Cold Northwest 3.X

[kirbsys]

Tommy, looking slightly embarrassed at his quick judgment of Felicia based on her nobility, quickly says, Right lad, I'm with ya'.

[kamikasei]

Derham looks surprised - and impressed - by Felicia. His expression is impassive as he watches Nethrys go.

"North or East?" he asks Telen and the group at large.

[SilentNight]

Telen shrugs, "Normally I'd say any way the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me. However, I think we might want to try over there," he says indicating the direction from which the howls were coming.

[kamikasei]

Derham nods his assent and follows.

[Fax Celestis]

Felicia shakes her head at the departing man and follows Derham. "Was I too hard on him, you think?"

[kamikasei]

"Less hard than he deserved," Derham responds with venom - though not directed at Felicia. "But I think it was the best thing to say to get through to him."

He falls silent as they continue walking, then abruptly slaps his forehead. "The priest. We should have said we'd take him to the priest! Then he'd have told us where the rest of them had gone. Why didn't I think of that? Would have told us if DuWayne was behaving strangely, too."

[afroakuma]

You smell traces of smoke through the trees ahead. A warm glow peeks through the snowy branches.

[SilentNight]

"What's done is done," says Telen with a shrug,
"Come on, let's check this out." He gestures and then begins making his way through the trees.

[kirbsys]

"Wait up a sec here, let me move up a bit quieter and see whats there." Assuming that the rest slow down, Tommy moves forwards as silently as possible, trying to avoid being seen.

Spoiler

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Move Silently
(1d20+7)[11]
Hide
(1d20+3)[18]

[SilentNight]

Telen nods and falls back.

[afroakuma]

You see ahead of you a trio of small fires around a tall, knobbly tree. Bobbing lazily above the flames is a vile-looking humanoid creature, seemingly even smaller than Tommy, with flapping bat wings and a long segmented tail with a cruel stinger. It wiggles its clawlike fingers in a semblance of glee, then flies to the northeast with a vicious cackle.

As you watch, the fires begin to advance on the large tree!

[kamikasei]

Derham's mouth opens and closes a couple of times as he looks for words, finally settling on "What the -"

But he cuts himself off and shakes his head. "Can we put these out? Does it matter if we don't? And did anyone recognize that thing?"

He jogs forward to assess the situation and see if there's anything that can be used to smother the fires. He pays particular attention to the tree - is there snow in its branches that could be shaken down with a strike to the trunk? Meanwhile he casts his eye around looking for tracks, his crystal scuttling up onto his shoulder to lend a hand.

Spot - (1d20+1)[7]

[afroakuma]

Derham

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You see no tracks, but you notice plenty of snow in the branches of the tree...two of which are oddly shaped like arms. You also notice some distinct facial features on the upper trunk, and a peculiar carving towards the roots.

The fires are melting the nearby snow in their route to the tree. They each seem to be flickering betwee one to three feet in height.

[kamikasei]

Derham gapes. "I think this tree used to... be someone. Or still is. I don't think we should let it burn. Can we shake the snow out of its branches without damaging it?"

He unfastens his cloak and attempts to use it to smother the nearest fire.

((OOC: Or he gets a blanket out of his pack - I forget where his cloak(s) have been allocated at this point.))

[afroakuma]

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I'll need an attack roll.

[kamikasei]

((Attack - (1d20)[20], +1 assuming it's melee.))

[SilentNight]

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So wait, are the fires moving toward the tree of their own volition or just naturally? That may influence Telen's action.

Telen follows Derham's plan of action, whipping off his cloak and beginning to smother. "No worries, we'll have it out."

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Attack:(1d20+4)[11]

[Fax Celestis]

Felicia stands about helplessly. She tries to help Telen¹, but likely gets in the way just as much as she helps.

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¹1d20=11 Aid another

[afroakuma]

Derham's blanket flaps clumsily through the air, but manages to beat at the edge of the flame. The water underfoot protects it from lighting, but it doesn't seem to have done much good.

Derham

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I'll need a damage roll. 1d4+Dex+Wis subdual damage.

Telen has less luck. Although Felicia tries to grab the flapping ends of his cloak and smother the flame with it, it simply won't stop billowing around the convection effect of the hot air.

The three fires have stopped advancing on the tree. Now, they stand still.

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Initiative
Tommy
Fire A
Fire B
Derham
Fire C
Telen
Felicia

{table]f|f|f|f|f|f|f|f|f|Tr|Tr|f|f|f|f|f|f|||
f|f|f|f|f|||||||||||||||
f|f|||A|||||||||||B||||
f|f||||||||||||||||||
f|f|f|||||||T|C|||||||||
||f|f||f||||F|D|||f|f|f|f|f|f|f
f||f|f|f|||||||f|f||t|||f|f|f[/table]

[kamikasei]

Damage - (1d4+1)[3]

Derham kicks himself for not taking Control Flame beats frantically at the fire. "We really need a better way to put these out! Has anyone got a shovel?"

[SilentNight]

Telen brightens, "As a matter of fact, I do." He drops his cloak and removes the spade from his pack, grabbing a shovel-full of snow and dumping it on the fire. ((Rolls?))

[afroakuma]

Telen

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Move action to retrieve the spade, standard action for the snow attack. I'll want an attack roll; on a success, you'll do 1d4 subdual and 1d4 x2 lethal damage.

However, you'll have to wait your turn. Check the initiative count above.

Loving the improv-fighting, by the way.

[kirbsys]

Tommy runs across the clearing in between the three fires towards the vaguely humanoid tree. When he reaches the trunk he begins to try and climb. "I'll try to get to that snow up there, if they make it to the tree, I'll be ready to dump it."

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Do the branches look heavy enough that Tommy's weight won't cause the snow to spill? Either way:
Climb
(1d20)[8]

EDIT: Sorry, I forgot about the racial +2 to climb checks, I forgot its not calculated on Myth Weavers. The total is ten.

[afroakuma]

Tommy

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They're definitely sturdy...and surprisingly stiff, which apparently you weren't prepared for, since you just took a tumble. Feel free to retry on your next round.

Fire A moves to flank Telen, and a gout of flame flicks forward to sear his left shoulder. Though he feels the heat, it does him no real harm.

Fire B moves to flank Derham, and a tendril of flame lashes out, narrowly missing his calves.

[SilentNight]

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Sorry, won't happen again.

Attack:(1d20+4)[9]
Damage:(1d4)[3] and (1d4)[4] (x2)

[kamikasei]

Derham dances away from the flames.

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Welcome back... and am I to take it then that these fires really do seem to be behaving like creatures moving of their own will, rather than just fires being given an unusual mechanical treatment for the sake of the encounter?

[afroakuma]

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Oh yes. They are definitely out to get you.

[kamikasei]

Derham swears and, holding the blanket before him, attempts to smother the fire beneath it using his own body weight.

"Telen, see if your weapon will do anything! I think there are creatures at the hearts of these!"

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Okay, I'll roll attack and damage as before, assuming they're needed. I don't know if the body-crush is a grapple or what, but fortunately that's the same as my melee attack anyway.

This is targeting Fire C, to remove both flanks.

Attack - (1d20+1)[5]
Damage - (1d4+1)[4]

[SilentNight]

Telen nods and hands his shovel to Derham. He then pulls out his scythe and brings it down in an arc towards the fire.

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Attack:(1d20+4)[8]
Crit confirmation:(1d20+4)[19]
Damage:(2d4+4)[9]

[afroakuma]

The snow dumped over the leading fire has dampened it. With a soft hiss and a trickle of steam, it fades into a puddle of water.

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Felicia, your move!