As Mola, Gwin, and Jheric make their way through the door, beholding the open, empty ground floor with the four strange symbols, they catch a glimpse of Rixton's backside as he makes his way up the staircase...
...Rixton, quickly and silently ascends the stairs, and as his eyes begin to take in the scenery on the second floor, he catches a brief glimpse of the source of the yellowish-orange light: four tiny spheres of light hover a few feet above the ground. Fractions of a second later, the lights vanish, leaving Rixton to see a portion of the second floor of the tower, which is very much like the ground floor.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
(Manipulated rolls primer: It is usually better to strike out the bad roll and just do a new one at the end of the post. When editing, inserting a new roll after existing rolls is always fine but before existing rolls will always give the manipulated roll message. And, of course, editing rolls gives the manipulated rolls message. In most cases, if you revert everything to the original roll, it will do away with the message.)
Rixtonwaves Jheric, Gwin, and Araleaforward up the first flight of stairs but holds his hand up to halt Molaspider. He points up to the roof.
Once the trio catch up to him, he halts them with a hand signal and continues up the stairs on his own.
Stealth: 19
(Hey, I just realized we all chose colors in the same row on the color picker. /irrelevant)
Molaspider nods in an awkward thoraxy manner and darts up to the roof, retracing the web thread. He looks at the trap door to see if it's something that's easily opened, trying it just to see if it's loose, and not opening it all the way at all. He listens and looks for anything odd.
Just a giant spider, keeping watch, on a roof. Cool as a cucumber.
(OOC: I mean, I've learned slowly to shift my colors to the upper left, because finding one far down or far right is really hard on mobile. Picking colors at all is hard on mobile. I often wonder how many people actually care about this sort of thing.)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Molaspider retraces his steps to the tower roof; all seems normal. Neither his web nor the trapdoor indicate that anything or anyone has been in the area.
Within the tower, the other four adventurers reach the second floor, which is, like the first, utterly devoid of any furnishings. The same four symbols are etched in the floor, but they are in different locations, however. In the northwest portion of the tower lies the corpse of a medium-sized humanoid. Time and scavengers have consumed all flesh from the creature's bones, which lie beneath a chain shirt. A small, ornate shield lies to the left of the body, and in its right hand it still clutches a mace.
The four hovering lights which Rixton saw moments ago now float, nearly motionless in the room. The same faint yellowish glow can be see coming up the stairs from the first floor, from which the group just came. The strangeness of this is apparent to everyone, for just moments ago there was no illumination of any kind on the ground floor...
The spheres quickly reveal they are more than magical sources of light. With surprising speed, they streak through the air toward the members of the party, making faint crackling noises as they do so. From the stairwell, a fifth sphere streaks toward Gwin; the other four spheres seek out Aralea,Jheric, and Rixton....
Melee attack vs. Gwin: 6 | 7 lightning damage
Melee attack vs. Aralea: 14 | 6 lightning damage
Melee attack vs. Jheric: 8 | 10 lightning damage
Melee attack #1 vs. Rixton: 7 | 14 lightning damage
Melee attack #2 vs. Rixton: 15 | 11 lightning damage
...with each attack, the room is filled with flashes of light as the spheres attempt to shock their targets.
(Re: Manipulated rolls. Thank you for that! I didn't actually mean to reroll, DM had instructed me just to keep the lowest roll but by the time I got back to my computer I'd forgotten I'd mistakenly adjusted the roller until after I saved.)
Gwin eyes the hovering light above her head and the two over Rixton and immediately puts a hand out and shouts Halt! Command (3 targets, WIS 16)
And once again the cleric brings out the shimmering sword of her god and sends it slashing toward the light above Jheric's head. Blade of Tyr, steady and true, find your mark and pierce it through.
[Command] has no effect if the target is undead, if it doesn't understand your language, or if your command is directly harmful to it.
A look of consternation passes over Gwin's face as she realizes that the tiny spheres of light are immune to her spell. Her spiritual weapon, however, proves to be very effective. A loud, distinct crackling noise erupts from the sphere as Tyr's blade strikes it.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
DC 18 Perception check for Molaspider to hear what's happening within the tower: 20
DC 20 Athletics check for Molaspiderto pry open trapdoor from the outside: 5
According to Wild Shape rules, WIS checks are made with Mola's stats, but STR checks are made with giant spider stats.
