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NorseItalian
2012-11-30, 06:23 AM
Back To Basics
Episode I
BRUNCH OF THE BOGLORDS

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/285/a/1/swamp_by_juanico_el_muertes-d4clgt6.jpg

Not far to the south of Fairhollow lies the dank and murky Gloomwater Fen. A foul quagmire of filth and carrion, Gloomwater is nonetheless the most direct trade route to the town of Oakbridge. In recent weeks, the trading rafts that get sent through the fen have been returning empty, with no trace of its cargo nor its passengers. At his wits end, Osbert Browne, the mayor of Fairhollow, has promised a reward of 300 gold pieces to anyone who can uncover the mystery of what is lurking in Gloomwater Fen.

Not long after he posted the bounty, Keycyth Gatamae arrived in Fairhollow, intent on claiming the reward. Realizing that she may need assistance to defeat whatever horrors lurked within the fen, she put up a notice at The Howling Griffin Tavern that she was looking for adventurers to accompany her into the Fen, and that they could split the reward money amongst each other. One by one our heroes came across the notice and decided to meet Keycyth at the Fen.

~*~

The air is dank and clammy beneath the sunless grey sky as our heroes make your way to the bank of Gloomwater Fen. It is quite early in the morning and the fog has just begin to roll in over the murky water, drizzling you with a gentle mist. Upon the waterside sits a small, dingy old boat, beside which Keycyth awaits you. As you trudge down the hill, the ground grows damper and muddier, and your boots grow filthy from the muck along the bank- just a taste of what's to come. A shiver goes down your spine as you attempt to wipe some of the moisture from your face, to no avail.

One by one you all arrive at the edge of the fen, gathering together. You have a long and unpleasant day ahead of you.

Infernally Clay
2012-11-30, 08:54 AM
"It'll probably cost the gold we'll earn from this to get this mud out of my hair," Niyah complained, having slipped and fallen into a puddle of it only a few minutes ago, "My fault, I s'pose. I did say I wanted to go somewhere off the beaten track. Doubt you can get more off the beaten track than here."

Nixed
2012-11-30, 09:26 AM
Brushes his wet blond hair back out of his face again, half a smile on his face despite the obvious trials ahead. "If a little mud is the worst thing that happens to us today, it'll be a pretty good day." The rain and the muck, the cold and even the bugs couldn't put a damper in his spirits. After weeks of searching for companions, years of training and a lifetime of imagining, here he was being paid for an adventure.

Overgordo
2012-11-30, 03:27 PM
Mikal flicked through another page of his coveted spell book, desperately going over all his precious spells. The bottom of his robes were already caked in mud, while his shoes positively oozed the stuff. "Move your hand like so to- yes yes, that's it. Tears a-" he paused in his half nervous, half excited muttering to look up at his new companions.

"W-what's that? Mud? Oh, right, this business. I'm sure there can't possibly be anything too bad out here, yes, right?" he commented, giving up on trying to practice any more spells under his breath, "Unless it's a giant mud monster, then I guess we'll really be up to our necks in it! The muck and fighting, yeah? Fun times."

Invertin
2012-11-30, 07:53 PM
Skeld tugged his hood down a bit further, the intended effect of his leather jacket failing somewhat when the tail was held down by the muck of the swamp. He adjusts his mask slightly, failing to hide any of the smell and only succeeding in muffling his voice slightly. "Quit your bellyaching, we'll be cleaning worse muck off of our blades if this trip goes well."

Cliff_Racer
2012-11-30, 07:55 PM
Tarac laughs quietly at the small conversation taking place, preferring to keep quiet for now. Tarac prefers to save his words for important things, things that deserve his voice, things that aren't complaining about a bit of wet earth. He proudly stands in the mud near the boat, hands behind his back and awaiting instruction. As a member of a clergy, Tarac learned to be quite good at that. Always the dutiful cleric.

