[Rebellion] Long Live the King IC

[caesar193]

OOC Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?437715-Rebellion-Long-Live-the-King!&p=19790493)
Spreadsheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19vpz2RwNG2Eqw6NhXPfvmvTEZbK8VYYCTYDzkySIMpk/edit?usp=sharing)

Table of Contents:
Act the First:
Chapter Two (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20211059&postcount=135)

Act the First, Chapter One

One by one, the ten people reported for duty, and lined up in the entrance hall. At least you were still in the group you trained in, and you recognized some and were friends with others. Well, "trained with" might be pushing it. Trained near might be the better term, because it seemed that the half of you had different training regimen. Six were fighters, it seemed, and the rest a hodge-podge of different kinds.

Exactly at the stroke of midnight, a grizzled man strolls in. A long scar runs down his face, battered chainmail hangs from his shoulders, a longsword hangs from his waist, and a steel shield is on his back.

"Welcome, recruits!" he barks at you. "I am Sergeant Erhard, and you will be my soldiers for this evening."

Sergeant Erhard begins pacing in front of the ten soldiers. "You might think yourselves lucky for picking up the Prison Shift. NOT. SO." He glares at a couple people who look like they could be troublemakers. "We will WORK. We will remain VIGILANT. Our honor shall never be called into question! You might be greenies, fresh from yer momma's womb and the safe cocoon of training, but when the enemy comes storming our gates, they will CUT YOU DOWN WITHOUT MERCY. Without civilization we are animals, without honor we are hell-bound, without discipline we are dead."

Sergeant Erhard eyes you wit a cold glare. "In ten minutes we will leave to replace the northwest tower's current guard. At that point, we will remain on guard for around three hours. If you need a bathroom break, take it now. If you failed to put your armor on right, fix it. When ready, we will move out. Dismissed."

Erhard stalks away from you, faces the grand double-doors that lead to the courtyard, and waits.

Welcome to the prison! Currently night, and currently time to make sure terrible things don't happen to the prison. Cough cough. Anyway, Sergeant Erhard added to the spreadsheet. Know (Local) check to know Erhard's reputation (we can handle that in the OOC thread), DC 5.

Anyway, if you want to say hi to your fellow PCs (or the five NPC fighters), feel free. If you want to have previously known one of the nameless NPC fighters, go ahead, give them a name. They're all Greenies like yourselves (haven't seen combat yet), and all have regulation equipment (longsword, longspear, scale mail).

[Falco1029]

Caleb listens calmly as the sergeant talks, standing up straight as a good soldier should, even if it's clear he doesn't truly see himself as beneath the sergeant in anything but the label given by rank. Still, that's enough for him to do as he's told, it wouldn't help him to make a show of himself right now, after all.

As he leaves, though, Caleb relaxes a bit, looking around at the others, staying where he is if only because, well, he already used the bathroom and doesn't have any armor to speak of, likely notable among the groups of fighters and similar.

"Right then... can't say I wanted to be doing guard duty, but I guess there can't always be something more..." he sort of flips his wrist, searching for a word, "useful to do," he decides upon. Who he's talking to isn't clear, but he's speaking loudly enough that everyone can hear him. Maybe he's just speaking for the sake of allowing people to hear his thoughts.


Knowledge (Local): [roll0]
(Bonus used for the sergeant being human)
Essentially can't fail, but I figure maybe if I do well I'll get more?

[arixe]

Evan relaxes now that someone broke the tension of the room. "To be honest guard duty isn't the most glamorous job but it is required to run a healthy prison." He draws his cross bow and puts his foot through the loop to set it to fire. "I'm just glad were not pulling cleaning details or mandatory run till you drop day got to love that one." CLICK. The cross bow is set and he ties it to his belt.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Prison guard duty for his first assignment, this had to be some kind of joke. Demian had just gotten out of this dump, and hadn't been planning on coming back any time soon.


"To be honest guard duty isn't the most glamorous job but it is required to run a healthy prison."

"No such thing," Demian replies to the priest, "Nothing but a cesspool for hopeless sods to rot in. If the locks are good and prisoners chained, I don't see any reason for guards here. If anyone were coming for someone in here, that someone would already be executed, trust me." The big man draws his finger across his throat for emphasis as he finishes.

His gear already in order, Demian waits impatiently while flipping up his throwing ax and catching it absentmindedly.

[Segrain]

The line about mothers and wombs almost earned a comment from one of the assembled soldiers, and it was not an unexpected reaction. That man, standing out with his longbow and lighter armour, was, strictly speaking, not a man, but an elf; as it is always with elves, his age was hard to guess, but sergeant's words were certainly not about him. Still, the archer stayed silent, only nodding in agreement to the lines about civilization and discipline. That he could respect; and if it was the very sergeant Erhard whose name he heard before, that respect only multiplied.

Ten minutes were more than enough. Whatever training human recruits had to receive, the elf was rarely seen as a part of it; his skills lied elsewhere, and he learned how to draw a bow several human generations ago anyway. Thus, he was not caring much about their conversations; barely listening to them, archer instead took time to rummage through his backpack and procure a no small number of various herbs, mortars, bowls and other tools of alchemical nature and obscure purpose. With a bored expression of somebody going through a routine that he performed in conditions far more exotic, the elf took a place next to a wall and started working on some mixture.

By the time when scheduled ten minutes passed, all his weird equipment was already stashed again, his pack took a place on his back next to a bow, and a vial with a result of his work rested in arm's reach on his belt.


Extract prepared: Adhesive Spittle. 1/2 slots left.

[Falco1029]

Looking to Evan, Caleb nods a bit. "Very true. Everything needs doing I suppose," he says with a shrug. Demian gets a bit of a raised brow at his own take, clearly not agreeing with it, but he decides not to go into that for now, instead turning to look towards Evan again, as well as some of the other soldiers.

"I've heard about Sergeant Erhard before, though. Really, we're pretty lucky to have gotten him. Tough or not, I heard he's managed to get into skirmishes with the rebels several times without losing a single man," he mentions to them.

The other bit he knows, he decides not to comment on for now; it might send mixed messages depending on who's listening.

"Anyway, I think I'm just about ready to go, myself," he mentions.

[caesar193]

One of the fighters looks at Caleb, clutching and leaning on his longspear nervously. "If he hasn't lost a single soldier," the fighter asks, "Then why is he stuck on prison duty and not out in the field?"

"If you will stop gossiping for a moment," Sergeant Erhard says, "Its time for us to move out. Form up! Follow!"

Just FYI, formation is a center row of archers and mages, flanked by fighters, with Sergeant Erhard in front. For the diagram below, F=fighter, S=Sergeant, A=Archer, W=wizard/magicy type (aka Caleb, our sorcerer)and C=Cleric.
S
F C F
F W F
F A A F

I have assigned you positions in the formations. I'll tell you where in a bit. Wouldn't want to spoint anything... :smallbiggrin:

The group files out into the courtyard. Above, a half-moon twinkles through a gap in the thick clouds. The courtyard stands empty, desolate, a spread of dark grass. Erhard twists right, and leds you to the guard tower, which is at the corner of the wall. The Prison's stables lies to the right of it, a squat wooden building only rising one floor, two if you include the hayloft. Stairs, leading up to the wall, lies on your left, where you can see another entrance to the tower.

"Wait here," Sergeant Erhard says once you get close to the stout oak door, and approaches and knocks on it, hard, three times.

"Um, hello?" a voice says from within.

"I am Sergeant Erhard, soldier, and I demand you speak to me with a respectful tongue!" Erhard barks. "We are your relief squad. Open this door immediately."

Frenzied whispering sounds from within, before the same voice comes back. "How do we know its you? You could be those rebels we've heard so much about."

"Rebels? You mean those small-time miscreants killing innocents?" Erhard narrows his eyes, and then whacks the door hard. "Open this door immediately! I demand to see your superior officer!"

"Small time!?!" someone shouts from within, then above a head pokes out of a window. "Suck on this, Loyalist scum!" An arrow whistles down before anyone can react, and pierces Erhard's helmet. He falls to the ground before anyone can say a word.

Time to draw those swords, combat has come! And you thought you'd be guarding the guard tower, not assaulting it... *shakes head condescendingly*

We'll be using group initiative, which I've all ready rolled for you. Congrats, you won it. Feel free to act. The rebels in the tower used their Surprise Round to shoot Erhard (who is currently either dead or close to). I've update the spreadsheet's Battle Map for you visual people. If you could put yourselves on the Combat Sheet with your health info and such, it would be appreciated.

[Falco1029]

Caleb was about to answer when the Sergeant came back and spoke up, so he simply nods to him instead and gives the fighter a bit of a shrug for now. Best to not need to get into it anyway, after all.

Getting into formation, he's quiet and alert as they head to the tower, his sling at the ready instead of his staff, though it's lowered and likely more of a backup for him than anything else. He continues waiting patiently as they arrive and the sergeant knocks on the door, talking to those within.

What's certainly not expected, though, is for the arrow to come out of nowhere and pierce their leader's helmet, dropping him nearly instantly.

Looking up, caleb shouts out a few words in Draconic, a quick gesture made as he attempts to Daze the archer that had just fired the projectile, hoping to make him an easy target for their own archers.

After that, he waits for the fighters or cleric to move forward before he'll move up to the wall of the tower and press against it, to avoid being an easy target to be picked off.


Daze cast, DC 16
Assuming I can see the guy, and that's not out of range, but I imagine he couldn't move after taking his 'surprise' shot.

Position will be updated on the map whenever Evan or a fighter moves forward, since we're all basically taking our turn at the same time, I assume I don't need to ready an action per se. If he doesn't, and the other fighters don't either, I'll remain where I am, not wanting to break formation.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

An ambush on prison guards. Maybe there is somebody important in here. Demian doesn't have time to think about the situation too much, though; he and the other soldiers are sitting ducks out here in the open. Not wanting to end up like the Sergeant, Demian charges forward toward the only cover within reach and also the source of their problem: the tower itself. With a growl, he puts his whole weight into the door, trying to bash it in.

Strength check I guess for trying to break in? Strength: [roll0]

[caesar193]

The rogue above shrugs off Caleb's spell. One of your fellow soldiers, following Demian's lead, drags Erhard off to the side, while another rushes forward and tries to help Demian break open the door. However, their efforts prove futile. The archer with you takes a step forward and then aims and fires at the rogue above, a look of terror on his face. But his arrow still flies true, and pierces the rebel's chest. Another fighter breaks formation, screaming at the top of his lungs, and running towards the keep.

"REBELS! Rebels have taken the tower! Alkrine save us!"

The last of the fighters stand there mutely, shock covering his face, staring at Sergeant Erhard.

Rogue beats daze. I moved Caleb and Demian forward to where I assume they'd go. If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me.

Loyalist Fighter uses Aid Another to bust down the door, but its a tough door and doesn't break. DC 25 to break down the door. This place is supposed to resist a siege, you know. The door happens to be barred.

Loyalist Archer's shot: [roll0][roll1]

[arixe]

Evan rushes to the Erhar's side and assess his condition.

heal check [roll0] and cast stabilize if hes even slightly alive.

[Segrain]

That was not the welcome that they were expecting. Keeping watch at the tower was simple enough, but having to fight just to get inside it... that was not a good start. Preparing his bow, Tilnior took time to thoroughly observe their surroundings. Where one archer was in front, several more could easily be hiding around - at least, that is how elves would had done it. But even if there were none, more enemies could appear in any time.

"Be careful", - Tilnior quietly advised to humans around him. - "Even if this door is closed, they can come out from another one... or we can come in through it, of course", - added he as almost an afterthought, taking an arrow from his quiver and shooting at the enemy in the window. As long as they could keep anyone inside from shooting, they had time to tend to the wounded and think of a plan, - so Tilnior sent an approving nod to the archer next to him, seeing a shot that even elves would not be ashamed to do.


It is not said that the rebel in the window is dead, so:
Move action: preparing a bow.
Standard action: attack: [roll0] to hit, [roll1] damage.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Despite his best efforts, the door doesn't budge. Demian agrees with Tilnior, "The elf's right. The rebels could be anywhere, and I don't fancy getting feathered out here." As he glances around, his second choice is the door to the stables, which are likely deserted. He wordlessly grabs the Sergeant after Evan has a look at him , slings him over his shoulder and begins moving towards the door.

[Falco1029]

Looking to the one that isn't doing anything specifically, since he's not about to run after the fleeing guy, though speaking loudly enough so that they can all hear him, he gestures to the Sergeant. "Do you all want to end up like him? Focus and get back in the damned fight, or you'll get us all killed by these cowards!" he yells, glaring towards the fighter.



Intimidate: [roll0]

[omnitricks]

Being very enthusiastic about being deployed for something, Kip was following the group trying to keep exemplary discipline until the Sergeant was shot in the head.

His shock was all that he felt until he heard something about ending like Erhard.

Quickly drawing his bow, Kip prepares himself to shoot whatever rebel scum he sees as soon as they pop up of their hidey hole.

Knowledge local: [roll0]
Move action: Draw bow
Standard action: Prepare attack [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]

[caesar193]

Evan kneels next to the sergeant, and finds him all but dead. The arrow had pierced Erhad's helmet but not succeeded in finishing him off. His spell slows the flow of blood till a trickle, and his condition seems stable for now.

The fighter shakes off his shock after Caleb's words, before running up the stairs on his left and taking cover next to the door.

The wounded rebel ducks out of the hole, heavily wounded, and is replaced by another rebel archer, while another two take up position on a higher floor. Kip, upon seeing one of them, takes aim and fires, but the bow fails to work properly and the arrow snaps before it even leaves the bowstring.

The three rebels open fire, seeking revenge for their wounded ally. Shouting emanates from the tower as more rebels get into position.

Two rebels shoot at the loyalist archer, while a third shoots at (mental coin flip) Tilnior.

[roll0][roll1] vs Tilnior
[roll2][roll3] Vs Loyalist Archer
[roll4][roll5] Vs loyalist archer

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Upon reaching the stable door, Demian tries to open it up, forcing it if need be. If that works, he moves in and lays down the sergeant there. If not, he swears to himself and sets the sergeant down outside. Either way, he bends over the now-stable soldier and begins to look for keys for the tower on his person.

[caesar193]

The stable door swings open easily on well-greased hinges. Inside, a row of stalls are revealed, a couple of visibly frightened horses. A ladder up the the hayloft, which is for now obscured by your position, is off to your left. A bale of hay is off to the right. The fighter that was with Demian to begin with follows him to the stables, and looks around.

"Maybe there's a way in up there...?" the fighter asks, pointing with his longspear to the hayloft ladder. "Or should we barricade ourselves in here, wait for reinforcements or something?"

[arixe]

Evan fallows the team into the stables and flags every one to fallow "Move the Sargent into one of the empty stalls, use what you can to block the door, stall doors pitch forks anything that will slow them down. We need some one with a shield to defend the stairs and the door way achers need to position them selves behind the defenders at the door. We need to make this quick so get moving." Evan grabs the Sargent and drags him to the nearest empty stall and readies his cross bow to fire at any enemy that comes down the stairs while they get in position.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian continues to check if there is anything useful on the sergeant's person as he disagrees with Evan's assessment of the situation, "it's only archers in a tower. If they weren't afraid to come out and fight us they would have attempted to stop our retreat. Their ambush would have been much more effective if some of them had charged out to meet us, relied on discipline to fall apart with our leader." He then shakes his head, "no, I think if we can get in that tower we'll be able to cut them down like dogs."

[arixe]

"We don't have any idea what there numbers are and no idea their objective we need to set up a perimeter while I try to get the sergeant back to the waking world, also in this tight of a space I can monitor your conditions if we split up i cant ensure your safety" Even prepares his healing kit to remove the arrow from his skull and readies stabilize to ensure he doesn't die during the procedure.

Heal to remove the arrow safely [roll0]

[Falco1029]

As more archers pop out, Caleb frowns. Focusing once again, he looks up at them, speaking a few droning words and motioning with his hands.

"Drop your weapons out the window, and stay there!" he tells them, hoping that at least a couple of them will succumb to the hypnotism and obey the command, also blocking others from getting to the window in the process

If none of them do, he'll move into the stable after the others. If at least one does, he'll stay within range to keep his attention, and hope for the best.



Casting Hypnotism. DC is 16. My daze a few posts ago was actually 15, rechecked, my bad.

Total HD affected: [roll0]
Rounds it will last: [roll1]

[Segrain]

"Amateurs", - Tilnior sighed, tracing back to the archer the path of an arrow that harmlessly struck against his armour. - "Should had stayed doing your jobs. This is what happens when incompetent buffoons try to take the reins without any understanding of that what they are trying to perform...", - the last two sentences were uttered under his breath and in elven tongue, as he was listening to the shouting inside the tower. Now they were trying to get their archers somewhither whence they actually could shoot? He started wondering how those people even managed to capture the tower at all - but that, of course, was a question to ponder in a more peaceful time.

Even the slowest archers in the world could take their time aiming at the targets in the open from the safety of the tower. There was no reason to give them any such targets - and so the elf, even though his hand was already reaching into the quiver for another arrow, did not try to shoot back. Instead, glancing left and right between the ladder and the door, he considered something for a moment - and followed the wounded sergeant into the stables. Even an incapacitated leader was still better than disorganised chaos of running around with no goal.

[omnitricks]

"Cheap defective goods..." Kip mumbled while considering how he always provided high quality goods. It was time for a change of tactics and while everyone else was trying to resolve the situation he headed to the corner by the stairs yelling "hey! You lot! We need back up!" until he was out of sight. A moment later the rushed sounds of marching will start to approach the tower from his direction.

According to the map, there is a corner past the stairs towards the south-west and that is where Kip will be headed to. As part of his move action once he gets cover from the stairs/walls he will make a stealth check to hide which will be followed by a casting of ghost sound. At level 1 that would mean it would sound like back up is four people marching from where he "disappeared"

Stealth: [roll0]

[caesar193]

The arrow emerges from Erhard's scalp with fresh blood, but Evan's spell quickly. Erhard groans, but then lapses back into unconsciousness. Once the operation is over, the archer, who had just sprinted to the stables once he saw everyone else go there, asked "Shouldn't we be worried about saving our allies out there before we consider attacking them? I mean, that guy out there is clearly a spellcaster, and would make protecting here or attacking there much easier. And half of our troops are by the goddamn stairs!"

On Caleb's front, there is success. Though two of his targets shook off his spell and started glaring at him, one went slack-jawed and let his bow tumble from his hands. The bow hit the tower, and then went spiraling down to the ground to land next to Caleb.

Kip, however, does not fully conceal himself, and one of the rebels just barely catches a glimpse of him. "There ain't room for any soldiers there!" the rebel shouts. "He's bluffing!"

The two rebels who resisted Caleb's spell, seeing no other available targets, open fire at him. The rest of them do nothing. For now, all is quiet in the tower. But then...

One of the fighter's raised his ear. "They're on the roof!" he shouts.

Healing operation on the Sergeant goes well. He's still in the negatives, but almost to 0, or at least consciousness.

For Caleb, there were only three available targets (the ones shooting at people), and one of them obeyed your command. However, the other two are understandably upset with you and fire. If only a meatshield had stuck around... :smallbiggrin:

[roll0] [roll1]
[roll2] [roll3]

I would have given you all a perception check to catch the Loyalists on the roof (how'd they get up there...? :smallamused:), but your fighter buddy heard it all ready.

[Falco1029]

Caleb lets out a cry as one of the arrows hits him. Reaching down, he grabs the bow, and then quickly heads into the Stables as well, after the others. Looking at those already there, he moves to place a hand around the arrow lodged into his shoulder, the pain finally catching up with him as he drops the bow next to him, for whomever might want it.

"Gah... we need to regroup. I don't want to have to try doing that again," he grumbles, "Don't suppose any of you can give me a hand?" he adds with a slight grunt of pain.

