The Black Rose detected the movement of the giant lizard that attacked Artifex and caught the scent of blood in the air. With a quick glance from Artifex to the giant lizard, The Black Rose hesitated for a moment before swinging his quarterstaff and delivering a punch to the nearest giant lizard. He reassured Artifex, saying, "Don't worry. If you fall, I'll get you back up. But for now, the best defense is a good offense."

——————-

Quarterstaff: to hit 21 and deal 8 damage if it hits.

Punch: to hit 20 and deal 4 damage if it hits. 

Artifex seethes in pain as They clutch Its side, still managing to grin despite the pain. "You know, people usually buy me a drink before they try to get in my guts. Also..." 

The Elf waves Their hand over the wound, a few of the tattoos visible beging to move and distort. "Fhaor", They spoke, the dark lines somehow hop over the wound, sewing it back together. 

Artifex pulls It's knife out with practiced ease, glee sparkling in Their eyes. "Time to get bloody I guess."

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Action: Cure wounds : healed 10, back at full health

Tarton says, "I thought the plan was to split up. I would have stayed closer to everyone otherwise." He then uses his movement and action to move into the larger pen if it is open as the image suggests. If it is not open, he stops at the gate.

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was going to wait for Gwrgi to take her actions before posting Tarton's, but since he is not attacking I thought it might be OK to post before her.

Quote from badfishingdad75 >>

Tarton says, "I thought the plan was to split up. I would have stayed closer to everyone otherwise." He then uses his movement and action to move into the larger pen if it is open as the image suggests. If it is not open, he stops at the gate.

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was going to wait for Gwrgi to take her actions before posting Tarton's, but since he is not attacking I thought it might be OK to post before her.

 (gates are in fact open, and that seems like  a reasonable standard ... that we can be flexible about posting "out of turn" as far as strict initiative order goes so long as you're not attacking or doing something that might have a similarly significant effect on the outcome of the combat.  As far as Gwrgi goes, bless is a concentration spell, so she'll be doing that for the next minute (10 rounds) or until her focus is broken)

(LOL actually i'll confess i'm at least partly so flexible bc I literally just got done fairly shamelessly doing the exact same kind of thing with my character Famh, taking all sorts of extra posts to do nothing at all significant as far as the combat goes but have all kinds of fun RPing a romance subplot between my character and another player's ranger where my wild magic sorceress just had a wild surge and turned into a giant elk in the middle of the battle, and he flubbed an Insight roll and couldn't figure out where the $@#&*^% she just disappeared to and where the $@#&*^% this giant elk just suddenly showed up from out of thin air. ;-D

I must confess, I really do like Famh.  Hope Cainneach's not too jealous LOL)

Tarton dashes for the larger pen that you guess might be used as a corral ... whether for breaking, training, or just exercising the creatures, you don't know ... but his halfling legs were built for endurance rather than speed, and he is only just within the gates when the remaining lizard in the northern pen bursts through in a shower of wood and scales.  It seems to have sustained a slight scratch on its shoulder, which goads it to a hissing fury that sees it slightly overshoot the turn to come around the corral's corner and attack Tarton.  It only skids a little ways before it redirects its charge, but those inches are the inches by which its jaws snap closed on empty air rather than on Tarton's nimbly flying ankles as he darts just within the open gates.

Meanwhile, The Black Rose's blows strike home on the lizard that had been considering Artifex as an article of diet.  The combination of staff and fist seems to awaken some shred of its taming, even as the blows batter it to near-unconsciousness.  It whines ... a sound you'd never before known giant lizards could make ... and submissively droops its head as it starts to crawl back towards the post to which it had been tethered at first.  Alas, this leaves him open for the second lizard to his north to attack him from behind.  It promptly takes advantage of the opportunity, tearing the skin and flesh of his midsection as his quick reflexes let him twist at the last moment out of the jaws that would have utterly crushed him in two (10 piercing; roll to see if he maintained defensive stance while attacking halved damage to 5)

The third lizard is also slowed by having to maneuver around the pens.  Seeing that Artifex is closest to it, it snaps at them, but with less force than the bite The Black Rose just suffered.  Only Artifex' arm is engulfed, and the teeth seem to have trouble piercing the skin their tattoos flowed from. (6 piercing).  All the lizards seem confused by the elven curses, or by the wildly flying shafts, and have thus far kept clear of Erolith.

Meanwhile, Gwrgi's chant flows on with a strange serenity.  Tarton, Artifex and Erolith all now feel uplifted by it, and a strange clarity of perception now descends upon them all (for next 10 rounds, or until Gwrgi's concentration is broken, those 3 characters can roll d4 for bonus to the roll whenever they attack or save)

INIT, round 3

• 13:
  • Erolith - undamaged, bless (roll PER)
  • The Black Rose - 5 points damage
• 9:
  • Gwrgi - undamaged
• 7
  • Artifex - 6 points damage, bless
  • Tarton - undamaged, bless
• 3
  • Lizard #1 - 0hp, semiconscious. I've taken its token off the map as long as its out of the fight, but if somebody really wants to attack the poor puppy some more I'll put it back lol
• 1
  • Lizard #2 - undamaged
  • Lizard #3 - undamaged
• 0
  • Lizard #4 - 1 point damage

The Black Rose took himself to the side as he felt the blood dripping down his hand. "Arrrrr, damn, that hurt, and damn, that was close." He thought about using his healing serum but then decided to keep attacking. He swung his quarterstaff and followed up with a punch to the closest giant lizard.

——————-

Quarterstaff: to hit 9 and deal 6 damage if it hits.

