[4E] A City Alone IC I

[Wdwune]

Hakka

That one not getting away

Hakka uses his lower forelimbs to withdraw his bow and draw his usual crossbow. He loads it, changes his stance to a more flexible one, aims and fires from far away, aiming for the green hag's legs before attempting to fade away within the natural darkness of the cave.

Spoiler: OOC

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Free: Multiple Arms, change weapon to Swiftshot Crossbow

Free: Load crossbow

Minor: Eagle's Eye (UENT, gain CA with ranged/area powers, no long range penalty, +4 Perception to detect hidden creats)

Minor: Change stance to Aspect of the Dancing Serpent (+1 att & dmg vs enemies without adj allies, shift 1 at the end of my turn as free)

Standard: Disruptive Shot (3/3 used) vs Green Hag
· (1d20+18)[21] vs AC (15 base, +2 CA, +1 stance)
· Hit: (1d8+9)[16] dmg (8 base, +1 stance), and target is immobilized (save ends)
· Miss: Half dmg, and target is slowed UENT

Free: Shift from P21 to P22 and hide in the shadows
· Stealth: (1d20+16)[34] (15 base, +1 gear)

[Meltheim]

Kriv

"DEN, Draj, <pant> see if you can put that one <pant> in the pit somehow. <pant> I'm going to <pant> skirt around <pant> for a better vantage point and <pant> uh, <pant> make sure that the other witch is really dead!"

Kriv steadies himself on his feet and move to the other side of the cave, hoping to get far enough away from the wizened hag that her spell no longer affects him. He hopes the others don't know the potion he's pulled out of his pack.

Spoiler

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Move : Walk from Q20 to T15

Minor: Retrieve Potion of Healing

Minor: Drink potion
Effect: Spend a healing surge and regain 10 HP

Contingency: Immediate Reaction - Inspiring Reaction (If I take damage, I regain 24 HP as an immediate reaction)
Trigger: You or an adjacent ally takes damage
Target: The character who takes damage (me!)
Effect: I spend a healing surge (17 HP) and regains additional hit points equal to your Charisma modifier (5 HP)
Effect: Healer's Brooch - I regain an additional +2 HP when I cause myself or an ally to be healed.

[Rakaydos]

Throwing his wind spell out again, Draj attempted to comply with the commander's orders.

(d20+11)[15] vs Reflex, to slide 2 (south 1, then southeast into the pit) and slow.

If hit, Hag's save vs falling into a pit: (d20)[16]

[Nightgaun7]

The green hag gasps and coughs, blood bubbling out of her mouth and dripping down her chin. She clutches the side of her throat, nicked by Hakka's arrow, and a wound that would normally be painful but survivable becomes deadly in the wake of earlier injuries. After a few seconds, she sags against the side of the tunnel and then drops to the ground.

The white-haired hag rolls to her side and thrusts her staff at DEN while spitting a furious incantation. Her rage infects the warforged, blinding him to foes and allies. "Let your friends feel the bite of that blade!" She uses her staff to haul herself to her feet, clutching her side, while DEN looks around in momentary confusion. Friends? Query database: Stormcrow presence. No known allied units in area. Anomalous life forms detected.

Spoiler

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WH attacks DEN and provokes for using a ranged attack; DEN hits and does 20 damage, DEN and Kriv both take 10 damage. Kriv triggers Inspiring Reaction to regain 24 HP.

Nevertheless, WH hits; DEN is dominated until the end of the Hag's next turn.

WH stands from prone.

Turn 7, Sathris and DEN are up.

[Laserlight]

Unit DEN

"Database Label Friends Undefined. Creating Database. Populate. Null Content. The Empty Set Is The Unique Set Having No Elements Its Size Or Cardinality Is Zero. Unable To Process Directive. Database Error. Recalculate. Extend Definition. Definition Brothers. Null Content. Unable To Process Directive. Database Error. Recalculate. Extend Definition. Definition Ally. Tactical Scan. Populating. Target Selection Criteria Undefined. Defaulting To Force Preservation. Least Damaged Unit Is Hakka. Targeting."

