Expedition to the Barrier Peaks: Chp. 3

[ChubbyPixie]

Wrenly watches with an absent smile, as if he hasn't fully comprehended the magnitude of Gryev's situation. "I don't think that's a real bunny!" he says finally.

[Grognardsw]

Jungle Dangers - Round One

Primal instincts drive Gryev the Ravenous to escape. He grabs one of the constricting stalks and bites into it, gnawing and ripping and tearing. It sags as the barbarian slips out, now held by only one stalk. Gryev is 10' from the fanged maw in the tree stump. The one stalk alone lacks the strength to pull him closer.

Asherrion the Gray intones ancient elven words of power and three bolts of red energy leap from his fingertips and unerringly strike the remaining stalk holding Gryev. It severs (15 HP) and the barbarian is free.

From the balcony 60' above, Andover the ranger fires his bow. His bow string breaks (fumble) and the arrow sails across the vast chamber to disappear into the green.

Next to Andover in the balcony, Swilbosh takes the strange magic beam device into his hands. Recalling Wrenly's use of it, the lizardman carefully aims and fires at the tree stump monster. The magic blue beam hits the bullseye, searing into the monster's mouth in the middle of the tree stump (15 HP.) A strange cry emits from the terrible maw.

Groyn the dwarf whips out his crossbow and fires a bolt at the stump. It flies true and hits near the mouth. Fingal the thief follows Groyn's lead, quickly nocking an arrow in his short bow and firing. It's been a while since the thief shot an arrow. His aim is rusty and he hits the ground a yard to the left.

Wulfhart the northern warrior rushes into the fray, swinging his magic axe Fang of Cuthbert. The weapon was named in honor of the god whose kindly cleric helped the party back in the Keep on the Borderlands. Stalks flail about the northern warrior and his axe swing is fouled.

A volley of stalks rise from the concealing undergrowth and attack Gryev and Wulfhart, the two who are in its range. Gryev is lashed and pulled by two (3 HP); he is again being dragged into the mouth. Wulfhart is ensnared by one (4 HP), but is able to resist its pull.

"Demon Dogs!" yells Thundarr, brandishing his magic sword with a sparkling buzzing blade of pure magic energy. He rushes into the thick of it but gets caught in thickets and misses badly. "Damn this jungle!"

The two women Candidiasis the witch and Ariel watch the battle. "Men," mutters Ariel.

Wrenly looks on with growing concern. Porphyry the satyr requests the monster's body be kept intact. Guido and Puddington smile and point in delight. Getafix is smelling flowers 50 yards to the south.

Actions for Round 2!

Please check the campaign archives for rolls.

[AleBelly]

The two women Candidiasis the witch and Ariel watch the battle. "Men," mutters Ariel.

"Indeed" replies Candy, advancing only far enough to cast Enlarge on her paramour (Wulfie). If possible, she will immediately retreat from the monstrosity.

I believe she needs to approach within 30' of Wulfhart

[Zhym]

Andover curses softly in Elvish (the worst of all languages for curses; the oath translates to something like, "oh bother") and restrings his bow.

[AleBelly]

Wulfhart, bleeding badly, hacks again with his Fang, cursing.

Attack w/Fang of Cuthbert(THAC0 15) [1d20+2] = 13+2 = 15 damage [1d8+2] = 3+2 = 5 or [1d12+2] = 3+2 = 5

Assuming enlarge doesn't take effect until next round...

[Inferno]

Grinning blackly to show all his fangs, Swilbosh fires the otherworldly wizard's toy again at the demonic treant stump.


Laser Pistol: to hit: [1d20] = 13, damage: [2d8] = 11 + target AC

[greyarea]

Asherrion replies to Andover in Elvish quite harshly (which translates into something like "my word!") and switches to his sling Sling fling [1d20] = 2, dmg [1d4] = 1 although his aim is off because of the offense of his fellow elf's tongue.

[OGRE MAGE]

Fingal stops firing once the others get closer to the stump. He stows his bow again, not wanting to hit any friendlies.

He keeps a lookout in every direction up on the balcony, certain that those creeping vines mean to harm him and his friends.

"Why is some of us up here and the rest of us down there? That don't seem smart to me."

[Pulpatoon]

The Ravenous Gryev laughs an idiot laugh, licking the monster's blood/sap from his lips. Instead of struggling with the vines, he moves in to attack the stump where the good meat is.

This may be too much of an action for INT 3 Gryev, but I feel confident that this is how he would reflexively respond to the situation.
Filthy Bastard Sword (THAC0 16) [1d20+1] = 17+1 = 18 Dmg Sm: [2d4+3] = 4+3 = 7 Lg: [2d8+3] = 12+3 = 15

[Grognardsw]

Jungle Dangers - Round Two



Candidiasis moves to within 30' of her adorable lummox and casts an enchantment to grow Wulfhart to gargantuan proportion. The fighter magically expands in height and girth to 12', weakening the stalk's hold on him. He hacks with one hand his axe and severs the stalk completely, freeing himself.

Smart as an ox yet crazy like a fox, Greyv the Ravenous bounds toward the maw with his great sword. The stalks holding him momentary go slack as the barbarian moves in the direction they are pulling, and Gryev hews deep into the stump!

Asherrion the elf sends a sling stone into the melee, striking Wulfhart (1 HP.) Thundarr thrashes about in the thickets, embarrassingly unable to strike an immobile tree stump with a powerful magic sword.

