Dragonlance: The Age of Mortals

[Jeramiahh]

Our story begins, not with flame and destruction, not with the return of the gods and the loss of two of them, but, rather, six months later, in the small desert city of Pashin. With the Dark Knights of Neraka causing chaos and attempting to seize control of the city, bearing artifacts from the stolen homeland of the Silvanesti elves, it is a turbulent and dangerous place... and a place of destiny and adventure.

Amidst this chaos, an interesting sight has appeared; the Herald, famed bard and storyteller has made his way to this city only a few days north of the forests of Silvanost, making his way to Pashin's largest and most respected tavern, the Wounded Crow. In exchange for free room and board, the Herald has promised to grace the city with a tale unmatched. It would be a terrible thing to miss, wouldn't it?

[Irving]

"Three horns."

Takyr Es-Morgayn, loyal servant of the Empire, looks up from his bones. He slides a tile into place, reshaping the pattern, adding a new direction to the ever growing line.

Perhaps if Takyr had been of a poetic bent, he would have seen a metaphor in that - something about how the tales of a Herald build the lines of fate, and shape the world, piece by piece.

Takyr, however, is not a poet. Far from it. The notion never crosses his mind. Poems are poems, heralds are heralds, and tiles are tiles. Why confuse the three?, Takyr muses, even as the other players slide their tiles into place and the trails of dominoes grows ever longer.

Never the less, Takyr sits in the front room of the Wounded Crow for the Minstrel, marking time, enduring the stares, playing endless games of Black Dots, waiting. He knows that if he waits long enough, he'll hear what we he truly wants to hear - the voice of his cousin, Zen, calling to him across the crowded hall. Zen was an inquisitive sort - he always had to find the end of the maze. And this is the most interesting thing to happen in this sun-blasted land since I came here. He'll have to be along, soon enough. And then, at last, I can find the answer.

It's Takyr's turn again. He lays a six on the caravan driver's public path. The table erupts into curses. Takyr lowers his horns oh so slightly, flicks one bovine ear, and snorts impatiently. Just to reinforce the point, he crosses his arms over his chest, displaying muscles as large and thick as thunderheads. The table rapidly quiets into submission.(1)

Soon, my cousin. I can only play so many bones.

(1) Intimidate check, taking 10, result 15.

[Chineselegolas]

Fossel

Wandering through the tavern looking over everyone inside Fossel saw the discontent over and one of the tables, and being intrigued, wandered over.
Squeezing between people he made his way to the side of the table right as Takyr snorted. Laying his hands clearly on the table in plain sight he stopped and waited to see what happened next, slightly disappointed that everyone calmed down.

"Come on, the cow moos and you and you calm down, where's the fun in that?" he said provocatively with a grin.

[Deadly]

Easily missed among the crowd, Aila watched the games with a thoughtful, somewhat distant smile. She had been watching for a time from her seat at the bar, taking in all the details she could from there. In between she would sip from her glass of wine or idly straighten a few folds in her dress, but it was clear that most of her attention was on the game. She hardly even noticed the curses of the players or the barely veiled threat of the minotaur. For her, the dominoes took center stage, and who pays attention to the audience when a show is on?

Like everyone else, assuredly, she was here to witness the famed bard and the tale that had been promised. She was allowed a little rest and entertainment between her studies, were she not? Aila certainly thought so. But for now, while waiting, she was hardly thinking about any of that. For now she watched the games.

[metagaia]

Zen

Zen had been on the road for awhile. Travelling to the various places that the Knights of Neraka had been, healing the wounded for food and board. He wanted to fight this oncoming plague of men directly, but the soldiers forbade it, saying that he was needed to heal the sick. Zen obliged grugingly, but desired more than anything to show what he thought of these 'knights' directly, with sword and hoof and horn.

Fingering the scar on the side of his head he got the fateful day his father disppeared. Approaching the city of Pashin, where Zen was informed that the knights would likely strike next. Zen picked a tavern at random, a seemingly busy one called the Wounded Crow. While most people would have to struggle through the crowds, Zen's 7'4" height meant this was not a problem, and the crowds melted away. Save for one small human sipping wine at the bar, possibly female, it was so difficult to tell them apart. Zen, looking only at the bar, collided with the small human.

"Sorry, little one," grunted Zen. Before waiting for a response, Zen ordered a mug of ale and turned round to watch the crown gathered round a table. One of the players, clearly just won what seemed to be a game of black dots, appeared to be familiar, but Zen could only see the back of his head and the horns. While it was Takyr's hair and Takyr's game, Zen wanted to be sure it was him. A relative of Takyr might be much more unpleasent.

Just then, somewhere in the crowd he heard the phrase "Come on, the cow moos and you and you calm down, where's the fun in that?" Zen waited to see if the familiar minotaur would turn round is response...

[Irving]

Takyr

Takyr's ears twitch at the insult. Cow? It was roughly the same as being called a female dog back home.

A quick glance downward at the impishly grinning kender makes him censor his initial instinct. He wants to see me explode. No. I think not.

"They pay more attention than when the mouse squeaks." Takyr replies calmly. He pauses a moment. "You are short. Do you want to become much shorter?"

Takyr knows he's no hope of winning an insult contest with a kender. You have to fight to gain respect. We'll see. If the kender kept it up... well, that could be amusing, too, for everyone but the kender.

Then Takyr notices a familiar profile in the door. He turns and snorts in satisfaction. Of course. He came. He smiles a little bit at Zen, and tosses his head in greeting. He then turns back to his game of Black Dots. All in time. No hurry.

[Chineselegolas]

Fossel

Grinning at the minotaur rising to his challenge Fossel decided to press his luck "Ah, but you should see the ladies shriek and run, spinning and pointing randomly behind him he said "And there goes one now"*
Taking advantage of the slight distraction to grab one of the tiles off the table** continuing with his banter, "But no, I like my height, perfect view" turning and grinning at a buxom lass, "And not walking into the tops of door frames is useful".
Spinning back to look at the game, he lent forward crossing his arms. "So, whose turn and whose winning and what are we playing"

*[roll0]
To bad it isn't a taunt so missing the extra +4

**[roll1]
Oh yes. I'm taking a piece...

[metagaia]

Zen's shoulders visibly sagged in relief when he saw Takyr turn round and offer a greeting. Touching his hand to his horn in reply, Zen knew there was no hurry, and he also knew how much Takyr disliked being disturbed when he was playing black dots. Something the small voice piping up from Takyr's knees seemed to be failing to grasp.

Curious at why the place was so crowded, Zen bent down to speak to the small human in a dress he had bumped but moments before.
Excuse me small human, but why is this tavern so crowded? There are many taverns elsewhere, yet here there is no room to stand?"
Just to clarify, this is Aila that zen is patronising :smallwink:

[wxdruid]

Somewhere, under the tables and around the chairs, Tygerlilly wanders around, doing her best to avoid the tavern owner while simultaneously finding out as much as possible about everyone around her. She randomly finds things and when she gets bored of them... she puts them down in random spots. Some of the items make their way into her pouch. A spoon here, a twig there, an interesting nutshell, all sorts of things.

It's fun to play hide and seek with the tavern owner. At the same time, when she crawls under the tables, she checks for bootlaces...if they are there, she ties them together, or in funny knots, or to someone else's. Sometimes she stops to listen or look around, but that's boring and she prefers to search through all of the interesting items that just seem to be laying about, waiting for her inquisitive hands.

Stealth for crawling under tables (1d20+8=18), Escape Artist for those tight spots to fit through (1d20+6=17), Perception for listening/watching (1d20+4=5), Sleight of Hand for acquiring interesting objects (1d20+9=11) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1899811/)

[Deadly]

Aila

Aila is torn out of her thoughts as something rather massive bumps into her. She nearly spilt her wine over herself. She blinks and turns and cranes her neck to look up at the minotaur Oh... it's, uh, no problem she says as it turns to order an ale. What a strange thing, but its manners could be worse. Aila had seen worse manners.

She shakes her head a little and turns back to looking at the game, as she is addressed again. She looks back up at the minotaur The famous Herald is supposedly here, and has promised to tell an unmatched tale. Like myself, I suspect most people are here to experience that.

Perception: 1d20+0=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1899838/)

Aila is too preoccupied to notice anything, much less any sneaky kender

[metagaia]

Seeing the extent that the small human ahd to crank his/her neck up to speak to Zen, he decides to help put her at ease by sitting on the floor next to her. Zen nods before speaking again
"Thank you for the information little one. The stories of battle are not as interesting as the fight itself, but a good story is always received well." Pausing, as if thinking, Zen added "Would you like me to replace the...uh...grape-juice-drink, that you nearly lost there? I feel like I should apologise better, little one.
[roll0]
Upon sitting down, zen thinks he might see a flash of something under the tables, but dismisses it as an overacitve imagination.

[Deadly]

Aila can't help but chuckle a bit at the minotaur's choice of words. And him sitting on the floor looks just a little funny too. Grape-juice-drink... what a fitting description. She smiles and shakes her head slightly It is quite ok. I don't drink that much, normally, so this glass will do. But thank you for the gesture.

[Jeramiahh]

As the appointed hour of the Herald's story draws closer, the crowd grows thicker and thicker; soon, they are spilling out the door, just to try to get close enough to hear. The crowd stirs and mumbles at the pair of minotaur in the room; unwelcome sights by many, particularly by the Knights, some few present here.

While the kender are mostly ignored, allowing Tigerlily a chance to 'find' some interesting objects that might just happen to have been dropped, a sudden hush falls over the crowd, as a human male, in his sixties, with white hair and a trim beard, moves over towards the stage, elevating him above most of the crowd, gesturing for quiet.

"I am known as the Herald," the older man says, once the room has sufficiently quieted. "The memories of Krynn are mine to know and share. In my dreams, I have lived many other lives. I have led men into battle, on the side of both good and evil. I have fought dragonback and wielded the mighty dragonlance. I have lived, loved, and died a thousand times. This eve, I will share some of my tales with you."

The crowd begins to shout, "Tell of Huma! Tell of Raistlin and the Dark Queen! Tell of Lord Ariakan's fall among the minions of Chaos!" A steely gaze from the Herald silences them once more.

"I have another story for you this evening," the Herald intones. "I shall tell you this day of a young girl named Mina, and of a great war, one fought not over control of Krynn, but of the souls of its people."

The Herald then begins to tell the story of the War of Souls, the events of which culminated in the return of magic, the return of the gods, and the death of Takhisis, along with many other, powerful individuals. The story portrays the Dark Knights in an ill light, something many of them, and their followers, object to. A DC 12 Perception check reveals a good portion of the crowd growing restless and angry, and grants a +4 bonus to initiative, when the fight starts.

When the Herald reaches the point in the tale where the minotaurs 'save' the Knights and annex the lands of the Silvanesti elves, this becomes too much for the malcontents to bear. Some of the crowd begins picking up clods of dirt, yelling and jeering at the bard. If nothing is done, soon, it's likely to break out into a riot!

[metagaia]

Zen was about to respond to the little person's chuckle when he sensed that the room was descending into silence as a old human stepped up to the stage. Zen stood up again, granting himself a clear view over the rest of the crowd, while ignoring some of the less than friendly glances he received.

Zen proceeded to listen to the story that the herald, a story he had heard before, but never with such conviction, even from his own minotaur tutors.
Perception roll needed before I can really go any further with this:
[roll0] Excellent! Will continue with this post then!

As the story continued, Zen could sense the growing disquiet in the room. Even to Zen and his limited knowledge of this area, it seemed the herald was pushing his luck.

When the story reached the minotaurs and their conquest of the elven lands. Zen snorted in disgust at the crowds reaction. Perhaps their conquest wasn't fair, but these 'knights' were the last people that should be complaining about it. When the crowd began throwing things at the Herald, Zen snapped and bellowed as loud as he could, hands cupped around his mouth

"ENOUGH! I do not know entirely what passes for manners among you folk, but this is *not* how we treat our speakers! I will not defend the actions of my people to the likes of you, but I for one will wait for the end of the story. Many of you are hear to hear this man tonight, and if you do not listen, you are free to leave!"
Try and suppress the crowd, roll in OOC thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5653107&postcount=16)

[Irving]

Takyr calmly stands up from his chair. The set of black dots is probably lost at this point; if he's lucky, the kender will steal it all before a fight breaks out.

He stands tall behind his cousin, hands on his waist, casually flexing his biceps one more time. He looks out and meets the eye of one of the burliest looking "knights" in the crowd.(1) Takyr makes it clear, by his presence and gaze, that Zen is not alone in his defiance.

Just to be safe, though, Takyr glances over at the Herald, and flicks an ear at the door behind the bar. The unspoken message is clear(2): Make a break for it.

He then looks out at the crowd and waits, hoping to sense the moment when violence comes(3). He neither fears not hungers for it, but has no doubts who will overcome.

(1) Aid another check on Zen's Intimidate: [roll0] . If above 5, increase Zen's Intimidate by 2.
(2) Bluff, taking 10, Sense Motive DC 10 to intercept/interpret message.
(3) Perception check: see OOC thread. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5653107&postcount=19)

[Chineselegolas]

Fossel

Completely oblivious to the crowds growing dissent, Fossel climbed up onto the table for a better view of the speaker.

[roll0]

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

When she realizes that a story has started, Tygerlilly will make her way towards the speaker, as close as she can get. She plops herself down in front and listens, occasionally trying to interject a comment on her own version of the story, but the Herald keeps right on going, not giving her any oppotunities...she doesn't mind so much and tries to remember the important points of his version. When she notices the crowd beginning to get angry and throw things, she suddenly bounces up and climbs on a table or chair near him.

Convinced she can turn it into a game (and she doesn't like it when things are thrown at someone she likes) she starts trying to catch the objects being thrown. She yells back, Surely you can throw better than that. You couldn't hit the broadside of a barn, much less me! You just try it. I betcha I can catch anything you can throw. When/if she catches clods of dirt, she throws them right back at the person who threw them, or another likely target.

Perception (1d20+4=16) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1900863/)

Taunt/Bluff (1d20+7=17) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1900884/)

Not sure what kind of roll you want for catching stuff?

Init (1d20+4=6+4=10) with a +4 for her perception check GTE 12) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1900881/)

ranged attack (1d20+5=22) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1900882/)

[Deadly]

Noticing that the Herald has entered and that the tale is about to start, Aila crawls up on her chair to better see over the many heads, most of which are quite a bit higher than her. She listens to the tale with obvious interest, taking particular note of anything she hadn't heard or read before.

This is not her most observant day, however. The young mage is far too engrossed in the tale to note the fight about to erupt.

Perception check: 1d20+0=4 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5655192&posted=1#post5655192)

[Jeramiahh]

The crowd grows further restless; while no one person would want to wrestle with a minotaur, the power of numbers only encourages them on. The kender taunting doesn't help matters, and only inflames the crowd. Without warning, a fist is swung, and the entire room erupts into chaos. People surge towards the Herald, some to attack him, some to defend him, and, while he attempts to slip away, he is grabbed and pummeled before his defenders can ward them away.

The room clears quickly, but there's still a few thugs, looking for a fight, not really caring who's on which side, and our five characters are caught between them and the Herald's party.

(Below is the map; I've made minis for everyone. If they're hard to read, and I imagine they are, the orange ones read "Thug", the blue ones, left to right, are Alia, TEM (Takyr), and TL (Tigerlily). The Purple ones are Fossel and Zen. Red is the Herald's guards, while green is the Herald. Next one, I'll change the scale to be larger.)

