[IC] Expedition into Cynosure

[Simba]

Bam

As Magiz attacks the enemy before them, Bam turns around and quickly makes his way to the now open door, where the screeching came from. When he comes close enough to attack, he does not hesitate and swings his mighty hammer in a powerful arc.

Spoiler: conditions and rolls

Show

Bam wants to attack the enemy who was hiding behind the door and moves to engage him.
If he manages to get close enough, he attacks, otherwise he moves to attack next round.

Stance: Martial Spirit
Attack: (1d20+10)[30]
damage: (3d6+8)[18]

[Kid Dynamo]

Magiz moves through the rubble, repositioning himself to the east, then swings his glaive at the enemy. Electricity crackles and sizzles in the air as the glaive makes contact. The attack is devastating and the humanoid is almost split in two by the force of the blow. Its corpse falls to the ground and lays motionless.

Shanoa finishes her incantation, and the remaining two enemies become enveloped in black shadows. The creature in the eastern portion of the room is enveloped, and starts flailing in panic. The other lets out a roar, and the shadows seem to disperse from it.

The creature still enveloped in shadows begin advancing to the north, around the low walls, and then to the west toward Tahazu. It lunges forward, bitting at her with teeth like fangs, but misses.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Magiz attacks the creature south of him and kills it.

Shanoa's spell affects the creature to the east, but fails to work on the one standing in the doorway.

The creature to the east moves toward Tahazu, and tries to bite her, but misses.

It is now Tahazu's turn to act, we are still in round 1 of combat.


Initiative order:

1. Magiz
2. Shanoa
3. Pair of figures in the rubble
4. we are here-> Tahazu
5. Door screecher
6. Bam

Again, if you would like to post your action early so combat goes faster, I will attempt to reconcile it as much as possible with everything that happens.

The blue circle with the X is the creature Magiz killed. The blue circle near Tahazu is currently affected by Net of Shadows

Spoiler: Map

Show

[Toliudar]

Magiz, round 2

Spoiler: ooc

Show

I'm just posting this now so that you can move a little further once we've got Yas' action.

Peering uncertainly into the new gloom of the room, Magiz picks his way through the rubble back towards Shanoa and Tahazu. He is slightly hesitant as he simply slashes through the middle of the clump of darkness where the living dead thing is standing.

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Move action - move 10' north.

Standard action, attack the critter that tried to bite Tahazu. Of course, if Tahazu takes out her opponent and Bam doesn't, Magiz will instead move straight north as a double move to guard Shanoa, and prepare to try to reach the screecher next round.
Attack: (1d20+12)[14]
Slashing Damage: (1d10+10)[13]
Acid Damage: (1d6)[5]
Concealment (roll of 1-20 indicates a miss); (1d100)[54]

[Yas392]

Tahazu clicks her tongue as Shanoa envelops two of the remaining undead in nets of shadow and one of the closes in on her to try to nick of her flesh with its fangs. She raises her scroll hand to her mouth. Using her teeth to hold the strings that binds the scroll, she withdraws from the battlefield (5 ft west, 10 ft north, 5 ft east, 10 ft north, 20 ft west).

[Kid Dynamo]

Tahazu slips away from the attacking enemy, and retreats back out into the hallway successfully, squeezing back through the hole that Bam and Magiz had made earlier.

The creature near the door springs foward, scrambling over the small amount of rubble between it and Shanoa. As it nears, it swings its long axe, barely missing the gnome by inches as she dodges out of the way. As the creature approaches, Shanoa senses the overpowering stench coming from the haggard enemy. It is almost enough to make her retch, but she manages to keep her bearings.

Bam races toward the enemy attacking Shanoa. It turns as he nears, swinging its axe as he moves inside its guard, but misses. Bam swings his hammer, and connects solidly with the creature's chest and the creature takes a step back, but is still up and fighting. It snarls menacingly at Bam.

Magiz moves north, swinging his glaive at the enemy that had previously attacked Tahazu. It connects, and the enemy falls to the ground in a lifeless heap.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Tahazu successfully withdraws.

The door screecher attacks Shanoa, but misses.

Shanoa saves against the creature's overpowering stench.

Bam moves to attack the door enemy, it makes an AoO, but misses. Bam saves against the creature's overpowering stench. Bam attacks the creature and hits, but it is still alive and fighting.

Magiz attacks the enemy that attacked Tahazu and kills it.


