Way of the Wicked: Knot of Thorns [IC]

[GM_Dave]

With his eyes glossing over, Zepsus becomes momentarily lax in posture. Leaning forward, he looks as if he is in another world; then, he drops to one knee. He mutters to himself, but what he says is too quit for anyone else to catch over the sound of battle, but he seems to be trying to make sense of the impossible. He looks around, undeesturbed by the combat, unbound from the threat of enemies; he is no longer interested, he is completely non responsive to stimuli. His normally dark red skin has lost a lot of blood, and is going pale.
Suddenly, he begins to eye Donovan's body, the blood pooling out of him filling his sight. Zepsus, staying low out of some primary instinct, quickly puts both hands on the paladin, dropping his bow unceremoniously. He begins to pull on the body, using all of his core, unhinged strength to move Donovan closer, and he begins to drag the man out of battle.
As he does, he begins to question Donovan in a strange, personal tone.
"Donovan, what are you doing down here on the floor? Donovan! Come on man, don't give up now, look at all of this- bloooooood look at all of this wonderful shiny life quintessence Dono. There's a good knight, you arent very heavy, you are so small Donovan, I will help you. You can't expect to fight well from down here on the floor, get up, and fight, you lout. This is what you were made for, isn't it? Think of the glory you are missing out on, think of the victory, think of the end of the empire, "

and he gibbers more of the same, broken, oddly self-reflective nonsense while he drags the man. He places Donovan's body at Grumblejack's feet, and continues to babble, displaying an odd behavior of talking through Donovan almost as if he were a puppet, and Zepsus was really talking to himself. After a few moments of this, he slowly looses the glossy look in his eye, and merely waits to retrieve his weaponry, wordlessly. The moment passes, and Zepsus looks as if he woulden't even remember it if someone asked. He simply holds his wounds, and shakes a little.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Move: Grab Donovan
Move: to the area just in front of GJ, placing Don next to him on the floor.

[lostsole31]

R4T9: With his eyes glossing over, Zepsus becomes momentarily lax in posture. Leaning forward, he looks as if he is in another world; then, he drops to one knee. He mutters to himself, but what he says is too quiet for anyone else to catch over the sound of battle, but he seems to be trying to make sense of the impossible. He looks around, undisturbed by the combat, unbound from the threat of enemies. He is no longer interested; he is completely nonresponsive to stimuli. His normally dark red skin has lost a lot of blood, and is going pale.

Suddenly, he begins to eye Donovan's body, the blood pooling out of him filling his sight. Zepsus, staying low out of some primary instinct, quickly puts both hands on the paladin, dropping his bow unceremoniously. He begins to pull on the body, using all of his core, unhinged strength to move Donovan closer, and he begins to drag the man out of battle. As he does, he begins to question Donovan in a strange, personal tone. "Donovan, what are you doing down here on the floor? Donovan! Come on man, don't give up now, look at all of this- bloooooood look at all of this wonderful, shiny life quintessence, Dono. There's a good knight, you aren't very heavy, you are so small Donovan, I will help you. You can't expect to fight well from down here on the floor, get up, and fight, you lout. This is what you were made for, isn't it? Think of the glory you are missing out on, think of the victory, think of the end of the empire, "

And he gibbers more of the same, broken, oddly self-reflective nonsense while he drags the man. He only gets Donovan's body moved five feet (at Kel's feet), and continues to babble, displaying an odd behavior of talking through Donovan almost as if he were a puppet, though he is really talking to himself. After a few moments of this, he slowly looses the glossy look in his eye, and merely waits to retrieve his weaponry, wordlessly. The moment passes, and Zepsus looks as if he wouldn't even remember it if someone asked. He simply holds his wounds, and shakes a little.

Spoiler: OOC

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So, Donovan is not a little guy, but Zepsus is having a relationship break with reality right now. Donovan is 240 lbs, his gear (sans dropped sword) another 40, and then add onto that Zep's own gear (sans dropped sword and bow)) and that exceeds a heavy load, so he can only drag him 5' as a move action. But you know what, sometimes that is all you need.

R4T8.5: Grumblejack moves up 5', takes Donovan out of Zep's hands carefully (the care being exercised more for Zepsus' sake than Donovan's), and then moves Donovan completely out of battle.

R4T8: Leonidas, what do you do? You find yourself in a sort of battle-fugue. Normally, you depend on an extreme self-mastery of situations to have the insight to do great feats, but you now feel strangely empty, as if you have lost all inspiration. And you are still standing toe-to-toe- with a very wounded, but very competent warrior.

