The Three Musketeers (IC)

[antoin]

Hey, you found this! A couple rules regarding spoilers:
1.) Do NOT read other player's spoilers. No matter how bad you might want to. It can seriously ruin the fun.
2.) OOC means information that you should know, but your characters might not or I'm telling you about the game.
3.) Please put your rolls in spoilers whenever possible, to keep the post looking nice. Spoiler tag "Rolls" works well.
Alright! Please try out using a spoiler in your first couple posts so you know how to do it when we start actually playing.
Also, have your character respond and pick a Font and a color for your character. All dialogue should be appropriately colored because it makes it wayyyyyy easier to see.

One way or another, you have all found yourselves in the small but charming office of an official just inside the front door of the Grand Palace of Bavinsk, the capitol of the dwarven kingdom of Bavinskor. He is a bored-looking, slightly grey-haired Dwarf sitting behind a desk loaded with various papers. An ornate sword is mounted behind him, and a stern red-headed dwarf points at you with his axe from the large painting on the right side of the room. Looking up, he flashes a smile and gestures to the seats in front of you.
"Ah, you're early! You're the mercenaries from out of town, right?"

[TheKidReaper]

That piece of metal in his head is A-Okay. Just a war scar more than anything, no detriment to his health in any shape or form

A tall hooded man takes a seat in the chair furthest to the right and pushes himself back so that only two of the legs are still contacting the ground. He stretches and as he does so, his brown hair parts to show a piece of metal lodged in his head above his left eye. Resting his hands on the back of his head he replies,

"I prefer the title of 'Opportunistic Drifter' more than mercenary, but hey....to each their own."

This is Cayde, a half-elf from beyond the reaches of the land. Not always the best with words and not always one to take things seriously, he still holds himself with confidence as any battlefield hardened adventurer would.

His amber eyes turn to the others in the room as he settles in.

[glitterbaby]

Behind the hooded man follows another man, on the shorter side of average but carrying himself with a confidence that masks the fact without closer inspection. He is adorned with thick furs and pelts that betray his otherwise lithe frame. Swooping, serpentine tattoos reveal themselves on the back and sides of his neck before retreating into his thick reddish-brown hair, tied neatly back into a bun. He sports a bushy beard, the same color as his hair, that can't seem to decide if it's extremely well-groomed or hopelessly unkempt. His skin is clear but worn, bearing a scar that runs on an oblique through his left brow.

Leofric, as you've come to know him, moves with an unexpected grace. His gait is deliberate and smooth, his gestures are flourishing but not flamboyant; it all seems calcluated, almost choreographed. When he speaks, his voice is deep and gravelly, but intelligible. His lexicon is simple but he's proven himself capable of speaking to his crowd.

Does this man think me a mere sellsword? No matter, if I get what I've come for it's all the same.

"You may call me mercenary if you would like, dwarflord. I come for the hunt and seek to profit. You want to pay for a problem solved. Our goals align."
I'm posting from my phone, I'll edit the post with color and such when I'm able back at my computer.

[truk8280]

Emerging from the back of the room is a dark skinned man who looks defeated from centuries of war. His gray, silky hair falls down to his chest where it lies on his burnt, cotton shirt. A dragon nearly burned him to death, but he nearly escaped with his life. He is on a mission to slay every last dragon known to man.

"Borbelous is the name, but you can call me Borb. I am on a mission to avenge my family and slay every last dragon I encounter. With the help of you swordsman, I can slay many more dragons and hopefully return home and start a new family."

I changed my race to humans to stop the beef with zack lel.

[antoin]

The official nods as you all introduce yourselves.
"A dragonslayer, I see! Perfect. The work we need should suit your collective skills perfectly. We have a mining outpost, Kazeb, on the foothills of the mountain range to the north of here. This has brought a new wave of prosperity to Bavinskor. Unfortunately, our settlement has been harassed since its founding by roving giants, white dragons, goblins, and all manner of scum. We need you to help bring safety to the settlement to ensure the safety of our miners, guards, and supply. You will be paid from the wealth of the mines by one of our captains - a plentiful reward, I assure you. How does this assignment sound?"
As long as no one opposes, I'm fine with one person speaking for the party so we don't have to keep waiting for 3 posts to say yes.

[TheKidReaper]

"I don't really see a problem with that. Have to ask though, you said new settlement correct? Did you by any chance, I don't know, rub some folk the wrong way?"

Cayde pushes his chair to the floor leaning in a bit towards the dwarf, his amber eyes searching for any sign or tell on his face.

"Just trying to get the lay of the situation here.....uh, what did you say your name was again?"

He flashes a slight grin, looking to his traveling compatriots.

At least these guys have fought dragons, I'm all down for helping the good people of the land but what if we aren't in the right here...?

[antoin]

"My apologies. The name's Kilmund, house Melwright. And while the roving savages may have issue with our settlement, it was built on the ruins of a far older settlement we found, abandoned, with several short mines already started. That land has been Bavinskor's by right for centuries, I assure you. Even if it were not ours, taking out the forces of Evil in those mountains is a noble cause."

[glitterbaby]

Leofric seems unimpressed, an incredulous grin briefly washing over his face.

"What help would you be in this hunt, old man? Can your clouded eyes see down the length of an arrow? Can your trembling arms thrust a spear? Do you know of the beasts we hunt? They are the most powerful predators that exist. Do not take this lightly."

"But I do not care about the politics of this situation. If other creatures stand between myself and my quarry, they shall fall."

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde shrugs,

"Sounds like a plan to me, any input big guy?"

Cayde motions to Borb looking at the intensity of the other two of the group. Though not familiar with dragons, he still has seen his fair share of conflicts and battles. He casts a glance to the dwarf ensuring the situation was still friendly after his new friend to his left's comments.

[antoin]

"Instead of boasting matches, I suggest you show each other your might. Before we send anyone into the field, new soldier, outsider, or otherwise, it's customary that we see some of your combat prowess in action. Our arena would be open to you to compete in, this evening, in fact. There's a sizable sum for the winners, and the crowd usually makes it a fun time. Is this amenable?"

[truk8280]

Borb gently nods and asks,

"Say, you know of any trading posts I could inquire? I could use a fresh set of clothes before we head into this fight."

Then, Borb puts his arms around Leofric and Cayde, slightly chuckles and looks over Leofric,

"Pardon me for threaten ya, I had mistaken you for a draconic species. Will you help slay a thousand dragons before I rest?"

[antoin]

Kilmund's left eyebrow raises as he seems lost for words before responding:
"Trading post...draconic species? You...are in Bavinsk, you know, right? Our markets are among the finest this side of the Suvakvo."

He stops and understanding crosses his face as his demeanor brightens and he beams a bright smile. His speech slows slightly as he pronounces each word as clearly as his bushy beard will allow.
"If you want good clothes, I like Madam Greth's shop. Their clothes are very fine, but they cost more money." He pulls two coins from a pouch at his belt and rubs them together as he watches Borb's face for understanding. "If you do not have lots of money..." he says, putting away the coins, "I like Master Werg's shop. Very nice dwarf from my house. And as you've already started with the ale for today, I would wait to drink more until after tonight's contest."

Turning to the rest of the party, he continues, "You likely passed the arena on the way in - it's on the main street leading up to the palace entrance. If your friend isn't looking to quite be in...condition to fight, stop in at Moradin's temple across the street from the arena. The clerics will get him in order before the contest, since they can't have ale losing them their precious bets - haha! Anything I can do for you before you go?"

The Sea of Suvakvo is a vast sea to the east of Bavinskor.
Your people know Suvakvo as the Minor Sea to the southeast of your lands. Its "famed perils" are the butt of many jokes, as your tribe's main source of wealth is whaling in the Major Sea farther north, whose icebergs are often not for the strong of heart, much less the faint.
The river you took north to these lands empties into the Suvakvo. Your journeys took you instead on foot to Bavinskor in search of your prey.

[TheKidReaper]

"Hey woah woah woah who said anything about fighting each other now? That seems a bit counter productive for the lot of us trying to slay dragons, why are we suddenly trying to slay each other?"

Cayde responds somewhat defensively. He tugs a bit as his cloak to better cover his hip as he speaks.

He seems a bit uncomfortable with the larger man's arm weighing on his shoulder but seems moreso relieved the comments of his newfound friends haven't disrupted the friendly tone they have with the Dwarven man.

[antoin]

Kilmund shakes his head.
"Fight each other? No, far better for you to learn to work together against a foe. The Gamesmaster has several opponents ready to compete tonight, last I heard. Ah! Jorthun, welcome!"

A robed dwarf enters the room behind you. He is quite young, with a black beard barely half the length of Kilmund. He scrutinizes you all closely as he enters. He brings his arms to his chest and down as he bows to Kilmund, then turns to the party.
"Kilmund! You know how to find 'em...Quite the intimidating bunch! The crowd will love this. What are your names and titles so I can pass them to the bookmakers and announce them tonight?"

As he says this, he walks around with seemingly no sense of personal space, eyeing up and sometimes reaching to touch any weapons and gear you have visible, all the while staring intently at your faces and Borb's wings.

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde adjusts his cloak once again to hide his weapons, shifting a bit as the dwarf looks him over. He raises a finger to him,

"Hey, look don't touch. Uh, you can just announce me as Cayde....uh.....Cayyyydeee...."

The half-elf seems to be choosing the next words wisely,

"Cayde Sharpshot, Opportunistic Drifter. Got that brother?"

He winks at the younger dwarf. He sighs a bit, realizing he jumped to a conclusion a bit too quickly when the fight was mentioned.

Cayde has a little betrayal PTSD so the idea of fighting friends got him a bit riled up

Cayde is trying hard to keep his weapons hidden.

