Take Two...

[drpete]

Ethan is pleased to welcome the Lord Karstark to the battle. "Glad to have you along. I'm sure you know we're up against something horrible, but we'll do what we can."

[Magnus]

Not sure if the party is sending Gaerys to scout or the whole party is moving south towards the armory.

[Zhym]

Gaerys will do whatever the party decides. Obviously, scouting is only a valid option if he can do it based on ambient light, which there should be even a little of if there are still forges in the armory.

[drpete]

Ethan suggests Zhym scout the room to the west first, and we deal with that, then head down to the forge. We can be almost right there as he goes into the room with the fire. When we know that's clear, we can set up at the entrance to the forge tunnel to support him.

[Magnus]

Date: Autumn, 432 ca., Campaign Day 10
Time: 11:45
Weather: 55 degrees
Location: Steading Dungeon

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Magic in Effect: None
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Vorsyin: 38/52
Gaerys: 69/69
Hollis: 41/52
Lorath: 40/40
Ethan: 46/71
Marcus: 31/48
Olaf: 75/75

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Olaf suits up, thankful for the gear. When you see him in armor, with a magical battle axe no less, it dawns on you how truly powerful an ally the party has gained. He seems stronger than Hollis - even when the priest is wearing his magical gauntlets. Grasping Stormsong tightly, the warrior grunts "payback time" and winks at Hollis.

The wildlings fall upon the offered rations like a swarm of piranhas. Gaerys's kind heart betrays him - slightly - as he is taken aback by a selfish, rather than grateful, grasp by a wildling. They all devour their rations, almost fighting over them. They then turn inward, debating omens and such.

Gaerys loses 7 days' rations.

Gaerys turns back to see Robin pulling down his cloak and Yoren disappear in a puff of ash and feathers, and take the form of an owl. Unlike Antheris, who changed shape in a molding and stretching process, Yoren simply "poofs" into a new form, emerging from a cloud-like product of the transformation. The two young men carry out their orders diligently. Surely the lads would again ally with the party.

Marcus says to Ethan: "Should we heal up, ser?"

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Gaerys moves southward, keeping firmly to the shadow. In front of him, the hallway hits a "T" intersection. To his right (west), the weird light flickers ominously through a surreal fog. Yoren may have drawn a firepit, but that kind of light sure as hell isn't coming from any kind of earthly fire. And Gaerys would be walking right into it. Alone.

To his left (east), he can hear the distant clang of hammers on steel. A intensely hot glow flickers even this far down the hallway, forming healthy-size shadows.

[Zhym]

Gaerys scouts east and south, toward the armory. He decides that it would be unwise to go alone into the room to the west, where the fog would keep him from seeing anything until he was right on top of it—and it on top of him.

Do any sounds come from the west room?

[Magnus]

Gaerys continues his scouting efforts.

There are no sounds coming from the west room.

He slips through the shadows, drifting towards the armory. He moves from the long east-west hallway into the diagonal, relatively narrow, hallway.

The ranger comes to a halt about 15' down that hallway, as he sees two heavily armored marsh giants standing guard at the point that the hallway turns straight south (and widens). They do not seem to sense Gaerys. The hallway is too narrow for Gaerys to realistically sneak past them.

The ranger listens intently. He hears the grunts and screeches of what must be at least 10 hornfeet, likely coming from the room that swings to the east.

The ranger peers between the giants. He sees at least two - perhaps three - large, giant-sized, forms hammering away at a forge. Gaerys chokes down a small bit of fear, as he sees another robed marsh giant. A number of other large shadows---marsh giants, perhaps? can be seen.

The ranger's scouting has been effective...the armory is manned by a formidable group of giants, but who are unaware of the party's presence. And perhaps that gang of hornfeet includes Oorak...and Giantbane??

[Zhym]

Gaerys returns to the prison complex and reports, pointing to Yoren's map. "There are two hornfeet guards a short way into the passage, at least ten more hornfeet in the room off to the side, several giants in the room with the forge, and a robed priest."

