The Lost Vault of Tsathzar Rho #2
Setting: Homeworld, July 8, Year 1
Characters:
Anya’drea: You love to talk, to anyone, about
anything. But you prefer to talk about magic, and just how great a wizard you
plan on becoming someday. If nobody will listen to you, you'll even talk to
yourself, just to break the silence. However, you refuse to answer yourself.
That's where you draw the line.
You have been a wizard's
apprentice for nearly two years now. Nerenethos hasn't taught you much, yet.
But any day now you'll be wielding mighty incantations. You hope. Actually, you
spend most of your time cooking meals, sweeping the tower, and washing
laboratory glassware. Perhaps he doesn't recognize your limitless potential for
the arcane arts. Or worse, he just wants a servant he doesn't need to pay. When
he left town, he didn't even trust you to stay at his tower. He locked all the
doors, and protected them with magical wards. Sheesh!
Becarus Delaurentis Corbin:
Your full
name is Becarus Delaurentis Corbin, but everybody calls you Bec. You are a
simple farm boy in a six-foot-six-inch, 250-pound frame! You are not the
sharpest tool in the shed, and you lack basic social skills and etiquette. But
what you lack you make up for in brute strength and endurance. If there is
heavy labor or a menial task to be done, you are the man. Tasks that require
finesse and dexterity, on the other hand, aren't your forte; you often break
tools with your gnarled powerful hands. Such duties are best left to others.
Your papa once asked you to shear a sheep, and the poor creature needed to be
put down shortly thereafter! Ever since, you shy away from such delicate
creatures.
Shortly after your 18th
birthday, you joined the local militia. You enjoy taking orders, and have no
desire to climb the ranks of leadership. Although not very skilled at wielding
many weapons besides your spear, you make up for formal training with the
strength of a bull. The militia taught you the basics of wearing and caring for
armor, but you disdain most forms of armor. They are always tight in the chest
and arms, and downright uncomfortable.
You are boisterous, but prefer
to use short sentences and simple words. Other folks often confuse you with
fancy words and such. Often you feign understanding, and do your own thing
anyway. One flex of a powerful arm, and they tend to leave you be. You are
naive and trusting, and quite shy around pretty women.
Bowen: The son of a herder, you actually reside outside the town
of
You are a quiet individual, and
speak in a low monotone voice. You are awkward in town and around other people;
you prefer sleeping under the stars in the company of animals. This gruff
attitude tends to rub people the wrong way, but you mean them no harm or
disrespect.
Camthalion
Lord Casimir La Frond: As a respected member of the La Frond family, you bear the
finest equipment, and keep it impeccably clean. One must not only bring evil to
justice, but look dashing in the process. You hope to get by on your combat
prowess, town knowledge, and good looks alone, and hope to not have to pull any
family favors. Still, Mother insisted you bring a potion capable of healing
your wounds. You'll try your best no to let anyone see you consume it (if it's
even needed), so they don't sense any weakness in their fearless leader.
Mischa: You are an elven adept called the Witch of the Wood by
many ignorant townsfolk. They clearly fear your divine connection with nature,
which suits you fine. You are introverted, and prefer to be left alone to
obtain an inner peace with nature. That inner peace has been interrupted by the
arrival of the ogre years ago.
You are mysterious and aloof, if
not downright haughty at times. Years of self-imposed exile have given you a
dour, pessimistic view on most situations. You hide in voluminous robes and
speak in Elven, unless you must converse with others. In addition to wielding
divine spells to aid nature's children, you are quite adept at wilderness lore.
You can track a fox through a rainstorm, and can mix herbs to create healing
salves.
Newt: Your father was a locksmith, and he demanded you follow
in his footsteps. But frankly, locksmithing is quite boring. So you left home
to travel and discover what you wanted to do with your life. During that time,
you've had many jobs, including court jester, manure shoveler, and short order
cook (pun intended), to name but a few. Finally, you discovered a skill you
enjoy: alchemy. It's dangerous (you've singed many an eyebrow), profitable, and
yields fascinating items that make everyday life easier. Besides, you have
other useful skills, such as sneaking (long story), and you still know the
innards of most locks. You prefer to hang back and avoid the close combat. A
gnome like you could get stepped on. Instead, you focus on tossing alchemical goodies
into the fray, or using your crossbow.
You speak very fast, and have a
habit of rubbing your hands together. You are fascinated by magic and those who
wield it, but believe alchemy can achieve similar results. You have many
alchemical ideas you wish to explore, and carry a small notebook in case
inspiration hits you on the road.
Date: Friday,
July 8, 1
Location:
"Yahtzee!", says Casimir with
a triumphant shout, for apparently no good reason!
Bowen offers a tight-lipped smile at the young nobleman's
exclaimation. Some things carry over from childhood to manhood, it would seem.
And the young trapper is sure that he his compainions have left their
childhood, for good or ill.
"I wonder if we are
to leave our homes behind as well?" Bowen says,
quietly.
You are told the trip will take about 7 days, and haste must be
made. The traveler has already been away
from his village for over a week.
Casimir will purchase
provisions for the trip unless there will be towns along the way. he is ready to leave at a moment's notice.
There are no towns, but there should be game along the way and Mischa
will be casting Goodberry. Casimir
already has 9 rations.
As Mischa has already
purchased her supplies, she will await the group departure on the outskirts of
town with Scar.
Bec, leaving all but 15 gold pieces with his family, will
pick up 7 days of rations from the general store. Then he will meet the group
near the edge of town.
Bowen is also packed and ready to go and will wait with
Micha and her companion.
You
have seven days of uneventful travel through the countryside. Through Mischa’s castings of Goodberry and
some foraging, you are able to save all your rations and come upon your
destination with full waterskins.
You
arrive among the farms of Hadler’s Gap, a small frontier hamlet (more a
collection of buildings) set between two steep hills, with a trade road running
right through town, very late in the evening of the 6th day of
travel. The “town” consists of one inn,
a mill set along a fast-running creek, a farrier’s and carter’s shop, an
herbalist’s apothecary shop, a blacksmithy, and a barn that acts as a community
gathering place, social center, or local market every ten days or so. You are told on the trip up that, in total,
the surrounding farmers, families, and locals who live alone in the woods total
about 90 spread over a 3 mile radius.
You
are met by several folk from the village who share many tales of strange
behaviors and stranger physical changes to the local wildlife, including once
peaceful kobolds and an ogre in the nearby hills. The locals know of the cave where the ogre,
kobolds, dire rats and other creatures live.