[truk8280]

Initially Borb seems disinterested about the idea of fighting other entities besides dragons, but then he thinks that practicing against a few foes will get him back into the rhythm of fighting. Thus, Borb says,

"I am headed off to Moradin's temple, for I need to replace my broken dagger. I'll be waiting there until you guys are ready to enter the arena."

Borb leaves the office. As he passes Jorthun, one of Borb's wings slaps Jorthun on the butt.

[antoin]

Kilmund and Jorthun both watch Borb leave, confused and speechless. After a minute, Kilmund turns to Cayde,
"Cayde, why don't you go with him? I'm...I don't want him to get lost. Just make sure he's at the arena so we can see what he does with a blade, please? Jorthun, his name is...Rob, I think? I can't quite remember. Rob has a good ring to it, though."
Jorthun did not seem at all bothered by Borb's wing. After Cayde's response, he scrawls a couple notes on a scrap of paper and ceases his examination, now turning his attention to the designs of Leofric's tattoos instead.

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde looks like he is going to argue at first, but then just shrugs. He stretches a bit before standing up his amber eyes doing a final sweep of the room. He glances to Jorthun, glad he is given the chance to escape his prying eyes. He turns to leave but not before leaning to Jorthun a bit and whispering,

"Hey don't take that love tap too seriously, you'd never have a chance. See ya at the ring Leofric."

He gives the younger dwarf a slight wink then excuses himself from the room and into the hallway to follow Borb.

Is it immediately obvious where he went?

[antoin]

Jorthun seems slightly flustered by your comment and wink but is too absorbed in Leofric's tattoos and furs to respond. Assuming Borb actually went out the doors of the palace and onto the street towards Moradin's temple, yes. His wings and skin color definitely make him stand out in a crowd.

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde wanders out the front doors and into the streets taking some time to try and locate the arena so he knows where to head once he finds Borb.

He also takes a moment to look back at the Palace to take in the sights before walking into the streets, hands in pockets of his slacks, and to the temple/church.

[glitterbaby]

Leofric gives the man a death glare and what can only be described as a growl as the man attempts to inspect him.

"Enough of your nonsense. Your arena is not my objective and is of no concern to me. I go now to prepare for the hunt. You two do as you will.

Killmund. I request a briefing. Have you started writing reports about the this area and its dangers? I want an wide-ranging look at the area itself first and then I want to break down each threat to come up with a plan. Do you have magicians in your service? It would be valuable to keep one as an advisor. I would not expect them to join us in the wilderness.

I expect special access will be necessary for me to speak with the relevant members of any of your military. This will need to be granted before I can speak to your men about their official reports."


Fools, the whole lot. Let them run around in the arena, bloodying their clothes and diminishing their stamina. They will prove useless in the hunt. But no matter, glory shall be mine before the week is out. Whether a wyrm's head on a pike or my death by dragonfire. My ancestors shall smile upon me, one way or another.

[antoin]

Jorthun seems impressed and slightly frightened as he writes down a few notes. He continues examining, but backs up a little bit, no longer reaching to touch Leofric's furs, and his eager demeanor turns cold as Leofric dismisses the arena.
Kilmund's smile also fades away as Leofric speaks.
"Special access to our military? You are too bold for your own good, outsider. As for your more...reasonable request for a briefing, I will grant what I can, seeing as that represents our mutual best interest.

Kazeb lies a week's journey from here. The forests between here and there are...relatively peaceful when left alone. The leaders of the orc tribes have had no quarrel with us for almost three years now thanks to High King Ragnar's negotiations. The mountains, as I'm sure you're aware, are far more perilous. Little is known about the organization, if any, of the dragons that live there. They are white and they are good at slaughter and are in need of being slaughtered. The giants are mainly united in small groups by blood relation and as of yet pose no organized threat to Kazeb, though be wary of them if you leave the settlement. We have tenuous alliances with a few of them, mostly against their rivals. The goblins are numerous and would be a significant threat to Kazeb's existence if they were not also terrorized by dragon attacks. Their structure is more or less feudal, last I heard, with small armies owing allegiance to individual goblin lords.

This is what has been passed down to me through Kazeb's reports. The captain of the guard at Kazeb will know more and will keep you informed as he sees fit. Jorthun, would the College grant an advisor?"

With an almost imperceptible sneer, Jorthun stops writing to say, in a clipped, almost scripted tone,
"I do not believe it is the policy of the College to offer free assistance to non-citizens. If you can manage to find a magician to bring along as your 'advisor,' you must ask them - and pay them - yourself."

Kilmund examines Leofric as Jorthun speaks, his eyes narrowing.
"As you said to Rob, you are going to fight some of the most powerful predators that exist. Do you know of what you hunt? Would your thin body wilt like a leaf under a dragon's breath? Do your slender arms have the strength to finish off a dragon, should you even be able to wound him?

Would you fight alongside Cayde, Rob, or any other allies, or leave them to perish while you go your own way?"

[antoin]

Leofric's conversation with the dwarves continues for a short while longer.

A few hours pass, and the sun is almost setting. A modest crowd of a few hundred begin entering the arena. When Cayde and Borb enter, they are greeted by a dwarven child starting to grow a patchy chinstrap black beard, who puffs up his chest and is clearly straining to keep his voice as low as he can make it.
"Hi, um, Mr. Cayde and Mr. Borb? I'm your attendant for tonight's fight! You'll need these bracelets. Whatever you do, don't take them off! They make it so that you'll be healed after the fight is over, and so you can't hurt your opponents too badly...um..."
All his words so far have sounded highly scripted, except for the part about hurting opponents. He soon regains his train of thought:
"Right! The rules are, don't do anything that can permanently impair your opponents like making them blind or something. We want everyone to be able to compete again! And no dispelling the bracelets. Nothing that could hurt the crowd, though the walls are pretty good! The fight ends when all the members of one party are down!"
The crowd inside cheers as you hear what sounds like Jorthun's voice booming through the arena.
"Make sure you keep those bracelets on, don't do anything until the horn blows, and stop everything once the horn blows again!"
He looks around and whispers to you both in a normal, higher pitched voice for his age: "Please win tonight, ok? I've got 10 of my own silver pieces on you guys!"
He hands you both the bracelets.
"Uh, got any questions? You're my first contestants I've attended, but I've been going to these matches since I was a baby!"

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde smiles at the young dwarf taking his bracelet from his hands. He looks it over slightly before sliding it onto his wrist and feeling a small jolt of energy as the magical item rests in place.

He slides his bag off his shoulder and it falls into place with a metallic clang. Crouching down he rustles through it a bit before withdrawing five gold pieces and placing them in the young ones hand,

"Don't you worry your pretty little head bud, we got this. It okay if I leave my bag here? Don't want to be a bother or nothin' "

He adjusts his cloak a little and unclips a small pouch beneath it. He smiles smugly to himself a bit. Time to show what he's made of, and show them all what his people had made.

He stretches a bit and looks over to Borb,

"After you big guy."

He motions a bit towards the opening the sound is being funneled through.

[truk8280]

Borb slowly walks to the center of the colosseum, taking in the atmosphere of the crowd. With all the people yelling and chanting, Borb leaps into the sky and draws his rapier. The crowd goes wild. Then, Borb flies down to Jorthun and mumbles,

"Who's our first challenger?"

[antoin]

Jorthun has clearly warmed up the crowd well, as chants of Rob! Rob! Rob! fill the stadium. The arena itself is a rectangle about 50 feet wide and 120 feet long. The ground is smooth, firm dirt and seats extend all the way around the rectangle. Several shops are above the seats, selling food, drink, orange and blue flags, or taking bets. As Cayde walks through the tunnel into the arena, Jorthun booms, "Cayde Sharpshot, Opportunistic Drifter!" The crowd cheers, and a few already-inebriated dwarves begin chanting letters, none of which end up spelling "Cayde."

At Borb's question, Jorthun simply nods in the direction of the tunnel across from the arena as Borb and Cayde.

"Now for the Orange Team! Sid!"
An extremely stocky dwarf marches in, every step inducing slight tremors in the ground. His sword glows a very faint blue, and he has a mug of ale in his left hand that he chugs and tosses to the side as he enters. He flips his helmet down and points his sword around, roaring in laughter. His chunky armor makes his already enormous figure even larger. He still stands a foot shorter than Cayde or Borb, however. Many in the crowd chug their drinks with Sid.

"Borisivich, Firemaster!"
At this, a thin, middle aged man walks in. Several pouches and a dagger are around his waist, his only armor being a particularly shiny chain shirt. His appearance is...quite something. Not only is his hair spiked white and flaming red, but various burns and bright red blotches cover his face, some old, some new. The crowd claps politely, but no chants start.

"And another newcomer to the arena, Snu, the Hound!"
A young, lanky human strolls in, a slight grin on his face. His shirt looks very similar to Borisivich's. Other than that, he is only wearing a short loincloth and is apparently carrying no weapon. He looks around at the crowd, smiling, before sighing and almost instantly snapping to Cayde and Borb, glaring intensely. A group of humans on Cayde and Borb's side of the arena begin yelling Snuuuuuuuuuuuu.

Jorthun waves his hands and the crowd quiets. He motions to you to back up from the middle, as each "team" takes its positions about 40 feet away from each other. He then turns his attention to a wall on one side of the arena, gesturing and putting on two bracelets. Likenesses of your faces all appear on the wall- Cayde's and Borb's highlighted in blue, the same color as your bracelets now glow, and Sid, Borisivich, and Snu highlighted in orange, like their bracelets.

The crowd becomes completely silent as Jorthun steps out of the arena. 4 robed dwarves take positions in each corner of the arena, each with an axe and a very small hammer in hand.
There is some...thing moving on Borisivich's neck. It's as if his skin is literally crawling, and before the horn blows, it disappears and a bump travels down his shirt, near his beltline.
Also, Snu's hands have faint, glowing, white, tooth-like projections on them.

