Red Hand of Doom

[Grimtina]

http://www.krath.org/arania/Red%20Hand%20of%20Doom/vale.jpg

http://www.krath.org/arania/Red%20Hand%20of%20Doom/roadside1.jpg

The afternoon sun beats down on you; the air is hot and still. The sparsely settled lands of the Elsir Vale are starting to grow monotonous, with a seemingly endless line of dusty flyspecks of towns. Not that they are always peaceful; you've just spent 2 days helping a farmer defending his land and sheep from a pack of gryffons. Butnthat was at the edge of the vale, here, nothing really seems to happen.

The town of Drellin's Ferry lies a few miles ahead of you. Its a settlement hard on the borders of the Witchwood; and the best place from which to begin exploring the nearby forest, with its rumors of ancient treasures.

The road crests a small rise and descends into a dusty grove in a large, shallow dell. An abandoned farmhouse, partially visible through the trees, stands on one side of the road. You've passed a dozen spots much like this one already today, just like the day before, with no event transpiring.

(spot and listen checks everyone, including the wolf who can also try to smell something)

[OtterITP]

Irina:
Spot [roll0]
Listen [roll1]

Crown
Spot [roll2]
Listen [roll3]
Scent (Survival, I think?) [roll4]

[Alihandros]

Listen:[roll0]
Spot: [roll1]

(Annie shall be speaking in Blue)

[puffmagicdragon]

Taenaran:
Spot: [roll0]
Listen: [roll1]

[Hattish Thing]

Spot: [roll0]
Listen: [roll1]

[SleepyBadger]

Spot: [roll0]
Listen: [roll1]

[moltenchocolate]

Spot:[1d20+2] 19
Listen: [1d20+2] 10

[Grimtina]

http://www.krath.org/arania/Red%20Hand%20of%20Doom/roadside2.jpg

Something feels wrong- The wolf perks his ears, lifts his head and sniffs the air, then gives a low growl. Now that Crown has drawn attention, Irina, Daeki and Taenaran can her an unnatural rustle in the trees to her left. Then Irina, Fidgel and Annie can glimpse the glint of mail through the bush by the sideof the road. Fierce warriors- tall, hairy humanoids with wide mouths and flat faces are laying in wait.


(initiative, Malas and orin miss this round as they are surprised)

[SleepyBadger]

Initiative: [roll0]

Daeki will cast Inspirational Boost and start singing Inspire Courage (which will be active from her next turn on).

[OtterITP]

Initiative: [roll0]

[puffmagicdragon]

The elven warrior marches behind the others, keeping a vigilant eye on the trees to the sides and the road behind, looking for any kind of enemy or, a rabbit or deer, would be nice , he thinks to himself as his stomach growls again, the large breakfast he ate having worn off long ago. Once T'nae hears the rustling amongst the trees, he pulls his arrow back til the fletchlings touch his cheek, waiting to see what comes into view.


init: [roll0]

[moltenchocolate]

Initiative (1d20+1)10)
Fidget will cast haste, because he believes that the party will massively benefit from the buff
Fidgel saw a glimpse of some mail and faces as he looked around. Possible incantations popped into his head, and he prepped to cast a spell that would assist his powerful allies.

[Alihandros]

"Something in the trees. This should be over quick."


[roll0]

[Grimtina]

Initiative order of group

Daeki
Irina+Crown (may chose to have his own initiative in case he needs to act without Irina)
T'nae
Fidgel
Annie
Orian

http://www.krath.org/arania/Red%20Hand%20of%20Doom/roadside3.jpg

There are 6 shapes, some in the trees (the two closest to you), some in the underbush. You can hear coarse shouts in a simple language now. More arrows come flying from the trees, while the attackers in the bushes prefer crossbows. One arrow goes right through Fidgel's robes, while the other bounces off Orin's armor.

The other 4 act after Fidgel

[OtterITP]

Irina growls in her throat and draws her axe as she sees arrows fly at her fellows. "Crown, attack!". She charges headlong at the first thug on the northern side, with her wolf a few steps ahead of her.

Crown moves to one square west of the guy on the north road and attacks.
Attack [roll0]
Damage [roll1]
Trip attempt [roll2]

Regardless of the attack/trip, Irina charges to the northwest square, full Power Attack and Heedless Charge.
Attack [roll3]
Damage [roll4]
Her AC drops by 8, to 10, until next turn.

[SleepyBadger]

Daeki's actions see above.

