Chapter 12: Shadows in the Dark

[Dave W.]

Adamant struggles with the sahuagin's jaws... his frustration and hatred of this place grows... The toll of damage is once again reaching a critical apex... Can I die a second time? How ironic it would be to recognize I didn't die last time by dying this time... He almost laughs through the pain...

---

CON Save: dlw32:1D20+5 → 21(16 + 5) That looks pretty good...

[Jeff]

Adamant also notes that he could be killed by this being which itself was already killed. But then his musings vanish as he pushes back the cold that threatens to envelop his core. This creature of undeath doesn't deserve to kill again.

Adamant resists the effect.

[Jeff]

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

[Darren]

Kal is nearly paralyzed. His companions are falling one by one. His best friend lies dying next to him. Poison courses through his veins and he knows he is useless.

"How can you fight like that?" the boy laughs at Kalarian, pointing at the contraption of straps and braces around Kal's leg. "You're useless!" Kal struggles to stand, determined to strike the boy and show him how strong he can be, but his leg will not bear his weight and he collapses to the ground, tears flowing down his face.

Kalarian grits his teeth, determined to at least try to make a difference. Fire dances around his hand and forms into a ball above his fingertips. He flicks his wrist towards Sarquaa, even as his vision goes double and he hopes he has aimed for the right target...

____________________
Tangat death save #2 is a 5

Kal will cast Fire Bolt at Sarquaa. Disadvantaged attack rolls are 24 and 9. Damn it....

Not bothering to roll damage since I'm certain the 9 missed.

Can you fighter-types wrap this up already so Kal can rest and go back to being useful again.

[Brian]

Condign nods curtly as the sahuguin falls to his attack. Turning, he sees the yugoloth hovering before Belarina and Histra...and Histra has been revived! But Streko. And Adamant! Sarquaa has the warforged on the defensive; alchemical fluid is seeping from wounds too numerous to count. He needs to finish off the yugoloth, once and for all.

"Die, you vile beast!" Condign shouts, raising his sword high. "Your time here is finished!"

Gritting his teeth, Condign brings his sword down on the yugoloth. The blade bounces harmlessly off one of the fiends arms. Cursing, he swings again, putting all his strength into the blow, and smiles as the blade bites deep into the yugoloth's ugly hide!

________________________________________________________

Condign attacks the yugoloth and expends his final superiority die on a Menace maneuver on the yugoloth. It must save vs Wisdom or be frightened of Condign until the end of Condign's next turn.

Condign:1D20+8 → 10(2 + 8)#attack roll #1

Condign:1D20+8 → 28(20 + 8)#attack roll number two Hell, yes!

Condign:2D8+4 → 11(4 +3 + 4)#damage roll

Condign:2D8 → 8(7 +1)#superiority die damage roll

[Jeff]

The undead horror that Sarquaa has become barely looks up as Kal’s bolt of fire shoots past him.

Condign’s second attempt to bring the yugoloth down draws a long and almost smile-shaped line clear across his someone portly belly. Dark blood and ichor flows from the savage wound freely, drenching Condign himself with the caustic fluid. The nycaloth howls in pain and twists his head around to stare down at the tiefling who dared deal him such a wound.

Although Condign hasn’t spent much time staring into the visages of otherworldly fiends, he’s a veteran of war and has seen this expression before. He’s triggered a fight-or-flight response in the fiend: Either he will strategically retreat, knowing he endure wounds such as this any longer, or he will bear down on Condign and tear the tiefling’s own head off. Hard to be sure.

---

● Nycaloth takes 19 damage from Condign's attack.
● Nycaloth’s Wisdom saving throw to resist Condign’s Menacing Attack: 20 (success, he is not mechanically frightened)

I’m going to move to Belarin and Histra next, even as I await Joe’s next death saving throw (I’d rather you roll, Joe). Ken, Histra will go first unless you absolutely wish to act first. Condign’s attack definitely helps her next course of action, in any case.

