The Red Hands [IC]

[Megatron46]

Gritting her teeth, Sariel feels the icy breath wash over her and sap her strength, opening the wounds inflicted by the kobolds' swords earlier. She glances down and sees blood seeping out from her armour and dripping onto the floor, spattering on her boots.
She smiles grimly when first an orange and black blur rips out the throat of the enemy to her right and then Zachar flies past her and cuts down the wyrmpriest, then she turns her eyes to the kobold next to her. Her violet eyes almost glowing, Sariel draws on her strength and ignoring her wounds flicks her blade out at the kobold's throat, hoping to finish what the ranger started.

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Standard- Viper's Strike on D1
Attack- (1d20+6)[20]
Damage- (1d8+5)[12]
If hit, then if D1 shifts before the start of my next turn then an ally of my choice makes an OA

[Dakaran]

Sariel does indeed finish what the ranger started as her sword effortlessly slices through the kobold. For a moment, the kobold stands with a look of shock on his face before his entire head rolls back off its body. With a thump the beheaded corpse follows the head to the ground in front of Sariel.

OOC

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Sariel kills Dragonshield 1 easily.

It's humson's turn!
Encounter 2 Battle Map
Initiative Order

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Sariel (Megatron46)
Leolamin (humson)
Analash (tigerusthegreat)
Skirmisher
Zachar (dariathalon)
Saeros (Palabalo)

[humson]

Seeing his packbrothers and packsisters take out the kobolds, Leo lets out a chuckle even as the scared stabs at him. you shouldn't have done that, little one. He then strikes out quick, hoping to keep him alive. Loelamin of the Sunrise wants answers.


OOC:
If this attack would kill him, i want it just to knock him out.
Rending fury v AC of k1
(1d20+6)[7]
(1d20+6)[12]
damage (1d10+4)[12]
If one attack hit he take -4 to attack roll not including me or if both hits a -5
I will use the higher roll

[Dakaran]

It seems that attacking with slight restrain in an effort to keep the kobold alive was enough of an opportunity for the kobold to quickly step out of the path of Leolamin's hammer.

OOC

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Both of the rolls for attack miss.

It's tigerusthegreat's turn!
Encounter 2 Battle Map
Initiative Order

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Sariel (Megatron46)
Leolamin (humson)
Analash (tigerusthegreat)
Skirmisher
Zachar (dariathalon)
Saeros (Palabalo)

[tigerusthegreat]

Analash

Analash moves towards the last kobold, and purrs.

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5ft step towards kobold
Grasping Claws; wis vs reflex - (1d20+4)[16]
damage - (1d8+4)[11]

[Dakaran]

Analash closes the distance between her and the kobold and rips into the kobold, cutting long bloody gashes into it.

Sensing that it's being cornered, the skirmisher brandishes his spear at his enemies and backs away slowly. The sting of tigress' claws still echoes through the kobold's body. In an effort to extract some revenge the kobold's spear flies out at the tigress, but at an unfortunate moment blood flows down from a wound into the kobold's eyes and he misses by a great margin.

OOC

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Since you didn't specify I moved Analash to F6, hopefully that's fine. Analash hits the skirmisher for 11 damage. The kobold is still standing, but very bloody.

The skirmisher uses a minor action ability to shift 1 square to E5. The skirmisher attacks Analash, but rolls a 1...

It's dariathalon's turn!
Encounter 2 Battle Map
Initiative Order

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Sariel (Megatron46)
Leolamin (humson)
Analash (tigerusthegreat)
Skirmisher
Zachar (dariathalon)
Saeros (Palabalo)

[dariathalon]

Zachar - Deva Avenger

Zachar points to the kobold with his gouge, "You're next," he says. He steps forward thrusting the spear-like tip of the weapon at the skirmisher.

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Can the kobold really shift to that square? For most creatures, the difficult terrain would stop a 1 square shift from working, he'd either need to have a way to shift 2 squares, or shift to e6 instead since that was the only square of non-difficult terrain around him. I don't think it will really be an issue, but I thought I'd at least point it out.

Move: If needed, move adjacent to the kobold.
Minor: Declare Oath of Enmity
Standard: Overwhelming Strike (attack vs AC) (1d20+6)[13] or (1d20+6)[17]. If he was unable to move to the square he wanted to, Zachar would be able to get CA from a flank giving +2 to each of those rolls.

