CH. 9: Road to Tu'Valie

[JadedDM]

Before anyone can act, the third toad bites at Val again, leaving the half-orc in critical condition.

Ouragana and Baeros both move northward together, blundering into the darkness and both shouting orders to everyone else. Up in the night sky, Pyr is waxing, but the larger moon, Ruse, is nowhere to be seen. This partial light lets them see to some degree, but not very well. Ouragana calls for Areilon and Val to move aside for her Web spell, but neither listens and by the time she gets close enough to see them, they are still in the thick of it. Baeros calls for Jocelyn and Andar to free Thunder, but they don't listen, either. Not having any other choice, Ouragana instead casts a Sleep spell, trusting that her companions--particularly the elven Areilon--will be able to resist it over the toads. Her gambit pays off, as the toad fighting Areilon suddenly drops into a deep slumber, but nobody else is affected.

Andar hears Areilon command him to cover the spellcasters. Ouragana had already disappeared into the darkness, and Baeros with her, so he assumes the ranger will protect her and sticks with the pastor. Jocelyn asks him to lead the way, so he reluctantly steps into the darkness, his cutlass at the ready, Jocelyn right behind him.

Areilon steps back a bit, to put some distance between her and her target, then loads and fires her crossbow again, easily striking the sleeping creature for a good chunk of damage. However, this also rouses the toad from the enchanted slumber Ouragana just placed it in, ironically.

Val turns her ire to her new target, lunging at it with her trident. The toad hops away at the last second, then starts inflating its neck sack. It reminds the half-orc of laughter. Was it mocking her? Despite her grievous injuries, she ignores Areilon's command to withdraw and lunges a second time. This time, her trident's three prongs find a home in the toad's leathery, slimy hide, impaling it. The creature croaks once, then proceeds to, pardon the pun, 'croak' for good.

Jocelyn, who followed Andar into the darkness, starts to pray to Octhanus for her blessing. When finished, a feeling of warmth and courage floods all of her allies who are not already currently engaged in combat.

Takit and Thunder remain where they are, as the former was given no orders and the latter remains tied to a tree.

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Initiative
Ouragana (1d10+2): 7
Baeros (1d10): 7
Val (1d10+7): 13
Areilon (1d10+7): 12
Jocelyn (Last)
Andar (1d10+5): 10
Takit (N/A)
Thunder (N/A)
Giant Toad 02 (1d10+3): 11
Giant Toad 03 (1d10+3): 6

Round 2!

Giant Toad 03 bites at Val (1d20): 13, hit for (2d4): 5 damage.
Ouragana moves 50 feet north and casts Sleep, centered 25 feet east to encompass all of the toads. The spell effects (2d4): 3 HD worth of creatures. Giant Toad 02 falls asleep for 15 rounds
Baeros moves 50 feet north.
Andar moves 35 feet northwest.
Giant Toad 02 is asleep.
Areilon moves back 5 feet and fires her light crossbow with elven grace (+1) at Giant Toad 02 who is asleep (1d20+1): 19, automatic hit for (1d6): 6 damage. Giant Toad 02 begins to wake up.
Val lunges with her masterwork trident (+1) with great skill (+1) at Giant Toad 03 (1d20+2): 5, miss.
Val lunges again with her masterwork trident (+1) with great skill (+1) at Giant Toad 03 (1d20+2): 17, hit for (1d6+4): 10 damage. Giant Toad 03 dies.
Jocelyn moves 55 feet north and casts Bless, centered 10 feet north of her. Jocelyn, Ouragana, Baeros, and Andar all receive a +1 to hit and a +1 vs. fear-based spells for 6 rounds.

(OOC: A party of mostly Chaotics, all yelling orders to each other. This will go over well.

Anyway, as one moon is waxing and another is in low sanction, I'll rule the following: Without infravision or a light source, your characters can see large shadowy shapes at 60 feet. But you can't distinguish friend from foe unless you are at least 20 feet away. Keep in mind, this only applies if you are outside of any light sources. Regardless of whether you can see or not, you'll suffer a -2 penalty to melee attacks and a -3 penalty to missile attacks.

The last toad is sleeping, but will wake up next round. If anyone can beat its initiative, they automatically hit it.

Actions and Initiative for Round 3?)

[Jenara]

"Oh damn it all to hell!" Arei shouts, dropping the crossbow she draws Telsa and lunges forward, "Joyceln Val is wounded, she is just to the north. Andar Help.."

Init: 1d10=7
Otherwise 1d20+2, 1d6+1=[4, 2], [5, 1] miss.

[Breila]

Knowing she has no chance to trap only enemies in a web spell, Ouragana decides to find her way back to the fire, her dagger drawn to defend herself if she must.

[BishGada]

Baeros hearing Areilon to his left just strikes the large blob in front of him with both swords.

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(OOC: (if I get it right I roll just 1d10 and add 5 for the long sword and 3 for the short sword right?) Initiative (1d10+5/+3): 13/11; Long sword hit (+1(Str)+1(Bls)-2(Penalty)) (1d20): 17; Short sword hit (1d20): 5; Long sword damage (1d8+1): 2; Short sword damage (1d6+1): 5 (though it's a miss) )

[Nuke]

"Damn toads" is all Val can muster. She retreats carefully this time, back toward the others.

[HorizonsDream]

Jocelyn, now that Val is retreating, she moves up behind her to heal her. (Cure mod wounds, and since I am doing on my phone I need the rolling down for me.)

