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

[oh_brother]

“LO VI” Westian intoned in a strong voice, filling the flask in his hand with a blue liquid. As he spoke the syllables, the symbols for the runes flashed in his mind – the diminishing lines for the lowest power symbol and the once again familiar and welcome rolling lines that formed the symbol for water. He eagerly drank the conents, knowing that otherwise one more slice from Drommal could leave him unable to function. He then stood his ground and prepared to cast again.

[Lord_BoNes]

Aurek saw Falkor's fireball whiz past in front of him... then he heard the boom... with that, he jumped out from behind his corner, and tried with all his might to rend Passir's head right off his body (attack roll 1d20 = 19, damage roll 1d8 + 1 = 6 + 1 = 7) the soldier didn't even know what was going on, as Aurek closed the gap in the blink of an eye, swing his sword straight at his neck... CHOP!

OOC: I barely believe that I managed to roll these numbers! And that's a critical hit too!
This 1d20 really loves me some times... it hates my missus though, she can hardly roll anything over a 10. LOL

[beowuuf]

Yeah, but then that's boring! What's the point of having good stats if the dice is going to make it worthless for you! Roll online and see the wacky things I"ll do to your character when he misses

[beowuuf]

The danger of Falkor's swift move forward and words were not lost on Passin, who yelled a warning to his Sergeant.

"The mage! Watch out!" he yelled while flicking his dagger at the halfling. However, the soldier was clearly still mindful - unlike others - of the apparent importance of the halfling and his timid blow did nothing more than cut a lock of Falkor's hair.

Falkor did not acknowledge the miss, and the small missle of fire launched true and struck Thinpas despite the man's moves to get out of the way. Thinpas took the explosion on his shield, however the explosion of even the small fireball was large enough to burn around it, and the man choked hard on the heated air, his shield hand also sagging noticeably.

Passin did not have a chance to avenge his sergeant's attack properly, however. Aurek came forward swiftly to protect Falkor, and unleashed a mightly blow to the distracted soldier. The an's head did not fly off, but clearly the blow either cut his throat or crushed the armour around his neck. The man's dagger fell from his fingers, his hands leapt to his throat, and with a series of gurgles he fell to the ground. Passin did not get back up again.

Thinpas had apparently evaluated the odds, and decided to not take on the paladin alone with his eyes still streamed tears and his throat still burning. He moved swifting holding shield and sword high in warnign to the paladin, and moved back towards the wall of soldiers that was forming.

Drommal grunted in pain as Haynuus's enthusiastic blow crushed the man's silver-trimmed armour painfully into his side. "Soldiers, to, me!" said Drommal, his usual proud voice cracked to a wheeze by the previous blown. "Kill the knight - leave the orc to ME!" bellowed the man when he spotted Brohur's eager movements.

Drommal sidestepped and despite his heavy breathing brought his greatsword around in a wide spin that smashed into a similar spot on the half-orc's side. Unfortunately, the half-orc's breastplate only had a front side to it, and the greatsword tore open Haynuus's as if it were not there. It did not help Haynuus had not fully healed from the blow of the mummy earlier. A lesser man would have fallen on the spot dead. However, even a creature of raw strength such as Haynuus would not survive long with such a wound bleeding out freely.


Sorry Ian Natural 20 by Drommal means 15 points of damage, putting you to -8 by my count. Luckily you don't drop down dying, but you are disabled. You can make one main action each round now. You can move at half-speed without worsening your condition. If you make a full-speed move, or do a standard action, you lose 1hp. You can get away with making one standard action next turn, putting you to -9hp. The next one after that will literally kill Haynuus.

I usually wouldn't offer advice, and you probably would do this anyway, however if I were you I would take a five foot step backwards (free), take a healing potion from Westian (your action, won't injure you), and for the love of god don't make an attack of opportunity on Drommal if Drommal decides to ignore you next turn!

Drommal laughter was cut short as he saw the orc still standing. Certainly, he did not appear to care that Ameena darted into the teleporter away from the Captain and the battle.

Brohur has drank some form of potion, and seemed envirorated. He smashed the flask on the ground, but obeyed his Captain to moving to rush the knight, especially given the orc would not die! Marhman left the door shaking his head, fitting his sheild to his arm as he came to take on the knight.

Farel shifted his focus easily, having barely registered the falling of Passin earlier. The knight easily dodged the concentrated sword thrusts of the two soldiers, returning two blows in kind. Brohur, newly invgorated, shifted aside of the knight's elegant sword. However, Marhman took a resounding clubbed blow to the side of his head, tottering sideway but still upright.

