added force backed off a bit (AG26) and (action point) threw a lightning bolt at it. Mindful of the archer behind him he summoned a servant beside it (AI27) to try and dissuade an attack.

Aggravating Force: SW
attack: [roll0]
damage: [roll1]

action point
Static Shock: SW
attack: [roll2]
damage: [roll3]

Obedient Servant at AI27

[Ramsus]

Noting that the Skeletal Warrior left and was replaced with a less important target, Mountain stepped back to where he was before and took another swing at the Archer while keeping an eye on the replacement skeleton.

((Shift to AH24.
Nature's Wrath to mark both both the Skeletal Archer and DS4

Weight of Earth at the Archer:
Attack: [roll0] vs AC
Damage: [roll1] ))

[Penguinator]

Tar-Kan again steps back (S25) and unleashes Radiant Vengeance.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Matthias2207]

"Hey dusthead! I've fought mudcrabs more fearsome than you!"
Vicious Mockery on LSS
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Matthias2207]

Stroop summons Giant Toad on AH27
Melee on SW
[roll0]
[roll1]
Pull to AG27

Daily. Implement, Primal, Summoning
Standard Action Ranged 5
Effect: You summon a Medium giant toad in an unoccupied square within range. The toad has speed 5 and swim 6, and it gains a +10 bonus to Athletics checks to jump. You can give the toad the following special command. On the turn you summon the toad, you give that command as part of using this power.
Standard Action: Melee 3; targets one creature;
Wisdom vs. Reflex; 1d8 + Wisdom modifier damage, and the target is pulled 1 squares.
Instinctive Effect: If you haven't given the toad any
commands by the end of your turn, it attacks the same creature that it attacked during your previous turn. If it can't do that, it attacks an enemy within 3 squares of it if it can. Otherwise, it moves its speed to a square within 3 squares of the nearest enemy.

[Vesth]

27 turns until Stroop starts drowning

The sand elemental ignored bolt, voice and chain alike, taking 20 damage as it bears down on Tar-kan, a fist of sand blasting him for 13 damage.

As Chee traded blows with the skeleton, he struck a blow (8 damage), and for a brief moment, it glowed a greenish hue, as did the water and the the non-archer skeletons, but even as he backed off, the undead thing did not relent, and the blade caught warm flesh (7 damage), thowing his aim off, and the blast of electricity flew overhead harmlessly. Mountain took advantage of the distracted archer, and he blow sent the skeleton's skull straight into the wall, the sheer force turning bone into powder. The magic disrupted, the rest of the archer crumbles to the floor. The skeleton that Mountain stepped next to, originally reluctant to move, swings his blade as Mountain came close, clocking him atop the head for 4 damage.

As the warrior swats away the toad's tongue, its own blade lashes out at the nearest enemy, catching the toad across the chest. (7 damage) it mindlessly stabs the water in vain of trying to kill Stroop.

Meanwhile, the newly summoned obedient servant struggles with the skeleton archer, hitting it for a total of 10 damage, before it could put an arrow in it. (8 damage)

Total Damage Summary:
SW: 11 damage.
SA1: 10 damage.
LSS: 46 damage, until the end of the encounter, whenever an ally hits it, that ally regains hit points equal to Ligo's Charisma modifier.
Obedient Servant: 8 damage
Mountain: 26 damage
Tar-Kan: 9 damage.
Chee: 10 damage.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/Pv7Xe.png

It is everyone's turn

[Ramsus]

Mountain takes a swing at the weaker skeleton who had just dealt him a trifling blow (seriously I had 3 temp HP so it did only 1 real damage) hoping to be done with it and move on.

((Strength of Stone on DS@AI25: [roll0] vs AC
Damage: [roll1]
(Not that I think I needed to roll that but did so just to be on the safe side in case there's any wackyness going on there.) ))

[Ramsus]

((Right, just assuming it's dead then.))

Mountain then rushes over to the stronger skeletal warrior to prevent it chasing Chee around and called out, "Chee, focus on dealing with the weaker ones while I keep this one distracted. I hope your summoned helpers can handle the archer."

