Chapter 5: Blood and Fire

[Jeff]

Round 8

23 = Condign
10 = Grafth
9 = Streko
8 = Belarin
7 = Kal / Tangat
5 = gelatinous cube

___________________________

With sheer force of will and considerable effort, Condign swims his way out of the cube's body, gasping for breath as he emerges. He feels the sting of its touch fade away. Meanwhile, Grafth's steels himself for continued confrontation, allowing the strength of his bestial heritage flood through his body. He instinctively sinks into a crouch.

Radiant light bursts from Streko's palm, melting more of the cube's body away.

Belarin finds the first lever to move easily. With a resounding click, the rungs of the metal ladder protrude from the north wall once more. Looking down from the raised part of the room, Belarin then attacks the Khyber cube with a fey strike, aiming at its very being. Unfortunately, its "being" seems evasive.

Kal swings his sharash again, shearing off a sizeable chunk of its outer "wall." Meanwhile, the blow leaves a glowing, incorporeal shard of power, which roots its body in place.

Not so willing to relinquish its prey, the cube stretches out at Condign once more. This time the tiefling gets his shield up in time, and the ooze-like wall rebounds. It seems its touch is more adhesive to flesh than metal.

Both Grafth and Belarin, standing above, hear some sort of motion from beyond the closed door on the north wall. Footsteps?

________________________

• Condign's Athletics check: 23 (success) / He is freed from the cube's body and moves 1 square north.
• Grafth heals a total of 18 hit points.
• Streko's attack (lance of faith) (1d20+6=18) / 9 radiant damage to gelatinous cube
• Belarin target's the cube with Warlock's Curse.
• Belarin's attack (eyebite): 11 (miss)
• Kal's attack (reaping strike) (1d20+7=19) / 1d10+3=4 +2 (previous round) = 6 damage to cube and the cube is immobilized*
• Cube's attack: 12 (miss)

*Of course, the cube doesn't need to go anywhere just yet. It's apparently happy to keep trying to eat a halfling and a tiefling.

You're right, Darren. I forgot that about reaping strike. I've added 2 more damage from the previous round.

[Jeff's backup]

Condign barely has a moment to steady himself before he sees the cube again stretch out for for him. He brings up his shield, blocking the translucent blob's attack, then swings his longsword down in a vicious chop, trying to sever off another chunk.

----------------------------------


Standard Action: Attack with longsword

Attack Roll: 1d20 + 10=23
Damage Roll: 1d8+3=4

Condign has +2 damage from Streko on his next attack. If that expired before he could use it, then just subtract the two.

[Darren]

Kal grins. "Move away from it, Streko!" he calls out. "It cannot follow, now." Deciding now to heed Streko's advice, Kal once again pulls Skyfang from its sheath and lashes out at the cube with a ball of electricity.
_________________
Lightning Orb agains the cube. Kal will not move unless he needs to in order to not hit Condign. If he does move, it will be one square west and one square south, maintaining distance from the cube.

[Joe]

"Move away from it, Streko!" he calls out. "It cannot follow, now."

Streko nods. "Done!" Facing the cube, Streko rolls to his right and then races to Kalarian's side.

Again, he calls out to Olladra, and again, white energy erupts from his holy symbol and lances out from Streko's outstretched palm toward the cube.

"May you strike true, Lord Kalarian, as Olladra wishes!"
____________________________________________________

Lance of Faith

1d20+6=25

+2 power bonus to Kal's attack roll.

[Ken]

Grafth motions to Belarin to get behind the table. The shifter then moves quickly to the wall adjacent to the door and prepares to swing his handaxe into the chest of the first person to step through.

Belarin nods, and he races toward the table. As he runs, he feels the caress of the shadows around him, blurring his outline, and he calls upon his fey talents once more. He crouches behind the table and calls out in a remarkably good impersonation of the now-dead dwarf, "Get in here and watch these fools' last breaths! Ha!"


Move: Belarin moves behind the table and gains concealment.
Minor: Belarin uses the beguiling tongue invocation.
Standard: Belarin makes a Bluff check to impersonate the dwarf. Bluff check, with Beguiling Tongue bonus (1d20+14=30)

[Jeff]

Round 9

23 = Condign
10 = Grafth (readies an attack)
9 = Streko
8 = Belarin
7 = Kal / Tangat
5 = gelatinous cube

___________________________

Condign moves only a few steps alongside the cube's mass, then
turns and slices a wider swath of its flesh away, which slides to the floor at his feet, twitching.

