Pax Viginti Team 2 IC [5E]

[TriciaOso]

The surviving giff thrown into the racks rushes into the elevator and attacks Sola, his longsword bouncing off her shield. One of the two giff flanking Zarah swings his sword and misses as well, and Rush parries the one who attacks her with a red energy blade.

The remaining six giff open fire on Zarah and Rush; but only one of them hits the mark. It's a headshot, though; or at least it is until Sola raises a hand in reaction. It still stings.

Spoiler: OOC

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7 damage to Zarah.

[Thokk_Smash]

"OI! FOCUS HERE, BOYS AND GIRLS!"

Sola yells, furious that her allies were attacked while she hid in the elevator-thingie. She slashes out twice...missing both times. She roars in rage that is only slightly feigned, doing her best to attract as much attention as she can. She shifts around the giff harrying her, pitch black eyes never leaving its face.

"I said..."

With a shimmering silver mist, Sola disappears from in front of #5, then reappears right in front of #6.

"FOCUS! HERE!"

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Standard action: Attack Giff #5, whiffing just barely both.

Move action: Circle #5 without leaving its range.

Bonus action: Misty Step to U19, trying to Intimidate at least one of the Giffs to attack Sola.

[Wuff]

Zarah claps her hand to where she'd been struck, and whirls her staff about in the air in elaborate motions, calling on the spirits of nature and wrath to punish those who had harmed her.

The ground erupts into a writhing mass of thorns in a line before her, forming a wall of scratching painful briars which seem to lash out instinctively, screaming in plantlike fury as their thorns bristle and cut away into the flesh.

Then, the wall settles, a writhing mass of pain and sharpness. Zarah's staff seems to wither a little when she finishes casting, and she looks very worn out from the fight so far.

"Thank you, nature." She takes a deep breath to centre herself and refocuses her attentions on the battlefield.

Spoiler: Actions

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Cast Wall of Thorns, using up 6 charges from her Staff of the Woodlands.
Deals 26 piercing damage to those who fail their save and half to those who succeed. Enemies take damage on passing through it and movement through it is slowed.

[TriciaOso]

The female Giff you have appeared in front of, roars back at you showing her tusks, and throws down her rifle to drag out the starlock pistol at her belt.

Khim, left face to face with the Giff in the elevator, squawks and fires two more arrows into him, shifting his hunter's mark. The hummingbirds swarm around his head as well.

Zarah's wall of thorns takes most of the Giff by surprise, and three of them become entangled in the surface; the one furthest to the north rolls out of the way, mostly clean. Two of the three rip free, scrambling backwards, but the one engaged with Rush screams and becomes a grisly part of the barrier, dead.

[tonberryking]

Rush just up and hurls a spinning red blade at the giff approaching Khim before hurtling forward, running down the other giff near Sola with her broken sword. Another slash and she skids to a halt just as the first victim of her blade falls...

[TriciaOso]

The two giff to the north launch themselves into the air and directly at Zarah, taking advantage of the low gravity to deliver their Headfirst Charge against the druid. The first one slams her into the ground, and then the second lands on her full force.

In the same way, the giffs behind the wall float to the top of the shelves and open fire on Rush, loosing four rounds from their rifles. Only one hits, the other richocheting off the linoleum.


The giff pinned down by Sola and Rush fires her pistol twice at the paladin; one shot goes home.

Spoiler: OOC

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7 and 6 damage to Zarah from two hippos. 4 damage to Sola. 8 damage to Rush.

[Thokk_Smash]

One bullet ricochets off of her shield, and Sola grunts in pain as the other bullet sinks into her shoulder.

"I highly suggest pissing off, unless you fancy losing your life!" Sola roars, slashing deep into the Giff in front of her. She twists it in the wound, viciously, before ripping it back out. "Is this job worth your life?"

Two images of Sola flicker back into life, mingling and overlapping each other so that it is hard to tell which is the real Sola.

Spoiler: OOC

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Action: Attack, rolled in the Discord.

Bonus action: Intimidation with the vicious attack, wanna make it reconsider its position here? More fluff than anything.

AC: 19 (with Shield of Faith up)
Attacks on Sola have Disadvantage. If she takes damage, the illusion drops until the start of her next turn.

[Wuff]

The starry wings Zarah wears shift, moving to support her arms and legs. A bowstring of glowing light forms on her staff. She's down, but definitely not out.

She pushes herself back onto her feet, like an upturned feline, and then slinks backwards as the wall of hungry thorns dies next to her, hissing as the Giff manages to strike her on her retreat.

In the next moment, she calls down a raging beam of moonlight on the Giff who had so rudely body slammed her, and slings a bolt of celestial power straight into the face of the closest hippofolk.

"Just surrender already!"

[tonberryking]

Rush stays on the move, galloping towards the giff near Sola and slides to a halt before she tries to laser shiv them.

