Ruins of Azlant, Part I: A Bountiful Venture [PF] (IC)

[jamieth]

Tightly grasping the wand, Rovane carefully backs down, only too glad for a chance to resolve that without bloodshed... especially since the crystallyne creatures lacked blood in principle, meaning the only blood to be shed would belong to her and her companions.

[Stelio Kontos]

The creature that had swatted at Liyinva stands its ground allowing your retreat, as an unearthly and unidentifiable shriek emits from the cavern ceiling. The other creature seems to whirl about trying to locate its target, but does not pursue you. For the moment, at least, you are safe and alone in the main cavern where you met the choker younglings.

[jamieth]

"Well... safe for now", Rovena states. "I really don't think these creatures are of any danger to the village... nor export of luxury items is something we should be concerned with now. I mean, later, sure - but as of now, anything the colony might need and can't produce... we'll have to wait for several months even if we do have funds. Several months, in the best case. Gems - unless enchanted, I suppose - aren't worth anything here..."

[Darvin]

Tirsen opens her palms to look at the gems she pocketed, "hopefully there aren't more of them the next time we come through. The colony will need a suitable trade good to purchase needed supplies, even if that's coming in a few months, and these would be ideal," Tirsen stows away the gems in a more permanent fashion then turns to the others, "so, should we head back to report on what we've found, or try to explore deeper and avoid those Crysmals,"

[pi4t]

Liyinva moves around the corner away from the...Crysmals?...before turning to Tirsen. "Are you hurt? Also, since you have taken some out of the cave anyway, might I take a look at one of those gems? I am curious about why the creatures value them so much. Rovena, was your statement about reproduction a guess, or are you familiar with them?"

[Darvin]

"Here you go," Tirsen hands over the gems, "They didn't manage to tag me, as luck would have it. Don't know if my spell did anything to them, but they certainly didn't seem particularly on point with their attacks,"

[jamieth]

"I read about similar creatures... Crysmals, they are called. And they, at least, do reproduce via gems. Now, it is of course possible that these creatures are different and only look similar, but... given the way they actted. Now..." Rovena turns towards Tirsen, "Don't get me wrong, I like gems myself - a wonderful material for enchantment, no other material has such a magical capacitance in such a small volume... apart from some necromantic techniques, of course, but I'm not considering these..."

[Stelio Kontos]

Moments after you make your retreat to the main cavern, a second shriek, almost precisely like the first, rings out in the cavern. As it does, a small rockfall suddenly... appears, as if out of nowhere, sealing the entrance to the cavern you were just in. You are free to return whence you came, but it would take quite a bit of digging to tunnel through those new rocks. There is, of course, the matter of the chokers you came to find in the first place.

Spoiler: OOC

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Just a little something to get us re-rolling again.

[Darvin]

"Ominous," Tirsen looks at the collapsed rocks, then turns around in the direction of the shriek, "I suppose mother just found what we did. I think we need to finish this hunt, before she goes after the village,"

[jamieth]

"I... think it's the opposite", Rovena shakes her head, pointing at the newly-appeared cave-in. "We're not wanted here... they want to be left alone. I see no reason to insist... we are here after chokers, after all; and I can hardly see these two kinds - chokers and crysmals, that is - coexisting peacefully, so..."

[pi4t]

"It does not look like the rest of the roof will collapse in on us at present. We should keep moving quietly, and deal with the chokers as quickly as we can." There is a note of hesitancy in Liyinva's voice, and she peers uncertainly at the ceiling as she speaks.

[Darvin]

Tirsen nods, "then I'll lead the way. I'll alert you if I spy the chokers," she steps forward into the murky darkness that thwarted the sight of her compatriots, and cautiously made headway with her rapier drawn.

[Stelio Kontos]

The air grows progressively mustier and danker as the party proceeds through the darkness. After a pair of twists and turns and false openings, Tirsen spots what appears to be an unoccupied cavern ahead. Proceeding through the cavern opening, both Rovena and Liyinva (and Midnight too) hear a small bead of water drop from above just behind Tirsen's back; this draws their attention to the sound of pair of chokers poised directly above your heads on a rocky ledge just above the doorway, poised to leap down upon their prey.

Spoiler: OOC

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Thanks to some good spotting (and some crap stealth rolls by the chokers), they've managed to not completely surprise you despite all the advantages.

Unfortunately, they do beat the party's group initiative roll, so will go first.

One of the chokers drops down on Tirsen with a snarl, slamming into her head and wrapping its long, whippy arms around the tiefling's neck and trying to squeeze for dear life, but the creature slips off in the damp air. The other lands next to Rovena, lashing out with a tentacle and smashing her shoulder with similar, slippery results.

Spoiler: OOC

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Both chokers drop down and hit, dealing 7 damage each to Tirsen and Rovena -- adrenaline obviously surging through them after the murder of their children that they actually don't give a crap about.

