Darkwood--Into the blackness....

[Laurel]

"Would it be better to descend away from them and hope they are not aware of us? Or to take them on so we need not worry about them later?"

[Kalindriel Ec'urb]

Kali grins at Laurel.

While Marrik is scanning the passages, Kalindriel moves behind him to get out of his way and looks lost in thought. With his announcement of something approaching she comes to her senses.

Keeping her voice down, "This is a good ambush spot, however we do not know how the golem will react to fighting. Engaging on the stairs or ramp will make for difficult conditions and put them above unless one of us lures them past and down while the rest hide in the Darkness."

"We should either risk engaging here, or quickly head down and hope for favorable positioning if they continue in that direction. Or, if we want to take a bigger risk that they cannot pierce magical masking, hide with invisibility and in the Darkness to see what they are about."

[Laurel]

Laurel looks thoughtful as she considers Kalindriel's words. "Does everyone here have an ability to become invisible? I have only used the earring I recovered from the manticore to turn myself and my possessions invisible, but I recall it carrying Beauregard off and both of them disappearing when the earring was activated.

"Perhaps if those here who can not turn themselves invisible were to remain in contact with me in some way, the earring could cloak us all?"

Knowing Vynarkus can turn invisible, she turns to him and asks, "Would you mind observing an experiment? If we have time, turn yourself invisible and then watch as all those in the party who are willing to see if the earring will cloak us all gather around and hold on to me in some way. I will activate the earring and then you can let us know if we all disappear.

"I do not know if we would be able to tell ourselves if we all disappear together. But should it work we will all be invisible when those who approach come near."

Turning back to Kalindriel she verifies, "They are evil-oriented golem that approach then?"

[Led Pighp]

Led looks in both directions. [Knowledge (Dungeoneering) check] "I don't think a golem could ascend those steps. Not as heavy as that last one was. And, in spite of speaking… that one didn't seem capable of holding an opinion about morality. I'm not sure it could be evil, exactly."

He considers the layout further. "We could probably set up some kind of a trap for them. Put a rope across here to trip them, maybe some upward pointing arrows to impale them on once they fall? Some of us should be in these other two tunnels," then he points back the way they came, "and the rest should be that way, to block any escape. Once they trip, we crush them between us."

[GM, describe the hallway we're in now (the horizontal bit before it widens into the three-way split). Specifically, I'm imagining borrowing Laurel's ring of climbing and then hanging from the ceiling to drop down once they've hit the trap. 5' wide is narrow enough for Led to put feet on one side and hands on the other. A climb bonus might allow him to wait there for a little while. Led's strength bonus certainly wouldn't help. Throw another dungeoneering check on that idea, please. I want to make sure that that part of the ceiling isn't visible from someone partway up the stairway.]

[Seven Words]

OOC--Several rolls involved here..PM or IM to people who made them

Skyseeker cocks her head, listening......"The approaching things sound familiar....like....large snakes...." but she looks confused at this.

[Kalindriel Ec'urb]

"Likely fiendish, summoned up to deal with any intruders. We've already seen they favor such creatures to bolster their ranks."

[Sigrid]

I draw my wand of Acid Arrow.

I stand far back from the hallway, so I don't get hit.

Code: Select all

Cleric 0              |Sorceror 0 (6)    |Wands
 Resistence           | Acid Splash      | Acid Arrow (17)
 Resistence           | Arcane Mark      | Detect Secret Doors (15)
 Resistence           | Light            | Find Traps (24)
 Resistence           | Mage Hand        | Knock (15)
                      | Prestidigitation | Sonic Blast (26)
                      | Ray of Frost     |
----------------------+------------------+----------------------------
Cleric 1              |Sorceror 1 (7)    |Ring
 Protection from Evil | Burning Hands    | Cure Light Wounds
 Protection from Evil | Identify         | Cure Light Wounds
 Magic Weapon         | Magic Missile    | Cure Light Wounds
 Magic Weapon         | Shield           |
----------------------+------------------+----------------------------
Cleric 2              |Sorceror 2 (5)    |Lesser Rod of Empowering (3)
 Bull's Strength      | Scorching Ray    |
 Bull's Strength      | See Invisibility |
 Bull's Strength      |                  |

[Sorchat]

I fly to the edge of the darkness.