Spoiler: OOC

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MOVE: K18 to O22, charging Hakka
ATTACK: MBA is 15vs AC +1 Charging = (1d20+16)[15](15)
Damage is 2d6+9 (2d6+9)[5][1](6)
Extra Brutal dice (3d6)[6][1][6](13)
Starting

"Attack Executed. Commander's Intent Not Understood. Command Authority Authorization Query. It Must Be Tuesday I Have Fish Sauce And A Surly Duck. Stack Overflow. Error."

[Gavran]

Sathris

As the first hag falls, Sathris changes direction and moves quickly toward the hag controlling DEN. "You expect me to leave her alone while her vile magic twists my allies against each other?" He darts past the old woman, his knife lashing out at her in passing. Stopping between her and her surviving sister, he strikes once more, slashing his blade across her throat. Turning away from her he faces the last hag. "I think you'd better reconsider your position. Maybe if you surrender and undo this... mess, you won't have to join your broken coven."

Spoiler: OOC

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Move: Walk from S15 -> M17
Standard: Circling Predator @ WH
Attack 1: (1d20+17)[29]
Damage 1: (1d4+10)[12]
Effect: Shift M17 -> L17
Attack 2: (1d20+17)[27] if hit, WH grants CA (to me) until the end of my next turn
Damage 2: (1d4+10)[13]
Minor: Low Slash (if WH survives)
Attack 3: (1d20+17)[34] +3 if Attack 2 hits, WH is slid to K17 and slowed until the end of my next turn
Damage 3: (1d4+10)[12] +1 if Attack 2 hits
Sneak Attack: (2d8+4)[1][8](9) if Attack 2 hits

[Nightgaun7]

She wails at the sight of her sister toppling lifeless into the pit, then turns and runs, panic-stricken, for the tunnel. She's gone in the blink of an eye, a sob echoing back into the cavern.

Spoiler

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BH double moves for 16, vanishing off the edge of the map.

[Wdwune]

Hakka

The thri-kreen hunter keeps aiming to the fleeing hag, but he puts his crossbow down when she gets out of sight. Keeping his former stance, he immediately withdraws his weapon and rushes to the entrance of the cave to check out the tide rising.

Spoiler: OOC

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Before the short rest, I'd like to do a small scouting.

Still under the effects of Eagle's Eye, and remain on Aspect of the Dancing Serpent stance.

Move quickly to the entrance of the cave, running, double moving and jumping if necessary (using the Skybound Armor power if necessary to add 2 squares to my jumping distance).
· Athletics: (1d20+12)[32]
· Perception (detect hidden things): (1d20+20)[21] (15 base, +1 gear, +4 Eagle's Eye)

At the end of the round I shift 1 (stance effect) and hide.
· Stealth: (1d20+7)[18] (16 base, +1 gear, -10 running)

EDIT: Look at that, a natural 20 followed by a natural 1.

[Nightgaun7]

An eerie silence prevails in the aftermath of the battle. Hakka runs to check the level of the tide, with Kriv lurching slowly after, holding the gash on his thigh. The water looks as though it will stop about a dozen yards from the entrance to the cave. It will be a long swim out, through what looks to be a swirling tidal bore that could dash the group against the walls of the tunnel or suck them out to sea.

Draj examines the fallen former Sven. His hulking form still has a faint, thready pulse, but dark blood covers the rock around around him, dripping from a dozen wounds. Draj can sense that whatever magic corrupted his form and drove his madness is quiescent for the moment, but beyond that he can tell little.

DEN, returned to full function in the wake of the old hag's death, peers into the pit. Her corpse is sprawled at the bottom, the two girls staring at it in stunned silence. He fashions a seat from a few loops of rope, and lowers it into the pit. After a bit of prompting, one girl helps the other get it around herself and DEN awkwardly raises her out of it, trying to avoid bashing her against the lip of rock around the top. After she crawls a few feet away from the edge, DEN lowers the rope back down and hauls the other girl out as well. Both huddle together, shaking and cringing.

[Wdwune]

Hakka

Once the tunnel and the tide are checked, the thri-kreen hunter helps captain Kriv to return to the pit, where Sven, the captives and everyone else is.

