In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 392):

Brennan prepares to dodge...

[Dodge + Coord: 2x10]


...and executes it with deft precision (and no small amount of luck).
This message was last edited by the player at 15:20, Mon 06 July 2020.

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 393):

Brennan spreads his legs and prepares to leap out of the way...

Combat Round

Initiative:
- Titus
- Eye of Baal
- Zeke
- Merker
- Fist of Baal
- Ciryl
- Brennan

Disposition:

The Fist of Baal is at the base of the sloped side of the rock, allowing it to charge toward Brennan, which it seems prepared to do.

Merker is still near the fire at the base of the rock just below Brennan.

Titus, Ciryl, and Zeke have moved off toward where they suspect the Eye of Baal landed or fell.  Locating it will require searching for it, which can use either of Sense + Sight/Hearing

In reply to GM (msg # 394):

Titus makes his way generally towards where the Eye of Baal fell, sacrificing accuracy for speed as he has difficulty hearing the thrashing of the eye over the horse.

[Sense + Hearing: 2x1]

The ghostly rider continues to make itself very conspicuous trying to draw the fist away from the larger group.

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 395):

Titus begins to comb the small copse of evergreens in the dark, but cannot find anything.

If the Eye is alive, you know neither where it is nor what it is up to.

In reply to GM (msg # 396):

Titus pulls up the horse to stop the ambient noise and draws the Prince of Swords.

Come on out and play you part of a bitch...

He mutters very quietly.

/ooc:  I'm trying to be silent so the eye can't see or hear me.  Do I have the ability to do that?  Do I need to roll it or is that my turn?  Next round I'll try listening again.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:31, Thu 23 July 2020.

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 397):

OOC: I mean... riding a horse while muttering are inherently un-quiet...

Yes, to avoid detection, you would make a stealth roll.  You can still take a few steps or passively listen for the Eye while being stealthy without a multi-action penalty, but if you want to actively search, that's a multi-action.

In reply to GM (msg # 398):

Titus pulls the horse to a stop and listens again, this time without the wind rushing in his ears.

[Hearing: 2x4]

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 399):

Titus listens quietly, but cannot hear anything that indicates where the Eye is hiding.

OOC: Zeke's action

In reply to GM (msg # 400):

Zeke whispers to Titus

Be verrry quiet. I'm hunting sky-balls.

Before placing his ear to the ground, casting himself outward in search of any vibration or disturbance that would indicate the eye.

Listen [3x4]

Is that..did I hear something?

OOC: If I actually get to move toward him and use my martial arts, 2x6, 2x1, 2x2

In reply to Zeke Banorev (msg # 401):

Zeke listens carefully, and scans the darkness.

He is not able to locate the creature, however.... but that fact indicates it is not on the ground.  As the skies are clear above, it must be in a tree somewhere...

OOC: you did not roll enough to locate it, but your combined efforts have narrowed the field to somewhere in the small copse of trees, up in the branches

In reply to GM (msg # 402):

The snuffling at far base of the great rock gives way to the resolved pounding of feet upon ground.  Brennan makes out a great shape moving up toward him and picking up speed.  He is fortunate to have enough time to react, for once it reaches speed it would have been impossible.

"Is that?!?!" Merker screams, looking up.

Brennan rolls to one side, managing to avoid rolling off the side of the rock and lets the great creature pass.

It's speed is too great to stop itself and it goes hurtling off the edge of the rock, sailing clear over Merker.

To everyone watching, it seems to hang in the air for a moment, preposterously bulky and pointy.  Finally it crashes to the ground face-first.  This shakes the entire area enough that Merker nearly looses his footing.  He holds on, however, and lunges forward with the tip of his blade to jab at the creature's flank.

The blade hits, and digs in if only slightly.  There is a great hissing noise, quickly overtaken by a roar from the Fist as it writhes and pulls itself around to stand once more.  No doubt there is a sizable crater in the earth where it landed.

"Didn't seem to like THAT," Merker calls out.

"Good!" Ciryl calls back, "It's not supposed to!" He continues hobbling through the darkness to where the horses are tied up and pats his mule on the flank, "Here girl, you keep these bucks safe, there's a great terrible beastie out and I'm not sure if we can kill it." Cradling his jar against his chest, Ciryl turns back toward the sound of the great impact and roar, planting himself between it and the animals,"Bloody hell I know what a hand looks like inside and out, but now I have to kill a fist and nothing comes to mind.  I hate demons."

In reply to Ciryl Fontaine (msg # 404):

Brennan uses his higher vantage point to harry the Fist with a (hopefully) well-placed arrow...

[Aimed Shot: 1, 2x10, 2x8, 2x3, 2x4]


OOC: Can I drop the three extra pairs to boost the shot area from 1 to 4?

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 405):

Brennan regains his footing, lines up a shot, and sails an arrow easily exactly where he wants it on the Fist.

OOC:  Yes, you can.

However, it "spangs" harmlessly off of the creature's thick hide.

Combat Round

Initiative:
- Titus
- Eye of Baal
- Zeke
- Merker
- Fist of Baal
- Ciryl
- Brennan

In reply to GM (msg # 406):

Titus and his accompanying rider head toward the small copse of trees he listens for the eye but has a difficult time hearing over the horse's movement

[Sense + Hearing: 2x1]

If this isn't enough to pinpoint the eye for an attack he then sits and tries to listen again for the eye but can't hear it over the sound of the attack on the camp

[Sense + Hearing: Fail]

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 407):

The Eye, wherever it is, continues to do whatever it was doing in the dark.