16 = 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

[Jeff]

Histra rises unsteadily to her feet and says under her breath, “There is no other choice now, my love: Run from here, hide, and rest. I will find you.”

Then she stands tall, falteringly, and calls out to the yugoloth. “You. Lord Vessar and I shall soon drink and laugh at your expense. You are still unable to kill one ir’Serrel.” She takes a deep breath. “Not a single one. Curr!”

The fiend’s eyes blaze with fire and rage.

Histra grasps her staff in two hands in a martial manner and speaks the words of a spell—a spell Belarin suspect she couldn’t without her staff. Then her body, clothes, and gear dissolve instantly into a cloud white mist not unlike that associated with a vampire. For a moment the cold mist flows around Belarin like an ephemeral embrace, then it drifts along the ground like an earthborn cloud, moving slowly towards the sea. The nycaloth snorts, staring at the cloud as it begins its retreat, even as he clutches with one hand at the savage wound Condign gave to him.

Belarin remembers Histra's advice to stoke the fiend's pride. He knows she's baiting him away now.

---

● Histra casts Gaseous Form and begins to move away. Belarin knows enough about the typically arcane spell to know that she cannot be harmed in this misty state, that it will last an hour at the longest so long as it is not dispelled. Her movement is slow but the mist can slip through cracks and go where larger bodies cannot.

Her spell needed the verbal component to be cast. (Hence she tried to get clear of the silence earlier. Belarin reviving her has given her this second chance.)

Meanwhile, I'll update the map later when I can.

[Ken]

Belarin stares at his injured arm, apparently intrigued by the lack of blood. Then his gaze follows Histra’s misty form for a moment before going to the nycaloth. His eyes glow green with mirth. ”Truly, you cannot kill one frail ir’Serell woman. Idiot,” he says. He slashes at the nycaloth with his dagger.

_________________________

Eldritch Blast would be at disadvantage, so Belarin attacks the beastie with his dagger, but misses:

attack with pact dagger (d20+7 = 10); damage (1d4+4 =8)

[Joe]

Doubt this could suck much harder.

Streko:1D20 → 5(5)

[Jeff]

Joe, as has been noted earlier, just being next to Adamant gives Streko a +3 on these rolls. Which would mean that was an 8 when a 10 or higher is needed. Still a failure, but good to account for. And it takes three failures to actually die (or three to be stable).

[Dave B.]

Shorak hears what Histra said to Belarin, so he prepares for a potential retreat. He slips past the Nycaloth moving back towards Kal, then spins around to hurl his boomerang at the beast one more time.

Cunning action to disengage and move 6 squares north.

Attack roll d20+8=14

It looks like the rolls are not going our way right now. It may be time to run soon or now.

[Jeff]

The yugoloth easily ducks beneath Shorak's boomerang this time, and when Belarin's blade flashes out, the fiend doesn't even try to dodge. The angle isn't good and the thrust isn't strong enough; the blade merely bounces off his pebbled hide.

---

● Tangat and Streko both have made 1 successful death saving throw, and 1 failed death saving throw. Remember, any amount of healing will instantly stabilize or even awaken them; you can also use an action to make a Wisdom (Medicine) stabilize check. If you use a healer's kit, it's automatically successful.

7 = Adamant
7 = Sarquaa
7 = spirits
6 = sahuagin & Whelmed
5 = yugoloth
4 = skeletal sahuagin spellcaster

[Dave W.]

Between his recent serious thoughts and the return of sound, Adamant recovers some perspective. He notices Streko's blood on his feet and knows the halfling is nearly done. Calm, he thinks, I must not let Streko leak out.

He stops the wild animalistic melee. He continues to defend with his sword but calmly, with precision, and just to create space around his fallen friend. The tall warforged slides down to one knee near Streko, still sweeping with his sword. Adamant drops his shield and uses his left hand to work on binding the worst of the halfling's wounds.

