Chapter 12: Shadows in the Dark

[Dave B.]

Knowing that getting Histra's staff back may be the edge they need for all of them to survive, Shorak doesn't hesitate. He let's fly with his boomerang, attacking the yugoloth or at least one of it's illusions.

Attack roll 1d20+8=16.

Since Belarin missed with the same roll, I assume Shorak did too. Unless it hits a duplicate, I guess.

[Jeff]

Shorak's boomerang sweeps through the nycaloth's apparent body, dissolving it in an instant. Only one more illusionary image remains.

Adamant now engages Sarquaa, who accepts the hit with nary a grunt, but it's clear to Adamant that he's begun to sheer away the mutant sahuagin's mass. The skin splits open and a gelatinous greenish slime falls loose with each slice of his blade. Sarquaa seems to be some ghoulish version of his former self, clad in a form supplied by Dolurrh.

Although angered by his presence, Sarquaa seems determined to finish Streko off. Fueled by hate, the mutant raises his trident in the air and drives it down. Adamant throws out his shield arm in an attempt to parry the attack; the tines strike the shield but slide on and away...and still manage to catch Streko at the shoulder. Blood sprays the ground and Streko feels the three tines bite into his flesh. Sarquaa clutches at him with his third arm and snaps at his face but the halfling manages to avoid further injuries.

The two black-skinned sahuagin not turned to dust by Streko's magic lunge at Condign and Streko respectively. Condign feels the spear of his opponent bite into him, but with his shield he slaps away the snapping jaws of the fish monster. Streko, meanwhile, feels the spear and teeth crunch into him, but neither finds a chink in his armor.

---

● Shorak attacks the nycaloth: 16 (Mirror Image roll of 16, a duplicate is attacked): duplicate is destroyed
● Adamant's attacks against Sarquaa hit for a total of 19 damage.
● Sarquaa attacks three times.
→ Adamant's imposes disadvantage on the first (trident) attack against Streko.
● Sarquaa’s disadvantaged trident attack: 26 (hit) & 18 (hit) / 10 piercing damage to Streko
● Sarquaa’s claw attack: 9 (miss)
● Sarquaa’s bite attack: 15 (miss)
● Sahuagin #5's spear attack vs. Condign: 23 (hit) / 7 piercing damage to Condign
● Sahuagin #5's bite attack vs. Condign: 13 (miss)
● Sahuagin #7's spear attack vs. Streko: 12 (miss)
● Sahuagin #7's bite attack vs. Streko: 13 (miss)

---

Wings loudly beating the air, the nycaloth drifts ovehead, moving slightly away from Belarin. This his body drops a few feet and the fiend emits an enraged grunt as he swings his battle axe down in a two-handed grip, aimed for Histra!

Looking weary, she yet gestures on instinct and a nearly invisible shield appears in the path of the axe—!

The mighty axes crashes through the summoned shield; although slowed by it, it doesn't stop, and one edge slashes Histra across the back as she tries to evade it, nearly spinning her around. She swoons, emitting a soft cry of pain as Belarin feels her blood spray across his face.

Facing him for a brief moment, Histra's eyes widen in intensity. She gives Belarin a look he can't quite understand, an expression of...finality? Resigenation? Unable to effectively dodge a second attack and looking like she's ready to topple over, Histra turns to face the next sweep of the nycaloth's axe. She opens her arms as if to welcome it....but the blade bites into her summoned shield and does not penetrate. She lets out a breath.

Above, Belarin sees the fiend's diabolic face grimace in disappointment, but he quickly meets Belarin's eyes and makes a show of licking his axe blade.

---

● The nycaloth moves so that he is adjacent, but just above, Histra.
→ Histra casts Shield, granting a +5 bonus to her AC until the start of her next turn.
● The nycaloth's attack vs. Histra: 27 (hit) / 17 slashing damage to Histra
● The nycaloth's attack vs. Histra: 17 (miss!)

---

Then the skeletal sahuagin, still stalking slower than the rest, croaks out another spell...and suddenly the battlefield grows much quieter. Belarin, Histra, Condign, Adamant, and Streko can hear absolutely nothing, and they realize that magical silence has been imposed upon them!

Outside this space, Kal, Shorak, and Tangat can hear normally but they cannot hear the center of the fight at all, only the rasps and hisses of the Whelmed in their fight against the remaining sahuagin. Even the beating of the yugoloth's wings have been silenced. Kal is the first to realize that this means that none of them will be able to cast any spells requiring speech, but that should also include the fiend. Kal understands that this silence zone is fixed in place; it merely needs to be exited, or dispelled.

