The Savage Tide [IC]

[Tacitus]

Darrius feels he needs a shield that doesn't clatter around so much and isn't quite so heavy, and as such would like to go looking for a heavy darkwood shield. He'd still like to have the protection it offers, and a lightweight shield made of darkwood, even a larger one, would still weigh less than a lighter version of one in pine or oak. He'd also like to put his hand on a better version of the studded leather he wears. However, given their time restraints he knows finding both, or either, might not be possible and he might not have the funds on hand to acquire both.

The morning meditation sends the glowing ember of incarnum back from whence it came while summoning forth less obvious miracles. The plates of silver-blue steel return, along with the helm of crystal, but the crackling gauntlets and the ever-present worg pelt remains. Perhaps not the most subtle of choices, but at the very least they won't point him out if he's trying to maintain stealth.

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>.> Reeeeally want to ditch that armor check penalty. XD

Adamant Pauldrons (+) [2], Crystal Helm (B) [1], Lightning Gauntlets [1], Worg Pelt [0].

Hmm... strange thought I just had. Could I be wielding a weapon in the same hand that I intend to make touch attacks with? There don't seem to be any somatic components, and if any touch would do, the back of a hand or a tap with a fist clenching a dagger would work just as well as a flat palm electric jab to the kidneys, right?

[lostsole31]

This is another reason you have Lazer around ... he is the acquisitions specialist you would seek, and has the contacts (or through Lady Lavinia) to know where to go to get good equipment.

That said for GP (general purposes), this specialty item/ material is up Vakrissa's ally, and she knows where in the Sunrise District to go for such an item. Many places might require commissioning and the like. But Sasserine is a hub of those who lead dangerous lives at sea or in the jungles, so finding it (and being able to sell off your old one) is no problem. However, the man that sells it is a canny merchant and can't be talked down by Lazer, so it costs 227 gp. You are able to sell off your old heavy wooden shield for 3.5 gp ... meaning that you have to pay 223.5 gp. You are able to pay for this outright (sheet updated for entire transaction).

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You only suffer an ACP of -1 right now. Considering your vast stealth bonus, it is more than sufficient. Meanwhile, you need the extra protection. Also, you only had time for the party to stop in Sunrise District (your target district anyway), and you don't have money to spend for a suit of armor Lazer estimates to cost 175 gp (though Lazer thinks he could probably talk a merchant down to 160 gp or so).

As far as touch attacks ... no. Touch attacks are assumed to be conducted with "full-hand" contact ... open palm. Brushing him with the tip of your pinky nail doesn't work. So, yes, you have to have your hand free to conduct a melee touch attack ... in the same way as mages need to (though that is usually also their hand for somatic gestures so it works out for them, anyway). If it is an issue, step down to a buckler shield.

The group gets to the Taxidermist's Guildhall ... and up to the trapdoor. Does anyone do any preparatory defenses/ divinations?

[Tacitus]

Darrius glances down at the trapdoor and does his best to make sure no one had tampered with it in the past day. If the Lotus Dragons know they're coming, setting a trap at the entryway wouldn't be out of the question. He'll even request a once over with a detect magic if he doesn't find anything, just to be sure. If nothing is to be found, he'll try to disappear in front of his comrades to make sure it still works. If it does, he'll reappear with, "So, are we going to go all as one big group or do you want me to try and scout ahead? I'm fairly confident no one will be able to spot me unless they've got something down there that doesn't rely on sight. In which case I run like a girl."

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Gogo Gadget Trapfinding!
Also, HiPS as a test run to make sure.
If the scouting is given the green light I'll pull 1 essentia out of the Adamant Pauldrons to power up the Worg Pelt and forge on ahead.

[lostsole31]

The trapdoor doesn't appear to have been tampered with recently. You don't find any traps. There are no magical auras. Also, just to be sure you understand ... you fade from view more than you simply wink out like invisibility. It still happens. Also, so you understand timing ... your Hide in Plain Sight is a supernatural ability, meaning it is a standard action to use. This means that you can't use HiPS and attack in the same round.

Korian, with his climbing ability and lack of need for a shield (weapons and shields surely get stowed on the climb), is the beachhead. You all climb down without any interruption. This wooden ladder from the trap door in the roof leads down into this natural-looking passageway. Moisture drips from the walls to pool on the rough floor, draining in tiny rivulets to the east. A wooden door beckons to the west.

