((Note: the following actions may change depending on outcomes of turns before Joren's))
Joren feeling anger and frustration building in his chest, moves forward towards Razmus as far as he can, which is 15' due to Exhaustion. He moves his echo 30' to get on the other side of Razmus, blocking the path to the stairs ((Note: the Echo occupies a space.)).
Deep inside Joren knows he should probably attack non-lethally given the uncertainty of the situation, and he barely restrains himself from lashing out lethally. Grimacing something fierce, he does attack non-lethally with his greatsword. See attack roll above at disadvantage.
"Stůj! Co to znamená?" he shouts, near incoherently.
((He may use Unleash Incarnation and/or Action Surge depending on the first attack results)).
Malachi pushes the foreign thought from his head. Who was that? Did he imagine that, was he that tired? There is no time to dwell on it as he hears the footsteps scurry above them and sees the look in the innkeeper’s eyes as he rushes toward the ladder. His heart falls, despite his best efforts it looks like a fight will not be avoided. At least they will not be taken by surprise by the innkeeper. Malachi notices Razmus brush off the goliath’s attempt to grab him. Is he another ally in the fight?
Malachi tries one last attempt to stop Razmus, reaching out and penetrating his mind, sending him a telepathic message.
Razmus! Stop! Send the others away. You do not want to do this, you have caught a lion in your mousetrap. Stop now before it is too late.
After doing his best to slow the man, Malachi moves back to a corner of the room, trying to get more distance between himself and the ladder. He reaches inside his jacket, grabbing his necklace, and with a whispered word, finds himself wrapped in magic.
Things begin happening so quickly then, as the innkeeper rushes for the ladder in an apparent attempt to make an escape and the sound of rushing footsteps comes from above. Trying his best to think quickly and logically despite his exhaustion, Samir's hand dips into his satchel and quickly emerges with a round clay container of sorts, a deep reddish brown in color. Without hesitation he flings the small missile at the ladder. On impact, it shatters into dust and tiny shards, coating the ladder and the area around it in a thick, slippery, viscous liquid of Samir's own concoction designed to make it incredibly difficult for movement.
(Casting Grease, and he's using his bag as his spellcasting focus if that wasn't clear.)
With the situation beginning to unravel, and feeling a little confused by exactly what is going on, Marion begins to realise that her new companion Malachi may be right. Just as she comes to this realisation the innkeeper begins to flee. Her mind races, fuzzy with the weight of exhaustion.
Why would Mr Shep suddenly choose to flee? That is not the behaviour of an innocent person. If he has nothing to hide surely he would simply talk to us. Why is Malachi calling this man Razmus, and how does he know this other name? There are too many questions, and no answers. The time for answers is due. Very well, my course is clear.
Looking direct at the fleeing form of Mr Shep Marion opens her mouth and speaks only one word. Her voice echoes through the chamber loudly, laced with a supernatural power that presses the word deeper into the mind of the fleeing innkeeper. "HALT!"
Razmus sprints for the ladder, not even bothering to shield his face as flecks of grease and shards of pottery from Samir's grease pot graze him. It is at that moment that he hears Malachi's voice in his head. He slows ever so slightly as he looks for the source of the voice, and then his eye's find Malachi. "Three?" he says to himself just as his limbs seize for a moment at the powerful sound of Marion's voice very much outside of his head before he continues ahead.
Having gotten past everyone in the group and their attempts to stop him peacefully, and having almost reached the greasy ladder, he turns momentarily and locks eyes with Marion. His grin shows every one of his teeth as he silently mouths, "Four."
He starts to turn back around, and Marion watches as if in slow motion as Joren's echo appears between Razmus and the ladder, swinging his great sword at the strange man's neck. At the last moment Joren twists the sword, smashing Razmus in the face with the flat of his blade. Teeth and spittle arc through the air as the man's head snaps back and his body is flung into one of the nearby rows of shelves. Wood splinters and one of the wine casks tumbles to the floor beside Razmus's slumped, unconscious body.
But now the footsteps are nearly at the cellar door.
