Dwaer Depths II [IC]

[mshady]

Toland

""What did you see, Aurora?" Toland asks, ignoring everyone else for a moment. He trusted her observations and experience more than the others.

""No, this is no primitive work. Lets not assume they have friends. Plenty of ruins they could have stumbled on. I'd rather not meet friends like that, if they have them."

[Zoobity]

Byron straps on his buckler and draws his rapier. "Friends..." he harrumphs. "Previous tenants, more likely." With Audrey and Michiko checking out the hole, Byron continues to scan the cliffs.

[King Tius]

Aurora takes another calming breath before answering Toland. "I got an incredible sense of space, like I was standing on a tall cliff. Wasn't good with heights even when I was younger."

Audrey lights a torch and drops it into the mysterious hole. It falls for nearly two and half seconds before promptly going out. A *kerplunk* sound echoes up from the chamber along with the shimmering reflection that preceded the torches demise. There is clearly a large body of water at the bottom of the hole and it certainly extends out underneath the ground you're standing on. How big the dome-like structure is, however, is too hard to determine.

Those around the hole strain to hear if the torch's descent caused any commotion but there does not seem to be any noise coming from the chamber.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos thinks for a moment, staring down into the darkness. "A well, perhaps? This clearly opens up to an underground body of natural water. Of course, the water at the bottom may just be a way to get down safely... but then again, a fall into the water from this height would still hurt like hell, and might even kill you. But I don't see any other way down, and I don't see any way to easily attack a rope up top."

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Is that last bit correct, Tius?

[Saskia]

Audrey shrugs. "Maybe. Or maybe it's someone's reflecting pool. Definitely not a pleasant dive though, even if it's deep enough." Glory and honor to whatever ingenious wizard made the first haversack aside, she's still only got 50 feet of rope. How she had gotten by for so long without more she isn't quite sure. "Anyway it's about a hundred-foot drop. I've got half that in rope, so if anyone has any to splice we could use Toland or Byron as an anchor and have him just lay down and hold on; either one of you is probably more than twice my weight soaking wet." With as close to a smile as could be had with the circumstances, she adds "And that's good, since I'll probably be soaking wet if I have to come back up."

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I'm assuming with engineering and dungeoneering trained, it's not too much for her to estimate falling distance.

Also, since use rope isn't a skill and I can't find anything about ropework on the online SRD, is it covered under something else or is it just kind of assumed that adventuring types would know how to do that sort of thing? Also, I feel like I've asked this question already, but I don't remember when or what the answer was

[King Tius]

There is a scrubby bush about twenty feet from the hole that Demos could try and tie a rope to. You are fairly certain it could hold the weight of a single person. Your assumption is also correct: If you pass your Reflex save (from falling in) or Acrobatics check (from jumping in) a fall into the water won't kill you and you can avoid taking (lethal) damage.

If you can wield a sword or cast a spell, it is assumed you are able to tie basic knots and the like. For anything particularly elaborate an appropriate Craft or Survival check may be called for. Nothing you've suggested would require such things. Also, yes, you can assume that Audrey can reasonably approximate the distance.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos thinks for a moment, contemplative. He nudges the brush with his foot, then goes back to the lip of the hole to look down into the water. "Do we really just have fifty feet of rope? We really need to start carrying more gear, it seems. Especially when we have horses able to carry loads. I could probably make that fall, but the issue is getting back up. There is no point in going down there if we're only going to strand ourselves. But the troglodytes must have a way up. They can't fly, right?"

[mshady]

Toland

"I'm not seeing how they get down there, so I wouldn't suggest we go down there either. For all we know, all these tracks just mean this is their latrine. Not to be crass, but they're savages."

Toland looks around and turns to Jalaera.

"Any way you and the wolf can scout the area a bit more? I don't have a good feeling about going down there, especially since they could just cut the rope and strand us there. There should be a more navigable entrance nearby. In the meantime we should find cover so we don't get spotted"

[King Tius]

The Iomedaeans offer up their lengths of rope to Audrey for her descent. Fastening the extended rope to the scrubby bush, the party's newest member prepares to descend into the depths of this strange hole. At her request, Byron and Toland take hold of the rope as added security in case the bush proves too weak and in case she needs to be hauled up in a hurry. The rest of the group gathers around the lip of the hole to watch her descend carefully. Byron casts light on an arrow which Audrey puts in her mouth to use in her climb down. While all this commotion is going on the two Iomedaean horses wander over to a nearby bush and begin to graze on it. The bush is tough and makes quite a bit of noise as the two whinny softly and yank on it. South Paw sits directly behind Jalaera and watches the scene intently.

