(3.5) In the Shadow - (IC)

[Jamini]

Gong!

The bronze bell at the top of the needle-like tower in the center of the Dwarven town of Brilla Oldtown rang out. As it did, the first rays of the sun shone under the upper western entrance to the cavern, casting long shadows across the distinguished worked limestone. The white buildings shone a faint red as the sun slowly dipped towards the horizen behind the two sturdy watchtowers that flanked the Inner gate.

Gong!

Just outside of the cavern several worn wooden buildings, many little more than haphazardly-built shacks, groaned as an westerly wind blew down from the Acid Hills to the east. Brown flecks of dried-out silt and grainy sand flowing freely through the dirt streets of hastily-constructed suburbs of Brilla Newtown before slipping between the narrow gaps in the nearby palisade.

Gong!

Young children played ball through the streets of oldtown; a wide variety of races that six years ago, before some of them were born and any of them could remember, would have been mortal enemies. Tall and short; skin, scales, or fur, all most of them knew was life in Brilla as it was today.

For a moment a skinny goblin paused to re-wrap the rags that substituted as shoes for his feet. As he straightened his back his ears perked up, almost as a dog's would, and shouted in joy to his companions before racing towards the back of the cavern.

Gong!

Wary, gritty faces emerged from the wide double doors behind Oldtown Brilla, the field hands returning with that season's harvest. Behind them they dragged a long cart filled with mushrooms as tall as a dwarf and broader by half. While few could bring themselves to smile, a sense of satisfaction was eminent on every face as a pair of well-dressed dwarven officials closed the gates behind them.

Gong!

The central square of Oldtown buzzed with people as the harvest cart majestically rolled in, the family of most of the workers dashing forward to embrace their loved ones. The remainder of the crowd cheered and laughed heartily. Everyone had with them a small basket or bucket, patiently awaiting the division of that day's harvest.

Gong!

A small contingent of stocky dwarves, dressed in finely tailored blue clothes, detached themselves from the crowd. Their finely bejeweled fingers and faces glittering a pale red as they approached. Nobility, all of them; none of them carried a basket, bucket, or tray. They approached the cart filled with the fresh harvest and smiled, their straight white teeth glittering almost as much as their jewelery (and indeed, more than one had a shining golden or silver tooth) as their leader walked to the front of the cart and stopped.

"A Feast to this years harvest! A feast for free Brilla!"

Gong!

The seventh bell rang, and then went silent over the cheering crowd. The dwarven nobility stepped away, carefully giving instructions to the bearers of the cart to where the food would be distributed.


Nearly everyone in the city is here, in the central square of Oldtown Brilla, covered above by a ceiling of solid rock, and with the only open-air entrance to the city to the west past the gates and the majority of the city.

This is where we begin.

(Happy Solstice Everyone!)

[Obscurejones]

Jameson yawns awake at the sound of the gongs. Checks the sword lying by his narrow cot and goes to his meager closet to get his armor. Gets dressed and then pulls a light tunic over the armor. Heads out through the window and up onto his roof. Gazes out over the city.

... Now, where would a hero go to get drunk?

Knowledge Local check[roll0]

[zmasterofjersey]

Ory always wakes up early as always to get an early start to his cleaning work day, but seeing as he has not been in Brilla for long, Ory was surprised as the bells rang and people flocked through the streets toward the noise. He assumed it was some sort of celebration and thought to himself, "Great, big parties mean messy clean-ups...." He walks toward the celebration either way and leaves his broom behind in front of Ol Jesse''s house. He then walks to maybe enjoy himself for the day before the undoubtedly messy clean up that will follow.

[Jjeinn-tae]

He'd been waiting for this, an excuse to get some fresh air by the entrance of good old Brilla Oldtown. Or "by" as in as close to the outside as he dared possible, he hadn't ventured outside much since "they" attempted to recruit him, hopefully in the crowd they wouldn't find him if they changed their mind.

Cael was at the site of the celebration, before the celebration, heading out right after trance, he had nothing better to do. He spent his time looking around the entrance, creating very minor globes of light with prestidigitation to have something to do.

Following the cart to town square, he looks around for someone he knows.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Awakes from his slumber atop a hidden, out-of-the-way, secluded section of one of the city's roofs. He stretches, fishes some leaves out from the back of his shirt and takes his pack out from a hidden niche behind a chimney.

Bery counts the gold in his pockets (not enough), the food in his pack (none), and his lucky stars (409, if it was going to be a clear night). He grins thoughtfully, and slips a ring onto his finger.

"Now, where would one go to loot a drunk hero...?"

[roll0] Knowledge (Local), if it were necessary for a resident as stubbornly permanent as Bery.

[userpay]

Kinleth sits on a few crates near the central square, quietly enjoying the last rays of the sun and the sight of children playing. When the gonging and flow of people starts up she perks up, curious. As the cart comes into view and passes though she settles back into her seat.

"Best to wait till the end, no sense taking the rightful food of the residents."

[Exthalion]

Just prior to the festivities a slightly built human was still bent over a sheet of parchment. A few scuff marks showed where he had made an error and been forced to scrape that portion clean.

A most distinguished looking dwarf in blue with a finely combed and tightly braided gray beard glanced in as he passed the outer door.

"Lad, you don't need to work till yer eyes be shot just tah earn yer bread. Git on, yer fam'ly be missing ya I expect."

With a start the young man look up, "Uzbad White Iron, I... am sorry. The time got away from me."

Standing up with an audible cracking of his back the human walked over and held out the sheet he had been working on.

"Here are those allocation schedules you suggested. Food might get a little tight but we should have enough, assuming we aren't involved in anything too major."

The dwarf was a little shocked while he looked over the figures on the page. "Laddy, when did ya have time ta do this? I hardly mentioned it yest'rday. Yer work'kin too hard Lad. Now git 'for ya get some daft idea like sorting the archives."

Putting on his cloak against the coming chill Bairn made his way from the clan hold to the outside. Along the way he saw his brother among the returning workers.

As he made his way over, through the cheering crowd Derick noticed him and soon his big brothers much larger arm was over his shoulder.

"So, the prodigal returns. Well, at least you haven't turned into a dwarf on us. Your nephew was starting to thing so with all the time you spend underground."

"How is little Andrew? And Mother and Father? Do they still get my letters?"

"Aye, they did. Mum still would rather have her son then the silver you slip in with them. My littleuns are fine, as are Geney's and Alice's. They miss there uncle though. Markus has a head for number like you did at his age. I was hoping... that is if your job ain't too busy, if you might teach him to figure and start teaching um readin and writin again. All of the younguns miss it, Shelly does to, wants her children to be like you, scholars and learned and such."

"I... am sorry. I was a little lost in work. I wanted so hard to make sure all of you were okay, that you had enough. I didn't mean... I would love to start teaching them again."

"Fret not brother, but I tell ya, a mountain a silver ain't worth a brother, and thats a fact. Now, enough of this mopin and moanin! Tonights a night for fun!"

With that they had reached the square and both brother went to join their family where many hugs and warm greetings were exchanged.

[Soilborn]

The sun peeked around the storefront on the corner of one of Brilla Oldtown’s less prominent commercial roads, and Elithan had to shade his eyes from the sudden glare. For a few moments he had only his ears to guide him through the sparsely-populated street. The sound of children’s laughter drew close as he strolled onward in the general direction of the town’s square.

A sudden impact, light and harmless, yet unexpected tapped against his foot to the halt of the children’s chatter. Looking down through dazzled eyes Elithan spies a simple ball, and beyond a mixed bag of younglings. Humans, dwarves, a goblin, a kobold, and what looked like a lycanthrope filled their ranks, all staring at him in anticipation. An impulse bubbled up from within: kick the ball with all your might! No, no, that would not do. Surely it would ruin their game, and perhaps even the ball. Still, with decades of martial practice, surely it wouldn’t hurt to show off. Something to impress the little ones, a small flourish...

With the tap of a toe and a warm smile the ball rolled tamely back to the younglings and the game began anew. With gleeful yells they swarmed around and passed the elf as he carried on his way. A few blocks onward he heard the ceasing of the bells and cheering of a crowd. The festival had started without him it seemed. No matter, it would be a while yet before he arrived. Many a family in town no doubt had needs greater than he and were more than welcome to the finer selections of the harvest.


The square was completely swamped with a chaotic mass of bodies. Elithan would have to wait his turn; indeed, his tardiness would no doubt score him some of the root-side morsels of the crop, but so be it. He could feel the claustrophobia simply by gazing upon the crowd. Heads bobbed in and out of view making finding faces he recognized difficult.

His coworker Argal’s goliath stature made him and his family easy to pick out, and Coryfold stood with his wife nearer to the carts, her belly swollen with what Elithan had heard is expected to be a large clutch. Nearby clustered the Webb family, one of whose houses Elithan had helped build, though he wasn’t sure which members lived there. A few floating orbs of light in the air gave away the position of Cael, who would have otherwise passed unnoticed among the crowd.

With a sigh Elithan lingered about the perimeter. His stomach let out a low growl as he watched the crowd, trying to pick out more faces he could recognize.

[Jamini]

In such a short amount of time that one could assume it was already planned, the central Brilla Square swiftly turns into a festival scene. Stalls begin to form, almost by magic, lining the edges of the streets. Their owners hawking their wares at any passerby. On the west edge of the square a small wooden stage is marked off. A handful of inhabitants, two dwarves with fiddles, a kobold carrying a large drum, and a confused-looking elven woman with a set of pan pipes quickly gather together and strike up a merry, if haphazard, tune. Soon most of the partygoers in that area are dancing and cheering.

On the east side of the square the dwarven officials have gathered around the first harvest cart, carefully counting and doling out rations to people as they pass by. The tallest of them gently shakes his head as he dutifully makes marks in a small book in his hands, whispering softly to the others. Down the road to the underground farms you can see more wagons slowly making their way to the square, the people pulling them wary, yet happy.


Jameson and Bery

Knowlage Local DC 10

Normally to get drunk you would go to "Dover's", an ale house in Newtown that most of the non-dwarven population frequent. It's also the best-constructed and one of the better tended buildings in Newtown. In Oldtown most of the dwarves, and a few brave souls with particular disregard for their livers, would go to The Plump Helmet.

DC 15

Today however is the first day of the harvest, and you both know neither barkeep would be in. Rather, they'll probably be in the town square in Oldtown Brilla, setting up booths to sell liquor just close enough together so that they can shout catcalls at each other, but just far enough that their preferred patrons can't throw mugs at each other. This is known as Karlug Net Tor, a dwarven phrase which roughly translates as "Proper stein distance during a party."

DC 20

Oddly enough, a few goblins are also mixed in the food and drink stalls, selling their own potent brews.



Ory
You have just entered the west entrance of the square, you notice an unfamiliar female halfling on a bench to your right who is watching, but not participating in, the party. There are not that many halflings in Brilla, and you thought you knew them all.

Cael
You are following the cart from the mines I take it? Your by the east entrance to the square, behind the Dwarven officials. More carts are coming up behind you, dragged by fieldworkers. They do not seem to notice you.

Across the square you see Elithan, an Elven priest and carpenter whom you are acquainted. He is looking at the carts quite hungrly.

Kinleth
You are sitting in the western section of the square. Not far from you a wild dance has sprung up around the four performers. The elf playing the pan pipes is clearly the most skilled of the four, followed by the kobold. The Dwarves play with more vigor than skill, but it's passable.

You notice a somewhat handsome halfling man looking at you as he enters the square along the west street. He's only the second halfling you've seen in town, despite the large variety of refugees. He looks very young to you, probably not much over thirty at most.


Bairn
"Bairn? Bairn!" A female voice sounds out as a slender young woman cuts through the crowd. Bairn hardly has a minute to look before the form of young Emilia Saulhorn leaped onto his shoulders, embracing him warmly. She spoke quickly, not allowing anyone to get a word in edgewise, "Bairn! You made it! we thought you were going to work all night. Marion will be so happy that you're here. Just hold on, let me see if I can get you fixed all up." The sixteen something quickly disentangled herself from Bairn and began adjusting his clothes, heedless of the stares earned from the people around them.

Derick laughed at his brother's plight. He reached down to his waist and taking a large swing from the water-skin that hung there as he watched the sixteen-something girl work her charms on his brother.

Elithan
I've got nuffin. :P

Cael seems to have noticed you in return. He's currently behind the Dwarven officials who are distributing counting and distributing food. You notice that he's getting a few odd looks from the workers, most of which he seems oblivious of.

((Just a heads up, very soon we will be getting to some fighting and the main plot. I just want to make sure that everyone has a good chance to get themselves established at the party first. Feel free to talk to each other if you get a chance, this will be a good opportunity to develop your character's personalities a bit more. Given how long combat takes, I'd suggest you make the most of it.))

[Obscurejones]

Jameson ducks back into the house for a moment to grab his sword. Once it's firmly fixed on his back he heads for the square, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Once he's at the square proper he looks for a low roof and jumps to ground. He begins to head to Dover's stall. Checks his pockets. Frowns. Begins looking for an easy mark to snatch some coins off of.

[Jjeinn-tae]

On noticing Elithan, Cael dispels his little cluster of lights, readjusts his sword tie at his waist, and makes a beeline towards his fellow elf. He in a a gait that just seems too clumsy to be from an elf, which is only worsened by the crowded square.

"Elithan, my elven friend. Fancy seeing you here and not by the carts, I could see your hungry look across the square." Cael gives off a smile, hopefully letting off that he is in jest.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Takes a deep breath of the stale evening air, and then sets to work on the roof. He takes out a piece of his chalk, and puts it in his pocket for ease of access.

Then he whips out his disguise kit and does some quick work to his features. A thickening of the lashes and brow. A sudden excess of neat fuzz above and below the lip, noticeable but not describable as a mustache or beard. Some pale scars on the back of his right hand. Teeth are yellowed slightly. A look of nonchalant seriousness invades his grin, and immediately captures the area. When his mouth opens, foreign sound escapes. His rapier is buckled to his other hip.

((Do I need to make a Disguise Check? Or is it made in secret?))

Bery Sirius then slips from his rooftop abode down to the alleys, and makes a beeline for the festivities in a new, confident stride.

"Let's see what today has in store."

[userpay]

Glancing away from the party a grin grows on Kinleth's face as she spies the halfling within the crowd. With ease born of training she rolls off the stack of crates and walks towards the man in one motion, obviously intent on speaking.

"Hail and well met good sir." She says drawing near. "Mayhap you live around here about?"

[Soilborn]

Cael’s smile was returned with modest gusto. The brown haired elf was a good head shorter than Elithan, and the taller elf couldn’t help but feel a tad uneasy around the other. He stuffed those feelings down however; the two were kin despite their differences. The workers’ glances of suspicion were understandable, but if magic was Cael’s forte than what wrong did he have in practicing his craft?

“Not at all. The order of service is the first to come is the first to serve, and I was hardly first to come. If you’d be so kind however, some ale to help smooth the wait would be a keen idea. My treat.” Elithan palms 8 copper, enough for two mugs between them, but his sure-footed posture clearly implies his unwillingness to leave the queue.

Edit: (Ugh. Lime is ugly on this background)

[Jjeinn-tae]

Cael, in a rare instance of catching subtlety pertaining to anyone but himself gives a nod as he eagerly takes the mug from Elithan. He takes a quick sip, and raises his mug, saying probably a little louder than required: "Thank you, Elithan."

Then he quickly turns around and heads for the carts.


DM:
Cael walks up to one of the dwarves dividing the rations up. "My friend over there is afraid of the crowd, can I get food for the both of us?"

[zmasterofjersey]

Being ambushed with a hello, Ory is both impressed and surprised at the same time. Although the accent is a little strange, Ory did make out what she was saying and responded in kind. Ory claps as he begins to speak.

"Very impressive footwork, and yes I live with Ol' Jesse about a dozen or so houses away from here. My name is Ory by the way, whats yours?"

[userpay]

"Kinleth, Kinleth Quickfoot. A pleasure to meet you." She turns and gazes over the crowd, well as best as one whose only waist high to many of them can. "Are there not many halflings in these parts? Of late I'm a traveler and I've seen few of our folk in the nearby lands."

[Jamini]

Bery
Feel free to roll your own disguise checks. It's not hard to tell if a disguise is a poor one, just look in a mirror or ask a friend to tell you how you look. However, every time you re-roll a disguise check for the same disguise in the same day I'm going to tack on a -2 penalty unless you spend at least an hour cleaning your face of all makeup.

Cael

The stern dwarven woman in charge of the ration distribution stares down at you, her beadlike eyes glaring at you as if you were a small insect as she places large strips cut from the massive flat mushroom into the baskets of the nearby residents. Around her the other distributers are busy working more strips of the large fungi free.

"Yer name?" She asks brusquely, tapping her foot impatiently while she fills the basket of her current customer.

[Jjeinn-tae]

Cael can be seen talking with the head dwarf of ration distribution. She seems to make him uneasy to say the least.


DM
"Uh, my name's Cael, Cael Anon. My friend's name is Elithan Kaeskali."

[Jamini]

The dwarven woman Cael is talking with taps her foot impatiantly as she tends to a long line of citizens. The citizens all are very polite and seem slightly intimidated. The line is single file and perfectly straight. As Cael talks to her they mutter softly to each other, an edge of fear in their voice.

Cael


The Dwarven woman stares at you, as if waiting for you to say something more. In the line in front of you a small human woman stiffly approaches the counter and places a few coins on the counter.

"Two helmets and a sproggin please." she asks before sliding to the side where a male assistant stands, carefully watching her with a cool expression. The Dwarven distributer stares at her a minute, before placing the requested rations in a basket and handing them to her assistant, who then hands them to the woman. Afterwards the woman promptly replies, "Thank you." and leaves.

[zmasterofjersey]

"No, not many halflings in these parts, but there are some here and there. Ory then begins look where she looks before turning back and replying, "It's a pleasure to meet you as well."

[Soilborn]

Due mainly to the dwarves' efficiency the line had moved at a brisk pace and Elithan's turn was swiftly coming up. So close was he that he could inform Cael of his progress with a slight tapping on the shoulder from behind.

"One cap if you'd be so kind," he asks politely of the dwarf tally-keeper, placing the requisite money upon the table.

((how much is a cap so I can subtract it from my total?))

