IC: Dichotomy's Age of Worms Redux, Part VI

TiCaudata

First Post
Erdolliel smiles sinisterly while beginning a spell, she then moves up into the air.[sblock=oc]Black tentacles targeted on the point where R's and 2's squares touch. 20 foot radius spread. Then move 20' up.[/sblock]
 
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o3caudata

First Post
Kushnak moves toward the center, slowly rising from the ground, surveying the groups as he goes. As he slows, he shakes his head and turns to the mounted foes before looking toward the sky and releasing a torrent of flame into their ranks.

[sblock=oc]

Kushnak moves 30' diagonally, ending 5' off the ground.

He then, as dramatically as he can muster, casts flame strike centered on the SE corner of I's horses square. I *think* you did the right thing and put the guys in the center of the horses square, and that means, again i think, that they can all be hit.

If that's not the case, i'll hit I,7, (their horses), and 6's horse.

9d6 dmg, ref 19 for half. (only half the damage is fire, fwiw)



Also, note to self. Next battle, explicitly call out that we aren't all next to each other.
[/sblock]
 
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Dichotomy

Explorer
Kushnak gets the jump on the majority of the foes. The warpriest floats toward the middle of the battle, and with a grand display calls down fiery divine wrath upon the mounted Sapphire Squad. As they scream in pain, the crowd roars.

His horse nearly dying, Korush vaults off the creature. The janni moves closer to the middle of the battle arena, but leaves a clear path for his mounted mercenaries, as he shouts, "Charge that spellcaster!"

Erdolliel summons black tentacles to take advantage of the clustered archers. The four elven women (or nine, if all of Rennida's now-useless images are counted) are overwhelmed as the spell's tentacles easily grip them all. While one of the women manages to pull free, she is unable to escape the field of tentacles on the ground.

Joren looks at his dire badger and commands, "Close with them." He then summons a small ball of flame to his hand as he moves away from his companions.

As Rennida fails to break free from the tentacles, Nethezar quickly scans the foes. He points at Joren and shouts, "See not!" The spell appears to have no effect.

Korush's two horesmen both charge Kushnak, one crossing each side, and continuing past him. Despite what would appear to be a ferocious assault, Kushnak easily dodges both charges.

Joren's gnoll halberdiers charge at the horsemen, apparently simply opting for the closest foes. While the first misses, the second drops one of the already wounded horsemen, with a large gash to the gut.

[sblock=OOC]o3, I think that is right. The SRD says we are to "assume that you share your mount's space during combat." I haven't found anything else.

I'm also trying to remember how black tentacles work. They don't need to make the melee touch attacks, right? They just go straight to grapple checks? (For safe measure, I rolled touch attacks for them, and they all succeeded.) Also, I think they don't do damage the first round, right?

Also, these rounds take me forever. Hopefully I'll get faster as I re-learn what I'm doing, but I frankly might not get a post up each day.

R = Rennida; 1-3 are her elven archer cohorts
J = Joren; B = his dire badger; 4-5 are his gnolls
I = Korush; 6-7 are his mercs; all three are atop heavy warhorses

Korush: delays
Kushnak: moves; flame strike (30 dam), ref saves I-12+ success (and fire resistance), 6-13+ fail, 7-15+ fail, horses (13+ fail, 17+ success, 15+ success)
Korush: stops delaying; fast dismount (ride check 6+ success); double moves (the disable horse simply makes a single move away from combat)
Erdolliel: black tentacles, grapple checks: R-7 v 10, fail; 1-7 v 9, fail; 2-9 v 9, fail; 3-9 v 15, fail (this sucks for these gals…); moves 20 feet up
1: attempts to escape, 8 v 7, fail
2: attempts to escape, 20 v 1, success; moves (poor thing can't even move out of the spell…)
3: attempts to escape, 7 v 13, fail
Joren: casts produce flame; moves
Dire Badger: double move
Rennida: attempts to escape, 12 v 6, fail
Nethezar: stops inspire courage; casts blindness on Joren, fort save 19+ success
6: charges (with spirited charge and ride-by-attack) Kushnak (ride 12+ success), attack 2+ miss
7: charges Kushnak, attack 6+ miss
4: charges 7, attack 1!
5: charges 6, 20!, confirm 4+ no crit, 15 damage; 6 falls unconscious (73%, does not fall out of saddle)

