Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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Khessa approaches Alaric and comradely puts her arm around his shoulders: "Alaric, I may not be as expert in diplomatic matters as you, but the point is that it's not so important how these things usually work... the point is to make things work now, even if it means making a few small exceptions, given the exceptionality of the situation. You see, we need your token—but we also need the Horned's. And to obtain it, we must proceed as we explained. And we would have obviously explained it to you before, if only we had known before."
"If we don't do this..." the blonde arcane warrior sighs "even your token will cease to be useful to us—we might as well give up and leave you to your fate, that is, to reach the heart of the lands of Iuz, where the Horned will be happy to deal you a horrible death. But... is this really what we all want?"
"Listen to me, for we have not much time" the tall adventuress concludes, looking at the noble with pleading blue eyes. "I know I'm asking you a huge personal favor, but... wouldn't you like to reconsider your last words and agree to work with us—so that everyone gets what's best? Both your life and our interests are at stake... Isn't it better to save both, rather than neither? Come on, I beg you, accept, help and prepare yourself - if you miss this opportunity... you know as well as I do that it is highly unlikely that you will ever get another one."
Now a DC 15 Intimidation check for Khessa
OK, let's see if Khessa's "Intimidating" prayers have any effect - DC 15 Intimidation: 3
Tactical Mind if needed: 2
No way; using Heroic Inspiration to reroll the Intimidation: 2
She did it! I knew her sweet blue eyes could be terribly menacing when needed... 😀
Alaric looks around at your group and his eyes narrow, “Very well, I suppose you have me at a disadvantage. I’ll play along with whatever truck you have planned. But don’t think I won’t forget you bad faith deals. What was the name of your dishonest group again?”
"If you really want to speak ill of us, the 'Inglourious Basterds', then do as you see fit, Alaric..." Khessa sighs, providing a false name for the Company. "But perhaps, when you're safe celebrating life, rather than being massacred in a country of monsters, you'll feel more grateful to us than you do now."
'Nobles...' the blonde arcane warrior thinks, slightly disgusted. 'They always think they're so special... We're saving his life—but since we're doing it at the cost of a change of plan, he seems ready to accuse us of lèse-majesté... Common folk, with its rustic simplicity, is always the best.'
Theldrin gives Alaric a disappointed look, shaking his head. He's somewhat taken aback at how Alaric has reacted, as he had thought he and Khessa were doing a good job building rapport with the noble. "Yes, perhaps you missed the part where we are saving your life?" He asks dryly.
(OOC: catching up on what I missed last week...)
"Oh!", Xanrym says. "That's right. Good point, Coriana!"
(OOC: @Ben_E has also been repeatedly forgetting that restriction on Invisibility across multiple campaigns.)
Xanrym remarks, "True, but you cannot provide Khessa with both flight and invisibility, Theldrin."
Xanrym had planned to be with Alaric since he was planning to use Silent Image. Unless someone else can cast such an illusion, I guess Xanrym and Coriana will just have to hurry up on deck once they convince the captain to have the ship descend.
Before going to the captain, Xanrym casts Enhance Ability (CHA) on himself and gives Coriana a brief, inspiring speech, referring to a famous and daring sea captain.
Action: Cast spell (LVL 2 slot) Enhance Ability on himself
For the duration, Xanrym has advantage on ability checks in CHA.
Bonus Action: Grant bardic inspiration to Coriana.
In speaking with the Captain, Xanrym says, "Good morning, Captain Ironsmile. I hope you slept well! We have been busy since breakfast and have already spoken with all of the other passengers aboard. I wanted to report what we've already learned so far and make one request. First, our update...
"I have made contact with the Horned Society, but I'm still working on getting them to trust me. I hope to learn more more when I meet with Hierarch Warduke later today.
"Coriana, here, spoke with the Wolf Nomads, but she'll need more time with them to determine their goals because they speak mostly in riddles and omens. They did ask for information about Baklunish politics, but that may simply be because they saw that our other associate is Bakluni!
"But I believe that you were most interested in your green-cloaked passengers. Our knights tried to speak with them, but I probably should have handled that task myself. I'm afraid that Khessa is a little too...um...simple. She learned some things, but she was too direct in her questions, and I believe that it led to a scuffle on deck -- maybe you heard about it? The Green Cloaks are apparently soldiers from some kingdom here in the Border Lands. They're disgruntled veterans of the wars and feel that they have not been fairly compensated. Now they seek to use their talents to plunder and to wreak havoc on their former masters. They're hoping to impress Iuz's agents by attacking the Wolf Nomads aboard your ship, placing the blame on the Horned Society."
