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

[beowuuf]

If it was for hitting with an AoO, Ameena won't have the reach as she is far back, so no d4. If that's what you meant?

For grabbing the item - it's a disarm attempt. Narratively, what you are trying matches up perfectly to wehat the disarm is. Even with the acrobatics roll, I'd still usually force an AoO (just your acrobatics would give you an AC bonus) but Haynuus ucceeded in his bullrush, so I'm counting the combination as avoiding the AoO. Therefore, his low AoO is his disarm attempt. The flapping flask allows a +4 for your attack roll since you are saying you will be using your teeth to cut the binding (and the good acrobatics previously and your good thievery this time means I've no problem assume Ameena can do that!)

So you, Ameena comes away with a flask!


The gorup worked well together. Deephold nodded affirmative to the weapon. "Yes, that blessed weapon should not be allowed to hurt others!" Deephold had to calm himself. "The flask first!"

Haynuus moved around to the side and bodyslammed the ex-paladin into the wall. The paladin didn't fall to the ground, but he was thoroughly distracted. Ameena had jumped and twisted with syrprising energy to the side closest to the flaskl strap. Demonstrating the agility of the mufafu, she had already managed to snap the tough bindings of the flask with her sharp teeth, and fell back down to the ground with the flask before the undead creature realised.

Surrounded by foes, it seemed temporarily unsure who to hit. Therefore, Deephold once more had a chance to move forward. Whilst it was obviously difficult to face down his ex-comrade, Deephold managed to keep a calm as he came forward. Unfortunately, that calm seemed to come at the price of speed, and Deephold had barely extended his holy symbol to try and abjure the creature before the greatsword lashed out and struck the cleric hard in the shoulder.

Deephold staggered back surprised, but held his ground and held tighter to the holy symbol. However, he did not look good, and the shoulder wound was bleeding freely.


Ok, so you have a flask, woot! Though you also have a wounded cleric. Hmm, tactics tactics tactics. Grabbing a two handed weapon is not as easy as grabbing a flapping item. There is the AoO to negotiate - though I will give bonuses for good tactics, and if you let Deephold turn the undead and it works for that round, I'll say it cannot AoO. After that, Haynuus and Ameena both have good attack bonuses for the attempt, though come under penalties for trying to grab a two handed weapon, and also trying it with only 'light' weapons. So it would be risky.

Obviously, now you guys have the flask, you might wanna take a step back, try to distract the undead, and let Deephold do some healing. Haynuus would get double bonus from suchg healing, since he would lose his non-lethal damage and lethal damage in parallel. And obviously Ameena is the least vulnerable to attack having a high natural AC and a bonus for any defensive fighting, so giving her a cushion fiurst mioght be best. Or, you know, let the healer not die might be the bestest!

Like I said, tactics tactics tactics. I'll let you guys hash it out. You are, at the moment, all surrounding the creature against a wall - Ameena to the right, Haynuus centre, Deephold to the left.

[Ameena]

OOC - You haven't actually said whether the flask is empty or not - I'll just guess for now that the bindings hid that aspect from view . If there is a potion inside, Ameena probably won't automatically be able to identify it anyway - yeah, helath pots are blue, but even if the liquid in this flask is blue, Ameena won't necessarily assume that's what it is, since she'll figure there are plenty of other blue liquids out there .

BIC - Ameena easily swipes the flask from the undead creature, coming away with it clutched in one forepaw as she alights back onto the ground on her other three feet. She belatedly remembers that she no longer has a belt or any pouches she can shove it into, however, and besides, she isn't really an expert in stuff-you-find-in-flasks.
She gives barely a glance at the item she holds, not even really looking to see whether or not it's empty, before she edges over to Deephold and stands upright, passing it up to him whilst keeping an eye on the undead creature in case it tries to attack them - since she figures that Deephold can probably do the same kind of magic as Westian, maybe he can make himself a healing potion to cure his newly-wounded shoulder. Or maybe there was already a potion of some kind in the flask - she didn't check. There's no time to be messing around with these things, she knows, since one strike from the creature in front of them could easily finish any of them off.
"Here!" she says, speaking quickly. "I think you can use this better than me..."
Then she drops back down to all-fours and wonders what she should do next - maybe she should make another attempt at distracting the creature so that it goes for her and allows the others to...do something interesting.

