The Lords of Life and Death

[NotScaryBats]

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Wow, really? I can take another turn now? If I misunderstood you, feel free to ignore this post and I will delete it when notified.

Having defeated the opponent before her, Joan moves to confront the other threat.

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Joan has a move of 20 -- I don't know if that is enough to get to the second bird.
If so, she attacks it with her longsword
(1d20+23)[29] v AC
on hit (1d8+15)[19] dmg + (1d6)[5] cold dmg
trip attempt (1d20+11)[18]
crit confirmation (1d20+23)[43] x3

If she is too far away, she uses her Frighten ability to attempt to paralyze the creature
Will save, DC 22 or be paralyzed for (1d4)[2] rounds
This is different from her Despair passive aura, and is a standard action and I assume it isn't effected by the 'can't be effected more than once every four rounds' clause of Despair.

[Sneaky Weasel]

Malain hisses, and follows Siggier as fast as he can, which isn't very. His legs ache as he runs, every step like spikes in his muscles. Breath whistles through his teeth as he tries to keep a steady pace, and not make too much noise.
It just had to be running, didn't it?

[Wavelab]

Siggeir looks back at Malain who followed him. He turns back and starts following Malain's pace. "I find it better to stick together in case of emergencies."

[DeusMortuusEst]

Anthony

Enraged by his clumsy miss against the bird and the stinging injury its powerful beak left on his body Anthony lashes out again, with both mouth and tentacle.

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Attack, mouth - (1d20+16)[31]
Attack, tentacle - (1d20+12)[14]
Damage, mouth - (3d6+4)[12]
Damage, tentacle - (1d8)[8]
Grapple, mouth - (1d20+25)[38]
Disregard the following if the mouth grapple succeeds
Grapple, tentacle - (1d20+22)[40]
Constrict - (1d8)[1]
The full attack triggers Dreadul Wrath, forcing the bird to make a DC 21 will save or become shaken.

[Dr.Orpheus]

Les will move 10 ft toward the mutant eagle (to get in range) then cast baleful polymorph to turn the monster into a field mouse or chicken (depending on if it is in the air or not) Will save 24. If the transformation is successful then Les's eagle will snatch it up in it's talons. Les instructs it not to eat the thing as it still may still be tainted. My eagle will be significantly high in the air 185 ft. away and it will make a diving charge at the mutant eagle. After attacking the mutant eagle Les's eagle will fly past it and 15 ft behind the opponent at the end of its turn.

EDIT: Look for my rolls in OOC I forgot about the eagle attacking.

[nyarlathotep]

The creature shrugs off Lester's spell, but the eagle's attacks strike true tearing long wounds into the creature's wings. Upon this disturbance the beast awakens, unfurling its wings and reveals itself to be much larger than you initially estimated. Easily over twenty feet long with a wingspan of at least seventy feet this animal must have once been a great roc of the northern mountain ranges, vigilant guardians of the ruins of ancient giant civilizations. It has grown a monstrous tail tipped with a barb dripping foul yellow poison and its head has been twisted into nothing more than an enormous toothed beak drooling acid spittle.

The monster rushes past Lester and flies over the caravan. It snatches up the toad assassin Malain from their midst. It then begins talking in guttural spit filled Auran.

for anyone who speaks Auran

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Draconic Roc: It's best not to the allure of this feast blind me to failure. Come brother we have things far more important than a simple meal to discuss.

It then continues 140 feet to the road's west carrying its amphibious prize with it.

Almost as soon as the roc crosses the road the only remaining terror bird panics and begins running away from caravan, the force compelling it to ignore its fear now gone.

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The roc provoked attacks of opportunity from Lester, his eagle, and Siggeir.

The terror bird provokes from Joan, Anthony, and possibly Istid due to her not establishing quite where she was standing.

When you had used spot before you got high enough to see the roc but not high enough to notice it was trying to disguise itself by appearing smaller.

[Dr.Orpheus]

"Daaamn! Now that's a big'un."

Lester lobs a rock at the roc and his eagle rips at the birds wings again.

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Here are the AoO's

Sling attack (1d20+8)[15]
Sling critical confirm (1d20+8)[27]
Sling damage(1d3)[2]
Sling bonus critical damage (1d3)[3]

Talon attack (1d20+26)[37]
Talon critical confirm (1d20+26)[42]
Talon damage(1d6+2)[6]
Talon bonus critical damage [roll]1d6+2

EDIT: Sorry I messed that last one up, but there was no crit anyways.

[NotScaryBats]

As the bird she is engaged with attempts to flee, Joan puts all her might into one last strike, attempting to end its horrible existence.

