The Hunt for the Blue Palace (Yoon Suin/Troika!)

Ancalagon

Dusty Dragon
Good questions. There are no arrow slits in the vestibule. There is one above the stairs, (north) and probably one in the room to the west - the vestibule is dark, but there is a bit of light coming from under both interior doors.

The ophilones might be able to stab through the slits, but you are pretty sure that they can't squeeze through. You don't know about the roof situation though.

Btw, they are essentially giant versions of this:
 

log in or register to remove this ad

FitzTheRuke

Legend
"We had better make sure that our position is secure." suggested Dubi Gan, drawing his sword. "Check the doors for what lies beyond. One at a time, of course."
 


Ancalagon

Dusty Dragon
Frog Froth stayed to watch the door - his short blades would work best in this space. Dubi gan, armed with a short stab and hack sword and a shield, led the push into the door to the west.

The room was bigger, (about 10 by 30 feet), with an arrow slit to the south and one to the west, the daylight slipping through providing the only illumination. A few crude chairs were in the room. There was a door to the north, as well as steep stairs leading up.

3 figures recoiled from you.

They were human looking, dressed in rags, clearly ill fed most of their lives. From their back, beautiful and fragile-looking blue/green butterfly wings sprouted. Their mouth was monstrous, looking more like an insect's than a human. One stood before the others, holding a spear that was little more than a shiv strapped to a branch with lots of string.

"szzstannd baaackszzsb!" it hissed.

To Subotai and Pinpehlu's foreigners' eyes, these were wretched but monstrous creatures, although the beauty of their wings was troubling indeed.

But to a local - let alone a templar, a scholar or a seer, it was obvious what these were: Tamasic Men. It was said that when people were unjust in a previous live, they would come back in a lesser form as punishment - the tamasic men, with their animalistic deformities, clearly were cursed thus. They lived in the shadows, hiding their shame.

Looking to over the party's shoulders, out the arrow slit facing south, he hissed "aaaccsskzb! You bzroughts tze zpiderzsbz!!!" Looking behind him he barked "Tellszb tze Eldzerbs!"

A smaller tamasic man started going up the stairs... what does the party do?
Tower floor 1 b.png
 

FitzTheRuke

Legend
"Wait!" called Dubi Gan to the tamasic going for the stairs, "We mean you no harm. We have simply sought shelter here from the threat of these spiders. Once they pass, we will leave you in peace."
 

Ancalagon

Dusty Dragon
"You foollzzzssbffzz, tze zpiderzsbz! can czlimbs wallzzrbz!!! " replied the spear wielding tamasic man, as the other slowly backed away from Dugi Gan and yelled in a cracking voice to the floor above "zpiderzsbz! zpiderzsbz!!!!"
 

FitzTheRuke

Legend
"Look here now, we know quite well that spiders climb!" said Dubi Gan, insulted. Then a realisation came upon him, "Do you mean to say that there is no roof on this tower? By all means, bring your elders down at once!"
 

Ancalagon

Dusty Dragon
"Fsfollwz mez!" said the smaller one!

The elder, an older looking man with somewhat tattered wings, said "Wes don't havfsse mutzsh time. Wes don'tzfb havfsse bowz, we havfsse to fightszb fzrom thez topssf!"

OOC: I will show all 3 floors of the tower now, so you know what you have to deal with. The first floor is connected to the second by a narrow, straight set of stairs. The second to the third by a tight spiraling staircase. The top floor is open with battlements - essentially this is a small "European medieval tower" stuck in the Yellow City, which would be rather bizarre if if wasn't for the highly eclectic architectural style of the city. Let me know if you have questions!

Outside, the swarm formed a large, thin circle around the tower, outside of bow range. Then, showing signs of intelligence, the opilones formed 4 column - they were approaching the tower from the "corners", trying to stay out of the arrow-slits' field of fire. This cautious approach bode ill, but it gave you a few minutes to think and organize.

The tamasic men were a sorry lot. 4 of them were armed with crude spears. Two others looked like they might be able to fight somewhat (they were picking rocks to throw down). The rest were too young, too frail or two old to fight. Even the strongest of them didn't look very impressive.

