[4e] The Dustbowl (IC)

[eblue562]

PLEASE READ THE OOC SHOWBLOCK BELOW THE INTRODUCTION POST!​

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It’s hot. The wasteland gives an eternal sense of loneliness and ache. The twin suns bear down on the dry, dusk-colored sand and dust covering the ground. All around you are the remnants of a once thriving city. Broken bricks and mortar lay in shambles across large concrete slabs. What was once a house, tavern, or marketplace now lies in rubble. The faint stench of death still penetrates your nostrils as the wind whips about you. All around, the sight of dust seems the most consistent. It is everywhere.

It has been days since you’ve seen an ounce of civilization. Nonetheless, your party of five adventurers has pressed on with plenty of provisions. Seeking answers, fame, and fortune, you remember what the old scroll read before you walked out to begin your journey from the town of Jurnae;

“The evil before you can only be cleansed with the power of the Suns. Seek out the Sixth Fragment where dust covers all. Take heart, for even in this barren wasteland you will see life. Below, where the roots take hold of the ground, you will find the entrance to the Chamber.”

Each of you are reminded about the small fragment you are carrying. One of the reasons you are an adventuring party to begin with, these five fragments look strangely old but new at the same time. Each fragment fits together to form a perfect image of the sun, sans the last piece. It is this fragment that you are assumed to be searching for. But for what end? Is this a small, insignificant artifact you are searching for? Or is it part of a much larger scheme?

Up ahead, a tree impossibly towers over the rubble, it's green leaves shinning in the heat with fresh dew drops. It seems as though it is the last strand of life holding this part of the world together. As if at any moment the thread could be broken, plunging the Dustbowl and the thick dust to the Abyss below.

[sblock=OOC] Welcome to The Dustbowl Quick Adventure! As promised, a token amount of plot is given. Each character should post their introduction post. For the sake of continuity, please end up close to the tree. After the first posts, there will be much more freedom of movement, I just want to get the adventure up and running quickly.

I made the setup vague for a reason. On your introductory post, please feel free to add any and all background your character might want to discuss with the world, or is thinking. This will help drive the story forward as well.

Checks

At the end of your post, whever you might end up, please roll a perception check. Also, make sure you use Invisible Castle's dice roller (link is in the OOC thread). You may also roll any other checks you deem necessary to gleam more information from the DM ) GL and Happy Gaming everyone. I will update the OOC thread as we move forward.[/sblock]

 

[Binder Fred]

"Roots!" growls Mialucus in his usual helpful manner. By which he means: 'I am going to the tree, you guys can do what you want.' He jumps atop a half crumbled wall and starts leaping from crumbling stone to crumbling stone, scimitar drawn, sandals slapping the ground, a widening grin below the garish colours of his mask.

[Sblock=Actions]Minor: Draw scimitar
Double move with athletics thrown in as need be. If he's got enough moves and nothing pops up, he'll start circling the tree to the left, looking for anything other than root, dust and stone.

Roll Perception: 1d20+5=10. Blinded by journey's boredom. [/sblock]Here, by the way, is what our protagonist looks like:


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Binder Fred.

 

[Legildur]

Caden sighs as Mialucus rushes headlong in his trademark style towards their goal. With a sure and familiar motion the halfing uses the sharp dark-steel dagger in his right hand to flick the long flop of sandy hair out of his left eye to give him a clear view of the dry ruins. Perception check 1d20+9=13

"Come on Stick," he says to the dragonborn. "He'll need looking after," he adds, absent-mindedly checking with his left hand the secure pocket where he keeps his piece of the shard of the sun.

With that, Caden moves forward to one flank in support of Mialucus, using the broken stonework as concealment. Stealth check 1d20+11=17

 

[renau1g]

Enter Stick

Stick looks around at the others, how far he's travelled, first from his tribe in the northlands. The cool tundra air flowing over his scales, the thrill of following the caribou and the hunt that ensued. The dragonborn had been cast out when the taint of magick manifested within him, the tribe worried about the unbridled damage he could inflict and fearful of being taken over by it.