Wrapping the rope one turn around her leg to use as a brake, Audrey puts both hands on the rope and begins to walk backwards over the edge of the rim. This move is often the most disconcerting part of any descent due to the change in body position but she handles it easily. Two feet down she reaches the top of the dome and must take a minute to work up the courage to shift into a dangling position. To those watching above she makes the transition with practiced grace and begins to shimmy her way lower and into the darkness. Slowly her eyes begin to adjust as the darkness swallows her and the light from her arrow begins to illuminate the ceiling of the chamber. After making it about ten feet below the top of the ceiling, Audrey pauses to get her bearings and to survey the space she is in. The curvature of the dome is truly massive and on a scale she has no direct experience with before. Since the light does not illuminate out past 60 feet, she can only guess as to the size of the chamber but the dome barely seems to begin its curve at the edge of her vision. As she twists around to get a look at the space behind her, she freezes at the sight before her. A section of the dome's lining seems to have eroded and collapsed here, exposing raw stone. Clinging to this stone from every piece of available space are bats. While these don't pose any particular threat to the suspended rogue, the horse-sized dire bat sleeping amid the regular bats does. Fortunately, her light does not seem to have awakened it. As Audrey gazes up to try and relay this information to her companions above her, she notices that non of them are looking at her anymore......

While the lot of you were gazing intently at Audrey's excursion, South Paw was not. Suddenly he lets out a loud snarl followed by several aggressive barks. Everyone whirls around to see that a dozen troglodytes have snuck up on you using the surrounding rocks and bushes to conceal their approach. They walk in pairs, the "even" trogs are carrying nets in their hands while the "odd" trogs have spears. With their presence known, they begin to shout at you in Draconic (a language none of you speak). Aurora quickly casts Shield of Faith on herself and calls out to Iomedae as she levels a finger at the incoming troglodytes.

"They're trying to surround us! Get behind me, girl!"

Initiative Order

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19 Michiko
18 Audrey
10 Demos
09 Byron
08 Jalaera
03 Toland
01 Troglodytes
29 Aurora

The Map

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OOC: Let's see if we remember how to fight! Post in any order you like as you are all in the same initiative bunch.

[Saskia]

The big, foppish knight is afraid of caves? How genuinely adorable. Audrey can't help but smile while she ties the magicked arrow to her bracer with a length of twine. "Oh, please, Toland. You wouldn't know savagery if it marred your eyeliner. I'm the one going down to check things out in case we can take them by surprise from an entrance that they're not expecting invaders to use, the rest of you are going to stay up here and make sure they don't cut my line."

Of course, anyone who knew her better would know that an opportunity to drop down into the middle of some old ruin was beyond irresistible to her, even in the midst of an important job. It just meant she and this Velma woman could spend some girl time getting excited over the intellectual stuff. At least, provided the others didn't insist on leaving immediately. If that damnable bear-dwarf they were talking about costs her an opportunity to explore this place she's going to have a hard time not killing him outright, between threatening to murder people and getting in the way of her intellectual pursuits.

Still, what was the purpose of this place? Who had built it? What possible purpose could a giant underground dome with a hole in the top serve? She expects it to have some religious significance, but—

Oh, hell. I really don't want to wade through bat ****. Hopefully they're new tenants. She looks around, half expecting to see something she can use to give her an edge in taking out this damnable thing quickly and efficiently, but not wanting to say anything and risk waking it. If Audrey could place her shot well enough that bat would be dead in one shot; she'd done it before with one of these things, but only once. Ideally Demos would finish it off once it came after her, but apparently he and the rest had more important things to attend. If she dropped down to the bottom, even if it was shallow enough to stand and shoot properly the splashing would surely wake it and she'd lose her element. Well, whatever. I've got this. She wraps the rope another turn around her leg and carefully draws her bow and two arrows, holding one in her teeth, in the likely event that the first isn't a killing shot.

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(1d20+6)[24] to hit, minus whatever penalties there might be. If it matters, she's got the improvisational equipment trait, so if you consider the rope an improvisational platform from which to shoot, maybe the penalty is 2 less?

And in the event that she hits, (1d6+2)[4] bow and (2d6)[9] sneak attack.

[RaggedAngel]

Demos has had his guns in hand since the moment Audrey started climbing, expecting some sort of trouble. When the troglodytes arrive he almost smiles, lifting his new six-barrel pistol in one hand and his ancient double-barreled pistol in his other. "I've wanted to try this for ages. I've heard you're not fond of light, boys. I think I'll shine some light on the truth of that statement."

He flicks the six cylinders with the palm of his left hand, spinning it into position with a cylinder marked with a numeral for 'two' on the top. His left hand he points at the "center" of the enemy formation, and his right hand he points to a closer troglodyte with a spear in hand. He takes a moment to find his balance before firing; and once he fires, the real fight has begun. A blazing ball of light blasts out from his left hand, streaking through the air to collide with a central troglodyte, at which point it explodes into a giant ball of light.