"I'm inclined to belive that thieves'll want the comforts o' home," says Lazer, and points Darrius to the door. The door is ajar, but a quick check finds nothing. Darrius (point-man) opens and peers out. The door facing westward opens into a 5-foot-wide passageway running N-S. Five feet to the north is a door. Ten feet to the south, the p-way turns 90-d to the R (heading westwards).

Darrius, you're on point. Which way?

[Tacitus]

Darrius leans back in and whispers to the others what is outside and that he'll check round the corner and the door, but then be right back. If the door to the north is open he'll check to see whats inside, but will not enter the room unless he can't get a good view at all. If the door is open he'll try not to move it when peering in. Otherwise, he'll head down to the corner to check whats around it, and if there is only hallway he'll quietly head on down until he finds a door or another intersection. He'll try not to go further than two rounds worth of running from the majority of his allies.

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Aye, I figured it wasn't an auto-vanish, but I don't intend to use it except on the first round of combat anyhow.

Moving the 1 E from Pauldrons to Pelt now, if you haven't noted it on my sheet yet.
I seem to recall that you roll Stealth and Perception for us, so I'm thinking my mods are +19 on Stealth with the E invested (or +17 vs perception made to hear things I guess) and +9 on Perception, or +10 for traps, though I wouldn't be scouring everything for traps. Maybe do a once over on doors, at best.

Hah, so I was rereading the recruitment thread, and this made me laugh.

Otherwise, we pbp for six months and congratulations! You're third level.

Only four and a half so far, so we're ahead of the curve. I think. XD

[lostsole31]

Lazer dismisses the light on his warhammer, and then casts it on the blade of Celiss' short sword ... which he then asks she stow again.

The door is pulled open and Darrius looks out. Darrius leans back in and whispers to the others what is outside and that he'll check round the corner and the door, but then be right back. The door to the north is cracked open, and torchlight can be seen flickering inside, with something blocking at the door. He edges forward.

The door opens inwards and is cracked open oh-so-barely. There is a woman in leather armor with a hand crossbow that looks like she could swing the door open and shoot down the hallway in a moment's notice.

The part that really creeps Darrius out, because he hasn't challenged his ability to this degree yet .... is that he is looking right into her eyes ... and she still doesn't see him!

Darrius, what do you do?

Meanwhile, Celiss, when you put your sword back in its sheath to keep the light from bleeding out, your eyes dealt with after images of what you remembered seeing. It was faded and monochromatic before the 'persistence' melted away back into blackness. But it was disconcerting to say the least. This is what happens when humans with no special vision in the dark get thrust into high-stress situations when the lights go out, you likely surmise ... that their mind begins to play tricks on them.

[Tacitus]

Darrius has to catch himself when he finds a woman staring back into his eyes, his breathing all but stopped as he waits for a moment to gauge her reaction. And then there isn't one. He takes a moment to see if he can glean any other insight into the room beyond her or about the quality of her gear, but does so in haste. Obviously shaken, he steps back and scurries back through the other door as quickly as he can without sacrificing any stealth.

Once back with the others, assuming he hasn't given himself away, he leans in close to Lazer and whispers, "At least one guard watching from a doorway just to the north. Seems fairly ready for a fight." He doesn't make a conscious effort to visibly reveal himself, but him speaking should likely be enough for the dwarf and his scent can't readily be hidden from Korian. If he gleaned any additional information he'll pass that along as well. He concludes, still in a whisper, "Shall I try to take care of her quietly? Thumbs up or down."

Assuming relaying this message hasn't blown surprise, he could really only see one guard in the room, he gets a thumbs up, and there are no new developments, he'll head off to silence the woman with the crossbow.

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Loooots of ifs, but I'm trying to make this go fast because I'm essentially hogging the spotlight for a moment.

To the end, if Lightning Gauntlets wouldn't make an ass-ton of sound, I'd like to apply 2d6 electricity and 1d6 sneak attack to her eyeball while coming out of stealth. If the electric zap would make too much noise, then use a dagger.

Attack: (1d20)[18] +3 MTA for Gauntlets or +4 normal Melee for Dagger

Damage:
If Gauntlet: (2d6)[9]
If Dagger: (1d4+2)[6]
Either way, likely some SnA: (1d6)[6]

[PersonMan]

Celiss, not used to speaking to someone who she can't see, turns towards where Darrius' voice is coming from and gives him a thumbs up. She'll also listen carefully for sounds that indicate that someone apart from the single guard is in the room, ready to rush in to help

[lostsole31]

[OOC]Yes, lightning gauntlets make standard spell-combat sounds.[/OOC]

Darrius sneaks back, drawing his dagger silently as he does so. He lines up his shot and stabs her right in the chest, and she falls.

