Council of Thieves [Bastards of Erebus] (IC)

[lostsole31]

Flycatcher is at the bottom of the short set of stairs with the rough-hewn walls poorly carved leading from the old woodcarver's house to "below." The door is there. He checks it clear, and it is unlocked. When he very carefully, very slowly opens the door, he sees two sleeping tieflings, and one that is sitting down against a wall, not paying attention to him.

What does he do now?

[SwordChucks]

The Flycatcher reverses his actions, leaving the door slightly cracked as to not let the sound of the door latching give him away.

When he returns to the rest of the Children he whispers "There are three Bastards below. Two are sleeping and the last didn't seem to notice me. We could all prepare an attack at range, and with Erasmus' light magic I could use a thrown dagger to mark the targets."

If Erasmus is amenable, the Flycatcher swaps his rapier for a dagger and once lit, keeps it wrapped in his cloak to hide the light.

[lostsole31]

Dusha is going to be pushed to the back, as is Arael, for this preparation ... leaving Flycatcher (front), Janiven, Erasmus, Arael, Dusha, Hyrum.

Okay, Flycatcher, what do you do now?

[SwordChucks]

The Flycatcher motions for everyone to put a hand on the shoulder on the person in front of them and begins a quiet descent to the cracked door. He keeps a hand on his now lit dagger under the cover of his cloak.

[lostsole31]

The party creaks down the stairs slowly and quietly, and Flycatcher slowly opens the door, hoping that it doesn't creak or give away the group's position before they're ready. Because of the way everything is situated, from the point of the doorway, Flycatcher is the only one "down" and Janiven is on the steps with a very difficult shot if it were taken right there and then.

Whether it was because of testing fate .... or maybe a sliver of the light escaped ... or even that the door creaked a little, but Purple turns her head and shouts, "Intruders! Wake up!"

Begin Round One ..

R1T26: Janiven moves past Flycatcher, using the wall to guide her. She looks like she is going to shoot a bogey as soon as she might see something.

R1T21: Dusha, you heard that someone is shouting downstairs, and you can't see right now as all light sources were doused for stealth. What do you do?

[pfm1995]

Dusha hold still, trusting in the plan at least until those who can see what they're doing say differently.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Delaying

[SwordChucks]

The Flycatcher lets out a sigh at being detected so quickly. He uncovers the lit dagger and tosses it at the face of the guardian Bastard. While it flies, the Flycatcher rushes forward and draws his rapier.

Spoiler: Combat

Show

Swift action: Assume Scarlett Einhander Stance.
Standard action: Attack purple Bastard with a thrown dagger.
Move action: Move 20ft to stand south of Purple.
Free action: Draw the rapier during movement.

Dagger: (1d20+9)[22], (1d3+5)[8]

[lostsole31]

R1T19: The Flycatcher lets out a sigh at being detected so quickly. He uncovers the lit dagger and tosses it at the face of the guardian Bastard. The dagger hits her in the left knee instead (Janiven was in the way) for 3. While it flies, the Flycatcher rushes forward and draws his rapier, while getting into stance.

R1T18: Green (who Flycatcher now sees) wakes up, stands up, picks up shortsword and steps forward a little.

R1T17: Dusha, Radigan senses that there is danger and squeaks in nervousness!

R1T16: Erasmus moves down quickly and fails to hit Purple with his rapier, the wayfinder around his neck giving forth light, which now means ....

R1T15: Janiven, now able to see, shoots a sitting Dravano in his left hand for 18.

R1T14: Brown (male) wakes up, stands up, picks up short sword, and steps forward.

R1T13: Hyrum moves past everyone and stands just inside the basement (just past the door), and takes a quick vial of something as Flycatcher sees a wobbling field around Hyrum (though only briefly).

R1T12-6: Several enemies go, the highlights of which are ... Yellow (m) takes out his short sword and gets behind Flycatcher to graze his left hand for 4. Dravano roars in pain as he stands and closes. Pink takes a circuitous route while taking out her short sword to end up flanking Flycatcher, but the little guy brilliantly deflects the blade. Purple concentrates carefully and touches her shirt, and from that ..... Darkness falls!

