Lords of the 13th Age: Kingmaker (IC Thread)

[DawnRaven]

Note: This varies significantly from the Golarion timeline which places Noleski Surtova as King I've done this in order to bring a “Game of Thrones” style sub-plot and add more political chaos to the game, which was missing from the original Kingmaker AP. Don't worry too much about references to Surtova as King. For many purposes, he essentially is and most of House Surtova call him King Surtova already.



http://www.ambient-mixer.com/images_template/e/3/f/e3fc254d8d9137aa506bd5c3572d98f6_full.jpg

Recent Events

Brevoy has been under a lot of strain recently since the disappearance of the ruling family, the Rogarvias. The event, termed “The Vanishing” occurred about eight months ago. Overnight, the entire Rogarvian family disappeared from their beds and homes with no sign of what occurred. This included all members of the family that were traveling beyond Brevoy's borders at the time. Since that time, Noleski Surtova has claimed the regency of the Dragonscale Throne despite Orlovsky protests. Many of the Surtovas call Noleski “King Noleski” despite the fact he is not yet, nor may ever be, king. According to the Brevic Decrees of 4607, in the case of a no Rogarvian heir, the major noble houses must vote for a new ruling family. The vote requires five of the seven major houses. Noleski has the votes of Houses Surtova and their erstwhile allies the Lodovkas. There are rumours that he may gain the allegiance of House Lebeda as well.

Houses Orlovsky and Medyvhed soundly oppose Noleski's grab for the throne. House Orlovsky insists that the Rogarvias will return. House Garess has yet to make a decision and...House Rogarvia no longer exists causing a great degree of strife amongst their former banner houses. House Rogarvia once ruled not only over Brevoy but over the Rostland Plains. The remaining houses now struggle amongst one another to claim majority control over House Rogarvia;'s former territory and claim the right of House Rogarvia's vote for the throne. It is likely that this vote will be a critical one for the Surtovas and Orlovsky's alike so there has been plenty of political maneuvering between them and the more important banner houses—House Manning, House Westerling, House Reyne and, until recently, House Harte.

On the same night, Skywatch Academy locked its doors..permanently. No one has heard from staff who were inside at the time and no one has been able to get into the university. Attempts to break the doors, windows or even walls prove useless. Attempts to fly inside the courtyard or teleport inside were equally ineffective. The school canceled last year's classes until provisions could be made. Recently, they have purchased and altered several townhouses for use as classrooms. The investigation into the school is ongoing but has not turned up anything that you have been told.


Note: Each of you has been given some small rumor or gossip that you can choose to either tell the other party members at some point or not. I figured I would allow a couple of days of bar room chatter before Bonimi gives his announcement, unless someone presses Ivanoe to speak on it.


Date:4 Rova 4711

The group starts off, stereotypically enough, in a bar in New Stetven, the capital of Brevoy. The bar is an elaborate dedication to the glass artistic work of its owner, Roberto Cavalli. Beautiful glass sculptures and elaborately designed windows fill the walls. Unique chandeliers hang from the ceiling. The Glass Angel Bar is a common hang-out to the upper-class of New Stetven. Members of the minor nobility, rich merchants, well-supported artists and the more refined adventurers make this place a busy, and expensive, watering hole.

Of course, you don't worry too much about the absurd prices of the drinks. Roberto Cavalli is none other than a dear friend of yours who is seated at the table drinking with you. Cavalli is like the rest of you, a bastard son. Roberto's a large man with plenty of girth and a stubbled beard. His girth, thick glasses and artistic talent hide a keen duelist who, while nothing compared to a Swordlord, is no slouch in one on one combat.

Cavalli sits beside the hunched, elderly figure of Ivanoe Bonimi. Bonimi's old enough that his bones seem to creak when he moves to pick the mug off the table. Most of these gatherings are called by and planned by Cavalli, however, tonight he did so at the request of Bonimi himself. Each of you wonders what Bonimi called you to discuss but he has not yet broached the subject. Instead, he seems content with allowing the conversation to wander down its usual path—discussing local gossip, the political idiocies of the various nobles and reminiscing about past times.

Roberto thumps his tankard on the table and waves to one of the servers. A pretty, black-haired girl with features similar to Roberto comes over and drops off a few beers for those who have emptied them. “Father, that's your fifth tonight and it's early yet. You really should slow down.”

The rotund artist laughs at his daughter, looking at the rest of the table. “My daughter seems to forget that we have cause to celebrate. It's not everyday that a woman of her status begins lectures at Skywatch! Tomorrow she will become yet another Bonimi-supported misfit. Skywatch may be taught out of town homes recently, but the scholars are still top class. Isn't that right, Master?”

Lore Notes
In three days, the Welcoming Ceremony for all new students at Skywatch will be held. Usually the ceremony is held in Beklo's Hall but with Skywatch being...closed, it will instead be held in a plaza nearby. Cavalli is excited to see his daughter join the ranks of Skywatch Alumni.

Cavalli taps his mug against Bonimi's and smiles at him, arching an eyebrow when the elderly man simply smiles back, nodding his head quietly, seemingly lost in thought. “Well, have any of you heard about the skirmish between the Orlovsky's and Lodovkas? I heard those damned pirates raided another Orlovsky village, or at least tried to! It seems the number of raids between those two has only increased since the Vanishing.”

[Karl Prosek]

"Psshh! Stinking crabs!" The speaker is a young man with sandy blonde hair, more than a little in his cups. On that whipcord thin frame the boy couldn't possibly hold as much liquor as a big man like Bonimi, but he has been giving it his level best to keep up all night. "Poke Orlovsky enough and eventually he'll roll down out of Eagle's Watch like an avalanche."

Vassily shakes his head, seeming a little too loose on his neck. "Ships're good for raiding, but Lodovka's not set up for serious fighting. S'stupid, s'what it is. Shortsided. Sighted. Short-sighted." It wasn't the first time the young man had expressed disdain for the near-pirates on the Lake. That more than likely had something to do with the fact that his household was as far removed from the Lake of Mists and Veils as one could get without having Vanished. Anyone who had actually lived through a Lake raid wouldn't think so poorly of Lodovka's fighting men.

[Shyftir]

"I wouldn't dismiss the lake-raiders so quickly, lad." Duvan smiled taking any sting out of the words. "I've fought pirates before and let me tell you, desperate men make deadly foes."

Duvan was a tall man nearly 30 years old. He had served several years in the Bloodstone Swords and so thought of himself as more experienced that most of the Misfits. The fact that he'd not attended Skywatch but instead 'Ard-Knox (as he liked to say) made him a bit of an outsider. He had become a friend and drinking companion to the others after bailing a couple of the younger members out of a sticky situation in a less upscale drinking establishment.

"Did I ever tell you about my time on the Encarthan Shore?"

[Karl Prosek]

Vassily goggles at Duvan. He was young, and like many young men had yet to learn that adventure was often just a word for tedious boredom punctuated by periods of intense terror. In short, while he was sophisticated in the way of many not-well-traveled New Stetven residents, he was prone to hero worship and drank in tales of the exotic or adventure.

"No... did you go to Lastwall? Or Kyonin?"

[Shyftir]

"Well I saw 'im both mind ya." Duvan began to pontificate. "But the pirates I fought were near Kyonin." He paused and took a big swig of hard-cider before continuing.

"Ya see, lad, me and my buddy Landon were off duty scusin' it up in a dockside dive, when these three fellers with rings in their ears and gaps in their teeth came in." Now it was clear they wanted trouble 'cause they walked right up to us and said we were sittin' at their table." He takes another drink. "Needless to say this didn't sit well with the two of us and the fists got to flyin'."

[DawnRaven]

"Ha!" The fat bar owner shakes his head at Duvan. "Don't go filling the boy's head with your lies, MacHallon. First you start with pirates and the next thing we know, you'll be telling us you saved the Living God from an assassination by undead pirate kings! Or do you have a more outlandish one this time? If nothing else, at least your stories give me another reason to drink! "

A wide, infectious smile spreads over Roberto's face as he teases the mercenary. Bonimi simply leans forward, waving his hand dismissively toward Cavalli. "Don't tease the man, Roberto. His tales are interesting, the truth of them does not matter much."

[Angstrom]

"Aye. I reckon you soaked up a tall tale or two while with the Swords eh Duvan?"

Though the dwarf's balding head doesn't come past shoulder level on any of his companion, he drinks at a pace equal to his much larger employer. Hal offers a warm smile as Cavalli's daughter sets a tankard before him. "Spare a moment to join us, little one, we drink to your health tonight! You're one of the Misfits now, eh Ivanoe."

[Shyftir]

"Now, now most of my stories are true." The tall warrior winked. "I just might not have actually been there meself." Duvan chuckled.

"Yes! Yes! a drink to the lass!" Duvan exclaimed. "So nice of you to join this prestigious gathering. May yer studies be studious and yer adventures exciting."

With that, Duvan downed his remaining cider and smiled broadly.

[Razorstorm]

Theron stepped in through the door to the Glass Angel, stopping to take a moment to take in the room with an arrogant gaze, his hands resting casually on his sword and dagger, scanning for any known members of the Surtova family. He was always cautious when he had to return to the up-town side of New Stetven, but he refused to skulk about.

Seeing the gathering of Misfits, he grinned broadly, and strode across the room. He cuts through the group, heading straight to stand in front of Ivanoe. He gazes warmly at the old man, clasps his shoulders with both hands, and leans in and gives him a peck on each cheek, in the Aldori fashion. "It's good to see you, sir," he says respectfully. Then he turns to the group with a roguish grin, heartily clasping wrists with Roberto, and then each of the others in turn. He follows the wrist clasp with Duvan with one-armed hug, "Good to see you alive!" He pulls away, and flamboyantly hold his arms wide, "Well, what's the latest news, man? Who's been paying you to stab who, lately?"

Noticing the empty glasses in everyone's hands, "... I get the feeling I just missed a toast... What are we drinking to?"

[Shyftir]

"I'm actually between jobs right now. I promise I won't take up any contracts on ya." Duvan smiled back. The young swordlord was a favorite of his. "Oh aye, we're toasting Roberto's wee lass. She starts at the Academy tomorow. We might even let 'er have a tankard o' the Dwarf-juice if she behaves." Of course the bar-owner's daughter wasn't really that young and had surely tried the Ale, but it was in Duvan's nature to poke a little fun.

(Fun fact: the more Duvan drinks the more people confuse his accent for a dwarven one.)

[Razorstorm]

"What? You don't say?!" He calls out loudly. He swoops to the girl, throwing his arms around her exuberantly and spinning her around. He dips her, and almost plans a luscious kiss on her, then stops and looks and Roberto's fatherly scowl, and thinks better of it. He puts the girl back on her feet and clears his throat, and straightens his jacket. "Um, well, congratulations m'dear!" When Roberto looks away, shaking his head, Theron slaps his daughter on the rump and winks roguishly. "What does a guy have to do get a drink around here, huh?"

[DawnRaven]

“Hah! I'm sure they are Duvan. Those mercenaries you've worked with seem to go everywhere and do everything!”

When Theron comes over, Bonimi gives an exaggerated groan. His reputation coupled his removal from Skywatch's ranks had always given the older man upheavals. Despite all of this though, as with all of the misfits he encouraged to make better lives for themselves, Bonimi treated him as an equal and always to a smile.

“Good evening to you, my wayward pupil. I hope you have been doing well. I would inquire further, but I am sure you have been up to mischief. Please, join us and have a drink. Roberto is kindly hosting our gathering tonight and freely tapping his barrels for all. ”

While Bonimi welcomes his newest pupil, Vivian is caught up by her father's crazy friends. She waves her hand toward the crowd at Duvan's invitation and shakes her head, giving him a full smile. Even her father's encouraging motion doesn't sway her from her duties for the night. With Hal and her father drinking, the tavern is staffed by only herself, one other server and a young man at the bar. She has only just turned her back to them when Theron surprises her from behind. She let out a half-laugh, half-shout of shock before laughingly pushing him away and glancing to her father. The large man's cheeks were red from more than just liquour as he scowled at Theron.

“Theron! I've heard enough of your mad stories to know better than let you within arm's reach of my innocent daughter. But I'll let it go! Tonight, is of course, a celebration. It's not every day so many of us gather together under one roof. And it's not every day that my daughter goes to Skywatch!” Its becoming rapidly obvious that Cavalli has had quite a few drinks and is going to repeat that phrase at least another twenty times before the night is up.

As Roberto turns back to the table, he looks at Hal. “Do you think that new hire of ours can handle the bar for the night? It is your day off and I don't want you feelin' the need to go and help him out.”

Vivian herself rolls her eyes at Theron. “My father is opening his kegs for the night to you all, Theron. Feel free to ask for what you want and I'll see it brought over. Someone has to watch over the bar when you lot are around!” The girl spins away, used to dealing with boisterous nobles and adventurers alike.

[Karl Prosek]

Vassily is clearly disappointed that Duvan didn't get to finish his story, but the young man is well bred enough to keep any complaints to himself. In any case, in short order he's smiling again and staring at someone who fairly reeks of adventure and intrigue- Theron.

He joins in the general toast to Vivian but doesn't join in the teasing. Being closer to the girl's age, that was possibly a sign that he was sweet on the girl. Then again, she was still several years his junior and at that age, even two years difference seems like an unbridgeable gulf, so maybe it was just him being polite again.

The young man nods his head at Vivian's retreating back. "What's she studying, Roberto?" The Academy masters taught all sorts of things, after all.

[Shieldheart]

Aldren felt a weight lift off his shoulders the moment he entered the Glass Angel and the clamour of patrons laughing, arguing and carousing washed over him. He smiled, feeling like he was finally home.

He looked about until he caught sight of Bonimi, Roberto and the band of Misfits, his eyes lighting up. He walked over, the smile on his face broadening until he was beaming like a fool.

"Ivanoe!"He called out in an uncharacteristically enthusiastic voice, clasping the old man's shoulders and greeting him in the Aldori manner. "It is good to see you, sir. You look well." He said, gratitude for all the favours the old man had done for him over the years evident in his voice. He straightened and looked about, clapping Roberto on the shoulder, nodding politely at Duvan and Hal and laughing when he laid his eyes on Theron.

"I wondered if you would be here, you rascal!" He said, his eyes sparkling. Officially, the mercenary was an enemy of the Pathfinders. Aldren was usually a model agent, but he found it impossible to consider his old friend an enemy. Still, he didn't broadcast his relationship to the man to the Company either.

[ChaiGuy]

A scowl of displeasure briefly crossed Dario’s face as he reached to open the door of the Glass Angle. It was unlike him to be late to a meeting with the Misfits, or with anyone for that matter. The delay had been worth it though; he had spotted a House Reyne merchant who, in his estimation had overloaded his wagon by a few hundred pounds. After directing the merchant to the nearest weigh station, and having him unload, weigh and reload all of the cargo Dario had noticed that merchant’s license had expired a few days prior. In addition he had no license to sell the liquor cargo that he been hiding. So many citations, so little time and so he was late to the meeting.

Dario opened the ornate front door of the tavern and scanned the room for familiar faces. Ivanoe Bonimi, who had hosted the event was there and of course Dario owed much to the man in securing his education at Skywatch. Roberto Cavalli with whom he’s had lengthy discussions on various artistic subjects was in attendance . He had not had the opportunity to meet much of the other Misfits in person, his duties kept him very busy.

After apologizing for his tardiness and greeting the various members of the Misfits in the exact form that etiquette demanded, well with perhaps quite a bit formality than the occasion actually called for, he ordered a cup of green tea. Green tea was considered an oddity in the region, yet he liked its subtle flavor and aroma, and while expensive, seeing it was usually imported from Tien Xia. The Glass Angle, was one of the only places that he found was refined enough to offer such indulgences so he always took the opportunity to partake of some when he had the pleasure to drink there.

[Razorstorm]

Grinning at Aldren, "You, sir, need a drink! Come here!" He grabs a mug of ale and hands it to his skinny friend.

[Angstrom]

Hal meets Roberto's concern with a warm smile, "The new boy sees this as an opportunity to impress his boss, he won't let you down. The Angel is in good hands so why don't we crack out the strong stuff? I'll grab that barrel of stout I got from Toval Golka. We can see which of these Misfits is dwarf enough to walk in a straight line tonight."

[Shyftir]

"Bring it on, Hal. We'll drink these Lads under the table quick enough I'll warrant." Duvan had clearly already had a bit, but didn't seem to be slowing down much.

[Shieldheart]

"Don't mind if I do!" Aldren laughed, accepting the drink and sitting down. It felt good to be back home, among familiar faces. He nodded a greeting to Dario, who he knew only in passing. He chugged down his pint of ale and set it on the table, grinning. "Bring it on. We'll see who's got the stoutest liver."

[Karl Prosek]

Vassily laughs. "Youthful metabolism will beat age and experience every time!" Or at least it would when it came time to deal with the hangover. The young man was already closer to drunk than any of his elders- he didn't look like he would hang on much longer if it came to a real contest, in spite of his bravado.

[DawnRaven]

Interrupting a lull in the drinking and boasting, Ivanoe suddenly speaks up, tapping his glass with a spoon. When he looks around, it is with a broad smile. “Not all of you may have been my students, but I see you all as my pupils. You seem well aware of the current climate here in Brevoy as judging from your conversation. But I unfortunately called a gathering for a much different task. I'm pleased so many of my former students were able to show up tonight.”

Lore notes

There are other “Misfits” of course. Leaving us open to adding replacement character should anyone perish!

“While many of you have your own lives, and in fact, some have your own families.” Here Bonimi pauses and looks over his shoulder to a laughing Vivian. Roberto's daughter views Bonimi as an elderly uncle, and in fact looks up to many of you the same way.

“And yet, you are all still trustworthy and well-trained individuals. I've been asked by a young friend, a man much yourselves with tenuous relationships, for aid. Some of you may have heard of a recent string of disappearances among the Lower Ward. Those taken have mostly been the poor and homeless, people no one would notice missing for the most part.."

The old mentor frowns, shaking his head sadly. "However, one of the city guardsmen noted these patrols—Captain Kesten Garess. Kesten ah..doesn't have much pull in the guard despite being a Captain and his orders to look into the situation have been hampered by his court status. When he told me of the situation, I felt some of my pupils may want to help him out. I would take it as a favor to myself as well if you would simply meet with the Captain tomorrow night. I only know that he has plans to raid the instigators of these crimes but not the manpower to do it. He has hired a few mercenaries to help him out and will, I'm sure, pay you as well for your help. "

Before any of you can speak up, Roberto snorts, tapping the table. “I'd be glad to help, Master. But you already know that! Kesten's a friend of mine as well and I wouldn't leave him to do this with those mercenaries he's hired. Ah..no offense, MacHallon. But you know how some mercenaries are!”

Backgrounds
You may make an Intelligence check to know more about Captain Garess. Applicable backgrounds include anything pertaining specifically to the nobility or to politics (ambassador-ships, etc). Du to his relationship with mercenaries, any backgrounds using that are relevant as well.

You can also make a Wisdom check to see if you have heard/know about the disappearances. Relevant backgrounds include things pertaining specifically to dock hands, the poor and homeless or the seedy underbelly of the city.

[Karl Prosek]

Vasily sits up straighter at the offer to do the Ivanoe a favor. "Of course! Anything you need, sir!" In his inebriated state he probably isn't in the best condition to make an informed decision, but his enthusiasm can't be entirely attributed to the liquor.

[Angstrom]

"Garess must be a fine lad if you both vouch for him. I'm in; its about time someone did something about those criminals. What do you say Duvan; why don't you come along and show these youngbloods how a Bloodstone Sword handles himself."

Hal smiles at Bonimi and the assembled Misfits. Its a compliment that Bonimi, who hasn't known him for long, wants Hal along. This family clearly looks after its own.

[DawnRaven]

Kesten: DC 15 (Go ahead and use the bonus Aldren..which unfortunately hurts rather than helps with those rolls)

Kesten Garess is the elder son of Lord Brank Garess. The two never had a very good relationship and it has only frayed further in recent months. Keston was discovered courting a peasant girl from one one of House Garess's wineries. The mountainous terrain is ideal for a sharp, dry red wine. While Kesten insisted that he was in love with the girl and wished to marry her, his father would have no part in it. Kesten found himself banished from House Garess territory about four months ago. Kesten's younger brother was made the heir to Branko's estate instead. As a result, despite being a full blooded noble, Kesten no longer finds welcome in most circles. He managed to secure a lowly position within the New Stetven Watch but is relatively ignored.


Note: If you all want to share information without needlessly copy+pasting it out of spoilers, feel free to just state something along those lines and direct people to them. This goes for every roll from now on, I think I'll just start spoilering information and provide the DC above in order to smooth things along, as I've seen other Dm's do.


