"I don't think we have to worry about their raising the bridge," Clarac says, "but they may choose to destroy it. Proceeding with caution would be most prudent."
The bridge is solid and appears to have not been tampered with. You cross easily, though as you get closer, the feeling of foreboding, or the presence of the two dark entities, can be felt. There is a light buzz to the air, like static electricity, but other than the light wind blowing across the bridge, with the scent of blood, death and smoke, does make you wary. As you enter the courtyard through the gate house, the portcullis is raised as you pass through the man trap.
Inside the courtyard, the walls that enclose the courtyard are 90 feet high. The dark towers of the castle rise even higher. Doors in the gate towers on each side of the tunnel entrance are shut. A few broken bodies of soldiers, civilians and servants are scattered about. The main entrance to the castle itself is centered and before you, the doors are half open. The large window overlooking the main entrance is 50 feet above the courtyard.
(I'm having difficulties with the map this morning, will try later)
(I'm having difficulties with the map this morning, will try later)
(No worries!)
Vrox pauses as they make it to the courtyard. Normally, he scouts ahead, but now he simply lurks behind Tyk's great, hulking figure. He looks over his shield at the courtyard and scans the castle doors and window, looking for any sign of hidden guards or demons. (Perception25, with advantage from his Sentinel Shield) The courtyard looks awfully exposed to him, a great place to spring a trap.
Vrox says, "A feeling of great evil weighs on my mind. Is this what the presence of the Nefarious Duo felt like in your previous encounter with the demon-god?" He looks to Aya, Clarac, and Akkron and asks, "Do any of you have any divination magic to tell us what's ahead? Or do you need to set up any wards before we enter the castle?"
Vrox idly fingers a rust-colored bag at his belt, considering summoning a beast that he could send across the courtyard first.
"Yes, the 'spiritual stench' of the Nefarious Duo is something like this..." Khessa replies to Vrox "But when we invaded their secret base, we were soon able to locate the source of the emanation - and to break it. Here, for now, the emanation is more diffuse, less localized".
"I divide my abilities between weapons and magic, so I have fewer spells to prepare, compared to 'pure' casters" the blonde arcane warrior admits. "Since I am forced to choose, I often neglect divination spells - and so I did in this case too".
"But I can send Anator ahead, if necessary" the tall adventuress offers. "A bat senses its surroundings even when it is not possible to see and should not arouse suspicion. At least not right away".
"But I can send Anator ahead, if necessary" the tall adventuress offers.
Vrox is aware, but he didn't want to risk injury to Anator, which is why he considered a temporary beast from his Rust Bag of Tricks. Or even Akron's beholder-kin.
But maybe the others feel like reconnaissance is unneeded here, and we should just rush through the courtyard to the castle?
Akkron would be more than happy to send the beholder-kin in... it's not like it's going to last a whole lot longer anyway, so might as well use it to draw out the bad guys.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Your beholder goes through the open doors, and into an entry way. Twenty feet inside the castle is a second set of doors which are also open. There are two dead servants lying in the entry way. Once through the second set of doors, the beholder is in a grand hall. In between the columns that support the vaulted ceiling of a great hall is lit by sputtering torches in iron sconces. The torches cast odd shadows across the faces of eight stone gargoyles squatting motionlessly on the rim of the domed ceiling. Ceiling frescoes show remarkable representations of the surrounding valleys. There is a set of double doors of bronze that stand closed to the east. To the north, a wide staircase climbs up to the next floor. A hallway to the south contains another set of bronze doors.
As your beholder is taking it all in, the doors to the east open and more men-at-arms are rushing out, plus some reddish hue demonic looking creatures accompanying them. They are heading towards the door to the courtyard.
If the beholder-kin warns Lord Akkron and Lord Akkron warns the party, what Khessa tries to do is to get into a position that blocks the door to the courtyard, so that the enemies cannot swarm the party and must attack (a few at a time) her.
If she alone is not enough to close the gap, she asks Tyekanik or Clarac to stand beside her.
If the beholder-kin warns Lord Akkron and Lord Akkron warns the party, what Khessa tries to do is to get into a position that blocks the door to the courtyard, so that the enemies cannot swarm the party and must attack (a few at a time) her.
If she alone is not enough to close the gap, she asks Tyekanik or Clarac to stand beside her.
Just to make sure It's clear what I meant: Khessa's idea wouldn't be to close the gates, but to fight at that point, preventing enemies from passing through the gates, so that we can fight them a few at a time and they can't swarm us.
If the beholder-kin warns Lord Akkron and Lord Akkron warns the party, what Khessa tries to do is to get into a position that blocks the door to the courtyard, so that the enemies cannot swarm the party and must attack (a few at a time) her.
If she alone is not enough to close the gap, she asks Tyekanik or Clarac to stand beside her.
Tyek will help close the outer doors
-Changed-He is standing next to the door, axe raised
"I don't think we have to worry about their raising the bridge," Clarac says, "but they may choose to destroy it. Proceeding with caution would be most prudent."
OOC:
The bridge is made of stone, per post 1763.
The bridge is solid and appears to have not been tampered with. You cross easily, though as you get closer, the feeling of foreboding, or the presence of the two dark entities, can be felt. There is a light buzz to the air, like static electricity, but other than the light wind blowing across the bridge, with the scent of blood, death and smoke, does make you wary.
