Troubles in Paradise

 Stress affects different people differently and this time the effect was quite productive. Playful pair of adventurers made quick work of the remnants of the undead abominations. Nameless girl and Davis finished off an unharmed Jaws.

The dark (well, even darker) lower deck was all empty now, or looked like that and nothing attacked the Nameless girl this time when she tried to get through the hole outside of the ship. Crates and barrels (for those who was wandering) contained mostly food (destroyed by seawater), however, a few crates and barrels were quite well sealed, and might still have something useful inside.

Outside the space felt wast (mostly due to the complete lack of light) and very still - not the slightest current, unlike in the open sea. Still, in that myriads shades of grey that you were seeing the world around you now, you (or at least the Nameless girl) could make out the coral/wooden walls and dark passages - more narrow to the left and right, and big wide one straight forward.

So far, no one rushed to greet you here and silence was absolute. Probably those who lived in this place were using other ways of communication. Or maybe they all left for some reason? Hard to tell, but you had to choose where to go.

Map:

Hansel suggests going left (towards number 1)

“Green doesn’t look good on ya luv.” Trudie gives the quiet woman a gentle pat of encouragement. “Don’t worry, there’s plenty of fish in the sea.” She’d wink before sauntering off towards the left where Hansel suggested.

The Nameless One stares with wide eyes at the turtle...who was herself green, and her mind danced around in confusion about why she might look green, was it a comparison to the turtle woman, though they were almost polar opposites...or was she looking ill, or ...was she implying that she was jealous? What a ridiculous....*splutter*....concept?!!!  She narrowed her eyes waspishly at the Trudie's back, and avoided glances at Hansel at all, and then fell inline behind the turtle nonetheless. 

The path to the left forced the chatty group to get closer to yet another ship hull engulfed in corals beyond recognition. On the seafloor around it and further into the darkness, you began to see humanoid corpses (humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes - from every corner of Faerun, it seems), well preserved, neatly arranged in lines in some kind of macabre underwater morgue. Most of them are dressed in uniforms common among surface-dwellers travelling at sea.

The line of bodies turned left, leading into some coral cave, and the group found itself in the big chamber that spans good fifty feet across from the entrance to, what looks like the wreckage of a massive ship that split in two when it was pulled beneath the waves. Closer to that ship, coral glows softly with a light of its own, not giving much illumination, more underlining the darkness, but strokes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet are all present in great swathes across the walls and ceiling here. The chamber seems twice as long in the opposite direction, and the walls of both sides are split by holes that lead into adjoining chambers in the northwest and southeast.

The light is flickering a bit as if there are some tiny movements hidden deep within the walls. It is not very clear from your position, but there is very likely some passage between the halves of the ship too.

Davis frowns at the glowing area ahead. "Seems like we found what we were after..." He comments, guessing this has something to do with the strangeness all around here. He looks to the others, expecting the not-a-bus-girl to be ready to flit ahead, recklessly as he considers it. Gripping the glaive in his hand he eyes the walls warily, worried about the motion seen there. "I am guessing we are not alone here, so step carefully..." He figures this is needless commentary, but he is use to giving raw recruits instructions and it comes out of habit more than anything else.

The nameless girl naturally slides to her left, along the wall of the cave, stopping to take a close look at the movement. Glancing over her shoulder to keep an eye on the group, she'll pull out a dagger and dig at part of the wall that movement can be seen in.  Otherwise, she keeps a close look on the wreck to the left of the group, spotting holes there, her imagination playing out several underwater denizens coming aggressively at them through the darkness...keeping her on edge. 

"Just keep swimming... Just keep swimming..." Trudie would hum quietly to herself as she'd swim along with the group. "I'm not stepping at all..." She'd chime in response to Davis. "Don't fret, I'll tread carefully." The old tort would wink prior to presenting a cheeky smile. Her attention would then wander off to the beautiful array of colours.

As Nameless moves stealthily off to the left, Hansel also moves into the chamber and to the right. If it is true that their presence here is known, then Hansel thinks perhaps he can attract attention away from his companions, especially those attempting to sneak. He tries to see how far the chamber goes and how much of it is connected to the space at #2. (Moving no more than about 50')

Hansel swam along the coral wall above the carpet of dead bodies with colourful lights cheerfully blinking on the elements of his polished armour. He indeed discovered that that chamber has another entrance probably from area 2, but did not have time to tell it to others. Davis's statement and expectations proved right: the moment Nameless girl plunged her dagger into the corals, the living fountain of miniature creatures sprang from stone bushes. After a moment of complete chaos, the creatures re-organised themselves into constantly moving and swirling clouds of small sahuagin, each looking as fierce as the big one do.

One sawm immediately engulfed the Girl, others were still choosing their targets.

Swarms initiative: 15 13 17 18

Roll initiative!  If you get more than 18 - act. Davis can reach 3 swarms right now.

