Giant Spider Lokilia continues to move further down into the tower. If one enemy is encountered, she would attempt to avoid them by moving along walls or the ceiling, to come behind them while affording Quin and Normont a chance to attack. If multiple enemies, she simply attacks the closest. She tries not to get too far ahead of the other two so that they can keep together as they descend to find Dev.
Amber continues trying to clean the path ahead of Normont and the others, sending another bolt of energy at one of the creatures even as Normont follows Lokilia and Quinn further into the structure. He remains wary, his pistol ready to be used at any time.
As he moves he grunts a little in pain, it is obviously he is bloodied by the attacks he suffered.
"We can't withstand attacks from both the creatures and the others that Dwendalions. Perhaps the situation calls for a temporary truce, if they feel the same. Let's not strike the first blow against them, just in case", he says quietly.
Amber
Attack: Force Strike - To Hit: 17+4=21, Damage: 2+2=4 [force]
The trio make it another three floors down, now four floors behind the Cerberus Assembly duo who do not seem as wounded.
They are just about to descend the next lot of stairs when three badly burned looking children clamber over the barricade, Amber blasts one sending it spinning lifelessly into the shaft, but the other two move forward. Suddenly an unharmed looking facsimile of Normont comes barreling out from behind a panel of screens and lunges at Quinn.
( Normont may take his readied action first. Then simply post your actions for the 'round', once all three have posted I'll resolve the 'combat' )
Udo: “My wife was here...she said the way out was shut....my daughter she fell into the void....
"....where are my people? They.....they threw themselves into the pit....I saw them..."
“The shape-shifters tried to trick me too,” Dev answers, trying to hold onto Udo’s resurfaced sense of self, keep it from sinking away again. “We have to remember: no one else is here! Just my friends and me and Frau Mathilda and Mr. Jurgen!”
“with the secrets here the Assembly could gain enough power to rule uncontested...."
Dev thinks of all the suffering he has endured under the current social hierarchy, the way Drynna turned its back on his poor parents and let them shiver through the cold, wet nights, unfed and shunned. ‘Well, if Frau Mathilda and Mr Jurgen are nice people, and they rule uncontested, maybe things will be better for everyone?,’ he thinks.
“Come on, let’s get out of here! I bet your family can’t wait to see you again!”
Dev extends a hand and if Ubo agrees, leads him upwards, keeping a wary eye on the shape-shifters and renewing his spell in different places higher and higher up to keep the abyssal denizens moving:
At the first sign of trouble, Normont's pistol rings out as he shoots at one of the childlike shapeshifters climbing over the barricade. His pistol then whirs and clunks as it reloads itself.
"Nuts and bolts, here we go again! I have to commend them on their choice of muse though", he says as he spots his own doppleganger. He retreats to ensure he cannot be engaged in melee and fires at Faux Normont.
"Don't stop now, Amber. Keep whittling them down", he then calls out in gnomish.
Amber does as bidden, sending out another blast of force at one of the childlike shapeshifters climbing over the barricade.
Normont
Reaction: Shoot one of the childlike shapeshifters with pistol - To Hit: 10+5=15, Damage 3+3=6 [magical piercing] Movement: Retreat up to 30ft to remain at a distance Action: Shoot Faux Normont with pistol - To Hit: 1+5=6 Bonus Action: Command Amber
Amber
Action: Force Strike on another childlike shapeshifter - To Hit: 5+4=9
Giant Spider Lokilia advances towards the two remaining burned children-looking creatures. (Trying to position to force them to either engage her or provide AoO if they go after others.) She then strikes at one of them, trying to bite it. (Bite Attack: 11, Damage: 7 piercing; if hit CON Save DC 11 or take 16 poison damage or 8 poision damage on success)
At the first sign of trouble, Normont's pistol rings out as he shoots at one of the childlike shapeshifters climbing over the barricade. His pistol then whirs and clunks as it reloads itself.
"Nuts and bolts, here we go again! I have to commend them on their choice of muse though", he says as he spots his own doppleganger. He retreats to ensure he cannot be engaged in melee and fires at Faux Normont.
"Don't stop now, Amber. Keep whittling them down", he then calls out in gnomish.
Amber does as bidden, sending out another blast of force at one of the childlike shapeshifters climbing over the barricade.