Ashley watches as each member of her group tries to stop this maniacally smiling man, when finally Joren is able to knock him out cold. She wonders though as she hears the ominous footfalls from above if their real threat is up there. It is so hard to tell through the exhaustion and craziness of the day. Without a clear vision on an enemy or what exactly to do, she tries to slow them down the only way she can think of, and casts mage hand
She sends it up to close the cellar door and hoping between that and the grease, they have some advantage for slowing down what is about to come next. She looks around wildly at the rest of her group, "Here they come, I don't know about you, but I hate not knowing what we're up against!" and she braces herself as best she can for what is about to happen.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
((Sorry, finishing Joren's turn from above as I was waiting to see what would happen as a result of his non-lethal attack.))
Sleight of Hand on the clasp of Razmus' necklace (see below): 15
Joren's voice is thick. He is having trouble articulating his thoughts. Or thinking clearly at all, for that matter.
"Náhrdelník... ah, Necklace! Taking his necklace someone? Calling off the attack with it?"
His echo continues to stand in the middle of the Grease at the bottom of the steps, holding the greatsword and looking up at the trap door, while Joren himself stands back.
If he can reach with the free action on his previous turn, he would grab the necklace from Razmus' neck himself, trying to undo the clasp with his shaking fingers. If successful, he will then hold it out for one of the more magically-inclined party members to somehow use.
As the cellar door slams shut, Joren manages to work open the clasp on the back of Razmus's necklace. Pulling it out from under the shirt, he realizes that necklace's odd shape is due to what is strung on it. It appears to be 8 rather large severed rat ears with a metal bead between the first 6 and the last 2.
Malachi watches as his companions try to stop Razmus, who deftly avoids most of the attempts until Joren’s echo catches him by surprise and sends him tumbling across the room. Joren holds up the necklace of severed ears and Malachi grimaces. “I guess there are rats here after all. I wonder if they are what is up above. Lady Ashley has given us some time by closing the trapdoor. What next, do we stay and see what comes through the door and possibly fight, or do we try to flee through Joren’s passageway?”
Malachi moves to Razmus and ties his hands and feet with some rope from his pack, securing him in case he wakes up. Not knowing the nature of his magic, if any, he sticks a piece of cloth in his mouth as a temporary gag as well. Maybe he can provide more answers when he wakes up.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
No sooner is the trapdoor closed than a series of loud thumps strike it from above, one after another. Within only a few blows, the wood is already beginning to splinter. Then the impacts stop for just a second. As Malachi fits the gag into Razmus's mouth the cellar door is hurled open with a crash.
A sickly pink hand grips the opening. It looks human, but so horribly shriveled as to appear claw-like. Then, the hands owner launches himself down into the cellar, filthy tattered traveling clothes fluttering as he falls. He, for he may once have been a man, lands on his feet but quickly slips to his stomach, bracing himself with his arms and for a fleeting moment you are all able to get a good look. Bone-thin, shriveled hands and forearms meet grotesquely bulging biceps at the elbow. His clawed bare feet and shins are likewise disfigured. His clothes are not so different from Malachi's, but with months of wear and tear, and bulging at the seams from an unnatural amount of muscle. Worst of all though, crude staples hold the upper body of a massive rat, forelegs and all, where a human head would once have sat. It's fur is patchy and riddled with mange, and there is a poorly healed scar where its right ear should have been. A long rat tail can also be seen grafted to the man's spine through a tear in his shirt.
The rat head locks eyes with Joren's echo and screams a shrill screech even as five more of the terrible creatures, exactly like the first but for their clothes, spill through the opening behind it like a tide of fur, skin, and teeth, landing in an slick, oily, writhing pile with seemingly no regard for their own bodily harm. (They all failed their dex save and will be taking half of their movement to get up from prone, as well as losing 5 additional feet to difficult terrain.)
(1)The first one gnashes its teeth and wriggles its way out from under the pile, all four of it's once-human limbs propelling it forward while the rat claws coming from the neck paw uselessly at the ground. As it crawls, it reaches a hand into its shirt and pulls out a small cloth pouch of some kind. Rising to its feet, it hurls the sac at the ground in front of Joren's echo, creating a small (5 feet) cloud of some thick green smoke that starts to expand outwards. (not large enough to engulf Malachi yet, but it looks like it will expand next turn.)(Joren's echo appears unaffected.)
(2 & 3) Two more emerge from the pile and one rushes for Samir while the other rushes for Ashley. One of them throws another of the strange gas pouches at the ground between them. (Both of you are fine this round, but will be engulfed next round.)