Grafth readies himself, with his back to the wall, as he hears footsteps approach the door.

Down below, Streko sidesteps around the cube, opposite Condign now, and attacks with magic once more, burning another hole with radiant fire.

Belarin, crouching behind the table, imitates the dwarf. Although his voice just isn't quite deep and growly enough, he does a decent job at matching the sound.

Then doorknob turns...Grafth draws back his arm, bloody axe gleaming...

And pauses, uncertain, when the door opens and a young girl stands in the threshhold, a tortured look on her face. She is human, probably no more than 16 or 17 years of age, her eyes sunken, her skin pallid, unhealthy. She wears a simple robe of green, hood cast down. She opens her eyes wide when she sees Grafth and his axe poised to swing.

"No!" the girl gasps, throwing herself back against the open door and putting her arms up defensively. She seems to have no weapons at all. "Please..."

At the same moment, Kal draws Skyfang from its sheath and lashes out at the cube with a spell. The sphere of electricity hits the creature's massive body squarely, sending tongues of lightning across its surface. Trace amounts of the cube seem to burn away as the air stinks of blackened chemicals, and it looks like it's slightly shrunken.

But it doesn't arrest its motion at all. The cube's body seems to twist in place, though it doesn't move from its spot. Its north end stretches and slams into Condign, this time reaching past his shield and striking skin. Although there is no burn yet, the tiefling feels it stick to his exposed flesh...his hands, neck, even his face.

________________________

• Condign's attack: 23 / 4 damage to the cube
• Streko's attack (lance of faith): 25 / 1d8+5=7 radiant damage to cube
• Kal's attack (lightning orb) (1d20+6=20) / 1d10+5=13 lightning damage to cube
• Cube's attack: 29 / 5 damage to Condign, and Condign is immobilized (a save can end this effect)

[Ken]

"Damnation!" curses Grafth loudly. "I nearly beheaded you!" He looks past the girl into the open doorway. "Are there others here?" He shares a skeptical glance with Belarin, jerks his chin in the direction of the combat, then he turns his gaze back to the girl. "Who are you?" He examines her closely, especially her eyes. The ranger remembes Pel's fate all too well, and he knows that Malov is capable of placing his will in even the most innocent of people. His skin itches at the sounds of combat below, yet they may all be doomed if he turns his back on another vessel of Malov.

Grafth makes a Perception check (+16) to notice whether there are other sounds coming from the entrance and whether the girl has the tell-tale "cat's-eye" look.

P.S. Jeff, please update Grafth's current hit points in your sig.

Seeing that Grafth has this situation in hand, Belarin moves from behind the table and gets a clear look at the foul creature below. He again glares at it, trying to assault whatever excuse it has for a mind.

Move: Belarin moves 2 squares toward the edge.
Standard: Attack with eyebite vs. Will. Eyebite attack (1d20+5=18)
Damage: 1d6+4=5, plus 1d6=4 for warlock's curse = total 9 psychic

[Darren]

Kal hesitates for a moment, reaching out with his emotions to feel for Tangat, worried about his friend. "Belarin," Kal growls loudly, "pull the damned third lever. Maybe it will lower that barrier in the alley."

Returning his focus to the foe in front of him, Kal once again sends an orb of electricity hurtling at the cube.

____________________
No movement.
Using Lightning Orb on the cube again.

[Jeff's backup]

Condign attempts to parry after his hit on the creature, but he misses and finds himself stuck to the cube's surface! He struggles briefly but realizes he is firmly attached. From the direction he is facing, he can see Streko and Kalarian attacking from the other side. With clenched muscles, he angles his longsword up and into the broad flank of the monster.

--------------------------

Standard Action: attack with longsword

Attack roll: 1d20 + 8=11 (add +2 if he gets a flanking bonus, not that it will matter )

Saving throw vs. Immobilization: 1d20=14

[Joe]

"Olladra, here my prayer!" Again, Streko lashes out with the power of his Goddess, hoping this time the damnable thing will sit still long enough for his attack to hit!
____________________________________________________

Lance of Faith
1d20+6=10

Will the rolls EVER go my way when I try it? ;-)

Jeff....above I rolled a 25 and you have Streko getting an 8? Did I miss something?