Up on the balcony, Andover restrings his bow and Swilbosh fires the magic beam-thrower again. Its blue ray strikes the stump, searing a smoking hole in it. Ariel steps forward and motions in a swirling pattern in the air, summoning two glowing sparking red balls that fly out and strike the monster stump. Wood, sap-blood, teeth and saw dust scatter everywhere.

The flailing stalks wilt some; the stump is mauled; the creature must be on its last roots. But it rallies for another attack, a stalk again lashing and grabbing Wulfhart (4 HP) but unable to pull him in. The fanged bleeding maw gnashes at Greyv but bites only air.

Groyn the dwarf reloads his crossbow. Wrenly and Porphry watch tensely. Guido and Puddington watch enraptured. Getafix the former druid is 70' away hugging a tree along the shore of a swampy lake.

Something emerges...

The frog-like nightmare is 18' tall and 10' wide. It glares balefully with its three eyes, bounds ahead, and a massive tongue darts out 10' and ensnares Getafix! The druid screams and clutches the tree for dear life as the tongue tries to pull him in!

Actions for Round 3!

- Party wins initiative.
- Ash's missile miss in melee resulted in hitting another.
- Rolls are in campaign roller archive. Yes that low monster roll did hit Getafix.
- Getafix may act.
- The frog monster is 70' away.
- Wulfhart has 10 HP. Others in low teens. HP status: viewtopic.php?p=59033#p59033

The Wolf-in-Sheeps-Clothing, created for this module and later appearing in MM2.

[AleBelly]

"Stupid fucking elves!" roars Wulfhart, clearly in pain. The stone hit to his back has not helped his mood. "Join the fray or hold your fire!"

Wulfhart hacks again at the beast mangling him, moving towards the stump if necessary to kill it.

Don't know what the modifiers for his enlarged size is, but it hardly matters with a crap roll like this.
Attack w/Fang of Cuthbert(THAC0 15) [1d20+2] = 2+2 = 4 damage [1d8+2] = 2+2 = 4 or [1d12+2] = 7+2 = 9

[AleBelly]

Ariel steps forward and motions in a swirling pattern in the air, summoning two glowing sparking red balls that fly out and strike the monster stump. Wood, sap-blood, teeth and saw dust scatter everywhere.

"Impressive!" coos Candidiasis as she observes Ariel's powers. "Here's how we swamp witches do it..."

The tattooed witch calls "Aether saggittus!", sending bolts flying towards the creature that has just emerged from the lake.

Magic missile - one target [3d4+3] = 7+3 = 10

[greyarea]

Asherrion's face burns with shame as he holds his fire.

[greyarea]

Getafix WIS (17) [4d6] = 14 realizes that he has his sickle sword, and swings it while screaming bloody murder! Getafix sickle sword swing [1d20-1] = 8-1 = 7, dmg [1d8] = 7

[Inferno]

The barbaric reptile holds his fire, not wanting to risk killing mammals, even brain dead ones.

Fingal
"Why is some of us up here and the rest of us down there? That don't seem smart to me."

"No. It doessssn't," growls Swilbosh. "If you remained here, the uncontrollable mindlessss husssskssss would sssstop leading themsssselvessss and ussss to ccccertain death. Who lowered them down anyway?"

Despite that coldblooded wisdom, the lizardman also takes the bait. The certain death of Wulfhart and the druid works perfectly to draw Swilbosh down into the trap of the imprisoned jungle too. He descends, snarling, "Doessss The Thing control them now? They sssseem Hell bent on getting ussss killed. We sssshould bind Guido and Puddington before they alsssso lure ussss to our deathssss."

[Hotgoblin]

Groyn Shortbeard watches the others as he reloads the cross-bow, readied to fire at the Frog monster. He runs over to get in position and aims for the creatures tongue/face.

Attack w/ Crossbow [1d20+1] = 15+1 = 16 Damage [1d8] = 3

[Pulpatoon]

Porphyry tears his fascinated gaze away from the plant-animal hybrid to examine the newly appeared frog monster. "How similar would you say this is to the frog-creature we encountered previously? Same species, or just genus? N matter, it looks like its anatomy is sufficiently familiar for this to prove efficacious."

The satyr points a hand at the frog monster, and a beam of shadow lashes out at it:

Ray of Pain
Level: 2
Duration: Instant Range: 15' per level
This spell creates a ray of shadowy energy which leaps from the caster's hand towards the chosen target, who must make a saving throw versus spells. If the save is successful the victim takes 1d4 hit points of damage. If the save fails the victim suffers 1d6 points of damage plus one point per level of the caster, and is affected by a wracking pain lasting until the end of the next round. The pain causes a -1 penalty to attack rolls, saving throws, Armor Class and ability checks.

[ChubbyPixie]

Wrenly, having no suitable spells for this situation, meaning ones that wouldn't also kill his friends, remembers suddenly that he, too, has a sling with which he might bean friend or foe. "I'll have to get a bit closer," he mutters to himself and climbs down the rope after the lizard man.

[OGRE MAGE]

Fingal just shrugs at the words from the huge lizard guy. He is rarely sure of his intentions anyway.

He looks on with confusion at the rest of the party that still remain up on the balcony as he also climbs on his rope and descends back down to the jungle floor.

He doesn't jump right into combat, but instead continues to act as a lookout for the fighters. His eyes search all around in every direction, hoping to spot any more dangers before they get too close.

[Zhym]

Andover shrugs at Wulfhart's demands, holds his fire, and follows Fingal down the rope.