(PF) maggie's Rise of the Runelords: Hook Mountain Massacre IC

[maggie_mcknife]

GM post

Naya

She hadn't been wrong in assessing the remaining Graul wretch as fast. Perhaps some instinct warns the lurker of the impending electric rays coming his way; perhaps her crying aloud the words of power. For just as the first blast of lightning reaches the lurker, he nimbly ducks out of the way, with little more than singed clothing to mark how close he had come to being electrocuted.

Nevertheless, the second blast of lightning manages to catch the lurker squarely in the back, causing his fleet feet to momentarily stumble as he yelps in pain and twists madly on the spot, trying to swat at smoking spot of blackened leather on his armour.

*****

Shalelu and Vale

Spoiler

Show

Shalelu moves to M11
Attack: (1d20+11)[13], Damage: (1d8+2)[8] - misses

Vale stays where he is

"You've got no armour. Best stick with Sister Brin-" Shalelu whirls in the midst of giving instructions to Vale at the lurker's shout, her eyes narrowing to fierce slits at the sight of the enemy. Without hesitation, she sprints back into the field, narrowing the distance even as her fired arrow goes wide.

As for Vale, the man is no fool even if it's clear to those of you closer to him that the man would dearly love to give chase as well. "Aye aye, ma'am," he mutters grimly to himself, a flash of mingled loathing and anger writhing across his face as he catches sight of the lurker in the open, now adjusting his grip on his borrowed axe to a more martial stance.

*****

Brin uses CPE. All hail the heal-bot!


*****

Red

Spoiler

Show

I actually realised that I forgot to consider getting her Thieves Tools out as a standard action 3 round ago. Recalculating all that means that she doesn't get to move out of the jail cell on this turn and would actually still be doing the FRA to pick the manacle. Hence and therefore, she's still stuck here doing nothing in effect. Not so for the spider though!

The prisoner's manacle clinks dully as Red picks away at its lock, jaw clenched tight as she squints and does her best to still her arms from shivering. Breathe. Go slow, go careful. You can do this...

From somewhere behind Red, she can hear subtle creak of wood under stress as the giant spider shifts its weight - was it moving? And if it was, to where? Wincing inwardly, Red's breath hisses through her teeth, the sound unnaturally loud to her own ears. Under her feverishly working hands, the prisoner mumbles indistinctly, but fails to awaken. There was no way she could carry him and climb the bars at the same time. She'd have to drag him to the side and then climb, then come back for him...

I am in the cage, no- jail. I am invisible. It can't see me. I'll be fine. It can't see me...

*****

Initiative Order:
25 - Jeppo Graul
25 - Naya
(25) - Shalelu and Vale
22 - Brin
19 - Red
> 3 - Rico
17 - Setsuna
12 - Crowfood Graul

It is now Rico's turn.

*****

Combat Map


Red's Solo Adventure of Panic

Spoiler

Show

[Miraqariftsky]

Rico
HP 39/56
AC 26/22 (+4 from Mage Armour potion earlier)
Rage I/III
4/10

Rico staggers to her feet, using the Fist of Fox as a crutch to help herself stand. Her left arm wobbles with the shield, chains and spear weighing it down.

She squints into the distance, the foe's back growing smaller and smaller. She grits her teeth and spits in frustration and winces as another twinge of pain shoots through her ravaged neck.

Rummaging for a potion, she checks the labels that she'd marked them with, soon after having procured them, just to make sure, then pops the cork with her tusk and quaffs the little tot of heal-juice.

Spoiler

Show

CLW potion, away! (1d8+5)[13]

[Desril]

Setsuna
HP 29/46
AC 28

As Crowford flees and calls for backup, Setsuna shakes her head and steadies herself, about to uncork the potion in her hand. Brin's healing burst knitted most of her wounds closed though, and it wasn't in the Minkan princess to let her friends be put in danger without her being on the front line, and so with a casual flick of Maethilur to cut down a path through the cornfield, Setsuna charges forth once again toward the fleeing ogrekin, intending to cut him down before he could get into the barn.

At least Red should be safe, their attention will be focused on us now.

Spoiler

Show

Charge was allowed thanks to the OOC Acrobatics roll

Attack (1d20+15)[17]
Damage (1d8+7)[8] + (1d6)[1]


Parry if necessary (1d20+13)[19] (5/7 AP)

Riposte if possible (1d20+13)[15]
Damage (1d8+7)[12] + (1d6)[2]

[maggie_mcknife]

GM post

Rico chugs a CLW potion. Glug glug glug.

*****

Setsuna and Crowfood

Spoiler

Show

Move square not specified, GM places Setsuna at G8.
Setsuna's Riposte and Parry do not hit.

Attack vs Setsuna: (1d20+16)[31], Damage: (1d10+12)[17]
Move to C10, Acrobatics check to avoid AoOs: (1d20+12)[13] - failed, but Setsuna doesn't have any more AoOs left, or does she? Roll if needed.

Setsuna's attack very nearly takes the lurker by surprise. His ears pricking up in alarm at the swish and rustle of the tiefling's flight through the grass, the lurker whirls at the very last instant, the crude hook in his paw scything up to meet her descending katana with such force that it nearly knocks the black blade from her hand.

"Heh. Wassant 'pectin dat, eh, beetch?" The ogrekin's breath reeks of rotting carrion as he grins brashly over his weapon at Setsuna, hot air washing over her face. This close, Setsuna can even see the blackened fragments of whatever decaying meats the wretch had last feasted on still stuck between his ceremonially sharpened teeth, not to mention the bulging red pustules that speckle his neck and arms.

"Ha-ah! Yah!" Grunting with effort, the lurker turns aside the tiefling's subsequent flurry of blows, hacking them aside with surprising speed for his size. With a loud whoop, the lurker finally breaks through her defence, clubbing Setsuna on the side of her head with the back of his hook before sticking out a yellow spotted tongue at her as he retreats, hooting as he goes.

"Dunt need sharpies to putcher down, beetch!"

*****

New Event

Spoiler

Show

Initiative L: (1d20+1)[21]
Initiative M: (1d20+1)[7]

No sooner has the lurker yelled his mockery when an unseen door somewhere slams open, whereupon yet another two of the misbegotten Graul clan dash out from around the corner of the farmhouse. The faster and taller of the pair looks almost human, save for the sickly greyish cast of his pock-marked skin and preternaturally long limbs, while his presumed brother - a pale, bloated dwarf without a single hair on his head - hobbles along panting on stunted legs. Both of them brandish hooks of their own.

At the sight of the lurker and Setsuna, the pock-marked ogrekin cackles with laughter, holding his hook aloft - with what looks an awful lot like matted hair still stuck to the rusty blade.

Maulgro Graul and Lucky Graul have joined combat.

*****

If you can't see Jeppo Graul, you don't know what he's doing...