---

● The skeletal sahuagin casts Silence. In a 20-foot radius sphere centered on Histra, no sound can be created or pass through. Any creature or object entirely inside the sphere is immune to thunder damage, and creatures are deafened while entirely inside it. Casting a spell that includes a verbal component is impossible there. The silence zone also includes the nycaloth, the two sahugin, and Sarquaa.

Histra has 8 hit points remaining and looks it.

Interesting thing about Mirror Image: sometimes it's easier to hit the image, so with the right roll you can knock out an image with an attack that would otherwise have missed the target.

Round 5 begins:

18 = Kal & Tangat
16 = Condign & Streko
15 = Whelmed
14 = Belarin & Histra
13 = Shorak
7 = Adamant
7 = Sarquaa
6 = sahuagin
5 = yugoloth
4 = skeletal sahuagin spellcaster

[Darren]

Kal grins as Streko burns away the undead sahuagin. He knows the tide of the battle is turning, but there is still great danger on the field. Histra simply cannot fall. Without her, the companions will have no way of returning home. Streko is in dire need of help. Still, the yugoloth is engaged by his friends, as is Sarquaa. A caster on the field, though, is cause for concern.

Kalarian tries to summon his own magic, but he is simply too exhausted. Reaching into his pack, he produces a crystalline wand and points it at the skeletal caster. Immediately, the wand begins to glow and four darts of energy streak across the battlefield to the distant magic user.

_____________________
Kal will use the Eternal Wand of Magic Missles to send 4 darts at the caster. Each one hits for 1d4+1 damage.

Hopefully that guy is pretty fragile.

[Jeff]

The four glowing missiles take their own paths, then convene and slam into the seaweed-wrapped skeletal creature. She is jostled and Kal can even hear ribs breaking under the pressure, but she does not go down.

● The skeletal sahuagin takes 13 points of force damage.

[Brian]

Condign smiles as the sahuagin surrounding him crumble to dust. Having seen undead turned before, he glances at Streko, ready to cheer him…and sees his diminutive friend fighting for his life. Blood flows from too many wounds, staining the ground around him black. His face is pale. Sweat soaks his brow. Condign is impressed that the halfling is still on his feet.

Knowing there is not much time left, he opens his mouth, ready to rally his friend to fight—to live—when all the sound around him suddenly disappears. He can hear nothing. He cannot say anything. He looks around and sees the same shocked looks on the faces of his friends.

The area has been silenced. He cannot help Streko.

Turning to the yugoloth, who has just wounded Histra and placed itself within range, he decides to take out their greatest threat.

He turns and attacks.

_________________________________________________

Okay, here we go. There is one more illusory yugoloth left. All of Condign's attacks will be rolled assuming he hits the real yugoloth. Should he hit the illusory one, we'll move on to the next attack on the real one. Condign will attempt to disarm the yugoloth from Histra's staff. If the disarm fails, his next attacks will be used to disarm, until he runs out of hits. If allowed, I'd like to use Inspiration in an effort to nullify the yugoloth (size-based) advantage on the first of the attack rolls that actually hits the fiend. I'll roll damage on all of the hits and Jeff can use the numbers if the hits are good.

Condign:1D20+8 → 17(9 + 8)#attack roll
Condign:1D20+8 → 14(6 + 8)#attack roll

Condign:1D8+4 → 11(7 + 4)#damage roll on first attack
Condign:1D8+4 → 5(1 + 4)#damage roll on second attack

Condign uses his Action Surge to attack again. He will use his flame bracers on the fourth attack. He will also expend a superority die on the fourth attack and hit it with Menacing attack.

Condign:1D20+8 → 28(20 + 8)#attack roll number three
Condign:1D20+8 → 17(9 + 8)#attack roll number four

Condign:2D8 → 11(7 +4)#damage roll on third attack +4 = 15
Condign:1D8+4 → 11(7 + 4)#damage roll on fourth attack
Condign:1D6 → 5(5)#flame bracer damage
Condign:1D8 → 3(3)#Menacing Attack additional Damage

[Jeff]

With a surge of anger and desperation, Condign stretches up and even jumps, swinging his sword with precision. It feels wrong to him to hear no grunting issue from his own body, nor the swish of his blade or the rustle of his armor, but he feels a grim satisfaction as his blade silently passes through and obliterates the final illusion. The yugoloth whirls in midair, wary of the tiefling’s ferocious assault, evading a second swing altogether. But on the backswing, Condign rotates his body completely around—not aiming for the center of mass at all but for the yugoloth’s second, lower set of arms. So surprised by this is the fiend that when the flat of Condign’s blade strikes the crooked wood staff in the lower left hand, the staff is knocked away.

