Night Below

Battle with the Servitor Derro, Round 10

 

Castinar – move to K12a

70/94 – cast spell on self

Diana – fireball at G17a

80 – move to H17a, <fwop> Diana

Thengal – bull rush group around 61

25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 22, 23, 24 – more ineffectual crossbow shots

60 – lightning bolt wall again (will create small hole, wall will come down in round 11)

Matar – fly to K9b, put sword defensive

Nikki – cast Magic Missile at 63

62 – cast Mirror Image on self

Shadow – Ready, waiting for wall to come down

63/91 – cast Magic Missile at Diana

Katrina – throw things into pack

65 – Magic Missile on Nikki

61 – if Thengal reaches him, double move away from T

54 – move deeper into water, get crossbow out and ready

64/90 – dispel magic on Diana

Hunter – hold tight

Amber – refocus

92 (spider) – climb into a next

Ariessus – ready a Sound Burst spell

K’harn – cast Spike Stones on near side of wall, smaller area than normal

Bohica - ??? NPC, refocus, watches area with wall

66/93 – cast spell on self

 

Situation - the battle with the servitor derro is fully joined.  The party has split up, with most of the “heavy hitters” moving to engage the savants, while Ari and a few others have stayed behind to handle the derro in the barracks room, who are about to break free.  

 

Events

 

The large lizard that is Castinar scuttles forward, into the cloud of noxious fumes.  The battle-toughened ranger ignores the stench as he waddles towards the sounds of combat in the area where the slaves are kept.  He stops just outside of the cloud and prepares to shift back into his elven form.

 

Several of the derro savants have turned themselves invisible.  One of them, the leader, casts a spell on himself.  He considers flying back down to engage Matar again, but the fact that the leader is still hurting from Matar’s first attack convinced him that he might want to cast a few more preparatory spells before doing so.

 

Diana looks around the cavern, her practiced eye gauging distances.  She figures her best chance of catching more than one derro with a spell will be trying to hit the two derro in the air above her with a fireball.  She begins to cast her spell, then realizes that while the shadowy insects biting at her may be mostly phantasms, they have some real element to them, for she feels pain.  The spellweaver shoves the pain aside and finishes her spell.  The cavern is illuminated by the sudden burst of flame.  The fire overwhelms the natural defenses of the lower derro, and he cries out in pain.  Both spider mounts keen in agony as well as, but the bulk of the upper spider’s body shields the savant mounted on his back.  (OOC: nice damage roll, 43, and both the derro and spiders failed their STs)  The heat proves to be too much for both the derro and the spiders.  They all fall to the ground, their bodies twisted and blackened. 

 

The upper derro finds himself falling to the ground along with his mount.  Without wasting the breath on a curse, he quickly leaps out of the saddle and speaks the trigger word of a featherfall spell, which lowers him gently to the ground.

 

The fireball going off attracts the illithid’s attention.  Stepping out from his protected nook, he looks around the corner and sees Diana standing there.  His tentacles begin to wave as a burst of mental energy surges towards the spellweaver.  The energy gets past Diana’s innate defenses, and the elf has to struggle to keep her thoughts focused.  Her disciplined mind proves to be too powerful and she shakes off the effect.  Seeing this, the mind flayer moves back around the rock wall, putting it between Diana and himself.

 

Thengal growls at the savant who has dared to surround himself with slaves as a defensive shield.  Bellowing his rage, the dwarf rolls forward, plowing into the group, trying to get at the savant.  (Bull rush, Thengal (charging) vs a female slave.  Thengal is +6 (4 strength, 2 charging), and the woman is -2 (strength).  Both roll 18s.  Thengal wins.)  The dwarf tries to be gentle as he pushes the first woman aside, knocking her back.  He continues charging forward, this time slamming into the savant himself.  (Same thing, but this time the derro has no modification.  Thengal rolls 2, the derro rolls 9, so the derro wins (barely).)  But the derro, with a rock wall behind him, manages to stop the charging dwarf.  Thengal staggers back slightly before quickly regaining his balance.

 

Derro have never been known for their concern for others, even for others of their own kind.  They prove this as most the soldiers in the room follow Thengal’s progress, then let loose with a volley of crossbow bolts once the dwarf comes to a stop - right in the middle of all the slaves and the savant. 

 

(OOC: Thengal’s effective AC works out to be 20 this round (base 10, 8 for plate armor, 1 for dex, 3 for ring, -2 for charging).  And the derro finally roll well with four 20s, and 18.  One of the threats is a crit.  There were also quite a few low rolls, which would have missed Thengal completely (even unarmored).  I rerolled them and 4 of them hit the slaves.)   

 

The derros’ fire proves to be much more accurate in this round than in previous attempts.  Five bolts dig deeply into Thengal’s back, one punching through so strongly that it pops out of his chest.  The old dwarf is staggered, but he stays on his feet.  That’s when he feels the poison that each bolt was coated in seeping into his system.  Perhaps it is the dwarf’s stubborn nature, or maybe it is his tough dwarven blood.  Whatever the reason, he shrugs off the effects of the poison.

 

But what pains Thengal almost as much as the bolts that hit him are the bolts that tear into the unprotected slaves around him.  One of the slaves, a human by the look of her, takes two crossbow bolts, on in her abdomen and the other in the leg.  She falls to the ground, unmoving.  Another takes a bolt through the eye and drops like a stone.  One other, this one an elf, takes a bolt in the shoulder.  She slumps down to the ground, staring at the wound in shock.

