A deinonychus wanders in, sniffing around as if trying to find something. Specks of dried blood can be seen on its talons, though it does have a collar with the sigil of the open road on it.
He moves towards Khellek, sniffing, as if he smells something familiar. He tap, tap, tapping of his talon is unmistakable.
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"Ah, no. Shredder, here, is the companion of a druid named Alaric. Aren't you?" He affectionately rubs the dinosaur's feathered crest as it takes the dried meat. "We have done many missions together recently. I don't know where he is, though. They are usually not far apart."
The elf wipes dinosaur saliva off of his hand before extending it in greeting to Khellek. "Tere di Montefeltro at your service."
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From the shadows in the back of the room, an disheveled elf in little more than rags, suddenly speaks. "Khellek... yes, I have heard of you. I thought you kept to your libraries... what brings you out for some ground work? For that matter, why exactly are we here?"
As he seems to ponder the question, he suddenly says in a harsh tone, "Jak-jak! No!"
You then notice a small monkey about to grab the deinonychus' tail. He looks up, shrugs, and scurries under a chair.
Shredder turns to see what has grabbed his tail, snapping at the monkey...
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"Shredder! Down!" yells a tall Bonuwat Mwangi man, as he casually strolls into the room. "Ah, Tere. Good to see you again. Hopefully this mission will go better than the last. At least for Absalom."
He looks around the room, and there is no sign of recognition when he sees Khellek. "History classes? Not sure we took those. If we did... well, Shredder and a I were a little... wilder... then. "
He turns to the elf that he does not know. "Sorry if Shredder scared your monkey. Just to warn you, your 'Jak-Jak' is the perfect size for a little dino treat. I am sure nothing will happen, but it is best to be safe!"
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Heavy Footsteps can be heard down the corridor leading to the room. A rather stout Man enters, clad in simple adventuring gear with a heavy flail hitched to his belt at his side. It has a heavy ball etched with images of stylized eagles and sunbursts.
"Greetings. I am...." he stops as he lays a hand on his flail upon catching sight of Shredder.
"It has legs so It's not serpentine or snake like and I'm not that dumb....." he mutters as his forehead creases in a frown as if unaware that he isn't alone....
Looking up, he grimaces.
"My sincere apologies, I am Oreas Thelas. A guardsman in the service of the Taldan Court and assigned to the Pathfinder Society as part of a goodwill gesture." he pats the flail.
"This here is Slitherbane, a flail I obtained while on a mission and it doesn't like Snakes or their kind." his coat opens up slightly to reveal a battered scalemail.
"I look forward to working with all of you." he finishes.
A voice carries out clearly over the noise of all the Pathfinders gathered in the Great Cathedral. The talk soon dies away, leaving you to hear the announcement. ”Greetings, intrepid Pathfinders! I, Master of Scrolls Kreighton Shaine, welcome you to the long-lost Sky Citadel of Jormurdun! For the upcoming operation I recommend you work in small teams, so speak with your comrades here, find a place, and check to make sure you have all your gear. I will brief you all momentarily.”
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As the echo of master of scroll's voice dies down, you take stock of your surroundings. The journey through the Worldwound, while relatively brief and unimpeded was grueling. However, in the confines of Jormurdun's topmost sub-structure, an old cathedral to Torag - Father of Dwarvenkind - you find a measure of solace and perhaps safety. The cathedral, which doubles as the main entry hall, is hewn from the rock itself with a vaulted ceiling soaring 60 feet overhead. Large alcoves to north and south feature grand staircases, one ascending to unseen rooms and the other plunging deeper into the bowels of the lost Sky Citadel.
Some of your fellow Pathfinders have lit torches on the raised platforms, but most of the light in this massive hall comes from a series of cleverly placed mirrors fixed high on the columns to reflect the sunlight from the entrance; illuminating the center of the chamber. Even worn by the ravages of time, the ingenious lighting, expertly carved runes, impressive statues, and images on the walls are testimony to the engineering mastery of those ancient dwarves who called this place home.
A half-orc maiden, clad in heavy armor and a rather exhaustive set of weaponry nods, pleased that there will be some sort of resolution soon. "Finally" she grunts, playing idly with a holy symbol to the Inheritor - Iomedae - as she takes you in. "Soon we will be able to claim the lost secrets held here. And if the gods see to it, we will also purge this world of a few demons as well."
As you contemplate all this you begin to reflect on what you might know about dwarven sky citadels...
...and also about the reason you are here...
and finally about the various denizens of the Worldwound.
However, standing amidst the remains of a cathedral to Torag, your mind also goes to what you know about the dwarve's vast pantheon:
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Sitting at the table is an aged scholar. He peers over his glasses at the pathfinders scattered around the table, and sighs with despair.
