[sblock=OOC]
I guess I'll assume it's the dining room door.
[/sblock]
Larinza looks through the door opposite Shorrin. It leads to a small sitting room with a low table and several chairs. Long bookshelves line the walls, filled with books whose spines are covered with mystic-looking sigils. On one shelf is a crystal statue of a man with a goats head holding a rod outstretched over a cauldron. In the far corner is a fireplace, also filled with frozen blue flames.
Janus walks over to the stairs and glances upwards. The opening is surrounded by a decorative railing, and beyond he can see the ceiling of the second floor, which unfortunately is decorated much like the first. Janus gets the impression of open space, as if the entire second floor were one big room, but all he can actually see as he faces southward up the stairs is a pile of crates and barrels stacked along hte south wall.
He barely registers this, however, as he is already concentrating on his arcane senses. The feeling of powerful magic presses down all around, as if the very air were permeated with it. As he concentrates, he begins to sort out the details of the impression - it comes from the icy coccoon around the tower. It feels like a powerful binding magic, structured to keep something from escaping the tower. However, it has been altered somehow, and now bits of the cold energy are being stripped away to power the icy wind that originates here.
Suddenly he hears a roaring noise, and opens his eyes. Charging down the stairs towards him is a featureless humanoid creature made entirely of translucent blue ice. It wears heavy armour and carries a huge chunk of frozen ice. When it stomps to the bottom of the stairs it barrels into Janus, snarling, and swings the chunk of ice like a maul. It crashes into Janus's side, sending him staggering backwards. Janus feels an icy chill spreading through his blood from the point where the maul struck him, and his movements become sluggish.
[sblock=Janus]
You recognize the creature from your studies - it's an Ice Warrior, a denizen of the Elemental Chaos who seeks to turn the world into a frigid wasteland. They are occasionally able to cross over to the Prime Plane at areas of extreme magical cold. Your master had never met them, but made you study several accounts of incursions by armies of them, long ago.
Judging by the maul, this is an Ice Warrior Raider, whose attacks can slow or immobilize enemies. Other known Ice Warrior troops include Icicle Hurlers, who throw spears of ice like javelins, and the dreaded Frostlings, leaders who radiate an aura of intense cold and attack with bursts of icy shards. Ice Warriors are so militaristic that even their young Shardlings serve in their armies as foot soldiers.
[/sblock]
Ice Warrior Raider:
[sblock=Status]
Initiative:
Balth, Janus, Larinza, Murphy, Shorrin; includes +2 from Larinza (1d20+10+2=17, 1d20+4+2=20, 1d20+1+2=8, 1d20+1+2=5, 1d20+1+2=12)
Terrain: The stairways are difficult terrain because they're slippery. Any square containing boxes or crates is also difficult terrain. Once you're on top of a table you can move normally, but it takes a full move action to jump up onto a table and a minor action to jump off. The squares with the fireplaces can't be entered. The rest of the furniture (chairs, bookcases, sideboards and candelabras) can be moved through without penalty because it's light enough to shove out of the way, or up against the walls.
The raider started in C6 on the second floor - Janus could have spotted him, but he flubbed his Perception roll (I forgot to save the link, but he rolled a 2). It moves south around the railing to D3, the top of the stairs, and then charges down the stairs to D5 and attacks Janus:
Maul on Janus (w/+1 from charge) (1d20+9+1=26, 1d8+3=5). He hits for 5 damage, and Janus is slowed (save ends).
Janus's turn!
23 - Ice Warrior Raider (
0 damage)
20 - Janus (
17/22 hp, slowed (save ends))
17 - Balth (
27/27 hp)
12 - Shorrin (
33/33 hp)
8 - Larinza (
29/29 hp, allies in LOS who spend an action point regain 4 hp)
5 - Murphy (
26/26 hp)
[/sblock]
