Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil (IC): Thread 2

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Mt. Stalagos: Planting 26, Morning

“Actually, it doesn’t,” Mereclar replies as he broadens his stance to take up more space in the doorway. “I don’t have a moat, let alone a crew to tend it. So, whaddaya mean by ‘my moathouse crew’?”. He crosses his arms in such a way to place his hands dangerously close to the pommels of two swords—one strapped to each hip. “And take your time. I hate being rushed.”

[Toliudar]

Meggido

The elf looks with disappointment at Mereclar.

"You the collective, not you the individual. The moathouse crew report to Naquent. Clearly, you're not Naquent."

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Mt. Stalagos: Planting 26, Morning

For a brief moment, Mereclar raises an eyebrow at the mention of Naquent. He then quickly narrows both eyes as he replies, “Well, last I checked, Naquent doesn’t have a moat, either.”

[Toliudar]

Meggido

Clearly confused, Meggido turns to his colleagues.

"I'm so sorry. I had thought that they were very eager for the acquisition of these relics, but I guess that all they really want to do is play with words."

He gestures a suggestion that they depart.

[Lycar]

Grigor, human cleric

With an annoyed sigh and glare at Mereclar, Grigor goes ahead and produces the remaining relics.

"There. Do these look familiar? No? Then you better go ask someone who damn well knows about the shrine under the old moathouse. Because I am that close to just walking off and returning those things to whoever happens to control the place right now. If it happens to be the goodniks, who knows, maybe I can con them into giving us a nice reward for 'securing those evil artifacts'. Of course then, my dear Mereclar, I certainly wouldn't want to be stuck in your skin when you get to explain yourself..." he says, clearly not having much respect for the man in front of him.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Mt. Stalagos: Planting 26, Morning

“Ah, enough of your bull$#!% story. If anything important were due through my door, I’d have had notice.” Mereclar calls over his back, “Wormspike, let the gnolls know they’ll have alternative to stewed pork tonight. The rest of you can turn these @$$#*!%$ into pincushions.

((
Initiative

Spoiler

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1. Tom (23)
2. Gnoll Guards (19)
3. Grigor (18)
4. Megiddo (15⁺)
5. Wormspike (15)
6. Halgrim (14)
7. Mereclar (12)
8. Moonshadow (4)
9. Human Guards (3)

))

(( Map #1 ))

[Swami Monsoon]

Oh, f#%k me...
Tom suddenly realizes that he has not asked these people exactly what Plan B was supposed to be... other than ending up as long pig. And now they're all crowded around the door just waiting for... Suddenly inspiration strikes him.

A commanding voice calls out from the cave entrance.
"Well, they didn't take the bait. We'll just have to do this the hard way... Blades, with me! Archers, be ready if any of them make it outside!"
From outside the come the sounds of running footsteps, armor clanking and weapons being drawn...

Spoiler

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Create sound centered near cave entrance. (At this level I can make noise equivalent to about 20 people.)

[Lycar]

Grigor, human cleric

(He isn't buying it... Oh well, it was worth a try. ) thinks Grigor, but before he can think of anything to try and salvage the situation, a voice suddenly pipes up.

Something about bait not being taken? What is going on? Maybe Meggido cast a spell? That better be Meggido casting a spell...

"You imbecile! You dare defy Iuz's will!? You will pay!" the cleric snarls as he summons forth some negative energy to unleash it upon the cultist in front of him. Hey, why not stay in character...

Spoiler

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Cast Inflict Moderate Wounds. Touch attack (dice don't fail me now!): (1d20+8)[11], damage (2d8+6)[13]. And for the move action: Draw bastard sword.

[Toliudar]

Meggido

The elf glares at the idiot halfbreed.

"You are a traitor both to your race and your birthworld. Death will be only a doorway to an eternity of torment."

Meggido too is startled by the voices coming from behind them, until he puts it together with the distinctive popping sound that came from Tom. Interesting. Clearly, the halfling had resources he had not yet disclosed.

But then, so did Meggido. He stepped back from the doorway and took a deep breath. The all-too-serious elf's glare intensified. A low crackling sound builds to a crescendo around Meggido.

A trio* of flames shoot out from his eyes, streaking toward Mereclar and the two guards behind him.

