BLACK CRATER

[Tom Cashel]

repeat: the immediate past

Artemus, you hear the creaking of wagon wheels through the portal...as well as a broad and gravelly voice saying in Common, "Master! There is peoples in that wagon!"

Another voice, more human, farther away, yells: "Faraugar! The wagon!"

Bear moves around to the front of the portal, motioning to the druid to stay where he is. Then he motions to Dalabrac to cut at the tarp on the edges of the portal.

(To clarify: the portal is resting on top of the wagon--it's too big to fit inside so it rests across the top--and a tarp is tied down over the whole portal. The "opening" side of the portal faces down into the wagon bed, where Dalabrac is right now. If this is unclear let me know; I can scan you a diagram.)

Here is where we begin, as soon as I have all initiative rolls.

 

[Tom Cashel]

Got it!

"Dalabrac, you go first."

 

[Mahiro Satsu]

I am going to slice a hole in the tarp and than roll out under the wagon and try to hide.

 

[Tom Cashel]

Loudripper goes through the tarp like a hot knife through butter. You roll out through the slit and land on light feet, scrambling into the deep shadows under the wagon.

(Bear, you plainly see this happen...the halfling moves like lightning and vanishes through the hole.)

The wagon is moving, and it is night on the Stonelands.

[Send me a Hide roll, Dalabrac.]

 

[Tom Cashel]

In the meantime, it's your turn, Bear.

 

[Van Dyksun]

I'm going to move into the portal, jumping for the hole that Dalabrac has made. As I go through the hole, I'm going to attempt to lift the portal on my back, shifting it on the cart, in an attempt to flip it off the cart.

That's probably a full round action for me. If I have any action ability available, though, I'd like to move away from the cart after I do this.

 

[Tom Cashel]

Bear, you get your head and shoulders through the hole, and the hundred scents of the parched Stonelands at night wash over you. You never imagined there was such a landscape of odors out here in this barren land: dusty wind, cactus blooms, the musk of creeping rodents in the dark, the fearful sweat of many humans packed into a small space, the stench of hemp rope soaked with that same sweat.

With a grunt you shove upward; the portal tips away and falls off the wagon, landing with a clangg! on the rocky ground. You leap to the ground, immediately smelling...rage!

The axe-wielding warrior in glossy black Zhentarim armor charges you--you strike premptively and rake your claws across his leg--and brings down his weapon in a vicious slash. It bites deep into your shoulder, with an accompanying flash of sparks and a violent jolt! [17 pts. dmg.] He brings the axe around for a second shot and his legs tangle together--Lord Gargdol goes down in a heap right in front of you!

Artemus, it's your turn!

 

[Mahiro Satsu]

Did the Zhent move through one of my threatened spaces?

 

[Tom Cashel]

No, but a 5-foot step would put you in range to attack the vile dog.

Oh, Artemus...

 

[Tom Cashel]

Love that Scanner

Mike’s question made me realize that my imagination will not suffice for everyone. So here’s a way we can all visualize the same thing. When you move, just be sure to state the distance, count the squares, and state your ending coordinates.

e.g. Bear is in J-7, Zhent Warrior is in H-7, Dalabrac is in I-9 (under the wagon), Artemus is in K-12 (beyond the portal), and the ogre is in G-16. The horses closest to Bear are startled, bucking and trying to break free.