Iron DM 2023!

secretID · #**256** Apr 19th, 2023, 07:09 AM

Arrogaio Deveste, Champion of Skuld, Beacon of Estagund

Arrogaio was prepared to accept the voice’s somewhat cryptic statements and go to sleep, but Cha-kra requested further translation. “The spirit’s mood seems to have turned somewhat against us,” Arrogaio told the others. “but it does not threaten harm, or make any demands, and it seemed to promise some water for us in the morning.” Hearing no more requests for explanation, Arrogaio settled himself for sleep.

---------------

After an unpleasant sleep both off a mattress and alone, Arrogaio was slow rising, such that Snap Kick had already drunk some of the water before Arrogaio had fully registered its existence. The warrior-mage felt for the presence of Duha and, failing to find it, concluded that the spirit-owl had yet to return from the scouting mission.

Arrogaio approached the basins but, thirsty as he was, brought only his skins to touch the water at first. “Is it good, my friend?” he asked the kenku as he filled the two skins. Then he watched as the pirates all drank from the basins. The others having confirmed that the water appeared safe and normal, Arrogaio finally greedily drank from it.

His thirst slaked, Arrogaio collected his things. “Duha will return shortly with a report,” Arrogaio told the others. “Then we will decide how to defeat these monsters. For now, I will at least put my eyes on them.” If Arrogaio had any expectation of the pirates, he did not express them before I'm not sure exactly what's required here - presumably a move closer to the edge of the plateau, at least.he moved to get a look at the yuan-ti, or at least where they had been.

LeDragon · #**257** Apr 23rd, 2023, 10:47 AM

Rhazor Blackhand

The situation had apparently calmed down and the mountain spirit had disappeared, even though the eccentric raven-man had apparently annoyed it. Stupid parrot. Rhazor shrugs his shoulders.
"OK, I guess this topic is solved, now."

Obviously, nothing is going to happen soon, so he goes to sleep like the others, hoping that the rest of the night would be calm. Tomorrow would be literally murderously exhausting.

----------------------------------------

In the morning, he waits until the the others had feasted on the strange spring without freezing or turning into strange creatures. Then, Rhazor also drinks and fills up his waterskin and eat some of his food. He sits on a stone, his crossbow leaning ready next to him against his knee. The young rogue looks over the landscape below. After a while, he turns to the others. "How do we proceed today? Snakes or shadow temple first?"

Rhazor Blackhand (level 4 rogue)
AC 15, 33/33 HP, passive perception 18
Link to the character sheet.

Mindsiege · #**258** Apr 24th, 2023, 09:26 PM

Owl Report
When the party had awoken and spotted the mysterious appearance of the basins filled with water, there was little hesitation in Snap Kick to accept the apparent gift as he hurried to drink his fill. Encouraged by the kenku's behavior, the sailors and the grung also began to quench the thirst that had accumulated throughout the night, and after Arrogaio, Rhazor, and Briggs had waited a few minutes for any maleficence within the water to become apparent, they also chose to partake as well.

With what little camp there had been quickly broken and the sailors childishly splashing each other with the water instead of getting to work on the statue, Arrogaio walked up to the mountaintop's edge as he searched for further sights of the yuan-ti and waited for his owl familiar to return from his morning reconnaissance. The mountain overlooked a majority of the island from here, and most of the jungle looked quite misty during these morning hours. The mountainous plateau where the yuan-ti had camped was already far enough up the mountain to lack the same humidity though, and Arrogaio had about as well a view as on the evening before. The clearing was still evident between the trees, and there was still the flickering light from the campsite's fire.

After a moment alone, Rhazor moved to join Arrogaio in his vigil. Eventually the young rogue inquired what the plans for the day would be, showing that was not quite informed that the Champion of Skuld had already given his word to their nightly visitor and was unlikely to budge from his march against the serpentfolk. It only took a few more minutes of chatting and waiting longer before Rhazor was the first to spot Duha as the owl was using the mountain's air current for a quick ascent. Once more it seemed like Duha had fulfilled his duty just to his master's expectations, and after a quick telepathic communication, Arrogaio learned of the news.

