CH. 17: Poison Curse

[HorizonsDream]

Jocelyn watches as the homeless man hobbles away from them, and lets out a sigh. "Well, I at least manage to gather up some intimidating people," she mutters mostly to herself. She starts looking around for Sable. "I hope he didn't lie to us."

[spyguy1503]

Gallath slips a couple gold into the rest of the homeless man's things.

[JadedDM]

Jocelyn, Ouragana, Baeros, Gallath and Drav (Alley behind Temple of Renos/Sardonx 15th, 11 PM)
Gallath drops a couple of gold coins into the man's shelter while he waits. Despite the cool night air, it's fairly warm in the alley. Likely this is a result of whatever forge or smelter is being used in the temple.

A few minutes pass when three gnoll sailors step forward from the west side of the alley, blocking it off. All three are armed with rifles in their hands and cutlasses on their belts. A moment later, three more gnolls come in from the east, similarly armed. Three figures also step forward on the roof of the temple. Two are human in leathers, carrying pistols. The third wears a heavy cloak and hood, obscuring their features.

"Don't move," warns one of the humans. "Hands where we can see them. Even try to move or draw a weapon, and we'll open fire." Both the humans and all of the gnolls are aiming their weapons. Only the cloaked figure seems unarmed. Rather, they are watching the party closely.

"An ambush," Brock mutters angrily. The gnolls are far enough away that they can easily open fire before anyone in the party can reach them. "And we walked right into it."

Naishe raises her hands in surrender. "Well, this is going well so far."

The gnolls are 1-3 and 4-6. The humans are 8 and 9, up on the roof of the temple. The cloaked figure is 9, also on the roof.

Renos Temple Alley 00.jpg (25.5 KiB) Viewed 5903 times

Val and Naras (Ixitxachitl Lair/Sardonx 12th, 1 PM)
Val kicks hard with her legs, allowing her to avoid the ixitxachitl's next attack. She then steadies her trident and fires the second prong, and this one hits. The creature is ensnared in the netting and struggles to get free.

Naras stabs at her own opponent with her spear, but misses as it swims over her head. It then dives down at her, easily bypassing her shield and biting her leg.

Initiative
Val (1d10+5): 5+5 = 10
Naras (1d10+5): 2+5 = 7
Ixitxachitl 01 (1d10+3): 1+3 = 4
Ixitxachitl 02 (1d10+3): 8+3 = 11

Round 2!

Ixitxachitl 01 bites at Val [TN 13] (1d20): 8, miss.
Naras stabs at Ixitxachitl 02 with her magic (+1 hit/dmg) spear [TN 12] (1d20+1): 6+1 = 7, miss.
Val fires a net of snaring at Ixitxachitl 01 with her trident of the hunter (+2 hit) [TN 9] (1d20+2): 9+2 = 11, hit. Ixitxachitl 01 is ensnared in a net.
Ixitxachitl 02 bites at Naras who is using her magical shield (-2 hit) [TN 9] (1d20-2): 17-2 = 15, hit for (3d4): 1,4,2 = 7 damage.

(OOC: I thought for sure I read somewhere that enemies don't modify their initiative when using natural attacks. But now I can't find it anywhere, and the PHB seems to contradict that. So yes, I'll apply a +3 to their initiative rolls for now on.)

[Nuke]

Feeling the pain, Val stabs foe #1

[HorizonsDream]

"Ambush or not, do as they say," Jocelyn says as she raises her hands a bit so that they can see them.

[Chris1234]

{OOC: No init mod for natural weapon size per se, but a modifier for creature size.}
Naras tries to stab the remaining Ixitxachitl (#1), hoping to save her remaining Command spell for anything nasty further into the complex.
"Can you help me with this one?" the dwarf says to Val.

[spyguy1503]

Gallath raises his hands, peering at the cloaked figure. Could it be her? After this long?