One is next to Tirsen, one is next to Rovena, and Liyinva and Midnight are a 5 foot step away from either.

[Darvin]

Tirsen takes a step back, looks for a better angle for her spell, and when she doesn't find one she releases it against the target directly in front of her.

Spoiler: OOC

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Color Spray against the Choker directly in front of her. DC 15 negates.

[jamieth]

Rovena HP 6/13 AC 17

It hurt! It really hurt! Rovena gritted her teeth, tring her hardest to stay composed. It hurt, yes, but nothing Lyiynva couldn't deal with... after the chokers are dealt with, that is. From the corner of her eye, Rovena saw Tirsen unleashing the cwirl of colors, and mentally complimented him... it was a good choice. Unfortuntely, her own magic pattern was unraveled already... fortunately, her training was sufficient to quickly improvise another. Not with ease, of course, but just barely possible... Spoiler: OOC Show 5-foot step away from the choker, and spontaneously cast Color Spray via bonded object power. DC 15.

[pi4t]

Liyinva and Midnight leap forward in an almost synchronised fashion, taking the places of the two casters. Liyinva aims a careful blow at the choker in front of Rovena, while Midnight begins to maul the one affected by Tirsen's magic.

Spoiler: OOC

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Five foot stepping to each engage one of the chokers, while hopefully positioning to stop them from getting at Rovena and Tirsen. Then full attacking, for 9 damage on Liyinva's target (the non-magicked one) and 11 on Midnight's.

[Stelio Kontos]

The creature standing before Midnight (and Tirsen) does little more than moan in pain at the blows inflicted by the lion. The other launches a pair of wild, ineffective attacks at the druid now standing before it.

Spoiler: OOC

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Well, when you roll a 1 and a 4 on attacks, not much happens. Next?

[jamieth]

Rovena HP 6/13 AC 17

Frustrated at he hastily formulated spell filing to affect the target, Rovena considers her other options. At this point, she pretty much only has evocations left, and... that might be just what is needed in this situation, in fact. Granted, Liyinva could probably deal with the choker on her own at this point, but, truth be told, Rovena wanted to harm the creature that hurt her in return... if she wasn't in pain, she would probably note that feeling and chastice herself for it.As for now, though... she only cared about not hurting the druid by accident. Luckily, there was a piece of magic that took care of that by itself... "Telum magica!" Spoiler: OOC Show Magic Missile, Intense Focus: (1d4+3)[7]

[pi4t]

Liyinva strikes in with both hands, aiming at the choker's neck. Just as she hits, Rovena's missile strikes the choker in the torso, blasting it backwards with some force. Its head snaps back against Liyinva's hands, and it collapses to the ground with its neck at an unnatural angle.

Spoiler: OOC

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Attacking for 10 damage, and adding a little creative license to the order of the attacks and the effect of a magic missile :)

[Stelio Kontos]

Both chokers fall to the ground, one under the combined assault of Rovena's magic and Liyinva's might, the other under the unrelenting assault of Midnight. There is again only silence save for the sound of your own breath. Tirsen's cursory scan of the room through the darkness reveals nothing else threatening.

[Darvin]

[Summarizing what we decided on OOC]

The adventurers collects up the treasures. After identifying the wand, it is used to heal Rovena (1 charge), Tirsen (2 charges), and Liyinva (2 charges). Revitalized, they proceed forward to continue exploring the cavern.

[Stelio Kontos]

Aside from the little nook where you found the choker's stash of treasures, there is a very narrow passageway from this room leading to the south -- just wide enough for one of you to squeeze through in places. With Rovena's dancing lights leading the way, the tunnel twists and turns... and seems to be leading nowhere, though it turns vaguely in the direction of the village. Deciding not to take that for an unknown period of time, you turn back to the main room.

There is but one more way out of this room; a passage from the west wall turns quickly north, entering a chamber just a stone's throw away from the main hall. The cavern contains rounded but irregular walls; occasional small piles of rock and debris litter the floor, along with quite a few bones of various shapes and sizes...

It was just then that Liyinva happened to glance up, at the stalactites lining the ceiling in quite an aesthetic way. Except it seemed that one of them... moved... just a bit... as Rovena's lights suddenly winked out of existence, leaving the cavern in total darkness.

Spoiler: OOC

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Perception made by Liyinva... initiative won by the Creatures From The Ceiling. Darkvision still good; low light vision not so much. Rovena will know that she didn't dismiss her dancing lights... the only thing that could have created that was a more powerful darkness spell.

Tirsen quickly found herself enwrapped by a creature that seemed to drop down on her from out of nowhere; thanks to her darkvision she notes that the creature looks... almost like a cloak, with tentacles, which seem to have latched on to her as the thing tries to envelop her.

Liyinva feels a woosh of air go down between her and Midnight, and hears a bit of a "thunk" on the ground. Midnight can smell the beast, whatever it is, right next to the lion's mane.

