Anauroch - The Great Desert

[Brainpiercing]

Stretching for miles upon miles of barren waste of rocks and red sand, Anauroch is anything if not a sight to behold. It houses treasures and terrors unknown to most. Of course, it is also home of a multitude of both humanoids and animals, and other, less savoury species. Hidden in the desert are many planar portals, some constructed, some existing naturally. From the sands and rocks gems are mined, some say they are squeezed through portals to the plane of earth. In fact, some say the desert itself was caused by the press of earth from such a portal. Others argue that that would necessitate that the desert be a big mountain, which in fact it isn't.
But however it came about, the desert is a place of many secrets, and as such, has always attracted adventurers. Lately, more and stranger rumours have surfaced, strange occurences beyond the capabilities of even most magic. It is to uncover the reasons for those that many powers have stretched their activities into the desert, hastily as of yet, but with a constant increase in effort. Reportedly, goblinoid tribes are roaming about, demons are prowling in search of power, undead are afoot, and maybe other, stranger races are also preparing a few tentative probes. And with them, obviously, the self-proclaimed masters of the Toril and the Prime. Humankind, in league with elder races.

***

Daelric and Cat

They had been moving constantly for several hours, the meeting point drew near. Cat ran ahead, his oversized paws making surprisingly good sand-shoes. His light body hardly sank in, and he moved at ease. For Daelric it would be harder without some magical or mundane means.
They crossed the ridge of another dune, and the apointed place came into view: A pinnacle of rock, shaped oddly like an abstract praying mantis stretching its forelegs towards the sky.
Cat scanned the scenery from the ridge.
We're here. But they ain't. he said in Daelric's head. At least, there's noone in sight. But don't worry, they won't be able to hide from me.... I'll scout ahead, but get some of your magics ready in case there is trouble afoot.

He slunk over the edge and crept down the other side. Ten minutes later he returned.
There's noone there. But I guess they WERE there, just not anymore. There's a little pile of stones, I can't manipulate them very well, I'll leave that to you.

Under the pile of small rocks was a note.
[PRIVATE for Snizor]

It read: "The meeting point's not safe. Keep this note and go north-west. We'll contact you. -G."

Also, someone was approaching...


***
Maglu'glath, Agnak and Devanar

The scouting run hadn't revealed much, for a good while. But then they had found fresh tracks, that apparently had been concealed by whoever made them -  luckily, ineffectually enough that Maglu'glath had been able to pick them up. [I think you have the best survival skills of the group.]
Since concealed tracks were the most suspicious thing they had found so far, the group decided to follow them.
After a day of forced march, during which Devanar had had to swith horses twice, they found found a distinctly shaped pinnacle of rock, with a person busying himself with something right underneath it.... There was also a cat, apparently some sort of house-cat, prowling around the vicinity.

[ooc]

Ok, I think you guys can make something out of this. I don't think I need to PM you with hooks anymore, after all.

[Omen of Peace]

Sharp eyes can make out another silhouette at the horizon, slowly growing closer. It resolves into a diminutive figure wrapped in swathes of light cloth astride a riding dog and holding a sun umbrella to protect itself further from the scorching heat of the sun.

That the odd pair has made it this far into the desert speaks of luck.

The figure turns out to be a thin, red-headed halfling, scowling as he approaches the gathering. His clothes are of a fine cut, but his sweating cancels out the good impression he might have made.

[OOC]
He arrives last, so you have time to speak before he gets there.

[Surreal]

Ignoring the more obvious person shuffling about the rocks, Maglu'glath's ears twitch at the sound of the small cat prowling about. Whispering to the others almost dismissively, "you two introduce yourselves... I'm going to get lunch." And with that he hunched down on all four (well... three anyways) and darted off. Except for the small scuff of sand in his wake, you'd almost swear he had become invisible.

[Brainpiercing]

[ooc]

Pleae make some rolls for what you're doing, Surreal

[Surreal]

[ooc]

I pm'd Snizor about it already; I've left it up to him as to what may happen to my "lunch"... Besides, I think it's virtually impossible for either of us to sneak up on the other

[Snizor]

OOC: (for BP)

I ended up mentioning the cat's sensory ability (Mindsight) to Surreal via PM while discussing possible encounter ideas; though I failed to mention to him that Cat is an NPC under you control. Sorry for the poor communication on my part.
 

[Brainpiercing]

[ooc for Snizor/Surreal]

Heh, I stole Surreal's idea, anyway. While there is no way for either to sneak up on the other, there is also no way Cat can win against Mag. However, he should survive a round or so for someone else to stop the cat vs dog fight
Hmm... actually when I look at both sheets it might be an interesting fight, even , although Cat starts with a sore disadvantage.