Hit: (2d5+6)[9] and there's a shift and slide that Zachar won't do this time.

Immediate Interrupt: If the kobold is still standing, Zachar will use his channel divinity (Divine Guidance) to give the next ally who attacks the kobold two rolls and s/he can take the better roll.

[Dakaran]

The skirmisher stands helpless as the deva's gouge plunges into him. The last bit of life drains from the kobold as he falls into a heap on the stone floor. The echoes of the battle fade in the room and the dust finally settles from the fallen tapestries.

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Grr.. I sadly forgot the shift onto the difficult terrain. Thanks for the reminder dariathalon. Either way it doesn't matter as your attack hits even without a Combat Advantage bonus.

The skirmisher is dead and thus ends encounter #2! You all have earned 250 XP.

Current HP
Analash: 16 / 28
Leolamin: 23 / 30
Saeros: 25 / 25
Sariel: 9 / 26
Zachar: 14 / 28

So the room is clear. What do you all want to do?

[Megatron46]

As the last kobold is cut down, Sariel sinks to one knee and rests her head on the pommel of her sword, taking deep breaths. Those dragonspawn were fiercer than I expected, I must be better prepared when we face them again. She stands and cleans some of her own blood and kobold gore off her sword and armour. Sheathing her blade, the eladrin gathers her strength and speaks aloud, These kobolds fought like fanatics, something precious to them is in these tunnels. What do we know of kobolds that could make them act like this? I know little other than that they are willing followers of dragons. As she finishes speaking, Sariel looks around the excavated entrance hall, examining it to see if she recognises anything from her reading about this place and if it has any connections with kobolds and dragons as well as its obvious dwarven connection.

OOC

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Spends 3 healing surges to bring her up to full hp and Sariel has 5 surges left
History check for info on kobolds and the site (1d20+7)[22]

[dariathalon]

Zachar - Deva Avenger

Zachar moves over to the nearest wall and leans against it. He slowly slid down the wall into a crouch, breathing heavily. After catching his breath, he responds to Sariel, "I wouldn't be surprised if there's a dragon in here deeper. Their priest called out to a queen for strength before he breathed on us with that icy breath."

After a brief rest, he starts to look over the kobold's bodies for anything of value or further evidence of what they were doing down here.

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Spend 2 surges to get back to full hp. Now at 3 of 9 used. I'm assuming this also counts as a milestone for the purposes of refreshing action points. Is that right?

[Dakaran]

Sariel thinks back to her time growing up and studying under a dwarven historian named Benrik Weyhaven. Sariel had always taken to the things that Benrik had taught her and fortunately history was the most important, at least to Benrik.

We must learn from out past so that we do not repeat our mistakes in the future. Benrik always began his lessons with that line and it was etched into Sariel's mind. Sariel's mind wanders for a moment, seeking something useful from Benrik's teachings and settles on a lesson about the Great Dragon War that several centuries ago united together many peoples against a vast dragon horde and their minions. That union would ultimately result in the formation of the kingdom of Kaldor at the end of the Great Dragon War. Benrik especially loved to lecture on his ancestors that fought in the lands that are now of House Modin. Before the Great Dragon War the dwarves of that area were often fighting their neighbors. To protect their clan borders, dwarven chiefs would build hidden underground holds. They could easily send scouts from these holds and often times surprise marauding enemies. In the time of the Great Dragon Wars these holds served the Modin clan and their allies well and were often points of great frustration to the dragon's armies. Many holds had several secret exits which would allow the occupants to surprise their enemies with ambushes, then disappear into the safety of the hold. During the Great Dragon War dragon lords would take the ancient dwarven holds very seriously and would either avoid them when possible or would devote hosts of kobolds to overwhelm the holds once an entrance was discovered.

---

As Zachar steps over to the slain wyrmpriest his foot crunches down on part of the bone-mask that it had worn and it breaks into a dozen small pieces. Looking over the kobold's body Zachar notices it has a number of tatooed markings of draconic script on it's head that the bone-mask had covered. Turning his head align his head with the script he reads: "First Bound to Naro". As Zachar searches the rest of the kobold's body he finds no more markings, but does pull out a strangely very ornate necklace. The necklace is a find gold chain with a superbly crafted small sculpture made out of gold of a dragon. The body of the dragon is wrapped around and holds in place a spherical pure-white moonstone. Aside from the necklace you find little else of interest until you pull a Potion of Healing out of a belt pouch.