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/1559/keyofdestiny1jg1.jpg

The guards will not act, and the Herald is currently unconscious. All six thugs are unarmed, and will act on Initiative 9. Anyone who beats that initiative may act before them; they will be flat-footed until they act.

[Chineselegolas]

Fossel

Initative 19 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5657563&postcount=23)

Stood high on his table Fossel suddenly noticed the lack of people around him, except for the wall of guards on one said and several rather angry looking humans on the other.
Turning to look at the Minotaurs he said "I reckon these guys could probably his harder than you, why don't you prove me wrong"
Drawing his rapier he then struck a dashing swordsman's pose, a large grin plastered to his face

Using Bardic Music for Inspire Courage...
Yes. Its a somewhat different way of doing it, but I have ranks in perform Comedy and Oratory
A more Kender style

[Irving]

Takyr stands close to Zen during the melee. He tries to do what he can to protect the Herald, but there's no way to even get near him with the crowd in full riot.

Eventually, the room seems to clear of those who came for a tale instead of a tavern brawl. A quick glance around the room tells Takyr that he, Zen, and the six thugs are the only real warriors in the group - just a few kender and pretty slip of a girl remain as innocent bystanders.

He waits a moment or two, to see what the ruffians might have planned next. Patience is, after all, the mark of a true warrior. His father always made that clear.

Then the kender issues his challenge, and Takyr grins.

Khot. You can only be patient so long. Let's have fun.(1)

"Zen! Mind that one! Let's see the little ones safe and knock heads!", Takyr bellows in Kothian. He points to the ruffian hugging the south wall - he's a little too close to the Herald for comfort.

Then Takyr lowers his head, bunches his shoulders, and does what minotaurs do best.(2)

He doesn't hit as hard as he could - no one's drawn blood yet, and Takyr prides himself on responding in kind. He ignores the thug who flails at him as he bears down on his increasingly panicked target.(3) The minotaur raises his head just a touch before impact, preventing him from flat-out goring the hapless warrior against the far wall.

The charge still hits like a thunderbolt. It lifts the rumpled-looking thug off the ground, bounces him against the wall, and leaves him a crumpled wreck on the floor.(4)

"GO!", Takyr bellows at Alia as he braces for a response in kind.(5)


(1) Initiative 23, delay to 18. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5657798&postcount=24)
(2) Takyr is charging an opponent; the revised map showing my movement is here (http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o299/msrlapin/keyofdestiny1jg1.jpg). Attack roll: 14. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5657920&postcount=25)
(3) Note that Takyr provokes one attack of opportunity en route during his charge. He will not take advantage of any attacks of opportunity he gets en route - it's possible that if the thug strikes him unarmed, he could get an AoO, but I'll decline to take that attack... right now.
(4) Damage from charge: 19 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5657950&postcount=26)
(5) If any thug provokes an attack of opportunity from Takyr during their round, his provisional attack roll will be a 15 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5658176&postcount=28). His damage will be 6. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5658184&postcount=29) If possible, I'll save that AoO for the the thug I bypassed en route to the target for my charge; I want to keep that thug from getting any closer to the Herald.
Note: This post relies on certain assumptions on my part regarding hits and damage. It may be revised subject to DM approval. Please write your responses with this in mind.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly bounces, jumps and darts around the bigger people until the room clears out a bit. She looks around and grins. Some huge ones, some normal people and another Kender! That was fun! Can we do it again! She looks expectantly at the thugs. Well? What do you have? It doesn't even look like you anything to throw...not even dirt! What're you going to do? Stay around and let two minotaurs beat you up? I'm sure you wouldn't make a dent on their hides. Or do you like beating up defenseless people? Is that what makes you feel powerful? She visibly checks them out with a look that says, they can't beat up some minotaurs...

taunt/bluff (1d20+7=19) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1901838/), Init 10 (from previous post)

[metagaia]

Zen groans inwardly as his attempt to calm the crowd down backfires spectacularly, though he was grateful for Takyr's help. Zen knew his instinct was right that he was the one minotaur he could trust. Should have seen this coming, but can't seem to think ahead much these days

Seeing Takyr getting ready to charge before Zen is ready, Zen realised that Takyr's training had improved his already formidable skills. Upon hearing Takyr's words, Zen shouts back ""Protect the small human one! I'll cover the loud tiny one! And I think you'll like this new trick!"

As Takyr charged off, Zen grasped his holy symbol and let off a small prayer to Kiri-Jolith. Feeling the rush of himself growing in size. Having to duck to avoid cracking his head on the ceiling, Zen steps towards the wisecracking kender, readying his shield ready to whack any thug going towards the kender or the herald. "Today, even littler one, you shall witness what these men should have, why *not* to start a fight near a minotaur.

Iniative 18 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5659059&postcount=30)

Standard Action: Cast Enlarge person (updating stats now)
Move Action: Ready Shield (I assumed I was not wearing it)
Free Action: 5 foot step Southwest.

Now that I am large size, I believe I should be adjacent to Takyr, Fossel and the thug that is next to Takyr.
My threat range is now 10-foot, and if you need to post without me, I will AOO, non-lethally with my horns, the first thug I can that moves towards Aila, Fossel, or the Herald. I will not AOO just because they attacked me.

[Deadly]

Aila, despite being somewhat absorbed in the tale, is rather quick to react once trouble break out. Seeing that the minotaurs and bard are equally quick to react and may get the situation under control, she braces herself and waits just long enough to see how they handle it.

She then quickly jumps down from her chair and moves to get behind the nearest minotaur and out of harms way. Meanwhile she readies a spell in her mind, in case the minotaurs and bard don't get the situation under control immediately

Init 18 from OOC post, delay to 17 to allow minotaurs to act first

Five-foot step in the direction of Zen to get out of reach of that one thug next to her, and to not gain an AoO, then move to behind a minotaur and as far from thugs as possible with a single move action.

If they have the thugs under control, she will do no more.

If there are still more than a few thugs left, she will cast Sleep with the intent of affecting as many standing thugs as possible. If there's only one or two thugs, however, she won't waste her spell

[Jeramiahh]

(Ok, running down actions, in order...)

Fossel cracks his inspiring taunt on the minotaurs, driving them onward.

Takyr charges, hits, and slams his victim into the wall, hard enough to leave an impression on the wall. The man slumps to the ground, unconscious. He does not provoke any AoOs, for two reasons; the enemy are flat-footed, and cannot take AoOs, and they are unarmed, and, as such, do not threaten anyone, and thus, cannot take AoOs.

Zen begins casting Enlarge Person; Enlarge Person takes 1 round to cast, and will take effect at the start of his next round. While casting, you cannot take AoOs for anyone near you.

Alia doesn't need to move, and begins casting Sleep, which is a 1-round cast. See above. This may be aimed at the start of her turn, depending on circumstances, then, or canceled, if unneeded.

Tigerlily taunts the nearest thug, on the north side of the room. He looks visibly angered.

The northernmost thug charges Tigerlily, swinging his fist wildly. (8 to hit, so failure.) The two thugs in the middle row both swing at Takyr; one provokes from him, and receives a headbutt knocking him to the ground, out cold, for his trouble. The other delivers a sharp punch to the minotaur's gut (19 to hit, 3 non-lethal damage.) The thug to their south steps in to replace his fallen comrade, swinging and landing as well. (17 to hit, also 3 non-lethal damage) The southernmost thug moves in to swing at Fossel, drawing an AoO. (If he takes it, and I'd assume he would, it's a critical hit (even factoring in the -4 for non-lethal), for 6 damage, KOing him. If he declines, the thug hits for 4 non-lethal.)

If all my assumptions are correct, this is the current map.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/1440/keyofdestiny1an1.jpg

[Irving]

Takyr on 18

Takyr takes a blow to the ribs from one ruffian. As he raises his fists to shield himself, another steps in and tries to kick him in the groin; Takyr turns and takes it on the thigh just in time. "Ash kanazi rasckana cloppf!"(1), Takyr growls at that one. He tosses his head at his attackers, but both of them skip away from his two-foot long horns(2). The next one tries that stunt is going to get their brains loosened, Takyr vows(3). What's this trick of Zen's? I hope it's a good one, he's missing the fight.

Takyr then sees his cousin's body swelling to orgish proportions. Sarga's blood! What sorcery is this?, Takyr wonders. Patience be damned, Zen's got some explaining to do!

(1) From the Kothian, "Shove off before I gut you, you little turd".
(2) Takyr's attack roll is a 10 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5663027&postcount=38), presumably a miss.
(3) If Takyr gains an attack of opportunity this round, his provisional attack roll will be a 15 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5663036&postcount=39). His damage will be 10. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5663042&postcount=40)

[metagaia]

Zen, on 18

As zen feels the divine energy coursing through him, he takes a quick appraisal of the situation and to his surprise, finds that not only is the small kender that was catching fruit helping, but also the young human girl, chanting ehat appears to be a spell. Well blunt my horn, guess these little folk have more courage than I would have guessed.

Growing to the size where he has to duck under the ceiling. Zen decides it would be best to use his reach to reach across the entire room. Striking first with his fist on the thug chasing down the Kender under the table, Zen whips his horns around, trying to hit anyone who was still threating the area and giving a whack with his massive horn.


Ok, I will try and get it right this time.
Status:
HP 10, nonlethal damage, 0, AC 14,
Enlarge effect will be centred on Zen's Northwestern corner, putting him adjacent to Aila, Takyr and the table.
Full attack: Unarmed attack on the thug nearest to Tigerlily (who I assume cannot reach me), secondary nonlethal horn attack on the same thug if not dropped. Otherwise the thug nearest to me. Will AOO any thug with nonlethal horn attack if one is prevoked.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4] (critical fumble if necessary :smalleek:)
[roll5]
Gahh that was dreadful, hope the horn hits at the very least, otherwise Takyr will mock me no end!

[Chineselegolas]

Fossel

Seeing one of the thugs make their way over to the other kender, Fossel yelled out at him "Big bwave human going to hit a wittle kender, your mother must be soooo proud" grinning all the while and doing a little jig on the table.

[roll0] opposed by sense motive
If I get higher he gets -2 AC and -2 AB for 4 rounds. If I get higher by 5 or more, it is for 8 rounds

[Deadly]

Aila smiles. These thugs are in way over their heads, they are. Must have taken one too many blows the the heads, in one too many bar brawls, to continue a fight like this she thinks to herself. Seems like she will get to finish her spell after all, aiming it at the two thugs near Takyr who are presumably still standing by that time.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly continues to taunt him as she ducks under the wild swing, I knew it! You can't hit anything, not with those puny fists. Especially not me. She daringly moves 5 ft closer to the huge minotaur, and hopefully draws the thug with her. ((if he's still around...))

[Jeramiahh]

The thug taunted by Fossel snarls, and looks ready to lunge at him.

Takyr's attack actually does hit, for 7 damage, dropping the thug.

Zen's horn attack also lands, dropping his foe.

Alia's spell ends the battle, as the last standing thug closes his eyes and slumps to the ground. (As a side note, please include spell DCs in your post, if you would. Also, although irrelevant, that spell takes none of your actions, this round; you could cast a spell this round, as well, since the sleep spell triggers at the start of your turn.)
__________________________________________________

As the melee in the bar settles, the crowd protecting the Herald spreads out, to give him some room, although he still lies unconscious.

[Deadly]

((Ah, will remember to do so in the future))

Aila jumps down from her chair now that the thugs are all down, and moves over to check on the Herald. Hopefully he had not been taking too much of a beating

[Irving]

Takyr is quite surprised when one of the thugs ducks to the left when the minotaur expected him to go right, but his reflexes are fast enough to take advantage of the ruffian's mistake. He catches the human's shoulder in the crook of his horn and throws him to the ground, bouncing his head off the floor twice. The ruffian sags there, moaning.

"Free!", Takyr barks in Kothian - a reflex trained into him by the legion, indicating that all his opponents are down. He looks around and sees that it's the same in the entire room. He looks up at Zen's massive form, smacks his fist against his chest, and grins. "Hu-rah!", he cheers to Zen. That'll show them!

He nods cheerfully at the two kender. They did a good job, keeping them distracted while the real warriors went to work. Why did that one go to sleep? Too much ale? And why does that tiny human look so smug? I think I missed something.

He then goes over to the Herald's guards, to see if he can help. "Does he need water, or a priest to heal him?", he asks in the Common tongue.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly bounces up and down on the balls of her feet, See! That's what you get when you mess with Minotaurs! She giggles and since someone is taking care of the Herald, she skips over to the downed thugs and ... uh... checks them for life and, to find out what they might be carrying that would be interesting that she could keep in trust for them, til they wake up. Or what they might have dropped out of their pockets...

Perception (1d20+4=24) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1905111/)

[metagaia]

Zen

While Zen was a little slower in his enlarged form, his attacks were much harder to block. So while the thug ably dodged Zen's massive fist, his last ditch attempt to block the side of a horn only lead to him being slumped against the wall.

Hearing Takyr cry ""Free!", Zen looked around. All the thugs were unconscious, except for one that seemed to be...asleep? The human's spell had no obvious effect, but she must have done something, as she looked surprisngly calm. The two kenders meant the vagabonds never had a chance to organise, giving Takyr in particualar a much easier job.

While one of the kender's quickly checks on each downed person, no doubt to check for vital signs. Zen, still enlarged, goes with Takyr and wanders up to the guards.

Zen takes a quick look over the heads of the guards at the Herald, trying to make a quick diagnosis there. Putting his hand on Takyr's shoulder, Zen mutters in Kothian:
"Looks like he fared as badly as the ruffians. Don't worry, growth isn't the only thing I've learned. I see your skills are sharper than when we last met as well, that's a freightening thought.
Zen, gives a quick wink to Takyr and then says to the guards. "I can help this man, stand aside, and he will be up before you can say "By Rastilin's health.""

Heal check to check if The herald is ok: [roll0]
Diplomacy to get the guards to stand aside [roll1]

[Jeramiahh]

The few brave souls who'd protected the Herald quickly scatter, as the massive minotaur approaches them. He looks like he's taken quite a beating, but only a few, minor wounds; a little air, maybe a splash of water, and he'll be awake again.

The thugs only have a few copper coins between them, and none carries any weapon more valuable than a crude club.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly isn't much interested in clubs, she prefers knives and her hoopak. She does however, tuck the copper away for safe keeping, wouldn't want anyone else to steal it from the poor unconscious thugs...

She looks up, So, what're we doing? Is he going to be all right? She wanders up to the Herald and gently pokes him with one finger and she's tempted to pull up an eyelid and see if there's anyone in there.

[Irving]

Takyr

"Gentle, little one.", Takyr admonishes gently - pitching his voice down an octave or so, just to sound more authoritative. "The Herald will be well enough, with some air and water." (The minotaur glances up at Zen as he says this, just to confirm his words.) "I'm Takyr. This is my cousin, Zen. Why don't you watch the Herald, while I clean the room?"

Takyr proceeds to literally throw each of the unconscious thugs, one at a time, out of the front door. Let's make a point here, Takyr muses. If they tried this stunt around rowdier minotaurs, there would have been blood.

