IC - Episode 1: The Arrival

[Awkward Map]

A look of relief washes over the man's face as he sees the mount slow.  "Could I ride with you perhaps?"

(Assuming yes)

Veldor lifts himself to sit behind the kobold, holding onto the saddle firmly.  "I have reason to suspect the portal was opened by mass deaths.  If so, we may be connected to a lower plane of hell permanently," he mentions.

[Nick]

Meepo smiles as Veldor takes a seat behind him. Taking a few moment to ensure that the human is tucked in nice and secure, he taps the ride at the ribcage slightly as the animal bursts into its full speed.

"Bury the site, if material. Cannot do much but trust in the Divine, if not." replies Meepo confidently.

"Riddle me this young one. Why this world, do the devils invade?" quizzes the Copperwrought as the duo journey towards the source of light.

[Awkward Map]

Veldor's eyes narrow as he recalls the scene at the Pit.  "In general, devils want to enslave anything they can.  Specifically, this domain's lord is obsessed with sex and depravity, so you can expect rape and torture."

Bracing himself against the wind and rain, Veldor watches the looming crimson beam in the distance grow larger by the moment as they approach.  He says a silent prayer for the protection of the Flame.

[Nick]

@Sin
[spoiler]Requesting a refining of information based on what Veldor said. Thaumaturgy 20.

EDIT: Received over IM. Thanks[/spoiler]

"The Lord of the Fourth believes in pain, and all manifestations of that pain. Sex and all other sorts of depravity is merely one of the more recognizable aspects that serve as a means to his end. I think this world has little pain, and this might be a reason that drives him to want to introduce that to this world." nods the Copperwrought after closing his eyes for a brief moment in thought, trusting in the mount's own intelligence to navigate through the woods.

"I could be wrong though. I'm getting old haha..." chuckles Meepo.

[Sohala]

Pain shoots through her head again with the voice's passing. She winces and watches her allies charge towards the forest. "I better not let them get themselves killed." Noxatra then drops to the ground from the wagon, and calls forth into being a shadowy horse. She jumps onto the horse and follows after the other two.

[spoiler]sac Cure Light Wounds x1 to get a Silent image, Heighten by one for free to cast Mount.

edit: Just added some fluff.[/spoiler]

[Nick]

Smiling at the nameless dark lady in pursuit, Meepo slows down a little to let the shadowy steed catch up before resuming its fast pace.

"Glad you could join us, dark lady." Meepo greets with a slight bow.

[Sohala]

Noxatra takes the title as a complement and gives Meepo a grateful nod, but nothing more.

[Mister_Sinister]

[spoiler]Secret Roll 1:1d20+11=12, 1d20+11=28 This roll was stunted, and the description should show which.[/spoiler]

Soundtrack change

As the heroes ride into the forest, their migraines show no signs of abating. The dire weasel mount began to groan noticeably, although it kept riding into the woods, which seemed suspiciously dark and foreboding. To make matters worse, the feelings of lust and desire were growing only stronger as they rode and ran towards the source of the energy, which grew stronger with each passing moment, and making those feelings harder and harder to control. However, each of them fought against the pain and strange arousal it was causing and rushed onwards, eager to see what was causing this nightmare.

As they rushed closer to their destination, they could not have known of the eyes watching them. Glowing red in the darkness, but concealed by the pine trees in which they hid, an ambush awaited our heroes. As they rode on, as fast and aware as they could manage through everything going on around them, the monsters gazed on, licking their lips, but staying quiet and concealed, not making a single sound, and breathing slowly. They were hunting, after all.

The heroes ducked several low-hanging branches in their speed to reach the portal - that was the sign. Before they even drew their next breath, the shadows ripped open near them, disgorging two creatures that may have been bears once, but were no longer. Their fur was matted with blood and grime, and their eyes burned with a terrifying dark redness that was both alluring and dangerous. They had covered themselves with soot and pine cones, to aid in their stealth, and had sprung from their shadowy portals, one launching itself full-force at Noxatra, and the other aiming instead for Meepo. Both throw their full weight behind their emergence from the shadows, striking with their leading shoulder in an almost martial-arts-like attack.

