In reply to Castle Keeper (msg # 118):

That is correct. Bold and upfront is not Dreya. Not when battle involves pointy things.

In reply to Castle Keeper (msg # 118):

Correct

"Best to fight in the open where there's more room, rather than in this narrow tunnel." Looking toward Dreya he adds, "Just stay behind Cole and I after the fun starts. We won't let them get you."

Seeing the druid move forward toward certain peril to cast her spells, Jack follows closely behind. His axe is out and he give a reassuring nod, fully prepared to step in front of the druid and into the den of evil after the spell is cast.

'Man, I really hate evil frogs' he thinks to himself, in attempt to get psyched up for the approaching battle.

In reply to Castle Keeper (msg # 119):

If the door opens into the tunnel that the party is standing in she would hide behind the door and close it after the first monster walks through, otherwise she would place herself against the wall allowing the fighters to go past her

The door opens toward the party.  What is Seline going to do if the party rushes in as planned and no monsters come out?

In reply to Castle Keeper (msg # 124):

She would wait till the party decided their next course of action

After casting his spell,  Elwood takes sold of Margon's Mace, and will follow Jack and Cole into the room to battle the frog things.  "Margon, grant me the Flyspamon's blessing to fight these evil creatures" he whispers.

Elwood focuses on the divine might of Flyspamon and blesses the party.

Dreya ignores the cleric's chanting and casts faerie fire around the corner trying to target the quiet wet breathing sounds coming from the room ahead.

As soon as they are done casting, the party charges into the room with Jack and Cole in the lead, followed by Elwood.  Anthony, Dreya, and Seline (bringing up the rear) will not be able to enter the room until next round.

As the first 3 heroes sprint into battle, they see a room that has been heavily remodeled since you were here a few days ago.  The cages for the children have all been removed.  The floor is covered in a good inch of murky water that splashes around as the party runs through it.

The good news is the wet breathing sounds are not coming from froggers.  The bad news is the breathers are even more freakish.  They are some sort of humanoid fish.  They have the body of a strong and smooth-muscled human with the head of a fish.  They all wear clear glass helmets that seem to be filled with water.  When they breath, air flows into the helmets through some sort of vent at the top and foggy air flows out of the sides of the helmet through other vents when they exhale from flappy gills on the sides of their heads.

Five of these fish men are waiting for the party inside the room.  4 of them are outlined in pale orange fire and do not seem happy about it.  They are wearing ornate scale armor that looks very much like fish scales and carry tridents.  They quickly fan out in front of the charging PCs and begin stabbing merrily away with their fish forks.

Most of the fish men prove to be utterly incompetent in combat, but Fish Man #4 manages to skewer Elwood for 3 points of damage.

Jack takes a mighty swing with his axe and cleaves through Fish Man #1's glass helmet and most of its face.  Fish Man #1 falls to the ground, flops around trying to breath for a moment, and expires.

Cole, clearly freaked out by the bizarre fish helmets, takes a half-hearted swing at Fish Man #3 and misses badly.

Elwood channels his inner Margon and smashes Fish Man #4 for 10 points of damage.  #4 joins his friend flopping on the floor before beginning to smell of rotten seafood.

Meanwhile, back in the hallway, just as the remaining heroes are about to take their turns charging into the room, all hell is unleashed on the poor, unsuspecting, and cruelly exposed back of... Dreya!  Seline, standing behind the door as the other PCs storm into the room, sees Oswald suddenly appear out of nowhere and smash the druid's back with a massive mace and stab her with a long and wicked dagger.  19 points of damage to the druid.  Dreya crumples to the ground unconscious with blood slowly pooling on the ground next to her back.

The ogre shouts, "I'm coming for you, wizard!  You messed with the wrong ogre!"

The wizard might have piddled himself at this point, but Elwood's blessing gives Anthony just that little bit of protection from fear to allow him to attack despite certain and horrifying doom.  With Jack Burtonesque reflexes, the wizard hurls an ordinary dart and strikes Oswald right in the gizzard for 2 points of gizzard damage.  The ogre howls in familiar pain and rage!