"Streko has fallen! By the Light, I could use a aid here." He calls urgently with his broken voice.

Adamant addresses the spirits coming up, "I would be grateful for help, my friend is in dire straights. If you are here for our blood, may the gods judge us all fairly."

---

A friend of mine just a few weeks ago was telling me how he lost a PC in 5e. He was under 0 and at 2 successful and 1 failure on Death Saves. And he rolls a 1. On a Death Save, a 1 is two failures (a 20 is two successes). Everyone figured they had one more turn before they had to do anything for him but they didn't. So, I'll try to prevent Joe from having the same story to tell...

I don't see how Addy can Medicine with both hands occupied (maybe his feet?), so I think I need to drop the shield. Unfortunately that means I can't provide Protection but it would only have been useful for Streko anyway.

Medicine roll
dlw32:1D20+5 → 20(15 + 5) vs DC 10 I believe...

Again, w/i 10' you're immune to charm and get +3 to saves.

[Jeff]

The spirits offer no reaction to Adamants words as he quickly binds the worst of Streko’s wounds, ensuring at least that he won’t entirely drain of his vital fluids.

Sarquaa looms over Adamant and for a moment looks like he’s going to attempt to skewer either the dying halfling or the warforged himself. But with a hiss, the mutant sahuagin snaps his attention directly to Belarin. Loping, he moves around Adamant, lowering his trident...

But as he moves, two of the vaporous spirits stretch out and grasp at him! Their bodies are not properly formed, but as Adamant eyes them he swears he sees the face of Anng among them. The grizzled seaman, or this shadow of his former life, wraps misty tendrils around the mutant. Sarquaa is not kept from moving from the vapor, but the wisplike strands cling to him and the Anng-spirit trails him closely, seeming to attempt to hinter the undead sahuagin.

The others follow, flowing around Adamant and Streko as if they were mere rocks in the tide. Several more misty strands wrap themselves around Sarquaa’s limbs, while the rest swarm around the remaining black-skinned sahuagin.

No standing tall before Belarin, the dead-eyed sahuagin mutant stares into the empty sockets of Belarin’s face. If the former prince is cognizant of Belarin’s own undead-like state, it’s not obvious.

“First I will take your arm!” he issues with a hollow, croaking voice. In a fury, the trident stabs at Belarin’s torso, but one of the strands from the spirits yanks it back and the weapon doesn’t quite reach the human. Then Sarquaa’s head launches out and he snaps his jaws around one of Belarin’s arms. Again there is no blood drawn, but Belarin feels the cold pain of rended flesh. His third arm (next to where he once had a fourth) slashes out, but he is again hindered by the spirits of the Merrow Down!

---

● Adamant stabilizes Streko. Streko is no longer dying.
● The spirits imposed disadvantage on Sarquaa’s every attack and prevent the remaining black-skinned sahuagin from moving or attacking this round at all.
● Sarquaa’s disadvantaged trident attack vs. Belarin: 12 and 17 (therefore a miss!)
● Sarquaa’s disadvantaged bite attack vs. Belarin: 19 and 20 (hit) / 10 piercing damage to Belarin
● Sarquaa’s disadvantaged claw attack vs. Belarin: 20 and 13 (miss)

---

The nycaloth, blood raining down from his body, regards Belarin and Condign for one final moment, then his eyes track the movement of Histra in her misty form. In an instant the fiend vanishes, teleporting again. He reappears in her path, but instead of attacking instead he chants another word of magic...three new illusionary images of him appear. Condign, marking the fiend’s new location by seeing his head and wings above the crowd of spirits, feels that that yugoloth isn’t risking more close-up melee attacks.

“Human whore, you will not escape me,” the fiend says, but his voice is weaker now.

Lightning crashes down from the summoned cloud again, and one of the Whelmed actually shrinks down to the ground, defeated or somehow incapacitated. In the gathering of spirits, you lose sight of the skeletal sahuagin altogether.

