Pathfinder: Rise of the Runelords

[Alesterryku]

as elmiss walks out of rudra's room, she sees Ameiko comming up the stairs with food and drink

hey, Elmiss, i was just bringing Rudra lunch. how's she doing?

[auska89]

"She's Rudra... be careful, one should always expect shenanigans from that one" Elmiss laughs, "I hope you are doing well after the incident at the Glassworks. That tragedy must still be fresh on your mind"

From downstairs Elmiss can hear all the ruckus of the busy Inn,
"I tell ya, there were like 10 o' those creatures barreling at me, trying to get a piece o' dwarf flesh, but I wouldnt have it!, so I..."
Elmiss shakes her head, she can't believe she's been traveling with this bunch for so long.

[Alesterryku]

It's.... fine. I'm fine... a flash of sadness washes over her face but is quickly pushed aside by her usual demeanor. she then shakes her head as well. the dragon's usually lively but it becomes a whole new beast with tom. He can drink, that one.

[auska89]

"yes, much to Mance's and my own dismay. Hazards of traveling with a dwarf i guess. Of course Rudra doesn't help. If she were down there, she'd be challenging him to varying feats of impossibility."
"is that Ameiko i hear, *cough* *cough* ugh i'm so thirsty" comes a sound from beyond the door.
"i believe your princess bekons." Elmiss smiles, "best poison her again so she'll go back to sleep"

[Alesterryku]

heres your lunch rudra, and some mulled wine to quench that thirst. how you feeling?

she sets the platter of food to the side to help rudra in the sitting position

[auska89]

"ooooohhh, just awful. That poison really took it outa me. My arms and legs are still numb, it pains me to ask, but... would you... ya know... help me eat?" Rudra puts on the best pouty face she can muster.

[Alesterryku]

ameiko chuckles, completely unaffected by Rudra's guile.
what happened to miss "i can walk"?
she shakes her head with a smile.
oh alright, its the least i can do. i guess
she pulls up a chair, spooning the mutton stew into rudra's mouth
its some peculiar company you all keep. how does a dwarf, human, ifrit, and a halfling druid become traveling companions?

[auska89]

With the happiest of faces, Rudra complies between bites.
"You've heard of the Varisian Gypsies yes?",

"Well i used to be one of their dancers in a wandering troupe. We traveled all over Varisia, from Magnimar, to Riddleport, all the way down south to Khorvosa and beyond. It was alot of fun. Those gypsies were my kind of crazy; but one day while traveling north along the Belkzen border we were beset upon by a group of rather nasty orcs. They wern't interested in any sort of art or culture, they just wanted the "shinies" we must've undoubtedly been carrying. They got a few of us with arrows before we realized we had to fight back, so I picked up the nearest sword and started towards the beasts. Thats when i met my merry little group of friends...

Apparently the leader of this band of orcs, an orc by the name of Grozin the Vast had taken ol' Tom's eye way back, and so Tom had hired a ranger to help him track the orc down. Ya know this story, revenge for the man that took something from me, yadda yadda, guy thing. They love that stuff. Anyway, apparently Tom got a bonus druid along for the ride, and so as I'm about to go one to five, and almost certain death I'll have you. All the orcs get rooted into place as if the grass came alive the grabbed them. Then Tom pops out of nowhere and just starts wrecking those orcs, i mean just WHAM, POW, HACK, SLASH, everything! He turns and says, "Oy what a pretty lass like you doin here!, stick with me an uncle Tom'll keep ye safe". I swear i'd cut his tongue out for treating me like such a shrinking violet, but i did as he said, and well... i guess i havn't stopped. hehe." Rudra chuckles a bit, and looks at the ceiling. "Fond memories those"

Spoiler

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Sorry for wall of text, hope you like Rudra's "how i joined the group story"

[Alesterryku]

thats quite a story, I did adventuring myself but never something as exciting as that. she gives out a bit of a chuckle. speaking of Mance, I dont think i ever heard him talk. whats up with that?

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yay for back story exposition right

[auska89]

"Mance?, yeah he doesnt talk, probly because he lacks the implements" Rudra sticks out her tongue and points at it makeing a snip snip gesture. "He's still plenty noisy though, always grunts, and sighs that one."

Spoiler

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I'm sure Ameiko has some other patrons to attend, unless of course she is absolutley taken with Rudra ;), but i digress, i'm about ready to move on.

[Alesterryku]

the rowdiness from below can be heard all the way into the room

sounds like i'm needed downstairs. you rest up and call if you need anything

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i was planing on moving it along anyway

[auska89]

Rudra begrudgingly gets some rest, and waits till the cleric arrives with the restoration.

After she is fully healed, they meet at the Rusty Dragon for some drinks to celebrate.

