[Adventure] Artemis' Pact

The bug squatting on the wall begins to glow brightly, ensuring that its camouflage will be useless. It tries to shrink away from the light, and something in its tiny brain snaps as the light follow it.

The remaining ghoul stumbles forward and disembowels its comrade, then stands swaying, staring as if hypnotized at what it's done. Then it is hit from behind by Karma's mighty punch and staggers farther into the caustic field. It lets out an inhuman shriek as the acid burns its burns through its dead flesh, drops to the ground and starts thrashing.

A voice, a sibilant hiss, echoes from the far side of the cavern. The voice is echoing from the throat of one of the two remaining corpses, although its jaws remain rigid, head staring at the ceiling. To some the speech is gibberish (altough it is clearly a stream of curses); others recognize it as the language of the Far Land of Allaria:

[sblock=Allarian]
Imbeciles! Failures! Common beasts! The traitor is here and helpless and allow yourselves to be tossed about like playthings! The Master must dine on his soul as was promised! He must not escape! Up! Up and finish what you started!
[/sblock]

The other ghoul groans in response and tries to rise. Too weak to take its feet, it at least lurches to its knees, and scrabbles across the floor towards Artemis with disturbing speed, joints popping like a human spider.

The corpse that spoke rolls over and heaves itself up onto its hands and feet, repeating the spiderlike run. It passes close enough for Karma to aim a swift kick at it, which glances off its shoulder, and it snarls at him but continues towards its prey. It advances horribly on Artemis and throws itself at his legs, grabbing with its claws and trying to pull him down onto the floor with it. Unable to move his frozen limbs, Artemis seems like easy prey, but with a supreme effort he manages to sway in place, throw himself to one side away from the scrabbling claws, and amazingly come down on his feet and regain his balance. The new ghoul hisses in disappointment.

Perhaps attracted by the ghoul's voice, the two cave fisher spawn stop their panicked milling and make a beeline for the combat. One scuttles up onto a wall and charges unerringly at the figure that is pinned between the two ghouls. It perches on the wall close to his head and buries its razor sharp pincers into his shoulder near the neck. Blood wells up from the wound and soaks his arm. The other, unable to reach the ghouls' target, settles for charging at Karma and snapping at his legs.

The mother insect screams in anger as it hears its spawn being drawn into danger, and takes out its rage on the nearest target. It scuttles down the wall to get a better angle on Lilli, and spits a pellet of silk formed into a dart towards her. Freed of the webbing, she is able to dodge out of the way.

Farmer Bob kicks his legs and manages to heave himself up over the lip into the hole above. His voice floats down: "Hay, ther's a hole 'nother cave up here!". His worried face peers back down through the hole in time to see Lilli dodge the missile, and then backs prudently away.

[sblock=NPC Actions]
The Betrayal attack on Ghoul 1 actually kills it outright, but if it had survived it wouldn't have immobilized it - I'm ruling that ghouls are immune to their own poison.
Karma, both Ghoul 1 and Ghoul 2 are dead at this point, so you'll have to attack Ghoul 3, pushing him back to M5.

Ghoul 1 is moved to M5, takes 20 damage from attacks, and dies.
Ghoul 2 is moved to N5, takes 14 damage from attacks, and dies.
Ghoul 3 is moved to M5, takes 11 damage from attacks, is knocked prone and dazed until the end of Shale's next turn.
Cave Fisher Spiker is glowing from the Light spell and cannot hide, takes 10 damage from attacks, and has -2 to attack until the end of Lilli's next turn.

Farmer Bob:
Move: climb up into the cave above, off the map: Athletics (1d20+2=15)

Ghoul 3:
Takes 10 damage for starting next to the Caustic Rampart, bloodying it: acid damage (1d6+6=10)
Move: crawl to L7 (looping around through K6 so that he doesn't draw an OA from Artemis)

Ghoul Flesh Seeker:
Starts prone at R7. I can't do the obvious move of stand and charge since the attack I want to use isn't a basic attack, so he'll crawl instead. Ignore the corpse that's still drawn at N7, but the squares are still full of rubble and discarded equipment, so still difficult terrain.
Move: Crawl to N7, drawing an OA from Karma: OA at Flesh Seeker (1d20+1=17, 1d4=2)
Standard: Attack Artemis with Prepare for Sacrifice, which requires that the flesh seeker be hidden from the target at the start of its turn. -2 for attacking from prone cancels out the +2 for flanking (I can't find a rule that says you don't flank when prone): Prepare for Sacrifice (1d20+8=11, 2d6+4=8) Miss. Curses. That would have been awesome if it hit. (Actually, I just realized the other ghoul can't flank while dazed, so he only rolled a 9 anyway.)

