Ednyss’ challenge echoes briefly in the ruins, followed by motionless silence. Then the undead answer in their haunted voice.
“The die is cast. You have made your choice, and you betray the land upon which you step. Let it be your tomb, and this temple shall be its marker.”
In unison, the lions roar, a sound of a gale blowing, of splintering trees, of a great beast in anger. The temple floor takes up a steady rumbling, and the tall pillars begin to wobble ever so slightly, dust and small shards slipping off of their surfaces. All of the Hollow Ones shift into aggressive postures, raise their weapons and advance a step, and you see the lions are ready to spring into action. Two more armored forms begin to climb out of the pit.
Tuff draws a glowing short sword and, hefting his shield, he says, “We must seal that gaping maw or it will not matter how many of them we defeat, more will come to replace them!”
'How dare they try to make a faithful priest renounce his belief? Unthinkable!' Varielky thinks, although anyone who knows her well enough can assume that is about what's going on in her mind. 'The mere question is heresy and should be punished. It should-'
Varielky's heart skips a beat as Ednyss begins to lower his shield. 'H-he... couldn't possibly...' she watches silently as he continues to lower it down, unable to understand his expression every time he glances towards her. 'Raise your shield! Stand up and fight!' But she fights the urge of actually pronouncing the words. It is not her place to stop him. If that is his choice, he has to make it himself.
As Varielky's heart is racing in her chest, she silently watches as the shield almost touches the ground, but he stopped. As Ednyss rises and speaks, Varielky listens and nods.
When the lions roar, Varielky roars back at them and runs forward, ready to send them back to their eternal rest. She runs forwards and as she does, her eyes begin to illuminate the area in front of her. Then, she makes a wide slash with her sword, almost horizontal, against the closest undead.
According to post #952, Varielky should be in front of the others and able to reach the enemies. Could also abuse diagonals to do it, but ah... move to I-18.
Appreciating Ednyss' choice Auger also listens to Dolkum and begins moving to the south. To Granophyre he calls out, "Is there any way we can defeat these wardings? With luck I may be able to topple a pillar over that hole they rise from, but not if my magic cannot work there."
Not waiting on Granophyre, Auger sends to Py, can you find a source to the wardings power?
Attempting to test the boundaries of the warding, Auger again gathers his energies and sends his spiraling energies into the mass of Hollow Ones.
Py
Intent: Starting point was somewhere to the south of us so I will use E23. Still invisible Py will make his height at 40' and look for any signs of wardings, starting with the boulder the Lion Skeletons rest on and then looking to the interior side of the large standing stones for any magical signs.
Move: to V23
If needed Perception: 4. Investigation: 4
Auger
Status: His confusing mist is still active, making his AC 15
Move: to D20
Action: Fire Eldritch Blast at an unobscured HO, in this order of preference (52, 53, 57). Auger will not risk firing into the back of a comrade if any are in the way. Auger will attempt to fire over the 4' wall if he can see an HO over it. Auger is attempting to fire into the area he was told is warded, testing its limits. If he hits then Repelling Blast will come into play: When you hit a creature with eldritch blast, you can push the creature up to 10 feet away from you in a straight line. Attack: 20 Damage: 2
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Ednyss smiles as Varielky runs forward and calls an agreement to Dolkum as he lets out his own battle roar and charges in. Seeing both Varielky and Dolkum on the front lines and with no clear openings, Ednyss tries to climb a rock off to the side before looking down at the nearest Hollowed One and swinging his War Pick furiously. Calling to the newcomer, Ednyss says, "If you manage to disable the magic, let us know! Otherwise we will try to clear a path to the opening so that we might be able to topple a pillar manually." He looks to Varielky and Dolkum, "Think we can do that?"
Move: 25 Feet (using diagonals) should be able to get me to I19
Free Action: (If this takes my action, then ignore the rest of the turn) Climbing onto the rock at I19 Athletics: 12
Py messages back to Auger, ‘The central boulder itself is covered in runes, and I assume those are the source of the Warding.’
Granophyre replies to the spellcaster, “To defeat the Warding, we would have to destroy the boulder and the runes upon it.”
“The pillars are not stable,” says Tuff. “Ednyss is right, we must push one of them over!”
Varielky advances and slashes at H.O. #52, ferociously penetrating its guard. It can barely bring up its short sword to parry, and the blades lock, but Varielky crashes down through part of its leg with her shield (doing 10HP damage). It steps back out of range, limping, but springs back immediately, its sword raised to strike.
Dolkum moves to I17, but his shove is met with more resistance than he expects and he’s stopped cold.
Auger. Shifts over to get a clear line of sight to HO55. Auger’s blast shoots toward the undead, but just as it reaches the outer edge of the sanctum walls, the energy splays up and outwards, absorbed into an invisible semi-spherical force field. Testing its limits, searching for a weakness as the energy pulses outwards, Auger shifts his aim sideways. But as his spiraling blast slides right, it draws a line along the semi-sphere but cannot penetrate it.
Ednyss advances to form a line with Varielky and Dolkum, and attacks HO53 twice with his war pick, but finds it to be a faster, tougher defender than the stone-weapon wielding ones. The pick clangs off of its armor, denting it but not penetrating.
Benita moves to guard Granophyre.
Granophyre, Tuff, Flint & Wad take defensive positions
The Lion Skeletons advance, flanking the party.
H.O. 51 attacks Dolkum and crits, bringing its iron battle axe down heavily for 12HP damage.
H.O. 52 strikes back at Varielky, but his blow reflects off of her shield.
H.O. 53 attacks Ednyss with its short sword and misses, hitting only air.