Now what?

[Tacitus]

Darrius waits for a moment to listen for any indication of an alarm being raised and then if nothing happens he'll try to poke his head into the room for a better look. If no one is visible in the room he'll open the door a crack wider and try to quietly hide the body from plain view. After that he'll glance down any hallways and through any cracked doors, then check round the corner to the south and report back to Lazer and the others with his findings.

[lostsole31]

A man's voice in the room starts shouting wildly and ringing a bell, "Intruders in the central hallway!"

[Tacitus]

Darrius winces, more at the sound of the bell than the man's shouts, and immediately tries to get into the room as fast as he can to silence him and interrupt any defensive measures he may be taking. At this point stealth is out the window, but he might get lucky and not really appear in the man's vision.

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Well, damn. In, and probably time for shock therapy.

Darrius isn't going to go slow, but I'd still like to try to keep up the stealth going in if I can. Given that a door is probably opening I doubt that will help at all, and there are massive penalties for hiding while moving, but I've got a massive modifier (for 2nd level), so...

Essentia remains the same.

If I can get in and up to the guy in one round I'd like to introduce him to pain. Preferably move to be behind the alarmist in comparison to anyone entering the room from the south if I can, but I'm not going to eat AoOs to do so. If he doesn't seem to be looking at Darrius directly, then Shanky McStab with the dagger. Otherwise drop it and begin Electro-Shock Therapy.

Attack: (1d20)[15] at +4 Melee or +3 Touch
Damage:
(1d4+2)[4]
or
(2d6)[8]
Maybe with
SnA (1d6)[1]

[lostsole31]

R1T24: Vakrissa moves in at incredible speeds, she draws her dagger (with the light on it, courtesy of Lazer) as she moves right through Darrius and pushing the door open, in five feet and drops the dagger, and hits his lower left arm for max (12) damage.

R1T23.9: Also at equally unbelievable reflexes, Lazer bursts in through the door but around to the corner behind the woman and casts stabilize on her to stop her bleeding.

Korian comes in, and seeing Lazer on the woman, he darts over to the man. Korian, being split being learning compassion and enjoying his animal side, is a creature at war. But without battle immediately upon you, he gives to the compassionate side. His respect for Lazer's approach to all living creatures is strong, and he tries to stabilize the man, but is having troubles.

Celiss, you are all alone in this little cavern thingy, though light enough comes in from the northern room. You won't fit in the room, so the best you can do is stand outside and keep an eye out for trouble.

Lazer pops on over to the fallen man and casts stabilize on him. A quick check determines that they are both alive. "It's alright, folks. They aren't going anywhere. They've been stabilized, not healed. We knew the alarm would be sounded at some point, and Darrius bought us the advantage of one more enemy neutralized then if he weren't here."

A quick check of both thieves shows they each wear leather armor and have thieves tools, a potion (Lazer easily IDs each as CLW potions), a rapier, a sap, and a hand crossbow (10 bolts total on each). The loaded hand crossbow bolt and one other each have some milky white substance on it. Vakrissa analyzes it quickly and says "It's urchin venom. Not particularly powerful, but can cause nausea and a little weakness."

"We don't have time to loot and carry everything we find," says Lazer, "and unless we carry the fallen enemies out room by room and take forever, let's take what we find immediately useful. Once we're done, we can go back."

He takes the two potions, expecting that he'll run out of healing before too long if you push hard enough. Does anyone else want to take anything immediately useful? Neither of the three NPCs can use a hand crossbow, and don't care about the other weapons.

Darrius? Celiss?

In the meantime, Lazer says, "Darrius, we still want you up front to check doors for safety. Let's not waste time with stealth now - sweep and clear. Vakrissa, you'll follow behind him for brute support. Next will be myself, followed by Celiss for ranged support, and then Korian in back as rear guard. This northern door appears closed. Let's keep it that way - they'd expect us to be coming through that door after the alarm has been silenced, anyway. We'll head the other way down the passageway to the south."

