DM themed play-by-post D&D game : STORY THREAD

[oh_brother]

Westian had the breath knocked out of him, and for a couple of seconds seemed not to move. Then he got to his feet and looked around, as if he was expecting to see someone. As Ameena spoke he looked down at her. Still struggling to breath or speak he shook his head when she apologised. "You did well" he managed to mutter faintly.

He nodded his head in answer to her other questions. Yes he did have a flask, and could heal himself. Finally able to take deep breaths again, he thanked he for her concern and for grabbing him. "I thought I was dead. Landing in the water was my real fear."

Suddenly Ameena appeared distracted, and Haynuus started shouting from the cliff above. Clearly there was danger nearby. He drew his sword and readied his shield.

OOC: I guess I cannot cast a spell since it is a full round action and I used move to draw my weapons. Initiative was 12.

[beowuuf]

Spellcasting is a standard action unless otherwise stated by me

[oh_brother]

Westian whipped a flask from his backpack. They were all empty, it would be best to have some ready. He looked up at Haynuus and Aurek - he would not be able to reach them if they were in trouble. Unless he gave a potion to the murafu and asked her to climb up.

"ON VI" he said quietly, and placed the flask in his belt. The shapes were coming into view now. He lowered his visor and took up a defensive stance.

[beowuuf]

Haynuus's yelling did have an effect, although not the ultimately desired effect. Only as the creature came closer did Haynuus realise why.

The giant wasp suddenly turned, as if buffetted on the wind, and was instantly climbing with powerful noisy wing beats up towards the orc. The orc felt an odd moment of optical illusion. The size he thought the giant wasp should be was the size while it was still a decent way away. The thing suddenly grew larger and larger, and it was tempting to believe the thing was going direclty for Haynuus's face.

Then it finally arrived at the ledge, in all its largeness. It flapped for a moment, bobbing left and right as if contemplating the strange, noisy half orc.

Meanwhile, down below the two others wasps were still coming. Luckily, realising their huge size meant they were still not quite upon the two champions at the water's edge. There was time to respond, if anything could indeed be done.


Heh, so there you go, Haynuus bought you guys a round's worth of time. Haynuus will be in combat with a wasp next round, so do what you gotta do! It's within range, and I will count you as far enough away fro mthe cascade to not fall. Unless you wanna go into the cascade for any tactical reason - then it's an acrobatics check :p

Remember (really applies to Ameena and Westian) that standard actions can be readied for a trigger - like thumping a wasp that gets in your face.

[Ameena]

Ameena is relieved that Westian is alright. However, on hearing more buzzing, she spins around and sees another couple of the giant insects approaching from across the water.
"More of them!" she squeaks nervously, finding herself instinctively backing away from the water, toward the cavern wall.
She keeps her eyes fixed on the creatures over the water, but is also listening intently to the sound of the one hovering above, ready to move if its sound should suddenly change. She isn't sure what she can do, and most of her concentration is taken up with trying not to panic - airborne predators are possibly one of the main causes of death among the Murafu, and these creatures, with their wings and stingers, are very definitely something she would define as an "airborne predator".

OOC - How big are they compared to us, anyway?

[beowuuf]

Heh, you know in DM they are about the size of you (as in Ameena the murafu)? The D&D stats actually make them larger than a person. You may well fight some of the smaller ones in the dungeon, but here the big dogs rule, and I'm going with it because I'm mean So let's say the size of a small pony. How do they fly? Magic. On the bright side, they've got no real hands to actually pick you up with. It's all stingers and stuff.

[ian_scho]

The half-orc had a flash-back of gladiators fighting with nets and tridents. He wondered if a tarpaulin thrown over the wasp was enough to incapacitate it long enough to drive the advantage home... With a sword. The next plan could be to retreat to the water fall and see if the thing avoided getting wet. It would be worth a go if things got edgy but the wasp didn't have the problem of uneven footing. If there was a way to gain an upper hand in the situation, he couldn't think of one.

For now however he was given the advantage of being able to swipe first at the thing. He certainly didn't charge towards it, but decided on moving into melee with a good measured swing (1d20+10=12, 2d4+6=12, 1d20+5=16, 2d4+6=13)[+], and a gutteral curse emitted from his throat, to help the thing on it's way.