Molaspider is certain that something is amiss within the tower, but after removing his web he is unable to pry open the trapdoor from the outside...
(So, round 1 for Mola = action (attempt to open trapdoor) + 30' movement (climbing down tower wall) + any bonus action selected; this puts Mola approximately 50' away from the melee on the second floor of the tower)
Bonus action I guess would be to try to keep the web still attached to the trapdoor in the first place, or perhaps just replacing it. He’d still like to know if the door opens if possible. If not, that’s okay. He’d crawl into the first floor on the ceiling, by the way. Shorter and less expected.
Rixtonwinces at the mild shock and draws his hatchet. He takes a deep breath and starts swinging. His axe lashes out at the right hand target and he follows with a pair of jabs at the left hand target.
Hand axe +1 Attack vs. right lightning ball: 24 Damage: 6
Unarmed attack vs. left lightning ball: 25 Damage: 5
(spend 1 ki)
Unarmed attack vs. left lightning ball: 21 Damage: 5
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Posting on behalf of Barlow...
Jheric quickly reacts to the trouble at hand, casting a shield spell; then, seeking to add to the damage caused by Gwin's spiritual weapon, the wizard sends three magic missiles at that same sphere of light (10 force damage)...
Aralea draws her scimitar, and her blade can be heard slicing through the air in two quick slashes...
Melee attack 1: 19 | 9 slashing damage
Melee attack 2: 21 | 7 slashing damage
Each of Rixton's three attacks find their target, but the elusiveness of the spheres prevents him from delivering the full force he intended.
The four adventurers ready themselves for another assault from the hovering spheres, but no such attack occurs. All five of the balls of light flicker and disappear. There's little doubt, however, in anyone's mind that these creatures, whatever they are, are still present in the room.
(All players may act, in any order. Molaspider, shortening his route by crawling along the ceiling of the first floor, can reach the second floor--square F6--with 30' of movement).
Map denotes where the spheres of light were when they attacked last round. For this round they may, or may not, be in the same location :
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Molaspider arrives at the underside of the second floor's spiral stairway after charging along the ceiling. He sees his friends in some sort of melee with something he cannot see. The giant spider readies a web attack for if he sees any creature run by that seems hostile.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Good job. You all hold down the fort here," Rixton says as he brushes past Gwinand Jhericto climb the next set of stairs. As he climbs he pieces together what he knows of these creatures, including their unresponsiveness to Gwin'sspell, their electrical attacks, their appearance and behavior, and their ability to disappear.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Will do! Gwin replies to Rixton. Be careful up there, I don't think this is a situation we should take.....lightly.
Chuckling quietly at her own terrible joke, Gwin rubs her invisible beard and tries to recall any lore she's read regarding the spheres of light. Arcana: 21
Moving closer to the corpse (D5) Gwin takes a closer look to see if she can discern anything about who they were or where they came from, especially focusing on the shield. Investigation: 17
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
‘The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.’ - Buffy Summers
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Molaspider reaches the second floor, but, for the moment anyway, all seems quiet.
Rixton darts up the stairwell to the third floor, where he sees an almost identical copy of the first two floors. Once again, the only difference is the location of the strange symbols on the floor. He can see the door in the roof, which has a simple sliding mechanism to prevent it from being opened from the outside. Directly below the door is another corpse showing the same degree of decay as the one on the second floor. Gauging from its size, Rixton determines it was probably a gnome. A backpack still clings to the creature's skeletal frame--a frame that is covered by studded leather armor. A pair of daggers hang from the gnome's belt and a few feet away lies a light crossbow. As he surveys the scene, Rixton sifts through his memory, hoping to recall something that will help him to know what it is that just attacked the party. He has heard stories of wicked entities called will o' wisps that pose as lanterns, luring travelers away from safe paths, bewildering them, and, eventually, leading them to their death.
Gwin has seen enough shields in her day to know that this one exhibits a high degree of craftsmanship, as she studies it a faint crackling noise reaches her ears, and a fraction of a second later, a tiny sphere of light appears before her face...
Shocking melee attack: 6 | 12 lightning damage
...but she ducks out of the way, causing the sphere to miss her entirely.
