Urn Your Pay (Rae judging)

[Trouvere]

"Th' day's yit young, an' we're wet up tae oor oxters awready. Ah wis meanin' tae bring alang a lang powl but wi' a guide Ah guess Ah kin dae withoot. Let's gae oan. Sister, will ye be comin' alang wi' us?"

 

[covaithe]

"Sister, will ye be comin' alang wi' us?"

Sister Anemone shakes her head unapologetically. "Sorry, Gildrim. I have duties of my own. Just see that you don't come washing up on my doorstep half-chewed."

After saying their goodbyes to the Sister, Apikotoa leads the party deeper into the swamp. The routes he takes are circuitous and indirect. Sometimes the reason is obvious, such as a fallen tree blocking the way between two islets, or a long, slow-moving v-shape in the water. At other times, there is no obvious reason for his detours. He moves easily and quietly through the various obstacles, and often pauses for you to catch up.

After well more than an hour of difficult travel, around mid afternoon you reach a small hill, rising no more than ten feet out of the water. It supports a small grove of trees, in the center of which is a weathered standing stone some five feet tall, covered in faded spiral patterns. There clearly has not been any kind of building on this hill for hundreds of years.

[sblock=knowledge(history) or bardic knowledge DC 13]This kind of standing stone can be found in many places in the ENWorld. They are thousands of years old.

[sblock=DC 17]They seem to be somewhat more common at the sites of ancient battles[/sblock][/sblock]

[sblock=rugby]England did really well in the RWC. They lost in the finals to South Africa, after beating Australia and France in the quarter and semifinals. It was one of those situations where they really weren't playing all that well, but they somehow managed to make it so that no one else could play all that well either against them, and won a lot of ugly games. South Africa were pretty clearly the best team, though Australia and NZ looked good in the pools, but fell apart in the knockout stage.[/sblock]

While you stand there trying to make out the carvings on the standing stone, Apikotoa begins to discuss travel plans, suggesting that perhaps you may want to consider moving on, if you wish to get to another good resting place before the daylight fades.

[sblock=Erf and Gildrim]You hear a slight movement in the water to the east. Turning, you see to the east a pair of gentle ripples in the water. Something is approaching the island underwater! Peering closer, you see a humanoid figure crouched low beneath the water, with sharp teeth and pale gray skin.

ooc: spot checks vs. DC 20, all miss. Listen checks vs. DC 14, Erf and Gildrim succeed. This is a surprise round.

map
[/sblock]

Last edited by covaithe; Today at 09:32 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

wtf??!

 

[Halford]

Erf tenses, his link instantly alerting Fenenn to the imminent danger and the big dog lets out a low rumbling growl.

[Sblock=OOC]Erf gets a 12 on initiative and if he acts before the potential enemy calls, "Look out!" He then readies an action for Fenenn to charge and for him to aide another. I'll post that depending on what he sees and the results of his knowledge check.

Initiative (1d20+1=12)

Erf will also be trying to identify their assailent, assuming it is a knowledge nature check he gets a 17.

Knowledge Nature check. (1d20+8=17)[/Sblock]

 

[Trouvere]

Gildrim unsheathes his sword, but finds it difficult to draw his attention away from the ancient stone.[sblock=OOC]Initiative 4; possibly appropriate Knowledges local, nature, religion all +6[/sblock]

 

[covaithe]

Surprise Round

Seeing weapons drawn, one of the figures reacts quickly, leaping out of the water and moving towards Erf. The water slows him enough that he is unable to attack, though.

Erf...

Initiative
ghoul 2, undamaged
Erf, 12/12 <-- you're up
Fenenn, 13/13
Gildrim, 9/9
ghoul 1, undamaged

map

[sblock=knowledge(nature) DC 10]These creatures are not natural. They appear to be undead.[/sblock]

[sblock=knowledge(religion) DC 12]These creatures look like ghouls. They are smarter and faster than zombies or skeletons.
[sblock=DC 17]Ghouls are more deadly for another reason: their claws and fangs are crusted with a necrotic substance that induces paralysis in most living creatures.[/sblock]
[/sblock]

[sblock=ooc rolls]Initiative rolls. Water depths for the squares the ghouls move through. Deep bog and shallow bog are as described in the Marsh terrain entry.[/sblock]

 

[Trouvere]

"Ghouls! Gix-kaegro!" Gildrim calls. "Stay oan th' dry land."

OOC: Knowledge (religion) 1d20+6=20

 

[Halford]

Erf HP 12 AC 16 Fort Save +6; Fenenn HP 13 AC 16 Fort Save +5

Erf dismounts and attempts to move behind the ghoul while staying on dry land. Fenenn comes barreling in and bites at the putrescent creature his fangs ripping into its flesh.

The big dogs then attempts to yank the creature off its feet, but seems to be spectacularily unsuccesful.

[sblock=OOC]How close to Erf and Fenenn is the ghoul exactly? If its further than ten feet Fenenn charges. If Erf is able to move around for the flank without provoking he does so, he took a move action to dismount so thats all he can do. If the ghoul is right next to him and Fenenn then he will merely aide another which he would fail at with my second nat. 1 in a row, for Fenenn's trip attempt and this.

Fenenn charges with flank. Remove 2 if cannot charge or cannot flank. (1d20+7=22, 1d6+3=7) Without charge or flank = 18[/sblock]

 

[covaithe]

Surprise round, continued

Erf thinks about dismounting, but changes his mind at the last moment and tries ineffectually to distract the approaching ghoul with his weapon. Fenenn takes a bite of ghoul flesh, but the taste is so foul that he immediately spits it out and is unable to trip the creature.

Gildrim...

Initiative
ghoul 2, 7 damage
Erf, 12/12
Fenenn, 13/13
Gildrim, 9/9 <-- you're up
ghoul 1, undamaged

[sblock=ooc]The map should be accurate at this point; the ghoul is adjacent to and threatens Erf and Fenenn at the beginning of their turn, so flanking without provoking would require successful ride and tumble checks. Since you rolled the aid another, I'll go with that action. Thus, Erf remains mounted.[/sblock]

 

[covaithe]

ooc: Now that I look at it again, ghoul #1's position on the map is wrong; that represents his position after his surprise round action, which hasn't occurred yet. Sorry! I'm too lazy to change it at this point, so we'll just pretend that #1 is still a few squares to the right until after Gildrim's action.

 

[Trouvere]

Gildrim steps forward, stabs at the ghoul, and brings his shield into position.[sblock=OOC]1d20+3=11; of d20 rolls that really matter (that is, not the occasional Knowledge roll) for all my characters, I believe 12 of the last 13 have been below 10.[/sblock]