Roxana leads the party at the bottom of the stairs, curious if she continues to hear the warnings... and indeed she does! As in all the rest of this level of the complex, even in this same room some of the bas-relief figures continue to repeat it periodically.
The girl from Longsaddle then tries to think... What could have triggered it? Gaer knocking? No, too soon… The tiefling knocked without hesitation, as soon as he declared his intentions… The alarm went off later.
Apparently, it started as soon as Roxana set foot in that branch, the second left.
"Alright, up the stairs. Guess we need to evacuate all the way." Roxana heads back up the stairs, saying hello to Solitude, presuming she's still there.
"It had to have been me stepping to that hallway," she muses. "I wonder what the difference is with the spheres compared to the alarm. Despite the spheres are those the right direction?" She shrugs, "I say we go back and try the right. If that fails, we come back up here I guess."
Spira sighs, trying to hold in a few pointed comments. Her brother was always so touchy, so quick to get into fights, and the white-haired woodsman certainly wasn't helping. And the damnable thing was, it all came from the same place, all the touchiness and the need to strut and crow. It depended on her mood whether she thought of that place as the wounds in their hearts or as somewhere a lot lower down in the anatomy. And now Gaer had to go and trigger the alarm proving his manhood when there were enough flags to ward everyone in their possession already -- She manages to suppress everything but a significant eyeroll and a low-voiced comment to Roxana once the two women get to the bottom of the stairs: "I hope you can manage to keep him from getting himself into too many scrapes like this. Angharradh knows I haven't figured out how to do it yet ...
She takes a deep breath and calls to everyone, "Over by the stairs! Maybe it will reset again if we leave and come back, and then we can try following the path exactly ... which seems to imply that once you've gotten the purple flag, whatever magic that keeps this prison safe expects you to go straight to the path down to the purple flag level."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Famh Thrawn Fiadhaich - 'half elven' sorcerer (wild magic) 2, Sleeping Gods - A Dragon Warriors campaign in the Lands of Legend
Quspira Inirali - tiefling cleric (Life domain) 4, Painted's "He'll be the father of my child"
---RETIRED HEROES' REST HOME---
Sae Ivui Nailo - wood elf rogue (inquisitive) 5 , Sea of Death: Captain Hailstorm's Lost Treasure
Ryshraxea "Shra" Naranthi - tabaxi artificer 1, Nyx's Tomb of Annihilation - Group 1
When you go back up to level 1 and check how Solitude is doing, you find her gripping her mace tightly in her hand... in front of the prisoner's door... She is so intent on staring at the door, she seems to want to erase it with just a glance - she doesn't even notice you, for a while, but when she finally does, she seems to relax a little.
She feels compelled to explain: "I was just dreaming... Dreaming of breaking that cursed door open - and then their heads... But I didn't"
She joins you: "The naïve half-orc hasn't returned yet... and neither has the Zhentarim. I guess we won't see either of them again. Or maybe the former we will..." she shrugs "if she left his body along the way for Longsaddle".
"You found something?" the ex-prisoner seems to genuinely care.
"We're just trying to work our way through the paths on the lower level," Roxana says to Solitude. "Wouldn't you feel more at ease to just leave this door alone? And I know you're very anxious to get Anita back here, but it's not quite time to worry about those two yet."
Solitude meditates, staring with her own golden scleraless eyes into Roxana's eyes... Then Spira's... Aidwyn's... Finally Roxana's again: "Maybe you're right... Staying here I have... dangerous thoughts. I'll come with you; perhaps I will be able to make myself useful".
"Excellent," Roxana says in a cheeful tone. "Let's head down and make another attempt to see if we can go to the right this time." She makes her way back with Solitude, and solicits any who wish to come along to join her, getting them to join hands. "Alright, let's go."
This time she intends to head for the same intersection, but to take the right path this time. (To ?9)
And so our heroes descend the well-known spiral staircase once again, with Roxana confidently guiding them.
This time Elky does not appear to offer his services.
But as you're heading towards the eastern alcove, an Undead Horror (Uh) makes its entrance!
