[Game Thread] Szikszai's Run

[Proudboar]

Mordred, though he was entirely aware of the pause in fighting, he was simply not content. The admittedly beautiful woman before him was throwing him off, as he could sense that His Lady was hostile toward her. It was quite odd, because it didn't feel like her ire came from a legitimate reason, but -wait, was that? Mordred couldn't believe it but His Lady seemed to jealously protective....

At the same time he felt happy and a bit dismayed. On one hand, His Lady was protective of him! On the other, she thought he would be swayed by the -once again- beautiful woman.

His discomfort was causing him to fidget, and it did not help that there was still a dragon that they had been fiercely fighting a minute before. He couldn't help but send it a Intimidate

Dice Roll:

1d20+9

(5)+9

Total = 14

glare.

[BZmek]

"You have fought admirably, though we are now severely outmatched against the likes of a god. I am sorry for dragging you all into this. I have not even formally welcomed you aboard the Szikszai." The captain's thoughts were relayed through Poppet to the rest of the party.

"I am Captain Rrek'iarkkh and this is my ship the Szi..."

"Shut up, puny gith." Tiamat interjected. "Where is it? Where is the Clavis of Otiax? Reveal it to me or suffer my wrath." Just then she cocked her head to the side, staring at the captain's quarters. She smiled slyly and began her march to the quarters.

The remaining black dragon snarled at Huvhoo but made no threatening move to attack, held in check by Mordred's intense stare.

 

I'm going to move the story along. Feel free to make any move you want - be it RP or make an attack - I'll respond accordingly.

BD 1-4 & 6	All dead
Black Dragon 5	Bloodied, marked by Huvhoo
Tiamat

Character	HP	THP	HSV	HS Left	AP	SW	AC	Fort	Ref	Will	Spd	PP	PI	Special
Hand	13/26	0	6	9/9			16	14	13	15	5
Huvhoo	6/35	0	8	9/10	1	U	18	16	12	14	6	18	13	Resist 5 Cold. Close burst 2 diff terrain. +1 all def from Athas.
Fwif	8/20	0	5	6/6			14	13	15	14	6
Mordred	17/26	0	6	8/8			16	13	13	15	5			+1 all def from Athas.
Poppet	5/22	0	5	5/6			14	10	14	16	6			+1 all def from Athas.

[Olorian]

Huvhoo was hurt, but didn't utter a sound. Like a plant from which a branch was ripped, the fungus did not flinch, even though a large chunk of its trunk was ripped away. Instead, it tilted its hood back towards the dragon and kept the volcanic hammer at the ready, should the dragon make any unexpected move.

The fungus was deeply perturbed by the appearance of the goddess, even though on the outside no one could see it. Some things had been set in motion here that were beyond its power. Captain Rrek was playing a dangerous game, Huvhoo knew. The fungus knew better than to interfere now, so it waited patiently - with one optical sensor still sharply set on the black dragon. Huvhoo held its thick right arm up in defense, while sticky white sap dripped very slowly from the hole in its trunk.

 

Active effects:
BD5 marked: -2 to attacks that don't include Huvhoo, and possible triggers*
Form of Winter's Herald

Move: none
Standard: ready Resilience of Life. Trigger: dragon attacks anyone

 

Possible immediate actions (in order of preference, but please use the first that occurs!):
*1. Warden's Fury (imm.interrupt)
Trigger: marked enemy makes attack that does not include Huvhoo
Result: before the attack, Huvhoo makes a MBA (d20+6, d10+4 damage + target grants CA to me+allies until ENT)
*2. Warden's Grasp (imm.reaction)
Trigger: Marked target, when not adjacent but within 5 of Huvhoo, makes an attack that does not include Huvhoo
Result: after the attack, target is slid away from the closest ally (or Huvhoo), is slowed and cannot shift until the end of its turn.