H.O. 54 moves up to Dolkum, leaping onto the wall beside him and striking down with its mace, but misses.
H.O. 55 & 56 likewise jump up onto the 4’ wall.
H.O. 57 leaps onto the wall and hits Ednyss hard with its hammer for 4HP damage.
H.O. 58 & 59 jump onto the wall and dodge.
H.O. 60 & 61 dash around behind the lion skeletons
As Varielky reflects the blow, she retaliates with a quick thrust of the sword towards the place that should be the undead's neck, trying to cut its head off. "Perhaps we could, but they're flanking us towards the master!" Followed by that, Varielky makes another swing against one of the undead in front of her, followed by a shoulder bash - with her shield as protection - trying to unbalance the undead in front of Dolkum to make them stumble backwards.
IF Varielky kills H.O. 52 and manages to push 51 away from Dolkum, she'll shout to him, even though he's right next to her: "We'll keep these away, go stop the others!"
Reaction: Riposte Manoeuvre against H.O. 52: Attack: 8 Damage: 14. Action: Attack (stealing Math's idea, 52->51): 17 Damage: 13. Athletics: 18. Edit: Shove should push 51 to K-17.
Seeing his energies absorbed into the warding dome Auger resigns himself to a difficult fight. Py, Auger sends, come back over here and help if you can.
Auger steadies himself and focuses on the beastly skeleton that is trying to flank from the south and it outside the wards. Concentrating heavily he searches the Sea of Stars and finds something dark, pointed and inexorable. Nearly simultaneously he reaches again for the energies as he has before. Gathering and twisting. Gathering and twisting. From his left hand another Dragonfly shape forms, dripping with deadly energies and flies to the skeletal beast, striking it and being absorbed into it. As it hits Auger wastes no time in releasing another corkscrewing blast into the same beast.
Py
Move: Flies to N29 maintaining his height and getting to a distance of 40' from L2.
Action: Again releases his ranged attack (OOC: I'll ignore the poison thing for now) against L2, becoming visible in the process. Attack: 19 Damage: 1 piercing.
Auger
Move: Stands his ground
Bonus Action: Casts Hex on L2, giving it disadvantage on strength-related abilities (OOC: including attacks, correct?)
Action: Fires Eldritch Blast targeting L2 and pushing it back 10', possibly back into HO60, on a hit. Attack: 11 Damage: 8
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
(OOC: Since she's first in initiative order and the results of her actions may help others decide what to do here is Varielky's Round 2 result. Varilky kills H.O. 52 and succeeds in pushing H.O. 51.)
While Ednyss is great at reading other people's reactions, he isn't great at hiding his own, and as he looks around Varielky might notice a small fear start to creep up in Ednyss's eyes as he looks around at all the undead. However, the fear is quickly squashed by the thrill of battle as he ducks the nearest skeleton's shortsword. Ednyss nods to Dolkum, "Go! We'll protect the master!" With the undead now crawling up to the rock, Ednyss takes his War Pick and slams it into the undead that he had missed earlier, trying to carve a path for Dolkum to make a run for one of the pillars.
Divine Smite, with inspiration versus HO51 Attack: 13 Damage: 8 bludgeoning and 3 radiant
If HO51 powderizes then Dolkum will hustle over to M20, heading for the southern piller, and not quite getting there because of the stones in the way...
Varielky’s riposte misses as Hollow One 52rotates sideways and the shield maiden’s red-steel blade glides along the undead’s gorget, missing its throat by inches and doing no damage. But the turn unbalances the undead on its damaged leg, leaving its defenses down as Varielky kicks out and trips it, then falls upon it with both knees, driving her blade straight down through its breastplate. It crumbles within its armor. As HO51 pulls its axe back for another blow to Dulkum, Varielky times her movement perfectly, springing up and smashing out with her shield. The undead loses its footing and falls on its hip but spins mechanically and rotates up again (now in K17).
Dolkum advances to engage HO51, but his hammer blow deflects off of the undead’s iron mail (OOC: therefore, no divine smite and you still have that spell slot). The doughty paladin leaps in between HO51 and HO 54, whose opportunity attacks both miss, one whipping under his feet as he jumps, the other deflecting off of his shield as he powers through, then Dolkum circles around HO62, its dacite gem gently glowing. It swings its morning star three times at Dolkum as he circles full around, (RP), but can’t connect! As he looks back over his shoulder into the pit, Dolkum sees ranks of armored earthenware statues slowly crawling up.
Py’s tiny spore floats down to Lion Skeleton 2, the bright green speck marks the bone for a moment before it fades, doing 1HP damage. Py notes that his Fey poison has no effect (as expected).
Auger’s hex afflicts Lion Skeleton 2, and the warlock’s corkscrewing energies then blast into the undead beast, which careens back into Hollow One 60 and both tumble back into a 2’ tall stone, a tangle of iron and bone limbs. The ancient chief is pinned beneath the skeleton, which also shudders in pain as necrotic damage siphons away its energy.
Ednyss’s War Pick finds its melody and rings across the ruins, ripping H.O. 53’s legs out from under it then whirling up and over, impaling through its abdomen into the soft rock beneath it. The ancient chief is motionless, and cracks crinkle outward from the great wound as the undead slowly shatters, while the ground beneath it likewise pops as a weakness in the stone threads away from the impact. (1HP and incapacitated for the moment).
Benita shouts, “Don’t let the lions get a running start! I’ve seen them pounce on warriors in the Arena. It’s not pretty!,” as sheleaps forward to Lion Skeleton 1 and connects with her scimitar for 6HP damage in the dim moonlight.