On the disappearances:
DC 20

There hasn't been much talk about the disappearances until Captain Garess made a fuss about it. It turns out no less than seventeen people have gone missing from the streets recently. Now, normally beggars and thieves go missing from time to time. But rarely will that many go missing in the span of a two months. Those missing include several out of work maids, numerous beggars and a few runaway orphans. The disappearances have all come from people living (or stranded) in the Lower Ward of the city. The Lower Ward is a dilapidated area of the city. It contains little industry and is a stain New Stetven tries to ignore.

Rumours say that cloaked figures were seen taking away Old One-Tooth, a beggar who spent much of his time by the, now abandoned, Church of Brigh. Some say that the missing were taken by the Prince of Thieves to a better place. Others simply claim Lodovka-backed slavers have made their way into New Stetven streets now that House Surtova rules. None of the rumors are very reputable.

[Razorstorm]

Recognition flashed in Theron's eyes, "Oh yeah, Kesten! He's one of the good ones." Theron finishes his first drink, and starts pouring one of the powerful dwarven stuff. "I'm certainly happy to help him out, especially if he's paying!" He takes a swig, and his pretty face winces, and his eyes water a bit. "Now what's this about..." his question is interrupted by a burning cough. He wipes his eyes and clears his throat. "Now what's this about people disappearing?"

[ChaiGuy]

Dario politely acknowledged politely acknowledged Aldren’s nod, he had heard of his intellect and skill with the sword, but his fashion left much to be desired in Dario’s estimation.

Captian Kesten Garess, the name did not sound familiar to Dario, perhaps it was no surprise since New Stetven was a long journey from Restov. Likewise Dario was unaware of the news of the disappearances; he had just arrived in the city after all.

Since Ivanoe Bonimi asked this as a personal favor, it became something Dario could not ignore. Vasily, Hal and Theron had already voiced support for the meeting. Theron was another swordlord, who Dario had heard was of exceptional ability.

Dario was sure that the other Misfits where individuals of exceptional talent, but they seemed a little rough around the edges, if they botched this investigation it could be a hindrance to Dario’s long term plans. With this he seemed compelled to offer his assistance in this matter.
”Oh course professor Bonimi, I am willing to be of assistance in this matter.”

[Shieldheart]

Aldren listened intently to what Bonimi had to say. He had not heard of the disappearances in the Lower Ward, which was not surprising given that he had only just arrived at New Stetven. Neither did he know of this Captain Garess. But neither was necessary for him to do the right thing.

"I will help in any way I can, sir." He said firmly. If nothing else, working with the other Misfits would be a nice callback to the old days. "Payment,"he emphasized, mostly to rile Theron,"Is not necessary."

[Shyftir]

"Well, I don't usually work for free, mind ya." Duvan snorted, "but some of these folks missing are known to me. They might not be high-class folk, but they do 'nae deserve to just disappear like that."

He took a nice long pull from his drink. "Aye", he said firmly, "Ya'v got my blade."

[DawnRaven]

"Wonderful! I believe Robert knows the way to the Captain's offices..?" Bonimi glances to the tavernkeeper, continuing after receiving a slight nod. "Good. The Captain was hoping you could meet with him tomorrow, after the Welcoming Ceremony at Skywatch."

[DawnRaven]

Date 5 Rova 4711

The Welcoming Ceremony was a grand affair. Roberto obtained seats near the front only a few rows behind the scholars, including Bonimi. He was dressed in his best red wool tunic with lace around the cuffs and gold trim. His boots were freshly polished. Those seated were mostly members of the minor nobility, swordlords and rich merchants who could afford to send their children to Skywatch. After several long introductions, the guest of honor made an inspired speech about the importance of education and progressing Brevoy into a new renaissance. The guest was none other than Baron Kevan Manning, head of House Manning and, at the moment, the greatest of House Rogarvia's banner houses.


Later in the day, Roberto leads his friends through the streets of New Stetven to where the Watch Barracks resides. The Barracks is a series of wooden buildings on a wide, flat plain near Banker's Street. Cavalli stops in front of a small wooden building that, at first glance, you take to be a shed until you notice the plaque: "Captain Garess" over the door.

"Here we are, Gentlemen. The dear Captain holds his offices in this tiny building. Hopefully we can all fit.." Cavalli opens the door and walks inside first.

Within, is a small wooden desk with a lantern and papers covering its surface. The man behind it has short, brown hair and a thin beard. He looks up with bright, blue eyes when the fat duelist walks through. "Ah, Roberto! And the rest of you must be Bonimi's friends. Please, come in from the Autumn chill. I would ask you to sit, but as you see I have but the one chair." He smiles ruefully at that, shaking his head. Once the seven of you have fit yourselves inside awkwardly, he starts talking again.

"Its a pleasure to meet you all and I thank you for accepting my invitation to at least hear me out. I've been trying to get help for this endeavor but it hasn't been going well. The Watch thinks the problem isn't important enough and there aren't enough mercenaries in New Stetven that I trust. I assume Bomini told you about the kidnappings? It took some effort, but I believe I've found the culprits. I simply need some strong arms to back up my effort to stop them. "

"The poor have been victimized by a group known as the Secret Shadows. I believe they are operating an illegal bloodsport arena called the Crypt under the city, in the sewers. Those few who saw the kidnappings reported dark, cloaked figures. I set a few mercenaries I've hired to watching the streets and one of them, Falgrim Sneeg, spotted some of these people making off into a sewer tunnel. He followed them and gathered some information. The place looks to be well-guarded, which is why I'll need help taking them down. My intent is to strike them tomorrow night, by surprise. We will aim to take as many of them down as we can. Hopefully a raid will discourage any future attempts at setting up such a disgusting thing."

[Shieldheart]

The Welcoming Ceremony was a nostalgic affair. Aldren felt a mix of sadness and joy sitting there, watching a new generation of students start on their journey through Skywatch. It was too bad they would not get to do so in the Academy proper. He wondered what magic had caused the school to shut itself off from the world.

He was characteristically quiet as the Misfits made their way to visit the Captain. The sad state of the man's office dampened his spirits somewhat. So were the good rewarded in life.

It was a little difficult cramming into the little office, but they managed. Aldren listened to the Captain's explanation of the disappearances with increasing distaste. "It is not an uncommon phenomena in the more lawless cities. I am sad to see such happen in New Stetven, but very glad that someone is trying to stop it. You have my sword at your service, Captain."

He paused a moment, before asking a question. "What of this Secret Shadows group, Captain? I do not mean to tell you your business, but in my experience such groups often have the tacit sponsorship of powerful individuals. Do you have any idea about their origin and workings?"

[Shyftir]

"Falgram Sneeg, ay? Never heard of him." Duvan muttered to himself.

Before Garess could answer Aldren's question, Duvan spoke up.
"I know a bit of the Shadows, meself, mostly just bar-room rumors, Pretty typical thieves guild stuff."

[ChaiGuy]

Dario attended the Welcoming Ceremony in his finest robes, he also made sure to wear his school ring which he got upon graduation. The influence and political pull of the Skywatch was evident since the speaker was no other than Baron Kevan Manning.
Dario was rather perplexed by Captain Garess’s office, but before he could fully size up the situation he was lead inside by Roberto.

When Dario learned the alleged bloodsport arena the Crypt was in the sewers he couldn’t help but cringe. The sewers seemed like an appropriate place for such distasteful activities by such lowlife scum. On the other hand it meant that he would have to go into the sewers. Dario made a mental note to wear something discard able, because he’s not going to be keeping this set of clothing after a romp through the sewers.

Another thing, while Dario would like to hear all of the evidence that lead to the, to be honest, rather farfetched conclusion, he didn’t want to offend Captain Garess. He would really hate to go trudging through a sewer following some rehearing. Dario reluctantly decided to not question the conclusion, but would ask for more info about the Crypt. He didn’t like going into a combat zone with so little info. Dario also considered asking more about the mercenaries, but decided not to, since that could also be seen as offensive.

”It seems that your investigation skills are top notch Captain Garess to have determined the location of the Crypt. I would like to know what you could tell us about the security there. Approximately how many guards are on duty during one of these battles? What are they armed with? How large is the Crypt, do we know if it has multiple levels? How do the spectators come and leave, do we know of anyone to attends these battles? When you say “take down” does this mean we’re permitted to use lethal force, I should I stick to my sap?”

[DawnRaven]

Kesten shuffles through a few papers before sliding out a large, recent looking map of New Stetven's underground.

"I'm sure this is missing plenty of the older, unused tunnels, but Falgrim swears it marks the only way in. Or at least the only way in he could find. The Crypt is bigger than I thought it would be, from his description. It has a sanded arena floor and a two rows of stadium seating. I presume many of the attendees are less savory members of society but..like you said," he nods toward Aldren, "they could be working with someone else, probably nothing but rich merchants but..well, you know how some of the nobility can get. Perhaps a minor knight or one of the banner houses is reaping some of the profit. I've heard that the Shadows named themselves that because the Prince of Shadows runs them. Of course, every two-bit criminal guild claims the same. I doubt the man even exists..that said, many that claim such things tend to be better organized and have more connections than smaller, disorganized thugs."

He pulls another sheaf of paper out, glancing it over. "We're not sure how many of them there are, but its not likely to be more than thirty spread out over the arena and the outer checkpoints. It seems they have two main entrances leading to the seating areas. We're not sure if there is a separate entrance to the arena itself. If there is, its not accessible by any of the updated tunnels on the maps we have. They're just a thieves' guild so resistance isn't expected to be too severe. I'd prefer to bring in a few alive so we can find leads to the top...but that's not likely to end well for any of us if anyone important is involved. So my main goal is simply shutting it down for now. If something similar pops up again, I'll be ready to step in and deal the same punishment again."

"Falgrim will lead us here." Kesten indicates a red path with a circle on the map. "Where we will split up and come at both entrances at once. After that we try to focus on any Secret Shadows we find in the arena. Ignore the fools that are there just to watch. As much as I'd like to arrest all of them, it'll be hard to deal with them and armed guards at the same time. The Shadows all wear identical cloaks--black fabric with a white trim and a keyhole on the back. Detain or eliminate all of them. I'll show this city a hard hand and teach the rabble what happens when you victimize anyone, even the poor."

He frowns, tapping the table. "And of course I'll pay you. I don't have much but I could afford..say, fifty gold for each of you who volunteers? Do you have any other questions? As you can see, we don't have that much information..but its enough to stop the atrocity."

[Shyftir]

"Seems simple enough, most of the riff-raff will flee if we can hit the place hard enough to seem like a bigger force." Duvan offered. He had his doubts about this plan, mostly because of the reliance on Sneeg.

[Razorstorm]

Theron spends the entire graduation ceremony extremely bored. He eventually caught the eyes of an attractive young lady, probably the older sister of someone graduating. He spent the time trading googly-eyes with her. Towards the end of the ceremony, he realized he had also caught he attention of a man he recognized from the Surtova family. As soon as the ceremony ended, he jetted his way outside as quick as possible to wait for the others, seeking cover in the busy streets. He kept a wary eye out as they headed to the meeting.

Once inside Garess' office, he relaxed noticeably. "I like this plan. Let's do it!" he said, nodding solidly.

[Shieldheart]

Political expediency was something that always galled, but such was the way of the world. Aldren nodded thoughtfully as the Captain laid out the plan. It was risky, no doubt. 50 gold seemed a fair price, for all that he would rather waive the coins. And Duvan hopefully had the right of it. Common thieves would scatter at a raid and not offer much resistance.

He smiled at the mention of the Prince of Shadows. Such was the rumour in every city, town and broken hut in Avistan. By the sound of it, the Prince was behind everything.

"Well, I am no tactician. I trust your judgment on this, Captain Garess. I shall be prepared."

[Karl Prosek]

Vasily, much more alert when he wasn't trying to go drink-for-drink with an older, larger tavern owner, nodded. "Thieves or not, 30 men on their home ground- and that underground, in the sewers- could put up a serious fight. I don't know anything about tunnel fighting, but I know hunting bandits in their home range."

He glanced at Duvan. "If they're anything like bandits, they'll run unless they've got a strong leader they're either more afraid of than us or that they genuinely respect. Somebody who could be the core of a defense."

The young man looked back at Garess. "Do you know anything about their leader, if they have one? Is there anyone you know of who might be able to rally the thieves in the face of our raid?"

[Angstrom]

"Hmm, I would suspect such criminals to flee at the sight of guardsman of the city watch."

[Shieldheart]

Aldren regarded young Vassily with new interest. The boy had an agile mind when not inebriated it seemed. He looked to Garess to see if the Captain had an answer for this question.

[Shyftir]

"The lad has a point. If these rogues have strong leadership, we'll need to take them out first. Nothing so demoralizin' as having yer commander get picked off early." Duvan nodded thoughtfully before continuing. "Perhaps if we can get a man inside prepared to strike at the head just as we launch our attack?" The mercenary's eyes scanned the group; none of them seemed like prime candidates for infiltration to him.

[DawnRaven]

The young man looked back at Garess. "Do you know anything about their leader, if they have one? Is there anyone you know of who might be able to rally the thieves in the face of our raid?"

Kesten nods, rubbing his chin. "From what we've gathered, the arena has a few thugs who try to hold it together. There's also a reserved area of seating for, who we assume, are the prime patrons or leaders of the place. Unfortunately, the only thing we know about them is that one of them is a well-armored, extremely tall man."

For Duvan Only

You know that the Pathfinder society occasionally has maps of certain areas. Since you scored a 5 on one of your Icon relationships, you could make use of your relationship to them to see (successfully) if they have any older maps than what Kesten is using. If you do decide to do so...see the second spoiler

For Duvan 2

The Pathfinder Society does indeed have a map that includes many of the tunnels not on Kesten's. It's an old and fairly decrepit map but you can match it up with where the Crypt is supposed to be and it looks like there is a third tunnel that comes up into the bottom area of the place. The Crypt was an old dueling arena that had a separate entrance for participants. If you bring this up, it could provide a third entrance into the Crypt and prevent any Shadows from escaping that way.

If no one else has any other questions, Kesten dismisses you and asks to see you all the next night.

Date: 6 Rova 4711

The next night, you meet Kesten at his office. He leads you to a rusted sewer gate in the Lower Ward where four men are waiting around. Roberto is practically bouncing in excitement at getting to do something. He's dressed in a fancy chain shirt and has a sword strapped to his hip. Kesten waves to the four, obviously expecting them.

"Those are the mercenaries I could get ahold of for this. I know its not much but..well, you'll be providing most of the muscle."

The leader of the mercenaries seems to be a middle-aged man with an unruly, ragged black beard speckled with white hair. "Kesten! We was wonderin' if you would e'en show up. Jax was betting you'd scuttle out at the last minute but..well, looks like you brought more back up than we was expecting."

The youngest of the four, a black-haired man with a slight frame and a broken nose smiles shamefully. Kesten introduces him as Jax Drury while the remaining two are Chad Hopkins--a blonde with a snarky smile and Winston Granville--an older, balding man.

"Alright..Falgrim knows the way through the main tunnels. When we reach the split, we'll divide up into two groups and come at each entrance simultaneously. Hopefully that will keep most of 'em from escaping. Let's wipe out this vermin nest!"

[Karl Prosek]

Vasily shows up in a suit of well worn but lovingly maintained leather armor, the deep brown blending into the city shadows as well as any black. He has a pair of long knives strapped to his thighs long enough to be called short swords- no long, loose scabbard for him- and a quiver and bowcase on his back. In spite of his youth, the young man looks steady, as if he's already experienced the anxiety and adrenalin that comes in the minutes before a mission.

He nods at Garess and each mercenary as they're introduced. "Are we carrying torches or are the entrance tunnels already lit?" Either answer had their problems, and he looked ready to deal with both.

[ChaiGuy]

Dario arrives wearing knee high boots, peasant looking clothes under his armor, his leather armor and a light gray raincoat and wide brimmed hat. He carries his Aldori dueling sword, in its sheath of course, a sap and a quiver and short bow case. His fancy hat and fan are in this backpack in water tight bags. He considered leaving them at the inn with most of his other fancy clothes, but he wanted to keep them on hand In case he had to leave town in a hurry.

Dario was a little nervous; while he had served as a watchman in Restov for about 3 years he hadn’t taken on a mission like this before. The current estimate had the enemy outnumbering us about 3 to 1 and we were fighting them on their own ground. Hopefully many, most or all would run when confronted with combat, but who could say for sure.

Dario considered if he should proceed carrying his sword or his sap. He decided on his sword, it would look more menacing, hopefully scaring the thieves into submission.

Dario noted that Vasily seemed in his element, asking strategically important info about the sewers.

[Razorstorm]

Theron leans against the wall with an easy confidence, in his trademark green leather jacket, keeping a look out for anyone that didn't belong there. "Evening, gentlemen." After introductions, "A pleasure. I'm Theron." After hearing the plan, "Sounds good, we'll follow your lead, Falgrim. Kesten, how do you want to handle the split up?" Noticing Dario fidgeting nervously, he lightly backhands the youth's chest, smiling roguishly, "Hey, you gonna be all right down there?"

[DawnRaven]

Theron leans against the wall with an easy confidence, in his trademark green leather jacket, keeping a look out for anyone that didn't belong there. "Evening, gentlemen." After introductions, "A pleasure. I'm Theron." After hearing the plan, "Sounds good, we'll follow your lead, Falgrim. Kesten, how do you want to handle the split up?" Noticing Dario fidgeting nervously, he lightly backhands the youth's chest, smiling roguishly, "Hey, you gonna be all right down there?"

Falgrim speaks up after a nod from Kesten.
"We'll stick together until we hit the tunnel divide under Baker Street. After that, well..Kesten, me and the boys and erm..I guess one o' you all will come with us." He looks around at you then smirks and points to Roberto. "Cavalli, right? Been to your bar once, nice place if a bit pricey for me. You can come along with us. There should be only one checkpoint between here and there. We hit 'em hard and they won't have time to raise an alarm. That is, as long as they don't know we're coming."

Convenient how there are equal PC's to NPCs..it wasn't that way last time I ran this! Much easier this way!

Side note: If Duvan does {spoiler} then things will..change a little at the divide. [Insert evil DM laugh here] God, I love when you roll 5's.

[DawnRaven]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-By2k15qsFNI/Uins5GB6GAI/AAAAAAAAMU8/9u90EZkRusU/s400/london+sewers.jpg

The rusted gate creaks open and your rag-tag group of mercenaries, soldiers and Misfits stride into New Stetven's underground sewers. The brick walls are damp, but only somewhat grimy. You try not to think about what the squishing sounds beneath your feet are. The tunnel is wide enough for you to walk two abreast. Kesten and Falgrim are at the front of the assemblage, each bearing a torch in one hand and a sword in the other. The tunnels are intercepted several time with other access ways, wooden doors or iron grates. Occasionally you even take one of these passages.

DC 20 Wisdom check, can use any dungeoneering, secret access, or black market type backgrounds.

While Falgrim's path seems random at first, you realize he is following a pattern. Certain bricks have been pulled out and re-arranged to indicate the correct path toward the Crypt.



About thirty minutes into your sewage-filled adventure, Falgrim stops. "Okay, quiet now. The checkpoint is up ahead. Keep your weapons sheathed until we get close. We'll pretend to be here for the fights."

Chad, who is standing next to Theron, nudges him. "Hope you all are as good with those weapons as Kesten says ye are."

The next tunnel is wider than the others and has a pair of crude wooden barricades forming a chokepoint. A lantern shines down the corridor, illuminating it with flickering light. "Oy! Who's coming walking down the sewers? This area is uh..under repair!"

The voice laughs and a group of six dirty, armed guards step out from behind the barricades. They wield an array of poorly maintained weapons and bear the black and white lined cloaks of the Shadows.

"Ye daft? Repair my ass. We're here to watch some blood get shed and bet on the fights tonight!" Falgrim's voice changes, speaking a little cruder than he had before and pitching lower, as if he's trying to sound menacing. He doesn't stop moving, continuing to walk toward the barricade alongside Kesten.

"That all, yeah?" The one speaking, a tattooed man with a greasy mustache lifts his mace and eyes Falgrim as he continues to approach. "Hold on, a bit. Aren't you forgettin' something mate?"

DC 25 Wisdom check using same backgrounds as above. OR if you made the last check, the DC is only 15

The brick work is different in this area of the sewers than it was in the others. This is easier to spot if you already noticed the layout earlier. It looks as if the entire chamber had the walls taken down and rebuilt recently. The mortar wasn't replaced in several rectangular sections looking almost like...doors.

[Karl Prosek]

Vasily, knowing nothing about underground vaults or dungeons, divines no special insight from the misplaced bricks. He moves efficiently and quietly, though, doing his best to translating to hunting in a forest to stalking through a sewer. It isn't quite the same, but his previous experience doesn't hurt.