*****

Initiative Order:
25 - Jeppo Graul
> 25 - Naya
(25) - Shalelu and Vale
22 - Brin
21 - Lucky Graul
19 - Red
3 - Rico
17 - Setsuna
12 - Crowfood Graul
7 - Maulgro Graul

It is now Naya's turn.

*****

Combat Map

[jamieth]

Naya
HP 13/24
AC 17, FF 12, Touch 15

From her vantage point on high, Naya observes Setsuna's desperate - and ill-fated - charge. Still, it's pretty obvious Graul can't have much fight left in him... until, that is, two more ogrekin appear from the farmhouse.

"How many of you monsters are there!" she exclaims, calculating angles and speeds almost instinctively as she darts to the northeast, at the same time descending to the ground and starting to chant a spell - the one she decided against moments later, the one that releases energy through a long, persisting line... just in time for Graul - Crowfood Graul, that is - happen to be right between her and one of the newcomers the moment it goes off. Designed for narrow corridors... still useful in the open space, as long as you can choose your position freely.

Spoiler

Show

Move to C18 (Should be enough with 40 ft. speed; but if I need additional move to descent, I'll be fine with C17 or even C16)

Lightning Bolt straight to the left, catching Crowfod and Lucky: (7d6)[18] Electricity damage, Reflex DC 19 for half.

[Bhaakon]

Brin
35/35 HP
19 AC

Brin spits out a few more choice invectives as she stumbles out of the raggedy corn field in pursuit of the still-bloodied Setsuna (and to get the hells away from the grawl lurking among the stalks). Thought you were better at killing thing afore you got killed yourself. She mutters as the teifling races off to intercept the newest arrivals. Well, Brin would have to employ some preventative medicine.

"Pharasma take your eyes!" She shouts, pointing at the pair of inbred oafs gallumphing out of the ramshackle Graul abode. The \mauve-tinged explosion of light that fills the area between the pair is indeed blinding, if one is unfortunate enough to be immersed in it, as the pair of ogrekin are. Brin herself has to blink back some tears, and she's known what was coming.

Spoiler

Show

Move to K-11, standard to cast Burst of Radiance at the A/B-5/6 intersections, hitting L and M. DC 15 Ref or be blinded for (1d4)[1] round, dazzled for same time if save succeeds. (5d4)[11] damage if evil, no save.

[maggie_mcknife]

GM post

Naya

Spoiler

Show

My goodness, Jamie. I'm not about to start doing basic trigonometry to calculate where Naya can or cannot land when she's flying. Too many math axes to compute for a game!

Reflex DC 19 save
Crowfood: (1d20+8)[17] - failed
Lucky: (1d20+9)[12] - failed

The force of a second lightning bolt right to the torso sends the lurker staggering as he fails to dodge Naya's spell, tottering back a full two steps. Hissing angrily from the pain, he shoots the slyph another glare of pure hatred over the smoke rising from his newly blistered skin. Behind him, the pock-marked new arrival wheezes with the effort to keep his footing, an idiotic grin of enjoyment plastered across his sallow face even as he clutches the blackened patch of burned skin at his side.

"Yer takes the blue hyooman, Crowey. I plays wid the purty one widda shord." The pock-marked ogrekin sniggers to himself, wagging his head and rolling his eyes in Setsuna's direction as if he'd just made some huge joke.

*****

Shalelu

Spoiler

Show

Stays where she is
Attack: (1d20+11)[26], Damage: (1d8+2)[10] - hits
Attack: (1d20+6)[9], Damage: (1d8+2)[10] - miss

"Not if I can help it-"

Shalelu Andosana is too far away from most of you for her words to be heard, but her arrows suffice to make her intent clear. She releases two arrows in quick succession - the first catching the pock-marked ogrekin right in the meaty part of his shoulder, while the second one merely skims past his cheek. As the brute immediately drops his veneer of cheeky humour and begins howling aloud in pain, swatting at his shoulder, Shalelu merely stands a little straighter, her posture brimming with quiet defiance.

*****

Brin (and Vale) and Lucky Graul

Spoiler

Show

Vale trails after Brin to K13

Reflex DC 15 saves
Lucky: (1d20+9)[12] - failed
Maulgro: (1d20+9)[25] - passed

Brin casts Burst of Radiance.

"NO!GRAAARH!!"

The pock-marked ogrekin's cries of pain quickly give way to wrathful screams as the brute realises that he can no longer see. Knuckling at his eye sockets with his grimy paws, he half-stumbles half-gropes his way to the side of the farmhouse that serves his twisted family as a lair.

"DAMN YE, YER RUTTIN' PIECE-A-" The pock-marked ogrekin spews forth a litany of verbal abuse so foul that those of you closest to him might well wonder why your ears aren't bleeding. Still, the brute is down for the count. Clutching the mold-ridden planks of the farmhouse so hard that his overgrown nails snap, the ogrekin continues to rant and rave, slashing his hook about at random, perhaps in the hope that it might hit anyone foolish enough to venture close.

His dwarf-like brother, even after having shielded his eyes in time, hasn't quite escaped Pharasma's bane either. The midget Graul seems to be having difficulty seeing, blinking rapidly as straw-coloured tears leak from his eyes.

Lucky Graul (who isn't being very lucky at all) is blinded for 1 round. Maulgro Graul is dazzled for 1 round.

*****

Red

Spoiler

Show

Standard: drag Prisoner J 5 feet
Move: exit jail and climb to other walkway, taking 10 on Climb check for 20

Attack: (1d20+8)[15], Damage: (2d8+7)[13] - missed

Even freed of his manacles and starved by his long confinement, the prisoner remains a heavily built man of powerful stature. Biting back a swear word at the stink of his body, Red grunts under her breath as she hauls him by one arm over to the other side of his jail cell. Whoever this man and the other one were, they'd jolly well better be the ones Miss Shalelu and Mister Vale were looking for. If it turned out that they'd already been eaten by the bigfolk...

The spider had skittered closer to her corner of the barn. Perhaps it'd heard her picking the lock. But it still couldn't see her, so that would have to do. Flexing her fingers and taking a deep breath, Red clenches her lock pick between her teeth and begins to climb, skirting the edge of the jail cell as swiftly as she can while trying to ignore the prickling sensation down her spine.

Right foot, left foot. Right hand, left hand. Three of four in contact. No less. Right foot, left foot. Right hand, left-

The hairs on the back of Red's neck rise just as she reaches the other side of the jail and she dives for the platform at the last instant, barking her shins and nearly tumbling to the floor even as unseen mandibles clack and chitter just above her head.

No! It shouldn't be able to see me. That's not-

Red looks back to behold eyes the size of dinner plates, gleaming pools of blackness set in the bristly visage of the giant spider that now looms over her.

An Ogre Spider has joined combat. And yes, it know exactly where invisible Red is.

*****

Initiative Order:
25 - Jeppo Graul
25 - Naya
(25) - Shalelu
22 - Brin (and Vale)
21 - Lucky Graul - blinded for 1 round
19 - Red
> 3 - Rico
17 - Setsuna
12 - Crowfood Graul
7 - Maulgro Graul - dazzled for 1 round
3 - Ogre Spider - has already acted, will only act again next round

It is now Rico's turn.

