Eb and the girls go here.
East. A path is chosen and the three souls travel to it instantly. You stand at the end of a very long, smoky, misty hall. Behind you is a solid stone wall with streaks of rusty iron, 15 feet ahead of you are doors to the north and south along the hallway, and the hall continues to the west farther than you can see in the mist. A few dotted torches provide misty banks of light to see with. However, due to the foggy conditions, seeing more than 30 feet ahead isn't possible.
A mere 5 feet ahead a sword swings very slowly and lazily back and forth, as if trying to defend the passage. It moves no faster than a tired man, sluggishly moving of it's own volition back and forth, back and forth. It takes it about a minute to go from side to side of the hallway.
Sacchin studies the motion of the sword, including which way it's pointing and whether the hilt happens to ever face in her direction.
The sword' arc is generally attacking in your direction, blade first and hilt away towards the west. Sacchin also notes that the hilt has a greasy looking black residue all over it, like thick grease. It's slow enough that going around it to get to the hilt on the other side would be simplistic, however.
Sacchin crouches so the sword couldn't hit her even if she stayed still, and moves underneath it's arc to the opposite side.
Sacchin crouches and moves under the sword! This goes well and without sudden death catching up to her. The hilt of the sword is now pointing at her, the blade still pointing in the direction of the other two spirits.
Sacchin drops her backpack on the ground and pulls out a thick blanket, which she tosses over the blade as it moves from side to side.
The thick blanket is tossed over the sword! Under the weight of it the sword's slices lessen, the entire metal thing clattering to the ground! A few gashes are made in the winter blanket, but overall it pins the greatsword down.
Sacchin approaches the sword from behind and uses what's left of the blanket to try and wipe that black substance off the hilt.
With some skillful stroking of the blade's hilt, Sacchin is ablet o remove the black, greasy substance. It stains the blanket and leaves a thin residue over the hilt, but it's more or less gone.
Sacchin tries to siphon some of the substance into her flask, wringing out her blanket as necessary, and then removes the blanket.
It's pretty slippery and greasy, but Sacchin is able to get some into her flask. Once the blanket is removed, the sword floats up and begins to attack again, still towards Fleshert and Euphy.
Sacchin takes a good look at the sword to see if there's anything noteworthy or remarkable about it (particularly the quality of the blade.)
It's a sword! A shiny sword! A stabby sword! Sword! Swooooooord! Sacchin is sure of that. Without training in appraisal or a like discipline, assessing quality is foolhardy.
There's not much noteworthy beyond the black substance that was on the hilt.
Sacchin shrugs and leaves the sword behind for now, advancing slowly into the fog until she's roughly level with the doors.
The brutish girl managed to duck beneath the sword and get across, and she is certainly bulkier than Euphemia. Thus, there is no need to reinvent the wheel, merely to copy Sacchin's actions to get across.
And she is certainly not staining her hands with that grease.
"There's some sort of trickery afoot, here," Flasheart remarks as he eyes the sword. Still, once the other two get past without incident his concerns are somewhat assuaged, and he copies their methodology.
"Hah! If that's the best this Dark One has up his sleeve, we'll be done in time for breakfast!" Following Sacchin up to the doors, he does the gentlemanly thing. "Allow me," he offers before shoving open the South door and bursting through to whatever awaits on the other side in his own dramatic style!
"You lead. I follow," agrees Sacchin, dragging her sword along the ground, with the occasional scraping noise emitting from the edge.
Lord Flasheart surges through the southern door! It opens with style and aplomb, showing what lies ahead! A room full of broken rubble and broken furniture and debris. It's really rather large and winding, with several paths leading into giant hills of refuge.
"Bah, such a mess," Flasheart registers his disgust. "Certainly not fit for two ladies to be walking through."
Therefore he opens the door's opposite number to the north.
The north door is made of wood with steel joints. It's locked, not opening to a casual attempt.
Sadly Lord Flasheart must recognise that his current form lacks the psychotic strength of the real him, and breaking the door down would likely prove impossible.
For him.
Briefly eyeing Sacchin he notes, "You look like a stout and sturdy girl. Why don't you give it a kick?"
"Or we could merely try another pathway," Euphemia comments, examining the room with visible distaste. "Some things are meant to remain under lock and key, after all."
"Center that way. Others already North," agrees Sacchin, opting to continue down the foggy corridor.
"Yes, they're probably already dead by now," Flasheart notes philosophically. Oh, well, nothing to be done, and so he heads along with his two lovely companions.
As the party heads begins to head down the foggy corridor, a sound behind them is heard! The locked door opens quite loudly, closed roughly a few moments later!
Sacchin whirls around, hissing, and stares coldly at the door, awaiting whatever may come forth!
Just past the door, having slammed it shut, is a little humanoid creature. A bit of steam surrounds it, tiny wings on it's back helping it stay slightly airborne. "Ssstupppid sssssssneaaaks!" He scowls at the door, firing off a few obscene gestures. His back is to the party.
"I say, little fellow!" Lord Flasheart hails the creature. It seems like a resident and appears more talkative than the horrid minions of the Dark One that ruined his world. Hopefully it will recognise his inherent greatness and be properly awed and helpful. "You look like a decent chap who knows his way around this place. Care to help an old chum out?"
Treating this as a diplo attempt, since it's the focus of your character and all that.
* Hatbot --> "Catgirl_Ko rolls 1d20+21 and gets 23." [1d20=2]
"Who cccaaaressssss?" Scowling at the elven aristocrat who deigns to speak to him, the creature has steam rise from it's head. "I haaaaveee myyyy oowwnnnn problemssssssssss!"
"Dark One got you down, eh?" Flasheart commiserates. "I bet he's got you performing in his little games just the same as we are - why don't you come along with us and maybe your problems won't seem so big after a while?" Of course, he'll likely have other problems when the depression hits and he realises how worthless he is compared to Lord Flasheart, but that's just normal.
"Oooooh yeaaaaah?" Fluttering to peer at Lord Flasheart with his beady little eyes that leak steam, "Yooouuuu helllp meeee with MYYYY problemsssssssss, I heeeelp youuu!"
"And what kind of help might you be seeking?" Euphemia speaks, with just the right mix of curiosity and a superiority born out of confidence. If their goals coincide, she wouldn't particularly mind having this creature reach the goal alongside them. If its wishes prove to be a distraction, however, there would be little sense in even a temporary alliance.
"Tttheyyy'reee trrryinnnngg to killll meee!" The creature hisses. "Sssssaaavee meeee!"
"What callous knaves would strike at such an obviously pitiful specimen?" Flasheart rails at the injustice. "Come with us, my unfortunately malformed and speech impedimented friend, and you'll be safe!"
"P-ppitiful..." While a look of indignation crosses it's face, the steamy creature flies behind Flasheart. "Ttttheeey're in the passsssssagesssss behiiinnd the dooooor!"
Sacchin stomps over to the door and peers through it.
Behind the door is an almost immediate drop. A ladder allows easy climbing down. Distantly you can hear the sounds of some scuffling - maybe the twang of a bow as well?
"Sacchin fight? Sacchin stay?" she queries, glancing back at the attractively bloodstained girl (why did she cover them up?) and the dashing man with the nice shirt (but silly weapon.)
Peering over Sacchin's shoulder as she stands on her toes, Euphemia wonders out loud, "Didn't you get some of that disgusting grease? It could make climbing up pretty hard, if used right."
Peering at the ladder, one can note that the mist begins to thin as ou go down. The ladder itself is made of sturdy enough looking wood, going down twenty or so feet to the bottom safely.
"That won't help if they can fly like our friend here," Flasheart notes, briefly eyeing the steaming... thing and adding, "Marvellous!"
"Tttttheeey caaaan't fllyyyy!" It flutters behind Flasheart's head, "Greeassssseee the laaaaddeeeer!"
Sacchin looks rather pissed at having to put down her sword, but uses a small amount of the grease she's recovered to slicken the top four rungs of the ladder, before standing up again and closing the door.
"Sacchin done."
"There you go!" Flasheart claps his new friend on the back just above his beating wings in a hearty gesture of comradeship. "You'll be safe now, so how about lending us a hand to get to the centre of this wheel?"
Fluttering int he air from the pat, the creature sighs in relief. "Noooo waaaay they get up now. Thaaankssss!"
He starts flying ahead down the misty corridor, "Waaatcccch ouuuuttt! Snaaaakeee-heaaads deeeefend this paaaaatttth, but it'ssss the riiight waaay!"
Sacchin's eyes brighten up at what is clearly a prospect of unmitigated violence, and she trundles after the mephit, glancing back at her companions with glee. "Killing! Time to kill! Let's go!"
Halfway towards the beast, she stops, and picks at her fang. "Where Kni.. nit... nnngh. Knight of Marshes is for killing. Where?"
"Good show!" Flasheart grins. "I had a good feeling the moment I laid eyes on you. Now, even in a place such as this we mustn't forget our manners - you have the pleasure of travelling with the Lord Flasheart," he introduces himself with a flourish as they head down the corridor.
"Ssssssissshhhttttt." He answers, before peering at Sacchin. "Talk aaaabout theee Kniiiight aaafter the Snaaaakeheadsssssss! Snaaaakeheaaaadsss very daaaangeroussss!"
Sacchin shoves her sword through a crude loop in her belt; the tip very nearly touches the ground, and it looks not at all secure.
A bow crafted from bone is drawn instead, hanging loosely from her palm. "Go," she instructs, eager to get moving. "Tell when enemies near."
"Theeeeey coooomeee ooooutt of the miiiist," The steamy creature warns. "Liiiikkkeee screaaaamers. Haaave boooow ready!" Nonetheless, the creature makes no move to advance forward. He nudges at the back of Sir Flasheart. "Yoooou gooooo."
"Hah, they'll regret it if they try a sneak attack," is all Flasheart says as he bravely advances forward.
Sacchin likewise trudges after Flasheart, arrow nocked and ready to fire at whatever creature with a death-wish might fly out!
The crossbow is easy enough to load, though Euphemia holds it casually, seeing no need to aim into the mists.
"Yes," she says with a small smile playing on her lips. "We'll avenge your ignoble death in the event of a cowardly sneak attack."
Thus the party heads deeper into the fog! It becomes thicker as they advance, limiting vision to a 20 ft range. Ahead in the fog you can see a freestanding stairway, going up ten feet at an easy angle. There are no hand rails or supports, the top of it connecting to a free floating platform. Below the stairway and platform is emptiness, a vast chasm glimpsed as far as it can be under the foggy conditions.
Moving the crossbow into a more manageable position, Euphemia tosses a pebble at the stairway.
The pebble is tossed! As it soars over the stairs, descending down, they come oout from the mist like a shot! These things are blue, disembodied heads with writhing snakes for hair. They are distinctly feminine, soaring out and hitting the pebble in drive by swipes! It sends the pebble off course, plunging down into the chasm! Just like that they are gone, flying back into the mists.
"Let's try this again, only once they appear we'll shoot those... flying heads," Euphemia suggests, stumbling over the description for their obstacle. She levels her crossbow at the stairway, and waits for the pointy-earred lord who didn't bring a bow along to be the one to summon the blue things.
"Bah, there's nothing to hold onto with those things. Woof!" Flasheart announces boldly before turning his attention to their new friend. "How about getting their attention and then the ladies can sort things out?" he suggests jovially.
"Noooo waaaaay!" Shaking it's steamy head, "Thoosssssee thiiings hiit and BITE hard!" The creature drifts back a little, away from the stairway. It goes for Euphy, settling on her shoulder.
"They also seem a bit dim," Flasheart reckons, picking up a pebble and tossing it over.
Euphemia looks at the flying thing for a long moment, before dismissing it as a bug not worth squashing. "Lord Faintheart, if you will?" she requests, waiting for him to follow her example and toss some piece of rubble on the stairway.
A pebble is thrown again! Again two of them come from the mists, rushing the pebble!
You guys are prepared, you can shoot at 'em if you like.
Euphemia picks the rightmost head to shoot at.
Euphy, could you include your combat values when you make a post? Makes my life easier.
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+2 and gets 22." [1d20=20]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+2 crit? and gets 5." [1d20=3]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d10 and gets 10." [1d10=10]
With a lethal accuracy, Euphy aims well and directly impales one of the two flying heasd through it's eye! It bursts apart into a spray of tiny writhing snakes that plummet into the abyss!
Sacchin, you can shoot as well since I recall you readying your bow in your last post.
Sacchin, too, allows an arrow to fly forth from her outstretched weapon!
[09:44:54] <Nao> roll 1d20+6 shootage
[09:44:56] * +Hatbot --> "Nao rolls 1d20+6 shootage and gets 22." [1d20=16]
[09:45:00] <Nao> roll 1d8+2
[09:45:02] * +Hatbot --> "Nao rolls 1d8+2 and gets 3." [1d8=1]
Good shot! It only grazes the flying snake-haired woman's head, but it's enough to make it burst into a rain of snapping snakes! It's gone, the pebble landing with a clatter on the stairway.
"Weak..." mutters Sacchin. "Only two? More?" she demands of the steaming, impious thing.
"Theeeey coooome baaaack," He hisses, "Doooooo that when heeee crosseesssss!"
"Flash by name! Flash by nature!" Flasheart winks bawdily at Euphemia before leading the way once more up the now hopefully clear stairs.
Sacchin readies her bow to shoot down any more of those weak creatures that might present themselves to be killed, anticipating action based on their minion's words.
Euphemia likewise has her crossbow loaded and ready, though whether she'll shoot the flying heads or Lord Faintheart is another matter entirely.
+2/1d10/19-20 x2
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+6 Sacchin shoots and gets 9." [1d20=3]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+2 Euphy shoots! and gets 6." [1d20=4]
Sacchin and Euphemia shoot as two more blue snake-headed women come screaming out of the fog! Sadly both girls are not crack shots this time, neither head striken as they go for Flasheart! The first goes for his chest, as if to send him sprawling out!
Flasheart, you can AoO the bold creature as it tries to hit you if you like.
Flasheart was so confident that none would dare strike at him that he hasn't even drawn his rapier since setting foot in the dungeon.
So he's not really in a position to stab anything that's flying straight at him.
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20-1 Bull Rush days! and gets 15." [1d20=16]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 Flasheart and gets 12." [1d20=11]
The creature slams right into Flasheart's chest and side! It strikes with enough force to send him staggering to the side. There's only one problem with this - this stairway doesn't have rails or much of anything on the side to stop someone from falling off. Lord Flasheart finds himself just starting what looks to be a very epically long and painful fall!
You can try some reaction if you'd like Flasheart.
Lord Flasheart has both hands free at least, and so tries to grab onto the side of the stairs before falling to his death.
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20-1 DC 10 dex check to be quick enough good luck and gets 13." [1d20=14]
With an instinct borne of pure desperation, Lord Flasheart grabs the edge of the stair! He hangs on by one hand, dangling just above a gaping doom! The two heads are flying about now, chaos breaking out!
Initiative here.
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20 head 1 and gets 10." [1d20=10]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20 head 2 and gets 17." [1d20=17]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20-1 Flasheart and gets 4." [1d20=5]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 Euphy and gets 12." [1d20=11]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20 VAMPIRE GIRRL and gets 1." [1d20=1]
Initiative is: Head 2>Euphy>Head 1>Flasheart>Satsuki.
The second snake-headed head seems quite vicious, turning it's course and flying at Euphy! This one isn't headbutting, oh no, it's biting with all it's snaky hair snakes!
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 bite and gets 6." [1d20=5]
But Euphemia is better than that, sidestepping the massive overbite of the flying snake head! It goes a bit past her after, soaring through the air with deceptive, magical ease!
Euphy is up.
"We'll do something about the head attacking you," Euphemia decides, her voice commanding as she aims the crossbow at her stated target. "Use that chance to pull yourself up and get across!"
Once the bolt is away, another is loaded in its stead, so that she would be ready to defend herself without delay.
+2/1d10/19-20 x2
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+2 snipe and gets 15." [1d20=13]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d10 and gets 2." [1d10=2]
With a quick shot, Euphy downs another snake-head! It bursts into snakes that rain down into the chasm!
Initiative is now:
Initiative is: Head 2>Euphy>Flasheart>Satsuki.
You're up, Eb.
Flasheart does his best to pull himself up to the stairs and then hurry along to what's hopefully safety ahead.
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 DC 10 climb to haul self up and gets 12." [1d20=11]
With his chest and muscles straining, Lord Flasheart manages to pull himself back up atop the stairway! He is no longer about to plummet to his untimely second demise!
Satsuki, you're up.
Sacchin swivels about to load and fire a second shot towards the head pestering the girl, but avoids shooting it straight away, her eyes narrowed in dark suspicion. She positions herself such that should the head come flying towards her, it could overshoot itself and wind up suspended over the chasm again.
OOC: Readied action to shoot it when/if it's over the void. No, I don't want to be right next to the pit, probably 10 feet away or so.
The snake-head whirls back around, soaring through the misty air! It goes back over the chasm, rocketing for Flasheart!
Sacchin, you can make your held action if you like. Do you?
Sacchin releases her arrow, sending it hurtling towards the offending head!
[14:35:10] <+Nao> roll 1d20+6 shootage 3, return of shootage
[14:35:11] * +Hatbot --> "Nao rolls 1d20+6 and gets 8." [1d20=2]
Fortune is not with Flasheart or Sacchin, as her arrow misses the head at it slams at the still rapier-less nobleman!
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20-1 medusa head and gets 13." [1d20=14]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 Flasheart and gets 12." [1d20=11]
Eb, I'm going to assume you try and grab the edge of the stair again, since there's little point in falling helplessly to your doom. If this is overreaching on my part, feel free to smack me about it.
Again Flasheart is hit! Luck is again not with him, as he finds himself tumbling over the edge! Only his wily instincts can try and save him now!
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20-1 dex check flasheart and gets 15." [1d20=16]
His skill is as good as his word, letting him grab the edge with both hands this time! But once again he dangles over the edge, between life and death!
Euphy, you're up. Good luck.
Must she do everything, Euphemia wonders, before coming to the realization that it is her obligation. She repeats what is now becoming routine, sending a bolt towards the remaining flying head before reloading.
+2/1d10/19-20 x2, -2/1d10 if shooting into melee
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+2 no melee since it bull rushed poor Flasheart away and gets 11." [1d20=9]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d10 and gets 10." [1d10=10]
Twang! With that second shot, the flying snake-head is shattered, bursting apart into raining snakes! So slain, the danger is past!
Free action.
Sacchin stows away her bow, glancing back at Euphemia with what could only be described as petulance. Putting that aside for now, however, she cautiously draws her sword and advances to draw level with Flasheart, ready to strike down anything else that might fly out.
Should nothing come, however, she reaches down to give Flasheart a hand.
Flasheart gratefully accepts Sacchin's assistance in getting back up. "Oohf! Quite a grip you have there," he grins, dusting himself off as he clambers to his feet before looking around in satisfaction. "It seems like they fell for our cunning distraction. Never let it be said that Lord Flasheart is afraid to suffer a few bumps and bruises for those under his care!"
Assuming we can take 10 on the clambering up since the danger is now over
Sacchin doesn't look terribly grateful after she finishes pulling Flasheart up (though it's questionable if, with a face like that, she could manage such an expression if she even tried.) "Use weapon to kill enemies," she insists, glancing at his disused blade.
For her part, she glances through mists ahead, towards the other end of the bridge.
"I've got a weapon for you right here! Woof!" Flasheart announces boisterously with a lewd gesture.
Sacchin doesn't seem to understand the connotations of the gesture, looking at Flasheart with some bewilderment.
The lack of a violent response clearly shows she's overcome her shyness. "Good show!" Flasheart announces happily, drawing his rapier and advancing bravely onwards!
Sacchin trails behind Flasheart, concentrating entirely on searching out things to kill. Her sword grinds against the path she steps on, making an ugly scraping noise.
Taking this chance the party advances on past the stair! As they do, the little steaming friend looks up from his perch on Euphemia. "Caaaaareeefulll....thaaaaatssssssssss not aaaaaal of theeem! The yeeeeeeelooooow onneeessssssssss aaaaaare woooooorsssseeee aheaaad!"
Meanwhile, up the stair, the party can see that this path advances ahead for a ways. With poor visibility they trudge on, coming to a small gap in the platform. It's as if a few blocks are missing, a five foot gap where the only thing that rules is the endless chasm. Past it the path continues on quite normally.
Or it looks to continue quite normally, Euphemia muses as she tosses something across the gap and on the platform's other side right past it. She them repeats the attempt, except picking a slightly distant section of the platform to test thus.
The first throw nets attention! From the mists two of them come again - but this time they are a sickly yellow! They merely graze by the pebble, not hitting it as hard as the blue ones. The pebble makes a sharp, short CLANK as it lands askew on the platform.
Sacchin retrieves her bow once again, wordlessly awaiting a second pass.
The second pebble is on its way, while Euphemia prepares to deal with these enemies the same way they've handled the previous group.
+2/19-20 x2/1d8
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+2 Euphy bow action! and gets 22." [1d20=20]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+2 Euphy bow action! crit?!?! and gets 3." [1d20=1]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d8 and gets 6." [1d8=6]
As the pebble flies, Euphemia readies her crossbow! A single successful shot impales the yellow-snakehead, which crumbles into pebbles and chunks of rock below! The second one is still going, not shot - yet.
Sacchin? You can attack now if you'd like.
Sacchin fires at the remaining creature, all too willing to put it out of it's obvious misery.
[03:52:30] <Kallen> roll 1d20+6 I will kill the demons!
[03:52:31] * +Hatbot --> "Kallen rolls 1d20+6 I will kill the demons! and gets 17." [1d20=11]
[03:52:34] <Kallen> roll 1d8+2
[03:52:35] * +Hatbot --> "Kallen rolls 1d8+2 and gets 4." [1d8=2]
The second shot flies true as well, impaling a snake-head and doing grevious damage to it! It breaks apart into stones as well, both of them crushed!
Feel free to act.
"Again. Until no more come," mutters Sacchin, readying another arrow.
Euphemia smiles pleasantly, in full agreement, and reloads her crossbow before tossing a variety of pebbles, until she is absolutely certain that the passage beyond is both safe to tread on, and that no more heads come flying towards them.
Indeed, two more come from the darkness!
* Hatbot --> "Infinite_PyramidHeadKo_Loop rolls 1d20+2 Euphy shot and gets 13." [1d20=11]
* Hatbot --> "Infinite_PyramidHeadKo_Loop rolls 1d8 and gets 2." [1d8=2]
Euphy is again ready, arrowing on eof the heads to a stony dissolution! Only one is left, again going for the stone!
Sacchin. Shooting?
