Chapter 15: Empire Under the Earth

[ravenn4544]

Amethu will step forward and lunge with his Staff but also finds slippery footing!

To Hit (THACO 20): [1d20+2] = 7+2 = 9
Staff of Uthoth - Damage: = S/M/L: [1d6+2] = 5+2 = 7

Over the din of the melee, he'll shout to his comrades "The oil ahead! if we can just get past these two the rest of us can follow and fight from tighter confines! The oil could also provide cover!"

[Scott308]

Loche

Desperation nearly turning to panic, Loche finally is able to find a weak spot, a joint, in the giant bug's armor.

Jeweled Dagger +1/ +2 vs. Undead (20): [1d20+1] = 17+1 = 18; Damage: [1d4+1] = 2+1 = 3; Damage, Large: [1d3+1] = 3+1 = 4

[Inferno]

Giant Ant Colony, Beneath the Desecrated Temple of Osorus, The Underground City
Lost City of Khemsa, Forgotten Kingdom of Verulia, Great Eastern Desert, the World of Hyboria
Day Eight. Dawn?, 21st day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia




Mako moves west and the radiance of his wondrous sorcery illuminates the immense scuttling horror toiling frantically to murder the invaders of the collective!



None of its flailing prey can land a telling blow nor stop it from seizing Xorzen in its gigantic mandibles (3hp damage) and stabbing him with a horrific, large stinger that fills him with burning venom! (2hp more damage. Please Save vs Poison or take another 6hp damage)

The adventurers to the southeast desperately fend off another onslaught of rapacious, unyielding jaws! And then they press the attack!

Loche and Zahra each wound a merciless scrabbling adversary, as Kiri impales a giant flesh eating scarab! The three blade-prongs of his trident burst out the abdomen of the enslaved scintillating beetle in a gruesome geyser of clear fluid plasma!



Meanwhile, away from Mako's vigilance, Kiri's backpack continues to empty itself of all its possessions! One ceramic bottle...




...etched with timeworn hieroglyphs of a bygone age that give orisons to sacred Osorus, hovers in mid air expectantly, should Kiri fall beneath the assault of the ruthless giant arthropods!



Actions?!



Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.

Map:



Non-required Reading (rolls and rulings):

Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 5, Monsters: [1d6] = 6 Monster win.
Giant Soldier Ant bites Cruloc? (1) or Amethu? (2) or Xorzen? (3): [1d3] = 3. Attack: [1d20] = 14, damage: [2d4] = 3 Bites Xorzen for 3hp damage.
If Giant Soldier Ant succeeds with mandible bite, it may also try to sting:
Giant Ant stings Xorzen: [1d20] = 20, damage: [1d4] = 2 or [3d4] = 8 Hits for 2hp or 8hp damage.
Giant Worker Ants attack Loche and Zahra: [1d20] = 9, [1d20+2] = 6+2 = 8, damage: [1d6] = 4, [1d6] = 3 Both miss.
Giant Scarab Beetles attack Kiri and Garrin: [1d20] = 10, [1d20] = 7, damage: [2d6] = 11, [2d6] = 5 Both miss.

PC Status:

• Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 12/14, Spells: 4/7 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl, Lantern on ground
  Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 19/35, Torch near ground
  Garrin: Argosian Atlantean Paladin 3: Move: 12", AC: 3(1), HP: 13/26, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 2/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 4/14, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl, Torch
  Loche: Pict Savage Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 11/25
  Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 7(5), HP: 10/10, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl, Light Spell
  Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 3: Move: 17", AC: 6(4), HP: 10/16
  Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 8/21

PC Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Garrin): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Garrin.
  Healing Mists of Osorus (Garrin, Kiri, Loche, Mako and Xorzen have breathed of the mists): All lost HP recovered with 8 hours of sleep. Wakeful rest, or sleeping less than 8 hours, enables recovery of 1 HP per hour. Duration: "months."
  Unseen Servant (Kiri): Duration: 63 rounds
  Light (Mako): Duration: 15 rounds

Player Resources:

• The Struggle To Survive (the story so far)
  Mysteries Strange and Deadly (player clues and notes)
  Hieroglyphs (the story so far, in images)
  An Age Undreamed Of (maps and realms of the World of Hyboria)

[ravenn4544]

Amethu, now able to employ precious sorcery, extends his hands to unleash a wave of flame into the relentless attackers.

cast burning hands

[Urson]

Zahra

att [1d20+4] = 13+4 = 17
sword vs lg [1d12+3] = 5+3 = 8

Zahra lands another solid blow on the Ant facing Loche.