((Move to AF27 (on the edge of the pool, not on top of the water I hope) and use Nature's Fury to mark the Skeletal Warrior. Don't forget about Mountian's enemy hindering terrain aura or his bonus to AC for the fight.))

[Grue Bait]

"I'm getting pretty tired of this thing. Think we could lure it into the water to dissolve it?"

Sly Flourish- Sand Elemental
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Penguinator]

"I'm sure it isn't that simple, but we can try it."

Radiant Vengeance-LSS
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Matthias2207]

"Flush, flush, flush the angry sandbox!"

Vicious Mockery on LSS
[roll0]
[roll1]

[usourselves&we]

Mountain then rushes over to the stronger skeletal warrior to prevent it chasing Chee around and called out, "Chee, focus on dealing with the weaker ones while I keep this one distracted. I hope your summoned helpers can handle the archer."
"Uhh, right, sure." Before backing off Chee takes a shot at the lone skeleton (at AF30) on the east side of the room.

Move to AH25

Static Shock: skeleton at AF30
attack: [roll0]
damage: [roll1]

[Vesth]

26 turns until Stroop starts drowning

Mountain dispatches his foe easily, heading off to battle the toughest skeleton, which seems to have difficulty breaking Mountain's defence, much of which might have to do with it fending off the giant toad's attacks. Chee follows Mountain's advice, and a blast of electricity flies through the room, blasting yet another skeleton into fine dust.

Off to the side, Chee's obedient servant continues its struggle with the archer, and although the skeleton managed to shoot it though the chest (3 damage), it retaliated, and the skull snaps back from a blow (13+3 damage[b/]) that rattles its bones. It looks significantly weaker.

Meanwhile, the sand monstrosity bats away by Malus and Ligo (the latter perhaps because it isn't a mockery but a cheer), but a divine strike by Tar-Kan halts its progress before it could unleash another devastating strike. ([b]12 damage).

Total Damage Summary:
SW: 11 damage.
SA1: 26 damage (bloodied)
LSS: 58 damage, until the end of the encounter, whenever an ally hits it, that ally regains hit points equal to Ligo's Charisma modifier.
Obedient Servant: 8 damage
Mountain: 26 damage
Tar-Kan: 9 damage.
Chee: 10 damage.

Map
http://i.imgur.com/xnxC8.png#.UKJCmYcsma8

It is everyone's turn!

[Ramsus]

Mountain lays into the Skeletal Warrior with an overhand swing of his Alhulak.

((Weight of Earth
Attack: [roll0] vs AC
Damage: [roll1]

Nature's Wrath to mark.))

[Grue Bait]

Malus draws his string back, loads a bolt, and fires at the elemental.

Sly Flourish
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Penguinator]

"And more of the same."

Radiant Vengeance
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Matthias2207]

"Thou art spacious in the possession of dirt, thou unmuzzled beetle-headed clack-dish!" Ligo cites from his favourite author (http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/Shaker/index.html).

Vicious Mockery on LSS
[roll0]
[roll1]

[usourselves&we]

Chee sends a bolt of lighting to the nearest weak looking skeleton.

Static Shock: skeleton at AF21
attack: [roll0]
damage: [roll1]

[Vesth]

26 turns until Stroop starts drowning

Chee fires about bolt of electricity that misses, though his obedient servant successfully dispatches the skeleton archer. Mountain counters the warrior's blade with his own, bringing the Alhulak up and around, and with a twist, shaved off part of the ribcage., though his bulk gave the giant toad no chance to successfully launch its tongue.

In the other room, the sand monster took arrow and holy blast, looking significantly weaker...and then, Ligo's words sent it clutching its head in pain and confusion, before it explodes in a shower of sand. From within, a few smaller version of itself pop out...

Total Damage Summary:
SW: 19 damage.
Obedient Servant: 6/14
Mountain: 7/33
Tar-Kan: 16/25
Chee: 18/28

Map
http://i.imgur.com/9VT4S.png

It is everyone's turn!

[Ramsus]

Mountain takes another swing at the skeletal warrior, just trying to keep it's attention on him.

((Weight of Earth: Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Nature's Wrath to mark.))

[Matthias2207]

"Die, little dustballs!"

Vicious Mockery on W27 [nameless enemy]
[roll0]
[roll1]