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The Fall of Civilization
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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 4560413" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>This is a short update, because it ends at a particularly dramatic moment. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> I hope to post a followup tonight or tomorrow or, at the least, before too long. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Some of our heroes- Kratos, Vann-La, Nowhere Jones and Torinn- advance into the cave, weapons drawn.* The mouth of the passage is about 20’ wide; as they move forward, our heroes quickly come upon more xvart bodies, lying before a pair of barricades. A chagmat corpse is sprawled near one wall as well. Clearly, the battle that the party came upon was just one skirmish in a larger conflict. The chamber is obviously a guard chamber. A narrow path is open between the two barricades; behind the barricades are a long, narrow table surrounded by a host of stools, some of which have fallen over. Behind that, you can see that there is a drop-off or descent of some kind. Meanwhile, on the east side of the easternmost barricade is another tunnel that snakes away.</p><p></p><p>The party starts to check the corpses for loot, but Vann-La’s keen ears prick up. She frowns, and gazes up at the ceiling.</p><p></p><p>“LOOK OUT!” she shouts, her sword coming free from its scabbard with a rasp. </p><p></p><p>Two spiders the size of a human are up on the roof, and they begin scuttling forward. </p><p></p><p>“Yuck!” exclaims Nowhere Jones, and hurls a shuriken. But he is still recovering from the surprise, and he misses. </p><p></p><p>The spiders leap. Death hurtles in at our heroes from above. One of them lands squarely on Torinn, knocking the dragonborn prone and sinking hairy fangs into his shoulder. He gives a shout of distress as poison pumps into him, and his arm begins to throb. He struggles to his feet and pulls his spiked chain; he aims a blow at the spider but misses. It springs aside as he focuses all his might on a second swing, and he misses it again!**</p><p></p><p>The other spider comes down square on Nowhere Jones, knocking him from his feet. The tiefling tries to scramble away, but fangs sink into his buttocks. “Aargh!” he screams, as poison taints his blood. He whirls around, bringing his dagger across the spider’s head, and springs back away. Meanwhile Vann-La steps up and gets in the spider’s way, preventing it from effectively pursuing. The first spider bites Torinn again, hitting him in the chest, right over his heart. The dragonborn wails in pain.***</p><p></p><p>The party tries to rally and focus their attacks. Torinn staggers and almost drops, but takes a moment to catch his breath and get his second wind. Kratos steps up with a furious smash, a guarding strike, but he just can’t seem to connect. The spiders are too cagey- dodging one way and then the other, leaping over the party’s attacks, returning to the ceilings... they are quick and dangerous, and their poison leaves our heroes unable to move quickly. Many of the party are suffering from it as the spiders leap back into the room beyond the barriers. Both spiders are wounded, and one of them is wounded badly, but neither one is ready to flee.</p><p></p><p>Vann-La takes a deep breath and focuses her mind. <em>I am unstoppable,</em> she tells herself, and charges forward through the barriers.</p><p></p><p>Right into a trap.</p><p></p><p>She hears a ‘click’ as her foot hits a pressure plate between the barriers. <em>Uh-oh,</em> she thinks, as a thick boulder on a long strand of webbing drops pendulum-like from the ceiling, plowing into her with crushing force and knocking her back and from her feet. It smashes into Torinn, as well, rendering the already badly wounded cleric almost unconscious.</p><p></p><p>It also makes a hell of a racket- a terrifically loud grinding noise.</p><p></p><p>She sees stars for a moment, and when her vision clears, Vann-La can see the pendulum boulder swinging rapidly through the passage between the barriers.