[Jeff]

Sorry, Joe. I guess I quickly assumed you'd rolled damage but not attack roll again. Long battle, kinda missing stuff a bit. Sorry guys. I'll amend it. As an apology, I won't enforce the opportunity attack that Streko is provoking when he uses a ranged attack (lance of faith) adjacent to a monster.

[Jeff]

Round 10

23 = Condign
10 = Grafth
9 = Streko
8 = Belarin
7 = Kal / Tangat
5 = gelatinous cube

___________________________

Condign finds himself in too awkward a position to strike effectively. But from his struggle he does manage to pry his skin free from the cube's touch.

Despite the sounds of combat on the floor below, Grafth feels fairly sure that there's no one else immediately behind in the girl in the dim chamber beyond the door.

Grafth:

"Who are you?"

"I'm..." the girl, still shrinking away as if expecting an attack. He does notice a slight alteration to the pupils of her eyes, but it's not quite the same as the animal-eyed look of devilish possession.

"I'm no one," she says. "Everyone. Not...myself. Please. Help me." A storm of conflicting emotions rages across her face—a trait Grafth has always associated with the mentally distressed. Then she smiles a nasty smile. "You have nothing, Grafth. No answers, no triumph. You lose again—!"

As these words leave her lips, her smile vanishes and a scream of purest terror rips from her throat—and tears across the room, hitting an unsettling nerve in each of you. The sound of a woman in pain or danger. But somehow worse.

Then she bolts, running past Grafth, her feet bare slapping hard on the stone floor. As she moves in front of a startled Belarin, it strikes him that her terror and her body are operating quite separately from one another—possession. Malov-possession, most likely, driving the girl to act counter to her will.

Before either Grafth or Belarin can catch her, she jumps from the edge...and falls, flailing, into the body of the Khyber cube. Her scream quiets immediately as she is immersed in the viscous form, but you can still hear it, muffled, panicked.

Both Streko and Kal attack the cube with their respective power. The halfling's lance of radiant light goes wide as its body shakes, while the Deneith heir's electricity burns more mass away. The girls body seems unaffected by these attacks, but the more the cube's body is carved away, the more likely it appears that such attacks will harm her. And she looks vulnerable indeed.

Belarin moves quickly to the edge, too late to reach the girl, but he viciously attacks the cube with psychic power. Lacking a mind, its body instead seems to quake and grow slack, beginning to appear more rounded than cubelike.

Beneath the screaming girl, you can make out the body of the beggar woman. Her skin is already completely gone; wet red muscle is exposed, and a few traces of bone shine through.

Refresh...

________________________

• Cube's saving throw from previous round (forgot about it): 19 (success), no longer immobilized by Kal's attack
• Condign's attack: 11 (miss)
• Condign is no longer immobilized.
• Streko's attack: 10 (miss)
• Belarin's attack (eyebite): 18 / 9 psychic damage to cube
• Kal's attack (lightning orb) (1d20+8=24) / 1d10+5=11 electricity damage to cube

[Darren]

Kal watches in surprise as the girl throws herself into the cube. He involuntarily takes a few steps back, then takes a few more intentionally. Some part of him knows that his attacks may eventually harm her, but he also knows it's probably too late for her anyway as he continues to hurl arcane lightning at the cube.

________________
Kal will back up three squares to the east, hopefully staying out of range if the cube moves towards him. He will use Lightning Orb again.

Also, can Kal sense anything from Tangat? Is he still alive?

[Joe]

Streko blinks, as if suddenly remembering something. He looks down at the sickle in his hands.

"Khyber's rotting breath...what am I thinking?"

He suddenly slices at the cube with it, screaming out Kalarian's name, intermixed with that of Olladra's, as if willing the Goddess of fortune to favor both her chosen cleric and his friend.
____________________________________________________

Streko goes for Righteous Brand once again. If by using an action point, Streko gains a second attack on the cube, he will go for Righteous Brand a second time, this time calling out Condign's name with Olladra's as soon as the brand appears.

Jeff, you roll for me....I can't get anything above a 10 and that's WITH a +6. The dice roller hates me. :-(

[Jeff's backup]

Condign feels himself pull free of the cube's sticky surface just as a woman leaps into the body of the creature. He shifts to his right, hoping to move far enough away from the monster to avoid hitting the girl.