Granophyre flips open a tiny latch on a ring on his left hand, touches a fingertip within, and pulls out a tiny bit of powdered iron while uttering an arcane phrase, then gently blows the mixture northeast. It shoots forward and when it arrives at G10, with a thin thread of magical force attaching it to the ring, the scholar pulls his hand back sharply, and the powder ignites into a ball of flame. With his head held high, fearless, Granophyre gestures sharply with his arm, and the sphere, on its magical cord, rams into the Lion Skeleton, doing 3HP damage and beginning to ignite its mane.
Tuff steps between Lion Skeleton 1 and Granophyre, readying a glowing handaxe, which he throws at the undead beast. The axe hits for 5HP damage, then continues spinning and in a wide circle, returns to Tuff’s hand.
Wad moves up to engage HO’s 54 & 55, and swings at HO54 with perfect Champion’s timing, critting it for 12HP damage.
Flint runs forward to engage Lion Skeleton 2, smashing it with his shield and axe in a skillful combination which crits for 12HP damage.
Lion 1 circles Benita, then leaps away toward Tuff. As it surges past the beautiful Indallian, her blade flashes out, and the beast's tail falls to the ground, separated from its owner. Roaring in anger, the lion skeleton pounces on Tuff, but the wily valet swipes the undead beast firmly with his shield and side steps adroitly, deflecting its attack.
Lion 2, cursed by Auger’s spell, joins its mate in a roar, but, robbed of strength, the sound is hoarse, almost asthmatic. Yet it shakes its mane, clearing its soulless mind, and leaping back and around in a tight circle, rushes at Flint, lands on its hind legs, and smothers him with a rain of claw attacks. But the dark-bearded dwarf digs in his heels and doesn’t budge. The Hollow One which was pinned under the skeleton's weight is now freed.
H.O. 51 now turns its attention to Varielky, and its battle axe comes up and under her shield, hitting for 9HP.
H.O. 54 attacks Wad with a mace, coming overhand to strike the edge of his helm, hitting for 8HP.
H.O. 55 jabs its spear at Wad, but the hardy dwarf’s shield keeps it at bay.
H.O. 56 jumps down, leading with a halberd lunge, which strikes Wad’s shoulder as he parries HO55’s spear, hitting for 7HP. Already bruised from the earlier melee, Wad shudders under the impact but grits his teeth and fights on.
H.O. 57 rushes at Ednyss, feinting high with its hammer, then coming in with a backhand blow, deflecting off Ednyss’ helm but critting for 6HP damage.
H.O. 58 jumps down, its battle axe shining in the moonlight as it falls on Ednyss, whose shield deflects the blow, but the old shield's edge is torn from the force, as the axe locks into it.
H.O. 59 jumps down and crosses atop another stone, its war pick slicing toward Benita, but she deftly backpedals just enough and the weapon passes a mere inch in front of her nose. She smiles.
H.O. 60, released from being pinned, gets up and moves in on Flint with its hammer, but can’t connect.
H.O. 61 circles Benita and attacks her blind side with its spear, but the quick-eyed champion barely sees it coming in the firelight and dodges in time.
H.O. 62 (Dacite) aims a roundhouse at Dolkum with a battle axe, but the blow misses and the weapon clangs into the ground, sending up sparks.
H.O. 63 springs at Dolkum with a lighting-fast short sword slash, smashing over his shoulders, and the force of the blow bruises him terribly under his armor for 9HP.
H.O. 64 tries to mimic the same attack but Dolkum sees its battle axe coming and parries it easily.
More hands can be seen scrabbling up out of the pit.
The ground now heaves again, and you can see that the entire depression is starting to move relative to the encircling tree-root barrier. All of the pillars are starting to totter.
ALL: Please roll DC10 DEX saves or be knocked prone at the start of your turn.
ALL: Please also roll DC10 DEX saves in case a pillar topples toward you next turn.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"That's not..." Never mind, it's too late. She meant for Dolkum to go back and make sure none of the undead gets close enough to hurt Granophyre, but she was misunderstood. Oh well, she just needs to make the best of the situation. Suddenly, the ground begins to move, (Dex save: 12, I don't think SM's bonus applies here, right? Not that it matters.) but Varielky manages to hold steady and remains standing.
Even if she were misunderstood, Varielky needs to make the most of the situation by actually holding the line. She begins to move towards the others but uses the natural twist of walking to make a diagonal attack meant to slash at the undead that hit her. Then, she'll twist back to straighten her spine, jabbing the undead on the rock near her with her shield in the process. The rock might be about the height of her shoulder, but a good hit to the Dwarf's stone leg might be able to make it stumble backwards and fall. If the first undead no longer can act for that description to remain true and she managed to push the other one off, Varielky will climb on the rock and take that one's place.
Move to I-17. Action: Attack against H.O. 51: 17 Damage: 13. BA: Shield Shove to knock H.O. 54 5' to the east, hopefully off the rock. Athletics: 9. If H.O. 51 is dead/incapacitated and H.O. no longer occupies J-16 (and the climb doesn't require an action, ofc), Varielky will climb the rock and move to that space.
Oh, and Dex save: 19. Will use any of the SM's benefits if applicable. Yikes.
Recovering, he again thinks to unleash a blast into the bestial skeleton. Hearing Benita call out, this time he gathers the energies without first twisting them. This time aqua does not course around the blast but instead is inter-mixed within the violet line of power. Py, see if you can distract that other one at all.
Py
Move: Flies down to 10' up at G27, trying to make himself visible to HO60
Action: Attack HO60 at range. Attack: 9 Damage: 1
Auger
Move: Stands up (if needed) and moves slightly south to D22.