[Obscurejones]

Jameson mills through the crowds still looking for that perfect mark. Wealthy... Unfocused.... Definitely a spell caster if he can manage it.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Takes to the festival, perhaps a little later than everyone else. He'll be looking for somebody rich, preferably nearby to something edible.

[Exthalion]

"Emi... Emilia! I, what I mean is, its good too see you of course..." The usually stoic expression on Bairn's face had morphed to something halfway between embarrassed and surprised, and not accustom to either.

Oh Bairn! You really need to get out more. It's been ages since you were home for dinner. Oh... a slightly wistful look appeared in her eye, Bairn, would you say that thing you used to say to me? Back by the river that night, before all this started?

"Well yes, of course... Ah! like gold fall the leaves in the wind,"

"No! no!, not in common, the original." As if realizing how demaning all this might have come across she added, "If you don't mind, that is." Her checkes were a little red but Bairn really didn't notice either way.

Ai! laurië lantar lassi súrinen,
yéni únótimë ve rámar aldaron!
Yéni ve lintë yuldar avánier
mi oromardi lissë-miruvóreva
Andúnë pella, Vardo tellumar
nu luini yassen tintilar i eleni
ómaryo airetári-lírinen.

Sí man i yulma nin enquantuva?

An sí Tintallë Varda Oiolossëo
ve fanyar máryat Elentári ortanë
ar ilyë tier undulávë lumbulë
ar sindanóriello caita mornië
i falmalinnar imbë met,
ar hísië untúpa Calaciryo míri oialë.
Sí vanwa ná, Rómello vanwa, Valimar!
Namárië! Nai hiruvalyë Valimar!
Nai elyë hiruva! Namárië!

In the Elvish he had learned from his mother Bairn spoke, a poem from older days that had only become more poignant in the recent tragedies. A few of the nearby Elves had melancholy looks in there eyes.

With Derick laughing all the harder the three made there way to the rest of the family where just a little too hard back slaps, airway restricting hugs, and all the other rituals of family were carried out.

Though a little flustered as he always was, Bairn enjoyed himself.

[Jjeinn-tae]

DM:
Cael laughs a bit at the situation. "Oh, silly me I forgot that part. I'll take four helmets and two sproggin please. What's that come to?"

[Jamini]

Quite suddenly, the ceiling above you rumbles. Dozens of small conglomerate pebbles rain from the sky onto the gathering. At first it feels like an earthquake, although this region has never experienced one in any of your memories.

Then, before any of you can react, a large boulder falls from the cavern ceiling directly into the center of the festival. Dust flies out and floods the entire cavern, blinding all of you and making it difficult to breathe. As you struggle to gain your bearings a loud female voice accompanied by a shaft of brilliant light rings out from above.

"Casper! You overdid it!"

"Natalie, shut up." A young-sounding male replies, his voice similarly enhanced, slowly the dust begins to clear, and you can make out three figures standing high above you, silhouetted in a wide hole in the top of the cavern. "Listen up, worms. We're back, your masters from the Emerald Gate. Don't you remember your deal with us Brilla? We're back, earth-crawlers. You owe us from back then, so come peacefully or else we might have to actually hurt you."

* * *

Everyone:

You are currently standing in the town square. The dust in the upper regions of the cavern have settled, particularly around the tops of the two tallest buildings in Oldtown Brilla, but near the floor everything has three-fourths concealment. It's difficult to breathe, but you can manage it despite how uncomfortable it is. A large chunk of the ceiling has fallen into the square, through which you can see three persons who claim to be wizards from The Emerald Gate.

The people around you are visibly panicking, and you don't know how many injured are underneath the rubble. None of you were injured by the cave-in.

[Obscurejones]

Jameson hunkers low in the dust and moves towards the fallen boulder, looking for survivors who aren't too far gone to save. He'll add these to the list of the Emerald Gate's crimes, but he knows better than to try and attack the sort of people who collapse ceilings directly.
Hide [roll0]
Move Silently[roll1]
Initiative, if applicable [roll2]

[Exthalion]

Glancing around quickly Bairn noticed most of his extended family seemed to be all right. The 'clan' had gathered off to one side of the square to catch up and had survived the bolder unscathed.

Bairn's father was speaking in a loud whisper, ordering everyone to keep together. Catching Erick's eye he made his way through a gaggle of his neices and nephews and replied in the same loud whisper.

"We can hide in the clanhold's archives. The lower caverns go deep and the way is twisting."

Seeing the sense in this his father told his wife and sons who told their spouses and children. Bairn made his way to the head of the impromptu gathering, making certain to lead everyone in the right direction. Along the way they picked up Amelia and at least a portion of her family.

Deal with the Emerald Gate? Sigh, almost certainly for protection in exchange for new recruits. No wonder they haven't revealed it, it would cause everyone to scatter.

The going was slow, and some of the smaller children had to be carried. This wasn't the first time the whole family had had to get to cover quickly though, so the adults knew what to do. Rolph's young daughter was getting heavier in Bairn's estimation. He remembered the last time he had carried her like this. Had it been years now? Since those days?

Then again, there are two other options. Either the Gate Mages, if indeed they are such, are fabricating this 'deal' or the purpose of Brilla was as a trap. The first can be removed easily enough, they have no reason to lie save their own arrogance. The second is not contradictory with the simple reading.

The Gate may be stupid, but it isn't ignorant. Also, it would fit with the observed facts. So the question becomes one of Dwarven morality, which may tend to clannishness over objective values, and of Gate diplomacy, which is essentually none existent.

Seeing the gate through the dust Bairn entered and ushered his family inside. Out of the dust the air was easier to breath and see through. He led them deep into the Earth, beneath even the level of the mines, to some of the oldest stories of Clan White Iron. Once everyone was settled Bairn set off on his own, back up. Dwarves were many things, and traditional was one of them. Unless they had done something truly shameful, it would be in the archives.

Knowledge History [roll0] I suppose I might get a bonus of some kind for being familiar with the Archives and a penalty for trying to do it somewhat quickly.

[userpay]

Kinleth's eyes become slits as the dust billows out from the point of impact, frowning as she listens to their little speech "A deal eh? And does collapsing part of these poor peoples homes have anything to do with said deal? Surely you could have come through the gates like the rest of us, less damage that way. Mayhap for those of us new here could you come down and enlighten us to this deal of yours?" That said she immediately begins moving, counting on the dust to keep her hidden and safe from retaliation.
hide
[roll0]
move silently
[roll1]
init if needed soon
[roll2]
How high up are the three figure and is the rubble high enough to get to them easily?

[Soilborn]

The initial surprise of the fallen boulder caught Elithan off guard, but his bearings were quick to return. He listened intently to the voices that boomed down from above, mentally caressing every word, every intonation.

A deal with the Emerald Gate? He would muse over such later, but this murderous entrance was a rancid way to treat another who’d willingly partaken in a deal. What’s more, in his surprise Elithan had discarded his mug of ale; somewhere hidden deep inside a part of him howled for vengeance, but he knew better. He alone stood little chance against a single Emerald Gate mage, much less 3. His best bet would be to retreat for now, perhaps try to find a way out of Brilla.

He spots Bairn’s family through the rubble, the dust shifting them into a jumbled mass of bodies. Elithan had only ever spoken a few times with the human, and briefly at that, but safety and survival was best found in numbers.

A quick grasp of Cael’s shoulder, “This way.” Elithan strides purposefully after the quickly-fading family yet places a bit of stealth in his step; he’ll move faster if need be. The rock was no doubt merely the beginning of the wizards’ shock and awe attempts and he would not allow himself to be caught off-guard. His hands draw beneath his unassuming vest, producing a pair of daggers. With a twirl of a blade and two fingers to the ground his waning shadow darkened and writhed, ready to spring up in a concealing wall at a hair trigger.

As Elithan progressed his began to speculate upon the events that were unfolding about him, clawing at his memory for some recollection about a deal between Brilla and the Emerald Gate.

((I think I broke the dice roller. :smallconfused:))
Hide, -5 for movement speed 1d20+2[17]
Initiative if needed 1d20+5[23]
Knowledge local or history for the Emerald Gate deal 1d20[3]

Shifting shadows is Child of Shadow stance assumed.


Edit: transferring numbers, coloring text, clarifying actions.

[Jjeinn-tae]

Cael takes a quick look around after the fall of the boulder, seeing if there is in fact a way up to these mages, and if any of them have a weapon with a shaft suitable for backbiter.

At Elithan's word Cael begins to follow him, with a slight hesitation as he briefly considered to cast a spell. "No... that wouldn't be a good idea, not yet," he mutters under his breath. Trying to follow Elithan's lead as well as he can, Cael quietly speaks. "Any ideas here? We can hide for a bit, but they're mages; they'll find us eventually."


Spot for the initial look around. [roll0] I don't know what penalties I'd have due to not knowing distance.

Hide Cael tries to follow along as Elithan, not as well of course. -5 for speed. [roll1]

[zmasterofjersey]

The boulder demolishing the ceiling into dust and then hitting the ground with earth-shattering power, kicking up an almost blinding cloud of dust that is like an incredible haze that blankets the cavern. Ory squints to protect his eyes while not going completely blind.

As he sees his new acquaintance dart away, he decides to follow suit and keep up with her, but staying about 10 feet away so he can remain some sort of stealth while still being able to see Kinleth." Not for nothin miss, but do you know anythin about this deal?"

Knowing where this will eventually be turning, Ory pulls his belt off his waist and limps his wrists around stretching the muscles so he can be more accurate with his strikes. He then looks as best he can at the Emerald Gate, and the boulder under them for anything specific.

Spot, don't know any penalties that might apply especially from dust, but ill let you apply them. [roll0]

[Jamini]

Ory and Kinleth


The boulder is ten by ten by fifteen feet. The roof of the cavern is quite thick, and it probably required a decent blow in order to dislodge it. You can't see it well enough from here to tell how they dislodged it.

You can see there are three gate mages, but a combination of dust and poor light angle makes it impossible to tell more than that. They sound quite young though, hardly older than twenty at most.

The roof of the cavern is twenty feet up here, by the central square, and only ten feet up on the edges. There are two buildings in the square that are tall enough to reach the ceiling. The closest is around fifteen feet from the newly-made hole. Getting up there will not be easy, however it is possible.




Cael and Elithan

The boulder is ten by ten by fifteen feet. The roof of the cavern is quite thick, and it probably required a decent blow in order to dislodge it. You can't make out how they dislodged the boulder, it appears as if it had fallen on its own. You know that's impossible, since the cavern roof was solid stone prior to today.

You can see there are three gate mages, but a combination of dust and poor light angle makes it impossible to tell more than that. They sound quite young though, hardly older than twenty at most.


Bairn


You don't really have time to peruse the archives right now. There is an existential crisis on your hands, unfortunately. If your memory serves, as it usually does, you do recall that Brilla was at one time a member of the Emerald Gate. Originally it was a satellite town at the edge of the empire that produce little except limestone blocks and edible mushrooms. While it was profitable, it was only just. The Gate Archmage at the time even gave the town his blessing when it's mayor declared themselves an independent city-state.

In the last five years Brilla has not had any substantial outside contact. You would have noticed if the records showed any notable number of people mysteriously vanishing. They have not, if anything the population has been steadily increasing as refugees flood into the relatively safe cavern.


The archives themselves, while they do extend a little into the ground, are really not that deep or extensive. They likely could house your family, but there is no real way that any significant portion of the population could stay there. On the other hand, the farms cover at least three sub-levels and are extremely wide with lots of cover. If you are trying to run, they would be a far better choice.


Jameson

People are fleeing towards the archive building, which is in the eastern side of town (near the farms.)


***

The dust begins to settle, and the population of Brilla slowly regain their bearings. Around all of you a palpable sense of panic swiftly builds as the townfolk realize exactly who and what has appeared at their home. Many people begin to turn tail and flee, abandoning what tasks they had been doing to race away through the streets.

"Tch, Insects. They don't even have the decency to listen to my carefully prepared speech." The male wizard called Casper mutters as he watches the flurry of activity below, his foot impatiently tapping the ground. "Ah well, might as well get this over with."

As he speaks he waves forward with a hand. Around the three wizard several amorphous white shapes rise into the air, fluttering around in a twisting cloud. The air behind them appears to ripple and flap, the light in the western sky refracting against the white. On cue, they twist through the hole and descend, streaming down in wide torrents towards the town below.

Those of you who have not, please roll initiative. We will be using group initiative in the interest of keeping the game moving, which will be the average of your initiative rolls against the enemy's roll. You will have roughly one turn to prepare before the attackers are withing melee range.

[Obscurejones]

Jameson hears the line about insects and stops. Scolds himself mentally for trying to avoid the mages
Would Thokk the Foeweeper back away from a fight? Marlock the hunter? No! They'd stand and let the blaggards taste steel.
He stays low but tries to move into a better position to meet the mages as they land. Draws his sword.

[userpay]

Kinleth sighs in frustration as she reaches into her 'shirt'. "Unfortunately no, I was hoping the mages would shed light on such but doesn't seem that it'll happen just yet." With a flick of the wrist two glints of metal sail away from Kinleth towards the mages before she begins moving towards the building nearest to reaching the hole.
Probably not the brightest idea but using standard action to flurry two shurikens at the mages, preferably both on one mage. Not sure how much concealment they get so I'll just make the roll and you subtract the needed amount/roll concealment.
[roll0]
[roll1]
4 Damage per shuriken.
And knowledge rolls to try and identify whatever they just summoned.
arcane
[roll2]
nature
[roll3]
religion
[roll4]

[Jjeinn-tae]

Cael continues following Elithan for a bit, but noticing that the mages are attacking directly now, he draws his single-edged longsword, mutters something under his breath, and conjures three globes of wispy, emerald light, much brighter than before. The lights spread out in a triangle in the direction of the mages. "Sorry Elithan, I don't think hiding's an option right now."


Cast: Dancing Lights with them ending up close to me on the side of the boulder, spread into a triangle as far apart as they can get.

And draw my blade as a free action with my move

[Soilborn]

A silent curse escapes Elithan’s lips. Without a moment of assessment his companion had gone right onto the offensive. True, the wizards sounded young and likely had inexperience to match, and it was also true that they should be vanquished for the bedlam and death they were sowing upon the populace. But if what the one named Casper uttered was correct than they did represent the Emerald Gate. If word of their deaths at this town were to reach their masters, vengeance was bound to be swift and absolute. Too late for that now, he supposed.

Spinning on a heel Elithan rushes back to his elven ally as barely audible words escape his lips. “Lord of the inevitable, we know not to what end you see this battle. Our struggles are minute in your view. Please grant your faithful the power to meet their ends at a later time.” With the end of his chant the shortsword in his left hand gleams briefly with a barely perceptible silvery light.

At the same time his wavering shadow erupts to life, surrounding him with concealing darkness. He charges uncharacteristically straight toward his nearest foe, sheathing his other shortsword and fingering one of his several knives.

Divine Favor cast upon shortsword (+1 atk/dmg, 1 minute)
Child of Shadow active (Concealment 20%)

[Roc Ness]

[roll0] Initiative

Bery Sirius
Addresses the mages, grinning stupidly. "I think I speak for the whole of Brilla when I say I have no idea what you are talking about."

Bery draws his rapier and backs up Kinleth. "Gutsy li'l one, ain't ya? I s'ppose we play with 'em a bit." A flash of the arcane dances across his fingertips...

Readied action to cast Color Spray on any mage air-tunnel-thingie that comes within range. Takes care not to catch any non-mage in the cone of effect.

[Exthalion]

Perhaps a clause in the treaty for Gate protection. I wouldn't put it past them.

Running down to the farms, Derick led, being the most familiar. Bairn took up the rear, casting around, he tried to catch sight of a length of wood he could use as a staff or club. He took up the rear, hoping he might be able to at least slow down anything chasing after them.

"Derick, is there any other way out through the farms?"

[zmasterofjersey]

Lets see what they do next, before I do something I might regret.Ory thinks to himself as he proceeds to follow Kinleth, but still keeping his distance, he prepares to throw his dagger at the mages if they attempt to cast another spell.

[Jamini]

Oldtown Brilla Square, Round 1

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v115/Forrt191/Oldtown-Turn1.png?t=1293810089

- The mages are 20' above the boulder. FYI
- Two-story buildings are labeled

The white globs fly in torrents above the city, far too many for any one mage to have conjured, and stream down towards the citizens below. As they approach they become more distinct, a clear distinction forming between each individual glob as you struggle to identify exactly what it is. The creatures appear to be made of cloth, with no discernible head or sensory organs. From one end to another they look like animate sheets, rippling through the air like a feather.

Their speed however, leaves little time to contemplate their exact nature. The creatures dive into the cloud of dust, wrapping themselves viciously around many townsfolk. A particularly fat dwarven official is lifted off the ground several feet, his fat booted feet flailing out underneath the edge of his captor. Around each of you several of the sheets fall and advance.

Far above you hear some of the mages chanting something and then cursing, however you are too far out to make out the words. Whatever voice-enhancing magic they were using appears to be spent.

Alright, our first fight!

For the purpose of this fight, consider the top of the map as North.

Each of you are marked on my crappy little map. So have at it!

***

Ory
- Readied Action
+5 Attack
-8 to the roll for the range
20% miss chance from concealment
Opponent is flat-footed
[roll0]
[roll1] - 1-20 misses

Bairn
- Before Derick is able to respond he, and the rest of your small group, are set upon by a large number of the globs. Derick shoves you aside, struggling against the sheet that was destined for you. Around you most of your family are in a similar situation.

Bery
-Readied action

You prepare to cast color spray, but realize the spell would have no effect since your target has no eyes. The mages are too far away to hit with the spell.

Elithan
-You weren't quite able to charge directly into the sky. However this round you may move and make a full attack. You have an enemy five feet to the west, and one five feet to the north.

-Right now your child of shadow isn't going to have any effect because you are shrouded in dust. Once it settles it'll probably be a different story.

Cael
-You now have the mages bracketed in a triangle by your emerald lights, clearly illuminating your position. You also have two of the sheet things within spitting distance, should you wish to spit at them. (I'll let you do it as a free action even!)

Kinleth
- Your shurikens go extremely wide, you don't think your intended targets even realized you threw them.