OOC - [+] Oh but it's two swings now, actually.

[oh_brother]

Westian kept a keen eye on the wasps as they approached. He held his shield in front of his body, with his sword arm ready for an upwards stabbing motion as soon as they came into range.

Readied attack when any wasp comes near me. Attack was 14 + 6 = 20, damage 5 = 2 = 7.

[Ameena]

Now growing increasingly desperate for some kind of cover, Ameena starts looking in all directions (though remains where she is, in a sort of cowering, half-crouched position) for something resembling a hole, a burrow, a crack in the wall, anything which she might be able to run and hide in. That such cover, should it exist, might house something worse than the stinging insects hasn't yet come to mind - though these creatures might not even attack on sight, it is an instinctive behaviour of the Murafu, as with any rodent or similar small creature, to dive for cover at the first sight of something resembling a winged shadow.

OOC - Perception check for anything that might resemble a murafu-sized hole/gap/tunnel, etc...17 (7+10). Alright so it seems like Ameena is wmping out again, but to be fair there's sod all she can do right now even if she was the more aggressive type - she has no form of ranged attack .

[beowuuf]

She has knives, she could pick up a rock off the ground, or she could ready an attack./ You've been spoilt by 4th edition and its variety of powers! :p

Ok, will update before I head off to bed...first combat round! Woohoo! Have a good weekend.

Edit: Or maybe tomorrow, so tired!

[Ameena]

OOC - Well, she has a knife - I don't fancy having her throw it out across that water and lose it forever, thanks . Plus, I'm roleplaying here - I'm playing a rodent, therefore she has an innate fear of aerial predators, even if they aren't about three times her size and with a sting that's probably almost as long as she is .

[beowuuf]

Lol, I know, it's good insincts, I'm just giving you a hard time :p Though of course I do tend to bias the fights for the people that should be around. Anyway, once I update, you'll see that Westian's perhaps not going to get the brunt after all...

[beowuuf]

Ameena could not see much in the cavern flooring to offer the hope of a permenant area of cover. The cascade from above masked a certain part of this lower cavern area, and so she could possibly hide behind it as long as the wasp did not come too far into land from the lakeside. And it seemed that further back, where this lower cavern area ended and the cavern floor continued along the main cavern wall, there was some way back into the main dungeon. Unfortunately, this opening was possibly where the Trolins originally came from. And there was no indication to say that this opening did not lead to a shallow cave, or worse yet an occupied cave. Even a nest!

Meanwhile, Westian stood on the rocky shore and awaited the unbelieveably large insects. Could such things be natural? Luckily, one of the creatures seemed to loose interest in the cleric, and with skipping movements darted upwards back towards where Aurek and Haynuus still stood.

The reason for this was perhaps Haynuus's loud defense of himself. Aurek made a feint jab at the wasp to distract it, allowing the half-orc to aim a great blow. Although the thing jittered in their air, its large size made it an easier target, and its furry body was no match for the edge of a falchion. Haynuus perhaps even impressed himself by discovering an interesting fighting technique, where he then turned the mighty swing into a further powered jab back again.

There was an angry buzzing and a stream of sticky gore from the twin perforations to the wasps huge body. Its stinger waggled threateningly close to Haynuus's face, but the creature rose in the air to hover above the two fighters. It looked very weak, but it also did not look like it was about to drop out of the sky just yet.

And of course, there was a second creature coming towards them...

Wow, that +2 to attack did, actually, give you a second hit. That's right, it has taken a massive 25 points of damage. Not enough to kill it, but check out the spoiler stats at the bottom of the page if you want to see how close it is.

Anyway, you have a choice now. You can't split a full round attack up (which is what you need to use to get both attacks), neither can you ready a full round attack. So you can either try to finish off the wasp with a single attack and move before the other gets to you (its still in range), stand firm but full round attack the first wasp, or simply delay your actions attack until the second wasp is in range, then split your attacks how you like. That last option, ofcourse, leaves you open to two wasp attacks though! Or somethign else I haven;t thought of.


While Haynuus managed such a great success with his wasp thatnks to Aurek's aid, the cleric whom both those fighters was supposed to protect had to rely upon himself alone. Luckily, his combat training in the order, and also his recent adventures, saw him able to calmly take aim and unleash a precise blow at his foe. Already his shield came up to take the angry stinger safely, and suddenly the cleric was fully engaged in possibly one of the most surreal duels of his life. And possibly, one of the most deadly.


