The Romance of the River Kingdoms

[Dr Simon]

Shakou moves closer to the girl, who flexes her unnatural claws, bares her fang-like teeth and hisses a warning, but doesn't rush out to attack the approaching tiger. Briefly, another small face, framed by wild dark hair, appears behind the white girl, before ducking back inside the cave. Similar in appearance, almost what the white girl would look like if she were "normal".

Meanwhile, the huge spider takes a faltering step back up the web, and lunges down at Growling Ape. Once again, the mouth of the passive white masks opens to reveal an unfeasable collection of teeth and mandibles, that surge out with a stream of drool and clamp onto Ape's shoulder, tearing flesh.

In front of Mystal Marr, on the lurching back of the huge spider, the smaller spider rubs its forelegs and chitters sounds that are almost like words, as it ducks and bobs away from the probing thrusts of Marr's rapier. Dark mist rises from its body, quickly swirling up to block all vision. The spider steps back out of Marr's sight.

[sblock=OOC]
Huge spider bite attack on Ape, hits for 8 damage.

Spider Shaman Concentration check for defensive casting, success. Obscuring mist effect on top of huge spider.

Huge Spider is looking pretty beaten up. Of the medium-sized spiders, three are left - the spellcasting one atop the huge spider, the one firing webs from behind (unharmed) and one threatening Annika (injured by Mystal Marr).

Next up:

Annika (soider #3 about 10 ft. away)
Three Flowers (25/36 hp) (on web, next to huge spider)
Mystal Marr (on top of huge spider)
Growling Ape (29/37 hp) (on web, next to huge spider)
Spiders
Shakou (northwest corner of canyon)
Huge Spider
[/sblock]

 

[Walking Dad]

AC 15 (T15, FF13), HP 29/39, F +5,R+3,W+6 (Spells: 0:5/5, 1:3/4, 2:2/3)
Ape Form (AC: 17, Touch: 17, Flat Footed: 13)

Feeling his spell ebb, Ape tries to ignore the burning pain and to release the rest of the lightning into the spider.

[sblock=ooc]
Produce Lightning attack attack +6 (touch): dam 1d6+3


Spells (CL: 3, DC: 13+spell level)
5/Day Level 0: Cure Minor Wounds, Detect Magic, Light, Purify Food and Drink, Read Magic
4/Day Level 1: Produce Lightning, Shillelagh, Summon Nature's Ally I.
3/Day Level 2: Summon Nature's Ally II

Baboon Traits:
AC: 17, Touch: 17, Flat Footed: 13
Fort: +6
Refl: +5
Will: +6
Move: 40', cimb 40'
Init: +4
Listen/Spot: +9
[/sblock]

 

[Neurotic]

Mystal ignores the shaman for the moment even increasing the distance by stepping back. He uses short pause given by shaman's retreat to refocus. Raising his rapier with both hands he plunges it with all his focus downward.

OOC: Move action: focused attack; Standard action: mist strike tehnique (two attack rolls, if both hit +1d6 cold damage, otherwise use higher value to determine if the attack hits.)

 

[Shayuri]

Annika whirls as the spider lands behind her. Up close the size of the thing is horrifying and unnatural. The rapid, jerky motions of its legs remind her of all the times she's seen spiders pounce with unthinkable, terrible speed in their webs. Now this one was more than big enough to do the same to her!

She desperately grabs at her fading magical power and directs another pair of mystical blasts at it!

(Spellweaving 2 level 0 slots into a level 1, and casting magic missile for 2d4+2. Damage...5 Roll Lookup *weeps* Oh well. AC 16 due to Shield.)

 

[Blackrat]

Three Flowers keeps his assault on the foul beast, White Lotus whirling in a dance of death.

 

[Dr Simon]

Winter had missed the Old Vashti's funeral by several weeks, but he recognised her successor, referred to locally as the "Young" Vashti, as Aru Leng, the grand-niece of the Old Vashti and a long-term resident of the narvinda.

Aru told Winter of another group of people gathered together by the Old Vashti's last will and testament, and sent on some kind of mystery trail set up by the old woman. Currently, these people were investigating missing livestock to the south of town, so Winter set off to find them.

Beyond the outskirts of town he found a farm on the eaves of an ancient bamboo forest. The farmer regarded him strangely at first, muttering something aout "another one", but eventually told Winter that the people he was after ("a strange looking lot") had followed the trail of a creature that had been taking his livestock into Kumo Forest, meaning the bamboo.

Winter was not, by nature, a tracker, but it wasn't too hard to follow the trail of a large group of people who had recently cut their way through tangled forest. And then the sounds of battle drew him on, over tumbled, moss-covered bamboo culms and old fallen stones to a crevasse rent through a cliff face. Within he found a web-choked ravine, and at the end, a strange battle in progress.

Dominating all is a huge spider-creature, easily the size of a house, balanced on a massive web that swept down to the ground like a scramble net. One leg is severed, and it bleeds from other wounds. Instead of a spider's head, it has three pale mask-like human faces, joined by the eyes and eerily impassive. Smoke or dark mist seems to rise from its back, and as Winter watches an small smider, still about the size of a horse, casts a strand of web up to another web-net high above and begins to climb out of the smoke.