Cave Fisher Spawn 3:
Standard: charge to N8 and attack Artemis with Pincers, hitting for 9 because he's immobilized: Pincers at Artemis (+1 for charging) (1d20+5+1=22)
Move: to P9, climbing onto the wall with Spider Climb

Cave Fisher Spawn 4:
Move: to R4
Standard: charge to P5 and attack Karma with Pincers, hitting for 6: Pincers at Karma (+1 for charging) (1d20+5+1=25)

Cave Fisher Spiker:
Filament Wrap does not recharge: Recharge Filament Wrap (1d6=4)
Move: to C3
Standard: attack Lilli with Filament Spike: Filament Spike at Lilli (1d20+7=11, 1d10+4=14). Miss. (Forgot the -2 but it misses anyway.)
[/sblock]

[sblock=Unlocked Stats]
Farmer Bob: AC 1516, Fort 13, Reflex 11, Will 11
Ghouls: AC 18, Fort 15, Reflex 17, Will 14
Ghoul Flesh Seeker: AC 17, Fort ??, Reflex ??, Will ??
Cave Fisher Spawn: AC ??, Fort ??, Reflex ??, Will ??
Cave Fisher Spiker: AC ??, Fort ??, Reflex ??, Will 12
[/sblock]

[sblock=Status]
Artemis: 14/29 hp, 7/7 surges, bloodied, immobilized (save ends), +1 AC until end of Gil's next turn
Lilli: 15/22 hp, 6/7 surges
Gil: 25/26 hp, 7/7 surges
Shale: 31/33 hp, 6/7 surges
Karma: 24/30 hp, 4/5 surges
Farmer Bob: 2/2 hp, 0/1 surges

Ghoul 1: 40 damage taken, dead
Ghoul 2: 39 damage taken, dead
Ghoul 3: 21 damage taken, dazed, prone, bloodied
Ghoul Flesh Seeker: 2 damage taken, prone
Cave Fisher Spawn 1: 12 damage taken, dead
Cave Fisher Spawn 2: 11 damage taken, dead
Cave Fisher Spawn 3: 0 damage taken
Cave Fisher Spawn 4: 0 damage taken
Cave Fisher Spiker: 10 damage taken, glowing, -2 to attack until end of Lilli's next turn
[/sblock]

External Map Link
[sblock=Map]
The green is the Caustic Rampart, the yellow is the rope. There is no body at R7, just difficult terrain.


[/sblock]

Whoa! Too close, too ugly! Gil's orb sparks to life, glowing brilliantly, speeding the humans retreat. The wizard skips away, bringing Lilli in sight, and assessing the situation. Artemis, get out of there!

Scarab beetles flood from Gil's mouth, out of his sleeves, and from the bottom of his robes. They swarm across the floor, seeking the dead flesh of Ghouls, some break off to fight the competing bugs, chasing the Fisher Spawn. The Scarab viciously swarm the Spawn closest the Ghouls, fighting hard for their meal. Artemis and Karma have a moment to escape, due to the swarming beetles, Run!

As he says this, Gil continues to call forth the swirling miasma, splitting his concentration between the spells.


[sblock=OOC]

Move Orb Shift to J6

Winged Horde, enlarged, area burst 2 centered on N7, enemies only.
24 vs will Ghoul 3
21 vs will Ghoul Flesh Seeker
28 vs will CRIT Cave Fisher Spawn 3 takes an extra 2 psychic damage
19 vs will Cave Fisher Spawn 4
3 psychic damage and targets cannot take opportunity actions until the end of Dante Mephisto Gilgamesh's next turn

Roll Lookup

Minor Sustain Caustic Rampart
[/sblock]



[sblock=Ministat, Gil will use Moonstride if an enemy moves adjacent.]