Status & Initiative
Kushnak (24)
Korush (29): 8 damage; horse-disabled
Erdolliel (21)
1 (18): grappled
2 (18):
3 (18): grappled
Joren (slower 18)
Rennida (14): grappled
Nethezar (6)
6 (5): 30 damage; horse-15 damage
7 (5): 45 damage; unconcious; horse-15 damage
4 (4)
5 (4)

Inspire courage (+2 morale bonus to saves against charm/fear, and +2 attack and weapon damage): 5 rounds left[/sblock]
 

TiCaudata

First Post
"I'm on the druid." Erdolliel tells Nethezar as she disappears from the field and moves out over the melee.[sblock=oc]Greater Invisibility and then move 5' NE and 55' E. That should put her 5' N of B (and 20' up of course)[/sblock]
 
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o3caudata

First Post
Kushnak chants loudly before growing dramatically, and stepping toward the melee.

[sblock=oc]

Kush casts righteous might and steps 5' S/SE such that he threatens 7 and 6


Biggest thing there is it makes him large w/reach. New AoO attack/dmg is +21/3d6+12

[/sblock]
 

Dichotomy

Explorer
Kushnak calls upon holy power to strengthen him. Again, a very audible reaction is heard from the crowd as they "oooo" in unison.

Korush immediately tries to counter with a spell-like ability, but Kushnak shrugs it off. The Janni calls to the unconscious mercenary's horse, ordering it to leave the field.

Erdolliel vanishes from sight.

The group of elves lets out gasps of pain as nearly all of them are squeezed by the tentacles. Each of them tries to escape, and fails.

Joren flings a ball of flame at Kushnak, easily striking the cleric. A cheer rises from the crowd, glad to see some action from one of the other teams.

Joren's badger charges at the still-conscious mercenary and tears a hunk of flesh from his leg.

Nethezar, realizing that there is not much between himself and the gnoll near him, summons some magical energy. "My friend, you must help pull the elves out of the tentacles, so we can team against the horsemen."

Flustered, the remaining mercenary lashes out at Kushnak, but the half-orc's armor easily deflects the blow. His horse kicks and bites the gnoll, managing to land two blows that are sure to bruise.

As the horse carrying the unconscious rider obey's Korush's command, as if it understood the words, the charmed gnoll rushes toward the trapped elves.

The other gnoll cleaves a mighty blow with his halberd, taking the mercenary's head clean off, to a roar of applause. His momentum carries through to strike at Kushnak, but, again, the mighty armor absorbs the blow with ease.

[sblock=OOC]R = Rennida; 1-3 are her elven archer cohorts
J = Joren; B = his dire badger; 4-5 are his gnolls
I = Korush; 6-7 are his mercs; all three are atop heavy warhorses

Kushnak: righteous might; 5-foot step
Korush: reduce person on Kushnak, fort save 18+ success; moves
Erdolliel: greater invisibility; moves
Tentacles: grapples 1, 3 v 2, success, 6 damage; grapples 2, 7 v 7, success, 2 is re-grappled; grapples 3, 1 v 19, fail; grapples Rennida, 5 v 14, success, 7 damage
1: attempts to escape, 15 v 8, fail
2: attempts to escape, 16 v 17, fail
3: attempts to escape, 1 v 4, fail
Joren: throws flame at Kushnak, ranged touch attack 7+ hit, 11 damage
Dire Badger: charges 6, 10+ hit, 8 damage
Rennida: attempts to escape, 18 v 15, fail
Nethezar: charm person on 4, will save 8+ fail
6: attacks Kushnak 13+ miss; horse attacks 5, 18+ hit, 19+ hit, 6+ miss
7: horse pulls him out of battle
4: double moves
5: 5-foot step; attacks 6, 13+ hit, 21 damage, kills 6; cleave attacks Kushnak, 6+ miss