He remains quiet as Falgrim speaks, mentally preparing himself to act in case it turns to violence.

[ChaiGuy]

Dario’s contemplation of the mission was interrupted by Theron’s good natured slap to the chest.

Dario was a little embarrassed that he had forgotten to introduce himself, since Captain Garess hadn’t taken the initiative to introduce us to them.
”Oh, I’m sure I’ll be as all right as anyone who is walking thru the sewers filled with dozens of thieves, ha.”Dario hoped a little joke would ease his tension. ”Nice to meet you, I am Dario Manolo.” Waving sheepishly to the assembled mercenaries.

[Angstrom]

"Good to meet ya lads" Hal is all smiles for the assembled mercenaries. Conversing at length with the men, he promises them drinks on him at the Glass Angel when the work is over. A little incentive to keep him alive couldn't hurt. He eyes the young one, Jax, with concern, and does what he can during their hike through the sewer to keep the boy's confidence up.


Feeling guilty for leaving the tavern understaffed for the third time in as many nights, Hal walks quickly. His short legs push through the sewer quickly, keeping abreast of Cavalli. When the approach the checkpoint, Hal eyes the walls nervously, recognizing the recent stonework. He nudges Cavalli, cocking his head in the direction of the masonry, and keeps one hand on a hammer on his belt, while the other slips up his cloak to where his shield is strapped to his back.

[Shyftir]

Duvan showed up in his normal gear, but covered his armor and weapons with a dark cloak that was easily discarded. His normal shield was too hard to hide in this environment, so he was keeping his dirk within easy reach in case he needed a second blade.

Gone was his normal carefree expression, he was here to work. He merely nodded at the other mercs and quietly sized up the group. He spoke with Roberto before the group entered the sewers but vocalized too softly to be easily heard.

[Razorstorm]

Theron gives his best "I'm a deadly bad-ass, you don't want to mess with me" glare over Falgrim's shoulder at Mr. Greasy-Mustache-Tattoo dude.

[DawnRaven]

"You know..I don't think I am. We don't have passwords for this ****."
As Falgrim gets within a few feet of the thug, Mr. Greasy-Mustache-Tattoo dude pulls out his mace and swings it toward the swordsman.

"No, but we 'eard a group of armed bastards was gonna make they's ways in 'ere tonight. Get em boys!" With a shout, the masonry Hal had noticed falls to the side, revealing several niches filled with armed warriors. Where before you had outnumbered the few guards, you now found yourself surrounded. A few more men step from behind the barricades leading a pack of large, scarred dogs. The one with the leash lets go and draws his own weapon.

Kesten, Falgrim, Jax, Chad and Winston turn to engage the men who have sprung from the walls leaving the men in front to the rest of you. There seem to be three men with large, heavy metal maces, four men with wooden clubs and the pack of hounds.
If no one had noticed the masonry, I would have given the enemies an initiative boost for surprise. They needed it too! Check out those initiatives..

Round 1
Initiative Order

Vasily 24
Theron 23
Dario 23
Duvan 13
Aldren 10
M1 8
Hal 6
M2 6
M3 5

[DawnRaven]

"Have at the thieves! Show 'em what a real sword does!" Falgrim swings at a cloaked figure leaping from the falling masonry, slashing him across the chest. Jax steps up beside him to deflect the thrust of a lithe woman with a rapier while Winston gets smacked in the shoulder by another woman with a cudgel from the other side. Kesten and Roberto turn to fight back to back, easily parrying pathetic attacks and dashing in to stab at unprotected abdomens. A bolt from a hidden cranny shoots clear through Chad's calf spraying blood into the waters around your feet. With blood spilt on both sides, the battle is started.

[Razorstorm]

Round 1, Initiative 23

Theron
HP - 24 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 16, MD - 11

Theron grins wickedly at the thugs drawing their weapons. "Don't say we didn't warn you!" He surges forward in blur of spinning motion, like a finely trained dancer, turn tightly as he draws his dueling sword and dagger. He then springs into the air in a high aerial cartwheel over Mr. Greasy-Mustache-Tattoo Dude, stabbing downward at the peak of his flip. He lands behind the thug, his blades at the ready. "Come on, you ugly son-of-a-b!tch, let's dance!"

Swashbuckling Manuever to get to the other side, and engage Mr. Greasy-Mustache-Tattoo Dude, and a Melee Basic Attack + Sneak Attack (Sneak Attack enabled because it's first round and I beat his Initiative).
Attack: [roll0] vs AC
Hit: [roll1] + [roll2] = 18
Miss: 1

[Shieldheart]

Round 1, Initiative 10

Aldren
HP - 24 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 14, MD - 13


Aldren had shown up in his best armor and his most drab clothes. There was no point in looking good when one was about to go traipsing about sewers. He nodded sharply to the mercs, introducing himself briefly. Grunt work like this was not his forte really and he felt slightly nervous. He had no doubt in his skill with the sword and staff he carried or in his combat magic, but this kind of concerted action was something he had seldom participated in.

The trip through the sewers was distracting. Aldren was quite familiar with dank, dark, tight spaces and with the possibility of danger lurking in every dark corner. Even so, just the knowledge that he was pushing through sewage was...unpleasant.

The half-elf straightened as they came upon the checkpoint and were confronted by a group of thugs. His eyes narrowed. He tightened his grip on his staff and held it in a defensive position. Something did not feel right...

Aldren sighed as the walls around them fell apart, revealing an ambush. "Here we go," he muttered as battle was joined. He noticed he was near the back of the group. His spells would come in more handy than his staff at the moment.

As the fight escalated, Aldren set his staff aside and lifted his arm, summoning the power deep inside. He aimed at one of the three wielding heavy maces. In a deep, booming voice, he roared,"Lightning Bolt!" A corona of power shone around him as the tongue of lightning shot towards the target.

(OOC: Spell rolls in OOC thread.)

[Shyftir]

Round 1, Initiative 13

Duvan
HP - 30 / 24, AC - 18, PD - 13, MD - 12

As battle ensues, Duvan drops his cloak revealing his sword and dirk. "MACHALLON!" With a cry, he dives into combat striking hard and fast at one of the better armed assailants.

[roll0] vs AC (on a mace weilder)
on hit: [roll1] damage
on miss: 1 damage.

[ChaiGuy]

Round 1 Initiative 23

Dario
HP: 27/27, AC: 15, PD: 13, MD: 13

Dario felt a cold chill run down his spine, they had been outwitted and were now surrounded! He knew he would have to push himself to the limits if he and his allies where to survive.

In a quick fluid motion Dario drew his Aldori long sword. Simultaneously he extended his consciousness to the air spirits, few swift gestures with his offhand he traced a glowing blue rune meaning “wing” in the air Speed of the Zephyr. A rush of wind washes over Dario and his allies, enhancing the speed of their attacks.

(Song of Heroes): You and nearby allies gain +1 attack bonus until the start of your next turn. A Quick action.

The enemy already knew of their coming so stealth wasn’t critical. He focused again on the forces of air, bringing beads of sweat from the exertion. His offhand this time traces the rune for “lion” Roar of the Lion. A misty form of a lion materializes in front of a bandit wielding a heavy metal mace. The lion opens its maw and lets out an intense roar, a visible shockwave slams into the bandit’s chest with the force of a mace.

[roll0] vs MD
[roll1] thunder damage

[DawnRaven]

Round 1
The ambushers react slugishly, while first to draw their weapons it is the invaders who strike first. Theron's acrobatics land him behind a surprised and unsuspecting foe (+2 to hit for Swashbuckling maneuver). The thug rolls to the side, avoiding all but a small gash to his side. Aldren's magicks crackle through the sewer, leaving behind the tang of ozone in the air as the bolt catches Theron's foe full in the chest as he stands from his dodge adding roasted flesh to the already pleasant sewer stench. Duvan's strikes are blocked by the haft of an iron mace again distracting one of the thugs enough for a spellcaster, Dario this time, to strike him with a spell.


Theron - Engaged with tattoo heavy mace guy
Duvan - engaged with a rather thin young man with a battered fisherman's hat


Before Hal can react, the pack of hounds is upon you all. Two leap at Theron as he turns to face his target.

[roll0] 4 damage
[roll1] 4 damage


While the other three charge at Dario, barking their lungs out. One leaps for his arm while the other two run toward his legs.

Dario is engaged with 3 hounds.
[roll2] 4 damage
[roll3] 4 damage
[roll4] 4 damage


Monsters 2 and 3 will go after Hal or tonight sometime if Angstrom hasn't posted.

[ChaiGuy]

Round 2 Initiative 23 Escalation die 1

Dario
HP: 15/27, AC: 15(19), PD: 13, MD: 13
Dario had thought that the cur the thugs had brought would be little more than distraction, he had seriously miscalculated. Now he had a painful wound in his sword arm and both legs. Two mongrels circled him snarling, his blood coating their teeth. The third had fallen to Vasily's arrow seconds before.

Dario had to concentrate, it was imperative that he maintain the Speed of the Zephyr air spirit blessing upon them. Despite his best efforts he feels the energy of the air spirits slipping through his mental grasp, their attention not easily kept. In a last ditch effort he focused on Theron, who was facing the tatooed man and 2 dogs. Air spirits rushed to quicken his next critical action, then they where gone.

[roll0] DC 11 to sustain, if it fails Theron gains +2 to his next attack roll.

Dario knew that he had to put down one of these mutts if he was to live to see the end of this battle. In a swift, fluid motion Dario lunges at one of the beasts, thrusting the long swords point towards its chest. His lead foot pushed through the sewage, splashing and causing a wake of filth in its path.

[roll1], VS AC, please add 1 if the spell above is sustained
[roll2] damage


OOC noteSpeed of the Zephyr has ended, Theron gains +2 to his next attack roll, then the spell will end

Dario felt Hal gather spirits to strike at the tatooed man. These spirits were not the elemental spirits that Dario communed with. They seemed quite formidable, though coursing through the man and staggering him.

Dario was even more supprised when instead of leaving immediately they gathered around him. He sensed that they where causing his image to be blurred, shifting and wavering to confound the attacks of his enemies. Then as quickly as they had come, they vanished.

[Angstrom]

Round 1, Initiative 6

Hal
HP - 24 / 24, AC - 17, PD - 13, MD - 14

Drawing his shield from behind his back, Hal has little time to position himself before the hounds are released upon the Misfits. Simple tactics for simple thieves; effective none the less.

"Submit or die." Hal doesn't expect to be heard over the chaos. After a moment's pause, Hal's eyes glaze over with blue light "Very well."

Invocation of Knowledge
[roll0]

Spirits of the Righteous targetting man engaging Theron
Atk [roll1] vs MD
Hit: [roll2] and nearby ally with fewest hp (Dario) gets +4 to AC until end of next turn.
Miss: Nearby ally gets +2 to AC until end of next turn.

[Karl Prosek]

Round 1, Initiative 24

Vasily
HP- 30 / 30, AC - 18, PD - 15, MD - 11

Vasily had been shocked by the sudden attack, but was soon nocking arrow to string to join the battle. Unencumbered by attackers, he started pumping out arrows with remarkable speed, focusing first on the dogs. As much as he loathed to do it, they were the most immediate threat.

Ranged Double Attack at +4 for 1d6+4/1d6+4. He'll shoot the same target repeatedly until it goes down then switch to the next target, starting with the 3 dogs attacking Dario. Precise Shot allows him to fire into melee without penalty.

ETA: Guess you can't add rolls in an edit?

[Karl Prosek]

OOC: Vasily's attack rolls, because they weren't showing up when I tried to add them in an edit:

Attack roll 1: [roll0]
Attack roll 2: [roll1]
Damage roll 1: [roll2]
Damage roll 2: [roll3]

[DawnRaven]

Bright, blue light sears through the tattooed man, staggering him. While the first of Vasily's arrows go wide (since he scored a 4 on the roll, his second one goes off) the second thuds into the neck of one dog, slaying it instantly.

The greasy-haired tattoo thug swings at Theron, aiming for his legs. The mace thug engaged with Duvan attempts to hit the swordsman. The un-engaged thug, a man with dirty blonde hair, charges Hal. "Take down the spellcasters," he calls out to his allies.

Hal: [roll0] for 4 damage
Duvan: [roll1] for 4 damage
Theron: [roll2] for 4 damage


It seems as if only some of them listen to him. Two of the men with clubs run at Aldren while the other two draw bows and fire back at Vasily.

Aldren: [roll3] for 4 damage
[roll4] for 4 damage

Vasily: [roll5] for 3 damage
[roll6] for 3 damage


For simplicity's sake, Vasily struck the first hound that attacked which (unfortunately) was also was the hound that missed.

Round 2
Escalation 1
Initiative

Vasily 24
Theron 23
Dario 23
Duvan 13
Aldren 10
M1 8
Hal 6
M2 6
M3 5
Engagements

Theron - Engaged with tattoo heavy mace guy and 2..er..1 hound
Duvan - engaged with a rather thin young man with a battered fisherman's hat
Dario - engaged with 3 hounds
Hal - 1 mace thug with blonde hair
Aldren - 2 club thugs
Vasily - none


Battle status: One hound is down and you have wounded two of the three thugs with metal maces. One of which is staggered (one facing Theron).

[Shyftir]

Round 2
Escalation 1

Duvan Initiative 13
HP- 26 / 30, AC - 18, PD - 13, MD - 12

"Close in ranks! Focus on the hurt ones to bring them down!" Duvan's voice booms in the small tunnel. He tries to get his allies into position to fight as a team. Seeing an opening he strikes at the assailant he has engaged.

To hit: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
If any other enemies move to engage Aldren, I will use Skilled Intercept to try and defend him. I need an 11 plus to use the power and since I have the Adventurer feat for it, I can pop free from up to two enemies without taking disengage attacks.
[roll2]

[Angstrom]

HP: 20/24, AC - 17, PD - 13, MD - 14

"That all you got blondie?" Hal spits as he responds to the mace strike with a hammer blow at the thug's kneecap. "We're not easy to kill"

Quick: Invocation of Protection: critical hits against Hal and nearby allies don't do extra damage.

Attack: [roll0]
Hit: [roll1]

[Razorstorm]

Round 2, Initiative 23

Theron
HP - 24 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 16, MD - 11

In quick reaction to Mr. Greasy-Mustache-Tattoo Dude's pain from the magical attack, Theron launches a fierce attack, binding his mace with his off-hand dagger, and thrusting in close with his sword, going for the kill.

Deadly Thrust (since dude is staggered)
Attack: [roll0] vs AC (crit range is 18-20 due to Murderous)
Hit: [roll1]
Miss: 1

If attack hits (but doesn't crit), he'll use his Improved Sneak Attack daily power to add Sneak Attack damage. [roll2]

[Razorstorm]

Since I rolled a 2, and I'm dual-weilding, I get to reroll the attack.
[roll0]

[Karl Prosek]

Round 2, Initiative 24
Escalation 1

Vasily
HP- 24 / 30, AC - 18, PD - 15, MD - 11

Vasily hisses as the counter-snipers graze him in spite of his armor. Instead of closing in ranks as Duvan had ordered, Vasily takes a step back away from the melee to re-focus on the enemy archers.

Ranged Double Attack at +5 for 1d6+4/1d6+4. He'll shoot the same target repeatedly until it goes down then switch to the next target, starting with the one of the archers firing at him, then the other archer, then other targets in melee with party members.

Precise Shot allows him to fire into melee without penalty (not that the archers are currently being engaged).

Attack roll 1: [roll0]
Attack roll 2: [roll1]
Damage roll 1: [roll2]
Damage roll 2: [roll3]

[ChaiGuy]

Round 3 Initiative 23 Escalation die 2

Dario
HP: 11/27, AC: 15 PD: 13, MD: 13

The footing in the sewers was treacherous, causing Dario to slip as he moved in to stab the battle scarred mongrel. He quickly regained his footing, got back into his dueling stance and planned the next strike. The two beasts still circled him, looking for an opening to tear him asunder. As sound as Duvan’s advice was, Dario found himself unable to comply. First he would have to fight his way out of this mess.

Edit: Despite Dario’s defensive maneuvering and the protection of Hal’s mysterious spirits the bite of one of the mongrels caught him on the knee, the pain leaving him STAGGERED. Dario saw Duvan suffer a mighty overhand mace blow and a painful dog bite out of the corner of his eye. He wanted to help him, and he could if he could prove his strength to the nearby water spirits.

Dario changed his grip on his sword to wield it two handed. He swiftly brought the sword in a smooth overhand arc, aiming for a mongrel’s head.

To hit: [roll0] vs AC, on miss 1 damage.
Damage: [roll1]


Edit: After slaying one of the beasts and wounding another, Dario sensed that the water spirits had been pleased by his display. His offhand released its grip from the hilt of his sword, and quickly traced the rune for “heal”. Water spirits rushed to infuse Duvan with their vitality and heal his wounds.

Pull it together: Duvan can use a recovery.

[Shieldheart]

Round 2, Initiative 10
Escalation Die 1

Aldren
HP - 16 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 14, MD - 13

Aldren grunted as the two thugs rushed him, too quick for him to draw his blade. Their clubs smashed at him, his magical shield protecting him to an extent. It still hurt something fierce.

He moved forward, catching their arms and drew upon the magic inside. "Thanks for coming close," he said, grinning and let loose with the Breath of the White.



Target:

Attack: [roll]1d20+3+1 vs PD

Hit (if): [roll1]

Miss: Half damage

[Shieldheart]

(OOC: Sorry! Rolling Attack again.



[roll0]



)

[DawnRaven]

Round 2
Escalation 1
Initiative

Vasily 24
Theron 23
Dario 23
Duvan 13
Aldren 10
M1 8
Hal 6
M2 6
M3 5
Engagements

Theron - Engaged with tattoo heavy mace guy and 2 hound
Duvan - engaged with a rather thin young man with a battered fisherman's hat
Dario - engaged with 2 hounds
Hal - 1 mace thug with blonde hair
Aldren -None
Vasily - none


Despite a whirlwind of attacks, the thugs seem to avoid most of the blows. Hal's opponent grunts, leaning to the side as his leg buckles slightly from the dwarf's mace. Aldren's breath catches both surprised thugs head on, turning them into frozen statues that crumble to the ground. The sight is so stunning that one of the archers turns and flees while the other looks clearly frightened and shaky.

Don't forget to include miss damages: Dario, Duvan, Vasily! Especially Vasily as it may mean the last archer is dead. Also, Aldren, do you get to re-roll at the start of next turn, end of this turn or end of combat to re-use your dragon's breath?

Enemies turn

Before Hal strikes with his mace, the pack of dogs strikes. Two continue to harry Theron while the remaining two strike in tandem at Dario.

Dario 4 damage
Dario [roll1] 4 damage
Theron [roll2] 4 damage
Theron [roll3] 4 damage


While the strongest of the pack (tattoo guy, blonde one facing Hal and the other facing Duvan) look startled at Aldren's quick dispatchment, they simply double their efforts.

The one facing Duvan grabs his mace in both hands and moves to swing it at him overhand. Duvan knows that if this strike hits him, it's going to hurt a lot more than the last one did. Tattoo dude draws a dagger with one hand and stabs it at Theron, hoping the change in tactics will help him out while the blonde one limps around Hal, trying to swing for the dwarf's short head.

Duvan [roll4] 10 damage if it hits
Theron: [roll5] 4 damage if it hits
Hal: [roll6] 4 damage if it hits


The remaining archer (if not downed by Vasily's miss damage) fires at the scary mage.

Aldren [1d20+5 3 damage


Round 3
Escalation 2
Initiative

Vasily 24
Theron 23
Dario 23
Duvan 13
Aldren 10
M1 8
Hal 6
M2 6
M3 5
Engagements

Theron - Engaged with tattoo heavy mace guy (staggered) and 2 hound
Duvan - engaged with a rather thin young man with a battered fisherman's hat
Dario - engaged with 1 hound (staggered)
Hal - 1 mace thug with blonde hair
Aldren -None
Vasily - none


Dario strikes swiftly, piercing through the chest of one stalking hound and then spinning, delivering an overhand chop to the neck of another. One hound drops while the other whimpers, wounded heavily but still in the fight.
Mooks, got to love them. That said, that is why the other one fled. You can note that he fled OUT of the sewer, not back toward where you are all heading so he's not alerting anyone...although they did seem oddly prepared for you, didn't they? :)

[DawnRaven]

Messed up attack against Aldren: [roll0] for 3 damage.

[Angstrom]

Hal
HP: 16/24, AC - 17, PD - 13, MD - 14

"Duvan, Dario, close ranks!" Hal calls as he steps towards the injured warriors without disengaging from his foe.

