In eons past, the mind flayers enslaved entire races including the forerunners of the githyanki and githzerai. Centuries of captivity bred hatred, nurtured resolve, and finally instilled psionic powers into these slaves. With mental armaments of their own and a powerful leader to rally behind (the legendary Gith), the slaves instigated a cross-planar struggle that, in the end, threw down the mind flayer empire, bringing freedom to the surviving slaves.
Due to philosophical differences the gith split into two racially distinct groups. These two groups have been known to clash at times. However, both peoples' hatred of the mind flayers knows no bounds, and they break off hostilities with one another to slay mind flayers if the opportunity presents itself.
Githyanki:
The githyanki plunder countless worlds from the decks of their astral vessels and the backs of red dragons. Feathers, beads, gems, and precious metals decorate their armor and weapons—the legendary silver swords with which they cut through their foes. Since winning their freedom from the mind flayers, the githyanki have become ruthless conquerors under the rulership of their dread lich-queen, Vlaakith.
Githzerai:
Focused philosophers and austere ascetics, the githzerai pursue lives of rigid order. Lean and muscular, they wear unadorned clothing free of ornamentation, keeping their own counsel and trusting few creatures outside of their own kind. Having turned their backs on their warlike githyanki kin, the githzerai maintain a strict monastic lifestyle, dwelling on islands of order in the vast sea of chaos that is the plane of Limbo.
Sha'sal Khou:
The Sha’sal Khou are githyanki and githzerai radicals working toward the reunification of their respective peoples. They labor to create a unified nation of gith. Members of the Sha’sal Khou work secretly within their respective societies, subtly discouraging attacks on the other gith race while carefully recruiting like-minded individuals.
The Sha’sal Khou maintains a secret redoubt on the Sword Coast. The six of you are members of this fortification, and work with the other races of the Realms to further their goals. While in the pursuit of their objectives or even simply as training to pursue them, they find themselves participating in all sorts of expeditions and adventures alongside other factions.
That said, the Sha’sal Khou aren’t a fully-fledged faction in the same sense as the Harpers or Zhentarim. They are not as widespread or full of resources. Their objective is singular and only applicable to gith societies.
Two days ago the six of you were brought together as a rrakkma by Belthomias, your lieutenant within the Sha’sal Khou. Belthomias reports directly to Zetch’r’r, leader of the Sha’sal Khou. Among the ranks of this gith faction, a rrakkma is a hunting party brought together for the explicit purpose of hunting mind flayers.
Belthomias informed you that his intelligence team uncovered the fact that a group of mind flayers have created a weapon of immense power called the Gith Capacitor. They intend to use this artifact to wipe psionics from the collective minds of the gith peoples and enslave them once more. This powerful artifact is, however, not yet fully functional. To activate the Gith Capacitor, the mind flayers must expose it to the unfathomable energies of the Far Realm, a place beyond space and time.
The intelligence team was able to transmit a few more pieces of information before being caught, and presumably wiped out. The mind flayers have successfully traveled through a nearby portal to the plane of Pandemonium, where they are rumored to have located a direct path to the Far Realm. This mysterious path is the only known lead, and as such, reaching Pandemonium and potentially the Far Realm itself is paramount to foiling the mind flayers’ plan. To that goal, Belthomias gave your rrakkma a tuning fork, tuned to the plane of Pandemonium to lead you directly to the portal.
Your mission is the second venture aiming at impeding the Gith Capacitor’s activation. Belthomias went on a solo mission to ambush an ulitharid in an attempt to take possession of the artifact, but barely escaped with his life. His failure was not complete. Belthomias did manage to psionically conjoin with the artifact and transferred that connection to a Reliquary of Zerthimon, which contains a shard of bone from the original githzerai anarch. He also learned that the Gith Capacitor appears to be a diamond the size of a gith’s head, with runes engraved into every facet. As the Gith Capacitor grows in power, the light from the reliquary grows as well, serving as a rough indicator of how much time the rrakkma has before the artifact is fully charged.
For the past two days, you have been travelling underground far beneath the Sha’sal Khou redoubt on the Sword Coast. Luckily, the trip has been mostly uneventful and your resources and strength were properly reserved for moments like the one you now face. The magical tuning fork has lead you to this very spot, standing several feet from the gate to Pandemonium that Belthomias told you about.