Deception: 25 (in game log) with Advantage from Enhance Ability
"I hope that this initial update pleases you and shows that we're working in good faith to uphold our end of the agreement. Now, we have one request for you. The Shieldlander, Alaric, has proved to be a nuisance. We will be -- well, let's say 'helping' him -- get off of the ship soon. We're trying to send a message and want him to be found near Critwall. But our war wizard has extensive experience with the human body. He says that we must descend to an altitude of about 500-ft or Alaric's body will be unrecognizable after it hits the ground. While bodies falling from the sky might be an effective method of terrorizing the Shieldlanders, it fails to send the specific message that we're trying to send.
"What do you say? Could you take the Malachite Hierarch down to an altitude of 500-ft once we reach the north shores of Nyr Dyv and pass near to Critwall?"
Persuasion: 19 (in game log) with Advantage from Enhance Ability
Concentration: Enhance Ability
Bardic Inspiration:
Coriana
Once within the next 1 hour, when the you fail a D20 Test, you can use the bardic inspiration to roll 1d8 and add the number rolled to the d20, possibly turning failure into a success.
If you use the bardic inspiration, but the D20 Test still fails, you keep the inspiration die because of Xanrym's Unfailing Inspiration.
Xanrym and Coriana - Captian Ironsmile listens unemphatically to your story, looking with her too wide eyes. Finally she responds to your request, "I will grant your request, it's not a problem at all to take the ship down a little. I will also inform the Broken Crown to dispose of the Green Cloaks, we can't have anyone on board causing the kind of trouble you've experienced today." She calls for an attendant who she goes to give orders to.
The rest of you - Alaric counters Khessa and Theldrin simple, "It seems as though you've all missed the part where I'M PAYING YOU!!" He screams this last part, spit dribbling from his mouth.
Khessa sighs: "Good; it seems no one's missing anything anymore now. Let's get ready for the show."
"And speaking of which: the token" the blonde arcane warrior holds out her hand. "Those who want you dead will arrive any moment, and it would be not much believable to exchange the token before their eyes. Give it to me now and be ready. See? The ship is starting to descend... The show will begin any moment."
Xanrym says, "Thank you. Once you give the order, I'll go right up to make sure my associates 'help' Alaric off the ship. But, regarding the Green Cloaks, I don't think that they'll cause any more trouble on your ship. I'll just need to keep my simpleminded knights away from them." He sighs and shakes his head, as though working with such guileless folk is trying. "We don't believe that the Green Cloaks plan to move against the Wolf Nomads until the ship lands. You must do as you see fit, of course, but I'd ask you to give us one more day to discover more about the Green Cloaks. I'm not sure that I trust what our knights discovered, and if the Green Cloaks are hiding a secret, I'd like to know it. Unfortunately, it's difficult to learn anything useful from a corpse."
Persuasion: 26 (in game log), advantage from Enhance Ability
Concentration: Enhance Ability
Bardic Inspiration:
Coriana (since post #6850)
Once within the next 1 hour, when the you fail a D20 Test, you can use the bardic inspiration to roll 1d8 and add the number rolled to the d20, possibly turning failure into a success.
If you use the bardic inspiration, but the D20 Test still fails, you keep the inspiration die because of Xanrym's Unfailing Inspiration.
Theldrin gives Clayton an inquisitive look, trying to get a sense of how the scribe is reacting to the situation.
Insight: 18
Xanrym and Coriana - Ironsmile's grin seems to narrow just a little bit: "I will give you one more day to deal with the Green Cloaks. If it isn't dealt with by tomorrow morning, it will soon after." She nods at the door, clearly indicating your conversation is over.
The rest of you - Alaric wipes his mouth and calms himself a little, "The Crown Token is in my room, within the desk. It's unlocked and you should be able to access it once our business here is done." Theldrin notes that while Clayton is surprised at Alaric's sudden outburst, that last statement seems to be true. The Crown Token will be in Alaric's room. You all also see that members of the Horned Society are watching from the other side of the ship. You also see a group of Broken Crown guards keep their eyes on Khessa and Avery.
(If that's everything everyone wants to do, we might go through your plan to get Alaric off the ship.)