Initiative order (current turn has been bolded):

1. Magiz
2. Shanoa
3. Pair of figures in the rubble
4. Tahazu
5. Door screecher
6. Bam

Spoiler: Map

Show

[Simba]

Bam

Again, Bam lifts his big hammer and takes another swing, determined to end the stinky creature's existance.

Spoiler: damage roll, I forgot it in the roller thread

Show

(3d6+8)[19]

[Yas392]

Tahazu moves 25 ft east. Seeing the door screecher, she draws an arrow and shoots at it.

[Kid Dynamo]

Shanoa steps back from the monster, grabs a small piece of rubble from the ground, and chucks it at the creature. The creature turns and dodges the thrown object.

As this happens, Tahazu reappears in the doorway, arrow notched and ready. She looses the arrow, and it sails through the narrow opening, plunging into the creature's back, it writhes in pain, tries to remove the arrow, but cannot, and turns it attention back to the warrior in front of it. It speaks for the first time, screaming incoherent curses and swears in common and perhaps Dwarven as well.

The creature lashes out frantically at Bam, dropping its longaxe and leaping with claws and teeth at him. The claws miss, but the bite finds its mark, and clamps down hard on his shoulder. Although the armor protects him from the worst of it, it is very painful and he feels a strange numbness spreading from the wound. He shrugs off the feeling, and continues the fight.

Bam's counter attack is devastating. Pushing the creature off of him, his hammer swings true, smashing into the creatures skull.

It falls to the ground. Dead.

The room becomes quiet again. Only the party remains.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Shanoa takes a 5 foot step back, picks up an improvised ranged weapon, but misses.

Tahazu shoots an arrow through the doorway and hits the creature, damaging it.

The creature attacks Bam for 4 damage.

Bam attacks kills the creature.

Combat is now over, last positions are now marked on the battle map for reference.

Good job everybody.

Give yourself 800 XP each.

Spoiler: Map

Show

[Toliudar]

Magiz

When the final creature falls, Magiz pauses to throw back his head in a hoot of pleasure and relief.

"Are you hurt, my bonny brawny friend?
I think its brains are spread across three walls.
So glad we brought this to a hasty end.
I'll check in there and see what may befall."

Clapping Bam on the shoulder, Magiz continues on through the open door to see what's in the room beyond.

[Yas392]

Tahazu re-enters the room, doing her custom spiritual dance around the litter of mauled corpses. At the ending sequence, she holds one hand, palm face down, on the fallen.

"May your spirits find rest."

She hangs her head down before looking up the ceiling, slanted eyes and a snarl.

"Know this, neglecting ones! Matamata will submit you with the voice of this scene when she finds you! And I will be her mouthpiece!"

Once that is done, she searches the corpses for loot.

[Simba]

Bam

Looking down at the foe he had vanquished, Bam smiles a small smile "May your soul find peace in the end."

The bitemark on his neck is already half healed, so he just shrugs at Magiz`remark "Don't you worry, it's a mark of glory!", following the orc through the door.

Spoiler: healing

Show

Martial Spirit stance heals 2 of the 4 HP he lost.

[JNAProductions]

Shanoa, who after letting loose her spell, kinda went into freeze-panic mode, takes a deep breath. Sorry... Sorry. It's been a while since I've seen combat, and... I wasn't as ready as I thought.

[Kid Dynamo]

Magiz and Bam enter into the small room to find a crypt. Built into the walls, 8 stone coffins, 4 on each wall and stacked in 2 levels, on the north and south walls rest in small alcoves. The coffins are ornately decorated with intricate carvings. Each coffin has a small spire projecting from each end, vaguely reminiscent of the bow and stern of the longships that sometimes prowl icy northern waters. In each spire, a small ruby has been inlaid into the stone, except for the open coffin on the north wall, who is missing a jewel from one of its spires. There are a total of 15 rubies in all among the 8 coffins.

4 of the coffins have been disturbed, 3 on the south wall, 1 on the north. The one on the north wall is empty, it's lid ajar and resting against the wall. Of the 3 on the south wall, 2 are empty, their lids also moved out of the way. The 3rd coffin's lid has apparently been dropped on the floor, shattering into many pieces. The coffin with the broken lid contains a short and stocky skeleton wearing a rotting suit of leather armor.

On the floor of this room there are 2 small skeletons, not much bigger than Shanoa. They are humanoid.

