DESERT RAIN? - INITIATIVE ROUND 1

• 23. Shai (66/66) - 
• 23. Enemy - 
• 15. Vishnu (66/66) - 
• 11. Kalak (38/38) - source of Light;
• 10. Kandalou (48/94) - Memory-drained (d4 penalty to checks and attacks);
• 08. Ven (56/57) - 
• 08. Quadere (66/66) - source of Light;

MAP:

 

NOTES: There are a dozen brittle glaives near the walls.

(Shai is up first. Feel free to roll your readied attack prior to starting your turn proper.)

Shai takes the shot as the creature reveals itself

Crossbow Attack: 11 Damage: 5

Seeing the impact that the creature has had on Kandalou, Shai drops the crossbow as soon as the bolt is away and rushes forward to attack (moving to CE62) unleashing a couple of flying kicks as she closes to melee range (noting that on each hit she will expend a Ki point trying to Stun whatever this is) but hold on her bonus action until she determines whether she is successful in stunning it.

Strike 1: Attack: 26 Damage: 7 -> if hit Stunning Strike DC16  Con save

Strike 2: Attack: 16 Damage: 4 -> if hit Stunning Strike DC16  Con save

Bonus action options

If the creature is stunned by the initial attacks then Shai will hit it once more with a bonus action

 If the creature is not stunned by the initial attacks:

 Oops: The Bonus Action single attack would be with advantage if it was stunned, so second attack roll 19

 And if it is stunned Shai will use whatever is left of movement to move away from it after attacking...just backing toward the East wall....by my calcs Shai could reach the wall (CE64) with her 45ft of movement

DM's Screen:

Shai was aiming her crossbow at the warrior. Once the creatures rises in the back of the room, the monk tries to quickly change targets but ends up prematurely firing her bolt. The projectile hits the ground somewhere on the western side of the room, far from any living thing.

Undeterred, Shai rushes to the huge creature's side {CE-62} and unleashes a double flying kick. As the second foot lands, Shai can see the oozy blob react more lethargically. Interestingly, the warrior in the center of the room looks similarly drowsy. Shai takes this opportunity to strike the red ooze once more, feeling her kick connect effectively. (Enemy takes 16 magical bludgeoning damage.)

Shai then puts 10 feet of distance between her and the enemy {CE-64}.

(@MuggsHill: That was a total of 2 Ki points used. Please mark them down.)

(The enemy loses its turn! Vishnu, Kalak, Kandalou, Ven, and Quadere are up next.)

Quadere grabs Kandalou and mutters ”I don’t know if this will work.” Then prays “Please Ohgma restore his mind!” and casts Lesser Restoration

Ven notices that the monk's attacks have connected, stunning the creature, and realease an explosion of light that sticks to the enemy (faerie fire, DEX save, automatically failed due to stun condition). This will help the Rrakkma to hit true.

Ven stays a good 80 ft away from the creature and sing a few lines to give back hope to Kandalou (bardic inspiration 1d8)
"With your feet on the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
But there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself... Where is my Mind ?..."

Medicine 13

Vishnu will pop out from behind someone in the group, and send an arrow in to the middle of the blob.

Attack: 29 Damage: 7 magical piercing

Sneak attack: 15

An extra 4 damage from the bow, and an extra 20 sneak attack for the crit.

So that's 11 bow, 35 sneak attack, all magical.

"That settles it! Seems everything in this damned place is in league with the ilithids!" Kalak yells. "Frierse!"

He counjures three fiery lances at the large mass.

Ray 1 Attack: 21 Damage: 5

Ray 2 Attack: 29 Damage: 18

Ray 3 Attack: 27 Damage: 9

Kandalou staggers back a bit holding his head, "Y-y-you're.." his voice trails off as he shakes his head trying to "shake it off". He will draw his longsword and attack the ooze.

((I'm going to still roll the d4, just in case the lesser restoration doesn't work.))

-> Longsword, +1 vs. Ooze: 4 subtracted from Attack: 13 Damage: 9

-> Longsword, +1 vs. Ooze: 2 subtracted from Attack: 11 Damage: 12

(If this is what I think it is, it won't work.)