You know that the small hammers mean these dwarves are clerics of Moradin. They can probably cast spells, since they use the hammer to focus their magic.
Also, Snu's hands have faint, glowing, white, tooth-like projections on them.

Above the seats in the arena, a very fat dwarf blows a deep horn that echoes throughout the arena.
Let's get some init

[antoin]

[roll0]
????

[truk8280]

[roll0]

As soon as Jorthun waves his hands, Borb starts eyeing up the competition. He looks over to Cayde wondering who will strike first.

[TheKidReaper]

[roll0]

Cayde smiles a bit to himself, the commotion of the arena crowd makes him feel right at home. He slides his feet shoulder width apart, right arm rising his cloak a bit above his waist. There is a small pouch there and a handle to a metal object.

His fingers wag a bit in the moment as he waits to strike.

[antoin]

Almost instantly as the horn blows, Snu dashes forward a few steps, bringing himself about 30 feet from Borb. As he does so, a projection of a snarling dog's head forms in his hands before launching itself at Borb.
Rolls(outside of a spoiler might work?)
Attack: [roll0]
Crit confirm: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage: [roll3]

Borb is hit by the dog for 14 damage. The "dog" dissolves into nothing upon impact.

Sid, meanwhile, lumbers toward Cayde as fast as his armor and stature will allow. As he reaches him, he grasps his sword with both hands and swings at Cayde carefully and precisely, like someone highly trained.
Rolls
Attack: [roll4]
Crit confirm: [roll5]
Damage: [roll6]
[roll7]
Crit Damage: [roll8]

Cayde is hit by Sid's sword for 14 Slashing Damage and 6 Cold Damage.

Cayde, you're up. Sid is in your face (10 feet away from Borb), Snu is 30 feet away from you and Borb, and Borisivich has yet to move, 40 feet away from you both.

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde slides backwards five feet to give himself some space before deftly drawing the weapon from his hip.

The two barrels shine slightly with the light of the arena; Cayde smirks looking at Sid and squeezing the trigger hard enough to fire both barrels.

BANG BANG

Remember these are against touch AC due to him being within range

To Hit: 1d20+11
[roll0] [roll1]


The first two shots fired in this new world ring out and Cayde deftly presses a small lever on the gun and the two spent pouches drop out. He grabs two unspent pouches from his belt and slides them into the barrels before aiming again at Sid. He squeezes the trigger hard and fast to fire off another two shots, but this time he aims for the spots between Sid's armor.

To Hit: [roll2]
Bullet 1:[roll3]
Bullet 2:[roll4]

He ejects the two pouches again and grabs two more from his waist before aiming in again for another two shots.

To Hit:[roll5]
Bullet 1:[roll6]
Bullet 2:[roll7]

Cayde pops the last two spent pouches from the smoking barrels before deftly putting two more in and blowing the small trails of smoke off the weapon. He looks to the crowd awaiting their response.

[TheKidReaper]

First attack roll fix:

[roll0]

[antoin]

OOC

Ok so for firing double barrels at once (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment/weapons/weapon-descriptions/pistol-double-barreled), you still roll for each one, and they get a -4 on each shot. So let's see what this looks like:
Attack 1 = 14
Attack 2 = [roll0]
Then
Attack 3 = 17
Attack 4 = [roll1]
Then
Attack 5 = 18
Attack 6 = [roll2]
Damage is fine.

5 of the 6 shots find their way to lodge in Sid's body. Confusion and rage along with fear brew in Sid's eyes as the bullets strike home. He instantly begins bleeding profusely.
I really do appreciate the reminders btw, keep em coming.
The crowd seems stunned by the blasts before cheering loudly as the pistol fires. One quite drunk dwarf in the first row yells, "He'll blow 'em all to bits juuuushlike last time! EEEEEEEAASSHY MONEY! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASSHHHHHHHY MONEY" before hi-fiving the dwarf next to him.

Borb, your turn. Borisivich is still reacting to the horn 40 ft in front of you, Cayde is to your side and behind you a little bit with a wounded Sid 5ft away from his face, Snu is 30 feet in front of you.

[truk8280]

Borb turns his attention toward Sid. He eyes up the holes in his armor and quickly draws his rapier. Borb dashes towards Sid and lunges his rapier at Sid's gaping holes.

Rolls:
Attack: [roll0]
Crit confirm: SEE FOLLOWING POST
Damage: [roll1] with an additional[roll2] studied damage and [roll3] frost.
Crit Damage: Not sure what to do here?

Once Borb finished his attack, he contemplated if he struck Sid the correct way.

I can edit if anything is wrong. I'm not sure if I did this right.

[antoin]

Knowledge(Local) check to see if you were able to Study Sid. Crit doesn't matter with the nat 3 lol, for damage next time just roll your normal attack damage again. Frost/study doesn't count.
[roll0]

[antoin]

You were able to figure out some traits of Sid's movements that you could use against him. You lunge forward to stab him, but unfortunately, your blade glances off his armor and he appears relatively unharmed by the blow.

Borisivich smiles and cackles as you move in towards Sid. As he moves forward, his movements quicken almost unnaturally, faster than what you would expect for a man his age. He comes to within 10 feet of Borb, drawing something from a pouch at his belt and hurling it at Borb. It explodes in a ball of fiery goo.
Rolls - just giving up on the spoilers for now
Attack: [roll0]
Crit Confirm: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage: [roll3]

Reflex saves for Borb and Cayde:
Borb1: [roll4] (if not directly hit)
Borb2: [roll5] (goop)
Cayde1: [roll6] (fire splash)
Cayde2: [roll7] (goop)

The object barely manages to hit Borb and explode on him, dealing 19 fire damage.
Rough 2nd save. Borb, the goop coats your feet and you are entangled (-2 to attack, -4 Dex, half movement speed) and glued to the floor (unable to move - can make a Strength check to try to break free or can hack at the goo (auto-hit) to try to break free)

Cayde avoids most of the goo, taking only 4 fire damage.

(Whoops, forgot about positioning, sorry Sid). The goo also hits Sid, burning him. He still stands, though injured.

Snu steps forward again and hurls another dog at Borb from 30 feet.

Attack: [roll8]
Crit Confirm: [roll9]
Damage: [roll10]
Crit Damage: [roll11]

Despite Borb being stuck to the ground, the dog misses by a mile.

Sid, blood still pouring from his wounds thanks to Cayde's gun, steps forward and roaring, swings twice. While not as precise, the blade comes in much harder and faster than last time. The effort seems to take a good bit of energy out of him.

Attack: [roll12]
Crit Confirm: [roll13]
Damage: [roll14] [roll15]
Crit Damage: [roll16]

Attack: [roll17]
Crit Confirm: [roll18]
Damage: [roll19] [roll20]
Crit Damage: [roll21]
Sid misses with the first swipe, but reads Cayde's dodge and connects hard with the second, dealing 27 Slashing Damage and 4 Cold Damage.

Cayde, you're up. Hopefully, that is - that's a rough time. Sid is in your face, both you and Borb are in his face, Snu is 30 ft away from Borb, 35 from you, and Borisivich is 10 ft away from Borb, 15 ft from you, directly behind Sid.

The crowd is getting into it now, cheers for everyone in the arena bouncing back and forth. A disappointed Aw follows Borb's miss, quickly followed by more chants of Rob! Rob! Rob!

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde slides another five feet back from Sid before aiming in and blasting away again, squeezing the trigger partially,

If Sid goes down then Bori takes the rest of these, all of this is on touch AC for these two

To Hit:[roll0]
Crit Confirm:[roll1]
Damage:[roll2]
Crit Damage:[roll3]

He then pulls the trigger the full full way and another shot rings out

To Hit:[roll4]
Crit Confirm:[roll5]
Damage:[roll6]
Crit Damage:[roll7]

He deftly pulls another two pouches from his belt and slides them into the barrels before aiming in again and letting both shots fly.

To Hit:[roll8]
Crit Confirm:[roll9]
Damage:[roll10]
Crit Damage:[roll11]

To Hit:[roll12]
Crit Confirm:[roll13]
Damage:[roll14]
Crit Damage:[roll15]


He reloads again before defensively taking a stance breathing heavily and covered in blood looking quite annoyed.

[antoin]

The first bullet lands, and Sid looks about to fall, but with a tremendous effort leans forward to swipe at Cayde again. Before he can do any more, the second bullet strikes home and he collapses unconscious to the ground, which quickly begins soaking up his blood.

Many dwarves in the crowd (who had been cheering loudly as Sid's last blow connected) are shocked and dismayed at Sid's collapse, and money immediately begins passing hands. Many coins begin making their way to the drunk dwarf in the front row as he yells even louder: "EEEEEEEAAAAAAAASSSSHHHHHYYYYYYYY MONNEEEEYYYYY!!! HAHA!!"

The next two bullets fly towards Borsivich, who is struck by the first, while the second whizzes by his head. He grimaces in pain, reaching for the pouch at his belt again.

Borb, you're up. 10 ft behind you is a Cayde who is extremely wounded. Sid is down in front of you, Boris is 10 ft in front of you, starting to bleed from his gunshot wound, and Snu is 30 ft from you. You're still stuck to the ground.

[truk8280]

Borb tries to jump out of the goop but is to weak to do so. He then takes his rapier and whacks at the goop.

Roll:
Damage to goop: [roll0]

If Borb destroys the goop:

Borb casts a shield in front of him.

This gives me +4 shield AC and negates magic missiles.

Else:

Borb tries to leap out of the goop once more but is unsuccessful. Once again, he strikes his rapier at the goop.

Roll:
Damage to goop: [roll1]

[antoin]

You hack enough away of the goop to free yourself on the second one. That's used your full attack action (you still have a swift left, if you have a use for it like Study for the next round or w/e). You're still entangled, which also means you move at half speed - again, next turn.