[spoiler]Since none of you spotted this coming, these attacks treat you as flat-footed, so you get nothing in the realm of AOOs for them. Bull rush check against Noxatra (bear stunts): 1d20+3=9, 1d20+14=29, 1d20+14=28. Bear wins, and Noxatra is knocked clean off the saddle, and flies 20ft, with the bear following. Bull rush check against Meepo: 1d20-3=1, 1d20+14=26, 1d20+14=23. Ouch, brutal. Meepo goes off the weasel and flies a clean 25ft, with the bear following.[/spoiler]

Before anyone can so much as recover from this onslaught, a mass of fiery rays erupt from two nearby trees. Their firers appear to also be bears, much of the same sort as the ones who pounced on Meepo and Noxatra, and the rays pepper the area, striking brutally at the dire weasel mount, Veldor, Bertha and Barry, aimed precisely to strike the weasel in the mouth and Barry in his eye. The rays are laced with dark energy, and the last two are saved for Noxatra's mount, designed to finish it off by striking its legs.

[spoiler]All the shots are stunted. Ray against dire weasel: 1d20+9=12, 1d20+9=27. Hit, damage: 6d6=28 fire.
Ray against Veldor: 1d20+9=24, 1d20+9=27. Hit, damage: 4d6=12 fire.
Ray against Bertha: 1d20+9=26, 1d20+9=23. Hit, damage: 4d6=13 fire.
Ray against Barry (assuming a touch AC of 14, given that he's still a work in progress): 1d20+9=10, 1d20+9=24. Hit, damage: 6d6=22 fire.
Rays against Noxatra's mount: 1d20+9=15, 1d20+9=29 and 1d20+9=20, 1d20+9=18. Crit threat and hit. Confirmation: 1d20+9=10, hence confirmed. Damage: 8d6=30 and 4d6=11.

If you guys wanna use any reactive abilities to change this outcome, you may still do so by posting. Also, please include an initiative count. The bears are 1d20+1=16.[/spoiler]

[Nick]

[spoiler] Rerolling the first failed Inititative check. 24 is my count.[/spoiler]

"Oomph!" grunts the ancient Copperwrought as he flies backwards. Opening up his wings, which had been serving as an additional cloak earlier on, in a quick and strong flap, Meepo was able to brake in mid-air and regain his bearings. His turquoise orbs glows briefly in anger.

The same orbs that beheld the falling of his dire weasel ride glowed even brighter as the animal lets out a whimper before being burned right through its mouth, taking the whole lower jaw with it. Even as Meepo worries about his passenger and the rest of his comrades, he has this one to deal with first.

"Pay for that, you will." growls the ancient one.

[Awkward Map]

Clearly stunned by the sudden attack, Veldor is caught in the chest by the ray.  He watches in horror as Meepo is thrown out of the saddle and the dire weasel crumples beneath him.  Veldor's knuckles turn white as he grips the saddle and grabs the reigns to steady himself.

"Those tricky bastards!" he yells, his face pulled into a twisted grin.  "They'll yet be sent screaming back to hell!"

[spoiler]
We call this choosing to act tactically. Initiative:(1d20+3=5)
[/spoiler]

[Mister_Sinister]

[spoiler]To speed things up, I'm gonna roll initiative for Bertha, Barry and Noxatra, getting 1d20+3=15, 1d20+3=4 and 1d20+3=12 respectively, giving us an order of:

• Meepo
• Bears
• Bertha
• Noxatra
• Veldor
• Barry

Go Nick, go.[/spoiler]

[Nick]

Despite the braking in mid air Meepo is still travelling backwards where his alertness brings his feet backwards towards the pine tree right behind him.

Giving gravity the proverbial finger the Copperwrought launches himself up on the series of tree branches as high as his powerful legs can carry him up, where at the end of his movements and gravity finally catches up to an ancient kobold, Meepo stands on one of the branches, heavy pick leaning on him and his palms slapped together for a spell. A subtle yellow glow washes over the Copperwrought.

Looking down at the rather dense foliage, Meepo grabs his heavy pick and prepares himself.

[spoiler]
Using Jump and Acrobatics to aid my maneuver up the trees, I'm not sure how much further I could go but assume that I am trying to get some vegetation and foliage to act as my cover. If the bears can climb trees I'll be ready.

Fell the Greatest Foe[/spoiler]

[Mister_Sinister]

Seeing his prey getting away, the monster-bear decides to not give direct chase. Instead, it gazes intently up at Meepo, and a reddish, fiery energy begins to gather in its eyes. After a few seconds, it gives a roar, and the energy discharges into a flurry of three energy beams, all aiming for Meepo's current position, burning holes in the foliage as they strike.