The last one - the sleeping one - gets carried outside. Takyr lifts him up by one hand at arm's length and slaps him systematically until he wakes up. When all the cobwebs clear, Takyr applies minotaur diplomacy.(1)

"You see these?", Takyr asks gently, pointing at his horns. "They're sharp. They don't come off. They don't go away."

Takyr takes the thug by the shoulders and holds him close to his face, keeping the man's arms pinned and trying not to mind the smell. "You are very, very, very lucky we didn't kill you by accident." Takyr shakes the man roughly, like a terrier with a rag doll.

And now, just to make the point, Takyr yells - loud enough to be heard several blocks away.

"DO NOT EVER TRY THIS AGAIN! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

When the man nods his assent, Takyr drops him onto the pile of ruffians and goes back to his cousin. It's a burden, teaching little ones how to behave. Ah, well. It'll serve his kind well in times to come.

(1) Intimidate, taking 10, result 15.

[Jeramiahh]

Nothing beats waking to a face full of angry minotaur. The man runs away, quite terrified, and several others, still gathered around outside, retreat with him.

As the five champions of the battle gather around the Herald, he slowly stirs back to waking. As his eyes focus on the room again, he suddenly gasps, eyes focusing on each of the five faces. "You! You're the ones from my dream. It was my dream that has led me here. The sylvan key that was meant for you has fallen into the hands of the enemy!"

As he focuses further, and becomes coherent, he begins to explain. "The key... it is meant for you, but fate has tossed it adrift. It plays an important role in the future, though I know not what. A former squire of the Dark Knights, a man named Pegrin, stole the key from the royal palace in Silvanesti. Unless you can recover it, it's destiny will be squandered, uselessly."

[Chineselegolas]

Fossel

"So we go find a thief and steal from him" Fossel said, "Suppose if it is a key it would be shiney... And it is from a palace so who knows what else he might have" as he started discussing stuff with himself.

[Irving]

Takyr

Takyr nods calmly. "Where is Pegrin now?"

[metagaia]

Zen

Zen nods to Takyr, and starts to think about how best to heal him when the herald starts to wake under his own steam. Not wanting to interrupt this process, and also not wishing to freighten the Herald, he resumes normal size before the Gerald fully awakens.

Zen's eye's widen in surprise at the mention of a dream, but he decides wo wait until the Herald had finished. Listening to the other's questions, Zen pipes in with a few of his own.

"Do you have any more details at all? What does Pegrin look like? What does the *key* look like? Why would he steal the Key? Most importabtly, what else can you tell us about this dream?

Turning to the small Kender lost in "shiney-lust" Zen admonished That stuff would belong to the temple little one. Even Elven temples deserve that which they have. The glory of getting to see the treasures themselves should be enough. As for the dark knight thief, he *will* return what he stole, impaled on a horn if necessary!"

[Jeramiahh]

The Herald shakes his head at the questions. "I know not where he lies, nor what he looks like, nor even what the key resembles, although I do know that the Key is not a key. He knows not what he has, and, likely, will never know. And no, this key is meant for you, all of you. I know only that it plays a great role in the great events to come."

[Irving]

Tekyr snorts in mild annoyance. "You do not know where he is. Or what he looks like. Or what the key is, except for that it is not a key. This is not helpful."
He pauses in thought. "The only thing you do know is where it was - Ambeon. Perhaps we should go to the Governor's Palace in Sargasanti to begin the search."

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Really? A key for us? Cool! I want to go find it. I know I can, I've already found plenty of keys. Do you know what it unlocks? She looks at the Herald with interest as she absentmindedly puts her fingers in a pouch.

[Jeramiahh]

The Herald shakes his head again. "No, I'm afraid my dreams are very vague on these matters... though I would not fret too hard about finding Pegrin, for I saw a wanted poster for the bandit on my way into town. He is not far from here, of this I am certain. As to what it unlocks, it is a mystery to me, but I see that it will play a vital role in this world's future."

[Irving]

Tekyr

Tekyr nods solemnly. "A bandit. Good. This will make it easier."

He looks at the kender and the mage, and then his cousin, Zen. His eyes steady, he says,

"I am Takyr Es-Morgayn, and I say that the fate of this world has twisted and turned enough. The gods have played enough games with our destiny. It is our job to set it aright again, and I will shoulder that burden gladly, if you will have me."

"Let join together, little ones, my cousin. Let us fix what the Knights have thrown astray. Let us set things right."

"Shall we be Companions, then? Shall we do this together?"

All right, a little bit of a poet. But not much. It would not be proper, he muses.

[Deadly]

Aila listens to the Herald as he wakes, quirking an eyebrow a little. As the others ask questions and the Herald "answers", she looks between the five of them Well. That's certainly a rather curious... premonition. A dream, you say? Most curious she says and looks at the Herald, her question being more of a statement than an actual question. She looks back at the group, and Tekyr A very strange group, wouldn't you say? But I'm not one to go and fight fate she smiles Count me in. Honestly I'm rather curious about this mysterious key which isn't a key. A real mystery, requiring the brightest of minds to solve, no doubt she chuckles Oh, and I am Aila Despani, by the way she says and bows slightly Pleasure meeting you all

[Chineselegolas]

Fossel

Looking at Zen as he interrupted his chain of thought, "He will return what he stole... Well can take his stuff then... Might have some of his own" he said, falling back into the same state of mind.

Snapping back out at the introductions Fossel said "I'm Fossel. Something of a story teller also, though I prefer comic ones to the one just told"

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

She gets distracted for a moment, thinking about the key that goes to something and perhaps she can pick the lock without the key? She half listens to the others as she considers all of this.

She jumps up and down on the balls of her feet when she introduces herself, Hi everyone. I'm Tygerlilly. It's so great to meet you all! I just love new adventures! They're so much fun! She sticks out her small hand to everyone around her, to shake their hands (and inspect for interesting jewelry). She'll shake their hand enthusiastically each and every time, leaving the Herald for last.

She looks down at him, That was a great story. Where did you see this poster? I want to see what he looks like.

[Jeramiahh]

The Herald smiles. "Many of the greatest bands of heroes have seemed peculiar, at first glance; the legendary Huma was well know for traveling in the company of both a minotaur and a wizard of the towers."

He nods and smiles at the Kender's comments on his performance, adding, "I think, for my next story here, I'll tell something a little more to the populace's liking... perhaps recounting the Chaos war, where the Knights aided in saving the world."

"As the the wanted poster, I imagine you'll find ones like it all over town. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful in that regard."

[Irving]

Takyr

Takyr shakes his long, sharp horns firmly. "No, Herald. Do not let them frighten you. The truth is the truth. No one should fear it. Not Knights. Not Heralds. No one. Even when it is not pleasant to hear it. The truth should never cower."

He then looks at the motley band. "It is decided, then. We are now the Companions of the Wounded Crow." The notion seems oddly important to Takyr. "Let us find this wanted poster. Perhaps the ones who want this thief can tell us where to find him." He begins gathering his things. Takyr glances once, a bit sadly, at the scattered, broken tiles of Black Dots. The minotaur then shrugs, and starts towards the door.

[Deadly]

Aila wears a simple signet ring, but is otherwise sparse on jewelry for Tygerlilly to inspect. She smiles and returns the enthusiastic shake of the kender.

A capital idea Aila replies at Takyr and picks up what little she had herself before turning to the Herald And what about you, sir? Can you make it on your own?

[Jeramiahh]

The Herald smiles at Alia. "Yes, I'm certain I'll be fine, now. I've survived far worse scrapes than that, in my long life. I lived trough the Chaos War, didn't I?" He chuckles, picking himself up, dusting himself off, and gathering his fallen instrument, sighing over the scrapes it'd suffered, before muttering a few arcane words, causing the damage to vanish. "That will never grow old, thankfully."

He then nods to Takyr. "Still, it is best not to pour salt in wounds that are still fresh. Please, if you have the time, return here to listen... I plan to remain here all week."

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly watches with interest as he mends his instrument. She'll look as close as he permits while he does it and afterward. Wow! That was so cool! Before he can respond, she's off to the next thing. Really! The Chaos War. I want to hear it, can I? I really want to. I love stories.

When the wanted posters are brought up, I'm sure I can find one. Just look for a dirty thief! She hops after Takyr, I'm coming, I'm coming, wait for me! She hops and jumps a little to catch up with the minotaur's longer stride. She tries to be the first one out the door.

[Chineselegolas]

Fossel

"May return and listen to some more stories later then" Fossel said, turning and following after Tygerlilly he wondered what cool stuff she had acquired.

[Deadly]

Sounds like we will have to return then Aila smiles, before following the rest of the gang

[Jeramiahh]

Outside the inn, the crowd has dispersed a little more slowly, the beaten thugs nowhere in sight, but other agitators still milling around. Thankfully, no one seems interested int he party, except to move away from both the minotaur and kender, solely on principle.

It doesn't take long to find a set of wanted posters; Pegrin's, while not the most prominent, is certainly noticeable. Desertion, banditry, theft, kidnapping, and a host of other, minor offenses. No directions are given to where he was seen last, except a note that he has been seen preying on travelers east of the town.

A Perception check, DC 14, reveals two other wanted posters, with the note, "Last seen in the company of Pegrin." Derg, another deserter, and Cole, a young man wanted for arson and theft, apparently a specialist in fire magic.

[Irving]

Takyr strokes his bovine chin contemplatively. "Hoom. Not murder, at least. Perhaps we will not have to kill him. We shall see." He's doesn't spot the other posters.

"But we have much to do. We are ill equipped to go through the desert and find this man. We have neither the skills nor the equipment. Perhaps we could sign on with caravaneers traveling east, to learn the way of the land and of bandits."

[Deadly]

Aila, for once, is surprisingly perceptive and spots the two other posters and points at them Seems like there may be others with him. Complications, but a chance to get three birds with one stone. She nods at Takyr And I agree. If we are to travel the desert and hunt down these people, preparation and caution is in order.

Perception 1d20+0=19 (OOC thread)

[Jeramiahh]

(Slight note I forgot; all posters are marked "Wanted: Dead or Alive." The bounty for Pegrin is 350 steel pieces (Krynn's equivilent to gold), Derg is 75 and Cole is 125.)

[Chineselegolas]

Fossel

"He sure has done alot of simple things" Fossel said, reading down the list as the other two caught his eye. "Ha ha. He has friends, a fire mage and an arsonist. You'd think they would be the same person. But then again if you like fire hanging around someone who can make fire with the snap of a finger is a plan. But fire is hots and burns and hurts. I'm thirst" he prattles on, taking his waterskin out of his bag and taking a drink before turning back to the posters. "Deserters and thieves. Not very noble of them. Say he is preying on travellers to the east. Shall we go be travellers heading east and see if he comes after us?"

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly jumps up and down trying to see it better. Really? He has friends? where? Are we going to chase after them? Do you think we'll find them? I think that'd be fun. I usually get chased, and now I get to chase someone else.

Perception (1d20+4=10) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1915258/)

[Irving]

"Hmm. Although we must look to the east, simply wandering in that direction would be of no help. Let us seek employment with a caravan headed east; even if we do not find him right away, we would learn about the ways of bandits from those who encounter them. Where would we find the caravan drivers in this town?"

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly cranes her neck as she looks upward, Employment? You want to work for someone? Why not just join them? Nobody has ever stopped her from joining up with someone. Of course, they usually spend a lot of time trying to convince her to leave...

Knowledge (local) 1d20+3=21 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1916536/) to know where the caravans hang out.

[Deadly]

Aila pauses to look around the place where they stand, trying to remember anything about caravans "I am not too familiar with this place myself" she says quietly while pondering

[roll0] Knowledge (local), in case it's needed

[Jeramiahh]

The easiest place to find a caravan, a merchant, or anything of the like, would be to head to the open-air market, outside the west gate of town. Smaller or traveling merchants, or anyone willing to sell something, but not enough to own a shop in the city, can be found there. Of course, some of the merchants are rather shady, as the laws of the town extend far more loosely in that region, but if you need it, it can probably be found there.

[Irving]

"The west gate might be our best chance. We should find a merchant with... appropriate standards.", asserts Takyr as he reviews the motley band's status.

[Deadly]

Aila considers, then nods "Yes. We could offer ourselves as guards on the trip, if bandits are a problem in those parts they should be happy to have a few capable hands on board" she says while turning and heading towards the west gate "And I agree on the standards, we don't want them double crossing us in case of a robbery, or stealing all our stuff in the night and leaving us alone in the desert" That just sounded lovely, Aila could vividly imagine such a situation.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly reaches up and tries to take down the picture of their intended target. If successful, it promptly gets folded up and put in a pouch, joining a collection of sand. Really? Guards? You think I'd make a good guard? I've never tried that before. She bounces after Aila. Sounds like fun!

[Deadly]

Aila slows down her walk just a little and looks at the kender, trying really hard to figure out what to say to that "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea" she thinks to herself "Well... I'm sure you have keen eyes. That's important as a guard"

[Chineselegolas]

Fossel

"Guard huh. There are many stories about guards. Mostly they end up dead and are avenged by the one remaining member. I call dibs on that roll" Fossel jabbered, following after the others.

[Jeramiahh]

The party travels across the city, to the west, along the main road, cutting through the circular city. As it's getting closer to evening, people are starting to clear off the streets, not wanting to cross the curfew the Dark Knights have imposed on the city. However, the market stays open until sundown, while the curfew kicks in an hour later.

About twenty minutes later, they reach the West gate. Just outside, the bazaar can be seen. While it does not compare to the Grand Bazaar of Khuri-Khan, it nevertheless boasts an impressive variety of booths and goods from across Ansalon.

The bazaar is roughly divided into two distinct areas, each dividing the great field outside town in half. The southern half is the bazaar proper, while the western half is dedicated to Pashin's horse market. Tents of every shape, size, and color gleam brightly beneath the fading desert sun.

The bazaar is filled with people, creating a confusing mix of voices and sights. Minotaurs, elves, ogres and dwarves haggle prices with humans. Khur nomads brush shoulders with nobles from the far side of Ansalon. Kender dart gleefully, or sulk sullenly, among the crowds, and both are given a wide berth.

It is said that nearly anything can be found in Pashin's bazaar, whether or not the item in question is legal. It all depends on who you ask, and whether you can afford the price.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly's eyes light up at the sight of the market. She soooo loves markets and stalls and so many wonderful people! She starts to wander off, then remembers their mission, then starts to wander off again as she forgets. She will pauses here and there unless dragged along by someone bigger than her. The market just holds far to many interesting places, people and things...

Her fingers get into everything interesting and her eyes are constantly watching everything possible.

Stealth (1d20+8=16), Perception (1d20+4=8), Sleight of Hand (1d20+9=24) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1919710/)

In terms of 'acquiring' items, feel free to make it anything, everything silly or serious that you (the DM) want to. She'll collect rocks, string, money, feathers, pretty objects, etc...

[Deadly]

Aila looked around the market. It was quite fascinating, a foreign and exotic bazaar. Aila could spend many hours walking around and perusing the things being offered for sale. Maybe she would even find something she wanted to buy. But for now she pushes it all off to the side a little, focusing on the task they came here for.

Any suggestions? She asks while looking between the others

[Irving]

Takyr watches the kender, well, be kender with resignation. He could tell them to stop. He could flap his arms and fly to Nuitari, too - both courses of action would be as successful. Life is too short to waste herding kender.