Ocfos
2012-11-30, 08:50 PM
Keycyth looks between the five others that have arrived at the location she posted about. Her face is decently covered by her mask and cloak.

"The hooded guy is right, enough with the whimpering."
"Now that you've all finally arrived, we should get down to business."

Her gaze stops on Kael Goodspeed who she nods towards.

"You. I'd prefer it if you were to take the lead for the duration of this expedition."

Nixed
2012-11-30, 09:22 PM
Blinks. "Where else would I be?" reshouldering his bag as he moves for the boat.

Overgordo
2012-11-30, 09:54 PM
Mikal near instantly pipes up as he opens up his spell book to flip through again out of habit, saying "Well, you could be at the back! Or the side! Or far off in the distance scouting! Though I guess that might not be as useful. I wouldn't know, I'm not really a tactician. Maybe it's actually really useful..."

He uses his spare hand to scratch at his chin in thought briefly, then returns to flipping back through the tome.

"But if nobody minds, I'll just uhm, stick near the middle! Yeah! Nice n' safe n' such," he rambles as he stumbles his way towards the vessel as well.

Cliff_Racer
2012-12-01, 05:48 PM
Tarac just smiles calmly, stepping into the aft end of the boat. He says smoothly, "I doubt anyone would mind if I stuck to the back, then. It would make things much easier if I need to keep you guys in fighting shape."
He pauses for a moment.
"And I think I'll be more useful if I'm not getting hammered while leading any charges. Heh heh."

Ocfos
2012-12-02, 05:29 PM
"Both sounds good to me." Keycyth says in reply to Mikal, and Tarac.

She turns her gaze towards Skeld and Niyah.

"Come on you two, get in the boat."

Invertin
2012-12-02, 07:17 PM
Skeld nods, getting into the boat. "Put me near the front, don't want anyone getting in the way.

He pauses slightly. "That wasn't an insult, I mean literally if anyone gets in the way of my magic it will kill them."

Infernally Clay
2012-12-02, 07:36 PM
"Okay, okay, I'm goin', I'm goin'! But I'm sitting in the back," Niyah snorted at Keycyth before poking her thumb towards Skeld, "Don't want Fireballs over there to singe my hair."

Ocfos
2012-12-02, 08:01 PM
"It doesn't matter where you sit as long as the boat doesn't turn over."

As soon as everyone is in the boat, Keycyth pushes it off the bank and hops in on her own.

NorseItalian
2012-12-02, 08:03 PM
http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs50/f/2009/263/f/7/Swamp_by_SnowSkadi.jpg

Having all clambered into the dinghy you cast off and begin rowing into the fen. The thick, sludge-like water is difficult to row through, but you manage to keep a steady pace as the moss covered trees begin to envelop you. Shortly after you do, it begins to rain. Hard.

You can't help but think that Gloomwater Fen was quite well named. It is a dreadfully dreary place, where the leaves on the trees don't grow nearly as green as they ought to, the water is dark and murky, and the only creatures are the kind that most people would rather avoid. Mosquitoes and midges buzz about you, nipping at your skin, and large centipedes scuttle about between the scattered rocks. Here and there, a large snake or a bask of crocodiles eye you from the bank, and when the water does grow clearer, large, grotesque looking catfish can be seen wriggling through the mire.

As you make your way deeper into the fen, however, the signs of life begin to dwindle. The trees become barren and lifeless, the muck becomes thicker and black with carrion, and the wildlife retreats from view, aside from the corpses of a few catfish that float upon the surface of the water or wash up on the shore. It is as if nature itself has forsaken this place, but why such a thing would occur, you cannot fathom.

Eventually, signs of habitation creep into view. Strange footprints in the mud, skulls on pikes, piles of bones, and signs with bizarre symbols on them begin to litter the water side. Rowing further, you come to the shore of a large structure, built haphazardly from driftwood, garbage, and mud, with no rhyme or rhyme or reason to its design, seeming as if someone had takes several smaller buildings and slapped them together. The whole thing looks rather unstable, and you wonder what kind of creature would possibly live here. AllWhat draws your attention the most are the doors: they appear to have been made out of pieces of rafts- the very same trading rafts that have been vanishing.