EDIT: "Anyway... didn't someone run off to get help? If we can make that clear to them somehow, maybe we can force them to attack us here, giving us the advantage of playing the defensive instead of them, and giving whoever's still outside the chance to get out of the way." he mentions.


Move to grab the bow, move into the stables, free to drop it. Updated on the spreadsheet.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

"Gods damn them," Demian mumbles under his breath when he sees Caleb's wounds. He then sheathes his sword and makes his way towards the ladder. As he climbs up to the second floor he lets his allies know his plan, "I'm going to take care of our friends on the roof. Anybody who wants to kill some rebels is welcome to join me."

[Segrain]

"Do you think that they heard you already, or you are planning to shout again and louder, just to be sure?" - Tilnior glared at the soldier for a moment, before approaching the ladder with a bow drawn. From the outside it looked like the building was too tall to only have one floor, but enemies being on the roof did not mean that there were not any of them just upstairs. Perhaps if everybody could stop shouting for a moment, he would even had been able to hear for himself whether there was anybody there...

Of course, humans were too impatient for that, and one of them already rushed forward. "Stop..." - hissed the elf, giving Demian another glare. - "Do you think that they shot not enough of us one by one yet? There can be any amount of them, and we will need every sword that we have. You there", - Tilnior turned to the man tending to Erhard's wounds, - "will our sergeant be awake any time soon?"

[arixe]

Evan turns to Tilnior "He's fading in and out I'm going to call on the almighty to heal this grievous wound" Evan clasps his hand round his holy symbol and it begins to glow faintly though his fingers. The glow consumes one of his hands and he places it on the wound. "I'm warning you if we don't reestablish our ranks they will pick us off quickly. I reiterate we have no idea their numbers, strength or their plan you could be playing right into it for all we know." Even attempts to reason with his overzealous kins men. "I implore you to reconsider these fool hardy charges into the enemy's. if we renforce our position i can maintain our wounds. their numbers will dwindle quickly and we can isolate their leaders. Our job isn't to kill them its to route them if we do that we can reassess this situation and combat further threats."

Cast Cure light wounds Sgt Erhard [roll0] Diplomacy to any soldier willing to hear me out [roll1]

[caesar193]

Evan's spell sends delicate tendrils of holy light into Sergeant Erhard, and a couple splinters of arrow pop out before the wound closes completely.

"Wha...?" Erhard uttered under his breath, before his eyes snap open, and he shakes his head violently. "What in the name of Alkrine is going on?" His eyes fix on Evan, and he snarls, "Report, soldier!"

[arixe]

" Yes sir, The rebels have taken the tower. You took an arrow to the skull and have been out of the fight sense. We are trying to asses the situation and make a plan of attack." He look around the room trying to find more wounded to attend to. "we escaped to the stables to take cover from the archers. Now their sending in troops from the roof sir"

[caesar193]

"Has anyone roused the garrison?" Erhard asks, and then struggles to his feet, using the wood wall to steady himself, and then looks at the gathered faces. "And why are all you soldiers standing around for? We have a clear enemy, men! Take back that tower! Do your duty!"

Erhard shakes his head, before pausing a moment to think. "Ya said they're on the roof, soldier? Then they'll probably come down through the ceiling hatch. You two!" he points to Demian and one of the fighters. "Get up there and defend! Archers, stay down here and fire up at the bastards! The rest of you defend our front while you answer ALL my thrice-cursed questions! Now... where's my mage?" He looks around before his eyes lock on Caleb. "Ya got any useful spells, kid?"

The fighter Erhard pointed at swallows, and then climbs up the ladder to take his place on the hayloft. The archer climbs atop a hay bale to get a better line of sight towards the enemies, before readying his bow and taking aim at the ladder.

If you want to delay following his orders, Erhard will have a couple of choice words for you, namely "Why the hell are you still standing around for?" or "We don't pay you for your thoughts, kid! Get yer ass up there, before I kick you up there!" Feel free to copy and paste one of those into your response if you want to be subordinate and delay, or, you know, ask questions. Not saying you have to, though. I just don't want to waste time on a two second conversation or make you and everyone else wait for you or me.

[Falco1029]

Caleb is relieved to see the Sergeant healed, having had ideas here but nobody to actually take charge that needed to be listened to.

"Sir, one of your fighters ran off screaming about what happened... might not have been directly headed towards the garrison, but I imagine it will draw their attention eventually, worst case," he mentions about rousing the garrison.

Still clutching his injury a bit, he nods a bit at the question asked to him more directly, "I already managed to hypnotize one into dropping his weapon. Brought it in here, hopefully they don't have many extras," he says, pointing to the bow he'd dropped (he can't use it anyway).

"I could do that again, perhaps distract some of them, but I... don't think I can take another hit. I could also try to single someone out, use another spell I know, make their ears bleed and hopefully leave them reeling afterward, but that would be best on an important target, if we can single one out," he explains as quickly as he can manage.

"Oh, and I could send off a message to someone nearby if we get cut off..." he adds. There are a couple of other cantrips he has, but he seems them as less directly relevant here.


Fixed my last post that was gray instead of blue, got my wires crossed with another game, my bad.

If it matters, I'm also effectively readying Ear Piercing Scream if anyone gets past our fighters, assuming this is a new round. Unless the sergeant orders something specific.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian is already halfway up the first ladder when the sergeant comes to. "Way ahead of you. I've been waiting too long to break some rebel skulls," he replies as pulls himself up to the second floor. He then sets down his shield and tries to remain quiet as he moves over to the second ladder (which presumably goes up to the roof?). If the rebels wanted a fair fight, they wouldn't have ambushed the partol in the first place.

Stealth: [roll0] That roll includes my -4 (ouch) armor check penalty.

[omnitricks]

Kip, unwilling to take another chance with his bow decided to do something which may in hindsight seem stupid. Unfortunately he was already going up the stairs. As soon as he was on the same level as one of the rebels, his whip shot forward in an attempt to have it round a limb before pulling back.

Drag maneuver. Whips can do it because trip works with one of the other keywords. I think it was trip.

Anyway, [roll0] If successful, Kip would probably be somewhere along the stairs as the 5ft movement part of the drag and the other rebel would be pulled along with him for splats

Edit: On a dex based ranged enemy? 10 is probably not going to cut it. Oh well.

[caesar193]

Kip's whip fruitlessly whacks the wall. The sharp sound seems to rouse the archer from Caleb's spell, and he shakes himself awake and retreats from the opening, yelling "Another bow! They magiced mine away!" Another rebel archer appears in the opening, and says something to his comrades, which Kip can't make out.

The loyalist fighter with Kip asks "What do we do? What in Alkrine's name do we do?"

Then the rebel archer leans out of the opening, readies a shot, and fires at Kip, the arrow whistling through the air.

[roll0] [roll1]

Above Demian and the fighter, boots can be heard to thud and walk around on the roof, along with whispered commands. Luckily, the trapdoor above the two is kept locked, though it doesn't look like a secure lock. The enemies above suddenly abandon all pretenses for stealth and start viciously hitting the trapdoor, attempting to break through. The door buckles inward, its wood about to give way. The fighter swallows nervously and readies his longspear.

Another round or two, they'll be in. Demian, if you would like to try and spot a needle in a haystack, roll a quick perception check. :smallwink:

Then the prisons grand, golden bells begin to toll.

DONG.... DONG.... DONG.... they reverberate around the battlefield, and then shouts can be heard from the distant prison of "Rebels!" and "They've taken a tower!" as the sounds of the garrison awaking can be heard.

[omnitricks]

Kip could have got into a rage with how he couldn't hurt those horrible rebels and took it out on the fighter saying "I don't know, turn those bastards into pincushions." before throwing his whip at the next rebel which popped out of the opening.

Going to assume the first archer which ran away used a withdraw action or something so the second archer which pops up and fires at Kip provokes an AoO which will be taken to disarm the new bow :P

Disarm: [roll0]

An 18, that is better I guess and if it succeeds the shot doesn't get through right?

[Segrain]

Tilnior waited patiently as the sergeant was trying to make some sense out of their situation. The man could not be blamed; if even his own soldiers acted so strangely, trying to divine enemies' plans and to predict their next move should had been a nightmare. Such incomprehensibility probably even actually made some sense - in the twisted, human way of reasoning. Not that the elf could ever understand such manner of thinking. Life was so much more proper when everything was in its place - such as, for example, when they finally had their orders.

Looking upstairs, the elf measured height to the ceiling and nodded. Following the example of his fellow archer, he took a position next to a corner, close to the sergeant and out of the way of the most fighters. And, once again drawing his bow, took aim at the trapdoor, ready to shoot the first enemy coming down from it.

[caesar193]

Before the rebel Archer could fire his bow, Kip's whip snaps out and hits the archer's hand. With a cry, the bow falls from his clasp and hits the ground below.

The fighter beside Kip says "But I don't have a bow! Should we go around the corner here, see if there's a back way in?"

Yep, he withdrew and all that, so all that's fine. Nope, we don't get to see how well you bleed just yet. Give them time, though. Give them time :smallamused:

The fighter next to Demian swallowed. "Maybe we should move some haybales around?" he asks. "Make a quick wall, and then just defend, while our archer's fire?"

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Seeing that he wouldn't be able to meet the Rebels on the roof with the rate at which they were breaking through the door, Demian positions himself in the corner of the room and motions to his fellow soldier to do the same in a different corner. Though standing on the hay bales wouldn't normally be Demian's choice, if the rebels don't look before they leap, he and his fellow might be able to get the jump on one or two of them.

[omnitricks]

Taking a quick glance at the fighter to see if he was telling the truth, Kip looked back to where the archer he just disarmed was offering "use my bow. Its over here."

Not wanting to let the archer get away, Kip again used his whip to try and pull him out the opening like he tried to do with the first archer which got away.

Drag: [roll0]

Dice gods don't want to let me have glorious splats.

[caesar193]

The fighter with Kip grabs the bow while Kip tries (and fails) once more to use his whip, and then tries a shot of his own after finding an arrow. The arrow zips forward and misses the Rebel, hitting the wall and falling, uselessly, to the ground below.

Then the door swings open on well-oiled hinges, momentarily shocking the fighter with Kip, as they stare into the group of Rebels wielding a mess of various weapons. They roar, before some of them start to stalk forward.

You've got some Rebels wanting blood. You get an AoO against the front one for entering your reach. Things you can see? A lot of rebels. If you want to make a detailed count, make a perception roll, and use up a move action. Anyway, none of them can attack this round, and only one can fit through the door at a time.

Demian and the fighter clamber up the hay and wedge themselves into position just in time to hear the trapdoor make a loud CRACK and a large section of it fall down to the ground with a thud and a spray of dust.

"We're through!" one of the rebels shouted. "Throw it in!"

A moment passes, then another, and then a hand appears in the hole, a hand... holding a lit torch. The torch falls, hits the hayloft floor, and then immediately scattered strands of hay, dry hay, catch. The pitter patter of rebel feet and their excited laughter can be heard as the fire spreads quickly through the hayloft.

First off, this is me right now: :smallbiggrin: I come from the Belkar school of though. When in doubt, set something on fire.

Anyway, this fire is spreading. Marking on the map squares that are on fire, and each round more squares will catch. And, uh, the stables are made of wood. There are a couple horses still in stalls. And there are still archers in the tower with arrows ready to mow down survivors :smallamused:

But this fire. I don't see any rules for a situation like this, so I'm going to throw up some quick houserules. If a ground square is diagonal to a fire square, it has a 20% chance of catching on fire. If its adjacent to a fire square, it has a 50% chance of catching. Each additional fire square adjacent or diagonal to the square adds half its threat chance. For example, a square with fire to the north and northwest would have a 60% of catching on fire. Haybales increase their chance of catching by 20% (so in the previous example, if the square in question was a haybale, it would have an 80% chance instead.

Each time you move through a fire square, DC 12 reflex save or take 1d6 fire damage, another DC 15 reflex save if you fail to avoid catching fire

Floors also have a chance of collapsing and setting the floor below them on fire, but you don't need to worry about that... yet :smallbiggrin:

And now I feel bad since I set you guys on fire, so I'll send in the cavalry. Aren't I nice ? :smallredface:

Then the prison's grand gates open and a unit of loyalists comes out, another ten soldiers hurriedly buckling armor as they come trotting out "Charge, men!" yells their sergeant.

[Falco1029]

"Did they just...?" Caleb trails off a bit, looking upward, and hearing the crackle of flames, "I think we need to get out of here... but we know they're likely waiting to pick off anyone that comes out," he mentions, frowning a bit.

Looking at the horses, he thinks a bit, motioning to them, "I don't mean to be cruel, but maybe we should let them run out, hope it works as a distraction, I imagine they'll be training themselves to fire at the first sign of movement, rather than taking the time to try and discern the difference, and then at least a few of us can take the chance to slink out," he suggests towards the Sergeant.

"If that works, and we can take cover on the side of the stable, we can regroup with our reinforcements," he adds, hearing the charge order outside. He motions to the east end when mentioning the 'side' of the stable.



Moving to where I changed on the map. Readying to move again if someone lets the horses out (if the sergeant likes my plan), to the east side of the stable, obviously. The idea here is they'll take readied actions against the horses and then we don't have to die!

[omnitricks]

"Well this is exciting" Kip said trying to take a step back out of the rebel's sudden appearance before remembering about the fight and using his whip. After that he told the fighter near him "now you don't need a bow. Go in front and stab one or move back so we can keep away!"

Because he didn't want to have to change his weapon, Kip just continued using the whip on the rebels which are threatening him.

AoO to trip: [roll0]

If there is still space to move back, swap places with fighter since it seems like he is stated for melee anyway with the lack of a ranged weapon. Otherwise just move back.

If movement can't be done, perception [roll1]
Also my standard action to...I'll just roll first because I need to know if my previous trip was successful or not: [roll2]

Edit: trip 1 failed so attempt 2 is an 11 excluding the cover modifiers if the fighter moved in front of Kip.

[Segrain]

Yes. Those rebels were unpredictable crazy morons. Now Tilnior believed it completely. It was madness to raise arms against their lawful king, but at least seizing his buildings and fighting against his soldiers made some sense, from the point of view of their goals. But setting these buildings on fire for nothing other than useless destruction? That was simple stupidity. There just could not be any reason to fight over power, if all that they could get was the power over piles of ashes. Of course, humans rarely had let reason stop them.

Still, the fire was there, and no matter why it was started, something had to be done about it. Of course, even if "why" was a question for another time, there still remained "how". A single torch was not going to quickly start a big fire, but they were in the stables, and upper floor was full of hay. It made sense; horses had to be fed, and their food had to be stored somewhere. But, surely, they had to be watered as well?

"Up there!" - Tilnior called the fighters, lowering his bow. - "Do you see any water, or at least buckets?" It was possible that stables' builders anticipated the possibility of a fire and had some water prepared next to the dry hay. But even if not, there was enough place for several horses, and they had to drink something - and so the elf started looking around, searching for anything that held water or could be used to carry it upstairs.

"...if their archers are so blind that they cannot tell the difference between a man and a horse, we do not need to worry about their arrows anyway", - he added, hearing the sorcerer's idea. - "And there are other soldiers outside with them now. We are here with the fire; we might try to do something about it. Unless ordered otherwise, sergeant?"

[Falco1029]

Caleb scowls, "I didn't mean they'd confuse a horse and a person, I'm not an idiot, I meant they might assume a horse coming out has a rider and let loose their arrows before confirming that fact. Do you think they plan to wait when they see movement until they're sure it's someone waving the king's banner coming out?" he retorts, clearly not liking the implication made by the elf.

[Segrain]

"Truth be told, I do not think that they plan anything at all", - Tilnior shrugged, keeping the reasoning behind such a thought to himself. - "And I meant no insult to any of us here. But they had the chance to come down hither and fight against us; instead, they did... this. And now, if they are going to shoot at all, they already have plenty of targets marching in your king's colours outside; but I quite doubt that they have any intent to stay for a honest fight."

[The Hellbug]

Demian

When the torch hits the dry hay, Demian realizes that he should have seen this coming: it's what he would have done in their situation. Perhaps some would call it cowardly, but avoiding a direct fight in such a way was certainly effective. However, the last thing the rebels would want to do is be caught standing on top of a burning building; the flames would spread up to the roof before reaching the ground floor, in all likelihood. The rebels were likely fleeing back to their tower as the Loyalists decided on a course of action, probably waiting for them to flee from the flame. I doubt they'll be concerned about the roof though.

Demian calls for the other soldier to follow him and charges up the ladder to the roof, barely making sure that it's safe before pulling himself up and preparing to attack the no doubt (in his mind at least) fleeing rebels.

I'm assuming there's gonna be some rolling here; just tell me what I need to do.

[caesar193]

The loyalist nods, and steps forward to intercept the rebel coming at them and attacks, his sword a flash of steel as it heads towards the rebel. Kip's first attempt a failure, he repositions to get a clear shot at the rebel coming out the door to try again. Alas, his second attempt also fails as the rebel neatly steps over his whip.

If the fighter's attack is successful, then the rebel grimaces and counterattacks the soldier. If the fighter's attack misses, then the rebel dodges the greatsword and moves to attack Kip.

Moved you to a position where the fighter doesn't give the enemy cover. Anyway, attacks!

Loyalist fighter attack: [roll1]
If loyalist figher misses, he gets an AoO from the rebel leaving his threatened zone, so [roll2] [roll] 2d6+3

Rebel either attacks Kip or the loyalist figher. If fighter missed, rebel attacks kip, if fighter hit, rebel attacks fighter.
[roll3] [roll4]

The flames roar as Demian charges across them and up the ladder. The loyalist with him follows him after a moment of delay after a particularly violent crackle as sparks shoot up and land on a patch of hay elsewhere.

Reflex save: [roll5] Damage: [roll6]

Erhard stalks out of the stall, and eyes the crackling fire with a scowl on his face.

"Damned rebels!" he hollers, and then gives the climbing Demian a grudging nod of respect. "Aye, release the horses, let 'em save themselves, and run to the tower door. We'll try'n break the door down. Archers, give us covering fire, mage, don't get hit. Fighters and mage, release the horses on my signal, the rest of you, run when the horses get in the opening."

He waits for the various archers to position themselves by the stalls with horses. The horses themselves are wide-eyed with fright as the scent of smoke drifts up their nostrils.

Those of you still in the stables, there are three horses, so if you want to release the horses (which takes a standard action), say so. The call to run is going to be next round, because Erhard and the rest of you talked a good deal. Also, yay for a spoiler that doesn't require me putting a bunch of rolls in it!

The new group of Loyalists eyes the field, and then their sergeant spots the conflict on the wall with Kip.

"There's out battlefield, men!" he says, gesturing to the wall. "Archer and mage, give us some covering fire! The rest of you, charge!"

The group runs forward, before stopping and letting the archer and mage fire at one of the rebel archers.

Archer's shot: [roll7] [roll8]
Wizard casts Magic Missile. [roll9]

Shouts emerge from the tower, and another rebel archer emerges in a window. All four fire back at the group of Loyalist's in the courtyard.

Getting really lazy here, my god why did I decide to do such a big combat to start with?Anyway, four shots at one of the fighters.

[roll10] [roll11]
[roll12] [roll13]
[roll14] [roll15]
[roll16] [roll17]

Ok, I think that's everything. If I missed something, remind me.

[arixe]

Evan runs to the nearest stall and opens the door releasing the horses. "Run free and be safe" Evan darts over to the other two stalls and readies to free the other two horses.

[Falco1029]

Caleb will similarly move to release the horse closest to him, though is a bit quieter about it.

[omnitricks]

Kip gives the fighter by him a nod thinking he has everything at hand before looking back at the commotion by the tower. Seeing the arrival of the archers, Kip decides to instead hit the one closest to him by the window with his whip hoping to throw off his aim before trying the same again.

