Chapter 4: Shadows and Piercing Light

[MonkeyWrench]

Rand steps into the room, eying the scrolls and papers. he stands in the corner of the room, letting the others search through the things at their own leisure.

[Zhym]

Elethil curses in the dialect of his tribe. "What kind of foul work was done in this place?" he asks in Common as he continues to look about the room.

To Whitsell he replies, "I certainly would not touch such an evil looking thing with my hands, or perhaps even with a sword! Whoever used this room dealt in darker things than traps."

Then he contemplates the papers written in a strange language. "I wonder if it would serve our cause to try have these translated?" he asks. "Is there anyone at the village who can do so?"

[Dizlexus]

Sunshine Reluctantly Enters

The Elf will lend the skills at his disposal.

Does anyone see a trap perhaps on here

He looks for traps about the skull: [1d100] = 88
I don't think it is trapped, he says, his tone lends no confidence.

I wonder if it would serve our cause to try have these translated

Sunshine says, rarely, but occasionally, I can decipher a language unknown to me.

If nothing happens he will exit the chamber, post haste.

6% read language

[MonkeyWrench]

As the others inspect the room Rand calls out Sunshine, "Don't touch that skull, no one does... just... don't." He shifts under the gaze of the others, "We should move on, nothing here is going to get us out of here any faster and I don't see any orb that you all are looking for, better to just... move on, without moving anything.... especially that skull..."

[onlyme]

Whitsell backs away from the book and sword, wondering what might be the danger.

[Rukellian]

"The elf and the young man are on to something here. This is no doubt some foul wizard's lair and that skull hasn't stopped looking at me since we opened this damned door!" Everyone else gets the same feeling as Captain Hal describes, as if the fanged skull is staring directly at you specifically, watching your every move...

"If the orb isn't here, the real one that is, we should-" The whole surrounding area shakes once more, another tremor running through the room, violently shaking all of the jars and items on the table and shelves. "What in the burning hells is going on in this place! We've never encountered so much as quake back in the villiage, and now its as if this mountain is going to explode at any moment!"

I'm going to need to know if anyone decides to take anything from this room or not. It is at this time that the archer guard screams(or was it Amberlynn that screamed? it sounded pretty girly....) and starts to fire some arrows at something behind the group. "S-s-spiders!?!" Looking around the corner of the room, you see 3 furry arachnids almost as big as a full grown man, scurrying towards you and the guard!

Actions and rolls, please state your intentions.

[Grognardsw]

Deceidon, fighter/thief

Deceidon fires his bow too down the hall at the approaching arachnids.

"Someone throw fire oil in front of them!" yells Deceidon.

Bow Attack Arrow #1: To Hit [1d20] = 16, Damage [1d6] = 6
Bow Attack Arrow #2: To Hit [1d20] = 8, Damage [1d6] = 4

[Grognardsw]

Flynn, fighter

The swashbuckler hurls his flask of oil in the hallway before the spiders.

"Throw that torch!" he barks to the guard holding the torch.

[Dizlexus]

Sunshine Fires

Sunshine's bow just got a name -- will be "The Dungeon Master".

Sunshine moves to become the party's left flank.

The elf draws 4 arrows from his quiver in a single stroke -- arrows protrude from each knuckle. He begins to feed his bow, "The Dungeon Master".

He concentrates fire on the same creature Deceidon fired upon:
Bow [1d20+6] = 15+6 = 21 Damage [1d6] = 2
Bow [1d20+6] = 11+6 = 17 Damage [1d6] = 6

Now everyone can see that Sunshine's "thing" is archery. The elf might be a jerk, but he's your jerk, and one hell of an archer. And his bow! The string sings with the release of every missile.

[Zhym]

Elethil considers rushing in to battle, but decides against it when he sees people throwing oil and readying bows. He too draws his bow and fires on the arachnids.

Short bow (THAC0 16): [1d20+2] = 17+2 = 19, Dmg: [1d6] = 5
Short bow (THAC0 16): [1d20+2] = 7+2 = 9, Dmg: [1d6] = 3

[Rukellian]

With a blaze of arrows and burning oil, the three approaching arachnids are quickly put down, their legs now shooting up in typical dead spider fashion. You can see more glowing eyes approaching from behind the flickering flames, 4 more sets to the keen eyed. During this round of combat, Elithil decided to try and take one of the scrolls, thinking some of them have potential value. When his hand makes contact with one of them, the fanged skull that had been staring at him and the group lunges forward, eyes glowing red, and opens its fanged mouth looking to bite!