Punch: to hit 18 and deal 5 damage if it hits

What type of roll should I do? Dex? Also, does the Dodge action last this long, and doesn't it normally give disadvantages instead of half damage taken? I'm happy if it is not the case because otherwise, I'm down 😅 just wanted to be sure :)  if i go Down i Will edit my post :) 

Artifex looks mildly annoyed, taking a wild swing at the lizard that had just bitten into. "I just fixed that!" They take a wild swing at the creature, the blow bouncing off of its scales. "Darrdartha'Ess!" It curses, grimacing in pain.

They tried to get some distance, trying to dart back from the beasts. "Y'know if these things are edible, I call that ones arm." They joke, despite the danger of the moment. "Eye for an eye and all that "

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 Attack+ bless: 13

Damage:5

Artifex is gonna move their thirty feet towards Erolith.

In Draconic Tarton says to the lizard next to him, "Down! Stay!" hoping they trained the lizards with those words in that language. Then Tarton shoots at the lizard next to The Black Rose. After that, he scrambles up the gate in front of him trying to escape the lizard next to him. "This lizard back here messed up my plan. I didn't expect them to be so fast. Watch out Erolith." Tarton says to the group.

Attack: 11 + bless (3): 14
Damage if hits: 6 + Sneak (4): 10 total

Erolith angrily whispers something particularly foul, especially for the Elvish language, to his bow as he pulls another arrow back and trains it on the lizard closest to Tarton.

To hit = 22

Damage = 9

Erolith grins as the arrow streaks through the air closing the close distance to the lizard in a flash.

(slowly rousing from the holiday slump torpor.  hope everyone's was / is / will be good, and should have the next post for you tomorrow or next day)

Erolith's arrow slips through the bars of the large corral and pierces the flank of Tarton's lizard, wringing a loud hiss of pain and surprise from it at the same time it was already flinching back from the sudden blur in front of its face that was the halfling's shaft.  This had looked at first as if it was going to miss, but the two arrows somehow cross paths in their flight just closely enough for the air swirls in the other's wake to nudge it back on course.  It lands solidly in its' target's shoulder.  Alas, this causes it to flinch back; and The Black Rose 's staff blow, already hampered by the pain of his wound, swishes harmlessly past its head.  He quickly makes up for the miss, though, spinning about to deliver a laughing monkey fist strike to the creature's other shoulder.  Artifex, too, notices as they dart back that their blow had more effect than they had thought at first.  The lizard whose 'elbow' they struck seems to be favoring the limb somewhat, though this is quickly disappearing as its bestial ferocity rises superior to the pain.

Then it is the lizards' turn.  The one behind Artifex seemingly takes it into its head to move at the same time the eladrin does, and in the same general direction; but it is towards Gwrgi that it charges.  Its jaws easily close around the trance-bound dragonborn priestess, and her furious hissing curse of pain and surprise rivals some of the lizards' vocalizations in intensity.  The characters her spell had been bolstering feel its energy ebb away immediately as her concentration is broken.  The other two both miss as their more dextrous targets evade them, the lizard in front of Artifex snapping its fangs on thin air inches from their nimbly flickering ankles as they dance out of its reach and dart towards their fellow Tel'Quessir; and Tarton's pursuer similarly failing to connect as he vaults up onto the gatepost.  It hisses angrily at him, seeming not to recognize the words he spoke at all; and begins to draw back as if it meant to ram into the post and shake him back off into its reach again with the force of the blow.

===========================

Quote from Zladark >>

What type of roll should I do? Dex? Also, does the Dodge action last this long, and doesn't it normally give disadvantages instead of half damage taken? I'm happy if it is not the case because otherwise, I'm down 😅 just wanted to be sure :)  if i go Down i Will edit my post :) 

 (DM booboo fix.  Don't overly depend on it, but don't worry about the details too much either LOL)

INIT, round 4

• 13:
  • Erolith - undamaged
  • The Black Rose - 5 points damage
• 9:
  • Gwrgi - 9 points damage
• 7
  • Artifex - 6 points damage
  • Tarton - undamaged
• 3
  • Lizard #1 - 0hp, semiconscious. I've taken its token off the map as long as its out of the fight, but if somebody really wants to attack the poor puppy some more I'll put it back lol
• 1
  • Lizard #2 - 10 points damage
  • Lizard #3 - 5 points damage
• 0
  • Lizard #4 - 10 points damage

The Black Rose closed his eyes, grounding himself with deliberate breaths. He could hear the jaws closing around scales and armor, the sinister scrape as teeth traversed defenses, the brutal puncture of flesh. Gwrgi's enraged hisses and the metallic tang of blood permeated the air. "I'll revive anyone who falls, but for now, I must keep the pressure on them. No time to rest or inflict more harm upon us," he tougth. With fluid precision, he swung his quarterstaff and followed through with a powerful punch, both aimed at the assailant that had just inflicted harm upon him.

----------------

Quarterstaff: to hit 14 and deal 6 damage if it hits.

Punch: to hit 8 and deal 6 damage if it hits.

Artifex, finally able to get some space, chucks a glowing stone at the lizard attacking with a tsk. "Bad lizard! No eating my people. I just met these ones!"

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Magic Stone:16 to hit, 4 damage

Erolith and Artifex, please roll your passive PER

Nat 1lmao

Tarton scrambles across the top of the training pen so he's between Artifex and The Black Rose (if he can move that far). He then raps his legs around the top log to steady himself and shoots an arrow at the lizard attacking Gwrgi but misses as the log shifts below him just as he releases the arrow, his arrow flying a foot above its back and thudding into the dirt beyond. "My luck has run out again it seems." he says.

Attack: 9

(sure, its only about 15', and he is named 'Fleetfoot' after all LOL)

Erolith, elated by his last arrow finding its mark, quickly notches another and fires again hoping to end one of the scaled threats facing the party.

To hit = 15

damage = 12

passive perception roll = 10