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AoO with Power Attack -5 to hit and +5 to dmg
(1d20+18)[27] v AC
crit conf (1d20+18)[24] x3
on hit (1d8+20)[23]dmg and (1d6)[2] cold dmg
trip attempt (1d20+11)[17]

[Sneaky Weasel]

Malain nods gratefully as Siggier slows his pace, all the while cursing his own inadequacy. He locks his eyes on the winged menace, only to find it missing. Where?... Then a rush of wind, and cruel talons fasten on his cloak, and he is pulled into the air unstoppably.
The air rushes past his face, making his eyes water. The creature shrieks as it bears him away, speaking in some strange language unknown to Malain. He wriggles in it's grasp, turning around to attack the thing.
"I'll send you to hell, you monster!" he screams, stabbing it again and again with thin, bloody cuts.

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Attacking it with Bloodletting Strike: (1d20+14)[20] Damage: (1d4+7)[8] plus (5d6)[11] plus 4 points of Constitution Damage. A Fortitude save(DC 23) reduces the Constitution damage to 2 points.
If attack if 12 or higher, confirmation: (1d20+14)[20] Damage: (3d4+21)[26] plus the 5d6 and 4 points of Con damage.
Edit: If 20 hits, that's 19 damage, and no critical threat.

[Kazyan]

Alarmed by Anthony's eager transformation, Istid doesn't quite know what to think until the one that attacked the boy began to run. She gripped her dagger more tightly as she ran after it.

"Get back here! So I can stab you!" she spat at the terror bird as she bolted towards it, hoping to get close enough to ram her dagger into its body. A weak taunt, but she felt strongly about not letting Anthony be hurt.

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I forgot to factor in the Boots of Springing and Striding into her character sheet, but she moves at 30'.

If she can catch up to it with a charge attack, she does so. Manifest Psionic Lion's Charge as a swift action, 80/90 PP left, to get a pounce. Otherwise, no manifesting, just running. Of course, if Joan kills the bird, Istid will run past, look rather silly, and stop.

Attack: (1d20+16)[22]
Possible Confirmation: (1d20+16)[25]
Possible Damage: (1d3+6)[9] + (1d6)[3], nonlethal
Possible Confirmed Crit Damage: (1d3+6)[7] + (1d6)[5], nonlethal

Second Attack: (1d20+11)[22]
Possible Confirmation: (1d20+11)[25]
Possible Damage: (1d3+6)[9] + (1d6)[4], nonlethal
Possible Confirmed Crit Damage: (1d3+6)[8] + (1d6)[4], nonlethal

[Wavelab]

Siggeir saw the bird approaching. He took his rapier and stabbed at it.

"Malain, let's continue forward and "

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Attack Roll:
(1d20+15)[31]

Damage Roll:
(1d6+2)[8]

Sneak Attack Damage*:
(5d6)[11]

On hit:
1 point of constitution damage.

*I couldn't quite remember if sneak attack applies. I believe it doesn't but I have included it incase.

[nyarlathotep]

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I don't think the sneak attack is applied but I'm not sure.

The last terror bird dies with a pathetic whimper and falls to the ground.

The roc seems surprised by Malain's attacks and begins repeatedly stabbing him with its barbed tail as retaliation, but does utilize its other attacks and continues a further 200 feet from the road.

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The poison Fort DC is 27 or you take the listed dex damage.

Tail attack 1: (1d20+27)[42]
Confirmation roll: (1d20+27)[42]
damage: (1d8+12)[19]
critical bonus damage: (1d8+12)[18]
dex damage: (3d4)[5]
critical bonus dex damage: (3d4)[8]

Tail attack 2: (1d20+27)[34]
Confirmation roll: (1d20+27)[43]
damage: (1d8+12)[13]
critical bonus damage: (1d8+12)[15]
dex damage: (3d4)[7]
critical bonus dex damage: (3d4)[11]

[Sneaky Weasel]

The bird ignores Malain's attack and stabs him twice with it's tail. The barb rips through his clothing and armor, tearing two bloody holes in his side. He gives a wordless scream of pain, and he feels the blood flowing out of him to fall to the ground far below. Then his wounds catch fire, sending agony through him like fire in his veins. His muscles seize up, making it almost impossible to move. More than ever, he feels weak and helpless.
Guess this is it. I would have liked to go down killing something, but I guess that's not happening. I guess I'll settle for stabbing it one more time.
Wordlessly, he stabs it again, sending all his hatred into the blow, before falling completely limp and hoping that it thinks he has died.