If Duvan or Dario is adjacent on Hal's turn he can benefit from Heal (close quarters spell, no AoO) to let him roll a recovery. I'll leave it up to the two of them to roleplay who takes the recovery.

Hammer Attack: [roll0]
Hit: [roll1], Miss 1

[DawnRaven]

Hal
HP: 16/24, AC - 17, PD - 13, MD - 14

"Duvan, Dario, close ranks!" Hal calls as he steps towards the injured warriors without disengaging from his foe.

If Duvan or Dario is adjacent on Hal's turn he can benefit from Heal (close quarters spell, no AoO) to let him roll a recovery. I'll leave it up to the two of them to roleplay who takes the recovery.

Hammer Attack: [roll0]
Hit: [roll1], Miss 1

I thought most spells had targets of Near? You are all within near range of each other right now, just not engaged in the same combats. I don't have the book with me so if its something else, I apologize!

[Razorstorm]

Theron
Round 3 Escalation 2 Initiative 23
HP - 16 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 16, MD - 11

Feeling too close for comfort with the large Mr. Greasy-Mustache-Tattoo Dude and his knife, Theron elbows him in the gut and pushes away with a grunt to create some space for a stab at the big man's chest. He feints and thrusts in with murder in his eyes.

Deadly Thrust (since dude is staggered)
Attack: [roll0] vs AC (crit range is 18-20 due to Murderous)
Hit: [roll1]
Miss: 1

If attack hits (but doesn't crit), he'll use his Improved Sneak Attack daily power to add Sneak Attack damage. [roll2]

[Shyftir]

Round 3 - Escalation 2
Duvan Initiative 13
HP- 16 / 30, AC - 18, PD - 13, MD - 12

While the power of his enemies attack was reduced by Hal's magic, Duvan was still hit by the vicious blow. "AUGH...YAAAA!" MacHallon's cry of pain changed to one of rage as he summoned up the strength of will that had once made his forefathers kings. He dropped his dirk and grasped the ancestral broadsword of his Clan and Kin in both hands, before unleashing all the rage and pride of fallen kings in one powerful strike.

I'm using Tough as Iron to take a recovery as a quick action.
[roll0] Hit points regained!
standard action
Power Attack!
[roll1]
Damage if hit: [roll2] + [roll3]
Miss: 1 damage
and that was a roll of a 16 so...Defensive Fighting is triggered increasing my AC by 2 until the end of my next turn.

[Karl Prosek]

Round 3, Initiative 24
Escalation 2

Vasily
HP- 24 / 30, AC - 18, PD - 15, MD - 11

With one of his targets fled, Vasily concentrates on putting away the other archer. For all the chaos of the ambush, the young man continues calmly pumping out arrows like he was on an archery range. In spite of his youth, he has clearly seen battle before.

Of course, he wasn't facing down an angry, greasy thief trying to crush his head with a mace.

Ranged Double Attack at +5 for 1d6+4/1d6+4. He'll shoot the same target repeatedly until it goes down then switch to the next target, starting with the last archer, then switching to tattoo mace guy facing Theron.

Precise Shot allows him to fire into melee without penalty.

Attack roll 1: [roll0]
Attack roll 2: [roll1]
Damage roll 1: [roll2] Miss 1
Damage roll 2: [roll3] Miss 1

[DawnRaven]

Will post properly when back home tonight, but..Theron drops his target, Duvan staggers his and Vasily annihilates the last archer (first attack misses, second strikes)

[Shieldheart]

Round 3, Initiative 10
Escalation Die 2

Aldren
HP - 13 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 14, MD - 13

Aldren moved away from the shattered remains of the men who had attacked him. He did not enjoy killing, but he had had little choice in a battle like this. He grunted as an arrow slammed into him, breaking at impact with his magical shield.

Lifting his eyes, he noted the layout of the battle. The archer who had attacked him had been taken out by Vassily. Aldren lifted his hands, calling upon the magic within once again. He didn't speak out this time; he simply let loose with his lightning.



Using Lightning Fork again. Rolling four times, in case I get lucky. And I can roll a d20 at the start of every turn for the Breath spell; since it's close-quarters, not doing it now. Aiming at the tattoed mace guy, if chain succeeds, moving onto next closest target. let me know if I get anything wrong.

[roll0]

[roll1]

[roll2]

[roll3]

Just the one hit.

Hit: [roll4]

Miss: Half

[DawnRaven]

Round 2

Round 3, Initiative 10
Aldren moved away from the shattered remains of the men who had attacked him. He did not enjoy killing, but he had had little choice in a battle like this. He grunted as an arrow slammed into him, breaking at impact with his magical shield.

Lifting his eyes, he noted the layout of the battle. The archer who had attacked him had been taken out by Vassily. Aldren lifted his hands, calling upon the magic within once again. He didn't speak out this time; he simply let loose with his lightning.
[/spoiler]

Unfortunately, Lightning Fork is a recharge spell and you have to roll to recharge it after the battle instead of during. I hope you don't mind if I use that d20 roll to instead see if Breath of the white recharged (which it did).

Aldren moves to his companion's aid and breaths a blast of ice across the room, catching [roll0] thug(s) in its wake. As a result, the thug facing Duvann shudders and keels over, clutching at his iced over wound, his lips blue.

To hit: [roll1] v PD
Damage: [roll2]
Miss: Half

[DawnRaven]

The hound Dario wounded growls in pain, lashing out at the skilled swordsman. The remaining two hounds circle Theron, pouncing toward him from either side as he removes his blade from the tattooed thug. Hal smashes his mace into the blonde thug's OTHER knee and the man lets out a growl eerily similar to the hound, swinging his mace at the dwarf.

Dario (hound) [roll0] 4 damage
Theron (hounds x2) [roll1] 4 damage
[roll2] 4 damage
Hal (Blonde thug) [roll3] 4 damage


Too bad the thugs only got their bonus damage off once..:P
Round 4
Escalation 3
Initiative

Vasily 24
Theron 23
Dario 23
Duvan 13
Aldren 10
M1 8
Hal 6
M2 6
M3 5
Engagements

Theron - Engaged with 2 hounds
Duvan - None
Dario - engaged with 1 hound (staggered)
Hal - 1 mace thug with blonde hair
Aldren -None
Vasily - none

[Razorstorm]

As the two hounds pounce on him, Theron kicks the body of Mr. Greasy-Mustache-Tattoo Dude off of his blade, into the first hound, ruining its attack. He deftly twists with impact of the second and it flies by, doing little more than bruising the swashbuckler. The two hounds stand side by side, and growl at the swordsman, and he growls right back.

Now that he finally has some Momentum!
Roll with it - Interrupt power
He only takes half damage from the hound that hit him, so 2. He's now at 14/24.

[Karl Prosek]

Round 4, Initiative 24
Escalation 3

Vasily
HP- 24 / 30, AC - 18, PD - 15, MD - 11

The young archer grimaces as the opposing archer falls. For all his calm, cool, collected demeanor he still regretted having to kill someone. Not enough to stop, though, and Vasily quickly switches targets from the fallen archer to the last human still fighting.

Ranged Double Attack at +7 for 1d6+4/1d6+4. He'll shoot the same target repeatedly until it goes down then switch to the next target, starting with blonde mace thug facing Hal then moving on to the dogs facing Theron.

Precise Shot allows him to fire into melee without penalty.

Attack roll 1: [roll0]
Attack roll 2: [roll1]
Damage roll 1: [roll2] Miss 1
Damage roll 2: [roll3] Miss 1

[ChaiGuy]

Round 4 Initiative 23 Escalation die 3

Dario
HP: 07/27, AC: 15 PD: 13, MD: 13

Dario felt a surge of confidence as he felled one of hounds and sliced the remaining mongrel in the neck. The over aggressive attacks had left him slightly off balance and the mutt capitalized on the opening, delivering a painful bite to Dario’s sword arm.

Dario pressed the attack, hoping to bring down the beast with a sword thrust.

To Hit: [roll0] on a miss 1 damage, if the natural roll is 11+ I’ll use Pull It Together to let Theron use a healing surge.
Damage: [roll1]


Dario senses that the water spirits are pleased with his display of martial prowess as he pulls his sword’s blade from the hound’s neck. He releases his offhand grip from his sword and quickly traced the rune for “heal”. Water spirits rushed to infuse Theron with their vitality and heal his wounds.

[Razorstorm]

Theron
Round 4 Initiative 23 Escalation 3
HP - 24 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 16, MD - 11

As the hounds try to circle Theron, he dashes nimbly between them, and pivots on one foot, driving his blade into the flank of one hound, while his dagger hand wards the other away.

Basic Melee Attack
Attack: [roll0] vs AC
Hit: [roll1]
Miss: 1

[Shyftir]

Duvan
Round 4 Initiative 13 Escalation 3
HP - 30 / 30, AC - 18, PD - 13, MD - 12

Duvan continues to press the attack; moving to support Hal and attacking the lone remaining thug.


Move to engage Hal's opponent.
Standard Attack
to hit [roll0]
Damage:[roll1]
Miss: 1 damage

That's an odd roll so kick off Carve an Opening, my critical range increases by 1 until I crit or fights over.

[Angstrom]

Hal
HP: 16/24, AC - 17, PD - 13, MD - 14

Following up having caved in both of his opponents legs, Hal easily deflects the mace strike with his kite shield, bringing his hammer arcing in towards the blonde rogue's neck as Duvan charges in.

Hammer: [roll0]
Hit: [roll1], Miss 1.

Use Heal on himself, [roll2]

[DawnRaven]

Dario dices the last hound as Theron elegantly spits both pouncing hounds, a dagger in one and a sword in the other. The last thug falls to the ground with barely a grunt, Hal's mace, Vasily's arrows and Duvan's blade doing him in.

You turn to the remaining enemies to find Falgrimm slitting the throat of the last one. Corpses stack around you, far far more than you were really expecting. No less than fifteen Shadows lay at your feet. Kesten look around, bandaging a wound on his arm and frowning.

There was a lot of them. And they didn't even seem phased at drawing weapons on us. What's going on, Falgrimm? You didn't say they had so many guards. Or anything about a password.

The mercenary scowls and spits, glaring at Kesten. ****ed if I know. There was no password last time. It seems like this lot were waiting for us. I hope not though. Maybe it was jus' a fluke? We still going to split up, Captain or do you want to try something different?

Kesten looks at Robert, who shrugs. The large duelist has barely a scratch on him from the fight. I don't know, Kesten. Your plan seemed sound. What do you gentlemen think? Roberto folds his arms and looks to you.

[Razorstorm]

"Pfft." Theron nudges a body with his boot. "Dogs on four legs, and dogs on two legs. Still dogs, and all still dead. I say we continue with the original plan."

[Shyftir]

Duvan

"I know another way in."

Duvan smiled "I got hold of some old maps. I was saving the other exit for an emergency, but if we come in from that way instead we might be able to surprise them." The mercenary seamed well pleased with himself.

[Karl Prosek]

Vasily frowns thoughtfully. "How far is it to the divide under Baker Street? You said there was only this one checkpoint. If we keep on as we were and trip over another," he emphasized the word 'another' a bit, "ambush, we'll know there's something wrong."

He glances at Duvan. "Just because we didn't know about it doesn't mean they haven't found it after using these tunnels." The young man nods at Theron. "I think we should go on as we planned unless we find another ambush, then change up the route if it becomes clear they're laying for us."

The young man looks back at the dead men. "We should probably go through their pockets in case any of them are carrying keys. I'd hate to have to double back just because we come across a locked gate or door."

[DawnRaven]

Duvan

"I know another way in."

Duvan smiled "I got hold of some old maps. I was saving the other exit for an emergency, but if we come in from that way instead we might be able to surprise them." The mercenary seamed well pleased with himself.

Kesten looks surprised and he walks closer to Duvan. You did? How did you find these? I thought we had the best maps of the sewers available. Are they trustworthy? Kesten scratches his chin and frowns. Hm. Since it seems they are expecting us, perhaps we could split this up differently. One group of us can come at one of the intended paths while the others could take this new one. This way, they won't be wondering where we are and will think we fell into whatever trap this is. Meanwhile, hopefully, the rest of you can surprise their leader who...

Kesten pauses, looking up. This is too well planned to have no leadership, so hopefully we can hit their leader before he knows what we're doing. Duvan, could you lead the six of you that way? Roberto, would you come with us to make it even?

Your friend quickly agrees. Of course, Kesten. Besides, I'm sure Duvan will prefer not to have me with him. This way he can make up some story about how they encounter a giant alligator-bear and fought it with ancient magic cannons hidden away down here

If you choose to take the new path, it takes you around one of the checkpoints allowing you to avoid it.

[Angstrom]

Hal rises from where he crouches next to the fallen bandits, "Their souls are off to the boneyard. I know this is not a common human practice, but we could use these empty bodies to help prevent their allies from engaging us" Hal's face is grim as he signs removing the heads from the bodies to use to intimidate the remaining bandits.

[DawnRaven]

The sewer tunnel winds its way through New Stetven's underground until you reach a series of splits. A large, central chamber contains what looks like wheels for controlling gates throughout the area. Most of these have rusted off or been torn apart long ago. Hardly any of the original gates survive anyway. Here, Falgrimm stops the rest of you.

According to that map of yours, Duvan, there's an access hatch down that tunnel that leads to a ladder in an unused, half-finished tunnel which should lead you to another half-finished tunnel that enters into the underground area of the Crypt..now why the hell they couldn't be bothered to finish any of these ****ing tunnels, I don't know. But if you're right then this could give us a good advantage. We split off here..Good luck.

The mercenary then walks to Kesten and elbows him a little roughly, mumbling quietly.

DC 15 Perception check (Any background relating to conversation or general nosey-ness)

Kesten, that was a lot of Shadows back there. You told me this would be easy money and its turning to be something a lot different. You know I don't mind helping you out but..I'm not walking into some suicide scenario. If this goes bad, promise me that we'll pull out.

The Captain frowns and shakes his head. [b]Sneeg, this will be fine. You already saw how they fight. They're untrained fools with rusty maces and sticks. You'll be fine. Now stop complaining and let's go.

After talking for a few moments, Kesten and the others start to walk off. Roberto pauses to shake hands with each of you. My friends! I know many of you have had exciting adventures but I have not been so lucky in a long time. This may be something slight, but for me it is inspiration! I haven't had so many ideas for new artwork in months. When we return, the Glass Angel will have many new designs to decorate its halls!


You finally make your way down the indicated passage, taking a narrow, rusted hatch to an equally rusted ladder and a half-completed tunnel that forces you to stoop awkwardly. Presuming you continue down the path, you'll come to a large, natural-looking cave that wasn't on Duvan's map.

DC 10 & DC 20 (Backgrounds dealing in nature, stonework or crafting of any kind)

The cavern is natural and obviously not a part of the original sewer system. It looks to have been created recently.


While at first glance, the cave appears to be natural, you realize that it is, in fact, created by some creature. As you peer around, trying to discern what sort of thing could have created such a place you notice a large pile of rocks that vaguely resembles a humanoid. While the pile has yet to move, it is obviously an rock elemental of some sort.

[ChaiGuy]

The bloody battle was finally over, a hard won victory for sure. Dario had painful wounds in his legs and sword arm, he hoped fervently that they wouldn’t become infected in this filthy environment. He quickly dresses his wounds as best he can, cleaning and covering the wounds to keep the muck out.

He’ll use some recoveries to heal himself [roll0], [roll1], [roll2], [roll3]. I'm going to use 3, just added more because I can't add rolls latter.

As he is finishing his self treatment, he notices Hal propose to decapitate the bandit corpses to scare the remaining bandits into submission. Dario is appalled by the mere suggestion of such a barbaric act.

Perhaps the reason that is not a common human practice is because it shouldn’t be. I don’t want to be associated with such activities. Does everyone else feel this is acceptable, or has everyone lost their minds?Dario said glaring.

[Shyftir]

Perhaps the reason that is not a common human practice is because it shouldn’t be. I don’t want to be associated with such activities. Does everyone else feel this is acceptable, or has everyone lost their minds?

Duvan glanced at the carnage; arrows embedded in chests, smashed leg bones, half-severed arm, eyes popped out by electric frying. random apparently-uninjured-but-still-dead dog. "Me thinks this scene is frightening enough."

[The Cave]

Duvan held up his hand in the universal signal for stop or "hold up." He glanced nervously around the cave, before speaking in low even tones.
"This is odd. It feels like a natural cave but it's not on m' map, and there are no large stalagmites. So it must be recent. Have there been any earthquakes recently that I slept through?"

[Karl Prosek]

"Me thinks this scene is frightening enough."

Vasily looks around the battlefield and shakes his head. "Though if any thieves come through here to see it before we meet up with them, something is seriously wrong." He glances up quickly at Duvan and Dario. "Not that I'm suggesting we take heads, either. I'm just saying... something is backwards if there any Shadows see this before they see us."

While Dario dresses his wounds, the young man moves around the chamber retrieving his arrows. A couple were broken, apparently- these he snaps off the fletching and the arrowhead and stows them in a pocket in his quiver.

[Cave]

Duvan held up his hand in the universal signal for stop or "hold up." He glanced nervously around the cave, before speaking in low even tones.
"This is odd. It feels like a natural cave but it's not on m' map, and there are no large stalagmites. So it must be recent. Have there been any earthquakes recently that I slept through?"

Vasily silently holds up a hand and points at his eyes, holds up 1 finger, and points at a pile of rocks that looks vaguely humanoid. He wasn't sure if anybody had actually worked with a group that used hand signs in the field, but he thought the gesture was pretty self explanatory.

He fits an arrow to his bow and moves to get some distance from the so-far quiescent elemental.

[Angstrom]

Hal holds Dario's gaze, "Dead is dead lad. If showing the thieves up ahead that we back up our words with steel is a line you're not willing to cross, that's for the best. Hold on to that as long as you can. I can tell you though that when the scrag climbing aboard you barge wears the heads of your friends around its neck you feel true fear. The kind of fear that scatters you instantly." Despite the grim expression he wears, Hal eyes carry warmth. He truly hopes that the younger man never has to see such sights or lower himself to the level of the beasts.

Central Chamber
Hal takes Roberto's hand firmly. "Stay safe my friend. And do not lose yourself in your art just yet; plenty of time for that at back at the Angel"

Cave
Following Vasily's gaze, Hal draws a hammer and readies it to throw.

[DawnRaven]

The stack of humanoid stones, if it is indeed an elemental, don't appear to be moving. The tunnel continues, albeit a little brokenly near to the creature. Part of the rock pile blocks a portion of the tunnel, but not all of it. It may be possible to try and squeeze pass.

[ChaiGuy]

Don’t be so foolish as to believe that you would know how I would feel in any given situation, Hal. If I were to see the heads of my true friends hanging from the belt of some scrag, I do believe that I would fight to avenge their deaths. Maybe I would retreat if I truly felt victory was unattainable, but don’t think that it wouldn’t make me their enemy until the day one of us died. Furthermore there’s more than just the deceased to consider, every one of these deceased bandits have families and if they hear we were wearing their heads as trophies we’d certainly make them our enemies as well. I believe that while this might scare off some bandits, its cost to our reputations, and creation of potential enemies is too great. Dario’s gaze changes from stern to distant and thoughtful, clearly attempting to analyze the repercussions from every angle.

[DawnRaven]

You pretty much have two options at this point. (1) Attack the earth elemental or (2) attempt to sneak past it. If you attempt to move past it, roll dexterity checks with appropriate sneaking, dungeoneering, or contortionist type backgrounds.

[Razorstorm]

Completely oblivious to the rocks until Vasily's gesture, Theron stops suddenly at the clear order. He looks at the rocks, then at Vasily with a "WTF?" look on his face.

[Shieldheart]

Aldren looked around at the carnage, distaste evident on his face. He looked down at this latest victim, shivering like death and looked away. The discussions the others had mostly went through him. He suddenly felt very tired.

"Move on,"he told Hal and Dario as they continued to discuss the disturbing suggestion to use the heads of the fallen as trophies and talismans. "We aren't about to do that."

The Cave

"Whatever it is, it seems to be asleep. We don't need to disturb it." Aldren said, his hands clasped together. "There's some space for us to try and pass through. Let's do that."

He shifted forward slowly, keeping his eyes on the rocks.

Sneaking Roll
[roll0]
Using Pathfinder Society background for this.

[DawnRaven]

Assuming Hal tries to talk to the thing.

Aldren approaches the primordial creature but is stopped by his friends, and conveniently too. As he walks closer he realizes the floor is covered in loose rubble and he'd already sent a cascade of gravel sliding down a shallow, non-dangerous dip in the floor. This disturbance coalesces into a crouched, child-like form. Not child-like in its size, for its slightly taller than Hal, but child-like in structure. Its arms and legs are short and stubby and its head is far too big for the torso. As this happens, you hear the creaking and shifting of stones as the larger, much more menacing earth elemental rumbles upward, shifting its blank eyes in your direction. It looks hostile..but stops when it hears words it understands from Hal's mouth.