(4) Another one manages to extricate itself and stand up, getting close enough to take a swing with it's knobby fist at Joren's echo. Attack: 19 Damage: 14 . It's fist goes right through the echo, and the image of Joren fades. It shrieks in rage and confusion.
(5 & 6) The last two scramble out of the grease and stand up as they scurry one each at Malachi and Vilus, nearly getting within range to attack.
Greatsword attack at disadvantage on number 3: Attack: 8 Damage: 11
Truly, I must be going mad. Or this is a nightmare made real.
Bonus Action and Move: Joren instinctively summons his echo 15' away from himself with his bonus action and moves it up to 30' to intercept one of he rat abominations attacking his new friends. In his addled state, he interposes the echo between Ashley and the one going for her (number 3), unconsciously choosing her probably for no other reason than the bit of extra shared experience the two have had together. He himself moves back (max movement 15' due to Exhaustion level 3), staying clear of the green smoke if he can, but staying within 30' of the echo so that it lasts after his turn is over. Joren's echo is in melee but he himself is not.
Action: Greatsword Attack from his echo's position on number 3 rolled above at disadvantage. Once Joren knows the result of the attack, he will decide whether to use Unleash Incarnation or Action Surge.
Free Action: Joren moves his mouth but no sound comes out. Focus - what should I be doing? Since no one took the necklace he was (seemingly wrongly) thinking could be used to call off the creatures, he drops the necklace on the ground. He decides to light a torch (interact with object) and apply it to the rat ears on the necklace, trying to set all the ears on fire.
Edited to add: based on OOC chat discussion, this means Joren retreats 15' to the doorway to take up position next to Marion. He burns the ear necklace with the torch behind him (see below). No Unleash Incarnation or Action Surge.
Horror floods itno Samir's mind as his eyes alight upon the wretched creatures that have descended upon them. His eyes widen behind his glasses, staring as his mouth works silently. What twisted mind could create such abominations? What blackened soul could set such things upon strangers? For a moment his gaze flickers to Razmus, bound and unconscious, before his attention is recaptured by the flash of movement in his peripheral vision. One of the ghastly chimeras is coming straight at him, its gnarled limbs scrabbling and clawing across the floor, trailing a dissipating sheen of the slippery liquid behind it.
He reacts without thought as the small bag hits the ground in front of him, already beginning to leak some noxious fog. His left hand flicks towards the bag, arcane sigils lighting up across it in silvery light. For an instant the pouch seems to vibrate, before it suddenly flings itself violently back in the direction it came on a bee line for the monster that threw it. Samir scrambles back away from the nightmare in front of them, doing his best as he staggers from exhaustion to put space between himself and the monsters.
Casting Catapult. DC 14 Dexterity save or take 13 bludgeoning damage. Hopefully if the first one makes it there's another behind that could get hit instead!
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Joren's echo reforms between the rat-men and Ashley, and he strikes out through it at the nearest one. It drops low under the swing of the greatsword, hissing and unscathed. But as Joren drops the necklace and puts a torch to it, all of the rat heads begin to let out a deafening high-pitched whine like steam escaping a kettle and they paw at their ears. There is a lower tone to the scream buried under the first as well, though it is difficult to make out its source. The necklace itself does not catch fire right away, but a black, oily smoke rises from it as the tips of the ears begin to blacken and curl. Even through their apparent pain, the four nearest rat-men (1,4,5,6) turn their attention to Joren, ignoring all others.
(All rat-men will have disadvantage on saving throws unless the burning stops. It seems likely that the ears will catch fire next round if Joren actively keeps the torch on them [object interaction]).
On the other side of the center shelf, Samir launches the gas bomb back at one of the shrieking rat-men.
Dex Save 2: 5
Dex Save 3 w/advantage due to angle: 19
The pouch, small though it may be, is propelled with enough force that it smashes the nose of the the distracted rat-man (2) with a crunch, bending it to the side. This, however, the rat-man does not seem to react to. (Full damage, it just seems oblivious to the pain.) Though the cloud of gas between Ashley and Samir lingers, it is no longer spreading.