Arrival to window/ranged attack provokes AoO sooooo disarm maneuver: [roll0]

And an action which is to be determined by the results of the above AoO: [roll1]

Both fails anyway. Forum dice roller hates me since it isn't even trying to give me any double digits.

[Segrain]

"As ordered, then", - Tilnior only sent another glance upstairs when the sergeant decided that they needed to ignore what was happening there. Even though they already had more than enough fire spreading to cover the entire building - but that was probably not what Erhard meant. And if he wanted them to join the combat, then it was already happening outside, and there was no need to wait for anything - and certainly no need to stand in the horses' way when they will escape. Motioning for the fellow archer to join him, the elf once again raised his weapon and left the stables, drawing the bowstring. Stopping close to the wall - but still leaving place for those who would rush straight to the tower's door - he aimed at the archers in the windows and sent his arrow.

I cannot edit Google Docs, but I think that Tilnior can move to U9 in one action. If he cannot shoot any of the rebel archers thence, ignore the rolls.
Attack: [roll0], damage: [roll1].

[The Hellbug]

Demian

"Too slow, cowards!" Demian shouts as he runs toward the tower on the roof, pulling his throwing ax from his belt. Just before he reaches the bottom of the ropes, he hurls the ax at one of the climbers.

Attack with throwing axe: [roll0]
damage: [roll1]

edit: Ouch, almost a crit, too. I don't think he woulda survived that. :smallamused:

[caesar193]

The other archer follows Tilnior out of the burning stables muttering something about fires and frying pans, and mirrors the elf's shot. Tilnior's flies true, striking and burrowing deep into the second floor rebel's flesh.

[roll0] [roll1]

The horses, after their arrows fly true, flee the burning stables as fast as they can. However, the rebel archers don't bother firing upon the horses and instead train their bows on the clump of soldiers before them. More archers appear, and two of them spot Tilnior and the archer with him and fire at them.

Currently we've got 6 archers, two on the second floor, three on the third, and a fourth on the roof. No, Demian, the roof one isn't shooting at you... yet. Anyway, you and the archer's focus fired the second story one, and he ain't dead yet I believe (gonna recheck how much you rolled and whether your buddy hit), so we've got four archers firing at the NPC loyalists and two at Tilnior's two man group. First two archers target Tilnior if I roll a one, the archer if I get a two. [roll2]

[roll3] [roll4]
[roll5] [roll6]

Now the other four rebel archers fire at the NPC group. They target the wizard, because wizards have magic.

[roll7] [roll8]
[roll9] [roll10]
[roll11] [roll12]
[roll13] [roll14]

Inside the stables, however, chaos reigns. The fire continues to spread in the hayloft, eating its way through a collection of haybales. Then, in an almighty CRASH, a section of burning floor falls from above, leaving a gap in the floor above and setting the below stall on fire.

"That's our cue, soldiers!" shouts Erhard. "Get out of here! Break down the tower door!"

So saying, Erhard unsheathes his sword and charges out, following the wall of the tower till he comes to the door. The fighter quickly follows

Updated the spreadsheet for fire damage. In a round or two, Demian's gonna have to death with the fire burning holes in the roof. Anyway, Erhard blew his move/standard action running, as did the other fighter (I really need to kill some NPCs off so I have less to keep track of!)

Demian's axe flies true. The rebel screams in pain, before losing his grip on the rope. With the axe buried deep inside his back, the rebel falls to hit the roof, and with a sharp crunch, breaks through. Luckily, he lands on a hay bale, and appears to still be alive, though just barely. The other two rebels stop their climbing and stare at the shattered hole in the roof.

"You bastard!" yells one, before sliding down his rope holding his sword menacingly, the other following. They land on the roof with a sharp thud and step forward to attack Demian.

You didn't specify which rebel you hit, so I decided you hit the one that would land on the hay bale in the hayloft and not an extra ten feet- which would have added another 1d6 damage, thus 1 more and dropped him to negatives. So, uh, yeah. Anyway, that rebel is out of the picture and is probably about to burn to death. But you needn't worry about that! You've got a combat atop a soon-to-be-burning roof to think about :smallbiggrin:.

Kip's whip seems cursed as it flops uselessly across the gap. The fighter with Kip doesn't worry about this and tries to hit the fighter in front of him again, his sword flashing through the air. If the rebel fighter isn't dead, then after the fighter's attack, a voice from within the tower calls out "Clear the door, idiot!" and the fighter in the doorway takes a five foot step to the side and counterattacks the fighter as another rebel steps into the doorway and attacks.

Loyalist attack: [roll15] [roll16]

Rebel fighter attack: [roll17] [roll18]
Second rebel possible attack: [roll19] [roll20]

The new sergeant to the field gestures to his unit. Half the fighters and their wizard and archer peel off from the main group and fall back towards Tilnior and his archer. The others charge to join Kip. The archer then asks Tilnior "What are your orders, soldier?"

[arixe]

Evan rushes out side and spots the extremely wounded Caleb. he quickly changes direction to tend to his wounds. "Don't worry I'll have you patched up shortly.". Evan pull out his holy symbol and starts to mutter his incantation .

I will be Using channel to heal his wounds at the start of my next turn.

[Falco1029]

Caleb moves to head out after the sergeant and other soldier, remaining pressed close to the wall. Seeing the archer still up there, though, and knowing he's likely the most vulnerable to his magic right now, as well as most likely to take a shot at the trio, he quickly casts Ear Piercing Scream, a terrible sound unleashed but heard only by that archer, as caleb aims to keep him from firing at them, and perhaps do a bit of harm at the same time.

Now he just has to hope that it works and that the other archers don't recognize him as a magic user from the distance they're at.


Fort DC for ear piercing scream is 15. If he fails the save, he's dazed. If he succeeds, he isn't and only takes half of the following damage:
[roll0]

[The Hellbug]

Demian

"So eager to join your friend?" Demian taunts as he draws his blade. He swings all his might at the more talkative rebel, hoping to slay him where he stands with one vicious blow.

Demian power attacks with his longsword (no time to pull that shield out), directed at rebel fighter 4.

Attack: [roll0]
damage[roll1] (+6 from str with two handed weapon, +3 from power attack with two handed weapon)

Well, at least the rebel is lucky he rolled minimum damage. :smallamused:

[Segrain]

"...right now I consider myself mostly ordered to not die..." - Tilnior's voice barely rose above muttering, less an answer to the soldier's question and more a reminder to himself. His gaze tried to concentrate on an arrow in his arm, then considered a bow that the elf still held, but was not too eager to try to draw to full strength, and finally returned to the archer. Through gritted teeth and sharp pain, Tilnior still managed to concentrate enough to actually answer: "But as for exact method, I suggest not dying by killing the enemy first. Or, at least, covering our warriors, while they are doing it..." Talking at length in human tongue served well enough to distract the elf from his pain, but when he tried to gesture towards the enemy's archers, it proved to be an unwise attempt. Shaking, he only managed to wave his arm in a general direction and staggered towards the wall, leaning against it for whatever support or cover it could provide.

0 hit points, disabled.
Moving to S8.

[omnitricks]

Kip would not be discouraged. The filthy rebels needed to feel the pain of the whips before their inevitable demise! Again as the fighter by him seemed to be doing well and more backup was on their way Kip decided to help against the archers by the windows and tried to make another grab at the one closest to him yelling "yarrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Drag maneuver: [roll0]

[caesar193]

Below Demian, the Rebel that fell through the roof screams as the haybale he lays on catches fire. He hurriedly jumps up to run, but there is nowhere to go. He jumps up, and immeadiately falls on the next hay bale, which sets him on fire. Thankfully, his creams fall short as smoke inhalation sends him into unconsciousness.

The fire spread to the rebel, and he didn't exactly make his reflex save. Nobody's in a position to save him, so he's pretty much dead. I'll spare you further details.

The fire spreads even further, creeping up the remnants of the ladder to the roof, setting the roof behind the soldier aflame. Its chaotic dancing light glints off Demian's sword as it cuts deep into the rebel's shoulder, its crackling malevolence adding timbre to the rebel's scream off pain and cry for help. A rebel then appears above the fight, and brandishes a bow before taking careful aim at the two loyalists.

The soldier looks behind him, and dances to the side, away from the flames, before trying to finish off Demian's target.

The rebels left after the soldier's swing quickly retaliate, moving to attack Demian.

Soldier's attack: [roll0] [roll1]

If the soldier succeeds in dropping the rebel in the negatives, disregard the first rebel attack roll.

[roll2] [roll3]
[roll4] [roll5]

And rebel archer's shot on the loyalist fighter
[roll6] [roll7]

Kip's whip once again flails and hits empty air. The loyalist and the rebel in the doorway begin to fight, each trading blows as the rebel steps to the side to allow another rebel through the doorway.

Loyalist hit: [roll8] [roll9]
Rebel attack: [roll10] [roll11]
Second Rebel attack: [roll12] [roll13]

The archer beside Tilnior grinned. "Stay alive, I like it!" he said, before clucking his tongue at Tilnior's retreat. The archer nodded to his wizard companion and fired another volley at the rebel on the second floor. The remaining rebels return fire.

First, your buddy attacks. Two archers, and a wizard, who'll shoot magic missile again.
[roll14] [roll15]
[roll16] [roll17]
[roll18]

Ok, we have five rebel archers, since the sixth turned to shoot at Demian. They are going to focus fire at the ones they can see, aka the group of NPC loyalists. Focus fire on the wizard, because magic is scary.
[roll19] [roll20]
[roll21] [roll22]
[roll23] [roll24]
[roll25] [roll26]
[roll27] [roll28]

Erhard and those following him arrive at the door. "Break 'er down!" he calls, and begins trying to hack the door down with his sword. Two loyalist fighters join in with their swords.

Erhad & Co. start hacking down the door. Anyway, rolls:
[roll29] [roll30]
[roll31] [roll32]
[roll33] [roll34]

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian grunts as the rebel's sword finds a gap in his armor at his armpit. With the roof beginning to cave, he doesn't have time to mess around with this last one. The big man raises his sword high over his head and brings it crashing down on the sole remaining rebel on top of the stable.

attack the remaining rebel (power attack, again): [roll0]
damage: [roll1]

If this somehow kills the dude, Demian will also start moving for the edge of the roof.

edit: the d20 loves me, the d8...not so much.

[omnitricks]

Kip looks around, the mess of the battle already affecting him as he doesn't know what he should do now. In fact he doesn't even know how his ally is faring and is unsure if he should wait for the reinforcements or make a break for it and for no other reason other than his brain being unable to issue any new commands he just does hes always been doing.

Whip, drag: [roll0]

I believe this would be a success soooooooo, drag maneuver successful. Kip moves a step back and drags rebel archer down the window along with him. Splat! For his move action he moves back to his original position behind the loyalist fighter he was helping unless the guy is dead which means Kip is running towards reinforcements.

[Falco1029]

Caleb attempts to cast Daze on the same archer that was affected by his ear piercing scream, if nobody's killed him yet, to keep him out of the battle.

He'll of course head into the tower once the door's opened.


DC is 15 for Daze

[Segrain]

Tilnior watched the exchange of arrows, shaking his head in disbelief. When had all those rebels suddenly learned how to properly use a bow? If they were going to continue shooting like that, soldiers in the courtyard clearly needed some help... but an arrow in his arm both reminded about enemy's marksmanship and prevented him from returning the favour. So, when a wave of energy reached him and restored the torn muscle, elf nodded gratefully - and rushed forward from his cover, taking a place in the formation and drawing the bowstring yet again.


6/8 hp.
Movement to V10.
Attack: [roll0]. Damage: [roll1].

[caesar193]

I'll be honest with you, when I originally planned this whole thing out I had thought that you guys wouldn't split the party. So, I thought I could automate the combat below or not bother at all, and simply concentrate on the PCs running around on the wall or something. Now I have to do rolls for half a billion NPCs... so to preserve my sanity, I'm going to start doing rolls with my own dice, just until things can be simplified a little.

The roof of the stable began to blaze in earnest, as the flames, with fresh air to devour, spread up the roof. With a yelp, the soldier next to Demian dived off the burning patch of roof. The rebel swipes his sword at him, but misses. Then Demian's sword arcs through the air, only to bite deep into the roof below. A couple tiles fall and scitter off to the ground below. The loyalist tries to strike, as well, and fails also.

However, the archer once more aims for Demian, and the arrow flies true.

A bunch of misses, except for the sharpshooter in the tower. Demian takes two damage. On a side note, the Prison wall is right on the north wall of the stable. I know the map doesn't show it, but its an option. About a ten foot drop on that side.

Kip's whip finally strikes true, snaking around a rebel's bow until it wraps around his hand and part of his arm. With a massive heave, the rebel falls forward and falls to the ground. The rebel in the doorway eyes this, and the soldier's storming up the stairs, and then calls back "They got reinforcements! Fall back!" The rebels retreat into the tower, and the loyalist in the doorway tries one last swipe but simply makes sparks against the door.

The rebels try to pull the door closed, but the loyalist, acting quickly, grabs onto it and pulls. Musceles straining, the door stays open.

Rebel retreat proc-ed an AoO from the loyalist, which missed. The loyalist then won an opposed strength check to keep the door open, so you don't have to break it down too. Yay for nameless NPCs! They're the true heroes. Anyway, if you want to make your AoO against the rebel, you can.

Sergeant Erhard pauses a moment from hacking the door down to eyeing the rebel archer that just fell at his feet. He then quietly stabs the rebel, killing him, before shouting up to Kip "Thank ya kindly!". Then he stands back a moment as the other loyalists finish chopping through. With a burst of splinters, a hole appears in the door, and then after a loyalist gives it one last kick, it collapses back. Those near the doorway see a group of rebels standing guard at the entrance, grimly holding their weapons ready.

The archers above, however, aren't done yet. Though Kip's whip and the other loyalists below took out three of their number, there is still two, and they focus their fire on the wizard, who after taking two arrows to the chest, collapses into the dirt.

Caleb's daze got one of them, the archers killed another, then Kip got the third. Anyway, in the actual doorway there's no combat, yet. Next round :smallwink:

[Falco1029]

The rush of healing energy seems to make Caleb just a bit more confident, his body language a little less tense and fearful, though he's still of course as worried as anyone else would be in the middle of combat.

As he sees bodies falling, arrows flying, and finally the door splintering open, Caleb takes a deep breath, moving forward behind the sergeant and other two to look at the four they can see by the door.

"Focus on whichever ones don't end up staring at me, or you'll break them out of it," Caleb says to the Sergeant and other Loyalists.

Taking a deep breath, he lets out a set of droning syllables, hands moving in an odd gesture. Once he's given it a few seconds to try and capture the attention of those inside (and maybe any archers nearby), he speaks up again more clearly. "Drop your weapons...." he tells them.



Total HD affected: [roll0]
Total rounds the Fascinated condition lasts: [roll1]
Will DC is 16.
Hopefully they won't all save!

Focusing on the four in the tower, and then any archers within 30 feet of that if any are left.

[The Hellbug]

This last rebel on the roof seems a little bit quicker than the last two, and Demian knows he doesn't have much time untill the roof goes down. This time, he takes a better aimed swing at the Rebel in front of him, hoping he can finish him before the archer can land any more shots.

Demian attacks again, no power attack this time: [roll0]
damage: [roll1]

[Segrain]

"Good, good. Now, our goal is to assist the advancement of our warriors", - Tilnior gestured towards the group hacking at the door; now that the arrow in his arm no longer clouded everything in sight with bloody haze, he could explain his thoughts more coherently, even though no less verbose, - "and there is little that the rest of their archers can do to stop it. Let us give one last volley to scare them away - and forward, looks like there are more targets inside." Setting the example as he spoke, the elf sent yet another arrow at the rebels in the windows - and, motioning his fellow archers to join him, followed the sergeant, eyeing the group blocking the door inside.


Attack: [roll0]. Damage: [roll1]. Confirmation: [roll2]. Bonus damage: [roll3].
Moving to Q9.

[omnitricks]

Seizing his chance Kip waits until the rebel scum reaches the doorway before lashing out with his whip in hopes that he would be able to trip him, even scum would make a good doorstop. Unfortunately both attempts to stop the rebels from manipulating the door fell short.

Trip: [roll0]
Extra roll tbd once I see if the first action succeeds: [roll1]

Must have used my good rolls on that other game.

[caesar193]

Demian's blade strikes true, and cleaves its way through a weak spot in the rebel's armor. The rebel's top half slides off, to clatter and fall off the roof. The bottom half crumples, and follows. Not a moment too soon, as the raging inferno spreads even further across the roof. The roof beneath both Demian's and his fellow soldier's feet catches on fire, and the soldier quickly jumps forward, but a little late as his feet feel the burning. The archer above eyes the two, before turning away to the loyalist's storming the tower's front.

"Come on!" he calls back to Demian. "The rebel's left these ropes up! We can climb up with 'em!"

Demian needs to make a DC15 reflex save to avoid taking [roll0]. If you take the damage, another reflex save to see if you caught fire and take damage until you put it out. That second save is DC 5.

Loyalist Fighter 1 failed his save (he rolled a 3), and took 2 damage.

Kip's whip flops uselessly once more, and the rebel easily dodges it. The sergeant running up the stairs arrives and calls to Kip and the soldier with him "Come, men! Storm the tower!"

The soldier next to Kip swallows heavily, before stepping into the doorway and attacking the nearest rebel, managing to make a thin cut on the rebel's chest.

A portion of the loyalist unit comes up to give aid (as seen on the map). Your buddy went in, and is currently blocking the entrance. He did 5 damage (the least he could do) to one of the rebels in the tower.

The archer at the top of the tower turns from Demian and looks down at the scene below. When the Tilnior's arrow strikes one of the rebels, another loyalist hits, and the third archer misses, the rebels return fire, but fail to hit. Meanwhile, at the base of the tower, one of the fighters stares at Caleb slackjawed, his sword falling from his hand and clattering to the ground. A loyalist fighter quickly steps forward into the doorway and attacks one of the armed soldiers and misses. The two rebels, still armed, quickly counterattack, but miss as well.

The rebel archers firing at you got naught a roll above 7. What terrible shots... Anyway, Caleb fascinated one of them (Rebel Fighter 7). As for the other melee combats, a bunch of misses.

[Falco1029]

"Give up, you fools! You know you're doomed at this point!" Caleb calls inside, eyes locking on the closest of the (non-fascinated) fighters, attempting to shake his resolve a bit.


Demoralizing!
Intimidate: [roll0]
Very unlikely I can fail unless they're hopped up on Wisdom, but here's hoping it lasts more than a round so I don't feel like I wasted my action!

EDIT: Okay I suppose. Oh and that'd be at RF6, since he's 'closest', and I see now you labelled which was fascinated.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian springs into action as the roof catches fire, sheathing his sword and grabbing the rope to begin scaling the tower, slow and steady. As soon as his ally joins him, Demain says, "keep it down, no need to give that archer reason to think we're coming."

[Segrain]

"At this point?" - Tilnior shifted closer to Caleb, looking at him for a moment as if pondering some deeper meaning in the sorcerer's words before turning back to rebels behind the doorway. - "True, true. But do you have to stand at this point and die for it? Here is an offer: those who would follow a good example of this man, drop their weapons and move from this point somewhither where they would be arrested to be judged later... would not get an arrow into the skull here and now. Or you can prefer to die in hopeless fight, of course..." - with that, the elf drew his bow yet again and aimed over the fighter's shoulders, ready to prove his words.


Moving to P9.
Readying an action: shooting at any rebel in sight on the first floor who makes an attack or otherwise takes an offensive action.

[omnitricks]

Seeing reinforcements on their way Kip decides it would be better to buy time for them to arrive and bring this little part of the battle to a conclusion. Judging it better to keep his companion in the fight rather than taking an enemy out since he has been failing miserably so far, Kip wildly flails his whip around his fighter ally in hopes of staving off any rebel scum who gets the bright idea of taking a chance against this person which has already stopped a few of them.

