A World Bound Together (IC)

[Ilriyn]

The summer sun still shines brightly as afternoon turns to evening in the town of Dauth. Men and women are returning from their fields and workplaces, eager to be with their families at home. Others turn towards their favorite tavern, looking for a warm meal and good company.

A large crowd is gathered at the White Hart inn, which was located midway between the main gate of Dauth and it's city center. The White Hart was known for it's cheap but wholesome food, it's entertainment, and it's abundance of patrons in search of employees. Consequently, it was well-frequented by adventurers.

The interior of the inn was hot and humid, but still friendly. The regular patrons were already seated at their favorite tables. Veil, the scarred and serious elf, is seated at a corner table, waiting for his meal to be brought to him. Keisharra, the beautiful but icy fire elf sits at another table nearby. Eviva, the Half-Elf, stands at the door. She has not ever dined at this inn, and is inspecting the inn and determining if she would like to relax there tonight.

Feel free to introduce yourselves and engage in some RP if you would like. I'll start advancing the plot if things slow down.

[Darius]

Keisharra

The elven magess regards the room with her calculating gaze. Dining alone suits her, for she has yet to find company she chooses to keep. Keisharra checks the weight of her purse and finds that it is much lighter than she had hoped.

"I may need to find work or else I may be forced to start pawning some of my components," she muses to herself quietly. Speaking aloud is a habit Keisharra had developed in captivity. Being isolated would have driven her mad had she not adapted such techniques to combat the loneliness.

Keisharra looks up at Eviva as she stands in the doorway surveying the crowd. "Great," she huffs, "a half-breed. It is bad enough there are elves here, but this? I am going to have to find a new place." It obviously doesn't seem to faze Keisharra that her loathing of the elves should also be directed towards her own pointy ears.

[Grendus]

Veil sits in the back, calmly sipping his mug of... whatever it was he ordered. The bottle had been labeled in dwarvish and even the bartender had admitted he had no idea what it was, some kind of beer with a strong flavor and a mushroom aftertaste, but it was good. Good enough he was considering dropping a few more copper on a second mug with his meal, if it ever came. He sighs, feeling the heavy but reassuring weight of his coin purse underneath his chain shirt. Fortunately, for all their numbers the bandits were inattentive, or he wouldn't have been able to get back into the barracks for his gear before fleeing the city.

He looks up at Keisharra's comments, debating whether or not to challenge the racism, and is surprised to see it was an elf who made the statement. "Elves who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones[COLOR]," he calls out, drawing his veil slightly tighter across his face. "[COLOR="SeaGreen"]Or did your mother pull you by the ears so often as a child that they pointed on their own?"

[Darius]

Keisharra

Keisharra's eyes narrow as she regards Veil after his comment. She sneers, "I may be elven, but at least I am not so ugly that I need to cover my face."

[CWater]

Surveying the room, Eviva cannot miss noticing the fire elf's open resentment and the quick exchange of words between her and the veiled warrior. A small grin creeps to her face; it has certainly been a while when she last had an interesting conversation. She turns around and walks in a calm pace towards Keisharra's table.

"Well good evening", Eviva says and leans on the back of one of the unoccupied chairs. The half-elf does not seem at all offended by what the other said, on the contrary, she seems to have found it rather amusing. "I must say that I was too far to hear the exact words with my half pointy ears, but you'll surely be delighted to hear that the message got through nevertheless. Do tell me, what is your particular reason to dislike my kind? Unfortunately, I believe I've heard it already a thousand times, but who knows, perhaps you will surprise me."

[Grendus]

Veil's expression remains unchanged - after all, what's the point of a facial expression nobody can see.

"Fortunately my deformity is only skin deep. Yours seems to have melted your soul."

Somehow I ended up with +2 armor, which is more than my entire budget for a level 3 character. I think for some reason I thought it only cost 2k. I changed it back to +1 and picked up Bracers of Armor, which brings my budget back to where it was supposed to be.