Overgordo
2012-12-02, 08:18 PM
"Something tells me I think we found our culprit..." Mikal mumbles as his eyes alight on the specially crafted doors.

"Dibs on not being the one to knock! Called it, you all saw me call it!" he exclaims, waving a slightly raised hand in the air, "But I can totally blast them down if somebody wants! Probably! Ok, maybe not, since I think I left that spell in my other set of robes. But I can throw something at the doors!"

Pause.

"Not me, a spell can, because look at me, right?" he adds as he shivers with mostly nervous energy. He goes back to flipping through pages as he waits to see what the rest of the party wants to try.

Invertin
2012-12-02, 08:23 PM
Skeld rolls his eyes under his mask. "Wizards..."

Cliff_Racer
2012-12-02, 09:44 PM
Tarac raises his eyebrows, then sighs a bit. "It would be much more logical course of actions if the guy that was designated to be the leader did it." He smiles and looks towards Kael, then laughs softly.

He also takes out his spear and puts on his shield. This place already gives him the heebie-jeebies, and he wants to take every precaution.

Nixed
2012-12-02, 09:58 PM
Stepping off the boat, he's already approaching the door, keeping an eye open.


Perception: [roll0]

NorseItalian
2012-12-02, 10:20 PM
Kael doesn't notice anything out of place as he approaches the door. He doesn't even notice the very out of place pile of leaves and twigs as he steps on them. His foot falls upon the pile and goes straight through as he falls to the bottom of a 10 foot pit. The bottom of the pit is lined with pointed spikes, which pierce through Kael's armor as he lands on them and puncture his skin with a strange burning sensation.

Kael takes [roll0] damage.

Infernally Clay
2012-12-03, 08:46 AM
"Watch where you put your feet," Niyah said as she offers her hand to Kael to help him out of the hole, "That's not quite what we mean when we say we want to get the drop on things."

If Kael needs it, Niyah can heal him.

Overgordo
2012-12-03, 03:30 PM
Cautiously stepping out of the boat, Mikal edges his way over to the pit's edge and glances down at Kael, before looking at Niyah's outstretched hand.

"Umm, no offense but ah, I think you're going to need a looooot longer arm to reach down that far," he comments as he rummages through his backpack, eventually pulling out some rope. "I may not know levitation, (yet) but I do have a rope! Any port in a storm and whatnot, you know,"

And with that said, he unwinds a good length of it and drops it down the deep pit, holding onto his own end as tightly as possible. So, not a very reassuring picture.

"Hopefully he gets the point of being careful..." Mikal mutters as quietly as possible.

Nixed
2012-12-03, 04:05 PM
Bloody and battered he groans a bit. Looking up he gets to his feet, moving the stakes out of the way as best as possible before trying to get out of the pit. Falling in plate mail is bound to make enough noise to draw the attention of whomever set the trap after all.


Athletics? [roll0] (plus any bonus I may get from the help/rope)

NorseItalian
2012-12-03, 04:24 PM
Struggling, Kael manages to pull himself out of the pit, completely coated in mud and blood.

Ocfos
2012-12-03, 06:55 PM
"Amateur..." Keycyth whispers to herself.

She steps out of the boat and starts looking for any alternate entrances.
Perception: [roll0]

NorseItalian
2012-12-03, 07:45 PM
There don't appear to be any other entrances (nor do you notice any other traps) but you do see a small winch just to the left of the door.

Invertin
2012-12-03, 07:48 PM
Skeld sighs, but offers a hand to help Kael up.

"I've decided I'm okay with you going first."

Nixed
2012-12-03, 08:09 PM
Stands up, still dirty and bleeding. "Well now that we got that out of the way.." Looks over to see if the others have done any better while he was... in a hole.