Kip aids another the fighter for defence: Messed up the roll and also the thread it should be below.

[omnitricks]

Thought I was doing this in the OOC. What a mess up.

The roll above:[roll0]

[caesar193]

I'm going to get rid of the stable's various floors on the battle map, because I'd imagine you aren't planning on going back in. The only person I'd imagine would need it would be Demian, but since he's in the process of flanking them from the top, its roof would probably finish burning before he needed it, so it'd be either a long fall or a long fall punctuated by crashing through weakened timbers and the possibility of catching fire.

TL;DR: I'm getting rid of the stable on the battle map and replacing it with the tower's third floor and top.

Demian

Demian and his fellow loyalist managed to reach the top of the rope without alerting the archer above. The soldier quickly peeked above the ramparts then lowered himself quickly. He then looked at Demian and then raised two fingers before pointing above them, and then mimed a chopping motion before pointing at the ropes.

And no, I'm not planning on decoding that for you. Should be pretty clear. As far as you know, since you haven't looked, the only person Demian knows might be up there is the archer that shot at him earlier.

Kip

His noble plans to help his comrade having failed, foiled by the wall his whip smacked against, Kip had to watch as the soldier took a sword to his gut. The loyalist stared down at the wound for a moment, before collapsing against the doorframe. The rebel that had done the deed quickly backed off a little bit, to form a defensive line holding the chokepoint. However, one of the new unit that came up quickly dragged him off to the side, to get him out of the way, before beginning first aid. Another fighter, armed with a longspear, stepped forward and stabbed at a rebel, but his target dodges in the nick of time.

And the rebel's scored a nice crit on your buddy! 24 damage, not too shabby. Anyway, your fellow soldier's don't have any plans other than to step into the rebel's chokepoint, so get ready for that I suppose.

Caleb and Tilnior

Caleb's words send an undercurrent of nervousness, but the cleric behind them calls out "Don't listen to them! Alkrine will see us through, for our's is the nobler and the holier ground!" He raises his hands, and a light emits from it, and spreads to the rebels, who grip their weapons with new courage and begin the attack once more. Tilnior spots an attempt to attack by the rebel on the left, and attempts to shoot him, but his arrow flies high. Not noticing the arrow, the rebels continue their attack, and the soldier in the doorway blocks one attack, which leaves him open to the second and the longsword slips through his defenses.

DC 16 spellcraft check to determine the spell the rebel cleric cast. If you make it, take a peek in this spoiler: It's Bless.
And the cleric tries to raise morale with his own words to counter Caleb's. Which doesn't work out too well. RF6 is shaken from now till he'd strike again. If it makes you feel useful, he'd have hit if he wasn't shaken
Tilnior rolled an 8 for his attack, which was less-than-helpful. A miss.

The rebel's attack did 7 damage to the soldier in the doorway, and his counterattack did 10.

[Falco1029]

"Alkrine has left you to DIE!" Caleb cries out in counterpoint to the Cleric's blessing, the last word punctuated with a strong gesture of his hands as another of those sonic screams is unleashed, targeted at the shaken soldier, who would hear a screeching, terrible sound far louder than the exclamation that carried it.

After the spell goes off, Caleb quickly whispers to the Sergeant, "We need to find a way to get them into or away from the doorway instead of trying to push through a bottleneck."

At the same time, he reaches into his bag, grabbing the flask of acid he acquired before this and doing his best to not let the rebels see it.


Ear-piercing scream on Shaken guy, hoping that -2 to saves makes him miss the DC 15 fort, get some double use out of it :P.
Damage: [roll0], half on save. Dazed if he fails, etc.

Move action to grab my acid flask, I dont think I'm within AoO range of anyone.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian nods at his fellow soldier's signaling. The element of surprise it is: just the way I like it. While he still has his ally's attention, Demian holds up three fingers and begins to count down to one.

When he reaches zero, Demian launches himself over the crenelations with a shout, hoping that the other loyalist does the same and rushes at the archer on the southern wall, drawing his blade as he does. Once he has overtaken the rebel, he attempts to fling him over the wall to his death.

Now, I'm pretty sure that's going to be a bull rush attempt (wish I could charge but I don't think I can coming over the wall like that), but, no matter how you skin it, it's going to take a combat maneuver roll. I do have the element of surprise, right? So no opportunity attacks from the other guy (or two guys I couldn't tell if my buddy was counting the archer or not)?

Combat Maneuver Attack: [roll0]

[Segrain]

"Your ground is holy and noble?" - Tilnior laughed, even losing his aim for a moment and sending an arrow too far from its target, but that did not worsen the elf's sudden mirth. - "Look around yourselves! The place where you are standing is a prison. The only ground more fitting to house a rabble like you would be a graveyard - whither, if such is your desire, we would gladly help you to relocate, oh man most holy and noble! But are all your warriors so eager to follow you thither? And are you willing to lead them at the front?"

Seeing the sorcerer reach for a flask, Tilnior nodded and took a step away from him. A learned alchemist, he knew too many substances that somebody could find useful in a situation like this, and knew that handling them is best done without any annoyances. However, he still had his bow, and shooting arrows over heads was not going to distract anyone too much.


Movement to O10.
Shooting at the cleric. Attack: [roll0]. Damage: [roll1]. Confirmation: [roll2]. Additional damage: [roll3].

[caesar193]

Kip

Once more trying to aid the defense of the soldier's trying to fight their way in, Kip's whip flashes past the soldier, and manages to dissuade an attacker from the left from hitting the soldier. The other rebel's attack is easily fended off by the soldier in the doorway. Counterattacking, the loyalist manages to score a hit on a rebel, leaving a vicious cut in the enemy's side.

Apparently, when I roll for Kip, he does better than when omnitricks does. Anyway, one rebel there is at full health and the other is disabled.

Demian

Upon vaulting over the wall, Demian finds three rebels- the archer and two fighters. Still, he charges forward and tries to slam the archer against the wall, but the archer ducks at the last moment. The loyalist mirrors Demian's movement and engages the fighters, swinging wildly and ferociously but missing.

Yeah, I was being intentionally vague with the loyalist's hand signals. He either wasn't counting the archer or didn't see the second fighter. Not giving away all my secrets.

Anyway, that was your surprise round, so Demian and the soldier can try to kill someone again before they can try and whack you back.

Caleb and Tilnior

Caleb's target clutches his ears and falls to his knees at the scream, uttering voiceless yells of pain. The other one, however, is unfazed, and quickly strikes back against the loyalist in the doorway. The rebel deals a vicious blow to him, leaving a jagged wound.

Tilnior's mirth seems to sill be affecting his aim, as his arrow once more flies off target.

Tilnior misses, and the only reason the rebel missed his fort save was because he was shaken.

The loyalist in the doorway was dropped to 0 HP.

[Falco1029]

Grinning as the fighter he unleashed the scream at falls to his knees, Caleb winces a little at the sight of the rebel striking the loyalist fighter.

Doing his best not to let it phase him, he rears back, acid flask in hand, and gets ready to throw it forward as soon as the Cleric does, well, anything.


Awesome re: the rebel only missing because of being shaken. Good to know it worked out so well :P.

Readied action: If the cleric takes any action at all, throw the flask immediately. Ideally hoping to interrupt a spellcasting if it comes to it. But regardless, can we count 'passing' as taking an action for the sake of a trigger? Basic idea is throw it no matter what, but during his turn.
Ranged Touch (Acid): [roll0]
Damage on main target if it hits: [roll1]

Edit: Forgot a -2 for a range increment (he's 20 feet away), but that's still likely to hit just about any level 1 touch AC out there, heh.

[The Hellbug]

The element of surprise gone, Demian realizes that he and his loyalist ally will be fighting an uphill battle against the more numerous rebels. He quickly dons his shield as he lines up a desperate slash against the archer to even the odds.

Move action to don shield then power attack the archer.

attack: [roll0]
crit?: [roll1]
damage: [roll2]
crit damage:[roll3]

[Segrain]

"What, do you have nothing to say for yourselves?" - Tilnior sighed. He could try to understand what kind of thoughts were there in the enemies' heads, he could attempt to draw them into a dispute, but he could not make them speak. Perhaps there were no thoughts, after all. That would had been not that much surprising after the tactics demonstrated so far. - "Then... let us not waste any more time."

At the word "us" the elf turned to look at the other archers in the courtyard. Were they still trying to exchange shots with those upstaits? He could keep supporting the group on his own, of course, but a lone arrow was not as impressive as archery should had been. Still, one bow was more than zero bows were, and so he aimed at the cleric once again.


Attack: [roll0]. Damage: [roll1]. Confirmation: [roll2]. Bonus damage: [roll3].

[omnitricks]

With one down, Kip decided it was time to go for the offensive and aimed his whip at the remaining rebel's foot hoping that with a strong enough thug the man will go down long enough for his ally to finish off the job.

Trip: [roll0]

Well we should keep you rolling then. I actually thought I replied last weekend but I guess the message didn't get through. Oh well.

[caesar193]

Demian

Demian's follow-up swing falls wide, cleaving into the ramparts and not even coming close to the rebel. Still, the archer also dodges, ducking udner the swing and stabbing with an arrow, but missing Demian's leg. His comrade, however, has better luck, and manages to graze one of the rebels. Meanwhile, they maneuever up, with one rebel engaging the loyalist and the other attacking Demian. However, even with Demian having to defend on two sides, the rebel still misses, his sword falling short. The other rebel fighter, however, does manage to hit, scoring a hit on Demian's comrade.

The archer and Rebel Fighter 12 are flanking Demian. The other fighter moves down to stop the loyalist with you from coming to help Demian.

Kip

The rebel Kip targets simply jumps over the whip as it flails too low, and then continues the fight. The loyalist in the doorway, seizing his advantage, tries to finish off the felled rebel, succeeding and beheading the enemy. The corpse collapses in seemingly slow motion. However, the other rebel has naught to do but continue the fight, cutting back at the soldier. Perhaps it was seeing his comrade brutally slaughtered that did it, but the rebel's attack was weak and easily dodged.

Your buddy scores a crit for all the damages and sadly doesn't take any in return. These rebels have terrible aim.

Caleb and Tilnior

The cleric before them begins whispering a prayer to Alkrine, and his hand begins to glow. But before he could touch another rebel, Caleb's acid vial flies true and the cleric's glow ceases as he yells in pain. The acid splashes to the three rebels guarding the doorway.

Tilnior looks back, and sees the various archers still firing at the rebels in the tower windows above. As he watches, a soldier is cut down by the rebel arrows. Still, he turned back and fired at the cleric again, and this time only barely missing.

The soldier in the doorway stabs again, missing a rebel, and the enemies counterstrike, bringing him down with a couple of strikes. The two loyalists behind him raise their spears and stab, with Sergeant Erhard encouraging them. One fighter manages to score a hit on the middle rebel.

DC 16 spellcraft check if you want to know what spell Caleb stopped from happening. And in other news, one of your buddies died. He shall be missed. And the rebels got acid-ed and stabbed, so yay you.

[Falco1029]

"Of course they don't, none of them truly belong on the battlefield. They're like whiny, violent children," he mentions to Tilnior, loud enough for the rebels to hear.

There's a grin from him as the acid flask strikes true, interrupting the cleric's spell. Figuring the loyalist spearmen can deal with the more martial rebels, Caleb focuses on the cleric, a quick invocation made as he attempts to Daze them, hopefully preempting any further casting attempts.



Spellcraft: [roll0]

Casting Daze again, on the cleric, DC 15.

[Segrain]

"That is true, in a certain sense", - Tilnior nodded behind the sorcerer's back. The elf's voice sounded aloof and distant, as if he was paying more attention to pondering the topic of the discussion than to fighting a battle for lives and deaths, - what, perhaps, explained his not quite imressive accuracy. - "However, this is not exactly a battlefield. Being stuck in a corner of a prison does not resemble standing in an open field that much, being outnumbered and slaughtered is far from deserving being called a battle...", - with that, he sent yet another arrow over the rebels' heads to their cleric, - "...although I have to agree on the subject of them being children. Real men in their place would had realised that their "battle" is futile and useless."


Spellcraft: [roll0] + [roll1] = 28.
Attack: [roll2]. Damage: [roll3]. Confirmation: [roll4]. Bonus damage: [roll5].

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Two one one, eh? You think that'll be enough from you cowards? Demian aims another full-strength swing at the archer, wounded but still confident.

Power attack the archer.
attack: [roll0]
damage: [roll1]
crit?: [roll2]
crit damage: [roll3]

[omnitricks]

Not as confident about taking down the filthy rebels than how confident he would be about getting killed if his ally were to fall, Kip decided to make sure that all the threats are thoroughly neutralized before putting his attention on other things and decided to flail his whip again.

Trip: [roll0]
Also are there still archers on the balcony within reach like earlier?

[caesar193]

Demian

Demian's sword cleaves empty air once more as the archer deftly evades his swing again. The archer tries once more to stab Demian with an arrow but fails. The distraction, however, lets the other fighter fighting Demian slice him wit his sword. The loyalist and the other rebel trade blows but neither manages to hit.

You don't have any luck this time around, do you? Three misses in a row. Anyway, they do have some luck, and you take 4 damage.

Kip

Kip's whip proves useless once more as he wildly flails it to no avail. The loyalist and the rebel trade blows once more, and they both manage to score a hit on each other.

A one's not going to get you anywhere. And there are some archer's left, but not any in reach. Unless you want to jump off the side, and whip an archer on the third floor or something.

Caleb and Tilnior

Caleb's spell hits the cleric, and the cleric's expression turns vacant. Tilnior's arrow goes wide once more. The rebels glance nervously behind them at the cleric before turning to fight once more. The two loyalists stab with their spears as the rebels try and defend. One loyalist hits, scoring a deep hit on the middle rebel. Dazed, the rebel doesn't fully register as Sergeant Erhard steps forward and brings him down.

The spell you stopped was Cat's Grace. As for this round, the middle rebel (RF6) is now unconcious. Oh, and Tilnior misses again. But that's ok, because everyone here realizes that these are just warning shots, right? And the cleric is dazed.

[Falco1029]

Frowning a bit at the continued misses against the cleric, Caleb knows he can't keep him dazed forever; even an untrained rebel cleric generally has some degree of willpower, after all.

Hoping the loyalists can keep the remaining rebel fighters at bay, caleb decides to simply remove his sling and take a shot at the cleric himself.


Ah, the ministrations of a spell-less mage. Move to draw weapon, standard to use it.

Sling against Cleric: [roll0]
Damage if it somehow hits: [roll1]

[Segrain]

That was disappointing. Could none of these humans maintain a proper intellectual discussion and continue doing what they were doing at the same time? Was trying to kill each other so much more important to them then actually being right - and being on the right side? Their lives were so short, how could they waste any amount of time on something lesser than what truly mattered? Of course, some of them probably just were stupid enough to be wrong and not care about it, but surely not all of them...

...of course, no matter how short their lives were due to human nature, being in combat could make them even shorter. Maybe it was distracting them. Perhaps concentrating on that could demonstrate that their efforts were futile either way? Tilnior had nothing better left to do, after all, and his chosen target was yet to receive at least one of his arrows.


Once again at the cleric.
Attack: [roll0]. Damage: [roll1]. Confirmation: [roll2]. Bonus damage: [roll3].
Warning shots. The warning is "he should not had been given a bow".

[The Hellbug]

Demian

The rebel's sword finds a gap in Demian's defenses, and as he prepares to launch a counterattack, a wave of dizziness comes over him. He glances down at the wound, that's an awful lot of blood...

Today's not my day to die, the fighter thinks to himself, raising his shield and concentrating entirely on defending himself. Hopefully, his allies will reach him in time...

Total defense and a five foot step out from between the two enemies, putting Demian at an AC of 23 for this turn. Maybe he'll go for the suicide attack if it gets down to one guy.

[omnitricks]

"Back up is coming. You got everything in order here? Good" Kip said without waiting for a reply from the fighter before jumping off to the floor below and throwing his whip forward at another rebel by the window which is now in reach in hopes that would somehow break his fall and do some damage to those scum at the same time.

Acrobatics: [roll0]
Grapple/reposition/whatever: [roll1]

Edit: I hate this $%^&*! forum's die roller. Anyway obvious miss is obvious miss and I take a 1d6 nonlethal from the fall the GM can roll unless its more than 10ft.

[caesar193]

Demian

His efforts of defending himself prove successful as the archer and the rebel's weapons each clang against his shield. The two others trade blows once more, neither getting a hit. Then, from below, a rebel calls "We're good!" and the rebels begin to creep towards the stairs.

Maybe your allies manage to fight their way through (at least) two floors worth of enemies, which all have a bottleneck and good defenses set up, to save you? Since there's more than just that between them and you (well, in a manner of speaking), I'm thinking it might be time to throw Demian a bone. Which might explain what's happening above.

Anyway, they all take five foot steps, so sorry, no AoOs, and no damage since no one was hit.

Kip

"Wait, what...?" the sergeant said, and then watches Kip's jump. Upon landing, the sergeant hollers down "We have stairs for a reason, ya know!"

As for Kip, he watches as his whip somehow doubles back upon itself and hit only air. His intended target, the archer, simply watches in bemusement before returning fire on the loyalists below. He lands upon a soldier below, and after a confused moment of tumbling and tied up limbs he finds himself in the corner of the tower and the wall.

Wow, you really went for it, didn't you? I was only being half-serious with the jump thing. Anyway, from the fall alone you take 5 damage. But, sadly, you also landed on one of our loyalist friends. He takes some damage too. 4 of it, unless someone can find somewhere where it rules how much damage you take from being an improvised trampoline (I just went with 1d6). Kip moves to M8, since he rolled nicely off all the sharp pointy things the soldier was carrying (say thank you for me not rolling to see if you got skewered on the soldier's spear). Oh, and you got a 1, so everyone's looking at you like you're an idiot. I mean, if you got anything close to successful I would have given you style bonuses and had you succeed, but I can't do much with a 1.

Though I do have to thank you. Now the party is only split into halves, not thirds!

Caleb and Tilnior

Caleb and Tilnior both attempt to fire at the cleric, and only one manages to score a hit- the sorceror. The whack with the slingshot seems to wake up the Cleric from his stupor, and he starts, looking around, and sees the wounded soldier before him. He then calls upon Alkrine and extends his hand. A holy glow emits, and the soldier stands up, ready for combat. After doing so, the cleric whispers an order to his rebels and disappears from view.

The rebels exchange blows with Sergeant Erhard, none hitting. Erhard tries to knock down the middle rebel once more, but misses.

I got a good chuckle out of Caleb hitting and not Tilnior, which is the good news because it means I'm merciful and decided to take away the source of Tilnior's bad luck. AKA the cleric. The bad news is that he healed Rebel Fighter 6 back to fighting status.

[Falco1029]

Letting out a curse in Draconic, Caleb tries to follow where the Cleric's going with his eyes, knowing a good healer can turn the tide of battle if let loose. However, he isn't about to try to push past the warriors, all of which are now standing.

For now, he casts Daze again, hoping to keep the Sergeant from taking too much of a pummeling, targeting the one that SHOULD be dead by now.



I thought that might happen, based on our rolls, and I find that hilarious too. Too bad a sling does so little damage when wielded by said sorcerer XD.

Daze cast again on the guy that was nearly dead. I'm out of stuff to do. Someone explode these guys already. lol

[Segrain]

"Running away starts looking quite attractive now, does it not?" - Tilnior mused, watching the cleric disappear and lowering his bow to aim at the soldier who just returned into the battle. - "At least, it is preferable to being dead. Not everybody gets the second chance, you know... and hoping to get a third one is pure madness."


Attack: [roll0]. Damage: [roll1]. Confirmation: [roll2]. Bonus damage: [roll3].

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian continues to cautiously focus on defending himself and is secretly quite glad that the rebels appear to be retreating. Not to appear to be beaten, Demian calls after the retreating rebels, "quickly now! Wouldn't want someone to mistake you for real soldiers now, would we?"

