!Monsters and Mayhem in Laterr [3.5] IC

[candycorn]

Gwylan's jaw drops...

This thing wants to protect the mortal? Nuh-uh. Not when they're all just trying to destroy my home. Besides, perhaps this foolish, human=shielding bug thing will be better sport than the human.

With that, Gwylan blasts the archer again, determined to not let any human hunting here escape with its life.

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Ranged touch: (1d20+12)[27]
Damage: (3d6)[7]
If a threat: (1d20+12)[13]
If a crit: (3d6)[14] additional damage

Follow up by moving to 60 feet directly above the human.

[Rhyvurg]

Blue steps forward, his eyes glowing as he slips into the girl's mind, altering thought patterns and realigning her emotional matrices.

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Psionic Charm, augmented to last 6 days, DC 19

[Draken]

Aldreth takes two of his hands off the morningstar and puts them on Laura's shoulders.

"Ssshhh... Everything is going to work out for the best."

That is a lie, far as he is concerned, this has already gone south and he is just hiding his displeasure at the simple truth that he will likely not get any seedings out of this ordeal.

But hey, no reason to not be a gentleman.

[J-H]

"You hunt dragons? Why you chase me? Why attack that...whatever it is...over there? Tell rest of truth."

Tree-shaker grabs the man's mask and pulls at it, trying to remove it.

[Conor77]

The Scene
A rain-forest, verdant yet dim, with a stream curling across the root-covered ground. On the stream-bed, a huge plant with eyes like an insect surrounds with its arms a girl, who is calming down from a panic. Or, trying. Another human, male, tries to explain himself to a different primate that can and has summoned lightning from his fingertips. A human female sits back on the heels of her palms, surrounded by monsters, assuming the end.

The Bank
Aldreth's soothing voice goes out to the woman, and it does seem to help. She is still too distraught to really be calm, but she does look up at him with wide eyes and ask, "wh-who are you? what are you?" Tree-shaker rips off the man's mask, keeping his finger up like a gun. The man's face is rugged, his hair cut very short. An explanation is found in the web of burn and claw marks that cover his cranium and move onto his face. As you look at his hands, you notice they have matching scars, beneath the callouses. He yells, "I didn't attack you though! Or him! We only saw this blackish insect thing, and we thought it was connected with the dragon! The next thing I knew I had this <gestures to spine> in me and everyone was screaming and there was this weird song and then this random dragon appeared-" He stops as Calamvir comes crashing back in the other direction, acid dripping from his jaws. As Calamvir rears up and shouts about his Thu'um, the man steps back, and back again. "Yes, I've-" he starts, but as Calamvir keeps going, he can only stammer his assent at having been blasted by Thu'um, having killed dragons, and then raise his arms at the acid he knows is about to wash over him. But it doesn't.

The "Clearing"
The archer tries to look at everything at once, but fails miserably. The dragon turns and runs back to the riverbank out of sight, but the insect and the goblin still hover over her. The insect somehow telepathically communicates with her, telling her it, means her no harm? She's glad to hear it, even though she clearly doesn't trust the thing. More evidence of why she shouldn't trust anyone comes from the fact that suddenly, as explosion knocks her flat on her back. Dazed, she tries to say, "I'm unarmed, I'm unarmed", as she crawls backwards into the xenomorph. The goblin approaches her, and she covers her face with her arms, but instead of blasting her, it merely puts its hand on her shoulder. She is about to thrash and fight, but instead, calms down. Rather rapidly, in fact. The goblin is her friend, not her enemy. It was not he who tossed that blast. Huh. funny world, ain't it, where goblins are your friend but some forest spirit tries to shoot you.

[J-H]

"You have dwarf friend? Short, scrawny dwarf who very fast? He and several others try chase me, he only one who keep up. Wear same masks you."

[Draken]

Aldreth smiles. The multiple, martitioned structure of his mandibles becomes woefully more obvious by this act, but they don't seen strong enough to be all that threatening.

"I am Sssy'Aldreth. Aldreth, for ssshort. We have no name for what we are, ssso we ussse the name you humansss gave usss, unflattering asss it might be. I am a Defiler Vine."

That should sufficiently explain why he is so nice. Or more precisely, the expected price of his overall protective attitude. Well, unless she comes from somewhere without the stories.

