Bhaakon's Carrion Crown

[Desril]

Desril

Being used to reading larger tomes for even less reward for the effort, finding obscure details about anything, especially magic, isn't exactly the easiest of pursuits, Desril finds himself less put off by the little they seemed to have gained for all their attempts than Asher seems to be. "He does seem suspicious, given what we know, and looking for a name rather than a single letter will be a lot easier. There should be a record of why he was imprisoned and where he was at the time, we might be able to track him down from that."

[stack]

Julian pauses from the search. "Relevant records inadequate. Alternate source required. Temple records possible, direct site investigation alternate option: see what is there directly. Risks unquantifiable."

[stack]

"Suggestion: visit prison tomorrow. Concurrence? "

[ProudGrognard]

Antarres

"Yes, it seems we are about done here. Though I vote for the church records first."

[Bhaakon]

The town clerk couldn't be more pleased to see you go. She's gathered up the ledgers and returned them to their shelf almost before Julian has finished pronouncing "Alternate sources..."

It's noon when you leave the town hall, and the sky's as clear as you've seen since you've arrived in town. The locals are making the best of the break in the weather, assembling a farmer's market in the town center. Stalls and carts loaded with produce, sacks of grain, and butchered bits of beast fill the plaza.

A lazy brown hound lounges in front of a pavilion in the center of the impromptu bazaar, where a musical trio is just beginning a concert. The crowd seems largely immune to the appeal of the cacophonous strains of an accordion, a tambourine, and some kind of lute-like string instrument played with a bow. At least the birds seem to like it, as a small flock flits about above the players.

At least you think they're birds, until the dozing dog yelps and bolts, barking up a storm as it flees.

Then a man belts out a passingly blasphemous oath and begins dancing about in a vain attempt to dislodge something clinging between his shoulder blades.

By the time the third voice calls out in shock and pain, the rest of the crowd has figured out what's happening. "Stirges!" A woman shouts, pointing at the flock of 'birds' whirling above the pavilion. The crowd immediately begins to disperse, but so does the flight of bat-winged mosquitoes, scattering among the people to find a meal.

The band, lost in the quickening pace of their piece, continues playing.

DC 11 Knowledge (Arcana)

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Stirges, an unholy combination of mosquito and bat that's an unfortunately common pest in Ustalav. They attach to their prey and suck its blood until they're bloated and barely able to fly away. While individual stirges aren't terribly dangerous to an animal the size of an adult human, they often swarm in numbers large enough to suck cattle dry, and tend to carry diseases.

Map

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Desril, Scythia, and Julian are up, full round actions.



R = Ravengro citizen
R = Ravengro citizen w/ attached stirge
M = Deputy Mueller, she acts after all PCs

-All striges are flying low enough to reach with melee weapons

[ProudGrognard]

Antarres
HP 17 AC 17

Antarres was not much help in the archives, so his head was clear. Despite that, he almost did not see what was happening.

"Stirges! Annoying as hell, they are."


Antarres chants words in the Elder tongue, feeling at the same the ley lines coursing through the earth. A ball sized stone is hurled with a wave of his hand at a stirge pursuing a pair of residents.

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Ranged touch attack at L15 (1d20+4)[14] dmg (2d6+2)[14]

[Desril]

Desril
HP 20
AC 12

The hell is a stirge? I knew I should've actually read Master's bestiary rather than skim it for something useful.

"Well they seem dangerous, so let's try to get their attention away from the people." Quickly scanning the scene, it's obvious to the wizard that the stirges are too spaced out to hit all at once, at least for now, so with a snap decision he decides to focus on the nearest one and hopefully draw the others attentions.

Incanting a quick spell, Desril unleashes a miniature dragon made of fire from his hands that soars toward the closest airborne stirge and detonates in a flashy, fiery explosion.

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Snapdragon Fireworks on L7, (1d4)[2] fire and Dazzled. Reflex DC 15 for half and negate dazzled. I can launch more as move actions for 2 more rounds after this one.

[stack]

Julian's hand is suddenly occupied by a strange vial as he strides forward, lofting the concoction at a nearby stirge.

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arcana (1d20+9)[12]
Move to O12
If L15 alive, targeting it, using precise bombs to exclude civilians
If its dead, M11
ranged touch (1d20+7)[9]
damage (2d6+4)[10] (PBS included)

thats not going to help our publicity , hope the miss is away from any villagers

[maggie_mcknife]

Asher
HP 28/ 28
AC 19

"Oh bloody brilliant buggerf-"

As a servant of the gods, Asher had done her best after swearing her life to Sarenrae to refrain from using the more colourful epithets that she'd picked up on the road as a child. But there was always a time and place for that resolve to be dropped. She had no idea what these freaky-looking mutant insects were, but if they were like other insects, there was a chance that they carried foul diseases and the like. It'd be best to deal with them as quickly as possible.

