Wastes of Shello - Group 3

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

"...Captain? Captaincaptain...captain... Was at the wheel, wheel. Wheel."

[MrScary]

Far below on the ground, Vauth frowns grimly.

When the stranger emerges from the mists, Vauth's hands instinctively grip the greataxe tighter.

Spoiler

Knowledge Local - (1d20+1)[7]
Knowledge History - (1d20+6)[25]
Knowledge Geography - (1d20+1)[4]

sorry for not posting, it was seeming like there was *nothing* for me to do, until now

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Father Tassik can almost smell the tension in the air, though he cannot blame anyone for it. He looks around and speaks up in his clear, baritone voice over the crowd, "I know of certain magics that can reveal the wicked intents of a man's heart. If it will put you all at ease, perhaps it should be used upon the newcomer." He turns back to Dak and speaks again, "If you will allow it. Though I admit denying it may be suspicious." He speaks with no arrogance, as though he's got you trapped, but speaks with just the slightest hint of sadness.

[Troub]

"Aye, you may. Though I assure ya', that I mean no harm." He said with his arms wide open, as a sign of peace towards the old man.

[MountainKing]

Aasiphan and Melbion readied their greatmaces and nodded grimly, taking to the air alongside Jerro and taking "wingman" positions. They do not voice a response to Jerro's question, only looking to one another and shaking their heads.

Garulf, however, pauses to answer.

"I suspect that they are mere predators, Jerro; horrible products of the mists. Do not seek to pursue them, if they flee. I do not wish to lose anyone else today," as the Fist speaks, his inflection reveals that, perhaps, he is taking the death toll of the day on the personal side of things, though the look in his eyes speaks plainly enough that he will not sit and talk about it right now.

[The Demented One]

"Oh, that's terribly useful." Requiem complains. "Next question, deadman. What did the captain look like? Try to keep the riddles to a bare minimum."

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

"Mmmm... blue jacket. Grey hat. B-b-b-beeeard." The corpse babbles a little before sitting silent in wait for another question.
--
"It... is true, good Kasang. But I must believe that there might be righteousness and goodness in a man's heart. It seems proof enough that in his willingness to be tested that he can be trusted, do you not agree?" The shifter smiles warmly and rests his staff on his shoulder and pets his wolf mount behind the ear.
--
Soon there are terrible sounds just out of sight due to the mist... talons hitting wood and noises now familiar as those of the predatory birds. They seem to gather in mass, some sounds of feeding can be heard, cracking of bones, ripping of muscle and spilling of blood. The flapping of wings a constant sound...
They don't seem to have landed anywhere close enough to be an instant threat but... anyone else might count themselves lucky that they are not on the same boat you are.

[Troub]

"Now that is done.. I hope ya wont mind me friend joining us." He said as he made a gesture with his hand. Slowly coming from the mist came a large brown figure. It was hard to tell at first what it was, but as it got closer. You knew it as a bear.

The beast came right up next to Dak, as Dak put his hand on it's head.

"Now, I give a question to ye... Why did ye move these people outta the safety of their walls, and in to this here wretched mist?" He asked in a somewhat angry tone.

[MountainKing]

Spoiler

...err, okay, so I take it that Aasiphan and Melbion never left the ship?

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Originally Posted by MountainKing

Spoiler

...err, okay, so I take it that Aasiphan and Melbion never left the ship?

Spoiler

Oh wait, did you make them do that? If so, then they did and I need to edit it to acknowledge such.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

OOC: Oh, I forgot to clarify; Those sounds of wood hitting talon are only heard by those on the airship. Sorry for being so unclear.

[MountainKing]

Originally Posted by Krimm_Blackleaf

Spoiler

Oh wait, did you make them do that? If so, then they did and I need to edit it to acknowledge such.

Spoiler

Yeah, here it is, from the page prior to this one: "Aasiphan and Melbion readied their greatmaces and nodded grimly, taking to the air alongside Jerro and taking "wingman" positions. They do not voice a response to Jerro's question, only looking to one another and shaking their heads."

Looks like we kind of skipped Threeshades, but his character said he'd fly patrol with the angels while we tried to figure out how to fly the ship...

[The Demented One]

Requiem heads over to the wheel, and picks out the corpse nearest matching her current interrogation subject's description. "One last question, and I will let you go. Is this him?"

[Threeshades]

Originally Posted by MountainKing

Spoiler

Yeah, here it is, from the page prior to this one: "Aasiphan and Melbion readied their greatmaces and nodded grimly, taking to the air alongside Jerro and taking "wingman" positions. They do not voice a response to Jerro's question, only looking to one another and shaking their heads."

Looks like we kind of skipped Threeshades, but his character said he'd fly patrol with the angels while we tried to figure out how to fly the ship...

Spoiler

Yep im going with them

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Spoiler

...I don't know if it was because the character was designed for it, but has anyone else noticed I have a really really hard time keeping track of Jerro?

Edited: As the angels and Jerro take flight from the ship and take their positions in the air, they notice shapes in the mist, as though they were narrowly avoiding being seen completely and they shrieked and make chittering noises as usual. The sound of their vicious talons locking onto the wood and black metal of the airship is audible to all those aboard and surrounding the ship.

