Chpt. 2: In the Palace

[FreebirdFootbagging]

Slightly intrigued despite the grotesque formation of the creatures, Raquinel follows the fighters forward, and mutters incantations in a magical language. Whilst chanting she wiggles her fingers deftly, letting loose a bright ball of energy towards a creature.

Dmg- 1d4+1=3. Is a 3rd level magic user capable of casting 2 Magic Missles at once? If so the other dmg roll is 4

[jdluna]

Bjorn swings her mace at the clawed creature attacking her:

Attack: [1d20+2] = 8+2 = 10

Damage: [1d6+2] = 4+2 = 6

[Grognardsw]

Monster Mash

The adventurers are prepared and poised for danger. Andover the ranger fires his arrow over the short hobbit into the mongrel creature before its axe completes its swing down on Honilee. At point blank range, the arrow thuds deeply into its chest. Shen the monk follows quickly with a martial punch, over the hobbit, striking the monster in the chest. It keels over dead. Honnilee looks up, glad for her short stature.

Through the open doorway more mongrelmen are charging. A bullywig-dwarf mongrel hops/leaps at Andover. It passes right over Honnilee. The ranger jumps back and the mongrel lands short, missing. Another gnollish turtle creature snaps at Shen. The monk too jumps back and the turtle pincers miss. From a little inside the room, a mongrel monster with two serpentine stalks ending with mouths slithers out to grab the hobbit. Honnilee scampers out of the way.



At the south door, two of the mongrel monsters erupt forth, but again the heroes of Law gain first strike. Poltux the fighter hews with his axe at the hooked horror arm coming at him. The blow is well placed, chopping the whole arm off. Blood fountains out and over the front line of Poltux, Bjorn and Idwellin as the monster goes into shock and dies.

Idewellin’s spear darts forward and well above the dwarf cleric in front of him to gash at the orcish-bugbear face of the second mongrel monster. It screams as its left cheek flaps in the air and its tongue lands on Bjorn’s helmet.

Ianin dashes forward and in a dexterous move reaches between Poltux and Idwellin. He merely touches the wounded mongrel monster, but the creature suddenly becomes electrified, sparks fly, it smokes a little and drops rigid and dead.

Two more mongrel monsters come through the doorway. Raquinel’s deformity does not affect her magic as she utters quick words of power and two missiles of magical purple energy shoot forth from her hands. Despite the very tight quarters – Poltux and Bjorn in front, Idwellin right behind and striking over Bjorn - both missiles unerringly strike one of the new creatures, piercing its left shoulder and upper chest. It falls back a few feet dead.

Bjorn rubs monster blood from his eye and swings his mace at the other new mongrelman. The creature’s big scaled arm (is that a dragon arm? wonders Bjorn) blocks the mace. The monster claws at Bjorn, striking against his enchanted dwarven-forged magic plate mail. The armor protects the cleric.

Another creature rushes through behind this one. It’s a reptilian-elf mongrel that slashes at Poltux. The half-orc blocks with his shield. From a little inside the doorway a three-armed octopoidish gnoll mongrel hurls three stones at Idewellin. Two of them glance off the druid (4 HP damage).

Flint stands in the corridor between the north and south battles, each side jammed up with bodies dead and alive. He considers his next move.

Actions!

- Honnilee Surprised? [1d6] = 4 - No
- Monster Initiative [1d6] = 3, Party Initiative [1d6] = 5 Party wins!
- Attack on Andover [1d20] = 4, damage [1d6] = 4 Miss
- Attack on Shen [1d20] = 3, damage [1d6] = 6 Miss
- Attack on Honnilee [1d20] = 8, damage [1d4] = 3 and attach Miss
- Attack on Bjorn [1d20] = 17, damage [1d6] = 6 Missed by two
- Attack on Poltux [1d20] = 17, damage [1d6] = 5 Missed by one
- Attack on Idwellin. 3 stones. [1d20] = 14, [1d20] = 16, [1d20] = 9 Two hit.
- Idwelling stone damage [1d3] = 1, [1d3] = 3, [1d3] = 2 4 points total #1,2
- I haven’t seen such a uniformly good set of player rolls, and poor DM rolls, as this round. Usually it’s the other way around Perhaps the Balance is shifting to Law? Or is the Runestaff nearby?

[Zhym]

Andover brings Spellslasher down on the bullywig-dwarf mongrel.

Spellslasher (THAC0: 18): [1d20+4] = 14+4 = 18; S/M Damage: [1d8+7] = 8+7 = 15; L Damage: [1d12+7] = 5+7 = 12

[greyarea]

Shen, monk

Shen retaliates against his assailant. Back to the hells, you mockery of life, he shouts with a elbow strike!

