Zilean's Revenge (Part 4)

"If you say so. Still don't know what I'm doing, but i'll make magic hands at it anyway." Horizon, having no use for magic, has no idea what should be happening, but he mimics the motions anyway. Maybe if he makes it convincing enough, they'll at least believe he's trying to help. To help his odds, though, on the off chance that it was some intrinsic magic that even he could reproduce by doing it correctly, he focuses intently on the crystal.

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Arcana (?):10+6+5(sit)= 21

"Well, it looks like this crystal wouldn't detect my invisibility spell anyway. I'll take a look around, see if there's some spare cloaks for us, and see what needs sabotage for later or whatever." Rolf cast the invisibilty spell on himself, then slowly peered around the corner of the building. He decided he'd look inside the shack was hiding behind first. He carefully made his way to the entrance and peeked inside.

Stealth....9 (1d20) + 6 + 10 (Stealth Mode) = 25
Perception...14 (1d20) + 7 + 3 (Sharp Eyes) = 24

Horizon does his best to mimic the trio, extending his arm towards the crystal, and gesturing. As he does so, he feels a tingly feeling in his arm, like ants are crawling down it, slowly extending from his hand up to his elbow. It's not painful, but it feels a bit unpleasant. He's not sure what he's doing, or how, but his "channeling" appears to be doing something to the crystal, as its glow brightens slightly.

"See, easy as cake. Speaking of which, best get something to eat, and another bucket to fill- *he glares as Horizon* -Any requests?"
"Bring back some oranges!"
"We have those?"
"Yeah, last shipment bumped into some fruit grocer's, along with his cart. I think they're even using the sod for the bets tonight."
"Wow, that's unlucky."
"Well, his misfortune may yet be one of ours."

...Meanwhile...

Rolf's peek reveals the shack to be mostly filled with shelves, boxes, and a large amount of wooden materials, such as logs and wooden trunks.

Two of the crates appear to be open, but he can only see the contents of one, which appears to be a large amount of fresh fruit.

The shelves appear to be lined with both a large assortment of tools (carpentry, farming, architecture, masonry...), as well as a small assortment of weaponry, shelved on racks (a few crossbows and bows with matching arrows and bolts, short swords, long swords, a large amount of daggers), and other knick-knacks in bags or jars.

One of the other crates is marked with a large "FRAGILE!!!", in red, with rather fancy-looking lettering.

Other crates are stacked atop each other, but don't really have any indication as to what they contain.

One of the unmarked boxes appears to be oddly positioned in the room, away from the other boxes and furniture.

His glance is quickly cut short by the hurried cultist, who runs inside, seemingly unaware of his presence, as he passes barely a few feet from Rolf. He quickly begins looking over the contents of the shelves, before checking the crates. He stops at the "FRAGILE!!" crate, grabs a crowbar, and begins to work on prying it open.

---

Cultist hasn't left the lit tent yet, but will if nothing significant happens.

Maaaaaaagic. Horizon visibly grimaced at the sensation in his arm. "How nice for you all with the betting. It's a waste of time, they're rigged. I could do with some... mmm chicken. Or any roasted small furry animal, really. Or if we're suddenly all going vegetarian, I'll take an apple." Horizon doesn't move from his position yet, waiting for theone cultist to run his errand. "So do any of you guys know what this thing is supposed to actually do? Because I wasn't exactly brought on board for my experience as a master wizard."

I say we wait for him to grab something, so we know what he's after, and then mug him! That way, we can either take his place, or at least try to figure out what they're trying to do right now.

"We can see that, fella. Ain't it obvious? It's for that big-ol' tent in the middle."
"Did you think them fancy light's keep themselves up?"
"No different from keeping a bonfire up, really."
"Anyways, whats your story? Don't recall seeing your face recently."
"Yeah. No magic either. What are those "better things" you've got to do?"

...Meanwhile...

The cultist manages to pry open the crate, and starts rummaging around the box, muttering to himself, obviously frustrated.

"Vials... Tubing... No bloody beakers... Ah, here's one! No, that's broken... Of course..."