Spoiler

Now tell me if I missed anything again. My Wis is around an 8.

--
The corpse doesn't even seem to look, but it's obvious it can see the other corpse Requiem holds in her hand. "Aaaaaaaahhhhyup." It seems to stiffen slightly before going limp again in Requiem's metal arm. This other corpse does seem to have a hat, blue jacket and a beard, although each of which are heavily bloodstained and withered.

[The Demented One]

Requiem nonchalantly tosses the corpse aside, and then kneels down at the fallen captain's side, quite pleased with herself for solving the ship's slight crashing conundrum. She places both of her hands, the metallic one and the shadowy one, on the captain's brow, and gives a faint grunt of effort as she reaches into the psychic remnants still clinging to the corpse, transplanting the captain's skill at the wheel into her own mind.

OOC

Spoiler

Manifesting channel talent on the captain's corpse, with the augment to gain the captain's skills. Krimm, could I get a list of what skills he had? I get to pick two.

[MountainKing]

"Jerro, they've reached the ship!" Aasiphan said, worry edging into his voice. Melbion merely plunged through the air back toward the ship, greatmace held tightly; Aasiphan followed closely.

---------

"Requiem," Garulf whispered, "We have company..." turning, the Fist prepared to tackle whatever new foe came their way, hoping that the surprise his appearance would present would be sufficient.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

For The Demented One only.

Spoiler

Profession (sailor) 6 ranks, +10 modifier
Spot 4 ranks, +6 modifier
Listen 4 ranks, +6 modifier
Use Rope 4 ranks, +4 modifier

The birds begin walking slowly along the deck, their shapes becoming barely visible in the mist on the deck. The horrible sounds of their clicking talons and their screeching and chittering. Suddenly the ship gives a big lurch but doesn't seem to fall just yet, all the birds flap their wings and seem slightly shaken by the lurch.

[Threeshades]

"They will not take the Moonbeak again.", Jerro says grinning and dashes down to attack the hindmost in the formation of the birds on the ship's deck.

Spoiler

CHAAAARGE!
Initiative: (1d20+12)[32]

Feint if necessary for sneak attack: (1d20+17)[21]

Attack: (1d20+23)[24]

Damage: (1d4+15)[16]

Sneak attack damage: (5d6)[15]

Woohoo Natural 20 on initiative and a natural 1 on the attack roll. Are we using critical miss rules?

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Spoiler

Even if we weren't you'd miss anyway.

Jerro plummets with skill onto the back of one of the beasts, but the momentum is just a bit too much and his arm misses by a wide margin, leaving the beast unharmed. There is something of a flurry of screeches and ruffling and flapping of wings as the birds all go into a panic.
The ship lurches again, and the screeching and chittering noises only get louder and more irritated. Some begin to move inward to the ship, their wings held up over their backs to make themselves seem bigger.

Spoiler

I need a Profession (sailor) check from Requiem.

[MountainKing]

Hurtling in immediately behind Jerro are the angels, eyes burning with white fire and greatmaces gripped tightly in their hands. Silently, they fell upon the enemy in a rush, the wind from their wings rustling the clothes of the long since fallen.

Meanwhile, Garulf cried out in the tongue of the heavens, beseeching Aeomon to once again empower his faithful, before turning briefly to Requiem.

"Be wary, friend. I will return!"

Spoiler

Garulf casts Divine Favor on himself, while Aasiphan and Melbion charge in with their greatmaces; they will also each be Power Attacking for 2. Also, each angel will be engaging a separate bird, neither of them attacking the same bird Jerro attacked.

Aasiphan -
Attack roll: (1d20+19)[38]
Crit Confirm: (1d20+19)[38]
Damage: (2d8+14)[27]

Melbion -
Attack roll: (1d20+19)[21]
Crit Confirm: (1d20+19)[36]
Damage: (2d8+14)[26]

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

The zealous celestials plummet toward the aberrant birds, both striking with deftness and power. The massive steel heads of the weapons crash into the monster's back and splatter small amount of blood and the monsters screech, or that's the closest noise you can associate with the noise they're actually making...
The birds then begin to swarm the three warriors, like a vicious, massive swarm. Bites, and cuts and slashes and ramming of bony ridges upon their heads into soft or tough flesh in the general struggle between them all. The noise is almost too much to handle on it's own.((Aasiphan, Melbion and Jerro take 23 damage, DR not inclusive in this.))

[MountainKing]

Spoiler

Not inclusive meaning, that these bird thingers have natural weapons that overcome DR as if they are evil, or not inclusive meaning you didn't subtract the angels' DR score from the damage?

Seeing that they were perhaps too eager to battle (perhaps!), the devas cried out with their mighty voices, angelic tongues calling down the power of Aeomon to help weaken their enemies...

Spoiler

Aasiphan is casting Holy Word, while Melbion is casting Holy Smite (the DCs are 19 and 22 respectively (though, the save for Holy Word is irrelevant, as to banish evil outsiders, the devas would have to be on their home plane).