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Obscuring Shadow Veil: (1d20+8)[5](13) Damage: (1d4)[4](4) plus (5d6)[6][6][4][2][5](23) And it must make a DC 22 Fortitude save or suffer a 50% miss chance on all attacks on it's next turn.
If a critical threat: Confirmation: (1d20+8)[1](9) Damage: (3d4)[1][4][1](6)
On a critical, 90 or higher is a threat of death or crippling(my choice) Fort DC 19 avoids: (1d100)[34]
Edit: Curse my luck. I don't suppose a 13 hits, but if it does the birdy takes 27 damage.

[Wavelab]

Siggeir sees how the roc attack Malain. He run around the bird, flanking it. He then thrusts twice with his rapier.

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Attack Rolls:
(1d20+15)[35]
(1d20+10)[12]

Damage Rolls:
(1d6+2)[6]
(1d6+2)[3]

Sneak Attack Damage:
(10d6)[37]

1 point of con damage per hit.

I most likely provoke one AoO from the roc. It has to beat an AC of 23 to hit me.

[nyarlathotep]

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This technically isn't the roc's turn he's using his immediate action to talk.

The monstrous creature holding Malain begins speaking again. This time it is attempting to speak common, but its words come out broken as it is clearly not fluent.

Roc: Brother why you hurt us. The travel more important than one meal.

[Dr.Orpheus]

Les stands in awe of the roc seeing its incredible speed, but then turns his attention to the sink holes and uses his tracking skill to determine if trapdoor spiders or other monster recently entered them or if they are just empty holes for the caravan to fall in to. Survival check (1d20+24)[38].

[Sneaky Weasel]

And then Malain realized. His curse could very well be an advantage. If those he hated the most thought he was one of them, he could strike when they least expected it. Now he had to keep cool, and pretend to be the creature's friend.
"I'm sorry...brother," he gasps, trying to be believable, "I wanted to kill the humans...but you're right, we should go." If he could recover from the poison soon, and if these things even slept, he might be able to kill them easily. He'd been up against worse odds than this, although for the life of him he couldn't remember when.

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Bluff check: (1d20+12)[29] Although it probably would believe me anyway.

[nyarlathotep]

Lester determines that the trapdoor was likely constructed by a giant trapdoor-spider, and that such a creature can survive draconic corruption, but is unable to lift its body anymore due to the spindly nature of its legs. So the animal in this pit was likely being used as a stationary trap by the other dragon corrupted creatures. You know that a trapdoor-spider of this size could normally strike creatures up to ten feet from its trap, but without proper legs it could likely only attack prey directly above it.

----

Some distance away the roc begins to speak again to Malain. Using common clearly takes great effort from the beast, and it is visibly tiring after less than a minute of flight time.

Roc: Thank you brother, we must reach the gathering in the high mountains. They will be ending this war, the dead who walk, but I tire flying makes it hard to breath. We talk more in the morning.

After only ten more minutes the flyer covers nearly eight miles of distance but collapses into a pile from the effort. Malain finds that his surroundings are an abandoned hilltop fortification to the north west of Landsend. The walls are broken and stained from fights with dragon-blooded and undead enemies as well as the humans it was originally meant to guard against. His companion rapidly loses consciousness and begins sleeping restlessly.

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I'm sort of assuming that no one can catch up to the bird when it starts taking double moves, and this won't effect the current initiative. If someone does have super speed speak up and will rectify this.

[NotScaryBats]

Now that the ambush has been weathered, Joan moves to the front of the caravan to see what has been found there. She approaches Lester and says, "Lester, what have you found?" Apparently, her undead eyes are not sharp enough to perceive the trap.

[Dr.Orpheus]

"There are some pit traps around, they got giant spiders in them. I think dragons taint bloats them out so they cannot escape there pits, so I can show you around them."

[NotScaryBats]

"I have a hard time allowing tainted beasts to stalk these lands, but our first priority is getting these people to safety. If you can lead us through the traps, we should do that. Once we have them behind sturdy walls, we can venture out again, rid the land of these craven animals, and hunt down that roc to save our toad-like companion." Joan answers with conviction. She is pained by the apparent loss of the frog-man, but she does not allow herself to get distracted from the mission on hand.

[Dr.Orpheus]

As soon as we all have reached were Les was standing when he first saw the trap doors he will find a path around the entire cluster of spiders, and lead them that way making sure that they don't get to close occasionally he may say "I don't know exactly how far they can reach out of there pits".

[nyarlathotep]

The caravan moves at Lester's direction, maneuvering around the pits and continuing on southward. As the last wagon moves past one of the larger trapdoors springs open and a flurry of movement is seen along its side but too far to actually threaten any of the travelers. This reveals the creature beneath, a arachnoid horror covered in bony plates, sitting at the pit's bottom. It's legs are far to thin to support its new bony growth, so the corruption has re-purposed them into eight cruel blades pointed out and upward to skewer prey that venture too close, as have its grotesquely elongated fangs. The animal appears emaciated and covered in sores due to its immobility; it will likely die soon if prey does not wonder directly into its pit.

