[IC]Secrets of the Fire Swamp

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 1:18 am

"Let's go, then," Archimedes says, flying both to avoid hazardous terrain (such as deep mud or quicksand) and because he is twice as fast (if less maneuverable) in the air. He still stays in the back unless told otherwise.

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 7:47 am

"Might I suggest avoiding electrical attacks and rust?" says the necromancer as he and his minion begin trudging down the path.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 10:04 am

The old road leads past the markers, and the country notably drops on either side of the road, giving the appearance of a sea of grass broken unexpectedly by patches of open water, or the white tumble-down stones that mark a ruin. The rat keeps close to the lead, nose and tail twitching as it takes in each shell of a former building that comes close. After perhaps two miles, you arrive at a place where the road stops - it was obviously once a crossroads, but now where the roads should meet is a large, flat plane of stone, a square about thirty feet on a side. The rat stops before the crossroads.

"I do not remember this," its nose twitches strongly, "but if you wish to see the Bone Woman, her most usual haunt is straight across. Perhaps we should go around?"

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Nov 20, 2015 3:25 am

"Very well," Archimedes responds to the necromancer. "And yeah, I'd like to go around the platform. Still getting used to the last time I touched an ancient object here." He looks down at his iron body to emphasize the last sentence.

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Fri Nov 20, 2015 6:37 am

"Around it is."

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sat Nov 21, 2015 1:10 am

Strung out in a loose line, the group works their way around the left edge of the square. The grass on the marsh waves, as though in a breeze - and then Dragaan staggers, one hand going to a dart at his neck; he does not go down, but one foot brushes the surface of the stone, and it ripples. Unbalanced, Dragaan falls over, and what was a moment ago solid stone is now a huge square mud pit.

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 1:29 am

Malagos raises his hands to spellcasting position and narrows his eyes, looking for attackers as he moves to cover.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 1:55 am

If he appears to still be alive (if he's not sure, Archimedes will err on the side of caution), Archimedes will try to grab Dragaan before he can fall into the mud pit.

If not, Archimedes will fly in such a manner that he is 15' off the ground, hoping to get a look at any opponents below and that his new body will protect him from any similarly-fired darts. He'll ready an action to color spray any hostiles that he sees, or reveal themselves. (Nevermind I forgot about the spell failure.) Instead he will ready an action to use his breath weapon on them.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 2:09 am

Dragaan seems unconscious - and a strange thing happens, as he sinks into the mud, it suddenly hardens, and the Dragonborn is now half-encased in solid stone.

The only cover available is in the high grasses of the surrounding marsh. From his height, Archimedes sees the grass wave...but he cannot feel any wind.

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 3:25 pm

Malagos sends his skeleton into the grass to see if anyone is there.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 4:08 pm

There is a sickening CRUNCH as a giant pair of reptilian jaws emerges from the weeds, grasping the skeleton and dragging it back down out of sight.

A pair of darts gently ping off of Archimedes' hide.

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 4:45 pm

(Orr will have previously stoneshaped the box into some sort of (closed and watertight) cart with stone wheels, used control water to fill it with spring water and have it pulled by his dog, making some sort of harness with silk rope)

Orr will start greater blinking and ready an action to power water channel the first hostile he sees (Sickens no save, Nauseates for 2 rounds DC 17 fort negates).

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 9:47 pm

Alim shouts "I can't see shit! They must be pretty well hidden!"

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 11:04 pm

"Let's see if we can flush them out, then," Archimedes replies. He'll fly another 15' above the grass (so he should be 30' above it) and let loose his breath weapon on the approximate area of the tall grass that the jaws appeared to emerge from.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 12:18 am

A plume of frost erupts from the iron dragonspawn's maw, flattening the grass and causing ice crystals to form in the standing water. Revealed by the blast is a huge reptilian form, its outlines obscured by a fringe or coat of weeds which the frost-breath crushes against its body. The reptile releases a croaking roar.

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 6:22 am

"If you can, try to beat this one close to death but not completely dead," yells the necromancer as he casts cause fear at the creature.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 3:45 pm

"Very well," Archimedes remarks calmly. "I think this thing looks just strong enough to survive my charge. Whatever happens to it from there, it's yours." He activates his fighting style and pounces on the creature from above, power attacking for 2 (before any mods from his newfound transformation, his routine is at +13/+11/+11/+11/+11/+11, +4 damage on each attack, first hitting attack forces DC 16 Fort save or be stunned, all attacks overcome DR/magic).

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 8:45 pm

The good news is, Archimedes' charge works, and the half-minotaur falls upon the swamp reptile like a hundredweight of iron...which is not far from the truth. The bad news, which comes to Archimedes' attention shortly after he falls on the spine of the great reptile, is that it was swimming. The impact of the half-minotaur drives both himself and his victim beneath the murky waters.

Perhaps shocked at this sudden violent assault, tufts of the marsh move - revealing gangly creatures in camouflaged suits. There are at least a dozen of the creatures, armed with blowpipes and cruel-looking wooden clubs studded with teeth of black volcanic glass.

The rat, gazing cooly at the attackers, strokes its furry chin. "Swamp orcs. Bit far south. And with a river dragon. Look for the beastmaster! He's probably the bastard with a pair of knives in your kidneys. Take him out and Sithrak's your uncle."

radthemad4 · Post by **radthemad4** » Wed Nov 25, 2015 7:27 am

Orr will see if he can spot the 'beastmaster'. If so, he'll use a powered Fireburst (5 foot radius, 6d6, DC 17 reflex halves), trying to get as many others as possible. If the beastmaster is still alive, he'll follow this up with a normal fireburst (5 foot radius, 3d6, DC 15 reflex halves) on the Beastmaster, or a normal fireburst on as many others as he can if the Beastmaster is down.

If he can't find the beastmaster, he'll use two separate normal firebursts, trying to get as many targets as possible.

(Orr will also have increased his saving throws by 3 for the rest of the round)

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Wed Nov 25, 2015 10:58 am

Orr's firebursts light up the marsh, catching six of the swamp-orcs and setting the surrounding grass on fire. Darts sing out from the survivors, but narrowly miss most of the part, except for Alim, who goes down with a shudder.

Beneath the deeper part of the marsh, Archimedes sinks into the soft mud at the bottom. Amazingly, he finds that he does not need to breathe. The wounded reptile is already trying to swim away.

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 5:46 am

Mal casts his fell animate chill touch and waits for enemies to down. Anyone who starts bleeding out will get coup de graced.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 1:14 pm

There's a three twitching swamp orc bodies lying roughly ten feet away in the marsh, but you'd have to move off the path to give 'em the bad touch.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 1:15 pm

Archimedes will try calling out telepathically to the rest of the party:
"Still alive but I'm stuck in the mud with this bastard. Don't need to breathe anymore. Let me finish it off and I'll find a way out of this mess."
With that, Archimedes will unleash another full attack on the fleeing reptile, pouncing if possible.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 1:52 pm

"Pouncing" is not quite possible for several hundred pounds of iron that's knee-deep in mud under about ten feet of water; but Archimedes gives it his best shot. There is an explosion of silt that clouds the water, and the half-minotaur's claws just miss the reptile, which is much more limber in the water and already fleeing away at its top swim speed.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 2:07 pm

"Nevermind," Archimedes tells the party telepathically. "Damn thing's too fast for me. Might not be able to do much until I get out of here. Let's see if I can."

With that, Archimedes will see if there's any way he can pull his great bulk out of the mud and onto dry land. He figures if anything's strong enough to extricate a 10-ton iron body from a marsh it's him, and it being his means nothing.