The flare lasts only a second, but Demos takes that time to loose his second shot; this one is dark while it travels through the air, but when it hits its mark it explodes into a concussive fireball, ripping a terrible wound in the lizard-man's side. "Two guns," he says, grinning at the success of his shots. "Why have I never used two guns at once before?"

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Demos is going to two-weapon fight this round. He does not have the feat, so he takes -4 to his primary hand (for this round, his left hand) and -6 to his secondary hand (for this round, his right hand). He isn't going to do this too often, but his next feat is going to be TWF so I figured I should at least have him practice a little.

First, he shifts to K8.

He's shooting a flare and a thunderball round. The flare does half damage and blinds whatever it hits for a round, Fort DC 15 to reduce that to dazzled. It also dazzles everything in twenty feet for a round, Fort DC 15 to negate. He's using one grit on both of these shots to make them Up Close and Deadly. They do half damage on a miss, and are still considered to 'hit' on anything but a missfire.

Flare shot at 06, Ranged Touch: (1d20+6)[13]
Damage: Half of (1d8+1)[4] + all of (1d6)[2], half of all that on a miss

Thunderball at 03, Ranged Touch: (1d20+4)[20]
Damage: (1d8+1)[7] + (2d6)[7] Fire + (1d6)[3], half on a miss.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Hating having her back against a pit but not wishing to break ranks, Jalaera thrusts the point of the variblade toward the lizards farthest to the right and spits, "Guard!" to South Paw. Hoping to shake and demoralize her opponents early - combined with the thunder from Demos' weapons - she wills the magical weapon to extend, thrusting across the distance toward the first troglodyte and then back to its regular eight-foot length.

I may well have made myself the clearest target, she thinks, hoping if she's rushed Demos will have clear shots at her attackers.

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No movement. Ranged attack - dunno the increment.
Attack T1: (1d20+8)[24]

[Zoobity]

Byron sighs. "Alright, I suppose it's down to this." He dips the fingers of his right hand into his silver chalice and flings forth light which materializes into an eagle in front of one of the knots of creatures. He then draws his sword again.

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Byron casts Summon Monster I at N10.

[Goldfly]

Michiko turns, as she hears South Paw barking, and lets out somewhat of a yelp upon seeing the Troglodytes. She raises a hand, quickly, blue magics running along and between her fingers, as she makes a few complex motions and speaks a few words quickly in Sylvan.
"Sorera o kyatchi!"

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Michiko will cast Entangle, at the intersection between L14, L15, M14, and M15.

[mshady]

Toland

Looking around at their sudden visitors, Toland can't believe they were all caught so unprepared. That he was not on his horse was inexcusable!

His initial instinct was to charge, and the merits of that seemed obvious but Aurora had not called for that. She wanted to hold her ground for the moment, and her deadly crossbow might take a toll.

"Get the ones with the nets!" Toland yells out to anyone who can hear him. Not a full throated battle yell, but enough to be heard.

Resolving to hold his ground, he takes his own advice and spins the sling and sends an iron bullet whipping at T10. He doubted it would kill it, but that was what his sword was going to be for in a moment.

Toland v. T10

(1d20+5)[17]
(1d4+2)[4]

Next, he draws his sword. The naked steel rasps in the hilt as he pulls it free. It was a good sword and had killed it's share of things already. He planned to add a few more notches to it.

[King Tius]

Round 1

OOC: Please read up on the Entangled condition and the spell Entangle as they are going to play a big role in this fight!

(19) Michiko
The young sorceress panics and quickly fires off an entangle spell. While it catches almost all the troglodytes, it hits most of the party as well. Toland and Byron are unable to resist the roots and grass that shoot up and wrap around their appendages and are entangled.

(18) Audrey
Dangling like a chandelier in the middle of an ancient domed structure, Audrey decides to mess with the local fauna and takes aim at the massive dire bat sleeping peacefully nearby. Her arrow strikes the creature square in the chest, causing it to open its eyes and scream. Though the calls of smaller bats are inaudible to most humans, the screech of this mighty bat echoes throughout the giant chamber as it releases its grip and plummets into the darkness, wings still tucked around it. As it disappears from view Audrey barely has a second to register what happened before the smaller bats explode off the ceiling in a great swarm, headed right for her. The bats surround Audrey as she dangles precariously in the air, nipping at her as they swirl around her.

Swarm damage: (1d6)[1] + 1 Bleed
Fort save (DC 11) or be nauseated for 1 round: (1d20+2)[15] Pass!
Climb Check to maintain your grip (DC 15) (+4 for rope around leg): (1d20+10)[30] Pass!

(10) Demos
OOC: Demos can’t shift into K8 because it is now considered difficult terrain. This leaves both your targets outside of your 20ft range increment, so the attacks resolve against AC, not Touch AC, and have -2 penalties due to range (also, even at K8 they were still outside of 20 ft). All that being said, using Up Close and Deadly accounts for the miss with the Flare shot, but keep an eye on your ranges!