Action: Eldritch blast at L2, this time not pushing the Skeletal Lion on a hit. Attack: 26 Damage: 25
End of turn Dex save: 14
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
Varielky keeps her footing, shifting toI-17 and hitting HO51 hard for 13HP, but it is still up. Her shield bash connects with HO54, knocking it back off the wall, and it takes 2HP falling damage. She stays put, still engaged by HO51 on her other flank.
Dolkum is knocked over by the earthquake, but regains his footing, disengages from the Hollow Ones surrounding him, and moves towards the nearest pillar.
Auger is knocked off his feet by the shifting ground. He stands and moves slightly south to D22. His Eldritch magic blasts into Lion Skeleton 2 and it explodes with the impact, bone shards flying up and raining atop Flint and the nearest undead.
Py messages in response to Auger’s request, ‘Very well. I will try to distract the undead.’ and buzzes around at 10’ height, its tail glowing slightly brighter blue. Its Fey spore sticks to HO60’s claypot skin and bright green cracks radiate outward from it doing 1HP damage.
Ednyss (I’m botting him this turn) keeps his footing as the earth shakes, and aims his war pick at HO57, hitting it for 10HP damage.
Benita spins and her blades whirl at HO61, but it parries with its spear and the Indallian can’t connect.
Granophyre makes a quick motion to the side with his ringed hand and the flaming sphere attached to it with its magical thread obeys his command, whooshing at HO59 and slamming into it for 6HP damage.
Tuff keeps his footing, and with compact, precise movements, strikes Lion Skeleton 1 as it leaps at him once more. Side stepping like a matador, he deflects the undead beast’s lunge, then his glowing blade snaps down and the skeleton’s maned head thumps to the ground, severed from its body. Its inert corpse flops to the side.
Flint now focuses his attack on HO60, deflecting its hammer, then striking it with his axe for 8HP.
Wad attacks HO55, stepping up close inside its spear’s reach in a deadly embrace, and hitting its back for 10HP before pushing it away again, frowning at its deathly reeking smell.
H.O. 51 Springs left, landing atop HO53 and finishing off the prone Hollow One (and in that way, finally settling a 4000-year old grudge against its grandfather, RIP), then whirls its Battle Axe and smashes Ednyss’ right wrist for 2HP.
H.O. 54 rights itself from where Varielky pushed it off the wall, and advances, circling Varielky while raining 2 quick Mace blows on her shield before kicking her off balance and following up with a roundhouse to her temple, doing 6HP damage.
H.O. 55 jabs at Wad with its spear, but can’t get around his shield.
H.O. 56’s Halberd swings around twice then comes down, striking Wad’s right shoulder for 3HP damage.
H.O. 57, standing above Ednyss, pulls back after being hit, holds back until the others attack, then springs in with a war Hammer blow, striking Ednyss for 2HP damage.
H.O. 58 tries but can’t free its battle axe from Ednyss’ shield. (N.b., Ednyss is grappled)
H.O. 59 leaps away from Granophyre’s flaming sphere, and attacks Benita with a war pick, slicing cleanly across her stomach for 4HP damage.
H.O. 60 leaps up and brings its Hammer down on Flint, but the sturdy dwarf deflects the blow expertly with his shield.
H.O. 61 jabs Benita with its spear, just edging past her dagger parry and slicing her arm for 2HP. She screams in pain and frustration.
H.O. 62 (Dacite) advances, swinging its battle Axe at Ednyss 2-handed and hitting hard for 5HP damage.
H.O. 63 jumps atop the low wall next to Varielky, but the rock crumbles under it and its short sword falls from its hand.
H.O. 64 follows Dolkum, and strikes with itsBattle Axe from behind as the brave paladin runs toward the pillar, hitting for 6HP damage.
H.O. 65 & 66 crawl out of the pit with War Pick and Halberd, but can’t stand up yet due to the earthquake.
As the earth shakes beneath you, four Pillars fall. Two of the farthest from you collapse into the depression, their stones separating, crashing, and sliding heavily. Then, the two pillars closest to Auger teeter and fall, crashing together 10’ above the ground but then tipping inward directly over Auger. He tries to leap away, but the shaking ground throws him in the wrong direction and a heavy stone falls directly upon him, knocking him prone and pinning him under its weight, causing 8HP damage. STR15 save will be required to get free.
The exit you noticed before has closed up and at the moment, there is no way out of the ruins. The ground continues to shake. Roll 2x DEX saves vs DC10 again, please.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Dex Save: 5 Dex Save: 6
Ednyss strikes out with his pick again against the same skeleton that he had injured previously, but he is starting to look seriously worn. As he glances around to see himself nearly surrounded by skeletons, he shouts, "Return from where you came!" and summons his spectral shield above him to begin an assault on another of the skeletons around him.
Ednyss’ challenge echoes briefly in the ruins, followed by motionless silence. Then the undead answer in their haunted voice.
“The die is cast. You have made your choice, and you betray the land upon which you step. Let it be your tomb, and this temple shall be its marker.”
In unison, the lions roar, a sound of a gale blowing, of splintering trees, of a great beast in anger. The temple floor takes up a steady rumbling, and the tall pillars begin to wobble ever so slightly, dust and small shards slipping off of their surfaces. All of the Hollow Ones shift into aggressive postures, raise their weapons and advance a step, and you see the lions are ready to spring into action. Two more armored forms begin to climb out of the pit.
Tuff draws a glowing short sword and, hefting his shield, he says, “We must seal that gaping maw or it will not matter how many of them we defeat, more will come to replace them!”
(OOC: we are now in initiative.)