R1T4: "Dusha, do not be offended, but I am going to put a spell of protection on you as I feel you are most vulnerable," Dusha hears Arael say. He intones a spell (which she recognizes as protection from evil) and she feels a protective warmth when he feels a round and touches her arm. He is then heard moving away.

Downstairs, movement is heard coming down the stairs.

End Round One, Begin Round 2 ...

R2T21: Dusha, I know you are "delaying" but you hear the solid sounds of combat in the darkness below. What do you do?

Flycatcher on deck, Green in the hole ...

[pfm1995]

Dusha gives an invisible nod of thanks to Arael as the sounds of combat start to echo upwards, resigning herself to this having already started poorly. She herself casts her own spell, the familiar weight of a warding joining the warmth of Arael's, and moves down to try and get a better look at what is going on.

Spoiler

Show

Casting Mage Armor and moving down the stairway just until she can see into the room, if she can move that far.

[lostsole31]

R2T21: Dusha gives an invisible nod of thanks to Arael as the sounds of combat start to echo upwards, resigning herself to this having already started poorly. She herself casts her own spell, the familiar weight of a warding joining the warmth of Arael's, and moves down to try and get a better look at what is going on. She doesn't get as far as she can before there is a tangible wall of darkness ending right about where the bottom of the stairs would be.

R2T19: Flycatcher, what do you do?

Green on deck, Erasmus in the hole ...

[SwordChucks]

The Flycatcher scans the area before locking on to Dravano. "I count nine of them, but kill this Bastard!" he shouts using both senses of the term while trying to drive Dravano out of the darkness at swordpoint.

Spoiler: Combat

Show

Swift action: Encouraging Roar granting a +2 to hit and damage for allies in 30ft.
Move action: Feint against Dravano.
Standard action: Pyrite Strike Dravano, attempting to reposition him the southeast.

Feint: (1d20+9)[27]
Pyrite Strike: (1d20+12)[30], (1d4+7)[11]+(2d6)[9]
If the feint is successful add Hidden Strike: (2d4)[2]
Reposition: (1d20+6)[16]

[lostsole31]

R2T19: The Flycatcher scans the area before locking on to Dravano. "I count nine of them, but kill this Bastard!" he shouts using both senses of the term while trying to drive Dravano out of the darkness at swordpoint. He stabs Dravano in his left gastroc muscle in his calf for 27, dropping him.

R2T18: Green runs across and opens the door to the west, shouting a warning in Infernal.

R2T16: Erasmus steps towards the eastern wall, fumbling in the dark. Yellow tries to get a cheap shot on him, but has to adjust because of Dravano's sudden fall. As luck would have it, yellow pulls a muscle for 4 STR with a loud cry of pain. Erasmus continues slowly south and gets to the edge of the darkness. Enough that he stabs red/blue in the right upper arm for 13. "Continue south!" he calls. "There's a pocket down here where the darkness isn't."

R2T15: Janiven takes Erasmus' advice and does that, drawing her wakizashi as she goes. Red-blue attacks her, but Janiven was already defensive with her blade, and has a better sixth sense for danger then the rest of you.

R2T14: Brown steps forward and grazes Erasmus' neck for 4.

R2T13: Hyrum doesn't go anywhere. Instead, he seems to concentrate. In doing so, his skull becomes massively hydroencaphalic at first .... hair grows in everywhere ... tusks grow from his ... snout? .... large enough to look dangerous. Dusha only sees a vague shadow of this as Hyrum is just inside the darkness, but Flycatcher's darkvision monochromatically catches the change. He takes out a dagger.

R2T12-xx: Yellow attacks Flycatcher, but blades deflect. Pink stabs Flycatcher in his left quad for 5. In attacking Janiven, red-blue's sword is thrown enough offline that she stabs herself in the leg for 5. Blue engages Flycatcher, but misses. Red also misses him. Purple (source of darkness) stands, but Flycatcher stabs her in the back of the right thigh for 8. Now on her feet, she stabs Flycatcher in his left hand for 11.