One farmer mentions that the Ogre, named Logbrag, killed Parkad the
Furrier, and that, “that man always walked around with more money on him than
sense in him.” The locals ask that you
kill any creatures that now threaten the hamlet. You are made welcome for the
night.
The
next morning, the blue grasses on the Urkallan Hills glowed brightly in the
east as the sun rose behind them. Unfortunately that was the brightest part of
your day as the sun quickly hid behind a heavy cloud cover that began spitting
rain by mid-morning. The mountain among
the hills looms before youand darkens your path. While the rest of the sky is the neutral
slate grey of rain, the clouds over the hills and especially around the
mountain hold a dark purplish tint. They
seem to swirl and eddy against the direction of the wind.
Along
the way, farmers, villagers, and other locals thank you for braving the dangers
of the hills and ridding them of the ogre and kobolds raiding their farms and
trade ways. Their thanks and promises of
reward urge you eastward into the hills, as do their fearful glances at the
skies above. You’re excited and ready
for the adventure, but a few of you sense that something is definitely not
normal in the hills around you…
Lord
Casimir and Mischa both notice that “something feels wrong” about this area,
and that feeling grows the closer they draw to the hills.
You
arrive at the cave entrance….
Casimir will draw his sword with a steely eye and a look into
the dark opening ahead. "No sense in standing out in the rain risking a
lightning strike!", he proclaims with far more
confidence than he truly has. "Shall we go in?"
Bec drops two of his extra cloaks at the cave opening to get rid of
some extra weight. Going through his equipment, he decides to hold onto the
rest. Checking how secure his spear is strapped to his back and getting
comfortable with the weight of his mail, Bec draws his greatsword.
"Let's go see what's
inside."
Bowen, carrying his axe and shield at the ready, will
also light a torch to carry in his shield hand. He begins to search the inner
cave entrance for any tracks.
Bowen has no problem (15 rolled) detecting the tracks of a large
creature. Since he actually met one,
Bowen recognizes the tracks as ogrish in nature.
Area 1-1: The Ogre’s Cave
The 20-foot-wide entrance opens further into a rough
40-foot-by-50-foot cavern with a 10-foot-wide tunnel leading out of it.
Something has dwelled in this rough oval cave for
many years, as evidenced by the piles of garbage, old bones, and scattered
items found here. The floor is thick
with debris, six inches deep of bones, dirt and loose rocks along the edges of
the room. The chamber’s center holds a
crudely-dug fire pit, while a thick pile of blankets and furs lies against the
eastern wall. An iron spike driven into
a crack in the western wall by the cave’s entrance serves as a hook for a
lantern.
From the shadows on the left side of the cavern, a
grumble of a voice announces, “Logbrag strong, not weak! He not listen to
voices. NOT go with you!”
Stepping into the light you see a 9 feet tall ogre,
wearing hide armor and wielding a greatclub.
It has a wart-encrusted face and clumpy, unkempt hair. Its hide is well-muscled, but jet black in
color, while its eyes glow green.
Rancid, oozing pustules cover its back, and in a few places along the
wall you can see dried puss and blood marks.
In halting common he says, “Stand back! My body…changes…kobolds
from cave changing too….Logbrag have the strangest dreams lately….”
Mischa looking more
curious then anything else speaks to Logbrag "Logbrag, when did this
start? The changing? Is something in the cave causing
it?"
Looking at the others
"There is something wrong far deeper then just an
ogre and kobolds. Even if we eliminate this problem, we will not save this
town. We must find the root of the evil that corrupts this place. He seems
scared of what is happening to him. Maybe we can find out some of what is
happening by speaking with him. Caution is needed here,
this is not simply an ogre menacing a village."
Casimir stands confused for a second. Part of him thinks,
"this ogre is evil. All ogres are evil. I don't
care for evil. I should be doing something about this." Another voice (not
totally unlike mother) chimes in..."this creature
is sick, not in totally control of its own actions. Be patient before passing
judgement..."
Casimir backs up from the
ogre. Not out of cowardice, but rather from uncertainty of those pustules.
"Logbrag, we can help
with this changing, I think. Will you let us help?"
The ogre looks thoughtful for a moment.
He shudders, hefts his club with a resigned sigh and attacks, shrieking,
“The gods will not have my soul without a fight!”
Logbrag steps forward and swings his huge greatclub at Casimir while 10
feet way from the paladin. The blow
lands heavily but is deflected by Casimir’s breastplate.
Newt, Bowen, Anya’drea, Mischa, Bec and Casimir may
go.
Bowen will rush headlong
into the reach of the lesser giant and strike with an arching left-to-right
slice aimed at the beast's midsection.
Bowen is close enough that he can take a 5’ step and attack. Bowen’s axe misses completely (2 rolled.)
Seeing as how the Ogre
made the first attack Newt will sweep to the side and try to make a
flanking/sneak attack from the side (further than 15 feet away for safety) with
his crossbow. He will be prepared to dodge any flying puss that may squirt from
the wound he causes.
Newt has to use all of his movement this round to get into
position. As he moves the ogre swings
his club at him, but misses thanks to Newt’s special training he received as a
young gnome concerning tactics when fighting against giants.
Anya’drea makes a gesture and speaks a word and a
bolt of energy streaks from her outstretched hand into the ogre, doing 5 points
of damage, giving Logbrag a minor wound.
The sorceress regains her grip on her staff.
Bec charges at the ogre,
trying to make up for his last performance fighting one if their kind. He
attempts an overhead power attack with his sword when he closes in.
Bec is too close to charge, but can take a 5-foot-step and make the
power attack. Bec lands the blow (15 rolled)
and does 18 points of damage! The ogre
is severely wounded.
If Casimir can find room,
he will strike with his trusty sword.
Casimir steps forward and swings; a critical hit to the head (just as
the giant was leaning down). Casimir’s
blade splits the ogre’s scalp opening.
The ogre takes 19 points of damage, and while bleeding profusely, falls
to the ground with a heavy thud. Logbrag
is dead.
You each earn 150 XP.
"You all seemed to
have learned alot in our last dealings with ogres."
Giving the cavern a search you find a large masterwork heavy wooden
shield beneath the furs. It looks like
Logbrag used it to firm up his bed. It
would function as a tower shield for a human.
Two sacks tossed into a corner hold 249 gold pieces, 500 silver pieces,
100 copper pieces and a week’s worth of rancid meat and hard, moldy cheese.
Let me know who wants to grab what. There is also an exit leading from the
cavern, heading further into the hill.