Status & Initiative
Kushnak (24): 11 damage (5 feet up)
Korush (29): 8 damage; horse-disabled
Erdolliel (21): (20 feet up)
1 (18): 6 damage; grappled
2 (18): grappled
3 (18): grappled
Joren (slower 18)
Rennida (14): 7 damage; grappled
Nethezar (6)
6 (5): dead
4 (4): charmed
5 (4): 13 damage

Inspire courage (+2 morale bonus to saves against charm/fear, and +2 attack and weapon damage): 4 rounds left
Black tentacles: 8 rounds left
Righteous might: 9 rounds left
Greater invisibility: 9 round left[/sblock]
 

TiCaudata

First Post
Erdolliel glides above the druid and rains fire upon him.[sblock=oc]Use 50' of movement to get above J and go 5' further up (25' total now) and cast an empowered scorching ray on J. Ranged Touch Attack, +14 (inspire and invisible included), 2 rays 6d6 damage (+2 for inspire? unsure...) each +5d6 (+2 for inspire? maybe... 7d6 for empowered? probably not) for a sneak attack.

If J lives Dodge on J. If not dodge on I.[/sblock]
 
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o3caudata

First Post
Kushnak flourishes his great sword and lashes out at the nearest foes.

[sblock=oc]
Ah hell yeah. Violence. Di, did you roll my d8 for Aid hit points? Lets resolve that soon so we can skip them once he takes enough damage. d8+9

5' step S.

PA+19/+14 3d6+22

First swing at 5, 2nd at B regardless of the outcomes.

Dodge on 5,B,E,I depending on who's still standing. (AC w/dodge 25, w/o 24)

And because i don't believe it...

Atk (+20[+9 base, +2 wf/gwf, +7 STR, +2 magic weapon) -1 size +1 aid +1 height +2 inspire courage -4 PA)

Dmg (2d6+2 for the weapon, +1d6 for the righteous might, +10 STR[1.5x7], +2 inspire courage +8 PA)

[/sblock]
 
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Dichotomy

Explorer
Kushnak, with two mighty blows from his enlarged sword, cuts down first the gnoll and then the dire badger. Both drop bleeding to the floor.

Korush valiantly charges Kushnak with a scimitar, screaming for glory and vengeance. He shows a deft hand with his blade, as he manages to find chink in the half-orc's armor.

The invisible Erdolliel stalks Joren. She places two bolts of fire into the back of the man's head. He doubles over in pain, but isn't out of the fight yet.

While the tentacles again bludgeon the elves, they struggle to no avail.

Joren, looking badly wounded, casts a relatively minor healing spell on himself. He still looks poorly off, though.

Nethezar looks at Korush. "Let's try this again, shall we? See not!" This time, the scholar's spell works. Korush, now lacking his mount, his mercenaries, and even his sight, shouts out his surrender. The crowd roars at hearing the first team's elimination.

The remaining gnoll valiantly runs to help the elves, as Nethezar had asked. It walks right into the tentacles and is quickly grappled.

[sblock=OOC]Sorry. Kushnak's aid was 12 total.

Also, I took some liberties with Korush's surrender conditions. He would be asking to get killed if he stayed in this fight now.

R = Rennida; 1-3 are her elven archer cohorts
J = Joren; B = his dire badger; 4-5 are his gnolls
I = Korush; 6-7 are his mercs; all three are atop heavy warhorses

Kushnak: 5-foot step; attacks 5, 18+ hit, 30 damage, 5 drops; attacks B, 16+ hit, 32 damage, drops
Korush: charges Kushnak, 16+ hit, 14 damage
Erdolliel: moves; scorching ray, touch attacks 4+, 8+, both hit 73 damage
Tentacles: grapples 1, 20 v 15, success, 5 damage; grapples 2, 8 v 15, success, 9 damage; grapples 3, 11 v 6, success, 8 damage; grapples Rennida, 12 v 9, success, 10 damage
1: attempts to escape, 3 v 11, fail
2: attempts to escape, 10 v 10, fail
3: attempts to escape, 3 v 10, fail
Joren: cure moderate wounds, heals 19 damage
Rennida: attempts to escape, 19 v 14, fail
Nethezar: blindness on I, fort save 3+ fail [As a free action not on his turn, Korush can say he surrenders, though he can't actually drop his weapon and kneel until his turn]; moves
4: double moves; caught by tentacles, grapple checks 19 v 3, grappled

