Eyes of the Lich Queen IC

[TheFallenOne]

Spoiler

hm, do different dice in the same roll not work?
(1d10+4)[11] + (2d6)[5] +5

[TekHed]

The Shard pulses with light again, bathing the local area in flickering hues of red and blue.

Spoiler

Round 2:

Maneuver: (1d3)[2] Add: Charging Minotaur to readied maneuvers.

Cast Truestrike Defensively, hold position or move to keep threatening the lizardfolk if it moves.

[FuryOfMetal]

Drasil! Assist Daiya! Drasil bounds forwards and stops next to Daiya, then spying the lizardfolk in the tree she runs towards it, intent on taking it down.

Spoiler

I always forget about familiars and companions, even when I put lots of effort into them xD

Initiative: (1d20+7)[17]
Drasil double moves up to F4. Will she have to climb the tree to get at it?

Taking in the current situation, Trunk decides to take on the aspect of the leopard, a ferocious beast.

Spoiler

Trunk moves to K10 and then wildshapes into a leopard. MM1, page 274. Would you like me to make statblocks for the 4 animals I'll be using or shall I quote the location of the animal?

[Sallera]

Trunk struggles through the undergrowth, stopping to take on a form more appropriate for the situation. Drasil crosses the mist, but finds no one waiting on the other side - until the lizard reveals itself from the opposite side of the tree, snapping off an arrow. The other archer fires blindly at the spot he last saw Daiya, before being interrupted by a cut down his arm as the blind warrior closes in.

Grimmgang slams his opponent into the tree before it can do anything with the length of reed it reached for, nearly bisecting the unfortunate lizard, who falls to the ground in a slump in the shifting lights of Shard's spell.

Spoiler

Drasil takes a readied shot from the hidden archer, and Daiya two blind shots from the other, so these are all against flat-footed again.
Attack on Drasil: (1d20+9)[10]
Damage: (1d6+2)[7]
Attack on Daiya: (1d20+4)[22]
Concealment (miss on 1): (1d2)[2]
Damage: (1d6+2)[8] + poison (DC16 Fort, (1d6)[5] strength damage on failure)
Attack on Daiya: (1d20+4)[17]
Concealment (miss on 1): (1d2)[1]
Damage: (1d6+2)[7] + poison (DC16 Fort, (1d6)[6] strength damage on failure)

[FuryOfMetal]

Trunk charges in his leopard form, jumping and maiming the lizardfolk infront of him...hopefully.

Spoiler

Bite(1d20+6)[18] (1d6+3)[8]
If I hit I get to make a graple attempt without provoking an AoO.
Grapple (1d20+5)[19]
If I grapple, 2 rakes (1d20+1)[10] (1d3+1)[3] (1d20+1)[8] (1d3+1)[4]

Drasil attacks the adjacent lizardfolk.

Spoiler

(1d20+7)[8] (1d6+3)[4]

[TekHed]

Seeing the current foe being faced defeated, Shard moves to help Trunk's wooden familiar. He moves through the underbrush toward his foe, bringing his mighty greatsword to bear...

Spoiler

Round 3:
New Maneuver Readied: (1d2)[2] Douse the FlamesMove to C4.
Vanguard Strike Against Lizardman. If successful allies get +4 to Strike with both melee and ranged until my next turn.
Lizardfolk is now threatened and takes a -4 to all attack rolls unless directed at Shard.
Attack Roll [Truestrike]: (1d20+25)[43] Damn! 1 off from being a threat... bah!
Damage: (2d6+2)[7]

[MoleMage]

You hear Daiya howl again, followed by the thumping sound of something getting hit by a sword.

Spoiler

Fort
(1d20+3)[20]

Attack the lizard in front of me
(1d20+10)[20]

Damage
(1d10+5)[14]

[TheFallenOne]

After pulling his axe from the maimed lizard with a wet splotch, Grimmgang surveyed the battlefield for a short second. The lizard to the north was engaged, and while the fog prevented him from seeing the other one, the sounds of battle coming from the side told him enough.
"Better block their retreat route, we don't want any getting away", he whispered, moving to the north at full speed and surrounding the lizard there.
"We got him from three sides, try to take him alive if you can!"

Spoiler

Double move to D3
This includes a DC10 jump(autosucceed) and a Swift for Extreme leap to get extra movement
Scent 30 feet active if there are more of them

[Sallera]

The final archer pulls a length of reed from his belt, ignoring the wooden teeth that sink into his wrist as he does so, and begins spinning it above his head, the instrument beginning a whistling cry that echoes through the forest, the pitch modulating as the lizardfolk alters the speed of its spin. Grimmgang and Shard surround him, but he ignores them, focused on his task. The other manages to dodge Trunk's teeth, but this only buys him a second for one final desperate slash before Daiya's blade opens his chest from collarbone to thigh.