You are still situated like so. Please post round 1 actions. I have rolled initiative for you, and the order is:
20(Dex12) Varielky
20(Dex10) Dolkum
13 Auger
11 Ednyss
Benita
Granophyre
Tuff
Flint & Wad
Enemies
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
'How dare they try to make a faithful priest renounce his belief? Unthinkable!' Varielky thinks, although anyone who knows her well enough can assume that is about what's going on in her mind. 'The mere question is heresy and should be punished. It should-'
Varielky's heart skips a beat as Ednyss begins to lower his shield. 'H-he... couldn't possibly...' she watches silently as he continues to lower it down, unable to understand his expression every time he glances towards her. 'Raise your shield! Stand up and fight!' But she fights the urge of actually pronouncing the words. It is not her place to stop him. If that is his choice, he has to make it himself.
As Varielky's heart is racing in her chest, she silently watches as the shield almost touches the ground, but he stopped. As Ednyss rises and speaks, Varielky listens and nods.
When the lions roar, Varielky roars back at them and runs forward, ready to send them back to their eternal rest. She runs forwards and as she does, her eyes begin to illuminate the area in front of her. Then, she makes a wide slash with her sword, almost horizontal, against the closest undead.
Varielky
Appreciating Ednyss' choice Auger also listens to Dolkum and begins moving to the south. To Granophyre he calls out, "Is there any way we can defeat these wardings? With luck I may be able to topple a pillar over that hole they rise from, but not if my magic cannot work there."
Not waiting on Granophyre, Auger sends to Py, can you find a source to the wardings power?
Attempting to test the boundaries of the warding, Auger again gathers his energies and sends his spiraling energies into the mass of Hollow Ones.
Py
Intent: Starting point was somewhere to the south of us so I will use E23. Still invisible Py will make his height at 40' and look for any signs of wardings, starting with the boulder the Lion Skeletons rest on and then looking to the interior side of the large standing stones for any magical signs.
Move: to V23
If needed Perception: 4. Investigation: 4
Auger
Status: His confusing mist is still active, making his AC 15
Move: to D20
Action: Fire Eldritch Blast at an unobscured HO, in this order of preference (52, 53, 57). Auger will not risk firing into the back of a comrade if any are in the way. Auger will attempt to fire over the 4' wall if he can see an HO over it. Auger is attempting to fire into the area he was told is warded, testing its limits. If he hits then Repelling Blast will come into play: When you hit a creature with eldritch blast, you can push the creature up to 10 feet away from you in a straight line. Attack: 20 Damage: 2
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
Ye'd almost think she was a paladin the way she charges in ;) IDIWALLA!!!!!!
Dolkum follows as best he is able, running with his sword and shield to I17 to shove HO 51 backwards...
Athletics 7
Ednyss smiles as Varielky runs forward and calls an agreement to Dolkum as he lets out his own battle roar and charges in. Seeing both Varielky and Dolkum on the front lines and with no clear openings, Ednyss tries to climb a rock off to the side before looking down at the nearest Hollowed One and swinging his War Pick furiously. Calling to the newcomer, Ednyss says, "If you manage to disable the magic, let us know! Otherwise we will try to clear a path to the opening so that we might be able to topple a pillar manually." He looks to Varielky and Dolkum, "Think we can do that?"
Move: 25 Feet (using diagonals) should be able to get me to I19
Free Action: (If this takes my action, then ignore the rest of the turn) Climbing onto the rock at I19
Athletics: 12
Action: Attack (War Pick)
(Against HO53) Attack: 13 Damage: 6
Bonus Action: War Priest (War Pick)
(Against HO53 --> HO52) Attack: 15 Damage: 12
Free Action: Talking
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
Round 1 Results
Py messages back to Auger, ‘The central boulder itself is covered in runes, and I assume those are the source of the Warding.’
Granophyre replies to the spellcaster, “To defeat the Warding, we would have to destroy the boulder and the runes upon it.”
“The pillars are not stable,” says Tuff. “Ednyss is right, we must push one of them over!”
Varielky advances and slashes at H.O. #52, ferociously penetrating its guard. It can barely bring up its short sword to parry, and the blades lock, but Varielky crashes down through part of its leg with her shield (doing 10HP damage). It steps back out of range, limping, but springs back immediately, its sword raised to strike.
Dolkum moves to I17, but his shove is met with more resistance than he expects and he’s stopped cold.
Auger. Shifts over to get a clear line of sight to HO55. Auger’s blast shoots toward the undead, but just as it reaches the outer edge of the sanctum walls, the energy splays up and outwards, absorbed into an invisible semi-spherical force field. Testing its limits, searching for a weakness as the energy pulses outwards, Auger shifts his aim sideways. But as his spiraling blast slides right, it draws a line along the semi-sphere but cannot penetrate it.
Ednyss advances to form a line with Varielky and Dolkum, and attacks HO53 twice with his war pick, but finds it to be a faster, tougher defender than the stone-weapon wielding ones. The pick clangs off of its armor, denting it but not penetrating.
Benita moves to guard Granophyre.
Granophyre, Tuff, Flint & Wad take defensive positions
The Lion Skeletons advance, flanking the party.
H.O. 51 attacks Dolkum and crits, bringing its iron battle axe down heavily for 12HP damage.
H.O. 52 strikes back at Varielky, but his blow reflects off of her shield.
H.O. 53 attacks Ednyss with its short sword and misses, hitting only air.
H.O. 54 moves up to Dolkum, leaping onto the wall beside him and striking down with its mace, but misses.
H.O. 55 & 56 likewise jump up onto the 4’ wall.
H.O. 57 leaps onto the wall and hits Ednyss hard with its hammer for 4HP damage.
H.O. 58 & 59 jump onto the wall and dodge.