Sacchin shoots to kill, with no exceptions.
[04:20:13] <@Kallen> roll 1d20+6 shootage
[04:20:15] * +Hatbot --> "Kallen rolls 1d20+6 shootage and gets 24." [1d20=18]
[04:20:19] <@Kallen> roll 1d8+2 shootage
[04:20:20] * +Hatbot --> "Kallen rolls 1d8+2 shootage and gets 4." [1d8=2]
Another killing shot! Both of the heads are routed in short order, turned to falling stone that plummets into the misty ravine!
"Ssssstrong ssssshoootssss..." The steamy creature quips from his perch.
Free action again.
"Again," comes the inevitable demand.
Though this repetitive labor is getting to her, Euphemia reasons that she might as well endure it a bit longer, if only because getting bitten by a flying head would be far worse. Reload, pebble toss, watch for enemies, such is her plan.
+2, 1d8
This time, no snake-heads come!
Euphemia backs away from the gap, before running up to it and leaping across!
Taking 10 works, right?
A 5 foot gap is not overly difficult to cross. Getting a bit of a running start, Euphy is able to clear it swiftly enough, landing on the other side.
Sacchin follows suit, easily emulating Euphemia's motions.
Euphemia swiftly moves ahead, enough to allow the others to cross over safely, while covering them with her crossbow.
Lord Flasheart cheerfully jumps across the gap after taking a quick run at it. "Smashing good show, you two," he compliments the lovely ladies on their archery skills.
"We are either being severely underestimated by the Dark One, or he is trying to lull us into a fall sense of safety," Euphemia responds, looking ahead distrustfully. "It is one mistake I won't be making again."
Ahead a little further, the party can peer something ahead in the mist. The platform has something gruesome ahead - a massive iron crusher, bottom spiked and bloodied. It hangs ten feet above the ground, the platform below it bloodied and dented. A few bones and shattered skulls lie in a perimeter around it. It is five foot by five foot, essentially taking up the entire square it's on.
"I don't suppose there is an easy trick to this?" Euphemia asks her freeloader. If it intends to sit on her shoulder, it might as well realize that if she got crushed, it would perish right alongside her.
"Nooooooot that I knoooooow offfffff..." It replies, "Caaaan yooooou fllyyyyyy?"
"Only down," Euphemia responds dryly.
"Gooood luuuuuck," The steamy creature wishes, alighting up from Euphy's shoulders and going behind Sacchin instead.
Euphemia tosses another pebble from the assortment she had picked up earlier, aiming at the damaged square.
The pebble lands softly, no clatter from it. Nothing much happens.
Flasheart uses one of the ten foot poles handily provided by the Dark One and uses it to apply pressure on the ground beneath the crusher from a safe distance. "Lets see what it takes to set this off, eh?"
"Shouldn't it have made a sound?" Euphemia wonders, observing the elfin man's actions.
Flasheart messes with the floor a bit, poking it with his pole! It goes about, poking and prodding silently.
"Aha!" Flasheart declares triumphantly. "A cunning trick, but not so cunning as to deceive I, Lord Flasheart!" Turning dramatically to his companions he invites, "Watch and be amazed!" before taking a run up and jumping across the ground below the crusher.
The crusher comes screaming down, impacting Lord Flasheart as he jumps across! It goes straight through him harmlessly, the Lord landing on the other side safely! After a few blinking moments, the party can see that the crusher and floor is gone - instead of a grisly smashing field, there is another 5 foot gap ahead in it's place.
Euphemia swiftly follows!
The jump goes well! The flying friend follows, "Triissckysss..." he murmurs.
<CC> Rat will surely leap across as well, and wouldn't want to pause here
I can't really argue with that. If I'm taking too many liberties, club me, Rat.
Sacchin leaps over as well! Ahead, twenty feet and peered out of the parting mists, looks to be another crusher, identical to the last one.
Contrary to popular opinion, Lord Flasheart isn't stupid. So he again makes with the poking at the next crusher and the ground beneath it.
This time the ground seems to be more solid - there's even reassuring click-clacking noises from the contact.
"Try it again, with more force behind it?" Euphemia suggests, ready to help apply it if absolutely necessary.
Flasheart puts a bit of muscle behind it.
If nothing results he'll try poking the crusher from below (but not directly below)
* Hatbot --> "KotonoIbis rolls 1d20+1 and gets 17." [1d20=16]
Strength check.
Putting his muscle into it, Lord Flasheart gets a reaction! All at once the pole is knocked from his hands as the floor rises up! The crusher falls at the same time, the two meeting in a painful, grisly sandwich five feet in the air! The sound of the impact is jarring, the two staying together several seconds to grind against each other. Then they lower - but as they do, a virtual stream of six blue snake-heads come from either side of the mist towards the descending platform, a speedy fly by before they vanish back as the platform and crusher return to their starting position!
The pole falls to the side, clattering against the ground, before it rolls off the edge and falls into the ravine.
Flasheart, -1 pole.
"I think we should just try jumping across this platform as well," Euphemia muses, deep in thought. "But first, we can try and see if tossing something substantial would get some sort of response. I could use my armor for that."
"Trrrry iiiiit," The little flying creature hisses from behind Sacchin.
Euphemia sets her crossbow aside for the time being, stripping off her chain link armor and remaining in the blood-stained dress. She then mounts it on a pole of her own, intent on setting it aside past the platform in question without coming in contact with it in any way.
To clarify, you're holding it on a pole and ideally putting it down past the crusher's obvious range?
In my understanding, the platform is 5ft in length. I'll be approaching it with the armor dangling from the pole, so that the armor would be 10ft away from me, and pretty much try to set it past the platform while not stepping on it myself. May I not die in a particularly humiliating fashion!
Right.
Euphy comes close to the edge of the crusher! SHe extends her pole out as she does, armor dangling in the air. It touches the ground past the crusher without incident, not setting it off by that contact!
"Well, lets see if it's safe for a person then!" Flasheart exclaims before taking a run and heroically jumping across!
Flasheart jumps across! It's entirely too close - his head comes dangerously close to the spiked crusher, but he makes the jump safely!
Euphemia follows!
Euphemia comes marginally less close to a head conking but clears the jump! At this point your steamy friend crosses as well, flying serenely past. "Nowwww yooouuuu," he says to Sacchin.
Euphemia quickly and efficiently puts her armor back on at a safe distance while waiting for Sacchin to make the jump, crossbow in hand once she is done with her preparations.
Sacchin seems marginally distrustful of this approach, glancing into the mists after those creatures and even tossing another pebble across the danger zone.
Barring unusual events, however, she then makes the leap herself.
Sacchin hops across as well! A little ahead is yet another trial - two crushers one after another in a double feature of crushing agony. Just past them, in the ghostly mists, you can glimpse a stairway going down and an archway just past it. Both crushers are beneath solid bridge, more gore and broken bones in their shadow.
Idly, Sacchin tosses a pebble over the edge of the bridge and listens for how long it takes to hit the ground.
The pebble falls and falls and falls and falls and falls...nope, no sound. It vanishes out of sight into the mists.
Sacchin squints towards the top of the crushers to check if it would be strong enough to walk or clamber across.
The top of the crushers are sloped but they're made of metal. It looks possible, but balancing atop them would be a trick.
Sacchin glances even higher to see just what's suspending the crushers above the ground.
The crushers have a single linked chain suspending them up, going up too high and into the mist to tell what it connects to.
Following that, Sacchin tries to identify any segment of the platform that seems different to the others, whether raised slightly off the ground or something like that.
* Hatbot --> "KotonoIbis rolls 1d20-1 spot seems relevant and gets 9." [1d20=10]
The two crushers and the ground beneath them don't look altered or out of sorts at all. Sacchin doesn't see anything like that.
"Do you think you could swing one of those things if you had enough time?" Euphemia asks their tagalong, indicating the crushers. "Or, alternately, cut through the chain suspending one of them if you borrowed a sword from us?"
She considers her options further. "If all else fails, maybe we could get a rope around that linked chain and just climb over this obstacle."
"Maaaybeee...." Hesitating as he looks up, "It's daaaaaaangerous....." He flutters here and there, vacillating.
"Oh, fie on danger!" Flasheart declares heartily. "You can fly around the sides so it's not as if the crusher can come down on you, and if any of those flying snake faces come along you can be sure they'll be shot away before they can hurt you!" he tries to encourage their little friend to do the right thing.
<Kobot> Kodinner rolled 1d20+21 --> [ 1d20=20 ]{41}
Well.
The steamy flier flutters about, listening to Sir Flasheart's rousing words! "Ooooohhhh all riiiight. Whaaaat do you waaant me to doooo?"
"Take that big sword of Sacchin's there and see if you can cut through those weak looking chains holding the crushers up," Flasheart instructs. "Then we can just walk right over the top of them."
Sacchin hugs the sword protectively. "This for people, not things," she says, firmly. Then she pulls out a crowbar from... somewhere instead. "This for things, not people."
"Sssssssssswooord tooo biiiiig for meeee," The steamy one agrees, taking the crowbar heroically! He sags in the air as he holds it, but he slowly begins to fly up towards the top of the crushers! Wobbling in the air he takes a swing at the chain! The crowbar clatters against the steel as he wobbles, nearly losing his grip! He swings again and again - the sound of metal on metal! However, the crowbar doesn't seem to have enough oomph to do the job. The crusher swings a bit back and forth, but the chain isn't seriously damaged.
"Well, if that's not going to work..." Flasheart takes out a length of rope from his pack and tosses one end on top of the crusher. "Here, little chap! Tie one end of that around the chain so we can climb up and walk over the top of those things!"
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+1 --> [ 1d20=6 ]{7} use rope?!?!?!?!?!?
The little flying steamer does just that! He takes the rope up and ties it to the top of the crusher ten feet above, the chain carefully knotted!
"That's a good show!" Flasheart voices his approval, taking hold of the overlong rope that dangles over the side of the crusher and proceeding to tie a number of evenly spaced knots along its length for easier gripping while shortening the excess. "Now, lets give this a go!" he exhorts heartily as he attempts to climb up onto the surface of the crusher.
Eb's taking ten.
The rope strains under the bearable weight of Lord Flasheart, but he makes it to the top of the first crusher! It's surprisingly solid, bearing his weight better than the rope did! It's sloped a little tricky to walk on!
Using the suspended chain to help his balance, Flasheart walks along to the far end of the two crushers and then jumps down back onto the walkway!
deliberately jumping, so falling damage for 10 feet is nonlethal. Nothing if I can make a DC 15 jump check which I'll attempt
Lord Flasheart jumps ahead! As he does, he comes onto something odd! He doesn't go down! He lands on something in thin air - however, it's slippery!
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20-1 DC 12 (+2 due to being unexpected) balance check --> [ 1d20=15 ]{14}
With supreme poise, Lord Flasheart lands in midair, arms out as he balances! To everyone, as proof stares them in the face, they see it! A third crusher appears in the line, Lord Flasheart right on it!
"Ohh!" Flasheart reaches out to grab onto the chain suspending this new crusher. "I say, how devious!" More carefully now, he walks to the end of this third crusher and leans down to carefully test the air beyond to see if there's another invisible deathtrap.
The air ahead of Flasheart seems quite empty and safe.
"Well, I think we're safe at this point," Lord Flasheart deduces as he hops down and waits for his companions to catch up.
Jumping down as outlined one crusher ago
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20 DC 15 JUMP! --> [ 1d20=17 ]{17}
With once again infinite poise, Lord Flasheart leaps down to the floor safely!
Sacchin follows the man's movements without preamble.
Taking 10 as well. Um, what was the jump check for? Aren't we just falling straight down once we reach the end?
Jumping Down
If you intentionally jump from a height, you take less damage than you would if you just fell. The DC to jump down from a height is 15. You do not have to get a running start to jump down, so the DC is not doubled if you do not get a running start.
If you succeed on the check, you take falling damage as if you had dropped 10 fewer feet than you actually did.
That's what Eb attempted to use. It hasn't really been relevant before now.
The rope buckles as Sacchin climbs it, but she makes it to the top as well! Using the chains for support she is able to scale the crushers! At the end she attempts to drop down next to Flasheart!
* Hatbot --> "Endless_Ko_Spiral rolls 1d20 DC 15 safe jump down checking and gets 13." [1d20=13]
* Hatbot --> "Endless_Ko_Spiral rolls 1d6 and gets 6." [1d6=6]
20/26, Sacchin.
She lands akwardly, twisting her ankle! But she's down and safe, even though it hurts!
Euphemia follows, only in light of Sacchin's mishap, she decides to free up their rope and try to tie it to the other end, so that she'd have a better chance at getting down safely.
Dex mod is +1, str mod is -1, don't have the actual skills.
* Hatbot --> "Kowork rolls 1d20 DC 15 and gets 17." [1d20=17]
No damage. I'll look up that nonlethal thing after work.
Euphy leaps down and joins the other two. Thus the three advance ahead, down a small stair. There is an archway ahead, a large wooden door blocking the way. There is a large metal pull-ring in the center, crackling with blue-purple electricity.
Flasheart asks their flying companion to retrieve the rope from the chain before they advance. "I say, I'd wager that would sting," he remarks upon seeing the pull ring. "Perhaps if we hooked a rope through the ring we could use that to pull it open without receiving a nasty shock, what?"
"Or kick it over."
Sacchin scrutinizes the door, in particular whether or not it seems sturdy.
Your flying friend goes and gets the rope! Meanwhile, Sacchin can see that the door looks moderately sturdy. It's wooden and large, but it's not particularly invincible looking or anything.
The lock is obviously magical, but which spell does it hold? And is the same true for the door itself? Euphemia casts Detect Magic, deciding to find out.
I want to spellcraft everything in sight, my mod is +5. Also! You totally ignored my cunning (?) plan earlier, please don't or it makes me sad!
Oh sorry, Cor. My mistake, I made that post in a hurry. That'll teach me. -_- Anyway, unto the rollings. Speaking of, where did you get the info about making short falls nonlethal damage, Eb?
> roll 1d20+5
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+5 and gets 16." [1d20=11]
> roll 1d20+5
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+5 and gets 23." [1d20=18]
Casting magic and concentrating, Euphy can see that there are two auras at the door! She can't tell what the aura on the knob is, but the door's aura is evocation. Both auras are faint.
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/environment.htm#falling
If a character deliberately jumps instead of merely slipping or falling, the damage is the same but the first 1d6 is nonlethal damage. A DC 15 Jump check or DC 15 Tumble check allows the character to avoid any damage from the first 10 feet fallen and converts any damage from the second 10 feet to nonlethal damage.
Okay, thanks. Satsuki's HP is (6)26/26. Game on.
"The door will probably explode if kicked in," Euphemia comments, backing away to a respectable distance. Her eyes glow an ominous red. "But you should be able to survive it," she adds, addressing Sacchin.
Your flying friend skirts well back, alighting near Euphy. "Waaatttcch out if door goooes BOOOOM!" he says, covering his face with his arms. "Gooooood luuuuuck!"
Sacchins looks mildly irritated, and, stepping around thirty feet back from the door, opts to fling her crowbar at it.
The crowbar si thrown! As it impacts with the door, two giant splinters of wood jab out from it! They don't do much against pure iron besides deflect it, however.
Sacchin retrives her crowbar, and then repeats this feat once again!
The same thing happens! Iron is fired, wood pokes out, the crowbar is deflected! Each time the wood forms out parts of the door then smoothly flows back in after.
Lighting a torch, Sacchin throws it against the door, deciding that fire, perhaps, is a better solution to their problem.
Sacchin throws the torch! It hits against the door, wood doing what wood does - catching aflame! As it does, the fire spreading amid the wood door quickly, the entire thing begins to shake!
Sacchin backs away and goes prone, drawing her metallic shield to provide her with some cover!
Eb and Cor, one action each. Go ahead and do something and then I'll resolve this.
Flasheart moves back himself, not liking the looks of this.
Lets say we stopped 20 feet from the door, so after one move I'm 50 feet away
Euphemia dives back unceremoniously!
20ft is not a respectable distance! But okay. Moving back, then dropping prone~
Back off, the party hustles backwards and braces! It's a good choice, for as the door burns, dozens and dozens of spiky, stabbing projectiles fly out, aflame and acting like burning javelins! The quick action of the party makes the vast majority of them miss, flying off hither and tither and away from troubling you! A few do come close despite your distance, the door fading away even as it sends it's very burning substance about!
One in particular is infernally aimed, coming deadly close to Euphemia!
* Hatbot --> "Kolunch rolls 1d20+8 and gets 13." [1d20=5]
However, her chain shirt stops the projectile from penetrating her body! It was on the last arc of it's travel, burning it's burning self into her chain link protected shoulder! While not penetrating, the burning, smoky splinter is uncomfortably close to her body, the heat of it within a few seconds of starting some serious burns! Beyond this, the door is now gone, the threat past. An electric, sparking door ring sits where the door was, left alone and forgotten. Ahead there is a thin bank of mist, with something colorful past it, obscured.
If a brief glance at the burning splinter no longer reveals the same traces of explosive magics on it, Euphemia will use magic to battle this strange new threat!
Casting Create Water.
There's no magic around the splinter now. Casting create water even as her shoulder is nearly burned, a cascade of water cools the splinter! It's no longer on fire, soggy and wet and non flaming!
It's hard to say that Euphemia is happy, but she'd settle for satisfied as she brushes the shard off, looking curiously ahead.
Sacchin tosses a bit of wood into the room, but barring anything occuring, she steps in cautiously to get a closer look within.
Euphy and Sacchin advance in! Past the bank of mist they can see a large room! It's in the shape of a circle, several walkways jutting into it. This one comes from the east towards the center; each path is 25 feet seperate. A vast abyss is between each path; there are four paths total, each at a cardinal direction.
The inner twenty feet of the room forms a platform, but one ringed by bars with tiny gaps in them here and there. There are three colors of bars - silver and white, red and orange and black and blue. The gaps between the rods are minuscule right now, only giving the faintest hints of what might lie inside.
"What is this?" demands Sacchin, glancing back at the thing on Euphie's shoulder.
"Baaarrrier. Need riiight thiiings to opppeeen it!" Fluttering about, "Haaaaard to squeeeeeeeeeeeze through otherwissssse!" He answers, sticking close to Euphy.
"Where are things?"
"Speeeciaaaal baaaars," The flying friend answers. "They're hiiiiidddeeeeeen...Buttttt..." After a moment, "I can get you one maaaaaybe. There's a seeeeecreeeeet..."
Sacchin folds her arms and stares at the mephit, evidently hoping for elaboration.
Gesturing forward, "Coommeeee heeeere and I'll teeeelll you..." The mephit waits.
"Tell us all now," replies Sacchin, impatiently.
"Buutttt..." Shaking it's head, "That sssssssssspoilsss the fuuuun!"
"Then tell her," replies Sacchin, pointing at Euphie.
"Fineeee!" Flying up to Euphemia and landing on her shoulder, "Do yooooou waaaaant to heaaar the seeecreeet?"
"I would be delighted to learn it."
"Well...You neeeeed to cooooooome baaaack the ootheeeer waaaay with meeee..." It hisses.
"Now see here," Flasheart begins pompously, "What's all this about? We just came here past all those nefarious traps and such, and now you want us to go back! Poppycock! Now be a good little fellow and tell us all this secret, would you?"
Shrinking back from Flasheart's wrath, the creature flies back behind Euphy! "It's trueeee! You have to cooooomee with meeee!"
"Then we go," decides Sacchin. "Lead the way."
"Seeee?!" Waving as he goes back towards t he arch and it's misty passages and crushers, "Foooolllow meee!"
Sacchin has no compunctions against leading the way back. Learning from her past errors (as well as by watching her companions), she ensures that rope is used to provide a safe climb down when it comes time to navigate the three crushers.
Okay. You guys have more or less viable solutions for the misty hallway now. There's no more heads that you run into so we'll skip along the mundane careful climbing.
Once the group returns to the original misty hallway, the flying mephit goes towards the junk-room seen before, the one ignored by the party. HE flies close to the door, "In theeeeereeee...Secret is in theeeeereeee!"
"Enemies in here?"
"Caaan beee, caaareful," The mephit warns.
Arming herself with shield and flail, Sacchin prods Flasheart into the room. "We go. You shoot enemies," she states, glancing at Euphie before stepping inside.
Bolt loaded, Euphemia is more than ready to let others lead the way.
"They'll be sorry if they trifle with Lord Fllasheart!" the selfsame lord declares as he advances bravely into the junk-filled room, taking the leftmost path.
Thus the trio advances in! Sacchin and Flasheart lead the way, going down the leftmost path of junk! It winds quickly, the entrance very soon a memory indeed...
* Hatbot --> "Ko-KappaKillerKo rolls 1d20-1 and gets 0." [1d20=1] Flasheart.
* Hatbot --> "Ko-KappaKillerKo rolls 1d20+2 Euphemia and gets 7." [1d20=5]
* Hatbot --> "Ko-KappaKillerKo rolls 1d20-1 and gets 9." [1d20=10] Sacchin
* Hatbot --> "Ko-KappaKillerKo rolls 1d4 and gets 1." [1d4=1]
12/13 HP, Lord Flasheart.
As the group advances in, none notices something subtle. It's a thin, sharp metal wire laid at low ankle level. Indeed, Lord Flasheart only notices it when it painfully slices into his flesh! At the movement of it, there is a great din all around you - several bits of rubbish and metal come crashing down, half covering the path and making a horrible noise!
Path is about twenty feet wide, with 5ft encroachments of fallen rubbish on either side now. It goes on in a twisting direction at a slow angle.
"Oww! Blast it!" Flasheart pulls his foot back quickly. "Little fellow!" he calls over to their friend, "If you're not going to spot traps then make yourself useful and fly up so you can let us know if anyone's coming to investigate that racket!"
Sacchin, for her part, starts pulling debris from the walls in order to make an improptu barricade against any enemies coming from the front! Once completed, she'll takes out her bow and holds it at the ready.
As Flasheart berates your steamy friend, Sacchin goes to pull down some rubble. It rains down around her, making a small hill to hide behind!
"But that's daaaaaangerousss!" It's protest comes even as his words are somewhat true! Danger is approaching! Coming around the bend, 90 ft away, are a squad of six men! Each wears scale mail; the front three carry longswords and shields, the rear three having light crossbows at the ready!
Lurking behind her wall of scrap, Sacchin readies her bow, preparing to start shooting should the inevitable negotiations fail.
Go, Flasheart, go!
"I say! You there!" Flasheart calls over to the approaching band. "We're peaceful explorers, so lets all lower our weapons before there's any misunderstandings!"
