D&D 5E CB's Stonefast IC -- COMPLETE

[CanadienneBacon]

Father Spec stood close to the t-intersection. He was five feet in front of Fulgrim, who was last in line and stood precisely in the spot where the hallway met the corridor. The dogleg in question was at the outer reach of Spec's light, but he could make it out decently well even from where he stood 40' away from the corridor's terminus. He peered into the corridor, but didn't see anything other than his colleagues to his front.

OOC: Spec still has an action and movement before the encounter starts in earnest, if he wants. Let me know. I plan to move to the first round by Sunday, 7 pm eastern US time.

Guran motioned to Colden to back up a few yards, but followed only a distance of 10', putting the dwarf 20' from the dogleg, 10' from Colden, and 15' from Roscoe. Turning to face the dogleg to the south, Guran drew a handaxe, ready to throw if the approaching creatures proved hostile. Guran listened to the voices and chanting to see whether he can understand a word of it.

Colden moved backward, away from the open door in the corridor. He gave Guran the 10' of space he knew the dwarf liked, but otherwise stood at the ready, his weapon in hand. By the time Colden backed up to make room for Guran, Colden stood 30' from the dogleg at the far end of the corridor.

Fulgrim stood fast in the middle of the t-intersection. He didn't see anything, but he heard the chanting and the voices, none of which was intelligible to his ear. The rhythmic nature of the chanting boded ill in his experience, though. He kept his warhammer drawn and at the ready, but there was nowhere to move without stepping all over his comrades, so he stayed put and readied an action in case a dastardly foe deigned to show its face at the dogleg.

OOC: In the interest of getting this going, I'm providing the descriptive fluff for what I think Fulgrim would be likely to do based on what I've observed him doing in the past. He still, however, has an action and movement before I start combat rounds, and you are welcome to state it for him. I will forward things to the first round Sunday 7 pm.

Roscoe stood his ground, 10' south of the juncture at the t-intersection of the corridor and the hallway, and pulled out his sword. He waited to see who was coming, probably some filthy Orcs.

OOC: Strahd, I'm sorry, but I am sticking with the 6 I rolled for Roscoe. There's just been too much back and forth, and I think everyone would appreciate the clarity afforded by getting the init order settled so that we can commence combat rounds.

OOC: All--it's the weekend, and I know some of you don't check the site on the weekend. I will be calling for Round 1 actions sometime after 7 pm on Sunday, so if you want to tweak what your character does before the encounter begins in full, now's the time. I thought about not posting anything at all until then and just waiting it out to see who showed up to state actions, but since I also sensed a little bit of confusion about who was where and whether anything could be seen at the dogleg, I thought I'd better post today to clarify.

 

[Forged Fury]

Fulgrim stared down the hallway, a fire bolt spell ready at his lips.

OOC: I'm going to update the map tomorrow when I run into work and upload a copy of it so everyone can get properly oriented. Just a note, but I think Strahd's weekend days are Friday & Saturday.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

OOC: You're correct about Strahd. He's in Israel.

 

[Forged Fury]

OOC: Based on CB's latest description, here's the situation. The exclamation point marks the dogleg from where we hear chanting. The dotted wall with the question mark is the barricaded room. Characters are: (F)ulgrim, Father (S)pec, (R)oscoe, (C)olden, & (G)uran. I normally post these in the OOC thread, but figured it would help a bit better here.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

OOC: Yup, the map is correct. Thanks! And the exclamation point cracks me up.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Surprise Round, Resolved

RECAP: Father Spec stood close to the t-intersection. He peered into the corridor, but didn't see anything other than his colleagues to his front. Guran motioned to Colden to back up a few yards, then backed up himself. He drew a handaxe. Colden followed suit and moved backward away from the open door, his weapon drawn. Roscoe thought he heard filthy orcs, so he drew his short sword. Fulgrim, who was furthest from the dogleg, readied afire bolt.

The chanting was in Elvish, but only Roscoe spoke that tongue.[sblock=Fulgrim, Spec, and Roscoe]Fulgrim and Spec know this: Hard to tell in the echochamber and confusion what language that is, but the chanting is definitely spellcasting of some species. Or a bard well-versed in voice modulation and trickery, perhaps. [sblock=Roscoe only]How on earth is the party barbarian the only character to speak Elvish?! Too funny. The chanting is rhythmic, ritualistic perhaps, and of a peculiar dialect that Roscoe isn't entirely familiar with. He does, however, make out words he's heard the totem sorcerer in his home tribe use. It's definitely arcane spellcasting of some sort. Roscoe recognizes the Elvish for "silence."[/sblock][/sblock]

The chanting stopped, and all was deadly silent for a long three seconds. A kobold in robes of vivid blue too long for its runty frame stepped forward. It carried an open tome in one hand, and a dagger in the other. The wicked creature began chanting. Its voice was harsh, croaking, and nothing at all like the previous nearly melodic chanting. This time, however, Fulgrim recognized the speech as draconic. Without hesitation, Fulgrim released his fire bolt in a straight shot down the corridor. A mote of fire burst against the robbed kobold, hitting it squarely in the mid-section, and dealing 8 points of damage. The creature and its heavy robes burst into flame, and it dropped its book. The kobold did not, however, topple over; instead, it shrieked hideously in obvious pain, and set about beating out the flames from its robes, hissing all the while. When that failed to put out the fire, the beast retreated behind the bend in the dogleg. Its pained cries carried loudly down the hall.

View attachment 69670

 

[CanadienneBacon]

COMBAT!

Initiative:
Spec 19
Guran 18
Colden 18
Other creatures 16
Fulgrim 13
Chanter 8
Roscoe 6

---

OOC: We now begin combat rounds in earnest. Everyone is up. Please post at will and I will resolve in initiative order. If need be, we will pause mid-round to permit characters yet to act on initiative to re-state their intended action (I try to do this if the battlefield changes unexpectedly or radically).

 

[tuxgeo]

Guran advances 15 feet as silently as he can, reaching the square next to the dog-leg. Edging as close to the left wall as he can, he stops just before entering the hallway. Crouching, he lowers his head and turns his face to the left; then peeks into the hallway, quickly withdrawing his head when he has gotten a glimpse of what's visible there. (He doesn't have any target to attack, so he's still scouting. He's hoping, of course, that the brief appearance of a head and eyes so low to the floor will be less noticeable, or less readily attackable, than one at normal head-height.)

If he sees anything really scary, he retreats 10 feet.

OOC: Any roll needed? Also: I might need to restate a possible retreat, because the above is non-specific -- oh, alright: vague.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

OOC: Give me a Stealth roll and a Perception roll, [MENTION=61026]tuxgeo[/MENTION].

 

[Skarsgard]

Colden holds his ground and readies his handaxe for a throw at whatever may come around the corner.

[sblock=ooc] declare READY action [/sblock]