"I recognise some of you from your compulsory history classes. Sad to say not all of you were taking notice. If they have dragged me up here, that means that this is an "all-hands" type expedition. And fore-warned is forearmed, as the warrior-historian Ghedolve once so wisely said."
He pauses
"Once there were ten mighty sky-citidels that floated above the surface of the world. Four have been lost to antiquity. One however was Jormurdun which was abandoned willingly by the dwarves. However even a novice.." here he glares at a number of you "Will notice that the outer fortifications make it appear more prison than fortress. It is as if the dwarves wanted to keep something trapped within."
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Radagast looks around, obviously impressed.
"This place is BIG! I wonder where the spoil heap is? It would have taken a while to carve this place out..."
When Khellek mentions that it looks like something was being imprisoned in here, Radagast scratches his chin thoughtfully, then grins.
"Well, I'm sure that the Society wouldn't send us here, if they thought it was beyond our ability to cope with whatever was down here; come on - let's see what we can find!"
There is an indignant screech from behind Radagast, as the adolescent Owlbear makes its displeasure known.
In one smooth motion, Radagast reaches into a belt pouch, and pulls out a large chunk of jerky, which he tosses to the Owlbear, who rips into it hungrily.
"...right after Fluffy has lunch, that is!"
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The scholar smiles and pats Tere on the back. "Well now. It appears someone was listening to her lectures. Well done. Now while I speak a variety of languages, Dwarven is unfortunately not one of them. I do have a means of translating it if we find any though. I don't suppose any of you speak it?" he asks hopefully.
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Alaric shakes his head... 'Guess someone missed sensitivity training. Plus, I know a b##~*!+#-artist when I see one.'
"Good call, Tere." says Alaric. "Now, don't you all want Shredder and me up near the front? Now, I don't mind taking up the rear, but as I am not much of a combat caster, I might change into my dinosaur form at some point if only so that I can get to the front faster.
"We all know that Shredder will be hurrying up to the fight from where ever he is."
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"I speak dwarven" Oreas offers quietly.
"I'm not as sure of myself when it involves various studies in the various fields required nor am I a great Student at History. I'm a guardsman in service and I do hope that I am able to serve in that capacity lest my liaison at the Taldan court marks me as remiss in my duties."
He raps his armor smartly.
"I can aid in the frontlines and am trained in ranged combat as well. Slitherbane here dislikes serpents and their ilk and so you can trust in it to give encouragement to me to engage in it whether I'd want to or not."
”I require both silence and your attention, if you please! Once more, greetings. I am Kreighton Shaine, Master of Scrolls. It is my pleasure to welcome you to Jormurdun and thank you for the parts so many of you have played in getting us here today. The entirety of a dwarven sky citadel lies before us. It is our unique privilege to explore its halls and be the first to study its millennia-old treasures. If other sky citadels are any reference, Jormurdun is immense and would take a less ambitious expedition years to catalog appropriately. Of course, other expeditions are not deep in the Worldwound, so we do not have the privilege of taking our time. Every day spent here is another day that powerful demons might learn of us and attack. Study what you find, but also take care of any hazards you come across. I can only speculate at what kinds of defenses the former occupants left to protect their city.”
Suddenly, Kreighton looks with alarm to the ceiling of the room and shouts a warning.
”Calistria’s garters, I hate being right about these things. Prepare yourselves!”
Dozens of ropes fall from the ceiling, dancing in the air until dark-eyed, gray-skinned dwarves, bald headed and bearded, slide down to their dangling ends - three of them landing near the party. The invaders attack with malevolent roars, but the sunlight reflected inside by the mirrors above seems to bother them.
Round 1! Bold may act!
Tere
Geoclunicus
Radagast
Khellek
Oreas
Alaric
Blue (dazzled)
Red (dazzled)
Orange (dazzled)
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"These must be duergar, an evil race of subterranean dwarves. Having been born in the darkness, sunlight dazzles them! Protect the mirrors" cries out Khellek.
He quickly reaches around, trying to find where he stashed his bolts for Bessie. Then, bolt in hand, realises that he has to actually load it.
As Khellek lectures and pulls out his crossbow, the combination of Radgast and Fluffy is enough to knock the fight out of the duergar in blue before he even gets a chance to catch his bearings.
Round 1! Bold may act!
Tere
Geoclunicus
Radagast
Khellek
Oreas
Alaric
Blue (dazzled)
Red (dazzled)
Orange (dazzled)
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And here he goes as Oreas wades into combat as well!
Placing himself squarely in the thick of fighting in front of Radagast, He swings his bored companion into the Big Red one!
"I see you wish to deny this one his weapon. Very well I shall aid you though they are not snakes." his weapon lazily sends out a thought.