Knowlage Rolls
Arcana: Magic users of all types have a variety of ways to make inanimate creatures animate. You've never heard of a spell to create this creature specifically, but it's not outside of bounds of possibility

Nature: These sheets are man-made. They look like Linen. Their movements as a whole are not like any creature you know of, though they ARE slightly reminiscent of snakes or fish.

Religion: These sheets do not appear to have any religious or spiritual use. Plain sheets are often used to cover altars in the chapels of good and neutral aligned gods however. (Most evil gods prefer red sheets to hide bloodstains, or black to accent them. It's widely recognized that evil deities have a better fashion sense than good deities.)


Jameson
The mages do not appear inclined to come down at all. The sheet monsters seem to want to play. En garde!

[Soilborn]

Sheets? Elithan followed a few with his eyes as they coalesced and began to tear about the town, wrapping themselves about whatever got near. So they were here to take hostages, most likely to reformat into soldiers for their little war. Based as it was upon speculation the thought still disgusted him.

These wraps of linen didn’t match any monsters he could identify, but Elithan somehow doubted a stab of a sword would do much good and he had put himself at a tactical disadvantage by drawing his swords prematurely. A sword and knife would have to do. The shortbow that lay unstrung against his back would be ideal for dealing with the mages. He would clear the immediately surrounding area long enough to find some temporary cover and string weapon.

The unclipping of a strap and the drawing of a blade, Elithan drew his dagger not a moment too soon. He gave his outstretched short sword a clever, disciplined twist and both weapons smoldered slightly. With a 5-foot step towards the nearest threatening sheet his arms spin in a broad vertical windmill, weapons trailing waves of fire.

Drawing dagger - move action
5-foot step - free action
Attacking with both weapons - full-round action

Child of Shadow benign (failure to move 10 feet.)
Burning Blade spent (weapons deal +1d6+1 fire damage until next turn.)

Dagger primary atk (+1 Divine Favor, +1 focus, -2 Two-hand fight) [roll0]
Concealment cancel (if applicable) [roll1]
Damage if hit [roll2] slash + [roll3] fire

Sword secondary atk (+1 Divine Favor, +1 focus, -2 Two-hand fight) [roll4]
Concealment cancel (if applicable) [roll5]
Damage if hit [roll6] pierce + [roll7] fire

[Jjeinn-tae]

Cael sidesteps into what would have been the direct path of Elithan to the sheet he didn't "charge" which puts him moving the opposite direction of Elithan either way. He spits on his target (because, why not?) and speaks to Elithan during his step. "Hopefully their as flammable as they look."

He then takes a two-handed grip on his longsword, left hand on top, and makes a diagonal strike against his sheet.

Five-foot-step to either south or east (opposite of Elithan).

Sword Strike: Standard Action,
Attack: [roll0]
Concealment: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit threat/damage[roll3][roll4]

Move action and Swift action unused.

[Exthalion]

In order of priorities, foremost is my family. These sheets appear to be magical, which means that this... should work

"Ah shadiah, morth maliah, ethiel morthunath masqilee forthath!"

Reaching into his robes Bairn pulled out a handful of fine sand. He spoke with ever rising inflection and volume while sand spilled slowly from his fingers. With the final word, he threw down the handful and silently prayed success.


Sleep
DC:14

[Obscurejones]

Jameson brings his sword around in a heavy two handed swing. He sweeps high, leaving his lower body largely uncovered but allowing his blade to move with deadly speed and swipe at both of the foes next to him.
Swift Action; Punishing Stance +1d6 damage -2 AC
Standard Action; Steel Wind
First Sheet
Attack [1d20+4]
Damage [1d20+4+1d6]
Second Sheet
Attack [1d20+4]
Damage [1d20+4+1d6]

[zmasterofjersey]

Seeing the sheets close in on him and Kinleth, Ory flings a dagger from his left wrist into his hand, steps to the north and attempts to fray the sheet before it attempts to capture him. He leaps with his dagger as if it was a huge sword as he attempts to slice it into ribbons.


Move Action:Drawing Dagger
Free Action, 5ft step north
Standard action, Attacking sheet with dagger.

[roll0] [roll1]

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
What the-? Great flying blankets? Now I've seen everything. Okay... I need something with a cutting edge, and something with fire, preferably both.

... Huh. That big guy has a pretty good cutting edge, shame if something captured him. Now, where's something with fire...

Abandoning spells, Bery moves 5 feet East and 5 feet North-East, into flanking position with the southernmost sheet that Jameson is fighting. Bery'll then proceed to be a nuisance for the sheet. With his rapier.

[roll0] Aid Another (+2 Flanking, Grant +2 to AC for Jameson)

If possible, he'll keep an eye out for something on fire, or at least something long and wooden that could be set aflame.

EDIT: If that sheet is too dead to be a threat, then Bery will annoy the other sheet. If both sheets are too dead, then Bery'll annoy the sheet that Ory is attacking.

Kinleth
Kinleth sighs in fustration again and turns her attention to the sheets in fornt of her. "Ory, it seems that these sheets are the creation of the Mages. They aren't actually alive in any real sense, but they would obey a Mage's orders. They could probably be stopped, to. She steps back (5-foot step, West) to fill the space Ory had been, then reaches inside her "shirt" for another shruiken, which is, in a flash of cold steel, hurled fast and sharp at the sheet monster 10 ft to the East.

[roll1] Attack (One Shruiken)
2 Damage (userpay noted in an earlier post that it was 4 damage per Shruiken, except I can't find anything other than 2 on Kinleth's sheet. :smallconfused:))

[Jamini]

Oldtown Brilla Square, Round 1

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v115/Forrt191/Oldtown-Turn2.png?t=1294126097

Elithan and Cael

Elithan darts forward, his spinning blades catching fire as they sail through the air. Two streams of smoke trail behind him as he lurches forward with fluid elven grace. The construct recoils as he swings his dagger low, just twisting away as the burning blade parts the air, and rolls directly into the path of the cleaver. The weapon tears directly through the sheet and sets it alight, the fire quickly turning a sickly green as it consumed the magic that animated the linen. Within seconds the linen 'creature' is nothing but ash.

A short distance away Cael steps to a side, spitting vehemently at the sheet as he lunges forward with his longsword in both hands. His target is quicker however, and twists out of the way just in time, causing the young elf to fall forward with the momentum of his blow. Quite suddenly he finds himself engulfed by the billowing construct, his arms pinned to his side as the cloth monster batters him with unexpected strength.


Elithan kills his target in one blow, because you used a fire attack your target's corpse is now quickly burning.

Cael missed his attack. The sheet counters with a slam attack that connects and subsequently grabs you with improved grab. Cael takes 2 damage from a bludgeoning source and is now grappling with his sheet.


Bairn

The sand flashes through the air, quickly vanishing into the settling dust cloud as Bairn chants his spell. An extremely thin web of ephrimental white strands appears to spring into existence around the sheet for a second. However the construct does not appear to be stopped, slowed, or affected at all by the spell. Without hesitating or mercy it lands and strikes a tendril at Bairn which he neatly dodges.

The sheet is mindless, and likely has no intelligence or constitution score to speak of. As most constructs are wot to have. It misses you with a 9 on it's slam attack in retaliation.

Bery and Jameson


As calm an the eye of a storm, Jameson's blade flies in a high arc almost too fast to be seen as it bisects the sheet to his east. A brief flash of light plays along the center of the creation as it bucks in reaction to the blow before falling to the ground in tatters.

Wasting no time, he followed the blow up with a second slash at the sheet monster to the south. However when he strikes his target is not there, his eyes instead focusing on a wide-eyed Bery who had been menacing the creature from behind with his rapier. A brief flash of confusion crosses Jameson's face as the strange man stabs directly at him.

Jameson braces for the blow, knowing that he could not dodge such a swift strike in this combat stance, however the expected pain did not come. Instead a high keening behind his shoulder alerted him to where Bery deflected the strike of the construct towards the ground, where the creature rolled on the dusty floor, the edge of it's body pinned to the ground by his blade.

Obscure, make sure you keep track of which maneuvers you expend.

Jameson's blow struck and destroyed the eastmost Sheet-Creature. However, even with flanking he did not hit the south one. Bery's Aid Another action granting +2 AC to Jameson was exactly what was needed for the later to avoid getting hit. Bravo on that move. You two now only have one target left.

The carts are wooden, and there are bits and pieces over by the stage that you probably could use to make torches if you had time. Right now you're attention is kind of distracted by the animated sheet that's twisting around your blade.



Ory and Kinleth

Kinleth's Shurikens went wide, skittering across the floor a few feet away as the sheet smoothly followed her towards the bank. She nimbly danced away as it lashed at her feet and arms, trying to batter her and gain purchase. At her side Ory fared little better. His dagger struck out in vicious arcs towards his assailant, keeping it at bay but earning no solid blows.

Ory missed, Kinleth Missed, Both sheets missed. I guess we all suck at rolling dice. :smallcool:

Oh, and the sheet that Kinleth attacked moves into the square she vacated.


The Battlefield

You realize quite suddenly, that the number of combatants in the central square has pared down significantly. Only half a dozen or so of the people who had been in the square during the attack are still standing or fighting. Around the square and lining the streets leading away from it you can see many twisting piles of the sheet monsters, quietly smothering the creatures held within. The few of them that have gone limp have begun to rise, carrying with them citizens of Brilla towards the gap in the ceiling. Including two members of Bairn's family.

Above the intonation of the mages has changed. Their chant continues, but the words are different. They sound strained, noxious, as if the throats of the casters were retching from the very words of the spell they were casting. Above you, you see thin streams of smoke pouring from the hole in the roof of the cavern.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Bery hastily hides his wide-eyedness with a quick grin and a wink at Jameson.

"Come good sir and step to your right! Odds tonight aren't getting better than this! How about another swing this night?"

Keeping the sheet creature carefully pinned by his rapier, Bery does a little twirl to his left (step 5ft West).

[roll0] Aid Another (+2 to Attack Rolls this time)

Kinleth
Annoyed, Kinleth sighs and turns to her fists to destroy the abomination. "We must act faster, people are being taken by the mages." She swings a single balled fist at the monstrousity with as much precision as could be afforded.

[roll1] Attack (Unnarmed Strike)
[roll2] Damage

[Obscurejones]

Jameson grins to see an ally in the fight and slides his feet into place.
A quick step and a quicker swing and with luck we'll have felled two of these thieving linens!
His eyes glaze blue for a moment as he concentrates on placing his next swing in just the right spot to cleave the second sheet in two.

Five Foot Step to Flank
Using Sapphire Nightmare Blade
Concentration check [roll0]
Attack Roll [roll1] with a -2 if the concentration check is lower than the sheet's ac and a +2 if Bery succeeds on his aid.
Damage [roll2]
Possible Sneak Attack damage [roll3]
Possible Sapphire Blade Damage [roll4]

[Jjeinn-tae]

Cael's sword drops to the ground as he begins struggling with the sheet. With a slight hesitation he begins trying to bring it to the ground in an attempt to pin it there.

Attempt to pin, standard action. [roll0]

[Soilborn]

Perhaps using Burning Blade so immediately was overkill. Even though only one blade struck home the combination of a deep slash and combustion had turned what was only seconds ago a sort of flying carpet into a pair of smoldering heaps. His friend however was not so lucky.

“Traako!” Elithan muttered under his breath. Cael’s assault had not worked in his favor, and the short elf was now struggling in the grip of a sheet. Wasting no time, Elithan steps over to the struggling pair and grabs at the top of the carpet with a few fingers of his sword hand, intent upon carefully cutting down the length of the carpet with his dagger so that Cael could escape with minimal damage.

Cutting Cael out - Full-round action.

I figure this would be an attack against a flat-footed opponent, though considering the fact that I'm trying not to injure the hostage underneath I would expect some penalties. I'm not EXACTLY sure how this would work, so I'm just going to roll my dice and see what happens.

Child of Shadow benign (failure to move 10 feet.)

Dagger primary atk (+1 Divine Favor, +1 focus) [roll0]
Damage if hit [roll1] slash

[Exthalion]

"Mindless, figures. May whoever listens to prayers answer this one, let me help my family."


Spent 1 Inspiration point to add my int bonus to my attack roll. 8 STR+18 INT =+3
[roll0]
Assuming I hit with my Quarterstaff I will spend another inspiration point to add my Int bonus to damage:
[roll1]

[zmasterofjersey]

How did I miss a freaking bedsheet.... Ory thought as he came down from his swing, and he decides to attempt another slash at the fabric enemy.

[roll0] [roll1]

[Jamini]

Oldtown Brilla Square Round 3

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v115/Forrt191/Oldtown-Turn3.png

Elithan and Cael

Thinking quickly despite his ringing head, Cael bodily grabs the sheet that has constricted him and pins it to the ground with his arms. The fabric monster struggles mightily, but is unable to escape. Elithan, seeing an opprotunity, draws his dagger and jumps into the grapple, shredding much of the sheet while his old friend holds it helpless.

The sheet fails to avoid and break the pin. It's still moving.

Bairn

With a quicksilver thurst Bairn impales the sheet on his staff. Before the monster can react it finds itself pinned to the ground. Using his greater weight to his advantage, Bairn keeps the monster pinned down under his staff with his left hand and grabs the edge of the monster with his right. He quickly finds a seam in the cloth and pulls with all his might. Within seconds the construct stops moving.

As he turns from the monster to the family a fearful sight fills his eyes. Only two of the original four tangles of cloth that had fallen on his family remained on the ground twisting. The others were gone!

It's dead Jim.

Bery and Jameson

The sheet struggles to free itself from the Rapier that pins it down, but already already it is too late. Jameson wastes no time in bearing down on the helpless construct, cutting it in twain just like the last one.

Yep, it's dead.

Ory and Kinleth

Rolling on his feet, Ory readjusts his aim and strikes true. His dagger tears a neat gash large enough for his shoulders through the construct. The sheet recoils from the blow, but continues advancing as if it has taken no damage.

It's damaged, not dead.

Kinsleth steps forward, her small fist lashing out at the sheet. However she misjudges the agility of the creature as she moves into melee and finds her hand swinging through empty air. She only has a split second to realize this error before the sheet counters with a mighty blow to her temple which sends her reeling as the construct begins to wind around her body.


Kinsleth is hit for 3 damage and is currently grappling her sheet.


****

The fighting in the square is beginning to die down. Even more of the sheet monsters begin to float back to the hole in the roof, their captives unconscious or dead. As the vast majority of you come out of combat, you realize that the chanting above has ceased.

Before the combatants could get a grasp on the situation, the noxious vapors that had been floating from the ceiling condense into a thick, choking fog that covers the floor. The smell of rotten eggs, old cabbage, and manure fills your nose and mouth, causing you to begin to retch uncontrollably.

Stinking Clouds, three of them, have been cast on the battlefield. Jameson, Bery, Bairn, Cael, and Elithan need to make fortitude saves or become nauseated. The stinking clouds are all marked.

Nauseated is a status effect that stops you from doing anything but making a single move in an action. For those of you in a grapple this could be problematic.

Ory and Kinleth were lucky, they chose to fight under cover where the mages could not quite see them.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Bery turns a shade greener than he could ever achieve with a disguise kit.

"M'kay, that is putrid. Smells like day-olds and tastes like bad mornings. The's should be rules against this stuff."

Bery dashes to the inn and yanks open the door, and motions frantically for the fellow with the sword to get in before the fog does. He'll shut the door as fast as possible once Jameson gets inside, or if Jameson shows no intentions of getting inside.

[Roc Ness]

Kinleth
Kinleth twists against her captor, trying to extricate herself from the folds.

[roll0] Escape Artist

[Obscurejones]

Jameson follow his new friend. Discretion had brought him to this town and he'd be cursed if a lack of it and a stinkbomb brought him low.
Move to follow Bery into the inn.

[Exthalion]

Coughing, Bairn struggled to regain his composure.

Not everyone can be saved. Either I risk myself and all their lives, or I do what I can for those I can still save. The solution is simple, but I can't help but hate myself for this. Someday, both of you will suffer for this.

Fort Save: [roll0]
Assuming that works I will attempt to coup de grace one of the sheets still near me holding a family member. If it is not helpless, then I will edit this.

[Soilborn]

Elithan watched as the cloud settled mere feet to his south. He could smell the pungent air with clarity and choked back the gagging sensation that lingered in the back of his throat.

“Cael, we need to get out of here.” His compatriot lie just within the fog with the sheet still pinned. Holding his breath Elithan reaches out for another slash of his dagger.

It appears that I am situated just outside of the cloud’s nauseating effect. I will roll a fort save anyway so that you have a number to work with if necessary.

Fort save [roll0]

Child of Shadow benign (failure to move 10 feet.)

I believe that Cael is holding the sheet helpless, so I’m attempting coup de grace. Making an attack roll in case I’m wrong. I’ve also been forgetting to add Divine Favor to my damage rolls. No biggie.

Attacking sheet – Standard action.
Dagger primary atk (+1 Divine Favor, +1 focus) [roll1]
Damage if hit (+1 Divine Favor) [roll2] slash

Assuming I defeat the sheet I’ll spend my move action helping Cael out of the putrid miasma, dragging him if need be.

[Jjeinn-tae]

Cael starts coughing in the cloud, the spell obviously taking effect. Since he had taken control of the grapple, Cael just stands up while grabbing his sword. He takes a step back to Elithan, still coughing.

Fortitude Save: 6 (From OOC)

Release from Pin: Free action
Pick up Sword: Move action
Five-Foot-Step North: Free action
Nauseous Coughing: Standard action... Don't ask why nausea would cause coughing... it seemed to fit better as the initial effect.

[zmasterofjersey]

Seeing his dagger slice up the sheet, but while it still was moving, Ory simply attacked again, hoping to finish it off quickly so he can help Kinleth.

[roll0] [roll1]

[Exthalion]

"My pain wrack their bodies and horror consume their souls. Let them fear as they have made others fear. May their power be broken before the sight of the whole world and may their misery never end. In all the world let them be without a single friend. Let their mouths hunger for bread and find none. May their lips be parched with thirst and no water be given to them. May their bodies be covered in sores and wounds and no one tend them. May their suffering never end, and their shame go up before all men."

Attack on the sheet nearest me.
[roll0] Since it is wrapped around someone I think it counts as pinned or helpless at least in so much as I am hitting it.