Status & Initiative
Kushnak (24): 13 damage (5 feet up)
Korush (29): 8 damage; blind; horse-disabled
Erdolliel (21): (25 feet up)
1 (18): 11 damage; grappled
2 (18): 9 damage; grappled
3 (18): 8 damage; grappled
Joren (slower 18): 54 damage
Badger: 32 damage; unconscious
Rennida (14): 17 damage; grappled
Nethezar (6)
4 (4): charmed; grappled
5 (4): 43 damage; unconscious

Inspire courage (+2 morale bonus to saves against charm/fear, and +2 attack and weapon damage): 3 rounds left
Black tentacles: 7 rounds left
Righteous might: 8 rounds left
Greater invisibility: 8 rounds left[/sblock]
 

TiCaudata

First Post
"Where's the challenge really?" Erdolliel sighs as she lets loose a fireball in the midst of the tentacles. She then deftly sidesteps.[sblock=oc]Fireball centered on R. That should include all of them in the 20' radius spread. 9d6. Then dodge on J and move 5' E.[/sblock]
 

o3caudata

First Post
Kushnak charges toward the druid.

[sblock=oc]
Doesn't matter for this battle, but i believe Kushnak should have gotten an AoO on Korush.

Also, unless Korush's scimitar is adamantine, stoneskin stopped the first 10 dmg.


Charge J, PA(5)

+20 3d6+24.

dodge on J. AC 23 vs J, 22 vs others.

I'm still 5' off the ground, and charge makes me stop/attack as soon as i can, so i'm 5' away from J.
[/sblock]
 

Dichotomy

Explorer
Kushnak, with the speed of flight and holy strength, flies across the arena toward Joren. With an upward swing of his sword, he splits Joren from pelvis to skull. As each half of the man falls to the sides, the crowd screams.

As Korush officially executes his surrender, with weeping that can no longer be heard over the screaming throng, Erdolliel blasts fire upon the already grappled remnants of the battle. Two of the elves collapse dead. As the tentacles batter those still alive, the last gnoll is killed, and Rennida and her remaining archer both surrender as well.

Nethezar screams at Erdolliel to be heard over the crowd. "Dismiss your spell, before we get disqualified!"
[sblock=OOC]Sorry… Again. I completely forgot about the AoO, and I hadn't written down stoneskin on my notes. I might, at some point, actually remember how to do this…

And for me being picky, Ti, it would help if either your character sheet or you post had something making it easier to figure out the DC for the saving throw. (I don't want to be stupid and miss some modifier, since I'm obviously a bit inept.) If I missed it, I apologize. I think the DC is 17, correct?

R = Rennida; 1-3 are her elven archer cohorts
J = Joren; B = his dire badger; 4-5 are his gnolls
I = Korush; 6-7 are his mercs; all three are atop heavy warhorses

Kushnak: charges Joren, 20!, 8+, crit confirmed…. 70 damage… Joren is so beyond dead...
Korush: drops scimitar, kneels
Erdolliel: fireball 38 damage; ref saves 1-3+ fail; 2-19+ success; 3-4+ fail; Rennida-13+ success; 4-2+ fail
Tentacles: grapples 2, 10 v 3, success, 8 damage; grapples Rennida, 15 v 16, success, 10 damage; grapples 4, 20 v 12, success, 10 damage
2: surrenders
Rennida: surrenders

Status & Initiative
Kushnak (24): 3 damage (5 feet up)
Erdolliel (21): (25 feet up)
1 (18): dead
2 (18): 36 damage; grappled
3 (18): dead
Joren (slower 18): way too much damage
Rennida (14): 46 damage; grappled
Nethezar (6)
4 (4): 48 damage; grappled; unconscious[/sblock]
 

o3caudata

First Post
Kushnak surveys the field and looks toward Erdolliel.