Spoiler

Claw attack at Daiya: (1d20+4)[24]
Concealment (miss on 1): (1d5)[1]
Damage: (1d3+3)[6]

Shard, you don't have enough movement to reach him through the jungle terrain and still attack. Shard, Grimmgang, and Drasil each get an AoO this round as the archer attempts to complete his signal, though.

[TheFallenOne]

"It's a signal, stop him!" As the lizard was distracted with this strange instrument, Grimmgang got in close, grabbing him to stop his motions.

Spoiler

AoO used for grapple attempt
(1d20+7)[11] vs touch AC
Miss chance (1d100)[42]
Opposed Grapple (1d20+11)[18] +4 size

if successful this should prevent him from making the motions to make the signal.

[TheFallenOne]

Spoiler

damn low touch roll... That is worth an action point, I don't want that guy succeeding with the signal
(1d6)[5] bonus on attack vs touch(11 currently). Come on...
Turn will of course depend on whether I start the grapple or not

[Sallera]

Grimmgang bulls into the lizardfolk, pinning its arms, and the whistle cuts off before it can finish as the string is tangled around the haft of his weapon.

Spoiler

Opposed grapple: (1d20+6)[16]

[TheFallenOne]

"I got the little bugger, knock him out!" Grimmgang wrestled with the little creature, his armor spikes ripping into it's scales. Pinning the opponents arms with his own, he delivered a brutal headbutt. "Nothings's thicker than a dwarfen skull, creep."

Spoiler

Forgot damage for grapple initiation
(1d3+3)[4] nonlethal, (1d6)[3] lethal from spikes

my turn: grapple to damage opponent
(1d20+11)[29] opposed
damage (1d3+3)[6] nonlethal, (1d6)[1] lethal

[TekHed]

Spoiler

Okay, sorry. In that case is it alright if we use the truestrike roll and such for this round then, since I obviously didn;t get a chane to use it. The alteration I will make is that Shard takes a -4 penalty to the attack roll and hits the lizardfolk with the flat of his blade, doing nonlethal damage.

[FuryOfMetal]

Drasil! Help Grimmgang hold it down!

Spoiler

+2 to Grimmgangs grapple bonus for aid another?

[MoleMage]

"Damn these things." Daiya falters a little after killing the first one. "Careful! He's got something magic on him."

Spoiler

Double Move to F4.

[Sallera]

Shard's blade smacks the lizard across the back of the skull, and its head snaps forward and then back as Grimmgang finishes the job of knocking it out. The forest remains quiet; if whatever signal it was trying to make was long enough to be intelligible, it seems no one heard it.

[Sallera]

Spoiler

Need a secondary poison save from Grimmgang and two from Daiya, DC16. You do have time to drink antitoxin if you're quick about it.
Grimmgang: (1d6)[5] con damage
Daiya: (1d6)[1] and (1d6)[4] con damage

[MoleMage]

Spoiler

(1d20+3)[6]
(1d20+3)[14]

Daiya's face pales somewhat shortly after the fight, and she doubles over in pain as the poison runs through her veins. She doesn't get back up and seems to have passed into unconsciousness.

[TheFallenOne]

Grimmgang dropped the unconscious lizard in his arms in front of Trunk. "He'll likely speak no common, you deal with it." Sparing a look at Daiya, he sighed; the effects of poison can be rough. "Well, she's alive it seems, but their poison took a toll on her. Can one of you help her?"

He cleaned the blood from his weapon and armor with some rough leaves, then examined the instrument the lizard wanted to give a signal with, touching it carefully and estimating how far the sound would carry. Those were forward guards, we must be getting close. I'll take a look." He stashed his shield and climbed up the tree they were at with remarkable speed and ease, starting on the south side so the
trunk blocks the sight of any observer from the north, then once he was near the top he circled around, hiding in the leaves and spying out what awaited them in the north.

Spoiler

climb 25 with take 10, that should allow me to scale anything short of a flat wall.
Hide 21 with take 10

for examining the instrument... appraise? (1d20+1)[18]

I'll drink one antitoxin. I bought two myself anyway before I knew we'd get some for the trip (1d20+14)[17] well that was worth it

[Sallera]

The massive tree carries you several feet above the overall canopy, and you can see the top of the temple in a clearing a few minutes' walk ahead. Despite its apparent age, the huge stone structure is essentially intact, although it is a mass of vine-choked granite walls and columns. Two domes mark either end of its oblong shape, and a columned portico juts out from the temple’s entrance. Steam billows from somewhere within the temple, venting through high open windows 20 feet above the ground. While you can't see the ground from your perch, the clearing extends for a couple hundred feet in front of the temple.

[TekHed]

"Daiya!"