[Jamini]

Oldtown Brilla Square Round 4

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v115/Forrt191/BrillaTurn4.png

Bery and Jameson

Both Bery and Jameson dashed into the nearby tavern, coughing vigorously as trails of noxious fumes try to follow you inside. As Jameson clumsily scrambled inside Berry slamed the door shut and leaned on it to catch breath.

The Inn, like much of Oldtown Brilla, appears from the inside to have been carved from solid rock. A multitude of pretty engravings have been carved on the inside of the building, many of them relating to ale or alchol-related adverntures drawn up from dwarven history and mythology. Half a dozen long tables normally cross the room, with a bar at the far end. Behind the bar in the back there is a door to the wooden extension of the house where a number of refugees sleep and work for the innkeeper. You know from experiance that the upper floor is entirely devoted to a communal bedroom, containing at least a dozen beds for travellers.

Right now most of the tables have been upturned, their hard tops facing the western entrance to the building. The soft moans and cries of the patrons who had been inside and the few citizens who had fled inside is clearly audible. In the back is Mr. Barleybrew, the owner, who is currently pointing a crossbow at the two of you. Flanking him are two of the town guards, one holding a spear and the other a sword. Neither of them are wearing armor or in uniform.

Barleybrew shouts at Ber yand Jameson, "Don't ye move an inch!!"



Kinleth and Ory

Spared the assault of the stinkbombs Kinleth twists her body in a practiced fasion and slips free of the sheet. She manages to grab a handful of it and toss it to the ground before bouncing back to her feet.

The Sheet writhes for a second, then springs up unnaturrally quickly. This time however Kinleth is ready. All the grasping cloth tendrils grab are a few tiny threads of her sash as she spins away.

Ory however, was not so lucky. As he tries to duck under the sheet to land the finishing blow the monster spreads out wide, blasting out to it's full length and bowling him over into Kinleth. As the two of them tumble backwards his blade snares in the sheet and runs down its length, quickly causing the construct to go perfectly still.



Ory is Prone
Kinleth is Prone

Ory took 1 point of damage from the sheet before it died.



Bairn

Wasting no time Bairn strikes at one of the nearby struggling sheets with your hands and staff. The sheet seems to make no attempt to move as you tear it free, releasing the captive. Your mother rolls out of the sheet and climbs to her feet, her breast heaving and her eyes wide. With a quick thank you she races into the nearby city hall building.

No roll is necessary to free trapped citizens. The sheets seem to focus entirely on their prey once they have them ensnared, crushing the person until they fall unconscious or die. This only applies to sheets on civilians, not party members.

Cael and Elithan

Retching and coughing, both Cael and Elithan scramble away from the sheet as it lays flat, seemingly stunned. Both of them gasp desperately for clear air. In his scramble Cael makes a wide swing at the trapped monster, but fails to connect.

Elithan missed. Sorry, a 7 just isn't enough.

*********

Almost done. Let's clean them up so we can move on ne? This battle isn't over, but what you do after will affect a lot of things later on. No worries, there will be less combat-oriented stuff soon!

[Soilborn]

The noxious fumes were just too much for Elithan to handle and his attack against the sheet, even in its helpless state, had missed completely. Even though he stood just outside of the cloud his stomach churned from the stench. He covered his mouth and nose with a sleeve, his gaze drifted momentarily to his right, taking note of the wrapped hostage a mere ten feet away and another further to the west. Once this threat was out of the way he could focus on rescuing those he could.

He nodded in the direction of the trapped civilians for Cael’s benefit, not knowing if his companion had seen him or not. A few deep breaths to calm his system and he struck one last time at the simple bed sheet that had caused them so many problems, reaching just far enough inside the cloud to strike.

My nod is towards the two hostages in a straight line to my west. Once this sheet is polished off I intend to free these two, freeing the prisoners inside. Elithan sure as hell isn't going to go after the dude to his south-southeast until the cloud wears off. I figure these are the only three I have line of sight to except maybe the far western hostage at the dance floor, and that's a bit of a stretch.

I know it probably doesn’t matter, but if I somehow fall or get tripped into the cloud I’m going to give Jamini a number to work with.

Fort from cloud [roll0]

Child of Shadow benign (failure to move 10 feet.)

Attacking sheet with both weapons – Full-Round action.
Dagger primary atk (+1 Divine Favor, +1 focus, -2 two-hand attack) [roll1]
Damage if hit (+1 Divine Favor) [roll2] slash

Short Sword secondary atk (+1 Divine Favor, +1 focus, -2 two-hand attack) [roll3]
Damage if hit (+1 Divine Favor) [roll4] pierce

[Exthalion]

"May there be abundant peace from heaven, and good life, satisfaction, help, comfort, refuge, healing, redemption, forgiveness, atonement, relief, and salvation for us and for all His people Mordinium; and say, Amen. May He who makes peace in His high places grant in his mercy peace for us and for all his nation Mordinium; and say, Amen."

Part of the prayer for the dead. Though they might live, all who were taken were mourned as those lost forever. None returned, and it was accounted good. Better they be dead in the hearts of those who love them, then exposed as the monsters they would become.

Free whoever is in the sheet still near me.

[Obscurejones]

Coughing, Jameson raises a hand and gestures for the innkeep to lower his weapon.

Careful with your bolt thrower Barleybrew. We're just ducking in for a breath of air and we're on your side. Do you have anything in your pub that'd help with nausea? The mages have poisoned some of the air outside.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Coughs a bit, and waves at the air around him like a man pestered by a particularly evasive insect.

Then he focuses on Barleybrew and the crossbow, and pauses.

"Are you trying to rob us?"

[zmasterofjersey]

[S]Ory slams into Kinleth, feeling bad, but also relieved as he killed the sheet that attacked him, he crawls away from Kinleth, so he can freely stand. He slowly stands up, ready to assist Kinleth in killing the sheet.
Didn't notice the sheet, my bad.

Crawling 5 feet is a move action, taking a 2nd move action to stand up. I do incur an attack of opportunity for crawling within the sheet's threatened area.

[userpay]

Kinleth grins as one sheet is shredded but it quickly falls as she considers the second. With nothing else to lose she attempts to get back on her feet, throwing a sweeping kick followed by a fist at the rippling menace.
Not sure if tumble can play a part in standing without getting hit so I'll go ahead and roll that, then flurry.
tumble
[roll0]
flurry
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
And add 2 to damage if Arcane Hunter applies.

[Jjeinn-tae]

Cael staggers a bit now that he's out of the cloud, the slight blue tint to his skin exchanged with a slight green. "I don't think I'll be able to fight right now Elithan." In a rare instance of perception, Cael does notice Elithan's motion towards the captives, and decides that's something he can do while he recovers. Hobbling, Cael approaches the closest captive, and if he has the coordination remaining, tries to carefully cut the sheet off.

Outside of Stinking Cloud, duration set:[roll0]

Move 10ft West (moving behind Elithan): Move action
Attempt to free hostage: quite possibly standard action, which would mean he can't do it. If that's the case, he also takes a step north as part of his move.

[Jamini]

Oldtown Brilla Square: Round 5

The last of the two hostile sheets fall to the ground in tatters, sliced and torn to peices by the last of the valient heros who had defended the town center.

VICTORY I should include a link to a victory song.

Around you the noxious fog begins to dissipate. Most of you find you are able to breathe normally, except Elithan (who will be sick for another fifteen seconds or so.) Around you can still see some of the sheets wrapping themselves around various citizens. It's increadible how many of these things there are, more than enough to cover most of the town. Individually they seem quite weak, but many of the stronger citizens less fortunate than you have been swarmed by three or four at once. Above the chanting has resumed, this time the intonation vastly different than it was before.

Bairn

Bairn, with a vicious rip you free the next captive. Emillia falls out, her flowy pink dress spilling on the floor beneath her as she lands on the ground hard. At first her breathing is shallow, but as you look down to see if she is unhurt her eyes flicker open. "B..Bairn? Is that you? What happened..."

Her eyes are wide and her pupils dialated as she speaks. She looks around from side to side, her voice somewhat panicky in confusion. A second later she winces and moves her hand to her forhead, "Ow."

Bery and Jameson

Barleybrew and the town guards look at each other in response to Bery's question, and then suddenly laugh before lowering their weapons slightly. "No son, just being careful. These folks are taking refuge in here just like you, we heard the noise outside and people starting just running in. I didn't know what to expect, so I had Ran and Tam here upturn the tables and get everyone behind just in case."

"What's going on out there, you said Gate Mages?" He asked, his eyes narrowing.

Cael and Elithan
After a few seconds reaching Cael cuts the cloth free. A suprised dwarven guard wearing leathers and a chain shirt rolls out, his wicked short sword still in his scabbard. As the two of you regain your balance he spits out, "Huh? Ye freed me! I'm in your debt lads!" He spits out as he draws his blade,"I'll stick with ye for now, it looks like those mages are still casting something big. Names Onul, by the way."

[userpay]

"If only we could help them now..." Kinleth mutters looking around at the sheet wrapped people then up towards the renewed chanting. "But one must seal the mousehole to stop the mice." Kinleth leans out and throws the just palmed stars at the mages, trying to distract them from their spell.
One more time!
[roll0]
[roll1]
4 Damage if either hit.

[Obscurejones]

Looks like. They sent a bunch of sheets down to grab villagers and then poisoned the air when we tried to resist.
Jameson looks for a window he can glance out of.

[Jamini]

The room is windowless, the only egress is the door that the two of you just slammed shut. There are a few vents in the walls, but that is it.

[Obscurejones]

Jameson tries to peek out a vent.

[Jamini]

Jameson

You see the stone wall on other side of the vent shaft

You suspect that the vent problably has an outlet that isn't directly through the wall. Probably the surface. The vent is about the size of your outstreached hand.

The sounds of fighting have mostly ceased in the square.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Laughs with Barleybrew, Ran and Tam. "Yes, Gate Mages. I don't know what happened, one minute 'twas the festival, the next we were all skirmished by flying bedsheets. Ridiculous. We got rid of the ones outside of here, everybody could've made a break for it now if the Mage's hadn't filled the place with something putrid."

Bery notices that his new aquaintance is trying to spy for mice in the walls. "Say, your upstairs, does it have windows? We'd like to see what's happening outside. And if it's all the same, I'd like to borrow a crossbow too. I think I might be able to knock out any remaining sheets from here."

[Jamini]

Jameson and Bery

"Otch, Sorry lad. I've only got the one bow and she's mine. I wouldn't lend her to my firstborn son even if we weren't in the middle of a crisis. There are a few windows upstairs, not much more than arrow-slits really but enough to see the street."

He looked pensive for a moment, looking over the huddled group of unarmed civilians crouched behind the makeshift fortifications, "Now that I think of it, there's a trapdoor up top to the roof that the miners used back when we were first cutting out the town. That'll give you a real good view of the square and the town, and is probably out of reach of whatever spells they've been castin' on the folks in the square. I'll even toss in a handful of silver if ye lock it behind ye."

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Grins. "Make it a few golds and one of us will stand on it too."

[Soilborn]

Even as the cloud dissipated and the sheet fell in tatters, a small wisp of the noxious fumes found its way into his nose. Elithan dropped to his knees attempting to regain his composure. His stomach rolled in protest of the stench. He was only vaguely aware of the Dwarf a few feet to his right tumbling out of another sheet. The stocky man spoke a few words to Cael, but Elithan was too focused on retaining his composure to hear their words.

As the nausea faded his attention was drawn to the roof of the cave. The mages were still there chanting in some foreign tongue, but their attitude was clearly different. A chill ran up Elithan’s spine. Cael could handle the hostages; if these mages weren’t taken out than this entire battle could be repeated ad-infinitum, or they could even have something worse up their sleeves.

His blades quickly disappeared into their holsters underneath his jacket. Elithan’s shortbow was produced from behind his back and string retrieved from a small leather pocket on his vest. Just as he had strung his bow however a swift motion from across the square caught his eye. A short halfling, a martial artist of sorts by the look of her, had thrown something at the mages. Elithan followed the glint of light off metal as the objects spun towards their targets even as he drew an arrow to his own weapon.

[zmasterofjersey]

Seeing the last sheet go down, and Kinleth chuck a star that almost definitely hit one of the Gate Mages, and realizes that this will definitely get worse. His first instinct would have been to jump and dive for cover inside the building, but he realized that abandoning someone would be incredibly immoral. So he swallows his instincts and stands his ground near Kinleth. "I hope you know what your doing..." Ory says while taking a deep breath, and getting ready to dash into the bank with Kinleth if things get really bad.

[Exthalion]

Bairn watched the scene, watched the mages. He hated them. He hated everything they stood for and everything they aspired to.

"May their names be destroyed utterly!" Dwarven that, and quite bad form. It expressed his wish though, that even the memory of them be destroyed and so it be like they never existed.

That last bit of bravado spent him, and he turned to Emillia.

"Come on, we need to get you somewhere safe." With great care Bairn helped Emillia to her feet, and with careful, but not slow, steps led her after his mother. If this went on much longer, they would have to flee to the farms yet.

[Jjeinn-tae]

Cael staggers a bit, obviously a little surprised he managed to free the dwarf. Cael surveys what has become of the battlefield, and speaks quietly to the guard. "Think nothing of it, Onul."

[Jamini]

Quite suddenly, a piercing scream fills the cavern. The magically amplified voice of the female magic-user, filled with pain and rage.

"Aeii! My hand! What... what have you done! You pathetic NOTHINGS! Oh gods... it hurts..." her voice faded off into incomprehensible, angry sobs of pain.

"Natalie!" Both of her companions shouted in concert. Above the figure who had not yet spken dashed across the lip of the breach, cradling the smaller wizard in his arms. His voice was filled with worry. "Natalie, it's ok. You can still move it, right? We'll get you to Sasha and you'll be just fine. Casper, we have what we need. We should withdraw."

The first wizard raised a fist, shaking it at the ground below in anger. "Nimon! We can't let them get away with that. They hurt Natalie, we should grind this puny town to dust!"

"Telum Contego Mihi" Nimon's voice was cool as he pronounced the words of power, his free hand producing a small shell from the pouch at his waist. His skin gleamed faintly as he completed the spell. "Back off from the edge and withdraw Casper. That is an order."

Currently Nimon has no cover from the edge, he is 40' away from you. Casper has one-fourth cover, and Natalie has nine-tenths cover.

*********************************

Cael and Elithan

"Then nothing is thought. Where to?" Onul said succinctly gaining his own bearings.

Bairn
As you begin to lead Emilia away she glances about the square, slowly regaining her bearings. As you get her to her feet she quickly pulls away. "I.. can walk fine on my own. They..." She motions to the two other groups in the square, a pair of halflings not far from dance square, still filled with writhing bodies of the captured, and a pair of elves near the upturned food carts, "...look like they could use your help. I'll be ok, really."

Ory and Kinleth
Not much to say.

Jameson and Bery
"It's a deal then. Go quickly." Barleybrew says, reaching into his apron and handing five gold coins to Bery. His face has a mixture of worry and urgency in it as he points to the back of the Inn. "Take the stairs up, then look for the trapdoor on the second story. It should be around twenty paces in front of you towards the middle of the building once you climb, and give those sonsabitches a good thrashing for me too eh?"

[Soilborn]

So they could be hurt. A small grin lit Elithan’s face as he adjusted his bow. From the sound of their conversation it seemed that the wizards were about to take their leave. But after the resistance that had been put up, their escape would lead to the return of more mages, probably of much greater power. Besides, justice demanded for them to bleed at least a little more.

His sights wavered over Casper for a moment, but eventually centered upon the one named Nimon. Though Casper rubbed Elithan in all the wrong ways it seemed that Nimon was preparing the spell to escape. That just wouldn’t do. He could shoot Casper next.

Slowly he strafed sideways, his eyes fixed on the shimmering wizard as the shadows slowly came back to life around him. A quick influx of air filled his lungs and he held his breath for a moment, steadying his shot. Release.

Strafed around a touch to reinvigorate Child of Shadow in case of repercussions, retaining a clear view of the mages.

Child of Shadow active.

Move 10 feet – Move action
Attacking Nimon with shortbow – Standard Action
Shortbow primary atk (+4 Dex, +1 Divine Favor) See OOC
Damage if hit (+1 Divine Favor) See OOC

[userpay]

"To be fair," Kinleth calls. "I've no connection to these people other than that I was passing through. You attacked me and I was only defending myself. Aside from that you failed to detail what agreement you speak of, as such it appears you're abducting innocents." She glances around the square at what few townspeople aren't wrapped up. "Does anyone know what deal they refer to?"

Immediately after speaking she moves towards one group of entangled citizens, looking to free any if possible.

So ya basically shouting then moving to try and keep the mages from getting a fix on me. Will try to free any citizens that are still in reach, a star in hand should theoretically make give a unarmed strike an edge.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Pockets the change, and grins.

"Pleasure doing business with you. Lesse if we can put some of them to sleep, eh? C'mon, big-sword. You're going to stand on the trapdoor for us. Incidently, you haven't told me your name yet."

Bery will follow Barleybrew's directions up onto the roof, pulling Jameson behind him. Once through the trapdoor, he'll sit Jameson down on top of the trapdoor, turning him to face away from the mages (and Bery) for a short while.

Then Bery will cast Sleep on the mages from the rooftop. The 10-foot radius burst will be centered to capture as many of the mages as possible. Will Save DC to resist is 14. Hopefully one of them might fall down the hole into the cave, assuming the spell affects them at all.

... Given the Casting Time of Sleep, and the distanced travelled in the tavern, I take this will happen next round.

[Obscurejones]

Jameson promptly turns himself back around, watching both the mages and his newfound ally.
It's Jameson. And you're a mage as well?

[Roc Ness]

"Nope. I'm just full of surprises."

[Exthalion]

"Duty is like a mountain, death like a feather..."

After seeing that Emillia could reach safety, he ran to the elves to try to free them. Racist he knew, but if he was going to have to live somewhere, he preferred elves to halflings. Condescending and arrogant, they often were, but not always without reason.

That, and their longer lifespans meant he was depriving the Mages of more usable years and regaining more for the free peoples, but that was blatant rationalization and he knew it.

[Jamini]

Bery and Jameson

The two of you make your way through the tavern , your trip short as you bound up the stairs behind the counter. As you climb into the upper story of the building you hear shouting coming from above you outside. The upper story of the tavern is a large dormitory with the walls lined with bunk beds and small chests. Naturally none of them are currently occupied, but three of them show signs of recent use.