The chains hooked around the weapon and Oreas Yanks.....
The vicious little dino jumps forward into the fray, next to his master, and against the largest thing out there. His talon slashes into the armored belly of the giant dwarf.
Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally. However, there are reasonable limits on what you can really do for free, as decided by the GM.
From the practical side, it takes "no time" to say, "attack" and point. It takes significantly more time (especially if you're running up to whack someone) to give the command, see that it wasn't obeyed immediately, and give it again.
You might also look into purchasing a masterwork tool for Handle Animal - that would bring your bonus high enough that you would automatically pass the DC unless Fluffy was wounded.
If you can find literature stating you may roll multiple times in a round to direct your animal companion, I will happily change my ruling. But for now, please make a Handle Animal check each time you direct Fluffy in combat.
As Oreas deprives the large duergar in red of his mace, Tere and Alaric flail wildly at him and barely scratch his armor. Shredder has better luck, opening a gash in the dwarf's abdomen.
Round 1! Bold may act!
Tere
Geoclunicus
Radagast
Khellek
Oreas
Alaric
Blue (-24, Bleeding Out, Dazzled)
Red (-5, Dazzled, Disarmed)
Orange (Dazzled)
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Interesting idea, but if I used a MW tool, I couldn't use a two handed weapon in melee, since, presumably, I would have to actively wield the tool :-/
That said, I respect your ruling, since it is your game, after all.
However, although I realise that there is only a 10-20% chance of your ruling mattering at any one time, depending on Fluffy's hit point total at that time, since it is a significant change (and would set precedent for any future games that I was in), it does not follow that I am required to stay (especially since the game has barely started). I hereby withdraw from this game.
(I will 'Hide' the thread, following this post.)
I hope that the rest of the game goes smoothly, without any further 'flies in the ointment' :-)
Geoclunicus takes careful aim and fires a ball of acid at the large duergar...
...but it goes wide and sizzles on a column instead.
Finally having their wits about them, the two remaining duergar attack! The large one in red takes a hasty step backwards, picks up his warhammer, and swings at Oreas...
...but he also goes wide! The duergar in orange also steps back and holds up what looks like an icon of flames underneath an arch as he chants quickly. A burst of dark energy surges forth, encompassing everyone except Khellek.
...and everyone except Shredder barely notices the chill creeping into their bones.
Round 2! Bold may act!
Tere (-1)
Geoclunicus (-1)
Khellek
Oreas (-1)
Alaric (-1)
Shredder (-3)
Blue (-27, Bleeding Out, Dazzled)
Red (-6, Dazzled)
Orange (Dazzled)
Khellek's bolt goes wide as Tere's sword bounces off the duergar's armor. The gray dwarf laughs harshly at them both.
Round 2! Bold may act!
Tere (-1)
Geoclunicus (-1)
Khellek
Oreas (-1)
Alaric (-1)
Shredder (-3)
Blue (-27, Bleeding Out, Dazzled)
Red (-6, Dazzled)
Orange (Dazzled)
Shredder steps up, and continues to live up to his name!
As Shredder and Alaric finish wailling on the oversized dwarf, he remains standing - but just barely.
Round 2! Bold may act!
Tere (-1)
Geoclunicus (-1)
Khellek
Oreas (-1)
Alaric (-1)
Shredder (-3)
Blue (-27, Bleeding Out, Dazzled)
Red (-22, Dazzled)
Orange (Dazzled)
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Oreas seeing the other dwarf holding up his holy symbol considers him as a target and dismisses him almost instantly as he looks towards the other large dwarf but it seems his companions have it well in hand and what's more the scholarly one mentioned aiming for the cleric and thus Oreas follow that particular order and goes for him!
His flail swings lands towards the 'cleric's torso.
Well Now Young sprout. This one isn't a snake either..... Slitherbane offers a rather rude thought....
The wizard grins as he flings another green blob at the large duergar...
...but again just barely misses his target's head as Oreas swings wide of his companion. The dwarf in red bellows mockingly as he swings his warhammer at the dinosaur...
...but he is blinded by the light and misses. His companion in orange, meanwhile, steps backwards and again holds up the carving of flame and arch. Again a chill spreads from him, but this one feels different than the last time and seems to stretch much further.
Tere, Geoclunicus, Oreas, and Shredder all feel slightly less sure of themselves.
Round 3! Bold may act!
Tere (-1, Bane)
Geoclunicus (-1, Bane)
Khellek
Oreas (-1, Bane)
Alaric (-1)
Shredder (-3, Bane)
Blue (-28, Bleeding Out, Dazzled)
Red (-22, Dazzled)
Orange (Dazzled)
If Shredder was feeling fear, he apparently took his fear out on red, talons cutting deep.