[candycorn]

The pixie snorts, amused. "You invade my forest, kill my neighbors, destroy the trees, and you expect it to be ok because you dropped the bow you were just shooting at us!? Run, mortal, lest I ensure you are never armed again!" With that, Gwylan fires again!

Spoiler

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Another blast, then move again to the east and 20 feet up.

Ranged touch: (1d20+12)[23]
Damage: (3d6)[9]
Threat?: (1d20+12)[26]
Crit?: (3d6)[8] additional

[Rhyvurg]

"Will you stop with that nonsense! Now, if you are here hunting dragons, why did one of you carry an amulet that interfered with my powers?"

[candycorn]

" Odd... I was about to say the same thing. If you would shield enemies of the forest, you will soon count yourself among them. That woman will not leave this forest, if I have any say in the matter. She will just come back with more of her kind, to finish what they started today!"

[Tychris1]

Calamvir grins at the human "Tell me, what do you know of the dragon? Her color, name, anything? I'd like to know the Dov who was mistaken for me." He croons his head, slithering his neck around the man as acid continues frothing out. And who knows, maybe he could get something from the dragon?

[Dayaz]

Tak looks down at the girl, surprised she would actually try to hide under her for protection. Happy it seemed that her ruse was working to some extent, Tak wrapped her body aroung the girl, using her bladed tail to protect her vitals just as another beam raced at them.

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Tak is going to try to take the blast instead of the girl. Or as Candycorn has said I could do, I'm offering her cover.

[Rhyvurg]

"I have her mind, she will tell me her secrets willingly, THEN we can decide what to do about it! Now will you please exercise what little patience your gender is capable of and SHUT UP."

[candycorn]

" Then let's play a game. You try to learn what you can, as fast as you can... And I will protect my forest. If you learn what you wish before she dies, then you win! Doesn't that sound fun?"

[Rhyvurg]

"Come down here and we'll shake hands on it."

[candycorn]

"Oh, you're no fun. Tell you what, I will spare this invader for a short time, if you but do one thing for me.

Say please. I want you to get down on that grubby little knee of yours, bow that thick skull until it touches the mud, and call out, 'Lady Gwylan, I humbly request you hear my plea, and spare the life of this worthless human, for only a short time, that I may try, with all my meager skill, to learn what I may from her.'

If you can put your needs ahead of your pride, I will honor them. If you insist on blustering to the fey, then I will follow you throughout this forest, ruining all your intentions until both your desires and your foolish pride are crushed."

[Rhyvurg]

"Hush, adults are talking." He turns back to the human. "Tell me everything you know about why you are in this forest."

[Conor77]

Laura continues to shiver, but she seems calmer. Poor girl ain't a trained warrior, just a cleric. When the name Defiler Vine crosses Aldreth's lips (mandibles), she freezes. Suddenly, she seems to almost shrink, away from the arms holding her, down towards the ground. "Oh, you won't... please don't...", she says, as she starts to shake her head at Aldreth.

The man, realizing that his life is not in immediate danger, calms down quite a bit faster. And with that calm, he is selling his allies out nine ways to Sunday. "Yeah, that woulda been Fritz you saw. Dwarf's like a lightning bolt on Slash, really. Sorry he knocked you around a little, I'm not sure what that was about, since we only got orders for the creatures, fey, and the dragon" And then, to Calamvir, "Oh yeah, she's a right nasty Silver. Calls herself, Argdo? Agdov? Somethin' like that. She's been stealin' and havin' her way with quite a few of the people around here, before freezing 'em and eating 'em like popsicles. Or so we've heard. So we trekked out here to put her in the ground. Heh, seems like we bit off more than we can chew, though. We knew she had Fey allies, but we didn't think we'd meet any until we got closer to the lair. And if I'm not wrong, that was a Pixie what just chased off Fenny, so I'd guess we're all in danger now, supposing you aren't in league with her or summat"

"Fenny" is crouched under the only cover available to her, the big xenomorph. She is trying to find the source of the tormenting blasts and the voice that keeps assaulting her. It would seem that it comes from midair, and now it's arguing with the friendly goblin. She just says, "We were hunting a dragon. A Silver one. I'm sorry we got entangled with your...group, but that's just how things happen. I suggest you let me go and make yourselves scarce". And then in a low, quiet voice, "They're gonna come get me. Except, not the Scouts. The Hunters. I don't care who you are, if you want to survive you'll leave before they get here. Just don't tell the green bastard with all the arms" She pauses, and then seems confused. "Wait, why did I tell you all that?". She looks the goblin up and down, "What the hell did you do?".