Whew, a few low wasp rolls and some very good party rolls sees you guys looking pretty convincing here! This will all over before you guys know it, what with there only being three wasps in this whole massive cavern and no hidden surprises nor complications. Woohoo!

For those that wish to know the wasp statuses:

Wasp 1 (above Haynuus):

Spoiler

AC14, 8/33hp

Wasp 2 (engaging Westian)

Spoiler

AC14, 22/29hp

Wasp 3 (en route to Haynuus)

Spoiler

AC14, 36hp

[ian_scho]

All his waving and shouting had effectuated the desired effect, that Westian and Ameena didn't have to take down all three of these things at once.

Haynuus felt very fortunate that the wasp had not made contact with it's stinger, and was not about to suffer two of those at once. He initially thought to down the already obviously injured one, and take the full brunt of the second. But then Aurek's aid had proven so effective, and his math senses suddenly so acute, he decided to have a swing at the first wasp in an attempt to finish it off, then move back with the paladin to buy him some time for the second.

He gave it his best shot with his trusty falchion (1d20+10=19, 2d4+6=12), and shouted "Move back, Aurek. Now!"

OOC - They wouldn't move back across the cascade though. It would be just too treacherous.
In this case knowing the math - I really HAVE changed my decision. The min damage that Haynuus could do guarantees success if he hits, and so it was just about worth the risk!

[beowuuf]

Heh, knowing the figures makes the game more tactical, but on the down side, it makes the game more tactical. Obviously, I like as the DM being able to scare you with less crazy fights because the danger of what's possible means I don't have to kill you to make you feel threatened and challenged. Still, if you enjoy it better this way, then the comp[romise probably works well (as long as you don't make it too obvious what the maths actually are you are following!)

Anyway, good tactical thinking to back off, though given where Westian had fallen (still in the cascade, so now just at the edge of it on the opposing side) I'm not sure Haynuus and Aurek could get enough distance before they have their back to that area of the ledge. We shall see what happens with your second assailant now!

[oh_brother]

Westian batted away the wasps stinger with his shield, and used that opening to lunge forward with his sword held straight out in a stabbing motion. He felt the satisfaction of some resistance at the end of his blade, although in truth there was not much purchase on the hit.

He seemed less awkward in combat that he had before, perhaps as he became more accustomed to the pressure of an actual encounter his training could take over without too much concious thought getting in the way. For the first time since he had entered the dungeon his mind was almost blank as he fought, his movements controlled entirely by instincts. The fear and nerves that had characterised his earlier encounters seemed largely gone.

Attack was 13 + 6 = 19, damage 2 + 2 = 4

[Ameena]

Her initial sense of panic now starting to fade somewhat, Ameena starts to wonder what she should do. Firstly, she tries to calm herself down a little more by darting closer to the cascade, as close as she dares without falling off the ledge into the nearby water (OOC - Assuming this bottom ledge she and Westy are on is only just above it). Whilst trying to keep the strange upward-waterfall between herself and the huge insects, she looks around, as well as upward, seeing swords flashing on the upper ledge as the fight occurs up there. Meanwhile, much closer to her, Westian is fighting an isect of his own.
But what can she do? These creatures are huge compared to her - even another murafu here combined with herself would be smaller. And probably another too. If one of those creatures gets its sting through her it could so easily be the end. And besides, they're flying - even though such a large creature should technically be an easy target, the fact that it's far above her reach and moving about means she doesn't stand much of a chance of hitting it. She's pretty certain she recalls meeting creatures like these before, only they were much smaller. Still pretty big, about as big as she is, but never this big. And they were, she's quite sure, only ever encountered in spaces quite a bit smaller than this one, where walls and ceiling hampered their movement somewhat.
After casting about for something she can do to help, Ameena notices that a number of rocks litter the ground - she picks up one that she can manage to heft pretty easily (which, admittedly, isn't particularly big - maybe about the size of her head, if that), and hurls it in the direction of the wasp. Generally, murafu aren't particularly good at throwing things, but she wants to do something to help her friends.