"Now who's the alternative to stewed pork?"

Spoiler

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Meggido auto-succeeds on a psicraft check to identify Tom's Control Sound.

5' step southwest.

Standard action - 7 point Energy Missile (fire), targeting Mereclar and up to four others (if more guards reveal themselves before Meggido's action and he can include them in the fun, he'll do so, to a maximum of 5 targets. Reflex DC 22 for half damage.
Mereclar: (7d6+7)[24] fire damage
Human guard: (7d6+7)[33]
Gnoll guard: (7d6+7)[34]
Possible additional gnoll: (7d6+7)[36]
Possible additional gnoll: (7d6+7)[30]

Move action - draw his wand of Grease.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Mt. Stalagos: Planting 26, Morning

Round 1

Mereclar’s eyes widen at the sound of Tom’s “reinforcements”. “Sound the alarm!”

Sure enough, the sound of a bell can be heard coming from beyond the door. Meanwhile, at least four arrows come from the arrow slits Tom had noticed in the northern wall.

Grigor takes advantage of Mereclar’s momentary distraction by the noise from outside the cave. The negative energy flows from Grigor’s hand, and he can feel Mereclar’s flesh begin to wither under its influence.

Megiddo shoots his bolts of fire. Mereclar barely manages to twist around, turning a sure strike in the chest into a graze past his shoulder. The guards, however, are struck full on in the face and chest, and drop to the ground, howling in pain. But the howls don’t last long.

(( Gnolls at the arrow slits are outside the "targets must be within 15 ft. of each other” range ))

A deep, growling bass voice thunders from down the hallway, “Hurry up, you dogs! We are needed at the entrance!” This shout is followed by a strong pounding on the stone floor. Those near the door are able to see a huge being come barreling around the corridor, carrying what looks like the remains of a small tree. As it arrives behind Mereclar, Grigor decides it looks like an ogre devoid of any sort of hair.

(( Halgrim’s Up. ))

(( Map #2 ))

[herrhauptmann]

Halgrim,

With a grimace unslings his mace and slides up to Mereclar. "Y'aint heard nuthin ya fool, because we're the last ones alive in our area!" He shouts. "We came for orders!"

Action.

Spoiler

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5ft step and attack Mereclar
(1d20+9)[15]
Damage. (2d6)[7] B+P plus (1d6)[3] acid

Crit confirm.
(1d20+9)[26]

Map3

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Mt. Stalagos: Planting 26, Morning

Round 1 (cont.)

Halgrim strike’s Mereclar’s arm with the mace, but not hard enough to break any bones.

Mereclar withdraws behind the ogre, drawing his swords as he does so. “Close the door, now.”

(( Map #4 ))

(( Moonshadow ))

[Quakes]

Moonshadow casts a quick spell targeted at the behemoth behind the door.

Spoiler

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Cast heat metal on Wormspike and Mereclar. Affects all metal on or held by the targets.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/heatMetal.htm
will start doing damage next round.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Mt. Stalagos: Planting 26, Morning

Round 1 (cont.)

The ogre’s simple will provides a surprisingly strong and brutish resistance, and Moonshadow is unable to affect the giant’s chain shirt or necklace. However, the druid’s spell takes Mereclar unaware, and Moonshadow feels the energies begin to wrap around the gatekeeper’s swords and the metal studs in his armor.

Suddenly, crossbow bolts come out of the arrow slit on the southern wall. One strikes Megiddo (( 2 damage )), the other hits Tom (( Also 2 damage ))

(( Map #5 ))

(( End Round 1, Tom is up. ))

[Swami Monsoon]

"Ouch! OK, enough of that s#$t..."

Tom retreats to the corner north of the great double doors and frowns in concentration. The air in front of the arrow slits suddenly turns inky and opaque...

Spoiler

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Move to northeast corner of entrance area
Use Control Light to produce darkness in the squares next to the north and south arrow slits (preferably in two separate areas, but I have enough area, 30 10' cubes, to link the two if I have to. The power description is not clear if the affected area has to be continuous.)

[Shhalahr Windrider]

(( Yeah, I think it is poorly written. Something with cubes like that list is generally a Shapeable Effect rather than an Area spell. I assume it should be contiguous. In any case, I only count 5 10 ft. cubes to cover both items.