Situation Report - Round 1:
Elwood is down 3 hit points
Dreya is down 19 hit points.  That puts her at -2 and falling.
Oswald is down 2 hits points to the gizzard
Fish Men ## 1 and 4 are dead
Fish Men ## 2 and 3 are still glowing with faerie fire

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
09:34, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Anthony, rolled 2 using 1d3.  Damage to Oswald's gizzard.
09:33, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Anthony, rolled 17 using 1d20+2.  Hurl ordinary dart at Oswald. I forgot to add +1 for the bless which turned this miss into a hit
09:33, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Anthony, rolled 21 using 1d20+5.  Try to react in time to throw dart this round.
09:29, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Elwood, rolled 8 using 1d8+1.  Damage to Fish Man 4.
09:28, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Elwood, rolled 19 using 1d20+5.  Attack Fish Man 4.
09:27, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 10 using 1d20+8.  Attack Fish Man 3.
09:25, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Jack, rolled 9 using 1d12+2.  Damage to Fish 1.
09:24, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Jack, rolled 26 using 1d20+6.  Axe attack vs. Fish 1.
09:20, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Oswald, rolled 14,5 using d10+4,d7+4.  Damage to Seline's unsuspecting back.
09:19, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Oswald, rolled 17,15 using d20+4,d20+4.  Surpise attack on Seline.  The attack is actually on Dreya since Seline is hanging back behind the door waiting for the rest of the party to rush into the room.  I screwed up and rolled for Oswald before the party attacks.  Oswald was holding his attack until end of round when the party had passed his hiding spot.
09:15, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Oswald, rolled 13 using 1d20.  Land silently.
09:14, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Fish 5, rolled 4 using 1d20.  Stab Cole.
09:14, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Fish 4, rolled 3 using 1d8.  Damage to Elwood.
09:13, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Fish 4, rolled 16 using 1d20.  Stab Elwood.
09:13, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Fish 3, rolled 7 using 1d20.  Stab Cole.
09:12, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Fish 2, rolled 2 using 1d20.  Stab Jack.
09:12, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Fish 1, rolled 3 using 1d20.  Stab Jack.
09:01, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Monsters, rolled 4 using 1d6.  Initiative.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 18:12, Sun 24 Sept 2017.

[OOC - See! One tap and poor Dreya is down for the count!  And you all wonder why she huddles in the back of the group too scared to charge into the fray.  Love this game!  Nail-biting!]

Dreya's body grows colder with every sluggish thump of her heart.

Jack is momentarily perplexed as the figure of Oswald looms largely over Dreya. How he managed to hide his size from the perceptive party and their magic is a mystery for another day. Feeling somewhat responsible for instructing the druid to remain behind him, Jack lunges as Oswald and unleashes every ounce of anger and fury he stored up over the past weeks and attempts to hew as many body parts of the ogre as he can manage.

Time for another map.  D'oh!  At the moment, Jack, Cole, and Elwood are fully occupied fighting fish guys in the chamber.  Anthony is close to the doorway in the corridor.  Seline is behind the door and still in the hallway.  Dreya is turning into a corpse on the floor of the corridor.  The only PC in a position to get into melee with Oswald is Anthony.  Seline could potentially engage Oswald in melee if she shoves Anthony out of the way.  None of the PCs in the chamber could attack Oswald this round.  For that matter, none of them are aware of Dreya's condition.  The three PCs in the room fighting the fish guys are facing away from the Oswald situation.  They heard Oswald's shouted threats to Anthony.  The PCs in the chamber could decide to turn their backs on the combat with the fish guys (exposing themselves to a free attack) and try to force their way past Seline and Anthony, but that will not get them into a position to swing on Oswald in round 2.

I posted a new map that will hopefully clarify positioning.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:20, Sun 24 Sept 2017.

"Anthony please step to side so I don't catch you in this" with finishing that Seline casts Minor Dark Chaos as the shadow tendrils begin to form from her hands she positions herself to attack Oswald as soon as she can.

Dreya's condition unbeknowest to Cole, he continues on his current course of action and attacks out at one of the fish creatures as planned.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:43, Sun 24 Sept 2017.