Shard rushes to his comrade as she collapses. He grasps onto a piece of his crystaline bracer and pulls out an ornately carved crystaline wand. The lights constantly swimming inside of him flare into a cohesive wave that pulses through his body, into and down the arm, wrist, hand, into the wand where it flares with brightness before passing into Daiya's body where the glow saturates itself into her body before fading.

He holds her in his arms, but looks up at the others. "I'm afraid healing her posion is well beyond my ability. I have done all I can for her."

Spoiler

Spend a charge from wand of lesser vigor.

[FuryOfMetal]

Spoiler

I'll prepare lesser restoration tomorrow, neutralize poison to if it would help.

Shifting back to his natural state, Trunk looks over Daiya. Tomorrow morning I can prepare some specific magic to cure this, for now I'm afraid you'll have to push through it. Don't worry, it seems you won't be taking any more damage from the posion. Running back to the downed Lizardfolk, Trunk calls his companion back to him. Good work Drasil. Come to me. Looking down at the dying lizardfolk, Trunk tries to come to a conclusion and finally pumps a slither of divine energy into the lizard. He then ties the lizardfolk up, extending the vines that wrap around his arms, making them grow and twist until they resemble rope.

Spoiler

I cast cure minor wounds to stop it bleeding. Then using my integrated rod of ropes I get the rope vines and tie the lizardfolk with it. I assume that I can't detach the rope as you can't with a normal rod of ropes. In which case I have a dragging prisoner until we decide what to do with it/we've got all useful information from it. We could even use it as a bargaining chip later if needs be. Who knows.

Take 20 on a use rope check? 19 xD If not someone else can use my natural arm rope, Grimmgang has use rope doesn't he?

I have a live prisoner we can interrogate later if needs be. He's securely tied.

[TheFallenOne]

Grimmgang went back down and reported what he had seen. "I'm pretty sure we weren't noticed, but we should avoid the clear way and sneak through the underbrush to first get an estimate what we're dealing with."
He helped Trunk tie up the prisoner. "He's fine it seems, we took care to only knock him out. Blow some healing magic on him so we can interrogate him. I'd suggest you do that and I sneak ahead to scout out the vicinity of the temple."

Spoiler

the lizard still had positive hitpoints, but a lot of nonlethal damage Fury, so no bleeding

I only got +3 on use rope, but that's still the best modifier(after all you rarely see someone putting ranks in that )

unless the others convince me otherwise, I'll sneak ahead, 50 feet west of the clear way. Hide and move silently at half speed, take 10 for 21 each(16 MS with undergrowth penalty). Once I'm close to the clearing, I'll climb a tree again to get a higher vantage point and observe the temple and surroundings

[Sallera]

From your new vantage point, you manage to get a good view of the approach to the temple. You can see a pair of poison dusk lizardfolk outside a cluster of four small huts around a firepit, and on the near side of the trail, four large huts of stone and mud, currently guarded by two of the much larger blackscale tribe. Sun-bleached bones litter the entrances to the latter dwellings, and there is also a large wooden cage nearby; while the slats are too closely spaced to see anything inside, it occasionally shakes as something slams against the side.

About a hundred feet further along the path, you can see two or three large shapes moving in the shadows of the temple portico, but from this height they are indistinct.

[MoleMage]

Daiya wakes shortly after the application of the wand, clearly still woozy.

"Thanks, friends. I trust no more have showed up while I was out? By the way, that one with the signal whistle has some sort of magic item..." following her magic sense, Daiya locates the item.

[Sallera]

You can detect no magic items, only an aura on the creature itself.

[MoleMage]

"Hmm. It seems that the creature itself is the source of the magic. Interesting. Can anyone identify it?"

Spoiler

Besides me, of course. I'm going to do whatever the nonsense stuff to identify the type and power of the aura is.

Which is to say, I use a swift action out of combat to do just that.

[TheFallenOne]

After some time, Grimmgang returned to the group and reported what he had seen on his scouting tour. "At least two more Poison Dusks and two Blackscales, likely more inside the huts currently not on guard duty, plus some creature they keep in a cage and some more things near the temple I couldn't make out. If we want to get in the temple, we have to take them all out. We can prepare ourselves with antidotes and maybe magical enhancements, but we shouldn't take too long in case the guards we killed are supposed to report back.
I say we should hit them hard and fast. Take the blackscales out first in a rapid assault, they're the damage dealers. The poison dusks we can ignore in the beginning I think if we protect ourselves with antitoxins." He took a wooden stick to draw a rough sketch of the clearing with the huts and best ways of advance.

Spoiler

um, I also think I'll loot the corpses. Always fun

[Sallera]

Spoiler

Rather more elaborate than a stick-sketch, but you get the idea.


A4 is where you saw the blackscales, A3 where you saw the poison dusk, and A5 where you saw the unknown entities.

Daiya, you can't identify the aura due to not being trained in Spellcraft.