Those who are still in the hidden room, and not combating the spiders, please roll for initiative. State actions and intentions, and time for round 2!

Captain Hal maintains his position in the group, not wanting to get in the way of the archers. He will engage in melee if any spiders make it to the group.

[Zhym]

Elethil groans to himself, "Of course," at the first motion of the skull. The strong elf draws his sword and strikes a powerful blow against the skull!

Initiative: [1d6] = 1
Long sword (THAC0 16): [1d20+7] = 20+7 = 27, Dmg: [1d8+9] = 8+9 = 17 (S/M) [1d12+9] = 1+9 = 10 (L)

Critical hit and max damage! Assuming he can get the attack in...

[Dizlexus]

Sunshine from the grassy knoll

Sunshine begins to hum the tune from "pop goes the weasel" as he continues to feed "Dungeon Master".

The elf likes glowing eyes as a target -- luminescent targets! Yeah!
Bow [1d20+6] = 3+6 = 9 Damage [1d6] = 5 (not Sunshine's fault -- someone must have distracted him)

Bow [1d20+6] = 13+6 = 19 Damage [1d6] = 5

[onlyme]

Whitsell will swing badly as he backs out of the room.

long sword attack [1d20+4] = 1+4 = 5 thac017; damage [1d8+4] = 5+4 = 9

[Grognardsw]

Deceidon spies the eyes of more spiders beyond the flames. He glances back to see others engaged with a skull. The fighter-thief opts to shoot more arrows at the spiders.

- Bow Attack Arrow #1: To Hit [1d20] = 9, Damage [1d6] = 6
- Bow Attack Arrow #2: To Hit [1d20] = 6, Damage [1d6] = 6

[Grognardsw]

Flynn motions Amberlynn back behind him. He slashes at the animated skull. "More magic? Vie evil skull!"

Ruk you can roll for him, I'm not up on his bonuses.

[Rukellian]

I will provide an update to this tonight or early morning tomorrow. Got some stuff to take care of on my end in the Real World, could take a while.

[Rukellian]

Elethil groans to himself, "Of course," at the first motion of the skull. The strong elf draws his sword and strikes a powerful blow against the skull!

Initiative: [1d6] = 1
Long sword (THAC0 16): [1d20+7] = 20+7 = 27, Dmg: [1d8+9] = 8+9 = 17 (S/M) [1d12+9] = 1+9 = 10 (L)

Critical hit and max damage! Assuming he can get the attack in...

skull shatter.jpg (80.63 KiB) Viewed 375 times

With a mighty swing of his blade, the flying fanged skull shatters before Elithil's blow! The book it was now guarding is open and ready for the taking, the scrolls on the table ready for the grabbing.

Whitsell will swing badly as he backs out of the room.

long sword attack [1d20+4] = 1+4 = 5 thac017; damage [1d8+4] = 5+4 = 9

In the confusion of the events inside the room Whitsell tries to make a hasty fighting retreat, not wanting to let the skull touch him. In his haste, he swings his sword poorly and manages to shatter a jar of something nearby. Fumes creep out and start to envelope around Whitsell. Please roll a save for poison.

Seeing all of this take place so quickly, Flynn sheaves his sword and proceeds in making sure Amberlynn is out of immediate danger, not wanting our healer to get bitten, poisoned, or any combination of the two.

The rest of the fighter combatants shoot arrows and swing with steel. Deceidon, finding himself distracted from the events next to him, aims poorly in his shots, as well as Sunshine; the elf's second shot, however, finds its mark next, bringing down a spider previously hit by the archer guard. The spiders close in, but are hurt by the flames. Captain Hal is quick to dispose of one of them, and wounds another. The spiders lash out, but only one of them actually hits! The archer guard reels back in pain, as venomous fangs sink it. He still moves though and is able to shrug off the venom's effect, surprisingly enough.

3 spiders remain, they are past the flames and the flames are dying down. The hovering fanged-skull has been obliterated but now poisonous fumes hang around Whitsell....

Roll for Actions and state your intentions. Time for round 3!

[MonkeyWrench]

Rand subtly retreats behind everyone as the group focuses their attention on the spiders. He seems to be watching the situation.

[Grognardsw]

Somewhat concerned about three giant spiders, Deceidon moves back to the shelves. He saw the effect of the broken jar. He scoops up an armful of jars near the broken one and lobs them before the approaching spiders.