"Door's trapped," Shiaran calls down from the roof.  "Give me a few."  She slips down inside a damaged portion of the room.  A minute later, the door opens and Shiaran invites everyone inside.  "I've checked the floor close by.  We should be good for traps.  Don't stray farther back than the fourth shelf.  I haven't checked that."

Beloc nods appreciatively toward Shiaran. "Nice work. I'd like to keep you on countermeasure detail." He steps in and scans over the interior quickly. "This place is a mess. Did you happen to see any oil crates intact?"

Eyes on the shadows within the warehouse, Shiaran responds.  "Yes.  There are plenty several intact."  She peers around, looking for movement.  "I miss my guns and sword..." she mumbles too loud in the still warehouse.

"As do I, but they'll be here soon enough."

Beloc turns to motion the others to file in. "Watch your step, stray artillery rounds seem to have made a mess of things."

He whistles for Apache to follow him as he starts to make his way through the debris. His elven grace helps navigate without too much difficulty, however, the need to search carefully makes for slow going.

The group finally spots a few undamaged crates near the back of the warehouse. "Grab a crate or two" he says, signaling the others. With Apache still at his side, he kneels down and starts to secure a crate to his back using the military harness.

As Beloc starts securing the harness, Apache visibly stiffens. The hair along his back bristles, and a low growl escapes his throat. From several rows back towards the end of the warehouse that Shiaran hasn't cleared yet, the sound of a glass pint jar hitting the floor and shattering can be heard.

Nonchalantly, and without raising too much alarm, Beloc casually says. "We're not alone in here. Stay sharp, everyone. Stick together in pairs. One person carries one crate outside while the other watches their flank until we have the crates we need."

Everyone begins to carefully and quietly maneuver, with one crate at a time being hauled out the front. After a total of 4 crates have been moved, Shiaran and Beloc are standing inside while Sarge and Dunnegan are watching the outside.

Suddenly, a loud shot rings out in the warehouse. It isn't immediately clear exactly where it came from. When Shiaran and Beloc whip around to face their attacker, the steel doors behind them slam shut. Sarge and Dunnegan immediately begin pounding on the doors and yelling, trying to get back in.

hold actions until next post
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:39, Wed 02 May 2018.

A sinister voice echoes from the other side of the warehouse, somewhere behind cover. It sounds partially muffled, but clear enough to hear. "Your little expedition ends here Whiteraven and S'viscus. I watched you at Midway and I must say, the both of your are most impressive. Tell me, where are the others? The brother, the machine, the old man.. the goblin?".

Shiaran ignores the voice.  "Take Apache and fly out the hole in the ceiling.  I have this."  She digs a feather out of her pouch.  "Esy petas."

[Shiaran casts Fly on Beloc.]

Beloc reaches down to pick up Apache. "Don't fall into his trap. Let's meet up with the others outside and get these to the wall. We still dictate the  battleground, not him."

He pushes off the ground with a mighty leap and continues to soar out of the hole in the top of the building. Wooden plates emerge from all over, covering his body in a protective armor as he ascends. Hovering a few feet over the opening, he calls back down to Shiaran. "We stick together, remember!"
This message was last edited by the player at 13:24, Tue 01 May 2018.

As Beloc hovers inches away from the opening of the ceiling, and unseen force from above slams in to him hard. He is shoved off balance and tumbles back downwards, landing on the top layer of an already half destroyed shelf. He crashes through it to the next layer [5 DMG]. "Going somewhere S'viscus?" the unseen assailant taunts with a sickly sounding laugh. "You've faced plenty of the dead, but they've all been brainless canon fodder. Now you face Commander Glut, leader of the Black Fang Squad ... and I have so much more than just a working mind. You might even say I can reach out and touch you with it". Glut laughs his muffled and wet sounding chuckle again. The invisible force slams down once more, narrowly missing Beloc but breaking all the shelves beneath him, sending both elf and dog to the floor in a pile of broken wood [New Location: I-13]

Behind Shiaran [J-7], Sarge and Dunnegan beat and kick on the door to no avail, shouting and trying to make sense of the matter from outside.

Turn Order
Shiaran <<
Commander Glut
Beloc
This message was last edited by the player at 23:38, Wed 02 May 2018.

Shiaran faces her palms down toward her feet.  As she speaks the next line, she slides her hands up in front of her body and then up over her head.  "Thorakisména apó tin apókryfes!"  A faint purple shimmer surrounds her for a moment then fades.

Then she tries to determine where this Glut guy is and how best to kill him quickly.

[Shiaran casts Mage Armor on self.

Mage Armor
An invisible but tangible field of force surrounds the subject of a mage armor spell, providing a +4 armor bonus to AC.

Unlike mundane armor, mage armor entails no armor check penalty, arcane spell failure chance, or speed reduction. Since mage armor is made of force, incorporeal creatures can’t bypass it the way they do normal armor.]

A faint footstep in standing water can be heard, somewhere over on the eastern side of the warehouse. There are no more, only the one.

A few tense and quiet seconds pass before Shiaran notices an SMP-12 sub machine gun float up over the huge chunk of church tower ahead of her. It unleashes a volley in a random spray of the general area around Shiaran, with a single shot grazing her arm for [3 DMG].

The laughter echoes again from somewhere deeper in the warehouse. "I do love to play with my toys before they break".

Beloc kneels down and unlatches the emergency release on Apache's harness. The crate, and the pints of oil, thud to the ground. The tinking of glass echoes throughout the warehouse at the jars of oil rattle against each other.