[Karl Prosek]

Vasily winces at Aldren's clumsy attempt to sneak past the pile of rocks, keeping his arrow trained on the possible enemy.

Are there ready actions in 13th Age? If so, Vasily will ready a Double Ranged attack action triggered by the elemental moving toward Aldren.

[Shieldheart]

Aldren froze in place as his ill-thought maneuver woke the creature. Apparently, he had just disturbed its child as well. He lifted his arms in a placating gesture and glanced at Hal as the dwarf seemed able to speak the thing's language.

[Angstrom]

Putting his hammer away when he sees the elemental for what it is, Hal steps in front of the group.

"Zdravím. Máme na mysli nic zlého. Nevěděli jsme, že to byla vaše doména. Omlouváme se za vyrušení, a pokud nám umožní projít, nebudeme rušit znovu."

Ran it through google translate to Czech.

Greetings. We mean you no harm. We did not know this was your domain. We apologize for the disturbance and, if you allow us to pass, we will not bother you again.

[DawnRaven]

Hal go ahead and attempt a Cha check using your ambassador background

When Hal responds to the creature, it takes several long minutes for him to work through the language. Simply stating the proper greetings took a minute and a half alone. While the creature speaks to Hal, several more of the gravel-like children form up and start to crowd around the party, staring with blank eyes. One sticks a long finger stone in an ear, rubbing as dirt and pebbles cascade out.


Soft rock you greets. Soft rock here why come? Home mine this is. You territory wander through. You story explain or crushed be.



The terran language, like most elemental languages starts with the subject and follows with the object then verb. Of course, PC's are not required to communicate in this way (and I won't for the most part due to being unable to configure long conversations for that). Those listening would hear it as just a series of grinding and rumbling sounds, sort of like a miniature earthquake in vocal form.

It is not particularly slow because there are pauses but rather because each word is a long, slow series of sounds. Simply saying the word "hello" for example, can take around 15-20 seconds. Terms that are unfamiliar to them or translated from another language, such as the technology from Numeria, can take as long as 40 seconds to say.

Communication via Terran is not meant to be quick or efficient. Simple ideas can take a minute or more to convey while introductions often go on for several long minutes. There are a few ways to speed up speaking Terran but it is considered rude.

On another small note, earth elementals refer to dwarves as soft rocks. This is considered an endearing term among the elementals who see the dwarves as incorrectly created as organic and not proper earth-y kinds. This is, of course, no fault of the dwarves but they should be pitied for their poor state. All the other organics..well, they don't really care about them.

[Angstrom]

In the dark of the cave Hal's mind works to piece together the elemental's speech, relaying it to the group. He makes eye contact with Vasily and gestures for him to lower his bow as he tries to negotiate passage

I reason explain. I soft earth am, we lawmen are. We, beyond territory, bad men find. We your territory knew not was. We them stop so they you no harm. We through go, we you never bother again. We through go yes?

If I got the syntax wrong I suppose it makes sense since Hal probably would make mistakes. Hopefully its all legible.

If a check to show proper deference to the elemental's customs and ownership of the cavern is reasonable I'll roll it here: [roll0] (wis with ambassador background

[DawnRaven]

As Hal speaks to the creature, the rocklings walk slowly around the party, peering at them and making odd noises. They continue this behavior for several minutes until snapped at by the elemental. Despite not having exchanged many words, the conversation between it and Hal took nearly fifteen full minutes. It finally relents and moves away from the tunnel, settling down nearby as rocklings crawl all over its form.

The tunnel beyond is cramped, forcing the party to crawl part way through. Luckily it is not as damp as the rest of the sewers and, oddly enough, smells more of churned earth and animals than it does of garbage. The cramped tunnel eventually opens up into a long, rectangular chamber. Here, the smell of churned earth mixes with the sharp tang of blood. Mounds of churned earth line the floor and walls here.

The room has a tunnel on the far end which ramps slowly upwards into darkness. It also contains two doors which rest about thirty feet before the tunnel. The doors are on opposite sides of the chamber and appear to be thick, partially carved doors. Perhaps part of the original, unfinished section of the sewers.

[Razorstorm]

During the long exchange, Theron stood very still, not daring to move, lest he spark an unintended conflict. He wasn't sure what was going on, but Hall kept talking, and they seemed to keep listening. When it is finally clear that the earth elementals would not attack the party, Theron claps Hal on the back soberly. "I have no idea what just happened, but that whatever you did, well done!"

[Angstrom]

"We're just lucky Vasily spotted the elemental. Could have gone a lot worse for us. We had better hurry though, the others are probably already in position."

Crossroads
"Graves?" Hal wonders aloud as they pass the bloody mounds of earth.

When they reach the crossroads he halts, "Where to now?"

[Shieldheart]

Aldren stood rooted to the spot as Hal conversed with the great elemental, for what seemed like an agonizing eternity. He breathed a sigh of relief as whatever he said appeared to work and the thing of rocks stood back, allowing them to pass. The half-elf dipped his head in a quick bow as he scurried past; he was still feeling a little ashamed of his failed attempt to sneak through.

The trip through the tunnels was reminiscent of his many jaunts down into haunted old ruins across the continent. When they appeared at a chamber at last, Aldren sighed. This seemed familiar. He looked at the doors and at the foreboding entrance to another tunnel. "Which way to go?" He murmured under his breath, trying to figure it out.

Dungeoneering Roll

Pathfinder background; Int modifier
[roll0]
Edit: *facepalm*

[Karl Prosek]

Vasily shrugs at Hal's comment. "We're lucky you convinced them to let us pass. I don't want to see how many arrows I can break on an earth elemental's skin." Was it even skin? He wasn't sure- he had focused on history, politics, engineering and natural philosophy more than he'd studied arcana. Maybe that had been a mistake.

*****
Vasily frowns and gestures at the tunnel on the far side of the room. "I'm going to go see if I can hear anything from that tunnel." He didn't whisper, having learned that the sibilant hisses of a whisper could carry further than intended. Instead, he just pitched his voice lower and talked more quietly.

He paused for a second to look carefully at the room to avoid any obvious traps or obstacles.

Perception roll to spot traps/obstacles in the room:
Grozny Hunter background + Wis mod = [roll0]

The young man then moved out at stealthily as he could across the unfamiliar tunnel floor.

Stealth roll:
Grozny Hunter background + Dex mod = [roll1]

Once he reached the tunnel at the end of the room, he listened carefully to catch the sounds of human habitation up the ramp.

Perception roll to hear what's going on up the ramp:
Grozny Hunter background + Wis mod = [roll2]

[ChaiGuy]

Dario was shocked to see such strange creatures living under the city of New Stetven. He was greatly releaved that Hal brought about a peaceful resolution to the stand off. They needed to save their energy for the bandits. The situation had taken quite a long time, out of necesity possibly, hopefully the others will wait until our team arrives before they make the attack on the bandits.

[DawnRaven]

Nice rolls, Vasily!

Aldren has no idea where they should go next. Maybe he read the map wrong? Should they go backwards?

Vasily sees no traps. When he walks to the ramp, he hears the following up above. He also spies what looks like a pair of locked, double wooden doors at the end of the ramp.

The faint sounds of something letting out growls and..squawks at the same time. Some odd beast is laired above. Beyond that, you can hear the sounds of hushed voices, making out only bits and pieces of conversation.

"No..."
....Killed.... at the first checkpoint....
Do you.....found out........?
The rest of the conversation tailors out, and you can't identify any of the voices behind the screeching of the monster beyond the doors.

[Karl Prosek]

Vasily moves back across the chamber a shade less vigilant. Once back to the group, he recounts his findings. "There's a pair of locked, double wooden doors at the end of the ramp. I heard something letting growling and... squawking at the same time. And I heard bits and pieces of conversation. They know the checkpoint was wiped out; that's all I could get out of it."

Knowledge check to identify the animal noises:
Grozny Hunter background + Int bonus = [roll0]

If it's not a natural animal but some kind of magical beast, he might use his Skywatch Academy background to place the noises in context: [roll1]

[DawnRaven]

I'll take Skywatch academy knowledge!

Sounded of several animals. It could have been an owlbear, a griffon or possibly a simurgh, but you're pretty sure those are extinct. Owlbears are the most likely as they do not have natural flight. However, they are rare this far north. Griffons, on the other hand, are common in House Garess lands.

[Karl Prosek]

Vasily pursed his lips. "Now that I think about it, the noises sounded kind of like an owlbear. Or a griffon, maybe, but I hate to think about how they got it down in these tunnels or what they're doing with it."

[DawnRaven]

Which of the three doors will you try to go through?

[DawnRaven]

Duvan rolled a 6 with his negative relationship to the Prince of Shadows. In part, that will lead to the following events.

As the group tries to figure out where to go, they hear shouting from one of the side doors.
A grizzled, veteran's voice echoes into the chamber. "You'll get your chance to fight in the arena, now shut the hell up!"

The second voice is strong and angry, having a bit of a Restov accent. "You have no right for this! The Watch will see you hang! Let me out of this cage so I can wring your lovely necks, I'll teach you to take a man while he's drunk and sleeping!"

A third voice speaks up, sounding younger and calmer than the first. "Harris, ignore the poor sod. We're just going to throw the whole cage into the ring after this mess with those invaders is over. Maybe we can throw the invaders in too?"

The first voice speaks up, scolding the third. "Shut the hell up, Stentin!"

"Invaders? Its the Watch! They've come to get us out! You're all ****ed, you dirty, Shadow-worshipping, thieving, honorless curs!"


Roooolll Initiatives, assuming you decide to do something. I'll give you all a choice on surprise, and after you decide this is what we'll do from now on: A single free action (standard or move, not both), a +5 to initiative, or a free increase of the escalation die.

*rolls rolls for secret events and initiatives*

[Shyftir]

Duvan - Crossroads.

Just as Duvan was about to suggest a way forward the choice was taken from them. The experienced merc waved everyone toward the sides of the doors attempting to set up an instant flanking situation.


[roll0]


I prefer the single action or the increase to the escalation die.

[Angstrom]

Following Duvan's lead, Hal steps to the side of the door waiting for a signal.

Getting a partial turn is pretty standard surprise action.

Init: [roll0]

[Razorstorm]

Nodding silently at Duvan's signal, Theron also moves to an ambush position.

I also like the partial turn approach, since it narratively involves the conflict starting with the ambushing teams action.

[ChaiGuy]

Dario moves into position to storm the room.

I like the escalation die increase the most, but I'd be OK with an extra action. Initiative [roll0], I also have to roll to see if Song of heroes recharges [roll1] DC 11+

[Karl Prosek]

At the noise, Vasily draws an arrow from his quiver and turns to face the sound of the voices. At Duvan's unspoken order, the young man moved to get a good look into the doorway and set up his first shot.

Initiative: [roll0]

Vasily moves so that he's about 30 degrees off center from the door- he wants to be able to see into the room but have some measure of cover from one side of it. He'll also be well back from the door so he can shoot without getting thumped or stabbed.

I like the escalation die increase, but I'd be happy with the extra action instead.

[Shyftir]

Inititive: [roll0] if its better i can take it instead.

[DawnRaven]

Combat Two....FIGHT!

Dario: 21
Vasily: 20
Monster S 17
Theron
Monster O: 13
Duvan: 10
Hal: 9
Aldren
Monster K6


You can each take one action--Standard or move. Opening/busting down the door is a move action.

[ChaiGuy]

Dario swiftly steps up to the door, and flings it open. ”No one expects the City Watch inquisition!” Then he steps back and to the side clearing the door for the rest and with a waving motion beacons the others to enter. ”Go, go, go!”

[Karl Prosek]

Vasily sights into the room once Dario busts down the door and lets loose as soon as he finds a target.

Ranged Double Attack. He'll concentrate on one target until it goes down, then move to the next. He can fire into melee without penalty.

Attack roll 1: [roll0]
Attack roll 2: [roll1]

Damage roll 1: [roll2] Miss 1
Damage roll 2: [roll3] Miss 1

[Shyftir]

Duvan moves into the doorway to block it and start building a front line for the ranged fighters to work behind. "Shield's forward, Men. Advance and detain! No quarter for resisters!" The former mercenary barked out the commands in his best "sarge" voice, both to suggest the battle plan and hopefully intimidate the enemy.


Duvan uses his surprise action to move into the path of any attackers. He will use his "Skilled Intercept" to prevent anyone from passing through the doorway.
roll for intercept: [roll0] On an 11+ I can stop anyone from reaching my companions. It works even if I'm previously engaged with up to two enemies. I take the attack my companion would have but only take half damage.

Intimidate check using mercenary background and charisma + level.
[roll1]

[Angstrom]

Hal's eyes light up as Dario opens the door. His cold, blue gaze seeks out the target of Vasily's attack and he unleashes his ancestral battle fury at the foe.

HP - 24 / 24, AC - 17, PD - 13, MD - 14

Spirits of the Righteous: [roll0] vs MD.

edit: rolling damage in OOC

[DawnRaven]

Dario: 21
Vasily: 20
Monster S 17
Theron
Monster O: 13
Duvan: 10
Hal: 9
Aldren
Monster K6

As Dario opens the door, Vasily lets fly with an arrow, taking a surprised guard in the eye, dropping him instantly. Duvan moves into the doorway, looking imposing while Hal unleashes a blast of light over his shoulder, searing the eyes of another crossbowman, causing him to drop his crossbow. The device fires off a bolt that promptly takes another guard in the chest. The three remaining crossbowmen look terrified, shaking in their boots.


I rolled a d10 to see which group you would hit and..funny enough even though Vasily dropped a mook and Hal hit the second mook group, nice showing! I'll wait until tomorrow morning for Shieldheart.

[Razorstorm]

Theron rushes into the room, stabbing at the first enemy he can get his hands on.


Melee Basic Attack
Attack: [roll0] vs AC
Hit: [roll1] + Sneak Attack (if applicable) [roll2]
Miss: 1

[Shieldheart]

Aldren
HP - 13 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 14, MD - 13

Aldren stayed behind Duvan for the time being as the others attacked. He breathed in, summoning the magic deep inside. Light flickered around his head and hands, forming a corona. Lightning flickered, thunder rumbling distantly. His eyes took on a hue of power.

"Do you really want to die so badly?" He called out to the three remaining men, his voice heavy and deep. He rather hoped they would surrender; he did not like to kill men so obviously terrified.

OOC

Using Gather Power for a double-whammy next action. Also, trying to Intimidate the remaining men into giving up. So,

[roll0] (Battle Sorcerer Background, Charisma modifier and Level. Any bonus for the display of power?)

[DawnRaven]

Round 0
Escalation 0

Dario: 21
Vasily: 20
Monster S 17
Theron
Monster O: 13
Duvan: 10
Hal: 9
Aldren
Monster K6

Theron throws a dagger, grazing the neck of a tall man bearing a jagged, single-edged sword. Aldren stands and gathers power, the hair on your arms and necks raising from the magical charge. As he does, a stray bolt of energy flies out and singes a crossbowman's arm. Three crossbowmen lay dead while two others shake in their boots. However, at a warcry from the man with the sword, they take deep breaths and ignore Aldren's statement. At this cry, the door behind you slams open and another man with a sword appears. He ushers two mastiff-sized scorpions into the hallway.

The room you've opened is filled with cages full of the disenfranchised. Men and women in ragged, dirty clothing, covered in filth themselves. They appear emaciated and weak excluding one man. A fierce human with a black ponytail rages at his cage, screaming invectives at the remaining guards. He seems to be the one yelling at them earlier.

In the room behind you, are cages full of beasts. Dire rats, two more scorpions and even a tiger rest within these, prowling and snapping at the bars. It appears you have found where the arena keeps its combatants.

Round 1
Escalation 0

Dario: 21
Vasily: 20
Monster S 17
Theron
Monster O: 13
Duvan: 10
Hal: 9
Aldren
Monster K6

[ChaiGuy]

Round 1 Initiative 21 Escalation die 0

Dario
HP: 27/27, AC: 15, PD: 13, MD: 13

Dario is startled by the sudden appearance of the enemies from the other doorway. He quickly reassesses the combat situation and determines that the monstrous scorpions need to be eliminated.
He quickly draws upon the power of the air spirits Lion’s Roar, and a thunderous wave of force slams into one of the scorpions.

To hit: [roll0] vs MD
Damage: [roll1] thunder damage


Well that was a really bad attack roll, but regardless it's a natural even roll which means he can use his "Move It!" battle cry to give one ally a free move action during his turn. Is anyone interested?

[DawnRaven]

How much does that spell do if it misses, Chai?


Presuming Vasily doesn't down one of them and hits targets you all have already wounded..

The two scorpions let out odd, hissing sounds as they scuttle forward. Dario's spell goes wide, barely grazing one of the black-armored monstrosities. As one charges him, Duvann charges it, intercepting its attack. The creature latches on to Duvann with both pincers before plunging its poisoned stinger into his right shoulder. The other one charges Vasily, leaping through the air and swinging both clamps at his arms while stabbing him in the side with its dagger-length stinger. .


Duvann: [roll0] v PD 1 damage
[roll1] v PD 1 damage
[roll2] v AC, 3 damage and 3 ongoing poison damage.
[Going to go ahead and say you take half damage from ongoing as well so: 1 damage, 1 damage, 1 damage and 1 damage ongoing]

Vasily: [roll3] v PD 1 damage
[roll4] v PD 1 damage
[roll5] v AC, 3 damage and 3 ongoing poison damage.

[ChaiGuy]

I don't beleive that battle chant does damage on a miss, but it is a flexable attack, so just because it misses doesn't mean that it can't help.

[Shyftir]

Round 1 Initiative 10 Escalation die 0

Duvan
HP: 26/30, AC: 19, PD: 13, MD: 12

Horrified by the creature attacking him Duvan strikes out trying to free himself from its grasp.


attack roll:
[roll0] vs. AC (natural odd roll triggering "Carve an Opening." I now crit on a 19-20, until either I score a crit or the battle ends.)
damage:
[roll1]

Miss: 1

Save:[roll2]

[Razorstorm]

Round 1 Initiative 13 Escalation 0

Theron
HP - 24 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 16, MD - 11

After throwing his throwing dagger, Theron turns when he hears the doors behind him open. He draws his paired dagger, and deftly weaves through the attacking scorpions to their sword-wielding handler. He stabs forward, dropping forward into a deep lunge, then dances around nimbly out of his reach.

Tumbling Strike
Attack: [roll0] vs AC
Hit: [roll1]
Miss: 1

You gain a +5 bonus to all disengage checks you attempt this turn. You can also move to engage an enemy, make this attack against it, and then use a quick action to attempt to disengage from it (the quick action disengage lets you move again if you succeed).

Disengage [roll2]

[Karl Prosek]

Round 1 Initiative 20 Escalation die 0

Vasily
HP: 30/30, AC: 18, PD: 15, MD: 11

Vasily spins and quickly assesses the new threat, firing arrows at the scorpions and for the moment ignoring the man.

Ranged Double Attack, focus on 1 scorpion until it goes down then move to the other. Fire into melee without penalty.
Atk1: [roll0]
Atk2: [roll1]
Dmg1: [roll2] Miss 1
Dmg2: [roll3] Miss 1

If that doesn't put the scorpion down before it gets to him, then this:

The young man screams as the scorpion's stinger slams through his armor and the nightmarish creature grabs at his arms. He drops his bow and steps back, grabbing for the long knives strapped to his legs, favoring his right side more than a little. He grimaces at the huge insect as he tries to ward off further attacks with his knives. "I'll bet you taste like lobster. Wish I had some butter."

[DawnRaven]

Round 1 Part 2
Escalation 0
Both of Vasily's arrows find their target, but one bounces off the monster's chitinous shell as it collides with the archer. However, the creature is seriously wounded, bleeding ichor on the ground Staggered. Theron slides under the leaping scorpion and rolls away from the other as Duvann engages it to sprint up to the handler—driving his weapon straight into the man's leg and scoring a deep wound before leaping backward, putting some distance between him and the man.

The handler swings his sword overhead and roars in pain, running at Theron while shouting. They've come from below! They somehow got into the ****ing underground tunnels! The swordsman in the cage room slaps at ponytailed man's hands before moving cautiously to attack Dario. Duvann swings his heavy blade into the scorpion attacking him and tears away a chunk of chitin, exposing its soft insides.


Theron – [roll0] 6 damage, crits on a 17-20.
Dario – [roll1] 6 damage, crits on a 17-20.