The trapdoor to the roof is exactly where Barleybrew said it would be, a tiny patch of worn wood set into the neatly engraved stone that the rest of the building is made of. The patterns in the stone are set up to incorporate the trapdoor into the artwork, and you feel that finding it would have been difficult without help. The trapdoor itself is situated underneath an unoccupied bunkbed, within easy reach of a dwarf after climbing onto the top. Currently the Trapdoor is shut.

The Square

Elithan's bow bucks as he shoots, the tightly drawn string striking the back of his hand smartly. Instead of flying directly at Nimon the arrow goes wide, sailing off into the sky diretly in front of the lead mage. Nimon hardly seems to notice as he withdraws a large figurine from his pocket and begins to chant, his voice inaudible from the ground. Along the side of the hole Casper quickly pulls Natalie out of sight to safety.

Kinleth

The sheets entangling the citizens on the dance platform rip suprisingly readily when cut by your shuriken's blade. The citizen you rescue, a particularily stubby dwarf, look shocked and mutters a heartfelt thank you before waddling towards the safety of the nearby bank.

The mages do not react to your shout.

[Soilborn]

Elithan grit his teeth against the pain of his hand, holding back the curses that bubbled on his tongue. His arrow had flown absurdly wide; he was surprised that it even found its way through the hole in the ceiling at all. Now it sailed onward into the sky no doubt bound for the stars themselves.

With a limp wave of his hand he draws another bow from his quiver and knocks his bow. He once again takes aim at the wizard who went by 'Nimon.' His bow was drawn and he let the arrow fly in an undisciplined haste that was somewhat unbecoming of him.

Elithan is somewhat pissed about the string slapping his hand and forgot to strafe.

Child of Shadow benign (failure to move 10 feet.)

Attacking Nimon with shortbow – Standard Action
Shortbow primary atk (+4 Dex, +1 Divine Favor) [roll0]
Damage if hit (+4 Dex, +1 Divine Favor) [roll1]

[Jjeinn-tae]

Regaining his composure a bit, Cael responds to Onul. "I think we should try and free as many from these sheets as possible. I'll get that one over there," He points towards the trapped person to the west of where Onul was. "How about you start over with that person," this time pointing at the person who was in the stinking cloud (if that's disipated).

[Jamini]

Timegashing a little here, since it's time to step up the plot.

The Square

Kinleth, Bairn, and Cael begin to move about the square. Cutting free numerous citizens who have been ensnared by the mages. The majority of them are ordinary citizens, but a handful are additional guardsmen who promptly draw bladed weapons to help the rescue crews, or bows. As more and more citizens are freed, the three heroes move out of the square, rescuing citizens trapped on the nearby streets. More guards who had taken refuge in the nearby buildings also rush out to assist the unlikely heros, and soon a sizable squad of nearly twelve guardsmen are lined up alongside the street.

Following Elithan's lead, one of the guardsmen with a somewhat more ornate uniform steps forward and begins barking orders. "Let's give those magic bullies a taste of DWARVEN medicine! Ready... FIRE!. At his mark a flight of arrows launch from the floor of the square towards the lone remaining mage.

The Rooftops

Nimon hardly blinks as the sleep spell swirls around him. Nonchalantly he stifles a yawn as the flight of bolts fly up out of the chasm, a few of which hit him and bounce off harmlessly. His chanting raises in fervor as he uses his free hand to withdraw a scroll from his pocket and chants off a few words from the bottom before flinging the small figurine towards the ground.

"For what it is worth, I am sorry we need to do this. Goodbye Brilla, town of traitors!" As he shouts the figurine spirals to the ground, growing in size and mass. As it falls the pewter twists into a new shape, flesh, fur, and flames sprouting in all directions as it swiftly transforms from one state to another. Right before it hits the ground the creature twists like a cat, landing nimbly on it's feet.

On the stone in the center of Brilla square stands a large, powerfully-built dog. Its jet-black fur is laced with fire and it's eyes glow with a malicious glare. As you watch the Hellhound raises it's shaggy head and howls, blasting a wide cone of fire over the tightly-packed group of dwarven crossbowmen.

Currently you are not involved in this combat. If you wish to get involved please say so. If you are quick, you may be able to chase the mages by sprinting to the front gate. However, that will leave the guardsmen and remaining townsfolk at the mercy of the Hellhound.

There are no remaining captured citizens.

Sorry Berry, the mage made his save or had too many HD. You aren't sure which.

[Obscurejones]

Hmmm. Bad doggy. Hope this works.
With a sigh Jameson charges the edge of the roof, leaping at what he hopes is the perfect moment.
Tumble[roll0]
Jump[roll1]
Trying to reduce falling damage and save time. Wheeeeeeee!

[Exthalion]

"Between the conception and the creation, between the emotion and the response; falls the Shadow. Life is very long."

With a sigh, Bairn again let lose his magic. The sand fell from his hand in four streams before dispersing in a light breeze.

Sleep: DC 14

[Soilborn]

As what few arrows from the Dwarves actually hit the mage were easily deflected, Elithan moaned under his breath. Even if one of his shots had hit home it likely wouldn’t have sunk in. Clever wizard. He had seen the town’s capability to partially negate his height advantage and set up a defense. Those were two arrows he clearly would never see again.

With the figurine dropped the wizard fled after his accomplices. They would no doubt escape and let their superiors know of the town’s resistance. The Emerald Gate would be back in force. The entire populace would need to disgorge into the world and move their lives elsewhere, and quickly.

Instead he focused his attention on the new threat in the room. As the figurine the wizard had dropped morphed, growing larger and more imposing, Elithan had a good idea of what was going on. The creature was functioning beautifully as a distraction; nearly everybody in the square had shifted their attention to it as opposed to the escaping mages.

With careful, measured steps Elithan backed away from the center of the square. A new arrow found itself nocked and his bow drawn taught. His patience waited for the creature to land and, not a moment later, the arrow leapt forth.

Elithan is moving to be about 55 to 60 feet away from the hellhound, just within the shortbow’s maximum accuracy range. If he doesn’t move more than 10 feet than he strafes the rest of the distance.

Child of Shadow active.

Move 10 ft – Move Action
Attacking hellhound with shortbow – Standard Action
Shortbow primary atk (+4 Dex, +1 Divine Favor) [roll0]
Damage if hit (+4 Dex, +1 Divine Favor) [roll1]

[Jamini]

Nimon hasn't moved from the side of the hole yet, fyi.

Rolling will save.
[roll0]

Deliberate Jump reduces the first 10' from a fall to nonlethal.
Jump check over 15 reduces the fall height by 10'

So Jameson takes [roll1] nonlethal damage from the fall.

Waiting for the others to post before doing my writeup.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Watches as Jameson leaps off the rooftop. "Show-off."

Then he shrugs and hops off the roof after him.

[roll0] Jump (Land on two feet, DC5)
[roll1] Tumble (Reduce fall height, DC15)

If Bery still has actions left, he'll try to find an unatteneded ranged weapon of some sort, probably a crossbow.

[zmasterofjersey]

Seeing the dog from hell grow from out of a tiny figurine, and starting to snarl and appear very hellish, Ory decides that hiding in the bank won't do anything to help, and alot of people will get hurt. He then jumps off, attempting to hit the street to help against the dog, attempting to roll to lessen the impact.

Upon reaching the floor, he runs toward the monster with his dagger ready, getting as close as he can.

Jump check to jump down[roll0]
Tumble to lessen the impact of the fall[roll1]

I am pretty sure with a speed of 20 I can't reach the hellhound, especially without a fresh map, so like posted above, ill try to get as close as I can.

[userpay]

Kinleth sighs in relief as the last victim rolls from their confinment, a sigh that quickly turns into an annoyed huff as the mages play one last trick. A brief look at the fur of the beast already looks unwelcoming but there is little Kinleth could do, someone had to keep its attension. As such she dashes forward right at the beast itself.
I bet this is a bad idea but eh whatever. Charging then a flurry with a stunning fist as the first attack.
Stunning Fist (DC 13 (or 14 if you round up))
[roll0]
[roll1]
2nd (normal) attack
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Jjeinn-tae]

OOC: Ok, going to assume the Hellhound is close enough then. :smallsmile:


Cael runs forward towards the crossbowdwarves and the hellhound, but not to the point that he'd be running into the remnants of the hellhound's fire. During his run, those paying close attention might notice a slight purple light of a pulse traveling across his body, which is mirrored on the hellhound shortly later.


Run "Forward:" At least a move action, as many as needed/possible.
Hexblade's Curse: Free Action; Will DC 13, -2 to all saves, checks and attack rolls.

[Jamini]

Bery lands on his feet, but hard. lethal [roll1] nonlethal damage

-Ory automatically suceeds at his jump check, as the stage is only 5' from the ground.
-The hellhound is on the stone in the center of the square. You could reach it with a charge. Assuming you do not you can get close enough to be in melee with it with a double move.

Kinleth - The first blow hits, the second does not. Rolling fortitude [roll2]

Cael - A single move gets you 10' from the hellhound. Rolling will save [roll]1d20+4


In The Square

Flames fill the square as the burning dwarves dive to the ground to put themselves out. Some roll on the ground, screaming at swatting at the flames that had spouted on their uniforms and weapons while others raced from the hellhound, the flames in their hair and clothes flickering behind them. Two of the guards lay unconsious on the ground, overcome by the heat.

On the north end of the square Jameson and Bery leap from the roof of the tavern. Both of them land hard, the latter grunting in pain as he feels his ankle twist in a direction that it should not have. Despite the distraction, Bery does notice several unatteded crossbows near the pile of flaming dwarevs, all of which are currently on fire. [spoilier] both of you have a standard action left after jumping. I'll let you add those onto next round. [/spoiler]

(To the North-East) Bairn is the quickest to act, his hands a blur as he draws sand out from inside of his robes and recites his spell. In the flurry of activity, his motions go unnoticed as he casts his sleep spell. The hellhound slumps in response, leaning over with it's eyes drooping heavily. However, the effect is short-lived when a well-aimed arrow from Elithan lances into the demon's chest.

The sleep spell worked, but since we are using group initiaive it's assumed you are all acting roughly around the same time unless you otherwise specify. Since sleep is canceled by any damage, the hellhound doesn't even lose a turn thanks to it.

Don't be too frusterated though, I was planning on having Nimon toss down a a Magic Missile before leaving even if the Hellhound hadn't taken damage. Of course, once he cast it you would definatly know his level range... so maybe things did work out for the best. :smallwink:


(South)At once the hellhound comes back to its senses, a sudden yelp of pain snaking from its mouth as the creature overcomes the magic. It immediatly spins around to face this new threat, directly before a small foot buried itself into its back. The hellhound lurched forward as Kinleth's flying kick had ended with her landing on the beasts back. Flushed with exerton but still impassivly calm, the nimble monk lept back as the hellhound snapped lightly over its back. The move throwing her follow-up punch slightly wide.

(West) Cael and Ory both race to flank the last unattended side of the hellhound, both holding their weapons ready to parry the beasts attacks as a dim violet aura begins to eminate from their location. The demon shivers as the dark energy touches it, suddenly seemnig less certain of itself.

The Hellhound growls as it bristles against the sudden glut of enemies. Flanked on all sides but one, it recoils back a bit before leaping up onto the nearby stone and biting at Kinleth.

see OOC

(Above) As the fight below begins Nimon turns away, his robes whipping around him as if he were in a fierce windstorm. As he walks away from the edge of the hole in the top of the Cavern, he raises his left hand in a half-salute/half-wave, the last vestiges of his magically-amplified voice fading as he walked towards his companions. "Adieu~"

[Jamini]

Rerolling a fail will save [roll0]

Edit: Jesus I'm making a lot of mistakes tonight. This was supposed to be posted in OOC

[Exthalion]

"From chaos comes disharmony. Let them do their bitter work. Should they fail or flag I shall try again."

[userpay]

Kinleth tries to jump back after her attack but isn't quite quick enough, the hellhounds teeth ripping a gouge in her leg that burned. She continues to try and get away from the thing as others begin to converge on it.
Nice right down to 8 hp, move action to get away and tumbling as part of that to try and avoid the aoo.
Tumble DC 15
[roll0]
So I move 10 ft away from the thing.

[zmasterofjersey]

OOC: I won't be using last round's standard action.

Ory continues his dash at the hellhound, attempting to get in a position where he can flank it with one of the other fighters where he can aim his dagger in a more particular lethal spot.

Upon reaching his destination, Ory stabs at an artery in the creatures leg attempting to bring the beast to the ground.

Rolling a sneak attack, in case I was able to get close enough to attack with my dagger, and also in a position flanking with someone else.

Attack roll[roll0]
Damage[roll1] Sneak attack if applicable [roll2]

[Obscurejones]

Jameson hefts his sword in both hands and charges the flaming beastie, whipping his sword around over his head like a madman on a mission. He's not entirely without strategy however and if he can he gets into a flanking position with one of the other attackers.
Attack[roll0]+2 if flanking.
Damage [roll1]+[roll2]From Punishing Stance+[roll3]From Sneak attack if flanking

AC is currently 8 Whooo charging while in an AC lowering stance!

[Soilborn]

For such a brave warrior she sure seemed to be having it rough. Elithan recognized the tiny halfling from not even a minute ago throwing shards of metal at the wizards above. She then showed up planting a foot deep into this new beast’s rear. And now she was getting her leg mauled off.

”Keeper of time and fate, bend your will to help the righteous in need...” Prayer escaped his lips as he hustled his way to the flying halfling, shadows coalescing around him once again. His free hand began to glow slightly white as his chanting came to a close. The little one seemed to be spryer than her physical condition would imply as she tumbled away from the monster.

Nearly without warning he was over her. ”Don’t move.” Elithan’s glowing hand thrust downward, making contact with the halfling’s body as close to the wound as he could manage in such a hurry.

Elithan is moving to intercept Kinleth’s tumbling destination, strafing to stay out of range of the hound. I am assuming that Kinleth is greater than 10ft away, so my movement would activate Child of Shadow. Feel free to rule otherwise if not.

Child of Shadow Active.
Divine Favor expires.

Move 10-30 ft – Move Action
Casting Cure Light Wounds on Kinleth (converting Bless) – Standard Action
Cure Light Wounds healing: [roll0]

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Ignores his ankle, it didn't matter yet. But he sighs when he sees the flaming crossbows. "Why is nothing ever easy? Or fire-proof?"

Bery grabs the least flaming crossbow, one in which the bowstring hasn't been damaged. Moving quickly, he nabs a case (or quiver) of bolts from one of the flaming dwarfs, and either loads the crossbow (if the flame is very small) or tries to put the crossbow out (if the flame threatens to really affect the crossbow's performance). [roll0] Reflex

[Jamini]

The hellhound leaps after Kinleth, intent on not allowing her to escape. However before it can get more than a few feet both Ory and Jameson lance into the beast's side. The small dagger and large sword hit home, drawing a long crimson lance of blood that ignites as it hits the air. The hellhound takes one staggering step, then a second, and falls forward dying.

As Ory and Jameson withdraw their blades the monster's form once again twists and shifts, shrinking and solidifying before their very eyes. Within seconds the hellhound is once again a pewter figurine slightly smaller than a human's fist, this time a long crack is visible through the entire object.

***

Bery

You pat out the flames on the bow admirably and manage to find a small quiver of bolts from one of the guards. It appears unlikely that the original owner will be using it any time soon.

***

As the fighting in the square dies down an eerie quiet fills the air. A few of the badly-burned guards moaning as they roll on the ground the only really audible noise. As the sounds of fighting stop, you see several citizens peeking from the doorways of the buildings surrounding the square, their eyes filled with fear and awe as they look on the seven of you who are still standing.

The silence is broken by the cry of a dwarven woman as she races from the bank to cradle the burned body of one of the injured gaurds. Behind her a line of shell-shocked residents slowly file out. Many of them have glazed, distracted eyes that glance at stars through the new hole in the cavern ceiling incessantly. As if they are afraid more attacks were yet to come from above.

The citizens of Brilla form a loose circle around the seven of you, none of others seeming to want to get close. None too few throw nervous glances at Bairn and Cael, some of which border on outright hostility. From the tavern Barleybrew shoulders his way through the crowd to the, concern in his eyes.

"They... they're gone? Ye chased them off?"

[Jjeinn-tae]

Cael notices the hostility and decides he should try and avoid this conversation if at all possible. While he hasn't been directing them, his Dancing lights should be winking out about now, and he deems not to refresh it as he makes a move towards the figurine, but taking care not to touch it. Normally he would just grab it, but there is a large crowd of people nearby. That, and he would not want to take the brunt of another fire breath.

Cael tries to determine if the figurine is safe to touch, and if it could possibly be used again.

Knowledge Arcana: [roll0]

[Jamini]

You suspect the magic in the figurine may be spent. However it is a very pretty piece of artwork despite the damage.

[Obscurejones]

Jameson nods to Barleybrew, a warm smile spreading across his face.
Ay, they turned tail and ran like the spell slinging cowards that they are.
He addresses the growing crowd next.
And you've nothing to fear from these men. They stood with us to defend our homes. They're not of the Emarald.

[Jamini]

"How can you be so flippant?"

An unfamilier voice rings from the crowd in a challenge to Jameson's claim, causing a ripple of angry murmers to flood through the square around he small party. Around, voices call out in panic, fear, and loss as each citizen begins to call out their own losses to the suddenly small-seeming group of heros.

"The Mayor, they took the mayor!"
"My wife and children are gone!"
"My assistant was carried away, how am I supposed to finish my work on schedule now?"
"The pastor at the church is gone. The gods have abandoned us!"
"Heretics!"
"Mage-Protectors!"

The shouts ring through the square, quickly reaching a fever pitch. A handful of thrown pebbles strike the polished stone near your feet in a faint patter, clattering across the square in a haphazard fashion. Even the dwarves around Barleybrew give him cold, angry stares.

[userpay]

Kinleth arches an eyebrow at the slew of insults. Standing tall (for a halfling) she gives the agitated crowd a level stare, kindly attitude fully melting away. "By the Blessed One have you all gone daft? Mage-protectors!?" She spits to the side. "As if I'd give a rats ass about an Emerald except only to keep them from doing as they please. By the gods you've managed to survive yet turn your anger on those that gave it their all to aid you. I ask you. Have. You. No. Shame?"