"Death for the Dark One! Blood for his throne!" They call back as one, advancing closer even as Flasheart calls to them. "No mercy to the damned! Your punishment shall be engraved onto your soul!"
They look hostile, so I'm calling for initiative here.
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20-1 Flasheart and gets 11." [1d20=12]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 Euphy and gets 10." [1d20=9]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20 Satsuki and gets 3." [1d20=3]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+4 swordsman group and gets 12." [1d20=8]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+4 crossobwers group and gets 9." [1d20=5]
Initiative is:
Swordsman>Flasheart>Euphy>Crossbowers>Sacchin(Rei-chan!)
The swordsmen advance in a solid safe line, moving to thirty feet away from the party!
Flasheart-chan, you're up.
Flasheart bravely runs away! Maybe one of the other paths is safer?
Flasheart bravely runs away, back to the main entrance! There are three other winding paths to choose from next turn!
Euphy, you're up.
Euphemia releases a shot at one of the swordsmen, knowing that her archaic weapon would be less effective at range, and the same applies for the crossbows held by their enemies. She retreats afterwards, opening up the distance between herself and the attackers.
+3 (1d8, 19-20/x2, 80ft)
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+3 and gets 18." [1d20=15]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d8 and gets 6." [1d8=6]
Nice shot.
With a deft aim, Euphy shoots and takes the center swordsman right down! The arrow goes into his throat, his life ending in an arrow's breath! As he goes down, the line of crossbowmen advance thirty foot before bracing and firing, three bolts at the protected but close Sacchin!
You have cover, which gives you a +4 to AC. Your effective AC is now 20.
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 and gets 21." [1d20=20]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 and gets 16." [1d20=15]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 and gets 18." [1d20=17]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 crit? and gets 15." [1d20=14]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d8 and gets 2." [1d8=2]
(6)24/26, Sacchin.
The arrows fly! Two bury themselves in the junk she hides behind, but the last grazes her lower arm, leaving a slight bleeding injury!
Sacchin, you are up.
"Finally!" cries Sacchin, firing a shot at one of the archers, before deigning to dash back and take cover against a counterattack behind a bend.
[10:56:02] <@Kallen> roll 1d20+6 attacking!
[10:56:03] * Hatbot --> "Kallen rolls 1d20+6 attacking! and gets 14." [1d20=8]
[10:56:15] <@Kallen> roll 1d8+2 zuh
[10:56:16] * Hatbot --> "Kallen rolls 1d8+2 zuh and gets 8." [1d8=6]
If I can't actually avoid getting attacked next round, I'll draw my shield instead.
Sacchin, you can move back, but they can move some as well. Your call on that, though crossbows take a bit of effort to reload. .
The arrow is fired, but this one narrowly misses, whizzing by! Sacchin falls back after, protecting herself as she joins her friends! Meanwhile the swordsmen advance, coming close but not quite there to the falling back, regrouping party!
Eb.
"Little fellow!" Flasheart yells at the flying creature they befriended. "Can't you do something - knock over one of those debris piles on top of them or something!"
<Rei-chan> Anastasia rolled : 1d20+21 flasheart diplo attempt go --> [ 1d20=10 ]{31}
"Grr..." Despite that the mephit glares at the onrushing horde of swordsmen! Above them a cloud of boiling rain comes to town!
> roll 2d6
<Rei-chan> Anastasia rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=8 ]{8}
<Rei-chan> Anastasia rolled : 1d20 --> [ 1d20=3 ]{3}
<Rei-chan> Anastasia rolled : 1d20 --> [ 1d20=12 ]{12}
<Rei-chan> Anastasia rolled : 1d20 --> [ 1d20=13 ]{13}
The rain sends the two remaining swordsmen screaming, going down amid the burning storm!
Euphy.
Euphemia li Britannia commands the crossbow-wielding assailants to fall asleep!
Sleep DC15, I'll load the crossbow with a move action.
<Kobot> Ko-Enslavedbykappa rolled 1d20 --> [ 1d20=10 ]{10}
<Kobot> Ko-Enslavedbykappa rolled 1d20 --> [ 1d20=12 ]{12}
<Kobot> Ko-Enslavedbykappa rolled 1d20 --> [ 1d20=18 ]{18}
Down they go! Two of the crossbow men fall right asleep, ensorcelled by Euphy's potent magic!
Swordsman>Flasheart>Euphy>Crossbowers>Sacchin(Rei-chan!)
The last crossbowman nudges one of his sleeping comrades while he stands guard!
<Kobot> Ko-Enslavedbykappa rolled 1d20+2 --> [ 1d20=8 ]{10}
It works, his friend stirring from the slumber!
Sacchin.
Sacchin will have none of this business, swiftly nocking another arrow to her bow and firing at the still-standing crossbowman before taking cover once more near her own pile of refuse.
[21:14:32] <@Kallen> roll 1d20+6 more shootage
[21:14:33] <Kobot> Kallen rolled 1d20+6 more shootage --> [ 1d20=19 ]{25}
[21:14:37] <@Kallen> roll 1d8+2
[21:14:38] <Kobot> Kallen rolled 1d8+2 --> [ 1d8=8 ]{10}
Sacchin fires well! Her shot takes the still standing crossbow man straight through the eye, dropping him like a bad infection! He goes down in a spray of blood and gore, slain!
Flasheart>Euphy>Crossbowers>Sacchin(Rei-chan!)
Eb, you're up. Only two are alive and one is asleep, the other is prone and currently weaponless from being asleep.
"Aha!" Flasheart crows as he brandishes his rapier. "Jolly good show, little chap!" he congratulates their flying friend as he charges forward to the last standing crossbowman, intending to run him through like the blackheart he is!
charging, attack at +6 for 1d6+1 18-20/x2
* Hatbot --> "Giga_Ko rolls 1d20+6 Flasheart charge! and gets 22." [1d20=16]
* Hatbot --> "Giga_Ko rolls 1d6+1 and gets 2." [1d6=1]
Rushing forward, Lord Flasheart gracefully stabs the man in the stomach! He groans and stays down, bleeding out and very dead!
Free act.
Euphemia approaches the snoring man, and ties him up with her length of rope, before glancing at Flasheart and one of the crossbows they had acquired.
"Might I suggest you pick one of these primitive weapons, so that the next time you bravely run away from danger, Sir Faintheart, you could prove your manliness from that considerable distance from the front lines?" the princess says sweetly, standing back up and smoothing over the wrinkles in her dress.
"All part of a cunning ruse, and pulled off splendidly with the help of my good friend up there! Jolly good show, little fellow!" he waves up to the mephit before sheathing his blade and grabbing a crossbow and quarrel of bolts.
Once he's tied up, Sacchin kicks the man lying on the ground in the ribs to wake him up.
The mephit grumbles even as the sleeping warrior is bound and then kicked! He stirs weakly at that, the magical sleep wearing off. He looks up in alarm, eyes full of dislike and disdain.
Sacchin stares down at the man. She's not the most impressive sight, really (a teenage girl in tattered armour with glazed eyes isn't terribly fearsome), but her sword is very sharp, and very visible.
"What are you hiding in here?" she demands, her voice slightly croaky.
* Hatbot --> "Kowork rolls 1d20-2 SCARY SACCHIN and gets 12." [1d20=14]
* Hatbot --> "Kowork rolls 1d20+1 and gets 5." [1d20=4]
With the menace of her sword and the direct words, fear springs onto the face of your captive! "In the way back," he says.
"Are there others?"
"Just...the BIG ONE," he says.
Sacchin frowns. "The knight of marshes?" she guesses.
"No. BIGGER." He says with wide eyes.
"That way?" asks Sacchin, pointing in the direction the men came from. "What is this thing?"
"Big thing. It's the treasure," He answers. "BIG"
"Not enemy?"
"We have to kill the treasure?" Euphemia asks, sounding doubtful. It doesn't prevent her from holding her crossbow pointed at the bound man.
"It's both," he answers. "You have to defeat it and not destroy the important parts."
"What parts are important?"
"You'll see..." He answers with a moment of defiance, before eyeing the crossbow and Satsuki's unique manner. "The rod and the glass bottles."
"What happens if you break these glass bottles?"
"Al...chemists fire. Burn." He nods emphatically.
"What's the best way to defeat this thing, then?"
The answer comes after a moment of consideration. "Very carefully."
Euphemia turns to Sacchin. "Break his kneecaps. Very carefully."
Sacchin nods, and scrutinzes the man, before eventually deciding on stabbing him through the heart.
"Sacchin very careful," she nods, withdrawing her blade and licking the bloodied edge, before wrinkling her nose. "Blood is weak..."
"A very interesting approach," Euphemia notes. "Well, then! Let us proceed?"
The man is indeed quite dead now. Ooops, yes, stabbing him in the heart was quite fatal and an end to anything he might say.
"Forward," she agrees, stepping off to lead the way.
"You alright, little fellow?" Flasheart asks the mephit, having missed the interrogation after being distracted by the handsomeness of his own reflection seen in a piece of shiny junk. "You seem a bit down even after helping us win such a stirring victory, and we can't have that!"
Perching on Flasheart's head and grumping, "That rain's hard to dooooo!" His voice is unusually normal, and full of fiery pique. "I'm outtt of gass!"
The trio advances onward down the path! It winds and twists, intersecting with another path. From here there are two going in - the one they were following, and the other going paralelle that intersects briefly before straightening out.
"Look ahead. See what is there," demands Sacchin of the mephit, pointing down the path they're currently following. "See traps."
"Well it sure showed those ruffians a thing or two!" Flasheart encourages their little friend. "Now don't worry, we'll be right behind you," he adds after Sacchin's demand.
With a worried glare send to the two party members, the mephit flies ahead!
* Hatbot --> "Chocoko rolls 1d20+6 and gets 24." [1d20=18]
He returns after a short trip out, "Waaaattch out! Theee're's another trriiiippppwire!"
"Jolly good show!" Flasheart registers his approval, holding his rapier out with its point low to the ground before him as he advances so that the tripwire will be caught on the sword rather than his leg.
Fifty feet later, the tripwire is seen! It's pushed forward by Flasheart's rapier, discovered! It's attached to a particularly large, wobbling mound of heavy metal junk, poised to fall over the path if it was disturbed!
Flasheart carefully steps over the tripwire and moves a few small items of junk onto the ground a foot past it on the other side. "Everyone remember where it is and we might be able to trick any interlopers into tripping it themselves!"
Euphemia proceeds after Flasheart, marking the spot in her mind!
Sacchin glances briefly at the tripwire before stepping over it herself and continuing onwards.
The party continues on! The winding path comes to another few bends, continuing on and winding wildly! As it does...
* Hatbot --> "Kodinner rolls 1d20-1 Flasheart and gets 18." [1d20=19]
* Hatbot --> "Kodinner rolls 1d20+2 Euphy and gets 21." [1d20=19]
* Hatbot --> "Kodinner rolls 1d20-2 vampy and gets -1." [1d20=1]
They come to another intersection! This time two other paths twine together, all of the going on into a downward plunge deeper into the tall, almost wobbing stacks of junk! Flasheart and Euphy notice something - it's subtle, but there are arrows of junk pointing towards the rightmost path continuing on.
Euphemia helpfully points them out to Sacchin, asking, "Should we follow this subtle invitation?"
Cor, how does Euphy even have a clue Sacchin doesn't know that those arrows are there? C'mon now, don't metagame like that, even if it's likely an accident and/or morning-ness.
If it's subtle, wouldn't they be pointed out as a matter of course? It's not like attention wouldn't have been drawn to them anyway, and if nothing else you'd tell by the way Sacchin doesn't look at them. Body langauge and stuff.
"Go anywhere. Kill anything," replies Sacchin, marching straight along the path.
Flasheart seemingly doesn't notice that no one cares for his opinion. "Of course it would be rude not to accept!" he declares, leading the way down the rightmost path.
Euphemia bravely follows!
Really should've been 'to Sacchin and Flasheart', though yes, it's easy enough to see who notices the subtle stuff and who doesn't. We could've been thorough and spent a few posts on me looking around and then having Flasheart and Sacchin react before I finally had the great reveal~
Okay. Anyway.
Thus the trio go down the next path! It's quite sloped but leads to a big central end! Here only one path leads, a path where a vast courtyard of junk lies! As the party approaches, there is a flash of light and gust of wind! The junk surges forward, flying into the air! In a moment, shattered items and useful goods as one form! The creature is massive, gargantuan! It is roughly humanoid, very loosely bonded together rubbish!
"You there, my fine fellow!" Flasheart steps forward bravely. "We've come for your rod, so be a good chap and let us have it!"
Sacchin seems rather daunted by the size of this creature, and takes an apprehensive step back.
"Sacchin not so sure where to start with this one," she mumbles, scanning the creature for glass bottles, rods, or any particularly flimsy-looking points (rather difficult, given the inherently flimsy composition of the creature.)
Sacchin can see many things! Throughout it are several glass jars full of a strange, orange-red simmering liquid. Further, near the top is an orange-red rod!
Flasheart's words don't seem to have any effects on it at all! It's coming at you quickly!
Constructs don't do diplo. Initiative.
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokokokoko rolls 1d20 and gets 18." [1d20=18]
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokokokoko rolls 1d20-1 FLASHEART and gets 12." [1d20=13]
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokokokoko rolls 1d20+1 EUPHY and gets 13." [1d20=12]
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokokokoko rolls 1d20 VAMPIRE GIRL and gets 8." [1d20=8]
Initiative is Junk Golem>Euphy>Flasheart>Sacchin. Rat, are you feeling the strange urge to dress up as a miko lately?
Slam! Flasheart is struck at, a loose fist going to slam him!
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokokokoko rolls 1d20+5 (-4 PA) flasheart and gets 13." [1d20=8]
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokokokoko rolls 1d6+6 and gets 11." [1d6=5]
It hits him right into the head, driving him downward and dazed!
1/13, Flasheart. Euphy's up.
Fire, retreat. It doesn't seem as if Euphemia has many options here.
+3, 1d8
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokokokoko rolls 1d20+3 and gets 11." [1d20=8]
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokokokoko rolls 1d100 and gets 14." [1d100=14]
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokokokoko rolls 1d8+10 and gets 15." [1d8=5]
The crackle of glass is heard as Euphy's arrow gets one of the glass bottles, turning it's left arm into a smouldering, burning thing! It's body buckles on being shot!
Flash.
"Haha! A telling blow, but you won't get so lucky a second time!" Flasheart bravely challenges the construct as he waggles his rapier menacingly in the air before it.
total defence for +4 AC
Right. Miko vampire is up.
"Stay right there," replies Sacchin, clearly approving of Flasheart's actions. She sends an arrow flickering towards the rod near the top of the creature, attempting to dislodge it from it's precarious position!
[11:36:49] <@Nao> roll 1d20+6 shootage hey why am I a miko?
[11:36:50] * +Hatbot --> "Nao rolls 1d20+6 shootage hey why am I a miko? and gets 26." [1d20=20]
* +Hatbot --> "Nao rolls 1d8+2 sorry and gets 6." [1d8=4]
PLING! The very top of it's head is hit! It's a perfect shot! The rod is let loose, landing right at it's foot between it's legs! It's almost perfectly in reach for any brave soul who dares to get it! However, the golem is not amused! Reaching out, it swings at Sacchin!
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokokokoko rolls 1d20+5 and gets 15." [1d20=10]
Whiff! Sacchin somehow stumbles and avoids the overwhelming junk fist!
Euphy is up.
Flasheart, you can also AoO it when it lumbered forward. Do you want to?
"An opening!" Flasheart cries, his rapier stabbing out!
[00:40] <Ebiris> roll 1d20+4
[00:40] * Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d20+4 and gets 22." [1d20=18]
[00:40] <Ebiris> roll 1d6+1
[00:40] * Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d6+1 and gets 7." [1d6=6]
The thrust is a good one! Flasheart rips into it's knee, bursting another vial of flaming fluid, making it's form buckle!
From her respectable distance, Euphemia rather calmly reloads and lets another bolt fly at a part of the construct's body that is not on fire.
+3, 1d8
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+3 and gets 13." [1d20=10]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d8 and gets 7." [1d8=7]
Thwank! Another crossbow bolt embeds into the stomach of the creature, knocking away several logs of wood and scraps of metal from it's half burning, loose body!
Flash.
With the construct otherwise preoccupied, Flasheart moves over to pick up the rod that they came to get.
Flasheart moves and weaves and ducks between the golem! It's agility seems low - it can't really strike him! However, it takes all of his effort to get to the rod, but he holds it in his hands now!
Sacchin.
Sacchin backs away, slightly, aiming for one of the glass bottles stuck in the thing's joints!
[19:43:20] <@Nao> roll 1d20+6 shooting!
[19:43:23] * +Hatbot --> "Nao rolls 1d20+6 shooting! and gets 17." [1d20=11]
[19:43:30] <@Nao> roll 1d8+2 shooting hit?
[19:43:32] * +Hatbot --> "Nao rolls 1d8+2 shooting hit? and gets 8." [1d8=6]
BOOOM! Much of it's midsection comes crumbling down, flaming rubble and debris raining down around Flasheart! Glass shards that are on fire pelt him, the brave lord having a chance to dodge!
* Hatbot --> "Ko-NitoriisSulpher rolls 1d20 ref flasheart and gets 14." [1d20=14]
* Hatbot --> "Ko-NitoriisSulpher rolls 1d4/2 and gets 1.5." [1d4=3]
Round down to 1. 0 HP, Flasheart. You're still alive, but dropping below this will finish you off. Assuming you aren't smashed on the golem's turn, that is, you have one action once your turn runs around.
Even as parts of it rain down, the golem stumbles forward and lashes it's fist out again at Sacchin, even as parts of it burn and other parts crumble away!
* Hatbot --> "Ko-NitoriisSulpher rolls 1d20+5 and gets 20." [1d20=15]
* Hatbot --> "Ko-NitoriisSulpher rolls 1d6+6 and gets 8." [1d6=2]
(6)18/26, Sacchin. Owwies.
SLAM! The crushing blow nearly wedges th epoor vampire girl into the ground, nearly turning her into a bloody corkscrew at the hands of this junk golem! Yet somehow she heroically survives, even as Lord Flasheart brilliantly clings to life, and Euphy wisely stays the hell out of the creature's way and fires tons of crossbow bolts!
Speaking of, Euphy's up.
"If you make it this way," Euphemia calls over to the wounded noble, "I'll do something about those wounds."
Holding on Flash. Got a CLW~
Flasheart woozily stumbles in Euphemia's direction as he clutches his prize. It takes all of his focus simply to put one foot in front of the other, so he can afford no filthy quips as to just how she'd take care of him.
Which is probably for the best, all things considered.
Sacchin makes a pained, feral sound, wailing like a cat; her bow is fired once again, the arrow arcing at a high angle and then plummeting down towards the amalgamation!
After that, though, even she seems to decide discretion is the better part of valor, and retreats accordingly.
Euphemia is half-tempted to just leave him there and retreat with their key, but Flasheart's silence convinces her to cast the spell of speedy recovery on him by tapping the man's forehead. She retreats farther still, seeing no need to remain in the golem's presence now that they have what they came for.
CLW, 1d8+3
Initiative is now Junk Golem>Euphy=Flasheart>Sacchin.
<Rei-chan> Kozzz rolled : 1d20+6 Sacchin SHOOTS --> [ 1d20=15 ]{21}
<Rei-chan> Kozzz rolled : 1d8+2 --> [ 1d8=4 ]{6}
<Rei-chan> Kozzz rolled : 1d8+3 --> [ 1d8=3 ]{6}
6/13, Flash.
Thunk! Another arrow hits, the neck of the golem now aflame as more embers rain down! Meanwhile Flasheart is healed, clinging to life once more!
The golem shakes, rushing forward and trampling over the hapless heroes wildly!
All of you are being trampled by a flaming, half crumbling junk golem. You can choose to take an AoO on it, or take a reflex save for half damage. Your call. DC of the save is 16. It's also on fire, so some fire damage is quite possible. Post your preference and any relevant rolls.
Flasheart tries to dodge!
[21:33] <Celenu> roll 1d20
[21:33] <Rei-chan> Celenu rolled : 1d20 --> [ 1d20=9 ]{9}
And fails!
Sacchin also tries to dodge!
<Rei-chan> Nao rolled : 1d20+3 DC 16 is not that high! --> [ 1d20=6 ]{9}
And also fails!
Dodging it is!
Ref +4. I've also moved 60ft away from it so far, am I still in trampling range?
<Kobot> PrettySailorRabiteSquashKo rolled 1d20+4 --> [ 1d20=18 ]{22}
<Kobot> PrettySailorRabiteSquashKo rolled 1d6+3+1d2 --> [ 1d6=6 1d2=1 ]{10}
Flasheart, thou art at -4/13. Thou art dead. You'll be going back to the Starry Wastes now.
Sacchin, you're at (6)8/26 You're concious and kicking, but just barely!
Euphy-chan, you don't suck at saving throws! You're at 10/15.
The junk golem thrashes about like a buck in heat! LIterally, as flaming bottles collapse in it's charge! The entire thing is falling apart! Flaming bottles crash down, bumps and bruises thrown! Sacchin hurts plentily, but Euphy is quick enough to use her as a body cover as she falls, Sacchin ensuring that Euphy doesn't take the worst of it! Sadly, there is no such luck for Flasheart! With a messy SQUISH noise he is pinned under a large chunk of rubble that must weigh several tons. Snap, crackle, pop, he's as dead as a doornail.
All around you now lies tons of broken debris, the golem defeated! Besides where Flasheart was crushed, the rod he gave his temporary life for lies serenely, undamaged!
Free act.
Congratulations! You've unlocked alchemists fire in character creation!
"It hurts! It.. hurts..." gasps Sacchin, collapsing against some nearby junk and clutching herself. "It.. it's not getting better, why isn't it getting better. It should be getting better, it always used to get better!"
"Uussseeeed toooo?" Your hissing friend comes out from hiding behind a large chunk of junk, floating over to Satsuki. "Thinnnnngs don't wooooork that way heeereee!"
"Keh," she grunts, leaning her bow against a wall. "Killing harder work than before. Sacchin- I, I, I. I can do it. Rest..."
"You maaaaaybe, but whaaat about hiiiiim?" With a look at the junk that smashed the avatar formerly known as Flasheart, "Smasssshed."
"Dead people are alive again all the time," mutters Sacchin.
"But I likkkeeeed him..." With a sad look passing over it's face, "Deaaaaad meaaaans alllivveee? Everyone deaaaaaad liveees agaaaain?"
"He come back sometime, I think. Different. Maybe stronger. Maybe weaker. Don't know."
"Ooooh. Like zoooombbieee?" His question is as he floats down, steaming and looking down at the resting Sacchin. "Riiissseee baaaack uppp?"
