This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Malachi!"
Samir dashes over to the other man and begins trying to grab hold of the rat gnawing at his friend. The sigils imbedded in his glove come to life with a crackle as he attempts to grab hold of the little bastard and give it a good shock.
Casting Shocking Grasp. 18 to hit, 7 shocking damage.
Samir grabs a moving lump on the back of Malachi's shirt, and Malachi feels the electricity jolt through him (3 lightning damage to Malachi). A moment later, a smoking rat falls limply out of the shirt and on to the floor with a soft thud.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
The footsteps of Lancet, Marcus, and the third man grow further away as Joren engages with the rat men. They both lash out blindly, trying to connect with whatever just attacked one of them, but though they are accustomed to the dark, their vision cannot penetrate the darkness emanating from the orb. Their pickaxes swing and find nothing but air and stone, not even throwing up sparks in the inky blackness.
As Joren runs headlong into the darkness, Ashley shouts out, "Get the runners!!" she's worried what will happen if those men in the shadows escape and inform others.
Looking around she sees her only open is to do the same, but knows there is no way she can jump the grease. Throwing all caution to the wind, she runs forward, trying to dash through the grease, by her friends and go as far as she can through the darkness. If she can run past the rats she will, not caring about opportunity attacks as she has one focus in mind. (If she cannot get past the rats, let me know if she still has an action or not)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Ashley runs into the darkness, over the uneven greasy surface. She can feel her balance shifting as she stumbles through and is about to fall over, but reflexes she didn't know she had begin to kick in, as if her body is being guided by some other force. Every time her foot is about to slip, she has a hand out pushing against a rock that she can't see at just the right angle to put her weight over her other. Or she feels an extra spring in her heel as she leaps from a stable position to gain extra distance on her step. She bumps into something warm and moving and immediately spins around it, making it to the other side.
The rat-men she slips past lash out blindly.
Attack: 7 Damage: 0
Attack: 17 Damage: 0
And then she is through the darkness and out the other side with not a scratch on her.
Following Ashley's suggestion and direction Silas bolts over the upturned table and heavily thunders into the darkened tunnel. He wears a concerned look as he passes Marion, who would also notice, now that his Disguise spell has worn off, that there are holes tattering Silas' clothes from his previous stab wounds and now further jagged marks from a multitude of still bleeding bite wounds.
“Ow! Son of a …” Malachi jumps as the electricity surges through him. He looks down to see the smoking rat after it falls from his jacket and gives Samir a sheepish grin “Thank you, it felt like those little devils were everywhere”
He looked up at Ashley’s cry, just in time to see both her and Silas follow Joren into the inky darkness. His fear of what lies beyond the darkness is overshadowed by his fear of being left behind. He sighs to himself fortune favors the bold and he quickly leaps to follow. “If I can get close enough, perhaps I can convince them to stop. We can’t have them warn the others.” He dashes forward, hoping to clear the darkness.
Joren grimaces, then smiles as he hears his friends following behind him.
Reckless to a fault being, just like me.
His eyes closed, useless in the darkness anyway, he senses a way forward for his echo, which had survived the blind lashing out of the rat-men. He sends it past them up the tunnel as far as he can and then switches places with it well past the darkness now, re-opens his eyes and begins a full sprint in chase after the treacherous, fleeing cultists of whatever vile deity Razmus is. He reaches 65' past where the rat-men had been, eyes straining ahead to catch a sign.
They will not be escaping so easily. That or I will die trying to stop them.
Joren hears Ashley and others continuing to follow behind and his heart clenches for a moment in worry. For her - for all of them really, with the rat-men still there. But then he settles into his echo-dash routine and his mind clears. He knows she and the others can take care of themselves.
None of us are playing the role of the easy meat you were hoping for, villains!
As the others begin to follow after Joren, Marion quickly realises that a reckless and headstrong charge over the grease and into darkness could quickly spell disaster. Determined to ensure that her companions do not meet disaster, at least not face first on the floor, she drops down as low as she can before the grease, holding her shield up and presenting it as a spring board for her companions to use to vault over her and into the darkness.
Breathing hard from the exertion of the dash and the exhilaration of what she just did, she quickly looks back at the darkness, and pats herself down, shocked that she is completely whole. "Well! Never done anything like that in the Smoking Sands!"and despite the situation she has a big smile on her face.
