Sabrina's freedom (IC)

[Debbie_D1]

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[Debbie_D1]

Lightning flashes overhead with the rumble of thunder, it will storm at some point, but that future is of no concern to Sabrina and Dan, much more engaged with the 3 minotaurs in front of them. They had hoped to approach the cave unnoticed but one of them had tripped an alarm trap, sending rocks that had been carefully stacked rolling towards them. Light on his feet, Dan avoided them and Sabrina flapped her wings to jump over them, but now the minotaurs were ready, 30 feet away

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10 hours earlier

The two were just about to settle down for the evening, it was rare for Sabrina to get Dan under a charm because of his continual protection from evil helmet, but she had spotted him taking it off for just a moment and had quickly cast. It wasnt like they never shared a bed, but Sabrina liked to be in total control. So when the half dead human staggered into their camp, it took all of her control not to finish the problem off. Then he began to spin his tale of a minotaur troop, that had taken up residence near a trade route and had been raiding caravans...amassing a huge trove of treasure. He and his group had taken a contract to bring them to justice, but had failed, badly. Protecting a caravan route was of little interest to Sabrina, but the idea of treasure always got her attention. The human was in no condition to continue, so when he outlined the route back, the pair set off on it. Making their way to the cave described, they could see the 3 minotaur guards outside, but the attempt to sneak up on them went sour.

Initiative:
Dan
Sabrina
Minotaurs

[Ridai]

A wiry young man of average height and build, and, charitably speaking, slightly above average looks. Keeps his hair pretty short because it kept getting in his eyes in a fight (not to mention getting singed, grabbed, and what not) and his face shaved if he can help it. Since armor turned out to just hinder him, he simply opts for reasonably comfortable, durable clothes that don't limit his movements, with pretty mundane designs, having given up on trying to cultivate much of a unique look. Seriously, he doesn't really stand out much, he doesn't even look much like an adventurer unless people count his haversack, bow, and rapier combo.

Dan pretty much resigned to his fate as he felt the charm. He wasn't even sure why he took off the thin circlet, but, well, Sabrina having her way and him waking up feeling like he just wants to sleep for another day or three it was. There probably are men out there with the stamina of a demigod, but Dan isn't one of them, being a rather normal human who gets tired after a long day of traveling and potentially fighting, and getting no favors from his one-and-done biology. But it's what needs to be done to work with Sabrina. Really, he can call himself fortunate for getting to work with her and also being allowed to have a will of his own (well, most of the time) when she could just wipe most things out by herself.

The half-corpse stumbling into camp thus has the most excellent of timings, as the attack means they can find treasure, kill some bad things that need to be killed, and that he won't be struggling to walk instead of crawl the next day. So when hastily gathering his things, he does put on a healing belt and gives the man a quick burst of healing. "Get yourself to the nearest town, buddy, we'll handle this," he says, pointing into the direction of said town and enthusiastically clapping him on the shoulder twice, which produces a wince and a groan from the still (if less) wounded man, and a quick apology from Dan.

Approaching the cavern, Dan tries to make himself useful, having a thing for traps, and he does indeed spot one. "Careful, there's a trip-" And Sabrina already walked through it. "...wire. Aw crap." With the rocks rolling, Dan frantically tries to dodge to the side, gets cut off by a stone outcropping and faster-than-anticipated rocks, so he instead leaps up, onto the first large rock that comes rolling towards him, and from there, he hops from one rock to the next, trying to keep contact as brief as possible, arms flailing for balance, until he finally lands on the other side of the rock barrage with a roll and coming to a halt on his back. He looks back, sees he evaded the rocks, breathes in relief. "Phew, made it-" And he looks in front of him and sees three angry minotaurs who look pretty ready to fight and gore and within charging distance of the puny human on his back in the dirt. A moment passes where the beasts look at him and he looks back with pressed lips and "uh oh" written all over his face.

