Dragon's Egg - Act IV

[Ireth]

Cadell

As I loose my arrow, I glimpse the kobolds closing in on our allies. I shout down to them, "No, fools! Attack the drow!"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Baldhart

I hear Cadell shout out… but did I not see kobolds aiding Keit? Two follow Masama but… no, not betrayal. Just fear.

"Relax, Cadell. The kobolds know they're three dead drows away from freedom."

I keep my eyes fixed on my opponent, and my guard up. I say to him, "Your death will be quick, but painful."

I'm just asking that spider lady to shoot me in the back, aren't I? I hope Alin and Masama hit her harder…

 

[SeverinR]

Aliron
Spider lady is to high to back stab, so my newest ability will come in handy. He moves up to be sure he is within 30 feet, draws back the last poison arrow, focuses on the spiders under belly, and releases:
normal to hit day arrow [1d20+6] = 4+6 = 10 ;damage[1d8] = 3 +2 for sneak attack, not sure if bonus for being behind her +2?
If hits damage is 7+poison (3+4(sneak attack))
{rear attack does not stack with rogue, for backstab I agree, but a sneak attack to the rear should be +4[+2 for sneak and +2 for behind]. Otherwise there is no bonus for a sneak attack from behind. Sneak attack means they weren't ready for the attack, being behind them is even more chance to hit.}
"Focus all missles on the flying spider! Warriors focus on the men." Aliron screams.

Bressel:
Shakes off the effects of the poison then continues on with his previous action.

 

[Keitsumah]

Keitsumah

I smile and hug the kobold who picked the lock, regardless of his reaction. "Thank you." I say then quickly let go to open the door and see the children. "Come with me. There are others outside of this place waiting for us. They will help you." If the children need reassurance I will not be afraid to envelop them in my arms and carry any one of the smaller ones. But after assuring them I turn toward the exit and eye the spider woman, then the dagger lying on the ground near Baldhart. Then I eye the roof again:

(WIS check to judge the height of the cieling, and thats a prime)

After trying to judge the height of the ceiling I keep the information to myself for the time being and work on ushering the children to safety. Batos. Get the dagger. I will need it when I return.

I feel his response mentally and use my cloak to try and camaflouge myself and the children from the spider's gaze as I move toward the exit. I do not care if the lizards follow or not -but even their meager protection is welcome.

Batos

I hear Keit's command and heed it, darting toward where the dagger lies on the ground. The drow female seemed to have been able to eat safely while using it -but that does not mean she is vulnerable to the poison I have scented all over the place.Maybe she is the source of the poison...

Something tells me the blade or handle might be coated as well, and i sniff it cautiously:

 

[Philster401]

"Die!"

I attack the Drow.

(I keep forgetting which points I add to my rolls. I'm also quite tired today.)

 

[Steerpike]

((New map)).

 

[Steerpike]

Cadell fires a poison-coated arrow at the drow who attacked Nissa. The elf's aim is true, and the arrow punches through the drow's armor and embeds itself in the drow's back, causing the dark elf to cry out. Nissa looks a bit lethargic, and she just manages to register Cadell's attack and see Baldhart come rushing in before everything goes black for her.

The drow turns away from Nissa, looking for the source of the arrow attack. His legs buckle, and this is somewhat lucky for him as it causes him to sway to one side and avoid Baldhart's attack. The woman shrugged off the strange withering ray attack of the sorceress and now rushes the drow. The drow tries to reach the arrow in his back, but it is located at an awkward position. He gives up and goes down to his knees, eyes heavy with sleep. He looks up at Baldhart and, in a strangely-accented common, says "I'll see you in the Abyss, you beast of a bitch." Then he slumps over, asleep.

Meanwhile, next to Cadell, Liadan starts to moan as consciousness returns. She's a bit bewildered at first ((it's going to take her this next round to recover enough to act)).

Aliron creeps close enough to the spider woman to fire the last of his poison arrows, but the missile deflects off of the spider-thing's thick underside and bounces harmlessly to the floor.

Bressel continues his charge at the drow who attacked him, arriving just as Zoran is readying his own attack. The drow, wide-eyed, looks between Zoran and Bressel, as though trying to judge which attack to dodge. As a result, the drow manages to dodge neither attacker, trying a hasty, last-minute parry of Bressel. Both Bressel and Zoran land their attacks almost at once, driving the drow to the ground. The dark elf lies motionless and moaning beneath their blades, a pool of dark blood spreading across the stone.