(And preferably without townsfolk in the way, she notes to herself, inwardly wincing as Julian's thrown bottle goes awry.)

"Ma'am Deputy! Please help to get everyone out of the area!" Asher draws the curved blade that she wears at her belt for those times when the artless finesse of a large hammer and sword wouldn't do. Racing towards a citizen with one of the mutant insects attached to him, she continues shouts at any who may linger to get indoors where the creatures wouldn't be likely to follow. What on earth was that crazy band doing? Couldn't they see it was dangerous?

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Shouting at people to take cover is a free action... right?
Double move towards I14.

[Bhaakon]

Edit: Updated w/ Antarres's, Mueller's, and Citizens' actions.

A loud burst and fountain of sparks singe and disorient one of the stirges as Desril's spell takes hold. The targeted stirge lurches about blindly, but it's keen sense of smell won't be denied. It zeros in on a fleeing civilian and latches on tight.

The incendiary thrown by Julian is more effective, splattering its intended target with a lethal dose of flaming chemicals. The pair of bystanders similarly sprayed with fiery debris don't seem to be pleased with the tradeoff, particularly the one who threatens to "Spit that blasted madman and set him spinning over an open fire," but at least their injuries aren't fatal.

Much to the delight of the belligerent burn victim, one of the stirges flaps directly at Julian and drives its barbed proboscis into the scientist's shoulder, greedily slurping up his blood.

@Julian

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1 Con damage and stirge is attached

Grapple CMD to detach it is 9

The rag-swaddled woman you've come to know as Scythia draws a curved blade from somewhere within her patchwork vestments. She leaps for the nearest of the stirges with an agility belying her scraggly appearance, harrying the creature and slicing off a pair of it's half-dozen segmented legs. Mueller isn't as graceful or effective. She circles to flank the stirge with Scythia, but her heavy cosh is more useful for cracking a drunken lout on the head than swatting a quick-flitting flier.

Antarres's hurled boulder is swift, but his frenzied target is as erratic as a housefly and small enough to make the distance a problem. It flits about almost at random, dodging the airborne stone in the process.

Asher sprints for the nearest victim, imploring the rest to flee, but the stirges continue to attack. Without armor or weapons to fend off the ravenous insectoids, more of the citizens are stung, but a like number of the sturdy farm-folk simply tear loose the pests and break for the cover of nearby buildings, leaving the parasites half-fed and searching for fresh prey. With most of the market patrons hidden or flown, that likely means your group.

The band plays on, louder now, amid the chaos.


UPDATED! Map & Initiative

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Initiative:
-->Desril
Julian
Scythia
Stirges
Asher
Antarres
Citizens & Mueller






R = Citizen
R = Citizen w/ attached stirge
Purple border = PC w/ attached stirge

[Desril]

Desril
HP 20
AC 12

"Damn pests, if they're going to come in a swarm why can't they be packed closer together?!

Annoyed at the stirges sporadic placement in the square, the agitated Desril makes his way toward the unlucky citizen on the opposite side of the fountain while shooting off another magical dragon at the nearest stirge.

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Move action to fire a Firework at N6 (1d4)[1] fire damage, Reflex 15 half and to avoid being dazzled.

Move to L7.

[maggie_mcknife]

Asher
HP 28/ 28
AC 19

"Are you blind as well as tone-deaf, goodmen? Please run for cover!"

Asher doesn't turn to see if the band listens to her plea. Reaching the beleagured citizen just ahead of her, she tries to hack the giant bug off.

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Still heading for I14, attack on stirge.

Attack: (1d20+7)[12]
Damage: (1d4+4)[5]

[ProudGrognard]

Antarres
HP 17 AC 17

Putting a number of things together, Antarres casts a suspicious glance at the musicians. Something is not right here.

"The musicians! They are the ones doing it!"

Antarres turns to face them, once again tapping into the ley lines to cause the ground to reach up and engulf the musicians, hopefully making them stop without harming them. Just to be on the safe side.

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Casting Entangle at the musicians! As I read it, they should stop playing.

[stack]

A dagger appears in Julian's hand, a sweeping cut attempting to sever the stirge's grip.

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bah, need weapon finesse to really make this work. swift to recover dagger from spring loaded wrist sheath, then attacking with it (light weapon)

att (1d20+1)[9] (includes -2 from grapple)
damage (1d4)[1]

wish I would have played a vivisectionist. Oh well.