*****

Combat Map


Red might be in trouble map

Spoiler

Show

[Miraqariftsky]

Rico
HP 39/56
AC 26/22 (+4 from Mage Armour potion earlier)
Rage I/III
5/10

Vial and cork tumble into the dirt.
No more about the issue does Rico skirt.
She flexes her arms, testing the weight.
On wading free of the field, her breath does bate.

More ogrekin abound, Setsuna in danger once again.
Stride on stride, the distance does gain.
Wheezing, staggering... forcing herself forward.
Though breath rasps, she keeps on marching hard.

Left arm bound by chains and shield and spear,
The Fist of Fox jutting forth, eager to make its fury clear.
Right arm cocked back, sabre's spine resting on her shoulder,
Rico snorts and breathes deep as Naya lets loose her thunder.

She jabs the shield's edge at the closest knee,
And follows up, chopping at the neck fiercely.

Spoiler

Show

Move: D11

v---banked roll from earlier
Attack roll: d20=19+7 BAB +7 Str +1 Weapon +2 Ranger -2 PA
Initial damage roll: (1d10+14)[15]

Crit confirm? (1d20+15)[25] If successful...
(1d10+14)[23]
(1d10+14)[24]
(1d10+14)[20]

Total Damage:15+24+23+20=82 damage total.

Toss in another Intimidate, eh?
(1d20+10)[12]<--- HAHAHAHA!

[Desril]

Setsuna
HP 14/46
AC 28

Still wincing from the continued onslaught, Setsuna seems entirely off her game. Getting hit in general is normally a rare occurance for the tiefling princess but against these ogres her movement seems sluggish and full of openings. Whether it was arrogance that prevented her from fighting while shielded by abjurations or because she was still shaken by the earlier threat distracting her was impossible to say, but whatever it was, it made her hesitate now. Where before she'd have charged blindly in, this time Setsuna raised her hand and conjured a field of tentacles in front of the farm house, engulfing the trio of ogrekin, hoping to buy time for the others to attack them from range, or at least force the ogres to come to her.

Spoiler

Show

Setsuna's actually losing this fight. That hasn't happened in a while. Time to change tactics.

Grasping Tentacles centered at BC67 (should hit all 3 of them)
Dirty Trick (1d20+12)[27]
If successful;
Crowford (1d100)[50] Entangled
Maulgro (1d100)[98] Sickened
Lucky (1d100)[8] Blinded

Parry and Riposte if necessary
Parry (1d20+13)[30]

Riposte if possible(1d20+13)[31]
Damage (1d8+7)[9] + (1d6)[5]
Crit confirmation on the riposte (spending AR for Perfect Strike on a confirmation) (1d20+13)[19] damage (2d8+14)[25]

[maggie_mcknife]

GM post

Rico and Setsuna

Perhaps the lurker was smarting too much from his fresh electricity burns, his hoary flesh actually blackened and oozing where the brassy studs of his armour touched skin. Or perhaps he was too busy shooting glares of promised wrath at Naya. Or perhaps he just hadn't considered the threat of what his previous victim, raised from death's door as it were, might be out to do to him.

Whatever the reason, the thrust of Rico's shield takes the lurker by apparent surprise, knocking him off balance even as his kneecap shatters on impact, crunching the bone to brittle shards. Merciless and inexorable in her renewed vigour, the half-orc constable doesn't even wait for the lurker to hit the ground before she chops - carving through layers of fat and gristle in a maddened blow that takes the lurker's bulbous head half-way off his barely-there neck.

The pock-marked ogrekin, still bereft of his sight from the bane of Pharasma, remains blissfully unaware of his brother's demise. However, his midget brother, through his blurred vision, senses that something has gone quite wrong and open his oversized mouth to scream.

Yet there is not even time for that as a warier Setsuna now unleashes her own spell - a variant of the same that had slain Xanesha back in Magnimar. The ground by the farmhouse abruptly erupts with a terrifying crop - tangle upon tangle of rubbery black tentacles, each as thick as a man's arm, flailing and grasping about. As the midget ogrekin jumps back in alarm, he steps on one, causing it to burst open underfoot, emitting a stench and green vapour so nauseating that he immediately begins to gag and dry-heave. Another tentacle slaps itself atop the pock-marked ogrekin's face, causing him to squeal and gag under its weight, like a stifled pig at the butcher block as he tries in vain to wrestle his unseen assailant off him.

"Geri'off - GERRIT OFFA ME-"

(Un)Lucky Graul is (still) blinded and Maulgro Graul is now sickened for the duration of the spell.

*****

Maulgro Graul / New Event

Spoiler

Show

Maulgro tries to escape, moves to A10.

Mammy Graul uses Cape of the Mountebank to DD to F2
Casts Black Tentacles with centre at H/I 10/11.

Tentacle CMB checks
vs Setsuna: (1d20+15)[31] - passed
vs Rico: (1d20+15)[30] - passed
vs Brin: (1d20+15)[27] - passed
Oops, misread that bit in the PFSRD. I'll take the lowest roll and apply it to all, instead of separate rolls.

Damage:
vs Setsuna: (1d6+4)[6]
vs Rico: (1d6+4)[5]
vs Brin: (1d6+4)[7]

From somewhere in the thicket of tentacles, the midget ogrekin begins to wail as he attempts to wade out - an awful reedy mewling between his retching that puts one in mind of a cross between a tortured cat and a whimpering baby.

"MAW-MAW. MAW-MAW! MA-"

"Shut yer trap, bo'!"

For those of you who search for the source of the screeching reply, your (horrified) gaze quickly falls upon yet another member of the foul ogrekin clan, newly manifested from gods-alone knew which pit and collapsed in an ungainly heap on the ground in front of Naya.

Vale had been wrong - there was a female Graul - a balding, corpulent monstrosity, twice as large across the belly than any of her kin and layered in bulge upon bulge of dimpled fat. Her sagging teats are on brazen display, resting on the uppermost roll of stomach fat and barely covered by the ragged shroud thrown carelessly across one shoulder. What is left of her stringy hair clings to her swollen jowls in greasy tendrils as she jabs dirt-blackened talons at the remaining two Grauls, still struggling to free themselves from Setsuna's conjured tentacles.

"Useless spawn-sacks, ah'll deal wit yer both later-" Brandishing what looks like a crudely stitched together doll towards Setsuna and Rico, the female Graul intones a twittering word of power.

At first, it looks as if Setsuna's spell has grown stronger, as even more bunches of black tentacles spring up from the ground, scattering dirt as they wriggle free of the earth and search for targets. But no- it immediately becomes clear to those of you out in the open, as the tentacles make a grab for your limbs - coiling and tightening, suction cups pulling at your clothes - that these tentacles are the handiwork of this female Graul.