[moltenchocolate]

Fidgel casts Haste and moves one diagonal space backwards

[puffmagicdragon]

The shadows grow long as the elven mercenary makes his way down the packed earthen road, his stride looks as though he moves with a purpose, stealing glances to his left and right, from underneath the wide brim of his large black foppish hat. Every since he crawled out from a hidden cave leading into the blackness of the underdark, Taenaran; thief, warrior, bounty hunter, mercenary, has had the sense of being watched, probably from the drow band from the Dusklorn House in Pedestal, an Underdark city with many fractions fighting for control, the drow of House Dusklorn being only one. Once the band of drow found their Priestess of Lloth, Elessarwa Nledoor, murdered, with evidence pointing to the band of heroes from the surface world, and T'nae seen carrying her magical dagger, the bounty was put out on the elf. After most of the party was killed by a golem, T'nae and Augustine secreted their way out of the city and back to the surface world with the drow hot on their heels. Thinking they had made their escape, the pair of elves were only ambushed at the caves entrance, where T'nae unfortunetly had to sacrifice both his prized rapier and the evil priestess's dagger for sure footing, he dropped both weapons as he stepped back too far and stumbled over the cliff just outside the cave's mouth. The elven rogue slid and fell about fifteen to twenty feet down the cliff face, while Augustine, the elven scout, covered T'nae's less than graceful escape with his bow. The saving grace was the morning sun, the drow slinked back into the darkness of the cave once they had the priestess's dagger and T'nae's rapier. Once the two elves were together again at the bottom of the cliif face, they could see the outline of the black elves deep in the cave, watching, the two knew the fight with this enemy wasn't over. The pair traveled for miles until Augustine said his farewells and left T'nae on his own only half a days march from the small thriving city he finds himself in now.

Having entered the city only two days prior, Taenaran secured a lone room at the end of a hallway at a friendly inn on the outskirts of town. For the first day, the wily elf rested his mind and body, thinking of the past week's turmoils and loss of his comrades to the denizens of the underdark. After a day's worth of rest and meals, and starting to heal from many wounds, T'nae left the relative safety of the lone room to venture further into the city. After a little shopping through the different merchant's stalls at the city's bazaar, since he expects to be on the road again soon, the mercenary stumbles on an old large oaken bulletin board, with many advertisements posted on it. The elf's eyes were drawn to a parchment nailed over many of the others and not as dried and cracked around it's edges as the ones underneath told him it was a new ad, probably just placed here today. He ripped it free from it's position and read the directions to the tavern where the group would be interviewing for prospective lock picks, who could handle themselves in a fight, could be found. After meeting with the group of obvious adventures and after telling them of his accomplishments, fighting prowess, and other particular sets of skills, they concluded to let T'nae would be an asset to the group and beckoned him to join the group, with the usual percentage of loot earned. T'nae left the group with the understanding he would meet them at sunrise the next morning at the eastern gate. If only they knew of how many such adventuring parties he has ventured with and the bad luck that followed him, he knew, They would never want me to follow, not when death and bad luck follows me like it does.

Later that evening, T'nae finds himself seated at a table in the back of a large commons area of a tavern a few blocks away from the inn he's staying at. After finishing a large portion of the tenderest of beef with potatoes and carrots, smothered in thick gravy, with coarse bread, cheese and large amounts of ale to help it all down, the elven warrior sits and drinks while he enjoys the musical entertainment, and fumbles and shuffles his deck of cards, a deck he procured from a group of evil guards many years back, that depict gods, goddesses, devils, and demons. As the raucous laughter and loud enjoyment of the nights festivities seem to reach their zenith, a game of cards is struck up between T'nae and a few other patrons, whom the rogue doesn't think are working together. After a couple hours of gambling and drinking the embers in the two large fireplaces have started burning lower, but still keep a warmth in the room, and T'nae has had minimal losses or gains during his card playing. The night was pretty uneventful , until the elf was shown a pair of identical magical daggers, bet against his own magical mithral chain shirt. Taenaran smiled with confidence as he agreed, and took off the masterly crafted chain shirt, laying it beside the beautiful matching daggers, knowing the odds for his hand to be beat were very slim. A small crowd had gathered at this late hour, when only the hearty of patrons stayed, and watched as the last card was given to each player. The rogue caught his breath as his eyed his latest card, the beautiful flirtatiously evil succubus, the card that has been both his reason for winning and his downfall in a multitude of card games, unfortunately the losses out way the winnings when this card makes it's appearance. Tonight, the night T'nae knew his precious recently lost rapier would be replaced, just lost his prized armor, and he could only stare at the card while the human across from him laughed as he grabbed his own daggers and newly won armor. T'nae gathered himself and his cards, knowing he should throw the cursed cards in the fireplace he drops them into his leather belt pouch and exits the tavern. Feeling naked without the light magicked armor he'd worn for years, T'nae quickly makes his way back to the inn he was staying at. After resting for a couple hours and making his preparations for his next journey, he lies in bed contemplating tracking the new owner of his armor and stealing it back, along with the daggers, just before leaving town. His concentration is broken and he is snapped back to the present when he hears the creak of a floor board, presumably the one he loosened the night before. Then when he heard the telltale sign of the locking mechanism of his door being picked, T'nae grabbed his backpack with one hand and his large black wide brimmed foppish hat in his other and bounded out the second story window as he heard the door creak open. The elf landed unharmed, thanks to the grace he inherited from his ancestors, and quickly dashed down the street and around the corner, thanks to the magic boots he wore. Stealing a glance over his shoulder, and seeing a few figures emerge from the shadows just wasn't enough to know for sure if it was ruffians connected to the human card player or the drow infiltrating the town, either way, sunrise was only a couple hours away and T'nae would be leaving this place behind.