With a whirl, he pulls his sword in a high arc and sweeps it down into the cube.

---------------------------

Movement Action: Shift one square west
Standard Action: Attack with longsword

Attack roll: 1d20 + 12=19 (Condign gets +2 for flanking and +2 from Streko -- I think)

Damage roll: 1d8+1=3 and +3 for the Strength modified I forgot means 6 points of damage.

[Ken]

Grafth

The shifter quickly drops the 15 feet to the lower level and swings at the cube.

Move: Grafth jumps down to land in the spot 2 squares west of Condign's position on the map. As part of his move, he makes an Acrobatics check: 1d20+11=16
Standard: Basic attack with the +1 handaxe vs. the cube: 1d20+6=13 -- don't believe that'll hit.

Belarin

Jan 19, 2010 10:47:26 GMT -4 Darren said:

"Belarin," Kal growls loudly, "pull the damned third lever. Maybe it will lower that barrier in the alley."

"Or it could announce more bad news for you folks down there," replies Belarin. Still, Belarin moves to the panel -- shadows again eerily clinging to his form -- and pulls the third lever. As a result, he is completely out of position to stop the girl from her plunge into the Khyber cube! "No!" he yells. He quickly points his dagger at the abomination and unleashes another spiteful attack at the creature's consciousness. "You may not understand my rhyme / Be as it may, just DIE, you slime!"

Move: Go to panel. Belarin gains concealment.
Minor: Throw the third lever.
Standard: Attack with eyebite vs. Will. 1d20+5=25 -- Natural 20 again! This time for my own character!
Damage: 10 psychic (max) + 1 (Empowering Shadows) + 1d6=1 for warlock's curse + 1d6=6 (pact dagger's crit damage) = total 18 psychic

[Jeff]

Round 11

23 = Condign
10 = Grafth
9 = Streko
8 = Belarin
7 = Kal / Tangat
5 = gelatinous cube

___________________________

Condign slashes into the cube, but fails to get a truly damaging strike. Grafth vaults the edge of the raised ground, drops soundlessly, and lands with catlike grace beside the tiefling...then jumps up with a slash of his axe. But he hadn't fought the cube yet, and cuts too straight into its mass for an effective strike.

Streko attacks the cube with renewed faith, but his sickle just doesn't cut enough away from its body to injure it. In front of him, he can see the girl struggling and panicking, her robes beginning to burn away under the paralyzing acid. Looking up at her through the transparent cube, Streko sees a victim, not merely a Malov-puppet.

When Belarin reaches and throws the third lever, there is a groaning screech from the broken front door; evidently the lever was intended to seal or unseal it (to prevent the cube from escaping?). But Condign and Grafth had damaged both the door and the mechanism. When Belarin turns his wrath upon the cube, it shakes again, gelling the floor at the feet of his friends.

Kal feels Tangat's presence, still badly injured but not worsening. The dog's silence suggests to Kal that he's wandered a bit...unable to join the fight, he's clearly doing some reconnaissance...despite Kal's words. In the distance he can actually hear Tangat barking at something.

Backing toward the east wall, Kal launches another sphere of energy at the cube, blasting away more of its mass. One of the girl's arms is exposed—and slightly scorched—by the electricity. The next such strike could kill her...if the cube's acid doesn't first.

The cube presses northward, suddenly snatching Grafth before he can react—the shifter is suddenly engulfed! Condign, who's been through this before, gets his shield in front in time. The creature's flesh rebounds off the steel.

Then Kal feels a surge of excitement from Tangat.

Refresh...

________________________

• Condign's attack: 17 (miss)
• Acrobatics check: 16 (success)
• Grafth's attack: 13 (miss)
• Streko's attack (righteous brand) (1d20+6=10) (miss)
• Streko spends an action point (and heals 5 hit points from Condign's inspiring presence).
• Streko's attack (righteous brand) (1d20+6=12) (miss)
• Belarin's attack (eyebite): 25 (critical) / 18 psychic damage
• Cube is bloodied.
• Kal's attack (lightning orb) (1d20+6=16) / 1d10+5=9 lightning damage to cube
• The girl takes 10 acid damage.
• Cube's attack vs. Grafth: 16 / Grafth is grabbed and dazed (standard, move, or minor action only; escape is a move action Athletics/Acrobatics check)
• Cube's attack vs. Condign: 11 (miss)

See, Joe? The dice roller hardly favors me!