"Two o' us can play that game, girlie!" crows the female Graul gleefully, from somewhere beyond the shivering wall of appendages.

Mammy Graul has joined combat. Setsuna, Rico and Brin are now grappled.

*****

Jeppo is too afraid of his mama to go outside.

*****

Initiative Order:
25 - Jeppo Graul
> 25 - Naya
(25) - Shalelu
22 - Brin - grappled - (and Vale)
21 - Lucky Graul - blinded
19 - Red
3 - Rico - grappled
17 - Setsuna - grappled
7 - Maulgro Graul - dazzled for 1 round, sickened
6 - Mammy Graul
3 - Ogre Spider

It is now Naya's turn.

*****

Combat Map

[jamieth]

Naya
HP 13/24
AC 17, FF 12, Touch 15

"How many of you things are there!" Naya exclaims, not really noticing herself that she outright stopped thinking of the orgekin as living beings - it's easier like that. It saves her from thinking about how can the living, thinking being act like that... and she really can't spare a second for idle thoghts right now. Not with half of the team out of commission... really, who would've thought the Grauls would have a spellcaster of their own?
Granted, said spellcaster's grasp of geometry seemed poorer than her grasp of arcane techniques, as she inadvertadly placed herself almost exactly between one of the other Grauls and the sylph...

Taking a step to the left to turn "almost" into "exactly", Naya launches the same spell again.

Spoiler

Show

Move to E18
Cast Lightning Bolt at the direction 63.43 degrees from the north to the west (that is, 1 square north per each 2 squares west) getting Mammy and Maulgro. Damage (7d6)[32], Ref 19 for half

[Bhaakon]

Brin
28/35 HP
17 AC
Grappled

"What in the f--" Brin's cut off as a tentacle wraps around her throats, squeezing down with a shocking strength that belies its boneless nature. What were the muscles acting against without a proper skeleton, after all? Surely they couldn't be that strong without a solid anchor to leverage. Well, apparently they could, because it takes all of the elf's strength to pry it lose enough to get her breath back. At the cost of two more wrapping her about the leg and waist.

"Pull me out of this crap, damn it!" She bellows, to whoever was near enough to act. it was rather difficult to turn around and look at the moment.

Spoiler

Show

Failed roll to escape in OOC

[Miraqariftsky]

Rico,
Raging, Grappled
HP 34/56
AC 22/22
(+4 from Mage Armour potion earlier, -2 from Rage, -4 Dex)
Rage I/III
6/10

Tales of horror from of old---
Monsters from the deep
That wrung and wrenched and mauled,
They squelch and screech, at Rico's sanity battering.
There she stands, eyes wide with dread and dithering.
She wrests herself out before she might weep.

She pants, gibbers, mutters...
...Growls.
She thrashes against the daemoniac things.
Rico forces back the bile and crouches, planting her feet.
Sweeps out the Fist of Fox and out, her sword-arm flings.
Off, she shoves the foul tentacled fiends, then reaps them like wheat.

Spoiler

Show

BREAK OUTTA THERE:
(1d20+11)[14]
BAB 7 + Rage Str 7 + Weapon 1 + Ranger 2 (Unsure if Ranger's Favoured Enemy applies?)

Note: -2 to all attack rolls UNLESS it's made to grapple, or escape the grapple.

Outmatched and close to panic,
Gnashing against the menace cephalopodic,
Rico casts about, choking down the fear.
She draws a breath and yells loud and clear.

"VALE! COME ON! A LITTLE HELP HERE?"

((W'elp. Dice Luck swingin' back the other way. Tch. Inevitable.))

Spoiler

Show

Hmm. Action economy. Vale likely has enough speed that he can get to Rico in a Move, leaves him with a Standard. For him to get a potion from one of her pouches AND help her chug it, that exceeds his capacity in one round.
So... will his Aid Another be good enough to haul her out, I wonder?

[jamieth]

Naya casts a glance at eh spot where her companions are struggling against the magical tentacles. One would expect miss Rico to burst free with a brute force - or perhaps miss Setsuna to weasel her way away... (A quick note for those not usually privy to Naya's mental narration - she in no way uses the word 'weasel' as an insult. Ability to escape restrainst is a tried and true skill for an adventurer, and worthy of respect)
...but, it seems, it's actually miss Brin who's the closest to being safe - and, if I correctly remember, her magic just might be what we need...

"Miss Shalelu! Help miss Brin out!" she desperately calls out - still not feeling confident to give commands to the old ranger (or, well, technically, Shalelu would be older, right? But still...)

[Desril]

Setsuna
HP 10/46
AC 28

Setsuna barely had time to catch her breath from casting her spell before nearly losing her lunch at the horrifying site of the mass of fat and hatred that was the Graul's apparent mother. Even if she'd been properly dressed the site would've been terrible, but her being topless somehow made it worse, and it was that momentary distraction that cost the tiefling the precious seconds she needed to dodge out of the way of the mass of tentacles behind her.

Suddenly finding a forest of writhing tentacles ensnaring her, two finding purchase in the gash torn in her hakama by Crowford a minute ago, another binding her arm to her side while tugging on the strip of leather that she'd taken from Xanesha and infused the power of her sarashi into, and a forth going for her throat. It took a supreme effort, but through the miracle of adrenaline and the iron will to survive that Setsuna gained after so nearly dying to the lamia back in Magnimar, the Tian princess managed to wrench her arm free and using what little support she still had to dive out of the reach of the tentacular field, with a rrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiip that couldn't quite be heard over the sounds of combat, and into the relative safe space between the two forests of tentacles conjured by herself and the Graul woman. Without a moment to spare, Setsuna locks eyes with the Graul matron and begins dashing toward her, careful not to misstep and find herself back in a bad position, oblivious to the fact that she was now as naked from the waste down as her opponent was from the waste up, her hakama in pieces being further torn asunder by the tentacles that still held it.

Calling out to their aerial support, Setsuna'd already formulated the basic parts of a plan, "Naya-san! Keep her from casting any more spells!"

Arriving next to Rico, while keeping her eyes on the ogres, she reaches out try and pull the larger half-orcess free, but to little avail as the tentacles seem to have a tighter grip on her greater bulk.

Spoiler

Show

CMB to escape grapple rolled in dice thread, I somehow actually managed a natural 20. Honestly surprised. Clearly the dice gods favored my idea, once more proving my theory (1d20+4)[24]

Moving along the diagonal between the fields to reach D12. Can't attack or use my action to actually free Rico since I had to use it to try and escape the grapple, hence the auto-fail description, but she had to try.


My / key is broken I think, it's unresponsive the last few days...I think I need a new keyboard....

[maggie_mcknife]

GM post

Naya

Spoiler

Show

Reflex: (1d20+4)[14] - failed
Reflex: (1d20+4)[14] - failed

The female Graul's cackle of glee turns into a squawk of rage as Naya's spell blitzes through the air and blasts the quivering mass of sebaceous flab that passed for its body.