Histra’s staff falls to the ground near her feet, making not a sound.

It's hard to be sure since he can only read lips in the supernatural silence, but Condign thinks the yugoloth then utters a curse.

---

● Condign attacks the yugoloth with an attempt to disarm (Mirror Image roll of 20, the image is targeted instead.)
● Condign’s first attack of 17 hits, so the last duplicate is destroyed.
● Condign’s second attack of 14 misses.
● Condign uses his Action Surge to Attack again.
● Condign uses his inspiration to negate the disadvantage on the first attempt to disarm.
● Condign’s roll of 20 vs. the yugoloth’s roll of 8: success / the yugoloth is disarmed of Histra’s staff
● Condign’s second attack of 17 misses, so no superiority dice are expended (likewise the Flame Bracers are not used on a miss)

16 = Streko
15 = Whelmed
14 = Belarin & Histra
13 = Shorak
7 = Adamant
7 = Sarquaa
6 = sahuagin
5 = yugoloth
4 = skeletal sahuagin spellcaster

[Joe]

Streko, feeling nauseous, weak and out of breath, takes a feeble swing at Sarquaa. A moment later, he calls out Adamant's name while grasping his Holy Symbol.

He hears nothing.

He shouts it again, begging Olladra to hear his friend's name, begging his Blessed Goddess to assist his valiant friend, but he is unsure if his prayer is heard, as he cannot hear a sound. Everything around him is silent and he attempts to recall the last sound he did hear, but his memory fails him. He can't remember.

He thinks, for a quick moment, that his attempt was a noble gesture, yet possibly futile. Still, he rejoices that his last actions in this world were an attempt to help his friend.

Then, another thought occurs to him.

Could it be? YES!

Streko has one more trick up his blood-stained sleeve, another gift from the glorious Olladra. One more chance to, possibly, survive this encounter and continue to do good deeds in Her name. Hope seems to burst in his heart as it continues to beat valiantly against the wounds he must endure.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Streko takes a swing with Therendor: 1d20 + 1 = 10 (I don't think he has a hit advantage using the sickle, aside from its inherent +1. In any event, mostly feeble. A hit does 3 points damage should it be a lucky strike.
As a bonus action Streko attempts to trigger Therendor's magic: If there is no vocal component to this, but is simply an effort of will on Strko's part, Adamant can now can spend 1 hit die to regain hit points equal to the roll plus Streko's Wisdom modifier of 4.

[Ken]

As soon as Condign knocks the staff free of the nycaloth's grasp, Belarin steps next to Histra and helps her recover it. His skeletal hand supporting her at the elbow, he looks at her and nods his head. In the eerie silence and with his current visage, any emotions are difficult to convey.

________

Nice work, Brian!

I figure it's okay to post since Streko's action doesn't affect what Belarin is doing. Belarin steps next to Histra, interposing himself between her and the nycaloth, if possible.

He uses the Help action to give her advantage on her next ability check or attack roll.

Alternatively, if Histra would need to use an action to reclaim the staff, then Belarin will use HIS action to pick it up and give it to her as a free action. That way, she can still act.

[Jeff]

The sickle blade doesn't even connect; Sarquaa is not slow. But the sickle's magic flashes regardless.

Seeming almost trancelike, Histra stoops and takes up her staff. She gives Belarin only a quick glance and then begins to spring away, enacting some plan—which Belarin thinks requires she get out of the magical silence. Seeing the nycaloth taking advantage of her run, Belarin makes a flourish, trying to draw the fiend’s attention away from her, but an almost errant claw of one of the nycaloth’s lower arms rakes across her back and she moves.

It's too much for her. She's already lost a lot of blood. Silently, Histra crumbles to the ground, unconscious. And silently, the yugoloth tries to laugh at this.

Already dismayed by this turn of events, Belarin feels a spike of horror shoot through his psyche as he feels a measure of Histra’s lifeforce siphon directly into him—whether due to his proximity to her, her own magic, or the bracers he wears, he’s not quite sure. He also feels her spirit being pulled towards true death.

---

● Streko triggers the magic of the Crescent of Therendor. Dave, if Adamant would like to spend a hit die (instantaneous, not even a reaction needed), he can. Let me know. I know Addy's got 2 hit dice left.
● Histra picks up her staff (one free action).

