Eberron Adventures

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

Silently trudging along with the slower members of the group, Caskin wends his way between the more prickly scrub and sharper-edged rocks. Though he mumbles occasionally to himself, his expression betrying his dislike for hiking, and no doubt marching, his footing upon the uneven surface appears to be unusually sure.

Somewhere along the route, he's produced a small leather packet emblazoned with what appears to be a wilted blue flower with long, droopy black pistils bracketed with some worn script above and below. Now and then, Caskin draws out a few small grey objects and pops them idly into his mouth. After working them for a few moments, he spits out the husks.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Reapportioning the weight, Butch leads the group up to the ridge line in the foothills. He scans the sky for clouds, then holds his hand to the mountain ridgeline to estimate the time before the sun dips behind the mountains. Then he scans the hill for a good spot to camp.

"Alright, its time to make camp. The Graywalls are already in their own shadow, so we don't have too much time. We need a smoke column before dark so the survivors can see it. They won't see our signal lights tonight if they don't know to look. Wrench and I will stand sentinel, while the rest of you break into two man teams to scout the area for a good camp site. Natural protection like a cave or cluster of rocks would be good. But we also want a land mark we can see from the mountains. If we can't find anything better, we'll just use that clearing over down there."

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"Butch, I'm a little worried about these smoke columns and signal fires you talk about. You assume that some accident brought the ship down, instead of some hostile force.

If something attacked the ship, it would be just as likely to attack the ship's rescuers."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"We're at least a hard day's walk from the mountains themselves. Although I've only seen a few skyships, they've always been well out of range of any weapons I could think of. That means that they would have to have been close to the mountain when they went down. Possibly attempting to dock on a cliffside or something. Thus, we're well out of range of anything that might have shot them down."

Butch sweeps his arm across the immense backdrop of the Graywalls.

"Besides, we need to narrow down our search area. We could be up there for YEARS without finding anything. I'd be more worried about attracting local animals. So long as we don't cook any meat, the scent won't draw meat eaters. The grazers will be scared off by the fire. That leaves locals, from which we might get information."

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

"Butch, while I agree mostly with the plan for rest (though we need to keep that fire tiny, and partially behind a rock if possible), Wrench is right." He holds out his hands placatingly. "I know that any conventional weapon would have trouble hitting a skyship if it were in the open air, but..." he looks vaguely in the direction of Droaam. "We're hardly in a conventional place."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Of course, sir. We still need some means of locating them, though. Brother Threshkor, before you turn in for the night, please fill our bucket with water. In an emergency we can douse the fire, or refresh our water skins in the morning."

Turning to Wrench, he continues, "Do you think you could use the climbing gear to set up some perimeter trip wires to warn us?"

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

"Certainly, but I need to be sure you can get all of it." He says. He thens bends his knees and starts to pray and then LO! Water!

{OOC- My create water should create four gallons.}

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Wrench immediately sets to work trying to rig up some sort of perimeter with ropes and climbing gear to rattle if its tripped. He'll spend 3 hours on the task, getting whatever he can out of his skills.

Craft:Traps - (1d20+2)[22]

Edit:

(boo-ya!)

After rigging up a fairly well-made alarm system, Wrench returns to his crafting of the items from the town.

{OOC: I'm guessing that my rolls from before will carry over and that this will be enough time to finish from my interruptions in town.}

[Bigmac]

Caskin manages to lead the group to a suitable campsight near a concave portion of the mountain range. The group quickly sets up tents and a cover for their small fire before beginning the regemented sleep schedule laid out by Butch. While they are doing this Wrench sets about making the tripwire from what materials he could find from the climbing kit. His famailiarity with mechanical devices is evident as he makes a useful warning system in very short order. After finishing up his work he sets about creating more stuff, this time of an magical nature. The hours pass and watchs are traded as night settles into the mountain range.

During Cecil and Caskin's watch, they hear a rattling noise off in the distance. Something has set off Wrench's alarm system.



(OOC: All awake party members get a free surprise round action. Also, all members who are awake please roll initiative. The sound came from the northern part of the tripwire ~C18 or so.)

[Asmodeus]

Wrench
HP: 13/13
AC: 19(vt:11 ff:18)

Wrench, unhappy at being interrupted, gets to his feet, and draws out the pen, which he has charged with a spell. He is expecting some errant deer has kicked his rope, rather than someone with foul intent.

Initiative - (1d20+1)[15]

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

At the sound of the alarm, Cecil's absentminded polishing of his falchion goes still. Before he even gets up, a murmur sends four tiny lights off in the direction of the intruder. "Show yourself," he mutters.

Spoiler

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OOC: Dancing Lights, which dance immediately to C17, C18, D17 and D18. Also, Initiative (1d20+1=15)

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin - Init: 13

Perhaps it was just rocks from the slope's face settling to the base--hardly something unexpected, but being in a half-enclosed pocket left no room for risktaking.

Caskin measures his voice to a volume he guesses ought to be loud enough to wake the others, without it being reflected and echoed all across the mountainside, "Look alive! Visitors!"