With her greasy hair now frizzled and standing on end, her bloated flesh now reddened and pitted with fresh blisters, the female Graul looks more monstrous than ever. Heedless of the midget ogrekin tottering behind her, coughing violently and barely clinging on to consciousness, she glares at Naya through red-rimmed watering eyes.

"A daughter of the wind, aye? And yer dare to trespass 'to me forest-" The female Graul's voice is oddly high and keening, putting those close enough to hear her on edge, as every word rings in your ears like a nail being gouged into a steel shield. Judging from how the others saluted her, she had to be the Graul dam- the matriarch of the whole stinking brood. If there was going to be a stop to the brutalities inflicted on the denizens of Turtleback Ferry and vengeance for Vale's patrol, it was going to have to start with her death - preferably right now, if any of you had anything to say about it.

*****

Shalelu and Brin

Spoiler

Show

Shalelu's AA for Brin: (1d20+7)[12] - passes, barely

In the midst of her hapless struggles against the flailing mass of tentacles twining about her body as if she was a pig being trussed up for a Merrymead feast, Brin feels a distinctly bone-based grip snag hold of her elbow at the crook.

"Fight it. Pull." Even without the elf's stern visage in view, Shalelu's grunted words bear the weight of command and despite her usual aversion to being ordered about, Brin finds herself tugging at the appendage around her waist with a sudden renewed urgency. For a moment, Brin's world is all slithering tendrils and noise and a steady string of epithets from a voice that might have been hers - the next moment, she finds herself tumbling backwards into Shalelu's arms, her fingers and arms still tingling and sore where the tentacles had snatched at her.

Brin is no longer grappled.

*****

Lucky Graul

Spoiler

Show

CMB check: (1d20+9)[24] vs CMD of the Grasping Tentacles, which should be 22 (CMB+10) - pass

Move to E3

Still weeping and incoherently cursing, the pock-marked ogrekin manages to wrestle himself free of the tentacles that slap and jab at his eye sockets. With a loud roar, he claps a grimy hand onto the tentacle covering his eyes and rips it free, nearly tearing the appendage in half. Then groaning aloud, he digs his fingers into the planks of the farmhouse and wrenches himself around the corner and away from the tentacles, panting and muttering vaguely of the various atrocities he would perpetrate on Setsuna at the earliest opportunity.

*****

Red
HP: 55/55
AC 23

Spoiler

Show

Keeps lock pick for one move action
Incurs AoO from Ogre Spider - Attack: (1d20+8)[24], Damage: (2d8+7)[14]
Fort save vs poison DC18: (1d20+9)[23] otherwise penalty of (1d4)[3] to STR and (1d4)[1] to DEX - passed

Move to N11

There had been many a time in Red's youth, as part of the monastic training that she'd failed so miserably at, that Rathi or some other sage had given her situations to think about, supposedly to teach her how to choose what was right. Situations where either way was a bad choice. Like whether you'd save someone who'd fallen into a river, or whether you'd jump in even if you might get eaten by a large swamp fish. Or if you'd give your last coins to a widow with many children but then have nothing to eat for the next few days.

Red had always found these questions to be terrible questions. They didn't tell her enough about the situation. Like what if the person in the river could swim. Or if maybe the widow was a faker who was actually a man in drag. (There'd been one like that in Riddleport once.) Or if there were other ways of getting food, like stealing. When she'd told that to Rathi, Rathi had chuckled and ruffled her hair and let her go out to practice with her kukris. The other sages hadn't been so understanding.

The spider chittered angrily above her, the hinged parts of its mouth twitching, a bristly leg extending in her direction. Red shrank back against the wall of the barn. She was still invisible. It couldn't see her. But somehow, she had this idea that maybe that didn't matter to this spider.

Right now, it was a bit like those questions, except that it wasn't. If she tried to get the other prisoner, the giant spider would get her. If she fought the giant spider, it would still get her. And she might die. This wasn't a question of courage or what was right. This was a question of stupid. If the spider got her, she wouldn't be able to save anybody. And then what use would she be to Rico and the others?

Gritting her teeth, Red closes her eyes in silent invocation to the Lucky Drunk, even as she slides her lock pick back into her pocket - no use for it now. Taking a deep breath, she whirls towards the rusting prison bars, grasping for the shoulder of the prisoner she'd just freed. Behind her, she could hear the spider lunge forth, wooden planks groaning in protest at its monstrous bulk as it scrabbles for a hold.

She hooks her fingers into the prisoner's sagging flesh as best she could - what had Naya said, imagine? - no time for that though. Her arm is suddenly ablaze with an incredible burning pain as black fangs pierce through her skin, a clammy weight pressing at her shoulder, a high-pitched hissing scream in her ears. No, think of the others, those trees where you were-

Still screaming, Red tumbles to her knees on damp grass and earth - outside - the prisoner sliding bonelessly to the ground as she clutches at the tattered cloth and blood on her arm. Gods, why did it hurt so much-

Red and Prisoner J are now back outside the barn.

*****

Rico (and Vale)

Spoiler

Show

Vale can use double move to get to Rico but not pull her out this turn. But he's a brave man even if he's functionally running around in his underroos. Hence and therefore...

AA check: (1d20+9)[25] - use for +2 on next turn's roll

"On my way, ma'am!" Vale's answering call to Rico comes without hesitation. Within a few seconds, Rico espies the dark-skinned man dashing her way, his skin gleaming with perspiration despite the chilly air as he dodges stray tendrils from the field of grasping tentacles.

"Grab hold, ma'am! Don't let go! I gotcha!"

*****

Pantless Setsuna escapes the Black Tentacles.

*****

Mammy Graul and Maulgro Graul (who is delaying turn until after his mammy has acted)

Spoiler

Show

Uses Hex: Flight to fly, move to J18

Charge to D17
Attack: (1d20+15)[19], Damage: (1d10+12)[13]

"Maully! Git that blue one! Yer do and yer'll have them legs fixed up nice, promise."

The female Graul throws a wheedling promise to her son even as she draws a complex rune in the air, causing the entire putrid fleshy mass of her body to rise into the air with incongruous grace. As she glides (with ponderous slowness) over to the relative safety of the cornfield, the midget ogrekin shudders, still whimpering even as he glances fearfully over at Naya.

The midget ogrekin seems to come to a decision. Licking his lips, he sniffs and yanks his own ogre hook out from his belt before charging straight at Naya. Despite his stubby legs, the midget more than makes up for it with sheer gumption, huffing and pounding away at the ground for all he is worth. Upon closing with Naya, the midget almost hesitates - but no - before slashing down across her torso with the wicked strength of his breed.

Maulgro Graul is no longer sickened. Naya is... did she escape?

*****

Jeppo Graul and Ogre Spider are no longer in combat unless situation changes.