"I am not sure", Takyr says, a bit overwhelmed by the sound and sights of the bazaar. For one moment, he catches sight of the clean white desert beyond the market. Then his eyes narrow in thought.

"Would our fugitives hide out in the desert without food or drink? Or any women or comfort, alone with their treasures? I doubt it. Not with this rich plum waiting. They must come back here on occasion, or send an ally to aid them. Let us talk to these folk and ask some questions." He looks down at Fossel. "Would you be kind enough to do most of the talking? I will stay nearby, in case there is trouble. See what is known about our three fugitives. "(1)
He then turns to the mage. "Aila, do you feel safe looking for a caravan to hire on with by yourself? Or would you rather we do that after seeking our fugitives?"

(1) Aid Another attempt for a Gather Information check, rolled 18. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5724523&postcount=65)

[Deadly]

I can look around for a caravan, then come back and get you all. There are plenty of people here, I should be fine. Entirely something else if it had been a dark and shady alley Aila smiles, then goes off in search of a promising caravan. She will seek towards the edge of the bazaar, figuring that this would be where caravans were most likely to arrive and leave.

[Chineselegolas]

Fossel

"So finding secrets. Suppose I could do that." Fossel said, wandering into the crowd and going upto someone at random, "You know about those guys on the posters?"

[Jeramiahh]

(Since we've been slowed down by the board downtime, I'll just take Takyr's roll as Gather Info, instead of Aid Another.)

Tigerlily is easily distracted by the quantity of shiny things about, and manages to lift half a set of silverware from a greasy looking merchant without much difficulty.

Takyr wanders around, asking questions, for quite a while; there's a lot of distrust towards the minotaur, especially accompanied by kender, especially since the Dark Knights were forcing a bit of a monopoly on caravan guards, only legally allowing them and their men to take the jobs, tying everyone else up in legal issues, but, eventually, the search turns up not a man looking for guards, but one angry at having been robbed by Pegrin, his Dark Knight-enforced guards fleeing at the first sign of danger. A little time spent listening to his rant gives Takyr a fairly good idea of where Pegrin's camp lies.

[Irving]

Takyr listens for a length of time to the man's rant. At one point, he does something so unusual for a minotaur that a few passers-by do double takes: he pulls out a pen and paper and takes notes. Eventually, he speak up: "Sir, I have a need to see this man Perin put to justice. If you will loan my companions and I the supplies to find his camp, we will return your property and repay you for the supplies from his treasures."

He then gives what he hopes is a winning smile. Unfortunately, a minotaur who smiles winningly is, as a rule, more bizarre and disturbing than a minotaur who takes notes.(1)

(1)Diplomacy check, rolled 4 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5729131&postcount=67)(ouch).

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly scampers off into the crowd as she suddenly remembers she's here with some really cool minotaurs. The silverware ends up in a pouch although she occasionally stops to throw a fork, to see if they'll stick into anything nonliving. Things like walls or boards, or fabric. Knives are far to easy, forks, on the other hand, are hard and much more amusing.

She looks for the tall minotaurs as she goes along.

[Jeramiahh]

The merchant still looks angry, taking out his anger by yelling at the minotaur who has so conveniently placed himself in his path. "My property? Ha! I've already found most of it... right here in this accursed market! Aye, the mongrel's already gone and sold it off. I don't give a damn about the money, i just want his head on a pike, do you hear me?" He steps forward, bravely poking the minotaur in the chest with each word. "On. A. Pike." With that, he storms off, apparently interested in continuing his tirade elsewhere.

[Deadly]

Aila, after having wandered around a little on her own, finds her way back to Takyr just in time to see the angry merchant storm off Oh... not going so well?

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly is still looking. It's hard to concentrate on just one thing when there are so many others to distract her. She will start down one way, be distracted to a side venture, only to be distracted again. She is having tons of fun exploring the bazaar ...

[Irving]

Takyr blinks at the rapidly departing merchant, nonplussed. He then turns to Aila. "It is not a total loss. I have learned where Pergrin's camp lies. However, I am worried about getting to his camp. If we walk into the desert to look for him, it could go ill. I would prefer a guide, and supplies. We might try to trust fate and brave it alone, but I am not that trusting of the gods."

He pauses. "Also, we need a pike."

Takyr looks around a bit. "Have you seen the kender?" He then bellows in his best parade-ground voice, "TYGERLILY!"

[Jeramiahh]

The camp isn't terribly far from the city; less than 5 miles, and the directions are good, assuming they're accurate. While a guide might prove useful, it would be easily possible to make the trip to the camp and back within a day.

[Deadly]

Aila considers That is atleast something. Supplies may be a good idea, I don't know how much everyone else has of that. I have food and water for perhaps two days myself. And we can make it without a guide, I am sure, we just have to use our wits.

Then she looks around for the kender No, she must have run off. Too many temptations in this place, no doubt

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly reappears and glomps the minotaur's leg. It's so cool here. I just love it! Can we stay! I want to see more! Did you see all the cool stuff! She waves a spoon up at him. This was just lying around! I had to save it from being trompled on!

[Irving]

Takyr nods. "The camp is not too far. We can do this by ourselves without trouble, if we are careful and pay attention."

Takyr gently pries the kender off of his leg. "We may come back later, Tygerlily, but it is time to go now. We now know where to look for Perin. You had better hold onto the spoon for safe keeping."

He looks at his companions. "Let us go. We will rest at the Wounded Crow tonight, to let you prepare spells, Aila. I would like to get an extra waterskin as well. We will leave early in the morning - if the moon is full, well before dawn. If Perin and his men are sloppy, we could catch them unawares. I would like to catch that arsonist before he sets his spells. Any objections?"

[Deadly]

None Aila states, smiling at the kender's antics, and starting back towards the Wounded Crow

[Irving]

Takyr starts his way back to the Wounded Crow as well, gently (and with some resignation) attempting to herd the kender that way as well. He stops for one moment to purchase a waterskin, cutting through the usual rounds of haggling and negotiation with a stern glance and a well-practiced flexing of pectoral muscles. Hopefully, the inn keeper will not be angry at me for damaging his wall. I wonder if the Herald will still be at the inn?

[Jeramiahh]

As the group makes their way back through the streets, they spy a small crowd growing on a street corner. Three acrobats, a kender and a half-elf, both female, and a male human, are busy performing a few simple tricks. The crowd doesn't seem terribly impressed, and, in fact, are busy harassing and jeering at the performers. As the party approaches, the male stumbles, and the half-elf woman falls into the crowd, several people immediately raising a clamor, thinking that it's all an elaborate ploy for a handler to steal from the crowd.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly is pried off and she doesn't seem to mind and brightens when Takyr says she should hold on to the spoon for safekeeping.

She happily skips along with the group and when they encounter the group of performers and sees one woman fall into the crowd, she starts trying to worm her way in, to see what's going on.

[Deadly]

Aila decides to buy a second waterskin as well, while Takyr is at it anyway. Better safe than sorry, especially when dealing with such things as water in the desert. She then strides along with the others, whistling a little as they go.

Seeing the spectacle ahead, with the performers and the crowd, she sighs Just wonderful. Can't people ever act calmly? She remains at a distance, having no intention of getting trampled by a mob of people Tygerlilly! I don't think that's a good idea she calls, seeing the eager kender. No doubt, she thinks, the mob would have their eyes on the kenders first and blame them first if anything is missing

[Irving]

Takyr doesn't even get a chance to react before Tygerlily wriggles into the crowd. He sighs in resignation. "The once-Knights of Chaos almost own this city.", he says to Aila. "How much calm can one expect?" He then strides over to the crowd in three large, heavy footed-steps. He crosses his arms over his chest, gives a loud bovine snort, and glowers, hoping to keep the crowd subdued.(1) No more mobs. Not on my watch. In a small way, he's rather pleased. Once again, I am imposing order on the chaos the Knights create - at least in a tiny way.

His glance flickers up to the human acrobat - the one who didn't fall in a heap into the crowd. He looks at the man's eyes, trying to discern his intent. If this is a scam, that one is the lookout. The half-elf is busy. The kender is busy. The human is the only one who can look for trouble. So. What is he looking at? (2)

(1)Intimidate check: Rolled 16 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5754887&postcount=79), result 25.
(2)Sense Motive check: Rolled 19 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5754887&postcount=79), result 20.

[Jeramiahh]

The crowd, particularly due tot he foul attitudes towards minotaur in the town, initially don't pay much attention to Takyr, though, as he stares down each member of the small mob, individually, they start to back down, even with the kender slipping into the crowd and riling them up.

(Takyr did receive the +4 for his feat, due to being considered Large for this purpose, as it is an opposed roll. Even countered by the -6 for being a minotaur, and the -2 for the kender for running into the crowd, he still beats them by 1.)

A few citizens even toss coins to the performers, who look immensely grateful, both for the tips, and for the minotaur's sudden appearance. The human looks as bewildered by the bad attitudes as possible and, as the crowd disperses, the three performers make their way over to the party to introduce themselves.

"I am called Stallion," the burly human informs them, "and these are my companions, Grace and Blythe." He indicates the Kender, then the half-elf as he names them. Blythe then steps forward. "Thank you, again, for your help... I fear they may have begun throwing things, had you not intervened."

(The party receives 300 exp, each, for the first two encounters.)

[Irving]

Takyr nods gravely. "I am Takyr Es-Morgayn. These are my companions, Aila Despani and Tygerlily. Please, come and join us at the Wounded Crow. We have a long journey tomorrow, and would appreciate company for the night."

[Deadly]

Aila smiles and steps up to the group, happy to see the rabble disperse so quickly and without any big conflict. She's beginning to find minotaurs quite useful to have around. She bows politely Pleased to meet you all

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly is disappointed that the mob left so soon...she wanted to have a bit of fun. :smalltongue: But, she brightens up when she sees the other Kender. She pops right on over and sticks out a small hand and happily says, Heya! How's it going! Having Fun! Do you by chance know ...and she lists off a long list of her relatives, all the way to where her line intersects with Uncle Trapspringer.

[Jeramiahh]

Stallion nods at the greetings, seemingly a quiet man, letting Blythe do most of the talking. Grace does reply to Tigerlily, halfheartedly, but she doesn't seem as hyper as most kender. "I'm afraid we already have our rooms at another inn, and should probably get moving... the sun will set soon, and the last thing we'd want is to be caught by the patrols."

[Irving]

Takyr nods. "Very well. I am sorry to hear that. Please, come and visit us there tomorrow. The Herald has told us to seek a man named Pegrin. We will see him tomorrow. If things go well, we will want good company when all is said and done." Marking the lateness of the hour, Takyr heads towards the Wounded Crow as soon it can be done politely.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly is a bit offput by the other Kender's lack luster welcome and she's ready to go when Takyr is, he's a lot more fun! She hops and bops along in front of him all the way to their inn.

[Deadly]

Aila looks up at the darkening sky and nods Take care, and maybe we'll meet again some time she says before following along behind Takyr and the hyper kender

[Jeramiahh]

The Wounded Crow is far less busy than when they last saw it; the common room has only a few patrons in it, though a few of them look to be off-duty Dark Knights, and a young, tough-looking woman. The woman and the Knights seem to be exchanging wary glances, as if each were worried about the other.

(Meet our new player!)

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly will bound right up to the new person (not the knights) and stick out one small hand and grin up at her. She so loves meeting new people!

Hello! I didn't see you here earlier! Are you new? Did you just arrive? Or, she bounces a little, Well, what's your name? I'm Tygerlilly, she points over at the minotaur, That's Takyr and Aila, as she points at the her. She pauses for a breath.

[Irving]

Takyr immediately asesses the situation and decides to engage in minotaur diplomacy.

He stands immediately behind Tygerlily and the tough-looking woman, crosses his arms over his chest, and glowers.(1)

"Gentlemen.", he rumbles, lowering his voice by an octave and a half.

(1)Intimidate check, result 21. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5766247&postcount=82)

[AmberEye]

With only fire and candlelight to illuminate her, the woman does indeed look like a tough customer. She wears chain over leather, her arms folded tightly across her chest, and her expression looks very stern, or at least cold. Her brown hair is cut chin-length, emphasizing what looks like a square jaw. A round shield is strapped across her back, a longsword and dagger hang from her belt.

When Tigerlily bounces up to introduce herself, though, the nearness changes perception. "Woman" is more indicative of her gender, not her age, which is likely her late teens. The cold expression now resembles the thousand-mile stare common to someone who has not slept decently in weeks. The chain shirt looks like it was made for someone much larger than she, as do the weapons.

She startles at Tigerlily's greeting, as if waking suddenly. The surprise and momentary fear are replaced slowly, though, by a hesitant smile. She unfolds her right arm to the hand the kender has extended and clasps it carefully, as if unsure exactly how firmly she should grip such a small hand. "Chani Yannic," she replies in a slightly husky alto.

Standing behind her, Takyr notices the shield. There are sigils etched on the curving face, perhaps the source of the Dark Knights' tension. His rumbling voice causes her to turn quickly, a "where did you come from?" expression on her face. She seems to realize she is hemmed in by Tigerlily and this enormous minotaur, and takes a quick glance at him. Seeing that he is more concerned with the Dark Knights, she turns back to Tigerlily. "I've been in Pashin about...," she seems to be remembering, "...two weeks."

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

ooooo, two weeks! That's a long time! Have you seen the inside of the jail yet? She takes a better look at the woman, Or, maybe not... Anyway...have you been to the bazaar? It's a really cool place, very cool place! She shakes her hand vigorously (as well as checking it for any rings or bracelets). You said your name is Chani? Such a wonderful name! What do you like to do?

[Deadly]

Aila smiles at the new face, and bows slightly in greeting as the kender introduces them Well met, Chani. She then sits down at the nearest table to relax a little. She wonders if she should calm either kender or minotaur. The kender was as most kender are a little too eager and swarmy, while the minotaur seems a little eager to apply his 'diplomacy' at every turn. Aila slips into thought, pondering when either trait was likely to make trouble for them all. Calm down, you two, let's sit down and relax for the evening. Anyone know a good game?

[AmberEye]

"No, I haven't seen the inside of the jail, gods be thanked," Chani says, but her eyes slide toward the Dark Knights with an expression that says although some might wish differently. "Yes, the bazaar seems quite amazing, but I haven't had much chance to explore it."

The hand Tigerlily is pumping has no jewelry of any kind, but could use a little cleaning. The fingers are strong, with nails kept very short. The wrist shows the thickening muscles of a training fighter, with cordlike tendons. There's a fine collection of calluses on the ball of the hand and fingers. As Tigerlily continues to shake her hand and then pull on it, Chani's grip firms up a bit as she judges how much pressure she can apply.

Chani allows the chattering kender to lead her to the table where Aila sits, but waits for Aila to indicate that she might sit as well. The chainshirt rings slightly as she drops into her seat. "What do I like to do? Under normal circumstances, I would say swimming and tree-climbing and dancing. But for now, I will settle for eating and some decent sleep." It's a little difficult to tell if she's being ironic.

Chani notes Takyr's apparent stand-off with the Dark Knights and she leans forward with a worried look to whisper to Aila, "I don't know what your friend is trying to do, but I know those Knights have been looking for trouble."

[Irving]

Takyr, seeing that the tension in the room has the potential to ease, slowly backs up from the Dark Knights. He raises his head slightly, conveying an unspoken message: Not starting trouble. Not now. But we can finish trouble.(1)

He then sits down beside the others. "My apologies. I am Takyr Es-Moragyn. It is a pleasure to meet you, Chani. Yes, Aila, a game would be most pleasant. My last round of Black Dots was interrupted. " He glances at the crater in the far wall.