Shen attack [1d20] = 17
Shen hand strike damage [1d6+2] = 6+2 = 8

[tkrexx]

Honnilee, Thief

YEEK!! A shriek of surprise peels from the Hobbit as she instinctively curls up tight and rolls away, fast and far, at least 10 feet. She comes up with her slim, short sword in hand, but secretly hopes none of the ugly creatures has followed her. If opportunity allows she will strike one of the horrors from behind, even if it is not by surprise.

[tkrexx]

Flint, Illusionist

Coming in from behind, the Illusionist prepares to throw a dagger at the misshapen fiends now abounding but stops short. A miss could harm his fellows! Silently he takes in and wonders at the sight of these beasts, none of them alike! His fingers find a pinch of wool in his pouch...

[Eulalios]

Idwillen, druid (13/17)

"Who's not in melee? Keep an eye to the end of the hallway!" he shouts, looking for a way to weave his spear past friends to stab foes.

Idwillen's Attack with Spear (THACO: 20) [1d20+1] = 13+1 = 14, S/M Damage [1d6+3] = 4+3 = 7, L Damage [1d8+3] = 1+3 = 4 hit AC 6

[NJWilliam]

Poltux

Poltux brings another mighty swing with his axe down at the nearest of the mixed up monsters. The force of his swing is impressive, the accuracy, not so much.

Poltux Axe THAC018: to hit [1d20] = 6, damage [1d8] = 4?

[NJWilliam]

Ianin

Ianin waits for an opening and reaches through to touch another of the bizarre beasts with his ring of shocking grasp.

Ianin Ring of Shocking Grasp THAC1 20: to hit, [1d20] = 17, damage [1d8+6] = 4+6 = 10 hits ac 3, is the touch attack with the ring usually against ac 10

[FreebirdFootbagging]

With her spell wiped from her mind the disformed woman takes up her quarter staff and readies herself to deflect a blow. She stays behind her comrades, contimplating what to do next.

[Grognardsw]

Andover hacks at the billywug-dwarf mongrel that jumped in front of him. The enchanted blade cleaves the shoulder down to the rib cage. It dies with a quick scream.

Shen confronts the gnoll-turtle. The monk weaves, ducks, spins and connects with a rare "drunk monkey technique" elbow-strike that jars the creature. Though heavily wounded, it snaps at Shen with its turtle pincers. They seize the monk's arm, but his shining plate armor (courtesy of Flint) protects Shen from damage.

After avoiding mouthed tentacles, Honilee the hobbit crawls north 10'. She is behind Andover and witnesses his killing sword stroke.

***

At the south door, Idwellin warns the others to watch the ends of the hallway. Bjorn swings his mace against the dragonish mongrel before him. The creature's rough hide again protects it.

The druid sees Bjorn struggling against the dragonish mongrel. Using his height advantage, Idwellin thrusts his spear over the dwarf to hit the creature. The spear slides ineffectually across its scales.

The dragonish mongrel growls at Idwellin, but with the druid behind Bjorn, it instead continues to slash at the cleric. The dwarf blocks the claw with his new magic mace.

Standing next to Idwellin in the 10' wide corridor, Ianin bravely reaches out again over Bjorn's head to touch the dragonish mongrel. The mage is successful, and his ring of shocking grasp electrifies the creature. It staggers back into the room, shaken badly but alive.

The octopoidal gnoll monster uses its three arms to again throw apple-sized stones out the door toward the three heroes. With the tumultuous combat of many bodies in a small space, the three stones miss their marks. One does strike the dwarf but only rattles his plate mail armor.

Poltux strikes back at his reptilian-elf creature. He slips a bit on blood and his axe misses. But the half-orc fighter recovers enough to block the reptilian's claw attack.

Between the two battles, Flint considers what spell to use that won't harm his comrades. Raquinel the mage takes a defensive position next to Flint.

The adventurers' deadly accuracy has created a swath of death. The mongelmen fall back into the rooms, surprised at their sudden loses. None remain in the corridor. Both north and south doors are open.

"Razkita, razkita! Eiko gloiv, eiko gloiv!" The adventurers hear guttural mongrelmen voices within repeating what sounds like a command. A red glow is coming from within the north room.

Actions?

- Please check Dice Roller for my rolls. On iPhone, too tedious to cut/paste.
- Initiative: party won.
- A bunch more misses for mongrelmen.
- Shen's phantom armor worked! Though the 17 hit AC 3, it absorbed the 2 points of damage. It now has 1 HP left before dissipating.

[greyarea]

Shen, monk

Shen presses the attack, going full drunken monkey!

Shen attack [1d20] = 14
Shen hand strike damage [1d6+2] = 2+2 = 4

[NJWilliam]

Poltux, half-orc fighter

Poltux attacks again with his magic axe, still uncertain about whether he prefers it to his javelin.