Spoiler: OOC

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Tirsen takes 4 damage, and is grappled by the... cloak thing?

[Darvin]

Struggling against the creature enveloping her, Tirsen futilely attempts to focus her mind and blast at it, with little success.

Spoiler: OOC

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Caster level check rolled on Discord was a 9. Unless this creature has a CMB of -2, that's a failure.

[pi4t]

Midnight pounces as the lights go out, tearing at the fallen creature with both claws. Liyinva joins him a moment later, fumbling for a torch with one hand while aiming a sharp jab at the ground below where she saw the creature start falling. Fortunately it seems that they're not very mobile after they've fallen - that or Midnight's attack is holding it in place.

Spoiler: OOC

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Midnight does a full attack - two claw attacks hit (assuming it has an AC somewhere between 8 and 19), doing 3 damage each.
Liyinva makes a standard action attack (12 damage) and grabs a torch in her spare hand as a move action.
I included miss chances in my rolling, and got lucky with every attack hitting.

Total 18 damage.

[jamieth]

Rovena HP 6/13 AC 17

Rovena didn't even get properly scared; she was too busy being angry at the creatures that dared to disrupt her spell. Not that angry that she couldn't think of a response, though... trying to light the spell again would be fruitless; the order of dominance between spells was surprisingly rigid and had nothing to do with the relative power of the casters, so if whatever power these creatures held suppressed her cantrip, she had no chance of reversing that unless she used the immlumination of higher order - and Rovena never bothered to learn any since, well, their pretty much only purpose was to counteract the spells of darkness, and Rovena never really expected to have to do that. And for getting around the library at night, the lowest order sufficed. So, what she could do without seeing her target? Well, there was one spellthat didn't require aiming... the only problem with that was that it could - no, in this particular situation, would - also get Tirsen. Then again... that time they faced the vine, Tirsen proved surprisingly resistant to being burned, and while Rovena didn't know the origin of such a protection, she was going to trust in it. "Ardenti manus!" Spoiler Show Burning hands, aiming roughly at where Tirsen was before it went dark. Damage (2d4+2)[7] fire.

[Stelio Kontos]

The creature that Liyinva and Midnight mauled falls to the ground with a soft *thunk*. Rovena's blast of fire finds its target -- as Tirsen can attest, suffering a minor effect from the flames.

Tirsen finds herself still fully enveloped in the creature, and its squeeze becomes more merciless, tiny hooks -- almost like fishhooks -- dig into her skin as the creature's grip tightens. It's becoming more and more difficult to breathe, and not even darkvision helps when your eyes are smothered by the unpleasant, leathery skin...

Meanwhile, Rovena feels a whoosh of air and hears a crash of something -- most probably another of the creatures -- landing just inches in front of her face.

Spoiler: OOC

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Tirsen took 2 damage from the fire (the creature taking 7)... and another 7 damage as the creature continues to squish the very life out of her.

Rovena is missed.

Identifying creatures by sight is still impossible (except for Tirsen)... but Rovena can pinpoint the square of the one next to her, and Midnight has scent and can do the same on both.

[Darvin]

Tirsen flails with her rapier at the creature, but with her arms confined fails to get much of any progress. In desperation, she moves her left hand into a pouch next to her and withdraws a vial of alchemist's fire.

Spoiler: OOC

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Standard action to attack; rolled in Discord, got an 11 and missed.
Move action to withdraw an alchemist fire.

[pi4t]

Briefly seeing Tirsen illuminated by Rovena's magic, Liyinva reaches for her flint and steel as aims a sharp kick at the creature. Unfortunately, as the flames die down and the darkness returns, her blow goes wide and she hits only air. Midnight attempts to pounce on the choker nearest to him, but also misses.

Spoiler: OOC

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Liyinva attempts to attack Tirsen's choker. She also draws the flint and steel - I'm assuming this can be treated like drawing a weapon, since I specified I was getting it ready at the start of page 18. Technically this means that her hands are full of torch and flint and steel when the time comes to attack, but fortunately that's not a major problem for a monk. Getting a natural 3 and then failing the 50% miss chance roll are bigger impediments though, so Liyinva misses.

Midnight attempts to attack whichever choker is nearer, favouring the one on Tirsen if they're both the same distance. If it's close enough for a five foot step, he full attacks and manages a glancing blow with one claw for 2 damage. Otherwise he misses totally too.

[jamieth]

Rovena HP 6/13 AC 17

Rovena bit her lip. That was it, she was out of spells she could use without aiming... and she couldn't aim without light, at least some light. All she could do was wait... and, meanwhile, try to keep away from any suspicious sounds... Spoiler Show Total Defense

[Stelio Kontos]

Tirsen feels the creature reposition itself as it tries to engulf the tiefling... and the moment's respite lets him wriggle free. As it tries to clamp down again, it finds itself grasping only at air.

Meanwhile, the one that had plummeted to the ground near to Rovena flutters slowly back up toward the ceiling of the cavern...