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Post by Ossular on May 20, 2019 18:44:46 GMT
The Heroes' Garden was the only green space in the City of Splendors that was open to the public. Maybe it was that reason alone that the public kept the area neat and tidy (to the best of their abilities, anyway, something the druids appreciated). Large, lush areas of grass, trees and ponds loitered around the area that, at one point, had been occupied by an arcane college known as the Tower of Yintros. The fireblossoms that populated this area had long since bloomed, shed their petals and sat as common green as any other tree scattered throughout Waterdeep's Sea Ward.
It was a warm day, with Midsummer drawing closer and closer, and the Sea Ward was alive and thriving. People went about their various businesses. Exotic smells and tastes pervaded the air thanks to the Raventree Villa, and the bards of the Golden Harp Inn were on their daily walk down Skulls Street to play their mid-day tunes for the wealthiest district in Waterdeep. Sure, guards patrolled here, keeping passive perception over the populace, but that didn't mean that anything back couldn't happen. Waterdeep was a place for adventure, and for any adventure, there had to be heroes, and there had to be villains. Not all villains appeared as marauding orcs or fearsome dragons, though. The truly evil ones appeared as human as possible.
One such figure sat to the edge of the Heroes Garden, hiding in plain sight. An older woman, disfigured by some amount of age or tribulation, she sat with her head down as the busy populace completely ignored her. Even with the guards, the Sea Ward still attracted the occasional vagrant, and she appeared as such, and therefor, she was invisible to most. The ones she was not invisible to, though, were children. Their natural curiosities attracted their eyes to the woman, but most were whisked to the side by their mothers or keepers, while others were too busy, shouting about their game of tag. That didn't mean, that eventually, in the middle of the day, a single, lone child would approach the old figure.
The old figure would look up, smiling unnaturally wide with teeth supernaturally fanged and jagged. A bent, misshapen finger would come out, motioning for the child to come closer. "What's your name, child?" the haggard woman croaked. The child would answer.
"Such a strong name. Do you like toys, dearie?" the woman would shift, and in her hands would be a single toy horse made of wood and painted with browns and reds. The child would nod.
"Do you want it?" her eyes would lower. "Go on. Take it." The child would reach out for it, and the woman would pull it back slightly.
"Take it." The woman would all but command at this point, the anticipation heightening in her voice. The child would reach once again, and then, the woman moved.
In a flash, the child had set their hand on the toy, only for the cloak to come out and draw the child into it. The feet would lift from the ground, and before the child could do anything, he was face first into a Bag of Holding which was quickly sealed before the hunched woman figure would turn and step from the Heroes' Garden toward Kulzar's Alley, no one else in the garden any wiser as to what just happened.
All except one person.
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Post by moralhazard on May 21, 2019 5:19:04 GMT
Kara wandered slowly through the Heroes’ Garden. She had finished an early morning guard shift in the Sea Ward not long ago, and it had left her feeling oddly - empty. Walking slow circles around the villa of a wealthy man or woman was an easy way to make some coin, but one that increasingly left Kara feeling - unsatisfied.
She should have gone home; Dhaunmyr might even be out of bed by now. It wasn’t as far as it used to be either, only down to the castle ward instead of the dock ward. But after a good deal of time in Waterdeep Kara still hadn’t visited the garden and so - here she was.
She walked up and down the paths, stopping to examine each statue very seriously and intently. Kara was decked out in her half-plate, carrying her glaive on her back, with daggers and javelins strapped to her; for this job, she had been told to come fully armed. At no point had her weapons been in any danger of being used, but evidently the noble liked her guards to be prepared and ostentatious.
A burst of children ran past her, shrieking and laughing, and Kara turned to watch them. She was frowning without realizing it. It was only luck that she was looking at the children, that her eyes went past them and caught on the little one approaching the woman on the bench.
For a moment Kara didn’t realize what she had seen and then - in a sudden clatter of armor the peaceful, reflective stillness of Kara’s afternoon was gone and she was racing without the slightest hesitation towards Kulzar’s Alley, following after the woman in an all-put sprint.