Stick had travelled far and wide under the moon, the stars, and the sun learning how to harness their energy to aid him. He had also learned much in his travels through the wilds of the world and, after months in the frozen wastelands of the north, developed a special rapport with Melora, the spirit of the earth. With his simple walking stick, which carried the venom of one of nature's deadliest creatures, and astride his trusted friend and mount, Kruk, Stick had ended up in Jurnae, meeting the others and following them for no better reason than he had no better place to go.

Shaking from his daydreaming, Stick nudged Kruk forward and began twirling his quarterstaff lazily, while keeping his hunter's eyes open for any threats. While he rode, Stick also stared at the phenomena before him and pondered how this natural tree could be in this deserted wasteland.

[sblock=OOC]
Stick is a wanderer, but he's loyal to his current companions, the tribal instincts still run deep.
Perception (1d20+7=20)
Nature (1d20+7=23) to determine how this tree could grow out here.
[/sblock]

 

[CaBaNa]

[sblock=OOC]I'm starting to update character posts today, but read this and felt it needed an immediate response! HA HA HA Kruk is your mount?![/sblock]

EDIT:

Orange swelter coats this arid landscape, the golden orb and red disk, radiant death and yet still necessary for this tree... Rashka Counteract began one of his many sermons. Yay, be overjoyed! Our salvation is at hand, glory, glory! The Kalashtar cleric strut forth, his mail gleaming in the glow. A symbol of Sune dangles from his sturdy neck. His ashen cape is clasped by a brooch, in the shape of Berronar's holy symbol.

Rashka keeps pace with the group, as they approach the tree. His baggy pants held together with rope. His feet pad softly along, a piece of hardened bark wrapped in cloth on his sole, and the cloth runs up to his knees, holding the joints tightly. His hood is drawn low to shield from the rays of both suns.

[sblock=OOC]


Bluff 31 Rashka is being sarcastic and trying to act serious
Insight 34 on rest of team (critical)
Nature 23 on tree
Perception 22 as asked
Religion 24 on tree


[/sblock]

 

[renau1g]

[sblock=CaBaNa]
Yup. That jerk keeps ruining my baddies in L4W so I am taking out my frustrations here . I mean I even tried to have him digested by a gelatinous ooze, but he didn't learn his lesson, now he's almost single handedly taking on my dragon Grrr!
[/sblock]

 

[Cheub]

Roithe walked aimlessly untill he came upon the tree. He then seemed to wake noticing it from the corner of his eyes. He looked up, almost as if to remember where he was, and stared at the smaller of the two suns, seeming to ignore the other knowing full well it's there from it's rays alone, with his polished black eyes that seemed obviosly unnatural gleeming in the light. He drudgingly looked back on the tree. He calmly realised he was surrounded by the same travelers he last remembered and suddenly recalled all they had said in the passing moments.

"What would a tree be doing out here?" he mentioned to imply he was concious more so than him wanting to know the answer. He pulled his hood further down his pale scowl in a somewhat depressed way, but mostly from being reminded just how many suns there were.

Obviosly, overly dark clothing was'nt the most thought out topic on his mind, but it hardly seemed to bother him. It was'nt so much the heat that caused his attentativeness to the stars, but more so the very light they gave off. After covering most of the skin he could with stray clothing and torn fabric, he began to observe the conditions around the tree, like he neglected to do most of their journey.

Roll Lookup

 

[eblue562]

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In his usual helpful manner, Mialucus darts past all of his fellow journeyman and begins searching the tree. As Stick and Caden begrudgingly follow the wild swordmage, Stick notices faint trails of blue light imprinted beneath the dust just below the tree. The blue trails seems to end abruptly on one side of the tree, while they continue out in all other directions for nearly 20 feet.

Noticing this as well, Rashka begins preaching in his usual sarcastic tone, but camoflaughed heavily with a good dose of seriousness. The others wonder how often they'll have to hear these sermons from the cleric. But the better part of his mind wasn't even focused on his own musings but rather, the commrades-in-arms for this seeminly strange journey. It appeared Roithe was constantly walking in a daze from the start, while Stick and Caden seemed ever-alert. Mialucus, however, seemingly plunged headlong into anything, confident of his own skills and understanding of the world. Formulating this into his mind, Rashka understood that this was a formidable but slightly un-refined team.