As he looks back at the young, exhausted woman. As he does so, his eyes fall on the shield the woman bears - a shield that bears the sign of Kiri-Jolith. I haven't seen that sigil since I came to this city. He sighs internally. Honestly, if destiny is going to be this overt, finding the Key is going to be simple.

"Tell me, Chani, have you heard of a storyteller who comes to this inn on occasion? One called The Herald?"

(1) Bluff check, unspoken message, DC 10 to intercept/interpet.

[Deadly]

Aila nods at Chani, and glances at Takyr. Seeing that he seems to calm down and leave the knights alone, she relaxes a bit Would prefer no trouble tonight She says and smiles as Takyr sits down. Upon mentioning his game, she brightens up a little more Ah yes, I was watching your last game as you played. I am not familiar with this Black Dots game, as you call it, but I think I gleaned the basics.

[Jeramiahh]

The Dark Knights quietly turn away from the party, unsettled by the tough-looking minotaur.

[AmberEye]

At Takyr's question, Chani's eyes widen and she blanches. Her lips part and she struggles to answer. Finally she manages, "N-no, I have not... but I believe my master did. I was hoping to find him. I was told that he'd be here."

[Irving]

Takyr nods gravely. "He was here earlier. I do not know where he is now. He asked us to do a favor."

He glances at her shield. "It is an honorable thing he asked of us. We must retrieve some stolen property from a brigand, and then... well, I am not sure. One thing at a time."

He gazes at her levelly. "Tell me. Why did your master seek the Herald? And where is your master now?"

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Talking...boring talking. Tygerlilly starts fiddling with her belongings and eventually slips under the table to go wandering and find better amusement in the Inn.

[Deadly]

Aila pulls out her spellbook, flipping through the pages while pondering the task ahead. Meanwhile she listens to the conversation, looking up once in a while

[AmberEye]

Chani reddens at the questions. She slips off the shield, then puts her pack in her lap. OUt of the pack she draws a rectangular object wrapped in a dark, silky material. She sets it on the table, carefully undoes the knot on top and begins to unwrap the item fold by fold. The last corner is pulled away, revealing a wooden box somewhat smaller than a cigar box. It is completely unadorned, but for the color of the stain (maple) and the rounded corners. She places one hand on the box and returns Takyr's gaze with reddening eyes. Her voice starts slowly and picks up speed, not volume, with a fierce-sounding edge, as if daring anyone to deny the truth of what she says:

"This is all that is left of my master, Sir Aramis uth Kern. He died two days ago. 'The Herald' was one of the last coherent things he said in his delirium, and when I heard that he was here, I though the two might have known each other, that he would have some idea of what I could do next. The weapons and armor I have are his, Solamnia is only a name on a map I've never seen, he should be returned to lie with his family, and I don't know how to get there.

"So here is my master and that's why I seek the Herald."

[Irving]

Takyr blinks. Then he does the only thing he can think of: He stands and bows, reverently, both to Chani and her Master.

"I am sorry.", he rumbles.

He then adds, slowly, thinking aloud: "Your Master's thoughts were of the Herald for a reason, I believe. You came seeking him. You found us. I do not believe that is a coincidence."

Finally, he comes to a conclusion. "If you will come with us, Squire Yannic, I make this promise to you: I will lead you to Solamnia, as best I can, and I will help you to find a resting place your your Master. The road may be winding before we get there, but I swear by my honor, you shall enter Solamnia's gates, and your Master shall find peace. All I ask in return is your sword, your courage, and your willing heart.

What say you?"

[AmberEye]

As Takyr bows, Chani gives a single nod in acknowledgment. Her lashes gleam and the red in her eyes suddenly highlights a halo of hazel around the pupil that makes them appear slightly luminescent. She swallows hard and makes a visible effort to keep her emotions in check.

Her right hand still resting on the box, her face very serious, she says, "The gods have seen fit to intertwine our roads, then. I accept your promise, Master Moragyn, and add my own. I vow to lend my sword, my courage and my heart to whatever honorable cause is before us, and to conduct myself in such a way as to bring no shame upon you and yours."

As she rewraps and ties the box, Chani adds, somewhat embarrassed, "I am, in fact, not fully a squire. Sir Aramis called me such -- it made our travels easier -- but I understood that I would not be truly so until I came to Solamnia and was accepted for squiring by the Knights. With respect, Master Moragyn, please do not call me a squire until the Knights name me so."

[Irving]

Takyr nods. "I suspect your Master did not call you Squire solely as a convenience. But if such a term would cause you embarrassment, Mistress Yannic, so be it. Please, call me Takyr."

He glances over at Aila and (with some alarm, as he scans the room for her) Tygerlily. "Thank you for your patience, ladies. Let me suggest that we rest for the night. I wish to begin our journey at dawn. We will discuss further plans when we are on the road. Mistress Yannic, I will give you my room for the night; I can rest more easily in the inn's stables in any event. The beds here are small for me."

With that, Takyr stands and yawns broadly - a rather awe-inspiring sight. "With that in mind... sleep well, ladies." He bows to them, speaks briefly with the inn keep to make sure the sleeping arrangements are set up to everyone's satisfaction, and heads to the stables to sleep.

[Deadly]

Aila looks up from her book upon the grave news of Chani's master and the display of the box My deepest sympathies, miss Chani. And you have my support in whatever lies ahead as well. I myself come from Solamnia and have lived there most of my life, it would be a pleasure to follow you there

She smiles and nods politely at Takyr as he gets up Take care, and we'll see you in the morning

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly suddenly pops up by the table. Really? You keep your master in a box? Can I see? She looks around curiously for it. She's sure she saw it a moment ago.

[AmberEye]

Chani finishes working the box back into her pack. "And, please, that is Chani, Takyr," she says with a small smile. To Tygerlily, she simply adds, "My master's remains are not a curiosity for gawking, please," and ties her pack closed.

She acknowledges Aila's expression of sympathy with a bow of the head and touching her right hand over her heart. "Thank you, Mistress Aila. I will likely have a great many questions for you about your land, if you do not mind. Later, though, as I do not trust myself to say much sensible at the moment."

Upon bidding Takyr good-night, Chani hefts her pack and shield and heads upstairs with the others somewhat unsteadily. She bids Aila and Tygerlily good-night as well, stumbles in and closes her door. There is a noisy, ringing crash of something hitting the floor, followed by the usual rustles of someone wrapping up in a bedroll and then perfect silence.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

That makes her eyes widen a bit and her curiosity get stronger about the box...

But, for now, she leaves it alone and eventually she'll find a place to sleep, whether in her room? or under a table? It's all sorta the same to her. If she sleeps under a table, then she's sure not to miss anything exciting that might happen during the night.

[Deadly]

Aila likewise bids everyone a good night, and settles down herself. She doesn't go to sleep immediately, instead spending some time reading through her spellbook to decide on the best application of spells for tomorrow. Then, eventually, she too heads to bed and falls asleep.

[Irving]

Takyr wakes as early as he can, near first light. He stretches, cleans up in the watering trough, and spends a few minutes checking over his weapons and armor before donning them. He walks through a few stances with his great sword, as much to get into the right frame of mind as for practice.

Then he does something he almost never does under normal circumstances: He prays. Sargas, forgive me for my weakness. The little ones are tender, and would wither under your gaze. Forgive me the sin of mercy. Emperor, watch over them, and keep them safe. Don't worry about me; I am a minotaur, one of your favored sons. I can stand on my own.

And if we all end up dead trying to chase this "destiny", I hope the two of you at least have the decency to look embarrassed when we show up for judgment.

He then goes inside and wakes the kender. He knocks on Aila's door and gently wakes her. "Aila, would you please wake Chani for us? After what she has been through, she does not deserve to be awakened by either a minotaur or a kender first thing in the morning."

As soon as everyone is assembled, Takyr starts leading them through the map he drew. He's cautious and takes his time, leaving trail markers and memorizing landmarks. He also makes a point of showing the others the map and his marks, just in case he can't lead them back.

As he walks, he speaks. He spends some time explaining to Chani what they're doing, who they're hunting, and why they're walking out into the desert. Finally, he speaks about the battle to come:

"This is my tentative plan for dealing with the brigands. Bear in mind that we might not be able to execute it precisely; we have to see what the circumstances are. We will make further plans when we see them. But if for any reason you do not know what to do when we are in battle, do this.

Tygerlily, please scout ahead once we get close. We need to know how many men are in Pegrin's camp, where they are, and what they are doing. I know it will be hard, but focus on this task. Find those things out and come back and tell us before you do anything else.

When we join combat, Chani, I want you to engage Pegrin. He will be probably be the toughest of the bandits there, but I am not worried about you defeating him quickly. I want him occupied and incapable of acting tactically. Do everything you can to keep him from attacking Aila or Tygerlily. We will keep an eye on you and reinforce you as needed.

I am going to try and remove Cole from the fight as quickly as possible. I will charge him, and hopefully disable him shortly. After that, I will either aid Chani, take out Derg, or act as the situation requires.

Tygerlily, I need to ask you to do something a little dangerous: I want you to run far out from the rest of the part and taunt the mage when we first join combat. I want him to waste time either chasing you or casting a spell that will not be effective on you. After that first action, deal with Derg. If you can team up with Chani to deal with Pegrin, do so.

Aila, you are the reserves. Your job is to watch all three of us, look for trouble, and use your spells to turn the situation around. If you see a prime opportunity to use your sleep spell, use it. If Chani is in trouble, ward her as best you can. An enchantment to befuddle them, a mage's bolt to finish a downed foe... use your best judgment. I trust you.

One last thing. None of these men, as far as I can tell, is wanted for murder. We may well want information from them. If there is a chance of subduing instead of killing one of them, take it. But do not risk yourself in the process - if they use lethal force, respond in kind.

If anyone has different or better ideas, I am willing to listen. I am not an expert. But I think this will work. Your thoughts?"

[Deadly]

Upon being woken, Aila nods at the minotaur and stifles a yawn as she takes a brief moment to get properly dressed and freshened up. She sits down briefly to clear her mind and breathe deeply, focusing on the day ahead, then goes to wake Chani with a gentle knocking, in case she's not already up.

Once they are all down and Takyr begins his planning and explaining, Aila listens and follows closely on the map. Going in well prepared and with a plan in mind was always good, and Aila had always liked tactics. She smiles when he gets to her Of course, I shall hang back and judge how best to aid in the given situation. It is, naturally, difficult to plan in advance when we know so little of the location and the exact conditions, but as a basic set of guidelines I would agree with you.

She considers for a moment Depending again on the exact situation, you may want to try to herd the bandits together. If they are all scattered they may be harder to deal with, both for you and for my spells. Even better if you can drive them into a corner and limit their options.

A small, silvery scaled head pokes out of one of her pockets, its forked tongue tentatively tasting the air. She smiles a bit and strokes it gently while thinking One of them was mentioned to be a pyromaniac. If they have been expecting possible bountyhunters they may have set up preparations. I would not be surprised if they have set up a trap, something which could quickly be lit on fire to hold us back or otherwise hinder us. Be wary of such tricks.

[Irving]

Takyr nods solemnly. "Both good points. If can herd them, we will. And we will have to keep our eyes open for surprises of any sort."

[Jeramiahh]

In the morning, the tavern is even less populated than it was the night before; aside from a single, barely awake man, the tavern is empty, excepting the party.

Outside, it's quite cool, as the desert sun has yet to have a chance to heat the area, in the cold desert winter. People are slow to stir, most preferring to keep to their homes until the sun has brought a little warmth back to the day, though most will retreat before long, as the heat reaches its peak at midday.

[AmberEye]

Chani awakens to the sound of someone knocking on her door. Realizing the hour and what's ahead, she quickly scrambles to splash water on her face, tie her hair away from her face and wriggle into her chain shirt. Nearly complete, except for weapons, she drops to one knee and closes her eyes in prayer. Sword of Justice, guide my hand and grant me clear sight for this day ahead. Let my intention be honorable and every deed reflect this. And please do not let me disgrace Sir Aramis with this, my first true fight.

Chani comes down the stairs as quietly as she can manage, looking somewhat sheepish at the soft jingling of her chain. She looks much as she did the night before, but now carries a lighter wooden shield and a waterskin, and wears a plain metal cap. The shadows under her eyes have clearly diminished.

She listens to Takyr attentively as he brings her up to speed. "Pegrin doesn't sound like a common padfoot. He took an artifact of great value and power, and then as a former squire of the Dark Knights. At best, he is a mere washout striking into the dark; at worst, he has a recipient for the Key, one who could offer him enough to brave the Knights' wrath."

The rest of the plan she hears and acknowledges with only a nod and, "Sounds good."

[Irving]

Takyr nods at Chani's observations. "There are many questions about Pegrin I want answered. I am curious about this "key" as well. All we know about it is that it does not turn in a lock. It could be anything. It might even be a person - that would explain some things about Pegrin's behavior. We will have to be ready to improvise."

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly listens a little and then starts rummaging through stuff...whether it be hers, yours or theirs. Her ears perk up when she hears her name, Sure! I can scout the camp and remember to come back, that'll be easy as pie! I like sneaking around and being quiet. Although the rest of the party might doubt if she can actually be quiet for any length of time.

[Irving]

Takyr nods. "Excellent", he rumbles, even as he supresses a wince. I'm betting that she's smart enough to be responsible when it counts. I hope I'm not wrong.

When they get close to the camp, Takyr gestures for the party to halt. "Go ahead, Tygerlily", Takyr murmurs. "We will wait. Be quick."

After she leaves, Takyr briefly considers telling the others to prepare in case Tygerlily comes running back with the bandits on her heels... but decides against it. If I don't show that I trust her now, she'll never be trusted. He sits down cross-legged on the desert floor, watches Tygerlily leave, and waits.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly winks at Takyr before creeping off into the sands, or more accurately bouncing off across the sands.

Once out of sight, she'll energetically roll in the sand to coat her clothes with dust and dim the bright colors and then proceed to sneak off towards the camp... She'll take advantage of whatever cover there is and crawl when there isn't. She keep a sharp eye out for traps and people standing guard. She'll go far around guards if necessary. She does want to make it back to her favorite minotaur.

Once she's close enough to count heads, tents and anything else of interest she'll stop and do so.

Stealth (1d20+8=20), Perception (1d20+4=15), Disguise (1d20+3=18) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1950016/)

[Jeramiahh]

An hour away from the outskirts of the city, the party locates Pegrin's camp, about where it was described to be. The camp is flanked on the east and west by thick clumps of trees and growth. Tigerlily manages to spot two guards, patrolling amongst the trees, keeping an eye out for people approaching, although they're neither as good as hiding nor spotting as the kender is.

Seven tents stand in a rough circle around a massive campfire (approximately 10' across.) A single, large tent stands at the southern side of the fire. (The party will be approaching fro the south/southeast) No one can be seen in the camp, except for a young-looking boy, wrapped in a heavy cloak, adding fuel to the fire, hunkered down close to it to keep warm in the early chill.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Although she's highly tempted to go sneak a peek into the tent, she stays back where she is and continues to hide while keeping an eye out for those sentries. Wouldn't quite do for them to find her covered in sand...although she's very sure she could talk her way out of it, well, almost very sure. She is a Kender after all.