OOC - Mooched through that website and couldn't find specific rules for an unarmed ranged attack (ie picking up a random object and chucking it) - unarmed, melée, yes, but not ranged. So I'll just do what happens in 4th edition, roll a ranged attack roll (which, given that I have Improved Unarmed Strike, means I'm always considered armed so can roll my normal ranged attack roll), and then do 1d4 damage (if it hits). If the damage should be something different, let me know what it is (and where you found it, so I know where I should have been looking ). Sooo, attack roll = 10 (2+8)...pfft. In the quite unlikely event that that hits, my 1d4 damage = 3. That would be erm...non-lethal damage (having IUS means I can choose). But I think the rock just kinda whizzed off somewhere to the side of the wasp (or, more likely, beneath it) and splashed into the water...ooops, maybe that was a bad idea, now I think of it...

[ian_scho]

OOC - 'Hide in the shadows' exists for a Murafu? It means a great shock attack for a backstab or whatever. I like the good olde rock throwing though! Ah happy memories.
Note Beo that if Haynuus didn't bring down the wasp, then it would only be a 5' step backwards!

With space between him and the now very unsteady wasp in front of him, he took a breather and surveyed the fight below. The wrong people were in the wrong place and what he and Aurek really needed to do is to group up with the rest of them again. There was no time though as a second flying insect loomed much closer.

[Ameena]

OOC - Hiding would be a Rogue ability, not specific to race. It comes under "Stealth". If there are any shadows in which to hide (speaking of which, is there any light atm? I recall Haynuus having a torch, I think, and there's the big glowy waterfall thingy at the far end of the cavern but I can't remember how bright it is. As for the rock-throwing...umm, yeah, well I think it totally missed after my crappy attack roll (which I may have done wrong anyway), lol. If Westy can maybe lure the wasp over a bit more so it's over the ground rather than the water, maybe Ameena can climb up the cliff a bit and jump on it or something...

[oh_brother]

Not sure about the specifics on the map, but Westian will not be standing close to the edge, for obvious reasons! So the wasp will presumably be over ground rather than over water.

[beowuuf]

Haynuus's swing upwards tore open the thorax of the wasp, and the abdomen simple dropped off due to the shock of it. There was all manner of ichor sprayed - it was quite the nature lesson to see it all up close and enlarged. With a pitiful flap the now lighter uppoer section of the wasp tried to fly away before life fled from it. It was only a matter of a second before the upper half joined the lower half, falling with a wet thump into the cavern floor below. There was a wide mess of green.

Haynuus had alreayd pulled the two warriors back from the torn body, which hadn't falled on their level. However, the stench of the wasp - a sort of unpleasant noxious waxy smell - stayed in his nostrils. His breastplate, breeches and sword were covered in the spatter. Nothign was fizzing away, nor poisoning him. However, that might have been preferable to the stench.


As you might have guessed, yes, your 19 hit and 12 damage killed the thing! I hadn't thought your moving sidewys would be any benefit, but I just recalled what was about to come at you from the left.


As Haynuus looked at the other giant wasp getting larger, a movement at the corner of his eye got his attention. A familiar green mound came into view further along the ledge - and then another. It appeared the noise of battle had drawn something else. With several screeches, and much shufflign of roots, a group of screamers - about four of five in total - shuffled from a shadowy nook and started moving forwards.

Meanwhile, the on the ground below the noisy 'splat' of the wasp body perhaps distracted Ameena from her throw. The stone went wide, thumping on the ground with a sad noise. Still, the wasp buzzed aroudn a little instead of attacking Westian ,and Westian took the advantage to land another measured blow. The wasp was aready startign to back away cautiously, and the wound did not look too deep.

The wasp however took off quickly. Not away though, it went upwards. Westian's luck was not such that the thing was heading off to meet Haynuus's powerful blows though. Instead, the wasp was hovering ominously above, as if considering its next move. Certainly, if its next move was to plung downwards, Westian was suddenly on shakier ground, for none of his sparing partners in the order had hovered and and dived into battle.

As if to provide further distraction and uncertainty, there was a low, watery noise between Ameena and Westian. It was as if the water was slowly trying to crawl upwards out of the lake. Only after a moment was it clear that the things coming out of the water, lured by the dead body, were some form of leeches. They moved like a concertina, and had remarkable strength of their body. In a dispiritingly short time they had closed the gap to the wasp corpse, and two feasted on the main corpse, wrapping their heads around parts. A third leech had moved to the abdomen - close to Ameena - and seemed a little less interested in latching on to that. It kept lifting its head, then dispiritedly slapping it back down on the coprse.


