Chapter 17: The Thing in the Woods

[Inferno]

The Strange Black Altar in the Woods, The Haunted Mountains, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Two. Midday. Sunday, November 13th, 576 CY
Cold, foggy, cloudy, damp








Deep in the haunted wood, beneath the writhing moaning trees, unspeakable horrors rise from an unholy altar that serves as a diabolical harvester of blood and souls.




The repulsive cannibal atrocities continue their merciless onslaught against the wounded heroes! ( -1hp, -10hp and -2hp to Bo, Pyotr and Telkis respectively)

Pyotr is about to fall beneath that onslaught when suddenly, an angel of mercy descends upon him. Ingrid Esthof prays devout orisons of grace and her miraculous touch heals the grievous wounds and paralysis of Pyotr, bolstering his resolve to fight on (+6hp).

Long Bo also feels the icy chill of death threaten to overtake him! (Please Save vs Paralysis to act next round! I assume you no longer wish to move toward Hothhil, which would result in free attacks from Z1. So, if you make the saving throw, you have two actions next round. The first preempts all others. Good luck.)

Rudolph the hobbit flees from a nightmarish tree monster (E2) and hurls a sling stone at the heinous malefactor that delights in Urdur's suffering and pain. (Z3). The rock cracks into its skull and earns Rudolf the frightful thing's terrible attention.

Fortified and reinvigorated, Pyotr drives his enchanted harpoon with all the strength of his right arm, impaling an undead horror (Z3) to his fists, killing it!

Brevos charges the shrine and slashes Brood over the head of one of the macabre feral scourges.

Telkis Brassfang also feels the creeping tendrils of soul-chilling paralysis. It ruins his aim and his morningstar misses its target and crashes into a temple pillar. (Please Save vs Paralysis to act next round!)

Consumed with dread, Mouser vomits in his mouth as he fends off rotten, dead nails and teeth, and stabs Scalpel again and again, hacking open the reeking vitals of another unliving villain (Z2) nearly ending it!


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet. Darker areas are visible in the fog.


Non-required Reading (rolls and rulings):

Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 4, Monsters: [1d6] = 5 Monsters win.
Rudolf is hiding in a bush. Z1 will attack Bo (1) or Mouser (2)? [1d2] = 1 Bo.
Z1 attacks Bo: [1d20] = 13, [1d20] = 11, [1d20] = 10 One claw hits.
Z1 damage to Bo: [1d3] = 1 -1hp
Z2 attacks Mouser: [1d20] = 7, [1d20] = 4, [1d20] = 4 All miss!
Z3 attacks Pyotr: [1d20] = 3, [1d20] = 20, [1d20] = 20 Two critical hits!
Z3 damage to Pyotr: [1d3] = 2, [1d6] = 3 x2 = -10hp.
Z4 attacks Telkis: [1d20] = 15, [1d20] = 12, [1d20] = 12 One claw hits Telkis.
Z4 damage to Telkis: [1d4] = 2 -2hp.

PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 6/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 6/15, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Hothhil Thornbush, Elven Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 0/20
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 15/22, Spells: 1/5 1st lvl and 0/4 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 4(3), HP: 16/30, Spells: 3/6 1st lvl, 1/3 2nd lvl and 1/2 3rd lvl
  Mondegreen Cindereye, Human Magic-User 2: Move: 9", AC: 9, HP: 0/12, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl
  Pyotr Whitetip, Half-Orc Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 4/30
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 4/12
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 5/32
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: -4/9, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl and 0/1 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

• None currently

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)

[wolfpack]

near the entrance to the tunnels Brevos tries once again to slide Brood between the ribs of Z4

[1d20+1] = 12+1 = 13
[1d8+1] = 3+1 = 4

[ravenn4544]

Mouser hears screams and unholy death. He strikes out to put it to rest.

Scalpel (THACO 20) To Hit [1d20] = 15, S/M/L Dam. [1d8] = 4

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur slips closer to oblivion.

In the darkness between life and death, Urdur thinks he can hear a voice beckoning him. A voice ... or ... perhaps ... a bark...? Mittens?! Is that you?

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

As the situation looks bleak for our intrepid heroes, the cleric starts thinking of fallen friends they may see again soon- particularly the valiant holy warrior, Pelias. Suddenly, she has a flash of inspiration! Get behind me! she cries to her compatriots, beseeching benevolent Tritherion for a final, desperate, last-ditch burst of magic. Casting her spell, she attempts to interpose herself between one of the foul creatures and the brave warrior locked in deadly combat with it.

Cast Protection from Evil upon herself, then tries to get in front of a teammate working her way North as necessary based on creatures falling in combat.