Gil Human Hybrid Wizard/Artificer Multiclass Assassin
AC 16 Fort 14 Reflex 17 Will 14 (+1 from ranged attack 5 squares away Cloak of Distortion)
HP 26/27 Surges 7/7 Surge value 6
Passive Insight 17, Passive Perception 17, Normal vision
Second Wind Not Used, AP total 0, Speed 6, Initiative +7, Languages Common, Draconic
At-will powers; Thundering Armor, Winged Horde, Scorching Burst, Ghost Sound, Light, Prestidigitation, Mage Hand
Encounter powers; Grasping Shadows, Shadow Step, Moonstride, Healing Infusion: Curative or Resistive, Orb Shift
Daily powers; Caustic Rampart

[/sblock]

Moving into position so he has a better view, shale warps reality in the middle of the battle. The still prone ghouls' forms warp and twist, in a process ovbiously painful even for the undead, before being ripped from reality and positioned in a more convenient location. Both are sento into the heart of the caustic fumes -Shale can sense the frustration in their ghoulish minds as what's left of itheir flesh dissolves away.

[sblock=actions]Move action: move to J6 EDIT: looks like Gil is moving there too, so make it I6 then. Standard action: Dimension scramble, spending 1 power point so it only affects enemies, centered at M7 so it catches both ghouls. Looks like both attacks hit for 9 damage each; ghoul 3 is teleported to L5 where he'll most probably die, while the flesh seeker is sent to N5

If Shale is attacked, he'll use Intellect Fortress and/or his orb's power, if it's convenient.

[/sblock]

[sblock=mini-stats]Shale Shardmind psion 3
Status:
Initiative: +1, Passive perception: 11, Passive Insight: 16
Defenses: AC: 18, For: 13, Ref: 17, Will: 17
HP: 31/33, Bloodied: 16, Surge value: 8, Surges/day: 6/7 Speed: 6 squares
Languages: Common, Deep Speech, Elemental
AP: 1, Power points: 1/4, Second Wind: Used

Powers:
Static Mote, Dimensional Scramble, Betrayal
Shard Swarm, Far Hand, Forceful Push, Intellect Fortress, Orb of mental constitution (item)
Living Missile, Amulet of resolution (item)[/sblock]


[sblock=Updated map (most likely scenario)]
[/sblock]

[sblock=ooc] JNC, if the bugs are not dead from Gil's attack, I would rather attack the one next to me. Please let me know and I'll edit. [/sblock]

As the ghould dies in the acidic fumes, darkness gathers around Artemis.

"Gi-il. I a-am stu-uck! Can't ru-un!"

Barely moving, Artemis aims his rod at the new ghoul. Shadows gather around it. Multicolored lights flare from Artemis's eyes, but the ghoul shows no signs of an effect.

Finally, Artemis's system throws off the effect of the ghoul poison.

[sblock=actions]
Free: Darkspiral Aura: Charges to 1.
Minor: Warlock's Curse: Ghoul Flesh Seeker.
Standard: Spiteful Glamor: 1d20+6, 1d8+5+1d6 → ([3, 6], [8, 5, 3]) Roll Lookup . Likely miss... I'll blame the insect sticking out of my neck.
Save: 1d20 → [18] = (18) Roll Lookup
[/sblock]

[sblock=Darkspiral Aura] While Darkspiral Aura is charged, any enemy that attacks Artemis takes 1d6 damage per charge of Darkspiral Aura. If damage is <12, aura drops to 0. If >12, attack is weakened and aura drops to 1.[/sblock]

[sblock=Artemis stats]Atremis Harks- Male Human Hybrid: Warlord/Warlock 2
Status: bloodied
Darkspiral Aura: 1
Initiative: +1, Passive perception: 10, Passive Insight: 10
Defenses: AC: 17, For: 17, Ref: 18, Will: 17
HP: 14/29, Bloodied: 14, Surge value: 7, Surges/day: 7/7 Speed: 6 squares
Languages: Common, Primordial
AP: 1, Second Wind: unused

Powers:
Eldritch Strike, Spiteful Glamor, Furious Smash, Darkspiral Aura
Battlefront Shift, Hammer and Anvil, Inspiring Word, Aid the Injured
Lead by Example[/sblock]

Karma steps back putting as much distance between him and the ghoul flesh seeker, "BURN UNDEAD ABOMINATION" KARMA CRIES unleashing a flaming bolt of holy energy at the culmination of his prayer of smiting! The sacred flame burns into the ghoul and burning into the insects surrounding Artemis.