[Ken]

Grafth

Grafth, having been busy with the combat above, hadn't expected the bizarre creature to reach out! As the ooze's mass envelopes him, he instinctively closes his eyes and mouth, then he braces his feet on the hard ground as best as he can and attempts to vault back out of the mass.

Yeee-EEE-eeee! And it's only bloodied now? Hopefully, that means "four-fifths dead" and not "half dead."
Grafth attempts to escape the grab using Acrobatics: 1d20+11=13 -- et tu, Dice Roller?

Belarin

Belarin, amazed that the creature is still alive (although how it exists at all is a foul mystery), moves along the edge and again attacks it with an arcane curse: "Creature from a dark domain / Feel my anger! Squirm in pain!"

Move: 3 squares north. Belarin again has concealment.
Standard: Attack with eyebite vs. its Will: 1d20+5=15
Damage: 1d6+4=6 + 1d6=1 (warlock's curse) + 1 (Empowering Shadows) = total 8 psychic

[Jeff's backup]

Condign sees the shifter drop down from his battle on the platform -- only to have the gelatinous creature envelope his friend.

"Grafth!" Condign shouts and brings his shield up in enough time to block the creature's attack on himself. However, the tiefling notices the cube's attack is not as powerful as earlier. It seems to be weakening.

With a mighty roar, Condign rears back and swings massively at the monster.

-----------------------------

Standard action: attack with longsword

Attack roll: 1d20 + 11=26

Damage roll: 1d8 + 3=5 sorry forgot the +1 for the magic sword so a whole 6 damage to the creature.

[Darren]

Kal seems distracted as he gathers arcane energy into himself. Suddenly his eyes light up with excitement and a bit of hope. He rushes towards the door, glancing out even as he releases another barrage of electricity at the cube, heedless of the girl trapped inside.

_________________
Kal will move two squares south and three squares west so that he can see out the door and see if Tangat is within sight.

He will also use Lightning Orb on the cube again.

[Joe]

"Dark Six be DAMNED!"

For a brief moment, Streko closes his eyes and whispers to the air around him. When his eyes open, there is a resolve, a bitterness, that covers his face.

"Olladra's will be done."

Streko places his sickle into the handy haversack and steps forward. Before he can think again, he reaches into the cube and attempts to grasp the girl by her arms. His purpose is clear. He intends to pull the girl out of the cube, alone if need-be.

He turns back toward Kalarian. "It's up to you now, Kalarian d'Deneith."

Streko shrugs his shoulders and the handy haversack falls off his back and to the floor. He kicks it away from him and toward Kalarian. He turns back to the cube and reaches into it.
____________________________________________________

Streko casts DIVINE FORTUNE.

Not sure exactly what I need to roll for. Dexterity bonus should obviously apply, but would a Thievery bonus apply as well? Strength?

[Jeff]

Round 12

23 = Condign
10 = Grafth
9 = Streko
8 = Belarin
7 = Kal / Tangat
5 = gelatinous cube

___________________________

Condign hews into the cube again even as Grafth struggles to free himself. In vain, he begins to feel the burn of its touch wherever flesh is exposed.

Streko: [quiote]"Olladra's will be done."[/quote]
As he steps forward and into the cube, Streko feels the electrifying paralysis threatening him from the outset. He grits his teeth and pushes through the corrosive gel and wraps his arms around the girl. She is heavier than he, but not by much. The halfling struggles to move backwards again with all his strength, allowing both his weight and hers to help...

Slick with gelatinous slime, both Streko and the human girl fall to the floor just inches outside of the cube's body.

And not a moment too soon...as Kal throws another sphere of energy into the cube's body, nearly hitting Streko with the blast. Lightning rips across the creature's surface, licking at the girl's legs even as Streko pulls her free. Where it touches the girl's exposed feet, it leaves behind blackened flesh.

The girl herself is limp in Streko's grasp, either too weary to panic or scream or unconscious. She almost seems dead, but as a trained healer Streko can hear her shallow breath in his ear. All of her visible skin is reddened and cracked, some of it even blistered by the cube's acid. She needs healing, and fast.