Aralea and Jhericjump into action, hoping to eliminate the sphere of light that just reappeared in front of Gwin...
...the wood elf misses with her first slash but cleanly connects with the second.
Molaspider sends a web in the sphere's direction but manages only to snare the humanoid corpse on the floor.
Jheric moves a few feet to give himself a better shot at the sphere, and in doing so, steps onto one of the symbols in the floor. Molaspider is the only one in a position to see what happens next: Jhericvanishes.
All players may act, in any order. Rixton is, seemingly, in an empty room on the third floor. Aralea, Gwin, and Molaspiderare on the second floor with only one sphere to be seen; it is hovering very near the ceiling directly above Gwin. And Jheric has utterly disappeared.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Molaspider's not having much fun with the web slinging, and he's heard of will o wisps. When Jheric disappears, he shifts back into human form with his bonus action. If he can figure out how to cast faerie fire in an area where it seems the lights are/were, and not get Rixton who is one floor up, and Jheric, who is gone, and Gwin, who's hopefully not right in the middle of it all, he will.
(If, as I assume, not, and he'll get one of his friends, he'll cast produce flame with this roll:
Jheric! JHERIC!!! Gwin looks at Aralea and Molaspider with wide eyes. Did you see that?!?! Before she's able to say or do anything else, Gwin hears Rixton call down from the second floor.
Undead, eh? Then I have just the thing.Removing the amulet of The Maimed God from her neck, Gwin holds it above her head and speaks a quick prayer in Dwarvish.
Channel Divinity: Turn Undead
As an action, you present your holy symbol and speak a prayer censuring the undead. Each undead that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a WIS saving throw (DC 16). If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage. A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can’t willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also can’t take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there’s nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action.
Turning to Aralea, Gwin says Thank you, friend and pulls out a small mirror that members of the party now associate with her Sanctuary spell. As the mirror casts its light on Aralea's forehead, the elf can feel a surge of protective energy course through her.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
‘The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.’ - Buffy Summers
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As Mola, Gwin, and Jheric make their way through the door, beholding the open, empty ground floor with the four strange symbols, they catch a glimpse of Rixton's backside as he makes his way up the staircase...
...Rixton, quickly and silently ascends the stairs, and as his eyes begin to take in the scenery on the second floor, he catches a brief glimpse of the source of the yellowish-orange light: four tiny spheres of light hover a few feet above the ground. Fractions of a second later, the lights vanish, leaving Rixton to see a portion of the second floor of the tower, which is very much like the ground floor.
We can't let him go alone Gwin says to Jheric and Molaspider as she hastily follows Rixton up the stairs.
Stealth: 8
(Apologies. My first roll was wrong so I re-rolled. Both rolls were horrible, regardless.)
‘The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.’ - Buffy Summers
(Manipulated rolls primer: It is usually better to strike out the bad roll and just do a new one at the end of the post. When editing, inserting a new roll after existing rolls is always fine but before existing rolls will always give the manipulated roll message. And, of course, editing rolls gives the manipulated rolls message. In most cases, if you revert everything to the original roll, it will do away with the message.)
Rixton waves Jheric, Gwin, and Aralea forward up the first flight of stairs but holds his hand up to halt Molaspider. He points up to the roof.
Once the trio catch up to him, he halts them with a hand signal and continues up the stairs on his own.
Stealth: 19
(Hey, I just realized we all chose colors in the same row on the color picker. /irrelevant)
Molaspider nods in an awkward thoraxy manner and darts up to the roof, retracing the web thread. He looks at the trap door to see if it's something that's easily opened, trying it just to see if it's loose, and not opening it all the way at all. He listens and looks for anything odd.
Just a giant spider, keeping watch, on a roof. Cool as a cucumber.
(OOC: I mean, I've learned slowly to shift my colors to the upper left, because finding one far down or far right is really hard on mobile. Picking colors at all is hard on mobile. I often wonder how many people actually care about this sort of thing.)
Molaspider retraces his steps to the tower roof; all seems normal. Neither his web nor the trapdoor indicate that anything or anyone has been in the area.