[sblock=actions]
Move = shift to P7
Standard = Sacred flame at Ghoul Flesh Seeker 19vs Reflex
Roll Lookup
if hits: artemis gains either 2 temp hit points or can make a saving throw.
and ghoul takes Roll Lookup
8 damage.
[/sblock]

[sblock=mini stats]
Passive Insight 22 Passive Perception 14; Senses normal
HP 30 Bloodied 15 Surge Value 7; Surges Per-Day 4/5
AC 18 Fortitude 12 Reflex 16 Will 17
Current hp 24/30

Powers used: None
Powers: Sacred Flame (At will)
Force Punch (At will)
Dishearten (At will)
Healing Word (encounter)
Send thoughts (encounter)
Ravening Thoughts (Daily)
Cause Fear (encounter)
Telekinetic Lift (daily)

[/sblock]

Lilli’s receptive mind feels the trauma of the insect as it struggles to comprehend the sudden assault on its senses. As the not-so-wee beastie is suddenly sensitised to effects of the sorceress’s magic, Lilli uses the creature’s vulnerabilty in an attempt to guide her next attack. In spite of the Light spell in the vicinity, shadowy forms appear and attempt to grasp the insect and hold it in situ.

[sblock]

As Lilli struck succesfully last turn, she uses her Phantom Echoes Feat.

• Phantom Echoes: When you use an arcane illusion power and hit a target, you gain combat advantage against that target until the end of your next turn. If the illusion power has an effect that a save can end, you instead gain combat advantage against the target until it saves against that effect.

Including a plus 2 from the above feat and Targetted at the Cave Fisher Spiker:

Grasping Shadows (Encounter Standard Area burst 1 within 10 squares ✦ Arcane, Illusion, Implement, Psychic)
Target: Each creature in burst
Attack: +6 vs. Will
Hit: 1d8+6 Psychic damage and the target is slowed until the end of your next turn.
Effect: Shadows writhe in the designated area and continue until the end of your next turn. Any creature that enters the area of the grasping shadows takes psychic damage equal to your Intelligence modifier (+5) and is slowed until the end of its next turn.


http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2913399/ Total: 20

Potential Damage:

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2913411/ Total: 13 plus the target is slowed until the end of Lilli’s next turn.

Move: Lilli moves to H5.[/sblock]

[sblock=mini-stats]Lilli, Gnome Illusionist 1
Status:
Initiative: +0, Passive perception: 11, Passive Insight: 16.
Defenses: AC: 15, For: 11, Ref: 15, Will: 15.
HP: 22/15, Bloodied: 11. Surge value: 5, Surges/day: 6/7.
Speed: 5 squares. Size: Small

Languages: Eladrin, Allarian. AP: 1, Second Wind: Unused.

Powers:
Ghost Sound, Light, Prestigitation, Mage Hand.
Orb of Deception, Illusory Ambush, Nightmare Eruption.
Grasping Shadows (used), Fade Away.
Horrid Whispers.
[/sblock]

The third ghoul perishes with a howl of pain, dead flesh melting from its bones in the caustic miasma. The flesh seeker also is showered with a caustic rain, and writhes in pain on the floor.

As the dark aura spirals around Artemis, the remaining ghoul leaps to its feet and backs away. It hisses another curse:

[sblock=Allarian]
You dare to use the Master's power against His servants! Impudence! I will hunt you to Hell itself, strip the black flesh from your bones, and gnaw your maggot-eaten heart from your chest!
[/sblock]

Then it leaps forward, darts between Artemis and Karma, hunches its shoulders below Shale's hasty punch, and lopes towards the exit, where it vanishes into the shadows with a supernatural suddenness.

As the ghoul makes its escape, the cave fisher abandons its search for Lilli and scuttles across the roof, making a beeline for the last place it heard its children. When it sees Artemis surrounded by tiny corpses, it rears up and spits an angry dart at him. Luckily Artemis is free of the ghoul's paralysis and is able to sidestep it.

[sblock=NPC Actions]
I made a mistake last turn - Illusory Ambush should have missed. I forgot the Cave Fisher Spiker has +2 to all defenses against ranged and area attacks from its camouflage. (Not retconning anything, just noting it. We'll say the light spell cancelled it for a turn...)

Ghoul 3 is teleported to L5 and takes 12 damage
Ghoul Flesh Seeker is teleported to N5 and takes 20 damage, bloodying it
Cave Fisher Spawn 3 takes 5 damage and dies
Cave Fisher Spawn 4 takes 3 damage and dies
Cave Fisher Spiker takes 13 damage, bloodying it

Ghoul 3 takes 10 acid damage from Caustic Rampart and dies: acid damage (1d6+6=10)

