Eberron Adventures

[Bigmac]

Plains carefully laid or not, the Warforged once again asserted control of the situation by charging ahead. As he makes his way towards the opening, he notices several more deal bodies akin to the smaller creatures the party vanquished. Butch grabs a sunrod and tries to fire it with a crossbow. The rod, not designed for such use, does not catch the cable mechanism properly. It manges to fly a few feet while spining out of control, but it has no hope of getting past the immense canyon walls. Caskin manages to catch the flashing light as he walks along the walls above and behind Wrench and Cecil. Azmirith decides to head towards the northern entrance to the plateau of sorts.

The opening in the chasm is filled with dead animals twisted by some magic and creatures from khyber lying motionless in pools of blood. At the sight of Wrech, and his proclamation of the parties presance, a hawk on the far side of the opening takes flight from its pearch and gives a shrill cry. It then heads east away from the party.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Wrench takes in the scene, and is grateful that he has no sense of smell for a moment.

He calls back to his companions "Nothing here but dead things so far."

He moves east, as far as halfway across the ledge if nothing else stops him, trying to see where the Hawk is heading, and wondering if it is another creature under control of the orc?

[Bigmac]

As Wrench makes his way into the room, he becomes aware of the water channeled across it. It looks to be 8 to 12 feet across, and at least 5ft or more deep. A gigantic waterfall spill onto the northern outlook, gathers into a small pool, before plummeting once more into the bowels of the earth. The roar of the water spilling over the ledge is quite loud. As he looks to see where it flowes over the ledge, he can't help but notice the wreckage of the airship down in the opening to the north. To the east, directly across from where Wrench entered is another opening that turns north after a few feet.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Turns to Cecil and says "Commander, this battle must've been the source of the fighting sounds from before. At least it doesn't seem to have involved anyone from the ship.

Lets put that climbing gear to use and get to the ship."

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

"Agreed - that's what we came here for, anyway." He holds the head of the dolgaunt in his gloved hands. "I really hope the Orc is willing to talk before anybody does anything rash."

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

The conflict appeared to have consumed a fair number on both sides. If only the four dolgrim and their commander were left, it seemed quite possible that the orc may only have a token force left beyond himself. Still....

"No doubt that hawk is a sentry, which means we will be observed if not outright attacked as soon as the orc and his minions can react to its call. I don't think being in the act of climbing down a rock face at that moment will be a good idea," warns Caskin as he moves forward into the chasm, while remaining attached to the wall well above the carnage.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"Wow. I wish we had some kind of hawk to scout for us. I wonder if I could build something like that?

Too bad we don't have a spyglass or something. Anyone see any activity around the ship?"

Wrench will get close to the ledge, and look at the ship, trying to see if he can spot any movement.

{OOC: take 20 if possible, for a total of 18}

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch eventually makes his way through the passages to the north exit near Azmirith, "Well, what's the situation?" Drowned out by the waterfall he asked louder, "I said, What's the situation?"

Taking a peek around the corner he notes, "Hey, I think I see the airship down there. Think we should signal them with a sunrod?"

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"The situation is that we haven't found the orc, but we did find the source of the fighting sounds from earlier. Also, we've found the airship, and will be approaching it as soon as we are reasonably sure we won't be ambushed in the process.

Personally, I'd rather avoid the signal for the moment. We still don't know where the orc is, and we definitely don't want to spook him into a fight."

{OOC: Yes, i'm posting a lot. I've been having withdrawal for the last few days with BigMac not posting as much. Sue me!}

[KCiemir]

Azmirith


Azmirith considers, and remembers in his training as a ninja that one should never remain stationary when the enemy knows where you are.

" I don't think that we will be any better waiting here for the orc to come. He will have time to prepare, and if indeed he has fewer numbers now then before, He may choose to make us wait here, scared of an attack, until our food supplies run low so he can avoid losing the remainder of his force. I say we get to climbing down now, so that:
one: if the hawk is a scout, we will make sure it's information is inaccurate, we will be down before they get here.
two, if it was not a scout, then we have no reason to wait here for the orc to find us on his own.

So, lets get climbing!"

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch sets his scythe aside and starts to break out the climbing gear. "Alright come on, we don't want to be near the water for this, too slippery." Grabbing up his scythe he makes his way around the water to a spot about ten feet from the edge.

He looks about and notes the cave on the east side. "Someone secure that opening, we'll be vulnerable during this operation."

Breaking out three lengths of rope (50' hemp, 100' silk, 80' knotted silk) and the grappling hooks. He grumbles at the knots and fastens a grapple to one end of the knotted line. "This is gonna be bumpy on the way down." Then he splices the smooth length of silk to the end of the knotted length. "Let's get some spikes in the ground for some secure footing up here... I'll anchor topside and act as break. Mr. Cecil, you need to decide who is going down first."

