Predators of Xendrik [IC]

[true_shinken]

Van smiles at Jorden. Well, you sure are a man of wisdom. I say we bolt as soon as Sol over there finishes his thing. Sounds like a plan?

[Ladorak]

Grant gently lays the Dwarf on the ground, ignoring the splattered blood on his armour and quickly turns to Denaru 'I saw him move... He tried to speak. But look at him, and now there is no sign of life. Is there anything you can do?'

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Jorden sidles up to Van and mutters, "Host protect us...I say we skedaddle before he finishes. This is a prime ambush spot right here."

[true_shinken]

Van places his left hand on his chin and ponders for a second. Then he turns his face toward Jorden and answers almost whispering. I'm not comfortable leaving him alone here. He points at Soul with his head. He looks tough alright, but we don't know what we're up against. Also, I like the spirit of what he is doing - sticking it to whomever brought us here. I don't think he is doing it right, mind you, but he has a point. But we should be on our guard, I'll give you that.

[Chambers]

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Freeze!

Who is standing next to Grant when he lays the dwarf on the ground? Answer in the OOC please.

[Chambers]

As Grant lays the corpse on the ground he sees the markings that were carved on the dwarfs chest muscles. Large letters in Common cover the whole chest and spell "DIE." As Grant's eyes flick over the letters they glow silver for a second and then the dwarfs chest explodes in a shower of gore and pain, the blast slamming into Grant and spreading out to those nearby.

The still loose muscles of the dwarf rip apart and are blown across the clearing, splattering blood and bits of muscle and bone everywhere. The explosion rings in your ears for a moment and then the jungle returns to silence. What's left of the dwarf isn't much - his chest and torso is completely gone, leaving a few dismembered limbs and head laying on the ground.

[true_shinken]

Van straightens up into a battle stance. Damn it. Explosive runes. he mutters to no one in particular. Guess they already know where we are, Jorden. He says while looking around. Do we stand our ground or do we run? I really think trying to run now would be pretty much pointless. Sweat streams down his neck and face. Van is nervous and shocked. He finds the jungle to be too hot, too wet. The flies and mosquitos buzzing around his ears are driving him crazy. I say we fight. Grim determination fixes itself on the human's sweat covered face.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

"Let's not jump to conclusions. They probably just left it as a trap to kill anyone who...well, anyone stupid enough to mess with it." Jorden looks around warily. "Still, being prepared for an ambush would be wise."

[Grendus]

Garret steps nimbly aside as the dwarf explodes, wrinkling his nose as pieces of dead dwarf land on him. "Well... now he's definitely dead. And now I smell like dead guy. Peachy," Garret groans, grabbing the cleanest bone he can find in the pile and using it to scrape gore off of himself. "Next time one of you decides to blow up a corpse, give me a heads up. My mouth was open and everything."

Hearing Van's comment, he adds "If my vague knowledge of traps is anything to go by, the explosive runes could have been left here months ago. Doesn't mean it was set up for us, just that they expected someone they didn't like to be coming through. And, what with being Drow and all, that includes pretty much everybody, even each other."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Jorden waves a hand, and Garret is all cleaned off, smelling now of the faint scent of flowers rather than gore. "Khorvaire's newest fragrance: Eau d'Sivis," he comments dryly. "I'm not putting up with a stinking corpse and I'm certainly not putting up with a stinking corpse following me around. So...how likely is it that this trap was set a month ago, and how likely that it was set yesterday?"

[Grendus]

Garret shrugs. "Magical traps like this one don't rust or need to be maintained, far as I know. It would have to have been set after the dwarf was dead though, otherwise he might have set it off. Soooo... not long. Unless someone here knows how fast a body decays, I'm going to do a conservative estimate and say... more than a half hour, less than a week."

[Keld Denar]

Denaru

For once, I'm not the cause of arguement. Refreshing...

[Ladorak]

Stalker pushes himself back to his feet with a groan 'I should have known better... But I swear he asked for help.' He makes an effort at wiping the gore from his face but succeeds only in smearing it around a bit.

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Spellcraft (Unseen servent) (1d20+3)[23] Sorry, that's a spell like ability isn't it
Spellcraft (Almost certainly explosive runes) (1d20+3)[8]

[Chrono22]

With a final swing, Sollux finishes off the tree. A racket of splintering and snapping accompanies its descent, and the sound of its impact can be heard for a distance in every direction.