Since she’s moving away from the nycaloth and isn’t attacking or making an ability check, I’m allowing Belarin’s Help action to help Histra’s defense instead, imposing disadvantage on the inevitable opportunity attack he’ll be making:

● Histra moves—
→ The nycaloth uses his reaction to make a disadvantaged opp attack against Histra: 22 and 25 (hit) / 13 slashing damage to Histra
● Histra is at 0 hit points and falls, dying.
● Belarin gains 6 hit points as she does, and Histra instantly fails her first death saving throw.

Can’t update the map right now. Histra made it 2 squares NE before falling.

13 = Shorak
7 = Adamant
7 = Sarquaa
6 = sahuagin
5 = yugoloth
4 = skeletal sahuagin spellcaster

[Dave B.]

"Father, Mother, guide my blade." Shorak whispers as he rears back and flings his tri-bladed weapon towards the Nycaloth. He fears for Histra as she lies unmoving on the ground. This beast needs to be put down as quickly as possible.

Attack roll 1d20+8=18. Hopefully, that hits. Slashing damage 1d6+5=8 Sneak attack damage 4d6=13

If possible, Shorak would like to use his Cunning Action as a reaction to disengage if the Nycaloth decides to teleport or move his way. But, only if it allows him to avoid being attacked. Otherwise, he'll use his reaction to lessen any major damage if he is hit by that nasty blade.

[Jeff]

Shorak's weapon makes no sound as it slices into the yugoloth's back, spurting blood out into the air, then flies back to him. The fiend whirls and fixes Shorak with a vengeful glare.

● Shorak does 21 points of damage to the nycaloth.

Unfortunately, a Cunning Action can only be used Dash, Disengage, or Hide. Can't use the Ready action with it.

[Dave W.]

Adamant tries to shout something but the eerie quiet prevents. He feels the healing warmth from Streko's Lady.

Adamant's usual calm fighting style has taken on a strange animal-like ferocity. Shoving at Sarquaa with his shield and smashing at the sahuagin with his sword, you can almost hear the cries of frustration but for the magical silence.

As he fights, he intersperses pointing at Shorak and then to Histra and finally a quick motion pantomiming drinking something.

---

Hells yes Adamant wants to use Streko's weapon's magic to heal up a bit... Thanks man!
dlw32:1D10+4 ? 6(2 + 4)

Adamant is not fighting well... I think it's the effect of Dolurrh... It can't be my sucky rolls...
dlw32:1D20+7 → 9(2 + 7)#attack with sword
dlw32:1D20+7 → 12(5 + 7)#attack with sword

The pantomime Adamant is trying to do (warforged mime?) is related to the healing potion he gave Shorak a while back. I notice it's still on my sheet but Adamant doesn't have it. He gave it to Shorak. I think he gave one to Belarin too but I don't know if he's used that one.

Still offering to Protect Streko from attack; Addy's fighting style will use his reaction to give disadvantage to bad guys attacking Streko... And the whole those w/i 10' can't be charmed and get a +3 on saves...

[Jeff]

Adamant's sword does little more than ricochet off Sarquaa's outflung limbs and at one point the tines of the mutant's trident catch the sword blade completely before the two weapons swing back again.

Then the mutant stabs at Streko again with his trident, and this time Adamant is there to interpose. It should be a loud clash but no sound is made as the warforged's shield turns it away. With one hand the Sarquaa pushes the shield away even as a claw lashes out...and rakes harmlessly across the halfling's armor. Then the mutant lunges bodily at Streko and Streko simply weaves away from the snapping jaws.

The black-skinned sahuagin who remain press in fearlessly. Condign feels the bite of one of the spear pierce through a gap in his armor, and even as he swings the spear away again, the sahuagin lunges into him and closes its shark-like jaws down on his shoulder and neck. Several of the teeth sink into flesh, but the chilling cold that fills him almost masks the pain of the teeth.

Streko, happy to have avoided the tall mutant's attack, then feels a spear jab into his back, and a black-skinned, piranha-like head fills his view as the other sahuagin closes in and bites into his back as well. The heat of warm blood, the cold chill of undeath...and Streko feels it overwhelm him. He crumbles to the ground.