[ChubbyPixie]

Finding his rhythm, Kiri wheels and strikes at the closest menacing insect.

Attack with Trident +1, Claw of Chobek (THAC0:19): To Hit: [1d20+4] = 14+4 = 18 Damage vs. s/m: [1d6+8] = 5+8 = 13, vs. Lg: [3d4+7] = 6+7 = 13

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

The ichor-splattered Northerner locates his dropped sword in the gloom-filled tunnel which echoes with the clangor of battle. Pantherish, he gains his feet and with it carves a glittering arc of death!

Attack w/longsword [1d20+2] = 15+2 = 17
Damage vs. L [1d12+3] = 7+3 = 10

"I fear nothing that walks or crawls the Earth!"

[SocraticLawyer]

Garrin attacks his foe again, praying to Mitra to help guide his strike.

To Hit with +1 Long Sword: [1d20+1] = 19+1 = 20; Damage: sm - [1d8+1] = 4+1 = 5; lg - [1d12+1] = 12+1 = 13

The paladin gives thanks to his deity as his blade finds the flesh underneath his foe's carapace.

[OGRE MAGE]

Unable to fend off the ants poison this time, Xorxen feels his life force draining away.

Save vs. Poison 12 [1d20] = 6

His attack suffers badly as a result.

Attack w/ +2 Javelin of Men-khetu [1d20+2] = 5+2 = 7 Dam [1d6+3] = 4+3 = 7

[Scott308]

Loche

Having gotten lucky on the last attack, fortune does not favor the Pict any longer. His blade glitters in the torchlight, but is unable to find the soft underbody of the massive insect.

Jeweled Dagger +1/ +2 vs. Undead (20): [1d20+1] = 9+1 = 10; Damage: [1d4+1] = 2+1 = 3; Damage, Large: [1d3+1] = 1+1 = 2

[DadsAngry]

Mako:

Mako silently provides light to the warriors engaged in battle.

[Inferno]

Giant Ant Colony, Beneath the Desecrated Temple of Osorus, The Underground City
Lost City of Khemsa, Forgotten Kingdom of Verulia, Great Eastern Desert, the World of Hyboria
Day Eight. Dawn?, 21st day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia






With meticulous, murderous organization, the gigantic ants continue their tenacious onslaught! A great soldier ant savages Cruloc again with its immense mandibles (4hp damage) but the hardy Cimmerian evades its deadly stinger!

As a shimmering scarab carcass is carried away, a ferocious worker ant rends and tears Kiri with brutal ferocity! (4hp damage) The man mountain of Kambuja falls beneath the unrelenting attack!



On the northern front, by Mako's mystical light, Amethu utters forbidden syllables out of Verulia's half-forgotten past! Impossibly, his outstretched hands ignite and engulf the immense warrior ant in hungry flames!

Suddenly, the oil splashed behind the bloodthirsty leviathan combusts! Its voracious flames consume a soldier in the second rank! The conflagration is bright and terrible, burning its writhing form alive!



The swarming enemy reinforcements to the north will be held at bay, as long as the fire burns!

But before the flaming barricade, one wounded arthropod endures! The explorers lunge at it! Staggered by the poison that sets his blood aflame (-6hp more), Xorzen's javelin thrust misses the mark!

But Cruloc, with a thirst for violence that can not be slaked, strikes true. His great blade decapitates the merciless giant in one terrible stroke! But the black choking smoke threatens to suffocate them if they linger!

On the southeast front, the deafening hacking of steel evokes the sound of butcher's lane on feast day! The sickening crunch of sundered exoskeletons drowns out battle cries of wrath and ruin as Garrin and Zahra each slaughter a gigantic crawling foe!

Then the hovering canoptic jar recovered in the defiled temple of Osorus...



...drains itself down Kiri's insensate throat. (+17hp!) With a taste of blood fresh upon his lips, the leonine spellsword of the East awakens, fully recovered!

He sees insectoid corpses in silent heaps. But three unyielding worker ants yet remain. Like the rest of the collective, their resolve is adamant. Without hesitation, they too will fight to the death!



Actions?!



Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.