[Exthalion]

"Calm thyselves, else you add your unseemly haste to the list of weapons the Gate may use against us. They have far to many already for us to lengthen it for them.

We did not aid them, nay we opposed them, and how many stand here that would have been taken had we not acted as we did?

Moreover, who here among you would challenge such as they openly? Where were you well our blood and sweet stained this ground in the cause of thy defense? What ingratitude is this on those who bleed with you and for you?

If you call yourselves decent people tend these wounded now else the Gate may yet take those lives from us. Or would you accept the stain of their blood that you might soil your hands with ours?"

As ever stupidity and fear are a close couple.

If we drive away Gate mages, what chance do they think they have?

We didn't drive them away though, they left of their own accord. This bodes not well. The family may have to move again, for the Emerald shall surly seek retribution for this.

Or perhaps just some few? Bairn looked around.

It may come that they will ostracize their saviors that they should escape a greater damnation. If it comes to that, should I even resist it?

[Soilborn]

An exasperated sigh escaped through Elithan’s lips. Surely these folks were angry, as was their right, but the direction of their anger completely misguided. ”If it were not for our efforts, all of our efforts,” his arm swept across the crowd in a gesture of inclusion, “than none of us would remain here. You lay your curses upon those who resisted those that should be accursed. Why not lay your curse too upon Barleybrew, who took many of you in and guarded you against the onslaught? Why not lay your curse too against the guards who, like us, rose their arms in your defense?”

[Jamini]

At Kinleth's shout the cries of the crowd quieted, many of them turning away flushed. The cries turned to barely-audible murmers filled shame and muttered apologies. Many eyes lingered on the half-closed wounds that stitched up and down the halfling's side, a telling testiment of her own role in the battle.

Seizing the initiative Barleybrew stepped forward from the crowd once more, standing beside Kinleth at his own diminuative (for a dwarf) and rotound height. "Yer words are well thought, both of ye. I am certain the more level-headed of us would agree that ye did Brilla a great service today, despite the means. As the archivest said, we cannae give the Gate even more weapons to destroy us with."

"But they still use the banned magics."

A particularily belarded dwarven woman stepped forth from the crowd, her familier voice easily rising over the hubub. Her braided black hair hung in long, limp coils from the top of her head. It coiled about her neck like a python, ready to strangle any who opposed her. She peered at Barleybrew through a pair of small tailor's spectacles, her sharp eyes seeming to peirce directly through anyone who met her gaze.

"I saw myself, those two" she pointed toward Bery and Bairn "each cast a spell of exhaustion on our foes, and the elves command control of magics both holy and unholy. No matter what end, they used an instrument of great evil for good. As the only surviving member of the council, so far as I am aware, I cannot let this stand. As proven by the Gate mages and the Mordinan, such power should not... no, can not be weilded by mortals. The responsability is too great, the temptation for misuse too strong."

[Jjeinn-tae]

Cael swiftly grabs the figurine now that he knows it's safe, and realizing he doesn't really have anywhere to put it with his backpack at home, shifts it to his right hand. He then walks "upwards" to the gathering. And to most of the people defending the magic users, he speaks. "Thank you, I don't know most of your names, but your support is appreciated."

Then, after the dwarven woman's outburst, Cael responds to the crowd in full, his hands moving around with his speech. "Misuse, what do I have that can be misused? I can make light, make food taste better, and fail to make people not want to fight!" Cael ignores backbiter, it probably has never come up. "I'm sure you all live in fear should I decide to make your mutton taste of lobster. If that is something you're worried about, do you worry of our sizeable gnome population trying to incite rebellion among the badgers?

You may throw rocks at this fellow here, but were he or any of us not here, what would have been our losses? We've all lost here, many have been taken by these mages. You might not like it, but I'm fairly certain had we not been here all of you would be along with the Emerald Gate right now. This little bastion of civilization would be gone." His speech trails off, it's not entirely clear if he actually made the point he started out to make.

Reflex Save to Catch Rock:[roll0] I am going to guess it's coming.

[Jamini]

Emeral Claw? :smallconfused:

Right now i'm imaging Cael speaking to the crowd, waving the figurine of the hellhound in their faces. It's quite humorous. :smallbiggrin:

Also, all of you have at least a passing aquintance with Barleybrew. As the best dwarven bartender in town, he's somthing of a minor celebrety.


The dwarven woman seemed noplussed by Cael's words, her recessed chin defiantly thrust forward against his argument. Behind her the crowd intently watched at the argument, ther confused eyes bouncing from one speaker to the next as each spoke their piece in turn.

"Misuse now? Perhaps not. But what of the Emerald Gate? Did they not use magic benevolently before the great war? The Mordinians too, helped the commonfolks." She pulled a long crocheting neele from the pockets of her dress and pointed it directly at Cael, brandishing the tool like a weapon. "Their good intentions and actions were wasted, in the end. The very land around Brilla is proof of the evil that can be worked by magic!"

"Good intentions can only take one so far with such power, it is not something that we can trust anyone with. Magic that can make any food taste good can be used just as readily to disguise the taste of poison in a meal. Magic that can make light could be used to blind. We should remove this corruption where it grows, before it causes our town to fester at its wounds!"

"Telessa, that's enough." Barleybrew replied, standing between her and Cael with his hands on his hips.The needle gently poked his stomach, forcing thick cloth back. "Nobody is lyching anybody so long as I'm here and alive. We've never done that in Brilla, and ye won't start doing it now."

The dwarven councilwoman shot daggers at him from her eyes at barleybrew; but the townsfolk, motiviated by the words said by the heros, shied from her side. Instead they around the small party of strangers, returning her gaze with passionate zeal.

Realizing she had lost her support, Telessa backed away. Her eyes still glimmering with hatered. "You will regret helping them Barleybrew. Remember: 'Trust not the silvered tounge of the arcanist'. Mark my words, this decision will come back to bite you." With a flair of her needle-filled hand the councilwoman turned, her coils of hair flying as she stalked off with a number of other dwarves trailing behind her.

As she stalks down the street and out of sight, Barleybrew gives you all a wry grin and winks, "Three battles past and we're all alive. I think that calls for a round for all of our heros, on the house."
****
Later That Night
****

Barleybrew had outdone himself that night. A large table had been set up in the middle of the tavern, seven seats made out for each of you right in the middle of the commotion. The energentic barkeep seemed to be everywhere, doing to work of five dwarves at once. Half the tables seemed to be served by him as he passed out large mugs of ale and flagons of mead to any and all who asked. Rip roaring stories of drunken revelrey, both witnessed and hersay, were told at a breakneck pace. As he worked hard to keep everyone's spirits high, if for no other reason than remaining alive and free.

Every time one of you tried to leave, you swiftly found a new drink pressed into your hands as you were non-too-gently pressed back into your seats. A constant barrage of questions from the other patrons, about your role in the fight and each of your antics, kept each of you consistantly busy. Hours seemed to pass like minutes, and before you knew it the bell rang twleve times in the distance.

Finally, the party wound down as the guests started falling asleep or becoming too drunk to stand. A few of the more sober guests were recruited into carrying the drunkest ones safely home and the bar slowly emptied around you. Once things quieted down enough, the barkeep finally rounded on all of you with a serious expression on his face.

"Well now, ye are still here. That's good. We need to figure out what ye are going to do next."

[Soilborn]

The resulting celebration had made Elithan uncomfortable. As a center of attention imprisoned within the eye of a storm of chaos he felt extremely small. Every congratulatory slap on the back made him gag on his heart. Every forceful flagon that blocked his flight shuffled him back to his seat where it joined the others sitting barely-touched sitting around his chair. While the hours passed as minutes for many, for him they dragged for days.

The celebration’s abatement was a welcome shift and the energy began to flow back into him. He began to tap his aged brews with lessening hesitation. The mix of alcohol and a smaller crowd helped to slowly repress the social introvert in him. As the party began winding down he had finally hit his stride. With the few remaining patrons left he did not flirt or show of, but instead freely shared his insights. He theorized on the afterlife, cosmology, religion, and he even gave relationship advice a shot.

At Barleybrew’s behest he cheerfully broke off a conversation with a young dwarven couple and turned towards the table of seven. He had gotten to know the others modestly over the past few hours. Bairn and Kinleth seemed to strike a particular chord with him. Both were creatures of moderate order and had good hearts, and that drew Elithan’s respect.

The room rocked a bit and the candlelight wavered with afterimages; he was clearly drunker than was his intent. His backside slammed immodestly into his chair as he sat back down, hard. A finger rose in response to Barleybrew’s inquiry. “I think we...” the bubble of gas that passed quietly from his mouth reminded him of his drunken state. He withdrew his input with the drop of his finger. Best to let those who drank early and sobered up handle the conversation.

[Exthalion]

"That depends on Brilla doesn't it? The Gate will not react well to this. They may seek retribution both for our resistance, and our success there in.

So either we leave, and you blame the whole thing on us, or we stay and try to resist them again if they come back.

Do you know anything of this deal the mages mentioned? Did the city fathers trade protection in exchange for new recruits?"

[Obscurejones]

Jameson is a loud and raucous presence at the celebration, constantly procuring drinks for the townspeople nearest himself and proclaiming the glories of the morning's victory over, "Those accursed, hell spawned, spell slingers" To any casual observer he's the very picture of a hero enjoying his victory to it's fullest.

It would take a more careful observer to notice that he's simply playing a part. While he orders drinks in abundance he takes care to sip only water himself, his back is never to the door, and between hearty laughs his eyes constantly scan the room, alert for any hint or sign of danger

As the night winds down he allows himself to relax in earnest. While still taking care to keep his head clear, he allows his eyes to settle and his attention to turn to his fellow heroes. When

I fear there's no point in staying here, Bairn. If the mages do return it would seem to spell ill for us either way. We would either fail in fighting them and die by there magics, or succeed by the virtue of our own abilities and be unjustly accused of being on the road to our own trespasses.

[zmasterofjersey]

Ory never drank before, mostly because his parents never drank, and he lived with them his entire life until he left and came here. So while everyone except a select few were drinking themselves drunk faster than a freshly shot arrow, he just passed the alcoholic drinks along so he could keep a level head. He himself just drank water while getting loved by passing on his drinks to random people.

Ory didn't really talk to anyone at the party, he mostly just sulked in his chair, giving the occasional hello and whatnot to the people there. It wasn't that the party wasn't fun, it was just that there was just alot on his mind, when the Emerald Gate will be back, what this "deal" was, and what will happen now. The final thing that was bothering him, was that these people used their magic to help the town, yet everyone seems to want them to be an ornament hanging off of the gallows. He does his best to hide his abilities, but if the town found out, he would almost certainly be among the hated.

After the party started to die down, Ory replied to Barleybrew's question and the general gathering of the 6 others who helped in the square. Asking questions and actually speaking helped relieve his troubled thoughts.

"Anyway, If we were going to leave, even though the townspeople only despise casters and such, and I can't do anything like that."

"I would rather not leave, but as you say, the question isn't will the Emerald Gate be back, it is when will they be back."

"I would also like to hear more about this "deal" the mages mentioned."

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius (Before Party)
Bery takes off his signet ring and widens his grin. He's gotten free meals, a much-needed new toy and a clear next target today. Today's been a pretty good day. Apart from all the murder and kidnapping, of course.

Bery Sirius (During Party)
Bery eats all he can take in, although he avoids the more concentrated alcoholic beverages as planning requires a clear head. Flashing grins in all directions, he asks all manners of people about all manners of subjects, such as Barleybrew, the ale, family and friends, why the mages are evil, the ale, and so forth. While all the information is useful, Bery takes special note of all answers to questions he asked pertaining to the irate councilwoman, cross-referencing this information with any previous knowledge.

[roll0] Knowledge (Local)
[roll1] Gather Information

((Information Gathered/Remembered pertains to Tellessa's whereabouts, possessions, security, etc.))

((No questions will be asked about security or possessions, only rememebered.))

Bery Sirius (After Party)
Time for a criminal to set up his stolen chessboard. Who knows, maybe good might even come of it. As Bery is about to say, This woman doesn't add up.

Bery waves over Jameson and Cael. "'Ey. Swordfella and mage. I got a suspicion. I mean proposition."

Once Jameson and Cael are waved over, he whispers to them. "Swordfella, I don't know much about magic. My questions are, how did you know I did you recognise I did magic up on the roof? All I did was mutter something and wave my hands a tad. There was no extra effect of any sort. And also, how did you turn your eyes blue when you executed one of the bedsheets?"

"Mage, my question to you. I cast two spells today. One, I cancelled before it started. It would have been in no way recognisable. The second, I cast while on top of the roof of this inn, which failed to have any sensory effect. Is it possible for a woman with absolutely no magical ability at all to be able to recognise magic when there was no after effect, and she would be too far away to hear the magic whispers and see the mystic finger movements. I was on the roof. I'm sure I would be practically invisible from any vantage point not also visible to the Emerald Mages. How could she 'see' my magic?"

"I propose we investigate this woman while we await retaliation from the mages. The Councilwoman. She doesn't add up. Something fishy about her."

[Jjeinn-tae]

Cael promplty displays the pewter figurine on one of the tables when the party starts, it could be a monument of sorts, if a small one. It is also quickly apparent that Cael is not much for alcohol, or at least of dwarven make, as after his first drink he's practically falling asleep, evidently a tired drunk. He manages to stay awake throughout though, if not providing interesting conversation. All things considered, probably for the best.

By the time Bery begins addressing him, Cael has somewhat sobered, he speaks with a slur, but he doesn't seem too inhibited, mentally at least.

I'm not going to bother typing Cael's speech with a slur, we want this to be legible enough, I'm sure it can be imagined better than I can convey it anyways.
"I was wondering about that too... She picked me out, that's easy I don't bother hiding it. But the others... All I noticed of magic from the others were the gate mages, she even pegged Elithan... I know the man, I'd never knew that he had magic.

And then you saying that none of your spells made a visual or physical effect, nor would she be able to see you. That really doesn't match up. And if she's counciled, why wasn't she taken?

I don't like it."

[userpay]

Throughout the party Kinleth is relatively quiet. More than a few times shes had to be led back to the table as she tries to assist Barleybrew in the serving of the patrons. Now a half drunk mug of ale, her first alchoholic beverage of the night, sits in front of her.

"Its possible..." Kinleth trails off briefly. "that she may have known this was coming. Personally I'd still like to know about the 'deal' as well and from there we can decide what we should do." She grins. "We may have to pay the woman a visit."

[Jamini]

Barleybrew raises a hand in warning towards Kinleth.

"I admire ye keen mind little one, but I would be careful with 'Lessa. Most of the old guard would support her if push come to shove, and she's canny as a kobold when it comes to getting people to listen to her. 'Sides, she's got too much invested in this town to betray us like that."

He shrugged as he wiped clean a mug on the table and filled it from the tap, swinging down the ale as only a dwarven bartender could. Sighing as he set the once-again empty mug down he continued.

"More than anything she's probably worried sick for her pa. I 'eard he was taken from craft hall in the attack. She's never really been much of one for letting non-dwarves into Brilla, and it doesn't surprise me that she'd take it out on ye being what ye are. Losing family like that, it's enough to make anyone crazy."

He shrugged and began to gather up mugs from around the inn, carefully setting them on a rack behind the bar. His shoulders were slumped, tired from the long night, as he worked.

"As fer the deal, the whole thing should be in the archives. I never really bothered with politics and diplomacy, I'd lose business if I show too much support for anyone, and I never really cared anyway. I'm just a barkeep, after all."

**
Bery


The Councilwoman was Thelessa Whiptounge, also known as Lessa to those who know her personally. She is a prominent seamstress in Brilla. Highly skilled, her beautiful embroideries and tapestries were sold to markets far and wide before the war.

Currently she is the master of the Artisan's guild, a position that not only gives her access to a good amount of wealth, but also a position on the council. Her oratory prowess is well known, and she is well-liked by the majority of the city. She was the driving force between not allowing non-dwarves to settler in Oldtown Brilla, instead opting for the "Two Wall" defenses that keep most normal threats out of the town. Her position gives her direct control over expansion of the town.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Strokes his fake fuzz with a face full of mock wisdom.

"You've done good today Mr. Barleybrew, I say. Good initiative, good persuasion, good host. I shoud give you a tip." Bery grins and flips five gold pieces onto Barleybrew's counter.

"Now, people. I don't know you, and you don't know me. Most of you don't know each other either, I'm willing to bet."

"So, what I want to know from you, strangers. One. Do you all agree this woman should be investigated fully? Two. Do you all have any secrets you aren't willing to share? And lastly, three. Do you all agree Barleybrew has nothing to do with us?"

[Obscurejones]

Jameson seems perplexed by Bery's questions
Well what do you mean nothing to do with us? The man's seen fit to provide me with drink and a bed, I'd say he has at least a tenuous connection to us. As for the woman I'll agree she's odd but from what I can see she's done nothing to harm the townsfolk, nothing to arise our ire.

[Soilborn]

Elithan nods lazily in agreement with Jameson. “These mages and priests have been fighting over our heads for years. It makes sense that power they wield has become the object of stigma to HICK!! the common folks. This Lessa lass, she is a representative of her people, so she must both reflect and reinforce these taboos. I don’t find her fishy so much as someone who vigorously defends the beliefs upheld by the people as her own.” He begins to bring the mug to his lips for another drought, but thinks better of it. “Still, I’d like to know more about this deal. Maybe when I’ve a bit less in my system.”

As for Barleybrew, he’s already come out to defend us publicly. It’s a bit late for us to deny his association."

[zmasterofjersey]

Ory takes a sip of his current drink, and speaks,"Personally, I am with these 2," motioning to Jameson and Elithan, "She is just following her beliefs. Although a little extreme in my eyes, you can't honestly say with how the world is, there aren't bound to be some people who think all magic is bad, no matter the person. My standing is that only the right people should use magic, but unfortunately, the wrong people get it more often then those who would use it wisely."

"Also, Barley is kind of involved with us already, I mean we are all here aren't we? But yes, I will honor your standing on wanting to be neutral on such matters."

[Jamini]

"I'm honored ye with to protect me lad, but your friends have a point. Besides, such things aren't that important now. What's important is what ye plan to do now?"