Apparently the yuan-ti had thinned out around their campsite, and Duha had spotted a detachment of their forces waiting close to the treeline near the descending mountain path. There was lots of obfuscating foliage that they were hiding within, and with a little help, Duha revealed that it was about half of their entire forces that were clearly guarding the most likely angle for the adventurers to reach their plateau. There would have to be a discussion among the adventurers on how to approach them best. It seemed like the choice that Rhazor had hoped for his party no longer existed right then.

secretID · #**259** Apr 30th, 2023, 03:48 PM

Arrogaio Deveste, Champion of Skuld, Beacon of Estagund

Arrogaio sat in silence looking back down the mountain for a few minutes before returning to the others. “Duha has uncovered very important things,” he told them. “The snakefolk know that we come for them; they have set an ambush, down at the tree line. They have bows. If we approach them directly, we will suffer several rounds of missiles before we reach them.

“Instead, we will break off from the trail before we enter their range, and move into the jungle ourselves. From there, we will attack them while – what is it? – a level playing field.

“Are you all ready?” Arrogaio did not appear to be including the pirates.

Yoshimi · #**260** Apr 30th, 2023, 09:51 PM

Snap Kick

Snap Kick falls in line behind Arrogaio and salutes. Then he says warily,"Asps. Very Dangerous. You go first!"

LeDragon · #**261** May 1st, 2023, 01:14 PM

Rhazor Blackhand

"So, it's the snakes..." Rhazor shrugs his shoulders, resigned to his fate, and his backpack rattles. He looks at the others. Here, everyone also seems to want to face the fate that the gods have apparently given them. There aren't really that many options either. Maybe if they only wanted to return home with a few silver scales, but the shadow temple promises more riches. With a deep sigh, the young rogue raises his crossbow and cocks a bolt. "You go ahead, I'll follow."

Rhazor Blackhand (level 4 rogue)
AC 15, 33/33 HP, passive perception 18
Link to the character sheet.

Mindsiege · #**262** May 3rd, 2023, 05:51 PM

Mountain Descent
With the report that Duha had given the group, there were further strategic concerns about how the adventurers should best approach the yuan-ti when they were now seemingly prepared for them. Simply storming at an encampment of archers who were hiding within the foliage appeared rather too reckless, but Arrogaio had spent long minutes considering the terrain, and thus he decided the strategy for his group. They would descend the mountain to the north after all, to veer off the mountain path for the sake of reaching the jungle while avoiding the ambushers' arrows. And while there was a mood of skepticism and reluctance among the two rogues, at least Snap Kick and the grung appeared eager, with Cha-kra mostly taciturn during the prelude of their hunt.

It was decided then. Giving Duha some rest from his morning flight, Arrogaio organized his party into a single row. The adventurers left the sailors behind, who wished them good luck and good fortune, none of them appearing too sad about avoiding the risk of battle with armed forces now that most of them had sobered up through the night. The grung also made a few efforts to understand Arrogaio's plan, and although talking with the amphibious warrior seemed to be difficult at best, he eventually fell last in line as their party began their determined descent.

It was a good bit of marching during the rising temperatures of the morning before the off-road to the mountain path transitioned from escarpments to dangerous slopes, and eventually the mountain's angle had evened out enough that the adventurers could leave the track altogether, still a fair distance above the jungle plateau and certainly still out of range for the serpentfolk archers. Even Cha-kra had agreed that it was best to avoid an obvious ambush, and so Arrogaio resummoned his owl before leading the group into the mountain's difficult terrain as the party's vanguard.