From above, Belarin lashes the cube with another psychic attack.

When Kal looks out the front door, he sees two men wearing royal tabards. One holds a wand, the other a swirling silver orb. They're approaching the field of electricity that Lamara had created, clearly assessing it. Behind them, Tangat is barking at them to hurry. Resourceful as the dog is, Kal knows that the men couldn't have been too far behind their party to have arrived so soon. Further back by the mouth of the alley, Kal glimpses the presence of the Fairhaven Watch.

With Grafth already enveloped, the weakened cube hardly seems to notice Streko's valiant rescue or escape. Instead it renews its desire to eat Condign! Once again the tiefling finds himself slapped bodily with the wall of the creature's body, and once again he feels himself stick to it. In the back of his mind, he can almost envision some of his orc friends of the Ghaash'kala chuckling. If this wasn't so damned serious and painful.

Refresh...

________________________

• Condign's attack: 26 / 6 damage to cube
• Grafth's Acrobatics check to escape cube: 13 (failure)
• Grafth takes 10 acid damage.
• Grafth is bloodied again.
• Streko casts divine fortune.
• Streko's Athletics check (1d20+4=19) +1 (divine fortune) = 20 (success)
• Streko takes 10 acid damage and is dazed (can only make a minor, move, or standard action) until the end of the cube's next turn.
• Belarin's attack (eyebite): 15 / 8 psychic damage to cube
• Cube's attack: 24 / 5 damage to Condign, and Condign is immobilized (a save can end this effect).

Well done, Joe, and nice post. Normally divine fortune helps only an attack roll or a saving throw, not a skill check; but your action was novel and there's not a lot of good mechanics for that sort of thing anyway. So the +1 was well earned. I was actually typing up the results of Kal's actions—bad news for the girl—before your post came in. What a difference it made on this development.

[Jeff's backup]

Condign watches in frustration as Grafth begins to show signs of the acid etching the surface of his skin. Inspired by Streko's heroic actions, he decides to wade into the cube to retrieve his friend. Before he can take a step, however, the monster slaps at him with the broad wall of its body and he finds himself again stuck to the surface of the cube, unable to move and get to the shifter.

"Grafth," he yells, hoping his friend can hear him, "you can make it! You will make it! I am coming to get you! Just. . .give me. . .a second to get. . .free!"

With a pull and a swipe, Condign tries to break free of the cube and carve away more of the creature's flesh.

--------------------------

Minor action: Inspiring Word on Grafth
Standard action: attack with longsword

Attack roll: 1d20+9=12 +2 if flanked, but it doesn't matter

Saving throw: 1d20=12

[Ken]

OOC: Nicely done, Joe!

Grafth

Even through the disgusting glop of the cube's body, Grafth hears Condign's inspiring words and takes strength from them. With a renewed effort, he again tries to propel himself out of the acidic mass.

Grafth heals as per Condign's inspiring word. (Thanks, Brian.)
Move: Acrobatics check to escape: 1d20+11=19 -- that's more like it! Grafth will end up one square right of Condign (your right, not Condign's right shoulder).

Belarin

Belarin moves close to the edge, both to see what has suddenly snared Kal's attention and to see what Streko has done. The warlock's spirit swells with pride at Streko's bravery. Looking back at the cube, he can actually feel a connection between himself and the creature's dwindling life force. Time to end this. He points his dagger at the cube and yells, "No more flesh for you to consume / With venomous glee, I seal your doom!"

Move: Belarin moves 2 squares down and 1 to the right. He gains concealment again.
Standard: Attack the cube with eyebite vs. Will: 1d20+5=19
Damage: 1d6+4=8 + 1d6=6 (warlock's curse) + 1 (Empowering Shadows) = total 15 psychic.

[Darren]

Kal smiles at the sight of his friend, and even though thoughts of how the watch arrived so quickly flit through his mind, he feels renewed energy for the fight. His head swivels from the door to the cube, his high collar brushing against his cheek as his smile turns to a wicked grin. Kalarian slowly re-sheathes Skyfang and grips his sharrash in front of him with both hands. Taking several big steps forward, he brings the weapon down in an arc to slice through the weakening construct.