Roithe, for his part, was taking in the hot sun like a heat sponge. The two large celestial bodies wear bearing down upon all of them. The Elardin warlock didn't seem concerned at all that he couldn't much remember the start of his journey with the party, or that the ground below him was quietly shifting.

With a sudden start, Stick and Rashka moved to the side of the tree where the tendrils snaked out as the ground began to move rapidly. Roithe yelled and snapped out of his contemplations to jump forward as the sand shifted hard and began to fall, as if the ground below had suddenly been removed. Caden, unaware of the shifting sand, jumped high into the air the instant his feet felt the motion of the dust and landed close by his comrades. Mialucus, already halfway in the air, grabbed a low lying branch and swung over to the opposite side.

[sblock=OOC] Stick and Rashka passed the perception roll (DC20), and the rest of you passed a reflex save (DC15). Ironically, the ones how wouldn't have passed the reflex save passed their perception roll. Good show [/sblock]

Large swathes of sand moved in front of them, swallowing the crumbled concrete and stones. The noise was deafening as the whole in front of them grew larger and larger. Sand and dust flew into the air, blacking out the light and giving a small respite against the heat of the suns. Quickly though, the dust settled, and the damage before you was evident. In front of you, a large, gaping hole 60 feet across and 60 feet wide is exposed. Nearly 10 feet deep, the hole looks as barren as the rest of the landscape, with a few exceptions. To the south (the right if you are facing the hole) you see one of the few standing structures, somehow uncovered by the earth. A small hut with all four sides and a gaping entrance way.

Directly in front of you, you notice a mangled, crumpled body. On either side, a pile of skeletons lay. As the dust settles, you notice that these piles are no longer piles but have formed into skeletons! Directly behind these creature are two large walls with a small entryway on either side. Peering out from behind these two walls are two more skeletons, each with a small orb of fire floating around their heads. The undead cackle at their unsuspecting visitors.

[sblock=Combat Setup]

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The first encounter, the Ruined City, takes place inside the exposed gaping hole that was accidentally uncovered by the adventurers. Caden (CD), Rashka (RA), Stick (SK), Mialucus (ML), and Roithe (RT) are all not surprised and are starting on a small 10ftX15ft cliff next to the tree (to the left in squares A7 and A8, but not pictured). The drop is 8-10 feet but easily not troublesome to jump down and move (can move at normal speed through it). The X in the middle marks the dead body, while BN1 and BN2 are the skeletons next to it. BS1 and BS2 are behind a wall with partial cover (+2 AC bonus) unless you have direct LoS. The rectangle starting at H12 is the partially ruined building, it's dark inside of it.

I'm going to use a modified version of initiative rolls that seems to help speed along my RL D&D games, so I'm hoping it will streamline our PbP games. The first round (starting now), will have initiatives rolled by me and we will post in order that they come up (see the 1st Round Initiative below). After the first round, all the PC's get to go first, then all the creatures, and so on and so forth. For the sake of ease, I will lump all the creatures together but use the LOWEST initiative roll as the bonus. Also, bosses (none in this one) will have separate initiatives.

Please post your three actions (standard, move, minor) and any changes you make to these actions. You can totally RP these moves, just make sure you are clear in a small OOC sblock at the end of your post. Also, if you don't mind calling out the location of where you end up using the grid provided in the picture, that would be most helpful for everyone to figure out where everyone is. Thanks and have fun with this one [/sblock]

[sblock=1st Round Initiatives]

Caden = 23

Roithe = 22

Rashka = 16

Stick = 14

Mialucus = 10

Monsters = 10

*Note* That worked out better than I could have hoped for. All of you go before the monsters anyway. Since that is the case here, order of posters doesn't really matter unless you want to delay your turn to wait for someone else. You can talk about it in the OOC or RP it here and I'll catch onto it. Have fun
[/sblock]

[sblock=Current Stats]

