Predators of Xendrik [IC]

[true_shinken]

So it was some kind of superscorpion or something? Van whistles while he cleans the gore from his sword with a leaf. Not super enough, I guess. He smirks. Oh, and nice trick, Jorden. You kind of solved the fight there.
He looks around, checking if everyone is okay. So, should we press on?

[Ladorak]

Stalker nods to Van and sets off, muttering under his breath about wizards.

[Grendus]

Spoiler

Show

Hide check: (1d20+20)[34]
Move Silently check: (1d20+20)[36]

Spot check: (1d20+12)[14]
Listen check: (1d20+12)[15]

Garret follows without commenting. He hated being ambushed, straight fights never suited him well. He slips silently into the brush near the party, working his way forward once again to serve as scout.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Jorden gives Van an exaggerated bow. "Thank you, thank you. You just have to know the right bits of earth to manipulate and how they interact; it almost got through the hand, and if I'd used the dry, thin soil to its left instead of the richer, more pebble-laden soil that had--ahem, I'm sure you don't particularly care about the fine details. I'm just glad no one was hurt. Moving on would definitely be good." He does a double-take at Stalker's comments, and calls after him with an affronted expression on his face: "What, you have some sort of problem with magic? Or worse, geology? If you're going to say something about me or my chosen profession, say it to my face!"

[Keld Denar]

Denaru

Man, and I thought I was the inquisitor here...

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Jorden rolls his eyes at Denaru. "Look, I've already taken enough flak from my family about the whole earth magic thing, I'm not about to put up with it from some random person I just met. How would you like it if someone started bad-mouthing the Flame behind your back?"

[Keld Denar]

Denaru

Ah, but I never speculated on your beliefs, Jordan of house Sivis. I mearly speculated on your defensive nature concerning them. Fact of the matter is, one who reacts with a disproportionate defense often has more to hide than he lets on. Are you hiding anything, Mr. d'Sivis? If you are, the light of the Silver Flame will reveal them in time. Until that time, I dare say we can ill afford to stick around here. Denaru's piercing blue eyes settle briefly on each member of the rag-tag group. You can't help but shudder briefly at the cold evaluation that gaze conveys.

[Ladorak]

Stalker does not turn back to the others, he simply rolls his eyes and changes his mutters to dark oaths only half meant concerning wizards and Flamites.

[true_shinken]

Van flinches under Denaru's gaze. Man, that should make interrogations pretty easy.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Jorden hustles a bit to catch up with Stalker, then turns to talk to Denaru as he keeps walking. "Look, now he is mocking the Flame," he says, jerking a thumb at Stalker. "Anyway, I'm not defensive, just annoyed. See, I was supposed to train as an artificer like my older brothers; my family is known for crafting elemental-bound items, and I was supposed to follow in their footsteps. I started studying that, but eventually found that I only really like working with the earth elementals, so I kept hearing 'Why don't you want to work with air elementals, Jorden?' and all that. Then I decided I didn't like binding elementals just to get sold. Felt a bit too much like slavery to me." He chuckles ruefully. "Elementals are people too, y'know.

"Anyway, I started studying arcane magic to work with earth and earth elementals more, and that's when I started hearing 'What, elemental binding isn't good enough for you, Jorden?' and 'You don't have the finesse of a binder, so you're taking the easy route, huh, Jorden?' and 'Anyone can be a wizard, I thought you were better than that, Jorden!' and 'Host-damned wizards, you think you're so special' and so on and so on and so on. After I spent years as a highly-respected teacher at the Library of Korranberg and months as a highly-respected member of an adventuring party, I thought I'd heard the last of those smart remarks." He points at Stalker again. "And then moments after I pull off yet another stunning display of arcane skill, Mr. Stalker over there starts up with them again."

Jorden takes a deep breath and continues walking, face forward. "Sorry about that. I'm usually much nicer and don't go off on rants like that. He just found the one button to press to tick me off. So," he asks casually, attempting to change the subject, "anyone else have any stories to share? Might as well get to know each other better; it looks like we'll be here for a while."

[true_shinken]

Stories to share? Van suddenly halts. Of course not! Gee, my life was very very boring. And I don't know anything about dragonmarked houses. Never heard of them, even. More used to keeping his mouth shut, Van takes a few seconds to notice how suspiciously specific his denial was and he nervously tries to change the subject. So... earth elementals, uh? I guess I kind of like them. Or something. Hey, Denaru, tells us about the Flame or something.Is that a squirrel over there?