"I don't know. Maybe. Only Dark One knows."
At that name, the mephit whimpers and goes away very fast. He flies over to Euphy, hiding behind her head.
"We should use this chance to recover," Euphemia states, picking up their key and settling against the wall by the entrance.
Sacchin is only too happy to follow after Euphemia, stepping over the tripwires along the way.
Let's rest~! We recover our levels + con mod, right? And my spells, I'll be a healbot this time around.
Sacchin obviously approves.
As the two just behind to rest, your steamy friend looks around. In the rubble he peers, taking out a bottle filled with blue-green liquid. "Heeeeereeeee," He puts it down in front of the two women. "Driiiink. Got a seeeecret to teelllll you toooo."
Sacchin greedily guzzles the liquid, hoping for it to make the pain just go away.
* Hatbot --> "HappyNitorimas rolls 2d8+3 and gets 9." [2d8=4, 2]
17/26
Sacchin feels much better after guzzling down the liquid.
"What?" she adds, glancing at the mephit.
Looking back and forth with shifty eyes, "Get flaaasheeaaart baaaack.'
"The next question should be 'How, exactly?'" Euphemia comments. "Shouldn't he just return on his own, given enough time?"
"Coooommeee with meee, I'll shooooow yoooou!" Your steamy friend says.
Sacchin reaches out one of her arms, and uses her other one to snap something loose back into place. Shuddering, she stands up, ready to go.
Your steamy friend leads you back to the room o colored bars! Here, past the slick crushers and misty pits, you notice something that somehow everyone missed before. Is it new? Was it truly missed? Is the Dark One screwing with you? The answer blows in the wind, lost to you.
Anyway, a little crystal floats on the edge of the walkway, gleaming with a soft white light.
Sacchin wanders over to the crystal, and experimentally pokes it.
The crystal gleams on being touched. Sacchin instinctually understands the following:
This is a respawn point. By touching the crystal here, you can bring back those that have fallen in the dungeon and have returned to the Starry Void. The following people are in the Starry Void right now:
Lord Flasheart.
In case it ever matters, using this crystal is a 3 round action.
"Brings some people back. I see," mutters Sacchin, attempting to focus on doing just that.
It takes some concentration, which really isn't Sacchin's long suit now. However, with that effort, Flasheart appears before them again!
Flasheart, you're up.
Flasheart appears once more! This time he has a lack of pointed ears and wears a studded leather tunic, but he's pretty much recognisable as before. On his forearm rests a brightly coloured small bird of prey of some description. "What ho!" he exclaims, before looking around in surprise. "How odd, I expected to arrive back where we started. Everyone hale and hearty, at least?"
"For the most part," Euphemia responds, seeming bored. "We've got the key, so let's proceed?"
She looks at their flying friend when she asks, "Where to next?"
"Toooouccch the baaaar to theeee baaaars..!"
Euphemia does so!
When the orange red bar is touched to the orange red bars, both vanish away! There are now several gaps in the great, thick rows of bars! Not great ones - about a foot wide if not smaller, but perhaps something to look or wiggle through!
From the mists to the south a walkway rises up, connecting this eastern path with a path that leads away from the center, towards the south.
Needless to say, Sacchin tries to squint through the bars.
* Hatbot --> "Ko-UGUUHARDER rolls 1d20-1 Sacchin spots uh spots? and gets 14." [1d20=15]
Peering inside, Sacchin can see a winding, spinning portal in the center. Near the portal are several motes of glowing, ominous light.
Sacchin tries to reach her hand through the gap!
<Rei-chan> Ninja_Ko rolled : 1d20 Sacchin ESCAPE ARTIST SCAAARY! --> [ 1d20=1 ]{1}
No good. Sacchin just can't get her arm through the bars at all! Despite all her wiggling it's still just a little too tight to really reach into there. It would take some effort or another try or something.
If that isn't an invitation, then Sacchin doesn't know what it is, and she decides to start heading towards the southern pathway.
"Lets see if we can't find another key then, shall we?" Flasheart agrees as he heads off after Sacchin.
Her crossbow reloaded, Euphemia brings up the rear.
Thus the trio goes to the southern walkway! They check way south, there is a heavy wooden door in the way. A cursory check shows that it's locked. It looks reasonably sturdy, but not made of iron or anything.
Sacchin flings some debris against the door!
What debris? Seriously a moment, did you lug some from the junk room and not tell anyone? Throwing stuff from your backpack? What?
Bits of wood from the other door that exploded!
Sacchin throws wood on the big wooden object in her path! It does not vanish! It is still an eyesore. This door is an eyesore. This-you get the idea. It's now a door with some wooden rubble lying in front of it.
Clearly, then, it is Sacchin's sworn duty break the door down so that they might proceed onwards.
I'll take 20 for 22 or something. Muscles, flex!
WHAM! BAM! SLAM! The third time does it as Sacchin throws her armored body at the wooden door! Doors die when they are killed and this door has been killed! It breaks off it's hinges, falling away into broken rubble! Sacchin seems to be good at that. Anyway, ahead is a clear path. No aggravating mists this time, no sirree! Just a rusty iron hallway, the sounds of clanging metal heard in the distance. It's quite dark - only a few faint, sputtering torches hang from the walls here. It reeks of metal, smoke and death.
Sacchin doesn't see any robo-flesh golems that are on fire ahead, before she can think to ask.
Sacchin wrinkles her nose, but marches straight on in, wishing the torches were either better lit or not there at all.
Her shield and flail are ready to protect her against whatever might spring forth.
Sacchin advances onward, leading the party more or less bravely! After walking perhaps 100 feet, the sound of pounding metal gets...louder. Much louder. Ahead, Sacchin can see a vast open space, the party above it. The hallway comes to an end, a stairway leading down to it. Here you can see a vast automated steelworks, unseen forces directing raw ore, having it processed, melted and eventually pressed and cooled. It is carried off unseen into the far darkness.
Yet you see not a soul in this steel mill, everything being done as if by magic or the force of will of a great being beyond your ken.
The fall from top of the stairs to the bottom is about 50 feet deep. You can get quite the view of the entire thing from the stairs, if one is so inclined to walk there.
Sacchin walks to the edge of the stairs and peers over the railing, scanning across the room.
"I slept in a place like this once," she comments. "Comfortable underneath."
"Waaaarmmmm..." Your steamy friend sighs happily as he peers ahead, "Fresh sssssssssteeeel is waaaarm." He flutters near Euphy, shooting looks to Flasheart on occasion.
Looking below, you get a superb view. The entire thing snakes about, several lines of steel work from left to right, conveyor belts working just fine. Far, far, far to the left, you can glimpse where the ore is poured on from chutes in the wall, being seperated and worked over time. The lines snake onwards a long time, reaching vast vats of molten metal in the center. The melted metal is then run on funnel like conveyor belts towards the right, being water cooled and pressed into large sheets. The stamping sound comes from that, each hit quite loud. It's nearly deafening from here, it will surely be worse below. Far to the right, you can see the cooled steel processed down more chutes.
Past all of this you can't see, a strong darkness and steam from the water cooling making vision a hard shot from here. You can make out a few dim things - it doens't look like there is a wall past this, but something else. Of course, there's not really any gaps in the entire affair - getting past the steelworks looks to be a feat.
"What are they making?" asks Sacchin, glancing at the mephit.
With a look to Sacchin, "Caaaall meee craaaazzzy, but steeeeeel!"
Euphemia looks for a spot where she could comfortably snipe and otherwise cover Sacchin and Flasheart without heading into the enormous factory.
"Hmm... there doesn't seem to be any way around all of that blasted machinery, though," Flasheart remarks as he peers down. "Sparky! Why don't you buzz around and take a look?" he requests as his hawk takes flight to see if it can spot a path that they missed.
[11:37] <Celenu> roll 1d20+16
[11:37] * Hatbot --> "Celenu rolls 1d20+16 and gets 24." [1d20=8]
Spot check. Sparky has low-light vision and darkvision if it helps. He'll caw if he spots anything notable and land beside it if it's a safe path
Euphy, what's your range increment? I'd like to have that handy for reference.
Euphy finds that the top of the stairway is a great place for long range sniping.
Sparky thus goes flying! He swoops about, getting a view! There are three possible places to cross - there's a ladder early to the left, where the raw ore travels down conveyor belt. It goes right to the belt directly. The second is a small little gap between the hot vats of molten steel, one you would have to wiggle through a bit. It's also very hot there, the heat from the molten metal radiating out. The third is a walkway built into the conveyor belt, under the steel presses. It's like someone burrowed out a hole to walk through and it looks quite safe, minus all the noise.
Sparky caws as he lands at the top of the ladder, prompting Flasheart to call out, "Jolly good show! Follow me, everyone!" as he heads down the stairs, intending to climb the ladder and hop over the conveyer belt before climbing down the other side.
Lord Flasheart climbs up the ladder! As he does, he gets a fine look of what lies ahead. The ore is processed along, seemingly moved by the belt and unseen forces. It's a fairly wide conveyor belt, 10 feet wide if one wants to leap it. However, in this position, there is no place or chance to make a running start for a long jump.
How quickly is it moving? If it's slow enough he could just walk across it.
The conveyor belt is moving at a pretty good pace. Walking over it would be a chore, since you'd have to move over rubble and ore strewn ground to try and catch up to the other side and not be swept along.
Flasheart attempts to start grabbing large chunks of ore and rubble from the conveyer belt and trying to jam them down the sides to try and clog the machinery up and make it stop.
This plan simply has no downsides or potential hazards at all!
<Kobot> Ko-CONNIE rolled 1d20 grapple --> [ 1d20=15 ]{15}
<Kobot> Ko-CONNIE rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=18 ]{24}
As Flasheart reaches out to grab some of the rubble, he feels something close around his arm! He sees nothing as he tries to resist, but it is futile! He is dragged onto the conveyor belt, slammed down hard onto a bed of rock and iron!
<Kobot> Ko-CONNIE rolled 1d8+1 bludgeoning damage --> [ 1d8=4 ]{5}
13/18, Flasheart.
Lord Flasheart finds himself pinned down and being conveyed towards the vats of molten metal at a rather terrifying pace! Uh oh!
"Uh oooooh!" Your steamy friend observes, staying by Euphy. "Not goooooood! Really not gooooood!"
Everyone, you have one action here if you wish to take one. Feel free to try and make them count.
"Sparky! Help me!" Flasheart tries to scramble off the conveyor while his hawk flies over to latch its talons on while flapping its wings furiously in an effort to pull him to freedom.
Sparky will use aid another for whatever check I have to make to get off this
<Kobot> Ko-CONNIE rolled 1d20 well, let's roll yours first and see if it matters --> [ 1d20=4 ]{4}
<Kobot> Ko-CONNIE rolled 1d20+6 --> [ 1d20=13 ]{19}
There's the aid another, but win, lose or draw it's not mattering with those numbers.
Lord Flasheart struggles in vain, his falcon no help as he is dragged towards a molten end!
Euphy and Sacchin have an action.
From her distant position, Sacchin can only watch with some bemusement as Flasheart is whisked away to almost certain death.
I am kinda far away, I think. Short of like.. throwing stuff at you, I don't really know what to do! An arrow won't fuck up the conveyer belt so much as just get crushed. :V
You could shoot an arrow to go through my shirt - or even flesh if we want to be grisly - to stick me to non-moving edge at the side of the conveyor belt!
"Any way to make the conveyer belt stop from here?" Euphemia asks their flying friend, aiming at Flasheart. If she can't do that, at least she could give him a clean death.
And have him respawn quickly.
* Hatbot --> "Kolunch rolls 1d20+3 let's see if this is in the ballpark anyway and gets 23." [1d20=20]
* Hatbot --> "Kolunch rolls 1d20+3 crit? and gets 10." [1d20=7]
* Hatbot --> "Kolunch rolls 1d8 and gets 3." [1d8=3]
10/18, Flash. Ow.
With the whirrling of gears, a propelled crossbow bolt is fired! It slams into Lord Flasheart's ass and into the conveyor belt! Flasheart stops, even as some ore gets past him, stained red! However, much of it is stopping around him, like a logjam! Fortunately, this means he isn't heading for a lava bath yet!
Lacking words, Euphemia tries to conceal her laughter as she reloads her crossbow.
Flasheart howls in pain as he tries to scramble for the side of the conveyor before he pulls himself off, something which will no doubt further aggravate the injury caused by having a crossbow bolt penetrating all the way through one of his buttocks and into the machinery.
* Hatbot --> "Kobrb rolls 1d20 grapple and gets 6." [1d20=6]
* Hatbot --> "Kobrb rolls 1d20+6 ow, bad luck and gets 8." [1d20=2]
Flasheart struggles in vain as the force holds him down! Ore continues to accumulate around his legs and midsection, a pile starting to form!
Act again, Flasheart, nothing's happened yet to stop you.
Your steamy friend floats in the air, "I don't knoooow if you can ssssstop it...or whaaaat will happen if that overfloowssssssssss!" Nonetheless he flies over above Flasheart, "Cooommmmeee oooon!" he says, several feet up and near the edge of the conveyor, "You can doooo it!"
"It's... oohf! Harder than it looks!" Flasheart protests, going back to his original plan now since nothing else seems to work. Grabbing some handy ore and debris from the jam around him, he tries to force it down the sides of the conveyor to well and truly gum it up. Once that happens he can hopefully escape at leisure.
"Help pull him out!" Euphemia calls over to their cowardly friend. "You want to have someone trigger all the traps for you, don't you?"
* Hatbot --> "Kobrb rolls 1d100 higher is worse and gets 63." [1d100=63]
Flasheart jams ore down the sides of the conveyor belt! IT begins to slow, an ominous grinding sound heard! If you put in some more, you think it might grind to a stop entirely!
"I don't waaaant to get graabbbeeed!" He cowers, as he peers down, eyes going wide at alarm at Flasheart's conveyor belt jamming antics!
"You're airborne, surely that cannot happen!" Euphemia encourages him.
More junk gets jammed in by Flasheart, wanting to be sure this blasted thing isn't moving before he focuses on freeing himself!
* Hatbot --> "Kobrb rolls 1d20+2 diploing and gets 11." [1d20=9]
Apt since he really doesn't wanna risk himself.
"Nooooo waaaay!" Shaking his head, "C'mooon, you can get out yourself!" he encourages Flasheart, flying a little more away from him.
"You won't even burn in the lava, even if you fell in!" Euphemia yells at him, mentally adding, 'I think.'
More junk is jammed in! There is a vast groaning sound, them a massive explosion! Ore, conveyor belt and Flasheart are sent flying back to the party!
* Hatbot --> "Kobrb rolls 1d12 and gets 1." [1d12=1]
9/18, Flash. Lucky.
By some miracle of providence, Flasheart is only lightly bruised by the explosion! However, he goes flying straight towards the party! Eyes wide open, he is flung against the staircase with more momentum than one of Euphy's crossbow bolts, part of the conveyor belt and arrwo still stuck in his rear!
* Hatbot --> "Kobrb rolls 2d6 and gets 6." [2d6=5, 1]
3/18, Flash.
He lands in a heap, ore around him and arrow in him! But somehow he is ALIVE! There is not a ten foot wide gash in the conveyor belt, ore tumbling into the gap and starting to fill it.
"Ha-ha!" Flasheart bounds to his feet, wincing a moment afterwards as he yanks the bolt from his ass and has to bite his lip to keep from crying out. "Take that, fell mechanical contraption! Your shoddy French craftsmanship is no match for British ingenuity!"
Your steamy friend nearly falls over, gawking, "I dooon't fuuuuucking believe it! You ssssurvived?!?!"
"Yes, it surely was French," Euphemia readily agrees.
"Burning not very good," mumbles Sacchin, before glancing at the walkway under the conveyer belt. "Try this way."
For clarification, I"m referring to "The third is a walkway built into the conveyor belt, under the steel presses. It's like someone burrowed out a hole to walk through and it looks quite safe, minus all the noise."
Sacchin heads for the burrowed hole. As she gets closer, she finds that the noise is quite considerable! She's now 15 feet away and it's like heavy steel drums, beat after beat of pressing steel murder on her ears! It won't be fun to get any closer, at least not to her ears.
"Urgh..."
Sacchin pauses, and seems to stumble for a moment, before she shakes her head clear. She leans down, however, and pulling out that blanket, tearing off small tufts of cloth to use as earplugs. Thus equipped, she proceeds to head towards that hole!
So equipped, Sacchin can approach the tunnel! She stands in front of it now - she's pretty sure she can withstand the noise. It's ten feet across from end to end, with nothing obviously out of sorts.
Sacchin squints carefully at the tunnel before proceeding through! The flail would be useless here, but her sword wouldn't, and thus she begins to crawl!
[15:57:46] * Hatbot --> "Kirsten rolls 1d20-1 sure and gets 11." [1d20=12] spottage
As Sacchin prepares to crawl in, she notices something. There are little grooves and tears on the walls. It looks subtly slotted for something to rise up against it. The floor of this, perhaps.
Sacchin thinks twice, and starts poking the area ahead with her sword before subjecting her body to the interior.
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+2 str check sacchin! and gets 18." [1d20=16]
Poking ahead, the entire floor suddenly slams up! It's a reverse steel press, the floor slamming into the bottom of the conveyor belt! Only Sacchin's superior strength lets her wrench her sword away before it's crushed under the metal rising!
Sacchin winces. "This way also dangerous," she mutters, pulling it back and considering the surface of the ground.
You mean the ground of the tunnel or what, Sacchin?
The ground just in front of the tunnel. I'm considering digging or smashing.
The ground is iron. It doesn't look easy to dig, iron generally isn't. It would take something sharp and a lot of back breaking work to get anywhere, in case that bothers Sacchin.
Sacchin isn't too enthused with taking this route, and returns to the sight of the explosion, considering if it's possible to get through the onrushing ore!
The ore has filled the hole made by the explosion and is making a hill of tumbling, messy ore around. It looks like one could clean it out if they put some effort and a few pairs of hands into it. It's not coming over that fast.
Sacchin tries chucking some bits of ore at the conveyor belt to see if the telekinetic... grips are still functioning!
The ore sails across and lands on the other side without incident. You notice that there is now no ore entering the smelter. As you notice that, a quiet, subtle alarm begins to ring. As much as alarms are subtle, anyway.
Sacchin ties a rope to herself and hands it to Flasheart and Euphie, before trying to clamber over to the other side of the ore!
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20 climb DC 5, it's not easy to climb loose rubble. I've tried. It sucks. and gets 20." [1d20=20]
Sacchin makes it over without incident, the rope not breaking or anything silly like that! It should be easy for the other two to climb over!
Flasheart is more than happy to proceed through the path he so painstakingly cleared!
So is Euphemia, bravely bringing up the rear once more!
Thus all three are now across, the rope making the climb trivial to the other two! On the other side, you see that ahead is a heavy steel wall. Four doors are there, each door made of thin looking sheet steel. There's also a few few things on this side of the steel works. Next to the smelting pots is a single level, in the shadow of one of the pots. There's a plaque near the far hatch, where the finished steel vanishes to places unknown. Also, as you cross, a small treasure chest rises out of the ground besides the conveyor, glowing rainbow colors!
However, as all this happens, the siren going off gets louder! A disembodied voice calls, "Initiate Defense and Repair plan Alpha. Repeat, initiate defense plan Alpha!"
"Not French, Greek! That's even worse!" Flasheart declares, deciding to get moving. Hurrying to the nearest door on the far wall, he attempts to open it!
Euphemia can't find it within her to disagree, checking the door next to the one that caught Flasheart's interests.
"Beware Greeks bearing gifts," she recites to her little flying friend as she does so. "Yet even so, could you take a look of what's inside that brightly-shining chest?"
That would be the leftmost door! Flasheart pulls on it but it's locked! It's not giving way immediately!
Euphy tries this door! It looks to be openable, but as she touches it, "Warning...unauthorized entry prohibited. Warning..unauthorized entry prohibited!"
"Riiight," The mephit flies towards the chest in the meanwhile!
Lacking in brute strength in this incarnation, Flasheart goes to join Euphy at the openable door!
Euphemia is in the habit of listening to warnings, and decides to try the third door instead.
"It'll be a cold day in hell before the Lord Flasheart takes orders from a dirty Greek!" Flasheart declares contemptously as he kicks the door open, showing his utter contempt for the warning.
As Euphy reaches the third door, "Alpha initiatted!" At this, as your mephit friend opens up the treasure box, a large, heat scarred, bald man in overalls appears at the break in the conveyor belt. "Ho hum, time to SQUASH some FREAKS that BROKE my CONVEYOR belt!" He picks two chunks of ore, looking to throw them!
Just as this happens, Lord Flasheart opens second door! As he swings it out of the way, a massive shock travels through his body! Lightning arches up through him, cooking him like an overdone goose! He keels over, crumbling into a pile of fine ashes! If one cares to look in the now opened path, they can see a small room rests there. It has a table, a bookshelf and fireplace! How quaint! All for the price of one Lord Flasheart!
Oh yes, and Euphy sees a dull steel stairway going down the opened third door. It's really dark down there and quite a steep stairway.
* Hatbot --> "Kosick rolls 1d20-2 fort (-4 modifier, ow) and gets 8." [1d20=10]
* Hatbot --> "Kosick rolls 2d8 and gets 14." [2d8=6, 8]
Yeah, you're very fried, Lord Flasheart.
I'm calling initiative here.
* Hatbot --> "Kosick rolls 1d20+1 Euphy initiative and gets 3." [1d20=2]
* Hatbot --> "Kosick rolls 1d20 Sacchin and gets 14." [1d20=14]
* Hatbot --> "Kosick rolls 1d20+1 and gets 18." [1d20=17]
Rock thrower>Sacchin>Euphy
The rock thrower throws two rocks at Euphy, the pair of ore laden projectiles flying right at her!
* Hatbot --> "Kosick rolls 1d20+1 and gets 3." [1d20=2]
* Hatbot --> "Kosick rolls 1d20+1 and gets 12." [1d20=11]
But both rocks sail by her, missing!
Sacchin.
Sacchin retaliates by means of longbow.
"I'm no freak! I'm natural!" she yells, furious at the man's presumption.
[10:30:45] <Kirsten> roll 1d20+6 shootage
[10:30:47] * Hatbot --> "Kirsten rolls 1d20+6 shootage and gets 8." [1d20=2]
Sacchin shoots... and whiffs!
Euphy.
"I know this one!" Euphemia exclaims, gleefully shooting back at the man. "If we kill you, we get what's inside the chest, right?"
And then she takes cover behind the half-opened door!