---

● Adamant healed 6 hit points. (Since the effect allows Adamant to use his own hit dice and isn't a straight up free hit point healing, I'll let him use the normal amount.)
● Sarquaa attacks Streko.
→ Adamant uses his reaction to impose disadvantage.
● Sarquaa's disadvantaged trident attack vs. Streko: 10 & 12 (miss)
● Sarquaa's claw attack vs. Streko: 9 (miss)
● Sarquaa's bite attack vs. Streko: 9 (miss)
● Sahuagin #5's spear attack vs. Condign: 24 (hit) / 6 piercing damage to Condign
● Sahuagin #5's bite attack vs. Condign: 25 (miss) / 3 piercing damage and 3 necrotic damage to Condign
● Sahuagin #7's spear attack vs. Streko: 22 (hit) / 6 piercing damage to Streko
● Sahuagin #7's bie attack vs. Streko: 17 (miss) / 3 piercing damage and 3 necrotic damage to Streko
● Streko is at 0 hit points and is dying.

---

Nearby, you see the Whelmed draw themselves up. The sahuagin they had battled lie torn upon the ground. They seem to turn their attention now to the rest of the battlefield—though at this point you’re not sure who they deem enemies. One of them turns to face the skeletal sahuagin close to them, and in turn she conjures a large, ghostly trident in the air and sends it against it.

The yugoloth, still in the zone of silence, whirls his body around in a flourish of wings and tail—and suddenly he vanishes!

He reappears fifty feet away, standing now, just behind Kal! The dragonmarked heir turns to see the fiend looming over him, clawed wings tearing at the air. Outside the zone of silence, the fiend chuckles darkly. Down comes his axe in a two-handed chop, so swiftly, and Kal instinctively flinches and tries to throw himself clear of the swishing blade. But it wasn’t for him—

The heavy axe blade cuts into Tangat, nearly severing the dog in two. Tangat doesn’t make a sound, just slumps to the ground, unconscious, as blood begins to pool around him.

“You will all suffer dearly before I kill you, trust in that,” the fiend barks out, then laughs. “You’re the next to watch a friend fall, drow,” he adds even as he sights Kal down and hefts his axe again.

Horrified, Kal knows that in his heart Tangat is a magical familiar and his spirit can be brought back again, but he can lose his original, earthly body if it dies. Then again, Kal knows he may die himself anyway soon enough.

---

● The skeletal sahuagin casts Spiritual Weapon and attacks the nearest Whelmed.
● The nycaloth teleports (not a spell, an innate ability requiring no verbal components).
● The nycaloth’s attack vs. Tangat: 22 (hit ) / 25 slashing damage to Tangat
● Tangat is at 0 hit points and is dying.

---

Dolurrh, the Realm of the Dead. Once, a very long time ago when he was still a young child, Kal asked his mother what happened to all the soldiers when they died. He only knew about death because he would hear his older brothers talking about it, how some had honorable deaths in battle and some did not. With the Last War going on, and so many people falling in battle—Deneith mercenaries included—young Kalarian wondered how could there be any place large enough to hold them all? Didn’t a lot of people die? Didn’t everyone die eventually? No castle could be big enough, surely. And did it hurt to die?

Already a Sentinel Marshal at this point, the Deneith noblewoman had seen plenty of death herself. “Yes, love," she answered her son. "It can sometimes hurt, but only for a moment. And what comes after won’t hurt at all. Dolurrh is where you go, and you will forget all the bad things, and any pain you ever had.”

Will you forget the good things, too, he’d asked. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. You join your friends and family, and the gods decide what becomes of us then. If we’re not supposed to remember certain things, then we won’t. But you’ll always remember that I love you. I promise you that.”

---

I can’t update the map at the moment, but here are the notables:
● Streko and Tangat are both dying.
● The nycaloth is now directly N of Kal.
● The spirits are moving:

---

Adamant and Belarin, dismayed to see Streko fall, just then notice that the spirits of the Merrow Down are congregating and seem to be drifting away from the Whelmed now—who seem not to care about them at all—and towards the battle. Several wisplike eyes are gazing intently upon you and your foes.

[Jeff]

Round 6 begins:

18 = Kal & Tangat (death saving throw #1 will be needed)
16 = Condign & Streko (death saving throw #1 will be needed)
15 = Whelmed
14 = Belarin & Histra (death saving throw #2 will be rolled)
13 = Shorak
7 = Adamant
7 = Sarquaa
6 = sahuagin
5 = yugoloth
4 = skeletal sahuagin spellcaster

Darren, when Kal goes, you should toll for Tangat. It's a straight-up, unmodified d20 roll.

All: When Invisible Castle is down, got to the Rolz site for DarkEchelon: rolz.org/dr?room=DarkEchelon

Click Dice Room in the top right corner, create a Nickname (your name or whatever), ignore Password, and just click Join Room. Then in the bottom bar where you can type, just put the # symbol followed by what the roll is: #d20 for a death saving throw.