"Water not be reaching here," he announces. "Clutch may rest here safely. Clutch must swim deep to return."

After that, he walks calmly around the place as he rests and inspects the area.

Spoiler: OOC

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Change my stance to Aspect of the Pouncing Lynx (to get +4 initiative, just in case)

At my short rest I use the Wilderness Tracker knack:

Wilderness Tracker
Benefit: During a short rest, you can make a Perception check (DC determined by the DM) to inspect the area around you. This area can be as large as 10 squares on a side. If your check succeeds, you determine the number and nature of the creatures that have moved through the area in the past 24 hours. You ascertain when and where they entered the area, as well as when and where they left.

So...
· Perception: (1d20+15)[25] (14 base, +1 gear)

[Gavran]

Sathris

"Captain, will you be alright?" The Kenku rogue heads over to the downed sailor and checks him for signs of life. "Perhaps we should attempt to ward the area and tend to our wounds, rest a while. Though... maybe we'd better put him in the pit, first." he adds, eyeing the Sven-creature suspiciously.

Spoiler: OOC

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Short rest, burn last surge, gain 15 HP.

[Nightgaun7]

Draj examines the staff of the eldest hag and determines that it serves to store a spell for a time. Meanwhile, the others examine the stores piled around the room. In a pouch she dropped early in the fight, Sathris finds an assortment of magical components, along with a concave black disk with two holes in it.

The food stored in the cavern is plain; a barrel of salt pork, a few boxes of stale biscuits, a sack of onions and garlic, some loose yams and potatoes in a basket, a salt block. Things that might have, perhaps, been taken from a small boat.

A chest of silks, though water-damaged, was clearly a real prize to the hags. It takes center place in the little nook where most of the valuables are piled, with other things strewn around it. A small box next to it holds several vials, perhaps potions of some kind. A pouch of gems and a small store of coins, a pair of silver earrings set with emeralds, a lacquered wooden statuette of a sphinx, a golden circlet, a silver mirror with a chipped wooden frame, and an oilskin hat with a large red feather in its band round out the little trove.

A pile of equipment, haphazardly stacked, seems to have been less important to the coven. A quick inventory gets you a notched greatsword, a rough wooden shield, an embossed leather helmet, boots, bracers, a quiver with some arrows, blankets, a cloak, several small bear traps, a stack of iron ingots, songs, picks, shears, several hammers, an empty iron-bound chest, a saw, and several sacks of charcoal.

One of the freed girls timidly takes a blanket and a cloak and puts the blanket round the other girl. After a minute, the seated girl looks up and says, "Kill it. They're changed for good. And they heal fast."

Spoiler

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Magical Items:
Shadowdancer's Mask
Strikebacks
Mnemonic Staff +3
Boots of Striding
Bloodthirst Bracers

Bolt of Transit +2 (x5)

Elixir of Dragonbreath (Heroic)
Lesser Elixir of Invisibility
Potion of Lesser Haste

Silver earrings, magical but property unknown.

Approx 6000 GP in money and goods.

[Laserlight]

DEN pauses to put on the oilskin hat with red plume; then he returns to Sven, where he readies his weapon and awaits Kriv's order.

[Meltheim]

Kriv

Smiling, Kriv extends a hand to Sathris, letting the Kenku help him stand as the others look through the treasure piles. "Inventory it all, take what you can. We can have some of the crew make runs back here for supplies, since we're here until tomorrow." Kriv stretches his arms and tries to loosen his muscles a little. He chuckles as DEN puts on his hat, and tips his own toward the Warforged. "They say the hat makes the man, so to speak. Good taste."

As the party gathers all the valuables together, Kriv looks them over, seeing if any catch his eye. Draj is able to identify them one by one, and it becomes apparent that there might actually be something for everyone. "Take what works for you, and put the rest in the chest. Draj, are you able to send a message back to the crew? We're likely stuck here until the tide heads back out." Kriv picks up a pair of bracers and affixes them to his wrist, tossing his old bracers back onto the pile.

Spoiler

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I think the Strikebacks are perfect for DEN, and the Bloodthirst Bracers were on Kriv's wishlist, so I'd like those for myself. I say we put the gold and potions into the chest and figure out the earrings when we're back on deck. I'm discarding my old Iron Armbands of Power (Level 6) which give a flat +2 item bonus to melee damage rolls, if anyone wants them.