Holy Smite damage: (5d8)[28] or (10d6)[31] if the birds are secretly evil outsiders. Note that the spell affects only evil or neutral creatures, and deals only half damage to creatures who are neither good nor evil (who are not subject to blindness regardless of save), and such creatures may save for half of the half (quarter damage).

...I'm kind of going out on a limb here. I'm hoping that the birds are evil, if they're tainted by the mists as I kind of suspect.

Garulf, for his part, launched himself into the fray as well, running a short distance before launching himself into the air for a mighty kick...

Spoiler

Okay, I'm ALSO hoping that Garulf has enough room to make a charge attack and still use Leap Attack. Feel free to crush any and all hopes in this post as you see fit. Garulf will also be Power Attacking for 2 to go with his Leap Attack.

Jump check: (1d20+22)[26]
Attack roll: (1d20+21)[37]
Crit confirm: (1d20+21)[23]
Damage: (2d8+16)[19]

Note: I didn't add movement speed bonuses to his Jump check because it's... a... controlled jump? I can modify this action if trying to do this will result in Garulf hurtling off the ship.

[Threeshades]

Jerro's dagger dances through the rows of he abberant birds.

Spoiler

Depending on how many birds there are adjacent to me i will try to hit as many of them as possible. If there are 3 or more i will spread every attack on a different creature, if theres two, i will put the first and last attack (+21 and +16) on the creature i attacked first and the second attack on the other bird. If there's only one all attacks on him.

Feints
1. (1d20+17)[34]
2. (1d20+17)[33]
3. (1d20+17)[36]

Attacks:
1. (1d20+21)[22]
2. (1d20+21)[32]
3. (1d20+16)[17]

Damage:
1. (1d4+15)[19]
2. (1d4+15)[18]
3. (1d4+15)[17]

Sneak attack:
1. (5d6)[14]
2. (5d6)[17]
3. (5d6)[21]

Let's pray im not killing myself with my own knife.

PELOR DAMMIT!

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

One of Jerro's cuts manages to slice through the skin of the creature but it hardly takes it out. The birds are in a furious flapping of their wings and the scent and smell of blood sends them into a frenzy of both bloodlust and fear. They seem to scramble without even moving, creatures so chaotic they can barely manage to contain themselves.
One of them manages, in the flurry of it all, lash out at Jerro and sinks it's twisted jaws into his shoulder, a bit of off-colored blood squirting out with a sickening slurping noise. The fey can feel the creature's long, whip-like tongue slide across his back.((9 damage))
Garulf slams his foot into the skulls of one of the monster's, apparently breaking it's crest, it screeches as blood trickles out it's mouth and broken crest. It seems to move it's head side to side as if one of it's eyes had been blinded and it attempts to flee into the crowd and the mist.
The angel unleashes his holy power upon the beasts below him, for a moment it seems as though the mist itself recoils in it's presence but soon gathers back into place. At the same time the birds all screech in unison as they take minimal damage, more a hiss of anger than that of agony.

[purepolarpanzer]

Hearing a cry through the mist, Matteo bares his prodigious teeth and growls.
If I could summon a storm freely, I could fly up there and help them. But I can't risk damaging the airship. So I'm useless down there!

[MountainKing]

Spoiler

Did Aasiphan get to cast Holy Word, then? If so, do these things have more than 12 HD? If not, they don't get a save against a laundry list of stuff (which I'll list here for quick reference, just in case):
HD = Caster level (astral devas are noted in their entry as having caster level of 12): Deafened for 1d4 rounds
HD = Caster level -1: Blinded for 2d4 rounds
HD = Caster level -5: Paralyzed for 1d10 minutes

The death effect only works on stuff with ten fewer HD than the caster has levels, so, I'm not even bothering with that... now, if any of those things have taken place, can any of us tell that they have?

...also, not to be whiny, but can I please get an answer to my DR question from earlier?

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Spoiler

Sorry about that.
They were apparently unaffected except that they seem irritated. Also, I always list damage without consideration for DR, you factor that in yourself and it's bite did not overcome your DR.

[The Demented One]

Requiem spins the wheel, using her newly-gained skill at the helm to try to put the airship back on a stable course. As she does, she stares at the neares bird-thing, her eyes glowing with psionic energy. Without a word, she projects a prophetic vision into its mind, showing it the moment of its death.

OOC

Spoiler

Profession (Sailor) Check:
(1d20+4)[12]

Manifesting recall death on the nearest bird. Will save DC 25, death on a failed save. On a success, it takes:

Damage
(5d6)[16]

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

The bird feels the sudden shock of the mental intrusion and stiffens right in place with it's jaw open, making the smallest sound. Veins bulge on it's body head and suddenly it falls off the roof and onto the deck, dead.
Though, moments after Requiem begins to try and move the ship, there's a sudden jerk of the entire ship, everyone not flying nearly falling off heir feet. There's a terrible creaking noise as the ship begins tipping forward and you all notice the ring of air keeping it up suddenly dissipates and a massive air elemental appears on deck and begins smashing it's arms into birds left and right.
The ship simply plummets.