****

Initiative Order:
> 25 - Naya
(25) - Shalelu
> 22 - Brin
21 - Lucky Graul
19 - Red
3 - Rico (and Vale) - grappled
17 - Setsuna - grappled
6 - Mammy Graul
7 - Maulgro Graul

It is now Naya's turn (unless she really can't do anything to avoid the attack, in which case, it is Brin's turn).

*****

Combat Map

[Desril]

Setsuna
HP 10/46
AC 28

Seeing the gelatinous blob that is the Graul matron take to the sky, the bottomless princess immediately discounts her plan to bolster her own defenses. The flying ogrekin was going to be a problem for the archers and Naya, which mean that increasing her own defenses wouldn't do any good...but clearing out the ogrekin on the ground to buy them safety to attack the aerial enemy could still work. And so, seeing Vale pull Rico from the tentacle forest, Setsuna steels herself as she incants the spell to sheath Maethilur in electricity before charging the one that attacked Naya, intending to cut the stubby legged ogrekin down even lower.

"Stay away from my friends!"

Spoiler

Show

Since Lucky can't actually accomplish anything with his turn that will affect my action, I'm posting now. Since Mammy took to the skies, I'll go on the offensive on Maulgro rather than defensive casting.

Casting Shocking Grasp
Moving to C16 (Flanking with Naya?)
Free attack from SG w/Spellstrike (1d20+16)[29] (includes +3 from SG for the metal weapon) +2 if Flanking applies

Damage (1d8+7)[12] + (6d6)[25] electric

Parry and Riposte (if need be)
Parry (1d20+13)[27]

Riposte (1d20+13)[23]
Damage (1d8+7)[8] + (1d6)[1] electric

[Bhaakon]

Brin
28/35 HP
17 AC
Grappled

"Thank you oh-so kindly." Brin gasps at Shalelu once she's caught a few scraps of breath from the constricting entrapment. But now wasn't the time to rest. Something had to be done about the field of undulating appendages. She had a couple options to deal with this obstacle, but seeing as Rico's distress was rather pressing and her location was inconvenient, running around the writhing mass to slap a spell or free movement on the Constable was out of the question. It would have to be the slightly more risky dispelling.

"Pharasma, please clean up this turgid tangle of groping tentacles. Send it back to the depths of fishwife's nightmare spawned it!"

Spoiler

Show

Standard action to cast Dispel Magic. DC is 11 + the tentacles' CL

Dispel check: (1d20+7)[25]

[jamieth]

Naya
HP 10/24
AC 17, FF 12, Touch 15

"Got it miss Setsuna", the sylph nods, acknowledging the tiefling's request to neutralize the enemy's caster. Unfortunately, that short instant while she looks down is exactly a moment Lucky Graul charges.

Facing a half-orge already swinging at her, Naya has no time to move... but just enough time to chant a short spell. Unfortunately, she had already learned by now that that simple spell is far from perfect defence; a hit strong or fast enough - not to mention one enchanced by magic itself - can tear through the thin air she turns into almost as easily as through the flesh... but only almost. And Graul is right on the edge of being strong and fast enough...

As an end result, there is a large cut on Naya's belly when she rematerializes split second later... but nothing nearly as bad as she'd likely get had she failed to protect herself with the spell.

Even as she materializes, the sylph throws herself back, rolling onto the ground before getting back to her feet and zoomming to the sky just in time to see Setsuna rushing after the Graul. If she notices tiefling's state of undress, Naya doesn't comment on this; after all, last thing she wants to do is to add another worry to Setsuina's mind.

"And you, daughter of whatever mudpit you're from, dare to come into my skies?" she returns the Mommy's taunt, preparing to gather - and launch - her trademark set of projectiles the moment Graul tries to summon any magic of her own.

Spoiler: Crunch

Show

Immediate: Windy Escape vs. Maulgro's attack; gaining DR 10/magic. 3 HP lost, 10 left.
Swift: don't have one.
Move: Tumble to F20 (30 on Acrobatics rolled in OOC); fly 20 feet up.
Standard: Ready Fiery Shuriken if Mommy starts casting.

Spoiler: Readied attack

Show

(1d20+8)[16], (1d8)[7]
(1d20+8)[25], (1d8)[2]
(1d20+8)[23], (1d8)[3]
(1d20+8)[14], (1d8)[3], all vs. touch AC

[Miraqariftsky]

Rico,
Raging, Grappled
HP 34/56
AC 16/22
(-2 from Rage, -4 Dex from Grapple)
Rage I/III
7/10

With a mighty heave, Rico thrusts her left arm back.
Arm and chain and shield and spear,
On flesh and wood and steel,
Vale has much to grasp.

Rico hauls her right arm high, preparing for a wrack.
Grits her teeth and growls, fights through the fear.
Across the grasping mass, a slash does deal,
Just as Vale's arm, she does clasp...

Spoiler

Show

BREAK OUTTA THERE:
(1d20+19)[37]
BAB 7 + Rage Str 7 + Weapon 1 + Ranger 2 (Unsure if Ranger's Favoured Enemy applies?) + 2 Vale's Aid

Note: -2 to all attack rolls UNLESS it's made to grapple, or escape the grapple.

Rolled in the Dice Thread.
85 total damage to Lucky Graul.

"HWAH... aaahhh... ahhh... Thanks fer the assist!"

...but tumbles backwards in a heap,
As Brin's blessed spellwork, the foulness does reap.
Rico stumbles, staggers,
Stands and wonders,
How blessed swift
The fiendish foe'd been ripped.

She casts about, seeking,
High above, the matriarch is floating.
Rico spits, dismayed,
But shrugs and levels her blade,
Towards the struggling ogrekin trapped in Setsuna's spell.
She dashes at its edge, right as it rattles off threats of rape.
Leaping in at the last, before it makes good its escape,
Neckward cleaves the sword, sending it to hell.

[maggie_mcknife]

GM post

Naya uses Windy Escape... and lives!

*****

Brin and Shalelu

Spoiler

Show

Attack: (1d20+11)[28], Damage: (1d8+2)[8]
Attack: (1d20+11)[31], Damage: (1d8+2)[5]

Confirm Crit: (1d20+6)[23] - confirmed
Damage: (1d8+2)[5]
Damage: (1d8+2)[10]
Damage: (1d8+2)[4]

For a few seconds, absolutely nothing happens to the tentacles. It almost seems as if perhaps Pharasma, dour goddess that she was, had taken offense to Brin's alliterative abilities or the slight against fishwives.

Fortunately enough, when the goddess's magic does take hold, it does so with surprisingly spectacular brilliance. Dazzling amethyst light suddenly suffuses the writhing mass of black tentacles while flickering tongues of purple fire lick hungrily at the rubbery appendages, blazing ten feet high in the air like the wrath of the Lady come to cleanse the clearing of its ogrekin foulness. As the female Graul shrieks in fury at this new outrage of her spell being quite literally devoured before her eyes, Shalelu takes the chance to swiftly nip the matriarch in her fatty hip with two more arrows.