In the heat of battle, Elwood barely registers the pain from the fishman's attack, and feels some sort of grim satisfaction as his own blow connects, leaving his foe lifeless on the floor.  However, the sound of Oswald's voice behind him sends a chill down Elwood's spine, especially since Oswald had made it abundantly clear on his intentions against Anthony.  Figuring that Cole and Jack can easily handle the remaining fishmen, Elwood calls upon Flyspamon's blessing to quickly casts Sanctuary on himself, and will head back towards to protect Anthony as soon as the spell casting is complete

OOC:  Elwood will use a Hero point to make sure he wins initiative.

Anthony is, if naught else, a logical fellow. Faced with near-certain death at the hands of Oswald, he takes the logical step. He utters a word of power and disappears from sight!

Unseen by the big beastly fellow, he backs up down the hallway a bit, saying nothing...

Our brave hero casts Invisibility on himself. :-) If he has to move before casting to avoid getting thwacked, he does; if he doesn't have to, he casts it and then moves quietly a bit back down the hall.

I guess Jack will just attack whatever is close then.

Elwood burns through a hero point to quickly leap into action.  He fires off a sanctuary spell and shifts toward the door and Anthony before the fish men are able to react.

Dreya bleeds some more.

Jack slashes viciously at Fish Man #2, but its scale armor deflects most of the blow.  It takes 4 points of damage.  Its gills flap wildly within its helmet as it copes with the pain.

Anthony utters an impossible-to-remember word of power, twiddles his fingers, and crushes an eyeball encased in clay in order to cast invisibility.  Oswald howls in rage as the wizard disappears.  Anthony quietly backs up into the room with the fish men, bumping into the retreating Elwood.

Oswald howls some more when Seline's chanting causes darky, smoky tendrils to form in her hands and she lashes the ogre with them for 6 points of damage.

Meanwhile, Cole somehow senses Dreya's plight and is filled furious anger.  He shoves Flyspamon's longsword into Fish Man #3's belly for 6 points of damage.  The creature does not die immediately, but is horribly wounded.

The remaining Fish Men stab uselessly at Jack and Cole.

Oswald is more successful in battling Seline.  The maiden ducks out of the way of the ogre's mace, but his long dagger jabs into her shoulder for 7 points of damage.

Situation Report - Round 2:
Fish Man #2 is down 4 points of damage.
Fish Man #3 is down 6 points of damage.
Elwood has taken 3 points of damage.
Seline has taken 7 points of damage.
Dreya continues to bleed out and is at -3 hit points.
Oswald has taken 8 points of damage.
Bless and faerie fire have been in effect for 2 rounds.  Both spells have 22 rounds left.
Minor dark chaos and sanctuary have been in effect for 1 round.  Minor dark chaos has one round left.  Sanctuary has 3 rounds left.
Fish Men ##1 and 4 are dead.
Fish Men ##2 and 3 continue to glow with faerie fire.

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
13:00, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Oswald, rolled 7 using 1d7+4.  Damage to Seline.
13:00, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Oswald, rolled 3,12 using d20,d20.  Attack Seline.
12:59, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Fish Men 3 and 5, rolled 3,5 using d20,d20.  Attack Cole.
12:58, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Fish Man 2, rolled 5 using 1d20.  Attack Jack.
12:56, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 6 using 1d8+3.  Damage to Fish 3.
12:55, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 13 using 1d20+8.  Attack Fish 3.
12:50, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Oswal, rolled 1,3 using d20,d20.  Save versus illusion.
12:47, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Jack, rolled 4 using 1d12+2.  Damage to Fish 2.
12:47, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Jack, rolled 26 using 1d20+6.  Attack Fish Man 2.
11:27, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Monsters, rolled 1 using 1d6.  Initiative.
11:27, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Party, rolled 4 using 1d6.  initiative.

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In this sea of chaos, Anthony's attention is drawn by Dreya. He tries to get to her quietly, relying on his invisibility, and then kneels by her, trying to see if he can stop her bleeding quietly....

If needs be, use a Hero point to succeed at the appropriate roll to stabilize Dreya.