Giant scorpions are pretty rare in the city. However, they're relatively common in the Valley of Fire in Brevoy, which is likely where these ones came from. The critters congregate in underground nests, living on a diet of mostly foxes, rabbits and quokka, a form of large rodent that hops around. They're common enough that the phrase “stepping in a nest of scorpions” is occasionally used to reference a foolish and dangerous decision. The Spinebreaker Tribe, a group of nomadic orcs living in and around the Valley of Fire, often require new Braves to walk into a giant scorpion den and come out intact with a number of tails as trophies.

[DawnRaven]

'Kay GITP..no idea why it didn't like my rolls there.
Duvann [roll0] 6 damage, crits on 17-20
Dario [roll1] 6 damage, crits on 17-20 - Crit 12 damage.

[Shieldheart]

Aldren
HP - 13 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 14, MD - 13

Aldren is shaken by the appearance of the monstrous scorpions and he lets out a shocked yell as the creatures attack Vassily and Duvan. With a burst of power, he aims at the scorpion attacking Duvan and lets loose.


Chaos Bolt

Random Energy Roll - [roll0] (Lightning)

Attack roll - [roll1]

Hit - [roll2] (x2) for Gathering Power = 18 damage

+1 damage for chaotic benefit to nearby enemy. Might be same scorpion or any other target.

[Angstrom]

"Dario, watch out!" Hal knows his warning comes to late as he puts his short legs in motion to reach the younger man. As he crosses the hall, he hurls a hammer at the wounded scorpion.

HP - 24 / 24, AC - 17, PD - 13, MD - 14

Ranged hammer: [roll0], [roll1]

Heal: Dario can use a recovery.

[DawnRaven]

Round 1 Part 3
Escalation 0

Aldren's bolt of lightning smashes into the scorpions side, releasing a burnt smell in the air. The creature lays still on the ground, unmoving. Hal's hammer flies through the air and knocks the leg out from under the other scorpion, wounding it further as it lets out another loud hiss. The three surviving crossbowmen level their weapons and unleash a barrage at Aldren.

Aldren
[roll0] 3 damage
[roll1] 3 damage
[roll2] 3 damage


Round 2
Escalation 1

Dario: 21
Vasily: 20
Monster S 17
Theron
Monster O: 13
Duvan: 10
Hal: 9
Aldren
Monster K6


Vasily - Scorpion staggered
Theron - Handler thug
Dario - Guard thug

[ChaiGuy]

Round 2 Initiative 21 Escalation die 1

Dario
HP: 15/27, AC: 15, PD: 13, MD: 13 Healing Surges 5/8


Dario had turned his attention away from the guard in the slave room to attack the monstrosities that had come from across the hall, leaving him out of position to defend himself from the man’s attack. He heard Hal cry out to warn him, allowing Dario to turn just enough so that the blade cut him deeply but not fatally.

He gasped in pain and whirled to face off against the scoundrel. He heard Hal approach an lay his hand on him healing him.
[roll0]

You lack style and technique, I’ll show you how it’s done!

Attack: [roll1] vs AC, on a miss 1 damage, flexible melee
Damage: [roll2]

[Shyftir]

Duvan
Initiative: 10
HP - 26 / 30, AC - 19, PD - 13, MD - 12

Duvan, freed from his monstrous attacker, charged toward the other scorpion and brought his sword down in a vicious cut. He knew just how dangerous the giant arthropods could be. They were native to his families homelands in the Valley of Fire.


[roll0] forgot escalation so +1
damage: [roll1]
miss: 1

natural even roll = defensive fighting I get +2 to AC until the end of my next turn.

[Angstrom]

Hal curses under his breath as he looks over his shoulder and sees Aldren get turned into a pincushion by the slavers. Some simple shakedown this was. Turning again, Hal hurls another hammer at his wounded target before reaching his arm out to Aldren to aid the aching arcanist.

Init - 8, HP - 24 / 24, AC - 17, PD - 13, MD - 14

Hammer: [roll0], [roll1]
Heal Aldren

[Razorstorm]

Round 2 Initiative 13 Escalation 1

Theron
HP - 21 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 16, MD - 11
Has Momentum

After getting tagged by the sword-wielding scorpion handler, Theron dashes away, toward a wall, the thug right on his heels. When he reaches the wall, he runs up the wall, flipping backwards and the peak of his run, arcing back behind the surprised thug. With a savage grin, Theron shoves him face first into the wall with his hilt, and stabs at his exposed back with his dagger.

I propose using my 1/battle Swashbuckler stunt to let me qualify for Sneak Attack damage this round. If you're cool with that, I'll attack with Sure Cut, which let's me add Sneak Attack to my miss damage. If you're not cool with this, then I just make a regular attack, don't spend the stunt, and no Sneak Attack considerations this round.

Attack: [roll0] vs AC
Hit: [roll1]
Miss: 1
+ Sneak Attack [roll2] to Hit or Miss

[Karl Prosek]

Round 1 Initiative 20 Escalation die 1

Vasily
HP: 23/30, AC: 18, PD: 15, MD: 11
3 ongoing poison damage

Vasily stabs and slashes at the monstrous creature with his over-long knives. "I don't think I'm going to find a pot big enough to boil you, so I'm thinking fillet and grill. What do you think of that you big ugly bug?"

Melee Double Attack. Even number on first attack roll grants second attack. Focus on engaged scorpion; if scorpion drops after first attack, pick up bow and re-focus on scorpion handler.

Atk1: [roll0]
Atk2: [roll1]

Dmg1: [roll2] Miss 1
Dmg2: [roll3] Miss 1

[DawnRaven]

Round 2 Part 2 (Just waiting on Aldren and then bad guy crossbowmen)

Dario's witty remark is coupled with a thrust forward, catching in the guard's shirt but not doing any real harm. The man smirks and swings his sword at Dario's exposed arm. Vasily's knives skitter off the scorpion's hide without seeming to harm it much. It responds by trying to clamp its pincers around his right leg, stabbing with its tail toward his abdomen. Duvan rushes to aid him, swinging his blade at the creature's tail. However, like Vasily's weapons, they skitter harmlessly off of it. Just when the creature seems to be able to shrug off all attacks, Hal's hammer spins over and smashes it in a leg, breaking the shell and the leg along with it. The creature lets out a furious hiss of pain and lashes out furiously at Vasily.

Theron's exploits succeed and the daring rogue is faced with a pissed, bloody-nosed guard. As blood runs down the man's mouth, he spits a wad of it onto the floor.

You have no idea who you're messing with. The Shadows aren't gonna take this bull, you all already signed your death traps even if you think you were wise to come at us this a'way. You ain't escapin' here with your lives!

With that fairly un-intimidating speech, he swings at Theron.


Vasily - Scorpion [roll0] v PD 1 damage (if hits, stinger +2 to hit)
[roll1] v PD 1 damage (if hits, stinger +2 to hit)
[roll2] 3 damage and 3 ongoing poison damage. [Edit: Believe both of those hit, so thats +4 for the stinger]

Dario - [roll3] 6 damage, crits on 17-20
Theron - [roll4] 6 damage, crits on 17-20

[DawnRaven]

Round 2 Part 3
Assuming that Aldren is going to heal himself, if he decides to attack the crossbowmen instead, ignore this part. Aldren goes before the crossbowmen.

The three crossbowmen reload and fire off another volley at the bleeding pincushion of a mage.

[roll0] 3 damage
[roll1] 3 damage
[roll2] 3 damage


Round 3
Escalation Die 2

Dario: 21
Vasily: 20
Monster S 17
Theron
Monster O: 13
Duvan: 10
Hal: 9
Aldren
Monster K6

Theron - Scorpion Handler Staggered
Dario - Sword guard
Duvan & Vasily - Scorpion Staggered

[Razorstorm]

Round 3 Initiative 13 Escalation 2

Theron
HP - 21 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 16, MD - 11
Has momentum

Theron jumps back nimbly from the scorpion-handler's swipe. "You talk too much!" He punches him in the mouth with his dagger hand, kicks him in the belly, and drives him back into the wall, then dives in for a stab.

Deadly Thrust
Attack: [roll0] vs AC (can crit on 18-20)
Hit: [roll1]
Miss: 1

[Karl Prosek]

Round 3 Initiative 20 Escalation die 2

Vasily
HP: 17/30, AC: 18, PD: 15, MD: 11
3 ongoing poison damage (?)

The young woodsman takes another dagger-like stab in the side and wheezes in pain. "Gods! Did I piss off a Calistrian when I wasn't looking!?" He spins away from the deadly tail barb and slashes at the creature's claws in an attempt to keep them from pinning him down.

Melee Double Attack
Atk 1: [roll0]
Atk 1: [roll1]

Dmg 1: [roll2] Miss 1
Dmg 1: [roll3] Miss 1

[ChaiGuy]

Round 2 Initiative 21 Escalation die 2

Dario
HP: 21/27, AC: 15, PD: 13, MD: 13 Healing Surges 4/8


Dario notices that Aldren has taken several painful arrow wounds, and while he would like to show the thug he’s dueling with proper swordplay he knows that Aldren might not be able to take many more hits like that.

Dario released his off hand from his Aldiori longsword and quickly traced the rune for “heal”. He concentrated searching for the water spirits in the area and summoning their strength for the spell. He felt them roiling all around him, then they rushed to infuse Aldren with their vitality and heal his wounds.

Pull it together: Times used this battle 1, 1 remaining Aldren can use a recovery.

[DawnRaven]

Vasily strikes with deadly precision, his first cut stabbing lobbing off one pincer and the second pinning the other to the floor. The creature seems to have been running out of energy and lays there, twitching a little in death. The last of the scorpions dead, Theron adds to the slain--piercing his blade through the chatty one's throat and leaving his battered corpse to fall to the ground. His fingers wrap around the bloody wound, gurgling blood and looking mournfully at Theron in his last moment.

[Shieldheart]

Aldren
HP - 15 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 14, MD - 13

Aldren's smile of victory was knocked off of his face when all three crossbowmen managed to hit him, winding him. He fell to his knees, coughing up blood. Casting a baleful glare at the men, he called out. "A little help, guys!"

Thankfully, both Hal and Dario took notice. Aldren felt their magics bolstering his strength.


[roll0]
[roll1]


Grinning fiercely at the three men, he staggered back to his feet and brandished a glowing hand.



Attack - [roll2] +2 for Escalation Die

Hit - [roll3]

Miss - 1 damage



"Burn," he snarled and lightning burst from his fingers.

[DawnRaven]

Perhaps it was a fluke, or perhaps the amount of blood spilling from Aldren's veins empowered his spell. Either way, the single bolt flew into three and smashed into the chests of the remaining crossbowmen. They flew backward, disintegrating into ash with an electric crackle.

After Theron dispatches the scorpion's handler, the last guard drops his weapon and puts his hands up. I surrender! I don't get paid enough for this ****! You're with the Watch, right? You can't just kill me, I give up!

With that, the fight has finished. At the victory, a few men and women in the cages look up and cheer. Upon a closer look, you realize the man arguing with the guards is an elf.

Anyone with a noble-type background or Hal's ambassador background can make a Int check to identify him.


There aren't as many nobles in Restov as there are in New Stetven. Most of the ambassadors and noble houses send their younger children to the seat of power rather than Restov. However, the Council of Swordlords does hold some sway. Their talent with swords and noble titles draw the interest of many. The Elf Queen in particular has paid attention to Restov lately, having dispatched an elven ambassador named Cyrenar, although no one is sure why. Rumor is that it has something to do with a Pathfinder Society expedition into an Elven heritage site by the Lodge in Restov.

[Angstrom]

With the bandit threat abated for now, Hal grabs his hammers and hurries into the room to open the cages; smashing locks off of cages if he can't find keys.

"Its alright, we'll get you out of here but we need your help. How many more of them are there? How long until more arrive?"

[DawnRaven]

With the bandit threat abated for now, Hal grabs his hammers and hurries into the room to open the cages; smashing locks off of cages if he can't find keys.

"Its alright, we'll get you out of here but we need your help. How many more of them are there? How long until more arrive?"

The surrendering bandit gives you the keys, remaining silent otherwise. You get nothing but a ton of babbled replies from the captured.
"There are dozens of them! We have to run, they're going to hear what you did and kill us all!"

"I think there's only like ten of them, I never saw too many come here."

"You've saved us! Thank you! Thankyou! Thank you!"

....and so on of about as useful replies.

[Angstrom]

"Hold on people. Hold on. Are any of you hurt?"

Hal looks about the room for other exits and anything of value.

[DawnRaven]

"Hold on people. Hold on. Are any of you hurt?"

Hal looks about the room for other exits and anything of value.

Most of the lot seem malnourished and many have small wounds, bruises, cuts. Some of them are infected but nothing too serious.

Hal and the others find:
100 GP and a Healing potion and a magical rune (pg 284 13th age CRB).

[Howling Winds]

From out in the crowd, an individual rises. He looks among the rescuers for a few moments, obviously looking for something or someone in particular. Upon not finding that person, he looks up towards the ceiling of the room everyone is currently in and sighs. He says in a loud enough voice that people around him can hear,"My, my. How have I gotten here? Hail adventures, rescuers! whatever you all may be! I am uninjured but it seems they have taken my weapons and my armor from me! If you could perhaps...find it for me? Bring it back here and I would be most grateful. Thank you! His speech is refined, clipped, smooth, and it's clear from his tone that he is immensely grateful to see all of the rescuers, armed to the teeth as they are, present. He walks further froward, more towards where any party members are grouped, and looks them over, giving each one that he passes a once over with his eyes.

Another thing quickly becomes clear about this man, he's an elf, and a well to do elf at that; at least from the way he's projected himself so far. Finding Alderon, he motions the half-elf closer to himself and speaks now in a lowered voice, in Elven,"Please do not take offense, but I pray to the Elf Queen for rescue and she sends me a single half-breed? I most certainly must be more out of favor than I originally imagined. What is your name friend? I can see by your ears that you are half of myself, and though this is most disappointing, I suppose you'll just have to do. He gestures subtly to the other members of the party and continues after a pause,"For the time being, you will speak for me to them...until I am certain they can be trusted. How is it you came to ...adventure with them? What has brought you here? He gives the half-elf an expectant look, and after one last short pause, says,"Before you answer my inquiry, know this. I am Cyrean, but that is our little secret. If these others can be trusted...perhaps I will say more, but that is more than enough for now. He smiles at the half-elf and gives him a pat on the shoulder, patiently waiting to hear his answers.

[ChaiGuy]

Dario will attempt an intelligence based Swordlord check to identify the mysterious elf. P[roll0] I'll include some rolls for recoveries later


Your weapons and armor you say, if you could give us a detailed description of these items then we would be able to help you. If you would like we could let you use some of the weapons and armor that these bandits where using to help protect yourself in case you face any danger while we are away.

[Karl Prosek]

From out in the crowd, an individual rises. He looks among the rescuers for a few moments, obviously looking for something or someone in particular. Upon not finding that person, he looks up towards the ceiling of the room everyone is currently in and sighs. He says in a loud enough voice that people around him can hear,"My, my. How have I gotten here? Hail adventures, rescuers! whatever you all may be! I am uninjured but it seems they have taken my weapons and my armor from me! If you could perhaps...find it for me? Bring it back here and I would be most grateful. Thank you! His speech is refined, clipped, smooth, and it's clear from his tone that he is immensely grateful to see all of the rescuers, armed to the teeth as they are, present. He walks further froward, more towards where any party members are grouped, and looks them over, giving each one that he passes a once over with his eyes.

Vasily, the youngest of the group, is more concerned about caring for his dropped bow and bandaging himself up- in that order- than paying attention to any of the rescued prisoners in particular. He looks up briefly when the elf starts talking over the babble but quickly goes back to what he's doing.

When one of his companions walks by- Theron- the young man whispers to him. "That's the elven ambassador to Restov. I can't even begin to imagine what he's doing here."


Another thing quickly becomes clear about this man, he's an elf, and a well to do elf at that; at least from the way he's projected himself so far. Finding Alderon, he motions the half-elf closer to himself and speaks now in a lowered voice, in Elven.... He smiles at the half-elf and gives him a pat on the shoulder, patiently waiting to hear his answers.

Though he's making an effort to look disinterested, Vasily can't help but try to listen in on the conversation as he sits and applies a clean bandage to the wound in his side. Sharp ears from his Hunter background: [roll0]. I'm thinking he's picked up a basic understanding of elvish from working with the few elven hunters in his father's service and from visiting a small elven village in the Gronzi.

Vasily frowns at the ambassador's attitude but says nothing in response, since it would betray his eavesdropping. He nods in agreement with Dario's comment and raises his voice to be heard by the crowd. "You can't go back the way we came; it's too dangerous." And twisty; they'd likely get lost in those tunnels. "But we need to move quickly and quietly." Yes, their foray into this warren had been oh so quiet so far. "And it will be dangerous while we're dealing with the Shadows, so you can't come with us, either. You'll have to wait here until we send someone back to get you. We're with the Watch; we will send people back to get you out of here."

Of course, the teenager just now buckling his leather cuirass back over his wounded side didn't look particularly impressive or official. Hopefully his older companions would back him up if push came to shove.

[DawnRaven]

The scorpion handler bears Cyrenar's weapon at his hip and his armor is found in a bag of clustered stuff along with various knick-knacks from the other individuals.

A young boy speaks up. What do you mean we can't go back that way? We have to wait here? What if they kill you?

Roll wisdom checks using any background trained to listen well/perception type stuff. I think Vasily may be the only one with this? Unless someone makes n argument for theirs as well.


You hear shouting from above and the sound of weapons clashing.

[Karl Prosek]

A young boy speaks up. What do you mean we can't go back that way? We have to wait here? What if they kill you?

Vasily sighs. "We bypassed a dangerous creature on our way in here. I wouldn't want to face it, even armed with my friends here. And we had a map to find our way through the tunnels. It's too dangerous to go in the direction we came from."

"As for the other..." he glances at the others. "Well, I'd like to say they won't, but I guess I can't guarantee that. In that case I'd say you could lock or bar the doors from the inside and wait until it's quiet out there," Vasily gestures at the door the group intends to go through, "then try to make your way out to the street by yourselves. It's probably what I would do in your place. You face the possibility of being recaptured or possibly killed in a crossfire that way, though."

The young man takes a breath and looks over the crowd of prisoner, trying to look capable and reassuring. And un-killable. "I have no intention of dying in here. We've already fought these thieves twice and won and we've got the city watch with us. It seems to me that the odds are on our side. But it's up to you if you want to wait for rescue or try to rescue yourselves."

I guess he's trying for a Diplomacy result convincing the prisoners to stay put and not get in the party's way. Noble Bred should cover trying to convince a group of people to do what he wants. [roll0]

[Howling Winds]

Cyrenar finds his weapon and armor, and after looking therm all over with a deep frown, because they've been handled by someone other than himself for some time, he slips on the armor, with some grunting, and practices a death-strokes with his weapon.

As much as he's hoped that they all don't know who he is, it's clear that ship has long sailed. The elf sighs, looks somewhat defeated at the entire party, though there is still a hint of relief at the rescue. He speaks,"Never you mind my earlier instructions, half the elf I am. I suppose that it's..fairly obvious who I am, isn't it? At least, I'm most guilty by association, if nothing more. Oh trees and rocks, this is not how I expected this might go! He once more turns his eyes ot the ceiling of the room and sighs.

With a graceful return of his head to a more normal position, the elf says,"I cannot tell you much, but I am authorized to state my name, Cyrenar, Restov Emissary to the Elf Queen and Her Court. Ask me what you will, and I shall answer to the best of my knowledge and ability; if I can answer, that is. He gets a more patient look on his face, as he waits for the questioning to start.

He cannot help but mutter, in Elven,"You all were certainly a part of the obtuse Pathfinder Society. I am almost certain of this. You all are armed too simply to have come at the behest of some Court. He shakes his head once more, and prepares to follow the rest of the party through the doors.

[ChaiGuy]

I hear the sounds of battle above.

[Shyftir]

Duvan

"Our allies are in danger? We must hurry!" He turns to the remaining thief. "You! Tell me the fastest way to the fighting pit or I will skewer you without any second thoughts." It's clear from his tone that the mercenary is not bluffing. His statement is in deadly earnest.


Charisma + level... Can I add former merc? because he's totally going to stab the guy if he doesn't tell us.
Roll: [roll0] if merc applies +3

[DawnRaven]

The crowd (roughly 10 or so people) cluster at the far end of the room after Vasily's argument. They seem convinced. One of them, an older man, plans to barricade the door after you leave.

The surviving bandit looks at Duvann baffled and frightened and points to the doorway. Th-th-The r-ramp.

[Angstrom]

"We'll be back soon" Hal calls to the gathered captives as he makes his way to the ramp. He looks over his shoulder at the pretentious elf, "You coming ears?"

If possible, he'll cast Hammer of Faith before going through the door.