After the tuning fork was struck halfway through your trip, the rrakkma followed it for an entire day along many winding stone tunnels deep into the Underdark. After a long rest, you resumed your journey until you arrived here, at the opening to a massive cavern housing a familiar species of fungal growth.
The cavern is roughly rectangular and about 150 x 100 feet in dimension. The stone walls and pillars have all been worked into 90-degree angles, a strong indication of some basic but purposeful underground architecture. You approach from the northeast corner of this rectangular cave, and a few other tunnels in the area lead out of it into depths unknown. About 100 feet ahead, amidst thin lines of bio-luminescent zurkhwood mushrooms and protected by stone walls, is an elaborate, glowing portal, 20 feet in diameter, and painted on the ground similarly to a teleportation circle. As far as you can tell, the mushrooms are the only form of life in this area, though there are plenty of dry bones around your feet.
(OOC: We are ready to jump straight in from this point, but please take a moment to describe your character, how they look, and what they are doing.)
Walking in with grace and a confident straight backed gait, Quadere Lendou, a white haired githzerai woman approaching middle age peers at the portal intently, watching for traps or other dangers that might have caused the nearby bones. She wears unadorned scale mail, and carries a mace at her belt while holding a shield with a single eye engraved in the middle of it. The holy symbol of Oghma hangs from her neck.
With a strong grip on his rapier, Ven'delen advances with the group. His sallow skin and his yellow eyes match the crimson and gold dyes of his studded leather armour. Surprisingly, his exquisite armour did not negate its practicality. Ven could move without a sound. He grabs Quadere's elbow and gives a small sign to be quiet. It has been now a few days he traveled with his Rrakkma and grew found of them. They are worth being protected.
Ven had always a knack at reading people emotions and the surrounding. Readjusting his cittern on his back, he kneels and observe the bones laying on the floor. ”I don’t like this” he whispers.
OOC: Can I do a survival check to see if I could get any info on the bones and the mushrooms. Anything out of the ordinary ? Survival: 26
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Vishnu Re'var detaches herself from the pool of shadows she'd been lurking in, and cautiously begins to poke around the cavern. She's an average height Githzerai, and seems about middle aged. Her studded leather displays none of the ostentatiousness of the bard's, and looks well used. She would have been relatively quiet on the trip here, although if anyone needed assistance she would have gladly lent a hand.
She'll poke around the bones to try to see what sort of creatures they might have been, then examine the portal from a distance.
(Just going to roll a few checks that might apply here, let me know if you'd prefer to request specific checks)
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Shair'ere stands tall and proud, a deadly unarmed warrior clad in the soft tuinc and pants, cinched at the waist by a leather belt. She moves with the litheness of a cat, silenty stalking, her body ready to attack at any moment.
While Vishnu is investigating, Shai'ere is watching for any sign of movement outside of the party, having taken up a spot near one of the pillars, reducing the line of sight to her from any would be attackers.
Perception4 (oops - roll did not add +4 modifier - not that it will do much good with that roll....not a great start)
Kalak Draknerah is a a gaunt, middle-aged Githyanki. While having some muscle tone, his age is already beginning to catch up to him. As a result, he uses his quarterstaff as a support at times. But his strength isn't in his body, but his mind. This evidenced, by the tome in a pouch on his hip and a crystal around his neck.
"This is where the tuning fork led us, but it is far too quiet." He says as he glaces around for anything odd in the immediate area.
((Sorry for my late post! Had to be at my store at 6 AM so I went to bed fairly early!))
Kandalou Dle'tan is a middle-aged Githyanki, his large muscular frame covered by his heavy armor that he keeps looking pristine. He has a shield in one hand while the other hand rests on the pommel of the longsword sheathed at his side.
"Interesting." he grumbles. A man of few words, his voice is gruff sounding and usually monotone. He kneels down and carefully picks up a bone and looks it over for a few moments before setting it down. He will get close enough to the portal and the teleportation circle to give it a look over.
((I would figure this would be either Arcana or Investigation so here is a roll: 8 (+2 for Arcana, +6 for Investigation) ))
Quadere is the first to step forward from the tunnel and into the rectangular cave proper. She brings her shield up and lets the eye engraved on it glow in some sort of blessed light. The holy pendant on her necklace also shines brightly as the confident cleric casts her eyes on the area ahead. Nothing jumps out to her as being a sure sign of nearby traps or pitfalls, though she spots a few more clusters of dried bones about.