[candycorn]

"You had your chance. You would rather lose everything you aim for than show respect. So be it. The next few months, we'll have so much fun!"


@DM:

Spoiler

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At the Next available opportunity:

Dispel Magic, Targeted, on the human.

Dispel check: (1d20+8)[18] (highest caster level effect)
Dispel check: (1d20+8)[16] (next highest caster level effect)
Dispel check: (1d20+8)[21] (next highest caster level effect)
Dispel check: (1d20+8)[21] (next highest caster level effect)
Dispel check: (1d20+8)[22] (lowest caster level effect)

Assuming no more than 5 spell effects on the archer. DC to dispel is 11+ Caster level. In the case of the blue's charm, that should be DC 17.

[Draken]

"Pleassse... You can't believe all the ssstories, dearie. If they were true, you wouldn't have had the chance to even asssk now, would you?"

On the other hand, he doesn't understand the concept of personal space, it seens, since Aldreth just lowers himself further, sheathing his morningstar once more to leave all of his hands free. Body language is important, after all.

"I won't do anything you don't want... But I mussst assssure you that what I offer isss sssomething you will not find anywhere elssse..."

Two hands move up from her shoulders to her neck, the velvet-like carapace is much softer than it appears. His quills are retracted as well.

It is noteworthy that he is not oblivious to the other events, however, and doesn't seen quite pleased with "Fenny's" way of refering to him.

[Rhyvurg]

"But why is it that one of your group was equipped to combat my powers? Could you perhaps have been lied to about your true purpose?"

[Dayaz]

Tak was watching the goblin as it messed with her new human pet, a extremely light hiss issuing from her throat. She casually moved her head till it was just over his, within view of the girl -Fenny?- and pulled her lips back, her fangs glistening as the goblin kept messing with the human. Tak was sure to send more images of her protecting the human to the girl, showing just her that if the goblin hurt her that Tak would eat him.

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trying another Bluff to see if she'll like Tak

Bluff Check
(1d20+7)[19]

[J-H]

"Silver dragon, in jungle? Silver dragon like cold, mountaintops. Jungle die in cold, not made for ice. Bad, could be."

The baboon thinks for a minute. "Encourage it to leave, I should." Loud enough for those across and down the stream to hear, he yells. "Hey! Man here say they looking for big silver dragon, we accident. Silver should not be here. He take us to dragon; if he lying, we make friend with dragon. He not lying, we chase dragon off."

After finishing, he pauses, and then adds "Dragon probably have gold and money. We help, get reward; we chase off, gold gets left behind, we take. Do one thing, multiple benefits."

[candycorn]

" And why should we chase it off? What did it do to you? Humans invade our space and drive us to the edges of the world as is... Should we help them do it? Beg for scraps at their table? Why must we aid the humans against the dragon? Why not aid dragons against the humans? At the very least, why do we not talk to it, see what it is doing that is so worthy of being driven from its home? Can we at least do that before we drive it out of its home?"

[J-H]

"Silver dragon bring cold to jungle. Seen what happens when jungle coated in frost? Jungle dies from cold. You live here? Want healthy jungle?"

[candycorn]

" The dragon doesn't bring cold here any more than goblins bring stupidity. They may possess it in abundance, but that doesn't mean they will inflict it on the rest of the us. If we are to go, we talk first. I will not drive out something based only on the word of a filthy lying human."

[Tychris1]

Calamvir grits his teeth as he hears about the Silver Dragon "I see.... I understand now, and I have the deepest respect for what you're doing. Here, allow me to aid you." He rises upward, looking towards Tree Shaker "Well then, ape, if you wish to hunt down a Dov, there is no better instrument then another Dov."

[J-H]

"Never said we attack without talking first."

[candycorn]

" Look at you all! One human mentions the dragon, and you are all ready with torches and pitchforks! I will say this: if ANYONE tries to hurt that dragon before I am satisfied that you've made every effort to deal with it peacefully, then you will be doing it with a fistful of fey magic up your backside! This forest us not dangerous to any who do not endanger it!

[Rhyvurg]

"Calm yourself pixie, I do not believe there is a silver dragon."