The caravan crew recoil in terror and continue with greater haste to Landsend, having escaped the forest and are in the final stretch across the hilly plains leading to its walls.

[Dr.Orpheus]

Well if nothing else stops Les from entering he will hesitantly inch his way in to Landsend as this is his first time in civilization.

[Kazyan]

Istid avoids the pit traps, taking time to direct the wagons properly. It annoys her that everyone has to move around the roads and lose time, but doesn't say anything. At the sight of the spider trapped under it own weight, she looks down in the pit and sighs. As a friend of all of nature's creatures, she refuses to discriminate between the more beatiful creatures and the more monstrous ones. When few people are paying attention, she tosses a day's quantity of rations at the spider, then continues walking.

Later, when the caravan finally reaches Landsend, Istid shifts closer to Les--she doubts if he can adjust to civilization immediately, so she is prepared to comfort and calm him.

[NotScaryBats]

Joan waits until the mortal townsfolk have safely navigated the pit trap before following, once again taking the rear guard. As the wretched spider finally shows itself, she can be seen sorrowfully shaking her head. What has this world come to in these recent years...

She intends on putting it out of its misery when they venture out again.

[Wavelab]

Siggeir waited for them to pass, and he followed quietly. They finally entered the city, a place where his plans could unfold amazingly.

[Sneaky Weasel]

Malain slumps to the ground as soon as the roc lets him go. He was exhausted, the poison still making his every vein throb. For a while he just lays still on the ground, his face pressed into the dirt. A distinctly ennoble posture, but that hardly matters to me now. At least he was still alive.
After a few moments he heaves himself to his feet, gasping as the wounds he had received were pulled open by his movement. He turns slowly towards the roc, and sees that it has fallen into a deep slumber, it's massive body lying still. He could probably kill it now, even in his weakened state. A knife to the brain kills most anything. But then what? Go back to his companions, if he could even survive the journey. But if he stayed with the bird...
This was what he had been waiting for. It had never even occurred to him that the dragon-spawn would mistake him for an ally. But if he could infiltrate their ranks, he could do what he did best. Assassinate. One by one, he could kill the most powerful dragon-spawn. If this thing could lead him to the linnorms, well, even killing one of them would complete his life. What happened after that, he didn't really care. This was the greatest opportunity he had found, and he intended to make full use of it.
First things first. He rummaged through his pack for some needle and thread, and attempted to bandage his wounds as best he could. He had no training in this, but how hard could it be? After that, he curled up on the dusty ground to rest, his back against a piece of broken masonry. He would pull through. He would survive. And he would kill the dragon-spawn. Every last one.

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Heal Check, untrained(not sure if I can do that, but I'm trying): (1d20+6)[15]

[nyarlathotep]

The caravan enters Landsen through its northern gate unhindered. The walls provide protection and comfort, but there are still signs of the ongoing disasters to the north. Old churches and warehouse have been converted into communal living spaces for immigrants that could not find proper homes, roofs have leather coverings to prevent them from catching fire during seige, and people waiting outside of the overcrowded hospitals.
Diseases have become pervasive, not just infection by the supernatural elements, but also numerous diseases from simply having so many people in such close proximity to one another. Moving from patient to patient is a man wrapped in bandages and dripping viscous fluids from between the rags, his coat bears the symbol of the Festering King a cross and plate. Each time he touches one of those suffering from disease they seem to recover immediately and get up to leave. Upon spotting you he approaches the group, attempting to run but clearly lacking the leg strength to do so. His voice is thick and raspy indicative of a dmaged throat.

Man: Lady Joan I was worried that news of the auxillary forces being found was false. Where are the others?

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Malain's stitchings are not those of a trained doctor but they will have to do for now. The beast beside him begins fidgetting and talking in its sleep; most of the speech is in Auran, but into the Common or Infernal that the assassin can understand.

Roc: The New Dawn is coming. Teacher has promised the New Dawn is coming. Angels will pay for their deaths.

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You have succeed at healing yourself a 1hp +your wisdom modifier, and you will heal one more ability point than normal this night if you can rest.

[NotScaryBats]

Joan greets the man quickly, getting straight to business, "there was the wreckage of several carts on the road, as well as a Dragonblood trap along the road - giant pits filled with monstrous spiders. For better or for worse, these poor souls are all I could protect." She gestures at the caravan as they file about the city.

"Luckily, there are some staunch adventurous types amongst them, and we will be able to form a squad capable of defending your land from these beasts. Do you know where I can find Ms. Ashley? I'd like to report to her as well, if possible."