"How do we attack? A fireball should cover all of the forge area, or the side room and the guards, but not both. Vorsyin or Lorath would have to get far enough in to have a clear shot, and a fireball might destroy Giantsbane, if it's in there. The robed giant is the biggest single threat, but he's way in the back behind the guards amidst a bunch of other giants. How do we take him down quickly with all those other giants in the way?"

Armory.jpg (190.83 KiB) Viewed 708 times

[saalaria]

"I would vote for a blast of fire to clear our path. Surely a magic sword would have greater innate protection to fire wouldn't it? I have no direct experience in this matter of course! Given the sheer number of foes we need a major weapon to even the odds in our favour"

[Magnus]

FWIW, Giantsbane needs to beat a 3 to survive a fireball. Assuming that it is in there, of course....

[Magnus]

Lorath steps forward and says

I agree that we should strike these foes with a blast of fire whilst they are unaware. The quicker we dispatch these foes, the stronger we will be in facing this "Messenger" ... I have such an evocation available, though Master Vorsyin would have a more powerful spell available"

[Zhym]

Magnus: how high are the ceilings in this area of the dungeon?

[Zhym]

I've been laying out potential fireball blast areas, as is my wont, and a fireball will be tricky to pull off. The good news is that if we can pull it off, one fireball should hit most of the foes in the area.

The big problem is those two hornfeet guards. If they're where I drew them in the map above, they're right in the path of a fireball. If the fireball detonates at one of the guards, we get this, assuming the ceilings are at least 25' high:

Screen Shot 2014-03-30 at 12.00.55 PM.png (413.08 KiB) Viewed 686 times

Not optimal if we don't want to get flame-broiled.

If we can take the guards down quickly to give a clean shot, we should be able to get this instead:

Screen Shot 2014-03-30 at 12.32.27 PM.png (418.12 KiB) Viewed 686 times

The question is how we take those guards down quickly enough to make room for a fireball to go where it needs to go. Is it possible to cast a fireball over the heads of the hornfeet? Could it be cast while levitating?

[drpete]

Ethan agrees with Marcus' suggestion that they heal up before assaulting the giants in the forge, as this could get ugly. He'll take a draft of healing potion, and Marcus will take his, as well.

[saalaria]

Excellent as always Zhym. Could we tempt the guards out? Depends how well trained they are really and also what would we use as bait?

[Zhym]

The trick would be drawing the guards out without bringing anyone else or alerting them that anything's wrong.

Then again, the problem with levitating to cast fireball over the guards is getting Vorsyin into position and casting the spell without being seen. Probably not that likely, either.

What's needed is a new spell: Beckham's Bending Fireball, which can be cast around obstacles.

Another option would be to have Lorath use Vorsyin's wand of lightning bolts to (hopefully) clear a path while Vorsyin casts Fireball. The wand, being faster than casting the spell, should happen first. But then the question is how Magnus plays the Lightning Bolt bounce mechanic. Does it bounce back at the caster regardless of the angle of the wall, or does it bounce like a pool ball off a rail? If the latter, it's safe to cast at the guards. If the former, not so much.

[Magnus]

Bolts bounce like pool balls. Zhym - don't get the protractor out on me or anything, but I try to apply some level of geometry.

A mage could shoot the pea-sized ball between guards with a successful attack roll. Let's say THAC5?

[Magnus]

Bolts bounce like pool balls. Zhym - don't get the protractor out on me or anything, but I try to apply some level of geometry.

A mage could shoot the pea-sized ball between guards with a successful attack roll. Let's say THAC5?

[Zhym]

Hm. A magic user needs a 12 to hit AC5. so that would still be only a 45% chance of success and 55% chance of broiled mage (and anyone else standing in the hall).

Is Protection from Fire still in effect on most party members? Was it cast on Vorsyin?

ETA: Looks like it wasn't: viewtopic.php?f=87&t=2311&p=73729#p73685

[Magnus]

Anything that Antheris cast died with him.