The Colony - Turn 14 - Descent into the Den

The party has accepted a contract from the colony military to explore the area northeast of the colony and produce a map detailing what they find. The first thing they come across is a big ravine strewn with bones.


Start Date: July 23, noonish
Start Status: Who Lives Here?
Start Location: In the Wilderness (hex 39,27)

The Turn

White Tulip: Smoke, Rennard, Shade, Zenobe, Mendel, One-eye, Maarek, Hagan, Sim
Exploring: Xon, Adrienne, Nogg, Aaron, Brigg, Candle, Kessel, Jinx, Javiera

The scattered bones in the ravine prove too tempting for the party to pass up; they decide to investigate what they suspect is the den of some large predator. They shuffle their ranks a bit and advance with Adrienne and Nogg in front, followed by Jinx and Candle. Aaron and Javiera, guarded by Xon, follow 15 to 20 feet back. Brigg and Kessel stay on the rim of the ravine and flank the party, missile weapons at the ready.

The group proceeds down the slope for 50 feet or so, far enough to afford a limited view beneath the tangled undergrowth and fallen tree at the far end. Adrienne tried to make out details, but the bright sun makes it impossible to see more than deeper blackness within the shadows.

Nogg looks at the bones at his feet. "These are people bones," he says. "From more than one person." In fact, those in the ravine can see several human (human-like?) skulls in the dirt and debris at the bottom fo the ravine, along with the bones of a dozen or more animals. Some of the bones still have meat on them and many of the remains have been thoroughly dismembered. They can also see drag and claw marks running along the floor and up the walls on either side.

The claw marks are big and have an impressive spread. At the top of the ravine, Kessel measures one with his hand. "That's bigger than a grizzly's paw. Whatever lives down there is huge."

The party moves forward again, eyes peeled. The north side of the ravine opens out a bit into a flatter slope, while a 30-foot long ridge of sandy gray stone 20 feet up on the south side forms an almost vertical wall. The front rank stops again about 10 feet from the tangle at the end of the ravine.

Adrienne starts to speak, "It looks like there *is* ..." but Kessel interrupts with a warning cry. The party is not completely surprised when the rock outcropping above them comes to life in a swirl of shifting colors and shapes. Humped boulders and rocks become a slithering form hurling down the slope in a cloud of dust, sand, and pebbles, straight at the front ranks of the party!

OOC:

It's a really big lizard, at least 30 feet long, with lots of pointy teeth and at least six legs. It has pebbly scales like a Gila monster that are changing color as it moves. It's headed straight for the front ranks and will be in melee range in the first round (it's pretty much on top of the party now). Brigg is on the wall above the lizard, Kessel is on the far side.

Adrienne was about to say, "It looks like there *is* an opening under this mess."

For players that haven't been in combat before, I ask for three rounds of action for each player to submit three rounds of action, but we don't always get through all three rounds in a turn. Feel free to include conditional actions, but please DO declare actions clearly. The mechanics page on the campaign website outlines the structure of a combat round. Here's the nickel summary for blog readers:

This is the general process for round by round combat resolution.

• Declare / start casting.
• Roll initiative.
• Side 1 move, missiles, spells, melee in order.
• Side 2 move, missiles, spells, melee in order.
• Go to 1.

Notes:

• Count Turn Undead as a missile attack.
• Wands are missile weapons.