Now, the elf watches the shadows irregular shapes as they move along the edge of the road from tree to tree and shrub to bush. With an arrow nocked and his short bow ready to fire at a moments notice, T'nae thinks of the day's past events as much as he pays attention to the trees and overgrowth of the forest. In the back of the group, he glances off to either side, along with keeping a vigilant eye on the road behind, hoping he doesn't see any enemy, only with luck he'll bag some game to cook that evening. And traveling all afternoon only a few times did the brazen elf pull a piece of deer jerky out of his pouch, throwing it way out before the wolf, just trying not to be caught by any of the others doing so. He wonders of the others, not knowing much of their skills, spells preferred, and the way they fight as a group. He does however glance repeatedly at the paladin, wondering how many times he'll offend the crusader, until a noise in the woods catches his keen elven hearing, "And it's large, like a deer or larger." he whispers to whoever else may have heard the unnatural rustling ahead, while he aims his bow in the direction. But once T'nae hear's the shouts and an ambush begins with arrows and bolts flying all around, he listens for the language to try and determine who is attacking. Once he spots one of the attackers in the trees, he moves in that direction to get a close shot and fires his bow at the enemy in the tree.


HP: 48/48
AC: 18

Move action: move 40' to the square 10' north of first attacker in tree, south side of trail
Standard action: range attack, short bow, 10' away

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Sneak attack (if applicable): [roll2], with attacker in tree, is he able to defend properly against sneak attack?

Listen for language: [roll3]

[Grimtina]

http://www.krath.org/arania/Red%20Hand%20of%20Doom/roadside4.jpg

Irina hurries to catch upwith her wolf to get to the first attacker not on a tree (will get there next round). The wolf is there already, hanging on to the left sword arm of the hairy man, hardly recognizable in the bushes.

Daeki starts singing an encouraging song, while the world suddenly seems to speed up to Fidgel. Taenaran rushes close enough to one of the trees an attacker sits on to be sure to aim straight. The arrow hits something but he can't make out if it has done aything, but from above he can hear a grumbling curse. It's a common hobgoblin curse even the children of other races tend to know.

More arrows come flying, and the attackers in the bushes step out on the road, save the one pinned by the wolf. A growling sound can be heard ahead as answer to the wolf's growl

[puffmagicdragon]

"Hobgoblins !!" T'nae yells, as he quickly grabs another arrow, nocking it, aiming and letting it fly at the same treed goblinoid.


HP: 48/48
AC: 18

Move action: grab arrow
Standard action: 10' ranged attack with short bow

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Sneak attack damage (if applicable): [roll2]

ooc: Please let me know if sneak attack applies, I'm thinking being up in the tree, he can't use his DEX, so it should apply

[Alihandros]

"AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHH, stupid beasts, get out of our way."Annie lets loose a roar, and charges into the thick of things, to get her hands on an opponent quickly.


Charging the one diagonally in front of Annie, should end up just right.
Attack:[roll0]
Critical Confimation:[roll1]
Damage:[roll2]
Critical Damage:[roll3]
AC:17

[moltenchocolate]

I've cast haste on everyone except me so everyone gain
-an extra attack on a full attack
+1 AC, +1 attack, +1 reflex
+30ft
Just for reference anyway, I've listed all the boosts and remember to put add these up

[SleepyBadger]

So from this round bonus for everyone:
+3 (+2 morale + 1 unnamed) to attack; +2 (morale) to weapon damage; +2 (morale) to saves vs fear; +1 (unnamed) to Reflex saves; extra attack on a full attack action. (Daeki's song and Fidgel's haste.) Please do not forget.

