[Game Thread] 12: Lost in the Pyramid

[hvg3akaek]

The first thing that hit you was the stench. After the pleasant, natural aroma of the forest, the wet, foul odor of death and decay was repugnant at best. In the dim light, none of you made out much, at first, except for the clanking of metal, and the surprised scream of one of Caerwil's troops.

The second thing to hit you was the floor; though for most, it was manageable, and they stayed up right. You all appear in seemingly random spots throughout a large cavern. The cry is cut short as the elf lands roughly in a 20ftdeep pit; those that hazard a look see it filled with the bodies of many dead individuals...Caerwil notes that the two dwarves who were holding Kaestra's sister are in there; but they, along with all the other corpses, are now missing their heads. The reason for this becomes apparent, as a large hulking mass of a giant turns; a cleaver in one hand, a severed dwarven head in the other. "Rak, more heads!", he cries out, in joy. "Yep, Gur", replies the creature's second head, " this is our lucky day!" Georg suddenly feels very poorly placed.

The ettin isn't the only creature within the room. Caerwil appeared standing on top of a dead slug-like creature, but one that was the size of a horse. A second carrion crawler could be heard directly to his east, hidden in the darkness of the passage, busily trying to much on a heavily armoured foe. The figure was impressively tall - his height would even put Shalla to shame - and he swung a maul that the others might struggle to lift. His armour glowed with red rules, and it seemed to be giving off a lot of heat, burning the crawler's tentacles whenever they strayed too closely. Looking down, Caerwil notices a lot of burn markings on the corpse beneath his feet.

Whilst the two in the eastern corridor were busy, the ettin was not, and looked like he would pose quite a threat. There was always the option to flee - the passageways south and north seemed empty (if dark), and there were stairs leading down to the west...but could they get past the ettin? Or outrun him?

OOC Initiative!! Roll a 21 or more to act first! (Caerwil's troops can roll as one, and all act if they pass. #3 is unconscious (out of the encounter).

 

Players	Hit Points	Surges	DIP	Conditions
Kaestra	48 /64	6 /8	1	AP, SW, R5(Nec), 6/6 PP
Georg	52 /52	8 /8	1	AP, SW
Caerwil	55 /60	6 /7	1	AP, SW

Kalarel's Mace +3 => giving it to Georg for safe-keeping
Party Treasure

[girlplay]

[TheKeck]

Georg's eyes widen and he stumbles as he hits the floor, getting off to a rather poor start.

[Coeur de Lion]

Caerwil was off the mark quickly, moving and firing off a quick shot intended to slow Garruk, but his hunters were too pre-occupied with one of their number disappearing into the pit to bring their bows up in time.

"Hang on Georg", he called as he could see the mage was uncomfortably close to a large creature holding a cleaver...

 

Initiative: 26
Hunters initiative: 16

Move: Walk to AM54
Free: Assassin's shroud (1/2) @ Gurrak
Minor: Hunter's Quarry @ Gurrak
Standard: Grappling Spirits @ Gurrak: 18 vs AC, 14 damage and Gurrak is slowed and can't shift until the end of his next turn.

[hvg3akaek]

Not used to being transported as such, or being dumped so roughly, Georg (and Caerwi'ls troops) fail to respond before the ettin cries out again, and attacks. However, Caerwil is quick enough to move around the pit, and launch an attack against the ettin. It fails, but worse, it doesn't draw the creature's attention.

From the hallway, another burst of fire emanates from the large suit of armour; as the carrion crawler retreats in pain, the warrior slams his maul into it's hidden form. From the squeal of pain, the hit connected well. In a gruff voice, the warrior shouted "Lets go!!!", and stepped back from the shadows.

As the ettin strides forward, Georg picks up a minor action arcana to find out more!strange aura surrounding him. Dropping the severed dwarven head on the ground, the ettin pulls out a second nasty blade, and begins to swat at Georg. "Come here, little one!", one head laughs, as the other cuts into his 11 damageshoulder. "Oh, you aren't going anywhere!" the second head it does indeed have threatening reach. And, two rounds of actions!exclaims, watching the little wizard greedily.

From the shadows in the eastern tunnel, a severely burnt and bleeding carrion crawler struggles to follow the armoured individual. Tentacles lash out, but seem to have little effect on the heated metal.