She's taken fire damage and been shot. It's frankly a little concerning she doesn't seem to register that she's been injured since they got here...

Spoiler: OOC/rolls

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(1d20+9)[23]
(7d6+5)[35]

(1d20+9)[20]
(1d4+5)[6]

[TriciaOso]

The giff attacking Sola goes down with the first hit, so Rush is able to move five feet and attack one of the giff in the moonbeam with her second strike. He and his friends retaliate with their pistols, but none of the bullets hit.

The four giff lined up on top of the shelves open fire on Zarah, trying to break her concentration and help their friends caught in the cylinder of pearly light. Two of them manage to hit their target.

Still huddled within the elevator, Khim fires his two arrows and sends out his swarm once more. He targets one of the giff on the shelf, the one who looks most injured, and as the arrows strike home the mercenary topples over and drifts slowly to the ground.

With half of their troops dead and more than half the survivors injured, still largely unable to hit the well-armored enemy, the giff assess the situation and sound the retreat, fleeing north along the tops of the shelves. You haven't identified an exit in that direction, but they must have gotten here somehow.

Spoiler: OOC

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11 and 7 damage to Zarah, and two DC 10 Concentration Checks. Zarah and Rush get opportunity attacks on #8.

[Thokk_Smash]

"Don't let them get away!" Sola shouts, running down the hall. With a shouted clarion call of a word, she disappears in a silver mist and reappears next to one of the fleeing Giff.

"But don't hit the one furthest away!" she yells. She glares venemously at the furthest Giff, her voice dripping with divine challenge. "That one's mine."

Spoiler: OOC

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Move action + Bonus Action: Move and Misty Step into S8.

Standard action: Cast Compelled Duel on Giff #10. DC 17 Wisdom save or else it cannot move more than 30ft away and has disadvantage on attacks against anyone but Sola. Sola's Shield of Faith drops in order for her to concentrate on the Duel.

AC: 17
Attacks against Sola have Disadvantage until she takes damage.

[Wuff]

Zarah goes for a swing, and misses the escaping giff. The stars about her shift again, until a starry chalice forms. Her chanting fills it with starlight after a moment. When it is completely full, she thrusts it upwards, sending sparkles raining down in area, comforting herself and her allies.

"Now I'm ready to get you!" Zarah growls, standing taller as her many wounds rapidly begin sealing up.

Spoiler: Heal

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Heal Zarah for 18+14. Rush and Khim for 18.

[tonberryking]

Rush obliges Sosha as she darts around, now in front of the next giff who gets a sword sandwich offered to them. She's in her element, clearly, but her efficiency at all this doesn't leave much to the imagination. She's clearly done this kind of thing before...

Spoiler: OOC/rolls

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(1d20+9)[29]
(7d6+5)[39]

(1d20+9)[10]
(1d4+5)[8]

[TriciaOso]

Rush catches up with one of the fleeing Giff and cuts his head clean off. The other of the two bellow and flees full-speed, risking an opportunity attack in his zeal to escape. At his full run, he is able to reach the far wall and open another hidden door, disappearing behind it.
(Unless Rush kills him.)

The ones atop the shelves, except for the one Sola challenged, follow him. The Giff challenged to a duel resists the spell, yet even so leaps down from the shelf and draws his sword, slashing at Sola. Giff love duels.

Spoiler: OOC

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Sola takes 5 damage.

[Thokk_Smash]

Hefting her shield and letting loose a fearsome bellow, Sola delivers a devastating blow that shines with radiant light. Another chop, and her sword is pierced through his side.

"Surrender! I won't be this kind again."

[TriciaOso]

The Giff quails, and discouragedly drops his sword, after the heavy blow he took.

The combat is over.

[Thokk_Smash]

Sola stands back up from setting down Leniscus Mire down, neatly tied up, next to the door of the Breathe 'n' Gulp.

"So," she says, turning back to the others. "They'll be waiting for us in the throne room. But if we make a distraction in the purple maintenance area, it'll draw them there and we can double back to the throne room."

Unless the others object, she'll corral them into the elevator and then press the purple stone.

[tonberryking]

Rush nods and seems to agree with this plan:

"Wait... do any of us know if the maintenance room has the powersource or controls to this elevator? Whatever kind of distraction we make, let's..um... not have it be a breaky breaky one."

[Thokk_Smash]

"I've got no idea. I was hoping things would be clearly labeled, honestly, so even the stupidest employee could figure stuff out. Think we should ask Len about it? Not sure how much more info he'll be willing to give, though."

[tonberryking]

Rush silently waits, not feeling comfortable with the interrogation, but at the same time, feels awkward approaching her comrades or to tell them to stop. She's not exactly the good cop in a good/bad scenario.

"Not that he seems the type, but if he's fibbing in any capacity, let me go through maintenance first; I can try to sneak around, see if anyone's waiting for us before we make our distraction known. ...Also, if you can knock him out, at least, that may be for the best."