Party
Caden HP:44 Status = None
Mialucus(+2) - HP:55 Status = None
Rashka (+2) - HP:43 Status = None
Roithe(+5) -HP:45 Status = None
Stick(+3) - HP:58 Status = None

Monsters
BN1 Damage:0 Status = None
BN2 Damage:0 Status = None

BS1 Damage:0 Status = None
BS2 Damage:0 Status = None

[/sblock]




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[renau1g]

Let's test this bad boy out

Seeing the enemies before him, the dragonborn known simply as Stick nudges Kruk forward, saying to his allies, "Allow me to soften them up a bit for you". He points his staff at the skeletons in front of him and says "Stars I call upon you to fall upon my enemies and punish their transgressions against the natural order of things".

The stars oblige and rain down upon the skeletal pair, forming a cage of burning embers around the duo. Once satisfied, the dragonborn calls out "To me" and a set of layered full platemail armour instantly appears over Stick and a wide toothy grin can be seen on his face, as he beckons to the skeletons.

[sblock=OOC]
Move: to H7
Standard: Blazing Starfall centered on K6Vs BN1; Vs BN2; radiant damage (1d20+9=17, 1d20+9=20, 1d4+11=14) Hits BN1's Ref 17 for 14 radiant, hits BN2's Ref 20 for 14 radiant damage. Creates a zone of burning ground, that if one of them leave the zone they take 5 fire damage.
Minor: Activate the armour, summon to him.

*I'll set the Cosmic bonus to be The Phase of The Moon: Granting Resist 5 psychic, and a bonus to AC = to number of enemies surrounding Stick.
[/sblock]

[sblock=Mini Stat]
Stick , Dragonborn Sorceror|Warden
Initiative: +3; Passive Perception: 17 Passive Insight: 12
AC: 23* (17 w/o plate)--Fort: 18--Ref: 12--Will: 19--Speed: 5 (mount is 7)
*Note: Ranged attack rolls from farther than 5 squares away take a -5 penalty to them
HP: 58/58--Bloodied: 29--Surge: 14--Surges remaining: 7/7
Action Points: 1--Second wind: Not used
Powers:
Blazing Starfall
Earth Shield Strike

Hungry Earth
Ice Dragon's Teeth
Dragon's Breath
Form of Winter's Herald
Glacial Armour
Nature's Abundance
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[Binder Fred]

[The collapse]

Mialucus, already halfway in the air, grabbed a low lying branch and swung over to the opposite side.

"Prairie worms?" he posits as he lands and twists around. "Lion ant? ELEMENTAL?" The elf leans forth, eager to see what may come.

[Collapsed]
"Grave robbing," swears Mialucus. It's clear this isn't quite up to elemental level in HIS book. "Where is the blood, oh thirsty gods, the keen light of demonic intelligence in adversary's eyes?" Although those candle undead did *cackle*... and the way they are set up.... Mialucus smiles, happy again : "Trap!"

He jumps down and weavingly sprints to the right, towards the hut (H11, please). Back thumping against warm stone, fresh freed from hugging sand, he peers into the gaping entrance way, hoping for an ambush squad, a dread siege engine, *anything* aimed to the point where his comrades MUST move if they wish to engage the first two squeletons -- conviniently set *right in front of the door to the hut*!

Perception with low light vision. 1d20+5=21

If there's something there, warn the others and try to disable it (Lingering Lightning maybe?).

[sblock=if not]and BN2 is still undead at this point (and nobody is standing between them, of course):

"Clear!" The bloodthirsty elf takes out his spite on the nearest squeleton, his thrown blade whirling through the air in a flat, thruming arc.

ooc: use Falcon's Mark, Int vs Ref 1d20+11=12, 1d8+6=12 Sigh, a 1!... Elven Accuracy: 1d20+11=22. Deals 12 damage plus target is also be Marked until end of his next turn (if it makes an attack that doesn't include Mialucus, the elf will teleport to a spot that hopefully gives him flanking benefits and make a free basic melee attack (+11(+2 if flanking), 1d8+6 dam)).[/sblock]_______________________________________________________
Binder Fred, wandering the land of ifs and buts.