[spoiler]Bear is stunting, as usual. RTAs for rays against Meepo: 1d20+9=25, 1d20+9=21, 1d20+9=25, 1d20+9=13 and 1d20+9=29, 1d20+9=21. Hit, hit and threat. Confirmation roll: 1d20+9=13, so just a normal hit. Damage: 4d6=15, 4d6=15, 4d6=15. Wow, all the same...[/spoiler]

Noxatra, meanwhile, is in worse trouble, facing down a powerful bear and still disoriented from the push. Standing upright, in a stance reminiscent of the Shadow Hand masters, low-slung yet strong, the bear delivers two sweeping claw attacks, aiming for Noxatra's head, and follows with a powerful bite at her chest, aiming to rip out her heart. The bear seems to have a prenaturally good ability to place its strikes where they would do the most damage - as if it had been trained by a Shadow Hand master.

[spoiler]Bear is stunting its attack rolls. 1d20+18=29, 1d20+18=34 and 1d20+18=21, 1d20+18=25 for the claws, and 1d20+16=35, 1d20+16=32 for the bite. All connect. Damage is 2d4+2d6+10=21, 2d4+2d6+10=23 for the claws and 2d8+2d6+5=14 for the bite.

Edit: Miss chance rolls (56% likelihood of a miss, so 57 and over hits): 1d100=96, 1d100=18, 1d100=50. This means only the first claw hits, and the second claw and bite miss due to miss chance.[/spoiler]

The bears in the trees continue their merciless bombardment from their eyes, this time focusing on Veldor and Bertha. The rays strike all over their bodies - arms, legs, torso, head - and appear to be aimed in a precise or orderly fashion, as if sniping. This deadly precision leaves and multiple burn on Veldor's fine clothes and skin, and Bertha is not left unmarked either.

[spoiler]Edit: Due to carelessness on my part, this is gonna be edited so that Veldor won't get trashed before he can even act!

Stunt, bears, stunt! Three ray shots at Veldor: 1d20+9=17, 1d20+9=23; 1d20+9=10, 1d20+9=12 and 1d20+9=15, 1d20+9=14, which yields one hit, and three ray shots at Bertha: 1d20+9=27, 1d20+9=20; 1d20+9=10, 1d20+9=11 and 1d20+9=15, 1d20+9=28 which yield two hits. Damage: 6d6=20, 6d6=19, 6d6=27, all of it fire. This means Veldor takes 20 damage and Bertha takes 46.

Hopefully this result will lead to a less stupid combat, and once again, my apologies.[/spoiler]

Modified initiatives post-delay[spoiler]

• Meepo
• Bears
• Noxatra
• Barry
• Bertha
• Veldor

[/spoiler]

[Sohala]

Startled as she may have been, Noxatra still landed gracefully, but was unprepared for the bear's follow up attacks.

Having regained her balance, she reaches within her robes and pulls forth an ornate black spear with a hooked end. Then with cat like speed, she moves just out of reach of the bear. With a wave of her hand a lightning bolt springs forth to strike the looming bear and those beyond him.

[spoiler]Mount is way toast.
Chronocharm of the Horizon Walker, move backwards 15ft.
sac Darkness for a lightning bolt 10d6=29 , two saves DC 23, will to disbelieve and reduce damage to 60% & reflex for half.
Due to no solid layout I am hoping I hit none of the party.
Oh and the bear took 2 damage from hitting her, 1 from bullrush, 1 from claw.
[/spoiler]

[Mister_Sinister]

[spoiler]Not sure what the point of that feather fall is. Horses aren't tall enough to cause falling damage, and bull rushes don't actually hurt you either. Plus, you were technically still flat-footed at the time, making its casting impossible.

Damage is noted. Saves are 1d20+9=12 (so he believes it) and 1d20+9=11 (so damage is full). 31 total damage to this bear.

Barry, go.[/spoiler]

[Agita]

