Return To The Ruins (Warlords Palace)

[silifi]

Sik follows Akhilleus to the boats and readies them for departure. He will take the raft.

[subaltari]

Magda

Magda decides to investigate, climbing and climbing the stairs until she finds a right angle bend that must lead back towards the area they searched days ago. Or was it weeks ago now?

This is uncharacteristically bold for the fair lady of arcane craft, and she's not as familiar as the others with this side of the complex... but someone has to fill in for the missing Scout. Perhaps Kain joined Magda on the staircase exploration?

‒‒‒‒‒

Magda returns to the party at the base of the cliff in time to join the discussion, and agrees when the appointed leader Akhilleus pronounces his decision.

"Forsooth we have little time left. In the message I enscribed for Drest I asked him, if able, to go back to the starting point of wherever he is in twelve hours. This gives just enough time for us to get back to my ahh, former home (...the Matron's grotto), rest, eat, and recover our arcane powers before returning to the eldritch dome."

"That was the initial idea after Drest disappeared. It's a good compromise. Let's stay at the Matron's Hut, then. This place is getting the best of our curiosity, so let's go back now and not linger any longer. We need to rest.

To the boats."

After a moment Magda follows the brash Kimmerian, looking back at the others with a cute smile ‒ the only apology they're going to get for letting her curiosity get the best of her on the ledge above.

[OGRE MAGE]

Under The Zakath Desert
Back Into The River
No Idea On Time Or Day

After what seems like hours of changing plans over and over, the group finally decides that leaving one of their own behind is not the correct move here.

They return to their rafts and push them back into the water, hoping to steer around the beachless cliff face back to where the Matrons shack sits so they can rest and recuperate there.

With limited lighting, the water crossing is fraught with peril, especially since they recently ran into one of the denizens of this waterway themselves earlier.

About halfway around the point they need to bypass, the lead raft is battered hard by something underneath the surface of the water. Luckily, none are sent flying into the river themselves. When the monster rears up out of the water again, there is no place to run away this time.

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Actions?

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Taibhse (Sh2) FA:0(20) AC5 11/11 CT Torch
Xenos (DS3) FA:3 AC5 17/17 CT
Akhilleus [/b] (F4) FA:4 AC4 14/35
Kainaxarthos (C3) FA:2 AC6 17/19
Magda (W2) FA:0 AC9 8/8 Sleep Hooded Lantern
Sik (Ba1) FA:1 AC5 9/12 Torch
Cyril (Pr3) FA:1 AC8 12/12 CLW, CLW, DM, HP Torch

[Karaunios]

Akhilleus doesn't hesitate this time, as there isn't anywhere to go, and attacks the beast.

Broad sword (one-handed) - To hit: [1d20+3]=12+3=15; Dmg: [1d8+4]=6+4=10

Broad sword (one-handed) - To hit: [1d20+3]=18+3=21; Dmg: [1d8+4]=5+4=9

Edit and re-edit: I added the second attack for Grand Mastery (3/2 attacks/round at Level 4).

Re-re-edit: Crap, that second attack should be the first of the next round. Don't mind if you cancel it or allocate it to the next round, OM.

[subaltari]

Magda (edited)

Aw, poop!
Who else is on the raft with Sik?

Supporting Akhilleus' and Xenos' bold moves, Magda sets her lamp on the seat next to her and grabs an oar from whichever fighter was using one. She tries to maneuver the skiff to get them in melee range this round, but urges that the group make for the near shore the next round. "We can fight it better on land than in this cold river!"

Wherever we decide to go, with ST 14 (Test of Strength 3:6) Magda can paddle fiercely.

[shaidar]

Xenos

Xenos also joins in the attack:

Scimitar (long): to-hit [1d20+2]=8+2=10, damage [1d8+3]=7+3=10

[silifi]

Sik, seeing himself trapped on the boat facing off against the thing, he concludes that this is a do or die situation - fighting on the raft is more dangerous the longer the fight goes, so he strikes his opponent with reckless abandon, wielding a torch in his left hand and his axe in his right.

Two-handed reckless fighting: [1d20]=13 damage with battle axe [1d8+1]=5+1=6

Two-handed reckless fighting: [1d20-1]=1-1=0 damage with torch [1d4]=1

Xathoqqua's Woe [1d12]=9

Sik stumbles whilst striking with his torch.

Shiiiiiiiiii

[Ahlmzhad]

Taibhse

Attacks the worm.

Attack [1d20+1]=15+1=16 Damage [1d6+1]=1+1=2

[The_Wanderer]

Cyril

"Great God. What now...?"

Cyril examines the beast, trying to determine if it is the same one that attacked earlier.