[Howling Winds]

Cyrenar looks at Hal with a sour gaze, a frown on his face, and a subtle glare. He responds quite sarcastically,"No, I thought perhaps I would stay behind and regale the others many a tale from the Elf Queen's Court! He readies his long sword in one hand and follows the others up the ramp towards the ongoing battle.

[DawnRaven]

The Misfits move to the ramp, testing the door and finding it unlocked and, apparently, untrapped. You hear Roberto's booming voice calling to Kesten. Don't worry! They'll be here! Let's take 'em all!

Assuming you open the ramp door, the large wooden gate slides to either side revealing a sandy arena floor. Thick wooden timber surrounds it, covered in bands of pitted iron. The timber wall is around 7' high while the area it rings is large, a radius of at least 40'. Tiered wooden seats rise around it looking down upon the arena. Amongst the stands fights a vicious battle. More than a dozen armed Shadows fight against the mercenaries, Kesten and Roberto. Falgrim knocks one in the side of the head and waves down to you. They're here! Oh-- You see him start waving frantically again, pointing at the arena and his shouts are drowned out by a terrifying, bone-chilling screech.

The gigantic creature crouched in the arena is some horrifying, mutated mix between owl and bear. Feathers and vestigial wings jut from its clawed arms while brown fur covers its torso. Its beak-like face is full of fangs and snarling at you.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RKcspihwDzw/TelH8PQdnBI/AAAAAAAABn0/iT1d29wuAc8/s1600/mm.owlbear.jpg

Roll Initiatives :)
[roll0]

[Shyftir]

I don't really have anything to add so....

[roll0]
result from second roll in ooc thread [20]

[Howling Winds]

Cyrenar, despite the sounds of battle above them, followed the others up the ramp and drew his word when he noticed the quite large creature in the middle of what appeared to be an arena. He looked at the rest of the party and said,"Those of you with swords, follow me in and we shall this monster. There is the alternative, of course. You could find your way to a seat and watch the considerable skill that an Emmisary such as myself possesses. It is entirely your choice.

He makes his way towards the arena and calls to the giant monster, in Elven,"Hail Creature, step forward and face us! We will defeat you for the Elf Queen's Honor and whatever other assorted deities these with me worship! You stand no chance against our might and power! You will die!

Cyrenar's Native:[roll0]

[Karl Prosek]

"Gozreh's fickle winds..." Vasily gets to the head of the tunnel and stops to stare at the monster. After the slightest hesitation, his hand flicks to his quiver and he starts shooting at the beast from where he stands. "Concentrate on the creature; it'll kill everyone if we try to do this piecemeal!"


He will stay at the head of the tunnel as long as he can see his target (i.e.- he doesn't want to get stabbed again). He'll focus on the owlbear until it goes down, doing his best to stay out of melee with it, unless he gets attacked by something else.

Initiative roll: [roll0]

Ranged double attack:
Atk1: [roll1]
Atk2: [roll2]

Dmg1: [roll3] Miss 1
Dmg2: [roll4] Miss 1

[DawnRaven]

I believe Vasily was the only one who could have beaten the thing's initiative (rolled 20) and am assuming he'll take the 17 I rolled for him so it goes first. Aldren and Dario haven't managed to get off initiative yet, but he can roll that into his first rounds actions.

Round 1 FIGHT!
Escalation Die 0

Owlbear 28
Vasily 26
Theron 24
Duvan 22
Dario: 17
Hal 10
Cyrenar 7
Aldren: ??


The hybrid lets out another screech and charges forward. Its movements are an awkward lope that are a mix between running and quick, short jumps that it uses its weak wings to push off for. It lands in the midst of the party, swirling its claws around itself and snapping in all directions. Its eye catches on the tasty elf-flesh of [roll0] (Dario) and it pounces at him, ripping and pecking.
[roll1] for 15 damage and target is hampered until the owlbear's next turn. Hampered means you may only take basic attacks.

[Karl Prosek]

Round 1 Initiative 26 Escalation die 0

Vasily
HP: 30/30, AC: 18, PD: 15, MD: 11

Vasily scrambles to get away from the owlbear's reach, completely surprised by the monster's leap. Once he felt reasonably sure he wasn't about to be pulped by the huge creature's massive paws he drew and started firing.

Attack rolls are in the previous post.

[ChaiGuy]

Dario's initiative [roll0], [roll1],
Round 1, escalation 0
Dario
HP: 13/27, AC: 15, PD: 13, MD: 13, healing surge 2/8

Dario is caught off guard by the huge beasts unexpected speed and agility. The feathered abomination leaving gaping wounds in his chest, temporarily sapping of him of his fighting strength.

He is barely able to focus in time to lung at the owl thing with his Aldori dueling sword.

Attack [roll2], damage [roll3], flexible melee on a miss 1 damage

[DawnRaven]

Chai, you deal double damage with that crit: [roll0]

[Shyftir]

Round 1, escalation 0, Initiative 20

Duvan
HP: 26/30, AC: 19, PD: 13, MD: 12


Duvan is as surprised as the others at the huge magical beastie's attack, but with typical mercenary aplomb, he merely lets out a war cry and attacks.


Attack (flexible melee)
[roll0] Well its an odd so Carve an Opening +1 to my crit threshold for the rest of the fight.
damage:
[roll1]

[DawnRaven]

Dario, surprised by the ferocity of the assault, simply fights back harder. His blade pierces the thing in the mouth, peeling away sensitive skin and causing it to hack blood all over the sands. As Duvan leaps at its side, swinging his blade against it, a stray wing knocks him away deflecting the blow. Vasily lets loose with an arrow, burrying it deep in the owlbear's shoulder.

You've hurt it, but it only seems angrier.

[Howling Winds]

Cyrenar Int: 7

HP: 40 AC: 19 PD: 14 MD: 12

Cyrenar, seeing those brave souls who acted before he had strike out at the gigantic owl bear, moves in towards it and goes for the kill. His movement is graceful, he's almost gliding accords the sand. He wields his sword lightly, as though it weighs nothing, but strikes with ferocity, trying to skewer the owl bear in the side and put it on it's back, where he thinks they all might have an advantage. He lets out a battle cry as he strikes.

Longsword Basic attack
[roll0]

Damage: [roll1]

[Shieldheart]

Aldren
HP - 15 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 14, MD - 13

Aldren had reacted with sour resignation to acting as the haughty Elf's mouthpiece, before being thankfully relieved of that position due to Vassily's good eye and quick mind. He had had enough of the patronizing attitude of Elves the first time he had gone to Kyonin.

He followed the group up the ramp to the arena and paused as he laid eyes on the vicious owlbear. He took the deep breath, drawing upon his magic. He stayed behind for the moment, Gathering Power for a good strong strike. They needed to take this beast down quick, before it killed anyone.



Aldren is Gathering Power.

Chaotic benefit - [roll0]

[Razorstorm]

Round 1 Initiative 24 Escalation 0

Theron
HP - 21 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 16, MD - 11

Theron's eyes open wide at the rush of the monstrous beast. He had survived many deadly fights with men, but this was something new to him. But that didn't stop his instincts from kicking in, and his blades from thrusting. He stabs fiercely, then dances away from the distracted beast.

Tumbling Strike
Attack: [roll0] vs AC
Hit: [roll1] + Sneak Attack [roll2]
Miss: 1
Always: You gain a +5 bonus to all disengage checks you attempt this turn. You can also move to engage an enemy, make this attack against it, and then use a quick action to attempt to disengage from it (the quick action disengage lets you move again if you succeed).

Disengage: [roll3]

[DawnRaven]

[roll0]
I'm assuming Dario will heal himself using his battle cry since he made a flexible attack that will grant it to him so Hal won't heal him this turn. I forgot that Dario was hampered. So Hal will use Heal on him as a quick action letting Dario use a recovery.

Fire and lightning flashes around Aldren as arcane magics gather to him. His eyes flare red, spitting out fire that singes the scalds the nearby Owlbear. Theron plunges his blade at the creature, but can't seem to strike deeply enough.

Hal swings his hammer at the beast, making use of his spiritual weapon enhancement. The form of a translucent blue hammer appears as Hal strikes, overlaying his own weapon in his hands.
[roll1]
[roll2] (1 on miss)

Round 2
Escalation 1

Owlbear 28
Vasily 26
Theron 24
Duvan 22
Hal 10
Cyrenar 7
Aldren: ??
Dario: ??


Owlbear - Duvan, Dario, Hal, Cyrenar


The creature doesn't appear phased by the barrage of attacks and it lets out a distinctly bear-like roar. The disparity between its roars and screeches is startling, to say the least. It surges forward, swinging biting at the one who hurt him most (Dario).

Dario - [roll3] for 15 damage and target is hampered until the end of the owlbear's next turn.

[Karl Prosek]

Vasily continues to fire arrow after arrow at the beast.

Ranged double attack

Atk1: [roll0]
Atk2: [roll1]

Dmg1: [roll2] Miss 1
Dmg2: [roll3] Miss 1

Woohoo! Crit!

[Shieldheart]

Aldren took a deep breath and raised an arm, channeling the gathering power into a storm into his palm, aiming at the directly at the owlbear. "Bolt of Power." He intoned, letting it loose.



Attack -

Hit - [roll1]

Energy type - [roll]1d4 - from OOC thread - Fire

Miss - Equal to level - 1

Choatic benefit - Damage equal to level to nearby enemy - 1

Total damage - 3 (Fire damage)

[Howling Winds]

Cyrenar, although engaged in a pitched battle, took a mental note of the half-breed's late arrival. He also takes a mental note the half-breed had "attempted" a magical attack, which he thought was not nearly as powerful as he had intended it to be. Surely, he jests, I was not aware illusion was so prominent among the half-breeds. hmm... he thinks haughty. He saves his comments for later, after the owl bear has died.

He cries out,"Die Horrible monster! Die! as he slashes against with his sword, ever eager to end the fight quickly.

Longsword basic attACK: Should be 14 because I forgot to ad the Escolation Die

Damage: [ROLL]1d10+6 7 from OOC thread.

[Razorstorm]

Round 2 Initiative 24 Escalation 1

Theron
HP - 21 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 16, MD - 11

Not pleased with his last results, Theron dives forward into a roll, stabs quickly at the monster's flanks, then back handsprings away from the fray.

Tumbling Strike
Attack: [roll0] vs AC
Hit: [roll1] + Sneak Attack [roll2]
Miss: 1
Always: You gain a +5 bonus to all disengage checks you attempt this turn. You can also move to engage an enemy, make this attack against it, and then use a quick action to attempt to disengage from it (the quick action disengage lets you move again if you succeed).

Disengage: [roll3]

[Angstrom]

"Come on lad, pull together." Hal barely has time to heal Dario before the owlbear swats him away to strike again.

"Make your blows count!"

Quick Action: Heal Dario

Hammer: [roll0], [roll1], Miss1

[DawnRaven]

Wow, this fight won't be as hard as I thought! Not including Dario and Duvan, you still did 30 damage this round.


Arrow after arrow stick to the owlbear, only a few of them having struck deep enough to hurt it seriously. Theron's dash toward the thing's side seems to be more effective than most of the melee attacks so far. His blade pierces through two ribs, splashing him with hot blood and getting an angry squawk from the monster. It turns its bird-like eyes to him and snarls, swiping futilely after the acrobatic rogue. Aldren's gathered power sears the sand with its heat, melting some of it to glass. However, the bolt itself misses the creature narrowly, splashing against the far wall. The fact it doesn't catch on fire suggests the walls are treated with something. Hal's swing catches the monster as it turns its head to snarl at Theron, striking it behind the ears and causing it to wobble on its feet. For all of Cyrenar's haughty bragging, his sword blows don't seem to bother the owlbear.

[Shyftir]

Round 2, escalation 1, Initiative 20

Duvan
HP: 26/30, AC: 19, PD: 13, MD: 12\

Encouraged by the success of his allies, Duvan continues to press the attack. "Have at thee beastie!"


attack roll:
[roll0] roll was odd so more Opening Carving! now I crit on an 18+
damage:
[roll1]

[ChaiGuy]

Dario hears Hal’s shout of encouragement and feels a rush of energy as he heals him.

[roll0]

Round 2, Initiative 17, escalation 1
Dario
HP: 3/27, AC: 15, PD: 13, MD: 13, healing surge 1/8


Dario takes another powerful blow that has him reeling, he pushes on thru the pain and grabs his sword with both hands and brings the blade down in a swift, smooth motion aiming for the creatures elbow.

Attack: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

[DawnRaven]

Carve stacks? That's amazing and right. I love it.

Duvan ducks under a swinging wing, dragging his heavy blade over the opposite flank from Theron. The jagged wound leaving the creature distracted from his attacks. Dario stabs at the joint between wing and limb, but his b lows are weakened from the loss of blood. He clutches his head, spinning with dizziness and his sword scrapes weakly off the beast.

Round 3
Escalation 2
Oh, Is that Even? Oh..this is a fun round :3

Owlbear 28
Vasily 26
Theron 24
Duvan 22
Hal 10
Cyrenar 7
Aldren: ??
Dario: ??


The owlbear seems to rage harder than before, its eyes going wide as it frenzies. It lashes out at Duvan and then, spins unexpectedly and attacks Hal as well!


Even escalation Surprise!
Duvan - [roll0] 15 damage and you are hampered until the end of its next turn.
Hal [roll1] 15 damage and you are hampered until the end of its next turn.
Theron - is damn lucky this thing isn't going to run from 4 engaged targets to chase him or it'd have totally attacked him with both of those.

[ChaiGuy]

Actually I forgot to roll to see if Song of heroes recharged after last battle.
[roll0] DC 11+

Round 3, Initiative 17, escalation 2
Dario
HP: 3/27, AC: 15, PD: 13, MD: 13, healing surge 1/8


Dario still feels weakened, but at least he has pulled himself together. Dario lunges forward aiming for the brutes neck as it swings a huged clawed paw at Hal.

Attack: [roll1], miss 1 damage, flexible melee
Damage: [roll2]

[Angstrom]

"That all you got featherweight?"

A few gashes in Hal's shield are all the owlbear is able to give him as he holds his footing against the slam.

Init - 8, HP - 24 / 24, AC - 17, PD - 13, MD - 14

Since he isn't healing anyone this round he'll use his Intrigue Domain Trick Die: [roll0] Excellent, he'll give the die roll to the Owlbear for its next attack as a free action before his next turn.

Hammer: [roll1], Hit: [roll2], Miss: 1

[Shyftir]

Round 2, escalation 2, Initiative 20

Duvan
HP: 26/30, AC: 19, PD: 13, MD: 12

"Ha! Featherweight!" Duvan gets the joke and laughs hardily as he attacks with great gusto.


Power Attacking!

[roll0] Even so, I can use Defensive Fighting +2 to AC until end of my next turn.
Damage:
if I hit
[roll1] + [roll2]

If miss: 1

[Razorstorm]

Round 3 Initiative 24 Escalation 2

Theron
HP - 21 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 16, MD - 11
Momentum

"Stop joking around, guys! This is serious!" But Theron could scarcely hide the corner of his mouth turning up in amusement as he continued his dance of dashing in for an opening, stabbing the distracted beast, and nimbly jumping away.

Tumbling Strike
Attack: [roll0] vs AC (if he's staggered, crits on 18-20)
Hit: [roll1] + Sneak Attack [roll2]
Miss: 1

Always: You gain a +5 bonus to all disengage checks you attempt this turn. You can also move to engage an enemy, make this attack against it, and then use a quick action to attempt to disengage from it (the quick action disengage lets you move again if you succeed).

Disengage [roll3]

[DawnRaven]

The hide of the owlbear was stronger than plate-mail. The combined strikes of Duvan, Theron and Dario barely scratched it. Hal managed to get a solid hit on one of its hands, drawing its predatory glare as a claw fractures from the blow.

[Karl Prosek]

Round 3 Initiative 26 Escalation die 2

Vasily
HP: 30/30, AC: 18, PD: 15, MD: 11

The young hunter stays focused on the beast menacing his companions. "We're going to have Shadows on us if we spend much longer dancing with this thing." Though his arrows didn't seem to have much effect, 'not much' was still better than nothing and he kept firing as fast as he could set arrow to string.

Ranged double attack, no chance of hitting allies engaged in melee.

Atk1: [roll0]
Atk2: [roll1]

Dmg1: [roll2] Miss 1
Dmg2: [roll3] Miss 1

[Shieldheart]

Round 3, Escalation Die 2, Initiative 8

Aldren
HP - 15 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 14, MD - 13

Aldren cursed angrily as the burst of fire barely singed the creature. He was a little woozy on his feet. Perhaps that was the matter. He balled his fists, not bothering to gather up extra power. He pointed an open palm at the beast and roared,"Bolt of POWER!"



Attack - [roll0]

Hit - [roll1]

Miss - 1

[DawnRaven]

Between Vasily's arrow piercing the creature's chest and Aldren's blast of [rolls] bolt of fire burning off a streak of feathers, the monster stumbles. STAGGERED

Cyrenar lunges forward, aiming for the spot where Duvan slashed open. [roll0] for [roll1] The blade digs into the wounded flesh, bringing another screech of pain.

Round 4
Escalation 3

Owlbear 28
Vasily 26
Theron 24
Duvan 22
Hal 10
Cyrenar 7
Aldren: ??
Dario: ??



Hal used Trickery to give th Owlbear a 2, right?

The enraged beast lunges for the wounded Dario, seeming intent on killing the most wounded person first. As it slashes out, its feet slip on the small pane of glass Aldren's missed strike created. Blood has pooled over the smooth surface, causing the monster to stumble and slash nothing but sand. You could swear the pane of glass was much further away, but something seems to have moved it directly beneath the creature's legs.


Engagements
StaggeredOwlbear - Duvan, Dario, Hal, Cyrenar

[Angstrom]

Keeping the pressure on, Hal swings his hammer at the monster's face, trying to draw its attention away from Dario. "Come on beastie, take another shot, I bear you!"

Init - 8, HP - 24 / 24, AC - 17, PD - 13, MD - 14
Trick die to give it a 2.

Hammer: [roll0], [roll1], Miss1

[ChaiGuy]

[Round 4, Initiative 17, escalation 3
Dario
HP: 3/27, AC: 15, PD: 13, MD: 13, healing surge 1/8
/SPOILER]

Dario pants from the exertion of the battle, what is that Hal thinking? He takes a mighty overhand swing at the beast’s elbow as it staggers forward its paw raising a cloud of sand as it smashes into the coliseum’s floor. These jokes are unBEARable!

[SPOILER]Attack: [roll0] miss 1 damage, flexible melee
Damage: [roll1]

[Shyftir]

Round 4, escalation 3, Initiative 20

Duvan
HP: 26/30, AC: 19, PD: 13, MD: 12

"Owl..These puns hurt worse than this thing's claws!" Duvan complains while yet again chopping at the beast with his ancestral weapon.


attack!
[roll0] which is odd so the crit chance grows yet again. I'm up to a 17-20 now.

If hit: [roll1]
If miss: 1

[Angstrom]

"Really, because I think they're a hoot."

[DawnRaven]

You guys are cracking me up with the puns. My poor bird!

[Razorstorm]

Round 4 Initiative 24 Escalation 3

Theron
HP - 21 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 16, MD - 11

Seeing the bird stumble, Theron changes from his previous strategy of hit-and-run. Instead he rushes in with murderous intent, and goes for a vitals strike.

Deadly Thrust
Attack: [roll0] vs AC (crit on 18-20)
Hit: [roll1] + Sneak Attack [roll2]
Miss: 1

[DawnRaven]

Theron, Dario, Duvan and Hal all strike at the monster simultaneously. Their blades pierce vital organs while Hal's hammer crunches through bone. Finally, the hardy beast lets out a moaned squawk and collapses to the arena floor, the sandy ground filled with blood.

Wisdom-based perception (mercenary background, hunter type backgrounds and even noble type backgrounds [from trying to overhear conversations at balls, etc] apply.


Amid the chaos of the upper stands, you notice one figure not engaged in it. He stands in a Shadows Cloak but bears no weapon. He makes no hostile moves, but is instead clapping to your victory. You cannot make out his face and he is soon lost behind a scuffle between Roberto and four Shadows.


You hear Kesten's voice cry out, as he notices your victory Thank the Iron Hand, you lot took your time with that wild beast. Now hurry up here and help us!

[Razorstorm]

Theron wastes no time, dashing to the wall, sheathing his blades on his run, and leaps up to grab the top of the wall, and climbs up and over. Once at the top, his blades spring back to his hands, ready for action.

If you feel a roll is necessary
Aldori Swordlord skill for his athletic training
Dex [roll0] (-1 if you want Str instead)

[DawnRaven]

Theron wastes no time, dashing to the wall, sheathing his blades on his run, and leaps up to grab the top of the wall, and climbs up and over. Once at the top, his blades spring back to his hands, ready for action.