OOC - Don't know if the moving-nearer-to-Deephold and the passing of the flask count as all my actions or what, so I'll hold off anything further for the moment, at least till I know what everyone else is gonna do .

[beowuuf]

Empty, sorry. If you count it as your full movement, including handing him the flask, then Deephold can instantly use a five foot step, cast a healing draught, and still have a move action free to give the flask back to Ameena, drink it himself, or pass it to Haynuus.

[Ameena]

OOC - Well, obviously the characters themselves can't see into the mechanics to know how much hp everyone has left, and I myself don't know anyway apart from Ameena's hp, obviously. I suppose as an NPC, Deephold's role in this is a bit more weird than if we were all PCs because we'd all be able to decide our own tactics. As hinted, Ameena is willing to try and distract the nasty zmobie to allow Deephold/Haynuus to get healed, though of course if said zmobie lands a blow she'll probably go down since a greatsword, I imagine, does quite a bit of damage and as we know she only has 3hp left right now .

[ian_scho]

OOC - Arse, the Bullrush did nothing then. I'll try again, this time with an attempt to push him over Ameena?

With both Ameena and the Deephold together now, Haynuus happily switches places with her, then barges the undead once more but this time towards the Murafu and the Dwarf (1d20+8=15). His desperation was starting to show, as he'd just seen the dwarf receive a very nasty blow from the big sword the cold fiend was wielding. This was getting desperate!

[beowuuf]

Nah, the bullrush didn't knock Umgold prone, but then the bullrush only does that if I'm being really nice and you guys are setting up something that should logically work. In general, bullrush is great for moving difficult opponents away from your friends in a way that levels the playing field, it gives the chance at AoOs against them (though you are in the firing line too) and of course the holy grail is having people over pits/stairs/ledges/campfires/etc

In this case, althoguh all you did was slam him against the wall, I basically made the successful check invalidate Umgold's AoO. Ameena's good thievery and proevious round's acrobatics would have only given her an AC bonus (and the acrobatics got her into position nicely), but I wasn't going to let her get around the disarm's AoO completely.

So don't worry about it being useless, but also don't look to it always knocking peopel prone. If you can get someone to off-balance anyway (eg flanked, etc) to topple over Ameena (cause she is very ickle), sure. Deephold is a little bit too big to be doing that with (even if he is a dwarf!). If Ameena agrees, then you can certainly try to push over Ameena. Though she can't really do too much more with her turn if she's got a person falling ontop of her except try an AoO. Academic, as you'll see


Ameena and Haynuus swap positions, Ameena rushing towards Deephold to deliver her trophy, while Haynuus quickly shuffles into position to push the once paladin. However despite the initial confusion, Umgold follows the half-orc's movement. The undead creature manages to match the half-orc's movements, and meets strength with strength and determination. As Haynuus is pushed away, the paladin instinctively slices his sword. The rushed movement only delivers a glancing blow, but to the weakened orc it is still a hard thing to recover from.


You take 6 damage! Only six, the dice gods were kind on the 2d6 roll! I assume that doens't reduce you to negative hit points, but does make your non-lethal damage greater than your remaining hp. So, Hyanuus is unconscious! Again!


Deephold looks confused at the approaching murafu, but quickly appreciates what he has been given. "Well done!" he says, and takes a pained step away from Umgold in order to invoke a prayer to Larethian. The prayer is answered apparently, for what had been an empty flask now makes noise when Deephold quickly swishes it around.

However, it is a momentery victory when Ameena and Deephold witness Haynuus fall to the ground. "Take this to the half-orc!" says Deehold, crouching and offering the flask again, but already lookign at Umgold and holding his holy symbol once more. The dwarf was breathing hard, as if controllign his emotions.


So yeah, just need to know what Ameena will do - will she grab the flask and go over to Haynuus, or will she act as a distraction to let Deephold go over. Or will she use the flask on herself first, so she can actually stay alive and be a better distraction? Or something else?

