To Prove D&D Exists for Echolon

Quote from Yurei1453 >>

"I don't think blowing stuff up's gonna get us outta this," Ilyara.  "But, if we can fix this, then maybe we won't need to?  I'm really sorry, uhh...Mr. Klaus...but do you mind if I try and see what kind of, like...off switch this stupid bug might have?"

{Presuming Actual Santa doesn't tell Ilyara to scarper, going to Guidance and inspect the scarab in the same way she'd check for hidden traps or catches, looking for some secret mechanism.  Nekkid d20, +2 for Investigation or +6 for perception, and a 1d4 for Guidance: 17 to figure out the magic-eating clockwork bugger.}

 Ilyara pokes at the scarab, and it moves to tighten its grip. little pools of blood appear around each leg as it digs in.

"Ahck! That hurt!"

“Yeah? How bad did it hurt? I’m askin’ ’cause apparently her Traveler favored versatility over potency when she blessed Ily. Plus, even if she can discombobulate that thing, she pro’ly shouldn’t. That thing is on the list of stolen government property we’re here to recover and return to our city, along with that instant anchor she’s used to save our skins a couple times, the rod of apps Ely makes look so easy to use, and I think my new purse too….”

Addressing her fellow Waywatchers Toots says: “Who has that whole list anyhow?”

Turning back to the man, myth, and legend himself, Toots continues: “I know you got a real important, super shot deadline to meet. If we have as hard a time figuring out a painless solution to this as we did with that horrible ‘room of nightmares made manifest and evil absolute,’…” Toots shudders involuntarily “…we might still be here a week after that holding our Morrowyear vigil before we figure it out. (Good thing I have candles.)^1

”Don't you worry though. I just had a couple’a ideas to get you outta here in time to save Christmas. Actually, I can’t take all the credit, Ely just made me think of them when she said she won’t be much help. But she would honestly be absolutely critical to either plan…. The bad news is I can pretty much guarantee you’re not gonna like either plan, the good news is that the odds are almost as high that one of them’ll actually work:
  • “Option one, Ely uses her large, powerful, perfectly sculpted muscles to rip that thing off yer chest and we all heal you with everything we got before it kills you.
  • “Option two, we give Ily a night to convince The Traveler to grant her some of that holy roller magic what can restore the very, very recently departed to life, Ely uses her Rod of Apps to give you a swift, merciful death, we yank that sucker off your corpse, Ily brings you back right away, and then we all heal the bejeepers outta ya.

”Well, wadaya think?” Toots closes nonchalantly, the gravity of her just suggesting they intentionally kill Santa completely lost on her in the moment.

1. ^(https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/play-by-post/99658-to-prove-d-d-exists-for-echolon?comment=937)

"Sorry, sorry!" Ilyara squeaked, immediately backing off after the scarab responded poorly to her pokes.  "Should'a known it wouldn't be so straightforward as..." she said, trailing off as Toots' increasingly macabre plan took shape.  Her jaw slowly dropped, the furling staring at Toots in dismayed bewilderment as she outlined her Emergency Plan.  She reached up, pressed her jaw back closed, and did her best to physically wipe the rest of that expression off her face with the same hand.

"...Tootsie.  We ain't killing the Saint of the North.  That's sorta maybe th' very definition of 'naughty', wouldn't ya think?  'Sides, even if I had that spell ready, I ain't got no diamond to fuel it.  The Traveler can lend me that spell, but they can't lend me the pricy rock needed t' make it work.  Look...th' poor Christmas legend's been here for most of a year.  We can waste more time tryin' random stuff, or..." she said, turning to address the Saint directly.

"Real sorry for hurtin' you, sir," she said, still oddly bashful and unlike her normal self in the man's presence.  "Uhh...can I ask what you've tried t'do to get th' blasted bugger off?  You're a super clever fellow and pro'ly a mechanical genius too, on account of all th' neat toys ye make.  I figure you've tried most of th' simple stuff...d' you have any ideas for ways we can maybe help?  Something we can do t' try and save Christmas?"

"Ooo, do we have any diamonds leftover from the haul we gave to Layla for ... admission to the worst fun ride of all time?"

The rotund man looks Ilyara in the eye and calmly says, "Don't worry yourself girl, the suit is red for a reason." He stands up and walks towards the door shaking his finger at Toots, "Some of those might be a good idea but lets get out of this room first! surly we can find a way out of this place before killing me right?" All smiles he stomps out of the room, and looks up at the mini zoo. Waving energetically at you to follow, he looks at his watch again, "Come on! Only one day left!"

Without any better leads, Ilyara accepted the Saint's reassurances and started heading back, leading the crew out towards the exit-hatch ladder they'd used earlier for their mountainside picnic.  Provided the aquamanticores continued to behave, at least.  There was, after all, so little time left to try and save Christmas...they were losing entire days in the space of minutes!


OOC: Gotta grab a nap, gonna be out for a few hours.  If anybody needs anything Dispelled, g'head and assume Ilyara does it, with Guidance and a Bardic Inspiration if required.  Elsewise, hopefully somebody can come up with an idea other than murder Santa Claus before the deadline.  Good luck, all!

The party climbs up out of the zoological display, rides the rapid river with a WHOOOOO and HOHOHO!.

Navigating the slip and slide of razordeath is easy with solid non-slippery ground.

The light activated microwave hall of hotpockets is almost a cake walk with both Ilyara and Santa being able to see in the dark.

Layla is beyond herself when she sees The Saint of Winter. The clatter of her paws on the stone floor is almost deafening. Santa gives her a hug and whispers comforting words to her before softly patting her back.

You arrive at the bottom of the shaft with the ladder ruins and gnoll bones. The white bearded man looks up and smiles. "Here we go, just need a fire and this will be a proper chimney!"

"Did sssomeone sssssay fire?" 

A long sinuous form flows down from above, snake-like but with many legs. Its red and orange scaled body flickering with fire, eyes ablaze over a mouth filled with long, jagged teeth.

"Oh dear."

ROLL INITIATIVE!!

"This things better be guarding a vault!"  Tommary initiative: 14

Fire snake thing Initiative 17

Santa Initiative  11

Whelp.  So much for saving Christmas.  Heh, ah well.

24

"Well don't just stand there do something!" shouts Santa pointing at the fire leggy snake thing.

Tommary and Ilyara GOGO!

Toots and Elyona can go after.

"Yeah, no!  I ain't lettin' some nasty-minded overbaked weasel-lizard thing ruin Christmas!"

Drawing Rilia, Ilyara glared daggers at the creature above the blade of her dagger, before stabbing the point of Rilia's glassine blade towards the wall-crawling ugly.  "Fall", she Commanded it, exerting her will with a boost from the Traveler's spark of mischief.

{Wis 14 save, or it meets the ground with alacritous haste.  Where Elyona can carve it into charcoal, ideally!}

WIS save 5

The creature releases its hold on the "chimney" and crashes to the ground taking 13 gravity damage.

Tommary thrusts The Wind Breaker in the firepede's general direction and disses on to it with a whisper , what the heck it's Christmas, third level casting so 19 psychic damage and flees me or WIS 13 save for half damage.

WIS save 18

The creature shakes its head in confusion and pain, then flees at high speed up the chimney!

Toots and Elyona!

OOC:

Quote from Wysperra >>

...flees at high speed up the chimney!
...

 
@Tommary

OOC: I wanted to get him saying "The game's afoot"; but all I could dig up outside of whole 5 minute scenes is this, so just picture Tommary saying "the game's afoot" in similar tone to this