Amadeus on deck, Bile in the hole ...

[Blackhawk101]

Leonidas will stagger to his right to slump against the wall while he takes a little nap.

Spoiler

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five foot step to the right

[lostsole31]

R4T8: Leonidas will stagger to his right to slump against the wall while he takes a little nap.

R4T7: Kel now moves into the gap created by Leonidas. She winds her left hand around the front-to-right side of her body before letting loose with a chop that hits PG10 in his upper right arm for 2 (min).

R4T3: Amadeus, your temporary buffer goes away. What do you do?

Bile on deck, PG11 in the hole ...

[bcool999]

Seeing his allies peel away with wounds, Amadeus laments being left without armor by his allies’ greed. Nevertheless he must hold this line lest they be overrun.

Amadeus decides to go against PG10 letting loose a blow meant to intimidate rather than strictly kill.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move action: Aid another self for +2 to attack PG10: (1d20+5)[16] Zeal activates granting Collective +1 morale bonus to hit. Recover Ravaging Blow.

Standard action: initiate terrifying blow Vs PG10 taking a -1 for Martial Power.
Attack: (1d20+4)[23] potential +2 from above aid another, +1 Zeal.
Damage: (1d8+4)[8] slashing and will save dc 16 vs Frightened 1 rd.

If damaged by attack free action intimidate with a +4 profane bonus added to the check the shaken should stack with frightened as far as I know.

[bcool999]

Spoiler: A 19 threatens on a longsword

Show

d20 roll:(1d20)[14]
Severity: (2d6)[4]

[lostsole31]

R4T3: Seeing his allies peel away with wounds, Amadeus laments being left without armor by his allies’ greed. Nevertheless he must hold this line lest they be overrun. Amadeus decides to go against PG10 letting loose a blow meant to intimidate rather than strictly kill. He cuts down through the inner left gastroc muscle of the guard's left calf, nicking the femoral artery, and then continuing to create a gory wound on the man's foot for 12, dropping him.

End Round 4, Begin Round 5 ...

R5T22: Bile, your copycat disappears. Though he has fallen, your deadly strke is still active against PG10. What do you do?

PG11 on deck, PG6 in the hole ...

[oyzar]

Bile is blindsided by the arrow from behind. "What the hell? If we start fighting each other we'll all die for sure. May Asmodeus crush your heart for this betrayal Ved." He holds up his symbol again. "I call upon thee, lord of hell, prince of darkness, channel your power through me!" His eyes flash with infernal light as darkness once again swirl about the room, draining the guards and invigorating the prisoners.

Spoiler

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Channel evil to heal evil and damage good for "damage" - (1d4)[1] and sickened for 1d4 rounds on a failed DC13 save vs will.
If attacked he'll use flowing creek to try to dodge.

[lostsole31]

R5T22: Bile is blindsided by the arrow from behind. "What the hell?! If we start fighting each other we'll all die for sure. May Asmodeus crush your heart for this betrayal, Ved." He holds up his symbol again. "I call upon Thee, Lord of Hell, Prince of Darkness, channel Your Power through me!" His eyes flash with infernal light as darkness once again swirl about the room, draining the guards and invigorating the prisoners. Bile, Donovan, Leonidas, get 1 healing; Ved gets 1 + 1 NL healing; PG11 resists; PG6 and PG9 take 1 evil + sickened, and PG3 finally succumbs to his wounds.

R5T21: PG11 steps up, seeing the true danger. Through his terror and great wounds yet he strives against the channeling tiefling. For all of his fear, his aim is perfect enough to get past Bile's attempts to dodge the man. It is a low cut at the tiefling's left knee that strikes for a crit of 10 .... dropping Bile.

R5T18: Where PG11 is terrified but fighting through it, PG6 is trying to work past the fallen tiefling's miasmatic power, clipping Amadeus in the head for 8 mod.

R5T14: Ved, those who oppose you and call on your Father's name, friend or foe, shall fall before you. Bile is down now, and has the holy symbol. What do you do?

PG9 on deck, Zepsus in the hole ...

[Ahus]

Ved leaps from the table top landing gracefully next to Zepsus. Reaching out to touch is fallen comrade while incanting a prayer to Asmodeus that his chosen vessel be reinvigorated Ved grasps the unholy symbol still unleashing an unholy radiance that washes over Bile. With the healing accomplished Ved looks to Bile and dryly says "It was an accident."

