RITS - Shades of Jigoku

[~Corvus~]

You arrive in a blasted landscape with huge boulders with sandstone-like texture and hardness but they're only shades and tints of red. You can hear the mild buzz of chittering far away. The air here is warm with a palpable humidity, but other than the massive boulderfield around you and the distant chittering, Red-Eye and Chokka are very much alone.

The Nezumi has certainly gathered some excellent items about her. Her breastplate includes pauldrons and greaves, and upon closer recognition, it looks as if it's made from a creature's skin that's subsequently been melted into solid plates--at least in various areas--until it fans into a thick scaling. Tucked into a plated area near her waist is a magical sack, and strapped to her other hip is a backwards-facing quiver with three wicked-looking javelins. She has a basic protective pot helmet, nothing special. Chokka changes her pants for the magical trousers quickly, then re-fastens the breastplate-guards (with help from Red-Eye of course).

Aren't you going to put yours on?

[Tjallen]

Nodding and quickly putting the pants on beneath his robe, Red-Eye speaks in what is supposed to be soothing, but ends up more strained due to the danger posed by being in a very hostile environment: "Is good of you to come with me on this hunt Chokka, we need to find-catch two spawn and kill-steal a tentacle. You have questions, yes-yes? I shall answer, quick-fast, before fading to scout. Is going to be rewarding. Shame can't use poison like against Wani, going to be extra careful, demons may be near."

[~Corvus~]

Chokka laughs and says with a hint of scorn, "I suspected so. You may have these; they will work against all manner of Oni. She gives him the Gloves of Ravaging, and explains their purpose (which is rather simple): They convert poisons to a "blessed" nature that is anathemic to Oni (demons), who would normally be immune.

That done, she looks around and kicks a boulder. A bit crumbles away. She follows the dirt and, using her spear, vault onto a crevice in a boulder, then completes her movement in a short series of jumps.

[Tjallen]

Putting on the gloves, Red-Eye fades from view and follows the Nezumi, looking around for any demons or bodies of liquid where a squid-thing would be found.

Spoiler

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Spot (1d20+14)[16]

[~Corvus~]

The view above the large boulder grants a 30 foot vantage point. From here, you and Chokka can see a twisting river--it looks grey and translucent at best--but it is perhaps a mile away to the Northwest. You can see mountains to the South and East of you. Otherwise, the area around you is an enormous boulderfield of soft, red sand of many hues.

[Tjallen]

Content to observe the prospective follower for a while, Red-Eye simply follows Chokka. Watching and waiting for her to either give a sign that she wants to talk or for her to approach something as if for a fight.

[~Corvus~]

The going is quiet as Chokka heads in a spiral, making sure to draw x-marks on some boulders with the butt of her spear; the sand is resistant but it crumbles and gives way to persistent scoring.

You spot winged wasp-like creatures as big as bears flying in random-seeming orbits further out, but they ignore you as you make your way to an enormous battlefield below you. Creatures very much like fusions of scorpions, ants, and spiders battle amongst each other. Their colors of grey, black, brown and reddish brown all mix, and it's impossible to tell what exactly they fight over. The battlefield is enormous, likely several miles across, and extra troops appear from many holes in the ground.


As you watch the battle below you, it becomes apparent you are standing on a plateau, and the ground all around you blends in so well it's impossible to tell so until you had approached its edge. Chokka turns to Red-Eye and asks blandly, "How do you think we should get down? I can throw you and see if you land on an insect. It's only a hundred foot fall. What do you say?"

[Tjallen]

As Chokka halts to watch the battle, Red-Eye quietly appears beside her, invisibility fading away.
"I-I can jump or climb, could use rope to get you down, fighting bugs is dumb, if want fight, must isolate."

[~Corvus~]

Chokka considers his proposition for a moment. "We need to find spawn right? Don't ants keep their eggs near the queen? ....I don't suppose you have a way of making me invisible too, do you? We may want to avoid detection as long as possible."

[Tjallen]

"We need to find-capture Elokid spawn, do not know what they are, so may need to find-capture else to find what they are. Can make you invisible, will not break in combat, but only very short while and is very limited in time and don't have many potions."