The moment that the wooden hatch begins to be destroyed Marion drops to one knee, and immediately retrieves her shield from her back. Without looking up, and despite the sound of destruction and the horrific screeches that the beasts emit, she hooks the shield onto her right arm, strapping it firmly into place, all with a discipline and practiced ease that is born from years of drills.
Once done she rises, drawing her longsword as she goes in a smooth motion and bringing it to the ready. Quickly analysing the situation she steps forward, advancing to stand alongside Joren at his right in the centre of the room, speaking loudly in a commanding voice as she goes. "Get behind me friends! We can use the back room to funnel them as we desire!"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Watching the horrors, because that is what they are in Ashley's mind, break through the wood of the cellar door and scramble their way over each other to get to them is something Ash wished she would never have had to witness. It was something nightmares were made of. The sight almost gave her paralysis as she stood their witnessing it, but as Joren started to burn the ears and between that smell and the noxious fumes of the bags the rats threw, it brought her back to herself.
"Wait, Joren! Those ears obviously affect them," she looks to her new friends wildly, "anyone able to use a command to the necklace possibly?"the flames at the tips of her hair grow as she talks consuming her strands and filling the cellar with dancing shadows from the flames to add to the lovely ambiance.
She sizes up her foes as well as all the wooden shelving that happened to be littering the room they were in. Trying to set the least amount of things on fire, she steps NW to avoid Joren's echo and brings her hands together. She whispers a few words and flame bursts from the palms of her hands and sprays out towards rats 2 & 3 engulfing them in her burning hands DEX save of 13 or 11 fire damage
She then retreats towards Marion as far as she can go in her exhausted state.
Vilus now yells out in a booming voice (that Malachi would recognise as the intrusive thought in his head) "She's right! Everyone to the Passageway we bottleneck them! Someone grab the body" With that he gestures toward Rasmus and with the other hand defensively outstretched toward the oncoming rats, a burst of purple light (Eldritch blast)shoots from his palm rippling through the air like a searchlight through water, lapping and folding until it reaches the nearest Ratman (5) at which point Attack: 13 Damage: 5
Regardless of whether the blast hits or not Vilus, still swathed in his hooded cloak, looks down at his hands, his body language conveying shock. he snaps back upright and heads as far back as his movement will allow, behind Marion and into the secondary room
Ashley's gout of flame engulfs the two rat-men and starts a few minor flames on the shelving to either side. The one with the broken snout takes the full force of the blast, coming through with burning clothes and fur, and large patches of seared skin. The other one manages to shield itself from the worst of the blow, showing at least some semblance of a self-preservation instinct, but still ends up with smoking whiskers and angry red burns along its forearms. The flame also burns through the smoky emissions of the gas bomb that Samir launched at them. Afterwards, Ashley manages to scurry back and get next to Joren.
Vilus's unexpected blast tears through cloths and skin, leaving a shallow but bloody crater in the rat-man's chest. It staggers back a step under the impact as Vilus runs past Marion who moves up to take his place on the frontline. (Vilus only has one level of exhaustion, so he can get well inside the door and be anywhere in the first half of the second room that he wants.)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Malachi finishes securing Razmus as the trapdoor explodes and the world turns upside down. He can’t even begin to place the strange human, rat hybrid creatures that spill down the ladder. Who would create such an abomination? His tired mind has little time to process things before fire, green smoke, frantic shouts and blasts of energy swirl around him. One of those shouts, from the goliath, sounds oddly familiar, like he has heard it in his mind before.
As the green smoke billows before him and the rat creature approaches him, he whispers and produces a harsh, guttural, jangling sound, filling the creature in front of him and Joren’s Echo with pain and anguish.
Spends 1 sorcery point to twin cast Dissonant Whispers targeting Rat 4 and Rat 2. Both take 10 psychic damage and moves away as far its speed allows. Half damage and no movement away on a DC 14 Wis Save. Intent is to allow Joren’s Echo an AoO.
Malachi needs no encouragement from Marion, or the newcomer, and slips behind Joren toward the door to the other room as fast as his tired, aching legs allow. Lacking the strength, or will, to move the innkeeper he leaves him where he lies for now.