---

● Nycaloth teleports 50 feet due east, then casts Mirror Image.

Map updates to come: Sarquaa is now between Adamant and Belarin and adjacent to both. The spirits are all around both. One of the Whelmed is downed. The yugoloth is exactly 10 squares east of his former position.

Round 8:

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

[Brian]

If no one minds, I'm going to jump ahead of Darren, since I'll be driving all afternoon and don't want to hold up the game....

Satisfied that he has severely wounded the yugoloth, Condign prepares to attack again, hoping bring the fiend to its unholy end. Before he can even strike, the yugoloth disappears, only to reappear more than fifty paces away. Now too far for the tiefling to reach, Condign shifts to his next target.

Sarquaa.

He slips between Belarin and one of the spirits harassing the undead sahuagin, bring his sword to bear, and swings at Sarquaa with an overhead chop. This is followed by a brutal stab into the creatures gut.

___________________________________________________

Condign moves one square east and one square north-east.

He attacks Sarquaa twice.

Condign:1D20+8 → 13(5 + 8)#first attack
Condign:1D20+8 → 22(14 + 8)#second attack

Condign:1D8+4 → 9(5 + 4)#damage from second attack

[Darren]

Kal let's out a cry born of frustration that is more animal than human. His legs can barely sustain him and he slowly sinks to his knees beside Tangat. Tearing at the sleeve of his fine shirt, he fumbles to try to bandage his friend up.

---

Kal doesn't seem to be much help in the fight right now, so he'll go ahead and try to assist Tangat. I apologize but I'm posting from my phone and can't get to the dice roller.

DM Edit:

● Kal's disadvantaged Wisdom (Medicine checks): 13 and 18 (success)
● Tangat is stabilized and is no longer dying.

[Jeff]

As Kal staunches the bleeding of Tangat's devastating wound and Condign cuts into Sarquaa, the misty form of Histra changes course, passing through the crowd of spirits and drifting southward instead of towards the water. Fuming, the nycaloth looks after her, looking conflicted.

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

[Ken]

Belarin says to Sarquaa, "You are slow, monster. You should die again."

He hopes that his taunt distracts Sarquaa and gives Condign the chance to finish him off.

_________

Belarin uses the Help action. Condign's first attack against Sarquaa next round will have advantage.

[Dave B.]

Shorak sees that no one is moving away from the fight, so he just shrugs and moves closer to Belarin and attacks the yugoloth once again with his trusty boomerang. He senses that it leaves his hand with confidence, flying true towards it's target. He hopes that he draws blood from the real one and not one of the illusions.

Move action: Shorak moves 20 feet to the square NE of Belarin.

Attack roll on the Nycaloth 1d20+8=19. Slashing damage 1d6+5=11

[Dave W.]

Satisfied that Streko won't continue to leak now, Adamant grabs his shield and stands to deal with Sarquaa. "May the Dark Six take you... you're not welcome here."

---

Move action to pick up sheild followed by two attacks on Sarquaa:
dlw32:1D20+7 → 23(16 + 7) for dlw32:1D8+4 → 9(5 + 4) damage
dlw32:1D20+7 → 22(15 + 7) for dlw32:1D8+4 → 6(2 + 4) damage

Much better...
Again, +3 to saves if you're w/i 10' of Adamant; and immunity to charm... and now that he has the shield again, his Protection style gives disadvantage to an adjacent ally...

[Jeff]

Shorak's boomerang twirls in among the yugoloth's illusions, and it strikes one, opening a wound along the temple—not an illusion!

Sarquaa rears up and whirls around, croaking madly, and the spirits around him fall back somewhat as if intimidated by the undead creature's display.