And another round done! They tried to send one of your to the hospital, so you sent one of theirs to the morgue. Or something. Soldiers are looking the worse for wear, but then again so are some of you guys. You guys drew some lucky rolls as almost all the soldiers missed, balanced by Drommal drawing a crit at the worst time

Anyway, looks like another action packed round scheduled for tomorrow. Good luck!

[beowuuf]

Map (end of round 5 / star of round 5):


Edit: Ameena's actions:

As she leaps through the blue thing, Ameena turns and continues to flee back down the corridor they originally came down. She turns a corner or two and then stops, panting, and slumps down with her paws over her nose, eyes scrunched shut.

As Ameena is lying in the half-light, there comes a movement of rock from closeby in the dark. What is disturbing is that there doesn't seem to be any change to the smell of the area, even though the sound of the movement is close. After a moment, there is a movement again - could it just be loose rock, or something else?

[Lord_BoNes]

Aurek sees the half-orc get struck by an extremely mighty blow, and wonders how long the orc will remain standing...
"Farel! That orc needs help FAST!" and with that, Aurek charges at, and attacks Marhman... (B3 - D3... followed by: attack roll 1d20 = 11, damage roll 1d8 + 1 = 3 + 1 = 4)

[ian_scho]

Haynuus had lived a life of suffering. He was losing his sanity because of it. Yet, what held him together, what kept him going when so many others would fall, was that he was living for others. While he could not say that his new colleagues were friends he instinctively knew they were working for the right thing. He could recall a memory, a broken fragment that may or may not have been fiction - "So... We're on a mission. A mission from God!" he had said with boyish enthusiasm to Westian who was looking for an escort in another place, at another time. It was the idea of working for others, doing good and undoing malevolence, that kept him going and standing in the face of adversity... And it had to be said that Drommel's last strike was very impressive from Hayuus's point of view when he looked down at the sword embedded in the breastplate.

The half-orc took a guarded step back and fell to one knee with with his sword lowered.

[money]

Seeing Haynuus suffering brought a tear to Falkors eye, he hadn't know the half Orc long but had already grown to like his companion. He also new that the fight had started as a result of this actions - he needed to make sure that if he died - that it wasn't in vain. He moved straight into the path of Drommel (C5, C6, D6 and released another fireball. His manor was low, he knew this would be his last chance to inflict damage with this method... but he had little choice. He hoped that his life was still too important for Drommel (or the others) to retaliate.

OOC: Let me know what i need to roll (sorry - i'm still not 100% with what rolls are required for hit and damage)

** Updated** Concentration (1d20 = 7) & (1d6+1+1d3 = 3,1,2 (6))

[beowuuf]

Your fireballs are automatic hits, the issue is their decaying sjort range and the fact people can roll reflexes for half damage

Roll me a d20 for concentration if required, and 1d6+1+1d3 - I assume you're adding extra damage.

[oh_brother]

Seeing Haynuus take such a blow made Westian wince. Thick blood was pumping from his side, and Drommal seemed ecstatic. His sense of hatred for the captain increased, and it was all he could do not to charge forward brandishing his club.

But Westian knew that was not the right course of action. Saving a friend was more important than vainly trying to destroy an enemy. “UM VI” he said, once again feeling the mana flow through his body. He pressed the newly created potion into Haynuus’s left hand and then stood up with is club held high. In an attempt to get Drommal’s attention he shouted in his direction. “Simpleton, look at me. Remember when you said that my god would not let us come to harm? Seems you were right. But yours seems less helpful, if I am counting the number of your dead comrades correctly. You must be proud, mighty warrior, after leading your men straight into our trap.”

[ian_scho]

OOC - Ohh lovely, I think the half-orc will toast that VI potion in Westian's name... Especially as there is a suicidal halfling running around. Can Haynuus quaff that this round?

[beowuuf]

Yep, five foot step to get to Westian, move action provoking no attack of opportunity from anyone (no one close), followed by 3d6 points of healing!

And nice challenge OB! Hmm, roll me an intimidate check, would you? I think it's just a straight charisma check for you, but you'll get an extra +2.

[beowuuf]

Actually, money, it's better for you AoO wise and more legal to step only to D5. Also, standing over the body of your last fireballed foe throwing a fireball at the next one is pretty bad-ass!