[~Corvus~]

"Fine, fine. Give me a few moments to meditate; I must ensure that I, too, can get down from here with a minimum of harm." The next minute she looks down at the battlefield, and when a creature draws near, she unleashes her best attempt at incomprehensible screeches and hisses.

Spoiler: Rolls & notes

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"Wild Empathy" @ -5: (1d20+4)[16] vs. DC 15
Edit: Chokka will enter "Assassin's Stance" granting +2d6 Sneak Attack
Chokka will charge the creature using "Searing Charge," which grants fly speed=base land movement; thus, she can "fly" 120 feet this round.

Edit: Success! You may control Chokka until the end of this (short) combat encounter.

NB: Chokka re-shifted some maneuvers to better-suit her here. She may expend un-readied maneuvers to fuel her special Shadow-hand attack!!

The creature looks a little baffled that it's receiving communication from the plateau and it approaches with its own hisses and clicks. The creature looks like a warrior, with a long oval front section with eight legs efficiently placed and its back 4 legs seem a bit larger than the front ones. It then has a bulbous and wickedly-spiked abdomen with two vicious & large claws similar to a crab that extend forward just beyond the front of its own body. It approaches, and Chokka launches herself from her perch, downwards to attack the creature with the viciousness she's shown before.

[Tjallen]

As his companion meditates, Red-Eye takes the time to poison his arrows with the newly delivered, and much more potent, arsenal.
While Chokka speaks gibberish to the insect, he silently fades into the shadows and observes her actions.

Surprised at the sudden flying and flames Red-Eye lets loose a flurry of poisoned arrows, some trailing ice-spikes, at the thing. Determined not to lose his new subordinate quite yet, he keeps an eye out for other demons moving towards them.

Spoiler: Rolls!

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Attacks, using +1 Merciful Holy Arrows:
For each arrow that miss, the following arrows have a +4 to hit.

(1d20+14)[21] for (1d10)[9]+ 10 + (3d6)[6] + (12 if flat-footed, and dc 19 to avoid being entangled) + Bonespear - DC 32 Fort or take (2d4)[4] Str + (2d6)[6] Dex from poison, if hit dc 21 or be silenced also making it impossible to use SLAs, psionics and telepathy.

(1d20+14)[30] for (1d10)[4]+ 10 + (3d6)[4] + (12 if flat-footed, and dc 19 to avoid being entangled) + Bonespear - DC 32 Fort or take (2d4)[4] Str + (2d6)[6] Dex from poison.

/w ray of frost (1d20+9)[18] for (1d10)[2]+ 10 + (3d6)[5] + (1d3)[1] cold SR check (1d20+7)[8] + 2 for each arrow that hit before + (12 damage if flat-footed, and dc 19 to avoid being entangled) + Bonespear - DC 32 Fort or take (2d4)[5] Str + (2d6)[7] Dex from poison.

/w ray of frost (1d20+6)[15] for (1d10)[8]+ 10 + (3d6)[11] + (1d3)[1] cold (1d20+7)[17] + 2 for each arrow that hit before + (12 damage if flat-footed, and dc 19 to avoid being entangled) + Bonespear - DC 32 Fort or take (2d4)[3] Str + (2d6)[11] Dex from poison.

Spot Check: (1d20+16)[17]

[~Corvus~]

Red-eye sees few other insects around: there are two others battling each other about a hundred feet away, on lower ground.

The unsuspecting insect takes the first three arrow hits, but manages to deflect the fourth. It seems stymied by the unusual nature of the arrows that make its movement more uncomfortable, and its squirking-sounds confirm that it hasn't been silenced. Still, its wicked arms fall to its side and it requires significant scrabbling of its legs before it moves from its spot to put distance between itself and its attackers. After several moments of agitation, it finally fizzes out some sort of request to the other similar-looking creatures nearby. They temporarily cease their fight in order to look at their fellow insect, weak and nearly-incapable of moving. They begin their approach, and it looks like in a few rounds they will be upon you.

[Tjallen]

Peering over the edge of the outcropping he hides on as he rearranges his arrows somewhat, Red-Eye fires four arrows at the leftmost approaching enemy, before shouting at his subordinate
"Chokka, kill-kill, more coming."