So, she patiently watches, to see if anyone else comes out or anything of interest happens.

[Jeramiahh]

Over the next hour, only three more people leave their tents, and, even then, not for long; two to change the guard, and one to walk into the larger tent, and then out a few minutes later.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly counts carefully to herself and not out loud. 7 tents, 1 huge campfire, 1 bigger tent on the southern side, 1 boy, 2 guards on patrol, 2 more guards, 1 other went in the big tent then out. Okay, I'm bored, what to do now? Well, I could go check in the big tent, it is calling my name, I'm so curious about what's in it. But, then, Takyr would be worried about me. I should go back. Reluctantly she starts backing up and sneaking back towards her friends. She keeps an eye out for the two on patrol and any traps. She tries her best to become one with the sand.

Stealth (1d20+8=12), Perception (1d20+4=11), Disguise (1d20+3=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1951471/)

[Deadly]

Aila remains standing, drawing figures in the sand with a small branch and muttering slightly to herself while she waits patiently for Tygerlilly to scout out the camp. The small viper in her pocket slowly creeps out of its hiding and settles on her shoulder to bask in what heat is there.

[Jeramiahh]

As Tigerlily begins crawling away, she'll notice a small rock, landing near her; apparently one of the sentries spotted her, but thought her to be a snake or some such, throwing the rock to drive her away. Unless she gives an un-snake-like reaction, the guard ignores her, allowing her to retreat safely.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

She giggles under her breath as she pauses and then continues to work on wriggling away and be one with the sand. She goes in the opposite direction from the sentry.

[Irving]

Takyr's anxiety grows slowly as he waits for Tygerlily. When Tygerlily finally returns - alone, dirty, and grinning from ear to ear - he breathes out a huge sigh of relief. "Glorious, little one", he says, "You should be proud. Now, tell me. What did you see?" He gets a stick and starts sketching in the sand as Tygerlily talks, asking questions and trying to visualize what she saw.

As he listens, his brow furrows. Harder than I had hoped. The boy worries me. And there are some things here that don't add up.

He gathers everyone close and talks softly.

"First. Excellent job, Tygerlily. Your uncle Tas would be proud.

Second. I have several worries. These man are wanted by the Dark Knights. They have not done murder as far as I can see. They have a boy with them. I wonder if they are wicked folk or not.

We can try to raid their camp and take them, but it will depend on speed and surprise. I have a plan - or the glimmers of one, at any rate - that ought to see us through. If we carry it out, and at any point you feel disquiet about our course, yell "Stand Down!". We will throw down our weapons, negotiate, and see what we can achieve.

We do have another choice. We could present ourselves to Pegrin, offer to join his men, and see what happens. At worst, we will end up fighting under terms that do not favor us. Our chances of victory lessen greatly then.

If we are to strike, we must do it right now. We need to take them while they are unready. So. No time for debate. Say your peace, all of you. Strike, or join them? We must be quick."

[Deadly]

Aila considers the situation, pondering this new information and Takyr's speech. It seemed clear to her that a direct assault was risky at best, if not outright suicide. They needed to know more about these people, and the camp, and to maintain a strategic advantage We need to know more. We can not simply charge in and beat everyone up. There are too many people in that camp for me to feel safe about that, and we also don't know what consequences it could have. But presenting ourselves, atleast all of us, would mean to give up any tactical advantage we may have currently. She looks up from the drawings in the sand I can go in. I am fairly good with people, and could pretend to be another outlaw seeking their aid. I may even be able to disguise myself accordingly. That way I could learn about the people there, and signal you in some way, to either attack or present youselves. If it comes to battle, we may have the advantage of surprise as well, as I could turn on them from within. Unless I'm uncovered, of course.

[Jeramiahh]

(Map included; the minis on the tents were the men that left their tents, then returned. The green things are supposed to be trees. Also, there's a few stumps I forgot to include along the north and south areas, mostly where there aren't trees. The guards in the trees patrol their area.)

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/3347/keyofdestiny2.jpg

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly describes the above to her best ability and then sit and listens as she messes with her new collection of rocks. She's checking them for being good to throw. You never know when you're going to run out of knives after all.

((Request...would you be able to spoiler the pic so it doesn't stretch the screen so much?))

[AmberEye]

Chani listens, watching Takyr scratch out the map. Worry briefly flickers across her face as Takyr assigns her the task of dealing with Pegrin, but she nods in acknowledgement and the worry changes to a soldier's attention. A former Dark Knight? Me? I'm not that good -- no, stop it, that's not how a Solamnic Knight answers a challenge. You've been given a task and your job is to think about how to get it done.

When Tygerlily mentions the boy, Chani abruptly frowns and her eyes darken. "This just got harder, with a innocent in the middle. How old, would you guess? Granted, every boy is his own animal, but hopefully I could get a gauge of how likely he would respond to an order to run or stay out of the way."

At Aila's suggestion, Chani looks a bit dubious. "I agree we need to know more. Ultimately the decision is yours and Takyr's, but I'm not sure I like the idea of you being behind the line, as it were. True, at best, we'll learn more if things go well. At worst, we may end up one short and needing to make two recoveries instead of one."

[Jeramiahh]

The boy was difficult to see, hunched over the fire as he was, but he seemed to match the description of the pyromancer listed on the wanted posters.

As a side note, all of the wanted posters said "Wanted: Dead or Alive."

[Irving]

Takyr's head snaps up, after contemplating the map.

"All right then. Aila, I approve of your bravery, but I must agree with Chani. The risk of sending you in alone is too high."

"Let's take them." There's a bestial glint in Takyr's eye, and it doesn't take much to recognize that's he's been eager for this.. he just wanted to be sure the course was right.

He writes in the dirt:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o299/msrlapin/keyofdestiny2.jpg

As it becomes sadly clear that Takyr is no friend to penmanship, he explains his notes:

"Tygerlily, try to lead us as far as possible into those woods to the southeast. When it's time to begin, rush out to the clearing and taunt the mage. I'll charge him when he comes close to you. When that happens, get back into the tree line and help Chani if she needs it. Aila, watch the guards on the far side; when they bunch up, use your sleep spell. Fire mage bolts at them if they need encouragement. Chani, take out that guard; fight cautiously, and be ready to receive help from Tygerlily when she comes back in.

Everyone stay close to the treeline in case they have bows. Coordinate with each other, call for help you need it, and work together. We can do this. I have faith in you all.

Any questions?"

He stands, stretches, and gets ready.

[Deadly]

Aila shakes her head. She didn't like it, but they couldn't argue forever either. No questions. I still think more information would be desirable, however. But I will do my best.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly pipes up, I could always sneak back and sneak into the tents. It would be lots of fun and I really want to find out what's inside each one.

[Irving]

Takyr shrugs helplessly. "I agree, Aila, but we live in an imperfect world. We will all do our best. If things shift under our feet, we will change course."

He smiles at Tygerlily. "I think it would be too dangerous to do that while there are guards. But after the fight, I want you to investigate each tent thoroughly. It will be your job to see what is in each one, and make sure there are no hidden secrets."

[Deadly]

((Sorry for the delay, could have sworn Takyr was asking Tygerlilly something... uhm, anyway, moving on...))

Aila gets up and checks that she has everything Better that we move on, while it is still early. Maybe some are still not fully awake.

She waits for the others to move on, letting them stay up front and staying in the back herself.

[Irving]

((Sorry about that, deadly - my bad. I did a lousy editing job.))

Takyr stands as well. He cracks his neck with a sound like trees in winter, and waits for Tygerlily to show them the best route into the enemy camp.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly bounces right up with a grin. Ready? I am! She looks around once and then off she goes into the desert again. She stops out of sight of the sentries and looks up at Takyr for what he wants. There are two guys out here, want me to find them? I'm sure I could get their attention...

[Jeramiahh]

The camp looks much as it did when Tigerlily left; only the teenager by the fire has moved, having readjusted his position to better cook something for their breakfast. Everyone else is either on guard duty, or, apparently, in their tents.

[Irving]

Takyr grins, points at the boy, and then leans close to Tygerlily. "Chani and I can take the guards. But the boy? Go rattle his cage, little one. I have faith in you."

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

She grins up at Takyr and drops to the ground and proceeds to wriggle off into the trees/dust/bushes. She will go around the long way so she can sneak up behind him. She watches out for any sentries or anyone else. Her goal is to sneak up right behind the boy and then pop up and say Hello! You sure look lonely out here...sure I can't help you with that? as she digs in one pocket to find ingredients (or a knife if necessary).

Stealth (1d20+8=25), Perception (1d20+4=10) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1958987/) and we'll see if it kills her off...

Sleight of Hand (1d20+9=27) to palm a knife without him knowing. (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1958995/)

[Jeramiahh]

Tigerlily manages to sneak, unseen, into the camp, all the way up to right behind the boy. When she appears, he nearly jumps into the fire, but turns around and spies her. "W-what's a kender doing out here? How did you find us... and how did you get past the guards?" His voice is high pitched and more than a little squeaky.

[Deadly]

Before Tygerlilly slinks off towards the camp, Aila offers her a strengthening spell, in case things get rough for the kender. While the kender is off she casts the same spell on Takyr, and if there is time also on Chani and lastly herself.

Casts Resistance on Tygerlilly, Takyr, Chani and herself in that order, however many she can manage in the time she has. +1 to saves for 1 minute. Sort of retroactive in the case of Tygerlilly, if that is not a problem? It's a little hard to add your own (re)actions in between things here, sometimes.

[AmberEye]

Chani follows Takyr's lead without any extra conversation, her face very serious, the look of a soldier listening to a commander's instruction. She shivers slightly as Aila's spell washes over her; clearly she is not used to being the object of any spell, but nonetheless she mouths, "Thanks."

She draws her sword carefully, turned away from the rising sun, trying to avoid making too much noise or an inadvertent reflection flash. The blade she carries looks somewhat large for a young woman of her size, but she doesn't seem to have any difficulty wielding it.

Ready to go, she awaits Takyr's signal.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

She looks around, Er, I can't be out here? But it looks like fun! I want to help out. With one hand she offers a spoon, I even have my own spoon! I can eat with it. Do you need some help cooking? I know how to cook some great stuff. Although I haven't quite figured out how to cook Otik's spiced potatoes. I'd love to be able to figure those out, they're just soooooo tasty!

[Jeramiahh]

"No, no you can't be out here!" the teenager complains. He pauses for a second. "We're bad men, dangerous. This is no place for someone like you. And... we only have dull, boring, gray-colored rocks, which I'm sure a kender wouldn't be interested in."

(Do I need to set a sense motive DC to see if he's lying, or can you pass it on a 1? =P)

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly gives him a perplexed look, Really? You're a bad man? You look more like a boy to me. What can you do? Shoot lightning from your eyes? Make cannonballs drop from the sky? Both of those would be really cool. But, I somewhat doubt you can do that. You look more like a cook and one that needs some help. I'm quite sure I can help you with the cooking. I'm a real good cook!

[Jeramiahh]

"Just get out of here, you little rat! Go back to the city and leave me alone!" The teen looks rather annoyed, and is raising his voice; at this rate, he's sure to attract some attention from the guards.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

She suddenly gets stubborn, I am NOT a Rat! I'm a Kender and I'm perfectly useful. You just don't know it yet. I can do tons of stuff. Like walk on a tight rope. Ride a dragon. Climb a building. I'd like to see you do that. I'm not going anywhere til I can help you learn how to properly cook!

[Jeramiahh]

"If you don't get out of here, we'll be having roast kender for dinner," the teen snarls, flames beginning to lick at his fingertips.

(I'd say I'm making an intimidate check, but Kender have immunity to them. =P)

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Hopefully she was able to palm that knife with her other hand, she's beginning to think she might actually need it. She stares at his hand in fascination. You don't ever have to use flint and steel to start a fire, do you... That is very cool. Can I learn? She looks up in his eyes with a hopeful expression.

[Jeramiahh]

"I'm going to count to three, and if you're not gone by then, I will have you killed!" His voice cracks, slightly, at the end of his threat, but, by now, he's clearly readying a spell. "One... two..."

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Really? Kill me? How're you gonna do that?

Tygerlilly notes the gleam in his eye and decides that despite the fact that being on fire might be fun, she's not quite ready to try it. So, she'll do her best to scamper back and hide behind a tent. She makes it obvious that she isn't quite ready to leave the area.

[Irving]

"Three", Takyr says calmly as he charges from the woods.

Takyr doesn't even bother with his horns on the charge - he holds his greatsword low to the ground, almost dragging it, an ox with a plow.(1) He plants his right foot a few feet from the young mage, spins his torso, and whips the great blade around. Sorry, Takyr thinks as the blade swings around in an arc so precise it could have come from the pells. Takyr can feel the near perfection of the swing in his bones; he knows that the young mage is dead even before the blade hits true.(2)


(1)Initiative 14. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5892493&postcount=110)
(2)Charging, power attacking for 1. To-hit on 27; critical confirmed on yet another 27. 34 damage. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5892493&postcount=110) Ow.

[Deadly]

Aila is, once again, quite slow to react. Once she registers that things are going to erupt into violence after all, she quickly braces herself and follows some distance behind Takyr while preparing her spell for speedy excecution once she gets into the camp

Initiative 3 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5893435#post5893435)

Darn it, Irving took all the natural 20s, leaving me with the 1s :smalltongue:

Anyway, Aila will start casting Sleep, because it takes so awfully long... whether she'll finish the casting or hold it depends on the situation, of course

[Jeramiahh]

(Takyr can take that as his surprise round, and we'll move into initiative for the rest. The sentries in the camp will act on Init 5, Pegrin on Init 14 (Beating Takyr with a +5 mod) and his lieutenant will act on 17. So, if you beat a 17, you may act next.)

As Takyr runs into the camp, there is a loud clanging noise as he passes between two treestumps; apparently he ran through a wire, triggering an alarm. Immediately, the entire camp begins shouting, but its too late to save the young pyromancer; Takyr's blade cuts him off, mid word, cleanly slicing him in half. The boy is dead before he even has time to recognize the danger.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly peeks out from between the tents. She's rather disappointed, that was anti-climatic and she had been looking forward to seeing if he could actually shoot fire from his fingertips. She looks around to see if there is anyone else in sight that she can do something about.

[Jeramiahh]

(Order for the fight: Tigerlily, Lieutenant, Pegrin, Takyr, Chani, Guards, Alia.)

Tigerlily's quick look around spots one of the sentries, looking toward the camp, staring in startled silence as he watches the minotaur barrel in and cut their companion in half. He and the other sentry noisily draw their weapons, and there is sound coming from some of the tents.

Map update:
This should be fairly accurate representation of where everyone is. I know it's a little hard to judge distances, and the scale might be a bit off, but it's reasonable. I think the minis should be a little larger, compared to everything, but we'll make do, and I'll get it working smoother in the future, promise. =P I'll leave it for TL to react, then take my actions. For reference, TL is about 30 feet away from the sentry on the right, and there's a square of space between her and the tent.

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/3347/keyofdestiny2.jpg

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

She spots the guard 30 ft away and sticks out just long enough to throw the dagger in her hand at him. Then she'll duck behind cover.

Attack (1d20+2=10), damage (1d3+1=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1982152/), if it hits... She has a +6 on a ranged attack with a -4 for the extra 20 ft between herself and the target.

edit: 1d6=6 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1982168/) sneak attack damage if applicable.