Spoiler: Mechanics

Show

Move : 10' table to bench, 10' bench to floor South of Bile/West of Zepsus. That should put Ved within touch range of Bile but still out of Melee with PG11.
Standard : Cast Cure Light Wounds for (1d8+1)[7]
Not actually taking the holy symbol from Bile but hopefully using it in situ.

[GM_Dave]

Zepsus, not really having any options other than to try to swing the battle will pick up his bow, and fire at the guard at the back. In his mind, he is only just starting to recollect his thoughts, and he silently prays that his arrow is able to put some pressure on his enemies. After he shoots his arrow, he will try to reduce his frame, and kneel down low, bobbing and weaving, although the focus on defense makes it hard for him to aim.

Spoiler: Actions

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Move: Pick up the bow
Free: Ready an arrow
Free: Begin fighting defensively
Standard: Fire on PG9
(1d20+2)[15]
If it hits Damage (1d8)[8]

[lostsole31]

R5T14: Ved leaps from the table top landing gracefully next to Zepsus. Reaching out to touch is fallen comrade while incanting a prayer to Asmodeus that his chosen vessel be reinvigorated Ved grasps the unholy symbol still unleashing an unholy radiance that washes over Bile (8 healing, bringing him back to consciousness). With the healing accomplished Ved looks to Bile and dryly says, "It was an accident."

R5T12: PG9 steps forward, despite feeling a queazy and being terribly wounded, but knowing there is no place to fall back to. Despite that, he strikes the poorly protected Amadeus in his right hand for 6 mod, and only Amadeus' martial power keeps him in the fight.

R5T9: Zepsus, not really having any options other than to try to swing the battle, picks up his bow, and fires at the guard at the back (PG9, who has since moved up). In his mind, he is only just starting to recollect his thoughts, and he silently prays that his arrow is able to put some pressure on his enemies. After he shoots his arrow (missing), he will tries to reduce his frame, and kneels down low, bobbing and weaving, although the focus on defense makes it hard for him to aim.

R5T8.5: Grumblejack looks at Donovan and calls out. "I healed him already; can't do twice. Ved, need healing here. He stable though, not bleeding."

R5T8: Leonidas, what do you do?

Kel on deck, Amadeus in the hole ...

[Blackhawk101]

Still barely conscious, the fallen pirate scoots forward away from the wall and casts an arcane spell before touching Kell.
“This may help y’some.”

Spoiler

Show

5 foot step-crawl next to Zep.
cast mage armor on Kell

[lostsole31]

R5T8: Still barely conscious, the fallen pirate scoots forward away from the wall and casts an arcane spell before touching Kel. “This may help y’some.” A brief shimmering appears all around Kel for a second before disappearing. At the same time, just as Leonidas experienced a sort of fuzziness as his combat focus has left him, now he has a pounding headache. A trickle of blood rolls down from his nose as, except for the most rudimentary forms of magic, the pirate has exhausted his arcane energy.

R5T7: Meanwhile, one of the weakest members of the villains is charged up. Having the best defenses already just from her martial arts alone, and now buoyed by magical protections, the woman is a veritable juggernaut. She lashes out with two strikes but is blocked by PG11's shield. Well, a defensive juggernaut, at least.

R5T3: Amadeus, if it weren't for your martial power, you wouldn't be standing. As it is, you are barely doing that. What do you do?

Bile on deck (prone, with both bow and dagger on deck by you, as well as the sword Donovan had), PG11 in the hole ...

[bcool999]

Amadeus is in a bit of a bad spot. He is surrounded by enemies, hurt, and retreat is blocked by his 'allies'. Worse yet, while in these dire straights one of those 'allies' decides to armor Kel whose evasiveness makes her nigh untouchable by the guards instead of Amadeus who was trained to plant his feet and either ward off attacks with weapon and shield or let his armor take blows.

Nevertheless there is no retreat, so Amadeus turns his blade towards the enemies before him and slashes down with cruel might. "One more push! Attack with whatever you have they're breaking!" Amadeus extols his allies to help him strike down the remaining guards.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move action: Aid another self to gain +3 AC vs PG6 (If Amadeus counts as own ally for the zeal bonus to ac he does otherwise +2 AC) (1d20+5)[12]
Regardless of success or failure of above All Allies but Grumblejack gain a +1 morale bonus to hit for 1 round. Amadeus recovers Terrifying Blow.

Standard Action: Initiate Ravaging Blow vs PG9 (yes I am taking bonus AC from PG6 because I hope this kills PG9) taking a -1 to hit from Martial Power.
Attack: (1d20+4)[24] Martial power included, Zeal not included.
Damage: (1d8+4)[12] + (1d6)[1] Profane and DC 16 will save vs shaken 1 rd.