Attack: 9 Damage: 13
((Note: the following actions may change depending on outcomes of turns before Joren's))
Joren feeling anger and frustration building in his chest, moves forward towards Razmus as far as he can, which is 15' due to Exhaustion. He moves his echo 30' to get on the other side of Razmus, blocking the path to the stairs ((Note: the Echo occupies a space.)).
Deep inside Joren knows he should probably attack non-lethally given the uncertainty of the situation, and he barely restrains himself from lashing out lethally. Grimacing something fierce, he does attack non-lethally with his greatsword. See attack roll above at disadvantage.
"Stůj! Co to znamená?" he shouts, near incoherently.
((He may use Unleash Incarnation and/or Action Surge depending on the first attack results)).
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Malachi pushes the foreign thought from his head. Who was that? Did he imagine that, was he that tired? There is no time to dwell on it as he hears the footsteps scurry above them and sees the look in the innkeeper’s eyes as he rushes toward the ladder. His heart falls, despite his best efforts it looks like a fight will not be avoided. At least they will not be taken by surprise by the innkeeper. Malachi notices Razmus brush off the goliath’s attempt to grab him. Is he another ally in the fight?
Malachi tries one last attempt to stop Razmus, reaching out and penetrating his mind, sending him a telepathic message.
Razmus! Stop! Send the others away. You do not want to do this, you have caught a lion in your mousetrap. Stop now before it is too late.
After doing his best to slow the man, Malachi moves back to a corner of the room, trying to get more distance between himself and the ladder. He reaches inside his jacket, grabbing his necklace, and with a whispered word, finds himself wrapped in magic.
"Rasmus? What..."
Things begin happening so quickly then, as the innkeeper rushes for the ladder in an apparent attempt to make an escape and the sound of rushing footsteps comes from above. Trying his best to think quickly and logically despite his exhaustion, Samir's hand dips into his satchel and quickly emerges with a round clay container of sorts, a deep reddish brown in color. Without hesitation he flings the small missile at the ladder. On impact, it shatters into dust and tiny shards, coating the ladder and the area around it in a thick, slippery, viscous liquid of Samir's own concoction designed to make it incredibly difficult for movement.
(Casting Grease, and he's using his bag as his spellcasting focus if that wasn't clear.)
With the situation beginning to unravel, and feeling a little confused by exactly what is going on, Marion begins to realise that her new companion Malachi may be right. Just as she comes to this realisation the innkeeper begins to flee. Her mind races, fuzzy with the weight of exhaustion.
Why would Mr Shep suddenly choose to flee? That is not the behaviour of an innocent person. If he has nothing to hide surely he would simply talk to us. Why is Malachi calling this man Razmus, and how does he know this other name? There are too many questions, and no answers. The time for answers is due. Very well, my course is clear.
Looking direct at the fleeing form of Mr Shep Marion opens her mouth and speaks only one word. Her voice echoes through the chamber loudly, laced with a supernatural power that presses the word deeper into the mind of the fleeing innkeeper. "HALT!"
Marion's spell save DC is 13 for the spell.
Razmus sprints for the ladder, not even bothering to shield his face as flecks of grease and shards of pottery from Samir's grease pot graze him. It is at that moment that he hears Malachi's voice in his head. He slows ever so slightly as he looks for the source of the voice, and then his eye's find Malachi. "Three?" he says to himself just as his limbs seize for a moment at the powerful sound of Marion's voice very much outside of his head before he continues ahead.
Having gotten past everyone in the group and their attempts to stop him peacefully, and having almost reached the greasy ladder, he turns momentarily and locks eyes with Marion. His grin shows every one of his teeth as he silently mouths, "Four."
He starts to turn back around, and Marion watches as if in slow motion as Joren's echo appears between Razmus and the ladder, swinging his great sword at the strange man's neck. At the last moment Joren twists the sword, smashing Razmus in the face with the flat of his blade. Teeth and spittle arc through the air as the man's head snaps back and his body is flung into one of the nearby rows of shelves. Wood splinters and one of the wine casks tumbles to the floor beside Razmus's slumped, unconscious body.
But now the footsteps are nearly at the cellar door.
(Ashley is up!)