Darrius, you need to decide now if you are going to have a dagger in hand or not. You are carrying a shield in your off-hand. So, your open hand either wields a dagger or is for your gauntlets. Remember what I said ... you can't conduct a touch attack without having that hand empty so you can use a full-palm touch. Which way is it going to be? Lazer's recommendation? Accuracy shouldn't be as big a problem: they likely aren't supernaturally agile, and only wear leather armor ... and stealth is getting dropped for lightning-fast strikes covering as much of this complex as possible in as short a time as possible.

[Tacitus]

Darrius slips his dagger into the wrist sheath, grabs a sap to hang from his belt just in case he needs to take someone out without killing them, and settles on the loud and messy technique. He glances at the bolts and the hand crossbow and then sweeps those up as well. He only takes a total of eleven bolts counting one already loaded, starting with the poisoned ones, and even then doesn't keep the case of bolts handy. If he's going to be firing the hand crossbow he's not going to be able to reload it with his shield on.

To Lazer he nods, "I'll try to keep myself visible while we're in empty hallways, but no promises at doors, corners, and intersections. If we're going to close the door back to the cavern and ladder we should do it now." Assuming the others are ready, he takes point. At the corner down south he'll do his best to hide before looking around it, reporting if anyone is in said hallway, and then scouting on ahead to the next door, corner, or intersection if he doesn't see anyone.

[lostsole31]

Since Celiss has no training with any of the weapons, it is doubtful she takes anything. Meanwhile, Darrius loads up as stated.

Door are shut behind the party, and you move south along the p-way, 20' before it turns to the west. Darrius looks around (make no mistake, the party is now carrying light), and the p-way goes down 30' before turning to the north. At the end of the hall, on the south wall, is a door.

The party gets down there and it seems the door is ajar. Darrius looks in ... (he might as well open the door because stealth is effectively ruined with the party). The floor of this large room is covered with thick padded mats. Throughout the room stand all manner of target dummies made of clothes and armor stuffed with straw, some of which wear bell-studded coats with numerous pockets, and others of which are draped with manacles and chains hung with cheap-looking padlocks. To the west, a wooden stage sits a foot off the floor. A padded throne flanked by potted plants sits on this stage.

Darrius' keen vision sees through the silly disguises ... five of the six dummies are actually thieves! The closest one is 5' from the entrance.

Darrius, what do you do?

[PersonMan]

Before leaving the first room they cleared, Celiss will use the wand to put Mage Armor on herself, annoyed that she forgot to do so earlier but relieved that she remember to do so before a large-scale battle started.

[Tacitus]

Hoping to get the drop on the would be ambushers, Darrius moves swiftly. He shuffles to one side and thrusts out his palm with a burst of crackling lightning in hopes of taking one out immediately. After his attempt he'll call out to the others, "Dummies, for sure, to think they could fool us! All but one are men in disguise!"

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Essentially, try to get a surprise round on them, or at least the closest one, if possible. Otherwise just jump into initiative, even if the majority of the party is still outside the room.

Get to the closest and deliver some shock therapy.
MTA: (1d20+3)[12]
Elec: (2d6)[7]

SnA if applicable: (1d6)[3]

[lostsole31]

[Celiss activates mage armor from the wand, as above.]

Hoping to get the drop on the would be ambushers, Darrius moves swiftly. He shuffles to one side and thrusts out his palm with a burst of crackling lightning in hopes of taking one out immediately. Even tracking the ersatz dummies, Darrius hesitates when he realizes that this might have been foolish to have gone alone into a room full of agile thieves.

S19: A man nearby moves back and around and fires his hand crossbow while drawing his rapier, but the bolt misses Darrius.

S10: Another comes around to the side to shoot as well, but missing wildly, rapier also in hand.

S9.9: A third comes to the opposite side to flank with the second, but this time simply attacks with his rapier, hitting Darrius in his left bicep for 5 mod damage ... and he would've taken much more if it wasn't for his adamant pauldrons.

S5: Darrius' original target is still flat-footed, so he goes with that, grabbing the man in the crotch for 10 electricity damage. The man appears disabled.

After his attempt Darrius calls out to the others, "Dummies, for sure, to think they could fool us! All but one are men and women in disguise!"

End Surprise Round, Begin Round One ...

R1T22: With the speed of an arctic wind, frost and mist swirls around Korian, especially around his claws. The mist around him partially conceals him, while the rimed talons look like they will cut with a nasty chill. Korian tumbles brilliantly around so that the man that is 'behind' Darrius (relative for Darrius facing his target) is now flanked. Korian slashes him on the back of the head for 4 weapon and 8 cold damage, dropping him in one blow as the rime is melted away by the man's blood.