Daeki fires two arrows at the hobgoblin closest to her.
Attack 1:
Attack: [roll0] (Crit: 19-20)
Normal damage: [roll1]
Critical confirmation: [roll2]
Damage if critical: [roll3]
Attack 2:
Attack: [roll4] (Crit: 19-20)
Normal damage: [roll5]
Critical confirmation: [roll6]
Damage if critical: [roll7]

Sorry, rolls got messed up from clicking on advanced edit, rerolling in the OoC thread.

[moltenchocolate]

This will change if someone charges at the threee on the road, but Fidgel casts fireball one diagonal space behind the most left one, which should hit all of them on the road.

Damage-19 total
Reflex Save-DC 22 (10+spell lvl (3)+int(5)+greater school focus (+4))
I believe my line of sight cannot reach that square, so I will go to the right square of the most left enemy on the road.

[Grimtina]

http://www.krath.org/arania/Red%20Hand%20of%20Doom/roadside5.jpg

Daeki
Irina+Crown
T'nae
Fidgel
Annie
Orian

Daeki fires her two arrows into the hobgoblin T'nae is already going at. Her good aim shoots the enemy right out of the tree, his dead eyes staring up at the sun. On the way down, T'nae, who has been aiming at the same foe, changes his aim and attacks the nearest hob on the road. In cases of enemy dead due to initiative order, I will always assume the PCs are clever and quick enough to change their aim until not likely possible for some reason. T'nae is at the edge of the forest and can easily do so. He, too, drops his foe with a masterful display of his bow skills.

Fidgel's fireball fries the other two on the road, and it also causes a fire in the dry trees to the sides of the road. Annie shows up at the tree just when the hob jumps down after seeing the fire start. The other hob in a tree also jumps down, patting his slightly burning fur. The wolf takes off to a safer distance to escape the fire.

Down the road, another howl appears, and a fearsome canine-like beast with burning fur, horns and glowing red eyes appears, spouting smoke from its nostrils. following it are 2 more hobgoblins.

From out of the old building comes another such beast, followed by 2 more hobs, one of them wearing the robes of a cleric of sorts. He shouts something in his crude language.

[SleepyBadger]

Daeki fires her crossbow at one of the hobgoblins close to her companions, starting with the leftmost creature on the road.
Attack 1:
[roll0] (Critical 19-20)
Normal damage: [roll1]
Critical confirmation: [roll2]
Damage if critical: [roll3]
Attack 2:
[roll4] (Critical 19-20)
Normal damage: [roll5]
Critical confirmation: [roll6]
Damage if critical: [roll7]

[Alihandros]

Annie will take a jab at the one in front of her.


Attack:[roll0]
Critical Confimation(17-20):[roll1]
Damage:[roll2]
Critical Damage:[roll3]
AC:19

Or if it's not alive, charge the one she can. Or calmly walk up to one and smack it around.

[puffmagicdragon]

T'nae, hearing the shouts of other hobgoblins (T'nae knows goblinoid language by the way) off in the distance, tries to hear what is being said. With the enemy on this side of the road dead, the elf shoulders his short bow and pulls his masterfully crafted daggers free from their sheaths, while he moves forward, skirting the treeline so he can use the trees and shrubs to hide behind.


HP: 48/48
AC: 18

move action: 5' east, 15' diagonal southeast, 5' east, 15' diagonal southeast for 40'
move action: 5' east, 10' south to hide behind a tree
free action: shoulder bow
free action: unsheathe daggers

listen: [roll0] to understand what is being said
hide: [roll1]

edited: to add rest of movement and hide check

[OtterITP]

Irina hefts her axe and takes a series of great swings at the hobgoblin as Crown lunges at their legs.


Crown attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Trip: [roll2]

Irina attacks (Power Attack 2):
[roll3] [roll4]
[roll5] [roll6]
[roll7] [roll8]
Will push up the power attack by another 2 (so 4 more damage per hit, same attack bonuses) if by some miracle Crown manages to trip the target.

[moltenchocolate]

Fidgel smiles at his enemies being burnt to a crisp, almost as overcome by another person. He shakes his head, but then goes straight back to grinning.

Fidgel moves back to one diagonal space behind Orian, and then casts Fireball on the group further down the road (not the ones on the turn) centred on the middle hobgoblin

Reflex save DC 22
18 Damage total

[Grimtina]

http://www.krath.org/arania/Red%20Hand%20of%20Doom/roadside6.jpg

Annie killisg one of the hobgobils with a well placed blow after it had been stuck by a bolt. Irina attacks the other hobgoblin, who tries to avoid the blows and keeping an eye on the spreading fire and stumbles over the wolf. The last thing he sees is an axe coming at him and the snarl of a wolf ripping his throat out. He doesn't die without stabbing the wolf's left back leg, though (5 damage)

Fidgel takes care of the other hobgoblins down the road - one of them must have carried something explosive as there is an extra blast and then they are all gone. This time, no trees catch fire.

