Eyes of the Lich Queen IC

[MoleMage]

"We should put some distance between us and them. Probably approach the temple from a different angle. If that blackscale made it all the way there, he'll have the whole place in a frenzy."

Daiya collects the potions, setting them in a compartment apart from the rest of her belongings, and checks her arrows and sword before they set out, habitually making sure her belongings have not fallen out while she was focused on combat.

[TekHed]

Fury of Metal:

Spoiler

You might want to spoiler tag OOC posts in the IC thread. Thanks for the healing!

Originally Posted by FuryOfMetal

In which case there is very much a reason. I doubt my knowledge nature could tell us also how to prepare it. Also I believe there's craft: poisonmaking for that anyway. I think that we should try and introduce the mushrooms to my wooden body and create our own poison farm...If we can't properly prepare the mushroom we could always try and sneakily make them ingest it raw, somehow...

[TekHed]

Shard nods.

"Yes we should all be at full strength, especially Daiya. She took the brunt of their poison darts. As I am the most resilient as well as the most conspicuous, I shall lead the way to our hideout whilst you cover our tracks good Grimmgang."

[TheFallenOne]

The dwarf gave a short nod at Shard. "Lead the way then, best the same route we came. Try to move carefully."
A moment later, they passed the cage with the many-armed creature inside, which gave Grimmgang pause. "What about this one? It doesn't seem domesticated so I see no need to kill it, but I can't be sure... And the bugger seems aggrevated enough to attack us if we set him free. I could try damaging the cage so it manages to break out some minutes after we leave."

Spoiler

if the others judge this as the right course - I honestly have no idea - I Mountain Hammer a bit of the cage 2 minutes after the others left. Enough to break the wood, but it would still need to tear the broken piece out and squeeze through a rather small opening, giving me time to tail it. Hopefully. May not be worth the risk.

Grimmgang stayed a bit behind the rest of the group, covering their tracks best as he could, blurring the footprints, covering the tracks with leaves in a way that seemed natural. Two times, after a third and two thirds of the way, where he judged the trail they left the hardest to follow, he went to the left and right respectively, deliberately leaving tracks to confuse any pursuers. He walked half-circles for this to make the taken route seem more natural than a sudden bend. After some time of leaving footprints and breaking small branches he stopped, backtracking the way he came, this time taking care that nothing betrayed that someone walked back from the dead end of the trail.

Spoiler

Survival
first false trail (1d20+8)[13]
second false trail (1d20+8)[27]

I'm putting Trackless Step to good use, can you believe it. In the class feature foodchain, that one's very close to the bottom

[TekHed]

Spoiler

I'm putting Trackless Step to good use, can you believe it. In the class feature foodchain, that one's very close to the bottom

It's got great flavor though!

[Sallera]

The hidden dell is just as you left it, and the sun is starting to sink toward the horizon by the time Grimmgang finishes throwing off any potential pursuit. Your prisoner is still present and secured, and appears to be taking a nap.

[FuryOfMetal]

Spoiler

Woops! Probably had the wrong thread open by accident or didn't spoiler it, I'll edit that now. As for the cage we could either leave it, Grimms plan or maybe tie rope around the cage door and pull it from a distance? We don't really know what it is.

I'll roll knowledge nature now and then check if I've already rolled it, if so I'll edit this out....(1d20+13)[17]

:edit: I did roll it but I must have edited it in as the script failed.

[Sallera]

Spoiler

That doesn't tell you anything about the cage's contents. The door is barred, not locked, if that makes a difference to your planning.

[TheFallenOne]

Spoiler

well, Grimmgang knows you're a Druid, so he will trust your judgement on it

<moved>

edit:

Spoiler

well, I suppose I could Mountain Hammer a gash into the bar, enough to lower the break DC to a manageable level for the beast

[MoleMage]

"I say free the beast. He deserves not this cage, and besides if we leave him they may turn him against us." Daiya is clearly exhausted when they reach their little hidden glade, but seems determined to hold up her share of the work nonetheless. She immediately begins setting up a not-quite-camp where they will be able to sleep sheltered from the elements but not be hindered from leaving quickly or removing traces if they have time.