Spoiler: OOC/rolls

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Rolling this now, but the moment we get to the maintenance floor, Rush is just going to slink around and check everything out.

(1d20+12)[14] Add ten to this if Zarah reactivates on the lavender floor.

[Thokk_Smash]

Sola nods as she comes back from Len, rubbing her knuckles gently. "There'll be a system called 'Life Support', we need to avoid that one."

She will hang back as Rush (and possibly Zarah, so Rush can keep the Pass Without a Trace?) sneak around and assess the situation in the maintenance level.

[Wuff]

Zarah nods to her companions and draws upon her power and the spirits, raising her staff as she bids that nature obscure her path. The familiar energy builds up in the air for a moment, before a muffling effect falls down on the group, along with the sensation of tickling leaves.

"Remember to stay close to me, we can't afford too many more ambushes." Zarah nods, and pulls her cloak about herself a little, shifting her stance to walk on the ball of her foot.

Spoiler: Pass Without Trace + Stealth

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Cast Pass Without Trace

Stealth Roll of 35 (17+18).

[TriciaOso]

You send Khim out to safety on the yacht with Zandt, which might ensure you have a ride waiting when you come out. Then you load into the elevator before the Giff can regroup and punch the purple button.

After the usual vibrating and grinding travel--this elevator really needs some maintenance anyway--you disembark on the Maintenance level. For the first time you can see the elevator as a free-standing cube, and it looks... not great! It is covered in glyphs and filigree that seem to allow it to phase through the asteroid, but it is looking quite bashed up. A sort of gel oozes out of a nozzle overhead and begins to engulf it, smoothing away scuffs, burn and imperfections, but seeming unable to touch gross physical damage like the dent in the door. Still, it forcibly readjusts the door back onto its track.

The maintenance level seems to extend in two directions from here, not a terribly complicated layout. Unfortunately the two directions are not labelled; presumably anyone down here should know what they're doing.

[tonberryking]

Beckoning Zasha to stay close, Rush opts to just pick a direction and stick with it.

She turns right and tries to sneak as quietly as her hooves will allow her, which oddly, is quite alot, also silently drawing her broken sword and inverting it in her hand, into an icepick grip, ready to shiv a guard in an instant. ...Or, possibly, scare the willies out of an innocent repair man who was taking a nap, wondering what all the ruckus has been about.

Spoiler: OOC/rolls

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(1d20+12)[21] +10 to this for stealth

(1d20+7)[13] And an intimidation if she DOES run into somebody, she's just going to come off looking scary AF. Might help.

[TriciaOso]

You proceed down the hallway unmolested. It's dim down here, but down lights click on as you move through the space, making stealth a little harder. Still, you're good at this, and the spell is on your side. This corridor is carved into the living rock of the asteroid, traced along with metal pipes as thick as a Giff's arm and studded with vents.

You round a curve into a straightish area. Several open doorways are here, all on your right, towards the center of the asteroid. The noise of laboring machinery--clanks, whirs, wheezes, gurgles--happen around you.

As you proceed you feel faint flimsy touches, like walking through cobwebs or very fine strands, but nothing happens as a result.

Spoiler: Zarah

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You also smell a faint sulfurous smell.

[Wuff]

Zarah raises a hand to halt the group, making a show of sniffing to try and indicate the problem. After a moment she just whispers. "Sulfur. Something might be nearby, be prepared." She holds her staff in a better position, sliding into a combat ready stance as she walks.

[tonberryking]

Rush nods and continues to sneak forward, eyes and ears up, without saying a word. Flashes of her previous career as a trained killer intrude upon her thoughts but she tries hastily to push them away. This is a matter of survival now, and putting down an even bigger threat than she ever was.

Spoiler: ooc/rolls

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(1d20+12)[32]+10 stealth

(1d20+4)[10] Perception

[TriciaOso]

As you come to the first doorway, Rush, you peek inside and see a being standing in front of some machinery of incomprehensible make and function. It does not appear to be armed. It is of incredibly bland humanoid appearance, its features perhaps human or elvish; not distinctive in anyway. It has green, slightly shiny skin and is on the small side, although not actually Small.

It wears a green khaki uniform, with a two brass pips on the breast. It is staring straight ahead, at the doorway, but does not seem to notice you.

[tonberryking]

Like a shadow repelled by an errant beam of light, Rush slinks away and reports back to the others that she found a technician.

[Wuff]

Zarah steps up, her Owlbear cloak making her figure much larger as she positions herself in the doorway, drops her stealth spell and points her staff directly at the humanoid.

"Decide quickly whether you are going to help me or become my prey. If you choose wrong, it will be the last decision you ever make." Zarah's palm begins to fill with a spiritual power, the shape of some beast seeming to form within her palm.

Spoiler: OOC

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Zarah will ready an action to cast Polymorph if he makes an aggressive action, and will give him a bad omen -1d6 to the save.