There is little doubt that it is an Undead (or even that it is a Horror, at least to be seen): it is a floating dead head, in an advanced state of decomposition, which enters the easter alcove from the east corridor and immediately turns his dead eyes on you. Under the dead head, no less dead hands (one right and one left) crawl across the floor. The monster apparently has no other body parts (no torso, no arms, no legs...).
(OOC: Please, roll all for Initiative - all but Rash, of course)
(OOC: I realize one thing... Both Roxana and Gaer have rolled an initiative that beats the Undead Horror's, so while we wait for Spira's initiative roll, they can still take their turn for round 1, if they want. In case you want to open hostilities: consider the Undead Horror's parts as 3 distnct enemies: head, left claw, righ claw - choose which of the three to attack)
"Aaagh." Roxana gives a frustrated groan. "Why did it not reset like last time? Though I still don't get why we didn't just see one of those spheres!" The frustration is clear in her voice. "Let's pull back and see if this horrid creature will just go. I can't imagine it would follow us upstairs if that's where guests were supposed to hang out." She then notes Obidiah, ready to charge forward. She gets her bow ready, staying put while she waits to see what he does. "Really, we should just step back," she says, but she isn't going to just leave her companion along in the fight. She takes aim at the floating head, holding her shot for the moment to see if anyone attacks. (Readied Action - Shortbow Attack: 25, Damage: 10)
(OOC: @Culuril: Sorry, one thing I didn't understand: does Roxana step back or does she stay in her original position?
I'm not sure, because on the one hand, Roxana advised to 'step back'... but on the other hand she didn't explicitly state that she moves... and as an action, she prepared an attack, not a movement... So , if the others took the advice of the girl from Longsaddle... she would find herself there, alone, on the front line, receiving the charge of the various body parts of Undead Horror...
So I want to be sure: Does Roxana stay put in her original position? Or does she back away - even if she then stops to prepare the attack action?)
(OOC: OK, so waiting only for clarification by Culuril about Roxana - I'd hate to kill her for a misunderstanding - then I'll narrate the start of round 1, with Roxana's and Gaer's action... then at least one of Undead Horror's parts)
(OOC - So I probably did not set that all up very well. I'm not sure how complicated this can be.
If I could set separate triggers, then she would attack only if someone else attacks. And she would move back her full movement if Obidiah retreats rather than advances or if the Undead Abomination was coming at her. This seems pretty simple reasoning to me, but I doubt the rules will allow it since I'd have to spend a Reaction to trigger each item as it happened.
If I actually knew the enemy's initiative, it would make the strategy easier. I think we're supposed to know the order before we start. But since I don't, she will just move back her full movement, then use her READY action, presuming she can still see the target. If the full movement takes her too far then she'd stop where she could still see.)
(EDIT - I see the previous post does hint at initiative order. So the above makes sense.)
Roxana advises retreating up the stairs and backs off...but not knowing whether or not friends will heed the suggestion, she stops in a spot where she can see the battlefield and nocks an arrow...ready to fight, if you choose this option instead.
Gaer backs off with her, supporting her proposition: "Roxana's right, guys! Back off! Let's not risk a fight, if we can avoid it..."
Seeing that the girl from Longsaddle, however, takes a position and stops, the tiefling, moreover frustrated by the confined spaces available, exclaims: "Hey, girl! What's wrong with you? Go up, the others will follow us..." but in fact he stops too, not wanting to leave her behind, and nervously prepares to try and protect her, in case… something… gets their way.
Meanwhile, Undead Horror's body parts are starting to reach the first party members! The quickest of reflexes is the right hand, which crawls in the middle of Solitude, Obadiah, Spira and Aidwyn, leaps up with unsuspected strength and tries to throw a punch to the woodsman.
Roxana leads the party at the bottom of the stairs, curious if she continues to hear the warnings... and indeed she does! As in all the rest of this level of the complex, even in this same room some of the bas-relief figures continue to repeat it periodically.
