The Blood War Boils Over

[Greymist]

Mottle

The large man frowns slightly at the talk of the missing mage.

I rather hope he isn't dead, I don't care to be down one member from the start

Looking around at the others he tries to take their measure and when asked what he does he smiles. I'm a jack of all trades, but not as the saying goes, master of none.

He starts humming lightly and the sword on his back resonates with him. Thorg, I hope you're feeling better now he can't help but grin knowing that the effect will wear off shortly.

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Ignore fatigue/exaustion for the next 4 minutes

[Greyen]

Thorg

The mongrel warrior looks over at his new squad, appraising each with a critical eye. The sand lich and Mottle were known to him, the others not so much. Thorg was not one to consort with mages too often.

I have a big sword, I hit demons and casters with it. Is that enough? The hostility in his voice does not lessen even with the small tune of Mottle.

[The_Snark]

Allison

"Quite enough; I expect no more of you," Allison replies to the red-skinned native before addressing Mottle. "Unless you truly dabble in every useful talent known to man, and I doubt that, you haven't told us much. Can you use magic? Scout? Fight? What types of trade do you practice?" The sword on his back tells at least one of them, but she lets him answer for himself.

[Greymist]

Mottle

The smile Mottle had on his face as Allison berated Thorg drops as soon as she addresses him.

Perhaps all trades wasn't the right way to put it. I fight when needed, have a strong grasp of magic and I think I'm a pretty good singer.

He grins at the last.

If you'd like to talk about the mathematics of sound and magic I'd be happy to later.

[elkhantar]

Memnoth

The Dry lich stands and begins walking towards the door. I am Memnoth, emissary of the Dusty conclave, and I borrow my powers from the desert itself. But we can talk on the move he says, inviting the others to follow. Not that I have real need to hurry, but there's no point in staying here any longer. he chuckles. Undeath has certainly had an effect on his perspective of time.

I have a sand golem outside to deal with lesser nuisances he says and my touch can bring the decay of centuries in a mere moment. But just as the desert supports life, I can renew life, strengthen your arms, provide you with food or heal your wounds. He pauses for a second and asks the woman that introduced herself as a mage: I expected regular patrol duty, and haven't asked the sands for the power to locate a stray wizard. he explains. Won't you have such a divination ready, by chance?

[Greyen]

Thorg

Thorg stands and picks his sword up slipping the strap over his shoulder for easy access. He then reaches into his pack and pulls out a red veinf dark crystal mask, slipping it on his demeanor begins to radiate dread. His deep rumble comes from the slits that cover his mouth I am ready to go find this stray mage. He moves toward the door, looking back momentarily to see if the others are following.

[The_Snark]

Allison

Mottle's expanded self-description is apparently more satisfactory to Allison, who accepts it with a nod. She answers the lich, "I'm afraid not; my talents do not lend themselves in that direction at all. I can search for him from the air, though, which may make things faster. If the demons get to him before we do, I imagine his location will become rather obvious." If the demons have already gotten to him, there's not much they can do, of course.

She walks briskly towards the fort's edge. "Since we don't know what direction he's in, best to start with a spiral pattern," she says back over her shoulder. "We can start at the northern edge and work eastward from there."

[elkhantar]

Memnoth

The Dry lich stands and begins walking towards the door. I am Memnoth, emissary of the Dusty conclave, and I borrow my powers from the desert itself. But we can talk on the move he says, inviting the others to follow. Not that I have real need to hurry, but there's no point in staying here any longer. he chuckles. Undeath has certainly had an effect on his perspective of time.

I have a sand golem outside to deal with lesser nuisances he says and my touch can bring the decay of centuries in a mere moment. But just as the desert supports life, I can renew life, strengthen your arms, provide you with food or heal your wounds. He pauses for a second and asks the woman that introduced herself as a mage: I expected regular patrol duty, and haven't asked the sands for the power to locate a stray wizard. he explains. Won't you have such a divination ready, by chance?

[Moral Wiz]

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Double post. With an hour gap

And Lochar, in case it wasn't implied, Nat'll be watching the skies as well. Demons flie after all. Possible he'll see Alison if she starts flying in his direction

[Lochar]

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Encounter %: (4d100)[7][9][71][66](153)

Encounter %: (4d100)[43][25][95][73](236)

[Lochar]

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oddly enough, the bigger group only had a 10% chance of encounters.

The five of you leave, heading north out onto the plateau with Allison flying high in the sky. You head north for about half a mile, before beginning to angle east afterwards. The sun is hot and the ground bakes away at the water in your bodies as you move around, eyes sharp and looking for signs of the mage or demons.