[auska89]

Everyone is enjoying a good time at the dragon when Mance arrives albeit a bit late. With him comes the Ranger Andosana.
"Jes couldn't leave the locals outa this one, could ye boy"
"I'd asked Mance to find our Ranger friend, she knows the area alot better than we, and we need to know what is going on at Thistletop. Why the goblins are so restless, and who this demon handed figure is. Possibly the "longshanks" behind it all"
"Well i'm good to go whenever, I've had plenty of time to rest"

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I couldnt recall anything related to Thistletop off the top of my head, so i assumed I at least garnered the information that all the trouble was centered there. I also dont recall hearing anything about Nualia, but i do have the journal. I'm not sure if it specifies her name or not. So please excuse me for arbitrarily messing with an NPC, lets get goin. I will railroad myself if need be lol

[Alesterryku]

(shalelu talking because i used the same (or similar) color for ameiko) yes once i had heard what you found out, well, i would be lying if i said i wasn't eager to get this over with

it takes a few hours to reach thistletop. When you get there you are greeted by the briars and thistles that grow so rampantly in Nettlewood are even more dense and tangled here, close to the shore. Although not quite dense enough to block the sound of waves crashing on the unseen shores to the west, the undergrowth is certainly thick enough to block sight and access to the coast. Few trees grow this close to the edge of the sea, but the briars themselves often reach heights to rival them; here, the patch is nearly twenty feet high.

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lets get this underway

[auska89]

"Well, looks like it's a wall o' thorns we need to pass" Tommin grumbles, "guess we'll have to hack our way through"
"You first, your the one covered in armor"

Tommin and Mance take point, with Elmiss, the Bear, and Rudra taking the back end.
(Rudra making sure not to get her dress ruined by thorns, and Elmiss making sure the bear doesnt get riled up by all the suck)

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Is there some skill check like survival i can use to pass the nettles? or some roll in general?

[Alesterryku]

after a bit of looking you notice that a patch of briars seem to be woven into a sort of door. this door hides a tunnel leading through the patch. the tunnel is about 4ft high and only wide enough to go single file (everyone above 4ft in height has to stoop to get through. -4 to attack and AC as well as half movement. elmiss and bear are fine). the floor of the tunnel is hard packed earth

[auska89]

Mance grimmaces, he does not like closed spaces.
"Eh, it's just a wee tunnel, can't be too bad. Could use some touching up though."

Marching order: Elmiss, Bear, Mance, Tommin, Rudra, Andosana

Edit: We move forward, figured i'd let you know i was doing something ^^

[Alesterryku]

Three thistle tunnels open into a large cave like chamber. Above, the thorny canopy grows thin enough that tiny slivers of the sky above can be seen, while below, the ground consists of trampled dirt. To the west, the distant sound of sloshing waves echoes up from a hole.

[auska89]

"I do believe we are getting somewhere" says Rudra
"Aye, i could use a wee bit o' direction"
"Then to the waters we go"

[auska89]

(i'm guessing i came in through the front door, i'll follow the standard rule of dungeon crawling and hug the right wall traveling around until i see something of note.)
(Marching order = Tommin, Rudra, Bear, Elmiss, Mance, Andosanna)

[Alesterryku]

as you continue throught the tunnels become paths, and as you follow the right wall of brambles you come to a room on your left with four baying goblin dogs leashed by fraying rope.

[auska89]

"Whoa now, looks like we're on the right track"
"Hmmm, what should we do with them?"
"Smash em says I" (Tommin walks over with Dwarven waraxe in hand prepared to silence the dogs)
Elmiss frowns and shrugs, "normally i'd say no, but in this case we should put the things out of their misery... Mance"
Mance also goes forward to put the creatures down with the Ranseur.

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Since theyre chained do you want me to make atk rolls and dmg rolls, or do you want to auto resolve?

[Alesterryku]

mance stabs the rat-like beast through the skull, killing it instantly. however the grisly work is made harder as the remaining 3 break out of their frayed leashes

roll init

[auska89]

"Perfect, all this walkin was makin me bones all stiff, could go for a fight!"
Mance smirks and readies his Ranseur to attack

Spoiler: Init Rolls

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Tommin: d20+2 (22)
Rudra: d20+7 (17)
Mance: d20+3 (11)
Elmiss: d20+2 (21)
Bear: d20+2 (5)

Spoiler: Spell Selection

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Totally forgot to mention Elmiss's most recent spell selection:
lv.1 spells: Animate Fire, Produce Flame, Entangle

[Alesterryku]

Spoiler: battle order

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1. Tommin
2. Elmiss
3. Rudra
4. Goblin dog 3
5. Mance
6. Goblin dog 2
7. Bear
8. Goblin dog 1

you're up

[auska89]

Tommin smiles with a mischevious grin. He charges the nearest dog and brings his axe to bear. (charge = +2 atk, -2 AC till his next turn)
d20+7 (26); d10+6 (11)

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Stats since i for some reason like to post these from time to time to remind you and myself how i get my numbers: +1 atk/dmg wep focus, +1 atk bab, +2 atk/dmg str, +2 dmg power attack, +1 atk/dmg due to +1 weapon, +2 atk via charge

(dang those axes only critting on 20! D:)

Elmiss and Rudra will do a total defense action and wait. "Lets have the boys clean up yes?"
"Indeed, lets not dirty our hands fighting such mongrels"

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total defense means you cannot attack, not even attacks of opportunity, BUT you get a +4 dodge bonus to AC

Also note, because he has a reach weapon, whenever a dog attempts to move within 5ft of Mance, he gets an attack of opportunity. Unfortunatley he doesnt have combat reflexes so he only gets 1 per round

Mance frowns and tilts his head to the side, almost as if to say "seriously?", he then shakes his head and turns his attention back to the fight.

Edit: Apparantly co-ck is a bad word... so noone is able to co_ck their head anywhere, nor are they able to use the co_ck to wake up in the morning :P