"Yahtzee!", yells Casimir as he finishes the ogre with the final
blow.
The shield is far too cumbersome for Bowen to consider
using.
Bec looks with horror at the wound he delivered. He starts
wiping off the blood.
"With the spear it
was different. And practice, too. It was just practice, you know? Now, using the sword on a living thing. So much
blood..."
Once the blade is clean,
Bec looks away from the body. He shuts his eyes for a moment and when he
reopens them, he wears an expression of determination.
"Okay. Sorry about
that. Let's see what we have here."
"Let's divvy up the ill-gotten gains of this
creature, and move forward...", offers Casimir.
You each get 41gp, 83sp and 16cp, with Casimir holding the remaining
3gp, 2sp and 4cp for group treasure. I
assume nobody takes the shield, the rancid meat or moldy cheese.
Area 1-2 – The Great Cavern
You go through the 10-foot-wide, 20-foot-long exit
that opens into a wide, vaulted chamber, its ceiling almost 60 feet above
you. Stalactites and stalagmites dot the
chamber, almost turning it into a series of smaller rooms. A small pool of water in the center of the
room looks shallow but broad. The walls
and rock formations here are particularly wet.
They glisten by the light of Bowen’s torch. You could go to the pond or follow the cavern
wall to the left or right, or anything else you might think of.
Bec waits a moment to see
what his companions are thinking, but eventually just shrugs and proceeds
forward.
"I won't be
comfortable going around this pond until I get a closer look."
Holding his blade before
him, Bec walks slowly to the pond, hoping to see what lays
beneath its waters.
Casimir walks 8 ft. behind Bec, also with sword drawn. He
will try to detect evil in the pool. He whispers to Bec, "Be careful,
friend, we know not what evil this pool keeps..."
Bowen will follow the two young men and move up beside
Bec (whichever 5' space is free).
As soon as you begin entering the chamber, four tiny, thin, emaciated
creatures swoop down from the ceiling, catching you by surprise. The nasty things look like a cross between a
bat and a giant mosquito. They have
membranous bat wings, short furry bodies, eight jointed legs that end in sharp
pincers, and needle-like proboscis.
One creature attaches itself to Bowen, one to Casimir
and one to Mischa. One of the creatures
attacks Bec, but fails to attach itself.
Anya’drea, Newt, Bowen, Bec and Casimir may go.
Anya’drea casts a Magic Missile at the creature
attached to Mischa. The beast looks
clobbered by the bolt, but hangs onto Mischa.
Newt, composing himself after
getting surprised will try to move as much as he can (to get into a safer
position) before taking a shot at the creature failing to attach to Bec.
Newt’s bolt misses the creature and breaks against a stalactite (3
rolled). Newt may re-load.
Ignoring the creature before
him, Bec moves to the monster attacking Mischa and tries to knock it away from
his friend with a carefully aimed attack with his sword.
Bec’s blow completely misses (4 rolled.)
Bowen will drop his axe
and try to grab the terrifying creature and yank it off....
Bowen tries to remove the creature but it holds tight (1 rolled.)
Casimir will heroically
waive off any pain he suffers to rid Mischa of the beast she is carrying. After
all, that would the gallant thing to do, right?
"Harumph....", grunts Casimir managing the pain of his own burden
and striking out at Mischa's.
Casimir’s strike connects (13 rolled) for 9 points of damage. The creature on Mischa releases its grip and
falls to the floor with a dry-sounding *thup*.
It’s not moving.
The creature attached to Bowen jams its needle-like
nose in and starts sucking blood. Bowen
takes 1 pt. of CON damage. The creature
begins to expand, stretch and swell.
Blood oozes from its skin.
The creature still airborne attacks Bec, but in so
doing it has to fly away and then back at him.
Bec takes his attack of opportunity, and takes the thing out of the sky
(16 rolled for attack, for 12 points of damage). Bec notices that fighting among these
stalactites is difficult. All attacks
with 2-handed melee weapons are at -2.
The creature attached to Casimir jams its needle-like
nose in and starts sucking blood.
Casimir takes 2 pts. of CON damage. The creature begins to expand, stretch and
swell. Blood oozes from its skin.
Mischa, then Anya’drea, Newt, Bec, Bowen and Casimir
may go. Bowen and Casimir have creatures
attached to them.
Mischa swings her staff
at the creature on Casimir. "Scar attack"
Mischa hits (17 rolled) for 5 ponts of damage, and deals a
life-threatening blow to the creature, clobbering it.
Newt will search for a
target that he can fire at safely. (if none exist)
then it is "go time" and his mace will become a popper of bleeding
beasts.
Newt knows that firing at the creature sucking Bowen may hit his
companion, so he opts for the mace. He
draws the weapon and moves in but will have to wait until next round to attack.
Bowen will continue to
attempt to pull the creature free of himself.
Bowen succeeds in wrenching the creature free.
Casimir will step over to
Bowen and help him out with his sucker.
"Be still, man, you
seem to have a bug on your neck! I'll get it for you!",
he says with mirth that belies his fear in this situation.
Seeing the beast free from Bowen, Casimir attacks it (10 rolled), but
the creature dodges the blow.
Seeing Casimir going for
Bowen's creature, Bec turns his attention, in turn, to the one attacking
Casimir. With a careful swing of his sword, he attempts to kill the bloated
monster.
As Casimir’s attacker is all over Scar, Bec attacks the creature
previously attached to Bowen (the last creature moving). Bec misses completely (2 rolled).
Anya’drea grips her staff tightly, moves in and
swings at the beastie. (15 rolled).
Anya’drea almost hits the creature but her staff bounces off one of the
impeding stalacmites.
The creature dives at Anya’drea. She swings at it and misses (9 rolled) and
the creature attaches itself to the sorceress.
Mischa swings her staff and hits the monster (16
rolled) for 5 points of damge, clobbering it.
Scar again chomps down on the flying thing and the
last one bursts in the wolf’s jaws, adding more gore to his reddened muzzle.
Everyone earns 100 XP.
"See what nature's
creatures can do when they are treated with kindness and respect. His former
life is but a fleeting shadow now."
Mischa moves over to Scar
and scratches him affectionately behind the ear.
Bec cleans the blood off his blade.
"Yeah, they can be
trained by people to fight other of nature's creatures. Not complaining about
the results, though."
Continuing on to the pool, you find it to be some 90
feet wide by 50 feet across. The water
appears normal, if not warm. Mischa
identifies it as potable.