If you feel a roll is necessary
Aldori Swordlord skill for his athletic training
Dex [roll0] (-1 if you want Str instead)

Theron runs up the wall and somersaults over the edge, landing with both blades drawn. At his roguish grin, several Shadows step back from him, looking wary and in no desire to rush him.

[Shyftir]

Duvan glances at the fallen monster. "What a grizzly scene indeed."

Then Duvan too rushes to their allies' aid, albeit in a more ordinary manner simply using the stairs.

[Razorstorm]

There were stairs? Oh... Um... well at least I looked cool!

[DawnRaven]

Duvan glances at the fallen monster. "What a grizzly scene indeed."

Then Duvan too rushes to their allies' aid, albeit in a more ordinary manner simply using the stairs.

Amusingly enough, the only access to the arena is via the doors you came through.

Theron, however, can attempt another wisdom check.


There are several hooked ladders nearby that are obviously designed and stored to retrieve people from the arena.

[Karl Prosek]

Spotting someone in a dark cloak not engaged in the melee, Vasily shouts "Spellcaster in the upper stands!" But then the figure disappears. Which supports his theory, in any case. "Watch for an invisible mage!"

Not being able to see the invisible, the young archer switches to more mundane targets, firing off arrows at Shadows as quickly as he can. He doesn't bother trying to get off the arena floor just yet.

Ranged double attack against the mooks. He'll concentrate on one until it goes down then move to the next target, prioritizing those who was engaged with wounded allies. No chance of hitting allies in melee.

Atk1: [roll0]
Atk2: [roll1]

Dmg1: [roll2] Miss 1
Dmg2: [roll3] Miss 1

[DawnRaven]

Spotting someone in a dark cloak not engaged in the melee, Vasily shouts "Spellcaster in the upper stands!" But then the figure disappears. Which supports his theory, in any case. "Watch for an invisible mage!"

Not being able to see the invisible, the young archer switches to more mundane targets, firing off arrows at Shadows as quickly as he can. He doesn't bother trying to get off the arena floor just yet.

Ranged double attack against the mooks. He'll concentrate on one until it goes down then move to the next target, prioritizing those who was engaged with wounded allies. No chance of hitting allies in melee.

Atk1: [roll0]
Atk2: [roll1]

Dmg1: [roll2] Miss 1
Dmg2: [roll3] Miss 1

Ooh starting combat already? Alright, roll initiatives everyone.

[ChaiGuy]

Dario hastily dresses the wounds inflicted by the huge claws of the deformed beast.

Rally healing [roll0]

Now that he is in no immediate danger of being torn asunder Dario takes a moment to analyze the battle raging above the arena.

Wisdom based swordlord to overhear something [roll1]
Int? based tactician to see which NPC needs the most help [roll2]
Initiative roll: [roll3], [roll4]

[DawnRaven]

Dario sees that the fight is not going in the soldier's favor anymore. Where once there was a bare dozen Shadows, there are nearly double that now. Falgrim seems in most need of help, facing off against 6 men by himself. Or perhaps Jax and Winston could use help, as it looks like Chad is knocked out or dead on the ground behind them.

Two bandits are rushing Theron now that he's at the wall and three more are shooting arrows back at Vasily.

You'll have time to spend one recovery, but no more.

We can say that Theron and Vasily's actions happened in Round 0, so everyone can take two actions this turn. Using a recovery counts as an action (Dario) but does not count against the 1 recovery available for the fight. However, this only counts if you use a recover this round.

Round 1 FIGHT
Escalation Die 0

OOC: And the DM finally flubs imitative rolls!
Vasily - 22
Archers - 22
Duvan - 21
Dario - 21
Aldren - 14
Theron - 11
Hal - 9
?????? - 9
Thugs - 7


Vasily's arrows take one of the men fighting Falgrim in the back. Three of them then turn and move to engage Theron. The arrows from the arena alert the Shadows, some of whom draw bows and fire back at the archer.
Three archers on either side of the arena step up to the edge and fire down.

The arena is fairly large and the first room you have all gotton to where you can get "far" away from enemies. It would take two move actions to reach the far archers. The other trio is near as are the three thugs running at Theron--Note they are not engaged with him unless he flubs his initiative and they go first.

[Shieldheart]

Round 0

Aldren
HP - 15 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 14, MD - 13

Aldren sighed as the great beast finally fell. Of course, there was no time for respite. The Shadows had their friends cornered above ground. He strode to the middle of the arena, using some of his power to shore up his wounds and fatigue.

[OOC: 1 recovery used]

Round 1, Escalation Die 0, Initiative 14

Aldren
HP - 23/ 24, AC - 15, PD - 14, MD - 13

Aldren didn't have time to wait and gather power for a great strike again. He was weakening, much to his chagrin. He aimed at the nearest archers and pulled on the power inside. "Bolt of Power," he intoned.



Attack - [roll0]

Hit - [roll1]

Miss - 1

Energy type - [roll2] - Fire

[Angstrom]

Seeking cover from the arrows Hal rushes to the wall with his shield raised. "Duvan, I'll boost you" he calls to the taller warrior as he positions his shield for the warrior to use as a support.

HP - 24 / 24, AC - 17, PD - 13, MD - 14
Wisdom Check: [roll0] (+3 if his ambassador background doesn't cater to situational awareness in combat)

Initiative: [roll1]

Use the extra action to boost Duvan up. Hal is probably too short to make it up without a ladder. [roll2]

Quick to cast Bless (+1 to atk for the combat) using Community Domain to include 5 total in the effect. That's everyone except for Cyrenar.

Spirits of the Righteous against one of Theron's foes: [roll3] vs MD, [roll4] and nearby ally with fewest hit points gets +4AC until next turn. Miss: +2AC.

[DawnRaven]

Seeking cover from the arrows Hal rushes to the wall with his shield raised. "Duvan, I'll boost you" he calls to the taller warrior as he positions his shield for the warrior to use as a support.

HP - 24 / 24, AC - 17, PD - 13, MD - 14
Wisdom Check: [roll0] (+3 if his ambassador background doesn't cater to situational awareness in combat)

Initiative: [roll1]

Use the extra action to boost Duvan up. Hal is probably too short to make it up without a ladder. [roll2]

Quick to cast Bless (+1 to atk for the combat) using Community Domain to include 5 total in the effect. That's everyone except for Cyrenar.

Spirits of the Righteous against one of Theron's foes: [roll3] vs MD, [roll4] and nearby ally with fewest hit points gets +4AC until next turn. Miss: +2AC.

Did you include your bless?

[Karl Prosek]

Round 1 Initiative 25 Escalation die 0

Vasily
HP: 30/30, AC: 18, PD: 15, MD: 11

Vasily smirks as the Shadows volunteer for an archery duel with him. That quickly turns into a grimace as they prove better archers than he'd expected a bunch of thieves to be. "You'll answer for that one!"

Ranged double attack. Concentrates on enemy archers, one at a time until they go down.

Atk1: [roll0]
Atk2: [roll1]

Dmg1: [roll2] Miss 1
Dmg2: [roll3] Miss 1

[Shyftir]

Duvan
HP: 26/30, AC: 19, PD: 13, MD: 12

Duvan sheathes his blade and tosses his shield up over the wall before accepting Hal's help to get over it. "I'll find a way to get you up after me!"


to climb the wall:
[roll0] strength and level(do any backgrounds apply? I can't see how they would.)

to find some way to get Hal up:
[roll1] wisdom check straight.

[ChaiGuy]

Round 1, Initiative 21, escalation 0
Dario
HP: 12/27, AC: 15, PD: 13, MD: 13, healing surge 0/8


Dario maneuvers to get a clearer line of sight to the three thugs charging Theron. He quickly draws upon the power of the air spirits Lion’s Roar, and a thunderous wave of force slams into one of the thugs.

Attack: [roll0] vs MD, no damage on a miss.
Damage: [roll1] Thunder damage


OOC: Someone can have a free move action on Dario's turn if they want.

[DawnRaven]

Duvan spies the same things Theron had seen, several hooked ladders that can reach the arena floor if hooked over the wall. (DC 10 to climb over the wall, but Hal's help reduced the DC to 5 for you)

Vasily lets loose with an arrow, taking one target in the throat and missing the other. They respond in kind, with one archer shooting at Duvan.

[roll0] for 4 damage
[roll1] for 4 damage
[roll2] for 4 damage
[roll3] for 4 damage

Duvan -
[roll4] for 4 damage

[Razorstorm]

Round 1 Initiative 11 Escalation 0

Theron
HP - 21 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 16, MD - 11

As the thugs come charging at Theron, he pulls a daring sequence of grabs, trips, and throws that result in the three thugs flying over the edge of the arena falling to the hard ground below.

Swashbuckling stunt using Aldori Swordlord training and Dexterity.
[roll0]

Also, situational awareness in combat is the one of the few kinds of awareness he's good at, thanks to his Swordlord training!
Wis to notice the ladders and such [roll1]

[DawnRaven]

Round 1

The three thugs look around, dazed and pick themselves up from the arena floor.

Round 2
Escalation Die 1

Vasily - 22
Archers - 22
Duvan - 21
Dario - 21
Aldren - 14
Theron - 11
Hal - 9
?????? - 9
Thugs - 7


The remaining archers continue to exchange shots with Vasily, firing back at him after he launches his first volley.

[Karl Prosek]

Round 2 Initiative 25 Escalation die 1

Vasily
HP: 22/30, AC: 18, PD: 15, MD: 11

Vasily spares only a glance for the thugs on the floor before returning to his archery battle. He does start edging away from the men as he fires his bow, though, trying to put distance in between him and the thugs.

"Just like shooting wood rats back home," he mutters to himself as he tries to ignore the pain from the two arrows that had found their way through his armor.

Ranged double attack

Atk1: [roll0]
Atk2: [roll1]

Dmg1: [roll2] Miss 1
Dmg2: [roll3] Miss 1

[DawnRaven]

Unfortunately, the scampering of Shadows is eerily like the rats that Vasily never could pin down as a child and he misses them terribly. :smalltongue:


Vasily's arrow flies wide and the archers respond in kind.

Vasily - [roll0] 4 damage
[roll1] 4 damage
[roll2] 4 damage
[roll3] 4 damage
[roll4] 4 damage


Currently:Theron and Duvan are in the stands with five archers. Three thugs have been pushed into the arena with Dario, Cyrenar (who is busy lamenting the blood on his armor), Aldren, Vasily and Hal.

[Shieldheart]

Round 2, Escalation Die 1, Initiative 14

Aldren
HP - 23/ 24, AC - 15, PD - 14, MD - 13

Aldren growled in frustration as his fire bolt went wide again. He clenched his fists and made to unsheath his sword, aiming to go up there and start slashing. Just then, three of the Shadows came tumbling down.

Aldren didn't waste a moment. In one quick movement, he was beside them and slamming both hands forward, grabbing one thug by the neck with each. "Feel the burn," he said and channeled fire energy into his palms.



Attack - [roll0]

Hit - [roll1] For each target

Miss - equal fire damage to maximum damage die

[Shyftir]

Duvan
HP: 26/30, AC: 19, PD: 13, MD: 12

Duvan, never one to waste time, leaps up the stares toward the archers. If he could clear them out his allies would have a much easier time scaling the wall.


I'm not sure if I can reach them. Are they nearby or far away. If nearby I'm moving and attacking. If Far I'm double moving to get as close as I can.

If I can reach them:
Attack roll: [roll0]
Hit: [roll1]
miss: 1

[DawnRaven]

Aldren rushes the thugs and the smell of burning flesh rises from them. They both scream in pain, and a little fear.

Duvann there is one near group and one far, assuming you rush the near group of three. The mercenary leaps into their midst, whirling his blade around and plunging it into one of the archer's stomach. As he pulls his blade free, he spins on a heel and lunges at another, cutting him on the arm.

One archer down, one wounded. Four archers remaining.

One of the three thugs is now staggered from Dario and Aldren's magics.

[ChaiGuy]

Round 2, Initiative 21, escalation 1
Dario
HP: 12/27, AC: 15, PD: 13, MD: 13, healing surge 0/8


Dario feels exhausted from the fighting. He sees Theron toss three thugs from the arena’s stands, sending them crashing upon the arena’s floor. Hopefully he will be able to strike while they’re still disoriented.

Dario races forward grabs his aldori long sword with both hands and brings the blade down in a swift fluid motion to catch the thug as he is regaining his footing from the fall.

Attack: [roll0], flexible melee, on a miss 1 damage
Damage: [roll1]


Noticing that Vasily has been struck by several arrows Dario calls forth the power of the water spirits who seem adequately pleased at his latest display of martial prowess. His offhand released its grip from the hilt of his sword, and quickly traced the rune for “heal”. Water spirits rushed to infuse Vasily with their vitality and heal his wounds.

OOC: Vasily can use a recovery.

[Angstrom]

"I'll find a way to get you up after me!"

"No rush, we've got our hands full."

Without time to rub the sweat from his brow, Hal barrels forwards to where Dario and Aldren tear into the thugs hoping he too can catch them off guard.

HP - 24 / 24, AC - 17, PD - 13, MD - 14
Trick Die: [roll0]

Hammer: [roll1], [roll2], Miss:1

Crit! And the trick die will be given to a mook for their next roll.

[DawnRaven]

The fight seems to be getting to the young heroes, but for once they are blessed with accuracy. Dario swings into the most wounded thug, tearing through the front of his leather armor and opening a wicked and deep gash along his chest. The burnt, battered and bleeding thug staggers a little, dripping onto the sand and spitting blood at Dario. He swings his mace around, trying to catch him in the head. His companions both move toward Aldren, trying to attack them. Hal moves to aid them, swinging at the wounded one, his weapon connecting with his head and bringing him down with a loud crunch.


[roll0] for [roll1] oops Hal posed while I was! Feel free to roll the crit damage in OOC or here.



Aldren - [roll2] 4 damage. Natural even: next attack hits harder
[roll3] 4 damage. Natural even: next attack hits harder

Dario - [roll4] 4 damage. Natural even: next attack hits harder


Those in the arena don't notice as another figure joins the fray. A man, in armor of midnight and a long cloak strides toward Duvan. His face is shrouded by a large, boar-like helm. In his hands he grips a giant sword. As he enters the battle with the archers, he lets out a haggard roar and swings the blade around. Note: This is not the same man/figure you saw earlier in the stands.


[roll5] for 6 damage, half on a miss.


Anyone may make an intelligence check using a nobility background.

The man with the boar-shaped helmet is Tyren Raer. He is a minor knight, nicknamed the Boar for his helmet, who serves House Lebeda. He is often seen with Agata Lebeda, the first cousin to Elanna Lebeda and son of Sarrona Lebeda's dearly departed sister.

Note: Theron still gets to go during Round 2 and can make an attack against the Boar despite him arriving after Theron's initiative.

Round 3
Escalation Die 2

Vasily - 22
Archers - 22
Duvan - 21
Dario - 21
Aldren - 14
Theron - 11
Hal - 9
Boar Knight????? - 9
Thugs - 7



Dario, Hal, Aldren - three thugs

Duvan - 2 archers & the Boar [Presuming Theron joins this group]


At the beginning of this round, a loud, young voice calls out from a special, partially walled, area of seating. The mysterious dark-cloaked man stands there with arms spread.
Shadows! Are you so weak as to fall to Bastards, bartenders and mercenaries? Show this scum who you are and bathe this arena with their blood! Mercenaries, are you so loyal as to accept low pay for this deadly job? I offer you twice what that idiot Kesten is paying for each one of these idiots you kill!

The Shadows pause for just a moment around Jax and Winston. The two men spit on the ground and jump into the pause, swinging simultaneously. Winston is the only one to respond. We ain't taking your dirty money.

Chad, now standing again, doesn't answer and seems to be considering the deal. He turns and looks to Falgrim and Roberto, who stand back to back. He opens his mouth to ask their leader a question, when his eyes go wide. The arena is nearly still as, in seeming slow motion, Falgrim turns around and pushes his blade through Roberto's back until the point protrudes from his chest right between two ribs. Sorry, fatty, this place is a done ****ed cause.

Chad backs up against a wall, dropping his weapon in surrender while Kesten tries to fight his way through several Shadows to get to Falgrim, calling out curses the whole while.

Round 3 Fight!:smallbiggrin:

[Razorstorm]

Thorn on the Surtova Family Tree +2
Int [roll0]

[Karl Prosek]

Round 3 Initiative 25 Escalation die 2

Vasily
HP: 28/30, AC: 18, PD: 15, MD: 11

"No! You murdering son of a bitch!" Heedless of his archer opponents, Vasily starts sending arrows at the traitorous Falgrim. "Theron! Don't let that traitor get away!"

Ranged double attack. Concentrate on Falgrim until he goes down or Vasily is back under 20 hp from the archers, then he'll switch back to them. Can fire into melee without hitting engaged characters.

Atk1: [roll0]
Atk2: [roll1]

Dmg1: [roll2] Miss 1
Dmg2: [roll3] Miss 1

[Razorstorm]

Round 2 Initiative 11 Escalation 1

Theron
HP - 21 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 16, MD - 11

Theron sees the new warrior, and immediately engages the foe. He salutes him with cold respect, and assumes his fighting stance. He is careful not to underestimate this warrior. He springs forward with practiced series of careful attacks to find this warrior's weak spots.

Attack: [roll0] vs AC
Hit: [roll1]
Miss: 1

[DawnRaven]

Round 2
Theron's attacks skitter off of the man's all encompassing armor.

Round 3


Round 3 Initiative 25 Escalation die 2

Vasily
HP: 28/30, AC: 18, PD: 15, MD: 11

"No! You murdering son of a bitch!" Heedless of his archer opponents, Vasily starts sending arrows at the traitorous Falgrim. "Theron! Don't let that traitor get away!"

(Did Vasily get healed? One of the archers should have hit last round for 4.)

Vasily's arrows fly toward the murderer, one of them hitting him in arm and the other flying wide. He looks over his shoulder at you, fear over his face just as Kesten collides with him, the two of them rolling to the ground behind some benches. You see Kesten's sword lift into the air, blood dripping from it before he is kicked, his body flying backwards and off of Falgrim.

In response to your attack, the archers on the far side fire again at you (2) while the others attempt to disengage from Duvan.

Disengage 1 [roll0]
Disengage 2[roll1]

Vasily - [roll2] for 4 damage.
[roll3] for 4 damage.



They both shoot at Duvan
[roll4] 4 damage
[roll5] 4 damage



They drop their bows and draw shortswords, attacking Duvan.
[roll6] 3 damage
[roll7] 3 damage


Edit:
One of the archers dances out of Duvan's reach and fires an arrow at him, but it flies loose and misses its target. The other gives up withdrawing, dropping his bow and drawing a dirty shortsword. He then moves to Duvan's side, stabbing with it and grazing Duvan's side. (I think an 18 hits?)

[Karl Prosek]

Round 2
(Did Vasily get healed? One of the archers should have hit last round for 4.)

He was at 22 hp then got hit for another 4, taking him down to 18, then his 10 hp recovery from Dario took him back up to 28.

[DawnRaven]

He was at 22 hp then got hit for another 4, taking him down to 18, then his 10 hp recovery from Dario took him back up to 28.

Right! For some reason I thought he healed aldren!

[Angstrom]

With his blood up Hal barely registers that the Shadow knows who they are, roaring over the speech as he presses his advantage.

The long speech continues over the melee, which seems to be all but won, and Hal takes a look over his shoulder in time to see his friend impaled.

"no"

"NOOOO"

HP - 24 / 24, AC - 17, PD - 13, MD - 14

Hammer: [roll0], [roll1], Miss:1

Disengage Check: [roll2] to break away and heal Roberto.

If its possible Hal will cast Cure Wounds on Roberto, however I'm guessing that's probably not possible

[Razorstorm]

Round 3 Initiative 11 Escalation 2

Theron
HP - 21 / 24, AC - 15, PD - 16, MD - 11

Seeing the horrific betrayal of his friend, Theron's face twists in anger and he spins past his Boar-headed opponent to sprint towards Falgrim and run him through.

Tumbling Strike
Attack: [roll0] vs AC
Hit: [roll1]
Miss: 1

Always: You gain a +5 bonus to all disengage checks you attempt this turn. You can also move to engage an enemy, make this attack against it, and then use a quick action to attempt to disengage from it (the quick action disengage lets you move again if you succeed).

Disengage from Boar-head [roll2]

[DawnRaven]

Technically, he has surges! I think. Of course, that won't help if he's completely dead..but you can't tell that from where he lays in the stairs. Hal is currently engaged with the lower thugs though within the arena floor, not in the stadium stands.