Masama pulls up short in his run behind the spider woman, raises his axe, and sights up the sorceress. He moves the axe forward, as though in a practice motion, then fully cocks his arm and lets the axe fly:

Axe attack [1d20+7] = 20+7 = 27

Damage [1d8+3] = 8+3 = 11

The axe whirls through the air and buries itself in the abdomen of the spider, spurting green goo and causing a trail of viscous fluid to drip toward the ground like snot from a child's nose. The sorceress lets out a scream, and zips through the air about 25 feet to the north, trailing slime behind her, her fingers moving in furious gestures and sibilant sounds coming from her mouth. She looks back toward Masama and Aliron, then over toward Baldhart, Bresse, and Zoran, but only for an instant as she makes up her mind.

Again strange energies form around the hands of the spider-woman. Instead of a undulating ray, this time a charge of ozone fills the air, along with a crackle like fat sizzling in a pan. A jagged bolt of lightning streaks away from the spider-woman, a driving electric arc of power that zips through Baldhart, Bressel, Zoran, and one of the kobolds. The lightning continues past them, driving into the stone wall just below Cadell and to his left, causing the hair on the elf's head to stick up in disarray. The lightning bolt ricochets off the wall into the stone of the floor, then ricochets again, up into the air where it finally dissipates.

[6d6] = 20

((Need DEX save from Baldhart, Bressel, and Zoran; if you make your save (for Prime Dex you need 18; for non-Prime 24) you take 10 damage. If you miss your save you take 20)).

Kobold save: [1d20+1] = 9+1 = 10

The lightning bolt leaves in its wake the smoking ruin of one of the kobolds.

The other kobold that was coming up behind Zoran yelps and stops in his tracks, eyes wide. Too, the kobolds rushing past Masama lurch to a sudden stop, jaws dropped. They yip amongst themselves, gesturing at the spider woman.

From atop Batos, Tarlack calls out to his kobolds. His words can't be understood, but his tone can. The kobolds nearest the fight straighten a bit at his words, but they seem confused as to what to do next. The spider woman is up in the air, and formidable besides, and the remaining drow have almost fallen.

Batos sniffs at the knife while Tarlack yells to his followers. A powerful reek of evil comes from the blade. It is not poisoned, at least not as far as the wolf can tell, but it is just wrong.

Two kobolds next to Keitsumah nod their heads at Tarlack's command and try to lead the children away from the cage. They gesture toward Keitsumah, and then toward the fight, clearly trying to communicate that Keitsumah should aid the party while the two kobolds get the children out of the room. The children, however, don't want any part of going with the kobolds, and they grasp and clutch at Keitsumah, one boy kicking out violently at the nearest kobold but missing.

 

[Ireth]

Cadell

Liadan moans beside me, and I duck down to check on her. Sure enough, she's regaining consciousness. I smile in relief. "Welcome back, love."

She blinks up at me in bewilderment, trying and failing to rise. "What's going...?"

I gently push her back down. "Lie still a moment. You're still unsteady."

Lightning crackles through the stone mere inches from me, making my hair stand on end. Liadan stifles a laugh; I know I must look ridiculous. I turn to look out at the spider-drow, wondering if I can stick her with an arrow from here. Perhaps not with my bow, but Liadan's longbow has more range.

"May I borrow your longbow?"

She nods and slides an arrow from her quiver, laying it in my hand. "Go ahead. May Fraxinus speed this arrow and aim it true."

Taking a deep breath, I aim at the spider-drow and loose the shaft.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I reply, "Death takes me to a better place than where you're going." But my retort is drowned out by a thunderclap.

((Holy shit!))

I feel the lightning, but—not in the way the exploding kobold might've.

"Is that all you got!" I look the caster right in the eye as I stroll over to the first drow to fall asleep. ((The guy north of Nissa.))

"You're dying, lady." I grab Sleeping Ugly by the face, and rather than just slide my thumbs into the eye socket and push, I lift the man from the ground and slam his head into the wall full force! ((Closer to the north stairs, if possible. Baldhart wants to be as far from her allies as possible when doing this.))

Messy! Maybe that'll [Intimidate] the caster. Maybe her spell will fail and she'll plummet to her death, or maybe arrows will kill her. One thing's for certain—that spell was aimed at me and not the archers who can actually kill her. Maybe I stopped oxygen to her brain enough to cloud her judgment. So what the hell? Why not mess with her head some more?