Mammy Graul's Black Tentacles have been dispelled, all PCs are no longer grappled.

*****

Lucky Graul and Rico (and Vale - posting out of order to resolve action more smoothly)

Spoiler

Show

Full round action - cut ropes

Vale runs to his captain!

"Lucky - git the ded-dren out! NOW!"

The female Graul screeches in fury at her son as she snatches out the arrows in her side, breaking them in her porky fist. Still wincing from his recent battering from Setsuna's own set of tentacles, the pock-marked ogrekin nevertheless hurries to obey, immediately hunkering down and using his hook to saw frantically at the ropes that bind shut a trapdoor on the west side of the farmhouse porch.

The ogre hook, deadly as it is at skewering and carving up meat, is not meant for slicing through fraying hemp. The pock-marked ogrekin has barely worked his way through half the rope before Rico comes barreling down upon him in a fury of blood-shot eyes and quivering iron-clad muscles. With a roar that is almost animal in its rage, she brings her sword to bear and hews more than halfway through his twitchy neck, cracking bone and spraying hot blood across the verandah.

Somewhere behind Rico, with the forest of tentacles gone, Vale spots Red and the recently freed captive on the other side of the clearing. He immediately breaks into a wide grin and begins running over as fast as he can. To anyone watching, the man's relieved concern is palpable enough - the prisoner must be the Black Arrow captain that he'd spoken so highly of.

(Un)Lucky Graul is now dead.

*****

Red
HP: 41/55
AC 23

Spoiler

Show

Move: Retrieve CLW from handy haversack for Prisoner J
Move to O14

Outside. She was back outside. And dear gods, how sweet the forest air.

The wound on her arm still stings, but as the shock of it fades, so does the pain. Blinking blearily as Vale comes rushing towards her, Red instinctively reaches for the side pocket of her bag and thrusts the bottle within at Vale. "G-give him this. Then h-hide."

The words are thick on her tongue. Shaking her head in an effort to clear it, Red grits her teeth and grimly stalks forward. Most of the bigfolk were dead. That was good. But good Cayden - what was this woman all puffed up like a cow bladder doing floating in the air? She glances over at the others, silently hoping that someone had an idea on how to knock this fat one out of the sky.

*****

Setsuna

With the danger of the tentacle field gone, Setsuna wastes no time in getting rid of the last ogrekin still standing in the clearing. Sweeping towards the midget ogrekin with her katana held low, the young tiefling scythes her electrified blade upwards in a swift crackling backhand strike that slices open his throat even as he attempts to dodge. Gurgling through a sudden spume of crimson bubbles, the midget ogrekin dies without much fuss, his rheumy eyes glazing over even as traces of electricity dance about his slackening limbs.

Maulgro Graul is now dead.

*****

Mammy Graul

Spoiler

Show

Move to H19
Burning Hands Damage: (5d4)[13]
Reflex DC 17 halves damage

As the last of her brood out in the clearing falls, for the first time (perhaps too late), a glimmer of fear shows in the female Graul's tiny piggy eyes. Scowling down at all of you as she scans the clearing, her eye lights upon Naya.

"Yer own nothin', insullent flea-" Ignoring the burst of flaming shurikens as the sylph hurls her prepared projectiles, the female Graul extends her clammy hand and growls a command. Instantly, Naya is engulfed in a orange wall of searing flame, black smoke rising from the female Graul's stubby fingers.

*****

Initiative Order:
> 25 - Naya
(25) - Shalelu
22 - Brin
19 - Red
3 - Rico (and Vale)
17 - Setsuna
6 - Mammy Graul

It is now Naya's turn (if she's not K.O.'d or Windy Escaped again).

*****

Combat Map

[Bhaakon]

Brin
28/35 HP
17 AC

With the field of tentacles quit neatly disposed of (if Brin does say so herself, which she surely shall once the chaos has abated), there's finally an opportunity to take in the rest of the battlefield properly.

"What in the hells do you people eat?" She bellows, finally getting an opportunity to take in Mammy's bulk. "You can't tell me it's just this weedy corn field and game. Surely there's dairy nearby that you've been robbing of cheese wheels. Probably a brewery as well. And...well, I don't know what you call a place that renders lard, but I bet you've been robbing one of those blind, too. I thought I'd never see someone with more chins than the Lord Mayor, but your waddle puts old Groby to shame."

Before she can continue wondering at the bloodline's prodigious bulk, however, Mammy decides to try and burn poor Naya's hear off her very scalp. And maybe the woman could use a trim--that mane probably ended up in her eyes with all that flying about--but no one appreciated the smell of burning hair, and that flying tub of Graul obviously wasn't a barber anyway.

"Lady, show that lard-sack what happens when you stare too long into the flame!" Brin shouts, digging a pinch of silver dust out of a pouch as she launches another brilliant burst of light right in Mammy Graul's face.

Spoiler

Show

Cast Burst of Radiance on Mammy, positioned so as not to hit Naya. DC 16 Ref save of be blinded for (1d4)[1] rounds (dazzled for same period if save succeeds). If evil, she takes (5d4)[15] damage as well

[jamieth]

Naya
HP -4/24
AC 7, FF 7, Touch 5
Dying

As her barrage of miniature ball lightnings fails to even slow down the wobbling mass of flesh flying towards her, Naya is taken by complete surprise... and doesn't react nearly quick enough to the flames engulfing her.

It almost comes as a salvation that she passes out from pain almost immediately, last thing the sylph sees being ground slowly approaching her...

Spoiler

Show

Failed Ref in OOC; at -3 HP.
Stabilization roll in OOC: failed

[Desril]

Setsuna
HP 10/46
AC 28

"Naya-san!" Seeing the sylph fall after being engulfed in the mini-inferno, Setsuna immediately discards her prior plan and rushes to the fallen sorceress' side, silently shouting at whatever gods might be listening to keep her alive even as she slides to a stop and finally unstoppers the potion that Rico'd given her, pouring it into Naya's mouth.

"I can not hit her that high up, take her down!"

Spoiler

Show

Move to E19

I can't do anything to a flying foe, but I have the CLW potion Rico gave me. (1d8+1)[8] to Naya.

[Miraqariftsky]

Rico,
Raging
HP 34/56
AC 22/22 (-3 if we're strict about "Need both hands (arms?) free to re/load a sling.)
Rage I/III
7/10

As the corpse falls, she strikes once more.
Chopping the head full-off, as if 'twere a chore.
Rico gives her sword a spin, flicking off the gore.

Ears stiffen as Naya hits the ground.
Just as swift, into her mouth, Setsuna does pound.
There gloats the Graul, her spellwork, a hellhound.

Rico spins on her heel and curses the floating foe.
Sheathes with a snarl, unable to lay it low.
Wrist brushes by some leather's flow---

---her sling, hardly ever fielded,
Now that its worthlessness has abated,
Trails in her wake as she ran towards the foe so hated.
Into the sling's tongue, a lead bullet led,
Cursing her fumbling as she, her weapon, fed.