</p><p></p><p>“We can go over the barriers!” shouts Kratos. </p><p></p><p>Indeed. Kratos and Vann-La start climbing up and over, and the spiders scuttle around the ceiling menacingly. But Torinn and Nowhere Jones keep up a flurry of missile fire that prevents the spiders from fully taking advantage of the situation. The more badly wounded spider attempts to escape them, but Kratos and Vann-La both hit it as it flees, and it drops from the cave ceiling, curling its legs up in the classic pose of a dead spider. </p><p></p><p>“Let’s go!” cries Torinn. “Up and over and in!” He and Nowhere Jones clamber over the barricades, joining the melee, and deliver a torturous strike and a righteous brand to the spider- and both blows are perfect, catching it in the head and the guts! The spider is cut into a mess of pieces!****</p><p></p><p>“Whew,” Torinn gasps. “Those things sucked! We should rest for a few minutes and-”</p><p></p><p>Two chagmat rush into the room from the downward sloping passage, making weird, moist, sucking sounds from their spider mouths.</p><p></p><p>“Lester’s arm!” shouts Torinn. “More of them!” </p><p></p><p>The party turns and begins to engage the chagmat. Behind them, cutting off easy escape, the pendulum still swings. Each chagmat wields two swords and bears two shields, and puts up a flurry of offense and defense. The first one wounds Kratos, and the second one stabs Torinn in the chest. It’s a terrific wound, and the dragonborn gasps, transfixed, and then collapses to the ground. </p><p></p><p>“Oh crap!” cries Nowhere Jones. He dances in to flank one of the chagmat with Vann-La, but his dagger is covered with spider ichor. It slips in his hand, and he misses. </p><p></p><p>“There’s only two of them,” Kratos roars. “We can take them!”</p><p></p><p>“No there aren’t,” says Vann-La grimly.</p><p></p><p>Indeed, two more chagmat enter the fight from the other passage. </p><p></p><p>Suddenly the fight is looking uglier. When one of the chagmat hacks Vann-La down with a pair of cuts, it starts to look even worse. Torinn manages to stabilize Vann-La before she dies, but while he is doing so, one of the chagmat double hits Nowhere Jones and knocks him unconscious as well! Then it is three to two- somehow, our heroes have managed to slay one of their attackers- and then, as Torinn falls, three to one. </p><p></p><p>And it’s over. </p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> What about the rest of the party?</p><p></p><p></p><p>*We had less players present than usual that night. </p><p></p><p>**That was an action point that, sadly, didn’t do much.</p><p></p><p>***That was a critical hit.</p><p></p><p>****Both were crits. This was a wonderful finish to a combat in which the pcs had frustratingly bad dice luck almost completely.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 4560413, member: 1210"] This is a short update, because it ends at a particularly dramatic moment. :) I hope to post a followup tonight or tomorrow or, at the least, before too long. *** Some of our heroes- Kratos, Vann-La, Nowhere Jones and Torinn- advance into the cave, weapons drawn.* The mouth of the passage is about 20’ wide; as they move forward, our heroes quickly come upon more xvart bodies, lying before a pair of barricades. A chagmat corpse is sprawled near one wall as well. Clearly, the battle that the party came upon was just one skirmish in a larger conflict. The chamber is obviously a guard chamber. A narrow path is open between the two barricades; behind the barricades are a long, narrow table surrounded by a host of stools, some of which have fallen over. Behind that, you can see that there is a drop-off or descent of some kind. Meanwhile, on the east side of the easternmost barricade is another tunnel that snakes away. The party starts to check the corpses for loot, but Vann-La’s keen ears prick up. She frowns, and gazes up at the ceiling. “LOOK OUT!” she shouts, her sword coming free from its scabbard with a rasp. Two spiders the size of a human are up on the roof, and they begin scuttling forward. “Yuck!” exclaims Nowhere Jones, and hurls a shuriken. But he is still recovering from the surprise, and he misses. The spiders leap. Death hurtles in at our heroes from above. One of them lands squarely on Torinn, knocking the dragonborn prone and sinking hairy fangs into his shoulder. He gives a shout of distress as poison pumps into him, and his arm begins to throb. He struggles to his feet and pulls his spiked chain; he aims a blow at the spider but misses. It springs aside as he focuses all his might on a second swing, and he misses it again!