Right behind the cleric, Ven also casts an eye about. Instead of looking into the farther corners of the cave however, the cittern-playing spellcaster looks directly beneath his own feet. With the help of Vishnu, he notes the numerous pieces of white bone crumble easily beneath the rrakmma's weight. Even the slight shift in air is enough to blow some of the finer bone dust up. Grabbing a few pieces and looking at them closely, Ven and Vishnu identify the distinct curvature of humanoids' craniums on some of them. The pair concludes that they most likely belong to Underdark dwellers such as the Svirfneblin or the Duergar. Some other pieces are sure to belong to scores of nightmarish beasts that can only live this deep into the ground. Kandalou shows brief interest in the bones as well, but quickly loses it in favor of advancing.
Ven shifts his interest towards a small nearby cluster of light-bearing mushrooms. The bright white-blueish light they produce is mesmerizing, but nothing out of the ordinary for underground fungus life. If anything, the bard would have expected more of these fungi to be about, so perhaps the architects of this place purposefully "dimmed the lights."
Vishnu also moves her focus away from the bones. She looks at the portal from a distance but can only see a small portion of the arcane symbols painted on the ground due to the many stone walls carved within the space. Hence, a more thorough magical investigation of the circle will have to wait for now. Nonetheless, her eyes are well trained and she keeps them focused on the vicinity of the ground-portal.
Shai and Kalak also show interest in the area. While the others investigate the bones, mushrooms, arcane circle, and potential traps, the pair keeps an eye out for any other signs of life. Shai is a bit too cautions in her peeking, erring on the side of remaining unseen. She does not spot anything of interest. Kalak is bolder in his approach, but the end result is similar to Shai's. It is not until Vishnu silently points to a puff of bone dust being kicked upward about 70 feet ahead of the group that the monk and the wizard spot something to be concerned about.
Vishnu's warning comes a bit too late, however. Kandalou is no more than 20 feet away from the spot where the bone dust moved when the roguish gith points her finding out to Kalak and Shai. And they are not the only ones to notice the fighter's bravery either.
Seemingly out of thin air, a well-shaved dwarven figure sporting a mohawk appears mid-strike. The group is well-acquainted enough with Duergar society to recognize the young warrior as a Duergar Stone Guard, a soldier among their more military-like force:
-> King's Knife vs. Kandalou: Attack: 25 Damage: 6 piercing.
The surprise attack cuts the somewhat careless fighter, but it is nothing he hasn't dealt with before. (Kandalou takes 6 piercing damage.)
Three others reveal themselves shortly after the initial attack, coming out of their invisibility by allowing their muscles to burst and enlarge, doubling their size:
15. Duergar Stone Guards - three of them are Enlarged;
12. Kandalou -
08. Kalak -
MAP:
NOTES: It's dim light everywhere in this cave. Unless you have a way to counteract it, your perception checks and search actions are done at disadvantage. It does not affect attack rolls.
(Shai, Quadere, Ven, and Vishnu may take their turns.)
(If there’s enough cover, Vishnu will attempt to hide as a bonus action (Cunning Action). Otherwise just ignore the stealth check and the advantage.)
Vishnu will try to dart back into the shadows before reappearing at 22E, then fires off an arrow at the duergar by Kandalou if she isn’t hidden, or whatever enlarged one she can see if she is hidden.
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Ven rushes forward (>H21) “Finally, some action. Come forth my friends, this is the beginning of our fabulous tale !” As he runs, Ven starts casting Faerie Fire on two of the large Duergars (H13+J14, DEX save DC 15)
Seing Kandalou being attacked, Ven tries then to inspire him and shouts:
“I wish you good luck Guard of Stone! Meet our strongest warrior ! He has cut through thousand of your own ! You should flee before you can hear his roar !”
>> Kandalou, you have now an inspiration dice (1d8).
For 10 minutes, you can add it to one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw. This can be added after seeing the roll, but before knowing the outcome. You can also roll that die and add the number rolled to a weapon damage roll, or, when an attack roll is made against the creature, it can use its reaction to roll the die and add the number rolled to its AC against that attack, after seeing the roll but before knowing whether it hits or misses.