It hardly mattered if whatever made the noise heard him, or not, as Cecil had already doused the area with light. They were effectively trapped in this position, and thoughts of stealth and subtlety were soundly washed away by the firelight that pointed out each of them like towns on a map.

However, Caskin was in a better position than the rest to potentially recover some of that lost advantage. With certain steps, he scurries just outside the last edges of the revealing light and into the more comfortable shadows where he hunkered down beside an obstacle to attempt to blend into the night.

OOC

Spoiler

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(1d20+3)[10](13)

I'm moving to S8 unless the terrain is too rough to make it, otherwise to R8.

[Bigmac]

Cecil reacts to the noise and sends for tiny globes of shimmering light streaking out to where the noise emanated from. As the globes travel to the tripwire they illuminate two large vermin-like creatures that seem to have been altered in some manner. Their hide glimmers in the flickering light and one of them gives a low hiss as the light hovers above. The other creature advances forward across the tripwire causing the climbing equipment to clang together once again. Liquid drips from the creatures fangs as it approaches.

Seeing visitors Caskin makes his way into the darkness as he warns the camp of their presence. Wrench calmly sets his tools down and retrieves his enchanted pen.


Initiative Order:
Cecil 15
Wranch 15
Caskin 13
Animals 8

(all others in camp can make a listen roll DC0 with -10 penalty to hear the alarm or caskin and wake up. If you wake up feel free to roll initiative and add youself in the correct order)

[Asmodeus]

Wranch (From hand tool to salad dressing?)
HP: 13/13
AC: 19(vt:11 ff:18)

Wrench drops his pen gently to the ground near the campfire (not near enough to endanger it burning) so he can retrieve it later, and then begins moving forward to engage the enemy.

Spoiler

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Free Action: Drop Item
Double-Move: Move to I-8

What time in the night is it? If I use infusions for this battle, will I still have time to rest and recover them?

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

HP: 18(18)
AC: 12 (no armor)
Position: K3->L3 (cover? Shadowy illumination?)

Butch stirs from his sleep, groaning as he peeks out from his tent. Seeing the floating lights, he crawls out, grabbing his bow.

Spoiler

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Wrench: Cecil and Caskin are on duty before 2100, which means you should have at least 8 hours to recover (assuming no more interuptions).

initiative - (1d20+2)[20]
Move Action: crawl K3->L3
Standard Action: stand & equip bow

[MandibleBones]

Cecil, HP 20, AC 15 (T11, FF14)

Cecil stands as if there's not a care in the world, and advances along the wall until he's nearly in line with the creature (F8). There, he hides in the darkness.

Spoiler

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Hide check (1d20-1=18)

And I had such cool stuff to do, but I'm not in range :)

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

Listen - (1d20-10)[1]

Initiative - (1d20)[18]

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin - Init: 13

Bugs...how...appropriate.

Caskin slinks up across the uneven terrain to fall in some distance behind the intrepid warforged, drawing and loading his crossbow as he does. Cecil's lights make the oversized bedbugs easy to target...

OOC

Spoiler

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move to O8 (full move, assuming rough terrain), taking cover beside/behind a rock if possible; one lt crossbow shot at E16 vermin (rolls on dice thread = atk:15, dmg:3)

[Slash_712]

{OOC- I am confused as to which colored circles are who or what}

[Citizen Joe]

Spoiler

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1 square = 5'
Unknown if area is difficult terrain although most is either dark or in shadowy illumination.

Azmirith is red currently at M2, presumably in a two man tent with Threshkor.
Butch is dark slate gray starting in a tent at K3 but is moving to L3
Caskin is dark red position R8 on map but I think he moved
Cecil is blue position H6 on map but I think he moved as well
Threshkor is Sienna starting at N2, presumably in a tent with Azmirith
Wrench is lime green starting at O3 and I think he's moving.

The purple circles at E16 and C17 are some sort of bugs
The small yellow dots are Cecil's dancing lights with the yellow line representing 'bright light'
The gray line represents the threshold into darkness from shadowy illumination
The orange and red circle is the campfire

[Bigmac]

Butch hears the noise and springs, or crawls rather, into action. He makes his way to the cover of the makeshift wall next to the campfire and readies his bow. Threshkor wakes up in time to see Azmirith grab his morning star and run out of the tent with it clutched in both hands.

Cecil advances towards the creatures and finds a convienent niche along the wall in which to hide. Wrench, on the other hand, moves straight towards the oncoming creatures and is met halfway by the four legged fiends.

Both animals advance on Wrench. As they approach it looks like they have some sort of fur growing out of their thickly plated sides. One beast jumps for Wrench's throat but misses and the other tries to latch on to his leg but his teeth slink off of Wrench's armor plating.

Caskin fires a shot at the creatures as they are moving to meet Wrench, but his arrow flies just over one of the thing's back.

OOC:
ROUND 2 INIT ORDER
Butch
Threshkor
Azmirith
Cecil
Wrench
Caskin
Creatures

As far as terrain, it is considered rouch if it is in total darkness, normal otherwise.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Aw SHAVARATH!" Butch curses out loud. "Where's our WATCH!? Someone get some lights on those targets! No, Don't... GAHH!!" His barking trails off into some sort of guttural curses as he readies an arrow training on one the creatures attacking Wrench.