[TekHed]

Shard joined the others as they made camp. While they climbed into their bed rolls, it found a nook under an overhanging ledge of the ravine where it's glow would not be visible. Sitting down crosslegged, and not removing it's immaculately detailed armor, Shard closed it's eyes. It's glow dimmed but did not fade away entirely.

Spoiler

Ok! I may be able to post here or there but don;t count on it. I'll be back to post again next Tuesday. Sorry about the long absence but I ned to go make some money and will be working my butt off and with no computer afaik. NPC me if needed. I shall return!

[FuryOfMetal]

As they leave the battle site, Trunk releases his hold of the protective enchantment and the light dissipates into a faint glow and then fades out all together. After a few hundred yards he returns to his native form, the form Cannith shackled him to. As the large bulk of the bear disappears, Trunks limbs and shoulders shrink in size until he's walking on all fours as a warforged again. A strange sight to most but Trunk and his wooden brothers don't notice as they've done it for years.

How's everybody doing? Nobody big proud warriors have any injuries their hiding, Grimmgang? His voice, normally low yet soft as fresh dirt, changes awkwardly as he begins to speak whilst already mid shift from animal to....Trunk. The first few words are grumbly and deeper than usual, scratching out of his throat.

[TheFallenOne]

"Your magic was enough to mend anything the lizards could do. Daiya is the one who needs your attention now, that poison took a toll on her." Grimmgang slowed down to let the others go ahead, then rejoined them later after tending to their tracks.

Spoiler

consensus seems to be to free the beast, so I'll Mountain Hammer the wooden bar. Enough to make a deep gash, but not enough to completely sever it. That should lower the break DC enough for the beast to get out on his own after a couple strength checks hopefully. I'll tail it out directly after the blow, using extreme leap(first turn) and sudden leap(second turn) to get a save distance to the cage

[FuryOfMetal]

Spoiler

Okeydokey, sounds like a plan. I think i'll accompany you. I'll find any native bird near camp and wildshape into it, just using a hawk or something for the stats if it ultimately matters. I'll fly above and keep watch once you're gone and make sure it doesn't chase you. If it does I'll drop an obscuring mist and hopefully it'll stop. If not then then no harm done, or atleast only as much harm as releasing it would do.

[TheFallenOne]

Spoiler

sound like a plan. Alright, let's see if this will shake things up, if not we can again go to the moment we make camp

[FuryOfMetal]

Spoiler

Yeah we'll just slot it in before and pretend these posts happened before we retreated to camp. Sallera, I longingly await your DMing for our plan!

[Sallera]

At first, the creature doesn't even seem to notice what Grimmgang has done, bashing on the bars in his general direction as he flees. Once it perceives no further threat from him, however, it turns back to the door, giving it a few experimental thwacks and causing the wood to crack audibly. Backing up as far as it can in the small cage, it lunges forward suddenly, smashing the door open and falling forward into the clearing. The white-furred, four-armed ape starts toward the jungle, but is interrupted by a pair of blackscales, apparently patrolling around the temple. Whether it recognizes them or is simply naturally aggressive, it charges the lizards immediately, soon disemboweling one with rending claws and wounding the other before being driven back into the jungle. The damaged blackscale retreats into the temple, but emerges shortly after with its injuries healed and resumes its patrol.

[TheFallenOne]

Spoiler

AHAHA, I love it when a plan works, and we even got another dead blackscale out of it

well, seeing this I think Grimmgang won't be able to resist the temptation of giving the girallon a little artillery support. I'll just fire two or three shots and then retreat to avoid dragging things out with a solo-encounter.

