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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sephiroth no Miko" data-source="post: 1905606" data-attributes="member: 4796">Round 3, Part 1[Flaust rolled Listen 8+7=15] Pausing for a listen but hearing nothing other than the distant clash of arms as her friends engage the ghost (who sounds positively enraged if all the snarling and wailing are any indication), Flaust creeps over to a window and peeks in. The room appears to be a dilapidated bedroom of some sort and is obviously deserted. [Flaust rolled Move Silently 13+14=27, Tumble 10+13=23] Limber as a cat, she wriggles through the tight square opening and lands lightly inside, her feet stirring up little puffs of dust. The chamber seems to have been rather elegant at one time, but now the bed is drowned in dust and mildew and the chest of drawer and mirror has been smashed by support beams fallen from the ceiling. Ruddy light from the fiery skies of Torch filter through holes in the ceiling, casting an ugly red glow over everything. Across from her, the door to a darkened hallway beyond hangs half-ajar.Vlad decides to try a different tack after he realizes that his weapon could do little to harm the creature but that the converse was certainly not true! The ghost takes another swipe at him as he hastily retreats but its spectral claws rake nothing but air as the dwarf dashes behind another headstone and then darts up towards the statue. From behind its relative safety, he murmurs words of arcane power, sending four grayish skull-like missiles streaking towards the ghost with an authoritative gesture. They punch through the specter and dissipate, tearing great plumes of ectoplasmic matter from its body and sending it writhing in spasms of pain. The three slashes across his own chest continues to sting more than they should and Vlad realizes that he is still bleeding, slowly but steadily.Invoking the magic of her boots, Zoe finds herself faster and lighter on her feet, better able to anticipate her enemy's next move. Dropping into a defensive posture, she takes gauges her foe carefully and attacks, but the first swing goes wide as an unseen root catches her foot. Undaunted, she rights herself almost immediately and is gratified to see her sword sweep through the creature, its holy runes flaring to life in crackling challenge of the fiend's hideous corruption. A dreadful scream rents the air as it feels a large chunk of its essence burned away by the weapon's purity. Faster than any normal human could move, Zoe brings up her blade for a third blow but the ghost is already phasing out of blade's path, not eager for a second confrontation with the baneful weapon.As his friends press their attacks, Burrows rushes in from the opposite side, hoping to take advantage of the creature's distraction but again, the movement of a living being nearby seems to attract its attention and it swings around to pin him with its glowing gaze and a swipe of its talons. Fortunately, his protective spell holds and all Burrow feels is the muted chill of the claw's passing. He swings his club with all his might at the beast's kneecaps, but in the darkness, accidentally mistakes some low bushes instead. They're flattened now, though.Hemmed in by foes from three sides and woefully injured, the ghost decides it definitely doesn't like the way things are going and to regroup. With a final roar, it dives into the ground, and the sudden silence is nearly deafening the little cemetery....Meanwhile, inside the mansion, Kiaros slides easily into the worm-thing's mind, finding nothing there but a shattered psyche that he can brush aside with nearly no effort. It has the flavor of being human once, though that was so long ago and dim that it was but just an echo of a time mostly forgotten. Now, it is driven mostly by instinctual urges-- the desire for food (wood! paper! yum!) and... more food (more wood! more paper! yum!). The pathetic remnants of its soul curls up next to Kiaros' own, incurious and simple, content to let him assume control of its malformed body.Initiative (status):Flaust (51/51, -1 Str, -2 Dex, -2 Con)Vlad (46/61, -4 Con)Zoe (59/104, +4 Str)Burrow (100/100)Fiendish Ghost (badly injured)Blade (106/106)Kiaros (54/54) in Worm Thing (6/6)Donner (94/94) on Grizzle (62/62)Claw (62/62, -4 Str, -2 Dex, -2 Con)Rupert (uninjured, ability damaged)Aegis, Arbor and Tor (33/33, -3 Str, -3 Dex, -3 Con)Hrothgeat (42/42, -4 Str, -4 Dex, -1 Con)Ghost takes an AoO at Vlad as he moved, but it missed. Vlad's four magic missiles did 5+3+5+2=15 points of damage to the ghost, as he succeeded on his SR roll with an 18+7=25. Vlad also took 3 points of bleeding damage from the three slashes he received from the ghost's claws. Zoe takes a full attack action on the ghost, missing on her first attack 1+20-5=16, but hitting on her second 10+20-5=25 and third 14+15-5=24 attacks. Her second attack does 8+12=20 plus 7 points of holy damage. Her third attack misses due to the ghost's incorporeality (42 on d100). This is her first round of haste. Ghost takes another AoO at Burrow as he moves in, hitting with a claw for 6 points but Burrow's stoneskin absorbs the damage (it's currently at 104/110). Burrow takes a swing at the ghost, 5+14=19, but the hit misses due to the darkness (16 on d100). The ghost takes a withdraw action into the ground, and does not provoke AoO from threatening characters.At this point, I'm going to give the characters who've already declared their action this round but have yet to go (with the exception of Kiaros, since his action isn't dependent on the ghost) a chance to re-declare their actions for this round since their target has now vanished. Those who have already gone can (names in gray in the initiative order) also declare their actions for next round.Kiaros' Stats: AC 11 (+1 size); hp 6; Init +0, Spd 10 ft.; Grp -1; Atk +4 melee (bite 1d3-2); Str 6, Dex 10, Con 12; Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +2.<a href="http://s92908152.onlinehome.us/hellbound/combat/map3.jpg" target="_blank">Encounter Map</a></blockquote>

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