Huvhoo, the fungus, first mate of the Szikszai. (wilden warden)
Defenses: AC 18+2, F 16+1, R 12+1, W 14+1 (guardian form and spirit of Athas), resist 5 cold, close burst 2 difficult terrain
HP: 6/35, surges 9/10, value 8.
Used stuff: SW, AP, Wrath of the Destroyer, Form of Winter's Herald (daily), Warden's Sacrifice
MBA modifiers: +6, d10+4

[sammichweasel]

"Normally, I would complain and argue here, but... that's actually Tiamat. I might have kept her busy for a moment before Sehanine sent me here, but now, she doesn't even need to blink to end all of us. I hate to say it, but... I think we should... be... well, cautious." The Hand looks extremely uncomfortable, having not expected Tiamat to address them directly like this. Pelor had spoken many a time of Tiamat's underhanded tactics, and Sehanine hated having to deal with the sneaky, multi-headed goddess. To have his two patrons, both former and current, not want to deal directly with her meant that the Hand had no interest in drawing this out, either.

[Isthon]

Fire-With-Form could do very little to grasp the weight of the situation before it with its limited knowledge, instead focusing on recovering from the damage it had taken, its flame-body revitalizing in a roar of an inferno. The elemental refrained from continued frenzied attack through surprising willpower and restraint, if only because its peers had ended their assault in the temporary ceasefire. The creature relayed a simple message to Poppet. "Make it go away."

[AximusLokar]

Poppets eyes flickered towards Fire-With-Form. Telepathy to FWF*"Stay calm."

Telepathy to allies.*"We are not yet dead and I shall not consider it a forgone conclusion that we have lost until it actually occurs. Tiamat is well known to be a force of evil and destruction, so if the Szikszai carries some artifact that she desires I do not see the wisdom in allowing her to obtain it, regardless of what becomes of us in the process. Captain, if you have a plan then I am with you."

[Proudboar]

Mordred licked his lips in nervousness, his apprehension growing at the thought of actually fighting the Dragon Goddess. Still, if his new found friends were to stay their ground, he would stick by their side. His gleaming white blade had still not been sheathed, and his fingers were twitching as the situation grew more and more tense. At the moment all Mordred could get out was, "What he said....er, thought?" Despite it all, there was still the tone of a question in the last word, not knowing the right way to describe the way Poppet communicated. It made him want to laugh, at the absurdity.

Idly, he wondered if he was going insane from the pressure of the moment.

[BZmek]

"Sehanine did not specify the exactness of your talents, but I can only trust in her judgement and that all of this will not have been for nothing. The men below deck and my service to her may well be at an end, but your's is just beginning. Whatever happens, you must survive this." Captain Rrek'iarrkh thought to Poppet who relayed the message to the other companions.

"The Moon Maiden is a fool." Tiamat laughed, apparently also able to hear the telepathic communication. "A fool enlisting insects to fight against an army of immortals. It's quite pathetic really."

"Imagine your shame then Tiamat when we insects are your undoing." Captain Rrek retorted before he lunged forward with his shining silver blade aimed for the chest, but Tiamat easily stepped within his reach and sent the githyanki flying back through the doors to his quarters with a slap of her slender backhand. The outmatched captain's limp form laid buried amongst the debri and kindling.

Outraged at the site of Rrek's falling, Huvhoo too made a move for Tiamat, meaning to take her head. But Huvhoo's advance was also cut short. A click of her fingers reversed the icy compound emanating from Huvhoo's trunks. The blue powder hardened quickly around the feet of those within its range, holding fast friend now, and not foe.

As Tiamat casually walked past Fire-With-Form, the sway of her hips dancing rythmically to a tune she now hummed, the primodial lifeform roared with the intensity of an inferno for a second time. "Yes, be angry." she baded right before putting her hand into the center of Fwif's burning form. "Burn with anger!" she commanded.

The raging inferno that was Fire-With-Form burst to new heights and lost all semblance of self control. Unable to fight the ectasy of the raging desire to now engulf everything, Fire-Now-Without-Form was overcome with Ashlust and began to spread. The helm railing and stair case on the port side were now ablaze.

