Prologue - Part 4
Ryth-Shan made a Stealth roll against one of the Imps. It was the only one who was in line of sight. It was not searching for him, so it only used its Passive Perception. Ryth-Shan gained a +2 extra bonus to his roll because there were many obstacles to help hide him. Passive Perception for the Imp was 11. With Ryth-Shan's extra +2, that makes a 9 or higher roll. His Stealth was +4 because he was proficient. So he only really needed a 5 or higher. He rolled a 12. He successfully slipped into a dark recess of the chamber within line of sight of all three imps milling about. Though by the end of his sneaking he was within line of sight of all three, the DM only made him roll once especially because he only came within line of sight at the end of his move. Because there were many obstacles in the way, the DM also gave him cover bonus for any ranged attacks made against him.
Ryth-Shan aimed at the imp closest to his companions. If he could weaken it enough for them to rush in and take it out quickly, that would dramatically reduce their enemies' chances. Imp Armor Class was 13, so he needed a 13 or higher to successfully hit. Ryth-Shan gets a +4 with his Longbow to see if he hits. That means he needs a 9 or higher. He rolled a 16. Hit! He did 1d8+2 damage. He rolled a 6+2=8 damage.
Ah, but imps have damage resistance. They only take half damage from such weapons. Therefore, the imp only lost 4 HP. Since it had a total of 12 to begin with, it now had 8 remaining.
The moment Ryth-Shan attacked, his companions also got a surprise round. They used it to run into the room thirty feet each with Vexir and Lae'zel leading the charge. With their own ranged weapons out, they also made attacks. Vexir took a shot with her light crossbow. She rolled a 19 on her die. Hit. She did 1d8+2 damage also, and rolled a 7+2=9. Another 4 HP off the imp. He only had 4 HP left. Lae'zel was next with her crossbow. She rolled a 7 and only got a +3 to hit with her crossbow. 10 total is a miss. She needed 13.
Last of all, Kaedyn maneuvered into position to hit one of the imps that was further away with a Guiding Bolt divine spell. A flash of light streaked across the room towards the imp. He got a +4 for his Spell Attack bonus. He rolled a Natural 20! That's double the hit dice for damage. Since Guiding Bolt would normally give him 4d6, he now rolled 8d6 for damage. With all 8 dice, he rolled a total of 30. The imp was clearly obliterated in a ball of white-hot light.
Two imps remained, and 1 only had 4 HP remaining. It was now the start of the first real round of combat. That was only the surprise round. Ryth-Shan was first in initiative order. He fired at the closest imp again. This time, he rolled a 17. Hit. For damage, he rolled a 3+2=5. Only 2 damage. It still had 2 HP left.
Next was Kaedyn's turn. He decided to save his last Guiding Bolt for perhaps a more difficult fight. Now that he was close enough, he charged at the injured imp with his mace and shield at the ready. He rolled a 13 to hit. His attack bonus was +4, but he hit with the roll alone. The mace did 1d6+2 damage, and he rolled a 3+2=5. That's 2 HP off, meaning the imp was dead. Only 1 imp remained.
Now it was Lae'zel's turn. She moved into position to fire another crossbow bolt at the last imp. She rolled an 11. Her attack bonus was +3. So a 14 total which beat the imp's AC of 13. Hit! She rolled a 1d8+1 for damage. She rolled a 2+1=3. Only 1 HP off. Fortunately, this imp only had 8 HP to begin with. It was hurt from a previous fight with Mind Flayers and thralls. So now it only had 7 HP left.
Finally, the imp's turn. Seeing it was outnumbered, the imp decided to flee up a stairway nearby to escape. It first used its Invisibility ability to disappear from sight. Then it fled 20 feet, its speed, towards the stairway. Since it was invisible, none of the heroes could see it.
It was now Vexir's turn. Her eyes narrowed as she deduced what the imp was up to. With no other allies in the chamber, she figured it was fleeing towards the room's only exit. One of the items she'd picked up while Kaedyn and Ryth-Shan had been playing with the Intellect Devourer was some sort of Mind Flayer mucous pod full of brine. She reached into her magic pocket and pulled it out. If she threw it in the direction she figured the creature had gone, it would likely hit the ground, explode, and spew the nasty chemical all over the area. Surely, that would reveal to her the imp's whereabouts.
She rolled a 17 to hit the area she was aiming for. Since the area itself had no AC, the difficult was 10. If she'd failed, the pod might have landed elsewhere besides her intended targeted location. But since she succeeded, it landed right where she wanted it to. The pod exploded, as she'd hoped, and it sprayed everything in a 10 foot radius with brine. This included the imp. She had guessed correctly.
The brine did poison damage. The imp was immune to poison. Nevertheless, the imp was exposed. It was no longer invisible because the brine coated it.