Quadere moves over to G20 and says in a calm clear voice “Oghma’s wisdom BlessKandalou, Ven, and Vishnu that they might find an epiphany of victory.”
(All three are blessed for one minute, or I lose concentration:
You bless up to three creatures of your choice within range. Whenever a target makes an attack roll or a saving throw before the spell ends, the target can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the attack roll or saving throw.)
As soon as there is movement, Shai immediately rushes forward (she can move up to 45'), choosing to close to (stop at L19) confront one of the bigger opponents (M19) , using her speed to launch into a spinning double kick, seeking to Stun the Dwarf with the attacks if they connect (Stunning Strike CON save DC 16 - choosing to expend Ki points on both attacks if first one hits but does not stun). If the Dwarf is stunned from an Attack then Shai will continue to attack with advantage, just taking an extra unarmed strike with Bonus Action.
Shai uses her unrivaled speed well, quickly reaching a duergar before he can reach Kandalou. He begins to raise his shield in preparation for the attack, but is not as quick as the lithe githzerai monk. The first kick connects with the guard's torso:
-> Duergar Stone Guard #3's CON saving throw {DC 16}: 10 - Stunning Strike succeeds.
Shai immediately follows that initial strike with two more kicks, each landing on the duergar's ribs. (Duergar Stone Guard #3 takes 20 magical bludgeoning damage.)
While also moving towards the fight, Quadereblesses some of her companions before finding a safe spot and holding her position.
(@Khazeah: In the end you only needed to use 1 Ki point! Also, first crit of the game!)
(@Superbad, @Grimnir, @Shadow: you are now benefiting from Bless.)
Ven follows closely behind Quadere and also lends some support to his companions. With a strum of his cittern, he tries to envelop two enemies in the bright light of the fey:
One of the guards manages to sidestep the bright explosion, but the other now glows in a bright purple outline. Ven then entwines a few encouraging words aimed at Kandalou, who now feels even more eager than usual (inspired).
Using Ven's words as a distraction, Vishnu follows the edges of shadowy corners to move closer to the fight. Still at a distance, however, she pops out from her hiding spot and shoots an arrow at one of the enlarged duergar. The projectile passes only inches away from Shai's ear, striking the stunned duergar and ending his life. (Duergar Stone Guard #3 takes 30 magical piercing damage and is DEFEATED.)
(@Shadow: That is the only enlarged duergar you can see from {E-22}. Your line of sight to the others would be blocked by the chunk of wall on and around {F-17}.)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
While two larger guards approach Kandalou, the one that had pierced him earlier takes a moment to allow his muscles to burst. He is now as large as his companions. The other two then attack the gith fighter from behind their shields. Their poise and measured movements show that they have been well trained to fight side by side.
-> King's Knife vs. Kandalou: Attack: 20 Damage: 11 piercing.
-> Javelin vs. Kandalou: Attack: 21Damage: 7 piercing.
Kandalou blocks the flying javelin with his shield, but exposes his side to the large knife attack. He can tell that the attack from the enlarged duergar is quite more potent than the one he received from the regular sized dwarf. (Kandalou takes 13 piercing damage.)
(OOC: The duergar are now occupying the following positions: {G-15;H-16}, {I-15;J-16}, and {K-17;L-18}.)
(Kandalou and Kalak are up next. Kandalou is blessed and has a d8 Bardic Inspiration die up for use.)
Welcome to Rrakkma
BACKGROUND INFO (1/2)
In eons past, the mind flayers enslaved entire races including the forerunners of the githyanki and githzerai. Centuries of captivity bred hatred, nurtured resolve, and finally instilled psionic powers into these slaves. With mental armaments of their own and a powerful leader to rally behind (the legendary Gith), the slaves instigated a cross-planar struggle that, in the end, threw down the mind flayer empire, bringing freedom to the surviving slaves.
Due to philosophical differences the gith split into two racially distinct groups. These two groups have been known to clash at times. However, both peoples' hatred of the mind flayers knows no bounds, and they break off hostilities with one another to slay mind flayers if the opportunity presents itself.