H.O. 60 & 61 dash around behind the lion skeletons
H.O. 62 (Dacite) moves forward, dodging.
H.O. 63 & 64 climb up out of the pit.
You are now situated like so.
Please post Round 2 actions
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Concentration Check: 4
The blow, while not significant, still shakes Ednyss's concentration and the divine shielding around Varielky fades.
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
(OOC: I don't think it makes a ton of difference but was Auger blocked in moving to D20 in the previous round?)
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
As Varielky reflects the blow, she retaliates with a quick thrust of the sword towards the place that should be the undead's neck, trying to cut its head off. "Perhaps we could, but they're flanking us towards the master!" Followed by that, Varielky makes another swing against one of the undead in front of her, followed by a shoulder bash - with her shield as protection - trying to unbalance the undead in front of Dolkum to make them stumble backwards.
IF Varielky kills H.O. 52 and manages to push 51 away from Dolkum, she'll shout to him, even though he's right next to her: "We'll keep these away, go stop the others!"
Varielky
(OOC: Shoot, sorry about that. D20 is fine, and I have updated the map. Has no other effect thankfully.)
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Seeing his energies absorbed into the warding dome Auger resigns himself to a difficult fight. Py, Auger sends, come back over here and help if you can.
Auger steadies himself and focuses on the beastly skeleton that is trying to flank from the south and it outside the wards. Concentrating heavily he searches the Sea of Stars and finds something dark, pointed and inexorable. Nearly simultaneously he reaches again for the energies as he has before. Gathering and twisting. Gathering and twisting. From his left hand another Dragonfly shape forms, dripping with deadly energies and flies to the skeletal beast, striking it and being absorbed into it. As it hits Auger wastes no time in releasing another corkscrewing blast into the same beast.
Py
Move: Flies to N29 maintaining his height and getting to a distance of 40' from L2.
Action: Again releases his ranged attack (OOC: I'll ignore the poison thing for now) against L2, becoming visible in the process. Attack: 19 Damage: 1 piercing.
Auger
Move: Stands his ground
Bonus Action: Casts Hex on L2, giving it disadvantage on strength-related abilities (OOC: including attacks, correct?)
Action: Fires Eldritch Blast targeting L2 and pushing it back 10', possibly back into HO60, on a hit. Attack: 11 Damage: 8
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
(OOC: Since she's first in initiative order and the results of her actions may help others decide what to do here is Varielky's Round 2 result. Varilky kills H.O. 52 and succeeds in pushing H.O. 51.)
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
While Ednyss is great at reading other people's reactions, he isn't great at hiding his own, and as he looks around Varielky might notice a small fear start to creep up in Ednyss's eyes as he looks around at all the undead. However, the fear is quickly squashed by the thrill of battle as he ducks the nearest skeleton's shortsword. Ednyss nods to Dolkum, "Go! We'll protect the master!" With the undead now crawling up to the rock, Ednyss takes his War Pick and slams it into the undead that he had missed earlier, trying to carve a path for Dolkum to make a run for one of the pillars.
Free Action: Talking
Action: Attack (War Pick)
(Against 53 --> 57) Attack: 18 Damage: 9
Bonus Action: War Priest (War Pick)
(Against 53 --> 57) Attack: 19 Damage: 10
Move: None
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
First things first! SVALL!
Divine Smite, with inspiration versus HO51 Attack: 13 Damage: 8 bludgeoning and 3 radiant
If HO51 powderizes then Dolkum will hustle over to M20, heading for the southern piller, and not quite getting there because of the stones in the way...
Round 2 Results
Varielky’s riposte misses as Hollow One 52 rotates sideways and the shield maiden’s red-steel blade glides along the undead’s gorget, missing its throat by inches and doing no damage. But the turn unbalances the undead on its damaged leg, leaving its defenses down as Varielky kicks out and trips it, then falls upon it with both knees, driving her blade straight down through its breastplate. It crumbles within its armor. As HO51 pulls its axe back for another blow to Dulkum, Varielky times her movement perfectly, springing up and smashing out with her shield. The undead loses its footing and falls on its hip but spins mechanically and rotates up again (now in K17).
Dolkum advances to engage HO51, but his hammer blow deflects off of the undead’s iron mail (OOC: therefore, no divine smite and you still have that spell slot). The doughty paladin leaps in between HO51 and HO 54, whose opportunity attacks both miss, one whipping under his feet as he jumps, the other deflecting off of his shield as he powers through, then Dolkum circles around HO62, its dacite gem gently glowing. It swings its morning star three times at Dolkum as he circles full around, (RP), but can’t connect! As he looks back over his shoulder into the pit, Dolkum sees ranks of armored earthenware statues slowly crawling up.
Py’s tiny spore floats down to Lion Skeleton 2, the bright green speck marks the bone for a moment before it fades, doing 1HP damage. Py notes that his Fey poison has no effect (as expected).
Auger’s hex afflicts Lion Skeleton 2, and the warlock’s corkscrewing energies then blast into the undead beast, which careens back into Hollow One 60 and both tumble back into a 2’ tall stone, a tangle of iron and bone limbs. The ancient chief is pinned beneath the skeleton, which also shudders in pain as necrotic damage siphons away its energy.
Ednyss’s War Pick finds its melody and rings across the ruins, ripping H.O. 53’s legs out from under it then whirling up and over, impaling through its abdomen into the soft rock beneath it. The ancient chief is motionless, and cracks crinkle outward from the great wound as the undead slowly shatters, while the ground beneath it likewise pops as a weakness in the stone threads away from the impact. (1HP and incapacitated for the moment).