I point my finger at her, flicking a bit of drow brain as I do. "If you're just gonna fly where I can't reach you, I've got no reason to stay here. So are you gonna come down to fight me, or do I need a grappling hook?"

 

[Keitsumah]

Batos

I growl as i scent the dagger, discerning the blood of the girl on it, and other things i cannot describe. If i ever get the chance, i would love nothing more than to sink my fangs into the witch's throat and tear her jugular out.

I glimpse Nissa as she slumps to the ground farther off and yelp in alarm. Picking up the dagger carefully between my teeth, I bolt in her direction, aiming to stand over her body and protect her from further harm.

Keitsumah

"It's okay. They want to help you. The kobolds are on our side now. They will lead you to the others waiting in the tunnels." I soothe the children, allowing them to cling to me as i hold them close. "Trust me."

I eye one of the kobolds and, despite the language barrier, try to communicate where Burnbright would be waiting with the others. I cup my hands into a circle and point toward the exit. "Tunnel." I say, then point to myself and my staff. "Girl. Spear. Guard." Then I point to the children. "Take to girl with spear." Then i point at the cieling and clench my hands. "Magic." i say, pointing to myself. "Witch. I can make the roof fall." To further emphasize my point i point at the roof again and clap my hands together in a motion i hope makes them think of collapse or falling.

Maybe. I do not share that doubt but instead try to remain confident as others fall and a kobold is burnt to cinders. Then again, Burnbright might attack the kobolds if they are not careful.

Biting my lip, I unclasp my necklace, the gem glowing feebly, and hand it to the kobold. Then I try to usher the children away. "Go. I do not know what will happen if i try it, but you should not be here if I succeed. The spider will eat you all if you don't. This necklace will tell Burnbright that these kobolds are friendly. They may not be able to talk to you, but they are nice. Just scared like you are." I smile, trying to reassure them:

(That's a prime, the !DiE thing was from me trying to type (Prime) in it)

 

[SeverinR]

Aliron
pulls a normal arrow, a second to aim sneak attack and releases it towards the spider woman.

normal to hit day arrow [1d20+6] = 6+6 = 12 ;damage[1d8] = 8
14 to hit(+2 sneak attack)
12 damage (+4 damage)

Bressel:
Prime ability check [1d20+1] = 15+1 = 16(lvl) prime abilities Str(+3),Dex(0 modifiers),con(+1)

Bressel grabs the grappling hook from his pack and begins to spin it,
[1d20+1] = 15+1 = 16(non-normal weapon attack-level) Flipping the grappling hook to hook the spider woman, When it makes contact he yanks it hard to set it and to pull her back towards him. (Keeping constant presure on the rope to make it tough for her to pull it off.)

"Come, let me introduce you to death!"
"If you can't hit the spider bitch, kill her friends so she sees what we do to child killers!"
{intimidate!}

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Baldhart

Facing the caster with my left thumb still jammed into a corpse's brain, I watch the rope twirl about the caster, hoping it'll hold.

"Hey, look at that! I said 'grappling hook' and there it is. Looks like I'm magic too." I see Tarlack is being ridden a little too close to my side of the room, but while he's here, I go on, "Let me try another trick: the dead drow will arm my allies with their little crossbows."

I let the corpse slide off my left hand and fall on what's left of his face. I cock my head to the hand crossbow in his right hand. Same as the other drow carry. My eyes meet Tarlack's, then the other corpses, and then back to the witch's.

I tell her, "I'd shoot you myself, but my goddess forbids the arrow. Brynhild is the source of my strength, so I won't violate Her ways even for the pleasure of killing you myself. She is the reason I do not fear death." I raise my arms, standing with my back to the north stairs. "Death brings me to Her." I look the witch right in the eye. "Death brings you to your demon, which is why you fear death. You should."




((Baldhart's HP = 25/35
Nissa's HP = 14/16))

 

[SeverinR]

Bressel ability check would be +2 not plus one. so a 17.

Aliron is behind the spider, so possibly another +2 for rear attack?

 

[Philster401]

"Ow, anyone have a giant bug swatter, no, okay. Hey you last drow you know you're dead so how about if you give us information on an easier way to kill her and we might give you mercy," he said while he thought, there might be a god looking over me after all, more likely it's luck then a god though.

"Either way your dead you ugly witch," I sheath my sword and shield, draw my bow, and aim at the caster.