Unfortunately, you see the latter first. Clicking along the ground are two absolutely gigantic scorpions, fighting for something small between them. They are approximately four hundred feet away from you at the moment, and haven't noticed you all.


Nat:

The first hour you walk quickly, quietly, and very, very softly to the east so as not to be found by any demons. For the first hour, it works. The second hour, not so much. The flat featureless plane of the terrace gives you a chance to see them coming, but also gives you no shadows in which to hide.

Six little demons are flying in your general direction. Had they not been generating a fairly large dust cloud, you probably wouldn't have noticed them before they came up on you.

They're about two hundred feet away, and have apparently noticed you, as they change direction to come at you.

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You recognize them as quasits, and you realize they fly faster than you can run. Your planes check is automatically high enough to know everything on their stat sheet.

OOC:

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As Nat is only by himself, I'll ask that MW post his stuff for battle in spoilers. Also, it's only the first hour for the main group.

[Greyen]

Thorg

Thorg's sword fairly leaps from its sheath into his hands as he see the scorpions. His head starts to twitch a little as he readies himself to enter combat. He holds himself ready waiting for a cue from the others before he leaps into the fray. His voice holds a haltingly restrained fury as he says quietly to the others Shall we prepare our selves before we destroy these vermin?

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I can't see my sheet right now, so either rolls can wait till I get home tonight or Lochar can roll for me as needed (really doesn't matter to me either way).

But Thorg does have some little brain power. He will try a few knowledge checks. Know Arcana/Planes/Local/Nature to identify any specific weaknesses.

Question...what would I need to roll to sunder the tail of a scorpion?

[Lochar]

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Actually, you only have Arcana and Planes. Thankfully, that'll work for this. Unfortunately, you can't roll high enough to get anything useful, other that scorpions are poisonous, and the bigger they are, the harder it is to throw off the poison.

The scorpion's tail is a part of it's body. It can't be sundered like a weapon or shield could...

Actually, tell ya what. I'll allow you to sunder it as normal. You have to deal 1/4th of it's HP in damage to that point specifically.

[Greyen]

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1/4 of a gigantic (colossal I'm assuming) scorpion HD...I can do that! Maybe.

[Lochar]

All:

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Battlemap:here

You guys are down at G90. 1 square is 5'.

[elkhantar]

Memnoth

Does any of you need some blessing before battle? whispers the lich while getting ready for the upcoming battle. We should probably talk about it after the battle, so that I can prepare the proper spells for following days. he suggests. As of now I only have a spell that could reach them from this distance, and I don't think it would be that useful against this kind of opponent, so I'll cast a spell to enhance those fighters that stand close to me.

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Well, I had not said it because our depart was so immediate, but Memnoth has quite a few spells running (marked with a - in his sheet.) Some of them persisted (marked with a * in the sheet), some of them lasting 16 hours. In case it is needed, there it goes: the lowest initiative in the world! (1d20-5)[-3]

For now, he gets closer (30 feet, to G84), sends the sand golem foward too (40 feet, to D86) and casts righteous wrath of the faitful, unless someone talks and provides a better plan before he does.

[The_Snark]

Allison

Allison drops down to join the others, becoming visible only as she steps lightly to the ground. Flying up high without concealment was only advisable if one wanted to attract demons. "They haven't seen us yet. And frankly, I don't think any of us should be eager to close ranks with something that large. I think the safest way to handle this is for you to stay concealed while I kill them from above."

"Should they prove to have some way to retaliate, I'll return here and we can attack them from the land." She glances over them briefly, to see if any of them have objections to her plan.

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Knowledge (the planes) to see what she migh know about these, especially their demonic qualities: (1d20+19)[35]

[Lochar]

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They resist spells and spell like abilities, and they're not actually the vermin they appear to be, so it's likely they have either magical abilities themselves, or extraordinary abilities to resist damage and heal very quickly.

[GimliFett]

Tynze

The big man shrugs. "You wanna be bait? Fine by me. Not much I can do until I'm up close with 'em anyway." He crosses his arms over his massive chest and nods. "As far as magical enhancements? How close do I have to stay to you for this one? I've my own...enhancements to...activate when necessary," Tynze grins as he drums his clawed gauntlets on his arms.

[Greyen]

Thorg

Thorg stands twitchingly, obviously itching for the fray. I will wait until given the order to join battle, against my base instincts.

[GimliFett]

Tynze

Tynze grins at the orc. "I know what you mean. Damned demons, can't leave well enough alone. Let me fight something house-sized at least!" He chuckles deeply.