Then Sarquaa all but ignores Adamant, unleashing his undead fury upon both Condign and Belarin, but it doesn't keep the paladin from staying involved. A thrust of the mutant's trident, intended for Condign's face, is slapped down by Adamant's shield. So the former sahuagin prince ignores the tiefling and turns tooth and claw against Belarin alone. A swipe of the claw slashes Belarin across the chest, then sliding back the sahuagin yanks Belarin's arm out, lunges forward preternaturally fast, but his snapping jaws down on the limb. Real pain fires through Belarin's body as the sahuagin begins to gnaw; the human can tell, on a visceral level, that the sahuagin mutant is trying to saw his arm off with his teeth—an arm for an arm.

Likewise, Belarin is beginning to feel a surge of heat grow within him. Not painful, but unpleasant; it is like the rush of life when one has been dead. The Aspect of the Lich is beginning to wear away, escalated by the trauma to his body.

The one remaining black-skinned, sahuagin stoops and opens its mouth, intend fully upon the prone from of Streko!

But the spirits of the Merrow Down, as a mob, swarm upon it.

---

● Mirror Image roll: 5 (duplicate not hit)
● Shorak's attack deals 11 slashing damage to the nycaloth.
● Sarquaa attacks.
→ Adamant's imposes disadvantage on the first (trident) attack against Condign.
● Sarquaa’s disadvantaged trident attack vs. Condign: 20 & 17 (miss)
● Sarquaa’s claw attack vs. Belarin: 27 (hit) / 7 slashing damage to Belarin
● Sarquaa’s bite attack vs. Belarin: 16 (hit) / 10 piercing damage to Belarin
● Belarin feels the effect of the bracer's ending. It will be gone at the end of his next turn, or when he is unconscious (whichever comes first).
● The spirits hinder sahuagin #7; it is incapacitated (can't take actions or reactions) and restrained (attack rolls against the creature have advantage, and the creature’s attack rolls have disadvantage; has disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws).

---

The nycaloth leaps into the air, dripping real and imaginary blood from his body and his illusionary doubles. He is clearly still fixated on the cloud of Histra mist, watching it as it drifts along the ground southward, but it's clear that he's no unaware of other threats.

After another stroke of lightning from the summoned cloud crashes into their midst, the remaining Whelmed move away, seeming to relinquish involvement in this entire development. Ignoring the spirits and the battle, they begin to return towards the water. In their wake, you see the skeletal sahuagin has dropped, motionless, to the ground.

---

● The nycaloth moves sixty feet almost exactly straight up.
● The nycaloth uses the Dodge action.
● The Whelmed move.
● The skeletal sahuagin is down.

Round 9 begins:

18 = Kal
16 = Condign & Streko
14 = Histra
14 = Belarin
13 = Shorak
7 = Adamant
7 = Sarquaa
6 = sahuagin
5 = yugoloth

Map update later.

[Darren]

Kal wipes at his face with his now tattered sleeve, tears and dirt mixing with blood and snot. He struggles to catch his breath between sobs, and looking up at the battlefield he thinks he sees a familiar face in the crowd of spirits. He stares hard, and as the crowd moves, he catches sight of his oldest brother, Marin. "No!" he cries. "Marin? Have you died, as well?"

Marin just smiles at him, the way he used to when they were kids, and Kal would try to follow his brothers to the practice fields. "Of course not, horse-face," Marin says in his teasing voice. Kal blinks, and Marin is now standing right next to him. "I think you might actually be going crazy," he says.

Suddenly, on Kal's other side, he hears the voice of Petreith, his other brother. Whipping his head around, he sees the sandy-haired man standing just behind him, looking at the battlefield. "I'm disappointed in you, Kal," he says, not looking at his little brother. Marin nods in agreement. "Sniveling on the field of battle? What sort of commander would do that?"

Marin shakes his head. "Don't be so hard on him, Petreith. He's just a kid."

Kal grimaces. "I'm not a kid anymore, Marin," he says. "I've been to war."

Petreith's armor jingles as his body shakes with laughter. "Is that what you call playing games with those Halflings? Filing reports and getting wine for the generals? That was war to you?"

