Reign of Winter: The Snows of Summer IC

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin walked glumly and silently, content to let the others lead and giving a slight bit of distance to the group as he went along, and with his sling, already fully loaded, gripped tightly in his hand. It was clear that he wasn't in the mood to let the next thing that came along prove its hostility.

Shortly before noon, he stopped briefly to renew his protective magics, shivering reflexively even though he was well insulated from the cold.

Spoiler: OOC

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Just waiting for the results of die rolls in the discord chat

[The_Shaman]

It takes a while, but you eventually reach a frozen creek. Curiously, on the bank on your side there is a small clearing with a roughly made man-sized snowman, a series of twigs and stones giving the impression that someone has tried to approximate a uniform. In front of it there is a crudely made sign, with a "Tresspssers Turn Baack" scrawled across in charcoal, that leans on the snowman.

[PersonMan]

Kira's mood improves as the group heads back into the cold zone, and she's smiling, Lyubimaya Sestra loaded in her hands, when they come across the snowman and sign. She stops, raising an eyebrow at the sight before readying her firearm, looking into the trees. "Could be a trap," she says. "We should keep our distance. Check the ground for ropes and such."

[Stelio Kontos]

"Right" said Dorrin with a hint of exasperation as he grabbed the longest tree branch he could find. "Let's take our time with this. Keep an eye out for moving things too. I've had rather enough of funerals for one trip."

With painstaking care, he began probing the ground in a spiral pattern while keeping a close eye on the surroundings.

Spoiler: OOC

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I'll try to take 20 if possible on perception, which is a grand total of 25.

[Therumancer]

Suspecting things might be about to get dangerous Gretel readies her axe. "How nice of them to leave a warning sign here for us!" she quips.

[Aldurin]

Trallus keeps his crossbow ready in one hand as he trudges through the snow behind the others. The fights of the past couple days are beginning to show their work on eroding his inexperience, as he now both expects trouble and his need to directly address it.

[Frosty]

Anastasiya: HP 8/8

Anastasiya, really not wanting to be surprised this time, helps out Dorrin with looking for suspicious things, trying to point out anything he might as missed. "I'm not sure the fey would bother with this. Must be someone or something else here. Maybe they found treasure and don't want to share it."

Spoiler: ooc

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Taking 10 in order to AID ANOTHER on Perception check, giving Dorrin a +2 on his attempt.

[The_Shaman]

Dorrin and Anastasiya start slowly circling the curious snowman, taking seemingly ages to do so, as the rest of you find a way to pass the time. You'd swear this is a perfectly normal - if ugly and bristling with fresh snow - snowman, but then, as you get within four yards or so, the snowman animates, thumping the sign with one clubby arm. "Can't you sods read? Says turn back! Go! Get lost!" before once agains falling silent and still, now with a distinctly sullen expression.

However, while the sight is indeed distracting, Dorrin gets the notion that the sprinkled snowflakes from the impact seem to flicker just so as they pass away from the snowman. You'd think that there is... something... in the ground and air around the snowman, something that seems to set the snowflakes abuzz and vibrates imperceptibly.

[Stelio Kontos]

"That's ... quite odd actually" Dorrin said, taking a couple of steps back from the snowman so as not to be in the radius of whatever was causing the effect. "The snowflakes are moving oddly. And that accent on the voice -- I can't place it exactly, but it's definitely from the northlands somewhere -- certainly not anywhere around here."

"Some kind of magical effect, most likely" he said, briefly intoning a few words and focusing on the area of the snowman.

"If anyone has some rope, we could take a rock or a grappling hook or something and give Mr. Snowman a shot to the side of the head."

[Frosty]

Ana sighs. "Normally I'd just melt this snowman with my ice, but I don't want to waste spells needlessly. Honestly, let's move far away and start shooting it with arrows and throwing rocks at it. I do have rope, but no grappling hook."

She doe spick up a rather large rock, however, if anyone wants to try that.

[The_Shaman]

The first throw just plops next to the snowman's body, but the second one hits it between the "shoulders". The snow figures's face appears to contort slightly before a cacophony like a dozen screams explodes from it, blasting its head in lumps of snow the size of a child's fist.

Spoiler: Spoiler

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Perception checks, please

[Stelio Kontos]

(Dorrin, before the snowman gets thonked) "Definitely magical. Some illusion, some evocation. Could be dangerous, let's stay back a bit. Let's give it a good whack from back here."

[The_Shaman]

The thunderclap-like noise leaves your ears buzzing and some of you barely avoid the snowballs flying your way (others... do not). The ford appears frozen solid, although it would be a good idea to be careful when crossing it.

Spoiler

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Choose your position on the map provided below, you can place your characters in the red zone. The map is in the discord channel.

[The_Shaman]

Suddenly, the river ice sprouts two torsos, roughly the size of a teen boy's, which start gliding towards the party. Only Kira spots them in time - the rest of you only notice them when they are at your feet and rear up to strike, showing strange, lizard-like tails of ice under their frozen bodies.

Spoiler: Actions:

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Surprise round:
Kira has a standard or move action
IE 1 charges to J4 and tries to hit Stellio:
Attack:(1d20+6)[13], if successful Damage:[roll]1d4+2+1d3[/roll]+DC 12 fort save
IE 2 moves to L8
The rest of the party then takes round 1

[PersonMan]

Kira shouts and opens fire at the nearest ice creature.