"Well, let's be on our way, then. If we're still in this jungle by nightfall, we won't live to see sunrise."

[true_shinken]

Let's go, then. Van sighs. This place is gettin on my nerves.

[Chambers]

Leaving the clearing and the remains of the dwarf you head back into the jungle, the noon sun high overhead. After cutting through heavy undergrowth for another hour the jungle starts to open up. The trees are spaced wider apart and the underbrush is mere scrub and grass. In the distance you can see what looks like the edge of the jungle, just a few miles north.

Coming over a low rise you see the ground ahead of you tremble and crumble. Black and shiny claws poke out from the ground and chitinous legs hook out from the hole as a scorpion the size of a horse pulls itself out of the ground. It snaps its claws a few times as it turns in a circle, head swaying from side to side. It takes a few steps sideways and freezes, then whips around in your direction.

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The scorpion is Large and is 60ft away from the party. You both surprised each other so there's no surprise round.

Sollux, Grant, & Jorden go ahead and post without respect to who goes first among you three. We'll see what happens to the scorpion after that and it'll be his turn, and then the rest of the party.

Knowledge (nature) DC 15+

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It's a large monstrous scorpion. They are vermin with tremorsense, and use their pincers to grapple and their stings to poison people. They also don't normally burrow underground.

Knowledge (arcana) DC 15+

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The scorpion bears the trademarks of what are known as magebred animals, yet normally vermin are not supposed to be able to undergoe the transformation.

[Chrono22]

Sollux

Sollux inhales deeply, trying to determine if any drow have been in the area recently.

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Wisdom check (1d20+3)[4]
I'm not sure what I'll be doing with my turn: I'll resolve what to do after I get an answer. Edit: I guess I know the answer! Scorpions and drow smell just like jungle! Who knew?

[Chrono22]

Sollux

Sollux runs up a tree, then across branches on a path towards the giant scorpion. He positions himself 25 feet above the offending arachnid, on a solid branch, and draws a dagger.

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Here are some jump, balance, and tumble checks if they are needed:
Jump check (1d20+25)[26]
Jump check (1d20+25)[37]
Balance check (1d20+13)[28]
Balance check (1d20+13)[30]
Tumble check (1d20+13)[14]
Tumble check (1d20+13)[29]

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Jorden shakes his head minutely. "Oh, just wonderful, a huge scorpion in drow territory. What a shock." Not wasting any more time, he makes a fist and holds it below his waist for a second, then punches upwards. As he does so, the earth under the scorpion shudders and a fist of stone and soil erupts from from the ground, mimicking his motions. The fist opens up at Jorden's behest and attempts to grab the scorpion.

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Casting earthen grasp in the scorpion's space and attempting to grapple it: (1d20+14)[33]

Also, Knowledge checks:
Arcana: (1d20+17)[31]
Nature: (1d20+17)[21]

EDIT: Just noticed Jorden auto-passes those checks, no roll required. Oh well..

[Ladorak]

'The sad thing is this day's just gonna keep getting worse...' Grant breaks into a run, his body kept low to the ground until the scorpion turns to him, with a simple side step he avoids the sweep of a claw and places a foot atop it as it passes 'When the Drow find this thing's body we're going to be wishing we died in the fall.' When the monster attempts to flip him he rides the motion and springs into the air, sailing over the scorpion as he finally draws his Kukri. Channeling the hallmark raw fury of the Tiger Strike school he attempts to sever the thing's tail 'So let's enjoy the good times now.' He says with a grim grin as he turns in his desent and lands back on his feet.

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Still in LeapingDragon stance. Using Soaring Raptor strike
Jump check vs AC: (1d20+26)[35]
Damage: (1d4+4)[8] + (6d6)[17]

[Chambers]

While Sollux goes to the canopy Jorden's earthen arm rips out of the ground and grapples the scorpion. The shifting rock and dirt arm keeps the monstrous vermin from escaping while leaps over it and stabs the scorpion in the middle of it's twisting carapace.

The scorpion lets out an ear-piercing shriek and attacks the arm in a mindless fury. One of it's claws snap a finger off the earthen arm and the stinger goes straight through the palm, causing rocks and dust to spill on the ground.

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Earthen Arm took 11 damage after hardness. The rest of the party is up.

Grant, are you adjacent to it? Dunno where you land when you use that maneuver.