Two comparitively tiny figures are stood upon the net, fighting the terrible spider-demon. One is a young Asharan man, wielding a scimitar with incredible elan. He seems to be fencing with one of the spider's legs, neither of them scoring a hit on the other. To his right is baboon in man's clothing, its arms wreathed in lightning. The baboon is doing better than the Asharan man, scorching the huge spider with a single touch of its lightning wreathed paws.

In front of the net is a striking red-haired woman in a simple wrap-around dress. Another of the smaller spiders drops from above to land behind her, and she whirls around to face it. As she does so, a pair of fiery feathers manifest before her and slam into the spider, causing it to crumple into a ball. A third of the smaller giant spiders leaps from a lower web - Winter had not spotted it until it moved - and scuttles over to the woman. There is a flash of some kind of glowing shield around her, but the spider still manages to nip her with its mandibles before dropping back in a defensive posture.

Finally, across to the left, a wild-looking albino girl, passingly similar to Winter would look if he never bathed or cut his hair, leaps from a cave opening and charges towards a big cat, what looks like a Fnoi tiger, lurking nearby. Thw white girl has unnaturally long claws or talons, and she rakes the tiger savagely.

[sblock=OOC]
Although that's from Winter's viewpoint, hopefully everyone can figure out what happened to them in that round (except Mystal Marr who is hidden from Winter's view. See below). At the moment, Annika is the only one able to see Winter, although she is threatened by a giant spider.

Annika - Magic Missile on Spider #3, 5 damage, enough to kill it.

Three Flowers - Balance check 15+1=16, success. Able to make 5 ft. step to reach Huge Spider but suffers and AoO, which misses. Three Flowers attack 3+5=8, also misses.

Mystal Marr - Focussed Strike. Concentration 20+8 =28, +2d6 damage. Two attacks for Shadow Technique. Attack #1 9+3=12, fails to pierce carapace. Attack #2 16+3=19, success. Damage 1d4-1+2d6= 8 total.

Growling Ape - Lightning touch attack 9+6=15, hit. Damage 1d6+3=6

Spider #1 (only one left), charges Annika. Hits for 5 damage. Annika makes Fortitude save.

White Girl charges Shakou. Claw attack hits for 5 damage plus poison, Shakou fails Fort save, suffers 6 Str damage.

Winter can act in this round, followed by Shakou.

Nearest to Winter are Annika and Spider #1. Then Huge Spider plus Three Flowers and Growling Ape adjacent (and Marr on top), finally Shakou and White Girl. There is also the other smaller giant spider climbing higher into the webs.
[/sblock]

 

[Neurotic]

Finding the weak spot required his full concentration and he wasn't doing enough on armored back of the spider. Mystal moves toward the head of the spider and jabs his rapier into one of the faces.

OOC: He will roll down spiders head if needed and keep hold on spiders bristles by his legs to prevent falling down.

 

[silveryfox]

Winter enters the ravine by gliding down from one of the sides. His loose robes whirl in the wind and outline his frail frame. Concern mixed with panic is painted across his pale face, outright combat is nothing he is particularly experienced with.

Not knowing what to make of the tiger and wild looking girl, Winter, as he reaches the bottom, whips forth his silvered flute in one hand and rushes toward the red lady. Mumbling an incantation and briefly closing his eyes, lights suddenly dance in his outstretched hand, like silver petals.

Panting he approaches the red-haired lady, "I-I'm here to help".
Holding his distance to the giant spider, Winter reaches out to Annika. The sparkles of light immediately converge upon Annika's wound forming up like a flower of light. The light briefly shines before sinking into the wound and healing the woman.

Winter looks at the demon spider, whilst still trying to have some sort of control of where the giant spider is, "What is that thing?"

OOC: Hi everybody! *wave wave*

[sblock=OOC: ]
(You will roll my HP, right?)

Cure Light Wounds (Spontaneous cast by converting Bless to a Cure spell) on the recently hurt Annika: touch heals 1d8+2

Trying to learn something about the demon spider with a Knowledge (Arcana) +8, don't know if this should be a separate standard action.

Cleric Spells (CL: 2, DC: 12+spell level)
Level 0 [4]: Purify Food and Drink, Cure Minor Wounds x3
Level 1 [3+1*]: Cause Fear, (Bless), Sanctuary, True Strike*
*Domain spell

Bard Spells (CL: 1, DC: 12+spell level)
Level 0 [2]: Detect Magic, Light

Winter
HP: 27
AC: 16, Touch: 12, Flat Footed: 14
Fort: +4
Ref: +4
Will: +7
Init: +6
Listen/Spot: +2
Knowledge (Arcana) +8
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[Dr Simon]

OOC: He will roll down spiders head if needed and keep hold on spiders bristles by his legs to prevent falling down.

OOC: You want to use a maneuvre with that or just a straightforward attack? Since he has to move, you won't be able to use Focussed Strike this round.

 

[Neurotic]

By my account I used everything but counter charge, so no more maneuvers until I recover them...hmmm...change action? No, for now he does as described, every little hit counts. And I didn't think he could use focused attack...consider it default in any round he doesn't move.