CH. 17: Poison Curse

[spyguy1503]

Gallath steels himself to see Sable again. He needed answers. He wouldn't let the rage overpower him. He regulates his breathing, but his heartbeat will not slow down.

[JadedDM]

Jocelyn, Ouragana, Baeros, Gallath and Drav (Raven's Orphanage/Sardonx 15th, 11 PM)
"So...seven hundred then? Deal," Raven says, since that was what he was asking for originally anyway. "She can rest in one of the girls' bedrooms until you return. Although, if you do not return, of course, our deal will be considered void. The Poison Curse are not exactly the friendliest sort, you know."

Val and Naras (Ixitxachitl Lair/Sardonx 12th, 1 PM)
The two turn the corner and move southward. It looks like it ends with a little nook that is holding more supplies and cargo, likely stolen from sunken ships. Two Ixitxachitl emerge from hiding and start swimming toward the two women.

[Nuke]

Val doesn't hesitate, she moves to skewer one.

[HorizonsDream]

Jocelyn hands over the 200 that she promised, and she looks to the others. She didn't know the plan Ouragana had to pay for the girl.

[Chris1234]

If the ceiling here is less than 12' (i.e. she could skewer one if it was asleep and not directly on the floor), Naras tried a Command: "Sleep".
Otherwise she sets her spear to receive a charge from the one headed towards her.

[BishGada]

Feeling Gallath tension Baeros asks him quietly, "What's wrong?"

[JadedDM]

Jocelyn, Ouragana, Baeros, Gallath and Drav (Raven's Orphanage/Sardonx 15th, 11 PM)
Ouragana looks a little exasperated by Jocelyn's abysmal negotiating skills. "We'll discuss it when we get back," she says, crossing her arms. "For now, let's go meet with Sable."

Val and Naras (Ixitxachitl Lair/Sardonx 12th, 1 PM)
Heedless of danger, Val swims forward while Naras begins to pray. One Ixitxachitl swims toward Val while the other goes for Naras. The first one reaches Val and not only evades her trident's prongs, but manages to get through her defenses and bite her pretty hard in the neck, creating a cloud of blood in the water.

Before Naras' opponent reaches her to do the same, the dwarf channels Gonto's will and commands the creature to sleep using the Merfolk tongue. The creature tries to resist, but suddenly goes limp in the water and just floats there a bit off the ground.

Initiative
Val (1d10+5): 6+5 = 11
Naras (1d10+1): 1+1 = 2
Ixitxachitl 01 (1d10): 2
Ixitxachitl 02 (1d10): 6

Round 1!

Ixitxachitl 01 swims toward Val and bites at her [TN 13] (1d20): 20, critical hit! for (6d4): 4,4,4,2,2,3 = 19 damage. Val is now critically wounded.
Naras casts Command at Ixitxachitl 02 and it tries to resist [TN 17] (1d20): 10, fail. Ixitxachitl 02 goes to sleep for one round.
Ixitxachitl 02 is asleep.
Val stabs her Trident of the Hunter (+2 hit/dmg) at Ixitxachitl 01 with great skill (+1 hit/+2 dmg) [TN 9] (1d20+3): 2+3 = 5, miss.

(OOC: Nuke, Chris, name your targets. I guessed you would each take a different one, but that wasn't clear in your posts.)

[Chris1234]

{OOC: Ahh I was hoping that having sent it to sleep, it would stay asleep.}

Naras tries to charge forward and impale the creature before it wakes up.
(If it can be dispatched in a round, coup-de-gras?, then so much the better, otherwise we've got out work cut out.)

[HorizonsDream]

Clearly not picking up what she did wrong, Jocelyn nods, and leads the group towards where they are suppose to meet Sable. "Everyone please behave," she says softly.

[Nuke]

Val decides to attempt to net her foe, hopefully that roll is better..

[spyguy1503]

"Just... trepidation at seeing Sable again. " Gallath hangs toward the back of the party.

[BishGada]

Baeros grunts quietly, 'Behave... Like when I don't behave?'

[JadedDM]

Jocelyn, Ouragana, Baeros, Gallath and Drav (Alley behind Temple of Renos/Sardonx 15th, 11 PM)
With Jocelyn leading the way, the party heads to their destination. The Temple of Renos in Enott looks more like some kind of factory than a place of worship. Smokestacks on the roof pump black smoke into the night air, obscuring some of the clouds. A faint, red glow emits from the windows like that of a forge. It gives the whole place a somewhat sinister look.

The alley behind the temple is dark and filthy. The smell in particular stands out, but the worst of it seems to be coming from an older homeless man living back there. He's built himself a little shelter using old crates. His living area is surrounded by refuse. He appears surprised when the party steps into the alley. But when he sees how well armed they are, he quickly grabs a few of his belongings and starts hobbling away as fast as he can shuffle on a bad leg.

Val and Naras (Ixitxachitl Lair/Sardonx 12th, 1 PM)
Naras hurries to the sleeping ray and stabs at it with her spear just as it is waking up. She grievously wounds it, but fails to kill it. It shakes off the spell and prepares to attack again. Just then, her vestments flicker with a bit of light, then fade. Her protection spell has just ended.

Meanwhile, the other ixitxachitl takes another bite from Val, tearing into her leg. Feeling weak from blood loss, the half-orc fires one of the prongs from her trident. It becomes a net, but only narrowly misses the creature which nimbly swims out of the way.

Initiative
Val (1d10+5): 5+5 = 10
Naras (1d10+5): 1+5 = 6
Ixitxachitl 01 (1d10): 7
Ixitxachitl 02 (1d10): 6

Round 1!

Naras stabs at Ixitxachitl 02 with her magic (+1 hit/dmg) spear and deals (1d6+1): 3+1 = 4 damage. Ixitxachitl 02 is now seriously wounded.
Ixitxachitl 02 wakes up.
Ixitxachitl 01 bites at Val [TN 13] (1d20): 15, hit for (3d4): 2,3,2 = 7 damage. Val is now near death.
Val fires a net of snaring at Ixitxachitl 01 with her trident of the hunter (+2 hit) [TN 9] (1d20+2): 6+2 = 8, bare miss.
Magical Vestment ends.

(OOC: The Command spell description specifies it only lasts a single round. You can't coup-de-gras unless no other combat is going on at the time. But you do get to hit it automatically without a roll.)

[Chris1234]

{OOC: This is looking fairly dire. As a thought, (ok straw-clutching) don't the rays have a penalty to Init based on their size (PHB Table 56: Creature Size S/M = +3 init) ?}

Naras calls out "Take the potion of Heroism?" as she side steps and tries to attack the Ray from the side, now only having her shield for protection. As she tries to strike, she calls out, "Great Gonto aid Your servant!"

[Nuke]

Finally realizing her fate, Val tries another prong from her trident