[Omen of Peace]

Though Mael's trajectory did not quite run through there, he heads for the group when he notices them and after ensuring - as best he can - that they're not demons.
Someone close enough might hear him mutter to himself - not unlike a madman:
"The Ninth House is there to stay. The colors are washed away but the stain remains. Woe to the fools crossing the threshold ! They'll discover that what they desire is not what they want."

...

As he nears the group, he cranks his neck up looking at Agnak. He seems awed by the warrior's bulk, so much so that the only word crossing his cracked lips is "Greetings". He extracts a waterskin from somewhere - slowly, so as not to appear threatening - and downs a little water. Then, looking around:
"No demon around, is there ?"

[OOC]
I'll assume Mag's lunch gives Mael time to arrive. The mutterings could be heard by Mag or the cat if they're prowling specifically in Mael's direction.
Aura check for Mael: 13

[OOC for BP]

Mael casts Glibness when he's still a good distance off (with Sleight of Hand).
Azur will use Detect Magic & Detect Good to little result since most everyone has some way of deflecting divinations IIRC (it's just routine stuff, you don't need to provide the results). Then he goes to his special place (that plane) in case his talents are needed.

[Brainpiercing]

[ooc]

I'm waiting for Snizor and Smudgy before we go on...

[Surreal]

Maglu'glath strode quickly across the sand, his bare feet barely leaving a trace. Hunched down like an animal, it was simple to keep his profile below the sand dune. Trickier though was to navigate and remain downwind while still out of sight. Mag had discovered long ago that his enemies had extreme difficulty tracking him by scent, almost as if his body produced no discernible smell; however, he had been traveling in the company of Agnak and Devenar who were considerably more pungent. Agnak, for all his great size did not seem to be bothered much by the heat and barely broke a sweat, if at all. Devanar on the hand... you could smell him in the middle of a herring feast. Just what was it about human stink that would make it stick to everything nearby?

A flick of a tail caught Mag's eye and he crouched even lower, motionless. He could sense his prey just around the dune. Something was amiss though; a slight buzzing in the back of his head. He always had the ability to sense the whereabouts of his prey, but this was different. It was... brighter, for lack of a better term; almost taunting.


ooc

I wasn't looking for an actual "encounter" per se. The cat will detect him well before that. Keep in mind that despite his abilities, Maglu'glath's exposure to "magic" is very limited. He's very likely never encountered anyone else with telepathy/mindsight before, which will probably catch him off guard. I was kind of hoping for the cat to make some kind of snarky remark before I even got close enough to pounce. If I were to grab him... I guess that would be a touch attack/grapple to catch him by the scruff of the neck?

attack roll, charge = 33

[Brainpiercing]

Cat had been prowling about the pillar of rock without caring too much about hiding, when people appeared over the edge of the dune on the other side of the pillar.
We got company... he thought, quite unnecessarily, towards Daelric, while attempting to appear as a harmless house cat. Then one of the newcomers seemed to vanish in plain sight -albeit it was different than becoming invisible, in a hard to place way. That made the hair at the back of his neck stand up with a tingle of excitement.
Hostiles.... he said to Daelric with a certain relish, which was untainted by the fact that whoever had hidden was, in fact, hidden beyond his perception, and hence out of reach of any possible counter-attack. Get behind the pillar, I'll catch them when they go for you.
He darted off behind the pilar, hiding among the rubble of small eroded rock at its base. He had to wait for a few seconds before the hostile presence came close enough that he could pick it up. During that time more people came, but Cat was too fixed on his task to pay them much attention.
He got ready to charge the assailant once he came into range - if ever. He thought the attacker would go after Daelric, and then Cat would catch him off guard. He was also ready to wait a while. But the presence appeared rather quickly, and Cat was surprised that it seemed fixed on him. Unfortunately the range of Cat's Mindsight also seemed like the distance the assailant needed to charge him, and that he did, in a straight line. Cat was poised as a spring, and just a blink of an eye later he launched himself in the other direction. Cat was very small, hence he had to get really close to bring his claws to bear. He was, however, quite trained at doing so. He immediately passed through the assailant's reach, skillfully avoiding any attacks of opportunity, even while only really seeing his enemy as he got close. And then he leapt with a feral snarl, claws first, at the goblin's upper body. He felt a surge of anger as he caught the familiar whiff of a magic user's aura. One swipe from his claws glanced off at Maglu'glath's supernatural defences, but the second slashed deep into the goblin hide. Even as his teeth tried to penetrate the skin, but failed, he was already trying to hold on, but the surprisingly strong goblin shrugged him off.
Then it was Mag's turn to grab him, and grab he did - albeit catching another claw, which glanced off his supernaturally tough hide. Cat, however, managed to twist out of the goblin's grip and dropped to the ground at his feet.