With the silk ropes spliced together he hands off the grapple. "Alright someone start fishing for an airship." Then he starts splicing the hemp rope to the end of the silk line.

Spoiler

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That corpse at the cliff edge will be used as padding to prevent the rope from rubbing.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Wrench seriously considers swinging down into the pool at the bottom of the waterfall, tarzan-style, but when he notices that the water from that pool flows down into the bowels of the earth, he decides against it.

Instead, he'll just help Butch by pounding a few pitons into the rock face, to make a good first anchor for their decent.

When he sees Butch tying multiple ropes together, and taking a long time to do it, he'll say "That seems complicated. Why not just tie two ropes together, and we can rappel down?" When its time to come back up, we can climb fairly easily with the gear, and a rope to brace against the cliffside."

{OOC: Ignore the stuff in the spoiler. I've decided not to do it.}

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{OOC: I've been wanting to do this forever.....

And I can make funny pictures too!}

Wrench

Wrench takes a couple Pitons from the climbing gear and secures one end of Butch's rope to the top of the cliff.

He'll wait for Butch to tie the ropes together, then take the rope. "I'll go secure the other end down below."

He then runs out about 80 ft of rope and walks to the edge of the ledge. Wrench shouts "GER-ON-IMOooooooo!" and leaps off the ledge, gripping the rope tightly. He swings down on the rope until he's over the pool at the bottom of the waterfall and releases, falling down into the water.

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

At Butch's remark to secure the eastern passage, Caskin looks toward it, considering. A few moments of inaction are followed by him making his way back to ground level, then darting across the floor to reach the other side where he scales the wall to a height of about ten feet. Once in place, he peers around the lip of the opening and into the passage.

OOC

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I'm not sure how everyone else made it across the feeders to the falls, but I'll do the same.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Injured people may have trouble climbing, despite the rope. After fighting our way all the way here, there's no sense leaping to our death at the last moment. With the main line and a brake line, the worst that could happen is a little rope burn. Free climbing or even using the harness could result in a plummet from even a slight slip. Simple knots won't work with the brake line, it will get caught up in the brake rig. I may not be as good as a sailor, but I know my climbing harnesses and rigs for draft animals. If you think you can climb down on your own, by all means, don't let me stop you. But in this situation, I'm the ox and the rest of you are the cargo."

[Bigmac]

Butch begins to prepare the rope while the others look over the edge to get a good view of the chasm floor below. The waterfall's roar is defening at close range, and the mist creates a humid air that stinks slightly of rotting fish. Caskin, when he surveyed the eastern passage, didn't see any tell tale signs of orcish presence. As he moves to resume his high up on the western wall, he tires to listen for anything above the noise of the falls. Armirith also watches from his hidden position, keeping a sharp eye out for trouble. The calm lasts for a few tesnse minutes as every sound and move causes the hairs to rise and hands to tingle in anticipation.

As Butch carefully double checks each knot, the others watch and wait. Azmirth, ever alert, manages to spot a pair of shadowy figures just before they burst out of the western passageway. The creatures have the same misshapen appereance that you are beginning to recognize. Chitionous plates along the skin, acid driping from their mouths, and a crazed air about the creatures proudly proclaimes their unnatural state. Aside from these horrid featues, the animals look rather like small bears, but with more elongated bodies and shorter legs. The forelegs are well developed and are equipped with long, strong claws.

Roll Initiative!
Also try to post where you are located (generally).

The two animals have just started to enter the landing with the water (in the mouth of the eastern opening, and 5ft to the east). I'll try to get a map up tomorrow morning.

Here's the map:

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[MandibleBones]

Cecil

Cecil groans. "We are so dead," he murmurs, preparing to use acid splash again. "See if you can get away from them without fighting," he suggests. "I'd like to avoid any more casualties."

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Initiative: (1d20+1)[4](5)

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Blasted..." Butch mutters, dropping the rope and scooping up his scythe. Hearing Cecil, he makes for the water.

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Initiative - (1d20+2)[22]
[/roll]
Start position: About 10' south of the northern most point of the ledge overlooking the airship. (C6)
End Position: Knee deep in water, probably where it spreads out before going over the falls. I'm hoping that the water will wash away any acidity from the creatures. (E4)

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Initiative - (1d20+1)[9]

{OOC: My starting position is fine as posted on the map.}

[KCiemir]

Azmirith

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initiative - (1d20+6)[8]

Azmirith picks up his crossbow and readies himself for battle, silently.

OOC: edit: SO MANY 1's and 2's on initiative!