"Let's clean
ourselves up. Scar, in particular might want to be rid of that foul ichor of
those horrible beasts". says Casimir without his
usual verve.
"I feel weak. I think
we should rest for a bit", Casimir goes on to say as he slumps to the
ground.
Bec rushes over the tired young paladin.
"That thing must have
gotten a decent amount of blood. He's exhausted. I think he could use some
sleep and a hearty meal. You think we could do that here?"
Bec looks around, looking
nervously at the stalagmites and the ominous pond.
" we may be safe to rest back in the ogre's
den. His stench should keep away any animals, and hopefully a monster or
two."
"I doubt it is safe to rest anywhere in the
vicinity. Something is causing a corruption into the very being of the world
here. Delaying here may allow it to infect us as it did the ogre and the
kobolds here. Also,although it is not life
threatening, judging from the wound it would take him days to recover. We may
be best advised to press on and be wary of our condition, then to let this
plight continue on any longer then need be."
Mischa washes the blood
from Scars muzzle as she speaks, looking into the waters depths.
Casimir stuggles his way to his feet, "I see value
in your wise opinion, student-of-nature. Let us continue!"
Bec looks skeptically at Mischa, but eventually shrugs. He
walks over to Casimir and speaks quietly with him.
"If you say you're
okay, then fine. But if you feel ill, we should stop. At least eat something
and have a drink of water. You'll feel better."
Casimir smiles at Bec and winks,
"I'll be okay, friend, but I thank you for your concern. It is good to
know that we have others to rely on in our times of need. "
Then louder to the group, "We have dallied long enough on my
account. Let us find the true path to ridding the land of this menace..."
Newt will wash his hands in the water and try to listen
intently a few feet away from the sounds of the others. He will also examine
the stalac(t)mites to see if they are safe to venture
under/between. Relying on his gnomish instincts he will try to see if he can
tell what kind of rock these are and if anything seems out of place for this
depth/region. I am ready to go when everyone else feels it is safe. Maybe I
should scout quietly ahead in the shadows as we go to check for any unwanted
company and traps?
Newt notices nothing unusual about the rocks. You could go around the pond and continue
straight or follow the cavern wall to the left or right, or anything else you
might think of.
Bowen lifts his torch
higher in a vain attempt to see further but ends up just as undecided as
before. He looks to Casimir and Bec.
"We should stick to one side. Caverns have claimed more
then a few souls in their maze-like depths. Perhaps we should trek to the left,
if we stay always to leftmost path, we will always know our way back out. Stay
close together and keep a wary eye in all directions." Mischa moves over
to the left side of the cavern and awaits the others.
Casimir hefts his sword over his shoulder and follows
Mischa to the left edge of the cavern.
It takes you almost 3 minutes before you encounter anything to
note. In a puddle of water lays a
severed length of rope. Water drips down
from above and splashes into the puddle.
Looking up, both Mischa and Newt can make out a hole in the ceiling in
the shadows of Bowen’s torchlight. It’s
over 60 feet up.
"That could be an
eventual escape route, should we ever get up there. I don't see how we are
going to get up there now...", Casimir's voice
trails off as he looks further into the cave.
"A lit'le early to worry about
that; need to find a way up first. Might want to salvage what we can of that rope, though."
The rope is little more than 3 feet long.
"No sense in keeping
that scrap. Let's be on our way to see what can be seen", Casimir puts the
big charming smile on to persuade the others to travel along with him...
Area 1-5: Dark Corridor
Some 40 feet further on, on the left hand side is a narrow passage
chocked with stalactites and other rock formations. To enter here you would have to proceed at
half speed and single file.
"This seems like a
natural place for an ambush. Let us prepare ourselves duly!" Casimir hefts
his shield and sword and makes for the first in line...
Bowen follows next behind Casimir, ensuring he has ample
light to (hopefully) spot any hidden enemies.
Bec lets everyone pass before taking up the rear. As he
walks, he casually checks the room he has to swing.
I’ll assume the rest of the order as follows: Casimir, Bowen, Mischa,
Anya’drea, Newt, Bec.
Bec discovers that the confines cause him to suffer a -2 to his attack
rolls, much like everywhere else down here due to the stalagmites.
You proceed slowly for about 2 minutes, in almost
claustrophobic conditions. The passage
opens up somewhat, but due to the rock formations, you are still forced to
travel single file for the most part, although the occasional spot opens wide
enough for 2 abreast.
Mischa calls for a stop. She has spotted something. 30 feet ahead, on the ceiling, one of the
stalactites seems to break apart, revealing itself to be a creature that
resembles a small squid or octopus, with a stonelike shell covering its body
and a tough membrane stretched between its unfolding tentacles.
We are in initiative.
Mischa, Bec and Newt may go.
Newt will fire up at the
creature then try to maneuver to safety using the rocks for cover and getting
ready to dodge any tentacles.
Newt’s crossbow bolt strikes its target but fails to penetrate its
natural armor (11 rolled). The bolt breaks when it falls.
Mischa will draw her bow
and fire on the creature after dropping her quarterstaff too the ground.
"Scar, Attack!"
Mischa’s arrow misses completely (5 rolled), but she sees where it
lands. Scar moves forward, picking his
way between holes, stalagmites and puddles and snarls and leaps at the
creature, some 20 feet above him on the ceiling.
Anya’drea drops her staff as well, pulls her sling
and loads it.
Just waiting for Bec before the creature goes.
Bec will attempt to squeeze
through to the front to take a power attack at this creature with his sword. If
he cannot, he hold his action and wait until he can
get an opening.
The creature is 20 feet up on the ceiling so I have Bec holding.
Casimir will hold his
action until the tentacles are in range of a sword attack. He designates the
creature as the one he is dodging (per the feat).
The creature leaves its location and resumes a position just above
Anya’drea. An inky darkness spills out
from it, shrouding everyone in shadows.
Casimir, Bowen, Bec, Newt, Scar, Mischa and Anya’drea
may go. The creature is still 20 feet up
on the ceiling, right above several of you, and the darkness will cause a 20%
miss chance to hit the monster.
Mischa will attempt to
shoot at the creature again, and will leave Scar with his current command.
Mischa’s arrow strikes its target but fails to penetrate its natural
armor (10 rolled to hit, 53 miss chance). The arrow breaks
when it falls.
Scar stands snarling below the creature.
Anya’drea points her finger at the thing and a magic
missile strikes it for 4 points of damage.
It seems clobbered.
