Heart of Artifice Temporary 2--Aethelus Alone

Erekose13 · Mar 28, 2008

Aethelus attacks again, "Why has it stopped attacking?" he says setting aside that tid-bit for later questions.

Rystil Arden · Mar 28, 2008

"Kryshalts sometimes have odd compositions. This one doesn't seem to like your fire much, it seems."

*Aethelus scores a critical blow against the beast, but then on his next shot, he misses. The kryshalt takes that opportunity to dive in closer and swipe at Aethelus with a tentacle, hitting hard and then grappling.*

(OOC: Aethelus hits for 12 total 29, then misses.

Kryshalt hits Aethelus for 9 and Aethelus is Grappled)

*Jade stares down the kryshalt's six eyes for a few tense seconds as Aethelus is unable to escape the tentacle, then she withdraws a crystalline blade that she kept concealed at her hip in her new bounty hunter outfit and calmly twirls forward, slicing off the tentacle that had been holding Aethelus with one smooth motion.*

"Aethelus, try shooting it once more?"

Erekose13 · Mar 28, 2008

"Will do!" he says having struggled for breath and finally escaped. He grabs his crossbow and quickly reloads another bolt and fires.

Rystil Arden · Mar 28, 2008

*The bolt sears the beast, which while still clearly alive, goes limp and ceases its previous rampage.*

(OOC: 6 Damage, and it is now considered helpless)

"Well, I suppose we can leave it there, but then it might harm others who pass this way later. Best to finish it off with a mercy blow. Of course, once it dies, its gas bladders will expel and it will sink to the ground."

(OOC: A coup de grace can only be delivered with a melee weapon.

Aethelus's turn)

Erekose13 · Apr 2, 2008

Wary of the 'gas bladders expelling' Aethelus approaches with caution, though he does his best to hide his hesitancy. Drawing his club he hammers it home on the creature's head mercilessly.

Rystil Arden · Apr 2, 2008

(OOC: The creature has only extended its tentacles out to the ship, so it would require climbing the tentacles to get to the main body, floating in mid-air beyond the ship's edge, where it could be Coup de Graced. This seems rather dangerous--perhaps Lana can help?)

Erekose13 · Apr 2, 2008

(ooc: ah that would indeed sound like a much more dangerous proposition.)

"Lana, we need to remove the threat of this creature. I am unable to reach it. Do you have any ideas?" he says to the little creature he has crafted.

Rystil Arden · Apr 2, 2008

"When in doubt, I can stab things with a crossbow bolt," Lana suggests.

*She flits over to the creature and stabs it in the eye with a crossbow bolt, wielding it as a spear like when she fought the assassins. The creature manages to survive this attack, but when she coup de graces it one more time, it shudders reflexively and begins to expel the gas in its air bladders and sink beneath the clouds. Sadly, her crossbow bolt snaps.*

"Score! Peg another kill for Lana!"

"Well fought, both of you. Kryshalts are very dangerous, but hopefully that's the worst we'll face on our journey..."

(OOC: I'm not really sure why WotC made the thing CR 9, but it is. Thus, Aethelus gets 2400 XP)

Erekose13 · Apr 2, 2008

"Well done Lana! Should more of creatures come at us, we'll be ready. I've not encountered such things before and as much information as possible is definitely appreciated when such an encounter rears its head again." replies Aethelus.

ooc: woo thats L3! that was rather easy for a CR9 though!?

Rystil Arden · Apr 2, 2008

(OOC: Yes. Yes it was. I actually replaced a Swim speed for a Fly speed off the original creature, which might ostensibly make it tougher, but other than that, it was unchanged. AC 17, no ranged attacks, single digit saving throw bonuses, and double digit HP just seems silly to me for a CR 9--granted, it has a lot of attacks if it gets to full attack, and its grapple modifier is sky-high, but still--I knew you would probably beat it when I playtested it, but I hadn't checked the CR until afterwards and was surprised. I thought it might have been 6 or maybe 7)

"They range in size and temperament--that was a relatively big and nasty one. They scavenge raw materials and enriched minerals, which are incorporated into their own patchwork compositions to make them larger and stronger. However, the way they incorporate things around them often leads them to develop vulnerabilities. They aren't evil or malicious, per se, but they are dangerous and in most cases should be destroyed to keep the skies safe for others."