Heh, me throwing some insects at you=, hoping you'd despatch some, just so you would start drawing the horrific scavengers? Actually, no - I had hoped you'd walk into the screamers without warning, or drop Westian into drowning and being consumed by leeches. Sigh, a DM's job is so hard. Oh, speaking of killing people...


While the cavern revealed its hidden life to the group, the already visible life (in the shape of the last giant wasp) tried to remind the party of their existence. The final wasp finally closed the gap angrily between itself and Haynuus, darting with determination. Whether Haynuus was distracted by screamers or distracted by the wet flooring, this time he could not move away in time from the wasp's stinger. It entered his shoulder cleanly, and it was onyl a moment later the pain came. And, a moment after that, was a painful convulsion of the poison.


Don't worry Ian, Haynuus onl;y takes 7 points of physical damage from that blow. However, can you make me four sets of fortitude saves please? These will carry you over the next few rounds of combat as the poison attacks you then fades. AS mentioned before, I want to handle poison a little differently to D&D, pulling it more in line with DM.

Anyway, you can probably spot the way this encounter will be going (unless you change it). Party draws the predators, party draws the scavengers, and then party draws the intelligent lurkers (or the reinforcements). I feel like you guys might need a map, though perhaps not a fully gridded battlemap. What say you all? Yes to map, yes but you want a grid for exact distances, or are you just wanting a better narrative description of your positions but then you are happy to keep it narrative?

I've got some food to get, etc, but I'll probably post a rough map later on unless someone says anything one way or the other.

[oh_brother]

The flight of the wasp broke Westian's mental focus. A new situation required concious control of his movements, and his mind raced to come up with a plan. The best he could do was form a one-man testudo formation by going down on one knee and holding his shield above his head, angled towards the wasp.
His sword arm was held out by his side, ready to straighten his legs and thrust upwards if he came within range.

Attack was 18 + 6 = 24, damage 3 + 2 = 5.

[ian_scho]

Haynuus grunted and cursed with the wasps successful attack. It was at first like someone had stabbed him with a stiletto and then dullness, finally tearing pain that followed around his bloodstream. His resolve was strong, however ( OOC - four sets of fortitude saves (1d20+6=22, 1d20+6=15, 1d20+6=21, 1d20+6=11) ), and he was determined to fight off this wasp as there were more beasties looming on the horizon. "To me, Aurek!" and with that he attacked once more with each tiny muscle movement burning in his body (1d20+10=29, 2d4+6=13, 1d20+5=16, 2d4+6=11).

OOC - Bugger. Aurek was aiding the attack, but forgot to add the +2 bonus!

[Ameena]

Not really expecting her stone's throw to hit the wasp, Ameena isn't too surprised to see it pass far too low beneath the creature and land with a thud on the ground beyond. She becomes aware of some kind of watery sound nearby, but not that of the upward-waterfall, and notices some kind of green, gooey substance landing on the ledge from above. This is shortly followed by the severed remains of one of the huge striped insects, its body now somewhat less glossy than before, which land with a sort of wet splat on the ledge nearby. Normally, murafu are happy to eat insects and other, similar things if they find them, but these ones, apart from being absolutely huge compared to her, just feel...bad. She just instinctively feels that trying to eat these would probably be a very bad idea.
Ameena begins to edge away from the mess, keeping an eye on Westian's progress - the tall half-elf, armed as he is, has a much better chance of successfully fighting off the creature than she does. She watches anxiously as the insect shoots straight upwards, possibly planning on diving sting-first at Westian, but is then distracted by movement at the water's edge.
She watches the emergence of the slimy, crawly things with renewed nervousness. Something about them just seems...wrong. And the water, too - there is certainly something very odd about it, but she can't quite place what it is. The slimy crawlers, meanwhile, begin feasting on the remains of the insect. Ameena moves away from them, circling around so that she's headed vaguely in Westian's direction, but also toward the cavern wall - she feels safer with some kind of cover nearby, even if it is only a wall. Being out in the wide-open just goes against her instinct, especially with the knowledge that there are definitely predators in the area. Plus she doesn't want to get too close to the water.
Meanwhile, it doesn't look as though Westian has noticed the slimy crawlers. She hopes she won't distract him too much by attempting to warn him, but doesn't want him to accidentally step too close to them.
"Westian, be careful!" she calls. "There are slimy, crawling creatures by the water, eating the dead insect. I don't think we should get too close!"
She herself keeps an eye on them, ready to move away if they should come after her.