Casimir will attempt to hit any tentacles that seem to be
getting close...
(posting for Newt) Newt reloads from his
position in cover and fires at the monster.
Newt would have sworn the bolt was on target (14 rolled) but missed in
the shadows (9 miss chance). The bolt
clatters back to the stones.
(Posting for Bowen) Bowen readies his axe for the creature should it come down from above.
The creature suddenly plummets down straight on top
of Anya’drea. Bec slashes at it with his
greatsword, but misses completely (4 rolled, 56 miss chance).
Casimir swings as well, but his sword slides off the creatures rubbery skin (11 rolled, 90 miss chance).
Bowen’s axe whistles through the air (1 rolled, 68
miss chance), Bowen fails to recover and trips. He loses his footing and falls prone. He is able to regain his feet.
The monster lands on Anya’drea,
doing 7 points of damage, clobbering the sorceress. The creature tries to wrap its tentacles
about Anya’drea’s head, but fails and falls to the ground.
Scar moves to attack the monster, but falls in the
darkness. The wolf gets back up but
cannot advance this round.
Mischa, Anya’drea, Newt, Bec, Casimir and Bowen may go. The creature is now on the ground.
Mischa moves over to
Anya'drea and casts (defensively if needed) Cure Light Wounds. Scar will keep
his current command.
Anya’drea is healed completely by Mischa’s spell.
Bec is pulled off balance by
his wild swing. Finding his footing, he steps forward with another powerful
power attack, hoping to cleave through the creature's hard shell.
Bec’s attack (13 rolled) misses due to the shadows (9 miss chance).
Bowen will try to close
in order to swing at the creature. If he isn't able he will continue to hold,
or even better, ready an attack should the creature come into range.
The creature is at Bowen’s feet so his attack (20 rolled, 19 to
confirm, 25 miss chance) scores a critical hit.
Bowen’s axe slices deeply into one of the creatures
tentacles, very near the body, for 21 points of damage, instantly killing it. The darkness subsides.
Everybody earns 50 XP.
Area 1-6: Treasure Cache
Proceeding on you spend a little over a minute picking your way carefully
through the cavern. Once again the
cavern narrows to a 10-foot-wide choke point, and then opens up into a wide,
low cavern. As the cavern turns to the
left you see that it becomes increasingly cramped and low, with barely enough
space for a human to crawl into; and crawling will be the only way you can
explore this area. What do you do?
"It seems that the only way to advance is to crawl. I’m not
excited about that one bit. If something were to happen in there, how would we
defend ourselves? Perhaps we should visit more of the cavern?",
Casimir looks at the group for help.
Bec looks at the small passage, then
examines his own wide shoulders.
"Uh...yeah, let's go
look around. No reason to make things more unpleasant than they have to be,
right? If there's nothing anywhere else, we can always come back."
Bec point backs at the
pond.
"Maybe we should go
around the other side of the water."
There
is still unexplored area following the wall.
While you have certainly not walked through the central area of this
very large cavern, at various points Mischa and Newt can catch sight of the
water in the distant shadows of the torchlight,
farther than any human eye can see. You
find another passageway out of the cavern.
Following it (this one is 10 feet wide, if irregular) you see that it
drops 10 feet before continuing on. Do
you proceed?
"Only a small drop, let's see where this one goes."
"Indeed, let’s leave no area unchecked, and as we are here
it would be foolish to leave, only to return later."
Bec looks at the small drop.
"Yeah, let's check
out over here. Newt, you wanna check it out?"
"Newt, use your stature to your advantage and inform us as
what to expect!", Casimir states with a grin.
Area
1-3: The Beetle Cavern
(posted for Newt) Newt
cautiously climbs down and asks you to hand down his crossbow. He moves as
carefully and quietly as possible to the edge of the light. He disappears behind a stalagmite for a
moment and then comes back, not running, but moving his arms excitedly. Climbing back up he
reports that the cavern is chocked with stalagmites and puddles, making
movement difficult. Ahead are three fire beetle, similar to those you encountered in
Skulltop Hillock, except that he glowing gems on their bodies resemble tiny
human skulls. They did not seem to
notice the gnome.
"Skulls are often a mark of evil,
I don't think these beetles are natural."
I would rather hold off forcing confrontation till a last
resort. We will all probably not be able to sneak around them down there. But i
will leave the decision to the group though my vote is to keep exploring making
mental notes of problematic areas.
Bec nods.
"I think that's a
good idea. Why go looking for fights, especially when I doubt those beetles
you're talking about are behind all this. Let's go check the rest of the cavern
first."
You continue your circuit until you
come back to the main entrance.
The only areas to explore are the pond itself, the hole in the ceiling,
the very low cavern or the fire beetle passage.
"'Tis too bad that we can't work that arcanist's ring to
get the hole..."
"Perhaps now is a good time to further investigate the
beetles. If they are indeed unnatural then that may very well be the direction
we should head, as the monsters in this area are indeed being corrupted by
something unnatural."
Bec looks back at the drop where the beetles are located.
"Should we charge in
and take 'em out by surprise, then? Or should we let Newt sneak ahead, like
before."
Newt looks at the big man... sure send the gnome in as bait.
Newt smiles jokingly. I may be able to sneak past and get position for some
sneak attacks on the beets if you guys want to come down and get ready for an
assault. I know some of you are not very quiet when you walk or move. Newt
looks pointedly at the fearless leader and Bec.
Casimir lifts his eyebrow. He smiles. he
draws his sword.
"What did you have in
mind?", he questions.
Bec smiles at the gnome.
"Bait?
No, not at all. I just want to allow you to be where
you want to be before I go in and muck it up. If you want me to handle it, I'll
be more than happy."
Bec lifts his blade
enthusiastically.
Hi
all. I’m not sure what plan Newt had in
mind, but if somebody else would like to post a plan of action we can
continue.
"Why don't we move in together, should any of us be spotted
alone, it would be far worse then if we are all spotted together.
Unnatural or not, animals have instincts, and if these are already predisposed
to be agressive, instincts will tend to be violent."
Mischa scratches Scar behind the ear absent mindedly as she speaks.
"I like Mischa's plan. Let's go!",
Casimir states as he strides toward the entrance with his sword drawn.
Casimir looks around as he moves toward the 10 foot drop.
"I could use some light here!" He sheathes his sword and begins to
climb down the 10 foot descent...
Mischa moves forward so the light from her pendant illuminates
the path.
When Casimir reaches the bottom of the drop and readies himself, Bec
will sheath his sword, climb down, then redraw his
blade.