 

Not all of the soldiers fired at Thengal, however.  Several of them noticed the large lizard suddenly appearing at the edge of the stinking cloud.  Sure, maybe it is just a normal lizard, but why take the chance.  Besides, lizard makes good eating.  Three of the soliders fire their crossbows at the lizard.  (OOC: Castinar’s AC in this case is 17 (+3 natural from the lizard, +3 dex, +1 ring of protection).)  Each of the derro fires once.  They prove to be devastatingly accurate from this range (OOC: a 15, and 18, and a 20, no crit, good damage rolls too, doing 19 points of damage)  The lizard hisses in pain as the bolts tear into its flesh. 

 

Back in the tunnel leading into the caverns, another lightning bolt shakes the cavern.  This time a spray of rock comes flying off of the wall.  When the dust clears it reveals a smoking hole about a foot in diameter.  A faint cry is heard from behind the wall, followed by an angry shout. 

 

Matar has had enough trying to chase down flying, invisible savants.  With the plan in shambles he realizes the slaves are in great danger.  The fighter turns and begins flying off.  The spider near him tries to bite at him as he moves away, but misses.  The fighter drops down, flying quickly over the stinking cloud to land in the middle of several very surprised derro in the slave cavern.  The warrior switches his katana to defensive mode, and waits for one of the derro to do something he can take advantage of.

 

Nikki looks around the suddenly empty-looking cavern.  Diana has already roasted the only savant she could see, and no more savants are in sight.  So she takes the next best option and blasts the closest visible spider with a volley of magic missiles.  The already wounded spider curls up on itself and falls to the ground, landing with a great splat as its carapace bursts open, spilling spider guts all around.

 

The other savant in the slaves cavern has become rather concerned.  Not only is there a large lizard standing only a few feet away, but now a very dangerous looking human warrior has appeared in the room.  The savant decides it’s time to go defensive again, and he casts Invisibility on himself, vanishing from view.  It then moves away from the danger, although its less-than-stealthy movements are loud enough for Castinar to perceive that it is heading for the wall.  (OOC: Castinar has a rough idea where the invisible 62 is.)

 

Shadow gives a nod of thanks to Ariessus for the shield spell, then returns her attention to the wall, hoping that something stupid sticks its head through the hole so she can get a shot at it. 

 

Katrina mutters about her bad luck as she quickly strips out of her clothes and throws them into her pack.  She then secures her bow and quiver as well and moves the bulky gear towards the entrance she plans on slipping through after she changes into her cat form.

 

Nikki’s attention is drawn back towards the wall to her right as a volley of magic missiles explode against her shield spell.  She isn’t sure where, but she knows there is a savant along there somewhere.  The savant, however, realizes his position has been compromised, so he quickly and quietly moves where it expects Nikki won’t expect - towards the wild mage.  (OOC: I did roll the move/listen check, and Nikki isn’t aware of the derro’s location.)

 

The other savant in the slave room is rather surprised and pleased that he was able to stop the charging dwarf.  However, he has no illusions about him being able to survive more than a round or two standing next to the warrior.  He steps away from Thengal (stepping on the wounded elf in the process, and moves out into the water, putting the wounded lieutenant between himself and Thengal. (OOC: double move to avoid an AoO) 

 

The lieutenant, however, has no intention of becoming a shield.  He moves past the savant, getting his crossbow out and loaded as he does so.

 

Back in the main room, the derro which just had its mount burned out from under him considers his options.  He had wanted to try and dispel some of the spells protecting Diana, but he can’t do that now that he had to use featherfall.  Like any good derro, he decides that discretion is the better part of valor, and moves around the rock outcropping in the center of the room, putting it between himself and the angry spellweaver.

 

Hunter maintains his position, waiting to help those in the tunnel to coordinate their efforts once the derro make it past the wall.  Amber takes the free moment to collect herself, preparing herself for the derros’ entrance as well.  (OOC: refocus, putting her at 22 for her initiative count.)

 

Ariessus, unsure whether or not the derro will come through this round, readies a Sound Burst spell.  As she does so, K’harn concentrates on the area in front of the wall, raising up dozens of small spikes in the area the derro must come through to get at the party. (OOC: Spiked area outlined in orange on the map.)  A few feet away, Bohica takes the opportunity to refocus as well, as he too waits for the derro to emerge.  (OOC: puts initiative count at 22 as well.)

 

And finally, the remaining savant in the main room casts a spell on himself.  Diana sees him (all five) rise up into the air, looking in Nikki’s direction.

 

End of Round

 

OOC: Well, that round was fairly even, although I think the advantage goes to the party with one of the savants being killed.  Still, Thengal is hurting pretty badly, and Castinar could be in trouble, depending on what Matar is able to do next round.

 

You can go ahead and send in your intentions, but I don’t know if I’ll get a turn out for a couple weeks.  I’m gone camping this weekend, back for one day, gone for four days to Vegas with Jamie, back for an evening, then off to Curacao again for two weeks.  Maybe I’ll get a turn out while down there, but that wasn’t as easy as I thought it might be last time, so we’ll see.

 

I’m also leaning very strongly towards switching over to that module I mentioned.  We’ll probably do that right after this battle.

 

Saif