The large dog-like beast and Orian charge at each other. Orian's blow hits it hard, but in turn it bites right through to the bone on his right leg, growling like a thunderstorm. Unlike Orian, it seems oblivious to pain. T'nae sneaks behind the house, and hears the obvious leaders of the ambush talk to each other in upset words. "Supposed to be simple travelers." "We should have restreated!" "Failure is not an option, the boss will be very mad and kill us anyway. We can take them alone, ready your spells."

That's when the other large dog-like beast notices him, and changing its direction, charges.

Fire spreads at random to the west, as the wind is now coming from the east.

[SleepyBadger]

Daeki moves right behind Orian (diagonally) and fires at the beast.

She's still hasted so she can move that far with one movement. She also gets an additional +1 to attack this way.
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit confirmation: [roll2]
Crit damage: [roll3]

[puffmagicdragon]

Seeing the rushing dog-like beast, T'nae takes a step towards it, attacking with both daggers.


HP: 48/48
AC: 19 (18+1 haste)

free action: 5' step to east
full round action all attacks

1st attack: [roll0]
damage: [roll1]

2nd attack: [roll2]
damage: [roll3]

3rd attack (haste): [roll4]
damage: [roll5]

ooc: omg, T'nae is anywhere near where I wanted him, oh well, we'll see what happens.

[Alihandros]

Seeing multiple of her companions attacking the strange hound, Annie will move down the road closer to the sounds of the "voices" to the east.


Should be able to with 40 ft of movement, be able to skirt the hellhound, and get about (L,13).

[OtterITP]

Irina turns from her fallen foe, and rushes towards the last hobgoblin on the road, bloody axe high and face in a savage grin. Crown runs by her side.

I could probably have charged the Beast with the boost from Haste, but I don't like leaving enemies behind me and I'd provoke from the last hob.


Heedless Charge, Power Attack for 6.
[roll0]
[roll1]

Crown
[roll2]
[roll3]
Trip: [roll4]

Irina gets -8 AC this turn.

[Grimtina]

http://www.krath.org/arania/Red%20Hand%20of%20Doom/roadside7.jpg

There's no more hob on the road, both Hs are hellhounds

Off in the bushes, the strange dog jumps towards T'Nae and digs deep into his left arm, scratching the bone (6 damage) while the daggers burying into it. It appears badly wounded, but shows no sign of any pain.

The other beast on the road, however, flanked and outnumbered, gets downed by the combined efforts of the company; however he manages to land a deep wound in the wolf's shoulder (5 damage) and his sharp nails scratch Orien's face (1 damage) as he jumps up in a last attempt to take someone with him. He stares at the paladin almost like it was intelligent, hate and disgust on his face.

No sooner is it down as there is chanting from below the road. The 2 figures having partial cover in the road ditch around the corner seem to prepare for attack.

The fire continues spreading.

[Alihandros]

Annie will walk up to the others just sitting there on the end, and go for a blow against the first one she comes to.


Attack:[roll0]
Critical Confimation:[roll1]
Damage:[roll2]
Critical Damage:[roll3]
This is going to hurt, as that's a crit....
AC: 17

[SleepyBadger]

Daeki stays in place and fires her crossbow at the hellhound blocking the way.

Full attack within 30 ft. 2 shots as she is hasted.
Attack 1:
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Crit confirmation: [roll2] (If primary attack is 32 or 33 in this case)
Crit damage: [roll3]

Attack 2:
Attack: [roll4]
Damage: [roll5]
Crit confirmation: [roll6] (If primary attack is 32 or 33 in this case)
Crit damage: [roll7]

[OtterITP]

Irina looks past the fallen hellhound, and breaks into a full run towards the figures hiding by the bend in the road. A growl rises in her throat as she moves, and she snaps out a small barking noise as she brings down her axe at the end.


You guessed it, Heedless Charge for 6 at B.
[roll0]
[roll1]

Crown doesn't feel like charging right after getting hurt, and it's too far for one move, so he'll double-move around to flank B.

[puffmagicdragon]

The wily elf stands his ground as the canine snaps at him. T'nae again unleashes a flurry of blows with his daggers.


HP: 42/48
AC: 18

1st attack: [roll0]
damage: [roll1]

2nd attack: [roll2]
damage: [roll3]

3rd attack (haste): [roll4]
damage: [roll5]