Side note: since drinking an extract is a standard action, you wouldn't have been able to do that and attack in the same turn, unless you can drink them as a move (in which case you should let me know).
Go ahead and post whether or not you're going to use your swift, then it's Boris's turn.

[truk8280]

Borb breaks free from the goop. Instantaneously, he begins to look for weaknesses of Boris.

Knowledge Check: [roll0]

[antoin]

Borb, despite Boris's quick movements, something about them is quite predictable to you, and you feel like you can take advantage of them. (You Studied him)
Boris seems mildly surprised that you're already out of the goop. He takes a small bottle and throws it on the ground between you two. It breaks to reveal what looks like a tiny fossil on the ground. In two seconds, it quickly grows into a wolf, which bites at Borb. Meanwhile, Boris backs up just behind and to the side of Snu.
Wolf:
Attack: [roll0]
Crit Confirm: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage: [roll3]
Trip (on hit): [roll4]

The wolf chomps on air.

Snu launches another canine friend at Borb, same as last time. The dog's head is visibly smaller, however.
Attack: [roll5]
Crit Confirm: [roll6]
Damage: [roll7]
Crit Damage: [roll8]

The dog rushes just past the wolf's teeth, also missing Borb. The crowd, seeing Borb dodge the attacks despite being covered in goop, chant ROB ROB ROB ROB ROB even louder. Boris and Snu glance at each other as both attacks miss. The other drunk dwarf next to "eashy money" nudges his friend and screams in his ear while pointing at Borb...or Cayde...or somewhere in between.
"5 to 1 on 'im! THEY GAVE ME 5 TO 1 ON 'IM MATE!" He slaps his belly, laughing loudly.

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde winces a bit as he takes a short slide step forward.

Note to self, talk to Jorthun about what that drunk dwarf let slip, sounds like my man drifted through here himself....finally, a lead worth chasin'

He pulls himself out of his thoughts, wiping the small stream of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. He smirks a bit, calming his breathing and before his next shot a small gleam shimmers in his eye as he looks at Snu. The familiar explosive sound cuts through the air like butter deafening himself to the sound of the crowd for just a moment.


Going to be expending a Grit point here to use Deadeye on each shot, so this will be against touch AC and at a -2 as its in the 2nd range increment of the pistol.

The final attack will be with the rifle which will not need deadeye with the 40 ft range (I'm 35 ft away I believe) So it will be against touch for either of them


To Hit: [roll0]
Crit Confirm: [roll1]

Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage: [roll3]


The glimmer persists as his aim doesn't waver on Snu, his hand still in contrast to the heavy breaths he takes,


To Hit: [roll4]
Crit Confirm: [roll5]

Damage: [roll6]
Crit Damage: [roll7]


Cayde deftly ejects the spent pouches from his pistol and in one movement places two more into the chambers as he slides the pistol into the pouch on his belt. He reaches back and pulls a longer firearm off his back. It is much larger than the one he wears on his hip and has a cylindrical design attached to a much longer barrel. He once again aims at Snu and as he pulls the trigger a much larger explosion of sound emits from the gun and the cylinder rotates,


To Hit: [roll8]
Crit Confirm: [roll9]

Damage: [roll10]
Crit Damage: [roll11]


Cayde slings the larger weapon back over his shoulder and withdraws his pistol from his belt, holding it aloft in the direction of the two.

[antoin]

Snu narrowly avoids the first bullet as it whizzes past his arm. The dodge leaves him perfectly in position for your second shot, however, as it catches him in the leg. He yells in pain, like someone unused to getting hurt much. He still stands, but he keeps eyeing up the new hole in his leg.

The rifle's shot misses over his head as Snu ducks. Breathing heavily, he stares Cayde down.
The Snuuuuuuu crowd gets a little quieter seeing how badly he took that shot, compared to the beating Sid was able to endure before he fell.

Borb's turn. Cayde is just behind you, wolf in your face, a bloody Boris 35 feet away from all of you, and a rapidly bloodier Snu 30 feet away. You still feel like you have Boris's movement pattern figured out for you to take advantage of. You're sadly still entangled by the goop, see above for the penalties.

[truk8280]

Feeling a bit sluggish, Borb whips out an extract and chugs like the dwarves in the crowd. He gained this ability while walking through the streets of Bavinsk.

Shield (+4 to AC) 6 min

Borb gains an invisible shield in front of him and he flies straight at Snu ready for an attack.

[antoin]

The wolf, seeing Borb distracted by chugging, takes another swipe at him:


Attack: [roll0]
Crit Confirm: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage: [roll3]
Trip (on hit): [roll4]


The wolf makes contact, but Borb's arm deflects the blow away before it can break the skin.
As Borb maneuvers past him, the wolf takes another swipe:


Attack: [roll5]
Crit Confirm: [roll6]
Damage: [roll7]
Crit Damage: [roll8]
Trip (on hit): [roll9]


The wolf chomps where Borb's body was, but he is already flying away.
Snu ducks back and runs 40 feet away from Borb, limping somewhat from his wound. Looking back, he then cuts and runs another 20 feet to your left, putting him a total of ~50 feet away from Borb (85 from Cayde), behind Boris. The crowd booes Snu's apparent cowardice.
If you're wondering why you didn't get an AoO (Attack of Opportunity), he used the Withdraw action.

The wolf glances between Borb and Cayde. Boris gives it a wink and nods toward Cayde. The wolf sprints at him, teeth ready to chomp.

Attack: [roll10]
Crit Confirm: [roll11]
Damage: [roll12]
Crit Damage: [roll13]
Trip (on hit): [roll14]


Cayde is able to dodge the wolf's bite with ease.
Boris swats at a fly that was trying to land on his nose.
What looks like a spiky lump of Boris's flesh pops out of his shirt, opens a pouch, retrieves a metal object, and retreats back inside. Boris sprouts bright red feathers as his arms grow into wings, his mouth becomes beak-like, and his feet grow sharp talons. As he does so, he grabs a vial, snaps it, and throws it at Borb before taking flight, going up 20 feet in the air.

Attack: [roll15]
Crit Confirm: [roll16]
Damage: [roll17]
Crit Damage: [roll18]

Borb's Reflex Save: [roll19]

Borb very, very nearly dodges the vial, but the residual goop slows his movements down just enough and it catches him on the wing. It explodes with another burst of fiery goop, coating Borb's body. He takes 20 Fire Damage and his wings are stuck so they can no longer support him. You fall only a couple inches, landing on your feet with no problem.
Oooooof he woulda missed if you weren't Entangled. Anyway, you are freshly Entangled, but thankfully you are not stuck to the ground. Good thing you were flying lol. Getting your wings unstuck is a full-round action to scrape enough of it off to fly again....you still up tho?

[TheKidReaper]

Without hesitation Cayde takes his pistol and points it at the wolf and sighs

"In any other situation I wouldn't be doing this."

He mumbles this to himself before pulling the trigger as far back as it goes.

With Gunslinger no AoO from the wolf on shot, no AoO from it while reloading because Firearm Mastery, then an extra +1 with point blank. These attacks are on Touch AC, wolf is in my face and Boris is like 40 ft away and if he's a bit further thats fine, I'll just expend the 2 Grit points. I have 2 Left and would get one if the wolf goes down.


Shot 1: [roll0]
Shot 1 Crit Confirm: [roll1]

Shot 1 Damage: [roll2]
Shot 1 Crit Damage: [roll3]

Shot 2: [roll4]
Shot 2 Crit Confirm: [roll5]

Shot 2 Damage: [roll6]
Shot 2 Crit Damage: [roll7]


Cayde deftly pops the two spent cartridges out of his pistol before placing another two into the barrels as he places it back into his holster. In the same motion he swings the rifle off his shoulder and catches it with his left hand, crouching a bit as he swings it over to his right hand and aims in at Boris.



Rifle Shot: [roll8]
Rifle Crit Confirm: [roll9]

Rifle Damage: [roll10]
Rifle Crit Damage: [roll11]



The cylinder cranks over one slot, the barrel just fired still smoking hot and Cayde aims in at Boris again,



Rifle Shot: [roll12]
Rifle Crit Confirm: [roll13]

Rifle Damage: [roll14]
Rifle Crit Damage: [roll15]



The cylinder clunks over another slot and begins smoking as well. Cayde once again slings the rifle over his shoulder and then withdraws his pistol. He sees Borb smoking from the flames and holds his breath.

[antoin]

At work/on mobile so short post, no grit for the wolf, sorry bud. Grit from Boris tho.
Wolf goes down with one whimper, dissolving into the ground. Cayde's shot clips Boris in the head, causing him to falter in the air. As blood gushes from the new wound, his eyes blink rapidly as he struggles to maintain consciousness. He barely avoids Cayde's second shot.

Borb, your turn. A very hurt Boris is 20 ft above you, a wounded Snu is 50 feet away, wings are stuck and you're Entangled.

[truk8280]

Borb is severely burnt with shrapnel lining his skin. The goop is restricting his movements, so he works as hard as he can to remove it all from his wings. I wave of frustration and exhaustion pass through Borb as he always seems to be restricted in his combat maneuvers.

Full round action to remove goop.

[antoin]

Boris's wings falter a bit as he glides away from Borb, as he drops to 5 feet in the air. While his new wings are laboring, he pulls out a metal tube with a sharp point on the end. Looking at Cayde and his guns with genuine fear in his eyes, he drifts back from Cayde and stabs himself in the leg with the point. His head wound stops bleeding and he begins reaching for something at his belt, grinning.

Snu looks at Boris for direction with a small dog's head in hand. Boris frantically gestures at the one who shredded Sid into bits. Speaking of Sid, he's stopped bleeding as a faint red glow surrounds him. He remains on the ground, apparently unconscious.
Anyway, Snu lobs a dog from across the arena at Cayde, staying back near the wall.