Githyanki:
Githzerai:
Sha'sal Khou:
BACKGROUND (2/2)
Two days ago the six of you were brought together as a rrakkma by Belthomias, your lieutenant within the Sha’sal Khou. Belthomias reports directly to Zetch’r’r, leader of the Sha’sal Khou. Among the ranks of this gith faction, a rrakkma is a hunting party brought together for the explicit purpose of hunting mind flayers.
Belthomias informed you that his intelligence team uncovered the fact that a group of mind flayers have created a weapon of immense power called the Gith Capacitor. They intend to use this artifact to wipe psionics from the collective minds of the gith peoples and enslave them once more. This powerful artifact is, however, not yet fully functional. To activate the Gith Capacitor, the mind flayers must expose it to the unfathomable energies of the Far Realm, a place beyond space and time.
The intelligence team was able to transmit a few more pieces of information before being caught, and presumably wiped out. The mind flayers have successfully traveled through a nearby portal to the plane of Pandemonium, where they are rumored to have located a direct path to the Far Realm. This mysterious path is the only known lead, and as such, reaching Pandemonium and potentially the Far Realm itself is paramount to foiling the mind flayers’ plan. To that goal, Belthomias gave your rrakkma a tuning fork, tuned to the plane of Pandemonium to lead you directly to the portal.
Your mission is the second venture aiming at impeding the Gith Capacitor’s activation. Belthomias went on a solo mission to ambush an ulitharid in an attempt to take possession of the artifact, but barely escaped with his life. His failure was not complete. Belthomias did manage to psionically conjoin with the artifact and transferred that connection to a Reliquary of Zerthimon, which contains a shard of bone from the original githzerai anarch. He also learned that the Gith Capacitor appears to be a diamond the size of a gith’s head, with runes engraved into every facet. As the Gith Capacitor grows in power, the light from the reliquary grows as well, serving as a rough indicator of how much time the rrakkma has before the artifact is fully charged.
THE ADVENTURE BEGINS
For the past two days, you have been travelling underground far beneath the Sha’sal Khou redoubt on the Sword Coast. Luckily, the trip has been mostly uneventful and your resources and strength were properly reserved for moments like the one you now face. The magical tuning fork has lead you to this very spot, standing several feet from the gate to Pandemonium that Belthomias told you about.
After the tuning fork was struck halfway through your trip, the rrakkma followed it for an entire day along many winding stone tunnels deep into the Underdark. After a long rest, you resumed your journey until you arrived here, at the opening to a massive cavern housing a familiar species of fungal growth.
The cavern is roughly rectangular and about 150 x 100 feet in dimension. The stone walls and pillars have all been worked into 90-degree angles, a strong indication of some basic but purposeful underground architecture. You approach from the northeast corner of this rectangular cave, and a few other tunnels in the area lead out of it into depths unknown. About 100 feet ahead, amidst thin lines of bio-luminescent zurkhwood mushrooms and protected by stone walls, is an elaborate, glowing portal, 20 feet in diameter, and painted on the ground similarly to a teleportation circle. As far as you can tell, the mushrooms are the only form of life in this area, though there are plenty of dry bones around your feet.
(OOC: We are ready to jump straight in from this point, but please take a moment to describe your character, how they look, and what they are doing.)
Walking in with grace and a confident straight backed gait, Quadere Lendou, a white haired githzerai woman approaching middle age peers at the portal intently, watching for traps or other dangers that might have caused the nearby bones. She wears unadorned scale mail, and carries a mace at her belt while holding a shield with a single eye engraved in the middle of it. The holy symbol of Oghma hangs from her neck.
With a strong grip on his rapier, Ven'delen advances with the group. His sallow skin and his yellow eyes match the crimson and gold dyes of his studded leather armour. Surprisingly, his exquisite armour did not negate its practicality. Ven could move without a sound. He grabs Quadere's elbow and gives a small sign to be quiet. It has been now a few days he traveled with his Rrakkma and grew found of them. They are worth being protected.
Ven had always a knack at reading people emotions and the surrounding. Readjusting his cittern on his back, he kneels and observe the bones laying on the floor. ”I don’t like this” he whispers.