Barleybrew gently carried the armful of mugs had had gathered behind the bar, continually wiping them down with his rag,

"A lot of people will suspect ye of being on the side of the gate or the priests, no matter what ye do. Even though cooler heads are showing now, I can't imagine that things will be pleasant here. 'Specially not Lessa, now that she's got a vendetta against you."

He shook his head sadly, "If only there was a way to go rescue those poor folks. I suspect this whole thing would blow over real quick if half the town weren't worried sick fer their loved ones."

[Soilborn]

A look of bewilderment glossed over Elithan’s face, which he cocked to the side. “You know where they’ve been taken? What’s stopping us than?”

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Shrugs. "My proposition was a lead, something to do while we wait for manic mages to rain magic armageddon upon us. It could give us something successful, like a location, or nothing else. But better than sitting on our hands. Of course, you're sure she's not suspicious..."

"I don't think Mr. Barleybrew knows where they've been taken. The only candidate place any of us knows of is probably the Emerald Whatitsname, that whatnot building what can't be found anymore. Unless you know where to start looking for that, I'll give you a trophy for figuring out how to wander aimlessly and sit on ones' hands at the same time."

[Obscurejones]

Jameson screws up his brow, his mind making a few connective leaps.
Mr. Barleybrew may not but it stands to reason that if there really was an agreement... Then those who knew of it would know the location of the mages if only in order to make deliveries. So if we could find record of the arrangement we could find the prisoners. And free them, of course.

[Jamini]

"I dinnae know where the mages went. But do ye really think they've gotten far with so many prisoners?" Barleybrew shrugged "Seems a tad unlikely to me, even if they do 'ave magic."

"What do ye think Bairn? Yer the Archevist, after all."

[Exthalion]

Strange how useful platitudes could actually be sometimes. In this case, better to be silent and thought a fool then to speak and prove it. So Bairn had been quite and listened.

"Based on the magic they displayed, such as using the figurine to summon a creature, I would guess they are not powerful enough to have simply teleported home under their own power. A scroll or item of teleport is very expensive especially because of the War. However the need for new recruits is vital.

If they have not been provided with an appropriate item, then they are only a few hours ahead of us, and are moving slowly due to their prisoners. If we are going to check to see if they are there the same group to do so must also be ready to overcome them. A scout would take too long to return and then yet more time will be lost preparing for us too leave.

I propose that we depart quickly, say dawn, and move with all speed to try to intercept them. If we do not find them within a few days or obvious signs of them we should then return. While we are gone, you and those like you would serve us best by trying to dissipate the tension that currently exists."

[Jjeinn-tae]

Cael still speaks with a drunken slur,* he's been listening intently to the conversation apparently.
"So uh, Bairn, it's a good idea but, they really seem like they'd be able to put up quite the fight. You study magic, they could have all manner of things to force a straight fight from us when we get there. I don't know what you're planning, but based on what I saw, I think a straight fight amounts to us losing. If they use that cloud again in an area that isn't a wide 'open' space, they're liable to end us before we can do anything.

What do we do about that?"




(*again, for coherency the slur is omitted)

[userpay]

Kinleth's brow furrows. "Really there seems to be only two choices for us at the moment. Leave and travel elsewhere till things blow over, or go after those mages before they reach their destination. Honestly if we're going with the latter we should have gone after them to begin with, they may have had a chance to rest and restore themselves." She shrugs. "At the same time they may not have. As they've prisoners if we can catch up we could free them and hopefully they'll help against the mages."

[Exthalion]

"Victory in a hundred battles is not the pinnacle of excellence. Our goal is to free the villagers, not to defeat the mages. These two goals are not the same and pursuing one may make the other impossible.

I propose we save the prisoners, by stealth or guile instead of by force. Perhaps a group of us would distract the mages while the rest free our friends. No plan survives contact with the enemy so too much planning at this stage only harms our cause."

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Yawns. "I'll leave you folk to debate the night away, like true romantics. If you excuse me, I'm going for a walk around; I'm tired and its getting a bit stuffy in here with all the people."

Thelessa can wait. Fish to fry don't come much bigger than her, but this time Bery has a whale to cook. He wonders if the mages have left any tracks. He flashes a grin, and exits.

Bery will travel up to the hole where the mages were standing, using the fastest route accessable. He'll then cast Detect Magic, trying to pick up a trace of magic from anywhere.

Oh yes, and if "nobody" is watching, he'll raise a rude finger gesture over his head in an easily visible fashion.

EDIT: Grammar check. <.<;

[Soilborn]

The alcohol weighed heavily on Elithan’s eyelids. It had been many years since he’d let himself go this much, and he was no longer comfortable with his current state. The endeavors of the day were quickly catching up to him and he could feel the prospect of finding a quiet, comfortable bed increasingly attractive. Still, with his head drooped and swimming with the intoxication that most everyone had already sobered up from, he tried his best to contribute to the conversation with a clear head.

“I agree that we should pursue the mages, but as Bairn has stated we can’t pursue them blind. Before we set out somebody needs to mill over the details of this deal with the Emerald Gate so we have something to work with.”

In the meantime, I believe this town should to be evacuated. If we are somehow unsuccessful in stopping the mages or even preventing them from sending word to their superiors, retribution will undoubtedly come many times deadlier than what we’ve encountered thus far. The people must be moved somewhere safe. Somewhere we’re not told of in the event of capture and interrogation.”

[Jamini]

Bery

The streets are empty and quiet as you leave the tavern, light spilling from the door behind you as you make your way out into the cool night air. A stiff breeze from above carries the arid smell of dust and sand, a firm reminder of the night before.

Lacking a ladder, you instead take to the streets. The inner gate is several minutes walk from the tavern, even along the ruler-straight main road. Dim oil lights hanging from tall poles, hardly bigger than candles, provide a paltry illumination as you work your way towards the front entrance of the cavern. Occasionally you hear the braying of a dwarven-bred donkeys and rothe in the distance.

It takes you a good fifteen minutes along the main street to reach the inner gate, leading to Newtown Brilla.

When you arrive you are greeted by two tall circular watchtowers, one on either side of the road, that span the entire height of the cavern and continue on to the upper wall. Each one has a wide egress on the outside towards the street, framing a ramp large enough for one small wagon to climb. You know from experiance that the 15' wide ramp spirals three times through the tower (at a 20 degree angle, I'm estimating it should be able to go up 10' per revolution. Since the ceiling is 20' up we only need to go up 30' to have the ramp floor meet with the roof of the cavern. This is just barely doable with a 10' diameter central pillar (which has to be the base of calculations in order to keep the ramp relatively flat)) , exiting at the gates of the upper wall. Here, brightly lit braizers are set every fifteen feet along the route, always exactly four and a half feet from the ground.

The watchtower itself is 40' in diameter. At all four cardinal directions there are doorways to the central shaft of the tower, which contains a ladder that is supposed to be used by guards alone. (Although most everybody uses it from time to time. It's also not uncommon for civilians to go up to the top of the watchtower) This ladder leads to the upper floor of the watchtower, which contains a warning beacon and bedroom for the watch. The ladder also goes below the tower, but you don't know what is down there.

When you reach the upper gates, they are shut. The guardhouse on the side of the gate (a small room hardly more than 10' in all directions, that contains shutters to the internal ramp as well as outside the gate.) appears to be empty, however you cannot see all of the interior.


Everyone Else

Barleybrew raised an eyebrow at Elithan's comments, eventually nodding his aquicent. "Aye... I suppose you are right. That wont be easy though, even with the attack today a lot of us dwarves have roots here. It takes a lot to get us to move, and even more to get us to leave behind what we have made."

"I'll talk it over with the council, they'll listen to me even if Thelessa wont. Evacuation isn't going to happen in a day, but I think I can convince them to send out some of our more productive miners to go carve us out a place to live within a few months. Maybe two of them, a farmer and cook to keep 'em fed, a stoneworker to make them furniture, a forester to keep 'em fed and get wood, and a doctor to keep 'em patched up. Seven dwarves in all, that would probably do the trick. Any more and they'd think I'm trying to sieze power"

He laughed, finally putting away the last of his pewter mugs with a sad look on his face. Then muscles underenath his beard tightened and a small spark of light filled his eyes, "If ye really are serious about rescuing the lost ones, I can give ye a little something to help out. Nothing major mind, but a little prewar gift I can use anymore anyway. I'll be right back."

He vanished then, quick as a sparrow into the back room.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Reaches into his sleeve and withdraws a small subsection of his set of thieves' tools. His work won't be loud, and his has the whole night to himself. He quietly unlocks the gate and slips out, locking it behind him. (Take 20 Open Lock, effectively a roll of 26)

EDIT: Does Bery need a Hide or Move Silently for anything? If Bery does, can we assume Bery takes 10?

[Soilborn]

Elithan’s mouth opened for a moment as if to correct himself. He knew perfectly well the deep roots that the dwarves had in the town, and in his normal mindset he would have taken a few moments to mill the though over in his mind, find a way to sugarcoat or even deny the fact. But a fact it was.

“Guys...” he could feel his neck muscles weakening, and it amused him somehow. A silly smile spread across Elithan’s face as his forehead softly met the tabletop. “I'm sorry guys, I could really use a bed.”

[Obscurejones]

Jameson yawns and rolls his shoulders, a weariness settling over his face.

We'll wait for Barleybrew to return. Then turn in for the night. In the morning, while Barleybrew deals with beginning relocation, we go hunting. Sound like a plan?

[Jamini]

Bery

You may take ten. It will slow your movements to half speed. But that shouldn't matter

The trip to the hole on top of the square proceeds uneventfully. The top of the hill is dismal and rough. As you recall from when you arrived in Brilla, much of the greenery on the hillside here has been stripped away by powerful acids that occurred last time there had been a battle between gate wizards and Mordian priests. Some grass has regrown, but much of the soil has been reduced to a powdery sand the crunches underfoot and glows faintly in the light of the moon. Cover is sparse, but you mange to work your way from boulder to boulder and outcrop to outcrop until you reach the scene of the attack.

The hole stands in a flat plateau near the top of the hill where the Brillian caverns are found. All around it the sand appears to have been disturbed by a number of tracks. Some of them are clearly the tracks of the wizards, others are scuffed drag marks that could only be marks made by the bedsheets containing struggling captives. Even without tracking the trail is easy to follow, it continues out towards the edge of the plateau and then sharply continues off the edge. There is abruptly vanishes.

Around the hole proper you can see a faint silvery outline, with partial runes visible all across the stone. The edges of the hole are smooth, it almost looks like the stone itself was melted or molded like pottery. Detect magic shows up nothing, however while you are examining the area you spot a small shuriken embedded in the sand, a bit of cloth fluttering from it.


Everyone Else

A short time later, Barelybrew returns. In his hand is a small figurine of a pigeon. The item is made of pewter and masterfully worked. It is so finely detailed and intricate that it appears alive in the Brewer's hands, as if it could sprint to life at any second.

"I've had this for years. It was a gift from an elvish friend of mine who used ta drag me off on wild adventures every few months or so back before the war. She was a naturalist, a woman of the wilds. The last time I saw her was maybe two years ago. She was headed north to hide from Mordinian recruiters in the forests up there." Barleybrew looks sad as he strokes the small pigeon, a look of sadness on his face, "It can carry a small message for ye, so long as yer less than five days flight from the recipient. Just whisper 'er name, Shandra, in it's ear, than the person you want it to go to. It will take care of the rest."

Barleybrew frowned as he handed the small bird to Kinleth. "It can only be activated once a lunar month or so, so don't go wasting it on anything trivial. Once you 'ave the captives safe, let me know so I can send it's twin back to ye."

"Now, ye all look as exhausted as I am. Let's turn in, tomorrow will be a busy day for all of us."

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Nabs the shruiken, taking off the bit of cloth. Never know when a small, sharp object will come in handy. Bery stows the piece of cloth up his sleeve.

He takes note of the partial runes and the melted state of the giant hole. He gives the tracks, and the abrupt ending of them, a cursory glance.

Then he tests his bad leg, and tests his good leg. Then he carefully lowers himself into the hole, and tries to drop down as carefully as possible, preferably onto that giant rock that was there earlier to minimise falling distance.

Tumble, Take 10 for 16.

Once down on the ground, harmed or not, Bery will take the chance to conceal his new shruiken as carefully as possible on his body. (Take 20 Sleight of Hand with +4 bonus for extremely tiny object, 30). He'll then reenter the inn, back from his walk.

[Jamini]

It's a thirty foot drop. (Somewhat further than the jump you fumbled in combat.)

Deliberate Jump makes the first 10' nonlethal
Sucessful tumble check reduces the fall by 10'

[roll0] Lethal
[roll1] Nonlethal

I swear, you are trying to kill yourself by fall damage.

So you have taken six points of lethal damage total (counting the two you took back during the fight from falling.) and an additional 2 nonlethal that should wear off in an hour.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Reenters the inn, "turning in" wherever the others turned in. Bery is visibly roughed up, but until the next day he will not respond to any questions with more than a grin.

[Soilborn]

“Turning in sounds like a grand idea.” With great effort Elithan lifts his heavy head from the table and starts walking off carefully. It didn’t seem to cross his mind that he didn’t know where the rooms were; if he wandered in a direction long enough, he was sure he’d get there.

[Jjeinn-tae]

Cael watches as Bery returns, giving a bit of a grin at the apparent fight; so curious.

"I'll be turning in too, but at home. I have some stuff that I'll need to gather up if we're to set out tomorrow, besides I really should see what the damage is back there and if everyone's alright." With that, Cael makes his way to the door, leaving the figurine of the Hellhound on the table he initially set it on.

[Obscurejones]

Jameson nods to his fellow warriors and wearily heads upstairs to sleep.

[userpay]

Kinleth accepts the pigeon statue with a murmer of thanks, then follows the others upstairs to sleep.

[zmasterofjersey]

Ory gives his thanks to Barley, and proceeds to follow suit and hit the hay. With so many things on his mind, he doubts he will have a good sleep, but a bad night of sleep is better then a sleepless night. Against his expectations, the minute he hits the bed, he is knocked out like a light.

[Exthalion]

Bairn also turns in for the night.

[Jamini]

The rest of the night passes quickly. The borrowed beds from Barleybrew are comfortable enough, if a little old. Even those of you who would have slept fitfully found yourselves so exhausted from the stress of the day that you slept soundly through the night.

The next morning you are shaken out of bed by Barleybrew. The windows to the street are still dark, indicating that the morning watch have not yet lit the streetlamps for non-dwarves. He looks wary as he rouses you from your slumber.

"It's time. I hope ye slept well."

Your equipment you had brought with you has been piled into seven neatly stacked backpacks next to the stairs.

You are rested, but none of your casters have yet had time to prepare new spells or slots.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Gets up, yawning and grumbling. "Time for what? Have I missed something?"

He takes his pack, and also makes certain that everything on his body is still hidden on his body.

[Obscurejones]

Jameson, likewise takes time to check the only items on his person that would need to be hidden.
We're chasing the casters. Going to hunt them down while Barleybrew tries to handle the intrigue here.

[Exthalion]

Bairn was already awake but unmoving when Barleybrew came. He was used to waking before dawn to get to the archives on time.

"Thank you for all your help, we will do all that we can. A pity though, I think some of us," he gave meaningful glances to the other casters, "could use about an hour more."

[Soilborn]

Merely moving his eyelids required the utmost of Elithan’s effort, and his eyes themselves felt like balls of sticky slime. The sensation wasn’t unknown to him but he’d experienced it only a few times before over the course of his life. He supposed that this was a daily occurrence for most other races, but sleep was something Elithan never voluntarily took place in. He moaned in protest of whoever was jostling him, but the shaking continued until the elf sat up groggily.

“How long has it been?” he asked of Barleybrew as he half climbed, half stumbled out of his bed making his way to his bags. He knew that the day’s tasks required expediency, but he figured that someone had to check the city’s records for details of the deal with the Emerald Gate first. Elithan’d try to fit his usual monologue to Cyndor in during the wait. He’d need it for the task before him.

[userpay]

Poking her head out from the sheets Kinleth looks much like a just wakened child. "Well better sooner than later after all, especially with mages." That said she gets out of bed and goes over to her pack, picking it up.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
"Hnn. Well, if you're looking for mages, I have a faint idea which direction they went. I also have a piece of robe, if that counts for anything."

[Jjeinn-tae]

OOC: Going to assume Cael got his stuff from home somehow then. just a backpack of food, water, a lantern, and a "sleeping bag."

Cael was slower to react than his normal. Trance had lessened the headache somewhat, but just Barleybrew's wake up call created pounding pain in his head. "Ugh, if I ever make it back here, remind me to have some actual Elven drink and not Dwarven. Where are we off to?" Cael tries to pick the backpack up with prestidigitate, but it's too heavy, he groans a bit as he leans down to pick it up.

[Jamini]

"It's just before dawn son. It should be light out soon. Maybe seven... eight hours." Barleybrew nodded as he pressed a cold waterskin into Elithan's hands, urging him to drink.

"Most of the shops in town should open up if ye need to get anything. Bairn here has access to the archives as well. Just remember that every second ye waste is another those gate mages gain on ye."

[zmasterofjersey]

Normally, Ory is up this early because he likes to get an early start to the day, but yesterday must have worn him out more than he thought. When Barleybrew got to his makeshift bed, he found a miniature bear in hibernation which took twice as long to wake as the others. After groggily getting up, Ory does his morning stretches, and walks around in order for his body to catch up to his mind.

Ory then grabs his gear then addresses the issue at hand.All righty then, lets get moving. The only problem is, I have no clue where we are going.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Yawns. "Go up to the blasted hole where the mages tried to rain doom. You'll find runes, and fairly easy to distinguish tracks. Here, one of you nailed down a piece of what I presume to be mage robe."

Bery Sirius withdraws a piece of cloth from his sleeve, and throws it down for people to see.

[Soilborn]

Elithan gladly receives the waterskin from Barleybrew and takes a deep swig. “I appreciate it,” he states, his thirst satisfied.

“Before we go, we need to make sure we’re ready. That means checking into the deal that was made between Brilla and the Emerald Gate, but only one is needed to tackle that. It also wouldn’t hurt to stock up on supplies, but that too can be a single-man job.”