Do you guys want to keep exploring or head back to the ship?

[Wdwune]

One of the freed girls timidly takes a blanket and a cloak and puts the blanket round the other girl. After a minute, the seated girl looks up and says, "Kill it. They're changed for good. And they heal fast."

As Hakka takes the boots, he overhears the girl's words. He then looks up to them, then Sven, then Kriv. He draws one of his longbows puts an arrow on the string, tenses, and aims for Sven. He does not shoot, however, for he waits for captain Kriv to give the command of executing Sven or spare him. "Captain's command?" he asks Kriv.

[Meltheim]

Kriv

The dragonborn rubs his temples as he nods to Hakka. "Painlessly. The man's been through enough already."

[Wdwune]

Hakka

Hakka cackles his mandibles in agreement, then he gets close to Sven, and releases the string. The arrow pierces through his head with a devastating point-blank shot, finishing the creature off.

Spoiler: OOC

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Shift stance to Aspect of the Lurking Spider

Coup de grace vs Sven using Prime Shot Longbow: (2d6+27)[29] dmg (21 base, +2 stance, +2 Grounding Shot, +1 bow style, +1 Prime Shot Longbow)

[Nightgaun7]

The mutated man shudders and then is still. One of the girls retches at the sight.

[Rakaydos]

Draj poured over the tresure, grabbing the second staff and stuffing it through his belt as he looked through the rest.

He easilly identified most of the gear, expressing mild interest in the Strikebacks if noone else did, and paused over the earrings. "Hmm..."

(d20+20)[25]

[Nightgaun7]

After some puzzlement, Draj concludes that the earrings enable some sort of communication with the dead.

[Laserlight]

DEN throws the hag bodies into the pit.
He drags stuff to the cave mouth to make a barricade, and takes a good guard position, then goes into power-saving/defragmenting mode.

[Wdwune]

Hakka

The thri-kreen hunter will stash the five magical bolts on his bolt quiver, but seperated from the rest so he can identify them. After that, he does some scouting around the cave and the entrances for two hours as a maximum.

After he's done, he returns to the camp where DEN is mounting guard, and he joins him, entering a torpor state that allows him to rest well and being fully aware of his surroundings at the same time.

Spoiler: OOC

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Okay, this is what I do.

First, I switch my stance to Aspect of the Lurking Spider to get +2 Stealth

Second, I take half an hour to explore the cave we're in, see if we missed something. Some checks (just in case):

Spoiler: Checks if necessary

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· Perception: (1d20+14)[17]
· Stealth: (1d20+19)[27] (16 base, +1 gear, +2 stance)
· Nature: (1d20+16)[33]
· Dungeoneering: (1d20+9)[13]
· Athletics: (1d20+12)[14] (if I have to climb, add +5 to the result)

Then, the a hour-and-a-half in exploring the entrances and beyond, but not too far (scouting duty only, no intentions of endangering myself)

Spoiler: Checks if necessary

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· Perception: (1d20+14)[20]
· Stealth: (1d20+19)[23] (16 base, +1 gear, +2 stance)
· Nature: (1d20+16)[25]
· Dungeoneering: (1d20+9)[17]
· Athletics: (1d20+12)[15] (if I have to climb, add +5 to the result)

Note 1: If I have the sensation that something's hiding, I will use Eagle's Eye to add +4 bonus to Perception checks to locate hidden creatures, then I make a Perception check using my Inquisitive Kit (adds +1).
· Insight (to see if I can sense any oddity): (1d20+9)[26]
· Perception: (1d20+19)[31] (14 base, +1 inquisitive kit, +4 Eagle's Eye)

The next 4 hours I will be taking an extended rest in a torpor state.
· Perception: (1d20+14)[28]

Note 2: While I'm taking a rest, my Watchful Rest knack nullifies my allies' -5 Perception penalty for sleeping.

[Nightgaun7]

Hakka finds nothing of interest in the main chamber beyond what has already been found.