R1T21: Celiss, you feel your body react with a speed you've never known before ... achieving max reflexes! Unless you pause to 'take stock' of the room (costing an action), the best you can do is simply barrel in and punch ... or move to the doorway and cast ... at an obvious enemy. What do you do?

[PersonMan]

Celiss will move to attack the other man in melee with Darrius, deciding to conserve her spells for later. There were a few cantrips that could be useful in this situation, but it would be more reliable to simply put another of these people on the floor than to try one of them.

(If the target isn't applicable, she'll go for one of the others, of course.)

Rolls:

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Attack: (1d20+4)[18]

Damage: (1d6+3)[7]

[lostsole31]

R1T21: Celiss moves right in to attack the closest man in melee with Darrius, deciding to conserve her spells for later (flanking). There were a few cantrips that could be useful in this situation, but it would be more reliable to simply put another of these people on the floor than to try one of them. She plants a right fist into the man's kidneys for 7 damage he contorts in pain - and will likely be pissing and coughing blood later - but he's still in the game on adrenaline, if nothing else.

R1T18.9: The man Darrius badly wounded withdraws backwards to the wall, then along the wall to the corner, barely maintaining consciousness.

R1T18: A woman shoots her crossbow at Korian (which he dodges), then backs up against the far eastern wall while drawing her rapier.

R1T14.1: Vakrissa flies in and goes right for that woman, cutting her in the right foot for 10 damage with her scythe. That woman barely stands, using the wall to prop her up.

R1T14: The sixth dummy was better at disguise than the others (enough to fool Darrius), and that woman shoots her crossbow at Vakrissa, who dodges. This woman then draws her rapier.

R1T10: The man flanking Darrius with Celiss' opponent lines up his attack - using his buddy as distraction - and stabs Darrius in the jaw .... just missing a crit, for 8 mod damage. Darrius is definitely feeling the pain.

R1T9.9: Celiss' opponent is still an opportunist, and attacks Darrius to enjoy attacking a vulnerable (and wounded) opponent. She gets through his studded leather armor, and Darrius thinks himself wounded, when he looks down and sees that the blade went through the side of his armor ... without cutting him.

R1T9: Lazer comes in and around to the side of the Celiss-wounded thief and misses the agile thief with his warhammer.

R1T5: Darrius, you have two opponents - one is unwounded and unflanked. The other is badly wounded, and you are flanking with Celiss. You are now also in the yellow zone for HPs. What do you do?

[Tacitus]

Darrius whirls with his palm outstretched and aims to severely wound the one that has yet not been wounded at all, trusting Celiss or another to remove the other.

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Sorry, I was out yesterday evening, into this morning, and only woke up about an hour ago. XD

Swift: Move Essentia out of the Pelt into Adamant Pauldrons.

MTA: (1d20+3)[19]
Elec: (2d6)[8]

[lostsole31]

R1T5: Darrius whirls with his palm outstretched and aims to severely wound the one that has yet not been wounded at all, trusting Celiss or another to remove the other. He touches the man in the center of the chest for 8 electricity damage. The man convulses some as the energy coarses through his heart, but he manages to hang in there.

End Round One, Begin Round Two ...

R2T22: Seeing Darrius sorely pressed and other allies on other baddies, Korian growls and charges the man Darrius just zapped. Instead of trying to cut him, however, the Winter Warrior (hey, just came up with that ... cool, huh?) lowers its shoulder to slam into the man.

Darrius, you've seen pit fighters that rely on strength bull rush others often enough. This was somehow different. On one hand, Korian didn't seem to have used as much power as someone really versed in this tactic, yet there was actually more technique and skill used than expected ...

Korian slams into the man and carries him 15' to the back wall. Just the initial impact with the man does 12 damage, killing him outright. The additional 11 damage from momentum as he is pasted against the wall is overkill.

Darrius ... now THAT was different! Somehow, this technique of Korian's did pretty significant damage right at initial impact ... as well as the standard hard-stop damage from a normal bull rush! Okay, that might be something to write home about.

R2T21: Celiss, you are flanking a badly wounded thief with Darrius. What do you do?

[PersonMan]

Celiss will go for a double-strike, hoping to catch the man(or woman) in the back or stomach, following that with a hard kick to the same place.