The area covered by that power is huge! ))

Round 1 (Grigor AoO Backtrack)

Grigor’s parting blow strikes true, biting into Mereclar’s neck. The gatekeeper falls and the ogre howls in anger.


Mt. Stalagos: Planting 26, Morning

Round 2

Tom blocks out the light in most of the cave.

Four more arrows come from the now-completely-dark arrow slits to the north. Three of them zoom dangerously close to Megiddo and Moonshadow. The fourth goes so wide that it is almost comical.

A clanking of metal indicates that more guards are about to arrive…

(( Map #6 ))

(( Grigor’s Up. ))

[Toliudar]

Meggido

"We've got to keep that door open."

Still getting his bearings in the fight, sour-faced Meggido steps toward the doorway, craning his neck to get a better view of what was coming. Turning the scintillating power of his intellect into scintillating shards of nastiness, he whirls a ball of hate up against the foe.

Spoiler

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Move action: move to 12,20, behind Moonshadow.
Standard action:
If he can see more than two additional opponents coming down the main hallway, within 20' of Wyrmspike, Meggido will create an Amethyst Burst centred on 19,19 (unless Grigor moves in a way that would place him in the blast). He will augment it to a 5PP blast, dealing (3d6)[7] force damage, reflex DC 19 for half.
If Grigor would be included in a blast that hits Wyrmspike, or if Meggido can't see at least three other opponents that can be caught within the radius of the blast, then Meggido will instead centre the blast at 10,25, to take out the human guards. Again, augmented to 5PP, dealing (3d6)[17] force damage, reflex DC 19 for half.

[Lycar]

Grigor, human cleric

Grigor seems to be surprised that his instinctive jab at the fleeing Mereclar actually brought him down.

Now that the way is free to enter, he does however face the large ogre.

And freezes, eyes wide.

Spoiler

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Effectively delaying until someone pushes past him or snaps him out of it.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Mt. Stalagos: Planting 26, Morning

Round 2 (cont.)

Megido’s crystal bursts in the darkness. There is a brief shout and a few thuds that sound like falling bodies.

The ogre casts an angry glare at Mereclar and incomprehensibly growls before bending down and dragging the gatekeeper’s body into the hall and closing the door shut far more quickly than the human or gnoll guards would be able to.

(( Map #7 ))

(( Halgrim’s Up ))

[herrhauptmann]

Halgrim,

"Ah no way in hell fatty." Halgrim grunts as he forces the door open with his hip and steps inside.

Spoiler

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Standard action to open door.
5ft step into the doorway. (I'm not sure how to alter the map to reflect an open door)
I have a move action left, but no idea how to use it.

Map 8

[Shhalahr Windrider]

(( I don’t have doors implemented on this yet. I gotta change the map image to reflect a change in door status. ))

Mt. Stalagos: Planting 26, Morning

Round 2 (cont.)

The ogre shouts behind him, “Get down here, you good for nothing dogs!”

(( I got no suggestions for that move action.

Is Grigor going to act at all? ))

[Lycar]

Grigor, human cleric

As Halgrim squeezes past Grigor to open the door and challenge the horrid ogre inside, Grigor finally snaps out of it.

"May my faith protect you..." he mumbles as he prays for divine assistance for Halgrim.

Spoiler

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Casting Shield of Faith, giving Halgrim a +3 deflection bonus on AC. He'll need it...

[Quakes]

Moonshadow doesn't wait for the darkness to evaporate and give the gnolls inside a clear target again. He quickly casts a spell, then moves to help hold the door open.

Spoiler

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cast summon nature's ally II
next round, a dire bat appears behind the gnoll in the window.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Mt. Stalagos: Planting 26, Morning

Round 2 (cont.)

The hall beyond the door is well lit by sconces. The walls are covered in taupe plaster upon which is painted a mural featuring many fearsome demons, though Halgrim is too preoccupied with the ogre to see exactly what the demons are up to. He can just make out a large door down the hall from the ogre.

The ogre tries to take advantage of Grigor being distracted from casting his spell, but he has trouble reaching over Halgrim (( Ogre AoO fail )).