R2T4: Arael, using quick little calls-and-response with Flycatcher, casts a spell on Flycatcher. It's not a healing spell, and Flycatcher doesn't know what it is.

End Round 2, Begin Round 3 ...

R3T22: A wolf skeleton speeds into the room and right up to Erasmus and Janiven.

R3T21: Dusha, all that stuff that was narrated? You don't really know any of it because it takes place in the darkness beyond. You just hear a big battle raging and voices. What do you do?

Flycatcher on deck, Green in the hole ...

[pfm1995]

"Or we could *not*." Dusha snarls in response to Erasmus' shout. "Wandering into the dark like those looking for death is what caused half of us to find it last time! Here by the door they at least don't have their numbers." Still, she reached out and put a hand on the back of the porcine shadow in front of her. "I will follow you," she murmurs, "assuming you at least can see in this murk."

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Dusha will ready an action to follow 5ft behind Hyrum if he moves for as long as she has movement; Dusha likes her meat shield.

[lostsole31]

R3T21: "Or we could *not*." Dusha snarls in response to Erasmus' shout. "Wandering into the dark like those looking for death is what caused half of us to find it last time! Here by the door they at least don't have their numbers." Still, she reached out and put a hand on the back of the porcine shadow in front of her. "I will follow you," she murmurs, "assuming you at least can see in this murk."

"Not at all," mutters Hyrum.

R3T19: Flycatcher, what do you do?

Enemies on deck and in the hole ...

[SwordChucks]

The Flycatcher fakes to one side to draw a reaction from the darkened tiefling. The moment an opening appears, he sends a wild stab at them and draws some of their life force into himself. He steps carefully to the east, not willing to risk his back to the Bastards' blades.

Spoiler: Combat

Show

Move action: Feint the purple tiefling.
Standard action: Enduring Crane Strike purple with the rapier and making it a Risky Strike. Healing the Flycatcher if successful.
5ft step East.

Feint: (1d20+9)[29]
Enduring Crane Strike: (1d20+9)[25], (1d4+7)[9]+(1d6)[4]
Sudden Strike: (2d4)[8]
Enduring Crane Healing: (1d6+5)[7] to the Flycatcher

[lostsole31]

R3T19: The Flycatcher fakes to one side to draw a reaction from the darkened tiefling. The moment an opening appears, he sends a wild stab at them and draws some of their life force into himself. He steps carefully to the east, not willing to risk his back to the Bastards' blades. Purple falls, and Flycatcher gets 8 healing. Also in an odd twist, she fell forward onto the item she had darkened, and in doing so obscures the darkness field as surely as someone hiding a magically lit dagger with a cloak!

R3T18: Green moves forward to Janiven and stabs at her wildly.

R3T17: Remember the spellcasting bossman from before? Dusha might not have seen him, but I know Flycatcher did. Well, he enters from the door to the west. He casts a spell, with a faint warm glow around the fallen Dravano, though no actual visible healing.

R3T16: Erasmus steps north out of the flank he was in. He attacks the wolf skeleton, making up for the type of weapon he wields against the bony creature by putting as much power forward as possible. The thing practically explodes from impact, disappearing in a scorch mark.

R3T15: Janiven maintains a defensive stance, surrounded as she is. She attacks green twice, with the first attack deflected by armor and the second missing before she steps after Erasmus.

R3T14: Brown (male) tries to fake out Janiven and stabs but it is blocked.

R3T13: So, the first thing that should be noted is that Hyrum's body is ... Hyrum's .... but is head is now that of a hideous, gray-furred boar with big tusks! He steps in ... with Dusha following ... and with his dagger performs a coup de grace on Dravano the Digger!

R3T12-7: Yellow stabs at Flycatcher and steps back with their pulled muscle. Another wolf skeleton rushes in to attack Janiven. Pink steps forward to attack Flycatcher. Red-blue takes 1 bleed, and that is enough for them to drop. Blue steps in, standing over Dravano, to engage Janiven. The amber tiefling from before also enters after their leader, and casts a spell at the boar-headed man, but the boar-headed man is too stubborn to be controlled. Red steps up, straddling the fallen tiefling Flycatcher dispatched, stabbing Arael in his right hand for 5.