---

Roll an endurance check for Horizon. A persuasion check would be advisable as well. Unless the others are peeking or listening in, I think only Rolf can see the guy rummaging about, unless he relays that info to the others.

"Believe it or not, not everything runs on wishy washy spells and tricks. Even Zilean knows that muscle to back up the magic words is a good investment. I'm one of a few who got picked up just for that reason." He bangs a hand on his chest, revealing the presence of his armor underneath. "But we keep up appearances. There are a few more like me, but you wouldn't know without actually asking. We usually manage to avoid the overtly magical jobs, but shit happens." He pauses, feeling the strain increase. "Hope your buddy gets back soon, not sure how long my non-magic will keep this up."

---

Endurance: 2+10=12
Persuasion: Nat20+12=32

Two questions.

One: is it possible for me to use Immovable on a corner of the cultist's cloak, or would it just freeze up the whole thing?
Two: How difficult would it be to get the rest of the party into the shack w/o anyone noticing?

Lyntermas wrote:Two questions.

One: is it possible for me to use Immovable on a corner of the cultist's cloak, or would it just freeze up the whole thing?
Two: How difficult would it be to get the rest of the party into the shack w/o anyone noticing?

1) Well, Immovable states you need a "small" object, and I think the cloak itself would be a bit big (Magecraft might help with that, though). However, you could target some small accessory that makes up the cloak or is separate from it - just remember that it's fabric.

2) Depends on your methods. Using the door, one would have to go out of the shadows for about one or two seconds, during which time they'd be exposed, and then there's the Drow currently inside the shack, so I'd say that route would be quite difficult... Keep in mind, it's a wooden building.

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As Horizon continues channeling, he feels a small bout of lightheadedness, whilst his arm feels sluggish, and appears to be developing a number of rather unpleasant cramps (situational penalty).

The cultists nod to each other in agreement.
"Yeah, sounds about right. Boss's been sending quite a few "beefy" peeps like you in and out of the camp, letting them get the fences up, whilst he did... whatever tinkering he's doing in there. Magic's good and all, but you can't build a fence with just fancy words."
"But the Boss did! You know, when he-"
"Yes, yes I know, don't remind me. I'd rather avoid having to think about that again. Yeesh."

---

Roll perception, peeps at the shack.

Jeraylia Perception Check: 13 (4+9perception).

Zthulan's Perception Check: 19 (9 + 10)

Perception: 11 + 3 = 14

I.... don't really know what else to do here.

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"Well you know that 'not magic' I was talking about? May be important a lot sooner rather than later. Hope the snack guy gets back soon, because this is already starting to wear on me. What happens if this thing stops powering... whatever... the tent, anyway? Is it like a temporary lights out, one or two of us get brutally murdered for failure kind of thing, or an 'Our plan is ruined, retreat!", a lot of us get brutally murdered kind of thing?"

---

Persuasion: 12+12=24

Roll a persuasion check on that one, Brony.

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Zthulan, in addition to hearing the muttering of the Drow inside the shack, as he rummages on, sees another robed figure, approaching from the north. Unlike the Drow, he's walking in a casual, slow pace, and appears to be carrying a bucket.

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Unless Zthulan/Rolf withold the information for some reason, you can assume the party outside the shack knows the Drow is rummaging around the box and is aware of the bucket-carrying one.

BTW, feel free to do stuff, you others, if you don't feel like waiting for Rolf. Pro-activity and independence is the stuff that makes heroes and notable events, after all.  

Until you split the party, of course.

Man, the situation feels like walking on glass. That's it. I've had it!

---

Jeraylia waits until the drow gets near to the shack's door, and then leaps around the corner and throws an arm around his neck, silencing him and dragging him back around the corner in one smooth motion.

---

Making check to restrain drow and pull him back into the shadows.
Athletics check: 25 (17 + 8 athletics).
Someone grab the bucket . What colour is the drows skin? I'm wondering if I could pass myself off as him somewhat under the robe.

Uhm, just to clarify, the Drow is inside the shack, rummaging around. The guy with the bucket thats coming to the shack isn't a Drow, he's a human. Which of the two do you mean?

Edit: Ouch. Got bad news for you: Whoever you've just attacked, the dude rolled a Nat20, so your ambush didn't work.  