[sblock=oc]

i'll delay.

A critical no less. Awesome.

No worries Di. It's all good.

For future's sake though, when i get AoO's in the arena. If the person who provokes it has a weapon(and isn't surrendered), i want to use the AoO to disarm them, not attack them. I'll post my disarm in my sblocks moving forward.

Ti, if you want my spellsheet, it works pretty well(i auto-calc my DC's)

[/sblock]
 

TiCaudata

First Post
Erdolliel dismisses the spell and floats to the ground next to Nethezar and Kushnak.[sblock=oc]I'll try to post the DCs for my spells. I do already have O3's spellbook with all its delicious auto-calcs as a separate tab in my character sheet.

Poor druid, 148 damage in 2 rounds... :)[/sblock]
 

Dichotomy

Explorer
[sblock=OOC]I'm the :):):):):):)-excuses man. Choir concerts (all done), broken internet (appears fixed), and now a mean cold. Although the latter means that I'm staying home, so posting should be easier, when I'm not on a pseudoephedrine high.[/sblock]
After the tentacles vanish, it is plain to see how clear and decisive the victory was. The competitors who are not flat-out dead or unconscious can barely raise their heads.

The crowd suddenly goes silent, as Raknian steps forward on his pavilion. After pausing to build tension, he calls, "Your victors, the Iron Salamanders!" and the crowd erupts once again.

The wounded and dead are quickly carried away, as the Arena Wardens instruct you to wait. Ekaym, as the trio's manager, is brought from special seating area to Raknian's pavilion where he is handed a bronze trophy in the shape of a bull and a sack of, presumably, coins.

After the short ceremony, the trio is lead back down into the Coenoby, where you learn that, with ruthless efficiency, your competitors and their belongings have already been removed. Of the competitors that have yet to compete, nearly all appear shocked to learn that the Iron Salamanders won the bout.

As the day wears on, the other teams head out for their matches. At the end of the day the trio learns that, in addition to themselves, the remaining competitors are Auric's Warband, the two dwarven warriors called Pitch Blade, the four sorcerers called Draconic Blood, two druids called Snow Leopards, and and upset win by three halflings called Drunken Devilry (who had quite lived up to their names the previous night).
[sblock=OOC]I'll pause there, in case you want to interject anything.

IIRC, you just won 10,000 gold from the bookies for winning this fight. You also get the prize money of 2,000 (plus the bronze statue, which is work 100). I think you had to borrow 1,858.5 from Ekaym to pay Tirra. Right?[/sblock]
 

o3caudata

First Post
[sblock=oc]
At least it's not me! (for now.)

Hope you feel better soon sir.
[/sblock]

Kushnak looks suspiciously at the statue once they're underground again.

"We should dispose of that." he says, nodding toward the statue. " Raknian has been with it. There's no telling what it might...do." He says, voice heavy with implication.

[sblock=oc]

i think you're right about the borrowed money.

the only thing i remember wanting was a scroll of stoneskin which costs us 950 gp

beyond that... erm?
[/sblock]
 
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Dichotomy

Explorer
[sblock=OOC]Also, I forgot, your deal with Ekaym was that he would keep half the winnings (from the prize money, not wagers). So, in theory you'd only get 1,000 of the 2,000 that was the prize for the first round.[/sblock]
 

TiCaudata

First Post
[sblock=oc]It's me!! It's me!! but we're back in PA safe and sound.[/sblock]Erdolliel examines the statue in their rooms in order to make sure that nothing is amiss with it. After she finishes, she sighs, "You're probably right. Maybe we can give it to Ekyam when we see him next. For 'safe keeping' of course..."

She then spends the rest of the day, seeing if she can glean any information about the other teams' battle tactics and staring holes through the victors as they return from the arena.[sblock=oc]Search +18. Detect Magic permanent. Spellcraft +18 for auras on statues and on competitors later. If she finds something on the statue, she'll probably say something different.