[Ameena]

Ameena wordlessly and quickly swipes the flask back from Deephold and starts to run over toward Haynuus, albeit a little awkwardly on three legs. As she does so, however, she calls back over her shoulder.
"You'd better stay back." she says to Deephold. "If you can keep him busy after you a moment..."
She trails off the sentence, figuring that Deephold probably knows what she was going to say but not having any more time in which to say it ah she's now arrived at the unconscious Haynuus. She half-perches on top of him and trickles the potion over his most recent wounds, then pours a few drops into his mouth too, remembering that doing so also helps with healing. She then gets ready to scramble backwards off him if he should wake up rather quickly and think she's trying to hurt him.
"Hey, Haynuus!" she calls softly as she finishes her business with the potion. "I think you'd better get back up now!"

[beowuuf]

Cool. Because Haynuus is down and out this round, I can quickly update for Deephold/Umgold's actions, and we can start a new round of combat! A new round with Haynuus back up!

The question is...does Deephold survive...


Deephold nods at Ameena's hastily uttered words, even though she cannot see, and takes a measured step back when he can be assured he has the attention of the undead foe.

Umgold takes a firm step forward, ignorign the murafu's circuitous route. The ex-paladin raises its weapon threateningly, and takes another few steps.

"Larethian has taken the soul of a brave warrior to him this day. Yet Larethian does not abandon the body to perversion. The sword and the swordarm of Umgold's previous existence will not be shamed by foul actions, his memory will not be tarnished. Larethian will not let this stand. Larethian's might will overcome!"

Deephold seemed to be calm. His words were spoken softly until the forceful ending, and seemed to be spoken with a confidence of truth, instead of as a threat. The dwarf did not blink as he regarded the creature stepping towards him, and it was the creature itself that shuffled to a stop and shuddered.

A deep moan escaped its lips, and it cowered away from the symbol Deephold brandished at it.


Meanwhile, Ameena makes it to Haynuus's side. Her quick actions provoke quick results, where she drizzles the small amount of liquid, the most shallow of head wounds hiss closed, and when she drops the final drops of the liquid into Haynuus's mouth, his eyes flick open. The scent of the magic stirs something odd deep in Ameena and makes the stone on her side ache, but she is able to ignore it easily.


Yeah! I hate having players able to do nothing but thumb-twiddle Cool that Haynuus is back up! That's 13 points of lethal healing, and equally 13 points of non-lethal damage also removed. I believe that means Haynuus has almost (or has completely) removed all his non-lethal damage. So now when he goes negative, he can keep awake! And, you know, just be dying on his feet :p

Right, it takes Ameena a move action to administer the potion, leaving her a standard or move action left to use this round. Also, it will take Haynuus a move action to stand up. So he will on;y have a standard or a move action left.

However, Deephold got a good roll against Umgold. I love it when mechanics work out for the best narrative! So what you guys can actually do is pitch me a whole round and a half's worth of actions (a standard, move and standard, or standard, standard, and move). I'll slot in Deephold's two round's worth of actions based on what you guys are doing, and then we shall see where we are!

[beowuuf]

I keep forgetting to post an updated map! I did do some!

[Ameena]

Having seen to Haynuus, Ameena crawls quickly back off him and, after turning for a quick glance at the situation, points back toward the undead creature and gives Haynuus the quickest of explanations.
"Youwereonlydownforafewmoments." she says, perhaps speaking a little too quickly. "Look - IthinkDeephold scaredit. Let'smakeitturnbackdead!"
So saying, she then runs toward the creature and leaps at its back, trying to bite it as high up as she can in order to get its attention.
"Be dead like you're supposed to be!" she yells toward its head as her teeth come down. Then she quickly drops back down to the ground and retreats, hoping that Haynuus and/or Deephold can now move in and do some damage themselves.

OOC - So, Move action to go over and flank the zmobie, Standard to make an attempt at nomming (rolls in a moment), then Move to one-square step directly backward in order to allow Haynuus to move in and flank it himself, while Deephold does...stuff . Attack roll for the nomming (the leaping-onto-the-back thing was just narrative, though for future reference, would Ameena jumping on something like that and hanging on to inhibit movement/action be considered a grapple?) = 11 (1+8+2)...bleh. Oh well...damage roll for the hell of it = 1. I'm not having much luck at hitting this bloody thing, am I, lol...