[Darren]

Without thinking, Kal whirls and flings his hands up towards the nycaloth. "Help me!" he cries out, tears stinging his eyes as flames erupt from his hands. "By all the gods, help me," he sobs. If Tangat should die....

Gritting his teeth, Kal pushes his hands towards the fiend, the heat of the flames intensifying with his fear and anger.

__________________
I still get confused between 4e and 5 rules, but I think that Kal can't move without provoking an attack, and I think that casting now does not provoke an attack (or maybe it grants disadvantage if you're adjacent? I don't know...) Anyway, none of that should matter because Kal is using Burning Grasp which doesn't require an attack roll....

The nycaloth needs to make a Dex save versus DC 14

11 damage on a failed save, 5 on a successful one. (I did the roll in the Rolz thing...I don't know how to put it here.)

Death save for Tangat is 10.

[Jeff]

When fire spews from Kal’s hands, the yugoloth barely attempts to avoid it; the flames are wild, and what few tendrils of fire touch the fiend, they don’t seem to bother him much.

---

You’ve got it right. Burning Hands requires the target make a saving throw so despite Kal’s poisoned condition that doesn’t matter. However, the nycaloth does have advantage on all saving throws against magic just because he’s a fiend and many are resistant to magic.

● Kal casts Burning Hands.
● The nycaloth’s advantaged Dexterity saving throw: 12 and 15 (success) / nycaloth takes no damage. He is resistant to fire as well. (Burning Grasp doesn't do half damage on a successful save, however.)
● Tangat’s has made one successful death saving throw.

It’s fine just putting the number here. I can always reference the site to see it. It’s kind of a pain to link over there directly and not have it look wonky.

[Brian]

Condign grimaces as the sahuagin's attacks get past his defenses. More blood flows from his wounds, making him light-headed. Around him, his friends are falling quickly. He needs to make a difference, and quickly. He raises his sword, which feels too heavy, and brings it down on the sahuagin's head. The blade bites deep, and flames dance along the undead fiend's skin. He then gestures to Shorak, indicating that he should bring down the damned yugoloth.

_________________________________________

Condign attacks sahauagin #5 and uses his flame bracers. He forgoes his second attack to use the Commander's Strike maneuver on Shorak. Shorak can make one weapon attack as a reaction. He adds the superiority die roll to his damage.

Condign:1D20+8 → 16(8 + 8)#attack roll
Condign:1D8+4 → 7(3 + 4)#Damage roll for first attack
Condign:1D6 → 6(6)#Flame Bracer damage
Condign:1D8 → 1(1)#Superiority die roll

[Jeff]

Shorak can make his Condign-granted reaction attack right now, on Condign's turn, and then Shorak will have his normal action on his turn after Belarin.

[Jeff]

Meanwhile, updated map:

[Dave B.]

Shorak doesn't hesitate when he gets Condign's cue. His boomerang flies towards the Yugoloth with great speed.

Attack roll 1d20+8=24. Slashing damage 1d6+5=7. Sneak attack damage 4d6=15.

[Jeff]

Condign's blade runs the sahuagin through and then sends fire searing through the devastating stab. When he yanks the sword back out of the black-skinned fish monster, he expects it to fall...but it doesn't. Only the resilience of undeath has kept this thing on its feet. Still, the damage is severe and he feels he could topple it with another good blow.

Shorak's tri-bladed boomerang catches the nycaloth squarely in the face! Clearly he didn't see it coming, and the fiend snarls in rage and pain as blood drips form his nose and mouth. One arm shoots out to try and catch the drow boomerang when it ricochets away, but it moves much too fast and lands gracefully, if blood-slicked, in Shorak's hands.

---

The shuagin takes 13 points of piercing and/or fire damage.

The nycaloth takes 23 points of slashing damage.

Joe, how about giving me a death saving throw (just a regular d20 roll)?

Histra's second death saving throw: 11 (success) / she has 1 failure and 1 success so far

After Streko's save is made, Belarin is up.

14 = Belarin
13 = Shorak
7 = Adamant
7 = Sarquaa
6 = sahuagin
5 = yugoloth
4 = skeletal sahuagin spellcaster

[Joe]

Streko's Death Roll:

Streko:1D20 → 11(11)

[Ken]

Death and silence surround Belarin. He holds Histra's limp form, her blood on his hands and her life in his veins. She may be dead. He can't hear her breath. But -- possibly due to his current form -- he senses that she still lives, if barely. He glances up and sees that the nycaloth has vanished. He looks around just in time to see Tangat brutally cut down, quickly followed by Kalarian's furious if futile attack.