In reply to GM (msg # 408):

As Zeke watches the arrow travel from Brennan's bow, he matter-of-factly kneels to the ground, placing his palms flat on the earth below.

Extending his senses into the earth itself and losing himself in a mixture of connectivity to everything and transition to nothingness, Zeke pushes himself further along the arc of the arrow.

[Touch: 3x8]

PING!

Brennan's arrow bounces harmlessly off the beast's hide, but not before the reverberations channel through the earth, a veritable echolocation of the battlefield racing through the rock toward Zeke's greedily awaiting senses.

Looks like someone is caught between a rock, and a hard place..

In reply to Zeke Banorev (msg # 409):

Zeke's arm snaps around and he points into the darkness at a point midway down a tree at the edge of the copse.

Squinting, the rest of you can make out the rough leathery skin of batlike wings there...

Merker raises his sword again and takes a few steps away from the fire, slipping into the dark.

The Fist, however, opts not to take the closest target.  It growls and tears up the dirt charging north toward the copse of trees and those searching there..

Titus and Zeke whirl around to meet the stomping armored fury.  Without slowing down it plows into the group.

Zeke, clipped by a stray horn is sent spinning to the ground, his arm battered in the process (damage added).  Titus, directly in the beasts path, is fortunate to be ahorse.  The creature smashes into his mount's flank, sending him flying to the ground (damage added).  He is able to roll and blunt most of the hurt, but the horse does not fare so well.

The Fist barely slows as it tears through the hindquarters, rending one leg clean off and sending the rest of the horse against a tree (horse dead).

The Fist uses its momentum to continue forward into the darkness.

In reply to GM (msg # 410):

Titus lands on the ground grunting first in pain, then in disgust as he gets splashed by the horses remains.

You'll pay for that you fucker...

As Ciryl hears the Fist tear through Titus's horse, he rounds the group of unharmed animals to keep himself interposed between the thunderous creature and the innocent animals.  He mutters a mixture of curses and laments about the condition of things before looking up and shouting toward the people in its vicinity, "Its legs!  Try for the back of the leg, maybe you can hobble the beast!"

In reply to Ciryl Fontaine (msg # 412):

Brennan acknowledges the wisdom of Cyril's words and, confident that Titus and Zeke are fine based on the former's whining and the latter's armored appearance, clips off a final shot at the retreating creature's flank.

[Aimed Shot: 2, 3x8, 3x3]

OOC: Trade the extra triplet to boost the targeting location up to (hopefully) a leg?


"Once the Eye is properly taken care of, the Fist should flee," he says, watching the arrow fly and hoping against hope for a miracle. "And once we're safe, we need to track down the summoning circle that brought them here. It won't be far away. Depending on how they were summoned and bound, disrupting the circle may banish them."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:16, Thu 06 Aug 2020.

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 413):

Brennan's arrow hits dead center in the creature's hind leg.  The arrow glances off of the creature.  It looks as if it did some damage, but not a lot.

It vanishes into the darkness again.

COMBAT ROUND: Initiative:
- Titus
- Eye of Baal
- Zeke
- Merker
- Fist of Baal
- Ciryl
- Brennan

Brennan remains alone atop the great rock, while Merker remains below near the fire.

The rest of the crew are north, beside a small copse of trees where the Eye is hiding, though everyone can now target it since Zeke has pointed it out to you.

The Fist has charged off into the dark again, though you can hear it snuffling somewhere West of the copse

In reply to GM (msg # 414):

I see you... you are not going to fuck this up for me.

The rider positions itself in hopes of drawing at least one attack from the Fist.

Titus nimbly leaps up into the trees where he gets a firm foothold and takes aim at the eye with the Prince of Swords.

[Melee: 2x2 Location: 2]

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 415):

Titus's sword just grazes the creature, it being halfway up a tree, but that seems to be sufficient to do a good deal of harm.

The creature emits a squealing sound that sounds more like grease popping on a hot pan than a vocalization.  Titus' arm is sprayed with thick sludge, more of it squirting out of the gaping wound on the underside of the creature's bulbous body.

It continues squealing as it shimmies up the tree, retreating from the threat on the ground.

All can now make out the reflection of the moon in its lidless eye, now fixed firmly on Titus.

OOC:  The Eye is not dead, but it is injured and bleeding.  It has moved a bit higher into the tree such that a person on the ground cannot attack it without climbing, hacking down the tree, or throwing/shooting something.  It is now also fully exposed (no penalties to attack it at range)

In reply to GM (msg # 416):

Finally, the cornered beast has made a mistake.

Zeke makes an uncharacteristically quick dash toward the tree, letting Craggatha begin to slowly whirl around him in his hands, a bull rushing dervish tearing up land yet moving with ease. As Zeke's spin reaches it's crescendo, the ground pulses with energy, up into Craggatha

[Spend 1 Echo Superior Workmanship]

And with a thunderclap of impact, into the base of the tree where the scared eye had taken his final refuge.

A panting Zeke looks up in satisfaction- while there is no visible impact mark from the mighty strike you heard, the bark all around the spot, and quickly moving upward/outward is beginning to fall off. And some of the wood..

Sitting back on his heels, [Dodge: 2x8, 2x1, OOC: Can I drop the 2x1 to make that a 3x8, or 2x10?] Zeke seems prepared to leap at a moment's notice.

You won't surprise me twice.