[Keld Denar]

Denaru

Denaru pats the small gnome on the head. As long as you practice your magic to the benefit of your fellow...man, I have no problem with your devotion to earth. I hope, for the well-being of your life and soul, that you don't let your magic tempt you into darker things. Denaru says sternly, glancing over the others as if to include them in the statement. He is quiet for a couple seconds, then chuckles to himself softly.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

"Don't worry; the only time I get anywhere close to darker things with my magic is when I go spelunking," Jorden assures Denaru. He rolls his eyes at Van; it looks like he'll be doing that a lot with this group. "And Denaru thought I was being defensive. What could you possibly have done with--or to--a House that would make you that averse to talking about it? And why wouldn't you want to tell us about it? We're not exactly the Inquisition," Jorden adds, studiously not looking at Denaru. "And if you have some sort of issue with one of the Houses...say, to choose one completely at random, House Sivis...it would probably be a good idea to get that out in the open."

[true_shinken]

Van stutters and blushes. D-defensive? Uh? Me? A p-problem with a house? Of course not, man. He shrugs nervously. What are you talking about? It's not like I'm some kind of disillusioned member from House Orien pissed with their inner corruption that goes around the world in disguise basically being a pain in their ass.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Jorden shrugs elaborately. "Oh, well, that's a shame. As some kind of disillusioned member of House Sivis who disagrees with their business practices and travels around the world exploring and occasionally being a pain in their ass, I might sympathize with the kind of person you definitely aren't."

[true_shinken]

Van lightens up as he hears Jorden. Wow, seriously? That's so awesome. We have a connection! He then muses for a second and says with a very serious tone. Hey, wait a second. Think this has anything to with the dragonmarked houses? Maybe they are putting as through it to makes us go back to them... or something.

[Keld Denar]

Denaru

Considering that doesn't even come close to explain why I'M HERE, don't flatter yourselves with imagined attention. Now, can we get the hell out of here? I was just about to lead a raid on an alleged Cult stronghold and I need to get back to my men. If the trail goes cold, I'll hold EACH and EVERY one of you responsible for aiding in their escape.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

"Possibly. It's your House with the Mark of Passage, though--it isn't exactly Sivis's style to teleport people to faraway continents. Plus, it doesn't explain everyone else." Jorden turns to Denaru. "Yes, yes. We're walking. Don't get your robes in a bunch."

[Ladorak]

Stalker turns and regards each of them in turn with a look that makes Denaru's frosty glare look like a sunlit beach paradise 'Might I suggest, his voice drips with sickly sweet sarcasum 'We find somewhere we can only be attacked from one side before issueing anymore threats to each other? And should we actually manage to make camp without killing each other, then we can work out who did this to us... And then we can work out how to kill them.'

[true_shinken]

Well, I wouldn't call it my house... Van mumbles under his breath. He then turns toward Denaru. OK, sir. He says, picking up the pace. I really thought only paladins were this strict. he adds to himself in a lower tone.

[Chambers]

The jungle continues to thin out as you head north. You can see the canyon that you spotted from the air less than a mile ahead of you. Arguing amongst yourselves you walk towards it and the thick canopy overhead changes to sparse collections of trees.

Two blasts of red energy erupt from two of those trees, both of them striking Grant in the chest. The thin, long spears of light pierce through his armor and burn his skin.

Spoiler

Show

The attacks came from the trees labeled 1 and 2. It is Jorden's and Sollux's turn, then the drow.

Grant takes 29 damage. He is currently down 52 HP.

Spellcraft DC 17

Spoiler

Show

Both of the blasts were Eldritch Spears.

Jorden/Sollux

Make 2 pairs of listen and spot checks before your turn please. There are penalties for these checks due to distance; subtract 5 from each of your checks. If you beat either the spot or listen check DC's you learn...

Set 1
Listen DC 24
Spot DC 21

Spoiler

Show

You see/hear a creature hidden in the tree, location b11. If you beat spot you can see a shadowy drow. If you beat listen you hear the snap of twigs and creak of tree limbs.

Set 2
Listen DC 21
Spot DC 19

Spoiler

Show

You see/hear a creature hidden in the tree, location I17. If you beat spot you can see a shadowy drow. If you beat listen you hear the snap of twigs and creak of tree limbs.

Spoiler

Show

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Jorden jerks back, startled, as the energy bolts hit Grant. "Look out!" he calls to the others, "Warlocks in the trees, one left and one right! I'll try to give us some cover!" He quickly reaches over his shoulder and, without looking, unfastens the top flap of his backpack. As Jorden makes swirling motions with both hands and mutters to himself under his breath, sand flows in torrents out of his pack and forms itself into walls on either side of the group.

Chambers

Spoiler

Show

I'm going to try something kinda complicated, if it's okay by you. Jorden is going to cast silent image to make it look as if he's creating walls of sand. Silent image gives him 13 10x10x10 cubes to work with, which gives him up to 130 1x10x10 wall segments with which to create two 1-foot-thick 10-foot-high illusory walls, one from T13 to a20 and one from R15 to R25.