Ashley watches as each member of her group tries to stop this maniacally smiling man, when finally Joren is able to knock him out cold. She wonders though as she hears the ominous footfalls from above if their real threat is up there. It is so hard to tell through the exhaustion and craziness of the day. Without a clear vision on an enemy or what exactly to do, she tries to slow them down the only way she can think of, and casts mage hand
She sends it up to close the cellar door and hoping between that and the grease, they have some advantage for slowing down what is about to come next. She looks around wildly at the rest of her group, "Here they come, I don't know about you, but I hate not knowing what we're up against!" and she braces herself as best she can for what is about to happen.
((Sorry, finishing Joren's turn from above as I was waiting to see what would happen as a result of his non-lethal attack.))
Sleight of Hand on the clasp of Razmus' necklace (see below): 15
Joren's voice is thick. He is having trouble articulating his thoughts. Or thinking clearly at all, for that matter.
"Náhrdelník... ah, Necklace! Taking his necklace someone? Calling off the attack with it?"
His echo continues to stand in the middle of the Grease at the bottom of the steps, holding the greatsword and looking up at the trap door, while Joren himself stands back.
If he can reach with the free action on his previous turn, he would grab the necklace from Razmus' neck himself, trying to undo the clasp with his shaking fingers. If successful, he will then hold it out for one of the more magically-inclined party members to somehow use.
See Sleight of Hand check above.
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
As the cellar door slams shut, Joren manages to work open the clasp on the back of Razmus's necklace. Pulling it out from under the shirt, he realizes that necklace's odd shape is due to what is strung on it. It appears to be 8 rather large severed rat ears with a metal bead between the first 6 and the last 2.
Malachi watches as his companions try to stop Razmus, who deftly avoids most of the attempts until Joren’s echo catches him by surprise and sends him tumbling across the room. Joren holds up the necklace of severed ears and Malachi grimaces. “I guess there are rats here after all. I wonder if they are what is up above. Lady Ashley has given us some time by closing the trapdoor. What next, do we stay and see what comes through the door and possibly fight, or do we try to flee through Joren’s passageway?”
Malachi moves to Razmus and ties his hands and feet with some rope from his pack, securing him in case he wakes up. Not knowing the nature of his magic, if any, he sticks a piece of cloth in his mouth as a temporary gag as well. Maybe he can provide more answers when he wakes up.
No sooner is the trapdoor closed than a series of loud thumps strike it from above, one after another. Within only a few blows, the wood is already beginning to splinter. Then the impacts stop for just a second. As Malachi fits the gag into Razmus's mouth the cellar door is hurled open with a crash.
A sickly pink hand grips the opening. It looks human, but so horribly shriveled as to appear claw-like. Then, the hands owner launches himself down into the cellar, filthy tattered traveling clothes fluttering as he falls. He, for he may once have been a man, lands on his feet but quickly slips to his stomach, bracing himself with his arms and for a fleeting moment you are all able to get a good look. Bone-thin, shriveled hands and forearms meet grotesquely bulging biceps at the elbow. His clawed bare feet and shins are likewise disfigured. His clothes are not so different from Malachi's, but with months of wear and tear, and bulging at the seams from an unnatural amount of muscle. Worst of all though, crude staples hold the upper body of a massive rat, forelegs and all, where a human head would once have sat. It's fur is patchy and riddled with mange, and there is a poorly healed scar where its right ear should have been. A long rat tail can also be seen grafted to the man's spine through a tear in his shirt.
The rat head locks eyes with Joren's echo and screams a shrill screech even as five more of the terrible creatures, exactly like the first but for their clothes, spill through the opening behind it like a tide of fur, skin, and teeth, landing in an slick, oily, writhing pile with seemingly no regard for their own bodily harm. (They all failed their dex save and will be taking half of their movement to get up from prone, as well as losing 5 additional feet to difficult terrain.)
(1)The first one gnashes its teeth and wriggles its way out from under the pile, all four of it's once-human limbs propelling it forward while the rat claws coming from the neck paw uselessly at the ground. As it crawls, it reaches a hand into its shirt and pulls out a small cloth pouch of some kind. Rising to its feet, it hurls the sac at the ground in front of Joren's echo, creating a small (5 feet) cloud of some thick green smoke that starts to expand outwards. (not large enough to engulf Malachi yet, but it looks like it will expand next turn.)(Joren's echo appears unaffected.)
(2 & 3) Two more emerge from the pile and one rushes for Samir while the other rushes for Ashley. One of them throws another of the strange gas pouches at the ground between them. (Both of you are fine this round, but will be engulfed next round.)
