Tecklenburg
Explorer
I don't even think about making a break toward the path that leads past the waiting-in-ambush Roper. I have to start a fire here where I have the fuel and the kindling. Either I'm going to die...or they are...
The enemy above me is the most pressing. I search my memory banks for what this creature is and what he might do. I've scoured the underworld tunnels of the Feywild in dealing with fomorians and the goblins of Nachtur. I've likely come across all manner of ambush predators like Ropers and whatever this is.
[sblock]Spout Lore (Int)
5, 4 + 3 (+1 racial) = 13
The GM will tell you something interesting and useful about the subject relevant to your situation.[/sblock]
Alright. Near range. Bones everywhere? I'm going to, very carefully and slowly, reach in my backpack for another tender twig. Then I'll bend down and pick up a nearby skull. I'll strike the second tinder twig on the ground and leave it at my feet - a 2nd AG spent. I'm going to put my first tender twig between the eye-holes of the skull. Before the creature can act, with the skull in my offhand, I'm going attack with blades of cutting air and simultaneously throw the skull with the tender twig so it smashes to the ground but well out of the Roper's reach.
My intent is to lay a barrage onto the creature while giving it a moving, noisy, well-lit target that hopefully it perceives as its prey.
[sblock]Wind Slash (Int)
5, 4 + 3 (+ 1 from DR) = 13
Deal your damage and apply 1 technique. d8 damage = 7 damage.
Soul-Siphoning: Your attack heals you for 1d4. Heal 1d8 instead if this attack kills your target.
1d4 HP healed = 1.[/sblock]
I grab another skull from the ground and throw it hard against the wall, away from the Roper.
I feel the trance of the Bladesong taking me. It must be it. What else could it be? The legends of my people hold that the lost art of the Bladesong was equal parts craft and gift. Only the rarest of the rare could hear the song. Rarer still were those who could fall into it. Become one with it.
I attempt to do so and vanquish this first threat.
[sblock]Wind Slash (Int)
6, 6 + 3 (+1 forward) = 16
Deal your damage and apply 1 technique. d8 damage = 8.
Soul-Siphoning: Your attack heals you for 1d4. Heal 1d8 instead if this attack kills your target.
1d8 HP healed = 5.[/sblock]
The enemy above me is the most pressing. I search my memory banks for what this creature is and what he might do. I've scoured the underworld tunnels of the Feywild in dealing with fomorians and the goblins of Nachtur. I've likely come across all manner of ambush predators like Ropers and whatever this is.
[sblock]Spout Lore (Int)
5, 4 + 3 (+1 racial) = 13
The GM will tell you something interesting and useful about the subject relevant to your situation.[/sblock]
Per Manbearcat
Oh yeah. Plenty of times. Its a Darkmantle. These creatures are sort of like the stalactite, flying version of Ropers, replete with long tentacles, except a bit different. They have a huge membrane that spans their circular body which lets them fly and engulf prey. They see only by echolocation so you can screw them up with high frequency sounds. Sometimes they're able to snuff out light sources with magical darkness. Better get another tender twig ready!
Alright. Near range. Bones everywhere? I'm going to, very carefully and slowly, reach in my backpack for another tender twig. Then I'll bend down and pick up a nearby skull. I'll strike the second tinder twig on the ground and leave it at my feet - a 2nd AG spent. I'm going to put my first tender twig between the eye-holes of the skull. Before the creature can act, with the skull in my offhand, I'm going attack with blades of cutting air and simultaneously throw the skull with the tender twig so it smashes to the ground but well out of the Roper's reach.
My intent is to lay a barrage onto the creature while giving it a moving, noisy, well-lit target that hopefully it perceives as its prey.
[sblock]Wind Slash (Int)
5, 4 + 3 (+ 1 from DR) = 13
Deal your damage and apply 1 technique. d8 damage = 7 damage.
Soul-Siphoning: Your attack heals you for 1d4. Heal 1d8 instead if this attack kills your target.
1d4 HP healed = 1.[/sblock]
Per Manbearcat
Your blades of cutting air rend the creature from its perch and your nethermantic magic restores your vitality. At the same time, the tossed skull crashes to the stoney earth making a great clatter. Just as you had hoped for, the Darkmantle descends from its perch, swooping down on the skull and snuffing the tender twig's light with a mote of supernatural darkness. You hear the leathery sounds of it wrapping itself around the skull and the crunching of it as its unseen maw consumes it. However, you cannot see it due to the darkness.
With your perfect sequencing of magic and swordplay, your heart begins to thrum with a song of power. Time seems to slow down momentarily. Take + 1 forward to Flawless Bladework, Wind Slash or Defy Danger.
I grab another skull from the ground and throw it hard against the wall, away from the Roper.
Per Manbearcat
The creature flies out of the mote of darkness toward the wall and hovers right above the broken shards of the skull for a moment, trying to perceive prey.
I feel the trance of the Bladesong taking me. It must be it. What else could it be? The legends of my people hold that the lost art of the Bladesong was equal parts craft and gift. Only the rarest of the rare could hear the song. Rarer still were those who could fall into it. Become one with it.
I attempt to do so and vanquish this first threat.
[sblock]Wind Slash (Int)
6, 6 + 3 (+1 forward) = 16
Deal your damage and apply 1 technique. d8 damage = 8.
Soul-Siphoning: Your attack heals you for 1d4. Heal 1d8 instead if this attack kills your target.
1d8 HP healed = 5.[/sblock]
Per Manbearcat
Your blades of cutting air tear the Darkmantle to pieces and it falls lifeless to the ground. As its spirit ebbs, you feel your magical conduit funnel it into you, restoring your vitality and warming your freezing limbs.
The world slows to a crawl around you. Watching the creature fall to the ground seems to take forever as you step out of the normal flow of time. Everything is an instrument; your beating heart, your intake of breath, your blade perfectly severing the air around you, the sizzle of the tender twigs, the creature's death throes, and the subtle sounds of the earth in motion. Its a perfect orchestra. Your senses take in everything with perfect acuity and your body becomes the perfect conductor of battle.
You take + 1 ongoing to Flawless Bladework, Wind Slash, and Defy Danger until you roll less than a 12.
We can handle the rest of the scene tomorrow. I'm toast.