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dariathalon, for now I've had you only search the wyrmpriest as I'm waiting to see what the others want to do. If no one else searches the kobolds I'll have Zachar search the rest.

Treasure: So far after searching 1 kobold 200 GP worth of treasure has been found: 1 Potion of Healing (50 GP) and 1 necklace (100 GP moonstone plus 50 GP worth of gold in the necklace).

Action points: We've reached a milestone, so assuming that you all don't decide to take an extended rest you'll all have an additional action point. If you do decide to take an extended rest then you'll all just have 1 action point. Either way, you all have at least 1 action point.

[humson]

Leo examines the goblins and tries to think of something that will help from his previous experience from goblins .

OOC:

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nature check about goblins (1d20+9)[27]
spending one surge to bring me back to full

[Dakaran]

Looking over the bodies of his enemies Leolamin thinks back on his experiences with kobolds. He had fought kobolds like the ones he and his companions had vanquished before with the exception of the kobold that wore the bone-mask and wielded magic. The other kobolds were fierce warriors, but nothing more. None of these kobolds were true leaders. He was once told about his predecessors that fought in the Great Dragon War. Leolamin thinks back on stories he had heard about kobolds that seemed to wield the powers of the mighty dragons themselves. These kobolds, called wyrmpriests, had a very special and powerful bond with dragons. These priests served their masters, which they referred to as their king or queen, with unwavering dedication. In return for that dedication these wyrmpriests were granted power magics that reflected the power of their dragon that they were bonded to. Often the wyrmpriests led hordes of kobold troops at the command of their masters. While the wyrmpriests seemed to be leaders on the battlefield, no evidence existed that these priests were leaders off the battlefield. A live wyrmpriest hasn't been seen in generations inside the borders of Kaldor.

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Hey humson, I presume you meant kobolds, not goblins.

Good rolls guys on history and nature. I was hoping to be able to provide some setting details. Hopefully I'm not overwhelming you all. Seriously though, let me know if it's all too much, I'm willing to dial things back it I'm overloading you all with piles of details.

[tigerusthegreat]

Analash

Licking her wounds, Analash recovers from her injuries, before turning back into her human self, still licking the back of her hand. She seems surprised at the transformation, caught off-guard by it.

She wastes no time looking through the kobolds, methodically snapping the necks of any that remain alive.

"I'm gaining some focus and control. I'm not used to having allies, so forgive my earlier lack of control of the elements."

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Spend a healing surge to regain 7 hp

Search the bodies and gib the kobolds.

[Megatron46]

As Sariel finishes retelling what she knows about the Dwarven holds during the Great Dragon Wars. She listens to both Zachar's words in what he heard the wyrmpriest say and Leolamin's comments on the nature of kobolds. You both sound right, with these ... Wyrmpriests, you said they were called? she looks to the warden for confirmation, historically linked to a dragon and this one, she nudges it with her boot and nodding to Zachar, calling on a queen to aid it. It sounds like there might be an attempt to colonise an old dwarven hold. She pauses for a moment, I don't think we can linger too long, we should catch our breath and explore deeper into this hold before they become too aware of our presence!
She watches impassively as Analash finishes off any kobolds that may still be alive, Your power is dangerous and impressive Analash, it hurts our enemies a great deal, we can endure some lack of control. She smiles slightly at the druidess.

[tigerusthegreat]

Analash

Finishing her search, and smiling at Sariel, Analash leaps on her, transforming into a small, tiger stripped housecat, and perches on her shoulder, purring. After a moment, she leaps off and returns to her druid form.

"That enough control for you?"

[Megatron46]

As the Druid leaps and her form blurs, Sariel takes a step back and her eyes widen. When the cat lands on her shoulder and begins purring, the eladrin tentatively reaches up a finger when Analash leaps off and shifts shape again. That is impressive indeed, I didn't realise you had many forms, not just the tiger. She grins at Analash in delight at he druidess' shifting forms, What is it like, being a cat?

[Dakaran]

Analash's search of the other kobold bodies reveals nothing of interest treasure-wise, however she finds one of the kobolds still breathing. With cold precision the druidess slits the kobold's throat with her scythe.