If attack hits enemy free action intimidate with +4 profane bonus. Doesn't stack with shaken but may lengthen duration depending on rolls.

[bcool999]

Spoiler: The Dark Lord grants Amadeus Strength

Show

Rolling 1d20: (1d20)[17]
Rolling 2d6: (2d6)[5]

[oyzar]

"You're an awful shot then. But if you fight for the Lord, may he invigorate you and if you oppose his rightful return, may you be struck down!" Bile responds as his eyes once again alight with the flames of hell as pure evil seeps into the air, flowing though and into everyone in the room. After the magic takes hold he tries to stand up and step away from the guard while saying to Zepsus "[b]Step in a strike with your sword. It's risky, but if we don't risk we'll all go down." If he manages to stand up without being struck down he'll step away from the guard.

Spoiler

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Standard: Channel evil for (1d4)[4] DC 13 negates damage and sickened.
Move action to stand up.
Finally free action to 5 foot step away from the guard.

[lostsole31]

R5T3: Amadeus is in a bit of a bad spot. He is surrounded by enemies, hurt, and retreat is blocked by his 'allies'. Worse yet, while in these dire straights one of those 'allies' decides to armor Kel whose evasiveness makes her nigh untouchable by the guards instead of Amadeus who was trained to plant his feet and either ward off attacks with weapon and shield or let his armor take blows.

Nevertheless there is no retreat, so Amadeus turns his blade towards the enemies before him and slashes down with cruel might, making a fell leg swipe on PG9 for 18, killing him instantly in a blast of femoral spray. "One more push! Attack with whatever you have they're breaking!" Amadeus extols his allies to help him strike down the remaining guards.

End Round 5, Begin Round 6 ...

R6T22: "You're an awful shot then. But if you fight for the Lord, may he invigorate you, and if you oppose his rightful return, may you be struck down!" Bile responds as his eyes once again alight with the flames of hell as pure evil seeps into the air, flowing though and into everyone in the room. Asmodeus favored this speech, for all of our villains that needed it get 4 healing, even as PG11 and PG9 suffer 4 evil damage and sickening (or continuing to sicken) them.

After the magic takes hold Bile tries to stand up. Yet, it seems that while you are favored by your Dark Lord, PG11 is likewise blessed by Mitra. For even though he is scared and queasy and barely standing, he makes a wicked gut slash against Bile as the tiefling stands, practically disemboweling him for 15 + (1d4 bleed), his intestines hanging out.

R6T21: No sooner does he make that attack, then the embattled front-liner then crosses swords with Amadeus.

R6T18: PG6 attacks Amadeus with what little strength remains in him, but it is not enough.

R6T14: Ved, Bile is down again, and this time it looks particularly brutal. What do you do?

Zepsus on deck, Grumblejack in the hole ...

[Ahus]

Ved reaches down toward the tiefiling at his feet again this time grasping his shirt collar in one hand, pulling with everything he has, and the Unholy symbol in the other. Again the vile incantation of prayer to Asmodeus crosses his lips and again the healing energies coalesced around the symbol before passing into Bile's wounds.

Spoiler: Mechanics

Show

Move : Drag Bile as far South as possible in a move action.
Standard : Cast Cure Light Wounds (1d8+1)[9]

[lostsole31]

R6T14: Ved steps down off the bench quickly and grabs Bile's fallen frame. The armored tiefling is more than Ved can easily manage and the samsaran has to really put his back into moving him. PG11, seeing what is happening and having witnessed Ved's power previously will not allow his prey to go so easily, and chops downward despite all that ails him, hitting the relatively easy Bile in the lower left arm for 4 mod. Once away from the guard, Ved uses the amulet on Bile's chest to call on their patron and heal Bile of 9 ... just enough to bring him to consciousness, but the tiefling is currently disabled. Still, the gut wound looks terrible.

R6T9: Zepsus, what do you do? You are still sickened.

Grumblejack on deck, Leonidas in the hole ...