Having avoided the entangling roots, Demos levels both pistols at the approaching Troglodytes. The flare round grazes its intended target, doing almost no damage but making contact enough to detonate. The ensuing flash of bright light seems to catch 07 off guard but the other trogs are able to shield their eyes and avoid being dazzled. 06 brings its hands up to its face and begins to shout franticly in Draconic, dropping its net. His Thunderball round hits 03 dead in the chest, bursting into flames as the troglodyte falls to the ground unconscious and bleeding out.

Reflex save (DC 15) to resist being entangled: (1d20+8)[25] Pass!

OOC: You can retroactively 5 foot step out of the current square to an unentangled square since it won’t change your ranges and would avoid the previous reflex save.

(09) Byron
OOC: I rolled a concentration check for you and you passed!

Byron feels the roots and grass at his feet latch on to his limbs. Ignoring this impediment, he lets go of the rope and begins to summon his celestial eagle. It takes a full round to cast a Summon Monster spell (unlike the Summoner who can do it as a Standard Action). The eagle will appear in N10 at the start of your next turn, so you can roll its attacks and have it act along with your next set of moves. Since you are casting, you can’t draw your weapon this round.

(08) Jalaera
OOC: I am fairly sure the Variblade has a range of 10 ft so that’s a -6 to the attack.

Calling upon the magic of the mighty Variblade, Jalaera makes a normal thrusting lunge towards 01 and wills the weapon to extend outwards. Like a mighty serpent the tip of the Variblade lances out and stabs 01. It cries out in equal parts surprise and pain from the blow. At Jal’s order South Paw takes on a defensive stance in front of her and bares his teeth.

(03) Toland
Toland also releases Audrey’s rope to engage with the Troglodytes. The rope snaps taught to the ground, causing it to bounce wildly for Audrey (and triggers another Climb check to hold on! (1d20+10)[25] ). The roots and grass that hold on to Toland make it somewhat more difficult to draw and load his sling but he still manages to get a shot off, hitting 10 solidly in the shoulder. Unfortunately he is out of moves for the round and can’t draw his sword.

(01) Troglodytes
The trogoldytes attempt to break free from the entangling roots and either attack directly or try to move out of the effected area.

01: Moves to J4 and stabs at Jalaera with its longspear. (1d20+2)[15] vs AC 18 for (1d8+1)[8] damage Miss!

02: Moves to M5 and throws net at South Paw. (1d20+1)[7] vs Touch AC 12 to be entangled Miss!

03: Bleeding Out!

04: Exits the entangle spell and loops around the large rock to 03.

05: Tries twice to break free of the entangle spell but is unsuccessful.

06: The blinded trog stumbles backwards right into a bush, falls prone, and is entangled.

07: Attempts to move out of the entanglement spell but does not make it all the way. Becomes entangled.

08: Breaks free of the entangle spell and moves to K18 before becoming entangled again.

09: Breaks free on its second attempt and stays unentangled.

10: Breaks free, moves to I12, stays unentangled.

11: Breaks free, moves to E18.

12: Drops net and full attacks Aurora’s horse. Both claws and the bite hit (bite crits). Aurora’s horse drops.


Round 2

(29) Aurora
Aurora moves to E10 to avoid the entangle spell before firing at 10. Apparently she can’t hit the broad side of a barn with me rolling for her and the bolt goes wide. She quickly pulls the lever on her crossbow and prepares to fire again.

The Map

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I added the swirly green mark to visually show who was entangled.

Party Statistics

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Audrey: 19/20 Bleed 1
Aurora: ??/??
Byron: 34/34 Entangled
Demos: 24/24
Jalaera: 27/27
Michiko: 18/18
Toland: 32/32 Entangled
South Paw: 17/17

[Saskia]

As usual with her not-so-hot ideas, it dawns on Audrey only once she's dealing with the consequences just how bad an idea this was, and as proud as she may be of that shot, trying to take out all of these bats, or even enough that they'd scatter, would probably leave her dead well before they even realized their numbers were diminished. She decides, then, that her best course of action is her default course of action when accosted by a horde of nocturnal beasts during the daytime: Get back into the sun.

She lets out a violent shriek when the rope slacks, immediately sure of her own imminent death, and the deaths of her friends, until it catches. If Toland let go of the rope they must be dealing with something serious. For him to imply so shamelessly that he wants to plow her and then pull something like that without a good reason would be just... So stupid. Something must have gone wrong up there.

She ignores the pests to the best of her ability and lashes the stringed bow over her shoulder, as it's just that much easier than trying to replace it in its sling, and begins her ascent to get rid of these bats and see what's going on with her compatriots.

(1d20+6)[21] for climb, because I don't imagine the "oh god don't fall" bonus would apply to ascent.