Duha took his instructions to heart and took to the air to spy on the yuan-ti's movement, and with the bird's eye view, the familiar discerned that after a few minutes of delay, the yuan-ti seemed to take a westward direction as well, albeit at a slower pace than the adventurers took. When Duha returned to report the findings that he had made to Arrogaio, the party had already spent multiple minutes marching through the arduous terrain at this altitude, watching their steps but making good time. It would still take them a few minutes to reach the jungle if they stopped moving parallel to the treeline, but it finally seemed feasible to do so without giving their enemies the opportunity to shoot at them. So far, everything had gone according to plan.

secretID · #**263** May 10th, 2023, 12:55 PM

Arrogaio Deveste, Champion of Skuld, Beacon of Estagund

After receiving his assistant’s report, Arrogaio dismissed Duha for the remainder of the party’s exposed movement. “Quickly now,” the self-appointed leader told his party, “to cover. They are coming. We may not have long before they reach us.”

When the party finally entered the edge of the jungle, Arrogaio recalled Duha to his side. “Now we shall lay the ambush,” he told the others. “Rhazor, we will make good use of your magic…here. Show me how large an area you can cover with your Silent Imageillusions.” Arrogaio nodded as the arcane trickster outlined the approximate space. “Good,” he said. “I will be here, at the front. You four arrange yourselves in this area according to how you would like to fight. I think that they are only several minutes away, if they come right for us. We will take our positions, then wait until they are close enough for us to charge before they can react. Duha should give us advance notice of their coming.” Arrogaio then explained the plan to the grung in their shared language.

“Prepare yourselves,” Arrogaio said. “while I take care of one last thing.” He then walked several feet toward the expected approach of the enemy while drawing four javelins from where he had them holstered. Then for the next few minutes, with repeated dramatically sweeping gestures of both arms, the mage caused large clumps of earth to erupt from a single spot, then to roll across the jungle floor until he had dispersed the excavated earth over a large area. Arrogaio returned to the hole, dropped the javelins into it, and waved his hands a few more times. At the end of the process, there was a hole 10’ deep and roughly 5’ on each side, with 4 javelins sticking up from its floor.

“Rhazor,” he said when he had taken his final position with the group. "I need that pit hidden, along with us. Now is your time!"

OOCThe ideal spot has immediate tree cover for the PCs, in case the illusion is detected early, and relatively few trees to the north and east, so advancing yuan-ti are exposed.

Duha will take a position with the following priorities in order:
1) at the edge the connection with Arro, about 90’;
2) a decent view of the ground to east and north;
3) in the trees, with maximum cover. Of course he’ll use Stealth.

Mindsiege · #**264** May 17th, 2023, 07:10 PM

Welcome to The Jungle

Pressing the headstart which the adventurers had taken over the yuan-ti, they marched along the mountainous descent until they had the certainty to have gained enough ground to have made it out of the yuan-ti archer's range. On Arrogaio's orders they finally headed diagonally for the treeline, and soon they found themselves back in the jungle, this time in complete wilderness with no paths to be seen. They were greeted by thick foliage, thin trees, girthy wines, and a myriad of birds and insects, of which the former kept their distance while the latter unfortunately not so much.

Immediately the adventurers realized that this would make for a peculiar battleground if they indeed did come to clash with the yuan-ti, as their sight was limited and their movement restricted. Arrogaio's first decision upon reaching the jungle was to recall his familiar from beyond the veil of material existence, and to stipulate that now it was they who would set an ambush. While it was likely that the yuan-ti would somewhat anticipate their general location, they had certainly lost any sight of the adventurers by now, and now it was time to use the magic that they had at their beck and call to take the edge with a swift strike of ingenuity.

The plan was simple, which only made it better since there wouldn't have been time to facilitate any complex preparations. Especially since they had to search for a few minutes to locate a suitable ambush site that gave them all of the advantages that they could hope for. Snap Kick was a great help as he nimbly navigated the jungle thicket, and eventually the adventurers settled on a larger root that unlike most of the rest of the vegetation gave proper cover and was near an area that sported a little less foliage and more opportunity to move quickly into a melee when the moment would be upon them. While Cha-kra, Briggs, and the grung remained taciturn for the most part, their compliance with Arrogaio was testament to their trust in his plan, and together with Rhazor they outlined the illusion that would become their shield against immediate detection.