Ghoul Flesh Seeker:
Takes 12 acid damage from Caustic Rampart: Caustic Rampart (1d6+6=12)
Move: Stand
Standard: Move to S11, triggering an OA from Karma: OA on Flesh Seeker (1d20+2=9, 1d8-1=5) (Actually a roll of 8 to hit, damage is invalid because those are Shale's numbers)
Free: Hide (yes, it only has partial concealment from Shale - it has a power called Shadow Skulk that lets it hide with only partial cover or concealment): Hide (1d20+10=13)

Cave Fisher Spiker:
Filament Wrap does not recharge: Recharge Filament Wrap (1d6=2)
Move: to H9 (spider climb across the ceiling)
Standard: Filament Spike at Artemis: Filament Spike at Artemis (-2 for partial cover) (1d20+7-2=11, 1d10+4=6) Miss.
[/sblock]

[sblock=Unlocked Stats]
Farmer Bob: AC 1516, Fort 13, Reflex 11, Will 11
Ghouls: AC 18, Fort 15, Reflex 17, Will 14
Ghoul Flesh Seeker: AC 17, Fort ??, Reflex 15, Will 14
Cave Fisher Spawn: AC ??, Fort ??, Reflex ??, Will 12
Cave Fisher Spiker: AC ??, Fort ??, Reflex ??, Will 12
[/sblock]

[sblock=Status]
Artemis: 14+2/29 hp, 7/7 surges, bloodied
Lilli: 15/22 hp, 6/7 surges
Gil: 25/26 hp, 7/7 surges
Shale: 31/33 hp, 6/7 surges
Karma: 24/30 hp, 4/5 surges
Farmer Bob: 2/2 hp, 0/1 surges

Ghoul 1: 40 damage taken, dead
Ghoul 2: 39 damage taken, dead
Ghoul 3: 33 damage taken, dead
Ghoul Flesh Seeker: 34 damage taken, bloodied, can't take opportunity actions until the end of Gil's next turn. Cursed by Gil. Hidden with Stealth 13.
Cave Fisher Spawn 1: 12 damage taken, dead
Cave Fisher Spawn 2: 11 damage taken, dead
Cave Fisher Spawn 3: 5 damage taken, dead
Cave Fisher Spawn 4: 3 damage taken, dead
Cave Fisher Spiker: 23 damage taken, bloodied, glowing
[/sblock]


External Map Link
[sblock=Map]
The green is the Caustic Rampart, the yellow is the rope. There is no body at R7, just difficult terrain.


[/sblock]

Moving away from the apparently last threat, Shale tries to warp space around it to, again, teleport the creture to a less favorable spot, lets say the caustic fumes. However the oversized bug is so difficult to see against the darkened ceiling that he's having trouble concentrating on a single spot and his efforts go to waste.

[sblock=actions]Move to F4, standard action manifest Dimension Scramble centered at I7 but high enough so it catches the cave fisher but doesn't affect Gil or me. I can't find how high the ceiling is, but I suppose it's enough for doing this. Hits Fort 12 and mostlikely it's a fail, but if it connects teleport the bug to K6, as low as possible. Then move action to move to G4.

Again, use Intellect fortress (+3 to defenses TENT, interrupt) and/or Orb's power (Attack against AC or Frot target Will instead, spend 1 power point for +4 to Will TENT) if it's useful or convenient.

I think the one doing the OA against the ghoul was Karma, not Shale, btw. Also the flesh seeker started it's turn adjacent to the wall, which means it took damage too.[/sblock]

[sblock=mini-stats]Shale, Shardmind psion 3
Status:
Initiative: +1, Passive perception: 11, Passive Insight: 16
Defenses: AC: 18, For: 13, Ref: 17, Will: 17
HP: 31/33, Bloodied: 16, Surge value: 8, Surges/day: 6/7 Speed: 6 squares
Languages: Common, Deep Speech, Elemental
AP: 1, Power points: 1/4, Second Wind: Used

Powers:
Static Mote, Dimensional Scramble, Betrayal
Shard Swarm, Far Hand, Forceful Push, Intellect Fortress, Orb of mental constitution (item)
Living Missile, Amulet of resolution (item)[/sblock]

[sblock=ooc] JoeNotCharles, can I ask if Artemis speaks Allarian? He is from Allaria (the island) but I wasn't sure if the dialect is required to understand the ghoul. I believe there is also an "old allarian" language (which I took with my other character). I took "common" on my character sheet as I assumed Allarian and Common were interchangable...

Also, I believe the cave fisher spiker takes 1d6 damage from the Darkspiral Aura when it attacks Artemis. 1d6 → [5] = (5): Roll Lookup . Woot! 5 more damage for being a target
[/sblock]