Into the East [closed]

[Frojoe21]

Aeroz, Elf expert

[OOC: You do mean asess, dont you? Anyway, the light crossbow isn't doing anything for me as of now. The range is too short, and I need a better ranged weapon. And a car.]

Aeroz will stand up, draw one of his rapiers and will move foreward slowly. When he gets close to the source of the noise, he will poke his rapier in any cover to draw anyone who is hiding out.

[Dr._Bob]

Sedryn and Miles stand, weapons ready, while Sheyra continues munching on her trail rations.

Aeroz bares a rapier and moves forward towards the rapidly approaching disturbance, until he is about 30 ft from the rest of the group.




OOC: PM sent to Frojoe:

Aeroz sees a wave of small, black, wriggling rodents charging towards the party's little "picnic" at full speed.

The "front" of the wave of rats is about 20 ft wide. At its widest, the swarm is 10 ft "deep" from front to back.

Aeroz estimates that there might be over 500 rats in the swarm.

[Frojoe21]

Aeroz, Elf expert

"RATS!!! I HATE RATS!!!"

Aeroz yanks out a dagger and tries to "shoo" them away.

Super happy sunshine full attack of DOOOOM
For hit +3/+3/+1
Damage: 1d6+1, 1d4+1, 1d4+1
Sending you the rolls daring

[Dr._Bob]

Sedryn and Miles hear Aeroz cry out a warning as he draws a dagger with his left hand. In an eyeblink, a swarm of black rats sweeps over and around Aeroz.

Sheyra reacts quickly, cartwheeling away, giving herself some breathing room.

[Yoric_Steele]

Miles D'Arcy - Human Druid

*Upon hearing Aeroz's yelp, Miles will cautiously move in the direction of Aeroz. He is waiting to see how large the threat is.*

[OOC: I don't know how far away Aeroz is, Miles will do a move-move action if it is practical. However, Miles is not planning to enter melee this round.]

[Rodrick_the_Red]

Sedryn (Human Cleric)

Sedryn stands ready, mace in hand and shield slung, to bash any rats coming his way.

[Nyna]

Sheyra, Human Monk

Cartwheeling backwards, Sheyra gets a glimpse of the swarm of rats. Her attention riveted by the horrific sight, she fails to make her landing and stumbles to the ground, falling on her butt as she looks on, eyes wide. She crawls backwards, never taking her eyes off the rats. "I... I... Oh my god..."

(OOC: Did I forget to mention that Sheyra has a tremendous fear of all things rodent? Guess I did. ;))

[Dr._Bob]

The mass of rats overwhelms Aeroz; for a moment, he seems to be literally covered in small black rodents. He pokes and slashes about himself, killing several of the little beasts, but the swarm doesn't even pause. Like water flowing around a rock, the rats literally swarm over, under, and around Aeroz, then they move on, leaving him covered in tiny scratches.

In a few seconds, the swarm reaches Sedryn and Miles. Sheyra, farther back, watches in horror as they too are swallowed up by the mass of rats.



OOC: Aeroz kills 3 rats outright. He takes 2 points of damage.

[Yoric_Steele]

Miles D'Arcy - Human Druid

*Miles will spend his entire round attempting to defensively disengage from the swarm. This may not be easy, but he would like to be able to cast a spell next round.*

Miles shouts, "Spread out! They may not be able to attack all of us if we are farther apart!"

[OOC: Sorry, short on time this morning.]

[Rodrick_the_Red]

Sedryn (Human Cleric)

Sedryn tries to get out of the way of the swarm. Swinging his mace at any that approach. Once out of the swarm Sedryn will take a days rations and throw it down the road away from the party.

[Dr._Bob]

Miles and Sedryn quickly move aside and watch in amazement as the rat swarm passes between them, a black writhing river of rodents 20 ft wide and 10 ft from front to back.