Attack:
Crit Confirm: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage [roll3d6

Oof. The dog headbutts his way into Cayde's stomach before dissolving, dealing 11 Damage.
Cayde, if you're conscious, you're up. Snu is 50 ft away from Borb and 80 ft from Cayde along the back wall. Boris is 20 feet away from Borb, 45 feet from Cayde, and 5 ft up. Borb, this is the last turn you'll have Boris Studied.

[truk8280]

Borb flies at Boris with rage. He takes his rapier and swings at Boris.


Attack: [roll0]
Crit Confirm: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]+[roll3] Studied Strike +[roll4] frost
Crit Damage:[roll5]

[antoin]

Boris seems surprised that you were able to fly at him so quickly despite the goop. His surprise fades, as does his entire facial expression as Borb's blade, glowing bright blue, catches him perfectly in the neck. Blood gushes from Boris as he drops like a stone to the ground.
The drunk dwarf, who had started crying at the sight of Cayde falling, pauses a second to "think" before shouting:
"I BET ON BLUE! THE BLUE...TEAM! ROB ROB ROB ROB ROB ROB" - he falls over, but continues yelling from the ground - "ROB ROB ROB ROOOOOOOB!!!!"

Meanwhile, Snu, still grimacing at the bullet wound in his thigh, surveys the situation and the humans still enthusiastically chanting SNUUUUUuuuuuuuuUU! He throws another dog at Borb from downtown.

Attack: [roll0]
Crit Confirm: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2]
Crit Damage: [roll3]


The dog's head hits Borb for 8 damage. Your turn, if you're still up.

As Snu throws the dog at Borb, Sid slowly wakes up. While lying on the ground, he surveys the field and the fight still going on. He then checks his bracelet to see it glowing red. After swearing in Dwarven, his eyes widen as he sees Cayde lying on the ground. He slowly gets up, sword at his side, and limps over to Cayde. He is bloody, but no longer spurting blood like before.

[truk8280]

Borb falls to the ground unconscious, blood spilling from his side.

[antoin]

Cayde, you wake up to see Sid standing over you. Your bracelet glows red. He offers you a hand, helping you up.
"I'll be honest with you. I've been competing here for 3 years now."
He shakes his head, closing his eyes.
"You're the first one to ever bleed me out. Been knocked out by a couple spells, but that device you got...that's something."

Borb, you and Boris wake up next to each other. Snu is limping around the arena as some chants of Snu are heard above the clinging of hundreds of coins changing hands. The drunk dwarf from earlier begins sobbing uncontrollably.

Jorthun strolls on to the field, announcing the Orange Team as the winners. A young blonde dwarven woman comes around, pen and paper in hand, asking what you thought of the Orange Team, your first time in the arena, and what you could have done better. She also asks Cayde and Borb about each others' performance.
Lastly, she asks if you think you'll be back to compete again.

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde grunts and accepts Sid's offer to help him to his feet,

Yeah you ain't half bad yourself.

His attention turns to Borb as he watches him slowly but surely get his bearings. Cayde sighs, just another one for the books. He turns to the dwarven woman and scribbles a few things down

He scribbles down a bunch of things but the few things of note are: Orange team was alright but a 3 v 2 (4 if you count the wolf) isn't his fortay so he doesn't really plan on competing again. He was pleasantly surprised by Borb and his abilities and can't wait to work with him.

He hands the paper back to the woman and he looks around the arena a bit just taking a bit of the atmosphere in......but then he hears the sobs of the loud obnoxious drunk dwarf and his eyes flicker. He turns a cold gaze to Jorthun and walks over,

By Pelor's light I hope you don't lie dwarf. That one over there, the loud one, yelled out during the fight that I was going to ' blow 'em all to bits just like last time'. So my intuition tells me that I ain't the first gunslinger that's walked through your midst. Am I wrong, or am I right Jorthun?

His amber eyes are piercing and he has all but forgotten what is going on in the world around him. His usual calm demeanor gone and a coldness has fallen over his facial expressions. His hand drifts absent mindedly over his hip, allowing him to snatch his weapon at a moment's notice.

This is going to turn to a sense motive and intimidate check if needed but he isn't going to shoot some innocent people, its more or less a reaction from his experiences in the war

[antoin]

"What, you didn't know him? Figured you two might be from the same country or something, he wielded the same weapon as you and spoke with the same accent. Simply called himself Falcon-Eye, he obliterated his opponents here. He should already be supporting our forces in Kazeb, he left a few weeks ago."

The crowd cheers everyone involved as they are presented with their prizes - the winners receive pouches of gold. Sid and Boris each take a ring off their finger and hand them to Jorthun. Sid's is extremely large and decked out with a variety of gems, while Boris's only has a few gems. Snu receives a thin, plain, bronze ring and looks absolutely overjoyed. Both Sid and Boris congratulate him enthusiastically as he receives the ring.

Jorthun hands you each 2 potions.
"Cayde, some things to help you stay up a little longer when you've got the Sids of the world coming at you: a few healing potions."

"Borb, this might help you dodge those bombs better next time: should make you harder to hit."
To spare the trouble of "wHaT aRe tHeSe" when Borb can take a few minutes and figure it out:
Cayde, your potions are a CLW, CL 1 (Cure Light Wounds, Caster Level 1 - heals 1d8+1) and a CMW, CL 3 (Cure Moderate Wounds, so healing 2d8+3). Borb, yours are a potion of Reduce Person, CL 1 (makes you Small for 1 minute) and a potion of Blur (get 20% miss chance against you for 3 minutes).

Jorthun takes you aside briefly as the arena is readied for the next fight.
"And a message from Kilmund: You're welcome to use our training facilities tomorrow, and leave for Kazeb the day after. You two and Leofric are the only three we have heading up there for the next few weeks, so you'll be on your own. In the meantime, we've got two more events for the evening if you'd like to stay and watch, otherwise, Kilmund and I wish you the best of luck."

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde pauses a beat and then reduces his eyes to slits,

"If he's doing anything, its backstabbing and pointing his gun in all the wrong directions..."

At that he purposefully pushes past Jorthun and continues to the exit. His usually light and calm demeanor replaced by a cold one. His actions seem to be hastened a bit as he looks over his shoulder,

"Borb I'm going to go rest, feel free to join."

He continues out of the arena and to his resting place.

Although this 'Falcon-Eye' seems alright, its like a prisoner escaping to a new country. No one knows who they are or what they did, and Cayde isn't buying it

So since we didn't really get a time of day, I'm just going to say Cayde spends the day researching at a DC 25

Craft Check: [roll0]

[truk8280]

Borb comes to consciousness and turns over to Boris and says,

"Damn, those bombs were a pain in my ass. You like the burning sensation of frost on your skin, jajaja?"

As soon as Borb stands up, he slowly flies over to Cayde and smacks him on the ass, leaning into his ear whispering,

"Way to put the team on your back, I kept getting dicked by those entanglement bombs. I'm definitely going shopping tonight to get me some of those."

When Cayde finishes up his conversation with the blonde lady, Borb chimes in and says,

"Not gunna lie, they had us in the first half. Also, they had us in the second half. Boris was a good fighter and liked to use his bombs, I can't stress enough how annoying those things are. I could come back here because what is left of life when all of your family is dead, jajaja. Anyways, wanna get a beer?"

Borb will either head out with Cayde or the interviewer, depending on who wants to take their socks off.

[antoin]

Boris nods, accepting the compliment. "Yeah, I've been developing those for quite a few years. Maybe I can show you how they work sometime."

The interviewer smiles politely but turns away quickly.
Borb and Cayde, you leave to go "shopping" and rest.

You two and Leofric meet at some point tomorrow for a training session. Kilmund provides you all with a pleasant and extremely filling meal for dinner and beds for the night. The next morning just after dawn, he gives you a crudely sketched map showing the way to Kazeb and 15 days' rations apiece. He leads you to the north gate of the city, where a highway winds north-northwest towards a forest.
"Best of luck to you. It's just under two weeks' journey from here, the path is pretty good up until the mountains, but there's signs to guide you on your way from there. Enjoy the daylight and good weather now; it gets much, much colder in a month or so. Moradin guide you on your way."

[glitterbaby]

After doing whatever it is they were doing, Borb and Cayde enter a room to find Leofric seated at a desk, feverishly paging through thick tomes. The subject matter varies slightly but focuses largely on arcane bestiaries. As you walk in, Leofric looks up and, with a blank face, mutters

"had your fun then? Ready to finally dig in and get serious? I picked up some light reading material you can page through to brush up on what we might be facing."

He points at a few books expectingly before going back to his reading and note-jotting. Moments later he chirps up again,

"oh what in Baator was that explosion noise from the arena? That wasn't one of you, was it?"

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde by no means partook in any of Borb's advances and opted to work on his craftmanship before resting for the night.

In hearing Leofric's comments he walks over and takes a seat on the windowsill crossing his arms,

"Hey if you were there you would've known already, but yeah that would be me making all that noise. Pay no mind to it though, you'll be hearing it much more often once we are outside this blasted city.

He turns to Borb,

"Hey next time we come to a rest would you mind taking a look at how you can make one of these?"

He reaches into his pack and removes a bottle of black liquid from it and hands it to Borb.


This would be a bottle of Oil of Silence, which is in all means a literal silencer, not suppressor, for my guns.

Talked this over with Antoin already and he okay'd you to look into it
If you Borb, could mass produce this for me eventually, I'd appreciate it.



Turning his attention to the book he begins to look at it and then abruptly closes it,

"Okay look, never truly fought a dragon but I've done my fair share of research during my travel here from overseas and I can promise you that I am prepared for the horrors we will face. When are we leaving then?