+3, 1d8 19-20/x2
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+3 and gets 6." [1d20=3]
Euphy's shot sails wide, hitting the conveyor belt to the side! The big man just grins back, chucking two more rocks, this time at the in the open Sacchin!
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 Sacchin and gets 20." [1d20=19]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 Sacchin and gets 21." [1d20=20]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 Sacchin crit?! and gets 15." [1d20=14]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 2d6+2 two hits vs sacchin ow and gets 12." [2d6=4, 6]
5/26, Sacchin. OW.
WHAM! SLAM! Sacchin is rocked by two rocks, head clobbered harder than a vampire on a bloody rock sundae! Blood flows from her gashed forhead, her entire field of vision turning red-white!
Sacchin, you're up. Do something about Mr. Rocky.
Sacchin returns fire, bitterly ignoring her wounds before retreating around the corner!
[18:15:07] * Hatbot --> "NaoGotLynchedIHateYouGuys rolls 1d20+6 and gets 19." [1d20=13]
[18:15:11] <NaoGotLynchedIHateYouGuys> roll 1d8+2
[18:15:13] * Hatbot --> "NaoGotLynchedIHateYouGuys rolls 1d8+2 and gets 10." [1d8=8]
Moving to have partial cover, +4 AC and all that. 1/20 chance of getting hit, punk!
It's a nearly perfect shot! The crossbow bolt goes into the stomach of the rock thrower, who gasps and tumbles over! He ends up face down, groaning af ew times before his movement ceases!
Superb shot. Free action.
With no other enemies in sight (yet), Sacchin quickly dashes over to look in the chest after the Mephit!
Inside of the chest is a threesome of wrapped scrolls, a sealed green potion, and a beautiful golden whistle.
Sacchin is all-too-happy to bring the scrolls back to Euphie, whilst pocketing the whistle and inspecting the potion along the way.
After she pokes the interior of the chest with an arrow first, of course, just to be sure.
The potion is green. Very very green. Greeeeen! GREEEEEN!
The whistle sits comfortably in your pocket. It feels faintly hot.
The scrolls are taken over to Euphy!
The bottom of the chest is quite solid. Nothing seems to happen.
---
As you hold the whistle, the mephit stops. "Heeeey...lemmeeee seeee that whisttllleee...."
Sacchin doesn't see any reason not to let the mephit give the whistle a look. "What is it?"
"I feel...." The mephit's voice is strange. "Drawn..." Taking it in his mouth, he blows on it! A hissing, steamy sound comes from the whistle. In a moment, the mephit is gone! His voice lingers, faint, "Inside..."
The whistle lands gently on the ground, steaming faintly.
Sacchin grabs the whistle and the potion and is soon on her way back... to the study!
You have obtained Mephit's Whistle! Once per avatar life for the person that selects it, it can summon a particular steam mephit for up to 1 minute(10 rounds). The mephit will aid you in the particular, highly caution way that it tends to.
Anyway, ball's in your court now, you two.
After dropping off the scrolls, Sacchin uncorks the potion and starts to drink it, whilst briefly heading back to the factory floor to have a look over her aggressor's body!
Here's hoping it's a healing potion!
Euphemia studies the scrolls, taking her time.
Spellcraft +5, let's roll see what they're about?
And there is the remaining door to examine, afterwards.
* Hatbot --> "Anastasia rolls 3d8+3 and gets 20." [3d8=7, 4, 6]
25/26.
Sacchin finds that her wounds have mostly healed! The three scrolls are Cure Moderate Wounds, Chill Metal and Heat Metal! Sacchin searches the body of the big, muscled man! She finds a small silver key in his pocket. The last door is locked as well.
You have added Cure Moderate Wounds, Chill Metal and Heat Metal to your spell selections. This'll be GREAT once you have caster classes that can use them!
Euphemia returns to try and summon Flasheart back!
* Hatbot --> "Saul_Clone rolls 1d20-2 and gets 16." [1d20=18]
With no strong, manly Sacchin to be an anchor, climbing the growing pile of ore isn't easy. However, Euphy does it with conssumate grace and skill! As she reaches the other side, she can hear the alarm still going off. A disembodied voice intones, "Initiate Defense and Repair plan Beta!. Repeat, initiate defense plan Beta!"
"I'll be back with Flasheart, so either hide it out with the third room as cover, or kill the weakling that shows up," Euphemia calls over to Sacchin, before continuing swiftly on her way.
I'll run to the respawn point and summon Flash!
It'll take you a couple of rounds to get back to the respawn point and 3 rounds to summon Flasheart, Cor. I'll deal with Rat until then and let you know when you get back. Rat, go ahead and declare your action here as Euphy runs for the glory and the gold?
Sacchin decides to head into the study, taking cover by the doorframe and waiting to see what, if anything, happens- if it's too dangerous, she can run into the stairwell, where it's comfortingly dark.
Coward! If I die it's all your fault. Readying action to shoot stuff that pops up.
Sacchin runs to the door way into the study, using the door as a shield! As she does, there is a ripple above the steaming vats of molten metal! A large cannon appears over it, long and metallic and not melting despite being right over the metal! A small tube runs from the bottom of the cannon to into the metal.
Sacchin, you can shoot it if you like before anything else.
You know what, that tunnel is looking really good right now.
If you wanna run down it, go ahead and do so.
Sacchin realises she cannot discorporate into bats when attacked, and nor can she regenerate in this form. Discretion is something she is learning about very quickly, and she opts to dash down the tunnel rather than stick around up here!
Sacchin runs down into the study! It's a nice, warm place! There's a big wooden table with chairs, a bookshelf stocked with books, a fire place, a small pantry, and a wine shelf. The shelf has dozens of different colored bottles, some of the glowing and all of them odd, strange colors. The floor is carpeted and soft.
Sacchin wanders over to the bookshelf and squints at the volumes that adorn it, perhaps pulling a few out at random.
The books look to be all about metal and steelmaking: Iron smelting and you, Steel Bars, The glory of hot metal, and so on. Of course, that's only checking a random sample.
The table comes next! At least, if there's anything on it.
If there isn't, Sacchin naturally moves on to the pantry.
The table has a single sheet of paper on it. It's written:
"Warning: Potion Shelf unorganized. Use at own risk!"
Sacchin isn't too fond of the idea of drinking random potions. But blue and green are good, aren't they? And red should be good as well, because it's the colour of blood.
Nonetheless, Sacchin moves onto the pantry next.
The pantry has some food - some bread, several jugs of water, that sort of thing. All dry goods, but they look edible.
Of no interest to Sacchin! The other fleshbags might need it if they're into that sort of nourishment.
She then checks out the fireplace (unless it's lit, or something like that.)
The fireplace is not lit. There are a few ashes at the bottom, like something was burned in it. Duh. It looks normal enough to a very casual glance. There's a single log in it, unburnt and unused.
Sacchin isn't adverse to pushing away the ash and the log to see if there's anything there.
Underneath the log are more ashes. The bottom of the fireplace is ash smeared as one might expect. There's nothing overwhelmingly strange or unusual about it otherwise. Unless you really wanted a log.
With a log, all things are possible.
The room has been given a cursory check! Sacchin moves on to checking out the potions that should could drink from, should she choose.
There are dozens and dozens and dozens of potions, each one a different color! Some glow, some fizzle, some lie there flat! All are stoppered or corked, none breathe out into the open air.
Sacchin grabs one of the books from the shelf at random and flings it back into the open air, where that cannon is!
The book is thrown out! As it flies out past the hallway, into the open air of the conveyor belt area, a glob of molten steel about the size of a large basketball is fired from it!
* Hatbot --> "Infinite_Ko_Loop rolls 1d20+1 touch AC and gets 16." [1d20=15]
* Hatbot --> "Infinite_Ko_Loop rolls 4d6 and gets 20." [4d6=4, 6, 6, 4]
Molten steel envelopes the book! It bursts into flames, quickly consumed! There is now a puddle of molten steel on the floor, a book burnt away in it's puddly mass! A bit of smoke rises into the air as the ground hisses from the hot contact.
Sacchin throws another book. And then another.
In fact she will probably run through most of the library before she finishes, but there can only be so much molten steel to fire, and there are quite a few books! She gives the title of each a quick glance before chucking at in, in case there's one out of the ordinary (like on magic, or a diary, or on how to build lava-throwing cannons.)
Are you throwing them out at various points at random, or in any particular place?
Hmm. What can I see from the door?
A small cross section of the conveyor belts. Not quite the cannon, the angle's not right for it. You'd have to go back out to really have a view.
I'm happy enough throwing the books at the conveyor belts and hoping they blow up.
A dozen books are thrown! Most are hit, though one or two are missed! The floor is now a flaming, burnt mess, melting and runny! You notice melted steel and melted floor are starting to creep towards the entrance to the study. All this melted metal is doing a number on the floor quality. It's going to be a bit tricky to get out safely already.
Sacchin uses the log from the fireplace to prod the door closed again, hopefully giving her a bit more breathing time if she needs it! After that, she ducks under the fireplace, considering if she could manage climbing up the chimney!
Sacchin nimbly closes the door! Thereafter she goes to the chimney and looks up it! Her armor gets dirty, but she thinks it's just possible to climb up. It's wide enough, but she'll get very dirty doing so. It goes up higher than she can easily see.
* Hatbot --> "Infinite_Ko_Loop rolls 1d20-1 spot and gets 14." [1d20=15]
Sacchin notices there's something about one hundred feet up. A small silk bag, hanging on a hook in the chimney.
It's probably worth doing, so Sacchin starts clambering up the chimney, both to get away from the onslaught of fire below and to grab the thing above!
blah blah DC at -5 due to perpendicular walls blah blah take 10 etc.
Sacchin begins to climb up! At about 50 feet, she notices the chimney is starting to get tighter! It's going to be a little harder going up and down past this point if she continues...
Sacchin decides to keep on going, confident that she can always.. fall... if she needs to get down in a hurry.
The obvious drawbacks don't quite occur to her.
With a bunch of wiggling and scraping of armor against stone, Sacchin reaches the bag! She can brace against the walls and grab it if she so desires!
Does the chimney still go up?!
The chimney goes up another one hundred feet. At the edge of your vision, you can juuuuuuuuust make out what looks to be a metal grating blocking off...something. You can't see from here.
For the time being, then, Sacchin simply tries to grab the bag with one hand, hoping her legs and other arm can keep her steady!
This is quite easy! The bag is gotten! Ooooh, it's a bit heavy, like something worthwhile is in it!
Sacchin shakes it a little and tries to peer inside!
There are two things inside. One is a dark, smoothly polished stone. The other is a steel plated key.
Pocketing them should be simple enough, and then Sacchin faces the daunting prospect of trying to climb towards the grate at the top- although that might be impossible (and in the end it may all be for nothing.)
As Sacchin begins to climb, she feels funny. She feels heavy, very heavy. Like she's carrying a huge load on her back. It makes climbing slower, though not impossible at about half of her previous rate.
She must be tired. It's not unreasonable, and she continues trying to reach the very top of the chimney!
It takes a lot of time and effort, but Sacchin reaches the top! A thick, well made mesh grating blocks further progress. As Sacchin's muscles strain to keep her up, she can peer past it. She can see nothing but darkness, an inky black darkness.
Sacchin pounds on the mesh a couple of times, hope fading as she realises it's probably well-made (where's shoddy craftsmanship when you need it?)
It's every so slightly loose to a weak pounding. Perhaps, just perhaps if you hit it hard enough...!
Sacchin is certainly willing to try bashing it harder!
* Hatbot --> "Ko-KurseofKo rolls 1d20+2 STR SACCHIN STR! and gets 8." [1d20=6]
Sacchin hits it! It doesn't budge to this attempt!
Sacchin tries again! And possibly again after that!
[16:56:32] <NaoIsTheTime> roll 1d20+2
[16:56:34] * +Hatbot --> "NaoIsTheTime rolls 1d20+2 and gets 8." [1d20=6]
[16:56:34] <NaoIsTheTime> roll 1d20+2
[16:56:36] * +Hatbot --> "NaoIsTheTime rolls 1d20+2 and gets 11." [1d20=9]
[16:56:37] <NaoIsTheTime> roll 1d20+2
[16:56:38] * +Hatbot --> "NaoIsTheTime rolls 1d20+2 and gets 5." [1d20=3]
[16:56:38] <NaoIsTheTime> roll 1d20+2
[16:56:39] * +Hatbot --> "NaoIsTheTime rolls 1d20+2 and gets 4." [1d20=2]
[16:56:39] <NaoIsTheTime> roll 1d20+2
[16:56:40] * +Hatbot --> "NaoIsTheTime rolls 1d20+2 and gets 18." [1d20=16]
Treating this as a take 20.
After a few blows, the grate is pushed up and away! It clatters a little to the side, as if the darkness is a solid floor to the sides! It looks like you can climb out here!
Sacchin does so! And looks around to see if there's actually anything around at all, or if the entire place really is just... empty.
It's pitch black. You feel likely to be eaten by something. Yet, on the horizon, you can see something glittering. You can't quite make it out, but it's very alluring...!
Sacchin blows on her mephit-summoning whistle. And then runs towards the light!
The mephit appears! "What's going AAAAH OH GODS NOOOOO!" it screams in utter horror as Sacchin surges forward! There is a moment, then...!"
* Hatbot --> "Ko-KurseofKo rolls 1d20+27 (-30 PA) and gets 33." [1d20=6]
* Hatbot --> "Ko-KurseofKo rolls 4d8+77 and gets 102." [4d8=7, 3, 7, 8]
The mephit vanishes in a few spackles of blood and guts! Sacchin doesn't see anything as she starts to run towards the sparkly on the horizon, but a sense of overwhelming terror fills her body!
If anything can possibly help her, it certainly isn't going back towards... whatever it was that just did that, so Sacchin has little choice but to plunge onwards towards the thing, accepting death with a quiet sigh.
Sacchin charges closer! She feels something terrifying coming at her, her skin rising up in pure goosebumps!
* Hatbot --> "Ko-KurseofKo rolls 1d20+27 (-30 PA) and gets 41." [1d20=14]
* Hatbot --> "Ko-KurseofKo rolls 4d8+77 and gets 100." [4d8=8, 6, 4, 5]
-uh a lot/27.
As Sacchin feels herself ripped apart, she gets a glimpse of something. It's beautiful...it's gorgeous. It reminds her, ever so faintly...of good times. Class, school, happiness...To...hno...kun....and even all of that vanishes in the maw of some unseen calamity! If only she could get to it, she feels as if everything would be...okay...
Yeah, you're dead. Very dead. See the Starry Void.
Meanwhile, Euphy reaches the respawn point without incident. She touches it and could perhaps frown as she sees the list of fatalities to be summoned back:
Ranmaru(Other group)
Lord Flasheart
Sacchin.
Dismayed at the speed at which that girl died without Euphemia there to guide her, she decides to summon her first.
Sacchin so appears!
Feel free to describe yourself this time and react, Sacchin.
Euphemia proceeds with her original plan to summon Flasheart in the meantime.
Sacchin looks much the same as previous, although instead of a sword, she seems to have acquired a halberd, the blades vaugely in the shape of a bat.
That she appears prone and apparently on the brink of tears say much about her emotional state.
"Was that Beta plan really so horrible?" Euphemia asks the distraught girl.
"Fire. Darkness. Teeth," moans Sacchin, shuddering.
"Sounds quite nasty," Euphemia agrees. "Are you better prepared to head back and kill the darkness, the fire and the teeth, now?"
"No."
Euphemia looks dismayed. "What are you prepared to kill, then?"
"Things in other places."
Sacchin abruptly stands up, and kicks the grating around the door. "Get to center with different body later. Fight knight first."
"That Ranmaru chap said something about the knight killing him - lets summon him!" Flasheart suggests, doing just that.
"A good plan," Euphemia agrees, having been prepared to do that herself.
So summoned, Ranmaru appears!
Ball is in all of your courts now.
"Knight. Where," demands Sacchin, rounding on the new arrival.
Ranmaru appears! This time, rather then being androgenous in the least, he is a four and a half foot tall, stocky dwarf with a bushy beard that stops at about the middle of his chest.
As Sacchin demands information from him, Ranmaru raises an eyebrow, "It would serve you well to learn some manners."
Then turning to address Lord Flasheart, he answers the question, "There was a room full of debris, scraps, I suppose the best word for it is simply junk. In this room there was a platform that was glowing white. When I stepped on it, I was dropped into a hallway filled with water, and the knight attacked soon after. Alone, I was no match for him, he is a fearsome foe indeed, along with that vicious shark he rides. But with allies, I'm sure he will fall."
"This way," decides Sacchin, processing this information and taking off for the room of junk once again!
After some long but uneventful climbs and maneuverings, the party returns to the entrance of the junk room! A silver pad has appeared out of the rubble near the entryway, as if serenely waiting for someone to use it.
"Let us go," she insists, storming towards the platform, spoiling for a fight.
Since he lacks any weapons appropriate to an aquatic environment, Flasheart attempts to scavenge a stabbing implement from one of the nearby corpses. If none are available a handy piece of sharp debris will have to do. "Lets give him what for, eh?" he agrees heartily with Sacchin as he heads onto the platform.
Basically scavenging the best piercing weapon I can find
Seeing Flasheart rumaging around for a weapon, Ranmaru offers him his own lance, "If you need a weapon, then use this, Lord. I intend to close and grapple with the knight, hopefully to hold him immoble for your attacks to strike true, so I won't need it for this battle."
Mw. Heavy Lance, if you'd rather use that then an imp. weapon?
"Wrestling a shark. Excellent killer you must be," notes Sacchin, with some approval.
Lord Flasheart finds a longsword amid the slain foes.
In the absence of any better piercing weapons, Flasheart accepts the lance. "A pity I don't have my trusty charger to go with it..."
Euphemia decides to keep the longsword Flasheart so callously discarded, just in case.
Ball's still in your guy's court, if youw anna go into the teleporter or whatever.
Flasheart goes onto the teleport without fear!
Flasheart teleports!
It's dark! It's wet! It's splashing! Flasheart immediately finds himself falling into the drink! His darkvision lets him see pretty well here - it looks like a flooded hall, quite a deep one. The waters are opaque, though you can see they go fairly deep down. It's not a shallow hall at all.
Treading water, Flasheart readies his lance while waiting on the others following.
+5 swim
* Hatbot --> "Anastasia rolls 1d20+5 swim and gets 25." [1d20=20]
Easy.
Flasheart is easily able to stay afloat in the waters! As he does, he notices something below! His dark-seeing eyes have a better time of it than poor Ranmaru's, for from below it's coming! A green skinned humanoid in Oriental armor, riding a shark! It's coming right for him!
Flasheart readies his lance to stab the sharkrider if he gets too close, although he hopes the others will show up soon since this incarnation really isn't cut out for fighting.
-2 to hit with masterwork lance that I'm not proficient with
edit: make that -1 if I'm attacking from above
Sacchin steps shortly after Flasheart into the portal, not bothered in the slightest at the prospect of imminent danger or a watery grave.
As Flasheart readies, Sacchin appears in the water as well!
* Hatbot --> "Anastasia rolls 1d20+3 and gets 19." [1d20=16]
Sacchin is able to tread water as she splashes in, the shark rider approaching both rapidly!
Initiative.
* Hatbot --> "Anastasia rolls 1d20 flasheart and gets 11." [1d20=11]
* Hatbot --> "Anastasia rolls 1d20 Vampire girl not named Sierra and gets 17." [1d20=17]
* Hatbot --> "Anastasia rolls 1d20+3 SAMURAI SAHUIAGIN and gets 17." [1d20=14]
Samurai=>Sacchin(Higher mod wins ties when needed)>Flasheart.
The samurai is already charging Flasheart as he readied himself! Flasheart is quite ready even in the water, thrusting out!
* Hatbot --> "Anastasia rolls 1d20-2 and gets 0." [1d20=2]
Yet Flasheart's readied strike whiffs, even as the charge brings the shark's teeth onto Flasheart!
* Hatbot --> "Anastasia rolls 1d20+6 and gets 7." [1d20=1]
Yet this is ineffective as well, whiffing by the water treading Lord Flasheart!
Init is now Flasheart>Samurai>Sacchin. Go Sacchin.
Sacchin has a little trouble surging forward, and strikes out with the range her halberd affords her!
[02:23:51] <@Nao> roll 1d20+6 lazy
[02:23:54] * Hatbot --> "Nao rolls 1d20+6 lazy and gets 17." [1d20=11]
[02:24:04] <@Nao> roll 1d10+3 hit?
[02:24:09] * Hatbot --> "Nao rolls 1d10+3 hit? and gets 8." [1d10=5]
Sacchin surges forward, stabbing the Knight of the Marshes! The lancing goes across it's side, a long wound but not a decisive one!
He speaks in words you don't understand, but in front of him the following text appears! "Well done, but fight harder, for so shall I!"
Flash.
"Take this you bloody savage!" Flasheart cries as he stabs downwards once more!
[15:35] <Alicia> roll 1d20-1
[15:35] * Hatbot --> "Alicia rolls 1d20-1 and gets 6." [1d20=7]
Fruitlessly.
Euphemia follows, however belatedly!
Ranmaru follows into the teleporter as well, preparing to grab that knight the moment he sees him!
As Flasheart misses, the shark and rider go after poor Flasheart as one in revenge!
* Hatbot --> "Kodinner rolls 1d20+4 ride check and gets 11." [1d20=7]
* Hatbot --> "Kodinner rolls 1d20+4 bite versus AC 13 and gets 8." [1d20=4]
* Hatbot --> "Kodinner rolls 1d20+9 stab versus AC 13 and gets 10." [1d20=1]
* Hatbot --> "Kodinner rolls 1d20+4 another stab vs AC 13 and gets 11." [1d20=7]
Failure!
Despite ravaging Flasheart as best it can, and even letting out a loud kiai shout as he stabs at Flash, the rider cannot land a single blow against him! Somehow!
Sacchin, then I'll intro the other two.
Floating about to try and blindside the creature, Sacchin dishes out another hefty blow despite her unwieldy position!
[17:48:08] <@NaoNaoNaoNao> roll 1d20+8 attackage
[17:48:10] * Hatbot --> "NaoNaoNaoNao rolls 1d20+8 attackage and gets 19." [1d20=11]
[17:48:13] <@NaoNaoNaoNao> roll 1d10+3
[17:48:15] * Hatbot --> "NaoNaoNaoNao rolls 1d10+3 and gets 9." [1d10=6]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 EUPHY and gets 8." [1d20=7]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 Ranmaru! and gets 8." [1d20=7]
Initiative is now Flasheart>Samurai>Sacchin>Euphy=Ranmaru.