Within the tower, the other four adventurers reach the second floor, which is, like the first, utterly devoid of any furnishings. The same four symbols are etched in the floor, but they are in different locations, however. In the northwest portion of the tower lies the corpse of a medium-sized humanoid. Time and scavengers have consumed all flesh from the creature's bones, which lie beneath a chain shirt. A small, ornate shield lies to the left of the body, and in its right hand it still clutches a mace.
The four hovering lights which Rixton saw moments ago now float, nearly motionless in the room. The same faint yellowish glow can be see coming up the stairs from the first floor, from which the group just came. The strangeness of this is apparent to everyone, for just moments ago there was no illumination of any kind on the ground floor...
Initiative:
The spheres quickly reveal they are more than magical sources of light. With surprising speed, they streak through the air toward the members of the party, making faint crackling noises as they do so. From the stairwell, a fifth sphere streaks toward Gwin; the other four spheres seek out Aralea, Jheric, and Rixton....
...with each attack, the room is filled with flashes of light as the spheres attempt to shock their targets.
All players may act, in any order.
(Re: Manipulated rolls. Thank you for that! I didn't actually mean to reroll, DM had instructed me just to keep the lowest roll but by the time I got back to my computer I'd forgotten I'd mistakenly adjusted the roller until after I saved.)
Gwin eyes the hovering light above her head and the two over Rixton and immediately puts a hand out and shouts Halt! Command (3 targets, WIS 16)
And once again the cleric brings out the shimmering sword of her god and sends it slashing toward the light above Jheric's head. Blade of Tyr, steady and true, find your mark and pierce it through.
Spiritual Weapon: 19 If successful, force damage: 10
‘The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.’ - Buffy Summers
A look of consternation passes over Gwin's face as she realizes that the tiny spheres of light are immune to her spell. Her spiritual weapon, however, proves to be very effective. A loud, distinct crackling noise erupts from the sphere as Tyr's blade strikes it.
Molaspider is listening at the hatch so let me know if and when he hears anything of the zapping and battle.
(If he does hear battle he will pry open the hatch and enter. If he fails he will come down and follow the path everyone else took.)
According to Wild Shape rules, WIS checks are made with Mola's stats, but STR checks are made with giant spider stats.
Molaspider is certain that something is amiss within the tower, but after removing his web he is unable to pry open the trapdoor from the outside...
(So, round 1 for Mola = action (attempt to open trapdoor) + 30' movement (climbing down tower wall) + any bonus action selected; this puts Mola approximately 50' away from the melee on the second floor of the tower)
Bonus action I guess would be to try to keep the web still attached to the trapdoor in the first place, or perhaps just replacing it. He’d still like to know if the door opens if possible. If not, that’s okay. He’d crawl into the first floor on the ceiling, by the way. Shorter and less expected.
Rixton winces at the mild shock and draws his hatchet. He takes a deep breath and starts swinging. His axe lashes out at the right hand target and he follows with a pair of jabs at the left hand target.
Hand axe +1 Attack vs. right lightning ball: 24 Damage: 6
Unarmed attack vs. left lightning ball: 25 Damage: 5
(spend 1 ki)
Unarmed attack vs. left lightning ball: 21 Damage: 5
(3 1s for damage? sheesh!)
Posting on behalf of Barlow...
Jheric quickly reacts to the trouble at hand, casting a shield spell; then, seeking to add to the damage caused by Gwin's spiritual weapon, the wizard sends three magic missiles at that same sphere of light (10 force damage)...
Aralea draws her scimitar, and her blade can be heard slicing through the air in two quick slashes...
Each of Rixton's three attacks find their target, but the elusiveness of the spheres prevents him from delivering the full force he intended.
The four adventurers ready themselves for another assault from the hovering spheres, but no such attack occurs. All five of the balls of light flicker and disappear. There's little doubt, however, in anyone's mind that these creatures, whatever they are, are still present in the room.
(All players may act, in any order. Molaspider, shortening his route by crawling along the ceiling of the first floor, can reach the second floor--square F6--with 30' of movement).
Map denotes where the spheres of light were when they attacked last round. For this round they may, or may not, be in the same location :
Molaspider arrives at the underside of the second floor's spiral stairway after charging along the ceiling. He sees his friends in some sort of melee with something he cannot see. The giant spider readies a web attack for if he sees any creature run by that seems hostile.