[omnitricks]

On the bright side, Kip still isn't dead yet and he took a quick look around on the situation below. It looked kind of chaotic. While making a quick search around for any rebel which stood out, Kip who is probably much closer to the archers now than when he was at side decided to redeem himself hoping that being closer will make it easier to hit them.

I pretty much foresaw it given that throughout this game I have barely succeeded in anything due to terribad rolls. I'm pretty sure this is like my third 1 already and we aren't even 5 pages in.

Also why is there suddenly a loyalist to land on with the risk of getting skewered? There is no 'LF' icon on the map to actually show that there is someone there but since you didn't do it I'm not going to say anything especially when i don't really care about nameless NPCs lol.

Anyway because landing with non lethals won't make you prone, I can still move and attack so:
Perception (looking for a rebel officer barking commands or a spellcasting rebel): [roll0]
Grab/drag archer: [roll1]
Move action into somewhere with cover (or under the rebels if the window is blocking or something) with stealth: [roll2]
Otherwise move towards the archers.

[caesar193]

Demian

The rebels looked at Demian. The one said "Let's kill him quickly."

And as one, all three swing their respective weapons at Demian. However, his quick reflexes and his stout shield serve him well as he manages to defend yet again. The loyalist behind them yells and attacks the middle rebel's unprotected back, managing to score a deep hit.

Congrats, you managed to piss them off. You better hope your loyalist buddy gets some good roles and kills them off before they kill you. Like the one he got just now. 11 damage on the middle rebel (RF11), because you two are flanking him.

Caleb, Kip, and Tilnior

The middle rebel, even if he is dazed from Caleb's spell, still manages to dodge Tilnior's arrow. However, he dodged right into Erhard's sword. It bit deep, and the rebel falls to the ground, unconscious. The other two look down at their fallen comrade and run. Instantly, a thick cloud rises out of nowhere, blocking sight. Erhard steps forward and yells "Charge! Don't let them get away!"

The rebel archers above disappear as well, vanishing from their spots in their archery battle. Everywhere the rebels retreat into the depths of the tower.

The soldiers follow their Sergeant into the tower, one stabbing with his spear and finishing off the rebel.

First off, let's talk Kip. He jumped towards the tower to be in range and make it easier, so he landed on a soldier and rolled off him. I forgot to move Kip, he landed on N8 (that loyalist) and rolled to M8. Sorry for any confusion. That puts you on the ground floor. As for your various checks, you A) aren't in range to get an archer (unless you count Tilnior as a valid target), B) You don't see any spellcasters/commanding officers, but you do see a giant mysterious cloud appear. I mean, (and this is going to be highly sarcastic, by the way), Alkrine is known for its randomly appearing clouds on ground levels within buildings, so there couldn't possibly be a spellcaster in the proximity.

Oh, while we're on the subject of clouds, DC 15 Spellcraft check to figure out which one this is. If you make it, take a peek in this spoiler.

Its Obscuring Mist

As for Tilnior, have you managed to hit anybody with an arrow yet? For an elf, you don't seem to be very good with a bow. You missed him, but that's okay, Erhard knocked him unconcious and another soldier Coup De Grace'ed him. So he's down and out.

As for Caleb, same as Tilnior. He's dead. Daze didn't affect that much.

For everyone, they use the withdraw action to get away, so sorry, no AoOs. And now the first floor- and maybe others, not that you can tell- is covered in that cloud thingy. If Tilnior wants to try and hit a rebel through the smoke and prove himself worthy of holding his bow, he now also has to overcome a 50% miss chance from total concealment. Same for Kip, if Kip decides to run into the tower and whip someone.

The floodgates are open! Go take back your tower!

[Falco1029]

"Obscuring mist... be careful, but they won't be able to see any better than we can," Caleb mentions as that cloud fills the area, growling a bit at how quickly the rebels are retreating.

Running inside, Caleb tries to look around, but waits for the Sergeant and other fighter before progressing too far, given the mist and his susceptibility to pointy objects.


Uh, moved as shown, and can assume I'm readying an action to move again to follow the sergeant/fighters to the next floor. Not much I can do there without being able to see.

[Segrain]

Tilnior followed the others inside the tower, pausing for a moment to look at the finished rebel at the door. Were these humans so certain that they felt no need to interrogate their enemies? As far as he could see - and anybody else probably could see no further - that was not the wisest decision. But he was not the one with the knowledge of the area. Perhaps they were so sure for a reason.

""Get away"? Whither can they flee?" - Tilnior asked, stopping next to the sergeant, with his bow still in hands. - "Are there any other exits hence? Something that they could want inside? Which way are we chasing?"


Movement to M6. Readying another movement after the sergeant.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian grits his teeth as he continues his frantic defense and regrets his taunting. Hopefully, his allies will manage to get up to the top of the tower quickly to finish these rebels off. What was taking them so long anyway?

Uh-oh, I've gone and made it worse. Total defense is still the best option, being crippled and all.

[caesar193]

Demian

His shield proves stout as the rebels once more try to get past his defenses. However, each of their strikes strike his shield or miss completely. Behind them, the loyalist with Demian tries again to help his comrade, and scores a deep wound on one of the rebels. With a grunt, the rebel sinks into unconsciousness.

No hits on you. However, your buddy knocked RF11 unconscious with a solid whack to his back (11 dmg), so now you only have two people to worry about killing you. Or maybe they'll say "screw this," and run away.

Kip

Dazed from his fall, Kip curses at his misfortune. It had seemed like such a great idea at the time to jump and snag a rebel, but sadly it hadn't come to fruition.

Kip doesn't do anything.

Caleb and Tilnior

"How do you think they got in here, soldier?" Sergeant Erhard growled in response to Tilnior. "We'd've known if they had a frontal assault, which means the bastards snuck in here. They're entrance could be their exit. Now get after them! Stairs're on the right!"

Soldiers, as best as you can tell with the shifting clouds and mist, started streaming in, some heading up the stairs, the others searching the mist for the enemy. Some start upon finding Caleb, but stop themselves before trying to hit him.

Once some soldiers have traveled on ahead, Erhard begins to follow, stalking towards the stairs, muttering curses under his breath.

Perception check if you want to try listening for rebels or fighting on the above floor, it'll be a move action. Still get a standard to shoot an arrow/ray at a wall, though. Well, Tilnior would probably miss that shot anyway :smallbiggrin:.

[Falco1029]

"Don't get too discouraged, remember, we've got them on the run," he tells the fighters as they climb the stairs, listening as best he can for the rebels.


Perception: [roll0]

Using Standard for my Inspiring trait, giving the front loyalist fighter a +1 on his next attack or whatever else. Will use free action to help point out rebels, too, if I succeed and our NPCs fail.

And I'll take a 5ft step forward once someone else moves.

[Segrain]

"And their entrance is... where, exactly?" - the elf rolled his eyes, as if trying to see the aforementioned entrance through the ceiling. Not that there was much that he could see at all - but hearing did not suffer from the mist, only from having to endure the strange humane reasoning. ""They snuck in" does not exactly describe just how had they done it, and if they can sneak into a building without using doors...", - the thought was left unfinished. Partially because Tilnior assumed that every reasonable being could easily understand what he meant, partially because he was trying to concentrate on hearing anything from upstairs, and the sound of his own voice was somewhat distracting.

Not that it did him any good. The elf had no intention of running blindly into what could easily be another stupidly destructive design of those rebels, but humans, naturally, did exactly that. Well, if they were so eager, they could go ahead - he was fully willing to let somebody else take arrows this time.


Perception: [roll0].
Move action after all the soldiers.

[omnitricks]

Kip rushes in along with the rest of the loyalist forces in hope he can find the other rebels and cut them off before they can escape.

Perception (for sound): [roll0]

[caesar193]

Demian

The archer is about to stab at Demian when he looks to his right. He looks down at his unconscious comrade, and at the Loyalist's sword as he was pulling it out of his fellow rebel's almost-cleanly cut neck. The archer made the smart decision, and ran, jumping over the railing and swinging down to the floor below.

Well, it looks like I'm going to have to wait before killing off Demian. Sigh. Anyway, because Demian has the luck of the devil, the remaining two rebels rolled abysmally and the loyalist crit. For 36 damage. One hit KO, dead and gone. Goodbye RF12, you might be missed. Demian does not get an AoO against the fleeing archer since the archer ran acrobatically and dodges. Demian is in the clear. For now.

Caleb, Tilnior, and Kip

The tower is deathly silent as the Loyalists scale the stairs. All that can be heard is the stomp of boots on stone. Then, a cry pierces the mist, and the clash of sword on steel, before the two combatants realize that they both are loyalists. The soldiers gather on the second floor as Sergeant Erhard and the other meet, and fill each other in; the other sergeant's blockade of rebels had turned tail and ran as soon as the mist came as well. Together, the sergeants shout and curse at their soldiers to run up the next flight of stairs.

The second floor is full of Loyalist's as well, the ones that Kip was fighting with before he decided to jump off the wall. Moved you all on the map, and added some more details to the second floor/third floor layout. You can now see that the second floor has two doors and the stairs and all that. And we're almost done with the Prison, and Chapter One! Almost to level two, guys, and the point where Tsuni can jump in, so yay for a full five man team again. And for me, yay for no longer having lots and lots of people to deal with.

Anyway,

[Falco1029]

For the time being, Caleb continues along with the others, keeping an eye out as best he can, and preparing to cast a quick cantrip if he does notice any fleeing Rebels.



Just following again, will cast daze if any rebels decide to come back (readied action or whathaveyou)

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian breaths a sigh of relief as the last rebel turns tail dropping his shield arm to his side. "Good work you did there, comrade," he says as he sits down and leans against the crenelations, "sounds like there's still fighting below. Just give me a moment to catch my breath." Underneath his armor, Demian can feel the stickiness of his blood on his clothing, and it's not a particularly pleasant feeling. That coupled with the fact that he feels like he could keel over at any time makes him think that he might be needing more than a moment after all.

0 HP still sucks, but it looks like the worst is over.

[Segrain]

Tilnior stayed uncharacteristically silent, just listening to nonexistent sounds and following the other soldiers. There was no use to try talking when everything already was in such a disarray.

Not much to say here. Just moving with everyone.

[caesar193]

Demian

The Loyalist looks down at Demian with concern, and then manages to notice a trickle of blood running down. "Your hurt," he says, and then kneels down next to Demian with concern in his eyes. "You want me to take a look at that? I have some experience with wounds."

Caleb, Tilnior, and Kip

The soldiers within the tower follow their sergeant's orders and surge up the stairs, their boots thudding. Amid the hurried group are Caleb and Tilnior and Kip. They spill out the top of the stairs, and quickly see the what lay within the third floor of the tower.

The first thing they notice is the moonlight spilling through windows and, especially, the large, jagged hole in the north wall, and a stone bridge emanating from it. It ends at a tree, a massive oak standing about ten yards from the prison's wall. Along the bridge the soldiers can see the rebels running, their backpacks loaded with armor and weapons.

The second thing is the smell and the pools of dried blood, and most of the soldiers stop to force back vomit at the sight of their former comrades. The rebels had slit the soldier's throats and mutilated the bodies. Cuts and sharp, jagged wounds cover their naked bodies, for the rebels hadn't even left them their clothes in their greedy rush to loot them of valuables.

Then the sergeants get to the top of the stairs, and take in the scene. Erhard looks north, and pushes through the soldiers with sword in hand.

"Come on! They got nowhere to run!" Erhard shouted, and started to charge down the bridge of stone when a flash of light lit the sky, severing the bridge in half. Pieces start falling, and the bridge begins to buckle, and a figure swoops in through the night and lands next to the rebels. The person's staff glints gold in the light of the still-burning stables, and a small, shiny thing is perched on the figure's shoulder.

"Your move, Loyalists!" the figure shouts, before the rebels vanish from sight. All that is left is the crackle of the fire and distant moans of pain.

Since it makes things easier, and so nobody has to fill Demian in later, we'll say that he could see everything. Feel free to make any check you wish (or, since Caleb had readied Daze, he can try to Daze the figure who flew around- in which case, if it succeeds, we'll retcon things as needed), or do anything you want.

Oh, and the mysterious figure has been added to the spreadsheet.

[Falco1029]

Caleb would indeed make an attempt at dazing the figure, in the hopes that someone could potentially then more permanently disable them, for questioning.

[caesar193]

The figure is unaffected by your puny cantrip

[The Hellbug]

Demian




"Your hurt," he says, and then kneels down next to Demian with concern in his eyes. "You want me to take a look at that? I have some experience with wounds."


After the rebels' retreat by sorcery, Demian responds to his fellow, "That easy to tell, is it?" With a huff, the wounded warrior stands up, wincing in pain and eventually accepting any aid from the other Loyalist. "Treatment can wait if you can give me a hand on these stairs; I've had enough of the view, anyway."

[omnitricks]

Seeing the figure and the rebels retreating as they did filled Kip with rage. Ignoring how his compatriot's attempt has failed, Kip threw out a spell of his own accompanied with some rude words and gestures after.

Casting fumbletongue. Duration: [roll0]
If there is enough time Kip will also attempt a know: local on the figure since...how many people carries golden staves with them anyway? [roll1]

[caesar193]

Demian

The soldier stands up and helps support Demian, getting one of Demian's arms across his shoulders. "Easy, now..." the soldier says as they go down the stairs slowly, before they come upon the third floor room and its grisly scene. A couple soldiers still stand in the room, and start at their arrival before standing down.

Kip

Just after his closing remarks, Kip's spell strikes the figure, and manages to hear badly garbled words of magic before they disappear.

And the figure is gone. Nobody get's any more chances to stop the rebel's retreat. As for what Kip knows about the figure... well, a 7 isn't quite nearly high enough to get any new info beyond what you just saw. If someone who didn't just try and magic him (cough cough Tilnior cough) wants to roll a perception to see more about the figure, feel free. Or a spellcraft check if you want to know the exact spells the figure cast.

Anyway, perception checks from everyone! Or I could be convinced to allow a sense motive check instead. And then we'll see what happens next. He he he... :smallamused:

Everyone

"Damn it! Damn those Rebel scum!" Erhard shouted into the city. He turned around. "Right," he growled. "One of you go find me a rebel that's still alive. Sergeant, if you would kindly take your men and report in to the Warden, we'll search the tower and for other Rebels." The sergeant nodded, and shouted a quick command to his men and they started to leave the door.

Feel free to do as you wish. Go explore the tower, loot the rebels, or, you know, follow Erhard's orders, or whatever you want. Roll some dice, including that perception check I said above. Do some RPing. Chapter One is almost complete.

[Falco1029]

"Damnit," Caleb curses as the figure escapes, brow furrowed as he tries to make out who exactly that might have been, but his focus on spellcasting meant he had no time to really focus on him.

When Erhard tells them to find a rebel that's still alive, he's quick to volunteer, "I can manage that, sir," he assures him, before moving off to search through bodies for anyone still breathing. Of course, if he can find a working light crossbow amongst the bodies while doing so, he'll go ahead and grab that for himself, as well as seeing if the rebels are carrying any gold or anything else worth taking that's usable by him. He's no petty thief, but these are rebels and no longer hold a claim on these things anyway.




Perception: [roll0]
As mentioned, looting as he looks for someone still living. Won't bother taking armor or weapons he can't use, he'd rather that be gathered up for use by our soldiers.

[omnitricks]

Unhappy with the course of events, Kip kicks the nearest rebel corpse before heading over to the tower to have a look around.

Called perception: [roll0]
Perception at tower: [roll1]

Assume of nothing happens as a result of the first check or whatever, Kip is looking around the tower which is what the second roll is for. Also laptop just got fried so until I get it repaired in 2 weeks probably won't be able to check back here much although I still will since I can use the uni's computers.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian winces with every few steps down the stairs. "Hmph, I don't think I'm the one you need to worry about," he says to his ally as he gestures to the other nervous soldiers. The fighter tries to pick out faces that he knows in the crowd, wondering what became of the rest of his original group with Erhard.

[Segrain]

"How... curious", - Tilnior, following the disappearing figure with his gaze, returned an arrow into the quiver and lowered his bow. - "Is that... something that should had been expected to happen?"

His own expectations so far were not very close to reality. Even though his fingers still remembered how to shoot a bow, the rest of what he once learned was almost forgotten, concealed with a haze of years and decades. And even though he had to abandon peaceful life and take weapons in the actual combat, what humans were doing would had been beyond his comprehension even in better days. Hopefully, it was not beyond theirs.

At least, some of the orders were logical. If nobody could quite understand what had happened, finding somebody who knew the enemy's perspective could be quite enlightening. It also could be so much easier, would somebody had not gone through the trouble of ensuring that the fallen enemies stay fallen forever... but that thought, like many others, the elf kept to himself. He only nodded to the sergeant's order and went back to the battlefield, looking for somebody still alive.

Perception (on the figure, with inspiration): [roll0] + [roll1] = 13.
Spellcraft: [roll2] + [roll3] = 14.
Perception (if that is a separate check) : [roll4].

[caesar193]

The soldier with Demian, after asking Erhard for orders, says that he thinks there's a still-living Rebel on the roof. And so Erhard picks a couple of soldiers to go with him to the top of the tower, the soldier with Demian among them. They reach the top, and they examine the bodies Demian left behind, and find one's still breathing, though just barely. The rebel was unconscious, on the brink of death.

"Anybody here know healing?" grunts Sergeant Erhard, and the loyalist who was with Demian raises his hand before kneeling down and quickly makes some bandages out of another rebel's shirt. With some skill, the loyalist ties off some knots, and then brings the rebel back to the Land of the Living- and conscious.

The rebel groans, and the loyalist drags him to the north side of the tower, and leans him against the wall.

If you want to be among those chosen to head up to the roof, feel free to be so. Or you can take more time to search bodies or whatever else comes to your minds. I'm going to give anybody who wants to do something with the now-conscious rebel the chance to do so; I'll continue the action in a day or two.

Items found:
Caleb has discovered the loot of the century. A dagger, [roll0] copper pieces, and [roll1] arrows.
Kip manages to find even less than Caleb. You did roll a seven. He finds [roll2] arrows. And a single short sword (which happens to be of terrible craftmanship, and is fragile).
Tilnior's sharp eyes spot something about the figure. See the spoiler.
The figure had a bird perched on the figure's shoulder. The bird's feathers, however, were shiny and gleamed, as if they were some kind of metal).
Demian sees most of his original group. Evan Hale, sadly, is missing and is presumed dead. RIP, Evan Hale. He doesn't see a couple other soldier's, but they're probably on another floor. The PCs, surprsie surprise, are alive and well.

And the called perception check's results: only Kip noticed whatever it was that made me give you a chance to roll a perception check. So, Kip, whenever you're ready, check out this spoiler:
The spoiler's title is misleading. Its not what you saw, but what you heard. Unless your ears are lying to you, you think that you heard the distant sounds of metal-on-metal and... words, not that you can make out what those words are.

[Falco1029]

Caleb does indeed head up to help retrieve the unconscious man from the roof, though does check the other soldiers on the way, both in case there's somebody closer and just to see what they have on them. Not too happy with the meager pickings he does manage to find, he pockets the change, but will hand the arrows to whomever would need them.

"The first thing we'll likely need to ask him is who that figure with the staff was. I have a feeling he was someone important, given his comparative power," he mentions to the others while they get ready to question the man as he starts to wake up.

[omnitricks]

Eyes moving towards the source of the sound, Kip paused for a few moments thinking about what he should do next. Within the next few seconds it was as if he finally reached a decision and held his drums in front of him prepared for whatever might come as he heads towards the source of the sounds.

