Behold H'Catha (Part 4)

DM-Tareth · February 20

Yahs offers a deep, respectful bow to Greelob and Orlob. The act of respect generated by her own instincts for survival given the creature's ability to speak directly into her mind and her own desire not to irritate someone capable of such things. Seeing what the others might be up to, she does her best to blank her mind and watch for any signs that the young tyrants or their single-eyed friend might see through the ruse.

Insight

Edited February 20 by DM-Tareth (see edit history)

Cointhief · February 21

~A test of combat against Noog, in his own home? Very well, I accept.~

~Yes, interesting...to beat the cyclopean meat. What a treat. What do you think about that, Mr. Noog? No matter! Let's begin!~

~Not so fast! What are the rules of engagement? Anything goes, or stalks only?~

~Maybe just the paralyzation rays.~

~Or confusion rays only.~

~Wounding rays might be best actually.~

~Fear rays could also be quite entertaining.~

~Or what if we just bite him really hard with our mouths?~

~Perhaps the reverse, he bites us, in a way! We could use magic to Create Food until he stuffs himself and dies...~

~Ah yes, of course...how do we do this? And what order...I beat Noog to a pulp first, let him recover and then Greelob gets a turn?~

~Or first I attack, then he attacks, until the aforementioned pulp is achieved?~

~Yes, not enough details but I like where this is going...~

~Yes, quite agreeable.~

For its part, the cyclops called Noog doesn't seem privy to the mental conversation, continuing to idle on the rock mining their nose for gold and looking halfway to slumberland already. When Louis calls out to the alien giant kin, their response is delayed, slurred, and very uncertain "Noog?"

BobtheWizard · February 21

"Lou" Louis Dufray (Goblin Ranger 4) sheet

AC: 16 | HP: 40/40 | Initiative: +4 | Passive Perception: 17 | Features

Opal AC: 16 | HP: 25/25 | PP: 14 | Features

Lou gets a little more confident now. He speaks telepathically to the beholders and his allies.

"That's a good point. You'll need to take turns. One attack each. First one, then the other. Then go again, alternating between the two of you. Whoever kills him wins. So you can use your paralyzing, confusion, and fear rays if you want, but I wouldn't if I were you. That just sets it up for the other to finish him off. We will also be looking for style points, though, so make this interesting."

Then he calls out to the cyclops.

"Hello Noog. The beholders are going to try to kill you now. Get ready to defend yourself and fight back. You will need to kill them both if you want to survive."

Mechanics

Main Hand: bow
Off Hand: none

Lou's Action: call out to guards
Move: none

Manipulate: none

Bonus Action: none

Opal's Action: follows along
Move: none

Manipulate: none

Bonus Action: none

Reaction: none

Gnarley's Knack: You have Advantage on the next roll you make regarding ship repairs or ship weaponry.

Edited February 21 by BobtheWizard (see edit history)

JubalBreakbottle · February 21

Celsior Loriniscil, Prince of Alfheim

Inspiration Yes | HP 27/27 | HD 4/4 | Step 2/2 | Shield 1/1

Bladesong 2/2 | Recovery 2/2 | 1st-level 4/4 | 2nd-level 3/3

Celsior held his thoughts and tongue. They were on a precipice, and they needed to speak with one voice. And, Lou sounded great. He would recommend him for a commendation if they survive.

Mechanics

Active spells:

Action: -

DM-Tareth · February 21

Louis was on a roll, so Yahs simply continues to stay quiet and contemplate what might be needed after the cyclops has been removed from the equation.

KingGoblin · February 21

Lazuli Lazali Lulura, AKA Squishy

AC 17 | HP 35/35| HD 3/3 | Inspiration Yes | P.Perception 21 | P.Investigation 15

Saves: Str -1 | Dex +3 | Con +1 | Int +2 | Wis +6 | Cha +0

Resistances: Acid and Poison

Lazuli watched and waited to see what would happen next. “If Popsicle were here, he would be taking bets. I wonder what he is up to,”they burbled, sadly.