[true_shinken]

Van barely has time to react to all the action. He looks around, confused, not knowing exactly what to do. I'm not used to being a group!, he whispers to himself. Should I cast a spell? Should I just attack? Should I teleport? Will anyone notice I'm from house Orien if I do? Oh - dash it all to hell., he thinks nervously to himself, gritting his teeth together. Oh, dang it., he finally mutters, waving his free hand through arcane gestures. I'll just slice that thing., he says before disappearing in a blur of movement. [Standard action -> Flash Leap]
Gripping his longsword with both hands, he hacks at the scorpion in fury [charge due to Flash Step, with an exta attack form Storm of Steel]
Attack 1 (1d20+13)[18] - Confirmation roll 1 (1d20+13)[14]
Attack 2 (1d20+13)[18] - Confirmation roll 2 (1d20+13)[18]
Attack 3 (1d20+8)[25] - Confirmation roll 3 (1d20+8)[11]
Damage 1 (1d8+4)[11] slashing (1d6)[4] electricity
Damage 2 (1d8+4)[6] slashing (1d6)[1] electricity
Damage 3 (1d8+4)[8] slashing (1d6)[2] electricity
After his attack, he backs away to safety. [move action, 20ft back]

[Ladorak]

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Grant, are you adjacent to it? Dunno where you land when you use that maneuver.

Ah sorry, I'll give you more details regarding all the ToB moves from now on. Yes I'm adjacent to it.
Also, Soaring Raptor strike does still require me to roll an attack if I make the jump check, just with a +4 bonus. I left that out accidently, sorry. Here it is: (1d20+16)[27]
Also changing TC synergy so it grants me +1 ac

[Grendus]

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Move full speed towards the scorpion and throw a single javelin, since I can't throw multiple after moving.
Attack: (1d20+13)[17]
Damage: (1d3+3)[4]+(1d6)[3]

Very hard to do damage with iterative attacks at such a long range /sigh

Garret conjures a single javelin, running forward and hurling it at the scorpion.

[true_shinken]

OOC:

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Ladorak, maybe we could make Blitz and Grant set up flanking positions.

[Keld Denar]

Denaru

Denaru hangs back, keeping a watch out for anything else while his team mates are occupied.

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Delay until further notice

[Chrono22]

Sollux

Sollux flips off of the tree branch, and draws Soul Edge as he plummets 25 feet down. As he descends, the scimitar begins to arc and crackle with violent energy. He lands on the scorpion's back, and plunges his blade into the soft tissue between its chitinous plates as easily as a leaf cuts the air.
Just as nimbly, he springs backwards off of the arachnid's back and does a series of back handsprings away from it before settling into a defensive posture 25 feet away.

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Sollux is performing a tumbling charge attack from above: expending 2 power points to charge the attack for an additional +3d6 damage. He's also expending 3 power points to use the hustle psionic power.

Tumble check (1d20+13)[28] to avoid attacks of opportunity from falling through the scorpion's threatened space.

Soul Edge attack *(1d20+17)[21] Damage (1d6+4)[7] + (3d6)[8] (Critical range 15-20)

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Confirmation (1d20+17)[23] Damage (1d6+4)[10]

*assuming he can flank and has high ground

Concentration check (1d20+13)[32] to avoid attacks of opportunity while manifesting Hustle.

Tumble check (1d20+13)[26] to avoid attacks of opportunity from moving away from the scorpion.

[Chambers]

The scorpion shudders in the grasp of the earthen arm as it is stabbed and slashed until it falls limp. A few legs twitch for a moment but soon the vermin lays still, held tight by the arm.

The jungle is still and quiet in the midday heat, the sweat from your exertions sticking to your clothes.

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It's dead and we're out of rounds. What's your next move?

[Ladorak]

Stalker walks nonchantly around the scorpion as if enjoying a stroll through some quiet wooden area near Sharn. With one sweep he severs the monster's stringer, which he places in his backpack 'So I'm no Drow expert but I believe we just killed their god... We should move, quickly.'

[PairO'Dice Lost]

"I don't know about their god...totem animal, maybe, or something important, but I highly doubt they put scorpions on the same pedestal as the Host or the Flame. Either way, there's something unusual about this one." Jorden moves his hand so that his palm faces upwards, and the scorpion's corpse ends up in the palm of his earthen hand. "See the structure of the legs, the size of the pincers? This thing is--was--magebred. The drow must have some tricks up their collective sleeves; I didn't think doing that with an arachnid was possible. So everyone be extra-careful."