The Devil in Magics (IC)

[Kaiser Omnik]

While the others are busy investigating the newly discovered tunnel, Ivan silently sets up a campfire using some twigs and branches he gathered earlier in the day. With a snap of his fingers and a little dose of Druidcraft, the fire is instantly lit. Ivan then sits on the cave floor and waits a good minute or two before answering Anne's question. Looking straight into the flame, he simply says:

"If we are attacked by anything during the night, I'll turn into a bear and tear the creature's head off. Sounds good?"

[Townopolis]

Elliot just sort of stands there, staring at the side passage, for a while. When Ivan speaks, he only grunts at first. Then he says "I dislike having a beast at our back door, but if your philosophy would prefer we let it be the aggressor..." and he turns his head to the side as if looking at someone or something else, although his gaze doesn't actually reach anyone, "I'll abide by it. We watch in pairs."

Then, with flail in hand, Elliot prepares to take the first watch.

[Philemonite]

Aidan was mostly quite, as the signs of fatigue started showing on his face. "Fine by me." he said while pulling blanket of of his backpack. "Just wake me up when it's my turn." he adds before rolling himself into the blanket. "I haven't really slept this last couple of days, so I won't be taking the first shift." He was going to add something about a thin line between insanity and genius that he wasn't about to cross, but he was to tired for that, and already half asleep.

[ptdapen]

Anne lets out a small sigh; she didn't know if she could sleep easy with the chance of a predator still lurking about. "I would prefer not taking a watch if at all possible," she states as she tries to find a comfortable spot, at least relatively so.

[herodofcows]

Cassi begins pacing back and forth in front of the entrance, eagerly grinning into the darkness.

"No trouble! Mine shall be the first. Sleep well, whosoever sleeps tonight!" she half-sings, bouncing on her heels.

[Irish Musician]

As everyone agrees that sleeping for now and letting whatever might be in the cave come to them, the storms starts to pick up a little more speed. Cassi stands as a wonderful guard, if a rather disturbing one. As the hours tick away, the storm picks up more and more intensity. Hail starts to drop about 2 hours into her watch. At first it just is little pieces, but then it starts to grow in size until the hail starts to form pieces that are about the size of her fist. When the lightning strikes she can see outside and the trees look as though they are losing small branches at an alarming rate. The wind is so strong that the hail starts to blow into the face of the cave and bounce into the cave once or twice. It starts to pick up even more and it starts to moan outside the cave and even Cassi start to get concerned at the speed of thew wind.

Near the end of her watch Cassi hears some odd sounds coming from outside. They sound like groans and branches shuffling, and then, all of a sudden, a large tree shoots into the face of the cave, crashing through and into the cave a good amount....the branches stopping it from sliding all the way in and landing on you.

[Townopolis]

Elliot curses when the tree almost plows into their camp. Once the shock has worn off, his first priority is making sure said tree doesn't catch from the fire. Then his second priority is getting everyone off to the side--so that anything flying into the cave won't run over them in their slumber. He'll prefer to set people, especially the civilians, on the side of the cave that doesn't have a side passage.

"Are you alright?" he asks Cassi once everything else is taken care of.

[herodofcows]

Cassi reels back, axe at the ready as the tree comes smashing in. Within seconds she's sprinted over, trying to peer past it to see if anything caused the collapse.

"I'm well, aye! But whatever is out there?" she growls, flexing impressively, "Not so much!"

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

Perception: (1d20+1)[17]

[Irish Musician]

Trees are not the only thing Cassi sees flying around past their new cave-mate. Rocks, branches, earth, and even an animal or two are flying through the air. As she stands there, the winds start to grab at her.

Spoiler

Show

Cassi....make a constitution save

[ptdapen]

Anneliese groans as she wakes up from the tree crashes inside her makeshift bedroom. Back at her castle, any servant that dared to wake her would have a lot to answer for to her daddy. "How did this tree get in here?" she asks,rather bewildered. "Everything alright?" she follows up, before drifting back to closing her eyes.

[Irish Musician]

As Cassi looks outside, the wind is so powerful that it seems to grab onto her and starts to pull her out of the cave. She does her best to hold onto the tree and stop herself from getting sucked outside.....but it is in vain.

Spoiler

Show

Initiative Order:
Jerrin
Ivan
Glory
Cassi
Elliot
Aidan
Anne

Use your imaginations and go for it. Make whatever rolls you think you will needs for your actions in your post. This will be a 1 round deal, so whatever happens at the end of it is what happens.

[Samshiir]

Jerrin bursts into action when he sees a comrade in danger. Swiftly rummaging through his pack, he pulls out 50 feet of hemp rope and immediately throws one end at Cassi.