[Goldfly]

Michiko winces, slightly, as she notices her teammates getting caught up in her magic. She brings her hands together, for a fraction of a second, in a gesture of apology, before turning on one foot and stepping out of the vines. She gives the Troglodyte that felled the horse a rather pointed look, then, before making clawing motions towards the one closest to it.

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Michiko will shift to E11, before using her Charm Person Spell-like ability on Troglodyte 12 (Will 16, I think? ...Bonuses to the DC for a whole school affect spell-likes, don't they?)
She's trying to convince him to attack his friend, but... We'll see if that works, I guess.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Her fine hearing catching muttered curses as well as sissing shouts in ancient draconic, the elf woman sets herself into a combat stance and deflects an incoming blow from the first troglodyt's simple spear.

Growling, South Paw hops sideways to avoid a bristly net thrown by a second trog, and before he can retrieve it or draw another weapon Jalaera orders the wolf to attack.

She then concentrates again on her first target, batting aside several undisciplined swings before leveling her blade parallel with the ground and sweeping it in an arc toward the lizard's midsection ...

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Nice job with the map. Way to keep things clear and concise with spell effects.

South Paw attacks T2
Jal attacks T1:
Power attack (1d20+7)[20]
Crit check (1d20+7)[19]
Damage (2d4+7)[14]

[RaggedAngel]

Demos is pretty quick on his feet, but he still takes the time to shift out of the area of Michiko's spell before doing anything else. He fires the second round in his double-barrel pistol, and then holsters it on his left him. The bullet is another exploding round, and it strikes the target troglodyte with remarkable force. He feeds an alchemical round into his six-shooter in the moments after he holsters, his speed markedly improved from previous fights.

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Shift to I6.

Fire a Thunderball round at 01 (EDIT- or 02 if 01 is dead, and if they're both dead he'll make a full move instead of a shift and hit whoever's left outside the entangled area), Up Close and Deadly (he regained a Grit because he dropped 03, after this shot he has 1, or 2 if 01 falls).
Ranged Touch: (1d20+10)[20], half damage on a Miss
Damage: (1d8+1)[4] + (2d6)[8] Fire + (1d6)[1]

Move action to holster his double-barrel pistol.

Swift action to reload one chamber of his six-cylinder pistol.

[Zoobity]

Byron finishes summoning his eagle and draws his weapons and attempts to move to L7. The eagle swoops down on the nearest troglodyte.

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Eagle attacks 05. Talon (1d20+3)[16] Talon (1d20+3)[22] Beak (1d20+3)[16]

[King Tius]

The Stench
I totally forgot that Troglodytes stink! Any time you come within 30 feet of one you must make a fort save or become sickened for a minute. Since I forgot and you weren’t that close to them previously, we’ll go ahead and roll the checks now. All sickened conditions will be noted in the Player Statistics section and will be effective from here on out, so please apply the -2 to attack rolls, damage rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and saving throws. Since I only just remembered I won’t retroactively apply it to any of the rolls you have already made but any I have to make for you below will have them applied. Also, the stenches do not stack, so once you are sickened we can stop rolling for you.

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Previous Round’s Stench
01’s stench

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DC 13
Jalaera: (1d20+6)[18]
South Paw: (1d20+8)[9]
Demos: (1d20+4)[6]
Byron: (1d20+6)[8]
Toland: (1d20+6)[19]

02’s stench

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DC 13
Jalaera: (1d20+6)[17]
South Paw: (1d20+8)[18]
Demos: (1d20+4)[9]
Byron: (1d20+6)[10]

04’s stench

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DC 13
Jalaera: (1d20+6)[13]
South Paw: (1d20+8)[11]

10’s stench

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DC 13
Jalaera: (1d20+6)[19]
Demos: (1d20+4)[10]
Byron: (1d20+6)[9]
Toland: (1d20+6)[24]
Michiko: (1d20+4)[21]

09’s stench

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DC 13
Byron: (1d20+6)[14]
Toland: (1d20+6)[22]
Michiko: (1d20+4)[20]

Round 2

(19) Michiko
Tapping into her innate magical abilities, Michiko charms the troglodyte near Aurora’s fallen horse into becoming her friend. With a smile and nodding of her head she makes a two-handed tossing motion at 11. Though it wouldn’t normally do such a thing, Michiko’s force of personality proves stronger than the troglodytes (aka you won the opposed charisma check!). 12 turns the throws its net at 11, catching it completely off guard and snaring it. You notice that 12 holds a trailing rope after throwing the net and now has some control over where 11 can move.