Barry and Bertha seem livid as these infernal bears appear - unholy mockeries of a sacred animal. As the bears' rays hit her and her nephew, the priestess of Bharrai growls, foaming at her mouth and practically blind with rage. Barry, clutching at his eye, steps off the bear he has been riding and runs for cover. Then, he takes a deep breath and blows into a magnificiently carved horn, possibly made from a giant bear's claw, a clarion sound that drowns out the sounds of slaughter and death. In unison with the horn's sound, the bears let loose an earth-shaking roar, seemingly augmented rather than drowned out by the horn. Then, Barry starts intoning one of the Eternal Army's creeds.
"We are the bones of the bear."
The words, though they are spoken in normal volume, resound and are audible to everyone on the battlefield. Again the Lieutenant blows his horn, accompanied by Bertha and her companion bear's wild roars.
"Claws are our body and thunder is our blood."
A third time the horn resounds, and a third time Bertha and her animal cohort roar. And then, they charge. Bertha and her loyal Bartholomew engage the fiendish bear assailing Noxatra, bellowing with fury. Bart is the first to reach it, and rears up on his hind paws in a stance reminscent of disciples of the martial Stone Dragon discipline. Striking out, the armored bear delivers a bone-shattering strike to the enemy's spine, then immediately steps forward and pulls it into a literal, crushing bear hug.
Meanwhile, Bertha likewise rears up on her hind legs, but she merely mauls at the fiendish mockery of a bear with her claws, seeming to glow with an holy light. This must be what it looks like to watch a bear mother rip a threat to her cubs limb from limb - except this bear mother is divinely empowered on top of it all.

[spoiler]Hoo boy. Let's see.

Barry's Turn
Move action: Dismount.
Free action: Drop prone for protection from the bears' laser eyes
Standard Action: Start Inspiring Courage, with the full Badge of Valor+Words of Creation retinue. All his allies - that's Noxatra, Meepo, Veldor and any of his summons, Bertha, and Bart - gain a +8 morale bonus to hit and a +10 morale bonus to damage and saves against charm and fear effects so long as they can hear him chanting and blowing his horn. Barry takes 3d4 points of nonlethal damage from this. Nonlethal damage (3d4=9)
Inspire Courage Breakdown: +2 Effective Bard level, +1 Badge of Valor, +1 Song of the Heart, +1 Masterwork Horn (damage and saves only) makes +4/+5, Words of Creation doubles this.

Bertha's/Bart's turn
Bart:
Move action: Move to engage the bear near Noxatra. Bart will try to get into a position from where he can set up a flank for Bertha when she charges if he can do so without drawing an AoO.
Swift Action: Enter Crushing Weight of the Mountain stance.
Standard action: Initiate Mountain Hammer on the sucker. Stunt the attack roll and dump the whole BAB into Power Attack. With IC factored in, that's a total +2 to hit, +15 damage. Mountain Hammer attack (1d20+17=21, 1d20+17=22). Blech. Mountain Hammer damage (1d8+2d6+24=34) On a hit, Bart makes an automatic grapple attempt as a free action.
Free action: Free grapple check. Enemy bear doesn't get an AoO. Stunting the check, of course. Grapple Check (1d20+19=32, 1d20+19=28) On a successful grapple check, Bart constricts for 2d6+13. Constrict Damage (2d6+13=19)

Bertha:
Full-round action: Charge the bear Bart attacked. If Bart's not grapplin him, try to get a flanking position without drawng an AoO. The rest of the rolls assume no flanking. Attack roll is stunted; +19 regular attack, +8 IC, +2 charge. Charge attack (1d20+29=42, 1d20+29=36) Bertha gets Holy on all her natural weapons from her Necklace, so the damage roll assumes the bear is evil. Charge damage (1d8+2d6+23=35, 1d8+2d6+23=33) Damn, forgot to make the number of die rolls 1 again... ignore one of these.

Buffs: I'm assuming minimum buffs right now since my spell list is yet a work in progress, so right now it's only Luminous Armor on Bertha, precast with a duration of 20 hours. It puts her AC at 32 (flat-footed 29, touch stays the same) and imposes a -4 penalty on all attack rolls against her.[/spoiler]

[Awkward Map]

Sinister:
[spoiler]
As an immediate action, I would like to make a Thaumaturgy roll to see what the hell these things are.  Edit: On my turn, since Veldor is currently flatfooted.
What are bears? (1d20+17=23, 1d20+17=33)  I'll take the roll of 33.  Specifically, I would like to know if these things have any more tricks we haven't seen yet, in addition to if they have DR.  Anything else that you think would be useful would be great, too.
[/spoiler]

[Mister_Sinister]

[spoiler]OK, it's a day late - I apologize for that.

Also, I believe in BEDMAS operations, which means that only the base +2 gets doubled, not the whole thing. Thus, the bonuses you're granting are +7/+8, rather than +8/+10 as you had believed.[/spoiler]

Despite Bart's powerful strike, which hits it squarely in the flank, drawing blood, the bear seems to be coherent enough to defend itself from Bart's attempt to hold it down, viciously squirming out as an oiled gladiator might, its disgustingly-matted, oily fur assisting it in this tremendously. The blood rains upon the ground, causing a hissing sound and rising steam where it lands.