Can you roll me two intimidate checks too please, money? One will be an aid another to Westian, and the second will be against Brohur. He's missed all the time, the orc refuses to die, and Falkor who fireballed his sergeant down and 'died' is still upright and fireballing again - you know, it takes it's toll

I should stop posting in the IC thread

[money]

2 Intimidate checks: (12) & 1

[beowuuf]

Remember the damge for your fireball and con check just incase. And don't worry, the way Brohur rolls you might still indimidate the crap out of him - intimidation is opposed rolls At the very least you've given Westian another +2 bonus, which ain't to be sneezed at!

[beowuuf]

Falkor strode forwards to unleash his last missile upon the Captain, however the energised Brohur reacted in an instant, striking with a mixture of fear and anger. The sword blow was not directed with any finesse, and neither was it attempting to subdue. The blade struck Falkor hard in the shoudler and digging deep. The halfling once again fell down beside the body of his slain foe, blood flowing freely.

Sorry money, if the intimidate check hadn't been so low, or the opposed roll had not been so high, I would have ruled against Brohur's AoO. As it was, he was free to be mad at Falkor instead of frozen and follow his beligerant instincts. Brohur and Arbrut are the blunt instruments of the group, so agressive instincts. Also, lethal damage dealt - 10hp damage infact. Puts you on -5hp. The good news is your actions, 'death' and the actions of your companions should not see you dying for long... you'll need to roll a stabalisation check (1d100) next round, and Falkor is unconscious, but read on to see you should be ok...I hope...


"No!" screamed Drommal, even as Thinpas came to a rest beside his Captain. Thinpas had been concentrating too much on his commander to stop the actions of his subordinate.

Haynuus's brief weakness could not be gloated upon as Brohur was shocked by his commander's rebuke, and Drommal was apparently shocked by the halfling being felled again.

By the time it was, perhaps, even registered, Westian's swift actions meant that Haynuus stood tall. The reaction to the strong orc and Westian's strong words were obvious in the way the soldiers froze, even Drommal himself.

"Sir, we risk death all ways, let the mage take what he wants in person!" hissed Thinpas.

Drommal did not look to his sergeant but nodded at the council. "Avoid the kings," said Drommal, gesturing to the door.

Thinpas apparently knew exactly what his Captain meant, and nodded then banged his fist on Marhman's back to get his attension. "The long way!" he yelled to his subordinate.

Aurek had rushed over, and tried to strike the soldier before he could leave. However Marhman took the blow on his shield, and parried Farel's jab defensively before moving swiftly towards the door he had previously opened.

Thinpas moved to cover the retreat of his subordinate, standing in the doorway shield and weapon raised in readiness..

Drommal meanwhile yanked Brohur physically sideways. "Warn the door and pray I die," hissed the commander, pushing the soldier through the teleporter. Drommal stood tall and raised his weapon. The point of it flittered between Westian and Haynuus, and the man looked ready to strike the first one of the two who came near. "Test your god's favour if you dare," said Drommal, though the usual note of mockery and superiority seemed to be missing from the man's tone.

Narratively speaking, Brohur simply moves because of Drommal, and Farel is too busy with Marhman to stop the man. Since mechanically the same result would happen if Brohur simply used a withdrawl to block an AoO from Farel, you guys aren't getting screwed there

"We cannot let them get away! Aurek, with me!" said Farel with uncharacteristic force. The knight charged after Markham. Farel ignored Thinpas, apparently relying on Aurek to take care of the sergeant. Farel simple shifted to the side of Thinpas and continuing on after his prey.

It should have been a costly mistake. Thinpas was obviously fast and skillful. However, maybe he was being hampered still by his wounds from Aurek and Falkor, or perhaps the sergeant had been shaken the fact his commander had broken and was telling them to retreat - even if it had bene the sergeant's own advice. Either that or Farel was simply that skillful too. The knight managed to parry two hurried blows easily on his shield, and then instinctively dodged a powerful strike to his head, which barely glanced against his sword-arm.

Farel was off into the dimness beyond the passageway beyond the door. The remaining occupants were held in a moment of mutual stunned calculation.


Hmm, so there we go - one member of the party gets up, one gets felled again. However, your once captors seem to be giving up holding you, and fleeing the scene. Choices, choices - do you fight on? Do you give chase if you succeed? Or should you bargin now? Or something else?

Anyway, map will be up soon (gah, so many calculations and notes needed) and I'll let you guys plot your next move. Hopefully one will involve restoring a brave comrade to active status again!