Not sure how to find out anything about the competitors. If I recall, we aren't allowed to watch the other bouts, but maybe we can glean something from listening (+14) to the bout if possible. Spot (+14 too) on the victors (and any losers that come back down) for wounds and singe marks that might indicate our soon-to-be opponents tactics. Also detect magic on the victors to see their auras as fully as possible.[/sblock]
 

Dichotomy

Explorer
[sblock=OOC]Ekaym has the statute, so you can't examine it right away. But (since he's coming to see you), you get the chance later. The statue has no magic, and Erdolliel's search turns up nothing.

On the remaining competitors:
Auric's warband: Auric has 5 auras, the strongest being moderate; Khellek has 6 auras, the strongest being moderate (and at least three wands are visible)
Pitch Blade (two dwarves): 10 auras between them, the strongest being moderate
Draconic Blood (4 sorcs): All four have the same auras: ring (faint abjuration), cloak (moderate transmutation), and wand (faint evocation)
Snow Leopards (2 druids): nothing
Drunken Devilry (3 halflings): nothing

Regarding tactics, you learn some things, but, if you don't mind, I'll leave details until just before fights. I don't want to spend time typing up tactics you won't need to know.[/sblock]Erdolliel spends her time eyeing the victors. Auric and Khellek spend no time talking with the other competitors, though Auric's booming laugh can be heard almost nonstop until he and the wizard shut the door to their room. The two dwarves of Pitch Blade are even worse. As they return from their victory, they make straight for their room and ignore even shouts of congratulations from the other competitors. They do, however, have time to stare daggers back at Erdolliel as she watches them, with looks filled with murder.

"Do you think they might suspect something?" Nethezar sarcastically inquires.

Around 7:00 p.m., shortly after the evening meal, Ekaym enters the Coenoby. As he spots the trio, a genuine grin breaks open on his face.

"Please, take no offense, but I never expected such a trouncing! If the other managers are smart, they'll be advising the other teams of your prowess and tactics. Those elven women were the odd-on favorites for your match, and you effectively eliminated them almost before the battle started! And, Kushnak, when you," Ekaym's voice lowers to a fierce whisper, to discourage any eavesdropping, "when you… got huge… That was impressive!

"Now, I've got your considerable winnings, minus my loan for Tirra. I can give the gold to you now, or I can hold onto it, if you need me to purchase anything for you. I can also re-wager up to 1,000 of it, though your ratio has dropped to three-to-one, if you win the next bout."


Ekaym continues, still speaking with his voice low. "While I'm glad that you turned out to be admirable gladiators, I must admit that I had a hidden motive for entering you in the games. You see… my sister Lahaka disappeared here last year, not long after the previous Champion's Games. I've been looking for her for months now, but I've hit a dead end.

"She was a traveling entertainer, a bright joy that brought happiness to cities throughout the world. It seems that her travels eventually brought her here, to the Free City, and more to the point, she caught Loris Raknian's eye. I believe that they became lovers. What I do know is that she vanished the day after the Champion's Games ended.

"I've paid for divination spells to learn more, but alas have learned little. And so I decided to come to the games themselves. I hoped that by entering some gladiators in the competition, I'd have a chance to explore the area, talk with Raknian, and maybe find out what happened to Lahaka. But so far, I've found nothing. Raknian's nearly impossible to get to, and I've uncovered no clues in the outlying buildings. There's two places I've not been able to reach--his palace and the arena understructure. This is where you come in, my friends. If you can slip away from the Coenoby between battles and search the surrounding rooms for clues as to what happened to my sister, I'll turn over all of the winnings from the games to you. What do you say?"
 

TiCaudata

First Post
Erdolliel snorts at Nethezar. "Let them! We'll have to face them soon enough and likely cannot hide ourselves much longer." She raises her eyebrows at Nethezar when Ekyam confirms this.

"Many thanks Ekaym, we will be needing another stoneskin scroll for certain. 3:1 now? That's still decent odds, we should bet the maximum on ourselves again before the next round. I think we should keep the remainder of the winnings, unless either of you can think of something for us to purchase?" The last part is directed at Kushnak and Nethezar.

"As for your sister. What are the consequences of being caught outside of the Coenoby?"
 

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