(18) Audrey
As the bats continue to swarm around her, Audrey quickly slings her bow over her shoulder as she shakes the rope free from her leg. Fortunately, the lithe tomb raider is quite the climber and she manages to hustle up the rope, making it to the lip of the hole. The bats follow her into the light, bringing the swarm boiling out of the hole and surprising all the combatants above

OOC: It will take a DC 10 Climb check next round to haul yourself up to solid ground.
Swarm damage: (1d6)[1] + 1 Bleed
Fort save (DC 11) or be nauseated for 1 round: (1d20+2)[3] Fail! Nauseated for 1 round

(10) Demos
Nimbly stepping out of the writing grass and roots, Demos finishes the work Jalaera started on 01 and drops the troglodyte with a single bullet (+1 grit!). With a twirl he holsters his double-barreled pistol and pulls an alchemical cartridge to keep his six-shooter tapped off.

(09) Byron
Finishing his summoning spell, Byron calls a celestial eagle into being at O10. As a fold opens in the fabric of the universe the bird appears mid-dive with talons out and wings spread. Being a celestial eagle, it smites the first thing it sees…namely, 05. With a mighty screech at sinks both talons into 05’s face and follows up with a nasty peck. The troglodyte remains on its feet during the onslaught but now looks as if a stiff breeze could blow it over.

Byron’s hand begins to glow with a silvery magic as he dips into his chalice and touches himself on the forehead. The magical roots and grass unwind themselves from his body as he draws his weapon and steps out of the undergrowth before it can grab him again. (Used 1 Liberty’s Blessing).

(08) Jalaera
At Jalaera’s command the wolf darts forward and grabs hold of 02’s leg. With a quick tug the troglodyte is suddenly on its back. It has only a moment to shout out a curse in Draconic before Jalaera steps up behind South Paw and buries her partisan into 02’s stomach, taking it out of the fight.

(03) Toland
With a grumble of frustration the paladin rips himself free of the roots (move action) and strides towards 10 (move action), drawing his sword as he does so (free as part of move action). Horse-With-No-Name takes this opportunity to escape the roots and run away!

(01) Troglodytes
01: Bleeding Out!
02: Bleeding Out!
04: Moves to M3 and throws its net at Jalaera. (1d20+1)[17] vs Touch AC 13 to be entangled. Hit! You are now Entangled
05: Takes a lazy swing at the celestial eagle but misses.
06: No longer blinded. Breaks free of the roots and stands up. Gets entangled again.
07: Breaks free, leaves entangle area (S6).
08: Fails to break free twice.
09: Moves to H9 and stabs at Toland. (1d20+2)[21] vs AC 21 for (1d8+1)[7]. Stays unentangled Hit!
10: Throws net at Toland (1d20+1)[13] vs Touch AC 12 to be entangled. Stays unentangled Hit! you are now Entangled
11: Struggles against 12’s net, hissing and snapping at 12 the whole time.
12: Yanks on the rope, tripping 11 and knocking it prone.

New Arrivals
The din of combat (and the fact that everyone has their backs to the pit) allows the new combatants to arrive unnoticed. There are four more troglodytes and two big lizards on the other side of the hole. Two of the trogs appear to be younger and are clearly female. They are covered in odd tattoos and wear strange headdresses (15 and 16). The other trogs (13 and 14) rush around the pit accompanied by the monitor lizards.
13: Throws a javelin at Demos: (1d20+2)[16] vs AC 21 for (1d6+3)[9]
14: Throws a javelin at Aurora and misses.
15: Points at Demos and Byron and waggles her fingers while chanting a spell. Demos feels a wash of sleepiness come over him: Will save DC 14 or fall asleep (1d20+4)[11] Fail! You are asleep!
16: Points at Demos and Byron and casts sleep as well. If Demos is already asleep, Byron is affected instead.
Demos second roll (if needed): Will save DC 14 or fall asleep (1d20+4)[14]
Byron’s roll: Will save DC 14 or fall asleep (1d20+6)[21] Pass! You are not asleep.

New Stench Rolls

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04’s stench

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DC 13
Demos: (1d20+4)[14]
Byron: (1d20+6)[7]

13’s stench

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DC 15
Jalaera: (1d20+6)[21]
Demos: (1d20+4)[16]
Byron: (1d20+6)[9]

14’s stench

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DC 15
Michiko: (1d20+4)[12]

Round 3
(29) Aurora
Aurora turns in response to the javelin and fires two bolts at 14. One of her bolts finally hits, though the trog barely seems to care.

OOC: For those of you now entangled in the nets, it is a DC 22 Escape Artist or DC 25 Strength Check (Full Round Action) to get free. Someone can also cut you out of the net.

The Map

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Party Statistics

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Audrey: 17/20 Nauseated 1 round
Aurora: ??/?? 4/5 in clip
Byron: 34/34 Sickened 10 Rounds
Demos: 24/24 Sickened 10 Rounds, Asleep
Jalaera: 27/27 Entangled
Michiko: 18/18 Sickened 10 Rounds
Toland: 25/32 Entangled
South Paw: 17/17 Sickened 10 rounds

[Saskia]

Bats. Foul, disgusting, bats. Audrey must have sworn against bats in every language she knew an obscenity, and to every deity, just to be sure she'd gotten the one who thought them up.