[ooc General]

Cat's visual spot check after your HIPS: 21
Cat's hide check at the base of the pillar, using cover: 41
Cat's Init: 23, 22 after his readied action goes off, and he acts again before Mag.
Mag's Init (unless you want to reroll it): 22

Everyone else can interfere, now.

[ooc Private for Surreal]

Both have started acting, hence noone is flat-footed. You never mentioned changing form, so I'm assuming you're still in Goblin shape.

Cat readies limited charge to go off when you're 50ft away from him. His init changes to 22
You get to see him at 110ft, Cat gets to see you at 80ft. You can charge 80 ft, hence your charge goes off basically at the same time as he sees you. He still gets to counter-charge when you're at 50ft. He uses Underfoot Combat to enter your square without provoking, gains +4 AC from soft cover, then pounces you and tries to attach himself (like Improved Grab, but grapple without size mods). Even though your SLAs are technically creature abilities, you do fall into his Favoured enemies because you've effectively got a racial progression as a class progression.

Cat's attack rolls: Claw 25, Claw 40, confirmed critical, (nat. 20, followed up with nat. 20, sorry,  ), Bite 22;

Mag takes 12 damage (duh, and that's max damage) + 5 skirmish damage, which overcomes your DR/magic.

Cat initiates grapple to attach: 21, ignoring size mods. Mag shrugs him off with 26 (pending your permission to roll for you yet again), and counter-grapples with your stated touch attack roll. Since he's in your square, you get an AoO, which misses with 28, and you get to grapple. Your permission pending, once again, your Grapple check gets a miserable 11 (rolled 5, sorry), and Cat's is a 15 (rolled 16, since he has to use his size mod of -8 now, but he still gets to use his Dex mod to counter the grapple.)
That concludes the round with him in your square. I'll give everyone else a chance to act now, but Cat does get to act again before you if noone else interferes. Also, you will be flat-footed against him next turn, due to Confound the Big Folk hitting home .

Heh, I said this fight could get interesting . You never took any damage last fight, now it's time . But don't worry, since we both have fast-healing, we hopefully won't need to hold any grudges.

[Surreal]

It seemed he was not as stealthy as he'd hoped, as the cat knew he was coming. Even more surprising was that it fought back, and actually managed to hurt him. Mag could feel the slight trickle of blood from the cut on his arm which was already stitching itself shut. He noticed the cat was also watching his wound with interest.

"What manner of lunch is this?" Mag thought aloud.

[Snizor]

Lunch!?!”, Daelric thought incredulously to himself as he stepped out from behind the pillar to assess the situation. Cat was engaged in a furious struggle with… an elderly, blue-skinned goblinoid?. Daelric had eaten goblin cuisine several times in the past, but he didn’t remember housecat ever being on the menu….
   
Hiding his amusement at the whole situation [Bluff 15], Daelric began muttering an arcane incantation to slow the goblin down [Cats Slow at Mag, DC 19]. Having cast his spell, Daelric addressed the goblin, “This cat is not your lunch, silly goblin! Cease your attempts to devour my companion at once."

[Omen of Peace]

Urging Don - his dog - forward, Mael gets a look at the creature causing the ruckus, a ragged-looking blue goblin.

Sizing them all up, he's surprised to realize they seem more capable than he'd have first thought - the draconic half-giant excepted. He puts that out of his mind and focuses on the fight, curious to see if the cat will keep the edge it has literally clawed up for itself.

[OOC]
I rolled Aura checks for the PCs - hope you don't mind : Agnak 11, Daelric 12, Mag 12

[Brainpiercing]

LUNCH? Cat snarled in everyone's head? I'll eat YOU for lunch, goblin.... He was bristling and snarling, his urge for battle hardly supressed, and now it seemed like this fight would stop before it had even started.

