Through the Veil of Madness: Dungeons and Dragons Game

[Jonas]

Benden appears somewhat bewildered by the actions of his ecclectic group of helpers. He scratches his head nervously. "Well, I've told you all I know. Feel free to look around or follow me or whatnot. I'm going to get started on work today; no offense fellas but I can't afford to fall behind."

He gives you all a once-over and nods appreciatively before leaving for the corn fields. You can see his hat bobbing between the sheafs. Left alone with a mysteriously dead chicken and a barn, what do you do now?

[Dragyn]

((Looking over my character sheet, I am somewhat surprisingly short on non-physical skills.  I guess Aroth is gonna' have to leave most of the investigation to those of you better suited to it...))

[William Swiftfoot]

Alexander coughs. "While I understand you guys are happy to be investigating something so sinister, I think we need to focus on the task at hand. At this current point, our best option would be to return a night fall to try to stake out the coop for the night, since that has been when the issues have occured. Till then I would say do what you can to try to find out what happened, head back for any supplies you think you might need, and meet pack as the sun begins to fall through the landscape."

[Digital Vulpine]

After Benden leaves, Dexter picks up the dead chicken and smells it.

"Huh, I thought something looked off about it.  It hardly stinks at all, like something's kept it from rotting. Might there be some other source of magic at work?  At any rate, I think I'll take a look at what's here, so it will be easier to tell if anything is out of place tomorrow."

Dexter proceeds to take an inventory of the barn, noting where stuff is and how many chickens there are.  Being careful not to disturb anything, he also keeps his eyes open for things that seem off, like they don't belong in a barn.

[Jonas]

To Benden's amusement, you have split into shifts that alternate between following him through his routine, keeping an eye on the chickens, and slipping into town for supplies. The barn proves uneventful, the trips to town depend on your personal needs, and you consider the time with Benden to be extremely interesting, incredibly boring, or utterly irrelevant as you constantly keep an eye out for something trying to eat him. In any case, night has now fallen and the Hathrows have retired to bed. All of you are now staking out the barn. This old but well-maintained structure is very spacious--an echo of its previous use before becoming an overly-large chicken coop. The hens line the walls in individual mounds of hay, fast asleep and thankfully silent. What do you do?

[Digital Vulpine]

Dexter attempts to climb up onto one of the rafters with a view of the door and as many of the chickens as possible.  If successful he hides himself in the shadows, keeping his eyes and ears alert for anything out of the ordinary.  He figures the best he can do for now is watch, he'll leave meddling in any sorts of magics to those who might know more about that.

If he finds the climb too difficult, he will look for somewhere to hide on the ground level instead.

[Dragyn]

Aroth also chooses to take to the rafters.  ((If we're allowed to take 10 on it, he won't have any problems at all.))

Positioning himself such that he can see most of the interior of the barn, he settles down to observe.

[William Swiftfoot]

Summoning his spirit as the group regathers, Alex eyes the chickens from the door, his Wolven spirit eyeing about all the while. He keeps an eye out for any sort of sudden movements along the field, or any sort of strange disturbances.

(PP of 14)

[Jonas]

Within seconds of Dexter and Aroth climbing into the rafters, Alexander’s spirit companion begins to churn in agitation. The warning comes too late, however. A flicker of shadow is all the warning Aroth gets before something strikes at him from the rafters; a thin tentacle, slick with plasma slams into the dried wood above the monk’s head, making no sound except for the fracturing of wood. Dexter spots the silent movements of another creature and shouts a warning. The air quivers as more of these silent, undulating horrors emerge. It takes little effort to guess that these are what have been killing the chickens.

Nature Knowledge: These are Fel Taints, sentient manifestations of the Far Realm’s influence. Though weak compared to entities such as Aboleths or Beholders, Fel Taints are still dangerous. The easiest way to identify a Fel Taint is through its signature trait: as creatures only half-existing in this dimension, Fel Taints make absolutely no sound regardless of what actions they take.