[Bhaakon]

Another firework streaks towards the stirge nearest Desril, but the creature hardly seems bothered by all the flash and thunder. Instead it just streaks at the tiefling, planting it's barbed proboscis deep in Desril's thigh.

@Desril

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1 Con damage

CMD is 9 to tear it off w/ a grapple attempt, or you can attack it normally.

Julian stabs clumsily at the stirge attached to his shoulder, too worried about stabbing himself to effectively detach the creature. So it stays stbbornly attached to his shoulder, turning red as its stomach balloons.

@Julian

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1 Con damage

Scythia spins and slices, effortlessly dividing her target into several neatly sliced chunks before Deputy Mueller can even recover from her first clumsy swing.

Asher looses her sword and finishes her sprint to the nearest beleaguered civilian. The man is still struggling to reach the stirge stubbornly attached between his shoulder, a flailing dance that might be humorous in another circumstance. The flat of the paladin's blade smashed down on the stirge, popping the thing with a disgusting spray of blood and entrails.

The display doesn't impress the other stirges. One zooms in at Asher, jabing between her armor plates to attach itself near her knee.

@Asher

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1 Con damage

CMD 9 to remove it with grapple, or attack it as normal.

"Thanks, I...what the?" The rescued citizen exclaims as the bare dirt of the town center suddenly turn swampy (well, more swampy), and a tendrils of earth reach out to wrap around his ankles.

Antarres has finished a spell of entanglement, designed to force the musicians to stop their playing. The spell's effectiveness proves mixed, as ropes and balls of mud glom on to two of the players, distracting them enough to break their concentration. They abandon their playing to try to free their feet. The accordion player, though, avoids the magically animated muck entirely, and continues playing with extra gusto, to make up for the lack of accompaniment.

Unfortunately, the spell's range covers virtually the entire town square, trapping Mueller and a pair of locals, and threatening to entangle all of you.

@Everyone

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DC 15 Ref save or be entangled

Map and Initiative

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-->Desril
Julian
Scythia
Stirges
Asher
Antarres
Citizens & Mueller



M = musician
Purple = attached stirge
orange = entangled
Green ring: range of entangle spell

[Desril]

Desril
HP 20
AC 12

Grunting as the bloated vermin latches onto his leg, the tiefling glares at it for a moment before deciding to make it pay for its meal. Stupid little pest, let's see how well it can survive this!

Holding his palm out over the stirge, Desril mentally directs the third and final firework straight into the air for a moment and then back down on top of himself. Just before the firework, now taking the form of a flaming draconic mouth about to devour him and the stirge whole, landed on the pair, he closes his fist in an effort to smash the stirge with blunt magical force in addition to the fire.

Unfortunately, having been so focused on the stirge, he missed the sudden muddiness of the square and was slow to react, resulting in his feet being stuck in the mud and giving a swift, annoyed glare to the only nature magician he knew to be in the area.

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Mostly rolled in the OOC;
Ranged Touch Telekinetic Fist (1d20+3)[10] (I forgot I had this, should've been using it >.>) on the one latched on to me (1d4+1)[5]

Firing the last Firework...on my own square. I'm impervious to the damage, and worst case scenario is I take a -1 to attacks for a round, big deal, the stirge has pissed me off and is going to die now. (1d4)[3] and my DC 15 Ref save is (1d20+3)[16]

Oh, right, the Entangle save too (1d20+3)[6]

[stack]

Julian switches to simply trying to push the stirge free with his empty hand while trying to no get wrapped up in the local flora.

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grapple to get free (1d20+3)[17]
reflex (1d20+6)[23]

"Developments less than ideal. General targeting issues need addressing."

[ProudGrognard]

Antarres

Antarres smile of triumph turns to one of puzzlement and then of indignation as he badly miscalculates the range of the summoned energy. He almost facepalms.

"I am sorry! That was a mistake. I will let the mana back into he earth in a second. Now, to silence the final bastard"

Antarres makes great uplifting motions, followed with swift sideways gestures. Underneath the accordion player, a pit opens very fast, threatening to swallow him.

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Casting Expeditious Excavation at the musician still playing.

[Bhaakon]

Julain gives up the stabbing and takes matters into his own hands, literally. He grips the bloated stirge and gives it a solid tug, tearing it out of his shoulder and toss it to the ground, freeing his hand to staunch the flow of blood where the barbs ripped out.

The bloodthirsty mongrel rights itself with a mad flutter of its bat wings and dives right back at the alchemist, but Scythia's interposing sword cuts its flight short and drives it back.

Desril resorts to desperate measures to remove his parasite, but there's no denying the effectiveness of the final burst of magical sparks as they catch in the stirge's flesh and burn deep. The creature tears itself from its blood meal and manages a few bumbling flaps of its bat-wings before droping to the ground, dead and smoking. Desril's smoking a bit as well, but not his flesh.