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis, determined to fight through to the end, pushes through the icy torpor threatening to overcome him and strikes out again.
Morningstar +1 (THAC0 19): To Hit:[1d20+1] = 3+1 = 4, Damage: vs s/m [2d4+1] = 5+1 = 6, vs L [1d6+2] = 4+2 = 6

”We cannot fight the trees! We’ll never survive!” he yells, eying the tomb entrance and wondering if they would be any safer inside...

[rredmond]

Rudolph's eyes widen as he gains the attention of the undead, but he actually gasps seeing a harpoon appear out of it's torso. He relaxes for half-a-second, realizing from whence the harpoon came. But he can agonizingly see that the party members are thinking of a fighting retreat to the entrance of, what can only be, horrors. He makes to run away altogether, but sees the illusionist in dire need, and too close to him to ignore. Hunchbacked to make his small frame even less noticeable, he runs over to Urdur to bind and hopefully staunch the bleeding. But he keeps his guard up and weather eye open to keep himself out of trouble. If any comes toward him, he runs from it. He hears the cleric's call and, ensuring the gnome is okay, drags him over to her. He's hoping beyond hope that she can create an island of sanity in this madness of chaos.

[OGRE MAGE]

Long Bo sighs when the undead monster leaps in his direction. Unable to stop all of its attacks, he is glad to feel the crippling power of the monster fail to immobilize him.

Save vs. Death, Paralysis, Poison (9) [1d20] = 15

He does the only thing he can think of, hoping to defend himself against the multiple attack onslaught.

Spear Attack [1d20] = 7 Damage [1d6] = 2

Spear Attack [1d20] = 2 Damage [1d6] = 1

[Urson]

Pyotr

Derspite his wounds, and the nausea that still wracks him, Pyotr roars out a laugh as he yanks his harpoon free of the rotting corpse. He hurls Torngarsoak's harpoon at (Z2)
[1d20] = 16
[1d6] = 6+1

Vashe von' sdelalo by koz'yego bleska!

Yvan circles above the battle, squawking. Svin'ya der'mo! Svin'ya der'mo!

[Inferno]

The Strange Black Altar in the Woods, The Haunted Mountains, Gran March, Greyhawk
Day Two. Midday. Sunday, November 13th, 576 CY
Cold, foggy, cloudy, damp







Tortured trees lament in grief and anguish. Desperate cries of battle echo eerily in the spectral fog as the heroes fight for their lives.

Aberrant, unliving horrors whose hunger could never be sated continue their grisly work, sowing havoc and dread with bloodsoaked claws and fangs.



Long Bo and Mouser are cut asunder by the venomous damned (-7hp and -9hp respectively). Mouser is blessed with a temporary reprieve from his suffering. The queasy, haunted thief falls insensate to the snow, bleeding from his ghastly wounds as Bo feels the deathly cold grip of paralysis threaten to claim him again! (Bo, please Save vs Paralysis to act next round)



One depraved, lurid being from darkest nightmare (Z4), flanked by Brevos and Telkis, slips on the treacherous ice and plunges into the open mouth of the black altar. Brevos stabs his enchanted blade at the plummeting creature, hacking into it before it is swallowed up by shadow. Here, at the black altar, the stench of death is overpowering. (Brevos, please Save vs Poison or suffer -2 to hit)

Rudolf the hobbit drags the unconscious Urdur back behind Ingrid and binds the gnome's gruesome wounds.

Ingrid beseeches her god in a pious invocation and feels His merciful grace bequeathed upon her frail mortal frame, shielding her from wickedness earthly and otherworldly. "Get behind me!" the priestess cries as she advances toward the thick of the deadly fray.

The weapons of Bo and Telkis fail to harm the frightful demons that assail them, body and soul.

But despite the injuries and nausea that still wracks him, Pyotr roars out a black laugh as he wrenches his harpoon free of one rotting corpse and hurls it at another (Z2), impaling the loathsome atrocity through the eye socket, slaughtering it instantly!


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet. Darker areas are visible in the fog.


Non-required Reading (rolls and rulings):

Initiative: Party: [1d6] = 5, Monsters: [1d6] = 6 Monsters win again.
Z1 attacks Bo: [1d20] = 17, [1d20] = 14, [1d20] = 14 All three attacks hit...
Z1 damage to Bo: [1d3] = 3, [1d3] = 1, [1d6] = 3... for 7hp damage.
Z2 attacks Mouser: [1d20] = 19, [1d20] = 17, [1d20] = 16 All three attacks hit...
Z2 damage to Mouser: [1d3] = 3, [1d3] = 1, [1d6] = 5 ... for 9hp damage
Z4 attacks Telkis: [1d20] = 4, [1d20] = 1, [1d20] = 1 Misses. Two fumbles.
Z4 fumbles results: [1d6] = 3, [1d6] = 4
"3: Distracted: Add +1 to your AC for the rest of this round and all of the next.
4: Slip: Make a Dex save on d20 or fall to the ground."
Z4 Dex save: [1d20] = 17 Fails and falls.
Given the double fumble, I will rule Z4 falls into the open altar...
Z4 falling damage: [1d6] = 5 ... and takes 5hp falling damage.