At the order Chokka follows the wounded insect and brings down her weapon in a concert of shadows and flames.

Spoiler: Actions!

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Red-Eye:
Swift action: Swap merciful for Outsider, Chaotic-bane. (Awesome arrows) Resulting in +1 Holy Outsider, Chaotic Bane arrows Poisoned with daylight brew. The rolls assume they are affected by both.
For each arrow that misses the following arrows gets +4 to hit.

Quickened Arrow (Ray of Frost): To hit (1d20+8)[15] for (1d10+12)[22] + (4d6)[16] damage + (1d3)[2] Cold damage, DC 32 fort or take (2d6)[4] Con and (1d6)[2] Str from poison.

Arrow 1: To hit (1d20+16)[28] for (1d10+12)[21] + (4d6)[19] damage, DC 32 fort or take (2d6)[3] Con and (1d6)[4] Str from poison.

Arrow 2 (Ray of Frost): To hit (1d20+16)[25] for (1d10+12)[21] + (4d6)[10] damage + (1d3)[1] Cold damage, DC 32 fort or take (2d6)[12] Con and (1d6)[4] Str from poison.

Arrow 3: To hit (1d20+11)[18] for (1d10+12)[20] + (4d6)[18] damage, DC 32 fort or take (2d6)[5] Con and (1d6)[6] Str from poison.


Chokka
Moving to the insect, sacrificing Drain Vitality and using Burning blade.
(1d20+13)[27] for (1d10+19)[25] + (4d6)[7] fire.

[~Corvus~]

The assault is more than enough to take down one of the approaching insects. The one before Chokka slumps over as she stabs it before it can escape, and Chokka ducks behind the insect and crouches down behind its hulking mass. She hisses up to Red-Eye, in Nezumi, "Retreat - left side!" As the last insect clamors on to the ridge where its other bretheren is fallen, Chokka slips away around the body, avoiding its attention for the time being.

[Tjallen]

Not really understanding why they're retreating, Red-Eye jumps further away from the insect, firing off two arrows as he moves further to the left. As he drops down in hiding behind a rock outcropping he wonders at the purpose of hiding from the insects.

Chokka wisely recharges her maneuvers as she takes cover behind the fallen insect.

Spoiler: Actions

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Red-Eye
Full-round action, move 100ft to another hiding spot, shoot bow as part of the action. No penalty to hide because of Sudden Shadow.
Arrow 1, daylight brew: (1d20+18)[21] for (1d10+12)[13] + (4d6)[11] +12 if flat-footed, dc 19 to avoid entangle, DC 32 fort or take (2d6)[5] con and (1d6)[5] Str. +cha+2 cause ravages.
Attack quickened, daylight brew: (1d20+10)[26] for (1d10+12)[17] + (4d6)[14] +12 if flat-footed, dc 19 to avoid entangle, DC 32 fort or take (2d6)[4] con and (1d6)[5] Str. +cha+2 cause ravages.
Hide Check (1d20+18)[38]

Chokka
Hide and recover/change maneuvers.
Hide check (1d20+17)[21]

[~Corvus~]

Chokka comes up from her meditation and writes in the dark-red sand. What she scrapes becomes a lighter color, and easy to read. She squeaks up to the plateau ridge--it seems to carry upwards, but not around the ridge--to get Red-Eye's attention.

Spoiler: In Nezumi

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Soldier call-ask
Workers carry bodies
Sneak-follow to hive

He does not hear the other warrior, who, although hit by arrows, seems to not worry about its ailments for the time being.

[Tjallen]

Annoyed at the Nezumi's lack of skill at explanations, Red-Eye turns invisible and makes his way down to her in quick jumps, before scratching a single question in Nezumi next to her words:

Spoiler: In Nezumi

Show

Kill or follow soldier?
Why want go to hive?

[~Corvus~]

She whispers to him as she covers up their written dialogue: We are here to get spawn, yes? Ants have hives. We follow the workers; they will take us to the hive, where we can sneak about and find the spawn!

[Tjallen]

Scratching another message into the sand Red-Eye raises an invisible eyebrow.