Benita shouts, “Don’t let the lions get a running start! I’ve seen them pounce on warriors in the Arena. It’s not pretty!,” as she leaps forward to Lion Skeleton 1 and connects with her scimitar for 6HP damage in the dim moonlight.
Granophyre flips open a tiny latch on a ring on his left hand, touches a fingertip within, and pulls out a tiny bit of powdered iron while uttering an arcane phrase, then gently blows the mixture northeast. It shoots forward and when it arrives at G10, with a thin thread of magical force attaching it to the ring, the scholar pulls his hand back sharply, and the powder ignites into a ball of flame. With his head held high, fearless, Granophyre gestures sharply with his arm, and the sphere, on its magical cord, rams into the Lion Skeleton, doing 3HP damage and beginning to ignite its mane.
Tuff steps between Lion Skeleton 1 and Granophyre, readying a glowing handaxe, which he throws at the undead beast. The axe hits for 5HP damage, then continues spinning and in a wide circle, returns to Tuff’s hand.
Wad moves up to engage HO’s 54 & 55, and swings at HO54 with perfect Champion’s timing, critting it for 12HP damage.
Flint runs forward to engage Lion Skeleton 2, smashing it with his shield and axe in a skillful combination which crits for 12HP damage.
Lion 1 circles Benita, then leaps away toward Tuff. As it surges past the beautiful Indallian, her blade flashes out, and the beast's tail falls to the ground, separated from its owner. Roaring in anger, the lion skeleton pounces on Tuff, but the wily valet swipes the undead beast firmly with his shield and side steps adroitly, deflecting its attack.
Lion 2, cursed by Auger’s spell, joins its mate in a roar, but, robbed of strength, the sound is hoarse, almost asthmatic. Yet it shakes its mane, clearing its soulless mind, and leaping back and around in a tight circle, rushes at Flint, lands on its hind legs, and smothers him with a rain of claw attacks. But the dark-bearded dwarf digs in his heels and doesn’t budge. The Hollow One which was pinned under the skeleton's weight is now freed.
H.O. 51 now turns its attention to Varielky, and its battle axe comes up and under her shield, hitting for 9HP.
H.O. 54 attacks Wad with a mace, coming overhand to strike the edge of his helm, hitting for 8HP.
H.O. 55 jabs its spear at Wad, but the hardy dwarf’s shield keeps it at bay.
H.O. 56 jumps down, leading with a halberd lunge, which strikes Wad’s shoulder as he parries HO55’s spear, hitting for 7HP. Already bruised from the earlier melee, Wad shudders under the impact but grits his teeth and fights on.
H.O. 57 rushes at Ednyss, feinting high with its hammer, then coming in with a backhand blow, deflecting off Ednyss’ helm but critting for 6HP damage.
H.O. 58 jumps down, its battle axe shining in the moonlight as it falls on Ednyss, whose shield deflects the blow, but the old shield's edge is torn from the force, as the axe locks into it.
H.O. 59 jumps down and crosses atop another stone, its war pick slicing toward Benita, but she deftly backpedals just enough and the weapon passes a mere inch in front of her nose. She smiles.
H.O. 60, released from being pinned, gets up and moves in on Flint with its hammer, but can’t connect.
H.O. 61 circles Benita and attacks her blind side with its spear, but the quick-eyed champion barely sees it coming in the firelight and dodges in time.
H.O. 62 (Dacite) aims a roundhouse at Dolkum with a battle axe, but the blow misses and the weapon clangs into the ground, sending up sparks.
H.O. 63 springs at Dolkum with a lighting-fast short sword slash, smashing over his shoulders, and the force of the blow bruises him terribly under his armor for 9HP.
H.O. 64 tries to mimic the same attack but Dolkum sees its battle axe coming and parries it easily.
More hands can be seen scrabbling up out of the pit.
The ground now heaves again, and you can see that the entire depression is starting to move relative to the encircling tree-root barrier. All of the pillars are starting to totter.
ALL: Please roll DC10 DEX saves or be knocked prone at the start of your turn.
ALL: Please also roll DC10 DEX saves in case a pillar topples toward you next turn.
You are now situated like so.
Please post Round 3 actions
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
"That's not..." Never mind, it's too late. She meant for Dolkum to go back and make sure none of the undead gets close enough to hurt Granophyre, but she was misunderstood. Oh well, she just needs to make the best of the situation. Suddenly, the ground begins to move, (Dex save: 12, I don't think SM's bonus applies here, right? Not that it matters.) but Varielky manages to hold steady and remains standing.
Even if she were misunderstood, Varielky needs to make the most of the situation by actually holding the line. She begins to move towards the others but uses the natural twist of walking to make a diagonal attack meant to slash at the undead that hit her. Then, she'll twist back to straighten her spine, jabbing the undead on the rock near her with her shield in the process. The rock might be about the height of her shoulder, but a good hit to the Dwarf's stone leg might be able to make it stumble backwards and fall.
If the first undead no longer can act for that description to remain true and she managed to push the other one off, Varielky will climb on the rock and take that one's place.
Oh, and Dex save: 19.
Will use any of the SM's benefits if applicable.Yikes.Varielky
The ground shifts beneath Auger (Dex save: 8.)
Recovering, he again thinks to unleash a blast into the bestial skeleton. Hearing Benita call out, this time he gathers the energies without first twisting them. This time aqua does not course around the blast but instead is inter-mixed within the violet line of power. Py, see if you can distract that other one at all.
Py
Move: Flies down to 10' up at G27, trying to make himself visible to HO60
Action: Attack HO60 at range. Attack: 9 Damage: 1
Auger
Move: Stands up (if needed) and moves slightly south to D22.
