Chapter 4: Quenching the Burning Plague, Pt.1

The frame cracking and the door falling from its hinges surprises the lizardman. Krytox sometimes forgot how much strength was crammed into Alterith's tiny halfling body. His shock quickly evaporates as the familiar sound of arrows being notched hits his ears. The halfling is already busy flipping the nearest table when Krytox runs to help. His clawed hands grip the surprisingly thick table, but he finds some difficulty due to the surface being so smooth after many years of use. No matter, he puts a little more muscle into it and helps the halfling charge the nasty little kobolds. A copper for every kobold... I'd be a rich lizardman... he thinks idly as he rushes across the dining hall.

Init: 14 + 3 = 17
Attack: 17 + 8 = 25 (+/- ?)
Strength (if necessary): 10 + 5 = 15

Everything appearing normal as she squints under the cart - at least, as normal as mysterious, unexplained death in a dark cavern can be - Philo extends her hand to push the cart out of the way to get a better look. At Squin's warning, though, she snaps her hand back. "You're right," she tells him. "Maybe this is the trap." Standing upright again, she considers the cart, shield at the ready in her left hand. "Well," she thinks, making a snap-judgment, "we'll never know unless we spring it." Before Squin can stop her, she pokes the body cursorily with her sickle before hooking it underneath the overturned cart and wrenching car upwards.

Strength: 13 + 0 = 13

Squin does not want to waste more time here with the overturned cart as the others get farther down the hallway. The subsequent banging, clattering, and all around noises flying out of the hallway tells him that they are still not too far and seemed to have found a fight.

Hearing Philo answer back and seeing Philo stand up from the inspection, the centaur relaxes. Philo seems to ponder for a few moments before catching the centaur off-guard by poking the body suddenly. Quickly Squin gets into a ready stance while tuning out the sounds of battle from the hallway. He tenses up as Philo flips the cart over.



Edited for spelling.

Ever ready for battle, Rasa quickly follows the lizardman and halfing into the room, and scans for any kobold not with a table flying straight at them. (if and) when he sees one, he charges forward short sword flashing:

Initiative: 7 + 4 = 11
Attack: 17 + 1 = 18
Damage: 2

Dropping his shoulder lower, Alterith continues to shoulder the heavy table forward, grasping the leg as he does so to make sure the table doesn't accidentally tip forward exposing them. With the blackscales assistance they begin to pick up speed as they approach the kobold position.

Spot:+0

Random number (1,20) :

7

Intelligence:+0

Random number (1,20) :

7

Krytox continues to push forward with Alterith, though in a more awkward position. His shoulder, lowered as much as possible, still is visible above the top edge of the overturned table. The halfling manages to stay completely behind the obstacle. The hardened wood stands up well to being dragged across the floor, but there remains an obvious trail of dust and splinters as they make their way across the room. Reaching what he estimates to be the halfway point the lizardman releases his booming voice, "LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS OR DIE."

He had been punctured be enough arrows, teeth, swords, and other weapons enough during their adventures. If he could avoid it now he would save himself some healing later. He might not be the smartest lizardman, but his brain certainly wasn't the size of a walnut.

Intelligence: 15 + 1 = 16
Spot: 10 + 3 = 13

A flicker a light reveals a wire. Following it the centaur sees a stone dropping. His fears realized, he tries to jump back out of the way. Moments later the centaur senses that it would be a good idea to cover his ears as his memory recalls learning about stones that make a big booming sound upon impact. Too late Squin realizes, and braces for the worst.

Fortitude: x + 2

Random number (1,20) :

2

Here we go, thinks Philo, as the cart slowly hurtles up into the darkness. A split second later, the light flickers, revealing the trap that Squin suspected. She jumps backwards, arms crossing behind her shield to cover her face in an automatic reaction. "I hope this wasn't just an exercise in stupidity!" she yells to Squin, but her words are drowned out by a deafening wave of sound that threatens to explode her eardrums. Ooops is her last coherent thought before the roaring takes over.

Fortitude: 17 + 6 = 23

Rasa grins as he runs into the room with his allies. Kobalds! Rasa knew they were quite possibly the dumbest foes he'll ever encounter. He immediately positions himself behind the table, focusing more on keeping the legs down than keeping the table moving forward. He probably couldn't contribute too much on pushing forward with the two brutes easily outclassing him in strength, but with his finesse, he could make the quick necessary adjustments to keep the table from accidently flipping over and providing them no cover. But they might not even need cover with his plan.

Rasa summons his dancing lights and has them swirl in 4 tiny balls of "flame" above the room.

"LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS OR MY FLAMES WILL BURN YOU ALIVE!!!!" Rasa yells threateningly. This has worked in the past, so he was hoping for similar results; but due to the ridiculous kindheartedness of Alterith, Rasa isn't sure he'll get to slaughter them even if they do drop their weapons.


Bluff (regarding the fire): 13 + 5 = 18
Int: 9 + 3 = 12
Spot: 14 + 10 = 24

Grabbing his ears, Squin tries to make the pounding noise and intense pain go away. The centaur twists and turns his torso in a futile attempt to make it stop, however pain his eardrums are screaming at him demands action and this is all he can muster at the moment. Soon the pain and the ringing in his ears start to ease up just a bit, and the centaur hunches over clenching his teeth tightly together. Eventually the pain subsides and the ringing in his ears is silenced. After a few moments, the centaur realizes that silence is all he can hear at the moment. If he focuses hard, he can hear a slight buzzing sound.

Stomping his hooves, Squin is glad that he can still hear when he stomps. He takes a step when it hits him, he heard his hooves stomp through the vibrations traveling through his body, and failed to hear the echo of the stomp that should have been present in the room. Not wanting to believe the obvious, Squin picks up a loose stone and tosses it at the metal cart. Silence.

Slowly the centaur makes his way towards Philo. Upon getting Philo's attention, the centaur points at his ears and then cups them while slowing shaking his head. He then points in the direction the others went and looks at Philo quizzically.

Unable to force their table any further, Alterith judges his position to be close enough. Turning to the side he rolls under the adjacent table and comes out directly in front of the kobolds own barrier. Seeing a snout peering over the table, and knowing the crossbows have discharged he judges now is the time to strike. With his back to their table he braces his legs, then heaves his axe in a reverse upward strike in an attempt to split the creatures face down the middle.

Attack: +7

Random number (1,20) :

19

Damage: +3

Random number (1,10) :

3

He knew better. His shoulder stuck out above the edge of the table and he knew it would lead to trouble. The pain had exploded through his shoulder just a moment before and now warm blood was flowing down his arm and torso. The bolt from the crossbow prevented too much gushing, but caused more pain every time his muscles flexed. It was far from a new sensation, but it still was not welcome. The other bolts embedded themselves surprisingly deep in the thick table. The barrier had almost done its job, but the damage had been done.

Forcing the pain from his mind, he felt a new sense of rage. He had given the damnable kobolds a chance, but now no mercy would be shown. Right behind Alterith, he springs from their cover. His spiked chain clanks against itself as it stretches to its full length. Krytox' arms swing about violently, brining the chain up to speed. The torchlight glints menacingly off the spinning circle of metal. His face a portrait of concentration as he moves into his dance of death.

OOC: Move to C4 (I'm assuming I am the orange circle). Attack kobold in C3. Spiked chain reach = 10 ft, so I should be threatening kobolds at C3, D3, and E2. I'll let you roll attack/dmg for any attacks of opportunity. Any AoO I receive, please use trip attempts and bonus attack from Improved Trip if successful. Unless they move they still have cover, so AoO won't happen, but in the case they move out of cover...

Attack: 13 + 8 (-4 cover?) = 21 (17?)
Damage: 3 + 2 + 7 = 12
Jump (if necessary to clear overturned table): 10 + 12 = 22

The ringing finally dying away, Philo uncovers her face and ears, not for the first time thankful for her extra-responsive elfish hearing. "Sorry about that," she says over her shoulder to Squin. "Hopefully I didn't cause a cave-in." She gives the body a cursory glance, but nothing looks particularly out of the ordinary. Figures. "What do you think these are, though?" she asks, poking at one of the silver ore-chunks with her sickle.

The clang of a stone against the cart finally prompts Philo to turn around to look at Squin. "What do you--" she starts to say again, before taking in the import of Squin's frantic gestures.

"Oh no!" Philo exclaims. "You can't -- not even when I yell, LIKE THIS?" Squin shakes his head again. "I am so, so sorry, oh dear, what should I - I mean, it's probably just temporary, my ears are bound to be quicker to seal than yours, but surely something that permanently deafened you would have more of an effect even on me, and" --she briefly ceases babbling at Squin's blank look-- "and you can't even hear me, so why am I even--"

She broke off again, but this time at yells and thuds from the direction the others had taken - the sounds of battle. "There's fighting!" she cries, miming fisticuffs for Squin. "We ought to go help the others."

Philo gestures to Squin to follow her, but before making her way further into the corridor, she pauses. After a moment of indecision, she quickly picks up one of the silver chunks and stows it in her belt pouch - might be worth examining later.

