Abishai's Dragons of Icespire Peak

[[OOC: @Alisande Technically you share initiative with the Merrow so you can attack without disadvantage as they reveal themselves.]]

Once again, Gareth stands firm as the harpoon is ripped away from him without taking him with it.

Meira takes a careful aim thanks to the protection offered by Zephyros and hits the merrow that attacked her. The arrow sinks deep into the creature's shoulder. At the same time, Rasziel pokes his head out and fires two blasts of energy at the same monster. Both attacks hit, leaving the merrow looking pretty rough and questioning its life choices.

With the Harpy dead, Alisande and Zephyros are up!

Updated Initiative:

• 22 Gareth
• 17 Alisande
• 17 Merrow
• 14 Meira
• 13 Rasziel
• 9 Zephyros

Alisande catches sight of the merrow hiding beneath the storm-tossed waves, and gathers flame in her hand, fashioning it into a small slender polearm that blazes with an arcane heat. With a flick of her wrist, she sends the conjured weapon hurtling through the air, a lance of fire aimed directly at the monster's head. 

 With the arrival of more merrow, she sees no reason to divert from the plan that has served her well up until this point. Ozymandias sweeps in, flying around the sea monster with a carefree delight. The Duke darts in close, tapping his paws on the nearest briny beast's shoulders as though teasing some sluggish housecat that cannot keep up with his antics.

His work done, the tressym spins away, wiggling his behind at the merrow with a taunting look over his shoulder. Seizing the distraction afforded by her familiar, a dagger forged of pure fire spins through the air to welcome the mutated merfolk to the battle upon the causeway. 

Previous Round
ACTION: Fire Bolt (with disadvantage). To hit: (15, 28). Damage: 8.

Current Round
Ozymandias
ACTION: Help.
OTHER: Flyby feature means he can escape without incurring attacks of opportunity. 

Alisande
ACTION: Fire Bolt with advantage due to Ozymandias' Help action. To hit: (14, 11). Damage: 6.

The battle-hardened veteran's anger continues to build as additional monsters show themselves. After blocking the shot at Meira, the warrior again turns his attention north and throws his trident twice at the despicable monster. He then prepares for the counter attack, making sure he's ready again to protect Meira when the time comes.

Attack 1: 23, Damage: 13 Attack 2: 19, Damage 10

Alisande's firebolt streaks out at the northern merrow just as it crests above the water, dealing massive fire damage as it burns away the left side of the monster's face. A few seconds later, Zephyros' trident impales the monster twice in a row! It looks really hurt.

That brings us to the top of round three! Gareth, fueled by anger at getting hurt, places an arrow shaft right between the eyes of the merrow that attacked him. It lets out a howl of pain. As it does, Gareth sends another arrow into the creatures open mouth, killing the monster. The ranger backs into the cave for some cover.

Alisande sends another bolt of fire at the northern merrow with the aid of her faithful feline. It proves too much for the monster to handle and dies as it sinks to the bottom of the sea.

The last remaining merrow, injured and alone, disappears beneath the crashing waves. Combat has ended.

As Meira sees the last of the merrow defeated, she gives a brief nod to Zephyros. "Thanks for watching out for me," she says quickly as she ducks towards the cave where Gareth had gone for cover. "Hey, are you alright? Looked like a couple of shots hit you." 

Rasziel would merely give the ranger a concerned look, waiting patiently for the team to press on. "Those two quite disparate groups of enemies did seem to have coordinated their attack. Do you think there might be a greater mind behind both groups, perhaps hiding up in that lighthouse?" He asks, looking up at the ominous light again.

Zephyros gives Meira a brief nod before continuing down the causeway. His mind already moving to the lighthouse. "We need to get off this path. Follow me." He responds to Rasziel as he begins moving, "You all killed those Harpy so fast, it's hard to say for sure. Might be the sea monsters are opportunistic knowing the Harpy nest above."

Gareth limps out of the cave, his leg bleeding from where two harpoons had pierced it. He retrieves a potion of healing from his pack and downs it in one gulp. The effects are immediate. He can feel his flesh knitting itself back together. It's an odd and somewhat unsettling feeling, but the pain quickly retreats. "I'll be all right," he assures Meira. "Those damn merrow kept trying to pull me out to sea though."

The ranger tries to recall what he knows about merrow and harpies, whether their attack was natural behavior or a sign of someone, or something, else guiding them to behave in such a coordinated way.

Nature - dirty 20

(Healing Potion - restore 8 HP.)

With Gareth seeming to be alright, Meira acknowledges his comment and follows after Zephyros. 

