"Staying here any longer than we need to." Roth grumpily adds the odd conversation before moving to cross the depression.

Stan? Porto looks quizically. And I thought I was the dramatic one. Porto wispers to Ilsa.

The magic invoked by Stan allows the young mage to see magical auras in his proximity.  He does tempt a glace at the building storm on the horizon, and is taken aback by the brilliant aura it extrudes.  He hadn’t expected to actually be able to see the storm’s impression, as it is so far away; and he is equally surprised that his vision is able to process its brilliance.  It appeared before as a dark and terrible gale; however in witnessing it in its magical form, Stan now gazes open-mouthed into it, as a small child would a grand firework display.
He is able to tear his focus away for a moment to scan the immediate area.  As he noticed before, nearly everything in this Wood seems to produce a magical aura of some sort, no matter how faint.  However, the depression is, on the other hand, completely lacking in that respect.  It appears, at least to him, as though it is completely void of magical energy.  In fact, to the learned wizard, the statue of the creature seems to be absorbing the surrounding area’s magical energies.

Hgylak only shrugs at Stan’s reassurance into where his trust has been placed, not really understanding what the mage means, or what it is he has done with the wand.  The old warrior doesn’t wait for an explanation, figuring one won’t be coming from the wizard (or that he’d be able to understand it if one was given), Hyglak leads the party into the depression.  He seems more interested in what Shirok has to say, and pays Ilsa and Chubbs’ conversation little heed.
“Easier said than done, my friend,” he answers, although he knows he doesn’t really have to.  “But I am a servant of my King, and he has bid me to keep his son safe and hidden until his return.  And that is exactly what I intend to do.”

The party makes its way across the depression, each adventurer follows Hyglak as he cuts straight across it.  As they near Milne, the statue begins to tremor slightly, drawing most of Hyglak’s attention.  “Aye, Milne,” the warrior greets the strange creature carved of glossy stone, “how are you, eh?  Just leadin’ some folks through who got lost in the woods.”  As he speaks, his face seems to change somewhat, as if he is caught in a moment of clarity.
“Oh!  The key.  You brought the key, right?” he asks, finally turning to face the others.  “Give her the key,” he says as he gestures to a slit on the creature’s chest.  However, a quick inspection of the slit reveals that the Bear Claw won’t fit, and the creature’s trembling is growing more violent with each passing second.  It appears as if the petrified creature is waking up!  Chunks of stone break away to reveal some sort of dull metal underneath, over which the nearest of you can make out a wooden skeleton and metal cogs.
“Not that key!” Hyglak shouts as Roth holds out the Bear Claw.  “Pig’s key!  The sword—Xanhast’s sword!  You brought it with you, didn’t you?!”  Before any of you can answer, the automaton reaches fully functionality and with one mighty swing of its massive arm, slams Hyglak in the gut and launches him several feet back, dropping his body on the edge of the depression!

Initiative and First Round action(s)
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:56, Mon 20 Sept 2010.

The fireworks display was a marvel and he did not try to describe its beauty to his companions.

He was a bit put off, but not too surprised, by the sudden switch from a leisurely stroll into a life-threatening struggle.

Stan let out a sigh and then a barrage of magical energy. The small bat-like projectiles mobbed the automaton, harming it through some unseen magic force as they burst upon its surface like soap bubbles.

magic missile

16:45, Today: Stan Fetchin rolled 19 using 1d20+5. Initiative.
16:50, Today: Stan Fetchin rolled 6 using 2d4+2. Damage.

Ilsa watched in amusement as Hyglak flew backwards. "How many keys are there?" She snorted, disinterested. She stepped in front of Shirok, ready to defend him if necessary, but she didn't see a reason to attack the Milne... whatever that was. She sighed. "What should I do? What gets us home?" she asked Shirok.

15:24, Today: Ilsa Redeye rolled 21 using 1d20+2. Initiative.
Delay until Shirok tells her what to do. If the thing attacks her before then, she'll go into Full Defense.

Shirok wasn’t too surprised to find that the sword was of masterwork quality and appeared to be very old.  It had a few symbols etched into the ivory handle, but the druid wasn’t too impressed with the weapon, it being made predominately of metal.  He carefully returned it to the floor as he found it.