[ian_scho]

OOC - Should throwing a VI potion over the paladin do more damage, though?... Hmmm. I wonder if Haynuus would have got a free action to roll the flask in the direction of the dwarf?
Another idea is if a grapple or a disarm is called for! After all, if the undead has a minus to attack now? The thing is it would need to be a coordinated attack, i.e. only one AoO between the three of us... Haynuus could attempt something like that next round if Ameena would like a go too?

"Thanks!" Haynuus got to his feet and wasn't immediately sure what to do. Usually he wasn't the first person to get up on his feet in the morning, but he knew that there was shit going down in an instant... He opted to skit around the morass of bodies and hand the flask back to the dwarf, keeping a safe distance from the aggressive smelling corpse at all times.

[Ameena]

OOC - Umm, Ameena still has the flask - she used it on Haynuus but didn't just leave it with him or give it to him once he woke up . I actually forgot about that and was gonna pass it back to Deephold...oh well, she can do it after this, lol.

[beowuuf]

For this turn, the undead is cowed enough that I'm not gfranting him an AoO - so now would be the time to try. Just remember that there are a few penalties and bonuses flying aroudn that make it harder. And remember he can start swinging if you are beside him and unsuccessful

And yes, VI over an undead sounds interesting, but in the end it won't do any damage as 'priest' spells aren't really priest spells under DM, and aren't automatically holy!

[ian_scho]

OOC - Shot down in flames twice, then I'll have another go!... Arse, he's only got ONE action after getting up. Hmm, unless he could do the same action yet GRABBING the empty flask off Ameena I'll have to try this:

The half-orc stood up unsteadily off the floor and then realised that he felt better than he realised. The undead warrior was obviously cowering from Deephold's magic symbol - ah ha! He'd must have found the small switch at the back to turn it on or something. Westian had thinner fingers than the stout dwarf, he'd assumed. However it was obviously time to act, and that was something he had just run out of.

Ameena had just bravely attacked the foul fiend but the best he could do was run round to the other side and get in it's face (thereby protecting Deephold). He'd wanted to hug it until it's head popped off, to rip it's arms off or to give it a jolly good kickin but unless the dwarf could come up with some kind of magic trick his actions were pretty poor.

[beowuuf]

Remember, the undead is cowering for a round. So you get a round and a half! So that's a standard action AND THEN a full set of round actions.

[beowuuf]

Aww, I don't wanna stiffle your creativity. Your next plan gets the go ahead, rules be damned. Call it a one year of gaming gift Ameena - consider the black gem of evilness my one year gaming gift to you!

Anyway, I'll let you guys play with the flask. So in all the confusion, I can let Haynuus take it as part of him rushing over to flank the critter (move instead of a standard action). Deephold is a simple dwarf, but can concoct some basic stat boosting potions if you like. You can use your second move action to drink the potion, and still use your final standard action to do something. As I mentioned, I'm not letting the undead use AoOs for this round - so a disarm or a grapple will only need the main attack roll, it can't be disrupted by an AoO this turn.

After that, watch out - you'll have an undead with a greatsword able to move again

[ian_scho]

OOC - If Ameena want's to keep the flask, that's fine

It was then Haynuus realised! The dwarf's magic had truly dulled the undead's resolve as it's misted eyes were... Well misted over some more. He could try to grapple the thing to the ground! It had the sword in the air ready to swing yet Haynuus's warrior instinct just knew that it was not going to pull it down just yet. He heyahhhed! into the cold undead's body, attempting to trap an arm up in the air and half-man handle it to the ground (1d20+10=30). Truly Haynuus was empowered by Deephold's fury and Ameena's courage although to be fair he was falling on top of the dude anyway.

OOC - Here - a free d20, non transferable, if you need one (1d20=8).

[beowuuf]

Ameena, you could attempt a grapple - it's based on your non-finesse your melee bonus thouhg, and you'd be penalised -4 against anything of normal size The bright side, of course, is that now Haynuus has engaged, you can do it with less risk... and every little helps! And the undead can't threaten AoOs while it is grappling.

Ameena bit into the ex-paladin's skin, but came away with nothing but a foul taste in her mouth. Something stirred as if enjoying it in her brain, but the weird black fluid trickling form the wounds and taste was offputting.