Spoiler

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Butch cannot see either Cecil or Caskin as they are both out of his field of vision. Particularly with the backdrop of the dancing lights.

Start: L3
End: L3
Action:
Delay until lights cover the creatures (presumably at Cecil's action) and then:
Attack either of the creatures (+4 attack -4 firing into melee)
attack - (1d20)[6](6)
damage - (1d8+4)[6]

Spoiler

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ThreatConfirm - (1d20)[13]
AddedDamage - (2d8+8)[17]

[MandibleBones]

Cecil HP 20, AC 15

"Fast little buggers, aren't you?" he murmurs. The lights zip back to center on the creatures, two on each. Out of hiding, Cecil moves around to flank the beasties and swings mightily with his falchion, a cry of "For the Host!" on his lips. The Host is not with him this night; he misses horribly. Knowing a counterattack is coming, he steels himself for the inevitable.

Spoiler

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Move dancing lights to focus on the creatures. Move Cecil to G10 (F8-F9-F10-G10). Falchion slash! (Flanking) (1d20+7=8)

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Oh. There you are, Sir!. Heads up! Incoming!"

Butch lets loose an arrow but misses horribly as the bugs dance about with Cecil and Wrench.

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

Finally waking up, Threshkor decides to head for the fray.
{OOC- I think I can get to L7}

[KCiemir]

Azmirith
HP: 16/16
AC: 14 (14touch, 12 FF

Azmirith quickly glances about, looking where the others are, and then steps forward, to J-9, swinging the morningstar with abandon. Though he seems to exert himself, not a sound issues from him, the intence training he went through once again overcoming him.

Spoiler

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attack - (1d20+4)[18]
damage - (1d8+3)[6]

[Asmodeus]

Wrench
HP: 13/13
AC: 19(vt:11 ff:18)

Wrench swivels his stance and swings his fists down at the vermin between himself and Cecil. He says "Sir, you should back away. If these creatures have venom, I'm immune; You are not. Attack from a distance."

Spoiler

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Attack w/ Slam - (1d20+4)[22]
Modifiers: +1BAB, +1STR, +2Flanking
Bludgeoning Damage - (1d4+1)[4]

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin - Init: 13

Slinking forward yet again, so as to draw both insects into preferred positions, Caskin raises his tattooed hand, palm forward at one of the vermin. A wash of red and black roiling energy seems to emanate from the markings along his hand and forearm, coalescing briefly at his open palm before streaking toward the body of the wounded creature.

OOC

Spoiler

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<move> to M9 (10'x2), <std> Eldritch blast upon bug at I9 if it's still alive, else the other one.

Atk (1d20+5)[5](10) (ranged touch attack) -- oh how pathetic; well, here's to hoping it has an 11 or lower Dex!
Dmg (1d6+1)[2](3) -- oh how similarly pathetic

[Bigmac]

Butch knows that something is happening, but can't tell exactly what as the creatures have moved out of the light created by the four glowing bulbs. He holds an arrow ready for the first positive target he can find.

Threshkor runs out of the tent in his nightclothes, seeing the horriable looking ratlike creatures with bony plates for the first time. Azmirith charges into the fray, hitting one of the creatures in the side with his morningstar. It slams into a solid plate of bone with a resounding thud that sends vibrations down the weapon.

Cecil moves to surround one of the monsters and brings his lights with him. As the lights reveal the long tailed and fanged animals Butch releases an arrow that nearly hits Cecil. The arrow causes Cecil's concentratin to waver and his downward cut from his falchionn slams into the hard earth instead of monsterious flesh.

His attack was not in vain, however, because it distracted the animal enough for Wrench to slam his metal fist into the side of the creature's head with a muted impact of flesh and steel. Spittle flies from the creature's mouth and sizzles as it hits the ground.

Caskin moves into the light of the flying gloves and sends a burst of energy forth from his tattooed hand. Trying to avoid Azmirith, who happend to block the most obvious path of attack, Caskin is unable to hit the four legged devil.

The creature that Wrench struck comes to it's senses and leaps at the construct's neck. As the creature's fangs sink into the wood acid pours forth along the teeth to deepen the severity of the wound. The creature stays attached to the warforged, trying in vain to suck any fluid out of Wrench's mechanical body.

The other creature turns it's attention to Azmirith and grabs ahold of his leg. Again the acidic teeth connect with their target, but this time the creature begins to drinnk deeply of the crimsion blood flowing around the wound.

ROUND 3 INIT ORDER
Threshkor
Azmirith
Butch
Cecil
Wrench
Caskin
Creatures

Both Wrench and Azmirith take 11 points of damage.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch
HP: 18/18
AC: 12 (no armor)

Butch sighs as he swaps his bow for his scythe and moves in to join the battle.

Spoiler

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Free Action: drop bow
Move Action: get scythe
Move Action: move from L3->H7 (6 squares) couldn't quite get close enough.