A droplet of water strikes Joren’s cheek as he runs. He looks around to notice the ceiling and walls have become tougher, and there appear to be places where stalagmites and stalactites have been broken off to clear a path.
This area appears to be part of a naturally formed cave rather than a carved out tunnel like it was previously.
Nervously, Samir starts to follow after the others. But he is no athlete to bound past the obstacles, and he knws the two abominations are waiting beyond in the darkness. Rather than charging headlong himself, he stops just near Marion and pulls out a small vial of liquid. He gives the vial a hearty shake, and one can hear liquid sloshing around inside. The vial quickly begins to glow a phosphorescent blue-green in color as the chemicals inside interact and activate. He gives the vial a throw, trying to estimate where he last saw the abominations, hoping to make them a bit easier to deal with.
Samir casts Faerie Fire through the opening, hopening to light up the two monsters. If it works, it's a DC 14 Dexterity check or start glowing.
He looked up at Ashley’s cry, just in time to see both her and Silas follow Joren into the inky darkness. His fear of what lies beyond the darkness is overshadowed by his fear of being left behind. He sighs to himself fortune favors the bold and he quickly leaps to follow. “If I can get close enough, perhaps I can convince them to stop. We can’t have them warn the others.” He dashes forward, hoping to clear the darkness.
Dex save: 10.
Malachi tries to take advantage of Marion's assistance with the shield to vault into the darkness.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Malachi runs up, steps on the sloped shield and kicks off. As he plunges into the darkness he pedals his legs, searching for purchase on firm ground. His right foot comes down with his weight shifting forward, but as he tries to get his other foot out in front to catch himself, it catches on a grease covered chunk of stone. Malachi feels rather than sees himself falling forward, and manages to get his arms out to stop his fall without hurting himself, but he is on his stomach and the sound of flailing rats is very close by.
Samir's vial spins through the air and vanishes into the darkness. There is a tinkle of glass as it smashes open, but none of its light penetrates the unnatural dark emanating from the orb.
Rat-men dex saves
1: 11
2: 20
The two blinded rat-men hear Silas's approach and strike out at him with their pick axes.
Attack: 6 Damage: 12
Attack: 8 Damage: 9
One of them, injured by Joren and having failed to strike a soft target, can be heard falling back trying to get away from Silas and back out into the regular darkness of the tunnel behind it. The other, however, manages to land a lucky blow, gashing Silas's leg severely. Emboldened, it stands its ground.
Up ahead, Ashley sees the gloom around her being lit up by something from behind. She looks over her shoulder to see the emerging rat-man limned with a harmless blue-green flame. It panics upon seeing this and tries to put the flame out unsuccessfully.
Shortly after, the unnatural sphere of darkness begins to fade away, drifting off on the small currents of air caused by the movement and heat of the battle. After a few seconds, all that remains of the effect is the onyx orb. The dancing fire light from now both rats glints off odd edges on the orb, revealing it to be marked with runes and glyphs.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Silas takes a swing at the one Ratman escaping, grunting as he stabs forth with a dagger through the darkness.
to hit 9, Damage 4
He then buckles as the second Ratman sinks a pickaxe firmly into his thigh, the darkness now vanishing around him he looks up, locked on the attackers face. With blood oozing and beginning to pool by his feet, Silas springs up, lunging at the Ratman that has crippled him, As he grabs at the rat he attempts to turn them around and physically restrain them with a 'full nelson' style Grapple (athletics 21)
As he does so he looks to his oncoming allies and growls out "break its connection, the staples... see if they can be saved!"
Malachi felt his foot slip on the grease covered stone and before he could catch himself he landed with a thud on his stomach in the darkness. He catches his breath, the wind knocked out of him, as the darkness begins to lift, leaving two rat men surrounded by flickering lights uncomfortably close.
Malachi spares a quick glance at the mysterious orb Just how much would a trinket like that be worth? The thought is fleeting in his mind as Silas leaps and grapples with the closest rat man. Malachi forces himself up to his feet and, seeing one of the creatures moving back down the tunnel, calls out a warning “Ashley, watch out! One is coming behind you!”
He turns his attention to the rat man struggling with Silas. Remembering the success Ashley had with the staples on the prisoners wraps, Malachi summons a spectral mage hand and moves it to try to pull free the staples attaching the rat head to the body. “I am not sure this will work, but let’s see if this one can be saved.”