Shirok spat out a vile orcish oath as he remembered the mistake, at what that mistake obviously meant. Quickly he pulled out the scroll case with the Wayfarer's Map, tossed it towards Porto. "The blade is still at Pig's!" he called out, suppressing another oath as he focused on the task at hand.

"There is no telling what will happen if we destroy it," he responded to Ilsa, speaking loudly to be sure everyone heard. "It responds to our presence, get away from the depression. If you must fight, only hold it off!"

Neya growled in response, quickly moving beside him and Ilsa and watching the not-alive thing warily.


21:16, Today: Shirok Rezkala rolled 3,4 using 1d20,1d20+2. Shirok/Neya Init.

Shirok will toss the map to Porto, and if he has an action left cast Bear's Endurance on Ilsa.
Neya will ready an action to attack (and hopefully trip) Milne if it goes for her or anyone she's near.

Ilsa nodded to Shirok's advice. "We need to back up, out of his hole," she said as moved back, keeping between the Milne and Shirok.

I'll come back with the key, Porto shouts make sure Hyglak doesn't die! With that Porto hits the spot for pig on the map and begins to look for the sword. Upon finding it in the middle of the room.

Can't remember if we can use this map more than once a day. If we can.

Porto then opens the map and touches the spot that they were.

If not.

Porto summons a celestial dog and has it run to where they were with the sword in it's mouth.

Also not sure whats free action and if using the map is standard or not.

20:21, Today: Porto 'Chubbs' Brandybuck rolled 16 using 1d20+3. init.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:21, Wed 22 Sept 2010.

Roth, stunned both by Hyglak's omission of the key being a sword and the fact that he'd left the sword behind, is slow to react as the party is thrown into another battle.  He follows Shirok's train of thought, and merely backs away from the Miln as he removes a cap from one of the scroll cases on his belt and pulls out a scroll.

20:58, Today: Roth Daos rolled 5 using 1d20+4. Init.
Move: Move away.
Move: Ready Scroll of Grease

Ilsa reacted first, but waited for instruction from Shirok—

Stan shook himself from the enthralling magical auras all around him, more interested in surviving this new challenge.  Wasting no time the wizard quickly invokes a simple spell, one he’s sure will aid him unerringly.  However, his evocation fails.  It only takes him a moment to realize that the depression is a magic ‘dead-zone.’

Chubbs catches Shirok’s map as it is tossed to him.  Having not paid Stan’s failure any heed, the halfling taps the map on Pig’s House, expecting to be instantly teleported.  However, the intended magical effect does not occur.  At a loss, the normally jovial creature stands still, staring blankly at the others.

Garret begins to move toward the edge of the depression; however the sharp incline slows him considerably.  He draws his sword as he moves.

Groaning, Hyglak slowly returns to his feet.  The seasoned warrior shakes his head wildly, as if trying to shake the blurred vision from his eyes.  He readies his halberd and moves closer to Milne shouting, “Champions indeed!  Let’s take it to her, eh fellas?  She won’t be allowing us to leave that easy!”

Roth moves away from Milne, and he too feels himself slip as he moves quickly through the loose sand of the depression.  It will take quite some effort to escape the sink.  He removes a scroll from a tube on his belt.

Neya stands her ground, barring her teeth and baying at the construct, ready to attack if it draws near.

After having tossed the map to Chubbs, Shirok instructs Ilsa not to attack it unless pressed.  It appears that they are about to be pressed.  In the meantime, the druid casts a spell aimed at Ilsa, intent on making the barbarian more robust.  Similar to the others spells cast here, his spell fails.

—Ilsa stands between Shirok and Milne, ready to lock steel if the monster charges.

And charge Milne does!  The massive construct explodes into motion, snapping its jaws and swiping its claws at the party.  As it nears, the carving of the smaller creature on its chest opens its mouth and breaths a fiery blast!  Ilsa, Neya, Shirok, and Hyglak accept the blast, but all seem to have avoided the worst of it.
The metal automation continues its charge, nearly colliding with Ilsa!  The half-orc avoids being trampled, but gets slammed incredibly hard by the monster’s flailing arms!  Neya takes this opportunity to lash out at the metal monstrosity.  The metal tastes strange to her, but her bite is strong.  She thrashes about wildly, and the two large monsters vie for control of the others’ balance.  Astonishingly, Neya wins and tips the beast over!
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:30, Fri 24 Sept 2010.