Tiamat entered the quarters then emerged shortly after craddling a foot sized chest. She strode back toward the fissure from where she emerged from earlier with her eyes never leaving the chest. She turned back for one last look at the predicament of Sehanine's insects and gave a half-hearted laugh at the trivialness of it all. Her remaining dragonling joined her and the two left as quickly as they had come.

The wood decking and fixtures of the once great Szikszai now fueled the ashlust of Fnwof. Captain Rrek'iarrkh's still form laid buried beneath a plethora of kindling. Huvhoo and two of the other adventurer's were helplessly frozen amidst the first mate's own ice spores. The Left Hand of Sehanine was left flabbergasted and the rest of the crew had not been sighted since the commotion began. The future of the Szikszai and its crew was now uncertain...

 

Apologies for the two week delay. I was just about ready to write this up the other day when I was slammed with an extra project at work. With now having three ongoing projects at work, Uni assignments to keep up on and with the release of Diablo 3, I haven't found myself getting around to writing this until today.

Because I've been the slow one with this, I decided to throw it all into one post and now put you guys in control of the direction or the campaign.

Isthon: Fwif is currently a raging inferno. Your freedom is somewhat restricted. Fwif will continue to grow in size, burning the ship, that much is out of its control. Can you please roll a 1d4 to determine how many new squares will be consumed by growth this round and also make a Will saving throw to be able to control the direction of the growth. Basically, the burning of the ship is upto you. Some parts of the ship are more useful than others so if Fwif can manage to gain control of its ashlust, it might just be able to save the vital areas of the ship. Good luck and have fun with your burning inferno

Sam: The Hand is not constrained by anything and is free to do whatever he chooses.

Olorian, Ax & Pb: Make a Fortitude saving throw to see if you guys can break free of the ice spores.

Things to note:
1. Fnwof is burning the Szikszai (a wooden ship).
2. The Szikszai is still trapped in the mouth of the large fissure. For that fissure to close it will tear through the ship to do so.
3. The spelljammer can be sailed forward (through to the otherside of the fissure) or backward or the helm can be used to Plane Shift to another location (I will give more details on how to do this if that is the route that you all want to go - basically there are mechanics to determine the accuracy of the spell).
4. All creatures can 'fly/swim' in the astral sea. I believe it is controlled the same as regular swimming in any direction. I won't be able to confirm this until I get home tonight to where my books are.

I will update the map after each round now to show how the inferno is coming along, but not for this round. So far the inferno is restricted to Fwif's current location.

[sammichweasel]

The Hand stares around at the burning elemental, the frozen crew members, and the trapped captain. What a pitiful showing! Sure, it WAS Tiamat, and as he had himself pointed out, there wasn't really anything they could DO, but this was still pathetic. Somehow.

"Well, this is ridiculous. Fine! I will save us all! Sehanine will see her warriors succeed yet, even as the light of the Moon dims in the face of a raging stupid dragon-god! Now get ahold of yourselves, there is work to be done!"

He strides purposefully to the Helm, staring at the mechanisms. It is clear to him that they need to not be stuck in a portal, forward is where Tiamat is, back doesn't change anything, and their current situation is untenable. He begins to activate the plane shifting mechanism. "Our only option is to change our current fortune, and to do that, we need to not be here! Hold on! Wait, you can't do anything BUT hold on. Keep steady!"

 

Let's teleport! We have places to go, gods to see, and other gods to totally beat up!

[BZmek]

 

:: Plane Shifting ::

Cost: Traditionally there is a component cost of 1,000 gp to be able to Plane Shift, but this is an Astral Sea campaign for low level characters! Instead of having this component cost, there will be a 'cooldown' time frame attached to the spell. Every time that you Plane Shift, you deplete the helm's power source somewhat. An arcane check can be used to try to discern roughly how much time it would take to replenish the power source enough to cast the spell again.

How to use: In order to travel via Plane Shift, you must name your destination and it must be a location that you have visited before and is in a fixed location. Make an arcana check then to determine the accuracy of the spell (the distance between the spelljammer and your destination when you arrive on the plane that you intended).