The rats pay them no mind, and keep scrabbling along, ignoring even the pack of rations Sedryn throws aside to distract them. Sheyra is directly in their path. She scrambles backwards, panic in her eyes, as what seems like 1000 rats rush towards her ...

[Frojoe21]

Aeroz, Elf expert

Aeroz continues to hack away at the rats. He then takes a look into the area where the rats were spawned from. Still with his fear of all things swamy he still keeps a hackin'.

Sull attack +3/+3
Damage: 1d6+1, 1d4+1
HP: 10
AC: 17
Sending you the rolls daring

[Yoric_Steele]

Miles D'Arcy - Human Druid

*Sensing an opportunity, Miles moves into action...*

*Miles will position himself to make sure the rat swarm is within range of his spell. Miles will cast Calm Animals on the Rat Swarm.*

Miles shouts, "I am attempting to calm the swarm, take no agressive actions against them!"

[OOC: If necessary Miles' first action is a move action to make sure the swarm is in range. Casting Calm Animals is his second action. The area of effect is a 30' radius, so it should effect the whole swarm.]

[Nyna]

Sheyra, Human Monk

Sheyra, upon seeing the huge swarm of rats flowing towards her, shrieks and scrambles away as fast as possible on hands and knees, picking herself up as she goes until she is in a full-blown dash away from the rats, running as fast as possible until the rats are out of sight.

[Rodrick_the_Red]

Sedryn (Human Cleric)

"Alright Miles, Give it your best!" says Sedryn as he moves towards his horse and mule to calm them.

[Dr._Bob]

Aeroz slashes and thrusts at the trailing edge of the swarm, slaying another three or four rats.

Meanwhile, Miles gently sings to the rats, making pacifying gestures at the same time. The swarm stops in its tracks, and the individual rats begin to mill about purposelessly. Many of them turn around and look behind them, with almost a human expression of worry and fear on their pointy faces. They then disperse, disappearing into the underbrush.

When Sheyra sees that the rat swarm has dissapated, she circles back around to rejoin the group. Her eyes are wide and she is breathing heavily, more from panic than from the physical exertion.

Aeroz chases down individual rats for a while poking and stabbing until he has probably a dozen skewered on his rapier. Eventually, however, he tires of this "sport" and, like Sheyra, soon returns to the group.


OOC: Corrected the number of rats in my earlier posts (actually there were 600 rats). Miles manages to affect all 8 hit dice worth of rats with his spell.

[Yoric_Steele]

Miles D'Arcy - Human Druid

*Miles turns to the group with a look of relief on his face...*

"Is anyone seriously hurt? I am really glad that worked. Sheyra are you going to be ok, would you like to rest for a few minutes?"

"We should pack up and move on just in case there are more swarms that might be nearby."

[OOC: DR, PM sent to you.]

[Dr._Bob]

Other than the few scratches Aeroz received, no one appears to be hurt.

Your mounts were spooked at first, but they calm down quickly once the rats scatter, leaving you to wonder what that was all about.

It did not appear that the rats were necessarily targeting any of you specifically, but you definitely got the sense that the rats were running away from something ...

[Frojoe21]

Aeroz, Elf expert

[ooc: Fewf. I am so glad Aeroz did't get the plague. He just got over it las month[/simpson reference]]

Patting up his scratches and making sure that nothing is infected [heal +2]

Aeroz then makes his way to where the rats swarmed out. If they were running away from something, he would find the source.

"Hate...rats...guhhhh"

[Yoric_Steele]

Miles D'Arcy - Human Druid

*Miles agrees. Something serious must have sent those rats into a frenzy.*

"Ok everyone lets spread out a little and see if we can find whatever set off those rats...before it finds us first. I would rather be prepared."

*Miles will also begin using Tracking to check for evidence of preditors, etc.*

[Rodrick_the_Red]

Sedryn (Human Cleric)

"Aeroz let me heal your wounds." Sedryn cast two Cure Minor Wounds chanting "Lathandar may your light send its healing touch."
Then taking up his weapons Sedryn joins the search for what ever spokked the rats.