"Shut up," Kal says quietly. "You don't know what I've seen and what I've been through. You weren't around. You left."

"Kal," Marin says softly, placing a hand on Kalarian's shoulder. The Deneith sorcerer reaches up a hand and places it on his brother's. "Kal, don't you remember what we taught you? Don't you recall your lessons? Command isn't about fighting. It's about leading. Even on his deathbed, a true commander is still in command." Kal can feel Marin's breath on the side of his face as the two of them look at the battlefield with their heads together. "You are our special little brother. Don't squander your gifts. You are their commander, so by all the gods, lead them...."

Kal turns to look at his brothers, but finds himself alone on the battlefield. Swallowing hard, Kal pulls himself to his feet, leaning heavily on his Talentan weapon for support. "Men!" he calls out in a clear voice. "Concentrate your attacks! We need to remove one threat at a time. Deal with Sarquaa, and then we'll finish off that flying piece of garbage."


__________________________
Kal will cast Fire Bolt on Sarquaa.

Disadvantaged attack rolls are 23 and 9. Such a shame to waste that 23.....

[Brian]

Nov 16, 2015 17:54:01 GMT -4 Darren said:

Swallowing hard, Kal pulls himself to his feet, leaning heavily on his Talentan weapon for support. "Men!" he calls out in a clear voice. "Concentrate your attacks! We need to remove one threat at a time. Deal with Sarquaa, and then we'll finish off that flying piece of garbage."

Hearing Kal's command, Condign turns and gives his friend a grin and a quick salute. He then fixes his attention on Sarquaa. "You will release Belarin NOW!"

____________________________________________________

Condign attacks Sarquaa twice, the first one with advantage.

Condign:1D20+8 → 26(18 + 8)#first attack on Sarquaa
Condign:1D20+8 → 12(4 + 8)#attack on Sarquaa granted from Advantage
Condign:1D20+8 → 12(4 + 8)#second attack on Sarquaa

Condign:1D8+4 → 12(8 + 4)#damage from first hit

[Jeff]

Kal's fire sizzles past Sarquaa, but Belarin's feint allows Condign to score a hit. His sword slashes across the mutant's stomach in what should be an eviscerating slice. But no organs spill forth, only a thick, congealed ichor and not much of it, either. The mutant doesn't seem bothered by it; he is beyond pain.

---

● Belarin's first attack hit and did 12 damage to Sarquaa.
● Histra-mist moves.

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

Refresh:

[Ken]

The lich Belarin angrily pushes himself away from Sarquaa, slashing defensively at the monster as he does so. He grits his yellowed teeth in obvious pain, and he spares a glance at his injured arm. Is that real bone he sees, or the remnants of the lich’s aspect? ”No,” he says, speaking almost to himself, ”not so soon. I need to hold on to my power… I need to endure… I need life.”

And just like that, the dark aura and the horrifying visage disappear, and the black taint of undeath is visibly sucked back into the bracers like water into a sponge. Belarin, human once again, staggers behind Condign, his face pale and blood now gushing freely from his ravaged arm. “Cold… so cold…” he mutters as he steps behind Condign.

_____________________

Belarin uses the Disengage action and steps behind Condign, i.e. 10 feet (2 squares) west of Condign’s position on the map. The Lich’s Aspect is now gone. That was fun.

[Dave B.]

Shorak starts towards the Nycaloth and stops as it flies up and further away. When he hears Kal's call, Shorak shrugs and turns his attention towards the three-armed undead Sahuagin. He flings his boomerang in a side-armed motion towards Sarquaa.

Move action: Shorak moves 10 feet East.

Attack roll: 1d20+8=19 Slashing dmage: 1d6+5=6 Sneak attack damage: 4d6=9

[Jeff]

As Belarin moves carefully out of the mutant's reach, Shorak's boomerange slices a sizable chunk of Sarquaa's flesh away. The former prince once again barely registers the attack, but it's clear his body is being slowly hacked apart.