R3T4: Arael puts his sword into his shield hand and concentrates, but not with prayer to Iomedae. Instead, it is unknown words to unknown spirits. Unfortunately, it seems his concentration fails him as his spell fizzles.

End Round 3, Begin Round 4 ...

R4T19: Flycatcher, what do you do?

Enemies on deck and in the hole ...

[SwordChucks]

The Flycatcher, in an effort to aid Arael, jukes the red tiefling before swatting at their weapon. If he succeeds, he presses the initiative with a riposte.

Spoiler: Combat

Show

Move action: Feint the red tiefling.
Swift action: Duelist's Gambit against red. If successful, he'll recover Encouraging Roar, Pyrite Strike, and Enduring Crane Strike and make a follow up attack.
Standard action: Blade of Breaking to disarm red.

Feint: (1d20+9)[21]
Blade of Breaking: (1d20+16)[33] to disarm via rapier.
If successful, follow up Risky Strike attack: (1d20+9)[21], (1d4+12)[16]+(1d6)[1]
Sudden Strike: (2d4)[4]

[lostsole31]

R4T19: The Flycatcher, in an effort to aid Arael, jukes the red tiefling before swatting at their weapon, and disarming it, and then getting a quick stab to her belly for 15.

R4T18-17: Green attacks Janiven, but is blocked. The leader steps forward slightly and casts a spell at the hog-headed Hyrum. This time, Hyrum is not so lucky as his muscles seize and he is paralyzed in place!

R4T16: Seeing that Hyrum is really vulnerable to a possible CDG from B, Erasmus continues the ferocity of his attack at Blue this time, only for his blade to be stopped by studded leather.

R4T15: Janiven will switch from defensive to offensive to attempt the same against blue, concentrating as she had before. Her wakizashi cuts the female tiefling's left lower leg for 13, and then scores a line across her belly for 9, but that is enough to drop her!

R4T14: Brown fails to score a flanking hit against Janiven.

R4T13.5: Dusha, Hyrum was paralyzed by a hold person spell. If an enemy can step in, they can slit his throat and he could do nothing but watch. Luckily, for right this second, Hyrum is only threatened by a creature that doesn't know how to tactically take advantage of the situation (the skeleton-wolf). What do you do?

Hyrum on deck, Enemies in the hole ...

[pfm1995]

Dusha grimaced at her companion's sudden predicament, glancing between the bastard that'd cast the spell and the bastards close enough to stab her companion.

Sighing, she decides to deal with the immediate problem first. Stepping forwards and trusting her spells to protect her, she says a guttural word and swipes her hand at the skeletal hound.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Move: Move to the empty square directly west of Erasmus.
Standard: Casting Chill Touch defensively, then using the touch attack on the skeleton wolf.
Concentration - (1d20+9)[11]
Attack - (1d20+3)[9]

[lostsole31]

R4T13.5: Dusha grimaced at her companion's sudden predicament, glancing between the bastard that'd cast the spell and the bastards close enough to stab her companion. Sighing, she decides to deal with the immediate problem first. Stepping forwards and trusting her spells to protect her .... she concentrates, and her spell fails.

R4T13: Hyrum snorts angrily as he shakes off the effects of the spell. He sees that the only place for him to go requires him to get past a gauntlet of dangerous tiefling swordsman. "I need room!" he shouts while delaying.

R4T12-7: Yellow (the one with a pulled muscle) attacks Dusha, but barely manages to stop from stabbing his own ally. The wolf skeleton reacts to the presence of new meat and snaps at Dusha. Pink & Flycatcher fence. The amber tiefling casts a spell, and an arcane bolt shoots forth to hit Flycatcher in the right lower arm for 2 force. Red and Arael fence.

End Round 4, Begin Round 5 ...

R5T19: Flycatcher, the protection that Arael had put on you faltered about two seconds ago. What do you do?

Enemies on deck and in the hole ...