Normont
Reaction: Shoot one of the childlike shapeshifters with pistol - To Hit: 10+5=15, Damage 3+3=6 [magical piercing] Movement: Retreat up to 30ft to remain at a distance Action: Shoot Faux Normont with pistol - To Hit: 1+5=6 Bonus Action: Command Amber
Amber
Action: Force Strike on another childlike shapeshifter - To Hit: 5+4=9
Normont fires sending one of the burned forms back over the railing with a cut off screech, he fires at his own double but the shot goes wide as he moves hurriedly back towards the stairs....
Amber flies around the other small charred form but is unable to land a hit....
Giant Spider Lokilia advances towards the two remaining burned children-looking creatures. (Trying to position to force them to either engage her or provide AoO if they go after others.) She then strikes at one of them, trying to bite it. (Bite Attack: 11, Damage: 7 piercing; if hit CON Save DC 11 or take 16 poison damage or 8 poision damage on success)
Lokilia bites at the other but it ducks aside, but it is distracted enough that Quinn is able to quickly kick it upside the head and send it falling down into the shaft...
Faux-normont screeches its mouth opening unnaturally wide revealing serrated fangs as it tries to bite at the spider-Lokilia, she notes its eyes glitter with a green light unlike the others they have faced so far....
Udo: “My wife was here...she said the way out was shut....my daughter she fell into the void....
"....where are my people? They.....they threw themselves into the pit....I saw them..."
“The shape-shifters tried to trick me too,” Dev answers, trying to hold onto Udo’s resurfaced sense of self, keep it from sinking away again. “We have to remember: no one else is here! Just my friends and me and Frau Mathilda and Mr. Jurgen!”
“with the secrets here the Assembly could gain enough power to rule uncontested...."
Dev thinks of all the suffering he has endured under the current social hierarchy, the way Drynna turned its back on his poor parents and let them shiver through the cold, wet nights, unfed and shunned. ‘Well, if Frau Mathilda and Mr Jurgen are nice people, and they rule uncontested, maybe things will be better for everyone?,’ he thinks.
“Come on, let’s get out of here! I bet your family can’t wait to see you again!”
Dev extends a hand and if Ubo agrees, leads him upwards, keeping a wary eye on the shape-shifters and renewing his spell in different places higher and higher up to keep the abyssal denizens moving:
teacher's gonna show you
how to get an "A"
how to spell "me", "you", add the two
listen to me baby that’s all you got to do
Udo chuckles dryly as Dev mention things improving under Assembly control and then he recoils as a number of bodies fall past them to impact loudly onto the steel mesh grid below...
Udo grasps his hand and follows him gingerly as they attempt to ascend......
Two of the creatures continue to follow Devs musical trail and he notes two other creatures in......sleep? stasis? crouched behind a coiled assemblage of serpent-like cables on the level above which remain insensate.
However one of the creatures that had initially followed the musical lure turns and cranes a too-long elvish neck back towards Udo, scenting through widening nostrils....it begins to move towards the stairs leading down that Dev and Udo are heading for.....
Giant Spider Lokilia now fights with the faux-normont that had attacked her. She tries to hold position so Quinn and Normont might get past and down to Dev. (Bite Attack: 24, Damage: 5 piercing, if hits CON Save DC 11 or take 10 poision damage, 5 damage is successful)
Norman sees that Spider-Lokilia is now engaged with Faux-Normont, and stops retreating. Feeling a little more comfortable that his companions have him covered he moves forward again, still staying out of reach, but cannot leave Faux-Normont for others to deal with.
He once again aims at his mirror image and fires.
"Focus fire on the one that looks like me", he calls in gnomish to Amber, who sends another blast of force from her maw towards the indicated target.
Normont
Movement: Advance 30ft circling if possible to remain at a distance from enemies. If that is not possible, he will stop short Action: Shoot Faux Normont with pistol - To Hit: 2+5=7 Bonus Action: Command Amber
Amber
Action: Force Strike on another childlike shapeshifter- To Hit: 17+4=21, Damage 2+2=4 [force]
Giant Spider Lokilia now fights with the faux-normont that had attacked her. She tries to hold position so Quinn and Normont might get past and down to Dev. (Bite Attack: 24, Damage: 5 piercing, if hits CON Save DC 11 or take 10 poision damage, 5 damage is successful)
Lokilia sinks her fangs into 'Normonts' neck injecting venom....
Norman sees that Spider-Lokilia is now engaged with Faux-Normont, and stops retreating. Feeling a little more comfortable that his companions have him covered he moves forward again, still staying out of reach, but cannot leave Faux-Normont for others to deal with.
He once again aims at his mirror image and fires.