Who knows. Maybe scorched clothing will become a mark of distinction among a certain class of wizards.

Map and Initiative

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Desril
Julian
Scythia
Stirges
-->Asher
Antarres
Citizens & Mueller

[stack]

Julian takes a step back to get clear, then tosses another vial, this time targeting the ground between two of the creatures.

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5' to P12, targeting square O9
att (1d20+7)[15]
5 splash damage, reflex DC 14 for half

[maggie_mcknife]

Asher

"Oh come on, piss off!" Asher snarls and swats at the bug currently gorging itself on her blood.

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Attack: (1d20+7)[8]
Damage: (1d4+4)[7]

[Bhaakon]

As Antares completes his second casting, the accordion player immediately disappears down a hole yawn beneath his feet. It's not a long drop, but enough to draw a curse and shrilly off-tune blast from the bellow-driven instrument.

The stirges stop their rythmic weaving and bobbing as the music cuts out, giving Julian a chance to catch two of the thing with the same bomb blast. It's not a direct hit, but the flaming spatter is enough to ruin the delicate leather wings of the creatures, leaving them grounded and helpless, rolling around on blood-bloated bellies until someone could spare the effort to stomp them.

Asher isn't so lucky. The stirge attached to her seem more interested in blood than music, and won't let go just because the players have stopped. It continues to suck, unperturbed by the woman's blade.

@Asher

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1 Con dmg

Meanwhile, another villager breaks free of Antarres's entangling spell and runs, leaving behind a stirge that's had its fill. The thing has more than trebled in size, it's crimson abdomen the size of a grapefruit, and seems barely able to hold itself aloft.

Map and Initiative

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-->Desril
Julian
Scythia
Stirges
Asher
Antarres
Citizens & Mueller



Orange: entrangles
Cyan: prone & in a hole

[ProudGrognard]

Antarres
HP 17 AC 17


"Told you those musicians were doing it! Hah!

Now, for those bloody pests...."

Antarres once again lifts up a rock from the ground with grand gestures and sends it to the stirge nearest him.

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Ranged touch (1d20+4)[9] dmg (2d6+2)[14]

[stack]

Julian's dagger darts forward toward the stirge next to him. "Tonal control of magic beasts? Likely arcane. Interesting."

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att (1d20+2)[7]
damage (1d4)[3]

[maggie_mcknife]

Asher

At the back of Asher's head, a voice points out that this bug really sucks. The humour is rather lost on a somewhat light-headed Asher as she tries once more to swat the bug off her.

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Attack: (1d20+7)[18]
Damage: (1d4+4)[5]

[Desril]

Desril
HP 20
AC 10 (-2 from Entangled)

Stuck in the mire created by Antarres' spell, the stuck in the mud tiefling glares at the nearest stirge and holds up his hand, firing a fist-sized force of magical energy at it.

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Julian is likely to miss and I can't actually get close enough to hit anything else until the spell is dismissed, so I figure the surrounded stirge is my best target.

Problem is, I've got -4 to my attack from the Entangle, and another -4 for firing into melee...oh well, at least it's a touch. (1d20-5)[15]

[Bhaakon]

Desril masters the art of magic fly swatting, sending his target to whatever afterlife awaits such abominations with a shower of Julian's blood.

The effort is contagious. Asher splits open the stirge sucking her dry, and even Deputy Mueller gets in on the action intercepting the last remaining stirge as it dives for a civilian caught up in Antarres's entangling spells.

The plaza is finally quiet. No more discordant music, no more screaming, no much flapping of stirge wings. The musicians look around, eyes wide with shock and confusion.

"What's this, eh? Where'd the people go?" Asks the man with the tambourine.

XP

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360 each

[ProudGrognard]

Antarres

...dismisses the entangling spell with a gesture and a word, letting the mana sip into the earth again. He advances upon the musicians.

"Why don't you tell us what that was about?"

[stack]

Julian takes a moment to poke at the ruin of one of the strirges after seeing if anyone is in need of immediate treatment.

[maggie_mcknife]

Asher

Doing her best to ignore the dizziness in her head, Asher pinches the bridge of her nose and takes a deep breath. Buggerfrak. Why couldn't anything in this town just go all right for once? Goddess damned insects.

"Is everyone all right? Julian? Desril? Ma'am Deputy?" Asher calls out to the others, shielding her eyes with her hand as she surveys the now mostly emptied town-square. There had been those other townsfolk who had been burned and bitten. Her mastery of healing magic was sparse, and she couldn't restore blood that had been taken, but at least she could do enough to soothe scorched skin.

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Looking for injured people to use Lay on Hands on.