Cliff_Racer
2012-12-03, 09:31 PM
"We're working with ingenius forces, it seems. They prey on the polite and orderly, the kind who prefer knocking before barging in. I'll be glad if we fix that as soon as possible." Tarac steps over to Kael, whispering some words of prayer.

Kael can spend one healing burst, plus
[roll0] extra health.

Nixed
2012-12-03, 10:35 PM
Feeling better thanks to their resident Cleric he brushes himself off and waits for the rest of the group to give the go ahead this time.


Use healing surge as well.

Ocfos
2012-12-04, 01:30 AM
"So, who's the lucky person that's going to try that winch next to the door?" Keycyth says from next to the boat.

Infernally Clay
2012-12-04, 12:36 PM
"Fiiiiine, I'll go," Niyah sighed loudly, as a teenager might when they're annoyed, seeing the lack of enthusiasm from the rest of the group towards their "leader's" question.

Perception: [roll0]

Unless Niyah sees something bad, she'll turn the winch.

NorseItalian
2012-12-04, 05:08 PM
Niyah notices nothing out of place, and so she turns the winch. Slowly, the large raft-door begins to lower down like a drawbridge, forming a bridge across the spike pit.

Overgordo
2012-12-04, 05:17 PM
"What, no killer wild creatures? Or bees? Or killer wild creatures with bees in their mouths?" Mikal asks in dangerous curiosity.

He walks over to where the bridge is forming to try and peer inside the large structure for anything dangerous. Or just plain unusual.

[roll0]

NorseItalian
2012-12-04, 06:42 PM
The inside of the room is dark, and it's nearly impossible to make anything out in the shadows. The one thing that Mikal does notice is that in the center of the room there is a table turned over on its side.

Overgordo
2012-12-05, 05:15 PM
"Gah, too dark to see anything in there. Fortunately I am a world-class wizard!" Mikal boasts. He hurriedly takes out and flips through his spell book once more, coming to a rest on one page.

Waving his hand about and muttering an incantation under his breath (as well as taking a few steps forward to get into proper range if needed), Mikal casts a spell on the table.

Light - Ranged 5 spell: You cause the target to shed bright light. The light fills the target’s square and all squares within 4 squares of it. The light lasts for 5 minutes. Putting out the light is a free action.

NorseItalian
2012-12-05, 09:13 PM
With the light cast on the tipped over table, you can make out the shadows of three vaguely humanoid figures hiding behind it. They seem to hop in surprise at the sudden illumination, but they remain behind the table nonetheless.

Cliff_Racer
2012-12-05, 09:21 PM
Tarac raises an eyebrow, adjusting his grip on his spear. "...They don't seem hostile. Not yet, at least. Perhaps we should try to talk before do anything... rash?" He glances about the party, hoping at the deepest, darkest pits of his half-orcish heart that he hasn't aligned himself with the bloodthirsty types.

Overgordo
2012-12-05, 09:40 PM
"So....don't try to fry them?" Mikal asks, before taking a step or two back in case he's about to get bumrushed by the shadowy figures.

"Well, I was never good at negotiations...Does anyone know how words work here?"

Ocfos
2012-12-06, 12:42 AM
Keycyth walks closer to the group and tries to see if she can't get a better glance at what's inside.

Perception:[roll0]

Nixed
2012-12-06, 08:57 AM
He said he'd be first, he hadn't expected the pit trap, but he hadn't lost his nerve just yet. Stepping in front of the door way (though not into it) and calls out "Hello. You can come out we don't intend on harming anyone."

NorseItalian
2012-12-06, 02:54 PM
Keycyth notices another pair of shadows lingering just to the sides of the doorframe.

As Kael speaks, a hideous, froglike creature crawls up from behind the table. It is a foul, misshapen creature, covered in warts and slime. In rear back as its mighty throat expands, before letting out a deafening croak. As it croaks, a putrid cloud of gas emanates from its dripping maw, igniting into a blast of fire as it travels through the air. The resulting explosion hits Kael square in the face, burning him.