It was now back to the top of the initiative order as a new round began. Ryth-Shan moved to get into a better position against the imp. He then fired. He rolled an 8+4=12. Miss. Next, it was Kaedyn's turn. Since the imp was trying to make a run for it, it was closer to him. Thus, he was able to run 30 feet up to it and attack with his mace. Since the brine was all over the floor at his feet, it would have no poisoning effect. Only if it had gotten on his skin would it have affected him. He rolled a 5 and missed. Lae'zel was also close enough to run up and hit it. As she ran, she swiftly slung her crossbow over her shoulder and drew out her longsword. With both hands, she swung.
Lae'zel would now get advantage on her attack roll. After all, the imp was being flanked by two opponents. This meant that it didn't have the ability to defend very well against two people at the same time. Since Lae'zel got advantage, she rolled two 20-sided dice to see if she could hit. She took the highest of the two die rolls. She rolled a 2 and 18 and therefore hit. Since she used both hands with her longsword, and it was versatile, she got 1d10+3 damage. She rolled a 4+3=7. So she did 3 damage to the imp. It had 7. Now it only had 4 HP remaining.
The imp was now within melee range of both Kaedyn and Lae'zel. If he tried to move, he would invoke attacks of opportunity from both. Its only hope was to do a Disengage maneuver, if it wanted to still flee. This was an Action, and therefore it would not be able to attack in the same turn. Therefore, the imp resigned itself to its fate. It would at least take out one of them before it died. And so, it chose to attack and not flee.
Imps had tails with stingers on them. This was the imp's chosen form of attack. It swung its tail out at Lae'zel and rolled a 19+5=24 to hit. Lae'zel's AC was 17. Hit! It then rolled 1d4+3 for damage. It rolled a 3, so a total of 6 points off of Lae'zel. She had 12 HP to start, so she only had 6 HP remaining.
But, the imp's sting also did poison damage. Thus, Lae'zel needed to make a Constitution savings throw against a difficulty of 11. If she failed, she would take an additional 3d6 damage. If she succeeded, she would take half damage. Lae'zel rolled and only got a 2. Her Constitution save bonus was +4, so she only got 6 total. Not good! The imp rolled 3d6 for additional poison damage and rolled a total of 10. Lae'zel's HP was reduced from 6 to 0. She fell to the ground in the brine. She was dying.
Now it was Vexir's turn. Ignoring the fallen Githyanki, she slung her own crossbow over her shoulder and pulled out her greataxe. Rushing up to the imp, she took a swing. Like Lae'zel, she also got advantage on her roll because she and Kaedyn were flanking the imp. She rolled an 8 and a 1. With her greataxe, she got a +4 to hit. That's a total of 12. She missed.
Back to the top of a new round. Ryth-Shan moved again to get a better shot. With his allies flanking the imp, he also got advantage on his shot. He rolled an 11 and 6. He got a +4 to hit with his bow, so 11+4=15. Hit! He rolled 1d8+2 damage, rolled a 7, and did 7+2=9 off. With damage resistance, that was 4 HP damage. The imp only had 4 HP remaining. Therefore, it died.
With this combat ending, each player received 150 experience points (XP) a piece.
But Lae'zel was on the ground bleeding to death. She would die in just a few rounds if not aided. It was Kaedyn's turn. He grabbed Lae'zel and pulled her out of the brine and onto bare floor. That was his Action. Then, as a Bonus Action, he used Healing Word. He healed her 1d4+4 (for his Spellcasting modifier). He rolled a 1 and healed her 5 HP. She was saved.
Vexir looked around her for more enemies, but she found none. Seeing that they were safe, she turned towards Lae'zel as she picked herself up off the floor. "I'm glad we could establish who the better warrior is," she remarked with a smug grin.
Lae'zel's nostrils flared, and her eyes narrowed with malicious intent. "I hope you die before we can escape so that I can leave you here to rot in the Hells," she replied.
Ryth-Shan ran to her side to help Kaedyn who was already giving her a hand. Lae'zel slapped their hands away defiantly. "I do not need your help," she snapped. "Let's just proceed to the helm."
Vexir gestured to a few of the fallen bodies nearby. "Search them," she ordered. "They may have even more valuable resources."
Lae'zel sneered at her. "We don't have time for that."
Vexir locked eyes with her. "We will MAKE time."
Ryth-Shan was the one to step between them this time. "I agree with Vexir," he said as he intercepted Lae'zel's doom-gaze. "Listen. We found some valuable items on some of the other fallen Mind Flayers. There's another one right there. It may also have some potions of speed or healing that we could use. If we are going to take the helm, don't you think we need whatever resources we can carry?"
He made a Persuasion roll. He had no proficiency or bonus of any kind. However, since Lae'zel was Githyanki, his difficulty was not as high. The DM set the difficulty to 10. He rolled a 1. Failure!
"Tsk'va!" Lae'zel cursed in his face. His Lae'zel Relationship Score was reduced by 2 for his failure. However, his Vexir Relationship Score increased by 2. "You would dare to side with the Drow instead of your own kin? Bah! You reek of the Material Plane. You are no Githyanki. You are a Githzerai!"