Spoiler: In Nezumi

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Are these Elokid?
Spawn going to be very defended

[~Corvus~]

The Clan Chief would not Realm-hop us unwisely. Jigoku is a human concept; we just know it as the Big-Big-Evil-Evil-Dream. If we are in the wrong place, here, we're in serious trouble. We have to trust the Chief.

The buzzing near you increases to a frantic pitch; It sounds like a saw blade being applied to hard stone. It soon dies down to an occasional chittering. Chokka looks behind her, her eyes wide. "It found us! She jumps forward to engage it before Red-Eye.

The last creature, up close, has a seven-legged torso and instead of two huge claws, it has one huge claw and a stinger that oozes acid that sears the air around it; the extra leg is on the side with the stinger. It lurks slowly around you, and you can see the two arrows stuck into its central area cause it to swing its stinger clumsily at Chokka

Spoiler: Actions

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attack: (1d20+7)[20]
damage: (6d8)[29] acid & DC 34 29 Fort save or Nauseated for (2d4)[7] rounds

attack: (1d20+7)[9]
damage: (6d8)[27] acid & DC 34 29 Fort save or Nauseated for (2d4)[4] rounds

attack: (1d20+7)[27]
damage: (6d8)[25] acid (no crit) & DC 34 29 Fort save or Nauseated for (2d4)[3] rounds

Chokka avoids the first two attacks, but it still jabs a stinger that hits her in the chest. She falls against the wall, backpedals, and slumps as she feels her chest. She fumbles with the clasps on her chest-plate, letting some of the acid drip to the ground, and tries breathing but begins to retch.

"D-don't get hi-iiit!"

[Tjallen]

Red-Eye opens his mouth to remark that the chief is untrustworthy, but is rudely interrupted by the insect appearing and skewering his subordinate.
Not letting this interruption get in the way of his smearing of the 'chief' or lethal retaliation for this grave rudeness, Red-Eye carefully moves backwards and fires several arrows at the insect bearing down upon Chokka.
"No tentacles here either, chief is unwilling to deal with this place, is why we hunt.", but unfortunately the recipient of the words is too busy emptying her stomach unto the ground.

Spoiler: Actions!

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Red-Eye:
5' step back.

+1 holy outsider, chaotic bane, w/ Bonespear
For each miss every following arrow gets +4
Arrow 1: (1d20+16)[20] for (1d10+12)[17] + (4d6)[18] + 12 (attacking from invisible) + ref dc 19 or be entangled and DC 34 fort or take (2d4)[8] Str + (2d6)[5] Dex
Arrow 2, maximized, Ray of Frost: (1d20+10)[20] for 22 + 24, DC 34 fort or take 8 Str + 12 Dex
Arrow 3: (1d20+11)[12] for (1d10+12)[15] + (4d6)[16], DC 34 fort or take (2d4)[6] Str + (2d6)[11] Dex
Arrow, quickened, Ray of Frost: (1d20+8)[16] for (1d10+12)[14] + (4d6)[10] + (1d3)[1] Cold, DC 34 fort or take (2d4)[4] Str + (2d6)[7] Dex

Chokka:
Throw up, don't do anything to draw AoO

[~Corvus~]

The insect-soldier considers its options, and since it can't see its attacker at first, and takes the first and third hits, it considers Chokka. The flaws of its pincer-arm warp and form a toothed maw with a fist-wide razor tube in the middle. It reaches out to Chokka, who recoils from it, abandoning any pretense of avoiding its attacks. In its poisoned state, however, the critter remains somewhat distracted from its decided task.

Spoiler: Actions

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"inoculation arm" takes a move-action to warp its arm and a Std. to attack

Chokka withdraws 50' (provoking AoOs).

Creature's AoOs (1d20+10)[21]
(On hit, grapple @ +8) (1d20+18)[32]

Chokka can't oppose rolls while sickened

She barely manages to evade its arm, and scrabbling on all fours, she moves away from it, rather unwilling to be touched by its nasty arm.

[Tjallen]

Offended that the thing is still standing, Red-Eye sends another volley of arrows into the towering beast at almost point blank range, convinced that it will be dead at the end.
"Fall-die insect-meats!"

Spoiler: Actions.