[Darius]

Keisharra

The magess snorts at the half-elf and says, "Dislike? First there would have to be something about your kind that I would have to like." As Eviva nears, Keisharra states, "Ye best be moving on lest you wish a lesson - unlike your other tutors, I will only need to teach you once."

[Grendus]

Veil shakes his head. "Ignore her. Some people are best left alone." He motions to the chair on the opposite side of his table. "So tell me, what brings a half-elf into the White Heart? Most are either with a party or try to hide their ears for fear of... well, reactions like that."

[Ilriyn]

The bartender finally can be seen walking towards Veil with his meal. He pauses at Keisharra's comment on teaching the Half-Elf a lesson. "Now hold your horses there, I won't tolerate any fighting in my inn."

The bartender pauses, seeming to mentally correct himself. "Ach, don't mind me. It's been a rough night tonight. One of my workers didn't show up... probably lying drunk in a ditch somewhere. Then people like those two," he says while jerking his thumb towards two men sitting at the counter, "seem to think that they own the place. Ahh well, such is the life of an innkeeper, I suppose. What can I get for you?

As Eviva moves over to Veil's table, the bartender remembers the meal he's holding in his hands. He quickly sets it in front of Veil, saying, "Many apologies master elf." Turning to Eviva, he says, "And what be your pleasure tonight?

Note:Any checks that I would like you too make will be put in spoilers in this thread. The spoilers will contain the results of the check if you beat the DC. In cases like this post where there are two DC's using the same skill, you only need make one roll. You're on your honor to not read any spoilers where you didn't meet the DC.

Also, Grendus, I would appreciate it if you could color your dialogue. It makes it much easier to read.

Spot Check DC 12The two men who the bartender pointed to earlier seem to be exceptionally hairy, and are eating very rare steaks.

Spot Check DC 18The two men who the bartender pointed to earlier seem to be exceptionally hairy, almost feral looking, and are eating very rare steaks. They also seem to be in a rising level of discomfort. Through the window, you can see a full moon beginning to rise.

[CWater]

Made the check in the OOC-thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9488033#post9488033), guess I didn't see anything particular:smalltongue:
"Ah, but at least her resentment is open and honest", Eviva replies to Veil with a small smirk, "Trust me, there are worse types."

To the innkeeper she says, "Many kinds of people walk the roads of this world. And I don't much care what I'll eat today, just bring me something that will fill my stomach without killing my mouth, thank you. Oh, and do not add too much onion, I dislike them greatly."

She sits on the chair Veil pointed at before, leaning lazily on the backrest. "Well, what brings me here, you asked me." She says to the roof. "Hmm...I guess no better reason that I simply haven't been here before", she drops her gaze back to Veil, "That's usually enough reason for me."

"But what about you? You are far too heavily armed to be a regular, besides the innkeeper clearly didn't know you, but neither do you share the looks of a careless wanderer. So, I reckon there is a story behind your steps?"

[Grendus]

I'm sorry. I just realized I wasn't doing that, I will from now on. I have decided to change the color from lime to sea green though, for the sake of everyone's eyes.

Spot roll: [roll0]

Holy crap, I made my spot check.

Veil puts his hand on the innkeeper's arm and leans in, speaking quietly so only those very nearby can hear. "I wouldn't be too hard on those two at the bar, what with their being werewolves, and it being their time of the month, so to speak. You may want to go try and summon a guard, or perhaps warn any other adventurers in the inn."

He draws his sword quietly and leans it against the wall where he can grab it without slowing down when he needs it.

"As to your question, my name is Veil. I was a town guardsman, until there was no more town to guard. I've been here ever since, working as hired muscle until I can find a better job, or an adventurers party. I happen to know the bandits have quite a bit of loot now." He eyes the men at the bar and checks the window again. "I hope you know your way around a fight," he says, turning his attention back to Eviva. "Because things are about to get hairy."