Kip moves towards the sound, stealthily: [roll0]

Also despite the drums being in front of him, Kip will instead ready himself to cast dancing lights as some sort of a signal above him if his stealthing fails (if the military has signs for this worked out that thats, that) and he gets attacked by rebel scums. If he is safe he will take the time to judge what is his next action

Edit: MY FIRST GOOD ROLL! WOHOO! I guess the dancing lights wouldn't even need to go up now.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian follows the other soldiers back up to the roof, but his progress is slow as he leans against the wall with each step. He reaches the top just as the rebel wakes up. Taking a seat with his back against the battlements, Demian jokes, "no need to be gentle with him. He and his buddies were willing to give me a pretty hard time, and I wouldn't mind seeing him squirm."

He then turns to Caleb and asks, "so you all didn't see where these bastards came from either, eh?"

[caesar193]

Keeping things moving. If Tilnior wanted to do something before this, then tell me what he did in a spoiler, and we'll handle things from there. But for now... :smallamused:

Kip

Following the source of the sound, Kip stalked down the stairs and out the tower. The courtyard was becoming more and more full of soldiers in full armor, stumbling out in confusion as they watched the stables burn. The other unit involved in the fight for the tower started telling the others of what had happened, and some soldiers began to turn around and return to bed. But Kip had heard and noise, and noted that the east part of the courtyard was strangely absent of soldiers.

And then an all-mighty CRUNCH shook the earth, followed by curses amongst the soldiers.

The source of the sound was a little far away, and you weren't able to reach it in time. There's a lot of soldier's between you and the east half of the courtyard, so it counts as Difficult Terrain. As I say below, you're still close to the base of the tower, so the east courtyard is about 150-200 feet away (to get to the action, 150-250 feet)

The Others

Sergeant Erhard grunts at Caleb's suggestion, before leaning in towards the rebel.

"Now, you piece of traitorous scum," he begins, spitting at the rebel's feet. "I got some questions before I hand you over to the Palace Dungeons. You 'eard 'bout those, eh? We got the best... investigator's money can buy to ask you as many questions as you can take. And by the time their through, you'll be able to take quite a lot. So before I have to wait for my superiors to answer my questions, why don't we cut out the middleman and have you answer them for me?"

The rebel's eyes shine with fear, before nodding quickly.

"That's what I thought you'd say."

But then, interrupting Erhard's speech, comes a massive splintering from below. The sound, its faint, and from far away, but you can tell how loud it must have been up close. The soldier's at the top of the tower turn, and rush to the tower's edge to look down below.

"That's... that's why we're here," the rebel said to deaf ears. "We were the distraction."

Those among the crowd looking down watch in amazement as the east doors of the prison, previously burst and rent in twain, lay trampled under the feet of the prisoners you were supposed to guard. Among the crowd, far away, you can see the glint of armor and weapons- rebels, an easy guess to make. Soldiers, who had been coming out to aid the fight for the tower, turn in the field to rush the prisoners, but its all ready too late. Some prisoners, armed with the loyalist's weapons, started fighting back as best they could against them. But weak as they were, all they could do was hope to slow the guard just long enough for the... was that a battering ram? To do its work on the eastern gate.

For mapping purposes, unless you can teleport, I'm pretty sure its unlikely that you'll be able to reach the grand escape. If Tilnior wants to try an arrow, be warned that he might hit a loyalist and that its somewhere between 150-250 feet away.

[Falco1029]

Caleb listens closely as the rebel is questioned, but of course, before any real answers are drawn out, there's that splintering sound, which draws him over to look towards it just like it does most everyone else.

"Damn it... since when are they this organized?" he rhetorically asks nobody in particular. Lacking any magic of consequence right now, and not confident in his ability to use his sling well enough to make any difference here, he turns back towards the sergeant, unable to do much more than wait whatever orders he might have.

[caesar193]

"Damn," Erhard grunts, before turning around, back to the rebel. "Okay, scum-" But is interrupted by a single sight. The rebel lay on the ground, a knife in his chest, one hand still grasping it's hilt.

Erhard roared in anger, spewing curses.

Yeah, that rebel had no desire to be questioned. I rolled perception checks for you, but no one really got close. Rolled under 5 for all the PCs. But then for the second round of perception checks, you 3 in the tower aced it.

Erhard's knife sheath is missing it's knife. And the knife itself is clearly of good make, probably military.

Below the tower, for those still watching, the outer wall's gates fall down. Not designed to be broken down from the inside, they are quick to fall. The rebels and prisoners start to stream out, all pretense at discipline dying immediately in their haste to run. The Loyalists try to cut them off, and manage to keep some prisoners in, but the majority get clear. Shouting insults over their shoulder's, the rebels escape into the city.

And that's it for Chapter One! If you still want to do something in the tower or prison or whatever, now's your chance. If there's nothing else you want to do, then (since we're basing level off milestone rather than XP), then you all get to reach level 2. Congrats! As soon as everybody's leveled up, we'll continue on to Act the First, Chapter Two.

Also, I'm putting a player's page on the spreadsheet. If you can, throw your character in there. It's so I don't have to go back and forth from tells OoC thread if I need to look something up, like perception modifiers.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

It looks like theater has moved and there will be no more action for Demian and his allies. The wounded soldier smirks at the sight of the escaping prisoners. Even if the likes of Erhard are agitated by the escaping prisoners, Demian can't help but find the situation somewhat funny. Looks like I wasn't destined to rot in that cell either way, he muses, they won't make it far, though. Far better to be up here than getting cut down like dogs.

Well, staying in Erhard's good graces probably couldn't hurt. "Orders?" Demian asks, already suspecting that the irate sergeant won't have anything for the other loyalists.

[omnitricks]

Using the distraction the chaos provided, Kip continues making his way towards the east courtyard taking care to not run into any other trouble which might inadvertently drag him in.

I'm guessing this works unless its a fight? it isn't exactly clear over here

[caesar193]

"They haven't changed, far as I'm concerned," Erhard replied. "Defend the tower. Ain't really our problem if there's nobody to keep from escaping. Secure the tower, clean things up a little. 3 men per floor, four on roof. We'll wait for orders from up the chain in command or until daybreak, whichever comes first."

Erhard sighed, before surveying the scene once more. "Search parties will go out. Maybe we'll be part of 'em, so grab some rest while you can."


Kip managed to push his way through the soldiers, almost tripping over a fallen body at one point. Eventually, he came to the outer walls, and followed it to the gates, shattered as they were. All ready lieutenants and others were ordering together units and platoons to bring back the prisoners. Next to him is a small set of stairs leading up to the gateroom, where the gate mechanisms are kept.

If you stick around, you'll probably end up being forced to join the others in search parties. If you want to do something with that, then feel free. If you do, we'll have to handle it quickly to keep you in line with the other PCs. Or you could always turn back and report in to Erhard before he starts worrying about you :smallwink:

[omnitricks]

Taking a quick glance around Kip saw there are no other rebels, thank the gods. He considered joining one of the search parties being organized and decided against it after he remembered his poor performance today. Spotting the stairs by him he decided to follow it through hoping to get a better vantage point or find some clues about the attack.

Your choice I guess. I personally don't mind more chances for loo- I mean information and stuff.
Perception: [roll0]

[caesar193]

Kip

Up the stairs was the wall. A couple soldiers were up on the wall, doing their best to evade notice. When they see Kip, they start, and begin to snap to attention, before realizing he didn't have a rank. So they sank back down to their various slouches and got back to the important things of life- gossip.

Besides the soldiers, there is also a gateroom. Its door remains stout, and hasn't been broken in. Further investigation will reveal it being locked and barred- to prevent it being conquered.

You can't see much of anything up here. I would let you have a chat with the soldiers, but I'm sure everyone else would like some of the spotlight too. So I'm going to assume Kip strolls back to the tower where he left his comrades, and we can move on with our (or their?) lives.

Everyone

Eventually, the chaos settles and order is established. The soldiers under Erhard's command are sent back to their barracks, while Erhard is interrogated to find out what happened. A couple other units have been assigned the unenviable job of 'cleaning-' and they give you looks as they carry the fallen loyalists found within the Prison outside. The next morning, the search parties begin to return, bringing with them some groups of prisoners. However, the majority of them had escaped- along with the rebels. The ones recaptured are summarily executed.

All the soldiers of the prison are tasked with fixing the prison. Hard work, it was with joy that Erhard's unit was given there orders to transfer to a different base. Set in the city proper, its main duties were maintaining order in the city proper- and providing the prison with its prisoners. There, over the next week, they patrolled Alkeros and watched, first hand, how the spread of rumors affected the populace. The Prison, what was once an imposing and ominous reminder of control, had been breached. The Rebellion was powerful- and were recruiting.

Eventually, Erhard's unit received their bonus for the prison fight- 300 gold each.

Quick note on setting- the soldier's of Alkeros main source of pay is from Battle Bonuses and not their regular salary. After each battle, the soldiers would receive a portion of the the loot. So that's why you're getting 300 gold. Go buy stuff. Also- don't expect to be at any WBL numbers any time soon. There is a reason, and it'll become abundantly clear... soon :smallbiggrin:.

Also, this officially concludes Chapter One. Congratulations, and welcome to the team, Tsunamiatunzen1! From this point on, you're free to post. Once I get another post in to start off Chapter Two officially.

[caesar193]

Act the First, Chapter Two

"WAKE UP, YE SONS OF #%&!*ES!" Erhard's voice is, like always, a refreshing way to begin your day.

Erhard waits patiently for your unit to assemble at the foot of your bunks. "Now, normally today, we patrol the streets. But we have new orders. I'll be waiting for you in the Operations Room in five minutes. Don't be late."

He turns on his heel and stomps out of the room. The other soldiers quickly start throwing on their armor and strapping on their equipment.

You have five minutes, which isn't a whole lot of time. So I'm going to jump to the Operations Room. If you want to use that five minutes for anything special, go for it. I'm going to give you all some time to file into the Operations Room, which I'll describe for those of you who stroll in promptly.

Oh, and all your consumables have been restocked, HP is back to max, and all that lovely business.

The Operations Room

In the front of the room stands Sergeant Erhard, waiting. While he stands, he slowly sharpens his sword with a whetstone, glaring at anyone who comes in. Two benches, one in front of the other, are in the back of the room. And an unknown man is all ready sitting in one of them, wearing a cloak that obscures most of his features.

That's you, Tsuni. The man there, that's Ian Moone. Feel free to retcon your appearance as needed.

[Falco1029]

Caleb had been happy enough to transfer and end up in more of a patrolling job than needing to keep watch over the prison, or needing to clean up after that whole mess, for that matter. He's not exactly one for that sort of labor, after all.

Still, even after a bit of time, getting up this early has been taking some getting used to, and the loud voice of the Sergeant causes him to cringe that morning, grumbling to himself. He reaches to the side of his bed, grabbing the loose clothing he wears, as well as the light crossbow he'd managed to purchase with his bonus. A couple of scrolls of mage armor are among his things as well, for that matter, something he figured would be good to have at the ready if they ever find themselves expecting combat (if they'd ever be so lucky as to know it's coming).

Silently for now, he's quick enough to head off towards the operations room, not quite in his usual talkative mood yet as he takes a few swigs of water, focusing his mind. Not being a wizard, he thankfully has no need to try and, you know, read dozens of pages of a spellbook to ready his magic.

As he gets into the room, he gives the unfamiliar figure a curious look, but then just goes to sit down in a free seat, waiting patiently.

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Shadi (a.k.a. Ian Moone) grinned from underneath his hood in the same way as a cat would as it looks at a mouse. His garb speaks of one accustomed to the slums. Leather armor peeks out from his shirt. Probably some sort of thief or pickpocket is what first comes to mind.
Overconfident, loud, possibility of ambush: high, threat: low. Means of survival from recent jail-break incident: Unknown.
A rather whiny and slums-accustomed voice greets your ears as Ian begins to make Shadi known.
"Now, now, it don't do any good ta yell at 'em. A good attitude'll get 'em ta come along much betta'. 'Sides, we got time. Now I'll just take th' time ta take a nap so I don't have ta listen to ya and since I can't be up and about with what I'm usually doin'."
He peeks out from under his hood in order to get a better at Caleb.
Reconsider hood. Field of vision highly hindered.
"Oh hey, I'm Mr. Shadi. What's yours?"

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian is quick to rise at the sergeant's orders. The unit's recent assignment to the city has suited him fine--far better better than rebuilding the prison at least; he'd rather leave that to the masons. The city, however, was something else. Demian's only visit to the city was viewed through the bars of a prison cart as he was transported to the city's magnificent courthouse for his trial and promptly back to the prison to rot for the rest of his days. The city streets buzz with potential, people of all kinds mingling in a common ground, which draws a stark comparison next to his rural upbringing. The patrols have been somewhat boring so far, though he does enjoy the way people look at him and his allies, with a mix of respect and trepidation.

After getting up, Demian rolls his left shoulder before donning his armor; it has been stiff in the morning ever since it healed from the brutal gash he had received from a rebel blade at the prison, and he's not sure that stiffness will ever go away fully. The breastplate that he straps on is new, commissioned from the garrison's blacksmith for a hefty price, but, after the nearly lethal encounter at the prison, any extra bit of protection seems worthwhile. The warrior reflects on the fact that his first payment has been nearly spent between that and the new weapons he had purchased (the army's standard issue sword didn't fit in his hand like a good battleaxe). With his heavier armor, Demian is the last to be ready to leave for the operations room joking as he gets ready to leave the barracks, "what are you all waiting for? Let's go!"

___________

Demian follows Caleb into the room and is also somewhat surprised to see the stranger alongside Sergeant Erhard. The cloaked figure's babbling immediately grates on Demian, but he doesn't mention anything yet, waiting for Erhard to explain his presence.

Took care of some purchases. Picked up a breastplate and some new weaponry for 234 gp.

[caesar193]

Once everyone settles in, Erhard steps forward. "We got a special visitor today. Please welcome Lieutenant Cyril."

As if on cue, an immaculately dressed gentlemen walks in. "Stay seated, please," Lieutenant Cyril said with a large smile. He looks around the room, and then spots Caleb. "Hey, now, Erhard, you didn't mention that you had old Trenton's lad! Say hello to your old man for me when you see him next, will you, lad?" He smiles, almost patronizingly to Caleb, before moving right along.

"So, I hear you lads were involved in that prison break. Nasty stuff that. My wife was worried sick when she heard, with all those unsavories back out on the streets! I'm sure it took us all by surprise to see the rebels were that strong! And that motivated. Don't know why they have such problems with our glorious King, but some people... Anyway, one of our lads from the, shall we say, investigative branch picked up a couple of rumors that bare, well, investigating. If you will please welcome to the front, Mr.- I'm sorry, I don't quite remember your name?" He asks, looking at Ian Moone.

If you've forgotten what Ian's discovered prior to this, then I'm happy to remind you. Other than that, welcome to the stage, Ian Moone! I hope you didn't forget your speech :smalltongue:. Time for a nice monologue.

[Falco1029]

Caleb looks over at Shadi as he's addressed, quirking a brow slightly given the man's veiled appearance. It takes him a moment, but he does indeed answer, "Caleb Trenton," he says simply, giving a nod in response to his own introduction. Not anyone he's heard of, but that's not terribly surprising to him.

Leaning back a bit, he nevertheless keeps himself sitting straight, posture naturally well defined, as he watches Sergeant Erhard.

The Lieutenant gets a bit more of his attention, though, as he comes in, though one can see him mouthing 'lad?' with a clearly non-approving expression on his face, though he quickly clears his throat and says, "Of course, sir," rather than making any actual audible deal out of it.

Whatever the case, he quickly focuses on the explanation given, eyes moving from him to Ian, once he's introduced as having the information that apparently they're going to be looking into. Either way, he's glad to perhaps have a mission dealing with investigation rather than guarding or fighting, depending on the specifics.

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Ian/Shadi stands up to address the ones in the room.
"Shadi'll do. Hm, now where ta start... Oh! Well, there's been some strange activity going on in South Alkeros. I'm supposed ta bring ya down there ta find a rebel group. Now jest ta make myself clear, I don't think it's necessary ta go storming it like a bunch of drunken trolls."
He then pulls out his dagger and begins to clean out his nails.
"Oh, and I will be 'specting proper compensation for my services. It ain't cheap ta get this kind of information and sticking my neck out fer ya."

[caesar193]

"Yes, yes, you lads'll be paid once the job's done." Cyril looks around the room with a faint smile. "So, Shadi here will lead you down there to the rebel group. After the Prison incident, we need to show the commoners that we refuse to take such acts of barbarism lying down! Get down there, and capture as many rebels as you can. We want to hang them for their crimes, and show the plebs that we are still strong! Oh, and get some information. But that's a secondary objective. I'm sure men like Shadi here-" he claps Ian on the back "-will all too happily root out the rest of this infestation. Naturally, Sergeant Erhard will be in charge, but I don't want any of you to just blindly follow orders! So, any questions? Caleb, how about you?"

Sorry for the extended holiday break. Back into the thick of things we go!

[Falco1029]

"Actually, I do," he says, since he was called out by name, glancing to Tilnior a moment and then back, "What are we expecting, with regards to armament and numbers? And for that matter, where exactly are they located? Do we know the sort of building they're centered in, defenses, that sort of information?" he asks.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian nods along with Caleb's question, though he doesn't expect to get a straight response from the Lieutenant; it seems far more likely that Shadi will be the one with the exact specifics, if there are any at all, on their assignment. Meanwhile, Shadi's initial grating on Demian has solidified, and the soldier glares somewhat at the newcomer. Don't know why we have to trust guys like him, he thinks to himself, deciding to keep an extra close eye on the informant, probably just as likely to stab us in the back as bring us to the Rebels. Hells, maybe he'll do both!

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Ian notices Demian's glare and decides it more beneficial to try a slightly different tactic.
Negative response. Adjusting persona. Good reason to remove sight restriction.
Shadi takes on a slightly more open approach by raising his hood enough for the group to see his dark brown eyes.
"Well, ta be honest, I was thinking tha whole mission was figgerin' that out since I jes been seeing some people wrapped up like burlap sacks going into one alleyway. I know tha' district is real closed off so ya need ta be careful since they've got their own community down there. So clean that dirt is afraid to go in there."
He gives another grin and a sly look. After all, Shadi was somewhat arrogant and couldn't take things seriously.
" 'Xcept I'd understand if ya got scared. Heck, I was scared goin' in ta a place that makes my job harder. But aaaaanyways-"
He then hops over to the door and gives a mock bow.
"Shall we brave tha darkness?"
He glances up without rising.
"If'n ya be ready?"

[caesar193]

"I like your spirit, Sha... er, young chap! Onwards and upwards, my father used to say!" Lieutenant Cyril said. "Unless there are any further questions for me, I'll leave your sergeant in charge! Good luck, lads, and good hunting. Don't forget, try'n bring back one or two of the rebels in charge back alive!"

If nobody else wants to talk to Cyril, he smiles, waves, and strolls out the door with the easy gait of someone who isn't about to head into dangerous combat.

"Right," Erhard grunts. "You heard the Lieutenant. We don't have to like it, but we got to do it. Bring 'em back if you can, but if you can't, well... I'd rather see a dead rebel than a live rebel and one of you dead on the ground. Keep your wits about you, and let's get this thing done. Shadi, your in front, lead us to the rebel's lair. The rest of you, to the citizens, we're just a regular patrol. So we'll need to do regular patrol things on the way. If we see a fight or a theft, we'll need to stop it. If we see a mob, we'll need to disperse it. But you lot should know the drill by now. So let's move out, ye sons of dogs!"

[omnitricks]

Capture the rebels? Alive? What a disgusting idea. Those rebels were scum and all of them without any exception need to die.

Obviously Kip wasn't in with the plan but he wasn't going to express his dissatisfaction right away.

Kip gives a quick salute in affirmation to their new duties and excuses himself, donning the orc disguise he normally uses when he works in an official capacity.

[Falco1029]

Caleb doesn't seem particularly satisfied with the general lack of further information provided by Shadi, but doesn't say anything else about it, fairly used to having to get things done himself when others fail to manage it.