---

● Sarquaa takes 15 damage from Shorak.

7 = Adamant
7 = Sarquaa
6 = sahuagin
5 = yugoloth

Refresh:

[Dave W.]

"By the Light, will you not go down! Or go away..." Adamant still guards Streko and continues with the precise rhythmic attacks against Sarquaa. Though his frustration with this place is currently under control, it is clearly lightly bound...

---

This may seem familiar, sorry it's not terribly interesting: two attacks on Sarquaa:
dlw32:1D20+7 → 25(18 + 7)
dlw32:1D20+7 → 12(5 + 7)

That should be one hit and one miss... damage:
dlw32:1D8+4 → 10(6 + 4)

Again, +3 to saves and immunity to charm if you're w/i 10' of Adamant (currently Streko and Condign). He'll use his Protection style to give disadvantage to an attack against an adjacent ally (also currently Streko and Condign).

[Jeff]

Sarquaa is almost entirely surrounded by spirits and foes, but the undead sahuagin remains unfazed and determined. His shark-like eyes follow Belarin’s retreat, so he renews his attacks against both Adamant and Condign. The warriors are hard-pressed by the sheer speed and ferocity of this already-once-slain monster. The paladin’s shield clangs loudly as Sarquaa's trident hits it squarely. Then in his frenzy the sahuagin claws slash Condign across the face. The razor talons draw bloody, scar-inducing tracks across the tiefling’s red flesh.

Adamant tries to push the sahuagin back and away from his comrade, but the tall creature twists suddenly and for the second time opens his mouth and snaps it down over Adamant’s head. This time he wrenches his own frilly head it back and forth like a wolf trying to snap the neck of its prey. Condign winces as he hears the audible tearing of wood as Adamant’s head comes disturbingly loose.

Adamant’s world just goes dark.


Then Sarquaa lets the warforged go, and the heavy construct crumbles awkwardly to the stony ground, still clutching his sword and shield.

The yugoloth, seeming much smaller so high in the air, continues to flap his wings and moves only slightly in the southward direction. He is clearly wary of coming too close again, but is watching from above.

---

● The spirits imposed disadvantage on Sarquaa’s every attack and prevent the remaining black-skinned sahuagin from moving or attacking this round.
● Sarquaa’s disadvantaged trident attack vs. Adamant: 28 and 17 (miss)
● Sarquaa’s disadvantaged claw attack vs. Condign: 27 and 23 (hit) / 9 slashing damage to Condign
● Sarquaa’s disadvantaged bite attack vs. Adamant: 29 and 23 (hit) / 8 piercing damage to Adamant
● Adamant falls, incapacitated and dying. (Note: Due to his being a warforged, a single successful saving throw will allow him to stabilize.)
● Adamant’s Divine Aura (the bonus to saving throws) is not in effect while he’s unconscious.

Dave, by chance, you haven’t used Warforged Resilience yet, have you? A free action, 1/day, that lets you regard your Con modifier (2) in hit points. Can’t use it just now, in any case.

Round 10 begins:

18 = Kal
16 = Condign
14 = Histra
14 = Belarin
13 = Shorak
7 = Adamant (death saving throw will be needed)
7 = Sarquaa
6 = sahuagin
5 = yugoloth

Map update later.

[Brian]

Like a waning moon before it goes totally dark, Condign's strength fades. Sarquaa's last attack has nearly undone him. He feels his life bleeding out of him. The battle is almost lost.

Blinking blood from his eyes, Condign drops his shield, fumbles for the glass phial bottle in his pouch, sees he has taken the correct one, and pours the contents in his mouth. Healing warmth floods through him. The throbbing in his side fades a little.

I hope this is enough, he thinks, and prepares to defend himself as best he can.

_____________________________________________________

EDITED

Condign drinks his potion of healing.

CondigntheGreat:2D4+2 → 7(3 +2 + 2)#healing

Condign heals seven points.