Actions:

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Flurry of Attacks:
(1d20+3)[16]
(1d20+3)[19]
Damage:
(1d6+3)[7]
(1d6+3)[9]

[lostsole31]

R2T21: Celiss goes for a double-strike, catching the man in his lower back for 7 damage, and as he goes down, she gives him a hard kick in the same spot for 9 damage, breaking his back.

R2T18.9: The disabled man in the SW corner struggles to pull out a potion bottle.

R2T18: The disabled woman facing off with Vakrissa doesn't hope for any such break and makes a desperate attack with her rapier. Vakrissa deflects it enough so that the rapier scrapes lightly across her sharksin armor. The woman falls unconscious from the strain.

R2T14.1: Vakrissa nods at the fallen thief's bravery, albeit an enemy. Instead of finishing her off, she flies at the thief 10' distant that fired at her, clashing open the brachial artery inside his right bicep for 10 damage. He stands shocked and disabled.

R2T14: He and the man in the SW corner are both disabled from wounds. He drops his hand crossbow. "I surrender. I surrender!" but still draws his potion bottle.

R2T9: Lazer says, "You there, you didn't say anything. Surrender in the name of Lady Lavinia Vanderboren!"

The man in the corner says, through tears and blood, "Yes! Yes! I surrender! Yes!"

Lazer says, "Let them drink their potion. It is theirs to drink. But Vakrissa, Darrius, tie them firmly with this beggar's refuse. Keep them ungagged, that if they scream for help they are seen as beaten and killed for incompetence."

Celiss-Darrius and Korian-Vakrissa crowd them while they drink their potion (and drop their weapons). Lazer then goes around and stabilizes who he can. Lazer administers a potion from one of the following for max (9) healing. Another potion and Darrius is healed. Lazer hands Vakrissa and Darrius a potion each.

He then orders a 'quick search' of the fallen as well and the room. Nothing of interest in the room, but a separate door from the one you entered is to the east. It appears to be locked.

"What's on the other side of that door?" interrogates Lazer to one man.

"Kill us if you want," cries the man, "cause what we tell you is what we scream when Cruncher gets us."

More questions yield nothing else. They may be thieves. They might have surrendered. But they're not stool pigeons and something has them scared.

"Darrius, new change of direction. Pick the lock."

Darrius, you seem to be having trouble. And again. It takes you a total of four tries before you finally get the lock open.

Working on momentum now, he orders the door open. No enemies. A single chair sits in one corner of this room. Several target dummies lie heaped on a table to the southeast. There's one door to the north.

A quick check of the room yields nothing. A listen at the northern door. Nothing, and it is slightly ajar, looking into a hallway that is bounded to north and west, and goes east.

Push into the hallway and move forward only 5' til it turns to the south. Five feet down, there is a wall on the east and south where the 5pw (5'-wide pasageway) ends. The south checked. Nothing. Darrius pops the lock, and it is an empty 5' closet.

That leaves the door to the east. Darrius hears nothing. Door checked for safety. Nothing. Darrius gives four tries before he can finally pop the lock. Because the passageway runs past the door, rather into the door (and the door to the south blocks further standing) only Darrius sees the following .... another rhagodessa, that hideous, fearsome arachnid that you guys fought in the hold of the Blue Nixie.

The rhagodessa is on a chain, but the chain is slack and it looks like it can reach and attack anyone standing in the doorway (or anywhere else in the room).

Darrius was expecting danger, so he's not surprised by this thing ... but his jiggling the lock so much made it alerted as well.

R1T21: Though not surprised, Darrius is still taken in shock by this thing which bursts forward with appreciable speed. A pedipalp hits Darrius around the head and holds him, making a follow-up bite easy and quick for 6 mod damage to his R knee. Another pedipalp swings and latches around the L knee and the bite hits the surprised thief in the chest for 10 mod damage. Then, the bite attack itself hits Darrius in the neck for 6 mod damage.

Darrius, with the grabbing, you are brought into its square. You are now disabled.

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Disabled means you can take a single move action or a single standard action a turn. Doing anything strenous (regardless of action type) or making any standard action means you can do that single action (without penalty to rolls), but you fall unconscious and take 1 hp damage (putting you at -1 and bleeding out each round).

R1T18: Vakrissa flies into the room without heed of what is in there. Since the rhagodessa is focused on Darrius, it doesn't make an AOO as she flies overhead to the other side of the thing. She hits the thing for 8 damage with her scythe, and yells out, "Lazer! Darrius is bleeding badly and looks like he's barely hanging in there!"