[SwordChucks]

The Flycatcher tries to get Red to over extend again so he can finish her off. He intends to take her place should she fall, unsure of how much space Hyrum needs.

Spoiler: Combat

Show

Move action: Feint Red.
Standard action: Stab Red with the rapier.
5ft step in to Red's space if she's dropped.

Feint: (1d20+9)[10]
Rapier: (1d20+10)[17], (1d4+5)[6]
Sudden Strike: (2d4)[3]

[lostsole31]

R5T19: The Flycatcher tries to get Red to over extend again so he can finish her off. She seems to canny for the halfling's footwork, but he is still accurate enough to stab her in the upper right arm for 6, the shock and speed of which is enough to drop her. Unfortunately, he spent too much focus on his feint attempt, and can't step into where she fell.

R5T18: Green fails to fake out Janiven and that led to a very poor attack.

R5T17: The leader goes over to the woman that Flycatcher just dropped, touching a healing wand to her for 2. She is still unconscious.

R5T16: Erasmus concentrates and casts a spell on himself for protection.

R5T15: Janiven steps away from Erasmus - and out of being flanked. She uses deceptive swordwork and then stabs Brown below the right shoulder where the upper part of the lung is for 13.

R5T14: Brown tries to return the favor. His fakeout is brilliant. His attack? Less so, as he pulls a muscle for 3 STR.

R5T13.5: Dusha, what do you do?

Enemies on deck and in the hole, Hyrum delaying ...

[lostsole31]

R5T13.5: Dusha, having prepared for this contingency, concentrates again while casting words of power and making strange gestures. Her hand is limned in a ghostly blue radiance. She tries to touch the wolf-skeleton but it is too fast for her.

R5T12-7.5: Dusha manages to pull back from her focus on the wolf-skeleton as yellow thrusts at her. The wolf skeleton has notice of her but wildly misses; a real wolf would have sprained itself. Pink scores a hit against Flycatcher's left elbow for 9. The amber tiefling casts another spell that has an arcane bolt slamming Flycatcher for 5 force.

R5T4: Arael concentrates to cast a healing spell on Flycatcher, but the spell fails.

End Round 5, Begin Round 6 ...

R6T19: Flycatcher, what do you do? You are barely on your feet.

Enemies on deck/ in the hole ...

[SwordChucks]

The Flycatcher grunts in pain after the combined assault of the Bastards. He falls back to stand next to Hyrum while drawing a stone from his pocket. He hurls the stone at the amber tiefling's feet and resumes his duelist's posture.

"Sorry, Butcher. Standing room only."

Spoiler: Combat

Show

5ft step north east.
Move action: Draw thunderstone.
Standard action: Throw the stone at the amber tiefling's square.
Swift action: Resume Scarlet Einhander.

Thunderstone: (1d20+9)[26]

[lostsole31]

R6T19:The Flycatcher grunts in pain after the combined assault of the Bastards. He falls back to stand next to Hyrum while drawing a stone from his pocket. He hurls the stone at the amber tiefling's feet and the stone erupts with an incredibly loud report. He then resumes his duelist's posture. "Sorry, Butcher. Standing room only."

R6T18: Green does deceptive swordwork (not really) and stabs Janiven, her chain shirt barely catching the blade.

R6T17: The leader uses his wand to touch Red again, this time for 4. This is enough to bring her to consciousness. The leader then repositions to be by Dusha.

R6T16: Erasmus steps right into the spot where Flycatcher was a second ago, he calls for his sister to help cure the halfling, but in doing so the spell fizzles instead.

R6T15: Janiven does her own fancy swordwork to mystify Brown, but the threat from Green throws off her attack.

R6T14: Brown tries to acrobatically step into the area held by his bleeding teammate (red-blue) but makes himself open and Janiven stabs him in the gut for 12, dropping him.

R6T13.5: Dusha, you currently have chill touch on your hand. What do you do?

Hyrum on deck, Enemies in the hole ...