It just makes pinning that verminous monster's wings to its chest that much more satisfying. Well, provided that's what happened. She can see what happened when she gets down there.

After these bats leave her alone.

Feeling weak and queasy isn't good condition for a climber, and she knows it, so before pulling herself up she wraps the rope around her arm, just in case. Better a dislocated shoulder than a snapped spine. But damned if all these lizards didn't come out of nowhere. So much for taking them by surprise. At least this way they're not all together; the ones they can take out here will only make things easier from here.

(1d20+6)[23] climb! Hot dang.

[Gorgon_Heap]

Hearing a thump behind her, Jalaera turns and sees the gunslinger slumpt on the ground. "Demos!" she shouts, only then seeing the creatures on the far side of the pit. She gasps, and in her distraction is further surprised when a poorly-made but heavy net falls over her head.

She turns back toward the sole surviving troglodyte nearby and scowls, unleashing a withering barrage of elvish invective almost certainly lost on their target. But she ends her tirade with an attack command, and as South Paw dashes toward the lizard, growling menacingly, the elf stabs at him, shouting, "Byron, cut this loose!"

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Though it seeems it's impossible to remove these nets on our own without rolling nat 20s, the Entangled condition hardly keeps us from fighting.

Attack T4 (1d20+6)[25]
Crit check (1d20+6)[11]
Damage (2d4+4)[11]

[RaggedAngel]

The gunslinger avoids the javelin almost contemptuously, turning to face the new threats. He manages to do nothing about them, though, thanks to the enchantment spell that goes washing over him a moment later. As Demos falls asleep, his fading thoughts involve brutally murdering troglodytes. Before it all goes dark he catches a glimpse of Audrey as she rises over the lip of the hole, however, and his last waking thoughts move away from murder. Maybe I'm dying. There's an angel, right there...

[mshady]

Toland

Having broken free of the vines that suddenly appeared, he can't help but wonder who's side Michiko was on. What should have been a good fight was going to turn into desperation. Plus, his horse was gone! He liked that horse.

Stabbed by a lizard with an ugly spear just insulted Toland. He shrugged off the painful wound, but he was covered with a net now instead!

While he could sort of fight in the net, the thing held a trailing rope and could pull him down with it. At which point, he might end up like Aurora's horse.

Toland uses a power attack on the rope to cut his way out. If the rope is pretty easy to hit, he'll use a better defensive stance. Not sure of the details, I trust in King.

[King Tius]

Round 3

(19) Michiko
Turning to face the new assailants, Michiko lets loose with a pair of Magic Missiles. They fly unerringly towards 14 and connect with him in a quick 1-2 punch. Despite the missiles and Aurora’s crossbow bolt, the creature still presses forward with a wicked smile on its face. Our young sorceress looks around and realizes she has nowhere to fall back to. At least she’s standing next to a Holy Inquisitor of Iomedae….

(18) Audrey
Fighting the urge to vomit (and more importantly, let go of the rope), Audrey hauls herself up and over the lip of the hole, right into the waiting embrace of the magically enchanted roots and grass. She avoids their cloying grasp as the bats give up their chase and dive back into the gloom of the hole. Though she is no longer surrounded by the swarming vermin, their saliva causes her wounds to continue to bleed.

(10) Demos
Demos sleeps soundly. Dreaming of guns……lots of guns.

(09) Byron
OOC: Zoob’s mobo died yesterday, so I’ll be taking over Byron (mechanically) until he’s up and running again.
With another divine screech the celestial eagle rakes at 05’s face, finally bringing it down. It quickly turns to engage the ensnared 06. Meanwhile, Byron gives Demos a hard nudge with his boot, rousing the gunslinger from his temporary slumber. The jovial priest steps towards Jalaera and prepares to try and cut her free next round when he has the standard action to do so.

OOC: Demos is prone and lying next to his six-shooter. RAW states it is still a move action to retrieve the weapon, even though you are prone (I checked because I was curious).

(08) Jalaera
The fierce warrior elf was not about to let something as simple as a net impede her path of destruction through these troglodytes. Once again she orders her newfound companion to attack the nearest troglodyte. Again South Paw grabs hold of a leg and yanks the trog to the ground. Like a practiced team Jalaera immediately follows up with planting her partisan into its chest cavity.

(03) Toland
Despite having two troglodytes trying to eviscerate him, Toland refuses to be bound in a net. Fortunately, he has a slashing weapon in his hand and a fair amount of strength in his sword arm. With a grunt and a well-placed slash he splits a number of the net’s webbings and breaks free. The two troglodytes look displeased that their quarry escaped so easily. Somehow he also managed to avoid the entangle spell’s grasp for another round, though he still can’t move anywhere without drawing attacks from the trogs.