Web attack 24 No damage, restrained on a hit.
"Good job. You all hold down the fort here," Rixton says as he brushes past Gwin and Jheric to climb the next set of stairs. As he climbs he pieces together what he knows of these creatures, including their unresponsiveness to Gwin's spell, their electrical attacks, their appearance and behavior, and their ability to disappear.
Arcana: 12
Will do! Gwin replies to Rixton. Be careful up there, I don't think this is a situation we should take.....lightly.
Chuckling quietly at her own terrible joke, Gwin rubs her invisible beard and tries to recall any lore she's read regarding the spheres of light. Arcana: 21
Moving closer to the corpse (D5) Gwin takes a closer look to see if she can discern anything about who they were or where they came from, especially focusing on the shield. Investigation: 17
‘The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.’ - Buffy Summers
(We’re still in combat right?)
Molaspider reaches the second floor, but, for the moment anyway, all seems quiet.
Rixton darts up the stairwell to the third floor, where he sees an almost identical copy of the first two floors. Once again, the only difference is the location of the strange symbols on the floor. He can see the door in the roof, which has a simple sliding mechanism to prevent it from being opened from the outside. Directly below the door is another corpse showing the same degree of decay as the one on the second floor. Gauging from its size, Rixton determines it was probably a gnome. A backpack still clings to the creature's skeletal frame--a frame that is covered by studded leather armor. A pair of daggers hang from the gnome's belt and a few feet away lies a light crossbow. As he surveys the scene, Rixton sifts through his memory, hoping to recall something that will help him to know what it is that just attacked the party. He has heard stories of wicked entities called will o' wisps that pose as lanterns, luring travelers away from safe paths, bewildering them, and, eventually, leading them to their death.
Gwin has seen enough shields in her day to know that this one exhibits a high degree of craftsmanship, as she studies it a faint crackling noise reaches her ears, and a fraction of a second later, a tiny sphere of light appears before her face...
Shocking melee attack: 6 | 12 lightning damage
...but she ducks out of the way, causing the sphere to miss her entirely.
Aralea and Jheric jump into action, hoping to eliminate the sphere of light that just reappeared in front of Gwin...
...the wood elf misses with her first slash but cleanly connects with the second.
Molaspider sends a web in the sphere's direction but manages only to snare the humanoid corpse on the floor.
Jheric moves a few feet to give himself a better shot at the sphere, and in doing so, steps onto one of the symbols in the floor. Molaspider is the only one in a position to see what happens next: Jheric vanishes.
All players may act, in any order. Rixton is, seemingly, in an empty room on the third floor. Aralea, Gwin, and Molaspider are on the second floor with only one sphere to be seen; it is hovering very near the ceiling directly above Gwin. And Jheric has utterly disappeared.
"GWIN!" Rixton yells down the stairs. "I THINK THESE ARE UNDEAD! WILL O' WISPS!"
He will take his staff into his left hand and use it to unlatch the door on the ceiling.
Molaspider's not having much fun with the web slinging, and he's heard of will o wisps. When Jheric disappears, he shifts back into human form with his bonus action. If he can figure out how to cast faerie fire in an area where it seems the lights are/were, and not get Rixton who is one floor up, and Jheric, who is gone, and Gwin, who's hopefully not right in the middle of it all, he will.
(If, as I assume, not, and he'll get one of his friends, he'll cast produce flame with this roll:
Flame Attack: 13 Fire Damage: 9
Jheric! JHERIC!!! Gwin looks at Aralea and Molaspider with wide eyes. Did you see that?!?! Before she's able to say or do anything else, Gwin hears Rixton call down from the second floor.
Undead, eh? Then I have just the thing. Removing the amulet of The Maimed God from her neck, Gwin holds it above her head and speaks a quick prayer in Dwarvish.
As an action, you present your holy symbol and speak a prayer censuring the undead. Each undead that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a WIS saving throw (DC 16). If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage. A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can’t willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also can’t take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there’s nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action.
Turning to Aralea, Gwin says Thank you, friend and pulls out a small mirror that members of the party now associate with her Sanctuary spell. As the mirror casts its light on Aralea's forehead, the elf can feel a surge of protective energy course through her.
‘The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.’ - Buffy Summers