Spoiler

Show

Spoiler

Show

[and Free] Move : Draw potion of Jump, Move to G13.
Standard: Drink potion of Jump.

Notes for next turn so I don't forget:
High Jump
40*4= 160<--- are you kidding me?
Running jump +10
Jump potion +20
Agile Breastplate -1
Fast Movement Twice +8

W'elp. Even cranking out all of that, absolutely no way of Jumping THAT high and doing a melee attack. I even tried graphing it and seeing if Enlarge Person would work... close, but nope.
WHY THE HECK DIDN"T I GRAB =FLY= INSTEAD?

Move to G13, draw sling on the way. Load sling. Done.

[maggie_mcknife]

GM post

Naya falls to the ground unconscious.

*****

Brin and Shalelu

Spoiler

Show

Reflex: (1d20+4)[21] - passed

Attack: (1d20+11)[14], Damage: (1d8+2)[6]
Attack: (1d20+6)[13], Damage: (1d8+2)[5]

"Aiieeeee!"

The female Graul squeals in high-pitched rage as she flings up a meaty arm in an attempt to shield her eyes from the worst of Brin's spell as spires of dazzling violet light suddenly blazing forth before her face. For an instant, it would seem to those of you watching that Brin's invective is indeed coming true - for where the purple light touches her, her pimpled flesh sears and reddens, smoke rising from the fresh burns that only cause her to struggle and writhe about even more in an attempt to relieve the pain.

A few feet below her stubby elephantine feet, Shalelu's arrows zip by harmlessly underneath - the master ranger herself apparently distracted by the female Graul's wailing paroxysms.

Mammy Graul is now dazzled for 1 round.

*****

Red
HP: 41/55
AC 23

Spoiler

Show

Attack: (1d20+8)[14], Damage: (1d8+4)[9]

She hadn't used her bow in weeks. It just hadn't seemed like something important to do; not when there she had her kukris. She knew she ought to have kept up the skill. Practiced every morning for a bit, like how Rathi had made her do it, after chores. Draw the water, carry the water. Sweep the yard, wipe the floor, then out to the yard to practise, practise, practise.

Red winces inwardly as she slips her bow off her shoulder, its wooden grain unfamiliar to her fingers, the fletching pricking her skin. Rathi would probably have a lot to say to her, if she was still alive to give Red an earful.

When her arrow veers past the puffy woman's backside without even coming close to hitting, Red stifles a groan. Yes. Rathi would have said a lot to her. And none of it good.

*****

Rico runs and runs with a sling!

*****

Setsuna feeds Naya a potion. Naya is no longer unconscious or dying.

*****

Mammy Graul

Spoiler

Show

Casts Dimension Door

As the female Graul lowers her arm, those of you who have ventured close can see the full extent of the damage Brin's spell had wrought. The female Graul's flabby arms are a mass of blistered pink flesh weeping clear fluid; her eyes are glazed and blinking erratically, the tattered corners of what little clothing she does wear already blackened and crisped.

Swiping at the hair plastered across her face, the female Graul snarls sightlessly ahead of her. Tightening her grip on the odd doll figure in her hand, she draws forth what looks like a long wooden splinter from the pouch by her waist and stabs the doll clear through the head. Immediately, she vanishes from sight - leaving nothing but empty air and the bloodied bodies of her sons cooling on the hard earth.

The fact that the enemy has fled means little to Vale Temros. Kneeling by the prisoner Red has brought, he anxiously peers down at the man's face, nearly spilling the potion as he eagerly trickles it into the man's mouth with trembling hands.

Mammy Graul has left combat.

Combat is over, initiative ends... for now.

*****

Updated map for reference

[jamieth]

Naya
HP 5/24

As the vivifying liquid pours into her mouth, the sylph opens her eyes with a moan, "Ah? What? Miss Setsuna..." Then, her memories return to her, "I'm sorry, I couldn't hold her... is... is everyone alive?"

Slowly, Naya gets to her feet; her outfit, lent from Rico, sports several large holes where Momma's flames burnt it through; normally blue-tinted skin beneath is burned as well, but for now, healing magic of the potion blunts the pain...

Looking around, Naya lets out a sigh of relief as everyone on their team - including Red - seems to be alive and well... but one thing still concerns her.

"Where's the... mother?" she asks, "Did... she got away? Can't... can;t let her; she'll be seeking revenge... strike when we're vulnerable..."

[Bhaakon]

Brin nods in agreement with Naya. "We have to finish her off while she's still smarting. We saw what she can do if we let her surprise us." She thinks to the field of tentacles and shudders a bit. "Here, let me tend thsoe qounds quickly so we can hunter her down."

She calls on Pharasma's aid again to heal them all in one swoop, but stops herself before doing so a second time. If they were facing combat again they'd need that instant first aid. The near-disaster in the corn field had proven that. Instead she fishes out the trusty wand and begins to empty it of its remaining magics to treat the wounded.

Spoiler: Channel and Wand

Show

Channel to heal everyone: (4d6)[14]

Wand for what's left (just say how many charges you need and I'll mark them off:
(1d8+1)[8]
(1d8+1)[8]
(1d8+1)[7]
(1d8+1)[2]
(1d8+1)[4]
(1d8+1)[7]
(1d8+1)[4]
(1d8+1)[4]
(1d8+1)[7]
(1d8+1)[8]

[Desril]

Setsuna

Glad to see that, while not entirely unhurt, everyone at least made it out of the fight alive, When did Red come back?, and takes a moment to catch her breath while Brin tends to the worst of their wounds before responding to Naya or the priestess. "She teleported out, but I do not believe she went far. She used a wand, they cannot store spells powerful enough to move more than a hundred or so meters, so I think Brin is right, we should hurry," explains the the bottomless tiefling, not bothering to cover herself though her white skin takes on the vaguest hints of a blush, before she turns toward Red and the stranger she'd brought with her, "I am glad you are safe, but you look hurt, what happened?" Pausing she glances toward the man that Red had rescued and Vale was tending to, "Was he the only survivor?"

Spoiler

Show

Between the Channel and first 2 uses of the wand I'd be back at 40/44, which is good enough for me, if no one minds.

Regroup and rebuff before we head in to finish her off?

[jamieth]

Naya
HP 24/24

Divine energy flowing through her, Naya raises to her toes and stretches with a blissful expression on her face; that feeling, one of oain flowing away, can really be addicting... if only it didn't require to be hurt so much before.

But there's no time to enjoy it; "I can fly and search for her", the sylph suggests, "but first, we must get sure she's the only threat left... need to check the main house, and... miss Red, what about the barn? What... did you find there?"

And, waiting for the answer, she approaches the Minkaian princess and whispers, "and, miss Setsuna, are you fine now? About your pants, I mean? You don't seem like it bothers you, but - if you need..."

Spoiler

Show

Taking the third healing charge is you please; puts me at full HP.