(4) Another one manages to extricate itself and stand up, getting close enough to take a swing with it's knobby fist at Joren's echo. Attack: 19 Damage: 14 . It's fist goes right through the echo, and the image of Joren fades. It shrieks in rage and confusion.
(5 & 6) The last two scramble out of the grease and stand up as they scurry one each at Malachi and Vilus, nearly getting within range to attack.
Greatsword attack at disadvantage on number 3: Attack: 8 Damage: 11
Truly, I must be going mad. Or this is a nightmare made real.
Bonus Action and Move: Joren instinctively summons his echo 15' away from himself with his bonus action and moves it up to 30' to intercept one of he rat abominations attacking his new friends. In his addled state, he interposes the echo between Ashley and the one going for her (number 3), unconsciously choosing her probably for no other reason than the bit of extra shared experience the two have had together. He himself moves back (max movement 15' due to Exhaustion level 3), staying clear of the green smoke if he can, but staying within 30' of the echo so that it lasts after his turn is over. Joren's echo is in melee but he himself is not.
Action: Greatsword Attack from his echo's position on number 3 rolled above at disadvantage. Once Joren knows the result of the attack, he will decide whether to use Unleash Incarnation or Action Surge.
Free Action: Joren moves his mouth but no sound comes out. Focus - what should I be doing? Since no one took the necklace he was (seemingly wrongly) thinking could be used to call off the creatures, he drops the necklace on the ground. He decides to light a torch (interact with object) and apply it to the rat ears on the necklace, trying to set all the ears on fire.
Edited to add: based on OOC chat discussion, this means Joren retreats 15' to the doorway to take up position next to Marion. He burns the ear necklace with the torch behind him (see below). No Unleash Incarnation or Action Surge.
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Horror floods itno Samir's mind as his eyes alight upon the wretched creatures that have descended upon them. His eyes widen behind his glasses, staring as his mouth works silently. What twisted mind could create such abominations? What blackened soul could set such things upon strangers? For a moment his gaze flickers to Razmus, bound and unconscious, before his attention is recaptured by the flash of movement in his peripheral vision. One of the ghastly chimeras is coming straight at him, its gnarled limbs scrabbling and clawing across the floor, trailing a dissipating sheen of the slippery liquid behind it.
He reacts without thought as the small bag hits the ground in front of him, already beginning to leak some noxious fog. His left hand flicks towards the bag, arcane sigils lighting up across it in silvery light. For an instant the pouch seems to vibrate, before it suddenly flings itself violently back in the direction it came on a bee line for the monster that threw it. Samir scrambles back away from the nightmare in front of them, doing his best as he staggers from exhaustion to put space between himself and the monsters.
Casting Catapult. DC 14 Dexterity save or take 13 bludgeoning damage. Hopefully if the first one makes it there's another behind that could get hit instead!
Joren's echo reforms between the rat-men and Ashley, and he strikes out through it at the nearest one. It drops low under the swing of the greatsword, hissing and unscathed. But as Joren drops the necklace and puts a torch to it, all of the rat heads begin to let out a deafening high-pitched whine like steam escaping a kettle and they paw at their ears. There is a lower tone to the scream buried under the first as well, though it is difficult to make out its source. The necklace itself does not catch fire right away, but a black, oily smoke rises from it as the tips of the ears begin to blacken and curl. Even through their apparent pain, the four nearest rat-men (1,4,5,6) turn their attention to Joren, ignoring all others.
(All rat-men will have disadvantage on saving throws unless the burning stops. It seems likely that the ears will catch fire next round if Joren actively keeps the torch on them [object interaction]).
On the other side of the center shelf, Samir launches the gas bomb back at one of the shrieking rat-men.
Dex Save 2: 5
Dex Save 3 w/advantage due to angle: 19
The pouch, small though it may be, is propelled with enough force that it smashes the nose of the the distracted rat-man (2) with a crunch, bending it to the side. This, however, the rat-man does not seem to react to. (Full damage, it just seems oblivious to the pain.) Though the cloud of gas between Ashley and Samir lingers, it is no longer spreading.