Haynuus moved forwards to grapple the undead, and Deephold moved forwards to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, the creature seemed to welcome Haynuus being in range. Instead of struggling free, the creature dropped its blade and twisted around to try and crush Haynuus. Haynuus managed to at least start strangling it in his powerful grip, and he could feel his strength was greater than its.

Deephold, however, could not get his holy symbol against Umgold's forehead before the creature twisted surprisingly. Haynuus was suddenly on the bottom of the pile, being pinned by the heavy ex-paladin in his heavy armour.[/b]


Nice natural 20 Ian! Umgold got a high result, but coulnd't match you for the intial grapple. Unfortunately, on his turn he tried to grapple you right back, and he rolled a natural 20! So you get pinned - which means you are at a slight disadvanatge, and have to win a grapple check just do get out of the pin (you'll still be grappled).

Good news? Now you are in the grapple, you get to do two grapple actions if they are attack-like actions. And you are the stronger character! Because the first successful grapple does non-lethal damage, for which undead are immune, I'm not asking for a damage roll. If you can get out of the pin, and want to damage him now you are grappling, you can take a -4 on your rolls to do lethal damage.

[Ameena]

Ameena sees the undead creature drop its sword and, after seeing the ensuing pile formed of the creature and Haynuus, with Deephol trying to move in and perform his own actions, decides to make sure that at least the weapon can't be used against them any further. After putting the flask down nearby (yet far enough away that it won't be accidentally knocked over or otherwise smashed unless someone manages to move quite far away from where they are now), she darts in and grabs the hilt of the sword, then proceeds to try and drag it away backwards out of combat, moving back toward the spot where she's left the flask. She has no hope of wielding the weapon herself, of course, but merely intends to have moved it far enough away from the undead creature that it won't be able to pick it up again. She prepares to bite at any cold-dead hands which might therefore try reaching for it.

OOC - Just in case I need to roll Strength or something to drag the sword away, here is a Strength roll...bollocks, natural-1, lol. So that's still just a 1 as I have a Str mod of zero, lol. But hopefully it's not needed . Though if I can just drag the sword away anyway, that's what Ameena will do, then put it behind her so "Umgold" will have to get through her in order to reach it. Can I ready an action to bite him if he tries that, or was there some rule for not being able to umm...do stuff, somehow? Obviously if Haynuus or Deephold (obviously the former is somewhat...occupied, right now ) wants to pick it (or, indeed, the nearby flask) up, she'll be happy to let them . In case I can do the ready-action thing, attack roll = 19 (11+8), damage = 1. Damn, what is it with me rolling 1s on damage, lol. Well, alright, so I can only get 1-3 but still...

[ian_scho]

Haynuus had succeeded, but suddenly found himself on the bottom of the pile being strangled by a foul smelling creature. It was not an uncommon occurrence back with his old clansmen either. They were always testing each others mettle back then. With all foes and friends around him alike, he opted to continue tussling with the thing (1d20+10=19) until he could get the upper hand. Only then could he think about trying for the enormous sword.

"Ughhn. Neeeeed. Ahh. Pluuuuaaahhn!"

[beowuuf]

As I mentioned before, you have two attacks, and you can try to break out of the pin, and then the grapple, using each attack (at lower bonus, of course). So if you were lucky, you use the two attacks to get free, and use your remaining movement to rush across for the sword Ameena nabbed.

[ian_scho]

OOC - Ohh blimey. I forgot about the extra attack AND the -4 penalty!
Hold on though. Does he get two attacks + his move?! I guess I was confusing the issue with Charge where you only get one attack (+move oc)

With all of his limbs shoving, kicking and pushing he realised that he still had his enlarged canines available (although one is broken). The advantage of having a heavily armoured opponent on top of you means that there's a lot of bits to hook a tooth under and being a person of fat-neck-persuasion he gave an almighty heave (1d20+6=18) to try to get the thing off him and possibly even tie it down.

[beowuuf]

Oops, no, no move with two attacks...forgive my tired brain!