Porto begins to sing. Not expecting it's magical melody to provide it's usual power but he figures it's worth a shot. This one goes out to my bud Shirok!

You can't stop a man on fire,
His name is Shirok and he's only gettin' higher,
No you can't stop a man on fire,
Trust me 'cuase I ain't no lair!

His big and bad and rad,
Don't get on his bad side cause you'll be sad,
You like him, when he's maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!

Porto begins to play his lute like only a few have ever seen. It is equivalent to his song about never stop believing.

Inspire Courage(if it works)
This message was last edited by the player at 04:44, Sat 25 Sept 2010.

"Ugh!" Ilsa grunted in pain and frustration. At least it had attacked her and not Shirok. She wasn't bleeding, but the slam would have broken bone if she hadn't used her strength to absorb the blow. It would definitely leave an impressive bruise. Seeing the beast fall, Ilsa flies into a murderous rage and hacked at it with her great sword, throwing all her weight and momentum into it.

Move to flank with Neya, if possible. Not factored into the attack roll.
Rage, Power Attack, No Courage bonus because she acts before Porto.
10:20, Today: Ilsa Redeye rolled 26 using 1d20+8. Rage, Power Attack.
10:22, Today: Ilsa Redeye rolled 25 using 2d6+18. Damage.

"I was afraid of this."

And then louder, "Get out of the area!"

Stan began running out of the anti-magic field. He could see the edge of the thing, he just needed to get there.

As he ran he mumbled under his breath. "Go to college, they said. Learn a skill, they said."

Move out of the anti-magic zone.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:01, Mon 27 Sept 2010.

Bested by the slope of the sink's walls and noticing the failed spells of both Stand and Shirok, Roth aborts his plans and instead draws the knight's sword as he maneuvers around to flank the mechanical beast and stab at it's machinery.

20:25, Today: Roth Daos rolled 10 using 1d8+2. Damage.
20:25, Today: Roth Daos rolled 14 using 1d20+7. Attack w/ Flanking.

The slope was too steep, escaping would take longer then simply ripping the thing apart. And if Hyglak as willing to join in, then perhaps they couldn't truly destroy it. There were no other options.

Shirok surged in to join his pack, spear joining fang and sword to shatter its machinery and end its threat.

OOC: Shirok will move in to attack (Atk 17, Dmg 5,) Neya will continue to strike (Atk 30, Dmg 11, Trip 30 (Nat 20.)) Numbers here include flank, rolls don't. Neither includes Courage (don't know if it works.)

00:47, Today: Neya rolled 28,11,30 using 1d20+10,1d8+9,1d20+10. Neya Atk/Dmg/Trip.
00:42, Today: Shirok Rezkala rolled 15,5 using 1d20+4,1d8+1. Shirok Atk/Dmg.

Stan continued his flight up the sandy edge of the depression.  As he hurried on, he lost his footing and stumbled to regain it, in the meantime losing much of his speed.

Chubbs begins to sing, realizing that the area might sap the magic from his cantrips, but not the inspiration from his song.  His words, if not strange themselves, begin to bolster your spirits as he has so many times before.  Now that Neya had tipped the monstrosity over, you all feel as if you have a good chance in defeating it.

Fearing his retreat was unwise and recognizing that even if he were to escape the dead zone, his magic still wouldn’t do much damage to the construct; Garret abandoned his current course of action and charged back to the others.  As he shifts directions, he holds his bastard sword high, intent of striking the metal-monster while it is down.  The cleric chops at the fallen construct and scores a solid blow.  However the quality of the strange dull metal turns his sword’s edge and the damage is minimal.

Hyglak also slams his weapon, a heavy-looking halberd, down upon the prone Milne!  His attack is powerful, but it fails to deal any real damage.  “Adamantine,” says he, “a high quality metal indeed!”