[Darius]

[roll0]


Keishara

The elf doesn't let down her guard and continues to watch and listen to the other two elves. When Veil draws his sword, the magess figures something is afoot and quietly conjures a suit of invisible armor made of force to protect herself.

Stat Block

AC 17, Touch 13, Flat 14
HP 19/19, Initiative - Idle
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +3
Conditions: mage armor: 3 hrs

[CWater]

"Indeed?" Eviva says raising and eyebrow, "Well, if you say so... And yes, I do know how to keep myself alive, though a little precaution never hurts."

She also casts Mage armor, as discreetly as possible.

[Ilriyn]

Right in the middle of Eviva's sentence, you hear the distant tolling of a bell, which grows louder and louder as more bells join in. Howling is heard in the direction of the city gates, quickly followed by another howl heard from just down the street.

Knowledge (Local) DC 5 (Can be made untrained)The particular pattern of bells that you hear is the signal for all able-bodied residents to report to the walls, as the town is under attack.

In unison, the two men that the innkeeper pointed to earlier jump from their chairs into the block of moonlight that the window lets through. Their howling mingles with the screams that can be now heard throughout the city. As Veil grabs his sword, and Eviva and Keisharra quickly stand up, the two men undergo a grotesque transformation; their fingers lengthen and sharpen into claws, their faces enlarge into the snouts of a wolf, and a red gleam fills their eyes. The inn patrons immediate around the newly transformed werewolves madly scramble to get out of the way, and you can see another heavily armed party sitting in a corner begin to draw their weapons.


**********************
Initiative rolls if you please. Also, all rolls that you make can either be made in the OOC thread, or more preferably, in a spoiler in the IC thread.

[Grendus]

Rolls:
Knowledge(Local): [roll0]
I initiate a duel of wills with the larger werewolf. I'll go over these in the OOC thread if you want, or they're listed on page 27 of ToB.
Initiative:[roll1]
Ouch, pitiful initiative. And I really hope these aren't vanilla werewolves - they have 10 DR against non-silver weapons.
"Crap. I remember that sound. There's trouble outside too," Veil says, readying his sword and removing his veil. In the shimmering moonlight, his deformed face takes on a monstrous, determined sheen. He levels his sword at the larger werewolf, locking eyes with it as he assumes a basic combat stance. "Go join your pack outside, coward. You will find only death for yourselves here."

[Darius]

Keishara

Thinking quickly, Keishara reaches and scoops up some butter from the table and incants a spell centered on the werewolves. As she does so a sickening cloud of brimstone appears around the wolves as well.



spell:

cast grease, Reflex DC 17, lasts 4 rounds

Any creature in the area when the spell is cast must make a successful Reflex save or fall. This save is repeated on your turn each round that the creature remains within the area. A creature can walk within or through the area of grease at half normal speed with a DC 10 Balance check. Failure means it can’t move that round (and must then make a Reflex save or fall), while failure by 5 or more means it falls (see the Balance skill for details).

cloud:

The cloud lasts for 1 round. Any living creature is sickened while inside it (but not after exiting). The cloud in all other ways acts like a small area of the fog cloud spell. Creatures immune to poison are immune to the sickening effect.

Sickened
The character takes a -2 penalty on all attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.



Rolls:

[roll0]
[roll1]



AC 17, Touch 13, Flat 14
HP 19/19, Initiative -13
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +3
Conditions: mage armor: 3 hrs

[CWater]

"Hm, lycanthropes, huh?" Eviva says. She reaches her right hand to the pouch and grabs a pinch of coloured sand from it.

She moves her left hand past her eyes and then blows the sand to the air.

Init [roll0]

Knowledge(local) [roll1]

The spell is Color Spray
Will save against it is 13.

[Grendus]

Since we seem to be treating this as a normal round, I'm going to go ahead and use a martial maneuver. Also, since this is inside a large trading city, I presume the building is brick and mortar rather than wood post. Oh, and I checked the tooltip for Grease as well, it's not flammable.