I'll fly just inside it once they get here.

I won't touch the ground.

[Led Pighp]

"Fiendish snakes? Actual snakes from the actual abyss? Gawds, I hate this guy so much, right now. And snakes will go right past a rope at ankle height. And they'll nudge upward pointed arrows out of the way. Damn that elf and his damned fiendish snakes from the damned abyss!" [Knowledge (nature) check to know that regular snakes have scent and we probably can't hide from them very well just from being around the corner.]

"Shit. Okay, let's all just stand here and wait for them, and then slice them to pieces when they get here."

"No. Enough of waiting." Led starts up the stairway, waiting until he can hear the snakes before he shifts. [Let's call that a Listen check, shall we?]

[Kalindriel Ec'urb]

Kali starts to explain, until Led charges forward, "They could be from any of the lower or adjoining planes, not necessarily the Abyss. If they were fro...."

"Wait, we can't all fit up those steps!" She tries to grab Led before he gets too far.

[Led Pighp]

Kali starts to explain, until Led charges forward, "They could be from any of the lower or adjoining planes, not necessarily the Abyss. If they were fro...."

"Don't care."

"Wait, we can't all fit up those steps!" She tries to grab Led before he gets too far.

"Yeah, probably a pole-arm wasn't the right weapon for tunnels." Led continues up the stairs anyway.

[Kalindriel Ec'urb]

"We can all fight if we stay here. Unless you want to be the only one in battle. Hope they're not Abyssal... their bite may be toxic, infused with that fungal stuff even, if associated with that entity..."

[Led Pighp]

Led stops cold, a few steps up the spiral. A cold sweat appears on his brow, and his foot trembles on the upper step.

"Fungus?"

Led turns and takes a step back down, looking at Skyseeker. "Is she right? These things could be passing out the fungus?"

[Seven Words]

Skyseeker hefts a javelin..."Not the Darkness-Beyond-Death, no. Other forms of contagion, possibly."


Marrik cocks his axe.."Run back this way drawing them in pursuit, and we can fall upon them as they come out."

[Laurel]

Kali starts to explain, until Led charges forward, "They could be from any of the lower or adjoining planes, not necessarily the Abyss. If they were fro...."

Hearing these words, the bard exchanges her non-enhanced arrow nocked to her longbow for one of her Fiend Bane arrows ([ooc]thanks for the name, Kali![/ooc]) and nocks it to her longbow in its place. Muttering "Barxonas!" she winks out of sight, hiding her casting a spell upon herself.

[ooc]...hoping I'm not jumping the gun here...
move action: switch out regular arrow for Fiend Bane arrow
swift action: activate Earring of Invisibility
standard action: cast Harmony upon self[/ooc]

[Annalysei]

Anna moves as quietly as she can to the front of the group, near the doorway, and casts Animalistic Power in a whisper.

[Animalistic Power active = +2 to str, dex and con -- Gargoyle boots active]

OOC: Let's assume from here on out that any time I move, the DM is going to move me in whatever direction best behooves the group. I'll get close to it and beat the hell out of whatever it is.

[Vynarkus]

[ooc]move action: switch out regular arrow for Fiend Bane arrow

[ooc]Fiendish snakes are supposed to be magical beasts, hopefully that will work on them...[/ooc]

Vynarkus, remaining invisible, heads up to the ceiling somewhere that the party's mele fighters are between him and the snakes, and prepares to attack one of the snakes once the party, particularly any that are moving along the walls or ceiling.

Ceiling is only 10' up

[Seven Words]

A huge snakes slithers around the corner, intent upon biting Led!

Initiatives

Laurel--23
Led--19
Annalysei--18
Snakes--18
Skyseeker--18
Vynarkus--14
Kalindirel--12
Sigrid--9
Marrik--6

[Annalysei]

[OOC: Is it one large snake or several snakes? Either way, I need to get past Led.]

[Seven Words]

one very large snake is visible...about 18" diameter, looks to be a total of probably 15 feet long.