From the pit, noises are heard, as some of the bodies within it start to respond to the fallen victim. Those peeking within can see four zombies starting to climb out of the pit.

 

Players	Hit Points	Surges	DIP	Conditions
Georg	41 /52	8 /8	1	AP, SW
Caerwil	55 /60	6 /7	1	AP, SW

Kalarel's Mace +3 => giving it to Georg for safe-keeping
Party Treasure

[Grogg Tree]

Looking at the now failing attempts of the giant worm in front of him, Macon smiles and gives another quiet thought to his companion. "Seems them humans did know something." With the noises picking up around him, the Goliath began to wonder what was happening. "Asura, what's going on in there, cause it doesn't sound good?" he inquired.

While the fey checks his surroundings, the grey skinned warrior decides he's had enough of the Carrion Crawler, who followed him into the light. "Time for you to die!!!" Turning toward the creature, he swings the maul he's carrying in a wide, powerful arc toward the abomination. A moment later, the flat end of his families' heirloom pulverizes the flesh of his foe, quickly turning it into jelly. Once the strike connects, Macon once again steps back to the interior of the room.

 

Action	Info
Standard	Attack the Carrion Crawler 2 with Brash Strike.
Free	Marking the Carrion Crawler 2.
Minor	-
Move	Shifting from AU-53 to AT-53

Stat	Value
AC	25 plus +1 from Asura26
HP	67 of 73[/tt]
Initiative	16
Attack: Carrion Crawler 2	33
Damage: Carrion Crawler 2	22

Power	Action	Type
Brash Strike	Standard	At-Will
Crushing Surge	Standard	At-Will
Hack and Hew	Standard	Encounter
Villain's Menace	Standard	Daily
Glowering Threat	Minor	Encounter
Bull Charge	Standard	Encounter
Brutal Advance	Standard	Daily
Daring Shout	Minor	Encounter
Come and Get It	Standard	Encounter

-

[TheKeck]

Georg swallows hard, bearing the pain of his now wounded shoulder. Resolute eyes stare out from dark hood and face the beastly ettin, ascertaining the particular magical property is radiated. Simply feeling the need to escape, the wizard pounds the butt of his staff against the ground, sending out thunderous waves of energy to push the creature back. As the ettin is thrown from his position, Georg becomes a blur of motion, racing across the room and taking cover on the opposite side of Caerwil.

 

Minor: Arcana: 33

Attack
21 vs FORT Garrick
22 vs FORT Z2
11 damage and pushed 3 squares. +2 damage if both are hits

IF Garrick attack missed, use action point
Attack
27 vs FORT
9 damage and pushed 3 squares

Expeditious retreat: AM55

[Sakure]

Asura diverted her attention towards the new directions Macon had inquired about. Macon, there are additional foes emerging from that pit, as well as from a temporal relocation. We have arrived at a juncture that demands fight or flight. Bear in mind that while the Elwing armor can be repaired indefinitely, you cannot. Your body may begin to move with less than adequate efficiency soon, if it does you will have to entertain the idea of fleeing.

An additional ring of fire spun out from the armor, charring a line of flesh on the carrion worm. The steadfast bursts were beginning to make the carrion's body look like a freshly whipped creature with the charred lines. The smell was growing, as were the glowing orange rivulets of molten wall portions slowly flowing towards the floor.

 

Standard Action:
Flameburst Armor
Burst 1, all enemies take 7 fire damage and are marked by Macon.

Minor Action
Arcana: 34 (knowledge about aura)

Minor Action
History: 19 (knowledge about Geo, T1-5)

[hvg3akaek]

As flames pour out from his armour, the tall warrior swings his weapon once more and crushes the crawler between him and the wall. He steps back into the room as Georg sends two blasts out over the ettin. The first has also missing the zombie, as it is still in the hole, and thus has complete cover / is unable to be attacked by Georglittle effect, but the second one seems to be much more potent...

And yet, still the giant laughs it off. "You won't move me so easily, soft little one!" he exclaims with one head, whilst the other promises a grim fate. "Magic! That means them heads is good for tha picking!" Bewildered as to why his attacks proved fruitless, Georg studies the Georg and Asura can see a defensive aura around the ettin; it originates from a square adjacent to him, and seems to randomly hop from square to square each time he is hit. The diamond shown is its current location; but no one else can see it.aura hanging around the beast.

