Glorified Mercenaries: The Rebootening

Bart keeps his eyes open for the creature he sensed before. Perhaps it was just the illusion magic?

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SpoilerAlbert: d10 (4) + CUN bonus (5) + skill bonus (5) = 14
CR: 12

Albert: Based on the movement pattern and the shape you can make out, combined with the fact that it appears to be intelligent enough to act independently, it would seem to be... uh, a Celarui. Presumably female as the plumage would otherwise be likely to give them away, though you suppose they could be a male wearing dark clothes and makeup or soot or something.

"A Celarui? I didn't see anyone... Sylvain, is this Celarui a part of the test?"

Sylvain nods. "I never said what kind of traps there might be."

Bart snickers slightly at Sylvain's wording.

He replies to Albert; "Well, I don't know if they're even messing with anything. Far as I noticed they're just watching us."

"... Subtle."

The Celarui briefly halts her movement, and seems to turn her head towards your group. After a brief pause, she flies closer, giving Sylvain a meaningful look.

Sylvain sighs, crossing something out on the sheet. "Thank you for continuing not to be an assassin or other party with harmful intent, to whom calling out would be foolish."

He grumbles something about quality; louder, something about learning to ignore them, and appears to sink into his armor.

She sighs loudly and swoops to the ground, crossing her arms when she lands. "For god's sake, Alter, I was supposed to get off testing duty ages ago. Not my fault there's so many people lately." She stretches her back and continues, "Look, I really got some paperwork to get to, and they got the basic gist, right?" She whips out a stack of papers and hastily retreats before Sylvain even gets a chance to respond.

"I only--" Sylvain half-gestures at the group of recruits, then shakes his head after the fleeing birdlady. He adjusts his helm and attempts to regain a semblance of professionalism. "I suppose it hardly matters now, but you do get the gist, right?"

"Yeah we got the gist alright."

Bart shakes his head at Albert, sighing. "Got it."

Sylvain leads you to the other end, grumbling slightly as he pushes the rotating walls out of your way. After a couple minutes, you end up at the exit, and he opens the door.

Once again, you enter an outdoor area, but this one is considerably different from the idyllic garden - there's no animals to be heard of, the plants are mostly brambles and warped, long-dead trees, and several patches of mud are spread throughout the grass - generally, it seems designed to be a lot more gloomy and desolate. As the door closes behind the last of you, Sylvain once again moves to the side, announcing "Trial three. Combat."

Bart gives Sylvain a look that can only be described one way.

Wat.

Naisse cracks all her knuckles in anticipation. She didn't quite fancy herself a fighter, per se, but at the very least she had enough experience with it, and it was likely going to be a refreshing challenge after that stupid maze.

"Finally."

Sure, Kairui thought he had done well in the past few tests, but it was about time for his skill to shine. He took out his staff and clenched it a little in anticipation. He fingered his robe, making sure everything was intact.

"I am going to pull out all the shots I have. You all had better not get in my way. I will not weaken my blows if you do."

"Nice to see we can count on you to be a team player in combat situations too."

Giles takes a long drag then flicks the cigarette butt away and draws his weapon.

"So we failing the cooperation part, Sylvain, or just everything?"

Before Sylvain has a chance to respond, someone starts placing sprinklers on a nearby wall, spraying thin jets of water towards the enclosure. As they hit the ground, the mud puddles start to churn and swirl, and then to form into dog-sized blobs that begin crawling towards the party...

COMBAT

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SpoilerGreen circles are the PCs, gray circles are non-hostiles (in this case, Sylvain) and red circles are enemies. The latticed squares represent notable terrain - in this case mud - and the filled squares represent obstacles - in this case, the grey ones are trees and the brown ones are thorns.

Turn Order
Albert - 8; d10 = 8
Giles - 8; d10 = 4
Bart - 7
Kairui - 6
Naisse - 4
Dregs x8 - 2

Combat Information
Albert: 17 Resolve
Giles: 18 Resolve
Bart: 16 Resolve
Kairui: 19 Resolve
Naisse: 19 Resolve

Dregs: 15 Resolve each (I'll mark them individually once they start takin' damage)

Kairui steps forward once and unleashes a Cone of Light. It hits a row of three spaces in front of Kairui, then a 2x3 block at the end of that, hitting all of the three enemies up ahead.

+1 power from Magical Expertise, -1 power from Solar Power (I'm assuming the weather is just as bleak as the surroundings)

Sylvain irritably tries to keep his clipboard from getting wet. "Just don't catch pneumonia. You can manage that, I think."

Naisse looks at number two and fires at it without much hesitation.

(+1 for usin' a gun)

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SpoilerBeast identification: d10 (10) + INT bonus (3) + skill bonus (5) = 18!

Rolling to hit: d10 (8) + Precision (2) = 10
Dreg 1's resolve is above 10.
Hit, dealing 8 damage! Dreg 1's resolve is now 7. Dreg 1's Power is null; it will be making attacks with a -2 damage penalty.

Other stuff will be resolved in turn order.

DREG, the mud blob pokemon

The dreg, Stilla caenum, is a weak member of the Slime family. Formed directly from mud, it was examination of the properties behind its genesis that led to the invention of golems. It is most notable for its tendency to absorb mud - even from the "corpses" of fallen comrades - to reconstitute when injured. Mostly harmless, it only poses any threat at all due to a tendency for several to form at once.

Giles moves to B4 and casts Psychic Assault in a wide cone.

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SpoilerAttack roll: d10 (9) + Precision (3) + skill bonus (1) = 13!

Dreg 1's Resolve Roll: d10 (2) + Resolve (7) = 9; Dreg 1 is defeated.
Dreg 2 and Dreg 3 have resolve greater than 13.

One of the dregs, its already weakened presence basically shattered by Giles' attack, loses any remaining animating impulse. It dissolves into a pile of especially thick muck; the remaining poison rises to the top, and is quickly washed away by the sprinklers.

Bart looks to be about to protest being forced into combat, but thinks better of it and just shakes his head at Sylvain before running up behind Giles (B2) and attempting to finish off one of the Dregs (D7) with Embers. All the while eyeing the rest of the slimes nervously.

(+1 to precision from general magic skill)