Nameless One Initiative : 28

(not sure how you treat ties, if you use init mod as a tie break or not, or random, or what not, but i'll post my action anyway and use it in whatever order makes sense)

As soon as the cloud of creatures appear the girl flinches back in surprise, "I'm sorry!" she says, apologizing to the group for yet again triggering creature to attack them. 

She pulls magic into her, moving like the wind, (Zephyr Strike) and back out of the swarm and away. Once she's about 20 feet away she unleashes three crossbow bolts in quick succession, the bolts magical energy hopefully striking large swaths from the swarm. 

Attack: 8 Damage: 19 + 6 force damage from Zephyr Strike.

Attack: 17 Damage: 18

Attack: 15 Damage: 16 + 1 additional piercing. 

+ 7 Sneak attack to the first shot that hits. 

Then she swims another 25 feet back, just behind Davis.

Davis initiative: 14

Initiative: 13

Initiative: 13 

Yusko Initiative: 20

Round 1

Math (don't forget to check!):

For a moment the sudden shifting cloud of teeth and claws covered the Nameless girl, but she wiggled out from it like an eel, propelling away and shooting as she went. The surprisingly well-placed shots scattered the tiny creatures and though did not disperse the cloud completely, left visible gaps in it.

The angry pack of miniature sea devils swam after the human that managed to escape and another one was fast enough to join the hunt.

S1 vs Nameless: Attack: 23 Damage: 7

As if feeling some weakness in Trudie's health, second school attacked the turtle:

S3 vs Trudie:  Attack: 14 Damage: 15

At the same time Hansel had to face his personal swarm:

S4 vs Hansel: Attack: 19 Damage: 15

Creatures tried to find cracks in the armour or exposed skins to sink their needle-like teeth into the flesh, attacking silently but fiercely.

Map:

 ----------------------------

Hansel and Trudie!

(Ignore the manipulation warning)

(Sorry for delay and lack of init description. Catching up on everything now. Great scene setting DM and Nathan. Thank you for great descriptions and RP :) Happy Friday <3 )

"What the devil?" As the miniature sea creatures pick at Trudie's flesh, they'd expose themselves to some old dead skin flakes. "Shame on you, picking on an old lady." She'd chime.

On S1
Reaction: Halo of Spores + Symbiotic Entity
Necrotic Damage: 7 Con ST DC 16

Math Check

"And leave the poor girl alone. She's not a fan of being touched." Trudie would shoo the other swarm from the quiet one.

On Nameless
BA: Sanctuary

"Oh who am I kidding. I'm a hugger." Winding up her staff, she'd flick it forward like she was casting a line to fish. "Group hug!" A thorny vine lashes out to try to pull the second school in beside the third.

On S2
Casting: Thorn Whip
Attack: 15 Damage: 10 pulled 10ft closer on hit.
(+Symbiotic Entity Damage if considered meelee weapon attack: 12 Necrotic Damage)

Group FYI

Ouch! Those little biters might leave a mark on Hansel's unblemished skin! Desperate to fight them off, he draws on Sune's power, chanting "You can't touch this" as a soft nimbus of light surrounds him (Shield of Faith). Immediately after, he turns his head to the side and purses his lips, and a bright halo of light issues from his face (Word of Radiance - DC 15 CON save or 7 radiant damage).

(Have to outrule pulling - swarms can not be grappled, it is not a single creature in the sense of mechanic application, and since Whip is supposed to "pull a creature" it can return with one (or a few) stuck members of the swarm. The damage is applicable, though.)

S1 con save: 15  S4 con save: 3  S2 Wis save: 3

Flashes of green from Trudie and brilliant white from Hansel added a few strokes to the kaleidoscope of colours in the cave. The sickly pale whip covered with thorns slashed through the whirlpool of creatures, killing some on the place. It seemed, though, nothing could stop miniature beasties from keeping attacking. Anytime a tiny "face" could be caught, it expressed nothing but blind rage and vicious anger.

Though the whip did not kill the last of the creatures surrounding the Nameless girl, the "air of calmness" around her, thrown by the turtle, prevented another moving disaster - the last of the swarms joined the fight, swimming determinedly towards the human. They stopped near her, though as if in confusion, regroup and attacked Davis instead:

S2 vs Davis: Attack: 26 Damage: 30

Little devils, still confused, failed to find the slightest crack in warrior's defenses. (Not that it stopped them from trying)

Math (always check!):

Map:

Yusko and Davis! Then Nameless begins Round 2.

(Davis has a swarm attacking him, plus two swarms around - one on Nameless girl (wounded) and one on Trudie (slightly wounded too)

(Btw, a reminder - everyone has an Inspiration point.)

The Nameless girl looks to the turtle, "Thanks Trudie!"

Then she swims through the swarm evading their attacks (Zephyr Strike still active, no AoO) and slips from them through the water 35 feet to the east. From there, she fires two bolts back at the swarm, hoping to kill the last of them. 

Attack: 21 Damage: Unable to parse dice roll. Attack: 24 Damage: 20