[beowuuf]

Haynuus had been surprised by the weight of the undead creature trying to paw the half-orcs head off. However, Haynuus was the stronger of the two, and had learned many ways to fight. With a clever blow from Haynuus, the undead creature shifted from its perch and slid off. A final set of jostling saw Haynuus back on his feet and temporarily free.

A quick scan of the area showed that Ameena had pulled the greatsword free and clear, and had a look that sdaid no undead had better attempt to take it. Haynuus was only slightly distracted by the undead Umgold leaping onto Haynuus's back and trying to pull the orc down again. It appeared that as the fight went on, and the undeath took hold of the body more, the less rational the thing acted.

Haynuus could easily shrug it off with another blow.

Meanwhile, Deephold saw Ameena's movements, and quickly bent down. He took a hold of the weapon. "I shall be back, but I think our friend requires this first." The dwarf then rushed across to the half-orc, presenting the greatsword with difficulty, and then hesistating to leave the half-orc to the snarling undead creature.


And now the table turns! Ok, Deephold's actions are to put the sword in Haynuus's hand. What happened was that Umgold just missed out on keeping you pinned, and massively failed his second grapple check - so Haynuus is free. Umgold then tried a new grapple on his turn. Haynuus can make an unarmed strike as an AoO (-4 penalty to do any damage) but the roll for the grapple itself was so poor that Haynuus could easily beat the grapple attempt.

The greatsword is mastercrafted (+1 to attack rolls) and does 2d6 damage. Remember, its a two-handed weapon, so Haynuus's damage is actually +6.

Ameena, Umgold stayed focused on Haynuus, so the ready action didn't go off - but that is exactly the way to use the action in future. Deephold seems to be ready to come back over to Ameena's side if she wants to delay and stay put to see what he wants, otherwise she can always try to get into a flank to help Haynuus, since the undead seems focused on the half-orc right now.

[Ameena]

Ameena shifts aside slightly as she sees Deephold approaching, allowing him to more easily reach the sword that she's almost sitting on. As the dwarf then goes over to give the sword to Haynuus, she reaches over and picks up the flask again, wanting to give it to Deephold but not sure whether she should go over to him or wait where she is since she can't tell quite what Deephold intends to do next. She is glad, however, that Haynuus now has something he can better use against the undead creature still trying to grab hold of him.

OOC - Another ready action - basically, Ameena will go over to Deephold if it looks like he wants her to. Otherwise she'll stay where she is if it looks like Deephold is gonna come over to her instead. Either way, she'll offer him the flask again once they're near enough to each other.

[ian_scho]

From being at the bottom Haynuus finds himself not only liberated of foul smelling death that wraps around you like the cold of a winters night, but he's been handed a rather large and swanky sword to play with. He is most grateful to Lord Lothyleriylin and now wields his own magic symbol, that of a heavy and sharp blade. Not missing a moment he immediately gets to work, and with a simple and graceful action attempts to chop the undead paladin from top to bottom (1d20+11=27, 2d6+6=17, 1d20+6=17, 2d6+6=10).

Destroying the undead is so much more fun than trolins or humans.

[beowuuf]

Haynuus once again showed what a protege he was to the art of hacking things up with refined weapons. As the undead creature still moved forward to try and grapple Haynuus to the ground again. Haynuus effortlessly removed any offending limb and then finished with a beheading.

It was, indeed, a fun activity. Very fun and satisfying...

Roll me a will save there Haynuus You get a +2 bonus to it, and perhaps other undisclosed penalties/bonuses.

Ameena stood her ground as Deephold quickly rushed back. The dwarf gestured to the flask she possessed, and quickly he summoned the second blue potion. This he gave to Ameena, even though he was still wincing at the shoulder wound, and was pale.

"Drink this, it is probably best not to be weak in your condition," the dwarf nodded quickly and encouragingly, and then looked back to the half-orc. "Remember, no anger-" he started, but seeing that Umgold's body had been brought to a final death, he stopped. Instead, the dwarf walked over and murmered a final set of solemn words over the body.

Woohoo. Combat finished.

"Haynuus, can you perhaps keep concentrating on the fitht we have just had...or perhaps any previous fights with undead. Something you have won for preference. Try to keep your feeligns about it neutral, though."

