Quote from luminarystarr >>

Quote from zedkabgi >>

(Can I join here? It seems like the campaign hasn’t gotten to far?)

 It is open, so sure.

Quote from rafflmandel >>

Quote from luminarystarr >>

"It's always good to take a short rest, before a fight. If we have people ready that can keep it down, or better, keep it from getting airborn in the first place, I have a couple of smites ready, to make short work of it."

Jason brings up his shield and spear to the ready, scanning for any possible unseen attacks by any other creatures, looking for tracks.

Survival Check: 20

 

 Attempting to set up some small talk “So… whos dis raven queen? Iz she bird lady? Why you say she gives me heals?Sniss is big confuse.”

"I'm a Paladin, who also has some Warlock skills. Warlocks have a variety of Patrons. Some are evil, like fiends. Some are good, like Celestials. Similar to Clerics, Paladins often have a deity. For some like me, there can be issues, because the patron and deity can be on opposite alignments, which causes problems for the person. Sometimes, a patron and deity may not want a person to 'split their attention.'

"Other times, one, or both, may show indifference, so the person can use the spells and abilities they're blessed with, but may not be able to have otherworldly guidance. Technically, I'm what some may call an 'Oathless Paladin,' although I am on a path of vengeance.'

"Some Warlocks get their powers from The Shadowfell, sort of a counterpart to the Feywild, in the sense that it was a reflection, or "echo", of the Prime Material Plane. Unlike the Feywild, it was a bleak, desolate place full of decay and death.

"Untold generations ago, she was originally a much beloved elf queen from the Feywild who witnessed the conflict between Corellon and Lolth. Worried that the dispute might tear the Seldarine asunder, she rallied her followers to perform a powerful ritual in order to become a deity, so she could have the leverage to appeal to the deities' senses. The ritual involved the offering of the queen's followers' souls and magic to add to her own power, enabling her to reach Arvandor. The followers, who called themselves shadar-kai, firmly believed that their queen was capable of reunifying the elven pantheon and the sundered elves.

"However, evil wizards among the queen's followers attempted to divert some of the energy from the ritual to amplify their own powers. The queen reacted by punishing the wizards with a burst of divine fury. This curse corrupted the ritual into a siphon that dragged the queen and her followers into the Shadowfell, where she was instantly killed. However, thanks to her recently acquired divine powers, the queen rose from the ashes and, in her growing madness and grief, transformed the wizards into wretched avian forms. Corellon and Lolth considered her actions to be treason, so they erased the memory of her existence from all elves. In order to avoid disappearing entirely, she drew memories of her existence from the Shadowfell itself in order to sustain her identity. The remains of the queen and the loose darkened memories gave rise to the entity that became known as the Raven Queen.

"So, she looks for champions, through the multiverse. To help sustain her, she craves memories, which comes most easiest from devotees. She can see threads of fate for some, and can see who could be best suited for this. Some of those who can be the best devotees are amongst the kidnapped. I am one of those, who can rescue these people, and bring them to be a devotee, which will help her maintain her identity."

Initiative: 2

 Sniss holds their head as if they are getting a headache trying to understand all of this “so bird lady is actually elf lady, who needs lots of people to stay alive, so you force peoples to make her stay alivez???”

"No. I rescue people. Some are those who have thought, maybe in passing, that an aspect of death, being the Raven Queen, would be a good deity, but don't because of her association. After being rescued, and learning that I'm an agent of hers, often times sways them to do so, even if secretly. Others have little to no knowledge of her. Being rescued by a follower of hers has encouraged many to at least learn about her. Some become followers, and some do not. They are free to do so, but are not forced. The main ones that need be concerned with her wrath are those who kidnap people, especially children, who are already her followers, or whose thread of fate shows a strong potential to be a follower. Some Hexblades, as some people dub such warlocks, and some other warriors, some loosely referred to as 'Raven Blades', are tasked with finding these traffickers, and bring them to justice. When that happens, and we complete a ritual to allow her a limited access to this plane, to collect those who traffic beings, especially children, well, I wouldn't want to be them, when the Raven Queen gets a hold of such foul beings."

Zed, out of nowhere, walks into the clearing and sits next to Sniss and says, “Hey we can’t all be geniuses, I sure as hell am not, but people tell me I’m charming. I was born with the ability to cast spells because my father got into a bit of a tangle with a dryad years before I was born, and somehow that made me- me. Oh yeah, and my mom’s an angel.” 
he then looks at the warlock and says, “the barkeep told me a group like you went out in search of a boar, and I need a way to use my magic, so I figured I’d see if you could use some help”

(idk what this is for but )

initiative: 4

Erdon replies to the new comers, "Welcome all.  There is at least one cloaker creature in the Cave. We just finished the attack on the Giant Boar and butchered it for the bounty.  We're getting ready to go in and deal with what's in that cave.  Everyone is getting ready. Let's all make sure we are in the cave and ready to deal with what's in there."

OOC - DM might be busy so we are standing by hoping all is ok.

(OOC, it seems some notices and messages are being sent out, although I'm noticing a few bugs. Also, per the first post, this is a "DMless Adventure," with Dwar_farquar, aka, Salt Peet as adventure guide, using this as a guide. I believe what we need to do, now, is have us split between who will guard the Giant Boar, if needed, and who will go after the Cloaker. If I've misunderstood anything, please amend).

Cloaker Imitative: 12 (Since we are on guard, and looking out for it, no surprise/advantage).