Cointhief · February 21

~So! The gauntlet has dropped, my orbish friend. Strength with a twist of style. Now this will be interesting.~

~Quite so! And since my stalks are obviously much longer than yours, you may take the first blow.~

~A gracious concession! But a fatal error! Prepare to be dazzled.~

Noog seemed unsure of what was happening in the slightest, despite being told directly by the goblin of the situation. Why were the beholders trespassing in his cave? What were those alien things doing standing over there? It never crossed the singular neuron in Noog's bean-sized cranium that it might have something to do with the huge chunk of adamantine he just dragged in here.

In fact he had forgotten why he exerted himself so much bothering with it at all. Shiny. Blue. Which one was it? The problem was too complex to focus on. He needed a good nap. At least a short rest.

*knock knock knock*

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Or wait, that wasn't a door after all but his head. "Who there?" Noog asked Greelob as the beholder slapped a stalk across his face in greeting.

~Greetings! It is I, Bow Ling.~

"...Bow Ling who?"

~Bowling BALLS!~ Suddenly a red vorpal ray of death shot forth from Greelob's heartiest stalk, striking Noog directly in the family jewels.

"AAAAAARRRGGG" Noog wailed in pain, a pain tinted with the anguish of loss. The bright beam continued to send its energetic wound for roughly 5 seconds, but to the cyclops it was an eternity.

Orlob looked surprised, glancing back at the cadets. He knew he had to bring his A-game after that kind of display.

~Sir? Sir Noog...?~ Orlob hovered near the cyclops consolingly.

"WHA?" Noog asked with genuine curiosity, still reeling from the nut shot.

~Yes I'm here with the local 40h chapter. I have an informative pamphlet that I think you might be interested in...~

"Noog no read..."

~Well Sir before you close the door, I'd be happy to explain the core concepts. Let me ask you this, do you ever find yourself at a loss for answers to life's great questions?~

"...Noog question...Noog question everything!"

~Yes, I understand...don't we all. For example, have you ever wondered why dwarves laugh when they run?~

Noog scratched his head, giving it an honest ponder "...'cause...'cause..."

~Because the grass tickles their BALLS!!!~ Suddenly a second equally deadly red vorpal blast emanated from the beholder's stalk, targeting the remnants of Noog's reproductive system.

"AAAAAARRRGGG" Another 5 seconds of torture as Noog danced around clutching his gemstones, the laser beam locked onto its target and pumping joule after joule of kinetic energy into the region.

~Ah, well played. I see we are quite evenly matched. This will become a game of stalk endurance I suppose.~

~You are forgetting the creative element! I think it alone will be the deciding factor, all other things being equal!~

~Perhaps, but it will be for the Arbiters to decide!~

They glance back at you all, both with wide smiles.

Meanwhile the smaller circle of grapefruit sized beholders erupts with tweets of delight, some making side bets in a little book while chain smoking cigarettes.

OOC: End of round 1. Greelob and Orlob delivered the same amount of damage in a twist of fate.

Edited February 22 by Cointhief (see edit history)

Cointhief · February 22

@JubalBreakbottle @BobtheWizard @KingGoblin @DM-Tareth ooc: any reactions/interactions before the next round? Any hints of who the arbiters are siding with yet?

BobtheWizard · February 22

"Lou" Louis Dufray (Goblin Ranger 4) sheet

AC: 16 | HP: 40/40 | Initiative: +4 | Passive Perception: 17 | Features

Opal AC: 16 | HP: 25/25 | PP: 14 | Features

Lou cheers on the contest.

"Ooh. Those were great. But this won't be any fun if he doesn't at least try to fight back. Let's give him a second."

Lou again calls out again to the cyclops.

"Noog. You should probably fight back. You are going to need to kill them both if you want to survive."

