Adventurers' Guild Team Cougar IC

[Thanatos 51-50]

Shiela
The fighter, still ignorant as to all the hulabaloo, leads at the front of the formation, spinning her scimitar lazily as they walk...

[Karaswanton]

Balthazar

I know a thing or two about most magic related religions. I considered converting to the Church for a time, but the wife managed to guilt me into sticking with Moradin.

I still pray to the Dwarf-father each morning, but more out of respect for my poor wife than anything else.

[strongoak]

Gylvin

"Hey Jeff. Interested in having a hunting competition while we are traveling? I get tired of trail rations.

We could keep score. 1pt for anything smaller than a deer, 5 pts for a deer. Interested? Loser buys the winner's first round in Falls.

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Night falls, and it becomes difficult for some of the party (those without low-light or darkvision) to see the ground at their feet when in the shadow of the cedars. When not in the trees, however, there is enough light from the half moon above that they can see, and the Timber River shimmers with moonlight. The adventurers look around and see no-one on the road or on the river, and no lights are in sight from any hamlet along the road. A chorus of treefrogs grows in volume, and there is the occasional hoot of an owl.

[Bayar]

Jeff

Sounds fun! But I would probably win, since I lived in the woods most of my life

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Shiela, at the front of the party, trips and almost falls on a root in the darkness. She considers either lighting a torch or asking the others if it is time to stop for the night. Just then, Shiela - and the rest of the party - hear a faint scream that seems to be coming from straight ahead of them, though at least a half mile down the winding path in the thickening cedars. Pausing to listen, there is only silence at first. Then there is a soft flapping sound, and the adventurers look above them to see around a dozen small, dark bats flying, whirling about ten feet above their heads. Then the scream comes again - it sounds like a woman screaming, but there is something unearthly about it that raises the hairs on some of the adventurers' necks.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Shiela

The red-headed fighter whips her shield into a ready position and stops swinging her sword lazily, snapping the hilt into her palm, and clearly readying it for action.
"Anybody got a spell to give me light?" She asks of her companions as her eyes scan the darkness ahead of her.
The whirling bats and unearthly scream have her worried, and the fighter ducks low in an attempt to avoid the aformentioned flying mammals.

[Jensik]

Sharn

Readying his Heavy Mace, Sharn shakes his head and sighs. Terror just doesn't have the same ring as torment. Though Verona was entertaining, I do miss the old days.

"I was actually planning and doing a lot of 'cleaning up' today and didn't prepare that spell. Balthazar? Elf?"

[Trulhammaren]

Between the screams and the bats, Iva's heart beat had escalated immensely.

Why bats.......

Old forgotten images resurfaced in Iva's mind, images from when Jargon had kidnapped her all those years ago, painful images.

"Anybody got a spell to give me light?"

Sheila asking her question brought Iva back to the here and now, allowing her to escape the old images. Not waiting for the others to reply Iva mumbles a few strange words and moves her hands a bit in order to summon four balls of light. Making the balls move out away from each other a distance as to allow a better light source, Iva 'compels' the lights to center themselves around Sheila, after all if there is to be a fight she is going to be in the brunt of it.

[Bayar]

Jeff

Jeff grins. And so, the wild world of ilderness unleashes it's claws upon us. He draws his longsword and shortsword and prepares to kick some ass.

[Karaswanton]

Balthazar

Balthazar lights up his lantern.

I think between my lantern and Iva's light spell we have the situation under control. I do have another light spell prepared in case we need more light. I'm afraid none of the spells I have prepared today will help much with the bats.

Bah, bad spell preparation today. Grease doesn't help much against flying enemies. I'll have to remember this. Oh well, I suppose I can at least help keep the area lit for the others.

[Bonecrusher Doc]

With the light provided by the lantern and the spell, the adventurers can now move more easily without having to worry about tripping on rocks. The bats continue to swirl above the adventurers, but stay at treetop level.

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The power is out in my trailer so I don't have your character sheets handy. If you feel like any of your skills or abilities apply in this situation, please make the rolls yourselves, since I don't have the numbers to roll on your behalf.

Again the eerie scream pierces the darkness, sounding slightly closer this time.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Shiela

"Keep the lights on me, Iva, everyone else, get something heavy and blunt ready in case our flying friends decide that want to taste some humanoid flesh."
Shiela calls out to her companions as she moves foward (Her move rate of twenty feet, if tactically relavent), eyes probing the edges of the shadows.

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Spot - (1d20+1)[20]

[Trulhammaren]

Iva

Having come to her senses Iva thinks a moment about the bats. Wait a second....why bats? The trees don't seem like they would be thick enough for a bat population. Maybe....

Iva takes a good look around at the surrounding area (well as good a look as she can with the limited light) looking for any signs that there might be a suitable habitat for these bats.

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Know (Geography) roll to do the above (1d20+4)[13]
EDIT: a 13 isn't going to tell me much, plus I think with the lack of light there would probably be a circumstance penalty, so I'm going to take this as not finding anything of great importance. Go ahead and tell me otherwise if I am mistaken Bossman the result wouldn't alter whats going to happen in the rest of the post anyway.