Finally, the master stroke of Arrogaio's plan would come from the hands of the champion of men himself. As he ventured to make creating a pit trap look easy with his magic to control the very earth itself, he soon noticed that trying to increase the pit's depth and lining it with javelins from a distance required such delicate use of his magic that he had to rely on more than just a bit of trial and error. Fortunately he had already sent Duha a distance ahead where the owl dutifully scouted the jungle and it seemed like the yuan-ti were taking their time, enough that Arrogaio's perfectionism found completion without risking the embarrassment of premature detection. With a few final applications of his elemental craft, the plated warrior evacuated any loose earth into the area that Rhazor would cast his illusion on, but before that, the rogue cast a minor illusion that seamlessly veiled the dangerous pit that Arrogaio had dug. Then Rhazor veiled their presence behind illusionary foliage as well, and all the adventurers could further do was wait. They were prepared as well as they could be.

Sometimes, time moves slowly, especially while waiting for a particular event with great anticipation. Not as familiar with illusions as the man who had woven them, Arrogaio had to worry how soon the illusion would disperse, and what sort of interactions would easily give them away. There were various insects that inevitably crossed in and out of the illusion with no regard that the image even existed in the first place, but to the adventurers' relief the insects' presence would have required a very keen eye to discern, and so they clung to the hope that the illusion would hold against the creatures with greater intelligence who were possibly still headed their way. The time until their arrival seemed unusually long, and the doubts that arose didn't make the wait inside the constrained space any easier.

But the adventurers had not wasted their efforts, because just after half the duration of Rhazor's spell, Duha invited his master to spy on the yuan-ti's arrival. What Arrogaio saw was concerning, however. He couldn't see them very well within the foliage, but there were five humanoid figures slowly creeping their way through the jungle, one of them possessing the scaled head of a snake rather than anything remotely human. But Duha's eyes could see even more. The serpentfolk party was preceded by several snakes that had fanned out before them. Their whole procession was moving in parallel to the treeline, but not perfectly at the same height as Arrogaio's ambush spot. It wasn't clear if the yuan-ti's current trajectory would lead them directly to the warrior's pit trap, but either way, the snakes in front of them were likely to get close enough to possibly encounter either the pit or even the illusion behind it. At the most there was a minute left before the opposing parties would have their first contact. Whatever form that first contact would take.

LeDragon · #**265** May 18th, 2023, 03:22 PM

Rhazor Blackhand

"Holy crap!" Rhazor cursed when Arrogaio informs them about the latest events. The vermin above, below, left, right - all around has nerved him. Then these large spiders. He, a child of the city, hates the jungle from the bottom of his heart. I want to go home! Please gods, just back home to Westhaven where I have a bugfree bed and spiderfree corners. Lacking new orders, the young rogue still focuses to keep the illusion alive and real as good as possible.
"What shall we do, now?"

Rhazor Blackhand (level 4 rogue)
AC 15, 33/33 HP, passive perception 18
Link to the character sheet.

Yoshimi · #**266** May 23rd, 2023, 05:37 PM

Snap Kick

For the first time since before joining the monastery, Snap Kick is gripped by an unsettling sensation of rudderlessness. Arrogaio had fallen into sullen silence. Rhazor's discomfiture radiated off him. The others seemed to be waiting for him to make a decision. Panic wells up in the kenku's throat as he tries frantically to get his tragically cursed brain to synthesize an original plan from the countless fragments of his experiences. He whistles softly to himself.

A reassuring phrase from a bygone adventure supplies itself to his forebrain. It had been the dwarven sensei, Stone Coldkiller, teaching Snap Kick the Way of the Drunken Master by making him walk the edge of a 100-foot cliff while thoroughly wasted. He whispers it now like a mantra, over and over. "You must chill! You must chill!"