Well, time to improvise. Dan is suddenly on his feet and rushing straight at the minotaurs, ignoring the familiar sensation that tells him that charging right at big, beefy monsters is a terrible, terrible idea. Just when the right-most beefman is about to cleave the puny hooman in two with a big overhead slam, Dan goes low, sliding between the legs of the minotaur and attacking the most accessible weak point as he does, hanging right above him, burning that particular image into his brain in the process. Quickly bouncing back up behind the first target, he hops up, pushing himself off the rock of the cave entrance, and hurls himself at the minotaur in the middle, aiming for a good stab at the kidneys (heart too difficult, minotaurs have massive spines and ribs and muscle in the way on the upper back) as he soars down, briefly hanging onto the beast before yanking his blade free with both hands and feet (damn easy to get stuck in there). He tumbles to the ground as the blade came out a little too easily, quickly rolls to the side and onto his feet, and is suddenly standing right in front of the left-most minotaur's massive back. He really hopes Sabrina will attack that one, what with flanking and all that, helping him and her out massively. That and maybe the big bad mino will rather attempt to hit Sabrina, who is way, way less squishy than the mortal.

Dan uses Spring Attack/Bounding Assault to move his full speed of 60ft and do two attacks along the way, one against the right minotaur, one against the middle minotaur, neither getting to attempt AoOs against him. As part of the movement, he tumbles (take 10 due to Skill Mastery and no penalty for full speed due to Thief-acrobat, result 38) behind the left (and unharmed) minotaur, setting up a flanking position for Sabrina.

Dan fights defensively, taking a -4 penalty to attacks while gaining +14 dodge bonus to AC, putting him at 50 AC. He also designates the left minotaur as the target of his Dodge feat, and the middle one with his Swasbuckler dodge bonus (acting like the Dodge feat), granting him +1 dodge AC against them and potentially triggering Elusive Target against them. Dan also gets Sneak Attack, as the minotaurs have not yet acted in combat.

Attack vs. right minotaur
[roll0] vs flat-footed AC, [roll1] damage (includes Sneak Attack and precision damage) + Staggering Strike (Fortitude DC = total damage dealt, or be staggered for 1 round)
edit: Critical threat! Confirm roll: 32 vs flat-footed AC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24113715&postcount=6)

Attack vs. middle minotaur
[roll2] vs flat-footed AC, [roll3] damage (includes Sneak Attack and precision damage) + Staggering Strike (Fortitude DC = total damage dealt, or be staggered for 1 round)
edit: Attack roll should be 5 lower, forgot the -5 penalty for the second attack

If Sabrina attacks the left minotaur
Trigger Opportunist to make a flanking attack against the minotaur
[roll4] vs flat-footed AC, [roll5] damage (includes Sneak Attack and precision damage) + Staggering Strike (Fortitude DC = total damage dealt, or be staggered for 1 round)

[MikelaC1]

Dan usually looks a lot more graceful and dashing in his fights, Sabrina has to give him that. But then again, her straightforward style tends to give better results, as far as she can tell. Naturally as she charges forward, her shield activates and she casts the wraithstrike on her blade that empowers it to bypass armor. Taking her sword in two hands, she hammers the minotaur with all of her might, in fact, with more than usual
(power attack -10/+20)

[roll0] attack & [roll1] damage

[Debbie_D1]

The combined damage from Dan and Sabrina drops the left hand minotaur and Dan's attacks on the right and center minotaur leave the beasts staggered. They are able to take single attacks, one against the devil and one against Dan, but the combination of the effect and the groups armor leaves them unharmed.
Dan up (round 2)

[Ridai]

HP 202/202, AC 50 (touch 44, flatfooted 18 -> Improved uncanny dodge)
Effects Dodge (both minotaurs, +1 dodge AC), fight defensively (-4 attack, +14 dodge AC)

The first minotaur goes down, thankfully ("Phew, okay, okay!"), just as a giant axe comes hammering down on the spot where Dan happens to stand. He raises his rapier, which looks and feels rather puny compared to the cleaving egde coming down, but it diverts it just enough to have the axe just go past Dan as he scrambles to the side, dirt kicking up from the impact and the rush of air stinging his eyes. Looking hastily at the scene, he is finding himself in front of a hulking minotaur looking quite irate and at him, one arm easily as big as Dan's torso, making him feel very, very small and giving him that sinking feeling he always has when he is staring down something big, bad, and very angry.

