Pavel's invisible servant manipulates a visible rock, which is moving its way up the passage. Nothing seems to happen to either the rock, or Pavel.
Yet.
OOC: A few quick notes: 1. Please review the current map image for your character's position on the grid (and familiar if they are co-located with you) and either adjust or tell me to adjust for you if it's not up to date. Everyone's exact position will soon be relevant. 2. Please review your sheets at DnDBeyond and make sure they accurately reflect the weaponry you are wielding and the armor you are wearing. Future events may depend on that and I would prefer not to have to retcon "oh, I wasn't actually wearing that" complaints. 3. Have fun.
The elf moves forward behind Sindar. He's not sure why Pavel stopped, nor why there is a rock moving slowly up the passage, but he lets warriors do warrior things.
He glances behind, wondering why Kriv isn't following.
Looking back, Aubric could take in the full figure of the Dragonborn noble, clad in gleaming magical armour, a massive hammer in one hand and a transparent wizard’s staff refracting the light that suffused this cavern in the other, one of which would need to be loosed ere battle was to be joined. Standing tall with regal bearing, he was closer in height to the hunched figures of the trolls they had been battling than to most other members of their fellowship, a formidable, imposing, obvious presence.
Even now, there was a faint sense of the power this student of the Art held ready at his fingertips, probably the selfsame magic that had enabled the Dragonborn to close so quickly with the trollish intruders that fateful night. Very definitely someone you’d want fighting beside you, but very definitely not one you’d want alongside, trying to muffle their metallic protections and weaponry when trying to get the jump on a dangerous, oblivious but alert enemy. Kriv seemed ready and poised to spring forward, but right now his positioning was a courtesy as the sneaking approach was made.
Bern moves up behind the other ranged fighters, the trio (plus owl) using the moderate foliage to attempt to remain unseen.
All three ranged fighters can now clearly see the giant, well lit by the fire on the other side of the stream. They also may notice an imposing rod clutched tightly in her massive hand in a perfectly-sized grip. The rod's surface gleams with a dark, almost midnight black hue that reflects the surrounding firelight with a dull, steely sheen. It's clearly forged from a rare and durable metal, its color hinting at the legendary adamantine. Intricately engraved runes run along its length, which catch the light from the fire. The runes, though unfamiliar, give off an aura of ancient magic and significance, suggesting that this is no ordinary weapon or tool.
They can also see several large mammoth tusks arranged around the fire, pointing outward over the edge of the stream. They look somewhat like a decorative use of remnants of a prior meal (or several), but also show evidence of rune engravings, hinting at a possible magical purpose.
The triton continues his hermit crab crawl, starting to feel more like a cooked lobster now. He may be oblivious to the goings-on above water but the plan is simple and shouldn't lead him astray.
Looking at the scene before them, she thinks that those rods, or whatever they are, may be a defensive trap and could launch towards them in an attack. She is concerned about her ability to dodge, especially if they are magical but is even more worried about Whisper. She sends her owl back behind the rock cover.
It shocked the huntress that her allies had moved forward, into combat range, and didn't take advantage of their situation to fire at the giant. These were poor hunters. They would scare off the prey or could become the prey themselves.
She moved forward close enough to spot her target and called upon ranger magic to mark her prey Hunter's Mark - bonus action and then ducked back behind the rock outcropping and did her best to hide, making sure that there was wall and distance between her and the giant. She knew giants well enough to understand their danger Zindra Stealth - Neptune rolled 1d20+6 and got 19
Zindra is successful in casting Hunter's Mark on the Giant without being noticed.
The rest of the ranged fighters are no so lucky.
Moving stealthily had managed to get them to where they are without being noticed by other creatures present in the cave. In fact, the Fire Giant was smart enough to set up warning runes to alert her when non-local creatures entered the cave (which is why a Giant Frog got away with it), and was well aware that someone was approaching. She knew there were at least three fighters across from her, and more elsewhere in the cave. She'd already sent the Troll away to help clear out her space to deal with the threat, although he's slow moving enough to have not gotten very far.
But it may not be the Giant that is the biggest immediate threat to the party. The other creatures in the cave were actually Magma Mephits, hidden in plain sight.
False Appearance: While the mephit remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from an ordinary mound of magma.
As the pre-fight safety briefing says, "the nearest Mephit may be behind you."