As Caerwil's arrows went woefully off the mark, he guided his troops to quickly dispatch the zombie threat. Taking a single zombie in sight each, the four remaining elves quickly sent their arrow deep into the bodies of the headless zombies. Thankfully, they all fell back down, still once again.

But the real threat was still very present. Another cleaver slammed down, 14 damagecutting into his shoulder, and threatening to take his arm off. If the other head had helped, Georg feared he may well have lost more than a bit of blood!

 

Players	Hit Points	Surges	DIP	Conditions
Georg	27 /52	8 /8	1	SW
Caerwil	55 /60	6 /7	1	AP, SW
Macon	67 /73	12 /12	1	AP, SW, +1AC
Asura	39 /59	6 /7	1	AP, SW

Kalarel's Mace +3 => giving it to Georg for safe-keeping
Party Treasure

[TheKeck]

Georg's heart sinks as he realizes his spell was unable to move the behemoth before him and he is so surprised by the turn of events that he stands paralyzed as he is cloven viciously. Without another moment's delay, the wizard uses his powerful new ability to mimic Kaestra and winks across the room, standing next to Caerwil as he had originally planned. Summoning up what strength he has left, the grizzled man raises his staff and conjures a massive explosion of flame in the midst of the group.

 

Dimension Door to AM55

Rolls
17,25,15 vs REF on G, T2, T1
21 damage. Half damage on miss. +2 on multiple hits

Ready staff of defense.

[Grogg Tree]

As the not so wimpy worm collapses in a charred heap, the Goliath turns to see that the large two-headed creature was trying to impale a much smaller foe. "Fiendish thing... time to kill it." Macon said to his now silent friend. He had long ago learned that she became quieter as he became more entrenched in battle. The warrior figured it was because she respected his love for battle, not because she really had to concentrate harder to keep him alive.

As the man vanishes for a moment, the large fighter realized he was a magical person. Wonder if he'll-- Just then a large flame encompasses the cleaver wielding foe. Raising an arm, the Goliath manages to avoid losing his eyesight to the brightness for the time being. Once the heat and light diminish, he rushes forward to try and capitalize on the effect. Coming up behind the creature, he yells at it, challenging the Ettin to fight him again. "You need to fight me instead you ugly fiend!!!" Having got the attention of the two-headed monster, the black clad mountain man once more grips the shaft of the maul and swings it hard.

Unfortunately for Macon, there was a dark spot in his vision that the fireball had caused, preventing his strike from being accurate. The weapon's head easily missed the large enemy, who simply sidestepped the swing. This was something that he cursed about silently. Damn, can't see very well. Still, the man inside of the armor wasn't going to let a little thing like that stop his furious determination.

 

Action	Info
Move	Walk from AT-53 to AS-51
Minor	Using Daring Shout.
Standard	Attack the Ettin with Brash Strike.
Free	Marking the Ettin.

Stat	Value
AC	25 plus +1 from Asura26
HP	67 of 73 (From Daring Shout+4 THP)
Attack: Ettin	18
Damage: Ettin	18

Power	Action	Type
Brash Strike	Standard	At-Will
Crushing Surge	Standard	At-Will
Hack and Hew	Standard	Encounter
Villain's Menace	Standard	Daily
Glowering Threat	Minor	Encounter
Bull Charge	Standard	Encounter
Brutal Advance	Standard	Daily
Daring Shout	Minor	Encounter
Come and Get It	Standard	Encounter

-

[Sakure]

A ring of yellow fire spun from the armor like clockwork. Asura's silence continued, she was watching the scene as it suddenly became more interesting. Creatures were emerging from the shadows, the pit, and now thin air! Perhaps Macon is a more interesting warrior than I gave him credit for.

But fighting was Macon's job, hers was to be astute. Of particular interest was the aura she had been observing. Macon, use that aura, it is beneficial in some way.

 

Standard Action:
Flameburst Armor
Burst 1, all enemies take 7 fire damage and are marked by Macon.

Arcana: 18

[hvg3akaek]

Georg appeared suddenly next to Caestra, and the elf was about to greet him, when the wizard burnt one of his men, and badly injured another, in his fiery spell. A little lost for words, the elf merely blinked and stared at Georg open-mouthed, before remembering to fire his own arrows at the giant. The other elves also attacked, though one was distracted by the flames, and the other, by the darkness. Still, there were now two more arrows lodged into the giant's hide.