Roth too moves to engage Milne.  Armed with his magical blade—which has lost its glow while in the depression—he attempts to jab it between two metal plates, aiming for the automation’s wooden innards.  The whirling gears and cogs deflect the rogue’s sly attack.

Neya delivers another vicious bite, her powerful jaws tearing holes in the thick adamantine plates making up Milne’s skin.  For all the outward damage, the statue remains nearly unaffected.

Shirok thrusts his spear into the statue-creature, also aiming for its softer innards.  However, a cog catches his spearhead and turns its tip harmlessly away.

Ilsa formally introduces her greatsword to Milne, her raw strength alone slicing through metal automaton.  Her rage and her power, and the inspiration of Porto’s song allow her to cut through Milne as if she were cutting through a bail of hay!  Cogs and gears are split in two, black liquid begins to pour from severed copper tubes inside, saturating its wooden skeleton.  She has dealt a mighty blow indeed—but a blow Milne is able to take in stride.

Again, the littler carving opens its mouth to spew forth another fiery blast!  The flames bite Garret, Ilsa, and Shirok the most.  Hyglak and Neya get burned more then they’d like; but Roth completely escapes the heat.  Perhaps it was a book he once read at the library.
Milne attempts to stand up, even though she is completely surrounded by many of the party.  She accepts many blows and all but Neya’s bite glance off her hard plating.  Neya does, however, succeed in tripping the construct again, returning it to a prone position!
Those of you closest to the fighting see the black liquid catch fire as it pours from the tubes.  The fire spreads into the statue’s under carriage and continues to burn the wooden frame.

"Try to get away!" Garret calls to those hurt, "Climb out and I'll heal you!"

Stan hadn't been near a flaming adamantine construct since homecoming. He was intent on staying far away from this one. He continued his climb out of the area.

"It doesn't bleed!" Ilsa cursed. Her body was burned, her armor charred, and she so desperately wanted to eviscerate this thing. Except that it has no viscera. "Damn it!" she screamed. "Neya! Come!" she barked as she retreated from the unliving beast while it was still prone.

Climbing out.

Porto doesn't need to be told to run twice! He tries hard to sprint up the and out. Luckily he wasn't that close to the automation.

Roth shakes his head, unsure if he can even scratch this golem, and quickly follows others in flight--using the knight's blade for even more traction as he scales the depression's wall.

A harsh cry of pain was forced out of Shirok as the flames engulfed him, followed by a growl of anger from both him and Neya. But the thing was strong, smashing it wouldn't work for long. He and Neya both fell back from the fallen machine, rushing back towards the edge of the depression.

Stan’s efforts payoff!  He finally crests the top of the depression, escaping the immediate threat.  The young wizard wonders what would happen if the construct were to follow them out?

Chubbs turns to run, and spends the next several moments climbing out.

“Quickly!” Garret calls to the others, “Climb to the top so that I may heal you!!”  With that, Garret also turns to make for the steep walls.

Hyglak snarls as the adventurers—Criss’ Champions—retreat.  He shrugs and presses his attack!  His halberd slams hard against Milne’s outer shell, but fails to penetrate.

Roth, Neya, Shirok, and Ilsa all withdraw from the fallen construct, fleeing for the edge of the depression.  It is certain that they will need to climb the loose slope for some time before escaping.

Milne continues to burn, and her inner fire seems to have stolen the littler creature’s ability to spew flames as it has done before.  Instead, the automaton regains its footing, her heavy coating again deflecting another powerful attack from Hgylak.  As she rights herself upright, she also slams one of her massive arms onto Hyglak!  The force of her hit seems powerful enough to shatter boulders.

Note: those of you fleeing, in order to make it to the top of the depression, you must continue to climb.  Stan is the only one currently out of the depression.

Porto continues to climb out but he continues to sing hoping that Hyglak will be able to kill the automation or at least hold it off long enough for them to escape.

Stan throws the rope into the depression.

"Porto first, then Roth. Maybe together we can hold the warriors."

OOC EDIT: Holding onto one end, obviously.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:38, Wed 06 Oct 2010.

Ilsa continued to climb. She clawed at the loose earth and scaled the slope as if it were the enemy. She hated this place and everything about it, even the soil.