[beowuuf]

Map (end round 7 / start round 8 ):


Edit: Ameena's actions:

Ameena registers the sound of movement - rock shifting, from the sounds of it. She pricks up her ears and tries to stop shaking, rubbing her throbbing nose at the same time and tasting blood as she does so. She wonders what could have made such a sound, and despite the fact that she's almost somethign of a minor psychological wreck
after all that's been happening, she manages to turn herself around so that she's facing in the direction the sound came from. She keeps her ears oriented on it and continues to try to fight back both the pain and the panic, all the while wondering what's going on back in that room. She knows she probably won't be able to convince herself to go back there. Not the way things were when she left - she can almost smell the stench from here. She still wants to find out what happened to Helm, but can't bring herself to go back there. Not yet. She tries to sniff in the direction the noise came from, but twitching her nose is painful, and she can't smell much through her own blood anyway.

Would Ameena know of rock monsters? They would be DM dungeon only. Infact, given me a knowledge(local) roll.

There was silence for moments after that, enough to make it seem as if the previous noises were imagination. Then there was another faint rustle of rock-

ZAP

There was the loud sound of discharge. Perhaps in the background the faint hum of the magic of the teleporter had been audible, however now there was a loud noise from it. More importantly, there was the sound of clanking armour.

Gimme a perception roll for that to see what exactly you can make out!

Even through the blood smell there comes the tang of metal - it must be one of the soldiers. At least one...

There seems to be a low mumble, and a rustling sound, and then the faint blue glow of the teleporter takes on a subtle flavour - an orange tinge that perhaps speaks of a torch having been lit.

Will the soldier - or soldiers - come this way? If so, what should be done?

There you go, next update for you...basically you are hearing (as you might guess) the finishing movements of Brohur coming through the teleporter. Assume a decent perception roll - DC15 - means Ameena thinks it is a lone soldier, and DC20 means she would know it is.

OOC: Reply to Rock Monster post...
Knowledge (Local) roll = 10 (6+4). Meh. I wouldn't have expected Ameena to know anything about them, or to have heard of them - her reaction would have been, as Sir Bedevere might put it, "surprise and alarm" .

Yeah, DC10 success is basically not putting side the possibility of mosnters made of rock (or air) or something without scent. And she might recall some stories of ghosts and earth monters and moving fungus some poeple told of the dungeons under mount anaias

To put it another way - a DC10 is stil a success, just a basic one. Ameena doens't have to be clueless, just won't have many clues, or won't have clues she could rely upon

OOC - Perception = 21 (14+7)...

IC - Ameena's head whips round at the sound of someone coming through the blue thing. A soldier. Definitely one of the soldiers. But which one? Well, she can see it's definitely not Drommal or Thinpas. And it wouldn't be Arbrut. One of the others, then. Having not really looked at the others much, she can't tell much more than that, since none of them said or did very much while she was still with the group. She wonders what he's doing. Clumping about in that noisy metal clothing, obviously. It looks like he might have lit a torch. Oh no, more fire! Ameena pulls in her cloak and makes sure she's as close to the wall as she can get, crouched very long and low but ready to bolt if the human comes her way.
But what about the others? If this guard has come through, does that mean there's...no-one else left? Or maybe they're all alive but have ben taken away. She doesn't dare go to look - even if this one soldier moves away, she has no way of knowing what she'll find if she steps through the blue hazy thing.
Keeping half an ear out for further nosies of rock movement behind her, Ameena keeps against the wall in case the soldier comes her way. She isn't quite sure what she's going to do, but knows that being discovered is, she hopes, not something that will happen.

[Lord_BoNes]

Upon hearing Farel's unusual spirit, and then seeing him vanish into the blackness of the passage, Aurek charged at Thinpas with everything he had in him... swinging his sword down hard as he got within range, and as he swung his sword down, he yelled to Farel "I shall be with you in a moment, this one shall fall first!" (movement to H3, attack roll 1d20 = 4, damage roll 1d8 + 1 = 6 + 1 = 7)

[beowuuf]

The good news is that not only did Farel trigger Thinpas's ready action of attack, he took all his AoOs too so if you want to manoveur into H3 instead, Thinpas is distracted. I assume you are using lethal force unless you say otherwise btw

Oh, roll me a perception check to see if you can spot what is happening down the corridor please!

[ian_scho]

Haynuus was perfectly happy to be alive, to be on deaths door yet still hauling his big sword around. He took a step and positioned himself over Falkor's broken body once more and raised his falchion to protect either the cleric or the halfling if Drommal decided in the last minute to attack a practicing prone priest, or run off with a heroic halfling who's heedless to the hurt.

