[sblock=Movement in the Trees]
Sorry, you can't shift through the trees. On the ground, the trees are difficult terrain; in the air, same, but it takes a DC 15 Athletics or Acrobatics check to move without falling 10' to the ground. (You can climb down as a move action without having to roll.)
[/sblock]
The bound halfling stares in fear at Blade's axe, caught in confusion between the conflicting instructions from Tonk and Blade. Finally he simply whimpers, barely loud enough for Blade to hear him,
"Help?"
Meanwhile, Mikara leans forward to get a clear shot at the warforged. At the last minute she hesitates, but her movement has already shaken the branch and set the leaves around her rustling. The hunter's head spins around, focusing in on the source of the sound, and it throws up an arm and points. The pack of hounds surges forward up the road, trailed by their cloud of glowing parasites. As it moves, the hunter's head tracks back and forth, searching the woods for more concealed prey. Its voice grates out,
"There are two others."
Two of the dogs run for Mikara's tree with startling speed, and leap up the trunk towards the lower branches, jaws snapping. They lose their momentum and scrabble at the base of the tree, snapping and snarling. The other two follow the hunter's rigidly pointing arm and race towards Dextyr, lying among the corpses. Unfortunately, these dogs have an uncanny sense of death and both of them of them descend on Dextyr. Their fangs drip a black, smoking ichor, and he realizes that any touch will eat into his skin - he tries to roll out of the way, but before he can regain his feet they are upon him, savaging him with their dripping, hungry jaws.
Now that they are closer, Mikara and Dextyr can see that the hounds are emaciated, with flies buzzing around the open sores in their skin. The stench is almost unbearable.
[sblock=OOC]
The dogs have a Rotting Stench (aura 1) - anyone caught in the aura of 3 or more hounds takes a -2 to attack rolls, skill checks and ability checks until the start of their next turn. Mikara and Dextyr are both in the aura of only 2 dogs, so no penalty yet.
[/sblock]
One of the tentacled creatures drifts after the dogs. As it approaches it becomes aware of the living flesh crouching in the tree above them. It moves faster and faster, and begins to arc upwards, sailing over their heads right towards Mikara's perch. The fell taint rushes towards her and reaches out with its tendrils, running them almost lovingly around her head. She feels an insidious presence which writhes painfully in her forehead as she tries to expell it. Mikara jerks backwards, mercifully breaking contact with the tendrils, in time to see another of the creatures arcing up over the trees and sailing down towards her left. She ducks and its tentacles swipe through the air above her head. The two fell taints hang in the air near her, pulsing slightly.
The other two fell taints bypass Mikara's tree and converge on Dextyr. One arcs up over the head of the Warforged, swiping lazily at it with its tendrils as it passes, and descends on Dextyr from above. Dextyr has a horrible sight of a pulsating, razor fanged maw in its base before a curtain of tendrils descends around his head and he begins to scream and convulse. The creature recoils and shoots up into the air, leaving a ring of bleeding sucker marks aroud his forehead. The shaking gradually subsides.
The final creature now hovers over the head of one of the two hounds that had been worrying at him - it makes a reaching motion towards him with its tentacles, but the other fell taint's sudden retreat causes it to pull back. It spins in place, turning a deep red and then purple, and settles onto the dog's back for a moment before being shaken off.
[sblock=Status]
Mikara puts her Hunter's Quarry on Fell Taint 1 and misses the Warforged (losing her concealment as she attacks). Mikara: if you were using your Longbow, the range is 20/40 and he's 12 squares away, so no range penalty (but it doesn't matter because 13 is still a miss).
Lilf holds his action.
Warforged: double move to G11, minor action Perception to spot anyone else hidden in the trees:
Perception (1d20+3=20). He spots Tristan and Dextyr.
Rotting Hound 1: move to E10, charge to E12 (with an Athletics check to leap high enough for the bite to hit:
Athletics (1d20-1=12) is a fail)
Rotting Hound 2: move to G12, charge to G14 and bite at Dextyr:
Bite (vs Reflex) (1d20+4=17) - actually 20, forgot +2 for combat advantage and +1 for charge - hitting for 5 necrotic.
Rotting Hound 3: move to H11, charge to F13 (with an Athletics check to leap high enough for the bite to hit:
Athletics (1d20-1=13) is fail)
Rotting Hound 4: move to H10, charge to H14 and bite at Dextyr:
Bite (vs Reflex) (1d20+4=10) - actually 13, forgot +2 for combat advantage and +1 for charge - hitting for 5 necrotic.
Fell Taint 1: fly to E10, flying charge upwards to E12, 10' above the ground (over Rotting Hound 1's head, same level is Mikara):
Tendril Caress (vs Reflex, w/+1 Charge) (1d20+5+1=23, 1d6+4=6) - hit for 6 psychic.
Fell Taint 2: fly to B10, 20' above the ground (going over the trees to avoid difficult terrain), flying charge downwards to D13, 10' above the ground (same level as Mikara):
Tendril Caress (vs Reflex, w/+1 Charge) (1d20+5+1=9, 1d6+4=9) - miss.
Fell Taint 3: fly to G10, flying charge to G15, 5' above the ground (directly above Dextyr):
Tendril Caress (vs Reflex, w/+1 Charge) (1d20+5+1=13, 1d6+4=8) - actually 15, forgot +2 for combat advantage - hit for 8 psychic, bloodying him.
Fell Taint 4: fly to J8, flying charge to H14, 5' above the ground (directly above Rotting Hound 4):
Tendril Caress (vs Reflex, w/+2 CA, +1 Charge) (1d20+5+2+1=10, 1d6+4=9) - miss
Ok, your turn! Act in the order you post.
Lilf Proudfoot at G18 (
17 damage, immobilized)
Warforged Hunter at G11 (
0 damage)
Rotting Hound 1 at E12 (
0 damage)
Rotting Hound 2 at G14 (
0 damage)
Rotting Hound 3 at F13 (
0 damage)
Rotting Hound 4 at H14 (
0 damage)
Fell Taint 1 at E12, 10' up (
0 damage)
Fell Taint 2 at B10, 10' up (
0 damage)
Fell Taint 3 at G15, 5' up (
0 damage)
Fell Taint 4 at H14, 5' up (
0 damage)
Tonk (
24/24 hp, Stealth 23)
Tristan (
24/28 hp, Stealth 16)
Dextyr (
10/28 hp, prone, Stealth 11)
Blade (
25/29 hp)
Mikara (
18/24 hp)
[/sblock]
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
Minor: Hunter's quarry on the closest Fell Taint