The girl from Longsaddle then tries to think... What could have triggered it? Gaer knocking? No, too soon… The tiefling knocked without hesitation, as soon as he declared his intentions… The alarm went off later.
Apparently, it started as soon as Roxana set foot in that branch, the second left.
"Alright, up the stairs. Guess we need to evacuate all the way." Roxana heads back up the stairs, saying hello to Solitude, presuming she's still there.
"It had to have been me stepping to that hallway," she muses. "I wonder what the difference is with the spheres compared to the alarm. Despite the spheres are those the right direction?" She shrugs, "I say we go back and try the right. If that fails, we come back up here I guess."
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Spira sighs, trying to hold in a few pointed comments. Her brother was always so touchy, so quick to get into fights, and the white-haired woodsman certainly wasn't helping. And the damnable thing was, it all came from the same place, all the touchiness and the need to strut and crow. It depended on her mood whether she thought of that place as the wounds in their hearts or as somewhere a lot lower down in the anatomy. And now Gaer had to go and trigger the alarm proving his manhood when there were enough flags to ward everyone in their possession already -- She manages to suppress everything but a significant eyeroll and a low-voiced comment to Roxana once the two women get to the bottom of the stairs: "I hope you can manage to keep him from getting himself into too many scrapes like this. Angharradh knows I haven't figured out how to do it yet ...
She takes a deep breath and calls to everyone, "Over by the stairs! Maybe it will reset again if we leave and come back, and then we can try following the path exactly ... which seems to imply that once you've gotten the purple flag, whatever magic that keeps this prison safe expects you to go straight to the path down to the purple flag level."
Famh Thrawn Fiadhaich - 'half elven' sorcerer (wild magic) 2, Sleeping Gods - A Dragon Warriors campaign in the Lands of Legend
Quspira Inirali - tiefling cleric (Life domain) 4, Painted's "He'll be the father of my child"
---RETIRED HEROES' REST HOME---
Sae Ivui Nailo - wood elf rogue (inquisitive) 5 , Sea of Death: Captain Hailstorm's Lost Treasure
Ryshraxea "Shra" Naranthi - tabaxi artificer 1, Nyx's Tomb of Annihilation - Group 1
When you go back up to level 1 and check how Solitude is doing, you find her gripping her mace tightly in her hand... in front of the prisoner's door... She is so intent on staring at the door, she seems to want to erase it with just a glance - she doesn't even notice you, for a while, but when she finally does, she seems to relax a little.
She feels compelled to explain: "I was just dreaming... Dreaming of breaking that cursed door open - and then their heads... But I didn't"
She joins you: "The naïve half-orc hasn't returned yet... and neither has the Zhentarim. I guess we won't see either of them again. Or maybe the former we will..." she shrugs "if she left his body along the way for Longsaddle".
"You found something?" the ex-prisoner seems to genuinely care.
"We're just trying to work our way through the paths on the lower level," Roxana says to Solitude. "Wouldn't you feel more at ease to just leave this door alone? And I know you're very anxious to get Anita back here, but it's not quite time to worry about those two yet."
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Solitude meditates, staring with her own golden scleraless eyes into Roxana's eyes... Then Spira's... Aidwyn's... Finally Roxana's again: "Maybe you're right... Staying here I have... dangerous thoughts. I'll come with you; perhaps I will be able to make myself useful".
"Excellent," Roxana says in a cheeful tone. "Let's head down and make another attempt to see if we can go to the right this time." She makes her way back with Solitude, and solicits any who wish to come along to join her, getting them to join hands. "Alright, let's go."
This time she intends to head for the same intersection, but to take the right path this time. (To ?9)
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
And so our heroes descend the well-known spiral staircase once again, with Roxana confidently guiding them.
This time Elky does not appear to offer his services.
But as you're heading towards the eastern alcove, an Undead Horror (Uh) makes its entrance!