R1T17: Darrius, you are at 0 hit points, disabled, and held by two of this thing's pedipalps. You barely have any breath or life remaining. Any effort, you feel, is beyond you. What do you do?

Celiss, you're on deck.

[Tacitus]

Darrius's eyes seem to lose focus as the pain tears through his body and he gags on his own cries. Even as he is being crushed by the creature he tries to look to his allies for help, but if they can't free him quickly enough he knows he'll have to expend what little he has left to try and kill the thing before it does him in.

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Jeebus, ow. Thats painful. XD

Darrius will delay in preference for seeing what his allies can come up with to help him not die what is likely a horribly messy death.

If they act and it seems he won't be freed before the creature can munch on him, he'll try one last attempt at electro shock therapy. If he is free or it is dead, well, he won't need to. XD

Apparently activating the effects of soulmelds don't require concentration checks while grappled or in other distracting conditions (it specifies they don't but shaping a meld or binding it would require Concentration), but attacking in a grapple is -4 to hit, so this will likely be up to the RNG

MTA: (1d20-1)[2]
Elec: (2d6)[11]

Edit: Oh yay. I rolled a 3. >.< Lets hope it doesn't come to that. >.>

[lostsole31]

Okay ... Celiss, that means it's your turn. You saw the rhagodessa's pedipalps reach out and pull Darrius into the room, and Vakrissa fly in afterwards. You actually don't know exactly what is happening.

[PersonMan]

Celiss, knowing what sort of damage this creature can do, casts a defensive spell and carefully moves so that she can see into the room.

Actions:

Spoiler

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Standard: Cast Shield.
Move: Move into a better position to see into the room.

[lostsole31]

R1T17: Celiss, knowing what sort of damage this creature can do, casts a defensive spell and carefully moves so that she can see into the room, standing at the doorway.

R1T10: Korian comes in on all fours, pushing past Celiss and then to the side as the cloudy air around him that partially conceals him melts away. He gets into a more feral stance and growls, slashing with both claws ... even though he moved to get here. The first misses as the second claw goes into its body for 5 damage ... a pittance.

R1T7: Lazer rushes in and around the opposite side from Korian. He casts CLW and touches Darrius for 9 healing ... and to think Lazer seems upset with that, as that is about maximum for any CLW Darrius has ever felt!

R1T6: Darrius's eyes seem to lose focus as the pain tears through his body and he gags on his own cries, though he feels better for Lazer's healing. He tries to swing his hands to get in a good shock, but misses.

End Round One, Begin Round Two...

R2T21: The pedipalps actualy make it much easier for the rhagodessa to bite, but infused with healing magic Darrius gives as good a struggle as he can get and the bite finds no purchase.

R2T18: Vakrissa takes out the potion Lazer handed her, and she feeds it down Darrius' gullet for 7 healing.

R2T11: Celiss, you are facing this thing, and this thing - whose agility matches your own - is involved in a grapple. What do you do?

[PersonMan]

Celiss takes stock of the situation and, if she can do so without hitting Darrius, lashes out at the rhagodessa, hoping to both deal significant damage and draw its attention away from her wounded ally and onto her-after all, she was uninjured and protected by multiple spells, so it would be better if it spent time attacking her than her allies at the moment.

Rolls:

Spoiler

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Flurry of Blows!
(1d20+3)[7]
(1d20+3)[22]
I'm feeling lucky(crit confirmation):

Spoiler

Show

(1d20+3)[17]
(1d20+3)[19]

Damage:
(1d6+3)[7]
(1d6+3)[9]

[lostsole31]

R2T11: Celiss takes stock of the situation and lashes out at the rhagodessa, hoping to both deal significant damage and draw its attention away from her wounded ally and onto her-after all, she was uninjured and protected by multiple spells, so it would be better if it spent time attacking her than her allies at the moment. Her first attack goes wide as the creature thrashes with its 'prize,' but her second attack does a solid 9 damage.

R2T10: Korian makes a quick gesture with his claws, and they (and his bite) trail frost. His first claw is a wild miss, but the second digs right into center of mass for 6 weapon and 6 cold damage. He then bites for 7 + 8 damage (max on both).

R2T7: Flanking with Korian and seeing this thing barely plodding, Lazer tries a Hail Mary swing with his warhammer and misses.

R2T6: Darrius, what do you do?