Arcana Check Result	Distance to Desired Location
19 or lower	100 miles from the destination
20-29	50 miles from the destination
30-39	10 miles from the destination
40 or higher	Arrive at destination

Instead of rolling an arcana check to determine the accuracy of your Plane Shift spell, you can name a plane as a general destination. If you do this, you will travel to a random location in that plane. An arcana check is not rolled and you are not required to have previously visited the destination.

Who can use the helm: Anyone can use the helm but whomever casts the spell, rolls the arcana check.

[sammichweasel]

Placing his hands on the controls, The Left Hand of Sehanine tried to imagine the best place for them to end up. The Elemental Chaos? The Hand laughs at himself before he finishes the thought. The Feywild? The faeries and fomorians would probably try and kill them all upon contact; they were, after all, an invading force on fire dropping in from Gods know where. The Shadowfell? Too dark, no moon. No, the only logical choice would be the Realm of Sehanine herself.

Of course, by the time he had settled on his choice, the Hand realizes that he apparently thinks very forcefully. His first consideration has already triggered the Helm, its power beginning to course through the ship, pointing them squarely at the Elemental Chaos.

[AximusLokar]

Poppet's looks at Fire-With-Form in alarm as it's form expands and loses all semblance of control.

Telepathy: Fire-With-Form "Fire-With-Form, control yourself! Ship will not survive your anger, we will not survive without ship! Focus! The girl you showed me, the form you chose! Be the girl, not the flame!" When no intelligible response came Poppet decided on a different and decidedly dangerous approach. It took only a moment to decide, since it was significantly more dangerous to allow the elemental to spread. "Fire-With-Form, I will anchor you. Seek my mind, experience my clarity, emulate my control. Crystal. Be Crystal. BE CRYSTAL."

Poppet's mind dove into Fire-With-Form's raging psyche, feeling the rage and pure emotion take hold in his own mind as he extended the solidity of his being towards his newest friend. His pale blue eyes deepened to a dark red, flickering intensely, and from the grooves along his head shot up three lines of flame.

Telepathy: Open*"AAAAAAARGHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! IT BURNS! IT BURNS AND SPREADS AND GROWS AND DEVOURS! RRRRRRRAAARGH" Poppet screams, and both immense pain and indescribably joy carry through the mental link.

[Isthon]

Twisted visions tinted with alien colors and strange raw emotions flowed through the telepathic link with Poppet, though the distorted scenes were reminiscent of the very first visions shared by the elemental. A ship sunk through the sky, the vision blurry and flawed - the fire never would have seen such details of the doomed ship's final hours, revealing that the visions were little more than the imaginations and worries contained within the elemental's being. Humans screamed and rushed about the ship as fire consumed it, large holes flowing forth with plumes of acrid black smoke from the hull. The vision flickered, this time replacing the humans with the party and the flames with the elemental gone wild - the vision was wrought with fear of loss and regression, of returning to what was.

The return to the plane of fire and elements only served to further agitate the elemental, its madness and fear manifested in raging inferno, consuming a portion of the ship as its form ran wild, burning and consuming without care or purpose, held in check only by the icy enchantment of Mordred's blade. Fire-Without-Form saw this as but a repeat of the past, a return to nothingness and disaster, a failure of a mission. Pictures streamed through to Poppet once more, experiences being shoved directly toward the being of the poor Shardmind, as if to store them before they are lost, overwhelming the being's attempts to calm the elemental. Throughout the wild visions, a scene played over and over again - a girl consumed by flame, then suddenly replaced by Fire-With-Form, only for the elemental to dissipate as well - two deaths of the same form.

 

Will: 15 (+2 for 17 with Poppet assist) - burn the nearest squares. 1 square burned - west

[Proudboar]

Mordred struggled against the ice, even as more and more of it began to cover him. Already, he feel the frost numbing him. From the corners of his eyes he could see the creeping inferno that was Fwif, the flames growing larger by the second. As Poppet opens the mental link with them all, he is brought to his knees, the consuming fire now invading his mind.