Moonshadow completes his spell, and a large snake appears behind the ogre. The snake lashes out, and manages to find a weak spot in the armor, but is barely able to puncture the ogre’s thick skin (( Successful attack, 2 damage )).

A number of human guards round the corner at the hallway intersection, armed with impressively large swords and ready to fight.

(( End Round 2. Tom’s up. ))

(( Map #9 ))

((
New Initiative

Spoiler

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1. Tom (23)
2. Gnoll Guards (19)
3. Megiddo (15⁺)
4. Wormspike (15)
5. Halgrim (14⁺)
6. Grigor (14)
7. Mereclar (12)
8. Moonshadow (4)
9. Human Guards (3)

))

[Swami Monsoon]

The inky shadows near the arrow slits fade as Tom releases his concentration. Now that that threat seems resolved, he moves over to assess the situation at the door... but now there is a literal traffic jam at the entrance. He readies his crossbow and waits for an opening. Maybe he can get a shot at the big, ugly bad guy...

Spoiler

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Move to 13,21
Load crossbow

[Toliudar]

Meggido

Meggido nods to Tom as the halfling releases his cloak of darkness. He draws deeply into the remains of his power and hurls a burst of rage at the gnoll archers.

"Dogs, I kill you now. Soon we shall do the same to the holders of your chains."

Spoiler

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Standard action: Meggido hurls a 7PP Amethyst Burst, centred on 12,13. (4d6)[12] force damage, DC 20 reflex for half.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Mt. Stalagos: Planting 26, Morning

Round 3
Tom drops the shadows and changes position.

A series of arrows come out of the slits. They all miss or are stopped by their targets’ armor. Meanwhile, a number of gnoll guards come come around the corner in the hallway.

A scaly humanoid dressed in black robes also joins the fray, coming from the same direction as the last batch of human guards.

Megiddo’s amethyst burst seems to do its job, as the gnolls visible through the arrow slits drop out of sight with a thud.

The ogre swings its mighty club and smashes Halgrim with it into the side of the door. A sickening crunch indicates broken ribs are only the most obvious of Halgrim’s injuries. (( Double Nat. 20 critical hit: 49 damage )).

(( Grigor’s up. ))

(( Map 10 ))

Spoiler: New Initiative

Show

1. Tom (23)
2. Gnoll Guards (19)
3. Scaled Humanoid (19⁺)
4. Megiddo (15⁺)
5. Wormspike (15)
6. Halgrim (14⁺)
7. Grigor (14)
8. Mereclar (12)
9. Moonshadow (4)
10. Human Guards (3)

[herrhauptmann]

Halgrim

He screams in pain as the ogres club descends and crushes his chest. "Grumbars bones! Grigor, Ah'll need yer help now!" As he finishes this request, he attempts to return the ogres attack with one of his own.

Spoiler

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(1d20+11)[16]
Damage. (2d6)[9] B+P plus (1d6)[3] acid

Crit confirm.
(1d20+9)[13]
Damage. (2d6)[6] B+P
Damage. (2d6)[7] B+P

[Lycar]

Grigor, human cleric

Knowing that he put himself up for a nasty hit doesn't exactly encourage Grigor as he reaches out for Halgrim to offer a quick prayer of healing. But he is in a bad way and that fateful day, back when he was still a simple militia man, when their squad leader fell to that ogre's club... just because they couldn't cut the damn thing fast enough...

"Some more strength for you to fight with. Now crush our enemies!"

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Sacrificing Invis. Purge to heal (3d8+6)[16] damage, provoking an AoO from the Ogre. Because Grigor never bothered with defensive casting before. And he isn't starting now.

[Quakes]

Spoiler

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cast scorching ray
(1d20+6)[15] vs touch AC
(4d6)[17] fire damage
Snake Attack (augment summoning, should be 2 more damage from before)
also, did he make his poison save?
(1d20+8)[17] +2 flank
damage (1d4+1)[4]
poison DC 13
first round (1d6)[5] con damage
2nd round (1d6)[1] con damage

Seeing the mighty blow, Moonshadow decides that a more direct approach would be smarter. He fires a ray of burning energy and the ogre while the snake attack from behind.