Poltux Axe THAC018: to hit [1d20] = 13, damage [1d8] = 2?

[NJWilliam]

Ianin, magic-user

Ianin watches the mongrel men and waits for an opportunity to reach out and shock another again.

Ianin Ring of Shocking Grasp THAC1 20: to hit, [1d20] = 18, damage [1d8+6] = 1+6 = 7

[Zhym]

Andover tries to cleave the gnoll-turtle.

Spellslasher (THAC0: 18): [1d20+4] = 4+4 = 8; S/M Damage: [1d8+7] = 6+7 = 13; L Damage: [1d12+7] = 12+7 = 19

Wait, I forgot that Andover gets 3/2 attacks with the longsword. Is this a 2-attack round or a 1-attack? If last round was the 2-attack round, can I make it up this round? If so:

Spellslasher (THAC0: 18): [1d20+4] = 16+4 = 20; S/M Damage: [1d8+7] = 6+7 = 13; L Damage: [1d12+7] = 2+7 = 9

[Eulalios]

Idwillen racks his memory of Goblin, Giant, and Gnollish tongues ... what is about to happen?

Meanwhile, he tries another thrust at the nearest foul spawn of Chaos.

Idwillen's Attack with Spear (THACO: 20) [1d20+1] = 14+1 = 15, S/M Damage [1d6+3] = 4+3 = 7, L Damage [1d8+3] = 8+3 = 11 and ... hits AC 5!

[tkrexx]

Honnilee, Thief

The Thief hears the commands given, but is more interested in the red glow. Something's happening in there!

Honnilee's languages: Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling & Orcish

[tkrexx]

Flint, Illusionist

Flint silently agrees to watch the passage, but can't get the bizarre words of the Mongrelmen out of his head.

Flint's languages: Elven, Halfling, Goblin, Orcish

[Grognardsw]

"Razkita eiko gloiv!"


Mongrelmen Fight, Round Three

North Door and Room

Even Idwellin near the south door hears the mongrelman yelling in the north room. "Razkita eiko gloiv!"

The druid thinks he recognizes certain grammatical roots in at least one word..."glove?"

The gnoll-turtle snaps its pincers at Andover but the ranger parries the blow. Shen and Andover force back the gnoll-turtle into the room some five feet.

The monk turns a lurch into a lunge with a 'drunken-monkey-double-paw-pinch' maneuver. Perhaps too elaborate a move, it only grazes tough turtle hide. Andover's sword thrust scrapes turtle carapace, but a quick reposte slides under it and fatally wounds the mongrel monster. Ichorish green blood spews.

Now inside the room by some five feet, Shen and Andover (and Honnilee, who creeps up to peek through the doorway) see that it is a large decrepit kitchen, with a open portal in the south wall leading to a room. Their attention is riveted by a 7' tall muscular bull-orc mongrel wearing a glittering jeweled gauntlet on his right hand and a gem eye-patch on its left eye. A swirling, glowing red mist of 10'x10' size is to the right of the bull-orc. The mongrelman beckons with its gloved hand toward the mist.

Striding forth from the mist you see...

The bull-orc points at the adventurers and the creatures move to attack!

***

South Door and Room



At the south door, the reptilian-elf mongrel faces Poltux, Bjorn and Idwellin. It falls back into the room and slashes at Poltux. It gets lucky, slipping through the warrior's defenses and tearing a large gash in his left side (12 HP with crit hit.)

Angered, Poltux the Proud sweeps his axe from the right side, splitting open the creature (7 HP damage.) It falls on its knees as the huge Druid Idwellin skewers it to death with his spear like a fish in a river.

Ianin follows, his ringed-finger-hand ready to deal another shocking blow. Raquinel follows cautiously behind Ianin, while Flint remains in the hallway to keep watch.

Inside the south room by 10', the adventurers see it is an old dining room, judging from the multiple long tables and benches. They are all in poor-to-ruined condition. In the north wall is an open portal way to what looks like a kitchen. From it comes a red glow and the sounds of battle.

The room also has four other mongrel monsters. They are of smaller size and less fearsome visage: a kobold-goblin, norker-human, hobgoblin-dwarf, and jackal-halfling.

For a moment they look scared at the death-dealing adventurers. Then with a determined look they rush forward to attack (made morale check.)

Actions for Round Four!

- Please check Dice Roller for result specifics.
- Round 3 initiative: Mongrelmen win
- Gnoll-turtle attack on Andover: missed
- Reptilian-elf attack on Poltux: critical hit, 6 HPx2= 12 HP.
- Poltux, reminder the axe is +2. With your Str. bonus of +2, the total to hit bonus is +4, damage +5
- Ianin, you can apply that round three ring attack roll for next Round.
- South room monster morale check: yes