Chronicles of the Accursed (Group 2)

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

Yeah, that's a good call there...

Everyone, please roll initiative! Looks like there's going to be a confrontation.

(OOC: Got busy.  It sounds like things are really moving.  I'll try to catch up this weekend...)

Hewelathan-Bear - Initiative: 7

Korba - Initiative: 30

OOC:

Nickeline initiative: 12

Hildegard initiative: 15

Smiler -Initiative: 18

Temphalic: 24

Remnant of Sserah: 22

    Damage -

Ruby: 19

Korba: 18

Firion: 17

    Damage -

Zolgu: 16

    Damage -

Hew-Bear: 15

Nickeline: 15

Hildegard: 15

Jodie: 15

Sserah Cultists (x5): 12

    Cultist 1 - 6 damage

    Cultist 2 - 3 damage

    Cultist 3

    Cultist 4

    Cultist 5

Kobold Dragonshields (x4): 12

    Kobold 1

    Kobold 2

    Kobold 3

    Kobold 4

Astral Lich: 11

Gorash: 8

Selarial: 6

Smiler: 6

Alright, here's what we'll do: we are in initiative now. The enemies cannot do anything during the next two rounds, so we'll skip over them (besides the two in the web). Use this time to prep for the encounter.

OOC:

I assume we want to leave the Web in place, at least for now. That eliminates Nickeline's fire options at the beginning of the fight, but it's best if she waits until the enemies are grouped closer together to cast Fireball anyway.

She will keep her Silent Image in place for one round, then in the second preparation round she will switch to casting Bless on Hewelathan, Hildegard, and Korba. She will also move closer to the Web, just in case a Burning Hands spell becomes appropriate.

Ruby eyes the restrained cultist and says "Ruby curses anyone who fights with Zolgu with weakness." (disadvantage Str)

The kobold arcanist steps out of Jodie's hut to hurl two arcane bursts at cultist 1 and steps back into the abjuration.

Burst 1: Atk 21, Dmg: 7 force, 5 necrotic

Burst 2: Atk 21, Damage 12 force, 1 necrotic

Quote from Faux_Beau >>

Ruby eyes the restrained cultist and says "Ruby curses anyone who fights with Zolgu with weakness." (disadvantage Str)

The kobold arcanist steps out of Jodie's hut to hurl two arcane bursts at cultist 1 and steps back into the abjuration.

Burst 1: Atk 21, Dmg: 7 force, 5 necrotic

Burst 2: Atk 21, Damage 12 force, 1 necrotic

 

 Both of Ruby's attacks strike the cultist, wracking his body with bot pure force and the fetid energy of the little kobold's curse.

Gorash cast Mage armor on himself, while Selariel casts mirror image in preparation.

Note that the two cultists in the web will have a turn after Korba, Hew-Bear, Jodie, and Hildegard. Rough order of resolving final actions here.

1st Prep round

Hildeguard casts Bless on Nickeline, Jodie, Tamphalic, and Gorash and urges Ruby to "stay out of the fight as much as you can".

Jodie follows Ruby's example and take the opportunity to try take out the cultist Ruby struck.  She nocks an arrow and uses her elven aim to find her mark.

Attack: 27 Damage: 11 radiant

Quote from Faux_Beau >>

1st Prep round

Hildeguard casts Bless on Nickeline, Jodie, Tamphalic, and Gorash and urges Ruby to "stay out of the fight as much as you can".

Jodie follows Ruby's example and take the opportunity to try take out the cultist Ruby struck.  She nocks an arrow and uses her elven aim to find her mark.

Attack: 27 Damage: 11 radiant

Jodie has +4 Init, so she'll go before others at 15 Init if it matters..didn't add in Bless yet. 

Jodie takes another solid chunk out of Cultist 1. He is now bloodied.

OOC:

Because Hildegard is blessing Tamphalic, Nickeline will bless Ruby instead.

The restrained cultists catch sight of the Astral lich for the first time and feels the energy of the starfire between the ranged attacks.

Starfire chill Con 18 on each cultist (2 legendary actions between PC turns on init 15)
Cultist 1 9 fire 9 cold

Cultist 2 10 fire 12 cold

"Let the entropy take you." it urges without emotion.

Cultist 1 Con save: 8
Cultist 2 Con save: 7

Both cultists fail their saves, taking the full damage from the lich's power.

Cultist 1 - 59 damage

Cultist 2 - 14 damage

Looks like it's just Korba and Hew-Bear up for the prep round, before the two cultists get a chance to try some desperation tactic to not die

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

The Lich eyes the horn hungrily... and reaches its bony hands out, caressing the object.