[Lochar]

One of the scorpion's tail darts down and strikes between them, and you see something jerk up. At this distance you can't make out what it is. If it's still alive though, it won't be for long...

[GimliFett]

Tynze

The big man lets out a big sigh. "Fugazi! Do you think that may be our sixth? Can we get some intel in a hurry?" he asks as he flicks his wrist and a small packet appears in his right hand before it expands into a guisarme.

[elkhantar]

Memnoth

It's about thirty feet. he replies, moving foward. Either you begin blasting them to pieces, Allison, or I close in to drain the water out of their caparaces, but whatever's caught between them is going to be very dead if we don't act soon. Although troubled by the possibility of a trap, the lich is still worried that the wizard they were looking for could die from the scorpion's poison. Once we half the distance among us I will be able to use some damaging spells he informs. At this distance, there's too little I can do.

[The_Snark]

Allison

"Stay here for now," she replies, "and I'll signal with fire on their other side if I want you to close." She rises into the air again; no means of flight is visible, but wings unfold on the long shadow she casts in the morning sunlight, before both it and she vanish again.

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She'll turn invisible and begin flying towards them. It'll take 3 rounds to activate the invocation and get to a point directly above them, I believe.

What is the thing they're attacking? She won't start attacking until she knows what it is or is within a hundred feet or so.

[Lochar]

Allison

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It's a small blue dragon, and it's wings have been shredded.

[Moral Wiz]

Nathaniel

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The professor looks out at the demons slightly worried.

Stand. If I can kill 'em, it'll leave them unable to hit others. If they come too fast... well, I can get out of here pretty quickly. And I don't want them looking round for us, it's more luck than anything I saw them this time. Let them approach for a few moments more

As the demons reach 100 ft out, he starts moving his hands. He has his sword drawn. The desert around him seemed to grow... slightly darker. As they get to 30ft, he closes his eyes and focuses on the powers of shadow, the energies of that plane twisting the mind of one of the advancing fiends.

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Dark Soul. Not the wisest thing to do, but Darksmith has his reasons.

[Lochar]

Nat:

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List the DC next time, although I know anything but a 20 you win with. (1d20)[12]

[Lochar]

Nate:

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As the quasits get closer, your powers latch onto the mind of one of them, and it jumps at one of the others in the air.

The other four all hit you in mid charge, and as they hit you, several more appear in the air, invisibility flickering away as they attempt to sting you as well, even as you bat at them.

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As they're Tiny size, they provoke an AoO when they move into your square. There's also eight of them on you.

Their attacks:
(1d20+8)[11]
CC: (1d20+8)[24]
Damage: (1d3-1)[1]

(1d20+8)[9]
CC: (1d20+8)[14]
Damage: (1d3-1)[1]

(1d20+8)[18]
CC: (1d20+8)[13]
Damage: (1d3-1)[1]

(1d20+8)[27]
CC: (1d20+8)[22]
Damage: (1d3-1)[2]

(1d20+8)[24]
CC: (1d20+8)[22]
Damage: (1d3-1)[0]

(1d20+8)[10]
CC: (1d20+8)[24]
Damage: (1d3-1)[0]

(1d20+8)[23]
CC: (1d20+8)[13]
Damage: (1d3-1)[2]

(1d20+8)[15]
CC: (1d20+8)[25]
Damage: (1d3-1)[2]


Fort DC 13 save for any of them that hit you, if you fail any of them I'll start rolling the dex damage.

[The_Snark]

Allison

She rises higher into the air as she sees what the scorpions have. She hoped it would be durable enough to last a little longer; if they'd poisoned it, the dragonling might be dead on its feet already. It wasn't worth taking the risk of moving straight in.

High enough now that she is out of the scorpions' reach, she gestures, and a blaze of white-hot fire springs into existence and spreads into a wide ring in the space of a second. The twenty-foot blaze catches both scorpions' sides with a crackling noise, and Allison's protective glamer drops, revealing her hanging in midair well above the scorpions.

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Allison spends 1 round getting up to an altitude of 90 feet and moving towards the scorpions, and the next round invokes a Wall of Perilous Flame in a 30-foot ring, placing the ring so that it passes through both scorpions but not the dragon. On the map, the center would three or four squares below the scorpions's areas and right in between the two horizontally. Allison is currently directly above the scorpion holding the dragon, 90 feet up.

3 essentia invested in Soultouched Casting. Wall of Fire damage: (2d6+15)[24]; half fire, half untyped. Spell resistance: (1d20+20)[26], (1d20+20)[25]

The inside of the wall is the one that deals area damage; since parts of the scorpions are technically inside the wall, I suppose I should roll that, too? (d4)[1], just in case.