Show

+1 Holy Outsider, Chaotic-bane with daylight brew
If an arrow misses +4 to hit for every following arrow:

Quickened Arrow, Ray of Frost - (1d20+8)[21] for (1d10+12)[13] + (4d6)[12] +(1d3)[3] Cold, DC 32 Fort or take (2d6)[7] Con and (1d6)[2] Str
Arrow 1 - (1d20+16)[34] for (1d10+12)[20] + (4d6)[12], DC 32 Fort or take (2d6)[2] Con and (1d6)[3] Str
Arrow 2 - (1d20+16)[32] for (1d10+12)[21] + (4d6)[16], DC 32 Fort or take (2d6)[7] Con and (1d6)[3] Str
Arrow 3, Maximized Ray of frost - (1d20+5)[11] for 22 + 24 + 3 Cold, DC 32 Fort or take 12 Con and 6 Str

[~Corvus~]

All 3 arrows strike true and the insect goes down. Chokka looks up and points above her. "See? Those are the workers, come to harvest!!"

To the edge of Red-Eye's vision, he sees nine flying insects gradually getting closer to where he downed the first group of insects. They have half a minute, likely, to make it there, and then his best guess after that.

[Tjallen]

Deciding that potent venom always has a place in his arsenal Red-Eye cuts off the stinger and applies some of the acid to one of his swords, hopeful that it won't melt, before also cutting off the inoculation arm. Wrapping the stinger in some wax paper from his adventure in town looting, he stows both of the two bundles away. Making sure nothing is left to indicate what killed the insects, Red-Eye watches his arrows fade away with satisfaction.

Finding that space has run low he hands Chokka half a dozen potions: "Invisibilty, lasts almost ten minutes, not broken by attacking, we follow drones, quiet-unseen."

Spoiler: Action

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Hands 6 potions of greater invis to Chokka, then following the plan of following the insects!

Red-Eye will be invisible but within 30 ft of Chokka to apply Leader of the Pack.
Hide:
Red-Eye: (1d20+21)[23] +20 for invisibility probably. Shuts down see invis/true seeing within 50 ft, shows up as a rat or other tiny vermin/animal whichever is less suspicious to non-visual detection, + darkstalker
Chokka: (1d20+24)[40]

[~Corvus~]

Chokka nods, quaffing a single potion. Soon, the slain creatures borne by the wasps leave the ground, and the flying insects speed towards the mountains to the East. Following them proves a significant trek through uneven ground, and you make very poor time compared to the flying workers, who are very fast, even compared to your speeds. As they pass you by, there's little to disturb you other than small rivulets and ponds, quiet and unsassuming, as you travel. After about five minutes' travel, the mountain to which the workers had flown expands to be a little closer. It's an easy guess, then, that the mountain is roughly twenty fives minutes' more hustle from where you are.

"This land hides its treasures under the sand. Should we stop at a pond on the way there and see what we can find?

[Tjallen]

Annoyed by the slow pace set due to Chokka not being able to simply ignore the terrain, Red-Eye's eyes light up at the thought of treasure and the annoyance is quickly forgotten.
"You-you look-see, I-I keep watch-spot, find much-many treasure, yes-yes."
Without waiting for an answer, the ratling fades from view once more and starts keeping watch, spending more time 'making sure' that Chokka doesn't hide some of the treasure.

Spoiler: Roll!

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Spot check for danger, -4 because he is more focused on not being cheated than actually keeping guard.
(1d20+12)[26]

Chokka search, perhaps?
(1d20+14)[29]

[~Corvus~]

Red-Eye stands guard over Chokka as she plumbs the depths of a pond. She grumbles about doing inglorious grunt work, and is gone for just over a minute. Red-eye sees bubbles rise to the surface soon he hears her emerge.

"It's a huge underwater cavern! There's crystal and gold everywhere among the walls, but there are also creatures that flicker just beyond my ability to see them. Are these the things we need to catch?

[Tjallen]

Stepping a bit back to avoid getting wet, Red-Eye perks up at the chance of both completing an objective AND getting some crystals: "If they have tentacle-things we take, how many, how not see-watch, invisible or ethereal, can hit both, if lure out can use bombs, improved-better now, teeth and poison will make short work."