Spoiler: Surprise Round + Round 1

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Firing at the nearest baddie in the surprise round.

A: (1d20+5)[7]
D: (1d12)[2]

Then in round one, reload.

[Frosty]

Anastasiya: HP 8/8

The sorceress really wants to catch both ice...things...with her fire, but unfortunately she can't. Instead, she decides on shooting the ice monster not currently engaged in melee combat with her allies. "EAT CROSSBOW BOLT!" She swings her light crossbow to the south, and fires! The quick movement causing her magnificent teats to jiggle. Today, she sports a purple robe that barely goes to her pert butt, and exposes enough cleavage to cause a wardrobe malfunction with each step. She is exposed more often than not. Maybe it'll be a better distraction than her useless crossbow skills of yesterday.

Spoiler: ooc

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Attack IE2 with a light crossbow: (1d20+2)[14]
Damage: (1d8)[4]

[Therumancer]

OOC-> Hopefully I'm not forgetting anything

Gretel will move up and try and whack one of these things with her axe

Spoiler: rolls and stuff

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Attack:
(1d20+5)[20]

Damage:

(1d12+4)[13]

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin, cursing under his breath at being prepared for anything EXCEPT something popping up right in front of his face... again... backed away from the threat, seeking a safe spot from which to sling.

Spoiler: OOC

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Withdraw to O2.

If for some reason ice critter #1 dies before it's my turn, I'd actually prefer to sling-shot I2 -- feel free to roll for me if this is possible.

[Aldurin]

Trallus waits a moment to see which of the creatures still stand after the initial barrage of attacks, then tries to pin down the least hurt one with shadows.

Spoiler

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Delaying until after the rest of the party acts, casting Shadow Trap on whichever enemy still stands and has been attacked the least.

On a failed will save (DC 15), the target becomes entangled for 2 rounds, only able to move 5 feet away from where it was when the spell started. It can attempt another will save using a full-round action to try to end it early.

[The_Shaman]

One of the ice beasts is slow enough that Gretel is ready by the time it comes, and the huntress' blow strikes two, shattering the frozen thing into several large, formless and apparently inanimate chunks. The other seems to be bound by thick strands of shadow, but lurches towards her, attempting to strike her down with a relatively slow, but powerful, slam.

Spoiler: Actions

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I1 is down, I2 moves 5feet to be adjacent to Gretel and attacks
Attack: (1d20+2)[10]
Damage:(1d4+2)[4]+(1d3)[2]cold, DC 12 Fort save if she takes damage

[PersonMan]

Kira fires again, aiming for the closest of the creatures.

Spoiler: Actions

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Just shooting. If one is within 15-20 feet of her, she'll move back.

A: (1d20+5)[9]
D: (1d12)[3]

[Stelio Kontos]

Safely away from the worst of the danger, Dorrin let his sling bullet fly before reloading.

Spoiler: OOC

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attack (1d20+4)[14], damage (1d3+1)[3]. Not using any luck for now. Doesn't count any penalties for cover/firing into melee/etc.

[Frosty]

Anastasiya: HP 8/8

The busty Anastasiya tries to get a better angle to fire upon the enemy, but her allies do not make it easy! She reloads and fires another bolt.

Spoiler: ooc

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Reload.
Attack (firing into melee) IE2 with a light crossbow: (1d20-2)[0]
Damage: (1d8)[5]

[Therumancer]

Gretel approaches the remaining monster and attempts to take it down with her axe.

Spoiler: attack!

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Hit: (1d20+5)[23]

Damage: (1d12+4)[9]

[The_Shaman]

The icy thing endures most of the blows coming its way without giving them any attention, but Gretel's heavy axe manages to deliver a good blow, as more from its weight and the strength behind it than from finding any good purchase. The creature howls with a class like ice being broken, then hits back.

Spoiler

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Attack roll: (1d20+3)[21]
Damage: (1d4+1)[4]+(1d3)[3]

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin unleashed another rock, then reloaded his sling in preparation for more of the same.

Spoiler: ooc

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attack (1d20+4)[23], damage (1d3+1)[2]

[PersonMan]

Kira reloads.

Spoiler: Actions

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Kira reloads.

[The_Shaman]

The ice creature ignores everyone else in its grudge towards the huntress. To its own peril, as it seems, as eventually, a lucky stone by Dorrin finds a weak spot, and just as the creature leans to strike again, it collapses into a torrent of lifeless ice.

[Stelio Kontos]

"I'VE HAD IT! WHY DOES EVERY DAMNED THING IN THIS FOREST WANT TO KILL US?" Dorrin raged, giving the snow near one of the ice corpses a swift kick to relieve a bit of stress. That seemed to do the trick.

"Y'okay there Gretel? We can heal you up, Trallus or me, if you like?"

[Frosty]

Anastasiya sighs. "I am fine. If you need healing, I can provide some as well, but I think I shall be more judicious in my arcane today. Let's search the bodies and then be on our way."

The sorceress bends over to examine the now lifeless ice, wondering if there's any clues. Were these creatures sent after them? Or were just mindless predators?