The monk's mind clears. The snakes will enter there. He directs each party member to stand in their place, then turns and waits for the chance to strike.

Mindsiege · #**267** May 28th, 2023, 05:26 PM

Slithering Scouts

As Rhazor's and Snap Kick's anxiety grew, Arrogaio had fallen silent after reporting the yuan-ti's proximity to their ambush position. When Rhazor asked what they were supposed to do now, the Champion of Skuld never responded, and the tension in the air was ripe since the serpentfolk's snake allies were due to arrive any moment. It was shocking that Arrogaio wasn't giving the orders like he had done since they had descended the mountain, but what his companions didn't realize was that it was impossible for him to even hear his allies' desire for guidance, because he wasn't able to even perceive them while he shared his familliar's senses as intently as he was doing right then.

Duha's eyes were exceptionally sharp as the owl allowed Arrogaio to assess all but the magical abilities of his enemies. And while the focused warrior did his best to scout for the party at the precipice of hostile contact, a frantic Snap Kick picked up the slack as the kenku began to hurriedly gesticulate for his party members to assemble in a certain way. When Arrogaio's sight and hearing returned to him and he found that his group had moved to the back of the illusion, he only shrugged as if his companions' initiative had been all but expected. His voice was quiet against the surrounding noise of the jungle, but his companions at the height of their vigilance heard him exceptionally well nonetheless. "Any moment now. The snakes are here. Be ready."

For a while now, the party of adventurers had known from which direction they expected the serpentfolk to arrive, and Duha had decisively confirmed it mere moments ago. The foliage of the jungle was thick, but when the snakes eventually appeared in their field of vision, they weren't particularly hidden and the observant Rhazor easily pointed out their presence. There was one of them that seemed to be headed directly to the pit that Arrogaio had dug with magic, and another one that the adventurers assumed would have a line of sight on its slithering companion. Just when the party began to hope that the second snake wouldn't notice when the first fell through the illusionary ground that was covering the pit, the first snake came to a halt directly in front of the pit, paused for a moment, and then circumvented it with perfect accuracy. The group palpably tensed as they watched the scout clearly avoid the illusion, but now it was back to slithering right toward their current position, and just a moment later it came to a halt directly in front where Rhazor's bigger illusion bordered. When it hypnotically raised its head off the jungle floor, it was staring right at Arrogaio, as if perfectly aware that a big human knight was standing a mere few feet in front of it. The adventurers felt the adrenaline pumping when their illusion had failed them and they had only the slightest of moments to rectify the matter.

Yoshimi · #**268** May 30th, 2023, 10:18 PM

Snap Kick

Snap Kick stares in disbelief at the snake, which sits frozen in its tracks, studying Rhazor's illusion.

The plan...his plan..well, the plan he had help to modify...the very first plan he had ever helped to modify...had failed.

Before lightning strikes, thunderclouds build and darken, the sky holds its breath."

At least the monk knew what to do with an enemy in front of him. If only he could pick off the snake without bringing the whole enemy force upon the party. Snap Kick crouches then dashes forward on silent feet. From behind the leading edge of the illusion, his left leg sweeps out with deadly force toward the reptile, connecting with the underside of its flat skull, which snaps back. The serpent's front half falls limply to the ground. Snap Kick dances back lightly to his position inside the illusion and takes a long slow inhalation to steady himself after the heady rush of his successful attack.

Having centered himself, Snap Kick turns to nod at Arrogaio, wondering if the mage warrior will send Duha to pick up the carcass to try and allay suspicion, as had been hurriedly floated earlier.