One is 20 feet behind the trio clustered behind the bushes, and another is just ahead of Sindar, Pavel, and Aubric. There was one in the entrance that everyone passed, and two more further north into the cave.
As part of the cave's defenses, these mephits had a readied action, and Ignara calls out a fiew brief syllables echoing throughout the cave... a code word to trigger that action:
Summon Mephits (1/Day): The mephit has a 25 percent chance of summoning 1d4 mephits of its kind. A summoned mephit appears in an unoccupied space within 60 feet of its summoner, acts as an ally of its summoner, and can't summon other mephits. It remains for 1 minute, until it or its summoner dies, or until its summoner dismisses it as an action.
Magma Mephit Summon Mephits (chance) AquaDyne rolled 1d4,1d4,1d4,1d4,1d4 and got 4, 1, 2, 4, 1
Magma Mephit Summon Mephits (number) AquaDyne rolled 1d4,1d4 and got 2, 3
The mephit at the north end of the cave successfully summons two more of its kind, while the one in the entrance summons three.
There are now a total ten Magma Mephits scattered throughout the cave.
But Ignara has just gotten started. She strolls purposefully toward the other side of the fire, to get a clearer line of sight to the trio of ranged fighters, kneeling down and grabbing a handful of earth on the floor of the cave.
Awaken Magma (Recharge 5-6). The fire giant kneels and grips the earth, dropping each creature it has grappled and turning stone and earth in a 60 ft. line that is 10 ft. wide to magma for the next hour.
A creature that starts its turn in the area or enters it for the first time in a turn must succeed on a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw or take 10d10 fire damage, or half as much on a success.
She could probably have fit all three fighters in that ten-foot-wide beam, but it seems she's confident in her ability to defeat them and instead creates a strip of magma cutting off their retreat path.... and cutting Zindra off from effectively approaching to take advantage of her mark.
To sum it up... the floor is lava.
Down in the stream, Arus is keenly aware of the lava at the shoreline boiling some of the stream water next to it, and may feel the slightly warmer water moving downstream from there to where he's swimming.
The Magma Mephits will take their turn next; but pausing to see if Zhu's readied attack is triggered.
This spell assaults and twists creatures' minds, spawning delusions and provoking uncontrolled action. Each creature in a 10-foot-radius sphere centered on a point you choose within range must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw when you cast this spell or be affected by it.
An affected target can't take reactions and must roll a d10 at the start of each of its turns to determine its behavior for that turn.
Roll Table d10 Behavior 1 The creature uses all its movement to move in a random direction. To determine the direction, roll a d8 and assign a direction to each die face. The creature doesn't take an action this turn. 2-6 The creature doesn't move or take actions this turn. 7-8 The creature uses its action to make a melee attack against a randomly determined creature within its reach. If there is no creature within its reach, the creature does nothing this turn. 9-10 The creature can act and move normally.
At the end of each of its turns, an affected target can make a Wisdom saving throw. If it succeeds, this effect ends for that target.
Troll Wisdom save DC15 AquaDyne rolled 1d20-1 and got 10
Ignara the Fire Giant Wisdom save DC15 AquaDyne rolled 1d20+4 and got 15
Zhu's readied Confusion spell is effective in confusing the Troll, but the Fire Giant shakes it off after the briefest moment of questioning.
The Mephits begin their attack on the intruders... with ten mephits and ten members of the party, everyone can have their own personal mephit!
The northernmost fire-and-earth elemental and its two summoned allies [MM1, MM1a, MM1b] fly closer to the party but don't attack yet. [Ready Dodge action.]
The mephit just on the other side of the bridge [MM2] finds that it can fly straight down to get directly in melee range of Zhu, but rather than use its claws, it uses a more potent weapon to attack all three of the clustered group, angling itself toward the corner to make sure the attack is effective.
Fire Breath (Recharge 6). The mephit exhales a 15-foot cone of fire. Each creature in that area must make a DC 11 Dexterity saving throw, taking 2d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Magma Mephit MM2 Fire Breath AquaDyne rolled 2d6 and got 8
Zhu, Jaliera, and Bern, make a DC11 Dex save to determine if you take 8 or 4 fire damage.
Zhu, since you are taking damage, make a DC10 Con save to determine if you can maintain the Confusion spell.