Your flank works, and the attack still hits. My (stunted) counter-grapple is 1d20+23=34, 1d20+23=40.[/spoiler]

Bertha's attack, however, strikes the bear squarely in its muzzle, knocking clear several teeth and a huge rush of blood, which coats Bart's face and front. Its stench, a mixture of rotten eggs, sewage and carrion, assaults Bart's nostrils, and the bear appears seriously injured, to the point that standing may be a challenge.

[spoiler]Veldor, you're up.[/spoiler]

[Awkward Map]

Veldor leaps from the downed weasel, running towards the bears sitting in the trees.  He holds his ring high over his head, whispering a spell.  Flanking a bear on the branch it stands on are two apes whose eyes glow red.  The apes snort and look down upon the man who summoned them.

"These bears have broken their word and now work actively against us!  Slay them and send them back to the void!" yells Veldor.

Without so much as a blink, they begin savagely tearing at the bear's greasy fur and biting for it neck in tandem.  They are intent on snuffing the life out of this apparent traitor.

[spoiler]
Move 30' closer to one of the bears in the trees.
Standard action to cast a Rapid Summon Monster IV, picking the Fiendish Ape from the level III list. How many fiendish apes? (1d3=1)  Wah-wah-wahhh.
Veldor summons an extra with his Fiendish Legion class feature.
He uses the Ring of Mighty Summons, so they have maximum HP but the duration is halved.
Veldor succeeds on his Bluff (1d20+19=24, 1d20+19=25) vs. their Sense Motive (1d20+1=7, 1d20+1=7).  Therefore, they get doubled duration, +2 to damage rolls, and +2 HP per hit die.
Their duration is (2*10)/2 = 10, halved from the Ring of Might Summons.
The statblock I'll be using is listed below, including adjustments for fiendish and augment summoning:

Fiendish Ape  CR 3
Always Neutral Evil Large Magical Beast
Init +2
_____________________________________________________________
AC 14 FF 12 Touch 11
(-1 size, +2 Dex , +3 natural)
HD: 4
HP: 29 (4d8+11) [4*8+4*4+4*2+3=59]
Fort +6 Ref +6 Will +2
_____________________________________________________________
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares), climb 30 ft.
Base Atk +3 Grp +14
Attack: claw +9 1d6+7
Full Attack: 2 claws +9 1d6+7, bite +4 1d6+3
Space 10 ft. (2 squares) Reach 10 ft. (2 squares)
_____________________________________________________________
Abilities Str 25(+7) Dex 15(+2) Con 18(+4) Int 3(-4) Wis 12(+1) Cha 7(-2)
_____________________________________________________________
Total Feats: 2
Feats: Alertness, Toughness
_____________________________________________________________
Skill Points: 7
Skills: Climb +17, Listen +3, Spot +3
_____________________________________________________________
Gear:
Total Cost of Gear: 0gp
Low-light vision(Ex):
Scent(Ex):
Damage Reduction(Su): 5/magic
Cold Resistance(Ex): 5
Fire Resistance(Ex): 5
Darkvision(Ex): Darkvision up to 60ft.
Spell Resistance(Ex): 9
Smite good(Su): 1/day a fiendish creature can smite a good foe and add additional 4(1/HD) damage to the attack. If the smite is used against a foe that is not good it adds no additional damage but the smite is still used for the day.

The apes' attacks follow, assuming the +7/+8 bonus that Sinister said in the OOC thread, plus the +2 bonus to attack from flanking:
Ape claw attacks. (1d20+18=20, 1d20+18=20, 1d20+18=29, 1d20+18=36)
Ape claw damages. (1d6+17=22, 1d6+17=19, 1d6+17=20, 1d6+17=20)
First ape's stunted bite attack. (1d20+13=27, 1d20+13=14)  He takes the 27, yes.
Second ape's stunted bite. (1d20+13=32, 1d20+13=18)  He takes the 32, you bet.
Both apes' bite damage. (1d6+13=16, 1d6+13=16)

This is assuming my summons can stunt.  It didn't matter for these attack rolls, but if I did it wrong please let me know.
[/spoiler]

[Mister_Sinister]

[spoiler]Everything connects, so that's a fair bit of damage. Everything you did seems correct.[/spoiler]

The damage done by the fiendish apes is severe, with the bear barely remaining where it was. It is bleeding heavily, and starts to make a noise that definitely could not have come from any real animal.

[spoiler]Nick, it's all on you, I think.[/spoiler]