As Zachar continues searching the kobolds he takes a moment to survey the room while some of his companions chat. While looking about the room Zachar notices a pile of unusually placed rubble in the corner of the room. Heading for it he finds a small sack hidden beneath it. Opening the sack, Zachar finds a full vestment. As he runs his hands over it he can feel a surge of divine power flowing through the blessed garment in his hands.

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I rolled up more treasure and came up with a level 2 piece of equipment aimed for Zachar. The treasure is a Level 2 Enduring Spirit Vestment from Player's Handbook 2.

The other treasure that was found is up for discussion on how you all want to handle that.

[Dakaran]

As the others move to investigate the newly discovered vestments in Zachar's hands, Saeros looks around the corner and down the hallway at the northwest side of the room. At the end of the hallway stands a very solid looking door. Calling to the others their attention returns to the task at hand and head down the hallway towards the closed door.

What do you want to do?
Area 3 Map

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Everyone is at full health except Analash who is at 23/28 HP.

All the treasure was found: 1 Potion of Healing, a gold and moonstone necklace worth 150 GP, and a Level 2 Enduring Spirit Vestment are all currently in Zachar's possession. Your characters must speak up if any of you want to hold on to any of the discovered treasure.

For your convenience, here's the link to the map you all found back at the archaeologist's campsite: Dwarven Hold Map

[dariathalon]

Zachar - Deva Avenger

Zachar ducks around the corner while Sariel and Analash chat and quickly slips into the vestments he'd found, knowing they wouldn't be of much use to anyone else. When he returns, he holds out the healing potion. "I've already got one of these. If there is anyone who doesn't, I recommend they carry it. It is best for the group if such things are split around. As for the necklace, I can carry it for now, and when we return to town we can decide what to do with it."

If someone speaks up he gladly hands over the potion. If not, he'll tuck it away with his other one for now.

"Well, if we're going to end the threat to the community above, we'll need to continue on." He approaches the door to the next room and begins to look it over for any signs of kobold tricks. The tapestry trap has put him on the lookout for more trouble.

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Checking the door Perception - (1d20+9)[17]

[tigerusthegreat]

Analash

Analash also examines the door, looking for any traps or peculiarities, also seeing if it is locked or not.

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perception - (1d20+9)[20]

[Megatron46]

Sariel
Leaving her more perceptive allies to check the door for traps, the eladrin draws her sword and readies her shield and steps forward, ready to run forward once the doors are open. As she prepares she speaks, Leolamin, I think you should take the healing potion, as our shield and defence you may need it more than most.

[humson]

As Leolamin looks over the bodies a thought struck him, which he muttered aloud huh, these are kobold, I thought they were goblins. He started to shrug and then remember the stories of the kobold wyrmpriest. He tells the other the stories ending it with If there are wrympriests in the kingdoms, it could mean the dragons are preparing for war. If the kingdom went to war, could the kingdom houses and peoples unite. Would the common people even fight for the ruling house? this is all troubling news We should mention it to Pack Leader Darakan when we return.
as he walks toward the door nods at his teammates and take the potion, putting it on his belt with a nod toward Zachar. He chuckles at the exchange between Sarial and Analash. He then takes a look at the door also wary of traps.

OOC:

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I'll take the potion
(1d20+4)[22] perception to check for traps

[Dakaran]

Analash, Zachar, and Leolamin all examine the door, but find no signs of foul play. The door is closed, but appears to be unlocked. The five of you position yourselves at the door, ready for anything. Zachar and Leolamin position themselves first at the door, followed by Analash and Sariel. Saeros and his bow take up the rear.

What do you do?

[dariathalon]

Zachar - Deva Avenger

Zachar placed the small vial in Leo's hand, then looked each of his teammates in the eye, making sure they were ready. Whatever was on the other side of this door, he doubted it would be friendly. Once everyone had given the signal he carefully slid the door open and looked in.

[Dakaran]

Zachar turns the door handle and slides open the door a crack. Peering in he sees a large number of kobolds, some of which seem to be in an anxious discussion. Unfortunately as Zachar leans in to listen further his hand slips off the door handle and it ratchets back with a metallic clank.

Several kobolds screech out in alarm. Two of them are quick on the take and storm across the room. The first kobold to reach the door grabs it and flings it wide. The door slams into the adjacent wall and stops. The kobold that swung open the door slides a pair of short swords from their sheathes and points them menacingly at Zachar.