Deephold then turned to Ameena. "Are you feeling better, now? Ameena, you seemed to go to some place in your mind earlier. I need you to stay here with us, but have those thoughts in the back of your mind."

Deephold then stood up, and looked at the two in the room for a moment, as if weighing something in his mind. At length, he seemed to decide. "I am trusting your ability to keep the elf priest from your minds. For he must not know something." Deephold then paused on more time before continuing. "I fear that the elf priest has a root in Westian's mind." Deephold looked to Haynuus and Ameena for a moment to gauge reactions - perhaps to let it sink in, perhaps to see if their reactions would prove him wrong. "The priest betrayed himself by his comments to me. He knew me well enough, yet he cannot be inside my mind, for he does not know that I was once a cleric in the field. I have fought battles. I have been forced to see comrades turned like this before."

The dwarf shook his head sadly, and gave a nod to the felled paladin, horribly stricken on the floor. "The priest knew much about me, but only knew as much as Westian, or one of the other new clerics of my order would know. That is for the best, for if he knew my mind he could have found a way in. He obviously thought to get me angry, or scared, or lost in hopefuly prayers to Larethian." Deephold then looked to Haynuus and then Ameena. "And he obviously was trying to scaore points against you too. However, by your actions these cannot be thigns you think about yourselves. No, he was obviously trawling in the darkest, unspoken recesses of another's mind. Perhaps the things you might think unkindly of a friend at your lowest moment. Yes, he sought to play you, Haynuus, as nothing but a mindless oaf - when you are clearly skillful. And he sought to play you, Ameena, as nothing but a terrified mass of insecurity - when clearly, you will risk all for your friends, and too have skills."

Deephold sighed. "Westian would seem the logical connection - at least he is the only one who know me well without knowing my history who the elf could have recently got inside the mind of. We must find Westian, he will be in danger whereever he is - if he is still free, that is."

Deephold pointed to Umgold's armour, white banded pieces that were now covered in old blood and new muck. "That body is no longer fit to have such holy armur upon it. And the noble warrior who once wore both would want an equally noble warrior to have it."

Deephold then looked to Ameea, bending down. "I still have magic, enough to heal us from our wounds - but is your soul healed?" He looked intently at the murafu. "The priest will be back soon, if we cannot keep him from realising our success, or if he becomes impatient awaiting the outcome of his plan. We must escape here, and I do not believe combat is the answer. Are you, or your people, verses enough in negotiating your way from places such as these? We have little time, yet I doubt this place was once a cell. It might have secrets or weaknesses hidden from normal eyes..."


Ok, let's end there. Umm, some quick mechanical stuff. Ian, of you want to take the mail as suggested, its banded mail (+6AC, but -6 armour check penalty). And of course you now have the shiny greatsword. Ameena, the healing potion Deephold gave Ameena will heal 7 hit points.

Right, technically I'm still tracking time in semi-combat timing. Because, of course, the priest isn't goign to shove an undead creature into the room to make you guys crack mentally, and then go off for half an hourto brew a nice cuppa!

So, Deephold will - unless you guys suggest something else for him to do - keep generating some healing potions at one/round (though lesser powered ones). Obviously you need to decide who gets healed first, and when you insist he takes one (he'll concentrate on your guys).

Otherwise, you need to decide what you are doing. The scale mail will take a while to properly put on (so the elf priest is likely to return by then), but stripping it from Umgold and donning it hastily is feasable. However, doing this means the armour will temporarily give +5AC and -7ACP, and will tie up Deephold aswell.

Ameena, you can obviously explore the room as you like unless you have another plan/action, but a thorough exploration and sniffing will take long enough that the elf would return. So if you are exploring, either use some skills to narrow the search first, or simple pick only one place/aspect to check. I might impose a penalty to your checking visual items, though if you lot decide to have Deephold or Haynuus check too, their slightly better sight to aid in visual searches, owing to the low light conditions in the far corners of the room.

Oh, and while you guys are doing all that, roll me a will save (A second one for Haynuus!) :p

All clear?