Perhaps out of depseration, or perhaps out of reflex, his hand seeks the comforting embrace of his blade. As he touches the handle, the metal cool even now, the heat backs off, both from body and mind. Soon, the inferno in his mind is replaced with the comforting embrace of his lady, whispering sweet nothings straight into his being. She encourages him, and protects him and what little clear thoughts he is capable of listens.

Taking his gleaming blade, his eyes full of determination, he calls upon the power bestowed upon him. It responds and a cool wind lows from nowhere, dousing the flames around him as well as the ones still left in his mind. The freezing wind cuts intto his ody, but it does not harm him and instead strengthens and vitalizes him, even as he tries to help the other by sending out the freezing storm now inhabiting his mind to the others.

Now capable of real thought, he takes once more to trying to break free of the pysical ice encasing him.

 

OOC Dice Roll: 1d20+4 (11)+4 Total = 15 2d6+9 (1, 3)+9 Total = 13 Armor of Winter's Grasp: +2 AC and Fort I'm unsure if it would have any effect on the ice already around him, or the flames getting closer to him, so I rolled for it just in case. AP (If needed) Dice Roll: 1d20+5 (10)+5 Total = 15 Fortitude Save

[BZmek]

Poppet's mental connection with Fire-Without-Form helped the burning inferno gain some control over it's actions. Enough to veer the path of the spreading inferno away from the Szikszai's helm. Mordred also helped by calling forth a freezing wind that repelled the flames, reducing Fwif's spread as the elemental battled for control.

As the half-elf Mordred broke free of the icy grasp of Huvhoo's spores, the Hand took charge and went to the helm, hoping to transport the crew and the ship to somewhere safe - somewhere close to aid - somewhere more stable...

All about the spelljammer small globes of light grew from nothing. The galaxy of white globes grew and grew until the whole ship was encapsulated. The intense brightness overwhelmed even the light of Fwif's flames and all else was no longer visible. After a short moment the light subsided and the battered spelljammer came back into sight.

The life of the burning inferno enraged even futher, though spurred on by the energy of the new realm itself and the chilling breeze of Mordred's powers arced back across Huvhoo's ice spores, compounding the spores effect.

On all fronts, a collage of floating motes surrounding the Szikszai, each at a different height and with different distances between the next. The motes were made of stone and dirt and each housed a plethora of trees. So many trees. So many trees made of wood. So many trees made of burnable wood.

Far up ahead, a mighty streak of lightning struck across a channel between two of the larger motes. The lightning froze in place like ice rather than dissapating. To further the uncharacteristic nature of the lightning ice, it began to melt quickly and soon formed an overhead river flowing along an unseen bank. The river bulged and broke along its closest side, spilling over the edge and falling to the endless abyss below to form a waterfall. It was then that the companions heard several more cracks as similar lightning strikes streaked between other motes.

The Hand looked back behind the Spelljammer to see a heavy and vast dark cloud forming on the horizon and moving swiftly toward them. The group's entire surroundings was soon evident to them all thanks to each and every one of their vantage points and the combination of Poppets telepathic relay service and Huvhoo's spores.

As the party took a brief moment to assess their surroundings, it was apparent to each and every one of them where they now were. Only one place in the cosmos held such a chaotic nature of varying elements. They surely were in the aptly named Elemental Chaos.

"Ungh" came the bleek moan of a broken dwarf as Brugal clawed his way to the opening of the starboard side staircase from below.

Catching a gust full of wind, the sails bulged to life and the Szikszai started forward.

 

Olorian & Ax: The DC for the fort saving throw to breaking free of the icy spores has now increased from 10 to 12.

Isthon: Now roll a 1d6 instead of a 1d4 for when determining the inferno spread size. You can thank the Hand for sending you guys to the Elemental Chaos for that

All: What I want to try and do from here is have two concurrent skill challenges going on at the one time. There will be consequences for failing, one or the other or both and I'm interested in seeing how this all turns out, it could be dire! The structure may change as I work through it but the choices and consequences will still remain. I'll provide more details later. I'm looking to start the event in my next update.

No map yet... Will edit post later to incorporate though its not essential at the moment. The square where Fwif is on the old map, and the square west of Fwif are burning.