The first wall is 60 feet long and the second is 55 feet long; with the connecting non-wall part of the illusion being 15 feet from R15 to T13, that's exactly enough volume. He'll leave gaps at R17-R19 and W16-X17 to let his teammates get around the "wall" if they want to attack without giving the drow LoS to anyone.

[Chambers]

The shadows cast by the Wall of Sand flicker and two drow appear atop each wall. One throws a three-bladed boomerang at Van; it strikes him and ricochets to Denaru, slicing him before spinning around and returning to the drow. He catches it with one hand and with his other releases a blast of energy at Jorden. The red blast misses and scorches the ground beneath his feat.

The other drow throws a similar boomerang at Sollux, slicing into him and flying back through the air to be caught by the drow. He too blasts with his other hand, the line of eldritch energy slamming into Grant. The two drow glance at each other and then dash back over the wall.

Spoiler

Show

Sollux: 25 damage, 5 Strength damage, Dazed for 1 round.
Grant: 25 damage.
Van: 25 damage, 3 Strength damage, Dazed for 1 round.
Denaru: 7 damage, Dazed for 1 round.

The rest of the party goes (in any order): Denaru (dazed), Van (dazed), Grant, Sollux (dazed), Garret.

Here at the drow's Hide & Move Silently DC's to beat. If you beat them you know they are in the red squares, 10ft in the air.
#1 (on the left)
Hide 23
Move Silently 30

#2 (on the right)
Hide 14
Move Silently 28

Knowledge (the planes) DC 15

Spoiler

Show

These drow are exhibiting the characteristics of a Dark creature, an extraplanar being from the Plane of Shadow. Their connection to that plane allows them to Hide in Plain Sight, though they must be within 10ft of a shadow.

Given from where they attacked from (or if you spot them, where they are hiding), the nearest shadow they could hide in would be the shadow made by the Wall of Sand.

Spoiler

Show

[Grendus]

Spoiler

Show

Alright, here's where the massive iterative attacks pay off. Five javelins, the first against flat footed AC and with 6d6 sneak attack damage. I beat both their hide checks in the OOC thread.

First Javelin: Attack (1d20+11)[27], Damage (1d4+5)[6]+(1d6)[5] acid damage+(6d6)[20] sneak attack damage.
Second Javelin: Attack (1d20+11)[21], Damage (1d4+5)[9]+(1d6)[5] acid damage
Third Javelin: Attack (1d20+11)[21], Damage (1d4+5)[6]+(1d6)[4] acid damage
Fourth Javelin: Attack (1d20+6)[16], Damage (1d4+5)[9]+(1d6)[6] acid damage
Fifth Javelin: Attack (1d20+6)[21], Damage (1d4+5)[8]+(1d6)[3] acid damage.

On the off chance that one of those scores a critical threat, here are a few d20 rolls:
(5d20)[14][13][15][5][4](51)

Focus on the one on the right, who didn't make the spot check to notice me. If he drops before I run out of attacks (presuming I'm allowed to do this, I've seen DM's go both ways) I'll switch to the other one.

After full attacking, he drops prone as a free action for +4 AC, which I presume would also apply against ranged touch attacks like Eldritch Blast, putting his touch AC at a cool 22 and his total at 29. That's doable, but tough. While I'm at it, since they're hiding in combat and there's presumably brush (how else am I sneaking along), I'll try to hide again. At -20 hide, so it would be (1d20)[19]. Beat that!

Hearing the sounds of combat behind him, Garret turns and, spotting the drow, begins to unleash a hail of javelins at them, focusing on the one that seems least aware of his presence. His volley spent, he drops to the ground to avoid the inevitable counterattack.

[Keld Denar]

Denaru

Shaking off the daze, Denaru steps forward chanting.

Spoiler

Show

Um, Chambers, I kinda rolled in the wrong thread. Is this still ok or do you want me to reroll in this game? Its for my Quick Recovery feat, which allows me to shake off ****ty effects as a move action. Kinda like Iron Heart Surge, except its not automatic, its just a second save. Its in Lords of Madness if you want more info.
Divine Spell Powah - (1d20+9)[10] for Mass Shield of Faith. Turn check is even, no CL adjustment. +3 deflection to everyone's AC.
5' step to S25

[Ladorak]

Spoiler

Show

Since the walls aren't real wouldn't they just fall after teleporting up?

Grant moves to s-14 and burns 3 charges from the belt of healing (3d8)[7]. Sorry, normally I'd do some proper writing but I'm soooo tired. 7 hour journey on a hangover, big mistake.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Jorden looks over at where the two drow are and smiles slightly. He concentrates, and with a wave of his hand the walls dissipate, the sand falling in sheets to the ground and the drow following close behind. The sand takes on a spiky look around where the drow now stand, looking as if it were a bunch of caltrops covered in sand or perhaps composed of sand themselves.