Not hearing a word Philo said, Squin looks at the metal silverish ore as Philo takes one. Deciding it can't hurt, the centaur takes a few too. He figures it they become a problem he can also dump them out or leave them behind later.

Gladly he follows Philo towards the others, hoping that they're doing much better than he is. The centaur is glad that Philo is there, otherwise he fears that he could walk right past the fighting and not know it.

The battle rises to fever pitch as Philo and Squin rush to join the fray through the open doorway. Barely bursting into the room, their eyes quickly take stock of the situation.

ooc: Laurie and Zadok, please roll Initiative for Philo and Squin.

Rasa continues concentrating on the dancing lights as they bring forth actual light into the room. A quick blink is all Alterith needs to ascertain his location, and then his axe cuts down with gruesome force, cleaving the kobold before him. Just a split-second later, Krytox's chain gashes another one into oblivion. The three remaining kobolds let out squeals of terror as they ready their crossbows, fumbling about.

ooc: Automatic AoO (trip attempts) and Strength checks made for Krytox.

Krytox's spiked chain lashes out again, almost with a life of its own. Success! The two other kobolds within reach fall noisily to the ground, with barks of dismay, dropping their weapons. As the third kobold prepares to attack Alterith, the halfling sees a weakness in its stance, and the axe comes down again. The third kobold dodges - almost. A mere graze to the top of the shoulder - where the halfling can reach over the table - sends dark blood spurting all over the upright underside of the table. Groaning with pain, the kobold quaffs a potion. Alterith gazes coolly as its muscles bulge.

The other two kobolds stand up gingerly. The one closer to Krytox lunges forward with its claws (looking rather dainty compared to the blackscale's, but still possessing a sharpness that should worry anyone) but misses. The other one also drinks a potion, and the adventurers see ethereal plated surfaces surround its body, encasing the kobold in some kind of shimmering protective layer.

ooc: The two kobolds have taken potions and their effects are summarized by the nifty little icons I drew (hehe).

Alex and Ben, make Fort saves for Krytox and Alterith as a wave of nausea and weakness washes over the two.

A wave of nausea suddenly assaults Alterith, causing him to stumble, but he somehow stays on his feet. As the creature before him quaffs the potion and grows stronger, Alterith seems to be growing weaker. He doubts it's directly correlated, but you never know. Only one way to find out. His axe begins its beautiful dance of death once more. As the halflings axe works some magic of its own, Alterith takes a moment to wonder at the complete lack of his bloodlusting alter-ego. He has almost come to rely on the dichotomy that is created by their clashing attitudes about combat to keep him focused. It begins to show as his axe sweeps just a little too high, his guard just a little off. Not enough to seriously hamper him, he's a talented fighter in his own right...but the sudden change causes him some worry.

Attack: +6

Random number (1,20) :

5

Dmg: +3

Random number (1,10) :

10

Fort: +6

Random number (1,20) :

13

Init: 14 + 4 = 18

Squin wanders in and looks around. He is worried about fighting as he would be fighting at a disadvantage - unable to hear anything, unable to hear someone or something approaching from the side or back. A quick assessment shows that all the creatures the others are fighting seems to be in that one section of the room behind the overturned table. Not seeing much, the centaur thinks the battle is basically over until he sees a couple more kobolds pop back up from behind the table.

Reaching for his weapons, the centaur's hands pauses at the bow before realizing that with the table overturned and the size of the kobolds, it would be harder for him to hit them. Aw what the heck the centaur thinks, melee is probably more dangerous for me right now. Pulling out his bow, the centaur steps forward towards his left and climbs onto the table. Taking a risk, the centaur stands up as high as he can without losing stability and balance to try to gain an height angle to shoot at the Kobolds hiding behind the table. He notches an arrow and lets it fly towards the one not engaged in melee (if any).

Attack: 6 + 7 = 13
Damage: 4 + 3 = 7

Krytox manages to succeed in tripping the two kobolds near him that weren't dead. As the chains recoil and begin arcing down for a second strike, the table manages to interfere. The weapon clanks harmlessly away from the two as they regain their feet. For a skilled user, the jagged chain links were ideal for fending off groups of enemies, but only if there was space to work. He was not yet regretting using them, but he was risking getting them caught on something and being vulnerable.

The lizardman didn't have the luxury of taking the time to switch weapons, so he would just have to make due. He steps over the body in front of him and continues advancing, all the while whipping the chains about in their familiar pattern. He would now be clear of the table on one side, giving him more room to work with. Though, now he was fully exposed to the kobolds and they seemed to have found new resolve in their potions. No matter, he was built for battle and that is what he would do. He forces the nausea to the back of his mind and presses forward.