As Silas lashes out, he feels his dagger bite into flesh. The rat-man snarls and pulls away in retreat. Silas then manages to get his arms around the other one's neck as the darkness fades, but it kicks back, striking Silas's bad leg, and he loses his leverage. It wrenches itself free from the hold just in time for a bolt from Samir to lodge itself firmly in its ribs. It falters and drops to one knee for a moment.
Further up the tunnel, there is no sound of clashing metal, rent flesh, or utterances of pain. Just footsteps, panting, and the sound of Joren's heavy armour shifting with every step. echoing through the tunnel. His targets had a solid head start, and they are travelling far lighter. But Joren has training. And discipline. And raw physicality. And his echo.
Ashley runs after them, but is unused to running so much and in such a tight underground space. She finds herself falling behind for the moment, but is close enough to witness what happens next.
As they run, one of the three men turns a bit to look over his shoulder. His eyes go wide as he is greeted by the sight of hundreds of pounds of dwarven muscle and metal rapidly gaining, flickering, duplicating, and vanishing impossibly. There is a bend in the natural cave walls up ahead, and while his two allies make it around the corner and briefly out of sight, he is too caught up in the nightmare behind him to avoid turning his ankle on a mound where a stalagmite may once have been right at the bend. He tumbles to the ground, landing face first. (6 bludgeoning damage). He scrambles onto his back, blood pouring down from his clearly broken nose and pulls out his crossbow, trying to find a target on Joren's armour clad body (Attack: 9 Damage: 7 ). As Joren himself approaches the bend and the fallen man, he can see that just past the slight corner the cave splits into two paths He hardly feels when the man's bolt glances off of the edge of his armour and bounces harmlessly to shatter on the cave wall.
(Joren can give me a perception check if he wants to see if he can tell if anyone went left or right. Because he is so hot on their heels, he can make the check with advantage.)
"Malachi!"
Samir dashes over to the other man and begins trying to grab hold of the rat gnawing at his friend. The sigils imbedded in his glove come to life with a crackle as he attempts to grab hold of the little bastard and give it a good shock.
Casting Shocking Grasp. 18 to hit, 7 shocking damage.
Samir grabs a moving lump on the back of Malachi's shirt, and Malachi feels the electricity jolt through him (3 lightning damage to Malachi). A moment later, a smoking rat falls limply out of the shirt and on to the floor with a soft thud.
The footsteps of Lancet, Marcus, and the third man grow further away as Joren engages with the rat men. They both lash out blindly, trying to connect with whatever just attacked one of them, but though they are accustomed to the dark, their vision cannot penetrate the darkness emanating from the orb. Their pickaxes swing and find nothing but air and stone, not even throwing up sparks in the inky blackness.
Attack: 9 Damage: 0
Attack: 6 Damage: 0
As Joren runs headlong into the darkness, Ashley shouts out, "Get the runners!!" she's worried what will happen if those men in the shadows escape and inform others.
Looking around she sees her only open is to do the same, but knows there is no way she can jump the grease. Throwing all caution to the wind, she runs forward, trying to dash through the grease, by her friends and go as far as she can through the darkness. If she can run past the rats she will, not caring about opportunity attacks as she has one focus in mind. (If she cannot get past the rats, let me know if she still has an action or not)
Action: dash
DEX save for grease 8
Using favored by gods to add to the save... 7
Ashley runs into the darkness, over the uneven greasy surface. She can feel her balance shifting as she stumbles through and is about to fall over, but reflexes she didn't know she had begin to kick in, as if her body is being guided by some other force. Every time her foot is about to slip, she has a hand out pushing against a rock that she can't see at just the right angle to put her weight over her other. Or she feels an extra spring in her heel as she leaps from a stable position to gain extra distance on her step. She bumps into something warm and moving and immediately spins around it, making it to the other side.
The rat-men she slips past lash out blindly.
Attack: 7 Damage: 0
Attack: 17 Damage: 0
And then she is through the darkness and out the other side with not a scratch on her.
Following Ashley's suggestion and direction Silas bolts over the upturned table and heavily thunders into the darkened tunnel. He wears a concerned look as he passes Marion, who would also notice, now that his Disguise spell has worn off, that there are holes tattering Silas' clothes from his previous stab wounds and now further jagged marks from a multitude of still bleeding bite wounds.