"Focus fire on the one that looks like me", he calls in gnomish to Amber, who sends another blast of force from her maw towards the indicated target.
Normont
Movement: Advance 30ft circling if possible to remain at a distance from enemies. If that is not possible, he will stop short Action: Shoot Faux Normont with pistol - To Hit: 2+5=7 Bonus Action: Command Amber
Amber
Action: Force Strike on another childlike shapeshifter- To Hit: 17+4=21, Damage 2+2=4 [force]
Normonts shot goes wide but Ambers blast finds its spot sending the creature staggering as Lokilias venom floods its system...but it has not fallen yet....
Two of the creatures continue to follow Devs musical trail and he notes two other creatures in......sleep? stasis? crouched behind a coiled assemblage of serpent-like cables on the level above which remain insensate.
However one of the creatures that had initially followed the musical lure turns and cranes a too-long elvish neck back towards Udo, scenting through widening nostrils....it begins to move towards the stairs leading down that Dev and Udo are heading for.....
(Oops! I check this page every day. Still missed DM’s posts relating to Dev somehow.)
Dev is relieved when Udo agrees to take his hand and be led upstairs. But the relief is replaced by renewed fear when he realizes one of the shape-stealers has noticed the pair’s ascent. When Dev sees the creature coming down the stairs ahead of them, he quickly pulls Ubo aside behind some cabling near the base of the stairs, whispering, ‘Hide!’ Then, using Thaumaturgy, the bard creates another distraction, blowing a series of whispered notes on his pan-pipes which result in chilling laughter. The sound come from a spot he and Ubo have passed on their way up. The desired outcome: the shape-shifter continues moving down toward the laughter, passes Dev & Ubo in hiding, and then Dev & Ubo whisk themselves unnoticed up the stairs and away from harm.
Meanwhile, the Illusory music continues, unabated:
The trio make it another three floors down, now four floors behind the Cerberus Assembly duo who do not seem as wounded.
They are just about to descend the next lot of stairs when three badly burned looking children clamber over the barricade, Amber blasts one sending it spinning lifelessly into the shaft, but the other two move forward. Suddenly an unharmed looking facsimile of Normont comes barreling out from behind a panel of screens and lunges at Quinn.
( Normont may take his readied action first. Then simply post your actions for the 'round', once all three have posted I'll resolve the 'combat' )
Udo: “My wife was here...she said the way out was shut....my daughter she fell into the void....
"....where are my people? They.....they threw themselves into the pit....I saw them..."
“The shape-shifters tried to trick me too,” Dev answers, trying to hold onto Udo’s resurfaced sense of self, keep it from sinking away again. “We have to remember: no one else is here! Just my friends and me and Frau Mathilda and Mr. Jurgen!”
“with the secrets here the Assembly could gain enough power to rule uncontested...."
Dev thinks of all the suffering he has endured under the current social hierarchy, the way Drynna turned its back on his poor parents and let them shiver through the cold, wet nights, unfed and shunned. ‘Well, if Frau Mathilda and Mr Jurgen are nice people, and they rule uncontested, maybe things will be better for everyone?,’ he thinks.
“Come on, let’s get out of here! I bet your family can’t wait to see you again!”
Dev extends a hand and if Ubo agrees, leads him upwards, keeping a wary eye on the shape-shifters and renewing his spell in different places higher and higher up to keep the abyssal denizens moving:
teacher's gonna show you
how to get an "A"
how to spell "me", "you", add the two
listen to me baby that’s all you got to do
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
At the first sign of trouble, Normont's pistol rings out as he shoots at one of the childlike shapeshifters climbing over the barricade. His pistol then whirs and clunks as it reloads itself.
"Nuts and bolts, here we go again! I have to commend them on their choice of muse though", he says as he spots his own doppleganger. He retreats to ensure he cannot be engaged in melee and fires at Faux Normont.
"Don't stop now, Amber. Keep whittling them down", he then calls out in gnomish.
Amber does as bidden, sending out another blast of force at one of the childlike shapeshifters climbing over the barricade.
Normont
Reaction: Shoot one of the childlike shapeshifters with pistol - To Hit: 10+5=15, Damage 3+3=6 [magical piercing]
Movement: Retreat up to 30ft to remain at a distance
Action: Shoot Faux Normont with pistol - To Hit: 1+5=6
Bonus Action: Command Amber
Amber
Action: Force Strike on another childlike shapeshifter - To Hit: 5+4=9
Quinn was ready to dodge, does the child still land on me?