A large part of Belarin's consciousness wants to lash out with every bit of strength he still possesses. He should do so. He normally would do so -- that's his nature. He's aware of this. Yet he bears the mantle of a lich, and a dark, powerful fragment of the lich's persona now exists in him. He was a combat mage, a commander, a strategist. Impulse rarely wins a war.

He grabs Histra's staff. With the other hand, he reaches into his belt pouch and withdraws the potion that Histra ironically insisted that he take. He gently pours the potion between her pale lips.

_________________________

Belarin grabs the staff and then he pours the Potion of Healing into Histra's mouth. If he can do only one of those things, he picks up the staff first.

[Jeff]

Magic is magic. Histra's eyes open, and her face immediately spasms in pain, but she fixes her gaze on Belarin's gruesome mask. She immediately holds out one hand and mouths (or speaks, but in the silence you're not sure), "Give it to me."

---

● Histra heals 7 hit points. She is no longer dying.

13 = Shorak
7 = Adamant
7 = Sarquaa
6 = sahuagin
5 = yugoloth
4 = skeletal sahuagin spellcaster

[Dave B.]

Shorak winces as he sends his boomerang sailing wide of the mark. As it returns to him, he has to leap a bit to grab it and decides to let his momentum carry him away from the yugoloth. Now that he has the beasts attention, Shorak won't make it easy for the nycaloth to take out his anger on the half-drow.

Attack roll 1d20+8=13. Definitely a miss. Shorak moves 5 squares south to the square NW of Condign.

[Dave W.]

As Streko starts to fall, Adamant grabs for him and kicks at Sarquaa just to force space between them. The warforged eases his friend to the ground and has to swing his shield at the other sahuagin to force it back.

The light of Adamant's eye gems blaze bright blue and he launches furious attacks at Sarquaa. His metal jaw is open, perhaps in a scream of fury though the magical silence prevents any sounds. There's an animal wildness to the construct's attacks in place of his normal machine-like precision...

---

Sweet Jesus... Maybe Adamant needs to calm down...
dlw32:1D20+7 → 10(3 + 7)
dlw32:1D20+7 → 11(4 + 7)

The only ally currently in range of my Protection style (gives disadvantage to enemies attacking adjacent allies) is Streko and Adamant will surly defend him unless someone else comes adjacent and needs help.

Again, Allies w/i 10' (currently Belarin and Histra and the unconscious Streko) can't be charmed and get a +3 on saves... Hey... does the +3 count for Death Saves too? The DE Stats says "saving throw"; I don't have a copy of the actual book handy...

[Jeff]

You know what? Yes! I didn't think you could but I just checked it now:

Whenever you start your turn with 0 hit points, you must make a special saving throw, called a death saving throw, to determine whether you creep closer to death or hang onto life. Unlike other saving throws, this one isn’t tied to any ability score. You are in the hands of fate now, aided only by spells and features that improve your chances of succeeding on a saving throw.

Good to know!

[Jeff]

This time the nycaloth sees Shorak's triple-bladed weapon coming and swats it away with his broad axe. Kal feels a few warm droplets hit his face when the fiend swings—Tangat’s blood. The boomerang wobbles unevenly back through the air, but Shorak still manages to catch it.

Sarquaa wastes no time and stabs down at Streko where he lies. Adamant tries to interpose, but the halfling's prostate form is difficult to miss. The three tines bite down, but fail to penetrate Streko's chain mail! Perhaps Olladra indeed smiles on him. Frustrated, the undead mutant lifts his cold-dead gaze and then turns his focus upon the still-moving warforged. Grasping at Adamant's head with his claws, he manages to get a hold of the musculature of wood around the warforged’s "collarbone" and he proceeds to squeeze through them. Then, undeterred by the fact that Adamant is made of a lot of metal, the sahuagin prince lunges close and closes his mouth entirely around the paladin's head. Blinded for a moment, Admant feels his enemy's serrated teeth grinding across the dome of his head, scoring the metal and even scratching his gemstone eyes! So strong is the bite, Adamant feels genuine pain when the hinge of his jaw becomes somewhat disjointed. All still very silently.