Dex for the grease 14.
Dash action.
“Ow! Son of a …” Malachi jumps as the electricity surges through him. He looks down to see the smoking rat after it falls from his jacket and gives Samir a sheepish grin “Thank you, it felt like those little devils were everywhere”
He looked up at Ashley’s cry, just in time to see both her and Silas follow Joren into the inky darkness. His fear of what lies beyond the darkness is overshadowed by his fear of being left behind. He sighs to himself fortune favors the bold and he quickly leaps to follow. “If I can get close enough, perhaps I can convince them to stop. We can’t have them warn the others.” He dashes forward, hoping to clear the darkness.
Dex save: 10.
Joren grimaces, then smiles as he hears his friends following behind him.
Reckless to a fault being, just like me.
His eyes closed, useless in the darkness anyway, he senses a way forward for his echo, which had survived the blind lashing out of the rat-men. He sends it past them up the tunnel as far as he can and then switches places with it well past the darkness now, re-opens his eyes and begins a full sprint in chase after the treacherous, fleeing cultists of whatever vile deity Razmus is. He reaches 65' past where the rat-men had been, eyes straining ahead to catch a sign.
They will not be escaping so easily. That or I will die trying to stop them.
Joren hears Ashley and others continuing to follow behind and his heart clenches for a moment in worry. For her - for all of them really, with the rat-men still there. But then he settles into his echo-dash routine and his mind clears. He knows she and the others can take care of themselves.
None of us are playing the role of the easy meat you were hoping for, villains!
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Barn(Paladin1): Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(Druid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(Sorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(Monk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(Cleric3/Sorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Joren Perception check to see the fleeing cultists with his 60' darkvision, watching for any other hazards they may have set up: 14
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Barn(Paladin1): Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(Druid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(Sorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(Monk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(Cleric3/Sorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
As the others begin to follow after Joren, Marion quickly realises that a reckless and headstrong charge over the grease and into darkness could quickly spell disaster. Determined to ensure that her companions do not meet disaster, at least not face first on the floor, she drops down as low as she can before the grease, holding her shield up and presenting it as a spring board for her companions to use to vault over her and into the darkness.
Breathing hard from the exertion of the dash and the exhilaration of what she just did, she quickly looks back at the darkness, and pats herself down, shocked that she is completely whole. "Well! Never done anything like that in the Smoking Sands!" and despite the situation she has a big smile on her face.
A droplet of water strikes Joren’s cheek as he runs. He looks around to notice the ceiling and walls have become tougher, and there appear to be places where stalagmites and stalactites have been broken off to clear a path.
This area appears to be part of a naturally formed cave rather than a carved out tunnel like it was previously.
Nervously, Samir starts to follow after the others. But he is no athlete to bound past the obstacles, and he knws the two abominations are waiting beyond in the darkness. Rather than charging headlong himself, he stops just near Marion and pulls out a small vial of liquid. He gives the vial a hearty shake, and one can hear liquid sloshing around inside. The vial quickly begins to glow a phosphorescent blue-green in color as the chemicals inside interact and activate. He gives the vial a throw, trying to estimate where he last saw the abominations, hoping to make them a bit easier to deal with.
Samir casts Faerie Fire through the opening, hopening to light up the two monsters. If it works, it's a DC 14 Dexterity check or start glowing.
Malachi tries to take advantage of Marion's assistance with the shield to vault into the darkness.
Dex save: 13.
Malachi runs up, steps on the sloped shield and kicks off. As he plunges into the darkness he pedals his legs, searching for purchase on firm ground. His right foot comes down with his weight shifting forward, but as he tries to get his other foot out in front to catch himself, it catches on a grease covered chunk of stone. Malachi feels rather than sees himself falling forward, and manages to get his arms out to stop his fall without hurting himself, but he is on his stomach and the sound of flailing rats is very close by.
Samir's vial spins through the air and vanishes into the darkness. There is a tinkle of glass as it smashes open, but none of its light penetrates the unnatural dark emanating from the orb.
Rat-men dex saves
1: 11
2: 20
The two blinded rat-men hear Silas's approach and strike out at him with their pick axes.
Attack: 6 Damage: 12
Attack: 8 Damage: 9
One of them, injured by Joren and having failed to strike a soft target, can be heard falling back trying to get away from Silas and back out into the regular darkness of the tunnel behind it. The other, however, manages to land a lucky blow, gashing Silas's leg severely. Emboldened, it stands its ground.