"Everybody grab hold!" he yells in a controlled panic. He knows he won't be able to hold it himself, and hopes that the others will provide sufficient help for him.

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

Athletics Check: (1d20+2)[18]

[Kaiser Omnik]

"What the...?"

Drawing on animal-like senses, Ivan springs up in a second and quickly attunes to his surroundings. As he witnesses Cassi's predicament, he instinctively conjures magical vines to entangle the barbarian's legs.

Spoiler

Show

Cast Entangle centered on a point 20 feet away from Cassi (towards the outside of the cave), so it just barely affects her but covers the cave entrance. Strength DC 13 or be Restrained; I hope that it's possible to willingly fail a saving throw in this edition. BTW, duration is Concentration, up to 1 minute.

[Townopolis]

Elliot swears and drops his flail while rushing to Cassi's aid. Two steps take him forward, and then he digs his heels into the ground as the wind grabs him as well. When he reaches Cassi, he throws his arms around her and braces against the ground, the tree, the vines... he drops his weight down as far as he can in the hope that he and his armor combined will be too much to move... whatever he can do to keep from being hauled into the night.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Grabbing hold of Cassi and trying to hold her down
Athletics - (1d20+6)[22]
And I assume this will require a save from me.
Con Save - (1d20+4)[10]

[ptdapen]

Anneliese sits up, this time angry about the noise. "Could you keep it down?!" she screams before she finally realizes that Cassi is being pulled out of the cave. "Oh, oh, oh that is not good!" She scurries over to help Jerrin with the rope as she wipes off the drool running down her mouth.

Spoiler

Show

(1d20)[19] - Athletics

[Philemonite]

Aidan was seriously pissed for being woken up, even if it was for a good reason. He was having the most wonderful dream, and getting it cut short was not his idea of fun.
"For the love of Leira can't you people do anything right without my help?" But as pissed as he was he didn't waste his time (aside from that one-liner, but talking is a free action anyway) and he immediately jumped to assist his companions.

Spoiler

Show

Athletics, to help with pulling the rope:
[roll]120+1[/roll]

[herodofcows]

"SON OF A BIIIIIIIIIII-"

Cassi flails wildly as she gets sucked out of the cave. Her life flashes before her eyes. Most of it is violent and delicious, and she might have contentedly allowed it to end there . . . but no.

Tarik. Tarik. TARIK.

Howling, she lets the red out for strength and grabs onto the proffered rope and tries to haul herself back in, using the entanglement around her legs as leverage.

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

Gonna rage for the Strength-check advantage! RRRRAGE as a bonus action.

Athletics: (1d20+6)[18] (1d20+6)[10]

[Smeggedoff]

Glory jumps to her feet and grabs the rope
"That can't be @*$% Natural can it? Never seen wind do that" she yells over the gale

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Athletics
(1d20+5)[20]

[Irish Musician]

Cassi ran tot he tree to look at what was going on outside. Little did she know, the winds outside were whipping around so furiously that they seemed to grab onto her. And they...pull...hard. Cassi is lifted up and gets pulled outside. Luckily for her, the others jump into action. Jarren finds a rope and is able to attach it to her ankle, but the force is so strong it actually starts to lift him up as well, pulling him to the entrance. Ivan calls upon his natural magics and puts some grasping vines around Cassi, trying to anchor her down. Elliot, Glory, Aidan, and Anne all hang on the rope and start to pull Cassi back into the cave. Cassi, herself, starts to pull on the rope trying to climb back into the cave, using Ivan's vines to anchor her down.

Finally, after what seems like forever Cassi is flung back into the cave, bowling over everyone hanging onto the rope. But everyone is still in the cave, safe, and relatively unharmed. The mother, Mary, and her son, Jack, sit on the other side of the cave....mouths agape in amazement. All that is heard above the sound of the howling winds is, "Wooooow, that was aMAZing!!!", from Jack.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Ivan sits back in relief. Still breathing heavily, he turns to Glory:

"Just the beginning... Things will only get worse if the rebellion doesn't stop the king and bring back the balance of the land."

[ptdapen]

Anneliese lies sprawled across the ground, utterly exhausted. She had obviously not led a life of straining physical activity. "I hope that's the last of that tonight," she gasps out, staring at the boy after. It ticked her a little that their group almost getting ripped out of the cave by winds was thrilling. However, she was too tired to give him a stern talking to. She takes one last peek at Cassi to make sure she's alive before crawling back to her slumber position.