Throughout the room, a chorus of croaking laughter can be heard.

Kael takes [roll0] fire and thunder damage.
Also, I swear I'm not targeting him on purpose.

Cliff_Racer
2012-12-06, 09:10 PM
Tarac grunts. He already doesn't like these things. They fight cheaply, without honorable discourse first. He says some more holy words under his breath, focusing on Kael.

[roll0] restored, plus a surge if it pleases you to be used.

Overgordo
2012-12-06, 09:33 PM
Mikal gasps as Kael gets slapped by the fireball. Time for an actual fight!

He slips his spell book into his backpack and starts waving his hands in a practiced motion while murmuring arcane words. A few years of training are about to finally pay off.

If he doesn't accidentally hit an ally with a spell that is.
-------------
Seizing the opportunity to strike first, Mikal utters a chilling incantation and points towards the table, where the mysterious creatures seem to be mostly congregated.

Spell:Encounter ✦ Arcane, Cold, Implement
Standard Action
Range: Area burst 1 within 10 squares
Target: Each creature in burst
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d6 + Intelligence modifier cold damage, and the target is knocked prone.
Effect: The power’s area is difficult terrain until the end of your next turn. You can end this effect as a minor action.

Rolls are in the OOC thread becuz' editing rules

NorseItalian
2012-12-10, 04:17 PM
Unfortunately, the table takes the brunt of the impact, shielding the creatures from harm. Frost coats the table and the floor in front of it, leaving it slick and slippery.

Infernally Clay
2012-12-11, 11:15 AM
"Well this is quite the welcoming party, don't you think?" Niyah said smirking, "Oh well... They're just making fools of themselves."

Niyah uses the Blunder encounter power.

"Ranged 10. [roll0] vs Will. [roll1] + 4 points (Cha mod) damage and the target is pushed 2 squares. Choose either an ally or yourself to make a melee basic attack with a +4 power bonus to the attack roll."

Niyah will target whatever enemy is within 2 squares of herself, dragging them towards her so she can hit them with a melee basic attack.

Attack: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3]

If there are no enemies within two squares of Niyah, she will instead drag an enemy towards Keycyth or Kael (Kael gets priority if both are in range of one).

Cliff_Racer
2012-12-14, 09:27 PM
"Cowardly fiends!" Tarac scoots inside and raises his hand- a shining lance materializes in his hand, and he hurls it towards the beast-men behind the table.

At-Will ✦ Divine, Implement, Radiant
Standard Action Ranged 5
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d8 + Wisdom modifier radiant damage, and one ally you can see gains a +2 power bonus to his or her next attack roll against the target.

ATTACK: [roll0]
DAMAGE: [roll1]

NorseItalian
2012-12-16, 01:36 PM
http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/assets/65595/Bullywugs_-_Warren_Mahy.jpg

Tarac's shining lance shatters upon the frozen table, prompting two of the shadowy figures to leap out from behind it, brandishing their spears. Putrid, hideous, and froglike, the creatures croak loudly as they prepare their attack.

Just then, a stink of ages fills Tarac's nostrils; a horrible odor, as one that was ripped from the bowels of hell itself. Two more of the creatures emerge from the shadows beside the door, flanking Tarac, and jab at him with their spears, puncturing his sides.

Finally, the last remaining creature hops up behind tthe table and releases another explosive croak at Tarac, burning him an Kael in the process.


Tarac takes [roll0] points of damage
Tarac takes [roll1] points of damage
Tarac takes [roll2] points of damage
Kael takes [roll3] points of damage

Nixed
2012-12-18, 05:06 PM
Moving into the room quickly, trusting his armor to protect him he lashes out at a nearby frog thing.


move to the open space between Tarac and the table.
action: Valiant Strike vs upper left frog thing
attack: [roll0] (str vs ac + 1 per creature adjacent)
Damage: [roll1]