Sacchin thrusts out wildly, stabbing the samurai in the guts! That's a good solid wound, making red stain his stomach and mount! As this happens...
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d100 1-10 chance of Ranmaru actually landing on him since why not and it was a funny idea from PM? and gets 8." [1d100=8]
Euphemia and Ranmaru appear! Euphemia splashes down into the waters, while Ranmaru is plummeting down RIGHT at the Knight of the Marshes!
Both of you are up, go ahead and go. Euphy, since you're just here, you'll need a swim check not to start drowning, so bear that in mind with your action.
"KEYAAAAAH!!!!" Lettng out a fearsome shout as he falls, Ranmaru takes advantage of his unique position of being air-dropped right onto his enemy and attempts to lock in a feirce grapple on the doubtlessly shocked Knight!
* Hatbot --> "Gate-StillDead rolls 1d20+5 melee touch attack and gets 23." [1d20=18]
* Hatbot --> "Gate-StillDead rolls 1d20+9 grapple check and gets 22." [1d20=13]
* Hatbot --> "Gate-StillDead rolls 1d3+2 unarmed damage and gets 4." [1d3=2]
Dunno what, if any, mods you want added for him being mounted/in the watter/me divebombing/etc, so I just rolled my base.
Just going to call it even, there's a bunch of factors both ways and I'm lazy.
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+7 and gets 9." [1d20=2]
Bludgeoning and grappling the Knight of the Marshes, Ranmaru tackles him down and off his mount! The two go splashing into the water, sinking like stones with each other!
Euphemia will... drown ignobly, seems like, flailing in the water with her liberated longsword.
[00:32] <Euphy> roll 1d20-2 swim
[00:32] * Hatbot --> "Euphy rolls 1d20-2 swim and gets 3." [1d20=5]
Psst if they're actually sinking into the water, can I AoO the knight due to moving out a threatened space?
Now suitably restrained the Knight will surely be easier prey for Flasheart's borrowed lance!
[23:57] <Celenu> roll 1d20-1
[23:57] * Hatbot --> "Celenu rolls 1d20-1 and gets 10." [1d20=11]
But really he's just not very good at the whole stabbing thing, right now. Maybe next time?
No, as he was bulltackled from above and you'd have 50/50 odds of hitting Ranmaru. Unless you like that risk.
Sacchin doesn't seem to care much about the danger involved in thrusting at a wrestling pair of oriental warriors, insofar as that her blow seems to be even more brutal than the previous.
[15:40:23] <Nao> roll 1d20+6 attacking with AoO, sorry dwarf-dude but you died once so it's ok
[15:40:24] * Hatbot --> "Nao rolls 1d20+6 attacking with AoO, sorry dwarf-dude but you died once so it's ok and gets 26." [1d20=20]
[15:40:29] <Nao> roll 1d20+6 fucking ace
[15:40:30] * Hatbot --> "Nao rolls 1d20+6 fucking ace and gets 17." [1d20=11]
[15:40:34] <Nao> roll 3d10+9
[15:40:34] * Hatbot --> "Nao rolls 3d10+9 and gets 26." [3d10=9, 5, 3]
* Hatbot --> "Inifnite_Ko_Loop rolls 1d100 1-50 Knight 51+ Ranmaru and gets 24." [1d100=24]
It's a lucky shot! Amid the tumbling situation Sacchin thrusts straight out! As Ranmaru's arm whips past, she impales the Knight of the Marshes through the eye! His brains are pierced and body goes cold at this complete violation of his living status!
Meanwhile Euphy is currently going under and starting the process of drowning, while Flasheart stabs the shark and misses!
Shark takes the place of Samurai in the order!
With it's mount gone, the shark flees like a cowardly cur!
Flasheart, you can AoO. Assuming you do.
* Hatbot --> "Inifnite_Ko_Loop rolls 1d20-1 and gets 1." [1d20=2]
Nope, no clue on that whole stabbing thing! The shark is fleeing well into the dark depths of water and away!
Free action. None of you have a realistic shot of getting at a creature with a natural swim speed that's fleeing away from you. If you have a way to take potshots and wish to, feel free. If one of you have a pithy way of catching up, feel free to speak up.
Oh and Ranmaru, you'll need to make a swim check if you want to stop this sinking thing. FYI.
Sacchin lets the creature slide off her polearm, before glancing through the water- just how deep is this pool, anyway?
Also...
Congratulations! You've unlocked the following!
Complete Warrior Samurai base class! Now you can earn /tg/'s endless mockery and crappy skillset! You can use a masterwork bastard sword and shortsword in place of the Japanese katana and wakizashi.
Aasimar race! It's shiny but watch out for the LA!
Seeing Sacchin's mighty blow, Ranmaru resists the urge to cheer as he's currenly underwater, and tries to push back up to the surface.
Hatbot --> "Gatewalker rolls 1d20+2 swim? and gets 13." [1d20=11]
<Infinite_Ko_Loop> DC's 10, water's calm.
Seeing the princess struggling, Ranmaru then dwarffie-paddles over to her position to offer her his aid in not drowning.
Taking 10 if that's allowable, if not, roll for me.
That's fine, I'm not having you make round by round checks for staying afloat in calm water. I don't think you guys are that incompetent. Really.
However!
You'll have to dive down to get poor sinking Euphy and that will take a swim check or you'll start going down as well. Considering it's a bear to aid her and swim, I'm going to impose a -1 to your check and require you to roll.
* Hatbot --> "Kowork rolls 1d20+1 swim? and gets 3." [1d20=2]
Ranmaru dives down a bit to try and help Euphy! The problem is that he goes like a sinking ship when he does, losing his positioning and going under as he dives down and fails to help her up!
Wouldn't I actually start to drown with horrible constitution checks after 24 rounds of flailing ignobly? I'll keep on trying to swim, surely I'll roll 12 or above in that time~
Flasheart swims down to try and save the unfortunate damsel in distress. He can come back for the dwarf once she's situated above the water, assuming he doesn't right himself in that time.
[12:33] <Celenu> roll 1d20+4
[12:33] * Hatbot --> "Celenu rolls 1d20+4 and gets 14." [1d20=10]
As Lord Flasheart takes charge of rescuing Euphy, Ranmaru lets him handle that and proceeds to just get him self back above the surface, "Heh...heh...this armor is certainly not the best thing to be wearing in the water. Still, I'm not going to drown so easily."
Leaving the rescuing damsels to the dashing lord. Taking 10 to get myself righted.
Sacchin attempts to take stock of the area they're in now that combat is over; the depth of the water and the directions in which she can swim (and what appears to be in them) are of paramount importance!
Flasheart is able to help Euphy get above water as Ranmaru rights himself! Meanwhile, Sacchin looks around with her darkvision eyes! The water goes about sixty feet deep. - it's a grand hall of rusted iron. The bottom of the hall looks normal enough, though you'd need to do some swimming to see more in either direction.
Sacchin decides to swim in the opposite direction to the shark, until she either hits a dead end or sees something interesting!
Sacchin swims along! She swims perhaps two hundred feet, quite wet now! Ahead, the water is starting to get a current forward. A faint din can be heard, far away.
Easily figuring out what Sacchin is up to, Ranmaru takes a cue from her and starts dwarffie-paddling in the other direction, using his own Darkvision to take a look around. Two search faster then one, afterall!
Sacchin isn't particulary in the mood to get dragged away right now, and would rather chance the other direction! She ties a rope to her waist and tosses it at one of those fleshbags following her, and then dives underwater to try and force open the door and go through!
Ranmaru and then Sacchin go the other way! After a few minutes of swimming, they come to an end for it. Below the water, Sacchin can see a door leading in, though obviously not being able to breath underwater is going to make taking it dicey!
Well, there aren't other options! Sacchin dives underneath the water and tries to open the door so she can go through it!
You move at half your ground rate while swimming. There's no need to make checks when you're intentionally submerging. You can hold your breath for an amount double of your con score. 26 rounds!
It takes four rounds for Sacchin to swim to the bottom. The rusty steel door below here is quite closed, as a door often is. There's a handle below if one wishes to attempt to open it.
22/26 rounds of air, Sacchin.
Sacchin pulls at the handle, as one does when faced with a door that must be opened.
* Hatbot --> "Koaway rolls 1d20+2 STR and gets 12." [1d20=10]
Putting her back into it, Sacchin is able to force open the rusty old door! It takes some wind and effort from her, double the normal amount of exertion! Ahead she can see a watery hall that goes on for the sixty feet, then a downward slope. All waterlogged, of course.
20/26, a standard or move action burns 2 rounds of air for 1, Sacchin.
Sacchin lets the door go to see if it closes by itself! If it doesn't, she swims to the other side, wanting to check out whether or not it's possible to surface in this room for another breath of air!
The door stays open! Going into the next room, it's a narrow hallway with a low roof. No air at all is immediately available.
19/26.
Sacchin goes back to the surface in the other room for a moment, taking a great gulp of air as she treads water for a moment.
"Path down there full of water. Going back down," she grunts, before doing just that.
So yeah, I basically plan to swim down that path for twelve rounds and see if anything presents itself, and if I can't see another source of air I'll come back with a couple rounds to spare.
Getting back to where she was takes Sacchin 5 rounds! She then begins to swim down the corridor! After four more rounds she sees a gap in the roof, leading upward. It's not an air pocket, but it does seem to be an alternate passage to following this hall. It takes one round to veer off course and swim up into it.
17/26, assuming four rounds to descend again and move to move through the doorway, then four more swimming rounds.
Sacchin is willing to chance heading through the alternate passage, and swims upward to hopeful salvation!
A round is taken to swim up! In the gap, Sacchin can see it's a straight passage leading up! IT's a little brighter here, light trickling down from some source above! About sixty feet up, amid these hints of light, a pair of stone statues are built into the rusted iron walls. They are of mermen, looking on in eternal stone gazes.
16/26
Sacchin swims a little more to try and get a better look at the lights!
Up for two more rounds.
Sacchin swims up thirty feet! Above, sixty feet away and thirty past the statues, she can see light! Air! Open air! But...as she gets that close, the two statues get up! Like giant bulky blocks of stone they're moving, sinking through the waves towards Sacchin!
14/26 and initiative.
* Hatbot --> "Koaway rolls 1d20 and gets 17." [1d20=17]
* Hatbot --> "Koaway rolls 1d20 and gets 12." [1d20=12]
* Hatbot --> "Koaway rolls 1d20+2 Sacchin and gets 11." [1d20=9]
Initiative is Statue 1>Statue 2>Sacchin. Bad luck.
* Hatbot --> "Koaway rolls 1d20+1 and gets 14." [1d20=13]
* Hatbot --> "Koaway rolls 1d20+1 and gets 15." [1d20=14]
The two statues fall just past Sacchin, narrowly missing her both times! The heavy things would have surely clobbered her, not to mention perhaps trapping her under a ton of stone! They're only five feet past her, their heavy fall stopping abruptly!
Sacchin.
Sacchin continues to swim away from the statues, intending to put distance between herself and them!
Total defense, so that burns 2 rounds of breathing and gives +4 AC, for 20 AC. You can pretty much assume I just swim towards the surface like this until I get there.
Sacchin swims up two rounds! 30 feet to go! However, at this point the statues are finally moving again, catching up to her, reaching out to her with stony hands to drag her down!
10/26!
The first one is trying to grab and grapple you. Do you want to try an AoO, Sacchin?
Can't, reach weapon won't stop grapples and there's no point AoOing him otherwise. I'll try and bear it.
* Hatbot --> "Koaway rolls 1d20+1 and gets 3." [1d20=2]
Dodging, Sacchin swims above the hands of the first statue, even as the second one attempts a repeat performance!
* Hatbot --> "Koaway rolls 1d20+1 and gets 14." [1d20=13]
But with being on full defense, Sacchin is just able to dodge that and swim up! Two more rounds pass, Sacchin's lungs burning! But with that surge, she breaks above the surface of the water! Glorious air fills her lungs, but she's aware of something - the statues are swimming up after her as well in their own stony way!
Air restored. You haven't gotten a look around yet, as you're gulping down air and have two statues after you. Go ahead and take an action, even if it is just looking around?
If Sacchin can climb out, she is climbing out!
Sacchin lumbers out of the water! To the east is a ten foot long and wide steel slab built into the wall! Here she rests, body aching as air is taken back in! No sign of the statues coming out of the water, either. Here is it empty, save for a treasure box rising out of the floor.
Sacchin lies back on the ground for a moment, panting heavily and breathing in the delicious air; it's never tasted this sweet. No, she hasn't even tried to taste it for years. Staring up at the sky above for a moment, it occurs to her that her body isn't dissolving, she isn't burning, she's in something that might be sunlight, something she never thought she could see.
It isn't unpleasant, she realises. She could stay here for a long time, just resting. But it isn't enough, and in time, she comes back to reality, and walks towards the chest, intent on opening it.
Twenty feet above is a steel ceiling. Most of the light comes from there: Heavy, hard light, artificial. The chest is rather large - but it doesn't immediately open for Sachin! It's locked!
Sacchin isn't about to let a lock stop her from getting her hard-earned reward! She'll force the chest if she has to!
The chest is made of rich looking darkwoods. It looks kinda expensive and sturdy, though it only has a little keyhole and no obviously visible padlock or anything.
Sacchin decides to break the lid of the chest by smashing it with the head of her flail!
BASH! The chest seems to collapse as she brains it open, but a great gust of freezing air belches out as it does!
* Hatbot --> "Koaway rolls 1d20+3 ref and gets 8." [1d20=5]
* Hatbot --> "Koaway rolls 3d8+3 and gets 16." [3d8=7, 3, 3]
10/26 HP, Sacchin. Brrrrrrrrr! Also!
* Hatbot --> "Koaway rolls 1d4 and gets 3." [1d4=3]
3 dex damage.
Sacchin finds her flesh frostfrozen, her entire body numb! She can barely move, utterly frosted! In the wreckage of the chest lies a greatclub. A greatclub rimmed with ice, looking as feral and as frozen as...uh...something really feral and frozen. Yeah.
Sacchin shivers, pulling the greatclub out of the box and inspecting it.
BTW, there are no other exits from the room?
The club is chilly in Sacchin's numb hands!
It's a dead end, yes.
Congratulations, you have unlocked the following treasure:
Frozen Basher: Greatclub+1, frost. It constantly emits a freezing mist around it and is quite chilly to hold.
Sacchin ties the halberd to her back, and opts to use the greatclub as she dives back into the water, aiming to swim past the mermen and back to the hall below!
Plunging back into the depths, Sacchin can see that the statues are waiting fourty feet below, holding onto the walls!
25/26. Ball's in your court, Sacchin.
Sacchin dives to the bottom of this passage, intending on slipping past the statues before they can harm her!
la la la total defense once I'm in range and then the moving away happens
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 and gets 9." [1d20=8]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 and gets 16." [1d20=15]
Sacchin swims forward, defending herself! She jets past the first one, but the second one has a solid, stony grip on her!
* Hatbot --> "Bakumi rolls 1d20+5 inevitable grapple and gets 8." [1d20=3]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 and gets 12." [1d20=11]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d6+1 and gets 2." [1d6=1]
8/26 HP and 23/26 air.
Uh oh! The grappling statue gets her! It's now on top of her, a massive bear hug as the added weight makes Sacchin sink like a stone! She's in trouble!
Sacchin brings her legs together and kicks out at the other statue, hoping to send it flying away and give her the space she needs to resume swimming to the door!
[09:08:00] <@Bakumi> roll 1d20+5 grapple escape #2
[09:08:02] * Hatbot --> "Bakumi rolls 1d20+5 grapple escape #2 and gets 14." [1d20=9]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+1 and gets 19." [1d20=18]
No good! Sacchin finds herself plummeting down, unable to escape! This has BAD CONSEQUENCES, like slamming hard into the ground with a giant stone statue on top of you! The wind is knocked from Sacchin's chest, her vision swimming!
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d8 and gets 2." [1d8=2]
6/26 and halved air due to the impact: 11/26.
The statue is holding her, using the ground for a critical advantage! It's like being trapped by a boulder underwater, only a bit more molesty!
You're essentially pinned by the heavy statue.
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/conditionSummary.htm#pinned
I'd suggest doing something lucky or smart about now.
Sacchin can only squirm under the thing's oppressive weight!
[09:20:02] * Hatbot --> "Bakumi rolls 1d20+5 let's keep escaping, or failing at escaping and gets 20." [1d20=15]
* Hatbot --> "Anastasia rolls 1d20+6 +5 bonus due to weight and position. Having gravity on your side helps! and gets 9." [1d20=3]
9/26 air.
Sacching manages to maneuver out of the heavy statue on top of her! The statue begins to stir again at this! The other statue is keeping a watch above, waiting! It also takes 8 rounds to swim unmolested back to air where your fellow party members are from the bottom here.
Sacchin begins to swim away, returning to her comrades!
withdraw, yada yada, will AoO if it grabs me again
Two rounds of swimming! Sacchin's lungs burn as the statue catches up with her! It reaches for her, trying to entangle here once more!
7/26 air. AoOing, Sacchin?
Sacchin does a cute little loop mid-swim, whirling around with her oversized bat to bash the thing away from her!
[09:36:31] <@Bakumi> roll 1d20+6 I will hit the demons
[09:36:33] * Hatbot --> "Bakumi rolls 1d20+6 I will hit the demons and gets 17." [1d20=11]
[09:36:40] <@Bakumi> roll 1d10+3+1d6
[09:36:43] * Hatbot --> "Bakumi rolls 1d10+3+1d6 and gets 11." [1d10=5][1d6=3]
WHAM! The freezing club is most effective against the statue! A patch of ice coats over freezing cracks across the chest of it! Using this break, Sacchin swims away and out the door! It's not following! Yet as she does, her vision swims! Air, need air! AIR! AIR! THIS AIR! THIS AIR THIS AIR THIS AIR THIS AIR THIS AIR!!!!
With the last burst of her energy, Sacchin surfaces! Her lungs suck in air by the lungful, her friends seeing Sacchin doing a good imitation of a breathy vacuum cleaner!
Sacchin grabs at whoever's nearest (probably Flasheart, with her luck) and uses them as an improptu handhold to keep her afloat Adredaline fades, leaving her fully conscious of her not-inconsiderable wounds!
"The way is.. far," she manages. "Found... weapon. Don't know if further travel... Hurts. It hurts."
Lord Flasheart bravely pats the hysterical woman on the back. Not too gently. "Chin up, girl, it looks like you made it okay! Why I've been shorter of breath after a round or two with the Essex Sextuplets! And they put the S-E-X in sextuplets, believe you me! Hahaha!" He's been holding his wit in for far too long, it just had to come out.
"Anyway, what's this about a way out of here? Because I think we need to get moving - I'm used to the ladies being wet around me but this is ridiculous! Hahaha!"
"That way, waterfall," replies Sacchin, pointing away from the door. "That way, maybe drown. Not sure," she adds, pointing towards the door.
Ranmaru was taken slightly aback by the Lord's rather crude humor, but kept his oppinions of how a nobleman should behave to himself, instead turning his attention downward towards the tunnel Sacchin just came from. "Hmm, a difficult choice to be sure. Miss Sacchin, you seem to be more injured now then when you left. What attacked you down there? I assume it has been dispatched now, but where one enemy lurks there are often others."
Sacchin stares at Ranmaru for aroudn five seconds before her face lights up. "Enemise! Go down then up, enemies and air. Statues. Can't beat swimming- not strong enough. Go down then forward, don't know what there is but water."
She looks irritated. "Hurt comes from icebox. No need to beat that again."
"Hmm." Ranmaru thinks for a moment, then nods, "Is there land where this air is? If so, we could all move there, though we may need to defeat these enemies first, and use that as a point to explore further."
"You too slow. Drown before fight. I too... cold... to fight. Swim, can only swim."
"So what would our options be?" Euphemia asks with all the dignity of a girl who would sink like a stone, flailing, if it weren't for constant assistance staying afloat. "Try again, betting on there being something 'forwards' past all the water, or attempting to follow the shark?"
"That way, need to kill statues for good chance," states Sacchin, pointing from where she came. "That way, need to be brave," she finishes, pointing in the opposite direction. "Could go both ways."
"Killing statues?" Euphemia asks, raising an eyebrow. "Alright. If you hold me steadily above water, I could try using that scroll to give you a better chance against them. We could still all go, I'll just need to rely on a knight for this ordeal." Looking at Sacchin, she adds, "Any other dangers down that path I should know about?"
"It's wet."
"Thank you for that helpful analysis."
Sacchin shrugs. "Do best for good grades," she notes, grabbing Euphemia by the waist and holding her above the water.
I actually have no idea if trying to ensure a spell is cast like this is remotely sensible.
Neither do I! But if a couple people aid me I could probably do it? Or fail amusingly, either way. For the record, I'd like to use the cure scroll we found on Sacchin. And if that works, to cast Light on something so I don't get eaten by a grue.
I'm going to fiat call this a DC 20 concentration check. This is really hard and you're struggling to stay above water even with help. The scroll will be lost if you fail the concentration check. You have no ranks in Concentration, so your modifier for it is +1. Your call if you want to try it, Cor.
"Hmm, I am still in good condition. If miss Sachin is going to go and fight the statues, I will go as well. This area seems to be safe enough to leave the two of you for a short time."
He pauses, then looks to Lord Flasheart, "But if I am to fight thngs under the water, I would need my lance returned. I do not think wrestling with swimming statues would work as well as tackling the knight did."
"Alas, it's too wet to use the scroll here. Maybe we'll get another chance."
Okay, not going to do it. Let's still swim underwater towards the statues.
"Here you go!" Flasheart jovially hands over the lance before he swims down to retrieve the trident from the samurai's corpse so that he still has an appropriate aquatic weapon.
"You are too slow. By time you get to statues we all drown," snorts Sacchin. "Think it better to go other way if body can't be.. be.. hurt less."
Seriously going to the statues seems more and more like a plan of fail to me, since Euphie will need Flash to basically hold her hand the whole way, Gate can't even get there and have enough air to fight with, and a light tap will kill me in combat right now.
Flasheart swims down and retreives the trident. It's very stabby!
What you guys do is up to the four of you. Do be aware that if you spend too long vacillating and bickering that the Dark One feels obligated to...motivate you. <_<
"I still think it's best if we go together," Euphemia tells Sacchin.
I don't want to hear that after the Dark One took days off for holidays and disrupted our teamwork. >_> Anyway, if Flash or Sacchin can help me get to someplace with air and ground to stand on, they could take on the statues while I support them. It's also possible to cast the CMW on Sacchin once we're there.
Christmas does so not count!
Seriously though, I'm saying that it's not benefiting anyone if you spend foreverf here debating the merits of each path.