Against the western wall of the small room there is an elaborate bas relief carving, showing a mountain with a king's crown atop it, perhaps some kind of coat of arms?

Magiz notices the walls are different in here. Whereas in the large room the walls were cut out of the stone, in here, the walls are made of precisely fitted stone blocks. It seems a lot of care went into the construction of this crypt.


In the main room, Tahazu searches the enemy dead. She finds a 2 simple rings made of iron, probably not worth much. The creature that came through the door has a small gold ear ring. Of course, there is also the long axe that the creature fought with. Its wooden handle and steel axe head appears remarkably well preserved and seems to shine even in the low light of the room.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Loot:
2 iron rings
1 gold earring
1 Long axe (will post stats in OOC)

15 rubies if anyone wants to try to pry them out of the coffins.
The rotting leather armor is probably not worth anything and seems likely to fall apart if removed.

[Yas392]

Tahazu looks around before looking at the group after the looting.

"We conquered this area. Are we ready to conquer the next?"

[Toliudar]

Magiz grunts and pulls a small hammer off of a hook where it dangled from his belt.

"I don't like messing with the ancient dead
But these here crypts already are defiled
And debts and tailors surely must be fed
I'll have to hope the crypt's curse will be mild."

He begins tapping and prying the rubies out of their frames.

"Hey Shanoa! Gems are more your thing.
How much you think we'd get for all this bling?"

[Kid Dynamo]

The rubies pry out of their sockets relatively easily, although one of the stone sockets cracks as Magiz removes the precious gem from it. Magiz is now holding 15 small rubies.

[Simba]

Bam

While the others are busy looting, Bam move to stand watch, about 20' from to the door in the east.

[Toliudar]

Magiz

The orc nods to Bam that, as far as he can tell, the room is thoroughly cleared out. He heads back and hands the gems over to Shanoa, if she'll take them, trusting her to have a better sense of their value.

Unless there are objectives, Magiz will proceed over to the next door south of the one that the screecher came out of, and try to shove it open with the butt of his axe.

[Yas392]

Tahazu finds a cover from the opening before the burly of the group kicks the door down. Her scroll is in hand as she eyes the door, keeping her ears sharp for any noise behind it.

[Kid Dynamo]

The group makes quick work of searching the rooms. Bam has a little trouble with the first door, but the second comes down easy. The 2 doors south of the one the door screecher came through are small crypts like the first. Each fitted with alcoves for coffins, although the last room only has 2 coffins in it. Each coffin present has those same small rubies (18 total between the last 2 rooms). There is nothing else of note in those rooms unless the party decides to start opening coffins.

The 3rd door reveals something different. This room looks more "unfinished" than the last. The ceiling is flat and rough cut, and the walls have clear tool marks and uneven edges. The western edge of the room is incomplete, and some pilers of stone yet to be carved remain, blocking a complete view of the room. There are a few rotting tools scattered in here, and some small pieces of debris. It looks like someone was carving this room from the stone, but never finished. At the end of the room, a small passageway (carved more completely than this room) curves out of view. The air in here is damp and smells musty.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Let me know if the party wants to pry the remaining 18 rubies from the coffins. We can "retcon" it so that it happened before opening the current room's door.

The red arrow indicates which way the passage continues on out of view.

Character placements are shown with last marching order with Magiz leading a few feet into the room (I am assuming the party had Shanoa try to open the door, then Bam force the the door with Tahazu providing cover and Magiz off to the side, then reverted to normal marching order upon discovering the room empty and deciding to enter).

Spoiler: Map

Show

[Toliudar]

Magiz steps into the room and looks around.

"The makers of a monarch's tomb would work
From coronation day until their death,
Then simply move on to the next great king.
Tombs are just abandoned, incomplete."

The orc moves cautiously into the room, covering the other tunnel while others check out the room.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Magiz would definitely have been harvesting the rubies. If you're going to die from a tomb-curse, you might as well be three times as rich when you die.

[Simba]

Bam

Bam stays close to the East wall, covering their way back and waiting for the others to finish their examination of the room.

[Yas392]

Tahazu enters the room, 10 ft south-west from Magiz. She scouts the new area with care and time.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Spot (Take 20) - 30
Listen (Take 20) - 30

[Kid Dynamo]

Searching through the unfinished room, the party finds a some scattered gold and silver coins, but nothing else of value.