There is little doubt that it is an Undead (or even that it is a Horror, at least to be seen): it is a floating dead head, in an advanced state of decomposition, which enters the easter alcove from the east corridor and immediately turns his dead eyes on you. Under the dead head, no less dead hands (one right and one left) crawl across the floor. The monster apparently has no other body parts (no torso, no arms, no legs...).
(OOC: Please, roll all for Initiative - all but Rash, of course)
Gaer's Initative: 20
Solitude's Initiative: 18
Adiwyn's initaive ( game log): 18
PbP Character: A few ;)
(Roxana Initiative: 21)
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
With a roar of fury, the white-haired warrior lets loose his pent-up rage and charges the undead horror.
(Obadiah Initiative: 18 )
(OOC: I realize one thing... Both Roxana and Gaer have rolled an initiative that beats the Undead Horror's, so while we wait for Spira's initiative roll, they can still take their turn for round 1, if they want. In case you want to open hostilities: consider the Undead Horror's parts as 3 distnct enemies: head, left claw, righ claw - choose which of the three to attack)
"Aaagh." Roxana gives a frustrated groan. "Why did it not reset like last time? Though I still don't get why we didn't just see one of those spheres!" The frustration is clear in her voice. "Let's pull back and see if this horrid creature will just go. I can't imagine it would follow us upstairs if that's where guests were supposed to hang out." She then notes Obidiah, ready to charge forward. She gets her bow ready, staying put while she waits to see what he does. "Really, we should just step back," she says, but she isn't going to just leave her companion along in the fight. She takes aim at the floating head, holding her shot for the moment to see if anyone attacks.
(Readied Action - Shortbow Attack: 25, Damage: 10)
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
(OOC: @Culuril: Sorry, one thing I didn't understand: does Roxana step back or does she stay in her original position?
I'm not sure, because on the one hand, Roxana advised to 'step back'... but on the other hand she didn't explicitly state that she moves... and as an action, she prepared an attack, not a movement... So , if the others took the advice of the girl from Longsaddle... she would find herself there, alone, on the front line, receiving the charge of the various body parts of Undead Horror...
So I want to be sure: Does Roxana stay put in her original position? Or does she back away - even if she then stops to prepare the attack action?)
Rolling Initiative for Spira: 18
(OOC: OK, so waiting only for clarification by Culuril about Roxana - I'd hate to kill her for a misunderstanding - then I'll narrate the start of round 1, with Roxana's and Gaer's action... then at least one of Undead Horror's parts)
(OOC - So I probably did not set that all up very well. I'm not sure how complicated this can be.
If I could set separate triggers, then she would attack only if someone else attacks. And she would move back her full movement if Obidiah retreats rather than advances or if the Undead Abomination was coming at her. This seems pretty simple reasoning to me, but I doubt the rules will allow it since I'd have to spend a Reaction to trigger each item as it happened.
If I actually knew the enemy's initiative, it would make the strategy easier. I think we're supposed to know the order before we start.But since I don't, she will just move back her full movement, then use her READY action, presuming she can still see the target. If the full movement takes her too far then she'd stop where she could still see.)(EDIT - I see the previous post does hint at initiative order. So the above makes sense.)
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Round 1
Roxana advises retreating up the stairs and backs off...but not knowing whether or not friends will heed the suggestion, she stops in a spot where she can see the battlefield and nocks an arrow...ready to fight, if you choose this option instead.
Gaer backs off with her, supporting her proposition: "Roxana's right, guys! Back off! Let's not risk a fight, if we can avoid it..."
Seeing that the girl from Longsaddle, however, takes a position and stops, the tiefling, moreover frustrated by the confined spaces available, exclaims: "Hey, girl! What's wrong with you? Go up, the others will follow us..." but in fact he stops too, not wanting to leave her behind, and nervously prepares to try and protect her, in case… something… gets their way.
Meanwhile, Undead Horror's body parts are starting to reach the first party members! The quickest of reflexes is the right hand, which crawls in the middle of Solitude, Obadiah, Spira and Aidwyn, leaps up with unsuspected strength and tries to throw a punch to the woodsman.
Right Claw's Punch: 15 Damage: 3 (bludgeoning)