OOC: Can I do a survival check to see if I could get any info on the bones and the mushrooms. Anything out of the ordinary ? Survival: 26
Currently Playing: Regdus Ironfist (Greyhawk) Lvl 1 Storm Sorcerer ; Goraseth Drerjoxian (Icespeak) Lvl 3 Paladin Oath of Glory; Lerak (The Wild Beyond the Witchlight) Lvl 3 Barbarian Wild Magic
In Pause: Grimnir " Shadow-Feet", Lv 11 Owner of "The Basilisk & the Monk" (OotA) - Kurma Kappa, Lv 8 Priest of Oghma (ToA)
Currently DM'ing: Princes of Apocalypse >> Tomb of Annihilation
Vishnu Re'var detaches herself from the pool of shadows she'd been lurking in, and cautiously begins to poke around the cavern. She's an average height Githzerai, and seems about middle aged. Her studded leather displays none of the ostentatiousness of the bard's, and looks well used. She would have been relatively quiet on the trip here, although if anyone needed assistance she would have gladly lent a hand.
She'll poke around the bones to try to see what sort of creatures they might have been, then examine the portal from a distance.
(Just going to roll a few checks that might apply here, let me know if you'd prefer to request specific checks)
Arcana: 14
Medicine/Nature: 6 (same bonus for either)
Investigation: 25
Check out my Extended signature here
Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Shai'ere
Shair'ere stands tall and proud, a deadly unarmed warrior clad in the soft tuinc and pants, cinched at the waist by a leather belt. She moves with the litheness of a cat, silenty stalking, her body ready to attack at any moment.
While Vishnu is investigating, Shai'ere is watching for any sign of movement outside of the party, having taken up a spot near one of the pillars, reducing the line of sight to her from any would be attackers.
Perception 4 (oops - roll did not add +4 modifier - not that it will do much good with that roll....not a great start)
"Bubbles the Barbarian" (Locathah - Lvl 9) - Locathah Rising; Shai'ere Delatete (Githyanki Monk - Lvl 9) Rrakkma (deceased - MindFlayer); Saros Rockfoot (Deep Gnome Diviner - Lvl 5) - The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above; Tagret (Goliath Barbarian - Lvl 2) - Tales of Faerun;
Kalak Draknerah is a a gaunt, middle-aged Githyanki. While having some muscle tone, his age is already beginning to catch up to him. As a result, he uses his quarterstaff as a support at times. But his strength isn't in his body, but his mind. This evidenced, by the tome in a pouch on his hip and a crystal around his neck.
"This is where the tuning fork led us, but it is far too quiet." He says as he glaces around for anything odd in the immediate area.
Investigation: 17
Extended Signature
(Oops sorry, should have rolled perception since I said I was looking for traps and danger)
Quadere calls on guidance and with the assistance from her shield, she pays very close to her surroundings.
Perception: 14
((Sorry for my late post! Had to be at my store at 6 AM so I went to bed fairly early!))
Kandalou Dle'tan is a middle-aged Githyanki, his large muscular frame covered by his heavy armor that he keeps looking pristine. He has a shield in one hand while the other hand rests on the pommel of the longsword sheathed at his side.
"Interesting." he grumbles. A man of few words, his voice is gruff sounding and usually monotone. He kneels down and carefully picks up a bone and looks it over for a few moments before setting it down. He will get close enough to the portal and the teleportation circle to give it a look over.
((I would figure this would be either Arcana or Investigation so here is a roll: 8 (+2 for Arcana, +6 for Investigation) ))
Kandalou Dle'tan - Level 9 Githyanki Fighter (Champion) - Rrakkma PbP
DM's Screen:
19
Quadere is the first to step forward from the tunnel and into the rectangular cave proper. She brings her shield up and lets the eye engraved on it glow in some sort of blessed light. The holy pendant on her necklace also shines brightly as the confident cleric casts her eyes on the area ahead. Nothing jumps out to her as being a sure sign of nearby traps or pitfalls, though she spots a few more clusters of dried bones about.
Right behind the cleric, Ven also casts an eye about. Instead of looking into the farther corners of the cave however, the cittern-playing spellcaster looks directly beneath his own feet. With the help of Vishnu, he notes the numerous pieces of white bone crumble easily beneath the rrakmma's weight. Even the slight shift in air is enough to blow some of the finer bone dust up. Grabbing a few pieces and looking at them closely, Ven and Vishnu identify the distinct curvature of humanoids' craniums on some of them. The pair concludes that they most likely belong to Underdark dwellers such as the Svirfneblin or the Duergar. Some other pieces are sure to belong to scores of nightmarish beasts that can only live this deep into the ground. Kandalou shows brief interest in the bones as well, but quickly loses it in favor of advancing.