(01) Troglodytes
04: Bleeding out!
05: Bleeding out!
06: Full attacks the celestial eagle. Crits on the claw attack, killing the eagle.
07: Moves around the rock and readies its spear against a charge.
08: Fails to break free twice…..again
09: Stabs at Toland. (1d20+2)[15] vs AC 21 for (1d8+1)[4] Miss!. Becomes entangled
10: Full attacks Toland. Claw1: (1d20+2)[8] Miss! (1d4+1)[3] Claw2: (1d20+2)[10] Miss! (1d4+1)[2] Bite: Claw1: (1d20+2)[21] Hit! (1d4+1)[2] Becomes entangled
11: Tries to break free of the net but is unable to.
12: Yanks on the rope again, causing 11 to shout in pain.
13: Advances to I5 to attack Demos
AoO from Jalaera: (1d20+6)[12] Miss! (2d4+4)[8]
Claw attack at Demos: (1d20+4)[16] Miss! (1d4+3)[6] vs AC 17 (-4 for being prone)
14: Moves to E9 and claws at Aurora (miss!).
15: Casts Sleep on Demos/Byron again (so it hits Demos). Will save DC 14 or fall asleep (1d20+2)[6] (Sickened applied) Fail! Demos is asleep again
16: Casts Sleep on Aurora/Michiko. Michiko targeted over Aurora (fewer HD): Will save DC 14 or fall asleep (1d20+3)[16] (Sickened applied) Passed!
L1: The lizard scampers towards Jalaera and snaps at her leg. (1d20+5)[6] vs AC 16 (-4 Dex from entangle) for (1d8+4)[12] plus poison DC 14 fort save (1d20+6)[7] plus grab CMB (1d20+9)[17] vs CMD 17 (-4 Dex from entangle)
L2:
If Michiko passes her Will save vs Sleep

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The lizard scampers towards Michiko and snaps at her leg. (1d20+5)[18] vs AC 13 for (1d8+4)[9] Hit! plus poison DC 14 fort save (1d20+2)[15] (Sickened applied) Passed! plus grab CMB (1d20+9)[16] vs CMD 13 Hit! Michiko is now Grappled

If Michiko fails her Will save vs Sleep

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The lizard scampers towards Michiko and snaps at her leg. (1d20+5)[8] vs AC 13 for (1d8+4)[5] plus poison DC 14 fort save (1d20+2)[21] (Sickened applied) plus grab CMB (1d20+9)[24] vs CMD 13

Round 4

(29) Aurora
Aurora steps to F9 and puts one of two bolts in 14, bringing the larger troglodyte down. She turns to Michiko with a worried look on her face as she reloads her crossbow again.

The Map

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Forgot to put the "Zzz"s back on Demos but he is still quite prone and quite asleep

Party Statistics

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Audrey: 16/20 Bleed 1 Sickened 10 Rounds
Aurora: ??/?? 3/5 in clip
Byron: 34/34 Sickened 9 Rounds
Demos: 24/24 Sickened 9 Rounds
Jalaera: 27/27 Entangled Sickened 10 Rounds
Michiko: 9/18 Grappled, Sickened 9 Rounds
Toland: 23/32 Sickened 10 Rounds
South Paw: 17/17 Sickened 9 Rounds

[Saskia]

Oh, no. No, no, no, where the hell did all these things come from? She takes her bow again and immediately takes looses the arrow from her teeth at the lizard-man looming over Demos.

To hit (1d20+6)[16]
Damage (1d6+2)[6]

[Gorgon_Heap]

As more and more troglodytes crowd around, Jalaera is finally overwhelmed by their awful stench. Her stomach roils and she is forced to take a deep breath or fall over wretching. "South ... get!" she manages to order the wolf at whichever nearby enemy if he's not himself too busy vomiting.

The lizard creature snaps powerfully at her leg as she's trying to maintain her balance and she turns, hopping and shuffling sideways out of its reach and she gulps for another breath, swinging her weapon in a wide arc toward the monster and the troglodyte nearing Demos...

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Step to K6 and attempt a Cleave
Entangled and sickened, unless, since his action is before mine, Byron frees me from the rope, in which case all my attacks will be at +6

Attack L1 (1d20+4)[7]
Crit check (1d20+4)[22]
Damage (2d4+4)[8]

if successful ...

Attack T13 (1d20+4)[7]
Crit check (1d20+4)[16]
Damage (2d4+4)[8]

[Goldfly]

Michiko shrieks, as the lizard clamps down on her leg, eyes growing wide with fear and pain at the feeling of it's teeth slicing through skin and flesh. She pulls, frantically, in an attempt to get the creature off of her as soon as she possibly can...

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Escape artist check to escape the grapple, her being sickened factored in: (1d20+1)[18]