I will politely decline the rations as I already have everlastings

[glitterbaby]

"That was exactly my concern. You make that kind of noise and we give our position away to every monster for miles. Don't go around using that lightly when we're out."

Leofric turns his head back to the book with the last line and doesn't pop back into the conversation until Cayde refuses to do his homework hands back the book.

"Oh you're prepared, are you? What are you going to do when a dragon targets you with its frost breath? How are you going to go about getting the drop on one with its supernatural perception? How will you pierce its thick hide? Am I the only one taking this seriously? Because that sort of indifference is going to get us all killed."

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde sighs annoyed,

"Okay listen here buddy, the uptight shtick is getting pretty old at this point. I read as many books as I had available to me on my way overseas. Sure I've never fought one, but I know my fair share, or at least as much as a book will get me. As for my gun, maybe I already have that figured out."

He gestures to the bottle he just handed to Borb.

"That right there is called 'Oil of Silence', any idea what that might do there smart guy?"

Not even waiting for a response he quickly quips,

"It makes these quieter than you could ever be. You might have battled dragons but have you ever snuck your way behind enemy lines to assassinate a Commanding Officer? Or watched as one of you allies' head cracked open as a bullet pierced his skull? Or held your best friend as he begged for you to help and you were too wounded to lend a hand?"

He is visibly upset with Leofric at this point, a mixture of annoyance and anger in his eyes.

[glitterbaby]

Leofric looks askance at Cayde, dumbfounded.

"Uptight? All I want is to not die a shameful death. There's no glory in being slaughtered due to unpreparedness or idiocy. I don't mind that you're inexperienced with dragons. I care that we come up with a plan so that we can either succeed in our mission or if we do go down, we go down in glorious, hard-fought combat."

"And I am familiar with war. It is our way of life in my homeland."

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde continues to eye him carefully and sighs,

"I understand your concern Leofric but you do not know what I have done to prepare. It is quite hard to bring enough along as just a carrying bag. This world is foreign to me, my firearms are a new concept from what I've gathered on my travels north. I assure you I have taken the precautions and that you will find my weapons effective in our battles. I do not shy from being close to my targets, but I will not put myself into a horrible situation on a whim."

[glitterbaby]

"It's not your weapons that give me pause. There are plenty of ways to tear holes through flesh and I have no doubt that yours can do so just fine. The reason I bring up a dragon's hide is because, even with "normal" weapons, most find it very difficult to pierce. I've trained specifically to be able to find gaps in a dragon's hide but for those who haven't, thought should be put into ways around it. While I don't know many individual spells, I expect there is magic to better one's aim or to allow one to bypass heavy armour entirely. In relation to the breath weapon, there's magic to grant resistance to elemental energy so that would be a good place to start if you've not trained to avoid even energy like myself.

Beyond that, we should think on how we'll get along in the elements. I and my pack animals are already equipped for all but supernatural cold. Do you have mounts? Without even considering speed, trudging through deep snow on foot is not enjoyable."

[TheKidReaper]

"Like I said, had to travel light so a mount is something I don't have. As for the energy resistance, I can stop by the shops on our way out of town and maybe I can find a ride as well."

Cayde sits up from his position a bit, he seems a bit anxious to leave but its hard to pin down why.

Remind me again, this is white dragons we are talking about right?

[glitterbaby]

"Well feel free to use my yak's pack for storage; we can load it up when we go to leave town. We should also consider cold-weather gear or magic to that end. Do either of you two know much of magic and what might be an efficient way to get access energy resistance or other particularly useful magical aid?"

[TheKidReaper]

"Carrying weight won't be the problem, I was assuming you meant for travel speed. I'm not one for the magical when it comes to using it myself, my guns are enchanted however. Borb you're versed in the magical brewing, any suggestions?"

[truk8280]

"I ain't no magician, but I can feasibly brew elementally resistance potions, but they must be used under my will. I get to decide whether or not you guys go into battle with some good resistance. So, as long as we need alchemical help, then I can dish out the aid accordingly."

[glitterbaby]

"Ok so then we don't need to stop by any shops for potions or scrolls on our way out? I've learned a bit about activating scrolls, wands, and the like but occassionally it takes a few tries. I wouldn't count on it in a pinch."

Assuming the answer he's given isn't one to spark a lengthy conversation, Leofric returns to his studies until it's time to leave.

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde nods and stands up from his spot on the windowsill,

"Alright, I'm going to tinker with a few things before we leave then. Someone just come get me from my room when we are going to head out."

He excuses himself from the room.


Researching again, DC 25

[roll0]

[antoin]

Kilmund also hands you a sealed letter on your way, instructing you to present it to the captain of the guard at Kazeb when you arrive.

You three set out from Bavinsk, yaks/horses/wings/potions and all. The road is well-kept up, made of cobblestone. As you leave the city for the first day, you walk past farm after farm, most of them finishing their harvests. At the end of the first day, you rest just inside the fringe of the evergreen forest.

Day two is another beautiful, if slightly cooler day, about 60 degrees. The road turns to dirt with grooves in it, likely from wagons and the like traversing it. You passed many other travelers on the first day, but you haven't encountered anyone since you left the farms.

Day three: the evergreens get taller and larger as you go along. It starts raining in the afternoon, which continues off and on through...
Night 5: Cayde, you come out of your trance to startle what must be upwards of 50 bats in the trees, who disperse quickly. Borb has been aware of them the whole time, naturally. They were slowly gathering throughout the night.
Day six: The rain has made the road arguably worse than the ground around it, though everything is basically just mud at this point. Sometime in the afternoon, the road marginally improves as it is a half a foot taller than the ground around it, so it's...slightly more solid mud.

Around dinner time, you come across three figures who turn out to be young male Orcs, seated under some makeshift cover. They stand up as you draw near, setting down some dice. All are fairly muscular, wearing half-undone leather armor and hoods. They all wear red headbands, with a cartoonish figure of a hog on the forehead. Two of them have clubs strapped to their backs, and one with a greataxe rumbles in rough but understandable Common:
"Lovely rainy day, isn't it? Let's see...3 people, horses, yaks...ahgh I don't feel like doing the math. Call it 20 gold for the lot of you, that'll cover this toll and Rashag's stretch of road up the way...I'm guessing you're heading to Kazeb, though you look a bit tall for dwarves, eh?" His chipped teeth show as he grins. One of the other Orcs reaches in his pocket and begins walking toward the pack yak, a smile on his face as well.
Wow, dem Knowledge(Local) rolls. Alright, you both remember hearing while in the city that the headband signifies the Krgurm orc clan, which translates to "Boar's Fat" in Common. You're probably close to the southwestern corner of their traditional territory - however, this can change hands frequently depending on trade and clan wars.

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde rustles through his pouch and retrieves 20 gold and proceeds to toss it onto the table,

"Aye we are, you lot seem a bit taller than dwarves yourselves. We are just passing through."

He watches as the orc steps his way forward, watching him get closer to the Yaks,

"Hey, we paid the tax, you need to inspect the animals now eh?"

He eyes the three up carefully, his amber eyes never leaving the Orc that has stepped forward.


Going to pull a Sense Motive on that encroaching Orc

[roll0]




I'd be crafting every early morning along this trip at a DC 25, daily.

[roll1]

[roll2]

[roll3]

[roll4]

[roll5]

[glitterbaby]

A wave of disappointment washes over Leofric's face as he jerks his horse to turn, stopping.

"I have no quarrel with you, orc, but if you keep me from my hunt I will not hesitate to consider you and yours my prey as well. We need not be enemies, matter of fact our task may benefit your people."

Leofric's hand reaches back, ready to draw if necessary.

First an Intimidate check with the threat: [roll0]

Detect Evil per the Paladin ability on the orc with the greataxe. The Paladin's ability is a single target but jumps straight to the 3rd round as far as the information goes.


edit: quick typo

[antoin]

The first Orc pulls a 4-inch flat stone engraved with 6 foreign runes. The last rune is the same figure as on their headbands.
He hands it to Cayde: "Just show Rashag's boys this and they'll let you go on no problem."
The orc approaching the yak hesitates at Cayde and Leofric's questioning before pulling out a morsel of food and walking closer to the yak. He pipes up in a surprisingly high-pitched, almost pre-pubescent voice: "I don't mean any harm, sirs. Reminds me of the feller I learned to ride on is all." He feeds it and rubs its head. The yak seems appreciative.
No aura here.
Looks like he wants to touch the yak, no more no less.

Also, oof.

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde flashes a smile and gestures to the three,


"Can never be too careful out here, didn't mean any ill will about it. How far to Kazeb from here?"


His posture relaxes a bit, though his eyes still flicker from Orc to Orc as he talks.


"More importantly to us all, has anything been amiss in the area we are heading through as of late? Rashag's stretch as you called it. Unwanted wildlife? Unsafe roads? Dragons?"


Cayde hesitates as the last one rolls off the tongue, almost to ask his companions 'That okay to ask?'

[antoin]

"Can never be too careful out here, didn't mean any ill will about it. How far to Kazeb from here?"

The orc with the greataxe scratches his head.
"'Bout a week to the mountains, I haven't been up to the town itself so probably a little farther from there."




"More importantly to us all, has anything been amiss in the area we are heading through as of late? Rashag's stretch as you called it. Unwanted wildlife? Unsafe roads? Dragons?"

At the words "unsafe roads," the orc on the left, who has been silent thus far, rolls his eyes and snorts.
"This road is safe with that token. If you all had your friend's attitude, however...(he points to Leofric)...well, huehue...you might find these roads more dangerous. Krgurm is known for its manners." He sneers, pausing for a few seconds.
"We'd finish the job quickly. Rashag, well...(he turns his eyes to Borb)...is known for cooking exotic meats."
His gaze still remains on Borb. The younger orc finishes petting the yak, and the orc with the greataxe glances between the two somewhat uneasily.