As the beholders ready for their second round, Lou maneuvers to get a better view of the action. As he does, Opal moves towards the cyclops and puts on a display of fire breathing for the beholders, hoping to impress them with her skills.

His wanderings serendipitously take him right next to the adamantine coffin, where Lou quickly and subtly pulls out the bag of holding. Waiting for the beholders to be distracted by their next round of attacks, he puts the bag over the chunk of rock, like he is putting a cloak over its head. He pulls the edges of the bag down quickly, hoping no one saw his sneaky moves as the adamantine disappears into the dimensional portal.

Mechanics

Main Hand: bow
Off Hand: none

Lou's Action: put adamantine in bag
Move: to adamantine

Manipulate: pull out bag

Bonus Action: hide

Opal's Action: distracts beholders
Move: none

Manipulate: none

Bonus Action: none

Reaction: none

Gnarley's Knack: You have Advantage on the next roll you make regarding ship repairs or ship weaponry.

Edited February 22 by BobtheWizard (see edit history)

JubalBreakbottle · February 22

Celsior Loriniscil, Prince of Alfheim

Inspiration Yes | HP 27/27 | HD 4/4 | Step 2/2 | Shield 1/1

Bladesong 2/2 | Recovery 2/2 | 1st-level 4/4 | 2nd-level 3/3

Seeing what Lou was doing and as the physically largest of the crew, the prince casually walks between the adamantine meteor and the cyclops and spectators. Then, he fluffs out his cloak to make it as casually as big as possible.

Mechanics

Active spells:

Action: Provide cover

DM-Tareth · February 22

Yahs claps politely at the display. However, her soviet era scoring methods resulted in a lower 8.2 rating for each contestant. She crosses her arms and shakes her head in a display of bored apathy.

"Effective moves." She think-speaks. "But where is the flare? Where is the pizazz that really says 'I'm a tyrant. Look at how devastatingly evil I can be?' I mean, any drunken bar fly can whack a shlub in the particulars." She leans in a bit. "Show us you really have what it takes to subjugate peons and make them squirm. Take away his hope, his will to live, his desire for pudding. Otherwise, really, what's the point of being a villainous tyrant with dastardly plans to rule the multi-verse."

Edited February 22 by DM-Tareth (see edit history)

Cointhief · February 22

Louis finds many things go sideways during the attempted Graft Theft Meteor. Greelob and Orlob stay hovering nearby in their struggle to become its guardian, always one eye-stalk looking back. Second is the ring of smaller creatures surrounding the meteorite, although they are certainly more interested in the strange display.

Celsior's billowing cloak provides enough distraction and coverage for a first attempt, regardless of the constant vigilance. But Louis finds the huge stone quite heavy, and getting the bag underneath strains his little goblin muscles to the max. He isn't absolutely certain the thing will even fit, although he's never studied Magic Sack Geometry at an advanced level.

Noog at least is as dumb and blind as ever, barely understanding that he should attack the sucker-beaming tyrant duo.

Just as Louis is on his third attempt at picking the thing up, he hears a booming voice ~Hey! You two get out of the ring until this is settled.~

~Yes, we were here first. No buts, no cuts, no coconuts. Why are you slapping your cloak all over it like that. Stop that.~

~I must protect it at all costs!~

~No, I.~

Quite a few sets of narrowed, suspicious eyeballs follow the cadets as they stand back a few paces. Well, it was worth a gamble.

On the plus side, getting that close netted Celsior a juicy new tidbit of information: it was obviously of Astral Elven make. He easily recognized his culture's signature in the subtle metalwork designs enveloping the 'shell' of the meteorite. Though he couldn't say exactly what court or wildspace it came from, the artistic tradition was undeniable. Equally undeniable was a single word inscribed in ancient astral elven: 'Fëa'. A simple word. One with many modern interpretations. Germ. Embryo. Spore. Seed.

OOC: Louis, your Push, Drag, Lift is 10*30=300. That's less than the weight of the meteor, so even if no one saw you, and even if Celsior helped, getting the bag closed underneath it would be hard. The cyclops (built like an ogre) had a hard time even dragging it in here.