Not seeing anything jump out at here as far as the landscape goes Iva turns her attention to the sides of the path keeping a warey eye and ear out for anything that might give away some kind of ambush attempt.

"Be careful, I don't think these bats are native to the area." Iva says as she takes a good hold of the whip at her waist, ready to strike if and when the time to strike happens.

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Spot check to check against flankers of an ambush (1d20)[4]

Listen check to see if she notices anything out of the ordinary such as unexplained lack of other night time sounds (1d20)[4]

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Iva considers what little she knows about bats. Don't they live in caves? Or church belfries? Maybe they can live in trees too... Though she doesn't know much about bats, she is familiar with the geography of the area. There are no mountains nearby, but small caves may not be impossible - there could be some carved in the sandstone that can be found in some places on the banks of the river. Probably no belfries until they reach Khorinis - none of the little hamlets on the way will have buildings higher than one story. As far as trees go - almost all the old timber is gone this far south, leaving the the fast-growing, almost weedlike cedars as the only trees common enough to make anything that could be called a "forest."

Iva finds it difficult to see anything outside the circle of illumination around the party, but after looking around her feels comfortable that there is no monster breathing down her neck. She tries to listen for any change in the usual night sounds, but the adrenaline surge she felt when hearing the screams has caused her blood to rush in her ears, such that even her companions' voices seem muted, as if she were underwater.

[Thanatos 51-50]

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Can I get the results of my spot check, Doc?

[Jensik]

Sharn

Sharn motions everyone forward, taking up the rear of the group.

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Just in case.
Spot - (1d20)[1]
Listen - (1d20)[5]

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Sharn likewise is still adjusting to the change in lighting, and cannot make out any unusual sounds - or lack thereof - since the last scream. Shiela, however, catches a glimpse of a pair of luminous eyes looking at them through the trees, about 150 feet away. When she blinks, they are gone, but she peers ahead some more and sees them reappear in almost the same spot. It is difficult to estimate the size of the creature that the eyes belong to at this distance.

[Bayar]

Jeff

Better stay close so that nothing can catch us unprepared.

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Spot: (1d20+7)[14]
Listen: (1d20+7)[26]

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Jeff also sees the eyes disappear and reappear (probably as the creature passed behind a tree) but he can hear no sound from the creature at this distance. He hears the flapping of the bats' small wings, the light wind in the cedars, the song of the cicadas, and the flow of the river. Looking around, he sees no other creatures except for common flying insects attracted to the light.

[Karaswanton]

Balthazar

The dwarf's mind races, trying to come up with anything that might frighten the bats, or otherwise solve the problem.

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Int check? No ranks in Knowledge nature.
Just trying to think of something that would make sense.
(1d20+3)[4]

[Thanatos 51-50]

Shiela

"Eyes, yellow, moving, everywhere, and then... disappearing..." the fighter whispers to herself aloud, green eyes darting all over the place, taking in locations, movements, patterns, trying to judge the when and where the seemingly hostile and forboding-feeling eyes will strike.
"Shields up, everyone, there is something out there, and it is far from pretty. Keep moving, it doesn't have such a drop on us, anymore..." she whispers in a harsh tone towards her companions, creeping forward at a steady rate.

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Knowledge (Tactics) check! Since I'm untrained, its a straight INT check (1d20)[6]

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Balthazar and Shiela rack their brains, but can't think of anything helpful.
Then the brush ahead of them moves suddenly.

ROLL FOR INITIATIVE.

[Karaswanton]

Balthazar

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(1d20+6)[15]

Balthazar readies himself for battle, hoping whatever is in the bushes is more susceptible to his spells.

[Jensik]

Sharn

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Initiative - (1d20)[13]

Sharn raises his shield and readies himself for battle, half wanting to run up to help Sheila, but also not wanting to abandon his post in case of a rear attack.

[Trulhammaren]

Iva

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(1d20+3)[23]

Iva notices the bushes and gets ready to lash out at whatever it is with her whip.

[Thanatos 51-50]

SHIELA

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(1d20+2)[22]

With an mildly eerie alarcity, Shiela's shield and blade, already ready to take on a threat, pivot towards the bush in question. The heavy wood covers the majority of her hunched over for, and her eyes stare steadily over the rim of her shield while the scimitar's business tip points directly at the culprit, "safe" edge running along the shield's rim.

[Bayar]

Jeff

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Initiative: (1d20+1)[9]

Jeff readies his weapons, and prepares to duke it out.

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Gylvin prepares his weapon against the onslaught from the darkness.

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(1d20+3)[21]

Right in front of Shiela, a four foot long blur of a tawny cat bares its deadly teeth and sprints out of the brush.

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Turn the volume up fairly loud on your computer, then click here for sound.

[Karaswanton]

Balthazar

The dwarf begins his arcane intonations, and is relieved that the wildcat is susceptible to his signature spell.

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Grease: DC 17 Ref