So, standing still = very bad. As such, acting quicker than he can think, Dan steps onto the axe's hilt just as the minotaur begins to raise it again, stepping further up and onto one of the massive hands, beast angrily shouting in his face in response. As it attempts to swipe at the annoying human, Dan switches his rapier to his left hand, grabs onto one of the minotaur's horns with his right, half vaults half swings over and around the beast, and delivers a quick stab to its back as he tumbles to the ground. Coming out of the roll, he is on his feet behind the other minotaur, seeking to do a quick stab to distract it from Sabrina. Gotta support Sabrina. And when she capitalizes on the opening, he does so on the one she creates. Well, that is the plan, at least, but chances are he'll just get a face full of minotaur furry back muscle when Sabrina hammers the thing back.

Dan likes to think he is helping, at least a little, as well as hoping these minotaurs will be torn apart by the erinyes before they can go full angry at the annoying gnat who keeps poking them.

Take 10 on Tumble and Balance for 38 at full speed (no penalty due to Thief-acrobat), marking both minotaurs as targets for Bounding Assault.

Full action Bounding Assault. Dan tumbles through the squares of the the minotaur who didn't attack Sabrina, triggering the Acrobatic Backstab skill trick and rendering the minotaur flatfooted against Dan's next melee attack on his current turn. He attacks the minotaur, then moves to flank the other minotaur and attacks it. Uses defensive fighting (-4 attack, +14 dodge AC).

Attack vs "Dan's" minotaur
[roll0] vs flatfooted AC, [roll1] damage (includes sneak attack and precision damage) + Staggering Strike (Fortitude DC = total damage, staggered for 1 round on fail)
edit: Critical threat! Confirmation roll of 35 for 22 extra damage (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24120280&postcount=8)

Attack vs "Sabrina's" minotaur
[roll2] vs AC (includes flanking bonus), [roll3] damage (includes sneak attack and precision damage) + Staggering Strike (Fortitude DC = total damage, staggered for 1 round on fail)

Opportunist attack when Sabrina attacks the flanked minotaur
[roll4] vs AC (includes flanking bonus), [roll5] damage (includes sneak attack and precision damage) + Staggering Strike (Fortitude DC = total damage, staggered for 1 round on fail)

[MikelaC1]

With the battle seemingly well in hand, Sabrina does not bother to waste any of her spells, choosing instead to just attack normally. She divides her attacks between the two minotaurs, aiming to end the threat of both of them

[roll0] & [roll1]
[roll2] & [roll3]
[roll4] & [roll5]
[roll6] & [roll7]

[Debbie_D1]

Between the precision attacks of Dan and the vicious attacks of Sabrina, the two remaining minotaurs fall, leaving the cave mouth unguarded

[Ridai]

Dan breathes out quite audibly, very relieved to have gotten through the fight without losing an arm or a head. He takes a few deep breaths, a technique he has been helpfully shown by a tough war veteran a year ago to calm down, catch his breath, and focus. That woman is a force to be reckoned with. Hopefully he gets to see her again sometime. Sabrina, meanwhile, seems not the least bit winded, as he has come to expect, while still effortlessly striking a stunning figure. Erinyes really are blessed (well, in one particular meaning of the word) in all regards, aren't they? Since she so quickly decimated the minotaurs, Dan decides to make himself useful, volunteering for the dirty work that is rifling through the mangled corpses for anything valuable or useful. That's pretty much his lifeblood. Few other ways for him to get an advantage, and so many things still left to buy.

"You were great, as always. Don't think I ever fought minotaurs before. Scary when they're right in your face." He nudges a minotaur's foot with the tip of his boot, and tries to get the gunk off his rapier before sheathing it. Glancing at the cave mouth, he looks back Sabrina. "Who takes point? Me looking for traps, or you potentially ambushing enemies?" Since Dan can't see in the dark, he relies on the bead of liquid sunlight hanging from his neck to see, which, of course, ruins any sort of stealthy approach. Sabrina taking point pretty much is her taking Dan by the hand. He has gotten pretty good at not stumbling in darkness.