Vishnu takes one step away from the eastern wall and shoots an arrow at the crimson blob. At first, it looks like the arrow is passively swallowed by the creature, but an almost imperceptible shiver reveals the projectile must have hit something important. (Enemy takes 46 magical piercing damage.)

Without taking a step, Kalak points three fingers at the large creature and produces a fiery streak from each. The stunned creature is easy to hit, and once that happens, it shrieks in pain though the mouth of the "possessed" human female. Parts of the creature catch on fire as if they were coated in some sort of oil. The flames linger. (Enemy takes 32 fire damage.)

(Another post coming shortly.)

(@Superbad: Your attacks are still at advantage, so here are two extra rolls on your behalf. First attack: 22, for a final roll of 18. Second attack: 22, for a final roll of 20.)

Kandalou is somewhat lost in regards to what is happening, but a fighter is a fighter. He swings his sword at the largest target he can find, and an already dissolving ooze (from the fire) splatters first to the left, and then to the right. Both human figures begin to melt into sulfurous puddles of red ooze, revealing their true nature at last. (Enemy takes 21 magical slashing damage and is DEFEATED.)

With the danger no longer imminent, both Ven and Quadere run to Kandalou's aid. The bard spits a quick limerick to serve as an incentive for the fighter to snap out of whatever is afflicting him (d8 Bardic Inspiration die).

The cleric attempts a quick casting of a simple restorative spell, but this blessing proves insufficient. Though Kandalou remains memory-drained, Quadere comes to the understanding that the restorative powers she attempted could have been an effective treatment were they more powerful.

(@Grimnir: You never got a chance to cast your Faerie Fire, so go ahead and keep that spell slot.)

YOU ARE NOW OUT OF INITIATIVE. YOU MAY DO AS YOU WILL.

“Oh Kandalou I am sorry, but I don’t have the invocation ready that you need. Even if I did, I don’t have the necessary diamond dust to channel the divine energy required.”

"Kandalou, i have some healing potions if you need. We better conserve our magic for later"
Ven checks then that everybody else is fine and starts looking around if there are any interesting item in this room.
(happy to help anyone who is good in investigation)

With the others busy tending to Kandalou or investigating, Shai has nothing she can help with so instead says "I am going to take a quick look at the passageway" indicating the other exit to this room.  And with that she retrieves her crossbow, readies another bolt and approaches the start of it and peers down it's length, staying off to one side in the room initially.

Perception  16

Vishnu will stay with the rest of the group, hiding again and watching for danger while the others tend to Kandalou.

Stealth: 28

Kalak looks around the room, muttering to no one in particular, I swear, it's hard to trust anyone we find here even if we see another mind flayer body near them."

Investigation (with Ven's help): 27

Quadere and Ven tend to Kandalou while Vishnu keeps an eye out from a hidden position. It looks like Kandalou will have to live with a few missing memories (and the d4 penalty) for now.

Kalak wanders about the room trying to find anything of use and Ven points a few interesting spots for him to look at. Alas, there seems to be little of use here apart from the rotting glaives hanging from the walls. The wizard does notice, however, that the sand on the ground does not seem to be rising with the wind, which has picked-up significantly over the last few seconds. This lack of motion of the grains of sand and the still strange smell of desert rain are a bit off-putting, though the latter helps mask the awful sulfur stench coming from the dead ooze.

Meanwhile, Shai looks down the westbound corridor. She finds that another chamber opens up no more than 20 feet into this passage, though she has to shield her eye rather quickly after that as the wind is becoming quite forceful. In fact, all the rrakkma finds themselves bracing against the powerful gust.

-> CON saving throw all around {DC 10}:

• Kalak: 12
• Kandalou: 12
• Quadere: 9
• Shai: 4
• Ven: 6
• Vishnu: 16

This first sudden rise in wind intensity catches half of the party unprepared. Kalak, Quadere, and Vishnu all fall prey to the Maddening Winds of Pandemonium, and suddenly feel exhaustion setting in.

Vishnu shakes herself.

"Have to keep moving, we're running out of time.  We can manage."

Ven feels that nothing could helps his companions for now. "Agreed, let's push on. We must be close to them..."
Ven then starts to move and joins Shai