So for now, he gives a nod at the Sergeant's followup, standing back up and getting ready for their 'patrol'.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian nods in understanding through Erhard's plan. If he thought it was a good one, who was he to disagree? Plus, taking a live rebel shouldn't be too difficult; they were fairly willing to be taken alive before

__________

As soon as they are on patrol, Demian brings up something he had been wondering about. "Caleb, what was the Lieutenant talking about there, about your father?" he asks, "did you know him before you signed up?"

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Ian does little more than straighten himself.
"As you wish."
He then leads the group to the small alley via the main streets.
Least amount of attention for a 'patrol' of this size.
He continues to keep an eye out for any suspicious characters that may be following the patrol or, even worse, him.

[roll0]

[caesar193]

Shadi leads them through busy thoroughfares. The people give the soldiers a wide berth, keeping a wary eye on the soldiers. Some mutter under their breaths as the group pass, but none can make out what they say.

Then the group strode into large square, filled with people. Merchents hawked their wares, citizens went about their business. Almost immeadiately, a young man, head turned over his shoulder, crashed into the patrol.

"Sor-" he begins to say, but then his eyes bulge when he sees who he hit, and quickly took off once more. From behind the loyalists hear shouting- someone yelling admidst a hundred shouts "Thief! Thief!"

You all rolled extremely poorly for perception, so the thief gets the surprise round. He uses it running. However, you won initiative, and its time for your action. The crowds count as difficult terrain, so unless you do some crowd-dispersing tactic, you'll be running at the same pace.

I'm popping the marketplace into the spreadsheet battlemap now. Your characters can start in any square in the outlined rectangle (V through Y, 6 through 10). Once all of you have gone, I'll add in your comrade's movements.

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Ian was not quite sure what was going on, but he decided he couldn't let a thief get away. After all, it would be good to have some friends in the lower realms of the city as a contact.
"Pardon me gentlemen."
He quickly dashed off after the thief in an attempt to catch them, doing his best to weave through the crowd.

I'm assuming I need to roll an Acrobatics check to move normally through rough terrain.
Acrobatics: [roll0]
O.K. I'm going to try and grapple him if I'm in range.
[roll1]
Aaaand... where is everyone? I'm not sure where we are on the map.

[omnitricks]

In reaction to the shouts of thief, an orc (actually Kip in disguise) among the guards takes up a yell as well.

"Citizens. We are here for your protection. Please allow us to apprehend the criminal scum and you can go on with your day."

Full round action for diplomacy DC 15 to direct the crowd to make room for the party to catch the thief.

Diplomacy: [roll0]

[Falco1029]

Likely not too surprisingly, at the accusations of a thief, Caleb whips his head in that direction rather quickly, and almost as if by instinct attempts to cast a Daze spell on the man, hoping to catch him off guard and allow the more physically focused of the group to apprehend him more easily.

Daze DC is 15, we've done plenty of this before. Caleb's remaining at the edge of the crowd to start with.

[caesar193]

The populace look up at the orc that stood before them, and turned in ran, a hint of fear coloring their retreat. Through the open gap Ian saw his opportunity, and ran and tackled the thief. The thief tried to fight back, trying to punch backwards at Ian, but missing wildly and hitting the cobbles.

Then Caleb's spell hits the thief, and he goes limp.

Sergeant Erhard waves the other soldiers forward, and hands Ian a pair of handcuffs. "Throw these on him. Then we'll search him."

Thief's AoO against Ian: [roll0]
T's AoO Dmg: [roll1]

Will save vs Caleb's Daze: [roll2]

I interchanged Kip and Ian's turns so Ian could reach the thief. I doubt you'll complain. Anyway, if Caleb doesn't want to blow a spell on this thief since he watched Ian grapple him, I'll let you retcon that to keep your spell. Of course, if you still want to Daze the thief, then, well, fine by me! The less spell slots you have, the better :smallamused:

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Ian takes the handcuffs with only a slight bit of hesitation.
This could make things more difficult. Perhaps I could strike a bargain for his freedom later if he proves useful? Option cataloged.
After all, no telling if he really is a thief or not. Appearances can be very deceiving... I should know.
"Just hand me the key and I'll make sure it's safe and sound."
He then searches the thief thoroughly for any hint of stolen goods.

Sleight of Hand to pocket key if no one gives it to him: [roll0]
Perception: [roll1]

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian barely starts running before the thief is apprehended by his peers. As the man struggles in Ian's grip, Demian strides over to the two of them and roughly shoves the mans face into the road. "Don't even think about running, thief," Demian warns visciously as he reaches for one of his throwing axes, "you try anything funny and we'll see if your an easier target than a training dummy."

Perhaps there's more to this Shadi than meet the eye, he thinks before turning to Ian. "So, Shadi," he remarks, "that was a nice catch you had there. An urchin might have reflexes like that, but they'd be running the other way from that commotion. Where'd ya learn to be on your toes like that?"

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Ian/Shadi gives another Cheshire grin.
"Let me ask ya this. Is a fish still a fish if'n it don't learn how ta swim and where did it learn how ta swim in the first place? In short, it jes' comes with the territory."

[Falco1029]

With the spell landing, Caleb's quick to catch up with the others, heading over towards the thief through the crowd. He's glad that was quickly taken care of, but he does make sure to keep an eye on the surroundings in case anything else happens; it could easily be a distraction, after all.

If the thief starts to struggle or the like, Caleb also readies himself to Daze the guy again.

Daze is 0th level, no slot wasted. Also keeps him from fighting back while the cuffs go on him, so the spell stays.

Perception: [roll0]

[The Hellbug]

Demian



"Let me ask ya this. Is a fish still a fish if'n it don't learn how ta swim and where did it learn how ta swim in the first place? In short, it jes' comes with the territory."

The fighter frowns at Ian's answer. "Wait," he says, confused, "a fish is a fish if it swims...or is it not a fish that swims...could you repeat that a little slower?"

[caesar193]

Erhard grunts in surprise after Ian asks for the key, and then reaches into a distant pocket to produce the key. He hands it down. "Keep 'im docile till Shadi can finish up down there, Trenton, then cut the magic. Hate that stuff, but its damned useful."

Meanwhile, the crowd that Kip had dispersed started to gather once more. A ring of people surround the thief and the soldiers, watching them arrest the pickpocket, and muttering darkly. Then, a merchant pushes through the crowd, and some of the soldiers recognizes him as the one the thief had stolen from.

"Didya catch the rat bastard?" the man asks eagerly, trying to push his way past some of the other soldiers and failing, miserably. "Hand it over, ya dirty thief!"

Then the thief starts to shake off the effects of the spell, and then his shoulders sink in defeat. "Fair catch, I guess," he mutters, and now you can tell the thief is young, somewhere in his mid-teens. He let's Ian put the cuffs on, and mutters darkly "Its in the top of my bag." Inside the bag, Ian discovers three loaves of bread.

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Thought so. Something was fishy about how he was acting. He was most likely just hungry.
As he finishes his search and handcuffing, he whispers in the boy's ear as discreetly as he can.
"Play along or we're both in for it."
He then speaks loudly enough for others to hear, ignoring Demian's request.
"Ya'll need ta move faster'n that if ya want ta stop gettin' caught by me."
He stands and rummages in his coin pouch for a gold piece and offers it to the merchant with the rather dirty mouth.
"Hopefully, this will be enough ta cover the cost of the bread and any trouble he may have caused. He has a knack for having things in his hands when I could have paid for it meself. Please accept this with my apologies."

I want to see if I know anything about this particular merchant that I could use to persuade him to take the money and leave if things go badly.
Knowledge(local):[roll0] + [roll1]
This one is to see if Ian knows if this incidence is a common one.
Knowledge(local):[roll2] + [roll3]
Spending an inspiration point on Bluff so I have 4 points remaining.
Bluff:[roll4] + [roll5]
Diplomacy:[roll6]

[Falco1029]

Caleb frowns a bit at Shadi, stepping closer and whispering to him, "You idiot, is this the message you want to give every petty thief in the city? Steal from someone in public and simply look pathetic enough, and the army will cover your costs?" he hisses the words, but quietly enough to not draw attention to him, nor wanting to blow whatever lie the investigator's telling. Most people will likely be focused on what's going on anyway.

He just nods at the sergeant's words after the fact, keeping an eye on the kid, ready to re-cast the spell but for now leaving it be since he's behaving. "Anyway, this seems like little more than a petty thief, but make sure you more thoroughly search him. After that, we should hand him off and be done with it," he says loudly enough for the group overall to hear, though does glance to the Sergeant to be sure he agrees with that. After all, while he acts like he outranks everyone else in the party, he knows better than to act like that with anyone that actually DOES outrank him himself.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

As he gets to his feet, Demian's irritation at being ignored is quickly replaced by surprise at Ian's revelation. "Hold on Caleb, I think there's something we're not getting here," he advises the mage before asking Ian, "Shadi, do you know this boy?"

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Shadi glances at Demian and Caleb.
Hrm. This kid had better be worth the trouble I'm going through to get him out of this.
"I'll explain ta both of ya later."
He then returns his attention to the merchant.

[caesar193]

"Wait, you're just letting him go?" cried out the merchant, furious, waving away the coin. "He stole! He'll steal again! There's no changing such vagrants, ya gotta arrest 'em and chop off a hand at the very least!"

The thief looked at the ground confused for a bit, and then spoke up. "Please, sirs, my uncle here will make sure I'm in for it from my parents when I get home, that's punishment enough. I just wanted to get a little more food for my elder sister, she's had so very little to eat every since she's had to leave home that I wanted to help her a little."

Erhard sighed heavily. "We'll have to arrest him, process him. But, since you're his family, Shadi, and yer paying his debt, they'll probably jot his name down and throw him out. Save on prison space for the real baddies."

The thief's bluff check: [roll0]
Erhard's Sense Motive: [roll1]

[Falco1029]

Caleb steps back a bit after there, furrowing his brow a little. Sighing, he steps back over towards the others, grumbling about how if it was someone in HIS family, he'd make sure they rotted in jail for at least a few days for doing something so stupid. Of course, nobody in his family has needed to steal bread to get by for the past... well, ever.

"Well, like I said, can we just hand him off to someone and get back to work? We're already wasting time here," he asks the group in general.


Even claiming a sense motive bonus I can't beat a 26, heh.

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Interesting choice kid.
"Well how am I supposed ta know he's not jest going ta get stuck in some cell and disappears for good? I'm not explaining ta his parents how that happened."
He then turns to the merchant.
"And if this man refuses ta take the money, I'll just return his bread and buy it cheaper from someone else."

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian waits for Erhard's decision. It doesn't surprise the fighter that Shadi would be related to a gutter-rat like the thief, from what he'd seen of him. While his first instinct is that they should just let the boy rot in a cell anyway, Demian must admit that, if he had the chance and and appropriate inclination, he'd do the same thing Shadi was currently doing.

[caesar193]

"If the kid stole bread, we have to return the bread. And you four, escort the kid back to the precinct after all the bread is returned." Erhard gestures to three fighters and an archer.

The crowd turns away, giving the merchant and Sergeant Erhard dark looks, and goes about their business muttering darkly. The thief stands up, lets a loyalist search his pack and pull out the loaves, and mutters to Ian "Thanks."

"Thank ye kindly," the merchant says, accepting the bread and staunchly avoiding looking at Ian. "Send that piece of crow-meat to the noose."

Erhard sighs heavily as the rest of the civilians leave, looking at the remaining six. "Shadi, next time... we can't excuse theft. We have to return stolen property. Don't ask me about the legal crap, they just said to return stolen property. Thieves ain't allowed to roam free. I recognize you just wanted to help that nephew of yours, but we can't let people think we let family come before the law, that certain people get special treatment."

He looked away, then sighed. "I'd like to wait for those four, but the sooner the better. Let's move on, soldiers. Lead us onward, Shadi."

Nothing further is going to happen on the way. So I'm going to give you the opportunity to chat if you wish, or whatever else you want to do. Of the original group, you're down to you four, Erhard, and two nameless soldiers. One of them's an archer, the others a fighter.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

The outcome with the thief seems satisfactory to Demian, though he is more uneasy about approaching the potential rebel hideout with so few allies than would have been before the prison raid--it was only numbers that saved his life on that day. As they march, the soldier picks up where he left off, "so, Caleb, did you know that Lieutenant? He seemed to know you."

[Falco1029]

Caleb still doesn't seem fully happy about the kid getting off easy, but they do have far more important things to do right now, so he just nods and lets that get all sorted out. Once it's done, he falls into step, letting Shadi lead them towards where they're ultimately going, mostly silent until Demian speaks to him.

"No, but there are a fair number of people that recognize me despite not knowing me perosnally. He likely knew my father, Lord Trenton, based on what he said," he explains, speaking with a degree of proudness in that pedigree. The Trentons aren't the most well known nobles, but the name's usually common enough for someone to put the two together when they realize he IS in that same family. Why he's lowered himself to being a soldier, well, he has his reasons.

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Ian watched them haul the young lad off.
Will need to make contact later... after all, I have the key.
"Well, it seems my nephew will be in... good hands... Otherwise, my brother is going ta have my head for this."
He then turns to lead the group towards the base. He doesn't do much besides mentally adding bread to Ian's shopping list and visiting the precinct on Shadi's to-do list. Today was turning out to be much busier than Ian had intended.

[caesar193]

And so the group came to an alley in the midst of the poor neighborhood. An old woman, slowly rocking in her chair on a nearby porch, watched them carefully as her hands flew over needlework. But she did nothing as the soldiers entered the alley.

It was little more than a small space between two shops, the one on the left a butcher's based on the smells. The alley sloped downwards until it came to a small shed. The shed stood, dilapidated and rundown, its roof rotting thatch and its door hanging on by one last hinge.

Sitting on top of the shed, as well as several more, is a decently sized sack. But based on their smell, it seems to be that their content's are what the butcher decided not to sell.

A small side door, its hinges rusted shut, leads into the building on the right.

Erhard sighed. "Shadi, where the hell is the Rebel's hideout? Pretty sure they ain't hiding in there," he said, gesturing towards the shed.

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

... Correction on initial judgement. Rude, LOUD, and slow in the brain. Threat decreased to: "Only a danger to the deaf and blind... and any nearby allies." I do NOT need Shadi being the public face of the whole ding dong Empire!
Shadi pulls his hood up just enough to allow Sergeant Erhard to see his deeply furrowed scowl and quickly drew his thumb across the bulging sinews of his neck to signify silence.
He hisses out syllable by syllable:
"Entrance. No. Names! Not. Here!"
He then yanks his hood down hard enough on his own head to cause the threads to creak in protest to the rough treatment. He then raises his hand to signal the group to wait as he goes to speak with one of the locals alone, preferably one he knew asking if they'd seen anyone go through the alleyway recently.
I don't want to get ambushed if I can help it. Best to expect they've seen all of the soldiers tromping around here.

Diplomacy: [roll0]
I'm hoping this only takes a short time to ask that question.
Also, Ian has the Friends in Low Places advantage. He's going to try to not have anyone obviously from the Loyalists around since they tend to be bad for relations.

[caesar193]

The only person Ian sees is the old woman, who pauses as he approaches. Upon asking his question, the woman shakes her head.

"Ain't seen a soul pass through there, my dear," the matron replies. "Of course, if you'd asked what I'd heard, that'd be a diff'nt answer! Oh, yes, every night, when me'n me kids and grankids are settling down for the night after workin' and learnin' all day we hear a terrible stomping, and this, this... clicking sound. Drives me old body bloody insane! But where are my manners! Nice young man such as yourself, here. Care to come in for a glass of Posca? My special recipe?"

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Shadi/Ian thanks the woman for her help.
"I will have ta say no ta the drink, but maybe we'll solve the... clicking ya said? I wouldn't mind trying that drink later if ya still have the time."

He returns to the group and speaks quietly.
"Something and or someone is using this place as an entrance ta the Undercity alright. During the night. Let's go."
He treads carefully towards the shack in the alleyway, ready to employ the dagger hidden in his wristband.
Ian has his Leather Armor and dagger. Nothing else on weapons and armor. Has some of the knickknacks in the inventory such as caltrops though.

[Falco1029]

Caleb watches Ian go off, watching curiously but avoiding following since he seems to want to do this on his own, despite knowing that uniform or not he's probably better suited for this sort of thing. Still, he waits, and when the man finally comes back, he quirks a brow, waiting for whatever explanation he's got for them. The mention of the Undercity causes Caleb to cast a quick spell, clearing his mind a bit as he searches through some rather old stories in his memory that his parents used to mention.

"The undercity... of course that's where those rats would be. Seems the perfect fit," he muses, but sighs a bit, "That being said, we'll be at a distinct disadvantage even if you do have a way to get us in there. We do rather stick out as, well, above ground sorts," he claims, "I somehow doubt those down there will look to us as righteous sorts, skewed as their world view likely is, spending their time down there. I can only imagine how many would be informants to said rebels, really."

[The Hellbug]

Demian

"Forgive me for asking, but the undercity? I've only heard rumors. Such a place exists?" Demian asks his more knowledgeable comrades. His hand immediately goes to the haft of his battleaxe when he Caleb casts his spell.

[omnitricks]

As he walked into the alley, Kip takes a good look around in case any of the dirty rebels tries to ambush the group. Even if they were the authority, the rebels have thrown their lot and decided to do without the king's protection.

Kip too has nothing to offer about word about the Undercity. Not even a question because he didn't want to end up in the orc stereotype he has disguised himself as instead hoping his own knowledge would suffice or that the information will eventually surface thanks to people like Demian.

Perception: [roll0]
Knowledge local: [roll1]
Knowledge history (if there is anything from there): [roll2]

[caesar193]

Erhard grunts. "You sure about this?" he asks Ian, before striding forward. "Because I really hate rats."

He opens the shed's door, and reveals what lies within: a broken, jagged hole in the ground. At the bottom of 20 foot drop, you can see the remnants of support beams and cobblestones, but other than that. The walls, however jagged and rough, glisten with moisture.

"Anyone got a rope?" Erhard asks with a sigh.

DC 15 climb check to, well, climb down if you don't have a rope. DC 10 if one of you provides one. Its a tad bit damp

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian shakes his head at the sergeant's request, and then turns back to Caleb and Ian. "What can we expect down there?"

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Great, Shadi doesn't use the scarf. Guess I'll just have to do it the old-fashioned way.
"Nope, nothing here. We'll probably need a light too. Forgot ta bring one small enough ta fit in my sack."

If no one else was ready to supply a rope or any climbing gear, Ian planned on going down first.
Here's hoping!
[roll0]

[Falco1029]

Caleb looks to Demian, "Expect a lot of people that likely won't want people like us around, really. Or that might take a bit too much interest, depending," he explains. "Either way, I dislike this, but I suppose I said that. Regardless, I don't carry rope on me, bit cumbersome and all..."

[caesar193]

"Stop flappin' yer jaws and get climbing!" Erhard ordered.

And so the group started climbing down the slippery slope. After a couple of mishaps, in which Kip, Demian, Caleb, and two fighters slipped and fell the rest of the way, the group made it to the bottom.

Erhard brushed some moisture off his hands. "Right," he said. "You five all right?"

The loyalists started looking around. It appeared they were in an old bedroom, a master bedroom by any indication. An old bed, broken in half, lay forlorn and rotted in one corner, while an open doorway- open, since the door was missing- permitted entrance.

Erhard led the group through the threshold, and they started exploring the old house. It soon became clear that it was some ancient and long-dead noble's home, which the missing furniture and broken architecture testified to. Eventually, the loyalists reached the front door, which somehow still stood in surprisingly good condition.

After pushing open the doors, the group sees a main street. What once was grand, now was a dingy and moldy street. Most of the cobblestones had been torn up and taken, which allowed for a small stream to wind its way through the street to elsewhere.

"Left or right, Shadi? Which way are the damned Rebels?" Erhard asks.