( No ones landed on anyone as yet. Your free to Dodge.)
(Web Recharge: 3; no)
Giant Spider Lokilia advances towards the two remaining burned children-looking creatures. (Trying to position to force them to either engage her or provide AoO if they go after others.) She then strikes at one of them, trying to bite it.
(Bite Attack: 11, Damage: 7 piercing; if hit CON Save DC 11 or take 16 poison damage or 8 poision damage on success)
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Normont fires sending one of the burned forms back over the railing with a cut off screech, he fires at his own double but the shot goes wide as he moves hurriedly back towards the stairs....
Amber flies around the other small charred form but is unable to land a hit....
Lokilia bites at the other but it ducks aside, but it is distracted enough that Quinn is able to quickly kick it upside the head and send it falling down into the shaft...
Faux-normont screeches its mouth opening unnaturally wide revealing serrated fangs as it tries to bite at the spider-Lokilia, she notes its eyes glitter with a green light unlike the others they have faced so far....
Attack: 11 Damage: 10 Piercing.
( Normont, Quinn and Lokilia are up)
Udo chuckles dryly as Dev mention things improving under Assembly control and then he recoils as a number of bodies fall past them to impact loudly onto the steel mesh grid below...
Udo grasps his hand and follows him gingerly as they attempt to ascend......
18
11
11
12
13
Two of the creatures continue to follow Devs musical trail and he notes two other creatures in......sleep? stasis? crouched behind a coiled assemblage of serpent-like cables on the level above which remain insensate.
However one of the creatures that had initially followed the musical lure turns and cranes a too-long elvish neck back towards Udo, scenting through widening nostrils....it begins to move towards the stairs leading down that Dev and Udo are heading for.....
(Web Recharge: 5, yes!)
Giant Spider Lokilia now fights with the faux-normont that had attacked her. She tries to hold position so Quinn and Normont might get past and down to Dev.
(Bite Attack: 24, Damage: 5 piercing, if hits CON Save DC 11 or take 10 poision damage, 5 damage is successful)
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Norman sees that Spider-Lokilia is now engaged with Faux-Normont, and stops retreating. Feeling a little more comfortable that his companions have him covered he moves forward again, still staying out of reach, but cannot leave Faux-Normont for others to deal with.
He once again aims at his mirror image and fires.
"Focus fire on the one that looks like me", he calls in gnomish to Amber, who sends another blast of force from her maw towards the indicated target.
Normont
Movement: Advance 30ft circling if possible to remain at a distance from enemies. If that is not possible, he will stop short
Action: Shoot Faux Normont with pistol - To Hit: 2+5=7
Bonus Action: Command Amber
Amber
Action: Force Strike on another childlike shapeshifter- To Hit: 17+4=21, Damage 2+2=4 [force]
Quinn will also move forward trusting the spider power.
Con Save- 12
Lokilia sinks her fangs into 'Normonts' neck injecting venom....
Normonts shot goes wide but Ambers blast finds its spot sending the creature staggering as Lokilias venom floods its system...but it has not fallen yet....
Quinn moves down the stairs looking ahead and finding no immediate danger on the next floor down.
" Normont" screeches and charges at Lokilia trying to kick her hard enough to drive her towards the edge...
Kick Attack: 8 Damage: 8 Bludgeoning.
The Giant Spider still manages to hold out after the heavy blow. (Is she moved away from the 'Normont'?)
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
( Oops....yes 10' she is now next to the guardrail.)
(Oops! I check this page every day. Still missed DM’s posts relating to Dev somehow.)
Dev is relieved when Udo agrees to take his hand and be led upstairs. But the relief is replaced by renewed fear when he realizes one of the shape-stealers has noticed the pair’s ascent. When Dev sees the creature coming down the stairs ahead of them, he quickly pulls Ubo aside behind some cabling near the base of the stairs, whispering, ‘Hide!’ Then, using Thaumaturgy, the bard creates another distraction, blowing a series of whispered notes on his pan-pipes which result in chilling laughter. The sound come from a spot he and Ubo have passed on their way up. The desired outcome: the shape-shifter continues moving down toward the laughter, passes Dev & Ubo in hiding, and then Dev & Ubo whisk themselves unnoticed up the stairs and away from harm.
Meanwhile, the Illusory music continues, unabated:
…your education ain't complete
teacher's gonna show you (she's gonna show you)
how to get an "A" (na, na, na, na, na, na)
(Stealth with advantage: 12 :()
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
4
( Normont, Quinn and Lokilia are up.)