Gonna need an extra athletics check, opposing his own, to try to incapacitate him, and then a stealth check to avoid this being noticed by someone else:

His opposing athletics check
18 + 5 = 23

Oh, sorry, got them mixed up. I meant the guy just arriving. Although, I do want to check how well I could disguise as the drow if I get the chance later.

Zarhon wrote:Edit: Ouch. Got bad news for you: Whoever you've just attacked, the dude rolled a Nat20, so your ambush didn't work.  

Gonna need an extra athletics check, opposing his own, to try to incapacitate him, and then a stealth check to avoid this being noticed by someone else:

His opposing athletics check
18 + 5 = 23

Sorry. Forgot to edit this into the previous post.  Gonna need an athletics (vs that 23) and a stealth roll.

As far as the Drow disguising is concerned, his skin is black/dark, so yeah, it could potentially work, assuming nobody sheds light on your slightly dark-purple face (should work in the dark/shadows), or you can properly hide the fact you're the opposite gender from him.

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Before Jeraylia manages to grab him by the neck, the bucket-holding cultist notices a penny on the ground, and decides to pick it up, just as Jeraylia lunges, missing him completely and almost tripping over him. The cultist notices this commotion, and immediately goes on the defensive.

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Others can assist, assuming this is near the shack.

We can assist the Stealth check? (Because what, how?) Or do you mean just the Athletics check?

Probably just the athletics, but you can try the stealth one too, if you find a reasonable way of keeping attention off/away from her trying to subdue the bucket guy, or find some other way of keeping it concealed/stealthy, or otherwise non-obvious to a potential onlooker, or distraction or something. Surprise me, be creative, and/or (optionally) apply common sense.

Seeing Jeraylia's failed attempt and the following consequences attempts to grab the drow as he focuses on his teammate. At the same time Koras swoops down and attempts to grab the bucket before it falls to the ground.

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Zthulan: Athletics: 5 + 7 (Brawn) = 12

Koras: Athletics: 13 + 5 (Athletics) - 10 (Almost Like Flying) = 8

Ignore-Mispost

Skitter leaps in to help as well, trying to place a claw over the cultists' mouth so he can't call for help.

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That's all I could think of for making sense of stealth aid. Throwing his cloak over the pair wouldn't really be any more subtle if they're standing out in the open.

Athletics aid: 7 + 15 = 22

Stealth aid: 15 + 16 = 31 (+5 if HoC applies but, why would it? It's only an aid check.)

Edit: Crits aren't automatic successes as default but, they would probably be in contested rolls. Unless the GM says otherwise.

Are skill crits automatic successes in ponytails? Because if not, I'll burn through a yeehaw.

Otherwise:
Athletics: 19 (11+8 ) + assist bonuses?
Stealth: 23 (14+9 ) + assist bonuses?

Azarune wrote:Zthulan: Athletics: 5 + 7 (Brawn) = 12

Koras: Athletics: 13 + 5 (Athletics) - 10 (Almost Like Flying) = 8

The flying penalty isn't required - she can probably just run or skitter along to it, or do non-hovering quick movement. Or jump.

In any case, Koras provides an assist to stealth.

Ramsus wrote:Athletics aid: 7 + 15 = 22

Stealth aid: 15 + 16 = 31 (+5 if HoC applies but, why would it? It's only an aid check.)

Skitter provides both an athletics and Stealth assist.

Broken Logic wrote:Are skill crits automatic successes in ponytails? Because if not, I'll burn through a yeehaw.

Otherwise:
Athletics: 19 (11+8 ) + assist bonuses?
Stealth: 23 (14+9 ) + assist bonuses?

Afraid so. You'd need to make him defending against you nigh-impossible somehow (probably an extra +10 or +20 on top of yee-haw's bonus). In theory, you might be able to use stubbornness, but the bucket-guy would still have his nat20 so that wouldn't help much.

One more assist for the athletics check should do it, (21 at the moment, you need to match it at least, since you outnumber him). Stealth is passed.

Also, Zthulan's sheet should probably update "Speak With The Dead". It's been updated to be MUCH easier to work with.