PC Status:

• Brevos, Half-Elf Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 6/31
  Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 2/3: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: -3/15, Spells: 2/2 1st lvl
  Hothhil Thornbush, Elven Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 0/20
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 4: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 15/22, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl and 0/4 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 4: Move: 9", AC: 4(3), HP: 9/30, Spells: 3/6 1st lvl, 1/3 2nd lvl and 1/2 3rd lvl
  Mondegreen Cindereye, Human Magic-User 2: Move: 9", AC: 9, HP: 0/12, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl
  Pyotr Whitetip, Half-Orc Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 4/30
  Rudolf Rassendyll, Halfling Thief 3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 4/12
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 5/32
  Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: -4/9, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl and 0/1 2nd lvl

PC Magic:

• Protection From Evil (Ingrid): -2 to be hit by Evil. Duration: 19 rounds.

Player Resources:

• Tale of Terror (the story so far)
  A Dark and Terrible World (maps)

[Urson]

Pyotr

As his harpoon returns to his hand, Pyotr throws it at (Z1).
[1d20] = 7+1

[Rusty Tincanne]

Hothhi's broken, unconscious body lays in the cold, slushy snow.

[ChubbyPixie]

""Hang in there, Long Bo!" yells Telkis. He'll trundle as fast as he can through the snow to smash from behind the undead attacking the druid.
Morningstar +1 (THAC0 19): To Hit:[1d20+1] = 13+1 = 14, Damage: vs s/m [2d4+1] = 4+1 = 5, vs L [1d6+2] = 5+2 = 7

[wolfpack]

[1d20] = 7

Brevos gags and chokes as he waits for z4 to stick its head back up

[1d20+1] = 14+1 = 15 (-2 would be 13)

[1d8+1] = 4+1 = 5

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

The cleric draws her mace as she runs to defend the fallen druid. Facing the only remaining abomination, in her haste to get there, she is unable to take proper aim and swings wildly.

Mace (THAC0: 18): To Hit: [1d20+2] = 7+2 = 9, damage: small [1d6+3] = 2+3 = 5 / large [1d6+2] = 2+2 = 4

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo resists again.

Save vs. Death, Paralysis, Poison (9) [1d20] = 11

He wonders why the trees have stopped attacking while he scratches the monster in front of him with his spear.

Spear Attack [1d20] = 19 Damage [1d6] = 2

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur clings to life, barely, his mind fluttering between this plane and the next.

Is his oldest friend beckoning, or sending him back? He percieves, without seeing, the shade of his faithful hound. But is he greeting, warning, rebuking, or rejoicing?

"No peace at the gate? What does that mean?"

[rredmond]

Rudolph takes a peek at the illusionist, and scans the trees that were so aggressive just minutes before. If all is well, or as well as it could be, he follows the priestess forward. The human magic-user looks pretty poorly off, so his plan is to bind the MUs wounds and pull him back out of harm's way.

But first, he'll take a second to light a candle. If he gets the opportunity as he passes by, he's going to use that candle to light the flask of oil and drop it in the altar opening. Hopefully flaming up an ugly undead head. "No mourners. No funerals." He murmurs to himself, a pyromaniac glint in his eye.

[Urson]

Pyotr

OOPS! thanks for the clarification!

Pyotr grips his harpoon as it returns to his hand, then charges toward (Z1), shouting in Orcish. Ey, urod! Zdes'!!

Yvan circles above, cawing. Ubey yego, urodlivyy!

[Inferno]

Rudolph takes a peek at the illusionist, and scans the trees that were so aggressive just minutes before. If all is well, or as well as it could be, he follows the priestess forward. The human magic-user looks pretty poorly off, so his plan is to bind the MUs wounds and pull him back out of harm's way.

But first, he'll take a second to light a candle. If he gets the opportunity as he passes by, he's going to use that candle to light the flask of oil and drop it in the altar opening. Hopefully flaming up an ugly undead head. "No mourners. No funerals." He murmurs to himself, a pyromaniac glint in his eye.

The heroes lost initiative again, changing the battlefield before Rudolf could act. So I chose the better of these two actions for him.