[JadedDM]

The remaining giant toad wakes up just as Andar, hearing Areilon's orders, interposes himself between her and the toad and slashes with his cutlass. However, it's a wild swing in the dark and hits nothing. Meanwhile, Jocelyn hurries forward to Val and calls upon Octhanus' power once again, this time filling the half-orc with the positive energy of healing. All of Val's first wound and some of her second is healed instantly, however the third wound remains unchanged.

Ouragana and Val both withdraw from the battle. The mage heads back to the warmth of the fire, dagger in hand. Val doesn't go as far, just far enough to regain her bearings.

Dropping her crossbow, Areilon draws Telsa and maneuvers around Andar to attack the giant toad. However, it's a weak blow that fails to damage the creature's thick, slimy hide.

Finally, Baeros approaches, both blades at the ready. He manages a slight cut to the last toad with his long sword, but fails to make contact at all with his short sword, due to the darkness.

The giant toad, severely injured, seems to have decided to look for easier prey elsewhere. It makes ready to take off.

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Initiative
Areilon (1d10+4): 11
Ouragana (1d10): 9
Baeros (1d10+5): 13
Val (1d10): 9
Jocelyn (1d10+5): 6
Andar (1d10+5): 6
Takit (N/A)
Thunder (N/A)
Giant Toad 02 (1d10+3): 6

Round 3!

Giant Toad 02 wakes up.
Jocelyn moves 25 feet northwest and casts Cure Moderate Wounds on Val, restoring (1d10+1): 11 HP. Val is now only moderately wounded.
Andar moves 10 feet north and turns to attack Giant Toad 02 with his cutlass with great skill (+1) while blessed by Octhanus (+1) in the moonlight (-2) (1d20): 3, miss.
Ouragana moves 50 feet to the south.
Val withdraws 30 feet to the south.
Areilon drops her crossbow and draws her sabre. She moves 10 feet around Andar and attacks Giant Toad 02 with her weapon of choice (+2) with elven grace (+1) (1d20+3): 7, miss.
Baeros moves 5 feet north and attacks Giant Toad 02 with his long sword with great strength (+1) while blessed by Octhanus (+1) in the moonlight (-2) (1d20): 17, hit for (1d8+1): 2 damage. He then attacks with his short sword with great strength (+1) while blessed by Octhanus (+1) in the moonlight (-2) (1d20): 5, miss.

(OOC: You can try and take one more shot at the toad before it runs away, or let it go.)

[Breila]

Ouragana remembers Baeros had said something about Thunder. she walks to the edge of the range of the firelight in his direction and listens.Can she hear the horse at all?

[Jenara]

"Let it go." Arei says with a sigh, sword drawn she keeps it up ready just in case, when it departs she collects her crossbow and any bolts she can. "Thank you Andar, I planned to bring them to the light, not for you to attack them here in the dark."

"Let Val rest I'll take the rest of the watch alone." Her voice is strained, obviously hiding some emotion. "Val, rest." She taps the orc on the shoulder gently and with care. "Thank you." She just glares at the others apart from Oura who she points her index finger. "Your skills have grown, tomorrow tell us how."

[HorizonsDream]

"You need better armor," Jocelyn says to Val as she pats her on the shoulder. "You seem to always get beat up by everything."

[Breila]

Ouragana nods. "Yes, we need to talk tomorrow, to know what our skills are, and agree on a standard procedure for attacks like this."
She creeps back into her bedroll, knowing she needs all the sleep she can get to get back her spell in the morning.

(will study Sleep again if she can get it)

[Nuke]

"Thank You Jocelyn, I don't like metal armor though, it doesn't work in the water." Val replies as they walk to the fire. She sits down and rubs her leg, hoping the pain will dull with time.

[JadedDM]

Ouragana approaches Thunder and finds him still tied to his tree, somewhat agitated, but otherwise fine.

The last giant toad leaps off to the north, bleeding profusely, one of Areilon's bolts still stuck in its hide. The other two toads lie dead where they are. Areilon searches the first one that was slain, finding two of her bolts.

Andar returns to camp and sits back on his bedroll. "The animals grow wild...and large, out here," he comments.

[Jenara]

Arei nods "And pretty horrible." She agrees, "Get some rest." She sits just to the edge of the fire, crossbow in her lap. Telsa back at her side.

[BishGada]

Baeros sneaks back to the camp, circling the light, suddenly jumps in crying "Ribbit!". His smile drops as he sees weapons flung to his direction and he says, "Woh, woh, it's just me. Quiet a night eh?" Then he goes near Val and looks at her wounds... "Wow. You just keeps getting wounded. As if you just serve yourself as dinner. Maybe we should work together, if we are close we can watch each other backs." Then he suddenly remembers Takit... *whistle* "Here boy! What happened to you, got too lazy to join in?" and he rubs his fur fondly. "Next time you can help us... Look at our capable warrior", he throws a quick glance at Areilon, half smiling, "She could use some help. Coming to think of it, you already saved her once, you should make a habit of it." Baeros grins at Val.

Looking at the others he suggests, "I can stay with Areilon for the rest of the night, tomorrow we should check the toads. I don't know about toads that big, but some species of normal sized toads, I had met, had poison bladders on their skin, and we might use it for the arrows. By the way Val, do you feel your skin burn around the wound?" Baeros suddenly asks worried.