The purple edge of the axe left a deep gash into the wooden bar and as soon as the blow was struck Grimmgang retreated from the cage as fast as he could. Glancing over his shoulders upon hearing a loud crack, he saw the now more distant whitefurred beast break out of the cage. He gave a sigh of relief when it chose to enter the jungle into a different direction, but then noticed with surprise when two more blackscales engaged the escaping creature.
Not wanting to let an opportunity to weaken the opposition they had to face the next day pass, he stashed his shield and readied his bow. He contemplated a moment whether to use his normal arrows or the poisoned ones he collected and in the end decided to test one of them to get a feel how the smaller arrows work with his bow, then finally retreated into the jungle before the lizards could answer his sniping.

Spoiler

arrow - (1d20+6)[20]
damage - (1d6+3)[8] + payback is a bitch - (1d6)[2] strength
hide - (1d20-9)[4]

arrow - (1d20+8)[13]
damage - (1d8+3)[6]
hide - (1d20-9)[3]

arrow - (1d20+8)[17]
damage - (1d8+3)[8]
hide - (1d20-9)[-5]

three shots at most, less if it seems they'll make a move at me

[Sallera]

The source of the first arrow goes unnoticed in the melee, and it strikes home, but the second reveals Grimmgang's position, and the blackscale runs toward him as soon as it has driven off the girallon. It arrives too late to catch him, however, and after some fruitless searching for the vanished dwarf, returns to the temple to resume its duties.

[TheFallenOne]

Spoiler

editing a bit and moving my camp-arrival post to get the continuity right again

The setting sun was barely visible through the thick canopy of the forest when Grimmgang catched up to the rest of the group. Weary from a long and hard day, he sighed and put his backpack down, unreeling his bedroll. But oddly enough, despite his frown and usual demeanor, he seemed more at peace now than on their long travel. Maybe because he was back to something he was familiar with, or maybe because their cooperation in battle gave him a regard for his unusual companions he didn't feel before.
I think I threw them off if the pursue us, but we'll need guards never the less", he said, sitting down. "We did very well today, but tomorrow will be tough. We lost the surprise and they'll fortify their position. I assume they don't have enough force left to easily overwhelm us in open combat though, otherwise they'd have made another sortie before we left."
He paused for a while, staring into the distance. "Tomorrow will be another day of death, blood and pain. Not that any of us here expected anything else when we signed up for this. That's the life of a mercenary."

"But at least freeing the caged beast went better than we could expect. It engaged a patrol of two blackscales, killing one before retreating into the jungle. The other was wounded, but healed inside the temple. Seems they have some priests."

[FuryOfMetal]

Spoiler

Flawless edit indeed. Reading my camp post, it doesn'tread well when spliced in. Pretend this comes after that. Also Tek, I guess we'll both take watch and combine our collective pitiful senses.

Returning from the brief engagement, Trunk flies down into camp and transforms for the last time today. That did go well. I saw you getting revenge on that Blackscale, I hope they remember that. With this Trunk begins methodically walking around camp in slowly widening and then constricting circles, so as to cover as much ground as possible.

[TheFallenOne]

Grimmgang watched Trunks movements, not sure what they were supposed to accomplish, but decided with a grunt not to comment on it.
"Trunk, you know these tribes, what more can you tell us of them? They seem to have dragonblood among them - that strange creature with the spear and the wings of those two blackscales, you know what I mean. What's up with that? It seems we're dealing with more than just lizards."

[FuryOfMetal]

You say that, but I've only really had extensive contact with the more diplomatic tribes. Though I often believe they've only become more civilized by our standards because they're vastly outnumbered. I've only ever met personally with the Blackscales and that didn't go so well, as I'm sure you can imagine. Me and my brother, Grasshide, were working out of Adderport on behalf of one of the houses. This particular tribe of 'scales were encroaching upon the coastline where the jungle bordered onto the water. As they began to gain territory there they were attacking smaller ships. If they were to increase in numbers then the larger companies would have to hire more protection. So we were asked to nip it in the bud and try and talk to them.