Reaction to Yahs and next round coming up....

Edited February 23 by Cointhief (see edit history)

KingGoblin · February 23

Lazuli Lazali Lulura, AKA Squishy

Saves: Str -1 | Dex +3 | Con +1 | Int +2 | Wis +6 | Cha +0

Resistances: Acid and Poison

Lazuli, with their enhanced perception, obviously saw all. They saw everything. They realized this was a good moment to activate their spores, not so much to attack yet, but just because combat seemed inevitable in the near future.

They had seen it.

OOC

Yeah, activating the symbiotic entity thingy, as I realized it isn't on right now.

Cointhief · February 23

*...mew?*

A pathetic looking, one-eyed kitten wandered into the scene just then without much notice. Like a newborn deer, it made a tipsy sway on shaky legs toward the corner, well under the hovering deadly orbs of Noog's cavern. Snuggling up inside a little pile of debris, it investigated a half-empty tin of Scramsax Selects: Stalker's Re-treets (for the beholder on the go). However, finding not enough of the bean-flavored meat substitutes remaining to be worth the effort, dozed off into slumber.

~What did that puddle with the abnormally high surface tension just think-say?~

~Ah, a moral argument! The plashet suggests the invalidity of nihilism, that morality is a thing that actually exists and has two sides.~

~Like a coin!~

~...or a knife. One good, the other bad, in a state of eternal flux. From this perspective, certain actions themselves are also interpreted as either good or evil.~

~Wild! For the quagmire, morality both exists and is objective.~

~So it appears! But it could be right. Perhaps a strike to the metaphysical heart IS more painful than a strike to the 100% real balls.~

~Cruelty to the Noog!~

~The Noog must pay, but a metaethical price.~

~Death isn't enough.~

~...one might be.~

As Noog finally stood up and snapped free a slimy stalagmite to bludgeon the invading eyeballs with, Greelob's wounding ray shot mercilessly into the corner.

*mew!*

In a tiny burst of string and alien gull carcasses, the cyclopean kitten was vaporized.

"NOOOOO! Catrick Swayze!!" Noog screamed in a new kind of anguish, this time one of mournful loss and tearful rage. An unlikely friendship was cut short, forever more existing only in memory.

~Evil.~

~From a certain perspective. But it was my idea.~

Noog charged Greelob, swinging the Spindle-stone with the force of a thousand avalanches. The flying orb was deft, avoiding the attack...the cyclops was clumsy, tripping over the meteor. To everyone's surprise, a seam along the metallic shell split open from the forceful impact...revealing a dirty yellow crystal and unleashing the stink of the damned.

~I still prefer a good laser beam to the stones.~ countered the inscrutable Orlob, hitting the cyclops while he was down and hurting the most.

OOC: End round 2. Noog is not looking good, neither physically nor mentally.

Edited February 23 by Cointhief (see edit history)

JubalBreakbottle · February 23

Celsior Loriniscil, Prince of Alfheim

Inspiration Yes | HP 27/27 | HD 4/4 | Step 2/2 | Shield 1/1

Bladesong 2/2 | Recovery 2/2 | 1st-level 4/4 | 2nd-level 3/3

Celsior's eyebrows arched when he saw the indications of astral elves on the meteorite. Since they cannot capture the whole meteorite, he wonders if something is inside it. He maneuvers closer to the edge of the ring but concentrates on the exterior looking for clues.

Mechanics

Active spells:

Action: Investigation

Text_1	Text_2	Text_3	Bold_1	Accent_1	Mood_1
Warm_1	Warm_2	Warm_3	Bold_2	Accent_2	Mood_2
Cool_1	Cool_2	Cool_3	Bold_3	Accent_3	Mood_3
Bright_1	Bright_2	Bright_3	Bold_4	Accent_4	Mood_4

Behold H'Catha (Part 4)

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