Devanar, who was sweating, tired and miserable, roused his bulk on his tortured horse, then slumped to the ground and waddled, rather than walked, towards the convening group. Not for the first time he cursed his decision of wearing armour on this expedition. Even though the breastplate naturally adapted to his girth, his second questionable decision of not wearing padding (only his normal robe) underneath caused it to chafe against his skin basically everywhere. But in spite of pains and aches everywhere he did his best at putting on an amiable expression.
'Honoured Maglu'glath, please don't start a chance meeting with hostilities.' he called out to the goblin, then to the others, 'I am Devanar, Priest of Lathander from Lundeth. Please excuse and forgive our friend, I am sure he meant no real harm.' He attempted a bow, which sent fresh spikes of pain through his back, and gave up. Nevertheless, he went on towards the human who seemed to be the cat's companion, 'Please pacify your companion, we come in peace.'
Knowing Maglu'glath he was not too concerned about the spell the human had cast on him. He was also very intent on getting the introductions over with quickly, so that he could possibly draw Mag aside and ask for another Lesser Restoration - and maybe one for the horse.

[ooc]

Ok, since it seems that thanks to Mag's articulations the fight has lost steam pretty quickly, we'll go back to normal chaotic time flow, rather than paying attention to initiative...
Devanar's Aura: 14 (his miserable state notwithstanding....)
Cat's Aura: 13

[Smudgy]

There was a lot going on here that Agnak didn't really understand at all, but he nonetheless tried to make sense of the situation. Approaching towards these strange travelers, he kept his hands by his  sides in an open manner.  The meeting could have certainly started off better...

"Well met friends!  What're you all doing traveling in a place such as this? Can't say you're natives to the desert."

OOC

Ok, I'm just getting back into the flow of things, it's been so long since I've posted! hope everyone's had/having happy holidays!

[Snizor]

"Stand down Cat", Daelric sternly addressed his still furious feline companion before turning warily towards Devanar and the others. They clearly weren't with the Zhentarim, Zhents wouldn't bother with such a rouse when they had such a tactical advantage over their targets. No... it was more likely that this was indeed a misunderstanding as the priest Devanar claimed.

"Very well Devanar, I don't mi....", Daelric began before being interrupted by the large dragon-offspring.

"I could ask you the same question, Mr. Dragon-child. Why are YOU here in the middle of this forsaken desert?", Daelric replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

[Brainpiercing]

[ooc]

Again, apologies to OoP for ignoring Mael so far. That'll have to stop now

[Private to Mael]

Mael's detection spells revealed the usual: Some magical auras from items on the Half-dragon and Devanar. Auras from Spells on Maglu'glath (Abjurations, AFAIK), as well as one Transmutation aura. No active magical auras on Cat.
The detect good spell reveals a strong aura of good from Devanar, I think Agnak, too.

Cat hissed and spat, but slunk a few feet away from Maglu'glath.
FINE he snarled mentally to everyone, figuring that his disguise as a harmless house cat was blown, anyway.

There was another newcomer, and a straight-forward one at that. Devanar turned to him.
'Greetings to you, good sir. I can assure you were are not demons, nor are there any in the immediate vicinity.... I hope.' he hesitated, and looked at Maglu'glath, as if for confirmation. Whatever the goblin was, he was certainly no friend of demons.
'To hunt for them, however, is in our interest, too. Lundeth was recently attacked by a demon force, and we are searching to investigate what they may have wanted from us - and what in the nine... Lathander forgive me.... is going ON in the desert. As such we are operating strictly on the terms of "enemy of my enemy", and wish for no trouble but for what is troubling us all.'
He let his gaze wander over the halfling, his dog, and then also towards Daelric and his feline companion.
'Since we have now revealed our interests and objectives, it is in order to request from you to do the same. Please...'

[ooc]

Devanar's diplo: 22

[Omen of Peace]

Mael dabs his face with a handkerchief. He'd usually be wary of such a powerful group, especially when it sports unknowns like a telepathic cat, but he finds that his curiosity is taking over.

The fat man seems honest enough, and he's a comrade-in-sweat. His hesitating about the goblin is rather odd, though.
"I'm here to investigate demons as well. Certainly not to hunt them, I'm not well-equipped for that. Does Lundeth still stand, or did you flee ? What kind of demons were there ? And... do you have a lead ?

I'd like to say I know what I'm doing, but I haven't encountered any sign of demons till now..."

[OOC]
Diplomacy 24

[Surreal]

Maglu'glath leered at the cat, who returned an equally angry glare, which then turned into a smirk, as if promising a row later on.

As Devanar had already introduced him, Maglu'glath saw no further need to present himself. He simply approached the rag tag assembly and tapped his food impatiently.

ooc

p.s. the cat would not have been able to use confound the big folk on Mag since as a goblin he's a small creature, and that feat requires a two category size difference