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde sighs pretty audibly at that,


"Okay look, we aren't looking for any trouble but if someone is going to be trying to eat my friend Borb here then I can only assume both he and I are going to have an issue with it."


He still hasn't taken his eyes off the three. He hasn't made any motions that would make it seem like he is being hostile, but he's still being very cautious.


"Now I believe we will be on our way, unless you have anything else Leofric? Borb?"


For the first time in a few moments, his glance drifts to the others at his side.

[antoin]

Borb shrugs uneasily but doesn't say anything. The tension remains for a few seconds before the middle orc chimes back in: "Hey, calm down. Yeah, Rashag's crew is pretty rough, but that keeps this road safe from bandits and the like. No one messes with them or us! Haha. Let's get back to our game, boys. You three, don't get too wet out there."

They watch you as you leave.
The end of day 6 goes by without incident.
Day 7 is still very rainy. The forest is thicker and darker, and tree limbs now extend over the path. The rain finally stops on day 8, and the sun comes out.
The woods are generally much quieter than before you met the orcs - there is much less activity or wildlife present.
Day 9 begins with Borb informing you that you were visited by a small Orc party overnight. Once Borb started sleepwalking with the token hanging from his neck, they left you alone.
Days 10-11 are sunny as the path becomes significantly more rocky and arduous, as it gently slopes upwards. The woods thin out to the level when you first entered them.
At the end of Day 11, five vicious looking orcs block the pathway until they see the token. They just grunt, looking at Borb.
You camp on the edge of the forest - you cannot see the horizon to the north, as it is completely blocked by several rising hills.
Day 12 takes you on an exhausting up and down journey through the foothills of the looming mountain range. The pathway is well-defined, however. Around dinnertime, you come across a large fire with 20 or so dwarves in armor around it.
One particularly stocky individual, armor half-undone with an enormous red beard stands up: "Good evening, sirs. Is this really all they sent from Bavinsk? Ah well. Just be more careful than the last sellswords we got up here. If you want to press on a couple hours to Kazeb be my guest...or you can enjoy a meal and rest here before His High Eminence, the Supreme Royal Captainness puts you to work."
The rest of the dwarves chuckle at the last bit.
"Name's Wroth. Try to have as much fun as you can in these gods-forsaken mountains, it'll keep you sane, trust me. You drink ale? Where are you from? What possessed you to come up here - debts to pay? Bloodlust? Bored with city life?"

[TheKidReaper]

"Wroth, name's Cayde. From overseas and just decided to head out into the world unknown to do some drifting. I'd reckon we could take a rest here, and uh....who's this....Captainness you speak of?

He glances around the encampment looking at the group of dwarves.


I am just going to do one crafting roll if that's okay with you. Because otherwise it's just going to be 6 rolls.

So like early morning each day, I'm just going to cancel out all the progress from last time given I had 2 passes and 2 fails.

Let's just do the DC 15 this time

[roll0]

[antoin]

"Good, good," he says as he grabs you each a mug. The ale is almost as good as you'd find in the city.
He refills his mug and drinks deeply before sighing contentedly.
"You asked about Temn, captain of the guard here. Well, he does know a thing or two about what he's doing, I'll say that much."
He pauses as a smirk crosses his face. "Unfortunately, he knows only one or two things about what he's doing!"
The camp chuckles in response. Another dwarf with a thin black beard and bright blue eyes grumbles before adding:
"His father's a general in the southern army, we all know that's how he got the position. It's why we're camped out several hours from the town we're supposed to be protecting. It's why we haven't been able to quash a few lousy goblin tribes that harass us day and night. It's why, despite FIVE DRAGON ATTACKS in the past WEEK, we've lost 30 dwarves and haven't put even one dragon head on a pike yet!"
He gets increasingly worked up, standing up as he talks and begins angrily pacing around the camp as he finishes. Another red-bearded dwarf adds: "Still, the shipments go through to Bavinsk, so no one bothers sending any real help or demoting that fat idiot. No offense to you sirs, but, come on. You're three men. We're out here dealing with dragons, multiple goblin tribes, and roving giants. I don't doubt your skill but...(his voice quiets)...I'll be honest, most of our outside help are too eager. Or desperate. Or foolish. I don't know. Some are still around, you'll meet them when you get into town. But that last group...went out on a scouting mission and never came back. 5 dwarves from my clan, 3 from his (he points to Wroth), and a troupe of 10 mercenaries...just gone. Goblins...usually send us some sort of token to brag about their death. Sometimes we're even able to trade bodies so we can each bury our dead - they're scum, but at least have one shred of decency left. But they were supposed to be back 3 weeks ago."
He shakes his head.
"Do me a favor and keep a good head on your shoulders, and sleep with both eyes open, maybe. We just met, but I like you, and I'd rather not see you dead." His half-drunken eyes are just starting to well with tears.

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde looks around at all the dwarves and their various states of emotion and drunkenness. He sighs,


"So you're saying that this might be different than a goblin attack? What's your suspicion, dragons? Possibly giants? Maybe a traitor?


He waits a pause before asking the last one. Taking an ale if offered one he'll go and sit with the dwarves just taking the scene in. His eyes wash over the scene.

[antoin]

Wroth's eyebrows raise at the last question.
"That's just it, we have no way of knowing. They were supposed to scout out a suspected goblin hideout in the mountains, but we just don't know what happened to them. A traitor...I suppose it's possible. I'm not sure why someone would make their move there, though. The only value I know of in this operation is the three mines. Why make a small scouting force disappear instead of rerouting shipments? Hmmm..."
The conversation quiets down a bit. Borb drinks quite several mugs of ale with a few dwarves farther away from the fire.
As the sun sets, about an hour after you arrive, 4 dwarves riding ponies arrive to the camp from the west, and 3 arrive from the east. 7 dwarves take their respective places and head out. They quickly converse with Wroth, away from you, before sitting by the fire, eating, and dozing off. After their report, Wroth comes back to sit by Cayde and Leofric.
"So what is it you three exactly plan on doing up here? Cayde, I don't see any weapons on you - you a magician of sorts? Most of the contracts Kilmund sends our way are simply to follow Captain's orders and get paid. Pretty much the only thing he does do right is have a degree of respect for warrior's fighting strengths. If you go in there just waiting for orders, you'll get stuck doing something you hate. It's how I ended up here...what are you best at?"

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde glances in Wroth's direction momentarily, and then deciding he has nothing to lose replies,


"No, no nothing like that. I, uh, use one of these."


He slides his pistol out and gives it a single spin, ejecting the cartridges out into his hand. He pulls back his cloak a bit to show his cylinder rifle too,


"The small one is called a pistol but this one here has two barrels obviously. A bit of black powder a small metal piece and bang. They are pretty effective against most things, due to the nature of the weapon. The rifle is just a bit bigger, shoots further with more accuracy.

As for orders, as far as I'm concerned I am here to help clear out a city that's being overrun. I'm not here to die, nor am I here to let others die.

I have to ask, a man was sent this way that weilded a weapon like mine....or so I gathered. He's bad news, named Yor or I guess he calls himself Falcon Eye now."

[antoin]

Wroth's eyes light up before narrowing as you pull out the gun. He simply nods in response to everything else you say. He pauses for a while after your last question before simply stating, "I dunno, this Yor, uh...sounds like bad news. Hope you find him." Another pause, then he just turns to the fire and stares at it, deep in thought or drowsy, it's hard to tell which.

[TheKidReaper]

Perception to see if Cayde caught his gaze flicker when the gun was out
[roll0]

Then a Diplomacy for what I'm going to say here
[roll1]


"Listen Wroth, if I'm going to be lying my life down here to help you all, no, us all.....then you have to be straight with me. Was 'Falcon-Eye' here or not?"

[antoin]

You end up talking over each other as Wroth immediately says, "There is nothing more near and dear to a dwarf's heart than honor. For instance, it is a dishonorable and cowardly act to kill someone in their sleep. Do you agree?"

Hearing your question, he nods and he says more calmly, "I'll answer your question - but you first."

Borb, hearing Cayde and Wroth getting a touch heated, saunters over to see what's happening. Three dwarves who were drinking with him follow.

Ight truk play your own character now lol

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde silently eyes the dwarf,


"In his sleep? Depends the person, sometimes theres less commotion if you do your work silently, but that belongs to the scumbags of the earth alone. War criminals, horrible warlords, but never a man of honor. Sounds like an odd question to be asking....
No honor in killing a man who has the right to a duel.


Cayde's voice trails off. There isn't an ounce of anger in his eyes, but he is tense. His hand subconciously hovers over his unloaded pistol before he snaps out of it and holds his tankard in both hands looking into the fire.

[antoin]

Wroth considers your answer, staring intently at you the entire time. The dwarves that followed Borb over are likewise quiet. After a short bit, he shrugs and sighs.
"Guess it's not my fight either way. Yeah, Falcon-Eye came up here. Said we should watch out for a lying, backstabbing traitor named Yor. At this rate I dunno which of the two of you is lying or if you're both looking for the same guy. Either way, we won't get in your way. Just, please don't drag any of us into it. We're barely surviving as it is."
At this, the other dwarves relax a bit and sit down next to you three. Shortly thereafter, the seven dwarves return and they tie up and feed the ponies. The camp is just below the crest of a hill, and two dwarves are sitting on the top away from the fire keeping watch. Most of the dwarves are sleeping. Wroth takes off his socks and reclines against a log before turning to Leofric and Borb:
"Don't worry about keeping watch tonight, my boys have got it covered. Before we rest, I'm curious - what might the two of you be doing up here? Hunting this same Yor feller as Cayde?"