OOC - Depending on their speed, should one of them come after her, Ameena will do one of two things. I think this counts as readying an action - it's not something I've ever done because for starters I don't know how much of an action it is to do so during my turn - can I move and ready an action at the same time?
Well, anyway, if one of the leeches comes toward her but doesn't reach her in one turn, she'll just edge away a bit more (along the cavern wall, toward Westian rather than away from him) in the hopes that Westy can dispatch his wasp before the leech reaches her. If the leech can move far enough to reach her in one go, she'll try to climb the wall to get away from it as soon as she realises this, so here is a climb roll just in case that happens...21 (7+14).

[beowuuf]

You only get to ready a standard action - so one attack or one move. Luckily, climbing is a part of movement (if I recall) so I'll allow it I#'d mock you about running, except I know something about thee you guys don't - caution is a good idea. And Westian's getting used to being the one put in harm's way, I'm sure!

[Ameena]

OOC - It's more a case of three leeches vs. one murafu would be a Bad Thing if she tries to attack one of them, plus there's the fact that the initiation of hostilities isn't exactly a murafu trait. And she can't do much to help Westy with the wasp right 'cause of the whole small-creature-with-no-ranged-attack-vs.-flying-creature thing . And anyway, Ameena will only do the moving/climbing thing if any of the leeches start heading her way. If Westy can take out that wasp, then the two of us can start on the leeches...or else run screaming, or something .

[beowuuf]

I have no problem with Ameena the character feeling helpless, it's just fun RP, but as a player you know you are better than Westian right now for this job, right? You have a high dexterity and can finesse a knife/dagger, so your attack bonus I believe is higher than his. If you can get into a flank with Westian on the wasp, you get your sneak attack damage. So while Westian does 1d8 + 2 damage per stike, you'd do 1d3 + 3d6 damage. Especially the fact its 3d6 is important, it means you consistently do a good average. You'll note Haynuus is getting good damage, not only because of his high strentgh, but because 2d4 reliably hits the 4-5 mark.

The wasp gets no proactical bonus for flying, despite its size it doesn't have any exceptional reach, so its still got to come to you to attack to you, so you get to stab it.

The real reason to be scared is it damaging you - you'd really need tanky Westian in his full plate and with his massive hit points to figure out an RP way to draw agro one you started ripping the wasp a new one

Anyway, that's just incase as a player you though you were no good - Ameena the character is highly entitled to fear the flying huge thingie! And yeah, leeches... you guys will see about the leeches.

[Ameena]

OOC - Wow, BS damage is 3d6 in this version? Cool...in 4th edition it starts out at only 2d6 (but the d6s become d8s if you take the Backstabber feat, which I tend to do as my level 1 feat ), and I think becomes 3d6 then 4d6 at levels 11 then 21 respectively or something. Anyway, waspy is slightly out of reach of both Westy and Ameena right now. If it's still not dead by the next round, maybe I'll have her do something if the leeches aren't heading our way.

[beowuuf]

Yeah, they realised what a monster you can be in 3.5 and nerfed it to a sensible balanced level in 4th ed And yes, for the moment you might find waspy using his flying skills a little - still, that still provokes AoO if he goes too far.

[beowuuf]

The wasp above Westian reached the apex of its darting rise. INstead of running, Westian readied huimself for its return - perfectly as it turned out. The creature had obviously sought to flatten Westian with its bulk,or simply drive its stinger directly into the half-elf. Instead, Westian's outstretched sword luckily parried the stinger harmlessly onto his shield. THe sword, meanwhile, was driven powerfully and true deep into the side of the creature. It swept sideways, quickly, and started upwards again. This time, there was not the same determination in the movements. Theere was a sluggish randomness to the creature, and more importantly some overtmones the thing might not come back. The moment might have been sweet, were it not for the gooey ichor that mow coated Westian's weapon and arm.