If Cyril is within touch range of the beast, he will cast Cause Fear and try to touch it. If not, he will fire a sling bullet; both rolls are below.



OR

[Monsieur Rose]

Kainaxarthos

On the follow skiff with Magda, Kain can do little but help move the skiff closer. He does try to look out at the dark water for more disturbances.

[OGRE MAGE]

Under The Zakath Desert
Falling Into The River
No Idea On Time Or Day

Torches and lanterns fly about the surface of the rafts, casting even more ominous shadows here and there while the fight rages. With the others desperately trying to figure out what they should do in a compromised situation such as this, the fighters leap to action, quite literally. Akhilleus swings his broad sword in a wide arc, opening another ochre gushing wound in this beasts rubbery hide.

Kain looks out over the water, hoping he doesn't spot any more of these horrors coming towards them. He and Magda jam their poles into the bottom of the river, trying to keep the rafts together and moving towards the shore.

Unwilling to leap from their rafts, Cyril, Taibhse, and Xenos have trouble getting close enough to hit the creature without falling into the water. Sik however, doesn't take safe distance into consideration, chopping at the monster with his ax while also trying to strike it with his torch. As the monster screeches in pain from the first blow, Sik slips on the wet floor of the raft. Instead of simply falling into the water, Sik leaps at the monster with reckless abandon, getting caught up in a couple of its tiny arms that end in sharp points. As the Barbarian wrestles with the slug, both bodies start to submerge below the waterline. Sik needs to pass a Test of Strength in order to act this round as he attempts to free himself from the monsters many appendages.

Actions?

Taibhse (Sh2) FA:0(20) AC5 11/11 CT Torch
Xenos (DS3) FA:3 AC5 17/17 CT
Akhilleus [/b] (F4) FA:4 AC4 14/35
Kainaxarthos (C3) FA:2 AC6 17/19
Magda (W2) FA:0 AC9 8/8 Sleep Hooded Lantern
Sik (Ba1) FA:1 AC5 9/12 Torch
Cyril (Pr3) FA:1 AC8 12/12 CLW, CLW, DM, HP Torch

[silifi]

[1d6]=1

Sik struggles mightily against the worm, and if able, attempts to pull himself back onto the raft.

[Karaunios]

Akhilleus starts to attack the beast as close to the head as possible and as far from Sik as possible.

Broad sword (one-handed) - To hit: [1d20+3]=13+3=16; Dmg: [1d8+4]=8+4=12

Broad sword (one-handed) - To hit: [1d20+3]=12+3=15; Dmg: [1d8+4]=2+4=6

I'm rolling two this time, since I mistakenly rolled two, instead of one, in the previous round and I don't know if both or only the first one counted.

[shaidar]

Xenos

Xenos continues to attack, hoping they can slay it before Sik is badly harmed:

Scimitar (long): to-hit [1d20+2]=7+2=9, damage [1d8+3]=6+3=9

Scimitar (long): to-hit [1d20+2]=1+2=3, damage [1d8+3]=5+3=8

[Monsieur Rose]

Kainaxarthos

He pushes off with the pole, trying to flank the creature with their skiff. "Get behind it! We'll attack its rear!"

[subaltari]

Does it matter who is in which vessel? Or are we all sort of together in a general, floating melee?

Magda
"SIK!" she squeaks as the barbarian splashes into close combat with the awful arthropod... and a few seconds later, "XENOS!" fearing her fellow Ixian is about to fall in the water too.

But it looks like Sik can handle himself, so she keeps her pole at her side in case Xenos needs rescuing next round. In the meantime Magda once again readies her sling and lets a bullet fly at the monster's greenish head.

Sling (1/1, FA 0, within 50ft) [1d20] = 6 Damage [1d4+1]=3+1 = 4

IF "Missile target engaged with ally" applies (PM p.264), she still misses any allies as we're at short range and she rolled >3. Phew!

[Ahlmzhad]

Taibhse

Will switch to bow since he can't engage in melee.

If he can get a shot of this round:

Bow Shot [1d20]=11, Damage [1d6]=1

[Karaunios]

Please avoid firing projectiles into a melee. A miss can hit another PC.

[subaltari]

Yes, it can. But in the previous encounter the monster reached a height of 10 feet, and if a missile attacker (at short range) specified they were targeting the head and not the body then there was less chance of hitting an ally by mistake.

At least... I thought there was. It could turn out to be a false assumption.

[The_Wanderer]

Cyril freezes in place before flinging a stone.

OM - Do you want to weigh in here on the rules? Is it reasonable to assume that a bullet could hit Sik?
Also - did Cyril's spell not go off last round or did he not touch the thing? Or did he touch it but it didn't affect it?