[glitterbaby]

"We're hunting, aye, but our mark is different. The winged one and I hunt the same prey, but he for vengeance and I for glory and trophy. Did you say five dragons attacking or five attacks by dragons?"

[antoin]

"We're hunting, aye, but our mark is different. The winged one and I hunt the same prey, but he for vengeance and I for glory and trophy. Did you say five dragons attacking or five attacks by dragons?"

"We've had five separate dragon attacks. The worst one had a trio of younger dragons come in, took down a few dozen of our boys and leveled a bunch of buildings...usually it's just one or two picking off easy targets. They've gotten bolder recently, I'll say that much. I don't know how many there are though, all of 'em look the same to me. As dumb as this outpost is, dragons usually attack from the north, so it ain't so bad."


After a little more idle chatting, you all settle in for the night. About three hours after falling asleep, Leofric and Cayde are woken up by Wroth's hands on your mouths. The fire has been put out and the dwarves are waking each other up and putting on armor as silently as possible. He motions for you to listen (Borb is already awake). The steady, deep sound of drums rumbles through the ground softly. Wroth leads you up near the crest of the hill to where you are just able to peer over to the valley you came from. Trudging across the land directly south of you are at least a hundred figures marching on foot. Behind them are a few dozen wagons, hauled by unidentifiable beasts of burden. Looking to your right, you see another, similar band a half mile or so ahead; likewise to the left as they travel from east to west.

One dwarf on watch looks at Wroth, whose wide open eyes show that he is completely unprepared for this. He looks toward you three. The other dwarf on watch points to your left to show a few figures riding quickly toward the hill you're on, currently a couple miles away but quickly closing the gap. The second dwarf mouths "What do we do?"

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde looks around quickly searching for any available cover and placing a finger to his lips.

He grabs his bag, and quickly moves towards cover using hand motions for the others to follow



Stealth Check to hide:
[roll0]

Perception to see some loud people running at us:
[roll1]



He continues to peer in the direction of the noise and from his bag slowly retrieves one of the vials of black liquid and pours some down the barrel of his gun before loading it. He then silently waits for what the others might do.



My pistol is now effectively under the silence spell for 1 hour

[truk8280]

Borb examines the figures coming up the hill.

Stealth Check

[truk8280]

After weeks of staring down his opponents, Borb decides to get up close and personal with these people.

Stealth Check: [roll0]

If Borb succeeds, he will try to infiltrate the army as one of their own.

[antoin]

Borb works his way down the hill, dodging behind bushes and rocks to work his way close to the army. Cayde and Leofric, Borb quickly becomes rather difficult for you to pick out even while watching him as a cloud obscures the moon and darkness. He approaches close to the shapes moving across the ground and between the movement and darkness, you can't see him anymore. They continue on their way. While this happened, the figures ride quickly closer, no more than two miles away now. There are about a half dozen, riding some beast that doesn't gallop like a horse. They seem to be heading directly for your position near the top of the hill, but are otherwise silent.

You make your way downtown the hill, walking fast, as the shapes pass below you. As you draw close, you immediately notice a few things. First, every figure is shuffling along in armor as if they were completely exhausted. The wagons are pulled by what looks to be oxen, but on closer look you see that the oxen are half bone and half flesh, moving unnaturally precisely. You try to sneak in formation with the figures and one on the end leans toward you, mumbling in Goblin, "bout time you got done taking a leak. cover me while i go." He shuffles away from the group behind a nearby bush. You take his place in a rough goblin formation as they continue shuffling along. You can hear a few very quiet conversations, but you can't make out the words other than them sounding Goblin-ish. They don't carry any banners or identifying symbols. What do you do next?

[truk8280]

Borb drinks an invisibility potion and creeps up behind those he thinks are the generals of the group. Because he is quite .... mentally slooow .... Borb does the "touch the shoulder of one guy and make it look like someone else did it" just to mess around. He also spanks one of the generals. Jajaja

[antoin]

Guess Borb's previous spoiler doesn't matter, go ahead and read it. Try to keep player/character knowledge separate, please. Just because you can see this doesn't mean Cayde/Leofric have any idea what's happening.

Borb, right as you drink the potion, the other goblin comes back. You dodge around him as he falls back into line without saying anything. The goblin behind him, however, seems very confused and begins talking to those around him.
No one is really wearing anything that would signify them as a higher rank, but as you poke around, you see that the wagons are all filled with more sleeping goblins. One particularly burly one gets out of a wagon right next to you and receives the tap on the shoulder. He looks around, confused and suspicious. Seeing as there's no one else interesting around, he also gets the spank. He turns around to see no one there, and you dodge his outstretched arm. He quickly maneuvers his way to a wagon several rows ahead and climbs in, closing the cloth covering behind him. Many of the goblins near where you entered formation have begun chattering and looking around.

You're still steadily moving away from the hill. You can still see the figures riding on some sort of beast toward the hill where Cayde and Leofric presumably are, closing the gap quickly, maybe 2ish miles away.

Cayde and Leofric, you're up. We need an update about what you've been up to for the past 10ish minutes since Borb left to keep the timelines consistent.

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde sits silently looking around at all the dwarves not willing to give away his hiding position. He notices Borb has gone and is hoping to get some kind of recon eventually. Looking around what are the dwarves doing? Is this somewhat a common occurance and they are acting accordingly or is this out of the clear blue?

[glitterbaby]

Leofric patiently awaits the scouting report, drawing his longbow to be ready should he need to be.

[antoin]

Cayde/Leofric: The dwarves were slowly getting their armor on until one of them pointed out the figures riding toward your group. They just finished quickly getting their armor on and weapons ready. 5 of them have bows, the rest (~20) have a variety of swords/axes. There is about a 400 foot gap without cover between the rest of the dwarves and your group (you two, Wroth, two guards). The group has taken positions (rather poorly) behind the bushes and rocks by them.

Borb: The goblins around you are still marching but everyone is talking now. The big dude emerges from the wagon alongside a thin, gangly goblin, walking around staring intently at...air? Big guy calls out, "LINE UP BOYS, TIGHT FORMATION. SWAP IN AN HOUR." The goblins quickly obey, about to squish you against a wagon. What do you do?

We're caught up now. Anyone can respond.
From your various vantage points, you see the riding figures stop and briefly circle around before again riding directly for the top of the hill where Cayde and Leofric are.

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde turns to the dwarves and whispers,


"These guys give you trouble before? We just going to let them pass or take them out?"

[antoin]

Wroth whispers back: "Not quite sure. They look like goblin wolfriders to me, but it's too hard to tell for sure in the dark. Goblins are almost as much of a pain as the dragons, cuz they just keep coming."
One of the guards
who absolutely crushed his Knowledge check
pitches in: "Yeah, if they are wolfriders, they're the elite warriors of each goblin tribe. The question is, are the riders, whatever they are, hunting the group down there or are they with them? If those are all goblins...something's not right. The largest tribes are maybe 100 strong, 'least that I've ever seen a round here. Think your friend will be back soon to let us know?"
Wroth peers down the hill. "Looks like my men are setting up an ambush for the riders. I'm no tactician, so do you want to join in, or try to let them pass by, or something else entirely?"

[TheKidReaper]

Cayde curses under his breath and loads both barrels of his pistol before turning to Wroth,

"We avoid a fight unless we have to, we're outnumbered so we have to plan this right."

[truk8280]

Borb makes his way to the wagon in the front and tries to latch onto it somehow and listen to what the goblins are saying.

Stealth Check: [roll0]

[antoin]

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
dat 20 lol


Borbelous! You latch on the wagon with about a minute of invisibility left. Inside, you hear a goblin yell, "I got him!" and a blade cuts through the wagon canopy a few feet away from your hand. The wagon stops, the big goblin yells "HALT" and the goblin staring in the air begins running toward your position, currently 50 feet away. Let's get some init, please.

Cayde and Leofric, the figures are now 1 mile away. You feel like you're pretty well behind cover from your current vantage point, but you're still split up from the rest of the dwarves. Still no sign of Borb, and based on the time it took for him to go down the hill and how quickly the riders are approaching, there's no way he would make it back before you'd meet them unless he's flying invisibly or something.
Speaking of the riders, they definitely aren't on horses, but you're not exactly sure what kind of quadruped beast they're on. All 10 riders are wearing armor. They'll be on top of you in a couple minutes if they continue. Do you wait where you are or do anything else as they approach?

[glitterbaby]

"The man is right. We should not be taking this fight. We're outnumbered and should fall back. Let this band pass and await the scouting report."

[antoin]

Wroth begins motioning to the dwarves you're separated from. The process is...slow, but one of them notices and begins whispering to the rest. They shift to better cover slightly farther away from you, weapons still at the ready. By the time Wroth is finished, the armed figures are about 1000 feet away, riding almost directly toward your position.
Wroth curses under his breath: "Wolfriders. If they keep coming for us they'll smell us for sure. We need to run or distract them to go somewhere else if you don't want to fight, Leo." He half-heartedly draws his axe, crouching next to the two of you. The two guards do the same, less half-heartedly.


Hill slopes up from left to right.
Dwarves->500ft->you->50ft->top of hill
Borb+friends are on the other side of the hill, you can't see them from your current position.
The hill slopes down toward and away from the riders.
Hope that makes sense lol

[truk8280]

Roll for initiative: [roll0]

[antoin]

Borb, you're up first. The goblin that was staring in the air definitely sees you now and is pointing, and the squadron of about 200 marching goblins has halted and pulled out weapons. Based off what you can see, they know something is in need of stabbing/shooting very quickly. 9 rounds of invisibility left, your turn.

Cayde, Leo:
10 muscular goblins, each wielding a longbow and riding a worg, crest the hill directly between your hiding place and that of the rest of the dwarves. They look and sniff around suspiciously. The leader of the group points to the halted group down below and they seem just about to begin riding down that way. What do you do?