Ven shifts his interest towards a small nearby cluster of light-bearing mushrooms. The bright white-blueish light they produce is mesmerizing, but nothing out of the ordinary for underground fungus life. If anything, the bard would have expected more of these fungi to be about, so perhaps the architects of this place purposefully "dimmed the lights."
Vishnu also moves her focus away from the bones. She looks at the portal from a distance but can only see a small portion of the arcane symbols painted on the ground due to the many stone walls carved within the space. Hence, a more thorough magical investigation of the circle will have to wait for now. Nonetheless, her eyes are well trained and she keeps them focused on the vicinity of the ground-portal.
Shai and Kalak also show interest in the area. While the others investigate the bones, mushrooms, arcane circle, and potential traps, the pair keeps an eye out for any other signs of life. Shai is a bit too cautions in her peeking, erring on the side of remaining unseen. She does not spot anything of interest. Kalak is bolder in his approach, but the end result is similar to Shai's. It is not until Vishnu silently points to a puff of bone dust being kicked upward about 70 feet ahead of the group that the monk and the wizard spot something to be concerned about.
Vishnu's warning comes a bit too late, however. Kandalou is no more than 20 feet away from the spot where the bone dust moved when the roguish gith points her finding out to Kalak and Shai. And they are not the only ones to notice the fighter's bravery either.
(To be continued in next post.)
Seemingly out of thin air, a well-shaved dwarven figure sporting a mohawk appears mid-strike. The group is well-acquainted enough with Duergar society to recognize the young warrior as a Duergar Stone Guard, a soldier among their more military-like force:
-> King's Knife vs. Kandalou: Attack: 25 Damage: 6 piercing.
The surprise attack cuts the somewhat careless fighter, but it is nothing he hasn't dealt with before. (Kandalou takes 6 piercing damage.)
Three others reveal themselves shortly after the initial attack, coming out of their invisibility by allowing their muscles to burst and enlarge, doubling their size:
ROLLING FOR INITIATIVE:
DM's Screen:
3; 3
(Initiative tracker coming up.)
(Shai, Quadere, Ven, and Vishnu may take their turns.)
(If there’s enough cover, Vishnu will attempt to hide as a bonus action (Cunning Action). Otherwise just ignore the stealth check and the advantage.)
Vishnu will try to dart back into the shadows before reappearing at 22E, then fires off an arrow at the duergar by Kandalou if she isn’t hidden, or whatever enlarged one she can see if she is hidden.
Stealth; Unable to parse dice roll.
Attack: 21(Adv: 20) Damage: Unable to parse dice roll. magical piercing
Sneak attack: 21
Stealth again: 23
Damage: 9
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
Ven rushes forward (>H21) “Finally, some action. Come forth my friends, this is the beginning of our fabulous tale !”
As he runs, Ven starts casting Faerie Fire on two of the large Duergars (H13+J14, DEX save DC 15)
Seing Kandalou being attacked, Ven tries then to inspire him and shouts:
“I wish you good luck Guard of Stone!
Meet our strongest warrior !
He has cut through thousand of your own !
You should flee before you can hear his roar !”
>> Kandalou, you have now an inspiration dice (1d8).
For 10 minutes, you can add it to one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw. This can be added after seeing the roll, but before knowing the outcome. You can also roll that die and add the number rolled to a weapon damage roll, or, when an attack roll is made against the creature, it can use its reaction to roll the die and add the number rolled to its AC against that attack, after seeing the roll but before knowing whether it hits or misses.
Currently Playing: Regdus Ironfist (Greyhawk) Lvl 1 Storm Sorcerer ; Goraseth Drerjoxian (Icespeak) Lvl 3 Paladin Oath of Glory; Lerak (The Wild Beyond the Witchlight) Lvl 3 Barbarian Wild Magic
In Pause: Grimnir " Shadow-Feet", Lv 11 Owner of "The Basilisk & the Monk" (OotA) - Kurma Kappa, Lv 8 Priest of Oghma (ToA)
Currently DM'ing: Princes of Apocalypse >> Tomb of Annihilation
Quadere moves over to G20 and says in a calm clear voice “Oghma’s wisdom Bless Kandalou, Ven, and Vishnu that they might find an epiphany of victory.”