[Jeramiahh]

The dagger embeds itself in a tree next to the sentry. From the tents that stand dividing the party in half, a pair of men emerge, one from each tent. The one from the larger tent is a brawny, tough-looking man, carrying a longsword, which he holds with both hands. From the other, a skinnier man emerges, carrying a shortsword and a crossbow. The latter man dashes towards the cover of the woods, while the larger man readies his weapon, and moves towards Takyr, calling out a challenge to the minotaur. (He ends up adjacent to Takyr, just south of him. The other hurries off into the trees, and takes cover behind them, hiding. Spot DC 21.)

[Irving]

Takyr's eyes flicker to his right, at the large campfire. This is Pegrin. He's a tough fighter, but he'll be more dangerous if he coordinates his men. Let's distract him.

"Chani! Lily!",Takyr yells, pointing in the direction of the crowssbowman who ran into the woods. The huge black minotaur then shifts over to his right, putting Pergin between himself and the fire. He lowers his head, takes his eyes off of Pegrin for one dangerous moment(1), kicks off from the bench, and rams into Pegrin's torso with overwhelming force.(2)

He can feel the solidity of his blow; without looking, he can sense that Pegrin's feet leave the ground. The minotaur looks up and readies his blade in a high-guard stance, ready to strike Pegrin when he runs out of the blaze.(3)

(1) Taking my 5-foot step one square southeast; initiating bull rush. Attack of opportunity drawn from Pegrin - what can I tell you, this is just too amusing not to try.
(2) Yet another 20 rolled (good grief). (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5896854&postcount=120) Pegrin must beat an opposed Strength check of 29 or be moved 5 feet due west; I'm now standing where he was. Jeremiahh should probably roll the 1d6 damage; (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/wilderness.htm#forestFiresCr6)Pegrin has to pass a DC 15 Reflex save or catch on fire. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/environment.htm#catchingOnFire) It's probably a bad day to be Pegrin.
(3) The odds that Pegrin will draw an attack of opportunity from me next turn are very high; if so, I'll attempt to strike him with my greatsword.

[Jeramiahh]

Pegrin roars as he sees Takyr coming, and counters viciously with his longsword, a wide, but accurate slice across Takyr's chest. (23 to hit, 5 damage.) Unfortunately for him, his swing leaves him a little off balance as the minotaur crashes into him, and send him into the fire pit. (And lucky for you, it's a pit, filled with sharp things; he takes 1d6 falling on top of the 1d6 fire, for 9.)

[AmberEye]

Chani turns to Alia. "I'm going into the trees -- are you covered?"

Unless Alia gives her a definitive no, Chani peels off and dog-trots toward the trees Takyr indicated.(1)






(1) Double-move action toward the nearest enemy.

[Jeramiahh]

Chani moves into the trees and spots the man, crouched under some low cover, aiming his crossbow towards Takyr, though he quickly wheels around on Chani as she approaches. One of the sentries, however, reacts first, moving towards her (Unable to charge), swiping his blade at her. (14 to hit, 3 damage if it hits.)

The remaining two guards emerge from their tents, the two from the tents moving towards Tigerlily, only one close enough to attack. (7 to hit.) The other skirts around the campfire to get to Takyr, again, not close enough to act.

[Deadly]

Aila nods at Chani and finds cover behind the tent the crossbowman came out from, so that she can observe the fight at the firepit and keep an eye on Chani as well while keeping cover. Hopefully she can determine where best to add her spells.

((And I can't quite figure out what is going on and where, exactly, so she won't really do much else for now.))

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly tries to stab the closest guard with one of her small daggers. Meanwhile she says, Who're you? I haven't seen you around here before, are you sure you work here?

Attack (1d20+1=5), damage (1d3+1=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1987342/)

1d20+7=12 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1987351/) bluff roll to attempt to taunt her potential attacker.

[Jeramiahh]

The crossbowman takes a few steps back and fires his bolt at Chani, though he has to take care not to hit his ally, then drops the empty weapon and draws his blade.

(Crossbow: 16 to hit, 3 damage.)

Pegrin stands, still in the firepit, grabbing his fallen weapon as he rises, then lifts himself out of the pit, drawing an attack from Takyr as he moves in behind him.

(Pegrin takes 4 from the flames; I'll let Takyr roll his AoO. Pegrin's AC while climbing is 10)

Map Update:
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/3347/keyofdestiny2.jpg

[Irving]

Takyr swings his greatsword in a wide, deadly arc, slicing deep into Pegrin's smouldering shoulder.(1) Not stopping to see the effects of his heavy blow, he lets the momentum of the blade carry him in a full circle, slicing into the guard coming up behind him. He tosses his horns at the guard as he comes around, but his stance doesn't permit him to put much force behind the blow.(2)

(1) 21 to hit on Pegrin, 16 damage (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5905086&postcount=126)... 29 so far. Not bad.
(2) Full attack on guard: 23 to hit with the greatsword, 14 damage. 9 to hit with the horns, 8 damage. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5905108&postcount=127)

[Jeramiahh]

Takyr's mighty blade swipes through the air, leaving an arc of blood in its wake; both of his foes drop under his incredible swing.

[AmberEye]

The crossbow bolt whizzes past Chani, and she quickly marks its origin. She realizes she has two opponents, and pivots a step to the northwest to avoid giving either her back.

She focuses grimly on the guard in front of her and swings her sword.


Attack -- [roll0]
Damage -- [roll1]

[Jeramiahh]

The guards around Tigerlily shift to form a flank, both swinging their weapons, while Chani's opponent simply counterattacks, though he does move a little to put her back facing the crossbowman.

(10 and 6 to hit TL. 13 to hit Chani. All miss, I assume. Alia and Tigerlily, next.)

[Deadly]

Aila watches the situation carefully, then turns towards Chani and the two people she's fighting while beginning the castings of a spell. It seemed, after all, like Takyr had things under control near the firepit, so hopefully Aila could help out Chani instead.

Cast Sleep, which will take the entire round so that's all she does. If she's able to cover both the crossbowman and the thug in the area of the spell, she'll do so, otherwise she'll focus it on the crossbowman alone. DC 15 will save.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly looks up at the guards and thinks she'll take a 5 foot step and duck into the tent behind her, ((provided I'm reading the map correctly and nope, her AC is 18)).

[Jeramiahh]

Tigerlily ducks beneath the flaps of the tent. Alia's spell won't go off until the start of her next action; one useful thing about 1-round spells, you get to aim them when they fire, not when you start casting.

The lieutenant, now with his shortsword in hand, advances on Chani's rear, stabbing at her from a flank. (20 to hit, 6 damage.)

[Irving]

Takyr strides over Pegrin's corpse, the blood singing in his ears. At this one moment in time, he feels every inch like one of Segras's chosen - a minotaur, the embodiment of strength and power and carnage, and it seems that no power on Krynn can stop him.

He brings his greatsword down towards the guard's right shoulder, like a hammer to the anvil. At the last moment, however, he whips the blade in tight counterclockwise arc, cutting the man's knees out from under him. At the same time, he corkscrews his horns over the guard's left shoulder, one horn pointed squarely at the man's face.(1)

(1)Full attack on guard. 20 to hit with the greatsword, 17 with the horns (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5910322&postcount=128); 11 damage with the sword, (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5910326&postcount=129) 8 with the horns. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5910383&postcount=131) 19 damage total.

[AmberEye]

Bastard! Chani curses under her breath as the lieutenant backs behind her again. The Bison's wrath on you for that! She struggles to keep Aramis' lesson on multiple opponents in mind -- Speed is your ally; assess both threats and deal first with the greater if you can -- even as she tries to plan her footing for her move.

Takyr has moved in to take on the guard in front of her. Good, now she can--

Bam! Something hits her from behind, and chain shirt and boiled leather both dig into her under the blow. She grits her teeth and pivots a step northward to face her opponent, swinging wildly with both sword and shield. Her sword swing glances uselessly off his shoulder, her arm no doubt fuddled from the earlier blow. Her shield-arm, however, has no such concerns as it arcs and connects with something on her attacker. Take that!

[Jeramiahh]

Takyr's heavy blows, particularly the brutal combination of attacks, drops the bandit, dead. His fellow rushes the minotaur, anyway, stabbing wildly.

Off in the forest, Chani's shield connects with the lieutenant, but the sentry takes the chance to strike at her exposed back.

(Both attacks are less than 10. Next is Alia and Tigerlily. Alia; Chani, the guard, and the lieutenant are all within the blast radius of your spell, however, you cannot affect them both without affecting her. Remember, also, that there is a maximum of 4 levels of opponents affected by Sleep, starting with the lowest, so if you want to affect them both, Chani will have to save for it.)

[Deadly]

Aila, after finishing the tediously long gestures and words of her spell, directs it at the crossbowman in the hope it will give Chani some room to act. She quickly follows up with another spell, to maximize chances of success

Finish Sleep spell, directing it at the crossbowman. DC 15, still.

She then follows up with Daze this round, which fortunately takes only a Standard Action to complete. If the crossbowman saved against the Sleep spell, she'll aim the Daze at him. If he did not save she'll aim it at the guard instead. DC 14 will save.

[Jeramiahh]

(Both saves fail, which means that Takyr and Chani can act immediately after Tigerlily, since they won't be waking him.)

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly's first thought, Oh...cool, I'm in a tent! She looks around with interest, her eyes gleaming. Perception 1d20+4=16 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1991512/)

Then she remembers the fight and her newest friends, so she'll make a beeline for the back door of the tent, so she can go around and hopefully surprise one of the guards.

[Irving]

Takyr takes a shuffling step to the left. With a twist of his horns he briefly locks the man's sword arm in a bruising pinch, like a noodle twirled on a fork. The momentary grapple renders the guard powerless to escape the high, chopping strike from Takyr's blade. It lands on the guard's left shoulder with nearly all of the black minotaur's strength behind it.(1)

"Free!" Takyr barks in Kothian. He looks around him, the bloodlust fading. Tygerlily's gotten safe. I downed... five!? He blinks at the literal trail of bodies in his wake. "Segrasanti!"(2), he swears under his breath.

He then wheels, ready to run to Chani's aid.

(1) Full attack on the guard. 25 to hit with the greatsword, 16 with the horns. 14 damage from the greatsword, 5 with the horns. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5915692&postcount=141) Critical hit with the greatsword unconfirmed. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5915697&postcount=142) 19 damage total.
(2) In Kothian, "Segras's Glory!"

[AmberEye]

By now, anger at being such a fall-down in her first fight has begun to cloud Chani's vision somewhat. Baring her teeth with an angry yell, Chani again uses both sword and shield, wanting only to see her opponent finished. This time, she feels both weapons arc in textbook swings and connect, particularly the shield in a crunch that rattles into her shoulder. (1)




(1)Full attack on guard, first longsword, then shield. Result:1d20=16, 1d20=18 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1991836/)
Damage with longsword: 1d8+2=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1991852/)
Damage with shield: 1d3=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1991855/)

[Jeramiahh]

Tigerlily looks around the tent, which is meagerly equipped; a pair of bedrolls, a small back of gear at the foot of each, some minor equipment strewn about, amongst dirty clothes.

Takyr's blade easily cuts the man down, the headbutt with the horns only adding insult to the grievous injury.

Chani's flurry of attacks cut into the man, but, despite the daze, he's still able to defend himself enough that the attacks are not fatal, although he is unable to mount an effective attack.

(All four players may act, although, at this point, it's over. You have one standing opponent, with 3hp, and a full round of actions from four players. Even if he miraculously survives... he can't realistically seriously injure anyone, so we'll move out of initiative, now.)

[Irving]

Takyr runs into the forest to see Chani facing down one last guard. Good. Everything's under control here. Let's see if we can't spare one at least.

"I killed all the rest, Chani! Take his surrender before I get there, or I claim his blood, too!" Takyr flicks the blood off his blade and stalks toward the lone guard menacingly.(1) Surrender, you damned fool. There's been enough blood this day.

(1)Intimidate check, DC 11 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5917275&postcount=144). Requesting a +2 circumstance bonus, seeing as he's in pretty dire straits.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

urgh...Boring... is her instant thought about the interior. Dirty clothes are never any fun. She crawls out the other side, scampers around to find the guards already taken care of, so she starts peeking around the campsite, looking for anything interesting or anything to collect... She'll crawl around in the tents, around the tents and as far as is interesting to her.

Perception 1d20+4=12 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1992497/)

[AmberEye]

Chani points her sword at the last man and locks eyes with him. "He means it," she says, jerking her head in Takyr's direction. "Do it. If he comes for you, I can't hold him back. Do it, you fool." (1)




(1)Aid another action for Takyr result 1d20+2=21 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1992524/)

[Jeramiahh]

(Y'know, it's a good thing I frequently ignore my dice. I rolled a nat 20.)

"A-alright, I surrender." He throws his sword to the ground, and hesitantly raises his hands in the air. The lieutenant still lies on the ground, out cold.

Tigerlily begins heading counter-clockwise around the camp, searching the tents... and trips a carefully covered pit-trap, just outside the tent north of her. (DC 20 reflex save or fall in the 10' pit and take 6.)

[Irving]

Takyr nods gravely. "Smart man." He kicks the weapons away from the guard and the crossbowman. "Sit next to your leader there. Do not move. Do not annoy me." He watches the captives sternly.

He looks around. "Good job, all of you. That went according to plan. Chani, look for some rope, please. We will need it to bind these men. Aila, can you detect magic? Follow after Tygerlily, and examine what she finds." He smiles briefly. "I would ask her to search the tents, but I suspect she is already doing so." Then he winces, as the adrenalin fades and he feels the cut on his chest. "Look for some bandages, too, please."

[Deadly]

Once the danger of stray bolts or sneaky blades has subsided somewhat, Aila emerges from the cover of the tent and walks up to the group. "I'm afraid I didn't bring any rope, but I'm sure we will find something in the camp. I can work out the magic, though" she smiles, and starts by searching for magic on the two captives

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly suddenly jumps back as the pit trap tries to swallow her. She laughs a little as she just misses falling in. She calls out to anyone who can hear her, Hey! There's a fun pit trap over here! I almost fell in, they should really mark these better!

Reflex save (1d20+7=27) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1993543/)

[AmberEye]

Chani exhales in relief and sheathes her blade. Praise gods we didn't have to drag that out. "Yes, sir," she says.

She starts for the closest tent, wincing at the pain in her back. Someone definitely landed a strike on her, but she has no idea how bad it is beyond the hurt (which is considerable). Her ears are still ringing from the clang of metal, her shoulders and wrists aching.

Chani goes into the first tent, looking for ropes and something clean and soft enough to be used as bandages -- if not the item itself, then a sheet or the like that could be torn up.(1)



(Starting the search in the tent at the bottom right, nearest the trees.)


(1)Search check 1d20+1=17 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1995861/)

[Irving]

Upon hearing Tygerlily's exclamation of glee, Takyr raises one eyebrow at the guard. "Interesting camp. Are there more surprises?" He flicks a little more blood off his greatsword onto the dirt, just to make his point.

[Jeramiahh]

(For magic detecting, I'll just state outright that there's only two sources of magic in the camp, and they come from within a chest in Pegrin's tent, and on the body of the teenager.)