"Let them go" hissed the half-orc to whoever the insane ally was, wearing the same black armour as the rest of the soldiers... And then thought, "Or call them back."

[oh_brother]

Taking the flask of Haynuus Westian called forth the last of the mana he had at his disposal. "LO VI". With that he warily bent down to tend to the prone halfling, hoping that it was not too late.

[ian_scho]

Haynuus felt a hand whisk out something bulky from his pocket... Oh, it was the flask. Only good things can ensue when Westian LO's and VI's his way around with a flask. As soon as our brave little Falkor get's up, it'll be to check on Ameena and the sooner the better...

"Just fuck off Mr Captain Drombell will you?"

[beowuuf]

Time's marching on, I'll just update now

Falkor was once again awoken from the brink of death wth the last of Westian's magic. Drommal faced off against the foul mouthed orc and the others, his face still hidden behind his skull helm. Cruel eyes seemed to flick back and forth as swiftly as the point of his sword.

Meanwhile, Aurek had leapt to try and engage the sergeant. The man dodged aside, and perhaps realising the danger stepped backwards and started to tug on the door. However, that brief distraction was all that Aurel needed to finish his attack, and this time the sword was buried deeply into his foe.

However, even as the sergeant breathed his last and fell to the ground, his motions were enough to trigger the delicate dwarvish mechanism of the door. It srated to descend...

LB, well done, another foe vanguished! You now have a few choices here! You can let the dangerous door close on your previous ally Farel, hoping to open it with the switch Marhman triggered previously, or hoping Farel makes his own way back. You can try to hold the door open - that will require a strength check. If you fail, the door will close. If you fail by too much, the door will close and do damage striking you! If you succeed, you will still take 1hp non-lethal damage resisting the mechanism, but will be able to keep it openlong enough to yell to Farel, or for your new allies to come help reset the mechanism. Your third option is an acrobatics check to tumble underneath the door indiana jones style before it closes. Succeed, and the door will clsoe with you on the other side of it. Fail, and the door will attempt to close with you under it... that might hurt!

The brief burst of activity dustracted the party, and Drommal without further words simple leapt through the teleporter. Apparently as swiftly as everything had erupted into violence, the room was now at peace.


Ian, Haynuus can make an attack of opportunity if he wishes due to the positioning - it's up to you whether he would think to do this, and if you think it owuld be a good idea!

Anyway, if you accept it as suhc, you seemed to have won your freedom! Congratuations! That was an insane combat!

Of course, you might choose for it not to be over... while you are exhausted in a variety of ways, you have three evil soldiers with knowledge of your existence and whereabouts (and who could easily hold a grudge) rushing away. Will you let them?

As pointed out - what's going on with Ameena? The fact she went in the direction that two soldiers have now departed can't be good. And what of your new allies Aurek, Farel and Helm? What is happening with them (and what will Aurek do). Will you leave them to their fate?

Choices choices... let's see what you decide before the weekend jump

[beowuuf]

Map (end of combat?)

As Ameena is holding herself back in the dark, there is another soft rustle of rock behind her. All of a sudden, something thin and soft and serpentine traces itself across one of her paws then flicks away quickly.

Just because I know you like your dice, I'm going to make you use them alot :p

Roll me a fortitude check please! Also, tell me if you Ameena is going to react in any way to that, and roll me another d20

Meanwhile, bugger - Fortitude save = 4 (5-1). And another d20 roll = 15 .
You didn't specify which paw the thing touched, but I'm guessing a hindpaw since she's now facing back toward the teleporter and somehow I think she might have noticed it if it was right in front of her...

IC - Ameena gives a startled jolt and scoots forward a bit, trying to remain as silent as possible to avoid alerting the soldier. Even more scared now, she looks round and tries to see what it was that touched her.

OOC again - Can I do a Perception check to see whether she sees the Rock Monster or whatever? If so, WOOOT, natural 20 . So 27 .

The contact with whatever it was - a tendril of some kind - immediately felt strage, and itchy. A moment later her back leg felt painful and spasmed. Ameena realised that the tendril must have had poison of some kind and couldn't help but cry out.

Sorry, the low fortitude save meant not only did the poison affect poor Ameena - take 1hp damage - but that she wouldn't be able to hold off reacting to the pain of the effects.

Turning around, she could just about make out a small tendril with a small pad on the end wriggling in the air.

The d20 roll was either going to be sense motive or stealth depending on your actions - staying still or reacting to the tendril. So I'll note Ameena's high stealth, she can't really remain well hidden and also be distracted by the critter, especially not if someone with a torch comes this way and has heard her reacting to the poison. The good news is I'll use the high perception as also a good sense motive, since Ameena will get animal behaviour better than others, I would assume.