Ryth-Shan was taken aback. The Githzerai were members of his race that did not serve Vlaakith. They were mostly ascetics and philosophers. They typically pursued self-knowledge. Githyanki viewed them as traitors and weak. It was a sharp insult, and he was immediately inclined to retaliate.
"Brain-trader!" he snapped even before he considered what he was saying. This was an insult among their kind that referred to Gith and/ or barbarians who willingly sold brains to Mind Flayers. It was a serious insult to the honor of any Githyanki. But she had wounded him deeply with her own insult. He was also tired of the two women fighting for supremacy. Therefore, he lashed out at her.
Seeing her eyes widen in shock, he decided to press the advantage. "I am sick of you and her acting like you own us. I am not some Ghaik thrall that you can order around. You and you!" He jabbed his finger at Lae'zel and Vexir both. "Either kill each other and do us all a favor or both of you shut the Hells up!"
Then he stormed over to the charred Mind Flayer corpse without so much as a glance back. Kaedyn said nothing but decided to join him in searching the bodies. Vexir only smiled victoriously at Lae'zel as she sheathed her greataxe and folded her arms across her chest. Lae'zel scowled at her. She wanted nothing more than to wipe that grin off her face.
Instead, she turned in Ryth-Shan's direction and seethed at him. She was filled with a range of emotions. On the one hand, she wanted to run him through and twist the blade painfully so that his insides screamed. On the other, she found herself suddenly quite attracted to him. He had stood up to her and exuded a powerful aura that made her momentarily quiver. He had actually sent shivers of fear through her, and that thrilled her.
Still, the first desire was stronger. He'd insulted her honor twice. First, he sided with the Drow. Therefore, she felt betrayed by her own kin. Second, he had called her a "brain-trader". THAT was unforgivable. If she didn't need the three of them at that moment, she would have surely gutted them all. The Drow would have died first, she decided.
After a quick search of the room, the three gathered a few more gold pieces, a couple more potions of healing and a potion of speed. Lae'zel did nothing to assist. She merely stood there and watched, tapping her foot impatiently. When they were finished, she said, "That is a Mind Flayer Healing Apparatus." She then pointed at a chamber that had a glowing, blue aura. "It will help us all recover to full strength instantly. Even though I am the only one injured, you should also use it." She gestured to Kaedyn. "You expended some of your divine energy. It will recover it to full."
Kaedyn nodded. "I will, then. Thanks."
She sneered at him and strode over to the machine. After stepping inside, the glow increased and flashed. She then stepped out. "Your turn," she barked and she made for the stairs.
Kaedyn was next, and as he stepped inside, he noticed Vexir watching. "What?" he asked as the glow surrounded him.
"I was just wondering if you actually had a spine," she said. "It seems clear to me that your human heritage has made you a truly weak-willed individual. Do you always do as you are told?"
Kaedyn stepped out of the machine and smiled warmly at her. "Does being a witch ever bring you any real joy?" His Vexir Relationship Score was reduced by 1. His Lae'zel and Ryth-Shan Relationship Score was increased by 1.
Vexir's eyes became slits as Lae'zel and Ryth-Shan snickered. "How dare you speak to me that way, MALE?"
Kaedyn continued to smile at her as he shrugged. "I don't understand you. First you say I'm spineless and then you get angry when I show you that I have one, VEXIR." He emphasized her name as a way of pointing out that he, also, had a name. He did not enjoy her calling him "Male" as if he was beneath her.
"Now," he continued as he addressed them all more seriously. He noticed that Vexir was thinking of killing him where he stood, but he ignored her. "For your information, I have only been following orders because I figured it was pointless to try to argue with you two." He pointed at the two ladies. "My chances of survival here are far better if we work together. So, trying to challenge you for authority is pointless. All it would mean is we fight and one of us dies. Stupid. Like Ryth-Shan, here, I've had quite enough. If you two ladies want to kill one another to see who will come out on top of our little party of nothing, you go ahead. I'm going to do what I can to try to figure out how to get back to Faerun and out of AVERNUS. The way I see it, this ship brought us here FROM Faerun. Therefore, this ship is our best hope of getting BACK to Faerun. So, I am inclined to do what Lae'zel is suggesting and get to the helm so WE can control the ship and get back to the Material Plane."
"So," he concluded, "like Ryth-Shan said. 'Either kill each other and do us all a favor or both of you shut the Hells up!'" His Vexir Relationship Score was reduced by another 1 while his Lae'zel and Ryth-Shan Relationship Score was increased by 1.
Without another word, Kaedyn took the lead. He made his way up the stairs towards the chamber's only other exit. Lae'zel smugly grinned at Vexir as she followed. Ryth-Shan was stoic as he followed her. Vexir came last. Though she was furious, she couldn't help but admit to herself that he was right. It was unfortunate, but she needed them. Her demanding their obedience was also not helping. "Once I am free from this place, though," she mumbled to herself, "I will slit you all open slowly and watch you writhe until you die."