What do you do?
Tower floor 1 c.png
Tower floor 2.png
Tower floor 3.png
 

FitzTheRuke

Legend
"They... they will put us to siege!?" said Dubi Gan in full suprise, "I had expected them to swarm past. I knew that they were smarted than we should expect, but I had no idea they would be so organised."

His mind raced and he said, "With their superior numbers and our lack of archery, I do not think we can hold the roof. No, it is better that we stay inside and hold the staircase and doors. Do you have much in the way of foodstores? This may take awhile."

OOC: Forget the battlements, they can climb and have greater numbers. We should pile everyone into the 2nd floor room with the spiral staircase and hold the doors and the stairs.
 

Ancalagon

Dusty Dragon
The elder replied "Wes havfsse mayfbes tfreez dayzzb ofz fzoodrb. Ifs wes goezb on thez fsecond floorzb, wes can't esfcape!"

OOC: The spiral staircase is tight, and would limit any attack via there to a series of 1 on 1 fights. Anyone with tunnel fighting could use the skin in here. Unfortunately for Subotai, it is not a suitable place for longsword fighting however.

The front door looks fairly solid? Unless they have a battering ram, axes or sledge hammers, you don't think they will be able to breach it...
 

FitzTheRuke

Legend
"I don't think we can escape either way." said Dubi Gan, "Our only hope is to drive them off."

OOC: We'll bar the door and move the food upstairs, unless anyone objects. We probably don't want to fight on the spiral staircase, so we'll spread out into the other two rooms as well and let a few down the spiral staircase at a time. Does any of us have much in the way of ranged attacks?
 


Ancalagon

Dusty Dragon
The Tamasic Men have no oil, and at one vial each, you don't have sufficient oil to do this. As you peek out from the window, you realize that there is no time for tunneling - they've almost reached the base of the tower already.

Ranged attacks: I don't think anyone has anything beyond maybe throwing a dagger or two. One Tamasic man has a bow, but it's more suitable to hunt rabbit than hurt a human-sized creature, and he has half a dozen arrows tops.
 

FitzTheRuke

Legend
Dubi Gan insisted on holding the second floor, with the ground floor's door barred. "Let them come down the spiral staircase and we will take turns holding them off, if we must."
 

JustinCase

the magical equivalent to the number zero
Pinpehlu hesitates. Living in the City for his entire life, of course he had heard of Tamasic Men, although he never thought he'd see one. They seemed to be friendly enough, wretched though they appeared.

But they were Tamasic Men! Cursed because of their failings! The porter does not feel confident to trust them, let alone with his life if it comes to that.

Warily, he tries to focus on the bigger threat -- the ophilones attempting a siege on the tower. The spiders are coming, Pinpehlu realizes, and in his mind he pictures the little harmless spiders he used to chase out of his house with a broom. He smiles uncertainly, thinking that the spiders are having their revenge at last for being chased off...

"Can we scare them away somehow?" he says as he drops his bags to the floor near Dubi Gan. The porter makes sure he can watch his stuff at all times, and he produces his bale hook in order to defend himself.

"What do the spiders fear? A big broom? Birds? Fire?"
 


Ancalagon

Dusty Dragon
The Opilones are now climbing the corners. The sole Tamasic man with a bow tries to take a shot, and fails.

If you force them to come to you one by one by attacking them as they attempt to leave the staircase, you can fight them 3 vs 1. Who will form the initial front line?

Re characteristics of the Opilones: Perhaps our resident scholar or seer would like to see if they know something?
 



Ancalagon

Dusty Dragon
Dubai Can considered Frog Frog's question as he prepared to join those defending the stairs. Was it possible to reason with them? Why were they attacking at all?

OOC: Skill Dice Roller • Orokos.com: 2d6 5 I dunno if DB has any appropriate skills

OOC: This would be a usage of your "scholar power" and will cost you one point of luck.

You recall that these spiders are cowardly and ominivorous. They are intelligent but you don't know if they can speak or understand the Trade tongue. You think that this swarm is hungry and using their numbers to hunt by overwhelming prey. Given their numbers, a few rations dumped out of windows would not be enough.

@Fradak @tuffghost12 Dubi Gan and Frog Froth are forming a line at the stairwell entrance. Who will be the third? (we can start combat soon!)
 

Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition Starter Box

An Advertisement

Advertisement4

Top