"Well, it's not as if we really have to fear dying here," Flasheart declares heartily, "So I vote we take the unknown above certain death, as outlined by this lovely lass," he indicates Sacchin before bravely leading the group towards the dark and mysterious currents.
Euphemia doesn't have a particular objection to this plan, really.
Right, moving you guys along a bit then.
The party swims towards the current. After going 200 feet of splashing and dwarvvie paddling, they begin to notice a current. It pulls them forward. A faint din can be heard from far away, perhaps the endless crashing of water.
Euphemia still doesn't have an objection to their likely-fatal plan.
The party swims along another 100 feet! At this point the current picks up, the din getting louder! 200 feet ahead you can glimpse what looks to be a massive waterfall! Water gushes down below in a vast emptying! However, dead in the center, is a five foot wide steel platform! Resting on the platform is nothing but a single cross, like a grave marker. It is decorated in delicate gold and silver, entirely out of place.
The current is stronger here. If you go on, it's likely you'll run a risk of being swept along with it. It's not quite strong enough to do that from here.
Being the skilled swimmer that he is, Flasheart attempts to reach the cross without being swept over the waterfall!
[19:19] <Ebiris> roll 1d20+5 Rei
[19:19] <Kobot> Ebiris rolled 1d20+5 Rei --> [ 1d20=1 ]{6}
[19:19] <Rei-chan> Ebiris rolled : 1d20+5 Rei --> [ 1d20=16 ]{21}
Good thing I picked the right bot!
With some struggle Lord Flasheart manages to stay on course! Even near the drag, when the water becomes like a torrent trying to send him plunging to a possible doom, he resists! He reaches the platform and holds on! The current is very strong, but not strong enough to prevent him from climbing up and taking a look about if he likes.
Naturally Flasheart has eyes and he uses them with which to survey his surroundings!
The steel platform is very steely. Not much to say there. The cross is gorgeous - of gold and silver. It's Christian in make, ornate, like something the Roman Catholics might have down in old Italy. It's about four feet tall, the bottom melded into the platform. Craning his neck, Flasheart can see over the edge of the waterfall! The water plummets into a vast black abyss, no end in sight despite the thundering sound.
It's pitch black down there. You feel likely to be eaten by something even staring into this abyss. Yet, on the horizon far far far below, you can see something glittering. You can't quite make it out, but it's very alluring...!
"I don't think we can take the cross with us!" Flasheart yells back at the assembled gang over the roar of the waterfall as he leans on the tall artifact for support. "It's welded into the platform! But there's something shiny down at the bottom of the waterfall!"
As Flasheart touches the cross, he feels a thrill pass through him! With a wink Lord Flasheart is gone!
---
The following text applies to Flasheart only.
Flasheart blinks as his eyes clear. He stands in the room of colored bars once more, near the passage to the steelworks!
"Oh... well, hopefully they'll be along shortly..." Flasheart settles down to wait a few moments for his boon companions to catch up.
Right-o. Ball's in your court, Cor/Gate/CARTHRAT TANEWAKI.
Euphemia certainly is willing to risk touching the cross. Even if it will horribly disintegrate her rather than send her elsewhere, it's worth a chance. Now, if only someone could help her get to that platform....
Gate, we can remove your armor for an excellent Swim mod, let's do that~
While Euphiemia busily undresses the dwarf, Sacchin busily starts making a lasso out of some rope.
OOC: Already had that idea, just not here all day to post it.
Ranmaru looks at the platform, then back to his companions, then back to the platform, and shrugs, "I could reach there without effort alone, but not carrying anyone else. At least not in this armor. No help for it, then. I can fight without this metal plating as easily as I can with it."
With that said, Ranmaru begins to divest himself of his armor, though he tries to keep it in a bundle.
When he's done getting unencumbered, he turns to the rope making Sacchin, "Hmm, is there any way you could tie my armor onto one end of that rope, hold it until we reach the platform, then throw me the other end? I'll drag my armor over, get it off the rope, then throw you one end back so you have a bit of a saftey line while you swim over."
"Better idea. You go that side. I go other side. Hold ends of rope. Catch onto cross, drag selves back up it."
She shrugs. "Tie boots or something in middle of rope, stop it slipping far."
Unarmoring Ranmaru is accomplished after some struggles. Sacchin also makes a lasso without incident.
Ball's in your courts still.
Sacchin tries to tie her flail to the center of the rope so it can be used as a brace.
"You two hold on that side," she notes, spacing herself from the others.
So basically I plan to have us each about five-ten feet on either side of the platform; it should be caught between us. We should catch the cross as we float down, and then, using it as a brace, one of us can climp towards it and pull the others up. It's a plan that can't fail, beyond dropping the rope! Assume I execute this as soon as someone else is ready to do the same.
Yes, this cannot fail, let's do it.
Gate was down as well, so let's do this crazy thing!
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokoko rolls 1d20+3 Sacchin relevant swim check and gets 6." [1d20=3]
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokoko rolls 1d20+8 Gate swim and gets 19." [1d20=11]
With this plan and a rope between them, the two go swimming! Sacchin finds the current to drag her along and under, air denied! Ranmaru is much better at this, able to endure and stay afloat with the current! However, near the platform, he finds it gets faster! He's not quite able to catch up, holding onto the rope and out of control!
22/26 air, Sacchin, since you've been dragged underwater. In case this ends up mattering.
The rope catches across the cross! It's mainly on Ranmaru's side, the still above water rope side giving it a good angle! Sacchin's is angling into the water with her, less able to hold! It creates a fearsome checking of her grip, current and stoppage testing her! Ranmaru has a better grip and a better position, much less fearsomely tugged at as the rope settles into place!
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokoko rolls 1d20+2 str check and gets 14." [1d20=12]
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokoko rolls 1d20+6 str check for Gate, +4 for being above water and not tumbling hopelessly and gets 8." [1d20=2]
Whorebot.
One hand of Sacchin's goes free, but the other is like a vice! Her hand turns white from the pressure, but she maintains her hold, dangling and tossing about underwater! Meanwhile, despite her nearly perfect position, Ranmaru finds her hands hit by the impact just so! She finds her grip loosening critically as she is swept away from the rope! She's going towards the waterfall at an alarming pace!
You can try a swim check to recover, Ranmaru. DC is 20 for this fast current. If you have any other ideas this might be the time.
Sacchin tries to start pulling herself up the rope, attempting to at least surface herself and get a look at the situation! She clings on for dear life!
[18:06:06] <@Nao> roll 1d20+3 swim check, presumably
[18:06:06] * Hatbot --> "Nao rolls 1d20+3 swim check, presumably and gets 23." [1d20=20]
With the rope, swimming and sheer effort, Sacchin is able to swim up! Air fills her lungs again! Ahead of her is the platform, the rope holding steady against the cross with the flail tangled around it! To her side Ranmaru is beings wept away from the rope!
Okay, we need a moment to let Ranmaru decide on what she's going to do.
Euphemia tries to use the rope to climb toward the cross! Or hold on to it and provide and counter-weight until she is pulled up, whichever happens first!
You mean basically swim down the river to where the rope is now and use it as a bank to stop, Cor?
Since I can't stay afloat on my own I'm at the dwarf's side of our rope.
Okay, I missed the part where you were along for the ride on Gate's side. My bad. Let me roll a swim check here for you real quick to see if you went under first.
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokoko rolls 1d20-1 and gets 0." [1d20=1]
Yep. Okay, you'd be in the same boat then - holding on to the rope as it latches on and being dragged underwater, ala Rat. You'd need the same str check they made. Good luck.
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokoko rolls 1d20-1 DC 10 str check 45% odds aren't that bad, right? and gets 11." [1d20=12]
That worked out. Tangentially, I wasn't going to have you roll a swim check to stabilize up with a secured rope here, though Rat's 20 meant he did it really fucking well.
Meanwhile, Euphy has been along for the ride! Despite being dragged underwater, Euphy is able to hold onto the rope! Using the rope she is able to make her way to the platform and up!
Okay, now we're waiting on Gate. Sorry about that, Cor.
Ranmaru mutters a curse under his breath and tries to power swim his way to the platform...but apparently can't seem to get anywhere in the fast current. As he realizes this simply isn't working, he looks for any cracks in any solid platform close enough to stab his lance into(if he can draw it in time), in hopes of stopping himself from getting swept somwhere unpleasant.
Hatbot --> "Gate-weekend rolls 1d20+8 swim and gets 17." [1d20=9]
If I have time for another check(of either swim or lance save) before I get swept away somewhere unpleasant, then roll it for me.
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokoko rolls 1d20+5 lance and gets 13." [1d20=8]
Ranmaru lances out, but can't spear into the platform! Down and down he goes, swept away in the current! Ack! He goes over the edge! He's rushing downward! Something -horrible- is rising up out of the abyss at him! It's huge!
Not one to meet death with a hung head, Ranmaru twisted in the water and pointed his lance straight down at whatever beast was rushing up at him while yelling to his companions, "Follow the Lord, quickly! I shall stop this demon!"
Bracing himself in the current, the unlucky warrior did what he does best: scream challenges in the face of certain death, "Begone beast, or face my lance!!!!!!"
OOC: If you gotta go down, go down fighting! CHAAAAAARGE~
> roll 1d20+7 come on Hatbot help me out here
* Hatbot --> "Gate-weekend rolls 1d20+7 come on Hatbot help me out here and gets 20." [1d20=13]
> roll 2d8+6 if that hits
* Hatbot --> "Gate-weekend rolls 2d8+6 if that hits and gets 16." [2d8=7, 3]
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokoko rolls 1d20+27 -30 PA also hi Tai. and gets 31." [1d20=4]
* Hatbot --> "Kokokokokoko rolls 4d8+77 and gets 93." [4d8=1, 4, 4, 7]
With full bravery Ranmaru plunges down into the abyss! The perfect darkness surrounds her as she cannot see, yet lances out bravely! She is aware of hitting something, hitting something as hard as a mountain! It roars back, horrible rows of endless teeth wrapping around her! As he is torn apart from limb to limb to limb, dwarven body ruined, his eyes glimpse downward.
It's gorgeous. It's so...beautiful. It reminds Ranmaru of better times, of being...alive and...his master and lord...If only he could somehow reach it, even as his body is obliterated...
Starry void, Gate. Act on, Rat/Cor.
A brave sacrifice like this brings a tear to Euphemia's eye. Clearly, the vertically-challenged person fought like a true Britannian.
She touches the cross so that she wouldn't have to do likewise.
Sacchin does the same! Thus, the two escape the watery abyss and join Flasheart!
You three are up.
"Aha, good show, you all made it!" Flasheart voices his approval as the others rejoin him, before blinking once a moment has passed. "What happened to that short fellow?"
"We need to go to collect him," Euphemia responds, squeezing the water out of her hair. "His last charge against the oppressing darkness was a brave one."
"Fix me," orders Sacchin, shaking her entire body and spraying more water across both Flasheart and Euphemia.
Ignoring any such orders, Euphemia decides to retrieve Ranmaru first.
Ignoring the plight of an innocent young bloodsucker, Euphy instead concentrates! Ranmaru is withdrawn from the void once more, returned to this in a new form!
Ball's in all of your courts now.
Euphemia's scroll is put to good use restoring Sacchin's vitality, and then she asks, "Now that the knight went belly-up, let's try that smithy once more?"
"Didn't clean that spot out earlier after those treacherous Greeks did me in?" Flasheart asks, puffing himself up. "Well I'll gladly have another go at it, then!"
Sacchin glows with pleasure after the healing is cast upon her, and brushes herself off. "Fire... shooting... thing there. Dangerous." She pouts. "Might be gone. Might not."
Ranmaru appears, this time appearing as a long haired, fairly androgenous human with a pair of curved blades at his side...and a familiar looking whistle around his neck. Facing the group, he nods, "My apologies for the delay. Also, when I was forming my new body, I saw a curious whistle, so I picked it up. I think it's supposed to summon something."
* Hatbot --> "Kowork rolls 2d8+3 and gets 10." [2d8=6, 1]
+10 HP, Sacchin, what does that put your HPs at?
16/26
"Summons flying.. steam.. thing," mutters Sacchin. "Fireplace very hot, may not even be safe to go near." She shrugs. "Doors still there to check though."
"Ah, I'd wondered where the little fellow had gotten to," Flasheart beams as he readies his crossbow and leads the way South.
The four head south!
They walk down the hall, the descending stairway ahead. Soon they'll be able to look over and see the conveyor belt and steelworks if they wish to continue on.
Ranmaru has not been this way before, but is still content to walk at point, simply going where directed by those who know thier way around better then he.
Subtle DM prod for one of you do something here. Eb, Rat was talking about you acting since you have fire res and some other shit.
Flasheart... continues leading the way south?
"Care. Fire cannon. See you, shoot you," notes Sacchin, alerting Flasheart to the imminent danger within the factory!
As Flasheart approaches, he sees that a new game is indeed afoot! Over the vat of melted metal a metal cannon has appeared! As Flasheart comes in view of him, it shoots a glob of melted metal right at him!
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20-1 and gets 5." [1d20=6]
The glob lands in front of Flasheart, sizzling and melting the floor!
"See?" notes Sacchin, taking an improptu step back out of range.
Flasheart quickly looks to see if there's any cover afforded en route to the cannon, as he doesn't fancy his chances strolling down the stairs if that thing's shooting at him all the while.
There's really not much cover on a glance. The stairs are fairly open and the cannon would have a solid shot.
Ranmaru considers his whistle, "Hmm, I wonder if there's anything a creatue of steam would know about a firey cannon. Perhaps a way to shut it off, if we're lucky." He looked to the others, "Shall I summon the creature?"
"I have an idea!" Flasheart insists, channelling his creepy magic into the trident he carries to make it emanate an aura of shadowy darkness before he hurls it at the cannon, hopefully blinding whatever it uses to see with!
Flasheart chucks the trident! It flies and lands fairly close to the cannon! Darkness envelops it! There doesn't seem to be any immediate return fire from it, the cannon now engulfed in shadows.
"That should let us get around it easily!" Flasheart seems well pleased with his handiwork, leading the way down the stairs.
Indeed, as Flasheart goes down, the cannon does not fire at all!
Nodding in approval at the ingenuity involved, Euphemia follows Flasheart, observing what has been changed from the last time she was in the chamber.
Lava on the floor, lava burning through the doors, anything?
The rear of the chamber has several puddles of half melted, ruined flooring near the door to the study. It'll be tricky to go over to the study now. The way to the study door is messed up, the other paths not so much.
Euphemia doesn't go to the study, then, intending on trying the other doors as she says, "If we work together, we should get them to open!"
Which door first?
Lord Flasheart checks the doors for traps, first of all!
Taking 10 for 19. I can't find any traps with DCs of 20 or higher anyway because of trapfinding being a retarded class feature
The third one I already opened without trouble before, though I'll wait on Flash to check first, etc.
Ranmaru applauds the lord's creative solution to the cannon, and stands by to help force open any door that proves uncooperative.
"Weird potions in that room," notes Sacchin, pointing at the study. She's had quite enough of forcing open uncooperative locked things, however!
Right.
Flasheart doesn't find any traps on the closed doors.
"Looks safe!" Flasheart declares before opening the leftmost unopened door.
Lord Flasheart finds the leftmost door, while not trapped, is still locked.
Flasheart tries to pick the lock using a pair of crossbow bolts.
Open lock at +3 counting the -2 penalty because the dark one didn't think we'd need thieves tools
The Dark One is a sonuvabitch.
* Hatbot --> "Ko-Ratisexistentialangst rolls 1d20+3 and gets 17." [1d20=14]
No dice. Flasheart fiddles with the door but it's not going.
Meanwhile, Sacchin wanders into the study again and randomly picks a potion to drink from the rack!
Sacchin notes that it'll be a bit tricky to get over the half melted metal. She'll need to take a few risky 5 ft hops to get over the melty metal.
Sacchin holds her giant, frost-emitting club near the metal, hoping that it'll rapidly cool the stuff to make it safe!
Someone's on the ball tonight. Scary.
The club helps the metal patches cool down entirely. It's now safe to pass.
Sacchin proceeds to ignore her common sense, and picks a random potion from the rack!
* Hatbot --> "Ko-Ratisexistentialangst rolls 1d41 and gets 5." [1d41=5]
Sacchin drinks a potion! Her legs feel springy-alive!
Sacchin has gained a +5 competence bonus to jump checks until further notice.
Sacchin shrugs, and starts piling assorted potions into her backpack!
Sacchin piles dozens of glass potions into her bag! Her bag is now stuffed with many a potion.
Sacchin ties some at random to her belt, and holds the bag open to her allies when she emerges.
"Drinking things makes you strong! Probably."
"Something to keep in mind," Euphemia agrees, trying to open that door that lead to a stairway going down, if she recalls properly.
The third door opens again without incident. The stairway is there, looming in it's stairway-ness.
Happy at this progress, Euphemia gestures onwards grandly, as surely someone will take that as a sign to descend down the stairway first.
Sacchin doesn't seem to have a problem wading down into the stairwell, all-seeing eyes peering into the darkness beyond!
Flasheart spends a minute fiddling with the door while Sacchin loots potions.
Taking 20 for 23
Euphemia accompanies Sacchin at a safe distance, loaded crossbow out, and ready to cast the spell of Light should it get too dark to see.
10-15ft behind Sacchin, say?
Noticing the ladies going down the stairs, Ranmaru hesitates, looking back to the Lord who was still futzing with the door, "Ah, is it really a wise idea for us to split up like this?"
Assuming nobody listens to him, Ranmaru chooses to remain with Lord Flasheart, not wanting to leave anyone on thier own in this place.
Lord Flasheart pops the door open after some struggles as Ranmaru joins him! Inside is a narrow catwalk, five feet wide. Around it things expand out into a void. The cat's walk goes farther than Flasheart can see.
The stairway goes down about sixty feet. At the bottom, Sacchin can see that water gently laps against the last step. There is an underwater passage glimpsed below the water's surface.
"There we go!" Flasheart puts away his crossbow bolts, seeming quite pleased with himself. "Now, lets go catch up with those girls before they die horribly, eh?" With that he leads his confusing companion down the stairway Sacchin and Euphy went down.
"It never ceases to amaze me how everything seems interconnected," Euphemia murmurs. "And at the same time, I have to wonder if it truly is, or just looks that way on the surface. How about we try opening the last door before deciding on our next move?"
Door #4 is still around and locked, if memory serves.
Flasheart repeats his door unlocking antics on the last door!
taking 20 for 23
"Sick of getting wet anyway," notes Sacchin, returning to the top of the stairwell.
The fourth door opens! Inside is a flat wall three feet in. Above is a tunnel going ten feet up, then hooking to an upward slant leading ahead. It's climeable, though it won't be easy.
Euphemia makes a face. "Yet another path I won't find it easy to proceed into, it seems."
Ranmaru peers into the shaft, "Hmm, it shouldn't be hard for someone to get up there if either miss Sacchin or I give them a boost. If someone can scale that slant, they could lower down a rope to make it easier for the rest of us, if we all want to go that way."
(EDIT: I missed something in Dune's post, so edited mine.)
"Or we can go along the other path I opened, no climbing required there!" Flasheart declares, heading onto the catwalk of mystery.
"Also an option, of course." Ranmaru follows along behind the Lord.
The catwalk waits ahead! The party heads down it fourty foot, no end in sight still.
Sacchin keeps following, bow at the ready.
If there was any doubt...
The party walks on 100 feet! 200! 300! Still no end in sight. Still the catwalk stretches on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on! 400 feet! There seems to be no progress at all.
Sacchin looks back the way the group came.
You can see the door back, perhaps sixty feet away.
"Door still there," she notes, alerting the rest of the group to this development. "Following us."
"Strange..." Flasheart digs into his backpack for a moment before triumphantly producing a stick of chalk. "Lets see what happens with this, then," he declares, starting to draw a dotted line on the ground as he resumes his advance.
Ranmaru eyes the door and thinks a moment, "Hmm, Lord, while you walk ahead, I shall face this door to see if it really is moving after us, or perhaps catch a glimpse of whatever maner of sorcery being used here."
That said, Ranmaru keeps his eyes glued to the door while Flasheart does his chalk thing.
Euphemia is content to stick next to Sacchin, for her part.
Lord Flasheart draws with chalk on the ground and advances forward and then walks forward! It's strange. He advances away to the eyes of Sacchin and Euphy, and Ranmaru can see that the door stays where it is. Yet to moving Flasheart, the chalk is left behind, even if the door is still sixty feet away.
So basically we're not getting anywhere.
"Stupid place. Go back now," mutters Sacchin, heading to the climbable shaft from before.
"You forgot one other option!" Flasheart chastises Sacchin. "A friend of mine once said that once you eliminate... something... then something else, no matter how suicidal or foolhardy, is the only solution!" Rolling up his sleeves he turns to the edge of the catwalk and rubs his foot on the ground like a bull preparing to charge.
Before anyone can stop him (if indeed they cared to), he hurls himself bodily into the void!
Lord Flasheart dives off the catwalk! He plummets down! As he falls, he happens to twist in the air and get a look up. On the bottom of the catwalk are a few web-balls, glimpses of something held within them. If only Flasheart had the time and leisure to check them out! Alas, plummeting down a deep, dark chasm has infinite priority. For his part, Flasheart at least only feels a jarring agony after several seconds of falling. That's a good thing, right? Right?
* Hatbot --> "Kokokoko rolls 20d6+6d6 and gets 94." [20d6=6, 5, 5, 2, 1, 5, 4, 5, 4, 4, 4, 2, 5, 6, 2, 1, 3, 2, 5, 2][6d6=3, 2, 4, 4, 6, 2]
Let's be honest here, the numbers hardly matter. Flasheart is now splattered like a bug on the windshield of life. Starry void, you.
"Did we forget?" Euphemia asks, staring into the spot the man was just standing moments earlier. "That was an option?"
"I'm not going to get him."
"Yes, too troublesome," Euphemia agrees. "So we're back to climbing and throwing me down a rope?"
Ranmaru turns around at the Lord's comment, just in time to see him fling himself to his doom, "I...see. I will admit that had not even considered this as an option." Looking down over the side, Ranmaru calls out, "Um, Lord Flasheart? I don't suppose there's any way you landed safely down there?
"Yes." Sizing up the wall, Sacchin decides to try and climb it!
Take 10 for 15.
What walls, Sacchin? The catwalk stretches over the expanding void - there's no walls close to climb down.
I left the catwalk and went to the other door with the climable shaft in it.
Hearing no answer, Ranmaru shakes his head and goes back to Sacchin and Euphy, "Shall I duck back to that device and summon the Lord back? Actually, how do you use that?"
