A burning ring of fire

[patransom]

The party decends the spiral stairs, single-file with Ruadhnait in the lead.

The stairs wind down into the earth nealy 100 feet before emerging from the ceiling of a room.

The scene in the room is a bit startling. First, of all the stairs don't reach the floor. They end (in square 1203) a full 10 feet above the floor of the room. There's no rubble, the stairs are simply gone where you would expect them to continue.

Second, Ruadhnait finds herself facing a wall of violet flame, which, strangely enough, doesn't seem to radiate any heat. The wall of flame extends in a ring around the center of the room, reaching nearly to the ceiling (it's the purple circle on the map).

Finally, in the far corner of the room stands the small man who fled you before, with a crossbow at the ready. He cackles when he sees Ruadhnait and Brand decend out of the ceiling. "Fools! My master is ready for you! You will not interfere!" He then casts a spell, with no visible effects.

There is a large, closed stone door near where the small man stands (squares 1210 and 1310).

Ruadhnait's obvious options are to pass through the wall of flame to square 1203, then jump down 10 feet to the floor of the room. Or she could jump down 15 feet to a square outside the ring of fire.

Brand's options are to jump down 20 feet from where he is, or continue down to 1202, then face the same options as Ruadhnait.

The rest of you are above ceiling of the room, in the "chimney" formed by the stairwell. You'll each have to move some distance down the stairs before reaching where Brand is, seeing the situation, and facing his same options.

The distance each of you must go before reaching Brand's location (square 1302) is as follows:
Esias 5'
Leenah 10'
Oldin 15'
Jiam 20'
Vulan 25'
Aeless 30'

Note: you do not have to pass through the ring of fire to get from 1303 to 1302. It doesn't extend that high. You do have to pass through it in going from 1202 to 1203, should you choose that route.

Good luck! This evil situation brought to you by a special guest, who you may soon meet

Note: if you find the new grid numbering system too confusing, let me know. New mapping program.

[Icefire]

OOC Are the stairs wide enough to slip past or do we need to wait for the one in front of us to move?

[patransom]

You can always move through an ally's space

[CGM3]

Esias moves down the stairs to 1202 and jumps down to 1102, trying to employ his Jump skill to reduce the effective height (as per PHB pg 77, DC 15, Jump +6, success counts the descent as only 5 ft), then steps to 1002 and readies an arrow in his bow.

[valinor]

Aeless whispers to Vulan as they see this forboding situation, "Fire an arrow at the villainous cur, and fire an arrow at the floor." He changes weapons from greatsword to his composite bow.

[Galaphile]

Brand moves to 1202 and jumps to 1201, then moves to 1001.

OOC:
Jump Check -8

Yah, it's bad.

[patransom]

To clarify, even though it might look possible on the map, you can't squeeze by the wall of flames along the side walls.[/i]

[Icefire]

Sheathe sword and dagger. Move to 1202, jump down to 1102 then move to 902. Pull out her shortbow and ready an arrow.

Jump: +3
Tumble: (just in case) +10

[TheGreenLabrador]

Upon reaching the very lest step, Vulan stops, and draws his string, saying quickly, "You seem to hit targets better, aim for him."
Vulan takes aim at the center of the floor inside the ring of fire, and lets loose a single arrow.

[valinor]

The half-elf nods at Vulan, as he readies his bow and arrows.


OOC: Masterwork Large Composite Longbow (+1 Str)

Att: +5 / +5 (Rapid Shot), Dmg: 2d6+1

[shai-hulud]

Oldin follows until he sees the circle of fire. He stops abruptly, seeing that some have already gone through, he frowns and whispers to those behind, "I am not allowing the taint of this fire touch me. I would suggest you follow suit."

Oldin moves to position 1202. He will try to talk to anyone trying to pass him to go into the fire out of it, but will not forcefully stop them. He removes his backpack and carefully places his tome within it. He then shoulders his back, lies down on his stomach, and slides his feet off the edge of the stairs. He carefully pushes himself off the edge until he is hanging at full extension. Then he will drop the remaining distance.

OOC: I have no idea how many actions this will take. Break it up as needed, and unless something drastic happens, I won't have to post. I think I count two full-round actions, but there might be a third round of actions buried in there.

[shai-hulud]

To clarify, even though it might look possible on the map, you can't squeeze by the wall of flames along the side walls.

OOC: Oh, oops. I didn't realize that. Please allow me to change what Oldin would do.

IC: Oldin stops abruptly at seeing the flames and scans the room. Realizing that he has no choice, he looks for a way to climb over the flames. Should no such way exist, he will still place his tome within his pack and hold his pack overhead as he crosses the flames.

[CGM3]

To clarify, even though it might look possible on the map, you can't squeeze by the wall of flames along the side walls.

Does it block line of sight?

[patransom]

Does it block line of sight?

No, this particular wall of flame is transparent.[/i]

[whtknt]

Ruadhnait goes over the side at 1202 (the square in which she is standing). She will grab hold of the edge of the stair case, letting herself dangle so as to reduce the distance by as much as possible and then drop outside the flaming barrier.

[patransom]

Ruadhnait kneels, grabs the edge of the stairwell, and drops to the floor. [She is now underneath the stairs at 1202, kind of hard to see on the map]

Brand decends a few steps to where Ruadhnait was, then takes a clumsy leap off the stairs. There is a tremendous crash from his armor as he lands on his face on the floor. He manages to stand up. [2 hp falling damage]

Esias decends the stairs, then jumps. He lands easily and moves out of the way for Leenah to follow.

Leenah sheathes her weapons as she decends the stairs, then jumps. She lands gracefully on her feet, then continues moving.