I can ferry eight souls, the Astral Lich says, its face ever locked into a skeletal grin. Give me the horn now, and you shall have paid your debt to me.

(OOC: Just catching up first....)

Hewelathan-Bear looks surprised by Jodie's offer.  He fixes her with his big eyes and leans close so that she can take the horn from the pouch around his neck.  (He would have kept it as separate gear, not absorbed into his Wild Shape since thought that it was going to be used as part of the ritual.)  As Jodie takes the horn, he makes a low, growling comment, like a deep, rumbling whisper.  It's funny hearing the Elvish words coming from the large brown bear:

When Jodie gives the horn to the lich, Hewelathan-Bear looks at the undead with a blank, flat expression.  He cautions the lich: "The horn has been winded recently, and its power cannot be used for another year."  He doesn't want the lich to think that they are trying to cheat, and he suddenly wonders what such a restriction means now that they've brought the horn to the Ethereal Plane.  Does time even work the same here as it does back in Faerûn?  Maybe the horn will work right away.  Or maybe the magic is tied to their world, and the lich will need to travel to Faerûn with the horn to charge it.  He imagines that if they survive Firion, Lord Akkron may charge them to return to this place to defeat this lich.

Hewelathan-Bear is even more alarmed when Jodie offers the lich the talisman, but he merely asks, "So...we will fight Firion here?"

Seeing through Smiler's Hallucinatory Terrain

Hewelathan - DC 15 Investigation: 17 (rolled 14 and 17 in the game log)

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

Seeing through Smiler's Hallucinatory Terrain

Hewelathan - DC 15 Investigation: 17 (rolled 14 and 17 in the game log)

(OOC: If studying the illusion does not require his whole action this round, then Hewelathan-Bear will simply step from the cozy hut long enough to cast Starry Wisp.  He thought that they were fleeing, and he had planned to keep his distance from the cultists so that he could be sure to maintain Moonbeam at the cave entrance.  All rolls below were made in the game log. )

Hewelathan - 1st Prep Round

Movement: Move out of the cozy hut to cast his spell and then back into the spell's AoE for whatever protection it offers
Action: cast a spell Starry Wisp at cultist #1.  Attack: 23 (w/ advantage because because target is restrained and +1 from Nickeline's Bless), Damage: 13 (radiant)
  On a hit, cultist #1 also emits Dim Light in a 10-foot radius until the end of Hewelthan's next turn and can’t benefit from the Invisible condition.
  

Concentration: Moonbeam round 2 of 10
  Creatures who move into the AoE for the first time or end their turn in the AoE must roll a DC 16 CON saving throw or take damage: 17 (radiant).  If the creature is shape-shifted (as a result of the Polymorph spell, for example), it also reverts to its true form and can’t shape-shift until it leaves the AoE.
  On a successful save, the creature takes half damage only: 8 (radiant). 

Conditions/Effects:
  Wild Shape: Brown Bear
  Bless from Nicekline.

Korba did not cast any spell before the cultists entered the chamber.  He instead took the time to study Smiler's illusion and perceive the illusion.
DC 15 Investigation: 17 

Normally, Korba would look to close the distance to their enemies to use his Moonblade, and he'd use his spells to help him in melee.  But here, he decides to hold back, thinking that Counterspell may be his most effective use of his magic in the upcoming confrontation.  He says, "If I can, I may try to affect Firion and Zolgu with Faerie Fire.  In our last fight, I know that we struggled to hit Zolgu, and maybe that will help." 

Like Hewelathan, Korba is shocked when Jodie offers the Astral Lich the talisman that Lord Akkron entrusted to him.  But since Jodie removed the curse from his Moonblade without the use of the talisman, he finally shrugs resignedly and hands it over.  It's wrapped in cloth so that he does not have to touch it himself.

Korba: 1st Prep Round

Korba decides to see whether they can take out the two cultists before any more of them arrive.  He steps out of Jodie's Cozy Hut for just long enough to target the cultists with two beams of swirling sand that hit with great force.

Action: Cast spell Eldritch Blast
  Beam 1 at cultist #2 - Attack: 30, Damage: 7 (force)
  Beam 2 at cultist #2 - Attack: 31 (critical hit), Damage: 17 (force)

(OOC: All rolls in game log.  Attacks rolled w/ advantage since cultist #2 is still Restrained, extra d20 from Elven Accuracy, and Bless bonus from Nickeline.)

Conditions/Effects:
  Bless from Nickeline