Tigerlily narrowly avoids falling into the pit they've hidden, and the captive barks in laughter at her quip. "Aye, a few more... one of the tents holds another pit, and there's one more on the north side of camp." A search of the two captives, where the battle ended reveals only a pair of short swords, studded leather armors, a light crossbow with bolts, and a small pouch of coins containing 25 steel pieces.

Chani investigates the closest, and also the smallest, tent int he camp. Unlike the others, this seems to be set for only one person, who's love of battle is clear. Six different weapons hang from a small rack, all well-maintained and cared for. (Dagger, club, mace, short sword, hand axe, and short bow.)

[Deadly]

Aila moves on to search the rest of the camp for magic, trying to stay where someone has already been so as to avoid those traps mentioned. Starting her search outside, with the fallen man, she first comes across an aura of magic on the grim corpse of the teenager. Aila winces at the bloodbath, not too happy about the carnage or the prospect of searching the corpse "There are signs of magic on this one" she says and tries to focus on it, to learn more about it, while not looking too closely at the body.

[Jeramiahh]

Alia's search of the body reveals two small sources of magic, in a pouch at his side. A quick search reveals a pair of scrolls, rolled up in the pouch.

(Read magic reveals/will reveal that they are Magic Missile and Sleep)

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly happily goes searching for more traps and fun things, talking to herself the entire time.

Perception 1d20+4=20 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1999464/)

[Irving]

Takyr blinks at his captive in disbelief. You dug a hole and put a fire in it. You dug another hole and put a tent over it. This makes no sense. Were you looking for buried treasure? Are you friends with large gophers? Are the Knights of Nekara angry at you because you dug a hole and someone important fell in?

He decides that some things about humans are simply not worth knowing, and leaves his questions unvoiced. "Tygerlily! Be careful! There is a tent with a pit in it, and another big hole to the north!"

[AmberEye]

Chani scans the weaponry, nodding to herself. This stuff could be sold when the party returns to Pashin, and should certainly fetch something.

Chani exits the tent, intending to return for the weapons when the party is ready to move out. She continues on her search, going to the next tent, still looking for rope, potential bandage material and anything else likely interesting. (1)



(Moving on to search the tent to the left of the first)

(1)Search check 1d20+1=14 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1999582/)

[Jeramiahh]

The tent Chani enters next is the largest of all the tents, and the one from which Pegrin emerged. A large, bearskin rug covers most of the floor, a small cot nearby, with a large, steel-bound wooden chest beneath it. There's a small healer's kit, lying open, on top of a footstool, several pieces lying about, along with pieces of bloody bandages.

A quick search of the tent reveals nothing but what's listed above.

[Deadly]

Aila winces as she quickly searches the corpse to find the scrolls, then steps away from the gruesome thing to study them briefly "Evocation... I suppose this one could atleast fetch a few golds" she ponders and rolls the Magic Missile back up I'll hold on to the other one, though

She then moves on to search the tents for magic, eventually coming upon the big one where Chani and the chest is

[Jeramiahh]

There are two sources within the tent, roughly equal in strength. The first is within the chest, beneath the cot, and the second is beneath the bearskin rug, in the middle of the room.

(I always hate how Detect Magic can so easily defeat hidden caches, like that, but what can you do?)

[AmberEye]

Chani goes for the healer's kit and returns the items left out. This should be useful for Takyr. Pegrin or someone must have been injured earlier and left the kit out when we arrived. She feels a vague sense of disquiet; it means they would have surprised and been fighting with an injured man or men. And they would have done the same to us, she reminds herself.

Leaving the healer's kit, now repacked and closed, on the footstool, she slowly works herself down to the floor so she can drag the chest out from under the cot without straining much. Eventually she pulls it out and is about to see about opening it, when she hears someone coming into the tent. She glances up to see Alia in the doorflap.

"You're just in time," she says. "I found a healer's kit we'll be able to use--" she nods toward the kit on the footstool. "I just found this. Shall we see what's inside?"

[Jeramiahh]

The chest is quite obviously locked, with a fairly strong-looking device. Short of destroying the trunk, or a good thief, you'd need the key to get in.

[Deadly]

Aila nods Sounds good to me. There is something magical in that chest, and... something beneath the rug, too she says as she looks around the tent carefully I suppose we should get Tygerlilly to take a look at opening it... and to look for traps.

((There's a spell to cover/obscure magical auras, I think? Not that using it all the time would be fun or reasonable, though))

[AmberEye]

"Let's see if Tygerlily can crack it. It's either that or searching Pegrin's corpse for the key," Chani winces at the latter prospect. "There's also calling Takyr to bash it apart... and destroying the contents in the process."

Chani pushes herself to her feet, gritting her teeth as her right flank protests, and goes to the doorflap. "Hey, Tygerlily! We found something interesting! Wanna see?" she calls, adding a hint of emphasis on "interesting".

She turns back to Alia. "Oh, and the tent over there--" she points to the small one next door, "--has several weapons and nothing else. I'm thinking we may need to cut some of the ropes on the tents if Takyr wants these men bound."

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Her ears perk up as she hears Chani and she abandons what she was doing. She bounces over, What do you need? What's interesting? Can I do it? I want to help! She tries to peer around her and into the tent.

[AmberEye]

Chani steps aside to allow Tygerlily into the tent and gestures toward the trunk. "What's interesting? Well, that, and whatever's in it. What do we need? We need it open, hopefully without destroying it or what's in it. Can you do it? Well... you tell me," she finishes with a smile and a shrug.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly gives her a funny look. Of course I can open it, it'll be fun! She whips out her lock picks and first inspects the trunk for traps and then gets to work on the lock. She also checks out the hinges on the back of the trunk. Do they look removable?

Perception (1d20+4=20), Sleight of Hand (1d20+9=22), Disable Device (1d20+3=14) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2002465/)

[Jeramiahh]

No; the hinges appear to be set into the chest.

A search of the lock reveals a small trap, set into it; a poison needle, set to deploy if anything but the key is inserted. With her deft fingers, Tigerlily sets about disabling the trap... and slips. The dart is triggered, and flies forth, aiming for her flesh!

(17 to hit, 1 damage, and a DC13 fort save, or be inflicted with poison, taking 1 Con damage, immediately.)

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Oooops! as she slips and wonders what it would have done to her.

Her AC is 18, so it probably hits her studded leather armor instead.

[Jeramiahh]

(Yup! Looks like you got lucky that it wasn't a touch attack. I'll assume you can take 20, now, on picking the lock, so...)

Inside the chest is a wondrous bounty; 150 steel coins (150gp), three bottles of fine wine, three jade carvings, of a raven, a cat, and a snake, and, at the bottom, a small music box.

Detect magic reveals a faint aura, surrounding the music box.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Her eyes widen at the marvelous items in front of her. She loves the jade carvings and picks up each one to examine it closer. She finds the color particularly captivating.

[AmberEye]

Like Tygerlily, Chani finds the jade carvings beautiful, amazed by the amount of detail. "I've never seen stone like this, with such color -- what is it?"

She then sees the music box and takes it from the chest carefully, turning it to admire the workmanship and find the key. She starts to lift the lid...

[Jeramiahh]

And a soft, haunting melody begins to play.

(Note: This is not the official song, but an approximation that, I think, comes close. http://senduit.com/e66a0b)

[Deadly]

Aila comes up to have a look at the contents of the chest, and the haunting music box That's beautiful... she says thoughfully as she listens

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly will absentmindedly tuck at least one jade statue in a pouch, for safe keeping of course, before digging her hands into the steel pieces. Suddenly she remembers, Oh...there are more fun traps to find. Gotta go! She leaves the tent and starts searching for them, checking the tents and other areas.

Perception 1d20+4=19 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2005257/)

[Jeramiahh]

Tigerlily searches the rest of the camp, quickly, and discovers the other two pit traps; one out in the open, and the other inside a fake tent.

[AmberEye]

Chani closes the music box after the tune finishes, her eyes strangely bright. She runs her fingers gently along the lid before replacing the music box in the chest. She notices one of the jade statues is missing. Three guesses where it ended up, she thinks wryly.

"You said something about under the rug?" she asks Alia. She pulls back the bearskin to see what's underneath.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

She will expose both of the traps so none of her friends fall into them. She wouldn't want that. Then she searches around for anything else interesting in the camp.

[Deadly]

Aila nods as Chani pulls away the rug I sensed something magical.

[Jeramiahh]

Beneath the rug is a small, carefully concealed cache containing a small bag of gemstones (Valued at 300 stl), and two small potion vials with a conjuration aura. (Spellcraft check, DC 20, and you're sure they're Cure Light Wounds.)

Searching the remaining tents turns up 100 stl in coins and gems, as well as misc. cheap supplies, no one item worth more than 5 stl.

[Deadly]

Aila picks up one of the potions and examines it closely Healing potions... these could prove quite useful. Lets gather all this and find Takyr.

Spellcraft: 1d20+8=21 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2006814/)

[AmberEye]

Chani repacks all the treasures in a single chest, along with the healer's kit, and heads out of the tent with Alia. She stops to cut guy ropes from one of the smaller tents for the binding that Takyr was wanting, then goes to the first tent where she found the weapons and adds those to the cache in the chest, careful to ensure the jade carvings and music box will not be damaged.

"I hate to ask this, but after all this, do we have the key the Herald was speaking of? It was said to not be the kind you would use on a door -- is it likely to be one of the things we found, or do we need to search further, say, on Pegrin?" Chani winces slightly.

[Deadly]

Aila considers the question The only magical thing we have found, aside from potions and scrolls she adds the two scrolls she found to the pile of loot is the music box, as far as I can tell. It is also certainly not what you would search for, if you were after a key. So the music box could be it. She continues, thinking But then, it doesn't have to be magical. And maybe it's not one object. It could be the three figurines... well, two and the one which "disappeared" she smiles Maybe the order in which they are used, wherever they function as a key, is what makes them a key. She shrugs Or perhaps we have not found the key yet, and these are just nice, but entirely regular things we've found.

[AmberEye]

"Well, as wonderful as this haul was, let's hope we have what we came for." Or, gods, I will have done no better than these men did, she thinks, wincing internally.

Chani carries the chest toward Takyr, the rope looped around her shoulder. Setting down her burden, well out of reach of their captives, she offers the rope to Takyr. "Some things you'll want to see," she says, indicating the chest.

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly bounces up, having collected everything useful (to her) from the other tents. She cheerfully asks, What's up? Having fun yet?

[Irving]

Takyr smiles at Tygerlily. "I have had my fun, I think. If you have seen everything at the camp, I think we will be going home soon. We have some shopping to do."

He gestures to Chani. "Let us bind our captives. Then I will look at what you have found." After he and Chani gag and tie up the men(1), he returns to the chest.

He gives a deep booming sigh at the look at the steel pieces - the minotaur equivalent of an amazed whistle. "Hoom! These men have been busy!" And they knew someone who would buy their stolen goods. Why am I not surprised? "Four hundred and fifty steel. The weapons, wine, and statues. Along with the bounties... one thousand steel, not counting whatever the other treasure might sell for. A good day's work. We can discuss how to spend it best on the way back."

He picks up the music box in his massive hands and regards it curiously. "A jewel box? What is in it?" He gently flips open the lid, and blinks in astonishment as the entrancing tune plays. It's quite obvious by his reaction that he's never seen a music box before.

He listens to the tune for a fairly long time, longer than either Chani or Aila listened. He then blinks, shakes himself a little bit, and closes the box. The minotaur glances at the captives and says, "We will keep this, I think." If that's not the key, I would be amazed. It's the most magical thing I've ever seen.

Takyr carefully examines the healer's kit. He's not a healer himself, but he's been injured on the training field enough to know what the useful stuff smells like. He uses an astringent looking liquid to clean his own wound, then hands a thick minty-smelling grease to Chani. "This will keep the pain down, I think. We used something like it on training bruises at home. Use one of the tents if you need privacy; ask for help if you need it.(2)" The minotaur looks at the potions, then glances at Aila. "What are these?"

(1)Taking 20; interestingly enough, we don't roll the Use Rope check until they try to escape.
(2) This is just "cosmetic"; we'd need more time than this to actually provide long-term care.

[Deadly]

An impressive bounty indeed Aila nods, then looks down at the potions briefly before looking back up at Takyr Curative potions, for healing wounds. They could prove quite useful, though I wouldn't use them where natural healing will do.

[Irving]

Takyr nods gratefully to Aila, then hands one potion to Chani. "I am injured, but I can tolerate it. I will save this potion for an emergency. I suggest you do the same."

He gets a sack out of his back pack. "I have something unpleasant to do. I will be right back. When I return, we can leave, so if there is anything else you would like to do before we go, now is the time to do it. Tygerlily... You can come with me, or you could tell our prisoners about yourself while I finish. I will not be long. "

The black minotaur hefts his greatsword over his shoulder and walks back to his trail of carnage. Start with the boy, he thinks. The music box's tune still ringing in his ears, he flips the boy's torso over. I took him from behind. I should at least see his face... barely old enough to shave, this one.

He then grimly raises his sword high, takes a wide stance, and brings the blade down with all his force on the boy's neck. The minotaur gently wraps the head in the remnant's of the boy's shirt. He then walks over to Pegrin's charred remains. He takes enough time to search the man's pockets and neck for a key, then removes his head as well.

As he wraps Pegrin's head in rags, he finds himself praying again. Segras, Lord of all Minotaurs, thank you. I have never fought so well. I was truly an example of your power and glory. I hope I have pleased you. Emperor... I am afraid. This was all too easy. I kept the little ones safe, but I fear that I have abused my gifts. I can challenge myself more than this. I hope you can show me a nobler way to keep those I protect safe.

He returns to the captives with the heads in a bag. Despite his best efforts, a red stain can be seen growing on the sack...

[Deadly]

Aila grimaces and wanders off from the camp and into the thicket of trees, trying to rid her mind of thoughts regarding the grim business. She didn't like the killing, or the knowledge of what Takyr was doing. There had to be a better way to prove the deed... a better way, even, than killing in the first place. But they had had no other option? They were forced to kill, were they not?

She sighs and studies her hand slightly, turning her signet ring in the light of the desert sun... somehow her hands seemed suddenly more dirty than usual. She blinked, then shook her head It's just a much needed tan... nothing more

[wxdruid]

Tygerlilly

Tygerlilly has no interest in talking to the prisoners. She anticipates they'll be no fun, so she follows Takyr and watches with curiosity as he decapitates and wraps up the heads. Quite interesting from her point of view, although she doesn't have any interest in touching or carrying them around, blood isn't one of her things.

[Jeramiahh]

(As a head's up, here's what the music box looks like, open.)http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/dlcs_gallery/tn_DLCS_PG283.jpg

As Alia has already taken the scrolls from the boy's body, there's nothing more of significant value. On Pegrin, however, there's a key on a thin chain around his neck, presumably to the chest found in his tent. Takyr likely also notices that Pegrin's sword is of high quality, and would be either useful, or valuable (Masterwork).

As a side note, the lieutenant, whom you've captured, has a small belt pouch, containing 25 stl. Also, since we no longer have a Bard for a bardic knowledge check, if someone has a Knowledge: History check, you can attempt that on the music box, though only totals of 20 or more give results.

[Deadly]

Aila tries to dismiss the thoughts of the killing by pondering the music box

Knowledge(history) : 1d20+6=23 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5963985&postcount=148)