LeDragon · #**269** Jun 4th, 2023, 03:54 AM

Rhazor Blackhand

Rhazor watches intently as the snake dithers before his illusion and then crawls around it. Has it smelled us? Is it now warning the others? Somehow the scouts have to communicate with their masters. Rhazor had limited knowledge of reptiles, but he had never heard of snakes calling. But maybe they whistle?
His tension is heightened by Arrogaio inaction, but now it's Snap Kick that fills the void. In one leap, the monk leaps forward and kills the snake before retreating back into the cover of illusion.
Only the two halves of its body remain. Rhazor shakes his head as Briggs suggests that his owl carry the dead snake away. "Hard to believe a single owl would do that so easily."

The young rogue makes a motion with his left hand and mutters a few words. A spectral, floating hand suddenly clasps the remains of the dead snake and silently pulls them into the cover of illusion.

Rhazor takes a deep breath to calm his racing pulse. That was a close one. He casts a doubtful glance at the suddenly idle Arrogaio. "We'd better let the yuan-ti pass us by, then sneak into their camp and rescue the prisoners."

Rhazor Blackhand (level 4 rogue)
AC 15, 33/33 HP, passive perception 18
Link to the character sheet.

Mindsiege · #**270** Jun 6th, 2023, 07:14 PM

Parley

It took only a moment as the adventurers hid inside their illusion with bated breath, eye to eye with a snake that was looking right at them, and it certainly would have tried to give away their presence if it hadn't been for Snap Kick, his lightning reflexes and his killer speed. In a flash the snake's skull was broken by a single expertly placed kick, and due to the kenku's nimbleness and silent agility, it seemed like the partner snake that was within the adventurers' field of vision was none the wiser about its fellow scout's demise. "Now! Duha!" Briggs whispered a reminder after he had previously suggested parading the corpse of the snake to the serpentfolk, but unfortunately Arrogaio had never listened to his allies when his senses had been inside of his familiar, and in that very moment, he only raised an imperious eyebrow, shook his head and then looked at Rhazor and Briggs as if expecting them to move instead.

Not one to need much motivation when their entire ambush was hanging by a razor's edge like this, none other than Rhazor was the first to spring into action, using his arcane legerdemain to swiftly disappear the corpse within the illusion where the rest of them were. The young rogue's quickness had ensured that the dead snake wasn't going to lie out in the open when the serpentfolk arrived, and looking at the older Arrogaio who was the uncontested leader of this adventuring party, Rhazor suggested for them to let the yuan-ti pass them by to attack the main forces with the ritual sacrifices instead. Arrogaio made an expression as if he considered this, but then his eyes turned white as he looked through Duha's eyes once again, and he raised his shield commandingly for everyone to fall silent, gripping his sword tightly when just a moment later the party noticed the rustling of movement in the jungle ahead. There was no time for discussion. Now their enemies were upon them.

While the foliage was initially still obscuring most of the adventurers' sight, everybody tensed in preparation for what was about to happen, and Arrogaio was visibly preparing to charge once the yuan-ti properly entered everybody's limited field of vision. The impending ambush was what all their swift planning and preparation had been for, and the party all clutched their respective weapons as they readied themselves for even swifter combat within this late-morning jungle. Alas, the movement that Arrogaio had caught with Duha's bird's eye view and that the ever-observant Rhazor had been the first to notice from their current position suddenly came to a halt just before the serpentfolk had ever made their long-anticipated debut. Unsure if there had been anything that had given them away, or if something unforeseen had happened to stall the yuan-ti, the adventurers had no opportunity to spring their trap when suddenly a raised, eloquent voice called out from the foliage ahead, addressing the entire jungle in the common merchant tongue. "Strangers! We know that you are here! Your pitfall was cleverly disguised, but my eyes see true! Do not fret! We do not wish you any harm, strangers! A local fey has told us slander that you would wish us harm! We know better than to trust such ill-meaning rumors! Hence why we followed you, to ask you to reconsider your attack! Do you hear me? I request a parley!"

Are you confused and wondering what is going on here? Check out this YouTube video to get the scoop.

Explosive Runes #34: EVIL EDITION is out!

Iron DM 2023!