In searching the passageways the hags came from, however, he makes several discoveries. First, he determines that each passage goes a short way to a small room; evidently the hags slept apart. In the room of one, he sees several books, which seems unusual for a hag, and sigils and circles drawn on the floor in dried blood. He senses no malign presence within right now. Hakka's knowledge of the arcane is limited, but something seems off - he didn't think hags and demons consorted often?

In the next room, he finds scattered bones, cracked and chewed, around a pile of rags and scraps of clothing. There is a fissure in the back, through which he can hear the faint sounds of the sea. It seems small, but perhaps Sathris might be able to squeeze through.

The last room is earthier and, in an odd way, cozy. With a few roots hanging down from above, it's clearly closer to the surface than the others. There's a small fire pit, unlit at present, with a little pot over it. A chest on the other side has a couple of tattered dresses in it. The rough patch of moss that seems to have been a bed has a blanket folded at one end. As Hakka looks around, he wonders, "Where smoke go?" and then notices a small rock next to the fireplace. It seems oddly placed, somehow. A bit of levering with a piece of wood from the fireplace, it rolls away to reveal a tight, loamy passage that slants upwards and away. He feels that he could crawl up it, but it would be a squeeze for DEN and Kriv.

Spoiler

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Rolled a 19 for Hakka's Arcana check. Way to pull through, big guy

[Wdwune]

Hakka - after scouting

After exploring, Hakka arranges on his mind all of the things he sees. After that, he draws a smal knife and starts looking for food on the cave. He knows that all of the clutch members have already covered the situation for themselves (specially DEN, who does not need to eat), but the girls will need some nourishment after being trapped in a hole (most of the clutch members carry rations, but better safe than sorry).

Spoiler: OOC

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I take my hunter's kit (+2 bonus on foraging checks) and start foraging:
· Nature: (1d20+18)[33]
· Dungeoneering: (1d20+11)[28]

Hakka - After taking and extended rest...


Right after taking watch as his teammates sleep, Hakka is ready to make his report.

"Good morning captain and everyone," he greets as he prepares whatever edible thing he found, "While clutch be resting, one went scouting. This be my report."

He starts: "Three hags live here. One hag, one room. First room, there be books and blood. Smells like demon from beyond."

"Second room, there be bones and broken cloth. There be one small hole, sea can be heard. Be possible for Sathris to go in."

"Third room be close to surface. There be rests of fire and charcoal in a hole, and there be roots from ceiling too. There be a passage that may go outside if climb, but very small for captain Kriv and DEN."

He doesn't add anything, unless asked. He just waits for any questions, or Kriv's orders.

[Rakaydos]

Draj goes to examine the room labled as the "first room"
(d20+20)[27] Arcana

[Gavran]

Sathris

Sathris selects the leather helmet from their scavenged prizes, looking it over thoughtfully before trying it on. He also grabs the invisibility potion and the bear traps, placing all carefully in his pack. "I will keep these. And I will sleep." Setting up his bedroll against the wall away from the pit, the Kenku falls quickly into deep sleep, trusting his allies to give the alert well before danger could approach.

---

Upon being woken up, Sathris takes some of the pork and biscuits from the plundered supplies and gathers with the others to hear Hakka's report. When the scout describes the hole in the second room, he chokes on his meal. "I'd just as soon not go out alone to be a snack for another of those serpent creatures... how's the tide? I think we should aim to clear out of here as soon as practical, for the civilians' sake."

[Nightgaun7]

Draj sees that the books are grimoires on demon summoning, and the circles and writing are wards against passage and possession. It seems as though the hag was somehow trying to summon the demons into something.

[Nightgaun7]

"Tidal status: down, unit status: ready. Proceed to next mission objective, query?"

Spoiler

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Posted on behalf of Laserlight

[Rakaydos]

Bundling the research material into his bag, Dra waited for the others.

[Meltheim]

Kriv

"Alright, lets get back to the group. No doubt they're worried, since we've been gone several hours. I'm not sure how to write this up, so I'll defer to you, Grigor." Kriv does one last check through to make sure they've grabbed what they can, then motions for the party to head back the way they came.

"Let's hope they've been able to get enough lumber that we can leave without any delays."