"Sniff him out, boy." Beloc commands.

Apache quickly puts his nose to the ground, followed by several quick sniffs in the air. Slowly, Apache begins to creep up (towards I4) and to the right (towards P4).

Beloc gives Apache the Track command, using scent.
Reminder: Italics denote the use of the Druidic language

Beloc watches as Apache goes through his tracking routine. Once the military dog finally locks onto a scent and begins moving north, Beloc lightly taps off the ground and begins flying around to the other side (southeast toward Q13).

As he moves, a spell washes over him. The wooden armor takes on an even more bark-like texture for a moment before seeping in. His faithful shield bobs silently beside him.

Beloc casts Barkskin for a +3 natural armor bonus.

Shiaran winces as the bullet creates a slight wound in her arm, but it does not break her concentration.  Glaring at the offending gun, she takes a piece of turtle shell from her pouch and holds it against her chest.  With her other hand she inscribes a protective sigil in lightning blue.  As she draws, she says in a voice of power, "Afíste típota den xekínise mésa apó ton aéra na vlápsei to sóma mou!"

Another shimmer surrounds her body for a moment, then fades.

[Shiaran's Concentration check = 17.
Shiaran casts Protection from Projectiles

Protection from Projectiles
Abjuration
Level: Wiz 2
Components: V, S, F
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: 1 hour/level or until discharged (40 points)
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

The warded creature gains resistance to ranged weapons. The subject gains damage reduction 10/magic against ranged weapons. (This spell doesn’t grant you the ability to damage creatures with similar damage reduction.) Once the spell has prevented a total of 10 points of damage per caster level (maximum 100 points), it is discharged.

Focus
A piece of shell from a tortoise or a turtle.
Verbal Component:  Afíste típota den xekínise mésa apó ton aéra na vlápsei to sóma mou.
Semantic Component:  While holding the focus against the torso, inscribe the second level of protection sigil while intoning the verbal.]

Another volley comes from the sub machine gun. The spray is erratic, suggesting that whatever force is in control isn't completely adept at this style of combat. A single shot hits Shiaran directly in the chest [4 DMG absorbed]. It stops immediately on contact, and falls harmlessly to the floor with tink.

Glut's voice sounds slightly further way now as he taunts. "That my dear is quite the spell. When I've killed you, I'll be sure to preserve your brain for study and the extraction of your secrets".

Apache's keen sense of smell picks up something for a moment, and those observing, can notice the intense trail he follows. However, within another moment, it's gone and Apache finds himself hunting for the scent again. This happens several times during his slow approach towards the upper right corner of the warehouse.

Beloc picks up on the intermittent trail Apache is following. He too picks up a distinct inconsistency of clues to the assailant's whereabouts. Hovering a few inches above the ground, to avoid any sort of footfalls, Beloc picks up a rather large wooden plank as he begins looking down the aisles one by one (the shelves in S, U, and W).

Staying silent mainly so as to not create noise that ruins their tracking,  Shiaran heads to the north wall of the warehouse [N1] and looks left then right for this Glut skubalon.

The suspended weapon doesn't follow Shiaran, instead completely ignoring Beloc as he passes and sinking down below the rubble as she stalks away.

In between the second to last row [Aisle V], Beloc spots a slight disturbance in the air. It's slight, makes no sound, and hovers. As soon as he spots the anomaly, a being silently steps out from behind the shelves to his right, brandishing a long boot knife intent to stab[Row W]. The figure is gaunt, wearing a heavy trench coat caked in mud along the bottom. A steel helmet, dull green in color tops the Commander's head, with a large gas mask covering the entire face.

With a free hand, Beloc immediately reaches out and shouts. "Iba bilaes!"

Green wisps races from his fingertips, forming a tight ball, as they hurtle toward the oddly clad figure. Just before impact, the ball explodes in a cloud of green smoke and fire, covering everything in a 5-foot radius.

Just at that moment, Apache rounds the corner, just north of Commander Glut.

Beloc casts Faerie Fire on Commander Glut.
Outlined creatures do not benefit from the concealment normally provided by darkness, blur, displacement, invisibility, or similar effects.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:09, Sat 05 May 2018.

Upon seeing the figure brandishing a knife, Apache launches at him, attempting to sink his teeth in and latch on.

21:10, Today: Apache rolled 18 using 1d20+7.  Attack vs. Gluts.
21:11, Today: Apache rolled 25 using 1d20+11.  Grapple check on Gluts.

Shiaran continues to move stealthily along the north wall to the east.  Here eyes are narrowed in thought, scoping out the shelves for subterfuge.  Something does not feel right to her.

[Move from N to T, looking down each row, at the ceiling, walls, and floor for anything beyond the obvious sounds of a fight starting up ahead on row V.

Perception 22

Delayed action.]

Glut blazes a brilliant green color and Apache lunges for him, teeth bared. As Apache connects, Glut fizzles away into a fine mist, leaving Apache to skid across the floor bewildered.

The anomaly in the [V Aisle] solidifies as a sort of rip in the material plane forms, with the real Commander Glut stepping out of it [V-5].  A sudden force sweeps across the ground at Beloc's feet, but feeling the slightest pressure of the initial touch is enough to cause the elf to evade the attempted trip. Another wave of force whooshes past Beloc's head as he dodges the first.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:49, Sat 05 May 2018.