[GM_Dave]

Zepsus, still woozy, looks to Bile as the man asks him to step into combat. However, Zep's vision becomes blurry, and as double after images of his surroundings spin, and distort, he has no emotion on his face when Bile gets cut by the guard. Zepsus, unwilling to harm his allies, and seeing that the fight is getting closer, will drop the bow, and pick up his sword. He is not quite fast enough to rush right into the melee, so he will wait a moment to collect his faculties.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Free: Drop bow
Move: Pick up sword
Standard: Hold to attack any enemy that comes within range using a normal attack (no longer in "defensive" fighting)

[lostsole31]

R6T9: Zepsus, still woozy, looks to Bile as the man asks him to step into combat. However, Zep's vision becomes blurry, and as double after-images of his surroundings spin, and distort, he has no emotion on his face when Bile gets cut by the guard. Zepsus, unwilling to harm his allies, and seeing that the fight is getting closer, will drop the bow, and pick up his sword. He is not quite fast enough to rush right into the melee, so he will wait a moment to collect his faculties.

R6T8.5: Grumblejack, with his great reach, attempts to perform first aid on Bile. The big galoot appears to have the proficiency of a practiced healer, and stops the bleeding that did not stop with magical healing! Bile is no longer bleeding, just disabled (and prone). "Zep, when fight done, and you live? See me."

R6T8: Leonidas, what do you do?

Kel on deck, Amadeus in the hole ...

[Blackhawk101]

Leonidas rolls over to a safe area before struggling to stand.

Spoiler

Show

five foot move. Stand from prone.

“Give ‘em hell, Kell!” he shouts before bending over in a coughing fit.

[lostsole31]

R6T8: Leonidas rolls over to a safe area before struggling to stand. “Give ‘em hell, Kel!” he shouts before bending over in a coughing fit.

R6T7: Kel smiles at the encouragement. Her left knee is blocked by a shield, but that was really the setup for her fist that crits PG11 right in the forehead for 10, dropping him on top of PG10's body. It seems that Kel performs well - or at least appears to do so - when encouraged or directed.

R6T3: Amadeus, one critically wounded, sickened guard remaining. But he knows there is nowhere to fall back to, and he knows better than to surrender. What do you do?

Bile on deck, PG6 in the hole ..

[bcool999]

"You should have stayed cowering in the corner." Amadeus taunts the last remaining guard, "I might have forgotten about your pathetic existence then." With that he looks to the guard as if the man is already dead and lashes out to make that vision a reality.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move action: Aid another on self to boost attack vs PG6. (1d20+5)[24] Zeal activates for the collective, Recover Ravaging Blow.

Standard Action: Initiate Ravaging Blow.

Attack: (1d20+5)[24] +1 Zeal, +2 potential from aid another.
Damage: (1d8+4)[7] + (1d6)[6] and DC 16 vs shaken 1 round.

Free intimidate check if guard is hit and damaged but lives.

[bcool999]

Spoiler: Cleaning up

Show

Severity: (1d20)[8]
Bonus: (1d20)[10]

[lostsole31]

R6T3: "You should have stayed cowering in the corner," Amadeus taunts the last remaining guard. "I might have forgotten about your pathetic existence then." With that he looks to the guard as if the man is already dead and lashes out to make that vision a reality. The man weakly holds out his shield arm to block, but Amadeus simply cuts his shield arm off at the upper arm, killing the man instantly in a spray of blood.

End Round 6, Begin Round 7 ...

R7T22: Bile, you are prone, disabled, and your weapons are dropped all around you. You don't see any active enemies. What do you do?

Ved on deck, Zepsus in the hole ...

[oyzar]

Bile stands up and totters over to Grumblejack. "Damn, these guards are well trained. Do you have any more healing Grumblejack? I got one more channel, but I rather want to save it for when I can affect enemies as well. If they hadn't been drained from it, more of us would have gone down."

Spoiler

Show

Move action: stand up
If he can still take a 5 foot step without taking damage, Bile willl move towards Grumblejack, otherwise he'll remain in place.

[Ahus]

Ved, nocks an arrow, and cautiously peeks his head through the open door. Doing so, he notices the chests on the floor around the beds. "Keys!" he shouts. Looking into the room more carefully, he quickly counts the chests, then assesses the dead guards, you can immediately see him evaluating the situation. "There is at least one more guard somewhere, assigned to this barracks. Bile, you said you have one more channeling. I can probably get Donovan back on his feet then I'm tapped for healing. Does anyone else have anyhealing abilities?" He says in a more hushed voice taking the symbol from Bile, moving towards Donovan and continues, "If you've taken a key from a guard try em in here and let's see if there is anything useful.

Spoiler: Mechanics

Show

Cast Cure Light Wounds on Donovan for (1d8+1)[6]

[GM_Dave]

Zepsus is quickly doing exactly what Ved suggests, he takes the key he has and starts trying it in any locked foot chests, while also looking through the guards' personal things for any supplies, particularly healing supplies for the injured.