Remember that the previous post is where last round stopped for the players. You can have a small reaction to this update, but you can't really do too much, because the soldier will also be acting at the same time you do any majpr actions.

It did not seem as if it was a deliberate attack - the tendril seemed to be moving as if exploring, and had reacted shocked to finding her.

Possibly it was like her whiskers, for she could see another half-heartedly wriggling around. It seemed there was an opening in the wall, with the split webby stuff above. However, it seemed there was a pile of - something - deeper inside where the tendril were either coming from, or coming from behind.

OOC - Bahh, I figured the Fortitude save was vs. Poison. Damn, Westian doesn't know Bro yet, does he? Stoopid half-elf better learn it quick . I'm guessing this lasts until I either get a successful save against it or you tell me enough time has elapsed. Since I had a mental picture in my heda of Ameena having the wall aganst her right side, I've decided that therefore the tendril snagged her left hindpaw, which presumably wasn't tucked under her cloak due to the whole dishevelled-panic thing. Don't forget the presence of her tail for future reference - it's almost as long as the rest of her and at the moment will be running straight out behind her, so for someone or something moving around like this Rock Monster is, it might also come into contact with that.

IC - Ameena tries to stifle any further noise she might make, and tries to stop herself from panicking again and running back toward the soldier and the blue telly-thing. Now she has pain in both ends, and wonders, once again, just why she's ended up down here. At the rate things are going she'll be slowly picked apart and eventually left for dead over the next day or so. Not a particularly encouraging prospect, but so far she can't see any way to get away from trouble, or to avoid it altogether - something worse always seems to be coming along. It's possible, of course, that whatever it is that just touched her isn't actually hostile, and was just exploring. But, she notes, if she could cause pain like that on contact, she wouldn't use such an appendage to feel her way along in case she accidentally caused the exact same effect that this thing just did on her. She realises that the pain is almost certainly some kind of poison, but what kind she has no idea. Will it get worse? Is there a cure? Will the creature decide to actually attack her next? But she doesn't dare move up too much in case she attracts the attention of the nearby soldier, whatever he's doing. Instead she tries to squirm underneath her cloak, covering her paws with it and bringing her tail in as close as possible so that the tendril-creature won't accidentally tag her again.

Surrounded by dark and danger, Ameena was not to be left alone. The footsteps of the soldier did not get quieter, the light bobbed closer and the echoing hurried steps came nearer. The rocks all around seemed to move in horrible ways as the torchlight came near, each step lighting a different facet of the pummeled stones of the wall. Luckily, the soldier did not seem to be looking down at his feet, apparnetly more intent on looking for signs of the way to go back which were all higher up, also looking for the signs of the previous noise there.

However, in the background there was another buzz of the teleporter, and another set of clanking feet. The soldier - Brohur - paused for a moment, turning around. However those footsteps seemed to fade.

Was there a sigh of relief from the soldier?

However, his pause sadly meant that when he started to move off again, he apparently this time managed to spot the tendril that was comign from the wall out to him.

"What are you?" said Brohur, looking at the odd tendril and moving himself and his torch closer. Ameena was out in the open, it was only the fact that Brohur was so close to the opening that he had not looked around.

Can you give me a second stealth check, please? And also, do you have any actions you want to attempt while Brohur is distracted. It sounds...sounds... like Drommal may have gone the opposite way. Maybe.

[Lord_BoNes]

Aurek felt his sword bury itself into Thinpas, but his enemy had triggered the door... Aurek had to think quickly, he made his decision, taking it upon himself to single-handedly try to keep the door open as long as need be (strength check vs door 1d20 + 1 = 16 + 1 = 17).

As he struggled to hold the door open, he yelled to the other people nearby "I need a hand here people!"

[money]

Falkor lept to his feet, twice he had been close to death, twice he had come back - he owed his companions a lot! "Haynuus, help that man over there, he has proved his support for us, now we must return the favour". He had no intentions of splitting the party, but he realised that Ameena had not returned. The last thing Falkor wanted was for more blood to be shed, but he would not rest untill they were all back together.

"Westian, do you have any more powers? Could you bring any of us back to life if we fall again?" Falkor was consious that twice he had been lucky - best not push it he thought!

"We need to protect Ameena - they had no respect for her - I would hate them to take all their anger out on her. First we sort the door, then back through the haze."