Technically setting a sword against a charge (or dive) does nothing, but dammit it the creature onto has a stinger, and you raise up a sword - I'm lettign you get double weapon damage. So thats 2 x 3 +2 = 8hp. The wasp itself hasn't actually done anything more than still be hovering directly above your head, but narratively it looks like it might bugger off again. Withdraw while you can, or press your apparentl advantage? Maybe what's happening behind you might give you something to think about...


While Westian had engaged the wasp, only one leech apparently was engrossed in its feast. The leech closest to Ameena was still disgusted with its wasp abdomen, and kept 'tasting' the air, slifting half its body to wave straigh in the air. A suckered maw, with needle like teeth, were revealed underneath - a pink vile opening pulsing in the sleek black tube of the creature. It turned once or twice, and then started moving towards drops of goo still falling from Haynuus's battle above. While enough to attract it, these drops didn't give it a focus to feed on, and it carried on, getting closer to Ameena.

The murafu did not wait any longer, and instead of continuing around the cavern wall to get to Westian, she started climbing the wall. It was not the fastest of going, but at least on all fours she could move reasonably fast. The cavern wall over here was simply rocky and nobbly, and not slick liek the wall hgiher up by the cascade. Was she safe here?


Usually the readied action should only be for one thing - ie, run if somethign gets close, or else you lose that move. Luckily, the critter moved towards you - and so now Ameena is 15 feet above the cavern floor!


Meanwhile one of the leeches with the better body part seemed to grow bored. Its fellow looked fatter, and was perhaps able to process neutriants quicker. The thinner leech started turning its head left and right. The gore splattered by Westian was, sadly, apparently very appetising for its freshness. The leech started to move speculatively toweards Westian... Ameena's warning was, sadly, quite warranted.


Teehee.


Haynuus was oblivious to this, still fighting his own wasp. Luckily, the poison seemed to be just another odd thing in his bloodstream, and apparently it was having a worse time than Haynuus was. Haynuus felt no odd aftereffectsm which in itself was worrying. Still, the initial spasming of the wound was bad enough. Haynuus had eagerly cavered up the wasp into chunks, leaving a mess on the floor. Certainly, once he got a hang of the falchion, it was a great weapon.

Unfortunately, the mess of wasp was still, somehow, moving. And worse yet, Haynuus's shoulder temporarily seized up. It was enough to allow the wasp to once more slide its stinger into Haynuus. This time it was slicing into his neck. This could not be good! The wasp wriggled itself free, and tried to move away from the painful experience that was Haynuus.


Man, why did I have to score the natural 20 against Haynuus, instead of the walking tin can Westian? Ah well, the good news is your last initial fortitude saves were so good Haynuus shrugged off the poison. I'm still toying with marrying up the poison mechnaisms of D&D and DM, but for how I'm pitching it this enounter, closer to the D&D DCs, you aced them. Still, the bad news is you have another four you need to make now! Oh, and you took max damage from the stinger - only 9 hit points though. Even better news, the wasp is pulling away with its move action - guess who gets an AoO against it? That's right, Haynuus!


Meanwhile, the screamers along the ledge were still speculatively shuffling forwards...


Ok, sorry that's been a day's delay, but there we go! Another round of combat done! I think the wasps will be gone by next round, we'll see if they leave behind any painful deblitating presents before they go. I'm eagerly awaiting the situational and physical trauma the scavengers can start inflicting on you

Maps:


Stats for cheaters: :p
Wasp 2 (engaging Westian)

Spoiler

AC13(charged), 10/29hp

Wasp 3 (attacking Haynuus)

Spoiler

AC14, 11/36hp

Leech 1 (heading for Westian)

Spoiler

AC16, 15hp

Leech 2 (feeding)

Spoiler

AC16, 23hp

Leech 3 (heading for Ameena)

Spoiler

AC16, 12hp

Screamer 1 (near Haynuus)

Spoiler

AC8, 14hp

Screamer 2 (near Haynuus)

Spoiler

AC8, 13hp

Screamer 3 (near Haynuus)

Spoiler

AC8, 13hp

Screamer 4 (near Haynuus)

Spoiler

AC8, 14hp

Screamer 5 (near Haynuus)

Spoiler

AC8, 15hp