You
all make it down the ledge without a problem.
Advancing forward you see the beetles…and they
see you. Mischa’s assumption proves to
be correct as the creatures move to attack you.
We
are in initiative. Anya’drea, Casimir
and Mischa may go.
Casimir draws his sword (if he has room, otherwise the mace) and
attempts to crush the approaching beetle. If possible, he will get out in front
to form a sort of loggerhead.
He grins with grim
intention, knowing that the battle must be fought, wishing that it didn't have
to be.
Casimir’s
blade slices the beetle open (18 rolled) doing 8 points of damage. As it falls it emits a horrible stench.
Anya’drea
drops her staff and loads her sling.
Mischa moves forward staff at the ready. "Scar
attack." She say with a final gentle pat of the
head.
Mischa’s
staff gets fouled on one of the stalagmites, causing her to miss the beetle (16
rolled, -2 to 2-hand weapon attacks).
One
of the beetles bites at Mischa, but she moves away
from the attack.
The
other attacks Casimir but hits the paladin’s breastplate.
Bowen,
Scar, Bec, Newt, Anya’drea, Casimir and Mischa may go.
Scar attacks at whatever beetle he can get at, preferably the
one that attacked Mischa. Mischa will drop her staff to the ground and draw her
sickle and attempt to swing at the beetle with a more maneuverable weapon.
Bowen will attempt to move in closer, so that he can bring his
battleaxe down upon a beetle's scaly hide.
Bowen’s
axe comes down on the beetle attacking Mischa (18 rolled) for 11 points of
damage. Again the foul smell is released
as Bowen’s axe cleaves into the bug’s carapace.
If he can, Bec will close with the beetle attacking Mischa and slice
through its hide with with a carefully aimed hack. If not, Bec will close with
any of the beetles he can reach and attack.
Scar
bites down on the beetle attacking Casimir but fails to penetrate its natural
armor (9 rolled.)
Bec’s
blow (13 rolled) comes down heavily on the last beetle for 15 points of damage,
cutting the insect in half. Again the
stench wafts over you. You each earn 150
XP.
Area
1-4: Parts Unknown
You
press ahead and after a minute or so the cavern opens quite a bit. The floor of this large cavern is thick with
dust and the air is stale and musty. The
floor slopes downwards at the far end.
Another beetle takes notice and moves quickly toward you. The beetle is about 40 feet away.
We
are in initiative once more: Newt, Anya’drea, Mischa, Casimir, Bowen, Bec and
Scar may go
Bec will charge forward and unleash an attack, if possible. He hopes
to take this thing out before it can hurt anyone.
Anya’drea
loses a sling stone at the beetle. (1
rolled) Her sling flies out of her hand
and lands 10 feet to the right and behind her.
With an embarrassed cough, she regains her grip
on her staff.
Bowen will also charge the beetle, else double move to get
within range and attack next round if needed.
Mischa will attack with her staff if possible and command Scar
too attack.
Casimir draws his blade and closes for the attack. Once in
range, he will strike down his foe.
Newt fires his crossbow and will move out to the side after his
shot to allow the hand to hand and animals to attack.
Newt’s
crossbow bolt connects with its target, but breaks on its shell (7 rolled,
failed to beat penetrate natural armor).
Mischa
moves forward and hits the beetle (17 rolled) for 2 points of damage,
moderately wounding and clobbering the bug.
Casimir
advances and cuts into the beetle (17 rolled) for 4 points of damage. There is
the now familiar awful smell, and it stops moving.
Two
more beetles move in from a previously unseen location to your left.
One moves to Mischa and bites at her, doing 7 points of damage,
moderately wounding and clobbering the elf.
The
other attacks Casimir but misses completely.
As
Bowen, Bec and Scar didn’t get their attacks, I had them holding.
Bowen
cuts into the beetle attacking Mischa (19 rolled) for 7 points of damage. He pulls his axe free, and with it comes the
stench.
Bec’s
attack is fouled by a stalagmite, causing him to just miss the beetle (7
rolled).
Scar’s
attack also completely misses (5 rolled).
Newt,
Anya’drea, Mischa and Casimir may go.
There is only 1 beetle left.
Mischa is clobbered.
Casimir will step into the path of the beetle and Mischa. he will attack if possible.
Those
listed were actually holding this round (there was a 1 round delay between
attacks) so Casimir unholds and slices deeply into the beetle (15 rolled) for 6
points of damage, dropping the insect.
No others appear in the area.
Mischa
rests for about 7 minutes and heals from her reserves.
Everyone
earns 150 XP.
"Yahtzee!"
"Shall we continue on? I daresay we seem to be on the right
path, the villagers said the kobolds and ogre were more violent then usual,
much like these beetles. Seems to be a running theme."
Mischa
rises from where she was sitting and picks up her staff.
"Let us press on
before the very ground becomes violent from this taint."
Bec walks over to Mischa.
"Sounds
good to me, as long as you feel okay."
Bec steps towards the
front of the group.
"I always seem so
slow to react. I might as well be near the front so we can prevent Mischa
catching so much abuse. At least I can shield some of the less armored from
harm, right?" he says to the party.
"I will walk with you, valiant friend", Casimir pats
Bec on the back as he steps toward the lead.
Bowen follows close behind, if quietly.
It
takes seven minutes just to walk around this large cavern, let alone search
it. You find nothing else of interest and
no other passages out. Other than the
daunting task of thoroughly searching very large caverns, the only unexplored
areas are the pond itself, the hole in the ceiling and the cavern that gets
very small indeed.
Bec looks at his companions.
"Let's go check the
pond. See if there's something in the water making everything kinda screwy. One
time I drank from this stagnant pond while I was playing with my brother and...welll...it wouldn't be polite to describe what happened to
me. It was gross, though. Maybe these creatures and ogres and stuff, well,
maybe they've been drinking bad water."
"That could be it. Stagnant water never does any good,
though this must be really nasty water to cause the ogre's illness.
"I concur, but let's be wary. Draw
your weapons before approaching the water, lest we be surprised from
within." Casimir looks at Mischa, "Nature's friend, can you tell if
the water be potable?"
"Indeed it is. While not the freshest water, it is
fine."
Casimir approaches the water with weapon drawn. He looks into
the pool to see what is to be seen.
The
pool is broad but shallow. Nothing can
be seen from the edge.
Well maybe we could tie off to something or someone in case the
way gets slippery or the pond gets deeper just out of view. If you guys want I
can search the pond to see if it holds any secrets. Newt rubs his hands
together vigorously, smiling as he does so.