---

● Shorak misses the nycaloth.
● Adamant's attacks against Sarquaa hit for a total of 19 damage.
● Sarquaa attacks Streko first.
→ Adamant's imposes disadvantage on the first (trident) attack against Streko. However, attacking a prone, unconscious target gives one advantage. Therefore no advantage/disadvantage applies.
● Sarquaa’s trident attack vs. Streko: 11 (miss)
● Sarquaa’s claw attack vs. Adamant: 21 (hit) / 14 slashing damage to Adamant
● Sarquaa’s bite attack vs. Adamant: 27 (critical hit) / 15 piercing damage to Adamant
Dave, make a Constitution saving throw for Adamant. I'm pretty sure his +3 paladin bonus applies as well. Sarquaa’s claws can do more to him still.

---

The two remaining black-skinned sahuagin continue their assault. Condign's foe manages another stab through the tiefling's armor, while Adamant's also finds it easier to skewer the warforged while its mutant commander has nearly swallowed the construct's head. Blood and alchemical fluid flows freely from both tiefling and warforged.

---

● Sahuagin #5's spear attack vs. Condign: 25 (hit) / 8 piercing damage to Condign
● Sahuagin #5's bite attack vs. Condign: 13 (miss)
● Sahuagin #7's spear attack vs. Adamant: 24 (hit) / 6 piercing damage to Adamant
● Sahuagin #7's bite attack vs. Adamant: 15 (miss)
● The Whelmed attack the skeletal sahuagin.

---

You lose sight of the skeletal sahuagin for a moment as the Whelmed close in around her.

Kal, expecting to have to dodge a sweep of the fiend’s massive axe, looks up to see that the nycaloth looks someone distracted. “No, human, you will not save her!” In the blink of an eye, the fiend vanishes in front of Kal—teleporting!—and he reappears above just behind Belarin. The human-lich has just enough time to notice the hulking figure raising his axe. Belarin whirls to avoid the downward swing but the edge slices into one outflung arm. Belarin feels the pain more clinically than viscerally, and though it tears a great wound in his arm, there isn’t much blood to show for it. Regardless, he knows he can be hewn down with a few more strikes like that.

Then, quite suddenly, sound is restored around Adamant, Streko, Belarin, and Histra, as the clicks and rustling of the undead sahuagin fills the space.

The muffled croak of the spellcasting sahuagin can just barely be heard, and then a localized stormcloud coalesces rapidly in the air a hundred feet above the cluster of Whelmed. A second later a bolt of lightning flashes down, skewering some of the Whelmed, and another second later you hear the loud CRACK of it!

After the sound recedes, her face filled with pain, Histra begins to reach for the staff in Belarin’s hands. She meets his eyes briefly, knowing he cannot ignore the yugoloth. “You must trust me,” she hisses, spitting blood as she does.

And that is when the spirits of the dead, appearing to move slowly, manage to swarm up around the battlefield. What faces you can see—the familiar and unfamiliar—are dead-eyed, emotionless, and haunting. You're not sure if they're a threat, but if they are, they look as though they will set upon the sahuagin first.

---

● The nycaloth teleports then attacks once.
● The nycaloth's attack vs. Belarin: 19 (hit) / 14 slashing damage to Belarin
● The skeletal sahuagin relinquishes her spell and the zone of magical silence is gone.
● The skeletal sahuagin casts Call Lightning.

Round 7 begins:

18 = Kal & Tangat (death saving throw #2 will be needed)
16 = Condign & Streko (death saving throw #2 will be needed)
14 = Histra
14 = Belarin
13 = Shorak
7 = Adamant
7 = Sarquaa
6 = sahuagin & Whelmed
5 = yugoloth
4 = skeletal sahuagin spellcaster

One amendment to this map: the “dying” blood around Histra shouldn’t be there. Although still barely hurt, she’s not currently dying anymore.

[Brian]

Condign feels the sahuagin's weapon sink into his flesh and curses under his breath. Due to training or sheer luck, he dodges the creatures bite and uses the opportunity to swing at the undead thing.

________________________________________

Condign expends a superiority die and uses the maneuver Riposte to attack the sahuagin #5.

Condign:1D20+8 → 26(18 + 8)#attack roll

Condign:1D8+4 → 5(1 + 4) damage roll

Condign:1D8 → 8(8)#superiority die damage

Total of 13 points damage to sahuagin #5.

[Jeff]

Condign's counterstrike cuts through black, fishy flesh and bone with a satisfying amount of resistance and pressure. The strange, fin-filled head simply rolls to the ground and the body collapses. The spear clatters to the stony ground.

● Sahuagin #5 is (properly) slain.