He crossed his legs Indian-style upon the floor, touching clenched hands in thought to his chin. His general appearance was that of thoughtfulness, but much of his concentration was instead centered around subduing the headache that lurked in the corners of his temples. “What’s really pressing on my mind however is what many of us consider vitally important assets: our magic. We can wait an hour and refresh ourselves, or we can make haste and give chase immediately. What say all of you?”

Keep in mind that we don’t have to kill too much time preparing. Some of us," his eyes darted from Kinleth to Bery, “Don’t have any spells to prepare, and can likely undertake the necessary chores before departure while we ready ourselves.”

((I just picked two people who Elithan didn’t see use magic in the fight with the sheets and mages. Trying to single out people who would be able to perform preparatory tasks while us casters refresh our spells.))

[Jjeinn-tae]

"I personally am not so sure that we'll be able to get much out of the shops today, that... Councilwoman." Cael hesitates a bit, as he seems to realize he doesn't know her name, nor whether he should. "Anyways, I'd be ready this very moment, I didn't exert myself much yesterday." Were it not for how red his eyes are, due to the alcohol last night- and providing an interesting contrast with his usual slightly blue tint- it could be thought that Cael had been waiting for this for a good while. He seems almost excited in his hung-over state.

[Obscurejones]

In any case I am ready as I am. If there's need to procure items... While I would no take items without recompense to the owner, I also feel no need to allow our band to leave unequipped. If the shops do not see fit to serve us they will find the proper price for their items left in their merchandise's place.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Waves his hand dismissively. "Very well, shop your little hearts out. Where would you have some us less commercially reliant wait for you?"

Bery is not in a particularly good mood right now. He has subtly, indirectly and accidently shoehorned himself into a position of rescue with some people who would notice if he "went missing" and who could probably recognise him if they saw him again.

[userpay]

Kinleth shrugs. "I'm fine with helping get supplies while the others prepare." She lightly prods at the sliver of the wound she still has left. "Maybe we could find some potions or somesuch."

[Exthalion]

"I don't know about any of you, but I lost family in that raid. I am going to leave now, with the supplies our host was kind enough to provide for us. We can stand here talking till they reach the Emerald Gate, but that will not help them."

That said, Bairn headed for the city gate walking just slowly enough that those who wanted to catch up would be able to by the time he was at the exit of the city.

[Obscurejones]

Jameson follows Bairn.
No use putting it off I suppose.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Taps Bairn on the shoulder. "The gate you want is the Inner Gate. You know, to get to that hole in the ceiling? Very obvious signs of struggle up there. And tracks. Lots of tracks."

A grin is flashed. Sincerity remains difficult to discern, contrare to the statement that follows.

"Trust me."

[Exthalion]

"Actually we know what direction they are going already. So I figured go that way. Unless you plan for us to jump off the roof when we reach the edge."

[Soilborn]

A barely audible sigh escaped the elf’s lips. Bairn indeed had lost family in the raid so Elithan could understand his haste, but wasn’t he a spellcaster himself? To be in such a hurry to face the mages unprepared he was either foolhardy or had some trick up his sleeve. Based solely upon the human’s age Elithan couldn’t tell which of the two happened to be the case.

“I empathize with your desire Bairn, I really do. But our marks have quite a trip ahead of them and their payload is cumbersome. They are also quite capable as well considering the havoc they caused here, more than we can handle without preparation. Would you rather venture quickly to death or trek the extra mile to victory?”

[userpay]

Kinleth's eyes dart back and forth as the group begins to separate, and not in a beneficial way. "Their right, we must be as prepared as we can. With as large of an encumberance they're carrying along they can't travel nearly as fast as we. If we were to find horses we'd be even better off."

[Exthalion]

"Do we forget that their spells are also exhausted? A spellcaster with no spells is a peasant with a strong mind. There will be time to rest before we catch them.

However, I was attempting to make a point. Either we do this, or we do not. Every unnecessary instant we spend here weakens our chances and our resolve. The General once said, 'While it is said that an army may be harmed by undo haste, none have ever benefited from prolonged delay.'"

[Soilborn]

Elithan’s eyebrow raised at Bairn’s exposition. He seemed to be seeing the situation in a vision of black and white, when there were many grays to the situation. “Who’s to say that they haven’t stopped to restore their spells? It’s true that they left quickly and likely fear being pursued, but we know neither the urgency of their return nor their full capabilities. They could easily settle down for an hour while we pursue and refresh themselves, or have a number of spells unexpended.”

As for us, I doubt we all have the money to afford mounts; I know I don’t,” Elithan tilted his gaze momentarily towards Kinleth as he said this last part. “But there are certainly alternatives. I’m positive that if we pool our money we can afford to at least rent a pair of horses and a wagon. Depending upon the bumpiness of the roads we may even be able to refresh our spells on the move.”

[Jjeinn-tae]

"Do we even know that they took a road?" Cael says in some strange crescendo, seemingly having been struggling with speaking from his headache. "It may be true that we can recover spells on the journey, but it is likely they cannot while managing prisoners. Bery, you say that you've seen their trail. Are we following a road? That could be quite an advantage here."

[Exthalion]

"It was reported that they left via the direction of the main gate.

They might be able to recover spells if they sleep in shifts. It requires a full nights rest so it may take them as long as three days for all of them to be at full strength."

[Soilborn]

Elithan's face turned towards Bery. "Care to share with us what you've figured out?"

[Jamini]

Outside of the door, the sounds of morning traffic begin to increase. All of you realize quite suddenly that you have been arguing for nearly half an hour. Barleybrew continues to watch on, unwilling to inturrupt your planning. As you debate, a small spattering of dwarven patrons enter the inn for breakfast and an early drink before work.

Please post your actions so we can move this along. Debate is good and fine in a party, but I'm becoming a little impatient with our total lack of any momentum. Somebody do SOMETHING. The longer you wait, the further off the mages get. Spellcasters, feel free to select your spells prepared if you are so inclined to do so now.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
"I'm not sure if they follow the road or not. I do know that they apparently slide off a cliff face."

"I will be going to be heading down the cliff way. If you want to join me, you are welcome. Who knows, it might be fun."

Bery departs again for that hole, following the tracks to the edge of the plateau this time. He'll look for safe ways to climb down, or alternative routes that lead, eventually, to the same area at the base of the plateau.

[Exthalion]

"Tell me in what direction it is, I will take the low road and try to reach the same point from the ground."

[Soilborn]

With a shrug Elithan gathered his things, packing away what wasn’t already stored in his bag before following behind Bairn.

“I suppose we’ve prepared enough. Let’s get this hunting party on the road.”

Let's get a move on, people!

[Jjeinn-tae]

Cael ventures along with the rest as it is now becoming. "Cliff... is that why you came back so bruised? Did you test the footing and fall?"

[the_lunae_moth]

Outside you see the people of the town bustling about their morning business. Shops are opening and people are gathering in the square. You also notice that there many individuals still cleaning away the debris of the previous encounter. All seems normal and well for these people, despite the events of the previous day.

Suddenly, above the drone of common activity, a faint sound like thunder can be heard. It is barely noticable at first, but grows louder with each passing moment. It becomes loud enough to go unignored. As it does, you notice a figure descending through the hole made by the Gate Wizards. A wild dark figure. The drow female lands in the square, the magical, stormcloud-like vapors dissapate from around her feet.

She is a tall, slender woman clothed almost entirely in black, save a red skull pendant worn around her neck. Her white hair is clean, yet unkempt, half piled on top of her head like she has electricity running through her veins. Her eyes, a smoldering storm of grey. As if a living shadow she moves. Her gait is confident and stern with purpose. The onlookers in town, while suprised at her sudden appearance, make no attempt to communicate with her. An aura of awe surrounds her. And perhaps fear.

As she speaks it is as if every other sound in the world ceases. It is an even, calm voice, almost too calm, and melodious. "They where here, the wizards. I KNOW it. Tell me where they are IMMEDIATELY. If you are hiding them I swear your punishment will be swift to come and long in ending. You!"
, she exclaims as she siezes a young male dwarf by the front of his shirt. The grey in her eyes swils with anger and grows dark with divine rage. "Where are they?". "I d...d...don't know. They've gone. I swear it!" cried the boy, too afriad to attempt escape. "What treaturous lies! TELL ME!". With that, the woman swiftly drops the boy and produces a wand in her hand. She reaches forward and touches the boy and he writhes with agony as an electric current rushes through his body. "Do not defy me boy. I will know the truth. I will strip it from your bones if I must." A wry smile twists upon her elegant face.

The people in the square see this occur, but it is like the world has stopped. Paralyzed by fear the crowd does little but stand and watch.

[Obscurejones]

Jameson whistles, shrill and sharp, the note piercing the morning air. He glances round to make sure his allies have spotted the woman as well. If not he points to her before drawing his sword.

Unhand the boy she-witch.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Snaps his fingers in front of the drow woman's face, and grins devilishly.

"You can down from that hole up there, right? How did you miss the tracks the wizards left?"

[Jamini]

The youth sceams as the current runs through his body, his muscles spasming wildly and his eyes fluttering in pain. The drow withdraws her wand, thin baton of iron less than an inch thick and that is covered with faint etchings from tip to heel, his knees buckle and he slides forward. Her lips curl into a fine snarl as she turns her eyes from the smoking, hardly-breathing body towards Bery.

At once all of you feel a sense of majestic terror strike you to the core, not terribly unlike the awe you saw in the commoners not a minute before. She sizes you up for a brief second, her body moving like that of a predator moving in for the kill. You can feel it from the depths of your bones, this woman is extremely dangerous.

Worse, her attention is now on you.

[Roc Ness]

Bery Sirius
Well. This is slightly more fun than a few minutes ago. Bery decides that he really needs to find out how to do the terror thing. Could be useful.

Bery himself has never been put down by knowing something was dangerous. That interfered with his usual line of work.

"Well? Aren't you going to go back up there and take a look? It would be an efficient use of your time; I don't see setting dwarves on fire as particularly productive."

[Soilborn]

Elithan’s palm met his face in exasperation. This drow witch truly was intimidating and no doubt a fowl being, but her quarrel was not with them. So why was Bery her, particularly if she so obviously outclassed him? A few theories rushed through his head, but the only one that seemed to hold water was simple idiocy.

“Back off the drow, Bery.” He did his best to hide the hesitancy in his steps as he approached the smoking dwarf and flung an arm over his shoulder, lifting its stocky body to the best of his ability. “We aren’t cohorts of the wizards but victims. They didn’t expect as much of a fight as they got and fled. We know not where to.”

With that he half-carried, half-dragged the dwarf away from the witch much to his silent relief. Considering the problems that their magical capabilities had presented so far he was loath to display his spell power before this fearsome adversary. Perhaps if he could get the boy back to the surrounding crowd someone would take him to a doctor.

[userpay]

Kinleth lets out a low groan as her associates confront the drow rather brashly. Though as she scurries forward to aid Elithan in carrying the poor dwarf she can't help but add to it.

"How do you expect to know the truth when you're so quick to deny what one says? Yes the wizards were here, no they are not here any longer. We found the tracks they left when they fled with what victims they managed to snatch. So they shouldn't have gotten far." She levels her gaze at the imposing woman. "For that matter we were about to track them down ourselves to finish them off before you dropped in as well."

[the_lunae_moth]

The drow aknowledges Kinleth with a look. "If you speak truth halfling I soon shall know." she says as she grasps the red skull pendant around her neck. Her eyes close and a rush of the dark divine courses through her.

"As for you" she turns to Bery Sirius. As she does so her hand remains clutched on the red skull. Her eyes once again open and flashing with wrath. "You shall do well to learn from your own folly. Let Wee Jas, the great consort bestow her cold touch! Perhaps then you shall know your proper place. Dark energy crackles around the drow and an incorporeal, vapourous hand reaches out and touches Bery.

Both Kinleth and Bery make will saves please.

[the_lunae_moth]

The dark hand encircles Bery and he feels shaken, dismayed, and otherwise anxious and afraid. "Know your place and be forewarned. Those who stand against the will of Mordian will be stamped out". The drow murmered menacingly.

Upon bestowing the small curse, she focused her attentions on the rest of your group.

Kinleth is unaffected by the spell. The drow is suprised at this. "The Lady deigns you worthy. Quite interesting. Then perhaps you speak truth. Who would have thought...a noble halfling."

She clutches her pendant once more and the Dwarf boy stirs. He is not completely healed, but he is deffinitly now stable.

"Now, tell me exactly everything you know of what transpired here"

Bery takes a -2 on attack, damage, save, and check rolls for 7 minutes.

[Obscurejones]

Jameson glowers but sheathes his sword.
Mages, seemingly of the Gate, descended from the ceiling and demanded compensation for some forgotten pact. Absconded with hostages.

[Jamini]

Right. I'm posting this is OOC too.

Lately posting here has been sporadic. I am partially to blame, and for that I apologize. However, I do not wish have this game end with a wimper.

Everyone who is still here and willing to participate in ItS please post in IC. This is a role-call of sorts, and if you don't post I will be assuming you have lost interest. The deadline for this is 11:59 EST, 03/30/2011.

If we don't have enough players to continue going, I will be opening a new recruitment therad.

Thank you for your patience. Things will be picking up again, very soon.

[Obscurejones]

See previous post.:smalltongue:

[userpay]

Kinleth gestures towards Jameson. "It is essentially as he said. They blew that hole in the ceiling, said something about a deal but no details of it, then attacked and a horde of moving cloth. A group of us fought back and drove them off though they still managed to take victims. We're about to follow and see if we couldn't rescue the victims."

[the_lunae_moth]

The drow smiles. "You have been most helpful". She reaches into the sleeve of her gown and produces a small object. It is a talisman of sorts. A shinny, polished, black stone with a hole through the center. It hangs on a red ribbon.
I am Iovana. As a grand inquisitor I have been tasked in finding these Gate Wizards and their allies wherever they may be. It is the will of Mordian and the great consort that they be stamped out. It is of immense importance."
She holds the trinket out to Kinleth."If you should find these Wizards all you need do is turn this over in your hand three times and I shall come and assist you."

[Soilborn]

He had kept his mouth shut during the proceedings, not wishing to bring himself into the midst of what seemed like an imminent confrontation between the powerful inquisitor and Bery’s seemingly foolhardy aggression. But now Elithan eyed the drow with intense suspicion as the dwarf stirred from his arms.

Perhaps it was the bad blood between their races that added prejudice to what should be rational thought, but the dark elf that called herself Iovana didn’t seem to add up. Espousing the will of a foreign god she had descended into a clearly victimized town spreading an aura of fright and despair, yet with just the slightest of convincing offered her assistance. Even if she had only the best of intentions in the end, he couldn't bring himself to trust her.

Yeah, I’m still here.

Sensing motive on the Iovana. [roll0]
Also Knowledge (religion) on the god Mordian. [roll1]

[Jamini]

[roll0]

Sense Motive

You can't really get a good read on Iovana. Her body language and mindset are just too far removed from your own elven upbringing for you to have any idea what she is thinking. She might be earnest, she may be wholly devious. Doubly so thanks to her affiliation.

**
Knowlage(Religion) Results

You know very little of the teachings of the Mordian. You do know that he is a strict god who embodies imperialism and control.

You recognize her holy symbol as the symbol of Wee Jas.

[userpay]

Kinleth slowly takes the stone from Iovana, knowing that one misstep would bring ruin. Mostly she just works to keep a straight face. "And when I call... how quickly will you arrive?" She queries. "We may very well come upon them suddenly."

[the_lunae_moth]

"It depends upon where the Great Consort takes me. Though reast assured, I will arrive soon enough."

Iovana smiles, as she hands over the amulet. "Should all go well you may be greatly rewarded for your efforts".

With that she scanned the crowd once more. "You have all witnessed this day, something of great providence. Soon the world will be rid of this scurge, the Emerald Gate!" Her bottom half becomes transparent as it once again turns to cloud. They are still tempuestuous clouds, but there is no thunder or lighting. Just dark, billowing, ominous vapous.

Before she takes to the sky she turns back to all of you. "We will meet again."

Iovana rises into the air and ascends toward the hole above, once again becoming a dark speck against the ever lightening sky. As she leaves, the world returns to normal. The muted sounds return and the people once again take up their daily business. It is like a great weight has been lifted, and crisis averted.

[Soilborn]

The air cleared as the drow exited Brilla by the same hole through which she had come. Life seemed breathed back into the city, almost as though the episode hadn’t occurred at all. And what were they doing before Iovana appeared? He was suddenly reminded of the urgency of their mission.

“All right, folks. We need to get a move on. Do we know how we’re going to travel? Foot will be slow, but I don’t exactly have enough money on me for a mount.”

[Jamini]

Far above, through the hole over the central square of Brilla that Iovana had left through, you can see the beginnings of several dark clouds gather. The first few droplet of rain begin to pour down onto the city streets over your small group.

In Elithan's arms the young dwarf stirs as a few cold raindrops land on his face. Around you the remaining gathered dwarves have taken to muttering amoungst themselves once again.

[userpay]

When the cleric is well and truely gone Kinleth lets out an impressively huge sigh of relief. "What was that saying? Out of the frying pan and into the flame?" She regards the amulet with a faint look of distrust but relectantly tucks it away in a pocket. Now the halfling turns her eye towards the crowd. "As much as I'd hate to accept it I think we don't have much of a choice, when we catch up to the Gate theres no telling what tricks they'll have readied. Would you rather have the chance that we might fail, injured as some of us are, or pay those damn wizards back for what they did and fight fire with fire?"

[Obscurejones]

Ye gods, are we men or mice? We nearly bested them before. Let's just hunt the blaggards down and separate their souls from their flesh at the points of our steel. Why all this chattering every time we are to move?

[Jamini]

To speed things along, please state anything you wish to buy before leaving town. You now know the general direction the mages are heading, and have a few items that were once in their possession.

You don't know if you can catch them up on foot, but the storm above should slow down any sort of flight, giving you a minor advantage. When each of you have posted your shopping lists, if any, we will be leaving Brilla.

[Soilborn]

shopping list
Selling 2 daggers for 2g total.
Buying 2 arrows (10s) and 10 rations worth of trail food (50s) for 60s total.

Let's say I'm carrying around two bags, one of smoked jerky and the other a mix of dried fruit and nuts.
((With that Elithan is good to go. *looks around for other party members.))