[JadedDM]

Jocelyn, Ouragana, Baeros, Gallath and Drav (Alley behind Temple of Renos/Sardonx 15th, 11 PM)
The figure in the cloak mutters a spell, then hops off the roof. They gently glide down to the ground like a feather, landing softly in front of the party. "Well, well...it really is you, Jocelyn," she says. Removing her hood, she reveals her elven face. Both Jocelyn and Gallath recognize her easily; she hasn't aged a day, after all. She has long black hair with long bangs, dark eyes and tanned skin. She's quite pretty and carries herself with authority and confidence.

Sable.jpg (80.47 KiB) Viewed 5881 times

"When that pervert Raven contacted me, claiming you of all people wanted to meet, I was sure it was some kind of trap," Sable says. "Imagine my surprise to find you actually here. Has joining the mercies driven you mad? You understand the Poison Curse wants you dead, right? This is the last place you should be. How in the world did you survive walking the plank anyway?"

Val and Naras (Ixitxachitl Lair/Sardonx 12th, 1 PM)
While the first ixitxachitl is ensnared in the net, the second one takes another bite from Naras, this time her left arm. Working together, Naras and Val both spear the ensnared creature, ending its life for good. Now all that remains is the one that just bit the dwarf.

Initiative
Val (1d10+5): 5+5 = 10
Naras (1d10+5): 3+5 = 8
Ixitxachitl 01 (N/A)
Ixitxachitl 02 (1d10+3): 4+3 = 7

Round 3!

Ixitxachitl 01 is ensnared and cannot move or attack.
Ixitxachitl 02 bites at Naras who is using her magical shield (-2 hit) [TN 9] (1d20-2): 12-2 = 10, hit for (3d4): 3,3,1 = 7 damage. Naras is now critically wounded.
Naras stabs her magic (+1 hit/dmg) spear at Ixitxachitl 01 and hits, dealing (1d6+1): 3+1 = 4 damage. Ixitxachitl 01 is now seriously wounded.
Val stabs her Trident of the Hunter (+2 hit/dmg) at Ixitxachitl 01 and hits, dealing (1d6+5): 3+5 = 8 damage. Ixitxachitl 01 dies.

(OOC: One remaining. Actions for Round 4?)

[Chris1234]

"Do you think I should take the last bit of healing potion and you the Herosim potion?" Naras asks Val.
Switching languages, she says, "Where is the Merwoman chieftainess being held?"

[HorizonsDream]

"Before I answer any of those questions, could you have your friends stop pointing weapons at us?" Jocelyn asked. "I am in need of your help, which is why I am here. As for how I survived the plank...I really don't remember much. I woke up on shore. I heard the word miracle multiple times from other priests and priestess of Octhanus."

[Nuke]

Val moves to finish off the other foe before discussing their options.

[JadedDM]

Jocelyn, Ouragana, Baeros, Gallath and Drav (Alley behind Temple of Renos/Sardonx 15th, 11 PM)
Sable raises her hand into the air and gives a little wave. The people on the roof and the gnolls in the alley lower their guns, but do not put them away. "One can never be too careful," she says. "A miracle? Ha! Well, I've seen stranger things, I guess." She shrugs. "What help could I give you? If you think I can call off the hit on you, that's not up to me. I'm the first mate now, but not the captain. I might have been able to persuade him before...but that was before you killed his nephew."

Val and Naras (Ixitxachitl Lair/Sardonx 12th, 1 PM)
(OOC: Is Naras taking an action this round, too, or just the talking?)

[Chris1234]

Drinking the healing potion if possible. Failing which, finishing off the ray.
(It has about 10 seconds to give useful information. Then it's an X-ray.)

[HorizonsDream]

Nephew?" Jocelyn asks in surprise. "Uh, but you know I didn't kill Ethan," she adds. "Out of everyone on that ship, you probably knew me the best. I couldn't and I wouldn't have killed him."

[spyguy1503]

Gallath remains hidden. How? HOW? He takes deep, silent breaths to calm himself. Anyone paying attention can tell he is stressed.