The other kobold runs across the room while pulling out his own set of short swords and hacks at Zachar, but the deva recovers from his blunder at the door and deftly blocks the attack with his gouge.

Zachar

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Understanding the kobold's language you heard a number of them anxiously discussing whether or not they've been betrayed by "the treacherous mammals".

OOC

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Sorry dariathalon, I rolled a stealth check for you to see if the kobolds noticed you at the door and got a 2. Into combat we go!

Cleaver 7 runs across the room to D5 (Move), swings open the door (Minor), and draws his weapons (Minor).

Cleaver 4 runs across the room to C5 (Move), draws his weapons (Minor), and attacks Zachar (Standard) but misses with 8 vs AC.

The door is completely open and is in no one's way now. I've revealed the creatures in rows 2 through 5 as that is what you all can presently see.

It's Megatron's turn!
Encounter 3 Battle Map
Initiative Order

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Cleaver 7
Cleaver 4
Sariel (Megatron46)
Leolamin (humson)
Saeros (Palabalo)
Cleaver 1
Cleaver 8
Zachar (dariathalon)
Slyblade 1
Cleaver 6
Slyblade 2
Cleaver 5
Cleaver 2
Cleaver 3
Analash (tigerusthegreat)

[Megatron46]

Sariel
Seeing the kobolds swing open the door and attack Zachar, Sariel steps forward and vanishes into the fey, reappearing behind the enemy who had attacked the deva. She lashes out with her sword hoping to wound the kobold and leave an opening for Leolamin to follow up her strike.

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Move Fey Step to C4
Standard- Warlord's Favour vs Kobold C4
Attack (1d20+8)[16] inc +2 for flanking vs AC
Damage- (2d8+5)[11]
If a hit Leo gets +3 to attack that target.

[Dakaran]

Sariel lashes out at the kobold with her blade. The kobold swings back with his off-hand blade in an attempt to block and catches Sariel's blade, but from the kobold's awkward angle he stumbles and Sariel's blade slides off the kobold's sword and straight into his neck.

As Sariel pulls her blade back out of the now lifeless kobold on the ground she catches a bright gleam out of the corner of her eye. Quickly turning her head she sees a small dragon with gleaming white scales, perched upon a stone chair. The dragon is small in stature at roughly the same size as Sariel, but its claws and teeth look very lethal regardless of their size.

OOC

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Sariel kills Cleaver 4.

Sariel sees a wyrmling (medium sized dragon) in square H8.

It's humson's turn!
Encounter 3 Battle Map
Initiative Order

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Cleaver 7
Sariel (Megatron46)
Leolamin (humson)
Saeros (Palabalo)
Cleaver 1
Cleaver 8
Zachar (dariathalon)
Slyblade 1
Cleaver 6
White Wyrmling
Slyblade 2
Cleaver 5
Cleaver 2
Cleaver 3
Analash (tigerusthegreat)

[humson]

After the Zachar's hand slips on the handle and the kobold are alerted Leolamin give Zachar a thumbs up and says to him cheerfully Stealthy the follows Sariel stepping forward to deliver a blow to a kobold, marking the kobold as he does so. Even as he swings his hammer he surveys the room, as to not be surprised, he did not enjoy the tapestry.

OOC:

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move to C5
markC2 and c7
(1d20+6)[8] wieght of earth toward C2
if hit [roll]1d10+4[roll] and target is slowed
minor perception check for traps (1d20+4)[17]

[Dakaran]

Leolamin swings his hammer, but his target is able to dodge successfully as Leolamin appears distracted. While Leolamin misses his target he gets a good look around the room. As far as he can tell the room seems free of traps.

OOC

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Cleaver 2 and 7 are marked by Leolamin. Leolamin misses with his attack. The Perception check is a pretty solid score and Leolamin is pretty certain that he doesn't see/sense any traps.

It's Palabalo's turn!
Encounter 3 Battle Map
Initiative Order

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Cleaver 7
Sariel (Megatron46)
Leolamin (humson)
Saeros (Palabalo)
Cleaver 1
Cleaver 8
Zachar (dariathalon)
Slyblade 1
Cleaver 6
White Wyrmling
Slyblade 2
Cleaver 5
Cleaver 2
Cleaver 3
Analash (tigerusthegreat)