[Dr._Bob]

Aeroz's minor wounds are quickly healed by Sedryn's spell.

It doesn't take long for your group to follow the rats' tracks backward to a forested grove just off of the main road.

In the middle of the grove, you can see the ruins of an old stone building, perhaps a long abandoned and forgotten inn. A rotting wooden frame sits behind the overgrown walls, likely marking the location of an old well. A small hill sits directly in front of the crumbled stone walls.

It looks like the rats must have made their home in these ruins. There is no sign of what disturbed them however.

Miles notices that the area appears to be unnaturally quiet. The sun is shining brightly and the trees wave gently in the breeze, but there are no sounds or signs of life.

[Yoric_Steele]

Miles D'Arcy - Human Druid

Miles says to the group, "Something isn't right with this place. I don't hear the natural sounds of birds and insects. I will circle around to the back side for a better look. Aeroz, how do you feel about a little stealthy skulking?"

*If the group agrees, Miles will cautiously circle around the grove to the right. He is hoping to get a look from a different angle.*

[OOC: DR, does this place look like it could be an abandoned Druid dwelling, or something similar?]

[Nyna]

Sheyra, Human Monk

"I hate rats... I really, really hate 'em..." Sheyra shivers at the thought of the rats, then remains silent, eyes closed for a few seconds as she recollects herself.

"I'll be fine. Just... keep those things away from me!"

[Frojoe21]

Aeroz, Elf Expert

Sheathing his weapons and readying his crossbow, Aeroz turns to Miles.

"Sure, why not, I'll tell you what I find."

With that, Aeroz runs off and dissapears, scouting the area for any danger.

[OOC: Hide +8, Move Silently +8, search +4]

[Dr._Bob]

Miles circles around the the right. He wonders if this could be an old druidic shelter, but as he explores he realizes that the sharp angles and layout suggest a mundane building instead. Likely a small waystation or inn, long abandoned.

Aeroz circles around to the left. He slinks down into the underbrush and moves as silently as a snake. To Sedryn and Sheyra, who wait patiently by the little hillock in front of the ruins, it is as if Aeroz vanishes.

For all of his stealth, however, Aeroz finds nothing to explain the strange fleeing of the rats.

[Frojoe21]

[OOC: Zen I Vill take 20 on ze check, for ze rules permit it, and the diceroller always gives me one high, one low, never random. Could I use nadaka's?]

[Yoric_Steele]

Miles D'Arcy - Human Druid

*Miles will complete his circle of the ruins for the sake of completeness. Finally joining back up with Sedryn and Sheyra.*

Miles says, "I didn't see anything unusual, but I still have a very uneasy feeling about this place. We can either investigate further, or simply leave it alone and continue on our way. We don't know what may be inside."

[OOC: I will go with the consensus of the group, check it out or leave it alone.]

[Rodrick_the_Red]

Sedryn (Human Clreic)

"I think we would do well to check out the buildings. I do not wish to be surprised on the road by something coming up on us from behind." Sedryn says reading himself to go into the ruins.

[Dr._Bob]

As Sedryn says this, the small hill in front of the ruined inn comes to life. A ragged slit opens up in the center of the "hill" revealing a dark, musty crevasse.

A man-sized tendril of vines and grasses reaches out and grabs him around the waist before he can even swing his mighty mace. The "arm" constricts, picks up Sedryn, plate mail and all, and passes him to the open "mouth".

As Sheyra, Aeroz, and Miles watch in horror, Sedryn is swallowed whole ...





OOC: Actions can be posted here in the IC thread. Other online dice rollers are fine as long as the results are emailed to me at [email protected].

Initiative

Aeroz 19 (16 + 3)
Sherya 11 (9 + 2)
Miles 9 (4 + 5)
Sedryn 4 (3 + 1)

Current HP

Sedryn 13 (23 - 10)