"Wait a bit until we see whether climbing here will get most of us horribly dead, first?" Euphemia suggests, eagerly anticipating the outcome of Sacchin's heroics.
Sacchin climbs up to the upward slanted tunnel and goes up it! It goes for fourty feet, before coming to a dead end. The center of the dead end has a pullring, as if the wall is meant to be tugged open. The metal here is rusty and with a thin coating of watery dew over it.
"Need new rope," calls Sacchin, leaning back down the tunnel to get some off one of her companions.
Once acquired, she ties the rope to the ring and slides back to ground level. "Not sure what behind door there. Water, maybe," she notes. "Stand back?"
Ranmaru stands back. Well back.
"How about we return all the way and prepare to summon Lord Flasheart?" Euphemia suggests. "If there is enough water to flood the chamber he perished in, we might well swim across rather than try and walk endlessly. And we'll swiftly bring you back if you die in the process, of course."
Barring strongly-worded objections, Euphemia intends to head back, with Ranmaru if he is agreeable, and wait a few minutes before checking up on the dead people.
"Not liking this," mutters Sacchin, as the others walk away. "Always die alone. So unfair."
Sighing, she pulls at the rope after they're clear.
As the others walk back to get Flasheart...
Sacchin pulls the rope! She feels a give after a few tugs, but nothing comes gushing down to engulf her! She feels like it gave way, but there's no great gushing of water at all.
Since nothing happens after a while, as far as she can tell, Euphemia tries to summon Lord Flasheart back. And see if Sacchin is there waiting with him.
Back in the orb room, Flasheart is summoned back without incident!
You're up, Flash.
Lord Flasheart dusts himself off after arriving, looking a bit hairier and bulkier than when he left. "I'll be having words with Sir Doyle if I ever see him again," he mutters irritably. "Well, I don't suppose any startling discoveries occurred while I was gone?"
"We might as well go check, since you were alone," Euphemia returns. "Although I must wonder. Is there any part left here that we have yet to examine?"
"There looked to be some objects webbed to the underside of that endless platform, I saw briefly as I fell," Flasheart volunteers. "We could get that flying little fellow to grab them for us."
"An excellent idea," Euphemia agrees, walking back to the area in question.
"Ah, the creature from this whistle flies? That is who you are refering to, yes? Very well, I shall ask him to retrive whatever it is you saw under the walkway."
Ranmaru heads back to the room with the endless walkway and blows on the whistle!
Sacchin climbs back up the shaft to see what lies behind the plug!
Going to give Rat a post to act first since it's really late and I don't have a full post in me.
Sacchin goes to climb up the slope! Going up, she sees that the door has indeed given way. Ahead is a narrow metal passage, like crawling up a ventilation shaft. It's wet, rusty and a bit jagged. Looks like rough going ahead.
Sacchin starts carefully crawling down the tunnel, relying on her armour and weapons to get her through it with only a few cuts.
* Hatbot --> "Ko-hiding rolls 1d20 and gets 17." [1d20=17]
* Hatbot --> "Ko-hiding rolls 1d20 and gets 5." [1d20=5]
* Hatbot --> "Ko-hiding rolls 1d20 and gets 13." [1d20=13]
* Hatbot --> "Ko-hiding rolls 1d20 and gets 18." [1d20=18]
* Hatbot --> "Ko-hiding rolls 1d20 and gets 10." [1d20=10]
* Hatbot --> "Ko-hiding rolls 1d20 and gets 20." [1d20=20]
* Hatbot --> "Ko-hiding rolls 1d20 and gets 2." [1d20=2]
* Hatbot --> "Ko-hiding rolls 1d20 and gets 6." [1d20=6]
Calling this AC 14, no dex when crawling up a tunnel and not at your best mobility. 3 points of damage, Sacchin. Also...
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+4 and gets 8." [1d20=4]
The jagged, rusty edges open several small cuts on Sacchin's body! She endures and reaches the end of the tunnel! Here lies three things - a small treasure box welded into the wall, and a silver button on the far end, unrusted.
Meanwhile, the others make it back to the steel making room without incident. Yep, no sign of Sacchin at all.
"Did you...." Euphemia pauses, considering the most diplomatic way to ask this. "Did you, by chance, die in the time it took us to travel back here with Lord Flasheart?"
For what it's worth, there's no Sacchin-corpse around or any obvious signs of a fatality.
"Well, lets grab the things from beneath that walkway then we'll go and collect her?" Flasheart suggests.
That's two things, Dune.
Upon reaching the box, Sacchin tries to open it!
Ranmaru blows the whistle! Your friendly neighborhood steam mephit appears! "Ow...that waaassss ssssssssstraange!"
Meanwhile, Sacchin tries to open the box...but it's locked!
Sacchin reaches over to push the button at the back of the room!
Sacchin pushes the button!
Meanwhile, as the rest of the party heads through the steel mill again? There is a soft rumble and then, "Deactivating." A genderless voice says.
Sacchin pushes the button!
"The Greeks, again?"
Ranmaru greets the odd creature, "Hello there. So you are the creature that lives in this whistile, hmm?I have a request for you, if you would be so willing. One of my companions spotted some things attached to the underside of this very walkway. Would you mind retrieving them for me? You can fly, yes?"
Sacchin pushes the button! Nothing seems to happen as far as she can see!
Meanwhile, the steamy mephit nods, "Okaaaaay," it bobbles in the air, flying off to do that! As it does, "Warning," the greek voice says, "Genocide mode activated."
"Curse those greasy greeks!" Flasheart yells angrily, brandishing his club in the air.
Sacchin isn't sure what that means, and turns her attention back to the chest, which she bashes with her club- hard- before diving for the corner of this little room.
The party feel that it's starting to get hot in here as the mephit goes to harvest treasure!
Meanwhile, Sacchin hits the chest!
* Hatbot --> "Ko-Nitorifangirl rolls 1d10+5+1d6 and gets 21." [1d10=10][1d6=6]
WHAM! The chest is hit so hard that the top pops open! Inside lies a sheet of paper with writing on it.
Sacchin reads the paper!
Written on it is the following:
"If you defeat the Knight of the Marshes, you'll rule over the still waters."
"One of you will want to spare the Knight of the Marshes."
"Do not trust the mephit."
"The guardian of the exit is mighty, but it loathes winter."
"Kneel before the tombstone with garlic to get a silver dagger."
Pocketing the sheet of paper, Sacchin begins making the arduous journey back through the tunnel!
Returning, Sacchin notices one good thing. All the sharp edges have faded into the wall and floor, making the trip back mercifully painless. She comes out, finding that it's getting rather warm in this room!
Euphemia knows when to flee, and one such moment is now, quite likely. "Come on!" she urges the others as she does so. "A room with a pool of lava getting hotter? Bad place to stay."
It hardly means she'll stay back to wait, if some of her companions or even all of them would prefer to remain instead.
(OOC: okay, to confirm, we're all in three different places right now, yes?
Sacchin is climbing down the shoot.
Ranmaru is in the Endless Walkway room hving the mephit harvest treasure.
Flasheart and Euphy are in the room with the lave.
Is this right?)
That sounds about right to me, Gate
Sadly now lacking in fiery resistance, Flasheart agrees with Euphie and flees back up the stairs!
When Sacchin sees the others fleeing, she scratches her head, and then decides to follow suit, hightailing it outside the rapidly-heating kettle of a room.
"Button didn't have a label," she mutters, darkly.
OOC: That's right, you guys.
The three hurry up the stairs! When they reach the top, they feel the growing heat onlyd istantly. It's tolerable and okay up here, but it looks to be getting warmer down there.
Ranmaru and the steam mephit go below! It works and grunts, bits of spidery silk falling into the abyss as it fiddles. "Here you go, got one, two more to go," he says, plopping a scroll down into Ranmaru's hands.
Ranmaru accepts the scroll!
(Can I hear/see the rest of the paty runing back up? I'm afraid I have NO mental map function, so I have no idea where I am in relation to them."
Euphemia eyes Sacchin warily. "There was a button?"
"Yes. Paper chest too." Sacchin frowns. "Said to not trust mephit."
The mephit grins as Ranmaru can distantly hear people fleeing. Say, it's getting a little warmer in here. Not that it seems to bother your steamy friend as he goes below again.
You're past one of the four doorways at the far side of the steel mill, down a long catwalk. The party is on the other side of the steel mill now and up the stairs leading down into it.
(okay, thanks.)
Ranmaru looks back, "Is that...people running?"
Calling the Mephit back up, he motions for the doorway, "Something's happening. Come on, we can come back for the rest later."
Cautiously, Ranmaru heads back out of the walkway room to see what the commotion is about...
We resume! I ask all of you to do me a favor. Due to an error in bookkeeping I lost your current HP totals. Can you include them in your next post? I'm going to start using a throwaway IRC room to keep track of them. (#avatarhps if you care to peek or need to check.)
Thanks.
Ranmaru returns to the main steel smithing room as the others linger atop the stairs! WOAH. It's getting hot in here, chokingly hot! Swealteringly hot, being exposed to this long will have bad effects on living!
"Tch! This heat is worse then Koshi castle..."
Ranmaru looks around swiftly. If he can see or hear the others, and the way is clear between them, he'll sprint up to where they are. If not, he'll move back to the corridor. It's just too hot to stay here or explore.
I'm still at full since my last respawn.
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20-1 DC 10 and gets 7." [1d20=8]
The heat throbs and pounds! Lacking options and not seeing anything as he suffers, Ranmaru swiftly falls back!
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+2 DC 10 Euphy and gets 10." [1d20=8]
However, as this happens, the relatively eagle-eyed Euphy can glimpse Ranmaru coming out and then fleeing back down below!
Ranmaru falls back to the corridor room, and if there is a door there he'll get ready to shut it. He doesn't want to completely close himself off from the others until there is simply no other choice.
Looking back to the Mephit, he asks, "This heat...tell me, do you know this place well? Have you any idea what is causing this deadly temperature?"
Floating in the air, "Dunnooooo," it hisses, "But it feeeellls gooooood!"
The effeminate samurai has to chuckle, "Perhaps for you, freind. I fear this heat may be the end of me."
Shaking his head, he decides to make a request, "I dislike relying on another so much, but with both wings and apparent resistance to this inhuman heat it would seem that you're simply suited for tasks that I am not. Could I trouble you to take a look out there and see if you can find the Lord and the others?"
Eagle eyes! I mean, I think I had 10hp left.
"That strangely androgynous fellow just peeked outside before hiding back... somewhere," Euphemia mutters helpfully, before being even more useful and calling down, "Are you still alive? Try getting over here to join the rest of us!"
As Ranmaru goes to close the door against the heat, he can distantly hear Euphemia's shouts!
14 hp
"If you can't just kill yourself and we'll pick you up again on our end!" Flasheart calls over helpfully.
Ranmaru steps back out, "HERE, WHERE ARE YOU?"
When he hears her shout back, he's gritting hs teeth and running for the sound of her voice!
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d20+6 DC 12; +2 since it's not fully heated quite yet and gets 21." [1d20=15]
* Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 1d6+2 and gets 3." [1d6=1]
Impressive.
The heat is overwhelming! Ranmaru feels faint as she sprints up the stairs, hurrying in this baking inferno! She somehow keeps her coherency, vision swimming and body shaking! Nonetheless she makes it to the top, falling to her knees in exhaustion as she comes out of the growing, baking inferno of the steel works.
3 damage and no other negative effects, Ranmaru.
"Jolly good show," Flasheart applauds Ranmaru's manly efforts. "So, what did you find under that walkway?"
Ranmaru slowly stands up, brushing himself off, "A scroll, Lord. We only had time to recover the first of three before I felt it was more prudent to retreat."
Digging out the scroll, he hands it off to Lord Flashheart.
Lord Flasheart reads the scroll!
Hopefully it's about animal husbandry, otherwise he probably won't understand it.
This scroll is about difficult and scary things, like magic! It's way too hard for a mere commoner to understand!
"It's all greek to me," Flasheart confesses, handing the scroll to Euphie.
"I'll take a look, then," Euphemia says obligingly, even as she asks, "So there are two more? Where's your little friend? Maybe he could get the rest."
Ranmaru looks around, noticing the lack of his steamy companion, "Ah...I assumed he would follow. Well, he did say it was pleasant down there for him, I can understand why he'd linger."
Raising his voice, he calls down, "Sir Mephit, can you hear me?"
From far away, you can hear the Mephit shout back, "I'm over heeeeeereeee!"
The scroll is a Scroll of Cure Moderate Wounds.
Ranmaru calls back, "If you can, please retrieve the other items under the walkway and meet us here. I'm afraid that we humans cannot enter that heat any longer!"
"Are you kiiiddding! It feeeelssssssssssss sssssssssssssssssssssso gooooood!" Calling back, the mephit nonethless says, "But okaaaaaay."
Ranmaru chuckles and looks back to the others, "Well, I hope he doesn't get distracted on his way back. He does seem to enjoy that roasting furnace."
Seeing no option but to wait for thier little freind, Ranmaru backs away from the heat a bit more and sits down to relax a bit while he waits.
Soon enough, the mephit returns with another two scrolls! He puts them down in front of Ranmaru!
Ramaru stands back up, taking the scrolls, "Ah, many thanks."
He then simply hands them over to Euphemia, "Here you are."
Euphemia looks at the scrolls!
A scroll of Cure Light Wounds and a scroll of Burning Hands.
"Well." Euphemia puts the scrolls away. "How about we brave the southern approach, now?"
"Are there any doors left back there that we haven't checked?" Flasheart wonders, ambling back South towards the searing heat to take a look over the factory - assuming he can get close without injury.
"Only if we'd missed any hidden ones," Euphemia responds. "However, what I referred to, Lord Flasheart, is the choice we were presented with originally. Perhaps we can make a new one? Barring that, there is still that one door with a ladder beyond it that our flying friend came through. We haven't been there yet, have we?"
"Ladder?" Ranmaru shakes his head, "I suppose that must have been while I was with lords Varian and Shadow. I'm somewhat surprised we haven't run into them at all, thinking on it."
"It's up to you guuuuys," Your flying friend meanwhile says.
You guys haven't been down the ladder you greased/met the mephit at. Going back to anything beyond the factory has obvious issues of not being cooked like a tomato. Sacchin is currently rubbing her club and muttering about that club that club that club.
"It's too hot to go on," Flasheart opines after heading a little way to the South and promptly retreating. "I believe the only path left is the one the little fellow came through - which I recall we put some unpleasant slime on the ladder. But as it's the only unexplored avenue we have no choice."
Therefore Flasheart bravely heads back to the Eastern path.
Since their host doesn't magically send them elsewhere, Euphemia is comfortable tagging along to their meeting place with the mephit. And once there, it would be child's play to have Sacchin try and absorb the grease once more with a dirty rag from the ladder.
"Waaaait," The mephit hisses, "You meaaaan goooing baaaack thaaaat waaaay? Not suuuch a good ideaaaa!"
"But we don't really have anywhere else we can go, unless you have any ideas," Flasheart replies, looking expectantly at the mephit.
Ranmaru follows along to the ladder, and helps Sacchin with the duties of de-oiling the rungs if nessesary.
Got it, Gate.
"Welllll.... Maybe it's time to try and move on," the mephit says, "Yoooou're geetttting boooooreeed here, aaaaren't youuu?"
"Pish tosh!" Flasheart makes a dismissive noise. "Any boredom can easily be alleviated by the myriad ways in which I can die here, and then come back none the worse for wear!"
"True enough. His deaths are amusing," Euphemia agrees. "Now let's go see about that ladder."
"You're guuyyssss are no fuuuunnn..." the mephit rails as the party returns to the ladder. Going to it, they find it quietly waiting. Nothing seems to have immediately changed, right?
Sacchin goes to work. Mechanically, like a robot. Or a zombie.
Sacchin and Ranmaru get to grease removal duty! It's not too hard with what they have, a few minutes passing. The two remove most of the grease, detrapping the ladder.
Sacchin bravely proceeds, weapon at the ready! Euphemia follows several paces behind her, far less bravely, but just as armed.
Ranmaru advances as well, but is happy to let Sacchin take point.
Flasheart bravely brings up the rear!
The party climbs down! Sacchin takes the front! As she climbs down, about 10 feet clambered, there is a soft sound heard. A whirrling sound, like two things rubbing together.
Sacchin slides down the rest of the ladder, and withdraws her club, ready to face down whatever it might be!
The party continues to go down!
Sacchin in particular decides to slide on down with abandon! As she slides down, she notices a PROBLEM! The sliding is coming from the metal floor having lightly segmented apart, spreading and sliding together with little jagged edges! Sacchin is sliding right down into that trap!
* Hatbot --> "XornKokokoko rolls 1d20 DC 10 dex check and gets 7." [1d20=7]
* Hatbot --> "XornKokokoko rolls 3d6 and gets 14." [3d6=2, 6, 6]
This wasn't Sacchin's best, most well meaning idea. Oh no. She can't stop her pole slide down in time! Her left leg goes right into the trap! Her limb is mauled and torn, blood coming out like a firecracker bursting in the night sky! In agony her reflex lets her draw it out, but the damage is done!
14 damage, putting you at 12/26. Also, ad hoc -5 to your movement rate since your leg is mulched.
Good show! Euphemia spends a brief moment to see whether she could avoid the trap Sacchin had triggered for their sake, and if so would descend the rest of the way to relative safety swiftly and carefully!
"Is everything alright down there?" Flasheart calls down, his position safe at the rear keeping him mostly ignorant of any traumatic maimings.
It's pretty easy to avoid. Jumping down a few feet up will let one land away from the mauling slot in the floor.
If the Lady manages to clear the mauling floor, Ranmaru will of course follow suit.
"It has been worse before," insists Sacchin, after a few seconds of not moving.
Euphemia will wait for Sacchin to pass through the spot she intends to jump down to, in case that also holds within a trap. Once it had been vetted, however, she will not waste time in getting down.
Sacchin descends the rest of the way down the ladder. Or rolls out the way, if she's on the floor.
Going down is without incident. Ranmaru and Sacchin follow suit safely!
Flasheart follows the rest down the ladder in the same safe manner they use!
Once safely down, Euphemia... takes a look around!
Going down, the party finds that there are many passages, but each is sealed off with as himmering field of energy. However, in the center of all fo that, lies a single hole with a rope leading down into it.
Ranmaru approaches the hole and looks down into it.
The hole goes down a good ways. It's dark and Ranmaru can't see the end or the end of the rope.
Ranmaru has a very sudden aversion to dark places and backs away from the hole. "It's...dark. For some reason, I feel likely to be eaten by something..."
"Bah, don't be such a coward!" Flasheart chastises as he manfully steps forward. "Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!" he calls jauntily before climbing down the rope!
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20 DC 5 seeing if this is close either way before I total up mods. --> [ 1d20=2 ]{2}
On having to check the mods after all, you have +1 str and no ACP. However, that's still only a 3. For the love of fuck.
Flasheart goes to shimmy down like any good peasant in front of a rope! However, his grip slips as he goes down, his body sliding right off the rope! Uh oh, he's falling and falling fast! Not as planned!
You can make a DC 10 dex check to try and grab the rope back as you tumble. Common sense dictates that you attempt it, correct me if I'm wrong.
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 1d20+1 DC 10 dex check --> [ 1d20=3 ]{4}
Mother of God.
<Kobot> Kotono rolled 8d6 man --> [ 8d6=28 ]{28} I don't fucking believe it. Starry Void.
Flasheart tumbles into the pit! Far above, the party can hear a wet, bonebreaking impact down deep in the pit. Ow.
Ranmaru winces as he hears the splat, "Um, Lord? I don't suppose you're still alive down there, are you?"
When he gets no responce he sighs, "I suppose my caution was warrented." Looking over to Sacchin, he asks, "Miss Sacchin, you see better in the dark then we do, yes? Can you see anything down there?"
"Better yet, why not tie yourselves with rope and help her down?" Euphemia suggests.
Sacchin makes some kind of affirmative grunting sound, and moves to peer down the hole.
Sacchin peers down! She sees it goes down sixty feet at least, no end in sight at the end of her darkvision! However, there are some fresh, runny splatters of blood near the end of her vision. Like something recently gushed blood, very recently. It can't have gone that high, right?
Sacchin starts to climb down the rope towards the bottom, being careful every step of the way.
take 10 on climb for 15
Sacchin climbs down! It's a long climb, eighty feet or so. At the bottom is a splatter of blood all around and no sign of Flasheart. Poor bastard.
At the bottom is a swirling whirlpool in the center, with a thick metal grate attached over it by several metal fastening clips.
Sacchin climbs back up a minute or two later.
"Whirlpool down there. Dangerous," she reports. "Sealed."
"A whirlpool? Hmm." Ranmaru muses for a moment, "At this point, I'd call that even odds on being a deathtrap or some manner of portal. Possibly even the way out. The question is, what do we wish to do about it?"
"Have someone jump in, another goes to retrieve the Lord?" Euphemia suggests. "If it kills horribly, then both would be summoned back. If not... actually, scouting this way might be interesting, if you jump in, look around and just kill yourself."
Ranmaru blinks, "...suicide scouting? I'm sorry Lady Euphemia, but...I cannot go along with such a mad idea. While I have always been, and will always be, willing to risk myself for a greater cause, I could not simply commit suicide for the sake of a scouting mission! To treat my life, even such a strange one as this, as such a worthless and disposable thing would be an insult to all I have ever stood for."
Winding down from his mini-rant, the bishie samurai sighs, "I am willing to risk the whirlpool, perhaps if I were to tie a rope around my waist and miss Sacchin were to hold the other end in case I needed to be pulled back up."
"Stupid to kill self on purpose," adds Sacchin, with a nod. "Sacchin will hold rope."
"We can always send Flasheart," Euphemia mutters.
Having apparently decided on a course of action, Ranmaru nods and begins to decend the rope, "Alright, miss Sacchin, come down here and help me get this grate open, then I'll tie on the rope and go take a look in the whirlpool."
Taking 10 for a 6 climb check even with my ACP.
Ranmaru climbs down without incident, reaching the bottom. Nothing has changed since Sacchin was down here.
Sacchin questions the nature of this plan, since opening the grate while she's standing on it seems like a good way to fall in the whirlpool. "Should be easy to open yourself?" she asks, loosely holding the rope for Ranmaru's benefit.
(OOC: I was assuming there was area around the grate to stand so that it could be opened without standing on top of it. Trying to open a lid that you're standing on is really, really hard, afterall.)
I have my suspicions this place was not built for convenience.
Presuming her problems with the course of action are not, in fact, problems, Sacchin has, herself, no problem in going down to open the grate to a watery grave.