Up ahead, Ashley sees the gloom around her being lit up by something from behind. She looks over her shoulder to see the emerging rat-man limned with a harmless blue-green flame. It panics upon seeing this and tries to put the flame out unsuccessfully.
Shortly after, the unnatural sphere of darkness begins to fade away, drifting off on the small currents of air caused by the movement and heat of the battle. After a few seconds, all that remains of the effect is the onyx orb. The dancing fire light from now both rats glints off odd edges on the orb, revealing it to be marked with runes and glyphs.
Seeing the darkness fading, Samir draws his bolt-thrower, taking a knee and taking aim through the opening at the closest rat-man.
Light Crossbow attack: 15 to hit, 9 damage.
Joren Athletics at advantage (take first roll plus bonus if no advantage): 24
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Barn(Paladin1): Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest
Dyson/Eleo(Cleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(Druid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(Sorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(Monk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(Cleric3/Sorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Silas takes a swing at the one Ratman escaping, grunting as he stabs forth with a dagger through the darkness.
to hit 9, Damage 4
He then buckles as the second Ratman sinks a pickaxe firmly into his thigh, the darkness now vanishing around him he looks up, locked on the attackers face.
With blood oozing and beginning to pool by his feet, Silas springs up, lunging at the Ratman that has crippled him, As he grabs at the rat he attempts to turn them around and physically restrain them with a 'full nelson' style Grapple (athletics 21)
As he does so he looks to his oncoming allies and growls out "break its connection, the staples... see if they can be saved!"
Malachi felt his foot slip on the grease covered stone and before he could catch himself he landed with a thud on his stomach in the darkness. He catches his breath, the wind knocked out of him, as the darkness begins to lift, leaving two rat men surrounded by flickering lights uncomfortably close.
Malachi spares a quick glance at the mysterious orb Just how much would a trinket like that be worth? The thought is fleeting in his mind as Silas leaps and grapples with the closest rat man. Malachi forces himself up to his feet and, seeing one of the creatures moving back down the tunnel, calls out a warning “Ashley, watch out! One is coming behind you!”
He turns his attention to the rat man struggling with Silas. Remembering the success Ashley had with the staples on the prisoners wraps, Malachi summons a spectral mage hand and moves it to try to pull free the staples attaching the rat head to the body. “I am not sure this will work, but let’s see if this one can be saved.”
As Silas lashes out, he feels his dagger bite into flesh. The rat-man snarls and pulls away in retreat. Silas then manages to get his arms around the other one's neck as the darkness fades, but it kicks back, striking Silas's bad leg, and he loses his leverage. It wrenches itself free from the hold just in time for a bolt from Samir to lodge itself firmly in its ribs. It falters and drops to one knee for a moment.
Further up the tunnel, there is no sound of clashing metal, rent flesh, or utterances of pain. Just footsteps, panting, and the sound of Joren's heavy armour shifting with every step. echoing through the tunnel. His targets had a solid head start, and they are travelling far lighter. But Joren has training. And discipline. And raw physicality. And his echo.
Ashley runs after them, but is unused to running so much and in such a tight underground space. She finds herself falling behind for the moment, but is close enough to witness what happens next.
As they run, one of the three men turns a bit to look over his shoulder. His eyes go wide as he is greeted by the sight of hundreds of pounds of dwarven muscle and metal rapidly gaining, flickering, duplicating, and vanishing impossibly. There is a bend in the natural cave walls up ahead, and while his two allies make it around the corner and briefly out of sight, he is too caught up in the nightmare behind him to avoid turning his ankle on a mound where a stalagmite may once have been right at the bend. He tumbles to the ground, landing face first. (6 bludgeoning damage). He scrambles onto his back, blood pouring down from his clearly broken nose and pulls out his crossbow, trying to find a target on Joren's armour clad body (Attack: 9 Damage: 7 ). As Joren himself approaches the bend and the fallen man, he can see that just past the slight corner the cave splits into two paths He hardly feels when the man's bolt glances off of the edge of his armour and bounces harmlessly to shatter on the cave wall.
(Joren can give me a perception check if he wants to see if he can tell if anyone went left or right. Because he is so hot on their heels, he can make the check with advantage.)