Pizazz's Ravenloft and Beyond

(OOC: Not that it matters, but Lionel, why did your guiding bolt roll 10d6 as if it were a crit, when it wasn't.  Am I crazy and seeing things?)

Olin, you unleash your blast which strikes the swarm, sending insects spattering into the muck.   A moment later Mordekai unleashes two blasts, and as each blast of magic slams into the bugs, they merge into the limp body of the naked witch that plummets thirty feet, landing with a mucky thud onto the ground.  Her body, purple blood oozing from everywhere, cut up, and blasted by magic lays inert.  Waiting and watching for deception you make sure she's finished, but its clear you've killed her, and it's not just another illusion or trick. 

Mordekai, Meepo, and Lionel, all near death, lean against trees or sit on a nearby rock to take a moment to rest and cradle burns, bruises, and broken bones. 

(OOC:  You each gain 6000 xp each.  You do not fully heal when you level up though, but you do gain the new HP's.  Also, congratulations! Upon reading the stats for this encounter and imagining the witches tactics, I was sure I was going to kill you all.)

What now? 

"Meepo no like witch."  Meepo says in a tired voice.

Lionel does not have guiding bolt :)

But he did not use an ability he was suppose to use at very first round! Shame on me!

Also, did skull drop from the sky? :)

Quote from NathanPizazz >>

(OOC: Not that it matters, but Lionel Olin, why did your guiding bolt roll 10d6 as if it were a crit, when it wasn't.  Am I crazy and seeing things?) 

 (OOC: Oh, weird. All I can think is that the 1d4 from Bless rolled the highest roll on the die and that triggered the crit damage? I can start adding bless damage later, instead of in the middle of the attack roll. Very strange interaction, but it isn't a particularly intelligent system!)

Olin approaches the witches corpse, poking it to make sure she's really dead, then begins dragging it by the ankle back toward his companions. "Lionel, your inclination to burn out evil? Lets do that." Olin says, washing his hands in a swampy puddle. "I think we should take a rest and tend our wounds. I'd also like to take a look through that hut, if only to rid it of any foul magic." Olin peers at the hut warily. "I do not trust this tricksy woman. After a bit of a rest I will search the hut for any traps, magical or otherwise."

Olin sits on a dry bit of earth and begins tending his wounds, preparing to start a short rest.

(3 hit die for 27 hp)

(apparently I can't count and rolled 4 hit die when I meant to roll 3... dropping the final roll that's 21hp)

Mordekai slumps against a rock near his friends.  "A short rest to catch my breath and gather some focus would be very much appreciated.  Thank you for the healing in the middle of that.  And sorry for the darkness - I fear it did more harm than good in the end."

(Using 5 Hit Dice to regain 36 hp)

"I do not think anyone does, Meepo," responded Lionel setting kobold on the ground. The fight was over and only now he begun to understand what went wrong in his aerial combat. "Hot head" was the right explanation but a bad excuse and young paladin was quite disappointed in his carelessness. "As much as I hate to stay here longer than absolutely necessary, we do need rest. And that witch does need burning, but so is the hut." (he managed not to add - "and that world") "We still have the were raven trapped on the other side of the river. Hopefully it can wait for a little."

He did not want to go back to the hut but if they hoped to get any dry wood - it was only there, died up by the fire blast the almost killed him and Meepo. So, after the rest, he would go there with Olin.

5 HD as well: 45

Lionel looks up into the sky, and around the foggy swamp but can't see any sign of the skull.  It's likely still hovering up in the fog, because it doesn't seem to be down here anywhere.

Ismark shrugs to Mordekai, "Oh, that was your darkness.  Well....know I know I guess. It's ok, I'm sure you were trying to help.  That battle was just chaos." 

An hour passes as the group rests. Ismark binds his wounds along with the rest of you and seems to recover a good deal as well.  With the short rest done, you head up into the small hut.  The illusion of the baby crib and child are thankfully gone, as is the illusion of the dead witch. The bathtub is still filled with blood, though it's mostly boiled off, forming a black and red sludge at the bottom of the tub.  Olin peers in, cautiously looking for anything that could be a trap. 

(Roll Investigation, with advantage as I assume someone is helping you, plus 1d4 since I assume you ask for guidance while you search.  Also let me know if you do anything else to search/find traps or what not..)

(I will have also spent the 10 minutes before going into the hut to ritually cast detect magic, so any magical auras should be auto-detected.)

Investigation, 17 + 4

Meepo hp regain (5 hd) 22

Meepo would have also cast Detect Magic as a ritual, just before they all went into the house.

He investigates the furniture and looks for anything that might have been hidden, under bed, etc.

Investigation: 8

If advantage: 11

If guidance: 4

Meepo and Olin glance around the room.  Even without detect magic you spot the magical glyph carved into the latch of the unlocked chest.  Your detect magic spell only makes it more obvious.  You also see magical auras emanating from within the chest.  Nothing else is magical in the room. 

"Hell's." Olin says, looking the glyph, then at Meepo. "You're seeing this too? You want to get it, or should I? Ehh, I'll do it." Olin casts dispel magic on the glyph.

Olin flips open the chest and looks inside.

"Meepo no have that spell."  Meepo says as dispel magic is cast.  He moves over to the trunk a few moments after it is opened though, glancing inside.

Lionel just cast a look at it, making sure there is no green glow inside: "Did you find the green stone here?" He could say the stone was not in the skull, and unless the witch swallowed it - not on her naked body either.

Olin pulls the gem from his pack and points to the big hole in the floor where the crib used to be. "I found the stone in there. It's magic seemed to be powering the house. Just like the tree that attacked us at the winery." Olin rubs his scratched and bruised arm. "It didn't want to give the gem up, but Silvanus aided me."

The glyph vanishes and Mordekai flips open the chest to examine its contents.   Four rotting hands, bones jutting from their rotting ends are within, on top of a variety of other stuff.  But he doesn't have time to examine the other stuff since he notes the four hands are moving.

The fling themselves out of the chest, and begin trying to claw Mordekai to death!!!  Everyone sees four undead hands fling themselves from the chest and attach to Mordekai, clawing at him as they grab on.

Attack: 9 Damage: 5

Attack: 11 Damage: 5

Attack: 5 Damage: 4

Attack: 5 Damage: 5

Roll init.  If you go before the hands, please take your action.  Note, two of them are attached to Mordekai, so, careful with your attacks. The other two fell to the ground.

Hands:  5

Ismark: 5

"Meepo no like!"  Meepo says with a growl, ready for this madness to end.

Initiative: 10

Meepo casts ray of frost targeting one of the hands on the ground.

to hit: 14

Damage: 9 cold.

(Did you definitely mean Mordekai? Olin flipped the lid and Meepo was straight over to investigate it, but Mordekai wasn't. But I'm sure the room is small enough for the hands to target anyone, so happy to be the target if that's what you meant?)

Mordekai Initiative : 22

Mordekai casts Hex, targeting one of the hands on him, and then casts Shocking Grasp at it.

Attack: 15 Damage: 12 plus 5 Hex. 

"That's a relieve!" begun Lionel his praising to liberation of the stone, when runed chest  exploded with dead hands.

Lionel Initiative: 9

Just in case: Lionel got Aura of Protection (While you are conscious, you grant all friendly creatures (including you) within 10 ft. a +3 bonus to all saving throws).

2 attacks on hands with radiant damage:

Attack: 25 Damage: Unable to parse dice roll.

Attack: 15 Damage: 13