Veil lifts his sword, focusing his energy into the tip of the blade, which begins to glow red from heat. With a vicious slash, he hurls a wall of fire at the lycanthropes.

Martial Ability: Hatchling's Flame.
Damage:[roll0]
Saving Throw: Reflex 14 for 1/2 damage.

ToB isn't very clear about what the saving throw is for martial maneuvers that give them. I treated it like a wizard spell, added the maneuver level to 10. If it's modified by any stats, let me know.

Edit: Apparently, the save should be given by the ability description. Except that it's not. However, judging from the few ability descriptions that actually do list the save, it's based on wisdom, so I've adjusted ot to be 10+ability level+wisdom modifier.

[Ilriyn]

Surprise Round:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Moving her hand past her eyes, Eviva sprinkles a cloud of colored dust into the air. Immediately, a cone of flashing twisting lights surrounds the werewolves. The werewolves turn away from the light, but otherwise seem unaffected.

The first werewolf, the smaller of the two, howls as he jumps towards the nearest bystander. As the frantic man falls to the floor, the werewolf sinks his teeth deep into his shoulder. The man goes limp as blood gushes from the wound.

The second werewolf growls accepts Veil's challenge, growling and standing up on two legs before leaping towards Veil. (Intimidate roll 12) Opening his stinking maw, he savagely bites the nimble swordsage in the left arm. (Attack roll of 24, (natural 19), damage 4 (3 if you beat his intimidate check)

Keishara thinks quickly, then scoops a dollop of butter into her hands where she prepares a spell to cast on the werewolves. As she finishes the incantation, a thin coat of grease appears around the first werewolf, who slips and crashes to the ground. A cloud of sickening smoke surrounds the greased area.

Veil lifts his sword which is now glowing red from heat. With a viscous slash, he hurls a cone of fire at his opponents. The werewolves howl with pain as the fire burns their skin.

On the other side of the inn, two heavily armed swordsmen struggle to their feat, surprised by the suddenness of the action.

DM Notes, do not look


True Initiative:
Eviva 23
Werewolf 2 18
Werewolf 1 15
Fighter 1 15
Kaishara 13
Veil 6
Fighter 2 3

Werewolf 1 HP: 16/20
Werewolf 2 HP: 16/20 Prone

[Darius]

Keishara

Although liking that the odds have improved, Keishara stands at the ready to use her ability to jaunt out of danger.

ooc:

Abrupt jaunt out of harm's way if necessary.

Just waiting for my initiative since it appears as though the wolves beat me from the post.

[CWater]

"Well, damn", Eviva mumbles at the failed spell, "And that beast is getting way too close." With these words, the beguiler move away from the battle, picking the crossbow from her back and aimimg it to the smaller werewolf. "Hm, still not my favourite weapon, but perhaps it'll do."
Attack r.
Damage [roll1]1d8
Damn, messed them up, new rolls in the OOC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9513170#post9513170)

[Grendus]

Intimidate check: [roll0]
Swift Action: Change to Stance of Clarity, focus on the werewolf threatening me. AC is now 22 against that werewolf, 18 against the other.
Full Attack
Roll:[roll1]
Damage:[roll2]

Add one to the attack and damage rolls because I won the duel of wills.


Veil shifts his stance, tuning out the other werewolf and moving his greatsword as a guard against the one in front of him. Sensing a gap in the werewolf's defenses, he swings the blade in a brilliant arc towards the werewolf's lower torso.

[Ilriyn]

Round 1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eviva mutters a curse at her failed spell, then switches to her crossbow. Taking aim at the smaller of the two werewolves, she fire a speeding bolt at it. The bolt misses the prone werewolf.

The prone werewolf turns savagely towards Keishara, snarling as he attempts to stand in the slippery grease. Snarling again, he rushes towards her, only to stand helplessly in place as his feet seek traction.