In reply to Anthony (msg # 137):

Getting to Dreya at this point would be extremely difficult.  Oswald is standing over her body in combat with Seline.  Anthony would have to get around Seline and then come right up to Oswald.  The odds of acting next to Oswald without being detected are extremely low.

Jack continues hewing at fish, hoping Oswald doesn't eventually cleave his way through the rest of the party.

Gritting her teeth and doing her best to maintain composure to not betray how much damage that dagger did to Oswald Seline thinks to herself "Of all the situations you have gotten yourself in and out of you are going to die at the hand of an ugly Orc thingy with creepy fish people and party members cutting off retreat path."

Pushing the negative thoughts from her mind noticing that Dreya hasn't gotten up Seline with renewed fury attacks Oswald once again with shadow tendrils. "First the wizard and now myself Oswald, you don't seem to have much luck with the arcane, we have no problem scaring that ugly mug of yours more and more, soon not even your mother will be able to love that face, let alone this disturbing heap of a temple you got going on"

Anthony risks being detected by Oswald. Though not fond of confrontation, he will not let Dreya die...

Let the chips fall where they may!

Uneasiness filling him, and rage steadily building, Cole slashes out at the next closest enemy.

Elwood rushes over to protect Anthony,  only to see the mage disappear before his eyes.  Seeing Oswald now direct his wrath towards Seline, Elwood touches Seline and casts Aid on her (trying to avoid the black tendrils attacking Oswald).  It is only then that Elwood sees the motionless body of Dreya.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:46, Tue 03 Oct 2017.

Anthony does his best to sneak up to Dreya without alerting Oswald to his presence.  Unfortunately, he bumps into the ogre's leg.  The wizard manages to bind Dreya's wounds, but Oswald's eyes widen in surprise as he realizes what is happening.  The vile wizard is within his grasp!

With a mighty swing of his axe, Jack cleaves Fish Man #2 in twain for 13 points of damage.

Seline whips her smoky tendrils at Oswald again.  The ogre dismisses one of the tendrils for the insubstantial mystical nothing that it is, but the other tendril slashes across his face for 3 points of damage.

Fish Man #5 bugs out.  He turns and runs out of the room through the door to the north.  Cole slashes it across its back as it flees for 5 points of damage.

Oswald ignores Seline and Elwood completely and swings wildly at where he thinks Anthony is hiding.  His gizzard pulses with rage as he connects with nothing but air.

Situation Report - Round 3:
Fish Man #5 has taken 5 points of damage and fled.
Elwood has taken 3 points of damage.
Seline has taken 7 points of damage.  However, she also received 5 temporary hit points from Elwood's aid spell.
Dreya was stabilized by Anthony's heroics and is steady at -3 hit points.
Oswald has taken 11 points of damage.
Bless has been in effect for 3 rounds.  It has 21 rounds left.
Sanctuary has been in effect for 2 rounds and has 2 round left.
Aid has 23 round left to protect Seline.
Fish Men ##1, 2, 3, and 4 are dead.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
07:17, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Oswald, rolled -9,-3 using d20-10,d20-10.  Attack Anthony.
07:15, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 5 using 1d8+3.  Damage to Fish 5.
07:15, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 28 using 1d20+10.  AOO on Fish 5.
07:11, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Elwood, rolled 5 using 1d8.  Temporary hit points to Seline.
07:10, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 7 using 1d8+3.  Damage to Fish 3.
07:10, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Cole Hiller, rolled 17 using 1d20+8.  Attack Fish 3.
07:06, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Oswald, rolled 12,9 using d20,d20.  Saves versus illusion.
07:04, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Jack, rolled 13 using 1d12+2.  Damage to Fish 2.
07:04, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Jack, rolled 22 using 1d20+5.  Attack Fish 2.
07:00, Today: Castle Keeper, on behalf of Anthony, rolled 11 using 1d20+1.  Sneak up to Dreya.
07:00, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Monsters, rolled 1 using 1d6.  Initiative.
06:59, Today: Castle Keeper, for the NPC Party, rolled 6 using 1d6.  Initiative.

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