Spoiler

Show

Spot (1d20+13)[17] and Listen (1d20+15)[34] for the left one
Spot (1d20+13)[30] and Listen (1d20+15)[29] for the right one

Jorden will concentrate on the illusion, making the changes noted above.

[Chambers]

As Garret's javeling pierces the drows side it lets out a hiss and snaps his head towards him. The shadows fade from around them and you all can see them clearer; black and dark green paint in stripes all over their bodies cover their flesh that is left exposed from their black leather armor. Each carries a wicked three blade boomerang in one hand, but the first thing that catches your eye is the mask each wears. Nearly a foot tall, the black mask appears to be made of some chitinous hide, fashioned in the shape of an scorpion's head. The mask wraps all around their head with dark holes for their eyes.

The drow glance down as the wall crumbles beneath them and one of them laughs...a deep, throaty chuckle, leaving them floating in mid-air. The wounded drow reaches down to pull out the javelin and it dissipates in his grasp. He hisses again and bounds forwards toward Garret, throwing his boomerang just over the head of the prone halfing. It slices through the grass and whips away, missing Grant by at least three feet.

As the boomerange flies back through the air the other drow darts forward, his shadow passing over Grant and Garret. The drow reaches out to touch the wounded drow as the latter catches the returned boomerang. The wounded drow disappears and the other drow spins around, floating in the air over the caltrops on the ground.

Spoiler

Show

Round 2.

Jorden went. [changed the illusion]
Drow went. [Attacked]

Sollux, Grant, Garret, Van, Denaru - you're all up.



Spellcraft DC 19

Spoiler

Show

The non-wounded drow (the one that was on the left and crossed over) used Flee the Scene.

The non-wounded drow is the red square, 10ft in the air. The wounded drow is nowhere to be seen.

[Keld Denar]

Denaru

Denaru dashes forward, moving to flank the drow.

Spoiler

Show

Double move to W15 by way of X16, threatening the drow with my spiked shield.

[true_shinken]

Van shakes his head, blinking, trying to shake off the mental confusion. Great lighting! What in the Nine Hells was that?! Those things are ugly., he mutters arcane words, waves his free hand through mystical passes and finally touches his chest. His body is filled with strenght, recovering partially from the damage inflicted by the poison. [Standard action -> bull's strenght] Then, with a single word and a flick of his hand, he sends two beams of fire toward the drow. [Swift Action - quick cast scorching ray]
In a blink, leaving a trail of lightning behind him, Van moves behind one of the drow, with both swords drawn. Floating is nice, but you really should try teleporting sometime.[Move action -> Bolt Shirt -> triggers Flash Step, draw sword during the move action, uses Storm of Steel to get an extra attack] Arcane energy burns and sparkles around his weapons. [Free action -> sacrifice a 2nd level slot to power Arcane Strike]
He then attacks furiously with both weapons.
Scorching Ray

Spoiler

Show

Scorching Ray 1 - attack (d20+12)[23] damage (4d6)[12]. If crit, confirm (d20+12)[30] and deal (4d6)[13] extra damage.
Scorching Ray 2 - attack (d20+12)[29] damage (4d6)[12]. If crit, confirm (d20+12)[32] and deal (4d6)[13] extra damage.
Caster level checks to surpass spell resistance: (d20+9)[23] and (d20+9)[10]

Flash Step:

Spoiler

Show

Tempestade Attack 1 (d20+12)[28] damage (1d8+3)[11] plus (2d4)[7]slashing (1d6)[6] electricity if crit confirm (d20+12)[22] and deal (1d8+3)[11] extra damage.
Tempestade Attack 2 (d20+12)[32] damage (1d8+3)[10] plus (2d4)[3]slashing (1d6)[3] electricity if crit confirm (d20+12)[32] and deal (1d8+3)[9] extra damage.
Tempestade Attack 3 (d20+7)[22] damage (1d8+3)[10] plus (2d4)[5]slashing (1d6)[4] electricity if crit confirm (d20+7)[27] and deal (1d8+3)[7] extra damage.
Nevasca Attack 1 (d20+12)[21] damage (1d6+2)[5] plus (2d4)[6] piercing and (1d6)[5] cold, if crit confirm (1d20+12)[25] and deal (1d6+2)[4] extra damage.
Nevasca Attack 2 (d20+7)[8] damage (1d6+2)[7] plus (2d4)[6] piercing and (1d6)[5] cold, if crit confirm (1d20+7)[26] and deal (1d6+2)[7] extra damage.