As you enter the courtyard through the gate house, the portcullis is raised as you pass through the man trap.
Inside the courtyard, the walls that enclose the courtyard are 90 feet high. The dark towers of the castle rise even higher. Doors in the gate towers on each side of the tunnel entrance are shut. A few broken bodies of soldiers, civilians and servants are scattered about. The main entrance to the castle itself is centered and before you, the doors are half open. The large window overlooking the main entrance is 50 feet above the courtyard.
(I'm having difficulties with the map this morning, will try later)
[[OOC: Thanks! I forgot about that and was just going by the appearance of a wooden bridge in the battlemap for the guard towers.]]
(No worries!)
Vrox pauses as they make it to the courtyard. Normally, he scouts ahead, but now he simply lurks behind Tyk's great, hulking figure. He looks over his shield at the courtyard and scans the castle doors and window, looking for any sign of hidden guards or demons. (Perception 25, with advantage from his Sentinel Shield) The courtyard looks awfully exposed to him, a great place to spring a trap.
Vrox says, "A feeling of great evil weighs on my mind. Is this what the presence of the Nefarious Duo felt like in your previous encounter with the demon-god?" He looks to Aya, Clarac, and Akkron and asks, "Do any of you have any divination magic to tell us what's ahead? Or do you need to set up any wards before we enter the castle?"
Vrox idly fingers a rust-colored bag at his belt, considering summoning a beast that he could send across the courtyard first.
"Yes, the 'spiritual stench' of the Nefarious Duo is something like this..." Khessa replies to Vrox "But when we invaded their secret base, we were soon able to locate the source of the emanation - and to break it. Here, for now, the emanation is more diffuse, less localized".
"I divide my abilities between weapons and magic, so I have fewer spells to prepare, compared to 'pure' casters" the blonde arcane warrior admits. "Since I am forced to choose, I often neglect divination spells - and so I did in this case too".
"But I can send Anator ahead, if necessary" the tall adventuress offers. "A bat senses its surroundings even when it is not possible to see and should not arouse suspicion. At least not right away".
Vrox is aware, but he didn't want to risk injury to Anator, which is why he considered a temporary beast from his Rust Bag of Tricks. Or even Akron's beholder-kin.
But maybe the others feel like reconnaissance is unneeded here, and we should just rush through the courtyard to the castle?
Akkron would be more than happy to send the beholder-kin in... it's not like it's going to last a whole lot longer anyway, so might as well use it to draw out the bad guys.
Unhappy that the market got rid of individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
Provide feedback!
Ok, let's do it! A beholder has so many eyes... we will never find a better scout! 😉
Your beholder goes through the open doors, and into an entry way. Twenty feet inside the castle is a second set of doors which are also open. There are two dead servants lying in the entry way. Once through the second set of doors, the beholder is in a grand hall. In between the columns that support the vaulted ceiling of a great hall is lit by sputtering torches in iron sconces. The torches cast odd shadows across the faces of eight stone gargoyles squatting motionlessly on the rim of the domed ceiling. Ceiling frescoes show remarkable representations of the surrounding valleys. There is a set of double doors of bronze that stand closed to the east. To the north, a wide staircase climbs up to the next floor. A hallway to the south contains another set of bronze doors.
As your beholder is taking it all in, the doors to the east open and more men-at-arms are rushing out, plus some reddish hue demonic looking creatures accompanying them. They are heading towards the door to the courtyard.![](https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/play-by-post/<a href="https:/ibb.co/5rYv5Ng"><img src="https:/i.ibb.co/CbJvnk3/Screenshot-2024-08-31-181829.png" alt="Screenshot-2024-08-31-181829" border="0"></a>)
[[ OOC: This was the image, I guess? ]]
If the beholder-kin warns Lord Akkron and Lord Akkron warns the party, what Khessa tries to do is to get into a position that blocks the door to the courtyard, so that the enemies cannot swarm the party and must attack (a few at a time) her.
If she alone is not enough to close the gap, she asks Tyekanik or Clarac to stand beside her.
yes
Tyek will help close the outer doors
Just to make sure It's clear what I meant: Khessa's idea wouldn't be to close the gates, but to fight at that point, preventing enemies from passing through the gates, so that we can fight them a few at a time and they can't swarm us.
Clarac will join Khessa and Tyekanik by the door. She raises her sword and braces herself for an imminent attack.
Before she goes to the door, she will send Wetherbee into the sky, circling high above the castle to keep an eye on things.
OOC:
Action: Ready an attack on the first enemy to come within 5 feet of her.
-Changed-He is standing next to the door, axe raised
You hear the approaching steps of the man-at arms, and he is now within 5 feet
Clarac swings her sword just as the man-at-arms reaches her.
OOC:
Reaction (Readied Attack): 38 Damage: 19 (Magical Slashing) + 7 (Radiant) + 16 (Radiant) = 42
It seems like the men-at-arms count as fiends/undead, but if they don't, then they don't take the last 2d10 radiant damage.
[[ OOC: OK... Do the enemies have a chance to attack now? Or have they used up the entire round getting close and it's our turn? ]]
They can't attack, they are moving, so its only your attack.
You strike, catching him by surprise