As the armored figure stepped forward, Caerwil moved down the stairs. He had heard something - a shout, a cry of ferocity - and was trying to discern where it had come from. "Georg!", he called, "Send your light down here, quick!"

Letting out a loud shout and personal challenge, the large fighter strode up to the giant, and allowed Georg a moment to breathe. Apart from his fiery aura, he didn't seem to have a whole lot of luck with his attack.

Gurrak did turn to him, all the same. "Rak! Th' metal one is back!" the first head bellowed in joy. "Ayup!" agreed the second, "We be able to take his hat for a chamber pot now, Gur!"

Though it talked big, the ettin was having a hard time finding a weak point in his armour - if it weren't for the gap he CA from Brash Strikeleft open with his own attack, he might have escaped the hit all together. As it was, the armour still seemed to take a good amount of the 23 damage (12M / 11A)blow.

 

Players	Hit Points	Surges	DIP	Conditions
Georg	27 /52	8 /8	1	SW
Caerwil	55 /60	6 /7	1	AP, SW
Macon	59 /73	12 /12	1	AP, SW, +1AC
Asura	28 /59	6 /7	1	AP, SW

Kalarel's Mace +3 => giving it to Georg for safe-keeping
Party Treasure

[Grogg Tree]

As the weapon impacted with his side, the warrior from the high crags gritted his teeth, annoyed that his armor was taking some fresh dents that would take a blacksmith several hours to knock back out when he had the chance. Even worse was the fact that the fey and flower that were somewhere inside the seams were now being worked over. This simply pissed the Goliath off.

"Is that all you have? You won't even be alive to see a chamber pot in a minute!!" Macon growled loudly to the creature. "Time to do this your way Asura... I'll use my superior stamina to outlast the ugly thing till the aura is in reach again" he Yes, in case you haven't noticed, Macon believes he is thinking to Asura, but in reality he is whispering these things. Thus it will be quite interesting to see how he reacts to anyone who tries to inform him otherwise. thought to his little flower friend.

The blinking from the sweat that was accumulating on his brows caused the dark spot to disappear quickly and the fighter could see the Ettin more clearly. Controlling his breathing and coordination, the Goliath's muscles began to work more efficiently, preserving their strength to take more damage from this dangerous foe. Holding the hammer, he swung it without all the power, allowing it to travel at the two-headed creature in a swift, graceful manner. The weapon caught Gur's, or maybe it was Rak's, ribcage with the flat side, though it was not hard enough to actually have damaged the Ettin the way Macon would have liked. But he knew that dying here would not only prevent that, but also bring the full wrath of Asura down upon him. I don't want that... not after the promises I've made her. After his strike, the armored combatant moved away from the edge of the pit that kept spitting out foes, waiting for the aura to come toward him to see what the fey was talking about.

 

Action	Info
Standard	Attack the Ettin with Crushing Surge.
Free	Marking the Ettin.
Move	Shift from AS-51 to AT-51.
Minor	-

Stat	Value
AC	25 plus +1 from Asura26
HP	59 of 73 (From Crushing Surge if attack misses; From Battlerager Vigor if attack hits.+3 THP)
Attack: Ettin	29
Damage: Ettin	17

Power	Action	Type
Brash Strike	Standard	At-Will
Crushing Surge	Standard	At-Will
Hack and Hew	Standard	Encounter
Villain's Menace	Standard	Daily
Glowering Threat	Minor	Encounter
Bull Charge	Standard	Encounter
Brutal Advance	Standard	Daily
Daring Shout	Minor	Encounter
Come and Get It	Standard	Encounter

-

[TheKeck]

Through bleary eyes, Georg begins to realize that his attack has been directed at friend as well as foe. He curses himself for the mistake but cannot afford to dwell on it. Heeding Caerwil's request, he flicks a finger and sends a light down the stairwell after him. The black clothed man then swings his gnarled staff toward the ground, striking with the tip. A torrent of energy tears its way beneath the surface and then springs up around the ettin, slicing at the great creature. Those bleary eyes squint at the giant, trying to determine anything more he could about the magical aura surrounding it and the origin thereof.

 

Rolls
Mage Light at Caerwil
21 vs ref - 10 damage +3 damage in AR49
29 Arcana