Initiative

Altanis
Darter 3
Minions
Zen’Ral
Alexander
Rynvoor
Darter 1
Dexter
Aroth
Darter 2

[William Swiftfoot]

(You taking suggestions on tokens for the party Jonas?)

Startled slighty, Alexander attempts to step back from the rather vicious looking Abberation in front of him. He tries to remeber what he was taught about them, and what their strengths and weaknesses may be(Knowledge). As he does he sees the Darter attack Aroth and with a flick of the hand, sends the spirit in quick fashion over to him, and with a snarl it leaps on near by Fel Taint with its teeth!

(Ok, so free action Nature Monster Knowledge Check, then as a move, shift S out of the Darter's grasp, with the spirit moving E-NW into the adjacent space to Zen and Aroth.

Then Protecting Strike. Prioity is E Minion, Darter. If attack successful, Adjacent allies get +3 Temp HP(Which right now is Aroth and Zen). Anyone adjacent of the Spirit Wolf will also get +1 to all Non-AC defences.)  

[Digital Vulpine]

Finding himself caught between two of the monstrosities, Dexter quickly lashes out at the one who seems weaker with his longsword and fades along the rafters to find a safer position in the southwest.  He does a quick study of the abomination next to him to evaluate his course of action.  Still too close for comfort, he shifts southwest to put some distance between him and the tentacles.

(Fading Strike against the minion, then shift W and SW as part of the attack.  Mark the Darter adjacent to me as my quarry, then use a move action to shift SW again, so I'm not surrounded any more.  

If for some reason the minion is dead or out of reach, mark the Darter as my quarry first, then, if it is the only enemy adjacent to me, use twin strike with the long sword and short sword.  

If there is another enemy adjacent to me, shift west, then use fading strike with the longsword to move SW twice.

If said enemy is blocking that movement, use fading strike to shift two squares north instead and the move action to shift north again.  That would pretty much be a last-ditch thing if there isn't a way to get back with the party.

I sure ended up in a complicated situation.  If something happens that makes none of the above viable, I want that Darter as my quarry, I want a dead minion if possible, and I want to be at least one square away from any enemies.  If they move so that reaching safety without triggering a bunch of opportunity attacks is impossible, then stay put and use twin strike on the Darter in an attempt to bust my way through.)

[Dragyn]

If no beasts threaten him in the rafters, Aroth jumps down, delivering a flying kick to one of the darters, and (if that hits) using his Flurry of Blows to dispatch a minion.  (Landing in a space where he threatens at least 2 Fel Taints)

If the one next to him isn't dead, then he'll make a melee basic attack against it.  If there's more in his reach, he'll place his flurry on a different target.

((Flurry of Blows always does 7 Damage, and always hits if the triggering attack hit))
((Either of the other attacks I'm using in this case use the same damage, so I'm only rolling that once))

EDIT:  Edited for clarity

[Geary]

(Being dragged off to Virginia for the weekend, so I'll need somebody else to make posts in my place.)

[William Swiftfoot]

(I got it. IC wise, Alexander would probably be barking an order or something.)

Zen steps back before chanting the summoning spell, as his spirit companion appears beside Dexter. In a loud growl it strikes the Fel Taint with its claws, before snarling at the others as it looks to them.

(If the Minion NE of Dexter is not dead, summon spirit north of Dexter, Protecting Strike agianst the minion, move W, SW asZen shifts S.

If the Minion is dead, Summon Spirit north of Darter, attack Darter with Protecting Strike. Spirit Shifts SW, as Zen shifts S.

In Either case if successful, Dexter gains 4 Temp HP.)  

[Tvorsk]

"Oh, frazzz!", the young fox cried and rushed forward.
((If the darter SW of Dexter is still there))
Once the monster was in range, he catched the ranger's sight, noded to him, and  swung his weapon nervously.
(NE, to the place previously occupied by Alexander. Plain old attack, flank.)
((Otherwise...))
He closed on the minion, making a turning attack and balancing with his tail in hope to reach the one behind too.
(N,NW, use Passing Attack. If succesful, shift NW, attack the darter.)
((If impossible, he'll try to assist whoever's in need and reach, using the regular attack.))