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Post by moralhazard on May 21, 2019 23:47:14 GMT
Kara init: Cw5PZGgd1d20+1 or 1d20+11d20+1·1d20+1
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Post by Ossular on May 24, 2019 20:37:29 GMT
"Old Woman's Initiative" v7mopy9Q1d20+1
Turn Order: 16; Old Woman 3; Kara The woman, with her old and frail appearance, thankfully, hadn't gone too far from the Heroes' Garden into Kulzar's Alley. As Kara turned into the alley in her sprint, her armor clanging as she did so, the figure of the woman would turn to face her. A disigured, wide set of lips under a pointed nose with mismatching, bulbous nostrils flared as she took a deep breath. Muttering something under her breath, she turned, the cloak flaring with her. The first several steps were human enough, but after that, the old woman would hunch over unto all fours, running deeper into the alley.
Her pace, as well as her gait, was inhuman and clunky, but that would be the least of Kara's concerns. With a wave of her hand, she would produce a small, crooked stick, aim it up and flick it. Three darts unleashed, though not toward Kara. They swiveled upward before crashing into the supports of a balcony above.
3d4+3 The third dart would do it. Three thumps of arcane power against old wood brought the support down, crashing to the ground behind her as she pulled off behind the pile. On Kara's turn, I need a DEX Saving Throw to avoid the falling debris. DC is 12. If Kara fails, she'll take full damage and be knocked prone. If she passes, nothing happens. 2d101d20+1·3d4+3·2d10
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Post by moralhazard on May 24, 2019 23:41:47 GMT
Dex save (danger sense): i9yHVhkE1d20+1 or 1d20+1
HP: 93/93
It wasn’t a woman; that was clear. Kara ran harder, the half-plate noisy but not slowing her in the slightest.
The balcony crumbled, dropping into the alley. Kara jerked to the side, neatly dodging the falling timbers; they clattered to the ground in a wave of dust and splinters. She didn’t break her stride in the slightest, sprinting full out at the creature and the bag in its hand.
((Action: Kara dashes, covering 80 feet))1d20+1·1d20+1
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Post by Ossular on May 25, 2019 0:27:53 GMT
Whatever was currently disguised as the old woman with the disfigured face would turn around, seeing the faster woman barrel through before the balcony had even touched the ground. A devious smiling with her wide mouth would turn to appreciate her work mid-stride before realizing that it hadn't actually worked. A shriek would escape her, inhuman and garbled, as if the woman was underwater, before she continued to lurch forward.
Instead of sticking to the open streets, with how much distance Kara had covered, the woman would tilt slightly. Her body, on all fours, would lurch to the ground low, with her elbows and knees above her torso before she could jump forward.
uY596lWR1d20 or 1d20 1d6
Coming through a back door ungracefully, the humanoid would fall down into a kitchen area, with three other women immediately jumping up at the intrusion. Shrieks would rise quickly and sharply as the long arm of the old woman came up to scoop one of them to put the woman between itself and Kara before attempting to escape once more through the other side of the house. On Kara's turn, the three women in the house will impose disadvantage on attack rolls against the creature she is chasing.1d20·1d20·1d6
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Post by moralhazard on May 25, 2019 0:44:19 GMT
The creature was still running; it turned, crashing awkwardly through a door and falling into a kitchen, all but on top of three woman.
Kara hesitated, not checking her stride. “Stop her!” She yelled, voice rasping. “She took a child!” it was a gamble; Kara doubted the women would listen to her or believe her. Maybe at least she could stop them from attacking her; she didn’t want to hurt anyone she didn’t have to.
She focused all of her attention on the creature, still sprinting full out towards it.
((Kara dashes again to catch the creature))
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Post by Ossular on May 25, 2019 1:03:35 GMT
Kara came through the door as the monstrous woman stood up from the table. The three woman, panicked from the sudden appearance of someone or something busting through the kitchen, wouldn't help, but after the initial panic, would at least get out of the way. Two pressing back against the wall, and a third running outside.