Oldin places his book in his pack and, seeing no other options, decends the stairs right through the wall of fire. Although Oldin feels no heat as he approaches the flames, once he crosses the boundary the flames burn him horribly [20 hp fire damage!]. On the other side, within the ring of fire, the heat is almost unbearable.

Jiam remains still [off the map, 20' to get to 1302]

Vulan decends the stairs to just outside the ring of fire, then launches an arrow to the floor in the middle of the ring. The arrow sizzles as it crosses the flames, then hits the floor right where Vulan aimed it. It breaks in half against the stone floor.

Aeless sheathes his greatsword, then readies his gigantic bow as he decends the stairs. [Note: the small man has cover from your current position, thanks to the pillar at the center of the stairs]

The small man laughs as he fires his crossbow at Leenah. His bolt hits her in the chest. [8 hp]

[Icefire]

Leenah mutters a curse in high viridian as she pulls out her shortbow and fires an arrow at the man. Then takes a 5foot step back to 1001.

Attack: +7
Damage: 1d6+1

[shai-hulud]

Oldin drops the remaining 10 feet, then pleads for Seker's Aid. His Celestial prayer finishes as he lays his hand upon himself and Seker's flame purges the burns of the enemy fire. (Cure Moderate Wounds)

Oldin then brings out the wand and prepares to finish his healing, along with heal any who cross after him.

[shai-hulud]

OOC: Aeless should move to 1202, Vulan to 1203, and Oldin to 1204. Bravo everyone!

What would it be if we all moved around? Vormable?

[valinor]

Aeless uses the pillar and leans against it partly for a steady hand and speaks an elven chant, "Cael sar'Tho" unleashing his first arrow and followed by its second arrow.

OOC: True Strike and fires his arrows.

Masterwork Large Composite Longbow (Rapid Shot) +5 / +5 Dmg 2d6 +1

True Strike(+20 insight bonus ignores concealment)

[CGM3]

Esias moves to 0904, avoiding the wall of fire if possible, and looses an arrow at the little man (who is now within 30 ft).

OOC: +7 to hit, damage will be 1d6+4+2d6 (and magical, if he has protection from normal arrows up).

[Galaphile]

Brand sheaths his sword, draws a Javelin, takes a 5 foot step to 1101, then throws the Javelin at the small man.

OOC:
Atk: +4 (includes -2 Range Penalty)
Dmg: 1d6+2

Declare Shield Block (+1 AC) on M.

[patransom]

Quick notice: Friday's validation will be a little bit early, around noon eastern instead of 4 pm, since I'll be heading out of town for the weekend.

[whtknt]

Ruadhnait eyes the man and readies her spear. Without crossing the barrier, there isn't much that she can do, and though the young barbarian is bold, she is not stupid. She can sense the magic of the flames and is distrustful. Instead, she keeps a watchful eye on the foe. If the barrier wavers for even a moment, she will rush to the attack.

OOC: Move to 0904 and hold action pending the barrier going down (hopefully). If it does, she will take her action, closing the distance and attacking with the spear. If she moves more than 10 feet, she gains a +1 AC bonus and will attack with a +10 (+8 plus +2 for the charge), doing 1d8+4/x3 and an additional 1d6 for her skirmishing ability.

[CarnageCJB]

Double move this round (to make up for my lack of movement last round ). Move to 1202 and drop from the stairs (Slow Fall, 20'), then continue across and down to reach 1010. (Avoiding the fire as much as possible in the process.)

[TheGreenLabrador]

Looks at aeless, and nods. harnessing his bow, he moves forward, jumping down, and into the ring of flame.
Combat Expertise for full, dodge against the man.
Jump check to lower the effective distance by 10 feet. DC 15. Bonus is 13.

[patransom]

Leenah mutters a curse in high viridian as she pulls out her shortbow and fires an arrow at the man. He grunts when the arrow hits him.

Vulan harnesses his bow and moves down the stairs, through the fire [19 hp fire damage]. He jumps off the edge of the stairs, landing on his feet.

Brand sheathes his longsword and draws a javelin, readying to throw it at the small man.

Esias moves forward, leaning a bit to avoid the fire, and looses an arrow at the man, but his shot sails wide.

Ruadhnait manuevers closer to the wall of fire and glares at it intently.

Oldin drops to the floor with a thud, landing on his hands and knees [2 hp falling damage]. Before even standing, he speaks a prayer to Seker and heals himself [healed 13 hp]. Within the ring of fire, he finds the heat quite uncomfortable [7 hp fire damage]

Jiam rushes down the stairs and agily swings off the edge. Landing on his feet, he continues moving straight through the wall of fire. He crosses the barrier twice on his way toward the small man [14 hp the first time, 18 hp the second, grand total of 32 hp]

Aeless speaks an elven chant, "Cael sar'Tho", readying for his next attack to strike unerringly [casting True Strike is a standard action]

The small man shrieks to find Jiam right next to him. He drops his crossbow on the ground and pulls out the heavy pick you saw him weilding before, swinging it wildly at Jiam. The monk dodges easily.

[shai-hulud]

Oldin moves to the exact center of the fire, hoping that he is far enough away from the wall that he will no longer get singed and starts furiously wacking himself and Vulan with the wand, trying to stop the searing heat...

At this point, Oldin is weeping as the pain of the fire continues to sear his flesh, his entire attention focused on closing his wounds enough to brave passing through the fire once more.

[shai-hulud]

By center of the fire, I mean the line between 1206 and 1306. Oldin is not going to go stand IN the fire... I realized after I posted the silliness of how I worded it.

[TheGreenLabrador]

Vulan eyes the man, waiting until being *wacked* by Oldin, and moves quickly to 0909.
Now close to him, Vulan looks quickly at the man before acting.

OOC: Does he have armor on, if so, what kind? Attack during this round will be determined based on armor being worn, if any.