Needless to say it failed. We managed to gain audience with their chief, a brute of a lizard if ever I saw one. He must've had the bulk of that dragon-blooded lizard we just fought, though lacking the extra legs. Apparently we insulted him and his tribe asking them not to attack the ships of our associates when this was their land. Ancestrally it might belong to them but they can atleast keep to their own space. Trunk pauses slightly and recoils from nothing. Sorry friend, though my creator was independant it seems of Cannith, there is a certain arrogance of the humans that cannot help but seep into you during creation.

I don't know the origins of that four legged dragon they had with them. I hope they aren't breeding perverted abominations in that temple, hopefully not with the influence of that demon we were told about. As for those lizards with wings? I've never heard of such a phenomenom. I mainly survive with my brothers on our own near Adderport, only trading for items we need, which are few, and then coming out to perform tasks for the worthies of Q'Barra in the name of this fine nation. But maybe Daiya will know something about these strange winged lizards? She seems to know many things with her senses.

[TheFallenOne]

"I doubt they breed dragon creatures. That one seemed to be a leader, likely his draconic heritage gives him authority. The blackscales and poison dusks on the other hand seem to be the grunts, I don't think it's a coincidence they have huts outside the temple."
He paused for a moment, trying go understand the temples dynamics from what they had seen today. "Well, no matter. Tomorrow we'll have to wipe the rest of them out. Though we have to be careful, once they're gone another tribe may use the power vacuum to take over the temple. It's a solid and durable structure compared to what these scalesavages built themselves." Grimmgang showed a clear pride in the reknown craftsmanship and architecture of his ancestors, and a contempt for primitive races who were incapable of such feats.

[FuryOfMetal]

For the safety of Q'Barra's citizens we must scourge them from this land. I'm unsure when and what caused the Blackscales and Poisondusk to form an alliance. Maybe mutual interests or they could have been forced by whatever it is they're surrounding.

[MoleMage]

"I've never encountered their like before, though they clearly had some magical ability to them. Once I have rested I will reflect on what ways magic can be used to give us the information we need."

Daiya's voice drifts from her selected sleeping location in response to the possibility that she might know something about the dracotaurs.

[TekHed]

"Please friends, you must rest if you will keep up your strength. The light of dawn is ever-near..." Shard's binaural voice chimes from where it is sitting crosslegged, appearing almost as a shrine or statue tucked into a natural alcove of earth and roots.

Spoiler

Funny that I keep on forgetting to refer to Shard as "it" and have to keep editing my "he's"...

[TheFallenOne]

Grimmgang grunted his consent. "You're quite right, sleep deprivatio severly limits combat ability. Seen enough good and bad people die because of that.
Wake me when my shift is up." With that, the dwarf lay down to get some much-needed rest. It was almost a surprise that this rough, grumbling dwarf didn't snore; then again, as a scout any noise in that most vulnerable of times can prove fatal.

[Sallera]

The night passes uninterrupted; Grimmgang's measures against discovery seem to have been quite successful. It begins to rain a few hours before dawn, although you are sheltered from most of it by the overgrown vegetation above the dell, and the weather only grows wetter as the night progresses; it is a grey and misty dawn you wake to, muffled by the constant sound of rain drumming on the leaves above. Your prisoner is awake well before most of you, eyeing you with clear distaste but quite incapable of doing anything about it.

[FuryOfMetal]

Walking past on his rounds, Trunk mutters in draconic to their captive <I'd say don't try anything but you're hardly capable right now are you. You wouldn't be a prisoner here and we wouldn't be forced to slay your tribsemen if you'd all stop whatever it is you're up to and make or accept diplomatic approaches from Q'Barra. We're a very tolerant folk.> Visually checking the lizards bindings and gag, Trunk moves on again. He would manually check them and tighten them but he might inadvertently tamper with any of Grimmgangs fine work.