[MandibleBones]

If Cecil can, he's moving across the river (I-3) to attempt to evade the creatures. He'll leave the dolgaunt's head across the river for the creatures to discover.

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin
( Round S | Init: 11 | AC: 17 | HP: 14/14 | Position: O-12 | Elevation: 30' )

Caskin didn't have long to wait before something made an appearance. From around the bend, a pair of hulking, bearlike creatures moved swiftly into view, clearly intent on making their way to the room where his comrades busied themselves with knots and ropes.

Having been on alert, Caskin had already warmed an appropriate welcome for anything that looked unlikely to be civilized. The wisping black and red immediately coalesced and shot forward, dressing the area before and over the bear-things with an odd flash of shadowy orange. And then there were bats; thousands of them, all of which welcomed the vastly larger creatures by setting upon them in a frenzy of wings, tiny fangs and shrill cacaphony.

As the dark swarm began its work, Caskin called out to the left, "Unfriendlies on the way!"

OOC

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Surprise action is to use the Summon Swarm invocation of bats, placed right on top of them. The extra two squares worth will just mill around two open adjacent squares. I suspect it's safe to assume the creatures end their turn just before full combat rounds begin, at their spot on the map, so let's say the bats will be at N12, N13, N14 and M14.

Damage: Creature #1: (1d6)[3]; creature #2: (1d6)[2]
Extra: Both will bleed at 1HP indefinitely (unless they can heal HP damage directly), and both need a DC11 Fort save to avoid being nauseated for the remainder of the round.
Swarm HP: (3d8)[11]

If they have DR3 or better, they skate through without any of this.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch
( Round 1 | Init: 22 | AC: 17 | HP: 14/16(18) | Position: F5)

Butch put one boot in the fast moving water and thinks better of it. He follows the edge of the pool of water to where it narrows.

[Bigmac]

Surprisingly, the cratures remain in the cloud of bats, unable to move due the disorentation that a sudden appearence of a swarm brings on.

(Init Order:
Butch
Animals
Caskin
Wrench
Azmirith
Cecil)

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch takes a few steps back and runs at the narrowing stream, hurling himself across.

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double move to get into position then 20' running start broad jump
Difficulty: 5
Base bonus: 9
Armor penalty: -5
Move penalty: -6
jump - (1d20-2)[-1]

[Citizen Joe]

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Somehow, I knew when I was deciding on that action that I would somehow roll a 1... well screw that... I'm using action point
actiondice - (1d6)[2]

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

... and promptly lands the middle of the stream with a splash, digging his scythe into the far bank to avoid getting dragged off.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench
HP: 13/13
AC: 19/19

Wrench draws a scroll from his scroll case and begins reciting the words to complete the scroll. It will take a few moments before the spell completes though.

{OOC: Casting Summon Monster I
Summoning a Celestial Giant Fire Beetle. takes 1 round.
UMD - (1d20+12)[23] DC 21}

[KCiemir]

Azmirith


Azmirith is pretty damn tired of being a front-line soldier, and even more tired of getting hit. he stays back, with crossbow in hands, and moves to get a clear shot, and shoots at the nearer of the things.

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attack - (1d20+3)[11]
damage - (1d8)[5]

[Bigmac]

Butch moves to wade into the water, but feeling the rushing current thinks better of it and moves along its edge instead. The animals continue to be incompacitated by the swarm. They try to howl only to find their mouths full of stinging and biting insects. Caskin, seeing the creatures he called forth doing their job, maintains his concentration to keep the pests on the attack.

Wrench uses another scroll, his incantations becoming more familier each time his compatriots hear it. The ball of energy flies through the swrm, displacing many of the tiny creatures as it makes its way towards the horrid animal in the front and explods on impact. Azmirith fires a bolt, but isn't sure if it hit anything since it is hard to see through the shifting cloud of insects.

Cecil, wary of jumping over the river, steps in front of Butch (F6) and prepares to attack anything that comes towards them.

Top of round 2. Butch can re-evaluate his move and start with a fresh action if he so chooses.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch
( Round 2 | Init: 22 | AC: 17 | HP: 14/16(18) | Start Position: F5)

Unable to get a running start and seeing Cecil ready himself, Butch changes tactics brings his scythe up for action. Watching the beasts in the distance, he prepares for the impending attack.

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Note: This is hoping that the bears would have had to cross too much distance to be able to move and attack in this first round.
Start Position: F5, End Position: ? up to 20' away
Action: Ready action, Trigger: Bear creature crosses 20' range limit, Action: move (up to 20') and attack bear creature.
PowerAttack - (1d20+5)[1](6)
damage - (2d4+10)[15]