** The other spider comes down square on Nowhere Jones, knocking him from his feet. The tiefling tries to scramble away, but fangs sink into his buttocks. “Aargh!” he screams, as poison taints his blood. He whirls around, bringing his dagger across the spider’s head, and springs back away. Meanwhile Vann-La steps up and gets in the spider’s way, preventing it from effectively pursuing. The first spider bites Torinn again, hitting him in the chest, right over his heart. The dragonborn wails in pain.*** The party tries to rally and focus their attacks. Torinn staggers and almost drops, but takes a moment to catch his breath and get his second wind. Kratos steps up with a furious smash, a guarding strike, but he just can’t seem to connect. The spiders are too cagey- dodging one way and then the other, leaping over the party’s attacks, returning to the ceilings... they are quick and dangerous, and their poison leaves our heroes unable to move quickly. Many of the party are suffering from it as the spiders leap back into the room beyond the barriers. Both spiders are wounded, and one of them is wounded badly, but neither one is ready to flee. Vann-La takes a deep breath and focuses her mind. [i]I am unstoppable,[/i] she tells herself, and charges forward through the barriers. Right into a trap. She hears a ‘click’ as her foot hits a pressure plate between the barriers. [i]Uh-oh,[/i] she thinks, as a thick boulder on a long strand of webbing drops pendulum-like from the ceiling, plowing into her with crushing force and knocking her back and from her feet. It smashes into Torinn, as well, rendering the already badly wounded cleric almost unconscious. It also makes a hell of a racket- a terrifically loud grinding noise. She sees stars for a moment, and when her vision clears, Vann-La can see the pendulum boulder swinging rapidly through the passage between the barriers. “We can go over the barriers!” shouts Kratos. Indeed. Kratos and Vann-La start climbing up and over, and the spiders scuttle around the ceiling menacingly. But Torinn and Nowhere Jones keep up a flurry of missile fire that prevents the spiders from fully taking advantage of the situation. The more badly wounded spider attempts to escape them, but Kratos and Vann-La both hit it as it flees, and it drops from the cave ceiling, curling its legs up in the classic pose of a dead spider. “Let’s go!” cries Torinn. “Up and over and in!” He and Nowhere Jones clamber over the barricades, joining the melee, and deliver a torturous strike and a righteous brand to the spider- and both blows are perfect, catching it in the head and the guts! The spider is cut into a mess of pieces!**** “Whew,” Torinn gasps. “Those things sucked! We should rest for a few minutes and-” Two chagmat rush into the room from the downward sloping passage, making weird, moist, sucking sounds from their spider mouths. “Lester’s arm!” shouts Torinn. “More of them!” The party turns and begins to engage the chagmat. Behind them, cutting off easy escape, the pendulum still swings. Each chagmat wields two swords and bears two shields, and puts up a flurry of offense and defense. The first one wounds Kratos, and the second one stabs Torinn in the chest. It’s a terrific wound, and the dragonborn gasps, transfixed, and then collapses to the ground. “Oh crap!” cries Nowhere Jones. He dances in to flank one of the chagmat with Vann-La, but his dagger is covered with spider ichor. It slips in his hand, and he misses. “There’s only two of them,” Kratos roars. “We can take them!” “No there aren’t,” says Vann-La grimly. Indeed, two more chagmat enter the fight from the other passage. Suddenly the fight is looking uglier. When one of the chagmat hacks Vann-La down with a pair of cuts, it starts to look even worse. Torinn manages to stabilize Vann-La before she dies, but while he is doing so, one of the chagmat double hits Nowhere Jones and knocks him unconscious as well! Then it is three to two- somehow, our heroes have managed to slay one of their attackers- and then, as Torinn falls, three to one. And it’s over. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] What about the rest of the party? *We had less players present than usual that night. **That was an action point that, sadly, didn’t do much. ***That was a critical hit. ****Both were crits. This was a wonderful finish to a combat in which the pcs had frustratingly bad dice luck almost completely. [/QUOTE]
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