Map:



Non-required Reading (rolls and rulings):

Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 2, Monsters: [1d6] = 3 Monsters win.
Giant Soldier Ant bites Cruloc? (1) or Amethu? (2) or Xorzen? (3): [1d3] = 1. Attack: [1d20] = 15, damage: [2d4] = 4 Bites Cruloc for 4hp damage.
If Giant Soldier Ant succeeds with mandible bite, it may also try to sting:
Giant Soldier Ant stings Cruloc: [1d20] = 4, damage: [1d4] = 1 or [3d4] = 7 Misses.
Giant Worker Ants attack Loche and Zahra: [1d20] = 8, [1d20] = 6, damage: [1d6] = 1, [1d6] = 2 Both miss.
Giant Scarab Beetle attacks Garrin: [1d20] = 12, damage: [2d6] = 6 Misses.
Giant Worker Ant charges Kiri: [1d20+2] = 13+2 = 15, damage: [1d6] = 4 Hits for 4hp damage.
Ignited oil: [2d6] = 7
Kiri: Potion: [3d8+3] = 14+3 = 17

PC Status:

• Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 12/14, Spells: 3/7 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl, Lantern on ground
  Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 15/35, Torch near ground
  Garrin: Argosian Atlantean Paladin 3: Move: 12", AC: 3(1), HP: 13/26, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 2/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 14/14, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl, Torch
  Loche: Pict Savage Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 11/25
  Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 7(5), HP: 10/10, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl, Light Spell
  Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 3: Move: 17", AC: 6(4), HP: 4/16
  Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 8/21

PC Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Garrin): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Garrin.
  Healing Mists of Osorus (Garrin, Kiri, Loche, Mako and Xorzen have breathed of the mists): All lost HP recovered with 8 hours of sleep. Wakeful rest, or sleeping less than 8 hours, enables recovery of 1 HP per hour. Duration: "months."
  Unseen Servant (Kiri): Duration: 62 rounds
  Light (Mako): Duration: 14 rounds

Player Resources:

• The Struggle To Survive (the story so far)
  Mysteries Strange and Deadly (player clues and notes)
  Hieroglyphs (the story so far, in images)
  An Age Undreamed Of (maps and realms of the World of Hyboria)

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

Fresh ichor dripping from his sinewy frame, the Cimmerian grabs up his torch, retreats a short distance southwest from the roiling black smoke, and binds his fresh wounds.

He bids Xorxen join him.

[OGRE MAGE]

Xorxen squints from the sudden explosion of heat and light engulfing the ants in the passageway. Seeing the wall of attackers still standing to the south, and no way to aid them there, the wiry monk follows the blood splattered barbarian once he is summoned.

[DadsAngry]

Mako:

"Oh!" says Mako as a blast of heat hits him in the face. "I see you have enough light here," and turns back around to go back to the others.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu keeps watch on the fire blockade while the others shift southward. "we can not linger here long - this will not last and our backs will be undefended"

He will ready another flask of oil if the fire starts to get too low.

[Urson]

Zahra
Zahra, still lost in the bloodlust of battle, moves forward and attacks again.
att [1d20+4] = 11+4 = 15
sword vs lg [1d12+3] = 6+3 = 9
Her muttered curses are a continuous growl as she fights.

[Scott308]

Loche

The Pict continues attacking the unrelenting advance of insectoid foes.

Jeweled Dagger +1/ +2 vs. Undead (20): [1d20+1] = 15+1 = 16; Damage: [1d4+1] = 4+1 = 5; Damage, Large: [1d3+1] = 2+1 = 3

[ChubbyPixie]

Kiri veritably springs to his feet, the rush of healing so intense he cannot focus properly on his attack:

Attack with Trident +1, Claw of Chobek (THAC0:19): To Hit: [1d20+4] = 4+4 = 8 Damage vs. s/m: [1d6+8] = 3+8 = 11, vs. Lg: [3d4+7] = 8+7 = 15

"Thank you, grandfather!" he says a bit too loudly. Seeing that Maako has a light source of his own, he adds: "Please, grandfather, would you mind bearing your torch further into the room so we may see what lies ahead?"

[Inferno]

Sorry Socratic. Moving it along.
I'll have to roll for Garrin this round:
Garrin: To Hit with +1 Long Sword: [1d20+1] = 6+1 = 7 ; Damage: sm - [1d8+1] = 3+1 = 4 ; lg - [1d12+1] = 3+1 = 4