[ian_scho]

Drommel disappeared the wrong way. That was the way for kicking Ameena and other unsightly things he might do to her. Haynuus's heart sank. But he withheld from whacking the captain and hoped he appreciated it.

At the same time the turncoat or spy or soldier in black with a white heart had slain the sergeant in the doorway, yet it had closed... No. It was closing on top of him!

Once more Falkor's dungeoneering experience showed. The halfling knew that splitting the party was a bad thing, he knew that the greatest danger presented itself to both Helm and the knight Farel and that Ameena was the most likely to scamper away from danger from those ghastly soldiers. The best he could think of was compromise. "Look, I'm going to go through the teleporter, and will come back straight back if Ameena isn't there. Leave the door open if you're heading towards the others and I'll catch you up!" It would mean precious time away from the party, but Haynuus was an expert at catching up with halflings who owed him a beer!

[beowuuf]

BZZZZAP!

It took Haynuus but a moment to adjust to the light through the teleporter. The room before had been illuminated by the soft glow of the teleporter and also the - now mostly dropped - torches of the party. Back on this side, the blue glow was the primary light. Luckily, Haynuus's night sight allows him to make out details others could not.

In one direction - the oppisite to which the party had originally came - the corridor seems normal, the brickwork intact and the passageway straight. In that direction Haynuus could see the quickly retreating figure that could only be that of the Captain. He seemed to be running in the dim light without a care.

Upon Haynuus walking through, the Captain had stopped and turned at the noise. He made some gesture to the wall - no, he grabbed something that was on the wall - and an area of the floor collpased away into nothing.

From behind Haynuus, around the corner of the corridor where it rapidly disintergrated into caved in areas and webby strands of ...of, well, of something.... there seemed to be an orange glow that could possibly be a torch.

There was then a very strange resonant shriek in the air. Not long after, Haynuus could smell the burning of something organic.


Sorry, no instant signs of Ameena. And you might now have the not so subtle clue as to one of the challenges I would have thrown at anyone who wanted to pursue Drommal. As you might have guesed, the soldiers came from the direction Drommal has went originally, so he had the advantage of knowing the way too.

Anyway, you can either dart back through the haze, investigate the burning smell etc, or call out, etc.


Edit: Ameena updates:

OOC - It says my Stealth is +15 when hiding - surely that's what Ameena's doing right now, since she's scrunched up against the wall and trying to be as far away from both Brohur and the Rock Monsters as she can? I'm not sure what I'd have to do for it to constitute an official "Hide" since both that and Sneak are under "Stealth". I'll do the roll with my basic +11 and you can add teh extra points on if that's allowed - so for now I get 18 (7+11), but feel free to increase that to 21 if I was already considered "Hiding"...

IC - Shrinking back against the wall as much as she dares, Ameena keeps perfectly still, only her head currently protruding from her cloak as she hasn't put the hood down and the rest of her is scrunched up beneath it in the hopes that the tendril things won't hurt her through it if they should happen to touch her again. She is ready to bolt past the soldier if necessary, but with her now injured hind foot isn't sure how far she'll get - at least running with a hindpaw injured is easier than doing so with a forepaw out of action. And she isn't sure where she'll go - it sounds like more than one soldier has survived the battle. Does that mean, then, that none of the others did? It hardly bears thinking about, but then again Ameena isn't sure how she'll be able to stay with them when they're so keen to kill whatever seems slightly unpleasant. Well, apart from Helm, or so it would seem. But maybe they hunted him down too...
She knows that a return to that room would put her in plain sight on arrival, and she isn't ready to risk that, let alone the sights and smells she might find when she gets there. That means running down a different corridor. Well, she can discount the one down which she just heard the new set of footsteps travelling - that sounded like another soldier, though with their almost-identical armour she can't tell which one it was. Any would be trouble, though, she decides. That means an unknown corridor. Well, this whole place is unknown to her.

She just wants to get out, but that's seeming less and less unlikely the longer she spends here.

Brohur seems to engrossed in his find and did not notice the small murafu next to him.From the gap in the wall - revealed under the torchlight - showed the soldier the strange pile of rubble that seems to have two slowly flailing tentacles. The pile of rubble looked like just that - cracked and collpsing on itself.

Brohur took a step back, then a step forward as he was not instantly attacked. One of the tendrils drifted forwards, and Brohur waved a tortch at it. The tendril retreated swiftly."That's what I thought," said the soldier smugly, his dancing eyes filled with the joy of torture. With that, he turned around to look to the exit for the passageway, and satisfied himself that one of the craggy openings was infact the continuation of the passage.