[pfm1995]

Quickly becoming surrounded by swords and teeth aiming to spill her guts on the ground, Dusha takes another swipe at the dog worrying at her rags as she backs up until she has a back against the wall.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Standard: Making a touch attack with Chill Touch against the skeletal hound.
Attack - (1d20+4)[16]
Free: Making a 5ft step due east.

[lostsole31]

R6T13.5: Quickly becoming surrounded by swords and teeth aiming to spill her guts on the ground, Dusha takes another swipe at the dog while worrying at her rags. Some of the energy of the spell goes into the wolf as Dusha backs up until she has a back against the wall.

R6T13: Now with a space to go, Hyrum takes a drink of something and then his muscles enlarge and grow and he becomes even more monstrous as he hulks forward.

R6T12-8: Yellow attacks Hyrum and fails. The wolf skeleton turns to run and Janiven tries to leap upon it to end it but makes a catastrophic failure as she knocks herself unconscious! Hyrum's gore succeeds where Janiven may have just accidentally killed the party, as the gore smashes into the wolf skeleton for 7 mod, though not enough to destroy it as it disappears through the door to the west. Pink fails to strike Erasmus.

R6T7.5: The amber tiefling casts a spell towards Hyrum and calls out, "Don't attack me!" before he moves south and then hooks north to be by Dusha. "Nobody else attack the pig-man!"

Hyrum's porcine head snorts, but it is unknown just what that means.

R6T7: Red tries to stand. Erasmus stabs her for 12, and she slumps back to the ground. Arael also struck her at the same time, killing her.

R6T4: Seeing Janiven in grave peril, Arael concentrates for a spell but to his horror the spell fails. So, he brave the gauntlet and heads to Janiven to try and protect her from those who might try to cut her throat. The tiefling rogues miss him but the leader's morningstar catches Arael in the upper right leg fully for 12.

End Round 6, Begin Round 7 ...

R7T19: Flycatcher, what do you do?

Green on deck, Leader in the hole ...

[SwordChucks]

The Flycatcher goes through his mental index of tips for social interaction. Then he lunges forward and swats at Yellow's weapon.

Spoiler: Combat

Show

Move action: Adopt Diplomat's Presence.
5ft step to the west.
Swift action: Start a Duelist's Gambit against Yellow.
Standard action: Disarm attempt against Yellow, with an AOO and recover 4 maneuvers if successful.

Disarm: (1d20+12)[28]
Rapier AOO?: (1d20+10)[20], (1d4+10)[11]+(1d6)[5]

[lostsole31]

R7T19: The Flycatcher goes through his mental index of tips for social interaction. Then he lunges forward and swats at Pink's weapon, easily spinning it out of her grasp with an envelopement, which unconsciously pulls her forward, and then Flycatcher stabs her along the side of the neck for 16. That was refreshing, and gave Flycatcher the time needed to reset himself for another exhange in combat.

R7T18: Green attempts a coupe de grace on Janiven, and only Arael is there to stop her. Arael valiantly attacks, but Green is readied for it and parries the blade before falling on Janiven with her short sword to do 9 with an auto-crit. It is not known if Janiven is dead or not, but it sounded like when she was stabbed that the point of the short sword hit stone under her body.

R7T17: The leader touches the tiefling under Hyrum's feet, using the wand to heal her of 5, enough for her to awaken, and forcing Hyrum back.

R7T16: Erasmus goes into a more defensive stance and stabs the disarmed Pink in the now open right elbow for 12, dropping her.

R7T13.5: Dusha, what do you do?

Hyrum on deck, Yellow in the hole ...

[pfm1995]

Her back against the hulking, porcine form of the pig man, Dusha snarls at the spellcasting tiefling and mutters, "Thank you for the instructions, darling." before half-turning and slapping Hyrum with her free hand. Hoping that's enough to undue whatever the tiefling had done, and hoping the wards she'd cast on herself hold, Dusha then turns her back fully on the bastards as she darts past Hyrum to the relative safety of the entranceway.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Standard: Making an unarmed attack at Hyrum in the hopes it breaks whatever spell the tiefling cast.
Attack - (1d20+4)[13] Damage - (1d3-1)[2]

Move: Moving 10ft north, eating any AoOs that come.