_______________
Kal will move two squares north and then use Reaping Strike.

[Joe]

Streko grabs the girl and drags the both back toward the doorway as quickly as possible. There, his handy haversack awaits...as does the healing kit that will kelp keep the girl alive and allow him to refocus his efforts on the cube and his friends still in danger's path.

"When this is done, Kal, bring Grafth and Condign to me. I shall ensure Olladra's grace shines up on them both."

Weariness suddenly consumes the halfling. His eyes flutter, as if he is near exhaustion. Then, he shakes his head.

"No, Traveller, you shall not call us to go with you this day. We all still have things to do and much yet to accomplish here."

He continues to drag the girl and himself to safety. Tangat's barks filter through to him. "Good boy," he calls out in halfling. "Olladra's mercy shall see to you as well, my friend!" He seems unaware that he continues to speak in his native tongue. His focus is placed entirely upon his haversack...and getting it once more on his back.

[Jeff]

Round 13

23 = Condign
10 = Grafth
9 = Streko
8 = Belarin
7 = Kal / Tangat
5 = gelatinous cube

___________________________

Condign frees himself from the cube's grasp, but struggles awkwardly to do it harm. His encouragement to Grafth, however, bolsters the shifter and he forces his way free—gel-covered and angry.

Streko drags himself across the floor with the unconscious girl still in his arms, leaving a trail of slime behind him. He reaches his haversack!

Belarin attacks the cube again, satisfied to see that it's not looking very cubical anymore. Kal slices into it, but its formless shape is making it hard to tell how effective, or not, such strikes are. He can hear the sound of arcane words and crackling lightning outside, as the men attempt to dispel the field of energy. Tangat continues to bark at them.

The cube stretches weirdly and attempts to snatch both Condign and Grafth back into its body...but both tiefling and shifter move back quickly enough!

It may interest you to know, each of you hears spoken telepathically in your mind, a familiar tone, that this human female is Austasia, Prince Aurad's adolescent daughter. You really ought to make sure she is well, Streko.

Refresh...

________________________

• Grafth heals 14 hit points.
• Kal's attack: 1d20+7=17 (miss) / 2 damage to cube
• Belarin's attack: 19 / 15 psychic damage to cube
• Cube's attack vs. Grafth: 14 (miss)
• Cube's attack vs. Condign: 11 (miss)

[Darren]

The corner of Kal's mouth curls up as he hears Matheu's voice inside his head. "That might explain the appearance of the Watch," he mutters as he bring his sharrash to bear against the cube again.

_______________
Kal will use Reaping Strike again.

Don't forget to add Kal's strength modifier damage to last round's miss.

DM's Edit: Yes, sorry. Got it. Nowadays, it's good to remind me constantly.

[Jeff's backup]

Condign's eyes widen slightly when he again hears the voice of the pseudodragon in his head, but he has no time to ponder these mysteries. He sees the cube starting to lose some of its shape and hopes this means it is close to dying.

Having seen the sword's edge slice thinly into the creature and not appear to cause much damage, he decides to thrust his sword into the side of the cube, twist and then pull the broadside of the sword upward. He is hoping this does more damage.

------------------------

Standard action: attack with longsword

Attack roll: 1d20 + 9=11

[Ken]

Grafth

Grafth, standing alongside Condign, ignores the foul glop coating his hair and clothes. After a nod of comradeship and appreciation toward Condign, he attacks the cube with his handaxe.

Move: None. Grafth is one square east of Condign, no matter what the map says.
Standard: Attack with +1 handaxe: 1d20+6=18
Damage: Handaxe damage, plus Hunter's Quarry (1d8+3=6, 1d8=5) = total 11 damage

Belarin

Belarin quickly looks around at the sound of Mattheu's voice, but he knows the pseudodragon is likely invisible. "Nice to hear you again, Mattheu," he says, with a level of sincerity that is surprising even to him. "We must compare notes on royal genealogy when this is done."

Aware that in some strange way the cloaking shadows add strength to his hexes, Belarin moves back up along the edge. As he feels the shadows again gather around him, he points his dagger at the ooze, his eyes flashing with multihued energy. "Wasting rhymes I much abhor / So simply DIE, I do implore!"

Move: 3 squares north. Belarin has concealment.
Standard: Attack again with eyebite vs. Will: 1d20+5=24
Damage: 1d6+4=10 + 1d6=5 (warlock's curse) + 1 (Empowering Shadows) = total 16 psychic