"I am in firm agreement with Rasziel - the troubling concord between the sky-hags and those wretches from the sea speaks is not the sort of compact one stumbles upon by accident. These creatures are, I believe, malicious and fractious by nature. As witnesses to such an alliance, we must consider several possibilities - a convergence of interests, subjugation by a greater power that directs them, a magical artifact that coordinates their violence?"

She turns to Zephyros, shielding her face against the spatter of the waves and the lash of the relentless wind. "I have made a point of not prying into your personal affairs - it is, as a rule, a vulgar habit - but the present circumstances rather insist upon an exception. If I may ask... do you have any enemies? Anyone at all? Did your dearly beloved? Is there anyone who might have resented your union?"

As she speaks, she gives Gareth a consoling pat on the back as he recuperates from his wounds. Turning her broom into the tempest, she begins moving in the direction of the ominous lighthouse, where she supposes many answers to her questions may be found if Zephyros is unable to provide them.

After taking a moment to collect yourselves and for Gareth to quickly drink a potion, you continue on to the lighthouse island. Rough-hewn stairs climb the eastern face of the island's rocky outcropping. At this point, the wind is so fierce that you struggle to maintain your footing. [[OOC: Everyone, please give me a strength saving throw DC 13. Success means you make it to the landing; failure means you slip off the path and begin to fall to the water below. You will then make a Dex saving throw DC 16, to see if you catch yourself before falling into the water below.]]

Alisande and Rasziel,

The wind is so strong and only gets stronger the closer you get to the lighthouse. You suspect flying past this point would be impossible in these conditions.

Gareth,

You remember quite a bit about Merrow and Harpies, but you've never known the two species to work together. It's hard to say whether the attack was coordinated or not as the Harpies didn't even attack before getting obliterated by several arrows and two fireballs.

Back at the Miners' Exchange...

* * *

At the lighthouse...

Alisande gasps at the ferocity of the wind, whipping her auburn hair back and forth into a wild, ungovernable frenzy. For one dizzying moment, the gales almost threaten to send the broom-riding witch careening out to the churning sea beyond the causeway. She makes landfall upon the stairs that ascend the easterly face of the island, and yet they seem barely less treacherous than the skies. Nevertheless, she gathers her resolve and steadies herself against the violent storm, darting forward up the stony stairway.

 ((OOC: Oops. Misread the text and rolled a dexterity saving throw instead.
The d20 roll was a 19 though. She has a +0 bonus to STR, so the strength saving throw is 19.))

(Meira STR Save: 21)

Zephyros answers the noblewoman as they walk, talking just shy of shouting as they go, "I made many enemies during the war. Though I doubt that has much bearing here." He struggles to maintain his footing up the pathway, but musters enough grit to press forward. He tries to keep aware of his surroundings while inching closer to his fate.

(Strength save: 14)

Perception: 10

Meira had glanced between Alisande and Zephyros for a moment as they spoke about the man's enemies. She looks like she might say something, but in the end remains quiet. Despite the rough steps and fierce wind, she manages to push through without much problem. 

Rasziel would try to stabilize himself with his magical boots and his infernal telekinetic powers, but failing miserably, losing his grip and barely catching himself before being flung off the cliff stairs. "Some help?" He calls out to the others with all the calm he can muster, his loyal accountant doing what he can to remedy the situation.

Strength save: 0 Dex save: 22

Alisande,

Back at the Miner's Exchange...

Back at the Miner's Exchange...

"Rasziel!" Alisande cries out as the merchant is tossed off the stone stairs. She lunges over the edge and for one terrible moment, is certain that the howling winds have sent him to his dooms on the rocks and thrashing waters below. The mage breathes an almighty sigh of relief when it becomes clear he has snatched a handhold, securing himself from disaster. 

"Those boots may provide you with a talent for dramatic exits, but I confess, I did not anticipate a literal plunge into the abyss." She says with brittle levity, choking back a disbelieving laugh. She lies down flat on the steps and offers the scarred man a hand back up to the relative safety of the stone staircase. 

As the party moves foward, Gareth relays what information he can recall about merrows and harpies. "They would not normally work together, no," he notes. "It could've just been a coincidence that they attacked us at the same time, but...it could've been something else too."

The ranger begins to ascend the stairs, the wind whipping furiously all around. Despite what he'd said earlier to the others, his leg still throbbed where the harpoon had pierced it. The potion had gone a long way toward healing it, but it wasn't completely closed yet. As a result, he nearly slipped when he put most of his weight on that leg to climb, but he just barely managed to maintain his footing. Rasziel wasn't quite so lucky. Gareth watches with alarm as he slips and nearly tumbles over the edge into the ocean, but he catches on to something at the last second. The ranger limps over and offers another hand to the merchant, helping Alisande pull him back to safety.

"I know the water looks pretty inviting, but now's not the best time to go swimming," says the ranger.

STR Save - 15