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

He says it like I'm some kind of Oracle.
Never having come this far, Ian began to look for any sign of footprints and the general direction.
I need to study up on tracking someone after this is over.
He then looked for any sign of life in the derelict street.
"Now, unless I'm wrong, this is supposed ta be the part I'm supposed ta be paid for: finding the silly place. You're all just back-up in case they decide ta skewer anything that goes 'clank clank' down an empty street."
He grinned a little morbidly at the Sergeant, almost seeming to dare him to take the lead.
After all, he's the loud one and I don't intend to take an arrow for him if we get caught... since we won't get caught.

These 2 rolls are for knowing the layout of the Undercity during his previous preparations.
Knowledge(History): [roll0] + [roll1]
Knowledge(Engineering) if applicable/more relevant:[roll2] + [roll3]
This is for noticing tracks/signs and noticing others respectively:
[roll4]
[roll5]

[The Hellbug]

Demian

"What do you mean 'the part you were paid for'?" Demian asks Shadi while scanning the room and rubbing his arm that took most of the fall, "I don't see any rebels here."

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Shadi gives a lopsided grin this time.
"Can't eat for free in the empire. Got ta find the exact whereabouts for me ta get my next meal... and a few other things."

[caesar193]

It quickly becomes clear to Shadi that a great many people have passed through this area recently, due to the amount of footprints in the mud. However, whoever they were, they were going in both directions, so their tracks aren't helpful.

His knowledge doesn't help him much either. He knows that somewhere around here is the Grand Markets, but exactly where is another question. And his eyes fail to spot anyone nearby.

"Aye," Erhard mutters with a slight smirk after Demian's comment. He then watches with a bemused expression as Shadi looks around. "Am I to take it that yer just blindly guessing? Cause if you are, I've always favored goin' left."

Know (Engineering) isn't really applicable. Know (Geography) would be, if you want to try that. But knowing where anything is down here is a DC 15 at the very least, so none of you can make a know(geo) check.

[omnitricks]

"Some of us at least are patriots" Kip said bitterly. his attention held on this new place they were in.

Well ouch. Max fall damage. Anyway my replies are still going to be random because I'm still in examination period.
Knowledge geography: [roll0]

Well ****. My rolls in this game has been sucking forever.

[Falco1029]

Caleb doesn't look too great after his 'climb' downward, which looks more like a tumble caused by, well, never having to climb without rope before, if at all. Still, he brushes himself off and avoids holding his now aching arm.

"He definitely does seem like he's guessing, like he doesn't know what he's doing," Caleb claims with a bitter tone, perhaps simply because of his fresh falling wounds. "Nor does he sounds like someone who truly cares about what he's doing. I assume he's been given a thorough check into his background?" he asks, not caring that Shadi/Ian/whomever will of course hear him.

Seeing as their guide seems just about useless (In his mind), he decides to take a look around himself, seeing if he can spot anything the man missed, with a bit of guidance from a cantrip or two of course.


Canny effort cast before each:
Perception, to take a look round for anything reminiscent of rebels, out of place symbols, etc. [roll0]
Survival, untrained, but what the hell, see if he has any luck on his own looking for specific tracks: [roll1]

EDIT: Decent perception at least. Survival sucked but I expected as much.

[caesar193]

Caleb's sharp eyes manages to spot, almost hidden under grime, a mysterious symbol; it was little more than a splash of paint in the form of something like an Omega, but rougher, less smooth, more slap-dash.

"God, I hope so," Erhard replies to Caleb. "I'm sure someone's looked into 'im, but it ain't like my superiors actually tell me things."

[Falco1029]

Caleb, rather casually, reaches for Demian's arm and uses it to wipe off the grime on the symbol he spots, if the man doesn't prevent him from doing so. He doesn't have a rag with him, after all, and it'd be annoying to get that all over his hands. If the warrior DOES pull away, though, he'll force himself to wipe it away regardless.

"I hope so too. Anyway, do any of you recognize this? Seems a bit too... purposely made to be a random splash or stain," he says, pointing to the symbol, "Either way, might be the way we want to go, if we don't have any other leads."



Dunno if there's any chance he himself might recognize it, but here's a Knowledge Local (Dunno what else would apply, but if any of my equivalent knowledges do instead, the roll can likely work unmodified): [roll0] +4 if having to do with humans at all.

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Looking over the symbol, Ian tries to make sense of why a symbol like that would be here.
Either the gang that this symbol belongs here hasn't been down here for long time or someone's taken an interest in ancient kingdoms. In either case, I'd rather not bump into them. It worries me that I can't see anyone at all. With all of the footprints just there, someone should be around.
"Sounds like a plan ta me. Might want ta be careful, lots of people came through not long before us and I doubt the empty streets are empty."
A few brisk steps put him in front of the party as he addresses them.
"Anyone want to take the lead in finding people that couldn't possibly be hiding in a shed, much less an underground city? Or would it be preferable that I be on my merry way to talk to your superiors about how you kept me from doing my job?"
At this, he gives a deliberate smirk at Sergeant Erhard. Shadi didn't care much if the Sergeant called his bluff, after all, the Sergeant needed to "stop flappin' his jaws" and stop trying to attract so much attention. Ian looked at the situation with interest. Would the Sergeant dismiss help, thus freeing Ian to search for clues? Or would he admit he needed help, allowing extra manpower to be employed should they be ambushed?

[The Hellbug]

Demian

"Hey! What's the hell are you up to?" Demian asks Caleb as his hand is commandeered. He yanks his arm back from Caleb but, when he glimpses what his friend was uncovering, goes back on his own to finish the job. He stares at the symbol, trying to make some sense of it until Caleb asks if anyone recognizes it.

"I...uhhhh...I' don't have a clue. Could've just been left by the gods for all I know."

[Falco1029]

"Wait a moment..." he squints a bit, just ignoring Demian's initial complaint, "This is a lot like those... how would you call it, gang symbols, I suppose. I haven't seen this one in use, but tagging an area like this seems similar. So, it might be a newer gang, or it might be a symbol meant as something similar; denoting someone's territory. If we're incredibly lucky, it could be something the rebels are using, but I suppose that's more me being hopeful than any evidence of it," he mentions to everyone.

Glancing to Ian, then, as he steps ahead of the party and speaks like that, he frowns a bit, "Feel free to go talk to our superiors, but do be certain you tell them that you didn't actually know nearly as much as you made them think, and so lead us into an unknown, dangerous situation with no way to properly prepare. Or perhaps I can do it for you, should you decide to be so petty, and we can see who's more convincing. Alternatively, you can simply shut your mouth, and open it only for the sake of what's needed for your aforementioned job," he almost venomously states, not being too loud or blatantly angry, but his unhappiness with the man's attitude is very clear, and the way he glares towards him would likely cause most men to have to hide a slight shiver.

"Now then, if you DO plan to do your job, feel free to lead the way," he then adds with a dismissive wave, calming down quickly enough afterward.



Intimidation roll for Shadi (standard DC), but it's against another PC so I wouldn't expect anything to be forced): [roll0]
Really just meant to guide roleplay, for just how authoritarian Caleb can come across.

[caesar193]

Erhard grunts. "Aye, quit the damn sarcasm and get to the finding. But before we go..." he looks around, scanning the group. "You two, guard that house. Try to stay hidden. Don't want the Rebel's to capture our exit."

"Yes, sir," the two soldiers say, a bit of relief present in their voices. They turn, and quickly return to the house.

"Right, you four," Erhard says, scanning Shadi, Demian, Caleb, and Kip. "We ain't looking for a fight, 'cause we ain't looking to die. Heroism is for the miserable sods that mother's tell their kids stories about before bedtime. We don't need heroes, we need men, men who'll protect their own and not get themselves killed in the process. And however much we may not like it, Shadi is one've us now. So we protect his back, and he protects ours. We've survived the Rebels and that thrice-cursed mage in the prison, we can survive some cursed rats. Shadi, lead on. Follow those gang symbols, hope they lead somewhere."

And for a while, the only sound was the steady drip... drip... drip... of some unknown water source. The symbols led the group steadily through the city, and it quickly became apparent that they were less for denoting territory and more to mark a path- the carefully placed marks could only be seen from the mouth of the alley the group emerged from. And once the group came into a large, half-sunken square, a massive place more than a 100 yards per side, one thing became clear.

Erhard muttered under his breath. "Smells like a trap."

"That's cause that's wut it is," said a gruff voice. And instantly from the shadows emerge a group of men, armed crudely, with a motley of weapons. Two bear only a wooden plank, which they carry two handed. Another has a rough dagger made from a shard of glass wrapped in cloth at the base. Two have spears, made only of wood, the ends whittled to a point. And the last, clearly the leader, bears a gleaming sword.

"The way I sees it," said the sword-bearer, "The way I sees it, you've got about a minute to explain to us why we shouldn't just loot yer damned soldier corpses." He gives a broad smile, revealing every single one of his rotted teeth.

Spreadsheet map updated, or is about to be. You've made some friends! Let's hope they don't kill you.

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Ian was impressed.
Someone who can actually do something besides berate his underlings and puts Shadi in place when he gets out of line. Great! He'll be better to follow around than that clanking bucket of bluster.
Shadi gives a raise of his brow. It's clear he's taken aback by the sudden outburst and quickly does as asked as he takes the lead. Clearly, where the Sergeant had failed to stop Shadi's incessant needling with fear, Caleb's use of pressure and guilt had succeeded.

Shadi doesn't seem surprised by the 'trap'.
"Told you there were a lot of people," He muttered.
He quickly tried to assess the situation.
Hmmm, not much of a threat physically. However, I don't think it wise to make a sight here or to waste our energy on these thugs.
"No, there's not much reason for you not to attack us. But is there much reason ta risk your life for it either? I'd just like ta ask who exactly you were expecting ta get from those marks? Anyone could have followed them."
Though loath to do so, the recently humbled pickpocket keeps a ready hand waiting to spring his dagger.


To see if he knows anything about this motley crew:
Knowledge (Local):[roll0]+[roll1]
Diplomacy:[roll2] He is also one step closer to helpful for me if his demeanor says anything about him.

[Falco1029]

Content with Shadi's response, Caleb's quiet enough as they continue along, keeping an eye out for the marks as well as doing his best to look around where they're going to avoid ambushes or the like.

However, there's only so much that can be done, as evidenced by the sudden appearance of what look like rather underarmed thugs. Frowning, he glances between them, getting an account of their numbers, though he also knows more might be hiding. Diplomacy might be the best bet here. Taking a moment, he

"He does have a point. It's quite a risk for you to attack us. Look at us. We're clearly well armed and well trained. While you may outnumber us, are you so confident in your abilities to think it worth the risk that you might be the one we take with us?" he asks the man in front, though glances to each of the others as he does, to 'personalize' the message a bit.

Right now, he's just about aching to pull out a scroll of mage armor, but he does realize that might not be the best idea right now, lest it look like he's casting some hostile spell, for all these vagrants would know.



Diplomacy from me too! [roll0]

Also, Perception to try and find anyone hidden, or things like traps they could trigger, or whatever else might not be obvious that could be against us: [roll1]

[caesar193]

The thug narrows his eyes. "You might be right about dat," the sword-bearer said. "Sure be easier fer all of us if'n ya just handed us a little somethin' so's we can leave."

Caleb, while the sword-bearer spoke, heard a distant crunch from behind them. A careful glance shows him a collection of people behind them, waiting in hiding, clutching kitchen knives and daggers.

[The Hellbug]

Demian

Demian grips the haft of his ax more tightly at the thug's threat. The dialogue between the the soldiers and the people surrounding them are so tense that it is as if their safety is balancing on a razor's edge. Knowing that he isn't suited to talking his way out of this, the fighter keeps his mouth shut for now.

[caesar193]

"A little something," Erhard repeated. "The King does not deal with criminals. Now let us pass, or taste our blades."

The thug chuckled. "Ya might be right 'bout dat," he said. "Gud thing our local maj'sty ain't here, now, ain't it? What we got is you five and me and me boys. And we've taken on worse'n you."

And then a small child strolls into the square, wearing ragged clothes and with dirt smears over his face, maybe about 9 years old. He looks at the group askew, then smiles and has a seat on the old, broken fountain, watching for what happens next. A couple other children, girls and boys, similarly dressed, follow him and sit down on the ground, backs to the fountain's lip.

The thugs look at the child nervously, almost like they'd be scared of him if he was making some aggressive moves.

[Falco1029]

"There's more of them, or some other group, back that way," Caleb whispers to the Sergeant upon seeing that small group, a slight frown on his face as he listens to the thugs.

Seeing the child enter the area, he raises a brow a little curiously, glancing over at him. He then looks to the thugs, noticing the way they react to that, and blinks a bit. Turning, he steps a little closer to the child, "Hello there..." he says, his voice not quite the 'child voice' that most would use when speaking to a kid, but it's peaceful enough. He somehow doubts, given what he noticed, that he'll be interrupted by the thugs.

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Shadi notices the subtle hints given and becomes wary himself.
Something's off. We're still not quite under attack, but we still balance on a knife's edge.
He quickly whispers to the others as well.
"Don't move."
He then addresses the thugs.
"Who are these kids? I know you know who they are. I can see into your heart on this."

Diplomacy:[roll0]
Knowledge(local) to see if he knows anything about these kids:[roll1] + [roll2]
Sense Motive to see how the kids are perceiving us/attitude towards us. [roll3]

[caesar193]

The thugs move to block Caleb, and stare him down. "Y'ain't goin' nowhere," they grunt.

Then Shadi speaks, and the thugs exchange glances, each reticent to speak. Finally the child speaks up, his voice bearing a rhythm to it, and odd beat. "I am here to watch, pay us no heed. If yon loyalists succeed, then we shalt reveal ourselves."

There is a pause, and then the lead thug snarls "Enough o' this. Give us yer valuables or die."

Yeah, that diplomacy check of Ian's didn't work out too well. As for the other stuff, Ian does not know anything of the kids, and he senses an apathetic interest in the loyalists. Basically, they don't really care if you live or die, they just want some entertainment while you do. Or at least the lead child does.

[The Hellbug]

While Demian stays silent throughout the attempted diplomacy with the thugs, he can now see that the time for words is over. Plus, something about those children is bothering him, and he's curious as to what their leader is talking about. "They're not backing down," he whispers to the rest of the squad as he grips the haft of his ax, "we might as well get this over with."

[Falco1029]

Turning away from the child as he's interrupted, Caleb frowns, his eyes narrowing. "Enough of this, indeed. Back away now or you'll all be detained. And I would just LOVE if you attempted to resist it!" he angrily exclaims towards the leader, eyeing him as his hands raise, ready to cast a spell. If they're going to have to fight, may as well try to harm their morale a bit...



Intimidate! Mostly to make him Shaken, but if he backs down, that'd work too: [roll0]

[caesar193]

The lead thug hesitated, and gripped his weapon with a slightly worried expression. "Fine, then," the thug said, now trying to make a show of confidence. "Get 'em, boy!"

The other thugs hesitate for a moment, looking at each other cautiously, waiting for another to make the first move, when their hesitation was suddenly broken.

Combat time! You win initiative, mostly because they really don't want to. The thing that breaks their hesitation is whichever of you decides to attack first.

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Oh great, I'm gonna regret this as Shadi and myself.
"Then take me on like a man! If I win, you and your boys back off! If you win, we'll give you our coin!"
He then took up a boxing position, ready to take on the duel if he so accepted. Naturally, he kept the knife ready to surprise him if they decided to ignore his challenge.
I really don't know how they'll take this, but I don't want more people hurt if it doesn't have to come to that. Plus, I get the feeling that 'kid' wants to see blood spilled.

Don't know if there is enough time to do both. If not, I'll just go with calling him out.
Intimidate or Diplomacy (whatever is needed to call him out into a duel):[roll0]
Preparing an action to punch the thug leader out if he comes at Ian. Otherwise, the knife to the first common thug. [roll1]

[The Hellbug]

Not too keen on starting a fight now, are ya?

Demian brandishes his ax and steps towards the nearest thug, enjoying the obvious discomfort of his foes. "Now why don't you beat it before I have to show you the business end of this fine tool," he growls as he prepares to swing at the thug if he makes any threatening move.

Move to right in front of T2. Prepared action to attack him if he makes any sort of violent move.

[Falco1029]

As the others get into position, and the thugs start getting ready to attack, Caleb decides to be a little proactive, if not entirely, blatantly hostile, casting Hypnotism to try and entrance some of the thugs, hands moving in a slow, methodical fashion while a droning intonation echoes through the area.


Hypnotism, DC16, for [roll0] HD of the thugs, for [roll1] rounds.

[caesar193]

The thugs, seeing Shadi's opening moves and Demian's threatening posture, break the tension and charge wildly. However, Caleb's spell stops them all in their tracks, even the leader, and they start watching the proceedings with a bemused expression.

And then from behind comes a yell of excitement as four more badly armed thugs come bursting from the shadows. However, with Caleb having spotted them before, and his warning his comrades, the loyalists are able to prepare and anticipate their arrival.

They melt from the alleys and the buildings wielding daggers, sharpened rebar, and miscellaneous scavenged weaponry. They quickly target the closest targets, one slicing at Sergeant Erhard, two attacking Caleb, and the fourth cutting at Kip. Erhard grunts as the rogue's knife manages to slip past his defenses and strike skin, as does Kip. However, having been the one to spot them in the first place, Caleb is able to adroitly dodge their attacks.

You know, I think I remember saying earlier no combats with large numbers of enemies and here I am throwing nine of them at you. Sigh. Anyway, let's see if they hit any of you, or if you hit back.

Will Saves: [roll0]

Gonna wait on the results of Caleb's spell to see if Demian's hitting anybody now. I'll roll in the ooc thread if you do. EDIT: Welp, they all rolled terribly, so from your phrasing it seems your prepared action might have been wasted. I'll let you decide if that was a good or bad thing.

Erhard: [roll1]
Erhard's Damage: [roll2]

Rogue Thug's Attacks: [roll3]
Rogue Thug's Damages: [roll4]

[Tsunamiatunzen1]

Well that's interesting.
Shadi blinked as the main group of thugs just stood there.
"Oh, I have got ta learn how ta do that!"
He turns as the shouting from behind reaches his ears and shouts and points instinctively to Kip as he simultaneously analyzes the situation and moves closer to the thug to point out an opening in the thug's defenses.
"You! His left is wide open! Strike now!"
In the heat of the battle, his accent is forgotten as he employs his knowledge as best as he can, daring not to lose the advantage of his hidden knife.
Moving 5 ft. closer to the Rogue Thug (since I can't recall if Shadi/Ian knows everyone by name) to use Combat Advice and give Kip a +2 to attack roll against R4.

[The Hellbug]

Demian steps towards the leader of the gang. "What? More bluster than bite, eh?" he taunts as he swings his ax at the tug to the man's left, hoping to cut straight past him and into his leader.

Moving to U16 and power attacking T5, hoping to cleave into his leader. He will take a -2 penalty to AC for this round.
T5 attack: [roll0]
damage: [roll1]
cleave: [roll2]
damage: [roll3]

HP: 24/24 AC:18

[Falco1029]

"Don't attack the ones that are just standing there, they're hypnotized, and will stay that way so you can focus on the..." he dodges aside from one of the new ones attacking them, "these ones!" he grumbles.

Turning to the ones that are enthralled while removing a scroll from his pocket, he quickly says, "Drop to the ground with your hands behind your heads!" he tells them, knowing that most of them should oblige due to the magic.

He then quickly casts Mage Armor from the scroll on himself after taking a 5 foot step away, hoping that by moving away from the larger number of thugs he can avoid any attacks while he does so.



Move: Get scroll
Free: Command the enthralled guys
5 foot: Move 5 feet, shown on map
Standard: Cast Mage Armor

I think R4 still gets an AoO on me, if he's able to, but better than taking 3 of them. And I don't trust defensive casting in pathfinder.