The werewolf menacing Veil feints with his claw, then bites at Veil's leg. Veil moves it just before the werewolf's jaws snap together.

The first swordsman raises his now-drawn sword, and charges at the smaller werewolf. As he jumps over the bleeding man to protect him, he slashes the werewolf across his shoulder.

**********

Keishara's turn

[Darius]

Keishara

Not wanting to harm anyone other than the wolven foes, Keishara concentrates and reaches into her belt pouch for some of the chips of jade. She incants the words of magic and she activates the glove she wears. She feels more powerful as she sculpts the spell have it fall on the squares containing her foes. As the last word is spoken, a soft rumble is heard.

ooc:

using arcanists glove to boost spell up 2, casting sculpted hail stones to fall on her foes.

[roll0]

She is ready to jaunt away if need be.

[Ilriyn]

Reaching into her pouch for the requisite chips of jade, Keishara incants a carefully sculpted spell. As she finishes the spell, a huge mass of rocks tumbles through the roof down on to the two werewolves. The smaller werewolf is hit by a particularly large rock and falls unconscious to the ground. The larger wolf whimpers as he tries to shield his head.

Shifting his stance, Veil senses an opening in his opponent's defenses. Slashing his sword in a brilliant arc, he cuts deep into the beast. The second werewolf also falls senseless to the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Round 1 over, combat terminated

Continue on however you please.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keishara's attack rolls
They are for Hail of Stone, as you forgot them in your post. Please correct me if I did anything wrong.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[CWater]

Seeing that the fight is over, Eviva lowers her crossbow and takes a more relax standing. "Well, those two'll unlikely cause any more harm."

And I'm going to take a look around. She adds to herself. The bells say the towns under attack, I wonder what's up..

Unless anyone tries to stop her, Eviva moves to the door and out to the street.

[Grendus]

"Stop!" he says, swinging his hand towards Eviva. "If there are more out there, we should leave as a group."

Veil wipes his blade clean on a patch of the werewolf's fur, then reattaches his veil and turns to the armed men. "Thank you for the help. I'm not sure we have met," he says, extending his hand. "I'm Veil."

[Darius]

Keishara

The magess thinks to herself, I should go with these two. It is better for them to be a snack for the lycans than I. She pipes up, "Without my help, you will perish. Not that I really care, but I would like to see it for myself."

[CWater]

Eviva stops and turns. She sighs, "Okay then, but make it fast. I want to know what's going on."

[Ilriyn]

The armored man gruffly shakes Veil's hand, returning your greeting before hurrying over to the bleeding man on the ground.

The door opens into a scene of chaos. Men are running towards the walls, while women and children flee the opposite direction, towards the keep in the center of the city. Looking down the street, you see a snarling werewolf fall under the weight of blacksmith hammers and farmer's scythes. The ground around him is littered with the bleeding bodies of his companions and the villagers they mauled.

A member of the town guard comes rushing down the street. He pauses only to say "Hurry up you laggards! Get to the walls!" before resuming his frantic pace.

[Grendus]

Veil sighs, grabbing a cloth napkin off a nearby table and wrapping it around the bite marks on his left arm. "I should have become a ranger, city life is too dangerous," he grumbles, walking back to his table. He takes a final drink of his ale before heading to the door.

"Let's go," he says simply, the wit gone out of his voice. This was too much like the last town, he was sick of it.

[Darius]

Keishara

Keishara sighs heavily and walks at her pace to the walls.

[CWater]

Eviva steps out to the evening. The chaos intrigues her, but she chooses to stay close Veil and the other warriors. Who knows, it might be good for her own safety too.

OOC question: How dark it is outside? Can you still see well with Low-Light vision?

[Grendus]

Since there's a full moon, I'm guessing the elves low-light vision will be able to see comfortably at night. Even human eyes are good in the full moon.