Bec grabs a rock from the ground and looks to the group.
"Maybe I could throw
this in there? See if it disturbs something?"
Bowen brandishes his axe and takes a few steps away from the
others, staring intently into the pool. " I'm not
sure if we are going to find anythin' in the muck, but please, let's give it a
look. And Bec has the idea; let's throw a stone in before the gnome."
The
rock splashes into the water. Other than
the expected ripples, nothing else happens.
"I really do think it is but a pool of water."
Which leaves the hole in the ceiling and the cavern
that gets very small indeed.
Bec eyes the water, then turns away shrugging.
"I guess we should
check out the spot where the passageway gets small. Kinda tight conditions for
me, but what else can we do?"
"Aye, that would be best as I know little of flying so,
that hole seems a mite out of reach."
Area 1-6: Treasure Cache
You
make your way back to the small caevrn
Once again the cavern narrows to a 10-foot-wide choke point, and then
opens up into a wide, low cavern. As the
cavern turns to the left you see that it becomes increasingly cramped and low,
with barely enough space for a human to crawl into; and crawling will be the
only way you can explore this area. What
do you do?
"Before one can learn to walk, one must learn to crawl. Who
shall proceed first?"
" It might be smarter to let Newt lead us,
for he can sense trouble ahead, and move around a bit easier."
Bec nods, agreeing with that logic.
"I'll follow
him."
The large man sheathes his
greatsword and pulls a dagger, which looks tiny in his hand.
You
begin crawling into the area. Newt
suddenly stops. He sees, in the middle
of the far wall and tucked into a small hollow carved into the floor, a wooden
chest. Only the top of the chest is
visible above the floor. The ceiling
here is just tall enough to allow the chest to open. The chest shows signs of recent disturbance. There are scratches on the lock and tiny
handprints in the dust covering the chest.
"Newt, please check that very carefully. This is ripe for a
trap, we would all be helpless to protect
ourselves."
Newt
determines the chest is not trapped, and also confirms that it is locked.
Pulling out his trusty picks newt smiles just a bit at the task
ahead of him. I am going to try to open this chest it doesn't appear to be
trapped but if you wish to scoot back just a bit I can make sure that IF
anything should happen it will only happen to me.
Bec backs up slightly but keeps his dagger at the ready.
It
takes Newt two rounds to unlock the chest.
As soon as he opens it, four tiny, crude, humanoid dolls fashioned from
wood climb out of the chest to attack.
Anya’drea,
Mischa, Bowen, Casimir and Newt may go first in initiative order. As Anya’drea is a fair ways back and has no
line of sight, she will hold.
Is there room for Bowen to get around Bec and Newt in order to
attack one of the animated dolls? If so, he will. If not, he too will have to
hold.
Assuming Casimir can get to the front, he will do so. If not, he
will hold until such time as he can help.
"We need to back up to get out of here, so we have room to
fight."
Mischa begins trying to back up so that they can get into a better area to
fight.
Mischa
slowly begins backing out of the tight space.
Bowen
and Casimir need to spend an entire round crawling into position to attack the
dolls. They may attack next turn.
(posted for Newt).
Newt pulls his heavy mace and swings at a doll (1 rolled). He critically misses but is able to recover
(15 rolled)
Each
of the dolls attack Newt. 3 of the tiny dolls miss completely, but one
tiny little fist is deflected at the last minute by an invisible force around
Newt.
Bec,
Mischa, Bowen, Casimir and Newt may go in order.
Mischa continues backing out of the crawl space hoping the
others will follow suit, as the space is far too tiny to fight in effectively.
Bec backs out as well, feeling the small crawl space is too tight
for an encounter so creepy.
Bowen attempts to distract the dolls by attacking one of them as
best he can.
Even
prone Bowen hits the doll (16 rolled), but his axe blade skims off the wood of
the doll, doing no damage.
Casimir
and Newt are up.
Casimir will attack with his mace. This may involve pulling it
out, as he didn't have it out. If this is deemed to be impossible, he will back
out of the space as well...
Casimir
rolls a critical miss (1 rolled) and fails to recover(7
rolled). He ends up awkwardly catching
the mace between himself and the floor and does 6 points of damage to himself,
a mild wound.
Newt
attacks again, but misses due to the difficulty of the fighting conditions (14
rolled).
The
dolls again concentrate their attacks on Newt.
Newt dodges one blow, 2 tiny fists hit his chain shirt, and the fourth
misses completely.
Bec,
Mischa, Bowen, Casimir and Newt may go in order.
Mischa continues backing out of the hole and encouraging the
others to do likewise.
Bowen begins to back up, seeing that the group does not seem to
be making any headway against the animations in such a cramped position.
Casimir winces from the blow. "Hrrrhhaaa.
What is this good for?", he wonders aloud as he
strikes at the nearest creature to himself. He then take
a 5 foot step back.
Casimir
connects with the doll (17 rolled) but, due to the awkwardness of the situation
and the doll’s wooden body, deals no damage.
There is no way to take a 5’ step but Casimir crawls backward 5’.
Hearing the scream behind him. Newt gets startled. Newt will take the
time to try to back up withdrawing carefully as to not provoke the animations
to attack. (if possible)
As
everyone has backed away, the dolls climb back into the chest and close the
lid.
Still tense, even with the withdraw of the dolls, Bowen continues to hold his battle axe tightly before
him.
"My axe didn't even
scratch one, and I'm sure I hit it well. A number of the family stories I heard
around the hearth growing up claim this axe is magical. But if it cannot damage
them.... maybe we could burn them...?" Bowen trails off, apparently lost
in thought.
"Of course, I guess
we don't have to fight them at all."
Casimir eyes Newt, waiting for the inevitable response....
"Perhaps that chest
contains a valuable clue as to how we can stop the taint from spreading?", Casimir questions, showing the inquisitiveness of
his 16 years. "Maybe, we just need a better plan..."
"Perhaps for now it would be best to bypass the little
toys, and come back to them when we have a more suitable way to deal with them."
Mischa looks around for a
rock that might be large enough to hold the lid down so the dolls might not
free themselves.
Of
course, you have no other areas to explore, save for that hole in the ceiling.
Newt just smiles as his name is mentioned. We can pull the box
out here and try again. I think there is something magical about those dolls.
They weren't hurting me but I felt like maybe something invisible was
protecting me. Do you guys have any suggestions? Perhaps we can look in the
chest while the dolls are out attacking? I say we continue with this before
breaking our necks climbing something too high.