Fort: 4 + 6 = 10
Attack: 17 + 8 = 25
Damage: 2 + 2 + 7 = 11

OOC: Similar to before, attack kobold in D3. Threaten E2. Any AoO for trip attempts, bonus attack from Improved Trip if successful. Straight attack on AoO from standing from prone. Sorry for the craziness!

Init: 5 + 1 = 6

Philo scans the scene. Two kobolds appear to have fallen, and Krytox and Alterith are engaged directly in battle with two others. Not spotting her cat - Tex possessed far more battle experience than she - she turns and whistles, calling urgently, "Tex, to me!" He must've turned down another corridor, she realizes.

Squin charges past her and jumps atop one of the tables, letting an arrow fly into the thick of things. Oh, dear, he can't hear a thing, Philo muses. But maybe I can help him... Murmuring the remembered words under her breath, she focuses her energy, feeling the warmth growing in her right hand. Swiftly she hastens over to the table, reaching up to lay her hand upon the centaur. "They who endow our senses, may they heighten yours," she chants softly. "They who give force to our weapons, may they guide your arrows." She steps back, hoping her spell will prove of some use to the deafened Squin.

OOC: Move adjacent to Squin and cast Guidance.

Concerned with the sickness of the Kobalds, the last thing RaSa wants to do is catch it, and it looks like his allies might not be so lucky either. After making the lights as bright as can be, he pulls out his crossbow and moves around to a better, more easy spot to shoot down the fiends. Before moving, however, he takes in a big breath as not to breathe in any of the mixture on his way to his sniper point.

Moves to A3

RaSa does grin at the hypocrisy of his allies. They find it so "wrong" to treat other people like trash, but they have no problem charging on a bunch of Kobalds who were clearly cowering in fear in a corner before we broke in on their little luncheon. Unknown to most who consider themselves good, Kobalds have family too. They may be stupid and brainless, but they do still have minds and experience pain. Maybe if he brings this up at a later time, there may be some hope for his allies to understand their idiocy and come to realize why Rasa acts the way he does.

Alterith's greataxe misses as the kobold cowers behind the edge of the table. In truth, the halfling's own nausea has distracted him. He fights down a wave of weakness and continues fighting. Squin lets loose with an arrow but misses, while Krytox unleashes his spiked chain and cripples the nearest kobold. It screeches with a hiss as its scaly flesh is flayed everywhere. However, the lizardman's own flesh feels weak and clammy beneath his scales. Rasa moves into position, preparing his crossbow.

Philo calls upon her companion even as her incantation takes effect on Squin. The centaur notices a pair of phantom, glowing blue hands, very faint, hovering just above his own. As Squin notches another arrow, he notices these hands helping him with gentle gestures of guidance.

The kobold enchanted by a magical aura of armor protection moves a little more confidently toward Rasa. He dodges the blackscale's attack of opportunity and strikes at Rasa, jabbing with his halfspear. Meanwhile, the kobold opposing Alterith also jabs with his halfspear. Even through the table, the halfling's side is pierced.

Rasa takes 1 dmg.
Alterith takes 5 dmg.

The remaining kobold misses Krytox.

A sharp pain rips through his side as the spear plunges through the table and finds its way between the seams of his armor. However, the pain is a blessing in disguise as it clears the fog from his mind and the nausea is forgotten. Others fear pain, or will become more nautious because of it, but not Alterith. For him it is merely something concrete and real to focus on. Not even pausing to slow the blood dripping from the deep gash, Alterith uses the spear point protruding through the table as a step and launches himself over the table, his axe swinging in a double handed arc full overhead using his additional momentum to bring it squarely down on the kobolds head. Unfortunately the blood on the spear makes his footing precarious and his strike isn't as perfect as he would have liked.

Attack: +6

Random number (1,20) :

12

Dmg: +3

Random number (1,10) :

2

Nausea and fatigue start to set in on Krytox. He had kept it at bay so far, but his strength was beginning to wane. The battle hadn't lasted very long yet, so this was a new feeling for the lizardman. With this group alone he had endured far longer skirmishes, so he knew something was not right. The orange tint to the Kobolds' eyes kept reminding him of something but he couldn't quite place it. Memory isn't his strong suit, but battle is. Despite his concerns, he pushes on.

OOC: No dice... so come on computer help me out! staying in the same spot, same deal with AoO.

Attack + 8

Random number (1,20) :

13

Damage 2d4 + 7

Random number (1,4) :

1

Random number (1,4) :

2