Action: Eldritch blast at L2, this time not pushing the Skeletal Lion on a hit. Attack: 26 Damage: 25
End of turn Dex save: 14
DM of RotFM | AUGER the Warlock (Archfey & the Chain) / Shadow Sorcerer in Age of Resurgence | Rahui & Javier in Sea of Memory
DEX 11
DEX 1
If he is able -
Dolkum sheathes his hammer and continues to O20 to topple the pillar, shoulders screaming in agony the entire time Athletics 12
else if he is unable -
Merciful Idiwala! and Lays Hands on himself for 5 points, crawling towards to pillar at his best speed shoulders screaming in agony the entire time...
Round 3 Results
Varielky keeps her footing, shifting to I-17 and hitting HO51 hard for 13HP, but it is still up. Her shield bash connects with HO54, knocking it back off the wall, and it takes 2HP falling damage. She stays put, still engaged by HO51 on her other flank.
Dolkum is knocked over by the earthquake, but regains his footing, disengages from the Hollow Ones surrounding him, and moves towards the nearest pillar.
Auger is knocked off his feet by the shifting ground. He stands and moves slightly south to D22. His Eldritch magic blasts into Lion Skeleton 2 and it explodes with the impact, bone shards flying up and raining atop Flint and the nearest undead.
Py messages in response to Auger’s request, ‘Very well. I will try to distract the undead.’ and buzzes around at 10’ height, its tail glowing slightly brighter blue. Its Fey spore sticks to HO60’s claypot skin and bright green cracks radiate outward from it doing 1HP damage.
Ednyss (I’m botting him this turn) keeps his footing as the earth shakes, and aims his war pick at HO57, hitting it for 10HP damage.
Benita spins and her blades whirl at HO61, but it parries with its spear and the Indallian can’t connect.
Granophyre makes a quick motion to the side with his ringed hand and the flaming sphere attached to it with its magical thread obeys his command, whooshing at HO59 and slamming into it for 6HP damage.
Tuff keeps his footing, and with compact, precise movements, strikes Lion Skeleton 1 as it leaps at him once more. Side stepping like a matador, he deflects the undead beast’s lunge, then his glowing blade snaps down and the skeleton’s maned head thumps to the ground, severed from its body. Its inert corpse flops to the side.
Flint now focuses his attack on HO60, deflecting its hammer, then striking it with his axe for 8HP.
Wad attacks HO55, stepping up close inside its spear’s reach in a deadly embrace, and hitting its back for 10HP before pushing it away again, frowning at its deathly reeking smell.
H.O. 51 Springs left, landing atop HO53 and finishing off the prone Hollow One (and in that way, finally settling a 4000-year old grudge against its grandfather, RIP), then whirls its Battle Axe and smashes Ednyss’ right wrist for 2HP.
H.O. 54 rights itself from where Varielky pushed it off the wall, and advances, circling Varielky while raining 2 quick Mace blows on her shield before kicking her off balance and following up with a roundhouse to her temple, doing 6HP damage.
H.O. 55 jabs at Wad with its spear, but can’t get around his shield.
H.O. 56’s Halberd swings around twice then comes down, striking Wad’s right shoulder for 3HP damage.
H.O. 57, standing above Ednyss, pulls back after being hit, holds back until the others attack, then springs in with a war Hammer blow, striking Ednyss for 2HP damage.
H.O. 58 tries but can’t free its battle axe from Ednyss’ shield. (N.b., Ednyss is grappled)
H.O. 59 leaps away from Granophyre’s flaming sphere, and attacks Benita with a war pick, slicing cleanly across her stomach for 4HP damage.
H.O. 60 leaps up and brings its Hammer down on Flint, but the sturdy dwarf deflects the blow expertly with his shield.
H.O. 61 jabs Benita with its spear, just edging past her dagger parry and slicing her arm for 2HP. She screams in pain and frustration.
H.O. 62 (Dacite) advances, swinging its battle Axe at Ednyss 2-handed and hitting hard for 5HP damage.
H.O. 63 jumps atop the low wall next to Varielky, but the rock crumbles under it and its short sword falls from its hand.
H.O. 64 follows Dolkum, and strikes with its Battle Axe from behind as the brave paladin runs toward the pillar, hitting for 6HP damage.
H.O. 65 & 66 crawl out of the pit with War Pick and Halberd, but can’t stand up yet due to the earthquake.
As the earth shakes beneath you, four Pillars fall. Two of the farthest from you collapse into the depression, their stones separating, crashing, and sliding heavily. Then, the two pillars closest to Auger teeter and fall, crashing together 10’ above the ground but then tipping inward directly over Auger. He tries to leap away, but the shaking ground throws him in the wrong direction and a heavy stone falls directly upon him, knocking him prone and pinning him under its weight, causing 8HP damage. STR15 save will be required to get free.
The exit you noticed before has closed up and at the moment, there is no way out of the ruins. The ground continues to shake. Roll 2x DEX saves vs DC10 again, please.
You are now situated like so.
Please post Round 4 actions
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Dex Save: 5
Dex Save: 6
Ednyss strikes out with his pick again against the same skeleton that he had injured previously, but he is starting to look seriously worn. As he glances around to see himself nearly surrounded by skeletons, he shouts, "Return from where you came!" and summons his spectral shield above him to begin an assault on another of the skeletons around him.
Action: Attack (War Pick)
(Against 57 --> 58 --> 51) Attack: 15 Damage: 10
Move: None
Bonus Action: Cast Spiritual Weapon (At H19 - Outside the crumbled wall?)
(Against 58 --> 54) Attack: 10 Damage: 11
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”