[ian_scho]

OOC - 1st and 2nd will saves (1d20+2=17, 1d20=3)

Haynuus quickly started to put the armour on. It was pretty disgusting yet he knew that it wasn't just for himself it was to help the others. He chose the trickiest parts first pulling off the most cumbersome pieces, but then paused. "Ameena, let me know if you need me to help you look for anything around here." He gestured around the cell. He assumed that her kind could see pretty well in the dark, and his previous experience with a dwarven storekeeper clearly prove to him that you can't hide in the dark the tasty mice you've caught from him for long. He continued with the straps. He could offer no prayer to the lifeless corpse in front of him, he knew none. But one evening if he was fortunate to get out of this place he would light a fire for this 'Umgold' and sit with it all night until it's flames had died and it's embers had fallen to the inevitable cold embrace once more. The ashes would probably be fertile for screamer cultivation too, if he thought about it...

Something was nagging at the back of his mind though. It was as if his circlet had stopped whispering to him or something.

[Ameena]

Ameena accepts the healing potion, sitting back on her haunches and tipping it back to let the liquid trickle down her throat. At the same time, Haynuus finishes off the undead creature with an easy couple of swings from the sword. Now feeling somewhat less pained, she is about to return the flask to Deephold but notices that he's gone over to the body on the floor. She supposes he must be sad that his friend is dead, but probably also glad that his body is now fully dead as well.
She herself is glad that they've all managed to survive the fight, and is about to go over to Deephold to give him back the flask when he comes over to her first, bending down to speak to her. His comments drag her mind back to the fact that she still has the horrible Darkstone embedded in her side - for the several moments during the fight, she'd been able to more or less forget about it, but now she fully remembers it, and what it tried to make her do.
However, the dwarf's words also serve to remind her of how she managed to make herself ignore these effects, or at least push them away for a time. She then feels somewhat worried for Westian, as Deephold explains that his mind may be in danger. She wants to get away from this place - being trapped isn't something any creature would enjoy, she's quite sure, not just a murafu. She looks up at him and then lowers her head, closing her eyes for a few moments as she finds something to concentrate on that isn't...that thing.
She finally looks back up at Deephold and hands him back the flask.
"I think maybe you'd better heal yourself now." she suggests. "I'll see what I can find..."
So saying, she then turns away, dropping back down to all-fours and moving over to one side of the door. Here she starts, nose a little way off the ground, sniffing along the wall. She moves at a fairly fast walk, knowing that she may not have much time before the elf priest returns, and hoping that she'll detect some kind of strangeness or inconsistency in the texture of the wall. She also directs her mind back to earlier days, trying to find a scenario which she can superimpose over this one in order to distract herself once again. She recalls an incident when she was in a human building, in a room that must have once been used to store food (judging by the faint remnants of scent which still clung here and there to the floor and walls) but which was now empty. It had been dark then, too, and she'd been sniffing around to see whether there was another way out at ground level - the wooden beams supporting the roof had been a little too high for her to easily access and there had been a couple of aggressive humans stalking around just outside the door, waving torches about and looking for what one of them had termed a "rattish demon-thing". They hadn't succeeded, of course - she'd found a weak point where some old wooden planks covered some kind of hole in the wall, then started gnawing at them. Due to their obvious age, they'd not lasted long under this kind of punishment and had fallen away, leaving her a space easily big enough for her to pass through. She'd heard noises outside the door as she did so, probably the humans coming to investigate the noise made by the planks hitting the stone floor, but she'd been long gone before anything more had happened, and ended up sleeping beneath the bed of a human in a nearby house - there had been plenty of space there and nothing on the floor, therefore no reason for the resident human to bend down and spot her the following morning.

OOC - Requested Will save = 16 (13+3). Perception check for a nose-to-the-wall fairly speedy whizz-round on all-fours = 20 (10+10). Ameena is starting at the right-hand side of the door (as seen from her PoV, were she to face the door) and working her way around clockwise till she gets back around to the left-hand side again. You can assume, however, that she'll move away from the door sharpish if she's anywhere near it when Dolo comes back, and also that she'll stop if she finds anything that seems notable in some way (ie if it smells odd in some way or feels strange/out-of-place to her whiskers, which will probably cover both the wall at head-height and the area of floor out to a little way to the right of her head, since she doesn't ahve it that far off the ground).

[ian_scho]

OOC - oops, forgot to give a reaction to the Deephold's worries to Westian