 

[Steerpike]

((At this point, the drow fighters are dead or asleep)).

The kobolds near Keitsumah seem to get the idea that she wants them to take the kids to safety. They hop from foot to foot, waiting, and one of them tugs at one of the children's shirt to try to get them to follow. The kids hesitate a moment longer, unsure of whether to follow the creatures, but at Keitsumah's words they swallow their fear, setting off after the kobolds who lead the children up the stairs at the south end of the amphitheater and into the seating section above.

The spider woman glances quickly at her dead or sleeping warriors, a quick frown playing across her face. She keeps most of her attention focused on the fight, though. Aliron's arrow bounces off of her, and she manages to twist away from Bressel's thrown grappling hook, the heavy hook crashing into the stone floor with a clang. Cadell's arrow scores a gouge along the spider-woman's carapace, though it isn't immediately clear how much damage was done. Zoran's arrow ricochets harmlessly off one of the spider-woman's legs.

Masama moves quickly and silently forward to regain his axe, two kobolds on his heels. As the big man picks up the axe, the kobolds suddenly yip loudly and scatter. The kobold next to Zoran remains fixed in place, as though stunned by what is happening.

With her eyes on Baldhart, Bressel, and Zoran, the spider-woman begins to descend toward the ground, her heavy spider-form shimmering and blurring the air. In but a couple of seconds, she is again the lithe, dark drow woman. Her staff is gone, as is her clothing - neither appearing to have survived the transformation to a spider. Long, white hair falls past her shoulders. When she touches feet to the ground she hisses in pain and grabs at her side, which is leaking thick blood. She twists her body so that she can see Masama, then moves her head back and forth quickly between Masama in one direction, and Bressel, Baldhart, and Zoran in the other. Her eyes flick to Aliron, and up to Cadell and Liadan.

"My warriors are defeated," she says, her voice strained. "I offer my surrender." With that, she goes to one knee, still clutching the wound in her side and breathing heavily. Other wounds are bleeding as well, though not as profusely as the one across her abdomen.

Tarlack yells something in kobold, and the kobolds who remain on the amphitheater floor dash toward their leader, though they pull up well short of Batos' head. The wolf has the ceremonial dagger clutched in his mouth and stands protectively over Nissa, who remains sleeping on the stone floor.

Masama rests his axe against his shoulder, looking to the other party members.

 

[Philster401]

"You had your chance why should we accept your surrender?" Zoran asked drow simply but he drew his sword ready for any trickery.

He also stated to the other's, " Maybe we should converse before resorting to killing her but, we should still be on guard." He hoped they would at least give her a chance to survive.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Baldhart

I approach her, ready to choke the life from her, but I will give her time to speak.

((Well, if STR isn't a prime, maybe that'll do it. But it's a readied action. Baldhart's offering her a painless death.))

"Listen very carefully. One quickly-spoken word, a gesture of your hand, and I will make your death very painful."

I wait for a sign she understands, then go on, "I can make the pain stop, but you have eaten an innocent child's heart. Villagers would torture you. I will kill mercifully. You felt the sleep hold, so you know I tell the truth. I also told the truth to my goddess, that I would see you dead. But I can make it painless. I do not take pleasure in making you suffer."

I move behind her and put my arms around in position for the sleeper hold, slowly if she does not resist. I do not apply any pressure, allowing her to speak.

"If you have something you would like to say, speak slowly. When you are ready to sleep, do not resist me. That is the only way it can be painless."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

A thought hits me.

I tell the woman in my arms, "You truly do fear death. Death brings you to your demon, and you don't want that, do you?"

Maybe she's interested, maybe not.

"I cannot prevent your death, but what if I told you there's a chance I can keep your soul from your demon?"

Maybe there is, maybe there isn't. I'm not doing this for her.

 

[Steerpike]

The drow sorceress rasps out a laugh. "I fear neither death nor pain at your hands. You came to save the children." She pauses for a breath, then continues in her strangely-accented common. "Yet there are those you failed to save, and now their souls lay trapped in that dagger your beast holds in its drooling mouth. You are holding the only person who can release them from the dark void of that blade. I will do it, in exchange for my freedom, and for nothing less."

Masama watches the exchange impassively. The remaining kobolds have gathered around Tarlack and are exchanging soft whispers in their reptilian tongue.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Baldhart

"You see the little one sleeping. She is a valkyrie. She can find a way."

I squeeze, but not gently. I'll let her feel this death.