(OOC: Going back through the prior threads, and here's the Initiative Order. If I left someone out, feel free to quote this, and edit to include you)

Initiative:

Eldrin – 21

Cloaker - 18

Edena – 9

Erdon – 4

Zed – 4

Jason – 2

Edena walks up to the cave and glances inside, then moves over to let the melee fighters in first.

Quote from luminarystarr >>

(OOC, it seems some notices and messages are being sent out, although I'm noticing a few bugs. Also, per the first post, this is a "DMless Adventure," with Dwar_farquar, aka, Salt Peet as adventure guide, using this as a guide. I believe what we need to do, now, is have us split between who will guard the Giant Boar, if needed, and who will go after the Cloaker. If I've misunderstood anything, please amend).

Cloaker Imitative: 18 (Since we are on guard, and looking out for it, no surprise/advantage).

 OOC - We harvested the Giant Boar, so everyone is free to go into the cave.

Quote from zedkabgi >>

Zed, out of nowhere, walks into the clearing and sits next to Sniss and says, “Hey we can’t all be geniuses, I sure as hell am not, but people tell me I’m charming. I was born with the ability to cast spells because my father got into a bit of a tangle with a dryad years before I was born, and somehow that made me- me. Oh yeah, and my mom’s an angel.” 
he then looks at the warlock and says, “the barkeep told me a group like you went out in search of a boar, and I need a way to use my magic, so I figured I’d see if you could use some help”

 

 

(idk what this is for but )

initiative: 4

 “Does…does sniss know you?” Very confused looking at the stranger

"probably not," I say," but I'm here to help." 

• I lean into the cave and cast chaos bolt at the cloaker. 
• 18 to hit, 9 poison damage.

I also say, “I had this nice fellow named Maximillian teach me a spell to hold it down, so leave that to me.”

Edena, seeing this person suddenly shoot a spell into the cave, asks "Is it right inside? Are we all ready then?"

Jason comes in with his spear 19 hit: 13.

"Upon the day the blind man sees once more, a broken bone shall mark the overthrowing of evil...Divine Smite!" 13

Jason then spins his spear around, and drive the butt of his spear into the monster. 10

Sniss looks around confused (initiative 10) before realizing that we are fighting now and charging up his fists and moving closer (2.5) feet in front of the paladin after his smite

Edena cast Hunter's Mark on the Cloaker and then shoots two arrows from the entrance of the cave.

Shot 1: Attack:14 Damage:9 + 3 = 9 Piercing

Shot 2: Attack:19 Damage:7 + 4 + 5 = 11 Piercing

Quote from PrincessCallia >>

This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.

Edena cast Hunter's Mark on the Cloaker and then shoots two arrows from the entrance of the cave.

Shot 1: Attack:14 Damage:4 + 6 = 9 Piercing

Shot 2: Attack:26 Damage:9 + 6 + 2 = 11 Piercing

 i edited to add the total damage and it changed the dice roll. Damage should be the =, Don't know what the attack was.

Erdon moves into the cave with DeDe

Melee attack two handed quarterstaff

MOVE: Erdon AC 17 moves to melee the cloaker: (spending 30 feet of movement; first diagonal costs 5 ft. of movement, second costs 10 ft., third costs 5 ft., etc.)
BONUS: Mentally command DeDe to attack the cloaker too.
ACTION: Quarterstaff two handed Attack: 20 Damage: 7 (Bludgeoning)
 End of turn!

Reaction: Attacks of opportunity if available.

MOVE: DeDe Steel Defender AC 17 moves to melee the Cloaker: (spending 30 feet of movement; first diagonal costs 5 ft. of movement, second costs 10 ft., third costs 5 ft., etc.)
BONUS: 
ACTION: Force-Empowered Rend Attack target the cloaker: 21 Damage: 5 (Force)

 End of turn!

After the brutal onslaught by the party (Cloaker 78-9-13-13-10-9-11-8-6=-1), the cloaker falls down, in defeat. For a moment, the creature looks like it will attempt to unleash a Moan, but is breathing becomes strangled in it's death throws, and it collapses, letting out a final breath, with the light of life draining from it's eyes.

(OOC: Erdon, Edena, Sniss, Jason, Zed are who I used, for those who have rolled imitative, to figure the total damage. I used DDB's own stat block to know when it's dead. This yields 3,900 xp, divided by the 6 of us, at present...650xp each...unless there was supposed to be a milestone method, or something else, or I missed someone on this fight? This was the last post by "Salty Pete," 9/6/2024. I'm not sure if XP was given out for the Giant Boar, and who all contributed to that battle, and who came in after, for the 450xp split. Also, some games I've played, there's a specific amount of treasure/gold after each battle, while others have a roll, based on the CR. Just wanting some ideas, as I'm still new to 5e, and wanted to put this forth to my fellow players).

Jason: "Well, that was rather exhilarating, in its fashion. I suggest we look through the cave for anything of value, see who needs healing, and maybe take a short rest, before heading back to town, for our reward. Now, what happened to that fellow, from just before this little ditty? Is he still here?"

Eldrin says, "That was amazing. I barely had time to react!" Eldrin grabs the leather box, and the book the cave monster was guarding.

Edena grabs her pack down from the tree and swings it onto her back. "I think it's time to head back to town. I've got some business there I have to deal with." She looks around to make sure there is nothing left behind and then waits for the others to be ready.