Moving onto the next room, the party notices an immediate difference. First, the door opens easily, without the necessity of forcing it or attempting to pick the lock. As soon as the door is opened, the party notices a change in temperature. The rest of this complex has been relatively cool, but a blanket of warm air floods out of the room as the door is opened.

Exploring the room, it is longer than it is wide, about 20 feet long and 10 feet wide beyond the 5 foot square threshold. Along the west wall is an array of cooking equipment, rusting stoves and pots and pans. There are rotting barrels and crates in here as well. In the far south-western corner of the room is a medium sized metal box, about 3 feet in each dimension. Tubes run from the box and connect it to the old stoves. As Magiz moves into the room, it is clear that the heat is coming from that box. The front of the box is hinged and appears to be capable of opening. A thick metal latch holds it shut, but it is not locked, and appears simple to open.

The box is not red hot, but still giving off quite a lot of heat. It would probably require a thick glove or similar to open without burns.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I changed my map making software, but hopefully it still makes sense, it's the same map just done in a different way.

Loot from the unfinished room:
3GP
8SP

The small red square is the hot box.

Spoiler: Map

Show

[Toliudar]

Magiz briefly debates how much he trusts his own protection from heat. He looks back at the others and shrugs. He pulls off his pack, digs to the bottom and retrieves a small boning knife, perhaps four inches in length.

"The other two, slight air and purging fire,
Are both with thee, wherever I abide;
The first my thought, the other my desire,
And now, with a swift motion, slide -"

Using the knife, he tries to work the latch, then get the tip under the lid in order to open the box.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Let's see how good Resist Fire 10 is!

[Yas392]

Tahazu remains vigilant, backing up the orc. She waits with weapon in hand to see if Magiz tinkering causes something to happen. She keeps her eyes and ears sharp for any disturbances during the process..

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Spot & Listen (Take 10) - 20

[Kid Dynamo]

Magiz easily manipulates the latch with his knife, the mechanism has been kept relatively rust free over however long it has been abandoned. The door's metal hinges creek slightly as it opens up, then it is thrust open at incredible speed, smashing into the nearby rock wall.

The inside of the box is an inferno, and the room is suddenly bathed in a dull orange light, strangely dark for a fire of such an intensity.

The fire pours out of the box, no, it steps out. Standing before Magiz is a figure maybe 8 feet tall, vaguely humanoid, but made entirely of a dark fire. It glows with a low orange hue. It has cruel looking horns atop its spherical head, and claws of fire seem to lick out of the shape. A mouth opens in its head, revealing teeth made of flames, and it roars with the sound of a blast furnace, lunging at Magiz with a deadly intent.

The heat of the creature is readily apparent, and everyone in the room feels the hot radiant heat of the fire creature.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I rolled initiative in the dice thread already. Order is:

Tahazu
Magiz
The fire creature
Bam
Shanoa

Again, post your actions in any order and I will try to resolve them.

You are being attacked. The creature is the red dot on the map.

Spoiler: Map

Show

[Toliudar]

Knowing that he might be the member of the group best able to withstand a fiery attack, Magiz does his best to keep the fire-creature's focus on him.

"Oh mighty Jinn! I say a welcome back,
But I don't expect I'm getting my three wishes.
Instead, though, I'll put down my favourite axe.
No setting fire to it, d'you hear, b -"

Allowing his glaive to clatter to the floor rather than to try to use it in these cramped quarters, Magiz pulls his hammer off of his belt and smacks the fire-creature with it.

Spoiler

Show

Knowledge Devotion: (1d20+3)[18], +4 if the appropriate knowledge is arcana, nature or local.

Free action: drop his glaive.
Move action: draw his hammer
Standard action: Using Channeling to cast Shocking Grasp through his weapon, and attack with hammer:
Attack: (1d20+11)[31] +2 from knowledge devotion
Bludgeoning damage: (1d4+3)[4] +2 from knowledge devotion
Electricity Damage: (5d6)[13]

[Toliudar]

Magiz crit confirmation, in the unlikely event that this critter is subject to critical hits

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Attack: (1d20+13)[24]
Bonus damage: (1d4+3)[5]

My one possible crit, and it's not with the weapon that gets x3. Ah well.

[Yas392]

Tahazu 5 ft step south west and will activate her snake swiftness wand within her weapon to give Magiz another opportunity to attack. If it is still not dead and realizing it is not an elemental, the shamaness will notch an arrow and shoots it.