"Perhaps they can'ot hurt us at all, and are there merely
to distract and force us back. Whoever placed them there, then, might not have
been evil at all. Though with this taint they might be
violent now."
Bec puts his dagger away and nods.
"I'll go grab the
box."
The large young man starts
crawling into the narrowing passage, intent on getting to the unusual chest.
It
takes Bec a minute to crawl to the chest.
Bec leans his weight on the top of the chest to keep it from
opening. Then, slowly increasing his pressure, he tries to push the chest back
down the narrow passage.
Apparently
Bec didn’t get close enough last time to notice “tucked into a small hollow
carved into the floor, a wooden chest.
Only the top of the chest is visible above the floor. The ceiling here is just tall enough to allow
the chest to open.”
Bec attempts to find a way to extract the chest despite the
impossibility of it. Frustrated, he pops open the top of the chest.
"Bec, just look to see what's
inside the chest, if you can. Ignore the homunculi, *ahem* dolls, when they strike you!", Casimir says down the hallway. He stands ready with
his mace, rolling it around in his hand, wondering how he caused so much damage
on himself with it. 'This is a wonderful little tool', he thinks to himself...
Once
again the tiny dolls climb out of the chest.
We are back in initiative. Bec
may go first.
Bec will try to look what else is in the chest if he can. He will
also attempt a grapple of one of the little men; basically picking it up and
securing it.
Bec
notices a pile of gold, some gems, some scrolls, 2 coils of rope and a
grappling hook.
The
doll slaps Bec’s hand away, dealing 1 point of damage and ending the grapple
attempt.
The
dolls swarm over Bec and attack. I
almost falls over, 1 misses completely, one hits Bec’s chainmail and Bec dodges
the last blow.
Newt.
Casimir, Anya’drea, Mischa, Bowen and Bec may now go in order.
Deciding that fighting the little dolls is an
futile action, he will grab the contents of the chest, ignoring the attacks to
do so. He will start with the rope, grappling hooks, and gems. After he gets
his hands on these items, he will crawl away.
All
others are holding until they post differently.
As Bec grabs the ropes, revealing a second grappling
hook in the chest. All the dolls attack him. All but one miss and Bec takes 2 points of
damage.
The
dolls attack again, 2 missing, one hitting Bec’s chainmail and 1 hitting Bec
for 1 point of damage.
Bec
grabs the grappling hooks. As he does
so, the dolls attack, 2 missing and 2 hitting his chainmail.
The
dolls attack again; 1 hits Bec for 1 point of damage, 1 trips and falls, 1
misses and Bec evades the last blow.
Bec reaches
for two gems and the dolls attack. The
first dolls hits Bec for 1 point of damage, the second gets up and misses and
the last 2 miss. Bec is mildly wounded.
The
dolls attack; The first 3 hit Bec’s chainmail while
the last one trips and falls and gets back up.
Bec
grabs two more gems; the first two dolls each hit Bec for 2 points of damage
each. Bec is moderately wounded. The second 2 attacks miss.
The
dolls attack again, 2 hitting chainmail, 1 hitting Bec for 2 points and the
last hitting him for 1 point of damage.
Bec is severely wounded at this point.
Bec
grabs the last two gems. 1 doll attacks doing 2 points of damage. The second and third each do 1 point and the
fourth misses. Bec’s injuries are
life-threatening at this point.
The
dolls attack, 3 hitting chainmail and 1 missing.
Bec
assumes a position of total defense and begins crawling back away from the
chest, leaving the gold. The dolls
attack; 3 miss and Bec evades one of the blows. The dolls climb back into the chest and close
the lid.
Bec
makes it back to the rest of the party.
Casimir crawls to Bec as soon as he can see him coming back.
"This man is hurt!", he screams back to the
rest of the party. "We need to get him some help!" With that, he
takes up a defensive position between the chest and Bec.
Bec laughs, his body covered with many small but deep bruises and
cuts.
"Well, that was one of my more stupid moves, no doubt about it. Those
little things hurt more than I thought they would. The good news is I got
these..."
Bec reveals the rope and
grappling hooks, then the gems he grabbed.
"...and
these, as well. Maybe not worth the pain, but I got 'em now, so no use
regretting it."
By
resting for 17 minutes, Bec will recover his hit points from his reserves, as
will Casimir. During this time, about 7
minutes in, so Bec still has 10 points of damage, Bowen’s torch burns out (but you still
have light from Mischa’s Everburning bauble.)
Suddenly,
there is a squeaking noise as 4 dire rats approach from the area of the main
cavern. The creatures rush forward and
attack. One of the rats bites at Mischa
but hits her leather armor. One bites
Bec for 3 points of damage. Bec had
healed up to moderately wounded but is now severely
wounded again. The third rat attacks
Mischa but completely misses, while the fourth bites Scar for 3 points of
damage, mildly wounding the wolf.
Anya’drea
grabs her staff and attacks one of the rats attacking Mischa, but misses
completely (4 rolled).
Bowen,
Casimir, Newt, Scar, Mischa and Bec may go, their
actions will occur in that order unless someone readies or holds.
Mischa will take a 5' step away from the rats and towards Bec if
possible and cast Cure Light Wounds on him.
"Scar attack"
Newt will get into position to get a flank attack with his xbow
and limit the possibility of hurting his friends
With a cry, Bowen leaps forward and attacks the nearest
ambushing rodent, attempting to cleave the beast in half!
Bowen’s
attack misses (3 rolled.)
Casimir, perturbed at the break in rest, as well as this
cowardly attack in the dark, hefts his sword and strikes at the nearest rodent.
The
rat evades Casimir’s attack (8 rolled).
While
Newt can’t flank with is crossbow, he does position himself so his companions
don’t offer the rats cover, but still must subtract 4 from his to-hit roll, and
fires at the rodent attacking Scar. The bolt hits (19 to hit, 10 fails to confirm a critical) doing 3
points of damage, moderately wounding and clobbering the rat. Newt’s crossbow is now unloaded.
Scar
attacks the rat but bites high (7 rolled).
Mischa
heals Bec for 7 points. Bec is now only
moderately wounded.
(auto-posted
for Bec) Bec draws his greatsword and swings down at the rat that bit him, (8
rolled) but the rat gets out of the way.
A
rat bites Mischa for 3 points of damage, mildly wounding the elf.
Another bites Bec for 4 points.
The third misses Mischa, but th