"GUARDS!" she would screech.
Instead of running, however, the woman would turn from looking at the women to looking at the woman that had been chasing her. There would be an ambient crackle of magic as she moved in superhuman speed. She would reach into a pouch in her belt, withdrawing some kind of furry gray pellet before biting it from the back of her hand. The moment she did, her form of shift. Insectoid legs would sprout from her back, and her other limbs would morph and contort to match the shape of the ones that had just appeared. The bag would merge into her form. Her head would flatten as six additional eyes broke free from her cheek and jaws, with two massive fangs unfolding from her mouth. Her skin would shred as what was once humanoid in form now took the shape of a giant spider before Kara and the two women that stayed inside.
The spider shrieked a chattering cackle. The women shrieked in horror.
The giant spider would turn, firing a web at Kara from the fresh body it had just quickly Polymorphed into.
pYQZzlyi1d20+6
With either a good reflex or the monster adjusting to being in this new form, the web shot past Kara, angling out the doorway and clipped the woman outside who quickly found herself wrapped in a web cocoon. Screams for the guards muffled as the woman hit the ground, now struggling against the goop that restrained her.
The spider would then attempt to move away from Kara, who would see an opportunity to attack.1d20+6
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Post by moralhazard on May 25, 2019 1:18:03 GMT
Glaive attack of opportunity: cG4cAZxm1d20+7 If successful, damage: 1d10+4 If successful, movement drops to 0
Kara swung her glaive down from her back, slashing at the spider. She missed, just barely, and kept running, the glaive gripped tightly at her front.
She closed the distance between herself and the monster, holding at ten feet out. Kara attacked again, swinging the glaive three times at the thing, with the blade, slamming up with the butt, and hitting again with the blade.
Glaive attack 1: 1d20+7 If successful, damage: 1d10+4 Glaive attack 2: 1d20+7 If successful, damage: 1d10+4 Butt of the weapon attack: 1d20+7 If successful, damage: 1d4+4 1d20+7·1d10+4·1d20+7·1d10+4·1d20+7·1d10+4·1d20+7·1d4+4
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Post by moralhazard on May 25, 2019 1:22:57 GMT
Extra crit damage: UHVOccua1d101d10
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Post by Ossular on May 25, 2019 1:33:51 GMT
(35 total damage. Nice~!)
The Giant Spider would be too big a target for someone as skilled as Kara. The first strike would remove a leg, the creature shrieking in pain. The second would clip the spider, and as she spun and delivered the third hit, the spider would quickly unravel, falling apart to become the humanoid form that Kara had originally begun chasing. She would turn, the shriek transforming with her as she held a hand missing two of it's fingers.
She would turn toward Kara, with a monstrous hate in her eyes. "A pox on you and your nightmares~!" the woman would snarl, spitting and pointing a curled finger at Kara. Kara needs to make a Wisdom Saving Throw, please.
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Post by moralhazard on May 25, 2019 1:35:42 GMT
Wisdom saving throw: eqf4Jb0Y1d201d20
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Post by Ossular on May 25, 2019 1:44:52 GMT
The curled finger would shimmer, as if Kara's vision had doubled in on itself, moving in and out of focus briefly. Then? Kara would feel every muscle in her body tense and cramp, burning as her body completely locked itself into position, like she had become a statue. Her spell having actually sunk into Kara, she would chuckle sadistically before turning and running toward the front of the house.
Kara is paralyzed during her turn. She can attempt the Wisdom Saving Throw at the end of her next turn.
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Post by moralhazard on May 25, 2019 1:48:41 GMT
Wisdom saving throw: Xz_eY2qo1d20 As requested: 1d41d20·1d4
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Post by moralhazard on May 25, 2019 1:51:08 GMT
Wisdom saving throw take 3: bYsbiOpg1d201d20
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