Xanrym makes a slight bow to the captain and hurries back out onto the deck. Once he spots the other members of the Company talking to Alaric, he recommends that Coriana help Avery so that when the Malachite Hierarch gets down to 500-ft, they can throw Alaric and Clayton overboard at the same time so that Khessa's [spells]featherfall;spell]/spells] can protect them both. "Ideally, Clayton would grab hold of his master so that they fall together." Before Coriana leaves him, he leans close to remind her: "Remember! Someone has to pretend to stab Alaric in the back before he goes over the side. Get close to him, like a killer in a crowd, so that it isn't easy for the Horned Society to see clearly. Maybe try to get Alaric to play dead as he falls, too. Just be sure to step back before he actually goes over the rail of the ship so that the illusion of the dagger is clearly visible before he falls."
Then Xanrym moves to a location where he can see Alaric and Clayton but where he's obscured from the sight of the Horned Society and hopefully also from anyone else. (If he has to choose, he's not worried about being seen by members of the Company, the Knights of the Hart, or even by the Wegwiur. He just doesn't want to be in the line-of-sight to the Horned Society or of the Broken Crown guards.) He'll also need to be within 60-ft of where they plan to toss Alaric and Clayton off the ship.
Once he has found a spot that's mostly out-of-sight, Xanrym pulls up the hood of his Cloak of Elvenkind and hides.
Stealth: 26 (in game log), with advantage from the Cloak of Elvenkind
Xanrym watches what's going on with Alaric from his hiding spot. As soon as the other members of the Company are getting ready to throw him overboard, Xanrym will ready Silent Image, casting the spell but holding the energy until he sees them pretend to stab. He makes a simple illusion of a dagger's hilt sticking out of Alaric. (If Alaric is looking down, over the side of the ship, when he's stabbed, the the illusory dagger would be sticking out of his back.) If Alaric doesn't fall immediately after that, Xanrym can also make the illusion show a spreading blood stain below the dagger. In any case, as soon as he creates the illusion, Xanrym starts to move toward the rail so that he can watch Alaric fall and move the illusion so that the illusory dragger tracks with Alaric's body as he beings to fall.
If Xanrym has time to cast another spell just before / as Alaric starts to fall. He casts Minor Illusion to create a magnified scream so that everyone knows Alaric and Clayton went over the edge of the ship.
Concentration: Silent Image
Bardic Inspiration:
Coriana
Once within the next 1 hour, when the you fail a D20 Test, you can use the bardic inspiration to roll 1d8 and add the number rolled to the d20, possibly turning failure into a success.
If you use the bardic inspiration, but the D20 Test still fails, you keep the inspiration die because of Xanrym's Unfailing Inspiration.
(OOC: As long as Alaric cooperates and the others do their part, that's the last post for Xanrym until Alaric is falling.)
[[ OOC: Yes, let's go on with the plan. ]]
Khessa stands ready and, as soon as the two 'victims' are thrown offboard, she casts Feather Fall with an evil grin: "So someone will recognize you - and know you've got what you deserved, you sooo.high-ranking-4ssh0le!"
If either Coriana or Avery need help, she also hrlps them since the casting of her spell is very quick [[ OOC: It's just a reaction ]].
Syllen will look around for a way to cause a distraction in order to make it more difficult to investigate the illusion. If possible casting Control Flames to double the brightness and change the flames color.
Perception: 17
I think this is going to have to be a montage test, probably should have set that up from the start!
You need 6 Successes before 3 Failures. We'll say that Syllen successfully creates a distraction with Control Flames, so that's one success. I'll get an Arcana Check with Advantage (due to high level spell slot) from Xanrym to successfully create the image, and eventually a Sleight of Hand check from Khessa to hide the fact she's casting Feather Fall. Someone has to pretend to stab Alaric, and anything anyone else can think of to help this plan along will add to your score.
Your failures will result in how suspicious the Horned Society are. 1 failure and they're suspicious of you and will ask questions, 2 failures and they basically suspect you faked it and won't work with you or pay you. 3 failures and they'll straight up attack you for trying to deceive them.
So far: 1 Success, 0 Failures
Xanrym - Arcana: 15 (w/ advantage in game log)
(OOC: Preferably Coriana, since she has good bonus in both Deception and Performance, and she still has a 1d8 bardic inspiration die and her 1d10 Tactical Mind if she needs it.)