(All three are blessed for one minute, or I lose concentration:
You bless up to three creatures of your choice within range. Whenever a target makes an attack roll or a saving throw before the spell ends, the target can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the attack roll or saving throw.)
As soon as there is movement, Shai immediately rushes forward (she can move up to 45'), choosing to close to (stop at L19) confront one of the bigger opponents (M19) , using her speed to launch into a spinning double kick, seeking to Stun the Dwarf with the attacks if they connect (Stunning Strike CON save DC 16 - choosing to expend Ki points on both attacks if first one hits but does not stun). If the Dwarf is stunned from an Attack then Shai will continue to attack with advantage, just taking an extra unarmed strike with Bonus Action.
Kick 1: Attack: 13 Damage: 6
Kick 2: Attack: 16 Damage: 5 -> additional roll if has Advantage: 10
Bonus Action: Attack: 11 Damage: 8 -> additional roll if has Advantage: 24
"Bubbles the Barbarian" (Locathah - Lvl 9) - Locathah Rising; Shai'ere Delatete (Githyanki Monk - Lvl 9) Rrakkma (deceased - MindFlayer); Saros Rockfoot (Deep Gnome Diviner - Lvl 5) - The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above; Tagret (Goliath Barbarian - Lvl 2) - Tales of Faerun;
Shai uses her unrivaled speed well, quickly reaching a duergar before he can reach Kandalou. He begins to raise his shield in preparation for the attack, but is not as quick as the lithe githzerai monk. The first kick connects with the guard's torso:
-> Duergar Stone Guard #3's CON saving throw {DC 16}: 10 - Stunning Strike succeeds.
Shai immediately follows that initial strike with two more kicks, each landing on the duergar's ribs. (Duergar Stone Guard #3 takes 20 magical bludgeoning damage.)
While also moving towards the fight, Quadere blesses some of her companions before finding a safe spot and holding her position.
(@Khazeah: In the end you only needed to use 1 Ki point! Also, first crit of the game!)
(@Superbad, @Grimnir, @Shadow: you are now benefiting from Bless.)
Ven follows closely behind Quadere and also lends some support to his companions. With a strum of his cittern, he tries to envelop two enemies in the bright light of the fey:
-> Duergar Stone Guard #2 & #4's DEX saving throws {DC 15}: 14, 20
One of the guards manages to sidestep the bright explosion, but the other now glows in a bright purple outline. Ven then entwines a few encouraging words aimed at Kandalou, who now feels even more eager than usual (inspired).
Using Ven's words as a distraction, Vishnu follows the edges of shadowy corners to move closer to the fight. Still at a distance, however, she pops out from her hiding spot and shoots an arrow at one of the enlarged duergar. The projectile passes only inches away from Shai's ear, striking the stunned duergar and ending his life. (Duergar Stone Guard #3 takes 30 magical piercing damage and is DEFEATED.)
(@Shadow: That is the only enlarged duergar you can see from {E-22}. Your line of sight to the others would be blocked by the chunk of wall on and around {F-17}.)
(Duergar go next.)
While two larger guards approach Kandalou, the one that had pierced him earlier takes a moment to allow his muscles to burst. He is now as large as his companions. The other two then attack the gith fighter from behind their shields. Their poise and measured movements show that they have been well trained to fight side by side.
-> King's Knife vs. Kandalou: Attack: 20 Damage: 11 piercing.
-> Javelin vs. Kandalou: Attack: 21
Damage: 7 piercing.Kandalou blocks the flying javelin with his shield, but exposes his side to the large knife attack. He can tell that the attack from the enlarged duergar is quite more potent than the one he received from the regular sized dwarf. (Kandalou takes 13 piercing damage.)
(OOC: The duergar are now occupying the following positions: {G-15;H-16}, {I-15;J-16}, and {K-17;L-18}.)
(Kandalou and Kalak are up next. Kandalou is blessed and has a d8 Bardic Inspiration die up for use.)