Last edited by AquaDyne; Wed 03/07/202415:42 UTC. Reason: Con save is DC10
(OOC - Using a Sorcery Point to establish Fire Resistance for 1 hour. It is "No Action" so she can do it at will. Should have added it to her post description but was rushed. Clearly she'd have done it here. That reduces the damage by 1/2, so it becomes either 4 or 2. I believe her successful Dex Save and the Resistance reduces the DC of the Con save to 12. If she has a benefit from the Bard, or Bless from the Cleric, she will use it here to add to her Save roll. A minimum of +1 should let her Save. In either case: Zhu Dex Save Zeim rolled d20+4 and got 18 Zhu Con Save Zeim rolled d20+6 and got 11
Also, my sources show Fire Giants with only a +2 Wisdom Save not +4, unless of course it is from a Magic Item?)
The other mephits are still executing their attacks. The mephit right behind the trio that was just attacked makes its own fire breath attack, heading at an angle close enough to make the attack and then disengaging further to the north.
Magma Mephit MM3 Fire Breath AquaDyne rolled 2d6 and got 8
Zhu, Jaliera, and Bern, make another DC11 Dex save to determine if you take 8 or 4 fire damage. (4 or 2 if you have resistance.)
Meanwhile, the mephit from the entrance that was successful in conjuring three doppelgangers decides to work with two of them to go after the warrior standing in the entrance with shiny armor and a shiny hammer.
The mephit near Zindra and Whisper [MM4a] either doesn't see them, or doesn't find them suitable targets compared to someone wearing metal in their line of sight, and moves in Kriv's direction, using its innate ability to try to reduce the threat.
Innate Spellcasting (1/Day): The mephit can innately cast heat metal (spell save DC 10), requiring no material components. Its innate spellcasting ability is Charisma.
Heat Metal Casting Time: 1 action Range: 60 feet Target: A manufactured metal object that you can see within range Duration: Up to 1 minute
Choose a manufactured metal object, such as a metal weapon or a suit of heavy or medium metal armor, that you can see within range. You cause the object to glow red-hot. Any creature in physical contact with the object takes 2d8 fire damage when you cast the spell. Until the spell ends, you can use a bonus action on each of your subsequent turns to cause this damage again. If a creature is holding or wearing the object and takes the damage from it, the creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or drop the object if it can. If it doesn’t drop the object, it has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks until the start of your next turn.
The original mephit [MM4] also casts the same spell, but targeting the metal maul.
Magma Mephit MM4a,MM4 Heat Metal AquaDyne rolled 2d8,2d8 and got 5, 10
Kriv: Make two DC10 Con saves, one for the armor target and one for the hammer target. If you fail the con save on the hammer you drop it. If you fail the con save on the armor and it is at all possible for you to drop it, do so. I'm not familiar with how easy it is to doff armor. . If you succeed you can still choose to drop to avoid the disadvantage.
After Casting, the Mephits fly out of line of sight of Kriv if they can.
Last edited by AquaDyne; Tue 18/06/202415:12 UTC. Reason: Add damage
OOC: You had bardic inspiration but Aubric hasn't cast bless yet as he's concentrating on his own fire resistance. Which he's about to (probably) lose concentration on when fire breath happens.
I agree, total of 4 damage and the troll is still confused.
While the mephits near the entrance turn Kriv's white-glowing magical accoutrements into red-glowing ones, the remaining three mephits target the group that was approaching for melee.
MM4b and MM4c look for the shinies, and identify Pavel's dual-wielded longswords. With a Heat Metal cast from each mephit, both longswords glow red.
Magma Mephit MM4b,MM4c Heat Metal AquaDyne rolled 2d8,2d8 and got 4, 9
Pavel: two DC10 con saves, one for each sword. If you fail, you drop it. If you succeed, you can choose to either drop it or take disadvantage on attacks and ability checks.
That leaves MM5 who is conveniently positioned to breathe fire on the trio with a simple move to the south, after which it flies over the stream to gain some distance.
Magma Mephit MM5 Fire Breath AquaDyne rolled 2d6 and got 2
(OOC: figures!)
Pavel, Sindar, and Aubric: DC11 Dex Save, if you save, you take 1 fire damage; if you fail you take 2.
If you have resistance, you take 0 or 1.
If Aubric takes 1, he needs a con save at DC10 to maintain concentration on fire resistance.
Last edited by AquaDyne; Wed 03/07/202415:46 UTC. Reason: DC 10 con save
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