However, then he turned around at a sound - from back towards the teleporter there was a zap of it being used. Meanwhile, the tendril once again reacted out, this time less timid. Brohur noticed, and snatched it with his hand and then depiberately burned the tip of it with his torch.

There was a deep yet weak noise, like a warbling cry from the rock pile. A small area shifted revealing a mouth with white needle sharp teeth that opened then closed. A bit of the carapace - apparently rock - tumbled off. The rock pile shuffled back a tiny amount, the tendrils pulled back into the wall.

This time Brohur did not have time to look smugly at his bullying tactics working, he was too intent on the fact someone else had some through.

[ian_scho]

Completely ignoring the captain Haynuus screamed in panic, like a boy who had just lost sight of his parents, "Arrgghhhhhmeeeeennaaaaahhhh!".


Edit: Apologies to Ian, adding Ameena's last hidden posts here! - b.

Ameena then heard a scream come from the corridor, like a boy who had just lost sight of his parents.

"Arrgghhhhhmeeeeennaaaaahhhh!"

It sounded half-orc like

OOC: Aaww to Haynuus .

IC - Ameena watches, terrified, as the soldier steps closer, practically standing next to her. Fortunately he doesn't notice her due to his newfound fascination with the strange tendril-creature. Then she hears the sound of someone else coming through the blue thing - oh no, another soldier?
With little she can do if she doesn't want to get stabbed to death or stepped on, Ameena winces as she sees the soldier taunt the tendril-creature with a torch, deliberately burning it and causing it to scream and apparently begin a slow retreat. She notices it seems to have teeth, and that it doesn't seem to be hiding under the rock pile. It seems more as though it is the rock pile. What a bizarre creature! She knows that such a being isn't necessarily sentient, or friendly, but neither is it necessarily hostile - she accepts that when it touched and poisoned her, it was probably an accident, but hopes that this soldier's actions won't provoke it into actually attacking - another fight, so soon! She still has no idea as to the conclusion of the last fight she got stuck with! And little desire to actually go back and find out...
Then the yell of a familiar voice almost causes her to actually jump.
Haynuus! Without a doubt, it's the half-orc yelling. So he survived the battle. But this soldier here didn't seem too concerned about survivors when he came back through the blue telly-thing, and from the sound of the other soldier's departure too, such sounds didn't sem to be those of people running away from combat - she would have thought they'd retreat together, rather than split themselves up and wander about in corridors poking strange poisonous rock-creatures with torches. Just what is going on here?
Because of the proximity of the soldier, never mind the rock-creature, Ameena dares not call out. She can only hope that the soldier decides to leave without starting yet another fight, and that Haynuus will allow him to do so. She hopes she'll be able to speak to him before having to go back and face the rest of the group. However many of them remain now, anyway.

The soldier drew himself up, apparently also recognising who was yelling, if not why nor infact hat he was yelling a name at all. The soldier's hand shook perceptibly for a moment, and he took a few backsteps.

"One day..." the man hissed, then turned on his heel and hustled away into the opening he had looked out. His form was quickly lost to a bend in the corridor, and soon after the orange glow was gone.

Heh, worked out ok in the end. Feel free to go back to the IC thread and post a reply to Haynuus if you are replying to Haynuus. If Ameena will still keep quiet and not make herself known, then keep posting in PMs.

[oh_brother]

Westian turned to Falkor. "No, I have spent all the mana I had, it will take time before I can cast again. Actually, I didn't bring any of - " but with that he saw the soldier who had brought the prisoner running to hold the door open. Westian did not have much time to think. He wanted to track down Helm, and he was through that now-closing doorway. The soldier had fought on their side - or, rather, he had fought against their enemies. And he shouted for help as if he expected it, holding the door open at the cost of leaving himself vulnerable to any attacks. Not being one to turn down potential allies, however dubious their motives, Westian moved over to help. Without the time or strength for an in-depth discussion he simply grunted through his exertion "Thanks for your..argh..help. Who...arrgghh... are you?"

Everything was happening so fast. As he struggled with the heavy iron he remembered his missing comrades. Helm - he needed to talk to him. Something he had said. Ameena, unfortunately she had gone in the opposite direction to Helm. Some other people had gone in other directions, but Westian had long lost track of them...

With that he saw Haynuus running off after Ameena, and by default also Drommal. He nodded in agreement with the half-orc's statement, but by then he had already stepped through the teleporter.

He grunted to the halfling through his exertion "Falkor, can you see a switch or something to open this door?"