The moment that the wooden hatch begins to be destroyed Marion drops to one knee, and immediately retrieves her shield from her back. Without looking up, and despite the sound of destruction and the horrific screeches that the beasts emit, she hooks the shield onto her right arm, strapping it firmly into place, all with a discipline and practiced ease that is born from years of drills.
Once done she rises, drawing her longsword as she goes in a smooth motion and bringing it to the ready. Quickly analysing the situation she steps forward, advancing to stand alongside Joren at his right in the centre of the room, speaking loudly in a commanding voice as she goes. "Get behind me friends! We can use the back room to funnel them as we desire!"
Watching the horrors, because that is what they are in Ashley's mind, break through the wood of the cellar door and scramble their way over each other to get to them is something Ash wished she would never have had to witness. It was something nightmares were made of. The sight almost gave her paralysis as she stood their witnessing it, but as Joren started to burn the ears and between that smell and the noxious fumes of the bags the rats threw, it brought her back to herself.
"Wait, Joren! Those ears obviously affect them," she looks to her new friends wildly, "anyone able to use a command to the necklace possibly?" the flames at the tips of her hair grow as she talks consuming her strands and filling the cellar with dancing shadows from the flames to add to the lovely ambiance.
She sizes up her foes as well as all the wooden shelving that happened to be littering the room they were in. Trying to set the least amount of things on fire, she steps NW to avoid Joren's echo and brings her hands together. She whispers a few words and flame bursts from the palms of her hands and sprays out towards rats 2 & 3 engulfing them in her burning hands DEX save of 13 or 11 fire damage
She then retreats towards Marion as far as she can go in her exhausted state.
Dex save 2: 9
Dex save 3: 14
Vilus now yells out in a booming voice (that Malachi would recognise as the intrusive thought in his head) "She's right! Everyone to the Passageway we bottleneck them! Someone grab the body" With that he gestures toward Rasmus and with the other hand defensively outstretched toward the oncoming rats, a burst of purple light (Eldritch blast)shoots from his palm rippling through the air like a searchlight through water, lapping and folding until it reaches the nearest Ratman (5) at which point Attack: 13 Damage: 5
Regardless of whether the blast hits or not Vilus, still swathed in his hooded cloak, looks down at his hands, his body language conveying shock. he snaps back upright and heads as far back as his movement will allow, behind Marion and into the secondary room
Ashley's gout of flame engulfs the two rat-men and starts a few minor flames on the shelving to either side. The one with the broken snout takes the full force of the blast, coming through with burning clothes and fur, and large patches of seared skin. The other one manages to shield itself from the worst of the blow, showing at least some semblance of a self-preservation instinct, but still ends up with smoking whiskers and angry red burns along its forearms. The flame also burns through the smoky emissions of the gas bomb that Samir launched at them. Afterwards, Ashley manages to scurry back and get next to Joren.
Vilus's unexpected blast tears through cloths and skin, leaving a shallow but bloody crater in the rat-man's chest. It staggers back a step under the impact as Vilus runs past Marion who moves up to take his place on the frontline. (Vilus only has one level of exhaustion, so he can get well inside the door and be anywhere in the first half of the second room that he wants.)
You can also determine now that their AC is 13
Malachi finishes securing Razmus as the trapdoor explodes and the world turns upside down. He can’t even begin to place the strange human, rat hybrid creatures that spill down the ladder. Who would create such an abomination? His tired mind has little time to process things before fire, green smoke, frantic shouts and blasts of energy swirl around him. One of those shouts, from the goliath, sounds oddly familiar, like he has heard it in his mind before.
As the green smoke billows before him and the rat creature approaches him, he whispers and produces a harsh, guttural, jangling sound, filling the creature in front of him and Joren’s Echo with pain and anguish.
Spends 1 sorcery point to twin cast Dissonant Whispers targeting Rat 4 and Rat 2. Both take 10 psychic damage and moves away as far its speed allows. Half damage and no movement away on a DC 14 Wis Save. Intent is to allow Joren’s Echo an AoO.
Malachi needs no encouragement from Marion, or the newcomer, and slips behind Joren toward the door to the other room as fast as his tired, aching legs allow. Lacking the strength, or will, to move the innkeeper he leaves him where he lies for now.
Wisdom Save 2: 0
Wisdom Save 4: 2
Dex Save 4: 4