[herodofcows]

Cassi makes it back in with the help of her comrades, but the red is still boiling inside of her. It's hard to focus properly when she's in the red. All the old grudges and furies become a jumble that somehow criss-cross together.

For instance:

Tarik was killed by the King's Mage Hunters, so I came out here to help the rebellion and thus find myself in this cave which may or may not possess a beast worthy of killing, wherein I took the first watch, wherein a freak gust of wind almost ended my life.

Becomes

Tarik was killed by the King's Mage Hunters, so I came out here to help the rebellion and thus find myself in this cave which may or may not possess a beast worthy of killing, wherein I took the first watch, wherein a freak gust of wind almost ended my life.

And further turns into

Tarik was killed by the King's Mage Hunters, which may or may not possess a beast worthy of killing IN THIS CAVE, wherein a freak gust of wind WHICH almost ended my life.

Cassi strides towards the doorway at the end of the cave, flexing and snarling.

"LET US CLEAR THE F***ER FROM IT'S HIDING HOLE FOR THIS!" she roars, gesturing imperiously at her companions.

[Kaiser Omnik]

Ivan looks up at Cassi. Even though he hears the words coming out of her mouth, he has difficulty actively listening to them. And not just because of the howling winds. The words are turning in his head and mixing with his own thoughts in a swirling vortex. "CLEAR THE F***ER"..."She'll frighten the mother again"..."FROM ITS HIDING HOLE"..."why doesn't she just shut up"...

He feels a ferocity of his own building inside him and he instinctively passes his fingers on a scar on his forearm. Memories of his training with the Circle of Thorns flash before his eyes; fellow moon druids drunk on rage, delighting in the savagery of their totem, as they fought among themselves to prove worthy...

Ivan feels dizzy and takes a moment to silently reflect on his scars, and the reason why he inflicted them on himself in the first place... But when he reopens his eyes, there IT is...again... A shadow like a great cat, fur as black as the night and glowing eyes dripping with blood, prowling near the entrance to the cave, as Ivan's companions seem to be totally oblivious to its presence.

"Now now Ivan, don't be shy... Loosen up a bit, will you? Cassi is FUN! You two could just leave the others and go on a rampage together. Only she can understand your true nature..."

[Smeggedoff]

Glory looks confused at the outburst "Do you know something I don't?" she questions "Or did you just declare war on the wind?"

[Townopolis]

Elliot, meanwhile, has started to eye the passage himself. He eyes it as he picks himself up and peers at it while retrieving his flail. Cassi's outburst, however, catches him by surprise.

"What?"

[Philemonite]

Realizing that there will be no more sleep, Aidan rolls up his blanket and tries using it as cushion for his back, without much success.
"Cassi darling, you do realize that you are losing it again, right? Don't get me wrong, I don't mind an occasional insanity outburst, but not in front of the civilians. They tend to spook easily."

[Samshiir]

"It can't be as frightening as the kingdom trying to kill them."Jerry states with a sour expression."Would they prefer the civil kingdom try to slay them like brutes, or us brutes save them like civilized beings?"

[ptdapen]

Anneliese tries to cover her ears against the shouting but it's no use. She sits up, with a fire in both her hands and eyes. "Will killing the stupid beast get you to shut up?!" she screams.

She lets out a few gasps, trying to catch herself from joining in on the anger. The flames fizzle from her hands as she tugs on her hair. The others had a point; they were going to scare the civilians even more. Plus she had an image to keep up. An image that didn't seem to matter anymore. "If that beast shows its face I will melt it off entirely, relish in its agony for causing us this distress!" She walks up towards the tunnel and sends a firebolt down into the dark, hoping to lure it out.

Spoiler

Show

(1d20+5)[22] - Attack
(1d20+5)[16] - Disadvantage I'm assuming due to shooting blind.
(1d10)[2] - Damage.

[Irish Musician]

Mary keeps Jack close to her as the others fight about killing the monster that is supposedly in the cavern next to them and talking about how lucky they are to be with them. She isn't scared anymore because she figures they won't hurt her or her son. She knows they are here to help....but gods help them for they are crazy and seem to be losing it. "Are....are we sure there is anything in there, even?", Mary speaks up. But as soon as the words leave her mouth she is cut off, and Anne shoots a firebolt down the tunnel. It goes fairly far down before it ends up hitting a wall and exploding.

Spoiler

Show

(d10)[9] (1d10)[3] - You don't need to worry about these

[herodofcows]

Cassi goes running down the tunnel after the firebolt.

"COME AND GET ME, BEAST! MY AXE HUNGERS! I HUNGER! WE BOTH F***ING HUNGER!" she roars over the storm outside.